News Story not available This story has been published on: 2022-10-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. This story is no longer available on our site. Rome (AFP) - Italy says it is making headway in its bid to persuade African countries to help close migrant routes to Europe and take back some of those arriving via Libya in exchange for increased aid and investment. Ministers from more than 40 African states attending talks in Rome Wednesday voiced strong backing for one of the central elements of the Italian plan -- the stabilisation of Libya. But long-standing concerns about the creation of a "fortress Europe" were also aired. Italy is on the frontline of a wave of migrant arrivals from north Africa, with more than 350,000 people having reached its shores since the start of 2014, spurring efforts to find a long-term solution. Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Rome's "migration compact" proposals had been given a "very favourable" reception at the first of what is to become a regular, bi-annual Italy-Africa summit. Senegal's Foreign Minister Mankeur N'Diaye however warned that the EU could not simply slam the door shut without doing huge damage to economies dependent on the remittances of migrant workers. "We have many young people who head to Libya, from Niger, and are ready to try their chance on people smugglers' boats," N'Diaye told AFP. "We have to fight illegal immigration but we also have to create new avenues for regular, legal migration. The support that migrants bring to our development is extraordinary." Chad, which currently holds the African Union's rotating presidency, welcomed moves this week to arm Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj's fledgling administration. "The situation in Libya deserves to have our full attention. This country is on its way to becoming a haven for terrorism," Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat said. The minister praised the "courageous decisions" taken earlier this week in Vienna, where a 25-nation coalition assembled by the US and Italy agreed to exempt the Government of National Accord from a UN arms embargo on Libya to enable it to combat Islamic State militants. Story continues The embargo was imposed to stem fighting in a country that has been rife with conflict since the 2011 uprising which led to the overthrow and killing of Moamer Kadhafi. - Billions more needed - Gentiloni said Rome wanted its migration plan approved at a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels next month and the first pilot projects launched "without delay". Under the plan the EU would offer African countries substantially increased aid and investment in return for them improving border controls to make it harder for migrants to reach the southern shores of the Mediterranean, and to accept the repatriation of those who make it to Europe but are judged to have no right to stay. The pact also envisages an increase in legal migration opportunities for Africans wanting to start new lives in Europe and incentives for African states to establish their own reception centres and absorption procedures for asylum seekers from elsewhere in the region. At a summit last year in the Maltese capital Valletta, EU leaders agreed with their African counterparts to set up a 1.8-billion-euro trust fund to help finance some of these objectives. But the amount was attacked by aid agencies and African governments as a drop in the ocean when set against what needs to be done to address the root causes of migration from Africa. Italy agrees with that view, Gentiloni's deputy, Mario Giro, told AFP. "The Valletta money was far too little. We have to talk about big investment and in exchange for that, we (the EU and Africa) work together to manage migration flows and the security aspect." Giro said Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had recently discussed creating a 10-billion-euro investment fund for Africa. Germany has made it clear however that it will not go along with one of the elements of Italy's plan: the issuing of EU-Africa bonds to finance it. Proposals to increase legal migration from Africa are also likely to encounter opposition within the EU. Gentiloni said two million Africans had arrived in Europe between 2010 and 2015 and the vast majority of people landing at Italy's southern ports this year have been from sub-Saharan Africa. "Italy has chosen to bet on the future of Africa through long-term investment in sustainable development, security and peace and in managing migrant flows," he said. Last year was historic for the U.S. renewable energy sector, with a number of important decisions taken at both the state and federal levels, which will likely play a key role in determining the trajectory of this industrys future growth. Governments, businesses and cities around the world are making concerted efforts to speed up the evolution of energy use. As the global energy system transformation is the backbone of climate action, the world has come closer under a set of major cooperative initiatives. It is these environmental considerations that are driving demand for alternative energy sources. ?A U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report projects that electricity generation from renewable sources will increase by 11.3% in 2016 and 4.4% in 2017 in the U.S. Generation from renewables other than hydropower is forecast to grow by 13.3% in 2016 and by 8.6% in 2017. A more comprehensive study by the Department of Energys National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) shows that the country can generate most of its electricity from renewable sources by 2050. These favorable demand growth trends notwithstanding, the abundant availability of fossil fuels and the resultant drop in oil prices have emerged as key competitive challenges for the industry. The industrys long-term fundamentals nevertheless remain favorable. Below we discuss some of the major alternative energy sources: ?Solar?? A major growth area in the renewable space is solar energy. An EIA report indicates continued growth in utility-scale solar power capacity, which is projected to average almost 13 gigawatt (GW) in the 20152017 period. In spite of the rapid uptake, solar will still be just 1.1% of total U.S. utility-scale generation in 2017, indicating room for immense growth. Solar growth has historically been concentrated in customer-sited distributed generation installations. The EIA expects utility-scale solar capacity to expand over states like California, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas and Georgia. Story continues ?Per the latest report released by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the U.S. trade association of approximately 1,000 companies in the solar energy industry, the U.S. solar energy industry reached 7,260 megawatt (MW) DC in 2015, up 16% over 2014. This brought the cumulative PV installations to 25.6 GW DC, the largest annual total ever, buoyed by strong contributions from each of the three segments: utility, non-residential and residential. In particular, the residential market grew 66% year over year in 2015, setting a yearly record. The SEIA expects the U.S. PV market to witness strong growth in 2016 with installations reaching 16 GW DC, representing a staggering 119% increase over 2015 with utility-scale installations accounting for 74% of the years total installations. Solar in China: Although Chinese economic woes continue to hit the market, the longer-term prospects for solar in China remain intact. China has established itself as the worlds largest market for solar panels and will likely be the home to a quarter of the planets new energy capacity from solar panels in the years to come. China is speedily adding as much power generation as possible, and solar is just one source of the new energy generation coming up in the country. In Mar 2016, China released its 13th Five-Year Plan that outlined considerable investment in the renewables sector. The countrys National Energy Administration (NEA) announced plans to triple capacity over the next five years, to reduce Chinas carbon emissions and become the worlds leader in clean energy. The nation is aiming for 143 GW of capacity by 2020. This rise was underlined in 2015, as China, with a 43.2 GW capacity, was ahead of the long time leader Germany. China also supplied 70% of the global output of solar panels in 2015, producing an astounding 43 GW. While outlining its clean energy goals for 2016, the NEA has set a target of 15 GW of new solar PV capacity. China had earlier pledged to attain peak carbon emissions by 2030 or earlier if possible. The country had set a daunting target of boosting the share of non-fossil fuels to 20% of its energy mix by 2030. ?The following leading Chinese solar stocks are sure to make the most of the favorable government stimulus: JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (JKS), JA Solar Holdings. Inc. (JASO) and Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL). ?Ontario, Canada-based solar product manufacturer Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) is also well positioned with its diversified manufacturing base and project portfolio in Canada, China, Japan and the U.S. Wind?? The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reported that the U.S. wind industry installed 520 MW during the first quarter of 2016. This is the strongest-ever quarter since 2012 bringing the installed wind capacity to 74,512 MW. Wind capacity of over 10,100 MW is currently under construction following the five-year extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) in Dec 2015. ?As per the EIA, wind capacity grew by 12% in 2015 and it is expected to increase by 9% in 2016 and 10% in 2017. ?The AWEA noted that wind power added more capacity than any other energy source, leading the country with 41% of all new electric generating capacity in 2015 (followed by solar at 28.5% and natural gas at 28.1%). ?Zacks Industry Rank Mixed Outlook ?We rank all the 257-plus industries in the 16 Zacks sectors based on the earnings outlook and fundamental strength of the constituent companies in each industry. To learn more visit: About Zacks Industry Rank. ?The way to look at the complete list of 257+ industries is that the outlook for the top one-third of the list (Zacks Industry Rank of #88 and lower) is positive, the middle 1/3rd or industries with Zacks Industry Rank between #89 and #176 is neutral while the outlook for the bottom one-third (Zacks Industry Rank #177 and higher) is negative. ?Within the Zacks Industry classification, the Zacks Industry Rank for Solar is #104 out of 257. This corresponds to the middle third of the list, implying a neutral outlook. ?The Zacks Industry Rank for the Other Alternative industry is #100 out of 257. This puts the industry once again in the middle third of all industries. ?The recent losses suffered by some of the fundamentally strong solar stocks can be good buying opportunities for investors with a longer-term horizon. The U.S. solar market continues to grow with 2015 being the biggest year yet in the solar history, per the SEIA. ?Please note that the Zacks Rank for stocks, which is at the core of our Industry Outlook, has an impressive track record going back years, verified by outside auditors, to foretell stock prices, particularly over the short term (1 to 3 months). While JinkoSolar Holding holds a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (YGE), Gevo, Inc. (GEVO) and Ormat Technologies, Inc. (ORA) hold a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). ?We remain apprehensive of the Zacks Ranked #4 (Sell) stocks Enphase Energy, Inc. (ENPH), SunPower Corp. (SPWR) and FuelCell Energy Inc. (FCEL). EARNINGS TRENDS As far as the overall results of the alternative energy industry were concerned, the first quarter of 2016 has been quite mixed so far. It has become even more apparent that although the long-term growth story that could change energy is quite solid, the companies responsible for change don't always have a straight path to success. As in the case of First Solar Inc. (FSLR), the companys first-quarter earnings were a reversal of the prior-year loss, reflecting higher sales, gross profits, operating income and lower expenses. Yet, the shares dropped surprisingly following the release. Then again, Canadian Solars (CSIQ) first-quarter 2016 results exceeded expectations in terms of both revenues and earnings. Solar module shipments for the quarter also surpassed the companys expectations. Consequently, the company raised its full-year revenue expectation in anticipation of higher sales of solar plants in the second half of the year. Meanwhile, SolarCity Corp. (SCTY), the largest U.S. rooftop solar installer, posted a much wider-than-expected first-quarter loss. This can be attributed to the companys rising expenses. Yet, its revenues soared 81.6% year over year and installations were impressive for the quarter. SolarCity shares have depreciated more than 60% year to date. SunPower reported weak first-quarter results wherein it reported a wider-than-expected loss. Its gross margin contracted 690 basis points while operating expenses surged over 28%. That said, growth in residential and commercial markets continues to gain momentum. We expect solar companies to witness impressive growth this year with more emphasis on installations. The companies seem to be channeling most of their revenues into installations backed by the solar and wind-tax credit extensions. ?Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report YINGLI GREEN EN (YGE): Free Stock Analysis Report SUNPOWER CORP-A (SPWR): Free Stock Analysis Report SOLARCITY CORP (SCTY): Free Stock Analysis Report JA SOLAR HOLDGS (JASO): Free Stock Analysis Report GEVO INC (GEVO): Free Stock Analysis Report FIRST SOLAR INC (FSLR): Free Stock Analysis Report FUELCELL ENERGY (FCEL): Free Stock Analysis Report ENPHASE ENERGY (ENPH): Free Stock Analysis Report CANADIAN SOLAR (CSIQ): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Australia's Nick Kyrgios returns the ball to Italy's Marco Cecchinato during their first round match at the Roland Garros French Open in Paris on May 22, 2016 (AFP Photo/Thomas Samson) Controversial Nick Kyrgios claimed he was the victim of biased officiating at the French Open on Sunday as torrential rain caused havoc, allowing just 10 of the scheduled 32 matches to be completed. Kyrgios overcame a first-set code violation to defeat Italy's Marco Cecchinato 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (8/6), 6-4. The 17th seed picked up the warning for screaming at a ball boy on a shivering Court One where the temperature refused to budge above 15 degrees. Kyrgios insisted he only screamed at the youngster during the first-set tiebreak because he wanted his towel. He then accused umpire Carlos Ramos of "unbelievable bias" for dishing out the violation. That was a reference to world number one Novak Djokovic escaping a sanction for shoving the arm of umpire Carlos Bernardes at the Rome Masters last week. "All of us in this room know that if that was me, it would have been a circus. The fact that nothing happened (to Djokovic) speaks for itself," said Kyrgios who ranted on court that Ramos's decision was "fucking bullshit". The code violation was handed down when Kyrgios screamed "towel" at the ballboy. "When I get my towel I always say 'thank you' to the ballboys but sometimes you get mad at them," added Kyrgios. Despite the controversy, Kyrgios recovered his composure to see off world number 124 Cecchinato who had two set points in the second set. He next faces Dutch lucky loser Igor Sijsling. The 21-year-old Australian fired 16 aces and 50 winners on his way to victory as he attempts to go beyond his best performance in Paris -- a third-round exit to Andy Murray 12 months ago. - Czechs at the double - Kyrgios's latest brush with the authorities came on a day when heavy rain pushed 22 matches back to Monday. Sixteen of those ties had yet to be started, victims of a delay of almost three hours in the afternoon. Play resumed just before 1800 (1600GMT), but only 30 more minutes of action was possible before the miserable smattering of spectators were put out of their misery. Story continues Czech 10th seed Petra Kvitova survived a scare to beat Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. The two-time Wimbledon champion was two points away from defeat when she trailed the world number 57 at 4-5 in the decider. But she claimed the next three games and goes on to face Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh for a place in the last 32. Kvitova, a semi-finalist in Paris in 2012, committed 10 double faults in a typically rollercoaster display against an opponent who made the Istanbul final on clay this season. Hsieh made the second round by beating Spain's Lara Arruabarrena 7-6 (8/6), 6-3. Also going through was last year's runner-up Lucie Safarova who won the first eight games in her 6-0, 6-2 win over Russia's Vitalia Diatchenko. Safarova, the 11th seeded Czech whose form has been compromised this year by a bacterial infection, needed just 56 minutes to beat world number 223 Diatchenko who was playing for the first time since injuring her left foot at the 2015 US Open. Benoit Paire, the French 19th seed, gave the hosts a winning start with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 victory over Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot. When rain halted play Sunday, Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori, a quarter-finalist in 2015, was looking to secure his 50th Grand Slam triumph against Italy's Simone Bolelli. He was leading 6-1, 7-5, 2-1. Meanwhile, defending champion Stan Wawrinka insisted that last year's stunning triumph over Djokovic would have little bearing on his chances this time round. The 31-year-old Swiss, seeded three, only arrived in Paris on Saturday night after clinching his hometown Geneva clay-court title. "I watched some highlights of the final. I never watched it completely," said Wawrinka, who starts his campaign on Monday against Lukas Rosol, the Czech he defeated in the Geneva semi-finals on Friday. "But it was one year ago. It's a completely different story." By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) said it was collaborating with trade unions, government as well as the U.N. to improve workers' conditions after a study found violations in supplying garment factories in India and Cambodia. The study by the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) found workers stitching clothes for H&M in factories in Delhi and Phnom Penh faced problems such as low wages, fixed-term contracts, forced overtime and loss of job if pregnant. The AFWA, a coalition of trade unions and labor rights groups, accused the Western high street retailer of failing on its commitments to clean up its supply chain. An official from H&M told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Saturday that the fashion firm has been working actively to improve the lives of textile workers for many years. "The report raises important issues and we are dedicated to contribute to positive long-term development for the people working in the textile industry in our sourcing markets," said Therese Sundberg from H&M's press and communications department. "The issues addressed in the report are industry wide problems. They are often difficult to address as an individual company and we firmly believe that collaboration is key." H&M has partnered with the International Labour Organization, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency as well as global and local trade unions to seek out solutions, she added in an emailed statement. The fashion industry has come under increasing pressure to improve factory conditions and workers' rights, particularly after the collapse of the Rana Plaza complex in Bangladesh three years ago, when 1,136 garment workers were killed. FORCED OVERTIME, SACKED FOR PREGNANCY The study, which surveyed 50 Indian workers from five factories and 201 Cambodians workers from 12 factories from August to October 2015. It found that overtime in all the factories was expected by employers. Cambodian workers reported they had to do two hours of overtime daily, while Indian workers reported working at least 9 hours to 17 hours a day. Story continues "Workers are routinely required to work until 2 a.m. in order to meet production targets and then to report to work at 9 a.m.," it said, referring to workers in Indian factories. "The financial imperative of working overtime due to the persistence of minimum wage standards below living wage standards can be viewed as a form of economic coercion that leads to involuntary or forced overtime," it added. The study also found that fixed-term contracts were being used in 9 of the 12 Cambodian and all Indian factories surveyed. These contracts facilitate arbitrary termination and deprive workers of job security, pension, healthcare, seniority benefits and gratuity, say activists. Workers also reported discrimination in maternity benefits in both the Indian and Cambodian factories, said the study. Cambodian workers from 11 of the 12 factories reported either witnessing or experiencing termination of employment during pregnancy, while Indians from all five factories said women were fired during their pregnancies, said the study. "Permanent workers report being forced to take leave without pay for the period of their pregnancy," it said. "Contract, piece rate and casual workers reported that although most of the time they are reinstated in their jobs after pregnancy, they receive completely new contracts that cause them to lose seniority." H&M's Sundberg said solving all these issues was a long-term process which continues "step-by-step" and that the Swedish retailer was committed to improving labor rights in its supplying factories. "The continued presence of long-term, responsible buyers is vital to the future development of countries such as Cambodia and India, and we want to continue to contribute to increased improvements in these markets," said Sundberg. (Reporting by Nita Bhalla; Editing by Belinda Goldsmith.; 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) OTTAWA, May 19 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested on Thursday that a C$30 billion budget deficit was not a hard limit as the government's focus should be on spurring economic growth. Below are excerpts from a Reuters interview with Trudeau on Thursday. ON THE ECONOMY AND WHETHER HE WILL STICK TO A C$30 BILLION BUDGET DEFICIT CAP: "Our frame is yes, we need to be fiscally disciplined, we need to be responsible, but we need to be investing in the right kinds of things at the same time, so the arbitrary picking a number and trying to stick with it is exactly what I campaigned against in the last campaign." "We're going to invest in our communities, we're going to make the kind of investments that will grow the economy, work very hard to be fiscally responsible and keep the deficits modest, but it's not an obsession with the perfect number, it's an obsession with the perfect, or the right, path to grow the economy in ways that help in the short term but lead us on the path towards prosperity in the medium and long term." ON DONALD TRUMP: "I know that the relationship between Canada and the U.S. specifically but (also) between the U.S. and the rest of the G7 countries is greater than the personality of any one leader and I look forward to working with whomever the Americans elect this fall." ON THE ALTERCATION IN PARLIAMENT: "What happened is I made a mistake. I intervened in a situation that I had no business engaging in and I regret it and I apologize. It's not in keeping with the behavior that Canadians or anyone would expect of parliamentarians and I ask my colleagues and Canadians for forgiveness. "People understand there is a tremendous amount of pressures that come with this job and I am human. I think at the same time, a big part of recognizing strengths and weaknesses is when you make a mistake, you admit it, you make amends, you ask for forgiveness and you make sure it never happens again. We've already started to change the approach in the House so that there is a more productive atmosphere. Story continues "Quite frankly a lot of people said 'Don't worry about it, everyone has bad days'. But the people who know me said 'OK, Justin, is there something bugging you? Is the atmosphere in the House getting particularly toxic?' I said, you can't separate one from the other but at the same time I made a poor judgment call in wanting to step in on a situation that I should have just let evolve without the prime minister thrusting himself into the middle of it. "But I've often pointed out that I'm someone who - where many people say 'someone ought to do something' - I've always been the person that takes that as 'Oh well, I ought to do something' and knowing when it's better to not step in and maybe make things worse is something that I'm pretty good at but as we've seen, I made a mistake last night. ON BREXIT: "I've spent my life taking about how bringing people together is better, pushing back against divisions and understanding that more unity is a path toward greater prosperity. We have a great relationship with a strong and united Europe and certainly hope that that continues." "Britain is always going to have clout, it's just obviously amplified by its strength as part of the EU. Fundamentally, as I've said I believe we're always better when we work as closely as possible together and separatism, or division, doesn't seem to be a productive path for countries." ON WHETHER A NON-EU BRITAIN COULD EASILY NEGOTIATE A TRADE DEAL: "The Canada-Europe free trade agreement, CETA, has taken successive governments the better part of a decade and a tremendous amount of positive good will and ... we're still not there yet. I'm working very hard to try and get that passed in the coming months because it is such a great deal for both sides. But there's nothing easy or automatic about that (negotiating a deal), so I think there's a bit of an oversimplification of the story happening there." ON BOMBARDIER : "First of all, I am a huge supporter of the aerospace industry in Canada, it means great jobs right across the country and world-class innovation. We know the CSeries airplane, for example, is absolutely cutting edge and being hailed as an extraordinary new aircraft that there's interest in right around the world. I believe in the strong future for the aerospace industry and am currently engaged with Bombardier on the best way we can ensure a strong and vibrant future for aerospace in Canada. But it will come as no surprise I'm not going to negotiate in public." ON WHETHER THERE'S A POINT WHEN THE GOVERNMENT WALKS AWAY FROM BOMBARDIER: "I don't think there's any point at which you don't want to build greater opportunities for the Canadian economy, that's what we're very much here for. We're always open to looking at ways of strengthening and creating better jobs and better economic growth here in Canada." ON WHETHER OTTAWA WILL AID BOMBARDIER AT SOME POINT: "The jobs associated with the aerospace industry, the kind of economic growth that comes with having high quality innovative jobs that are creating world class products is exactly where the Canadian economy needs to continue to go." ON WHETHER THE GOVERNMENT WOULD ALLOW CHINESE INVESTMENT IN THE CSERIES: "Although we very much hope to draw in more foreign investment into the country, there are very strict rules around ownership of Canadian companies that would have to be very much complied with. "I will look at any investment in terms of how it's good for the Canadian economy, how it's good to create Canadian jobs. Drawing in foreign investment can be a very, very positive thing for the Canadian economy but we're going to make every judgment on a case-by-case basis, not in the theoretical or the hypothetical." ON WHETHER ABORIGINAL GROUPS HAVE A VETO OVER PIPELINES "Whenever you get to a situation where a veto is even a question, you have failed in bringing people into the conversation at the right point. In the development of projects, in the building and elaboration of how things move forward, we need to make sure we're folding in indigenous peoples, local communities, experts and scientists every step of the way ... (The previous government) thought governments can grant permits. Well, communities grant permission. Does that mean you have to have unanimous support from every community? Absolutely not. "But it does mean you do have to reach out and involve voices from all communities, all different perspectives, in the elaboration of the project that people want to see. "We know there are some folks who will always be opposed ... my role as a leader is to bring together the largest possible number of people representing the widest possible range of perspectives to a position that we can all be happy with. "Everyone will have their chance to be heard, their chance to make robust arguments and contribute to the discussion and make us think or rethink the way we're doing things or whether we're doing things. This is a country where we respect a broad range of voices. But at one point we have to understand that you do what's in the best interest of the country and its citizens writ large." (Compiled by Ottawa newsroom) JERUSALEM, May 22 (Reuters) - Israel approved on Sunday a deal meant to fast-track the development of the huge offshore natural gas field Leviathan, an Energy Ministry spokeswoman said. Israel's energy minister said on Wednesday he reached a deal with Texas-based Noble Energy and Israel's Delek Group that will allow the firms to move forward with the field's development, hopefully bringing it online by the end of 2019. A ministry spokeswoman said the deal was approved at a weekly cabinet meeting. A previous agreement was struck down by Israel's Supreme Court, and the government hopes that new phrasing, which gives the state more leeway in handling future regulation, will stave off another court objection. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Tova Cohen) (Adds quotes, details) By Tife Owolabi YENAGOA, Nigeria, May 22 (Reuters) - A crude oil pipeline in Nigeria's southern state of Bayelsa operated by the local subsidiary of Italy's Eni was attacked on Sunday, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDC) said. The attack comes just days after President Muhammadu Buhari said he had heightened the military presence in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, where attacks in the last few weeks have driven the country's oil output to a more than 20-year low. Desmond Agu, a spokesman for the NSDC, a government agency, said the Agip pipeline was attacked in the early hours of Sunday, around 12:30 a.m. (2330 GMT Saturday). "A gang of armed youths ... vandalised pipeline along Azuzuama axis of the Tebidaba-Brass pipeline with dynamite and ignited fire on the line," he said, adding that one of the suspected attackers had been arrested. Eni, which operates in Nigeria through its subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company, could not be immediately reached to comment on the attack. Former militants have called for a halt to a resurgence of attacks in the Niger Delta, saying it is an unnecessary distraction for Buhari's administration. (Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram. Editing by Jane Merriman) By Steve Tongue LONDON (Reuters) - Jose Mourinho will be appointed Manchester United manager next week to replace Louis van Gaal despite Saturday's FA Cup final victory over Crystal Palace, British media have reported. The 53-year-old Portuguese will take over at United, according to the reports, even though Van Gaal, who steered United to a 2-1 extra-time win over Crystal Palace at Wembley, has a year left on his contract. Mourinho, sacked by Chelsea in December after his second spell in charge of the west London club, has also managed Porto, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. The Daily Telegraph reported on its website that the deal to bring Mourinho to Old Trafford was reached at the end of last week with an official announcement due in the next few days. The BBC ran the same story but added that some senior figures at United were known to have serious reservations about the prospect of appointing Mourinho, with some preferring Van Gaal's assistant, Ryan Giggs, as an alternative. Asked about his future at a news conference after the final, the Dutchman pointed at the FA Cup in front of him. "I show you the Cup," he said. "And I don't discuss it with my friends of the media, who already sacked me for six months. Which manager can do what I have done? I don't want to talk about leaving the club." REGULAR CRITICISM Van Gaal preferred to dwell on the positives from a season in which United won their first trophy since 2013 and brought in some promising young players but came one place lower in the Premier League, finishing fifth behind Manchester City on goal difference and missing out on the Champions League. There has also been regular criticism from the club's supporters about a style of play that brought only 49 goals in the Premier League -- their lowest total since 1989-90. "I said when I started that we were in transition," Van Gaal added. "I had to refresh my squad and I've done it. In spite of the many injuries this season we were still in the (Premier League) race and now we have lifted the Cup. That's a title. "I'm very proud that I'm the first manager after the period of Sir Alex Ferguson (to do it)." The defiant Dutchman suggested he was already planning new signings for next season. "Every year we want to improve. It is not so easy when United come for a player. When United come the price is double or much more." Whether he is given the chance to do so remains in serious doubt. (Editing by Ken Ferris and Toby Davis) SAO PAULO, May 20 (Reuters) - The nominee for chief executive of Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Pedro Parente, plans to keep his post as chairman of exchange operator BM&FBovespa SA if the companies see no conflict of interest. The plan, announced in a BM&FBovespa securities filing on Friday, followed news from the oil company, known as Petrobras, that its board would meet on Monday to discuss Parente's appointment. (Reporting by Brad Haynes) Poland's Prime minister Beata Szydo has been in office since 2015 (AFP Photo/Thierry Charlier) Warsaw (AFP) - Poland's rightwing Prime Minister Beata Szydlo vowed Friday that Warsaw would never bow to any EU ultimatum as her government pushed through a parliamentary resolution accusing Brussels of violating the country's sovereignty. Szydlo also charged that some members of the European Commission were trying to "destroy" the 28-member bloc, the latest broadside in a fiery dispute between Poland and Brussels. Poland is angry about a Commission deadline for Warsaw to reverse a controversial overhaul of the country's top court that has raised concerns about the rule of law, as well as EU demands for member states to take in refugees. The resolution adopted after a stormy debate in parliament blasts EU "attempts to impose decisions on Poland about migrants arriving in Europe". "These decisions have no basis in European law, they violate the sovereignty of our state as well as European values", the resolution said, insisting that "citizens' rights and freedoms are not at risk". It was pushed through by Szydlo's Law and Justice party (PiS) just five weeks ahead of a referendum on whether Britain will stay in the EU in the greatest challenge to the bloc's unity since its inception. Poland's rejection of refugees under an EU-wide plan to tackle Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War II has also chilled ties with Brussels. Szydlo dismissed the May 23 Commission deadline for Warsaw to make "significant progress" on rolling back legislation adopted in December that has paralysed the constitutional court by modifying its decision-making rules. "Poland will never succumb to any ultimatum," she said, adding: "There are some in the European Commission... who want to destroy the European Union rather than see it develop." - 'Burning bridges' - The EU's executive arm in January launched an unprecedented probe to see if the changes to the constitutional court -- seen by critics as endangering its independence -- violated EU democracy rules and merited punitive measures. Story continues Commission vice president Frans Timmermans has been empowered to adopt an "opinion" on the state of the rule of law if there is no action from Warsaw by Monday. If Warsaw fails to address the issues raised, it could eventually face a suspension of voting rights in the European council of ministers, the EU's most important decision-making body. However, Poland's regional ally Hungary is likely to torpedo any possible sanctions, which would require the unanimous approval of all 28 EU members. Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski revealed Friday in Brussels that Timmermans had agreed to "give Poland time" to implement "significant measures" proposed by Szydlo during a Tuesday telephone call. In Friday's parliamentary debate, leaders of Poland's liberal opposition Civic Platform blasted Szydlo for "desecrating the constitution" and "burning more bridges with Europe". An MP from the conservative Polish Peasants' Party went so far as to charge that the actions of her administration risked "civil war". Since taking office in November, the PiS government has pushed through several pieces of controversial legislation, including strengthening state control over public broadcasters and seeking to tighten already limited access to abortions. Earlier this month, around a quarter of a million Poles marched to defend their country's place in the European Union and protest against the PiS government's dismantling of democratic checks and balances. Freedom Party (FPOe) presidential candidate Norbert Hofer at a campaign rally in Vienna, on May 22, 2016 (AFP Photo/Joe Klamar) Vienna (AFP) - Austrians voted Sunday in a presidential runoff which could usher in the European Union's first far-right leader, fueled by anti-immigrant anger over Europe's worst post-war refugee crisis. A huge influx of asylum-seekers, growing unemployment and frozen reforms have left Austria deeply polarised and driven angry voters away from the centrist ruling coalition toward fringe groups. But Norbert Hofer of the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPOe) denied that he posed a risk as president. - 'Not a dangerous person' - "I am not a dangerous person," the FPOe star told reporters as he voted in his home town of Pinkafeld, in the eastern Burgenland state. For the first time since 1945, the president will not come from one of two main parties, prompting national media to warn of a political "tsunami". Instead, the showdown pits 45-year-old Hofer against the Green-backed economics professor Alexander van der Bellen, 72. Polling stations opened at 0500 GMT and first exit polls are expected at 1500 GMT. Final results will be announced on Monday after postal votes have been counted. They could prove a tie-breaker in the race, with close to 900,000 people -- or a record 14 percent of Austria's 6.4 million eligible voters -- casting their ballot by mail this year. Last month, Hofer -- a gun enthusiast left partially disabled after a paragliding accident -- comfortably beat his rival by 35 percent to 21 percent. Described as the FPOe's "friendly face", the far-right contender has pushed populist themes with a winning smile, steering clear of the inflammatory rhetoric used by party leader Heinz-Christian Strache. The more moderate tone paid off, earning the FPOe its best result at federal level and knocking candidates by the Social Democrats (SPOe) and the centre-right People's Party (OeVP) out of the race. But observers have warned that beneath Hofer's smooth image lurks a "wolf in sheep's clothing", who has already threatened to seize upon never-before-used presidential powers and fire the government if it fails to get tougher on migrants or boost the faltering economy. Story continues European leaders including European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker have also voiced concern at the turn of events in Austria. - 'Pest and cholera' - The two candidates cast their vote on Sunday morning: van der Bellen in Vienna, and Hofer in Pinkafeld, flanked by his wife and young daughter. Hofer said he hoped to get 52 percent of the vote, but added "it could be tight". On Friday, the far-right hopeful had shown himself confident of victory in his final public address. "I will be your new president," he told a jubilant crowd at the Viktor-Adler square in Vienna's Favoriten district, an FPOe stronghold. Van der Bellen, meanwhile, said on Sunday he was "cautiously optimistic" after casting his vote. The former Green leader previously warned that Austria was facing a "pathbreaking decision between a cooperative and an authoritative style". "I've experienced how Austria rose from the ruins of World War II, caused by the madness of nationalism," he said recently. Although he enjoys backing from many public figures including new Chancellor Christian Kern, van der Bellen has proven a divisive figure, with conservative Austrians accusing him of pandering to the left. "It's a choice between pest and cholera. Whoever wins, I will wake up on Monday to somebody whom I don't want to represent Austria," said a mother-of-two in her thirties, refusing to give her name, after casting her ballot in Vienna. "I've chosen the lesser evil, but it's a frustrating election," another voter, Astrid Meister, told AFP. - Lacklustre protests - Hofer's win would also pave the way for the FPOe to head the next government after parliamentary elections, scheduled for 2018. The party has tapped into public anger about growing inequality and the migrant crisis, which saw around 90,000 asylum-seekers arrive last year -- the second-highest number in the EU on a per-capita basis. Back in 2000, more than 150,000 people marched in the Austrian capital against the FPOe -- then led by the late, SS-admiring Joerg Haider -- after it entered a much-maligned coalition with the OeVP. The far-right power grab also prompted international sanctions and turned Austria into an EU pariah. But times have changed, with support for populist parties surging across the continent and anti-Hofer rallies only drawing small crowds. Americas brick-and-mortar retailers have reported dismal first-quarter sales, with many emphasizing consumers growing expectation to never pay full price. Even Walmart (WMT) whose 1% comparable store sales growth actually came in better than expectations emphasized the need for continued discounts. Were focused on making strategic investments to improve our position in the market and invest in price, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in the companys earnings call. It seems that consumers have become addicted to discounts and promotions and wont pay full price for anything they buy anymore. When you start tightening up in promotion, you are playing a game of chicken with your customers. And they try to wait you out. And so weve been playing that now for really the last quarter, Gap (GPS) CEO Arthur Peck said in a recent earnings call. In his round-up of earnings call highlights, Avondale's Scott Krisiloff points to Peck's comments as reflective of what has been especially plaguing retailers. In other words, promotions have become an addiction and consumers wont settle for anything less. And those promotions may be part of whats killing retail, at least according to those in that sector. The problem, as I see it, is more of a supply issue, especially in the apparel category. Simply put, America is overstored and overstocked. We have approximately 10 times more retail space per capita than our European counterparts and more direct-to-consumer choices, too, Urban Outfitters Chairman and CEO Richard Hayne said in his earnings call. Rather than trying to differentiate their products and experiences, Hayne added, many retailers try to drive demand by offering constant and ever-larger price promotions that erode not just the bottom-line, but brand equity as well. To avoid this outcome, Urban Outfitters brands are trying to draw customers in through the shopping experience rather than just through sales. The Urban brands have invested heavily in creative talent to make our products and shopping experiences unique and compelling, so demand isnt dependent solely on price-driven promotions, he said. The success of the Anthropologie large-format stores is one example of how to win through creativity. Story continues Retailers may be driven to keep discounting items just to keep up with their competitors, though. The competitive environment has become a lot more promotional. I think part of this is the result of the internet where every promotion happens across the country immediately, Macys (M) CFO Karen Hoguet said on the companys conference call. And also theres a lot of price-matching going on. Nordstrom (JWN) even sees price-matching as a necessity and not simply a strategic priority, the companys co-president and director Erik Nordstrom said on that companys earnings call. We do not look to price matching or price promotion in any way as being a big strategic lever and a way of driving our top line. We look at price matching as a customer respect and a customer trust issue: that when a customer comes to us, they know that theyre being treated fairly, he said. And we think the clearest way of doing that and what customers expect is not to pay more for a specific item when theyre shopping with us. Despite those intentions, sometimes discounting has actually hurt brands. Theres some big brands that we have that have had some precipitous declines. A lot of thats related to promotion and how thats adversely impacted that brand within our customers, Nordstrom added. And it doesnt look like this trend is going away anytime soon. Many of our competitors are sitting on meaningful excess inventory, which we expect will extend the very intense promotional environment into the months ahead, said Target (TGT) CEO Brian Cornell. Jabhat al-Nusra, Nusra Front Experts have been warning for a while now that Al Qaeda is still very much a presence as a jihadist group, posing perhaps an even bigger long-term threat than ISIS. And now, Al Qaeda is planning to challenge ISIS in its stronghold Syria. American and European officials told The New York Times recently that Al Qaeda has started moving veteran operatives to Syria as the group plans to escalate its fight with ISIS (also known as the Islamic State, ISIL, or Daesh), which operated under the Al Qaeda umbrella until the two groups split off and became rivals. And though ISIS has been grabbing most headlines with its gruesome propaganda machine and bold proclamations about building a "caliphate" that will take over the world, Al Qaeda has been quietly focusing on its strategy to be the last group standing when the dust settles. Al Qaeda is now "taking an opportunity off of what ISIS did" to make itself a main focus of the West's fight against terror, Ali Soufan, the CEO of strategic-security firm The Soufan Group, said earlier this month at a national-security conference at Fordham University in New York. "What ISIS did made so many people in the Muslim world think, 'Al Qaeda are the good guys. ISIS are the bad guys,'" said Soufan, a former FBI special agent who has investigated high-profile terror cases. "Even when you hear some people testifying on Capitol Hill that, 'It's OK. Let's support al-Nusra or let's support Ahrar al-Sham because they probably will fight ISIS' well al-Nusra is an official affiliate of Al Qaeda in Syria," he continued, referencing the group Jabhat al-Nusra, which is fighting ISIS for control of territory in Syria. While ISIS has made a show of its excessive violence through beheading videos and other propaganda distributed online in several languages Al Qaeda has been more cautious. The group holds the same brutal ideology to which ISIS subscribes, but it's been more patient with winning over the Syrian population. Story continues "You can see Al Qaeda taking advantage thinking strategically," Soufan said. "ISIS is not thinking strategically. ISIS is just doing crazy stuff, a lot of violence, trying to bring a lot of people in." And while ISIS has lured thousands to its territory with its violent advertising and declaration of the "caliphate," or pseudo-state ruled by a strict interpretation of Islamic law, recent reports indicate that fighter defections within the group are increasing and the flow of foreign fighters to ISIS territory has slowed. On top of that, the group has been losing territory without gaining much new land. "ISIS is becoming like a smoke screen. Were all looking at ISIS all the time. 'Oh, look, ISIS, they did a video, or they put out another thing of Dabiq,'" Soufan said, referring to the group's English-language online propaganda magazine. He added: "They are technically more advanced than Al Qaeda, but I think Al Qaeda is looking into the long term." Syria map Al Qaeda's strategy seems to be predicated on waiting for Syrians to slowly come around to the idea of Islamic rule. That lowers the chance of a successful uprising if Jabhat al-Nusra is able to establish Syria as an Islamic "emirate" land that would be controlled by the group and run under strict Islamic law, similar to ISIS' so-called caliphate. Charles Lister, a fellow at the Middle East Institute who has written a book on the insurgency in Syria, said at a recent event in Washington, DC, that Al Qaeda has sought to grow not just acceptance of its rule in Syria, but also support from the general population. He also assessed that Al Qaeda is playing a long game. "This is an organization that has spent the last five years growing durable, deep roots in Syrian opposition and revolutionary society," Lister said. "ISIS, on the other hand, has shallow roots. It hasnt deigned to acquire popular support it controls populations." Al Qaeda's emirate might now come sooner rather than later The Times reported that the Al Qaeda operatives being funneled into Syria have been told to start creating a headquarters in Syria and to lay the groundwork for establishing an emirate. The emirate would be in direct competition with ISIS. Eric Schmitt wrote in The Times that Al Qaeda establishing an emirate in Syria would mark a "significant shift." Al Qaeda has so far resisted declaring an emirate it's part of the group's long-term strategy to avoid acting too hastily before leaders feel confident that fighters could hold the territory they seize. Syrians on the ground seem to have been expecting this for a while. Ahmad al-Soud, the commander and founder of the Syrian rebel group Division 13, told Business Insider earlier this year that "Nusra's stated goal throughout all of Syria from when they first started until today is to turn Syria into an Islamic emirate." "They don't want any other armed group in Syria except for them, and they want to turn it into kind of what Afghanistan was under the Taliban," al-Soud said. "Once they ... get rid of all the other groups, [Jabhat al-Nusra] can finally duke it out between them and ISIS for who's the worst." Nusra Idlib Syria Schmitt notes in The Times that "establishing a more enduring presence in Syria would present the group with an invaluable opportunity" because it would "not only be within closer striking distance of Europe but also benefit from the recruiting and logistical support of fighters from Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon." With the collapse of the ceasefire in Syria, the timing might be good for Al Qaeda to increase its presence there. The ceasefire between the regime of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad and the rebels who oppose his rule never applied to terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS, but it allowed the Syrian government and its allies to focus its fire on jihadists rather than moderate rebels. Additionally, the West seems to have focused mostly on hitting ISIS in Syria US officials are emphasizing operations to drive ISIS out of its strongholds in Syria and Iraq and deprive them of more territory. The dysfunction in Syria provides the perfect vacuum for Al Qaeda to move in and exploit. Soufan explained: Al Qaeda's position is, "Let's create a lot of these vacuums where there is no strong government, and let's operate under a different name." Bin Laden actually, before he died, in his letters, he was telling Al Qaeda, "Do not use Al Qaeda's name. I do not want anyone to use Al Qaeda's name, because the moment you use Al Qaeda's name, the West and the locals are going to come and theyre going to beat you up." Al Qaeda has done this in Syria with Jabhat al-Nusra, which is always referred to as such rather than simply "Al Qaeda." NOW WATCH: A global intelligence analyst explains what makes ISIS so strong More From Business Insider Yemeni troops search a vehicle at a checkpoint in the south-eastern port city of Mukalla, in May 2016 (AFP Photo/-) (AFP/File) Kuwait City (AFP) - The Yemeni government delegation is to rejoin UN-brokered peace talks in Kuwait with Shiite rebels who control the capital, ending a four-day boycott, the UN special envoy said on Sunday. The hard-won negotiations on ending a conflict that has killed more than 6,400 people and driven 2.8 million from their homes since March last year have been interrupted by repeated boycotts by the government delegation since they opened on April 21. UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi had agreed to end the latest boycott after mediation by UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. Hadi's supporters had baulked at discussing rebel proposals for a unity government that they fear will sideline him and undermine his claim to international legitimacy. They insist that the talks should focus instead on enforcing an April 2015 UN Security Council resolution demanding the rebels' withdrawal from the capital and other territories they have overran since 2014. Foreign Minister Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi said on Twitter that the government had agreed to give the peace talks a "last chance." "We have fixed all the references. This is a first step on the path for a real peace that leads to implementing Resolution 2216 beginning with withdrawals, surrender of weapons and the restoration of state institutions," he said. Despite a 14-month-old Saudi-led military intervention in support of Hadi's government, the rebels and their allies still control many of Yemen's most populous regions, including the central and northern highlands and the Red Sea coast. WESTBOROUGH, MA--(Marketwired - May 16, 2016) - Zensar Technologies, a leading digital solutions and technology services company, has received a Service Excellence Award from Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.(CHKP). Check Point presented the award and recognized Zensar at the recent SecureWorld Boston conference. Check Point's Service Excellence Award is presented to partners that have gone above and beyond to champion Check Point products and services. The award also recognizes partner organizations which have demonstrated a commitment to excellence in the installation and support of Check Point products and services. Zensar has been a longstanding valued partner of Check Point since 1995, and is a Check Point 4-star Expert, Certified Support and MSP Partner. Zensar provides implementation and 24x7 support of Check Point's high performance solutions from our highly trained and certified Check Point security analysts. Zensar also offers an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) Mitigation service that is powered by Check Point. Sandeep Kishore, CEO and Managing Director, Zensar Technologies commented, "We value our partnership with Check Point and this recognition outlines our focus towards empowering global CIOs to meet emerging security threats. The security threat landscape is getting more complicated and sophisticated and a digital transformation roadmap is incomplete without adequate security preparedness." "We are honored to be recognized by Check Point as a partner exemplifying Service Excellence," said Patrick Zanella, AVP, Security, Compliance and Product Global Practice Head, Zensar Technologies. "The award showcases our strong technical ability and superb service capability that allows us to provide significant impact and become trusted advisors to our clients." "Check Point and Zensar have a long history of partnership and driving business value together that reflects the strength of the Zensar team and the value that we place on their experts," said John Norko, Director, Channel & Distribution Sales North America, Check Point. ""Zensar truly delivers a high level of performance and expertise for implementing and maintaining our solutions." Story continues Zensar partners with industry leading technology providers such as Check Point to deliver dynamic security solutions that are preventive, predictive and proactive to ensure the critical security and compliance of our client's infrastructure environments. Zensar offers a full suite of services and solutions all provided within a comprehensive security framework including Security Event Management; Vulnerability/Threat Assessments; Proactive Threat Analysis and Intelligence; Virtual Information Security Officer (VISO); PCI/HIPAA Assessments and Audits; and Governance Risk and Compliance. Learn more about Zensar's Security and Compliance Solutions. About Zensar (www.zensar.com) Zensar is a leading digital solutions and technology services company that specializes in partnering with global organizations across industries on their Digital Transformation journey. A technology partner of choice, backed by strong track-record of innovation; credible investment in Digital solutions; assertion of commitment to client's success, Zensar's comprehensive range of digital and technology services and solutions enable its customers to achieve new thresholds of business performance. Zensar, with its experience in delivering excellence and superior client satisfaction through myriad technology solutions, is uniquely positioned to help them surpass challenges around running their existing business most efficiently, helping in their legacy transformation, and planning for business expansion and growth through innovative and digital ways. Follow Zensar via: Zensar Blog: http://www.zensar.com/blogs Twitter: https://twitter.com/Zensar LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zensar-technologies Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Zensar YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Zennovation Safe Harbor Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, withdrawal of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company. 2000 - 2022 24 .- . focus-news.net, () . 24 . 24 . . 24 . We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. Grassroots Conservatives in Canada are angry at their party.They're angry at the way their party lost last fall's election.They're angry that former leader Stephen Harper abused the power of the leader's office.They're even angry that millions of dollars they donated were wasted on a computer system screwup at party HQ.And they're ready to do something about it.More than 3,000 party members in ridings from Victoria to St. John's have put forward dozens of proposals to change their party's constitution. If passed at the party's biennial convention next weekend in Vancouver, they will radically reshape the relationship between more than 100,000 of card-carrying Conservatives and their leader, party president, and governing council.A 25-page package of proposed changes is filled with comments submitted by electoral district associations (EDAs) in support of those proposed changes. They are sharply critical of the way the party was run under Harper and its president of the last six years, John Walsh.The riding association in South Surrey-White Rock specifically singled out Harper and the party leadership for ignoring policies, adopted by unanimously by the members, to treat Afghanistan veterans better. Instead, the Conservative government started taking veterans to court.The same two associations were also sharply critical of Harper for naming one of his long-time aides, Dimitri Soudas, as the party's executive director. Soudas would end up getting dismissed for interfering in a nomination contest with this then-girlfriend and MP Eve Adams. Adams, too, would get disqualified by the party and she and Soudas bolted for the Liberals."The leader's pick ... was an absolute disaster," the two EDAs write in their submission.And while there is no term limit for any federal politician, there is a proposal to place an eight-year term limit on any future Conservative leader who might become prime minister.The obvious frustration and anger from so many riding associations stands to make for a slightly awkward convention opening Thursday night: The celebration of the one and only leader the party has ever known, Stephen Harper.While Harper has declined all media requests for interviews since the election, sources close to him say he was reluctant to be feted at this convention. But he is said to have agreed to participate in an opening night celebration so long as it focuses on the accomplishments of the entire party during his decade in leadership. Locutus said: related: Michael's Frank Herbert warned us that "Governments, if they endure, always tend increasingly towards aristocratic forms. No government in history has been known to evade this pattern". We've gotten to that point in Canada where the entire function of Government is to act exclusively in the interests of the ruling class. Recent examples....related: Michael's Quote of the Week comes from from Ayn Rand and is particularly pertinent considering today's political shenanigans in Ottawa and Washington Click to expand... You have excluded gals. This genderization of language has to be curbed. My comment was gender inclusive and as such politically correct. I really wish the modulators would get on you types who perpetuate such old fashioned stereotypical discriminations. You're not helping to build the brave new world you know.I'm quite sure that we have not just "gotten to that point" and that Ayn Rand never had an original thought enter her head. While it may certainly have become more apparent owing to enhanced communication it is nevertheless as old as the written word. Of course our early educations would have left us in a state to now be surprised by revelations of government largesse unearned. Of course the figures mentioned in the vid are shocking nontheless. Certainly the ammounts must have been supplied for aquizition of some product or outcome. I wonder what it could be? I think it a strong indication of the troubled waters ahead where government continuity will be tested, perhaps the extra cash could be viewed as fly paper or legislative glue to bind members to what might be seen as unpopular warlike policies.The insertion of upcoming policy might indeed be lubricated by increased office supply. The likely killing of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansur in a U.S. drone strike in southwestern Pakistan has attracted attention to Islamabad and its longstanding covert alliance with the Afghan Taliban. But less attention is being paid to budding relations between the hard-line Sunni insurgent movement and Irans clerical establishment. A well-placed Afghan source has confirmed to RFE/RLs Gandhara website that Mansur was targeted on the afternoon of May 21 after returning from Iran earlier that day. Mansur and his driver were killed on the outskirts of Ahmad Wal town on the main highway connecting Quetta, the capital of Pakistans southwestern Balochistan Province, to Iran. Ahmad Wal is nearly 500 kilometers or a five-hour drive from the Taftan border crossing between Pakistan and Iran. According to Pakistani media reports, one of the passengers killed in the attack bore a Pakistani passport with the name Wali Muhammad. The Afghan source said Muhammad was a pseudonym of Mansurs. Indeed, the photo on the passport closely resembles Mansur. Pakistani officials, meanwhile, are investigating the passport and identity of the driver and passenger killed in the drone strike. Pakistans ARY News TV reported that the driver was identified as Muhammad Azam, who used to ferry passengers from Taftan to Quetta in his taxi. The report said Azams partially burned remains had been handed over to his relatives on May 22. Pakistani media reports suggested Pakistani immigration stamps on Muhammads passport showed he went into Iran in in late March and returned on May 21. Islamabad, however, denounced the U.S. drone strike believed to have killed Mansur. A Pakistani foreign office statement on May 22 said the drone strike was a violation of its sovereignty. A person named Wali Muhammad, son of Shah Muhammad, carrying a Pakistani passport and I.D. card, entered Pakistan from [Iran through the] Taftan border, the statement noted. His passport bore a valid Iranian visa. The Afghan source said deepening covert cooperation between Tehran and the Afghan Taliban under Mansur seemed to be driven by threats posed by the emergence of the Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan since early 2015. The emergence of IS is the main reason [for their cooperation], he said. But Iran has stakes in Afghanistan, and if it can gain some influence over the Taliban, why wouldnt it? The source said Tehran is keen on keeping the Taliban from becoming a close ally of its regional archrival, Saudi Arabia. Irans relations with the Taliban can fit every possible game and strategy for Tehran, he said. In recent months, Afghan sources claimed that after capturing large swaths of rural territories in Afghanistan after the end of NATOs combat mission in 2014, the Taliban have reached out to Iran and Russia to break free from their reliance on Pakistani financing and sanctuaries. Indeed, the Taliban have systematically eliminated IS cells in Afghan provinces bordering Iran or in close proximity with the Iranian border. The Talibans relations with Islamabad, however, have meanwhile deteriorated. Many were surprised when Sartaj Aziz, a foreign affairs adviser to the Pakistani prime minister, stated in March that Islamabad has some influence over them [the Taliban] because their leadership is in Pakistan. Afghan officials then asserted that after denying the Talibans presence in its territory, Pakistan was keen on asserting its control over the Afghan insurgents because the Taliban were increasingly slipping away from Islamabads control. Several informed sources suggested Mansurs targeting inside Pakistan was made possible by a tip from the countrys security services, who have long nurtured Taliban and other extremists to promote Pakistani interests in Afghanistan and other neighboring countries. The Afghan source said Pakistan seems to have helped Washington in targeting Mansur in Balochistan, where an Afghan Taliban safe haven has been immune from U.S. drone strikes that have killed hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders in the neighboring Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Pakistani intelligence seems to have delivered this to the U.S. in exchange for easing up on F-16s [fighter aircrafts], other aid, and relieving the overall pressure from Washington, the source said. Earlier this month, U.S. senators dubbed Pakistan a frenemy and barred U.S. financing for a $700 million deal with Lockheed Martin that would see eight F-16 fighter jets and other equipment sold to Pakistan. Last week, the House of Representatives passed a defense budget that tied $450 million in aid to Islamabad to a crackdown on the Talibans deadly military wing, the Haqqani network. fg/ Pakistan has denounced a U.S. drone attack believed to have killed Afghan Taliban Leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur as a violation of its sovereignty. "On late Saturday 21st May, 2016, the United States shared information that a drone strike was carried out in Pakistan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area," in which Mansur was targeted, Pakistans Foreign Office said in a statement. The May 22 statement said the U.S. did not inform Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif before conducting the strike on Pakistani soil. "This information was shared with the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff after the drone strike, the statement said. The strike was the first ever known U.S. drone strike in Balochistan, where the Taliban leadership is believed to be based. The Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, has said that Mansur was killed in the attack. The U.S. has not issued an official confirmation. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the United States was studying the results of the attack. Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP ge CEDAR RAPIDS The Panama Papers leaked documents from a Panama-based law firm that sets up anonymous shell companies for clients may provide a spark for legislation Sen. Chuck Grassley says will increase corporate transparency. Transparency brings accountability. You get back to something thats pretty basic to everything I do in government, said Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Along with Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse he is co-sponsoring the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act that would ensure the disclosure of beneficial owners in the United States. The Panama Papers, the result of an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 100 news outlets, illustrate the use of shell corporations by wealthy individuals, politicians and businesses to hide legal activities. The tool is used to avoid, well, I dont know whether it would be just taxes or a lot of things other than taxes, Grassley said. Who knows about the underworld being involved, money laundering and I dont know how many other things. When Iowa Citizen Action Network in Des Moines hosted a two-day seminar on the subject it attracted representatives of the faith community, small business and law enforcement. Much of their concern was the use of shell companies in human and drug trafficking, said Sue Dinsdale, ICAN executive director. Ive been working on this for the past couple of years, Dinsdale said. It never gets a lot of traction because its not real exciting. But the Panama Papers got people thinking and brought this to the forefront. Part of the problem is that people think about it as something that happens somewhere else, Dinsdale said. According to an academic study, its easier to set up an untraceable shell corporation in the United States than any country other than Kenya. Its easier for corporations to incorporate and have shadow corporations than to get a library card in a lot of places, Dinsdale said. Some of the stiffest opposition to his legislation has come from the business associations that argue that maybe people ought to be able to do business without you knowing who youre doing business with, Grassley said. Im not sure I can accept that. Neither does he accept the argument by secretaries of state that the changes required by his proposed legislation will be costly. All they have to do is rewrite a form, he said. What were after is pretty simple. If you set up a corporation we ought to know whos running the corporation. The information Grassley is after currently is available through the Treasury Department, according to Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, the co-chairman of the National Association of Secretaries of State. He suspects the problem is that Congress is frustrated with the IRS and doesnt have a lot of confidence in it. Because states have different incorporation processes and tax laws, Pate said the federal legislation would be costly to states and businesses. Were trying to streamline government and this will be more red tape, he said. We share the same goal integrity, Pate said. Theres no way we want anyone to be able to hide behind a corporate veil. (The information) is there if we utilize whats already been collected. We need to learn to share. Grassley admits the prospects for his legislation are not good this year, but said if theres no action he will try again when the new Congress convenes in January. DES MOINESIowa Republicans worked Saturday to salve the bruises of bare-knuckle fight for the partys presidential nomination by rallying around a unifying cry of Never Hillary heading to the 2016 political battlefield. The 1,555 delegates who attended the GOP state convention cheered their elected officials and selected party members to represent them at the July national convention who generally backed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz but now plan to support Donald Trump as the partys presumptive presidential standard-bearer in the 2016 election. Its going to take us all working together as a united party in November so Hillary Clinton never sets a foot in the White House, Gov. Terry Branstad told the delegates from Iowas 99 counties who packed the Varied Industries building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. We need to support Donald Trump and his choice for vice president because he will make America great again, added the six-term governor who called Clinton the ultimate political insider who would carry on the failed liberal policies of the Obama administration. U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, a Red Oak Republican who has been mentioned as a possible Trump running mate, said she sensed her party members are excited and energized over the prospects of taking back the White House, re-electing U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and scoring victories up and down the 2016 ticket. She said is critical the party rally together now toward a common goal after a divisive nominating battle. I have heard a number of folks say: I will not support this candidate; I will not support that candidate; never this person; never that person, Ernst said during her convention address. But I tell you what, folks. Weve got to come together, because you know what my motto is going to be this year? Never Hillary. Never. U.S. Rep. Steve King, a Kiron Republican who supported Cruz for president, was one of the Republicans who acknowledged a divide in the party, telling the assemblage he is working with the Trump people in hopes of convincing likely GOP presidential candidate to embrace stances important to constitutional conservatives. Im concerned and were working in the direction to restore the influence and expand the influence of the constitutional conservatives. This is a constitutional conservative party, said King, who told reporters he is feeling good about our party and hoped to iron out difference by the time Republicans hold their national convention in Cleveland in July. Tamara Scott, who was re-elected Saturday along with Steve Scheffler as GOP national committee members, said the differences may be a little intense among our own but she stressed that the party is not in a civil war as it approaches a fierce battle with Democrats in the general election. Grassley touted a new direction in his convention appearance where he was greeted with a standing ovation for his fight to block Obamas Supreme Court nominee. He said Americans cant afford four more years of excessive federal taxation, regulation and spending and thats what theyre going to get if Hillarys elected. Grassley said he expects a tough re-election campaign in which Im going to have millions of dollars in negative money spent on me. That is going to force him to produce more resources and work harder, wiser and smarter. Im going to be running my own campaign, Grassley said in an interview. Im not going to be running from Trump. Im going to be agreeing with Trump sometimes, Im going to be disagreeing sometimes and thats just the way that our constitutional system was to operate. Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, called Saturdays event another step toward unity in a process that is unfolding in stages. Were never going to have 100 percent unity, said Kaufmann. We didnt have unity for Ronald Reagan in 1980 that was a long, long process as well. We are a lot farther ahead than I thought we would be at this point and I will guarantee you we are a heck of a lot further ahead than the lady under federal investigation and the socialist. Theyre going to have mud-wrestling here at the Democratic convention. One Democrat, Tom Hill, 68, a retired ironworker from Cedar Rapids who said he previously had attended 11 Democratic state conventions and supported Bill and Hillary Clinton, said he switched parties to support Trump but was disappointed by the GOP process which approved a slate of 15 Republicans to the national convention many who backed Cruz in the Iowa caucuses that he felt snubbed the Trump delegates. I wanted to make sure that Trump got a delegate. Im here today really irritated about this, Hill told reporters. They snow-stormed this whole thing all the way through. They didnt give Trump his fair share of delegates. They shafted him. But Tana Goertz, a Trump senior adviser in Iowa, said she supported the unity slate that was approved at Saturdays proceedings, noting that a majority have already come over and are Trump supporters so it will not be a contested convention in Cleveland as previously thought. Cruz is out. That partys over, Goertz said. They can vote for Donald Trump or they can vote for Hillary Clinton, and everybody in here wants to vote for Donald Trump. Iowa GOP rules stipulate the 30 delegates at the national convention must vote based on the outcome of the Iowa caucuses, meaning that Cruz will get eight delegate votes at the Feb. 1 Iowa winner, Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio each will get seven votes, fourth-place finisher Ben Carson will get three and Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul and John Kasich each will get one delegate vote from Iowa. CEDAR RAPIDS According to Bill Clinton, by and large, almost all elections are about the future. As much as the candidates in the Iowa U.S. House 1st District primary say their race is about the future, Pat Murphy and Monica Vernon spend a lot of time talking about each others past. Murphy repeatedly pokes at Vernon for being a registered Republican until 2009 and suggests switching her registration was more of a political calculation than a reflection of her embrace of Democratic principles. Its not just a label, but a representation of what you believe fighting for the middle class, raising the minimum wage, and protecting Social Security and Medicare, says Murphy campaign manager Mike McLaughlin. Those are Democratic values and ideas that Pat has fought for. Likewise, Vernon repeatedly questions Murphys commitment to a womans access to abortion, suggesting women cant trust him when it comes to their reproductive choices. Its time he owns his record, says Vernon campaign manager Michelle Gajewski. Hes spent a lot of time hiding from his anti-choice record of votes against womens access. That tells me he cant be trusted. During his 24-year legislative career voters trusted him to support a state Lily Ledbetter law, making Iowa the first state to require equal pay for equal work, increase the child care tax credit, require insurance coverage for newborns and prevent insurers from denying contraceptive coverage, and protect abortion rights for women regardless of where they live in Iowa, according to his campaign The Vernon campaign shoots back with Murphys role in forming a Dubuque County pro-life organization and his 100 percent rating from Iowa Right to Life. He has a 0 percent rating from Planned Parenthoods political action committee. His record is one of votes against womens access, Gajewski says. I dont know if hes changed. Vernon has been clear about why she changed parties, but I dont know if hes changed, Gajewski adds. Its clear hes been pro-choice longer than Vernon has been a Democrat, McLaughlin counters. The truth is that Pat is pro-choice, and when he was speaker of the House he defended the right to choose, McLaughlin says. In the legislature Pat worked hard to protect tele-medicine and funding for Planned Parenthood. Pat was doing all of this while Monica was still supporting and donating to pro-life Republicans. In the past Pat has been endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood political fund, he adds. Vernon and Murphy do spend time talking about jobs and trade, making farmers pay to clean up the water supply, protecting Security and Medicare and making college affordable. However, time and again especially in their debates the Democratic hopefuls return to the past. Its not clear whether the history lessons are benefiting either candidate. Gajewski says Democratic primary voters simply dont care that Vernon switched parties. We talk to voters every single day, she says. They care about Social Security, college affordability, jobs and training and how she would improve the economy not that she used to be a Republican. McLaughlin disagrees. When Pat call primary voters, it is a big issue, he says. They see Pat as someone who can be trusted because he has record of getting these things done. He has the longest, most extensive record of doing these things. Its his record on abortion rights that Vernon is aiming at. Along with Emilys List, her campaign says he has repeatedly supported backdoor attempts to restrict abortions, such as requiring parental choice and imposing waiting periods for women seeking abortion. That takes added importance this year, Gajewski says, because of efforts at the state and federal levels to defund Planned Parenthood, which, in addition to providing abortions, offers breast cancer screening and other health services. These are real issues here for women, Gajewski says. His votes have taken away access. Vote after vote has been to restrict a womans ability to make decisions about her health care. When Iowas women needed Murphy to stand up for them, he was not there, she says. With people talking about rolling back the clock on abortion rights we couldnt possibly have enough people in Congress standing up for women." Politicians bend the truth. All politicians spin the facts. But Donald Trump is mounting an audacious experiment in mendacity: How brazenly can a candidate lie and get away with it? Consider the bizarre (and, in any other context, comical) events of recent days. The Washington Post published a 1991 audiotape with the voice of a man who sounded uncannily like Trump, but he identified himself as "John Miller," a Trump spokesman. In the recording, Miller told People magazine that Trump, newly divorced, was fending off a surfeit of girlfriends (not counting Madonna, in whom Miller said Trump had "zero interest"). When the 2016 candidate was asked about the 1991 tape, his denial was absolute. "It was not me on the phone," he told NBC. Not only that, "I don't know anything about it. You're telling me about it for the first time." Yet, back in 1991, Trump admitted it was him on the phone. People printed his apology back then for what he called a joke that went awry. And that wasn't Trump's first brush with pseudonymity. In a 1990 court case, he testified under oath that he also made phone calls under the name of "John Barron," the Post reported. A trivial controversy? Not really, because it fits into a rich pattern of whoppers and falsehoods -- often followed by equally bogus denials. Trump fibs so often that the fact-checking website Politifact awarded him its 2015 "Lie of the Year" award for his entire body of work, a lifetime achievement award for prevarication. He's lied about small things and large. He's lied so many times that some of his falsehoods are famous in their own right: His assertion that he watched Muslims cheer as the World Trade Center collapsed and his charge that the Mexican government deliberately sends criminals across the U.S. border. Bizarrely, he has lied about statements that are easy to check. In January, he denied a report that he had called for a 45 percent tariff on imports from China. "It's The New York Times; they're always wrong," he said. The Times published the tape; "Forty-five percent," Trump said. In March, when asked if he would reject the support of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, Trump said: "I just don't know anything about him." That was nonsense; in 2000, Trump publicly denounced Duke as a racist. On foreign policy, Trump says he'd be a better president than Hillary Clinton because he opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 2011 war in Libya. But that's not true: Trump publicly supported those wars before they started. Even when he's not exactly lying, Trump often shows little regard for consistency. His claims about his economic proposals _ the heart of his bid for the presidency _ make no sense at all. If there are undecided voters out there, fact-checking could help them decide not to vote for Trump (although it wouldn't guarantee that they'd vote for Clinton). Trump has called for a gigantic tax cut that would reduce federal revenue by an estimated $10 trillion over 10 years. His campaign says the tax cut would produce an economic boom, generate $7 trillion in new revenue, and wipe out the federal deficit. He doesn't seem to have noticed that $7 trillion (the new revenue) is smaller than $10 trillion (the added deficit, piled atop the existing deficit). Will any of this matter? It's true that Trump's likely Democratic opponent has had problems with credibility too. Some polls suggest that voters consider Trump the least honest candidate in the race, but others give that honor to Hillary Clinton. Still, say what you like about Clinton, she plays by traditional rules. She doesn't deny her past statements when they're on tape. It's also true that media fact-checking exposes (like this one) don't always work. Political scientists have long noted that partisan voters are hard to shake from their allegiances, no matter what the facts. They call it "motivated reasoning," the tendency of people to disbelieve arguments that challenge their beliefs (Democrats practice it as well as Republicans). Brendan Nyhan of Dartmouth College has even found that fact-checking makes some voters more committed to their candidate, not less _ a phenomenon he calls the "backfire effect." But Trump's cost-free dissembling may be coming to an end, Nyhan told me via email. "It didn't hurt him in the Republican primary race, but he's heading into the general election with the worst favorable/unfavorable ratings ever," Nyhan wrote. If there are undecided voters out there, he said, fact-checking could help them decide to not vote for Trump (although it wouldn't guarantee that they'd vote for Clinton). The question, he added, is how much fact-checking the media will do from here on out. "It's unclear how much critical news coverage Trump's falsehoods will attract. To what extent is it even considered news when he says something inaccurate at this point?" This campaign will be a test of Trump's own advice from his 1987 bestseller -- and it really was a bestseller, no lie -- "The Art of the Deal": "You can't con people, at least not for long. You can create excitement, you can do wonderful promotion and get all kinds of press, and you can throw in a little hyperbole. But if you don't deliver the goods, people will eventually catch on." Like you, I have struggled, because there are good points on all sides. However, after research and listening to citizens, I have come to some conclusions about the Prestage Foods of Iowa proposal that might be of interest to others: In hindsight, it would have been better to slow the process down, engage in additional dialogue, anticipate concerns and address them immediately. I regret and am sorry for my part in not handling this as well as I should have.There wont be a vote to reconsider the development agreement that was defeated on a tie vote because it was not placed on the agenda for the May 17 meeting. A new and perhaps better proposal could be put forward on this or any project by the mayor, city administrator or a council member. If that were to occur, it would follow the normal process of being published in advance on an agenda and public hearings would be held. The people of Mason City are not racists or kooks. People of goodwill on all sides of the issue love our community deeply and want only the best for it. A substantial amount of factually incorrect information has been advanced on social media. I know because some of it has been directed at me, which makes me question other assertions that are presented as fact on social media. To set the record straight, since my vote, I have not been lobbied by the governor or Rep. King. Nor have I been offered any bribes or received job offers. With regard to possible odor caused by the plant, I do not think it would be an issue. The closest neighborhood is a mile away and Prestage planned to have state-of-the art odor control measures. As for impact on the Jordan Aquifer where we get our drinking water, I consulted water expert Greg Lee, Mason Citys former water superintendent. He says the water is deep underground and plentiful. Also, Prestage would pre-treat all waste water before it entered our water treatment system. The use of growth hormones and antibiotics for growth is banned by the federal government in pork production. In addition, not a single case of human MRSA infection has ever been reported in the United States related to pork production, according to research done by the University of Minnesota. Also, Mercy Hospital CEO Dan Varnum supports this project. As for concerns about bringing outside workers, this is possible. However, Prestage is a family-owned and -run company that prides itself in creating good working conditions with full-time jobs, health care and retirement benefits that lead to worker retention. The proposed plant would be the most high-tech in the world, with some of the traditionally difficult jobs done by robots. Training for technical jobs could be done at NIACC. The first phase would employ just 900 workers, with future expansions subject to City Council approval. If more students enrolled in our schools, we would qualify for more state funding per child. Also, Prestage had offered to donate $140,000 annually to our schools. There is an excess of pigs in this area, which is why Prestage wants to locate here. It has no plans to build hog-confinement facilities or purchase hogs from others who build hog confinements within a 2.5-mile radius of Mason City and Clear Lake. No money from city taxpayers would go to the plant. Half of the new taxes owed by the plant for the first 10 years would be forgiven by the city, with Prestage paying $1.8 million in new property taxes annually. The bulk of it would go to schools and local government. City Administrator Brent Trout says the new revenue would allow Mason City to reduce property taxes and water rates. Truck traffic through town would not increase because trucks would be directed to use the Avenue of the Saints. Common sense and experience tells me that if Mason City turns down $15 million in economic development assistance, the state could begin to question our need for assistance on other critical projects. As for what the majority of citizens think, I have come to believe that many people are confused by the two opposing vocal viewpoints. A Bloomberg News article said that the Internet creates a sense of universality that makes it easy to think your bubble is more representative than it actually is. I think thats true. I believe a silent majority wants their local elected officials to continue to listen, sift through the information, weigh the pros and cons, and do what they believe is right for the community as a whole. We are encouraged to see the Mason City Chamber of Commerce refusing to let the Prestage Farms proposal die a quick death. Too much was and remains at stake 1,700 jobs, a huge economic impact in our region, among others to let this go without another airing. The Mason City Council, via its 3-3 vote, turned down the agreement that would have brought the Prestage pork processing plant to Mason City. What seemed like a sure thing, with the governor and state economic development officials blessing, died a sudden, dramatic death. Or so it seemed. The Chamber of Commerce and North Iowa Corridor Economic Development Corp. will host a private meeting June 2 with the goal of bringing the proposed Prestage plant back to the council. Anderson said the meeting will share information so local leaders can make informed decisions. Some state heavyweights will be at the meeting, including Iowa Economic Development Authority Director Debi Durham, along with a representative from Prestage. That the meeting is being held at the Park Inn Hotel is symbolic because the hotel is the centerpiece of a program Vision Iowa that also was once thought dead, voted down twice by the City Council (which, we might add, was a far less visionary body than the current council). Yet the hotel stands today as a symbol of perseverance, drawing thousands of visitors each year. We brought Vision Iowa back to the table then, Anderson said. We think because of our experience with Vision Iowa, what we learned is sometimes you have to tweak it and bring it back for discussion. And discussion is all that can be asked at this point a point some proponents thought might never come. Why continue those discussions? Councilman Alex Kuhn was consistent in his opposition, saying the deal didnt provide enough back to the community the city, county, schools and other taxing entities. What if theres new information that would address Kuhns concerns? Would it be enough to make him change his mind? Or what if Prestage makes the development agreement terms more to his liking? Councilman Bill Schickel said the community wasnt totally behind the project, which he deemed essential. But at Tuesday nights City Council meeting, a number of people spoke in favor of the project. One said she was shocked to learn it had been defeated. Has Schickel heard enough or might he hear enough in future meetings to make him reconsider? That the citys two major business and industrial organizations feel strongly enough to want to continue the dialogue is encouraging. Certainly there will be complaints that the public is being excluded from this meeting. Anderson said thats because of the limited space at the Park Inn, and that the Chamber and EDC want to schedule more public meetings soon to share information and answer questions. This cant be an empty promise for the project to move forward: proponents must do everything possible to have more meetings with a similar lineup of officials in an appropriately-sized venue. The Prestage situation produced one of the more tumultuous periods in recent city history. Its hard to imagine that those who were opposed to the plant wont resurface with the same vigor they showed before. The Chamber and EDC hope new information will help ease some of that opposition. Whether it does, Mason City must not let this degrade into something that would cast any more negative light on our community. Certainly enough of that has taken place already, and its likely that with these new informational talks, even more attention will be paid to our community from the outside. In listening to comments pro and con over the past weeks, its clear no one wants to do harm to this community or this region. Its just that people have different views on what such a plant would bring. Thats why were encouraged that there will be more meetings and more information presented. We encourage open-mindedness and a healthy sharing of information and ideas. Take time to learn more and discuss the options, pitfalls, potential and ideas. By doing so, no matter what the final outcome will be, we will be perceived as a stronger community. And that will be most important as we go forward, with or without Prestage Farms. In April I was in favor of the Prestage hog processing plant. My endorsement at the time was based on fear and not my desire to have a hog processing plant in my town. I was irrationally thinking no other business would come to town if we pass the processing plant over. My thinking was flawed and made as much sense as accepting a marriage proposal from someone you dislike due to the fear that no one else will ask you. The six Mason City Council members are in charge of finding a life partner for our town. This life partner should be chosen on its own merits and not thoughts of past failures or the fear of the future. Our city should say yes to a business bringing high-quality jobs allowing workers to comfortably support their families. This business should have a pleasant work environment that encourages staff retention. This business should bring our community together. This business should enhance our schools. This business should enhance our surrounding rural areas. Can you honestly say Prestage will do any of these things? I encourage our council members to choose our life partner wisely. This is a lifetime commitment. Lorrie Lala, Mason City DURHAM, N.C., May 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Hope Animal Hospital of Durham, NC, recently welcomed a new veterinarian to the team. Dr. Beth Hraban recently joined veterinarians Dr. Soren Windram, Dr. Christine Bush and Dr. Robyn Hahn, bringing the number of veterinarians on staff up to four. "We couldn't be more pleased about welcoming Dr. Hraban to the team," said Dr. Windram. "She has the credentials and experience that are needed to deliver top-notch care to the pets of the residents of Durham, Chapel Hill and surrounding areas," he added. Residents of the area who bring their pets in for wellness exams and other services are sure to notice a new face over the next few months. Dr. Hraban grew up on a Nebraska farm, and she went on to earn her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Kansas State University in 2008. From there, she was accepted into a small animal surgery and medicine internship at Florida Veterinary Specialists in Tampa, FL, where she remained for five years. She then relocated to Raleigh in 2014. "I am excited to join Drs. Windram, Hahn and Bush in caring for the pets of Durham and Chapel Hill," said Dr. Hraban. "I look forward to meeting new patients and making them feel welcome," she added. As a full-service animal hospital, New Hope Animal Hospital offers a complete array of veterinary services. Their services address every stage of pets' lifespans, including vaccinations for newly adopted pets and senior care services for older pets. New Hope Animal Hospital offers emergency services six days a week as well. "We are here for pets and their families. Our animal hospital has seen all kinds of pet emergencies and we are well equipped to handle them, says Dr. Windram. Like other veterinarians on staff, Dr. Hraban will assist in delivering an assortment of services to dogs, cats and other pets. The hospital offers surgical services, and they offer dental veterinary care as well. "People don't often realize it, but pets' teeth need as much care as humans'," said Dr. Hraban. "I'm pleased to be joining a practice that promotes dental wellness in pets," she added. The hospital also offers pet boarding, which is nice for pets who are already familiar with the premises and the staff. There's an on-site pharmacy, so patients can get the medications that they need without having to make another trip. Further, the hospital team has easy access to an array of local veterinary specialists. "We are equipped to address any veterinary need imaginable," said Dr. Bush. New Hope Animal Hospital is located on Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard in Durham, NC. Area residents who require veterinary care for their pets are encouraged to contact the hospital at (919) 490-2000. Existing patients are also reminded to schedule wellness exams for their pets at their earliest convenience. Additional details about their full range of services can be found at http://www.nhah.com/. Advantage of 1 year programs over 2 year programs 1. An equivalent degree in half the time and cost. 2. The lost opportunity cost of not having a job for 2 year. 3. Despite the shortened academic experience, MBA employers tend to award one-year grads the same starting salaries they pay MBAs of two-year programs. In fact, several schools report that their one-year MBAs make slightly more than graduates of their traditional programs, largely the result of differences in work experience. Advantage of 2 year programs over 1 year programs 1. Losing out on the summer internship which is almost a yardstick of recruitment. 2. Losing out on networking and socializing with future co-workers. 3. 2 year programs almost always are less than 2 years in tenure by a couple of months at least. 3. Limited number of schools offering the one year MBA program. 4. One major distinction between most of the one-year U.S. programs and the European MBAs is that the U.S. versions generally require a business undergraduate degree and/or a bunch of core prerequisites. The Best One-Year MBA Programms in the U.S. School Tution Fees Intake Northwestern(Kellogg) $80,453 100 Cornell(Johnson) $86,336 45 Emory(Goizueta) $65,991 48 USC(Marshall) $80,116 58 Notre Dame(Mendoza) $61,600 65 Boston University $71,006 27 Babson(Olin) $69,686 78 Thunderbird $70,007 NA Florida(Hough) $40,130 NA Pittsburgh(Kaiz) $53,825 NA Pepperdine(Graziado) $62,363 10 Willamette(Atkinson) $30,306 NA Source: Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of Management Comparing Kellogg's MBA Programme MBA Costs One-Year Two Year Tution $75,400 $113,100 Room & Board $20,948 $31,422 Books & Supplies $2,196 $3,294 Travel $1,772 $2,658 Personal $4,200 $6,300 Health Insurance $3,553 $5,684 Computer Fee $1,200 $1,200 Activity Fee $300 $450 Loan Fee $2,144 $3,600 Total Programme Costs $111,713 $167,708 1. Its the highest ranked US Business school which offers a One Year Program. 2. Median GMAT score of 2011 class was 700, with 700-740 being the scores of 43% of the class. 3. Average age is 28 and Average WE is 5 years. 4. Diverse student pool, including engineers, doctors, physicians, lawyers and journalists. 5. Students complete core coursework before showing up at Kellogg and then focus on advanced electives in 18 different areas of study. 6. Completion of courses such as accounting, finance, marketing, statistics, operations, economics, and organizational behavior are mandatory. 7. Kellogg accepts undergrad programs in community colleges but not online degrees. 8. Recruitment process, however more challenging for one year students, are essentially similar for both 1 year and 2 year programs.. Cornell Universitys Johnson Graduate School of Management Comparing Cornell's MBA MBA Costs One Year Two Year Tution $86,336 $109,206 Room & Board $16,250 $25,000 Books & Supplies $1,650 $2,200 Travel Allowance $1,000 $2,000 Personal $6,320 $9,720 Health Insurance $2,622 $4,100 Computer $2,000 $2,000 Total Programme Costs $116,178 $154,226 1. High degrees in quant fields are required of applicants. 2. Concentrations are optional, but available to help position students for their post-MBA goals. 3. Courses are shared between the 2 year and 1 year programs. 4. Average GPA: 3.56; Average GMAT score: 710; Median WE is 4 years. 5.Cornell reports that 97% of the Class of 2012 that sought job offers received them. The average reported base salary $106,400 and the average signing bonus of $17,600 compares favorably with graduates of Cornells two-year MBA program ($103,600 base and $23,200 signing bonus). Poets and Quants, Official Websites. University of Southern California Marshall School of Business Comparing Marshall's MBA Costs One-Year Two-Year Tution Fees $89,800 $110,000 Room & Board $22,000 $44,000 Total Programme Costs $111,800 $154,000 1. If youre a bit older with several years of work experience, another attractive one-year option is the University of Southern Californias IBEAR (International Business Education and Research) program. 2. Launched in 1978, the program now has more than 1,500 graduates in more than 50 countries around the world. 3. The program draws a heavy contingent of international students, mainly from Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The latest entering class of 54 students, for example, includes 11 from the U.S., a dozen from Korea, nine from Japan, seven from Taiwan, and five from China. Women make up under 20% of the enrolled students. 4. Average GMAT score: 620 University of Notre Dames Mendoza College of Business Comparing Mendonza's MBA MBA Costs One-Year Two-Year Tution $61,600 $90,200 Room & Board $13,950 $18,600 Books & Supplies $2,350 $3,150 Health Insurance $2,925 $3,900 Personal $4,875 $6,500 Fees $850 $850 Total Programme Costs $86,550 $123,200 1. Participation in 2 week international immersion in either Beijing and Shanghai, China, or Santiago, Chile, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2. Notre Dames typical intake of one-year students is about 65 a year. Some 29% of the Class of 2012 was composed of women, with only 6% international (much lower than most other programs). The average age of a one-year MBA here is 27, with an average five years of work experience. 3. During what the school calls inter term intensives, MBA students also can analyze and offer solutions for real-life problems presented by executives from large global organizations, including Adidas, Boeing, GE, Hewlett-Packard, McDonalds, Nestle, OfficeMax, Pace Global Energy Services, Starbucks and Walgreens. F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College Comparing Babson's MBA Programme MBA Costs One-Year Two Year Tution $75,400 $113,100 Room & Board $20,948 $31,422 Books & Supplies $2,196 $3,294 Travel $1,772 $2,658 Personal $4,200 $6,300 Health Insurance $3,553 $5,684 Computer Fee $1,200 $1,200 Activity Fee $300 $450 Loan Fee $2,144 $3,600 1. Babsons accelerated one-year MBA program requires what the school calls a substantial academic background in business. 2. The school, long known as a top place to study entrepreneurial thinking, brings in nearly 80 students a year to its one-year program, about half the size of its more traditional two-year MBA. 3. A high percentage of one-year students46%are from outside the U.S., making the student body more global than most. 4. The average GMAT score for one-year students is 589, 15 points higher than Babsons evening students but a bit lower than the 616 for the two-year class. Students have an average five years of work experience, exactly the same as Babsons two-year MBA candidates. 5. The program allows students to take on a concentration in one of several fields, including corporate finance, global management, investments, life sciences and healthcare, or marketing. P.S. If you have any suggestions for this thread, please PM me. _________________ We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today An adorable 22-year-old capuchin monkey was taken from a Long Island home after authorities found its owner had been keeping it as a pet without a permit. ABC reports that on Friday, a tipster notified the Suffolk County SPCA and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation about the monkey, which had been confined to a Brentwood home. Chief Roy Gross of the SPCA said the monkey was taken to a licensed wildlife facility Sunday, and appears to be in good health. via Suffolk County SPCA You cant legally own a primate in New York State without a special license, Gross told Newsday. They look adorable, but can be very dangerous and inflict serious wounds and spread disease. Capuchins are native to Central and South America, and can live up to 50 years. They can also harbor infectious diseases and inflict serious harm if they become violent. The monkeys owner was charged with illegally possessing an animal. Lifestyle 5 lifestyle changes to keep sickness at bay You don't have to run or play, just walk for 30 minutes and you'll see changes in your life. It helps you in strengthening bones and boosts muscles. Starting small with a daily walk is the best way to do so. Broaden your expertise, enhance patient care, and never worry about another license requirement again with Elite Passport Membership. Available across ten healthcare professions in a variety of options to suit your career goals, Passport Membership propels your career advancement and offers exceptional value to healthcare providers. Names and faces Four individuals were recently recognized by the Helena Association of Realtors for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to the association and to the community. Debra Smith, of Windermere Real Estate, was named 2016 Realtor of the Year; Debbie Starr, of Windermere Real Estate, was honored with the 2016 Realtor Community Involvement Award; Kris Roberts, of Stockman Bank, was awarded the 2016 Affiliate Community Involvement Award; and Freda Wilkinson, of Big Sky Brokers, was honored with the 2016 Memorial Scholarship Award. *** Whalen Tire has promoted Mason Klingler to assistant manager. Klingler will be responsible for overseeing daily sales, customer service, and training and supervising employees. Klingler has almost four years with the company and specializes in tire and mechanical work, road-side service calls and customer relations. Whalen Tire opened for business in 1961. The company is Montana owned and operated with locations throughout Montana and Washington. The Helena store is located at 1935 Washington St. Call 442-4603 for more information. *** Greg Lukasik, PE, of Great West Engineering has been selected as the National Director for the Montana Section of the American Water Works Association. Lukasik has more than 18 years of professional engineering experience in water resources and is located in Great Wests Billings office. The American Water Works Association is the largest nonprofit, scientific and educational association dedicated to managing and treating water. Lukasik will represent the national AWWA organization to the Montana section beginning in 2017. News and notes Workshop slated on discrimination, harassment On Wednesday, May 25, Jim Nys will be explaining what could be considered illegal discrimination or illegal harassment in Montana. You will learn the most common claims that are filed and how employers can take steps to reduce their liability exposure. This employer workshop will be held at the Helena Job Service, 715 Front St., from 8:15 to 10:30 a.m. Cost is $49 per person, and you can register by calling 443-7169 or visit personnel-plus.com under trainings. *** Mt.-Pacific, Quality Health, DPHHS unveil joint allegiance Sara Medley, CEO for Mountain-Pacific Quality Health and Richard Opper, director of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, announced their joint allegiance as committed partners of the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network. The goals of the Health Care Payment LAN focus on achieving better care, smarter spending and healthier people. The LAN is a collaborative network of public and private stakeholders, including health plan providers, health care providers, patients, employers, consumers, state and federal agencies and other partners within the health care system. Mountain-Pacific and DPHHS have committed to specific targets that match or exceed the established goals for accelerating payment reform that incentivizes quality, health outcomes and value over volume. Awards and honors Mt.-Pacific receives award Mountain-Pacific Quality Health is a 2016 Bronze Excellence award winner for efforts to promote fitness in the workplace. Presented by the Montana Association of Health Care Purchasers, in conjunction with the Montana Worksite Health Promotion Coalition, the award recognized Mountain-Pacific for taking actions to help improve the lives of its employees. Employees are participating in On the Move, a national 12-week corporate fitness competition that advocates for more movement during the workday. Mountain-Pacific is based in Helena, Montana and has offices in Wyoming, Hawaii and Alaska. *** Carroll College faculty honored Carroll College retiring faculty member, Philip Rose, has been conferred the title of professor emeritus. Professor emeritus is an honorary status conveyed on retired faculty in honor of the professors contributions in educating generations of students and in recognition of their enduring legacy of enriching the colleges intellectual, social and spiritual community. Rose retired after 31 years serving as a professor of computer science and mathematics. Rose was instrumental in developing a Computer Science program from the ground up. Dr. Kyle Strode, associate professor of chemistry at Carroll College, was recently presented with the 2016 Carroll College Outstanding Teaching Award. The award is in recognition of excellence in the classroom, in student advising, and as a role model and inspiration for Carroll students. Strode's active learning opportunities, engaging teaching style and commitment to the success of his students merited the award. The 2016 Carroll College Distinguished Scholar Award was given to Dr. Gerry Shields, professor of biology and the James J. Manion Endowed Chair of Biological Sciences, for his contributions to science through research and his mentorship and commitment to undergraduate research at the college.The award is presented by Carroll College faculty, staff and students in recognition of significant faculty scholarship. Guidelines The IR welcomes reports of hiring, promotions, awards, recognition, learning opportunities and other news from local companies and nonprofits. We accept press releases and photos (digital images at 300 dpi or more are preferred, but we can also use regular photos; we dont guarantee return of these). There is no charge for items appearing in the Business Briefcase. Items are run on a space-available basis, and we reserve the right to edit and use information as we see fit. The deadline is Tuesday at noon to be considered for publication the following Sunday. BILLINGS -- Brianna Goff used to smoke about a pack of cigarettes a day until she discovered vaping, and then started a business when she discovered others with the same problem. Goff, 38, owns B-Town Vapes in Billings, and shes worried that new federal regulations treating the growing electronic cigarette industry like traditional cigarettes could put her out of business. Vaping is being vilified, and it should be praised, Goff said last week. This month, the Food and Drug Administration released new regulations on the growing e-cigarette industry, winning praise from public-health advocates and angst from the vaping community. While vape shop owners knew federal regulations were coming, they said the FDAs proposals are too costly and could put them out of business by cutting their supply from manufacturers. The biggest blow is to manufacturers of vaping juice, the liquid heated in a mod device and vaporized in a sweet-smelling cloud. They must now register every flavor (some make hundreds, with varying levels of nicotine), list ingredients and obtain authorization from the FDA. Vaping advocates say these regulations could cost manufacturers millions, which they cant afford. A lot of the companies will just quit Its going to be awful. Youre basically killing an entire industry that has grown so rapidly, Goff said. Billings has six vaping shops, and e-cigarettes are sold in convenience and groceries all over town. The boom came in 2014, when four shops, U-Blaze Vapor, the Vape Shop, Vapor Craziness and Juicity (then called Montana Vapor Outlet) opened within six month. A second Heights shop opened last month, Old Skool Vape Society. E-cigarettes have grown into a multibillion-dollar business nationwide and started cutting into sales of tobacco. Vaping advocates note that large tobacco companies have pushed for increased U.S. regulation of e-cigarettes for years. They also point to an April study by a British medical organization, the Royal College of Physicians, that concludes e-cigarettes provide more benefits to users than harm. In the United States, however, public health advocates say consumers deserve to know more about what theyre putting in their bodies. They add that current regulations do little to protect children. Donna Healey, a spokeswoman for RiverStone Health, noted that about 16 percent of high school students reported last year using electronic cigarettes, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. The FDA has taken a long-awaited step to protect the health of minors by regulating e-cigarettes. Right now, theres no scientific consensus on the potential benefits or harms of vaping. While cigarette smoking has declined among youths in recent years, e-cigarette use has skyrocketed, Healey said in a written statement. Federal regulations prevent retailers and manufacturing from marketing e-cigarettes as a way to quit tobacco. However, shop owners in town say theyve stopped their heavy smoking since they started puffing juice vapors. Anecdotally, they add that customers have similar stories, and theyre afraid the regulations will have an unintended, ironic side effect: forcing people to go back to tobacco for their nicotine fix. A lot of people are worried that (vaping is) going to completely go away, said Dan Michaelis, general manager of the Juicity store in Billings. Juicity has five employees and manufactures and sells 100 to 200 bottles of juice daily, said Kellie Rogers, who owns the Billings and second location in Evanston, Wyoming. She said she supports limited regulation, and she thinks manufacturers should be treated the same as restaurants and food servers. Submit the facilities for spot checks from local health departments, but dont force them out of business, she said. Otherwise, vapers will go to the black market, ordering online from Chinese manufacturers or buying ingredients and making their own. Theres really no way to stop it, so they may as well regulate it on a reasonable level, she said. Rogers added that the industry is working through advocacy groups such as the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-Free Alternatives to lessen the blow. Its ridiculous, (but) I dont think it will end us. I think we all will fight it and come out with some sort of agreement, said Rogers, also a former smoker. Goff said her shop strives to serve customers without glamorizing vaping, especially to children. B-Town Vapes is tucked inside a liquor store, which is already limited to sales to adults, and the juice bottles are displayed on black shelves with simple descriptions of the flavors. It lacks flashy descriptions of names often cited by opponents as appealing to kids, and Goff said she instead focuses on a deep knowledge of the products by her staff. There has be to some regulations that are welcome. I get that. Its a necessity Weve always been about educating customers on the safety, she said. Helena brewers have it a lot easier than their predecessors. That was the takeaway Saturday afternoon at Ten Mile Creek Brewery, where guest speaker and beer historian Steve Lozar helped wind down the first annual Helena Craft Beer Week with a roughly hourlong overview of the Queen Citys rough and tumble brewing history. Lozar punctuated his talk with a dizzying tally of long-forgotten breweries that once thrived in Montanas capital, most of which had disappeared by the time todays Helena brewers were born. For nearly a century between 1860 and 1957, Lozar said at least a half-dozen of those early breweries were destroyed or damaged by fires, floods and earthquakes. Meanwhile, almost as many Helena-based brewers met their end at the hands of a murderer or hostile Native American hunting party. In 1874, those who managed to survive the elements produced 5,000 barrels of beer in Helena -- a figure that met with loud applause from the dozens of beer drinkers and brewers who sat in on Lozars talk. Lozar, who also sits on the Montana Historical Societys executive committee, said at the peak of Helenas brewing boom, even leftovers from the beer making process helped drive the local economy, with spent grain going to feed hogs or, in some cases, the humans who frequented bakeries opened by breweries looking to sell off whatever carbohydrates they couldnt fit into a beer bottle. With so much beer to go around, its perhaps little surprise Helena was home to the first use of a bottle cap. Lozar said that was a particularly useful invention at a few of the citys seedier breweries, where sanitary conditions were such that you wouldnt want to risk touching anything not already in a bottle. But the breweries sometimes shoddy product didnt seem to scare off thirsty gold and copper miners, nor the saloon keepers vying for patrons. Lozars own great grandfather, a Slovenian immigrant, opened a couple of saloons in East Helena in the 1880s, including one that served as a meeting place for everyone from politicians and prostitutes to Boy Scouts over the years. The Polson beer historian said hes far from the only one likely to find a personal connection in Montanas beer-soaked past. Lozar noted that Ten Mile Creek, the brewery that provided the backdrop for his talk, cribbed its moniker from the original trade name of what would eventually become the citys best known brewery -- Kessler Brewing Co., which closed its doors in 1958. Parts of the companys factory can still be found on the far west side of what is now Spring Meadow Lake. Two of Helenas other bigger and better-known breweries -- Capitol Brewery, which had long since been repurposed as a theater; and Helena Brewery, once located by the Lewis and Clark Library -- each fell victim to urban renewal projects started in the 1970s. The physical remains of Helenas oldest breweries may be scarce, but Lozar said you can still hear echoes of what they sounded like. Brewing here mirrors state history, Lozar said. Every silver, mining, copper or gold camp that lasted more than a month or two generally had their own brewery. It really was stock in trade for people to sit around and -- as they said then talk story -- and drink beer. Here we are today, in Helena, doing exactly that. Helenas inaugural Craft Beer Week -- co-sponsored by Ten Mile Creek, Blackfoot River Brewing Co. and Lewis & Clark Brewing Co. -- wraps up on today with a kegerator raffle and after party planned to mark the end of the annual Helenduro bike race. Shawn L. Ketchum, age 51, died Wednesday, May 11, 2016 in Helena. Shawn was born May 20, 1964 in Helena to Val R. and Bonnie G. (Pederson) Ketchum. He received his education in Helena. Shawn worked as a broadcast engineer at Montana Radio Company and electronics technician for other communication companies for over 20 years in Helena and Butte. He worked for KXLH in Butte, KTVH in Helena in the old building as well as the new. He was a D.J. as well as an engineer. Shawn enjoyed climbing radio towers, and wouldnt tell his wife when he did, not to cause worry. Shawn worked as a bartender at the Silver Spur and JDs Night Club, worked at all radio stations in Helena and was a DJ at some. He worked pit crew for Ron Weber, Jr. at the Helena Track racing stock cars. Shawn loved music, motorcycles and pool. He built bass guitars, worked on amps and old radios. He was so proud when he bought his Harley Davidson. In typical fashion, he chose that particular bike because it was more comfortable for the passenger than the driver. He and Marilyn spent many hours just riding with no particular destination in mind. Shawn founded the band Dawghouse with his best friend Jason Pierce. The band played at 'Rockin the Rivers' for 10 years. Shawn loved making music and the people he performed with. Shawn gave freely of his time and talents. He was the stage manager for 'Night to Shine' for 10 plus years. He was thrilled when he was able to work the show this year. He also ran a community service program @ KMTX. Many teens passed through the program. Shawn was a kind compassionate and caring person. He put others before himself, ALWAYS. Shawn was preceded in death by his parents, Val and Bonnie Ketchum, and his sister Lori. He is survived by his wife Marilyn of Helena; siblings, Lynn (Robyn) Ketchum, Kirk (Becky) Ketchum all of Helena; his children, Nikki (Erik) Rogers, Amber (Chris) Rands of Salt Lake City, Trevor Ketchum and Logan Ketchum; one granddaughter, Maria Rogers; special niece, Krista Kufchak and her daughters, Jez 'Pedey' and Ezzie 'The Runt'. He was also survived by many nieces and nephews. Shawn believed family wasnt just who you were born with, but the family you picked up along the way. It would take a ream of paper to list all the things, Shawn did and all the lives he touched. A memorial service celebrating Shawns life will be held at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday May 25, 2016 at Liberty Baptist Church, 210 Sierra Road. A reception will follow the service in the social center of the church. Memorials in Shawns name are suggested to St. Peters Cancer Treatment Center c/o St. Peters Hospital, 2475 Broadway; Helena, MT 59601. Please visit www.aswfuneralhome.com to offer the family a condolence or to share a memory of Shawn. Editor's note: First in a two-part series Montana term limits frustrate, but do not stop, legislators from seeking election as many times as they wish. Nearly all senators and representatives serve as long at the state Capitol as they did before voters added term limits to the Montana Constitution with a 1992 ballot measure, according to a Lee Newspapers analysis. And a recent change to state law removed the requirement to take a break after 16 years. It used to be you served eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate then you had to be out for two years before you could come back, Secretary of State Linda McCulloch said. But they took that period out. Sen. Jim Keane, D-Butte, is the first legislator to take advantage of the seemingly minor definition change. It allows him to run for a seat in his original chamber immediately after serving maximum consecutive terms in both the House and Senate. Conveniently, Rep. Edie McClafferty is termed out of the House, so her district is open. He has filed for election to her HD 73 seat, while she has decided to run for his SD 38 seat to likewise continue service. Most legislators argue that the maneuvering forced by term limits is not only a hassle, but has damaged the balance of the state government by draining the body of institutional knowledge while shifting power to the governor, bureaucrats and lobbyists. Other political observers also argue term limits have been a driving factor behind increased partisanship that has tied up or killed major bills in recent sessions. Term limits have not been good for Montana, said McCulloch, who is responsible for overseeing elections throughout the state. She admitted the rules, nonetheless, are unlikely to go away. Ed Butcher, the former state senator from Winifred who worked with his son to put term limits on the ballot, called the rules a success. We didnt want to stop them from serving in the Legislature, he said, noting that he does not consider it a loophole in the law that legislators can switch back-and-forth between chambers. We just wanted to break up the power structures that develop when people are there forever. Starting in the 1990s, Montana was one of 21 states where voters created term limits through the initiative process, a number that likely would be higher if more states allowed ballot measures. In addition to limits on executive offices like governor, Montana legislators can only serve 8 years in the House and 8 years in the Senate during any 16-year period. Like other states, Montana tried to set limits for leaders elected to U.S. Congress, but the Supreme Court of the United States struck down those provisions. Some political scientists have since speculated that the popularity of the movement was driven largely by an interest to fight corruption at the federal level. The state Legislature may have paid the price for an impression people had about Congress, said Bob Brown, a Republican who served 30 years in the Legislature before being elected Secretary of State and narrowly losing a 2004 gubernatorial race against Brian Schweitzer. Courts or legislatures in six states have repealed term limits. Because Montanas rules were added to the Constitution, legislators cannot amend them without voter approval by referendum. Every session some legislators discuss asking voters to expand or remove the limits, but few of those measures make it to the ballot and those that have were shot down. I believe the trend was driven by people who wanted to ensure our democracy was citizen-driven and not done by professionals, said Wendy Underhill, director of elections and redistricting at the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the end, its not at all clear that having term limits has had that effect. Most Montana legislators serve just as long today as they did before term limits, according to an analysis of years served at the time of a legislators departure. Legislators who left office in the 1990s or 1980s served a median of six years, slightly higher than the four-year median seen each of the previous five decades. Even after the first legislators were termed out of office, the median remains six years. Montana political observers argue that term limits force sometimes uncomfortable decisions for legislators who want to continue their service but do not have a convenient district opening. Nancy Keenan also argues that they weakening the power of a vote. It takes away the voice of the people for who they want and for how long they want them, said the executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. Of the 13 House districts where term limits have forced out incumbents, five of those legislators are running for open Senate seats in this falls election. Of 11 senators who have reached their maximum in that chamber, three have filed for House district races. Two of those races involve a district swap similar to the one between Keane and McClafferty of Butte. Carolyn Pease-Lopez of Billings was elected to the House the same year Sharon Stewart-Peregoy of Crow Agency was elected to the Senate. Eight years later, both Democrats have filed to run for each others seat. No significant difference exists between the median length of service for Republicans and Democrats, nor the number of members from each party that have been termed out of office. But one party has dominated the list of longest serving members and has therefore lost the largest accumulation of institutional knowledge. Of the 25 people who served the most time in the Legislature-- ranging from 24 to 53 years -- 18 were Democrats. Most left office before term limits appeared on the 1992 ballot. Underhill said long-serving legislators can be an asset or a barrier to fellow members, depending on their willingness to collaborate. If you like that person, its really a great thing, she said of veteran legislators who accrue authority within committees or caucuses. If you dont like that person, it can be really frustrating. Butcher, a Republican, said his motivation behind pushing for term limits was not about party affiliation, but rather focused on giving new ideas a better chance of moving forward and breaking up entrenched political alliances. Theres stagnation that happens when you have people serve too long, he said. We had an old guard running committees that would table bills they didnt want to consider. David Wanzenried, a Democrat who worked on the governors staff before serving 18 years in the Legislature, disputed Butchers characterization. He said a handful of incidents cannot be construed as being a regular occurrence. I dont know that old-timers stymied newcomers as much as people would say, he said, recalling earlier decades when he says committees fostered substantive discussions rather than taking turns to make talking points. Now, a lot of the people that get elected want to go to Helena to do A or B. They dont want to discuss it. No negotiations. No collaboration. They just want to go over and do it. Thats a problem. Any deliberative body has to have an exchange of ideas. Political observers said its difficult to pinpoint how much term limits contributed to the culture shift at the Legislature, particularly because of a growing polarization in political discourse nationwide. At minimum, they both share an underlying theme: Voters increasingly distrust government. Years before Bob Keenan of Bigfork ran for the Legislature, he was among the 67 percent of Montanans fed up with reports of cronyism in Washington, D.C., and who voted to add term limits to the state Constitution, assuming to some degree the same problems also existed in state government. I was on the outside looking in and didnt know anything about the issue other than it was a bumper-sticker mentality of, Lets clean up the House and the Senate, too, the Republican recalled. Keenan, who has now served nearly 14 years in the Legislature, has since changed his mind about state term limits. If youre in office and youre opposed to term limits youre accused of being a career politician and that couldnt be further from the truth, he said, noting that the stress of balancing his service with business and family commitments was the main reason he did not return to the House after being termed out of the Senate in 2006. He successfully ran again for a Senate seat in 2014, when Verdell Jackson was termed out. You really have to get out and get a job and make a living. Even before term limits, Montana leaders prided themselves on serving what they considered the most citizen-oriented Legislature in the country. It is one of just four states where the Legislature meets biennially rather than annually. Montana legislators spend fewer days in session -- 90 days every two years -- than any other state in the country, meaning they spend more time living in the communities they represent. Members of the House, who must run for re-election every two years, can easily spend more time campaigning than governing. When attempts are made to raise the limited pay -- $10.33 an hour plus mileage during the 90-day session -- some argue it is a good idea to make legislative service a personal financial sacrifice to discourage career politicians. When I voted for term limits, I didnt realize the importance of having the people who had been there through lots of different issues, he said, noting that he was mentored in his first terms by some of the last decades-serving members. Now that Im back in the Legislature, Ive found it to be a very different place. Because of term limits, the need to form new relationships never ends. Few of the legislators Keenan served with during his first stint remain. Even Keane, among the longest-serving members of the Legislatures recent era, expects to start from scratch if he returns to the House in 2017. I dont know most of the people in the House, he said. Itll be a new game for me over there. Earlier this month, Montana candidates and the small staff of the Commissioner of Political Practices made history: For the first time, all statewide and state district political candidates were required to file their campaign finance reports electronically. The new system worked. Amazingly, 312 candidates for Legislature and Public Service Commission successfully filed their reports on or before May 9. Only 27 missed the deadline. Additionally, county office candidates who expected to spend or receive more than $500 filed under the new electronic reporting rule. The rule stems from the Disclose Act of 2015, which passed with support from Democrats and some Republicans. It was sponsored by Sen. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, and backed by Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock. The law allows the commissioner of political practices to require electronic campaign finance reporting, which Commissioner Jonathan Motl did last fall through a process that involved public hearings. Electronic filing is nationally recognized by open government advocates as fundamental to public information. Previously in Montana, only statewide candidates had to file electronically. Legislative candidates and others could file hard copy reports, or email documents to the COPP. Both of those methods delayed public access to information that had to be scanned in manually. It took many hours of staff time just to get all the paper reports online several days later. Once online, those scanned reports werent searchable. With the online filing system that debuted this month, reports are publicly accessible immediately upon filing. The reports are searchable by candidate, contributor and expenditure. What can voters learn on the website of the Montana Campaign Electronic Reporting System? Who has donated how much to a candidate. What and how much the candidate has spent money on. Loans made to the campaign. How much the candidate has spent overall and how much is left in the campaign bank account. For example: The latest filings by gubernatorial candidates show that Gov. Steve Bullock has $748,047 in the bank for primary campaign spending and $382,729 for the General Election. His main challenger, Greg Gianforte, reported having $115,232 in his primary account and $246,826 on hand for the General Election. Once the three COPP staff members who handle campaign reports got the electronic platform up and running, they focused on making the data more searchable, according Motl. He expects the COPP site will be searchable soon for political action committees that must report spending. Over the next reporting periods, we will provide guides for public and press to access information, Motl said. The comprehensive online filing has been accomplished with no additional funding from the 2015 Legislature. Motl praised his staffs dedication to making the filing system work for everyone. Candidates were encouraged to phone in with questions and concerns. Staff members provided answers. Now the public, even those who are voting early, can check into the money behind the candidates. Another round of campaign finance reports will be due before the June 7 Primary Election. Statewide candidates are required to report again on May 23, while legislative and other state district candidates, and county office candidates must report again by May 26 on contributions and expenditures through May 21. Theres also a post-primary report due in late June. General Election reports are due at the beginning and end of October and in late November. Find answers to your campaign money questions at the COPP website: www.politicalpractices.mt.gov. Another great resource is followthemoney.org, a service of the private, nonprofit National Institute for Money in State Politics, which is based in Helena. -- This editorial originally appeared in the Billings Gazette. Greetings, Helena! I write from Missoula (but note that this year marks my 40th anniversary of graduation from Helena High School). 1976. The bicentennial year. I don't think Helena has ever seen a parade as grand as the one that year. But I write to ask a favor -- a favor of business people in particular. We are -- here in Missoiula -- in the 23rd hour of a weighted battle to preserve the historically registered Missoula Mercantile. Our mayor, our historic preservation officer, our chamber of commerce and our downtown association have all signed off as supporting the complete demolition of this 1870s building, which some of you might remember as The Bon Marche and, most recently, as Macys. Interestingly, the Montana State Preservation Officer does not agree. Of course it is about money -- big money -- and the demo folks' main push is to convince the community that a five-story Marriott will "save" our (already vibrant) downtown. Would you consider sending a short concise e-mail to our mayor, city council and our historic preservation commission (all are online) and perhaps tell a Helena story about the loss of historic buildings and the economic viability of preservation? This is neither a local municipal nor a merely Montana issue; the building is part of our national historic legacy and, yes, you do have a voice. You can also visit the "Save the Merc" website. Thank you! (And although I was a thespian, go Bengals!) Daniel Geary Missoula June 11 marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the nonpartisan Montana People's Power League, which initiated the effort to give us the direct primary. Republicans, independents, socialists and Democrats, representing every county in Montana, banded together to curb the backroom influence of the Anaconda Company, which had been working through both major political parties to decide which candidates could have access to the General Election ballot. June 9, two days after the June 7 primary, Montanans of any political stripe will be able to walk into the County Committee meeting of their local Democrat Party, sign a statement of support and then vote to choose Clinton or Sanders delegates from their home county to the Montana State Democrat Convention in Helena. At that June 11 state convention, the 105th anniversary of the Peoples Power League, those chosen county delegates will in turn choose 21 of 27 Montana delegates to the Democrat National Convention in Philadelphia. Some of the six at-large delegates have already been voted upon in earlier elections. In this year for rearranging party lines and political house rules, every Montanan has a chance to help choose that small handful of delegates who will be the difference in deciding whether Clinton or Sanders will face Trump. John B. Driscoll Helena In the current political climate, maintaining access to reproductive health services requires constant vigilance. Quinlan OConnor, legislative candidate for House District 83 in Helena, has both the ethical perspective and legal skills to work effectively to protect Montana families access to those vital reproductive health care services. Quinlan is an attorney representing the Montana Human Rights Commission, a job which requires the professional analytical skills, common sense and mature judgement to apply complex issues of law to very personal and often difficult circumstances. I trust Quinlans clear understanding of the constitutional issues surrounding reproductive rights and health services and his commitment to the Montana families who rely on those services every day. Please join me in supporting Quinlan OConnor for House District 83. Sheena Wilson Helena On May 13, Bryan Hughes wrote a letter thanking the Gianfortes for being great supporters of public access, yet cited examples of the Gianfortes graciously granting private access to their lands. There is a difference between individual permission granted to private lands and public access for all. Hughes, a friend, receiving permission from the Gianfortes, is not public access. I feel this letter was smoke and mirrors, an obfuscation, deflecting attention from the reality of the Gianfortes' legal filing against Fish, Wildlife & Parks in 2009, in which the Gianfortes demanded" FWP "voluntarily extinguish the easement," a perpetual public Recreation Site Easement granted to FWP in 1993, years prior to the Gianfortes purchasing their land. When a private landowner graciously grants access to their private property, whether to their friends or family, that is their right and it is a privilege, a hospitality extended to those receiving the permission. Hughes wrote about his accessing the Gianfortes' property as public access, but that is not general public access. Let's look at private access as oranges. No one is criticizing or attacking the Gianfortes for not being gracious hosts to their friends and family. Let's clear the smoke and remove the distorting mirrors that are confusing this oranges to apples situation. Public lands/waters and public easements are not dependent on a landowner's graciousness or hospitality for permission each time we want to utilize the resources. We are landowners of these public resources. And while some acquired public access easements do require a gracious landowner to sell or give an easement initially, again, this is not the case with the Gianfortes. This perpetual FWP Recreational Site Easement access was provided to FWP years before the Gianfortes purchased their property. Let's look at public access as apples. We're not making fruit salad here. We have two different access situations, just like oranges and apples. For whatever reason, the Gianfortes chose to file a lawsuit against FWP, deciding to go after the public's access. In property terms, the seizing of property is referred to as a taking. The Gianfortes attempted to take the public's access, about 1 acre of it. This was not welcoming, gracious, nor hospitable, and most especially not an example of supporting public access, as Hughes tried to imply, just the opposite. The Gianfortes "demanding" FWP "voluntarily extinguish the easement" was an "attack" against the public, plain and simple. With the smoke and mirrors cleared out of the way, hopefully the public will see the apples to oranges difference, private access to public access difference and vote accordingly. Montana needs public representatives, at all levels of government, who will truly support our rights to our public lands, our waters and most especially our access to them. Kathryn QannaYahu of Bozeman is the founder of Enhancing Montana's Wildlife & Habitat (EMWH.org). Three Democrats and one Republican are running for clerk of district court in Lewis and Clark County. The office of clerk of the district court pays $72,684 annually. Kara Thompson, 50, who was the Pondera County clerk of the district court before moving to Helena in the spring of 2013 for a paralegal job with the state Department of Corrections, is the lone Republican seeking the job. Because the field of three Democrats, Dawn Apple, Tom Bremer and Angie Sparks, will be narrowed to one after the June 7 primary election, we asked them some questions to better understand the office they are seeking and their approach to its management. Apple, 47, is the lead claims specialist with Montana Medical Panel since June 2014. Shes lived in the county for 14 years. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in paralegal studies from the University of Great Falls in 2007, the same year she said she became a nationally certified legal assistant through the National Association of Legal Assistants. Shes running for office, she explained in an email response to questions, because its a position Ive always wanted. Every step of my career has led me closer to being the clerk of district court. Each position Ive held has given me valuable skills to serve as the clerk of court, Apple said, noting the exposure shes had to the law, working with attorneys and their staffs, obtaining her degree and certification while also gaining leadership as well as supervisory and management experience. What she brings to the job, she wrote, is a working relationship with the legal community, the public and other agencies. I have a passion to help people, Apple explained. Bringing my education, experience and enthusiasm to work for the citizens of Lewis and Clark County is good common sense and good business. Having more than 20 years in the legal field provides a much broader range of depth and experience, she noted of what her candidacy offers. Some of that experience has been in private law firms and state agencies, with an additional nine years as a deputy clerk of court in Lewis and Clark and Flathead counties, she wrote. Seeing the position from both sides of the counter, and in two different counties, has provided me an insight that only comes from being a customer and seeing how two different clerks prioritize and run their offices. I am confident that I can use a best practices approach to motivate staff, utilize technology and keep customer service a priority, she added. Among challenges Apple sees for the office is using the available technology efficiently for the public, the legal community and the judiciary as new technology becomes available. She explained that she would focus on intensive training on electric filing as well as increasing staff knowledge of database management and how that data is used in the clerks office, the judiciary and the Legislature. Technology could also be used to assist those who are self-represented in the legal system, Apple said, adding I believe the most beneficial thing I could do as clerk would be to provide a dedicated public computer in our local library branches. That computer will help our rural residents with electronic filing, give them access to legal education and resources and will provide a way for them to follow their case to its conclusion. Apple said her first goal for the office would be to maximize the use of technology. She would also want to make those who use the office a top priority. Bremer, 29, has been a Justice Court clerk for six years. He was born in Butte and has been a Helena resident since infancy, he wrote in an email response to questions. He attended Bryant Elementary, Helena Middle School and graduated from Helena High School. I would like to transform our District Court to be more visitor-friendly, accountable and expedient, he explained of why he is seeking the office. In my current position as Justice Court clerk, community members are always pleased with the environment we have created, and I would love to bring that success to the next level. Citing the enthusiasm and experience he would bring to the job, he added I have a genuine desire to better the court experience for everyone. I am convinced that the more friendly and effective a court system is, the more successful people will be. My ultimate goal is to create a standard of helping people navigate the justice system quickly and easily, Bremer continued. I have fostered this standard in my current position and am excited to do so in our District Court. He differs from those who are also running, he explained, because of the ideas he would bring from another court system and my background is a healthy supplement to the standard District Court environment. If elected, he said, he would advocate for an electronic filing system as opposed to having to manually file documents. Electronic filing can reduce lengthy communication between the public and the judge, he wrote in his email, adding it can also reduce the expense for representation by an attorney. It has been my immense pleasure to serve members in my community within the Justice Court and Department of Justice, and I would really like to take their concerns about our justice system to resolution. I am invested in more than a career; I am invested in creating the friendly, fast justice system we all deserve, Bremer said. Sparks, 49, has lived in Montana for 38 years and spent 26 of those years in Lewis and Clark County, she wrote in response to email questions about her candidacy. Sparks, who attended schools in Boulder and Ennis, where she graduated from high school, said she is running for the office because I will provide justice for all and serve the citizens of Lewis and Clark County with enthusiasm and dedication. I will not discriminate or refuse service to anyone who is entitled to my assistance. For 16 years, she has worked in the clerk of court office since starting as a deputy clerk of court and then advancing to a senior deputy clerk of court, scheduling clerk and bailiff for Judge Kathy Seeley. In addition to having been a deputy clerk for Seeley, she has served in that role for Judge James Reynolds, Judge DeeAnn Cooney, Judge Mike Menahan, and retired judges Jeffrey Sherlock, Thomas Honzel and Dorothy McCarter among others. Once I started working in the clerks office and serving the public, I found an interest in the judicial system. I realized how important the court is to everyone in our community. I find helping my fellow citizens more fulfilling than any job I have had, she explained of her interest in running for the office. Sparks noted her experience in the clerk of court office here to separate her from others who are running and said she developed several programs for the court, including the Children First Program that assists children whose parents can no longer live together and have begun a court proceeding. I was part of the team that began the Lewis and Clark Drug Treatment Court. As a senior deputy clerk, I train the new scheduling clerks in addition to managing Judge Seeleys full time court. I have worked with the county attorney and public defender to streamline scheduling in criminal and dependent neglect cases, she wrote in her email. Among challenges Sparks noted facing the office is how to retain paper records as well as the electronic ones, which amounts to twice the work for the clerk of courts office. Another challenge is helping people who cannot afford an attorney, Sparks said, explaining office staff cannot give legal advice but instead tries to educate these people about legal procedures. When Sparks discussed goals for the office, she included increasing automation and electronic filing that would make records available immediately. I will provide additional training to provide speedy, effective, and efficient service to the public, Sparks wrote. I will continue to research additional opportunities to serve the public through specialty courts, such as Veterans Treatment Court. MISSOULA -- In an uncharacteristically quick response, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to a Flathead National Forest thinning project. "We don't toot our horn as much as some people think we should," Flathead Forest environmental coordinator Michele Draggoo said Tuesday. "We had four cases going in the last two years, and we've won all four of them. Overall, I think the Forest Service is winning more than they're losing." The 9th Circuit case involved a pre-commercial thinning project on 3,650 acres in the Glacier View Ranger District along the North Fork of the Flathead River. Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Wild Swan and Native Ecosystems Council had filed suit, claiming the work would hurt critical habitat for lynx and bull trout and the Forest Service didn't do enough advance study to ensure those species would be protected. But a three-judge panel of the appeals court took just three days between oral arguments on May 3 and its resolution on May 6 to uphold a U.S. District Court ruling in favor of the Forest Service. And it did so with a memorandum -- a simplified response that didn't address any issues brought up in the arguments. "As the district court noted, 'this project is the most innocuous logging project to be challenged in this court to date,'" the appeals judges wrote. "The project was dramatically reduced in scope after public comment, implicates no road building activity, and prohibits thinning within 50 feet of a waterway unless hand tools are used and the Forest Service consults with an on-site expert." The appeals court also awarded costs to the Forest Service. AWR Director Michael Garrity said that amounted to about $80 dollars in photocopying fees. "We win a majority of cases we bring, but we don't win them all," Garrity said on Tuesday. "We appealed because we thought it was an important battle." A memorandum decision also does not establish any precedent for future courts to consider. Garrity called that a partial victory because the Forest Service can't use this win to justify similar actions in other incidents. The appeal focused on a portion of a forest-wide thinning program affecting about 7,200 acres of small parcels scattered throughout the Flathead National Forest's 2.4 million acres. The work was intended to improve safety conditions around homes and structures in the woods as well as promote forest health in burned or regrowing areas. It included 50-foot buffer zones along all streams where bull trout were expected to occur, with special rules managing thinning activities near those streams. Garrity noted that the 9th Circuit issued another memorandum on Wednesday regarding AWR's challenge to the Colt-Summit project on the Lolo National Forest. That equally brief and fast memo sent the case back to district court for further work on whether the Lolo officials needed more consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on lynx critical habitat affected by the project. The subject has been "hill" in recent Smarty Pants quizzes. Blueberry Hill came to mind quickly because it was a fondly remembered song from my childhood. Fats Domino, right? Yes, but he was not the only one and not even the first. It first was heard in a 1941 Western, starring Gene Autry, never mistaken for Mr. Domino. Who else has covered the song? Try Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, the Beach Boys, Andy Williams and even Elvis. By the way, Blueberry Hill also is the name of a St. Louis restaurant that I recall serving some pretty good food. Here's a bit of a coincidence: You know there's a Hillsboro, about 60 miles southwest of Decatur in Montgomery County. Graham Correctional Center is there. Anyway, my son took a job with Intel three years ago and had to decide whether to live in Portland, Ore., or one of its suburbs. You're way ahead of me: Evan took up residence in Hillsboro, Ore. Because this is my blog, I'll bore you with another coincidence. I grew up in North Chicago, a small suburb of the Second City. Just to the north is the city of Zion, known in my childhood for the nuclear power plant, a cookie factory and the sand dunes of Illinois Beach State Park. The late Gary "Diff'rent Strokes" Coleman also hailed from there. Anyway, I found Decatur (or vice versa) after college in 1974, and right close by was Mount Zion. You're underwhelmed, I take it. Maybe we should talk about hills some more. I couldn't find the reference that once led me to believe that Johns Hill is the highest point in Decatur. One more thing: You've probably heard that song that starts, "I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night, alive as you or me..." I never knew the backstory of the inspiration for the song. Hill was a labor organizer (or agitator, depending on your point of view) who migrated to America from Sweden when his parents died. In 1910, he joined the International Workers of the World in California and put his musical talents to work. His songs, including "The Preacher and the Slave" and "Casey Jones A Union Scab," filled the labor group's "Little Red Song Book." He was arrested in Salt Lake City in 1914, accused of murdering a grocer and his son. Sketchy evidence convicted him, and appeals for leniency from even President Woodrow Wilson failed to spare him from a firing squad. I hope its true that the rebellious Hill himself gave the command to fire. Author and playwright Alfred Hayes wrote the "Joe Hill" song in 1938. FORSYTH The first time Rabya Hasnain gazed up from the audience at the bright lights of the Scripps National Spelling Bee stage, she was just 7 years old. She became interested in spelling when her older siblings, Isra and Yasir, began competing in bees at the county and regional levels. Yasir ended up winning a ticket to the national bee for four consecutive years, starting in 2011. When he went to Scripps, I didn't even know what it was, or what it was like, she said. The first time that he went, it kind of inspired me. Then every time that he went, I kind of got more used to it, and then I started (spelling), too. Rabya, 11, will get her own turn in the spotlight this week as she prepares to compete in the national bee in National Harbor, Md., near Washington D.C. She faces 284 other spellers from around the country, and is one of 29 spellers with a relative who has previously competed. Though she enjoys the benefit of her siblings' encouragement, Rabya's achievement is very much her own. She emerged as victor after nearly two hours of spelling at the regional bee in March, her fourth attempt there. Rabya studies two or three hours a day on weekdays, more on weekends. In addition to spelling, she also focuses on vocabulary, which is part of the written test that determines which spellers advance to the finals. She knows the value of balance, making sacrifices such as spending an hour with friends instead of staying for an entire sleepover. She also plays clarinet and piano and likes participating on the Scholastic Bowl team at Maroa-Forsyth Middle School, where she is in seventh grade. If she needs a break, the family's latest addition a 6-month-old exotic shorthair kitten named Nova is always ready to play. Rabya's parents, Dr. Mohammad and Wissam Hasnain, will join her at the bee. Isra, 18, and Yasir, 15, will stay home this time to finish up school and other obligations, but they plan to cheer on their sister from afar. Yasir, who tied for 13th place at the bee in 2014, has acted as a mentor for his sister. He gives her positive feedback, which Im always appreciative of, their mother said. Its never like, 'Why arent you working? Why arent you studying? You wont get anywhere.' Its like, 'Hey, youre doing great; keep doing that.' Yasir said he tries to prepare Rabya for the types of questions she could face. Especially for vocab, don't try to memorize the entire definition. Bits and pieces try to find some connection, he said. For spelling, just roots and stuff. Make sure to follow patterns of etymology, and then make sure to pay attention to the definition and make a connection to the words. All three children are undoubtedly high-achieving, having earned success in Scholastic Bowl and other academic competitions over the years, in addition to spelling bees. But they are also well-rounded. They spend time with friends, go to movies and parties and have fun. It's always the child. You have to kind of let the child direct you into what they're interested in, Wissam Hasnain said. If spelling's not their thing, if they're not interested in something, you can't just press upon them, you know, 'You have to do that.' The Hasnains instead sought to encourage their children to try different activities and pursue their interests, she said. The kids like to succeed and are largely self-motivated. Wissam Hasnain said they support Rabya in her spelling endeavors because she enjoys them. Were not going for any huge expectations, 'You need to reach this goal' and things like that, she said. Its just great if you do, great if you dont, theres next year, and we have fun along the way. HARRISTOWN For a moment Saturday, you could picture a young Abraham Lincoln reading under what was then a 230-year-old linden tree, his long legs stuck up as high as his head as he leaned back against the trunk. Yet it was probably the unusually harsh winter that was coming, as he and his family built their homestead along the Sangamon River west of Decatur in 1830, that did more to shape Lincoln's future than anything else that happened during his first year in Illinois. That was the conclusion of Dan Monroe, associate professor of history at Millikin University, who discussed The Winter of the Deep Snow at a special homecoming Saturday morning at Lincoln Trail Homestead State Park and Memorial. This is a wonderful place that should always be preserved and near and dear to our hearts, Monroe said. This is, in many respects, where it all began for Lincoln. Monroe also praised the Friends of Lincoln Trail Homestead, who have been working the past year to see Lincoln's first home in Illinois take its place with those that came later, including Lincoln's New Salem near Petersburg and the Lincoln Home in Springfield. Even the Lincoln Log Cabin, the former home of the 16th president's father and stepmother near Lerna, is a historic site, while the Lincoln Trail Homestead State Park and Memorial near Decatur is not. More than 50 people turned out Saturday, a number that gratified Judy Parrish, a biology professor at Millikin and a leader of the Friends group. These folks are here because they're really interested in the site, she said. They have resources and knowledge our group can use. The Friends held three restoration action days leading up to the homecoming, with much of the work involving removal of overgrowth including yew trees that had engulfed concrete benches around the Memorial Rock at the east end of the park, placed to commemorate the beginning of Lincoln's life in Illinois. We all need to keep cutting bush honeysuckle, but if master carpenters volunteer, they can help us make other improvements, Parrish said. As part of these efforts, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources restored canoe access to the Sangamon River from the park last month. Options at Saturday's homecoming included history walks led by two of Monroe's history students, seniors Austin Jesse of Decatur and Blake Knox of Greenville. Melissa Miller, a music education instructor at Millikin, also provided children's activities. Other speakers included Melody Arnold, a naturalist with the Macon County Conservation District and chairwoman of the Friends group; Diane Banta of the National Park Service; Stan Duzan and Louis Yockey of the state Department of Natural Resources; Deborah Haffner, outreach coordinator for U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, R-Ill.; and Jeff Tish, program services manager for the conservation district. Kent Massie, land planning and landscape architect with Massie, Massie & Associates in Springfield, said Lincoln was a river guy who knew the section of the Sangamon from Decatur to Petersburg quite well. His first political platform when he was running for state representative was to clear and make the Sangamon River navigable, Massie said. Monroe said Lincoln spent the winter of 1830-31 reading Scottish poet Robert Burns while cooped up for 10 weeks in a cabin with his father, with whom he had a rocky relationship. The spring thaw saw the Lincolns abandoning Macon County, Thomas and Sarah Bush Lincoln for Coles County and Abraham for Sangamon County. He ends his relationship with his father, he goes out into the world, his religious skepticism and intellectual bent is confirmed, and he goes on to re-embrace the values of the Declaration of Independence, Monroe said. He puts them at the forefront of the so-called 'second revolution,' which is the point of the American Civil War. Ellen Handt of Decatur and Sue Byers of Harristown, both 69, sat near the podium under the park's pavilion and applauded what's happening to a place they remember so well from their girlhoods. I grew up three miles to the north and used to ride my horse down here, Byers said. It's grown up a lot, but they've done a good job tearing some of it down. Handt recalls how she and her junior high classmates came to the Lincoln Trail Homestead for a picnic and that a cousin chose to be married there. It's a peaceful place that meant so much to me and my family, she said. Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, nailed the spirit of Illinois politics with this quote as he announced he would not seek another term and instead seek election as county board chairman. "Both sides suffer under the delusion that its OK that real people get hurt as long as the other side gets blamed for it." That statement should be placed over the entrance to the House and Senate chambers as a reminder to everyone of what really happens in those halls. Franks has been an outspoken member of the General Assembly and is one of the few House members that regularly opposed Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago. Franks almost single-handedly derailed the Democrats plans to enact a progressive tax last week. In fact, even though Franks' House seat could switch over to the Republican side, Madigan is happy to see him go. But who wouldnt be disgusted with whats going on in Springfield? Theres plenty of political shenanigans going on, little of which has to do with the job of governing. One issue that upset Franks included his legislation to reform the way the state draws its political maps. Franks offered a proposal to put the process in the hands of the Supreme Court. That really wasnt a solution. The Illinois Supreme Court is a political organization and having the politically-elected justices draw the maps would be little better than the current system of allowing legislators to draw the maps. Franks may have known he was being used, although he claimed he was duped. The way it panned out, however, is that the Senate came up with its own redistricting reform plan. Both the Senate and the House approved amendments that could have been placed on the ballot. But neither plan was endorsed by both houses. The only chance now for voters to decide this issue is the citizen-driven process that is working its way through legal challenges. But heres where the shenanigans come in. Legislators in both chambers, and of both parties, will be able to say that they voted for map reform. Thats true, but its also misleading. The whole thing was orchestrated so that legislators could say they voted for reform, without any reform actually happening. Thats the sort of activity that made it easy for Franks to decide to leave the House and seek work in local government. Unfortunately, too many of our legislators think misleading voters that way is OK. There also may be some political skullduggery going on in Charleston, involving Eastern Illinois University and Rep. Reggie Phillips, R-Charleston. The university has struggled during this years budget crisis. More than 400 university employees have been laid off and the university president has warned that the institution will have to dip into reserves in order to make payroll until an infusion of tuition checks come in during the fall. Some of those associated with Eastern appear to be blaming Gov. Bruce Rauner, and by association Philips. While Rauner has some culpability for the budget impasse, the states sorry budget situation is clearly the result of Democratic leadership in the House, Senate and the governors office. This budget mess was created before Rauner took office. But Madigan has skillfully put a lot of the blame at Rauners and Phillips feet. Phillips doesnt currently have a Democratic opponent in November, but Madigan may be playing a long game. The Speaker has held his power for so long because hes smart and ruthless. Charleston voters should consider this scenario: Madigan is refusing to work with Rauner on the budget to put people like Phillips in political hot water. If Phillips is blamed by voters for the issues at Eastern, a Democrat challenger could win that seat in the future. Far too often in Illinois that sort of political maneuvering takes precedence over actually governing. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Seemingly bowing to local fierce opposition, Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan today announced that the controversial Kaghtsrashen Gravity Irrigation Project would be scrapped. Abrahamyan made the announcement in Garni, where residents opposed to the World Bank financed project that planned to divert water from the Azat River to a number of communities in Ararat Province, had blocked the main road to Yerevan on several occasions, including today. Recently, Garni residents threatened to shut the potable water supply to Ararat Province if the project wasnt shelved. The prime minister arrived in Garni accompanied by the environmental and agricultural ministers and the head of the countrys water resources committee. At first, Abrahamyan feigned that he wasnt aware of the issue, to which local residents shot back that the project had been discussed and debated for the past two years, during which time they had always voiced their opposition. Perhaps caught in a lie, Abrahamyan then was seen whispering to the officials who accompanied him. He then turned to the cameras and declared that the Kaghtsrashen Project would be shelved and construction equipment removed from the Azat River gorge. These items are part of Dickran Toumajans family collection. The oldest of the photographs is from Gurun, from which the Toumajan family originated. The family lived in Gurun until 1895, when anti-Armenian pogroms were organized in the city, alongside other parts of the Empire, during the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II. Tovmas Toumajan (Dikrans grandfather) survived the pogroms by fleeing to the Egyptian city of Alexandria. After the end of the massacres and the re-establishment of peace, Tovmas Toumajan returned to the Ottoman Empire, and this time, alongside his family, settled in the city of Sepasdia/Sivas. Tovmas was married to Mariam, and they had three sons Messiah/Hrant (born in 1888), Mihran (born in 1890), and Nishan (born in 1893); and two daughters Alice/Armaveni (later Minasian) and Lousin (later Sahagian). The three sons received their secondary education at the American Missionaries College. Mihran graduated from Anatolia College in Marzevan/Merzifon, and Nshan graduated from the Bithynia Secondary School in Bardizag (presetn-day Bahcecik). In 1909, the Toumajan family resettled in Istanbul, and established residence in the Uskudar neighborhood. Mihran, one of the sons, was a great lover of music, and he became soon became very involved in musical endeavors when the renowned musicologist and cleric Gomidas Vartabed came to Istanbul. Under the latters tutelage, Mihran Toumajan gained an enormous amount of knowledge, which became the foundation of his future devotion to the field of Armenian music. By the outbreak of the First World War, Mihrans brother, Nishan (Dikrans future father), had already emigrated to the United States, and had settled in the city of Boston. Mihran was in Istanbul, where he was conscripted into the army and sent to Diyarbekir. When the massacres of Armenian soldiers began, Mihran was saved thanks to the intervention of an officer, who arranged for him to be stationed in Aleppo, and told him to never return to Diyarbekir. Later during the war, Mihran escaped into Egypt, which, at the time, was under British mandate. After the war, alongside many other Armenians, he traveled to Cilicia, where, alongside Parsegh Ganachian (another disciple of Gomidas Vartabed), he performed in choir concerts in Adana. In 1920 he was in Istanbul, again organizing concerts with surviving students of Gomidas Vartabed. After Istanbul, he moved to Paris, where he supplemented his musical education, and then, in 1923, he settled in the United States, joining his two brothers and two sisters. In 1966 he immigrated to Soviet Armenia, where he lived until his death in 1973. In the 1970s, music books written by him were published in Yerevan. Read more Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close A student responds to a question during a Comp Sci 537 Intro to Operating Systems class taught by Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau in Ingraham Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Feb. 4, 2016. Arpaci-Dusseau is one of twelve 2016 Distinguished Teaching Award recipients. (Photo by Bryce Richter / UW-Madison) Chris Rickert | Wisconsin State Journal Urban affairs, investigations, consumer help ("SOS") Follow Chris Rickert | Wisconsin State Journal Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today Its probably hard for those who have had an out-sized influence on shaping a place to admit when that place is behaving in reprehensible ways. Its like watching your children grow up to be drug dealers or Wall Street lobbyists. No longer are you so inclined to claim them as your own. Perhaps thats why in the wake of three homicides and other recent shootings, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin who has been a city elected official for 24 of the past 48 years dug out the old blame it on Chicago excuse. Soglin was little more than two minutes into a Wednesday press conference when he started suggesting those involved in the violence were something less than bona fide Madisonians. Proposals to curb such violence in the future are not going to have much of an effect on 20- and 30-year-olds who may have spent much of their formative years outside of the city of Madison, he said. What happens in Chicago has a profound effect on Wisconsin communities, he said later, and he didnt think it was a coincidence that as Chicago has gone through an enormous period of community violence ... that some of it may reach into our community. He also sought to defend the citys own work to strengthen families and said, If someone has not been raised in a community thats attentative and conscientious about that kind of programming, there may not be an ability to reach those folks. Of course, its not clear at this point that the people involved in the homicides which police believe are related and more than 30 other shooting incidents this year havent been raised in a community thats attentative and conscientious. Police Chief Mike Koval said during the press conference that the first killing, of Martez Moore on April 19, appears to have been mostly a Madison-related tragedy. With the later two, theres an undeniable nexus that we are seeing more and more to a Chicago connection. Still, most of the 14 people police have identified as either victims or in some way involved in the homicides and shootings appear from court records to have spent many years in Madison. Moore first shows up in state court records in 2003, when his residence was listed as the Dane County Jail and he would have been 17 years old. Two years later, his residence in a misdemeanor case is listed as Madison. His brother and the man charged in the third, May 11 homicide, Kortney D. Moore, 28, is listed in court records as living in Madison as of age 18. The victim of the second murder, on May 10, Darius Haynes, was 38 but had been in Madison since he was about 17, according to a family member. Eight of the other 11 range in age from 21 to 35. Court records show three of them living in Madison before they were old enough to drink, five others before they were old enough to vote. One person arrested is a 16-year-old boy from Madison. Another, Maurice Graham, 18, was caught in Chicago. Police have made 12 arrests in the cases, and provided names for five of them. Police spokesman Joel DeSpain said Thursday that funerals for Moore and Elijah Washington III, the May 11 victim, were in Chicago and that a recent shooting victim has a Chicago address. Many of the men with Madison pasts could have been living and committing crimes in Madison from an even younger age. Its hard to know because juvenile court records are confidential. Or maybe they arrived in Madison one day in their late teens or early 20s and decided to start breaking the law. But even then, an attentive and conscientious Madison should have been ready to help. If you have an arrest record or lack jobs skills we are prepared ... to work with you, to get you into job training, to get you the credentials you need, Soglin said. Maybe the city isnt as prepared as Soglin thinks. Soglin has blamed Chicago for what ails Madison before. Back in 2013, he told The Capital Times that a significant part of the achievement gap between black and white students is not because of the failure on the part of the Madison public schools, but it is because of the number of students who have transferred here from other districts, districts like Chicago. Plenty of others have chosen to make Chicago a whipping boy, too. A string of shootings in Madison spurred a Dane County sheriffs deputy, for example, to write send them back to Chicago. ... Then nuke Chicago on Facebook last year. He was subsequently forced to retire. Its all very wrong, this blame-Chicago business and not just because blaming Chicago is frequently just a stand-in for blaming blacks, or because its far from clear that Chicago deserves to be blamed in the first place. In her 11 years working as a nurse who cares for and collects evidence from some of the most vulnerable victims of violent crimes, Kim Curran has seen a lot of colleagues leave the specialty in the first two years. Widely seen as one of the toughest jobs in nursing, being a forensic nurse means helping patients in the grip of what the profession calls acute trauma. They can be survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, elder abuse or worst of the worst child abuse, sexual or physical. But Curran, who both manages and works hands-on in the Forensic Nurse Examiner program at Meriter Hospital, is clear-eyed about what keeps her coming to work even as victim caseloads rise to record levels. The program is the only one of its kind in Dane County and one of the few statewide with staff trained to work with child victims, many of whom travel two hours for care. Weve all had times weve wanted to walk away, Curran said. Anyone who tells you they havent is not being truthful. Some days are awful. But the good days outweigh the bad, she added. When a child hugs you at the end of an exam, theres just no words for how good that can make you feel. One of about 40 forensic nursing programs statewide, according to the state Department of Justice, Meriters program sees the second-largest number of victims annually after Aurora Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee, which did 736 sexual assault exams in 2015, plus 252 exams for domestic violence victims, officials said. Meriter completed a total of 518 victim exams. The 15 forensic nurses who work at Meriter Hospital are seeing a steady increase in all types of cases. Domestic violence showed the highest jump since 2012, increasing from 9 to 64 exams in 2015, according to program records. The rise was attributed in part to an increased emphasis by police and medical providers on investigating and documenting chokings. Because being choked doesnt always leave marks, forensic nurses are trained to use special cameras to document injuries inside a victims throat that could otherwise be missed making for stronger court cases, police and advocates said, and possibly saving lives. A history of strangulation attempts often precedes homicides in abusive relationships, advocates said. In addition, internal throat swelling after an attempt can continue for days and cause death if not treated. Its super critical work, said Patti Seger, executive director of End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin, about what forensic nurses do in choking cases. They have the ability to know if somebody needs to stay in the hospital for observation. It leads to better health care. Created by Meriter Hospital and the YWCA in 1988 but run solely by Meriter for the past 20 years, the programs 518 victim exams last year were a record high. The total included 446 sexual assault victims, 64 domestic violence cases and eight child physical abuse exams. Patients come mainly from throughout south-central Wisconsin, officials said. Meriter Hospital spends about $400,000 annually on the forensic nursing program, UnityPoint Health-Meriter spokeswoman Leah Huibregtse said. Financial support comes from sources including the hospitals foundation, donations and the states crime victim compensation fund. Madisons two other hospitals, St. Marys and UW Hospital, routinely send their forensic patients to Meriter, or Meriter nurses travel to those hospitals to see patients. An exception is child abuse victims with severe head trauma, which is typically diagnosed and documented for court purposes through the UW Child Protection Program at American Family Childrens Hospital, Curran said. Another local partner with Meriter is Madisons Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center, where investigators take children who are suspected victims of sexual or physical abuse for forensic interviews by specialists trained to find out what may have happened by speaking with them. Meriters role in those cases typically is to provide the forensic exams for children who disclose sexual abuse, Safe Harbor program manager Jennifer Ginsburg said. Sexual assault (at any age) is one of those crimes where theres generally not a witness, so what you need is an element of physical evidence, Ginsburg said. The forensic exam for sexual assault victims of any age follows state-approved, standardized protocols for the collection and packaging of evidence for analysis by the state Crime Lab. Nurses can use medical swabs, fingernail scrapings, photographs, alternative light sources that can detect the presence of bodily fluids, and other tools to find evidence and document injuries. But beyond the forensic exam, Safe Harbor relies on Meriter forensic nurses to provide emotional support and head-to-toe wellness exams for the young victims sent there, Ginsburg said. That could include treatment for diseases, pregnancy prevention and any injuries, she said. So many of the kids who are sexually abused they feel like theyre damaged, she said. So for them to have an exam that helps them know their body is OK, thats key. Meriters program is available 24 hours a day to anyone who needs help, regardless of ability to pay or insurance provider, Curran said. Last month, after nearly 30 years with the same moniker, Meriters forensic nursing program changed its name to better reflect the scope of its services. Known for decades by police, prosecutors and victim services providers by the acronym SANE which stands for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner in early April it was rechristened the Forensic Nurse Examiner program. Beyond victim exams, forensic nurses at Meriter provide training for law enforcement, serve as expert witnesses in court, do informational presentations for colleges and service providers, and connect victims with community resources, such as the Rape Crisis Center. Meriters forensic nurses do a lot of training of newer officers, explaining how the exams work, said Madison Police South District Det. Lt. Matthew Tye, who supervises sensitive crimes detectives citywide. Things are constantly changing as science evolves, and they are critical in monitoring that and getting that information to police. The Madison Police Department is the most frequent law enforcement user of Meriters program, out of more than 60 others that use it annually. Madison police last year took 178 victims for forensic exams at Meriter, for a third of the programs total exams. The next closest users were the Dane County Sheriffs Office with 17 and Fitchburg Police at 16. Victims also are referred to Meriters program through other agencies or arrive on their own. Sexual assault victims are not required to file a police report, Curran noted. Victims have 91/2 years to make a decision, in keeping with the states 10-year statute of limitations on sexual assault, minus six months set aside for processing of evidence kits. Since 2000, Meriters program also has done exams to collect evidence from people suspected of crimes, including homicide. Law enforcement pays for suspect exams. Its pretty profound to swab the hands of someone who may have just killed a person, Curran said. But your job as a nurse is not to judge them. You are just very matter-of-fact about it. Its your job to be the neutral medical evidence collector. Two people were injured in a shooting early Sunday morning on the South Side, with one sustaining serious injuries, police said. At 3:05 a.m., police responded to reports of multiple shots fired and people fleeing the area of La Hacienda Restaurant, 515 S. Park St., authorities said. A 26-year-old man was found with gunshot wounds in the parking lot when police arrived, and he was taken to a hospital, treated and released, police said. Another 26-year-old man "who apparently had sustained gunshot wounds showed up at a local hospital," police said. He is being treated for serious injuries, authorities said. Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said it appears shots were fired both in the parking lot and onto Drake Street, which is located right next to the restaurant. Several police vehicles were still at the scene late Sunday morning, with one block of Drake Street, between South Park Street and West Shore Drive, taped off by authorities. DeSpain said it was too early to tell whether the shooting is connected to any of several recent shootings and homicides in Madison, but he said a tie can't be ruled out. Police will hold a news conference at 4 p.m. Sunday to provide any updates into the investigation, DeSpain said. Mom, this is a dream come true, an excited Nathan Jarrett, 13, said following his second-place win in the Badger State Spelling Bee in March. Emily Jarrett, mother of the elated eighth-grader from Lincoln Middle School in La Crosse, said her son has dreamed of attending the National Spelling Bee since he was a fifth-grader. Now, in his final year of eligibility, hes headed to National Harbor, Maryland, for the Scripps National Bee, which takes place Tuesday through Thursday. This is the second year that Wisconsin is sending its top three spellers to the national bee instead of just the winner. The two other students headed to the big bee are state winner Veronica Goveas, a seventh-grader from North Middle School in Menomonee Falls, and third-place winner Martius Bautista, of Janesville, a sixth-grader from Madisons Edgewood Campus School. In the two months since the state bee, Wisconsins top three spellers have been prepping for the national competition, which has a higher level of difficulty than the state bees. They will compete with just under 300 students, said Bautistas father, Ryndon. Goveas, 13, is preparing in the same way she prepared for the state bee, and is looking forward to the events of the week. Im just learning more words and building on my vocabulary, said Goveas. I feel like its more of the same except Im working harder and doing harder words now than I was before. I study at about the same time every day and whenever I get the chance. Jarrett has been studying independently for about an hour a day since the state bee, primarily by studying root words and pronunciations, his mother said. Three-time Madison All-City Spelling Bee winner Bautista, 12, said he tries to read all of the words in the dictionary and reads books to study for competition. Bautista will be attending the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the second time after tying for 50th place in last years competition. Im hoping I can enter the top 50, said Bautista. Thats my goal. Hopefully I can do it. Jarrett also set reasonable goals for himself headed into the national bee, his mother said. He would like to make it to the semifinals, but beyond that any additional rounds he makes would just be icing on the cake, Emily Jarrett said. I think he just wants the experience of participating in the national bee and qualifying for semifinals, she said. Although three state contenders will be headed into a difficult competition with top spellers from all over the country, bee week is not just about the anxiety of competing. The social aspects are a highly anticipated part of the excitement. Goveas said she is excited to explore the national monuments and points of interest in the nations capital since she hasnt been there since she was very young. The spelling bee staff take us on tours, and its mainly helping us be relaxed before the competition comes up, she said. Im definitely going to do that. The Goveas family will also get a special outing beyond the activities planned by the Scripps staff. Veronicas mother, Mary Goveas, said U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson helped arrange tickets for the family to visit the U.S. Capitol. Bautista and Jarrett are particularly excited to interact with their competitors from around the country. I like meeting all the spellers, said Bautista. But then I like competing against them, so its kind of fun. Jarrett is especially going to enjoy the social activities because hell get the chance to meet other kids like him who enjoy spelling, Emily Jarrett said. It will also be an exciting time for Jarretts younger sister Lauren, a sixth-grader at Lincoln Middle School, who made it to the top 10 in the state bee. She will be going along on the trip to see what the national bee week is all about. Though the three Dairy State spellers dont know much about each other, they share a kinship after the state bee that they will perhaps have with spellers from across the country after the national bee. They were instant friends, Emily Jarrett said the states top three spellers. The (Wisconsin State Journal) took a picture of them and you can see how theyre all just gleaming and looking at each other, she said, because they have this connection that they worked hard for this goal and achieved it. [Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect a correction. A previous version misstated one of the sites Veronica Goveas' family intends to visit in Washington, D.C. It is the U.S. Capitol.] Purdue comes to town to face the Badgers for their homecoming game on Saturday. Hopefully the Badgers can get back on track. CHICAGO The results of the first nationally representative assessment of technology and engineering literacy are in, and theyre generally positive: 43 percent of eighth-grade students are proficient at solving real-world problems. And of these students, female white and female black students outperformed their male peers overall. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is commonly known as the Nations Report Card, these students demonstrated solid competency in thinking through problems systematically, and using computer-based tools to solve scenario-based questions. Now on to some bad news: Only 25 percent of lower-income students (those eligible for the National School Lunch Program) scored at or above the proficient level, compared with 59 percent of higher-income students. For English-language learners, only 5 percent were proficient. Additionally, compared with 56 percent of white and Asian students, only 30 percent of Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students, 28 percent of Hispanic students, and 18 percent of black students scored proficient or above. No huge surprise. Yet even though the assessments of technology and society, design and systems, and information and communication technology were administered via interactive software on computers, lets not fall into the trap of believing this is a digital divide issue. I believe this is yet another illustration of how children of parents with higher educations and greater financial resources in better-funded schools simply know so much more than poorer kids. Lets take one example of a scenario that involves a habitat for a classroom iguana named Iggy. The students were first given information about iguanas and their basic needs, then were asked a variety of questions aimed at diagnosing potential solutions to several problems the iguana might face because of the design of its cage. For instance, determining what cage designs might alleviate the iguana from being too cold, dehydrated or too active at night. If you had at least a middle-class upbringing and went to a moderately resourced school where the teacher had a fish aquarium in the classroom or an incubator in which baby chicks were hatched, or a tarantula, hamster, guinea pig, lizard, snake, you name it the aforementioned scenario has a palpable connection to real life. Maybe you only had a lonely fish in a science classroom tank, but you could probably draw connections between the differences in room temperature in the day, with 30 kids body heat in the room, and nighttime. Or maybe you went to a zoo or an animal sanctuary as part of a school field trip in grade school and had some personal connection to the idea of a wild animal in a human-maintained habitat. Even with the aid of given facts, these are crucial bits of background knowledge that would benefit a child trying to understand the scenario of a classroom iguana and then draw conclusions about what kind of cage would keep it warm. Low-income students rarely have deep, wide reserves of background knowledge. Speaking from personal experience, until high school both my sons went to poorly resourced schools in a low-income community where more than half the students were on the free or reduced-cost lunch program. Their classes were never taken on field trips to see live animals, and neither of my sons can remember having had live animals in their classrooms (unless you count tadpoles, I suppose). The schools were barely surviving, and the teachers didnt have district support to maintain animals in the classroom, unlike in their current schools. In surveys accompanying the Technology and Engineering Literacy test, nearly two-thirds of eighth-graders (63 percent) indicated their family members most often taught them about building things, fixing things, or understanding how things work. Nineteen percent of students responded that they taught themselves, and 13 percent of students reported that they learned from their teachers. This obviously leaves students with parents who have low education levels and little money for enrichment activities such as visits to zoos, museums or science camp significantly less able to compete with better-resourced peers. It is a great thing that this national assessment uses realistic situations for students to demonstrate their knowledge and problem-solving skills. And its very useful for us to understand how the students perform. But we have to recognize that the results may say less about how well students can solve problems than they do about the disparity of intellect-building resources in their lives. 5X Grammy Winner Calls YouTube Criminal Racketeers In Open Letter To Pushers Of Piracy In an "Open Letter to YouTube, 'Pushers' of Piracy" composer, bandleader and five-time Grammy winner Maria Schneider leaves no stone unthrown as she goes after Google and its YouTube subsidiary: " for the vast majority of the artistic community, including me, and every musician I know (and I know thousands), YouTube is a resounding disaster." Here is the full text of the open letter first published on Chris Castle's Music Technology Policy: Open Letter to YouTube, Pushers of Piracy by Maria Schneider Hank Greens recent open letter in support of YouTube (that was in response to Irving Azoffs open and scathing letter against YouTube) deserves a strong response from musicians and other creators. I appreciate YouTubes illegal business model might yield a few anecdotal success stories like Mr. Greens and his videos of opening beer bottles with antlers, but for the vast majority of the artistic community, including me, and every musician I know (and I know thousands), YouTube is a resounding disaster. Theres no use in beating around the bush, so Im going to cut to the chase Im of the firm opinion that YouTube should immediately lose its DMCA safe harbor status. And Im of the further opinion that YouTube is guilty of racketeering. Let me explain: YouTube is Not Entitled to Safe Harbor Status YouTube and its parent Alphabet have obliterated the original meaning of the safe harbor law with their bullying and coercive schemes to get their users to disrespect and ignore copyright. YouTube squeaked past its litigation with Viacom by settling their case after a four-year mutual war of attrition. But what came out of that litigation was the best measuring stick for whether YouTube is still entitled to the protections of the safe harbor. The most important directive from the court in those Viacom decisions goes something like this: If YouTube is substantially influencing their user behavior toward infringing, then YouTube is not entitled to the safe harbor. Its that straightforward. And without doubt, since 2014, YouTube has substantially influenced the behavior of hundreds of millions of its users toward infringement, fermenting a veritable pirate orgy. YouTube goes way beyond turning a blind eye to the marauding masses; it actively seduces its users into illegal behavior, and has even managed to make its users believe pirate behavior is beneficial to creators. Hank Greens latest letter illustrates that perfectly, by explaining how YouTubes Content ID scheme has been building and morphing since its inception, further contributing to making YouTube and Google a global empire, causing a seismic, cataclysmic shift in creative culture in our country and the world at large. The vast majority of music on YouTube is uploaded by people with no legal right to do so users whom YouTube has carefully molded and brainwashed. And Im meeting more and more young musicians who feel a growing resentment at being duped into being a part of cannibalistic behavior that is destroying their own financial future to the benefit of a corporate giant. Here are a few things that the Viacom judges never got to hear things that in my opinion should immediately kick YouTube out of the safe harbor. Ways in Which YouTube Substantially Influences User Behavior A. YouTube allows infringers to monetize illegally uploaded work, encouraging a culture of piracy. And even after a takedown, YouTube and the infringers keep their past illegal profits for themselves. B. YouTube has created technologies that allow lightning fast uploads of full tracks and albums, with no questions asked of the uploader, with no checkpoints of any kind. YouTube knows full well there is almost never fair use for full tracks and albums. So, to encourage this type of uploading can only be seen as blatant encouragement of out and out infringement. C. YouTube is using Content ID to make users feel good about themselves as they upload work that they dont own. YouTube baits users to upload to their hearts content and feel helpful to copyright owners. But for those of us who werent accepted into YouTubes Content ID protection program, or didnt agree to drink the purple Kool-Aid of licensing our entire catalogue to YouTube for monetization, tough luck youre left with an anemic takedown remedy. YouTube should proactively direct users to a library of licensed music before they upload, rather than perpetuate the notion that one can upload anything, without inquiry and responsibility. As it stands, YouTube emboldens users to assume its OK to upload indiscriminately. D. YouTube has publicly offered to pay attorneys fees up to a million dollars of some users who feel theyve wrongly received takedown notices. This publicity stunt emboldens all users to feel that YouTube has their back. What a way to intimidate the creator and stir up the infringer. E. YouTube consistently demonizes and intimidates musicians in the takedown process, publicly posting our names and making public apologies for our takedowns accompanied by a sad face. And inversely, they protect the identity of the user who has infringed the creators work. This public demonization of creators, contrasted by protection of the user, is unbalanced, and empowers the user to feel they are in the right. The public apology should be from YouTube itself. F. YouTube turns a blind eye to beyond-obvious-infringement, and users know that YouTube purposely looks the other way. Go to YouTube and search no infringement intended, I dont own this, but, I just want to share this music, and millions of examples instantly appear where users openly admit to not owning the music or having the rights, but simply want to share it. Google, the indisputable king of data certainly has the analytics to search this stuff and inform those that are breaking the law. G. YouTube intentionally confuses and misleads users about the importance of copyright rights, offering utterly inane educational videos. Watch Copyright Basics or Copyright School to see how YouTube completely downplays creators rights, and overplays the impact of fair use without clarification. And YouTubes legal eagle, Fred von Lohmann, even lectures creators about censoring negative commentary in Copyright Basics, so his hypocrisy at having disabled the publics comments on these pathetic videos was not lost on me. Any judge would be repulsed by YouTubes hubris and arrogance displayed in these ghastly videos. Considering that music is the most popular category of content on YouTube, it stands to follow that any educational video should at very least say to all users, full tracks and albums almost never qualify as fair use. For years, YouTube has been a pusher of pirate activity on its unsuspecting users. The sweeping influence of their scam has succeeded in dismantling copyright from the inside, like a flesh-eating virus, influencing citizens to destroy themselves. Any company influencing behavior like this, especially for the purposes of eroding Constitutional rights, should lose their safe harbor. Withholding Content ID from Creators is Outrageous. There are other grounds for kicking YouTube out of the safe harbor. To be in it, the law (section 512(i) which is written in terms even a non-lawyer like me can read) requires that YouTube make available to any person on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms standard technical measures to identify or protect copyrighted works. Well guess what: YouTube has completely ignored that requirement, and struts around like a banty rooster while doing it. Content ID is pretty standard fingerprinting stuff, and there are other companies that have similarly effective fingerprinting technologies like Audible Magic. Fingerprinting has become standard, and YouTube certainly uses it very effectively when it comes to monetizing mountains of licensed works. The DMCA makes it very clear YouTube needs to make that technology available to ANY (the word any is in the law) musician, not just the big powerful companies. And certainly the technology shouldnt be able to be used to instead coerce copyright holders into monetizing their catalogues instead of protecting them. The scheme is clear: wear copyright owners down, and then theyll be on their knees for any scraps at all. Im so sorry that so many big companies caved in to that pressure. YouTube has brought nearly everyone in our business to our knees. You wont see me drinking YouTubes purple Kool-Aid. They refused me Content ID without any real explanation, but it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out the truth. This truth about fingerprinting is exposed in Hank Greens own letter. The truth even more came to light in Zoe Keatings Billboard article. Clearly, after training their unsuspecting users to be pirates, the next tactic is to muscle the weak copyright holders into an all-or-nothing chokehold. They never wanted creators protecting their work with Content ID at all they want them monetizing their work, for YouTubes benefit. (And by the way, YouTube keeps about 2/3rds of the gross ad revenue read East Bay Rays helpful explanation.) Clearly, the only companies that get some protection from the Content ID service are ones licensing huge amounts of music, and then they probably get to offset a certain amount of work to be protected from upload at all. Im guessing a few big artists get to use Content ID as intended the ones that YouTube would want to keep quiet. Its hard to know the whole ugly truth that YouTube hides from us behind the NDAs Keating spoke about. The Emperor (or Data Lord) Has No Clothes So if we take away YouTubes safe harbor, what do we have left? Its standing there naked, exposed for what it is a huge pirate schemer, manipulating and using a lot of vulnerable people in order to feed their own greed, while intimidating and controlling the rest of the people that dont feed their needs the people that need to be kept out of YouTubes way. In my opinion this scheme is an old-fashioned racket. YouTube is Guilty of Criminal Racketeering YouTube has thoroughly twisted, contorted, and abused the original meaning of the outdated DMCA safe harbor to create a massive income redistribution scheme, where income is continually transferred from the pockets of musicians and creators of all types, and siphoned directly into their own pockets. Congress seems to be too hypnotized by Alphabet lobbyists, swarming like locusts, for the lawmakers to stand up straight with a firm sense of right and wrong, and defend the Constitution and the citizens of this country. When we analyze the bullying behavior of YouTube, in my opinion YouTube has created an illegal business through intimidation the classic Websters Dictionary definition of racketeering. Racketeer: a person who makes money through illegal activities; one who obtains money by an illegal enterprise, usually involving intimidation. So lets look at just a few examples of intimidating behavior YouTube shoves at us in the back alleys of its monstrous empire. A. YouTubes first intimidation is that you cant join Content ID, unless you fit its special secret criteria, which we dont know what it really is, but which appears to be that you must offer up your whole catalogue for monetization, in order to get the benefit of the technology. And it must be a big catalogue, clearly bigger than mine. B. YouTubes second intimidation is making the musician sign on YouTubes/Googles terms in order to do a takedown. (See Stephen Carlisles article) It is abusive of the law, self-serving, and intimidating, as there are limits of liability, place of jurisdiction and various legalese that one shouldnt have to agree to in order to do a take-down. None of that is in the DMCA. Thats YouTubes own special sauce. C. YouTubes third intimidation is to reveal to the whole world, the identity of the person exercising their Constitutional right, while protecting the uploaders identity. Thats not in the DMCA. Its YouTubes special spin. D. YouTubes fourth intimidation is to offer a permanent public apology for me and a sad face (or frownie face as YouTube general counsel, Katherine Oyama, corrected me at the Section 512 Hearings before Congress in 2014. (YouTube and Google love cute words, Alphabet, Google, YouTube, Frownie it creates an illusion of being harmless.) Many rights-holders have told of bullying and threats that have resulted from exposure of their identity. This demonization and intimidation makes many creators reticent to assert their Constitutional right. Thats not in the DMCA. That was YouTubes grand idea. E. YouTubes fifth intimidation is to throw a whole lot of questions at the copyright holder, and even a threat about attorneys fees, whereas none are posed to the user at the point of upload. Thats not in the DMCA. Only YouTube could be so cunning. F. The sixth YouTube intimidation is the publicity stunt of offering a million dollars to defend a user against a wrongful takedown. Thats scary. What if I make a mistake? And why arent they offering a million dollars to me against the endless infringements on my work on their site? That confusing dynamic of YouTube throwing around their power to embolden their well-trained users is beyond intimidating. It makes creators just give up, while it inversely cranks infringers up. Sure, there are wrong takedowns, but theres no comparison to the incalculable volume of infringement. This scheme isnt in the DMCA. That must have come from YouTubes goons. G. The seventh intimidation is that though they have whats now a standard finger-printing technology to keep content down, they force musicians like me into an endless whack-a-mole game that eventually wears out even the fiercest of us. I personally know the feeling of giving up, and the resentment that builds when you feel manipulated into helplessness by corporate manipulation. H. And just because theyre a different head of the same ugly monster, the eighth intimidation is specifically Googles Google and their special 46-step path to a takedown (cited by Stephen Carlisle) that again, ends in having to sign on to those nasty terms and condition just like YouTube. What an abuse of the DMCA. Its almost impossible to believe that any group of human beings could have been so bold as to dream up and implement such a sick plan as all of this. Even Google itself initially expressed that YouTube was dirty. As we know, they eventually bought YouTube, so I guess Google finally decided that its inspired motto of do no evil was just too high of a bar to live by. The following statements/admissions by Google employees were taken from the Viacom/YouTube case, and were made before Google acquired YouTube: A large part of their traffic is pirated content. YouTube is a rogue enabler of content theft. YouTubes business model is completely sustained by pirated content. Its a video Grokster. I cant believe youre recommending buying YouTube . . . theyre 80% illegal pirated content. it crosses the threshold of Dont Be Evil to facilitate distribution of other peoples intellectual property. Google thoroughly recognized this was criminal activity. But when Google bought YouTube in 2006 for 1.65 billion, their tune suddenly changed. Copyright Infringement + Intimidation = Racketeering Since Google bought YouTube, the Alphabet empire folded their new piracy factory into the worlds most powerful company, the worlds richest company, and the worlds most secretive company. Alphabet encourages, for their own gain, a free and open society, where all content is free and accessible, as though that is some sort of measure of a free society. But when it comes to their own content in the form of its database and algorithms, they choose to guard it like Fort Knox. The recent dustup at Facebook, with the political influence wielded behind their wizards green curtain, is just a small example of the sort of power data lords can have over us ordinary folks. Alphabets influence, control, and domination will only grow exponentially as the value of its trade secret database continues to balloon to unimaginable proportions. Thank God the EU is holding companies like Alphabet responsible, as we in this country all seem to be asleep at the switch, so long as YouTube is there to serve us up some edifying viral videos of somebody lighting their crotch on fire. What is especially scary about this corporate power is that YouTube is now starting to inject itself into the very manner in which art is created. Do we really want YouTube controlling the funding of music? How terrifying they destroy our creative culture, and now they want to save it by helping to create it themselves? Oh my God! That brings me to my final revelation: YouTube Suffers from Munchausens Syndrome By Proxy I was thinking about this whole convoluted scheme YouTube has cooked up with its Content ID program, when something popped in my mind, Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. Thats that disease you hear about sometimes on the local news where some sicko caregiver induces an illness to their own patients, so they can then turn around and quick save them and be the hero. I suddenly realized, oh my God, thats YouTube! YouTube has Munchausen by proxy! I see now theyre not only evil, theyre sick. Too bad its the most powerful company in the world that has the Munchausen affliction, and the entire world of music, film, and creative arts are the unsuspecting victims. We, like the unsuspecting patient, can all feel grateful that YouTube, our savior, has come up with the life-saving solution of helping us monetize our pirated work, and theyll further save us by letting some of us be the chosen YouTube artists theyll produce. Common Sense Solutions I asked YouTube nicely to reform its ways when I testified before Congress, offering several key ways to even the playing field and stop destroying musicians and other creators. But theyve not only ignored me (and many others like me), theyve since turned up the heat and made an even greater mockery of the safe harbor rules. Recently I had the opportunity to participate in four of the seven roundtables held by the U.S. Copyright Office on the DMCAs Section 512. I offered the following common-sense solutions: A. Takedown should mean stay-down. B. There should be mandatory checkpoints and education on the upload, with language created by the U.S. Office of Copyright, as well as a required signed perjury statement on the upload. Parity between upload and takedown is only logical and only fair. C. All sites with uploaded content should have to use the latest fingerprinting technology where creators can enter their work for the purpose of protecting it, not for the purpose of being muscled into monetizing it to the benefit of the hosting company. D. Stop the public display of the copyright holders identity when they do a takedown. For starters, YouTube, would you please consider these four steps as a first, good-faith step in the right direction? Perspective is Everything I appreciate that YouTube might work for a select few folks including Mr. Hank Green, but it is not in any way representative of the breadth of the arts in America musicians, authors, filmmakers, photographers, poets, artists and more. Alphabet is systematically leeching away our diverse and rich culture in order to become the most powerful and wealthy corporate empire the world has ever known. And its just getting started. The Internet has brought the world together in many wonderful ways. I appreciate that as much as anyone, having been the first Internet-only, fan-funded GRAMMY-winner. But the arts have connected people far more, and for far longer, than the Internet. The arts have connected us in times of war, brought healing through times of suppression, brought inspiration in times of need, and expression when weak voices needed to be heard. The Internet and the arts could be powerful if they worked to help one another, but as it stands, the Internet is being used by corporate giants to gut the arts for their own gain and they are destroying our culture. I heard an extremely powerful quote yesterday from the great American author, T.J. Stiles, (where he paraphrased Professor Jane Ginsburg from Columbia University) saying: the worst form of censorship is poverty. YouTube/Google, and other data lord companies are absolutely silencing and thereby censoring the arts just ask the 80% of Nashville songwriters who have had to leave the profession in the last decade. Jaron Lanier, who wrote Who Owns the Future, describes musicians as the canary in the coal mine. While YouTube has the canarys feathers sticking out of its mouth, were not dead yet. Temporarily dazed by YouTubes cunning bite, and drowning in its greedy drool, we are slowly coming to our senses. Musicians and artists of all types, as well as record companies, publishers and agents (who only exist because of music creators), need to unite and stand up for our Constitutional right to own our copyrights, and to force data lords like YouTube out of the lucrative safe harbor that it has used to exploit us. Share on: By PTI: From Anisur Rahman Dhaka, May 22 (PTI) At least 24 people have been killed and over 100 others injured as cyclone Roanu battered Bangladeshs southern coast, triggering landslides, forcing authorities to evacuate over five lakh people and leaving thousands homeless, officials said today. With a wind speed of up to 88 kilometres per hour, the cyclone hit the Barisal-Chittagong region yesterday, impacting the entire country. Most places witnessed rain and thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty and squally wind. advertisement "The death toll now stands at 24 with four more casualties reported overnight," Bangladeshs Disaster Management departments Director General Reaz Ahmed told PTI. 11 people, including minor children, were killed in the northwestern port city of Chittagong, which appeared to have suffered the worst in the cyclone, Ahmed said. The southwestern Bhola, northwestern Noakhali and Coxs Bazar coastal districts witnessed three deaths as the storm damaged 85,000 homesteads and business structures along the coastlines, he said. Several of the victims drowned in inflated waters caused by surges. Landslides, collapse of houses and uprooted trees killed others, officials said. "The officer in charge of Banskhali (of Chittagong) police station reported that seven people were killed there alone... they were victims of drowning or landslides," a police officer stationed in the port city said. A disaster management ministry spokesman said over 500,000 people were evacuated to cyclone shelters and preparations had been made to secure some 21,00,000 people. Many Bangladeshis were returning home today but officials said thousands of others along the coast had been left stranded in their homes as dozens of villages were flooded. Meteorologists said the cyclone first hit the southwestern coast and then proceeded towards the southeast turning the sea very rough. The Shah Amanat International Airport, Chittagong, suspended all of its flight operations due to Roanu. Experts said the casualty figures appear less as the cyclone hit the coastlines during the day time. The government ordered a massive evacuation campaign after the MeT office yesterday turned its "local warning signals" to "danger signals" for all its four seaports, covering the entire coastlines. The main port of Chittagong, earlier, internally issued a "red alert" ordering ships to immediately leave the port and anchor in the outer anchorage for the safety of the facility. Bangladesh is vulnerable to cyclones because of its location at the triangular shaped head of the Bay of Bengal, the sea-level geography of its coastal area and its high population density. advertisement Two of the deadliest cyclones that hit in 1970 and 1991 claimed about 500,000 and 140,000 lives respectively. PTI AR AJR ASK AKJ ASK --- ENDS --- The actor-producer is on a roll, as his production house has acquired the rights to American drama TV series, Prison Break. By India Today Web Desk: This man is almost 60--though he's the perfect example of 'age-defiance'--and he's just not ready to stop! After recently breaking the news that he's bagged a character in only the most famous show of all time, Family Guy, now comes this piece of gem. After 24 and Modern Family, Bollywood actor-producer Anil Kapoor has now acquired the rights of another American TV series, Prison Break. advertisement "I always go with my gut feeling. I know people will like it. We will adapt it to suit Indian sensibilities. It's one of my most favourite shows. I am truly excited," Anil said in a statement. Prison Break, which is now gearing up for its fifth season, revolves around two brothers. One has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit while the other devises an elaborate plan to help him escape and clear his name. Sharing more about the show, Anil said: "The show is about sibling love. It has just the right amount of emotions and of course some mind-blowing action. In the past, films like Do Aankhen Barah Haath and Umar Qaid, which revolved around jailbreak, have been appreciated by the audience." Anil is currently busy shooting for the second season of 24. Will he also be playing a character in Prison Break, though? "I'd love to be a part of the show but my entire focus is on 24 right now. Doing two shows won't be possible but whoever comes on board has to be physically fit. I have a few names in mind. We will begin casting soon. It will be made on the same scale as 24." Anil's production house has bought the rights to Season 1 of Prison Break. Season 2 will be underway only after feedback to the first part is in. "We'll start planning the show as soon as I wrap up shooting for 24. I want to take it on the floors as soon as possible," he added. (With inputs from IANS) --- ENDS --- The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour, should it be confirmed, could further fracture the Taliban - an outcome that experts cautioned might make the insurgents even less likely to participate in long-stalled peace efforts. By Reuters: The United States conducted a drone strike on Saturday against the leader of Afghan Taliban, likely killing him on the Pakistan side of the remote border region with Afghanistan in a mission authorized by US President Barack Obama, officials said. The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour, should it be confirmed, could further fracture the Taliban - an outcome that experts cautioned might make the insurgents even less likely to participate in long-stalled peace efforts. advertisement The mission, which included multiple drones, demonstrated a clear willingness by Obama to go after the Afghan Taliban leadership in Pakistan now that the insurgents control or contest more territory in Afghanistan than at any time since being ousted by a US-led intervention in 2001. Air strike targeted Mansour Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook confirmed an air strike targeting Mansour in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region but declined to speculate on his fate, although multiple US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters he likely was killed. "We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more information as it becomes available," Cook said. A Taliban commander close to Mansour, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, denied Mansour was dead. "We heard about these baseless reports but this not first time," the commander said. "Just wanted to share with you my own information that Mullah Mansour has not been killed." In December, Mansour was reportedly wounded and possibly killed in a shootout at the house of another Taliban leader near Quetta in Pakistan. Bruce Riedel, an Afghanistan expert at the Brookings Institution think-tank, described the US operation in Pakistan as an unprecedented move but cautioned about possible fallout with Pakistan, where Taliban leadership has long been accused of having safe haven. A State Department official said both Pakistan and Afghanistan were notified of the strike but did not disclose whether that notification was prior to it being carried out. "The opportunity to conduct this operation to eliminate the threat that Mansour posed was a distinctive one and we acted on it," the official said. Troubled peace talks The US drones targeted Mansour and another combatant as the men rode in a vehicle in a remote area southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, another US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. US special operations forces operated the drones in a mission authorized by Obama that took place at about 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT), the official said. That would have placed it at Saturday at 3 p.m. in Pakistan. Cook branded Mansour "an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban" and said he was involved in planning attacks that threatened US, Afghan and allied forces. advertisement Michael Kugelman, a senior associate for South and Southeast Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, said the strike was unlikely to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table any time soon. "The Taliban won't simply meekly agree to talks and especially as this strike could worsen the fragmentation within the organization," he said. Kugelman said the most important target for the United States remained the top leadership of the Haqqani network, which is allied with the Taliban. Mansour had failed to win over rival factions within the Taliban after formally assuming the helm last year after the Taliban admitted the group's founding leader, Mullah Omar, had been dead for more than two years. It was unclear who Mansour's successor might be. "If Mansour is dead it will provoke a crisis inside the Taliban," Riedel said. Afghanistan safe haven for terrorists US Senator John McCain, the Republican head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he hoped the strike would herald a change in the Obama administration's policy against more broadly targeting the Taliban. The new US commander in Afghanistan is currently reviewing US strategy, including whether broader powers are needed to target insurgents and whether to proceed with plans to reduce the number of US forces. advertisement "Our troops are in Afghanistan today for the same reason they deployed there in 2001 - to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for global terrorists," McCain said. "The Taliban remains allied with these terrorists, including al-Qaeda and the Haqqani network, and it is the one force most able and willing to turn Afghanistan into a terrorist safe haven once again." --- ENDS --- By PTI: visit From Ammar Zaidi Tehran, May 22 (PTI) Ahead of his maiden visit to energy- rich Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said enhancing connectivity, trade, investment and energy partnership will be his priority with the post-sanction Persian Gulf nation. Modi, who arrives here this evening, will hold talks with Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and its President Hassan Rouhani to boost bilateral trade, energy and strategic ties. advertisement "Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority," he said in a series of tweets. After arrival here, he is scheduled to visit a local gurudwara. Modi said that his meetings with Rouhani and the Supreme Leader of Iran would provide an opportunity to advance "our strategic partnership". Rouhani will be hosting a lunch for him. "My meetings with President Rouhani and Honble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership," he said. Noting that he looked forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar Agreement during his visit, the Prime Minister said, "India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region. Chabahar is a port in South-East Iran that will enable India to bypass Pakistan and open up a route to land-locked Afghanistan with which New Delhi has close security ties and economic interests. From Chabahar, the existing Iranian road network can link up to Zaranj in Afghanistan, about 883 kms from the port. The Zaranj-Delaram road constructed by India in 2009 can give access to Afghanistans Garland Highway, setting up road access to four major cities in Afghanistan -- Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. Besides visiting the gurudwara, Modi will also inaugurate an International Conference on Retrospect and Prospect of India-Iran relations. "I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today & tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani," he added. Besides signing a deal on development of Chabahar port, India is looking at doubling oil imports from Iran which a few years back was its second-biggest oil supplier, as well as getting rights to develop a giant gas field. Post-sanctions Iran has seen a flurry of diplomatic and business activity with leaders from China and Russia courting Tehran. Earlier, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had visited Tehran. (More) PTI ANZ CS KUN SC KUN --- ENDS --- advertisement In his campaign for the Goa Assembly polls, Arvind Kejriwal recalled how the AAP government (in Delhi) had dismissed its own Food minister from the Cabinet after he was caught demanding bribe. By Press Trust of India: Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal today said he would not even spare his own children if they were found to be involved in illegalities. "Tomorrow even if my child is involved in illegality, I will not spare him (and) I will take stringent action against him," Kejriwal said addressing a public meeting here. advertisement Goa campaign kicking off the The Aam Aadmi Party's campaign for the Goa Assembly polls scheduled to be held in 2017. Kejriwal recalled how the AAP government (in Delhi) had dismissed its own Food minister from the Cabinet after he was caught demanding bribe. In his 40-minute speech, Kejriwal touched on the issue of liquor baron Vijay Mallya's debt to the banks. Kejriwal slams BJP The Delhi Chief Minister alleged that Congress had given Rs 9,000 crore subsidy to Mallya. "We gave (electricity) subsidy of Rs 1,400 crore which benefited 36 lakh families (in Delhi). But the Congress kept on criticising AAP government for the subsidy. We gave subsidy to help the common men, while Congress gave Rs 9,000 crore subsidy and that too for one person, Vijay Mallya," he alleged. Taking a dig at BJP, Kejriwal said, "when the party came to power (at the Centre) they allowed him (Mallya) to run away so that he is not caught." The Delhi Chief Minister further said his government has slashed down the power tariffs in Delhi to the second lowest as against highest in the country a year and half ago during Congress rule. "Then government was not heeding to the demand of the people that private firms providing electricity to Delhi were running scams. But when we came to power, we did the audit of their accounts through CAG which revealed Rs 8,000 crore scam," Kejriwal claimed. "We want to take action against these power firms and recover the money but the case is pending in the Supreme Court. Once we win the case, we promise that Delhi's power tariff would be reduced further," he added. --- ENDS --- The BJP leader along with her other party activists who were injured from the sudden attack have all been admitted to the Diamond Harbour Hospital. By India Today Web Desk: BJP leader and actor Roopa Ganguly was today injured in an attack allegedly by Trinamool workers in Diamond Harbour area of Kolkata. Roopa Ganguly was targeted while she was on her way to visit an injured party supporter at Kakdwip Hospital. Here is so far we know in the story While she was returning to Kolkata, a group of villagers blocked the way of her convoy and attacked her. The unknown attackers manhandled her and vandalised her vehicle. The BJP leader along with her other party activists who were injured from the sudden attack have all been admitted to the Diamond Harbour Hospital. Roopa is known to have sustained head injuries. Meanwhile, police force was rushed to the spot, but no arrests have been made so far. The BJP leader had contested from Howrah in the West Bengal assembly elections that took place recently. advertisement --- ENDS --- Mahendra Singh, BJP's Assam-in-charge, was given the task of handling Assam and the impending Elections in the Legislative Assembly by BJP President Amit Shah in November 2014. By Manogya Loiwal : Bharatiya Janta Party made history in Assam on May 19 by dethroning Congress and forming its first ever government in the state. While Sarbananda Sonowal will be sworn in as Assam Chief Minister, the man behind party plotting win in the state is Mahendra Singh. Mahendra Singh, BJP's Assam-in-charge, was given the task of handling Assam and the impending elections in the Legislative Assembly by BJP President Amit Shah in November 2014. advertisement Going for the kill Aiming to dethrone the reigning Congress and winning 84 seats out of 140 seats in Assam, the saffron party launched Mission 84. Along with making the blueprint for economic development of the state which it intends to implement in the next two years, the saffron party launched ambitious 'Mission 84' which meant With party's registered membership shooting up to 31 lakh against 3.5 lakh in Novemeber 2016, Singh managed this 800 per cent increase in 16 months through Maha Sampark Abhiyan. From missed calls to online registrations including meeting the youth personally, Mahendra Singh helped the party gain a strong foot hold in the state. "The success of the Maha Sampark Abhiyan reflected in the results. We now have even more people registering and coming out in support of the party. The victory will give impetus to more and more people, specially the youth joining us." says Mahendra. Slow and steady From winning 27 out of 74 seats in Guwahati Municipal Corporation in February 2015 to registering a win in the other body elections too the road to Assam Secretariat was being paved slowly but steadily. Mahendra explains, "Assam is known to be the land of lahe lahe, which means slowly slowly in Assamese. I was told not to speed up...it won't work here.But we were fighting to win and not for the sake of fighting. I have been given responsibilities in elections in Maharashtra, Chattishgarh, Bihar, Haryana and Punjab too...but Assam was different...from language to changing of Tribes every hundred kilometers...it was a challenge...but the result reflects the hard work and strategy put in this..." From Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pension scheme, Jan Dhan Yojana, benefits for Tea Tribes and the first train from Silchar to Guwahati, Singh made it sure that party's message and development manifesto penetrates deep into the state. A resident of Pratapgarh, Mahendra Singh is also an elected Member of Legislative Council in Uttar Pradesh, his native state. Interestingly since his entry into politics in 1991 this is perhaps the rarest occasions when he did not visit his home for almost an year. advertisement A student of Ancient History he seldom spends a day in Guwahati without visiting and offering prayers at the famous Kamakhya Temple. " It was all the hard work along with prayers that we did together as a team for development of Assam that were answered by Goddess Kamakhya...after all she is the lord of the land," said Singh. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Lucknow, May 21 (PTI) BJP would observe a week long vikas parv in the state from May 26 when the Narendra Modi government completes its two years, to highlight its achievements, which would start with PMs public meeting in Saharanpur. "The PM will address a meeting in Saharanpur on May 26, marking the beginning of week long vikas parv to highlight Modi governments achievements," party spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said. advertisement During vikas parv week the MPs would participate in jan chaupal programmes up to block levels and would tell about the achievements and programmes of the Centre, Pathak added. The party workers would also cover 20,000 gram sabhas which were left out during Gram Uday to Bharat Uday campaign, he added. Pathak said that it had been decided to constitute divisional and district level units between May 31 and June 7 respectively. Earlier, addressing a meeting of senior leaders state BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya said that partys historic win in Assam Assembly polls has boosted the morale of the party cadre. He claimed people from all sections of the society were willing to get associated with the party. The state BJP chief alleged that SP and BSP were at the same level on corruption and law and order front. He alleged hurdles were being created in implementation of central schemes in the state as a result they were not reaching to the public. PTI AVA RCJ RG RCJ --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) BJP workers today staged a demonstration outside the CPI(M) headquarters here, broke police barriers and damaged their signboard in protest against the murder of a party worker allegedly by supporters of the Left party during a poll victory rally in Kerala. BJP has been targeting the Left over the alleged attacks on its workers in Kerala in the run up to the polls. advertisement Several police teams were deployed and a four-tier security arrangement was made around the CPI(M) office in New Delhis Gole Market area this morning. CPI(M) workers had also come out of the building to confront the protesters and a minor scuffle broke out when a group of BJP workers broke police barriers and damaged the signboard at the CPI(M) headquarters. The groups were separated by the police and no injuries were reported, police maintained. "Around 600 people have been detained under provisions of law and the situation is under control," DCP (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal said. Holding that the protest was peaceful, Delhi BJP spokesman Praveen Kapoor said, "Police detained our leaders and workers but not the CPI(M) workers who resorted to violence. Hundreds of party workers, including Delhi in-charge Shyam Jaju and president (Satish Upadhyay) have been detained." CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat said, "No one was injured in the attack. But the police personnel deployed there did not prevent them from coming up to the office." A police complaint has been lodged in connection with the incident, a CPI(M) worker said. On Thursday, BJP worker Pramod (38) had sustained head injuries after he was allegedly hit by a brick following a clash during a victory rally by CPI(M) workers at Idavilangu in Kerala. He died the next day. BJP chief Amit Shah had yesterday accused the Left Front of "violating" the peoples mandate. BJP had said it will not sit quiet if the "cycle of violence" continues in the state as it claimed that it has emerged as a powerful alternative voice to the two main fronts led by CPI(M) and Congress. Kapoor said, "The protest is against the violence in Kerala and the killing of our party worker there." The protesters started marching in groups from the Delhi BJP office in Pandit Pant Marg and gathered outside the outer-most barricading near the Left partys office. PTI DEY VIT ENM SC --- ENDS --- If you too did not score more than your neighbour Mr. Sharma's daughter then we feel you. And this one is for you! By Sanjana Agnihotri: Yesterday, CBSE 'declared the fate' of over a million class XII students and naturally some fared well but some did not. Although we wish it was that simple. In this age of high competition and limited number of seats in colleges, scoring well in class XII examination has become a must. And, if you do manage to get a seat in a decent college but score less than your neighbour Mr. Sharma's daughter then how will the society validate you? advertisement These days students not only have to meet the eligibility criteria set by the universities to get admission but also the criteria set by the relatives and extended family. Anything below 90 per cent will raise concern and question your capability. Amid the tension, we bring you 10 tweets which aptly depict the reality of CBSE results: On May 21st, I'll get calls from those relatives who last spoke to me when 10th results came out. #cbse #cbseresult Avi Mittal (@avimittal98) May 20, 2016 India is a place where "Khandan ki izzat" & "Log kya kahenge" is more important than someone's life. ?? #CBSE #cbseresult YASH (@StarringYK) May 21, 2016 Reaction : When a relative comes at home just after the declaration of #CBSE results . pic.twitter.com/qxLge6YkTi Divyanshu Sharma (@jetsroy) May 21, 2016 Seeing your friends scoring 90s and 95s and knowing you're the only one left behind is probably the worst feeling in the world #CBSEResult Bhavya Singh (@thearcticjunkie) May 30, 2015 India should make a serial on the lines of Orange is the new black titled "90% is the new 70%". Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) May 22, 2016 #CBSEResult Girl topped and got 99.2% and delhi university is like lets set set a cut off to 99.3% Junaid Quadir (@junaid_quadir) May 25, 2015 [CBSE Results] Topper 1: I got 99.4% Topper 2: I got 99.2% Topper 3: I got 99% Reservation categorie student:- I got admission in DU#CBSE ?? ?? (@cchauhan14) May 21, 2016 Pic 1 : Your life on regular days Pic 2 : When #CBSE board results come out pic.twitter.com/amVjIbJ7kG Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) May 21, 2016 93% & my neighbor's kid is still not happy with her #CBSEResult - there has to be smth drastically wrong with the #IndianEducation system Ruchi Chaudhri (@Ruchi_Chaudhri) May 28, 2015 The fight is not only for those few seats but even a 0.25% difference in the percentage matters here. Last year, more than 1 lakh students applied in various courses of Delhi University within only five days of the admission process whereas the 70 colleges under the university offer only 54,000 thousand seats. With the number of students scoring more than 95 percent increasing every year, the cut-offs too are soaring high which probably does not even guarantee the ones who scored above 90 percent a college of their choice. This year more than 90,000 students have scored more than 90 percent. But 90 or no 90 comedian Vir Das has a message for all the students who sat for the CBSE exams. advertisement Watch: --- ENDS --- By PTI: Thiruvananthapuram, May 22 (PTI) Former Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala today warned the CPI(M) and BJP of dire consequences if both parties do not stop the violence unleashed against Congress workers after the assembly polls. As many as 142 small and big incidents of political violence had been reported in the last three days soonafter the results were announced, he said. advertisement "CPI(M) and BJP activists have been indulging in violence and attacking Congress and UDF workers since the results of the May 16 assembly polls were announced. It is a matter of great concern," Chennithala said in a press note. It was unfortunate that no leaders of CPI(M) or BJP had deplored the attacks so far, he said. Chennithala alleged that a large number of Congress and Indian Union Muslim League activists were attacked and their houses and offices damaged. "These all indicate towards the politics of violence and intolerance of CPI(M). BJP is indulging in attacks after sowing the seeds of communalism. Congress warns of dire consequences if both parties do not stop violence unleashed against Congress workers after the assembly polls," he said. PTI LGK UD APR IKA --- ENDS --- A spat with three youths in south Delhi's Kishangadh area over taking an auto rickshaw turned ugly, so much so that his head was smashed with a stone. The blow turned fatal and Olivier lost his life. By Shashank Shekhar: On Friday night, Masonda Ketada Olivier, a citizen of Congo, was beaten to death in an alleged racial attack, just a day before his friends planned a surprise birthday bash for him in South Delhi. A spat with three youths in south Delhi's Kishangadh area over taking an auto rickshaw turned ugly, so much so that his head was smashed with a stone. The blow turned fatal and Olivier lost his life. advertisement According to the police, the victim, Masonda Ketada Olivier (29) was a French teacher in a private institute. He was returning home in South extension from Kishangadh, when he got into an argument with three local youths over an auto rickshaw. This is not the first time that an African national has faced an attack. There has been several instances where locals have engulfed in street fights with African nationals. Racial outrage While the police maintain it to be a case of street fight, the victim's friend, Sam, who accompanied him to Kishangadh, but managed to escape after the brawl took place, alleged that it was a case of racial outrage. "I was with Olivier minutes before the incident took place. I had crossed over to the other side of the road to look for an auto for myself. That's when I saw three men brutally thrashing him. I cried for help, but in vain. I still don't know why was he killed so brutally," Sam said. Three men, allegedly drunk, came and argued over hiring the same rickshaw for Chattarpur. "Olivier was well-built but he was overpowered by the three youths. They attacked him with whatever they got and finally one of them hit his head with a big stone," a senior officer said. Murder captured on camera He also tried to escape but the attackers chased him for about 20-25 metres before pounding him to death. The brutal killing is captured on a CCTV camera. Mobin Azad Saifi (23) has been arrested while two others - identified as Mukesh and Prakash - are absconding. The attackers have criminal history and have been jailed in past. "We respect Indians. There are many Indians who are living happily in Congo. Indians can be seen applying for visas everyday. Our people have complete respect for Indians. We take full responsibility of their safety and security in our country. But here, the situation is completely different. How would it feel if Congolese people attacked Indians?" Sam told Mail Today demanding stricter punishment and appreciated police action. "He would have been celebrating his birthday with us today. We were all planning to go out and party. This is an unfortunate incident. We can't believe it happened to him. He was a very quite boy," another friend of the victim's Jonathan said. --- ENDS --- advertisement Youth Congress organised a day long event to remember the charismatic former prime minister, but much before party president Sonia Gandhi was to address them, the disarray among party members could glaringly be seen. By Anindya Banerjee: Just 48 hours after the grand defeat in four main states in recently concluded Assembly election, it was time for Congress to come together and resolve to undo what ails the grand old party. The platform was just right - Rajiv Gandhi's 25th death anniversary. But what it ended up doing was exposing how much disarray the party is in today. advertisement Youth Congress organised a day long event to remember the charismatic former prime minister, but much before party president Sonia Gandhi was to address them, the disarray among party members could glaringly be seen. HERE'S WHY THERE COULD BE DISCORD WITHIN THE CONGRESS: To begin with, not every top leader was present. Vice president Rahul Gandhi's absence was attributed to his health condition. But there was no explanation why former PM Manmohan Singh wasn't present. Also no explanation why AK Anthony gave it a miss. Interestingly his report for a overhaul in the party functioning has been the talk in Congress corridors since last few days. Many Congress leaders started complaining about the AC at Indira Gandhi Stadium not functioning properly, and some even left their seats. Amrinder Singh Brar, head of the Youth Congress that organised the event almost shouted out, "AC is working here and if you cannot sit patiently then you will never become a neta. If you do not have it in you then go home." But soon realising the outburst could be counter productive, he assured 'food and water' at every seats to ensure they stay till Sonia Gandhi addressed them. Digvijaya Singh, who on Friday while speaking to India Today asked for 'deep surgeries' for Congress to make difference, blatantly asked for the old guard to be removed, something that will certainly not go down well with many Congress heavy weights. Amid thunderous applause the Congress general secretary declared, "The youth has to be given the reins now, I want to tell our leaders. There is no alternative." With things not going as planned, late at night Sonia Gandhi accompanied by her son and daughter, flanked by the creme de la creme of Congress, walked up to the Veer Bhumi and prayed, amid subtle sound of sitar, at exactly the same time when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated 25 years ago. They tried putting up a cohesive united front, but by then the damage was done. --- ENDS --- With her crazy schedule, and the weather getting only worse by the day, how does the pretty actress beat the heat? By India Today Web Desk: If you think your life has become hell because of this blistering heat, think about the life of a small-screen actor. Now, think about the life of a small-screen actor who is about to get married, and thus is having to work overtime to be able to get some days off for her wedding celebrations. Yup! That's Divyanka Tripathi for you--and as picture-perfect and delightful as she looks, the pretty damsel does put in a lot of effort into maintaining that natural beauty of hers. This effort also goes into keeping cool through this heat, so she can look pretty as a picture for every shot. advertisement So, how does she manage, with her crazy schedule and Mumbai's cruel weather? Divyanka tells Telly Chakkar, "Summer is the best season to detoxify. I am on raw fruits, salads, sautes and curds mostly nowadays. I detest eating oily, junk food in this season. I keep myself cool by having several litres of water, that's the best liquid for the system." "If I am in a party mood, I'd opt for lightly salted buttermilk, orange juice or watermelon juice, all without sugar of course. One can stay fit, happy and cool following the same," she adds. The actress also took to Instagram of late to post a picture of her gorging on some healthy salad. #Veg #SaladDinner #YumYum @SaladDaysIndia A photo posted by Divyanka Tripathi (@divyankatripathi) on May 10, 2016 at 12:29pm PDT We admire your resilience, Divyanka! --- ENDS --- By PTI: opposition Chennai, May 19 (PTI) Putting up a brave face after the arch-rival AIADMK won the Assembly elections, DMK today said it can act as a good opposition with the significant increase in its strength. "So far, there has been no opposition with such a good number. People have given us the opportunity and we will duly do our job," DMK Treasurer M K Stalin said reacting to the election outcome. advertisement Senior party leader and former MP, Dayanidhi Maran, echoed the views of Stalin, when he said this was the first time that the main opposition had nearly 100 MLAs. "People have given us the opportunity to take up their issues in a big way in the Assembly," he said as the DMK on its own bagged over 80 seats. Meanwhile, MDMK founder and Coordinator of the DMDK-PWF-TMC combine, Vaiko, alleged that money power had played a vital role in the polls. He accused both AIADMK and DMK of bribing voters to "buy" their votes. "The six party coalition we have formed against corruption and to uphold democracy will function with more vigour," he said in a statement. The DMDK-PWF-TMC combine has drawn a blank in the polls. PTI SA VS DIP --- ENDS --- Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard were involved in a tussle during the Indian Premier League game between Gujarat Lions and Mumbai Indians on Saturday. By Indo-Asian News Service: Gujarat Lions' Dwayne Bravo was on Sunday fined 50 percent of his match fee for breaching the Indian Premier League's (IPL) code of conduct during his team's match against Mumbai Indians at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur on the previous day. (Also read: Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard nearly come to blows) "Bravo admitted the Level 2 offence (Article 2.2.7) for inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a player in the course of play during a match," an IPL statement said. advertisement "For level 2 breaches of IPL's code of conduct, the match referee's decision is final and binding." Gujarat defeated Mumbai by six wickets in the match to ensure a top-two finish in the points-table and qualification into the play-offs. --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) Former Manipur MLAs, who had resigned following passage of three contentious bills in the state Assembly a year ago, today urged the Centre not to give its consent to the "anti-tribal" bills. "We are here to apprise the central leadership, the President of India about the trauma we are facing today. The three bills were passed without referring to the hill people, as is the rule," Samuel Risom, one of the four MLAs, told reporters here. advertisement "With these enactments, they want to destroy the hill people and tribals. They want to give a free hand to others with vested interests to purchase land in the state," he said. The Manipur Assembly had passed three contentious bills--the Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015, the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2015, and the Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015, last year. The former MLAs belonging to Naga Peoples Front (NPF)-- Dikho, Alexander Pou, Nunghlung Victor and Samuel Risom - had resigned, alleging "procedural lapses" and that the bills were "against the interest of the tribals". "The bills were passed within minutes without any debate and they called it unanimously passed. We were not even given time to put forth our concerns," Risom said. "But, at least by our resignation, people are now aware about the situation of tribals in Manipur," he said. NPF Manipur state President Awangbow Newmai complained of the indifference shown to the "injured" state of Manipur. "It is time the Government of India intervenes and sees to it that normalcy is restored in Manipur and interests of all sections of people are safeguarded and that everyone is happy. And if otherwise, Manipur is going to face a very serious problem," he said. The former MLAs and other NPF leaders yesterday met Union minister Kiren Rijiju with their plea. They also want to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister Rajnath Singh. After the passage of the contentious bills, tribals had launched protests and clashed with security personnel alleging the bills will allow the "outsiders" to snatch away their land rights. Nine people, including an 11-year-old boy, were killed during the agitation. PTI CHT GJS SRY SC SRY --- ENDS --- By PTI: Los Angeles, May 21 (PTI) People are more likely to be asked out on a second date if they are genetically predisposed to have traits consistent with prevailing gender norms like social dominance in men and submissiveness in women, scientists have found. Researchers at University of California, Irvine wanted to find if mate selection could be influenced by peoples ability to quickly detect socially designated "good genes." advertisement They turned to speed-dating to test their predictions in a real-life scenario. In such meet-ups, participants only had a few minutes to assess the short- and long-term potential of their speed-dating partners, and to decide whether or not to offer their partners a second date. Researchers recruited 262 single Asian Americans to have three-minute dates with members of the opposite sex. After each speed-date, participants were asked whether or not they wanted to offer their partner a second date, and how desirable they found the person as a romantic partner. Researchers found that participants who were more likely to be asked on a second date had genotypes consistent with personal traits that people often desire in a romantic partner - social dominance/leadership in men, social sensitivity/submissiveness in women. When examining the DNA samples, the researchers focused on two polymorphisms (on two different genes) that were previously linked to social dynamics. The -1438 A/G polymorphism is part of the genetic make-up of the serotonin system and has been linked to social dominance and leadership. The A118G polymorphism, which has been linked to social sensitivity, is part of the opioid receptor gene that contributes to peoples capacity to experience social pleasure and pain, and their need to have social contact. Researchers found that men and women with genotypes consistent with prevailing gender norms were more likely to receive second date offers. They were also seen as more desirable short- and long-term romantic partners. When it came to -1438 A/G, men who carried its G-allele variation were rated as more desirable potential mates and were more likely to receive second date offers. In contrast, women who carried this G-allele were more likely to be given the cold shoulder by men. With A118G, women with the G-allele enjoyed greater speed-dating success. However, their male counterparts were not as lucky. Men with this G-allele were less desirable to their speed-dating partners. This genetic effect could extend beyond romantic attraction to other social situations, such as job interviews, the researchers said. advertisement The study was published in the journal Human Nature. PTI MHN CPS --- ENDS --- The genes mainly affect the width and pointiness of noses which vary greatly between different populations, said researchers from University College London. By Press Trust of India: Scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have identified genes that drive the shape of human noses, an advance that can help understand how our faces evolved and aid forensic DNA technologies. The genes mainly affect the width and pointiness of noses which vary greatly between different populations, said researchers from University College London (UCL). The new information adds to our understanding of how the human face evolved and may help contribute to forensic DNA technologies that build visual profiles based on an individuals genetic makeup, they said. advertisement Researchers identified five genes which play a role in controlling the shape of specific facial features. DCHS2, RUNX2, GLI3 and PAX1 affect the width and pointiness of the nose and another gene - EDAR - affects chin protrusion. "Finding out the role each gene plays helps us to piece together the evolutionary path from Neanderthal to modern humans," said Kaustubh Adhikari from UCL. "It brings us closer to understanding how genes influence the way we look, which is important for forensics applications," he added. People have different shaped facial features based on their genetic heritage and this is partly due to how the environment influenced the evolution of the human genome. The nose, for example, is important for regulating the temperature and humidity of the air we breathe in so developed different shapes in warmer and cooler climates, researchers said. "It has long been speculated that the shape of the nose reflects the environment in which humans evolved," said Andres Ruiz-Linares from UCL. "Identifying genes affecting nose shape provides us with new tools to examine this question, as well as the evolution of the face in other species," said Ruiz-Linares. "It may also help us understand what goes wrong in genetic disorders involving facial abnormalities," he added. Researchers collected and analysed DNA samples from 6,630 volunteers in Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru. After an initial screen, a sample size of 5,958 was used. This group included individuals of mixed European (50 per cent), Native American (45 per cent) and African (5 per cent) ancestry, resulting in a large variation in facial features. Both men and women were assessed for 14 different facial features and whole genome analysis identified the genes driving differences in appearance. A subgroup of 3,000 individuals had their features assessed using a three-dimensional reconstruction of the face in order to obtain exact measurements of facial features and the results identified the same genes, researchers said. The study identified genes that are involved in bone and cartilage growth and the development of the face, they said. advertisement The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications. --- ENDS --- The Class XII students of DAV school in Gurugram have scored 93 per cent coming as a pleasant surprise for them, their parents and school staff. By Ajay Kumar: There is little to differentiate between twin sisters, Ankita and Harshita Chauhan, and now they have also got an identical score in the CBSE board examination. The Class XII students of DAV school in Gurugram have scored 93 per cent coming as a pleasant surprise for them, their parents and school staff. "I was not only surprised but shocked to see same marks. This is simply amazing for us," said Ankita Chauhan, the elder sister. advertisement "I had been obtaining more marks than Harshita in Class X and other school examination but this time Harshita's efforts made sure she catches up with me." The sisters say they motivated and inspired each other as they prepared for all exams. "I was good at mathematics and she in physics. We helped each other to prepare for the examination," Harshita said. She added that she scored 87 in English, 93 in Chemistry, 95 in Mathematics and 95 in Physics and Physical education while Ankita scored 93 in English, 95 in Chemistry, 87 in Math and 95 in Physics and Physical education. Sharing her thoughts with Mail Today, Ankita said the duo also scored equal marks in the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) 2016, but couldn't qualify for the advanced examinations. "However, we have an offer of getting software engineering course from a reputed private college in Chennai and we will proceed there for the course within a few days," Ankita said. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Chandigarh, May 22 (PTI) The Haryana Advocate General (AG) has alleged that criteria had been tweaked for allotment of 14 industrial plots in Panchkula to the "near and dear ones" of the then Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and recommended their cancellation. AG Baldev Raj Mahajan, in his opinion given to the government before the case was handed over to CBI, has alleged that "favour" had been granted in the allotments and that the then HUDA Chairman had approved the allotments after the expiry of date for inviting applications. The Chief Minister is the chairman of HUDA. advertisement Hooda has rejected the charges, insisting that while in power, "we did not do anything that was not as per the rules." According to the AG, HUDA had invited applications for allotment of 14 industrial plots in the industrial estate Panchkula, in December 2011, for which the last date of submission was January 6, 2012. Later, on the basis of detailed facts and material on record it transpired that "the entire process relating to allotment was mired in gross illegalities and grave allegations of favouritism, nepotism were apparent therein," Mahajan has claimed. "It thus emerged that the entire allotment process was specifically tailor-made to somehow shortlist the final 14 allottees, most of whom were quite close or closely related to the then Chairman HUDA cum Chief Minister of the State. "So much so, out of 582 applicants in all, who had applied, purposely these 14 allotees alone where shortlisted by giving extremely high score in interview even though the record showed that most of these candidates did not even fulfill the basic eligibility conditions," the AG alleged. "There was thus enough material on record warranting a strong and stringent action in the matter, including cancellation of these allotments and registration of FIR against those who tweaked the rules of allotment, changed the criteria even 15 days that after the expiry of last date of submission of applications to bring many of such 14 suitors, within eligibility, and thus by conducting a sham and totally bogus allotment process made allotments to these 14 persons, whereas as per recrods, not even one of them was eligible even," it said. Hooda, while rejecting the allegations, has said, "The BJP government has failed to fulfil any of its promises made during the October 2014 assembly polls. So, they are diverting peoples attention by such cases, which is purely witch hunt." He has added, "let the government get an inquiry done by Vigilance, CBI or any other agency." Khattar took a dig at Hooda, saying those who "boasted" in the Assembly about their readiness to face any kind of investigation, were terming the probe as "personal vendetta". He told reporters in Karnal, "Action would be initiated against those who would go against the rules. The CBI is an independent investigation agency and it works on its own....Law would take its own course and those found guilty would be punished." PTI SUN CHS VJ AKK AKK --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) India and Oman today vowed to deepen bilateral defence ties as the two countries signed four key agreements in the critical sector with focus on enhancing military cooperation. The agreements on defence cooperation, marine crime prevention, maritime issues and flight safety information exchange was signed following the maiden visit of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to Oman, considered one of the closest country in the middle east. advertisement Parrikar, who is on an official visit at the invitation of Bader Bin Saud Bin Harib Al Busaidi, Minister Responsible for Defense Affairs of Oman, today wrapped up his visit and left for UAE. During his talks with the leadership there, all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation including enhanced military to military exchanges were discussed. Both sides also exchanged views on regional developments of mutual interest, a statement by the Defence Ministry said. Both sides noted that defence cooperation is a key facet of their bilateral strategic partnership. It was agreed that the two sides would further expand and consolidate their ongoing bilateral defence cooperation, the statement said. Parrikar reiterated the high importance that India attaches to its strategic partnership with Oman and also conveyed his appreciation at the continued support rendered by Oman for the Operational Turnaround (OTR) of Indian Navy ships for anti-piracy patrols as well as technical support for landing and overflight of IAF planes. He visited the Military Technology College and the Sultans Armed Forces Museum in Muscat. He also attended a reception at Sultan Qaboos Port to mark the goodwill visit to Oman of naval ships INS Delhi, INS Deepak and INS Tarkash. Parrikar was accompanied by a high-level official delegation comprising Secretary (Defence Production) Ashok Gupta, DRDO chief Dr S Christopher, Army Vice Chief Lt Gen MMS Rai, designated new Navy chief Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal B S Dhanoa besides other senior defence ministry officials. A defence industry delegation comprising S C Bajpai, Additional DG, Ordinance Factory Board and S K Sharma, CMD, Bharat Electronics Limited also accompanied Parrikar. PTI SAP RG --- ENDS --- By PTI: Bengaluru, May 21 (PTI) The first technology demonstrator of indigenously made Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), that can launch satellites into orbit around earth and then re-enter the atmosphere, will be flight tested from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on May 23. "The launch of Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD) is slated for Monday morning from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The launch window is between 7am to 11 am," a senior ISRO official said. advertisement He said the vehicle will be taken to a height of over70 km and released for its re-entry into the atmosphere. This will be the first time ISRO will be launching a winged flight vehicle. After launch it will be glided backonto a virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal, some 500 km fromthe coast. The mission, known as the hypersonic flight experiment, is expected to last about 10 minutes from liftoff to splashdown. The government has invested Rs 95 crore into the RLV-TD project. The RLV-TD which is the scaled-down model of the reusable launch vehicle is unlikely to be recovered from seaduring this experiment as it is expected that the vehicle will disintegrate on impact with water since it is not designed to float. Reusable launch vehicle is the unanimous solution to achieve low cost, reliable and on-demand space access, according to ISRO scientists. ISRO said RLV-TD is a series of technologydemonstration missions that have been considered as a firststep towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fullyre-usable vehicle. It has been configured to act as a flying testbed to evaluate various technologies, including hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air-breathing propulsion, it added. The 6.5 m long aeroplane-like structure weigh 1.75 tons and will be hoisted into the atmosphere on a special rocket booster. The RLV-TD is described as "a very preliminary step" in the development of a reusable rocket, whose final version is expected to take 10-15 years. PTI KSU RA RC RCJ --- ENDS --- Radhika is playing the wife of Rajinikanth, who will be seen as a gangster in the film. Directed by Pa Ranjith, the film is based on the life of Chennai don Kabaleeswaran. By India Today Web Desk: Radhika Apte has shared her experience of acting in Rajinikanth's upcoming film Kabali. The actor in an interview to Deccan Chronicle has said that Rajinikanth praised her on the first day of her shoot. ALSO READ: Kabali becomes the first Tamil film to be dubbed in Malay ALSO READ: Kabali teaser gains 17.1 million views, becomes the most-viewed Indian teaser advertisement Describing her first-day shooting experience with the crew, Radhika said that she was nervous since she had a lot of English dialogues. However, the actor okayed the shot in s single take. Impressed by her performance, Rajinikanth has told the Badlapur actor that she is a 'fantastic actor'. "Rajini sir came up to me patting my back, and congratulated me by saying 'You are a fantastic actor'," the actor said in the interview. Radhika is playing the wife of Rajinikanth, who will be seen as a gangster in the film. Directed by Pa Ranjith, the film is based on the life of Chennai don Kabaleeswaran. Starring Dhanshikaa, Kalaiarsan, Attakathi Dinesh, John Vijay and Kishore, Kabali has music by Santhosh Narayanan. The teaser of Kabali has shattered many YouTube records. It is now the most viewed Indian teaser. Akshay Kumar, in awe of the teaser and fans' response, has said he wants to watch the film first day first show in Chennai. The film is slated to hit the screens on July 1. --- ENDS --- The brave soldier was part of the unit which initially located and engaged the militants and later lead to the successful elimination of all five terrorists. On Sunday the army displayed the arms and ammuniton recovered from slain Lashker terrorists, the recovery clearly indicated that the group may have recently infiltrated from across the LOC. Brigadier Rajive Puri commander army Kupwara said that there are many groups across LOC waiting for infiltration,but all attempts by terrorists will be foiled. He also said more than 200 militants were active in the valley and many more are desperate to join them from across the border. On Saturday five Lashker terrorists were killed in a 9 hour long encounter in Dragmulla village in North Kashmir's Kupawara district. Three army jawans were also injured out of whom only Naik Gawade Pandurang attained martyrdom. He was paid glowing tributes in Srinagar's Army Headquarters. By PTI: From Aditi Khanna London, May 22 (PTI) Indian-origin voters are largely in favour of Britain remaining in the European Union (EU), with a significant chunk still undecided ahead of the June 23 referendum, which has been described as a knife-edge vote. According to the British Election Survey (BES) released this week, 51.7 per cent of Indian-origin voters were against Brexit, compared to 27.74 per cent in favour of leaving the 28-member economic bloc. advertisement However, there is a significant percentage (16.85 per cent) of those who "Dont Know", who are likely to hold the key in the referendum, described as a knife-edge vote so far. BES surveyed a large sample of 22,000 voters, which found that Remain has a narrow lead of 43 per cent as against 40.5 per cent in favour of Leave. "The new data indicates that ethnic minority voters could hold the balance of power. While white voters are split evenly, all ethnic minority groups are far more likely to back Remain. However, the data also suggests that turnout could be 20 to 25 per cent lower among ethnic minority voters," the report found. The figures are similar across the board among South Asians, with Pakistani-origin voters backing remain 56 to 26 per cent and Bangladeshis 42 to 17. With just a month to go for the referendum, both Leave and Remain camps have been campaigning hard to win over the "Dont Knows". High-profile Indian-origin politicians in the UK, like UK employment minister Priti Patel and Infosys chief Narayan Murthys son-in-law Rishi Sunak, have spoken out in favour of Brexit to create a "fairer immigration system" that does not discriminate against non-EU migrants. However, this rhetoric has been countered by the remain camp which has stressed that Brexit would not provide any guarantees for a change in the dynamics of the UKs relationship outside the EU. "Our membership of the EU does not prevent us from allowing people in from Commonwealth countries. It is not a binary decision, either EU or Commonwealth... if you fulfil the criteria, you can come here with a work visa," said UK Foreign Office minister in charge of India, Hugo Swire. "Anyone suggesting that it would be any different or easier [in the event of Brexit], is suggesting we would water down that criteria. That is misleading and unhelpful." PTI AK ABH AKJ ABH --- ENDS --- "Vijay Mallya, the companys Chairman and indirect majority shareholder, is presently subject to certain legal proceedings in India, which may impair the company's ability to obtain financing from UBHL (United Breweries Holding Ltd) and other potential funding sources," California-based Mendocino Brewing Company Inc said in a regulatory filing. By Press Trust of India: Legal proceedings in India against beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya has now come to haunt his US-based brewery firm, which is banking on USD 1 million bridge loan promised by his holding firm for survival. "Vijay Mallya, the companys Chairman and indirect majority shareholder, is presently subject to certain legal proceedings in India, which may impair the company's ability to obtain financing from UBHL (United Breweries Holding Ltd) and other potential funding sources," California-based Mendocino Brewing Company Inc said in a regulatory filing. advertisement This is probably the first admission by the US-listed firm, which is struggling for funds and has been served default notices by lenders in the past, about the potential impact of Mallyas legal woes in India on its own fortune. If it fails to secure funds, Mendocino said, the lenders may take "recourse against the applicable pledged collateral which includes the companys real and personal property in the US and the UK". In its latest quarterly filing with the US markets regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mendocino further said, "The board of directors of UBHL during this quarter has approved debt financing to the company in the form of USD 1,000,000 of bridge loans. "If UBHL does not consummate such debt financing, it would have a material adverse effect on the company's financial condition and the company's ability to continue to operate." The company disclosed that its total assets declined to USD 16 million as on March 31, 2016 -- lower than the total liabilities worth more than USD 18 million. In the quarter ended March 31, it recorded total sales of about USD 6.9 million, but suffered a net loss of USD 637,100. Mallya got a pay package of over Rs 1.7 crore in 2015 from this US-based company, more than half of which was paid by Mendocino to him for "promoting" the company's beer brands. Mallya serves as Chairman of the board of directors of the company, which has an exclusive licence to brew and distribute Kingfisher Premium Lager in various countries. Besides, it produces and sells a number of craft beer brands. United Breweries Holdings Ltd (UBHL), the holding firm of Mallya-led UB Group, is the "indirect majority shareholder" of Mendocino Brewing Company (MBC). Mendocinos North American operations primarily consist of brewing and marketing proprietary craft beers. Its foreign operations are conducted through wholly-owned subsidiary United Breweries International UK Ltd (UBIK) and a step-down unit Kingfisher Beer Europe Ltd. The two largest shareholders of Mendocino are United Breweries America (UBA) and Inversiones, both of which are controlled by Rigby International Corp, a company registered in the British Virgin Island. advertisement Rigby, in turn, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UBHL. Also read: ED rejects Mallya's video-conferencing request, special forensic tool to probe money trail --- ENDS --- The convey was attacked by heavily armed militants around 1 PM in Joupi Hengshi area. The attack was reportedly laid by CorCom (Coordination Committee) militant group. By India Today Web Desk: Six 29 Assam Rifles personnel were killed in an ambush laid by militants in Manipur's Chandel district near the Indo-Myanmar border. The convey was attacked by heavily armed militants around 1 PM in Joupi Hengshi area. Top developments: A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and five jawans of the 29 Assam Rifles died in the attack. The attack was reportedly laid by CorCom (Coordination Committee) militant group. The militants attacked the jawans as they were returning after inspection of a landslide location in Chandel. Four AK-47 rifles, one INSAS rifle, one LMG rifle have been snatched away by the militants. More troops were rushed to the area and a massive search operation is underway. "Extremely pained to learn of killing of Assam Rifles' JCO and jawans in Manipur. My condolences to families of the deceased," tweeted HM Home Minister Rajnath Singh. advertisement More details are awaited Also read: Militants fire at Assam Rifles camp The face that Bodo militants fear in Assam --- ENDS --- By PTI: From Ammar Zaidi Tehran, May 22 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today began his crucial two-day visit to Iran with a visit to the capital citys only functioning gurudwara. Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Iran in 15 years, offered his obeisance at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara and spoke to the head priest. advertisement He applauded the efforts of the Sikh community in the Persian Gulf nation for preserving and spreading the culture and tradition of India. "My Iran visit is starting with the blessings before the Guru Granth Sahib at this gurudwara. I am fortunate. I greet you all for having worked on spreading our culture and tradition as well as educating our young generation here. "We accept all the people as our own and absorb them in our society because we believe in the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam -- the entire world is one family. Animated by this spirit, we Indians make every country our home," Modi said. Addressing the community here, the Indian Prime Minister further said: "We are fortunate to have got an opportunity to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. The government is planning to celebrate this occasion in India and other parts of the world." He stressed that the young generation should know about the sacrifices of the great Gurus and also learn from the central tenets of the Guru Granth Sahib. "I have noted several suggestions that have come from your community. I have considered them and I believe that solutions need to be explored through talks. And we will continue this exercise. Let us all work together to serve humanity," he added. Earlier just after reaching Tehran, Modi tweeted, "Reached Iran, a land with whom India shares civilisational ties. Hope to enhance economic partnership between our nations. I also hope my Iran visit further cements cultural and people-to-people ties between India and Iran. The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a visit here to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in 2012 could not visit the gurudwara, but his wife Gursharan Kaur paid her respects there. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan during his visit to Iran last month also visited the gurudwara. The gurudwara in Tehrans Mesjed Henidyah was founded in 1941 by Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Teheran. There are about 800 Sikh families in Tehran, mostly traders who had moved in early 20th century from Punjab. Most of the visiting dignitaries from India - from the then Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar in 2005 to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj - have all visited the gurudwara on their visits to Tehran. PTI ANZ RNK MKJ --- ENDS --- advertisement By PTI: From Ammar Zaidi Tehran, May 22 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today began his crucial two-day trip to Iran with a visit to the capital citys only functioning gurudwara where he paid obeisance. Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Iran in 15 years, offered obeisance at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara and also spoke to the head priest. advertisement He applauded the efforts of the Sikh community in the Persian Gulf nation for preserving and spreading the culture and tradition of India. "My Iran visit is starting with the blessings before the Guru Granth Sahib at this gurudwara. I am fortunate. I greet you all for having worked on spreading our culture and tradition as well as educating our young generation here. "We accept all the people as our own and absorb them in our society because we believe in the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam -- the entire world is one family. Animated by this spirit, we Indians make every country our home," Modi told the gathering at the gurudwara. Addressing the community here, Modi said: "We are fortunate to have got an opportunity to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. The government is planning to celebrate this occasion in India and other parts of the world." He stressed that the young generation should know about the sacrifices of the great Gurus and also learn from the central tenets of the Guru Granth Sahib. "I have noted several suggestions that have come from your community. I have considered them and I believe that solutions need to be explored through talks. And we will continue this exercise. Let us all work together to serve humanity," he added. Earlier just after reaching Tehran, Modi tweeted, "Reached Iran, a land with whom India shares civilisational ties. Hope to enhance economic partnership between our nations. I also hope my Iran visit further cements cultural and people-to-people ties between India and Iran." In 2012, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a visit here to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit could not visit the gurudwara, but his wife Gursharan Kaur paid her respects there. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan during his visit to Iran last month also visited the gurudwara. The gurudwara in Tehrans Mesjed Henidyah was founded in 1941 by Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Tehran. There are about 800 Sikh families in Tehran, mostly traders who had moved in early 20th century from Punjab. Most of the visiting dignitaries from India -- from the then Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar in 2005 to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj -- have all visited the gurudwara on their visits to Tehran. PTI ANZ RNK MKJ AKJ ASK --- ENDS --- advertisement During the trip Modi is likely to sign the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to develop the Chabahar port in that Gulf nation. By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today left for Iran on a two-day official visit at the invitation of President Hassan Rouhani. Modi earlier said that he was looking forward to the conclusion of the trilateral Chabahar agreement, a deal which opens up a route to land-locked Afghanistan with which New Delhi has developed close security and economic ties. PM @narendramodi leaves for Iran in a visit aimed at furthering cooperation and boosting people to people ties. pic.twitter.com/3kAXYT52xSPMO India (@PMOIndia) May 22, 2016 All you need to know about the trip: Prime Minister Narendra Modi left on a two-day official visit to Iran this afternoon. During the trip Modi is likely to sign the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to develop the Chabahar port in that Gulf nation. Modi will be accorded an official welcome in Tehran on Monday. Modi will hold talks with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei and president Hassan Rouhani. Connectivity, energy security and bilateral trade are on top of Modi's agenda during his visit which comes a little over a month and a half of his trip to Saui Arabia. The prime minister will also inaugurate an Indian cultural festival in Iran on Monday. advertisement Also read: BJP makes history in Assam, Mahendra Singh plots party's win --- ENDS --- The visit comes four months after the sanctions on Iran were lifted and the international community is re-engaging with the nation. Modi, who was given a red carpet welcome at the airport, was received by Iranian Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia. By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached Iran for a two-day visit. Modi, who is the first Indian Prime Minister having visited Iran in the last 15 years, was received at the Mehrabad International Airport by Iran's Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia. The visit comes four months after the sanctions on Iran were lifted and the international community is re-engaging with the nation. advertisement Latest developments PM Narendra Modi offred prayer at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara after reaching Iran. Modi, who was given a red carpet welcome at the airport, was received by Iranian Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia. He will be accorded an official welcome here on Monday following which he will hold talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani. Connectivity, energy security and bilateral trade are on top of Modi's agenda during his visit which comes a a little over a month-and-a-half of his trip to Saudi Arabia. On Monday, the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to develop the Chabahar port in that Gulf nation will be signed. The prime minister will also inaugurate an Indian cultural festival in Iran on Monday. Ahead of his departure from New Delhi, Modi tweeted that he looked forward to his visit to Iran at the invitation of President Rouhani. "India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region," he said. He said his meetings with President Rouhani and Supreme Leader Khamenei would provide an opportunity to advance the strategic partnership between India and Iran. Modi said that priority would be given to enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people-to-people contacts. Also read: PM Modi leaves for Iran, likely to sign Chabahar port agreement --- ENDS --- In an interview to PTI, Naidu dismissed the possibility of hardline elements within the party getting strengthened in wake of victory in Assam, where BJP had made infiltration of Bangladeshi Muslims a major poll plank. By PTI: As BJP reaped a rich electoral harvest in Assam after sewing up an alliance with regional parties, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today indicated the party will go the whole hog firming up coalitions in states where it cannot win elections on its own in the future. "Wherever there is a possibility, you must firm up alliances, you must identify issues and then strategise accordingly," Naidu said when asked what were the major takeaways from the recent assembly elections in four states and the Union Territory of Puducherry. advertisement Performance and leadership counts At the same time, he dismissed the view that Congress lost the Assam polls as it did not forge an alliance, saying only forming coalitions do not yield positive results and that the performance of governments and leadership also count. He took a jibe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had said that Congress lost Assam as it opted to go it all alone. Claiming that the election results were an "endorsement of Narendra Modis development agenda", the BJP leader said the message from the assembly polls in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam, besides Puducherry was that Congress is being marginalized while "BJP is becoming a pan India party". In an interview to PTI, Naidu dismissed the possibility of hardline elements within the party getting strengthened in wake of victory in Assam, where BJP had made infiltration of Bangladeshi Muslims a major poll plank. "There is suspicion in the mind of people that after the opponents have been cut to size, they (hardliners) would create further trouble. Thats my counter. Why is this apprehension? Who organized it. Congress party had propped up Muslim League. It has given it credibility. It is continuing with the alliance with Muslim League in Kerala Assembly. Communists also had an alliance with Muslim League. "What is the governments line. Unnecessary motives are being attributed and speculations are being created and wrong propaganda is being carried out," he said. Too busy with development "What we have done in last two years that you talk of hardline...Some people are trying to divert us. I tell them join our development task, we are busy. We have no time for other issues. We will pay undivided attention to development. Our priority are development and good governance," he said. Asked whether he agrees with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars contention that Congress lost elections in Assam only because it did not go for an alliance, Naidu reminded that the party lost in Kerala and West Bengal despite having alliances. "It is (also) the question of performance. Performance of Congress (governments) was bad both in Assam and Kerala. It was mired in corruption and could not deliver on promises. In Bengal, Congress and Communists came together but nothing happened. advertisement "Its not alliance alone, its your performance, your stand on issues, your approach, your leadership, your image all these things will count," he said. BJP has tasted victory for the first time in Assam which had returned a Congress government thrice in a row under Tarun Gogoi. Congress-led alliance was also dethroned by the Left in Kerala, while Congress-CPI(M) alliance in West Bengal and Congress-DMK alliance in Tamil Nadu had to eat humble pie. Apart from winning Assam, BJP also bettered its performance in Kerala and West Bengal. --- ENDS --- Called the Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society, this group of women from New York is redefining the way people perceive Shakespeare's The Tempest. By India Today Web Desk: The words 'naked' and 'Shakespeare' are not used in a single sentence too often. But this group of women activists from New York have made that possible, and how! To mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, women from the Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society decided to go for something unique when staging England's most famous playwright's final play, The Tempest. They decided to stage it at Central Park, naked. advertisement The group says they chose The Tempest because of its "central themes of alienation and reconciliation" and used nudity to show the difference between the shipwreck victims "initially forced to navigate the play's island setting in constricting outfits suggestive of European aristocracy," in contrast to the openness and "naked innocence" of Miranda and her father. "We want the audience to see it through fresh eyes, as 'something rich and strange,' the way an audience four hundred years ago would have," said director Alice Mottola. Images courtesy: Called the Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society Their Facebook invite to the play read: "Join us for a celebration of body freedom and free expression in Central Park, with an all-female production of Shakespeare's Tempest that combines verse, music, and dance, together with creative use of costuming, body paint, and nudity, to reimagine this classic work. With Summit Rock (the highest natural elevation in Central Park) for a stage, this Tempest focuses on the contrast between the harsh restrictions of "civilization" - where political maneuvering costs thrones and lives - and the Edenic, magic-suffused tropical island on which the sorcerer Prospero and his daughter Miranda have lived in exile for twelve years." Now, that's a whole new take on Shakespeare's Tempest! (With inputs from IANS) --- ENDS --- By PTI: From Aditi Khanna London, May 22 (PTI) Only one in eight of the nearly 400 British Muslim terror suspects, who travelled to Syria and Iraq and returned to the UK, have been prosecuted, according to official figures. UK Home Office data shows that only 54 fighters from the UK suspected of having fought in Syria and Iraq have been convicted of anoffence, The Sunday Telegraph reports. advertisement Security services estimate that since 2012, 400 British Muslims who have joined terrorist groups such as Islamic State (ISIS) and Al Qaeda have returned to the UK. Experts on the conflict told the newspaper the number who have returned could be as high as 800 to 1,000. Some are known to have faked their own deaths and slipped back into Britain using new identities. The figures of returning terror suspects were disclosed by Lord Keen of Elie, a Home Office spokesperson in the House of Lords, who made public the number of prosecutions in response to a parliamentary question. He said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was also in the process of prosecuting a further 13 cases involving 30 defendants. The Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland is also dealing with one Syria-related prosecution. Prof Anthony Glees, head of the University of Buckinghams Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, said: "The hundreds of British citizens who have gone to Syria are highly dangerous. The fact so few are being prosecuted when they return is clearly very unsatisfactory and will be very alarming to many people. "We need to know why so many havent been prosecuted. It suggests to me that they have simply gone off the radar while our security services try to play catch-up." However, some returning suspects have also received stiff sentences. In February, a mother who took her toddler son to Syria to become an ISIS terrorist was jailed for six years. In 2014, two British men who went to Syria to join an Al Qaeda-linked terror group were jailed for nearly 13 years. A Home Office spokesperson said: "Everyone who returns from Syria or Iraq can expect to be subject to investigation to determine if they pose a threat and they should be in no doubt we will take the strongest possible action to protect our national security. "We have a wide range of powers at our disposal to disrupt travel to conflict zones and manage the risk posed by returnees."PTI AK PMS AKJ PMS --- ENDS --- advertisement By PTI: Karachi, May 22 (PTI) Pakistans top anti-graft officials have recovered a fresh haul of 57 million rupees from a bakery in Baluchistan region during an ongoing investigation into a mega corruption scandal involving bureaucrats from the restive province. National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials recovered the money from inside a bakery in the Satellite Town area of Quetta yesterday after information was provided by a key facilitator, a NAB spokesman said. advertisement On May 6 NAB officials had recovered around 730 million rupees in local and foreign currency during a raid at the residence of Baluchistans Finance Secretary Mushtaq Ahmed Raisani. Since that raid the anti-corruption investigations have uncovered a web of deception and corruption by government bureaucrats and officials who have siphoned off billions of rupees from development and other funds. Five to six well-placed officers in the finance department were also suspected of involvement in the mega-corruption case and would be arrested soon, NAB officials said. Director General NAB Baluchistan Tariq Mehmood Malik told a news channel that currently 150 cases of corruption were being investigated in the province amounting to billions. Provincial finance adviser Khalid Langove had offered his resignation soon after the recovery of the cash from Raisanis residence and has since then gone underground. He has also failed to appear before NAB despite prior notices served to him on two occasions. PTI CORR MRJ --- ENDS --- Academy Award winner Rasool Pookutty, the sound designer of Remo, will find the suitable pitch for Siva to dub in a female voice. By India Today Web Desk: Sivakarthikeyan's upcoming film Remo has been making some buzz on the social media ever since the makers announced that the actor is playing a female role in the film. Now, it is revealed that the actor himself will dub for the female role. Mimicry is not a new venture for the actor since he has been a stand-up comedian before becoming an actor. advertisement Rasool Pookutty, the sound designer of Remo, will find the suitable pitch for Siva to dub in a female voice. Remo is directed by Bhagyaraj Kannan, who is making his directorial debut with the film. Ace cinematographer PC Sreeram is cranking the camera for the film. PC Sreeram, recently, took to Twitter to announce that the film is at its tail end and it will be wrapped up soon. "Remo" on its last shedule,shooting starts today. SivaKartikeyan at his best. pcsreeram (@pcsreeram) May 20, 2016 The first-look poster of Remo will unveiled on June 9. Anirudh Ravichander is composing the music for the film, which has Keerthy Suresh in the female lead. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Patna, May 22 (PTI) Taking serious note of partys Araria Lok Sabha MP Mohammad Taslimuddins "frequent" statements against Bihars Mahagathbandhan government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the RJD today issued a show-cause notice to the MP and gave him seven days to explain his position in this regard. "In the light of your frequent statements, you (Taslimuddin) should explain your position within seven days to the show-cause notice, failing which, the party would be forced to take action against you," show-cause notice issued to Taslimuddin reads. advertisement The notice has been issued to partys national Vice President Taslimuddin by its national Secretary General S M Qamar Alam. The notice said the party MPs statements have surfaced both in electronic and print media on May 11, 15, 21 and 22 which are against the principles and policies of the party and Mahagathbandhan government. "It seems that you (Taslimuddin) are speaking the voice of BJP and RSS which have hurt the partys secular values. Not only this, being an RJD MP you have always heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi," the notice said. RJD state unit president Ramchandra Purbe, who confirmed issuance of show-cause to Taslimuddin earlier in the day, refused to reply to the query whether or not any notice has been given to senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh who too has been critical of the Chief Minister. The partys decision assumes significance in the backdrop of the fact that its ally JD(U) yesterday took strong exception to the statements made by Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Taslimuddin and demanded action against both leaders. "We have requested RJD boss Lalu Prasad jee to take action against both Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Mohammad Taslimuddin. Either these leaders should be kept under control or be suspended (from the party)," JD(U) chief spokesman Sanjay Singh had said. PTI AR SUS PVI --- ENDS --- By PTI: London, May 22 (PTI) An Easyjet flight was forced to divert a flight from Glasgow to Toulouse in France because of rowdy passengers. The budget airline said the flight, which left Scotland yesterday evening for Palma in Spain, was redirected to Toulouse in France "due to the disruptive behaviour of a group of passengers". They were escorted off the plane by police. advertisement The flight then continued to Palma. Passengers on the return leg to Glasgow were delayed overnight as a result, the BBC reported today. In a statement, the budget airline said: "EasyJet can confirm that flight EZY6895 from Glasgow to Palma on 21 May diverted to Toulouse due to the disruptive behaviour of a group of passengers onboard. "The safety and wellbeing of customers and crew is always our priority and upon landing the passengers were escorted off the aircraft by police. The aircraft then continued to Palma. "As a result of the diversion the crew were unable to operate the return flight to Glasgow as it would exceed their legal operating hours. "The flight has been delayed overnight and passengers have been provided with accommodation and meals. "We would like to apologise to passengers for any inconvenience caused by the diversion." PTI AKJ AKJ --- ENDS --- As the 2017 elections are being billed as a direct clash between the BJP and the Dalit-leadership of the Bahujan Samaj Party, the increase in the number of such RSS projects in UP in the past couple of years could upset the hitherto established political equations. Just as in Assam, the RSS hopes to wean away traditional vote banks belonging to SC/ST communities in Uttar Pradesh through its social welfare programmes. By Siddhartha Rai: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit a home run in the Assam Assembly polls, breaking the Congress' stranglehold. The flag bearer of Hindutva hopes to repeat the performance in the crucial Uttar Pradesh elections in 2017 too. Just as in Assam where the RSS succeeded in weaning away from the Congress its traditional vote banks belonging to the SC/ST communities that counted for quite a major proportion of the population (33 per cent OBCs and 30 per cent SCs and STs) through its welfare projects, the organisation is making similar inroads in these electorally dominant sections in Uttar Pradesh too. advertisement RSS could pave way for BJP in UP As the 2017 elections are being billed as a direct clash between the BJP and the Dalit-leadership of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the increase in the number of such RSS projects in UP in the past couple of years could upset the hitherto established political equations. The Dalit and OBC communities are the deciding factors in the state's politics: Dalits account for over 20 per cent and OBCs for close to 50 per cent of UP's population. While the number of its local organising units, shakhas, have consistently increased in the state over the past three years, the number of its sevakaryas or welfare projects among Dalits and backwards communities has been on the rise too. The RSS calls their ghettos as 'seva bastis'. "We don't believe in any discrimination based on caste. So far as social organisational activities are concerned we plan events where people from all castes can come and co-mingle," said Kripashankar, UP's Kshetra Prachar Pramukh for RSS. Talking about such welfare activities, he added, "One such activity is to make people from higher castes bring home-cooked food to seva bastis where Dalit families also bring food items and they share their food together. Another ploy to strengthen the society is to campaign for prohibition against liquor and other intoxicants." Welfare projects play big role According to claims from various RSS functionaries, the number of welfare projects, which are divided under different categories such as education, health, social organisation, self-reliance etc, have been on the rise since 2013. In the field of education, the number of such welfare programmes has gone up from 67,710 in 2013-14 to 78,627 in 2014-15. The organisation runs schools for the underprivileged where its volunteers teach. In the field of providing healthcare to communities in the 'seva bastis', the RSS has been running such activities as holding free check-up camps and dispensaries. It also runs several awareness campaigns in these places. The number of health projects, claims RSS, has gone up from 19,039 in 2013-14 to 19,591 in 2014-15. advertisement Consequently, claimed the RSS, the number of its projects running for imparting skills for self-reliance, 'svavalambi sevakaryas', has also been on the rise in the above mentioned period. From 19,608 in 2013-14, the number of such projects went up to 22,450 in 2014-15. Also Read: BJP wins big in Assam, party chief Amit Shah gets a confidence boost --- ENDS --- Ajay Devgn took to Twitter to share the blue-tinted poster, which gives a hint of a whimsical storyline of his forthcoming film. By Indo-Asian News Service: Ajay Devgn hanging down the rappelling rope, with a sickle in hand and ready to battle it out with what seems to be icy monsters -- that's the illusion that the new poster of the actor's highly anticipated project Shivaay paints. ALSO SEE: Shivaay ka shubharambh - Watch Ajay Devgn take his first shot ALSO SEE: Ajay Devgn shooting in -19 degrees Celsius in Bulgaria will give you goosebumps advertisement After releasing a teaser on Saturday, the actor on Sunday took to Twitter to share the blue-tinted poster, which gives a hint of a whimsical storyline of his forthcoming film. "Here is the latest poster of Shivaay, tell me what you think about this?" he captioned the image. Here is the latest poster of Shivaay, tell me what you think about this?? pic.twitter.com/755tYBHbsn Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) May 22, 2016 In the poster, Ajay can be seen hanging down, and seems to be attacking a monster which appears to be made of ice, while another demon glares at him from behind. It's not only about fantasy, but also gives a modern twist. One can see a helicopter in the backdrop. Along with the icy effect, one can also see fire raging behind - a result of a bomb blast perhaps. This Diwali, Shivaay will Transform, Protect & Destroy. Teaser poster - 1 day to go. pic.twitter.com/zjT1cNYeDX Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) May 21, 2016 By the look of it, the film promises bundle of action sequences, scenic backdrops, and an intriguing storyline. The film has been shot in scenic locales of Balkan mountains of Bulgaria, Hyderabad and Uttarakhand. This Diwali, adventure begins with Shivaay. Teaser poster - 2 days to go. pic.twitter.com/NzINUDzREb Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) May 20, 2016 Sayesha Saigal, who is the grand niece of Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu has been roped in to play the female lead in the film. Popular British child actor Abhigail Eames will essay the role of Ajay's daughter. The film is slated to release on October 28. --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) South Delhi today reeled under massive power cuts with some areas facing outages for around five hours following which Delhi Government pulled up the BSES discoms asking them to take remedial measures. Areas like Okhla, Lodhi Colony, Bhogal, Nizamuddin, Jangpura Extension, Masjid Moth, Malviya Nagaar, Kalkaji and parts of Lajpat Nagar and South Extension, faced power cuts in the range of 2 to 5 hours making life difficult for the residents in the blistering heat. advertisement Officials from Power Distribution Company BSES blamed Delhi Transco Ltd, Delhi Government run entity that maintains the transmission network in the city, for the long outages saying technical problem in the network caused the power cuts. "There was no power in my area for five hours. We have made complaints to the concerned authorities but there was no response," said a resident of Okhla. Delhi Transco officials said, there was a technical glitch in its distribution network supplying power to South Delhi but at the same time added that BSES could have used the alternate network if it had made such arrangements. Officials from Delhi Governments Power department said the discoms have not been investing in improving its infrastructure due to which power cuts are taking place across the city when the load on the network goes up due to higher consumption of electricity. Several areas in West and East Delhi too faced long power cuts. There were very little outages in North Delhi where power is supplied by Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDL). Power Minister Satyender Jain took strong note of the long power cuts and directed the discoms to take urgent measures to ensure round the clock power supply. MORE PTI GJS RG --- ENDS --- At present, NEET is based on the CBSE syllabus but next year, there will be a new syllabus, which is already being prepared by the government. By Neetu Chandra Sharma: With Union Health Minister JP Nadda clarifying the existence and systematic implementation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) on Friday, states may choose to upgrade their class 12 science syllabus in tandem with next year's NEET syllabus. At present, NEET is based on the CBSE syllabus but next year, there will be a new syllabus, which is already being prepared by the government. advertisement "As planned for the All India Pre Medical Test, we have pooled in the syllabus from CBSE and all other state boards so that students don't have a problem. AIPMT was a success without any complaints. We hope this will also be successful," said a senior health ministry official. Apprehensions With the new syllabus, state governments have apprehensions that they may have to ponder over their science syllabi for students to appear in NEET and fare well in the exam. The central government on Friday issued an ordinance to postpone the implementation of NEET by a year considering that students should get enough time to prepare for the exam. "Every entrance examination has a different syllabus so has NEET which is based on the CBSE syllabus this year. There is a little difference between the syllabus of all boards and CBSE which ranges from five to ten percent. If they wish, states can choose to upgrade their science syllabus in Class 12 in tune with the NEET one next year," said Dr AK Chandna, member of Dental Council of India. No plan to scrap NEET Nearly 6.5 lakh students have already taken the medical entrance test in the first phase of NEET held on May 1. The next phase of the exam is scheduled for July 24. While the ordinance of postponing the exam for a year fuelled some rumours that the government may scrap the plan, Nadda on Friday clarified that there is no such plan to scrap NEET. "NEET has been implemented and NEET is in existence. We called up a meeting with all the state health ministers and they had some issues regarding languages, syllabus and state medical entrance examinations," said Nadda. "Concerns of State Govts & lakhs of aspiring medical students regarding NEET being addressed. Govt is in process of taking decision in the spirit of collective view taken at all-Party Meeting and Health ministers meeting. Government of India is fully committed to NEET. 1st phase has taken place, 2nd phase will also take place," Nadda tweeted. The ordinance needs to be approved by President Pranab Mukherjee to come into effect. Once the ordinance is issued, students of state government boards will not have to sit for NEET on July 24. They, however, will have to become part of the uniform entrance exam from the next academic session. advertisement More than 15 states were opposed to NEET and had raised issues like different syllabus and languages during the state health ministers' meeting recently. They said the students affiliated to state boards will find it tough to appear for the uniform test as early as July and such students will be at a loss compared to those who have followed the central board. "Upgrading science syllabus is not easy for states in such a short span of time. States may need a lot of time for this," said Dr KK Aggarwal, Secretary General, Indian Medical Association. Also Read: NEET ordinance to defer medical entrance exam by a year cleared by govt --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: Sushant Singh Rajput has been in the limelight lately because of his break-up with longtime girlfriend Ankita Lokhande. And now the latest reports suggest that the Kai Po Che actor has deleted his official account on both Twitter and Instagram. ALSO READ: Ankita Lokhande on break-up with Sushant Singh Rajput - I am happy ALSO READ: Sushant Singh Rajput has a message for his ex-girlfriend Ankita Lokhande... advertisement His verified handle @itsSSR is nowhere to be found on Twitter or on Instagram. However, the reason behind Sushant taking such a step is still unknown. But it's speculated that the constant attention on his personal life and break-up with girlfriend Ankita might have triggered him to take this step and delete his Twitter account. There were rumours that Sushant's ex-girlfriend Ankita was trying to sort out their differences. But when she was asked about their break-up at Sarbjit's premeire on May 19, she said, "Do I look depressed? Not at all, in fact I am happy. Though, this is not right place to talk about my relationship status; but yes, we (Sushant and I) will definitely speak about it at the right time." Earlier, there were reports that Ankita has asked Sushant to move out of their Bandra residence. And now it's said that Sushant is on a house-hunting spree. A source told Spotboye.com, "Sushant is considering getting a pad in and around Bandra and has been in touch with a few brokers for the same. Since he is away in Budapest and can't look at the nitty-gritty, a few of his friends are keeping a constant tab on the progress." Meanwhile, there were rumours doing the rounds that Sushant is dating his co-star Kriti Sanon. But later Sushant had rubbished those rumours. On the work front, Sushant Singh Rajput will next be seen in MS Dhoni The Untold Story. --- ENDS --- By PTI: From Lalit K Jha Washington/Kabul, May 22 (PTI) Afghan Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a rare US drone strike deep inside Pakistan, Afghanistan announced today, inflicting a body blow to the insurgents and removing a major "threat" to the fragile peace process in the war-torn country. Mansour and another militant were targeted in a precision air strike by multiple unmanned drones operated by US Special Operations forces yesterday as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near Ahmad Wal town in the restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border, US officials said. advertisement The drone strike, which US officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama, showed America was ready to target the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which Afghanistan has repeatedly accused of sheltering the militants. Afghanistans main spy agency said Mansour, said to be in his early 50s, was killed in a US drone attack that struck his vehicle on the main road in Dalbandi area of Balochistan around 3:45pm on Saturday. "Mansour was being closely monitored for a while until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle in Balochistan," the National Directorate of Security said in a brief statement today. Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and defence ministry spokesman Daulat Waziri also said that Mansour had been killed. Addressing a press conference in the Afghan capital, he called on the group to select a new leader and then come to Kabul and act like a political party. Speaking to reporters in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, US Secretary of State John Kerry said, "Mansour posed... an imminent threat to US personnel, Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces." Kerry said Mansour was also directly opposed to peace negotiations. The US "has long maintained that an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned reconciliation process is the surest way to ensure peace... peace is what we want, Mansour was a threat to that," Kerry said. "If people want to stand in the way of peace and continue to threaten and kill and blow people up, we have no recourse but to respond and I think we responded appropriately," he said. The Pentagon earlier confirmed it targeted Mansour. "Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners," said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. "Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict," he said. The drone strike inside Pakistan was a rare one since US Navy Seals killed Al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a stealth raid in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad in 2011. PTI LKJ MRJ AKJ AKJ --- ENDS --- advertisement The project was conceived and planned by the district administration and executed through the rural development department after public meetings and consultations. By Naseer Ganai: As deputy commissioner of Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary found constructing bridges on rivulets and streams can save lives of children as well as domestic animals and facilitate easy access to schools. So, he built 70 of them, mostly wooden, in 2013. He saw people from Udhampur district's remote regions struggling with the same problems when he was transferred there. Thousands of students were unable to reach school in the monsoon as rainwater turned otherwise dry nullahs into gushing rivulets and streams. advertisement Parents were scared of sending their children to school whenever clouds covered the sky. Their fears were not unfounded. In the past two years, 30 people have lost their lives while crossing streams and rivulets in the district. Bridging the gap According to Choudhary, three people were washed away a few years ago in the Jungle Gali area. Now a bridge has come up there. A nomad lost two sons last year while crossing a rivulet at Bajeen, another far-flung part of the district. A bridge has been erected here too. Choudhary started the project in 2015, calling it Rahat. Bridges under the drive, spanning up to 40 metres, have been initiated near schools in hilly terrains, remote hamlets, traditional paths, livestock movement routes, nomadic migration passages, ration carriage accesses and approaches to sources of water. Community asset The project was conceived and planned by the district administration and executed through the rural development department after public meetings and consultations. Authorities did not push the government for financial aid. Instead, a unique model of funding was used for the project with available resources under various plans being converged for construction of foot-bridges as community asset. Choudhary said the scheme was launched in two phases with the target of 114 bridges. However, after public demand and successful implementation on the ground, an additional 56 bridges have been planned. The 170 bridges will be built by July 2016. As many as 103 bridges are nearing completion and 56 are ready. According to officials, the bridges have been designed with technology developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and provided through the Dehradun-based HESCO. Sources say the project has helped 327 schools with 27,465 students, reducing the travel distance by 349 km in the district. Apart from this, more than 1.30 lakh people are getting easy access to 183 ration depots. --- ENDS --- The budget airline said the flight, which left Scotland yesterday evening for Palma in Spain, was redirected to Toulouse in France "due to the disruptive behaviour of a group of passengers". They were escorted off the plane by police. The flight then continued to Palma. Passengers on the return leg to Glasgow were delayed overnight as a result, the BBC reported today. In a statement, the budget airline said: "EasyJet can confirm that flight EZY6895 from Glasgow to Palma on 21 May diverted to Toulouse due to the disruptive behaviour of a group of passengers onboard. "The safety and wellbeing of customers and crew is always our priority and upon landing the passengers were escorted off the aircraft by police. The aircraft then continued to Palma. "As a result of the diversion the crew were unable to operate the return flight to Glasgow as it would exceed their legal operating hours. "The flight has been delayed overnight and passengers have been provided with accommodation and meals. Narendra Modi tweeted from his official handle that Tim Cook has launched an updated version of the Narendra Modi App here. By India Today Web Desk: PM Narendra Modi, during his visit to the Silicon Valley last year, was a guest at the Apple headquarters. This time around the Prime Minister hosted the Apple CEO Tim Cook at his residence 7 RCR in Delhi on Saturday morning. Narendra Modi tweeted from his official handle that Tim Cook has launched an updated version of the Narendra Modi App here. The app will now have an option to participate in forums. Thank you @tim_cook! Friends, welcome & happy volunteering. Your views & efforts are always enriching. pic.twitter.com/aAu4isv6wM Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 21, 2016 Thanks PM @narendramodi for a great meeting. Already looking forward to next visit to India. Best wishes on the app! https://t.co/ctXiKoCiS0 Tim Cook (@tim_cook) May 21, 2016 advertisement During the meeting, Tim Cook shared Apple's future plans for India. He spoke of the possibilities of manufacturing and retailing in India. He appreciated the Prime Minister's initiatives in 'ease of doing business.' The Apple CEO spoke of plans to shift Apple's supply chain to renewable energy. Earlier on Thursday a team of Apple executives visited Tilonia village in Ajmer, Rajasthan. The delegation members also spoke of their experiences in rural Rajasthan, where several villages have recently been electrified, and women are being skilled to assemble and operate solar energy equipment under a project by The Barefoot College, which is run by Sanjit 'Bunker' Roy, a social activist. Issues regarding cyber-security and data encryption also came up for discussion. The Prime Minister encouraged Cook to help the global community to cope with the challenges of cyber-crime. Cook was also expected to talk to PM Modi about opening the company's retail stores in India. The meet was also expected to bring focus to the sales of refurbished iPhones in India. The government had earlier denied Apple permission to sell used and refurbished phones in the country. The 55-years-old Apple CEO had arrived in India on Tuesday evening. He started his trip by offering prayers at Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai on Wednesday morning, and concluded the day with a Bollywood party at Shah Rukh Khan's bungalow Mannat. Also read: Apple is in India for next thousand years: Tim Cook On the next phase of his trip, Cook inaugurated Apple's new facility in Hyderabad's Waverock campus. The Apple centre will specifically focus on developing maps for Apple products. He met Telangana CM K. Chandrashekar Rao, and discussed the possibility of hiring up to 4,000 employees for the new Apple office. He concluded the day by watching an IPL match in Kanpur. Tim Cook reached Delhi on Friday, and without wasting time he visited the Apple office and iStore in Galleria market in Gurgaon. Also read: Full-on love affair: 6 quotes from what Apple CEO has said about India --- ENDS --- advertisement "We can't have an element sitting in the middle of the city that isn't part of the city," one planning commissioner said. Join us in celebrating "Nick's" 90th birthday. Nick was born on May 23, 1926. Cards and letters can be sent to: 2510 Stockwell, Lincoln, NE 68502 For 23 years, the Lincoln Journal Stars Class Acts section has recognized seniors who have excelled academically in Southeast Nebraska high schools. This year, we invited the principals of 57 area schools to nominate eligible students, who in turn were asked to submit photos, personal top 5s and future plans. By the deadline, 338 students had responded with information and a photograph. Their bios are featured throughout the section. To be eligible for Class Acts, students in Lincoln and Lancaster County had to rank in the top 5 percent of their graduating classes. Other schools in the Journal Star's print circulation area nominated their valedictorians, salutatorians or equivalents. All students with minimum ACT scores of 32 were eligible. Many of the seniors also responded to optional questions we posed: * What was your favorite class in school? * What is your dream job? * What activity outside of the classroom do you enjoy the most? See JournalStar.com for responses to optional questions. Lucille Clara "Lucy" Gross, 79, of Lincoln, went to be with her Lord on May, 20, 2016. Lucy was born to Lester and Lillian (Nelson) Glover on March 28, 1937, in Terril, Iowa. Lucy owned and operated Ceramics & Things. She taught ceramic classes at the Downtown and Havelock Senior Citizen Center until her retirement. Lucy also taught painting classes and made porcelain dolls. Lucy leaves behind her husband of 58 years, Ivan Gross; daughters, Connie Dirks (Keith), Pam Wendel (Wayne); sons, Mitch Gross (Lori), Marty Gross (Laurie,) all of Lincoln; nine grandchildren and two soon to be great-grandsons; sister, Linda Holland (Steve) Lenexa, Kan.; sisters-in-law, Wilma Purdy, Norfolk and Dona Glover, Dallas; and two aunts, many nieces, nephews and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Vern; father and mother-in-law, Daniel and Louise Gross; and grandchildren, Darian Gross and Amanda Sheridan. Lucy's family wants to express their appreciation to the staff at Independence House Memory Care (Mandarin Circle) and AseraCare Hospice for the wonderful, professional, loving care she received. Funeral service: 10 a.m., Wednesday, May 25, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 724 S. 12th St., Lincoln. Visitation to be held from 2-7p.m Tuesday, May 24, at Roper and Sons Funeral Home, 4300 'O' St., with family present from 5-7p.m.In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Trinity Lutheran Church Foundation, 724 S. 12th St. Lincoln, NE 68508 or the Alzheimer's Association, Great Plains Chapter, 1500 S. 70th St. #201, Lincoln, NE 68506. Condolences online at roperandsons.com. Gwen Storer Krieser, 85, rural Garland, died on Sunday, May 15, 2016. Gwen was born on a kitchen table in Lincoln on June 16, 1930. Gwen married Dr. Thomas F. Storer on May 19, 1951, at the Papillion County Courthouse wearing a black sleeveless sheath and Tom was wearing an old shirt with a button popping off it and wrinkled pants. From this union, Wm. James Aaron Storer was born October 2, 1957. Gwen graduated from University of Nebraska College of Arts and Sciences on February 6, 1965, with a major in English and a minor in History and Philosophy which she loved, and 17 hours of Botany which she hated. Gwen continued on and received her Master of Arts degree from University of Nebraska Graduate College (not Teachers College) on July 16, 1968. She taught World Literature at Seward Senior High School in room 125 from 1966 to 1992, and established and taught the AP English program from 1984 to 1992. She was very fond of all her students and rejoiced in all their accomplishments. Cindy Lange-Kubick Columnist Cindy Lange-Kubick has loved writing columns about life in her hometown since 1994. She had hoped to become a people person by now, nonetheless she would love to hear your tales of fascinating neighbors and interesting places. Follow Cindy Lange-Kubick Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today On a sunny day last week, shortly before lunch, Kira and Roxy finished their final final and walked down the grand halls of Lincoln High, out the front doors and into the rest of their lives. KU here we come! Kira Stahly, 18, appeared ready to roll. Roxy -- last name unknown, age approximately 4 -- was more difficult to gauge. But she seemed happy enough. And she had the wardrobe to take her to the next step: Graduation. Which will be Sunday afternoon at 4:30, best friends in matching red gowns and mortarboards, walking across the Bob Devaney stage, one of them holding a leash. She tried on the outfit and she was cool with it, Kira says. Shes used to dressing up. Usually, that means wearing one of her many service dog vests -- although when Kira cheered for the Links, Roxy donned dog-sized cheerleader gear and waited patiently on the sidelines, sniffing. Kira needed Roxy at her side because the four-year varsity cheerleader and honor roll student has Type 1 Diabetes, and the petite part terrier, part Basenji has a well-trained nose. A snout sensitive enough to detect changes in Kiras blood sugar, giving her a heads up minutes before her glucose monitor sounds an alarm. She has made me feel more safe, Kira says. Physically better and mentally better knowing shes monitoring me. The pair are inseparable. Roxy has been walking the halls and snoozing in the classrooms of Lincoln High since she came to live with Kira more than two years ago. Shes part of our student body, said Principal Mark Larson, confirming that Roxy was the schools only full-time canine. Roxy spent most of her school days lying near Kiras desk, unless she detected an impending blood sugar fiasco. She jumps up and paws at my hand, Kira says. Just gets real excited. Everyone at school knew not to distract her from her job. (No one but Kira is allowed to pet Roxy.) They also got to know her personality. Loyal. Energetic. Funny. She probably wont want this in the newspaper, but after she eats a big meal, she burps really loud, Kira says. And when she yawns, she squeaks. Kira was 2 when she was diagnosed with diabetes and her condition has always been unpredictable -- insulin levels frequently falling too low or spiking several times a day, conditions that are deadly if left untreated. Kira wears a state-of-the-art monitor and pokes herself every two hours to test her blood sugar. For years, her parents, Mary and Bill, took turns getting up every two hours at night so Kira could sleep. And then along came Roxy. Mary had heard about diabetes alert dogs and was eventually led to Heads up Hounds. The dog is such a blessing, says Kira's mom. Kira never complained about her condition, so her parents hadnt realized how much stress she was under, worrying that shed have a seizure while she slept, something that happened when she was in elementary school. Now Kira feels like someone has her back. Roxy just provides such a huge sense of comfort to her, Mary says. And to her parents, who had worried whether Kira going away to college was even a possibility. Kira and Roxy visited the University of Kansas campus last fall and fell in love. Kira plans to major in elementary education. Roxy will major in watching over Kira. Mary will be in charge of packing Roxys suitcase, which will include two new service vests -- one teal and one fuchsia -- and a blue outfit with tiny Jayhawks on it. Nothing but the best for the dog who helps keep her daughter alive. Im sending her off to college, the mother says. I have to get her a wardrobe. By 2035, when work on the University of Nebraska-Lincolns research park nears completion, the 250-acre research park will have a carbon footprint roughly half the size as comparable office areas in Lancaster County. Nebraska Innovation Campus secret is the $12 million Centralized Renewable Energy System, which pumps water from the nearby Theresa Street Wastewater Treatment Facility through 6,000 feet of pipes to heat and cool offices, research labs and classrooms. A 2015 study of the Centralized Renewable Energy System by the former sustainability consulting firm EpochLAB and UNL published last week estimates Innovation Campus will emit about 15,600 metric tons of greenhouse gases a year at full build-out. Thats well under the 30,700 metric tons of greenhouse gases spewed into the atmosphere by similar sized office parks in Lancaster County, according to emissions data from the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Framed in more tangible terms, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 will be the equivalent of pulling nearly 3,200 cars off the road or taking more than 8,100 tons of coal out of the furnace. Matan Gill, one of the studys co-authors and the former sustainability consultant who ran EpochLAB, said Innovation Campus is taking a similar holistic approach to sustainability as other companies across the country. Its really a component that isnt just a do-good thing, said Gill, who now works for the Lincoln startup LiveBy. It makes good business sense. Adam Liska, associate professor of biological systems engineering at UNL, said reducing the carbon footprint at Innovation Campus is key, as commercial buildings account for about 20 percent of annual energy consumption in the United States and produce about 20 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. One of less than a dozen similar water-to-water heat pump systems, the Centralized Renewable Energy System designed by Olsson Associates uses some of the 20 million gallons of effluent water that passes through the Theresa Street plant every day. Wastewater is pulled into the renewable energy system, and there it exchanges heat with a second stream of water that circulates through the buildings on campus. While Innovation Campus still uses refrigeration systems to keep temperatures cool in buildings during the summer, water in the renewable energy system helps pull heat out of the air. Water circulates into buildings at 75 degrees and returns to the renewable energy system at 85 degrees. When Nebraskas scorching summers give way to blustery winters, the system adjusts accordingly, eliminating the need for a conventional boiler and chiller. The system is expected to reduce energy costs by more than 25 percent as Innovation Campus expands and more buildings are added to the system. But more than savings, Dan Duncan, executive director of Innovation Campus, said demonstrating a commitment to sustainability is a boon for students and young professionals as well as the companies seeking their talents. As we recruit companies, they usually walk in the door because weve been able to develop a link with the faculty or because we have some specialized equipment, he said. And really, the first thing they ask about when they walk in the door is about access to students. Students at UNL have demonstrated interest in sustainability, eliminating the use of Styrofoam on campus and establishing a student fee to create new sustainability programs. If you look at what younger people want, they want to work for companies that value social responsibility and trying to make the world a better place, Duncan said. Having the sustainability aspect of our campus is part of what we sell to companies to help with their talent acquisition. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Having seen The Three Faces of Eve and Sybil, I imagine Donald J. Trump reclining comfortably in a state of mild hypnosis. Id like to speak with John Miller now, the psychiatrist intones. The patient rouses, looks momentarily confused, then his eyes brighten in awareness. Hello, John, says the therapist. Tell me about Donald Trump. Have you met him? the man who now calls himself John replies. Hes a good guy, and hes not going to hurt anybody. Right, says the psychiatrist. Tell me, John, what is your relationship to Mr. Trump? John replies, Well, Im sort of handling PR because he gets so much of it. I see. A lot of his PR is bad, dont you think? Does that bother him? Says John: It doesnt matter to him. He truly doesnt care. Ive never seen somebody thats so immune to, you know, he actually thrived on bad press. Thank you, says the psychiatrist. Now let me speak to John Barron. Trumps eyes briefly close, then open again. Mr. Barron? Yes. How do you know Mr. Trump? Im a Trump organization vice president. Sure he is. In fact, we now know that John Miller and John Barron are two of Donald Trumps alter egos. The Washington Post recently published a recording made in 1991 by a reporter for People magazine in which, according to the Post, Trump pretended to be John Miller. (I lifted parts of the imagined dialogue above from the transcript of that tape). Other reporters working in the 1980s and 1990s encountered Trump using the alias John Barron to talk to the press. Strange that a guy with so much ego would feel the need to add alter egos. Stranger still that even though Trump previously has admitted even under oath that he used these little ruses, when confronted with the Washington Post piece, he has tried to deny it. What the heck is going on here? It seems that Donald Trump, like Eve and Sybil before him, is exhibiting multiple personalities. There is plenty of evidence from his shifting policy positions that there are many Trumps inside of him. Remember the Donald Trump who bragged to his audiences that he would be self-funding his campaign? Now we find ourselves talking to the Donald Trump who is launching a wide-ranging effort to raise money from the same big-money donors he previously equated with bought politicians. Remember the Donald Trump who promised to release his tax returns, presumably so voters could 1) see what a very rich person he is and 2) feel assured that he has not engaged in embarrassing financial shenanigans? Now, in his place, we are talking to the Donald Trump who doubts the returns will be released before the election and opines there is nothing interesting to be learned from his tax documents anyway. And thats not all. There appear to be many more Trump personalities attempting to emerge. The Trump who used to call for a ban on Muslims entering the country is gone, and were now talking to the Trump who says the ban was just a suggestion. Gone also is the Trump who called for a return to torture and waterboarding. Now were talking to the Trump who vows to abide by international law. Gone is the Trump who said there was no need to raise the minimum wage. Now were talking to the Trump who recognizes something must be done for low-wage earners. Remember the Trump who said women who have an abortion should be punished under the law? Now were talking to the Trump who disavows that position. The presumptive candidate is not the only one displaying signs of multiple political personality disorder. Republicans who cringed at his candidacy and called him a dangerous con man are stepping forward to back him. The Little Marco of the campaign is silent. Now were talking to the I-Signed-a-Little-Pledge Marco. If Rubio doesnt care about the conflicts among Trumps various personalities, its a cinch his hard-core supporters dont mind being whipsawed between Jekyll and Hyde. Eve had three faces. Sybil had 16. Trump is on his way to surpassing her total. But were still waiting for the emergence of a Trump personality qualified to be president. WASHINGTON -- The mere possibility of a Donald Trump presidency -- gold-plated faucets in the house first occupied by John and Abigail Adams -- will perhaps have a salutary effect. It might demystify an office that has become now swollen with inappropriate powers and swaddled in a pretentiousness discordant with a republic's ethic of simplicity. This wholesome retreat from presidential grandiosity would be advanced if on Jan. 20, 2017, the 45th president delivered the following inaugural address: My fellow Americans, brevity is not only the soul of wit and the essence of lingerie, it is, on occasions such as this, polite. You who are arrayed in front of me, losing the feeling in your feet as you stand on the frozen Mall, should be spared a long soliloquy by someone who, as a presidential candidate, inflicted on you an excruciating amount of talk. Besides, you have hired me only to administer one of our three branches of government, and only for four years. So let's avoid unseemly excitement about today's routine transfer of power. Years ago, Dallas Cowboy Duane Thomas said this about another recurring extravaganza, the Super Bowl: "If it's the ultimate game, how come they're playing it again next year?" I may ask Mr. Thomas to be my press secretary, if I decide to have one. I probably will not have one because I hope weeks will pass without having to bother you with reminders of my existence. Weeks during which there will be nothing much of importance to hear from or about me as I go about the humdrum business of seeing that the laws enacted here on Capitol Hill are faithfully executed. In the next four years, beloved entertainers will die, local law enforcement disputes will occur, March Madness will come and go -- and I will have nothing to say about any of these things because they are unrelated to my duties, which do not include serving as national pastor-cum-pundit. As is traditional, at the conclusion of these remarks I shall eat lunch in the Capitol with Congress. But before doing this, I shall pay a tribute to Congress, which the Constitution's Article I establishes as the first branch of government. My tribute will be to delay joining its members for the 10 minutes or so it will take to sign a stack of executive orders nullifying most executive orders issued by my predecessor. He used them to wield executive power to institute policies and alter laws that properly should be initiated by Congress. This will be enough business for Day One of my first 100 days. And I promise you this: On the 100th day of my administration, America will be ... pretty much indistinguishable from what it is today. Would you, my over-excited countrymen, really want it any other way? Would you really want to live in a nation that can be substantially changed in a matter of a few months by a hyperactive government? For efficiency, and to minimize unnecessary folderol, I am going to take a minute right now to deliver my first and last State of the Union address. It is this one sentence: Things are much better than they once were -- slavery? gone; the Oregon Trail? replaced by the Interstate Highway System -- but things could be better. There. Wasn't that less disagreeable than the annual midwinter prime-time pep rally that presidents stage because of the Constitution's blurry mandate that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress information" about the country's condition? How quaint. As though Congress is interested in information. After today's lunch, Congress should try nibbling at the edges of our problems, many of which Congress created to please you, the clamorous people. To you I say: We have nothing to fear but your insufficient fear of what has been done on your behalf and at your behest. In the 2016 "contest of opinion through which we have passed" -- Thomas Jefferson's decorous description, at his first inauguration, of the ferocious 1800 campaign -- a trillion words were spoken, approximately none about the public's appetite for unfunded government entitlement programs. If you want the United States to be Puerto Rico writ large -- or, even worse, Illinois -- just stay the course you are on. In words Lincoln spoke at his first inauguration, the nation's fate is "in your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine." Our governor accuses the federal government of bullying in its actions to help transgender students ("Ricketts to schools: Ignore transgender guidance from feds," May 17). That's the pot calling the kettle black. The governor has shown himself to be a bully. He did so by trying to deny driver's licenses to DAPA young people by denying the group of young people the opportunity to work in fields requiring state license ("Ricketts' immigrant veto defeated," April 12) and the list could go on and on. In Nebraska, one in 11 people, your friends, family, and neighbors, work for a nonprofit organization. Because of nonprofits, we have agencies that help those less fortunate get the resources they need. We have after-school programs where children can learn, play and grow. There are arts venues, recreation opportunities and programs that provide services to the elderly and people with disabilities. Several Nebraska cities are hosting Giving Days this spring. On May 26, the Lincoln Community Foundation is hosting Give to Lincoln Day. Online giving is growing. Network for Good says online giving grew 6 percent last year, to $247.9 million dollars. From 2014 to 2015, Network for Good noted a 215 percent growth rate in mobile giving. According to a 2015 report by the Corporation for National and Community Service, 56 percent of Nebraskans gave $25 or more to a charity in 2014. In 2012, the Nonprofit Association of the Midlands published a report on the economic impact of nonprofits in Nebraska. Nonprofits are Nebraskas third-largest industry. The Corporation for National and Community Service ranks Nebraska seventh in the nation when it comes to volunteerism. We invite you to join us and the Lincoln Community Foundation on May 26 to support the nonprofits that make your city great. Anne Hindery, CEO for Nonprofit Association of the Midlands, Omaha Party on. Not one Nebraska Republican leader endorsed Donald Trump prior to his march to the doorstep of the GOP presidential nomination. But when Ted Cruz withdrew from the race after being soundly beaten in Indiana, clearing the last obstacle to Trump's eventual nomination, leading GOP figures in Nebraska rushed to his side. It's all about party. And power and influence. When Nebraska Republicans held their state convention in Omaha a week ago, they rallied behind Trump while scarcely mentioning his name. And they took a swipe at the one leading Nebraska Republican who wouldn't dutifully fall in line. Ben Sasse opposed the nomination of Trump from the beginning in Iowa and nothing has happened since to change his mind. Sasse has made it clear that he will not abandon his concerns and join the crowd just because Trump is going to be his party's nominee. And he will not vote for him. And, in fact, he proposed that conservatives go find a dependable third choice. So, the GOP state convention adopted a resolution aimed at Sasse that declared the party's opposition to any effort to support a third-choice presidential candidate as an alternative to Trump and either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. Party first. It's happened before, an expression of political independence and judgment followed by a rebuke from the party. Chuck Hagel would not support the Iraq war just because President George W. Bush was a Republican president. Doug Bereuter occasionally departed from his party's position on House votes and once publicly cautioned the party at its state convention not to allow itself to become captive to the religious right. Senate Republicans ganged up on Hagel years later when he went before the Armed Services Committee for his confirmation hearings as President Obama's nominee to be secretary of defense. When the moment came for Bereuter to be chosen by the Republican House caucus as chairman of the International Relations Committee, the post was handed instead to Rep. Henry Hyde, a dependable figure who had dutifully pursued the impeachment of Bill Clinton from his position as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. For some people -- let's make that most people -- who are actively engaged in partisan politics, it's party first. And it's not just Republicans. The tie to party drives most Democratic leaders and activists, too. Ben Nelson heard about it every time he departed from Democratic positions in the Senate. Party, of course, has zero constitutional standing and yet the Senate and the House are governed by the majority party and members of each house are divided into party caucuses with partisan conflict built into the process. Congressional gridlock is party-driven. Will there be a party payback ahead for Sasse? Hard to know. He was greeted by standing applause at the GOP state convention. His conservative views are generally in line with the party. If Trump -- hardly a beloved figure among the Nebraska Republican leaders who have rushed to his side -- loses in November, the disagreement may essentially melt away. But this month's differences, highlighted at the GOP state convention where Sasse's minority viewpoint could have been respected rather than publicly rejected, have had a lasting impact on some relationships. George Washington warned about this lockstep allegiance to party and factions in his Farewell Address. "In governments purely elective," Washington said, "it is a spirit not to be encouraged." The people through representative government, not the parties, were supposed to hold the power. *** Finishing up: * Nicole Fox is the first incumbent senator to be erased from next year's legislative roster. Fox, appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts to succeed Jeremy Nordquist in a heavily Democratic South Omaha legislative district, fell 16 votes short of winning nomination in the May primary election. * A passing thought: Lincoln still hasn't taken full advantage of the city's name. Perhaps President Obama would view this as the perfect place to once again appeal to the better angels of our nature as we enter the decisive months of an ugly and divisive presidential campaign. Or perhaps the presidential winner would choose to come here later to try to heal the wounds. * Compulsive use of smart phones and other computer devices now is classified as an addictive disorder. Earlier generations probably could have been diagnosed with a compulsive TV addiction, but at least they weren't looking at TV while they were crossing busy downtown streets. * An article in the Federalist nominates Sasse as the vice presidential running mate for "the interloper," Donald Trump. * A skip-work day at the zoo in Omaha on Friday was perfect; go do it. 1876: An exhibition from Nebraska for the U.S. centennial exposition at Philadelphia was called for by Gov. Silas Barber after reservations had been made in Philadelphia and free rail transportation secured. 1886: The first weather signal flags were displayed on the Lincoln post office, 13 years before the Weather Bureau was established here. 1896: Herman Fowler, 11, drowned in Wahoo Creek near Ashland while attempting to save a comrade who had jumped in to save a dog. 1906: An inquest ordered in the death of a woman in Lincoln, Julia Massey, 103, determined she had died of old age. 1916: Construction in Lincoln was at a standstill, with more than 600 laborers on strike. 1926: Frank Sharpe of Lincoln was convicted by a jury of murdering his wife with a hammer. Her beaten body and a broken hammer had been found two months earlier in a car north of Havelock. Sharpe was to be the first Lincoln resident to die in Nebraska's electric chair, although appeals delayed his execution two years. 1936: Cloudbursts caused flooding along Medicine and Ponca creeks, forcing many families to flee from their homes. 1946: A tornado struck the east edge of Lincoln, causing property damage on farms and at the veterans hospital. There were no fatalities. Lincoln-based train crews went back to work after a strike involving 18 rail unions was resolved. 1956: A new consumers cooperative, the Nebraska Generating and Transmission Co-Operative, was organized in Columbus. 1966: Fifteen farms were damaged and one person was hospitalized for bruises in the wake of a tornado that struck near Wahoo. Consumers Public Power District announced it would be economically unfeasible to resume operation of the nuclear portion of the Sheldon Generating Station near Hallam. 1976: The Capitol Environs Commission criticized the construction of a nine-story apartment house for the elderly at 17th and J streets. The commission said the building would block the view of the Capitol from some areas. 1986: Kathy Retzlaff of Gilead achieved the rank of master sergeant in the two-state 89th Army Command. She was the first woman to earn that rank. 1996: It was announced that a rare white buffalo calf had been born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The birth was considered a sacred event by the Lakota Sioux. A powerful spring storm blew through Lincoln, collapsing a hangar at the airport and downing trees and power lines citywide. 2006: Two former officials of First National Bank of Holdrege have been indicted by a federal grand jury, accused of loan fraud for commodity transactions by an Atlanta grain elevator. The bank's former president, Kenneth Slominski of Kearney, and a former bank director, Harold Titus Ty Swan, were indicted on 23 counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and of falsifying bank records. The indictments follow others for Slominski and other former bank officials over actions alleged to have occurred from 1996 to 1998. The bank's troubles were linked to the collapse of two customers, Damrow Cattle Co. and Atlanta Grain Elevator. Last year Slominski and a former loan officer were indicted on fraud charges. And two years ago Slominski and another former bank executive were indicted over allegations that they fraudulently secured $7 million in loans. Those indictments remain in place. Dear Dr. K: Many years ago, my doctor told me that men, like women, should take calcium supplements. So I have been. Now I hear that it's a bad idea. What do you think? Dear Reader: All of us -- patients and doctors -- wish we had all the answers, and that the answers never changed. Unfortunately, the way the human body works, and malfunctions, is very complicated. To understand it, we conduct research. But no study is perfect, and the answers sometimes change as larger and better studies are conducted. There's no doubt that we all need calcium. It helps muscles to contract, blood to clot and nerves to communicate, and it plays an important role in building strong teeth and bones. As a result, many people take calcium supplements for bone health. One fairly recent study followed the health of nearly 400,000 men and women. Over the course of 12 years of follow-up, men who took more than 1,000 milligrams (mg) of supplemental calcium per day were 20 percent more likely to succumb to heart disease than those who didn't take calcium supplements. But there was no connection between calcium supplements and heart disease in women, and there was no connection with calcium from food. Another recent study followed more than 61,000 women in Sweden. Among women who took more than 1,400 mg per day of calcium supplements, the risk of premature death was more than doubled -- particularly death from heart disease. Both of these studies involved large numbers of people and were carefully conducted. Yet they were observational studies, and you can't make judgments about cause and effect from such studies. They clearly showed that men and women who took relatively high doses of calcium supplements had higher risks. But that doesn't prove that the calcium supplements were the cause of higher rates of heart problems and death. Moreover, other studies like these have not found an increased risk of heart disease from calcium supplements, in either men or women. So the question of whether men should take calcium supplements is controversial. My advice to patients, advice that I follow myself, is to emphasize calcium-rich foods rather than to take calcium pills. Men do not need as much calcium as women because we are less likely to develop osteoporosis (thinning of the bones). Surely, you should not forsake all calcium. Everyone needs calcium to keep bones strong, taken in conjunction with bone-building vitamin D. Losing calcium weakens bones and leaves them more prone to breaking. With the safety of calcium supplements in question, try to get as much calcium as possible from food. Good calcium sources include: * Low-fat milk and cheese. * Calcium-fortified orange juice or soy milk. * Breakfast cereals (which are also fortified). * Leafy greens, particularly kale, turnip greens and Swiss chard. (Go easy on spinach. It is high in iron, which tends to block calcium absorption.) * Sardines and other canned fish with bones included. I'm sure there will be more research studies on this important question, and I'll keep you posted. (This column is an update of one that ran originally in May 2013.) RACINE Downtowns future microbrewery, Benjamin Beer Co., is getting very close to opening. In November, Benjamin Beer President Jim Kennedy announced hed chosen the storefront at 507 Sixth St. for a future microbrewery. Previously Kennedy, emergency plan manager for the Zion (Ill.) Nuclear Power Station, had a smaller microbrewery in Paddock Lake that he outgrew. Kennedy has been shooting for a Memorial Day weekend opening for his Sixth Street microbrewery. On Friday, he posted on the Benjamin Beer Co. Facebook page: I was just informed that our state brewery permit was issued! We are now cleared to start brewing. By Tuesday we will complete our final occupancy inspections. Barring any major surprises, Kennedy said the microbrewery will open at 4 p.m. Friday. The owners wont have any of their own beer on tap then, but they will open with a selection of tap beers from other small Wisconsin microbreweries such as Lakefront in Milwaukee and New Glarus. It will take two weeks before their own beer begins to replace the guest taps, Kennedy said. The microbrewery will be able to serve up to 12 different tap beers at once, and theyll gradually start putting their own varieties into the mix. At least one potential competitor, J.J. McAuliffe, proprietor of McAuliffes on the Square, 213 Sixth St., has voiced his support of the microbrewery initiative. During a public hearing in January, McAuliffe said he visited the previous Benjamin Beer Co. in Paddock Lake and called it a great experience. Every city I have ever been in thats been a progressive city, a thriving city, has had a microbrewery, McAuliffe said. Asked if he was excited to get the state permit to brew beer, Kennedy replied, I think Im more tired than excited. Im sure theres some excitement down in there somewhere. Until it shifts into fall/winter hours, Benjamin Beer Co. will be open from 4 p.m. to about 11 p.m. Monday-Friday and 11 a.m. to about 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information call the business at 262-583-2034. RACINE COUNTY The Obama Administration rocked much of the U.S. business world last week by announcing a new rule affecting some salaried workers when they work more than 40 hours per week. The Department of Labor altered the Fair Labor Standards Act, effective Dec. 1. Currently only salaried workers making less than $23,660 per year must be paid 1.5 times their regular rate when they work beyond 40 hours. But come Dec. 1, that amount will more than double to $47,476 per year. And the threshold will continue to climb in future years. House Speaker Paul Ryan quickly ripped the change. This regulation hurts the very people it alleges to help, he stated. By mandating overtime pay at a much higher salary threshold, many small businesses and nonprofits will be unable to afford skilled workers and be forced to eliminate salaried positions, complete with benefits, altogether. For the sake of his own political legacy, President Obama is rushing through regulations like the overtime rule that will cause people to lose their livelihoods, Ryan added. Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce President Jim Ladwig said its wrong for the government to try to artificiallly inflate employees pay. If you (the employer) cant find good people at $30,000, then you have to increase it but not by the government telling you, he said. I think it will have some unintended consequences on employees, Ladwig said. He also criticized the size of the jump in the overtime pay threshold. A lot of the time (employers) can deal with small increases, he said. Citizen Action of Wisconsin, though, hailed the change. When workers have more money in their pockets to spend in local communities, employment increases and prosperity expands, the group stated. In Racine, Citizen Action calculated the average annual overtime bonus, at 47 hours of work per week, at $8,788 per year per worker. Citizen Action Executive Director Robert Kraig stated, The new federal overtime rule will mean that more will be rewarded for working longer hours, boosting consumer spending in our local economies as families can afford to go out to dinner, buy necessities, and send their kids to college. Grocers react Although Citizen Action welcomed the rule change, another state groups spokesman blasted it. Its the most divisive, callous, uninformed, job-killing rule President Obama has delivered in eight years, said Wisconsin Grocers Association President and CEO Brandon Scholz, who sounded livid. The president simply does not understand how business works, nor does anyone at the Department of Labor, he charged. Scholz predicted employers will restructure, moving salaried people to hourly wages and then strictly enforcing their hours. The other thing is: You (as an employer) will lose your middle management, Scholz said. As former managers responsibilities are spread around, you have weakened the management of your company. And if those things happen, Scholz added, You have taken away a career path, for those who would have worked their way through lower-paid salary positions to higher ones. One local employer not expecting big problems from the new rule was O&H Danish Bakery owner Eric Olesen. O&Hs pay structure keeps him free from concern. As much as possible, we like hourly pay, Olesen said, and stresses a good work-life balance for hourly workers who usually stay close to 40 hours in a week. When they do work more than 40 hours, paying time-and-a-half for overtime hours is the right thing to do, he said. Also, What salaried people we have are over that threshold, Olesen said. He said raising the overtime threshold was not a new idea. Companies that could have seen this change coming, and didnt adjust to it ahead of time, now its kind of turning their world upside-down. But Olesen sympathized somewhat with small companies. He said, Small employers will struggle; it will be harder to make those changes. More opposition The day after the new rule was released, the National Federation of Independent Business Wisconsin state director, Bill G. Smith, predicted entry-level management positions will dry up thanks to this regulation. Obviously (the rule) means higher labor costs for millions of small businesses regardless of whether theyre making more sales, generating more revenue, or dealing with other rising expenses, Smith stated. Many are struggling now, and theyll have to make tough choices that will affect the very same workers whom the Department of Labor thinks they are helping. A natural reaction is, Hooray, the government just gave us a raise, but that might not turn out to be true, wrote Andrew Volin, a partner at the national law firm Sherman & Howard, who advises and defends private-sector employers and their management in disputes involving employment discrimination, wrongful discharge and wage and hour law. Only a lucky few (workers) should expect an outright raise, Volin stated. Small companies may not have the flexibility larger ones do, he said, and so it might be more efficient to hire two part-time workers, who do not receive benefits, rather than keeping on one salaried worker whose salary just became more expensive. RACINE Jumping out of airplanes in college wasnt enough for Jim Hantschel. There simply were too many days when the planes were grounded because of weather conditions, he said. So he took his love of skydiving and turned it into a passion for flying. Hantschel, a semi-retired pharmacist, now is sharing his love of being a pilot with a new generation through the Experimental Aircraft Associations Young Eagles program. The Young Eagles program provides free demonstration plane rides to children ages 8 through 17. The ones you like are the ones that say its the best thing they ever did, said Hantschel, 66, of Racine. Dick Knapinski, spokesman for the EAA, and Hantschel said Hantschel has flown more than 711 children on demonstration flights since he began flying with the Young Eagles program in November 2000. Hantschel, who once owned Langes Pharmacy in West Racine, is a one-10th owner of a 1972 Cessna 172. The four-seater accommodates Hantschel and three children. For some youth, its just a Great America ride, Hantschel said. Some are nervous but get over it upon seeing their home, Racines harbor and rolling farmland from the sky. Some are quiet during the flight, but bound over to their parents, jumping up and down afterward. He said one girl screamed no at the top of her lungs until Hantschel ended the flight early. But no child ever has thrown up in his plane, he said with a touch of pride. What gets him every time are the girls who shy away from taking the wheel when its their turn to fly the plane, under Hantschels direction. Some say, No, Im a girl. When you hear that , he said shaking his head, his words trailing off. Theres been more than one (girl). One of our female (EAA) members flew to Alaska. Hantschel is the son of Detective James Hantschel, who was killed in the line of duty in 1963 while transporting a suspect to the police station for questioning, records show. And he is one of more than 50,000 volunteers who have flown Young Eagles flights since the program began in 1992, Knapinski said. The challenge In 1992, the goal was to fly 1 million children by the centennial of the Wright brothers first flight, which was Dec. 17, 2003. Orville and Wilbur Wright made their historic first flight on Dec. 17, 1903. Sam Johnson, the late chairman of family household products company SC Johnson and member of the EAAs Racine Chapter No. 838, donated $1 million to the EAA and challenged its members to fly 1 million children by the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers first flight, Hantschel said. Hantschel said he didnt participate at first, adding he was too broke, tired or busy with his business and family. Then one day he went to Batten International Airport in Racine on a Young Eagles flight day for which 200 children showed up. And Johnson had to fly them all himself, Hantschel recalled. I can understand. Its expensive, he said, estimating the cost at about $100 to taxi from the planes hangar, load three children aboard, fly for about 20 minutes and then land. Yet he didnt want Johnson to have to fly all those children without any help, Hantschel said. He was kind of a good role model. He would be out there under his plane, tinkering with his airplane, changing the oil, Hantschel said. Right before he died, he told me dont let Young Eagles die. That meant a lot to me, Hantschel said, turning to look away as his voice broke. Planting seeds The EAA accomplished that 1 million goal by October 2003, Knapinski said, but EAA members wanted to continue these flights. They are on track to reach 2 million children experiencing Young Eagles flights by this summer, he said. To date, more than 1.9 million children have experienced such flights, Knapinski said. As of May, 4,285 children received Young Eagles airplane rides in Racine, Hantschel said. These airplane rides typically last 15 to 30 minutes and usually fly over childrens homes. Flying involves various types of science and math, and Young Eagles rides could result in children determining a career path, Knapinski said. Before such flights, children must attend ground school, which consists of a pre-flight class taught by members of Aviation Explorer Post 218. As todays crop of pilots age, new pilots need to be trained, Hantschel said. Sparking an interest in becoming a pilot is key for the Young Eagles program. About 20 percent of the pilots currently younger than 40 years old went into aviation after Young Eagles experiences, Knapinski said. Were planting seeds, he explained. You dont know when that seed may sprout. If it sprouts, you dont know how far it may go. MOUNT PLEASANT While state decisions laid the groundwork for how Racine County handles the future of Ridgewood Care Center, local policymakers have decisions to make as well. Similar scenes have played out throughout the state as counties mull whether to stay in the nursing home business. Some, like Kenosha, have taken the opposite route Racine is heading. The Kenosha County Board last year approved borrowing $18.3 million to fund an expansion of Brookside Care Center, 3506 Washington Road. The facility is expected to generate more revenue by adding Medicare patients and boosting rehabilitation services. Delagrave has ruled out that option, saying he is not comfortable with that amount of borrowing and questioned whether it's county government's role to provide rehab services. But others wonder what might happen if the county cedes control of Ridgewood, fearing the quality of Ridgewood would suffer or the new owner would move beds out of the area. Stay or go? Officials say they will determine what language the county could put into a sale agreement to limit changes or moves by a new owner. Otherwise, the owner would likely be free to transfer beds to other counties in southeastern Wisconsin, said John Sauer, president and chief executive officer of LeadingAge Wisconsin, a nursing home association of which Ridgewood is a member. A moratorium on new nursing home beds has been in place since 1981, when the state had the second-most nursing home beds per capita in the country and sought to reduce the number of beds. But current law allows nursing-home owners to move beds within designated health service areas or in adjacent counties, Sauer said. Racine is in an area with counties including Kenosha, Walworth, Ozaukee, Milwaukee, Waukesha and Washington; adjacent counties to the area are Jefferson, Rock, Fond du Lac, Sheboygan and Dodge. In an interview with The Journal Times Editorial Board earlier this month, Delagrave said he doubted a company would buy Ridgewood only to move beds elsewhere. "This is all market-driven," he said. "There's not going to be an entity that comes in here that wants to run Ridgewood and (then decide) they're going to move the beds out in a year, because they're still going to have potentially a building they're going to be saddled with and they're not going to pay millions of dollars to move those beds." "But by the same token, we want to make sure we have a strong commitment, potentially through a contract, to make sure the beds stay in the area." He added the county would still have oversight responsibilities like it does for group homes or mental health facilities. "We feel that if we get a really reputable operator for Ridgewood we're going to be able to do the same thing," he said. "We'll manage their care and make sure their patient care is really good." Decisions by county boards elsewhere around the state have been mixed, Sauer said. Some, including Jefferson and Eau Claire counties, have sold facilities. Counties including Dane, La Crosse, Ozaukee and others have maintained its services. "It's a county-by-county decision about what they want to do," Sauer said. "But some county boards have said ... we think there's actually a need in our community for this level of care and we're going to provide it." RACINE A year after shelving plans for a suburban library, Racine Public Library trustees are exploring the possibility of renovating the librarys main branch at 75 Seventh St., including adding a third floor to the structure. The issue came up during a Board of Trustees meeting last week. The discussion was brief, but after the meeting Racine Public Library Director Jessica MacPhail confirmed that the board has already reached out to an architectural firm that has drawn up preliminary sketches for review. The board does not yet have a firm cost estimate for the project mainly because the plans are only rough sketches but Library Board President Melissa Kaprelian-Becker said Friday that she believes there is already strong consensus on the board as to what it wants to see in the librarys future, especially given the feedback board members have received from patrons. My take is that these are visionary plans, and of course we will have to adjust them when we see what funding is available, Kaprelian-Becker said. The library was actually built so that a third floor could be added, she noted. I dont know if you have noticed when you have been in the library, but there is a stairwell that leads to a third floor that doesnt exist, she said. Trustees had studied building a second library at the northeast corner of Spring Street and Newman Road, but closed the book on the idea last June after finding little interest among neighboring communities in pursuing the project. It was disappointing, but it was a process we had to go through to realize at this time it is a no, Library Board Vice President Sandy Riekoff said Thursday. The next open door was looking at our facility and updating it. Another bookmobile? In addition to studying the possibility of renovating the actual library, trustees have also discussed the possibility of securing another, new bookmobile down the line. The topic came up during Thursdays board meeting after trustees accepted a $261,400 bid from Farber Specialty Vehicles of Columbus, Ohio, for a new book mobile to replace the librarys current vehicle. SC Johnson has already pledged funds for the purchase of the new unit, which should be ready by sometime next April. The library has been without a bookmobile since March 15, when the current unit was damaged in a five-vehicle crash at the intersection of Marquette and State streets. An insurance company is paying for $27,792.68 repair for the vehicle but, at 13 years old, library staff said the bookmobiles days are numbered, even once its fixed. It is not going to be mobile for very much longer, MacPhail said. The age and condition of the existing bookmobile notwithstanding, she and other staff members, as well as board members, expressed an interest in having another bookmobile available to serve patrons. Maybe we go for a grant and go for another mobile vehicle, MacPhail said. For a community of our size to only have one facility is highly unusual. One bookmobile is essential; two would be fantastic. Potential uses for a second unit suggested by trustees included a mobile makerspace and a unit geared toward school children and school curriculum. But at least one trustee urged fellow board members not to get too carried away, noting that even if the library was lucky enough to secure a grant to purchase a second unit, it would have to think about the additional operating costs. We have to think of staffing, too, said longtime board member Dwayne Olsen. As an alternative to buying a new unit, Olsen said the city could use the current unit and just park it in certain locations for extended periods of times. MOUNT PLEASANT The debate over what to do with the Ridgewood Care Center nursing home is in many ways driven by state budget decisions and philosophies. The states long-term care program, Family Care, has sought to keep residents in their homes and offer more options, like assisted living facilities or home care services, besides nursing homes. As the state steers away from nursing homes, Medicaid reimbursements to the facilities lag the actual costs of providing care. A new study says the states Medicaid reimbursement rate could be the worst in the country. State Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, called the rate unacceptably low and compounded by a lack of support for other long-term care programs, while others say the state has done well in keeping seniors in their homes. For Racine County, the Medicaid reimbursement rate and a dropping Ridgewood population have factored into a push to transfer ownership of the facility, 3205 Wood Road. The nursing home in 2016 faces a $2.2 million shortfall, a deficit which could grow to $2.6 million by 2020, according to an outside consultants projection. The Racine County Board on Tuesday is scheduled to vote on a resolution authorizing the county executive to recruit and hire a broker to market Ridgewood. County supervisors signaled they support at least looking for a broker, giving the resolution preliminary approval May 10, though any sale of Ridgewood would still be far off. Supervisors are wrestling with potential repercussions of ceding control of Ridgewood and the financial implications of keeping it. The state is an important part of the equation, County Board Chairman Russell Clark said. Thats what controls us, he said. The shifting of the funds are really whats affecting our operation. State ranks low Ridgewood Care Center in 2015 received about $149 in Medicaid reimbursement per resident, per day, according to county figures. The countys actual costs, however, were about $260. The reimbursement system is driven by the state budget, said John Sauer, president and chief executive officer of LeadingAge Wisconsin, a nursing home association which counts Ridgewood as a member. He said the state overlooks what the actual costs of care are, instead determining the rate based on what it can afford. The level of reimbursement the state has provided to nursing homes over the last several years simply has failed to keep pace with the cost of care, Sauer said. Sauer pointed to a study from the American Health Care Association released this spring comparing costs and Medicaid reimbursements. The study showed Wisconsin had the largest gap among 33 states surveyed, confirming a LeadingAge analysis which found Wisconsin skilled nursing homes had a $331.8 million Medicaid deficit in 2014-15. According to the American Health Care Association study, Wisconsin nursing homes lost $52.84 each day for each of its Medicaid residents, which LeadingAge says is about 16,500. Neighboring states also had cost gaps, according to the study. Minnesota, for instance, lost $34.04 per day, per resident, while Iowa lost $12.65. The overall cost gap for all 33 states was $22.46, the study reported. Funding tight A low Medicaid reimbursement rate is always a frustration, because obviously the providers have to be at least breaking even or they pass the cost along to the rest of us, said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester. But Medicaid dollars will continue to be tight as programs compete for funds, Vos said. The state has proposed major changes to Family Care, which could move from nonprofit providers to for-profit insurers. The state is always looking for ways to not cut services but to reduce the cost of providing the same quality care, Vos said, which is why I think many people have a long-term hope for Family Care as opposed to continuing to see more and more nursing homes built, which are obviously incredibly expensive. Mason, D-Racine, argued the state would have substantially more resources to fund programs like Ridgewood if it accepted a federal Medicaid expansion, which according to media reports has cost $678.6 million in state tax dollars through the 2017 fiscal year. While an expansion wouldnt directly affect Medicaid reimbursement rates for Ridgewood residents, it would enhance state funding sources for its long-term programs, Mason said. Gov. Scott Walker and other Republicans have argued the federal government funding is too uncertain to accept. Seniors staying home In 2008, changes in the states Family Care program shifted responsibilities from the county to the state, eliminating waiting lists and creating more options for residents. A primary motivation was to keep residents in their own homes, Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave said, which not only allows residents to live more independently but is about 75 percent cheaper for taxpayers. That has helped ease the burden on nursing homes like Ridgewood, which has seen its average daily population drop from more than 200 in 2007 to about 170 today. (The way) I look at is, why wouldnt the state want to creatively take care of people in an environment they likely want to be, which is their home, at less cost? Delagrave said. Delagrave also argued its better to put Medicaid dollars into programs, such as SeniorCare and BadgerCare, that benefit more of the population. Mason agrees its better for residents to stay in their own homes, but said the state doesnt adequately fund other long-term care programs. If what they were saying was, were going to put less money into nursing homes so we can adequately fund programs like IRIS and Family Care and keep people in their homes, they would have a legitimate argument, Mason said. The problem is theyre talking about either cutting or privatizing both of those things. RACINE A proposed revision of the Racine Unified School Districts policy for desegregation would eliminate requirements that minorities make up a certain percentage of school populations. Instead, the new diversity policy posted for 30 days of public review on the districts website Thursday would forbid discrimination and require schools to develop culturally responsive and inclusive programs to prevent student isolation, the proposed revision states. In addition, the revised policy calls for the district to review the diversity policy every year and revise it as needed, putting the onus on the School Board to take action when schools lack diversity, Deputy Superintendent Eric Gallien told the board last week. It doesnt put a concrete policy in place that says this and this has to happen, but it gives the board an opportunity and some responsibility to review this periodically to say, hey, things are getting kind of out of whack, we really need to come up with strategies to address the diversity and equity in our schools, he said. He suggested that the board might consider different enrollment boundaries, transportation and recruitment methods as necessary to spur diversity in schools. The district initially proposed to entirely eliminate its desegregation and integration policy in November, but changed course and assembled a Diversity and Equity Task Force to hash out a replacement. The board did, however, remove similar diversity policies for district charter and magnet schools in December. At the time, administrators said the current policy particularly the requirement that the percentage of minority students in any school largely reflect the overall percentage of minority students in the district is likely illegal under several U.S. Supreme Court decisions against racial quotas over the years. The proposed diversity policy states that the district values diverse populations as well as recognizes and celebrates its multicultural community, but it does not explicitly require the district to integrate or desegregate schools that lack diversity. Beverly Hicks, chairwoman of Racines NAACP branch education committee and member of the task force, recognized the districts reticence to racial quotas or percentage requirements. However, she took issue with the district leaving in place sibling preference to charter and magnet schools, arguing that this preference is a type of quota that keeps these schools predominantly white. If youre going to remove it, you need to remove it all the way, she said. The proposed diversity policy will be remain on the districts website until June 17 and will then go to the School Board for approval. Voter ID is about making it easier to vote and harder to cheat, Gov. Scott Walker has said quite a bit recently. We suspect that Voter ID is far more about making it harder to cheat than it is making it easier to vote: Before the Voter ID law, you stated your name at your polling place, your address was verified and you were handed a ballot. That was easier. But action the Walker administration took earlier this month is a step in the right direction on the easy-to-vote part. On May 11, Walker announced new rules for obtaining a Voter ID aimed at making it easier for those who have trouble producing the necessary documentation. The Department of Transportations Division of Motor Vehicles, which has issued free photo IDs for voting since 2011, will be able to issue photo ID receipts to those who are in the process of obtaining photo ID cards for voting but are unable to produce the necessary documents in time for an election, Walkers office said in a statement. The measure could help those who have errors on documentation, such as a misspelled name on a birth certificate, Walkers office said. This action ensures an individual is still able to vote while they work to obtain documentation needed for a free Voter ID card, Walker said in a statement. Its a start. But its not without its flaws. Karyn Rotker, senior legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, which has filed a lawsuit in Milwaukee challenging the law, said in a Wisconsin State Journal interview the provision wont help voters without proper documentation who go to the DMV on or right before election day. Part of the new rule says those without proper documentation will be mailed a receipt within six days, but someone who files a provisional ballot must provide a photo ID or receipt within three days. It is clear just looking at it on the face that there are going to be voters who are left out, Rotker said. The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin issued a report earlier this month that found the Voter ID requirement didnt cause widespread problems in the April 5 election, but problems with voters being unable to produce a photo ID were common in polling locations with heavy student populations. League executive director Andrea Kaminski said the new rule doesnt go very far in addressing the problem. Other than scrapping the law entirely, she said a better approach would be to allow those without a lawful ID to sign an affidavit attesting to their identity. It would address those concerns in the absolute minimal way, Kaminski said of the new rule. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel recently said in an interview with WKOW-TV that the Voter ID lawsuits could be moot if the state allowed someone who has difficulty obtaining a Voter ID to sign an affidavit. The affidavit option is something wed also like to see the Walker administration consider as the November presidential election approaches. Please allow us to restate our position: We remain in favor of Voter ID as a concept, that a person appearing a polling place should be willing to offer proof of identity. But we also recognize that for all law-abiding citizens 18 or older, voting is a right, affirmed with the same powerful language in the 15th, 19th, 24th and 26th Amendments as something to not be denied or abridged. Voter ID is the law of the land in Wisconsin. But if youve made a good-faith effort to obtain an acceptable form of ID, you should not be denied your constitutional right to vote. Wisconsin In Brief TOWN OF MADISON Homicide charge filed in gas station shooting There are new details about a deadly encounter at a gas station near Madison. A criminal complaint filed in Dane County says surveillance video shows the victim, Elijah Washington, walking into the Capitol Petro Mart station on May 11 and apparently recognizing Kortney Moore and another man, then leaving. Prosecutors say Moore pursued Washington and shot him. The complaint says Washington fell to the ground in the parking lot. WISC-TV reports cash bail for Moore was set at $500,000 Friday in Dane County Circuit Court. Moore is charged with first-degree intentional homicide. The complaint says Washingtons sister saw a man chasing her brother out of the station and heard gun shots. She says she found her brother bleeding in the parking lot, but conscious, telling her that he was probably going to die today. MILWAUKEE Police shoot at fleeing vehicle that struck officer Milwaukee police say an officer shot at the driver of a fleeing vehicle after he struck another officer while they were on foot patrol. Authorities say the incident happened shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday. Officers saw a gun in a vehicle and tried to talk to the man inside. Police say thats when the man drove toward the officer and struck him. The officer was not seriously injured. A second officer fired his weapon at the driver of the fleeing vehicle. A police pursuit began, but responding officers lost sight of the driver. A short time later the vehicle was found and a man was arrested. Police say theyre investigating and havent said whether anyone in the fleeing auto was struck by gunfire. MILWAUKEE Officers settle lawsuit against gun shop Two Milwaukee police officers have settled their lawsuit against a gun shop they allege negligently sold a weapon that a suspect used to shoot them. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Friday that a clerk for Milwaukee County Circuit Judge John DiMotto said lawyers for both sides had called the court to say they had settled. Officer Jose Lopez and now former Officer Alejandro Arce had filed a lawsuit against Badger Guns alleging the store negligently sold the gun that a 15-year-old boy used to shoot them in 2007. The Journal Sentinel reports a 24-year-old man bought the gun at the store and gave it to the boy. The Journal Sentinel reports the man had been convicted of drug possession, making it illegal to sell him a firearm. MILWAUKEE English-only custard shop owner cancels meeting with Latinos A Milwaukee custard shop owner with an English-only ordering policy has called off a meeting with a Latino rights group. Ron Schneider of Leons Frozen Custard was to meet Friday with the League of United Latin American Citizens. But the group says Schneider needed more time to meet with his attorney. The policy became public Tuesday after a Spanish-speaking customer was told by a Spanish-speaking employee that she was only allowed to take his order in English. Schneider said at the time that he didnt want to encourage non-English orders because it could become a problem down the road, adding that we cant be the United Nations. But Leon told WTMJ-TV on Thursday he has now decided his bilingual employees can help customers in whatever language they both speak. LA CROSSE La Crosse puts pigeons on the pill Business owners in La Crosse are putting pigeons on the pill sort of. Feeding stations atop downtown buildings include a contraceptive feed. Its aimed at lowering reproduction in the birds that leave droppings on sidewalks, awnings and park benches. Wayne Oliver, a member of the Downtown Mainstreet Board, tells WXOW that its the most successful idea the board has tried. Maria Norberg, owner of a downtown coffee shop and food truck, says she supports anything that can cut down on the overhead threat to her customers. Funding comes from a city beautification grant. Associated Press 14 districts in Mid West stare at food shortage A prolonged drought has caused a drop in winter crop productions by as much as 45 percent in the Mid West, according to agriculture experts. 8 injured as explosive goes off at APF Battalion Eight Armed Police Force (APF) personnel were injured when a grenade exploded by accident at APF's Manakamana Battalion in Bhanu municipality of Tanahun district on Sunday. Buddhist economics It is worth pondering why Nepal could never take advantage of having a major religious site CPN (Maoist Centre) CC meet: Dahal proposes five vice chairmen Chairman of recently formed CPN (Maoist Centre), Pushpa Kamal Dahal, on Sunday tabled his political document at the partys Central Committee (CC) meeting, proposing to hold unity gatherings in all the districts across the country within mid June. DDCs told to allocate land The government has asked the District Development Committee offices in Jhapa, Sunsari, Rautahat, Surkhet and Kanchanpur to allocate land for the implementation of the faecal sludge management project. Prithvi Man Shrestha is a political reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering the governance-related issues including corruption and irregularities in the government machinery. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2009, he worked at nepalnews.com and Rising Nepal primarily covering the issues of political and economic affairs for three years. Huge response: Nearly 100,000 visit event The Kantipur Hissan Edu-fair 2016, being organised at Bhrikutimandap in the Capital to inform prospective students about +2 and Bachelor-level colleges in the country, drew close to 100,000 visitors on Saturday. Intl conference ends with 10-pt declaration The third International Budhhist Conference concluded on Saturday with the 10-point Lumbini Declaration, endorsing a plan to promote Lumbini as the centre of Buddhist faith, set up an interfaith dialogue centre and create an international forum to take forward the action plan through bilateral and multilateral support. Islamic State calls for attacks on the West during Ramadan in audio message A new message purporting to come from the spokesman of Islamic State calls on followers to launch attacks on the United States and Europe during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins in early June. Just 10km built in 10 years It has been 10 years since the project started, but just 16km of the 85km road connecting Mugu district headquarters Gamgadhi and Tibet has so far been built, thanks to the contractors slow pace. Kerry to welcome reforms, push for more on Myanmar visit U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will welcome democratic reforms in Myanmar and underscore the need for more change, including on human rights, during a visit on Sunday Land of meddling instability I have not been able to stop being amused by the conspiracy theories found in Nepal Rai is an agriculture engineer and works as a freelance consultant for international development organisations. NC student union working to hold convention from Sept 19 Nearly a decade after its last general convention, the Nepal Student Union is preparing to hold its national jamboree in September. PM Oli deceiving people with fantastic projects: NC Prez Deuba Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has accused Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli of misleading people by lining up unachievable projects. Police, locals continue search for Kalikot landslide victims Police and local residents continued their search on Saturday for three persons, who have been missing in the flash floods and landslides triggered by rains at Gejbazaar in Kotwada VDC-5. Risk of implosion as discord surfaces in Madhesi Morcha Differences in Morcha allies started to surface after Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal Chairman Upendra Yadav appointed himself as the coordinator of the Sanghiya Gathabandhan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour killed, Afghans confirm Afghanistan's spy agency has confirmed that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour has been killed, after the US targeted him in a drone strike. Turkey politics: Erdogan ally Yildirim to be appointed PM Turkey's ruling AK Party is set to appoint a key ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its leader and new prime minister, after a reported rift led Ahmet Davutoglu to quit. Vin Diesel remembers Paul Walker while shooting 'Fast 8' Actor Vin Diesel paid tribute to his late friend Paul Walker in an Instagram post as Fast 8, the latest installment of their hit Fast and the Furious" franchise, started filming. Yes, its hard to to tell when one enters the city limits Yes, they will make the city more inviting Maybe ... does it really matter? No, the signs in place are fine No, it would be a waste of taxpayer dollars Vote View Results DALLAS (AP) George P. Bush was talking about his future political plans and how Donald Trump wouldnt reshape them when two women approached, giddy with excitement. They wanted pictures with a man whose photogenic smile once landed him on People magazines most-eligible bachelors list. Up close, though, they saw something unexpected. You look like your dad, Ruth Ann Pratt, a retired college math teacher from Lake Jackson, near Houston, finally exclaimed. You turn slightly to the side, and you ARE your dad. Bush only smiled. These days, being associated with his father, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, may not be such a great thing. Eighteen months after he was elected Texas land commissioner and a few weeks past his 40th birthday, Bush is quietly continuing his familys legacy. The grandson of one former president and nephew of another, he remains a rising star in Americas largest conservative state and is keeping alive the possibility that a political dynasty declared dead by many when his dad flamed out of the presidential race could yet again return to national prominence. What remains to be seen, though, is if a third George Bush can survive in a political world turned upside down by Trump where Republican primary voters overwhelmingly have embraced the ultimate outsider who promises to smash the political establishment the Bushes embodied for decades. Regardless of what comes at me, Ill be prepared, Bush said of the possibility his last name has shifted from GOP royalty to a liability. In an interview during the recent Texas Republican Convention in Dallas, Bush said that, like his father, grandfather and uncle, he isnt endorsing Trump or attending the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Bush said he was part of a national conservative movement concerned about Trumps candidacy. He has the ability to win us over if he clarifies many of his remarks and he demonstrates that he has humility and that he doesnt besmirch peoples character as the motivating factor for why hes running for office, Bush said. Pointing to his own sons, ages 1 and 3, he added: I want them to be able to look at the Oval Office and see the presidential seal and say, That is somebody who I look up to. Trump says being shunned by the Bushes proves hes not beholden to Washington powerbrokers. And Bushs hesitation to embrace Trump hasnt appeared to cost him much in Texas and beyond at least not yet. Joe Brettell, a former GOP congressional staffer now based in Houston said George P. has one of the brightest political futures in the country. He is absolutely on any smart Republicans radar,Brettell said. When the party begins to rebuild after Trump, Marco Rubio and George P. Bush will be two people that they look at as a blueprint for potential good times ahead. Bush said hes not worried since I believe that Texas is unique and its politics are separate from whats happening nationally. This isnt a smaller state where potentially theres more consolidation behind another candidate, he said. Texas GOP establishment has long seen Bush, whose mother was born in Mexico and who speaks fluent Spanish, as a potential powerhouse especially for Hispanics, who will become the states majority population by around 2030. The land commissioners office has sometimes led to better-known posts. Its hard to imagine Bush challenging Texas popular and ideologically similar Gov. Greg Abbott, in a 2018 Republican primary. But Bush, an attorney, could be a favorite in the states race for attorney general. Texass current attorney general, Republican Ken Paxton, is facing felony securities fraud indictments that may complicate the re-election bid hes vowing to mount in two years. PITTSBURGH More than half of workers in a recent survey believe they have packed on too many pounds because they sit at their desks all day, engage in stress-induced eating and are too exhausted to exercise. Yet among those who reported feeling overweight, more than half who have access to gyms or wellness programs through their employer say they dont use them. Its a real conundrum, said Gretchen North, associate vice president, healthy living for the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh. People know what they need to do but putting it into action is a different story. The survey by CareerBuilder, a Chicago-based human resources and recruitment firm, was conducted online by Harris Poll from Feb. 10 to March 17, and included 3,031 full-time workers in the U.S. who were age 18 and older. No self-employed or government workers were included. Among respondents, 55 percent said they feel overweight and 44 percent said they gained weight in their present jobs. Another 17 percent said they lost weight. Stress at work was a significant factor among those who said they were too heavy. Of people who reported low stress levels on the job, 41 percent felt overweight while 77 percent of workers who experienced extremely high stress said they were overweight. More women, 49 percent, reported weight gain at their jobs compared with 39 percent of men. Overall, 25 percent of survey participants said they had employer-sponsored benefits including some who had access to on-site workout facilities but 55 percent of those people dont use them. There are challenges for some workers even when gyms or wellness classes are available at the workplace or at nearby health clubs, North said. Some supervisors dont allow employees enough of a lunch break to fit in a class or workout, shower and return to the office, she said. And while some bosses allow it, some employees feel theres a perception they are not committed enough to the job if they take an extended break to exercise, North said. While lunchtime classes at two downtown Pittsburgh YMCA facilities are typically packed between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., peak usage also occurs in the early morning and early evening hours because many members dont want to or cant leave their jobs in the middle of the day, North said. To reach a broader audience, the YMCA delivers programs to workplaces onsite, including a diabetes prevention program that the City of Pittsburgh offers to its employees at lunch time. The city is covering the cost for employees and they therefore have built-in support to attend, North said. The class sets goals for participants to reduce their weight by 7 percent over a year and increase their physical activity to 150 minutes per week. Other businesses have asked for the classes at their work sites and we see great participation because of the convenience. Other programs the YMCA conducts at its regional branches and for employers on site include lunch-and-learn events, fitness classes and health workshops. For people whose employers dont offer wellness programs or who dont live or work near a health club or cant afford a membership, there are still options during the workday. If you work in a suburban office park, get outside and walk the campus, North said. In bad weather, walk the steps inside or set an alert on your computer or phone to get up from your desk and move around or stretch. Sitting is the new smoking, she said, crediting several researchers who have used that phrase to encourage healthy habits. Art students at Holmen High School have created a mural honoring peacemakers and combating hateful political rhetoric. The four students taking an art seminar class from teacher Christine Michels painted the mural this semester along the walls in the schools large group room. The mural features quotes from John Lennon along with portraits of peacemakers such as Malala Yousafzai, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. Senior Kiersten Leon said the mural started with Yousafzai, a Nobel laureate who stood up for girls rights to education in Pakistan and was rewarded with a Taliban bullet. The students worked to choose a diverse group of peacemakers, and researched each one of them for the mural, which was a three-month project. I just thought we needed to make a statement, Michels said. To remind us we are all together. Senior Alyssa McCathie worked on the quotes used in the mural and said Lennons words summed up their desires for the mural well. You may say I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one, the mural reads. Hope someday youll join us and the world will be as one. Pope Francis is also on the mural, and his addition involved a lot of debate, Junior Matilda Vogel said. But he has been so active on the issue of peace and breaking down barriers. He is one of the new faces, she said. It is good to have him on the wall. Since the mural was completed, a number of people have left positive comments about the artwork, complimenting its beauty and its message. Michels said the students learned a lot with the project, which required the different artists to work together and blend their difference talents. The art motivated me the most, senior Cherish Noffke said. Learning about them as we painted was a great experience. All of the students were proud of their accomplishments and the message they will be able to leave for future generations of Holmen students. It is a surreal moment, Vogel said. I helped create that. It is more than a mural, and I have so much invested in it emotionally. The art motivated me the most. Learning about (peacemakers) as we painted was a great experience. Cherish Noffke, Holmen High senior I just thought we needed to make a statement. To remind us we are all together. Christine Michels, art teacher TOMAH -- A painting night helped raise money for Tomah Area Montessori School earlier this month. Sponsored by Partnership Bank, the event was dubbed Paint and Pour by the schools parent teacher organization. Jennifer Eppers, vice president of the TAMS PTO, said the event will help the organization develop. Were trying to get established so we can do some of the extra things that PTOs do for the kids, said Eppers, who works at Partnership Bank. Every single penny that we raise tonight is going directly to the school to help buy supplies and fund the PTO, to try to get the school stronger. Since it is our first year, its a lot to kind of absorb to make sure that the kids have everything that they need. Attendees painted a picture of a mason jar at night filled with fireflies with the word believe written across it. They also had the opportunity to participate in a raffle and silent auction at the event, which was held at Ground Round. The funds generated will go toward school supplies and programs for the PTO to put on at the school. The event also presented the TAMS students two-part global project, Seeds for Education, which theyve been working on throughout the school year. It goes along with Jesses Challenge, said Amy Jereb, a TAMS teacher. They gave us the seed money for the project to buy the supplies. Then it will be supporting the children in Uganda for education and also the Mariposa Montessori in the Dominican Republic. Laura Ames, TAMS childrens house teacher, said the money to the Mariposa school is to help with school supplies. They have already started (the school), but they dont have a lot of high-quality Montessori tools, she said. So its buying new tools and more tools for them. The Paint and Pour event generated funds for Ugandan childrens education and the Mariposa Montessori by selling cards and plants for $10, Eppers said. All the plants were cared for by the children, theyve all been slipped off plants that theyve been growing all year long, she said. So they start them, they care for them, they decorated the pots, plus they made their own little cards Montessori is about more than just taking care of us, its about taking care of somebody else too. Jereb said the money raised for Uganda and Mariposa will be split. However many students we sponsor we have to commit to that until theyre finished with school, she said. So if we do 15 students, we have to do 15 students next year and the year after. So, however many students we decide to sponsor, whatever additional money we have can go to the Mariposa School. Fifty tickets were available for the painting event, and Ames and Jereb were thrilled that all tickets were sold. Jereb said she liked that she got to see people at the event. Its nice to mingle with people who are curious about Montessori and educate them a little, she said. Its kind of fun showing off what the kids can do. Because we grew the plants in the classroom all year for this purpose and then they got to plant them and see the results and then what they learned from the children in Uganda, its been pretty much an effort from all the kids. TOWN OF BROCKWAY A group of residents heard the state of Wisconsin wanted to add prison beds to its correctional system in the 1980s. Their hard work and lobbying led to the medium-security Jackson Correctional Institution opening in the town of Brockway in 1996. They felt that Jackson County would be a good site for a prison and that it would have economic impacts for the county, said Warden Lizzie Tegels, who has led the prison since 2013. They did see it as an economic boost and a job source for the county. JCI celebrated its 20th anniversary earlier this month with a ceremony at the prison, which sits on a 40-acre site in rural Black River Falls and houses an average of 960 male inmates. The facilitys history began in the 1980s and ramped up in 1991 when an advisory referendum found a majority of residents casting votes supported the addition of the prison. There only has been one building addition since the prisons inception a barracks with 152 beds. The institution, like others overseen by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, works to rehabilitate offenders and assist with reintegrating them into the community upon release, said Tristan Cook, DOCs communications director. We really want to address the reasons the inmates are at our institution in the first place, he said. Our strong desire is every inmate that gets released to give them the tools they need to (transition back) into the community. JCI has a variety of programming that includes an annual transition fair designed to help connect inmates to community and job resources to help them integrate back into the community after release. The transition fair, I think, is one of the biggest and best in the state, Tegels said. It just continues to grow. Its our thought that the first day they come in here they need to be thinking about their last day here about an effective release into the community. The prison, staffed by nearly 300 employees, also provides alcohol and substance abuse programming, and anger management and domestic violence resources. There are education programs, recreation and opportunities to donate back to the community. Inmates make teddy bears for law enforcement to give to children, knit afghans to donate to local events and also participate in their own run/walk to generate money to donate to organizations, such as the local American Cancer Societys run/walk. The men who are able to take part in those activities really feel like they have an opportunity to give back to the community. They know theyve done wrong, and there is a part that wants to atone for what they have done, Tegels said. It gives back in some way. Jackson County Clerk Kyle Deno said the addition of the prison has been a boom to the countys economy in terms of jobs and revenue generated from employees living and working in the area. The addition of nearly 1,000 people to the population that wouldnt have been here otherwise also can have a small but important impact on state and federal dollars the county receives that are based on population, she said. Youve got the benefit of that, said Deno, whose husband Dick retired from JCI a handful of years ago. Tegels said JCI plans to keep its focus on safety and security and maintain and possibly expand programming as its budget funding allows as the facility looks to the future. I think its obviously to maintain a safe, secure environment not only for staff and inmates here but for the community at large as well. Its first and foremost for us, she said. We intend to continue to provide and expand the treatment opportunities we have for the men who are in our care and custody. MADISON Democrats have spent recent weeks drawing attention to budget cuts that have led to reduced services and layoffs on University of Wisconsin System campuses. Republicans have countered by touting a four-year freeze on UW tuition and new tenure rules that make it easier to fire professors, who Gov. Scott Walker has repeatedly said enjoyed protections that gave them a job for life. As Democrats look to pick up seats in the Legislature and Republicans try to keep control of the Senate and Assembly, experts say the issues surrounding the UW System could be among the hottest topics on the campaign trail in some districts. Several months before Election Day, UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden says, politicians on the right and left are already making clear how they will look to argue those issues: Democrats by criticizing Republican-led budget cuts that they argue hurt the states public universities and its economy, and the GOP by saying theyve reformed the UW System to make it more efficient and affordable for Wisconsin families. The parties have really drawn lines when it comes to higher (education), Burden said. Each is staking out positions that could have support among a broad base of voters, Burden said, and while Walkers name wont be on the ballot this November, his record will very much color races for the Legislature. Education is going to be a key contrast issue in this election, said Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse. Walker declined an interview request, but devoted his May 12 weekly radio address to the tuition freeze and new tenure policies. Mike Mikalson, a spokesman for Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, said voters dont want to undo the changes Republicans have made. You cant just feed the beast by throwing more state tax dollars in and more tuition money, he said. You have to force (the UW System) to adopt reasonable reforms to get them on the right track. Democrats emphasize cuts impact Democrats, who opposed the $250 million cut from the UW Systems funding in the 2015-17 state budget last summer, have renewed that criticism as more details have emerged about how those cuts are affecting colleges and universities. UW institutions across the state have laid off employees, reduced advising services and cut the number of courses and class sections they offer, among a range of other cost-saving measures that officials say are hurting students and local economies. After UW System leaders decided in April not to make time at a Board of Regents meeting to hear chancellors discuss the impact of the cuts on their campuses, Democrats in the Legislature called for public hearings to draw further attention to the issue. They have also emphasized UWs role in spurring businesses, and last week highlighted a report from the Wisconsin Technology Council that said further cuts to higher education would hurt the states economy. Shilling said Democrats plan to put a major emphasis on the budget cuts, along with legislation that would allow borrowers to refinance their student loan debt, as they campaign this fall. We want to restore our states investment in higher education and make student loan debt relief a top priority, said Shilling, who is facing a strong re-election challenge. Katherine Cramer, a UW-Madison professor who has studied political attitudes in rural Wisconsin, said voters in those areas often feel a disconnect from UW-Madison, which some view as a bastion of liberal elites. But many also see the benefit of UW campuses within their communities, or appreciate local UW Extension programs, she said. Theres a great deal of pride in those schools, Cramer said, and Democrats could have success pointing out how budget cuts are affecting them. Polls show many voters could agree with them on the budget cuts. Walkers original proposal to cut $300 million from the UW System was widely unpopular, said Marquette Law School Poll director Charles Franklin. Even after the cut was reduced to $250 million, 57.6 percent of voters said in a poll last August that the reduced funding would hurt UW. GOP counters with affordability, tenure changes While the cuts are unpopular, Franklin noted voters many of whom are concerned about college affordability like the Republican-backed freeze on in-state tuition. Just more than 75 percent of respondents supported the idea when it was introduced in 2013; two years later, voters were less likely to say the freeze was hurting UW compared to the budget cuts. Walker notes the freeze leveled off years of tuition increases at UW schools, and he has hinted that he will consider extending it for another two years. We believe the focus should be on providing students with the best education possible, in a way that makes college accessible and affordable, Walker said in his May 12 radio address. Walker has also ramped up his criticism of UW faculty members and their tenure protections. Tenures proponents say the policies which generally allow faculty to be laid off only in the event of misconduct or a financial emergency are a necessary protection that allows professors to take on risky or potentially controversial research that can ultimately benefit society. New policies approved by the Board of Regents earlier this spring, after Republican legislators stripped tenure protections from state law, give chancellors greater authority to close academic programs and fire professors. Faculty members across the UW System, prompted in part by the new tenure rules, have passed votes of no confidence in the Board of Regents and the systems president, Ray Cross. Walker derided the resolutions as a fuss by faculty members and slammed the concept of tenure, joining Republican critiques that tenure policies could be used to protect unproductive faculty members. Replacing jobs-for-life tenure with reasonable expectations for teaching just makes sense, Walker said. Marquette has not polled voters about tenure. But several experts said Walkers jobs for life criticism could resonate with many people who dont have nearly the same level of job security. It will be difficult to sell tenure when you apply it to what people do for jobs in their district, said Brandon Scholz, a Republican strategist and former director of the state GOP. Much like Walker advocated for Act 10, his signature 2011 law limiting public sector unions power, by criticizing the benefits those workers had, Cramer said, he and Republican legislators are now deriding professors as well-paid and economically secure as they appeal to voters across Wisconsin. Its a pretty powerful political move to say, Youre hurting, I recognize that, and its the fault of these people who are getting more than their fair share at a time when you arent getting your fair share, Cramer said. Speaks to parties bigger messages The importance of higher education will vary in each legislative district, Burden said, but he estimated those topics will be a factor in every race, and could be one of the top five issues in some areas. Democrats will look to tie the UW cuts to a broader theme: That the policies of Walker and Republicans in the Legislature are hurting a valued institution and putting a drag on Wisconsins economy, Burden said. Republicans, meanwhile, will point to the tuition freeze and tenure changes as ways theyre working to protect Wisconsin students and make UW a more responsible steward of taxpayer money. The public traditionally favors Democrats on education issues, Burden said, but the fact that Republicans can also point to higher education positions that are popular with voters shows no one party is clearly winning the topic so far in this campaign. Both sides believe they have real strengths to their arguments, Burden said. Education is going to be a key contrast issue in this election. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse Senate minority leader DULUTH, Minn. When Gary Bubalo was a kid growing up on the far western side of Duluth, he and his friends would walk down to the St. Louis River at a place they called "Coolerator Hill," where an old air conditioning plant sat along the shore. It was the 1960s, and the river was so polluted at the time from nearly a century's worth of paper milling and other industry that his parents warned him not to venture too close. But some kids did anyway. "They were almost like social outcasts," he said, "because they swam in the river." At Coolerator Hill, the river widens into a huge estuary it looks more like a lake than a river before it empties into Lake Superior. "I remember one kid caught a fish once," Bubalo said. "He came up the hill and he was showing everybody, and it was like an alien from (another) planet or something you could actually catch a fish in this thing!" Bubalo is a financial advisor now. His dad worked at the U.S. Steel mill on the St. Louis until it closed in 1972, the year Gary graduated from high school. He remembers seeing the pipe where the plant discharged its waste, like a "constant dirty drain running right into the river." Around the same time, farther upstream where the river tumbles down jagged rocks through Jay Cooke State Park, "you couldn't go down there and hang around the swinging bridge, because it stunk," recalled Jack Ezell, who grew up in Cloquet. He's now manager of planning and technical services for the area's sanitary district. It's hard to imagine those scenes today. While the list of toxins found in the river decades later is still shocking including PCB, dioxin and pesticides like DDT, dieldrin and toxaphene the river has come back to life. That spot where few kids dared to swim is now a campground and fishing dock teeming with honking geese. There's a ramp where anglers launch boats to fish for trophy-sized walleye and muskie. Others paddle canoes and kayaks among the wooded islands in the estuary. The water is so much cleaner now that the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and other groups are starting to restore wild rice beds where they once flourished in the river's bays. Jay Cooke's iconic swinging bridge is now a destination. "It's a pretty special resource," said John Lindgren, a fisheries biologist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. "Within 25 miles of a 12,000-acre estuary there are a quarter-million people. But you can feel like you're actually quite secluded. And to have that high quality of a fishery in that close proximity to so many people is a pretty amazing thing." But even as the St. Louis River's remarkable environmental turnaround is celebrated, there's still cleanup required. Toxic pollutants left over from the river's industrial heyday remain trapped in sediment. And an invisible pollution lingering beneath the water's surface still makes many fish pulled from the river unsafe to eat. "I laugh and say it's a face only a mother could love," Anna Varian said as she helped hoist a 4-foot-long lake sturgeon onto a makeshift operating table. She was standing in a campground next to the St. Louis in Duluth's Fond du Lac neighborhood. It's a bizarre-looking, shark-like beast, with four huge whiskers hanging down from its snout. Its puckered mouth droops several inches. "You can see their skin is really tough," said Varian, the DNR's assistant fisheries supervisor for the Duluth area. She made a small incision into the fish's belly to insert a transmitter the size of a tube of lip balm. It will help researchers learn how often sturgeon swim upriver to spawn, and what kind of habitat they use. The researchers also fitted each fish with a tiny transponder tag to chart its growth and to start estimating the size of the sturgeon population that spawns in the river. DNR officials from Minnesota and Wisconsin started stocking baby sturgeon in the St. Louis River in 1983, decades after pollution and overfishing wiped out the giant fish from the river. Biologists with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Nature Conservancy and others rebuilt spawning habitat. Sturgeon are highly dependent on good water quality to survive. Slowly, steadily, numbers increased as the stocked fish took hold in the river. Five years ago, tribal biologists found their first fry from naturally reproducing sturgeon, a sign that a healthy fish population could grow on its own. Minnesota even began allowing catch-and-release fishing last year. "It's been a huge success," Varian said of the long effort to bring sturgeon back to the river. "They're a beautiful fish, and an old fish, and it was very important to bring this fish back to the river for people to enjoy." After stitching up her "patient" and letting the sturgeon recover in a metal tank, Varian slides it back into the river something that, a few decades ago, likely would have killed it, thanks to a lack of oxygen in the water. The return of the St. Louis River sturgeon represents a victory for environmental policy. The Minnesota DNR and others attribute the fish's rebound to water quality improvements prompted by the Clean Water Act and other regulatory efforts. The campaign to restore the river dates back to the early 1950s, when state Rep. Willard Munger, DFL-Duluth, pushed for a regional sewage treatment plant to purify wastewater before industry and municipalities dumped it into the river, often virtually untreated. Eventually state lawmakers approved the idea, but there was no funding for it until the Clean Water Act passed in 1972. That legislation, championed by late northeast Minnesota Congressman John Blatnik, was written largely by his then-staffer and future congressman Jim Oberstar, who died in 2014. The landmark law freed up more than $100 million in federal funding to build the facility. Now, a 75-mile network of sewers delivers 40 million gallons of wastewater to the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District treatment plant in Duluth every day. The treatment process involves mixing the sewage with oxygen and bacteria, which feast on the waste. Several steps later, the water is cleaned and released. The whole process takes less than 10 hours. "So, if you brushed your teeth last night in the city," explained Sara Lerohl, the treatment plant's environmental program coordinator, "certainly there are fish already out there swimming in your toothbrush water." When the plant went online in 1978, one of its primary goals was to restore severely depleted oxygen levels in the river. The effect was almost immediate. "To our surprise, by the summer of that year, we were already seeing fisheries start to redevelop," said Jack Ezell, who grew up in Cloquet and now manages planning and technical services for the area's sanitary district. "People were fishing and taking walleyes out of the river as early as 1979 again." Far from finished But there's still a lot of cleanup work ahead, before the river can be considered fully recovered. A legacy of toxic contaminants remains trapped in the sediment. Underwater habitat that was destroyed by dredging for ship traffic has yet to be completely restored. The location of the old U.S. Steel plant remains a federal Superfund site. About a decade after the sewage plant opened, a U.S. water quality pact with Canada listed the St. Louis River estuary as one of 43 Great Lakes areas of concern. Minnesota, Wisconsin and the federal government began cleaning up polluted sites along the lakes. But progress was slow until 2011, when Congress began appropriating $300 million annually for Great Lakes cleanup. Now the estuary is on target to complete its major cleanup efforts by 2020 and to be removed from that list by 2025, said Nelson French, who's coordinating the effort for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. To get to this point, French said, between $300 and $400 million has been spent cleaning up the river. Plans call for spending another $200 million in the next four years, about two-thirds of which would be federal money. Advocates are hoping for a $12 million state appropriation this legislative session. "That gives us an idea of what the cost of leaving these legacies can be if you truly want to get them cleaned up," French said. "This tells a story of what it means if you don't regulate these materials." But even with the progress so far, the St. Louis River is hardly in the clear. Environmentalists argue that pollutants including heavy metals and sulfate could flow into the river if pollution safeguards at the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine, which if built would drain into the river's headwaters, fail to work. "Proposed sulfide mining operations threaten to pollute the watershed and undo the excellent efforts of state, federal and tribal entities to reverse years of mining and industrial pollution," a coalition of environmental groups wrote to the Great Lakes Advisory Board. PolyMet argues the environmental controls it intends to install will actually help clean the river by capturing and purifying existing polluted runoff from an old taconite mining tailings pond the company plans to reuse. "Based on 10 years of working on an environmental impact statement, and having that statement finalized," explained Brad Moore, PolyMet's vice president of environmental and government relations, "it clearly shows that our company can meet all state and federal standards." There's also a more immediate concern pollution that some environmentalists say isn't getting enough attention. You can't see it or smell it like the waste that was dumped into the river through the late 1970s. This new pollution is invisible. "We traded one set of devils for another," said Len Anderson, a retired biology teacher living on the Fond du Lac reservation outside Cloquet. He's spent many of his 76 years canoeing, fishing and fighting for the St. Louis River: He was one of a group of local residents who fought for the regional wastewater plant and helped develop the plan to clean up the river's legacy contamination. "Now people are catching game fish, and they taste good, they look good and they smell good, but they have an insidious load of mercury like we've never seen before," he said. Mercury pollution in fish is common in Minnesota waters. The state has identified unsafe levels of mercury in fish tissue in about 1,600 lakes and stretches of river. If too much contaminated fish is eaten, mercury can cause serious health issues, including brain damage in children. A 2012 Minnesota Department of Health study found one in ten babies along the North Shore of Lake Superior are born with unhealthy levels of mercury in their bodies. Most mercury is deposited into water through air emissions, from coal-fired power plants and other sources. The state has adopted a 20-year plan to slash the amount of mercury released from Minnesota smokestacks 76 percent from 2005 levels. According to the state pollution control agency, that effort, combined with international pollution reduction efforts most of Minnesota's mercury comes from around the country and around the world should eventually lower the level of mercury in most of Minnesota's water bodies enough so that fish in them can be eaten safely once a week. But in 10 percent of the state's waterways, including the St. Louis River, mercury levels in fish are so exceptionally high that they will fail to achieve lower mercury levels despite reduced air emissions. Scientists still aren't exactly sure why mercury levels in waters like the St. Louis are so much higher than elsewhere. It's likely the answer has something to do with how mercury gets into the food chain and builds up into higher concentrations in fish. It can only do that once it's converted to the chemical compound methylmercury, said Shannon Lotthammer, environmental analysis and outcomes director at the MPCA. "Maybe there's some things that are causing the methylation process to happen more quickly or more intensely in some water bodies," Lotthammer suggested. Critics like Anderson, the retired biology teacher, say the evidence in the St. Louis River is clear: High levels of sulfate released by iron ore mines that drain into the watershed are causing mercury to methylate and move up the food chain into fish tissue. Lotthammer acknowledged sulfate plays a role. But she said other factors, including fluctuating water levels, also contribute to mercury retention in fish. "All of these factors have a role," she said, "and what we are trying to understand better is what are the key factors, and what are the management actions that we need to take ... to reduce mercury in the fish." Anderson, though, feels the press of time. He's now battling a rare bone marrow disease. And given how long it can take to clean up polluted waters, he worries he won't see the day when his grandkids can eat all the fish they catch in the St. Louis without risk to their health. "I'm not going to live much longer," he said. "And I'm afraid I'm not going to get that goal accomplished." ALLOUEZ, Wis. Crumbling and collapsing from foundation to steeple, the little red brick chapel in the Allouez Cemetery is looking old for its age. And its age is considerable. At 140 years old, it shares a birthday with the Catholic Diocese of Green Bays flagship structure, St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, but its received little of the same TLC over the decades. This is one of the oldest cemeteries in the state of Wisconsin, and the little red chapel presides over some of the oldest gravestones on the grounds. Most of the graves lying within the chapels shadow have been there for more than 100 years. Some of the nearby stones are no longer legible. Theres an angel standing nearby who long ago lost one of her wings. The chapel has not been in formal use since the 1970s. The padlock on the front door is the only thing that doesnt look decades old. Even the boards over its windows need paint, and a bunch of paving stones are holding down the warped boards that cover a cellar entrance. The chapels foundation is so crumbly, it looks like the entire structure could come down by the removal of one or two loose stones in any corner. And so, the diocese is making plans to tear the chapel down. We have no plans to save it, said diocesan spokeswoman Justine Lodl. Its a safety issue. Were probably looking at later this summer. The state of Wisconsin wasnt even 30 years old when this chapel was built. We dont know a lot about it, Lodl said. It was built in 1876. From what I can see, Bishop Krautbauer had something to do with it. Thats Bishop Francis Xavier Krautbauer, the second bishop the diocese had, the one whose remains are interred at the Green Bay cathedral that bears his name. Krautbauer directed the construction of a chapel at the Allouez Cemetery, a Catholic cemetery established in a farmers field in 1822. Construction of the chapel began the same year as construction of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, although work continued for another decade before the cathedral was completed. The chapel, roughly 18 feet by 24 feet, served as a receiving vault, a place to store human remains in the cold winter months when the ground was too hard to dig graves. In fact, the remains of Krautbauers predecessor, Bishop Joseph Melcher, Green Bays first Catholic bishop, were kept for a short time in the chapels basement. Melchers remains eventually made their way to a different old structure on the cemetery grounds, a mausoleum built in 1915 especially for Bishop Joseph J. Fox. The chapel never served as an actual church, Lodl said. It was a chapel, a place to pray, not a church, not consecrated in any way, she said. Still, its an interesting old building, and itd be a pity to lose it, said Chris Dunbar, executive director of the Brown County Historical Society. Its not really a pile of rubble at this point, she said. It can still be preserved. Its unique. It shows the history of the Catholic Diocese. I received a call several weeks ago from the cemetery saying this building is slated to come down because of the danger of bricks falling, causing safety issues, she said. They know we have a preservation watch list, and its on our watch list, so it was a very nice thing for them to let us know. But its too soon to tell if theres anything the historical society can do about it. Talks with the diocese are still preliminary. The diocese hopes to have some kind of commitment by June 1, but Dunbar has no idea what the interest is among preservation-minded donors. We have an architect on our board, and I did get a tentative report from him, with an estimate of the cost at about $200,000, she said. Theres extensive damage. It would include masonry restoration, it needs a new roof, roofing trim, foundation repair, flooring, plastering, things to stabilize the building. The stained glass windows need to be replaced, the painting is bad. The interior things could maybe be done another time. Dunbar hasnt had time to share her findings with the diocese or cemetery board, nor even with her own board, much less with potential donors. She has no idea how hard that June 1 deadline is. While she would love to see the building saved, she understands why the diocese might not be interested. Not all old buildings can be preserved, she said. Theres not the money for that. A lot of times, its cheaper to restore than to build a new one, and it keeps a sense of place and history, but there are times when thats not feasible. Finding that balance is what historic preservation is all about. Do the benefits outweigh the costs? She also recognizes the building is dangerous in its present form. Bricks are falling off the building, she said. Theyre afraid of somebody getting hurt. Preservation enthusiasts and the diocese went toe to toe six years ago when the diocese ended razed the nearly 100-year-old chancery in Allouez, despite community pleas to save it. Dunbar doesnt want to see anything like that rancor develop over the chapel. But she also hopes nobody makes any hasty decisions about the chapels future. Its a beautiful building, and when its gone, its gone, she said. When you walk up to it, its beautiful, peaceful. Buildings like this give a sense of place and history, and when theyre gone, we can never get them back. Its an amazing building, and it would be wonderful if we could get some people behind it to do some fundraising. Buildings like this give a sense of place and history, and when theyre gone, we can never get them back. Chris Dunbar, executive director of the Brown County Historical Society I often wondered why American Muslims kept silent while blood-soaked, hate-filled interpretations of Islam garnered media space. The column by Wahhab Khandker in the May 15 Tribune expressed what I had been hoping to see. This excellent piece deserves to be reprinted in other traditional media, as well as on Facebook and other forms of social media. Its that well written. It not only rejects Islam as hate-filled, but it expresses that Islam teaches peace and compassion. Christianity has spawned its own venomous expressions, of course. There seems to be an "Us" versus "Them" bug in humans that infects people easily and turns the "Other" into an enemy. Khandker's column emphasizes community, which often is overshadowed by our tendency to create enemies. This "US-Us" mentality, rather than "Us" versus "Them," is the Divine energy that powers both Christianity and Islam. If youre disturbed by trigger warnings and cultural-appropriation freakouts, consider this new piece of evidence on the fragility of todays college students. The University of Oregon has published its annual report from the schools Bias Response Team. The report summarizes all 85 times last school year that students (and some faculty and staff members) formally sought help from administrators over instances of perceived bias against them or their peers. In a handful of cases, students alleged that actual crimes such as vandalism or physical assault had occurred. Mostly, though, the complaints involved asking the university administration to cocoon students from upsetting but constitutionally protected speech. Or, sometimes, to compel offenders to proffer more appeasing, apologetic speech. Among the incidents for which Oregonians sought redress or punishment: A poster featuring a triggering image displaying body size bias. Sexually explicit doodles on Post-its. Too little coverage of transgender students in the newspaper. A professor writing an insulting comment on their online blog. A professor joking that a nontraditional student was too old to answer a question about current events. In some cases it wasnt clear what the offense was, or why bias was alleged. One student reported that a tutor consistently ignores him, and tagged the incident as Bias Type: Age, Ethnicity, Gender, Race. When in doubt, blame any unsatisfactory encounter on bias, and call in the authorities. Oregon is one of more than 100 schools with a formal system for reporting such noncriminal bias complaints. These systems have been implemented over the past decade in part to help schools take the temperature of racial and ethnic tensions on campus. Which seems like a worthwhile goal, given high-profile incidents involving racial slurs, swastika-laden vandalism and the like. But many such programs have mission-crept into disciplinary, pseudo-parental roles. They have encouraged student informants to rat out peers (anonymously, if they choose) for building a phallic snow sculpture; playing a party game called mafia (which one student complained was anti-Italian); or chalking sidewalks and marking whiteboards with support for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Students have also asked administrators to regulate speech in other ways. The University of Minnesotas recently introduced free-speech code, for example, has been opposed by students who want the school to guarantee special opportunities for those who are not well-spoken, as City Pages Susan Du reported. I applaud students who want to create a diverse, welcoming atmosphere on campus. I admire their drive to make the world around them a better, more inclusive place. What puzzles me, though, is this instinct to appeal to administrators to adjudicate any conflict. Rather than confronting, debating and trying to persuade those whose words or actions offend them, students demand that a paternalistic figure step in and punish offenders. Adult students, in other words, are demanding more of an in loco parentis role from their schools. And administrators appear ready and willing to parent. The cause of this evolution is unclear. Perhaps the culprit is the consumerization of higher education, or the rise of helicopter parenting. Maybe its the consequence of administrative bloat on campuses. The advent of social media may also play a role. Sensitive to bad PR, administrators may encourage students to report problems inward and up the food chain rather than potentially megaphoning their complaints outward. Whatever the cause, infantilizing students does them and the social causes they support no favors. Colleges are supposed to be places where young adults develop the critical thinking and social skills to peacefully, productively engage with people with whom they disagree, whose ideas they may even find detestable. But todays students and tomorrows workers are discouraged from resolving such conflicts on their own. They are not learning to use their logic and reason and words, as President Obama urged in his Rutgers University commencement speech, during which he chided students for forcing Condoleezza Rice to withdraw from an earlier talk. And missing this developmental milestone is detrimental not only to the continued production of knowledge but also to the functioning of a democratic society. Much is written about our siloed, polarized political debate, and our refusal to empathize or engage with our ideological opponents. Its hard not to see a sort of caricature of this problem on campuses today, where students dont learn the tools theyd need to engage even if they wanted to. What happens when todays students graduate and no longer have a designated authority figure to appeal to? What becomes of public discourse then? If Wisconsin is open for business, wed better figure out how to raise more money to fix the roads. In fact, a panel of local business people and public officials concluded last week that poor roads are already costing businesses money and putting a damper on economic development. Its time for leadership and political will in the Capitol in Madison and some resolve to just fix it. What do poor roads cost? TRIP, a national nonprofit transportation research firm, estimates that deficient roads cost Wisconsin drivers $6 billion per year. According to TRIP, each driver in Milwaukee and Madison pays more than $2,000 each year because of poor roads. Statewide, an estimated 42 percent of roads are in mediocre or poor condition and 14 percent of Wisconsin bridges need repair or modernization. When it comes to jobs, nearly 1.4 million jobs in Wisconsin are tied to transportation-dependent industries. Imagine the challenge for a business like La Crosse-based Kwik Trip, which sends trucks to its 500 locations in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa every day. Those deliveries of everything from fuel to snacks traveled 26 million miles last year more than half of those in Wisconsin. Jeff Reichling, Kwik Trips superintendent of petroleum transportation, sees the toll on vehicles shorter intervals between maintenance, more damage to shocks, tires, axles and frames because of road problems. This will only continue to grow as a problem, he said. Thats not good for businesses such as Gundersen Health System, which operates as the largest employer in its 19-county, tri-state region, or Organic Valley, which has 300 to 400 loads either coming or going from its Cashton facility each week. The panel spoke at a forum in Onalaska sponsored by the Transportation Development Association of Wisconsin. La Crosse County takes care of 285 miles of roads and 165 miles need at least reconditioning, county highway commissioner Ron Chamberlain said. The county has identified $90 million needed to fix its trunk highways. Unfortunately, it has identified how to pay for only $22 million of that work. In Farmington, theres a road that runs through the county forest that harkens back to a time before the automobile came along. As town Chair Michael Hesse told the panel, the town has a stretch of nearly a mile of Radcliffe Road on the countys northern fringe that is made of dirt. Every six weeks or so, depending on usage and weather conditions, the town has to get the road grader out and smooth out Radcliffe Road. The town also has to use the grader for gravel roads, albeit less frequently. Sadly, its becoming more and more difficult for local government to deal with funding problems. Since 2011, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the Legislature has passed 128 measures that have stuck local government with unfunded mandates or taken control from local government. While state leaders have touted tax-saving measures, dont be fooled that the cost hasnt shifted from one taxpayer pocket to the other. The taxpayers certainly arent fooled. In the wake of state funding cuts to education, taxpayers in a number of school districts have voted to raise taxes to increase funding for local schools. Consider that in 2000, taxpayers in Wisconsin school districts approved local school referendums on a 50-50 basis. In 2011, that approval rating rose to 70 percent. Last year, that rose to 81 percent. Remember: These are local taxpayers voting to charge themselves more and raise taxes for local education. Taxpayers really do understand the value of good roads, good schools and other critical needs. And, in the case of roads, not all of the funding comes from state taxpayers and more creative funding can and should be explored, especially as vehicles become more fuel-efficient. During last weeks forum on roads sponsored by the Transportation Development Association of Wisconsin, Rep. Jill Billings, D-La Crosse, said: The public understands theres an issue. I think they are ready for a fix. Businesses are looking for a fix. But it wont happen without honesty and courage. Were long overdue. Top US commander makes secret visit NORTHERN SYRIA On a secret trip to Syria, the new commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said Saturday he felt a moral obligation to enter a war zone to check on his troops and make his own assessment of progress in organizing local Arab and Kurd fighters for what has been a slow campaign to push the Islamic State out of Syria. I have responsibility for this mission, and I have responsibility for the people that we put here, Army Gen. Joseph Votel said in an interview as dusk fell on the remote outpost where he had arrived 11 hours earlier. So its imperative for me to come and see what theyre dealing with to share the risk they are dealing with. Votel, who has headed U.S. Central Command for just seven weeks, became the highest-ranking U.S. military officer known to have entered Syria since the U.S. began its campaign to counter the Islamic State in 2014. The circumstance was exceptional because the U.S. has no combat units in Syria, no diplomatic relations with Syria and for much of the past two years has enveloped much of its Syria military mission in secrecy. UN chief urges Mideast states to press Syria DOHA, Qatar The United Nations chief used a visit to Qatar on Saturday to call on Middle Eastern countries and world powers to press Syrias warring parties to turn their attention to a political transition in the war-torn nation. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said a full, immediate cessation of hostilities is needed in Syria and must be accompanied by discussions of what will follow. Fighting could escalate without such negotiations, he warned. I call on all regional and international actors to use their influence on the parties, and to persuade them to negotiate in good faith on transitional arrangements, Ban said during an evening address at the annual Doha Forum in the Qatari capital. Is there anything more urgent than resolving that nightmare? Smoke, cockpit woes signal chaotic end CAIRO Leaked flight data showing trouble in the cockpit and smoke in a plane lavatory are bringing into focus the chaotic final moments of EgyptAir Flight 804, including a three-minute period before contact was lost as alarms on the Airbus 320 screeched one after another. Officials caution its still too early to say what happened to the aircraft Frances foreign minister said Saturday that all the hypotheses are being examined but mounting evidence points to a sudden, dramatic catastrophe that led to its crash into the eastern Mediterranean early Thursday. The Egyptian military on Saturday released the first images of aircraft debris plucked from the sea, including personal items and damaged seats. Egypt is leading a multi-nation effort to search for the planes black boxes. Man mauled after entering lion pen, 2 cats slain SANTIAGO, Chile Two lions were killed after they severely mauled a man who stripped naked and entered their enclosure in an apparent suicide attempt early Saturday, authorities said. The man was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and was said to be in grave condition. Director Alejandra Montalba of Santiagos Metropolitan Zoo told local media the park was crowded with visitors at the time of the incident. The 20-year-old man broke into the enclosure, took off his clothes and jumped into the middle, horrifying other visitors who witnessed the attack. Zookeepers killed the two lions in order to save his life. Bondholders sue over debt moratorium SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Holders of bonds from Puerto Ricos Government Development Bank are suing to challenge aspects of a debt-moratorium law that island officials say is crucial to maintaining essential services as the U.S. territory struggles under a nearly $70 billion debt load. The amended federal lawsuit filed late Friday in the U.S. District Court in San Juan names Puerto Ricos governor and treasury secretary as well as an unidentified bank receiver. It argues that amendments to the law prioritize the rights of certain creditors at the expense of others in violation of U.S. and Puerto Rican law. Bus crash kills at least 37 people KINSHASA, Congo A United Nations-backed radio station in Congo says at least 37 people have been killed and 22 injured in a bus crash. Radio Okapi reported Saturday that the bus carrying 70 passengers from Zambia got a flat tire, ran into something and caught fire. The accident Friday occurred in southeast Congo in Sakania territory near the border with Zambia. It said the bus was traveling about 310 miles from the Zambian village of Kitwe to Luapula province, using a dirt road that cuts through part of Congo as a shortcut. WICHITA, Kan. Thousands of anti-abortion activists gathered in Wichita in 1991 for the Summer of Mercy, sparking tumultuous mass protests that led to nearly 2,700 arrests outside local clinics and crowning the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue as the symbol of the movement. As protesters prepare to return this summer for the 25th anniversary, the broader movement has splintered into disaffected factions and its strategies have evolved along with the shifting political and legal landscape of the abortion debate. Perhaps most telling is the decision by Operation Rescue and its leader, Troy Newman, to distance itself from the July 16-23 event. Ever since abortion provider Dr. George Tiller was fatally shot in 2009 in his Wichita church, the group has tried to disassociate from more radical activists. I am concerned about the sort of zealots that follow them around and the sort of rhetoric, said Newman, whos also a founding member of the Center for Medical Progress, the group whose secretly filmed videos alleged Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue and set off legislative attempts to cut funding for the largest abortion provider in the U.S. We have been able to accomplish a lot more through the political process than we ever were able to get sitting at the doors of an abortion clinic, he said. I would never speak ill against that tactic, it was certainly something that launched Operation Rescue, and people were passionate about that, but tactics and times change. While abortion clinic violence remains an ever-present concern, as evidenced by last years fatal shootings at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, new strategies in the anti-abortion movement have emerged, most notably the growing numbers of restrictions placed by state legislatures on abortion clinics that culminated this week with an Oklahoma bill that would have effectively banned abortions; it was vetoed. A thwarted move in Congress to strip federal family planning funds from Planned Parenthood has spawned similar efforts in conservative states. The 2016 return of the Summer of Mercy is being organized by Operation Save America, a Dallas-based Christian fundamentalist group now led by Rusty Thomas, who says he considers the original event a heaven-sent revival. What we started in 1991 we hope to complete in 2016, Thomas said. Among the featured speakers this year is Matt Trewhella, the founder of the Wisconsin-based Missionaries to the Preborn, which espouses a doctrine for local officials and states to ignore court rulings they consider immoral. Operation Save America, the successor to Operation Rescue National, has been among the most strident opponents of abortion as well as gay rights and Islam. Thomas said his organization does not advocate killing abortion providers nor support other clinic violence. Tiller and the Wichita clinic where he had performed late-term abortions had been a target for decades; it was bombed in 1985, and Tiller was shot in both arms in 1993. No abortion services were available in the city after he died until April 2013 when abortion rights group Trust Women opened one in his former facility. Director Julie Burkhart said the clinic plans to stay open during this years protests. They have beefed up private security and are working with law enforcement officials. She also plans to display a sign Tiller had in the clinic: Women need abortions and I am going to do them. It was signed by Tiller. Burkhart said shed just gotten involved in abortion care during the 1991 Summer of Mercy, calling it one of those moments that set her on her lifes path. It was scary, but the most important thing that it did for me it solidified my belief in the fact all people have to be able to determine what is best for themselves and for their families, Burkhart said. Amid escalating violence at abortion clinics in the 1980s and 1990s, Congress passed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act in 1994, aimed at protecting access to abortion services by imposing criminal penalties and civil sanctions. In its wake, the massive blockades like those during 1991 became a thing of past. The 10-year anniversary event organized by Operation Rescue brought a few hundred activists for mostly peaceful protests, only five were arrested. Newman said no one has contacted him about this years event. They know how I feel, he said. The states largest anti-abortion organization, Kansans for Life, hasnt been approached, either. We are not obligated to work with people just because they are pro-life, said Cheryl Sullenger, Operation Rescues senior vice president. She served about two years in prison for passing along bomb-making materials in a thwarted 1987 conspiracy to bomb a San Diego clinic, but long ago renounced violence and instead embraced a strategy to close clinics by filing complaints with state medical regulators. But Burkhart, in making her case, recounts something Tiller once wrote about how his clinic would not exist if people didnt want or need its services. The community dictates whether we are here or not, she said. We have been able to accomplish a lot more through the political process than we ever were able to get sitting at the doors of an abortion clinic. I would never speak ill against that tactic, it was certainly something that launched Operation Rescue, and people were passionate about that, but tactics and times change. Troy Newman, Operation Rescue A publisher from Dhaka, Bangladesh received an award for courage from a group of American publishers. This week, the Shuddhashar Publishing House received the 2016 Jeri Laber International Freedom to Publish Award from the Association of American Publishers International Freedom to Publish Committee (IFTPC). The annual award is given to publishers outside the U.S. who have demonstrated courage in the face of restrictions on freedom of expression. Shuddhashar is the publisher of mostly secular and scientific books. It received the award for producing books from writers facing threats and attacks by Islamic militants. Awarded for courage Mahbub Leelen is the co-founder of Shuddhashar Publishing House. He received the award at the PEN Literary Gala in New York City. He said the award honors all the writers and publishers who have died for their work in Bangladesh. Shuddhashar has published books by Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das. These two Bangladeshi-American writers were killed in Bangladesh by the militants last year. Geoff Shandler is the Chairman of the IFTPC. He praised the publishers courage to publish in the face of horrific threats of violence against yourself and your family - especially when your government is not only unwilling to help, but actually siding with the killers. Leelen told VOA the Freedom to Publish Award encourages us to keep moving ahead" with "our mission. The government of Bangladesh did not comment on the publishing house winning the award. Efforts by VOA to reach Bangladeshi government officials for comment have been unsuccessful. Secular and freethinking writers Shuddhashar was started in Bangladesh in 2004. The publishing house became a place for progressive Bengali writers. It has been the starting point of careers for many writers. Shuddhashar has published the first work of at least 1,000 writers. Today, Shuddhashar has more than 3,000 writers. The Islamic militants began targeting the writers and activists in 2013. Shuddhashar Publishing House also began receiving threats. In 2015, a group of men with knives and guns attacked the office in Dhaka. One of the founders, Ahmedur Rashid Chowdhury Tutul, was in the office along with two writers. They managed to escape with only injuries. On the same day, the attackers killed another publisher of secular books in Dhaka. Co-founders Leelen, Tutul and Zafir Setu have fled Bangladesh in fear for their lives. They have left Shuddhashar closed in recent months. The closing is only temporary. Tutul said, Shuddhashar has not been closed permanently. Since we have still been receiving threats, for reasons related to the security of our employees, we have kept our regular work at the publishing house on hold. The publishers at Shuddhashar say they are in the process of publishing on the internet. Several e-book projects are currently being written. Im Anna Matteo. Maaz Hussain wrote this story for VOA News. Jim Dresbach adapted this story for Learning English. Hai Do 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 persecution n. the act of treating someone cruelly or unfairly especially because of race or religious or political beliefs secular adj. not spiritual - relating to the physical world and not the spiritual world e-book n. a book that is read on a computer or other electronic device More than half of college students did not report incidents of sexual assault because they did not think it was "serious enough." Others said they were embarrassed or thought "nothing would be done." That is part of the findings of a 2015 report from the Association of American Universities, or AAU. AAU is an organization that studies issues of higher education. Researchers for the AAU asked more than 150,000 students at 27 universities to complete a survey about their experiences and attitudes towards sexual assault. David Cantor is one of the authors of the report. He says AAU researches wanted to learn how big of a problem sexual assault is on college campuses. "The main focus was to try to get an idea of how often sexual assault is happening and how many times are specific individuals actually victimized by different forms of sexual assault and sexual misconduct." The study found over 23 percent of female undergraduate students had experienced a sexual assault or sexual misconduct. The study also found over 11 percent of all surveyed students, both male and female, had experienced a sexual assault or sexual misconduct. In addition, the study found drugs and alcohol were often involved. Not all colleges are the same, Cantor says. But at all 27 colleges, no more than 28 percent of incidents of forced sexual penetration were reported. Understanding the problem In 2014, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a government agency that researches crime, conducted a study with the help of the research organization RTI International. The Campus Climate Survey Validation Study involved anonymous interviews with 23,000 students at nine U.S. colleges and universities about the issue of sexual violence. The bureau then released the findings of the study in January. Chris Krebs is a researcher with RTI International. Krebs says it is too early to say what causes one school to have more attacks than another. "The reality is that a lot of schools dont know much about the problem of sexual assault among their students. They know it exists and we know that the minority of assaults get reported to authorities on campus. But most schools dont have survey data like those that we collected to inform their thinking or their policies and practices." Krebs says responses from authorities can be part of the problem. The schools they studied where students thought poorly of the administration had higher rates of sexual assault. Bonnie Fisher helped write the AAU report. She says that gathering information about sexual assault is important. But Fisher says that she wants to see students and school administrations working together to solve this problem. Looking for solutions Jennifer Schoewe, 21, studies finance at the University of Cincinnati, or UC, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Schoewe wanted to attend the school from a very early age. Her mother attended UC as well as her brother. She says she loves the school to this day. But her life completely changed on August 22, 2015. At a party off campus, she was attacked. She did not know her attacker. "Theres no going back for me. Theres no changing anything for me. Im kind of just stuck living with it." But Schoewe wants to prevent the same thing from happening to others. She then learned of a student group called "Not On My Campus." It started at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas in 2013. The group tried to get students to talk about the issue of sexual violence. Now there are similar groups at campuses across the country. Schoewe started her own Not On My Campus group at UC with the help of her friend in the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. They work with fraternities and sororities to get their members to sign a pledge to discuss and prevent assaults on campus. Schoewe asks for more conversations about sexual violence, especially among men. "The majority of men are not rapists. The majority of men will never rape But we need the male gender to speak up about it ... Because women cant fight this on our own. Were only half the population Men hearing it from other men, I think, will help change minds and change behaviors." Several schools across the country have also begun to employ Title IX enforcement officers. Title IX is a section of a group of laws from 1972 designed to prevent discrimination based on gender. The government now sees sexual violence as discrimination. Im Pete Musto. Pete Musto reported and wrote this story for VOA for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. Now its your turn. Do people openly discuss issues of sexual violence in your country? How do universities respond to incidents of sexual violence? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story incident(s) n. an unexpected and usually unpleasant thing that happens sexual assault n. the crime of touching someone in an unwanted sexual way embarrassed adj. to make someone feel confused and foolish in front of other people survey n. an activity in which many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to gather information about what most people do or think about something attitude(s) n. the way you think and feel about someone or something author(s) n. a person who has written something campus(es) n. the area and buildings around a university, college or school focus n. a subject that is being discussed or studied victimized v. to be treated cruelly or unfairly by someone misconduct n. behavior or activity that is illegal or morally wrong undergraduate adj. a student at a college or university who has not yet earned a degree penetration n. the act of going through or into something conduct(ed) v. to plan and do something, such as an activity anonymous adj. made or done by someone unknown data n. facts or information used usually to calculate, analyze, or plan something practice(s) n. something that is done often or regularly finance n. the way in which money is used and handled fraternity n. an organization of male students at a U.S. college sororities n. organizations of female students at a U.S. college pledge n. a serious promise or agreement conversation(s) n. the act of talking in an informal way gender n. the state of being male or female A Russian group working to restrict information on the Internet is seeking advice from Chinese experts. Russias Safe Internet League met in Moscow last month with Chinas powerful censors, including Fang Binxing. He is known as one of the creators of The Great Firewall of China. The Safe Internet League is registered as a non-governmental organization. But it reportedly has links to important Russian officials. Observers say the recent meeting shows that government officials in the two countries want to increase their control of the Internet. Fang spoke to the gathering about cyber sovereignty. He said national borders should be guarded in the online world as they are in the real world. And he said foreign interference with a countrys government should not be accepted. Lu Wei is Chinas chief of cybersecurity and Internet policy. He said online freedom is not a right but a responsibility. He said it should be limited because it could lead to terrorism, according to a message on the social media website Twitter from a Financial Times newspaper reporter. Lu agreed with Russian officials who say Western media are leading an information war against their two countries. Both Chinese and Russian officials at the meeting said that American business interests have too much control of the Internet. Konstantin Malofeev is chairman of the Safe Internet League. Observers say he is linked to both the Russian government and the Russian-supported rebels in eastern Ukraine. He said Russia should learn from Chinas Internet censorship practices and protect its sovereignty online. Russian Internet experts say the meeting shows that the Russian government plans to take increasing control of online information ahead of parliamentary elections. The vote will take place September 18. Russia will hold its presidential election in 2018. Andrei Soldatov is a Russian investigative reporter. He co-wrote the book, The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russias Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries. He told VOA he believes the government wants to be sure that it can control the Internet before the elections. Russian officials began to watch social media more closely after it was used to organize large anti-government protests in 2011 and 2012. Ilya Klishin is the chief of digital media at the independent Russian television station TV Rain. He told VOA they thought if you control the television stations -- I mean, like major TV stations -- then youre good, then you control the public opinion. At that point they found out that even Internet news websites and people on Facebook and Twitter can actually organize 100,000 (person demonstrations in) downtown Moscow. Anton Nosik is a long-time blogger in Moscow. Russian officials charged him with extremism one day before the meeting of the Russian and Chinese Internet experts. The charges are connected to online statements he made about Syria. He compared the countrys government to Nazi Germany and wrote that it should be destroyed. The comments came just after Russia began its air campaign to support the Syrian government against rebels. Nosik could face a fine of thousands of dollars and a four-year prison term. Nosik told VOA that Russian lawmakers are competing with each other to write bills that would censor and control information on the Internet. He says some of them are doing it because they want attention and to be included in the next parliament. He says lawmakers have written, in his words, so many laws (to limit) Internet freedom in very many different ways. Reporter Andrei Soldatov says the government targets well-known bloggers and activists for a reason. Because the Russian system, in large part, is based on intimidation and instigating self-censorship among journalists and among users of social networks and bloggers. Experts believe the government will continue to try to intimidate independent journalists. But Klishin, from TV Rain, does not believe Russia will block large websites or social networks, as China does. Its not like in China or even in Turkey where they had YouTube or Twitter blocked. So far, they (have) never blocked a major social network or web platform like Gmail or YouTube or Twitter, he says. (If they banned) Facebook in Russia then everyone would notice. Russia is following Chinas practice of forcing all foreign Internet service providers to place their servers with Russian data inside Russia. Soldatov says Russian security services would have all the providers technologies of encryption immediately available. Western companies have resisted placing their servers in Russia. But some Chinese companies have started to do so. Im Pete Musto. VOA's Daniel Schearf reported this story from Moscow. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted his report for Learning English. Caty Weaver 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 censor n. a person who examines books, movies, letters, etc., and removes things that are considered to be offensive, immoral, harmful to society, etc. firewall n. a computer program or piece of equipment that keeps people from using or connecting to a computer or a computer network without permission sovereignty n. a country's independent authority and the right to govern itself according to preposition as stated, reported or recorded by (someone or something) practice n. something that is done often or regularly youre good expression everything is OK; you have reached your goal intimidate v. to make (someone) afraid instigate v. to cause (something) to happen or begin server n. the main computer in a network which provides files and services that are used by the other computers LEXINGTON, Neb. It all started last December when Paul Homan drove home with his family after supper and saw the west side of the Dawson County Courthouse. At a time when many houses and businesses have colorful Christmas lights displayed outside, Homan noticed that the Dawson County Courthouse was bare. At night the courthouse was dark; it upset me, Homan said. With summer on the horizon, Homan has recruited like minded volunteers and gotten the okay from Dawson County Commissioners, the overseers of the courthouse, to move forward with his plan of decorating the courthouse this Christmas. Homan said he wants to fundraise to collect money to cover the cost of buying Christmas lights to outline 20 windows on the west side of the courthouse. Commissioners gave him permission to set up a nativity seen on the lawn in front of the courthouse on the condition that a separate secular Christmas scene also be set up on the other side of the lawn, he said. We need to make some money to cover the costs. There are more than 24,000 residents in Dawson County, if half of those donated a dollar then we would have $12,000. That would be a good start, Homan said. Homan said he was thankful to the support the Lexington Community Foundation has provided for the project, which he calls the Christmas Project. Donations to the project can be mailed or dropped off to the Lexington Community Foundation, located at 607 N.Washington in Lexington. Donations can be addressed to The Christmas Project. The county does not endorse or support this; we will use no public funds. We will use all private funds. We will put up a sign disclosure spelling this out, he said. For the nativity scene, Homan said he envisions plywood cutouts of three wise men, three animals, three shepherds, etc. Permission from the commissioners has been granted to drill anchor holes on the courthouse lawn to hold structures in place, he said. For the secular scene, a Santa Claus, reindeer, Santas worship theme is planned with wooden figures, Homan said. The manger for the nativity scene could also be used as a storage complex, with a post holding a star with strings of white lights descending down planned, Homan said. Homan said he has contacted six area schools and has hear back from four of them, with the four enthusiastically agreeing to help paint Christmas and nativity figures. Promotion of the project would have no limits within the county, he said. We want to get the word out in the whole county, from Gothenburg, Overton, Sumner, Lexington and Cozad. We want to get kids involved, Homan said. Alternative education students and staff in Lexington have agreed to cut out the nativity and secular Christmas scene figures from wood, Homan said. Hopefully, local service organizations like the Lions Club, Rotary Club, Optimist Club and others could be enlisted to help set up and take down the signs equipment needed to set up the displays each year, Homan said. The mission statement of The Christmas Project reads: Historically speaking, without the Christian influence, our winter holiday season would not exist. Thanksgiving and Christmas, both Christian observances, were so widely celebrated in the United States that the United States Congress proclaimed both to be Federal Holidays; Christmas on June 26, 1870 and Thanksgiving on Dec. 26, 1941. The statement continues, In recent years, We the People have allowed a vocal enlightened minority to deem it politically incorrect, intolerant, even hateful to acknowledge our Christian heritage in the public forum in our schools, our business or our public places. The Christmas Project is intended to encourage We the People to stand up and defend, proclaim and celebrate our constitutional rights of freedom of expression and freedom of religion. To that end, the Christmas Project is asking We the People of Dawson County to contribute their time, talents and treasure in order to procure or make and install festive lighting as well as Nativity and secular yard displays on the building and grounds of the Dawson County Courthouse. The organizing committee for The Christmas Project includes: Dr. Greg Kloch, Paul Pack, Max McFarland, Colin Hinds and Rusty Sutton. Committee members are asking for donations of money to cover the costs of the project. Donations can be dropped off at the Lexington Community Foundation, earmarked for The Christmas Project. For more information on the project or to volunteer contact Paul Homan at 308-325-4154 or by emailing paulrhoman@gmail.com. New Delhi: Air India chief Ashwani Lohani has said the way the "merger" was carried out between Indian Airlines and Air India led to a "chaotic situation" in the organisation while "lack" of leadership added to its woes for which common employees were wrongly blamed. "A merger that really never happened and in the process resulted in a chaotic situation is at the back of all ills that we are currently witness to," Lohani said in a hard-hitting blogpost, where he accused people in the top slots of "gross failure" to look after the human resource while "cursing the organisation for its failure". The Indian Railway Service officer, who in September last year took over the reins of the government-run airline that is struggling with huge debt and losses, also said though Air India is now "slowly getting back on track", a lot more needs to be done to bring back the glory of the 'Maharaja'. "It makes me sad when the common employee is often blamed for the ills of the organisation, in this case too, whereas the real reason for the debacle lies elsewhere, in my opinion on the head honcho," Lohani said in the blog. "An organisation is only as good or as bad as the head honcho, everything else is merely a symptom," the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India said. Coming out in support of the employees, he said, "How can an organisation that loses no opportunity in deriding its own men and making them unhappy, find faults with them for lack of deliverance is what I have always failed to fathom." He also hit out at the bureaucratic procedures and the "procrastination that the company has of late come to specialise in". "Earlier I always believed that the great Indian Railways was the mother of all bureaucracies, but not any longer. Here at the national carrier the ridiculousness of the process and the diehard belief therein has been carried to a mind boggling extent," he said in the blog. "The mess is by no stretch of imagination a minor one, yet it has to and shall be sorted out...Turning around is not an attempt, it is a foregone conclusion, despite the plethora of handicaps and with this thought at the back of our minds, we are moving ahead," Lohani said. "Air India is now slowly getting back on track, yet it is still miles to go before one can relax and watch the planes fly, albeit without the need to constantly worrying and fretting," he added. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for protection of the environment and said conservation of water and forests was people's responsibility, on the radio broadcast of 'Mann ki Baat'. "Let us pledge to conserve every drop of water. Even if a single drop of water is wasted, it should hurt us," Modi said in his 21st radio address 'Mann Ki Baat'. Citing examples from states including Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the prime minister said, "So many states have undertaken wonderful efforts to mitigate the drought. This is cutting across party lines." He also laid emphasis on using the "drip irrigation" technique to tackle drought. "Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have used technology very well to mitigate the drought. Jan Bhagidari (people's participation) is also vital," he said. Modi spoke about his meeting with the chief ministers of various drought-hit states. "I decided to meet every chief minister individually as opposed to calling all of them together and having one meeting," he said. Modi said this year the UN decided the theme of the World Environment Day on 5 June will be the Zero Tolerance for Illegal Wildlife Trade. He congratulated the students who scored well in the CBSE exams. He said, "Congratulations to all the candidates for their scores. Happy to see girl students shine." To the students who did not do so well, he said, "For those who did not clear and succeed,life does not stop here. There is a lot to do" He announced that he will be visiting Chandigarh on International Yoga Day. "Do not forget what I said about water, save it," with that PM Modi concludes 'Mann ki Baat', appealing to save water amid water crisis and drought. With inputs from IANS and ANI New Delhi: Linking the intense heatwave and drought to environmental degradation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a strong pitch for a mass movement to save forests and conserve "every drop" of water during the upcoming Monsoon season. Modi, who has been reviewing drought situation with Chief Ministers recently, said a number of states have taken some good initiatives towards water conservation and that he had asked Niti Aayog to study the best practices for their replication all over the country. In his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat', he also talked about some other issues, like the need for moving towards cashless society for transparency and curbing black money. During the 30-minute broadcast, the Prime Minister also urged the countrymen to practice Yoga for illness-free life and informed that on the International Yoga Day on 21 June, he would join a programme in Chandigarh. Referring to the intense heatwave being witnessed in the country, he said concerns increased few days back when news came in that Monsoon could be delayed by a week beyond 1 June. "Most parts of the country are experiencing intense heatwave. Be it humans, birds or animals, all are troubled... It is only because of environment that such problems continue to increase. Depletion of forests has been going on, trees continue to be cut. In a way, the humankind itself destroyed the environment and put itself on the path of destruction," he said. He mentioned the recent cases of fire in forests of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and said the root cause of such incidents is that there are dry leaves and little carelessness. "That is why, saving forests and conserving water becomes everybody's responsibility," Modi said while underlining the need for saving "every drop" of water, which he described as "God's 'prasad'". "I urge the countrymen, let us decide that we will not let even a drop of water go waste during June, July, August and September (comprising Monsoon season)... The issue of water concerns not only the farmers but everybody... The rainy (Monsoon) season is coming.. Start the preparations now to see where to save water," he said. "I urge you. Do not let this (Monsoon) season go. In the coming four months, a mass movement in the form of 'Save Water Abhiyan' is needed to save every drop of water. And this task is not only of the governments or politicians but that of the common masses," he said, seeking contribution from the media too in this endeavour. Emphasising that saving water should be a priority for the countrymen, the Prime Minister questioned how a situation can be allowed to persist wherein water is wasted during Monsoon and later there is problem of scarcity. "Even if one drop of water is wasted, it should pain us," he said. While talking about water-scarcity, he referred to his meetings with Chief Ministers of drought-hit states Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha. He said he had departed from the past tradition of holding a common meeting with the Chief Ministers and decided to meet them separately to give individual attention to each of them. "Whichever party may be in party in any state, it was emphasised that permanent solutions are required to deal with this problem which has been going on long. The focus (of these meetings) was how to have lasting solutions," Modi said. Describing it as a "learning experience" for him, he said he had asked Niti Aayog to study the "best practices" of various states so that those could be replicated in all the states. In this context, he said some states, especially Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, had made immense use of technology to meet the situation of water scarcity. He mentioned various schemes being undertaken by different states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana and Rajasthan for optimal use of water. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat have set the targets of expanding micro-irrigation to 2-3 lakh hectares of land per year, which he commended. Citing the initiatives undertaken by various states, Modi said some are using micro-irrigation, some drip-irrigation, some ground water recharging while some others are using 'check dams'. He then spoke about the need for using technology to turn India into a 'cashless society'. "We have to build a modern India. We have to make India transparent...We will need to some of our old habits," the Prime Minister said. He spoke about the government's steps in this direction like introducing Jandhan, Aaadhar and Mobile phone banking (JAM). He also mentioned 'POS' (Point of Sale) instrument and 'RuPay' mechanism of making payments. Pitching for cashless transactions, he said, "it will bring transparency... The impact of black money will reduce." The Prime Minister also referred to the upcoming Rio Olympic Games and asked the countrymen to contribute to encourage the participants from India. "An environment should be created to encourage the Indian participants... Everybody should contribute in his own way... Whatever may be the results. It is sports after all.. One may win or lose but the spirits should be high," he said. He had words of praise for Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal for visiting Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala to see the arrangements and facilities for the Indian participants of the Rio Olympics in the midst of Assembly elections in Assam where he was the Chief Ministerial candidate. Modi said he was "very happy" to learn that Sonowal had paid a surprise visit to the NIS even when everybody was anxious to know the results in Assam Assembly polls. "The election results were coming. There was expectation of his assuming the new responsibilities as Chief Minister. Still, if my colleague is so concerned about his task as Sports Minister, it gives me immense pleasure. I am sure we all will similarly understand the importance of sports and encourage sportspersons," he said. He also referred to Under-17 FIFA World Cup being hosted by India next year and said he was happy to see excitement for football picking up in the country in run up to that event. The Prime Minister talked about the results of CBSE board examinations declared recently. In this context, he urged parents to not pressurise their children to get more and more marks. "Dissatisfaction is a reflection of negative mindset...Dissatisfaction can lead to failures... Accept whatever result has come, welcome it and move forward.... Life does not stop because of bad marks...The most important thing is not to lost confidence," he said, while giving examples of two students whose parents were not satisfied even after they obtained over 89 per cent marks. He mentioned how Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma had made 'Santoor', "which once used to be confined to Kashmir only', a worldwide name. Similarly, Ustad Bismillah Khan had made 'Shehnai' world famous even though it used to be confined to courts of the rulers earlier. Turning to the International Yoga Day on June 21, Modi said it should be celebrated across villages, cities and even in offices. He asked countrymen to check out early the "syllabus" for this year's Yoga Day curriculum so that they can start practicising them well in advance. "The Yoga Day has been accepted by the world...It should not be only an event but people should practice it regularly," he said, adding that it was essential for an "illness-free" living. New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday directed security forces to take "strongest possible action" against militants involved in killing six Assam Rifles personnel in Manipur. Singh reviewed the situation with Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other top officials in the security establishment following the killing of a Junior Commissioned Officer and five jawans of Assam Rifles in an ambush in Manipur's Chandel district close to Indo-Myanmar border, official sources said. The home minister also spoke to Assam Rifles Director General, who apprised him of the situation and action taken so far. Singh expressed sadness over the incident. An Assam Rifles convoy was attacked by heavily armed militants around 1 pm in Joupi Hengshi area of Chandel when the security personnel were returning after inspecting a landslide site in the interior tribal district, defence and police sources said. It is suspected that two or more militant groups jointly carried out the attack. Reinforcements have been rushed to the scene of the ambush and a massive combing operation is under way. Last year, 18 army personnel were killed in the same district in an ambush by NSCN(K) militants. New Delhi: The one-man commission of Inquiry constituted by the HRD ministry to look into the circumstances of research scholar Rohith Vemula's death at the Hyderabad Central University has been given more time and it will now submit its report by 1 August, 2016. The HRD ministry has issued a notification in this regard. The suicide by Vemula had triggered a huge political storm with opposition parties launching a massive attack at the Union Government over the issue. According to official sources, the Justice (retd) Ashok Kumar Roopanwal commission has met all the stakeholders and examining the voluminous representations received from them requires three months more time to draw a conclusion. Consequently, the ministry has extended the tenure of the Commission till 1 August, 2016. Earlier, following Vemula's death, which also triggered a massive political storm, the Ministry had in January this year decided to constitute a Judicial Commission to review the entire sequence of events and the circumstances and to establish the facts and correctives in the context of the University. Syed Ahmad Rai Barelvi (1700-1850) is considered one of the early Muslim freedom fighters of India and a great reviver and thinker of Islam in the Indian subcontinent. He is popularly known among the Indo-Pak Islamic clergy and ulema as a shaheed (a martyr of Islam) who led the Mujahideen movement in India. But it is interesting to note that a number of Indian Islamic scholars have recently noted that Maulvi Syed Ahmad 'Shaheed' Rai Barelvi was not a freedom fighter. He was actually the chief exponent of Wahhabism in India, an adherent and fervent advocate of puritanical fundamentalism and physical jihadism in place of spiritual jihad against the baser instincts and carnal desires (jihad al-nafs). Interestingly, in the beginning, he was inspired by Sufi orders and silsilahs like Naqshbandiyah, Chishtiyah and Qadriyah. But after he met the Wahhabi patrons in Saudi Arabia during his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1821, he became fascinated by Wahhabism and turned into a puritanical fundamentalist and a jihadist cleric. Rai Barelvis conversion from Sufism to Wahhabism is patently clear from his own book Sirat e Mustaqeem (straight path) in which he devoted the entire third chapter to Sufism but with the same line of thinking that was laid out in Ibn Abd Al-Wahhab's 'kitab al-tawheed' (book on monotheism). Much in the same way, he declared all mystically inclined Muslims mushrik (polytheists) and all Sufi beliefs and practices as antithetical to the pristine and puritanical Islam and thus called for a radical reform in Sufism. A great many Wahhabi madrasas, in their text books, depict Syed Ahmad Rai Barelvi along with Ismail Dehlvi as the leading religious ideologues and teach their books in their syllabi under the subject of islami aqaid (Islamic beliefs). Beside his stern attempts to purge Indian Muslims and Islam of the inclusive, pluralistic and composite traditions, the most conspicuous job he did was his tahrik-e-jihad or Mujahidin movement against the Sikhs of Punjab. Noted Islamic historian in India, Sheikh Muhammad Ikram writes about the jihadism of Syed Ahmad Rai Barelvi under a sub-title Jihad, in a detailed and descriptive way. He notes: Having reached his hometown, he [Rai Barelvi] began his full preparation for the jihad against the Sikh community and sent Maulana Ismail Shaheed and Maulana Abdul Hayy across the country to preach the cause of this jihad On 17th January (1826), Maulana left Rai Bareli for his trip to Jihad. At that time, he had 5-7 thousand Indians with him, who were fully prepared for the jihad for the religious freedom of the Muslims in Punjab. They were well-determined to lay down their lives for this cause. Passing through Gawaliyar, Tonk, Ajmer, Marwar, Hyderabad, Sindh, Shikar Pur and Qandhar, the Maulana reached Kabul, from where he ventured into Peshawar via Khaibar. (Mauj-e-Kausar, by Sheikh Muhammad Ikram, pp. 24-25, published by Adabi Duniya, Matia Mahal, Delhi). Nearly all adherents of Deobandi and even Ahle Hadisi schools of thought glorify Maulvi Syed Ahmad Rai Barelvi as 'Shaheed' (Islamic martyr), because he was killed, while waging the militant jihad against non-Muslims in the undivided India. This has been persuasively argued in a classical Islamic reference book in Urdu, 'Mauj-e-Kausar, Musalmanon Ki Mazhabi Aur Ilmi Tarikh Ka Daur-e-Jadid', a history text book included in many Deobandi madrassas, written by Sheikh Muhammad Ikram, himself inspired by Syed Ahmad Rai Barelvi. Throughout his entire life, Maulvi Rai Barelvi continued to be very vigorous and active in his call for Islamic Puritanism in the entire Subcontinent of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In fact, he is an apt example of how many Sufi Sunni scholars, who were at some time essentially inclusive because of their adherence to the Sufi orders, drastically changed their worldview and espoused exclusivist religious ideas. More astonishingly, this group of Islamist scholars in India left more active, impacting and prevailing ideology in the subcontinent than even the inclusivist Sufis who had originally introduced Islam to its people. Their adherents are far more energetic and practical than those who make tall claims to uphold the all-embracing cause of Indian Sufi saints. Apparently, Syed Ahmads Mujahidin movement is now an age-old history for Indian Muslims, but many still get influenced by his religious exhortations for jihad as an act of worship greater than spiritual prayer in merit and rewards. Therefore, a movement of revival of Rai Barelvis Mujahidin movement is on the rails in the subcontinent as proclaimed by a number of extremist jihadist outfits. For instance, in February 2011, the emir of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) party Maulvi Samiul Haq stressed the need for revival of the Mujahidin movement of Syed Ahmed Shaheed Rai Barelvi against a religious minority in Pakistan, the Sikh community. Maulvi Samiul Haq argued that the objectives of the jihad launched by our Islamic leader Syed Ahmed Shaheed against the British rule and the Sikhs in the 19th century have yet to be achieved. Similarly, Syed Ahmed Rai Barelvi is often depicted in several Talibani videos as a jihadi role model to the militants of Tahrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Not only this, even the hardcore doctrines of Rai Barelvi and their poisonous tentacles spread by Shah Ismail Barelvi created huge impact on Muslims in India after the 1857 revolt against the British rule. Countless Islamic seminaries, madrassas, maktabs, mosques, Islamic associations and outfits that were established later in India, fell in the cauldron of the Wahhabi impact. Given all this, the question arises whether Rai Barelvis Mujahidin movement in India was a struggle against British imperialism or a religiously and politically motivated militancy against the Indian Sikh community? The heightened historical and ideological implications of Syed Ahmad Rai Barelvis Mujahidin movement caused an intellectual curiosity among the classical Islamic scholars. However, most of them did not study it in an objective and critical manner and, therefore, ended up in a hollow glorification of the so-called Shaheed (martyr of Islam). On the other hand, a few of them ventured into a critical analysis of this first jihadist movement in India. A remarkable research work in this direction was produced by a contemporary classical Islamic scholar, Maulana Khushtar Noorani who rendered a complete book to this research question, entitled, tahreek-e-jihad aur British government: ek tahqeeqi mutala. The title of this book in Urdu ( :) can be loosely translated as The jihad movement and the British government: A research study. Mr Noorani came up with an entirely different perspective on the Mujahidin movement of Rai Barelvi. Much against the canonical statements and writings of mainstream Islamic historians and scholars of Darul Uloom Nadwa, Deoband and Ahl-e-Hadith, he arrives at the conclusion that Rai Barelvis movement was not aimed at challenging the British imperialism; rather it was an armed militancy against the Sikh community of Punjab. He clearly states in this book that Syed Ahmad or his jihadi faction did not contribute to the freedom movement of India at all. Maulana Nooranis conclusion came crashing down the consensus of the authoritative Indian Islamic scholars such as the renowned Islamic historian Maulana Ghulam Rasool Mahr, world-renowned Indian Islamic preacher and Arabic scholar Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, Maulana Masood Alam Nadwi, Maulvi Syed Muhammad Ali and several others. Maulana Noorani avers that, Syed Ahmad Rai Barelvi engaged in the armed jihad against the Sikh adherents. He had the support of the hundreds of mujahideen of India, including various Muslim tribes of Sarhad [border] who came in large numbers to join his movement. They all actively engaged in the jihad led by Syed Ahmad Rai Barelwi with a great zeal and fervour." Maulana Noorani has enumerated a very interesting story in one place. He wrote that once the close disciples of Syed Ahmad sahib asked him as to why he shifted his attention from his spiritual practices and prayers to the physical jihad. Upon this, Rai Barelvi replied to them with full conviction: "There is no prayer greater than jihad. Therefore, I am fully prepared for the jihad. You too please get ready for that." According to the Pakistani Studies text book which is taught in Class Nine, Rai Barelvis Mujahidin movement was started against the Sikh community. He came to Sindh in 1826 and sought to help Syed Sibghatullah Shah who sent a strong contingent of staunch followers called Hurs. The book continues: Syed Ahmed Shaheed left his family under the protection of Pir Pagara and proceeded towards Jihad without any worry about his family. He reached Nowshehra after passing through Afghanistan, the Khyber Pass and Peshawar in December 1826 and made it his headquarter. The first battle against the Sikhs was fought on December 21, 1826 near Akora. The Sikhs were defeated. The second battle was fought at Hazro. It was also won by the Muslims. These victories inspired a number of Pathan tribes to join Jihad Movement. The number of Mujahideen rose to 80,000. Syed Ahmed Shaheed Barelvi was given the status of 'Amir-ul-Momineen'. Islamic laws were enforced in the area which was controlled by Syed Ahmed Shaheed Barelvi. The author is a writer and scholar of comparative religion. Write to him at grdehlavi@gmail.com Imphal: A junior commissioned officer (JCO) and five jawans of Assam Rifles were killed in an ambush by militants in Chandel district of Manipur near the Indo-Myanmar border on Sunday An Assam Rifles convoy was attacked by heavily armed militants around 1 pm in Joupi Hengshi area of Chandel when the security personnel were returning after inspecting a landslide site in the interior tribal district, defence and police sources said. The slain personnel belonged to 29 Assam Rifles. It is suspected that two or more militant groups jointly carried out the attack. More troops were rushed to the area and a massive search operation is underway, they said. The incident occurred near Joupi village within the limits of Molcham Police Station, a police officer said. Last year, 18 army personnel were killed in the same district in an ambush by NSCN (K) militants. Subedar Baldeo Sharma was among the victims. The Assam Rifles party was returning to their camp in Joupi after inspecting a landslide in the Holenjang village. Beyond the numbers of the latest round of Assembly elections, there are many important messages for political parties. Elections are serious business and the parties cannot continue to treat them in a cavalier manner. There is no set pattern to how the electorate behaves and loyalty of voters cannot be taken for granted. Parties now need to reach out to the electorate with a greater sense of urgency. This requires long-term planning and continuous engagement with the voters. The recently-concluded Assembly elections indicate in clear terms that all parties must be open to quick adjustments. Here are five observations on how electoral politics in the country could be changing: To hold on to micro communities, BJP needs to restrain the rabid Hindutva fringe The more the BJP-Sangh Parivar controls the rabid fringe elements and their abrasive, intimidating rhetoric, the better is the scope for its wider acceptability. In Assam, the Hindutva theme though always in the background, played out in a much subtler way, than say in Bihar. If the approach is continued in practice then the whole of the north-east and Odisha are within the BJPs grasp. BJPs long term success would depend largely on how it keeps together the umbrella coalition of micro communities, balancing its version of big nationalism with their ideas of nationalism shaped by local social conditions and history. It can do so only by avoiding tension and stress in the existing arrangement. It has to keep the fringe out to ensure it. Its no more a matter of choice, but of necessity. Long-term strategy, deep engagement key to electoral success The big idea may be the guiding theme for parties, but it may not be the sole ticket to success. The success of parties depends on how they network at the micro level and address local aspirations. BJPs success in the demographically complex state such as Assam is a good example of it. It calls for identifying and nurturing social groupings who would be potential partners. Its a long process that requires deep engagement with target groups. It begins at least a couple of years before the actual election. It also calls for strategising the election campaign full of nuanced positioning. The Sangh Parivar provides critical support to the BJP here. The Congresss real task is to match the Sanghs reach and manpower management skills. Why being on mission mode is critical The Congresss decline did not come with 2014 results. It has been a long process beginning from the 1990s when the Mandir and Mandal issues separated the party from its core social support bases. With no effort to rebuild connect with them, it has been merely surviving, not thriving. On the other hand, the BJP, supported by the Sangh Parivar on the ground, has been on a mission mode for a long time, jumping from only two seats in 1984 to 282 under Narendra Modi in 2014. The critical difference: a long term strategy and dedication to the mission. The Sangh Parivar has almost given its activities the feel of a movement while Congress, which grew out of a movement, has reduced itself to a party with a very limited agenda survival. If it is serious about being relevant again, it has to get into the mission mode. Rush for the Hindu votebank The minority vote bank has been largely a myth. However, interestingly, it has served the BJP better than the secular parties. It has managed to make it a good propaganda point over the years and through it, the party managed to build some kind of a Hindu consolidation around it. This supposed votebank, which actually votes in different ways depending on local equations, now becomes less than useful for other parties too. We could now see a rush from p0litical parties to capture the Hindu votebank, which the BJP has made more or less its own. The minorities who received nothing more than platitudes from secular parties will now be on their own. States are the real challenge for the BJP, Cong The BJPs real fight, as was the case with the Congress, is in the states. Its in a happy situation where its in a direct fight with the Congress. It has scope to grow, though its difficult, in states taken over by unfriendly regional parties. Through incremental steps, it has managed to position itself as the third alternative in some such states for example, UP, Bihar and even Kerala. However, the growth ambition of the party gets into the tricky territory when it comes to states where it has friendly parties in power. Any indiscreet step is likely to put the party in trouble at the Centre and entail alienating friends. So it has to be a nuanced approach. The Congress on the other hand will need to capture BJP-ruled bigger states such as Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra and forge good alliances in states with regional parties to get back into reckoning. Dehradun: Setback after setbacks. It faced ignominious defeats in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala after striking alliances as minor player. By all accounts, it has bleak prospects in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh slated to go to polls in next one year. The party lost power in Arunachal Pradesh due to its internal squabbles. It suffered two months political uncertainty in Uttarakhand due to rebellion of nine of its own MLAs including a former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna. Yet Congress leadership refuses to learn from it. It is rejoicing its success in Uttarakhand basically, as union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely puts it, because of judicial intervention in legislative process. But, it's joy may be short-lived in this hill state as well. And the trouble again is not from the Centre or the BJP but from within his own party. The latest point of contention is the lone Rajya Sabha seat going to the polls next month which has pitted chief minister Rawat against the state Congress president, Kishore Upadhyay. Rajya Sabha polls are necessitated because term of present MP, Tarun Vijay, is coming to an end on 4 June. Nominations will start from 11 June. Since 9 rebel Congress legislators, disqualified by the Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, would be unable to vote, Congress is tipped to win the seat. Something which should have brought cheer to the party, has instead wrought consternation. Both Upadhyay and Rawat are squabbling over the RS seat. Upadhyay feels he was instrumental in keeping the flock together for Rawat during crisis and therefore should be suitably rewarded. Having lost the last Assembly elections four years ago, he has been cooling his heels outside the Cabinet while lightweight leaders have been making hay in the Government. Upadhyay feels the Rajya Sabha would be his stepping stone for chief ministership in case Rawat falls foul of the Court or the party High command. Upadhyay's supporters have already started raising slogans proclaiming Upadhyay as next chief minister. Upadhyay feels after reaching Delhi as Rajya Sabha member, it would be easier for him to convince the high command about his candidature and capabilities. That Gandhi aren't particularly pleased with Rawat who was caught bribing MLAs in a TV sting operation, seem to be working in Upadhyay's favour. Rawat, the wily fox that he is, isn't ready to go down easily. His government was saved due to support six MLAs of the the Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) that include three independent, one rebel BJP legislator and two BSP MLAs. He is trying to persuade the Congress high command to nominate an independent Harish Chandra Durgapal, as a gesture of gratitude. Rawat however, isn't in mood to wait that long. Knowing that public memory is not very long, He wants to take advantage of the sympathy factor - claiming he was wronged by the Centre. That is the reason Rawat is thinking of recommending dissolution of the Assembly in next couple of months. This way, the Assembly elections may be preponed to October-November. But, the moot question is whether election commission oblige Mr Rawat? And whether Congress leadership will continue to wait and watch while its house in state after state is being torched to ashes by its own party men? Srinagar: A jawan, who was injured in a fierce gunbattle with militants in Kupwara on Saturday, succumbed to injuries on Sunday, a defence official said. Naik Gawade Pandurang Mahadev, who was critically injured in the operation at Chak Drugmulla in Kupwara, succumbed at 92 Base Hospital of the Army in Srinagar, the official said. Five militants were killed in the nine-hour long operation in Kupwara on Saturday while two soldiers including Mahadev sustained injuries. "The brave soldier was part of the the column that initially located and engaged the hiding terrorists, leading to the elimination of all five terrorists," the official said. The mortal remains of the soldier will be flown to his village in Sindudurg district of Maharashtra after necessary formalities are completed, he added. Guwahati: Sarbananda Sonowal was on Sunday unanimously elected as BJP Legislature Party leader in Assam, paving the way for his becoming next chief minister of the state. In the first meeting of the BJP legislators after the Assembly polls, party MLA Himanta Biswa Sarma proposed Sonowal's name as their leader in the House. MLAs P Phukan, Atul Bora, Angoorlata Dela, Bhabesh Kalita and AC Jain supported Sonowal's name. Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot, who attended the meeting as an Observer from the BJP central unit, declared Sonowal elected unanimously as the Legislature Party leader. Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support, Sonowal said, "We have the spirit of unity and we have to live up to the people's expectations." Talking about his meeting with Modi on Saturday, Sonowal said the Prime Minister has asked everyone to work honestly for development of all sections of the society. "He (Modi) said we have got a scope to work for all. He is there for us in our every need. We have to complete the unfinished work," Sonowal said. He said the BJP winning 60 seats in Assam on its own was "completely unexpected for him". "People wholeheartedly gave their mandate in our favour. Nothing can be better than this. We have a big responsibility now," he added. After the meeting, when asked by media about his priorities, Sonowal said implementation of 'Assam Accord' is topmost for him. He also said there is no discomfort in working with his former senior and AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and he will seek guidance from him. New Delhi: Amid continued speculation about Rahul Gandhi's elevation as Congress president, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said Sonia Gandhi was the "unifying factor" without whom the party would have "disintegrated". "Leader(ship) is their internal affair. I can only say this much. It is because of Soniaji that Congress is united. Otherwise it would have got disintegrated. This is my view although I do not approve of dynasty," Naidu said. "Dynasty is nasty in democracy but it is tasty to some people particularly Congress and its supporters. But the reality has to be accepted. Sonia is the unifying factor for Congress party," the Parliamentary affairs minister told PTI in an interview. Referring to the outcome of assembly polls in four states and the Union Territory of Puducherry, Naidu, however, said "But as a leader her leadership has not succeeded. You have seen that." About Sonia Gandhi's call for introspection following the defeat, he said, "That's not our concern, it is left to them, they should introspect. It is not a question of policy. It is a question of approach. They should re-orient their approach and policies and then conduct (themselves) in a better manner. Replying to questions about Rahul Gandhi's elevation, he said the Congress vice president was already practically running the party. "There is no doubt about it. What is the problem if he gets a bigger role or becomes president of the party or becomes the Leader of Opposition also or the Leader of Congress Party in Parliament also. There is no problem. "He (Rahul) has been at the helm of affairs, to my knowledge, for the last 12 years. The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted to bring an ordinance. He tore it off and threw it away and his words prevailed. If they want to make him leader, best of luck to them. I have no problem. After all, he is youngster," he said. What should the Congress strategy be in Uttar Pradesh? It is India's largest state (with 21 crore people, it would be the fifth largest nation in the world on its own) and it is going to elections in a couple of years. Rahul Gandhi has hired one of India's sharpest political minds to figure his UP plan out. Prashant Kishor, who was hired by Narendra Modi in 2014 (he apparently had the 'chai pe charcha' idea) and by Nitish Kumar in 2015, is now being paid to revive Congress. Reports say he has suggested two strategies. The first is to go after Brahmin voters, and second to project a Gandhi, either Rahul or Priyanka, as the chief ministerial candidate. The second suggestion is unlikely to be accepted. The Gandhis are far too arrogant to accept a provincial role. In fact in the last Lok Sabha election, the Congress had refused to even compare Rahul with Modi. Congress chamchas had condescendingly referred to Modi as a "regional leader" while their Rahul was a "national" leader. To this, Modi's brilliant reply was, why only national, Rahul was an international leader, given his Italian connection. Kishore's first suggestion, about Brahmins, is more interesting. There is no particular caste aligned with Congress in UP right now, like Yadavs are with Mulayam Singh and Dalits with Mayawati and upper castes with BJP. Getting a caste to align with your party is very important because it is the starting point. Other communities, for example Muslims, will join your political formation if they are convinced that your party has a chance. Kishore's logic is that the Brahmin vote in UP (it is about 10 per cent of the population) is easy for the Congress to get because it had been with the party in the past. This is true, and many Congress chief ministers of UP in the past were Brahmins, like ND Tiwari, Kamalapati Tripathi, Govind Ballabh Pant and Sripati Mishra. However, the Congress last won an election in UP three decades ago. I can remember those days but not many people will. More than 65 percent of India's population is below 35. My guess is less than 5 percent of the voters of UP today voted in that 1985 election. This means there are very few people in UP who have a memory of voting for the Gandhis. That is the first problem. There is a second, even more serious, problem. It is not that easy for a party to attract a caste purely for selfish electoral reasons. It should have something to offer. What can the Congress offer? It can give tickets to Brahmin candidates, but what else? Is its politics attractive to Brahmins? I would say no. In purely policy terms, the last Congress government was focussed on the poor, which means the lower castes. This was reflected in laws like NREGA, Right to Education, Right to Food and so on. Such welfare schemes are not attractive to the middle class voters. I doubt very much such a platform would excite Brahmins. The data to support Kishore's logic came from a study which said the BJPs Brahmin vote share has been progressively shrinking in Assembly elections. It was 50 percent in 2002, it was 44 percent in 2007 and in 2012 it was 38 percent. Why do Brahmins support BJP? Because Hindutva is socially conservative, and many Brahmins will like its focus on religious issues like banning cow slaughter and building temples. The BJP and the RSS have often shown their discomfort with reservations and recently taken a very hard stand against Dalit students. This is also something many Brahmins will like and it is something the Congress will never be able to do. In UP, the remainder of the Brahmin vote is split by the other two large parties, with Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party getting about 20 percent each. This splitting will continue to happen because Brahmins, like all other castes, are not completely unified in the way that they vote. And many of them will side with powerful parties because they want to be with the winners. Congress should be looking at its policy platform first, to see what voters it can attract, and focus there. It cannot, as Kishore is suggesting, find the potential voters and then try to develop a policy platform around those voters. The Congress brand is severely tarnished, and associated with corruption, incompetence and dynasty. The Gandhis are in a different position today than when they were after the Emergency when they were also in opposition. Today the party is on the verge of dying. No voting block, no caste and no group sees the party as attractive. There is no chance that the Brahmin strategy will succeed. Cairo: The deputy of Al-Azhar's grand imam in Egypt said on Sunday the top Muslim cleric will bear a message of tolerance when he meets Pope Francis in Rome. Mondays meeting will be the first between the leader of the world's Catholics and one of Islam's most important clerics. Abbas Shuman, deputy to grand imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, told AFP on Sunday that Francis's gestures towards Muslims encouraged Tayeb to meet the pope after falling out with his predecessor Benedict XVI. "If it were not for these good positions (by Pope Francis) the meeting would not be happening," Shuman said. Ties between the Vatican and Al-Azhar, one of Islam's most prestigious centres of learning, soured in 2006 when Benedict delivered a speech interpreted as linking the Muslim Prophet Mohammed to violence. Relations have steadily improved since Francis became pope in 2013 with inter-faith dialogue near the top of his agenda. He underlined this improvement in ties with a personal message to the Muslim world to mark the end of the first month of Ramadan during his pontificate. Shuman said Tayeb will have a message for both the West and Muslims. Tayeb's visit aims at setting straight the image of "true Islam and to correct misunderstandings created by extremist terrorist groups" in Western countries, he said. "He encourages countries not to deal with their Muslim citizens as groups that present a threat," Shuman said. "And he encourages Muslims in Western society to meld with their societies... it is a message for both sides." Pope Francis made headlines in April when he returned from a trip to the migrant crisis island of Lesbos with three Syrian Muslim families who are now being put up by the Vatican as they apply for asylum in Italy. Church officials say the choice of families was random, but the gesture was nevertheless highlighted by media throughout the Islamic world. By Deepika Sarma While people on the Indian subcontinent slept through the early hours of Friday morning, a contentious hearing on South Asian history concluded in San Francisco, where over 200 people, most of South Asian origin, came forward to speak. One side, a lobby of Hindu groups, is concerned with presenting a view of Indian history that they are comfortable with one that they say doesnt lead to Hindu children being bullied at school and that ensures Hinduism and Indian history are accurately and equitably represented. The other side, a coalition of groups across religion, caste, nationality and gender called South Asian Histories For All (SAHFA), see this as an attempt to sanitize South Asian history by playing down Indias patriarchal, casteist past, portray Hindus as the original inhabitants of India, and deny the positive contributions of non-Hindus. Since the end of 2015, the California State Board of Education has been on a drive to revise its curriculum framework to reflect diversity. On Thursday, 19 May, a final public hearing was held before the Instructional Quality Commission to decide on revisions to the framework suggested by the Hindu groups and SAHFA. The stakes are high, as other American states also use Californias framework as the basis for their own curricula. The saffronising of textbooks isnt limited to Gujarat or Karnataka, or even just India. The American Hindu groups in the California battle include the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), whose founding members have links to the Sangh Parivar; the Hindu Education Foundation, a project of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, and the religious research group Uberoi Foundation. They want to rename the Indus Valley Civilization Sindh-Saraswati, delete any mention of Guru Nanaks challenging of caste, and further what SAHFA calls the oppressor Muslims vs persecuted Hindus narrative of Hindu nationalism. In one of their most controversial moves, theyve tried to get the term Dalit deleted from the South Asian history taught in school curriculum. One of the Uberoi Foundations comments among the edits says, Dalit is not a term from Sanskrit, nor from Hindu social history but a contemporary political construct to gain leverage mostly in elections and for economic concessions. The move to eradicate mentions of the word Dalit was denied at Thursdays public hearing. (In the recent past, the Hindu groups have also been unsuccessful in deleting a reference to India being a patriarchal society. But the battle to alter textbooks has been going on for long since 2006.) The other point of contention between the groups is about using the term South Asia in some instances in history textbooks, instead of just India, to describe the pre-1947 geographical region that now includes India and surrounding countries such as Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. The Hindu groups favour the use of the term India HAF co-founder Suhag Shukla and media professor Vamsee Julurihave defended their cause passionately in the Indian media and on this point they were successful. The California Board of Education rejected the use of the term South Asia at the hearing. SAHFA supports the edits to the textbooks suggested by scholars from the South Asia Faculty Group and the Dalit Bahujan Faculty Group, along with some suggestions of their own.We will not let the histories of South Asia be erased, says Thenmozhi Soundararajan, a trans media artist and one of the founders of the Dalit History Month project, a member of the SAHFA coalition. Soundararajan is critical of the push for a historical revisionism that allows people who have benefited from caste privilege not to look at the consequences of it. Harjit Kaur of the Sikh Coalition, which is part of SAHFA, told the media that she had been called a Khalistani for objecting to similar right-wing revisions that want to suggest Sikhisms rise was not a reaction to Brahminical power, and instead a reaction to the Mughals. This argument is very demeaning to us, Kaur said. Their edits run a lot deeper than just textbook edits. They want to usurp Sikhs back into Hinduism. Professor Juluri, who submitted alternative edits to history text books days before the San Francisco hearing, has stated that what is seriously wrong right now is precisely the approach of the people who want to teach the children 'what is wrong'. In March, he said, This is not a religion studies curriculum we are talking about, but world history, and Indias place in it. However, many consider understanding what is wrong in South Asian history as key to addressing todays problems. It was an incredibly charged, emotional and intense issue, Soundararajan told me on the phone, and added that women have been the driving force of the campaign. At the hearing, there was poignant testimony after poignant testimony, some by people who had never come out publicly as Dalit before, including my father. Soundararajan, herself a vocal advocate for Dalit rights, particularly Dalit womens rights, believes that that is the power of history it forces you to confront current inequalities. If we know our mistakes in the past, we can fight it in the present, she said. Earlier this month, the HAF published a report that suggested negative portrayals of Hinduism (including a focus on caste) was one of the reasons that Hindu children were being bullied at school. That is one of the grounds on which they opposed the representation of caste in California textbooks.One side was talking about bullying, says Soundararajan. The other side was talking about atrocities and murders. According to a 2010 report by the National Human Rights Commission on the Prevention of Atrocities against Scheduled Castes, a crime is committed against a Dalit person every 18 minutes in India. In the meanwhile, perhaps we ought to take a closer look at our own school textbooks in India. What exactly do they tell us about caste and religion and identity? Its time we paid attention. The Ladies Finger is a leading online womens magazine. CAIRO Egypt deployed a submarine on Sunday to hunt for the EgyptAir plane that crashed in deep Mediterranean waters, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said, warning investigations into the disaster would take time. In his first public remarks on Thursday's crash of the Airbus 320 jet, which killed all 66 people on board, Sisi also said all possible scenarios were still being considered and cautioned against rushing to conclusions. "Search equipment has moved today from the oil ministry, they have a submarine that can reach 3,000 metres under water," he told assembled ministers and members of parliament at the opening of a fertiliser plant in the port city of Damietta. "It moved today in the direction of the plane crash site because we are working hard to salvage the black boxes". Egypt has said its navy has so far found human remains, wreckage and the personal belongings of passengers floating in the Mediterranean about 290 km (180 miles) north of Alexandria, but is still searching for the plane's two black box recorders that could provide valuable evidence on the cause of the crash. Waters in the area of the Mediterranean under search could be 3,000 metres deep, which would place the black box locator beacons on the edge of their detectable range from the surface. Shortly before it disappeared off radar screens, the plane sent a series of warnings indicating that smoke had been detected on board, French investigators said on Saturday. The signals did not indicate what caused the smoke or fire but they offered the first clues as to what unfolded in the moments before the crash. "Until now all scenarios are possible. So please, it is very important that we do not talk and say there is a specific scenario," Sisi said. "This could take a long time but no one can hide these things. As soon as the results are out people will be informed." (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Dominic Evans and Mark Potter) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. CAIRO Amal sits in the lobby of a hotel staring out at Cairo airport. Face tight with exhaustion, eyes puffy. She is hoping her daughter Samar Ezzedine, a stewardess aboard an EgyptAir flight that crashed into the Mediterranean on Thursday, will walk through the arrivals door. "She doesnt want to go home or move from the door," Samar's aunt, Mona, said. "She doesnt want to believe it... I told her to switch off her phone, but she said, what if Samar calls? The 27-year-old newlywed is among the 66 people thought to have been killed when the jet crashed on its way from Paris to Cairo. Egypt said on Saturday the navy had found human remains, wreckage and the personal belongings of passengers floating in the Mediterranean about 290 km (180 miles) north of Alexandria. But no bodies have yet to emerge or be identified. DNA tests are under way on the few remains that have so far been recovered. The cause of the crash remains a mystery and search crews have yet to locate the black box flight recorders. EgyptAir has put up the families of dead passengers and crew members in two hotels near Cairo's airport but many have gone home to receive condolences for the loss of their loved ones. Dozens of people dressed in black flocked to a mosque in western Cairo on Saturday night to express condolences to the family of Ismail Chabana and his mother, Youmna Hamdy. Chatter filled the hall about the causes of the crash. Tears rolled down mourners faces. "I really hope the plane exploded, it doesnt matter if they are in shreds, as long as they did not suffer for a long time, one woman said. Chabna, an engineer in his late 20s, was in France for a wedding, Nesma Khatib, his friend and neighbour, said. He had recently gotten engaged. "I never thought this could happen to someone I know," Khatib said. "I was just talking to him; I can't believe he's gone." The aircraft was carrying 56 passengers, including a child and two infants, and 10 crew. They included 30 Egyptian and 15 French nationals, along with citizens of 10 other countries. French families have arrived in Cairo, but Egyptian officials are keeping them away from the media glare. Marwa Hamdy, a mother of three, who was on a business trip in France, was another of those who on board the doomed flight. "My heart sank, her cousin Sherine Abdel Hamid told Reuters by phone, describing the first moment she learnt the plane had crashed. Hamdy was 42, her youngest son only nine years old. He finally understood on Friday that his mother would not come home. "He has been very quiet since," her cousin said. But back in the hotel lobby, Amal, is refusing to accept condolences. "She is missing, who hosts a funeral for a missing person?" she murmurs. (Editing by Lin Noueihed and Anna Willard) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. HAVANA Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Bolivian President Evo Morales discussed "imperialist efforts" to undo leftist progress in Latin America during Morales' two-day visit to the Communist-ruled island, Cuban state television reported on Saturday. Two major powers in the region have moved to the right in recent months. Argentina's Peronists were voted out of office late last year while in Brazil, Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party was suspended as president earlier this month due to impeachment. Leftist countries such as Cuba have called Rousseff's suspension a "coup" while the president of El Salvador went as far as to say he would not recognize the centrist interim government. Morales and Castro spoke "of the events happening in Latin America and the imperialist efforts to revert the political and social movement in our region," state television reported. No images of the encounter were shown. One of Cuba's closest allies is Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is under fire over a deepening economic crisis and facing protests in favor of a recall referendum. Morales faced a setback earlier this year when he was defeated in a referendum that would have cleared the way for him to run for a fourth term in 2019. The Bolivian president met with Cuban President Raul Castro, younger brother of Fidel, on Friday and attended a ceremony during which government officials of both countries signed bilateral agreements on health, education, culture and the economy. (Reporting by Nelson Acosta; Writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Bill Trott) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. AMMAN Mainstream Syrian rebel groups said on Sunday they would no longer abide by a threadbare "cessation of hostilities" deal unless the Syrian army ended a major assault on their positions in the suburbs of Damascus within 48 hours. A statement by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) signed by nearly 40 rebel groups that operate across Syria said the ceasefire would be deemed to have "totally collapsed" if the large scale assault by Syrian government and allied Lebanese Hezbollah forces fighters, who seized an extensive area southeast of the capital on Thursday, did not cease within two days. The rebel-held town of Daraya, located just a few kilometres (miles) from President Bashar al-Assad's Damascus palace, was also pounded for the first time since the broader "cessation of hostilities" accord that took effect at the end of February. The ceasefire has unravelled since the United States and Russia brokered it, with fighting and bombardment in Aleppo playing a major part in its collapse. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Mark Heinrich) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. BEIRUT Air strikes hit the only road into rebel-held areas of Aleppo city on Sunday in the heaviest bombardment since February, a rebel official and monitors said, jeopardising access to an area where around 300,000 Syrians live. They said Russian warplanes had carried out the attacks on the Castello road, which was still open but dangerous. Defence officials from Syria's government and its ally Russia could not immediately be reached for comment. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said the road had been hit in a week of escalating air strikes, with Sunday's attack the most intense yet. The city of Aleppo, about 30 miles (50 km) south of the Turkish border, is divided between the government and rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A truce was brokered by the United States and Russia in February. But the agreement has since unravelled, with fighting and bombardment in Aleppo playing a big part in its collapse. "From 1 a.m. until 10 a.m., Russian jets were not quiet on the Handarat-Castello front," said Zakaria Malahefji, an official in the rebel group Fastaqim that operates in the area. The nearby Owaija area was also heavily hit, he said. "A group (of fighters) stationed there was killed," he added. Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said the raids had neen happening for a week. "This is more intense than the last days," he added. A Russian defence ministry statement issued on Saturday accused insurgents of firing missiles at nearby areas, identifying them as members of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which was not included in the truce. Rebels fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army say Nusra has little or no presence in Aleppo city. Russia deployed its air force to Syria last year to bomb in support of the Syrian military and its allies. Rebels say they can distinguish Russian from Syrian warplanes by the accuracy and intensity of their bombing, the way they fly in squadrons, and the fact they carry out raids at night. Syrian government forces have mounted several offensives aimed at encircling rebel-held eastern Aleppo but these have all failed to date. (Reporting by Tom Perry in Beirut and Lidia Kelly in Moscow; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Andrew Heavens) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. NAYPYITAW U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour posed a "continuing imminent threat" to U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and to Afghans, and was a threat to peace. U.S. officials in Washington said on Saturday U.S. missile-firing drones had attacked Mansour and probably killed him in a strike in southwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border, authorised by U.S. President Barack Obama. "Yesterday, the United States conducted a precision air strike that targeted Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Mansour posed a continuing, imminent threat" to U.S. personnel and Afghans, Kerry told a news conference in the Myanmar capital. "This action sends a clear message to the world that we will continue to stand with our Afghan partners as they work to build a more stable, united, secure and prosperous Afghanistan." Kerry said the leaders of both Pakistan and Afghanistan were notified of the air strike but he declined to elaborate on the timing of the notifications, which he said included a telephone call from him to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. "Peace is what we want. Mansour was a threat to that effort and to bringing an end to the violence and suffering people of Afghanistan have endured for so many years now. He was also directly opposed to the peace negotiation and to the reconciliation process," Kerry said. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Robert Birsel) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. BERLIN German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would raise the Turkish parliament's vote to strip its members of immunity when she meets President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, voicing disquiet at a measure likely meant to sideline the pro-Kurdish opposition. Merkel is facing accusations at home that she has become too accommodating of Erdogan as she tries to secure a European Union deal with Ankara to stem the flow of refugees from Turkey into Europe, the bulk of whom have gone to Germany. "Naturally some developments in Turkey are causing us grave concerns," Merkel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Sunday, one day before she meets Erdogan on the sidelines of a U.N.-sponsored humanitarian summit in Istanbul. The approval on Friday by Turkey's parliament to strip its members of immunity came as Erdogan seeks to prosecute members of the pro-Kurdish HDP, parliament's third-biggest party. He accuses the HDP of being the political wing of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a three-decade insurgency againt the state. The HDP denies such links and says its parliamentary presence could be all but wiped out if prosecutions go ahead. "We want that the Kurdish people have their equal place and a good future in Turkey," said Merkel, who flies to Turkey on Sunday, adding she would raise "all the important questions" with Erdogan. Critics have accused Merkel of ignoring human rights violations and actions against journalists in Turkey, a candidate for EU membership. "Of course there are mutual dependencies, which you could also call a necessity to reconcile interests," Merkel told the newspaper when asked if the deal had made Europe dependent on Turkey. The migration deal includes funding to help Turkey care for migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia who had hoped to use its shores to take boats to Greece. In exchange, Turkey is required to crack down on people smugglers. The deal also sets an end-June deadline for the European Union to grant visa-free travel to Turkey. The bloc is expected to miss that date because of a dispute over Turkish anti-terrorism laws, EU officials said this week. Turkey and the EU have been discussing visa liberalisation since 2013 and agreed in March to go ahead with it as part of the migration deal. Merkel said Turkey should meet the requirements set in 2013 before the bloc could grant it visa-free travel. "This is about standards in Turkey and requires changes there," Merkel said in the interview. Merkel has also drawn criticism for allowing prosecutors to pursue a case against a German comedian, who mocked Erdogan in a satirical poem suggesting the Turkish head of state engages in bestiality and watched child pornography. Comedian Jan Boehmermann recited the poem on television in March, prompting Erdogan to file a complaint with prosecutors that he had been insulted. The affair has turned into a diplomatic spat. (Reporting by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. KABUL/WASHINGTON Pakistan on Sunday accused the United States of violating its sovereignty with a drone strike against the leader of the Afghan Taliban in a remote border area just inside Pakistan. Afghanistan said the attack killed Mullah Akhtar Mansour. But a Pakistani passport found at the site bears the name Wali Muhammad and the passport holder was believed to have traveled to Pakistan from Iran on the day of the attack, according to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. Mansour's death could trigger a succession battle and deepen fractures that emerged in the insurgent movement after the death of its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was confirmed in 2015, more than two years after it occurred. The Saturday drone strike, which U.S. officials said was authorized by President Barack Obama and included multiple drones, showed the United States was prepared to go after the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which the government in Kabul has repeatedly accused of sheltering the insurgents. But Pakistan protested on Sunday, saying the U.S. government did not inform Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif beforehand. "This is a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty," Sharif told reporters in London. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that Washington had only notified Pakistan after the strike. Afghan government chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, and the country's top intelligence agency, said the attack had been successful. "Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour was killed in a drone strike ... His car was attacked in Dahl Bandin," Abdullah said in a post on Twitter, referring to a district in Pakistan's Baluchistan province just over the border with Afghanistan. One of the charred bodies at the site has been identified as a local taxi driver but a badly burnt second body has not, according to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. The ministry did not directly comment on the possibility that Mansour had been traveling under another name. Photos of the Wali Muhammad passport found at the site, which were seen by Reuters, show a passing resemblance to old photos of Mansour. The ministry said the passport contained a valid Iranian visa. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told an interviewer it would be days before Washington could be certain that Mansour was dead. "At this point, were not quite prepared to confirm that he was killed, though it appears likely," he said on Fox News Sunday. POSED 'CONTINUING, IMMINENT THREAT' The drone strike underscored the belief among U.S. commanders that under Mansour's leadership, the Taliban have grown increasing close to militant groups like al Qaeda, posing a direct threat to U.S. security. U.S Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States had conducted a precision air strike that targeted Mansour "in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border". Mansour posed a "continuing, imminent threat" to U.S. personnel and Afghans, Kerry told a news conference while on a visit to Myanmar. "If people want to stand in the way of peace and continue to threaten and kill and blow people up, we have no recourse but to respond and I think we responded appropriately," Kerry said. The Taliban have made no official statement but two Taliban sources said the Rahbari Shura, or leadership council, met on Sunday to begin considering the succession, a move that strongly suggests they accept that he is dead. They considered Siraj Haqqani, seen by supporters as a strong leader who would defy the U.S. and Afghan governments, and Mullah Omars son Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, a potential unifier because of his fathers name, as well as former Guantanamo detainee Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir and Mullah Sherin. The meeting was expected to continue on Monday and naming a new leader could take days or weeks, the sources said. "Based purely on matters of hierarchy, (Haqqani) would be the favorite to succeed Mansour," said Michael Kugelman, a senior associate at the Woodrow Wilson Institute think-tank. Efforts to broker talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban had already stalled after a suicide attack in Kabul last month that killed 64 people and prompted President Ashraf Ghani to prioritize military operations over negotiations. However Ghani's office said on Sunday that the removal of Mansour could open the door to talks and said Taliban who wanted to end bloodshed should return from "alien soil" and join peace efforts. Pakistan has in the past denounced U.S. strikes on its soil, calling them a violation of sovereignty, but U.S. officials have said Pakistan has approved some strikes, in particular on militants fighting the Pakistani state. A Pakistani official in the area said a car had been blown up and two unidentified people had been killed. It was not clear how the vehicle was blown up and the two bodies had been taken to a hospital, said the official, who declined to be identified. One of the Taliban commanders who dismissed the report of Mansour's killing said it had nevertheless spread alarm. "This rumor has created panic among our followers across Afghanistan and Pakistan," the senior Taliban member said by phone, adding he was telling his comrades to ignore the report. In December, Mansour was reportedly wounded and possibly killed in a shootout at the house of an insurgent leader in Pakistan. The Taliban eventually released an audio recording, purportedly from Mansour, to dispel the reports. (Additional reporting by James Mackenzie, Drazen Jorgic and David Morgan; Editing by Ros Russell and Mary Milliken) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is heading to Iran on Sunday on a two-day visit, a country many believe he should have travelled to earlier. "He left it too late. But better late than never," said KC Singh, a former Indian ambassador to Iran. Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Tehran earlier in January, one of the first major world leaders to visit Iran after the crippling sanctions were lifted. Many Iranians tend to agree with Ambassador Singh. Though they are not referring to the Prime Ministers visit. They say that unlike businessmen and corporates from Europe, who have rushed to Tehran following the lifting of sanctions, Indians have been slack. Yet it is also true that the formalities of lifting financial sanctions take time and even now many European banks are hesitant to get into gear. Recently US secretary of state John Kerry had to remind these banks that Iran is no longer under sanctions. India and Iran had in the past decade signed several MOUs but because of the sanctions regime, there has been no progress. Despite Iran and India constantly emphasising civilisational links and traditional links, nothing much has moved on the ground. Indias Shia Muslim community, spread mainly across UPs awadh area, has always had close links with Iran and people continue to visit the holy shrines there. Indias political relations with Iran has also had its share of problems. Tehran will not forget that "old friend" India voted not once but twice against Iran at the IAEA when it was in the negotiating the civil nuclear deal with the US. Iran has moved on but not forgotten and remains wary of New Delhi, especially as India appears to be moving closer to the US. But India is hoping that Narendra Modis visit will give a push to several long pending projects and give a push to accelerate both political and commercial ties. According to Gopal Bagley, joint secretary in charge of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan in the MEA, the Prime Minister will give a "timely impetus" to the both the energy and connectivity projects. The Prime Minister will be meeting with Iran's Grand Ayotollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei, the most powerful man in the country on Monday. Modi will also hold bilateral talks with moderate pro-reformist President Hassan Rouhani. The talks will cover bilateral relations and the situation in the region as well as global issues. Afghanistan, and the growing clout of the Taliban in that country is becoming a major worry for both India and Iran. At the time when Taliban was in power in Kabul, India, Iran and Russia together backed the Northern Alliance. Stability in Afghanistan is a major concern for both countries. The Shia-Sunni conflict in West Asia is changing the entire dynamics of the region. This has resulted both in the Syria quagmire as well as the current war in Yemen. Shia Iran is pitted against Sunni Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and UAE. The Sunni powers had tried their best to scuttle the nuclear agreement and the lifting of sanctions. But for energy hungry India and China, the thrust has been on balancing relations with both countries. When Chinese President visited Iran, he also visited Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already visited UAE and Saudi Arabia. On his way to Washington next month, Modi will also make an official trip to Qatar. India has always managed to do the tight rope walk and will ensure that its relations with Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf Co-operation Countries (GCC) will be excellent, while it will also take advantage of the opening-up of Iran. The focus of Prime Ministers visit will be connectivity, infrastructure and boosting bilateral trade, and giving the India-Iran relations a solid commercial edge. The development of the Chabahar port, which has been on the anvil since 2003, will finally see some forward movement. Chabahar, located at the mouth of the Straits of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf way, is to be developed as a regional hub. But because of the sanctions against Iran, getting the project going was tough. During Modis visit, the commercial contract between Indian Ports Global privat Ltd and Arya Banader of Iran, for investments in the Chabahar Port Phase 1 will be signed. Last year in May, minister for Shipping and Road Transport, Nitin Gadkari signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran for building two terminals and five berths in the Chabahar port. Indias investment in the first phase would be around two million dollars. During his visit to Iran Gadkari had made it clear that India was keen to invest in the Chabahar Free Trade Zone. A trilateral agreement using Chabahar-Zahedan-Zaraj will be signed between Iran, India and Afghanistan. Indias interest in Chabahar port was because of Pakistan's refusal to allow Indian goods transit through its territory to Afghanistan. Delhi believed that sending good by ship to the Chahabar and sending it across by rail and road from there to Afghanistan would be a way to get out of the problem. India has already spent about USD 100 million to construct a 218 km long (140-mile) road from Delaram in western Afghanistan to Zaranj in the Iran-Afghan border to link up with Chabahar port. India is hoping to reach its goods not just to Afghanistan but to Central Asia as well through this route. This is the reason that Delhi had always been keen on investing in Chabahar. The first MOU on Chabahar was signed when the NDA government was in power. Iran is hoping that with another BJP government in Delhi, the projects would now take off. The Modi government is also showing much more initiative. India laid the groundwork for the Modis visit, with an earlier trip by Gadkari, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. The Prime Minsiter will push for Indian business in the FTZ and railway projects in Iran. The initial agreement for exploration and development of Farzad B gas field was signed with a consortium of three Indian state companies as early as 2000 but is only now in the process of getting activated. During Pradhans trip to Iran, he offered to invest up to $20 billion in oil, petrochemicals and fertiliser projects in joint ventures with Iran if Tehran provides land and gas at concessional rates. There is likely to be a push in this direction. NAYPYITAW Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi asked to be given "enough space" to address the plight of her country's Rohingya Muslim population, as visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pressed the Nobel peace laureate to promote respect for human rights. Some 125,000 Rohingya in Myanmar are displaced and face severe travel restrictions in camps since fighting erupted in Rakhine State between the country's Buddhists and Muslims in 2012. Thousands have fled persecution and poverty in an exodus by boat. The United States has long supported Suu Kyi's role in championing democratic change in Myanmar, but was surprised this month when she suggested to the new U.S. ambassador Scot Marciel to refrain from using the term 'Rohingya' for the persecuted Muslim minority. The Rohingya, most of whom live in apartheid-like conditions, are seen by many Myanmar Buddhists as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and referred to by many as Bengalis. "Emotive terms make it very difficult for us to find a peaceful and sensible resolution to our problems," Suu Kyi told reporters at a joint news conference with Kerry in Naypyitaw. "All that we are asking is that people should be aware of the difficulties we are facing and to give us enough space to solve all our problems." Kerry said he had discussed the Rohingya issue with Suu Kyi during their meeting, describing the issue as "very sensitive" and "divisive," in Myanmar. "I know it arouses strong passions here," Kerry said. "At the same time, we all understand, as a matter of fact, that there is a group here in Myanmar that calls itself Rohingya," said Kerry, adding that the United States used that term. "What's critical to focus on is solving the problem; what's critical to focus on is improving the situation on the ground to promote development, promote respect for human rights, and to benefit all of those who live in Rakhine and throughout Myanmar," he added. There is widespread hostility towards Rohingya Muslims in the Buddhist-majority country, including among some within Suu Kyi's party and its supporters. Taking up the cause of the beleaguered minority would carry a political cost for Suu Kyi, who took on the newly created role of state counsellor in April following the first-democratically elected government in some five decades. Last month hundreds of demonstrators protested in front of the U.S. Embassy in Yangon in objection to the use of the term Rohingya in a statement issued by the embassy. Ambassador Marciel has said he would keep using the term Rohingya because it is Washington's policy to do so. "What we want to do is avoid any terms that just add fuel to the fire," Suu Kyi said in response to a question on her comments about the Rohingya. In a clear reference to the United States, she said her "well-wishers" should be helpful as she tries to work through the issue of the Rohingya. "While we are trying to find that solution, we would like our friends to be helpful in this," she said, "That is very difficult, I'm not denying that, and if our well-wishers are not ready to cooperate with us, it will make our task that much more difficult." Kerry was on a brief stop in the capital Naypyitaw before he joins President Barack Obama in Vietnam on Monday. IMPORTANT HURDLES Kerry offered U.S. support for Myanmar's new government, but said there were still "important hurdles" for the country to overcome in its transition to full democracy from military rule. Kerry met later to discuss further political reforms with the commander in chief of the armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing at the sprawling defence services complex in the capital. The military still controls 25 percent of seats in the country's parliament and oversees three power ministries of defence, home affairs and border affairs. Min Aung Hlaing has repeatedly said that the military will step back from the political arena when there is peace in the country. Last week, the Obama administration further eased economic and financial sanctions against Myanmar. Kerry said a further easing of measures would not occur under the current constitution, which bars Suu Kyi from becoming president. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Ryan Woo and Ros Russell) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Naypyidaw (Myanmar): Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was targeted by US drone strikes because he posed an "threat" to US troops, Afghan civilians and peace talks, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday on a visit to Myanmar. The US said Saturday's strikes hit a vehicle carrying Mansour and a second passenger in Pakistan's remote southwestern province of Balochistan bordering Afghanistan. Speaking to reporters in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw Kerry outlined the reasons for the strikes. "Mansour posed... an imminent threat to US personnel, Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces," he told reporters, adding "he was also directly opposed to peace negotiations." The US "has long maintained that an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned reconciliation process is the surest way to ensure peace... peace is what we want, Mansour was a threat to that," Kerry added. The Taliban have so far not commented on the American strike or confirmed Mansour's death. He had been appointed leader last July. The drone attack came just days after US, Chinese, Pakistani and Afghan officials held a fresh round of talks in Islamabad aimed at restarting the stalled peace process between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Kabul: The Afghan government and a senior Taliban commander confirmed Sunday that the extremist group's leader, Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour, has been killed in a US drone strike. Mullah Abdul Rauf, who recently reconciled with Mansour after initially rebelling against his ascension to the leadership, told The Associated Press that Mansour died in the strike late Friday "in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area." Afghanistan's intelligence agency announced that Mansour had been killed in an air attack Saturday afternoon. In a statement, the National Directorate of Security, as the secret service is known, said the attack took place in Baluchistan province, in southwestern Pakistan. It is believed to have been the first drone strike on Baluchistan, which could explain why Mansour was traveling in an unarmored car without a convoy, decoys or bodyguards. Ahead of the official confirmation of Mansour's death, US Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking in Myanmar Sunday, repeatedly referred to him in the past tense. Mansour, he said "posed a continuing imminent threat to US personnel in Afghanistan, Afghan civilians, Afghan security forces" and members of the US/Nato coalition. He said the air strike on Mansour "sends a clear message to the world that we will continue to stand with our Afghan partners." "Peace is what we want, Mansur was a threat to that effort," Kerry said. "He also was directly opposed to peace negotiations and to the reconciliation process. It is time for Afghans to stop fighting and to start building a real future together." Mansour formally led the Taliban after the death was announced last summer of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the movement's founder. Mansour, Mullah Omar's deputy, concealed the Taliban founder's death for more than two years, and ran the Taliban in his name until the death was revealed by the Afghan government. The revelation caused wide fissures in the movement that Mansour worked hard to mend. Mullah Rauf was an early detractor of Mansour's but decided earlier this year to declare loyalty to him in the interest of unifying the movement. Speaking live on television as he chaired a Cabinet meeting, Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said Mansour's death would have a positive impact on attempts to bring peace to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been waging an insurgency for 15 years. Mansour was "the main figure preventing the Taliban joining the peace process," Abdullah said. "From the day he took over the Taliban following the death of Mullah Omar, he intensified violence against ordinary citizens, especially in Afghanistan." The drone strike targeted Mansour's vehicle which was carrying Mansour and one other person at the time, a US military source said. Another Taliban source identified the driver as Muhammad Azam Hasanai, and said the vehicle the two men were traveling in was completely destroyed. Photographs showed the twisted and burned wreckage of the vehicle, alongside deep holes in the road. Mansour's death has raised questions about the direction the Taliban will take, after Ghani last month sharply changed course from pursuing peace to blaming Islamabad for using the Taliban to wage war on Afghanistan. After taking office in 2014, Ghani prioritized appeasing the Pakistani authorities in the hope that they would encourage the Taliban to participate in a dialogue aimed at ending the war. Overtures to Islamabad failed, however, and earlier this year Mansour's Taliban said that they rejected peace talks and would not participate. A four-country process with Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States appears to have floundered, with Kabul refusing to send a delegation to the most recent round of talks, sending only the ambassador to Islamabad. A senior Afghan official, who also spoke only on condition of anonymity, said Mansour controlled a substantial financial empire, largely built on smuggling drugs produced in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province. Different Taliban factions have recently fought over control of smuggling routes, the official said, an indication that the group's ideological discipline and unity was slipping. "When they started fighting for power, that was the erosion of the legitimacy of their own rank and file," he said. The official said there had been a recent shift in the balance of power from Mansour to his deputy, Surajuddin Haqqani, a leader of the notoriously brutal Haqqani network which is affiliated with al-Qaida. It is not clear, however, which commander or faction will now take over the leadership of the group. Mullah Mohammad Yaqub, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, is popular, charismatic and believed by some officials to favor participation in a peace talks. He controls the Taliban's military commissions in 15 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces and, like Rauf, recently reconciled with Mansour. BRUSSELS As a former journalist who made his name by bashing Brussels but was sometimes accused of twisting the facts, Boris Johnson knows there's no easier way to hook readers than to lead with Hitler. Yet his attempt to blacken the European Union by associating its limited, negotiated supranational powers with attempts by the Nazi German leader or the French Emperor Napoleon to impose their rule on the continent by force was politically perilous. For one thing, it disregarded the strategic vision of two of his own Conservative heroes, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, both of whom saw a more united Europe as the answer to Hitlerism, and a way to ensure peace and stability after centuries of bloodshed. The former mayor of London is not just distorting history - the EU's 28 democracies freely assented to pooling some of their sovereignty, even creating a voluntary exit clause which Johnson is now urging Britons to use. His Hitler jibe may backfire on the "Leave" campaign in Britain's June 23 referendum on EU membership and derail his ambitions to replace David Cameron as prime minister. Even Britons who distrust the EU and feel, like many Europeans, that its actions are not sufficiently subject to democratic control are unlikely to equate it with jackbooting dictators or the Holocaust by other means. Latest opinion polls suggest wavering Conservative supporters are shifting towards voting to remain in the EU when the island nation faces its geopolitical choice next month. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Johnson said the EU was doomed to fail like all attempts to create a "golden age of peace and prosperity" since the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago. "Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically," he said. "DEMOCRATIC VOID" "The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods. But fundamentally what is lacking is the eternal problem, which is that there is no underlying loyalty to the idea of Europe. There is no single authority that anybody respects or understands. That is causing this massive democratic void." Johnson also blames Brussels, rather than President Vladimir Putin, for Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and the success of armed Russian-speaking separatists in eastern Ukraine. "If you want an example of EU foreign policy-making on the hoof, and of the EU's pretensions to running a defence policy that have caused real trouble, then look at what has happened in Ukraine," he told a news conference on May 9. As the author of a biography of Churchill, as well as a book on the Roman Empire, Johnson must know that his favourite statesman passionately advocated a united Europe after World War Two to prevent any return to nationalism and warmongering. In his celebrated 1946 Zurich speech, Churchill said the remedy was "to re-create the European family, or as much of it as we can, and to provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom. We must build a kind of United States of Europe." Although he did not envisage Britain joining such a body due to its empire, Churchill was a founding father of the Council of Europe, which established the European Convention on Human Rights and the multinational court that upholds it. Yet many of today's Conservatives want to withdraw from that convention - ratified by all European nations except Belarus, and including Russia - which they see as an unacceptable intrusion into the sovereignty of the British courts. "PEACE AND SECURITY" Even more striking is the contrast between Johnson's view of the lessons of European history and Thatcher's. In a speech launching the Conservative "Yes" campaign in Britain's 1975 referendum on whether to stay in the European Economic Community - the forerunner of the EU - she drew a direct link between European integration and peace. Thatcher expressed gratitude that her children had not been embroiled in a European conflict as were the children of the previous two generations. "The Community gives us peace and security in a free society, a peace and security denied to the past two generations," she said. For pragmatic post-war Conservatives, it was clear that the policy Britain had pursued since the 16th century - of trying to maintain a balance of power on the continent - had failed to avert two world wars, with disastrous consequences. The strategic lesson drawn by Churchill and his successors was that Britain must be actively engaged in building not only the NATO military alliance but also a united Europe, and not be tempted by isolationism or appeasing expansionary powers. Johnson's view of Britain's place in Europe seems closer to the long-running BBC comedy series "Dad's Army", which mocked a Home Guard of elderly part-time soldiers preparing valiantly to defend the island against a Nazi invasion that never came. The sitcom's theme tune began: "Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler, if you think we're on the run?" That question might well be addressed to Boris Johnson. (Writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Kevin Liffey) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Sixty-eight years after Independence, more than a century after this icon first appears in the public political imagination of the nation, we are being asked to swear our allegiance to the idea of Bharat Mata afresh. As this demand presses upon us, refusing to admit any debate or dissent, it is time to ask-who is this mythic figure of the motherland; how and when did such an image come into being; in what context did such a figure take on its political charge as a mobilising symbol of mass nationalism? These questions need to be addressed with a new urgency. For, there is nothing natural or given, and certainly nothing timeless, about this imaging of the nation in the form of a woman, both human and divine. Tapati Guha-Thakurta There is instead a rich political paradox in the manner in which the secular abstracted ideal of the nation sought out an anthropomorphic motif for veneration and mapped its body on to the cartography of the country. In a land brimming with gods and goddesses, this new goddess staged her arrival at the turn of the 20th century, claiming a unique space of her own. As her image proliferated over the coming decades in popular print pictures, the motherland as deity frequently grafted on the physical contours of the map, giving a new sanctity to the territorial and administrative entity. While her body became the map and the map her body, Bharat Mata also garnered around herself other national secular insignia like the tricolour and the Asokan pillar capital. The landscape featured at times with compelling prescience. In a 1962 print, the broken column of the lion capital is surrounded by a pack of guardian lions of the goddess protecting the border in a nation at war with China. Sumathi Ramaswamy, in her book, The Goddess and the Nation: Mapping Mother India, talks about this powerful blending of the "scientific-geographic" and the "anthropomorphic-sacred" in the visualisation of the country. It is in this mix of the secular and the sacral that we could locate the affective appeal of this image and its viability as an icon of a multi-religious nation. advertisement Yet the Hindu religious overtones of the icon were never in doubt. This iconography of Bharat Mata swept into its own over the early decades of the 20th century, riding the high tide of a popular militant nationalism that thrived on an infusion of a devotional fervour into politics and cultivated a new divine image of the nation. To escape colonial proscriptions, mythological imagery-especially of the apocalyptic goddess vanquishing the demon-served as a volatile subterfuge of anti-colonial revolutionary passions. At the height of the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, Sandip, the nationalist protagonist of Rabindranath Tagore's novel, Ghare Baire, had famously proclaimed before his muse, Bimala, "The geography of the country is not the whole truth. No one can give up his life for a map. True patriotism will never be aroused in our countrymen unless they can visualise the motherland-we must make a goddess of her!" So it was as a woman-turned-goddess that the motherland took on its popular allegorical image, rising out of the map of India to receive the supreme sacrifice of the lives of her martyred sons. There is an increasingly visceral, gory and sensationalist career of this mass-manufactured icon in loudly coloured popular prints-as she stands surrounded by severed heads of nationalist heroes who went to the gallows, or cradles a bleeding Gandhi, and creates a fictional unified galaxy of leaders that turn the history of the nationalist movement on its head. A 1937 print of a PS Ramachandra Rao painting This was not an iconography that would sit easy with those who began to question this jingoistic, populist and mythic invocation of the nation. This was precisely the kind of figuration of the motherland from which Rabindranath Tagore began to recoil. It was an icon his anti-hero Sandip had willed into being without realising the emotional catharsis of a form of worship of the nation that could easily turn into a politics of fanaticism and hatred. Was there a more secular allegory of nationhood that could be animated by the emblems of the map and flag? There is a hint of this possibility in a 1937 pictorial representation of the map as motherland, wrapped in the tricolour, her sari border embroidered with the charkha, where she rises above a multitude of Congress flags, caps and leaders of the nationalist movement. The previous year, in 1936, another alternative iconography of the nation was unveiled by Mahatma Gandhi in a novel temple in Benaras. Called the Bharat Mata Mandir, it had as its object of circumambulation not any personified image but only a vast horizontally laid-out relief map of the country. It was a deliberate choice to locate this consecration of the map in the most hallowed centre of Hinduism, and to offer the sanctified territory of the country as an icon in its own right, as a cosmopolitan platform for people of all religions, castes and creeds. advertisement We are today standing at the other far end of the spectrum in the country's history. We are left asking-why is it that this other imaginary of the nation failed to hold ground? Why is it that this unique temple of the map has faded into oblivion and its place in public memory been superseded by its new ostentatious namesake that was constructed by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad half a century later in the pilgrimage town of Haridwar? In the 1980s, with the rising tide of a Hindutva nationalism, the image moved from the circuit of the ephemeral circulating picture-print to the fixity and permanence of a marble temple icon that declared its hegemony over the relief map it has made its altar. And we were catapulted in time from a past history of anti-colonial nationalism to a present state-sponsored majoritarian history of nationhood. The iconography of Bharat Mata, we could say, has come full circle. As art historian Geeti Sen writes about this icon, if it had once used religion as the means to unite the country into a nation, now it uses nationalism as the pretext to unite the country under one religion. This epistemic transference is riddled with ironies. From being an object of secret love, longing and belonging, the nation is now an object of enforced loyalty, calling for a new pedagogy of patriotism and citizenship. Perhaps the greatest irony lies in the way the charge of 'sedition' has passed from the colonial state which used it against these mythic pictorial allegories of the motherland to the nation-state which is now turning it against all who refuse to offer their homage to this icon. advertisement Who owns the post-Partition truncated map of the nation? Who can rightfully inhabit today's newly securitised geo-body of the nation-state that is in continuous anxiety of further dents to its territorial form? The slide from celebration to castigation of the nation is ever imminent, as is the passage from being 'national' to becoming 'anti-national'. This was how India's iconic national artist, Maqbool Fida Husain forfeited his rights to the iconography of the motherland-when he moved from his 1997 commemorative 50th anniversary motif of a youthful ebullient figure embodying the map, humorously annotated with sketches of Ganesh and Gandhi, skyscrapers and aeroplanes, to his later image of 2005 of a nude, blood-red, anguished body of the nation. His artistic licence of laying bare the scarred body of the motherland, marking her torso with names of different cities of strife and genocide, came to be read as a 'Muslim' artist's deliberate disrobing of Bharat Mata. Husain, over the years, was systematically threatened and cornered by the Hindu Right, and pushed into an exile from which he could never return. The motherland expunged this master-citizen with the same ferocity with which she now threatens to excommunicate any of her lesser citizens who may wish to altogether disclaim this icon that is no longer theirs to desire or nurture. advertisement The icon in soft focus In the context of the current political debates on Bharat Mata, the Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata, is bringing out of its loan collection (from the Rabindra Bharati Society) a work of modern art that in many ways gave birth to the icon. Displayed as the object of the month, Abanindranath Tagore's 'wash' painting of 1905 presents the motherland as an ascetic figure of renunciation and salvation. From the collection of Priya Paul In painting it, the artist was conscious of creating for the first time, neither a religious nor a political, but an 'artistic' icon for the Indian nation. Enlarged and transferred on to a silk banner, the image was used in Swadeshi fundraising processions in Calcutta to the strains of Rabindranath Tagore's patriotic songs. The political life of the image was shortlived; it would soon be swept aside in the public imagination by the more volatile, proliferating iconography of popular prints. Tapati Guha-Thakurta is director, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta --- ENDS --- Single Sunrise presenter Samantha Armytage has lashed out at claims she is "desperate" for a child but confirmed she may not travel abroad with her colleagues for pre-Olympic coverage due to the high risks involved with the Zika virus. "Like many female journos of a certain age contemplating Rio, Zika is a huge worry for me. And it's not like I'm running the 100 metres or even hosting the opening ceremony," she said. "Sunrise would simply be at Copacabana Beach the week before the Olympics start." The 39-year-old has offered to instead "spend that week hosting the rest of the day's news from our Sydney studio" while David Koch, Natalie Barr and Edwina Bartholomew broadcast from overseas. A lesbian couple arrested during their holiday in Hawaii after kissing and holding hands in a grocery store will receive a $US80,000 ($110,000) settlement after suing for discrimination and harassment. Courtney Wilson and Taylor Guerrero were enjoying a romantic holiday in October last year when they were arrested after a police officer took offence at their public displays of affection inside a Foodland supermarket. The couple, visiting Hawaii from Los Angeles, launched a civil lawsuit against the officer and the city of Honolulu. The officer, Bobby Harrison, was shopping in his police uniform, when he noticed their behaviour and told them to "Take it somewhere else". Tony Madafferi (left) with Liberal MP Russell Broadbent at Parliament House in about 2005. Mr Broadbent dined with Mr Acquaro, Mr Madafferi and two of Mr Madafferi's relatives, who are also both Liberal donors. After the Parliament House meetings, Mr Acquaro and Mr Madafferi met in Canberra with Luigi Pochi, a convicted Mafia drug dealer named in the Woodward royal commission into drug trafficking and the Mafia. A spokesman for Mr Hunt said the minister "had been introduced to Mr Madafferi over a decade ago". Mr Hunt "reported this to the then [Liberal Party] state director once reports were made about Mr Madafferi's background". Mr Broadbent and Mr Madafferi at Parliament House. Mr Broadbent said Mr Acquaro and Mr Madafferi had come to his parliamentary office as part of a delegation led by a prominent Victorian-Italian fruit grower and he had taken the men to lunch in Parliament's members' dining room. "This is something I have done at least 50 times when different people have visited my office at lunchtime," he said. Greg Hunt (right) with Tony Madafferi (left) at a meeting in Parliament House. Mr Broadbent said he found Mr Acquaro charming but also believed there was an element of "big noting" in his desire to be seen with politicians. Prior to his death, Mr Acquaro, who was shot dead on March 15 after closing up shop at his Brunswick East gelataria, repeatedly told associates how he had carefully cultivated federal and state politicians in order to get their help or support for those in Mr Acquaro's network of businessmen, some of whom were suspected Mafia figures. Mr Acquaro's most recent personal donation to the Liberals was in 2013, at a Liberal fundraising event attended by Mr Broadbent, Mr Madafferi and Victorian Liberal leader Matthew Guy. At the event's fundraising auction, Mr Acquaro bought a balloon ride for about $800, although the donation was never disclosed as it was under the disclosure limit. He privately told associates he had helped raise more than $100,000 for the Liberal Party. While allegations of the Mafia's infiltration into politics were revealed last year by Fairfax Media in connection with a political lobbying campaign aimed at getting a Mafioso client of Mr Acquaro a visa, Mr Acquaro's political activities have never been made public. Mr Broadbent was among Mr Acquaro's and Mr Madafferi's closest political contacts, and despite police banning Mr Madafferi from Crown casino due to his alleged organised crime ties, Mr Broadbent said he had seen nothing to change his view of Mr Madafferi as being "an upright supermarket owner". He said he had long known many members of the Madafferi family. Mr Broadbent attended an event at one of Mr Madafferi's pizza restaurants and was one of several Liberal Party figures whom Mr Acquaro lobbied to obtain a visa for convicted criminal and Mafioso Frank Madafferi, who is the brother of Tony Madafferi. When the AFP investigated alleged Mafia figures for political bribery in 2009, Mr Acquaro met with federal agents and later told associates he had stymied their donations-for-visa probe by claiming his political activities were not aimed at currying favour with politicians. A subsequent 2009 confidential AFP report into Mr Acquaro's fundraising activities detailed a "lack of checks and oversight" in the Australian political donations system, which only requires donations of more than $13,200 to be disclosed. As it stands, political parties and candidates can "receive significant support and financial contributions through avenues not covered by the statutory disclosure regime", states the police report, which was obtained under freedom-of-information laws.Mr Acquaro carefully cultivated his political connections by fundraising and forging ties to prominent Liberal donors such as Sydney furniture king Nick Scali, who introduced him to NSW Liberal figures, including now Defence Minister Marise Payne, as well as the NSW Liberal fundraising vehicle, the Millennium Forum. The forum's fundraising has previously been scrutinised by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption. Most of Mr Acquaro's and his associates' donations were directed to Liberal Party fundraising groups in Victoria's south-east, linked to the Liberal seats held by the politicians Mr Acquaro sought to cultivate. These included Mr Broadbent, Mr Hunt and former senior state Liberal MP Ken Smith. Mr Acquaro, who was selected by the former Melbourne Mafia godfather Liborio Benvenuto to protect the Mafia's legal interests, moved seamlessly between the underworld and the legitimate business world, juggling deep associations to alleged crime bosses while holding positions in seemingly legitimate Calabrian business and cultural groups. There is no evidence that any politician knew of Mr Acquaro's true motives: to build a network of influence in politics to advantage his business and personal affairs and those of his associates, including suspected criminals. Mr Acquaro would often boast to associates that he "owned" a certain serving politician. Well-placed sources said the claim was likely far-fetched, but nevertheless underlined Mr Acquaro's intent. A leaked 2005 letter from Mr Acquaro to a NSW Liberal Party donor with alleged Mafia links details his desire to "promote the interests of" certain Calabrian networks "through the political systems, which may include the support or endorsement of a particular candidate to the Italian or Australian parliaments". When Ms Payne, Mr Hunt, Mr Broadbent and Bruce Billson were successful at the 2004 federal election in which the Coalition was returned to government, Mr Acquaro wrote to each of them, stating "how delighted Tony Madafferi and I were in seeing this weekend's results. Congratulations ..." Mr Acquaro simultaneously sent a letter to another political contact, now retired Labor MP Bob Sercombe, stating that Mr Madafferi and Mr Acquaro had found the Liberals' win "somewhat disappointing". Prior to his still unsolved murder earlier this year, Mr Acquaro represented alleged Mafia figures in criminal trials, owned a restaurant and was involved in Melbourne's Italian Chamber of Commerce. Police viewed him as the respectable "front" man for alleged Mafia figures, an allegation Mr Acquaro privately acknowledged was accurate. A confidential 2013 Australian Crime Commission report into Italian organised crime details how figures such as Mr Acquaro used a "cloak of legitimacy" to infiltrate politics. Mr Madafferi has been named in multiple court hearings between 1992 and 2015 as an alleged Mafia figure involved in organised crime, an allegation he strongly contests. Previously a close associate of Mr Acquaro, he has never been charged with a criminal offence. Last year, the Victorian Supreme Court was told by Mr Madafferi's lawyer that he was being investigated by the Purana police taskforce over an alleged serious crime that Mr Madafferi denies any involvement in. Mr Madafferi is also contesting Victoria Police's decision to ban him from Crown casino over his alleged organised crime ties. At 3am on a Thursday in late April, Facebook messages started coming through on Sabeena Mozaffar's phone. An international student from the Pakistani national's University of NSW campus college was offering her money in return for sexual favours. Ms Mozaffar said her harasser had previously spread rumours that he had turned down her requests for sex. "I feared for my safety; he knew my room number," she says. "I was very overwhelmed." Ms Mozaffar reported it to her dean the next morning and the man is no longer a resident. There have been nine reports of sexual assault and harassment at the University of NSW in the past week alone. Credit:Tamara Voninski Universities Australia's Respect.Now. Always. campaign against campus sexual violence has identified international students as particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment and assault due to cultural and language barriers. The Sun-Herald has been told that within this "silent" community blackmail threats have been made against unwilling sexual partners, there are unwanted pregnancies, domestic students are targeting certain cultural groups, and students are scared of walking alone at night on campus. Thirteen-year-old Maddison Wentworth had been counting down the days until her school's field day activities, friends and family said, ready for games such as sack races, softball tosses and water-balloon fights. "She was excited about field day," her mother, Leslie Wentworth, told NBC news affiliate WVTM. Maddison Wentworth died in a game of tug-of-war. Credit:Twitter: @FoxNews "She had $10 that burned a hole in her pocket to spend." But during a tug-of-war game on Thursday, Maddison slumped to the ground. School nurses rushed to her side, performing CPR. She was taken to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive Sunday in Iran in hopes of growing energy and development ties to the country as it emerges from its decades-long diplomatic isolation. Iran and six world powers last year reached agreement on a plan that set limits on Iran's nuclear program. Since sanctions were lifted in January, the international community has begun re-engagement with Tehran. On Monday, New Delhi said Modi is expected to sign a contract to build and run two terminals and cargo berths at Chabahar, a strategic Gulf of Oman port on Iran's southern coast. Access for India India has pushed hard for the project, which would give it access to central Asia and Afghanistan, the government said. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is also scheduled to arrive in Tehran Monday to sign a deal regarding the Chabahar port. Gopal Baglay, New Delhi's Foreign Ministry official in charge of Iranian ties, said India would make an initial investment of more than $200 million in the port. "The focus of the trip is connectivity and infrastructure," he told Reuters Friday. Chabahar is about 100 kilometers from Pakistan's Gwadar seaport, which is being jointly developed with China as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). CPEC is a $46 billion package of railroads, highways, pipelines, power plants and industrial zones. It also will give Beijing greater access through Pakistan to global markets, including Africa and Europe. Oil payment Last week, ahead of Modi's two-day trip, Indian refineries made the first payment about $750 million toward a $6.4 billion bill owed to Iran for crude imports, Reuters reported Saturday. The backlog of payments had accumulated while Iran was under Western sanctions. The payment will be made in euros through a Turkish bank, Reuters said. While most international restrictions against Iran have been lifted, the United States maintains some sanctions and a trade embargo. That status means banks cannot use the U.S. dollar for any deals with Iran. India is one of the biggest buyers of Iranian crude oil, with plans for the country to import at least 400,000 barrels per day from Iran in the fiscal year, Reuters reported. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has hailed Myanmar's transition to democracy, but urged its new civilian led government to continue its work on implementing key reforms meant to improve developments and human rights. "We strongly support the democratic transition that is taking place here," Kerry told reporters in a joint news conference with Aung San Suu Kyi, during his one-day visit to the capital Naypidaw. "The key to the lifting of the [remaining] sanctions is really the progress that is made within Myanmar in continuing to move down the road of democratization." Kerry's visit came days after Washington lifted various financial and trade sanctions imposed on the country when it was under military rule. Bans on scores of other individuals and groups remain in place. Aung San Suu Kyi, who serves as Myanmar's foreign minister and de facto leader since her political party won historic elections in March, says she welcomes the scrutiny that is inherent in the remaining sanctions. "I'm not afraid of sanctions, we'll get over this and I'm sure that the time will come soon when the United States will know that this is no longer the time for sanctions," she told reporters. 'Rohingya' issue Kerry and Aung San Suu Kyi also discussed Myanmar's recent request that the U.S. embassy stop using the term "Rohingya" when referring to the country's unrecognized ethnic minority, a major point of contention between the two countries. When questioned on the issue, Aung San Suu Kyi called for space to deal with the debate over the issue. "Emotive terms make it very difficult for us to find a peaceful and sensible resolution to our problems," she said. "All that we are asking is that people should be aware of the difficulties we are facing and to give us enough space to solve all our problems." Kerry agreed that the issue was a sensitive matter. Myanmar's government claims those calling themselves Rohingya are Bengalis who have illegally entered the country. Myanmar, a predominately Buddhist country, has received international criticism for its treatment of the mainly Muslim minority, which is largely denied citizenship and many other basic human rights. U.S. Ambassador Scot Marciel has said the U.S. would continue to use the term because it is Washington's policy to call communities what they want to be called. Following his talks with Suu Kyi, Kerry met with Myanmar armed forces chief Min Aung Hlaing in the capital. Kazakh police detained dozens of people while breaking up anti-government rallies being held in the country's major cities Saturday, prosecutors said. Among those detained by security forces were dozens of journalists, activists and demonstrators, according to RFE/RL. Protests occurred in the capital, Astana, as well as in Almaty, Qaraghandy, Oral, Shymkent and the western city of Atyrau. The opposition called for nationwide demonstrations against controversial changes to Kazakhstan's Land Code, which included allowing farmland to be sold and foreign investors to lease parcels of land for agricultural use for up to 25 years, RFE/RL reported. Many of those detained, which included several journalists from Interfax and RFE/RL's Kazakh service, reported being released after a few hours in police custody. Kazakh police later said that the arrests had been a "misunderstanding," Interfax news agency reported. Some journalists said their video recordings and pictures had been erased by police while they were detained. Investigating detentions Kazakh Information and Communications Minister Dauren Abaev said Saturday that he would "work to find out why [the journalists] were detained," according to an RFE/RL report. RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported its website was blocked but access to its Facebook and YouTube sites was restored later Saturday after offering only intermittent service since May 20. Opponents of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has been in power since 1989, had called for rallies in all major cities, extending a series of demonstrations that started last month over the proposed land reforms. The protests, which have become an outlet for expressing general discontent with the government, are the oil-rich Central Asian nation's biggest for more than a decade and continued Saturday despite pre-emptive detentions of many activists and warnings from the authorities. Nazarbaevs government has used a combination of deadly force and restrictive legislation and arrests to clamp down on protests and other forms of dissent during his rule. In 2011, a rare protest in the southwestern towns of Zhanaozen and Shetpe ended when police fatally shot at least 16 people during protests by oil workers and their supporters, RFE/RL reported. Making documentary evidence of government corruption accessible to anyone with an Internet connection seems to be catching on. Earlier this month, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists launched a searchable public database for the Panama Papers, the more than 11.5 million documents leaked from a Panamanian law firm revealing how wealthy individuals, including government officials, used offshore accounts to hide wealth, some of it acquired illicitly. Now comes a searchable Internet portal containing thousands of documents pertaining to official malfeasance in Russia and other former Soviet states. 'Kleptocracies' Launched by the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, the Kleptocracy Archive provides access to a database that it says will enable users to "identify key actors in the complicated patronage and business networks that characterize kleptocracies" a term used for governments whose officials engage in large-scale misappropriation of public funds for personal enrichment. The Kleptocracy Archive states that while the "individuals of interest" included in its database "are associated with kleptocratic regimes for many reasons," their inclusion "does not in itself imply wrongdoing of any kind," but nonetheless is "critical to understanding how modern kleptocracies function and the grave threats they pose to democracy." Majority of subjects are Russian The database currently lists 94 "individuals" (although several reputed Russian organized crime gangs are listed among the "individuals"), including two sitting presidents Russias Vladimir Putin and Ukraines Petro Poroshenko. While the "individuals" listed are from four countries Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Uzbekistan the vast majority of them are Russian. Look under the portals "Recently Added" heading and you will find the name of Vladimir Barsukov (also known as Vladimir Kumarin), who is described as "the former vice president of Petersburg Fuel Company (PTK)" and the "alleged boss" of the St. Petersburg-based Tambov criminal organization (which itself is also listed, separately, as a new entry). Last June, Spanish prosecutors filed a criminal complaint of more than 400 pages that linked close associates of President Putin, including officials in his government, with the Tambov group. Putin held several top posts in the St. Petersburg city administration before moving to Moscow in 1996. Connection between Kremlin, organized crime At the Kleptocracy Archives launch in Washington, Karen Dawisha, author of the book Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia? and a member of the Hudson Institutes Kleptocracy Initiative Advisory Council, said "the biggest takeaway" from the archives documents is that they provide "absolute proof of the symbiosis between Russian organized crime and the Kremlin." "What you have in the archives are documents from the FBI," Dawisha said. "You have documents from the Germans. You have documents from the Swiss. You have documents from the Austrians. And you have documents from the Spanish. All concluding this basic connection." The Kleptocracy Archive also includes an English-language translation of a document apparently leaked from the Kremlin that was published by the Russian newspaper Kommersant immediately after Putin became president in 2000 but later removed from the newspapers own electronic archive. The document detailed plans to reform the Russian presidential administration by dividing it into "open" and "closed" sections, with the apparent aim of creating the impression the government was pro-democratic and reformist, while the president and his subordinates would make all the real decisions behind closed doors. The plan included details of possible moves against political opponents of the Kremlin and independent media similar to those Putin subsequently took. Complex issue David Satter, a Hudson Institute senior fellow and member of the Kleptocracy Initiative Advisory Council, who is also author of the book Darkness At Dawn: The Rise Of Russia's Criminal State, told VOAs Russian service the archive will help Western politicians and experts develop appropriate diplomatic and other relations with representatives of Russia at all levels. "There are always some practical issues that we have to discuss with the Russian government," Satter said. "But it is literally riddled with organized crime, so the problem before us is complex. "We cannot do without contacts with the Russian authorities, because they preside over the destinies of millions of people. The most important thing is to know who you are dealing with and to understand who you are sitting down with at the negotiating table," he said. "One of the main weaknesses of American diplomacy is that we always see in our Russian interlocutors people who are very similar to us. But this is absolutely not the case." U.S. military officials said Saturday that an American drone strike had most likely killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in a remote area of Pakistan near Afghanistan's border. A U.S. official who spoke on background said President Barack Obama had authorized the strike, which occurred Saturday afternoon local time. The official said several unmanned aircraft operated by U.S. special operations forces targeted a vehicle southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal in Pakistan's Baluchistan province. An adult male traveling with Mansoor was also most likely killed in the strike, the official said. Initial reports appearing online and in news broadcasts in the region incorrectly asserted that Mansoor had been killed in Zabul province in Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban on Saturday released a statement calling those reports "baseless," but the group did not respond following news that he had been killed in Pakistan. On Sunday, senior Afghan Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Rauf confirmed the death of Monsoor to The Associated Press, saying he was killed in a U.S. drone strike late Friday in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area. Rauf is so far the only Taliban official to publicly comment on the incident. Involved in attacks A statement from Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said that as leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mansoor has been actively involved with planning attacks across Afghanistan and threatening Afghan civilians, security forces, and U.S. and allied troops. "Mansoor has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict," the statement said. Cook said U.S. authorities were still assessing the results of the strike and would provide more information as it became available. Damaging to leadership If confirmed, the elimination of Mansoor would deal a critical blow to the Taliban. The insurgent group has struggled with internal divisions over its leadership since July 2015, when it announced that its founder and first leader, Mullah Omar, had been dead for more than two years. Saturday's strike appeared to be the first time that U.S. drones were known to have targeted Taliban fighters inside Baluchistan province. All other known drone strikes inside Pakistan have occurred in the country's federally administered tribal areas, a semiautonomous region along the Afghan border where Pakistan's military has battled militants for years. It is also rare for U.S. special forces to carry out drone strikes inside Pakistan. The CIA is typically in charge of the covert strikes, which target senior terrorist leaders in the country. The United States has not designated the Afghan Taliban as a terrorist group. U.S. policy in Afghanistan generally allows coalition aircraft to target enemy fighters only when they can be identified as al-Qaida or Islamic State group loyalists, or when militants are directly threatening NATO personnel. Earlier this month, a senior U.S. commander in Afghanistan told reporters there were signs that al-Qaida terrorists had been working more with the Taliban since Mansoor took charge. Engaging the Taliban However, Brigadier General Charles Cleveland said that U.S. forces "are not in necessarily in direct combat with the Taliban." He said the expectation was that Afghan government forces were the ones mainly engaging the Taliban, and that U.S. forces were there to help them. On Friday, David Petraeus, the former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and former head of the CIA, called for loosening restrictions on U.S. airstrikes against Afghan Taliban fighters. In an essay published in The Wall Street Journal, Petraeus and his co-author, military analyst Michael O'Hanlon, said that because of the Taliban's long ties with al-Qaida and the Haqqani network, its aims of overthrowing the Afghan government and its continuing push to seize territory, the United States should rely more on air power to help defeat the group. A U.S. intelligence official says the death of Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor may not make much of a difference, at least in the near term. Despite being labeled as an imminent threat to U.S. forces and an "obstacle" to peace in Afghanistan, "There will be little battlefield impact," the official told VOA on the condition of anonymity. "The aggressive attacks expected as this fighting season begins are probably locked in." The official also noted that while Mansoor's death gives the Taliban and its followers another chance to embrace peace talks with the Afghan government, reconciliation is "a position that has failed to gain traction." WATCH: President Obama speaks on death of Mullah Mansoor U.S. President Barack Obama told reporters Monday in Hanoi that Mansoor's death "removed the leader of an organization that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and coalition forces." He said the Taliban leader had rejected efforts by the Afghan government "to seriously engage in peace talks and end the violence that has taken the lives of countless innocent Afghan men, women and children." A Pentagon spokesman said Monday that Mansoor was killed because he represented a "specific imminent threat" to U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan. The Afghan intelligence agency on Sunday confirmed Mansoor was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan near the Afghan border. Pakistan said it was informed by the U.S. after the drone strike was carried out, but lashed out at Washington for violating its "sovereignty." Taliban officials privately confirmed the death of their leader but are reluctant to be identified, saying any final determination will be made by the group's so-called Rahbari Shura, or leadership council. The drone strike occurred Saturday in Dalbandin, Baluchistan, according to Afghan intelligence agency NDS. It could be the first time U.S. drones are known to have targeted Taliban fighters inside Pakistan's Baluchistan province. All other known drone strikes inside Pakistan have occurred in the country's federally administered tribal areas, a semi-autonomous region along the Afghan border where Pakistan's military has battled militants for years. The elimination of Mansoor could deal a critical blow to the Taliban, which has struggled with internal divisions over its leadership since July 2015, when the insurgent group announced its founder and first leader, Mullah Omar, had been dead for more than two years. VOA's Ayesha Tanzeem and Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. WATCH: Video from the scene of the drone strike U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Vietnam comes at a time when the Southeast Asian nation is seeking stronger ties with the United States, in part because of growing tensions with China. Many Vietnamese-Americans, especially the younger generation, are optimistic Obamas trip will help further reconciliation between the two former foes. The optimism marks a generational shift in views on relations between the U.S. and Vietnam. The shift is evident throughout the Little Saigon community, located south of Los Angeles in southern California. It is where the largest population of Vietnamese lives outside of Vietnam. Sonny Nguyen, co-owner of the 7 Leaves Cafe in the heart of Little Saigon, explains the generational divide. We lost everything, so for my parents generation, its much more vivid and [for] those that live here in Little Saigon, its a scar, said Nguyen, who was born in Vietnam and brought up in the United States. Because of that scar, Nguyen said many older Vietnamese-Americans who fled their homeland after the communists took over South Vietnam in 1975 are doubtful that a U.S. presidential visit to Vietnam will bring much change. Frown at closer ties Some of the older generation may even frown at closer ties. The younger generation, with different experiences, shares a different perspective. I think its important for any president to go ahead and foster better relationships with different countries, said 22-year-old Vietnamese-American Christopher Truong. Priscilla Hoang, 26, said improved dialogue will help in the healing process. Its a different generation. Its a different time now," Truong said. "Back then, a lot of things were different than they are these days. I think that fostering a relationship with a communist country doesnt necessarily mean its a bad thing." Tied to ancestral homeland Many younger Vietnamese-Americans may not have been born in Vietnam, but feel tied to their ancestral homeland for reasons that are different from their parents' generation, said Dzung Do, managing editor of Nguoi Viet, the largest Vietnamese-language newspaper outside of Vietnam. With the Internet, now with more opportunity, a lot of young Vietnamese people, they went back to Vietnam for charity work. They take Vietnamese classes, Do said. California native Alvin Bui took Vietnamese classes in college and traveled to Vietnam to use his language skills and explore his roots. How can you connect to other Vietnamese youth in creating a better future for Vietnam? So figuring out what theyre thinking in their own language, trying to get into their own heads. 'Make a change in the world' Nguyen also dreams of a better future for Vietnam. Im Vietnamese, and I do have a deep care and I know Vietnam is still a third-world country, " he said. "I want to be able to make a change in the world, and if there are groups that I want to help, it is the Vietnamese people, but I think the only way to do that is through reconciliation. Nguyen sees President Obamas trip as an opportunity to improve the lives of the Vietnamese people. Obamas visit comes at a time when Vietnam seems to be strengthening relations with the West, in part, because of growing tensions with China. Vietnam is also a member of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact that includes the United States. Obama's trip will be the third by a U.S. leader, following visits by President Bill Clinton in 2000 and George W. Bush in 2006. A top crop: The sugar beet is in the top six or seven crops for the state in terms of its value when it leaves the farm, said Laura Johnson, bureau chief for the Idaho State Department of Agricultures market development division. Amalgamated Sugar Co. reported the sugar beet industry contributes 1.7 percent of the Idaho gross domestic product. And while most major Idaho crops are expected to decline in cash receipts for 2015, only sugar beets and barley were expected to increase. Sugar beets are projected to contribute $300 million in cash receipts in 2015 about 9.7 percent of Idahos total cash receipts from crops. Rising revenue: Amalgamated Sugars members annually grow about 182,000 acres of sugar beets, and the companys sugar brings in between $750 million and $900 million in annual revenue, the company reported in its presentation to a state legislative committee in December. Amalgamated, owned and operated by Snake River Sugar Co., has 679 members in Idaho. The states sugar beet growers last year harvested 1,000 fewer acres than in 2014, according to the University of Idaho. Although 2015 production is projected to be down 1 percent from 2014, sugar beet revenues are estimated to be up 19 percent. Factory jobs: Amalgamated Sugar has about 1,600 employees. Of those, 324 work at the Twin Falls factory a payroll of about $20 million. Sugar processing accounts for about 2.5 percent of all manufacturing jobs in Idaho, according to Idaho Department of Labor statistics. That percentage has increased slightly from 10 years ago. Farm jobs: Production has kind of shifted from the Treasure Valley to the Magic Valley, said Mark Duffin, executive director of the Idaho Sugarbeet Growers Association. Employment at the farm has dropped over the years, he said, as technology and genetic engineering streamlined the process. Genetically engineered sugar beets are resistant to herbicides, which has reduced the need for many migrant laborers to weed the crops. Connection to other commodities: Sugar beets are important to Idaho because they go hand in hand with potato production, Johnson said. Duffin said growers must rotate crops every few years, and many also rotate in wheat, hay or beans. Also, the pulp byproduct from sugar beets is fed as a high-quality, inexpensive feed to beef and dairy cattle. Theres a strong symbiosis between the industries, too, he said. That market is important to us. If not for dairy cows or beef cattle, some sugar beet pulp probably would be put into landfills, said Rick Naerebout, director of operations for Idaho Dairymens Association. Thats really what attracted the (dairy) industry here, was affordable land and affordable feed. Beet hauling: Transportation has always been a large expense for the sugar beet industry. In Idaho, about 7 million tons of beets are transported a year, Duffin said. Transystems is the main contractor for hauling. The company announced in April that it would move its manufacturing facility to Rupert to better provide semi-truck trailers to its largest Idaho customer, Amalgamated Sugar. Its Twin Falls facility will continue to maintain trailers. Transystems manufactures about 20 trailers a year on average, a company spokesman said last month. The company would like to increase production to 40 trailers a year. Heather Kennison TWIN FALLS If a farmer used the so-called world price for sugar to decide whether to grow sugar beets, that farmer would run, screaming, in the other direction. Thats because the world price is barely half of what it costs to produce the commodity. Why, then, do U.S. farmers continue to grow sugar beets? The answer is simple: The U.S. Department of Agriculture manages the amount of sugar produced nationally to protect the industry from outside influences. By adhering to World Trade Organization rules, the USDA ensures a stable and sustainable domestic sugar industry. On a global level, sugar production or overproduction has become a political tool which has rendered the world price a meaningless indicator of actual prices to growers and throws the supply-and-demand marketing principle out the window, the American Sugar Alliance argues. The alliance is a national coalition of cane and sugar beet producers. The WTO, USDA included, has determined sugar to be an essential food stuff too important to rely on imports and has ruled its members should control their own supply by producing what they consume and no more than they consume. Upon this recommendation, U.S. sugar producers sugar beet growers and cane growers alike contribute 80 percent of the sugar the nation consumes. Cane was once the dominant sugar in U.S. markets, but within the past few years beet sugar has taken the lead. Sugar from cane has to be processed twice, making it more expensive than beet sugar. So more cane producers are moving into the ethanol market. Beet sugar now accounts for 55 percent of refined sugar produced in the country each year. Whos Growing the Sugar? Although U.S. growers are capable of producing 100 percent of what the nation consumes, the U.S. sugar program, used since World War II, has kept sugar imports as an economic development tool with countries that are friendly toward the U.S., said Duane Grant, chairman of Snake River Sugar Co.s board of directors. By continuing to import some sugar, the U.S. bolsters relationships with its trade partners. Despite a legal obligation to comply with WTO rules, many of its members ignore regulations and subsidize their growers to produce massive amounts of sugar every year, Grant said, dumping their surplus onto the world market for whatever price it will bring. Brazil is, by far, the largest sugar exporter on the globe, producing nearly half of all sugar exports. Brazil, along with Australia, Thailand, Mexico and India, created a world glut and since 2011 dropped the world sugar price from 32 cents per pound to 11 cents, according to the American Sugar Alliance. In the past year, global sugar consumption, 173 million metric tons, surpassed production, 172 million metric tons, finally reducing the world glut. Brazils sugar production, mainly from cane, is forecast to drop 950,000 tons this year to 35 million tons, one-fifth of the worlds production. Fifty-nine percent of Brazils sugar cane crop is now converted to ethanol instead of made into sugar, according to the USDAs Foreign Agricultural Service. Indias production is forecast to drop 1.7 million tons to 28.5 million tons 15 percent of global production. Production in the European Union is expected to fall 650,000 tons to 16.1 million tons nearly 10 percent of global production. Chinas production is down 400,000 tons to 10.6 million tons 6 percent of global production. Production in Russia, Australia and Mexico is expected to rise. U.S. production is forecast at 8 million tons, up nearly 150,000 tons from last year, according to USDA statistics. Of that 8 million, Idaho produces 800,000 tons nearly 10 percent of domestic sugar. Fifty-five percent of U.S.-produced sugar is from beets; 45 percent is from cane. Depending on other countries for a food staple was a recipe for disaster, which is why America created its sugar policy and encouraged domestic production, an American Sugar Alliance video says of Americas foreign dependence and resulting sugar rationing in the 1940s. Now, we have affordable, homegrown supplies. The U.S. consumes 10 million tons of sugar each year, importing 20 percent of that. The U.S. does not export sugar. TWIN FALLS When it comes to commercial sugar beet production, only the best will do. Each year, the Snake River Sugarbeet Research and Seed Alliance receives seeds for new varieties of sugar beets to be tested. The alliance a seed governing committee of growers, Amalgamated Sugar Co. staff and Snake River Sugar representatives seeks to improve seed quality and performance for the growing region. With thousands of acres of sugar beets planted in Idaho each year, seed companies continually vie for new varieties to be approved for use by Idaho growers. Its a very competitive industry, said Mark Duffin, executive director of the Idaho Sugarbeet Growers Association. Beta Seed, Syngenta/Hilleshog, Crystal Beet Seed, Maribo Seed and SESVanderHave are some of the major companies that regularly send sugar beet seeds for testing. Each company has breeders who develop new varieties. We test the different varieties for disease resistance, quality, sugar content and recoverable sugars, Duffin said. The testing period for any new variety is three years, alliance Chairman Cody Bingham said. The alliance sets a threshold for the amount of sugar the beet must produce. Also, new varieties should provide resistance to diseases such as curly top a virus that can be deadly to a crop, causing the leaves to yellow and curl up. So far, about 20 varieties of sugar beet have been approved for Idaho growers though some varieties do best in certain growing regions due to climate and soil content. Almost 100 percent of all sugar beets grown in Idaho are Roundup Ready crops, which are resistant to the Roundup herbicide, Bingham said. The transition began in 2008 because the chemicals growers were using were dangerous to the laborers and were not effective. There arent that many chemicals that can be used on sugar beets for herbicides, Bingham said. The switch almost eliminated the need for other chemicals and hand labor, he said. All sugar beet companies have the ability to produce Roundup Ready seed. This year, Bingham said, the alliance has planted eight Official Variety Trials in Idaho and Oregon. Each OVT plot averages about five acres and is a controlled portion on a participating growers land. Each OVT grows all the varieties, Bingham said. The trial varieties are planted at about the same time as the production sugar beets. The middle two rows of each variety about half of whats planted are sent in for testing, while the others are harvested and sent to the factories. Sugar Beet Origins Historically, most of Idahos sugar beet seeds come from plants grown in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, Bingham said. That trend has shifted in recent years with the effort to reduce cross-pollination with other plants. A large portion of it is done in the Northwest region of the United States, Bingham said. The area includes Oregon, Arizona and the Columbia Basin in Washington and Canada. Sugar beets have been used as a production crop for only about 200 years. The plant was bred in Germany at the end of the 1700s from a wild parent called the sea beet, which lives on the European seashores. The sugar beet industry really developed under Napoleon, Duffin said. According to the Smithsonian Magazine article Blame Napoleon for Our Addiction to Sugar, prior to 1850 sugar was a commodity that only the wealthy could afford. Following the early-1800s British blockade of Frances trade routes with the Caribbean, Napoleon encouraged new research with sugar beets. By 1815, more than 79,000 acres were put into production and beet sugar flooded the British market, the magazine reported. Jane Wylie Davis TWIN FALLS | Jane Wylie Davis, a longtime resident and active member of the Twin Falls community, passed away peacefully at her home on May 14, 2016, at the age of 94. Jane was born in Missouri, attended elementary and junior high school in San Antonio, Texas, and graduated from Twin Falls High School in 1938. She received her Nursing Degree from The University of Tennessee, John Gaston Hospital, in 1943, and married Dr. George T. Davis that same year. In 1945, Jane earned a Certificate of Anesthesia from the University of Tennessee, School of Medicine, and her Degree in Anesthesia and Obstetrics for Nursing in 1946. In 1950, the couple moved to Twin Falls where they both began their careers in medicine and started their family. Jane was the nurse anesthetist at the Twin Falls Clinic for 36 years (1950 to 1986). After her retirement from the Twin Falls Clinic, she worked for the American Red Cross for 12 years (1990 to 2002). Jane was a member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood for 70 years, a member of the local D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution) Chapter in the early 50's, and a founding member of and Past President of the Idaho Association of Nurse Anesthetists. In addition to her professional role as a caregiver and mother of five, Jane tirelessly devoted her attention to her disabled son, Tom Davis. For over 30 years, she could be found taking him swimming at the Twin Falls YMCA Elizabeth Street pool. Jane is survived by her five children, Carolyn Davis White of ID, Susan Davis Hipp of MN, Kay Davis O'Connell of CO, Thomas Lynn Davis of ID, William Wylie Davis of WA, and six grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. George Davis. A Celebration of Life will be held at 3:00p.m., Saturday, May 28, 2016 at Sligar Auditorium at the Twin Falls Center for the Arts, 195 River Vista Pl, Twin Falls, ID. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorials may be made to the Magic Valley Arts Council 195 River Vista Place, Suite 101, Twin Falls, Idaho 83301. Funeral services will be private under the care and direction of Heidi Heil and Serenity Funeral Chapel Life Celebration Center & Cremation Services of Idaho, Twin Falls. Condolences may be shared at www.serenityfuneralchapel.com Its hard to jump back into real life after an adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Central Idaho. The Middle Forks 104 miles of roller-coaster rapids run through Idahos wild heart the 2.3 million-acre Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness carrying floaters from the high country down to the Main Salmon. Along the way, rafters and kayakers run 100 Class III and Class IV rapids, soak in six natural hot springs and fish for the thick westslope cutthroat that clog the rivers shadows. I think its the best river trip in the continental United States, said Jerry Hughes. I dream about it every night. Hughes should know. He guided on rivers throughout the West, including the Grand Canyon area in Arizona, before returning to Idaho to set up his own outfitting business in 1977. He also takes trips on Oregons Wallowa and Grand Ronde rivers as well as through the Owyhee Canyonlands in Idaho and Oregon, but the Middle Fork remains his favorite. I still get out and boat it four times a year, said Hughes, 68. National Geographic Magazine rated the Salmon as the third-best river to raft not in the U.S., but in the world. The river is managed as a true wild river, which means that each time you run it, the rapids have changed, the landscape is different and the ecosystem is reborn. The rapids are so gnarly and unpredictable that the guides have to decide whether to make guests walk around them when the water is running high. You begin your journey running the Velvet Rapid, followed by the long Powerhouse Rapid that goes on and on. The springtime torrents make Pistol Creek, long a precipitous rapid, even more technical and exciting. In high water, Redside Rapids flipped one of our boats on my last trip a startling reminder that we were on an adventure, especially with the water at 47 degrees. A Family Adventure Hughes first started guiding on the Middle Fork decades ago. I was a college kid. Our clients were cutting-edge risk-takers, Hughes said. The trips were pretty primitive. These days some of those early floaters have returned repeatedly, bringing their grandchildren. The outfitters have become safety experts, and their guides cook gourmet meals, set up the tents and do all the work so that their guests can just have fun at all ages. I think the rafting trip has become the great American vacation experience, Hughes said. And its a trip that most family members can enjoy together. I took my twin boys on an outfitted trip when they were 7. They played in the sand with other kids and were watched carefully by all of the guides. My last trip included a grandmother in her 80s with her brood, and they all had a ball whether in the boats or on the shore. As we floated down the river, the spring chinook salmon were swimming against the current, heading for spawning grounds upstream. Untouched by hatcheries, these fish that enter the mighty Columbia River in March, April and May carry the pure genetic material that may allow salmon to survive even climate change. In the river above the put-in point on Boundary Creek, huge salmon jump up Dagger Falls on their way to spawn in the headwaters near Stanley, the main jumping-off spot for people starting a Middle Fork trip. About 10,000 people float the Middle Fork annually, but the low-impact camping practiced by the outfitters and private boaters under U.S. Forest Service guidance keeps the river crystal clear and clean. Boaters carry out everything, including their human waste, so that the land and water remain pristine. This is a land of elk, deer, mountain lions, bighorn sheep and smaller mammals such as pine marten and mink. And you hear wolves howl here. Changes in River, Seasons The rafting seasons timeline also has changed over the decades that Hughes has outfitted on the Middle Fork. Climate change has made trips in June possible with conditions that would have been rare in the 1970s. (Previously, the water was too wild for most people to run the Middle Fork in June.) On the last trip I made, we took wetsuits for a mid-June trip, and the first day was cold and it snowed. But the sun came out the next day, and we were in our shorts for the rest of the five-day ride. Outfitters and private boaters now run all the way into October. Fly anglers especially find the fall float awesome. I paddled down one October and, while the water was low, we had no problems flying into Indian Creek for the start, like most trips in August and afterward. This cuts 25 miles off the trip. (There are two places to begin the trip Boundary Creek, which can be reached by road off of Idaho 21, and the Indian Creek airstrip, which lies 25 miles downriver from Boundary Creek.) The Middle Forks canyon walls and caves hide more than natural wonders. Pictographs, painted by ancient ancestors of the Shoshone and Bannock Indians who lived along the river for thousands of years, tell their stories still. Several of the campgrounds were used by the U.S. Army during the Sheepeater Indian War of 1879, the last Indian war in Idaho. With all of the tributaries flowing into the Middle Fork including the largest, Big Creek, which enters in Impassable Canyon the final rapids are big and bold. Guides usually have no problem keeping their guests in the boats, even in high water. (However, I swam both Rubber and Hancock rapids after being bumped out twice on an earlier trip in an inflatable kayak.) Hughes and his wife, Carole Finley, are beginning to back out of the business as their son Colin takes over the operations. Many outfitters are still longtime family-owned businesses, and both the smaller and larger companies have developed best-management practices to ensure that everyone has a good time, Hughes said, while staying safe. Limited Launches One of the main reasons the Middle Fork trip is special is that only seven parties are allowed to launch daily. Private trips are made available through a lottery in February for rafting dates from May 28 to Sept. 3. After Sept. 3, its first come, first served. You can sometimes pick up permits that people have given up by calling 877-444-6777. Private trips should be undertaken only by the most experienced floaters with all the right equipment. Outfitter trips are included in the seven daily put-ins. The best way to find an outfitter that meets your needs is to check out the Idaho Outfitter and Guides website. There are many options and packages. My last trip with an outfitter included my wife, Tina, and longtime friends. Tina, who has done her share of rougher adventure trips over the years, just wanted a break and some good, old-fashioned R&R. The Middle Fork trip turned out to be just the ticket. Afterward, she told whoever would listen, I felt I was still on vacation a month later. I felt the same way. I returned to the real world, a couple of pounds fatter from the tantalizing Dutch oven cooking, and felt relaxed like I havent for a long time. TWIN FALLS A former employee at a Twin Falls County elk ranch maintained his innocence Tuesday but admitted prosecutors could likely convince a jury he stole elk semen from his former employer, sold it to another elk ranch and pocketed $3,000 from the sale. By entering an Alford plea to one felony count of grand theft, Brandon Allen Eldredge, 31, of Filer did not admit to committing the crime but conceded that if the case went to trial he likely would have been found guilty. According to terms of the plea agreement, Eldredge will be sentenced to two to five years in prison, but the prison term will be suspended and hell be under supervised probation for two years. Eldredge also promised to pay back $3,000 to his former employer, Early Morning Elk Ranch, by the time of his July 15 sentencing hearing. The gist of the states evidence in this case is that Mr. Eldredge took product that was owned by his employers, sold that to some people down in Utah, was paid and then never transferred that money to the employers here in Idaho, Twin Falls County Deputy Prosecutor Stan Holloway said in court Tuesday. The theft occurred in September 2011 and Eldredge was paid $3,000 by an elk ranch in Willard, Utah, Holloway said. He used a portion of those proceeds to buy two money orders one to pay for a personal car loan and one to make a deposit into his wifes credit union account. The balance of the $3,000, we dont know what the defendant did with that, Holloway said. But we do know from testimony of owners of the elk ranch here in Twin Falls County that no part of that $3,000 was ever paid to the victims. After Holloway presented what the states case would have been in trial, District Judge Jon Shindurling addressed Eldredge. Would you agree with me that if the jury were to hear that evidence they would likely find you guilty of this crime? Yes, Eldredge answered. The plea agreement, signed by Holloway and Eldredge on Monday, is a Rule 11 agreement, meaning a judge is bound by the sentencing terms agreed upon by the parties. District Judge Randy Stoker will handle the sentencing, and if he decides on a harsher sentence than the one agreed, Eldredge can withdraw his guilty plea. A previous case against Eldredge accusing him of stealing and selling antlers from Early Morning Elk Ranch was filed in March 2013 and dismissed October of that year. Accusations of Grand Jury Abuse Eldredges guilty plea came about three weeks after he and his attorney, Mike Wood, challenged the use of grand jury subpoenas by the county prosecutors office. During an April 25 hearing, Wood accused County Prosecutor Grant Loebs office of improper and outrageous behavior in its use of the secretive grand jury to investigate Eldredges case. Wood motioned for dismissal on the grounds that prosecutors used grand jury subpoenas to obtain information without ever planning to present the case to a grand jury. There was never any intention to have a grand jury proceeding investigating Brandon Eldredge, Wood told Stoker. I would assert these are fraudulent grand jury subpoenas. But after examining the facts of the case, Stoker filed a written opinion April 25 siding with Loebs office. The court cannot find that the prosecutors authority to use grand jury subpoenas was misused, Stoker ruled. The judge went on to write that using grand jury subpoenas to summon witnesses or obtain documents without ever presenting the case to a grand jury was proper as long as the subpoenas were issued in good faith in anticipation of presenting a case to a grand jury. The record before the court is devoid of evidence that would permit this court to make a finding of the presence or lack thereof of good faith in using the subpoenas in this case, Stoker wrote. The burden to prove outrageous behavior rests with the defendant. He has failed to carry that burden. Wood, a former Twin Falls County public defender, has a long history of both successful and unsuccessful challenges of grand jury proceedings. In 1992, he and other lawyers helped get 28 grand jury indictments overturned because of prosecutor misconduct. The grand jury system in the county was scrapped after those indictments were overturned, but several years later was reinstated with better oversight, Loebs said recently. He defended the use of grand juries in part by pointing out the first words of the Fifth Amendment, which read: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury. The grand jury is the only method mentioned in the Constitution, Loebs said. Its specifically authorized by the Constitution. Wood argued prosecutors used grand jury subpoenas as a fear tactic to make companies Verizon and Western Union turn over records they otherwise would not have been compelled to turn over. He said this was fraudulent and prejudiced his client. If (Verizon and Western Union) had not brought the records in and provided them to my office, then there would have been a grand jury, Loebs said. Those companies would have been asked to testify, absolutely. Loebs dismissed Woods general claims of grand jury misconduct. We use the grand jury effectively, we use it sparingly and we certainly dont prejudice anybody. Twin Falls County Felony Sentencings Almir Coralic, 23, criminal possession of a financial transaction card, $245.50 costs, $500 public defender, $500 fine, $100 DNA, five years penitentiary, two determinate, three indeterminate, credit for time served, 90 days discretionary, sentence suspended, three years supervised probation. Robert Russell Meredith, 45, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $500 public defender, $100 DNA, $500 drug program fine, $315 restitution, six years supervised probation, three determinate, three indeterminate, sentence suspended, 90 days discretionary, three years supervised probation. Amy Jo Wickham, 38, Buhl; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $500 public defender, $500 drug program fine, $1,478.52 restitution, six years penitentiary, three determinate, three indeterminate, sentence suspended, 90 days discretionary, five years supervised probation. Previously paid, illegally obtained or altered lottery ticket violation, $245.50, $60 workman comp program fee, $100 DNA, five years penitentiary, two determinate, three indeterminate, credit for time served, 90 days discretionary, sentences to run concurrent to each other. Teressa Lorraine Aragon, 26, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $500 public defender, $500 drug program fine, $100 DNA, $60 workman comp program fee, $587.91 restitution, six years penitentiary, three determinate, three indeterminate, credit for time served, sentence suspended, 90 days discretionary. Shaun Patrick Cristman, 32, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $500 public defender, $500 drug program fine, $100 DNA, $494.97 restitution, six years penitentiary, three determinate, three indeterminate, 365 days retained jurisdiction. Daniel Diaz Duran, 45, Twin Falls; theft by receiving, possessing or disposing of stolen property, $245.50 costs, three years penitentiary, one determinate, two indeterminate, serve consecutively with 2015 case. Second theft by receiving, possessing or disposing of stolen property charge dismissed. Jessica Nicole Leggett, 27, Twin Falls; DUI found guilty of two or more violations within 10 years, $290.50 costs, $1,000 fine, 365 days jail, 355 suspended, sentence to run concurrent with other charge, 40 hours work detention within 120 days, 24 months supervised probation. Driving without privileges, $172.50 costs, $500 fine, $500 public defender, 180 days jail, 178 suspended, one day credited, sentence to run concurrent to other charge, 24 months supervised probation, 365 days drivers license suspension. Driving Under the Influence Sentencings Eduardo S. Marin, 21, Twin Falls; DUI excessive, $1,000 fine, $700 suspended, $202.50 costs, $50 public defender, 180 days jail, 170 suspended, two days credited, 40 hours work detail, 12 months supervised probation. Paulina R. Dennis, 22, DUI, Twin Falls; DUI, $1,000 fine, $600 suspended, $202.50 costs, 180 days jail, 174 suspended, two credited, 32 hours work detail, 24 hours community service within 45 days, 180 days restricted drivers license, run concurrent with ALS, 24 months supervised probation, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school. Sergio Corona-Gudino, 45, Twin Falls; DUI, $1,000 fine, $700 suspended, $202.50 costs, $50 public defender, 180 days, 129 suspended, credit for time served, 180 days restricted drivers license, 18 months supervised probation. Shane Howard Herald, 48, Twin Falls; DUI excessive, $1,000 fine, $600 suspended, $202.50 costs, $50 public defender, 180 days jail, 170 suspended, two days credited, 40 hours work detail, 365 days drivers license suspension, 12 months supervised probation, attend and complete early intervention program. Craig Joseph Rasmusson, 37, Twin Falls; DUI, $1,000 fine, $800 suspended, $202.50 costs, 180 days jail, 177 suspended, one day credit for time served, 16 hours work detail, 180 days jail, 177 suspended, one day credited, guilty withheld judgment, 16 hours work detail, 180 days restricted drivers license to serve concurrent with ALS, six months supervised probation, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school, keep proof of completion on file. Divorce Civil Proceedings Tammy Colver v. Ernest Colver Kathern Geerlings v. John Geerlings, Santos Castillo v. Maryann Castillo Ben Stephenson v. Jennifer Stephenson Jacklynn Preader v. Adrian Preader Tariq Elhaj v. Janina Lopez James Clayson v. Jessica Clayson Tyrel Hudson v. Samira Hudson Carolyn Newcomer v. Otto Ray III Susan Reitsma v. John Reitsma Jr. Opinion: Gov. Brad Little and the Idaho Legislature are asking you to approve an advisory question about tax cuts and school budgets on the Nov. 8 ballot. Tell them what they want to hear. Vote yes even grudgingly. TWIN FALLS The chocolate is long gone, but the funds raised from the day have been served. For the past 11 years, Death By Chocolate has been organized by the Rotary Club of Twin Falls. It put the Magic Valleys best chocolatiers in one room and lets the public and judges decide who is the best and best-tasting. Participants compete against each other in five categories: best chocolate, brownie, cake, candy and unique dessert. Proceeds from the popular event benefit local charities and projects. This year, the event raised $12,000 that was dispersed to 16 local nonprofits. The Rotary Club of Twin Falls is pleased to be able to provide assistance to worthy causes within our community, said Michelle Bartlome, president of the Rotary Club of Twin Falls, in a statement. One of our goals is to make our community a better place to live. Each year, we hold fundraisers so that we may be able to offer assistance to worthwhile charitable organizations and organizations who strive to improve the community. The nonprofits that received money are: Adaptive Cycling of Southern Idaho Boys and Girls Club of Magic Valley Sleep in Heavenly Peace Family Health Services Hagerman Valley Senior Center Interlink Volunteer Caregivers La Posada Magic Valley Arts Council People for Pets Humane Society Rising Stars Therapeutic Riding Center Safe Kids South Central Community Action Stanton Healthcare of Magic Valley Twin Falls Municipal Band Twin Falls School District Education Foundation Twin Falls Senior Citizens Federation JEROME | The Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs visited Jerome this week to gauge how schools, government agencies and nonprofit organizations are reaching out to the Hispanic community. A two-day visit wrapped up Thursday night with a public forum at St. Jerome Catholic Church. About 65 community members attended. Its the first time since 2009 the state agency has visited Jerome. The group plans to report its findings to Gov. C.L. Butch Otters office. There are many challenges to address, said ICHA board member Raquel Arenz, a Spanish and bilingual education professor at the College of Southern Idaho. But Hispanic residents bring richness to Jerome, she said, and a set of values we so desperately need, such as a commitment to family. We have a tremendous opportunity to work with a community, a group of people, that contribute so much to this society, she said. Three teams met with officials in city and county government, nonprofit organizations and schools from preschool through college. Four state legislators participated. ICHA executive director Margie Gonzalez said there hasnt been much time yet to compare findings with the 2009 visit. But by late next week, well have a better idea of how much progress has been made. The commission travels several times a year to cities across Idaho. It provides services to the Hispanic community, and is a liaison between the community and government agencies. This week, the group met with Guadalupe Eudabe, a Jerome woman featured in the Times-News 2015 El Nuevo Jerome project. Eudabes 2-year-old son, Damian, was killed in September 2014 when he was hit by a pickup outside the familys home. Wendell resident Bernave Avila-Romero was charged with one felony count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury or death. He was arraigned Aug. 31, almost a year after the death of Damian Garcia Eudabe on 21st Avenue East. But prosecutors dropped the case against Avila-Romero in January. Sergio Garcia, the 2-year-olds father, told the Times-News that month that prosecutors said there wasnt enough evidence. Jerome County Prosecutor John Horgan failed to respond to numerous questions by reporters, so its unclear if his office intends to pursue new charges. This week, ICHA also met with law enforcement officials to talk about the lack of communication with the Eudabe family. The Jerome Police Department, Gonzalez said, indicated it would be willing to sit down with the family and Jerome city officials have also expressed interest. Gonzalez plans to return to Jerome when a meeting is scheduled. Jerome police officers planted a tree in the Eudabe familys backyard in Damian's memory, said Juan Saldana, community resource development specialist for ICHA. Idaho State Police investigated the crash and Gonzalez said shes planning to schedule a meeting with the agency in Boise. There has been a huge gap in communication, Gonzalez said. Eudabe feels nothing was done in the case and that justice wasnt served, she added. ICHA also talked with Jerome city and county administrators and law enforcement. Hearing from top leaders was very pleasing, Gonzalez said. Part of the discussion was on Jeromes strategic plan, including the vision for revitalizing the downtown area. Gonzalez said city leaders told them many storefronts would be vacant without Hispanic businesses. The group also heard about city outreach programs to the Hispanic community, such as having a department leader go on Spanish language radio station La Perrona every two weeks to share updates and promote activities. One concern is cases of domestic violence within the Hispanic community that are going unreported, Gonzalez said. Part of our culture is not to seek law enforcement help, she said. Topics that arose related to education included how to improve parental involvement, the academic achievement gap and dropout rate, and the Jerome School District's dual language immersion program that starts this fall. When it comes to health, it's concerning how many Hispanic residents end up in the emergency room, Gonzalez said. Some will wait until theyre literally not able to breathe or have critical conditions, she said. Even in the emergency room, theyre wanting to know if they can be released and go back to work. During the town hall meeting, ICHA talked about St. Jerome Catholic Church as a cultural hub for Hispanic community members in the Magic Valley, the Rev. Robert Irwin said Friday. The church has many community outreach programs, including a food pantry. And its youth group draws about 100 teenagers every Monday night. The church will also be the location for a Head Start program, slated to launch this summer, for children of migrant and seasonal agricultural workers, Irwin said. The town hall meeting, Irwin said, drew a good crowd and covered important topics. It was truly an honor to have them here." Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words, Saint Francis of Assisi is supposed to have said. The aphorism, often quoted, expresses a well-meaning viewpoint of many Christians today. They are concerned that weve been too loud, demanding and angry. Now, they say, we need to show the gospel by our lives. Its a good sentiment, and I certainly agree that we need to demonstrate the gospel change in our lives by caring for others. But there are two problems with the Assisi quote. First, he never said it. Second, its really bad theology. You see, using that statement is a bit like saying, Feed the hungry at all times; if necessary, use food. For Christians, the gospel is good newsits what the word literally means. For evangelicals, our name speaks of the commitment to evangelism that defines us. The good news needs to be told. Yet, Christians, evangelicals included, seem to love evangelism, as long as someone else is doing it. Its time for all of us to start preaching our good news again. Its essential to understand that, regardless of our personal comfort level, we are called to share our faith because Christianity is a missionary faith. Despite the change in our culture and the way our faith is regarded, Christians are commanded to tell people about Jesus. In Matthew 4:19, Jesus called fishermen as his first disciples and told them he would make them fishers of men. His disciples are still called to be fishers of men. Even in our multi-faith environment, this calling should not be offensive to those of other faiths or no faith at all. Evangelism does not mean coercion. We can and should respect each other and strive for tolerance across varying beliefs, but that does not require pretending those differences do not exist. One of the core beliefs of Christianity is that Christianity should be propagated. It isnt necessary for every Christian to rent a stadium to proclaim the gospel to thousands. Most Christians can gain a hearing for the gospel while exchanging life stories at the coffee shop, taking a meal to a hurting family or standing for justice in an unjust world. What evangelism requires is that when we care for a friend or speak out for a cause, we tell others that our faith is the reason. We tell them the good news that was told to us. When speaking to his disciples about sharing his message, Jesus said, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37). The problem then and now has always been about the lack of workers, people who tell the news. It has never been about the harvestthose who do not know Christ. They are often more open to listening than we expect. Famous magician and outspoken atheist Penn Jillette once talked on his video blog about an encounter with a Christian who gave him a Bible as a gift. Rather than be offended by it, Jillette recognized the gesture for what it wasconcern for him. How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? Jillette asked. How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? Thats a good question for many Christians to answer today. LifeWay Research, the Christian polling outlet that I lead, found that 78 percent of those who do not attend church said they, like Jillette, would be willing to listen if someone wanted to tell me what she or he believed about Christianity. Younger people were even more likely to say they would be willing to listen. The harvest at least seems ready to hear, while the workers dont seem as willing to talk. Thats a missed opportunity. A 2012 LifeWay Research study found that 80 percent of churchgoing Protestants believe they have a responsibility to share their faith, but only 39 percent have actually shared with someone how to become a Christian in the past six months. In other words, a lot of people think they should share their faith, but they dont often do so. As I head to Wheaton College to take a newly created endowed chair, Im aware of the man it is named afterBilly Graham. He was known for many things that should be part of our reputation as well. He cared for the hurting, sought to bring peace to tumultuous times and partnered with others for the greater good. Ultimately, however, he was mostly known for one thing: sharing the gospel. And we should do the same today. In Jesus last words before he ascended, he said we are to make disciples of all nations. Evangelism isnt just one part of our calling. It is central to our calling. Jesus last words should be our first priority. As an emergency-room nurse in southwest Wisconsin, I sometimes received patients who had been sexually assaulted and I was expected to help conduct an exam to collect and preserve DNA evidence, though I didnt have the appropriate training. I would try to make sense out of the rape kit: a cardboard box packed with numerous envelopes holding a mess of long-handled swabs and slides. Instructions were printed on both sides of a sheet in type so small I could barely read it. Often, the doctor on call was as uncertain about what to do as I was and had only 10 or 15 minutes before needing to return to other emergency department duties. I felt inadequate to meet my patients needs. And I was always worried: What if I mess something up in the rape kit and ruin her court case? Although jurisdictions are required by the Violence Against Women Act to provide free forensic exams to victims of sexual assault, theres no requirement that the exams be carried out by people trained in evidence collection or rape-victim support. A 2013 report by the Justice Department stated that all communities should strive to ensure that victims of a recent sexual assault have access to specially educated and clinically prepared examiners. But no funding came with that recommendation. My fear that I wasnt serving my patients motivated me to become certified as a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) in 2014, and we now have seven trained nurses in Platteville. But nationwide, the need for trained examiners outpaces their availability especially in rural areas. That means rape victims arent always treated with the urgency and attention they deserve. Research shows that rape kits completed by health-care workers without special training are routinely compromised. One study conducted in Colorado and published in the Journal of Emergency Nursing found that 29 percent of such kits didnt include the correct number of swabs for evidence, 25 percent were improperly sealed and 19 percent didnt follow the proper chain of custody on their way to law enforcement. The integrity of the kits was much higher when specially trained nurses were involved. For those kits, 12 percent had the wrong number of swabs, 9 percent were improperly sealed and 8 percent had an incomplete chain of custody. Several case studies have suggested that jurisdictions with SANE nurses on their hospital staffs have higher prosecution rates for rape and sexual assault than districts without them, possibly because those nurses provide law enforcement with more consistently useful forensic evidence. Still, if I had become a trained examiner primarily to aid prosecution, I would be too frustrated to go on. Many victims either choose not to pursue their cases or hit dead ends in the justice system. And, of course, theres the widely publicized backlog of untested rape kitsnumbering in the tens of thousands, dating back decades. So the evidence I take extreme care to collect may end up sitting in a storage room somewhere. But providing patients with thorough medical care, along with emotional support and referrals to local resources, is just as vital as the forensic part of these exams. I once heard a sexual assault victim tell a detective that her exam with an emergency-room doctor made her feel like shed had an oil change. In contrast to the 10 minutes ER physicians may be able to give to victims, SANE nurses may spend up to four hours with them. Unsurprisingly, more time means better care. Studies have found that victims seen by specially trained nurses are more likely to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases, to receive emergency contraception, and to have any physical injuries identified and documented. More time with patients also means time to answer questions and offer emotional support. Many victims come into our emergency room exhausted after explaining the details of their allegations to police. Im the first person who says, Ill believe what you tell me. Some patients, especially minors, may be confused about medical vs. slang terminology for body parts and sex acts. One teenage victim I examined didnt know what an erection was she knew only the term hard-on. A shorter conversation based purely on the rape kits script might have missed her confusion and overlooked important aspects of her case. I call each victim we examine about a week after they see us. Many understandably dont remember exactly what treatments they received during a very traumatic period. So I make sure theyre aware of what medications we gave them, what diseases theyre probably protected against and what additional care they might need to seek. Of course, theres a limit to how much help I can give within the confines of an exam and a follow-up call. But I can direct patients to local, reliable support services. In two of the last three cases we had at my hospital, our patients ended up using domestic violence services we directed them to. In another case, I worked with a teenage victim from one of the nearby Amish communities, which dont use electronics. I gave her my card and phone numbers before she left the hospital, knowing that it would probably be difficult for her to make use of them. But, using a telephone at her employers office, she was able to connect with some of the resources for sexual assault victims that I talked to her about. Despite the clear importance of having someone who knows what theyre doing conduct a sexual assault exam, trained examiners remain inaccessible to many victims. We know that there are challenges, particularly in rural communities, Rebecca OConnor, vice president of public policy at the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, said when it comes to having examiners available who can address victims needs at the outset to avoid a domino effect. A recent report from the Government Accountability Office surveyed six states Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Oregon and Wisconsin and found that there were not enough trained examiners to meet demand, especially in rural areas. The same report found that nearly half of all counties in Wisconsin have no nurses with sexual assault examination training. Colorado district attorney Sherry Caloia says that for some sexual assault victims in her state, the nearest trained examiners are 90 minutes away. That distance can deter victims from accessing treatment, which can in turn pose problems for their legal cases. When youre in an uncomfortable position of having to talk about a sexual assault already to a police officer, and youve already spent two hours or more making the report, it is hard to then get a victim to go all the way to Summit County or Grand Junction, Caloia said. She added that a victims refusal to travel for a forensic exam with a trained professional could be used against her in court, while also causing prosecutors to miss out on important DNA evidence. On Wednesday, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) introduced the Survivors Access to Supportive Care Act, which aims to address the dearth of trained examiners and an absence of national standards for certification. The legislation would provide for data-gathering on the availability of examiners, the costs of training and states current funding for sexual assault examinations. It also calls for the creation of a task force that would come up with a suite of best practices for the treatment of sexual assault victims. And it would create a $10 million pilot grant program to expand sexual assault examiner training, with a special focus on rural areas. Im grateful that Southwest Health, where I work, agreed to my proposal to build a nursing staff trained to handle the aftermath of sexual assault. But for many communities, thats just not possible. Tuition for a five-day training course can cost hundreds of dollars, plus theres the cost of hotels, meals and substitute coverage back at the hospital. The financial commitment can be prohibitive. Another challenge is keeping rural nurses competent and confident in providing this care when the number of cases per year can be low. Nursing turnover rates are already high, and rural SANE nurses, because of their small numbers and stressful work, are at special risk for burnout. I manage to keep going because I can see Im making a difference. Living in a rural area with a small population, it isnt uncommon for me to cross paths again with victims Ive examined. A little while ago at the gym, a woman stepped up on the treadmill beside me and gave me a brief look of recognition. I knew shed been a patient of mine, and I hoped she was doing well, but I didnt want to violate her privacy by bringing up the exam. So I didnt say anything. Still, I saw her turn toward me and smile. Thats all the feedback I needed. President Barack Obama recently announced that an additional 250 Special Operations forces will be sent to Syria to stem the spread of the Islamic State. It wont work. By now, too little, too late has become the moniker of the administrations Middle East policy. To be fair, the policy of Obamas predecessor wasnt effective either. What is needed is a new piece on the chessboard: an American Foreign Legion. As a former paratrooper in the Armys 82nd Airborne Division and a former military contractor, I have seen that there is no substitute for boots on the ground. You cannot control territory from the air, and ground forces are needed to root out the Islamic State where it lives and festers. The United States has traditionally had four options. The first is isolationism: Do nothing. This means ceding the battle to the terrorists and watching them grow from a distance until they reach our shores. Few would want this. The second strategy is to send in Special Operations forces, as Obama is doing. While such forces are an incredible fighting machine, their main mission will be to build indigenous forces on the ground. We are terrible at this. The United States spent billions on the Iraqi and Afghan security forces, but what did taxpayers get? In 2014, Iraqi soldiers threw down their weapons, peeled off their uniforms and ran away at the sight of an inferior enemy in Mosul. The Afghan military and police are mostly ghosts collecting salaries. The Pentagon and the CIA created Syrian militias to fight the Islamic State, only to have those militias join another terrorist group or even fight each other. Conducting a strategy like this over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. The third option is Iraq War III. We could mount another surge of U.S. troops, as we did in 2007 to turn the tide of the war we launched in 2003, in hopes of winning hearts and minds. But the surge and the counterinsurgency strategy failed. Once U.S. troops leave, terrorists take over again, as the Islamic State has proved. Few Americans would like us to get sucked into another long war in the Middle East. The fourth option is relying on military contractors. In Iraq and Afghanistan, during the height of those wars, at least 50 percent of the U.S. force was contracted. In World War II, that figure wasabout 12 percent. Some wonder whether contracting is the new American way of war. But there are ethical and safety concerns with linking killing to the profit motive, as mercenaries are incentivized to elongate (and perhaps start) conflicts. There is also fraud, waste and abuse, since contracting in war zones comes with accountability difficulties. Then there is the loyalty problem. Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater, now works to help Chinas largest state-owned conglomerate operate in Africa. Lastly, the United States heavy use of contractors has spawned a global mercenary market. In 2015, we saw mercenaries fighting in Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and Yemen. Mercenaries are back, after being in the shadows for centuries. There is a fifth, more acceptable option: Create an American Foreign Legion. When people think of foreign legions, they think of French mercenaries. But the French Foreign Legion is a part of the French military, is led by French officers, takes its orders exclusively from Paris, offers its legionnaires the opportunity to apply for French citizenship and serves only the French government. Its like a French army unit, except that its enlisted members come from all over the world. Its time for an American Foreign Legion. It would be a part of the Defense Department, but its enlisted members would be recruited globally. This encompasses the best of option three (sending more troops to the Middle East) without the pitfalls of option four (relying on private contractors and mercenaries). An American Foreign Legion would solve many problems that have plagued us in the past decade of war. First, it would provide a publicly acceptable, truly volunteer force for long-term operations in the Middle East. Second, training and vetting standards could be maintained in a transparent manner, unlike with todays contractors. Third, legionnaires could be held accountable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Today, when contractors do something wrong, such as commit murder, they typically get sent home with minimal punishment. As Prince put it, they get a choice: window or aisle. Fourth, it solves the loyalty problem. The American Foreign Legion would be a path to citizenship in exchange for service to our cause. This is not a radical idea; we do this to a limited extent in our military. Fifth, a long-term Foreign Legion would be cheaper than contracting. In fiscal 2014, the Pentagon spent $131 billion on contractorsmore than twice Britains entire defense budget. Lastly, it would help stem the growth of the mercenary industry worldwide. The United States is the biggest consumer of private military services, but we have limited control. When we no longer wish to pay military contractors, they will find someone who will. We should stop outsourcing war. Nor should we have a Vietnam War-esque draft. An all-volunteer force is core to our values, so lets extend that opportunity to the rest of the world. An American Foreign Legion would create many solutions, including a viable Middle East strategy. Dear Twin Falls School District Patrons: Last week the Obama administration issued new guidelines about transgender students in the nations schools. The new guidelines state transgender students should be allowed to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity and should not be required to use separate facilities. The guidelines also suggest schools should not require documentation such as a doctors note that a student is transitioning and that schools should treat students in ways that are consistent with their gender identities; e.g., using the students preferred names and pronouns. It is important to point out that this guidance does not have the force of law behind it. The Twin Falls School District works closely with attorneys from the Idaho School Boards Association when adding or revising school district policies. Earlier this school year, the ISBA recommended school districts adopt a non-discrimination policy, and provided a model. In October 2015, the TFSD Board of Trustees approved two policies entitled Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation and Equal Education, Nondiscrimination, and Sex Equity. The Associated Press last year reported that very few school districts had adopted the ISBA policy. Our administrative team and our school board members were motivated to take this action for two major reasons. It is our desire to avoid costly future legal problems and remain in compliance with federal requirements that are linked to funding. But also, we want our schools to be safe places for all students. In recent years, we have experienced a few situations involving transgender students attending schools in our district. It has been, and will continue to be, our practice as outlined in our policy, to meet with the parents and the student to work out issues and potential situations together. We consider the needs and rights of all students during these meetings as well as affordability when it comes to any decision that is made. The Idaho High School Activities Association has detailed rules about transgender students participating in sports. For example, IHSAA Rules and Regulations 2015-2016 state: A male-to-female transgender student athlete who is taking medically prescribed hormone treatment under a physicians care for the purposes of gender transition may participate on a boys team at any time, but must complete one year of hormone treatment related to the gender transition before competing on a girls team. The IHSAA rules include requirements for medical documentation that a student is transitioning. In summary, we believe with these policies and practices in place, our districts patrons are better protected from the burden of costly legal battles. We are certain that this aspect of the Title IX law will continue to become more defined through court rulings. Issues such as privacy considerations in bathrooms and locker rooms and affordability of retrofitting old school buildings for individual locker rooms most certainly need further legal work. We will respond to those changes as necessary. We will continue to work with each situation individually to ensure all students rights are protected, solutions are such that they dont break the bank, and that all students feel welcome and respected within the halls and classrooms of our schools. It is our goal to be transparent with our community and, as such, we invite you to stay up to date with our policies and board decisions. Links to both our policy manual and board meeting agendas can be found on our website at http://www.tfsd.k12.id.us/tfsd/Your_District/yourdistrict.html School Shouldnt Bend to Religious Garb I would like to commend the Citadel Military School in South Carolina! They denied a female Muslim an exception to wear a hijab. It is bad enough the school was forced to admit women in the 1990s. Now religious females want to change the dress code to their liking! Are these people aware of the tradition or military discipline? Obviously not! This young Islamist is considering a lawsuit to break a tradition of this school and this country. It is against my religion to listen to rap or hip hop! However, when it comes on the radio station, I dont file a lawsuit; instead I change the channel, or turn off the radio! Problem solved. In other words, young ladies, there are a lot of schools in this country. Roger Paulson Shoshone In this Wednesday, April 13, 2016 photo, Herbert Diamond, 88, left, of Fort Lee, N.J., speaks with Dr. Manisha Parulekar about his end of life preferences, at the Hackensack Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J. Such conversations, are slowly spreading across the U.S. as Medicare rolls out government payments for the consultations. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) The doctor got right down to business after Herbert Diamond bounded in. A single green form before her, she had some questions for the agile 88-year-old: about comas and ventilators, about feeding tubes and CPR, about intense and irreversible suffering. "You want treatments as long as you are going to have good quality of life?" Dr. Manisha Parulekar asked. The retired accountant nodded. "And at that point," she continued, "you would like to focus more on comfort, right?" There was no hesitation before his soft-spoken reply: "Right." Scenes like this have been spreading across the U.S. in the months since Medicare started paying for conversations on end-of-life planning. Seven years after that very idea spurred fears of "death panels," supporters hope lingering doubts will fade. "The more and more that that happens, the more patients, families and doctors will become comfortable with it," said Dr. Joe Rotella, chief medical officer of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine . "Any distrust people have about, 'What is this?' really disappears when patients sit down and find out this is about empowering them." The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services quietly tucked the change allowing for payment for end-of-life counseling into a massive package of regulations last summer, with billing permissible as of Jan. 1. To date, CMS has not released any data on how many people have taken part in the sessions, but a survey released last month suggests it may be off to a slow start. Three non-profitsthe California Health Care Foundation, Cambia Health Foundation and John A. Hartford Foundationfielded a poll of 736 doctors who see patients 65 and older. Only 14 percent said they had already billed Medicare for the new counseling, though the survey was conducted February 18 through March 7, meaning the earliest participants only had about six weeks from the start of the benefit. Altogether, 95 percent of doctors in the poll expressed support for the Medicare benefit and a big majority considered such conversations important. In this Wednesday, April 13, 2016 photo, Herbert Diamond, 88, of Fort Lee, N.J., meets with Dr. Manisha Parulekar about his end of life preferences at the Hackensack Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J. For years before the Affordable Care Act was written, there was bipartisan consensus on the value in helping people understand their desires at the end of their lives and make those wishes known. A 1991 law passed under President George H.W. Bush requires hospitals and nursing homes to help patients who want to prepare living wills and advance directives. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Some doctors had already incorporated end-of-life planning into regular visits, and certain private insurers began offering reimbursement for it before Medicare announced its change. But because Medicare is the single largest payer of health care in the U.S., this could stand to be one of the most significant developments in end-of-life care ever seen in the country. It also gives Americans a glimpse into something many only knew through the lens of controversy. Diamond arrived for his appointment at Hackensack University Medical Center on a mundane day in which he had reviewed investments, had a dentist appointment and ate a couple slices of pizza for lunch. In his last visit with Parulekar, she gave him a copy of "practitioner orders for life-sustaining treatment," or POLST , a doctor-signed document that makes end-of-life preferences known. "Did you have a chance to look at the form?" she asked. He had, and they set out to review it as Parulekar filled it out. "I wish to live a full and long life but not at all costs," she wrote as a goal of care, repeating language common in living wills, something Diamond long ago completed. This document will go further in its specificity and authoritativeness. It serves as a medical order to dictate the response to a health crisis should patients no longer be able to make their own decisions known. The doctor calmly addressed questions as they moved through the document with Diamond: How long would he feel comfortable being on a feeding tube? If hope seems lost, should CPR be performed anyway? Would you want to be put on a respirator? "I wouldn't want to be on a machine for the rest of my life, that's for sure," Diamond told her. In this Wednesday, April 13, 2016 photo, Herbert Diamond, left, 88, of Fort Lee, N.J., meets with Dr. Manisha Parulekar about his end of life preferences at the Hackensack Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J. Some doctors had already incorporated end-of-life planning into regular visits, and certain private insurers began offering reimbursement for it before Medicare announced its change. But because Medicare is the single largest payer of health care in the U.S., this could stand to be one of the most significant developments in end-of-life care ever seen in the country. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) All told, it was only about 20 minutes before Diamond's white sneakers shuffled out of the room and the appointment was over. He was to review the paperwork with his two daughters before signing it, but he said he had looked forward to the session simply because it was a new experience. Diamond said he saw it as both necessary and comforting. Medicare reimbursements for the appointments vary by region and the type of facility, but on average, an initial 30-minute session in a doctor's office costs $86. As those experiences proliferate, the topic of discussing end-of-life care may return to the relatively uncontentious mantle it once enjoyed. For years before the Affordable Care Act was written, there was bipartisan consensus on the value in helping people understand their desires at the end of their lives and make those wishes known. A 1991 law passed under President George H.W. Bush requires hospitals and nursing homes to help patients who want to prepare living wills and advance directives and similar efforts gained particular resonance after the 2005 death of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman whose family fought for years over whether she'd want to be kept alive in a vegetative state. In 2008, Congress overwhelmingly passed legislation requiring doctors to discuss issues like living wills with new Medicare enrollees. And just months before being tapped as Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin signed a proclamation recognizing Healthcare Decision Day to spread word of a statewide campaign about the importance of advance directives. That history dissipated in an instant in 2009 as President Obama's health care proposal spurred angry protests. Early drafts of the bill included a provision to pay for voluntary end-of-life conversations. Palin claimed it amounted to creating "death panels" and said it would allow government officials to decide whether sick people get to live. "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care," she wrote in a Facebook post at the time. Palin hammered the "death panel" idea. Her staff made clear she was specifically addressing advance-care planning. And the controversy led to the proposal being dropped from the bill. In this Wednesday, April 13, 2016 photo, Herbert Diamond, 88, of Fort Lee, N.J., meets with Dr. Manisha Parulekar about his end of life preferences at the Hackensack Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J. Diamond said all the men on both sides of his family died before they reached 65, and so he never expected to live as long as he has. But years ago, when his wife was hospitalized, dying with lymphoma, he recalled an old man in a bed next to her hooked up to all kinds of paraphernalia, in seeming misery. It was a lesson to him to make sure he never found himself in the same place. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) With the Medicare change in sight, at the close of 2015 Politico penned an obituary for "death panels." But fears stoked by the ideawhich PolitiFact named the "Lie of the Year" in 2009still remain. Obama even made light of the lingering impact in addressing the White House Correspondents' Association dinner last month, noting his own impending retirement and joking : "Eight years ago, I was a young man, full of idealism and vigor. And look at me now: I am gray, grizzled, just counting down the days till my death panel." A March 2016 poll by Public Policy Polling, commissioned by Ari Rabin-Havt for his book "Lies, Incorporated," found 29 percent of respondents believed the health reform law established "death panels," with an additional 31 percent unsure. Among Republicans, 45 percent said they believed the law established "death panels." Requests for comment from Palin via her political action committee went unanswered. "Lies are very sticky," Rabin-Havt said, "and this is yet another example of how sticky lies are and the damage they can do." Hackensack University Medical Center, where Diamond had his session, is taking part in an advance-care planning campaign to educate and encourage people to put their preferences in writing. Linda Farber Post, the hospital's director of bioethics, said the goal was to have all doctors, not just those treating the elderly or dying, to have such discussions with their patients. "This is not something where doctors should be saying, 'Let's just leave it to the geriatricians and the palliative care folks,'" she said. Diamond said all the men on both sides of his family died before they reached 65, and so he never expected to live as long as he has. But years ago, when his wife was hospitalized, dying with lymphoma, he recalled an old man in a bed next to her hooked up to all kinds of paraphernalia, in seeming misery. It was a lesson to him to make sure he never found himself in the same place. "It just seemed quite apparent to this layman that he was suffering and yet his family couldn't let go," he said. "I would never want that for me." 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Bernard Minor spent 26 years behind bars for murdering a drug dealer who owed him $400. Now, the ex-con spends his days teaching others to keep their rage in check, one of the swelling ranks of America's anger therapists. "I was a very angry person," the 58-year-old told AFP. "I'd been living a violent life. Living in the streets since I was 11 years old. Now I want to help people." Minor specializes in tackling domestic abuseworking with "batterers," in his own wordsin Los Angeles, a city seen by many as a hotbed of short-fused behavior and where the rage management industry is booming. "Our referrals grow by 20 percent per year," said George Anderson, a 78-year-old therapist, who says he has treated 17,000 people throughout his long career. Famously tempestuous stars include Sean Penn and Kanye West, known for lashing out at paparazzi, or Justin Bieber, who egged his neighbor's house after receiving complaints about loud parties and fast cars. Supermodel Naomi Campbell infamously threw her cell phone at a housekeeper. But in the City of Angels, where residents rage at the time wasted in traffic jams and homicide rates are among the highest nationwide, anger therapy is by no means limited to the rich and famous. Blew up The financial crisis and pressures of an increasingly fast-paced life, as well as constant connection to the outside world via mobile devicesexacerbating stress levelsare all seen as driving the anger therapy trend. Truckers and gang members both make up large constituencies of clients, but they rub shoulders with surgeons or top executives sent by their employers to quiet their tempers. About 70 percent of course attendees are men. Around half are here by choicethough often nudged into action by a long-suffering spouse or relative. The rest are here on the orders of a judge. Eric, a 40-year-old stunt performer who did not want to be identified by his last name, opted in after finding himself in a bar fight, a clash with his brother, and an argument with his girlfriend that landed him in a jail cell. Rick, an eye surgeon, signed up at the urging of his employer after he lost his temper at work. He blew up after a nurse overfilled a syringe, which could have caused severe damage had he injected it in his patient's eye. "You rely on a lot of people, but you're ultimately responsible," he recalled, and the pressure on occasion became too much. With regular therapy sessions, "I've learned to better communicate with my team," he said. "I tell them their work is very important, and that I rely on them." Identifying triggers Nearly one in every 10 Americans have both a history of impulsive, angry behavior and access to guns, according to research by Harvard, Columbia and Duke Universities. Another Harvard study found that two-thirds of American teenagers suffer from bursts of irrepressible anger. Concerns about rage are by no means an American-only problem: in Britain, for instance, one in 10 people admit to having trouble controlling their anger. But in California, the demand for therapy is also rising because of the "very low tolerance" for violence, said therapist Anita Avedian, founder of the local chapter of the National Anger Management Association. "You give a tap on the hand of your childthat's abuse. You're an angry person," Avedian said. "You do anything to your pet; you're in jail." Both in group and individual sessions, clients learn how to identify their triggers. Many students cite trouble with their spouses, but others point to issues like feeling disrespected or harassed by a superior. Everyone gauges their anger levels on a scale of one to 10, with the goal of never letting the temperature rise above seven. It's a lucrative business: a group session starts at just $20, but an individual meeting can set you back up to $350 per hour. With the help of discussion and visualization techniques, clients learn how to stop reacting defensively and feeling under attack, how to stay rational and understand the viewpoints of others. Expressing emotions calmly is a top goal, as well as how to set boundariesbefore the anger bubbles over. Many anger issues, in their experience, are linked to childhood trauma, such as growing up with a particularly critical father or feeling abandoned by a parent. There are relapses, but both Anderson and Avedian estimate their success rate at between 70 and 80 percent. Arnold, a 51-year-old trucker and ex-convict with a history of gang membership, suffered from abuse throughout his youth. When he feels disrespected, his blood still boils, but he's learned to rein it in. "If I touch anybody, I go to jail," Arnold said. "I'm not gonna give you that satisfaction. I'm not getting handcuffed." Explore further Video game with biofeedback teaches children to curb their anger 2016 AFP @PatriciaMazzei Carlos Beruff has endorsed Donald Trump for president and channeled the celebrity businessman's outsider message in TV ads. But don't suggest Beruff is the Trump of the U.S. Senate race in Florida -- at least not on Spanish-language television, to Hispanic voters who largely dislike Trump. In an interview that aired Sunday on Univision's Miami affiliate, Beruff pushed back on a question from host Ambrosio Hernandez asking him if he's like Trump -- a comparison Beruff has otherwise seemed to relish. "I suppose it's because we're both business people," said Beruff, dismissing the suggestion though not very forcefully. "But I'm not like him. He's unique." The Cuban American home builder from Sarasota was speaking to the Al Punto Florida show. Beruff also defended his positions to limit immigration -- until the border is "closed," he said, "it's silly to talk" about anything else -- and to ban travel to the U.S. from Middle Easterners (except Israelis) -- "If the FBI" says are security concerns, he said, "who are we to say there's not?" UPDATE: The Beruff campaign sends a clip of an earlier interview with the candidate, from May 1 on NBC 6's Impact, in which Beruff says in English that "There is only one Donald Trump, as we know." He adds: "But there are aspects of where he's coming from that I understand, which is business people that have built and actually created jobs in this country." Recognition Jared L. Losing, a financial adviser with Ameriprise Financial, has qualified for the companys Circle of Success annual recognition program and will be honored for this achievement in 2016. To earn this achievement, Losing established himself as one of the companys top advisers by consistently demonstrating exceptional commitment to financial planning and superior client service. Only a select number of high-performing advisers earn this distinction. Losings office is located at 2615 Connery Way in Missoula. Gibson Mansion Bed and Breakfast, 823 39th St., in Missoula was recently accepted into Select Registry, a portfolio of premier bed and breakfasts, inns and boutique hotels throughout North America. Only the best properties are invited to undergo Select Registrys rigorous quality assurance inspection and pass to become members of the exclusive organization. Susan Wingrove, RDH, BS, of Missoula, was a recipient of the 2016 Sunstar/RDH Award of Distinction. Wingrove is the co-designer of the Wingrove Implant Titanium set, ACE probes, and Queen of Hearts instruments. She is the author of a textbook, Peri-Implant Therapy for the Dental Hygienist, and travels internationally to teach health care providers about implant maintenance. C. Ed Smart, an agent for New York Life in Missoula, has earned membership in the Million Dollar Round Table for 2016. MDRT is an international, independent association of the worlds best life insurance and financial services professionals. Smart has been a New York Life agent since 1975, and is associated with New York Lifes Montana general office in Billings. Appointed Hospice Care Foundation has appointed John Zinn as the newest board member. He has been doing business as JT Zinn Insurance Agency in Missoula since 2013 specializing in auto, home, commercial and life insurance. Zinn also is a member of the Missoula Chamber of Commerce, Biz to Biz Group and MBN. Accredited The American Society of Appraisers announces the accreditation of Michael P. Mike Size. Considered the industrys most difficult designation to achieve, Size joins less than 1,400 fellow experts around the world who currently hold the ASA Business Valuation credential. He is one of three with this credential in the state of Montana. Size is president and founder of Portside Advisers, a national business valuation and machinery and equipment appraisal firm headquartered in Missoula. Here's a touching father-son poem by Jennifer Gray, who lives in Nebraska. If you're not big enough to push a real mower, well, you make a mower of your own. Summer Mowing He has transformed his Tonka dump truck into a push mower, using *** lumber scraps and duct tape to construct a handle on the front end of the dump box. *** One brave screw holds the makeshift contraption together. *** All summer they outline the edges of these acres, first Daddy, and then, *** behind him this small echo, each dodging the same stumps, *** pausing to slap a mosquito, or rest in the shade, before once again pacing *** out into the light, where first one, and then the other, *** leans forward to guide the mowers along the bright edges of this familiar world. *** We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright 2015 by Jennifer Gray, Summer Mowing, from Plainsongs, (Vol. XXXV, no. 3, 2015). Poem reprinted by permission of Jennifer Gray and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2016 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. In Brazil I rented a house on 2.5 acres filled with citrus, banana, cashew, mango, papaya, and a myriad of other things. I had a few chickens that roamed the lot and slept in the orange trees. There was a busy restaurant right across the street from me and one day the owner mentioned that he had a difficult time finding enough chickens to keep up with his clientele. I always needed extra money, as the Peace Corps salary wasn't that much. They didn't want their volunteers to be rich gringos. About once a month a truck would come through town selling boxes of baby chicks. Nobody ever bought any, preferring their own rustic and robust breeds that populated everyone's back yard. So I decided to go into the chicken business and show the Brazilians the American way of producing poultry. I bought a couple hundred chicks and that's where my troubles started. I made a place in my store room for them and got some millings from the rice machine next door. It was chilly the second night I had them, so I borrowed a huge wok type pan from the neighbors. I placed it upside down on some bricks and for heat I used a little lamparinha. A lamparinha is a small, conical thing that holds about a pint of kerosene. The wick is the size of a pencil and smokes horribly. The next morning about fifty chicks were dead from smoke and carbon monoxide, and the rest were sickly. It was a minor setback because the chicks were cheap. My neighbors followed my struggles with amusement, but I was determined to show them the correct way. I knocked a small hole in the store room wall so they could go outside during the day. But that brought another problem. My chickens needed to be caged and that meant chicken wire. But there was none to be had in the little town I lived in. So it was off to Cuiaba. That entailed a six-hour bus ride each way, so I spent a lot of money on a hotel and meals. The next day I hunted all over town and eventually found a roll of wire. It was horribly expensive. Finally home, I cut some bamboo stakes and made a chicken run like they did in the USA. I fed the chicks rice millings that was free from the milling machine next door, but as they grew they needed more substantial feed. The American way was to feed chickens wheat, which was unknown in those parts. Sparing no money, I bought little packets of bulgur wheat which cost an arm and a leg. Expense was no object. I was going to do things right and demonstrate my American know-how to the bemused neighbors. Then the chickens started getting sick. There was no veterinary supply store in town, so it was off to Cuiaba one more time to buy some antibiotic. The medicine helped, but I still lost quite a few chicks. Then the snakes found my poultry herd, causing more loss. I was down to less than half my original purchase and had invested more money than I could afford. The neighbors were delighted with my struggles. While their healthy chickens wandered freely, ate bugs, slept in the trees at night, and thrived, mine were a sickly bunch of miniatures roosters that had been culled from an egg producing farm. They weren't meant to grow. Then Newcastle disease hit my herd, and it was off to Cuiaba again for vaccine. I had about $10 a head into the chickens by that time, and had made the deal to sell the restaurant my production for $2 apiece. My gringo operation was the talk of the neighborhood as my numbers declined and the expenses rose. But I didn't give up easily. Another trip to town for a second roll of chicken wire cost me two days and a lot more money. I had lost sense of reality and was going to see my venture through even if it drove me into bankruptcy. The neighbors loved my foolish determination. But the chickens didn't grow. They weren't supposed to. They were bred to lay eggs, but they were all roosters, and not equipped for that job. From the original 200 chicks I had maybe 40 left, and no matter how much money I put into them, they didn't get much bigger than a pigeon too small for the restaurant. Finally I opened the chicken run and turned them loose to be with my others which were doing well with absolutely no cost to me. I gave up, much to the disappointment of my friends and neighbors. So much for my American way with poultry. There's a sense of helplessness surrounding the rise in child abuse and neglect cases in Missoula and across the state. Watson Childrens Shelter built a second shelter in July 2010. Its full, and theres a waiting list. The shelter is not the first resort, said director Mike Boehm. Most who walk through the doors have suffered "profound abuse." If they were to build a third shelter, Boehm worries it would be full in no time. Child abuse is showing no signs of letting up. If anything, its getting worse, according to Missoula County and state data. The increase in child abuse and neglect cases parallels a rise in meth cases not a coincidence, people in the child protection systems say. The status of the Montana child protection system is deeply troubling, according to a recommendations report released Tuesday by the Protect Montana Kids Commission, established by Gov. Steve Bullock last fall to examine issues in the system. The system is in crisis and is experiencing an enormous growth in caseload. There are a record number of Montana children in foster care this year, according to the report 3,179. Thats more than double the number in 2008. The commission agreed with the correlation: Most of the spike can be attributed to parental drug abuse. Of those 3,179, more than 1,000 were removed due to their parents meth abuse. Thats up from 230 children in foster care due to parental meth abuse in 2010. Montana courts handled more than 2,300 child abuse and neglect cases in 2015, up from 1,600 in 2014. Missoula Countys data falls in line with the statewide trend. In 2015, 173 child abuse and neglect cases were filed in Missoula County. Thats a stark increase from the 51 cases filed per year from 2007 to 2011. Our DN (dependency and neglect) cases are slightly ahead of this time last year, said Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst. From 2013 to 2015, the number of meth cases opened in Missoula County rose 137 percent. Meth cases are still consuming an inordinate amount of resources, she said. Deputy county attorney Kelly Henkel reported that about 80 percent of the DN cases she's filed this year are meth-related. The rest are alcohol-related, or have elements of mental health challenges and physical abuse. All of those children have been removed from the home, with 70 percent placed with family members or close family friends, and the rest going into foster care. Court Appointed Special Advocates of Missoula (CASA) saw its cases triple in three years, ending 2015 with 180 cases. Its drugs, drugs and drugs, said Youth Homes executive director Geoff Birnbaum. Its the one thing we know, lets put it that way. 'Flooded with methamphetamine' On a Youth Homes caseworker's first day of in-home parent visitations in Lewis and Clark County, their caseload was full. The oldest kid was 5 and as young as a month old, and every one of the cases had drug and alcohol, and mostly drugs, Birnbaum said. I think the drugs people are using, starting with marijuana, are stronger than ever before. When you go to Oregon and you get legal marijuana, its powerful compared to what it was in the '60s and '70s. What that tells you is people arent just getting a buzz. Theyre gone. Theyre not available. The number of drug abusers has stayed fairly steady during the years, Pabst said, but the types of drugs and where they come from has changed. Were just flooded flooded with methamphetamine from Mexico, she said. Theres just such a rampant supply. Were seeing a huge influx in product coming from the superlabs in Mexico versus 10 years ago when we were dealing with meth problems and a lot of it was cooked locally. Its a huge money-making venture for these labs in Mexico. Theyve got state-of-the-art equipment, engineers, chemists, versus when it was just real small-town and inconsistent in 2005 and 2006 when we were dealing with such a resurgence. A day at the children's shelter At 2 p.m., Quinn Kessler starts her day at Watson Childrens Shelter. Kessler, an evening case manager, reviews the communication log, where staff write down the day's events and what's on the schedule for that night, what appointments are coming up that night, for example, if a child has a visitor. Shes worked there for 12 years, since she was 18 years old. I was three years older than our oldest kid, she said. Program director Deboruah Madonnas story is similar. She started at Watson when she was 19, and has now worked there 28 years. But shes been connected to the shelter far longer. As a child, she grew up next to the shelter and would play with the children, not knowing why they were there. Within the first three weeks of a childs stay, theyre enveloped in services dental, vision, physical, mental health evaluation, counseling and an educational assessment. Watson works with attorneys, a CASA, Department of Public Health and Human Services and family. Meanwhile, parents start treatment plans and in-home services are put in place. At 4 p.m., three more staff come in to help Kessler as the children get back from school. There's an afternoon snack and they unwind from the school day before dinner, appointments and showers. Dinner is family-style at 5 p.m. After dinner, its homework time. Many are in specialized programs at school because of gaps in their education, so theres a lot of catch-up work. With all of that missed schoolwork, the kids could be working for hours every night, but that stress isn't healthy for them, staff say. At some point they cut off the studying and let the kids relax playing, then quiet time, then bedtime. "We want them to be kids, because often kids come in here, with the type of abuse or life they've had, they haven't had the chance to be a child," Madonna said. Staff also have a rule that every child gets at least three positive reinforcements a day. We really try to build the children up while theyre here," she said. "When you come to shelter care, its the uncertainty. If you think about going into somebodys home, theyre strangers youre scared and youre frightened. Were strangers to them. Watson takes in children up to 14 years old. The average stay is 60 days, though children in the more extreme cases sexual and emotional abuse often stay longer. The first choice is for parents to be able to get their children back; second is another family member. But many go into foster care, and others to residential treatment homes. "They become almost like brothers and sisters here, in a way, because they're living together," Madonna said. "I ran into a girl yesterday at Walmart and she's having her third child and we were talking about other shelter kids that she still is in contact with. She named one of her kids after her because they're best friends." Drug abuse's shocking reality CASA of Missoula executive director Jeri Delys had one word for the child abuse and neglect spike meth. If you think about what meth does, how can you take care of yourself, let alone a child? she said. The images of the Montana Meth Projects Not Even Once campaign stuck with Delys, but reality was more shocking. When she traveled to Mineral County for a meth dealer's case, she had a vision of what the person would look like emaciated, with bad teeth and sores on her face. Then Delys saw the woman and nearly did a double-take: She looked exactly like Delys sister. It scared me, Delys said. Its so well-hidden. If you think about somebody whos intoxicated, you can tell. But the signs of a dealer, what do they look like? I was just in my own little bubble. It was extremely eye-opening to me. A CASA is assigned to a child in a DN case. The CASA is a trained community volunteer who becomes the voice for that child, an independent fact-finder. They have a court order to interview whomever they need. Nearly every CASA works one case at a time though last year CASA of Missoula had to ask some to take on two and theyre at about 125 CASAs right now. There are 80 kids on the waiting list. Were just seeing a steady increase, which is difficult to manage, she said. Its important that our program be able to keep up and its hard, and I think anybody who does this kind of work will tell you the same thing. Its very difficult. In 2013, St. Luke Community Healthcare and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, both in Polson, started collecting data on newborns at risk for neonatal abstinence syndrome. NAS is essentially withdrawal for a baby whose mother was using opioids during pregnancy. That year, 15 percent to 19 percent were at risk. In 2014, it jumped to 22 percent. In 2015, it was nearly one-third. By January and February of this year, at St. Luke alone, nearly 50 percent were at risk. That really touches on everything were experiencing, Delys said. She doesnt know what it will take to slow the rise in cases, or stop it altogether. I have no idea. I wish I knew. Thats the $10,000 question. 'We've got to get better as a system' Policies need to be enacted to help parents and children before a crisis occurs, Missoula County Commissioner Stacy Rye said at April's "State of the Young Child," including universal prekindergarten, flexible work schedules and high-quality childcare. Many businesses still fall behind in offering parental leave, she said, and daycare isnt cheap. We do more and more each day, Rye said. Were so busy that were dazed. Birnbaum said publicly-funded daycare would take a lot of pressure off families. Theres definitely nurses that would tell you that we know the kid who goes home that were worried about, he said. Removing a child from their home isn't simple, according to state law. But the cases were seeing, its like, what took you so long? Birnbaum said. And I dont mean that negatively, because I think theyre (Child and Family Services Division) trying. But everybodys full. The hospitals full, the shelters are full. I think weve got to get better as a system in getting people to be willing to involve. I think that some of its just cultural. People defend themselves as parents. When people call me, the first thing I try to do is to make them realize that everybody doesnt know what the hell to do with their kid. And if we can do that, I think wed get more families the help they need. Pabst said locally, prevention efforts and addiction treatment must be the top priorities. Working with projects like the Montana Meth Project, and schools," she said. "But its hard when its such a monumental challenge. As meth abuse grows, so do serious domestic violence cases. And while children are not directly involved, being around it is just as traumatizing, she said. Weve seen a spike in felony domestic cases, Pabst said. What meth does to people from a social standpoint from our professional position is that it turns what would be perhaps petty criminals and turns them into felons. These extremely violent cases were seeing more often than not are tied to meth abuse: assaults with weapons, strangulation. Birnbaum's message was simple: We can't give up. I have a former Youth Homes kid who wound up losing her children in her early 20s," he said. "She had a meth addiction, went to prison for three years and lost custody, came out, stayed sober, filed to get shared custody and got it back. Its possible. When he was running up the record as Missoulas longest-serving City Council member, Jack Reidy had a regular criticism of the Open Space program: When will the south side of town get a share of this? It was 20 years ago this summer when Reidy helped bring 1,465 acres of Mount Jumbo into public hands. Over the 22 years he spent representing the South Hills and Farviews neighborhoods, Reidy also saw the acquisition of the North Hills, Mount Sentinel and Fort Missoula cornerstone properties. On Saturday, his side of town gets on the map with the Mount Dean Stone project. Its 1,000 acres bigger than the rest of the city open space lands combined. But this isnt a city park like Tower Street Conservation Area or a U.S. Forest Service recreation area like Pattee Canyon. In fact, nobody has a playbook that defines what Mount Dean Stone will become. We dont have an answer about who will finally own this, said Grant Kier, executive director of Five Valleys Land Trust. It will be kind of lengthy and messy, because it will take a while to find the right fit. This is a potential model to rethink the way we do open space. Heres the deal: The 4,200-acre parcel covers a ragged triangle running behind the radio towers atop Mount Dean Stone and extending southeast along the curl of the Miller Creek Valley. On the map, it clumps in four checkerboard blocks. Most of the in-between blocks are owned by the state of Montana or the U.S. Forest Service. The Nature Conservancy acquired that parcel as part of the 310,000-acre Montana Legacy Project with Plum Creek Timber Co. Its mission is to pass on that land to new owners who will protect its conservation values. That has included the Forest Service, state land managers, ranchers and even the City of Missoula. But the Dean Stone lands are different. Were used to having people recreate on our land as it was when it was owned by Plum Creek, said TNC land protection specialist Chris Bryant. In the Blackfoot (river valley, site of many Legacy Project lands), weve helped create or expand wildlife management areas and places for people to snowmobile, fish, hunt and picnic. We dont have the capacity to be a facilitator with a lot of user groups. But we have a long partnership with Five Valleys, and that allows us to work at a scale we havent in the past. FVLT announced it has raised $1 million for a three-year option to buy the land from TNC at its annual banquet on Saturday. The eventual price tag is about $4.5 million. The two organizations intend to leverage their respective networks of donors and affiliated groups to raise the money. One of those groups is Run Wild Missoula, whose members have already donated $25,000 toward the project and have pledged two more annual $15,000 contributions. Group executive director Tony Banovich said those 1,600 members look forward to a tantalizing expansion of their running territory. Youll have this horseshoe ringing the eastern edge of Missoula, Banovich said. You can go from the North Hills to Mount Jumbo to Mount Sentinel, across Pattee Canyon and up Dean Stone to the end of Miller Creek all of which have some form of public open space. When you think of all the communities in the Rocky Mountain West, thats an incredible legacy of lands open and available for public use. And thats what makes Dean Stone particularly significant. The public lands of the Lolo National Forest surround the Missoula Valley. But some restrictions apply. Especially with our in-town recreation areas that have large amounts of public use, we have to look at those carefully, said Al Hilshey, recreation manager for the Lolo Forest. Our management of places like Pattee Canyon and Blue Mountain recreation areas have group size limits. Those are based on what the facilities can accommodate, resource protection needs and potential user conflict. And any group that plans commercial activity on Forest Service land, whether its an endurance race or a summer camp nature walk, must have a permit or license. Thats been a frustration for many Missoula organizations that depend on the outdoors for field trips, backcountry skills training or long-distance routes. Dean Stone will be really exciting for mountain bikers, because there are such limited opportunities for new trail construction in Missoula, said Eric Melson, local advocacy manager for International Mountain Biking Association. We understand the Forest Services inability to add new miles of trail to the ground when they can hardly handle what they have. Were sort of the biking juggernaut in Missoula, and we have the ability to go after funds for trail work. And the trails are a benefit to everybody. FVLTs Kier said Dean Stone may eventually pass to traditional public ownership. But in its early stages, he hopes to see a new kind of roundtable management consisting of community clubs, organizations and institutions willing to both build the propertys amenities and steward its natural qualities. Id like to see a space to have conversations that are hard to have in a more regimented, public place, Kier said. This is so big, and yet so close to the urban area. Were focusing on the things that are unique to the wildland-urban interface. Just as Missoulas North Hills lead to the Rattlesnake National Recreation area and then the Rattlesnake Wilderness, Dean Stone Mountain provides a similar steppingstone to the deep backcountry. Thanks to last years acquisition of the South Hills Spur between Pattee Canyon Road and Mansion Heights, a dedicated hiker can walk out of the Missoula city limits into the Sapphire Mountains and on to the Welcome Creek Wilderness, Rock Creek drainage and Skalkaho Game Preserve. Thats a good deal, Reidy said shortly before the Dean Stone project was publicly announced. Having some land on this side of town is a good thing. We have a few parks, but not much open space. Im glad to see it. Forty years after the Montana Logging Association was founded, the group met Saturday morning to look at an industry in limbo and what needs to change so it will thrive. U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., addressed the MLA attendees, hopeful that a bill containing forest management reform that passed the U.S. House recently would soon make it through the Senate, into a conference committee and onto President Barack Obama's desk before the end of the year. Either that, he said, or the Senate would try to pass a standalone bill. "I just got news last night (Friday) of positive discussion being had with the Energy Resources Committee leadership," said Daines, who serves on the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. "The current state of our forests, frankly, is tragic. You can see the clear difference between federal ground, state ground and private ground. It's tragic that our mills have to go hundreds of miles to get logs to supply." Daines emphasized the importance of establishing "common-sense" forest management practices now to create healthy forests, rather than "waiting until Mother Nature makes that decision for us." "Compounding the risk are years of inadequate forest management practices spurred by obstructionist litigation by fringe groups as well as excessive regulations," he said. "Our friends of the U.S. Forest Service are being forced to spend much of their budget on responding to fires rather than preventing those fires in the first place. We need to equip the Forest Service with the tools they need to succeed. We need reforms to dramatically increase the pace and scale of restoration to address the enormous challenges and the persistent threats to our communities and to our environment." *** Timber harvests in Montana's national forests are down 78 percent since 1987. Forest industry employment has dropped from 12,000 jobs in 1990 to 7,000 jobs today. Under the 2014 U.S. Farm Bill, about 5 million acres of Montana's national forests were identified for priority forest restoration work, "allowing us to address some of the standing dead timber that we have as a result of the beetle kill," Daines said. Two years later, 6,200 acres are in process for approval. MLA executive director Keith Olson was encouraged by Daines' remarks. He, like everyone else at the meeting, wants to see the fire-borrowing funding issue fixed. "Everybody knows we've got to come up with a way to fund wildfires," Olson said of the fire-borrowing problem. "But then how much policy reforms go along, because I think on the more conservative side the belief is throwing money at wildfires isn't the answer if we're not going to go out and make our forests healthy. And then of course on the other side of that argument there are groups that just are real nervous, real concerned about changing forest policy." *** "It's an industry in flex," said Kate Wehr, who works for King Mountain Forestry LLC in Deer Lodge alongside her husband, owner Forest Wehr. U.S. Forest Service Region 1 acting director of renewable resources management Christine Dawe talked to attendees about the industry's age gap: older loggers are retiring, taking institutional knowledge and skills with them before the Forest Service can find younger workers to take their place, mostly in rural areas, and retain them when they do. Eighty percent of Dawe's staff has turned over in the past 18 months, all but one of which was retirements. It's time to get creative, she said, noting that the Forest Service has hired a staff member devoted solely to outreach. They've also taken about 20 seasonal workers from the regional timber strike team and moved them into full-time positions, added more silviculturists and started timber sale administration trainings. "In this agency, there's an expectation that you'll pick up and move," she said. "There are pros and cons to that ... the (lack of) continuity, the relationships you build with the community." Companies like King Mountain have gotten creative, too, diversifying their work to ride out a constantly fluctuating industry. Kate Wehr expects to see the different arms of the logging and timber industries shift to accommodate this new mindset, with more focus on conservation and environmental impact rather than "the old school log-on-a-truck." "I think it's overblown a little bit," Olson said of the age issue. "It's true. But we have a lot of good young loggers out there, but they're struggling to bring in the employees they need." *** In a presentation by Bureau of Business and Economic Research research specialist Chelsea McIver, she looked at a 2014 study by Auburn University associate professor Yaoqi Zhang, which found that it can take up to four years for logging industry supervisors to become proficient in the West. "Even experienced people, it can take awhile to get them integrated so they know the way you operate," said Forest Wehr. "Sometimes it's harder to unlearn than it is to learn. When I first started ... I worked for a rancher friend of mine. I was 19. He asked me all these machines, if I knew how to run them, I said no and he said, 'Good. I'd rather train you to learn my way than have a bunch of bad habits I've got to undo.' " Wehr said he's found some solid young workers, but it's a challenge. Logging is an unpredictable line of work. "One of the challenges isn't just young people, it's the so-called millennial group," Olson said. "We are as an industry, and I think all natural resource industries, probably struggling a little bit with understanding them but also making the job fit the lifestyle they're going to want, because if we can't do that, they're going to go do something else." It represents a cultural shift that the timber and logging industries haven't quite caught up to, he said. "The millennials are expecting a little more from their employers and we're trying to figure out how to get it and still get logs on trucks," he said. Kate Wehr said she sees a lot of turnover in the younger crowd because entering into the industry isn't always "glamorous work," and she sees many who "don't want to do the grunt work" to move up in the field. "If you go to demo someplace, they've got great equipment, they jump up in that air-conditioned cab," Olson said. "I mean, it's Star Wars. There are buttons and levers, all the things they grew up with as kids. They look at that and man, they're really excited, but then they gotta get up at 4 o'clock in the morning and go to the job and it starts to lose its glamour." The U.S. Department of Education opened its doors 36 years ago. Proponents of its creation promised improved efficiency and higher student achievement. Instead, federal spending has soared and student achievement has barely budged. Clearly, Washington doesnt know best, and its time for federal authorities to butt out of Americas schools and put parents and their locally elected boards back in charge. The longest running nationally representative assessment of American student achievement is the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the results of which are known as the Nations Report Card. Long-term trend results in both math and reading are reported on a scale of zero to 500. Students who score 300 or above can solve moderately complex math problems and understand relatively complicated reading materials. Among 17-year-olds, typically high school seniors, the long-term performance in NAEP math has increased only slightly over decades, from 52 percent of students scoring 300 or above in 1978 to 60 percent faring as well in 2012, the latest year for which results are available. The long-term reading performance of 17-year-olds has remained flat, with just 39 percent of students scoring 300 or above in both 1971 and 2012. Over the same period, federal appropriations for elementary and high school education increased more than 140 percent, from $33.2 billion in 1971 to $80 billion in 2012. Student enrollment, meanwhile, increased only 9 percent, from 45.6 million in 1971 to 49.8 million in 2012. Back in 1866, when the idea of a national education department was first being debated in Congress, Rep. Samuel J. Randall, D-Pa., predicted that it would amount to a bureau at an extravagant rate of pay, and an undue number of clerks collecting statistics (that) does not propose to teach a single child its A, B, Cs. History proves Randall was right. We were promised that illiteracy would be eliminated by 1984. We were promised that high school graduation rates would reach 90 percent by the year 2000 and that American students would be global leaders in math and science. And we were promised that by 2014 all students would be proficient in reading and math. None of this has happened. Rather than learning from these broken promises, Congress continues to tinker with ineffective and costly federal education programs. Its time to end the U.S. Department of Education and put the real experts parents back in charge of their childrens education. Parents, regardless of their incomes or addresses, are choosing their childrens public, charter, private and online schools in a significant and growing majority of states. More than 1.7 million students are now home-schooled, with that figure increasing 62 percent in the past decade. Research shows that when parents have more choices in education, both students and schools benefit, and do so at a fraction of the cost of top-heavy federal programs. The resulting competition for students and their associated funding puts powerful pressure on schools to improve. Little wonder that some seven out of 10 likely voters believe competition improves public schools and support greater parental choice, particularly education savings accounts, or ESAs. First enacted in Arizona in 2011, and four more states since then, such savings accounts put parents in charge of their childrens education funding, allowing them to customize the services that best meet their childrens needs. Any leftover funds remain in students ESAs for future expenses, including college tuition. Regular ESA expenditure audits by state education agencies provide unparalleled levels of public transparency and accountability. Instead of funneling money through the D.C. bureaucracy, we should be funding American students directly through ESAs. Until we put the real experts parents and their locally elected representatives back in charge of education, we can expect more overpromising and under-delivering from the U.S. Department of Education. *** Vicki Alger is a research fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, California, and is the author of the forthcoming book, Failure: The Federal Misedukation of Americas Children. She has a doctorate in political philosophy from the University of Dallas. Readers may write her at Independent Institute, 100 Swan Way, Oakland, CA 94621. The federal government should not leave elementary and high school education to the whims of local school boards. Such boards simply lack the capacity to address the funding, curricular and justice gaps that students experience throughout our nation. Take California, for example. It is one of the wealthiest states in our nation, but you would never know it from its schools. The state has the highest poverty rate for children in the country. Effectively half of Californias 6 million public school children are poor or living just barely above the poverty line. Over half a million of these children are homeless. Eighty-one percent come from families in which the parents are working but still cant make ends meet. Nearly 1 in 4 of Californias students is a non-native English learner. One in 10 has an identified learning disability. Many suffer from trauma. Many show up just to eat a hot meal. These kids need a lot of support, and the state simply wont foot the whole bill. Per-pupil spending in California is among the lowest in the country. Last year, the federal government contributed $7 billion to education in California. While this is only a fraction of the states education budget, it literally cannot operate schools without these funds. But financial support is not all that federal authorities provide. There is value in uniformity. The federal government has established a common vision for our schools. If we want our students to excel in college and compete with an international workforce, we must have uniform curricular expectations that apply to all students. There is no reason for one local board to decide that its students wont be taught that global warming exists, while another teaches that it does. If we want to produce informed, productive citizens, we cant allow local boards to lower the national expectations for student learning. Even more important than a common vision is advancing justice. Through civil rights legislation and monitoring, federal authorities have consistently butted in to protect the rights of students with disabilities, young women, poor students and students of color. But the battle is not over. Our schools today are almost as segregated as they were in the days before the civil rights movement. Almost every district in the country has an achievement gap related to race. It is the federal authorities, and not local school boards, who make sure that children have equal access to education regardless of whether they live in Bakersfield, Calif., Appalachia or New York City. It is the federal authorities who are now protecting the rights of transgender students to use the restroom. Separate is not equal. It has never been. But today, separate is also weak. Research shows that countries with greater equity in education have better schools. Despite its fall from grace, this was the premise of President George W. Bushs No Child Left Behind Act and the accountability movement. And his idea makes good sense: If we want to improve education, we should hold schools responsible for the success of each and every student. We need a central authority to help us maintain this focus. This is not to diminish the role of local government in public education. I am a lifelong educator. I have taught in California schools for years. While federal involvement is imperative, local governments can lead the way with school improvement. I am hopeful that California Gov. Jerry Browns local control of funding will better serve our students, but holding the purse only matters if it is not empty. Hopefully we can work together at a national and local level to cultivate excellent schools that provide equal opportunities for all our students. Ultimately education is about our kids. And if the federal government butts out entirely, our kids are the ones who will suffer. *** Elizabeth Guneratne is a lecturer at Santa Clara Universitys School of Education & Counseling. She has a masters degree in education from the University of San Francisco. Readers may write her at 22 Guadalupe Hall, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053. Experience has shown that, in caring for the land and water, private ownership has been our best guarantee of conscientious stewardship, while the worst instances of environmental degradation have occurred under government control. By the same token, the most economically advanced countries those that respect and protect private property rights also have the strongest environmental protections, because their economic progress makes possible the conservation of natural resources. In this context, Congress should reconsider whether parts of the federal governments enormous landholdings and control of water in the West could be better used for ranching, mining, or forestry through private ownership. Timber is a renewable natural resource, which provides jobs to thousands of Americans. All efforts should be made to make federal lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service available for harvesting. The enduring truth is that people best protect what they own. It makes sense that those closest to a situation are best able to determine its remedy. That is why a site- and situation-specific approach to an environmental problem is more likely to solve it, instead of a national rule based on the ideological concerns of politicized central planning. We therefore endorse legislation to require congressional approval before any rule projected to cost in excess of $100 million to American consumers can go into effect. The Republican Party supports appointing public officials to federal agencies who will properly and correctly apply environmental laws and regulations, always in support of economic development, job creation, and American prosperity and leadership. Federal agencies charged with enforcing environmental laws must stop regulating beyond their authority. There is no place in regulatory agencies for activist regulators. Personally I prefer to keep my public lands public and in federal ownership so I can use them. Tim Bozorth, Bozeman BILLINGS - There may not be a legal grizzly bear hunting season in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem yet, but that doesn't mean the big bruins aren't being killed by hunters. A father was cited after his 15-year-old son shot a 9-year-old male grizzly bear while black bear hunting on May 5 in Idaho near Henry's Lake. They are California residents. Upon returning to their family cabin the hunters realized the mistake and reported the incident to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game the next day, the agency reported in a press release. IDFG investigators issued the juvenile a warning, and the father was cited for taking and possessing a protected species. The arraignment date for the citation is set for June 1. The bear was seized and will be used for educational purposes. In May 2014 an Idaho hunter claimed he killed a grizzly bear in self-defense. He was later convicted when in a jury trial. Proper identification of any species being hunted is important, but especially in those areas that contain black and grizzly bears, IDFG advised. Grizzly bears in the GYE have been proposed for removal from protection under the endangered species act. If that's approved, the states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming have planned grizzly bear hunting seasons. BILLINGS - Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will hold a public meeting in Gardiner on May 31 to discuss wolf season setting for the upcoming year. The meeting will be held in the auditorium of the Gardiner High School from 6 p.m. to 8p.m. At its May 12 meeting Montanas Fish and Wildlife Commission approved for public comment a 2016-17 wolf season with no changes to the 2015-2016 season. The final decision on the wolf season will be made at the commissions July meeting. Comments on the wolf season and other proposed seasons can be made on FWPs main hunting page at http://fwp.mt.gov/hunting/. SEATTLE (AP) An investigation by the Washington state Department of Natural Resources found that tree branches rubbing on a power line started the 2015 blaze near Twisp that killed three U.S. Forest Service firefighters and badly injured another. The agency's report says ignition likely happened as a light wind moved the branches and a sagging Okanogan County Electric Cooperative distribution line on Aug. 19, 2015. The investigation says burning foliage then dropped to the ground and spread flames. The Seattle Times obtained the DNR document through a public records request. A utility official told investigators the power lines are maintained to standards, with trees removed every three years or whenever deemed necessary. In the area where the fire began, the lines were last cleared during the 2012-13 winter. The report didn't comment on the question of potential negligence. "The fire danger rating for that area was categorized as very high, which indicated fires would start easily from all causes and immediately after ignition would spread rapidly and increase quickly in intensity," the report said. The investigation revealed strong evidence of the fire risks that the region's network of power lines can create when they come into contact with trees during the peak summer fire season. The fire 6 miles west of Twisp, Washington, killed Richard Wheeler, Andrew Zajac, and Tom Zbyszewski, and critically burned Daniel Lyon Jr., of Stevensville. The deaths and injury were a wrenching blow for the Methow Valley community and the broader firefighting community occurring during a historically bad fire season that burned more than 1.8 million acres in Washington and Oregon. The Twisp River Fire eventually burned more than 11,220 acres and destroyed or damaged rural homes outside Twisp. The Seattle Times late Friday afternoon was unable to contact Okanogan County Electric Cooperative officials for comment on the report. The utility's website describes the cooperative as a nonprofit run by a board elected by members. Montana term limits frustrate, but do not stop, legislators from seeking election as many times as they wish. Nearly all senators and representatives serve as long at the state Capitol as they did before voters added term limits to the Montana Constitution with a 1992 ballot measure, according to a Lee Newspapers analysis. And a recent change to state law removed the requirement to take a break after 16 years. It used to be you served eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate then you had to be out for two years before you could come back, Secretary of State Linda McCulloch said. But they took that period out. Sen. Jim Keane, D-Butte, is the first legislator to take advantage of the seemingly minor definition change. It allows him to run for a seat in his original chamber immediately after serving maximum consecutive terms in both the House and Senate. Conveniently, Rep. Edie McClafferty is termed out of the House, so her district is open. He has filed for election to her HD 73 seat, while she has decided to run for his SD 38 seat to likewise continue service. Most legislators argue that the maneuvering forced by term limits is not only a hassle, but has damaged the balance of the state government by draining the body of institutional knowledge while shifting power to the governor, bureaucrats and lobbyists. Other political observers also argue term limits have been a driving factor behind increased partisanship that has tied up or killed major bills in recent sessions. Term limits have not been good for Montana, said McCulloch, who is responsible for overseeing elections throughout the state. She admitted the rules, nonetheless, are unlikely to go away. Ed Butcher, the former state senator from Winifred who worked with his son to put term limits on the ballot, called the rules a success. We didnt want to stop them from serving in the Legislature, he said, noting that he does not consider it a loophole in the law that legislators can switch back-and-forth between chambers. We just wanted to break up the power structures that develop when people are there forever. *** Starting in the 1990s, Montana was one of 21 states where voters created term limits through the initiative process, a number that likely would be higher if more states allowed ballot measures. In addition to limits on executive offices like governor, Montana legislators can only serve eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate during any 16-year period. Like other states, Montana tried to set limits for leaders elected to U.S. Congress, but the Supreme Court of the United States struck down those provisions. Some political scientists have since speculated that the popularity of the movement was driven largely by an interest to fight corruption at the federal level. The state Legislature may have paid the price for an impression people had about Congress, said Bob Brown, a Republican who served 30 years in the Legislature before being elected Secretary of State and narrowly losing a 2004 gubernatorial race against Brian Schweitzer. Courts or legislatures in six states have repealed term limits. Because Montanas rules were added to the Constitution, legislators cannot amend them without voter approval by referendum. Every session some legislators discuss asking voters to expand or remove the limits, but few of those measures make it to the ballot and those that have were shot down. I believe the trend was driven by people who wanted to ensure our democracy was citizen-driven and not done by professionals, said Wendy Underhill, director of elections and redistricting at the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the end, its not at all clear that having term limits has had that effect. *** Most Montana legislators serve just as long today as they did before term limits, according to an analysis of years served at the time of a legislators departure. Legislators who left office in the 1990s or 1980s served a median of six years, slightly higher than the four-year median seen each of the previous five decades. Even after the first legislators were termed out of office, the median remains six years. Montana political observers argue that term limits force sometimes uncomfortable decisions for legislators who want to continue their service but do not have a convenient district opening. Nancy Keenan also argues that they weakening the power of a vote. It takes away the voice of the people for who they want and for how long they want them, said the executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. Of the 13 House districts where term limits have forced out incumbents, five of those legislators are running for open Senate seats in this falls election. Of 11 senators who have reached their maximum in that chamber, three have filed for House district races. Two of those races involve a district swap similar to the one between Keane and McClafferty of Butte. Carolyn Pease-Lopez of Billings was elected to the House the same year Sharon Stewart-Peregoy of Crow Agency was elected to the Senate. Eight years later, both Democrats have filed to run for each others seat. No significant difference exists between the median length of service for Republicans and Democrats, nor the number of members from each party that have been termed out of office. But one party has dominated the list of longest serving members and has therefore lost the largest accumulation of institutional knowledge. Of the 25 people who served the most time in the Legislature ranging from 24 to 53 years 18 were Democrats. Most left office before term limits appeared on the 1992 ballot. Underhill said long-serving legislators can be an asset or a barrier to fellow members, depending on their willingness to collaborate. If you like that person, its really a great thing, she said of veteran legislators who accrue authority within committees or caucuses. If you dont like that person, it can be really frustrating. *** Butcher, a Republican, said his motivation behind pushing for term limits was not about party affiliation, but rather focused on giving new ideas a better chance of moving forward and breaking up entrenched political alliances. Theres stagnation that happens when you have people serve too long, he said. We had an old guard running committees that would table bills they didnt want to consider. David Wanzenried, a Democrat who worked on the governors staff before serving 18 years in the Legislature, disputed Butchers characterization. He said a handful of incidents cannot be construed as being a regular occurrence. I dont know that old-timers stymied newcomers as much as people would say, he said, recalling earlier decades when he says committees fostered substantive discussions rather than taking turns to make talking points. Now, a lot of the people that get elected want to go to Helena to do A or B. They dont want to discuss it. No negotiations. No collaboration. They just want to go over and do it. Thats a problem. Any deliberative body has to have an exchange of ideas. Political observers said its difficult to pinpoint how much term limits contributed to the culture shift at the Legislature, particularly because of a growing polarization in political discourse nationwide. At minimum, they both share an underlying theme: Voters increasingly distrust government. Years before Bob Keenan of Bigfork ran for the Legislature, he was among the 67 percent of Montanans fed up with reports of cronyism in Washington, D.C., and who voted to add term limits to the state Constitution, assuming to some degree the same problems also existed in state government. I was on the outside looking in and didnt know anything about the issue other than it was a bumper-sticker mentality of, Lets clean up the House and the Senate, too, the Republican recalled. Keenan, who has now served nearly 14 years in the Legislature, has since changed his mind about state term limits. If youre in office and youre opposed to term limits youre accused of being a career politician and that couldnt be further from the truth, he said, noting that the stress of balancing his service with business and family commitments was the main reason he did not return to the House after being termed out of the Senate in 2006. He successfully ran again for a Senate seat in 2014, when Verdell Jackson was termed out. You really have to get out and get a job and make a living. *** Even before term limits, Montana leaders prided themselves on serving what they considered the most citizen-oriented Legislature in the country. It is one of just four states where the Legislature meets biennially rather than annually. Montana legislators spend fewer days in session 90 days every two years than any other state in the country, meaning they spend more time living in the communities they represent. Members of the House, who must run for reelection every two years, easily can spend more time campaigning than governing. When attempts are made to raise the limited pay $10.33 an hour plus mileage during the 90-day session some argue it is a good idea to make legislative service a personal financial sacrifice to discourage career politicians. When I voted for term limits, I didnt realize the importance of having the people who had been there through lots of different issues, he said, noting that he was mentored in his first terms by some of the last decades-serving members. Now that Im back in the Legislature, Ive found it to be a very different place. Because of term limits, the need to form new relationships never ends. Few of the legislators Keenan served with during his first stint remain. Even Keane, among the longest-serving members of the Legislatures recent era, expects to start from scratch if he returns to the House in 2017. I dont know most of the people in the House, he said. Itll be a new game for me over there. *** Coming Monday: More on the effects of term limits on the Legislature. UNITED NATIONS Conflicts last longer. Soldiers and rebels break the laws of war without so much as a shrug. Millions of people are driven from their homes by wars and natural disasters. And aid workers complain that they are overstretched, underfunded and in greater danger as they try to deliver relief to the people who need it most. The machinery of humanitarian aid is not only broke but, according to many critics, also broken. To address these problems, the United Nations is sponsoring the first World Humanitarian Summit, starting on Monday in Istanbul. But most of the worlds most powerful leaders those whose soldiers and diplomats can end wars and hold accountable those who violate international humanitarian law are not going. President Obama is not planning to attend, nor is his top diplomat, Secretary of State John F. Kerry. Neither is President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who has rebuffed the five core commitments that the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, wants countries to embrace at Istanbul. Those commitments include respecting existing humanitarian law, preventing conflicts and donating more money for aid. In any event, they are not legally binding. China, which operates a parallel aid system that channels money mostly to friendly governments, is sending officials from the ministry that handles foreign aid. The host nation, Turkey, is itself under scrutiny by rights groups for turning back refugees to war zones. Bud and Donna Royse Bud and Donna Royse of Butte celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary May 19. The couple wed May 19, 1956, in St. Vincents Catholic Church in Salem, Oregon. Their children include Judie and the late Van VanKooiman of Boston, Massachusetts, and Nancy and Doug Duncan, Doug Royse and Dorrie Sestrich, and the late Dan and Tracy Royse of Butte. In addition, the couple has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Longtime Butte business owners, Bud and Donna opened the Arctic Circle Restaurant in Butte on Nov. 5, 1971. They built the business, working tirelessly seven days a week. All of their children worked at the restaurant as well, including their daughter Nancy, who is still working there today. In 2008, the restaurants name changed to Royses Hamburgers. Bud and Donna sold the business to their son, Dan, and his wife, Tracy, in September 2008. Dan passed away in 2012, and Tracy continues to run the restaurant with the help of many family members. Today, there are three generations of Royses working at the restaurant, continuing the great example Bud and Donna started. Tyler Brumfield peered into the machine to see the laser at work. "It's kind of fun to watch," he said. When the red light had traced the lines he'd directed, Brumfield opened the machine and pulled out the slip of cardboard. The laser had burnt a fine line around the material, but it hadn't gone far enough. "I've got to bump up the power on the laser so it will cut through," said Brumfield, a sculptor and graduate student at the University of Montana School of Art. The teacup Nahtanha Voss created started out as a warm thin smear of plastic. Voss, an undergraduate student, is working on a sculpture about memory that will include some 17 or so teacups, and she's making them on a 3D printer. "I can't throw pots. The last time I tried throwing, I threw my back out," Voss said. As of last week, she'd created about eight different cups, light pieces that began out of a corn-based plastic rolled into a rope around spool. The 3D printer warmed the spool, and a nozzle laid the material in a pattern on a plate with instructions for dimensions that Voss had sent from a computer. In the room, scraps of plastic were scattered like confetti on a table, and a team of bright yellow octopuses rested on one side not far away from a tortilla burned with an image reminiscent of the Pieta. Inside the bowels of the laser cutter, red and yellowish lights flashed, and a humming sound came from one of the 3D printers. The room is called the Fab-Lab, a fabrication laboratory on campus that puts equipment and machinery more traditionally used by manufacturers and scientists into the hands of artists. The art students resist them some and then they have their way with the various tools. This semester, they "hacked" a vinyl cutter so it used a ballpoint pen or crayon instead of a cutter, for instance. The first Fab-Lab opened at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology decades ago, said Brad Allen, director of the UM School of Art. In 2009, he went to a conference and saw that artists' use of manufacturing equipment wasn't a fad but a direction, and he decided UM would invest in it. Like the student art gallery, the lab is front and center at the entrance to the Fine Arts Building, having been built in the past two or three years. "The message that sends is that new techniques in manufacturing and in imaging aren't relegated to the sciences, but can also be implemented and expanded in art," Allen said. Allen first saw a fab-lab at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine, and when he saw the laser cutter in action, he said the whole idea made sense. At UM, the seed for the lab sprouted in the sculpture room with an old 3D printer. Little by little, the idea grew, and a couple years ago, the School of Art took the opportunity to create the actual Fab-Lab inside the Fine Arts Building, Allen said. The lab was designed with a philosophy of access in mind, he said. First, it doesn't function in isolation, as some art labs do elsewhere. Rather, he said, it's designed as a hub that works in tandem with other areas of the School of Art. Secondly, the equipment is open to all artists, not just students who have special permission, a limitation he's seen elsewhere. The AGL Foundation, a donor from Whitefish, has financially supported the lab from its inception. "Our idea as a group was to make it accessible in every sense of the word," said Allen, who credited others with building the lab including associate professor of photography Matthew Hamon. The lab contains computers as well as the laser cutter, vinyl cutter, a row of 3D printers, large paper printers, and the camera for an XBox360 (yes, used to make art). All in all, the room holds some $50,000 worth of equipment, "not a staggering number when you compare it to a science lab," Allen said. Last weekend, it served as host to nearly 300 high school students. Daily during the week, it's open to students, with Voss as a guide to ensure people can not only operate the equipment, but can stretch with it in making art. "I think we're in that stage right now where as a unit, as a school, we're trying to figure out what this technology means, art historically, and at the same time, we're trying to figure out how to use it to make art as part of a process," Allen said. The first steps in the dance between the traditional artist and the manufacturing equipment can be hesitant ones. Brumfield, from Oregon, said he's accustomed to making sculptures with his hands, and he likes that process. "Relinquishing that control to a robot is a little tricky," he said. At the same time, he sees the value, and he's interested in the intersection between sculpture and graphic design. Brumfield makes pieces out of cardboard sheets glued together, sandwiched with counter top material, and bound by bolts. If he weren't using the laser cutter, he would have to hand cut 45 to 50 different pieces of cardboard using an X-Acto knife. It took him just four tries to dial in the laser cutter, and from there, it would punch out the exact piece he needed every single time. Someone with arthritis can create art with the equipment that he wouldn't be able to make with bare hands, Brumfield said. Also, he said, the School of Art can print work that's created elsewhere and send to a computer in Missoula. "So you can have an exhibition of someone else's work without having to ship it, which is pretty amazing," Brumfield said. In the U.S., he said, the landscape inspires many artists, who use natural materials as media. "Making the jump to using these kinds of materials is weird. It's a little uncomfortable," he said. At the same time, Brumfield suspects it's the future: "I think there's value in trying to use new technologies because it's probably the direction the world is headed." Nationally, schools are beginning to see fabrication labs as viable means of art production, Allen said, but UM remains unique in the state and fairly unusual in the region. Going forward, he envisions an interesting relationship developing with people in the Media Arts program as both schools mature into the technology. Always, he'd like technology to remain in the background, the art to stay at the fore, and the students to remain inquisitive. "Our students are amazing, and part of what makes them, I think, uniquely good at the creative process is constantly questioning their environment, relationships, contexts and, certainly, technology falls into that," Allen said. Voss, who speaks as easily about calibrating printer temperatures and speeds as she does about the concepts behind her teacup sculpture, sees and shares the opportunities. Last weekend, she helped the high school students use the XBox camera to take scans of their own bodies and then send them to the 3D printers. "They loved it," Voss said. "Definitely quite a few high school kids ... were pretty thrilled they got to take a sculpture of themselves home." Do you agree with the Board of Regents' decision to allow the computer science school at MSU to be renamed after gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte, who donated $8 million to the department? Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series. Montana term limits frustrate but do not stop legislators from seeking election as many times as they wish. Nearly all senators and representatives serve as long at the state Capitol as they did before voters added term limits to the Montana Constitution with a 1992 ballot measure, according to a Lee Newspapers analysis. And a recent change to state law removed the requirement to take a break after 16 years. It used to be you served eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate, then you had to be out for two years before you could come back, Secretary of State Linda McCulloch said. But they took that period out. Sen. Jim Keane, D-Butte, is the first legislator to take advantage of the seemingly minor definition change. It allows him to run for a seat in his original chamber immediately after serving maximum consecutive terms in both the House and Senate. Conveniently, Rep. Edie McClafferty is termed out of the House, so her district is open. He has filed for election to her HD 73 seat while she has decided to run for his SD 38 seat to likewise continue service. Most legislators argue that the maneuvering forced by term limits is not only a hassle but has damaged the balance of the state government by draining the body of institutional knowledge while shifting power to the governor, bureaucrats and lobbyists. Other political observers also argue term limits have been a driving factor behind increased partisanship that has tied up or killed major bills in recent sessions. Term limits have not been good for Montana, said McCulloch, who is responsible for overseeing elections throughout the state. She admitted the rules, nonetheless, are unlikely to go away. Ed Butcher, the former state senator from Winifred who worked with his son to put term limits on the ballot, called the rules a success. We didnt want to stop them from serving in the Legislature, he said, noting that he does not consider it a loophole in the law that legislators can switch back-and-forth between chambers. We just wanted to break up the power structures that develop when people are there forever. Starting in the 1990s, Montana was one of 21 states where voters created term limits through the initiative process, a number that likely would be higher if more states allowed ballot measures. In addition to limits on executive offices like governor, Montana legislators can only serve 8 years in the House and 8 years in the Senate during any 16-year period. Like other states, Montana tried to set limits for leaders elected to U.S. Congress, but the Supreme Court of the United States struck down those provisions. Some political scientists have since speculated that the popularity of the movement was driven largely by an interest in fighting corruption at the federal level. The state Legislature may have paid the price for an impression people had about Congress, said Bob Brown, a Republican who served 30 years in the Legislature before being elected Secretary of State and narrowly losing a 2004 gubernatorial race against Brian Schweitzer. Courts or legislatures in six states have repealed term limits. Because Montanas rules were added to the Constitution, legislators cannot amend them without voter approval by referendum. Every session some legislators discuss asking voters to expand or remove the limits, but few of those measures make it to the ballot, and those that have have been shot down. I believe the trend was driven by people who wanted to ensure our democracy was citizen-driven and not done by professionals, said Wendy Underhill, director of elections and redistricting at the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the end, its not at all clear that having term limits has had that effect. Most Montana legislators serve just as long today as they did before term limits, according to an analysis of years served at the time of a legislators departure. Legislators who left office in the 1990s or 1980s served a median of 6 years, slightly higher than the 4-year median seen each of the previous five decades. Even after the first legislators were termed out of office, the median remained 6 years. Montana political observers argue that term limits force sometimes uncomfortable decisions for legislators who want to continue their service but do not have a convenient district opening. Nancy Keenan also argues that they weaken the power of a vote. It takes away the voice of the people for who they want and for how long they want them, said the executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. Of the 13 House districts where term limits have forced out incumbents, five of those legislators are running for open Senate seats in this falls election. Of 11 senators who have reached their maximum in that chamber, three have filed for House district races. Two of those races involve a district swap similar to the one between Keane and McClafferty of Butte. Carolyn Pease-Lopez of Billings was elected to the House the same year Sharon Stewart-Peregoy of Crow Agency was elected to the Senate. Eight years later, both Democrats have filed to run for each others seat. No significant difference exists between the median length of service for Republicans and Democrats nor the number of members from each party that have been termed out of office. But one party has dominated the list of longest-serving members and has therefore lost the largest accumulation of institutional knowledge. Of the 25 people who served the most time in the Legislature ranging from 24 to 53 years 18 were Democrats. Most left office before term limits appeared on the 1992 ballot. Underhill said long-serving legislators can be an asset or a barrier to fellow members, depending on their willingness to collaborate. If you like that person, its really a great thing, she said of veteran legislators who accrue authority within committees or caucuses. If you dont like that person, it can be really frustrating. Butcher, a Republican, said his motivation behind pushing for term limits was not about party affiliation but rather focused on giving new ideas a better chance of moving forward and breaking up entrenched political alliances. Theres stagnation that happens when you have people serve too long, he said. We had an old guard running committees that would table bills they didnt want to consider. David Wanzenried, a Democrat who worked on the governors staff before serving 18 years in the Legislature, disputed Butchers characterization. He said a handful of incidents cannot be construed as being a regular occurrence. I dont know that old-timers stymied newcomers as much as people would say, he said, recalling earlier decades when he says committees fostered substantive discussions rather than taking turns to make talking points. Now, a lot of the people that get elected want to go to Helena to do A or B. They dont want to discuss it. No negotiations. No collaboration. They just want to go over and do it. Thats a problem. Any deliberative body has to have an exchange of ideas. Political observers said its difficult to pinpoint how much term limits contributed to the culture shift at the Legislature, particularly because of a growing polarization in political discourse nationwide. At minimum, they both share an underlying theme: Voters increasingly distrust government. Years before Bob Keenan of Bigfork ran for the Legislature, he was among the 67 percent of Montanans fed up with reports of cronyism in Washington D.C. and who voted to add term limits to the state Constitution, assuming to some degree the same problems also existed in state government. I was on the outside looking in and didnt know anything about the issue other than it was a bumper-sticker mentality of, Lets clean up the House and the Senate, too, the Republican recalled. Keenan, who has now served nearly 14 years in the Legislature, has since changed his mind about state term limits. If youre in office and youre opposed to term limits, youre accused of being a career politician, and that couldnt be further from the truth, he said, noting that the stress of balancing his service with business and family commitments was the main reason he did not return to the House after being termed out of the Senate in 2006. He successfully ran again for a Senate seat in 2014, when Verdell Jackson was termed out. You really have to get out and get a job and make a living. Even before term limits, Montana leaders prided themselves on serving what they considered the most citizen-oriented Legislature in the country. It is one of just four states where the Legislature meets biennially rather than annually. Montana legislators spend fewer days in session 90 days every two years than any other state in the country, meaning they spend more time living in the communities they represent. Members of the House, who must run for reelection every two years, can easily spend more time campaigning than governing. When attempts are made to raise the limited pay $10.33 an hour plus mileage during the 90-day session some argue it is a good idea to make legislative service a personal financial sacrifice to discourage career politicians. When I voted for term limits, I didnt realize the importance of having the people who had been there through lots of different issues, he said, noting that he was mentored in his first terms by some of the last decades-serving members. Now that Im back in the Legislature, Ive found it to be a very different place. Because of term limits, the need to form new relationships never ends. Few of the legislators Keenan served with during his first stint remain. Even Keane, among the longest-serving members of the Legislatures recent era, expects to start from scratch if he returns to the House in 2017. I dont know most of the people in the House, he said. Itll be a new game for me over there. MUSCATINE, Iowa Rather than simply throwing their caps in celebration, Muscatine High School seniors waved wands and filled the gymnasium with brightly colored confetti and rousing cheers to commemorate their journeys. The 150th graduation ceremony at the Muscatine High School saw 293 students graduate on Sunday. Friends and family of the graduated filled the gym, and spilled over into an overflow room, where they could watch the proceedings on a projector. MHS Principal Mike McGrory said that he was proud of all they had accomplished. I have personally witnessed this greatness among many of our seniors by their commitment to helping other individuals become successful within our own community and throughout the world, he said. Valedictorian Jessica Gray said that she was grateful to all of her teachers who encouraged her, challenged her, and recognized her abilities. She especially wanted to thank Lisa Kroll and Andrea Wilford, two of the teachers that she said influenced her high school career. Ive had amazing teachers over the past four years that have pushed methey helped me become who I am today, she said. Gray said she plans to attend Utah State University, to major in accounting and minor in Spanish and piano performance, and after she graduates she plans to become an actuary. But one of her most memorable experiences was becoming involved in the drama department. Theyre like my extended family, she said. Gray also said that she was pleased with what she and her fellow students accomplished in their years at Muscatine High School. Im really proud, weve come a long way and have a lot going for us, so Im ready to get started, she said. MHS graduate Gabrielle Hartman introduced the students who plan to join the military, and she quoted Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series. While Harrys adventures are quite different from the journey in front of us, Dumbledores guidance still holds true for all of us. It is our choices, Harry, that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities, she said. Larkin Chapman and Collin Wettach, now graduates of MHS, gave the commencement address titled the same as the class motto: Started from kindergarten now were here. Wettach began by telling the story of how he tried, and failed, to learn how to ride a bike with his dad's help. He attempted to emulate that classic Hallmark moment where you get some speed up, your dad lets go of the bike, and you soar off having suddenly learned how to ride a bike. I immediately swerved around and took out his legsI never learned how to ride a bike, thats why Im such a great driver, he said. Chapman said the moral of his story was that failure is a part of life. Youre going to fail spectacularly, youre going to throw yourself to the wind and plummet, youre going to be crushed under the weight of your very confused father, and thats OK, she said. Wettach added that the moments of failure were worth considering, as they will help put in perspective how far the students have come since kindergarten. Take a moment to appreciate all the great failures you have in your life, and how youve overcome themThink about where you came from, and how if you can survive that, you can survive just about anything, he said. According to McGrory, the students did much more than survive. The class of 2016 has amazingly logged over 6,000 volunteer hours during their high school career. Seniors have also raised over $140,000 to put back into charities at the local and national level. I have found this class to be very giving and caring, he said. He also said that 183 seniors participated in 506 Advance Placement courses, and because of their participation, the school will offer 21 AP courses during the next school year, while just three years ago the school only offered eight. I am extremely proud of this class and I appreciate what great role models they have been for our underclassmen, McGrory said. 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 [] The IT companies which pay the highest salaries in South Africa are Vodacom, Broadband Infraco, and the SABC. This is according to the latest data available from the annual reports and financial results from technology and telecommunications companies in South Africa. While state-owned enterprises list the average personnel cost per employee, JSE-listed companies typically do not provide this information. To calculate the average compensation per employee for JSE-listed companies, we used the companys total staff bill and divided it by the total number of employees. It should be noted that the calculation may not take bonuses, car allowances, long and short-term incentive schemes, seniority, and tenure into account. Highest average salaries from South African IT companies The figures show that, with the exception of Vodacom, state-owned companies pay higher salaries than JSE-listed enterprises. The SABC paid their management particularly well, with its 14 top managers each earning R2,671,000 per year on average. The 69 senior managers at the state broadcaster also did not do badly, with an average salary of R1,586,490 each. The figures in the infographic below detail the average annual compensation per employee by company. More on salaries 2016 Engineering salaries in South Africa South African software developer salaries ranked best in the world IT salaries in South Africa 2010 vs 2016 The Mitchells Plain Online Store is a shop three friends started out of necessity, which offers free delivery in Mitchells Plain, and the ability to order through WhatsApp. Co-founder Marshall Petersen told the Sunday Times that he and his friends, Andre Williams and Angelo Fortuin, were all unemployed and had nothing but R50 and some experience with social media and finance. Petersen said that even though they all have degrees, they could not find jobs. He said he sent his jobs to 50 different place and nothing came of it. We never had much choice but to start something, Petersen told the Sunday Times. They used the R50 for petrol to meet a supplier, and ran the shop from Petersons home, selling items they knew would be in wide demand, such as bedding, glassware, and printer toner. Before they launched their own website and Facebook page, they sold on Gumtree and Facebook forums. Sunday Times reported that the trio had a setback in 2015 when they were held up at gunpoint in Phillipi. They were struggling to find a customers home when two men with guns approached and took their personal items and stock. The incident was an exception, and the three friends said they remain committed to fighting the negative perception of the area, starting with good customer service. Now people outside Mitchells Plain are ordering from them, Petersen said, even beyond Cape Town and South Africa. They were surprised to receive orders from Secunda, Brits, Soweto, Piet Retief, and as far afield as Botswana, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. To further grow the business, the trio plan to launch a new mobile-friendly version of their website in June. They also want to work with more local suppliers, and set up their own office. The full article is available in the Sunday Times from 22 May 2016. More on e-commerce in South Africa Best e-commerce stores in South Africa Top 50 eCommerce websites in South Africa E-commerce is lagging in South Africa Smartphones are revolutionising e-commerce in South Africa South African e-commerce revolution expected The Nigerian government has suspended talks with MTN over its record 780 billion naira (R61 billion) fine for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered SIMs from its network, Bloomberg reported. According to the report, the talks are suspended indefinitely while the countrys House of Representatives finishes an investigation into the size of the penalty, and how it was delivered. Spokesperson for Nigerias Ministry of Communications, Victor Oluwadamilare, told Bloomberg that until the committee set up to investigate the MTN saga are through with it, nothing can be done. MTN Nigeria was handed a fine for failing to disconnect 5.2-million unregistered SIMs on its network by a Nigerian Communications Commission-given (NCC) deadline. The NCC originally fined the network operator 200,000 (R15,572) per unregistered SIM active on its network. This fine was later reduced by 25% to 780 billion (R61 billion), but MTN elected to take the matter to Nigerias courts. It later dropped the case and paid a good faith sum of 50 billion (R3.8 billion at the time) in an effort to achieve an amicable settlement. Nigerian lawmakers said this payment into the recovery account was in violation of the law, and called on MTN Nigerias chief executive officer, Ferdinand Moolman, to appear before the telecommunications committee. Bloomberg said that MTNs last reported offer was to pay 300 billion in a combination of staggered cash payments, sovereign debt purchases, and access to its network. More on MTN Nigeria MTNs fine in Nigeria should be R241 billion: lawmakers MTN fuelled Boko Haram terrorist group: Nigerian president MTN pays Nigerian authorities R3.8 billion MTN profit plunges 51% amid Nigeria fine The University of Johannesburg was established in 2005 when the former Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), the Technikon Witwatersrand, and Vista University merged. UJ is one of South Africas top academic institutions, with nine faculties, more than 90 departments, and around 48,000 students. Over the years the university has produced many graduates who excelled in their fields, like rugby players Bryan Habana and Francois Pienaar. UJ is also known for its excellent Academy Computer Science and Software Engineering, which is headed by Professor Ehlers. MyBroadband asked UJ who its top computer science students are, and the university gave us the four learners below. Kevin Paul Downs Kevin Paul Downs placed in the top 10 for both majors during his undergraduate degree, and received both undergraduate and honours degrees cum laude. His honours project focused on ImmunoOptiDrone Towards Re-Factoring an Evolutionary Drone Control Model for Use in Immunological Optimization Problems. The research produced during his award-winning honours project was published in a peer-reviewed international A.I. conference and SCOPUS-indexed journal. Furthermore, the third-year team he mentored won the Academys Projects Day and will compete at the Microsoft Imagine Cup South African Finals. Michael John Brooke Michael John Brooke has been honoured at every top achievers function held by the Academy during his studies. He was presented with the prize for best final-year student at the Academy Computer Science and Software Engineering for both majors. His team also won last years Discovery Hackathon. Margaux Fourie Margaux Fourie was one of the top first-year students in the Faculty of Science, and is always among the best in her undergraduate modules. Her second-year project team is set to compete as a national finalist in the local Microsoft 2016 Imagine Cup competition. Chukwudi Nnaemeka Fortune Obodoekwe Chukwudi Nnaemeka Fortune Obodoekwe was regularly one of the top students in his undergraduate IT modules. His third-year team took first place at the Academys annual Projects Day competition in 2015, and will compete as a national finalist at the local Microsoft Imagine Cup competition. More on universities University of Johannesburg solar car wins innovation award Dont study university degrees which will leave you unemployed ICASA has published its first report on the state of the ICT sector in South Africa, which shows that the telecommunications sector generates revenues of around R147 billion per year. ICASA used data from secondary sources like Statistics South Africa and information aggregated from different questionnaires it sent out to compile the report. According to the report, the telecommunications sector generates the most revenue of the three sectors which ICASA regulates. The second-most lucrative sector is TV broadcasting with about R28 billion in revenue followed by the SA Post Office with about R5 billion. The chart below provides an overview of the revenue generated by the three sectors. The reporting period was for the 12 months ending 30 September 2015. Telecommunications revenue Telecommunications services generated R108 billion, while other generated revenue of R39 billion. Telecommunications retail services revenue Mobile voice services contributed 39% to telecommunications retail services revenue, while mobile data services added 28%. More on ICASA ICASA rejects five TV broadcasting licence applications Icasa board recommendations approved by Parliament The Sunburst Calistoga Hotel is preparing for the launch of a new concept hotel that includes a new spa and 110-seat restaurant. We are still working out all the details, but we plan on creating an environment where locals and visitors feel comfortable, said Christian Strobel, who is a hotel consultant involved with the project. What I can say is that the restaurant will have an outdoor, higher-energy space, while inside therell be a bar and lounge area. And a third area will have a chefs table and dining room. The owners of the new, as of yet unnamed, restaurant at Sunburst are currently nearing their final choices of chefs, one from the area and one from outside the region, Strobel said. Before we can nail down the final concept of the restaurant and menu we need to finalize our choice for the chef, he said. Whether it will be a more beer-pub style or something else will ultimately depend on whats a good fit for the chef. We are sure that the concept will be a new slant on what is known as Farm to Table, sourcing from local farmers. Use permits for the Sunburst project have been approved, and we are now working through the building permits, said Erik Lundquist, senior planner for Calistoga. According to the submitted plans, the restaurant will hold up to 252 occupants, but Lundquist said that is a number for standing-room-only. The restaurant will actually seat 110 through the three different dining rooms. Within the plans there is a small area for brewing beer, which is becoming common for many new restaurants as the license for brewing also allows less-expensive access to a license to serve spirits at the bar, which can be prohibitively expensive and difficult to obtain. And beer itself is also becoming more popular. In July 2015, I wrote a story in The Weekly Calistogan titled, Calistoga: A cornucopia of dining options. I believe it might be good to revisit some of that article and see where we stand. Below are a few of the highlights. According to the Visit Calistoga website, there are nearly 30 eating establishments in Calistoga, including coffee and ice-cream shops. To put that in perspective, the population of Calistoga is roughly 5,200, which means that there is a restaurant for nearly every 175 people. According to the 2010 U.S. Census data, San Francisco has the most restaurants of any large metro area in America, and their ratio is about one restaurant for every 500 people. Even limiting the count to official restaurants, of which there are currently 18, it would still mean that Calistoga beats San Francisco with one restaurant for every 288 people. We are not just talking about run-of-the mill restaurants in Calistoga, which include some of the best restaurants in the Napa Valley Jole, Sams Club, Calistoga Inn, Evangeline, Calistoga Kitchen and the Michelin star-rated Solbar, just to name a few. Beyond just having excellent food, the restaurants are often at the cutting edge of food trends, having for years offered locally grown farm-to-table fare, innovative vegetarian options and interesting ethnic flavor combinations. But cutting edge is nothing new to Calistogans. From art to wellness, business to bohemian, Calistogans are often considered the more laid-back, creative and down-to-earth counterparts to more southerly neighbors. What does the future hold for Calistoga when it comes to food? Expect at least three new, what my mom would call fancy restaurants, to come into Calistoga in the next few years. The New York design and hospitality firm AvroKO, which recently reopened the infamous Fagianis in Napa, is opening a high-end restaurant next year in the old Sunburst Hotel. Add to that two luxury resorts one that the Four Seasons hotel chain will manage in the old Silver Rose location and a second yet-to-be-built high-end resort that was recently purchased by one of Hong Kongs wealthiest families, the Chengs. This brings the number of restaurants in Calistoga to 21, or more than 30 eating establishments. In order to thrive, all of these fine restaurants will need innovation and a commitment to bringing quality and value to their customers. They will also need labor. And this is becoming a growing concern for many. A friend who owns a Calistoga restaurant mentioned that labor is already so tight that he is searching for staff outside the valley, looking to Santa Rosa and Clearlake. Even doing that he is still unable to fill their rosters. Maybe we get buses to bring people in to work, like they do in Aspen, Colorado? he mused, looking more serious than the comment would have suggested. Since that article ran, Calistoga has created and nearly launched an innovative bus system to help transport employees to and from Santa Rosa; the Four Seasons Silver Rose project is under construction; the Sunburst is now owned by Eagle Point Hotel Partners of New York, who have obtained use permits for a new restaurant and spa; and Jole has closed with Johnnys restaurant and bar taking its place. The estimates are that more than 500 new jobs will be created in Calistoga in the next few years. If so, these new residents will certainly be able to find a table to sit at, but finding a home where they might sleep and raise a family may be a different story. AMERICAN CANYON PG&E customers in Napa Countys five cities will be getting notices in coming weeks from their new energy provider, Marin Clean Energy, about a planned switch, but it remains to be seen if the change to MCE will be cheaper for local ratepayers. The cities of Napa, American Canyon, St. Helena and Calistoga, plus the town of Yountville, have had their applications to join MCE approved. Napa County was already an MCE member. When local city councils voted in 2015 to apply for MCE membership, they were told by the clean energy provider that their rates were competitive with PG&Es, and at times were even cheaper. But a decision in Sacramento at the beginning of this year made MCEs mission of offering competitive, renewable energy more challenging, Alex DiGiorgio, community development coordinator for MCE, told the American Canyon City Council last week. The rise of community-choice aggregation organizations like MCE, CleanPowerSF, Sonoma Clean Power and others has cut into PG&Es market share, causing the utility to lose money. To help PG&E recover some of its lost revenue, the California Public Utilities Commission approved PCIA (Power Charge Indifference Adjustment) rates that PG&E is allowed to charge to customers who switch to MCE and others like it. Some people think (PCIA) stands for Protecting Corporate Interests and Assets, said DiGiorgio, which it doesnt. In January, the California Public Utilities Commission approved a significant increase in PCIA, or exit rates, which has upped the bills of MCE customers and reduced the promised cost savings that came with switching from PG&E. Right now MCEs generation rates are 14 percent lower than PG&Es generation rates, DiGiorgio told the council. The wrinkle is there is an exit fee that is charged to all community-choice customers and that exit fee was increased by 95 percent at the beginning of this year. At this time our customers at the bottom line are paying slightly more on average, which ranged from $6 to $11 more for most residential accounts, he said. American Canyon Councilmember Joan Bennett expressed concern about the rates American Canyon residents will pay under MCE, and whether they will be competitive with PG&E. If they arent the same as or lower than the utilitys, she said, ratepayers may get angry and let the council know about it. To mitigate the effect of the higher exit rates, DiGiorgio said MCEs board of directors is considering a rate reduction. He said a decision may come next month. PG&E customers in all five cities will be getting notices over the next six weeks of the new MCE option. The notices will inform residents that they have the option of doing nothing and automatically becoming a customer of MCEs light green plan that promises 50 percent of their electricity will come from renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind or geothermal. They can also opt up to MCEs deep green plan that uses 100 percent renewable energy, at an average cost of about $5 more a month than light green, according to DiGiorgio. Residents will have to opt out if they prefer to stay with PG&E as their energy supplier. Regardless of their choice, ratepayers will continue to get billed by PG&E, which still will handle all billing and electrical services to homes. MCE is not a utility like PG&E. It merely partners with PG&E to offer an alternative for energy sourcing. The switch-over is scheduled to start in September for all five cities. Even though our generation rates are 14 percent lower, we would like to absorb as much of those exit fees as possible so that the bill can be on par with PG&E at least for the time of the enrollment, DiGiorgio said. We cant guarantee our rates will always be cheaper, said DiGiorgio. We know if our rates are more, it will result in more people opting out. MCE customers paid $13 million in exit fees in 2014, according to MCE data. Councilmember Mark Joseph noted that even with a rate reduction by MCE, the exit rates could become a problem again if PG&E keeps going back to the California Public Utilities Commission for help. The more successful you are or other nonprofits like MCE are, said Joseph, the more that fee will be adjusted up to compensate for whats going on. Presumably, DiGiorgio responded. He said it also depends on the complexity of long-term energy contracts that PG&E has with its energy suppliers. He said lawyers for MCE and other community-choice providers are lobbying regulators in Sacramento about exit rates. Our legal teams and their legal teams are having friendly conversations with the Public Utilities Commission about this issue, he said. The FBI is seeking help identifying an armed and dangerous suspected bank robber, according to officials. The individual, who is suspected of robbing several northern California banks, including one in Napa, is described as a young, white male in his 20s or 30s and is about 6 feet tall with a slender build. He has been linked to two robberies at Umpqua Bank on Browns Valley Road once on Oct. 29, 2013, and again on Jan. 10, 2014. He is linked to eight robberies around the area including banks in Glen Ellen, Pioneer, Walnut Grove, Felton and, most recently, in Weaverville and Durham. The man has worn a variety of dark-colored clothing but has frequently worn stocking caps. Anyone with information about this man may call their local FBI office or 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-885-5984). Tips may also be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov. If the man is spotted, the public is urged to call 911 and not approach him. St. Helena Police reported a mans arrest Saturday afternoon on suspicion of trying to extort a woman who lost her cellphone. Shortly before 2 p.m., a woman visited the Police Department to report the loss of her iPhone at a restaurant in the 1200 block of Main Street, according to Officer Steve Coultrup. Because the woman was unsure whether she had misplaced the smartphone or if a person had swiped it, she turned on the Find My iPhone app in hopes of tracking the device, Coultrup said. With the assistance of police, the woman set the tracking app to lost mode, remotely locking the iPhone and directing anyone discovering it to call a certain number, according to Coultrup. A friend whose number the woman used for the maneuver later got a text message from someone demanding $100 for the handsets return, Coultrup said. Police arranged text replies directing the phones discoverer to the 900 block of Adams Street, and Coultrup said he detained a man holding the phone at the drop site. The Napa County jail identified the suspect as Christopher Tom Contreras, a 41-year-old man with no listed address. Contreras was booked into jail for investigation of attempted extortion, as well as criminal conspiracy for hinting at but not identifying an accomplice, Coultrup said. I'm probably not going to be the only person commenting on your article about the protest at Pacific Union College regarding the cancellation of a talk by an Adventist minister-turned-atheist, along with the firing of the psychology teacher at the school who had invited him to speak (PUC students march over academic freedom," May 12). Besides the obvious questions about freedom of speech, as well as the principle of academic freedom, this decision also brings to mind a couple of other matters. The first is, it seems safe to assume that university students are obviously bright people and able to think critically for themselves. Sitting in on a talk by an atheist is not going to automatically convert them to atheism (a term difficult to define in a universally accepted way). It may contribute to such a change in their thinking, to be sure, but attendance at such an event is not going to cause such an alteration in and of itself. It might cause some of the students to look more critically, perhaps, at whatever indoctrination strategies might be at work in Angwin (if any). That, to some of us, would be a good thing, as it would be for members of any religious faith who are subject to indoctrination efforts. I'm not certain if any of the student protesters may have phrased their questioning of this administrative decision in exactly this way, but I'm willing to declare that they have a right to feel downright insulted. As an over-simplified parallel analogy, would the administration cancel a talk by a Buddhist monk if he were invited by a professor to offer insights about Buddhism? There's a part of me that shudders to think: maybe so. The second matter this administrative move brings to light is the rarely celebrated value of scrutinizing more closely one's personal history when it comes to understanding how we come to support our religious and/or philosophical beliefs. It would not, for example, be difficult to demonstrate that in many cases the beliefs that we accept as true and reliable were simply handed to us by our family, our local religious community that influenced our family, and a larger cultural influence that stems from the country in which we were born. In the United States, clearly, you stand a much greater chance of being raised as a "Christian" or "Jew" than you do of becoming a Muslim or Hindu. Have any of us, I wonder, ever met a person who can say that his parents taught him to investigate at least all five of the major world's religions before arriving at a faith decision to accept only one? I cautiously submit that someone raised in a non-dogmatic atheist family has perhaps the best chance of having such an experience. On the other hand, I have met plenty of persons who claim to have had a personal conversion (usually while attending an emotionally-charged church service) into the beliefs they hold today. I wonder what might happen if they considered the possibility that regularly attending services at a very different church on Sundays (or Saturdays!) might yield the same results. Richard Morgan Napa Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy TITUSVILLE, Florida The Brevard County Sheriffs Office G.A.M.E.O.V.E.R. Task Force apprehended a suspect wanted on multiple violent felony charges following a vehicle and foot pursuit through Titusville, Florida. At approximately 7 p.m. on Friday, BCSO Agents apprehended 27-year-old William McKinley Skanes, III, of Titusville, who was wanted by the Titusville Police Department following an investigation of a domestic dispute, which included an aggravated battery, armed robbery and carjacking. Task Force members located Skanes in the City of Titusville operating a silver Jeep and summoned the Sheriffs helicopter to assist in the surveillance. When agents approached Skanes, he rammed one of the Agents vehicles before striking a building as he fled. Agents gave chase based on the violent nature of the Forcible Felony charges and the current aggravated assault of law enforcement officers. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Agents then requested the assistance of Sheriffs North Precinct Patrol Deputies and Titusville Police Officers to also assist in the apprehension. The Sheriffs Aviation Unit maintained surveillance of the suspect who observed Skanes crash at the intersection of Main Street and Park Avenue in Titusville, at which time Skanes fled on foot. Skanes was then apprehended after a short foot pursuit with Task Force Agents. Skanes was transported to the Brevard County Jail in Sharpes, Florida where he is being held without bond and charged with: Carjacking, Robbery, False Imprisonment, Grand Theft, Aggravated Battery, Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer, Resisting an Officer With Violence, Resisting an Officer Without Violence, Aggravated Fleeing and Eluding Law Enforcement Officers, and Possession of Cocaine. The Titusville Police Department is investigating the crash that occurred during the pursuit and has additionally charged Skanes with: Reckless Driving, Leaving the Scene of an Accident with Property Damage, and Driving With a Suspended Drivers License. A firearm was located inside the vehicle and the Titusville Police Department is now investigating the firearm as it pertains to this case. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is this afternoon embarking on his first visit to Iran with regional connectivity, energy and trade partnership and security cooperation high on his agenda.Mr Modi's visit which comes close on the heels of visit to Iran's sunni rival Saudi Arabia is being seen as a balancing act between the two West Asian nations which it considers a part of its extended neighbourhood. This will be the first purely bilateral visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Iran in the last 15 years. In 2012, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh had visited the country, but that was in connection with the NAM Summit.Saudi Arabia host the largest number of Indian expatriates, while oil-rich Iran was vital for India's energy security. In addition India has very ancient civilisational and cultural ties with both the countries.The Prime Minister is going to Iran post lifting of sanctions against the Gulf nation that has left open a vast ocean of opportunity for India.Mr Modi will also call on the Supreme Leader of Iran.During the visit, a trilateral agreement on transport and transit corridor aimed at developing Chabahar port as regional hub will be signed among India, Afghanistan and Iran .This agreement is being seen as game changer for regional connectivity. With this corridor, Afghanistan can find an assured and reliable access to India via sea, and this route will also boost India's connectivity to Afghanistan and Central Asia and beyond. A host of measures will be discussed between Prime Minister Modi and Iranian President Dr Hassan Rouhani. The two leaders will promote bilateral trade including expanding and strengthening the legal framework and more business-to-business interaction.Matters pertaining to restoring effective banking channels in the post-sanction phase will also be discussed.Besides trade energy and connectivity, the Prime Minister will have very significant discussions with the Iranian President on regional peace and security as both the nations face several challenges, the foremost among them are terrorism and extremism.Talks will also include related areas like cyber crime and maritime security.Peace and stability in Afghanistan, on which the three countries, namely India, Iran and Afghanistan, held their first trilateral consultations last month in New Delhi, will also be discussed.More UNI NAZ ADG RK0924 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0435-745724.Xml The CBI today summoned Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat in connection with the ongoing probe into sting CD purportedly showing him negotiating a deal with a journalist to win back the rebel Congress MLAs who had revolted against him, official source said. "He has been asked to appear before the agency on May 24 for examination," said a source in the agency. Earlier, on May 18, the CBI had rejected notification of the Uttarakhand government, asking it to withdraw the ongoing enquiry against Mr Rawat into the sting operation, saying it will continue the probe against him as his request is legally untenable."The notification of Uttarakhand government dated May 15, regarding withdrawal of its consent was examined as per the legal opinion. The notification is not tenable and CBI will continue with its Preliminary Enquiry," CBI sources had said. On May 6, the CBI had found 'genuine' the sting operation CD that purportedly shows Mr Rawat negotiating a deal with a journalist to win back the MLAs who had revolted against him.Mr Rawat was called for examination earlier also in this regard by the country's premier investigative agency. However, he didn't turn up.CBI sources had said that agency had examined Umesh Kumar, the journalist who did the sting, and one MLA of Uttarakhand Assembly a few week back. The MLA had told sleuths of the CBI that Mr Rawat had called him inside his office and offered Rs 2.5 crore and a post in government in lieu of his support to government, sources said. The MLA further told sleuths that one Uttarakhand Minister offered him Rs 10 crore to support the Rawat led dispensation. The crack within Congress led state regime came to the fore when nine party MLAs sought division of vote in the Assembly during the passage of the budget, following which they were disqualified by the Speaker. This led to the imposition of President's rule in the state, and the matter finally landed in court. However, Harish Rawat led regime was later reinstated following a floor test, held under supervision of Supreme Court. Mr Rawat had accepted his meeting with journalist but said he had done nothing wrong and he was ready to be hanged if any evidence was found of him offering any cash to any MLA in return of support. He has accused the BJP of hatching a political conspiracy to malign him. UNI RG SHK 1312 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0377-745929.Xml The BJP will today lay claim to form the next government in Assam when its newly elected legislators call on the state Governor after formally electing its chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal as the leader of its legislature party. The first legislature party meeting of the newly elected legislators of the BJP got underway at a hotel here, which is also being attended by BJP central ministers and central leaders of the party. Mr Sonowal, who was named the chief ministerial candidate before the elections and has been elected to the Assembly from Majuli LAC, will be formally elected the chief of the legislature party. He is scheduled to meet Governor PB Acharyya at the Raj Bhawan here later today to stake claim to form the next government. He had returned from New Delhi earlier this morning, along with party's central leaders, after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party national president Amit Shah. The new ministry will take oath on May 24 next here, in the presence of the Prime Minister and other dignitaries. The BJP had led an alliance of regional parties AGP and BPF to secure 86 seats in the 126 member state Assembly to end 15 years long Congress rule. UNI SG AD ADG SB1340 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0108-745843.Xml Unidentified criminals shot dead a youth at Sauragachhi village under Salmari police outpost in the district following a land dispute. Police said here that Jafar Alam (30) was taking a stroll outside his residence after dinner yesterday when motorcycle borne criminals shot him dead. He used to work as a property dealer. The body had been sent to Katihar Sadar Hospital for postmortem.UNI XC DH AD SHK 1344 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0108-745856.Xml Curfew like restrictions imposed in the Shehar-e-Khas (SeK) and down town, Srinagar, early last morning to foil Eidgah rally by moderate Hurriyat Conference (HC) on the death anniversaries of Mirwaiz Moulvi Mohammad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone, were lifted. However, officials had claimed that only restrictions under Section 144 CrPC had been imposed in areas falling under five police stations in the down town and SeK to prevent any law and order problem as there was apprehension of violence. Mirwaiz Farooq, father of moderate HC Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Frooq was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in his Nigeen house on this day in 1990. However, later in the day more than 50 mourners, carrying the body of Mirwaiz were killed after Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) opened fire at Gojwara. Mr Lone, father of Sajjad Gani Lone, minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government, was killed when he was leaving for home after paying homage to on this day in 2002. Apprehending trouble restrictions were imposed as moderate HC had announced to organize a rally at martyrs grave yard at Eidgah in the down town to pay homage to Mirwaiz and Lone yesterday. There is no restriction in any part of the SeK and down town, officials said. Large number of security forces and state police personnel deployed around the martyrs grave yard at Eidgah and other areas have been withdrawn.The Nallahmar main road from Eidgah to Khanyar which had been closed with barbed wire was through today.Shops and business establishments which remained closed yesterday due to restrictions reopened this morning and traffic was also plying on all routes normally. Normal supply of milk, roti and vegetables besides other essentials also resumed this morning.UNI BAS ADG SB1342 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-745767.Xml Life today returned to normal in the Kashmir valley, including summer capital, Srinagar, where a general strike was observed yesterday on the death anniversaries of Mirwaiz Moulvi Mohammad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone.Mirwaiz Farooq, father of moderate Hurriyat Conference (HC) chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Frooq was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in his Nigeen house on this day in 1990. Mr Lone, father of Sajjad Gani Lone, minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government was killed when he was leaving for home after paying homage on this day in 2002. However, Sajjad has not so far assumed office due to some differences over portfolio. The strike was called by moderate HC on the death anniversaries.Hundreds of vendors have also set up their stalls at famous "Sunday Market" from Radio Kashmir, Srinagar to Hari Singh High Street (HSHS), including historic Lal Chowk, in the summer capital, Srinagar. The market attracts thousands of buyers every Sunday from different parts of the valley.Shops and business establishments, which function on Sundays also, reopened this morning in the summer capital, Srinagar . Traffic was also plying normally on all routes in the city.Business and other activities resumed in this and other north Kashmir towns and tehsil headquarters, a report from Baramulla said. Additional security forces deployed to prevent any law and order problem yesterday have been withdrawn. Traffic on all routes was also plying normally.Normalcy also returned in apple township of Sopore with all shops and business establishments, which are functioning on Sundays, reopened this morning and traffic was plying normally. Life also returned to normal in this and other south Kashmir towns, a report from Anantnag said.Streets which wore a deserted look yesterday were flooded with pedestrians and traffic was also plying normally on all routes. Similar reports were also received from central Kashmir districts of Badgam and Ganderbal, where life is limping back to normal.UNI BAS ADG SB1240 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-745769.Xml Chairmen of both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference (HC), Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq remained under house arrest while other separatist leaders were released.A spokesman of the moderate HC Advocate Shahidul Islam told UNI that Mirwaiz remained under house arrest since May 20 night. Large number of security forces and state police personnel remained deployed outside his Nigeen house and he was not being allowed to move out, he said. Advocate Islam said he too also remained under house arrest . He said Mirwaiz and a delegation of HC was scheduled to attend a rally today organized at Kupwara by the Peoples Conference(PC) a constituent of HC, on the death anniversary of Abdul Gani Lone. Yesterday police foiled a rally at martyrs grave yard at Eidgah on the death anniversaries of Mirwaiz Moulvi Farooq and Lone.Mirwaiz Farooq, father of moderate HC Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Frooq was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in his Nigeen house on this day in 1990. Mr Lone, father of Sajjad Gani Lone, minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government was killed when he was leaving for home after paying tributes to Mirwaiz Farooq on this day in 2002. Chairman hardline HC Syed Ali Shah Geelani also remained under house arrest since he returned from New Delhi last month, a spokesman of the amalgam Aiyaz Akbar told UNI. He said central paramilitary forces and state police personnel remained deployed outside his Hyderpora residence and he was not even allowed to offer Friday prayers in a mosque since restrictions were imposed on him. He said General secretary of the HC Shabir Ahmad Shah also remained under house arrest since his return from New Delhi. Aiyaz said, he and several other leaders of the amalgam who were put under house arrest on May 20 have been released. UNI BAS ADG SB1232 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-745785.Xml Jammu and Kashmir High Court (HC) has directed a senior police officer who investigated theft case of hand written Holy Quran of emperor Aurangzeb from a Museum in Srinagar to appear before it on June 3 alongwith all records. The Holy Quran was stolen from Sri Pratap Singh (SPS) Meseum here in 2003. Meanwhile, a number of old artifacts, which were gifted or handed over to Museums outside the valley, have been returned on court direction on a Public Interest Ligation (PIL) filed by Valley Citizen Council (VCC) through its general secretary Imdad Saqi. A Division Bench of the HC comprising Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar and Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey has called all related records of the case from the Court of Forest Magistrate, Srinagar where the Crime Branch (CB) of Jammu and Kashmir Police has filed the closure report as "untraced." The court directions came after court was informed that Maqsood Beigh, who conducted the investigation in the case is presently posted with State Human Rights Commission. Later the court directed that Maqsood Beigh be asked to remain present in the court on next date of hearing on June 3. An FIR was registered in police station Raj Bagh in 2003 that Holy Quran was missing from the Museum. However, after initial investigation by police, the case was handed over to CB. Meanwhile, on the court directions on VCC PIL seeking return of all artifacts and other items gifted to different museums and other organizations, a collection of old artifacts were returned to SPS museum after 53 years from Shimla Museum. The collection includes 31 copper and silver coins from Mughal and Sultanate period, one Persian manuscript Mughazi-ul-Nabi by Sheikh Yaqoob Sarfi, one 19th century Sharda Manuscript Pancratna by Krishna Pandit, one Dogra-era Gun and an 18th century painting by Swachanda Bhairva. The SPS Museum has also received 209 objects back that were transferred to Central Asian Museum, Kashmir University (KU) on August 25, 1980. Moreover, 461 and one copper fragment ring recovered from Kulgam in 1965 were deposited in SPS Museum Srinagar.However, 25 coins gifted or transferred to Moti Lal Nehru Children Centre Lucknow have not yet been returned.UNI BAS ADG SB1344 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-745916.Xml The Left Front's constituent RSP in Tripura has become vocal against CPI-M for disastrous result in West Bengal assembly poll.A day before CPI-M politburo meeting in Delhi today, veteran RSP leader Sudarshan Bhattacharjee opined that CPM needs to have a review of its strategy if it wants to stay afloat in the country's politics."The party leaders must have a brain storming session to change its political discourse considering the electoral debacle in West Bengal. The CPI-M must introspect its philosophy and practice in the state of Tripura, which they have been ruling for past 23 years," he said.Admitting that the Left Front is very rapidly losing its acceptance of the people due to its wrong political ideology, Mr Bhattacharjee said alleging that CPM has shifted its political stand becoming a revolutionary party."We might have forgotten that Left parties like CPM and RSP were floated as revolutionary forces but now they turned into power capturing politics. As a result, aspiration among the party leaders has gradually been increasing that resulted derailment in all aspects," he said.Referring West Bengal, Mr Bhattacharjee said, "We forget what we had promised before the election - an alternative policy. Unfortunately, we forged electoral understanding to resist Trinomial Congress, which has back-fired the entire left force".He opined that the people of West Bengal did not accept the alliance between CPM and the Congress that resulted a horrible outcome in the election and claimed that RSP had tried to stick to our ideology but could not change because of poor organizational structure both in West Bengal and Tripura.On being asked if there is a possibility of split in the Left Fronts, the Veteran left leader said the party would take the decision after getting feedback on the issue. "But what I suggest is that the CPM requires to change its ideology for the betterment of leftist strength in the country," he said.Meanwhile, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, who was supposed to leave the state for Delhi today to attend party's politburo meeting scheduled for tomorrow, cancelled his visit. After party's poor show in West Bengal, CPM's 'Bengal line' comes under cloud.UNI BB AD SHK SB1412 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0108-745942.Xml A Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militant was arrested during a naka checking in the central Kashmir district of Badgam, official sources said here today.They said on a specific information security forces state police laid a naka at Budran Magam in Badgam district. During the checking a HM militant Dilawar Mir, a resident of Goigam was arrested.Mir had gone to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) in 2000 for receiving arms training. However, he had recently returned from POK, they said addingIt was not immediately whether he had returned under rehabilitation policy of the government, they said adding he was being questioned.UNI BAS SHK SB1409 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-745830.Xml President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday assured the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation led by Union Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, that stringent action will be taken in the case of deaths of saffron party workers in Kerala. The delegation met the President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here and lodged a formal protest with regard to the violence, which took place in Kerala on May 19-20 during the celebration of the Left Democratic Front's victory "Ever since the polls began in Kerala, a lot of BJP and RSS workers have been continuously attacked. Suresh and Pramod, who were our party workers, were murdered and houses of more than 100 of our party workers have been attacked as well. We came here to meet the President to give him the details about the situation and how even the police is not cooperating," Gadkari told the media here. Asserting that he was surprised by how the Congress in Kerala did not react to the violent incidents during polling, he added that this certainly was not good for the democracy as the 'fight of ideologies' must not get physical and that innocent lives must not be sacrificed. "The BJP condemns the murders of our workers by the CPM and hopes that all parties, who believe in democracy oppose this. We will raise this matter in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as well. We will give a democratic response and not resort to their standards," Gadkari said. Earlier today, the BJP members staged a protest here against the killing of their colleague by the CPI (M) workers in Kerala last week and alleged that 'jungle raj' has begun in the state which voted for the Left Democratic Front (LDF). "Jungle Raj has begun in Kerala. Many of our people have been killed by the CPI (M) workers. We are protesting against that," one of the BJP protestors told ANI. The BJP workers, who were protesting outside the CPI (M) office in Gole Market, were later detained by the police. BJP worker V. R. Pramod of Kodungalloor in Thrissur district of Kerala was allegedly attacked by CPI (M) workers during a victory procession following which he succumbed to his injuries. The BJP and RSS workers took out celebratory processions across Kerala after O. Rajagopal won from the Nemom constituency, giving the saffron party its first seat ever in the state. Several activists from both parties were also injured in the clashes. (ANI) With poll strategist Prashant Kishor working hard to revive the Congress in Uttar Pradesh before the 2017 polls, on the other hand there is a beeline of the party leaders trying to join other political outfit for their better fortune ahead.While Congress Working Committee(CWC) member and former Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma joined the Samajwadi Party early this month and even grabbed a Rajya Sabha seat, now speculation was on the name of former UP Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi returning back to SP.Recently Ms Joshi had met chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow which created the speculation though the Congress MLA from Lucknow cantonment vehemently denied any such move in her written statement. Both Beni Prasad Verma and Ms Joshi are old SP leaders. While Verma was one of the founder member of the SP, Ms Joshi was also the Samajwadi Party Mayor of Allahabad and also contested the Sultanpur parliament polls on SP ticket.However, in the recent political ups and down in the Congress, Ms Joshi was on backfoot following deserting of her elder brother and former Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna from the party and joining the BJP after trying an unsuccessful attempt to topple the Harish Rawat government in the hill state. Congress leadership had even engaged Ms Joshi to talk to her brother, but she failed in convincing him.''The Gandhi family is irked over the act of the Vijay Bahuguna and this could lead to denial of ticket to Ms Joshi forcing her to search for an alternative home so that her political future is safe. The former UP Congress president is said to be vying for a legislative council berth from the nominated constituency as she is an educationist, retired professor from the Allahabad University," a Congress leader confirmed on anomity. In another political move, ruling Samajwadi party has announced to field Aparna Yadav, the youngest daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav from Lucknow Cantonment seat in the 2017 assembly polls. The decision has created concern in the Rita Bahuguna Joshi's camp and now there was a report that either she could change her constituency or skip the elections. The Yadav family could also give a council seat to Ms Joshi to ensure win of Aparna Yadav."There is all possibility of Ms Joshi being nominated for a the council seat by the SP as she is also an educationist for being a professor of Allahabad University.Earlier UP governor Ram Naik had rejected the names send by the UP government and still two seats are vacant. The nomination of Ms Joshi will certainly give Aparna Yadav a big boost in her maiden political venture from Lucknow cantonment seat," a senior SP leader opined.However, UP Congress vice-president and chairperson of the Media Committee Satyadeo Tripathi, however, ruled out any such move by the leader to join the SP. " Meeting CM do not raise speculation that the leader is leaving the party. Several legislators meeting CM regularly for development works in their respective constituencies," he added.But on the other hand SP sources said that ' Ghar Vapsi' of Ms Joshi like Mr Beni Prasd Verma is not ruled out.UNI MB ADG VN1515 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-745924.Xml Altogether 15 people involved in illegal e-disposal business were arrested with their kingpin and the factory was seized in Muradabad district of Uttar Pradesh last night. Senior Superintendent of Police Nitin Tewari said here today that a large amount of e-dispose recovered and 15 people with their leader Firasat were arrested when Circle Officer Katghar Mahesh Singh raided at their factory near Gair Abad Rasoolpur Nagla area on Jama Maszid in Muradabad. Police said that factory has been seized in presence of officer of pollution control board A E E Vijay, S A Vimal Kumar. The accused disclosed that they collect this e-disposal from nearby areas of Bhojpur, Bhagatpur and Kashipur Uttarakhand and extract metal by burning them. The raids were conducted after authorities received complaint of collection of e-disposal from metropolitan's cities of country like Delhi and Mumbai in the city. Peoples around the area are getting down with serious diseases by pollution created by burning of this e-disposal, police said. In the same sequence District Magistrate Juhair Bin Sageer had imposed section 144 in the area to tackle the situation occurred due to illegal business of e-disposal. There is provision of fine of Rs 5,000 for polluting air by burning disposal but inspite of that these situations occurs on almost daily basis.UNI XC-MB ADG SB1534 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-745948.Xml Kiran Bedi, India 's first woman IPS officer, has been a tough cop, an acclaimed reformist, a failed politician and now the Lt Governor of Puducherry. Born on 9 June, 1949, in Amritsar, in a well-to-do Punjabi business family, the second child of Prakash Lal Peshawaria and Prem Lata, she has three sisters. A graduate in English from Government College for Women at Amritsar, Ms Bedi obtained a master's degree in political science from Panjab University, Chandigarh. Later, during her career in the Indian Police Service, she also earned a law degree at Delhi University in 1988 and a Ph.D. from IIT Delhi's Department of Social Sciences in 1993.On 16 July, 1972, Ms Bedi started her police training at the National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. She was the only woman in a batch of 80 men, and became the first woman IPS officer. After joining IPS, Ms Bedi served in Delhi, Goa, Chandigarh and Mizoram. She started her career as an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Chanakyapuri area of Delhi, and won the President's Police Medal in 1979. Next, she moved to West Delhi, where she brought a reduction in crimes against women. Subsequently, as a traffic police officer, she oversaw traffic arrangements for the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi and the 1983 Commonwealth Heads of Government meet in Goa. As DCP of North Delhi, she launched a campaign against drug abuse, which evolved into the Navjyoti Delhi Police Foundation (renamed to Navjyoti India Foundation in 2007).In May 1993, she was posted to the Delhi Prisons as Inspector General (IG). She introduced far-reaching reforms at Tihar Jail, which gained worldwide acclaim and won her the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1994. In 2003, Ms Bedi became the first Indian woman to be appointed as a Police Advisor to Secretary-General of the United Nations, in the Department of Peace Keeping Operations. She resigned in 2007, to focus on social activism and writing. Ms Bedi has written several books, and runs the India Vision Foundation. During 200811, she also hosted a court show 'Aap Ki Kachehri.' She was one of the key leaders of the 2011 pan-India anti-corruption movement, and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in January 2015. She unsuccessfully contested the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections as the party's Chief Ministerial candidate against Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party. UNI RG RP1700 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0377-746249.Xml Mr Karunanidhi wrote separate letters to all the three Chief Ministers and extended his greetings. In his letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, he said ''Please accept my hearty congratulations to you on your assuming Office as the Chief Minister of Kerala. I am quite sure that you will take all necessary steps for further economic growth and prosperity of the naturally-endowed State.'' ''I, very earnestly, wish you a comfortable and happy tenure as the Chief Minister'', the DMK Chief said. In his letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Mr Karunanidhi said ''Please accept my hearty congratulations to you on your massive victory in the recently-held West Bengal Assembly elections''. ''The tremendous faith and confidence that the great people of West Bengal have reposed in you have paved the smooth way for you to return to the office of the Chief Minister'', he added. ''I, very earnestly, wish you a comfortable and happy tenure as the Chief Minister'', the DMK Chief said. In his letter to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Mr Karunanidhi said ''Please accept my hearty congratulations to you on your assuming office as the Chief Minister of Assam''. ''I am sure that you will work for the protection of the people of Assam irrespective of their religion, as you have publicly promised the people of Assam'', he added. ''I, very earnestly, wish you a comfortable and happy tenure as the Chief Minister'', he added.UNI GV MVR ADB 1608 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-746170.Xml The formation of the Ministry in the Union Territory was further delayed as the Congress Legislature Party meeting did not materialize last evening as announced by PCC President A Namasivayam yesterday. The CLP meeting is expected to take place tomorrow. The Congress and DMK together contested 21 and nine seats of the 30 Assembly seats respectively and won 15 and 2 ( Total 17) to form the government here. Following the victory of the Congress, Chief Minister N Rangasamy had tendered his resignation and the election department too had issued the notification on the completion of the election process here and the Chief Electoral Officer Dr V Candavelou had handed over the notification to the Lt.Governor.Even though, the stage is set for the formation of the Ministry, no action was taken by the Congress yet for it since, there was more than one contestant for the post of Chief Ministership. Meanwhile, it is now learnt that the AICC observers will be reaching Puducherry tomorrow and the CLP meeting would be held and all issues would be sorted out in their presence for the formation of the Ministry. The Chief Minister, Ministers etc would be decided, after which it would be considered whether to include the DMK in the Ministry or not after consultation with the Congress Legislators. By all means, the new Ministry would be sworn in here by the end of this week.UNI PAB MVR ADB 1625 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-746191.Xml Centuries-old cultural ties between India and Iran are set to get a boost when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the "Cultural Festival of India in Iran" on Monday in Tehran. Modi, who left on a two-day visit to Iran on Sunday, will also inaugurate a two-day conference titled "India-Iran Two Great Civilisations: Retrospect-Prospects" on Monday as part of the festival being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in collaboration with the Indian embassy in Tehran, Bonyad-e-Sadi, and Farhangistan-e-Zaban-o-Adab-e-Farsi. The conference would review India's age-old association with Iran, the tradition of cultural exchanges encompassing art, architecture, language, literature and music among others and will also explore synergies for a mutually beneficial and closer partnership ahead, the ICCR said in a statement. A major highlight of the festival's inauguration will be the release by Modi of a Persian manuscript called "Kalila va Dimna" which is a translation of tales from the Panchatantra and the Jataka. "The facsimile edition of the Kalila va Dimna is a tribute to the cultural interflow between India and Iran over millennia, attested by the nexus of the Rig Vedic hymns and Gathas of Zarathushtra, coming down to the reign of Akbar who introduced Persian as the language of administration in India which continued till the middle of the 19th century under the East India Company," said ICCR president Lokesh Chandra. "The Pahlavi adaptation of the Panchatantra was the prime mirror for princes and commoners," he said. ICCR director-general C. Rajasekhar credited Persian with giving "us a new language, Urdu" while "Persian literature influenced our literary and religious movements of the Medieval period". "The Persian style of presentation influenced our stage and drama. Persian terms and style of writing are part of every modern Indian language, from Hindi, Punjabi to Bengali," he said. Rajasekhar, who is already in Tehran preparing for the event, said that the influence of Persian culture permeated India's food habits to performing arts and languages to religious thoughts. "In turn, Indian literature, poets and authors considerably enriched Persian literature. India has given poets like Amir Khusrau, Faizi, Bedil and Ghalib and 'Sabak-e-Hindi' or the 'Indian style' in Persian poetry," he said. There will be a sample of over 100 books in Persian which are publications of those rare manuscripts. "Persian is regarded in India, not as a foreign language, but as a classical Indian language," the ICCR statement said. Besides the conference, there will be an evening of poetry recital and a "jugalbandi" in which India's Nishat Khan will pay the sitar and an Iranian artiste will play the tar, an Iranian stringed instrument. There will also be a display of rare Persian manuscripts and miniatures. --IANS ab/vd ( 459 Words) 2016-05-22-17:28:08 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi this afternoon embarked on his first visit to Iran with regional connectivity, energy and trade partnership and security cooperation high on his agenda.Mr Modi's trip, which comes close on the heels of a visit to Iran's Sunni rival Saudi Arabia, is being seen as a balancing act between the two West Asian nations which it considers a part of its extended neighbourhood.This is the first purely bilateral visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Iran in the last 15 years. In 2012, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh had visited the country, but that was in connection with the NAM Summit.Saudi Arabia hosts the largest number of Indian expatriates, while oil-rich Iran is vital for India's energy security. In addition India has very ancient civilisational and cultural ties with both the nations.The Prime Minister is going to Iran post lifting of sanctions against the Gulf nation that has left open a vast ocean of opportunity for India.Mr Modi will also call on the Supreme Leader of Iran.During the visit, a trilateral agreement on transport and transit corridor aimed at developing Chabahar port as regional hub will be signed among India, Afghanistan and Iran .This agreement is being seen as game changer for regional connectivity. With this corridor, Afghanistan can find an assured and reliable access to India via sea, and this route will also boost India's connectivity to Afghanistan and Central Asia and beyond.A host of measures will be discussed between Prime Minister Modi and Iranian President Dr Hassan Rouhani. The two leaders will promote bilateral trade including expanding and strengthening the legal framework and more business-to-business interaction.Matters pertaining to restoring effective banking channels in the post-sanction phase will also be discussed.Besides trade energy and connectivity, the Prime Minister will have very significant discussions with the Iranian President on regional peace and security as both the nations face several challenges, the foremost among them are terrorism and extremism.Talks will also include related areas like cyber crime and maritime security.Peace and stability in Afghanistan, on which the three countries, namely India, Iran and Afghanistan, held their first trilateral consultations last month in New Delhi, will also be discussed.More UNI NAZ RP1743 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0141-746380.Xml Ms.Bedi is expected to reach here in a couple of days as arrangements for the swearing-in of a new government is on here. It is expected that the swearing in of the Congress Ministry here would be under the leadership of Ms.Bedi presumably on May 25. Ms.Bedi is the fourth woman Lt.Governor for the Union Territory. Mrs. Rajendra Kumari Bajpai, Mrs.Chandravathi and Mrs.Rajani Rai were the women who held the post previously. Lt.Goveror of Andaman and Nicobar islands A K Singh was holding additional charge of Puducherry since July 11- 2014 when Lt.Governor Kataria was sacked by the Centre following troubles with Chief Minister N Rangasamy. Just before leaving Puducherry,Mr Kataria had blamed Mr Rangasamy for 'deceiving'him and 'trapping'him.UNI PAB MVR ADB 1726 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-746316.Xml Naik Gawade Pandurang Mahadev, who was critically injured in a fierce encounter with five heavily armed terrorists yesterday, attained martyrdom today. The brave soldier was part of the column which initially located and engaged the hiding terrorists leading to successfull elimination of all five terrorists. Lt Gen DS Hooda, Army Commander, Northern Command has expressed condolences to the family of this brave soldier. He said, "The nation owes deep gratitude to the ultimate sacrifice made by soldiers like him in the fight against terror. We are committed to provide all necessary support to his family in this hour of grief". Mortal remains of the brave martyr will be flown to his village in Sindudurg District of Maharashtra after necessary formalities.UNI VBH RP1815 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0435-746123.Xml The activists of various Hindu outfits, condemning the incident,took out a procession from Sri Ranganatha Temple premises to theKSRTC bus stand in the town. Yesterday night, three persons were caught red-handed by thelocals while they were allegedly disfiguring idols at the historicSrirangapatna Fort here and handed over to the Police. Meanwhile, tension gripped the town for some time following theincident and additional Police force was deployed to maintain lawand order. Condemning the incident, several organisations staged protests at thespot urging the Police to initiate action against the culprits. Police said that a team, if required, would visit New Delhi forinvestigation as one of the accused is from Delhi and would verifythe mobile call details of the trio.UNI BSP MSP MVR ADB 1953 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-746648.Xml Actress-turned-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Roopa Ganguly received head injuries when she was attacked allegedly by Trinamool Congress men at Kakdwip in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district today, police said.Ms Ganguly went to visit few BJP supporters of the same family, who were allegedly beaten up by AITC activists yesterday, at Kakdwip subdivisional hospital. She also went to Harowood Point Coastal police station to demand security for the family.According to the complaint lodged by Ms Ganguly, when she was returning, she was accosted by some Trinamool workers, who surrounded her vehicle and began thumping on the windowpanes.When Ms Ganguly got down from the car to confront the youths, she was slapped and then hit on the head with a stick. Several other BJP activists, who were accompanying her, were also injured.Ms Ganguly was admitted to Diamond Harbour hospital.A heavy police force rushed to the spot. However, no arrests have been made so far in this connection with the attack. The local Trinamool Congress has denied its involvement in the incident.Condemning of the incident, BJP National Secretary Rahul Sinha said, " Local AITC leaders led the brutal attack. We are demanding immediate arrested of all persons, who were involved in the case." UNI XC-KDG BM AE VN1951 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0214-746436.Xml India and Oman today signed four agreements on defence cooperation as Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar concluded his two-day visit to the Gulf country.The two sides inked the agreements after Mr Parrikar held bilateral talks with his Oman's counterpart Bader Bin Saud Bin Harib Al Busaidi, Minister Responsible for Defence Affairs, an official statement said here.Mr Parrikar was accompanied by a high-level official delegation comprising Ashok Gupta, Secretary, Defence Production, Dr S. Christopher DG, DRDO, Lt. Gen MMS Rai, Vice Chief of Army Staff, Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, FOC-in-C Western Command, and Air Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, Vice Chief of Air Staff as well as other senior Defence Ministry officials. During the meetings all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation, including enhanced military to military exchanges, were discussed. Both sides also exchanged views on regional developments of mutual interest. The Minister reiterated the high importance that India attaches to its strategic partnership with Oman. He also conveyed his appreciation at the continued support rendered by Oman for the Operational Turnaround (OTR) of Indian Navy ships for anti-piracy patrols as well as technical support for landing and overflight of Indian Air Force aircraft.He also visited the Military Technology College and the Sultan's Armed Forces Museum in Muscat. He also attended a reception at Sultan Qaboos Port to mark the goodwill visit to Oman of INS Delhi, INS Deepak and INS Tarkash. Four agreements are: MoU on Defence Cooperation between the Ministry of Defense of Sultanate of Oman and Ministry of Defence of Republic of India ;MoU between the Royal Oman Police (Coast Guard) and the Indian Coast Guard in the field of Marine Crime Prevention at Sea; MoU between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and the Government of the Republic of India on Maritime Issues; Protocol between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman represented by Royal Air Force of Oman and the Government of India represented by the Indian Air Force on Flight Safety information Exchange. Both the sides noted that defence cooperation is a key facet of their bilateral strategic partnership, which is based on historical ties as well as mutual trust and shared interests. It was agreed that the two sides would further expand and consolidate their ongoing bilateral defence cooperation. UNI MK AE 2037 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0431-746761.Xml The Ministry of Home Affairs is keeping a close eye over the situation in Manipur, where six Assam Rifles personnel were martyred today, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said here. Mr Singh also expressed sorrow over killings and offered condolences to the bereaved families of the deceased soldiers. Six Assam Rifles personnel, including an officer, were killed in an ambush by militants in Manipur's Chandel area today, official reports said. The Home Minister said he had spoken to Director General, Assam rifles and closely monitoring and reviewing the situation in the state. Earlier in October last year, One Assam Rifles trooper was killed in an ambush with PLA(Peoples Liberation Army of Manipur) in the same Chandel district in Manipur. Three cadre of PLA were also killed in September during a joint anti-insurgency operation by Indian Army and Assam Riles against PLA a purported umbrella group of all tribals militants seeking liberation of Manipur since 1978. Today's attack follows a gruesome attack on Indian Army patrol last year in which 18 jawans were killed by the NSCN(Khaplang) militants on 2 June last year. In a deadly reprisal six days later, Indian Army commandos raided and destroyed NSCN-K camp at India-Myanmar border near the same Chandel district and inflicted heavy casualties by killing 50 militants. NSCN-K is a largely Myanmar based renegade group which unilaterally broke the ceasefire with Indian Army in March last year whereas other major such as NSCN-Isak-Muviah(NSCN-IM) has brought peace with Indian government. UNI RG/ PRA AE 2226 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0091-746830.Xml Khyber Pakhtunkhwa meaning the "Khyber side of the land of Pakhtuns" is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, and located in the north western region of the country. This frontier province that borders Afghanistan is divided into seven divisions - Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Hazara, Kohat, Malakand, Mardan and Peshawar (the last being its capital) and is further subdivided into 26 districts, comprising of 21 Settled Area Districts (SAD) and five Provincially Administered Tribal Area (PATA) Districts. For years and decades, this region has served as a home base for insurgents, militants and terrorist outfits such as the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and particularly after the 9/11 terror strikes in the United States, been in the news for a range of human rights violations and abuse. Terrorism and abuse in all of its forms has manifested itself here, and it can be said with certainty that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa isn't behind any other province of Pakistan when it comes to perpetration of human rights abuse, killings, promotion of child labour, the denial of a right to education, internal displacement, disappearances and a soft targeting of minorities. Most of these acts of abuse appear to have the clandestine backing of the Pakistan armed forces and the dreaded Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Not even the constitutionally-elected government of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party has been able to make a dent in the influence wielded by both the Taliban and Al Qaeda in this tribal-dominant remote region. Imran Khan's warning in November 2013 to shut all NATO supply routes in the province following a U.S. drone strike on a madrassa in Hangu that claimed the lives six suspected Haqqani terrorists (including three commanders) and injured eight others, failed to have the retributive and retaliatory impact on the terrorist sway. The frequency of the drone attacks in KPK's SAD has only shown that the Taliban is continuing to spread its wings and tightening its grip across the geographical expanse that is Pakistan today, and according to observers, experts and analysts, this has only been possible because of what they call a behind-the- scenes tacit understanding and backing of the federal government. PTI leader Imran Khan has been a conscientious objector of these government-backed tactics of terror and abuse. Speaking of the drone attacks in KPK in 2013, he said, "Because we have our government in the province, we can't go to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC). We cannot bring down the drones, but we can stop NATO supply, and we will stop it." According to a report prepared by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continues to be the most dangerous and unsafe place for aid workers. For example, in 2013, 37 aid workers out of 91 were attacked, 20 of whom were killed and 17 injured. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) is on record as saying that polio workers are often attacked in the key cities of the province because what they do is seen as un-Islamic by a largely conservative and religiously indoctrinated society. Tribals are most reluctant to get their children vaccinated and often the work by immunisation teams is severely hampered. When it comes to the issue of child labour, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has put out data in the public domain that suggests that little has been done by Pakistan to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. All four of provinces of the country, KPK included, have failed to enact laws to ban the employment of children below the age of 14. This dismal picture exists despite Pakistan being a signatory to all ILO conventions. It is no surprise that the draft Prohibition of the Employment of Children Bill 2012 is still pending for conversion into law. The denial of a right to education in KPK must also be seen as another form of human rights abuse. Hundreds of schools have been razed to the ground by militants in Swat, Buner, Swabi, Charsadda and other parts of the province, denying and depriving children of the right to be educated. Apart from Hangu, the other places that have suffered from terror and abuse are Charsadda and Peshawar. Students and their parents are yet to recover from the December 16, 2014 terror strike on the Army School in Peshawar. Nawab Khan, a student, says, "These terrorist threats against schools should not happen. It is having an adverse effect on the education of children." But he is also determined that he will not be dissuaded from getting an education because of such threats. The PTI government has built security walls at some of the schools while majority of the schools, particularly in rural areas are still prone to similar attacks. In 2012, the annual report of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) said that a fourth of Pakistan's 19.75 million children in the age group of five to nine were out of school. Out of these, seven million children (aged three to five) were yet to receive even primary schooling. Till two years ago, about 51 percent children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were enrolled in schools Internal displacement remains widespread in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where militant extremists, mainly comprising of the Pakistan Taliban, and military operations against them, have led to a large exodus of local residents. FATA has seven tribal districts - Khyber, Bajaur, Kurram, Mohmand, Aurakzai, South Waziristan and North Waziristan, and a majority of residents are yet to return. Cases of persons who have gone missing in the province are also quite high. Dead bodies in gunny bags have been found in Peshawar in the last couple of years. Places like Buner district, Aurakzai and Kurram have reported people who have gone missing Where do minorities stand in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa? By and large, they are soft target for militants. There are reports of them facing frequent intimidation, and becoming victims of abduction. These actions are justified in the name of Islam. Militants demand and are known to receive jizya (protection money for non-Muslims in a Muslim state) from Sikhs in FATA with impunity. Domestic violence against women in Khyber Pakhtunkkwa is common, but usually goes unnoticed because of a lack of monitoring and reporting. Women going public about the abuses that they face at the hands of males in their families is viewed as bringing dishonour and shame, and deemed as being against Pakhtun culture and traditions. The government often turns a blind eye to such incidents. A rare positive is that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was Pakistan's first province to have a right to information measure as law. There are many bills and ordinances in the pipeline that seek to safeguard the rights of the individual in KPK, but it is a fact that in Pakistan, political and military interests have a greater priority than humanitarian considerations. The international community's assistance is marginal. International humanitarian organisations have focused on camp-based populations and this limited interaction has hampered their attempts to analyse the full complexity of the situation and the environment. (ANI) The election, which elects deputies to the 14th National Assembly (NA) and all-level People's Councils for the 2016-2021 tenure, started at 7.00 a.m., at 91,476 polling stations across the country, Xinhua news agency reported. As many as 500 deputies will be elected to the 14th NA out of 870 candidates. Out of the 500, 339 candidates are female, accounting for 38 97 percent while 204 candidates are from ethnic minorities, making up 23.45 percent, according to the list of candidates released by the National Election Council (NEC) in April. The voting will end at 7.00 p.m. The result will be announced within 20 days, the NEC said on Friday. The first session of the 14th NA is scheduled to convene in July when the NA Standing Committee and state leaders will be re-elected. During the final session of the 13th NA, Vietnamese parliament replaced top leadership positions of the country. On March 31, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan became the country's first NA chairwoman, while Tran Dai Quang was elected the new President on April 2, and Nguyen Xuan Phuc was elected the country's new prime minister on April 7. --IANS ksk ( 214 Words) 2016-05-22-08:40:04 (IANS) Austria could elect the European Union's first far-right head of state on Sunday, with support for Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer buoyed by a migration crisis that has heightened fears about employment and security.Opinion polls suggest the presidential race between Hofer and former Greens leader Alexander van der Bellen will be close-run. A far-right victory would resonate throughout the 28-member bloc where migration driven by conflict in the Middle East and Africa has become a major political issue.Austria took in 90,000 asylum seekers last year, more than 1 percent of its population, many of them shortly after it and neighbouring Germany threw open their borders last autumn to a wave of migrants including refugees from Syria's civil war.The government has since clamped down on immigration and asylum, but that about-face only fuelled support for the far right, which was already capitalising on widespread frustration with the country's two traditional parties of government.Today's run-off election comes four weeks after Hofer unexpectedly won the first round with 35 percent of the vote.The president traditionally plays a largely ceremonial role but swears in the chancellor, can dismiss the cabinet and is commander in chief of the military.Whoever wins, the election is likely to be a new high-water mark for Europe's resurgent far right, all the more significant for being in a relatively prosperous country with comparatively low, albeit rising, unemployment.It will also indicate whether mainstream parties were right not to close ranks and call for an anti-Freedom Party (FPO) vote, with many feeling it would only have bolstered the FPO's argument that it is taking on a hostile political establishment.HEAVY BLOWThe first-round vote was a heavy blow to the ruling Social Democrats (SPO) and their coalition partner, the People's Party - for the first time since Austria's president became directly elected in 1951, neither party will provide the head of state.The result also set off a party revolt within the SPO that led to rail boss Christian Kern becoming chancellor, replacing Werner Faymann. Whether the more popular Kern's arrival will affect the outcome on Sunday is unclear.Van der Bellen, who came second in the first round on 21 per cent, has accused his opponent of having an authoritarian view of the president's powers, saying Hofer wants to dismiss the government so snap parliamentary elections can be held.The next parliamentary election is due in 2018, but with the eurosceptic FPO running first in opinion polls on more than 30 per cent, it would be well placed to win a snap vote.Hofer has said he would, as president, already have dismissed the government over its handling of the migration crisis, but would not do so immediately if he became head of state.Tabloid reports of immigrants availing themselves of Austria's generous benefits, as well as of crimes in which immigrants have been suspects, have played into the FPO's hands.A Gallup poll for the Oesterreich newspaper last weekend found Hofer ahead by a 53-47 margin based on 600 people surveyed. But it was a dead heat among those who said they were certain to vote, a key factor after nearly a third of eligible voters failed to cast ballots in the first round.Bookmakers, however, gave Hofer as favourite. Betting website bwin.com, for example, gave odds of 1.45-to-one for Hofer and 2.55-to-one for van der Bellen. REUTERS JW PM0647 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-745700.Xml Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Bolivian President Evo Morales discussed "imperialist efforts" to undo leftist progress in Latin America during Morales' two-day visit to the Communist-ruled island, Cuban state television reported.Two major powers in the region have moved to the right in recent months. Argentina's Peronists were voted out of office late last year while in Brazil, Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party was suspended as president earlier this month due to impeachment.Leftist countries such as Cuba have called Rousseff's suspension a "coup" while the president of El Salvador went as far as to say he would not recognize the centrist interim government.Morales and Castro spoke "of the events happening in Latin America and the imperialist efforts to revert the political and social movement in our region," state television reported. No images of the encounter were shown.One of Cuba's closest allies is Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is under fire over a deepening economic crisis and facing protests in favor of a recall referendum.Morales faced a setback earlier this year when he was defeated in a referendum that would have cleared the way for him to run for a fourth term in 2019.The Bolivian president met with Cuban President Raul Castro, younger brother of Fidel, on Friday and attended a ceremony during which government officials of both countries signed bilateral agreements on health, education, culture and the economy. REUTERS JW PM0752 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-745710.Xml A top Afghan government official said today it was likely that Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US air strike."Last night, American officials informed the Afghan government and it is very likely that he is killed. As soon as we get more information we will inform our people," said Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.US officials in Washington said yesterday US missile-firing drones had attacked Mansour and probably killed him in a strike in southwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border, authorised by US President Barack Obama.REUTERS RSD RK1115 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-745811.Xml US Secretary of State John Kerry said today Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour posed a "continuing imminent threat" to US personnel in Afghanistan and to Afghans, and was a threat to peace.US officials in Washington said yesterday US missile-firing drones had attacked Mansour and probably killed him in a strike in southwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border, authorised by US President Barack Obama.Yesterday, the United States conducted a precision air strike that targeted Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Mansour posed a continuing, imminent threat" to US personnel and Afghans, Kerry told a news conference in the Myanmar capital."This action sends a clear message to the world that we will continue to stand with our Afghan partners as they work to build a more stable, united, secure and prosperous Afghanistan."Kerry said the leaders of both Pakistan and Afghanistan were notified of the air strike but he declined to elaborate on the timing of the notifications, which he said included a telephone call from him to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif."Peace is what we want. Mansour was a threat to that effort and to bringing an end to the violence and suffering people of Afghanistan have endured for so many years now. He was also directly opposed to the peace negotiation and to the reconciliation process," Kerry said.REUTERS RSD RK1327 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-745944.Xml The United States has killed the leader of the Afghan Taliban in an air strike in a remote border area just inside Pakistan, Afghanistan said today, in an attack likely to dash any immediate prospect for peace talks.The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour could trigger a battle for succession and deepen fractures that emerged in the insurgent movement after the death of its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was confirmed last year, more than two years after he died.Yesterday's strike, which US officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama and included multiple drones, showed the United States was prepared to go after the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which the Western-backed government in Kabul has repeatedly accused of sheltering the insurgents.It also underscored the belief among US commanders that under Mansour's leadership, the Taliban have grown increasing close to militant groups like al Qaeda, posing a direct threat to US security.The United States has not confirmed Mansour's death but Afghan government chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, and the country's top intelligence agency, said he had been killed."Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour was killed in a drone strike ... His car was attacked in Dahl Bandin," Abdullah said in a post on Twitter, referring to a district in Pakistan's Baluchistan province just over the border with Afghanistan.US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States had conducted a precision air strike that targeted Mansour "in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border".Mansour posed a "continuing, imminent threat" to US personnel and Afghans, Kerry told a news conference while on a visit to Myanmar."If people want to stand in the way of peace and continue to threaten and kill and blow people up, we have no recourse but to respond and I think we responded appropriately," Kerry said.The Taliban have made no official statement but two commanders close to Mansour denied he was dead.With the report of Mansour's death, attention has focused on his deputy, Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of a notorious network blamed for most big suicide attacks in Kabul."Based purely on matters of hierarchy, he would be the favourite to succeed Mansour," said Michael Kugelman, a senior associate at the Woodrow Wilson Institute think-tank.Haqqani, appointed as number two after Mansour assumed control of the Taliban last year, has generally been seen as opposed to negotiations.Efforts to broker talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban had already stalled following a suicide attack in Kabul last month that killed 64 people and prompted President Ashraf Ghani to prioritize military operations over negotiations.Ghani's office said on today Taliban who wanted to end bloodshed should return from "alien soil" and join peace efforts.'PANIC AMONG FOLLOWERS'Kerry said the leaders of both Pakistan and Afghanistan were notified of the yesterday's air strike but he declined to say if they were told before or after it had been carried out. He said he had spoken to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by telephone.Pakistan has in the past denounced U.S. strikes on its soil, calling them a violation of sovereignty, but US officials have said Pakistan has approved some strikes, in particular on militants fighting the Pakistani state.Pakistan, which has been trying to broker Afghan talks, was "seeking clarification" on the strike, a foreign ministry spokesman said. He repeated a call for the Taliban to shun violence and join negotiations.Drones targeted Mansour and another combatant in a vehicle in a remote area of Baluchistan, southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, a US official in Washington said, speaking on condition of anonymity.A Pakistani official in the area said a car had been blown up and two unidentified people had been killed. It was not clear how the vehicle was blown up and the two bodies had been taken to a hospital, said the official, who declined to be identified.One of the Taliban commanders who dismissed the report of Mansour's killing said it had nevertheless spread alarm."This rumour has created panic among our followers across Afghanistan and Pakistan," the senor Taliban member said by telephone, adding he was telling his comrades to ignore the report.In December, Mansour was reportedly wounded and possibly killed in a shootout at the house of an insurgent leader in Pakistan. The Taliban eventually released an audio recording, purportedly from Mansour, to dispel the reports.A US intelligence analyst said Mansour had been in a power struggle with another commander whose deputy was killed last year in what officials think was a fight with Mansour's faction.But the US official cautioned against concluding that a shakeup might diminish the Taliban's broader sense of strength, given recent gains they had made."It's hard to see much incentive for them to start compromising now, with the fighting just heating up again," the official said. REUTERS RSD BD1622 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-746205.Xml Afghan guerrilla commander Sirajuddin Haqqani, a possible successor to Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, would likely prove an even more implacable foe of beleaguered Afghan government forces and their US allies.The United States killed Mansour in an air strike in a remote border area just inside Pakistan, the Afghanistan government said today, in an attack likely to dash any immediate prospect for peace talks. The US has not confirmed Mansour's death.Haqqani, who has a 5 million dollars US bounty on his head, is widely seen by US and Afghan officials as the most dangerous warlord in the Taliban insurgency, responsible for the most bloody attacks, including one last month in Kabul in which 64 people were killed.If Haqqani is confirmed as the next Taliban leader it may be seen as fitting for the scion of a family that has been famously involved in Afghanistan's decades of bloodshed.His father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, was a heavily bearded leader of the mujahideen who fought the Soviet troops that invaded Afghanistan in 1979. A former US Congressman, Charlie Wilson, once called Jalaluddin "goodness personified" and he was held in such high esteem he visited the White House when Ronald Reagan was president.His son is seen as even more ruthless.Sirajuddin Haqqani became one of two deputy Taliban commanders last year, integrating his feared militant faction, known as the Haqqani network, closely into the Afghan Taliban insurgency.The Taliban now control more territory than they have done since their ouster from government in 2001, and hopes of peace talks that the United States was pushing have all but collapsed as the bloodshed has increased.The Haqqani network is thought to have introduced suicide bombing to Afghanistan and the US State Department calls it the most lethal insurgent group targeting US-led and government forces in Afghanistan. It labels Sirajuddin Haqqani a "specially designated global terrorist."Sources close to the Haqqani network said they were still trying to verify whether Mansour had been killed. "It is too early to comment if Sirajuddin Haqqani would be willing to replace Mullah Mansour," a source said.Haqqani, who is in his mid-40s, has been trying to reconcile factions within the Taliban who refused to accept Mansour's leadership since last year when it became clear that the group's founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had died nearly two years earlier.He had been made head of a committee tasked to resolve a bloody split between Mansour and a rival faction led by Mullah Mohammad Rasool, a senior member of the Afghan Taliban told Reuters earlier this week, speaking on condition of anonymity.HAQQANI FAR FROM CERTAINBut it is by no means certain Haqqani would be named Taliban leader.The Haqqani network, which has for years had strongholds in northwest Pakistani border lands, is a powerful force in eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province, and the wider Loya Paktia region, but not in the birthplace of the Taliban - Kandahar province in the south."Haqqani ... as a non-Kandahari and as someone who is unfamiliar with the insurgency landscape beyond Loya Paktia, would likely struggle to gain the support of the powerful southern Taliban commanders who still dominate," Thomas Ruttig from the Afghanistan Analysts Network wrote in a February article on potential successors to Mansour.Ruttig said Haibatullah Akhundzada, a former top member of the Taliban judiciary who became the other deputy along with Haqqani in July 2015, was a more natural successor.A respected cleric from Kandahar, Haibatullah was among the few thought to have gained Mullah Omar's trust and to whom the late Taliban leader would turn for a final say on sensitive decisions, Ruttig said.The other question is if Pakistan is ready to show its hand by having a leader of the Haqqani network, with which it has long been tied to, command the Taliban.Former US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen described the Haqqani network as a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's intelligence services after a 2011 attack on the US embassy in Kabul. Pakistan remains a powerful player in the Afghan theater.Instead, the choice of a successor may fall to someone with more distance from Pakistan, said Mohammad Taqi, a former columnist at Pakistan's Daily Times newspaper who has written extensively on Pakistan's intelligence agencies' ties to militant groups.Mullah Omar's son, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, and brother, Mullah Abdul Manan, who were given important positions recently within the Taliban could also be in the running.What looks almost certain, is more violence in the Taliban ranks as rivals lay claims in a leadership struggle that has not been resolved since Mullah Omar's death was announced, Taqi said.Still, the Haqqani network is the most cohesive, capable and best-funded insurgent organization in the region, with activities ranging from extortion and ransom to investments in firms abroad through front companies. It may therefore be best placed to wield the muscle in the weeks ahead to ensure it is in a position to decide the leadership.REUTERS RSD BD1751 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-746381.Xml Accompanied by Union Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari and others, he participated in the prayer as well. Prime Minister Modi earlier arrived at Mehrabad International Airport on a two-day official visit to Iran at the invitation of President Hassan Rouhani. Upon his arrival here, Prime Minister's office tweeted, "Reached Iran, a land with whom India shares civilisational ties. Hope to enhance economic partnership between our nations." Accorded with red carpet welcome, he was received by Dr. Ali Tayebnia, Iran's Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance. Prime Minister Modi's visit will mainly focus on connectivity and infrastructure, energy partnership with Tehran and boosting bilateral trade. India, Iran and Afghanistan will sign an agreement on developing Chabahar port on May 23. The port will be a game changer for regional connectivity, especially for Afghanistan, which can find an assured and reliable alternative access to India via sea. The route will also significantly enhance prospects for India's connectivity with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond through synergies with other initiatives touching the region such as North-South transport corridor. Prime Minister Modi's first tour to Iran will feature discussions on terrorism in the region as well as on India's desire to secure energy assets for a fast growing economy. (ANI) 13 illegal immigrants among 18 held The owner of the bar, a 42-year old man, as well as two other men, ages 25 and 22, also linked to the illegal immigrants and two local women who were also at the estab-lishment, were also detained in the exercise.According to reports, at about 1 am, a party of officers, led by supt Phillip and Insp Ken Lutchman, surrounded the bar, at the corner of savi street and eastern Main Road, upstairs economy super-market, after surveilling activities there.Officers announced their pres-ence and saw the 12 women and one man engaged in lewd and sug-gestive dancing. The 13 illegal immigrants scam-pered in all directions but the of-ficers locked down the establish-ment and rounded up seven wom-en and a man from the Dominican Republic and five other women from Venezuela.Police said the immigrants, all of whom were in their 20s, could not speak a word of english. They claimed that they were picked up by local men in Chaguanas and lat-er taken to the bar to do lewd and suggestive dancing, among other activities.During the exercise, a wom-an from Graham Trace, sangre Grande, whom police said, began pulling one of the detainees and shouting in an aggressive manner, was held for obstruction and dis-orderly behaviour while another woman wanted on a first-instance warrant, in her 20s, was also arrest-ed. One of the patrons of the bar, who was getting a lap dance when police stormed the bar, was also ar-rested.All of the detainees were taken to the sangre Grande Police station and the illegal immigrants were expected to be interviewed by im-migration officers.Other officers taking part in the exercise included sgt Christopher Fuentes, Cpl Randolph Castil-lo, Cpl Osuna and PC Gadar and wPCs stephens, Linton, Gonzales, Moses and Clarke.Yesterday, ACP surujdean Per-sad, who is in charge of the eastern Division, commended the officers, adding that they had pursued days of surveillance, which led to the ar-rest of 18 persons.He commended the officers for working tirelessly in the fight against crime and illicit a Business Chambers differ on Maduros visit Maduro is scheduled to pay a one-day visit to Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow with discussions expected to centre on enhanced bilateral co-operation between the two nations with emphasis on the areas of foreign policy, energy and trade. The Venezuelan Presidents ministerial delegation will include Foreign Affairs Minister Delcy Rodriguez, Petroleum and Mining Minister Eulogio Del Pino, and Industry and Commerce Minister Miguel Perez Abad. In a candid telephone interview, San Fernando Business Association (SBA) president, Daphne Bartlett, observed that Maduro was widely considered as a poor manager given the financial meltdown which the country is witnessing with citizens unable to purchase such basic items as toilet paper and food stuff. In my humble opinion, I am not sure what value he can bring, Bartlett said, adding, they cannot get toilet paper in Venezuela, it has reached that bad, you cant get food to eat, their electricity is not available to use at will. Asked about the idea of introducing a barter system for Venezuelan oil and gas for Trinidadian manufactured products, she said, there is no trade there, a country so rich in oil and people going through such hell, do we want to go along that path. She also scoffed at co-operation on border controls saying a brisk trade between both countries was being conducted at Cedros and the Venezuelan mainland. However, Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CCIC) president Richie Sookhai offered a different view saying any type of negotiations during a time of financial crisis would be helpful to both countries. But before we do anything, especially in our country, do the proper due diligence on whichever firm or entity that wants to come and invest here in Trinidad and Tobago, Sookhai said. He noted that Venezuela could advise this country about diversification into such technologies as solar, wind and hydroelectric energies. We need to be focusing a lot more on diversification away from the oil and gas sector and we cannot be taking, as we see the oil price slowly increasing, we cannot become complacent once more. Meanwhile, Movement for Social Justice (MSJ), political leader, David Abdulah, said the country should embrace the opportunity at collaboration with Venezuela especially given the South American countrys immense reserves of oil and natural gas. PM, AG working on campaign finance reform Rowley noted that the forum was meant to help TT learn from those who have already implemented campaign finance reform (CFR) legislation, particularly fellow Commonwealth countries. We need to craft legislation that is enforceable and legislation that can be operated. That is why this conversation is necessary. Should any money go into campaigns? If so, how much and for what purpose? If the answer is no, then private money is going into the campaign. How much? What is a decent amount for corporate contributions? How much private and personal money should go in and should there be any constraint on you using your personal monies for advancing your point of view in the national community? These are the kinds of things that will be discussed. The PM then expressed hope that out of this discussion would come a skeletal framework of agreement on how TT can benefit from the expertise of others to move very quickly towards the drafting of proposals for national comment which would be used to draft legislation to guide the process and conduct of elections in TT. Speaking with reporters during a break in the forum, Attorney General Faris Al Rawi said the drafting of legislation on CFR cannot be done without public consultation. Noting that many countries have a degree of State funding of campaigns/political parties during an election, the AG said, When you are talking about the public purse as a contributing mechanism to campaign financing, you obviously have to have buy-in of the wider public Hard times in Tunapuna but Forde trying How, then, are citizens faring, particularly in the constituencies where the PNM either gained or retained control following the September 7, 2015, general election? Sunday Newsday continues its series in the marginal constituency of Tunapuna, which the PNM took control of in last years general election. SHEILA (not her real name) stood despondently at her station in the eastern wing of the Tunapuna Market, last Wednesday morning. Noon was fast approaching but the middle-aged woman had sold a small fraction of the fruits and vegetables she was accustomed to selling in the facility. Look how the place getting already. After lunch does get real dead here, she complained. I have bodi for just $2 a bundle and all standing up on me. People saying they cant even afford that, she said. Things really hard and prices just keep going up. They cant afford the goods. Another female vegetable vendor, on the western end of the facility, corroborated. Sales in the market real drop, she said. When people have money, they spend. But since the election, things real bad. Usually a torrent of activity, the Tunapuna market embodies the spirit of the bustling commercial district, long seen as a marginal constituency. In fact, it is often said that the political party which wins the Tunapuna seat, will ultimately win the general election - a scenario which proved to be the case, last September, when the Peoples National Movement (PNM) won both the seat and the overall election. Former Auzonville/Tunapuna councillor, Esmond Forde, defeated the United National Congress (UNCs) Wayne Munroe, his closest rival, by more than 4,000 votes. Tunapuna has an electorate of 27,000. The UNCs Winston Dookeran had previously held the seat from 2010 to 2015. But vendors, some of whom supported the PNM, claimed on Wednesday that sales at the facility have taken a nosedive since the party assumed office, last September. The problem, they claimed, was compounded by the measures implemented in the aftermath of the Governments mid-year review on April 8. With the job losses that have come about because of the recession, the vendors still have to pay bills and send children to school, one woman said, adding that vendors still had to pay $75 to $80 to rent a station. Nazir Ramnarine, who has been a vendor at the market for the past 40 years, said he has felt the effects of the measures and was already contemplating another form of livelihood. Things have gotten worst (within the past seven months) and when people not working, they cannot buy. Market work has gotten real hard, he said. The vendors also claimed they had not seen their MP since the run-up to last years general election but called on him to address the issues plaguing the facility. These include the lack of parking for customers and vendors at the market and greater equity in the manner in which stations are disbursed. Forde: I try my best. Likened to former MP Eddie Hart, Forde is regarded as a man of the people in Tunapuna. He apologised for his perceived lack of visibility in the constituency, saying that while his previous position as councillor was challenging, the new portfolios of MP and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives also demanded significant attention. People will not be able to see me everyday because I now have to attend Joint Select Committee meetings, he said. The roles of councillor and MP are totally different. Forde said although he usually sees constituents on Tuesdays - a practice that may change depending on his availability - his constituency office is open Mondays to Fridays, from 8 am to 5pm. Forde empathised with the concerns of market vendors but noted that the facility fell within the purview of the TPRC. The Tunapuna market is physically in Tunapuna but for constitutional purposes it is really in the St Augustine constituency, he said. The market falls under the responsibility of the TPRC so therefore I dont have direct responsibility for it. Even so, Forde said he was aware of the many challenges facing the market, noting that consideration was being given to either relocating the facility or modernising it. To engage a vast number of residents outside of the constituency office, Forde said he has joined forces with Tunapuna Piarco Regional Corporation (TPRC) Chairman Edwin Gooding councillors in hosting a series of town meetings in Tunapuna. The meetings, which began last month, have been held in communities at Caura Valley, St Johns Road, El Dorado, Maingot Village and Ragbir Street. Forde said a meeting was also being planned for another area in the community, early next month. I may not be able to go door to door but what we have done is invite people out to meetings and they have been well-attended, he claimed, adding that the council and the office of the MP were working as a team. Forde said he often tries to attend functions and other gatherings such as wakes, funerals and activities organised by non-governmental groups. I try my best. Just recently, the residents of Ragbir Street had a barbecue and I was able to hang out with them, he said. Forde said he also has established a sub-office at Wharf Trace, Maracas. With the help of the TPRC Chairman and councillors, Forde said he wants to achieve borough status for Tunapuna during his term as MP. For now, though, the MP said plans are on stream to address traffic congestion, flooding and homelessness. Edwards: Government needs to be more forthcoming. David Edwards, President of the Greater Tunapuna Chamber of Industry and Commerce, commended Forde for reaching out to the business community since taking office. He said talks have already begun with respect to revamping Carnival among other initiatives. Mr Forde has tried to get the businessmen involved in all aspects of Tunapuna life, he told Sunday Newsday. Edwards said, however, that the Governments apparent inability to pump money into the economy by way of paying off contractors for outstanding works or starting new projects - presumably because of a shortage of funds - was a concern for businessmen in the area. The Government needs to be more assertive in laying out its plans, he said. It is all good to have discussions with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) but that picture has not been fully brought over to the business people. Edwards, CEO of the Macoya- based Trinjet Services Limited, noted that the Tunapuna business community was comprised mainly of small and medium- sized entrepreneurs so we need a different treatment and see different signals from the Government. He expressed confidence that the business community will soon experience a turnaround. We are hopeful that the Government will roll out projects, contractors will be paid and there will be more money in the economy, he said. When there are funds in the system, people spend more money on the ground. Internal self-governance must come The election takes place on June 26. Today, SUNDAY NEWSDAY continues its profiles of the candidates in the run-up to the eagerly- anticipated poll. Trevor Craig, chairman and CEO of the Tobago Communications Co. Ltd, has long been an advocate for internal self-government on the sister isle. Small wonder, then, that he has decided to throw his hat into the ring for the leadership of the Peoples National Movements (PNMs) Tobago Council on June 26. For Craig, internal self-rule is the most significant challenge confronting the island. However, he was quick to point out that achieving an autonomous Tobago will not be an easy fight. I do not expect this to be easy sailing because no one cedes power to another without a struggle, and this is ceding power to Tobago over areas, geographic and otherwise, which are now not under the control of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), he said on Thursday. Speaking to Sunday Newsday, Craig said internal self-government has been his mantra on the campaign trail. I am, at present, selling to the people of Tobago a governance model for full internal self-government which states that the island must have responsibility for, and control over, any and all areas that affect the social and economic well-being, safety and security of the Tobago people, he said. Craig, a former chairman of the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA), claimed his plan has been well-received on the hustings. I know that from the feedback I have been getting, after explaining this governance model on my campaign, it is already gaining much traction in Tobago, not only from Tobago PNM, but across all political lines, for mine is a Tobago message, he said. That will be my personal platform in the THA elections. By winning the next THA Elections, I will know that Tobago is behind me and the party on this. The political will of the people of Tobago must be respected by all with whom Tobago must negotiate. To the uninformed, Craig may be a virtual unknown. Truth is, though, he has had quite a distinguished career in public and civil life in the country. The fourth of five children, two of whom were island scholars, Craig grew up in Mt Grace, a peaceful community near Scarborough, the capital city, where his parents were poultry, pig and vegetable farmers. At age seven, he attended primary school in Trinidad before moving on to Trinity College, Port-of-Spain. Craig was inducted into the schools Hall of Fame in 2014. The holder of an MBA from Fordham University, where he majored in marketing, Craig has worked extensively in the public and private sectors in both Trinidad and Tobago. He also served as TRHA Chairman from 2001 to 2003 and again in 2014. As for his involvement in politics, Craig served as campaign manager for two THA representatives, outgoing Chief Secretary and PNM Tobago leader Orville London (1997 THA election) and Cynthia Alfred (2001), respectively. Alfred, who once represented the electoral district of Bacolet/ Mt St George, is now one of the seven candidates contesting the upcoming Tobago Council election. From 1997 to 2003, Craig also wrote a weekly column in the Tobago News captioned Write Off the Keyboard, which addressed political, social and economic issues. At present, Craig is the owner, chairman and CEO of two companies, Tobago Communications Co Ltd, an agent for Lotto, and Hortica Limited, a turf management and equipment rental outfit. A dominant figure in Tobagos Anglican community, Craig said the PNMs Tobago Council required leadership beyond reproach. The fate of a political party largely depends on its leader. Given the slate of the persons seeking to lead the Tobago PNM, (persons with little or no electoral experience, persons of dubious integrity persons with track records of non-performance) I saw that there is a good chance that the PNM would have a hard time holding on to office in the next THA Elections, he said. Craig scoffed at several of his contenders in the election race, saying that the Tobago electorate was very discerning and has never, since 1956, elected a novice to be the de facto Tobago leader. But there are three novices in the line-up and two others whose track record of performance, leaves much to be desired, he claimed. The businessman claimed he had been approached by scores of persons to add some quality to the contest. Craig also stated his main motive for contesting the leadership. Having worked hard and sacrificed so much to bring the Tobago PNM out of the wilderness of Opposition politics, I did not want to see the party back in the wilderness in my lifetime, he told Sunday Newsday. If elected, Craig said his first priority will be to get the PNM battle ready for the 2017 THA election. The PNM must win that election, he said. In the interim, though, he said, healing within the party must take place. Elections are by nature, contentious and the party has already put out a document stating that candidates must be gracious in victory as well as in defeat, said Craig. As I have been saying on my campaign, I am promising to make the PNM more member- friendly and will embark on that process to energise the membership by making members regain a sense of belonging to the PNM family. Candidates who contested the elections have a role to play by being willing to work along with the new leadership. As the island grapples with the effects of the economic meltdown, Craig said Tobago must be more self-sufficient and more efficient in the use of its resources, human and otherwise. The leadership and the people must be more solutions-oriented and must first look ourselves to solve our problems, he said. The businessman said tourism, the islands major asset, must be used to optimum advantage. WHY I DUMPED TED CRUZ FOR DONALD TRUMP By Ronnie Herne May 21, 2016 NewsWithViews.com Dear Ted I was in the middle of composing an article on you when you quit the race, suspending my campaign wasn't that how you put it? So I dropped both you and the article. But just recently you really ticked me off! I got this freakish Air Telegram from you (in my regular mail) stridently begging me for money AFTER YOU'D ALREADY QUIT THE RACE! You said, and I Quote: [LAST CHANCE TO DUMP TRUMP AVOID GOP DISASTER... STAND UP FOR YOUR VALUES... DONATE TODAY! Transmission: 10:06 AM Houston, Texas [not dated]] So I'm resurrecting my article, Ted. It was a Dear Ted Dear John. I was explaining how I went from being ALL IN for you to finally, and firmly, setting you completely and unconditionally aside in order to back Trump to victory. And I'm including right here your own words on party unity back in 2012. Sad how hatred has turned your heart, Ted. (This recently released interview [6 minutes] also includes your own words, Ted, on Heidi's involvement with the CFR.) Just so it's all very clear to you, Ted, I am standing up for my values. Donald Trump may be a frog complete with the warts but he's the prince that is singing my song. And he's singing it directly to me, Ted. Do you get it? Back in the day, I was so proud of you! Proud of you getting elected Texas senator. Proud of you telling Mitch McConnell off, and so grandly! Proud of your stand against amnesty. Proud of your stand against the education boondoggle Common Core. Proud of your stand against bad trade deals. Proud of you being an outsider. Proud of what you'd made of yourself. Proud of your beautiful wife and daughters. Proud of your morals and your Christian life. You were quite a guy and you were my candidate. I had such confidence in you. You and me, Ted. We were going to Reignite the Dream! We were going to take America back! WHERE REALITY SHATTERED ILLUSION The first thing I heard, and verified, was your wife, Heidi, being involved as an executive with Goldman Sachs. Well, so maybe not all Goldman Sachs execs are bad globalists? I mean, she's so pretty and she looks so nice on your arm. Next I heard of her five year stint with the Council on Foreign Relations. It was here, at the CFR, where she conjoined with 30 others to draft the dreadful North American Union (Building a North American Community), intended to join Canada, Mexico, and the United States in a blissful EU-like union. The five year work was released in 2005. Do you understand, Ted, that the NAU wrecks US sovereignty? You're a constitutional lawyer. Didn't you tell her? Ted the Outsider? First, you are an elected senator from Texas. There are only ONE HUNDRED SENATORS in the entire country, Ted. It's a very exclusive Insiders group. I mean, 100 people out of 330,000,000? Where did you and Heidi meet, Ted? Wasn't it in the 2000 Elect Bush (43) campaign? Weren't all Bush's advisers Insiders, Ted? Including you? And maybe even that new Harvard grad, Heidi? You worked inside that Bush (43) administration. First you were a legal policy adviser in the campaign. Then you spent 6 months as an associate Deputy Attorney General at the DOJ. Then you served from July 2001 to January 2003 in the Federal Trade Commission as Director of the Office of Policy Planning. Were you one of the select attorneys who advised Bush on how to amass more and more power to the Executive Branch? Bush did that, you know. [Here] and [Here]. He had a notorious and rapacious thirst for power and set just a fine table for Obama. Did you help him, Ted? Insiders did. Your career was stalling in DC, Ted, so you moved back to Texas. Then-Attorney General Greg Abbott (now governor) appointed you Texas Solicitor General and you served Texas well from 2003 to 2008. Still claim you're an Outsider, Ted? Not really noted anywhere in your campaign biography is what you were doing from 2008 to 2012 before you launched your successful bid to become the junior senator from Texas. In those years you were a private litigator and a partner in the Houston, Texas office of Philadelphia's law firm Morgan Lewis and Bockius. The clients were often very large corporations. Litigating for this private company you defended very large punitive settlements (in the range of $50,000,000) that ultimately settled without ever going to court. But in Texas and in your campaign to become senator - you defended the 2003 Texas business-friendly tort reform that capped damages at $750,000. That's only 1/66 of the settlements you vigorously defended at Morgan, Lewis and Bockius. How do you square that, Ted? And the ABA Journal says this about that Texas $750,000 figure: In cases with multiple defendants, the cap is set at $250,000 for noneconomic damages against all physicians, and $250,000 against one hospital or $500,000 against two or more hospitals for a total of $750,000. But plaintiffs lawyers say that is so unlikely as to be unrealistic, and the $250,000 cap is their reality. In 2011 in private practice, you made $1,570,000 (less in 2012 because you were campaigning). Quite a switch from your current senatorial paycheck. (Isn't that around $174,000 for a whole year, Ted? And Heidi's on unpaid leave?) Outsider or Insider? Which is your wife, Heidi? In 1995 she received her Master of European Business degree from Solvay Business School in Brussels, Belgium, site of several notable EU organizations. Interesting it was a European business degree. In 2000 she received her MBA from Harvard. So Heidi was Solvay and Harvard and you were Princeton and Harvard. That sure looks a lot like Ivy League top tier Insiders. In 2000, Heidi Nelson worked as an economic policy director on the Bush campaign, where she met you, also a Bush campaign adviser. Following her marriage to you in May 2001, she went on to work for the Bush Administration. She began as a top deputy to Bush's U.S. Trade Representive Robert Zoellick, well known for his ties to the World Bank, GATT, and Goldman Sachs. Her focus was economic policy. She also worked as director of the Latin America desk at the Department of Treasury in 2002. In 2003, Heidi Cruz reported directly to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. Heidi became Director for the Western Hemisphere on the National Security Council where she served under Rice. About a year after you opted for Austin Texas, Heidi left her very successful position in DC and took a job with Merrill Lynch in Houston, returning to her investment background, but still 160 miles away from you in Austin. In 2005, Goldman Sachs hired her away from Merrill Lynch and in 2012, just after you won the senator race in Texas, Goldman Sachs named Heidi (along with some 260 others globally) as a managing director, begining January 2013. She has since taken an unpaid leave from Goldman Sachs to promote your candidacy. In no way can this beautiful, talented, and accomplished woman be called an Outsider, Ted. Citizenship: Another big issue, Ted, no matter that you dismiss it, is your citizenship -- or lack thereof. You claim to be an Originalist as regards the Constitution, that it should be interpreted as meant when written back then (like the late Justice Scalia whom you praise). Laurence Tribe, who taught you at Harvard Law School, has come out against your eligibility because at the time of the writing of the Constitution he states that natural born meant physically born in this country and required your father to be a citizen of this country. (Mom didn't count until the mid-1800s.) And in 2014 you officially renounced your Canadian citizenship... As Canada did not have dual citizenship when you were born in 1970, and you emigrated to the US at age 4, three years before Canada had dual citizenship, what citizenship does that leave you with, Ted? And by the way, how did a Cuban Canadian get to be a US Senator in Texas? I know Texans can pack a lot under a Stetson, Ted, but that pushes the envelope, even for you. Amnesty Here's another yes-and-no issue for you. In 2013 you backed legalization of the illegal immigrants already here. It wasn't until Trump came blazing onto the scene last June that the border wall and deportation became okay with you. Common Core Ted? It's rotten to the Core, creates nationalized standards that will drop us even farther than our current 28th place globally in education. YIKES! I just found another U.S. ranking from 2013 that puts us at an unbelievable 36th place globally! Please note on this link that our Education Czar says it's not that our kids aren't keeping up with the pace. It's that the kids in other countries are gaining educational ground faster.... Huh? You say you oppose Common Core, Ted, and will dismantle it should you become president. However, Anita Hoge has caught you out. She has exposed S. 306 which you are backing. This would effectively put Common Core in every school in the country. Read here. And here. Does nothing shame you, Ted? These are our kids! (I wonder if you just thought you were too clever, Ted, or was it that you thought that we were just too stupid to notice? You know, Trump people, undereducated...) And Trade Deals, Ted... You were graduating from Princeton, headed to Harvard when (R) Bush 41 heavily backed NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), lost the '92 election, and then (D) Clinton completed the push for NAFTA. Very One World. Of course it is unlikely that Ivy League schools featured the anti-NAFTA crowd: Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan, Pat Choate or the Giant Sucking Sound of our jobs leaving the country. Globalists laughed at and derided snottily all of us who saw clearly the disaster on the horizon. I guess you were too busy studying to notice. If nothing else, the U.S. Sovereignty issues should have interested an up and coming Constitutional law student. How's your memory on that, Ted? But even with NAFTA as an historical black beacon, you favored the similar TPP (Trans Pacific Partership) trade deal. And even worse especially for a Constitutional scholar was/is the TPA (Trade Promotion Authority) which fast tracks the TPP. Surely you must realize that fast tracking takes away the Constitutionally mandated congressional oversight and authority on such deals? How could you be good with that, Ted? -- No congressional participation in the negotiations; no congressional in-depth review of the articles of agreement; no congressional alterations or modifications of the agreement? And no senate vote on what is a trade treaty? Is that all right with Senator Ted Cruz? I also saw you as moral and abidingly Christian, more illusions shattered amidst your convenient lies, your overreaching Christian Dominionist Theocratic Old Testament One World views, your willingness to do whatever it takes to further your own ends. You know, Ted, back in the day I thought your goals were my goals, I thought your vision was my vision, that your dream was my dream. Even last June when I knew I'd vote Trump I held out for you as VP maybe 8 years of Trump and 8 years of Cruz... Almost a dream ticket... Back then. Now I'd be appalled if Trump chose you for VP. And I'm fairly sure I don't want a closeted religious zealot, a Christian One Worlder, sitting on the Supreme Court either, no matter how talented he is in the two-faced Debate Master arena. You've turned too many corners, Ted. God of course can take you back. But I think too many of us out here caught on to your games, your flip flops see a list of 11 of them in Kelleigh Nelson's article -- your lies conveniently cloaked in schmoozing Sincerity, charismatic Christianity, and patronizing Patriotism. It is sad to say Good-Bye, Ted. But Good-Bye it is. God be with you. And may God be gentle with your wife and kids. And do remember, Ted, what you said about party unity... back in 2012. God Bless America and Donald Trump. Please, click on "Mass E-mailing" below and send this article to all your friends . 2016 Ronnie Herne - All Rights Reserved Ronnie Herne is a veteran having served from 1969 to 1973 as a Captain in the Air Force. She was a Flight Nurse stationed in the Philippines with C-141 flights to DaNang, Ton Son Nhut, and Cam Rahn Bay, all destined for Japan. In addition she spent eight separate weeks on the ground in VietNam. She started her political activities in 1991 with NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement). She fought it but watched as Bush pushed it and Clinton completed it. She was a Perot Volunteer, active in United We Stand America, involved in the creation of the Reform Party of California. She retired to Oregon and put her attentions on county government. With Agenda 21, regionalism, socialism, taxes, county land giveaways and other ills all present at the local level, she and a friend constructed a county Home Rule Charter to push back. It included property rights, water rights, veteran service, lower fees, no unelected county administrator, no Green code requirements, etc. It was a marvelous charter but failed. Agenda 21 marches on. So does Ronnie. E:Mail: AuntRonnie@SadieGoat.com Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. Mmmmmmmmm Viiiiiiiiiggggggooooooo Mmmmmmmmmm (i thought he was going to comment on his boy Orlando's shitty behaviour) Reply Thread Link Lol, seriously? Is there even any contact between the two of them since filming LotR? Reply Parent Thread Link Orlando said a few years ago he was able to get Viggo's number and email because they had lost touch, changed numbers or something idk. Reply Parent Thread Link who cares about katy x orlando when you have viggo x orlando pic.twitter.com/U6FDM2yjFs Miyya (@miyyagarcia) May 20, 2016 And Viggo asked Orlando to come to the after party ... see video. http://sendvid.com/eshkujuw?secret=c3e1c7f3-036c-44e2-b645-32e6c85b0f31 Edited at 2016-05-22 12:53 am (UTC) Orlando attended the premiere of Viggo's new movie 'Captain Fantastic' in Cannes. With Katy Perry.And Viggo asked Orlando to come to the after party ... see video. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Is it weird that I still think they hooked up on set? Is that Larry of me? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link He looks so rough now. :( I'm glad he uses his star power to get really weird films done now. Jauja was great. I need him to work with Cronenberg again though. Reply Thread Link he is so fucking punk rock... just like his ex-wife! Reply Thread Link I luv Exene Reply Parent Thread Link Exene is a queen... bless his earlier taste level tbh Reply Parent Thread Link Aw this is cute. I love X. Reply Parent Thread Link He looks like he aged 30 years :( Reply Thread Link Isn't he a smoker? Also his prime as Aragorn was almost 20 years ago. Reply Parent Thread Link shut up, nearly 20 years? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link what happened, man Reply Parent Thread Link He was also weirdly attractive in Eastern Promises. He probably shouldn't have been but he was Oh AragornHe was also weirdly attractive in Eastern Promises. He probably shouldn't have been but he was Reply Thread Link He so was. And then we got a naked dick flying chase/fight. Reply Parent Thread Link yessss Reply Parent Thread Link I love this movie. I'm still upset we never got a sequel Reply Parent Thread Expand Link This was the first rated R movie I bought tickets for to go see by myself. I was thrilled. Reply Parent Thread Link Until last year I didn't know he was American. I always thought he was German or Russian. Reply Thread Link He'll always be Danish to me. Reply Parent Thread Link Same Reply Parent Thread Link mte Reply Parent Thread Link He's American?!? Huh, I never knew either. Reply Parent Thread Link I thought he was Australian. Reply Parent Thread Link News to me. Reply Parent Thread Link but where is he really from? ::wink wink:: Reply Parent Thread Link wtf i thought it was one of those UK actors America imports Reply Parent Thread Link He's from Argentina.... right? lmao at all the many places people associate him with Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Lol i thought he was swedish or some shit Reply Parent Thread Link He looks so unattractive now. Reply Thread Link he used to be gorgeous what happened why is his nose so ugly now Reply Thread Link i love him but good lord he aged Reply Thread Link I'm so mad all the LOTR guys grew out of their hot phase. Reply Thread Link Who was ever hot except Viggo, Orlando and Karl? Not those Hobbit dudes. Bless them but no. Reply Parent Thread Link Karl Urban still looks great imo. Reply Parent Thread Link Viggo didn't get hot to me until after lotr tbh Reply Parent Thread Link I mean Orlando is still pretty hot he's just problematic as hell which drops it down. If you were a Dom girl he looks the exact same, so does Karl, Elijah, and Bean. Billy aged but meh still adorable, Sean A improved improved if he was your thin, and Viggo just got older but he can still get it in. I'm drinking and didn't know that was going to go there. Reply Parent Thread Link Karl was the only hot guy tbh and he still looks great Edited at 2016-05-22 12:52 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link ia Reply Parent Thread Link Eomer was so underrated hot. Reply Parent Thread Link I find Orlando and Karl hot still. Elijah fights the hot with nasty facial hair but he's still got it. Reply Parent Thread Link Girl, you forgot Karl Urban who was so hot in real life I was breathless. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link this thread has made me realize karl urban was eomer lmao Reply Parent Thread Link Karl Urban looks amazing tho. And I don't think Orlando looks bad, either? I mean, he's not nineteen anymore... dude just needs to figure out how to style his hair and he's good. Reply Parent Thread Link Viggo can get it in no matter how old he is, but damn the light in that pic does him no favors. He's still sexy as fuck though Reply Thread Link I love Viggo sfm <333 Reply Thread Link Whenever I go to Venice Beach I always hope I see him lol. Pretty sure he does his art and poetry things at one of the gallery co-ops down there. Reply Thread Link Yup! I love that he created Perceval Press to publish poets who would otherwise not find a space in more traditional venue. I'm not a big LOTR fan but ever since I heard about his publishing company I've been a fan of him. Reply Parent Thread Link I wonder what he's like in bed tbh Reply Thread Link He's probably amazing in bed. But I get the feeling he's a shitty long term partner/husband. Like I could see leaving him for the day and getting home and he's wrecked the house because he's looking for a book he read 20 years ago that has a quote he particularly liked. Reply Parent Thread Link LMAO Reply Parent Thread Link tbh this should be the shitty type of husband people should have Reply Parent Thread Expand Link he fascinates me and i'll forever have heart eyes for him, no matter his age Reply Thread Link As we prepare for the Palme Dor , lets speculate on potential winners, take a look at what films made an impact, plus talk about winners from the companion exhibitions, Un Certain Regard and the Quinzaine des Realisateurs. Well update the post with the Palme Dor winners as theyre announced. I've already heard by 3 persons REALLY in the know that sadly G Miller did NOT like Toni Erdmann (but there are 8 other jurors.) #Cannes2016 Cedric Succivalli (@OnTheCroisette) May 22, 2016 Bon. Welcome back Loach, Dolan, Arnold, Mungiu, Farhadi et "Divines". Bye bye Guiraudie, Mendonca Filho, Ade, Dumont, Jarmusch, Verhoeven... Julien Gester (@juliengester) May 22, 2016 The jury press conference tonight is going to be hilarious #Cannes2016 Cinema Scope (@CinemaScopeMag) May 22, 2016 Watch the livestream here: http://www.canalplus.fr/cinema/festival-de-cannes/pid7103-en-direct-de-cannes-2016.html# Un Certain Regard Prize: Juho Kuosmanen, "The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki"Jury Prize: Koji Fukada, "Harmonium"Best Director: Matt Ross, "Captain Fantastic"Best Screenplay: Delphine and Muriel Coulin, "The Stopover"Special Jury Prize: Michael Dudok de Wit, "The Red TurtleArt Cinema Award to a feature film : Wolf & Sheep, dir. Shahrbanoo SadatSACD Award to a French-language feature film: The Together Project (aka LEffet Aquatique) dir. Solveig AnspachSACD special mention: Divines dir. Houda BenyaminaThe Europa Cinemas Label to a European feature film: Mercenary (aka Mercenaire) dir. Sacha WolffIlly Prize to a short film: Chasse Royal dirs. Lise Akoka, Romane GueretIlly special mention: The Beast (aka Zvir) dir. Miroslav Sikavica: I, Daniel Blake by Ken Loach: Xavier Dolan, It's Only the End of the World: American Honey, Andrea Arnold: Jaclyn Jose, Ma'Rosa: Shahab Hosseini, The Salesman: a tie between Cristian Mungiu, Bacalaureat & Olivier Assayas, Personal Shopper: Asghar Farhadi, The Salesman: "Divines," Houda Benyamina: "Les Vies de Therese," Sebastien Lifshitz: "Gabber Lover," Anna Cazenave-Cambet.Toni Erdmann won the International Critics Prize Saturday for best picture in Cannes Competition, awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics (), cementing its status as a critics darling. However, rumors from the jury arent encouraging for Erdmann lovers:Sources: Livestream UCR | Tweets ( 1 This makes me very sad. Reply Thread Link kids boys or girls and women sometimes young men have to do sex stuff to get rolls in tv or movies so its nothing new to hear about.it is very sad this happens :( Reply Parent Thread Link damn O_O Reply Thread Link jesus. glad he didn't experience that, but how awful. Reply Thread Link http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/corey-feldman-pedophilia-problem-child-actors-contributed-demise/story?id=14256781 corey feldman said the same thing: Reply Thread Link Corey Haim always seemed a prime example of the disgusting things that are kept behind closed doors in Hollywood and how it really destroys kids lives. Reply Parent Thread Link Mte. So sad. Reply Parent Thread Link yeah :( Reply Parent Thread Link he really is. Reply Parent Thread Link I remember this. It makes a lot of sense for troubled child actors (Corey haim, Lindsay Lohan, Macaulay Caulkin) that became addicts when adults :( Reply Parent Thread Expand Link yep. one of my old bosses was very close to corey haim and the stories she told me were devastating. his mom is a junkie who sold out her kid to be raped by grown men. i worked briefly in casting and working at auditions for children's shows was soul crushing. so many parents willing to send their kids up a river for their own benefit. the kids want none of it. my disdain was further exacerbated by a job in which i was forced to work albeit indirectly with agents/managers who were known pedos but protected because they were good at their jobs. even working across the country i saw that hollywood is a repulsive fucking place. Edited at 2016-05-22 06:52 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link omg thats right I completely forgot about this :( i guess i blocked it out. Reply Parent Thread Link i don't doubt it to be honest. Reply Thread Link Tbh.. This is true. I'm not an actor by any means. One day I was working (19 yo) at a cafe and a producer offered me a role in a pilot.. (It was shit and never got picked up) He ended up having me sign the contract and all the works, he took me to the studio to check out the project so far and one day while we were looking over the script he asked me if I was a top or bottom.. And I asked him why it mattered what I liked? And he said "well i'm helping you with this role." And so you're going to sleep with me right?" And I walked out. He wasn't shit but just another rich wannabe trying to be a producer and pitch a script but he was seriously trying to woo me. He showeds me his fancy place and all the celebrities he knew or were his "friends" and whatnot and it was all b.s. The photos with celebs were just of him getting lucky at events. LA is filled with so many disgusting perverts in the industry.. I was a little more mature than a early teen would be or a child so I dropped that fast. The storybis so much deeper than I just told but you guys.. THIS IS TRUE. I was 19 and legal of course but these POS like them young (i guess I looked young enough) and the industry is probably worse than the catjolic church abuse. He is right. This is happening.. Reply Parent Thread Link Jesus Christ. This industry is fucked. What even goes through their heads when this kinda shit happens Reply Parent Thread Link just reminds me of what happened to poor corey haim =/ Reply Thread Link And Feldman. But yeah. Reply Parent Thread Link My heart will never stop breaking for him. The worst part is he's all but forgotten by the GP; his legacy should have at least been a major wakeup call for child stars, parents, fans, etc but it wasn't Reply Parent Thread Link Yes, and Madonna is well-known example. Reply Thread Link what??? stop stirring shit. madonna is awful but when has she abused minors?? Reply Parent Thread Link how the fuck did madonna get away with the pedophilic & fetishist overtones in this piece from her 'sex' book? how? pic.twitter.com/CdvVbIoMzy buckle bunny (@accessforbidden) October 30, 2014 Reply Parent Thread Expand Link She writes kiddy porn. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Reminds me of Corey Haim. These poor kids. Reply Thread Link Poor Corey. He deserved to have a better life. Reply Parent Thread Link sickening to think how many child actors we grew up watching victims not only to the greed of the industry but also their families :/ Reply Thread Link Didn't many child actors claim the same?? I wouldn't be surprised.... It's probably been on since the inception of Hollywood. When I think of this the first thing that comes to my mind is the novel Godfather when some greedy mother pushes her pre-pubescent daughter on to that creepy producer (the one who finds the dead horse head in his bed) Reply Thread Link Yeah, Corey Haim and Corey Feldman apparently experienced it. A lot of people assume Macauley was abused by MJ. Lou Perlman (who worked with NSYNC and tons of others) is known for having been abusive. There are also less cut and dry situations, like Thora Birch's dad was super gross and put her in bad positions. The list goes on. Reply Parent Thread Link Thora Birch's dad is a huge reason why she never became a big star like she was suppose to be. When I read that he had in her contracts that he be present during her nude/love scenes I was like...ugh. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link At least Savile's crimes were exposed posthumously...the pedo ring in Hollywood seems completely indestructible by comparison. Whenever accusations are raised, it leads nowhere. People in the industry have learned to shrug it off. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link That godfather scene is what I was thinking too. Reply Parent Thread Link I always think of Charlie Chaplin and his numerous teenaged wives. Reply Parent Thread Link There was a documentary about it a couple of years ago: Reply Parent Thread Expand Link This is horrible, and it's sickening that I'm not surprised. A few child actors have come out and said it. I think Tim Redwine said something along the same lines. Reply Thread Link That's so depressing. Reply Thread Link I've heard of it before, so I believe it. That explains how so many well-known pedo directors keep in business Reply Thread Link w/ all the rape apologists in the jesse/woody thread below, this isn't far-fetched at all!!! Sounds plausible that folks systemically turn and lower their heads when the rapist is powerful (and organized)----all in the name of careerism and neoliberal capitalist success. And bend backwards and reach for the stars like it's yoga to justify their colluding + abetting. We see posters doing THE MOST in that Jesse post and they aren't even getting paid for it. All in the name of "nuance" and "diplomatic" for child rape! Reply Thread Link I don't understand that logic at all either. Like how Adam Brody was basically like 'it's for art it's not personal' sort of bullshit. You're still essentially promoting a horrible person's career. Why would you want to work with someone so vile? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Ikr? And these are not struggling actors looking for their big break or whatever, they have options and are completely able to turn down the film. Reply Parent Thread Link Pretty much. I don't care if somebody was never found guilty by a court (though of course Polanski was, on the strength of his own admissions). My poor opinion of somebody is not subject to the evidential burden, I don't have to know beyond reasonable doubt, I just have to have a feeling that somebody's done shit wrong. Reply Parent Thread Link I also think there's an aspect in Hollywood of "this is how it's always been done" that keeps a whole lot of gross shit (not just predatory behavior toward children) under wraps. It's sick. Reply Parent Thread Link You are fucking amazing and way too good for this website filled with disgusting people, tbh. ONTD doesn't deserve someone as articulate and thoughtful as you. Reply Parent Thread Link yesss @ this comment. bow. Reply Parent Thread Link couldn't have said it better myself! Reply Parent Thread Link those posts were a mess. like why are we having to explain to these people why it shitty like damn Reply Parent Thread Link It's why I can't stan Tom Hiddleston....no matter how any humanitarian projects he gets himself attached too Reply Parent Thread Expand Link yep powerful men get away with so much Reply Parent Thread Link MTE, I was so shocked about that post. What is it so difficult to understand about the fact that when you have a whole system of impunity, you need to tackle all angles and all people serving that system even if it's "only" in their passivity and silence? Reply Parent Thread Link i make enough but also not enough? Reply Thread Link do directors decide how much money the actors make? isnt that the studios? Reply Thread Link Yes. It's really awkward they asked her personally, lol Reply Parent Thread Link Mte. She has nothing to do with that Reply Parent Thread Link I think they negotiate with the studio Reply Parent Thread Link Unless she's a producer. It's the producers that negotiate with the talent. I believe it's pretty much like this on all films made by studios or independently. Reply Parent Thread Link It's a producer decision and she wasn't even a producer on this. Reply Parent Thread Link Clooney was. I suspect he probably worked for scale though. He might have a large stake in the profits . Edited at 2016-05-22 10:25 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah, I was going to say she didn't unless she was a producer too.. I think Clooney was a producer though? Julia usually pulls in big bucks though. Reply Parent Thread Link Thanks for posting this! I saw it when it aired and was genuinely shocked. like, for all her being on a high horse about equality, they clearly arent getting the same or she would have said, right? gross. Reply Thread Link No she wouldn't have said and I don't know any director that would. Btw Those numbers are usually confidential unless coming from the actors themselves or public tax info Reply Parent Thread Link the numbers might be confidential but that doesn't stop you making a comment about equality does it? like, they arent asking her the amount, just whether or not it was the same. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I negotiated a nice income for myself with this newest job, but I still need to make more to be comfortable in the way I want. Edited at 2016-05-22 09:59 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link lol she handled him well Reply Thread Link I wonder if Julia got paid less than George? I get paid shit compared to a lot of the employees who I work with, who a) don't know what they are doing and b) don't do nearly as much as I do. I don't even make a fraction of what they make. One of the reasons I'm so ready to find a new job. It is even sadder cause I work for the government, so much for practice what you preach Reply Thread Link Why do you think they get paid so much more than you? Reply Parent Thread Link cause of unionization and seniority. the girl that I work with gets paid slightly more than me, I have no idea how they determined her pay. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I would just love for my student loans to be gone. :( Reply Thread Link me too, they are really kicking my ass right now Reply Parent Thread Link ME too. My car loan is done in December and I'll feel like Scrooge McDuck once I'm done with that. I'm hoping to have my student loan finished off by June. It's been 10 years! Reply Parent Thread Link samesies Reply Parent Thread Link :( same and they never will Reply Parent Thread Link do they have the same amount of screentime? i'm all for equal wages but found it weird when there was the j.law drama for american hustle when she was only in the film for a fraction of the time. if the other actor is doing more work then yeah they should get paid more. otherwise? nah. Reply Thread Link iirc the whole American Hustle thing was more related to Jeremy Renner and how he was paid more than Jennifer and Amy even though he had less screen time than them (rather than Christian Bale or Bradley Cooper who had either the same amount or more screen time than the women.) But ia that it's a bit presumptuous of that reporter to ask if they got paid the same amount when I doubt he has bothered to check if they completed the same amount of work. Reply Parent Thread Link i didn't know it was just based on renner since all the press angled it as equal to her male co-stars which implied cooper/bale. that males A LOT more sense. Reply Parent Thread Link American Hustle is a hard film to make an example of. The advertising capitalized on Jen's hype at the time, and I wouldn't be surprised if she had to do more promotional work than any of the leads. IMO if they're using her name to get butts in seats, they should be paying her a bit more than the role strictly dictates. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link eh. In terms of the j.law equal pay situation, I took into account what motivates people to see the movie in the first place. Who is going to see a movie because of Jeremy Renner? J.Law had done huge blockbuster movies (Hunger Games) and gotten Oscar nominations by then, she was (and I think remains) super popular. It also felt gross to me that they felt they could maximally profit off her bank-ability and popularity, but yet couldn't pay her equally. In terms of the promotion of the movie, I also felt they profited off her image the most, yet she got the least amount of benefits (see below). Reply Parent Thread Expand Link yeah i think it should be some sort of sliding scale based around screentime/amount of filming time/how much press you're contractually obligated to do/if you have a production credit/etc. that's the most clear cut way, imo Reply Parent Thread Link Like others said, what happened in her essay was not her wanting to earn more than Renner (which she should have) but equally because she had more screen time than him but above everything and everyone, Amy Adams was the lead of the movie and she earned less than Renner which is, as you know, a freaking nonsense. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link How much money do you make, ONTD? I get paid shit in the name of experience but this was awkward to watch, discussing money always makes me so uncomfortable Reply Thread Link george probably got more since hes the only one of two who is also a producer. Reply Thread Link This guy was pretty pushy but she could've just answered whether they got paid the same without revealing how much they got paid. Reply Thread Link Speaking of child stars exposed to fame early, the way Jodie talked about her mom during her Nerdist interview was pretty interesting. Her mom was basically attached to her hip all the time on set and at premieres, and made sure that Jodie wasn't victim to the seedy underbelly of Hollywood. At the same time, Mrs. Foster sounded like a little bizarre as a person. She was loner who didn't have any friends and focused all her time on her kid. Jodie thinks her mom was vicariously living through her daughter's success. While I'm glad she didn't let Jodie get caught up with drugs or predators, raising your kid on production sets, movie premieres, award shows...that's not really normal either, lol. Reply Thread Link Her life sounds so weird. I think she's a really interesting person. Reply Parent Thread Link omg I listened to the Nerdist interview + it was very interesting. here the link in case anyone's interested: Reply Parent Thread Link and for growing up as child actor she's pretty sane, so i say props to mom Reply Parent Thread Link I work in quite a high pressure industry and I recently got a new job that was paying me an INSANE amount of money. It was absolute hell and I quit, haha. Now I'm looking to take a pay cut to get a better work-life balance. Money really isn't everything. Reply Thread Link My mom is like you. She was making bank at her old job, but she worked 60-70 hours a week, not even during the busy times. She couldn't even have scheduled vacations that didn't involve her working. She'd have to sit in a Paris hotel room working, rather than getting everything out of the experience she wanted. She ended up leaving because she said once you hit a certain pay grade they essentially believe they now own you, and they will get every single second of work out of you they can. Reply Parent Thread Link Yep. I left my nightmare job to go to another where I'm making slightly less, but I am much happier. Reply Parent Thread Link yeah i'm actually considering quitting earlier than i meant to and taking the summer off, living on what money i have right now. sounds crazy and i wouldn't have even considered it a month ago BUT, my job has burnt me out completely and idgaf about money rn. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah but sometimes I miss the paycheck and bonuses Reply Parent Thread Link We had a work review the other day and it was brought to my attention that I make the same amount as someone who just started 3 weeks ago and do the same job, even though I've been there a couple of years. :\ I should really change jobs, but I'm afraid I'm not qualified for anything else (even though I totally am). Stupid insecurity. And I don't make enough. Reply Thread Link If you know youre qualified for other stuff, start throwing your resume out there. If they mentioned that in a review, its a roundabout way of them saying to you they want you to jump through hoops in order to *maybe* get a raise. Spend your time and energy looking for something else instead of doing that, tbh. Reply Parent Thread Link How was it brought to your attention? By whom? I would use that information to negotiate for more money, but if it was brought up in a way that felt demeaning to you, maybe it's best to start looking elsewhere. But to be honest, I would still try to negotiate for more money, even if you intend to leave because (1) it will give you a better salary history to leave with and (2) will give you more experience in having these types of discussions. Even though they are uncomfortable to have, I think this is useful, like getting experience in job interviews even if you aren't necessarily looking to leave. Reply Parent Thread Link these questions should be asked tbh good for him Reply Thread Link The game-changing downing of a Turkish attack helicopter by Kurdish rebels with a Russian-made missile could further intensify still simmering hostilities between Ankara and Moscow. Coming nearly six months after a Turkish jets downed a Russian bomber operating from a Syrian airbase, the May 13 incident made front-page news in Turkey. It was a message to [the] government and public, commented Metehan Demir, an independent defense analyst and former Turkish military pilot. The missile featured in a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) video of the attack is a Russian-made SA18 or SA24, he noted, using the North Atlantic Treaty Organization codenames for the shoulder-held, anti-aircraft missiles 9K38 Igla (Needle) and 9K338 Igla, manufactured since Soviet times in the Russian town of Kolomna. Two pilots died in the crash, which Ankara initially attributed to a technical malfunction. On May 19, the Turkish military stated that the helicopter was hit probably by an unidentified missile fired from the ground by terrorists, the term used for the PKK. Though Ankara has not clearly pointed the finger at Russia for the attack, its lines of inquiry appear to lead in that direction. Ankara is investigating to find out how the PKK came to obtain such a weapon, said Sinan Ulgen, head of the Istanbul-based foreign-policy think-tank EDAM. We don't know if it was directly delivered by Moscow or obtained some other way. But certainly it would make a big difference if it was delivered by Moscow. It would end any lingering hope of mending relations. Related: The Newest Metric For Gauging Stock Performance In The Oil Patch Not waiting for the outcome of those inquiries, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an on May 17 blamed the international community. States which exercise control over the worlds arms industry give their weapons to terrorists. I challenge them to deny this, he said at a meeting, local media reported. By now, we all know which countries supply arms to which terror groups. Much of the Turkish media, which is under tacit presidential control, has been more direct, pointing out that the missile used was Russian-made or directly accusing Moscow. But other Turks urge caution. I personally would not think the Russians would do such a mad thing. It would not serve their interests, argued Retired Brigadier General Haldun Solmazturk, chairperson of the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute, a political think-tank. It is possible to find Russian-made manpads anywhere in the world, especially in the Middle East. If it was supplied by Russia, then I would be very, very surprised. But the missile that downed the Turkish Super Cobra helicopter evaded all its defense systems, and, based on the video, appeared to be handled by someone well trained in its operation. This is not an ordinary shoulder-fired missile, claimed analyst Demir. You have to train a normal soldier for weeks to use it. It is very sensitive, it is very high technology and well operated. Who trained the PKK, who made them so professional to be able to hit a helicopter so easily [the] first time? This could be some Russian sources official or not official in retaliation by [the] Russians for [the] downing of [the] Turkish jet, he speculated. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not disguised his desire for payback for Turkeys fatal November 2015 attack, but, so far, Moscow has limited its responses to economic sanctions and air violations of Turkeys border with Syria. The Kremlin has not commented about the helicopter downing. But pro-government Russian media have drawn conclusions, writing that the war in Turkeys southeast is gaining momentum because Ankara refuses to offer the southeastern local Kurds the right to autonomy Meanwhile, in Ankara, many wonder how many more missiles the PKK has. For the Turkish army, helicopter gunships, as in Russias campaign in Afghanistan, are key to its anti-insurgency efforts. In any operation, control of [the] air is extremely important, advised Solmazturk, a veteran of Ankaras decade-long fight against Kurdish rebels during the 1990s. If [an] attack helicopter will not be as forthcoming as in [the] past, it is very significant. In principle, [it] is a game changer. Rumors abound across Turkeys predominantly Kurdish southeast that the PKK was preparing to use new weapons. The conflict erupted last July with nearly unprecedented brutality after two years of peace talks. Throughout its roughly 30-some-year-long fight with the PKK, Ankara intermittently has accused Moscow of supporting the insurgency. But now its perception is that Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to oust Erdo?an. Ankara, according to a senior Turkish official, who requested anonymity, tried to reconcile with Moscow, but has been repeatedly spurned. In April, in a move interpreted as another gesture to Moscow, Turkish police detained a Syrian Turkmen, Alparslan Celik, suspected by Moscow of killing one of the Russian pilots of Novembers downed jet. But last week he was released after prosecutors declared they had no case against him. Following the release, Moscow further tightened its Turkish trade sanctions. It has launched a complete ban against all vegetable and fruit imports from Turkey. But the tensions appear to go beyond trade. Related: Despite Low Oil Prices, Kuwait Plans To Invest $42 Billion By 2022 Ankara has stepped up its expressions of support for the Crimean Tatars, a Turkic minority living on the Russian-occupied Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. At the same time, noted analyst Ulgen, Turkey is looking to get NATO backing and expand its influence in the Black Sea, which is a big change in Turkish policy and is aimed at curtailing Russian influence. Other tactics are being used, too. Erdo?an was quick to congratulate the Ukrainian winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, Jamala, for her song remembering the mass expulsion of Tatars from Crimea under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1944. A toughly worded statement from the Turkish foreign ministry for the 72nd anniversary of the Tatar expulsion on May 18 underlined that [t]he wounds that this atrocity has opened are still fresh for both the Crimean Tatars and Turkey, and emphasized Turkeys support for its ethnic kin amidst the illegal Russian annexation of Crimea. But how far Ankara will actually go with playing this card is unknown. Its public support for the Crimean Tatars often appears seasonal. No doubt, Erdo?an will want to keep his Russian counterpart guessing. But the Turkish president is currently courting nationalist voters ahead of an expected referendum this fall to expand his powers. The Crimean Tatar topic plays well among nationalists. But Moscow, too, is likely to continue keeping Ankara guessing about the Kurdish card. Weve certainly entered a new era, warned analyst Ulgen. The Turkish-Russian relationship has become much more confrontational. By Dorian Jones via Eurasianet.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The race to discover oil and gas in virgin Arctic waters is now on, as Norway offered oil majors a lifeline on Wednesday by opening up what experts say could be home to 15 percent of the worlds undiscovered oil and 33 percent of the worlds undiscovered natural gas. Norway officials on Wednesday awarded 10 new oil and gas licenses to explore the untapped area of the Arctic Barents Sea, an area that until 2011, was disputed for almost 40 years with Russia. The drilling licenses consist of 40 blocks that were awarded to 13 oil companies. Of the licenses granted, 13 companies were offered participating interests, and five were offered operating licenses. Related: The Newest Metric For Gauging Stock Performance In The Oil Patch Norway has not offered exploration licenses for new acreage in over twenty years, and this new acreage is particularly appealing to oil explorers. According to RBC Capital Markets analyst Victoria McCulloch, The big prizes in Norwegian oil are still in the Barents Seait is very under-explored. Companies gaining licenses include Centrica, Tullow Oil, Statoil, Chevron, and Lukoil. Statoil, Norways largest oil explorer and producer, has been awarded five of the coveted Arctic licenses. It expects to drill the first well in 2017. Statoil had previously been forced to cut its Norway drilling activity in 2015 after oil prices slumped, drilling only 16 wells in the area in 2015, down from 21 in 2014. By the end of 2015, Statoils 2016 outlook for its Arctic activities seemed bleak, and more cuts were expected. But Wednesdays new licenses for unexplored areas bring new optimism for Statoil. The Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) is the core of Statoils business, and we are very pleased with the award in the 23rd licensing round, which will strengthen our exploration portfolio. Gradually opening up new areas is crucial for us to maintain profitable and high-level production up to and beyond 2030, said Arne Sigve Nylund, Statoils executive vice president for Development & Production Norway. Related: Despite Low Oil Prices, Kuwait Plans To Invest $42 Billion By 2022 Norways move to open up its virgin Arctic waters seems to come at a strange time, only days after Norwegian leaders, along with leaders from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden traveled to Washington last Friday to discuss, among other things, climate change and the precarious state of the Arctic. Fridays meeting concluded with Norway signing an Arctic protection agreement amid growing concerns from environmental groups that oil spills and greenhouse gases may endanger Arctic wildlife. And just last Tuesday, oil majors including Shell, ConocoPhillips, and Eni relinquished $2.5 billion oil and gas leases in another part of the Arctic in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas after being squeezed by low crude prices. For Norway, stabilizing offshore activities couldnt come soon enough. Norways oil output has seen a 50 percent drop since 2000, and it lost 25,000 oil-related jobs in the last three years, which accounts for 11 percent of Norways oil-industry workforce. Norways oil minister, Tord Lien, said The Barents Sea offers great new opportunities. The industry's interest in new acreage shows that the Norwegian continental shelf remains attractive. The potential is huge. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: While the new Stellar Collegiate Charter School on the South Side is finding it challenging to attract students because of the many options available to families, school director Melissa McGonegle expects to meet the enrollment goal by the July 29 deadline. With 10 weeks to go before the school must enroll 105 students, approximately 63 have signed up. As part of its contract with the University of Wisconsin Milwaukees Charter School Office, the school is required to enroll 105 students in K4, K5 and first-grade by July 29 one month before the projected first day of school. McGonegle said the enrollment has been "slow and steady" an average of six students per week as a result of referrals and knocking on doors. She expects that the pace will increase during the summer and that the school will be fully enrolled by July 10. The building, at 1115 S. 7th St. in Walkers Square, has a capacity of about 250 students. Each year, a new grade level will be added. Administrators are looking for a larger facility and plan to move after the second year. McGonegle said it took about two years to find a temporary location, build the board of directors and hire teachers. She chose the South Side because she specializes in English language learners (ELL). At this point, 75 percent of the students enrolled at Stellar Collegiate are Hispanic. While it is not a bilingual school, some of the students are from bilingual households. McGonegle said parents want their children to preserve their Spanish language skills and learn English too. Students who may be more fluent in Spanish than English will be taught in regular classrooms. Literacy is the foundation of the curriculum at Stellar Collegiate. "Being strong readers means they can be whatever they want to be," McGonegle said. Students will have an eight-hour school day. Three hours a day are committed to reading and writing to make sure every child is at grade level in reading by third grade. According to McGonegle, achievement in third grade is a determining factor of a childs success rate in high school and college. Aida Marquez enrolled her five-year-old daughter, Micaela Marquez, because of the schools small size. Marquez home-schooled Micaela last year when she was undergoing chemotherapy and was concerned that she might fall behind at a larger school. Marquez also applied to be a Spanish teacher at Stellar Collegiate. Five lead teachers and two co-teachers will be hired for the first year. For every two grade levels, there are three teachers who specialize in a specific subject: literacy, math/research, which includes science and social studies, and special topics such as art, physical education and Spanish. Students will be broken into groups of five to eight to focus on a specific subject while the rest of the class works on online educational programs for a maximum of 45 minutes. Dennys Williams found out about Stellar Collegiate when Laura Rangel, the outreach manager, asked to hang a flier where she works. She said she appreciates Stellar Collegiates size and the fact that it is a charter school. She has enrolled her daughter, Rumelee Rooks, who will be five years old in July. Stellar Collegiate has hosted events for the families that have enrolled to gather input on uniforms, as well as the start and end times of the school day. "We want them to feel connected to the school," McGonegle said. Williams said she has been involved with Stellar Collegiate since day one and plans to stay committed to the school for the time her daughter is there. "Im really excited to see what the (teachers) are going to bring to the table," Williams said. "I know shes going to learn a lot." The latest Lux Domes return to Cafe Benelux, plus winter patios at Centraal & more The Lux Domes are back at Benelux. But there will also be new winter dining experiences at other Lowlands restaurants this year. California (Image by Motor74) Details DMCA I am registered as No Party Preference (NPP), as are 23.6% of California voters. When I opened my "vote by mail" ballot, I was shocked to find no way to vote for president, and no information as to how to vote in the Democratic presidential primary. Democratic candidates were listed for every other office, from Senate to local judges, but nothing for president. I called my county registrar of voters, who told me I would have to apply by mail for a crossover ballot, on a special form, which she emailed to me. The emailed form was in PDF format, and could be printed, but not copied or put into a file format which could be attached to an email. Also, it was specific for Alameda County, and could not be used generically statewide. This form has to be in by May 31st. Fortunately, I opened my ballot early enough to take care of it, but many people wait until the last minute. They do have the option of taking the ballot to their local polling place and exchanging it there for a Democrat ballot, but this is not explained in the ballot package. If they mailed in their ballot before election day (June 7th), it's not clear if they have any recourse. Since NPP voters usually vote for Bernie Sanders, this, in effect, eliminates many of them from voting, and gives Clinton a big advantage. Perfectly legal, but very underhanded. State Senator Ben Allen, who chairs the State Senate Elections Committee, is doing what he can to let people know. Please spread the word as best you can. And if you are a NPP voter in California, don't send in your ballot without voting for president. Call your county registrar of voters and demand a crossover ballot, or go to the polls and demand one. Another dirty trick- exit polls have been cancelled for California. https://electionfraud2016.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/big-networks-cancel-exit-polls-in-remaining-primaries/ The exit polls have not matched the official results OUTSIDE the margin of error in many states in the Democratic primary election. It has been a red flag for fraud. WHY are the networks canceling exit polls in the remaining upcoming primaries? Simple. They do not want to provide a means of evidence to document the theft. Please sign this petition. It asks the Sanders campaign to raise money to fund exit polls in California. If it weren't for fraud in many states, Bernie would probably have already won the nomination. Let's head it off in California! Reprinted from Counterpunch On the surface, it would seem that Saudi Arabia and Israel would be the worst of enemies -- and indeed, they've never had diplomatic relations. After all, the Saudis have championed the cause of the Palestinians, who are oppressed by the Israelis. Israelis say they're besieged by Muslim extremists, and many of these extremists are motivated by the intolerant, Wahhabi ideology born and bred in Saudi Arabia. But beneath the surface, these two old adversaries actually have a lot in common. In fact, in the contemporary Middle East, they've become the strangest of bedfellows. Rumors about the budding relationship have been circulating for the past few years. In 2015, former Saudi and Israeli officials confirmed that they'd held a series of high-level meetings to discuss shared concerns, such as the growing influence of Iran in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon, as well as Iran's nuclear enrichment program. Shimon Shapira, an Israeli representative who participated in secret meetings with the Saudis, put it this way: "We discovered we have the same problems and same challenges and some of the same answers." On May 5, former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki bin Faisal and retired Israeli Major General Yaakov Amidror spoke together at a Washington event hosted by The Washington Institute for Near East Policy -- the policy wing of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC. The event, broadcast live online, showed that Saudi Arabia and Israel have finally come out of the closet -- together. Here are some traits Saudi Arabia and Israel have in common. Oppression Both oppress the non-dominant groups living in their borders. Israel oppresses Palestinians, building settlements on their land and surrounding their villages with apartheid walls and heavily armed soldiers. Saudi Arabia has set up a political and judicial system that oppresses everyone who's not Sunni (like Shiites and non-Muslims), as well as women and millions of migrant workers. Both nations respond to political dissidents in similar ways, using excessive force, arbitrary and indefinite detention, intimidation, and torture. Aggression Israel and Saudi Arabia have each invaded neighboring lands, killing thousands of civilians. Israel has been recurrently invading and bombing Gaza since 2008. In 2014 alone the Israeli military killed 2,104 people -- most of them civilians -- and destroyed 17,200 homes and left 475,000 living in emergency conditions. The Saudis have meanwhile interfered in the internal affairs of neighboring Yemen. In March 2015, they launched a vicious bombing campaign directed at Shiite rebels in the country. So far they've killed over 6,000 mostly civilian Yemenis. They've bombed markets, schools, hospitals, residences, and wedding parties, displacing over 2.5 million people. Additionally, both use weapons that have been internationally banned: Israel used white phosphorus in Gaza, while the Saudis have used cluster bombs in Yemen. Religious Discrimination Religion plays a key role in the politics of both nations. Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121 "In Bottom-Up, Rob Kall offers important insights on why our society is in such disarray and what we must do to change it. He demonstrates how "top down" thinking is what has produced our current mess, and how bottom up thinking is much more efficient for solving problems and producing change. Rob shows how lasting change must come from the people themselves and not from the leaders. This was as true in the days of the Magna Carta as it was for the Bill of Rights as it was for the Union movement that first gave workers' rights and protection in this country, as it is today. Indigenous elders have told me, "if you want to change the world, start talking and keep talking." Rob is doing this with this book and with his OpEdNews, and he is making a difference. I recommend this book to all who wish to see lasting, human-friendly, compassionate change that will sustain humanity is this crazy world of today." Lewis Mehl-Madrona, MD, author of the Coyote trilogy that discusses healing practices from Lakota, Cherokee, and Cree traditions and how they intersect with conventional medicine Articles Listed By Date List By Popularity Search Title Date Between Any 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Any 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 and Any 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Any 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Page 1 of 11 First Last Back Next 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 View All (6 comments) SHARE Leila: Who would question Prayaag Akbar or Netflix? I expect a political storm over Leila, a six-part TV serial on Netflix, the first season of which went on air last week. The serial which has Huma Qureshi as the central character is Hinduphobic and foresees India becoming a totalitarian regime, priming itself for a genocide in the name of purification Friday, June 21, 2019I expect a political storm over Leila, a six-part TV serial on Netflix, the first season of which went on air last week. The serial which has Huma Qureshi as the central character is Hinduphobic and foresees India becoming a totalitarian regime, priming itself for a genocide in the name of purification (1 comments) SHARE Biggest push for Muslims in independent India: Pay attention Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised "sabka vishwas(everyone's trust)"in his oath ceremony. Within a fortnight his government has announced 5-crore scholarships-50% reserved for girl students-over the next five years. There are "bridge courses" for drop-outs. Madarsa teachers are to be imparted modern, scientific training. Friday, June 14, 2019Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised "sabka vishwas(everyone's trust)"in his oath ceremony. Within a fortnight his government has announced 5-crore scholarships-50% reserved for girl students-over the next five years. There are "bridge courses" for drop-outs. Madarsa teachers are to be imparted modern, scientific training. (1 comments) SHARE Modi-Imran in SCO: Be ready for some tough pictures It would be a hectic two days for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (June 13-14). The flight detour through Oman and Iran too wouldn't have helped. Then there is this little matter of bilateral talks with at least five heads of states. Friday, June 14, 2019It would be a hectic two days for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (June 13-14). The flight detour through Oman and Iran too wouldn't have helped. Then there is this little matter of bilateral talks with at least five heads of states. (1 comments) SHARE Delimitation: Amit Shah set to make early moves in Kashmir Valley Modi has the mandate. Shah is in the hot chair as home minister. Millions of Indians are hoping to settle Kashmir once for all. This dispensation has a historic opportunity to undo the damage of appeasement to the Valley which India has practiced since the accession of Jammu & Kashmir to the Union of India in 1947. Thursday, June 6, 2019Modi has the mandate. Shah is in the hot chair as home minister. Millions of Indians are hoping to settle Kashmir once for all. This dispensation has a historic opportunity to undo the damage of appeasement to the Valley which India has practiced since the accession of Jammu & Kashmir to the Union of India in 1947. (1 comments) SHARE Smriti Irani in McDonald: We're loving it Yes, she worked in McDonald once. Clearing tables and sweeping floors. All for a princely Rs 1,800 a month. We wouldn't have known it but for a textile council securing her Provident Fund employee certificate from McDonald and toying with the idea if its' auction could come to the aid of a group of women artisans. Tuesday, June 4, 2019Yes, she worked in McDonald once. Clearing tables and sweeping floors. All for a princely Rs 1,800 a month. We wouldn't have known it but for a textile council securing her Provident Fund employee certificate from McDonald and toying with the idea if its' auction could come to the aid of a group of women artisans. (1 comments) SHARE Importance of being Jaishankar: Only behind Modi-Shah duo Not Rajnath Singh. No Nitin Gadkari. India's third most powerful minister in the present dispensation -- besides the obvious duo of Modi-Shah -- is Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, a career diplomat turned foreign minister. Monday, June 3, 2019Not Rajnath Singh. No Nitin Gadkari. India's third most powerful minister in the present dispensation -- besides the obvious duo of Modi-Shah -- is Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, a career diplomat turned foreign minister. (1 comments) SHARE BJP is making a mistake in TMC turncoats BJP has so far been patient in dismantling Mamata Banerjee. They need more of such a dose. A rush for the trophy now would hurt them in not-too-distant a future. Mamata is collapsing on her own heap. You don't need a storm when a rustle of air is enough. Friday, May 31, 2019BJP has so far been patient in dismantling Mamata Banerjee. They need more of such a dose. A rush for the trophy now would hurt them in not-too-distant a future. Mamata is collapsing on her own heap. You don't need a storm when a rustle of air is enough. (1 comments) SHARE A fly on the wall of Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav haven't found their voice since Exit Polls. Mayawati hasn't tweeted once; Akhilesh has tweeted only twice - that too no words only photo-ops with AAP and BSP leaders. That's unusual silence from two biggies of Uttar Pradesh. I mean for nearly two decades, it was baton-passing between SP and BSP. Friday, May 24, 2019Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav haven't found their voice since Exit Polls. Mayawati hasn't tweeted once; Akhilesh has tweeted only twice - that too no words only photo-ops with AAP and BSP leaders. That's unusual silence from two biggies of Uttar Pradesh. I mean for nearly two decades, it was baton-passing between SP and BSP. (1 comments) SHARE Lavasa's rant and the facts readers must know Lavasa laments that his dissents haven't been recorded. But then Election Commission never does it. A majority takes a call which in this case decided in favour of Modi. So what's this fuss about? Wednesday, May 22, 2019Lavasa laments that his dissents haven't been recorded. But then Election Commission never does it. A majority takes a call which in this case decided in favour of Modi. So what's this fuss about? (1 comments) SHARE But then Sanyal, how do we keep 21st Century issues firmly in our gaze? Sanjeev Sanyal posted a twitter thread on Saturday where he implored discussions on the 21st Century issues rather than being mired in historical characters like Veer Savarkar, Bhimrao Ambedkar and Mohandas K. Gandhi. Monday, May 20, 2019Sanjeev Sanyal posted a twitter thread on Saturday where he implored discussions on the 21st Century issues rather than being mired in historical characters like Veer Savarkar, Bhimrao Ambedkar and Mohandas K. Gandhi. (12 comments) SHARE Has Rahul Gandhi replied to MHA's letter on British citizenship? There are some discourses you hear. Then there are others which are kept out of your sight. Out of sight, out of mind is a time-tested strategy. Friday, May 17, 2019There are some discourses you hear. Then there are others which are kept out of your sight. Out of sight, out of mind is a time-tested strategy. (1 comments) SHARE statue: Amit Shah throws evidence in the face of Mamata Banerjee BJP president Amit Shah has left Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress (TMC) nowhere to run, and if one may add also the biased Election Commission and Lutyens Media. Thursday, May 16, 2019BJP president Amit Shah has left Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress (TMC) nowhere to run, and if one may add also the biased Election Commission and Lutyens Media. (1 comments) SHARE Now Modi hauls Indian Express over the coals Modi's words must be hot oil in the ears of Indian Express loyalists. I don't know whether they cried for help since neither of the two Indian Express interviewers (Ravish Kumar and Raj Kamal Jha) could challenge Modi's verbal onslaughts. Wednesday, May 15, 2019Modi's words must be hot oil in the ears of Indian Express loyalists. I don't know whether they cried for help since neither of the two Indian Express interviewers (Ravish Kumar and Raj Kamal Jha) could challenge Modi's verbal onslaughts. (1 comments) SHARE Mamata and her interview: If not fixed then what else? What do we get in the Indian Express interview? How you walk so much? How you eat so little? How she would take up the role of a Prime Minister after the elections (not once but thrice in the interview)? Wednesday, May 15, 2019What do we get in the Indian Express interview? How you walk so much? How you eat so little? How she would take up the role of a Prime Minister after the elections (not once but thrice in the interview)? (1 comments) SHARE Arrest over photo-shopped image: A curse has befallen on Mamata's Bengal Look at the issue of Priyanka Sharma. She circulates a photo-shopped image of Mamata Banerjee, imposed over a latest picture of actress Priyanka Chopra. A complaint is filed and she is sent to 14-day judicial remedy. Mind you, Priyanka Sharma hasn't created the image, only shared it. Yet amongst thousands of such shares, she alone has been made to bear the brunt of suppression. Monday, May 13, 2019Look at the issue of Priyanka Sharma. She circulates a photo-shopped image of Mamata Banerjee, imposed over a latest picture of actress Priyanka Chopra. A complaint is filed and she is sent to 14-day judicial remedy. Mind you, Priyanka Sharma hasn't created the image, only shared it. Yet amongst thousands of such shares, she alone has been made to bear the brunt of suppression. (1 comments) SHARE Judiciary: Dirty linen are now being washed in public In what is emerging as a divided house in public domain, barbs are being exchanged and motives assigned by practicing legal luminaries, both advocates and judges in India. Practically, the dirty lines of our judiciary are being washed in public. Monday, May 13, 2019In what is emerging as a divided house in public domain, barbs are being exchanged and motives assigned by practicing legal luminaries, both advocates and judges in India. Practically, the dirty lines of our judiciary are being washed in public. (1 comments) SHARE Sorry Justice Chandrachud, I don't trust judiciary All too often we hear our honourable judges speak about the "trust" the people of the country have in the institution of judiciary. I am one of the people and unfortunately I lack complete trust in judiciary, one of the four founding pillars of our democracy. Sunday, May 12, 2019All too often we hear our honourable judges speak about the "trust" the people of the country have in the institution of judiciary. I am one of the people and unfortunately I lack complete trust in judiciary, one of the four founding pillars of our democracy. (26 comments) SHARE Citizenship row: A nightmare still awaits Rahul Gandhi Please don't move on only because Supreme Court has dismissed a "fake" petition stating that Rahul Gandhi has been a British citizen in the past. The matter is hot as coal. Saturday, May 11, 2019Please don't move on only because Supreme Court has dismissed a "fake" petition stating that Rahul Gandhi has been a British citizen in the past. The matter is hot as coal. (1 comments) SHARE Gurumurthy asks Rahul Gandhi: "What about Sonia's karma?" Right-wing ideologue Swaminathan Gurumurthy has alleged that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi once established links with killers of her husband Rajiv Gandhi so she could gain politically Friday, May 10, 2019Right-wing ideologue Swaminathan Gurumurthy has alleged that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi once established links with killers of her husband Rajiv Gandhi so she could gain politically SHARE A "surgical strike" on Manmohan Singh and no less by army generals As bug zappers are to mosquitos in a room, Congress and its lies are similarly sounding a clang on being caught out in public sphere every living minute of this election. Monday, May 6, 2019As bug zappers are to mosquitos in a room, Congress and its lies are similarly sounding a clang on being caught out in public sphere every living minute of this election. Page 1 of 11 First Last Back Next 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 View All Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser Currently, veterans are only eligible for coverage if they were actually on the ground in Vietnam. Regional Girl Scouts announces new hire ALBANY The Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York (GSNENY) hired Marcy Stryker as its new vice president for fund development. Bringing with her decades of fundraising and marketing experience, Stryker will be responsible for designing, implementing and managing all fundraising activities. Stryker most recently served as director of development at Excelsior College, where she also teaches as an adjunct professor. Stryker has held other marketing and fundraising roles as well. She was the director of young adult programs at the Jewish Federation of NENY, where she created outreach initiatives and special events to engage young adults in leadership activities in their community. Before that, she was the director of marketing at WMHT, the PBS affiliate station in the greater Capital Region. Stryker also worked for eight years as a senior marketing account executive at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). The immediate past president of the Hudson Mohawk Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Stryker is a member of AFP Internationals Committee for Fundraising Innovation. Stryker also holds a personal connection with the Girl Scouts. I was a Girl Scout in my childhood and have fond memories of the activities that helped bond my friends and me together, especially our first camping experience, she said. To learn more about the Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York (GSNENY), visit www.gsneny.org. County offering teen employment BALLSTON SPA The Saratoga County Department of Employment & Training is accepting applications for the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). The program offers summer employment opportunities for youth between the ages of 14 and 20 who live in Saratoga County and meet federal income eligibility guidelines. SYEP is a work experience opportunity for youth in a real environment. Young adults enrolled in the program gain useful skills based on the actual work they are doing in addition to soft skills such as responsibility, time management, budgeting and how to conduct themselves professionally. The 2016 program will begin at the end of June and run through the summer. Youth will be placed in work sites throughout Saratoga County, paid minimum wage and work 25 to 30 hours per week. They will attend a mandatory Career Day being held at SUNY Adirondack and will be offered a raise incentive based on performance and attendance halfway through the summer. The Saratoga County Department of Employment & Training has applications available in their office at 152 W. High Street, Suite B-204, or online at www.saratogacountyny.gov under Departments: Employment and Training. Youth can also ask at their school guidance office for an application. SYEP applications will continue to be accepted until all available positions are filled. For additional information or to request an application, call Saratoga County Department of Employment & Training at 884-4170. Hannaford bag program to aid EMS General Schuyler Emergency Squad was chosen by the Greenwich Hannaford as part of the Hannaford Helps Reusable Bag Program. Anytime someone purchases the blue reusable bag with the good karma message and Yellow Straps at Hannaford Greenwich, 1165 Route 29, Greenwich, during the month of May, $1 will be donated to the organization. The bags retail for $2.29 and are located at the reusable bag rack. Waldorf School will host circus SARATOGA SPRINGS Circus Smirkus, the acclaimed international youth circus, returns to the outdoor polo field at Saratoga Casino and Raceway for four performances July 8 and 9. Families can gather under the Big Top Tent as the Waldorf School proudly presents the Circus Smirkus 2016 Big Top Tour. Circus Smirkus will perform at 1 and 6 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults 13 and older and $23 for children ages 2 to 12. Children younger than 2 are free on an adults lap. All proceeds raised will go to the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs. Tickets are available by calling 1-877-SMIRKUS toll-free or visiting www.smirkus.org. Tickets are available at the Childrens Museum at Saratoga on 69 Caroline St. and at Crafters Gallery, 427 Broadway. Thirty budding circus stars ages 11 to 18 bring youthful exuberance and polished circus skills from all parts of the country and the world. This years tour continues the tradition of Smirkus theme-based shows with Up, HUP and Away: The Invention of Flight! Circus Smirkus is a nonprofit, award-winning international youth circus founded with the mission of promoting the skills, culture and traditions of the traveling circus and inspiring youth to engage in life-changing adventures in the circus arts. Now in its 29th year, the Vermont-based organization has raised over $2.5 million for non-profit partners. For more information, visit www.WaldorfSaratoga.org. C hurch offers womens conference WARRENSBURG The North River United Methodist Church will host its inaugural Regional Womens Conference from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. June 11 at the First United Methodist Church of Warrensburg, 3890 Main St. Keynote speaker will be Kathy Hammond featuring Wade Hammond as the musical guest. The theme of this conference is When Life Gives You Lemons. The program focuses on how to overcome the trials and tribulations of everyday life through the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Hammonds have been working together in full-time ministry for 18 years, which keeps them traveling throughout the country from coast to coast as well as Canada. The program is $20 per person, which includes a light lunch. Preregistration is required by sending a check to the North River United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 218, North River, NY 12856. Deadline is June 3. For more information, contact Amy Sabattis at 251-2519. Folk School hosts arts dinner LAKE GEORGE The Adirondack Folk School will host its seventh annual Hearts for the Arts Dinner and Silent Auction at 6 p.m. June 4 at the Lake George Holiday Inn Resort, 2223 Canada St. The Post-Star will receive the Schools Patron of the Arts Award, which is given to people or entities whose actions further the advancement of local cultural arts. The Post-Star has been extremely instrumental in making the community aware of the financial and cultural importance of the Folk School to the region said Rand Condell, president of the Board of Directors. The Adirondack Folk School seeks to preserve Adirondack arts, crafts and culture through a diverse offering of more than 200 classes each year. The evening benefits the continued operation of the school, and it will include music, dinner and a silent auction of locally made Adirondack crafts and wares. The silent auction items have been donated by the schools renowned instructors and various local artisans including furniture made by Half Moon Works. Hearts for the Arts is $45 for Adirondack Folk School members, and $50 for nonmembers. Reservations may be made by calling the school at 696-2400. Vendors sought for craft festival LAKE LUZERNE The Adirondack Folk School is hosting a Summer Craft Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 27. The school is seeking vendors for unique and handmade crafts. The festival typically draws hundreds of visitors to the event which features crafts, music, food and a kid zone. If interested, call the Adirondack Folk School at 696-2400. Longhorn hosts dine, donate night LAKE LUZERNE The Longhorn Restaurant will donate a portion of all dining room food sales from 4 p.m. to close Wednesday to Adirondack Folk School. Farmers market seeks growers WARRENSBURG The Warrensburgh Riverfront Farmers Market is looking for additional organic (naturally grown) produce) at the market. In its 18th year, the markets customer base is strong, and farmers who follow organic practices are needed to keep up with the demand. Since 1998, the market has been encouraging local agriculture and promoting small farmers in the region. Contact Teresa Whalen, market manager, at 466-5497 or taawhalen@yahoo.com for more information. Seniors group plans trip to Chicago Greenwich Seniors will host a bus trip to the Mac-Hayden Theater in Chatham to see the play Chicago. The public is invited on the July 13 trip. Price for nonmembers is $70. Call Diane Snyder at 692-2786 or email her at lorib16000@hotmail.com or call or email Eileen DiNisio at 937-1838 or edinisio@nycap.rr.com. Deadline is June 16. QUEENSBURY When early members had to shut off a lighted beer sign in the middle of Sunday services, it might have been difficult to imagine their congregation would one day be booming. But the United Methodist Church of Queensbury is celebrating its 50th anniversary this weekend with a special service and reception in its spacious church. Its start, though, was modest. As the town was growing rapidly, with housing developments popping up everywhere, a few people started talking about the need for a Methodist church, said Meg Hagerty, the daughter of founding members Bob and Betty Kern. (Editors note: Hagerty is a contributing writer at The Post-Star.) The Rev. Ed Underwood was brought up from Long Island, she said, to gauge interest in a church. He went door to door and found that yes, if a church could be established in Queensbury, people would go, Hagerty said. At first, congregants were meeting in one anothers houses, but by September of 1965, the Queensbury Community Methodist Church was formed. Different names were bandied about, but they wanted more of a welcoming feel, Hagerty said. They wanted people from any denomination to come. Until the churchs building just off Exit 19 of the Northway, across Aviation Road from Queensbury schools was built in 1967, the owners of JeRays Restaurant on Route 9 opened their doors every Sunday for services. The Brennans, who owned JeRays, would give the church back any money it tried to pay them for use of the building, said Paul Cederstrom, a founding member. Saturday night was a big night for them and theyd stay up until 3 in the morning, cleaning the place so it was ready for us, Cederstrom said. The services were held in the banquet hall in back, with congregants sitting on folding chairs, he said. The keyboard was driven over in a station wagon and wheeled into the room for the organist. Little things like that you remember, Cederstrom said. Every once in a while, wed go in there in the morning and the beer signs would still be on and wed have to be sure to shut them off. One time, right in middle of church, the minister stopped and went over to shut the sign off, he said, chuckling. The beginning group was 84 members, Hagerty said. We have 693 on the membership roll today, she said. Weve grown over 50 years, for sure. Some of the members, like Hagerty, are the children of charter members, or even the grandchildren. There are a lot of new faces, but there are a still a few of the early members, Hagerty said. While many faith communities around the country are struggling with dwindling membership, United Methodist Church of Queensbury is holding steady. Weve had our ups and downs, times when very, very few kids were in Sunday school, but now things are good, Cederstrom said. He credits much of the continuing interest to the Rev. Phil Phaneuf, who has been at the church for about three years. Weve had some (pastors) where the attendance declines, then it comes back again according to the minister, Cederstrom said. Right now, were full blown; the guy is just a super guy. Phaneuf is the eighth permanent pastor; the longest-serving was Ralph Marino, from 1986 to 2001. Marino will speak at Sundays celebration. The secret to Phaneufs success goes beyond his warm demeanor and a commitment that has him visiting church members at home, Cederstrom said. His sermons are right from the heart, Cedertrom said, and theyre compelling and inspiring. The message delivered during the service is critical, Phaneuf said. I do my best to approach the time of worship in such a way that is always answering two questions: Whats the good news in this time? and Whats the challenge for us as disciples for the next week?, he said. He suggests homework to those at services, a way to apply the principles of faith to everyday life. Its a little bit more accessible to put it in terms of the week ahead rather than try to be so abstract or so global or so general that it doesnt hit home, Phaneuf said. It has to be something that directly impacts our lives if we want it to have any sort of lasting difference. Last week, for instance, he discussed the difference between the words community and family, then encouraged church members to give others more benefit of the doubt. We have family members who have all sorts of idiosyncrasies, but we just say, Oh, its just them and we still love them because theyre family, and thats very different from so much in our culture right now, he said. If we think of our church simply as community, we could find community in many different social groups, but if we start to think of our church as family, it changes the relationships we have. The membership has been receptive to his style. We focus on a time of worship on Sunday that is meaningful, authentic and actually meets people where theyre at, but isnt comfortable enough to leave us where were at, Phaneuf said. The willingness to change and grow on a personal level and as a congregation is part of what has kept the church growing, Phaneuf said. I think thats at the heart of it: That the needs of the community outweighs their desire for keeping things the way its always been, he said. Some things at United Methodist Church of Queensbury havent changed, however, Cederstrom said. Its been my life for 50 years, he said. There was faith that started this church, and I would say its faith that has kept us going for 50 years, and its faith that will keep us going another 50 years. Salem Volunteer Fire Department Inc., which is in the process of building a new firehouse, will hold its annual Tour de Salem Flame Fighters bicycle ride fundraising event June 12 and is looking for riders and sponsors. There will be courses of 10, 16, 25 and 61.4 miles. The rides will start and finish at Salem Fire Department's Carnival Grounds on Archibald Street. Registration can be done online or at the event beginning at 7:30 a.m. The longest ride begins at 8 a.m., with the other rides to follow 25 miles at 8:30 a.m., 16 miles at 9 a.m. and the 10-mile ride at 9:30 a.m. The cost to participate is $35 per individual or $40 for a family. The signup site is www.bikereg.com/tour-de-salem-flame-fighters. The department is also looking for gold ($250 or more), silver ($150) and bronze ($75) sponsors for the event. For more information, contact Steve Saunders at 321-9430 or salemfd4434@hotmail.com. SOUTH GLENS FALLS Village officials are finally in talks with the employee unions over health benefits. One unaddressed issue in the 2016-17 budget was a prescription drug plan that duplicates a prescription benefit included in the villages regular health insurance. The second plan costs the village $5,825 per person, and those not in a union agreed to voluntarily drop their plan early this year. But union officials did not, and Mayor Joe Orlows words to them were more cautious than encouraging. I advised them not to give up anything thats going to hurt them, he said. If the 14 union members dropped the plan, it would save the village about $81,000 a year. Even if the item is eliminated after the budget year begins, the village would still save money, although it would not affect the tax rate. At budget meetings, residents urged the village board to negotiate, and that is now happening. We are in the process of working on that, Orlow said. Village attorney Michael Muller has analyzed the labor contracts with police and CSEA to see whether the village has to offer two prescription plans. You have to provide comparable or better. It doesnt say two, he said. But he added that hes advised the board to negotiate anyway. If we just arbitratily and unilaterally make that change because were sure, it just invites animosity and litigation, he said. He has discussed the issue with the police and CSEA union leaders. Now the union members are looking at the details of each prescription plan to see how they differ, he said. Then I think they bring it back to their benefits expert and make a decision, he said. CSEA President T.J. Chagnon, a member of the Department of Public Works, said his union was not going to jump into anything. Were being very careful and very cautious, to protect ourselves, he said. He added that until Obamacare changed the minimum standards for all health insurance plans, the villages plan did not include prescription drug coverage. Other officials had described that situation differently, saying that the previous plan offered some drug coverage but didnt cover all drugs. All over the state, all over the country, people are suffering and dying from addiction to and abuse of heroin and opioid painkillers. Our country has seen these drug scourges before, most notably in the 1980s when a potent, hardened form of cocaine called crack swept through urban communities. People were suffering and dying by the thousands then, too. The larger society responded with fear to the crack epidemic, and the strategies to combat it included harsher sentences, including mandatory minimums, for possession and sale of the drug. Police forces were expanded as the fight centered on the criminal aspect of the crack trade, and the country committed itself to a war on drugs. Perhaps because of the destructiveness and the failures of that war, perhaps because the opioid epidemic is not primarily affecting urban communities of color but young white people in the suburbs and rural areas, were taking a different and more sympathetic approach this time. We arent trying to arrest our way out of this drug epidemic, and that is a good thing. The opioid problem is a public health crisis. We cant ignore the criminal aspects of the trade in heroin and prescription painkillers, but we have to look to treatment and prevention for solutions. The state Senate recently passed legislation that addresses various aspects of the problem, including prevention education and outpatient treatment. The legislation grew out of the work of a Senate task force, which urged the expansion of access to inpatient and outpatient treatment, as well as treatment with medicines such as methadone. After hearing from parents, advocates, medical professionals and law enforcement officials, the Joint Senate Task Force recognizes the critical need for expanded and improved insurance coverage, the report states. A lot of pain and frustration is hidden behind the blandness of that sentence the pain and frustration of families and other people who have tried to help addicts but have been unable to get treatment covered by insurance. If legislative action is needed to force insurance companies to provide enough coverage for adequate treatment, then it should be taken. Sometimes, the problem isnt paying for a bed at a treatment center, but finding one. This epidemic has caught so many in its claws that demand for treatment exceeds supply. Treatment and prevention are expensive strategies, and they dont always work, but the mass incarceration strategy we tried during the crack epidemic is even costlier and less effective. Lock someone up for a decade and they may no longer be a drug addict when they get out, but they probably wont be a productive member of society. And incarceration is prohibitively expensive. It makes much more sense to spend money on treatment programs, including follow-up programs to help recovering addicts find jobs, stay clean and re-adjust to life without addiction. Addressing the supply of opioid painkillers, which are legally prescribed to help millions of people, is a tricky balance. Patients across the country have complained that measures adopted to restrict the illegal trade in painkillers have made it difficult for them to get prescriptions for drugs they need. But one thing that can help is to ensure doctors have access to prescription records, including records in other states, so they can spot patients who are doctor-shopping for opioids. In 2013, the most recent data available, drug overdose became the leading cause of death by injury among Americans age 25 to 64, surpassing car crashes. Of those overdose deaths, 71 percent involved opioid painkillers. This is an emergency that needs to be addressed, not in the heavy-handed way we addressed the crack epidemic, but with a broader and more thoughtful approach that recognizes drug addiction as a public health problem. The state Senate has made a good start; we need the Assembly and the governor to join in without delay. Local editorials represent the opinion of The Post-Stars editorial board, which consists of Publisher Terry Coomes, Editor Ken Tingley, Projects Editor Will Doolittle, Controller/Operations Director Brian Corcoran and citizen representative Tom Portuese. WASHINGTON As the candidates running to replace him get increasingly aggressive, President Barack Obama is embarking on a sort of farewell tour to the world. His visit this week to Vietnam and Japan is one of at least seven trips abroad this year. Its a schedule that will take him out of the country almost once a month from March through November, when voters will pick his replacement, and it is not unusual for presidents on their way out the door. In March, he became the first U.S. president in more than 80 years to visit Cuba, and he went on to Argentina on the same trip. In April, Air Force One was bound for Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Germany. In the U.K., his trip took on a wistful tone as he dined with the queen his only British queen; her 12th U.S. president toured the Globe Theatre and watched part of Hamlet. He also made headlines for his impromptu play date with 2-year-old Prince George along with a business visit with the prime minister. This week, its Vietnam his first visit there and Japan. After a summit meeting in Japan, hell become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima and the site of the worlds first atomic bombing. In June, its Canada for the pomp and pageantry of a state visit, as well as meetings with the prime minister of Canada and the president of Mexico. In July as the Democratic and Republicans nominees for president prepare for their national conventions Obama heads to Poland for a NATO summit. August is blank. He and his family usually vacation that month. Beleaguered Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff gave Obama a standing invitation to come to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics in August, though its unlikely he would go now that the country is in political turmoil. In September, as the general election campaign for president is in full force, hell go back to Asia, this time to China for a G-20 meeting and Laos for the East Asia Summit. He has a soft spot for Southeast Asia, said Joshua Walker, a former State Department official who is now a fellow with the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He noted that Obama, who lived in Indonesia for several years as a child, will become the first sitting president ever to go to Southeast Asia twice in a year. And in November, the president will go to Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. A lot of this travel is driven by business. Aides say Obama is focused this year on finishing items on his foreign policy agenda, including implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, ratification of a 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal and support for a global response to climate change. Some of it is driven by sentiment. Obama frequently tells people that his favorite part of the job is having his own plane. People sometimes ask me what the biggest perk of being president is, he said last year. No. 1 is the plane. But he has lamented that my lease is running out. Not only is the specially equipped 747 an easy way to fly, its also very comfortable. Much more so than the 707 used until midway through George H.W. Bushs presidency. Its much easier to travel now then it was back then, said Ken Duberstein, who served as President Ronald Reagans chief of staff in his second term. And part of it is the race to add markers to the history books before time runs out next Jan. 20. The final year is focused on legacy, said Brendan J. Doherty, a political science professor at the U.S. Naval Academy who tracks presidential trips. International travel offers a chance to affirm his foreign policy legacy. Given the expected itinerary for the rest of his presidency, Obama will visit a total of 57 countries. Vietnam, Laos and Peru will add to the 54 hes already visited, according to an analysis of records compiled by the White House. That will leave him short of his two predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Each of them visited 74 countries over their two terms, according to an analysis of records compiled by the State Department. Although it has become more popular in recent days, delta-8-THC isnt particularly new. It has been around for quite a Court rooms were locked and lawyers had no access to the newly inaugurated court complex. All Judicial staff members were on strike including senior judicial administrators. According to the newly appointed Chief Executive of labour commission, Charles Adongo Bawa Duah, it was ruled at an arbitration that the strike must not take place. He said the commission summoned JUSSAG members, Ministry of Employment, Ministry of Finance, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and the Judicial Commission to a meeting and it was concluded that there was no negotiation between JUSSAG and their employers. As a result, Mr Dua said, it is not proper [in] accordance with law when negotiations are ongoing for any party to go on a strike action." According to him, JUSSAG should have notified the commission of the strike. He added that the strike came to him as a surprise. This is the second time JUSSAG is embarking on strike this year. It declared strike in April but suspended it after a day following assurances by the labour minister Haruna Iddrisu. Meanwhile, deputy labour minister Baba Jamal says the strike is unfair and is intended to put fear in government because of the election. He noted that the strike is to make government unpopular. People think that it is an election year hold the government to ransom he said. I am very disappointed that people who work with the judicial service should behave this way. According to him, there are several products being promoted on the internet and allowed on the Ghanaian market that are more harmful than marijuana. "Why is marijuana illegal but cigarette smoking not illegal?" he asked on TV3s Hot Issue on Saturday May 21, adding that "The consequences are the same. Let us look through these things and the health consequences and ask ourselves: Alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana, which is more dangerous? and the debate for those of us is that alcohol is more harmful, cigarette is more harmful." "People get addicted to drinking, people get addicted to smoking, people get addicted to marijuana. But let me stress here again [that] there are several products that are put there on the internet that are more dangerous and more potent than heroine, cocaine, and marijuana," he stressed. He said a "virtual legalisation" of marijuana was already in place as the drug could be found in cosmetics and hair products used by women in the country. According to him, many Ghanaians, including respected professionals openly smoke marijuana. According to his manager Ray Moni, who disclosed to Pulse.com.gh, the Samba rapper has already recorded his first song with Harrysong. The recording took place yesterday night, May 20. We have done a collaboration with Harrysong and will drop soon, Ray Moni told Pulse.com.gh The other collaboration with Bobo hitmaker, Olamide Adedeji aka Olamide and Ada Ada hitmaker Chinedu Okoli aka Flavour was done today, May 21. We also have new songs with Olamide and Flavour. They were recorded today, Ray revealed. Meanwhile, Guru has been secretly billed to make a surprise stage appearance at Tigo Ghana Meets Naija concert which is happening tonight at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC). Ray said He (Guru) has been billed to perform at the Tigo Ghana Meets Naija tonight. Thats why we came from London yesterday. Guru got two nominations at this years Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. He was nominated for the Hip-life/Hip-hop Artiste of the Year and Hip-life Song of the Year awards for his song Pooley Swag but unfortunately lost all. The international speaker line up included, Sipho Dlamini (MD for South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa at Universal Music Group), Tuma Basa (Global Programming Head for Hip Hop at Spotify), Tunji Balogun (Senior Director for A&R at RCA Records, who was responsible for the signing of Kendrick Lamar to Interscope and Bryson Tiller to RCA), Marek Fuchs (the manager credited with Sauti Sols recent international success), as well as award-winning artist and songwriter, AKA (Vth Season) and Michael Ugwu (GM at Sony Music West Africa). The LMCs sessions were carefully curated to focus on practical topics and current trends in the areas of A&R, Label and Artist Management, Brand Partnerships and Endorsements, Music Sales and Distribution, and Copyright Law, and in a separate track, LMC ran technical workshops aimed at professional sound/audio engineers, producers, artists and DJs. Forward-thinking artists, managers, label execs and A&R reps, as well as promoters, brand managers of telcos and FMCGs, tech companies, app developers, digital distributors, social media managers, content developers and publishers, and pretty much all professionals that engage directly with the music industry were all in attendance. According to the organisers, LMC was primarily a conference for professionals, but it attracted more than that, as students and recent graduates interested in joining the industry were also at hand to learn valuable lessons and gain insights into the workings of the music industry. LMC opened up with a one-day conference, with high-level discussions and practical workshops, which took place on Friday, May 20, at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, and continues today, Saturday, May 21, 2016, at Muri Okunola Park, with the LMC Launch Pad, featuring workshops for students and recent graduates hoping to enter the music industry, and the LMC Festival. The LMC Festival will feature the latest crop of the African New School from Nigeria and different African countries. Jonathan Lowe, a reporter for TV station KPHO, was spotted doing the deed by a neighbour who had gone to collect his newspaper and saw him on the front lawn. The homeowner contacted the police shortly after she became aware of what had happened in her front lawn. The 33-year-old later owned up to the act. According to the police report, when contacted, Mr. Lowe said: "I know what you want to talk to me about. Ive been feeling very sick and Ive been stuck in this van all day. "Those people who called on me just wanted to start problems." Mr. Lowe was reporting a story at the time in Phoenix, Arizona when his bowels became full and he needed to go. The unnamed female homeowner told police that she would not have minded if the reporter had knocked and asked to use her restroom. As of last Wednesday, KPHO, Lowe's employers said they still recognised him as one of their workers. On Thursday, however, the station reportedly referred to him as a former employee, as reported by New York Post. Banwat made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos. ``Privatisation, as the solution to the crises in the health sector, has been an idea for sometimes now; I subscribe to it and suggest that public health institutions be privatised for efficiency.'' Banwat said health institutions being patronised by rich Nigerians in India, Europe and America were private-owned, stressing that such institutions could not have been so effective if they were owned and controlled by government. He said privatising the hospitals would check strikes, adding, ``such strikes have become embarrassing. ``All medical professionals have taken vows to save lives, but that has been thrown to dogs in the pursuit for vain gains. ``Workers in the public health institutions are permanent and pensionable and hardly bother because their salaries and promotions are always guaranteed; the situation cannot be so in a privatised setting. ``No private investor will allow his staff to go on strike and leave the hospital to go fallow. If you leave your office, you will be replaced by people willing and ready to work.'' Banwat said privatisation would encourage competition and innovation as every hospital would strive to outdo the other to excel and attract more patronage. The medical director said patients would get ``proper and maximum attention'' in such privatised settings, while problems of poor funding would be reduced as investors would plough back their earnings into the institution to improve quality. ``In Europe, doctors and other health workers are not allowed into the hospital with their phones; the idea is to minimise any distraction while on duty. I want to see that in Nigeria,'' he added. Banwat said that privatisation would also encourage increased revenue generation as cashiers would pay more attention to all details. He said money would also be saved as overhead costs of running public health institutions were always heavy. He said privatising public hospitals would spare more money for government to deploy to other sectors, while foreign exchange being expended for medical trips abroad could be conserved. The director also said that privatising the hospitals would reduce inter professional rivalry which continued to work against unity for efficiency among health professionals in the country. On the argument that privatisation would cost jobs, He said that more jobs would instead be created because more hands would be needed to handle the many tasks in the affected hospitals. ``We have same fear when communication services were to be privatised; we feared that NITEL will throw out so many people, but the GSM outfits have now engaged more people.'' He also dismissed fears that health professionals may not earn much in a private setting. The state Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr Olufemi Odubiyi, made the disclosure at the ministerial briefing marking the one year anniversary of Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode. Odubiyi said the government was working with the State Ministry of Justice to commence the laboratory to ensure that the criminal justice system caught all criminals. The laboratory, he said, would be located at CMS area within the city of Lagos. He said that his ministry was also partnering with law enforcement personnel to ensure security across the state. The commissioner said the Federal Government had installed and handed over 1,000 Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras to the Lagos State Government. According to him, the state government will also install 12,000 CCTVs in the state to bring the total number of cameras to 13,000. Odubiyi noted that the enabling infrastructure for the CCTV scheme was being put in place with the ministrys Smart City Project. ``Enabling infrastructure to guarantee success of the CCTV cameras is critical, and this is where the Smart City Project will help in back hauling data to the command centre located in Ikeja. ``The project will also provide broadband deployment of fibers across the state, he said. On the computer village located at Ikeja, Odubiyi said the plan to relocate the village was still ongoing in collaboration with other ministries in the state. He said that government also had plans to carry out entrepreneurship training for some of the computer village technologists as had been done in the past. The commissioner said that the ministry was also reviewing its Science and Technology Policy in collaboration with UNESCO in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He said in line with this new policy proposal, the ministry was partnering with the Lagos State University, Ojo with a view to commercialising some of its research works. ``This will further encourage and promote research activities in higher institutions and create employment opportunities for the citizens. ``Two of such research works have been identified like production and commercialising of body cream made from cultured catfish oil and control of insect pest on grains using essential oils from botanical plants. ``The objective of this is to stimulate the establishment of small to medium scale body cream industry that is self sustaining using 100 per cent local content, Odubiyi added. Under its Multi-Channel Payment (MPAY) project, the commissioner said the government would proceed with enlightenment of the rural populace. Odubiyi said in its first year, the ministry had delivered a state-of-the-art online platform to enable prospective applicants apply for jobs, take an aptitude test and get feedback through SMS. He explained that this system had totally eliminated the use of paper application for jobs in Lagos State. ``This system was used to recruit personnel in the following cadres: nurses, traffic officers, surveyors, fire officers, procurement officers and community technicians into the state employ. According to a report by The Times, members of the Boko Haram are looking at giving up on the fight as the Nigerian army are not only closing up with them but they have been losing members. It was further reported that many months after the kidnapped of schoolgirls in Chibok, the insurgents are calling a peace talk to return the girls and save their lives. Amir Muhammad Abdullahi, a senior member of Boko Haram reportedly said, "We want to surrender because things are getting worse." This is contained in a statement by the governors Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr Lere Olayinka. ``Fayose described the attack which claimed two lives as the height of callousness on the part of the cattle rearers. ``He warned the perpetrators to desist from such heinous crime as he would not guarantee whether there could be reprisal attacks if repeated on the town or elsewhere. It added that the agents of the devil must be fished out and punished accordingly. ``I will not fold my hands while armed herdsmen invade communities in Ekiti, killing people and destroying farmlands at will, like they did in other states. ``I have directed the police and other security agencies in the state to fish out the killer herdsmen, the statement said. The governor commiserated with the people of Oke-Ako, especially the family of the deceased, vowing to do everything humanly possible to forestall a re-occurrence as well as bring the culprits to book. It said the herdsmen were becoming major threat to the unity of Nigeria and its people adding the he was in constant touch with the security agencies. ``The people of Oke-Ako should therefore remain calm while the security agents do their job, ``The security agents must, however, be mindful of the fact that the peoples patience has a limit and they must act promptly and decisively, it said The statement described activities of the killers as inimical to the revival of agriculture in the country. Ibas stated this at the interdenominational church service for Nigerian Navys Diamond Jubilee in Abuja on Sunday. The CNS said the navy had developed capacity both in platforms and the requisite expertise to secure the nations oil infrastructure and contain piracy in Nigerias maritime territory. ``Over the years, commendable successes have been made by the Nigerian Navy to build its capacity to discharge its duties as enshrined in the laws. ``These efforts have made the navy to be less-dependent on foreign sources for partnership as reflected in the modest achievement of local construction of boats or seaward defence platforms. ``Over time, these investments have fully been justified, more importantly in the navys policing role of the maritime-based national resources, he said. He added that the Navys Diamond Jubilee would showcase what the force had achieved over the years, partly, to guide the younger generation of officers and ratings in their future engagements. The CNS urged officers and men of the force to be more dedicated to their duties in order to justify governments huge investment in the navy in the past 60 years. Ibas identified the resurgence of militancy and the high rate of piracy in Nigerias maritime territory as some of the challenges confronting the navy and urged government to improve funding of the force. Lt.-Cdr. Robert Oparaji, the acting Director of Roman Catholic Chaplaincy, Nigerian Navy, in a sermon, urged officers and men to rededicate to serve the nation. He said tasks assigned to the Nigerian navy would hardly be achieved if officers and men were relaxed in the discharge of their responsibilities. ``As the country battles insurgency in the North-East and militancy in the Niger Delta, soldiers and officers must strive to be more committed in their duties. ``This demands a disciplined mind, discipline in ethos and total discipline in our operations because that is the only way that we will be able to effectively fulfill our mandate. Oparaji urged leaders at all levels to be sincere and prudent in the management of the little resources allocated to them. He said their leadership of the various institutions should inspire improved dedication and commitment in their subordinates. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the climax of the service was the special thanksgiving led by the CNS and accompanied by his wife, the representatives of the service chiefs and other senior officers. In a related the development, the Defence and Police Officers Wives Association (DEPOWA), held a thanksgiving service to mark the end of its 2016 week celebration. The President of DEPOWA, Mrs Omobolanle Olonisakin, urged wives of officers and men of the armed forces to rededicate their families to God as their husbands confront security threats in the country. She said the prayers of the women and their children remained key in the successes recorded by the men in the various conflict theatres across the country. Olonisakin pledged the associations continued support to the families of deceased officers and men of the armed forces. Alhaji Mohammed Musa, the Nasarawa State Accountant General, said this in an interview with newsmen on Sunday in Lafia. He said the report of the exercise was in consonance with the state governments resolve to rid the civil service of corrupt practices and ensure proper accountability. "We embarked on this exercise to see how we can further reduce some of these leakages and corruption in the system," he said. "The report will reveal any abnormality and whoever that is found receiving double salaries will not be spared by government. `` The report is with me and would be made public soon," he said. On the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Musa said government officials had to visit neighbouring states which had the initiative in place to understudy the operation of the system. "The governor inaugurated the committee on the implementation of the TSA and some of us have gone out to other states like Kaduna and Plateau to study how they succeeded in implementing the TSA because they already have the system," he said. The plea was contained in a statement issued on Sunday in Ibadan by Alhaji Ishmail Alli, the Secretary to the State Government. The statement said that deregulation of the downstream sector was the best option open to the Federal Government in the prevailing circumstance. " Let us remind our workforce that the National Industrial Court had ruled against the strike before the Comrade Ayuba Wabba-led faction of the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) ordered its affiliate unions to embark on strike last week, it said. It cautioned "dissenters and non-conformists against testing the resolve of law enforcement agencies, which he said, had the constitutional mandate to stop any attempt to breach the peace. The government urged members of the public to go about their legitimate duties and obligations without fear of intimidation and harassment. "We are warning individuals or groups determined to hide under the guise of protest to foment trouble or engage in vandalism to have a rethink," it said. The statement advocated the provision of palliatives by the Federal Government to cushion the adverse effects of the new fuel pump price regime on Nigerians. Deregulation appears the most realistic approach to solving the unpalatable experiences of the public in getting fuel at affordable price. "This will be pending when the necessary infrastructure for local refining of crude oil will be upgraded and expanded. Shoyode, father in-law to Vice-President Yemi Oshinbajo, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at a free health progarmme, sponsored by a philanthropist, Dawodu Olatunji. The programme, ``Health is Wealth, is a free malaria test and drugs outreach, held on Saturday at Solomon Hall, Mushin, Lagos. He said the laudable programmes embarked upon and implemented well by the Obafemi Awolowo-led western region remained the best economic policy that might address the present day realities. ``I will recommend that our politicians go back to those economic policies as a way out of this economic recession. ``Then, we have farm settlements which absorbed more than half of our graduates. ``I urge politicians to bring back those laudable social and economic policies and we will be better for it; even if they implement 30 per cent of it, Nigeria will be great again. ``We need to go back to the farm settlements because many jobs will be created through it and thousands of our unemployed youths will be absorbed by the programme. ``The old western regions socio-economic programmes remain the best politicians could copy from. Even if we can achieve 30 per cent it will reach every corner of this country, he said. Shoyode also said that agriculture should be the mainstay of the economy because of its capacity to absorb as many people as might want to engage in it. According to a recent report by Daily Trust, Sanusi said the two countries shouldn't be compared even though they are both oil producing countries. Speaking at an event in Abuja, Sanusi reportedly said while a barrel of oil in Saudi Arabia is expected to cater for three Saudis, same barrel of oil is expected to cater for over 300 Nigerians. ALSO READ: The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said if the nation's population is growing by 10 percent and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) also grow at the same margin, it means there is stagnation, and that if the GDP growth is less than the population growth, then there is problem as it means that poverty is growing ahead of development. In his words, "The youths should be mobilized, trained and be made to be productive. We should give premium to planning and be financial discipline, this is like saving for the raining day." Sanusi stressed the need to continually save and plan ahead of bad economic, so the citizenry won't need to suffer hardship. He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), that the move would save the party from further crisis and unite aggrieved members. According to the lawmaker, the decision to put the party first clearly demonstrates that no individual is bigger than the party. ``Alli Modu Sheriff is not the bone of contention; we have put everything to rest. ``Now PDP is set like never before to pilot its affairs and ensure that dividends of democracy are provided to the people. ``It's about the people and not an individual, the faction that had its convention in Abuja also has the right to do so because it is aggrieved. ``Somebody wanted to perpetuate himself and make himself bigger than the party. "They went ahead to hold their own convention in Abuja and we had our own in Port Harcourt. ``However, everybody can see that we are all agitating for the same goal that is, having a united party that will listen to the voice of the people and a party where the majority will carry the day", Agbonayinma said. He added that with the majority members having their way through the convention, the party would chart a new course for a rebirth. ``This will bring in young men and women who are able to articulate themselves because if we don't have a country, no need to talk about a political party. ``We must realise that whatever political party we belong to, we owe good governance to the people and that is what is paramount. He urged the newly constituted caretaker committee members of the party to establish a mechanism that would unite all factions of the party. Agbonayinma said there was need to bring everybody together and attract new members into the party. ``Every problem has a solution and the best solution the party took yesterday was to dissolve the Exco and start all over again. ``Sheriff has the right to aspire but the people must be the ones to decide who lead them. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that delegates at the convention dissolved the partys NWC, the National Executive Committee (NEC), quashed the zoning of national chairmanship to the North- East, among other resolutions. The convention constituted a caretaker committee, headed by former governor of Kaduna state, Sen. Ahmed Markafi to manage the party for 90 days and conduct a fresh national convention within the period. But Mantu told newsmen that the group rejected the caretaker committee, saying that the only constitutional organ to run the affairs of the party in a situation as had arisen was the leadership of BoT. "There is a body that is constitutionally mandated to take over the affairs of the party and that body is the conscience of the party called the Board of Trustees (BoT)," he said. He said that the development at Port Harcourt was a clear vindication for the groups demands and principles. "We were opposed to the zoning and indeed the zoning has been cancelled or set aside. "We were also opposed to the convention, and the convention did not take place courtesy of the court. "Again, we were opposed to the way the congresses have been conducted, that, they fell short of our expectations. Now these congresses and conventions have been set aside. "This group can confidently say that we have achieved all the targets we set to achieve," Mantu stated. Also speaking at the news conference, former Minister of National Planning, Mr Saminu Turaki, said that it was time the BOT stepped in and took charge of the party. Turaki said that the PDP Constitution empowered the BOT as the conscience of the party to take over during situations as such as it was happening currently. "There shouldn't be any vacuum and we are concerned that what is coming out of the party from Port Harcourt may likely deepen our disagreement. "In this situation, therefore, the BOT leadership must take up its responsibilities over the reign of the affairs of the party. "They need to bring all the members of our party back home, for us to sit down and find a way forward as members of one family," Turaki said. Saying that the events at Port Harcourt had further factionalised the party, he said it was unfortunate that instead of working towards strengthening and bringing all members together, they ended up scattering it more. "There is a group now behind Sheriff saying that everything that has been done is illegitimate and wrongful, while the other groups are saying that Sheriff has been dissolved."We dont want to destroy this party; we want to strengthen the party and bring all members as it were as one family back home together. That is why we are worried. "Instead of them coming to say that we were right, that they have agreed with our arguments, they ended up factionalising their own group. 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! The prosecutor general's office issued an arrest warrant on Thursday for former provincial governor Moise Katumbi but said in a statement on Friday that he could go to South Africa to be treated. Katumbi's lawyer, Georges Kapiamba, told Reuters that his client had been hospitalised since last Friday, when police fired tear gas at him and his supporters outside the prosecutor's office in Congo's second city of Lubumbashi, where he was appearing to be questioned. Katumbi denies the charges against him, which he says are aimed at derailing his bid to replace President Joseph Kabila in a November presidential election. Kabila, in power since 2001, is barred by constitutional term limits from standing again but opponents accuse him of trying to delay the vote in order to cling to power. The government says it is unlikely to be able to hold the election on time due to budgetary and logistical constraints, and denies that the charges against Katumbi are politically motivated. Some of Katumbi's supporters fear that authorities will block the multi-millionaire former mining mogul from returning to the country, but Kapiamba rejected that possibility. "They can't force him into exile," Kapiamba said, adding that Katumbi was headed to Johannesburg. "He is going to return." Political tensions are running high in Congo ahead of the scheduled election. The country's highest court ruled last week that Kabila could stay in power if it did not take place before the end of his mandate. Opposition parties labelled that a "constitutional coup d'etat" and called for marches across the country on May 26 to demand that Kabila step down this year. On Friday, a court also sentenced three activists, arrested hours before a general strike in February to demand that Kabila leave power when his mandate expires this year, to one year in prison, the United Nations said. Somalia, slowly rebuilding after decades of violence and still battling an Islamist insurgency, is due to elect a new parliament, whose members will in turn pick the president. "The United States is increasingly concerned about delays in the 2016 Somali electoral process," the U.S. State Department said on Friday, adding the "legitimacy of Somali federal institutions" depended on a transparent and timely transition. It urged parliament "to act swiftly" to enact the new rules. The process to be approved by the outgoing parliament falls short of one-person-one-vote, which diplomats say would be too tough to stage because of the insurgency. But the process will expand the number of people picking the lawmakers. In 2012, just 135 elders selected members of the lower house. Under the new rules, 13,750 people from across federal states will chose 275 members of the lower house. A new 54-seat upper house will also be created to represent the states. The European Union, another major donor, said a parliamentary failure to act quickly "will jeopardise the Somali political process and set Somalia several years back." Egypt's U.N. ambassador, Abdellattif Aboulatta, told a news conference in Nairobi on Friday that the delegation had urged Somali officials to approve the process "as soon as possible." Privately, diplomats have said the election process might slip by a few weeks, but it must maintain momentum because any political vacuum could be exploited by al Shabaab Islamists or clan warlords who tore the nation apart in the 1990s. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was elected in 2012, is expected to run again. Several corruption scandals have frustrated donors. Officials say they have worked hard to respond to criticisms. The new election process aims to consolidate a federal structure, which includes recently created regional states in a nation where politics is still largely driven by clan loyalties. The defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a group of former militants who previously targeted the oil-rich region, made the call in a statement late on Friday. Buhari said on Friday he had heightened the military presence in the region where attacks in the last few weeks - mostly claimed by a group calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers - have driven the country's oil output to a more than 20-year low. "We should give President Buhari the opportunity to fulfil his promises to the Niger Delta people by maintaining peace in the region," former MEND members said in the statement. "The current resurgence of militancy is an unnecessary distraction to the current administration," they said. The six victims died from gunshot wounds or being burned alive, the ministry said. Another seven people were wounded in the attack and have been evacuated. The militants torched about 10 homes, the market and some cattle and stole two vehicles, the ministry said. A teacher in Bosso, 4 km (2.5 miles) from Yebi, said the attackers were young men who arrived on foot, horseback and camel. They filled up two pick-up trucks with food, he added. Mamadou Bako, Bosso's mayor, said the death toll could rise because security forces were searching through the rubble of burned homes. Niger's southern region of Diffa, which houses many refugees and internally displaced people who have sought to evade Boko Haram violence elsewhere, has been targeted numerous times in attacks blamed on the militants. The attack took place one day after the military announced the liberation of 97 girls and women from the Islamist group and three days after the rescue of a teenager who was among more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from Chibok, northeast Nigeria, two years ago. Teamster retirees have won the first round in a fight over their struggling pension fund, but the battle is far from over. That was the message nearly 200 Quad-City Teamsters retirees, dependents and active members heard Saturday a Quad-Cities Committee to Protect Pensions meeting held at their Rock Island union hall. "We would not be sitting here if our pension were whole,'' Jim Tol, a member of the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Committee to Protect Pensions, told the packed union hall. "It's not been going good since 2003. We've been in critical since 2003." Tol, a Teamsters committee person and retiree, said the retirees scored a victory earlier this month when the U.S. Treasury Department rejected an application by Central States Pension Fund that would have cut pension payments for tens of thousands of Teamsters retirees. Under Central States' plan, 270,000 of the 400,000 plan participants would have seen cuts some as much as 70 percent. Central States had said the average cut would be about 22 percent. Had it been approved, the cuts would have begun in July. While those proposed cuts are off the table, Tol warned the fact remains that the pension fund is going broke and could run out of money in about 10 years. "We have time now and we can plan. It's not going to go broke in a day." Central States has said for every $1 it receives in revenues, it pays out $3.46 in benefits. At the current rate, the plan could go into insolvency by 2026. Ruth Finch, who retired after 34 years at Eagle Foods warehouse when the company closed, said she received a letter indicating her pension would be cut from $892 a month to $192 a month. While she seems safe those cuts aren't materializing, she is worried about how long the fund will exist. "We all need to stick together; they need to hear our voices,'' the 66-year-old Port Byron woman said. Pam Allensworth, of Silvis, said her husband, Dale, a retired Eagle Foods truck driver, had faced a 33 percent cut in benefits if the plan had been approved. "With us it was a double whammy. He retired and I had to shut down a trucking company. We had a master plan that went to hell when Eagle shut down." She said the prospect of the fund going broke could mean she will have to return to the workforce. While it was mostly retired Teamsters in attendance, Told said the young active union members should be just as worried. "It's not just affecting retirees," said John Guerdet, a Local 371 trustee. "Our money is going in, but if the fund is not saved I'll never see a dime." He said the local's 1,100 members all pay into Central States Pension Fund. They are mostly truck drivers and dock workers for area trucking companies: ABF, Holland, Standard Forwarding and YRC as well as workers at Service Steel in Bettendorf. While there are other area Teamsters, they do not all contribute to Central States, Guerdet said. Across Iowa and Illinois, there are about 40,000 Teamsters involved in the pension fund. The treasury department rejected Central States' application earlier this month, saying it was flawed because it used faulty assumptions to estimate future financial performance, did not distribute the planned cuts equitably and the proposal was too complex to be understood by beneficiaries. Additionally, treasury officials said the plan would not even preserve the pension fund's solvency. According to Tol, the pension fund is down to $16 billion and has an $11 billion shortfall. He told retirees they need to find out what happened to its investments, including how the fund lost $6 billion in 2008 over a 15-month period. Guerdet said an effort led by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, prompted the Government Accountability Office to investigated the Department of Labor and its role in overseeing the Central States fund. The investigation now has been widened to also include the Department of Justice, the treasury, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., he said. Normally, when a multi-employer pension fund goes broke, the government's Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. is the fund that covers funds that run out of money, Tol said. "But the PBGC says it can't afford to pay us, even though it is charging us." Tol and union leaders encouraged the crowd to write their legislators and take action. "I'm 74, it won't run out before I'm done," Tol said. "I could go home... But that's not what we need to do. We owe it to our children, our grandchildren. Those kids are our replacements and we need to make sure they are taken care of too." Todd Peterson, who works for Holland, was one among about six active Teamsters in attendance. "This impacts my whole family," he said, adding his late father was a Teamster as is his brother and brother-in-law. His mother would have faced losing half his father's pension. He said part of the problem is that the Teamsters coming up the ranks do not equal the number of retirees. "I bet 90 percent of the guys here worked for companies that are not in business anymore," said Peterson, 54, of Orion, Ill. "A lot of guys have worked and worked and worked, 40 year, and they stand to lose everything," he said. Peterson said there is a lack of awareness with the younger generation. "I work with 80 guys and four of us are here. We need to get more young people involved." Tol agreed, adding that the "young ones" need to join the effort because they have the social media and technology skills missing in the "old people." "We do have to work, move forward in getting others involved besides us." Meghan Peters, 27, of Clinton, died Sunday in an apparent fall in Eagle Point Park in Clinton. According to a media release from Lt. Nick Carlson of the Clinton Fire Department, someone contacted the fire department at 11:38 a.m. about a person who apparently had fallen. A command post was established at 36th Avenue North and McKinley Street. Fire crews responded with nine personnel, a rescue van, two engines, an ambulance, a utility vehicle and a command vehicle. Clinton police brought a utility vehicle, and MedForce also was called to the post. Peters, who was spotted from a cliff in the park, apparently had fallen about 50 feet. She was pronounced dead at the scene after emergency responders tried resuscitation efforts. The Union Pacific Railroad shuttled people and equipment to the scene from the command post. Arrangements are pending at Lemke, Clinton. For some veterans of the Vietnam War, Saturday's celebration of their service was bittersweet. They should have done this 50 years ago, said Greg Lindsay of Viola, Ill., an Air Force veteran of the war. But, better late than never. But kind of nice. Lindsay, who walked in the Vietnam War 50th Anniversary Commemoration Parade through downtown Rock Island and Davenport, was not alone in his sentiments. Still, all seemed glad to participate in the first-ever Quad-City ceremony honoring veterans of that war. I am overwhelmed but also so happy people are coming out, said Ed Hildebrand of Davenport, a Vietnam vet who came up with the idea to have a welcome home event. He is from Vietnam Veterans of America Post 776, Bettendorf. This parade is not for me. It is for the guys who didn't come home and those who came home but have so many ill effects of the war that they cannot come today, he added moments before the march began in Rock Island. After passing through the downtown, the parade crossed the Centennial Bridge into Davenport. It included the Great Lakes Naval Marching Band, dozens of Vietnam veterans, high school marching bands, motorcycle riders, color guards, floats and even a vehicle with Korean War veterans. It has been 50 years since the first U.S. military boots hit the ground in Vietnam, and local Vietnam veterans associations have committed to three years of commemorative events. This is the second year of events. Among the spectators was Sue McCabe of Silvis, whose daughter a cheerleader at United Township High School was marching in the parade. I have had family members over the years who have been in the military and I am excited to be here," McCabe said. We hear so much about those who were killed, but not as much said about what it is like after they get home and all they go through. Not one person who serves comes out of it unscathed. Another onlooker said he was there to support the veterans. I don't think Vietnam veterans get enough recognition in our country, said David Neighbour of Moline, who stood and applauded during the parade. I am just happy to give our boys some love. For one veteran, Saturday's celebration contrasted sharply with his return home from service decades ago. They were very harsh. A lot of verbal abuse, Charles DePauw of Rock Island, a Navy vet in Vietnam, said of his welcome home experience. This is hard to swallow. I kind of have been abused so much. They definitely have praised us now ... but still. Larry Witt of Davenport help to marshal parade participants. His memories of his homecoming are poignant. When I came home, my mom was supposed to pick me up at the Moline airport, but she was late, he said. I was the only one there. Heath Smith of Hillsdale, Ill., is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and still serves in the Army. I am a veteran and am here to support my other veterans. I appreciate their service and glad we could come out and support them, said Smith, who brought his family. My heart aches for them. This is the only welcome home they had. To think they came home to nothing breaks my heart. Delbert Wise of Milan rode in the lead car. He was unable to walk Saturday because of numerous health issues related to his service in the Army in Vietnam. I was young, but I have been with him 25 years and he had seven guys he knew who didn't make it back, Wise's wife, Rhonda, said, fighting back tears. My heart hurts for him. This is the first time he has ever gotten involved because he just did not deal with it, and I am so proud of him. I think it is great, Delbert Wise added. After all these years, it is about time. These men deserve this. The results of the first-ever nationally representative assessment of technology and engineering literacy are in, and they're generally positive: 43 percent of eighth-grade students are proficient at solving real-world problems. And of these students, female white and female black students outperformed their male peers overall. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is commonly known as the Nation's Report Card, these students demonstrated solid competency in thinking through problems systematically, and using computer-based tools to solve scenario-based questions. Now on to some bad news: Only 25 percent of lower-income students (those eligible for the National School Lunch Program) scored at or above the proficient level, compared with 59 percent of higher-income students. For English-language learners, only 5 percent were proficient. Additionally, compared with 56 percent of white and Asian students, only 30 percent of Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students, 28 percent of Hispanic students, and 18 percent of black students scored proficient or above. No huge surprise. Yet even though the assessments of "technology and society," "design and systems," and "information and communication technology" were administered via interactive software on computers, let's not fall into the trap of believing this is a digital divide issue. I believe this is yet another illustration of how children of parents with higher educations and greater financial resources in better-funded schools simply know so much more than poorer kids. Let's take one example of a scenario that involves a habitat for a classroom iguana named Iggy. The students were first given some information about iguanas and their basic needs, then were asked a variety of questions aimed at diagnosing potential solutions to several problems the iguana might face because of the design of its cage. For instance, determining what cage designs might alleviate the iguana from being too cold, dehydrated or too active at night. If you had at least a middle-class upbringing and went to a moderately resourced school where the teacher had a fish aquarium in the classroom -- or an incubator in which baby chicks were hatched, or a tarantula, hamster, guinea pig, lizard, snake, you name it -- the aforementioned scenario has a palpable connection to real life. Maybe you only had a lonely fish in a science classroom tank, but you could probably draw connections between the differences in room temperature in the day, with 30 kids' body heat in the room, and nighttime. Or maybe you went to a zoo or an animal sanctuary as part of a school field trip sometime in grade school and had some personal connection to the idea of a wild animal in a human-maintained habitat. Even with the aid of given facts, these are crucial bits of background knowledge that would benefit a child trying to understand the scenario of a classroom iguana and then draw conclusions about what kind of cage would keep it warm. Low-income students rarely have deep, wide reserves of background knowledge. Speaking from personal experience, until high school both my sons went to poorly resourced schools in a low-income community where more than half the students were on the free or reduced-cost lunch program. Their classes were never taken on field trips to see live animals, and neither of my sons can remember having had live animals in their classrooms (unless you count tadpoles, I suppose). The schools were barely surviving and the teachers didn't have district support to maintain animals in the classroom, unlike in their current schools. In surveys accompanying the Technology and Engineering Literacy test, nearly two-thirds of eighth-graders (63 percent) indicated that their family members most often taught them about building things, fixing things, or understanding how things work. Nineteen percent of students responded that they taught themselves, and 13 percent of students reported that they learned from their teachers. This obviously leaves students with parents who have low education levels and little money for enrichment activities like visits to zoos, museums or science camp significantly less able to compete with better-resourced peers. It is a great thing that this national assessment uses realistic situations for students to demonstrate their knowledge and problem-solving skills. And it's very useful for us to understand how the students perform. But we have to recognize that the results may say less about how well students can solve problems than they do about the disparity of intellect-building resources in their lives. Last week, the Illinois State Board of Education heard presentations from two groups of committed community members wanting to make changes to the current K-12 funding formula. Both groups included educators, legislators and parents who have worked long and hard to address the inequity and inadequacy in the way that Illinois funds schools. As a religious leader, a former legislator and the current chair of the Illinois State Board of Education, I applaud their focus and hope that together we can find a resolution that will allow more children in Illinois to graduate from high school ready for a high paying job and a rigorous college program. There are some facts that we all need to face. Fact 1: The gap between what we spend on our wealthy and what we spend on our poorest children is greater in Illinois than in almost any other state. Fact 2: Nearly 1 out of every 2 children in Illinois graduates from high school ill prepared for college. These children cannot afford to miss even a day of school. Fact 3: Many districts in Illinois are experiencing great hardship and, if they dont get money in July, will have a difficult time opening their doors. When I was state Sen. Meeks, I worked with other members of the General Assembly to change the way we fund schools. As chair of the Illinois State Board of Education, I remain equally committed; however, given the current political stalemate, I believe that our first responsibility is to make sure that a school budget is passed as soon as possible. The governor has made a commitment to sign an education budget that ends proration. Lets pass a school budget now that fully funds our schools, as we continue to work for greater adequacy and equity in our funding formula. By doing both, school boards around the state can begin planning for next year while committing to a future that responsibly ensures that the poorest child in Illinois has a future as bright as the wealthiest. CEDAR RAPIDS The Panama Papers leaked documents from a Panama-based law firm that sets up anonymous shell companies for clients may provide a spark for legislation Sen. Chuck Grassley says will increase corporate transparency. Transparency brings accountability. You get back to something thats pretty basic to everything I do in government, said Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Along with Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse he is co-sponsoring the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act that would ensure the disclosure of beneficial owners in the United States. The Panama Papers, the result of an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 100 news outlets, illustrate the use of shell corporations by wealthy individuals, politicians and businesses to hide legal activities. The tool is used to avoid, well, I dont know whether it would be just taxes or a lot of things other than taxes, Grassley said. Who knows about the underworld being involved, money laundering, and I dont know how many other things. When Iowa Citizen Action Network in Des Moines hosted a two-day seminar on the subject, it attracted representatives of the faith community, small business and law enforcement. Much of their concern was the use of shell companies in human and drug trafficking, said Sue Dinsdale, ICAN executive director. Ive been working on this for the past couple of years, Dinsdale said. It never gets a lot of traction because its not real exciting. But the Panama Papers got people thinking and brought this to the forefront. Part of the problem is that people think about it as something that happens somewhere else, Dinsdale said. According to an academic study, its easier to set up an untraceable shell corporation in the United States than any country other than Kenya. Its easier for corporations to incorporate and have shadow corporations than to get a library card in a lot of places, Dinsdale said. Some of the stiffest opposition to Grassley's legislation has come from the business associations that argue that maybe people ought to be able to do business without you knowing who youre doing business with, he said. Im not sure I can accept that. Neither does he accept the argument by secretaries of state that the changes required by his proposed legislation will be costly. All they have to do is rewrite a form, he said. What were after is pretty simple. If you set up a corporation, we ought to know whos running the corporation. The information Grassley is after currently is available through the Treasury Department, according to Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, the co-chairman of the National Association of Secretaries of State. He suspects the problem is that Congress is frustrated with the IRS and doesnt have a lot of confidence in it. Because states have different incorporation processes and tax laws, Pate said, the federal legislation would be costly to states and businesses. Were trying to streamline government, and this will be more red tape, he said. We share the same goal integrity, Pate said. Theres no way we want anyone to be able to hide behind a corporate veil. (The information) is there if we utilize whats already been collected. We need to learn to share. Grassley admits the prospects for his legislation are not good this year, but he said if theres no action, he will try again when the new Congress convenes in January. DES MOINES They have varied professional and political backgrounds, and 23 years separate the oldest and youngest among them. But Tom Fiegen, Rob Hogg, Patty Judge and Bob Krause have one thing in common: They want to end Chuck Grassleys 36-year tenure in the U.S. Senate. Democratic voters will choose from among the four in Iowas June 7 primary election, and the winner will challenge Grassley, Iowas longtime and popular Republican U.S. senator, in this falls general election. Despite Grassleys many lopsided re-election victories and typically high favorability ratings from Iowa voters, Democrats think Grassley is vulnerable this year because of his support for the GOPs decision to reject President Barack Obamas Supreme Court nominee without a hearing and the uncertain impact of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president. The seat is among those Democrats think they can win in their effort to flip party control of the U.S. Senate back in their favor after losing control in 2014. The University of Virginia Center for Politics and the Cook Political Report both list Iowas U.S. Senate race as likely Republican. If Iowa Democrats are to pull off a Generals-over-Globetrotters upset this fall, the foil will be Fiegen, Hogg, Judge or Krause. No public polls of the Democratic primary race have been published, and only in the past few weeks have the candidates started participating in a series of forums and debates across the state. Honestly, I think its kind of hard to know (who is leading the race), said Christopher Larimer, a political science professor at the University of Northern Iowa. "The candidates are trying to separate themselves at these debates, but theres not a lot of separation." Voter interest may be lagging. Absentee ballot requests for the Democratic primaries are behind the pace established in 2014, despite the fact there are fewer federal primary races this year. As of Tuesday, Iowa Democrats had requested nearly 1,000 fewer absentee ballots than at the same point in the 2014 primary. Thats despite only one federal Democratic primary in 2014 in the 1st Congressional District and there are three this year: in the 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts and the Senate. Larimer said Judge and Hogg likely are the front-runners in this years U.S. Senate Democratic primary based on their name recognition and past electoral success. Judge has served as Iowas lieutenant governor and secretary of agriculture, and Hogg has served in the Iowa Legislature for the past 13 years. Judge said that experience of running statewide campaigns and holding statewide office is what makes her the Democrats best choice to challenge Grassley. This is the fifth time Ive ran statewide, and people know who I am, they know what I stand for, said Judge, who was state ag secretary under Gov. Tom Vilsack and lieutenant governor to Gov. Chet Culver. Ive got a great network across the state of supporters that are helping me. Judge also has been the primary fields most prolific fundraiser. Through the end of March, Judge had raised almost $214,000 and still had nearly $210,000 in her campaign account. Hogg raised more than $180,000 through March, but at the end of the period, he had just more than $40,000 left. Fiegen through March raised roughly $39,000, and Krause did not report any fundraising activity. When asked for the most important issues in the primary race, Judge and Hogg both responded with a version of their partys criticism of Grassley: that the U.S. Senate is not functioning as it should. The American voter today does not believe that government is working for them, Judge said. They feel like their issues and things that are important are falling on deaf ears and that politicians in Washington, D.C., particularly are not listening and not doing the job that they were sent there to do. Hogg, who has represented Cedar Rapids in the Iowa Legislature since 2003, also said he wants to go to Washington to make Congress work again. Hogg said the most important issue is creating an economy that works for all Americans and invests in education, training and infrastructure. Hogg is an advocate for environmental issues he has written a book on climate change and also has made those issues central to his campaign. Ive been emphasizing clean water, clean energy and climate action in my campaign. I believe these are real serious and urgent issues facing our country, and we need to act on them, Hogg said. The good news is we have solutions that work, so lets get Congress to work so we can do the solutions that work. Hogg said he thinks he is best fit to face Grassley because he thinks Iowa voters want new leaders and he has the most potential to attract new, young, progressive voters who Democrats need to win this fall. During the Iowa caucuses, Fiegen was an active supporter of Bernie Sanders, and on the campaign trail, he talks about many of the same issues, including campaign finance reform. Fiegen thinks, for example, that Democratic candidates should swear off the support of independent campaign support organizations known as Super PACs and that the federal government or U.S. Supreme Court should reverse the 2010 ruling that loosened campaign finance restrictions and opened fundraising floodgates. When Democrats take PAC money, we have divided loyalties. Then we have to choose between the money that got us there and the people. And the Bible says you cant serve two masters, Fiegen said at a recent candidate forum. Call it unilateral disarmament; call it what you want. We have to swear off PAC money. Krause said developing an economy that helps the middle class will help address other prominent issues and should be the primary focus of federal legislators. He said declining and stagnating wages for both working and retired people are hurting the middle class. Weve got to focus on what money we put in our pockets because we really cant resolve a lot of the other problems in our society without fixing the wage disparity and putting money back in the pockets of the middle class, Krause said. Krause said his breadth of experience he is a former state legislator, federal transportation department worker and veteran who served in the U.S. Army National Guard and Reserves makes him the most qualified Democrat in the primary. HOT SPRINGS | In September of 2012, three self-avowed Hot Springs cat ladies opened up Cats Meow Feline Rescue, a nonprofit no-kill shelter, to humanely address a growing stray cat population in Fall River County. The three women Lora Michael, Cheryl Fair and Delores Aul are a trio who simply care about cats, and saw the shelter as a way to create a safe haven for cats and a path to new, happy homes for unwanted animals. The shelters mission has been to rescue, foster, spay or neuter and, most importantly, find homes for rescued felines. All of this has been accomplished through donations and a few small grants. Since 2012, Cats Meow has spayed and neutered more than 500 cats, reducing the overall population by thousands. The shelter has also placed more than 225 cats in loving homes. But now, the ugly scourge that is cancer has not only impacted the life of one of the three women, it is also putting an end to the shelter and future cat rescues. Michael, who has been the main caregiver for the cats, has seen her health decline as a leukemia diagnosis and treatments at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota have ravaged her ability to run the shelter. As they prepare to end their operation, the three women are now trying to adopt out all their remaining cats to good homes. They started with a feline inventory of 96 cats in January and now have about 40 left, according to Aul. "We've come a long way, but we're still reaching out to find every one of them a good home," Aul said last week. "We have very healthy cats and happy cats." The shelter is also in desperate need of donations and volunteers. Cat food and litter bills are currently running about $650 per month, Fair said. Some of the cats available for adoption are listed in Petfinder (petfinder.com, use ZIP code 57747). For a closer, more personal look, call Fair at 745-4535 (home) or 847-404-5146 (cell), or leave a message at 745-3593, or email CatsMeowFelineRescue@yahoo. For all involved, the looming end of the shelter effort is a sad moment. "We've been handling it, but we can't handle it forever," Aul said. "We have homed so many cats over the years..." LEAD | There is a little-known legacy of Leads gold-mining era that is to say the least less than golden. It doesnt smell very good, either. That legacy is a "combined sewer," the term applied to a series of pipes that carry both stormwater and sewage to a wastewater treatment plant. When the city gets a big rain, the system is overwhelmed by the combined volume of the two water sources. In those circumstances, some of the combined flow including untreated sewage is diverted away from the treatment plant and directly into Gold Run Creek, which flows into Whitewood Creek. The practice is contributing to unsafe levels of E. coli in Whitewood Creek, according to a newly released draft of a biennial state government report on surface water quality throughout South Dakota. E. coli is a bacteria that can make people sick, and the levels of E. coli detected in Whitewood Creek have caused the state to declare some stretches of the creek too impaired to support immersion recreation such as swimming. The city of Lead has been wrestling with the problem for decades, with oversight by state and federal regulators. Lead is the only city in the Environmental Protection Agencys six-state Mountains and Plains Region that is formally permitted to operate a combined sewer overflow system. Leads unique combination of rocky soil and narrow streets makes the expensive prospect of separating the citys stormwater and sewage even more expensive than it would be elsewhere, so regulators have shown patience while insisting on regular progress toward a total separation of the stormwater and sewage. Over the past few decades, according to Roger Thomas, Leads public utilities supervisor, the city has separated 80 percent of the system. That has been accomplished by laying separate underground pipes for stormwater and sewage whenever a street project is undertaken. Thomas said there is no definitive schedule for completing the final 20 percent of the work. The city will simply continue to tackle it a little at a time, as funding allows. Thomas did not know how much the city has spent on the project over the years. The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources has records showing that state government has contributed at least $3.5 million in loans and grants to the work since 1990. Every completed segment of separated pipe has helped reduce the bacteria load released into Whitewood Creek. Thomas said the volume of periodic overflows has been reduced to the point that one of the systems two diversion structures will soon be eliminated. So theres progress being made, Thomas said. He has been dealing with the problem since he started working for the city in 1994. The problem dates to the citys founding as a Homestake Mining Company town in the 1870s. Thomas said the company built the combined sewer system, apparently anticipating that the town would disband in several decades after the areas gold was mined. But activities in the Homestake Mine, now known as the Open Cut, continued until 2002. Throughout Leads early decades, the combined sewer flowed directly into Whitewood Creek along with millions of tons of mine waste. It was called Cyanide Creek in the 1960s and 70s, Thomas said, because it was black. In the 1970s, the newly formed EPA began a long period of investigation, regulation and forced cleanup of the creeks pollution sources. In the 1990s, the city of Lead finally took over operation of the combined sewer system and began the long, slow work of separating the wastewater and sewage into separate pipes. Today, the remaining combined sewer segments are not the only suspected source of E. coli in Whitewood Creek. The draft biennial report on the states surface water quality, known as the Integrated Report for Surface Water Quality Assessment, additionally identifies aging septic systems, wildlife and livestock as possible E. coli sources. So far there have been 39 weapons violations reported in 11 different Rapid City schools this academic year, according to numbers released by the district. Thats about four weapons making their way into schools every month. Of the 39 weapons reported, 33 were knives and the closest thing to a gun was an airsoft pistol, a type of toy firearm that fires plastic pellets. A razor, a rock, a hatchet, and a box cutter were among the rest. I think some kids are just attracted to knives, said Assistant Superintendent Brad Berens. I remember my classmates wearing knives on their belts during the school day. We know better now to be watchful of the safety environment in our schools. Berens and Katy Urban, the districts public information officer, would not reveal the names of the schools where the violations occurred. While some schools have multiple violations, there are some schools that only report one or two violations, Urban said in an email. I worry that the student or students could be identified based on rumor and what other students and teachers know about the situation. Berens defended the decision to not release the locations of schools, saying its not something we look to put a fence around. Theres not a force field that stops knives from going into certain parts of town. At 39, the number of weapons violations this year may seem high, but its in line with a trend that has seen only minor fluctuations over the past five years in South Dakotas second-largest school district. The 2016 numbers are up by only three from last year's total. There were a total of 205 recorded weapons violations in Rapid City schools between 2012 and now, which averages out to about 41 in any given year. The most weapons brought to schools in that time frame was 55 in 2013. For comparison, the Sioux Falls school district the largest in the state with 23,274 students has had 82 weapons violations so far this year, four of which involved firearms. Of the 39 weapons violations this year in Rapid City public schools, six involved actual threats, and three resulted in superficial injury, according to Urban. In the other 30 incidents, no threats were issued, and the students were either caught with the weapons or gave them up voluntarily. All violations this year resulted in suspensions. As a reminder, we have 13,846 students, Urban said in an email, That means that this school year, about .2 percent of our entire population had a weapons violation. Thats an extremely low number. Nonetheless, we would like there to be no weapons violations. This isnt just a schools issue, its a community issue. We need our students to understand that bringing a weapon to school for any reason is never okay. We need parents and guardians to have conversations with their children about the consequences, whether intentional or not, that often come with bringing a weapon to school. PIERRE | The legislative candidates who win their parties nominations in the June 7 primaries get a head start toward Nov. 8 victories in many of South Dakotas 35 legislative districts. Thats because of the heavy tilt to either Republicans or Democrats depending on the district. The list of June 7 legislative primaries is especially long for Republicans. They already hold 27 of the 35 seats in the Senate and 58 of the 70 in the House. For your vote to matter most, regarding the Legislature, might mean voting in a Republican legislative primary if you have one. This condensed list of Republican contests shows why: District 3 House (Aberdeen area), two seats; District 5 Senate (Watertown area); District 7 Senate (Brookings area); District 9 Senate (Hartford and Sioux Falls area); District 11 House (Sioux Falls area); District 14 (Sioux Falls area); District 16 House (Union and part of Lincoln counties) District 19 House and District 19 Senate (Bon Homme, Douglas, Hanson, Hutchinson and McCook counties); District 23 House (Campbell, Edmunds, Faulk, Hand, McPherson, Potter, Spink and Walworth counties); District 25 House (Minnehaha County); District 28 Senate (Butte, Corson, Dewey, Harding, Perkins and Ziebach counties); District 28B House single-member district (Butte, Harding and Perkins counties); District 30 House and District 30 Senate (Custer, Fall River and parts of Pennington counties); District 31 House (Lawrence County); District 32 House and District 32 Senate (Rapid City area); District 33 House and District 33 Senate (Rapid City area); and District 35 Senate (Rapid City area). Democrats have a handful of primaries for legislative nominations. They include: District 15 Senate (Sioux Falls area); District 18 House (Yankton area); District 22 House (Beadle and Kingsbury counties); and District 25 House (parts of Minnehaha County). Clearly there is a split among South Dakota Republicans this year. In key ways, its about Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican. One part of the divide was the Legislatures decision to increase the state sales tax to 4.5 percent, starting June 1. It has been 4 percent since 1969. Daugaard formally proposed the increase to help K-12 teacher salaries and provide additional property-tax relief, primarily to businesses for the first time. The 1995 tax package benefited owner-occupied homes and agriculture property. Another factor is Daugaards veto of transgender bathroom regulations for public schools that the Legislature approved. One more influence on Republican primaries is the new law banning most abortions later than 20 weeks of pregnancy. Daugaard quickly signed the 20-week ban, which was brought by South Dakota Right to Life. The new law also reduces the crime from a felony to a misdemeanor. Tea Party-aligned activists in the Black Hills recruited primary challengers to a variety of Republican incumbents from the Rapid City area. Likewise, some of the most conservative Republican incumbents in the Rapid City area face challenges. Term limits are in the mix too. Remember, if youre changing party registration, or re-registering or registering for the first time, to vote in the June 7 primary elections, you must have the paperwork done no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, May 23, and in the hands of your county auditor by that time. Donald Trump supporters have a point. So do Bernie Sanders' legions. They are correct when they say our society is rigged in favor of those who have been able to game the system and accumulate massive wealth at the expense of everyone else. Trump has been successful in exploiting that anger through his facile demagoguery, pushing the buttons of the haters who want scapegoats as a substitute for rational strategies. Sanders addresses economic inequality with really poorly thought-out superficial approaches that don't add up. But let's not lose sight of the reality that the oligarchs run things, that our government under laws doesn't really mean they have to follow those laws. They go unpunished when their corrupt transactions destroy the lives of so many millions here and around the world. When the public education system is allowed to rot, they merely send their children to private schools to study courses like Entitlement 1-A and Hubris 101. They have multiple vacation homes, while millions face foreclosure. If they do step over the legal line, their army of lawyers protects them. That's actually rare, because their lobbyists are able to bribe lawmakers and those who administer the regulations with campaign contributions. In return, the rules are written and enforced so that they don't apply to the powerful. They've taken our "Shining City on the Hill" and strip-mined it. At the core is a political structure that is the foundation for this inept, unprincipled government house of cards. So along comes Donald Trump, who pretends to challenge this stodgy system by employing mindless bigotry. And along comes Bernie Sanders with slogans that appeal to the gullible youth, allowing him to give fits to Hillary Clinton, the candidate of the Democratic Party organization. The narrative could well be about Hillary potentially making history as the first female president of the United States; instead, she has been held back by questions about her character. Furthermore, instead of trailblazing, she travels a well-worn path, campaigning for the status quo. Trump plays to America's worst instincts. He's been able to roll over those who lay claim to the experience and thoughtfulness necessary to govern. When House Speaker Paul Ryan mildly defies Trump, the two take a meeting. Afterward, they put out a joint statement saying they are "totally committed to working together." Is that hard-hitting or what? Right now, very few Americans give a hoot about whether either the GOP or the Dems are unified, since they're viewed as the enablers of an unfair system. Perhaps it's time to rethink our elections, with their emphasis on the two parties. Perhaps now is the time consider a national election approach, like the "top two" setup in California's statewide races. In the primary there, all candidates for a given office are lumped together on the ballot, regardless of party. The two who get the most votes run against each other for the grand prize. Of course, both Democrats and Republican regulars scream bloody murder at the very idea. They insist that the two-party system provides stability. They're right about that. Unfortunately, it's the stability that comes from being stuck deep in a rut. Two alleged ISIS recruiters arrested in St. Petersburg MOSCOW, May 20 (RAPSI) Two natives of Tajikistan have been arrested in St. Petersburg on suspicion of recruiting new members for ISIS, a terrorist organization banned in Russia, the Investigative Committees regional department reported on Friday. Religious literature and attributes have been seized from the suspects during the conduct of searches. 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. Margaret Gorski Candidate House District 88 Democrat Q: What is your position on the issue of federal lands being turned over to the state? Please explain your position. Tony Jones, Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association A: No! I do not support transferring federal lands to the state. What exactly would be gained? Some say more local control would lead to better management. Does that specifically mean creating more timber jobs for more revenue to the county; clearcutting the boundary to fireproof it; or does it mean keeping all old roads open no matter the cost? Whether doing any of those is better management depends on the objective, who benefits and who doesnt. If our public lands were managed solely to generate revenue, as state lands are now managed, all other uses would become secondary. My experience leads me to believe the financial and environmental costs and the loss of recreational access would far outweigh the gains. Instead of arguing for Congressional approval to manage a national asset, I believe we need to change the conversation. Is the state doing everything it can do to help counties reinvent their economies to meet changing times and be less directly dependent on revenue from public lands? What incentives are needed to attract new sustainable industries that seek high quality environments in which to locate? What infrastructure is missing? Do we have the necessary skills in our workforce? Our public lands are a national asset and their value only increases as the worlds population increases. Montana produces much of the nations clean water and is home to many of the last remaining significant wildlife populations in North America. People travel from all over the world to visit what we have in our backyards. Instead of debating the merits of transferring them to the state or proving whether or not the state would then sell them off, I pledge as your representative, to support a more collaborative approach to managing our public lands. We owe it to the nation and to future generations. Q: Education is faced with a multifaceted task of equipping our children for world that wont look the same five years from now. With the very fabric of our culture changing at a rapid pace, a robust and solid understanding of tolerance is key to effectively navigating these circumstances. What is your definition for tolerance and how does this definition support the mandates within public education? Tim Johnson, Corvallis School Superintendent. A: I believe that a good education is one of the most important tools we need to succeed as adults and is vital to the future of our democracy. I believe that teachers play a vital role in giving our children a good education and they should be compensated accordingly. Our schools need to be safe and healthy and adequately equipped to prepare our children to succeed in this rapidly changing world. I support our public school system. It is the one and only institution I can think of that brings us together as a community, no matter our economic or cultural differences. It is in school, from the very first day, that we begin to learn how to respect and get along with others. As our classrooms become more diverse and we become even more globally connected, those lessons become even more important as they become more complicated. We need to teach our children tolerance as well as the value of diversity. To me teaching our children tolerance goes beyond simply learning to live and let live. It means parents and teachers working together to instill in our children the importance of building their own character and sense of self in the face of adversity and challenge. I also believe that to prepare our children to succeed in a global economy it is important to teach them the value of seeing the world through the eyes of other cultures. An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people. Although Thomas Jefferson really didnt write those words, I believe those words ring true to me more than ever. If we are to remain a free country, for all who live here, we must learn to be able to live together as Americans and it is in school where we have the best opportunity to put that lesson to work. Q: What do you think the state could do to make improvements to the accessibility of the economic development funding for rural small business? Could you name a specific program where you would like to see improvement and provide some examples? What will you do to further your recommendation? Julie Foster, Ravalli County Economic Development Authority Executive Director. A: I agree with the mission of the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority (RCEDA) to support the growth of existing companies and to enhance the economic competitiveness of the Bitterroot Valley. I believe it is appropriate for the county and state to work together to help small businesses succeed. It is vital to the future of this valley to build a strong and diverse economy of small businesses who recognize the environmental strengths of our location and who work together with local, state and federal governments to address our education, transportation and infrastructure needs. Can we create new incentives to attract new businesses to the valley that are looking for quality environments in which to locate? Are we doing everything we can to help existing businesses expand in ways that create new jobs or enable them to pay a living wage? Have we done everything we can to reinvent the timber industry? I believe that we should support our small farms and ranches with assistance to develop value added products and encourage local farm to table food production. There are a number of existing programs, like the Big Sky Trust Fund and micro-loan program available to support rural economic development. I pledge to work with the RCEDA to evaluate their effectiveness and work to improve their accessibility to meet Ravalli County business needs. Public lands, education and our economy are interrelated topics important to the county and the state. Since my opponent has been in the Legislature for six years now, voters can check his record at www.leg.mt.gov. Then decide if you want to re-elect him or choose me to represent your voice in the Legislature. I pledge to work hard and to listen to all viewpoints before deciding what legislative action is best for the district and the state. Sometime soon, a child facing the terrible task of talking about the trauma they have endured will have someone new to lean on. Twyla, an incredibly calm two-year-old Golden Retriever/Golden Labrador cross trained therapy dog, officially arrived this week at Emmas House in Hamilton. The childrens advocacy center is where abused and neglected children are interviewed and medical evidence is gathered by professionals trained to work with youth. Emmas House Director Val Widmer has been through that process hundreds of times. She knows just how hard it can be for children who are often afraid and away from everyone they know. The kids who come in here are often in crisis and turmoil, Widmer said. I think Twyla will help provide them with a sense of comfort and safety. Watching Twyla peacefully rest her head on Widmers lap, its easy to see just what she envisions. It was almost two years ago on Widmers birthday that she learned the national organization, Canine Companions for Independence, had accepted Emmas Houses application for a therapy dog. Earlier this month, Widmer travelled to that organizations headquarters in Santa Rosa, California, for two weeks of training and, most importantly, to be matched to the centers new four-legged staff member. They do a really good job to matching dogs to people, she said. They consider the skill sets the dog will require to match the applicants need. Canine Companions for Independence has had a long time to perfect its process. Established in 1975 in California, the organization now has six training centers scattered across the country. They celebrated their 5,000th match this year. The organization trains four types of assistance dogs, including service dogs, skilled companions and helping people with hearing loss. Twyla is a facility dog whose training will be used to help children through forensic interviews, follow-up therapies and eventually could even provide support to children required to testify in a courtroom setting. Every dog placed by the organization makes an impact on peoples lives, said Michelle Williams, Canine Companions for Independences Northwest Public Relations Coordinator. I love hearing the stories from our graduates on how our dogs have changed their lives, Williams said. While each one of those stories is incredible, a facility dog has the ability to touch so many people. The training starts when the dogs are 8 weeks old and placed with the puppy raisers. The puppy raisers are like superheroes to me, Widmer said. They teach the young dog all the basic and socialization skills theyll need in their later lives. After a year and a half, they turn them over to the centers where trainers spend up to 9 months perfecting their skills. Widmers recent two-week training session began with a few days of learning different techniques while working with several different dogs. There were about 20 of us all together, she said. About 18 were kids with their parents. It was so powerful and humbling to see the parents working with these dogs that would mean so much to their children. And then to see the kids respond to those dogs. Their faces just lit up. These dogs can have such an impact with kids, Widmer said. I saw it happen there. On a Wednesday night, they gathered in a large room to get matched with their dogs. I didnt know at that point which dog it would be, she said. I had worked with eight or nine different onesand then they called my name and handed me Twylas leash. It was love at first sight. From that moment on, Twyla went everywhere with Widmer. At the end of the two weeks of training, her husband and two boys made the trip to California to watch her and Twyla graduate. The training was intensive, she said. I learned so much. Twylas trainers asked Widmer to give her new dog some time to settle into her new digs before she begins interacting with children. We still need to develop that confidence to be able to work things through, she said. Sometimes she catches me doing something wrong. I just want to set her up so she can be successful. I cant wait until I can start connecting her with kids, Widmer said. I just know that its going to make an incredible difference. She already has plans for changing the room where the forensic interviews are conducted. Widmer plans to replace a chair with a love seat where Twyla can sit next to a child if thats what they want. She can sit right next to them, with her head in their lap, Widmer said. Thats what she loves to do the most. Shes very snuggly. Widmer thinks Twyla will also be a good way to reach out into the community to begin conversations about a topic that no one wants to think about. People will see her and it will give us a chance to talk about what we do, she said. Well probably take her into the schools when we talk about prevention. Emmas House is the first Childrens Advocacy Center to use a facility dog. Widmer doesnt think that will last long. I think we are paving the way for Montana, she said. I think this will generate a lot of interest for other organizations who do similar work. On June 10, people will have a chance to see Twyla for themselves when the Mine Shaft Pasty Co. in Hamilton hosts a doggy shower for Emmas Houses newest employee. The event begins at 5 p.m. Shell be there all night offering to shake paws with anyone who comes, Widmer said. Kathmandu, Nepal: The Nepal government authorities have been trying to airlift the body of Dr Maria Strydom, an Australian nation, who had died after reaching the Everest summit on Saturday, in Kathmandu on Sunday. Monash University lecturer Dr Maria Strydom, 34 had died due to high altitude related sickness on Saturday afternoon. She had been travelling in Nepal for more than a month with her husband and 10 other fellow climbers. The government is trying to airlift the body to Kathmandu, but it would take few days as rescue operators have been trying to bring the body in camp 2, an official of the tourism ministry said. Guwahati, May 19 : Assam becomes the first saffron state in the north eastern region after BJP-led NDA is headed landslide victory in the state. BJP-led NDA had crossed absolute majority mark in the 126 members Assam assembly election declared on Thursday. According to the ECI reports, NDA had so far won 76 seats and leading in other 10 seats. BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal won from the Majuli constituency with the margin of 18,923 votes. BJP had alone captured 54 seats and leading in other 6 so far. Apart from BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) ally with BJP won 12 and BPF captured 10 seats. Congress's dream to return to power for a record of consecutive fourth time in the state was dashed to ground with winning 22 and leading in other 4 seats. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had managed to return to the state assembly for consecutive fourth term but 11 ministers of the state government had lost their constituencies. AIUDF Chief Badruddin Ajmal also defeated inSouth Salmara constituency. After big win in Assam, BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal had expressed his thankful greet to the people of Assam for give their support to NDA. "We assured to the people of Assam to give them a good governance," Sonowal said. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) Kathmandu, Nepal: 70 Indian nationals, who were arrested for consuming alcohol by entering in Nepali side, released after penalizing Rs 1000 each on Sunday. The local administration of Dhanusha has also directed the penalized Indian nationals not to visit to Nepal again for alcohol consumption purpose. With a complete ban on liquor in the Indian state of Bihar, Indian nationals have started flocking to bordering Nepali villages to consume alcohol. Pokhara, Nepal: At least eight Armed Police Force (APF) personnel were injured when a grenade went off at the APF Manakamana battalion in Bhanu municipality-2 of Tanahu on Sunday afternoon. According to the reports, among the injured two APF personnel are reported as critical in condition. It is said that the grenade went into blast at around 12 noon while the APF officials have been taking training. The critically injured APF personnel have been identified as head constable Dipesh Kumar Chaudhary and assistant constable Prem Bahadur Thapa. Likewise, other injured have been identified as assistant constables Shovakhar Rijal, Prem Singh Bohara, Dipak Khadka, Hom Rana, Birendra Chand and Prem Ghartimagar. Sanghiya Samajwadi Forum Nepal (SSFN) Chairman Upendra Yadav KATHMANDU, May 22: The Sanghiya Samajwadi Forum Nepal (SSFN) Chairman Upendra Yadav has defended the protest launched by the Federal Alliance of which he is a part, in the Capital, claiming that the protest means to strengthen the national unity. The Federal Alliance comprising Madhes-based political parties and Janajati groups has launched protest in the capital city against some provisions of the new constitution, staging demonstrations on a daily basis. Speaking at the Reporter's Club Nepal in the Capital, Yadav said that the protest aims at addressing aspirations of all communities including Madhesi, indigenous, Janajatis and marganalised groups among others. He said that they have taken to the streets to protest the new constitution, which he claimed was described as incomplete also by former President Dr Ram Baran Yadav and former Prime Ministers Dr Baburam Bhattarai and Sushil Koirala. "The constitution belongs to all Nepalis and it should be rewritten to keep all Nepalis content," he said. On efforts to get their demands met through talks, he said that they were not running away from talks. "It was the Prime Minister himself who disrupted the dialogue," he claimed. Yadav insisted on seeking ways to sort out political problems through political means. RSS Supreme Court (SC) Kathmandu, Nepal: The Supreme Court (SC) the apex court of Nepal, has on Tuesday refused to issue an interim order in the writ petition filed by Canadian national Robert Penner. Following the directives of the Nepal government to leave the country, Canadian national Robert had moved to the Court demanding interim order. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sushila Karki and Justice Devendra Gopal Shrestha issued the verdict stating that since Penner had already left Nepal there was no need to issue an order in the case. After revoking his work visa, the Department of Immigration (DoI) had given him two days to leave Nepal earlier this month. Robert had filed the case claiming that the DoIs decision to revoke his visa was against the provisions of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015, particularly Article 17 and 20. sacw.net - 23 May 2016 What are the traditional freedoms and prerogatives of Kashmiri women in the land of a spiritual luminary like Lalla-Ded? Is there any history of a substantive indigenous or modern feminist movement in Kashmir? Although, traditionally, womenas experiences in situations of state-sponsored violence, armed insurgency, and counterinsurgency, have been negated in narratives of dominant history, the recollection and interpretation of the lived experiences of the women I talked with in conflict torn J & K showcase the nuances of womenas narratives in conflict situations. Will the grievances of such aggrieved and powerless people ever be redressed? Will the violated women of Kashmir ever have the satisfaction of knowing that those who wronged them did not go unpunished? In order to further my research in June 2009, I asked the Director of the Psychiatric Diseases Hospital, Dr. Margoob to allow me to sit in on a couple of his sessions with militancy related trauma patients. Dr. Margoob was magnanimous enough to give me the permission to observe some of these patients carefully. It was heart wrenching to see despondent women with hopelessness entrenched in their atrophied looks and minds. Orphaned, widowed, improvident; socially marginalized and left to their own devices; unsought by those with the means to help; each sigh bespoke a grief that knew no bounds and had no hope of respite. These repositories of communal values and cultural traditions were unable to find a support system in a community that had experienced the trauma of state-formation at its expense. The political turbulence in J & K has taken its toll on such people and has left them stone faced with a stoicism that expects no recompense. Does the state give any thought to the economic and emotional rehabilitation of such people? Dr. Margoob lends a sympathetic ear to his patients; provides them with fatherly care; boosts their morale; is quick to provide them with the necessary medical care; and is doing groundbreaking work in a culture in which people donat mention psychiatric ills without fear of being stigmatized. It was enlightening to see young men and women seeking psychiatric care of their own volition. I was pleasantly surprised to see a peasant from a rural area take his grandson to the child psychologist and beseech his grandson to conceal nothing from the psychologist. But we still have a long way to go in recognizing the dire consequences of trauma brought on by political turmoil, military brutality, and fear psychosis created by such happenings. There are people who do not have recourse to the judicial and administrative machinery. Prabal Mahato found in an independent survey of the Psychiatric Diseases Hospital in Srinagar, conducted in July-August 1999, that Post-traumatic stress disorders increased in 1,700 in 1990 to 17,000 in 1993 and to 30, 000 in 1998 (1999). It is unfortunate that the more unaccountable state-sponsored agencies have become in J & K, the more aloof and gluttonous the bureaucratic, military, and administrative machinery has become. The culture of impunity has grown around India and Pakistan like nobodyas business. Women and children are in a miserable plight because of the lack of not just physical infrastructure but deficit in gynecological, obstetric, welfare, and economically rehabilitative services as well. I met three women patients of Dr. Margoob who were traumatized after the loss of their male heads of the households. Two of the women had been widowed and the third orphaned because of the frenetic violence at the apex of insurgency and counter-insurgency in J & K. Their counseling sessions with Dr. Margoob were enabling them to redefine their life experiences as contributing to the depression and suicidal ideation in their adult lives; work through the discourse of victimhood was developing into the construction of their identities as survivors; working toward accepting their life circumstances and tentatively attempting to redefine them within clear conceptual frameworks (See Susan Warner and Kathryn M. Feltey, aRecovered Memories and Identity Transformationa in aFrom Victim to Survivor: Recovered Memories and Identity Transformationa , in Trauma and Memory, edited by Linda M. Williams and Victoria L. Banyard, 1999: 161-174, for details about traumatized women and identity reconstruction). Do such patients have access to a community perspective, or a reference group, or avenues for rehabilitation? (Shibutani 1961). Women representatives of the then ruling Peopleas Democratic Party (PDP) and those of its ally, the Congress Party, were quick to make visits accompanied by their entourages to isolated villages or towns in which the Indian army has trammeled upon the sensibilities of the female population. The PDP, while in opposition, raised the issue of human rights abuses which, until then, had not been given much credence by the National Conference (NC) government. But they were unable to advocate reforms that were specific to women, and no stringent and timely measures were taken to redress those wrongs. In effect, the Kashmiri woman is constructed as a parchment on which the discourses of religious nationalism, secular nationalism and ethno-nationalism are inscribed, and barbaric acts are justified by the Indian paramilitary forces as means to rein in separatist forces and by militant organizations as means to restore the lost dignity of the awoman.a (Nyla Ali Khan is a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma, and member of Scholars Strategy Network. She is the author of Fiction of Nationality in an Era of Transnationalism, Islam, Women, and Violence in Kashmir, The Life of a Kashmiri Woman, and the editor of The Parchment of Kashmir. She is editor of the Oxford Islamic Studiesa special issue on Jammu and Kashmir.) I give my consent to Sakshi Post to be in touch with me via email for the purpose of event marketing and corporate communications. Privacy Policy Shirley Contreras lives in Orcutt and writes for the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society. She can be contacted at 623-8193 or at shirleycontreras2@yahoo.com. Her book, The Good Years, a selection of stories shes written for the Santa Maria Times since 1991, is on sale at the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society, 616 S. Broadway. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). Are you ready for what lies ahead once you stroll across the graduation stage? Will you be able to steer yourself through the job hunt and, ultimately, your first job? Answer these six questions to find out. Do You Know What You Want? You might think employers will appreciate your "I'm willing to do or learn anything" approach to getting a job. However, most employers interpret that as "I'm desperate" or "I have no focus, so I'm just taking a shot at whatever I stumble across." If you're fuzzy about the type of job you want, now is the time to work with a career counselor at your school. There, you can take a career assessment test, learn how and why informational interviewing can help you gain focus and talk over your specific concerns with someone trained to help you. Do You Have Experience? Employers look for evidence that you've gained experience in your field through internships, co-ops, part-time jobs, full-time jobs or even volunteering. If you haven't picked up this type of experience yet, it's a good bet many of your peers have and will likely have an edge over you in the entry-level job market. But don't despair if you lack experience. You can get it now or after you graduate by doing a postgraduation internship, volunteering or temping. Do You Know Your Chosen Field? Imagine going into an interview and saying, "I love this field and know a lot about it -- that's why I want to get into it myself." The interviewer replies by saying, "Interesting. Tell me what you know." If you've been BSing to that point, you're in trouble. Once you've chosen your field, study it thoroughly so prospective employers know you understand it. Research the field's major players by reading industry publications, visiting industry Web sites, and participating in professional organizations and attending their conferences and seminars. Do You Have a Strong Resume? You may be the best entry-level job candidate the world has ever seen. But if you don't market yourself effectively on your resume and cover letter, no one will ever know. So make your resume the best it can be. Tailor it to each specific job you pursue, watch out for the most common mistakes and be sure the document looks as good as it reads. Learn how you can put together a decent resume, even as a recent graduate. Monster's Resume Center can be an enormous help, as can a campus career counselor, your professors, and present and past work supervisors. Can You Back Up the Claims You Make on Your Resume and in Interviews? Employers have met all kinds of candidates, including some who have flat-out lied about their accomplishments. It's only natural for employers to be a bit skeptical. That's why you have to effectively support any claims you make on your resume or in interviews with specific examples. Better yet, consider putting together and using a career portfolio to prove your past achievements. Are You Prepared for How Odd the Real World Can Be? At times, the real world can be a very strange place because of people's diverse personalities, agendas and work styles. For example, decisions that ought to be made based on tangible information and logic are sometimes based on office politics. And your success on the job (or lack thereof) will depend as much on your people skills as your technical abilities. So be ready to be judged on more than your job-related accomplishments and to judge others on more than theirs. For many, the postgraduate world can be stressful and exciting at the same time. You can minimize your anxiety and maximize your ultimate success by going in with your eyes open and your mind fully prepared for the challenges that await you. SIOUX CITY | Ed Delk, 86, remembered his late wife Barbara used to call him a "lifelong student." "(Barbara) always kidded me about my need to constantly learn new skills," Delk said of his wife, who died May 29, 2015, after more than 63 years of marriage. "But I told her you're never too old to learn." That thirst for knowledge came from Delk's mom -- a college graduate -- as well as his dad -- who left school after the eighth grade. "My dad's education was strictly on a need-to-know basis," Delk said. "Dad was an avid stamp collector. If he saw (Austrian Duke) Leopold IV on a stamp, Dad would learn everything he could on Leopold IV." Yet Delk -- the fifth of nine children born in Weldon, Iowa -- had greater aspirations. Earning a bachelor's degree from Drake University, a law degree from the University of Iowa and an MBA from the University of South Dakota, he practiced corporate law in Sioux City for more than 32 years. Delk subsequently retired as a senior vice president and general counsel for Iowa Public Service/Midwest Energy (now MidAmerican Energy). But he insisted retirement didn't mean you had to retire. Instead, Delk moved to Bella Vista, Arkansas, with his wife. It was there that the "lifelong student" enrolled in writing classes at both the University of Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas Community College. "I went from legal writing and technical writing to more creative writing," said Delk, who moved back to Sioux City a few years ago. "I guess I had plenty to say." Delk isn't wrong. Over the past few years, he's penned seven books and has another about three-quarters of the way done. Some of Delk's books boast intriguing titles like "The Plight of the Common Man: A Life Story in Three Parts," "The Second Time Around" and "The View from the Hilltop." "That last book is a collection of short stories about the customers and staff at a small town restaurant called the Hilltop Cafe," he said. Perhaps Delk's most unusual book is "Tess's Tale," which tells the story of a dog from the point of view of the pet and the owner. Yet his most accessible books are "In the Arms of God: A Testimonial" and "Tales with a Twist," which are available for purchase at Amazon as well as EdDelkAuthor.com. Delk will be signing copies of both books from 1-3 p.m. June 11 at the Wilbur Aalfs Main Library, 529 Pierce St. Wow, seven books is pretty amazing! Plus they're so completely different from each other. That's pretty unusual since many writers pen books in the same genre while you're all over the map, right? "That is right. Perhaps the greatest influence in my writing career is a woman by the name of Ann Gray. Ann is the publisher of (a Northwest Arkansas-based arts and culture magazine called) 2NJoy. I'd submit stories to her and Ann would observe that she never knew what to expect form me. From semi-autobiographical material to material that is strictly fiction, I've written it all." And that includes "In the Arms of God" and "Tales with a Twist," which both seem quite divergent. "I call 'In the Arms of God' a 'testimonial' because it tells how God's intervention can change the course of your life. I think readers will be able to identify with the stories and perhaps find similarities in their own lives." But "Tales with a Twist" seems like just flights of fancy for you. It is because it's fast fiction. The book consists of a series of short stories that can be read at your leisure. The only thing that ties them together is that they all have a twist ending." It looks like you've made a second career out of your writing. Do you think you'll ever really retire? "No, I've seen plenty of people who've retired and lose their purpose in life. My writing gives me purpose and I also enjoy it a lot. If readers get as much of a kick out of my writing as I do, then it's all been worthwhile." SIOUX CITY | Volunteers are needed to become CASA volunteers for children in foster care. During National Foster Care Month in May, the Third District CASA (court appointed special advocate) Program is celebrating by sharing information about services for children in foster care. More than 400,000 are in care throughout the United States, with nearly 6,000 in Iowa. Statistics show that 1 in 4 foster youth will end up in jail; 1 in 5 will develop PTSD; 1 in 5 will experience chronic homelessness; and 2 in 5 will drop out of high school. CASA volunteers are trained community members who speak up in court for abused and neglected children who have been removed from their homes. For more information or to become a CASA volunteer, call Kathy Fritz or Amy Hennies at 712-279-6602. To learn more about the Third District CASA Program, visit CASAIowa.org. PITTSBURGH Two Pittsburgh nonprofits are getting together to break down longtime taboos by collecting and distributing adult incontinence and feminine care products to offer homeless women a chance to live with dignity. A collaboration of Global Links and the 1-year-old group SisterFriend expands on SisterFriends support of women living in homeless shelters or transitional housing programs. The collection drive is not for the usual hats and gloves, shampoos and combs. Now the two groups are calling for sanitary pads, tampons, adult bladder control and incontinence pads, feminine wipes and new bras and panties (with tags attached). Were providing the products to meet the need. We also want to change the stigma. If we change the stigma, more people will donate those items to the shelters, said Tamara Whiting, SisterFriend founder and executive director. Coming out of Whitings experience as a volunteer at the Bethlehem Haven womens shelter in Uptown, SisterFriend packs brown paper bags with a five-day supply of tampons and pads for use by shelter residents. I learned that feminine care products are not donated, Whiting said. Honestly, its not a sexy topic. Its not a donated item. Shelters have limited budgets; they depend on the generosity of people. Without the supplies, women make do, she said. Doing without, for a woman on the street, can mean rags, T-shirts, clothing, paper towels, toilet paper, things we wouldnt consider using, she said, adding that that indignity isnt right, just because some women are underprivileged and homeless. The plan fits the mission of Global Links, which has 27 years of experience collecting surplus medical supplies and sending them around the world where there is need. Global Links will collect the supplies and SisterFriend will distribute them through its network of partnering agencies, including Bethlehem Haven, Light of Life Rescue Mission, Operation Safety Net and Shepherds Heart Ministries & Fellowship. Women helped by the agencies may be eligible for assistance for food through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. But the pads and tampons are not eligible for SNAP purchases and insurance doesnt cover their cost. Angela Garcia, deputy director of Global Links, said the group welcomes partnering with SisterFriend. Her group had started a project over a year ago to distribute adult incontinence items to Operation Safety Net, which serves homeless people. Incontinence holds a stigma, but its a side effect associated with childbirth and aging, Garcia said. Its health and independence. If you dont have them, you cant be part of daily life. In the coming year, Whiting, who is employed as national sales director at VisitPittsburgh, plans to work with school-age girls, who might not be able to afford menstruation products, and incarcerated women, who dont always have the products they need. We plan to do advocacy on behalf of the women, Whiting said, make our government officials aware make sure our girls have access to free feminine products, have access to free pads and tampons. KANSAS CITY, Kan. | Laura Drescher, an engineer by trade, married into a family of child welfare workers. Husband, mother-in-law, sister-in-law. So Drescher heard lots of shop talk at the dinner table. But all of it in the abstract. Pass the potatoes. Then Drescher met Aubri Thompson and all that talk came to life in a girl whose mother and two brothers had died and who had lived in she thinks 21 foster homes and attended 13 high schools, never long enough to make lasting friends. I didnt have anybody, not really, Aubri said. When she finally got together with Drescher and her husband, Bryan, through a mentoring program, they changed one anothers lives. And maybe lives well down the road. From aging out of the foster system, being unprepared for life on her own and feeling pretty much alone, Aubri found new hope in Laura and Bryan. They took her to a family Christmas gathering she even got the traditional new pajamas. Laura, a civil and environmental engineer at Burns & McDonnell, and Bryan will soon move into an old building in Kansas City, Kansas, that used to be a convent. Eight boys in foster care will live downstairs, and eight girls upstairs. The Dreschers, who have no children, will live in the middle. The place is in the 3500 block of Wood Avenue. Big white building with a bright blue door. Thus, the Blue Door Project, a new group home and shelter started by the couple and others in Bryans family to help foster kids, particularly the older ones facing the same problems as Aubri, who now works and attends college. The color blue, according to the flier, symbolizes strength, freedom and new beginnings. Aubri was my catalyst for all this, said Laura, who will keep her engineering job. But this family was meant to do this. Carla Drescher, Bryans mother and the former director of behavioral health for Kansas, will serve as executive director. Her husband, Phil, said of Laura: Shes an engineer, but she has a social workers heart. They sucked me in, a smiling Laura, 28, said of her husbands family. Then she turned serious and started rattling off statistics like the ones she used to hear at the dinner table: Half of foster kids age out without getting a high school diploma. Many will be homeless at some point. Aubri, now 20, is too old for Blue Door, but she showed up on a recent Sunday to help get the place ready for an open house. Laura wanted her to paint the door blue. Of Laura and Bryan, Aubri said: Most of my life I was a case number; that I didnt matter. They showed me I do matter. CAMPUS NEWS Siouxland native gives Wayne address WAYNE, Nebraska | Donald E. Short III of Sioux City, delivered the graduate commencement address at Wayne State College on May 7. He is the son of Jennifer Lockwood of Cherokee, Iowa, and Larry and Kim Hamman of Moville, Iowa. Short is married to Brian Hamman. Short is a fifth-grade teacher at Liberty Elementary School in the Sioux City Community School District. Short also serves as director, music director, and choreographer for LAMB Arts Regional Theatre in Sioux City, where he also teaches dance and music. WITCC students win awards SIOUX CITY | Six Western Iowa Tech Community College graphic design students won seven of 15 awards from the Iowa Community College Advertising + Design Invitational (ICCADI). The ICCADI design competition recognizes and celebrates original design created by student enrolled in graphic design programs at Iowa community colleges all across the state. WITCC winners include: Dakota Martin, Andy Meza, Joel Nobis, Nate Urban, Amanda Schorg, and Jaimie Strong. Student receives Roth scholarship SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Nebraska | Jesus Jimenez, South Sioux City, Nebraska, has been awarded a Regina Roth College Center scholarship valued at $1,000 to continue his education with Wayne State College at the College Center in South Sioux City, Nebraska. Jimenez will complete his associate degree from Northeast Community College at the College Center this summer. Jimenez is majoring in business administration and plans to complete his bachelor's degree from Wayne State in 2018. He is an active member of the Enactus Club at the College Center, serving as secretary and project leader for the Jump Start Market this past year. Alumnus of the year SHELDON, Iowa | The recipient of the Northwestern Iowa Community College 2016 Alumnus of the Year award is Art Van Bruggen of Boyden, Iowa. He was a welding graduate in Northwestern's first graduating class in 1966. Although Art didn't work as a welder for the majority of his professional life, he still uses his welding skills around his tree farm and on his most recent mission trip to Haiti. St. John's graduate COLLEGEVILLE, Minnesota | Elliot Keane, son of Kathryn Keane of Sioux City, received a bachelor of arts degre in global business leadership at Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, on May 8. NICC students win contest SHELDON, Iowa | The team from Northwest Iowa Community College won the Fluke Connect Student Contest, which tested the skills, innovation, and business application of student teams enrolled in two and four year academic programs. The team members are, Tory Schmidt, West Bend, Iowa; Joel Groeneweg, Orange City, Iowa; Eric Bernier, Hartley, Iowa; Taylor Kruse, Little Rock, Iowa; and Blake Odle, Wapello, Iowa. ESSAY CONTEST Sixth-graders win awards SIOUX CITY | Two Siouxland sixth-grade students received awards from the Iowa Elks Association for their Americanism essays on "The Flag- what it means to me." Erika Munchrath of Blessed Sacrament in Sioux City received first place in the girls competition and Sam Philips of Akron-Westfield in Akron received first place in the boys competition through Sioux City Elks Lodge #112. Their essays then took first place out of 729 essays in the Northwest Iowa district. The the state contest, Munchrath received fourth place, while Philips won first place. NAVY CRUISE Area native takes part in training AMES, Iowa | Michael Tallon, a native of Mondamin, Iowa, and Iowa State University Naval Reserve Officers Training Corp (NROTC) midshipman, will participate in annual training this summer at the Marine Corps bases at Camp Pendleton, California, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He is the son of David and Susan Tallon of Mondamin, Iowa. DAKOTA DUNES | A discrepancy of floodplain maps between Union County and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has caused officials to ask FEMA to review its data. There was an area in Dakota Dunes that FEMA thinks is in the floodplain, but we do not, said Dennis Henze, zoning director for Union County. The county recently submitted a flood study to FEMA, which has 90 days to either accept the changes, reject them or ask for more information to be provided. I assume theyll either accept or deny it, Henze said. Jeff Dooley, district manager with the Dakota Dunes Community Improvement District, said the Dunes is working with the county to file the letter of map revision to help straighten things out. The area in question is near Royal Troon and Murfield Court, and includes about 20 homes. Its the fourth addition area, Dooley said. Henze said he doubted the discrepancy would negatively impact development in the planned community. Some of Dakota Dunes is in a flood plain. Its just this area there is an issue with the maps, he said. Properties in a designated flood zone are required to have flood insurance if they have a federally backed mortgage, Dooley said. Higher risk levels in flood-prone areas usually come with higher premiums. In late May 2011, more than 400 homes in the Dakota Dunes Country Club neighborhood, which borders the Missouri River, had to be evacuated after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released record amounts of water from upstream reservoirs. The unprecedented flooding lasted throughout the summer, as water seeping into the basements of an estimated 40 percent of the communitys 1,000 homes. SIOUX CITY | Business owners along Morningside Avenue aren't overly excited about losing street parking for nearly six months, but they say they'll make the best of the situation. On Monday, the city begins a $1.8 million reconstruction of the avenue between South Royce and South Nicolette streets to replace some of the city's oldest underground utilities. Barbara Hinrichs, owner of Barbara's Florals and Gifts, 4101 Morningside Ave., said losing street parking will mean a longer walk for her customers, but she'll manage. "It won't affect us to the degree of some other businesses," Hinrichs said. "It'll certainly slow down our indoor traffic and our deliveries." The city awarded a $1.85 million contract to Sergeant Bluff-based Lessard Contracting Inc., for the three-phase reconstruction project, which is projected for a Nov. 8 finish. The stretch, about a fifth of a mile, begins at the strip mall on the corner of Morningside Avenue and South Royce Street and continues west, ending at Faith United United Presbyterian Church. During the week, the four-lane street will be reduced to two lanes while city workers install new sidewalks, driveway space, lighting and a water main. The work likely will snarl traffic at times on the busy thoroughfare, particularly during peak early morning and late afternoon commuting times. Hinrichs said there is off-street parking for businesses in a lot behind the strip mall just south of Morningside Avenue and Patterson Street. Justin Pottorff, a city civil engineer, said the new utilities will replace two aging water mains, one installed in 1912 and the other in 1934. "It's served its life," Pottorff said. "It's time for it to be replaced." Other work includes changes to a steep sidewalk slope that is currently not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Pottorff said the segment of Morningside Avenue will reopen to four lanes in mid-October. He added street parking will return during phase three. The effort is part of the city's continued focus to replace aging infrastructures in the Morningside neighborhood. In 2008, the city paid $2 million to reconstruct parts of Transit Avenue, which included new utilities and sidewalks. David Bahmer, owner of David's Watch Repair, said he was glad Sioux City continues to replace outdated infrastructures in the neighborhood. "We're going to remain open, and we'll work through it," Bahmer said. "We're happy they're putting money into our neighborhood." Neither Hinrichs nor Bahmer had concerns whether the project will be completed on time. In 2015, the reconstruction of Glenn Avenue was delayed by three months, which drew criticism from area residents. In the future, Pottorff said the city plans to redo roads near South Lakeport Street, which is southeast of the Morningside Avenue reconstruction. A grant of $300,000 from the Vision Iowa program appears to be the final big boost necessary for construction to begin on long-discussed Cone Park. The state award, announced on May 11, is contingent on the city of Sioux City raising some $17,000 in additional funds from other sources within 90 days. Because this community enjoys an abundance of civic spirit, we share the city's confidence the goal will be reached. If you wish to help push the project to the finish line by making a donation, visit coneparksiouxcity.com. Donations of $1,000 or more will be recognized on a donor wall inside a planned park lodge. The hoped-for timeline is to begin construction this summer and open the new park by the end of next year. The cost to open Cone Park is $4 million. As we have said before, we support the plan for Cone Park because we respect the diligent process of study undertaken by the city and its Cone Park Design and Construction Advisory Committee and because the largely winter-themed park strikes us as a wonderful, unique addition to our community. Planned amenities at the park, which will be constructed on 10 acres of city land near the IBP Ice Center and Lewis and Clark Park, include the lodge, tubing hill, ice-skating pond (this will be converted to a splash pad during summer months) and snow-making equipment. A trail will connect Cone Park to Sertoma Park. We asked Matt Salvatore, the city's parks and recreation director, about the potential for additional Cone Park amenities in the future. "There is the potential to add a bunny ski hill and terrain park, or snow boarding hill, to the winter attractions," he said. "With 10 acres of open space, there is also potential to develop other park features for the spring/summer/fall. They just have not been identified at this point. We are focusing on getting the park opened right now and future plans may develop depending on the success of the park and availability of funds." Because quality of life speaks in direct fashion to economic growth, this is a key moment in local history as progress continues on multiple projects, including expansion of our local trail system and the future of our riverfront. Like those improvements, we believe Cone Park will make a significant positive impact not only on Sioux City, but on our entire tri-state metro region. Thirty-five years after Ruth Cone's death and 10 years after her gift of money was released to the city of Sioux City (Cone bequeathed $200,000; as a result of investment, the gift has grown to more than $2.5 million), her vision of a new park appears on the verge of reality. As it begins to take shape this summer (and we believe it will), we as a community should remember to give thanks for Cone's vision, generosity and civic spirit. DES MOINES | The process of uniting Iowa Republicans in support of Donald Trump, the partys presumptive presidential nominee, is proceeding -- perhaps even ahead of schedule -- according to some of the Iowans who will represent their party at the national convention in two months. But work remains to get more Iowa Republicans aboard the Trump train, those representatives also cautioned. Unity was the rallying cry of party officials and office-holders during Saturdays state convention at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Those leaders urged Iowa Republicans to rally around Trump, whose unconventional campaign has generated historic support from GOP primary election voters but also has upset many people, including Republicans. Some of the Iowa Republicans who have been chosen to represent the party at the national convention in Cleveland said Saturday that they believe that unification process is under way and surpassing their expectations, and that many GOP voters will vote for Trump if for no other reason than to defeat presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. But others cautioned there remain many Republican voters turned off by Trump. Theres still a lot of work. My father has voted Republican for 52 years, and hes not (voting for Trump), said Amy Christen, a national delegate from Davenport. Christen, who said she supported Jeb Bush in the Iowa caucuses, said she also is undecided as to whether she will vote for Trump in November. Right now, I dont know, she said. I want to say yes because of the idea of Hillary in there. But to be honest, I dont know. Adam Motzko, from Sioux City, is one of the many national delegates who supported victorious Ted Cruz during the Iowa caucuses. Motzko said he believes Republicans are not as divided as some may think. From a political commentators perspective, they really expected this huge divide to be everlasting in the party, and theres certainly differences in different factions in the party, Motzko said. But based on the conversations Ive had here today and the speeches weve listened to, I think that the unification effort is going full-speed ahead and its probably happening more successfully than anyone would have expected. Marlys Popma, a national delegate from Kellogg, said she doesnt know what to expect at the national convention, but that she believes Democrats have a bigger challenge uniting their party than Republicans. While Clinton is close to shoring up the Democrats nomination, Bernie Sanders has made the race very competitive and, like Trump, has many supporters who are new to the presidential nominating process. They can talk all day long about rifts in the Republican side, but that rift on the Democrats side is way more hefty than the rift in the Republican side, Popma said. Theyre going to have a bigger battle than we are. Steve Scheffler, who was re-elected as the state partys national committeeman and has attended every Republican national convention since 1988, said he will spend the coming months talking to GOP voters who are hesitant to support Trump with hopes of convincing them to vote to put a Republican in the White House and keep Clinton out. Trump may not be the first choice of a lot of people, but hes a thousand times better than (Clinton), Scheffler said. One of my desires is to make sure that were unified because the alternative is Hillary Clinton, and in my estimation that would be the worst thing that could happen to this country. Theres a lot at stake. DES MOINES | Iowa Republicans worked Saturday to salve the bruises of the bare-knuckle fight for the party's presidential nomination by rallying around a unifying cry of "Never Hillary" heading to the 2016 campaign. The 1,555 delegates who attended the GOP state convention cheered their elected officials and selected party members to represent them at the July national convention. Many of the delegates had supported Ted Cruz, but now plan to support Donald Trump as the party's presumptive presidential standard-bearer. "It's going to take us all working together as a united party in November so Hillary Clinton never sets a foot in the White House," Gov. Terry Branstad told the delegates from Iowa's 99 counties who packed the Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. "We need to support Donald Trump and his choice for vice president because he will make America great again," added the six-term governor who called Clinton the "ultimate political insider" who would carry on the failed liberal policies of the Obama administration. U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, a Red Oak Republican who has been mentioned as a possible Trump running mate, said she sensed her party members are excited and energized over the prospects of taking back the White House, re-electing U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and scoring victories up and down the 2016 ticket. She said it is critical the party rally now toward a common goal after a divisive nominating battle. "I have heard a number of folks say, 'I will not support this candidate; I will not support that candidate; never this person; never that person,'" Ernst said during her convention address. "But I tell you what, folks. We've got to come together, because you know what my motto is going to be this year? Never Hillary. Never." U.S. Rep. Steve King, a Kiron Republican who supported Cruz for president, was one of the Republicans who acknowledged a divide in the party, telling the assemblage he is working with the Trump people in hopes of convincing the likely GOP presidential candidate to embrace stances important to constitutional conservatives. "I'm concerned and we're working in the direction to restore the influence and expand the influence of the constitutional conservatives. This is a constitutional conservative party," said King, who told reporters he is "feeling good about our party" and hoped to "iron out" difference by the time Republicans hold their national convention in Cleveland in July. Tamara Scott, who was re-elected Saturday along with Steve Scheffler as GOP national committee members, said the differences "may be a little intense among our own" but she stressed that the party is "not in a civil war" as it approaches a "fierce battle" with Democrats in the general election. Grassley touted a "new direction" in his convention appearance where he was greeted with a standing ovation for his fight to block President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. He said Americans can't afford four more years of excessive federal taxation, regulation and spending "and that's what they're going to get if Hillary's elected." Grassley said he expects a tough re-election campaign in which, "I'm going to have millions of dollars in negative money spent on me." That is going to force him to "produce more resources" and work harder, wiser and smarter. "I'm going to be running my own campaign," Grassley said in an interview. "I'm not going to be running from Trump. I'm going to be agreeing with Trump sometimes, I'm going to be disagreeing sometimes and that's just the way that our constitutional system was to operate." Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, called Saturday's event "another step toward unity" in a process that is unfolding in stages. "We're never going to have 100 percent unity," said Kaufmann. "We didn't have unity for Ronald Reagan in 1980 -- that was a long, long process as well. We are a lot further ahead than I thought we would be at this point and I will guarantee you we are a heck of a lot further ahead than the lady under federal investigation and the socialist. They're going to have mud-wrestling here at the Democratic convention." One Democrat, Tom Hill, 68, a retired ironworker from Cedar Rapids who said he previously had attended 11 Democratic state conventions and supported Bill and Hillary Clinton, said he switched parties to support Trump but was disappointed by the GOP process which approved a slate of 15 Republicans to the national convention - many who backed Cruz in the Iowa caucuses - that he felt snubbed the Trump delegates. "I wanted to make sure that Trump got a delegate. I'm here today really irritated about this," Hill told reporters. "They snow-stormed this whole thing all the way through. They didn't give Trump his fair share of delegates. They shafted him." But Tana Goertz, a Trump senior adviser in Iowa, said she supported the "unity slate" that was approved at Saturday's proceedings, noting that a majority "have already come over and are Trump supporters" so it will not be a contested convention in Cleveland as previously thought. "Cruz is out. That party's over," Goertz said. "They can vote for Donald Trump or they can vote for Hillary Clinton, and everybody in here wants to vote for Donald Trump." Iowa GOP rules stipulate the 30 delegates at the national convention must vote based on the outcome of the Iowa caucuses, meaning that Cruz will get eight delegate votes, Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio each will get seven votes, fourth-place finisher Ben Carson will get three and Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul and John Kasich each will get one delegate vote from Iowa. Local businesses need better online presence and must improve local marketing campaigns in order to succeed in their communities, a new survey says. Sixty-two percent of consumers say that small businesses arent doing enough to maintain their digital profiles with prices and availability having been cited as the two most common reasons individuals shy away from supporting local businesses. Survey Says: Local Businesses Need Better Online Presence According to researchers at consumer insights company Toluna, 70 percent of consumers claim to be worried about the challenges that small businesses face whilst competing against large, multinational retailers. Approximately the same number of respondents said they believed the U.S. Government should do more in order to level that playing field. Yet, despite this show of support, many of Tolunas 770 survey participants admitted their buying habits werent necessarily compatible with the offerings of their own locally-run businesses. Around one-third of respondents said they typically spent less than $25 per week at a small business, while 15 percent of those surveyed didnt even know whether they could quantify their weekly local spend. When consumers do choose to support small businesses in their area, researchers found the top reason cited was a desire to support local vendors. One in five surveyed added that convenience of location pushed them to shop local. In terms of bolstering support, consumers said that small businesses should do more to cater to their local communities with 40 percent of individuals suggesting that bespoke products designed specifically for area consumers would convince more shoppers to stay local. Pressed on which remaining presidential candidate offered the best policies with which to help small businesses achieve these goals, consumers appeared to be evenly split. Democratic opponents Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders tied at 22 percent, with presumed GOP nominee Donald Trump following closely at 21 percent. Business owners appear to feel somewhat different than consumers where politics are concerned. In a recent OnDeck survey of 531 small business owners, 37 percent of respondents argued that Trump would best represent the interests of small business. Sanders came in second with 28 percent, while Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton finished in third with just 16 percent. Yet its worth pointing out that same study revealed over one-third of small business owners say they are unhappy with all three remaining candidates and are looking for both parties to do more to address economic growth, tax policy and healthcare costs. A similar poll conducted by the National Small Business Association (NSBA) found that 40 percent of business owners feel that conventional politicians dont understand them or follow through on campaign promises. 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 Brussels (Belgium), May 20, 2016 (SPS) - The European Union (EU) expressed Thursday, its support to the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), underlining the importance of its mandate to reach a solution in accordance with international law. The EU supports the MINURSO and its important mandate, wrote the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security policy, Federica Mogherini in her response on behalf of the European Commission, to the question of Spanish Eurodeputy Paloma Lopezs question on the expulsion of the MINURSOs civilian component, underlining that the EU broached this issue as part of its political dialogue with Morocco. The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs reiterated, in this regard, the support of the EU to the efforts made by the United Nations Secretary General to reach a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that allows the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, as part of arrangements that comply with the goals and principles of the United Nations charter. Mogherini hailed the efforts made by the Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General to Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, noting that the UN Security Council remains seized with the issue. The European Union hails the efforts made by Christopher Ross, the Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General, wrote Mogherini in her response to the question of Eurodeputy, Hugues Bayet. (SPS) 062/090/700 Rhodes (Greece), 20 May 2016 (SPS) - The Department of Mediterranean Studies of the University of Aegean organised the seventh Mare Nostrum Conference on the island of Rhodes, Greece, on 18-20 May 2016, under the title Wider Middle East and North Africa: War, Refugees, Civilisation. During the conference, Ms Paraskevi Maragou delivered a paper titled Western Sahara today in which she presented an introduction on the history of the region as a Non Self-Governing Territory and the struggle of its people for self-determination. The paper also approached the recent developments and the positions of the main international actors. It is an open case, already more than 40 years old. It has two additional features that one would expect to constantly keep it in the centre of the international attention. It belongs to the Arab world and is also the last colony in Africa emphasised Ms Maragou in her paper, adding that in a world of contradictions and hypocrisy, the case of Western Sahara conquers new records on every occasion. In her comment on Moroccos participation in the Mediterranean dialogue, Ms Maragou made it clear that Moroccos illegal, military occupation of Western Sahara and its continuous abuses of human rights of the Sahrawi people do not entitle it to be party to any kind of partnership with the Mediterranean Europe. Besides, she added, Morocco is an absolute monarchy, where the king remains the absolute master of all powers. His continuous intransigence on the Western Sahara issue creates the conditions for an uncontrolled explosion. It should be recalled that Mare Nostrum Conference was organised with the support of the Centre for Studies of the Mediterranean and Middle East Politics and Culture and had the participation of more than 250 speakers and more than 1000 participants. (SPS) 062/090 MOSCOW (Sputnik) Midnimo news website reported Saturday that the militant was killed as a result of joint operation of Somalia's army and the African Union. The media outlet added that one more senior al-Shabaab militant was captured during the operation. Somalia has been mired in an armed conflict with Islamist militants for two decades. Its government relies heavily on the African Unions peacekeepers for protection. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Libyan authorities have requested EU assistance in the training of employees of the Coast Guard and the country's naval forces, according to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini's statement published Sunday. "The Libyan Prime Minister [Fayez] Serraj has written to request rapid EU support contributing to the training of the Libyan Navy and Coast Guard, as well as the security service," the statement read. According to Mogherini, the move of the Libyan authorities is an "important development" that is due to be discussed on Monday during a meeting of the European Council on foreign affairs in order to fulfil all necessary measures to support the Libyan population as soon as possible. The area of the holiday complex Bocharov Ruchey (Bocharov Creek) reaches dozens of hectares. Its main building is situated on a hill with a wonderful view of the sea. However, the building itself doesn't look like a typical seaside villa. The two-story house with large windows and high ceilings is rather modest and simple. When Dmitry Medvedev became president he held official meetings in the so-called guest cottage, a cozy two-story house located a few hundreds away from the main building. Medvedev welcomed Russian officials on the second floor, while meetings with foreign visitors took place on the ground floor, in the room with a fireplace and a panoramic view to the sea. Usually, it took Medvedev a couple of minutes to get from the main residence to the guest house and other parts of the complex, including the press center, as he used his electric car. Journalists, however, had it much harder. The press center was a few hundred meters above the cottages and journalists had to climb up and down the hill several times a day, sometimes dictating text on the phone or typing it on iPads at the same time. When Putin was elected to a third term, he decided to build a new government dacha and called it simply Bocharov Creek-2. The new building looks similar to the old one, but is said to be more functional. All objects are now concentrated in one place, including a large press center, a hall for briefings, and a room for business and official meetings. There is also Wi-Fi all throughout the new residence, a wardrobe for clothes and a cafe on the first floor. As for other facilities and buildings on the vast territory of residence, only its inhabitants know exactly what it has to offer. According to reports, the list includes, among others, two pools with fresh and sea water, a gym near the sea, a quay for the presidential boat and a helipad. The new product is called Gyeondyo, which can be translated as "Tough it out" or "Hang on". Company officials explained that the message is addressed to Korean office workers who often have to endure a long day at work after a night of heavy drinking. In South Korea, it is hard for an employee to excuse himself from drinking in the evening with colleagues, especially superiors. Regular staff parties are a part of the country's business culture. Workers often feel pressured to drink even if they don't like alcohol so as not to be frowned upon. The ice cream is supposed to help such workers cope with the consequences of their attempts to fit in. The grapefruit ice-cream contains oriental raisin tree fruit juice a popular anti-hangover treatment in South Korea, Reuters reported. South Korea tops the Asia-Pacific rating of countries regarding the consumption of alcohol. According to a 2014 World Health Organization report, individual South Koreans drink 12.3 liters of alcohol per year. The total annual sales of anti-hangover medicine in the country is nearly $126 million. ##### Megan Park (@megan_408) 21 2016 6:09 PDT Alcohol creates a huge industry of other products in South Korea, including special beauty care products for women, aimed at softening skin that gets dry because of drinking. On another note, ice cream seems to be getting a lot of attention all over East Asia. In April, a Japanese firm, Akagi Nyugyo Co. Ltd, released a video in which staff apologized for raising prices of the company's ice cream for the first time since 1991. The video went viral, collecting millions of views. Akagi Nyugyo produced ice cream has unusual tastes, such as potato, spaghetti or soup. According to the People's Daily, money allocated by the ADBC are expected to fund education, infrastructure construction in the rural areas, resettlement programs, support corn farming and tourism. The newspaper added that the proposed measures could improve the wealth status of the poorest citizens of China. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The United States allegedly killed Mullah Mansour on the Pakistani side of the border in an airstrike on Saturday, US officials said. #Afghan CEO Abdullah address nation says if reports of Mullah Mansour's death are true big changes will come to #Taliban leadership TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) 22 2016 . His death would be "a big blow to the insurgent group", Abdullah said as quoted by TOLO News. Abdullah added, as cited by the Al Arabiya network, that Mansour was "likely" killed in the airstrike southwest of the remote Pakistani town of Ahmad Wal. MOSCOW (Sputnik) It remains unclear whether Sharif, as well as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, was informed ahead of or after the strike. Ghani's office confirmed in a statement Sunday that the United States carried out a drone strike targeting Mansour, adding that it would provide further details if his death was confirmed. Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah speculated earlier that the Taliban leader's purported death would lead to "big changes" in its leadership. US officials and the Pentagon said a drone strike targeting Mullah Mansours vehicle killed the Taliban leader near the remote southwestern Pakistani town of Ahmwad Wal along the Afghan border on Saturday. A total of over 1.65 million officials have been punished in the first quarter of this year. The CCDI was created to fight corruption and other abuses within the ranks of the CPC. The watchdog conducts internal investigations before deciding whether to hand the case over to the judicial authorities. Russia, for its part, has been playing an increasingly active role in Asia-Pacific affairs. During informal talks with Japan on May 9 President Putin and Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed the four Kuril islands and other territorial issues. On April 18 the foreign ministers of Russia and India discussed a raft of regional problems during a meeting in Moscow. "Russia and South Korea have agreed to work closely together in dealing with emergency situations and are also going to step up cooperation against terrorism," The Peoples Daily wrote. Looking for a breakthrough Faced with NATOs continuing expansion eastwards, Russia is looking for a way out of the European dead end and new allies. Hit by the Western economic sanctions, falling oil prices and a stuttering economic situation at home, Russia needs a strategic breakthrough, Professor Gao Fei from the Diplomatic Academy in Beijing, told the newspaper. In the wake of crisis in Ukraine, Russia is looking for closer cooperation with the Asia-Pacific countries which are becoming a new political and economic center, Professor Gao noted, adding that Moscows friendly relations with the Asia-Pacific nations would eventually serve as a means of containing the US. The well-balanced foreign policy pursued by the Asia-Pacific countries and their refusal to join the Western sanctions against Russia offers Moscow a way out of the current situation, Gao Fei emphasized. A bumpy road east According to Su Xiaohuei deputy head of the Institute of International Strategy, a Beijing-based think tank, Russias current pivot to Asia could prove fairly long-lived. Russia had long been focusing its attention on the West, which means that relations with Western countries suit Russias interests better and I dont think that within the next five years Russia will find it easy shifting its attention eastwards, Dr. Su said. Moreover, Russias road east could prove a bumpy one as it will have to compete with the US for influence in key parts of Asia and the Pacific, especially where it comes to arms exports, The Peoples Daily wrote, citing Japans Kyodo News agency. "With the perfect right to collective self-defense, we should debate whether our troops can completely cover the needs of our own country," Matsui told reporters. "If we possess weapons, the ultimate weapon will become necessary." In 2011, Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara urged Japanese authorities to develop nuclear weapons. "Pro-nuclear weapons sentiment in Japan remains mostly on the far right, to be sure," Crowley explained. "But the same conversation is brewing in South Korea, where a 2013 poll found that two-thirds of the country supports developing nukes in response to its bellicose northern neighbor." Should Washington's two key allies in the region decide to explore this option, the move could spark a nuclear arms race in Asia, offering a disturbing vision of what the analyst referred to as a "dangerous atomic future." It is against this backdrop that US President Barack Obama, who has long advocated denuclearization efforts in the world, will visit Hiroshima on May 27. Russia introduced an embargo on food imports from a number of EU countries in response to the economic sanctions imposed by the West amid Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis. The measure had drastic consequences for the European economy, with prices of several European agricultural products noticeably falling after the introduction of the embargo, German farmer Ludwig Borger said in an interview with the newspaper. "In 2013-2014 we had milk production prices in Germany, which exceeded the level of 40 cents. The highest price was about 41.2 cents," Borger said. "Now we are at a level of 23 cents. This is of course not only because of the Russian embargo, but it [the embargo] is an important factor," he added. Today this agreement has been transferred to a practical level. The number of direct flights and the route they will take was discussed by a spokesperson for the airline Siberia (S7 Airlines), Anna Bazhina, in an interview with Sputnik. Indeed, we have been assigned to 4 routes, Moscow Tehran, Moscow Isfahan, Moscow Mashhad, St. Petersburg Tehran. S7 Airline chose this particular route as it sees a potential in this. The frequency of flights and opening dates are unknown so far, as we have just received the information and our colleagues are at a preparatory stage, Bazhina said. All the S7 flights are carried out on modern aircraft by the world's leading manufacturers Airbus and Boeing. Which of these two models of aircraft are going to be used for flights to Iran has not been determined yet, Bazhina said. Currently, Russian airline Aeroflot flies to Tehran four times a week, while Iran Air flies only once a week. According to the summer schedule of 2016 a charter Iranian airline, Mahan Air, is set to start flights to Sochi. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) US President Barack Obama said in a memorandum last week that the United States would no longer pursue efforts to reduce Iran's sales of crude oil because Tehran had met its commitments under the nuclear agreement as stipulated in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Obama also said in his memorandum that the United States had sufficient oil supplies from other countries, which could allow Washington to significantly reduce petroleum import from Iran. "The US action might allow Iran to export significantly more oil, but the consequences for the world price are likely to be relatively small, since Irans output is a small fraction of the world market," Brown University Professor Jeff Colgan told Sputnik. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Die Welt newspaper reported, citing the information from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) that the number of people, capable of conducting an attack was estimated at 497, while in 2015 the BKA had classified as potential terrorists only 270 people. At the same time, the number of terrorist sympathizers, who could assist in the attacks was estimated at 339 people, the newspaper added. Countries across the globe have been boosting their security measures following a series of terrorist attacks, including the downing of a Russian airliner in the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, 2015, attacks on Beirut on November 12, 2015 and on Brussels on March 22. Militants affiliated with the Islamic State terror group, outlawed in Russia and many other countries, claimed responsibility for all these violent attacks. Germany will also fall short of meeting NATOs target of ramping defense budgets up to 2 percent of GDP, which was agreed on during the Wales summit in 2014. Starting from 2018 the share of our defense spending relative to the GDP will again be down to the 2014 level, the document said. Overall, the 2017 defense budget is slated to increase by 1.7 billion euros, but a promised pay raise to servicemen will eat up most of the allotted funds. According to the authors of the countrys 2017 budget the mid-term deficit is expected to reach a hefty 7 billion euros. Meanwhile, according to German defense planners estimates, the Bundeswehr will need 3.6 billion euros to implement the military reforms slated for next year. Ursula von der Leyen has already managed to obtain government approval to raise the countrys defense spending before 2020 to 39.2 billion euros from 34.3 now. However, the planned hike requires the consent of the Bundestag. Unlike Denmark and Sweden, Norway is not an EU member. Petter Stordalen did not say if the united Scandinavian state would opt out of the European Union, but his idea has received enthusiastic kudos from many social network users who said they would vote for it in a referendum. Not everyone was happy about the idea though. Some advised the billionaire to start with giving a raise to his workers before talking about a united Scandinavia. Others compared him to the eccentric US billionaire and wannabe president Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again! slogan. Petter Stordalens Choice Hotels Group is a massive business, with a recent hotel opening in Swedens Gothenburg and the purchase of the famous Avalon hotel. When asked if he planned to open new hotels across Sweden, Stordalen said: You can take my word for it. NATO claims the right to be militarily active throughout the world "in order to defend the US and the EU," DWN wrote, referring to a statement of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. "In addition to its expansion activities in the Middle East and the Gulf States, this also includes the expansion in Eastern Europe," the article said. On Thursday, foreign ministers of 28 NATO countries signed a protocol on Montenegro's admission to NATO. So far, Montenegro has been granted only an observer status, but once ratification is completed, the country will become the 29th member of the military alliance. According to the magazine, inspection groups identified shortcomings in the Airbus plants in northern Germany and in 2013 informed the ministry about the violations. The plants reportedly produced defective fuselage details which got covered with cracks during their exploitation. In particular, the report referred to "intolerable working conditions" in the plants and frequent strikes. However, the Bundeswehr has not solved the problem, but rather "urged" the inspection body to weaken its control, the documents revealed. Meanwhile, the German Ministry of Defense said that the shortcomings in the production have been identified and partially resolved. Airbus representatives, for their turn, stated that the problematic parts of the aircraft weren't produced in factories in the north of Germany. PARIS (Sputnik) The official reminded that the terror threat level in the country remained very high. "France, without doubt.. is the number one target for Daesh," Manuel Valls said during his visit to Israel, as broadcast by the BFMTV channel. Greek lawmakers adopted a package of austerity measures, worth1.8 billion (some $2 billion at the current exchange rates), the Ekathimerini newspaper reported on Sunday The newspaper added that the measures also included the creation of framework for a new privatization fund. MOSCOW (Sputnik) On Saturday, the Chileans took to the streets of Valparaiso, protesting against economic downfall and corruption in the country. During the protests, the demonstrators threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at police officers. The Terra Networks broadcaster reported Saturday that Molotov cocktails caused fires in several buildings of the city and resulted in death of a 71-year-old municipal guard. Local authorities condemned violence and expressed condolences to a family of the victim, the broadcaster added. UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) On Saturday, Hadi held a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani. The sides discussed a number of issues related to the Yemeni crisis, including the ongoing settlement talks as well as Tuesday decision of Yemeni government to leave the negotiations. "The President of Yemen confirmed that he will send the Governments delegation back to the talks as requested by His Highness the Amir of State of Qatar and the Secretary-General," the statement published on Saturday said. Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the government headed by Hadi and Houthi rebels, the countrys main opposition force. The Houthis are backed by army units loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. MOSCOW (Sputnik) UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the parties to the Syrian civil war should start discussions of the transition to settle the conflict. "We need a full and immediate cessation of hostilities [in Syria]. Just as important, we need to begin discussions on the transition. I fear that without such a political horizon, a further escalation is all too likely," Ban said at the Doha Forum on Saturday. Ban added that he called all "regional and international actors" to influence on the parties to the Syrian conflict to make them negotiate on "transitional arrangements." The problem is, they dont know how to open it. Located on the banks of the coastal city of Al Bayda, the vault is over 1,000 kilometers away from the people that have the key code for the safes door in Tripoli. Those people, however, belong to a separate self-declared government. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) US President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi discussed international struggle against the Islamic State (Daesh or ISIL) militant group during a phone call, the White House said in a statement. "The two leaders discussed the progress being made in the Counter-ISIL [Daesh] campaign as Iraqi Security Forces continue their advance in [Iraqi western] Anbar province," the statement published on Saturday said. It was added in the statement, that during the conversation, Obama reiterated Washington's support for Iraq and emphasized that the United States would continue "to play a key role in training, advising, and assisting Iraqi forces." MOSCOW (Sputnik) US officials and the Pentagon said a drone strike targeting Mullah Mansours vehicle killed the Taliban leader near the remote southwestern Pakistani town of Ahmwad Wal along the Afghan border. "The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan confirms an attack on Mullah Akhtar Mansour in drone operations by the forces of the United States of America," the statement issued by presidential deputy spokesman Dawa Khan Menapal said. It added that Mansour "stubbornly insisted" on continuing the anti-government insurgency and rejected the Afghan governments repeated calls for negotiations. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The Iraqi national armed forces warned the residents of Fallujah, held by Daesh, to leave the city in an indication that preparations are underway for an offensive to reclaim it, the Iraqi Al Mada dailys website reported Sunday. "The people of the city of Fallujah in Anbar province, prepare to get out of the city over secure routes, which will be confirmed later." "Aside from a failed 2006 assault on the Abqaiq oil collection and processing facility, an amateurish attack in 2007 that killed three French citizens, and a foiled assassination attempt against Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in 2009, Saudi Arabia has been eerily quiet," Texas-based think tank Stratfor detailed. It all changed in 2015 when terrorists affiliated with Daesh launched a bombing campaign in the kingdom's Eastern Province, mostly populated by the Shia. Since then, attacks have become more frequent and their geography is expanding, with many taking place in the capital and Sunni-populated areas. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Simultaneously, the Iraqi armed forces issued a warning to the citys civilian population to flee the city as soldiers prepared an operation to reclaim Fallujah. "Twenty-thousand soldiers of the federal police forces as well as military vehicles and artillerymen arrived in the vicinity of Fallujah today and are preparing to attack," Federal Police Chief Raed Shaker Jawdat said as quoted by Iraqs Alsumaria broadcaster. On the other hand, professor of Damascus State University and a political columnist, Hussam Shoaib, said that he doubts that Raqqa will be liberated any time soon. I doubt it will soon be liberated as assault on Raqqa requires a broad front with large forces on the ground, apart from accurate intelligence. I think that these opportunities can be observed only with the Syrian state and its military institutions. Based on that Kurds wont be able do it themselves with the support of just the United States, the expert said. Earlier, a source told Sputnik that the US-led coalition's aircraft had showered Raqqa with leaflets urging civilians to evacuate as the forces prepare to start the offensive. Despite the difficult task at hand, representative of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party in France Khalid Essa said that there can be no peace in Syria without the liberation of Raqqa. I cannot tell you in terms of military, I cannot speak about concrete details, as I am involved in politics and diplomacy, but I am sure that sooner or later Raqqa must be released from terrorists because as long as there are terrorists in Raqqa, there cannot be peace, Essa said. A source in Ain al-Arab (northern Aleppo province) reported that a large force of Kurdish militia has already been formed and is ready to begin an assault in the coming hours. In addition, a full mobilization of Syrian Democratic Forces has taken place in the town of Ain al-Arab in the Northern parts of Raqqa province. , , , , . MOSCOW (Sputnik) Demonstrators broke into the headquarters of the Iraqi prime minister on Friday, reportedly prompting Iraqi authorities to announce a curfew in Baghdad. Dozens injuries were reported when Iraqi security forces fired at and deployed tear gas on Baghdads fortified Green Zone that houses Abadis headquarters and foreign embassies. "The results of the preliminary investigation showed that police did not shoot directly. There were only two deaths, and it has not been proved yet that they were caused by direct fire on the demonstrators. There is evidence that people with guns could have hidden in the crowd," the Alsumaria TV channel quoted Hadithi as saying. According to the spokesman, only three protesters have been detained following clashes with police, with their subsequent questioning and release. TEL AVIV (Sputnik) All six of Yisrael Beiteinus lawmakers are poised to join the Netanyahu coalition to expand its majority from 61 to 67 in the 120-member Knesset (Israeli Parliament). Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman is later expected to replace Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon who resigned this week citing distrust toward Netanyahu and his right-wing policies. "I want to make it clear: the expanded government will continue to put every effort to promote the political process with Palestinians, including with the help of regional partners. I personally work intensively on it and I am going to continue to do so," Netanyahu said, addressing the government. Following the expansion of the coalition, all left-wing parties will remain opposition ones. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi on Monday announced start of military offensive to reclaim the city of Fallujah occupied by the Islamic State (Daesh) militant group. "It is time to liberate the city of Fallujah," Abadi said. He added that all kinds of the armed forces were involved in the operation, as well as several groups allied to Baghdad. EDINBURGH (Sputnik) On Monday, prominent rights advocacy group Amnesty International published evidences revealing the fact that Saudi Arabia had used UK-manufactured "BL-755" cluster bombs in Yemen against the Houthi rebel group. "This underlines a simple truth Britain's arms sales and technical military support are fuelling a brutal war in Yemen," Goldring said, speaking about the information, revealed by the watchdog. He added that the conflict in Yemen left more than 80 percent of population in urgent need of aid and called on London to "halt all support for this war and put pressure on all involved to stop the reckless disregard of civilians' safety." MOSCOW (Sputnik) According to the IRNA news agency, the improved versions of Nazeat and Fajr-5 missiles were used during the first stage of the two-day drills in Kashans Maranjab Desert and Isfahans Nasrabad region. "The Beit-ol-Moqaddas-28 military drills aimed at enhancing defensive capabilities, training techniques in asymmetric war and test-firing improved weapons of the Iranian Army," Commander of the Ground Force of the Iranian Army Brig. Gen. Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said, as quoted by the media outlet. YEREVAN (Sputnik) The violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani breakaway region with a predominantly Armenian population, escalated on April 2. While Baku and Yerevan accused each other of provoking the hostilities, the sides to the conflict succeeded in reaching a ceasefire agreement on April 5, which has been followed by near-daily reports of truce violations. "Units of the Armenian Armed Forces' first army corps have worked out during strategic drills specifics and scenes of April's hostilities in the Karabakh conflict zone," the statement read. According to the statement, the units involved in the maneuvers performed tasks in conditions as close as possible to those during the real-life fighting. TOKYO (Sputnik) US President Barack Obama said Sunday that Russia is not interested in further dialogue aimed at reduction of the nuclear arsenals. "I've tried to negotiate with Russians, and was able to get, when I first came to office, a START-II [Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty] treaty that reduced the stockpiles of Russian and US nuclear weapons. I think we can go further but so far Russia has not shown its self-interest in doing more," Obama said in an interview with the Japanese NHK broadcaster. The US leader added that at the same time there was a progress in the situation of nuclear disarmament in the world, as the major nuclear powers did not build up new weapons. "The concert was full of symbolism conducted by the renowned Russian conductor Valery Gergiev; featuring [Vladimir] Putin's close friend, cellist Sergei Roldugin; and dedicated to the archeologist Khalid al-Asaad, who was murdered for refusing to lead [Daesh] fighters to the city's hidden antiquities," the experts detailed. Russia's role outside of the battlefield in Syria has involved major diplomatic efforts aimed at securing a nationwide truce and launching a political peace process. Although both have proved to be fragile, they offer hope for the country devastated by more than five years of violence. Russia's "hybrid offensive has undoubtedly been effective thus far, as the Western and Middle Eastern media continue to admire Moscow's entrance into the region," the analysts added. Moreover, the limited and efficient campaign has also helped Russia to raise its influence in the region. The operation "has put the Russians in a stronger position without imposing any meaningful costs on them," American diplomat Dennis Ross observed, adding that "Middle Eastern leaders are making pilgrimages to Moscow to see Vladimir Putin these days, not rushing to Washington." Cengiz commented on US-Turkey relations saying that the US relies heavily on Turkey with regard to their military and political plans over Syria and also the fight against Daesh. The power balance shifted quite heavily towards Turkey in its relationship with the West. We can see press releases and resolutions coming out of European Parliament and the US Congress but I dont see any kind of meaningful and political response from the West. The analyst spoke about the Turkish parliament and how the people in the parliament are there to represent the Turkish people and they have been elected to do so by the people. The stripping of the MPs is not just an act against freedom of expression it is an act against parliamentary democracy altogether, Cengiz said. She then spoke about the future of Turkey. We can expect another outbreak of civil protest in Turkey and this could unfortunately lead to more violence and also police violence. I see a lot of political instability in Turkey, the analyst concluded. The bill was passed by 376 of the 550 parliament member, which will now require a change in the countrys constitution. The law will now be passed on to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for signing. The bill was proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), after a number of opposition legislators who support the Kurdish call for more autonomy in the southeastern Anatolia region were investigated for "inciting unrest and circulating terrorist propaganda" in January. Once Erdogan signs the bill into effect, 138 lower house lawmakers from all four parliamentary parties will be prosecuted to face 667 criminal proceedings lodged against them, with over 100 of these lawmakers representing the opposition. MOSCOW (Sputnik) UK Prime Minister David Cameron slammed Sunday US presidential candidate of the Republican Donald Trump for proposing an entry ban for Muslims, yet said he was prepared to meet him should he come to the United Kingdom. "It's a very dangerous thing to say as well as a divisive and wrong one," Cameron said, speaking on the ITV television channel. Cameron reminded that US presidential candidates frequently travelled in Europe prior to the elections. "There is nothing more important than the AK Party and its movement," he stressed in a speech characterized as "highly emotional." The outgoing prime minister was cited highlighting a pro-freedom and democratic constitution as "one of the most important priorities of the new era." Earlier in May, Davutoglu confirmed media reports that he would step down from the post of the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) leader and consequently the post of the country's prime minister after an extraordinary meeting of party leaders scheduled on May 22. The concept was initially applied to describe the tactics that Hezbollah fighters used against Israel during the 2016 Lebanon War. It later surfaced in 2013 when General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, mentioned non-military aspects as playing an increasing role in modern warfare. This, according to the Berlin-based writer, marked the moment when "the 'hybrid war' meme was born," although military theorists explored similar ideas centuries before the 2014 Maidan coup took place. Moreover, Gerasimov's report was not meant to outline Russia's supposed new doctrine or the country's future approaches to conflicts. Instead his remarks, as Charles K. Bartles indicated, described "the primary threats to Russian sovereignty as stemming from US-funded social and political movements such as color revolutions, the Arab Spring, and the Maidan movement." Given his behavior since his victory in the 2014 election, Erdogan has sought to get rid of the system checks and balances which is inherent in Western democracies. Erdogans goal was "unchallenged power at the top of the state," Pierini wrote for Financial Times. "This in itself is no great surprise; the novelty is that it is happening with Berlins full acquiescence," the article read. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Merkels words come ahead of her visit to Turkey which will begin Monday. "Of course, some developments in Turkey cause us great concern The process of rapprochement and reconciliation with the Kurds was cancelled in the past year," Merkel said in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper in an interview on Sunday. Merkel reminded that Germany considered the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to be a terrorist group, but wanted the "Kurdish population to have its equal place and a good future in Turkey" The newspaper made the assumption as a result of two days of talks between NATO foreign ministers and chiefs of general staffs. The meeting took place in Brussels on May 19-20. During the talks, representatives of France and Germany pushed for rapprochement with Moscow and holding a session of the Russia-NATO Council during the July summit in Warsaw. Other NATO members were skeptical about the idea. For example, one Eastern European diplomat told the Financial Times that talks with Russia were not to calm Moscow but to "reassure people in Brussels, people who worry too much about angering [Russian President Vladimir] Putin." "Employing military power in Syria will be a direct attack on the nation of Syria, drawing us into their civil war as a belligerent. Have the authors given any thought to Assad's reaction to our attack against his country? What of the reactions of Syria's allies in Russia, Iran and Hezbollah? Are they prepared to risk a major war against Syria and its allies in order to participate in another civil war?" Davis asked. Neocon strategists seem to have forgotten America's recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. In both cases, the US sent additional forces to the countries plagued by sectarian violence only to make things worse. Kabul is struggling to tackle the Taliban a decade and a half after US invaded Afghanistan, while Baghdad is still incapable of pushing Daesh out of its second largest city and other areas. These cases point to "a near complete unwillingness to consider that when policies similar to the authors' recommendations have been used in the past, the results have been abysmal failure," Davis observed. MOSCOW (Sputnik) On Monday, Modi will meet with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani. According to the Indian Foreign Ministry, Modi and Rouhani will discuss bilateral relations and the situation in the region. "I have arrived in Iran, a country with which we have civilizational links. I hope we can strengthen economic cooperation between our countries. I also hope that cultural and humanitarian ties between India and Iran will become stronger during this visit," Modi said on his Twitter account, writing in Farsi. The sides are also expected to sign several bilateral contracts, however, the main deal to be signed is a trilateral Iran-India-Afghanistan accord envisioning usage of the Chabahar port in Iran. The development of the power would allow Afghanistan to get direct access to India via sea, while India would be able to reach Central Asia. Two years after the reunification of Crimea with Russia, NATO is said to be willing to "reset" relations with Moscow, in order to prevent "dangerous incidents" and "to keep a chance for political dialogue to remain open." "We discussed our relationship with Russia, and we agreed on a dual-track approach defense and deterrence and political dialogue," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said recently. However, NATO plans to deploy four military battalions in the Baltic States and Poland have not been met in Russia with much enthusiasm, the German magazine wrote. He further said that in modern Turkey, literally any public initiative will certainly be considered as a terrorist threat. Journalists and military are being condemned on charges of aiding and abetting terrorism. Since 2010, Turkey's leadership in the international community has formed a perception of our country as a paradise for terrorists. The journalists were accused of terrorism and were thrown in prison. Even the former executives and employees of the General Staff were accused being involved in terrorist activities. Just as the founder of Modern Life Support Turkan Saylan, who was an outstanding scientist, doctor and professional in his field. He made a great contribution to the development of medicine and education in Turkey. But we had to see this amazing man being prosecuted for being called a terrorist. It turns out that the Turkish authorities have put Turkan Saylan on par with the leader of Daesh al-Baghdadi. The journalist further said that Erdogan insists that Western countries recognize those terrorist organizations and individuals which Turkey considers as such. Meanwhile, he emphasized saying that the Western countries have not actively condemned the processes that began in Turkey in the 2000s. First of all I mean the numerous accusations of terrorism and complicity in terrorism made against public figures in Turkey. In this situation, they turned a blind eye for the sake of political interests. Now the visible effects of this are finally showing, Saylan concluded. According to the Guardian, Brexit would afford many political opportunities for Russia. Brussels breakup with London, which traditionally has one of the toughest positions toward Moscow, would undermine EU unity amid the Ukraine crisis, asserted Shaun Walker, the author of the piece. Additionally, after leaving the bloc the UK would desperately need new allies and Russia could take advantage of it, he added. At the same time, the Moscow-based correspondent admitted that there are no signs that Russia is attempting to somehow influence the upcoming vote, only saying that there is certainly an appreciation of the UKs possible fallout out of the bloc. KALININGRAD (Sputnik) Natalya Gritsun said the plane landed at the airport as planned, and all 154 people on board have received accommodation and were provided with amenities. "A plane flying from Moscow to Hannover landed at the Khrabrovo Airport in Kaliningrad at 11:32 [09:32 GMT]. The aircraft requested a landing for technical reasons," Gritsun told RIA Novosti. She added that the pilot will decide on how to proceed further while the plane and passengers are in Kaliningrad. As of 2015, only two-thirds of the Army brigades were ready for decisive actions due to budget slashes, according to the Army Vice Chief of Staff General Daniel Allyn. At the same time the US military contingent is shrinking in numbers that increases the threats and danger to the United States, Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno said. By mid-2018, the authorities aim to shape an army of 450,000 soldiers that will be 20 percent smaller than the army in 2012. Air Force Jets Being Refitted With Parts From Museum Planes The Air Forces B-1 Lancer bombers are being refitted with parts pulled out of museum jets to be kept in-service. The components of the F-16 Fighting Falcons are also actively used in repairing other F-16s that constantly need spare parts. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James unveiled that less than half of the branchs forces are prepared for engaging in a conflict. where an adversary could shoot us down, interfere with us in some major way in space or cyberspace. The Navys Dying for More Ships The US Navy is consistently seeing shortage of ships in their fleet. The budget shortfalls forced the Navy to accept significant risk in key mission areas, Admiral Jon Greenert admitted. Currently, the branch needs 350 battle vessels, but it only has 273. Marine Corps Copters Keep Crashing The average number of Marine Corps aircraft crashes has increased twice in a decade, resulting in a string of fatal accidents earlier this year. Over a hundred helicopters were grounded for additional technical checks afterwards. Memorial at Marine Corps Base in Hawaii for 12 U.S. Marines who died in a helicopter crash last week. pic.twitter.com/pKcKJdCYJ8 Honolulu Civil Beat (@CivilBeat) January 22, 2016 Ageing B-52s Called Back in Service Amid Lack of Alternatives The Air Force has to throw into the fray B-52 bombers, which are more than half-a-century-old, to carry out anti-Daesh operations in the Middle East as the more modern, stealth-capable B-1 Lancers performed poorly in the same campaigns. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Earlier this week, Trump slammed Clintons proposed restrictions on gun control, and called to end the gun-free zones in the United States. "That idea isnt just way out there, its dangerous. This is someone running to be president of the United States of America, a country facing a gun-violence epidemic, and hes talking about more guns in our schools," Clinton said Saturay as quoted by The Wall Street Journal. MOSCOW (Sputnik) During his election campaign, business tycoon Trump has made numerous statements which sparked controversy and were seen as divisive both nationwide and globally. "If you want to imagine what Trumps America would look like, picture more kids at risk of violence and bigotry," Clinton said Saturday as quoted by The Wall Street Journal. She also hinted that Trump would incite racial discord. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The NBC network first announced on Twitter that the White House was on a lockdown. Ten minutes later, the media outlet confirmed that the scare was caused by several balloons flying over the official presidential residence. On Friday, US Secret Service guards shot a man in his abdomen after he approached a White House security checkpoint with a firearm. "We suggest the United States to continue its work with the 'moderate' opposition and those who have sided with them in the cessation of hostilities until May 25 of this year, to give exact definitions of the regions under their control, and to withdraw units observing the conditions of the cessation of hostilities from the territories controlled by al-Nusra Front formations and other international terrorist organizations," the minister said. Shoigu added that actions by al-Nusra Front continue to fuel tensions in the region. However, the Pentagon has rejected the offer. "We do not collaborate or coordinate our operation with the Russians. As the Secretary [Carter] has said, Russian operations are supporting and enabling the Assad Regime which is like pouring fuel on a fire. We remain focused solely on degrading and defeating ISIL [Daesh]," US Department of Defense spokesman Matthew Allen told Sputnik. Indeed, al-Nusra Front is one of the key sources of instability in Syria, especially in northern Syria, analyst Vladimir Evseyev from the Institute of CIS Countries said. "Recently, Russia has proved to the US that this is al-Nusra Front militants who attack civilians. This is why a compromise between Moscow and Washington is possible," Evseyev told Gazeta.Ru. According to the analyst, the US-led coalition has not conducted actions against the terrorist group due to Turkeys interests in the region. "The US doesnt want to get involved because Washington doesnt want additional problems with Turkey," he said. On the other hand, the Turkish government supports radical Islamist groups. This fact should sooner or later anger Washington, Evseyev suggested. Unlike Daesh, al-Nusra Front are adapting to the ceasefire and disguising as more moderate militant groups. Russia and the US have been in bilateral talks over a plan to end the Syrian war. Moscows offer on joint actions against al-Nusra Front was aimed at eliminating one of the main obstacles in the peaceful settlement. However, Washington seems "determined to reject any Russian plan out of hand, which likely explains why the months of negotiations have just amounted to intermittent US statements of condemnation," an article by Ron Paul Institute read. Earlier on Sunday, Britain's The Sunday Times daily released an interview with the former Soviet leader in which he voiced approval of the 2014 referendum that resulted in Crimea voting to leave Ukraine for Russia. "We will reach out to our European partners through diplomatic channels to make sure he [Gorbachev] is not welcome in Europe and that his foundation that ignites hate between Russia and Ukraine doesn't get investment", Gerashchenko, a Verkhovna Rada deputy, told Govorit Moskva radio. Gorbachev told the newspaper that he is "always with the free will of the people and most in Crimea wanted to be reunited with Russia". He also said that tense relations between Russia and the West can be explained by the United States' arrogance in the post-Soviet period. Iron Mine Bucky survived a miserable first quarter in the slop and went on to capture the faster division of Saturdays $116,304 Currier & Ives at The Meadows. Cufflink Hanover took the other division in the stakes for three-year-old colt and gelding trotters. Iron Mine Bucky hadnt raced since winning an Oct. 2 Keystone Classic split at The Meadows, and he got just the sort of journey stuck outside winning driver George Dennis didnt want. I wasnt expecting to get that rough a trip, Dennis said. They didnt go that much early, and he got a little excited first time out, first time in the mud. I didnt want to wrestle him back to last. But the Hambletonian-eligible son of Explosive Matter-My Foolish Dream persevered on the outside and overpowered the leader, 2-5 favourite Hititoutofthepark. Iron Mine Bucky prevailed in 1:55.2, one and a half lengths better than Steed, while Hititoutofthepark saved show. He really trotted strong up the backside and turned in a big mile, Dennis said. Im very, very pleased. Greg Haverstick trains Iron Mine Bucky, who extended his career bankroll to $132,023, for Iron Mine Branch LLC. Cufflink Hanover has won three of four starts since adding hopples, and he again looked useful and professional. He worked out a pocket trip behind Truemass Volo, then blew by him in the lane to triumph in 1:55.4. Hollywood Highway found late room for second, two lengths back, with Truemass Volo third. Hes been getting lucky with his trips, and hes been racing good, said winning driver David Miller, who owns the Andover Hall-CR Savoire Faire gelding with the Enzed Racing Stable of the colts trainer, Nifty Norman. He seemed way sharper today than he did last week. Hes coming along really nice. Saturdays rain-soaked program also featured the $70,500 filly division of the Currier & Ives, with Goodtogo Hanover rolling to her seventh consecutive victory. Lookin Sharp erased a sizable deficit to take the other split. Goodtogo Hanover was away second for Brian Zendt, who moved her to the point before the quarter. The daughter of Explosive Matter-Grammy Hall held off the late challenge of the pocket-sitting Witnesstheprincess by three-quarters of a length in 1:56.4. Moots completed the ticket. Goodtogo Hanover, who vaulted over $100,000 in career earnings, is undefeated in seven outings this year, but she showed once again that she can be a handful until the gate folds. She was a little wild behind the gate ohmygosh, Zendt said. She had her head hung up on the gate for a minute. She was so mad I dont know how she didnt run. She makes you worry, but as long as you dont have her doubled up and mad, shell be okay. She doesnt want to run. All she wants to do is get out of there. Bill Zendt conditions Goodtogo Hanover and owns with Gary Saul. Lookin Sharp, the 4-5 favourite, trailed the leader, Sunset Glider, by three lengths at the three-quarters when Matt Kakaley suggested it was time to get busy. She tracked down Sunset Glider and downed her by a neck in 1:57, with My Pink Bike third. Of all the horses we sent to Florida [for the winter], shes probably one of the horses who grew up and matured the most, said Tyler Butenschoen, assistant to winning trainer John Butenschoen. I saw a big difference in her. She showed late in the year she could go with the best fillies. The more the year went on, the more she learned and the better she got. William Wiswell and M&L of Delaware campaign the daughter of Andover Hall-Warrawee Krisp, who soared over $200,000 in career earnings. (The Meadows) Calgary's Robert Parish celebrated his first training victory on Saturday, May 21 as his pacing mare They Call Me Rosie ($3.40) won the seventh race at Century Downs Racetrack and Casino. Driven by Nathan Sobey, They Call Me Rosie tracked the cover of second tier starter Officialconnection in the seventh race for $4,000 claiming mares and then rallied past her in the stretch to win by one and a quarter lengths in 1:59.3 over the 'good' track. Parish owns the seven-year-old Freedoms Pass mare, who has won 18 races in her career, and recently took over the training duties. Meanwhile, Travis Cullen added to his meet-leading win totals with a training/driving triple on the nine-race card. The maiden-breaking sophomore pacing colt Canelo ($8) and older mares Runway Model ($3) and Cowgirl Poker ($3.40) pushed the Cullen stable's seasonal win count to 97 for a two-point lead over Richard Moreau in the nation-wide trainer standings. To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Century Downs. Hunters and campers will be allowed to pitch their tents and park their RVs on Weyerhaeuser Co. land in Southwest Washington this year with a $300 per family permit. Though the cost has gone up from $160 last year, permits will now allow year-round access. People who want to hike, pedal a mountain bike or ride a horse on Weyerhaeuser property will be able to buy a $50 non-motorized permit in some cases for land that formerly was free to enter. Weyerhaeuser has posted information about significant changes to its largely unpopular fee access system for the region. Permits for the companys 380,000-acre Longview-St. Helens area east of Interstate 5 go on sale June 10, though permits for land to the west already are available. The new higher fees and rules are the latest step in Weyerhaeusers changing policies on public recreational use of its lands. In response to garbage dumping, theft and vandalism, the company in 2001 started locking gates for much of the year. In 2014, the company started a fee access program in Southwest Washington; last year, a permit cost $160 and was required for entry from August through January, with no drive-in access the rest of the year. Starting Aug. 1 of this year, a $300 permit will be available for year-round motorized access into the Longview-St. Helens area between Kelso and Mount St. Helens. As in the past, a permit covers the holder, his or her spouse, children under 18 and grandchildren. So if four non-related buddies wanted to hunt together, they need to spend a total of $1,200 for four permits. The new permits allow camping for up to 10 days in one place. Thats not long enough for some camps that traditionally stayed in place for through modern rifle deer and elk seasons. But in recent years, Weyerhaeuser allowed camping only on leased areas. As before, the company doesnt allow ATVs or snowmobiles on its land. The new fees drew mixed reactions from local outdoors enthusiasts. There will be less hunters, predicted Russ Barnes, president of the Cowlitz Game and Anglers club. Many Game and Anglers members didnt hunt on Weyerhaeuser land last year because of the fees, Barnes said. I just cant imagine that kind of price. I doubt there would be very many of our club members who would do that. Cowlitz County Commissioner Joe Gardner, who represents the north part of the county and lives in Toutle, called the fee system a sad situation. I am glad that they are at least willing to make some changes. Gardner said people will like being able to camp and drive on Weyco roads year-round with permits. Just getting out and driving around the woods was a popular thing to do, he said. Weyerhaeuser spokesman Anthony Chavez said in an email that the company changed to year-round permits so it could control access to its lands all the time. He pointed out that those who buy a motorized access permit will be able to drive there at any time, not just during hunting season. This new change allows for hunters, in particular, to better prepare for the hunting season as they can now scout the property better prior to the hunting season, he said. The increased price reflects the added benefits of this years permits, such as camping and cutting up to two cords of firewood, Chavez said. Walk-in permits cost $50 Chavez said Weyerhaeuser had received many requests for a walk-in permit option, so it added one this year. The $50 permit allows non-motorized access and, like the motorized permit, is valid for a family. The non-motorized permits will be required year-round and will be required for some areas that used to have free access, such as the Mosquito Creek area west of Longview where mountain bikers have created a maze of trails. Brian Mahon, an avid mountain biker who helped build the Mosquito Creek trail system, said he didnt object to the $50 permit because it would limit crowding. Weve always seen working on their property as a privilege, Mahon said. Darcy Mitchem of Toutle, whos been active in efforts to maintain public access to Weyco land, objected to having to buy a permit to go for a walk on Weyerhaeuser land. Its totally unreasonable to charge for a family to go for a walk in the woods, Mitchem said. You cant walk on half of Cowlitz County that people have walked on for generations Mitchem said people walking on Weyerhaeuser property dont vandalize or dump garbage and that restricting woods access hurts the economy of rural areas. Because permits are required year-round, snowshoers will need one to hike up Elk Rock or elsewhere along Spirit Lake Memorial Highway in winter. However, Weyerhaeuser will continue to allow free walk-in access down its 3100 road to get to the states Mount St. Helens Wildlife Area in the Toutle River Valley. Chavez said the company also will continue to allow free driving along its 1900, 4100 and 8050 roads, which provide access to public lands. The company has created two new permit areas in addition to 380,000-acre Longview-St. Helens area east of Interstate 5. Another permit is required to enter the 24,000-acre Columbia River West area, which includes several parcels west of Longview extending to the Naselle area. Those permits, which went on sale Friday, cost $200 for motorized use and $50 for walk-ins. A third permit, which also went on sale Friday, is required for the 48,500-acre Columbia River East/Yacolt area. Those permits cost $250 for motorized access or $50 for walk-ins. The company is also offering parcels of land for lease. Bidding on a 1,266-acre parcel north of Toutle starts at $1,582. Only lease-holders can enter these parcels. Rough and tumble outdoor classrooms best fit some of the training at the statewide Search and Rescue Conference being held in Longview this weekend. Dan Griffin, who started the training company 2 Xplore two years ago, used some of the biggest, most jumbled dirt mounds at the back of the Swanson Bark & Wood Products to teach rescuers how to get the most out of their 4x4 trucks and jeeps. Theres nothing like hands-on experience when it comes driving up a rugged slope steep enough to make you wonder if youre trying to drive up a wall, or when you need to safely winch a truck out of 2-foot-deep tire ruts and back over the top of a hill and along a lumpy ridgeline. Griffin, who lives in Battle Ground and works in Oregon is a career firefighter and paramedic, and has been working in the rescue business for 25 years. He wants to help the search and rescue volunteers put a few more skills in their tool box. That includes learning how to solve problems, as well as preventing problems from rising in the first place. You never want an incident within an incident Griffin says. In Saturdays session, the second of three of with increasing technical difficulties, he guided rescuers through vehicle recovery procedures, and vehicle stabilization so rescuers could safely work to help people within. He also teaches self recovery techniques since the search and rescue team members are usually the only people around to help if they get in trouble during a mission. Griffin had more than a dozen volunteers in his class. Overall, as many as 500 people were expected to attend the conference hosted by the Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office. Two main arguments seem to keep popping up as it relates to the Millennium Bulk Terminals (MBT) project coal dust and the future demand for coal. Lets talk about the dust first. From a story by TDNs Sarah Grothjan last week, we learned a topping agent is sprayed directly on the coal while its in a rail car. Each rail car gets about 106 gallons of the solution, which forms a sticky surface that suppresses dust while in transit. Once the coal reaches the terminal, its unloaded in a fully enclosed area. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) says As the tandem rotary dumper rotates the rail cars and begins to unload the coal into hoppers beneath the dumper, sprayers would spray water to avoid and minimize dust dispersion within the enclosed structure. The coal will be off-loaded indoors. The DEIS goes on to say, A network of belt conveyors would transport coal from the rail car unloading facilities to the stockpile area, and from the stockpile area to the vessel-loading facilities, or from rail cars directly to the vessel-loading facilities. Belt conveyors and transfer stations would be fully enclosed, except for the stockpile area and vessel loading conveyors, which would be open due to their operational requirements. The DEIS detailed further: The coal stockpile area would have a dust-suppression system. Vessels would be loaded using ship-loaders that would include enclosed boom and loading spout. The loading spout would also be telescopic and inserted below the deck of the vessel during vessel loading to avoid and minimize dust dispersion. The study found that with the dust suppression systems, operation of the proposed project would deposit approximately a one-quarter teaspoon of coal dust per year per square meter. The DEIS also measures air quality related to coal dust and found levels would remain below National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The DEIS says, The analysis determined the estimated maximum concentrations for each criteria air pollutant would be below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Clean Air Act mandates the EPA set, and periodically update, standards for ambient air quality. The EPA sets primary and secondary standards to protect the public. The primary standards protect the health of at-risk populations such as people with heart or lung disease (like asthmatics), children and senior citizens. Secondary standards concern public welfare, which means protection against visibility impairment, damage to animals, crops, vegetation and buildings. To summarize, the coal dust is suppressed with a sticky surfactant spray during rail transit, off-loaded indoors while being sprayed with water, moved on enclosed belt conveyors to the coal pile. The coal pile will be sprayed with water to suppress dust. The coal would be loaded onto ships with the boom below deck to minimize dust. And the surrounding air quality would meet all standards. We dont see coal dust as an issue based on Ecologys draft environmental impact statement findings. Some opponents of the project are talking about coal markets collapsing. In other words, they say the coal markets are collapsing therefore MBT will lose money and should not be permitted. This type of argument goes against Americas capitalist system. If a business wants to invest millions in a venture and it fails, then the business loses all its money. In MBTs case no public money is involved, its all private. The old Reynolds site is being remediated, so its better off now than before. If MBT goes out of business, well be left with prime riverfront real estate that another investor will want. For you coal opponents, if MBT invests $600 million and goes out of business, wouldnt this deter others from trying to build similar projects? If you oppose the MBT project due to dust, hopefully this clears the air. If you oppose the project because of economic conditions, and truly believe MBT would go out of business, you might be better off becoming a project supporter. hidden Apple's Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook on Saturday paid a surprise visit to the UAE's first official Apple retail store that opened in October in Dubai. At the store Cook met customers and employees and briefly discussed the latest trends around Apple's flagship products iPhone, iPad and iMacs, Xinhua news agency reported. https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/734033482347843584 Cook made the stop while returning from India where he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Cook met business persons including Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, one of India's leading telecommunication companies, and launched an updated version of the 'Narendra Modi Mobile App' while in India. In October, the UAE opened two official stores for the Cupertino, California-based technology giant. IANS tech2 News Staff Tim Cook's visit to India has been shouldering out Google I/O from the news stories this past week. Tim Cook launched an update to the Narendra Modi Mobile App. He met Airtel chief Sunil Barti Mittal, opened a Maps Center in Hyderabad, and a StartUp accelerator in Bengaluru. He also had an action-packed first day. Here is what the printed press had to say about Tim Cook's visit. Hindustan Times packaged the whole affair as a "Positive Movement" just to ensure no one is confused about the premium segment smartphone maker engaging in a value conscious market. The PM made it clear to Tim Cook that refurbished iPhones were not a priority for India. A senior official told the paper that such a move by Apple would "wipe out" low cost Indian phone manufacturers. According to Hindustan Times, manufacturing in India will not really benefit the manufacturers. Analysts consulted by the paper cite low volume of sales of Apple products, and the price sensitive market as reasons for this. The Hindu is the only other newspaper with a front page headline for the story, apart from The Hindustan Times. The article revealed a deeper interest by Tim Cook in India to come up with a comprehensive and fine tuned Apple Strategy for India. Cook's discussion with the Prime minister included security and encryption aspects of the smartphone technologies as well. DNA had a snippet for the visit, with just a photo by AFP where Narendra Modi is showing Tim Cook his gold iPhone. Tim Cook seemed to be engrossed with something on the screen that Narendra Modi is showing him. Whether this was PM Narendra Modi's app update, or funny cat photos, is open for speculation. The Sunday Times also had a photo with a caption on the seventeenth page. Choosing to caption the photo "Facetime," It showed a similar photo as DNA's with PM Narendra Modi talking to Apple CEO Tim Cook while holding a gold iPhone. The paper says Cook briefed Modi on Apple's plans in India, and there were no indications of starting to manufacture in India. Another piece on a page dedicated to startups, titled Cook the "Newsmaker of the Week." The report covers Cook's engagement with local startups, including SweetCouch and UrbanClap. Mid Day chose to ignore the topic altogether, and had no coverage at all, either of the app update launch, or Tim Cook's visit. Water will be delivered through five taps connected to a 55-gallon barrel that has filtered the well water, allowing clean drinking water for 10 years. SARASOTA Staff from Sarasota-based Specialized Plumbing Technologies are currently spending four weeks in Nicaragua to donate their time and services by building five houses in a small 25-person community, as part of a mission trip organized by non-profit Waves of Love . Throughout the trip, eight staff members are aiming to build five brick homes from the ground up, an outdoor kitchen and two outhouses.The high temperatures of Nicaragua make clean and safe water a high priority, though access to it is unfortunately not very high. While in Nicaragua, SPT , with funding from Aquam Corporation, will also provide and install an individual water filtration system that will connect to the communitys well, providing residents with clean drinking water."Having the opportunity to give back to a community in need anywhere in the world is a rewarding experience, said Justin Mizell, Executive Vice President, Aquam Corporation. "It allows us to give back, and it challenges our company to work as a team to provide others with basic life necessities."Waves of Love's mission is to help people in need. To achieve this, they focus on community-based efforts to ensure everyone has life's basic needs: food, water, shelter, clothing, and education. Suu Kyi asks for `space` to address Myanmar`s Rohingya plight Myanmar's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has asked for "enough 'space" to address the Rohingya issue. She was speaking after meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry, who called on her to promote human rights. Some 125,000 Rohingya Muslims were displaced after fighting with Myanmar's majority Buddhists erupted in 2012 in Rakhine state and spread further. Historic elections swept Ms Suu Kyi and her party into office in November, ending half a century of military rule. Last week, The US lifted a host of financial and trade embargoes on Myanmar, but has kept the backbone of its sanctions. Mr Kerry said he had discussed the "very sensitive" and "divisive" Rohingya issue with Ms Suu Kyi. "I know it arouses strong passions here," Mr Kerry said, addressing a joint news conference in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw. "What is critical is to focus on is solving the problem... which is improving the situation on the ground, to promote development, promote respect for human rights and benefit all of those that live in Rakhine and throughout Myanmar." There is widespread hostility towards Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, including among some within Ms Suu Kyi's own party. Rohingya Muslims are seen as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and are referred to by many as Bengalis. Because of this, Myanmar denies many Rohingya citizenship and basic rights. Last week, Ms Suu Kyi suggested to the new US ambassador in Myanmar, Scot Marciel, that he refrain from using the term '"Rohingya". "Emotive terms" made it very difficult to find a peaceful and sensible solution to the problem, she said at the news conference with Mr Kerry. "All that we are asking is that people should be aware of the difficulties we are facing and to give us enough space to solve all our problems," she said. -- BBC Online Country United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative 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(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 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. If you own rental property, you can use the information to identify tenants who might cause damage If you own rental property and youve noticed that certain tenants consistently cause damage, you can use the results of a building inspection to identify them. You can then contact them directly to let them know that youre watching them closely and that you dont appreciate the problem theyre causing. They might start taking better care of their homes, which would be good news for everyone. It could also be the case that youll find out that theyre responsible for previous damages that werent caught during a previous visit. You can make smarter decisions about hiring contractors If youve hired contractors to build or repair your home, you might want to ask them for references. However, unless you perform a thorough building inspection, you might not know exactly what to look for. For instance, maybe you only checked the roof for leaks or the walls for cracks. You might not have looked underneath the foundation for anything that could cause a future issue. By performing a building inspection, you can ensure that you hire reputable contractors who will be trustworthy with your money. You can avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition 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. You can also ask your realtor about what sorts of inspections are typically recommended. Some agents say that its standard practice to check the heating system, the roof, the electrical wiring, and the floors. Others will tell you that they recommend that you check the entire structure. Either way, if you choose to hire an inspector, youll find out exactly what needs to be fixed and how much it will cost to do so. As a result, it can be concluded that a pre-purchase building inspection is highly important for the buyers because it provides transparency regarding the current conditions of the structure. Additionally, the building owner is made aware of any upgrades or repairs that are required, which could lead to a fair deal throughout the purchasing and selling process. President Joe Biden has decided to ban Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia's economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. The United States generally imports about 100,000 barrels a day from Russia, only about 5% of Russia's crude oil exports, according to Rystad Energy. Last year, roughly 8% of U.S. imports of oil and petroleum products came from Russia. Gas prices have been rising for weeks due to the conflict and in anticipation of potential sanctions on the Russian energy sector. The U.S. national average for a gallon of gasoline soared 45 cents a gallon in the past week and topped $4.06 on Monday, according to auto club AAA. Should the US ban Russian oil imports over Ukraine war? You voted: 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. Tax bills are heading out to residents mailboxes in all counties in Southern Illinois, which means a function of the county government will be in full swing starting soon. The Board of Review is the function of the county government that residents of respective counties can see if they feel there is a problem with the assessment of their property. Williamson County Board of Commissioner Chairman Jim Marlo said the supervisor of assessments sets the value of the property. The Board of Review only deals with assessments -- not the tax bill. The Board of Review is designed to give people an option -- if they feel they are being over assessed -- an opportunity to come and contact the county and give us the opportunity compare to what they think it is, he said. He said there is a form residents can fill out stating what they think the value of their property should be and why. He said it is recommended that an appraisal be done. In Williamson County, the Board of Review is made up of the same elected officials who serve as the county commissioners -- Marlo, Brent Gentry and Ron Ellis. In a commission form of government, the county commissioners are typically the Board of Review members, but those elected officials have the ability to appoint somebody else. Union County is also a commission form of government and the elected officials have opted to appoint other individuals to do the job. According to Union County Chief Information Officer Rollie Hawk, there are three individuals on the review board -- Jim Haney, Jeff Robinson, and Andy Clarke. Each appointed members receive $300 per meeting, and in 2015, they met four times. Williamson County Commissioners are paid their normal base salary of $61,441 as part of their work on the Board of Review. In township forms of government, the Board of Review is hired out and paid an annual salary. In Jackson there are three individuals on the board Jessica Doerr-Berger, Allan Karnes, and Wenona Whitfield. They each make a base salary of $16,349. Another example of a township government hiring out the Board of Review is Franklin County, also with three members Charles Daniels, JoAnn Slack, and Burton Willis each making $4,430 annually for their time. Marlo said a common misconception for taxpayers when they request a hearing with the Board of Review is that the board can lower their tax bill. He said the board cant anything about the overall tax bill because there are several different taxing entities contributing to the bill depending on where a person lives within a county. He said the Board of Review is there to protect taxpayers from individuals who try to cheat the system. There are people who know how to work the system and know all the little angles to try and get a lower assessed value, Marlo said. When that happens, then that means everybody else in the county has to pick up the slack because somebody else took a shortcut, he said. The review is there to make sure that doesnt happen and it is their role to make sure each assessment is correct, Marlo said. I view it as part of my job, Marlo said when asked why Williamson County does hire out members for the board of review. It is my duty to the taxpayers of Williamson County. Sure we could hire it out, but it would cost more. CARTERVILLE Two of Irvin Lemons' cousins went through a construction trades careers training program at John A. Logan College and now seem to be doing pretty well, one working in the electrical field and the other working as a construction laborer. Lemons said the success he saw his cousins enjoy was all the motivation he needed to apply to the state's Highway Construction Careers Training Program run at the community college in Carterville. He attends for free and receives a stipend attending. There, he and fellow classmates learn aspects of the various trades how to use tools and paint, how to read a blueprint, how to repair and build sidewalks mainly, anticipating applying for and securing an apprenticeship with a trades company. He and his classmates spent part of the day Friday working on resumes and cover letters. "Basically, it's to better yourself and it's to create a career that's my goal," he said. Lemons, who is black, said, "I think more African Americans need to be up in here." Pre-apprenticeship training programs like this are one way that minorities can enter into the construction trades industry, typically blue-collar industries that pay well and that some say do not include enough African-Americans and other minorities. People like Carbondale's Sidney Logwood, pastor of Rock Hill Missionary Baptist Church, are among those who have lamented what they sense is a lockout of this industry to those who could benefit from it the most: African-American men. Totally unrepresentative," Logwood says of blacks working in the construction trades arena in Southern Illinois. "Totally unrepresentative to the population. Blacks made up 14.7 percent of the state's population in 2014 and were 8 percent of those in apprenticeship programs that reported to the Illinois Department of Labor. In 2014, Illinois had an estimated 12.88 million residents, 14.7 percent of whom were Black or African-American, according to U.S. Census figures. For that year, 2014, there were 10,983 apprentices in programs that reported to the sate, 902 or 8 percent of whom were African-American, according to the "2014 State Construction Minority and Female Building Trades Annual Report" from the Illinois Department of Labor. Logwood, who said he more aggressively pursued this kind of documentation when he was president of the Carbondale branch of the NAACP from 2008 to 2012, does not believe those numbers of apprentices anywhere near reflect blacks in the construction trades unions, apprenticeship programs or government jobs projects in Carbondale or Southern Illinois. He said in recent days, he's spoken to retired or nearing-retirement African-American trade workers who lament the absence of younger black workers in their ranks and unions. Logwood believes the unions' apprenticeship-employing and union-hiring practices are not welcoming to African-Americans who would seek them out, a sentiment echoed in a 2013 letter the heads of the National Black Chamber of Commerce wrote to the chair of the National Black Caucus. The group's president/CEO Harry Alford and President Dorothy Leavell wrote, "These construction unions are a prime contributor to Black unemployment." They note that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Executive Order 11246 calling for non-discrimination in government contracts. One local union head notes that his union Laborers' International Union of North America Local 773 is one of the most diverse in the region. Local 773 unions include construction, railroad maintenance, county, city and housing authority employees and other workers in parts of 41 states, said Kevin L. Starr, the union's business manager. Primarily because of its railroad maintenance employees, its membership spans parts of 41 states. Of the estimated 120 people who attend Local 773's monthly meetings at John A. Logan College, about 15 percent are African-American; 10 percent are Hispanic; and about half are female, Starr said. Locally, this union is based in Marion. "We're the most diverse local of any locals in this area," Starr said. Starr also said the union jointly runs apprenticeship programs in construction with some of its contractors and one in grounds maintenance with Southern Illinois University. There are initiatives that were created to address the issue. One is the program at John A. Logan College, created by the state in 2009 in an attempt to recruit racial minorities, women or disadvantaged to a program that exposes them to various careers in the construction trades industry. JALC is one of the 12 community colleges at which it is held. Its new director, Dennis White, said he did not have the figures on how many people who completed the program continued on to apprenticeships or to work in the construction trades; two recent graduates, he noted, started jobs recently as operating engineers. He said he also didn't know what percentage of the program's participants have been African American. How to apply for an apprenticeship The Southern Illinois Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship Program accepts applications year-roun "This is not designed to teach them to be a (construction trades worker)," White said. "This is designed to, hopefully, get them into one of the tracks for job training." This season's class has 17 students, with African-American students making up about one-third of the class. This day, they are working on cover letters and crafting resumes; on Monday, they will be repairing part of an area near a childcare center on college's campus and have done work on a sidewalk. The program started with 32 applicants, 20 of which were accepted; three have since left the program that started in March. It's hard work, a demanding program, that attempts to acclimate all the students to the kind of work they might experience in the trades field, White said. Classes start at 7 a.m. and run till 11 a.m., with a 30-minute break before they reconvene from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., White said. "It just gives them an overall idea (of what specific trades are like) and a lot of it, it builds confidence," White said. Students in this class appear to range from high-school aged graduates to those closing in on retirement. White said the program has had a few people who have lost jobs, including those who have been laid off from work in the coal mines. Participation starts with the application process, which includes up to four letters of reference; an interview; and a drug screening. A second class is scheduled to start later in the year. Another program helping to tackle the issue is the Southern Illinois Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship Program. That program accepts applications from 33 Southern Illinois counties for apprenticeships in carpentry, millwrighting and cabinetmaking/floor-finishing, year-round, and starts apprenticeships, year-round, according to coordinator Alex Gromada. The program currently has 250 to 300 apprentices, who work in sites throughout the area and attend training classes, once a week, for four times in a year, he said. Of the 307 people in the 2015 calendar year program, 303 were male and four were female. The majority, 260, were white (almost 85 percent); 40 were black or African American (13 percent); four were Hispanic or Latino (1 percent); two were Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (0.6 percent); and one was an American Indian/Alaskan Native. "We get audited by the Department of Labor on a regular basis on that and what efforts were doing to try to maintain or improve those numbers, Gromada said. Program staff recruit at high schools and colleges and through veterans groups; work with the Parole Board to identify good candidates who are returning to the community from prison and looking to enter the civilian workforce; network with pre-apprenticeship and other programs, such as YouthBuild, an occupational skills-building program targeting at-risk 16- to 24-year-olds; Job Corps; and JALC's Highway Construction Careers Training Program. He and the other men noted that participation in those programs is not a guarantee of future employment with a construction trades company or admission to a trades union. For instance, moving into an apprenticeship program requires that an applicant be hired by a participating company, who pays their hourly wage, Gromada said. "Were entirely privately funded," Gromada said. "We dont get any federal or state funding for registered apprenticeships. Minorities in the state's construction trades apprenticeship programs The State Construction Minority and Female Building Trades Act requires the Illinois State Department of Labor to collect and publish data about the race, gender, ethnicity and national origin of apprentices in the state's construction industry. The reported information is not broken down by county. In 2015, fewer blacks (10 percent) participated in the apprenticeship programs than did Hispanics or Latinos, who were 15.4 percent of the participants, and whites, who were almost 73 percent. For 2015, the Illinois Department of Labor received responses from 188 apprentice programs, representing 11,679 apprentices: 72.9 percent of those were identified as white (8,517); 15.4 percent as Hispanic (1,795); 10 percent as Black or African American (1,169); 1.3 percent of "race unknown" (150); and less than 1 percent each were Native American or Alaska Native (54), Asian (52) and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (15). Overall, the numbers are down from 2009, when the state reported 16,969 apprentices: 77.6 percent of whom were white (13,169); 8.7 percent or 1,468 were African American; 0.5 percent, or 85. were Asian; 0.4 percent, or 64, were American Indian or Native Alaskan; and 0.1 percent, or 11, were Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. One of those who once worked to help candidates from the African American community enroll in such programs or find work with trade unions and construction trades companies was Abdul Haqq. Haqq said he does not know these days how that arena is fairing, but feels that companies and unions are more conscious of goals they have set to hire minorities for projects that receive government funds; he said he's known several to visit area high schools and participate in career days, for instance. "We have to get more minorities and African Americans into the application process," he said. "To get more minorities and females into the trades requires a combination of partnerships that sometimes is uneasy getting them on the job because it requires a lot of cooperation and that's what the compliance technician does." Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the title for Linda Frazier. She is the local program coordinator for International Student Exchange. CAIRO -- Four foreign exchange students who just completed a year at Cairo Junior/Senior High School said they met many amazing people here, but said the town and school system left something to be desired. Their extended stay in Illinois southernmost city, population 2,626, was the first trip to America for each of the students. Viewing the country through the lens of life in Cairo, an impoverished community with a complex history, would certainly lend itself to a unique American experience. Linda Frazier, of Cairo, a local program coordinator with International Student Exchange and coordinated the students placements with host families, said she believes that it has been a good experience overall for the student body and the families, with the cultural exchange benefiting people from Cairo as well as the foreign exchange students. They are leaving Cairo with a lot of good memories, she said. The students finishing up their year in Cairo over the next few weeks came from South Korea, Spain, China and Vietnam. Fraizer said she was told this was the first time in at least 40 years that Cairo has hosted foreign exchange students. No, no, no dont come to this place, just go somewhere else, said Xing Gao, of China. Im sorry, but no. I was in New York last week and it was awesome. I loved that kind of big city and coming home to Cairo is a whole lot different. I wanted to come to America because Ive heard America is all types of cultures together and it has better education. Actually, in Cairo, thats not true. Many of the buildings and homes in the heart of town are boarded up and dilapidated, two large public housing complexes fell into such deplorable conditions that federal officials have moved to town to address the problem, and the communitys only grocery store closed at the end of 2015. While there is a great sense of optimism among community leaders in Cairo who are making attempts to give the town a future and signs of progress in the works Gao said she would not recommend that foreign exchange students spend a year in Cairo at this time. Gao stressed that while she felt this way about the city, she really appreciated and enjoyed her time with her host family and the friends she made. Shes just ready to move on. Gao said she will continue her studies in America as a foreign exchange student next year, but will be moving West, into the home of a host family near Seattle. To be honest, I really dont like this town because some of the people have bad behaviors, she said. I wish someone could change the situation, and provide better education for those people to understand how life is. Of her school work, she said it was easy. I dont feel like the teachers want to teach us and the students dont want to learn, she said. They dont have any idea what they want and it makes it hard for the teachers to teach them. Gao did say that her first impressions of Cairo softened as time went on. At the beginning, I really didnt like this environment, but now I have a lot of friends, she said. Gao said she learned that there were many wonderful people living here even though the city has many problems. She said she hopes to keep in touch with the friends she made, but she doesnt plan on visiting them in Cairo. I will not come back to Cairo again, she said. Hopefully not. Jowon Park, of South Korea, expressed similar concerns about the community and school. He said he learned a little bit during his time in Cairo but not much. He was a bit disappointed by the size of the community in which he was placed for his first experience in America. He called Cairo too small. Andres Teruel Fernandez, of Spain, said he felt more positively about the experience, and overall enjoyed his time in Cairo. He also said that the he was disappointed that he was not challenged at school. I didnt learn almost anything, he said. In Spain, we learn more stuff. He said that what was being taught to 11th graders in Cairo he had already learned in the 9th grade. But he said that what he gained in relationships was of great value to him. The people are different, Teruel said. People are friendlier. You can get to know somebody easier than in Spain. He also said he greatly enjoyed his host family and some of the teachers and community leaders he met. I made a lot of friends, he said. I want to stay in contact with all of them. Teruel also said he was able to greatly improve his English speaking abilities during his time here, which was one of his primary goals for the year. At the start of the school year, there were five foreign exchange students enrolled in Cairo schools, though a student from Slovakia transferred to Marion High School and finished there because of a change in circumstances with her host family. The students completed their sophomore or junior years here, and are 16 to 17 years old. Frazier said the students participated in various activities throughout the year in the community and the school. That included Black History Month programs in February and an international fashion show. Through the examination of things like art and fashion, Frazier said, We talked about the connection between all people, and how we are connected. They also have been painting a mural of their home country flags at the Cairo Womens Shelter. Giang Le of Vietnam, said she had a lot of fun with my friends and enjoyed activities with her host family. But of Cairo, she said, Its a small town. Theres nothing to do. Next year, Le said she will be placed with a host family near Los Angeles and shes looking forward to her next chapter studying in America. The governor wants a clean 2016 and 2017 budget bill. So do we. So do you. The governor has grown tired of one chamber or the other passing an appropriations bill without regard to how it fits into the states whole financial picture. We understand. When state voters elected Rauner in 2014, it was primarily in reaction to years and years no, make that decades and decades of status quo dedication to spending more than we take in. And yet, the governor has proposed increased state support for K-12 Illinois schools and late last month signed the higher education stopgap spending bill designed to keep state universities and community colleges afloat through the summer. Every state expense category has received some level of appropriation for the current 2016 fiscal year, except of course those areas of human services that support those most in need. Why is it that those most without a voice in the political process are the ones last in line to receive necessary funding? Silly question. They are last in line to receive funding PRECISELY BECAUSE they are those without a voice. A $700 million human services stopgap appropriations bill Senate Bill 2038 passed both houses of the legislature last week with broad bi-partisan support. Our Republican senator, Dave Luechtefeld, and our Democratic senator, Gary Forby, were sponsors of the bill. It passed in the House by a 111-0 vote and passed the Senate by a 56-0 vote. It was sent to the governors desk on Wednesday, where it continues to sit. We urge the governor to sign SB2038 bright and early tomorrow morning. Why? Because all 167 yay votes in the General Assembly realize that the $700 million contains zero dollars from the states General Revenue Fund. Thats correct: the out-of-balance state revenue and expense picture is in no way impacted by this bill. Its money that MUST be spent on human services. $450 million comes from a dedicated Commitment to Human Services Fund while the remaining $250 million comes from other state and federal (pass-through) funds. Ironic that the Governor is hesitant to release money from a Commitment to Human Services fund, dont you think? Perhaps a commitment to winning has clouded his sight. The bill includes funding albeit it at a 46-cents-on-the-dollar rate, for the following: sexual assault treatment and prevention, veterans rehabilitation, community-based services to youth, cancer screenings, services to the elderly and a host of others. The bill also funds costs associated with the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center for its Methamphetamine Pilot Program. Many, if not most, of the funded programs have been shown to reduce costs associated with poor health, homelessness, drug abuse and recidivism. Those that receive these services do not have the financial resources to hire lobbyists that will keep their issues prominent or allow their collective voices to be heard. They must rely on their legislators and their governor to do the right thing. Our legislators have done their part. We urge you to call the governors office 217-782-0244 and demand that he do the same. KABUL, Afghanistan The killing of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour in a U.S. drone strike was greeted Sunday by Kabul's political leadership as a game-changer in efforts to end the long insurgent war plaguing Afghanistan. In a rare show of unity, President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah both welcomed the news of Mansour's death as the removal of a man who unleashed violence against innocent civilians in Afghanistan and was widely regarded as an obstacle to peace within the militant group. Mansour, believed to be in his 50s, was killed when a U.S. drone fired on his vehicle in the southwestern Pakistan province of Baluchistan, although there were conflicting accounts whether the airstrike occurred Friday or Saturday. He had emerged as the successor to Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, whose 2013 death was only revealed last summer. Mansour "engaged in deception, concealment of facts, drug-smuggling and terrorism while intimidating, maiming and killing innocent Afghans," Ghani said in a statement on his official Twitter account. "A new opportunity presents itself to those Taliban who are willing to end war and bloodshed," he added. Mansour was "the main figure preventing the Taliban joining the peace process," Abdullah said, speaking live on television as he chaired a Cabinet meeting. "From the day he took over the Taliban following the death of Mullah Omar, he intensified violence against ordinary citizens, especially in Afghanistan." Ghani and Abdullah serve in a so-called national unity government brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry following a divisive 2014 election. As president and chief executive, the two rarely see eye-to-eye on even the most important decisions for a country beset by war for almost 40 years, including appointments to key security posts. On Sunday, at least, they seemed to be on the same page. Kerry hailed the news of Mansour's demise even before it was officially confirmed an indication of how much Washington has wearied of the Taliban's 15-year war with Kabul. "Peace is what we want. Mansour was a threat to that effort," Kerry said, speaking from Myanmar. "He also was directly opposed to peace negotiations and to the reconciliation process. It is time for Afghans to stop fighting and to start building a real future together." His death clears the way for a succession battle, the movement's second in less than a year. Whoever wins that battle will largely determine the direction for both the Taliban and the beleaguered Afghan peace process. Mansour leaves behind a checkered history during his brief reign. He ascended to the leadership shrouded in controversy and accusations from many of his own senior commanders. That internal bitterness stemmed from the revelation last summer of Mullah Omar's death more than two years earlier a fact that Mansour and his clique seem to have hidden not only from the outside world but from other senior Taliban commanders. Mansour's subsequent formal coronation as Taliban leader prompted open revolt inside the group for several months, with members of Mullah Omar's family rebelling and Taliban ground forces splitting into factional warfare. But Mansour patiently mended the rift, appointing as his deputy Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the powerful semi-independent al-Qaida-affiliated Haqqani network faction. Haqqani helped bring Mullah Omar's brother and son back into the fold in exchange for senior leadership positions. While he played peacemaker inside the Taliban, Mansour pursued an aggressive line with the Kabul government, shunning all overtures for peace and launching a series of bold attacks. In September 2015, Taliban fighters surprised Afghan security forces and overran the northern city of Kunduz the first time since their regime was overthrown in the 2001 U.S. invasion that they had captured a provincial capital. They held the city for four days before retreating in the face of a coordinated U.S.-backed government assault, but the end result was an enduring embarrassment for Ghani's government. In the aftermath, Mansour boasted about the prowess of his men and promised that the Taliban's return to power in Kabul was only a matter of time. Mansour's death inside Pakistan could further damage the already deeply suspicious relationship between Kabul and Islamabad. Afghan and U.S. officials have repeatedly accused Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency of keeping the Taliban leadership safe in cities across the porous and lawless border. A senior Afghan official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, complained before Mansour's death was announced that Taliban fighters were being taken from the battlefields of Afghanistan to Pakistani hospitals. In a statement late Sunday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry repeated the country's protest of drone attacks on its territory. It also repeated Pakistan's preference to settle the protracted war in Afghanistan through talks, calling on the Taliban to renounce violence in favor of negotiations. "While further investigations are being carried out, Pakistan wishes to once again state that the drone attack was a violation of its sovereignty, an issue which has been raised with the United States in the past as well," it said. Ghani has not hidden his own frustrations with Islamabad. His government initially embraced Pakistan's role as a liaison to the Taliban and engaged in four-nation meetings with Pakistan, China and the U.S. seeking to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table. But he has publicly soured on Islamabad: At the most recent quartet meeting, Kabul declined to send a high-level delegation and was represented only by the ambassador to Pakistan. Political analyst Haroun Mir noted Mansour's apparent confidence in moving around the Pakistani province of Baluchistan in an unarmored car with no convoy, decoys or other security precautions. That shows "the Taliban are active and move freely with the support of the Pakistani authorities," Mir said. Mansour's death could open a new chapter in Kabul's quest for enduring peace with the Taliban, Mir said. The time has come, he added, for "the Afghan government to get some benefit out of this, in bringing the Taliban into the peace process." Whether the Taliban will be open to those fresh overtures depends on who succeeds Mansour. Afghan officials say meetings have already begun in the Pakistani city of Quetta among the Taliban elite to discuss the direction the movement will take. Mullah Mohammad Yaqub, the son of Mullah Omar, is popular, charismatic and believed by some officials to favor participation in peace talks. He controls the Taliban's military commissions in 15 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces. Haqqani is another candidate. His network has deep pockets and is responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan, including one in Kabul on April 19 that killed 64 people and injured more than 300. In the meantime, the drone strike that killed Mansour has sent a message to other extremist leaders not only Taliban but others active in Afghanistan and the region that they are no longer safe on Pakistani territory. "It was a message to Pakistan that whenever the USA wants, it can attack whoever they want inside Pakistan," said independent analyst Ahmad Saedi. "It was a message to the Taliban that no one is safe, and if America wants, it can target anyone, anywhere, at any time." ___ Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez in Kabul, Afghanistan, Kathy Gannon in Islamabad and Matthew Lee in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, contributed to this report. SCHENECTADY, N.Y. SI Group, a leading global developer and manufacturer of chemical intermediates, specialty resins and solutions, was presented with the Responsible Care Facility Safety Award by the American Chemistry Council. The Responsible Care Facility Safety Award is presented to companies with exemplary performance in employee health and safety. ACC Responsible Care award winners are selected by a committee made up of internal and external experts. This award recognizes our relentless and long-standing commitment to protecting our employees, communities and the environment in which we all live, said Frank Bozich, president and CEO at SI Group. This is our 25th year as a Responsible Care company, and as we look to the future, we remain unwavering in our commitment to safety. Recently, SI Group received a silver award for corporate social responsibility from EcoVadis, an international organization that provides sustainability ratings for global supply chains. SI Group was ranked among the top 13 percent of more than 25,000 worldwide companies assessed by EcoVadis. Responsible Care fast facts: Responsible Care is a global initiative that began in Canada in 1984, and is practiced today by 58 national and regional associations in more than 60 economies around the world. ACC member companies have invested $14 billion to further enhance security at their facilities over the past decade. Responsible Care companies have reduced process safety incidents by 53 percent since 1995. Responsible Care companies are committed to worker safety, and are nearly five times safer than the average of the U.S. manufacturing sector as a whole, and three times as safe as the business of chemistry overall. From 1988 to 2013, Responsible Care companies have reduced hazardous releases to the air, land and water by more than 75 percent. Responsible Care companies have improved their energy efficiency by 24 percent since 1992. The Regional Medical Center is asking Orangeburg County Council to provide money for the construction of an on-campus urgent care center. We have a huge percentage of folks using the emergency room for non-emergent care, RMC Vice President of Strategy and Development Brenda Williams said. An urgent care center, would decompress traffic into the emergency room, she said. Orangeburg County Council and RMC officials held a joint meeting Wednesday to discuss various issues, including the 1 percent capital projects sales tax. The county has used the money for a number of projects, from paving roads to building aquatic centers. County Council plans on asking voters to renew the tax in November, saying it could bring in an additional $72 million for construction projects. RMC is asking for the county to use some of that money for the urgent care center. Williams said the urgent care center would decrease wait times, improve patient satisfaction and be less expensive for the patient and the hospital. The hospitals proposal calls for a 9,100-square-foot, $1.8 million urgent care center to be located near the front of the hospital. The plan includes nine exam rooms, a lab, ultrasound and radiology/tomography room as well as two nursing stations and office space. The overwhelming majority of our patients that go to the emergency room are non-emergent patients, RMC President Tom Dandridge said. We could probably see 12,000 to 15,000 patients a year out of 67,000. RMC trustee Betty Henderson said an urgent care center would save the hospital money. We have a lot of indigent patients and when they see them in the emergency room, we absorb that cost. But when we had an urgent care, costs would be reduced and it would change that bottom line, Henderson said. Trustee Dr. Franklin Coulter, the chief of the medical staff, said the primary reason for the increase in emergency room care is the shortage of primary care services in Orangeburg and Calhoun counties. People use that there as their primary care provider, Coulter said. Something like this could divert them to a place where they could get primary care. Williams said there is also a greater trend among the younger generation to not have a primary care doctor, meaning the emergency room is where they receive primary care. There is an urgent care center at the Family Health Center in Orangeburg as well as hospital-owned centers in Bamberg and Santee. Williams said a for-profit group has made inquiries about opening an urgent care center in the area. She says she doesnt know the name of the company, but an Orangeburg business was approached about land availability. We feel like that might have a negative impact on us, she said. Williams said she does not expect the hospitals plans to have a negative impact on Family Health Center. The hospitals request was presented as information and no action was taken. Wednesdays joint meeting was held in an effort to update Orangeburg Council County members on the hospitals financial situation. Orangeburg and Calhoun counties own the hospital. RMC Chief Financial Officer Liza Porterfield presented council members with an overview of the hospitals struggles with Medicaid application backlogs and the impact on hospital funding. Porterfield said the S.C. Department of Health and Human Services did a system conversion for its Medicaid eligibility system about 21 months ago. As a result, the hospital has about $14.4 million tied up in backlogs, she said. Normally the backlog runs about $5 million. The backlog was as high as $16.1 million. The hospital will receive about 20 percent, or $2.5 million, of the money. Porterfield says the hospital continues to work with SCDHHS to rectify the issue. In addition, hospital officials reminded council members that the RMC is also dealing with the states decision not to expand Medicaid. Dandridge said the hospital had prepared for about $72.5 million in cuts from Medicare reimbursement and federal disproportionate share funds between 2014-2020. Disproportionate share money is given to hospitals for serving indigent patients. The cuts would have been offset by $94.3 million, if the state had expanded Medicaid. I can live without Medicaid expansion, but give us the cuts back, Dandridge said. These cuts were baked into the original bill. Dandridge said there are efforts on the state level to see if federal funds can flow into the state without using them for Medicaid expansion. In Arkansas, the state accepted federal money for use on a private exchange, he said. Dandridge said in the last few years, about 70 percent of the hospitals which have closed have been in states that have not expanded Medicaid. Count Councilmen Clyde Livingston and Willie B. Owens wondered what the impact on the RMC will be down the road if Medicaid is not expanded. Do you think that if you cut things and things stay like they are, will we be able to survive? Livingston asked. It will be a challenge, Dandridge said, adding that increased revenue from the hospitals agreement with the Medical University of South Carolina and deferring costs will be key components of the hospitals survival. For instance, he said the MUSC partnership will enable the hospital to provide bariatric surgery, telestroke surgery, oncology services, additional training for RMC doctors, an intervention cardiology program, orthopedic services, a comprehensive breast surgery program and increased surgical expertise. Theres also co-branding and marketing. We are doing a number of things and we add to it every week, Dandridge said. We are trying to put more bandwidth on the ground here so they can do more things here. Williams said the goal of the MUSC partnership is to develop service lines in Orangeburg and keep patients here rather than going to Columbia or Charleston. More intensive and complicated procedures would still be done at another hospital. The joint meeting comes at a challenging financial time for the hospital. Last month, RMC cut about 33 positions. In addition, 27 employees had their hours reduced and about 30 vacant positions will not be filled. RMCs staffing efficiency plan is expected to save $4.9 million a year. Officials say no services or programs will be eliminated. Earlier this month, the institution saw its Standard & Poors credit rating downgraded from BBB+ to a BBB. The downgrade was attributed to the hospitals weaker-than-expected operating performance and weakening balance sheet. RMCs days cash on hand is below median levels. Those issues were somewhat offset by relatively light leverage, a solid unrestricted reserves-to-debt ratio and good maximum annual debt service coverage. The S&P report says the hospital has a stable outlook, expressing confidence it will enact improvement initiatives and generate improved coverage and reserve levels. In recent months, the hospitals financial situation has improved. The improvement has been attributed to a turn-around plan implemented by the hospital a few months ago. As part of the turn-around plan, the hospital began reducing overtime and some full-time work schedules; eliminated agency and contract staff; focused on flexing of staff and only filled emergent vacant positions. Council and trustees went into executive session to discuss the hospitals management contract with QHR, negotiations incident to proposed contractual arrangements and employee layoffs. The hospital pays QHR to manage RMC. South Carolina is under court order to improve the quality of education in its rural school districts. Doing so is the key to development in the poorest and least developed parts of the state. Bowman Sen. John Matthews recently told Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5 trustees how the Senate intends to deal with education inequality. Matthews is one of a five-member team appointed by the Senate to come up with solutions in the wake of a 2014 S.C. Supreme Court ruling that the state has failed to provide a minimally adequate education for children in rural and poor counties. A top priority is attracting and keeping good teachers in rural districts that do not pay well and offer too little compared to urban and wealthier districts in measures of quality of life. School facilities must also be improved. And while critics like to point out that money wont improve education, Matthews is right in the assessment that adequate funding is essential. Money, for example, is the main thing needed to attract teachers to the poorer districts. On average, teacher salaries in South Carolinas rural districts are about $5,000 less than in the states top 10 districts. Spending money to make substantive change can pay off for South Carolina. New research from Stanford economist Eric Hanushek finds states that invest in school improvement can reap big rewards over the next several decades by improving the skills of their workforce. Hanushek calculates major economic gain over the next 80 years for states that invest now in school improvement. If all states improved schools enough to increase student achievement to the level of the nations top state, Minnesota, the overall gains would be $76 trillion, or more than four times the current national GDP. By 2095, the GDP would be 36 percent larger than without these school-quality improvements. If each state instead meets the achievement level of the best state in its region, gains would still amount to roughly $35 trillion, more than twice the nations current GDP. If each state achieved basic level academic proficiency over a 10-year period, gains would equal about $32 trillion. To estimate the impact of knowledge capital on GDP, Hanusek and his associates compared the rate of GDP growth from 1970 to 2010 with the average knowledge capital of a states workers. For calculations of economic impact, their study estimated the expected growth of a states economy if the current knowledge capital of workers were to remain unchanged and compared the growth path to the one that would be achieved with better schools. The impact of a better-educated population is not immediate, as it takes time for students to finish their education, to enter the workforce and to realize their full potential. Therefore, Hanusek discounted future gains to present value so any near-term gains are given more weight than gains in the more distant future. Making those near-term gains are vital in South Carolina. We must quickly reverse the trend of too few educated people even as we immediately address training adults who have not achieved adequate education. A Lumina Foundation study found just 40 percent of South Carolina's working-age adults those 25 to 64 years old have an industry certification or degree beyond high school, ranking the state 40th nationwide. Twelve percent lack even a high school diploma. S.C. Education Oversight Committee Director Melanie Barton recently told a Senate panel the state must ramp up efforts to educate and retrain adults or jobs will vanish. "That's why it's getting harder and harder for businesses and industry to attract people," she said. "Even if we graduated 100 percent of our kids ready for college tomorrow, it's still not enough. You've got to address the adults." While the Legislature is working on rural school improvement, it is also advancing legislation that aims to match training with businesses' workforce needs. Fixing roads has been identified as a top priority in South Carolina in 2016 and beyond. Substantive education improvement is every bit as important. Legislators promised ahead of the 2016 session that real action would be taken on education in the wake of the court decision on rural schools. With economists such as Hanushek saying all-out efforts at school improvement could reap rewards up to growing South Carolinas GDP by 41 percent by 2095, the decisions being made today matter a lot. Despite several flirtations over the years, Donald Trump did not burst onto the political scene until 2011, when he began viciously questioning the birthplace and academic record of our nations first black president. He has blasted his way to presumptive nominee by leveling irresponsible attacks against his opponents, nativist attacks against immigrants, cowardly attacks against American prisoners of war, sexist attacks against women, bigoted attacks against Muslims and chilling attacks against the free press. Republican voters seem to be responding to this ruinous recklessness. Trump has defended his shameful rhetoric by decrying political correctness, insisting ludicrously that the very offensiveness of his rants is proof of their validity. The so-called Republican establishment shouldnt be surprised. Trumps ascendance is a predictable consequence of the reckless course the Republican Party has been on for a long time. The base of todays Republican Party was formed in large measure by voters who left the Democratic Party in droves in response to President Harry Trumans Fair Deal policies, and the national Democratic Partys embrace of civil rights. They aligned themselves with Barry Goldwaters candidacy and opposition to the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and Richard Nixons Southern Strategy in 1968. Many of these voters flocked to Ronald Reagan in 1980. They became known as Reagan Democrats, in part because of Reagans derision of welfare queens and strapping young bucks. Reagans first speech after his nomination in 1980 was delivered in Philadelphia, Mississippi, a place that became internationally known because of the brutal murders of three civil rights workers just 16 years earlier. There, the newly minted nominee recklessly declared, I believe in states rights. The right-wing Republican coalition that prevailed in seven of the 10 presidential elections between 1968 and 2004 was fragile. The partys policies did not benefit their working-class voters. To keep these voters in the fold, they stoked their fears with reckless speeches insulting to blacks, Hispanics and other minorities. In 1988, Lee Atwater, on behalf of George H.W. Bush, recklessly exploited racial fears with the Willie Horton ad. Newt Gingrich and Frank Luntz recklessly exploited fears over gun safety in 1994, and Karl Rove, on behalf of George W. Bush, recklessly exploited fears of marriage equality in 2004. From the Reagan administration through the second Bush administration, incomes and wealth increased dramatically for those at the top of the economic spectrum, but flattened for everyone else. And in September 2008, the economy crashed, jettisoning 800,000 jobs a month. The night before President Barack Obamas inauguration in January 2009, Republican officials and operatives met over dinner and doubled down on their feckless trickle-down fantasy, and recklessly plotted to block the new president at every turn, regardless of the merit of his proposals or the consequences to our nations welfare. Republican obstructionism reached the peak of its recklessness on the issue of the Affordable Care Act, an act modeled after the state of Massachusetts health plan, a plan proposed by their 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney. It included an individual mandate, which originated with the conservative Heritage Foundation and was supported in the 1990s by Republicans, including Newt Gingrich. But if Barack Obama supported something, Republicans had to oppose it, and have done so in recklessly apocalyptic terms. When Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in 2011, they failed to offer anything but more feckless trickle-down doggerel and reckless demonization of Obama. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell frankly admitted that Republicans main goal was to make Obama a one-term president. And when that failed, they recklessly shut down the government. Trumps Republican primary campaign was successful for several reasons, most attributable to his feckless proposals and reckless rhetoric. First, Trump more effectively unleashed the rage that Republicans before him ignited and inflamed, although several of his 16 primary opponents tried. For example, Jeb Bush advocated religious discrimination against Syrian refugees, Ben Carson compared the Affordable Care Act to slavery, Marco Rubio accused Obama of intentionally trying to weaken the United States, and Ted Cruz ostracized transgender Americans. Trumps success also came in part because he aggressively acknowledged the failure of the Republican establishment to improve the lives of their lower-income voters. None of his opponents who were also elected officials could make this case because they bore responsibility for those failures. Although Trump was able to identify and benefit from the problem, he has not offered any substantive solutions. The proposals he has put forth are substantively feckless and dangerously reckless. One would have thought that Congressional Republicans would reject Trumps recklessness, but, unfortunately, they are embracing him. Hopefully voters at large will not allow Trumps divisive policies and hackneyed rhetoric to find solace in decries of political correctness. ----- Congressman James Clyburn represents South Carolinas 6th District. For months the American election was about personal advantage. Could insults drive political rivals out of the race? Were two famous families who first tangled in 1992 destined to fight again in the latest incarnation of the Hatfields (the Bushes) and the McCoys (the Clintons)? Was the support of the establishment enough to prevail in both parties? Unlike the equivalent questions in most American elections, we learned the answer to those matters in swift order. What remains, however, are three far more fundamental questions, the answers to which will shape American politics for the remainder of the decade and perhaps through the first quarter of the century. They are questions that are far more urgent, far more significant, than any political questions that emerged in roughly the last half-century, from 1966 to the present. Here they are: -- Is one of the sturdy pillars of American life, a political party that this year marks its 160th birthday, in hopeless disarray and ceaseless contention, or is this merely one of those regular reckonings that established institutions experience -- and endure? The Republicans have contributed 18 presidents to our history, including Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, for the most part sturdy guardians of our values, as well as William McKinley, Richard Nixon and George W. Bush, wartime presidents and also important parts of our history. It is incontestable that America has prospered when it had a strong and vibrant Republican Party, and so the question that emerges from this year's demolition derby is whether the GOP is so fractured that it is in the position the Whigs were in by 1853, when their last president, Millard Fillmore, left office. There is no obvious answer to that question, but there are obvious stakes to the inquiry. The Republican Party has been as much a strong supporter of Main Street business values as it has been an enabler to Wall Street business excess. It has been a voice for free trade in the era when American economic power was at its zenith. In its best days, during the 1860s and the 1960s, it was a reliable, brave defender of minorities and, though the other party thinks of itself as the instrument that extended and expanded Americans' rights, the GOP was an indispensable element of the anti-slavery and civil rights movements. It is not only the ascendancy of a startling outsider, Donald J. Trump, that threatens the party -- or, if you are a political cubist and choose to look at it from another angle, that is transforming the party from the inside, beginning at July's convention in Cleveland. Three of the Final Four GOP candidates -- let's include Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida in this list, but exclude Gov. John Kasich of Ohio -- portrayed themselves as angry insurgents, the posture they retained until it was in their interest to appeal to the party establishment to stop Trump. These three -- Trump, Cruz and Rubio -- saw a rot within a party that repeatedly spoke for dramatic change but just as reliably settled for incremental change, the modern equivalents of the Republicans of the Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson years. Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona called these men "dime-store New Dealers." The contempt today's pugilists have for GOP accommodators is many times greater than that possessed even by Goldwater. -- Are the traditions and folkways that have governed American politics since the Civil War finally outmoded, and have we entered a new era of political style? In the past, changes in political style have been gradual. William Henry Harrison, inaugurated in 1841 as the first Whig president, emphasized a (mostly imaginary) personal story of log-cabin origins. Andrew Jackson became president in 1829 with a burst of common-man zeal. Theodore Roosevelt ascended to the presidency in 1901 with an explosion of energy. John Kennedy won the 1960 election in part because of his telegenic profile in a television age and his perceived vigor at a time when Americans expected action in a Cold War world. If Trump loses the November election, the contest will be remembered as a referendum on his personal style (verdict: invective and insult are insufficient instruments of political power and crudeness is repudiated). If he prevails, however, it may mean the end of what we might think of as the cavalier era in American civic life, when politicians did not ridicule their rivals, nor append to them biting nicknames, nor speak openly of the personal morals of the spouses of political opponents. (All these prevailed in the Jackson years, when the morality of both the wife of the president and the wife of the secretary of war were challenged in harsh, unforgiving terms -- but largely disappeared later.) -- Regardless of whether the GOP survives in its current form, is there a substantial ideological readjustment underway? It became obvious during the Bill Clinton years that the era of broad American political parties was in eclipse and that the dream of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who in 1938 tried (but failed) to bring ideological discipline to his own party, finally had been realized. But if the Republican rump goes the Trump way -- a trail blazed more by instinct and impulse than by ideology -- what is the new character of the GOP? If, for this election cycle and perhaps beyond, a slice of the Republicans breaks away, what does that mean for the two-party system? In the 1890s, the Democrats co-opted the nascent Populist Party. In the 2010s, which faction of the GOP will co-opt the other, or might the two wings be irreconcilable? The American political system has been under stress before -- in the 1910s, when Theodore Roosevelt led the breakaway Bull Moosers; in 1948, when Strom Thurmond and his Dixiecrats broke away from the Democrats and when the extreme liberals veered off under former Vice President Henry A. Wallace; and in 1968, when former Gov. George C. Wallace broke from the Democrats and won five states and 46 electoral votes on the American Independent Party line. We will not know for decades whether this is one of those realigning "critical elections" that political scientists identify and study. We do know now, however, that important questions are in the air, and that not all of them include a wall with Mexico or free college tuition. ----- David M. Shribman is executive editor of the Post-Gazette (dshribman@post-gazette.com, 412 263-1890). Follow him on Twitter at ShribmanPG. Orangeburg Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter is concerned about growing animosity in the Democratic Party presidential race. As an uncommitted superdelegate to the national convention, she will have a say in the race come this summer. Until then, she wants cooler heads to prevail. I am very, very disturbed about the reported threats, Cobb-Hunter said regarding confrontations at the Nevada Democratic Partys state convention a week ago. That crosses the line. The potential is there for the Nevada incident to damage the Democratic Party as a whole, she said. We all just need to calm down. The Nevada convention was full of tension and anger as 64 of Sen. Bernie Sanders supporters were prevented from serving as delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Sanders stood behind his supporters, who accused the state party of intentionally rigging the process in favor of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who won the states caucuses earlier this year. If the Democratic Party is to be successful in November, it is imperative that all state parties treat our campaign supporters with fairness and the respect that they have earned, Sanders said. Supporters of Sanders believed they would be able to send the same amount of delegates as Clinton, but when it seemed that the Democratic leadership at the convention was using its power to prevent a fair process, they began yelling, cursing loudly and throwing chairs. The phone number and home address of Roberta Lange, the Nevada Democratic Partys chair leader, was leaked and led to several voice mails and threatening messages sent to her since the convention. In his current position trailing in delegate count, Sanders is hoping to persuade superdelegates at the Democratic National Convention to switch from pledges to Clinton. Superdelegates are Democratic Party leaders and elected officials who are not bound by primary or caucus results in their votes at the convention. I dont see any chance of Sen. Sanders convincing superdelegates at this point to switch their support to him, Cobb-Hunter said. Incidents such as Nevada, she said, dont help in convincing superdelegates. Cobb-Hunter is uncommitted to either candidate. She said that until the convention, she plans to remain as such. Lets focus on policy and not personality, Cobb-Hunter said. While neither candidate presently has enough pledged delegates to win the presidential nomination, Clinton holds a sizable lead. Yet Sanders is polling better than Clinton in a matchup against Republican candidate Donald Trump. In order for Sanders to come out on top, he would need to win upcoming primaries by significant margins. California is seen as pivotal to his hopes to catch Clinton in pledged delegates and to persuade superdelegates to change allegiances. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Azerbaijani Foreign Affairs Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has met with President of the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly, former FM of the Republic of Macedonia Srgjan Kerim on the sidelines of the 16th Doha Global Forum. They discussed the current state and prospects of Azerbaijan-UN cooperation, as well as bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Macedonia. The two also exchanged views over international and regional issues. /By Azertac/ Omniyat Group, a leading real estate developer in the UAE, has awarded the enabling works contract to NSCC International for its Dh1-billion ($272 million) Langham Place Hotel and Residences in Downtown Dubai. Mark Phoenix, managing director, Omniyat Group, said: The commencement of construction and award of the enabling contract to Dubai-based NSCC is a significant milestone towards our commitment to completing our 2,000 keys of uber-luxury hotels and five-star serviced residences before Dubai hosts the Expo 2020. As a well-established curator of the worlds greatest designers and hospitality brands, it gives me great pleasure to see the Langham Place moving forward to take a special place within our $4 billion development portfolio. He added: Mobilisation work will begin in one week and will be complete in the first quarter 2017. Omniyat Group is currently working on issuing the main construction works package tender and expects to award it by end of 2016. To ensure investors get immediate return on their investment, the group has unveiled a guaranteed income programme that offers 20 per cent returns over the first two years of investment. The Langham Place Downtown Dubai meets two of the utmost requirements of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) property investors worldwide owning an ultra-luxury branded development, and being in the heart of the tourist and business centre. We are releasing our residential units for sale in Dubai and Doha on May 30th and are confident of a strong pick up from local, regional and international investors who appreciate owning a piece of one of our trophy assets, Phoenix emphasised. Prime Location Located in Dubais dynamic central business district, Business Bay, The Langham Place offers a panoramic view of Dubai Water Canal and offers easy access to Downtown Dubai, Mohammad Bin Rashid City, World Trade Centre and Dubai International Financial Centre. The Langham Place hotel will cover an area of 9,028 sq m and have a built-up area of 65,025 sq m. The project will include 167 hotel keys whilst the Langham Place Residences will have 239 fully-serviced five-star residences, ranging from deluxe to one-, two- and three-bedroom suites, and duplex penthouses. Residents will be offered an array of amenities including a swimming pool, state-of-the-art gymnasium, a spa, childrens facilities, food and beverage outlets, a business centre, housekeeping and room service and retail shops. In August 2015, Omniyat Group and Hong Kong-based Langham Hospitality Group signed a deal to create the prestigious Langham Place Downtown Dubai. The world-renowned Langham Place operates over 8,000 rooms in over 30 properties located in major cities over four continents. - TradeArabia News Service Construction industry leaders from across the GCC will seek to identify strategies for tackling the changes taking place in the region as a result of the fall in oil prices at the upcoming Meed Construction Leadership Summit (MCLS) in Dubai, UAE, The conference, scheduled on May 25 at the Conrad Hotel, will put the spotlight on markets that offer the strongest growth opportunities for GCC construction companies as well as assessing new ways of delivering projects at a time when governments are reviewing their spending plans. The GCC construction market is facing downward pressure from cuts in government spending, late payments, increased overseas competition, bureaucracy and staffing challenges. As a result, the market is being forced to reinvent itself, especially in areas such as financing projects where public-private partnerships (PPP) have seen increasingly broader support. A lack of liquidity is the biggest issue facing the GCC construction industry today, remarked Meed editorial director Richard Thompson. "And the central theme of this years MCLS will be identifying new and alternative ways to finance projects. In particular, the event will look at the opportunity of governments and private investors coming together to deliver key projects using public private partnerships (PPP)," stated Thompson. "These have worked well in the power sector over the past decade and the opportunity now is to adapt the model for social infrastructure and transportation projects. The GCC construction industry is at an important turning point and this years MCLS is a vital opportunity for the industry to discuss how it can respond to the new market landscape," he added. Mashreq Banks executive vice president and group head of International Banking, John Iossifidis along with Frank Beckers, NBADs managing director, head of Project Finance Advisory for Global Banking and Steve Perry, the global head of Debt Markets and Syndications for First Gulf Banks Wholesale Banking Group will have a candid discussion on the reality of the bank liquidity situation and how businesses should look to finance projects in the current era of low oil prices. They will also address the impact of low oil prices on bank liquidity for projects within the region and how businesses should look at financing their projects in this new economic era. There is a huge opportunity for both private and contract financing to step in. There has been a massive asset depletion in the GCC on account of the drop in oil prices, said Mashreq Banks Iossifidis. "On top of this the GCC has to re-finance $94 billion of debt over the next two years of which $52 billion is bonds and $42 billion is syndicated loans, the large concentration of which is in the UAE and Qatar," he added. Much of this will be re-financed through issuance of Sovereign paper. This compounded with tightening regional liquidity, recent downgrades and rising rates presents a perfect opportunity for both private funding and contract financing to cherry pick quality assets to align the risk-reward ratio in a smart manner Bill Smith, a partner at Pinsent Masons, will moderate a discussion with local and international public and private sector organisations that will discuss the true meaning of PPPs and whether contractor financing or export credit solves the liquidity issues facing the region. David Barwell, the chief executive Middle East at Aecom; Campbell Grey, managing director, Faithful+Gould; Ayman Abutaleb, an RTA financial expert in the Rail Agency CEOs office and Ali Sherwani from UK Export Finance will participate. Though there has been a spate of bad news from all across the region ranging from jobs cuts to delayed payments, among others; there is still some glimmer of hope, said experts. Oil prices have risen 80 per cent since January. World demand is growing. Crude could be about $60 a barrel in 2018. By that point, value added tax (VAT) will have been imposed in the six-country GCC market, adding at least $20 billion to government incomes across the Gulf. National oil company restructurings will be complete and trade with Iran should have recovered. The UAE will be looking forward to Dubais Expo 2020. In the meantime, the market will be tougher for everyone. It is going to be a long, slow summer for the GCC. But for those with the capacity to wait, 2018 is the year it will start getting better, said the experts. How the market can survive until then will be a key focus of the summits agenda, with top construction leaders, such as Samer Khoury, the president (Engineering & Construction) CCC; Tom Hasker, the managing director, Property, Atkins; Pierre Sironval, the managing director, Six Construct; and Sameer Daoud, the managing director, Arcadis discussing geopolitical and economic outlook for the construction in the Gulf. They will be joined by over 250 of the regions leading construction executives including; Ashghal, Arabtech Jardaneh, China State Construction Engineering Corporation, Parsons, CH2M, and Atkins to deliberate the challenges and help stakeholders navigate the new construction landscape to succeed in 2016 and beyond.-TradeArabia News Service The Sustainable City, the regions first fully integrated sustainable community in Dubai has won top honours at the Emirates Green Building Council 2016 Awards held in the UAE emirate recently. The major advanced ecological community concept from Diamond Developers was declared winner in the Green Building of the Year category. Attended by Terri Wills, CEO at World Green Building Council, and representatives of the Mena Green Building Council Network, the awards ceremony and gala dinner were held last week at the Murooj Rotana Hotel in Dubai. Diamond Developers chief executive Faris Saeed and executive director Wassim Adlouni received the accolade from Saeed Al Alabbar, the chairman of EmiratesGBC, at the event for delivering best residential development. "Its an honour and a privilege to be recognised by the Emirates Green Building Council for the implementation of The Sustainable City. We are committed to supporting the Dubai governments sustainable green economy and continually aim to be leaders in sustainable communities and residential developments," said Saeed. "Identifying and recognising organisations for innovative and outstanding sustainable building principles and practices, the Emirates GBC Awards Programme honours companies that demonstrate clear implementation of sustainable design, construction or operation of buildings and structures," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Oman Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Oman, has agreed to buy shares worth $50 million in the initial public offering (IPO) of BOC Aviation, the aircraft leasing unit of Bank of China, said a report. BOC Aviation attracted investors including Boeing and the Chinese sovereign wealth fund (SWF) to buy shares in its $1.1 billion IPO in Hong Kong, added the Times of Oman report. Spurred by strong economic growth in the past decade and rising incomes in the worlds two most-populous countries, China and India, Asia is on course to beat the US as the biggest plane-leasing market, according to Airbus Group and Boeing. With this IPO, BOC Aviation will become the second dedicated Asian air lessor to go public after smaller competitor China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings made its debut in Hong Kong in July 2014. Singapore plans to participate in projects to construct and develop ports in Iran, according to a high-ranking Singaporean official, said a report. Head of Singapore Port Development Sector Vun Chi Fung, in a meeting with Iran's ambassador to Singapore Javad Ansari, discussed cooperation between the two countries in constructing and developing ports, said Iran Daily News, citing an IRNA report. Fung also invited Iran's Minister of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare Ali Rabiei to visit port installations in Singapore, said the report. Rabiei, heading a high-ranking commercial delegation, will begin an official visit to Singapore today (May 18). Fung said that many parts of southern Iran, particularly along the northern coasts of the Sea of Oman, are suitable for developing ports. Ansari pointed out that over 80 per cent of Iran's exports and imports are conducted by sea which adds to the importance of port construction in the country. Singapore recently inked a $450-million agreement to finance offshore installations and other marine projects in Iran, added the report. The cargo division of Cathay Pacific Airways and Lufthansa Cargo, Europe's largest air cargo carrier, have formed a joint network Hong Kong and Europe, offering more direct connections, greater flexibility and time savings. The cargo division of Cathay Pacific Airways and Lufthansa Cargo, Europe's largest air cargo carrier, have formed a joint network Hong Kong and Europe, offering more direct connections, greater flexibility and time savings combined with service enhancements. Simon Large, director Cargo at Cathay Pacific, and Peter Gerber, CEO and chairman of the executive board of Lufthansa Cargo, signed an agreement for a highly integrated bilateral cooperation in Frankfurt, Germany. With respect to the cooperation routes between Hong Kong and Europe, both airlines will in the future work closely together on network planning, as well as sales, IT and ground-handling. Our joint network will cover more than 140 direct flights per week between Hong Kong and 13 European destinations, said Large. Cathay Pacifics large number of direct connections to multiple European destinations complements Lufthansas strength in Frankfurt, the most important European air freight hub, and in Europe through its dense feeder-network. As a result of our joining forces, customers will gain access to unique flexibility with more flights to choose from and a combination of feeder and direct flights. In this way their cargo can reach its destination hours earlier, explained Gerber. We will also have more options for shipments which have to be transported by freighter due to their size or properties. The cooperation will also focus on service enhancements. For example, customers will be able to access the entire joint network via the booking systems of both partners. Joint handling, initially at the Hong Kong and Frankfurt hubs, will also make things easier for customers since there will be just one point for export drop off and import delivery, a statement said. Both partners plan to transport the first shipments under the framework of the cooperation from early next year initially from Hong Kong to Europe. The ability to also book eastbound shipments from Europe to Hong Kong will then follow in the course of the year. The joint activities will be carried out in full compliance with all applicable laws, including the competition rules of the European Union and Hong Kong, according to the statement. TradeArabia News Service Drydocks World, an international service provider to the shipping, offshore, oil, gas and energy sectors, recently received the corporate social responsibility (CSR) award at the Seatrade Awards 2016, held in London, UK. The shipping company has received numerous accolades in the field of CSR, with the company earlier receiving the Dubai Chamber of Commerce CSR label for two consecutive years, based on their benchmark of CSR initiatives locally and internationally, said a statement from Drydocks World. It also won the Maritime Standard Award for CSR in 2015, it added. The organisation is part of the elite community to receive the prestigious 5 Star rating and the Sword of Honour from British Safety Council for a remarkable 11 years; representing a significant achievement of consistently achieving excellence in maritime business, it said. CSR is deep-rooted in the organisational culture embedded with a strong policies authorised by the companys chairman. It gives the highest priority for the welfare of its more than 10,000 employees, coming from 54 different countries, cohesively working together at the shipyard. Considering the diversity in Drydocks Worlds human asset, the company has created various programmes and has taken an integrated approach to work with various cultures, further added the statement. Drydocks World pledge of Zero Harm drives a pro-active approach encompassing initiatives monitored and evaluated by experts in the industry. Its main objective is to ensure all employees, subcontractors and stake holders to go home safe every day, it stated. TradeArabia News Service The Abu Dhabi International Airport yesterday (May 21) for the first time welcomed the worlds largest cargo aircraft, the Antonov AN225. The aircraft, named Mriya which means Dream in Ukrainian, arrived from Kiev, Ukraine, with 160 tonnes of cargo, it was unloaded and returned to Ukraine later the same evening, said a statement. The wide body aircraft is powered by six turbofan engines and is the longest and heaviest airplane ever built, with a maximum take-off weight of 640 tonnes. - TradeArabia News Service Iraq's military said on Sunday it was preparing to launch an offensive to retake the Islamic State stronghold of Falluja and told residents to get ready to leave before fighting started. Families who could not flee should raise white flags to mark their location in the city 50 km west of Baghdad, the military's media unit said in a statement on state television. Falluja, a long-time bastion of Sunni Muslim jihadists, was the first city to fall to Islamic State, in January 2014, six months before the group swept through large parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria. The Iraqi army, police and Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militias, backed by air strikes from a US-led coalition, have surrounded Falluja since late last year. The jihadists have been preventing residents leaving for months. The army "is asking citizens that are still in Falluja to be prepared to leave the city through secured routes that will be announced later", the statement said, without spelling out when any offensive might start. Deputy district council chairman Falih Al-Essawi said three corridors would be opened for civilians to camps west, southwest and southeast of the city, and a subsequent military statement said some residents had begun to flee. Residents told Reuters about 20 families had set out from a southern front-line neighbourhood overnight, but only half of them made it out. Some were intercepted by Islamic State, while others were killed by explosives planted along the road by the jihadists. The United Nations and Human Rights Watch said last month that residents of Falluja were facing acute shortages of food and medicine amid a siege by government forces. Aid has not reached the city since the Iraqi military recaptured nearby Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital, in December. Essawi told a local television channel that more than 75,000 civilians remained in Falluja, in keeping with a recent US military estimate of 60,000 to 90,000. Around 300,000 people lived in the Euphrates river city before the war. Known as the "City of Minarets and Mother of Mosques", Falluja is a focus for Sunni Muslim faith and identity in Iraq. It was badly damaged in two offensives by US forces against al Qaeda insurgents in 2004. Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, said the "liberation" of Falluja would help restore normal life to Anbar, the western province over which Islamic State took nearly complete control in 2014. Following recent government offensives in Rutba and Hit, control of Falluja would secure the road more than 500 km from Baghdad to the Jordanian border and northwards to Haditha, 190 km northwest of the capital. But Islamic State still controls vast swathes of territory and major cities such as Mosul in the north. Iraqi authorities have pledged to retake Mosul this year, though in private some officials question whether the army will be ready in time.-Reuters Expo 2020 Dubai will host its first International Planning Meeting (IPM), organised with the involvement of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the governing body for World Expos. The two-day meeting, opening tomorrow (May 23), will bring together representatives of nations from around the world. At this meeting, Expo 2020 Dubai will host government and diplomatic officials to highlight the benefits of participating in the World Expo, becoming part of a collaborative global platform that inspires the next generation and sparks innovations that underpin the next 50 years of human progress. Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General Bureau Expo Dubai 2020, said: This International Planning Meeting is the first major event in an ongoing programme of international engagement. We are collaborating with potential participants by sharing our vision and involving them in the plans that are being delivered, in order to ensure that Expo 2020 Dubai stands out not only for its exceptional visitor experience and seamless operations, but also for its lasting legacy that benefits all. The Expo experience starts now for our international participants. There are many opportunities for us to engage and work together to create value, both during the journey to Expo and at the event itself. We want countries to join us early in the process to maximize those opportunities, she added. The IPM agenda comprises one day of high-level presentations and panel discussions, followed by hands-on workshops to immerse potential participants in the details of the Expo 2020 Dubai master plan, theme and visitor journey, as well as highlighting business opportunities in the UAE for innovation, trade and investment, and knowledge transfer. Expo 2020 Dubai aims to host more than 180 countries. For the first time in the history of World Expos, each country will have an individual pavilion, enhancing the ability of nations to showcase themselves. Participant countries will be able to directly engage with 25 million visitors at the mega-event, generate a wide range of business opportunities and access regional markets through the collaborative platform that Expo offers, as well as contribute to the lasting global legacy of the first mega-event in the MEASA region. The IPM is the latest in a series of major advances by Expo 2020 Dubai in recent months. Earlier in May, Expo unveiled its master plan at the Arab Media Forum. In March, Expo 2020 Dubai revealed its new logo with a spectacular event at the foot of the Burj Khalifa. Ahead of the start of infrastructure works in July, the Expo site has seen over 4 million cubic metres of earth moved as the site has been levelled in preparation for construction. Potential international participants have already shown interest in Expo 2020 Dubai. In April, Switzerland became the first country to announce its intention to participate in Expo 2020 Dubai citing the economic and political significance of the host country and the geopolitical weight of the Gulf region as one of the reasons behind its participation. TradeArabia News Service Dhofar Global, a leading supplier of hygiene care products in the Middle East, will be showcasing its innovative range of cleaning solutions along with latest products and equipment at the Commercial Cleaning & Hygiene Expo. The exhibition, a part of debuting Community Management Week, will take place on May 23 and 24 at the Dubai World Trade Centre in the UAE. Chandan Singh, CEO of Dhofar Global, commented: The UAEs drive to set international standards in hygiene, cleanliness and sterility has created infinite opportunities for growth in the cleaning and hygiene sector. Moreover, there is a growing demand for sustainable and green cleaning solutions, which has opened up more avenues for players like Dhofar Global. In line with these market developments, we will unveil state-of-the-art cleaning solutions at Commercial Cleaning & Hygiene. The company will distribute free samples of its products to visitors, enabling them to familiarise with their quality and range. Dhofar Global will also utilise the platform, which will host five dedicated events, to raise awareness about the critical importance of cleanliness and sanitation for healthy, hygienic and disease-free life. TradeArabia News Service Downtown Rotana, a stylish five-star hotel in the heart of Manama, Bahrain, will be hosting world-renowned National Geographic photographer and editor, Professor Arne Hodalic, during his inaugural visit to the kingdom. An admired author of countless impressive photographs published in the most prestigious publications worldwide, Prof Hodalic will be leading a two-day photography workshop, on May 27 and 28 at Downtown Rotana, and will also be auctioning his most impressive photos during an exclusive Gala dinner on May 27. Lilian Roger, general manager of Downtown Rotana, said: We are truly thrilled to be hosting Professor Hodalic on his first-time visit to Bahrain and very excited to witness his award-winning work and photographic journeys up close. Bahrain is increasing its influence as a prime centre for art in the region and there is great emerging talent locally, especially in the area of photography which we plan to support by increasingly drawing in events of this nature and calibre. Professor Hodalic has received global recognition through his works that depict life stories in their most sincere form. His pictures have been carried by reputed magazines and newspapers across the globe, including National Geographics USA and 27 international editions, Time, Figaro, Cosmopolitan, and Marie Claire to name a few. He is known for capturing the most subtle and silent moments that speak so deeply and touch peoples souls. He has supported many humanitarian missions worldwide, has participated in numerous expeditions globally and displayed his work in over 70 exhibitions across all continents. The topic of the Bahrain-based workshop will focus on how to improve individual photography through theory and practice-based activities. Participants will have the opportunity to apply their skills under the guidance of Professor Hodalic and their work will be evaluated with the best workshop photo announced. All participants will receive a certificate of attendance. For more information on the two-day workshops or Exclusive Gala dinner led by Professor Hodalic, contact: +973 34024321, +973 34184883, +973 34169990 or visit the Information Desk at Downtown Rotana. The workshop is being organised by Bahrain market promotion in cooperation with Diplomatic Protocol Society. - TradeArabia News Service CHEYENNE Medical identity theft is the fastest-growing type of cyberstealing in the country, the founder of a data security company said Wednesday. The theft of online personal medical information is one of the hottest topics in information security, Thomas Glanville said. Glanville is the founder and chief executive officer of Idea Theft Loss Prevention, a business that helps companies protect online information. He started his company after he and his father experienced the theft of their own identities. Glanville and other experts gave tips to keep information safe during the Wyoming Cybersecurity Symposium on Wednesday. The Wyoming Business Report sponsored the all-day event. Experts also talked about how security breaches affect peoples lives and can hurt banking, education and health care institutions. The trend that were seeing more and more in the health care industries is now what theyre doing with these (medical) records is that theyre actually selling them to terrorist organizations for people who want to get into this country illegally, Luke Schneider said. He is CEO of Medicine Bow Technologies. Such stolen records are more valuable than financial records like credit cards, he said. A stolen credit card is worth about a 50 cents to a dollar, while a stolen medical record is valued from $100 to $1,000, he said. A medical record provides more than information about a persons health history. One such record typically includes a persons drivers license, photograph, insurance information, information about children and family history. The vigilance we try to do is so important, he said. Watch everything that is going on around you. Consumers need to take an active role in their personal security, Schneider said. As a consumer of health care, start asking questions. You have a voice in this industry. This security stuff is absolutely the most important part to health care right now. The worst year in health care for data breaches was 2015, Steven Dreher said. He is director of Solutions Architecture at Green House Data, a high-tech service provider in Cheyenne. Of the top seven security breaches across all industries in 2015, three were in health care, he said. Each was more than 5 million records, with Anthem at 90 million records, he said. Information from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that more than three-quarters of the businesses that experience data breaches go out of business within three to five years, Glanville said. One reason is because of the damage to their reputations. Blake Klinkner is an attorney at the Cheyenne office of Crowley Fleck PLLP and was one of Wednesdays panelists. Wyoming law requires business owners and others who own or license personal computerized data to investigate data leaks to determine if the information will be misused, he said. If it appears that has occurred, the business owner must tell people who are affected and also determine the scope of the breach. The owner also has to notify others about the breach. In 2014, it cost a business anywhere from $5.4 million to $5.9 million for a single data breach, he said. Exposure to lawsuits has increased for businesses that have data breaches. Jurors are less forgiving of businesses that arent managing data, Klinkner said. Grownup Stuff Fun things for adults. Monthly vets service May 31 The Natrona County United Veterans Council, and the staff of the Oregon Trail Wyoming State Veterans Cemetery, conduct a monthly memorial service for those known Wyoming veterans who have died since our last memorial service. On April 30, 98 Wyoming veterans were honored. This months memorial service will be held at noon, Tuesday, May 31, in the Tom Walsh Chapel at The Oregon Trail Veterans Cemetery. All are welcome to attend. The memorial service is provided on behalf of a grateful state and nation as an expression of appreciation for the honorable and faithful service rendered by each of these veterans. The veterans name, Wyoming community, and branch of service is read at roll call. There is a rifle salute, taps, and the folding of a flag. Constitution Party meets May 31 Constitution Party monthly meeting is 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 31, 2016, at the Agricultural Resource Learning Center, 2011 Fairgrounds Rd. For more, visit wyocp.com. 'Marrying Walt' opens June 2 Casper Theater Company will present Marrying Walt, a comedy by James Danek, on June 2 through 5 and June 9 through 12, 2016. Weeknight performances will be at 7:30 p.m., and 2 p.m., on Sundays. The play is centered around Mary and Walt Fennell, a couple in their early 60s, who live in Winter Haven, Florida, in a mobile home park. They have several friends who pop in from time to time to make their lives interesting. The play will be performed at 735 CY Avenue, and tickets can be purchased at Charlie Ts Pizzeria, 112 E. Second St.; Greater Wyoming Federal Credit Union, 155 W. Collins; Casper Senior Center, 1841 E. Fourth St., and at the door. Tickets are $13 general admission and $10 for seniors. For more information, please call 267-7243. Playwright reception June 4 Casper Theater Company will host a Playwrights Reception for James Danek, the playwright for Marrying Walt, at 6:30 p.m., on June 4, 2016, prior to the 7:30 p.m., performance at the theater, 735 CY Avenue. Doors will open at 6 p.m. Meet the actors, meet and ask questions of the playwright, and get a tour of our theater. The reception is by donation only and we will provide food and drink. Please come join us for a riotous good time before the show and stay for the performance after. For more information, please call 267-7243. Cast iron Dutch oven cooking class A morning of cast iron Dutch oven cooking, history of the area, and brunch will be held from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 4, at Edness Kimball Wilkins State Park, east of Casper. See many different types of cast iron and how to season, clean, and store them. Discussion will also include various choices of heat sources and delicious recipes. You will prepare, cook, and enjoy a complete Dutch oven brunch together. While meal is cooking, learn about the history of the area along the Platte River. You will receive a complimentary Dutch oven cookbook and sour dough starter for biscuits and pancakes. To register, get directions, or arrange for a ride, please call 259-2869. (Free admission to the state park if you tell the gate attendant that you are with the class and ask for directions to shelter.) Instructors are Carolyn Buff and Jan Burnett. Adult book club on the move This summer the Natrona County Library is mobilizing its adult book discussion to celebrate the summer reading theme of "On Your Mark, Get SetRead!" Featuring interrelated outings and books, participants will gather at a new location each month for a book discussion. The first Book Club Field Trip will be held at 6 p.m., on Tuesday, June 7, at the Bart Rea Learning Circle. June's novel is "The River Why," by David James Duncan. The discussion is free and open to the public. To participate, pick up your copy of "The River Why," at the Library's second floor Reference Desk, and then join us at the Bart Rea Learning Circle for an immersive experience. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information. 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 community's 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 Backing up your data The Natrona County Library will offer a 'Backing Up Your Data' computer class at 3 p.m., on Monday in the Tech Center. Well discuss various ways to back up important data on computers and mobile devices. Well also discuss programs to help with local backups as well as online services such as iCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information. Franscell sets book signing Kelly Walsh, Casper College and University of Wyoming graduate Ron Franscell will return to Casper on Saturday, June 11, from 1 to 4 p.m., at Wind City Books to sign his newest book, "Morgue: A Life in Death," (St. Martin's Press). The nonfiction work explores some of the most historic, infamous, and heartbreaking cases of Dr. Vincent Di Maio, M.D., son of a famous New York City medical examiner and one of the lions of forensic science in his own right. Franscell is the bestselling crime author of "The Darkest Night," and "Delivered from Evil." A lifelong journalist, he worked for newspapers in Wyoming, New Mexico and Californias Bay Area before hitting the road in one of American journalisms best beats, covering the evolution of the American West as a senior writer for the Denver Post. Shortly after 9/11, he was dispatched by the Post to cover the Middle East during the first few months of the Afghan war. In 2004, he became the managing editor for the Beaumont, Texas, Enterprise, where he covered the devastation of Hurricane Rita from inside the storm. He now lives in San Antonio, Texas. Taylor Scott Band June 17 The Wyoming Blues and Jazz Society presents the Taylor Scott Band on June 17, 2016 at the Attic above the World Famous Wonder Bar. Doors open at 7 p.m., show starts at 7:30 p.m.Tickets are $12 for WBJS members, and $15 for non-members and can be purchased through the web site at www.wyobluesandjazz.org or at the door the night of the concert. Taylor, originally from Cheyenne, now lives in Denver. His music is influenced by soul, funk, blues, jazz, and rock and roll. His first band, Another Kind Of Magick, represented Wyoming in the International Blues Challenge in 2012. Monday support meetings Alcoholics Anonymous: 6:30 a.m., 917 N. Beech; 10 a.m., 328 E. A St.; 10 a.m., 136 W. Eighth St.; 6 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200; 7 p.m., Glenrock, 615 W. Deer St. (downstairs); 7:30 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200, closed; 7:30 p.m., Douglas, 628 E. Richards; 8 p.m., 328 E. A St. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are open. Casper info: 266-9578; Douglas info: (307) 351-1688. Al-Anon: Noon, 701 S. Wolcott, St. Marks Church. Narcotics Anonymous: Noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club;7 p.m., 302 E. 2nd, Methodist Church; 8 p.m., 4700 S. Poplar (church basement). Web site: http://www.urmrna.org. Teen Addiction Anonymous: 3:30-4:30 p.m., Boys & Girls Club Teen Center. Info: 258-7439. Adult Children of Alcoholics: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., 12-24 Club, 500 S. Wolcott St., Suite 200. TOPS Weight Loss:5:30 p.m., Weight Loss Support Group TOPS #246, Wyoming Oil & Gas Building, 2211 King Blvd. Use NE door entry. Info: 265-1486. Rotary welcomes new UW president Dr. Laurie Nichols will address Rotarians and guests at a noon luncheon meeting of the Casper Rotary Club at the Parkway Plaza. Nichols, the incoming president for the University of Wyoming, will share her background, and discuss the challenges and opportunities facing UW. Nichols has spent her entire academic career at public land-grant universities like UW. Since 2009, she has steered South Dakota State University as its provost and vice president for academic affairs. Nichols was born and raised in South Dakota. She and her husband, Tim, have two college-age daughters. Backing up your data The Natrona County Library will offer a Backing Up Your Data computer class at 3 p.m. in the Tech Center. Well discuss various ways to back up important data on computers and mobile devices. Well also discuss programs to help with local backups as well as online services such as iCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information. Tween Book Club The Natrona County Librarys monthly Tween Book Club will meet at 4 p.m. at the Library. Participants will read The Puzzling World of Winston Breen, by Eric Berlin. Students in grades four through six can read great books and make new friends by participating in this special book club. Space is limited, so please register in advance by calling 577-READ ext. 5, emailing reference@natronacountylibrary.org, or sign up when you stop by the Childrens Department to pick up a copy of The Puzzling World of Winston Breen. Mended Hearts meet The May meeting of Mended Hearts at 7 p.m. will include two speakers. The meeting will open with a presentation by Mica Elmore, BSN, RN, Wyoming Medical Center coordinator for cardiovascular case management. She will be followed by Dr. David Wheeler of Wyoming Neurologic Associates. The meeting is in the Board Room of WMC Support Services Building on Third Street. From the parking garage, go to the main level of the hospital, and turn right down the first hall way off the lobby, and the doors will automatically open for you. For more information, call Lois at 234-3980. SUNDANCE Martin and Karen (Vercellino) Peterson will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 29, 2016, at Sundance United Methodist Church. They request no gifts, please. They were married May 29, 1966, at United Methodist Church in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. She is retired as a school teacher and from the U.S. Forest Service. He is a retired rancher. Through the years, they have been active in Masons, Jobs Daughters, Kahlif Shrine and Eastern Star. A Wyoming sheriff says the father-son pair accused of a kidnapping in Utah may have left weapons in his state, where they two were arrested after a five-day manhunt. Sublette County Sheriff Stephen Haskell said Friday that firearms and knives Flint Wayne Harrison and his son, Dereck James "DJ" Harrison, were believed to have had were unaccounted for. Haskell said anyone who finds weapons should contact authorities and not touch the items. The Harrisons, who were booked into a Utah jail Thursday on kidnapping and other charges, are accused of tying up a woman and her four teenage daughters in a basement. The women escaped. The body of a missing rail line worker was discovered along the Harrisons' likely route to Wyoming. They have not been charged in his death. In Wyoming, some politicians are looking high and low for ways to take your money, especially if they can make it look like someone else is slipping his hand into your pocket. One way that popped up during a recent Revenue Committee meeting is a tax on Internet retail sales. Proponents justify this tax grab in two ways: first, the need for more tax revenue to fund the state budget shortfall and second, the notion that hard-pressed Main Street businesses cant escape collecting the tax so taxing Internet sales would level the playing field. However, government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. An Internet sales tax wont do much for the revenue shortfall and if government really cared about Main Street retailers, they would reduce their tax burden instead of extending the dead hand of government to the Internet. Every state has a different, and sometimes complex, sales tax regime, so in 1992 the Supreme Court ruled in Quill Corporation v. North Dakota that Internet and catalog retailers shouldnt have to collect state sales taxes unless they had a physical presence in the buyers state. But politicians just dont like to see capitalist acts between consenting individuals go unpunished, so Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill) sponsored the Main Street Fairness Act in August 2011. This went nowhere, so in November 2011, Wyomings own Sen. Mike Enzi introduced the Marketplace Fairness Act, to allow states to collect sales taxes from out-of-state retailers. This also went nowhere. The latest attempt to force Internet retailers to act as tax collectors was Enzis Marketplace Fairness Act of 2015, which never made its way out of the U.S. Senate. Although attempts to tax the Internet appear to be dead, it seems some Wyoming politicians hope the effort is merely on life support. During the Revenue Committee meeting, Sen. Ray Peterson asked director of the Revenue Department, Dan Nobel, how much the state was missing in Internet retail sales tax revenue. According to Nobel, the state is missing between $23 million to $46 million per year in lost revenue. But according to a recent Consensus Revenue Estimating Group report, the state may have an additional shortfall of $130 million for fiscal year 2016 aloneand that fiscal year ends at the end of this June! Sorry, Sen. Patterson the amount wont fill state coffers. Undeterred, Patterson asked what more could Wyoming do to get an Internet retail sales tax passed. Nobel said the state could work with Congress to get it passed or also generate support for legislation. But no matter who takes the blame for a higher tax burden on families, higher taxes wont fix Wyomings budget shortfall because state legislators have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. But the tax grab is only one justification. The other involves a backward attempt to help Main Street businesses by raising costs to Internet retailers. However, forcing Internet retailers to be state tax collectors, like retailers on Main Street, just means even more businesses are hit with higher costs. Besides, many Main Street retailers use the Internet to increase their sales. So instead of dragging innovative retailers down into the high tax and regulatory regime now hurting Main Street, why not free Main Street from onerous taxes and regulations so they too have the resources to innovate and create jobs? Burdening Internet and some Main Street retailers with more paperwork is unlikely to do much about Wyomings budget shortfall. What it will do is burden innovative sellers with additional costs. Instead of expanding the dead hand of government into Internet retail sales, make the system less costly and burdensome for Main Street, and leave money in the pockets of the people who can spend it the wisest the people who earned it. CHEYENNE The county money clerks see them first the distraught person hit with a legal summons they dont understand and with no money for a lawyer. All the clerks could do in the past was refer them to a legal services office already buried in indigent civil cases. Because of the demand, the state Supreme Court set up a new program now known as Equal Justice Wyoming. Solidly behind the program were the judges who had to deal with low-income people struggling to represent themselves in their courtrooms. In 2011 the Legislature authorized the courts to impose a $10 filing fee on civil lawsuits to finance the programs for legal help for indigents. The commission has a budget of about $1 million a year to run the program and for grants to organizations like Legal Aid of Wyoming and Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, the two largest grantees in fiscal year 2015. Legal Aid, headquartered in Cheyenne, now has two offices open and staffed in Rock Springs and Gillette. The free assistance is available only to low-income people in civil legal actions, like divorces and child support cases. In criminal cases, indigent defendants are represented by public defenders. The money goes not only to attorneys in offices around the state to represent the indigent litigant in court but also to help them represent themselves. If these people are better equipped with information, they are more effective and also help the courts and the judges, said Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Kate Fox, who is chair of the board of the Equal Justice Commission. The commission has a working group that is focused on self-representation to help indigents represent themselves or appear pro se in court. I think were doing a lot for a small state, Fox said last week. Several years ago, the local legal aid office reported receiving 150 phone calls a day from low-income people seeking free legal assistance. Given the demand, there will never be enough money or attorneys to provide services to every client. In recognition of the shortage, the Equal Justice program is looking for ways to help the indigents to navigate the court system on their own. Forms and packets to guide clients through such thickets and divorce and child custody cases are on the EJW website. The commission announced two new programs this month. One is a legal self-help center now open on the first floor of the Hathaway Building in the capitol complex in Cheyenne. The center, to be open from 1 to 4:30 pm. Monday though Thursday, has computer kiosks for the public to conduct legal research, complete documents for cases and learn about legal service providers, according to a release from Equal Justice Wyoming. An AmeriCorps VISTA member is volunteering a year of full-time service with the group. Individuals also can receive help finding legal resources through the LiveChat Operator, which helps residents find legal information on the EJW website at www.legalhelp.wy.gov. Outside of regular business hours, the chat program is staffed on Tuesday and Thursday evenings by volunteer law students from the University of Wyoming College of Law. Another new project is the placement of volunteer attorneys in the Laramie County courthouse to assist self-represented litigants. Equal Justice Wyoming also continues to provide monthly free advice clinics for low income people. After the clinics, volunteer attorneys meet one-on-one with the individuals to answer questions and provide legal advice. So there are opportunities for people in the larger communities in Wyoming to get free legal services. Its more difficult to get direct services in the small towns, the hamlets. The commission reported a total of 3,174 people received direct legal services of an attorney from EQJ programs in the 2015 fiscal year. A total of 50 new laws enrolled in the Ill Do One campaign to enlist pro bono attorneys to donate their services during the same period. Editor: Now that Donald Trump is the heir apparent for the Republican nominee for president, the media, the pundits and Republican establishment members have increased their criticism against him. They are warning Republican officeholders that if they support Trump, they will lose the trust of the American people. What trust is there left to lose? We the people have already lost trust in the Republican leaders and officeholders. For many years we heard statements and promises from them that they will fight Obamas policies. However, when it was time to fight the battle, all we saw was their cowering. Not one bill was passed by the House and Senate in opposition to Obamas policies. Instead we got endless investigations after endless investigations after endless investigations paralysis by analysis. Presently, Obama and his administration are forcing an unpopular agenda, considered irreligious by many, upon this nation, and in doing so trampling upon the rights of those (Christians especially) who oppose this. What have we seen? Many Democrats supporting Obama on this, other Democrats being quiet. From Republicans? Silence. Great amounts of silence and no positive action. Whoops, no action? I stand corrected another endless investigation was just opened. It is no wonder that, out of fear, many major corporations have kowtowed and are going along with the flow from the White House. Republican voters, Democrat voters, independent voters and others are fed up with this tragedy being foisted upon We the People. We see what Thomas Jefferson saw when he said, When the Government fears the people, that is Democracy; when the people fear the Government, that is Tyranny. The leadership of both political parties and all the candidates for public office must listen to us the people. We have spoken quite clearly during the past few months of primaries and caucuses what we want. We choose the path of democracy, but we fear our political leaders are taking us down the path of tyranny. That is why Trump, Cruz and Sanders are so strongly supported while Rubio and another Bush were not. KABUL, Afghanistan The killing of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour in a U.S. drone strike was greeted Sunday by Kabuls political leadership as a game-changer in efforts to end the long insurgent war plaguing Afghanistan. In a rare show of unity, President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah both welcomed the news of Mansours death as the removal of a man who unleashed violence against innocent Afghan civilians and was widely regarded as an obstacle to peace within the militant group. Mansour, believed to be in his 50s, was killed when a U.S. drone fired on his vehicle in the southwestern Pakistan province of Baluchistan, although there were conflicting accounts of whether the airstrike occurred Friday or Saturday. He had emerged as the successor to Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, whose 2013 death was revealed only last summer. Mansour engaged in deception, concealment of facts, drug-smuggling and terrorism while intimidating, maiming and killing innocent Afghans, Ghani said in a statement on his official Twitter account. A new opportunity presents itself to those Taliban who are willing to end war and bloodshed, he added. Mansour was the main figure preventing the Taliban joining the peace process, Abdullah said, speaking live on television as he chaired a Cabinet meeting. From the day he took over the Taliban following the death of Mullah Omar, he intensified violence against ordinary citizens, especially in Afghanistan. Ghani and Abdullah serve in a so-called national unity government brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry following a divisive 2014 election. As president and chief executive, the two rarely see eye-to-eye on even the most important decisions for a country beset by war for almost 40 years, including appointments to key security posts. On Sunday, at least, they seemed to be on the same page. Kerry hailed the news of Mansours demise even before it was officially confirmed an indication of how much Washington has wearied of the Talibans 15-year war with Kabul. Peace is what we want. Mansour was a threat to that effort, Kerry said, speaking from Myanmar. He also was directly opposed to peace negotiations and to the reconciliation process. His death clears the way for a succession battle, the movements second in less than a year. Whoever wins that battle will largely determine the direction for both the Taliban and the beleaguered Afghan peace process. Mansour leaves behind a checkered history from his brief reign. He ascended to the leadership shrouded in controversy and accusations from many of his own senior commanders. That internal bitterness stemmed from the revelation last summer of Mullah Omars death more than two years earlier a fact that Mansour and his clique seem to have hidden not only from the outside world but from other Taliban commanders. After 15 years serving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas must submit a letter of retirement to Rome by mid-August. He has no choice. The churchs canon law requires all bishops to submit a letter by the time they turn 75. Kicanas hits that benchmark Aug. 18. From there, its up to Pope Francis to accept or reject the resignation. Usually, the pope accepts. But that doesnt mean August heralds the last days for the current Tucson bishop. Retiring bishops usually serve until the pope appoints a replacement. That can take six to eight months sometimes longer. Even after a successor is established, Kicanas, a Chicago native, has no plans to live elsewhere. I will stay on in the sense that I will be living here in Tucson, and I hope to help the new bishop in any way he finds helpful, Kicanas said. I think it will be a new moment in my life, but Im sure a good one. And although Kicanas is at peace with the transition, many will miss him. The diocese serves 450,000 Catholics. Mayor Jonathan Rothschild has considered gathering community leaders to pen a letter and just write to the pope and ask for him to give a special dispensation. Kicanas can suggest his replacement, though the process includes input from other bishops, a papal representative known as the apostolic nuncio and the Congregation for Bishops. The pope gets the final say. The diocese would not disclose Kicanas current picks. Beginnings Kicanas learned of his appointment as coadjutor bishop to the Tucson diocese on a Friday the 13th in 2001. As an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Chicago at the time, Kicanas was giving a talk for pastors and principals when somebody slipped him a note saying the apostolic nuncio had called. And, well, you know he doesnt call about the weather, Kicanas joked. I finished the talk and dialed the number, and he said, Oh, Bishop, Im happy to inform you and of course your ears perk up that you have been appointed coadjutor bishop in Tucson. At which point I said, Pardon me? Kicanas had visited Tucson twice before, once on a personal retreat at the Redemptorist Renewal Center and once when U.S. bishops gathered here. I asked the apostolic nuncio, Well, are there any issues (in Tucson)? And he said, Oh no, no. Everything is going fine, Kicanas said. A report he received soon after said otherwise. Trouble in Tucson Kicanas was installed as coadjutor bishop in Tucson in January 2002 to serve under Bishop Manuel D. Moreno, who was battling prostate cancer and in the early stages of Parkinsons disease. Moreno retired early, at age 72, in 2003. As coadjutor, Kicanas immediately became Tucsons sixth bishop. Before Kicanas arrival, the diocese had paid $155,000 to settle claims from eight people who reported being sexually abused by diocesan personnel, Star archives show. The following years would bring a $14 million settlement with 10 men who described abuse by four local clergy members from the 1960s to the 1980s, the sentencing of three priests to prison for sexually abusing children, and 22 lawsuits that drove the diocese to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004. We were faced with abuse allegations, and we had no idea where the end was, Kicanas said. The concern was: How do we treat people equally and fairly so that the resources were available to help anybody who would come forward? And thats when we went into bankruptcy. The Tucson diocese followed the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon in the unprecedented move. At the time, plaintiffs expressed concern that the move was a copout. The reorganization process took a year and involved the sale of diocese properties and creation of a $22.2 million settlement pool for victims both known and unknown, Star archives show. It was always about acknowledging the victims and trying to bring about a fair and appropriate conclusion, said Monsignor Al Schifano, a retired priest at St. Thomas the Apostle Church and vocations director for seminarians. Schifano joined the priesthood late in life, leaving his position as a senior vice president at Sundt Construction Inc. He used that experience to help Kicanas during the bankruptcy. Lynne Cadigan, who represented most of the claimants along with fellow attorney Kim Williamson, acknowledged Kicanas competency and respect for the victims. The most important thing for the victims was a fast resolution so they could get on with their healing and a significant enough apology in the form of payment, Cadigan said. What Kicanas managed to do was work with the victims and the lawyers and have a quick resolution, which the victims appreciate, but they understand its not justice. Kicanas believes his position as a newcomer to Tucson helped him to make tough calls. It was very painful for (Moreno) having to address the sexual abuse issue because he knew these priests. Being an outsider was helpful because you could see things with a little bit more objectivity, Kicanas said. During those years, the diocese also put in place a new code of conduct and created an office to oversee the protection of children, adolescents and adults. David Clohessy, the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), wrote in an email that Kicanas was the first of only 30 U.S. bishops to post predators names on his website, though Clohessy countered the praise with a critique of the bankruptcy as a means of protecting secrets and clerical careers. The list posted on the Diocese of Tucsons website now includes the names and assignments of 39 clergy and church personnel credibly accused. Kicanas has been the leader from day one that this is not just something that we are going to do for a little while, Schifano said, emphasizing the bishops campaign to restore credibility. We have to do this forever and stay alert and on top of this and make sure fingerprints are taken and reports are made to make sure this never happens again. A new chapter After the bankruptcy and the sale of diocese property, Kicanas and other church leaders launched a capital campaign in 2007 to raise $28 million. Called Our Faith, Our Hope, Our Future, the campaign went toward the purchase of new land, renovations of St. Augustine Cathedral, schools and religious programs and funding for retired priests, Kicanas said. The Diocese of Tucson stretches across nine counties in Arizona and includes 78 parishes and 25 schools. Southwestern dioceses, unlike those in other parts of the country, are growing, he said. Beyond Tucson During his time in Tucson, Kicanas has developed a national reputation and has met several popes, including Pope Francis. Bishops have their own organizations to run, their local diocese, yet they make this commitment on a national level, said Helen Osman, who ran the communications department for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for eight years. It takes them away from the diocese, but I think at the same time, its a point of pride for people locally, because they know their local bishop is representing them. Kicanas has served nationally on the boards of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and the now-closed National Pastoral Life Center and as a member of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. He is also former chair of the Catholic Relief Services Board and former vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is now vice chancellor of the Catholic Extension Society. Kicanas was expected to become president of the Catholic Bishops Conference in 2010 after several years as vice president, as is typical, but opponents campaigned against him. They were like, Maybe he is a little too progressive, and that is the fear they tried to raise, Osman said, adding that the snub did not honor Kicanas service or integrity. She praised his commitment to the local diocese. During the same time period, Star archives indicate that victims rights groups criticized Kicanas for possible knowledge about misconduct by Chicago priest Daniel McCormack, who studied at Mundelein Seminary in Illinois, where Kicanas was appointed rector in 1984. McCormack was later arrested and defrocked. Kicanas received media scrutiny again in 2014 when court documents suggested he may also have known in the 1980s about inappropriate behavior by a second Chicago priest at Quigley Preparatory Seminary South, where Kicanas once worked. In both instances, Kicanas told the Star that based on the information available to him at the time, he did not know about abuse committed by either man. A reputation for social justice Deacon Ken Moreland at Most Holy Trinity Parish has heard the occasional critique from people who consider Kicanas too liberal, but Moreland chalks that up to the bishops passion for social justice. In Arizona, most people think of Bishop Kicanas as a passionate leader on immigration matters in particular and being welcoming to the stranger and reaching out to migrants and refugees, said Ron Johnson, executive director of the Arizona Catholic Conference. Mayor Rothschild pointed to the bishops leadership two years ago when migrants arriving from Central America overwhelmed Tucsons Greyhound bus station. One of the things that made him great in Tucson was that he really understood the community and understood that it includes, here in Tucson for the church, a focus on assisting immigrants and refugees and our Hispanic and Native American populations, Rothschild said. He really got immediately the role culture plays in our community as a whole. During his tenure as bishop, Kicanas has reached out to leaders of other faith traditions. The Rev. Grady Scott of Grace Temple Baptist Church said Kicanas has worked to bridge the gaps between the Catholic Church and evangelical church. He is a great believer in, If there is an issue, lets bring people together and hear what theyre concerned about and try to respond to it, said Monsignor Raul Trevizo, vicar general and pastor at St. John the Evangelist Parish. They might say things we prefer not to hear, but they need to say what they have to say, and we have to listen. A pastor again Whenever Deacon Moreland drives Kicanas to one of the dioceses remote parishes, the bishop hunkers down for some paperwork. And if we travel in the fall, he is usually filling out about 5,000 Christmas cards, Moreland said. He has a Christmas card list that is unbelievable. He signs each one of them and puts a note in them. Kicanas has a knack for personal touches. He is always present and looks people in the eye and holds their hand and listens to what they have to say, said Peg Harmon, CEO of Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona. It doesnt matter if its a pregnant teen or an incarcerated adult or an immigrant traveling through or a homeless guy on the street. The Rev. Scott remembers seeing Kicanas on a plane not long after the two men had met. Kicanas immediately remembered him. I dont know where he gets all of his energy, Monsignor Schifano said. He is tireless. And he remembers everybodys names. It drives me crazy. Kicanas, a vegetarian, also wakes up early to exercise. In retirement, he doesnt plan on slowing down but will instead serve at a local parish still undecided and continue his social justice work, specifically in the areas of immigration, prisons, poverty and drug addiction. Issues for the new bishop to address will include the dioceses current priest shortage and the ongoing restoration of Cathedral Square downtown. The diocese hopes to secure funding to transform Marist College and the Bishop Manuel D. Moreno Pastoral Center into a community center and affordable housing for seniors. The project also includes the construction of a four-story complex for offices and an event center. Leaving behind administrative work makes time for hearing confessions and celebrating Mass the things that you really went into the priesthood to do, Kicanas said. In just three years, the Adventures in Nature photo contest, sponsored by The Nature Conservancy and Arizona Highways magazine, has grown from 84 submissions from Tucson-area students to 1,200 from students throughout Arizona. The top winners got sizable cash awards this year, thanks to Cox Communications. The annual contest was open to all high school-aged students in Arizona. The winners ranged from Flagstaff and Prescott, to Tucson to the Phoenix-area. It was clear to the judges this year that students have a commanding knowledge of the newest digital camera equipment, coupled with a deep appreciation for the subtleties of light and composition like Impressionist-era painters. The first-place winner, Randy Davidson of Prescott, scouted the area for his photo, Under the Stars. Ive done a lot of hiking and exploring around Granite Mountain and I knew that the area wouldnt have a lot of light pollution, Randy said. He liked the rock features of Dosie Pit in Prescott National Forest. After a 30-second exposure with his Nikon D3300 and cooperation from his friend standing lower left, he had his picture of the Milky Way. The most challenging thing I found was actually trying to keep my dog from going all over the place and getting in the shot or him knocking down my tripod with my camera on it, he added. Wyatt Mendez of Tucson, the second-place winner for Praying Mantis, is comfortable around insects. But getting the mantis, who objected very much to a giant lens being shoved in her face, to strike the pose on a red flower in the Chiricahua Mountains also meant a few nibbles on the end of his finger. He used a Nikon D3S camera and a 105mm macro lens. The Chiricahuas are Wyatts main photographic campus, noting theres nothing like getting out into the backwoods, miles from any trail, and seeing what you can find. Two days of hiking in Antelope Canyon on the Navajo Nation yielded the perfect shaft of light to get Tanner Charnstrom of Phoenix a third place for Afternoon Glow. He convinced his guide to help him find the right spot. I went to Lower Antelope Canyon first then the next day I went to Upper, so I knew what to expect the second day and exactly what I wanted (light beams), Tanner said. He used a Canon 7D camera and 24mm lens Mary Siml of Tucson, whose photos finished fourth and sixth place, was last years top award winner. She climbed on the roof of her familys home to capture the clouds moving around the Santa Catalina Mountains after a summer storm. She used an Olympus E-PL5 mirrorless digital camera. Chile Naked man mauled after entering zoos lion pen SANTIAGO Two lions were killed after they severely mauled a man who stripped naked and entered their enclosure in an apparent suicide attempt early Saturday, authorities said. The man was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and was said to be in grave condition. Director Alejandra Montalba of Santiagos Metropolitan Zoo told local media the park was crowded with visitors at the time of the incident. The 20-year-old man broke into the enclosure, took off his clothes and jumped into the middle, horrifying other visitors who witnessed the attack. Zookeepers killed the two lions in order to save his life. France Attacked Paris police officers lauded PARIS Preliminary charges have been filed against four men for torching and violently attacking a Paris police car with two officers inside. The Paris prosecutors office said the four, whose ages ranged from 18 to 32, face charges of armed violence after Wednesdays attack. The incident has drawn nationwide attention after weeks of tense labor protests. The officer at the wheel, Kevin Philippy, received a special award Saturday from Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. His neck in a brace, Philippy accepted the award, in footage aired on France-24 television. Televised images of the attack on the police car shocked many. Masked men struck the car with iron bars, broke its back window and set it on fire, then tried to attack Philippy as he fought them off without a weapon. Congo At least 37 dead, 22 injured in bus crash KINSHASA A United Nations-backed radio station in Congo says at least 37 people have been killed and 22 injured in a bus crash. Radio Okapi reported Saturday that the bus carrying 70 passengers from Zambia got a flat tire, ran into something and caught fire. The accident Friday occurred in southeast Congo in Sakania territory near the border with Zambia. It said the bus was traveling about 310 miles from the Zambian village of Kitwe to Luapula province, using a dirt road that cuts through part of Congo as a shortcut. Radio Okapi reported that Zambian rescue workers reached the scene and the injured have been evacuated to medical centers. Many roads in Congo are unpaved and poorly maintained. Canada Fire evacuation orders in Alberta are lifted FORT MCMURRAY Alberta officials on Saturday lifted mandatory evacuation orders in some areas north of Fort McMurray, where a raging wildfire has forced the evacuation of more than 80,000 people and the closure of oil sands operations. Officials said conditions have improved in some parts north of the oil sands city. Suncor Energy Inc. and Syncrude will now be able to resume their idled northern oil sands operations and bring back evacuated workers. About 8,000 oil sands workers in camps north of Fort McMurray were evacuated Tuesday after gusting winds and high temperatures caused the fire to move rapidly toward them. That was in addition to the 80,000 people ordered to evacuate Fort McMurray nearly 2 weeks ago. Northern Alberta is the heartland of Canadas oil sands industry, and the effects of the enormous wildfire on the oil sector have prompted forecasters to trim their 2016 economic growth predictions for the entire country. Nepal Climber dies on his way down Everest KATHMANDU A 35-year-old Dutch man suffering from high-altitude sickness died on his way down from Mount Everests summit in the first death reported this year on the worlds highest mountain, an expedition organizer said Saturday. Eric Arnold died near the South Col on Friday night, said Pasang Phurba of the Seven Summit Treks agency in Kathmandu. Arnold had enough bottled oxygen with him as well as climbing partners, but he complained of getting weak and died before he was able to come down to a lower altitude, Phurba said. He said that more details were not available because of poor communication with the crew on the mountain, and that it would take days and several people to bring Arnolds body down the slopes. Kazakhstan Activists arrested for organizing protests BISHKEK A top Kazakhstan police official says attempts to hold demonstrations against a land-reform measure have been blocked, and the prosecutors office says activists were arrested for trying to organize them. Activists had called for demonstrations on Saturday against a government move to liberalize sale and rental of farmland to foreigners. Opponents fear Chinese farmers could acquire large swaths of land. They gather around a large red cross overlooking State Route 80 near Bisbee. The half-dozen people are here to honor the memory of Gerzon Estuardo Salucio Samayoa, a 21-year-old Guatemalan man who died nearby while crossing into the United States. Despite a decrease in migrant crossings and Border Patrol apprehensions on the southern border, the number of bodies recovered from the desert remains high. So far this fiscal year, which started in October, more than 50 bodies have been found. And the deadliest months for migrants are coming. In fiscal year 2015, there were 21 deaths per 10,000 apprehensions in the Tucson Sector. That year alone, remains of 135 migrants were found in the desert, while the Border Patrol reported a little more than 63,000 arrests. Thats more than double the rate in 2010, the deadliest year on record. Until 2007, the death rate for border crossers never exceeded 4 per 10,000 apprehensions. Red and white crosses like Salucios are scattered across the Arizona desert, where volunteers led by Sister Judy Bourg of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Douglas are planting one in memory of each body found in Cochise County. We are remembering, praying, calling to mind the spirit of the person who ended their life in our Sonoran desert, Bourg said. The crosses tell people that something terrible and special happened at that spot. Consequences of deterrence policies Deaths in the Tucson Sector, which covers 262 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border from the New Mexico-Arizona state line to Yuma County, have decreased from more than 220 in fiscal year 2010 to 120 in 2014, data from the Pima County medical examiner show. The office handles remains found in Pima, Santa Cruz, Cochise and Pinal counties. Since 2001, nearly 2,500 bodies have been found in the Border Patrols Tucson Sector alone. While the number of deaths relative to the number of Border Patrol apprehensions has increased, there are limits to the comparison, experts warn, because the person could have died long before the remains were recovered. The date and time they are found is just that. We are reporting the number of remains found per year, not necessarily the number of deaths, said Gregory Hess, Pima Countys chief medical examiner. Though forensic archeologists assess skeletal remains to determine how long they have been in the desert, the window can be a period of several years, he said. Migrant deaths in the desert are due largely to deterrence policies, said Ed McCullough of the Tucson Samaritans, who have been collecting data on migrant deaths since about 2004. In the early 1990s, Border Patrol increased personnel and technology in strategic areas across the border, funneling migrants into more inhospitable areas, including the Arizona desert, he said. The idea was to decrease migration by making it harder and more dangerous to cross the southern border. But shifting border crossers to harsher, more remote areas also led to a greater number of deaths. Even if the buildup on the border has deterred some people, it isnt worth the consequences to human lives, McCullough said. Each year, migrant deaths spike in June, July and August, when heat and lack of available water make trekking through the desert for days lethal, especially for border crossers who may not understand the difficulty and length of the journey. Smugglers trick people, said Carlos de Leon Lopez, the Guatemalan consul in Tucson. They tell them it will only be a couple hours of walking. Then the reality isnt what they were expecting. Many remains are never identified. But of those that are, Mexicans account for more than 80 percent of deaths in the Arizona desert, followed by people from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Not only do smugglers lie to border crossers, but they leave migrants behind when they cant keep up, De Leon said. Before they leave Guatemala to cross into Mexico, they need to understand the difficulties that are awaiting them, he said. Migrants make the journey from Mexico and Central America to the U.S. border for many reasons, but reuniting with family members and economic hardship remain the leading factors, De Leon said. Desperation leads to taking risks, said Reyna Araibi of the Colibri Center, which gets calls every day from families with a loved one who has gone missing after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Some can be tracked down in detention centers, in records of Border Patrol apprehensions or by identifying human remains, but many cases are never resolved. Consulates, the medical examiner and the Border Patrol also collaborate with nonprofit organizations such as Colibri and Derechos Humanos to identify deceased migrants, in hopes of giving families closure. Still, most of the crosses Bourg and other volunteers place in the desert are no identificado, or unknown. Salucio is among the minority of crossers who could be identified and returned home to his family in Guatemala. More than a third of recovered bodies remain nameless, and an untold number are never found. Gathered around the Salucios memorial, Bourg and the other volunteers each say a few words in offering to his life. Some express regret that he died so young. Some are reminded of their own children and send well wishes to Salucios family in Guatemala. A few pray for policy changes that might prevent others from meeting the same fate. For Bourg, these people wont be forgotten. An outside corporation takes over a treasured local health-care institution. The drive for financial accountability, or profits, upends the normal way of doing business. Patients complain, employees flee. A question comes to mind: Can the corporation impose its will without destroying what made the local institution special? The arrivals last year of Cenpatico, which took over behavioral health from the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, and Banner, which bought the University of Arizona Health Network, have had unsettling effects in Tucson. While theyve created higher expectations in some areas, we just dont know yet whether in the end theyre going to improve on what we already had. Despite plans for an expensive new hospital building, doubts about the new operator of Tucsons cherished University Medical Center have been cropping up for months. First there was the billing change in which cancer patients were called days before procedures and told they needed to pay in full in advance if they wanted their usual treatment. That was troubling. Then, on May 13, renowned trauma surgeon Dr. Peter Rhee said he is leaving. That was a body blow not just for the hospital, but for Tucson, because Rhee in his few years here had become someone we were proud of a Tucson hotshot who was the face of the team that saved Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in 2011. He blamed Banner, in part, for his departure to a new job in Atlanta. What bothered him about the changes since Banner took over in March 2015 was what he considered the de-emphasis of UMCs academic role. The research and teaching performed by faculty members just dont make the money for hospitals treating patients does. Their incentives are purely patient-care based, Rhee told me after word of his departure came out. In academia we normally pay a heavy price. That may not sound so bad. Who doesnt want the hospital focusing on treating patients? But its the research and teaching that make academic hospitals special. And its what makes them valuable to outside corporations, which are buying up academic hospitals around the country. Academic medical centers have had a halo around them, health-care attorney Norman Tabler, of Indianapolis, told me last week. Theyre regarded as premier institutions in terms of the quality they provide. The buyers want to acquire those halos. Buying out academic hospitals, Tabler said, is a national phenomenon for the simple reason that theyre hellaciously expensive to operate. The surgery department at UMC has seen significant turnover since before Banner took over and continuing afterward. Thats not a coincidence, Tabler and others said. Surgery departments are among the biggest moneymakers at academic hospitals, so its crucial to companies like Banner that they have the people they want in place. Surgeons are notorious for their egos and independence, which runs against the centralization companies like Banner demand in order to bring costs under control. The tradition in academic medical centers was each surgeon decides, for example, what implants the hospital will acquire, Tabler said. Under new ownership, The hospital could concentrate on buying the implant from that volume buyer and get a discount. This also bothered Rhee. If you want anything, you have to beg and beg and wait for a centralized committee somewhere, he said. They believe in centralization, not peripheralization. Cenpatico also has become known for centralized standards and dictates since it took over from CPSA in October. That homegrown agency had a 20-year run as Pima Countys regional behavioral health authority, or RBHA (pronounced REE-bah) in this area till then. These authorities distribute state money for treating people with mental illness and addiction to the agencies that treat them. The way CPSA did it opened up the authority to accusations of inefficiency: CPSA would fund agencies like La Frontera, CODAC, COPE and Hope Inc. in advance for treating patients, then the agencies would either bill for the full amount or refund what they didnt spend. CPSA would, at times, have to return millions of dollars in taxpayer money. Cenpatico flipped the system around. It contracts with the agencies to provide a certain amount of services per month. If the agencies dont bill for at least 75 percent of that amount, they dont get paid at all. Layoffs and resignations have ensued at many agencies as the screws tightened and workers days became increasingly occupied with documenting what they are doing. From the provider side, people are freaked out, because theyre withholding payments if you dont make your contract, said Heather McGovern, who was chief operations officer of Hope Inc. until January and is co-chair of the local Behavioral Health and Aging Council. I think a lot of the panic and unrest that people are experiencing is being held to the contract that we all signed. Thats new. Thats something we havent experienced for 20 years. As a result of Cenpaticos strict accounting, We may lose providers who were doing good work. But I think three or four years from now, it will be much more sustainable and vibrant. It sounds hopeful. But then you read the stories like the ones my colleague Emily Bregel has been writing, documenting Cenpatico denying expensive services. She wrote most recently of Cenpatico denying payment for a 16-year-old sex offender from Pima County who is doing well at a residential center in Texas. The state Department of Child Safety, Pima County prosecutors and others are fighting the Cenpatico decision. CEO Terry Stevens has stated her principled opposition to putting juveniles in Level 1 treatment centers like the one in Texas. Its a principle that conveniently meshes with the financial interest of Cenpatico, a subsidiary of the for-profit, publicly traded Centene Corp. So I expect these outside corporations will be able to put our local health-care institutions on firmer financial footing. That in itself is a good thing. The question is whether that will mean forcing them to settle for mediocrity in service or performance. A recent transparency audit at Pima Community College wasnt transparent enough for some members of its Governing Board, who are calling for an outside legal review of the schools public disclosure practices. The colleges record of complying with laws and practices that protect the publics right to know about government activities is the number one complaint new board member Demion Clinco said hes heard since joining the board in December. Board chairman Mark Hanna agreed. Although PCCs in-house auditor found nothing amiss, Why are so many people telling us theyre frustrated with our transparency issues? Hanna asked at a May 11 study session to discuss the audit. Where theres smoke, theres fire, he said. Chancellor Lee Lambert, who stated his commitment to openness and transparency when he started at PCC in 2013, said he believes he has fulfilled that pledge. What the board is talking about now is a different level of transparency, he said. Among the concerns: Meeting agendas sometimes arent specific about the matters the board will discuss a practice that continues despite two formal findings by the Pima County Attorneys Office since 2011 that it violates the states open-meeting law. Until recently, background materials werent provided to the board or the public until moments before meetings began, making it impossible to study them in advance. That violates a board bylaw that requires such materials to be provided five days in advance and in no case less than 24 hours prior to the meeting. Requests for public records must be answered promptly under Arizona law, but PCC takes an average of three weeks to process such requests a wait time legal expert Dan Barr calls appalling. Barr, a Phoenix attorney who specializes in public-access issues and represents the Arizona Daily Star in its dealings with PCC, pointed to a Feb. 22 board study session as an example of a flagrant violation of the states open-meeting law. According to college officials, the board that day discussed an accreditation problem at PCCs aviation center. But theres no mention of such a discussion in the board agenda, the background materials or the minutes of the Feb. 22 meeting, omissions that left the public in the dark about the aviation center problem. College spokeswoman Libby Howell said PCCs administration believes it satisfied the applicable legal requirements for the Feb. 22 meeting. Lori Cox, the in-house auditor who did the recent transparency audit, told the board she found little of concern. In general I found the college in compliance, with relevant laws, she said. However, her audit was limited . For example, Cox did not review a four-page letter that Barr, the Stars attorney, sent to PCC in February to complain about the colleges public-disclosure practices. Under questioning from board members, Cox said she didnt review the letter because the recipient, PCC attorney Jeff Silvyn, didnt share it with her. Silvyn didnt respond to an email from a Star reporter that asked why he didnt bring it to the auditors attention. Board member Martha Durkin, who joined the board in August, said as far as she can tell, PCC does the bare minimum to meet its legal duty to keep the public informed. The push for greater transparency has been driven largely by the two new board members who have prior experience in public governance. Clinco is a former state legislator, and Durkin, an attorney, recently retired as deputy manager for the city of Tucson. Durkin has insisted that PCC follow the board bylaw that requires background materials to be available at least one day before a board meeting. Hanna, the board chair, said the boards June 8 meeting will include a proposal to hire an independent counsel to advise the board on transparency and related issues. The board is committed to being transparent and open in our actions and to directing the College, through the Chancellor, to do the same, Hanna wrote in an email. There is no question about this and it is our legal obligation to our community, the taxpayers, and most importantly, our students. A downtown nightclub has been cited for violations by the states liquor agency 12 times in the two years it has been open, records show. Most recently, Hi Fi Kitchen and Cocktails, 345 E. Congress St., was fined $1,500 in February by the Arizona Department of Liquor for repeated acts of violence, according to a department database. This is Hi Fis third violation for repeated acts of violence since it opened, which the liquor department defines as two or more incidents in a seven-day period or three within 30 days, the database shows. Six of the bars violations are related to safety issues, including failure to protect the patrons and allowing a disorderly customer to remain on the premises. The bars manager attributed the number of violations to a corporate policy that requires the bar to report any act of violence to authorities. However, Hi Fi was cited in November for failure to report an act of violence. Under state law, bar owners are required to notify police or the liquor department within seven days of any incident in which someone is injured on or near the premises. The department of liquor investigated 13 separate reports of fights or disorderly customers between May 2014 and April 2015, according to documents obtained through a public record request. Investigative reports from 2014 say the bar has been having problems since it opened, and that complaints have come from both the Tucson Police Department and witnesses. In several of the incidents, the reports note that the nightclub didnt report fights where customers were injured to law enforcement or the department of liquor. When the bar first opened, there were some issues with fights, but most of the altercations didnt take place in the building, said general manager C.J. Urban. We were getting blamed for things happening on our block, he said. We were definitely being targeted when we first opened. Urban said that some of the initial complaints filed with the liquor department may have been fabricated by people who were unhappy that a Scottsdale bar was moving to Tucson. Any act of violence that takes place here, we report it to the board, he said, explaining that corporate policy is to fill out an incident report and submit it to the police or liquor department. A member of a merchants council, he said that Tucson police have told downtown businesses to call to report any problems. We have the strictest dress code in Tucson, because we want to attract an elevated clientele, Urban said. We also dont do cheap drinks. We dont want people who just want to get wasted. Urban, who took over as general manager in February 2015, has worked at Hi Fi since it opened. He previously tended bar at nearby OMalleys. He said many other bars in the downtown-North Fourth Avenue area dont report all acts of violence. Its amazing that some places dont get cited (by the department of liquor,) he said. If some of these places reported every act of violence, they wouldnt be open. Urban said that after the most recent violation, he attended a hearing with the department of liquor, and all of the previous violations had been dropped. Lee Hill, a department of liquor spokeswoman, said the violations were not dropped, although the bar wasnt sanctioned for each one. When the ... outcome for an actionable violation is a warning or dismissed, the violation doesnt count against the licensee, she said. On top of the $1,500 fine, Hi Fi was required to submit a comprehensive security plan to the board of liquor and submit proof that all employees had attended liquor law training, records show. Tucson police records show that since April 2014 the department has responded to 230 calls for service at Hi Fis address, 87 of those calls resulting in an investigation. Its not clear from the records what the calls were related to, but Urban said that an average of two calls a week isnt that many. In addition, many of the calls could be from bar staff, calling to report incidents taking place nearby, but not inside of Hi Fi, he said. The property also shares an address with three retail spots and student housing above, but each separate business has its own suite number. I would not say that our officers have a notable higher rate of police contact at Hi Fi than other bars in the area, said Lt. Corey Dogget, of Tucson Police Departments downtown district. We have a good working relationship with (the) Hi Fi staff, in addition to many other bars in the downtown area. Hi-Fis remaining six liquor department violations include hosting drinking contests, and failure to check the ID of, and selling alcohol to, an underage buyer. Nearby bars have also been cited by the liquor department, but not at the frequency that Hi Fi has. In addition, citations for violence-related acts were fewer by comparison. Playground Bar and Lounge, 278 E. Congress, has been cited 11 times since 2000. The only citation involving violence was in 2014 for failure to protect its patrons. Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress, has been cited seven times since 1997, but none of the violations involved violence. Zen Rock, 121 E. Congress, was cited in 2012 for repeated acts of violence. Its had eight violations since, but none of the others were violence-related. In these days when conflict defines the Arizona-Mexico line, replacing what was once an amicable and demilitarized region, Rosie Garcia looks for inspiration to return peace to the border. She looks back to a towering figure from 300 years ago: Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino. Kino was the peacemaker. Thats the one thing that stands out, said Garcia. This past weekend, Kino was the focus of aficionados in Tucson and Sonora who celebrated the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Jesuit explorers remains in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, about 45 miles south of Nogales. On Saturday, a symposium was held at St. Augustine Cathedral in downtown Tucson, where several speakers talked about Kinos legacy. And in Magdalena, festivities were held on the towns plaza, where Kinos protected remains are visible under a white rotunda. The story of how Kinos remains were found is remarkable. It was a binational hunt with numerous clues and challenges, and one big doubt. But thats another column for another Sunday. Garcia, a member of the Kino Heritage Society, believes that Kinos legacy remains relevant today. Kino explored Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora the Pimeria Alta for 24 years. He was the voice of the Pimeria Alta and of the people of that time, she said. Yes, he came to convert the indigenous people to Christianity, but Kino, who reached the land of the Pimas in 1687, was more than a missionary, she added. He was a cartographer. A historian. A farmer and rancher. An explorer of the stars and the land. Kino established or started more than 20 missions in the Pimeria Alta and Baja California, and his extensive diaries are a portal to our ancestral desert peoples and places. Above all, Garcia said, Kino, who rode on horseback for thousands of miles across the desert, visiting countless indigenous communities, fought for social justice. In his diligent way, Kino defended the indigenous against Spanish colonists and soldiers who destroyed rather than built. We see it continuing today along the border, she said of his legacy. Garcia cited as examples the Kino Border Initiative in Nogales, Sonora, a Jesuit-run shelter and advocacy center for migrants stranded with no food, clothing or hope; and individuals in Arizona and Sonora who stand up for human rights. Garcia said those examples and other efforts to secure healthy cross-border harmony are part of Kinos spirit. Kino died of a fever on March 15, 1711. The missions he established include San Xavier del Bac, Tumacacori and now-gone Guevavi. He is credited with proving that Baja California was a peninsula, not an island, and he established the first European land route to California through Yuma. On Jan. 10, the Kino Heritage Society celebrated the 325th anniversary of Kinos arrival to Tumacacori, about 40 minutes south of Tucson, where he founded Mission San Cayetano del Tumacacori on the Santa Cruz River. About 40 years after Kinos death, the mission was destroyed and a new one was built where the present Mission San Jose de Tumacacori sits as part of a national historic park. In 1692, Kino created two missions: San Xavier and Mission San Cosme y Damian de Tucson, but neither survived. The current Mission San Xavier dates to the late 1700s and was constructed by the Tohono Oodham and by Franciscan missionaries, who followed the Jesuits after they were forcibly expelled from Spanish and Portuguese colonies in 1767. Today, Kinos name is part of the the border region. There are streets, schools and towns named after him. There are statues of Kino in Arizona and Sonora, and in the U.S. Capitol. A move is afoot to persuade the Vatican to confer Catholic sainthood on Kino. His international supporters believe there is sufficient evidence to warrant his canonization. If it werent for Padre Kino, we wouldnt have the Scriptures here, Garcia said. He brought Christianity here. Garcia, a firm proponent for Kinos sainthood, feels that his message of peace is worth following and applying to the border region. He was able to overcome initial mistrust from the indigenous people and to bridge radical differences between his world and the new world he encountered in the sparse desert of the Pimeria Alta. He was a man for all seasons, for all ages, Garcia said. Heavy-duty machinery will dig up dirt and pavement when construction begins on West Cortaro Farms Road next spring. What they wont dig up are hundreds of saguaros and other native plants. Instead, the plants are being carefully hauled to Pima Countys Native Plant Nursery prior to the widening of the road between North Camino de Oeste and North Thornydale Road. Since the county began saving plants from road construction through the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan more than a decade ago, most of the plants have been placed in parks, libraries, and other county-owned property. But with the Cortaro Farms Road project, Weve kind of taken it to the next level, said Jessie Byrd, manager of the nursery, which is run through the Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department. Thats the first project where were organized enough to go out ahead of time, scoop up all the cactus, hold them for two years, and then send all those exact same plants back out to the project, she said. All told, the county plans to salvage more than 2,000 plants from the road project, Byrd said. So far, 128 saguaros have been relocated by the county and AAA Landscape to the nursery on North Camino de la Tierra near West River Road, where they joined thousands of plants pulled from the Pima Animal Care Center grounds, Manzanita Park and other county properties. Many of the 400 saguaros still at the Cortaro Farms Road site will be moved once the county negotiates with the owners of the private land where the plants are located, said Ellen Alster, landscape architect for the Pima County Department of Transportation. With the Cortaro project, the plants are going back to where they were happy, said Amy Belk, who is in charge of the nurserys irrigation. In addition to helping preserve the genetics of the plants, salvaging them also keeps the animals that lived in and among the plants happy, she said. But moving the plants can be traumatic for them, and not all salvaged plants survive. The Arizona Department of Transportation, which runs a similar program along state highways, conducted a survivability study for salvaged saguaros in 2012. The ADOT analysis showed a survival rate that ranged from 66 percent to 78 percent among four road projects. The best survival rates came when the salvaged saguaros were less than 12 feet tall and were not planted too deep. For the Cortaro Farms Road project, nursery workers salvaged saguaros less than 5 feet tall, while AAA handled saguaros as tall as 8 feet, Alster said. To help keep them alive, nursery workers mark the face of the cactus that has built up the most protection from the sun so they can be properly oriented when replanted, Belk said. They also cover newly transplanted cactus with shade for the first few weeks. The nursery and salvage program costs the county $216,000 annually. The county is prohibited from selling plants to the public. But one customer they can sell to is the city of Tucson, which replaces large trees under power lines with shorter trees as part of a collaboration with Tucson Electric Power, said Gary Wittwer, the Transportation Departments landscape architect. The city of Tucson doesnt run a nursery or return plants to their original sites, Wittwer said, but it does salvage plants from road projects and move them to other city-owned sites. Due to the urban nature of the areas around construction projects such as the Grant Road widening, Theres not a lot to save thats native, Wittwer said. On the other hand, the city almost always salvages barrel cactus, ocotillo and other native plants in projects along more rural thoroughfares such as Houghton Road, where the city saved about 100 mesquite trees, he said. Although plants from the countys nursery arent for sale to the public, anybody interested in buying a salvaged native plant can do so with the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society, which has rescued native plants from construction since 1999. Down the road Commuters on Interstate 10 east of Tucson no longer have to deal with long traffic delays or detours caused by construction on the bridge over Davidson Canyon. The project forced drivers to at times use a 67-mile detour route to avoid the construction west of Benson. But paving work finished on the $15.1 million project last week, leaving behind a new westbound bridge and 17 miles of improved pavement. Crews will continue to work on the shoulders and striping for the next two months, but any traffic interruptions will be minor, the Arizona Department of Transportation said. You have permission to edit this collection. Edit Close A small but vocal contingent of the New York City's political class characterizes those of us who are alarmed by increasing crime and want more proactive policing, more effective prosecution and further refinement of state laws to ensure that lawbreakers face swift, sure consequences as nothing but reactionaries. The city remains historically safe, they say, so the order of the day should be more criminal justice reform. Arizona is on shaky ground. The more geologists look for tremors in the Grand Canyon State, the more they find. In the past few months, the Arizona Geological Survey has recorded more than 60 small earthquakes in the northwestern corner of the state. More recently, a single seismometer in Greenlee County has recorded 300 small tremors that appear to be centered near the Arizona town of Duncan at the New Mexico state line. A similar phenomenon revealed itself in the White Mountains about 10 years ago when a traveling array of seismometers caught another swarm in an area that was not supposed to be geologically active, said Mike Conway, chief of geologic extension for the Arizona Geological Survey. Geologists believe it is all a part of the settling of the southern part of the Basin and Range Province, which has been stretching like taffy for 25 million years. Periodically, it seems, most of the state is shaky. Our Sky Island Mountains are still rising and our basins still sinking, adding about 3,000 square feet of surface to Arizona each year, a recent study by University of Arizona geoscientists found. The recent swarms of earthquakes may be a new phenomenon or simply the result of increased monitoring. We may be seeing things that have been going on all the time, said Arizona state geologist Lee Allison. Cracks and crashes Many of the quakes being recorded would not be picked up on national networks of detectors run by the U.S. Geological Survey. They do register, however, on eight stations run by the Arizona Geological Survey for the past decade and they show up when portable stations are brought in to record aftershocks following a larger quake. Thats what happened after a magnitude 5.3 earthquake just south of Duncan on June 28, 2014. That earthquake, which caused some minor damage, was felt in Tucson. The Arizona Geological Survey originally moved in six portable seismometers and recorded a number of aftershocks. One, which was left in place and monitored by geologist Jeri Young, has picked up the 300 recent earthquakes, all less than 3.0 in magnitude and many under 2.0. That kind of shaking is negligible, said geologist Phil Pearthree, but people in the Duncan area do feel these. Larger earthquakes have occurred in Arizona, he said. The Flagstaff area, which has several known faults, recorded three earthquakes greater than 6.0 in the early 20th century, he said. An earthquake with an estimated 7.2 magnitude shook Arizona in 1887. It was centered in Mexico, 40 miles south of Douglas, and it was felt in Phoenix and Albuquerque. In the Tucson area, boulders crashed down nearby mountains and started brush fires. The mountains were shrouded in dust and smoke for days. The quake caused cracking in the bell tower of Mission San Xavier. Some springs vanished, others appeared. Plenty of faults Geologists cant predict earthquakes, said Pearthree, but they can tell you whether an area is capable of producing them. I wouldnt say the probability of having a large earthquake is high here, but they do occur, he said. The fault lines beneath Arizona soil are quite capable of producing earthquakes in the 6.0 to 7.0 range, he said. Pearthrees favorite fault is just south of Tucson, along the edge of the Santa Rita Mountains, extending as far as the development at Corona de Tucson, just south of Tucson. Pearthree mapped the escarpment a miles-long ledge created when the basin dropped relative to the Santa Rita Mountains as part of his graduate studies. It showed evidence of a large earthquake, possibly within the last 50,000 years a short span of geologic time. Allison has been documenting the swarm of small earthquakes along the borders of Arizona, Nevada and Utah for weeks on his Arizona Geology blog. Seismometers in Arizona, Nevada and Utah have recorded more than 60 earthquakes in the area since March 28, with the largest being a 3.8 magnitude quake on May 6. There are known faults in the area at the southern end of the intermountain seismic belt, Allison said. David Brumbaugh, a geophysicist at Northern Arizona University and director of the Arizona Earthquake Information Network, said the swarms in the northwest portion of the state are a new phenomenon, but not surprising. Thats the first swarm, but not the first earthquake activity, he said. Likewise, the Duncan area has been active in the past, he said. Milepost 376 may be the safest spot on Interstate 10 these days. Highway patrol and transportation workers watch for blowing dust on a plot of denuded land just west of San Simon whenever wind is forecast for the area, and they have been quick to close the highway down. Crews hired by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality worked this week to glue down that dust with a chemical known as gorilla snot. In a consent agreement with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the owner of the land, David R. Turner, has agreed to stabilize 320 acres of land nearest the interstate and water the remaining 300 acres until it is planted or forms a crust. The agreement also requires a cover crop between rows of pistachio trees he plans to plant. But while Turners farm is the most egregious example of disturbed land along Arizonas interstates this spring, it is not the only area prone to dust-channel events that pop up quickly, especially along a stretch of highway near Picacho on I-10. State and county officials are trying to build on a newfound interest in controlling dust along Arizonas interstates to address other stretches of dusty land. One effort focuses on land along the interstate north of Picacho and south of Eloy. A 2013 analysis of Arizona Department of Transportation records by the Arizona Daily Star found a two mile-stretch of the highway at mileposts 213 and 214 to be the deadliest point on the interstate, with eight people killed in more than 50 crashes since 2000, many of them dust-related. Two months after that report was published, three more people died in a dust-caused crash at milepost 214. The problem isnt just at Picacho. An Arizona Department of Public Safety study reported 566 collisions and 14 fatalities on Arizonas interstates from reduced visibility due to dust between 2008 and 2013. Worst time is now Dust can obscure vision in almost any season in Arizona, but the danger is acute this time of year, with spring winds blowing over dusty desert that wont be watered until the monsoon and its thunderstorms arrive in early July. The problem is most acute where the land has been recently disturbed. Ken Waters, who coordinates hazard warnings for the Phoenix office of the National Weather Service, divides dust incidents into three categories: Towering haboobs, which can grow up to 8,000 feet high and miles wide, usually occur at the beginning of the monsoon season, pushed by downdrafts from decaying thunderstorms. Small versions blew through the Phoenix area last week ahead of a line of thunderstorms. Dust blown ahead of storm fronts, usually in winter, lower visibility for vast stretches of highway. They are most common in Northeastern Arizona, where they have caused accidents and shutdowns on Interstate 40. Dust-channel events, like those that caused three multiple-vehicle accidents and forced multiple closures of I-10 near San Simon in the past six weeks, are the most deadly, Waters said. They emanate from nearby sources, often recently disturbed or abandoned land along the interstate. They pop up quickly, reduce visibility to near zero, and kill people. Don Gabrielson, who investigated the sources of dust-caused accidents during his time as director of the Pinal County Air Quality District, said the source is usually nearby. The dust events that suddenly make the lights go out, where all of a sudden you cant see your hood ornament, are likely attributable to activities that disturbed surfaces alongside the highway, he said. Only bad choices You have two choices when trapped in sudden dust storms both bad. You can slow down and hope the semi-truck behind you does the same, or maintain your speed and hope you bust through the dust cloud before you hit someone who has slowed or stopped in front of you. Some truckers and motorists chose the wrong options during three windy days in San Simon in April. Multiple accidents on April 7, 25 and 28 involved 19 vehicles, including a Department of Public Safety squad car. Fortunately, nobody was killed. The first precautionary closure came on April 30. In a sense, the havoc caused by Davids Agrigold Farms is easier to deal with than some others. The source of the dust was easily identified and remedies proposed, though they did not take hold immediately. The Arizona Department of Public Safety coordinated with the National Weather Service and the Arizona Department of Transportation to predict and monitor wind events and shut the interstate down when visibility was obscured by dust. The Department of Environmental Quality, responding to citizen complaints, inspected the area and threatened fines, leading to the consent agreement. Ultimately, the state itself contracted for the application of the tackifier for about $200,000. State authorities described the owners of the land as new farmers who werent aware of the best practices for controlling dust. The biggest problem is they stripped off too much ground all at once. They should have done it in 40-to-60 acre chunks, said Mark Killian, director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Solutions, not regulations, sought Killian said the area around San Simon has become a prime spot for growing pistachios and pecans and has attracted a number of farmers new to the area in recent years. He said his department plans to send letters to agricultural land brokers in the region to urge consultation on best practices for controlling dust. State Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, suggested that the state Real Estate Department could add a disclosure requirement to land alongside the interstate that would outline the owners responsibility to control dust. Farley was already working on the dust problem in Picacho after being caught in a deadly dust-storm crash there in October 2013. He has been working with soil experts to devise mitigation, in a group that also includes Pinal County Supervisor Anthony Smith, whose district encompasses the area. Smith said their efforts have been slowed by changing ownership of the land in question. Smith said much of the problem is land that was degraded long ago. He said a working group that includes the University of Arizona, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ADOT and the weather service wants to see if we could do something to mitigate the problem. Killian said the state Agriculture Department has been asked to join the effort. He and Farley are interested in a nearby piece of land where soil experts built berms and planted desert vegetation more than 40 years ago. Farley said the soil there seems to be holding. Smith said he isnt interested in new regulations to control dust, but would like to make solutions available to landowners. Degraded desert Arizona has hundreds of thousands of acres of degraded desert that contribute dust to the giant storms. Its an intractable problem that will worsen with drought and lowered water supplies, researchers said in a series of five annual dust-storm conferences organized by ADOT and the National Weather Service offices in Tucson and Phoenix. The smaller, deadlier dust-channel storms with discrete sources along the states highways can be addressed, said Farley, who said he was encouraged by the actions of ADEQ in San Simon. I think there is enough public pressure now to do something, he said. Turner, meanwhile, has turned down repeated requests for comment. He issued a statement Thursday through his lawyer, Phillip Fargotstein of Fennemore Craig in Phoenix: My clients have been and are cooperating with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to solve the problem and have authorized the application of soil stabilization chemicals to the property to reduce the dust problem and they will continue to cooperate with ADEQ to take additional steps as needed. Turner signed the consent decree on behalf of Davids Agrigold Farms LLC, a limited-liability company with a Scottsdale address, Arizona Corporation Commission records show. In addition to Davids Agrigold farms, Turner is an agent/owner of a number of companies headquartered at two addresses in Scottsdale and Phoenix. One is an agricultural commodities company, DTISW Inc., that has been in business in Arizona since 1993. Another is David Turner International Ministries, which describes him as an international businessman and healing evangelist. Help India! By News Agency of Kashmir Jammu: In a virtual setback to Azads family in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, real brother of Ghulam Nabi Azad former chief minister and general secretary All India Congress Committee (AICC), Ghulam Ali Azad today said that the demand of abolition of Article 370 and construction of Ram temple at the dispute site of Babri Masjid was the just and genuine demands of the Bharitya Janta Party (BJP). Support TwoCircles Ghulam Ali Azad and three others had joined BJP at New Delhi, few days back, in presence of BJP National General Secretary. Talking to the media persons, here today, Ali said that he fully endorsed the vision of Bhartiya Janta Party and the partys stand on Article 370 and Ram temple issue. I do not foresee any harm if the Article 370 is abolished and people and industrialists from outside the state are allowed in the state like other parts of the country, he added. On the issue of Ram temple, he was of the opinion that Babri Masjid never existed and it was the Babar who erected the structrure after demolishing a temple. Islam does not permit to offer prayers at a disputed site and as such Muslims should allow construction of Ram Temple on the disputed site by mutual consent, he added. Babur, Ali Azad said, was an invader and We cannot glorify him as a leader of Muslims in any sense of the word. Azad claimed that the ideology and vision of BJP was the guiding force for him to join the party unconditionally. Azad was welcomed by the state BJP president Ashok Khajuria, Vice-president Dr Nirmal and other senior leaders in the party fold. Azad was welcomed at party headquarters by BJP State President Ashok Khajuria, State Vice-President Dr. Nirmal Kamal, Spokesperson Ramesh Arora, senior leader Lalit Moza and other senior functionaries of the party. Besides, Ghulam Ali Azad, Retired District & Sessions Judge K.K. Proach, Congress activist from Bhaderwah Raju Sharma and a prominent social figure from Bishnah were also welcomed on the occasion. Help India! By Yoginder Sikand, It is not just the loony vernacular media, as many are given to believe, but even the respectable, mainstream, national English-language press in India that have sedulously cultivated the notion of Islamic terrorism, so much so that the image of Muslims in general being either terrorists or their sympathizers enjoys wide currency today. While it is true that some of the most dastardly terror attacks that India has witnessed in recent years have been the handiwork of some Muslimsand this is something that the vast majority of the Indian Muslims themselves deploreit is also undeniable that Muslims have been unfairly blamed for many other attacks or alleged terror plots by the police as well as the media in which they have had no role to play at all. Many Muslimsand others, toobelieve that these false allegations are not innocent errors, but can be said to represent a deliberate and concerted effort to defame and demonise an entire community and the religion with which it is associated. Support TwoCircles That, precisely, is what a recently-released report, brought out by a team of secular, leftist non-Muslim activists from Karnataka argues. Titled Media on Terror, and issued by the activist group Column 9 [so named, the report says, because in a standard newspaper of eight columns, issues and perspectives that deserve a column of their own generally go missing), it is a detailed examination of the coverage and projection of terrorism in the state of Karnataka. It is based on an analysis of the reporting of terrorism in the Bangalore editions of leading Kannada and English newspapers over several months in 2008, supplemented with in-depth interviews with journalists, stringers and police officials in Honnali, Davangere, Hubli, Kalghatgi and Bangaloreplaces where, the media had reported, terroristsall of them incidentally Muslimshad been apprehended. This was a period when the media was awash with stories of Muslim terrorists allegedly plotting to take over the whole of Karnataka. A striking finding of the report is that the media in Karnataka, both Kannada and English, dangerously seemed to pronounce judgments on those arrested, much before the due process of law was played out. In fact, the report says, there was no material basis to most of the news reports. The tone of their reporting was sharply jingoistic, and none of the standards expected of professional journalism seemed to be in evidence. Alleged terroristsin many cases innocent Muslim youths arbitrarily picked up by the policewere subjected to media trials based simply on unsubstantiated police claims. The report speaks of the blurring of lines between police officials and investigative journalists, who seemed to pre-empt official investigation. The language and rhetoric used in the reporting reflected, the report says, an obvious and deep-rooted bias against Muslims, and a deliberate effort to create a sense of siege among Hindus. Scores of sensational stories of Muslims being picked up for being suspected terrorists published in the Karnataka media were based on information allegedly received from what were routinely called highly placed police officials or intelligence bureau officials. Predictably, the report says, the names of these police or investigating officials were not provided, which meant that these storiesmany of which were patently fabricatedcould not be substantiated by these officials. In numerous instances, the reports were based on news wholly manufactured by reporters and stringers, as evidenced from the denials that emerged from the police officials themselves a day after these reports were published, which many papers chose to ignore. In almost all such cases, the newspapers did not bother to issue an apology despite irrefutable confirmation of their falsity. In most instances where the stories about alleged Muslim terrorists were based on information supplied by the police, journalists simply asked no questions at all as to the process of investigation that took place within the police stations despite it being common knowledge that torture is widely used by the police in such cases to extract information or else to force detainees to admit to crimes that they have had no hand in. Consequently, the arrested Muslims were uncritically presented in the media as hardcore Islamist terrorists, even without the courts having made their judgments. By presenting no version other than that of the police, the report remarks, the investigative aspect of journalism in Karnataka on the matter of alleged Muslim involvement in terrorism has in fact been reduced to what it calls stenographic reporting. The report adds that the few journalists who tried to balance the stories with the other views about reported incidents about Muslim terrorism or foiled terrorist plots rarely found space in the newspapers. In this regard, it is significant to note that, as the report says, it was mainly at the lower-rungs of the police that journalists depended for their stories (often, for a price it suggests). The journalists interviewed by the team that commissioned the report confirmed that to sustain their relations with police constables they needed to keep them happy and desist from undertaking any steps to antagonize them. This, the report points out, greatly affected the credibility of their reports since they assumed the police version as valid and often failed to critique or to ask any questions about that version. The report adds: Across the board, journalists specifically mentioned lower rung police officials, including constables and head constables within the concerned police stations, as sources of information. The journalists access to these police officials was determined entirely on the basis of their personal rapport and connections staked out within the police stations. It was fairly obvious that the journalists nurtured these relationships with the officials very carefully since the relationships were the base for a potential exclusive story[] Despite the teams repeated questions seeking names of police officials who acted as sources of information, not a single reporter was willing to share these details. Another alarming finding of the report was the arbitrary branding by both the police and the media of literature and CDs allegedly seized by the police from the Muslims who had been arrested as jihadi materials. These were presented as proof of those arrested as being behind acts of terror or even as would-be terrorists. In many cases, the police officials simply refused to share the material with journalists, at most showing them only photos of the covers of books seized from the arrested Muslims. Amazingly, the report relates, according to the journalists they interviewed, evidence of the books indeed being jihadi materials lay in the fact that most were books written in Urdu. In one location where alleged Muslim terrorists had been arrested and so-called jihadi material recovered from them, journalists interviewed by the team mentioned that the police had produced a panel of Urdu experts at a press briefing to confirm that the seized materials were indeed jihadi. Strikingly, none of the journalists had any clue about the identity of these so-called Urdu experts. A journalist in Honnali spoke about a particular CD that was seized by the police from an arrested Muslim, whom the police and the media had alleged was a terrorist. Far from being incendiary material, as was alleged, the CD, it turned out, was actually about an orphanage. Another journalist provided the team that had prepared the report a photograph taken on a mobile phone, where they could read the titles of two books since they were printed in Englishone of these was The Spirit of Islam and the other was the Holy Quran, books that, needless to say, are not proscribed and are readily available in the market. In this regard, the report rightly asks, How can possession of the Holy Koran be presented as proof that the people owning them are suspected terrorists? Why werent any questions or objections raised about this new tendency of the Indian police who chose to present the possession of the Holy Koran as proof of possible terrorism?. Thus, the report argues, It was very clear that the journalists had labeled books and other seized materials primarily on the basis of their interactions with the police and, to some extent, on the basis of internalized personal prejudice. Yet another striking finding of the report is that not a single journalist whom the team met and who had reported on the arrest of alleged Muslim terrorists had received clear instructions or editorial guidelines pertaining to coverage of sensitive issues such as terrorism from their respective editorial chiefs. Many journalists spoke of the pressure to meet the evening deadlines for daily reports, and so, they admitted, there were several occasions when they did not have the time to verify the claims of police officials in cases of real or alleged terrorist attacks or plots, and merely carried police version without cross-checking. Equally distressingly, the report unveiled, reporters located in regions that usually received no print space or attention in the press found themselves catapulted to attention through the sensationalist, and often false, reports that they filed during the time of the arrests and got front page coverage. The reporters also mentioned the pressure exerted on them by the state bureau chiefs to file reports that were exclusive to the organisation. This conduced, the report says, to sensationalism and even to the fabrication of reports. As the report puts it, In the consequent one-upmanship created by the pressure to perform within the confines of a profit-driven industry, the journalists admitted to several compromises on the articles authenticity and their contents. Some journalists interviewed unanimously admitted that the reports they had filed were intentionally sensationalist in nature. According to them, what was of paramount importance was for them to prove that the arrested persons were in fact guilty, that they were in fact members of Islamist terrorist organisations, even much before the courts were given the chance to lay down their verdicts. Sadly, as the report says, these reporters saw their sensationalist reporting, not as a crime, but, rather, as a service that they were rendering to the nationthey claimed that in this way they were exposing hardened criminals and potential terrorists who were capable of inflicting much harm to society. One of the persons interviewed by the team, the reporter for the Kannada Prabha in Hubli, openly admitted that 60% of the reports that he had filed were false and inaccurate. Similarly, the Hubli reporter for the Times of India admitted to using a photograph of an unrelated dargah with his report about an alleged Muslim terrorist camp, and and falsely described the flag near the dargah as a Pakistani one. In fact, it so turned out, the correspondent himself had never been to the location. In an incident in coastal Karnataka, after two Muslim men were paraded naked and brutally assaulted in public by Hindu Yuva Sena activists for transporting cows, a Muslim protest rally was taken out in Udipi. Kannada papers falsely alleged that the demonstrators had unfurled a Pakistani flag and raised pro-Pakistan slogans and, without any evidence, accused them of being linked to Al-Qaeda and the Lashkar-e Tayyeba. Although the police denied these claims, the papers pressed on with their accusations. In another bizarre case, a Muslim man from Bangalore associated with the Muslim IT Association was wrongly accused by the Times of India of being linked to a terrorist organization. Despite these blatant falsehoods, the report notes with distress, in the overwhelming majority of cases the newspapers did not issue any apologies or acknowledge their (possibly deliberate) errors. The team also met with senior police officials in Bangalore and Davangere. It found that they appeared to be less concerned and engaged with the prevention of biased media reporting and introspection into the role of the police. They argued that it was not the responsibility of the police to challenge inaccurate reports filed by journalists, and that this was also time-consuming. The SP of Davangere, the report says, readily acknowledged the leakage of information to the press through the lower rung officials though they were expressly forbidden from doing so. She admitted its continuance despite the issuing of a whip asking all police officials below the rank of SP to refrain from interactions with journalists, and suggested that journalists should depend on official press communiques released by SPs. Among the many cases of false framing of Muslims as terrorists in Karnataka that the report highlights, one deserves special mention to indicate the deep-rootedness of anti-Muslim prejudices in the state machinery, particularly since the BJP emerged as such a powerful force in Karnataka. The team met with judicial officer Jinaralkar at the judicial magistrates first class court at Honnali, where two Muslim youths, Abdullah and Nasir, had been arrested on grounds of allegedly being terrorists. Jinaralkar defended his awarding of the two to police custody, although they were initially arrested and presented as bike thieves, a decision the media highlighted and lauded, crediting the judge with foresight in identifying the arrested duo as suspected terrorists. The judge explained his decision by stating that the material seized from them when they were arrested indicated that they might in fact have been terrorists, rather than bike-robbers as was initially claimed: duplicate identity cards, a dagger, a map of south India with red marks against Udupi and Goa, an American dollar, two pieces of paper, with the phrase www.com written on one and Jungle King Behind Back Me on another. The judge told the team, When I looked at these materials in their entirety, several things were clear to me. I felt that these were definitely not just bike thieveswhy would bike thieves carry around duplicate identity cards and a map of south India? The fact that they had an American dollar seemed to indicate their international links, while the paper with www.com indicated that they were tech-savvy [] Definitely enough grounds in my opinion to grant the police their custody to facilitate their further investigations . The report indicates that journalists in Karnataka (and this probably holds true for the rest of the country) typically see terrorism as a specifically Muslim phenomenon, and do not even consider the possibility of Hindu terrorists, although, as the report points out, in Karnataka today, particularly with the rise of the BJP, scores of incidents of terror against Muslims (as well as Dalits) by Hindu groups have been recorded. Predictably, the media does not describe these as instances of Hindu terrorism. This points to what the report terms as the dangerously marked internalisation of Hindu nationalism by media professionals in Karnataka, and the projection by the media of the Hindutva lobby as the presumed sole representative of the Hindus. Media on Terror can be procured from Column Nine, No. 51, 29th Cross, 9th Main, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bangalore 560070. Price: Rs. 25. Help India! By Special Correspondent, TwoCircles.net, Mumbai: The mother of Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, an accused in 26/11 Mumbai attacks has reacted sharply to the fulfillment of Sadhvi Pragya Thakurs demand of being taken out of prison for making bathe in the Simhastha Kumbh Mela after she sat on hunger strike. Ansaris mother questioned if there is different law to deal with his son whose demand to move him out of solitary confinement was never considered during the last 40 months. Support TwoCircles Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who was recently given a clean chit by the National Investigation Agency in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case and is also an accused in murder of her accomplice Sunil Joshi, was given go-ahead to her request to bathe in the river by Dewas District Court on Tuesday after she threatened to fast unto death by Bhopal Central Jail . She was then taken to the river to bathe on Wednesday. Taking exception to this, Rehana Begum,63, who lives in Beed city of Maharashtra told TwoCircles.net, My son was on hunger strike for two months and had lost 17 kg weight but neither jail authority agreed to move him out of solitary confinement nor did the court. He is still kept under solitary confinement in the prison. When she (Sadhvi) can be taken out of prison then can my son not be moved out of solitary confinement and kept in another barrack? Her demand is met only after two days of hunger strike, but my sons legitimate demand is never met even though he was on a hunger strike for two months. Why are there different laws for my son? she questioned. She also told that when Zabiuddin Ansari was on hunger strike and was not breaking it then the Jail authority had asked her to come to prison and make him understand the situation. They called us to jail and told us straight away that he would die but they cannot move him out of solitary confinement. After learning of their unsympathetic attitude I had requested my son to break his hunger strike and keep patience, Begum added. Zabiuddin Ansari,35, was deported from Saudi Arabia on June 25, 2012 and following his interrogation by agencies is lodged in Mumbai Central Prison under solitary confinement since last 40 months. After finding no relief from various courts he had resolved for hunger strike on August 5, 2015. He was on hunger strike for two months but his only demand was not fulfilled and he broke his strike after his mother intervened. Asif Naqvi, Ansaris lawyer in Aurangabad Arms Haul case told TwoCircles.net, When her mother read about fulfillment of Sadhvis demand then she called me with crying voice and asked under what law she got this relief. I had no answer to her question, he said adding, but I told her that his petition is pending before High Court and we shall mention this episode there. Related: A torture tale of 26/11 accused: 33 months solitary confinement, trials through VC and now hunger strike People sent letter to Maharashtra Governor demanding to lift Solitary confinement of 26/11 accused Jail agrees there is no rule for solitary confinement but still put Zabiuddin in it for 33 months If I die on hunger strike, book jail authorities for provoking me to commit suicide: 26/11 accused writes to court Amnesty International calls for action against solitary confinement of 26/11 accused Help India! New Delhi: An alleged senior operative of the banned organization Indian Mujahideen was arrested when he flew in here on Friday after being deported from Dubai, officials said. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) took into custody Abdul Wahid Siddibapa at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Support TwoCircles Siddibapa, a resident of Maqdoom colony in Bhatkal in Karnataka, was wanted on charges of conspiring to stage terror attacks at various places in India. From his base in Dubai, Siddibapa recruited Indians for the Indian Mujahideen and funded their activities, the official said. A warrant of arrest and a Red Corner Notice had been issued against him, leading to his deportation. Help India! By Mahtab Alam for Twocircles.net While there is a lot of discussion happening around on how Muslim voters polled in the recently concluded assembly elections in five states, there is hardly any talk of how Urdu (and Hindi) newspapers reported these results. As Hindi is not the primary language for the non-Muslim population of these areas, so too is Urdu not the primary language of the Muslims in these states. Support TwoCircles However, it is hardly a matter of dispute that Urdu enjoys an influential (if not large) readership base amongst Muslims in not just several states of North India, but also in southern states such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. In fact, West Bengal also has a bunch of Urdu dailies that are regularly published from Kolkata, such as the Akhbar e Mashriq and Azad Hind. I remember, in 2012, Mamata Banerjee nominated Nadimul Haque, the owner of Akbar-e-Mashriq to Rajya Sabha. Haque was one of the three journalists chosen by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief for the upper house of the parliament. Needless to say, it was done to woo a section of educated Muslims (especially Urdu speaking), as the paper is patronised and subscribed by them. Apart from Kolkata, the Urdu daily has editions coming out from Delhi and Ranchi as well. So back to the question of how were the Assembly poll results reported in the Urdu Dailies. If I have to answer this in one sentence, I would say that unlike English, Hindi or other dailies, those in Urdu did not declare a #CongressMuktBharat (Congless India, Almost reported The Times of India) or a #BJPTsunami, as reported by Asomiya Pratidin (Assamese) in its headlines. For Urdu dailies, it was essentially the return of Mamata and Jayalalithaa. In fact, it was their grand come back. Mamata Banerjee aur Jayalalithaa ki shandar futuhat, Assam mein pahli martba Kamal khila (The grand victory of Mamata Banerjee and Jayalalithaa, Lotus blooms in Assam for the first time), reads the banner headline of Akhbar e Mashriq. Maghribi Bangal mein didi aur Tamilnadu mein Amma ka qabza barkarar, Assam par zafrani saya (Didis hold in West Bengal and Ammas in Tamilnadu remains intact, Saffron shadow over Assam), reported the Inquilab daily in its Mumbai edition on the front page. The Delhi editions banner headline reads, Didi aur Amma in iqtedar mein shandar wapsi (The grand comeback of Didi and Amma). The sub heading of the news item reads, Puducherry ne Congress ki izzat bachai, Assam mein pahli bar hukumat banane se BJP khush, Kerala mein bayan mahaz ne lahraya parcham (Puducherry saves Congress reputation, BJP happy with forming government in Assam for the first time, Left front flags government in Kerala). In its editorial, clearly hinting at BJPs over enthusiasm on the election results, the publication terms it Jeet se bada zashn (Celebrations bigger than the victory). Inquilab is one of the most widely read Urdu dailies in India today, with 14 editions simultaneously being published in 14 cities of 3 states of north India (Delhi, UP and Bihar), and one from west-central India, namely Maharashtra. Siyasat daily, which is published from Hyderabad reports, Assam aur Kerala mein congress ka safaya, Jayalalithaaa, Mamata Banerjee ki shandar kamyabi (Wipeout of Congress from Assam and Kerala, grand victory for Jayalalithaa and Mamata Banerjee). While Munsif, another leading Urdu daily published from the city calls it BJP ki Assam mein tarikhi kamyabi (Historic Victory of BJP in Assam), Politician Owaisis family funded Etemaad daily reports, Bangal mein Mamata, Tamilnadu mein Jayalalithaa ka iqtadar barqarar, Assam mein BJP ko fatah (Mamatas in Bengal and Jayalalithaas in Tamil Nadu reign intact, victory for BJP in Assam) . Sahafat daily, which is published simultaneously from Lucknow, Delhi, Dehradun and Mumbai, reports, Bangal mein Mamata lahar, Tamilnadu mein amma ki wapsi, Assam mein khila Kamal, Kerala hua lal (Mamata wave in Bengal, amma returns in Tamil Nadu, lotus blooms in Assam, kerala turns red). There is no news of the results on the front page of either the Sri Nagar or Jammu editions of Kashmir Uzma, a leading Urdu daily of Jammu and Kashmir. However, the most striking aspect about vernacular media reporting, even if owned by the same group of publications, is that they present a different picture, which are often contradictory to each other (this might be equally true of other languages as well but here my argument is based on Urdu and Hindi dailies only). Lets compare, reports of Inquilab (Urdu) and Dainik Jagran Hindi daily, one of the most widely read (according to its own claim of being the worlds most read daily) and influential Hindi newspapers. This comparison is important because both Inquilab and Dainik Jagaran are owned and managed by the same group of publications. While the Urdu counterpart terms it the Saffron shadow, the Hindi daily reports, Bhari Bhajapa ki jholi, Congress aur simti (BJPs cup fills up, Congress further shrinks). The lead editorial calls it, Aik achcha din Bhajpa ka (A good day for BJP). It can be noted here that Narendra Mohan, the chairman and the managing director of Jagaran Prakashan had been a member of the Rajya Sabha as a BJP nominee, and L K Advani is considered to be his mentor. And Jagran is known for its pro-Hindutva reporting and editorials. But why should the blame only rest with Jagaran when it is not just limited to them? Sahara India group, which publishes both a Hindi and an Urdu daily is not far behind when it comes to an opinionated and biased reporting. And as a regular reader of these newspapers, I can confidently say that this is their common practice. Sample this: while Roznama Rashtriya Sahara Urdu reports, Amma aur Didi ki shandar wapsi (Grand comeback of Amma and Didi), Rashtriya Sahara Hindi banners headline reads, Bhajpa, Jaya, Mamata ne racha itihas (BJP, Jaya and Mamata script history). So clearly, both the publications, though brought out by the same media organizations, are trying to give two different messages, which might be totally based on their business interests. However, the end result of these heavily opinionated reports develop a viewpoint which can be essentially based on a communal line. And which essentially feeds to the production of prejudiced mindsets, albeit in different languages. Note: All the newspapers cited above were published on 20th May 2016, the day after the results were declared. The author is an activist and writer and blogs at mahatabnama.wordpress.com and tweets at MahtabNama Help India! New Delhi: Hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists on Sunday demonstrated here against the killings of their colleagues in Kerala allegedly by the Communist Party of India-Maxist (CPI-M) workers. Our protest is against the killings and harassment of BJP workers in Kerala. We are being targeted there very often. Rising crime against BJP workers should immediately be stopped in Kerala, Delhi BJPs media coordinator Praveen Shankar Kapoor told IANS. Support TwoCircles Led by BJP vice president Shyam Jaju, secretary R.P. Singh and Delhi unit president Satish Upadhyay, the party activists started a protest march from the Delhi BJPs office on Pandit Pant Marg here to the nearby CPI-M office. Closer to the CPI-M office, some of the demonstrators broke police cordons to stage their protest outside the CPI-M office gates. Police used water cannons to disperse the crowd and detained some of the BJP workers. Our demonstration was peaceful and we broke cordons only when we were stopped. Police detained many of workers, Kapoor said. He also alleged that the CPI-M workers threw stones and bottles at the demonstrators. Police should probe this. They should arrest the CPI-M supporters behind this act, Kapoor demanded. Help India! By Rajaraman Sundaresan for TwoCircles.net, Democracy in many ways is a collection of plural spaces which involves civil rights groups, protest movements, investigative teams, courts, media groups and so on. The list is a never exhaustive one, unlike our electoral process which operates within the framework of majority and minority. One feels, that with the advent of majoritarian democracy, if anything seems undemocratic it is the idea of our electoral process. The majoritarian victory of a regime like Narendra Modis not only reflects the idiocy of an electoral process but also threatens our very democratic imagination. In fact, the Godhra riots, was a classic example of a frustration, which attempted to create the new electoral majoritarian imagination. Michel Mann, the British Sociologist warned against such majoritarianism in his popular book TheDark side of Democracy, in which he proved through various case studies in Africa that such an act would make democracy illegitimate and further lead to genocide. Support TwoCircles A perfect case of this majoritarian propaganda is the war raged against the tribal population. The tribals have been cornered and decimated historically. In fact, in one of the sessions on Holocaust education in a recent conference on Mass violence and memory held at Jindal University, the participants articulated holocaust or genocide as if it was an affair of the past. Most of the narratives began with the examples of World War II or Nazi Germany. Sitting in that conference, one felt the violence of history, as it was being recited and conceptualized, as if it was a world history of Holocaust. One felt, at least the Holocaust history deserved a chapter on the systematic elimination of the tribal people right from the story of Guarani Indians in South America and Brazil to Ho in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. With the emergence of 21st century, the nature of evil became instrumental and inclusive within the idea of nation-state. Policy became the new creative tool with which nation-states enacted violence in their everydayness. The story of development was one such policy thought that India retained with itself along with the concept of nation-state which was a European idea. Nonetheless, one felt, Indians especially the tribals had a different approach to articulate Holocaust or Genocide in terms of multiple notions of time. SamikBandyopadhyay, Indias famous theatre and film critic put it brilliantly in the conference when he stressed on the need to include development and the concept of nation state into Holocaust education within the broader framework of systematic elimination of tribal population and their identities Modern day education system ignores interdisciplinary thinking but it is needed to understand violence and the studies on Holocaust. The concept of nation state is a testimony to it in the way how it thinks of education as a national commodity. If one tries to analyze the relation between education and Holocaust in a cognitive level, one doesnt see much of a difference, because one feels education is no more knowledge induced but development induced. In that sense, one could say that challenging development alone wont do, it requires the dialectics of interplay between development and education. As Indias developmental plans roll across with MoU signed every now and then by Modi government, tribal peoples life and identity is at the highest stake. With the advent of several developmental projects, the number of tribals getting displaced remains an ever increasing statistic. But, more worse is the future of tribal children, who are being assimilated into modern day ashram schools or private NGO run schools and colleges for free of cost in the name of social service. These children at one level are culturally withered along with their parents. But in a deep and fundamental way, it produces a generational gap. This not only becomes an act of cultural genocide, but also becomes holocaust of the nature, ecocide as it is called. Gladson Dungdung, a tribal rights activist and author from Jharkhand, reflected about the nature of this ecocide and genocide beautifully in his book Mission Saranda: A war for natural resources in India. This book articulated the violence of developmental thought in terms of how it violates the tribal way of life and more how the tribal identity as a whole is being systematically decimated through development. Modi government which operates without a hearing aid, refuses to engage in discourses of this sort. Probably, it is because of this reason that Gladson was offloaded from the Air India flight recently in which he was supposed to travel to London to be a panelist in Environmental History and the Politics of South Asia. Such acts not only restrict ones freedom of expression but show the fundamental lack of a regime whose policy moves are literally ending tribal lives at a mass level. (The author is a student at Jindal School and is a co-founder of Rhythm of Nation, a socially inclined youth group) Chris Spivey, Britain's most controversial writer has been saved by his fan base, allowing him to continue writing his articles and hosting his 300 a month website. Branded an 'Internet Troll' by the Fleet Street newspapers, Chris Spivey hit the headlines in 2015 when he was found guilt of harassing the grieving family of murdered soldier Lee Rigby. With the third year anniversary of Lee Rigby's murder featured heavily in the news, Chris Spivey wrote a damning article in 2013 called 'The Drummer Man' in which he contended that Lee Rigby was a fictional character made up by the secret services, that Lee Rigby's family were false flag actors and that the whole incident of Lee Rugby's murder was a false flag event in which nothing presented to the public was real. Found guilty of harassing Lee Rigby's family in a two-day trial at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court in 2015, Spivey maintains his innocence pointing out that no members of Lee Rigby's family attended court to face his allegations and that no member of Lee Rigby's family even signed the witness statements which were used in court as part of his prosecution. "Alter the course of history" Boasting a readership in it's millions, Spivey appealed to the public for funds to pay the arrears of his rent amounting to 936.67 and the 300 a month charge for his website. Donate or dont, it is up to you If you do, I will continue to show these monsters up for the criminals they are. If you dont the site will fold, he wrote in his article 'Get the picture.' Making a mockery of the mainstream media's contention that he's a vicious internet troll, and trolled himself by LBC radio presenter Steve Allen who called him a nasty piece of work, before urging his listeners to throw bricks at him; Spivey updated his readership that there has been more financial support come in this week than has ever come in before in the 4 years that I have been doing this soul destroying shit With the tide turning, the term 'Conspiracy Theorist' is becoming less and less toxic, following the confirmation that there was a conspiracy to cover up the Hillsborough disaster by South Yorkshire police, that David Cameron was knee-deep in conspiracy, conspiring with big business to stay in Europe, and most damning of all, that there is a Establishment wide conspiracy to cover up Satanic abuse and murder in Hampstead Heath. Meanwhile the legendary conspiracy theorist David Icke has recently appeared on Andrew Neil's This Week politics show, about to launch his new book and embark on a sell out world tour, maintaining that the Royal Family are shape-shifting lizards. Whether man stood on the moon, if it was Jacqueline Kennedy who really shoot her husband in the head, to the contention that Princess Diana never really died in a Paris tunnel and in fact never even existed, the truth is that the truth industry is big business and more and more people are turning away from the truth presented on the TV, in favour of the truth presented in obscure websites and Alternative View (AV) conferences. As Spivey said on his website in thanks to his loyal readers, Believe me, this website me, the gang and yous lot are going to alter the course of history regardless of whether I am here to savour the moment or not. The truth is out there, but its just a matter of what truth to believe in. GPL Results, Standings, and Schedule After Week 7: Montreal Nationals Shine May 22 2016 Mo Nuwwarah Welcome to the weekly rundown of the Global Poker League here on PokerNews. In this space, all of the past week's results from the GPL will be listed, followed by league standings and a look at the following week's schedule. The Montreal Nationals entered Week 7 four points back of the first-place New York Rounders in the Americas Conference, but by week's end they changed that in a big way as a big 15-point showing propelled them to first place and a six-point lead. It was mainly due to Mike McDonald, as the legendary tournament grinder nominated himself to sit in for a couple of six-max matches. He turned in a win and a second-place showing, coming only a heads-up loss to Scott Ball of the Las Vegas Moneymakers from sweeping the board. Then, Pascal Lefrancois fell to San Francisco Rush's Jonathan Jaffe but did salvage three points in a 2-1 loss. The flip side of that surge by the Nationals was a down week from the Rounders, as they secured a conference-low eight points, contributing greatly to their slippage. Tyler Kenney took just two points away from a pair of six-max matches, finishing fourth and sixth. Jason Wheeler righted the ship somewhat with a 2-1 victory over Jake Cody of the Las Vegas Moneymakers. Hong Kong Stars remain in fourth place in Eurasia Conference, but a 16-point week has them moving from 24 points back of the conference lead to just 13 points back. They trotted out Dong Guo, who has been on a nice little run since a 29th-place finish in the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2014, and he delivered in a pair of six-max matches. He was unable to secure a victory, but going runner-up to Alex Luneau and Chris Moorman netted him 10 points. Then, Weiyi Zhang topped Andrey Pateychuk for 2-1 for another six points. As with Americas, the low-scoring team this week in Eurasia was actually the first-place squad, in this case the Moscow Wolverines. Igor Yaroshevsky was unable to make much headway in the six-max portion of the week as he booked a fourth and a sixth for a total of two points. Pateychuk didn't fare any better in his 2-1 loss to Zhang in the aforementioned match, bringing the team's total to five points. As a result, the Wolverines saw their lead in the conference shrink from 14 points to eight over the London Royals. Week 7 Results Place Player Team Points Match 1 6-Max 1 Alexandre Luneau Paris Aviators 7 2 Dong Guo Hong Kong Stars 5 3 Sorel Mizzi Berlin Bears 3 4 Igor Yaroshevsky Moscow Wolverines 2 5 Chris Moorman London Royals 1 6 Todd Brunson Rome Emperors 0 Match 2 6-Max Place Player Team Points 1 Chris Moorman London Royals 7 2 Dong Guo Hong Kong Stars 5 3 Alexandre Luneau Paris Aviators 3 4 Sorel Mizzi Berlin Bears 2 5 Todd Brunson Rome Emperors 1 6 Igor Yaroshevsky Moscow Wolverines Match 3 6-Max Place Player Team Points 1 Scott Ball Las Vegas Moneymakers 7 2 Mike McDonald Montreal Nationals 5 3 Fedor Holz L.A. Sunset 3 4 Tyler Kenney New York Rounders 2 5 Phil Galfond San Francisco Rush 1 6 Felipe Ramos Sao Paulo Mets 0 Match 4 6-Max Place Player Team Points 1 Mike McDonald Montreal Nationals 7 2 Fedor Holz L.A. Sunset 5 3 Phil Galfond San Francisco Rush 3 4 Felipe Ramos Sao Paulo Mets 2 5 Scott Ball Las Vegas Moneymakers 1 6 Tyler Kenney New York Rounders 0 Match 5 Heads-Up Player Team Wins Points Weiyi Zhang Hong Kong Stars 2 6 Andrey Pateychuk Moscow Wolverines 1 3 Match 6 Heads-Up Player Team Wins Points Dario Sammartino Rome Emperors 2 6 Igor Kurganov London Royals 1 3 Match 7 Heads-Up Player Team Wins Points Sorel Mizzi Berlin Bears 3 9 Davidi Kitai Paris Aviators 0 0 Match 8 Heads-Up Player Team Wins Points Jason Wheeler New York Rounders 2 6 Jake Cody Las Vegas Moneymakers 1 3 Match 9 Heads-Up Player Team Wins Points Olivier Busquet LA Sunset 1 3 Felipe Ramos Sao Paulo Mets 2 6 Match 10 Heads-Up Player Team Wins Points Pascal Lefrancois Montreal Nationals 1 3 Jonathan Jaffe San Francisco Rush 2 6 Standings Place Team Points Wins Americas Conference 1 Montreal Nationals 87 8 2 New York Rounders 81 7 3 L.A. Sunset 79 6 4 Sao Paulo Metropolitans 70 5 5 Las Vegas Moneymakers 63 3 6 San Francisco Rush 61 6 Eurasia Conference Place Team Points Wins 1 Moscow Wolverines 87 8 2 London Royals 79 8 3 Paris Aviators 78 8 4 Hong Kong Stars 74 5 5 Berlin Bears 64 3 6 Rome Emperors 58 2 Next Week's Schedule Date Time (ET) Match May 24 12 p.m. Eurasia 6-Max 1:40 p.m. Eurasia 6-Max 3:30 p.m. Americas 6-Max 5:10 p.m. Americas 6-Max May 25 12 p.m. Paris Aviators vs. Hong Kong Stars 2:30 p.m. London Royals vs. Moscow Wolverines 5 p.m. Rome Emperors vs. Berlin Bears May 26 1 p.m. Sao Paulo Mets vs. San Francisco Rush 3:30 p.m. Montreal Nationals vs. Las Vegas Moneymakers 6 p.m. L.A. Sunset vs. New York Rounders For full match replays or highlight videos, check out the official GPL website. Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+! Sharelines Results, standings, and schedule following Week 7 of Season 1 of the Global Poker League. Unit of Chinese company acquires Texas wind-power project Updated: 2016-05-23 05:50 By PAUL WELITZKIN in New York(China Daily USA) These are 2.5 megawatt permanent magnet direct-drive turbines that will be similar to the ones the company will utilize in the Rattlesnake Wind Project located in Texas.Provided to China Daily The US unit of a Chinese company that is among the leading manufacturers of wind turbines for power generation is about to start a major wind-power project in Texas. Goldwind Americas, a subsidiary of China's Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology Co Ltd, signed an agreement on May 17 with Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc (RES) to acquire the 160-megawatt Rattlesnake Wind Project in McCulloch County, Texas. Once operational, the Rattlesnake will become Goldwind's largest US wind project to date. Xinjiang, listed on the Hong Kong Exchange, became the world's biggest turbine maker, topping European and US manufacturers, according to a report in the Financial Times. Goldwind Americas started in 2010, according to CEO David Halligan. "We have installed wind turbines from Minnesota to Chile," he said in an interview. "We do large-scale projects that provide power for utilities and we also do smaller-scale projects that provide on-site power generation for industrial and agricultural uses. "This investment in the Rattlesnake Wind Project highlights our long-term commitment to the US wind market and represents our first step of a five-year growth strategy," added Halligan. The Rattlesnake project, located about 125 miles northwest of Austin, Texas, will utilize 64 Goldwind 2.5 megawatt (MW) wind turbines. The 160 MW Rattlesnake project represents the first phase of an expected 300 MW wind project, which was developed and will be constructed by RES. Halligan said power produced by Rattlesnake will be sold to utilities in Texas that will in turn provide power for the utility market in the state. "We expect that once fully operational Rattlesnake will be able to power from 100,000 to 150,000 homes," he added. In 2012 the Obama Administration blocked a privately-owned Chinese company Ralls Corp from building wind turbines close to a Navy military site in Oregon due to national security concerns. Ralls filed a lawsuit against the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for ordering it to stop construction. In 2015 Ralls reached a settlement and sold the disputed assets. "We have done advance work on this and we do not anticipate any similar action," said Halligan. While Texas has long been a haven for oil and natural-gas exploration, that state is among the leaders in wind-power production in the US. Texas was the second state after Iowa to pass a renewable portfolio standard, a policy that requires a certain amount of electricity come from renewable sources. The state has also developed transmission lines and networks that connect major population centers with power produced in rural areas. According to a report from the governor's office, Texas is ranked No 1 in the country for wind energy capacity. Halligan said three factors make the state ideal for producing wind power. "The cost to build wind projects in Texas is low compared to other areas. Wind capacity in Texas is excellent and the state has plenty of open land," he said. Halligan said Xinjiang is providing the technology for the wind turbines. Parts of the turbines such as the blades may be made in the US. "About 60 percent of the cost of the Rattlesnake project will be sourced in the US," he added. Halligan said Goldwind hopes to start construction on Rattlesnake this year and complete the project in 2017. paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com Chinese firm recruits Kenyan youth from poor backgrounds Updated: 2016-05-22 07:07 (Xinhua) Chen Yongyuan, an engieer from the China Roads and Bridge Corporation, demonstrates the masonry to young local candidates at a recruitment site of the Section 8 of Standard Gauge Railway of the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway contracted by the corporation on May 21, 2016. A total of 15 young people who have exceptional skills that will aid implementation of the mega infrastructure project linking Kenya and its east African neighbors, were recruited. [Photo provided to China Daily] NAIROBI - Dozens of young adults drawn from low-income suburbs in the Kenyan capital Nairobi were on Saturday recruited by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to work in its flagship standard gauge railway (SGR) project. The youth, aged 18-25 years, were awarded certificates early this week for completing a comprehensive masonry course. Senior executives from CRBC said during the recruitment exercise that the Chinese construction firm is committed to empowerment of Kenyan youth through training and employment. "We are ready to play an active role in empowering young people from poor backgrounds through education, vocational training and employment," said Steve Zhao, Manager in charge of external relations at CRBC. He said the newly recruited youth will be deployed at construction sites where their skills in masonry, plumbing and tiling are in great demand. This undated photo shows Kenyan workers on the SGR project. [Photo/Xinhua] CRBC has forged a strategic partnership with Kenyan charitable organizations to improve the welfare of youth drawn from Nairobi's low-income settlements. Part of this collaboration involves placement of youth trained in various technical fields at the SGR project where they will undergo rigorous skills upgrade while earning decent income. Zhao said recruitment of skilled youth from poor backgrounds will be a continuous exercise as CRBC hastens implementation of its corporate social responsibility blue print launched early this year. A Chinese engineer instructs Kenyan workers on the project. [Photo/Xinhua] Chen Hongyu, the site human resource manager for SGR, noted the recruited youth have exceptional skills that will aid implementation of the mega infrastructure project linking Kenya and its east African neighbors. Elizabeth Wanja, Program Manager with International Youth Foundation (IYF) which partners with the Chinese firm to help train the youth, hailed Chinese business entities for supporting skills development for Kenyan youth. "By supporting education and training for our disadvantaged youth, Chinese firms have set a precedent worth emulating," Wanja said, adding that solution to Kenya's youth unemployment crises hinges on mentorship, vocational training and entrepreneurship. Taliban leader Mansoor likely killed by US airstrike Updated: 2016-05-22 07:21 (Xinhua) Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, Taliban militants' leader, is seen in this undated handout photograph by the Taliban. [Photo/Agencies] WASHINGTON - Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was likely killed in a US airstrike on Saturday "in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region", TV networks reported. The Pentagon confirmed the airstrike in a statement, noting that the US military was still assessing the results of the strike taking place around 6 am Eastern time. Mansoor was likely dead in the strike which had been authorized by US President Barack Obama, a US official told CBS News on condition of anonymity. The strike, carried out by multiple drones operated by the US Special Operations Forces, targeted a vehicle carrying Mansoor and another male passenger, also believed to be likely killed, in the southwest of Ahmad Wal, a town in western Pakistan, the official was quoted as saying. Mansoor has been "actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan... and prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict." said Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook in the statement. Mansoor had been an aide to Taliban's iconic longtime leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and a Taliban transportation minister. He emerged as the Taliban leader in 2015 following the news broke that Omar had died in 2013. Chinese FM expresses condolences over Sri Lanka flood disaster Updated: 2016-05-22 15:45 (Xinhua) BEIJING - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday sent a message to his Sri Lankan counterpart Mangala Samaraweera, extending condolences over the flash floods and landslides hitting the island country. In the message, Wang expressed deep sympathy to the Sri Lankan government and people in the stricken area and conveyed profound condolences to the victims of the disaster. As China and Sri Lanka are traditional friendly neighbors, the Chinese people are deeply affected by the disaster sustained by the Sri Lankan people as if they have experienced it themselves, Wang said. "We believe that under the leadership of the Sri Lankan government, the people of Sri Lanka will definitely be able to overcome difficulties and the disaster," he added. Wang also expressed China's willingness to offer any assistance it can to help Sri Lanka cope with the disaster. Meanwhile, the Red Cross Society of China has donated a sum of 50,000 US dollars in cash to Sri Lanka. Since Monday, at least 64 people have died from floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains, and around half a million people have been driven from home. Red Cross Society of China donates $50,000 to Sri Lanka on flooding, landslide Updated: 2016-05-22 15:50 (Xinhua) COLOMBO - The Red Cross Society of China donated 50,000 US dollars to Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) to support Sri Lanka's relief and rebuilding efforts in the ongoing disaster of flooding and landslides,a statement released by Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka said on Saturday. Pang Chunxue, political counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, on behalf of the Red Cross Society of China, handed over the donation to S.B.Madugalle, deputy director general of SLRCS. Pang extended the deepest sympathy and condolences to the Sri Lankan people especially the families affected by the disaster, hoping the donation could assist the current relief operation of SLRCS and provide help to the people in the disaster-affected areas. Madugalle introduced the disaster situation and expressed appreciation and gratitude to the generous donation from the Red Cross Society of China. Over 450,000 people have been affected by floods and landslides across the country while the Disaster Management Center said that 64 people had been killed. The government had this week sought urgent foreign assistance as the death toll from the floods and landslides rose and the number of displaced also increased. Obama's trip to region brings appeal for calm Updated: 2016-05-23 03:16 By Mo Jingxi(China Daily USA) Analysts have urged Washington not to intensify regional tensions by provocative words or actions ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to Hanoi on Monday. Obama's tour should not harm the interests of countries in the region, as some are currently involved in maritime disputes, they said. It will be Obama's 10th trip to Asia as United States president. According to Vietnamese media, Hanoi is paying great attention to this visit and has prepared a high-level reception for Obama. White House officials say Washington is considering lifting restrictions on arms sales during Obama's first visit to Vietnam. He will also visit Japan. "It's a kind of farewell tour for Obama, who expects to enhance his diplomatic legacy during the visit," said Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China. However, this should not be done by harming the interests of countries in the region, Jin said. Fu Mengzi, vice-president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the US is "making new friends", in addition to its existing allies, to carry forward its Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is expected to rule soon on a unilateral arbitration case submitted by the Philippines on its territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. Fu said that in view of this arbitration, the US should not "hype up" the situation or cause provocation in words or actions. Observers said Vietnam is not likely to side with the US, as the Asian country is trying to strike a diplomatic balance among nations including China, the US and Japan. During Obama's visit to Japan, he will attend the G7 summit on Thursday and Friday and will end his trip with a visit to Hiroshima. He will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, which marks the atomic bombing of the city on Aug 6, 1945, that helped end World War II. Jin said that with the Asia-Pacific region becoming increasingly important in global strategy, one purpose of Obama's visit to Japan is to bolster relations with its ally in the region. Regarding the trip to Hiroshima, the White House has said it is not willing to give an apology. "However, an apology for the past could be played up by Japanese media," Jin said, adding that this will not be accepted by China. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Thursday, "We hope that by inviting leaders or political figures of other countries to visit Hiroshima, Japan is telling the world that it will never tread on the path of militarism again, as it once brought unspeakable suffering to its people and the people of Asia." US Trade Representative Michael Froman, who will accompany Obama on the trip, said the Trans-Pacific Partnership will open the Vietnamese market and benefit US businesses, citing the high tariffs there for vehicles and beef. The partnership is a trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim countries signed in February in Auckland, New Zealand, after seven years of negotiations. It has not entered into force Froman also acknowledged challenges in Vietnam concerning child labor, intellectual property rights and the environment. He said the Obama administration is consulting with US Congressional leaders to discuss holding a vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The US, Vietnam and Japan are part of the proposed pact, but both Japan and the US are facing an uphill battle to ratify it. Chen Weihua in New York contributed to this story. Modern Chinese play The Crowd pleases in Peru Updated: 2016-05-23 03:47 By MAO PENGFEI in Mexico(China Daily Latin America) A contemporary Chinese play about the corrosive effects of revenge is having a successful run in Peru's capital Lima. The Crowd, written by celebrated young Chinese playwright Yu Rongjun, opened on May 12 at the city's Peruvian-Chinese Friendship Theater, marking many firsts. It was the first time a contemporary Chinese play has been staged in Lima; the first time Yu's work has been presented in Spanish; and the first production ever staged at the new theater, which is part of the Confucius Institute at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. The Crowd tells a story in China of a young boy who sees his mother accidentally shot and killed. He ends up dedicating the rest of his life to exacting revenge on the shooter. According to Columbia University Press' introduction, the play was inspired by Gustave Le Bon's prophetic 1894 study of crowd psychology The Crowd: A Study of Popular Mind and Henri Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, and it investigates one man's struggle to seek justice at all costs will revenge settle old scores or open new wounds? The Spanish-language monthly magazine Oh! Asia covered the play's opening in Lima and described it as "a voyage through different cities and through the decades of major change in China, from 1967 to the present". The story begins in the late 1960s in Southwest China's Chongqing city, when a stray bullet claims the life of 13-year-old Wang Guoqing's mother, condemning the young boy to a life consumed by hate and driven by an obsession to take the law into his own hands, especially after learning the killer got off with a light sentence. "It's a very interesting play that really leads to reflection on human beings as individuals, but also on human beings as crowds, on what a human being is capable of when, en masse, how your identity can be distorted or your actions can be swept along by what the crowd does," said the play's director, Marissa Bejar. How did she come to stage a modern Chinese work of literature in Peru? It's a project that began at the Confucius Institute quite a long time ago, said Bejar, adding that the end result has been "a great event for Peru and the region". "In 2014, I visited Shanghai, and the director of the Confucius Institute at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Ruben Tang, asked me to look into contemporary Chinese playwriting, because he was also very keen to spread Chinese culture through the arts, and specifically through theater," recalled Bejar. With support from the Confucius institutes, they were able to contact several contemporary Chinese writers. "Actually, we chose the playwright more than the play," said Bejar, adding that Yu is one of the best authors in China and "so we contacted him". Yu is one of the most prolific playwrights in China today, and the vice-president of the Shanghai Performing Arts Group. Since 2000, he has authored more than 50 works for stages in China and other countries. "The playwright (Yu) was kind enough to give us his latest work, the last play he wrote last year. Although I didn't have a chance to see a staging of the play, he gave us the text for our consideration, and the work is very beautiful," said Bejar. "It's quite different from other plays Yu wrote and with many interesting elements. This play, I believe, has a lot in common with (works by German playwright) Bertolt Brecht. That's why we wanted to stage this play," Bejar said. The Confucius Institute translated the text from Chinese to Spanish. Work on the play started in November 2015 with a casting call for actors. By March, a rigorous rehearsal schedule began, with the troupe gathering four times a week and then five prior to the opening. From the beginning, recalled Bejar, the six-member cast, all of whom play several characters, would get into discussions about the meaning of The Crowd. "Theater is an art ... where the public enters into a conversation with the actor or the play. That's the traditional concept, but then there have emerged many other (playwrights) that have proposed something new and different on the nature of theater," Bejar said. "It's very nice to understand China as a country that can put forward human situations similar to that of any other country on the planet. We find ourselves in situations that are unrelated to other countries. Though the play speaks volumes about China in particular, the situation it describes and relates can occur in any era or any country," Bejar added. The play will run through May 27 at Lima's Peruvian-Chinese Friendship Theater. Obama leave worrying legacy of drone killings Updated: 2016-05-23 04:59 By CHEN WEIHUA(China Daily USA) As US President Barack Obama completes his second term, the controversial drone strikes he has dramatically escalated will clearly be part of his legacy. Reports show that the US military launched a drone strike on May 21 that killed Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour in a western Pakistan province near the border with Afghanistan. There have been no reports about whether Pakistan's government was even informed beforehand of the strike that took place on its sovereign territory. Neither were there any details on who the other people were who were blown up in the vehicle by several US drones. The US government has been using euphemisms to describe such action as target killing, rather than assassination, just like the words "enhanced interrogation" instead of "torture" are used regarding Guantanamo prison detainees held without due process. While Obama's claim that the US has been the "standard bearer in the conduct of war", the drone strikes have drawn sharp criticism over their legality and the loss of civilian lives, described in White House euphemism as "collateral damage". In such a situation, Obama, a lawyer by training, has been making decisions himself as who should be on the kill list. This contrasts sharply to his days as a young senator from Illinois when he criticized such a counterterrorism approach by then-President George W. Bush. The latest book, The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government's Secret Drone Warfare Program, written by Jeremy Scahill and the staff of The Intercept and published by Simon & Schuster early this month, tells an entirely different story from the one by Obama and other US government officials. The book is based on the Drone Papers published by The Intercept last October with numerous secret documents by whistleblowers that detail the inner workings of the US military assassination program in Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia. Far from Obama's claims that drone strikes have been carried out with "near certainty", the book shows that some 90 percent of the people decimated in the strikes were not the intended targets. It was not what Obama said at a press conference during the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in early April, even when he admitted that civilians were killed. "It wasn't as precise as it should have been, and there's no doubt civilians were killed that shouldn't have been. ... We have to take responsibility where we're not acting appropriately, or just made mistakes," Obama said. The commander-in-chief then defended the program by saying "we've worked very hard to avoid and prevent" those strikes and "our operating procedures are as vigorous as they've ever been". It might be true that with the emergence of remote-controlled lethal weapons, the US may have saved American lives by not putting boots on the ground, but what is also true is that the cost of civilian lives in those countries from South Asia to the Middle East and North Africa has increased dramatically. The Intercept papers and book reveal that the strikes personally ordered by Obama could often be based on an intelligence system with many loopholes, and that the US military simply labels unknown people killed in drone assassination as "enemies killed in action". The publications also reveal that White House standards regarding drone strikes are confusing. For example, the White House policy standards stipulate that lethal force will be used only against targets who pose a "continuing, imminent threat to US persons". It certainly does not fit the situation in Yemen and Somalia, where there was little US presence to justify such action. The Intercept papers and books are among some of the latest revelations of Obama's heinous drone-assassination program. The documentary National Bird, directed and produced by Sonia Kennebeck and released last month, tells the story of the horrible drone program from the viewpoint of three US whistleblowers, or three US military veterans who participated in the drone warfare but were haunted by the guilt of killing people on foreign soil, people whose faces they could not even see. The prolonged psychological horror suffered by civilian survivors of those drone strikes is also revealed in the documentary. The White House announced in March that it will release its drone playbook and the number of casualties regarding combatants and civilians. What is clear is that the whole world is watching this legacy of Obama's, while drone technology continues to proliferate around the world. Remember the panic caused in the US when a small amateur drone crash-landed last October on the Ellipse, the lawn outside the White House? Contact the writer at chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong cast the first ballot at a poling station in Hai Ba Trung District, Ha Noi. - VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung HA NOI Nearly 70 million Vietnamese cast ballots yesterday to elect deputies to the 14th National Assembly and Peoples Councils. The election is the largest ever in scale with over 69 million voters across the country casting their votes to pick up the most competent candidates, who will represent them at the National Assembly, as well as Peoples Councils at all levels nationwide. The elections began throughout the country at 7am yesterday. Citizens voted to choose 500 NA deputies and 322,966 Peoples Council deputies for the 2016-21 term during the election, which is considered a national festival. Middle-aged candidates make up the majority. Over 60 percent of the contenders are male. * Muong is the ethnic minority with the largest number of candidates, 24, followed by Khmer, 19, and Tay, 17. * Candidates with a bachelors degree account for 43.8 percent, followed by masters and PhD degrees with 33.2 percent and 18.3 percent respectively * As of 10pm yesterday: 65.5 million voters nationwide cast their votes, accounting for 98.77 per cent of all voters. Thua Thien - Hue Province: 99.99 per cent voters went to poll Yen Bai Province: 99.99 percent Hau Giang Province: 99.95 per cent a Nang City: 99.81 per cent Ben Tre Province: 99.77 per cent Tuyen Quang: 99.74 per cent Quang Tri: 99.5 per cent Kien Giang: 99.21 per cent Citizens received their voter cards proving their eligibility to vote at nearly 91,500 election sites across the country, according to the National Election Council (NEC). Up to 65.5 million voters, or 98.77 percent, went to the polls by 10 pm, as updated by the National Election Councils Office. Statistics from the office showed that most of the localities nationwide saw the voting rate of over 90 percent. The central province of Thua Thien - Hue and Yen Bai Province topped the list with 99.99 percent, followed by Hoa Binh with 99.98 percent, Quang Nam and Ben Tre provinces with 99.97 per cent. Party and State leaders joined voters nationwide in exercising a citizens right and duty to elect deputies to the National Assembly and Peoples Councils at all levels for the 2016-21 tenure. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was the first to cast a ballot at polling station No 3 in Nguyen Du Ward, Hai Ba Trung District, Ha Noi at 7am. Trong said he expected that all deputies wining an elected position would try to best serve the nation and the people, and to fulfil their responsibilities and obligations on behalf of the people, in taking part in the management of the country and society. In the northern port city of Hai Phong, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife cast the first ballots at polling station No 8 in Vinh Bao Town, Vinh Bao District. Phuc said the May 22 Election Day was an important political event for the country, which provides an opportunity for citizens to exercise their rights and obligations. He also said he believed voters would select worthy, virtuous and talented representatives who would represent their aspirations, contributing to building a State of the people, by the people and for the people. On the same day, President Tran ai Quang joined voters in Nhan Chinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District of Ha Noi. He said the election had an important meaning in building, strengthening and perfecting the law-governed State, and meeting the demands to speed the industrialisation, modernisation and global integration of the country. Additionally, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan cast the first ballot at polling station No 4 in Vinh Phuc Ward, Ba inh District, Ha Noi. Although the official election day was set for May 22, some areas in 10 provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Lai Chau, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Quang Nam, Quang Binh, Quang Ngai, Nghe An, Khanh Hoa and ak Lak held early voting due to transportation problems for voter. Those areas included communities along the coastline, offshore islands and places where voters would be working at sea on election day. The election ended at 7pm yesterday and election results will be announced within 20 days after election day, according to the NEC. VNS A NANG Nearly 1,500 voters in Man Thai ward in Son Tra District cast their votes for deputies to the 14th National Assembly and all-level Peoples Councils this morning. Of 11,000 people living in the ward in Son Tra peninsula, some 30 per cent of these residents are believed to be living in poor conditions. Also today, over 4,000 fishermen living in the ward docked their boats at Tho Quang fishing port so they could vote. Fisherman Tran Van Chien, 49, said he completed his days fishing about 4am so he could return to vote. I earn my living from inshore fishing along the coast of Man Thai a defunct ancient fishing village in a Nang City. I cast my vote for the eligible candidates with a hope that they would help improve living standards and incomes for fishermen, Chien said. We are still at risk against disasters and pollution in the sea that resulted in mass fish deaths in April. We (fishermen) earn every coin from our daily sea trips. It is hard work and its a job with an unsteady income, Chien noted. He said fishermen suffered terrible losses due to a mass kill-off of fish in April, and many of them had fallen into debt because fish were sold at the lowest prices. Chien hopes the vote for the 2016-21 term will help economic development in the central city, and bring a brighter future to fishermen seeking to escape from poverty. The 49-year-old fisherman noted that preparations for the election were adequate. Nguyen inh Thi, an official from Man Thai wards organising committe, said most fishermen arrived home last night so they could vote on time. He added that some fishermen sailed back to sea after voting. VNS HCM CITY Together with voters nationwide, more than 5.2 million voters in HCM City on Sunday took part in Election Day, exercising their rights and duties in voting for candidates for the 14th National Assembly and Peoples Councils at all levels. Although the polls officially opened at 7am, many voters arrived at the 3,200 electoral units an hour early. Of the voters, many elderly people, despite health problems, came early to the polls. The citys election committee said the election at all polling stations was carried out in accordance with the law. Preparations were carefully executed according to the law, and the lists of candidates were announced in a timely manner. The committee regularly updated amendments and focused on voters who were non-residents, those in temporary detention, and patients. At 6:40am, an opening ceremony started at polling station No 97 in Ward 15 of District 10 with two voters checking and sealing polling boxes. After the opening ceremony, Nguyen Thien Nhan, a Politburo member and President of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Committee and Deputy Chairman of the National Election Council, was one of the first voters at station No 97. Ive worked in Ha Noi for 10 years. This election, however, I registered to vote with our family in HCM City, Nhan said. He said that his 94-year-old mother chose a candidate and then assigned her daughter-in-law to submit the vote. At the election site No 82 at Son Ca 15 Kindergarten in Ward 15 of Phu Nhuan District, the voting started at 7am with the first participant, Vo Van Thuong, a Politburo member, who is also Secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of the Central Publicity and Education Commission. Thuong said: The atmosphere yesterday and today was special. It was a big party of citizens. Voting for the 14th National Assembly and Peoples Councils at all levels is an important right of citizens. Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh voted at electoral unit No 115 in Ward 11 of Tan Binh District. He was followed by other voters. Other former leaders also exercised their rights at different polling sites. Former President Truong Tan Sang voted in Tan inh Ward of District 1 and former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai joined the voting party in Ward 7 of District 3, while former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung voted in Ward 6 of District 3. Monk Thich Thien Nhon, chairman of the Viet Nam Buddhist Sanghas Executive Council, led monks from Minh ao Pagoda to vote at unit No 60 in Ward 9 of District 3. Nhon said the council had encouraged all monks and nuns to take part in national Election Day to choose the countrys leaders. HCM City has a total of more than 5.2 million voters, including nearly 2.8 million female voters. Before official Election Day, the city organised 112 meetings for voters and candidates for the National Assembly and 170 meetings for voters and candidates for the citys Peoples Councils. VNS HA NOI US President Barack Obama today departed for a week-long tour of Asia as part of his efforts to boost economic and security cooperation with the region. The President is expected to arrive in Viet Nam late tonight for an official visit from May 23-25. Obama is the third consecutive US President to visit Viet Nam, following Bill Clinton in 2000 and George W.Bush in 2006. The leader will spend three days in Viet Nam, with stops in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City. In Ha Noi, the President will deliver a speech on the bilateral relations. During meetings and events in Ha Noi and HCM City, he will discuss the importance of approving the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement this year. He will also meet with members of civil society and representatives of the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative and the business community. According to the White House, during his first trip to the Southeast Asian nation, President Obama will hold official meetings with Vietnamese leaders to discuss ways for the Vietnam-US Comprehensive Partnership to advance cooperation across a wide range of areas, including economy, people-to-people, security, human rights, and global and regional issues. He and Vietnamese leaders will assess attainments of the bilateral relationship, which experienced a 20-year war, 30 years of economic and military embargoes and 20 years of normalisation before being elevated to a comprehensive partnership in 2013. In recent years, the two countries have faced an urgent need to have stronger steps to lift their partnership to a new level. Therefore, during the trip, the two sides are expected to compare notes on a large number of issues. Viet Nam and the US see huge potential for cooperation in numerous fields, ranging from politics, national defence, maritime security and safety to education-training, people-to-people exchange, the settlement of humanitarian issues and post-war consequences, climate change response, environmental protection and coping with other global challenges. Outcomes to be reached during the visit will lay a foundation and create a momentum for the two countries ties, helping them overcome remaining challenges and obstacles in the spirit of putting aside the past, surmounting difficulties, promoting similarities and heading towards the future. With their resolve and enhanced mutual political trust, the two countries will advance their comprehensive partnership to a new level, serving the interests of their people and contributing to peace, stability and development cooperation in the region and the world at large. From Viet Nam, he will head to Japan for a summit of the Group of Seven industrialised nations (G7) in Ise-Shima and a historic visit to Hiroshima city. VNS HCM City HCM City voters took part in the election for the 14th Viet Nam National Assembly this morning, which saw cooler temperatures after an overnight rain. All electoral places were solemnly decorated with flags, banners and information about candidates. Since early this morning, voters have queued up at electoral places even before the official opening time of 7am. Nguyen Thien Nhan, Politburo member, chairman of the Vietnamese Fatherland Fronts Central Committee and deputy chairman of the National Electoral Council, paid a short visit to HCM City Archbishop Paul Bui Van oc who had just voted. As deputy chairman of the National Electoral Council, I know that the Reverend Father has sent a proper message to parishioners about the elections important meanings. Today, on behalf of the National Electoral Council, I visited and would like to thank you for your message and wish you good health. Nguyen Quoc Hung, head of No 97 Electoral Place, ward 15, District 10, said they expected to receive over 2,400 voters today. "We have been preparing for the election for a week. We worked with a high responsibility and we hope that most voters will come and feel comfortable to vote here. Were very glad to welcome many voters, who have come very early since 6:30 am, even though official voting opened at 7am. This expresses their will, desire and responsibility," Hung said. "I attended the meetings of candidates and voters. This expressed real democracy when local residents could meet, talk and discuss about candidates action plans. This is a good change for the election." Tran Van Hoa, 88, colonel, former deputy head of the 7th Military Zones Technique Department, HCM City, lives in ward 15, District 10 said he had the same feeling as the first day he cast his vote 70 years ago. Today, Im very happy and excited, just as I was during my first voting in 1946 when I was 18 and a soldier. I took part in all 14 Vietnamese elections and felt proud about my country," Hoa said. "In the coming time, Viet Nam will have a lot of opportunities and challenges as we deeply take part in international integration. Therefore, this election is very important to decide how Viet Nam can develop in the time ahead. I hope that voters will choose the right people who have both talent and virtue to help Viet Nam grow. Truong Khoi Nguyen, 18, student at Nguyen Du Junior School, said "This is my first time to vote. Its very exciting and I feel proud. I came to the electoral place very early to read again the biographies and action plans of candidates, even though I had read them all at home. I realize that our country needs to have talented and virtuous leaders to grow so I have tried to choose the best ones. "All Viettel staff came to the electoral place very early because we wanted to exercise our rights and responsibility to our country before starting a new working day. I believe that through the election, candidates will help Viet Nam become stronger and develop more to catch up to the international level," said Truong Quang Danh, Viettel staff at District 10 branch. o Thi Thoi, 75, lives at ward 6, District 3 said her family had seven voters including her 18-year-old grandson. "The election atmosphere has been very joyful. I love that so I tried to come to the electoral place very early. We must find the right people to lead the country," Thoi said. "This is my first election and I am very excited. My family often goes out to have coffee on Sunday morning but today, instead of that, four of us came here and voted," said Tran Khoa Phong, 21, lives at ward 6, District 3. "Actually I dont really understand how to vote, but thanks to my parents help, I can choose the candidates I think are the best. The electoral staff here have carefully instructed me in how I can vote." VNS HA NOI The nations voter turnout reached more than 70 per cent by 11am this morning, according to the National Election Council. Several provinces recorded high turnout rates just four hours after the polling stations were opened. Ha Giang, Ha Tinh and Nghe An had about 70 per cent of eligible voters having cast their ballots. Lai Chau, Thua Thien-Hue and Thai Binh Provinces also had turnout rates of more than 50 per cent by 9am this morning. They recorded 60, 67.8, 66 and 55.5 per cent, respectively. Further, Kien Giang and Tay Ninh Provinces reported more than 48 per cent of eligible citizens had voted, while the number of voters having gone to polling stations waivered around 40 per cent in HCM City, Vinh Phuc, Hai Duong, Tien Giang, ak Lak and Tuyen Quang Provinces. Bac Ninh, Bac Giang and Long An, however, recorded lower turnout rates, at 31, 20.6 and 26.6 per cent, respectively. Several universities today opened polling stations for students to vote in. Nguyen The Hoan, a student from the Natural Sciences University of Ha Noi National University, who won two gold medals at the International Mathematical Olympiad, said he was happy and proud to finally have the opportunity to vote. I hope that there will be more policies to help young people grow, both in their studies and their careers, Hoan said. Workers in industrial parks who could not leave for voting were also given the chance to cast ballots, as mobile polling boxes were set up in their dormitories. Other mobile polling boxes were located in hospitals and clinics, where eligible voters and patients could cast their ballots. Meanwhile, over 30,000 detainees nationwide cast ballots this morning to elect deputies to the 14th National Assembly and Peoples Councils, according to the Ministry of Public Securitys General Department of Criminal Enforcement and Judicial Assistance. VNS City residents began arriving as early as 6 am on Election Day at polling station 75 (in Ward 11 in HCM Citys District 5), waiting to vote in the NA and Peoples Council Election. The station officially opened at 7 am. The weather was good with cool temperatures and a clear sky. As the polling station was located in the Chinatown, many of the voters were Chinese-Vietnamese. There were 1,622 voters at the station. Chau Thanh Phat, 71, a Chinese-Vietnamese, said, I felt comfortable coming to the polling station today. I expect the future National Assembly deputies and members of the Peoples Councils to keep their promises to voters, helping us voice our opinions to the State and Party. Food safety and traffic accidents are among the worst problems today. I hope the future deputies will be able to represent us well and speak up and seek solutions to these problems. Nguyen Ngoc Thanh Thao, 18, a student, said, As this is my first time to vote, I feel proud. As a student, I think the deputies must be virtuous and devoted. I hope they are willing to fight for the peoples rights. They must raise their voice about problems about the environment, food safety and violence in schools. Luan So Tien, 55, from the southern province of Binh Duong, said, Im happy and proud to take part in Election Day. I think it is the right and responsibility of every citizen to vote. I have read the information about the candidates quite carefully to hopefully choose the best candidates who dare speak up and act for the people. Mmoha Med Amine, 49, of the Cham ethnic minority in District 5, said, We, of the Cham community, look forward to the NA Election Day to choose the candidates who truly represent the people. I know there are some Cham candidates also. I hope the elected candidates will pay more attention to the Cham people. Many Cham children lack education because of their familys financial difficulties. Nguyen Thi Le, 62, a retired primary school teacher, said, I really expect the candidates will try their best to make a change in the countrys socio-economic development. They should pay more attention to current issues like the environment, food safety, traffic, and education.VNS HCM CITY Fifty-nine elderly people who reside at the Binh Thanh Centre for the Elderly in HCM City were able to vote yesterday (May 22) at their centre instead of the local polling station. Nguyen Thai Hung, head of the polling station 105 in Binh Thanh Districts Ward 17, said that portable voting boxes were taken to centres for the elderly and at other locations to assist voters in casting their ballot. At Binh Thanh Centre, many of the residents are not in good health, and some are Vietnamese heroic mothers. We provide special assistance to the elderly here. We help them fill in the voting card and put it into the voting box. We brought the box to them so they can vote easily, he said. Before Election Day, we gave them all the information about the candidates. We helped them with reading because of their weak eyesight and made sure they had enough time to read and review the candidates, he said. Nguyen Thi Thuy Long, 69, said she had lived at the centre for three years. Many of the people there could not go to a polling station. But thanks to the support of the State, we could vote easily to fulfill our citizen rights, she said. I prefer candidates who are young and talented people, who will represent the people. Nguyen Thi Cuc, 70, said: Ive lived in the centre for 19 years. My husband died during the war. I have no children. In every election, the ward authority sends staff here to help us in voting, including reading information about the candidates, filling in the voting cards, and putting the cards into a voting box. Id prefer to vote for young people to the NA as many of the older people will retire. I prefer that lawyers or police be elected to the NA because of their significant contribution to the country, she added. More than 85 per cent of 1,890 eligible voters had voted as of 3 pm yesterday to select National Assembly deputies and Peoples Councils at polling station 105 in HCM Citys Binh Thanh District. VNS HA NOI More than 5 million voters in Ha Noi cast their ballots today to elect deputies to the 14th National Assembly (NA) and Peoples Councils at all levels for the 2016-2021 term. Voters will select 30 deputies out of 50 candidates to the 14th legislature. At 7 am the general election was opened with flag ceremonies at 4,874 polling stations in 10 constituencies across 30 districts and towns. As a voter in Giang Vo ward, Ba inh District, Minister of Public Security To Lam delightedly expressed his belief that all voters will meet their responsibilities by electing the most outstanding candidates who represent the strong will, aspirations and right to mastery of the people in the NA and the Peoples Councils. In polling station No 2 in Khuong Trung ward, Thanh Xuan District, Politburo member and permanent member of the Party Central Committees Secretariat, inh The Huynh, was the first to cast a ballot, followed by ex-revolutionaries, the elderly and others. Politburo member and Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Hoang Trung Hai was one of the first to cast ballots at polling station No 4 of Lang Ha ward in ong a District. The ward has over 22,000 voters, with the oldest being 100 years old. The official hoped voters in the capital would spend time going to the polls today to select the most capable and moral candidates, while expressing his beliefs on the success of the general election. At polling station No 6A in Vinh Tuy ward of Hai Ba Trung District, many young voters joined the election in the early morning. I feel very excited and a little bit confused about who to select because all the candidates are very good, noted Le Anh uc, 19, during his first time participating in elections. He said he placed much of his hopes upon newly-elected deputies regarding policies about employment for university graduates. Meanwhile, Le Thi Thuy Linh, 25, said that she paid attention to female candidates and hoped all the elected candidates would make positive changes, in terms of raising intellectual levels and development policies in the regions, as well as nationwide. At polling station 87 Tran Hung ao Street in Hoan Kiem District, as many as 668 Ha Noi public security officers exercised their rights and duties this morning. As of 9.10am, more than 80 per cent of all police had finished voting. Also, at Tien Xuan mountainous commune in Thach That District, more than 70 per cent of the voters are ethnic minorities. This election day proved exciting, and included traditional performances from ethic communities. Hoang Van Sang, 76, a member of the Muong ethic group, who is one of the oldest voters in the commune, hoped the elected candidates would pay due attention to residents of ethnic groups in far-flung areas. VNS HCM CITY At 6:30am at 39 Tran Quoc Thao Street in HCM Citys District 3, election station No. 41 welcomed former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who attended the opening ceremony and voted for the deputies to the National Assembly and Peoples Council members at all levels. Ho Thi Hong Phuong, head of the election unit No. 41, read the decision to establish the election unit and rules and guidelines for voters. Some 899 voters in District 3s Ward 6 were expected to cast their ballots at the election unit. Before declaring the voting to start, a representative for voters checked four ballot boxes, which were then locked and sealed to ensure transparency. Among the more than 50 million voters nationwide, former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his wife cast the first ballots, followed by other voters. Being one of the earliest voters, ang Quang Minh, 46, said: "I came early to fulfill my citizen rights. I hope that my votes and other voters votes in the country will help choose the most qualified candidates to serve the people. At 7:30 am, Archbishop Paul Bui Van oc came to election unit No. 41 to exercise his citizen rights. The Archbishop said: "I and other parishioners are also citizens of the country, so we must exercise this obligation. I want the country to choose talented and virtuous deputies to promote peace and development ". Binh Tan District More than 93,000 workers Binh Tan District took part in the elections in the district. Of the workers, 16,000 at Pouchen Company were eager to visit polling stations to exercise their citizen rights and obligations. Trinh Thi Thanh Tuyen, 39, a worker at Pouchen Company, said: I and other workers at Pouchen Company have high trust in this election. We feel excited and eager to cast our ballots to fulfil our citizen rights. Candidates are very enthusiastic and listen to workers opinions. We pin high hopes on them and hope they can work for the public interest, listen to ideas and expectations from the public, including workers. Tieu Thi Thanh Thao, 40, a worker at Le Minh Xuan Industrial Park in Binh Chanh Distrit, said: I studied candidates biographies and I am pleased with these candidates. I chose talented and virtuous candidates to serve the people better. She said she hoped that elected deputies would voice to upgrade city streets, especially in Tan Tao Wards quarter 10, deal with delayed zoning areas, solve housing problems for residents, and ensure security and safety in the district. At 9am, more than 20 per cent of total voters at quarter 10 of Binh Tan Districts Tan Tao Ward cast their ballots. In addition to young voters, many older voters, including Vo Ngoc Minh (65), Le Le Hoang (83) and Truong Thi Quan (82) fulfilled their citizen rights. Binh Tan is home to about 230,000 workers, with more than 97,000 working at Pouyuen Company. There are 192 election units in the district, with over 367,000 voters taking part in the elections. Many voters queued to vote in an orderly and excited way during the opening hour. Tan inh Ward Truong Tan Sang, former President, was the first voter to cast his ballot at 7am at the election group No.1, polling station No.7 in District 1s Tan inh Ward. At the polling station No.7, at 6:30 am many voters were present to wait for the opening of voting. Nguyen Van Hoe, an older voter, said he was pleased with the list of candidates this time, because the majority have high education and work experience, and many of them are young. Viet Nam National University HCM City At 6:30am, students visited all polling stations at Viet Nam National University HCM City. They were very eager as they were casting their votes for the first time. Le Thi Yen, a second-year student at the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said: This was the first time I cast my votes for deputies of Peoples Committee at all levels. I was nervous about my first vote, since I dont know whether I could rightly follow the voting process. I felt more mature when casting my ballots to select people that I trust the most. I hope that selected people fulfill their tasks and shoulder the responsibility of the country to enable the country to develop more strongly. Similarly, Hong Giao, a second-year student at the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said she had studied candidates biographies carefully to choose the most qualified people. I hope that selected deputies will perform their responsibility well and not betray peoples trust. Tran Thanh An, Director of Viet Nam National University HCM Citys dormitory, said the dormitory area had more than 15,000 voters, with nine polling stations. We asked students to arrange suitable time to cast their votes, he said, adding that most polling stations were crowded with many voters. Can Gio At 7am, citizens of Thanh An islet commune in Can Gio District, the only offshore commune in HCM City, began voting. According to the Election Committee of Can Gio District, the commune has 3,250 voters and five election units in the commune. More than 1,000 voters came to election units to vote in the first hour after the opening ceremony. Hoc Mon At Xuan Thoi Thuong Commune in Hoc Mon District, where there are more than eligible 30,000 voters, the polling was done in a serious manner. Huynh Thi Se, 92, a Vietnamese Heroic Mother, said: I am very happy holding ballots in my hand to vote for deputies for the National Assembly and all levels of the Peoples Council. My health is not in good condition, but local election office members brought a ballot box to my house to enable me to exercise my voters obligation. I hope my voted deputies will strive their best to serve the people and the country. At the polling area No.7 at quarter 5 in Hoc Mon town, Hoc Mon District, many voters gathered from early morning to prepare for voting. Kha Luong, 72, said: Although I took part in many general elections, each time gives me a special feeling. I am happy when holding ballots to vote for representatives of the people. I hope that deputies that I voted today will help people have a better life. According to reporters, public order at polling areas on the morning of May 22 were ensured, and no negative incidents of any kind occurred.VNS An art collector set out to bring back hundreds of early- to mid-20th century paintings by Vietnamese artists. To do so, he has spent years travelling the world and attended prestigious auctions. Van at reports. Some would say the three-storey house of Hanoian Nguyen Minh is a mess every wall, including those in the bathrooms, bedrooms and kitchen, are covered with artworks. However, these arent your ordinary artworks. The collection, amassed over many years for a rather large sum, bought from individuals and at auctions, includes works by renowned artists and other former students at the former Indochina College of Fine Arts. At the house on Phan inh Phung Street in Ha Noi, more than 200 rare paintings line the walls. Le Pho, Vu Cao am, Mai Trung Thu, Bui Xuan Phai, Nguyen Cao Thuong, Pham Hau are among the artists whose works were heavily influenced by French impressionism and other styles at the time. Many of the Vietnamese students were from wealthy families and had the spare time to study and pursue a career devoted to art. Minh, 62, has spent more years buying the works, mostly at international art auctions. Not having enough space, he built a warehouse attic of sorts near his ceiling, a separate space where many of the paintings are stored. Only close friends and distinguished guests are invited to see the works. Minh so loved the paintings that he mounted them in gold-plated frames. During a recent meeting in Ha Noi with his friend Tira Vanichtheeranont, a Thai collector, who has bought hundreds of Vietnamese paintings, Minh spoke excitedly about the artworks that he has purchased, including 60 pieces from Tira. Both share the same love of collecting, but for different reasons. Minh is mostly motivated by his desire to bring back to Viet Nam the works of his fellow citizens. Tira just loves art, and especially, Vietnamese art. Asked why he did invest money to buy art instead of luxury cars and houses, Minh said he was uncomfortable when he saw a Vietnamese painting at auctions in other countries. I felt strange emotions in my heart at the time. I was determined to buy them to bring them back to the place they were created, said Minh. I could only see them through magazine and books. I often visited Hong Kong and Singapore to buy antiques. In April 2013, while at an auction at Sothebys in Hong Kong, I saw the Vietnamese paintings Cho ben bo bien by Nguyen Tuong Lan, Co gai ben binh hoa lay on by Le Pho and Hai chi em by Vu Cao am, he added. Some of the prices were too steep, and Minh had to walk away, disconsolate that he could not buy the pieces. I decided to terminate my plan to buy another house, and use my money to collect paintings. When I cannot buy a favourite painting, I have sleepless nights, he said. Minh was born to a family that has long traded and collected antiques. He continued in that career and then began buying dozens of rare paintings from well-known Vietnamese art collector Bui inh Than. Tira, the Thai art collector, said in 2008 during a meeting in Bangkok that Minh showed him 200 paintings by painters Mai Van Nam, Phan Thong and other artists. After persuading Minh to sell some of the paintings, Tira began collecting Vietnamese paintings for his gallery in Thailand. In 2012, the Thai collector used his relationship to help Minh bring back to Viet Nam two valuable paintings that had been bought in Thailand. He also helped Minh to buy the painting en cua Han, luoi cua Hoi by Nguyen Van Ty and en Ngoc Son by inh Minh from private collector Peter Paris, who had bought them while working as a trade counselor at the Embassy of Italy in Ha Noi. After retiring in Bangkok, Pariss wife Nilkamhaeng Passama decided to sell their art collection. Upon hearing the news, Tira bought the paintings and then helped Minh bring two of them back to Viet Nam. With Minhs effort, artworks by Le Pho, Vu Cao am, Mai Trung Thu and Le Thi Luu representing the Vietnamese spirit have returned to their rightful place after a half century of being kept in other countries. Where will the paintings go after Minh dies? Minh said he would sell his paintings to respected Vietnamese collectors because his son has little interest in carrying on the family business. I will try to prevent the paintings from being sold to people in foreign countries again, he said. Thai collector Tira, who still owns many Vietnamese paintings, said he hoped Minh would buy his Vietnamese art collection after he passes away, as his children are also not interested in antique or art collection. VNS by Thuy Hang During the recent four-day holiday, while many people chose to travel, my family decided to stay home to enjoy the Ha Nois quiet scene, which rarely happen in this bustling city. And dining out definitely was on our to do list during the holiday. La Cod -- a newly opened restaurant of Masterchef Vietnam judge Pham Tuan Hai -- was our gourmet destination. Located on a downtown small street, La Cod is a lone restaurant in the night as all the surrouding food stalls serving office workers from nearby buildings are closed. From a distance, the restaurant looks quite eye-catching with signboards written in red characters and a large-sized photo of Chef Hai on a wall. Vietnamese people say red can bring luck. However, in this case, the hot colour reminds me of Chinese restaurants, which are often adorned with red lanterns and many other red objects. La Cod doesnt serve Chinese food -- it is a seafood restaurant. After the success of the first restaurant, Masterchef on Hang Tre Street, which is dedicated to meat dishes, Hai has opened La Cod, aiming to showcase his talent on edible sea life. We walked into the three-storey restaurant, which has been decorated in European modern style. Chef Hai seems to bold his presence in the restaurant by hanging a large-sized painting depicting himself with a paella pan right at the centre of the first floor. Other nice print paintings representing different kinds of seafood adorn the walls. As my fathers legs are weak, we decided to choose a table on the first floor and against the partly opened kitchen. Through a glass window, it was quite interesting when we could see chefs and kitchen staffs running around to do their jobs. I was a bit surprised when the waiter gave me the menu. Unlike many other restaurants which lists all kinds of food in a thick and heavy menu, the menu of La Cod has just only two pages, presenting fusion dishes. We started our dinner with an appertizer Nom rau tron voi ca ngu sot dau me, or assorted cabbage salad with tuna and sesame oil (VN80,000). Visually, the salad was not a striking dish. The mixture of green and purple cabbage, Romaine lettuce, sliced cucumber, threaded carrot, and onion was topped with tia to (or red perilla) and light yellow small pieces which I was thinking it was fried shallot. However, I was completely wrong when I poked my chopstick into the salad to sample a bite. It turned out to be the Japanese Katsuobushi [dried, fermented, and smoked tuna] shavings. The shavings actually brings the unique flavour for the fresh salad, which also includes the sour-vide tuna. We also got a small surprise when we almost finished the appetiser: the salad was placed on a cube of ice, which I guessed was to keep the salad fresh and a little bit crunchy. My parents and I agreed to give the salad a thumbs up for its freshness both in taste and flavour. For the main, we picked Grilled lobster with Cafe de Paris sauce (VN250,000), and Grilled cod with Samba Chilli sauce (VN250,000). In my previous visit to the La Cod, my taste buds were conquered by the French-style seafood hotpot, so, once again, I wanted to try this hot dish. My mother and I were quite satisfied with our lobster. The succulent flesh pervades the butter with a very, very light bitter flavour of coffee. The lobster was served with garlic stir-fried rice. After the dinner, I had chance to meet Chef Hai, who revealed his own recipe of the Cafe de Paris sauce. "None of the recipes you find on internet mention coffee. However, I have modified it by adding some coffee liquid," he said. Furthermore, the sauce hasnt been served with lobster. It has been used to marinate the seafood before grilling. I think Chef Hai has had success with this bold modification. The butter-based sauce, which is often served with grilled beef, matches perfectly with lobster. I did try a bite from my fathers Grilled cod with Sambal Chilli sauce. The dish was ok, not good, not bad. The white flaky flesh tasted like cod (of course), which is less fishy than any other kind of fish. The sauce was a bit spicy (obviously) because the sambal sauce is typically made from a mixture of variety of chilli peppers. The French-style seafood hotpot was the dish that I was longing for. The rich broth has exactly the same flavour, but a bit lighter, of lobster bisque. The hotpot ingredients were quite extensive salmon, cod, squid, tiger prawn, green mussel, crab sticks, and other secondary ingredients such as mushrooms, tofu, leafy vegetables and noodles. According to the waiter, the colourful noodles were made from different vegetables, aiming to create natural colours for the foodstuff. While the green colour was created from green vegetables, the orange was from carrots, the pink from beetroot. The hotpot not only treated our eyes with its colourful ingredients, but also our taste buds with its rich and tasty flavour. We finished our dinner with a complimentary dessert -- banh inh vang. It tasted similar to choux creme, covered by an edible metallic layer, which makes the dessert look like gold pieces. Its quite interesting when you put the cake into your mouth and imagine that you are a very rich person eating gold-dusted cake. VNS La Cod - Seafood Restaurant Address: 46 Phan Boi Chau St, Hoan Kiem Dist, Ha Noi Tel: (04) 66567897 Hours: 10am - 2pm, 4.40pm - 10pm Comments: European decor, fusion seafood dishes, reasonable prices. After revising the tax treaty with Mauritius, the Centre will soon initiate the process of modifying tax agreements with Singapore and Cyprus and hopes to complete the process within the current financial year so that there is uniformity on capital gains tax with regard to investments. We hope to revise Singapore and Cyprus tax treaty in line with by year end so that there is uniformity in taxation on investment coming from different jurisdictions, a senior government official told PTI. Although the revision tax pact is between two sovereign nation is a tedious process, it is the endeavour of the finance ministry to finish this as soon as possible, the official said. Tax treaty with Singapore was signed in 2005 and one of the covenants of the agreement was that provisions of treaty revision would extend to it. The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement with Cyprus, one of the top 10 foreign investment source, was signed in 1995. Last week, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley met Demetrios A Theophylactou, high commissioner of Cyprus to India. He is believed to have discussed the renegotiation of tax treaty. Following the revision of 34-year-old tax treaty with Mauritius, speculation were rife that the clauses pertaining to levy of capital gain tax will also automatically apply to investment being routed through Singapore. The finance minister later clarified Singapore is a sovereign nation and the government will have to renegotiate the treaty and clauses of the treaty will not apply automatically. Of the $29.4 billion foreign direct investment into India in April-December, $17 billion came from Mauritius and Singapore. After toiling for almost a decade to redraw the treaty, India and Mauritius agreed to impose capital gains tax on investments in shares through Mauritius from April next. Following the revised agreement, short-term capital gains tax will be levied at half the rate prevailing during the first two-year transition period from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2019. Short-term capital gains are taxed at 15 per cent at present. The full rate will kick in from April 1, 2019. The budget explained: Chalmers message to Australians The message from Treasurer Jim Chalmers' first budget for every Australian family is clear, writes Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood. 00:32 Government expects inflation to peak at 7.75 per cent later this year Treasurer Jim Chalmers says inflation is expected at 7.75 per cent later this year before moderating over time to 3.5 per cent through 2023-24.... 04:06 Australias GDP to grow 3.25 per cent in 2022/23 Australias GDP is expected to grow 3.25 per cent in 2022/23 before slowing to 1.5 per cent growth in 2023/24, according to Treasurer Jim Chalmers... 01:36 Power of pain for families in Albanese governments budget Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell says its a power of pain for families in the Albanese governments first budget. 00:49 Unemployment rate expected to rise to 4.5 per cent Treasurer Jim Chalmers says unemployment is expected to rise to 4.5 per cent by next year as a result of global challenges" such as "high... WATERLOO Four people have pleaded guilty in connection with a methamphetamine and money laundering investigation. Raymond Ohl Jr., 47, of Oelwein, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on Monday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, and Preston Biemann, 27, Brandon Herrmann, 34, of Waterloo, and Justin Luther, 33, pleaded guilty on Wednesday. The other two people indicted in the case, Cory Dewald, 31, and Coby Euans, 34, of Oelwein, pleaded guilty in March and April. Sentencing will be on later dates. Authorities said Luther had a source of meth in California, and he distributed the ice meth to Herrmann, Ohl, Dewald and others who then resold it. Biemann, who obtained meth from another source, distributed some of the meth to customers in West Union and LaPorte City, court records state. Postal inspectors intercepted a package from California that containing 120 grams of meth that was sent to Luthers girlfriend February 2014, police found 20 grams of meth during a traffic stop involving Euans in January 2015, police, according to court records, In March 2015, Ohl, Luther and Dewald were found with 6.5 grams of meth during a traffic stop, records state. Ohl was also accused of transferring money to Luther to buy meth in California, according to records. During the investigation, authorities intercepted phone calls and text messages involving Biemann and Herrmann pertaining to a trading a .357-caliber Ruger handgun for meth in November and December 2014, court records state. All six were indicted in December 2015. WATERLOO Two career and technical education programs could be launched this fall in a renovated portion of Central Middle School. Its the first of three phases that could add up to eight career programs in Waterloo Community Schools by the fall of 2018, according to a Board of Education memo. The board is expected to approve a proposed remodeling project for Central Monday following a public hearing when it meets at 6 p.m. in the Education Service Center, 1516 Washington St. The board will also authorize seeking bids for the project. Plans are being developed in the wake of a $47 million bond issue referendum that district residents voted down in February. Among the projects thetaxpayer-supported bonds would have paid for was a $35 million career center built on land adjacent to Central where up to 30 CTE programs would have been offered to students from the districts three high schools. Officials had proposed launching 15 of those programs by the time the new center opened in the fall of 2018. The new approach is emerging following a joint meeting of the high school task force and reform steering committee where the failed referendum was discussed. According to the memo, officials are actively pursuing the launch this fall of CTE programs in nursing/nursing assistant and graphic communications. Two to three additional programs would begin at Central in each of the next two years and be offered to all high school students. Programs for the second and third phases will be determined with input from staff, businesses, the community and the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber. The district has no plans to seek further bond funds to pay for or locate the programs. Instead, needed renovations will be prioritized at existing buildings and paid for with available physical plant and equipment levy and 1 percent sales tax funds. Implementation of programs will be funded with district dollars and donations to our district, the memo said. For example, the Waterloo Schools Foundation has raised $190,000 to help us launch the nursing program. WATERLOO A short-handed City Council doomed a billboard the minute it came up for a vote earlier this month. Council members this week agreed to give Lamar Advertising a second chance to seek site plan approval to place a new billboard next to Advance Auto Parts at San Marnan Drive and Sears Street. While City Council members voted 4-1 May 2 to approve the companys request, the site plan amendment required a supermajority, or six votes, to overturn the Planning, Programming and Zoning Commissions recommendation of denial. With Councilman David Jones resigning his seat a week earlier and Councilman Jerome Amos Jr. out recovering from a heart attack, there was no chance for a supermajority approval. The company has asked to rescind this so they could have a fair opportunity with all six councilmen present at another meeting, said Community Planning and Development Director Noel Anderson. Normally, if we would have caught that ahead of time, we would have tried to not have you vote with only five of you present. Councilman Pat Morrissey, who voted against the billboard site plan May 2, questioned whether it was appropriate for the council to rescind its earlier action, noting defeated resolutions generally could only be brought back for reconsideration by members voting on the prevailing side. Isnt this basically saying were going to give this defeated motion another chance? said Morrissey, who has been on the losing end of similar issues in the past. Council members ultimately agreed to the companys request to rescind the May 2 vote. Anderson said Lamar Advertising could bring the measure back for approval at a future council meeting with six members present; wait until the council fills the vacant Ward 1 seat for seven members to vote; or even return to the zoning commission hoping to get a positive recommendation which would undo the supermajority requirement. The Planning, Programming and Zoning Commission voted 4-1 April 5 to recommend turning down the request for the 45-foot-tall, 378-square-foot digital billboard due to concerns raised by mall tenants about the density of billboards and signs along that segment of San Marnan. DES MOINES They have varied professional and political backgrounds, and 23 years separate the oldest and youngest among them. But Tom Fiegen, Rob Hogg, Patty Judge and Bob Krause have one thing in common: They want to end Chuck Grassleys 36-year tenure in the U.S. Senate. Democratic voters will choose from among the four in Iowas June 7 primary election, and the winner will challenge Grassley, Iowas longtime and popular Republican U.S. senator, in this falls general election. Despite Grassleys many lopsided re-election victories and typically high favorability ratings from Iowa voters, Democrats think Grassley is vulnerable this year because of his support for the GOPs decision to reject President Barack Obamas Supreme Court nominee without a hearing and the uncertain impact of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president. The seat is among those Democrats think they can win in their effort to flip party control of the U.S. Senate back in their favor after losing control in 2014. The University of Virginia Center for Politics and the Cook Political Report both list Iowas U.S. Senate race as likely Republican. No Democratic primary race have been published, and only recently have the candidates started participating in forums and debates. Honestly, I think its kind of hard to know who is leading the race, said Christopher Larimer, a political science professor at the University of Northern Iowa. The candidates are trying to separate themselves at these debates, but theres not a lot of separation. Voter interest may be lagging. Absentee ballot requests for the Democratic primaries are behind the pace established in 2014. Larimer said Judge and Hogg likely are the front-runners based on their name recognition and past electoral success. Judge has served as Iowas lieutenant governor and secretary of agriculture, and Hogg has served in the Iowa Legislature for the past 13 years. This is the fifth time Ive ran statewide, and people know who I am, they know what I stand for, said Judge, who was state ag secretary under Gov. Tom Vilsack and lieutenant governor to Gov. Chet Culver. Ive got a great network across the state of supporters that are helping me. Judge also has been the primary fields most prolific fundraiser. Through the end of March, Judge had raised almost $214,000 and still had nearly $210,000 in her campaign account. Hogg raised more than $180,000 through March, but at the end of the period, he had just more than $40,000 left. Fiegen through March raised roughly $39,000, and Krause did not report any fundraising activity. Asked to cite the most important issues in the primary race, Judge and Hogg both said the U.S. Senate is not functioning as it should. The American voter today does not believe that government is working for them, Judge said. They feel like their issues and things that are important are falling on deaf ears. Hogg, who has represented Cedar Rapids in the Iowa Legislature since 2003, also said he wants to make Congress work again and create an economy that works for all Americans, investing in education, training and infrastructure. Hogg has made environtmental issues central to his campaign. Ive been emphasizing clean water, clean energy and climate action in my campaign. I believe these are real serious and urgent issues facing our country, and we need to act on them, Hogg said. The good news is we have solutions that work, so lets get Congress to work so we can do the solutions that work. Hogg said hes the best opponent for Grassley because has the most potential to attract new, young, progressive voters who Democrats need to win this fall. During the Iowa caucuses, Fiegen supported Bernie Sanders and talks about many of the same issues, including campaign finance reform. When Democrats take PAC money, we have divided loyalties. Then we have to choose between the money that got us there and the people. And the Bible says you cant serve two masters, Fiegen said at a recent candidate forum. We have to swear off PAC money. Krause said developing an economy that helps the middle class will address other prominent issues and should be the primary focus of federal legislators. Weve got to focus on what money we put in our pockets because we really cant resolve a lot of the other problems in our society without fixing the wage disparity and putting money back in the pockets of the middle class, Krause said. Krause, a former Waterloo school board member, said his breadth of experience as former state legislator, federal transportation department worker and veteran makes him the most qualified Democrat in the primary. WATERLOO Groups working to celebrate the Cedar Valleys ethnic diversity are hosting a program on immigrants and refugees this week. The public is invited to attend Meet Your Neighbors from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday in the Grace Cornish Room of the YWCA, 425 Lafayette St. The Rev. Abraham Funchess Jr., executive director of the Waterloo Commission on Human Rights, will lead a panel discussion. Cedar Valley Advocates for Immigrant and Refugee Rights is sponsoring the program with the Human Rights Commission, Peace and Justice Center of the Cedar Valley and YWCA of Black Hawk County. CVAIRRs Lisa Munoz said the panel will include immigrants from Syria, which is experiencing a refugee crisis, Mexico and Africa along with an immigration attorney. The event is free and refreshments will be available. WATERLOO Courtney Gay comes to her downtown Perspectives Behavioral Health office each morning to find a handful of clients with a crisis. They need help getting their medication. They need to set up a doctors appointment. Theyre considering running away from their problems. Added to those day-to-day emergencies, since April 1, Gay has to worry about how Perspectives can keep its doors open. Perspectives Behavioral Health, like many of its peers, has seen its Medicaid payments slow since April when the program converted to three private managed-care organizations. Were going to provide our services come hell or high water, but were at zero right now, said Kim Henny, executive director at Perspectives. We have been without funding for a long time. Typically funded fully by Medicaid, the nonprofit is turning to fundraising for the first time to try to make up the difference. They launched a Go Fund Me campaign at www.gofundme.com/perspectives and reached out to various organizations that may be able to help. Perspectives provides 4.25 hours of day habilitation services to people with a diagnosed mental illness. The faith-based nonprofit sees about 35 people a day. They hope to offer a morning and afternoon session that serves 50 people each, but need the funding first. They opted for short-term donations, believing their cash-flow problem is temporary. But that doesnt mean things arent tough right now. We never needed fundraisers before, so we didnt do them, because we were always funded on time, said Gay, a case manager. Its hard. Moneys tight for everybody these days. Mind the gap Some area mental health providers are being funded though not necessarily at levels they were prior to the transition. But Henny said shes hearing Perspectives payments may not begin until the end of June. But Henny says its critical to keep serving clients. The people that come to our program, they do not repeat crimes; they do not get arrested again; they do not go into the hospital unless its extreme cases, Henny said, adding, We charge pennies compared to the cost of going in the hospital, for instance. Iowa Department of Human Services spokeswoman Amy McCoy said Perspectives experience is atypical of providers filing clean claims, that is, paperwork without any errors. She pointed to a requirement that the MCOs process 90 percent of clean claims within 14 days, 99.5 percent within 21 calendar days and 100 percent of all claims within 90 days. Henny said her case workers are used to working with the insurance companies to submit claims. Staff also participated in webinars and other training to prepare for the transition. But they have run into problems because the clients are not yet all on file with the new companies and thats what has contributed to the delays in payments. Denise Malecki, public relations director for Amerigroup, said its a state issue, not the MCOs, if the clients names are not yet entered into the Medicaid system. They want us to stay in business, but because of the transition and the problems with crunching all this through so fast, they dont have everybody in the system, Henny said. Were just waiting, with an empty bank account. McCoy echoed Henny in that sentiment, saying, We dont want to see any providers have hardship or not be able to serve their patients. We want as many providers as possible to participate in the program. Peer review Several providers throughout the Cedar Valley have reported similar delays in payments. Both McCoy and the providers say some of that stems from switching managed care organizations, and from one MCO to three. Behavioral health providers had been working with Magellan, which they say often provided quick payments. The system now does not have the rapid turnaround, but McCoy said it is designed to be consistent across providers. There has been some changes for those providers over the past several months, but all with the goal of having program integrity, McCoy said. Larger groups like Pathways Behavioral Services and North Star Community Services have more easily weathered the transition, but that doesnt mean its been easy. Chris Hoffman, executive director of Pathways, said he just kind of assumed something like this was going to happen with delayed payments, so the nonprofit has built up reserves. Pathways provides mental health and substance abuse counseling to about 6,000 people each year in a six-county area including Black Hawk County. Hoffman said the agency recently started getting paid for services rendered in January through March. We got a payment, but it was not at the rates that we should have gotten paid, so now we have to appeal everything that we billed for to get paid at the proper rate. McCoy said there has been a learning curve in the new coding required to submit claims to the MCOs, and DHS and the MCOs have been training providers to make the process easier. Malecki, of Amerigroup, said 89 percent of 10,500 claims have so far been paid. Like McCoy, she acknowledged a learning curve with the new coding systems. She encouraged providers who arent getting paid to reach out to the MCOs because coding issues can be easily remedied. Hoffman said hes optimistic that in the long-run we will manage. But he said its taking more effort now and distracts from programs and services. Im hoping this dust settles, so that we can get back to those things, which is providing services, Hoffman said. North Star, likewise, has a contingency plan for fewer gaps in services due to delayed payments. State Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo, a board member at North Star, reported during a Thursday night legislative forum that the agency took out a $400,000 line of credit, which would cover two payrolls, to ensure its clients needs continue to be met. For perspective, the Perspectives Go Fund Me request is for $35,000. Hard times Many of the smaller behavioral health providers are just starting to see money flow, but its hit them harder. As Henny summed up, This is hard right now. Its hard times. Gail Althaus, of Family Solutions III Inc. which provides outpatient mental health services throughout the region, is at the point of missing payments and payroll. I have not been able to meet payroll three times since mid-February; that has never ever happened before ever, Althaus said. All of my financial obligations, except two, are past due. A very costly situation. Some of her employees dont have the gas money to travel to see their clients, and Althaus cant help. But Althaus stresses that none of her employees have so far left, such is their dedication. She said just recently two of the providers have started delivering payments, but the nonprofit still struggles with one. Like Perspectives, Althaus staff have gone to training sessions and tried their best to understand the process in order to submit clean claims. She acknowledges the learning curve McCoy referenced, but said the training has not been as helpful as DHS and the MCOs believe they are. I am certain that we will eventually level out; however, there are going to be a whole lot more bumps before that happens, Althaus said. WATERLOO Lakeisha Veasley warned parents and students about the summer slide Saturday. Shes not worried about the fun kinds at a playground or water park but the one that sets elementary students back if they go all summer break without reading. Students can learn a lot of what they learned that last spring and fall, said Veasley, the Cedar Valley United Ways campaign for grade-level reading program coordinator. The United Way, the Waterloo Public Library and Waterloo Public School district hosted a read-a-thon Saturday. The event was held to recognize high achievers from a recent reading initiative, let parents know about summer reading programs and to giveaway some books. The event is sponsored nationwide by Penguin Random House publishing and the American Library Association. This was the first year for the event in Waterloo, Veasley said. More than a dozen families attended the Waterloo event Saturday. Latoya Carroll brought her daughters Lamya Pratchett and Larya Pratchett. The family already frequents the library and the Lamya and Larya said theyre avid readers. We have a whole bookcase plus more books, Larya said. Most books are interesting, Lamya said. We love to read in our family, Latoya Carroll said. We come (to the library) to check out books and were building a library at home. Guest readers Sgt. Keith Rogers and Ben Bloker, from the Waterloo Police Department, were guest readers at the event. Art by elementary students related to reading was displayed in the youth area of the library. Carroll said the event was helpful to learn about summer reading programs and events at the library and getting information about how to access electronic books online. However, the family agreed the real things are more satisfying. Waterloo students can access a library of ebooks, said Cheryl Carruthers, of Area Education Agency 267. The top readers and schools from the 11 Waterloo elementary schools were honored at the event. The read-a-thon was open to students of all ages but Veasley said the event focuses on students from kindergarten through third grade. From kindergarten, theyre reading to learn to read, Veasley said. From third grade on, theyre reading to learn. The reading initiative this year was a success with elementary students logged more than 453,000 minutes of reading time. Veasley said she hopes that established some habits for students that will stick through the summer. If kids are not reading by third grade, they have a hard time catching up and are more likely to fall behind, Veasley said. The Waterloo Public Librarys summer reading program begins June 6 and runs through July 12. CEDAR FALLS Its been four years since Taylor Morris lost portions of all four limbs in a bomb blast in Afghanistan. Since then, Morris and his wife Danielle have given thousands of dollars back to the community that supported them in his recovery, through the glow stick night run. Aided by family and friends, theyre doing it again this September, and they want to make this one run No. 5 the best yet. They broke $10,000 in funds raised for the first time last year and hope to top that. The Taylor Morris Inspired Glow Stick 5K will be 8:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at Gateway Park. About 300 have participated each year and the Morrises aim to match or better that. For more information on the event, go to www.GlowStick5K.com. Participants can register on the site and nominate an inspirational person or organization to receive the funds raised for the event. Typically, Danielle Morris said, the funds are rewarded to a single person or organization, but the attention all the nominees received brings additional assistance to their respective causes. Its the weekend after Labor Day after the University of Northern Iowa has commenced fall classes. We try to do it on a weekend that theres nothing going on, so we dont take away from other events. And we also want to get the most participation we can, Danielle said. Because each year were trying to make the race bigger and better so we can have a bigger impact for the nominees themselves. They plan to enlist the help of local businesses and corporate sponsors. We hope to get more businesses and nonprofits involved with the race; that is what were trying to pour our energy into this year, she said. A lot of time and effort goes into it just to make it a fun event for everyone involved. People may nominate organizations and individuals to receive the funds from the event up to within two weeks of the run, after which the nominees are submitted to the public on the website for an online vote. Thats when youll see everyones stories and youll be able to vote on which story you find most inspirational, Danielle said. The funds raised end up resulting in additional donations for the nominees beyond the event. Its not only that we want to give back to the most inspirational person, but we want to bring awareness to the amazing people and movements throughout the community, Danielle said. It inspires others to get involved in their causes. Taylor Morris, a U.S. Navy bomb disposal expert, lost portions of all four limbs in a May 2012 bomb blast in Afghanistan as he was clearing an area of explosives for a unit of U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. He and Danielle gained national attention, meeting with President Obama, appearing on the Today Show on NBC and were the subject of an August 2013 benefit concert by actor Gary Sinises Lt. Dan Band at Gateway Park. Taylor is now a business student at UNI and Danielle completed a masters degree and is in real estate. They were married last October. The first 5K was in August 2012, organized by Taylors sister Claire Morris and Danielle, with friends and family. Recently ISIS destroyed several of the best-preserved ruins of ancient temples in the Middle East. They also have released videos of themselves destroying artifacts in Iraqs Mosul Museum with sledgehammers and using dynamite to destroy centuries-old Christian and Muslim shrines. The world was justifiably outraged over what can be seen as a mindless and primitive adherence to extreme orthodoxy. In Germany in 1933, there was a book burning called the Sauberung, or cleansing, in which un-German books were burned. Hitlers government did not do this. It was done by the Deutsher Studentenbund, an organization primarily of college students. Ironically, about a hundred years earlier, a Jewish German poet, Heinrich Heine, had prophetically stated, Where they have burned books, they will end in burning people. One of my favorite writers is the British historian and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Paul Johnson. One of the strengths of his work is his insistence on staying with the data rather than rewriting history to fit modern ideologies. This fits nicely into my conservative leanings. Conservatives maintain we need to learn from the past, rejecting what didnt work and conserving the things that did. Modern progressives advocate progress based largely on ideology. They have little interest in the past except to find things in the present to condemn. So, whats the point? Students in Missouri demanded a statue of Thomas Jefferson be removed from their campus. A writer stated, Jeffersons statue perpetuates a sexist-racist atmosphere that continues to reside on campus. The University of Texas removed a statue of Woodrow Wilson. Oxford removed a plaque honoring Cecil Rhodes. In New Orleans, monuments, including those of Gens. Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard, were removed because some saw them as symbols of racism and white supremacy. What is the difference between this and the Taliban and ISIS destroying ancient monuments they find offensive based on their current ideologies? What is the distinction between this and demanding Un-German books be burnt? Writing for Forbes, here is Paul Johnsons response to modern ideological censorship: PC (political correctness) has an enormous appeal to the semi-educated, one reason its struck roots among overseas (meaning American) students at minor colleges. But it also appeals to pseudo-intellectuals everywhere since it evokes the strong streak of cowardice notable among those wielding academic authority nowadays. Any empty-headed student with a powerful voice can claim someone (never specified) will be hurt by a hitherto harmless term, object or activity and be reasonably assured the dons and professors in charge will show a white feather and do as the student demands. Thus, there isnt a university campus on either side of the Atlantic thats not in danger of censorship. The brutal young dont even need to impose it themselves; their trembling elders will do it for them. Would that the trembling elders would get a backbone and a brain. No wonder Trump is winning. A significant part of the Roma are unfit for coexistence. These Roma are animals, and they behave like animals. ... Inarticulate sounds pour out of their bestial skulls. ... These animals shouldnt be allowed to exist. In no way. That needs to be solved immediately and regardless of the method. These words were written, not in 1943, but in 2013. They are from an article by Zsolt Bayer, one of the founders of Hungarys ruling party, Fidesz, and a friend of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Bayers attitude toward the Roma (Gypsies) is part of a broader theory big corporations, leftists, Jews and Muslim migrants are engaged in a conspiracy to undermine Hungarian identity. There are all kinds of weapons: traditional, chemical, atomic, Bayer argues. And now we see that there are also racial weapons. This is the weapon that they, the invisible hands, have employed against Europe and against the white race. Orban is not quite so blunt, but he seems more than willing to gather the political benefit of ethno-nationalism. We, the Hungarians of national solidarity, he has said, must squeeze all disunity out of Hungarian life. Hostility to outsiders, of course, pre-existed the political movement taking advantage of it. But what role does leadership play in encouraging this attitude? This has been a topic of recent research by Emile Bruneau of the University of Pennsylvania and Nour Kteily of Northwestern University. They have devised an appropriately offensive scale on which to measure blatant dehumanization. In September 2014, a representative sample of Hungarians was asked to place Muslim migrants somewhere on the familiar ascent of man scientific illustration the one showing the gradual development from monkey to Homo sapiens. The same survey was done in October 2015. In a little over a year, the level of blatant dehumanization in Hungary doubled. There are a number of possible explanations. But Bruneau postulates political rhetoric played a role. When people see this as normative, he told me, they are more likely to express themselves. Bruneau also has studied the disturbing neuroscience of bigotry. One might expect dehumanization to light up emotional, pre-rational parts of the limbic system. Instead, he says, it is deeply seated in the cortex, in a reasoned cognitive response. Viewing others as less than human involves a very conscious and deliberate decision. Dehumanization, argues Bruneau, morally disengages us. Most humans hold to a morality that forbids harm to other humans. But if someone is regarded as less than human, those moral rules no longer apply. This rationalization is what allows people who commit genocide to go home, kiss their children and sleep at night. It also is what leads Bayer to say: Whoever runs over a Gypsy child is acting correctly if he gives no thought to stopping and steps hard on the accelerator. How does this relate to U.S. politics? In a survey of Americans conducted by Bruneau and Kteily, the dehumanization of Muslims (as youd expect) was a strong predictor of support for policies such as carpet bombing in the Middle East or denying visas to Muslims. Conservatism does predict some support for these positions, says Bruneau, but dehumanization goes above and beyond this. It is more strongly predictive than political ideology. Blatant dehumanization also was more strongly correlated with support for Donald Trump than for any other candidate. If political leadership can increase dehumanization as the evidence seems to indicate Trump is guilty of it. He has falsely asserted thousands and thousands of Muslims cheered after the World Trade Center came down and Syrian refugees are entering America with cellphones with ISIS flags on them. He has called for a ban on Muslim migration and the establishment of a database to track Muslims in the U.S. I want surveillance of these people, Trump has said. And: Were going to have to do things that we never did before. Trump has turned legitimate concerns about terrorism into the indictment of a religion. In his rhetoric, the distinction between these people and the American we is clear enough. But there is a problem, other than the obvious ethical one. Bruneau and Kteily also surveyed Muslim Americans. And the more they feel dehumanized, the less likely they are to report activities that might be related to radicalization. This is a vicious and dangerous cycle: Dehumanizing rhetoric, leading to distrust of government and law enforcement, contributing to tragedies that feed dehumanizing rhetoric. Both our ideals and our safety are compromised when politicians provide permission for bigotry. One thing we are always happy to point out is how lucky we are in the Cedar Valley to have individuals, organizations, businesses and corporations that believe in giving back to the community in which they have enjoyed so much success. An announcement last week gives us one more opportunity to do just that. A new foundation, the Otto Schoitz Foundation, has been created to provide charitable grants using revenues from an investment of $50 million. The foundation comes as the result of Wheaton Franciscan Healthcares May 1 transfer of its Iowa facilities Covenant Medical Center, Sartori Memorial Hospital in Cedar Falls and Mercy Hospital in Oelwein to the Mercy Health Network in Des Moines. Dennis D. Clark of DC Industries in Waterloo is the new foundations chairman. Im extremely proud to help participate in this; its like a dream for the community, Clark said. Im keenly aware of the need. We intend to meet some of that need. It cant all be funded, but we can put quite a dent into it. The purpose of the foundation is to improve the health and well-being of the community and its individual members in the greater Cedar Valley Region, an area within 50 miles of Waterloo, by funding grants and other financial requests. When you see the amount of needs, and imagine if someone told you heres $50 million you can invest and help your community, its a wow factor, said foundation vice chairwoman Camille Hogan of Shorts Travel Management. Were all just really amazed we have this opportunity. The foundations board is made up of community leaders who have served on the Covenant, Schoitz or Wheaton boards. In addition to Clark and Hogan, the board includes Eric Locke, secretary; Mike Mallaro, treasurer; and Hugh Field, Becky Mudd, Donna Nelson, Robert Petersen, Dr. Douglas Stanford and Cathy Young. These are all familiar names when it comes to working for the betterment of the Cedar Valley. Once again, we thank them for their charitable endeavors. The foundation is being created in the name of Otto A. Schoitz, who donated $500,000 toward Charlotte Lee Schoitz Memorial Hospital, which opened in 1951. It was dedicated to his late wife. In addition to the people who are making this happen locally, wed like to recognize the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters of Wheaton, Ill., and their executive leadership for their cooperation in making the foundation possible. It represents absolutely outstanding stewardship of their time in Iowa, Hogan said. This adds another player in the combination of area charitable foundations that includes the Waterloo Community Foundation, the Cedar Falls Community Foundation and the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa. These people and organizations feel strongly about building a better Cedar Valley. We can only hope it can prompt many of us to make our own small contributions of time and effort. By The Associated Press May. 19, 2016 | 03:57 PM | FRANKFORT, KY Kentucky's Republican governor used state police officers to prevent the ousted chairman of the retirement system board from participating in a meeting. Gov. Matt Bevin removed chairman Thomas Elliott from the board last month. But Elliott had refused to vacate his seat, saying Bevin could not remove him before his term expires. Elliott attended Thursday's board meeting, but sat in the audience while state police officers stood nearby. Elliot said the governor's office told him he would be arrested and charged with disrupting a public meeting if he participated. Bevin spokeswoman Amanda Stamper said Elliot was not threatened with arrest. 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29 (1) Oct 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) May 11 (1) Jul 11 (1) 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. 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You can test drive various casinos completely risk-free, so you can feel confident about your choice before you make a single penny deposit. Noem campaign accuses Smith campaign of campaign finance violation Gov. Kristi Noem's campaign has accused Rep. Jamie Smith's campaign of violating campaign finance laws after the recent report released Monday. SEOUL, South Korea North Korea is believed to have placed a new, powerful midrange missile on standby for an impending launch, a news report said Tuesday. The reported launch plans came two days after North Korea said it successfully test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine in a continuation of its weapons tests amid ongoing South Korea-U.S. military drills. Seoul officials said they could not confirm whether Sundays test-firing was a success. South Koreas Yonhap news agency cited an unidentified Seoul official as saying Tuesday that the countrys military had unspecified evidence indicating North Korea would likely soon launch a midrange Musudan missile. Seouls Defense Ministry said it had no such intelligence. South Korean officials often refuse to discuss North Koreas weapons systems publicly because they involve confidential military intelligence. Yonhap said the missile on standby is one of two Musudan missiles North Korea had earlier deployed in the northeast before it fired one earlier this month. South Korean and U.S. officials said there was a North Korean missile launch on April 15, the birthday of the Norths late founder, Kim Il Sung, but they have not officially confirmed it was a Musudan firing. U.S. officials said the earlier launch ended in failure. A Musudan has a reach of 3,500 kilometers (2,180 miles), putting far-off U.S. military installments in Asia in range. North Korea typically conducts more weapons tests when South Korean and U.S. troops conduct annual springtime drills that Pyongyang views as an invasion rehearsal. This years drills end later this week. Last week, South Koreas president said there were signs that North Korea was preparing for a fifth nuclear bomb test amid media reports of increased activity at the countrys main nuclear test site. North Korea carried out a fourth nuclear test in January. Analysts say a new atomic test could happen before North Korea holds a ruling Workers Party congress in early May so that leader Kim Jong Un can burnish his image at home and further cement his grip on power. SEOUL, South Korea South Koreas president said Tuesday that North Korea has almost completed preparations for a fifth nuclear test, and the country has reportedly placed a new midrange missile on standby for an impending launch. North Korea said two days ago it had successfully test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine in a continuation of its weapons tests during ongoing South Korea-U.S. military drills. Seoul officials said they could not confirm whether Saturdays test-firing was a success. Meeting with senior South Korean journalists, President Park Geun-hye said South Korea believes North Korea can conduct a nuclear test anytime it decides to do so. She didnt elaborate on why South Korea made such an assessment. Other South Korean officials have made similar recent comments without elaborating amid media reports of increased activity at the countrys main nuclear test site. Park said last week there were signs North Korea was preparing for a new nuclear test. Speculation about a fifth nuclear test increased last month when the Norths state media cited leader Kim Jong Un as ordering a test of a nuclear warhead and ballistic missiles capable of carrying warheads. North Korea conducted a fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February, and the country was subsequently slapped with tough U.N. sanctions. Park said Tuesday a further provocation by North Korea would only speed up its collapse, according to her office. The United States in recent years has deployed additional missile defense technology to the region to counter North Korean threats and is in talks with Seoul about deploying the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system to the country. President Barack Obama, in a CBS News interview released Tuesday, said the goal of the stepped-up U.S. efforts is to create a shield against the North. One of the things that we have been doing is spending a lot more time positioning our missile defense systems, so that even as we try to resolve the underlying problem of nuclear development inside of North Korea, were also setting up a shield that can at least block the relatively low-level threats that theyre posing right now, Obama said. Analysts say North Korea could conduct a fifth test before it holds a ruling Workers Party congress in early May so that leader Kim Jong Un can burnish his image at home and further cement his grip on power. Earlier Tuesday, South Koreas Yonhap news agency cited an unidentified Seoul official as saying that the Souths military had unspecified evidence indicating North Korea would likely soon launch a midrange Musudan missile. Seouls Defense Ministry said it had no such intelligence. South Korean officials often refuse to discuss North Koreas weapons systems publicly because they involve confidential military intelligence. Yonhap said the missile on standby is one of two Musudan missiles North Korea had earlier deployed in the northeast before it fired one earlier this month. U.S. officials said the earlier launch ended in failure. A Musudan has a potential reach of 3,500 kilometers (2,180 miles), putting far-off U.S. military installments in Asia in range. North Korea typically conducts more weapons tests when South Korean and U.S. troops conduct annual springtime drills that the North views as a rehearsal for an invasion. This years drills end later this week. ___ Associated Press writer Josh Lederman in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. Graduation rates arent the only stark difference between Rio Rancho Public Schools and Albuquerque Public Schools. The two neighboring districts also have very different approaches to standardized testing. At APS, the administration prepared an opt-out kit for parents who dont want their children to take a variety of tests, including the controversial new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers that measures math and English comprehension in third through 11th grades. In fact, APS parents can find opt-out kits on the APS website in six languages, including Farsi and Chinese. Somali versions are in the works. Your tax dollars at work. At RRPS, the term opt out doesnt exist. If parents dont want their kids to take a test, they are required to have a discussion with a school administrator so school official have a chance to explain the tests and dispel myths such as students are subjected to 8 hours of testing a day for 30 days. If they still refuse, well the district considers their action to be a refusal. This year, Rio Rancho administrators were successful in convincing a third to half of parents who didnt want their children taking the PARCC test to change their minds. APS executive director of the Office of Accountability and Reporting, Rose-Ann McKernan, says the district also requires a meeting with an administrator, but the districts website says parents need only submit an opt-out form or a letter to the office. In some other districts Las Cruces and Farmington, for instance all students are required to take the test unless they have a medical reason. The New Mexico Public Education Department takes the position there is no refusal option, and the federal government requires students to take statewide standardized tests. In fact, districts stand to lose federal funding if they have less than 95 percent participation. The numbers of PARCC refusals in Rio Rancho dropped from 160 last year (about 98.5 percent took the exam) to about 50 this year, or just 0.5 percent of the roughly 11,000 students eligible to take the test. That may be due in part to students and parents becoming more familiar with the test after the first year and realizing time spent taking the test isnt nearly as onerous as overwrought opponents have claimed. At APS, the number of students opting out also dropped substantially from last year from 3,307 to 1,561 of the roughly 50,000 eligible students, or 3.1 percent. While its better than the more than 6 percent not taking the test in 2015 and less dangerous in regard to funding its still a far cry from Rio Ranchos half a percent. With districts like APS having to cut staffing and services for the upcoming school year to cover a $9.5 million shortfall, losing federal dollars would be a big hit. Rio Ranchos can-do attitude on testing is reflected in the high annual rankings its schools generally receive from the PED along with its graduation rate of 82.7 percent vs. 61.7 percent at APS. APS should abandon its politically driven agenda that encourages and abets opting out of PARCC and other standardized tests and accept the fact that testing is a part of learning and always has been. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. The Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office SWAT team surrounded a house containing a suspect who pointed a firearm at deputies late into the night on Saturday. The home is on the 300 block Telesfor SW near Arenal. Deputies had been dispatched to the area Saturday afternoon on a report of physical fight that led to gun shots. When deputies arrived on scene they saw a man with a gun arguing with a person in the front yard, said BCSO Capt. Joshua Campos in a news release. The suspect then pointed a gun at deputies and ran into the home. Crisis negotiators have been on scene since the early evening and the SWAT team has been activated, according to the release. At some point during the standoff, four people left the residence. But Campos said late Saturday that there were still occupants inside. SANTA FE Former state Rep. Sandra Jeffs already cloudy campaign finance reporting got even murkier this month. An item Jeff initially reported as a $27,000 loan from a law firm, then listed for months as a campaign debt, then erased from her reports entirely, has surfaced again with a new twist. Jeffs lawyer has notified Secretary of State Brad Winters office that most of that amount, which she owes for legal fees from her unsuccessful fight to get on the ballot in 2014, will be treated as a personal debt rather than a campaign debt. That means it would no longer show on Jeffs campaign finance reports, and the public wouldnt know when or even whether it was paid off. Jeff, a Democrat with a reputation as a maverick, served from 2009 to 2014 in the state House. This year, she is challenging state Sen. Benny Shendo, D-Jemez Pueblo, for the Senate District 22 seat in the June 7 primary. Jeff was initially disqualified from this years ballot, because she owed more than $1,000 in fines for a delinquent finance report in 2015, but she settled with Winters office for $100. The Secretary of States Office said Thursday that the new personal-debt arrangement is acceptable. But critics said it doesnt make sense for Winters office to allow Jeff to now call the campaign debt a personal debt. We know that was connected to her defense of her petition signatures, her ballot qualification, said Ben Shelton of Conservation Voters New Mexico. The organization which labels Jeff as anti-conservation and is backing Shendo underwrote the challenge that kept Jeff off the ballot in 2014. If it was a personal debt, why did she report it to begin with? asked Viki Harrison, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico. Harrison also objected that Jeffs repeated amending this year of previous years reports has prevented transparency and made a joke out of our reporting system. Amy Bailey, general counsel for the secretary of state, said state law just simply doesnt address the issue of personal debt vs. campaign debt, and that, after discussion in the office, it was decided Jeff was in compliance with the law. At this point, it seems like she did the best that she could have, Bailey told the Journal. Jeff initially reported in July 2014 that her campaign had received $27,921 in loans, $26,721 from the Gallagher & Kennedy law firm which she labeled Campaign debt for legal fees incurred and $1,200 from Jeff herself. Gallagher & Kennedy represented her in 2014 when her candidacy for re-election was challenged. Courts ruled she didnt have enough valid voters signatures on her nominating petitions, and she was kept off the ballot. As a loan, the Gallagher & Kennedy item would have violated the states campaign finance laws. While candidates can pump as much of their own money as they want into their campaigns, there are limits on other contributors. Under the law, loans are defined as contributions, according to the secretary of state. By September 2014, however, Jeff was reporting the sum as campaign debt, which she continued to do through 2015. But this year, she amended those reports multiple times and eliminated references to the debt. A May 2 letter to the secretary of state from Jeffs current lawyer, Republican House member Zach Cook of Ruidoso, said Jeff was represented in court in 2014 by Germaine Chappelle of Gallagher & Kennedy, and that the firm charged Jeff $27,921. Cook said that, as part of the settlement to get on the ballot this year, Jeff was told by Winters office to close out prior year campaign accounts. But to do that she would have had to repay her campaign debt, so she removed it from the reports, Cook said. Cook also said he met with Gallagher & Kennedy to discuss how to resolve the reporting issue and agreed that Jeff would show two in-kind campaign contributions, totaling $4,800, from T.J. Trujillo, one of the firms lawyers. That showed up on the report she filed May 9. The remainder of the attorneys fees, in the amount of $23,120.82 will be treated as a personal debt of Sandra Jeff and not as a campaign debt, Cook wrote. Neither Cook nor Trujillo returned phone calls from the Journal seeking comment. Jeff provided Cooks letter in response to questions from the Journal . CLOVIS Ariel Kokoricha doesnt have any favorite words. But a few least favorites come quickly to mind for New Mexicos national spelling bee representative: Lenitive (a laxative), and Cheshire (both a European country and an Alice in Wonderland cat). Those words? Theyre some of the rarest in the English language words that knocked Kokoricha out of previous bees, despite her tried-and-true method of studying every morning before most of Clovis hears a wake-up alarm. I had practiced those words, the Clovis Christian eighth-grader told the Clovis News Journal with a hint of regret, but mostly with a pace and poise (bee word, meaning composure) rarely seen in her age group. But Id pronounced them wrong. So when I heard them pronounced the way they were correctly pronounced, I was thrown off. If Kokoricha can manage to keep another word from appearing on that list, shell be nationally known, as she is in New Mexico, as the queen bee. Clovis Christian Elementary and Junior High Principal Linda DAmour cant say enough about Kokoricha, who has never finished lower than fourth in her five New Mexico bee appearances. She also took the title in 2013 and has one third-place and a pair of fourth-place finishes. Shes a legend to everybody at the state bee, DAmour said. She was so young the first time she won. Now 13, Kokoricha aims to reach at least the semifinal round on her final opportunity in the Scripps National Spelling Bee this week in Washington, D.C., which will air on ESPN beginning Wednesday. Should she overshoot that goal and be the final speller standing, she would be the third New Mexico resident to win the national bee and the first to do so as New Mexicos representative. Nettie Crawford (1952) and Blake Giddens (1983) won their bees after winning an El Paso qualifier. The competition begins every August, when the words for the following years bee are made available. Kochoricha then spends each day getting up around 5:30 a.m., give or take an hour based on how much sleep she got the previous night, and studies myriad (bee word, meaning very great number) words before making breakfast for her two sisters. I try to know every word, even though thats not really possible, Kokoricha said. You try to know at least a related word, or a similar word, so you have something to base your spelling on. And when does she study words the rest of the day? Its not part of her routine (bee word, customary or usual procedure). When she was interviewed at CCS, she said the biggest misconception was that she spent every waking hour studying words. I do stuff outside of spelling and studying, Kokoricha said. I just took a painting section. I got an A on it; I was happy about that. I also just finished a session of ballet. Shes hoping to someday go to Harvard Medical School and be a neuropsychiatrist, but shes just fine with her eighth-grade coursework and camaraderie (bee word, meaning mutual trust and friendship among people who spend time together). A brief afternoon shadowing Kokoricha shows her as quite malleable (bee word, capable of being shaped), whether shes talking with classmates or adult figures. During an English course, the class is reading The Importance of Being Earnest, and shes got the role of Cecily. She and a classmate read the lines My poor, wounded Cecily. My sweet, wronged Gwendolyn before both break character with a few giggles. Before the group asks the teacher if they can start Chapter 3 a clear ruse to skip the homework questions at the end of Chapter 2 Kokoricha identifies situational and dramatic irony for her teacher. In social studies the following hour, the wit and intelligence find their way through silliness. When the teacher asks the class what they know of Richard Nixon, Kokoricha instantly puts both hands in the not a crook gesture that happened decades before her birth. Later, she pours herself a cup of colored candies, but eats them one color at a time and figures out the percentage of each remaining color. When Kokoricha last appeared in the national bee, she was knocked out in the written test portion They give you a multiple choice, so you have to know what the word is supposed to do, she said. This time around, she wants to be more competitor than tourist. I went there before, so Ive kind of seen everything, Kokoricha said. Now I want to study more when Im there. Wherever she finishes, it will be her final time representing Clovis, since the family is planning a move to Lucas, Texas. Her father, Tobore Kokoricha, is relocating his medical practice. I dont remember a time I didnt live in Clovis, Ariel says with a pause, even though I was born in Pennsylvania and spent time in New Jersey and Fort Sumner. DAmour says that whatever Kokoricha does, success is inevitable (bee word, something that cant be avoided). Her love of language has made her so successful in many endeavors, DAmour said. She has a gift. Copyright 2016 Albuquerque Journal Master Sgt. Brendt Hoffman missed celebrating his 20th wedding anniversary with his wife. Tech. Sgt. Roy Cain very nearly missed the birth of his third son. Staff Sgt. Anastasia Frye missed green chile enchiladas. Oh, yeah. And her boyfriend, too. Military deployment overseas, whether its your first or your fifth, is always a grab bag of feelings excitement, homesickness, anxiety, fulfillment and adventure. I was looking forward to it, excited about seeing parts of the world other people dont see, but I was having trepidations about what could happen said Frye, 33, who, like Hoffman and Cain, is a member of the New Mexico Air National Guards 210th RED HORSE Squadron, which returned to Albuquerque earlier this month, following six months in the Middle East. RED HORSE stands for Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer. We are into the designing and construction of airfields, said Lt. Col. Thomas Benton, commander of the 210th. Officers come up with this grandiose idea and the enlisted men make it happen. We do everything from building shelters for housing troops and equipment, building barracks and offices, repairing runways, doing brand new construction of runways, repair and construction of highways. We do huge asphalt projects. The 210th, a work in progress for several years, was designed to fill some of the void left when the New Mexico Air National Guard lost its fighter mission a few years back. Officially recognized by the Air Force in 2014, the squadrons deployment to the Middle East in October was the first for the 210th, although some of its members had deployed with other military units in the past. The 210th was one of three squadrons the 219th from Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana and the 254th from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam were the others making up the 557th Expeditionary RED HORSE team whose members were assigned to duty in Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan. Master Sgt. Hoffman was sent to Jordan, where he was a project manager on the construction of large, concrete pads used as parking ramps or vehicle maintenance areas. Hoffman, 42, is a veteran of 23 years in military service, counting both active duty in the Air Force and time served with the Air National Guard. His time in Jordan was not his first rodeo. He had been deployed to Korea four times previously. My family is getting used to it but not liking it so much, he said. A Las Cruces resident, Hoffman has worked 10 years with the Border Patrol. He and his wife, Rebecca, a state parole officer, are the parents of three children daughters Alexia, 15, and Kay, 8, and a son Van, 10. Despite being away from home on his 20th wedding anniversary, Hoffman said his time in Jordan was a positive experience. We were three National Guard units Montana, Guam and New Mexico and for not knowing each other, these guys jelled so well and did a phenomenal job of working together, Hoffman said. And the Jordanian people have the most friendly, positive attitude toward Americans I have ever worked with in any capacity. He said he was impressed with the way squadron members experiencing their first deployment handled the stress of being separated from family, friends, familiar ways and places. Developments in technology, such as FaceTime and Skype, that make it possible for people to communicate face to face with faraway loved ones play a significant role in helping todays military personnel cope with deployment, Hoffman said. Everything used to be on the phone, he said. The difference now is huge. Cain, whose wife, Jan, was in the final months of pregnancy during his deployment in the United Arab Emirates, can vouch for the value of seeing her halfway around the world. Its very helpful because being away from my wife during that time probably caused me more stress than it did her, he said. She is a very strong woman. We service people couldnt do what we do without the stronger family members back home. They are the real heroes. His unit sent Cain home on April 27, a week before the 210ths return, so he could be there for the birth of his son, Micah. He and Jan also have two older boys Noah, 13, and Jonah, 6. An Albuquerque native, Cain, 39, works as a heavy equipment operator with Sandia National Laboratories. He has been with the Air National Guard four years but has also served an additional eight years in the military, partly with the Navy and partly with the Army National Guard. While in the Navy, he was deployed to Iraq in 2007 and 2008. He worked heavy equipment on building projects at a military facility in the United Arab Emirates during his deployment with the 210th. The biggest thing for me is getting to train our younger troops, Cain said. I know we are supporting a larger mission. But we higher ranked enlisted men want to be able to train our younger men to carry on in the future. Our crew was awesome. We worked well together. Im looking forward to going on our sophomore (second) deployment. Staff Sgt. Frye lives in Albuquerque and is a veteran of five years service with the Air National Guard. Her deployment to Iraq was her first. Back in October, there was a mixture of excitement and nervousness, not knowing what was going to happen, how we were going to work with other units, she said. Frye is a heavy equipment operator trucks, excavators, front-end loaders, graders, rollers. In Iraq, her units assignment was a full-depth repair of a runway. Here stateside, we dont have much of an opportunity to work on airfields, which is actually what our job is, she said. In Iraq, we got to go out and learn it and become experts. Her most vivid memory of Iraq is the first time sirens alerted troops to incoming artillery, and she found herself running for the protection of bunkers. Its different practicing it and doing it in real life, she said. There were never any big explosions on base, but we could hear small arms fire on a daily basis. Even though she missed loved ones, Frye was able to keep in touch with her boyfriend, other friends and family via FaceTime and texting. She said the toughest part of deployment was not being able to do or eat what she wanted. You ate what the chow hall gave you, she said. When I got home, I had a list of places I wanted to eat green chile enchiladas being at the top of the list. In August, Frye will return for her junior year at New Mexico Tech in Socorro, where she is majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in explosives engineering. She is not sure yet what she wants to do with her life but has not ruled out a military career. She said she would welcome another deployment. I would go in with more knowledge, knowing more what to expect, she said. I think it would make it better. Hoffman and Cain are also ready the next time duty dictates deployment. It is very hard to leave my wife and kids, Cain said. I miss them a lot. But we all have to make sacrifices, and my family is willing to make those sacrifices. Intel has started notifying some workers in its Sandoval County plant that they will be laid off later this year. Getting laid off is one of the most sickening experiences Ive ever had to face. When it happened to me in 1993, I felt numb, nauseated, scared, angry, humiliated, lost and helpless. I didnt know whether I could find another job. I had no idea what I would tell my family. A half-hour after I arrived at work on a Monday morning, someone from the human resources department asked me to get over to the HR office right away. I knew what was coming. When I had joined Digital Equipment Corp. 10 years earlier, the company was the second-largest computer manufacturer in the world. We had transformed the technology by taking computers out of climate-controlled shrines, entered only by a white-coated priesthood of technicians, and putting them in labs and offices where anyone could use them. Scientists and engineers loved us. Our machines were, for their time, small, fast and easy to use. In the old days, to use a machine from IBM or Honeywell or Burroughs meant submitting a job to the priesthood in the form of a stack of punch cards, then waiting your turn. It could be days before you had your answer. Many of the people I worked with at DEC were brilliant. The pay was good, the stock options better. The work was fascinating. It was an engineers company. DEC rewarded great ideas, technical excellence and personal and engineering integrity. But our machines used a proprietary operating system and linked to a proprietary network. The engineering and scientific world began embracing open-source, free software and networks. The big market for computing was moving from the midsized machines we made for the technically sophisticated to personal computers with an operating system designed for technical naifs. DEC began an agonizing, slow downward spiral. Management began selling off pieces of the company, shutting down other pieces and trying to find its way in a consumer-focused world that didnt appreciate our technological greatness and hated how expensive we were. DECs patient founder, whose pride was the companys triple-A credit rating, was replaced as CEO with a guy who was, as far as the employees could tell, concerned only with one quarters worth of stock market performance. We were doomed. What was left of DEC was sold in 1998 to Compaq, a personal computer company, which was later sold to Hewlett-Packard. When youre on the inside watching a company fail in slow motion, you waste a lot of time and energy looking over your shoulder. I worked in DECs old Albuquerque plant at the Jefferson exit from I-25, but my management was in Massachusetts. I had no regular access to the bosses, limited opportunities to lobby for my job, spotty information and a nagging feeling that I was so out of sight I had to be out of mind. I spent way too much time on the phone with friends in New England trying to get some understanding of my fate and to remind them that I was trying to contribute. As I sat in the plant HR managers office that awful Monday, my boss in Massachusetts delivered the news via speakerphone. DEC was eliminating categories of jobs to save money, and mine was one of them. Ten thousand people would be laid off that day around the planet. I had a week to try to get another job within the company, and then I was out. Nothing personal. That was the worst of it, that it was nothing personal. Ive been fired three times for having irreconcilable disagreements with different bosses. Each firing was very personal. I fought the best fight that I could and lost, but at least I fought. When youre laid off, it feels as if the company were saying your contributions were never noticed and any failings you had werent important enough to fight about. The bosses werent going to find a better person for your job. They didnt think your job was worth filling. My DEC career felt rather pointless that day. I phoned a friend, mostly to scold him for not warning me what was coming. He said there was no way to know what was happening. It was as if the company were going crazy, and anything could happen. We cut the fat last year, he said. We know were cutting muscle and bone now. He also told me that my boss had come out of his office looking sick and shaken after laying me off. I didnt care. There was no hope of finding another job in DEC. I started packing up and winding down. Colleagues spent the week either avoiding eye contact with me or treating me with the tenderness one offers someone who has a terminal disease. A couple of years later, the Albuquerque plant closed and most of them were laid off, too. As it always does, life went on. I got a consulting contract with a tech startup that lasted the summer. By autumn, I got a real job with another startup. The soon-to-be laid off Intel workers already know life will go on. What they may not know is that they are going to hurt for a long, long time. UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Winthrop Quigley at 823-3896 or wquigley@abqjournal.com. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor. Copyright 2016 Albuquerque Journal WASHINGTON Sandia National Laboratories employees would retain their current pensions or something similar under any new Sandia management contract, and the federal official in charge of national laboratories says whoever is chosen to run the lab will be required to emphasize contracting with Albuquerque-area small businesses. Meanwhile, the University of New Mexico says it will announce Tuesday who it plans to team up with to seek the contract to manage the sprawling nuclear weapons complex located on Kirtland Air Force Base. The new details and developments emerged Friday after the National Nuclear Security Administrations release of its final request for proposals to manage Sandia, which has a $2.9 billion annual budget and 10,500 employees. The NNSA oversees the nations weapons laboratories, including Sandia and Los Alamos. NNSA Administrator Frank G. Klotz wrote to members of New Mexicos congressional delegation last week as the agency issued a final request for proposals to manage Sandia. New Mexico and its local communities are absolutely vital to the Department of Energys National Nuclear Security Administration, Klotz wrote. We have long recognized the importance of contractor workforce retention, strong relationships with local small businesses, continued technology transfer activities, strong regional university partnerships, and support of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education contributions. When the NNSA released the request for proposals Wednesday, it also announced that at least 19 entities, including major defense contractors and universities, expressed interest in winning all or part of the multi-billion dollar contract. In releasing its request for proposals, the NNSA said it will conduct a full and open competition for the contract, which has a four-month transition phase starting in May 2017 and a five-year base management period with options for up to five additional years. The Department of Energy first announced in 2011 that it planned to put Sandias managament out to bid but then granted a series of extensions to the labs current manager, defense giant Lockheed Martin. A new Sandia contract must be in place by April 30, 2017 under the current schedule. Companies and organizations that have expressed at least preliminary interest in the contract include major national defense contractors such as Lockheed, Boeing, Battelle and Fluor, as well as institutions of higher learning, including the University of Texas, Texas A&M University, the University of Arizona and UNM. UNM officials are planning a news conference on Tuesday to discuss the universitys plans with respect to submitting a Sandia bid. The University of New Mexico is part of a team that feels it can help enhance and improve the operations at Sandia National Labs, said UNM spokesman Steve Carr in an email to the Journal . The team will announce its plans and partners at a news conference this Tuesday. Restrictions In his letter to Sen. Martin Heinrich and other Democrats in New Mexico congressional delegation, Klotz said the request for bids to run Sandia contains certain restrictions on existing benefit changes. Incumbent employees will remain in their existing pension plans, or comparable successor plans if continuation of the existing plans is not practicable, pursuant to the pension plan eligibility requirements and applicable law, Klotz wrote. The NNSA administrator also wrote that a bidders plan to enhance small business participation is one of three criteria assessed as part of NNSAs evaluation process. Klotz noted that Sandia spends 39 percent of its contract-related dollars in New Mexico, resulting in more than $250 million in contracts to small businesses in the state. NNSA would expect any successor contractor to take advantage of these longstanding relationships, Klotz wrote. Klotz noted that the consortium that manages Los Alamos National Laboratory voluntarily gives a 5 percent pricing preference to local businesses supplying goods or services to the labs as part of contracts of $5 million dollars or higher. The successful (Sandia) contractor may include a similar preference, Klotz wrote, adding that any successful bidder on the Sandia contract will be required to assume existing contractual commercial, regulatory or similar obligations of the current contract held by Sandia Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., applauded NNSAs specific language related to small business in the contract. I appreciate that the NNSA listened to my input and expressed a desire to build more economic incentives into the next contract to run Sandia National Laboratories, she said. While I understand the focus will be on Sandias national security mission, I hope the entities that are interested in the contract will step up and offer creative ideas for increasing the labs economic footprint in New Mexico. I want to ensure that the next contractor will be held accountable for meeting concrete goals for creating jobs and investing in New Mexico small businesses. Tyler Przybylek, a former chief counsel to the National Nuclear Security Administration during the administration of President George W. Bush and now a private contracting consultant in Washington, said the NNSAs request for proposals shows its support for small business by separating fees paid to small business contractors from the fee that the federal government will pay the eventual winner of the overall contract. NNSA showed its support for small business by including a specific evaluation factor for small business, by excluding fees paid to a small business team member from the fee pool earned by the contractor, and by highlighting support for business with New Mexico firms and universities in the community outreach provision, he said. Pryzbylek also said the final request for proposals seems to reflect concerns raised by potential bidders during the drafting of the document that it unfairly favored the incumbent contract holder Lockheed Martin. The final RFP is much improved and will support robust competition in part because NNSA solicited input from concerned firms, listened to the input and improved the final RFP where NNSA found appropriate, he said, adding that the final documents seemed to de-emphasize the need for intensely specific experience related to nuclear weapons work that only an incumbent manager such as Lockheed Martin could possess. The final RFP, in the past performance criterion, offers a broader definition of relevant past performance for those situations, he said. Some of that work is not done anywhere else. EL PASO The Cubans first view of the United States is of a traffic-choked international bridge, and an American flag flying over downtown, the Franklin mountains in the distance. It may not look like much to the thousands of locals who cross this bridge over the Rio Grande every day, but many of the newest arrivals see something else on the horizon: freedom. Hundreds of Cubans have arrived at this border in the past week, and as many as 3,000 more are expected in the coming days part of an exodus that gained momentum when the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba began thawing in late 2014. There is fear among Cubans that as relations normalize they could lose the special immigration status granted them by the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act: the so-called wet foot/dry foot policy that allows Cubans who make it to the U.S. to become automatically eligible for legal residency. The moment they cross the borderline at the top of the international bridge marks the end of what for many has been a harrowing, monthslong journey out of Cuba via Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and, finally, a flight from Panama. We were almost running, said Saidy Arguelles, a Cuban nurse, of crossing into the U.S. Everyone was crying. Some people were laughing. Those who could were trying to call their family to tell them we were finally here. The nightmare was over, she said, describing how she felt when she crossed the line. I made it. This latest group follows a wave in February and March, when Mexican immigration officials delivered more than 6,000 Cubans to this port and the crossing at Laredo, Texas, from Costa Rica and Panama under an accord struck last year between Mexico and Central American nations to give safe passage to the migrants. Many Cubans found themselves stuck in Costa Rica after Nicaragua, in solidarity with the Cuban regime, cracked down on the illegal migration, and after Costa Rican authorities busted a large-scale smuggling network. Others were stranded in Panama. The number of Cubans headed north has been growing since the Obama and Castro administrations announced the new course for relations in December 2014. That fiscal year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection paroled 24,278 Cubans into the U.S., according to federal statistics. That surged 78 percent to 43,159 in fiscal 2015. In the first three months of fiscal 2016, CBP paroled 17,071 Cubans into the country. Should the current pace continue, the number of Cubans coming to the U.S. could top 68,000 this year. Those who arrive receive unique treatment under U.S. immigration law, according to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute generous policies that could be revisited as the U.S. relaxes restrictions on trade, travel, remittances and financial transactions with Cuba. No other nationality is given a blanket right to green-card eligibility, no other country has a floor below which visas may not fall and no other group of immigrants is guaranteed admission to the United States if they appear at or between ports of entry, wrote Migration Policy Institute analysts Marc Rosenblum and Faye Hipsman in a paper last year. In effect, Cuban nationals are exempt from deportation and immigration enforcement policies affecting all other noncitizens. Cubans are the seventh-largest immigrant group in the U.S., according to the MPI. The vast majority of the 1.1 million Cubans living in the U.S. reside in Miami and south Florida, although there are sizeable populations in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Many of the newcomers said they were headed for Houston. To get to the United States, theyve generally had to make their way to Panama, where they pay for their own flight to Mexico and cross the border at El Paso. Javier Rignack, a softspoken 22-year-old, waited last week at a temporary shelter in El Paso for a Cuban friend and her mother to arrive from Panama. Half a dozen church and city shelters have been set up in El Paso to accommodate the new arrivals. Rignack said he wants to go to Los Angeles. He has no family here, but he wants to put himself through school and eventually work in fashion. Although he supports the new relationship between Cuba and the U.S., Rignack said he has little hope that politics in his country will change. Many of us came here for the freedom, he said. In Cuba, you cant elect your president. You cant express yourself freely. Opportunities in Cubas communist economy are limited. Rignack said he earned about $60 a month working at a state-run company in Cuba, about three times the average wage. Arguelles, the nurse, earned about $20 a month. Wages are incredibly low in Cuba, said Melissa Lopez, executive director of Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services, which provides federally funded stipends and housing support to the migrants. Even for those people who have advanced degrees, they are still living in a very oppressive country. Arguelles said she was thinking about staying in El Paso. Her husband has already found a full-time job working in a taco shop downtown. Her friend Norma Lopez, who came with her 14-year-old son, said she was thinking the same. Everyone speaks Spanish, they said, and the city sometimes called the Ellis Island of the Southwest seemed like a friendly and safe place to start their new lives. Many newcomers said theyre headed to communities with large Cuban populations and a dynamic economy, such as Houston and Miami. Others are simply picking a spot on the map choosing destinations like Denver, Albuquerque and even Alaska. It isnt clear how many will ultimately end up in New Mexico. Yuliaska Rodriguez was about to make her way over the international bridge. This doesnt seem real, she exclaimed. AAy, Dios mio! Like many of the Cubans who dont have family or friends living in the U.S., and for whom resources have run dry after months travelling the irregular road as they call it la trocha Rodriguez said she had no idea where she would go. The goal was to get here, she said. After that, well see. HONOLULU Honolulu has agreed to pay $80,000 to settle a lawsuit from two gay women who allege a police officer wrongfully arrested them after seeing them kissing in a grocery store. Details of the settlement were announced in federal court in Honolulu. Its still subject to City Council approval. The council is expected to consider the settlement at a July 6 meeting, said Honolulu Deputy Corporation Counsel Nicolette Winter. The Department of the Corporation Counsel believes that the tentative settlement is in the best interests of the city, Corporation Counsel Donna Leong said in a statement. Courtney Wilson and Taylor Guerrero were visiting Hawaii from Los Angeles last year when, according to the their lawsuit, they were harassed and arrested because the officer didnt like their public displays of affection in a Foodland store on Oahus North Shore. They were walking through the aisles holding hands and at one point hugged and kissed, the lawsuit said. Officer Bobby Harrison, who was shopping in uniform, observed their consensual romantic contact and, in a loud voice, ordered plaintiffs to stop and take it somewhere else. The women complied and continued shopping, the lawsuit said. When Harrison again saw them being affectionate with each other, he threatened to have them thrown out of the store. While the women were in the checkout line, Harrison grabbed Wilson by the wrist, and she started to call 911, the women said last year. All three got into a scuffle, and Harrison arrested them. They were charged with felony assault on an officer and spent three days in jail. Charges were eventually dismissed. The settlement dismisses Harrison from the lawsuit and isnt an admission of any wrongdoing. Wilson said she and Guerrero are no longer a couple but remain friends. She went back to Los Angeles; Guerrero stayed in Honolulu. WASHINGTON For nearly eight years, President Barack Obama has struggled to end wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Next week, hell try to close chapters on two other ones instead: Vietnam and World War II. Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima and will meet with survivors of the atomic bombings that ended World War II. He will also travel to Vietnam, to which he is considering selling more weapons, a sign of how the U.S.-Vietnam relationship has changed in the decades since the war there ended. For the president who promised to end two wars that nonetheless have continued, the end points this week in Vietnam and Japan decades in the making show just how hard that is, and how long peace could ultimately take. Obama will pay heed to the past by promoting how far the alliances with Vietnam and Japan have come since the countries were enemies of the U.S. He plans to highlight growing commercial ties in Vietnam, one of the 12 countries that are part of the Pacific Rim trade deal being negotiated. In Japan, where he will also meet with the heads of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, Obamas visit to Hiroshima is an opportunity to revisit his efforts toward nuclear nonproliferation. Terrorism has been a main concern at previous G7 summits, and world leaders are once again expected to talk about defeating the Islamic State group, ending the devastating war in Syria and stemming the flow of refugees from the troubled Middle East. Obama took office with hopes of removing U.S. combat troops from Iraq. Though the White House says the 5,500 military personnel who remain in Iraq and Syria dont carry that label, Obamas former defense secretary, Robert Gates, said this week that the troops are seeing so much action and danger that they are clearly in combat. Further underscoring the difficultly of U.S. withdrawal is the growing instability in Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters recently managed to take control of the city of Kunduz. Obama has abandoned a 2012 plan to withdraw by 2016 and instead will leave 5,000 combat troops in Afghanistan when he vacates the Oval Office. We cannot just leave, because the conditions dont allow it, said Kurt Campbell, who as assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2009 to 2013 was an architect of Obamas rebalance of resources toward Asia. The key challenge is finding the hours, being completely determined over a period of years about looking to Asia and to the future. Thats what the president has to do find the time to balance out this essential imbalance in the energy we spend in the Middle East and the energy we spend elsewhere, he said. Obamas trip, a blend of trade talk, diplomacy and history, is designed to do just that. Hell meet with leaders of the communist government in Vietnam as well as political dissidents before giving an address in Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon, to mark the end of the Vietnam War 41 years after the city fell to the North Vietnamese. Hell pitch the Pacific trade deal he is trying to push through Congress by meeting with entrepreneurs and business leaders in Vietnam, Southeast Asias fastest-growing economy. On his final day in Japan, Obama will go to Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb used in war in 1945. Obama will pay tribute to the suffering and loss of war, aides say, though he wont apologize for the bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which he views as having been necessary to end the war and save the world from tyranny. At the time, President Harry Truman made a decision he believed was consistent with our national security priorities, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in explaining Obamas refusal to apologize. He believed that lives on both sides of the conflict could be saved by dropping the bomb. Obama has offered a similar defense of his own decision to use armed drones against terrorists in the Middle East. At the age of 21, I proudly realized my dream of reporting for a big daily newspaper. I was getting lots of front-page stories, until I started making stupid mistakes. Most were minor misspelled names and the like but then came a doozy: I involuntarily misquoted a prosecutor, making it seem that hed charged someone with a murder when he hadnt. Fearful, with good reason, that I was sabotaging my career, I sought professional help. Given the era the early 1980s that meant that I lay on a psychiatrists couch for several months and complained about my childhood. Id never even heard of ADHD in girls. Meanwhile, I took the more pragmatic step of training myself to read every word I wrote for publication at least three times before I filed it. One or both of these strategies worked, and my career moved forward, unblemished by blunders. But in 2007, I returned to my old psychiatrist, needing help once again. Id moved from foreign reporting to raising two kids in the suburbs, writing books and magazine stories in whatever time I had. But I was having far too many arguments with my husband and kids, and I could never find my keys or sunglasses, or pens, or lots of other things. How the world had changed! This time, instead of the couch and the complaints, there was just one appointment. After spending several hours at the doctors office, he concluded that there was a good chance I had ADHD. He prescribed a stimulant to treat it. Looking at my life through my new ADHD lens cleared up decades of mysteries about my behaviors. At last I knew why my parents used to call me Chatty Kathy, and why Ive lost so much great jewelry over the years, not to mention other essentials. It also gave me membership into a surprisingly large community of formerly baffled, midlife women whove made similar breakthroughs. [Take This ADHD Test for Girls] ADHD Diagnosis Rates in Women and Girls Barely 35 years after Attention Deficit Disorder first appeared in the bible of psychiatry, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), front-line clinical therapists say that increasing awareness of the condition has led to many more girls being diagnosed while theyre young. Even so, while girls and boys currently are diagnosed at a ratio of about 1 to 3 up from about 1 to 8 in the 1990s the rate for diagnoses of adult women and men is about 1 to 1. Its only a matter of time before we find this is an equal-opportunity disorder, although a less glaringly obvious one for girls, says psychologist and author Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D., a pioneering expert on women with ADHD. Thats not a unique opinion, nor is it unanimous. Experts including psychologist Stephen Hinshaw, Ph.D., head of a major longitudinal study of girls with ADHD, and psychologist and author Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D., believe the 1 to 3 ratio of girls to boys diagnosed with the condition is accurate. Boys seem to be more vulnerable to psychopathology, Hinshaw says, citing rates of childhood autism that are also dramatically higher for boys on the order of 5 to 1. Hinshaw, author of The Triple Bind: Saving Our Teenage Girls from Todays Pressures , speculates that higher rates of ADHD in adult women might be explained by women having a variation of the disorder that lasts longer than it does in males. [Read This: That Explains Everything! Discovering My ADHD in Adulthood] Its well known by now, he explains, that boys with ADHD are more likely than girls to demonstrate hyperactivity and impulsivity. More girls than boys are diagnosed with the inattentive, day-dreamy type of the disorder. Yet several longitudinal studies show that symptoms of activity fade during adolescence, whereas underlying problems with attention and organizational skills usually persist through adulthood. Still, other factors might also explain why the male-female rates change in adulthood, Hinshaw says. Perhaps women are more honest than men about attention problems in adulthood. Moreover, he suspects that Nadeau and other experts may be right in suggesting that many young girls with ADHD are under the radar, to be identified only as adults. Indeed, hyperactivity, and often aggression, goes along with many cases of ADHD. It usually gets more boys with ADHD noticed, and helped, while girls turn their frustration inside. The cost for women is years of low self-confidence and psychological damage. How Undiagnosed ADHD Puts Girls at Risk Girls with ADHD are in deep trouble in a lot of ways, says Hinshaw. He and his team analyzed results from 10-year, follow-up interviews of 140 girls who were ages 7 to 12 when first surveyed. His data, along with other reports collected over five years, show that girls with ADHD are at significantly increased risk for problems ranging from low academic achievement to drug and alcohol abuse, and even suicide attempts. Females, in general, suffer greater rates of anxiety and mood disorders than males, and it appears that the rate is even more pronounced when ADHD is a factor. A study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that girls with ADHD were at far higher risk than other girls, or than boys with the disorder, for clinical mood disorders and suicide attempts. Another report, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, revealed that girls with ADHD were more likely than others to engage in antisocial behavior, and to suffer from substance use disorders or anxiety. Whats clear from his follow-up, Hinshaw says, is that girls with ADHD share with boys the strong risks of school failure, rejection by peers, and substance abuse. Unlike boys, they also have a particularly high risk for developing mood disorders, self-injuring behavior, and eating disorders. In other words, girls with ADHD appear to show a wider range of difficult outcomes than do boys, he says. Hinshaw says girls are harmed by earlier, and more effective, socialization. They are trained from an early age not to make trouble, and to disguise mistakes and miscues. They turn their frustration on themselves, rather than others. When I was a teen, my parents may have worried that I had a mood disorder, but they never suspected that I might have an attention disorder. And so it goes in many families today. Girls with inattentive ADHD will probably be diagnosed later than boys, and for something entirely different. Meanwhile, girls with the hyperactive type of ADHD are stigmatized more than boys with the same diagnosis. Kids on the playground regard impulsivity and distraction as boyish. Boys are more likely to get a pass from other kids and teachers, especially if their symptoms arent severe. Girls get ostracized. For many young women, the anxiety, stress, and low self-esteem that comes with ADHD feels intolerable by early adulthood. The structure of school is gone, a positive for boys but a loss for girls, who fare better with rules and routines, according to Hinshaw. When women with ADHD marry and have kids, many of them hit what psychotherapist and author Sari Solden calls a terrible wall of shame. Society expects tremendous feats of memory and organization from moms, from keeping track of critical facts about teachers and pediatricians to organizing meals and multiple schedules. And without treatment, or a wife of their own, many women cant cut it. Is ADHD in Girls and Women Hereditary? ADHD is strongly hereditary, and many women seek help as adults because a light bulb goes off when they have a child who is diagnosed. This was the case with Joy Carr. Watching her preteen son fill out his diagnostic questionnaire brought a flood of memories of her own messy lockers, lost textbooks, and teachers who called her bright but lazy. Following a familiar pattern for young adults with ADHD, Carr, who lives near Buffalo, New York, dropped out of college as a junior, got married at 22, and had her first child one year later. For many years, her domestic duties overwhelmed her. Shed start out on a chore, from a list her husband prepared, then get sidetracked, ending up with tasks half-done. Id throw a load of laundry in and forget about it for days, says Carr. By then, it would smell musty, so Id wash it again. And then Id forget about it again. In 2007, however, Carrs life took a turn for the better after she got her ADHD diagnosis and started taking ADHD medication. The roaring, racing thoughts in my head quieted down, she says. That same year, she went back to college to complete her undergraduate degree. After coping with her son, she apologized to her mother for the grief she gave her as a child. Women tell sad stories of showing up for diagnoses. Kathleen Nadeau, who diagnosed herself in her 30s, had been an undergraduate at four different colleges. Sari Solden, who was 42 when she figured out she had ADHD, says her diaries testify to decades of wondering what was wrong. Was she immature? Did she have a brain tumor? Narcolepsy? Trying stimulants after years without them was like greasing my brain, Solden says. I remember going to a dinner that night. I was asked a question, and I actually told a story. ADHD in Women: Different Gender, Different Treatment ADHD not only presents different symptoms in boys and girls, but it often requires a different treatment strategy, says Nadeau. Both genders benefit from stimulant medications, she says, but girls may need treatment for anxiety. They frequently cannot tolerate stimulants without extra pharmaceutical support. Hinshaw says hes not convinced that girls need extra meds to tolerate stimulants, compared to boys. He notes that, to the extent that girls are likely to develop mood disorders and anxiety, evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapies may be helpful. Nadeau also recommends group therapy, as a gender-specific strategy, to encourage girls and women to use their verbal skills to give one another support, develop coping strategies, and not feel isolated. Nadeau and her colleague, pediatrician Patricia Quinn, M.D., have been trying to persuade their peers to adopt a diagnostic tool with symptoms that would help more girls understand that they might have ADHD. Nadeau says shes not optimistic that such change will come in time for the next edition of the DSM. Hinshaws study, as well as other research that follows girls into adulthood, offers hope for more interventions over time, but, for now, parents and teachers have to work to help girls who are struggling with distraction spotting them at home and in classrooms, and supporting them in getting diagnoses, even if they may not precisely fit the symptom profile. Women with ADHD should spread the word. While a little adversity makes you stronger, imagine what women with ADHD could accomplish if we could turn the energy we use to beat ourselves up to going out and changing the world. ADHD Symptoms Checklist for Girls Psychologist Kathleen Nadeau has devised a symptoms checklist for girls suspected of having ADHD. It should be filled out by girls themselves, not parents and teachers, because girls experience ADHD more internally than boys, who get attention with unruly behavior. Many of Nadeaus questions apply to boys, since they pertain to problems with productivity, general distractibility, impulsivity, hyperactivity, and sleep problems. The excerpts that follow, however, are particularly oriented toward girls: Anxiety and mood disorders I often feel like I want to cry. I get a lot of stomachaches or headaches. I worry a lot. I feel sad, and sometimes I dont even know why. School anxiety I dread being called on by the teacher because, often, I havent been listening carefully. I feel embarrassed in class when I dont know what the teacher told us to do. Even when I have something to say, I dont raise my hand and volunteer in class. Social-skill deficits Sometimes, other girls dont like me, but I dont know why. I have arguments with my friends. When I want to join a group of girls, I dont know how to approach them, or what to say. I often feel left out. Emotional over-reactivity I get my feelings hurt more than most girls. My feelings change a lot. I get upset and angry more than other girls. Parents & Teachers: Does This Sound Like a Girl You Know? Five telltale signs that your daughter or student may have ADHD according to Kathleen Nadeau: Does she often lose personal items, her keys, or her backpack? Is her room always messy even 15 minutes after you clean it up? Does she often feel anxious about getting school assignments in on time? Does she talk excessively? Does she behave well at school, and come home and explode at the end of the day? Can she be pushed over the edge by trivial provocation? [Read This Next: ADHD in Girls Why Its Ignored, Why Thats Dangerous] Eva Longoria, 41, has gone from Desperate Housewife to stunning bride, as she said I Do to her boyfriend of three years, Jose Pepe Baston, 47, in a fabulous ceremony! The happy couples special day was shared with their family, friends and plenty of A-list stars! The actress and the TV executive, who goes by the name Pepe, exchanged vows in front of 200 guests at a private residence in the lakeside town of Valle de Bravo, People reported. Eva, 41, became engaged to the 47-year-old president of Grupo Televisa, Latin Americas largest media company, five months ago. The only thing brighter than Evas wedding gown was the guest list, as some of the biggest stars attended her wedding. Victorias husband, David Beckham, 41, was reportedly invited, as were Penelope Cruz, 42, Ricky Martin, 44, Mario Lopez, 42, and Katy Perry, 31. Jose Antonio popped the question to Eva in Dec. 2015 while the happy couple was busy doing charity work in Dubai. The romantic backdrop of the desert was the perfect place to propose and Eva shared the romantic moment on her Instagram. She also showed off the massive diamond wrapped around her finger. Eva was married to General Hospital star Tyler Christopher from 2002 to 2004. She and her second husband, the San Antonio Spurs player Tony Parker, were wed in 2007. They divorced in 2010. Third time is the charm for Eva, as Jose courted her like a proper gentleman when they first started dating in 2013. How sweet! That perfect gentleman just nabbed himself a wonderful woman for a wife! Vijay Mallya, who is yet an unsolved mystery for the BJP, has been garnering headlines. Manmohan Singh, a resident of Khajuria-Nibiram in Pilibhit districts Bhilsanda block and a farmer who owns eight acres of farm land, could never have imagined that he could even remotely be connected to liquor king Vijay Mallya. However, two of his accounts had been frozen by the bank on charges that he stood as guarantor in one of the loans the bank had lent to former liquor baron Mallya. According to a report in media, Mumbai branch head of Bank of Baroda wrote to the banks Nandgaon branch asking them to freeze two of his accounts. Singh has an account in the Nandgaon Branch of Bank of Baroda and also had a farming loan account in the bank after he borrowed Rs. 4 lakh. In fact, just before his accounts were frozen in September 2015, he had repaid Rs. 32,000 against his loans. Singh then approached the bank manager enquiring of the reason behind the banks move to blacklist him. Upon knowing of the reason behind the banks move, Singh said he had only seen and heard about Mallya in the news. Anyways, after painful waiting over eight months, Singhs accounts were finally de-frozen. Puzzle is yet to be solved that how this small farmer was shown as a guarantor of Vijay Mallya. Mallya is not only giving tough time to BJP but now some unknown people too are victimised. The summons issued is just a damage control act as Mallya deserted the country with the full support of the government. Will the BJP government auction the properties of other defaulters? Some of the leading Corporates owe much larger money than that of Mallya. Most of those corporates took loan on fictitious/conjured firms and diverted to other companies, a clear case of money laundering. Unfortunately, these defaulters are sheltered and protected by BJP government for doing favour to the party. Some of these defaulters are front-runners for takeover of public sector banks for a song. Anything and everything is possible under a pro-rich government. Arun Jaitley has not only failed in bringing back the much promised Black Money but has failed even in checking the defaulters. He has now and again proved that just verbal rhetoric alone is not enough for Finance management. Vijay Mallya had sought time till April for making a personal appearance before the Enforcement Directorate, virtually making it clear he would not present himself before the anti-money laundering agency pursuant to summons issued by it in the IDBI bank loan default case. The ED had recently registered a money laundering case against Mallya and others based on a CBI FIR registered in 2015. The agency is also investigating the overall financial structure of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines and will look into any payment of kickbacks to secure loan. The CBI had booked Mallya, the chairman of Kingfisher Airlines, its directors, former chief financial officer of the airlines A. Raghunathan and unknown officials of the IDBI Bank in its FIR alleging that the loan was sanctioned in violation of norms regarding credit limits. The ED is looking into the proceeds of crime that would have been generated using the slush funds of the alleged loan fraud. It is also probing if some of this amount was sent abroad illegally. Mallya, who is facing legal proceedings for alleged loan defaults by his group to the tune of over Rs. 9,000 crore. As per media reports and BJP informed the court that he has left India, but now all of sudden he said he is not an absconder and he will comply with the law of the land. Even though, Mallyas words appear harmonious to the people, the time has come now for him to pay off his debts to banks and erstwhile Kingfisher employees. If he could come out of this foreboding situation successfully, he might gain some faith. (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com) Former top cop and senior BJP leader Kiran Bedi has been appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, where the Congress won the assembly elections last week. She replaces Lieutenant-General AK Singh who as the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar, was given additional charge of Puducherry in 2014. Bedi will be the 24th Lt Governor of the Union Territory. A press release from the Presidents office said: The President of India has been pleased to appoint Ms Kiran Bedi, to be the Lt. Governor of Puducherry with effect from the date she assumes charges of her office. Puducherry, where she is being posted, just concluded its election season last week. Out of the 30 seats, Congress won 15 and its ally DMK two. Bedi had joined the BJP in January last year, as its chief ministerial candidate for 2015 Delhi Assembly elections but her candidature was cited as one of the key reasons why the party lost the battle of Delhi. Bedi, who served in the police force for over 30 years, had unsuccessfully contested the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections on a BJP ticket. She was earlier a part of the India Against Corruption movement led by activist Anna Hazare, but later parted ways. A senior commander of the Afghan Taliban confirmed today that the extremist groups leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, has been killed in a US drone strike. Mullah Abdul Rauf, who recently reconciled with Mansour after initially rebelling against his ascension to the leadership, told The Associated Press that Mansour died in the strike late Friday in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area. The office of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirmed in a statement that the strike took place but could not confirm Mansours death. Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, however, said that Mansour is more than likely dead. Speaking live on television as he chaired a Cabinet meeting, Abdullah said Mansours death would have a positive impact on attempts to bring peace to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been waging an insurgency for 15 years. Mansour was the main figure preventing the Taliban joining the peace process, Abdullah said. From the day he took over the Taliban following the death of Mullah Omar, he intensified violence against ordinary citizens, especially in Afghanistan. Mansour formally led the Taliban after the death was announced last summer of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the movements founder. Mansour, Mullah Omars deputy, concealed Mullah Omars death for more than two years, and ran the Taliban in his name until the death was revealed by the Afghan government. The revelation caused wide fissures in the movement that Mansour worked hard to mend. Mullah Rauf was an early detractor of Mansours but decided earlier this year to declare loyalty to him in the interest of unifying the movement. Earlier, the US Department of Defense said a drone strike had targeted Mansour in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. Afghan officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be named as they were not authorized to speak to media on the subject, said the drone strike took place in Pakistans Baluchistan province, in the Ahmad Wal area. The Afghan government has long accused the Pakistani authorities of harboring and supporting the Afghan Taliban. The drone strike targeted Mansours vehicle which was carrying Mansour and one other person at the time, a US military source said. Another Taliban source identified the driver as Muhammad Azam Hasanai, and said the vehicle the two men were traveling in was completely destroyed in the drone strike. Note: Below is testimony from last week's IACC meeting in Washington, DC. It takes tremendous effort for autism Moms and Dads to travel to make our children's plight known and voices heard. Bookmark Michelle's blog, This is Autism. Thank you, Michelle. By Michelle Guppy My son Brandon is 19 years old. He was born perfectly healthy and is now severely affected by regressive autism from vaccine injury. He cannot read, write, or speak. He needs assistance with the most basic of life skills. He must have constant supervision because he has no sense of danger and will wander off given the slightest of opportunities. He has bowel disease, auto-immune disorder, allergies, & the list goes on. He suffers from uncontrolled seizures that cause him great harm. I am unable to work outside the home because it takes all my time to research how to help him, advocate for him, and care for him. At times he endures such pain. The frustration of not being able to communicate what hurts, - causing him to bite his own hands to the point of bleeding. My autism advocacy journey began right here in Washington 13 years ago. In all those years I have not seen any real strategy or actions to address the crisis that is the epidemic of autism. I have only seen the number of those affected increase. Any help I have received has been from other parents, or from doctors who themselves have a child with autism, or if not, who have actually listened to parents and dedicated their lives to truly helping them. I live 30 minutes from a major medical center, yet they have given me little to no usable help. When I meet with those doctors, it is I who educate them. It was years before I found medical help 2 hours away for my son to be scoped in evaluation of and treatment for his GI Issues. I believe my son would be dead had I not found a doctor 16 hours away who I now consult with for treatment of issues traditional doctors would never acknowledge. There is something wrong with a system where insurance covers doctors who do not help, but not a dime for the few who actually do help. There is something wrong with a prescription program that covers Pharma's drugs that do not help, but not those vitamins, supplements, and herbs prescribed by my doctor that very much have helped heal my son. There is something wrong with funding studies that produce the same conclusions yet take no action to address them. I can summarize them all with this: My "Life with Autism" is harder than anyone could ever fathom. My marriage does suffer. My typical son does get ignored. I am stressed beyond oblivion. I am bone tired and I am desperate for respite. My son needs recreational programs appropriate for him. I want him to live in our home, be a part of his community. He needs services and supports that I cannot afford, - given everything else like a lifetime of care for him that I must somehow provide for. There is something very wrong with funding study after useless study about what might cause autism; except for the one study that CAN prove a major cause of autism. We need medical centers that partner with researchers and holistic practitioners -- for a whole body approach to treating autism. "Autism is Medical" did a survey where 89% replied that they sought healthcare through alternative practitioners or managed their own child's health problems, because they could NOT get adequate healthcare for their child in mainstream medicine. 85% replied that mainstream physicians are NOT familiar with the health problems their child has. 71% feel their child's medical needs are IGNORED and are told that their autism is psychological and therefore their symptoms do NOT need to be investigated. 87% feel their child has less access to appropriate healthcare across all settings than a child without an autism diagnosis. Action must begin with those sobering percentages. To even begin to address the needs of the adult population is something that should have been started a decade ago. There's an entire generation like my son who will "age out" and have nowhere to go that their parents can afford -- for them to continue to learn, work, or further develop life skills. Cathy took a slightly different course this morning. By Cathy Jameson VAXXED: FROM COVER-UP TO CATASTROPHE The Film They Don't Want You To See ** Now showing in Washington, D.C. ** Having opened over the weekend in our nations capital, the film, Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, will be shown in the District through Thursday, May 26th. Vaxxed is an investigation into how the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the government agency charged with protecting the health of American citizens, concealed and destroyed data in their 2004 study that showed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. This alarming deception has contributed to the skyrocketing increase of autism, potentially the most catastrophic epidemic of our lifetime. Vaxxed is A Del Bigtree Production of an Autism Media Channel Film and is being distributed by Cinema Libre Studio Invite your doctor, clergy and Representatives to join you for the Q&As with the filmmakers! Dr. Andrew Wakefield, Polly Tommey and Del Bigtree, are scheduled to speak on Tuesday, May 24th, and Wednesday, May 25th, following the 5:45 pm and 7:45 pm shows. Showing at the Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market, located at 550 Penn Street NE, Washington, DC, 20002, click here to purchase VaXxed tickets: For more information and to read the latest news about Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, check out the Vaxxed website, and follow them on Twitter. ISIS Attack Assyrian District in Syria, Five Killed Three Assyrians killed by ISIS attacks in al-Wusta district of Qamishle, Syria. From left to right: George Lahdo, Karim Simon and Toma Khosho. ( AINA) (AINA) -- An attack by ISIS in the al-Wusta district of Qamishle, Syria killed at least five persons, three of them Assyrians, and injured more than a dozen. This is the third time al-Wusta, inhabited almost exclusively by Assyrians, has been attacked (AINA 2016-01-24). ISIS terrorist stormed the area near Miami restaurant, shouting "Alahu Akbar" (God is great) and "ISIS is here to stay" while firing shots with handguns and lobbing grenades. Assyrian Gozarto Protection Forces (GPF) shot and killed two suicide bombers before they could detonate their suicide belts. One suicide bomber was able to detonate his belt near Miami restaurant and Dominos Pizza. The three Assyrians killed have been identified as George Lahdo, Karim Simon and Toma Khosho. May 20, 2016 Intense deliberations are taking place between the members of the Quartet (United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia) to finalize a report on the obstacles to a two-state solution and the terms of reference for future negotiations involving Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). There is broad agreement among Quartet representatives on the necessity of sharply denouncing the settlement expansion policy of the Benjamin Netanyahu government and the incitement to violence by official organs of the PA. There is, at the moment, less of a consensus on the two-state solution policy platform that is being prepared by the Quartet. The US administration is the key for reaching such a consensus. For now, according to a US diplomat in Tel Aviv who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, there is broad agreement on three main points. First, Quartet members share the position that borders must be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps. Also, they all agree that the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 should be mentioned in the policy platform as a basis for the two-state solution. This would anchor the principles and goals of an agreed-upon and just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem as well as normalization of relations between the Arab states and Israel. The third agreed-upon point is the need to emphasize in the report stringent security measures along the new borders and regional anti-terror cooperation. There is still disagreement on the issues of East Jerusalem, on the definition of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people and on the timeline for negotiations. These efforts resemble the beginnings of the collective diplomacy efforts on Syria and Iran by the P5+1 (United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany). Apparently, the Obama administration has yet to make up its mind if the Obama legacy on a two-state solution will include the Quartet. A Quartet-consensual move would offer the next US president not only a policy platform, but also a possible negotiation mechanism for the two-state solution. Federica Mogherini, the influential EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, is very much involved in these deliberations, having committed herself, according to her associates, to help bring about a two-state solution by the end of her term in 2019. She is coordinating with the foreign ministers of several EU member states, primarily with France, the United Kingdom and Germany. It is worth noting that Germany was part of the P5+1 but is not part of the Quartet. Even so, its voice on Middle Eastern issues as was the case of Iran is very much respected, both in Europe and the United States. A senior German official dealing with Middle Eastern issues in the chancellors office in Berlin told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Chancellor Angela Merkel is following very closely the deliberations of the Quartet and the preparations for the Paris conference. The official did not outright deny the April 29 report of Der Spiegel that the chancellor is highly frustrated with Netanyahus settlement policies and is contemplating not objecting to a UN Security Council resolution on a two-state solution. According to the source, Germany is preoccupied with the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic stalemate, with its impact on the situation in Syria, namely Palestinian violence that could inspire Islamic State/Hezbollah violence, and the ripple effect on the refugee crisis in Germany itself. The official believes that the Paris conference, which has been delayed until the summer, should be based on the Quartet report. The parties, he argued, should not be asked to adopt the report as is, but to adopt it as the basis for negotiations. He explained that in order to create an environment conducive to constructive negotiation, Germany is in favor of a freeze on settlement expansion, an enhancement of anti-terror cooperation between Israel and the PA, and an end to all anti-Israel incitement by the Palestinians. If negotiations are indeed seriously launched, then multilateral decisions, such as a Security Council resolution proposal for Palestinian statehood, will have to await their conclusions. But if Israel refuses to negotiate on the basis of the Quartet report, the next diplomatic move should be at the Security Council. The framework of future negotiations should be, in the view of the senior German official, the Quartet. The Quartet members should closely monitor the negotiations and play a mediating role. Germany will not insist on participating, but will monitor the process, coordinate policy positions with the EU, United States and Russia, and continue its important security assistance to Israel and its economic assistance to Palestine. In terms of the content of the Quartet report, the German diplomat said that the parameters for a two-state solution are quite clear and were well expressed in Secretary of State John Kerrys policy framework proposals of April 2014. He concluded that German diplomacy will be guided by these principles; namely, an end to Israeli occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state, Israel security as a paramount German interest and regional normalization of relations based on the Arab Peace Initiative and regional anti-terror cooperation. May 22, 2016 US should consider Russian offer Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu suggested May 19 that Russia and US-led coalition forces should undertake joint action to plan and conduct strikes against Jabhat al-Nusra, which does not support the cease-fire, as well as against convoys of arms and fighters crossing the Syrian-Turkish border. Jabhat al-Nusra Front is al-Qaedas affiliate in Syria and an outlier to the UN-mediated political talks and cessation of hostilities. The peace talks and cessation, including UN Security Council Resolution 2254, are the result of US-Russian collaboration and leadership, which has produced the best hope, to date, of ending the more than five-year war. Shoigus offer is in line with UN Security Council authorities on Syria. There are numerous resolutions targeting Jabhat al-Nusra and penalizing parties that support it. Resolution 2254, for example, calls on Member States to prevent and suppress terrorist acts committed specifically by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Daesh), Al-Nusra Front (ANF), and all other individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities associated with al-Qaeda or ISIL, and other terrorist groups and to eradicate the safe haven they have established over significant parts of Syria, and notes that the aforementioned cease-fire will not apply to offensive or defensive actions against these individuals, groups, undertakings and entities. Jabhat al-Nusra, perhaps as a result of Russian and US airstrikes, has intensified its own attacks throughout Syria, in direct violation of the cease-fire, sometimes in collaboration with other Salafi groups. Most notably, the al-Qaeda affiliate is reportedly seeking to establish its own "emirate" around Idlib and is wooing Salafi fellow travelers to its cause. Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham jointly attacked the Alawite village of Zara in Hama province May 12, massacring 19 civilians. It would seem, then, that Moscows suggestion to combine efforts against Jabhat al-Nusra might at least get a fair hearing from the United States. But Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis dismissed the offer May 20, saying, We do not collaborate or coordinate with the Russians on any operations in Syria. Russian operations are supporting and enabling the Assad regime and our focus is solely on degrading and defeating [IS]," adding that the United States had not received a formal proposal from Moscow. For our part, we find the Russian offer, at a minimum, worth exploring, and would encourage steps toward joint action. The United States and Russia are aligned, in accordance with numerous UN Security Council resolutions, in efforts to defeat Jabhat al-Nusra and IS. Former Secretary of Defense William Perry, California Gov. Jerry Brown and former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn have proposed greater US-Russian intelligence coordination and plans for concrete actions to prevent al-Qaeda, IS and other terrorist organizations from obtaining fissile material to develop nuclear weapons. There is no viable political settlement or cessation of hostilities in Syria without an eventual military defeat of both organizations. The United States has been concerned about Russia's targeting of US-backed moderate opposition forces; more intensive cooperation could help, or at least put Moscow to the test. This column said in September 2015, The United States should welcome and coordinate Russias efforts against the common enemy. This is overdue. And it does not mean 'giving in' on Assad, but rather playing it smart, getting Russian and Iranian support for a negotiated political transition on the front end, and dealing with the Syrian president on the back end. There are others who argue that the better course in confronting Jabhat al-Nusra is yet another ramp-up of support for the "moderate" Syrian armed groups. The question is why this second round would be any different from the previous $500 million train-and-equip effort that failed. While the United States should indeed support secular forces in Syria, our assessment is that absent coordination with Russia, this would only serve to escalate confrontation among armed groups, undermine the cessation of hostilities, blow up the peace talks, provide incentive for even more radical organizations and jihadi recruits to rush in and deliver another crushing blow to the faint hopes of Syrians for an end to the war. US blocks Russian bid on Ahrar al-Sham, Jaish al-Islam The United States has blocked a Russian initiative to have Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam designated as terrorist groups, despite the Salafi groups record of atrocities and collaboration with Jabhat al-Nusra (such as the massacre in Zara this week), apparent cessation violations, and an extremist ideology indistinguishable from al-Qaeda and IS. A State Department representative said that both groups are parties to the cessation, although we believe that is questionable, given their collaboration with Jabhat al-Nusra and participation in armed operations during the cessation. This column has warned since December 2013 about mainstreaming extremist Salafi groups, which are neither indigenous to Syria nor parties to the genuine Syrian uprising of 2011. We have advocated excluding Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam from the Syrian peace process, with appreciation of the complexities of doing so, given the assets they control on the ground and the support these groups have received from Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. They are, in our score, however, antithetical to the most minimal vision of a post-conflict Syria as secular, nonsectarian and independent. Meanwhile, McClatchy reported May 21 that Labib al-Nahhas, Ahrar al-Shams foreign affairs director, visited Washington in December 2015 to meet with think-tank experts and lobbyists on how to position his group for influence among US policymakers. This should, on its face, be somewhat scandalous, given Ahrar al-Sham's record and ideology. Nahhas penned a conciliatory op-ed in the Washington Post in July 2015. Some Washingtonians have made the case that Nahhas feint toward relative moderation may be an opportunity for the United States to gain influence and exploit alleged divisions within the Salafi group. Leave us out of the dead-end Kremlinology-like analysis of whether "we can work with" Ahrar al-Sham. It is a matter of record, not speculation, that Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam have flourished and "commingled" with Jabhat al-Nusra, as well as committing sectarian atrocities of their own. And by the way, an ally of al-Qaeda even just a sometime one should be a nonstarter. Nasrallah vows "bigger commitment" in Syria Ali Hashem writes this week that the death of Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine is a major setback for the Lebanese organization and likely lead to greater centralization of authority by Iran on the Syria battlefront. Hezbollah has said that Badreddine was killed May 13 as a result of artillery bombardment carried out by takfiri groups. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said May 20, Until today, the martyrdom of any of our leaders has not pushed us to leave any battlefield and Badreddine's blood will push us to a bigger presence in Syria. We will remain in Syria and more leaders will go into Syria. Hashem concludes his analysis and profile of Badreddine by saying, To Hezbollah, Badreddine isnt someone who can be replaced the next day, given his history, understanding and influence inside the organization. Yet, the number of commanders slain during the Syrian war has given the group the experience to endure such hits with the fewest possible effects. If you want to get in first on the next big series from AMC -- and finally get one over on all of your friends who finally talked you into watching "Mad Men," "The Walking Dead," "Breaking Bad," and/or "Better Call Saul" -- tonight is your chance as the home for prestige, gritty television will debut its take on "Preacher," a seminal comic book from the late '90s that has been adapted by Seth Rogen and pal Evan Goldberg into an ongoing TV series. If you're anything like me, you have shows piling up on your DVR (Be with you eventually, "Gotham") but here are five reasons why you might want to give "Preacher" a try. 1. The premise Preacher Jesse Custer presides over a small flock in the middling West Texas town of Annville, battling both an apathetic congregation and an internal crisis of faith until his life changes in a big way when he's imbued with divine, ultimate knowledge and the "word," or the God-like ability to command anyone to do anything. Things get complicated when his ex-girlfriend Tulip arrives and even more complicated-er still when Cassidy, an Irish wise guy who mysteriously sleeps during the day and seems remarkably hard to kill, lets everyone in on his little secret. Together, the three of them -- a foul-mouthed, chain-smoking preacher, his ex-girlfriend and a vampire -- go on a literal quest to find God. Sounds boring, doesn't it? Dominic Cooper stars as Jesse Custer in AMC's adaptation of "Preacher," a supernatural and darkly funny comic book series. Custer is a chain-smoking pastor with a crisis of faith until he's bestowed with divine powers. (courtesy of AMC) 2. The source material "Preacher" is inspired (but not totally beholden to) the Vertigo comic series of the same name from writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon. Vertigo, which is an imprint of DC Comics, was created to showcase darker and more adult-oriented series, and nothing fits that description more than "Preacher." It's foul, bloody and vulgar -- probably as violent as "The Walking Dead" and certainly more profane. But that's writer Ennis's style -- one so sadistic and off-kilter, as one friend told me, "You never go full Garth." His comics, which include runs with "The Punisher" and the twisted zombie series "Crossed," are not for everyone, but they can be a singular pleasure -- if you can stomach them. The first issue of "Preacher," fresh with a new cover that features the cast of the series, is currently free on Comixology. 3. An great roster of supporting characters While Dominic Cooper's Jesse Custer is set to star in the television series, he'll have plenty of help in Ruth Negga's Tulip and Joseph Gilgun's Cassidy. But the comic series, at least, is more than the threesome at its center, with great characters like the hateful Annville Sheriff Hugo Root and his son, Arseface (just wait until you see him) there to serve as foils and/or support. Root and Arseface are confirmed for the series, but if the show gets deeper into the book's roster with picks like the ethereal cowboy Saint of Killers, there will be plenty to hold your attention. 4. Accessibility Here's the thing: It's not the worst idea to read the comic. (That's never a bad idea. And remember, "Preacher" #1 is free.) But I'm guessing that to enjoy the show, you don't need to pick up all or even any of the 66-issue run as it seems like the show's brain trust is aiming to make something for a general audience. As "Preacher" comic fan and the show's co-executive producer Seth Rogan said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, they explicitly rejected the Zach Snyder-esque panel-for-panel approach to comic book adaptation. They're also adding characters and tweaking others. While rejecting a slavish devotion to the original source might panic some fans, I think on balance it's the right approach. Why? Frankly, some parts of the series haven't aged well and others (the more "full-on Garth" bits) won't play well on even higher-tier cable. However, the admitted superfans of the book have promised to maintain the same tone and dark humor, and that's what's important. 5. The network Finally, it's not the strongest reason, but it's a good one: At this point, don't you trust AMC to make good television? After "Mad Men," "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul," I'd trust them to put together a quality product. But add in "The Walking Dead" -- itself a stellar comic book adaptation -- and I think I'd put my faith in AMC to handle any of my favorite comic books. "Preacher" premiers Sunday on AMC at 9 p.m. Mike Hubbard Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, on the floor of the House of Representatives Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, during regular legislative session in Montgomery, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com) ( ) House Speaker Mike Hubbard's attorneys have dropped efforts to subpoena the Alabama Media Group to reveal the identities of two anonymous commenters to news stories on AL.com. Hubbard's attorneys on Friday notified the court it is withdrawing its subpoena to the Alabama Media Group "as it is unnecessary at this time." The notification did not indicate why the attorneys were seeking to withdraw the subpoena for Hubbard's ethics trial, which begins Tuesday in Lee County. A hearing on the subpoena request had been set at the start of the trial Tuesday morning, but in Friday's notice by Hubbard's attorneys stated the hearing is now unnecessary. Alabama Media Group had asked Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker to block the subpoena because it violates a right to anonymous free speech under the First Amendment and because it violates Alabama law and rules of criminal procedure. The subpoena sought information about the accounts of commenters "Reaganwasbetter" and "noonewouldusethis," including email addresses, IP addresses and any and all registration information. Among its arguments, AMG asserted that posted comments identified by Hubbard's lawyers do not satisfy the factors that would outweigh the protection of anonymous free speech. A 16-member jury - including four alternates - was selected last week for the trial that's expected to last several weeks. A Lee County grand jury indicted Hubbard in October 2014 on 23 felony ethics charges. He is accused of using his political offices to benefit his businesses. Hubbard has denied any wrongdoing. Ken Boyd Huntsville engineer Ken Boyd is running for mayor against two-time incumbent Tommy Battle and perennial candidate Jackie Reed. (Paul Gattis/pgattis@al.com) As Ken Boyd challenges Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle in August's municipal election, he's doing it with a measure of perspective. "When we first started, my wife asked me, 'Do you think you can win?'" Boyd said. "And I said, 'No, of course not.' But for $200 (the election entrance fee), I can be on stage at a debate. Then we started looking at the numbers. Last time, there were only 28,000 votes cast for mayor. "But 28,000, suddenly you only have to get 14,000 or so to win. So that's where the dangerous thinking comes in - 'We can pull this off.'" Boyd is Battle's second challenger in the race. Self-appointed city watchdog Jackie Reed - a perennial mayoral and city council candidate - is planning to run for mayor an eighth time as well. Battle kicked off his re-election campaign last week. Boyd, who grew up in Montgomery, acknowledged it will be a daunting task for anyone to mount a successful challenge to defeat Battle - a two-term mayor who won re-election in 2012 by receiving a record 81 percent of the vote. Boyd, however, is coming to the campaign armed with some issues about how Battle has run the city. An engineer who works for the Department of Defense on Redstone Arsenal, Boyd's chief concern is over the 1-cent sales tax Battle pushed and the city council approved in 2013. The tax increase was passed to help pay for major road improvement projects throughout Huntsville. The tax also has no expiration date. Boyd said the tax increase is what motivated him to run for public office for the first time. "I think by and large, (Battle) does a good job," Boyd said. "It's just the development of taxes I would like to do something about. I don't pretend to believe that I could roll in there as the mayor and get rid of that sales tax. I don't even really pretend to believe I could get in there and magically - with five members of the city council who voted for that tax - get a sunset on it. "But what I do want to do is make sure the next tax either has a sunset so that it is used for what it is used for and goes away or make it go to the people (for approval). The school board does that. We go back to the polls on a regular basis because they get an extra mil. And if they can sell the people on it, they get it. And if they can't sell the people on it, they have to do without. If it's good enough for the school board, why don't we do that?" Boyd also took issue with the city's recruitment of Whole Foods Market that is anchoring a shopping center on Bob Wallace Avenue that opened last year. The city approved an $8 million incentive package for the shopping center in 2014. "I don't agree with subsidizing retail - particularly when you're subsidizing someone who is competing with an existing business," Boyd said. "I like to look at Whole Foods. How would you feel if you were Earth Fare or Fresh Market and you came into town on your own dime and the Walmart of the hoity-toity grocery industry comes into town and gets subsidized - your biggest competition? "I look at the Remington deal and the Polaris deal and I think those are great. I think that's an excellent way to spend development dollars because it brings in jobs that people can live on and people can support a family on. There's nothing wrong with a grocery store job but you can't support a family on it." Even if winning might appear to be a longshot - Boyd's Go Fund Me account to raise campaign funds has received just $640 of a $5,000 goal - he wants to bring these issues into the forefront to perhaps effect change. "At a minimum, we want to change the behavior," he said. "I want to win but if we can change the behavior, they I think we will have done well. but that's going to take getting enough votes to scare somebody. I am proceeding as if we can win." Rohingya Muslims, in camps, wait for what democracy led by a Nobel peace prize winner will bring them. So far: Nothing. Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights. Back then, she was a campaigner for those things, spending a total of 15 years under house arrest. She knows what its like to have rights and freedom taken away. But now that she is in perhaps the ultimate position of power in Myanmar, there is no sign that she is going to defend the rights of people who have been detained simply because of who they are. Tens of thousands of Muslims, mainly Rohingya, have been kept in camps in western Myanmars Rakhine State for almost four years since their homes and communities were attacked. They were horrific events that were fanned by a powerful, nationalist Buddhist agenda alive and well today and its a movement Aung San Suu Kyi seems afraid of upsetting. Grim prospects for democracy After decades of campaigning against the previous military regime, her National League for Democracy party won last Novembers general election and, even though the constitution prevents her from becoming president, she made it clear that she would be in charge and gave herself the title of State Counsellor. Her choice of Religious and Cultural Affairs Minister raised eyebrows. Thura Aung Ko is a former army general and was a deputy in the same ministry under the previous military-backed government. And, so far, the new government isnt sending any signals that it will adopt a policy to give rights to Rohingya who, in Myanmar, are widely regarded as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. On his first day on the job in the new administration, Thura Aung Ko gave a media interview in which he said that Muslims and Hindus were associate citizens, referring to the 1982 citizenship law that places people into three categories depending on their status. He then visited leaders of a nationalist Buddhist movement who regularly spew anti-Islam rhetoric. Its not known what was discussed at the meeting but it sent a bad message, something Aung San Suu Kyi herself has also been guilty of. In April, the United States embassy in Yangon released a statement, offering their condolences for people who were killed when a boat sunk off Rakhine State. The people onboard were Rohingya and thats exactly what the US statement called them. That led to protests outside the embassy by people who refuse to recognise the term Rohingya because its not one of the official ethnic minority groups in Myanmar. The response from Suu Kyi? Government officials sent a letter to the US ambassador and other diplomats urging them to refrain from using the word Rohingya. Yes, its very early days in the life of the new government and there are many problems in this country to solve. Yes, the plight of the Rohingya is a very complex issue. Yes, the new government is talking about new laws to safeguard religious freedom and to get tough on hate speech. But its not enough. Heres what we also know: Around 100,000 people have been living in squalid conditions for almost four years. They have no rights and many have died in a desperate attempt to leave. Over the past year though, the number of departures fell, partly because people wanted to see what the new government would do for them. What Aung San Suu Kyi has at her disposal now is the power to speak out. Words can be powerful. They can offer hope. Particularly when they come from someone who built her name on a fight for freedom and rights. But when it comes to the Rohingya, there has been nothing but silence; meaning for them, hope is already fading so early in Myanmars new democracy. Seven people were killed and two were in critical condition after Mount Sinabungs volcano erupted on Sumatra island as the army and police searched for survivors. The volcano continued to spew hot ash on Sunday, making it dangerous for rescuers, National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said. Mount Sinabung is among the countrys most active volcanoes. More than a dozen people were killed and thousands evacuated when Sinabung erupted in 2014. The seven dead and two injured were found in the village of Gamber. It is not immediately clear how many people were in Gamber because when the mountain spewed clouds of hot ash, there was not supposed to be any activity in the area, Sutopo said. Indonesia, located on the Pacific Rim of Fire, has more than 120 active volcanoes. Hargeisa, Somaliland On May 18, 1991, Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia. Twenty-five years on, it still has not received legal recognition from the international community. Even if they dont recognise us, our independence is by virtue of our existence and by virtue of our liberty, said Yussef Ali, who had taken his four young sons to join the crowds that lined Independence Avenue to watch the May 18 independence parade under the harsh sun. Around 500,000 Somalilanders were expected to fill the streets of the capital, Hargeisa, for the big day. But despite the festivities and the resolve of its people, Somaliland is straining after a quarter of a century of non-statehood. Its economy is fragile, making this apparent against the odds success story vulnerable. Its absolutely unfair, said Saad Ali Shire, the minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, after a conference the preceding day titled, The Republic of Somaliland: The Case for Recognition. We cant get international credit or foreign investment to build the country and create jobs as we are not recognised. After the civil war at the end of the 1980s left much of Hargeisa in ruins and its population scattered many in refugee camps in neighbouring Ethiopia Somaliland rebuilt itself in extraordinary isolation, explained Matthew Bryden, a political analyst who has been involved in Somaliland since its formation. Somaliland has demonstrated that rarest of things: self-generated post-conflict reconstruction resulting in peace, democracy and good governance without international intervention. Since 2003, Somaliland has held a series of democratic elections resulting in orderly transfers of power, exhibiting a level of political maturity that has eluded many recognised states. But as another anniversary passes, it seems Somaliland cannot rely on its 25-year track record to gain what it so sorely desires. Somaliland pursued recognition for 21 years in the absence of a Somali government and was unsuccessful. Now, theres a recognised government in Mogadishu, [and] Somalilands challenge is even greater, said Bryden. Whether they stay together or separate, their populations, economies, even security, are interdependent. They have no alternative to dialogue. How do we cross the fictive frontiers imposed between a beleaguered empire and the peripheral nations it fails to rule? On May 11, I joined a number of friends attending a performance of the 64th anniversary of Ballet Folklorico de Mexico at Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Founded in 1952, Ballet Folklorico de Mexico is the brainchild of Amalia Hernandez(1917-2000), a world-renowned choreographer whose lifetime achievement is this spectacular staging of various song and dance traditions from the pre-Columbian, Hispanic, and revolutionary eras of Mexican history. Coming to Mexico City and watching this show after the ever nastier tones of the US presidential election in which Donald Trump has verbalised and personified the systemic mendacity of North American racism towards Mexicans and other people, a sharp contrast emerges between two overwhelming power of representation and marks the varied manners in which nations live in the shadow of an amorphous empire. Racialised delusions In the United States, as these days best captured by Donald Trump and his followers, Mexicans and other people living in the US beyond its racialised delusions are the bete noire of enduringly nasty white supremacist fantasies. Trump speaks of mass deportation of Mexicans, of building a tall and long wall on the southern border of the US, and of banning Muslims from entering the country in a manner that betrays the white supremacist racism that has always informed US imperialism and he just utters it more bluntly. Such bigoted portrayals of Americans of a different descent than Trump and his racist supporters are deeply rooted in a hateful ideology dominant in the US that wishes to belittle, denigrate, and demonise various segments of its own society to rule them more ruthlessly by the maddening logic of abusive capital and its unending need for cheap labour. ALSO READ: When Muslims ruled the civilised world But beyond Trumps racist delusions, nations continue to live their lives on uncharted territories. To combat the terror of US imperial racism at home and abroad, nations need to stage themselves from the depth of their despair to their most sublime aspirations. by Staging the nation The musical charm of Ballet Folklorico de Mexico is justly staged to celebrate the continued history of a nations visual and performing arts. But if such just and sweet celebrations are not to become mere eye-candy tourist attractions and thus gloss over much nastier realities, then they will have to be seen in conjunction with other forms of public staging that is not on any official stage but right in the streets and alleys of Mexico City. Just over two weeks before I came to Mexico there was a massive demonstration in Mexico City against femicide and other forms of violence against the Mexican youth, about which Vijay Prashad wrote a detailed account for the Frontline in India. On April 24, Prashad reported, thousands of demonstrators marched to the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City from the municipality of Ecatepec. People from all kinds of backgrounds marched with signs that had the requisite dose of humour and anger. Revolution en la Plaza, en la Casa y en la Cama (Revolution in the streets, at home and in bed), announced one woman, while another wrote on her pregnant belly: Quiero nacer sin violencia (I want to be born without violence). A resonant chant went, Ni sumisa, ni obediente. Soy libre, loca y valiente (Neither submissive nor compliant. Im free, crazy and brave). To combat the terror of US imperial racism at home and abroad (the two categories are now entirely meaningless to this amorphous empire), nations need to stage themselves from the depth of their despair to their most sublime aspirations. The Zapatista movement shines a bright ray of hope on Mexico as their kindred souls do in Kobane and Palestine, sustaining a similar vision of liberation for a world devoured by state-sponsored violence, greed and corruption. One has to come to Mexico and look at the emancipatory movements in Rojava and Palestine from the Zapatistas perspective and the map of our hopes will look entirely different. A nation in defiance The plague of ISIL in the Arab world has its counterpart here in Mexico, too. The Mexican drug cartels partake in Christian iconography almost identically as those mercenary thugs in Iraq and Syria sport their Islamist symbolism. ALSO READ: Donald Trump is the real deal What I see here in Mexico is a nation in defiance against its own odds. Its corrupt politics, its drug cartels, and the under- and unreported systemic violence that bruises its souls are kept in balance by the sheer determination of a nation to live with dignity and teach the world grace. Its hidden treasures, as in the magnificent Diego Rivera murals, are protected not by armed guards but by the rambunctious urbanity of its crowded markets teaching humility to its wide pretentious boulevards. For Mexico as a nation, its drug cartels are a US problem, a narcotic market created by the supply and demand logic of the selfsame predatory capitalism it so adores. US corporate brand junks Starbucks and McDonalds galore pour into the magnificent rambunctiousness of Mexico City through the same porous borders that drugs flow up through into the US. Mexican drug cartels are the functional equivalents of US corporate greed and operate through the selfsame maddening logic of predatory capitalism. Donald Trump is not an accident. He is the very logic of US imperial thuggery carried to its rhetorical ends. by But nations are not entirely defenceless against the US imperial politics and the barbarity it occasions. The example of Mexico shows how nations resist this ugly imposition by their creative and critical prowess far beyond the limited banality of a McDonalds joint here and a drone attack there. Faces in the mirror Beyond the monumental vacuity of the globalised marketing of the commodities and brands it sells to sustain itself in power, from its military machinery to its material rubbish industry, this culture has nothing to offer the world. No art, no industry, no ethics, no morality, no philosophy. Nothing. The US and its military allies form an amorphous empire with no hegemony nothing to convince anyone of anything but the banality of brute violence. Donald Trump is not an accident. He is the very logic of US imperial thuggery carried to its rhetorical ends. He does with ghoulish vulgarity what Barack Obama has done (and Hillary Clinton will do) with sleek salesmanship. How do Mexicans resist that banality? Not just by staging in their opera house a loving tribute to their myriad traditions of delightful songs and dances, or else pouring into their street protesting against corruption and violence. They celebrate life in every pleasant moment of their civilized gatherings eating, drinking, and merrymaking and there and then, they teach themselves to anticipate their own better angels. Millions of Bernie Sanders supporters from one end of the US to another are the kindred souls of these Mexicans, yet trapped in their own corrupt and rigged democracy. How do we cross the fictive frontiers imposed between a beleaguered empire and the peripheral nations it wishes but fails to rule? A friend in Mexico City gave me a masked marionette of a Zapatista woman as a souvenir and shared with me the story often told when the Zapatistas are asked why they cover their faces. Look into the mirror, they respond, thats who we are! Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Jane Digby, Gertrude Bell and Freya Stark had lives as illustrious as their male counterparts in the Middle East. Ibrahim al-Marashi is an associate professor at the Department of History, California State University, San Marcos. British diplomat Mark Sykes and French diplomat Francois Georges-Picot garnered most of the attention in the retrospective commentaries published around May 16, the 100-year anniversary of the Sykes-Picot Treaty. Other pieces referred to their contemporaries, such as the British agent T E Lawrence, who led the Arab Revolt during World War I, or the influential oil broker Calouste Gulbenkian. These Europeans sought to shape the Middle East, yet for every discussion of a European man who engaged in this endeavour, there is also a story of a European woman who both made this region, and was made by the region. Jane Digby, Gertrude Bell, or Freya Stark, just to name a few women, led lives as illustrious as their male counterparts in the Middle East. In terms of popular historical memory, we remember European men in the Middle East, such as archaeologists, spies, and diplomats concocting surreptitious treaties, but have forgotten the women who also engaged in such activities. Jane Digby The life of Jane Digby resembles that of Lord Byron, as they both flouted social conventions of their time. Byron, remembered as the debauched, flamboyant, amorous, Romantic-era poet, travelled to the Ottoman Empire in 1809. Today, he would be considered a foreign fighter on par with those leaving from Europe to fight in the current Syrian civil war. In 1824, he died in an Ottoman civil war, fighting on behalf of Greeks seeking independence. ALSO READ: Iraq, Sykes-Picot and Mr Five Percent Around the time of Byrons death, Digby was coming-of-age in Britain. She has been remembered for her love affairs, having had four husbands, and a variety of lovers, including a Greek general who fought in the war of independence that Byron died in. Today by would be considered a foreign fighter on par with those leaving from Europe to fight in the current Syrian civil war.] In 1853 she arrived in Damascus, travelling to the ancient city of Palmyra. Digbys journey was daunting given the risk of disease and attack from other Bedouins. She was accompanied by Medjuel el-Mezrab, a sheikh from one of the smaller tribes of the Aniza confederation, who she eventually married. She learned Arabic, lived half of the year in nomadic tents in the desert, and the other half in her palatial home in Damascus, spending the rest of her life in Syria with her husband until her death 28 years later. Gertrude Bell In light of the Sykes-Picot treaty, attention has been given to T E Lawrence and his interaction with the future king of Iraq, Faisal, son of Sharif Hussein of the Arab Revolt. However, it was a woman, Gertrude Bell, referred to known as the khatun or queen, who was more instrumental in Faisals career. It was this queen who was a kingmaker in Iraq, lobbying for King Faisal to rule, then becoming his personal adviser. While Lawrence is memorialised, Bell had an equally illustrious career as an explorer and spy. Bell completed her studies in history at Oxford with honours. During World War I, like Lawrence, she worked for the Arab Bureau out of Egypt and then in Iraq. She would go on to establish Iraqs National Museum in Baghdad. In some respects, she is remembered along the lines of Sykes and Picot, Europeans who drew up the borders of the region. In the words of the late journalist, Anthony Shadid: Here, the new Iraq looks like the old one, imbued with politics that might be familiar to Gertrude Bell, the British diplomat and adventurer who drew the countrys borders after World War I. Even Nicole Kidman, who plays Bell in the film Queen of the Desert described her along these lines: She basically defined the borders between Iraq and Jordan that exist today, borders that she negotiated between Churchill and different Arab leaders. ALSO READ: The man who would be king of Kurdistan Ironically, the most infamous border drawer, Mark Sykes, was not fond of Bell, calling her a conceited, gushing, flat-chested, man-woman, globe-trotting, rump wagging, blethering ass. Freya Stark In terms of World War II spies, Laszlo Almasy will be remembered in popular historical memory as the inspiration for the main character in the film, The English Patient. In fact, he was a Hungarian spy who actively aided Nazi Germany in Libya and in their campaign to take Egypt. It was a female British agent, Freya Stark, who tried to prevent Egypt from falling into German hands. Starks journeys to the Middle East began in 1927, when she travelled to Beirut, making her way to Baghdad, in the Mandate of Iraq, and by 1931 western Iran, reaching the long-fabled mountain fortress of the Assassins in the Elburz mountains. In 1935, she travelled to the Hadhramaut in todays Yemen. Few Western travellers, never mind women, had gone into these parts of Iran or Yemen, risking the dangers of not so much bandits, but the environment and water-borne diseases. Like Digby and Bell, she was fluent in Arabic, a talent that served her well during the Second World War in the British Ministry of Information. She worked in Aden in southern Yemen, producing Arabic news broadcasts to counter Axis propaganda, and travelled to northern Yemen to meet with its ruler, the Imam, as a one-woman propaganda team to keep the kingdom neutral during the War. In Egypt, she contributed to the Ikhwan al Hurriya (Brotherhood of Freedom), a propaganda network to persuade Arabs to rally behind the Allies, particularly as the Axis military were massing near El Alamein. Her expeditions continued after the War, and her last, in in her old age, was to Afghanistan. She died in 1993 at 100 years old. Their legacies The feats of these three women were noteworthy given that they not only navigated patriarchal societies in the Middle East, but also Britain. Digby and Bell found freedom in the Middle East, escaping rigid Victorian social conventions. Today, Digby would be horrified to witness the fate of Palmyra under ISIL control. Bell would be dismayed to see the museum she founded, sacked and looted after 2003, or the damage ISIL inflicted upon the ancient site of Hatra in Iraq, which she visited in 1911. She would probably be more upset about the damage ISIL inflicted to Iraqs human heritage, particularly among the Yezidis, whom she had visited in 1905. Freya Stark probably could have never envisioned a group like al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula establishing a presence in the Hadhramaut in Yemen, or the Taliban in Afghanistan. In the cases of Bell and Stark, these two women were agents of imperialism, perpetuating British colonial control over the Middle East. Yet this article is a lament of sorts, for many of the places these women travelled and meticulously documented, would be unrecognisable to them today, all for the worse. Ibrahim al-Marashi is an assistant professor at the Department of History, California State University, San Marcos. He is the co-author of Iraqs Armed Forces: An Analytical History. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. The European Union could see its first far-right president if Norbert Hofer wins a second-round run-off. Austria could elect the European Unions first far-right head of state, with support for Freedom Party (FPO) candidate Norbert Hofer buoyed by security and employment fears sparked by the refugee crisis. Opinion polls suggest Sundays presidential race between Hofer and former Greens leader Alexander van der Bellen will be close. A far-right victory would resonate throughout the 28-member bloc where refugee flows driven by conflict in the Middle East and Africa have become a major political issue. Austria took in 90,000 asylum seekers last year, more than 1 percent of its population, many of them shortly after it and neighbouring Germany opened their borders last autumn to people arriving on the continent. The government has since clamped down on immigration and asylum, but that decision only fuelled support for the far right, which was already capitalising on widespread frustration with the countrys two traditional parties of government. READ MORE: Austria adopts strict laws to keep out refugees Sundays run-off election comes four weeks after Hofer unexpectedly won the first round with 35 percent of the vote. The president traditionally plays a largely ceremonial role but swears in the chancellor, can dismiss the cabinet and is commander-in-chief of the military. Whoever wins, the election is likely to be a new high-water mark for Europes resurgent far right, all the more significant for being in a relatively prosperous country with comparatively low, albeit rising, unemployment. Van der Bellen, who came second in the first round on 21 percent, has accused his opponent of having an authoritarian view of the presidents powers, saying Hofer wants to dismiss the government so snap parliamentary elections can be held. The next parliamentary election is due in 2018, but with the eurosceptic FPO running first in opinion polls on more than 30 percent, it would be well placed to win a snap vote. Hofer has said he would, as president, already have dismissed the government over its handling of the refugee crisis, but would not do so immediately if he became head of state. READ MORE: Austria Chancellor Werner Faymann steps down Tabloid newspaper reports of immigrants availing themselves of Austrias generous benefits, as well as stories of crimes in which immigrants have been suspects, have played into the FPOs hands. We do have a clash of two big arguments, political analyst Thomas Hofer told Al Jazeera. The argument on the Freedom Partys side is not so much the right-wing argument but the anti-establishment argument. And on the other side you have the argument lets avoid a situation where we do have a Freedom Party president. Both play with emotions play with fears and the question will be whos going to be stronger? A Gallup poll for the Oesterreich newspaper last weekend found Hofer ahead by a 53-47 margin based on 600 people surveyed. But it was a dead heat among those who said they were certain to vote, a key factor after nearly a third of eligible voters failed to cast ballots in the first round. Postal ballots will determine whether anti-immigration candidate will become EUs first far-right head of state. Austrias presidential election was too close to call on Sunday, meaning postal ballots were set to determine whether an anti-immigration candidate would become the European Unions first far-right head of state. A victory for Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer would be a landmark triumph for parties across Europe that have capitalised on Europes migration crisis and widespread dissatisfaction with traditional parties of power. It would be all the more remarkable for being in a prosperous country with low unemployment, where two centrist parties have dominated since it emerged shattered from World War II after its annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938. The sovereign has spoken, Hofers opponent, former Greens leader Alexander Van der Bellen, told broadcaster ORF. What exactly it has said Hofer or Van der Bellen we will know tomorrow afternoon. A projection by the SORA institute for broadcaster ORF, based on 100 percent of votes cast in polling stations and an estimate of the outcome of postal voting, showed a statistical dead heat on 50 percent each. The margin of error was 0.7 percentage point. READ MORE: Austria adopts strict laws to keep out refugees The provisional result from the Interior Ministry, which did not include postal ballots, showed Hofer ahead with 51.9 percent to van der Bellens 48.1 percent. Postal votes will not be counted until Monday and their exact number is not known. They tend to be used by the more highly educated, a spokesman for SORA said, a group among which 72-year-old Van der Bellen has greater support. Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said he expected there would be about 750,000 postal ballots, roughly 12 percent of Austrias 6.4 million eligible voters. Transport Minister Binali Yildirim is elected as the new leader of the ruling AK party and therefore the prime minister. Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim was unanimously elected on Sunday as the new leader of the ruling AK party and therefore the prime minister. One of the cofounders of the AK party along with Erdogan, Yildirim, 60, who was the sole candidate, won all the votes from the 1,405 delegates at an extraordinary party congress. Hours later, Erdogan gave Yildirim the mandate to form a new government as prime minister following the resignation of Ahmet Davutoglu, the presidency said. Davutoglu had served as foreign minister, but after Erdogan became president and he prime minister, conflict began to emerge and, in recent months, the two men disagreed on several issues, including negotiations with the European Union READ MORE: Turkey passes bill to strip politicians of immunity The problem is the constitution is not clear on where the prime minister and presidents power and authority begins and ends, Nurettin Canikli, the head of AKPs parliamentary bloc, told Al Jazeera. Even though theyre very good friends, and have the same political background its still possible for them to have different views on each topic. When they tried to use their authority at the same time, they failed to meet in the middle. Al Jazeeras Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from the capital Ankara, said that while Erdogan was no longer AKP leader, he was still its founder and spiritual leader. Now, it seems that until or unless the constitution is changed to allow for a presidential system, the AKP is opting for a prime minister who will carry out the wishes of the president, rather than one with his own political agenda, Elshayyal said. In terms of finding a leader who would not pose some sort of threat to the popularity or the authority of Erdogan, Yildirim fits the bill perfectly. Yildirim has said that he will work in harmony with Erdogan. The new chairman wont interpret his authority like Davutoglu did, Canikli said. He will understand that the president has the ultimate authority and his is the last word. Government critics said the sudden change in leadership showed that the AKP was no longer able to provide political and economic stability and underlined division in its ranks. With Sundays convention, the AKP is hoping to refute that and show the party remains as united as ever, Al Jazeeras Elshayyal said. At least five paramilitary troops killed by heavily armed rebels in the northeastern region bordering Myanmar. Heavily armed rebels ambushed and killed five Indian paramilitary soldiers on Sunday in the latest attack in Indias northeastern region bordering Myanmar. The soldiers were on their way to take part in a rescue operation after a rain-triggered mudslide hit Chandel district in Manipur state, a police officer said. The rebels fired at paramilitary Assam Rifles soldiers in the forest area, said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to reporters. The region is home to active rebel groups that operate from both sides of the India-Myanmar border. The attack occurred on the Indian side, about 15km from the border. In June last year, the rebels used rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons to ambush an Indian military convoy, killing 18 soldiers in the same area. Rebel groups accuse Indias government of exploiting the regions rich natural resources while neglecting local development. Most of the main armed groups in Manipur state are not engaged in ceasefire talks with the Indian government, unlike those in other remote northeastern states. The mountainous region, known for its natural beauty, has been battling rebellions for decades. Reports of heavy shelling in city that was first to fall to ISIL in 2014 as beleaguered residents struggle to get out. Iraqs Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi has announced the start of a major offensive to retake Fallujah from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, which was quickly followed by reports of heavy shelling in the city. Local sources told Al Jazeera that six civilians were killed in shelling in the city on Monday, and 14 Iraqi soldiers were killed in fighting on its outskirts. We are here to announce that the Iraqi flag will soon be flying in the sky of Fallujah, Abadi had said a day earlier. Today, we will tear down the black flags of these despicable strangers who abducted this dear city. The time has come to liberate Fallujah and the victory will be ours. ISIL has nowhere to go but to flee the city. The government, though, is expected to face a tough fight to push ISIL, also known as ISIS, out of the city, which is just 50km west of Baghdad and has been under its control for more than two years. Fallujah was the first Iraqi city to fall to ISIL in January 2014, six months before it swept through large parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria, shocking much of the world and heralding a major expansion of its territory. Asked about the assault, the US State Department and the Pentagon did not immediately comment. Richard Weitz, an analyst from the Hudson Institute, told Al Jazeera the US military did not see the battle for Fallujah as the most immediate priority. The American military has been pushing them to reconquer Mosul as the decisive battle, not Fallujah, he said. Civilians trapped without aid Abadi and his government have faced severe political pressure in recent weeks as supporters of powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and people from other groups, staged protests over the governments failure to approve anti-corruption reforms and maintain security in Baghdad. The capital has been hit by a string of suicide and car bombs claimed by ISIL, killing hundreds of people by some estimates, including more than 200 last week. The series of bombings that have happened in Baghdad over the last couple of weeks have made it important for Baghdad to take down Fallujah, Douglas Ollivant, an analyst with the New America Foundation who worked on Iraq under US presidents Obama and Bush, said. They think that the logistics base for these car bombs goes back to Fallujah. Earlier on Sunday, the army said residents of Fallujah should leave through secured routes. READ MORE: Fallujah we are being left to a slow death About 20 families tried to escape but half were intercepted by ISIL or killed by bombs that had been planted along the road by the group, the Reuters news agency reported, citing residents. Sources in Fallujah told Al Jazeera that ISIL had told locals to move to the outskirts of the city but that it was not allowing them to get out. Any familes who could not leave should raise white flags to mark their locations, the army said. Up to 75,000 civilians have been trapped inside the city, caught between ISIL and forces encircling the city, which include the Iraqi army and a coalition of Shia Muslim armed groups known as Hashid Shaabi. The United Nations food agency, the WFP, has not been able to deliver aid since last September. The city on the Euphrates River had a prewar population of about 300,000. Known as the City of Minarets and Mother of Mosques, it was badly damaged in two assaults by the US army against suspected al-Qaeda fighters in 2004. If theres one thing everyone across the political spectrum in Israel agrees on, is that it was an audacious move. After intensifying speculation that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, would strengthen his coalition by bringing in Isaac Herzog and the Zionist Camp, the Likud leader turned around and announced a deal with hard-right former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. That deal saw Lieberman offered the position of defence minister, whose incumbent, Moshe Yaalon, resigned both his post and place in the Knesset. In parting shots, Yaalon declared he had lost trust in Netanyahu, and warned that extremist and dangerous elements had taken over Israel and the Likud Party. The tumultuous events, likened to the plot of a television drama, have prompted as many questions as answers. According to Israeli journalist Noam Sheizaf, Yaalons resignation is less significant than his decision to come out publicly against Netanyahu and the hard-right. In a television interview on Friday, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak echoed Yaalons concerns, claiming that Israel has been infected by the seeds of fascism. For Sheizaf, all of this shows that there is growing opposition to Netanyahu inside and around the security establishment opposition that could, at some point, coalesce into an electoral challenge. READ MORE: Israel Will Nazism comparisons trigger soul-searching? Tensions between Yaalon and Netanyahu came to the surface in March, when Israeli soldier, Elor Azaria, was caught on video executing a wounded Palestinian alleged attacker in Hebron. While Yaalon was clear in his condemnation, Netanyahu, under political pressure from the populist hard-right elements within his own coalition, muddied the waters with a supportive telephone call to Azarias father. We are seeing a right-wing, hardline settler in a direct position to continue the oppression against Palestinians and in denying them their inalienable rights. by Daoud Kuttab, Palestinian journalist Weeks later, the two senior Likud men were publicly divided again over Major General Yair Golans remarks on Holocaust Remembrance Day, when he drew parallels between Germans in the 1930s to modern-day Israeli society. Netanyahu slammed the speech, but Yaalon made a pointed defence of the right of senior army officials to express their views. Mouin Rabbani, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies, believes Yaalon paid for the support he gave to those members of the Israeli security establishment who, in recent months, sought to counter-balance the more extreme tendencies of the Israeli political class, so as not to further inflame the situation in the occupied territories. For Israeli journalist Meron Rapoport, the deeper meaning of Yaalons departure is a change of elites within Israeli politics, symbolised by Yaalons replacement in the Knesset, Yehuda Glick. Glick, a notorious radical activist within the Temple Mount movement, is representative of this new, religious and messianic elite. The appointment of Yaalons successor, meanwhile, has prompted concern in many quarters. Liebermans views are well-known: He has advocated a full takeover of the Gaza Strip, lives in a West Bank settlement near Bethlehem, and frequently questions the loyalty of Palestinian citizens. Yet, on the other hand, one could also expect Lieberman to take a different approach once ensconced in the defence ministry, compared to when he was in opposition. As Haaretz Barak Ravid asked, Which Lieberman will enter the defence ministry? Ravid described Lieberman as one of the most intelligent people in Israeli politics, who will understand that his conduct towards the chief of staff and [Israeli] army generals will be under a public and media magnifying glass. Daoud Kuttab, Palestinian journalist and former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University, expects that there will be a mini-honeymoon in the first months of Liebermans reign as defence minister to deflate the local and international opposition. Ultimately, however, Kuttab told Al Jazeera, We are seeing a right-wing, hardline settler in a direct position to continue the oppression against Palestinians and [deny] them their inalienable rights. Rapoport agrees that no one should underestimate the dangers posed by Lieberman. It could begin with small things, from reducing the number of work permits to closures of Palestinian areas things that in and of themselves are not very dramatic, but which can significantly affect the atmosphere in the West Bank. OPINION: Israels Labour party adopts the apartheid mantra On the diplomatic front, it is hard to see how Liebermans arrival in government will do anything to help revive an already comatose peace process. One Palestine Liberation Organization official, for example, declared that what was already an extremist government will now get even more extreme, and block any horizon for peace. Regionally, Rabbani pointed out, There has been a serious initiative in the works to renew Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, led by Egypt and enjoying both Arab and international support, and according to various reports Palestinian Authority endorsement, as well. This initiative, however in large part, hinged on Netanyahu bringing the Zionist Camp into the coalition. Now, with Lieberman in, Netanyahu has embarrassed his regional and international allies, particularly Egypts Sisi, who just last Tuesday expressed support for a renewal of peace efforts. While observers assess prospects for change in Israeli policy, one man Netanyahu is driven by a determination to solidify a status quo that of his own power. With a coalition that has grown from 61 to 67 seats in the Knesset, and a new budget recently approved, King Bibi now looks set to be prime minister at least until the next scheduled election in 2019. US president heads to fledgling ally Vietnam as the country votes in parliamentary elections. US President Barack Obama left Washington on Sunday for his first visit to Vietnam, a trip aimed at sealing the transformation of an old enemy into a new partner to help counter Chinas growing assertiveness. Four decades after the Vietnam War, Obama was expected to use the visit to deepen defence and economic ties with the countrys communist government. What we want to demonstrate with this visit is a significant upgrade in the relationship between the United States and Vietnam even as we have areas of difference, Ben Rhodes, Obamas deputy national security adviser, told the Reuters news agency. READ MORE: Vietnam and the US From enemies to lovers Pressure has mounted on Obama to use the landmark three-day visit, which begins on Monday, to roll back a 32-year-old arms embargo on Hanoi, one of the last vestiges of wartime animosity. Lifting the ban something Vietnam has long wanted would anger Beijing, which resents US efforts to forge stronger military bonds with its smaller neighbours at a time of rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea. But there was no immediate word of a final US decision. The visit comes just days after Chinese fighter jets carried out what the Pentagon said was an unsafe intercept of a US military reconnaissance plane in the South China Sea. Beijing is pursuing territorial claims there that conflict with those of Vietnam and several other countries. READ MORE: Vietnams assembly dismisses prime minister In a separate development, Vietnam will showcase its five-yearly day of democracy on Sunday with an election for a parliament tightly controlled by a Communist Party that is seeing unprecedented challenges to a four-decade monopoly. Some 69 million Vietnamese are registered to vote to choose representatives for a 500-seat National Assembly. In Vietnamese elections, the ballot traditionally comprises of candidates representing the Communist Party but this year, scores of activists, celebrities and ordinary Vietnamese tried to run as independent candidates. Vietnam, of course, is a one party state, Al Jazeeras Marga Ortigas, reporting from the capital Hanoi, said. But this election is unprecedented. Because this time around, there was a record number of independent candidates who put forward their own nominations. Almost all of the independent hopefuls, though, failed to get their names on to the ballot and were eliminated during a strict vetting processes, which many of them said was rigged to shut them out. At the moment, we understand that there are less than 20 people on the ballot who consider themselves independent candidates, Ortigas said. Pakistan accused the United States on Sunday of violating its sovereignty with a drone strike against the leader of the Afghan Taliban, in perhaps the most high-profile US incursion into Pakistani territory since the 2011 raid to kill Osama bin Laden. What does Mansoors killing mean? Pakistan It will be damaging to the Taliban-Pakistan relations since Islamabad has been hosting the Taliban leadership on its territory, as confirmed by Pakistan foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz. It will be damaging to the Taliban-Pakistan relations since Islamabad has been hosting the Taliban leadership on its territory, as confirmed by Pakistan foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz. Islamabad has been under pressure by the Afghan and the US governments to use its considerable influence over the Taliban to bring them to the negotiating table. More recently US politicians obstructed the sale of F16 jets and other military aid to Pakistan on the grounds that it has been harbouring Taliban and the Haqqani network. The US administration has been exerting pressure on Islamabad to put tangible pressure on the Taliban leadership to end its 15 years of armed rebellion. Taliban Mullah Mansoors death can be seen as both a challenge and an opportunity for the Taliban. The armed group could either split into several splinter groups, or the vacancy at the top could be used as an opportunity to rally around a more unifying leader. The new leader is most likely to come from the battlefield, a hardliner, which means more war. Mullah Mansoors death can be seen as both a challenge and an opportunity for the Taliban. The armed group could either split into several splinter groups, or the vacancy at the top could be used as an opportunity to rally around a more unifying leader. The new leader is most likely to come from the battlefield, a hardliner, which means more war. Afghan government It is a major psychological boost for the Afghan government. Analyst are of the opinion that if the Afghan government could service its own internal woes in 2016, that alone would be an achievement. The killing of Mansoor has thrown the government a lifeline. With the Taliban wounded, the Afghan government can only blame itself if it fails to put its house in order and come up with a quick military plan to go on the offensive. It is a major psychological boost for the Afghan government. Analyst are of the opinion that if the Afghan government could service its own internal woes in 2016, that alone would be an achievement. The killing of Mansoor has thrown the government a lifeline. With the Taliban wounded, the Afghan government can only blame itself if it fails to put its house in order and come up with a quick military plan to go on the offensive. Hashmat Moslih, Al Jazeeras Afghan analyst Afghanistan said the attack killed Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, which, if confirmed, could trigger a succession battle within the armed group that has proved resilient despite a decade and a half of US military deployments to Afghanistan. Afghanistans Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said on Twitter that he was dead, the countrys spy agency also said that he had been killed, and a source close to Mansoor told Al Jazeera he believed the reports to be true. The Saturday drone strike, which US officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama, showed that the US was prepared to go after the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which the government in Kabul has repeatedly accused of sheltering the rebels. Pakistan protested on Sunday, saying the US government did not inform Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif beforehand. This is a violation of Pakistans sovereignty, Sharif told reporters in London. PROFILE: Mullah Akhtar Mansoor A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that Washington only notified Pakistan after the strike. The Taliban, which has a history of denying developments that could hurt its standing, has not yet issued an official statement though some of the groups officials earlier denied the reports. False rumours on the deaths of Taliban figures have circulated before. In December, the Afghan government said Mansoor had died after a gunfight. The Taliban later released an audio message from him in which he denied he had been killed. US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that the Taliban chief posed a continuing imminent threat to US personnel in Afghanistan and to Afghans, and was a threat to peace. This action sends a clear message to the world that we will continue to stand with our Afghan partners as they work to build a more stable, united, secure and prosperous Afghanistan, Kerry said. The US stopped short of formally declaring Mansoor dead, a day after announcing the strike. At this point, were not quite prepared to confirm that he was killed, though it appears likely, US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told Fox News Sunday. Passport recovered It was unclear how long Mansoor might have been inside Pakistan before the strike. Pakistans Foreign Ministry disclosed that a passport found at the site of the strike, bearing a different name, carried a valid Iranian visa. It added that the purported passport holder was believed to have returned to Pakistan from Iran on Saturday, the day of the drone strike targeting Mansoor. Photos of the passport, bearing the name Wali Muhammad, seen by Reuters news agency showed a passing resemblance to some of the old photos available of Mansoor. US officials said the strike happened at about 1000 GMT, which would have put it late on Friday night in the target area. Several drones targeted the men as they travelled in a vehicle in a remote part of Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan, southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, one US official said. The Pentagon confirmed that the US army had tried to kill Mansoor, but gave no information about his condition. Inside Story Should the US negotiate with the Taliban? Al Jazeeras Mohamed Vall, reporting from Kabul, said the timing of the strike was significant because the Afghan government warned it would take action against the group for not participating in the talks. They refused to show at the negotiating table, so the Afghan President recently said that now its time for us to act and go after them. The Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), made up of representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States were urged to show their military role, he said If it is proved that Mullah Mansoor has died in the strike, it would be a major blow to the Taliban. READ MORE: Serious steps against Taliban on Afghan talks agenda Efforts to broker talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban had already stalled after a suicide attack in Kabul last month killed 64 people and prompted President Ashraf Ghani to prioritise military operations over negotiations. But Ghanis office said on Sunday that the removal of Mansoor could open the door to talks and that Taliban members who wanted to end the bloodshed should return from alien soil and join peace efforts. Who is Mullah Akhtar Mansoor? Mullah Mansoor was born in about 1965 in a small village called Kariz in the Maiwand district of Kandahar. He belongs to Afghanistans Ishaqzai tribe. He fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan for a brief period and was a member of Harakat-i-Inqilab-i-Islami, a former paramilitary group formed by Maulana Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi to fight them. One of his first jobs for the group was overseeing the security of Kandahar airport. In 1996-2001, when the Taliban was in power, he oversaw the ministry of civil aviation. He rose to the upper echelons after Mullah Akhtar Osmani, a senior Taliban military leader and a close associate of Mullah Omar, was killed by US-led coalition forces in 2006 and Mullah Dadullah Akhund, the groups top military commander, was killed in 2007 by British special forces. Between 2007 and 2010 he was able to stake a claim for higher office when Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy of Mullah Omar, and Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, the Taliban government defence minister, were captured by the Pakistan Intelligence agency ISI. In July 2015, Afghan intelligence said that Mullah Omar had been dead for two years. Within hours of that announcement, the Taliban reportedly held a meeting and elected Mullah Mansoor as leader. But his appointment appeared to expose fissures in the group. A few months after his appointment, Taliban fighters seized the capital of Kunduz province after launching a daring raid from multiple directions. The attack was the biggest blow to President Ashraf Ghani since he took office a year before. In December 2015, Afghan officials said Mansoor had died after a gunfight. The Taliban later released an audio message from him in which he denied he had been killed. Mansoor refused to join any of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) meetings, made up of representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States and aimed at reviving a peace process. After his persistent refusal to join talks, Afghan officials told Al Jazeera that action against the Taliban would be on the agenda for the fifth round of peace talks in early May. US officials briefed the media on May 21 that a drone attack authorised by President Barack Obama had likely killed him and another Taliban member. With additional reporting by Shereena Qazi. Abu Siddiq, belonging to Muslim minority, says he fled to Malaysia after four of his children were hacked to death. For decades, Rohingya Muslims have been fleeing Myanmar, a Buddhist majority country where they are forced to live in apartheid-like conditions and denied access to jobs, education and healthcare. Four by Abu which started a riot] But in recent years the exodus of refugees has surged. Since 2012, more than 100,000 people have braved perilous boat journeys in search of better lives in Malaysia, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. Abu Siddiq, a Rohingya refugee living in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, told Al Jazeera that he was forced to flee his home in Myanmar after ethnic Buddhists launched a brutal campaign against his family and community. Also read Al Jazeera correspondents blog: Myanmars shame We were beaten, harassed and our houses burned down, Siddiq told Al Jazeera. We dug trenches, and put dry grass in them to sleep. We soon had no food to eat and were often hunted down. With 6,000 people living in a field, we drank water from drains and puddles, there was no food or medical care, he added. Four of my children aged, two, three, five and 10 were brutally killed hacked to death. A Rohingya woman was killed during Ramadan [the Muslim holy month of fasting] which started a riot. WATCH Exclusive: Strong evidence of genocide in Myanmar Not regarded as one of the countrys 135 official ethnic groups, Myanmar government views the Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants despite the fact that many of them have been living there for more than a century. The government has denied them citizenship, which renders them stateless. Fearing for the safety of his remaining family members, Siddiq joined more than 120 others and crammed on to a boat headed for Malaysia, where the Rohingya eke out a living on the margins of society. Many first cross the border into neighbouring Bangladesh, from where they try to get to countries with better treatment but most are turned away by authorities who shirk responsibility, claiming that they dont have the resources to look after them. After being turned away we quickly finished our food and water, arriving in Thailands waters a week later. We were stopped by human traffickers who were waiting in speedboats, they had guns we were loaded up on speed boats and beaten. We were taken ashore and locked in cages they wanted ransom money. At night they would take young women and rape them. After contacting a relative for help, Siddiq says his captors were payed $3,000 and he was released in Malaysia. INTERACTIVE: Desperate Journeys The Rohingya People Siddiq, like most Rohingya in Malaysia has found a poorly paid job working as a drain cleaner in Kuala Lumpur but lives in constant fear of deportation as he doesnt have legal status in the country. Malaysia, like many of its neighbours, hasnt signed the United Nations Convention on Refugees which means there are no laws to protect refugees. The UNHCR says there are 53,700 Rohingya registered in Malaysia, but the numbers are believed to be much higher. In October, Al Jazeeras Investigative Unit uncovered strong evidence of a genocide coordinated by the Myanmar government against the Rohingya. The evidence revealed that the government was triggering communal violence for political gain by inciting anti-Muslim riots, using hate speech to stoke fear among the Myanmarese about Muslims, and offering money to hardline Buddhist groups who threw their support behind the leadership. Veteran Japanese photographer Ryuichi Hirokawa says his work is inspired by the history of Palestine. Standing before a photograph he took in 2009 of a Palestinian child in Gaza left speechless after witnessing a shower of human flesh from an Israeli attack on her neighbourhood, Japanese photographer Ryuichi Hirokawa says he decided to become a photojournalist because of Palestinians. Hirokawa began taking pictures as a teenager, travelling through his native Japan to document local stories in the mountains and on isolated islands. In 1967, after completing university, he travelled to Israel. I entered a kibbutz. In Japan they wrote that all kibbutzim were paradise, he said, noting he arrived shortly before the outbreak of the Six-Day War. I changed my mind. In Japan we were taught that war is bad, but people were celebrating. READ MORE: Nakba The man reconstructing Palestines lost villages Hirokawa, who made a recent appearance at the second International Palestinian Conference for Media and Communications in Turkey, recalled finding ruins near the kibbutz. I asked people what these ruins were but no one answered, he said, noting as he began to explore and research the ruins further, he began to learn about the history of the Palestinian plight. I started finding villages and I studied what happened. It took me more than 30 years, but I would take pictures and make documentaries about Palestinian villages. Palestinians made me a photojournalist. As he continued to study and learn more about Palestinian history, Hirokawa began to take part in demonstrations against the Israeli occupation, and we had stones thrown at us. He spent years tracking down the ruins of villages, finding them one by one, and then studying what had happened in each. A Jewish friend helped him to track down the old villages by comparing modern-day and historical maps. I studied about what happened, why people left and so on. After that, I searched for people in refugee camps. It took 20, 30, more than 30 years. But I was able to take pictures and make a documentary about the Palestinian villages, almost 500 villages stories. It was a strong experience, Hirokawa said. My body said don't go, it's too dangerous. The refugee camp was closed by Israeli tanks but I started to enter. Immediately I found ... dead bodies. by Ryuichi Hirokawa, photojournalist In 1982, Hirokawa was in Lebanon at the time of the Sabra and Shatila massacre. When I was in Sabra and Shatila, it was the most difficult time for me, he said. There was an old man who kept asking me, Why now you come? Why not before one month? Then I understood that his son was killed one month before. He said, If a journalist was there, the soldier couldnt kill my son in front of a journalist.' The image of this grieving father pushed Hirokawa to enter Sabra and Shatila straight after the massacre. I remembered this person [telling me that] without journalists, something awful happens, he said, noting he was initially fearful to enter. My body said dont go, its too dangerous. The refugee camp was closed by Israeli tanks but I started to enter. Immediately I found dead bodies. Hirokawa remembers being in a state of shock as he witnessed the carnage inside the camp. At the time, he took pictures of dead bodies, but he wanted to go back to find out who they were. It was difficult to return in the immediate aftermath of the massacre, as the area was locked down, but a year later, Hirokawa went back. I found the victims families and wrote their stories, he said. In another gesture of support to Palestinians, Hirokawa has set up the Japanese Committee for the Children of Palestine, a charity that allows for the sponsorship of orphans and raises funds to build kindergartens. People want to help, he explained. With a report from Jehan Alfarra Opposition fighters say they will start fighting back if government continues offensive in suburbs of capital. Syrian rebel groups have said that they will no longer abide by a ceasefire deal unless the Syrian army ends a major offensive on their positions in the suburbs of Damascus within 48 hours. A statement by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), signed by nearly 30 rebel groups that operate across Syria, said that they would deem the ceasefire as having totally collapsed if the assault by Syrian government and allied Lebanese Hezbollah forces fighters did not cease within two days. The signatories, who include Western and Turkish-backed groups operating on the main frontlines in northern and southern Syria, said that once the two-day period had ended, rebels would respond with all the legitimate means to defend the civilians living in these areas. Syrian forces and allied fighters seized an extensive area southeast of the capital on Thursday. The rebel-held town of Daraya, located just a few kilometres from President Bashar al-Assads Damascus palace, was also pounded for the first time since the broader cessation of hostilities accord, which took effect at the end of February. In their joint statement, the rebels said that the continued attacks by the army on the besieged rebel-held areas around Damascus and their strongholds in the northern city of Aleppo and Idlib province were putting peace-making efforts at risk. Rebel brigades were considering withdrawing from a futile political process, they said, which gives legitimate cover to continue the crimes and massacres by the criminal Assad regime and its allies. The Syrian army stopped extending the cessation of hostilities this month after accusing rebels of violating the agreement by firing at government-controlled residential areas. Aleppo onslaught Meanwhile, air strikes hit the only road into rebel-held areas of Aleppo city on Sunday in the heaviest bombardment since February, a rebel official and monitors said, jeopardising access to an area where about 300,000 Syrians live. They said Russian warplanes had carried out the attacks on the Castello road, which was still open but dangerous. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said the road had been hit in a week of escalating air strikes, with Sundays attack the most intense yet. A truce was brokered by the United States and Russia in February. But the agreement has since unravelled, with fighting and bombardment in Aleppo playing a big part in its collapse. Dozens of civilians were killed in the air strikes on residential areas in rebel-held towns and cities in the last week. The US and Russian-brokered ceasefire has unravelled largely due to fighting and bombardment in Aleppo. Major power foreign ministers meeting in Vienna failed last week to revive the ceasefire or set a new date to resume Syrian peace talks Hundreds of families fled the area, which rebels had controlled since 2012. The town of Daraya, also near the capital, was one of the first to erupt in demonstrations against the government in 2011. It has been under a strict regime siege since late 2012. Constitutional changes, if passed as expected, will allow President Rahmon to rule the central Asian state for life. Polls closed in ex-Soviet Tajikistan on Sunday in a referendum on constitutional changes almost certain to strengthen the hold of long-time President Emomali Rahmon and his family over the Central Asian state. The countrys electoral commission, which declared the vote valid, said some 88.3 percent of the roughly 4.3 million eligible voters had cast ballots by 1300 GMT. The 63-year-old leader has ruled Tajikistan for nearly a quarter of a century, demonstrating what critics say is an increased disregard for religious freedoms, civil society and political pluralism in recent years. Many residents of the Tajik capital appeared enthusiastic in their support for Rahmon, who led the country out of a five-year civil war that began in 1992, less than a year after independence. Rahmon brought us peace, he ended the war, and he should rule the country for as long as he has the strength to, 53-year-old voter Nazir Saidzoda told AFP news agency. Other voters were more pessimistic about their leaders ability to pull the country of eight million out of economic difficulty. Everything that is being done is for [the regime] to hold on to power for as long as possible, 37-year-old Marifat Rakhimi said. We are waiting for a better economy and the disappearance of corruption. Rakhimi added. READ MORE: Tajikistan Islamist leaders face life in prison The amendment to lift the limit on his time in office applies only to Rahmon, owing to the Leader of the Nation status parliament voted to grant him last year, which also affords him and his family permanent immunity from criminal prosecution. Other amendments include lowering the minimum age required to be elected president from 35 to 30 and a ban on the formation of parties based on religion. The age-limit change could position Rahmons 28-year-old son, Rustam, for an early succession, while restrictions on political parties come amid the ongoing trial of key members of a banned Islamic party. The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) had been widely viewed as moderate before the government branded it a terrorist group last year, stripping away the most significant formal opposition to the Rakhmon regime. Yemeni troops killed 13 fighters in a raid outside the city of Mukalla, which was ruled by al-Qaeda until last month. Yemeni troops killed 13 fighters in a raid outside the southern city of Mukalla, which was ruled by al-Qaeda until last month. Special forces and the army gained complete control over the site backed up by helicopters from the Arab coalition, which dealt with groups of terrorists spread around the area who were fleeing, Yemeni army said in a statement on Sunday. A search confirmed that these fighters were about to carry out a surprise terrorist attack on some military command centres at dawn this morning. A security official said the fighters were from al-Qaeda. READ MORE: Deadly bombing targets police in Yemens Mukalla Hours after the raid three more fighters were killed as a car bomb they were preparing detonated in the courtyard of a house in the Rawkab area where the raid had taken place, residents and a security official told Reuters news agency. They said that security forces were combing the area for more gunmen and explosives. Before being forced out, al-Qaeda fighters took advantage of more than a year of war between Iran-allied Houthi forces and supporters of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to carve out a mini-state stretching across much of the countrys southern coast, including Mukalla. READ MORE: Rivals begin direct talks in Kuwait In a separate development, the UN envoy for Yemen said peace talks aimed at ending fighting in the impoverished Arab country were making incredible progress and that a halt in fighting is largely holding. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said at a forum in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Sunday that a cessation of hostilities is holding about 80 to 90 percent, even if pockets of violence continue. He said the drop in fighting has allowed much-needed aid to make its way to areas affected by the fighting. He said he is hopeful that most of the thorniest issues in the conflict have been discussed during peace talks taking place in Kuwait and that a resolution could be very close. The case against Assange is as political as it is legal; where does it go from here? Plus, Kenyas election influencers. These days the genre of desert blues boasts one of the most vibrant music movements around the world. The bands and musicians that are part of this genre come from an area that is spread across Western Africa that stretches from Mali to Libya gathering people of various ethnic groups. Artists such as, Terakaft, Boubakar Traore, Tamikrest, Bombino, Habib Koite, Vieux Farka Toure, Amadou and Miriam, to name but a few, can be seen and heard touring the world, performing at prestigious world music festivals and producing brilliant and popular recordings. The sound that forms the basis of their music, apart from the dominant sound of the guitars, shares the same yearning and pace as the American blues, and the sonorities of the strings resonate in a way that has already been heard on old blues recordings.The popularity of this movement and music can easily be pinpointed to the music of the great Malian artist, a towering musical figure and cultural icon. It was him who singlehandedly introduced the world to this music and its cultures behind. Toure's music was the finest example of desert blues that was unconcerned with boundaries. For years before the world came to know his music in the '80s, he merged the sounds and the rhythms of his native Mali with the sounds of the blues which inevitably drew comparisons with another great artist, the blues legend. At the time, his music was wide spreading across Africa when cassettes were the chosen medium for the desert and were used as main distribution channels as much as these days cell phone memory cards are used in West Africa for distributing music. And it was inevitable for him to meet the ever curious guitar adventurer and producer. That was the moment when the desert blues got its worldwide exposure. Cooder has carved a reputation of delving deep and exploring the vast legacies of American musical legacies, most notably the rustic strains of the blues. That a guitarist of reputation and history such as Cooder's chose to play with Toure is not surprising. After all, Africa is the spiritual homeland of the blues.Recorded over a period of three days, Talking Timbuktu is full of sizzling examples that will surely curl the toes and will warm the hearts of guitar fanatics. On these 11 tracks, there is a kind of interplay and communication between these two artists that is rare in any kind of music. Both artists are immediately recognizable musicians on that most overplayed of instruments, but to their advantage both of them are also bound by their obvious empathy. There is some serious mutual respect at work on this historic meeting evident right from the start with the opening "Bondo." The song's melodies swirl with emotion bolstered by call and response vocals that all together conjure so much: the streams of river Niger, the vastness of a desert sky and the force of a desert wind. Apart from the electric guitar, Toure plays banjo here, and interestingly, Cooder plays and complements him with a Cumbus, a Turkish fretless variant of a banjo (the word Cumbus is also a synonym for chaos) on this beautiful opener.The follow-up track "Soukora" just shows how excellent Toure is at balancing feels and flow. It features a very simple yet very effective and memorable line that go straight to the heart. Not only that, it shows a remarkable musical empathy and thoughtlessness by Cooder who plays mandoguitar in the background. Cooder's role on this record is more in the line to strengthen Toure's vision (As Toure is the author of all the tracks but one) and to better the music by subtly adding his imprint rather than to impose himself into the limelight. Joining him on this endeavor are three legendary musicians, drummer Jim Keltner, bassist extraordinaire, and blues guitarist Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown. By no means this is a corporate takeover as this group of people have a perfect understanding that its role to augment Toure's vision rather than to adulterate it.Toure has played with outsiders before, most notably guitariston The Source. (World Circuit, 1993) In a sense, inviting foreigners into these songs is a sign of confidence that Toure has in the integrity of his music. Nevertheless, this record's soundworld is also shaped by geography. Ali was known to sing in a number of West African languagesapart from his own Sonrai, he sang in languages such as Songhai, Peul, Tamasheck, Bambara and others. As a country, Mali is a meeting point of several disparate cultures and Toure's music reflected that. This is communal music and it knows no boundaries."Gomni" is based on layers of delicate percussion and Cooder's guitar can be heard adding more layers with his indelible slide. It's a typical modal track and with his embellishments, he creates a subtle but wider spectrum of colors and textures. "Sega" is a short instrumental with the fiddle-like sounding n'jarka taking the lead. "Lasidan" is the most playful track here. The pace is fast-slowness with percussion layering up gradually with handclaps, congas and the calabash. It's truly eclectic without being too mannered, and it's virtuosic without showing off. "Amandrai "and "Au Du" are the places where the Delta and the desert blues truly meet. These are lengthy, slow-paced and spontaneous blues songs where Cooder and Toure trade off licks. Both of these tracks display the pair's keen melodic sensibilities and distinct styles of playing. Functioning as a veritable master class in multicultural collaboration, both Toure and Cooder are at the top of their game here, each other placing their inimitable stamps on this iconic music.What is evident on this record, first and foremost, is the joy of playing and joy of interacting musically. On the other hand, by its genesis and mood, it is the sound of a journey undertaken. This journey takes one's head from the rural places of Mali down to the Delta juke joints and backward. For the most part, on this record, it sounds like these performances were captured live in the studio with minimal overdubbing and editing. Most of the time the songs have that improvised feel of a conversation and a sense that a moment was captured that we are lucky to have.Mali's gifts to the world of music are lavish and legendary, and this record is the one that opened the doors for the world to its vast riches. The vinyl reissue of Talking Timbuktu allows listeners to experience the brilliance of these two iconic musicians where the superb production captures all the subtle nuances of each performer's phrasings and grasp of the songs. There's a timeless quality to it. It is a genre defining recording that was not only Grammy awarded but for a long time it was the best-selling world music record of all time. It also stands as one of the most important documents of modern African music. Talking Timbuktu represents a high-water mark in the careers of both of these remarkable artists. There is magic to the sounds of the desert and Talking Timbuktu simply captures that magic with an amazing grace. The highest praise you can give to a recording by a solo performer is that the music was made just for your ears. Pianist's Montage gives just that impression. It's easy to imagine these fifteen tracks were played in your living room, or automobile, for that matter.After releasing seven discs as a leader, with sideman like drummersand, bassists, and his partner, here Perdomo goes solo. After a twenty-plus year career as a sideman to the likes of, and, this solo recording is long overdue.Born in Venezuela, and now a New York resident, he discards his accent and speaks like a true Gothamite on "Body And Soul." Played as if by request, his approach calls to mind the elegance and economy of. Perdomo also shares Jones' relaxed manner. On "Cal Massey" we hear him stretch his keyboard attack with a two-handed-like attack. He also passes perhaps the ultimate New York litmus test by playing a convincing rendition of "Monk's Dream." Pianists can't fake their way through's more difficult compositions. Perdomo masters both the locomotion and the voicing of Monk's meter.He would be remiss if he didn't visit the sounds of Caracas. Perdomo spins out the Latin chamber sounds of "La Revuelta de Don Fulgencio," the bolero "Si Te Contara," and a haunting "Mambo Mongo." Listening to Perdomo entertain the ears is simply awe inspiring.He supplements his written compositions and the covers here with five improvised "Montage" pieces. Each a piece of impressionistic portraiture. The rocking stone two-handed "Montage: Fleeing" gives way to the shadowy "Montage: Sleepwalker," followed by the turbulent "Montage: Angst," the echoing "Montage: Air," and the smile-starter "Montage: The Ascent." Maybe it is self-deception to believe Perdomo made this recording just for your ears, but so what? 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 by S. Eben Kirkesby and Andreas Harsono 5427 14th St. West, Bradenton, FL 34207 $6.99 Fish Fridays! Manatee Co.'s Only 24-Hr. FREE Wi-Fi Paid Advertisement On Native Ground 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] Its a lie often repeated that Obama was a Constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago law school. In fact, he was just a lecturer there for a short time who never much impressed his colleagues. Watching this administration in action one wonders what, if anything, he understands about the Constitution at all. His is an administration based on flouting it. Its true that the judicial process moves slowly and such conduct can continue for a while until halted, but repeatedly the courts are catching up. In fact, the Supreme Court has ruled unanimously against the administration 20 times. As Ted Cruz noted: President Obama has seen 20 unanimous defeats before the Supreme Court during the five and a half years of his presidency, a pace that outstrips former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, according to a review of his record since 2009 by Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas). President Obamas unanimous Supreme Court loss rate, for the five and half years of his presidency, is nearly double that of President Bush and is 25 percent greater than President Clinton, Cruz notes in a survey of how Obamas lawyers performed before the high court. Bush lost 15 cases unanimously, while Clinton lost 23 -- but those defeats came over an eight-year period. When Cruz released his first report on the topic in April of 2013, he pointed out that Obama had lost nine cases unanimously since January of 2012. This latest installment takes account of the four most recent unanimous rulings against Obama, and the seven handed down by the court before 2012. The defeats include cases such: as Judalang v. Holder, when the court faulted the Obama team for making an arbitrary and capricious attempt to rewrite the rules governing who is eligible for relief from deportation; Henderson ex rel. Henderson v. Shinseki, in which Obamas lawyers argued wrongly that the Department of Veterans Affairs can wholly ignore a veterans appeal of a VA regional offices benefits ruling when the appeal was not filed within the 120-day deadline; and Bond v. United States, in which the DOJ argued that an international treaty gave Congress the power to create federal criminal law for wholly local conduct. The range of the administrations abuse of its powers is substantial. Thus, by way of example, one court has held that funneling payments to insurers to cover co-pays by insured low-income people which funds were never authorized by Congress, could be the subject of a Congressional lawsuit challenging the disbursements. "Only Congress can appropriate funds for federal programs and so Congress faces a unique institutional injury when the executive branch decides to take that particular prerogative upon itself," according to a blog post from Ilya Shapiro, a legal scholar for the libertarian think tank Cato Institute and an outspoken Obamacare critic. States have rights to set their own laws and are mounting a fight over the bathroom edict. The Little Sisters of the Poor dug in their heels at the administrations commands respecting birth control insurance coverage for their employees and won in the Supreme Court: Courts have ruled against the SEC for violating the appointments clause of the Constitution (Article II of the U.S. Constitution). They ruled against Obamas intrasession appointments to the NLRB: The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that President Obama exceeded his constitutional authority in making high-level government appointments in 2012 when he declared the Senate to be in recess and unable to act on the nominations. Obama made appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) at a time when the Senate was holding pro forma sessions every three days precisely to thwart the presidents ability to exercise the power. The Senate is in session when it says it is, Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote for the court, stressing that if the Senate is able to conduct business, that is enough to keep the president from making recess appointments. More extraordinary than the overt overreaching has been the perversion of the judicial process itself, and this week it came to a head in Texas where a federal district court judge caught the Justice Department lawyers lying to the court, not only a violation of their ethical responsibility, but a new low for DoJ lawyers who, when I first came here fifty years ago, were the models of probity, carefully supervised to see no one overstepped their obligations for truthful representations in court. One might -- and I do -- date the corruption of the Department of Justice to their behavior in the case against Senator Ted Stevens, when the Court threw out his career-ending conviction and ordered an investigation into the prosecutors by his own appointed prosecutor, not trusting the department to do the job: During and after the trial, the judge reprimanded prosecutors several times for how they had handled evidence and witnesses. He chastised prosecutors for allowing a witness to leave town. He grew more agitated when he learned that prosecutors had introduced evidence they knew was inaccurate, and he scolded them for not turning over exculpatory material to the defense. After the trial, an FBI agent came forward to complain about the conduct of prosecutors and another agent. And in February, Sullivan held three prosecutors in contempt for not complying with an order to produce documents connected to an investigation of the FBI agent's allegations. The judge said the most recent allegation linked to prosecutors' notes was "the most shocking and serious" so far. Despite the investigation, the lawyers involved suffered no serious consequences of which I am familiar. To the contrary, they continued to handle high-profile cases for the department. This week, one court went further. Faced with incontrovertible evidence that department prosecutors had deliberately lied to the court, affecting the plaintiffs right to injunctive relief (Eric Holder was the attorney general during this misconduct, not Attorney General Lynch) Judge Andrew Hanen struck back hard. The latest case involved the presidents grant of executive amnesty to President Obamas Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program (DAPA). Twenty-six states brought suit against the program and won an injunction, which was upheld by the Fifth Circuit upon the governments appeal. The case awaits Supreme Court action. The plaintiff states were eligible for temporary injunctive relief pending the initial hearing for a permanent injunction, but were foreclosed from doing so when the government lawyers lied and represented that the program would be halted until the case was resolved. In fact, more than 100,000 were allowed to take advantage of this deferred deportation program during the pendency of proceedings before Judge Hanen. Lyle Denniston at Scotus Blog details the judges reprimand and order. The misconduct in this case was intentional, serious and material. In fact, it is hard to imagine a more serious, more calculated plan of unethical conduct. So as not to interfere with the Justices review, he said, he had decided not to impose a remedy that otherwise might have been justified for blatant misconduct of such magnitude -- that is, an order to strike all of the governments legal filings in the case. Doing so apparently would have brought the case to an abrupt end, with a default ruling in favor of the twenty-six states who sued to challenge the Obama policy. [snip] He found that those attorneys had repeatedly assured him and lawyers for the suing states that the Obama administration was not doing anything to put the new policy into effect. The judge said he and the states had relied upon those assurances in working out procedural steps in the case, including the timing of his order to block enforcement. He said that he had found that those very attorneys were aware that government officials had already given the benefit of the new policy to more than 100,000 young people who were scheduled to be covered under the program if it were allowed to go into effect. [snip] The judge noted that the Justice Department had apologized for having provided misinformation, but he went on to conclude that the attorneys behavior could not be treated as merely a mistake or an inadvertence. The misconduct was done intentionally, he ruled. [snip] In deciding upon remedies, the judge said he had taken off the table not only the option of striking of all of the governments legal filings, but also any assessment on the federal government of the states fees for their attorneys and court costs. That remedy, he said, would only shift the burden onto the taxpayers and would leave the Justice Department unscathed, even though it was actually responsible for this mess. He added: Clearly, there seems to be a lack of knowledge about or adherence to the duties of professional responsibility in the halls of the Justice Department. [snip] In detail, here is what he imposed as an ethical remedy: First, to make sure that any Justice Department attorney who appears or seeks to appear in any court in any of the twenty-states that have been harmed by the misconduct he found is aware of his or her ethical duties, each must attend a legal ethics course every year for the next five years. Second, those courses in ethical training are to be at least three hours in length each year and must include the ethical requirements for candor to a court and truthfulness to third parties as spelled out in the code of each court where the attorneys would appear in those states. Third, the training is to be provided by at least one recognized ethics expert not affiliated with the Justice Department. Fourth, the attorneys must attend that training in person, and cannot do so online or through self-study. To carry out these requirements, Judge Hanen ordered Attorney General Loretta Lynch to name a compliance officer within her department, who must file an annual report with the judge listing the Washington-based attorneys who took the required training with details of their appearances and of the training they received. The first such report is due by the end of this year, and reports will continue to be due until the end of 2021, according to the order. Going even further, the judge told Lynch to file within sixty days a comprehensive plan to prevent this unethical conduct from ever occurring again. And, within sixty days, she must also inform the judge of steps she will take to make sure that the departments own internal Office of Professional Responsibility polices the conduct of attorneys and disciplines them for misconduct. [snip] The judge added another sanction that appears to have the potential to withdraw any benefits to the young immigrants who received them between November 20, 2014, and March 3, 2015 -- the period during which he said such benefits were wrongly provided without disclosure at the time by the government attorneys. He gave the Justice Department until June 10 of this year to provide a full list of each person who benefited during that time span. [snip] The judge conceded that he did not have the authority to disbar the lawyers involved, but he asserted that he did have the authority to revoke the temporary permission he had given them to appear in his court. He said he had done the latter in a separate order, which is still under seal. The time for granting prosecutorial immunity from prosecution has long passed and it might not be a bad idea to begin by changing the rule as it applies to Department of Justice counsel. One wonders how it is possible, with law firms cutting back and experienced, conscientious professionals out of work, that the department seems to be stuck with so many who seem unable to follow basic rules. On the other hand, looking at the conduct of so many departments in the executive, its impossible to ignore that the rot began at the top. The Obama Justice Department has revealed its final descent into naked politics and totalitarian bullying. Lois Lerner and Hillary Clinton, two transparently guilty criminals whose crimes are compounded by the fact that both are also lawyers, will face no indictments and no prosecution. The corrupt bosses of the Veterans Administration likewise face no sanction at all despite the manifest criminality of their actions. Lying under oath to Congress, failing to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests, conspiring to obstruct justice, and many other clear wrongdoings permeate almost every single crevice of the Obama administration, and yet no one who matters has faced any trouble from the Department of Justice. This is not because the Department of Justice is quiet and subdued. The attorney general refers to the FBI for possible criminal prosecution of those who question the leftist orthodoxy of man-made global warming and moves almost instantly to litigate the actions of states protecting children in school restrooms. The hyper-politicization of the Department of Justice by the left has been used unceasingly as a bludgeon against conservatives, Christians, and constitutionalists in America. While a new Republican administration with an honorable and fair attorney general would be welcome, once the Pandora's box of hyper-politicization has been opened as it has by Holder and Lynch there is no real cure at the federal level. Want a real "horror story"? Review the prosecution of Senator Ted Stevens during his re-election campaign in 2008. The Department of Justice is simply a tool for protection or persecution. The only effective solution is to do what may make many gasp, even many conservatives, and simply abolish the United States Department of Justice, leaving the Office of Attorney General with a Spartan staff to perform those absolutely essential constitutional duties. How, then, would federal laws and regulations be enforced? States have full authority to do just that, and Congress can return to state courts and to state authorities the enforcement of federal laws. This is perfectly proper, as many federal laws are already enforceable by state officers. Congress can confer on states the right to enforce its laws, and, indeed, it can confer upon state courts exclusive jurisdiction over "federal questions," with the single caveat that the Supreme Court would have appellate jurisdiction. This would solve many problems. First, it would mean folks like Lerner and Clinton, whose violations occurred in several states, would not be able to fix the system so that they are immune to prosecution. The powerful would suddenly find it impossible to game the system with fifty different states able to prosecute offenses. Second, because suddenly all the arcane and obscure federal laws, rules, and regulations would now be enforceable by fifty different jurisdictions, everyone in federal politics would see a strong need to adopt a short and sensible federal criminal code, and many federal offenses would likely be repealed as a consequence. Do we need a lot of federal criminal laws? No. States have adequate criminal laws even in tricky areas like organized crime, and state prosecutors and law enforcement have longed worked effectively with sister states. In those truly extraordinary cases, the attorney general could request a federal judge to appoint a special prosecutor, but that would be exceptional. The FBI could return to what it does best: assist, when asked, state law enforcement agencies with specialized help. Third, returning the prosecution of federal offenses to state criminal justice agencies would have the practical effect of also devolving power back to the states. Indeed, the vast majority of activity currently done by federal agencies can be constitutionally done by state government agencies. This provides a practical check on the abuse of federal power by placing primary enforcement in the hands of officers who are accountable to state elected officials. The diffusion of power that today is so concentrated in a few hands in Washington would be another vital and happy result of devolving back to states the power to enforce federal laws. The president, of course, would still have the constitutional duty to see that the laws are faithfully executed, but nothing in the Constitution says that he must be given an army of federal bureaucrats to do that (the vast majority of which cannot be hired or fired by the president anyway). The Augean Stables are overflowing with the fetid muck of Washington insider-ism. Abolishing the Department of Justice is a good place to begin the Herculean task of cleaning this horrid mess. Free enterprise and capitalism are being attacked by both presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Both say they are for free trade but are against free trade deals negotiated over the past three decades by the United States. Those trade deals have benefited American consumers, all of them in a macro sense, to the tune of billions of dollars in savings and benefits. A few Americans have lost jobs in the process in a micro sense. They did not lose their lives, they werent taken out and shot like the farmers murdered by Russian Communists in the Ukraine that objected to losing their private farms to the government and/or working on government farms for an equal share of the proceeds in the great communist scheme of life. In the largest sense, the number of lost jobs to trade over the past 30 years is infinitesimal. For example, in the first 20 years of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) a documented 50,000 jobs a year were lost. By contrast, two and-a-half million jobs are lost in the average 18-month recession since 1946. What free trade critics never mention is the jobs allegedly lost to trade relative to the number of jobs that are created by trade. Over time, certain jobs classifications are more affected than others. Manufacturing, for example. Though fewer Americans work in manufacturing, the U.S. is producing more manufactured goods with fewer people. Technology and automation are responsible. At the same time, when trade grows so do attendant jobs. The United States Chamber of Commerce estimates 14 million people work in trade with Canada and Mexico alone. The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars estimates six million in trade with Mexico alone. All 50 states trade with Mexico. Question: Do all 50 states have trade relations with all 28 European countries like they do with Mexico? Governmental agencies ranging from the Census Bureau to state economic and travel commissions have joined to produce staggering statistics about individual states and their trade with Mexico. California, for example, sells $26.8 billion worth of goods to Mexican private firms and public agencies. Texas sells $101 billion worth of goods and services to Mexico. Vermont, tiny little Vermont, sells $213 million worth of goods and services. Alaska sells $8 million worth to Mexico. The state of Maine exports $43 million to Mexico. But outside California and Texas, the Rust Belt states sell astounding amounts of manufactured goods to Mexico. Michigan -- $12.17 billion; Ohio -- $5 billion, Indiana -- $4 billion, Wisconsin $2.51 billion, Illinois -- $7.3 billion, and on and on. On jobs, a miniscule number of jobs have been lost to Mexico in the 22 years since NAFTA began in January, 1994. The other side of the jobs story is best reflected in the 692,000 California jobs involved in trade with Mexico; or, 463,000 jobs in Texas working in trade with Mexico. Or, 14,372 jobs in Vermont, 128,000 in the state of Washington, or 75,500 in the state of Oregon. All 50 states export billions worth of goods and services to Mexico and employ millions in production of goods and service for the Mexican market. Critics of trade with Mexico are not only a political anathema for Free Enterprisers, they strike the heart of the countrys philosophy of trade and violate our national consumer societys rights and vision, its way of life and standard of living. MACRO=Very large numbers of workers and people, benefits for the entire population, the common good for 320 million people that can be measured in standard of living, national wealth MICRO=Tiny numbers of workers, individuals, isolated people in small numbers, the common good is sacrificed for a tiny few The Peterson Institute has calculated that wages lost to trade (such as companies moving out of the U.S.) can be calculated to one-time loss of $1258 per worker (130 million workers), say in 2008, while the prosperity quotient of the aggregate population in the form of consumer savings though lower prices and greater choice of products amounts to billions for a period of five years (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012). In other words, wages take a one-time hit in the year the loss occurs. The prosperity quotient is for five years for the year the wages were lost, thus the prosperity gain is cumulative at 20 percent per year for five years. Peterson economists calculate that over $700 billion in prosperity effect occurs over five years for each static year of wages lost (2008). The entire American population benefits by billions in consumer savings, in wages to the millions working in trade with Mexico and national income that is unmatched by trade with any nation in the world. For every dollar we send to China, for example, a grand total of four cents comes back in the form of China buying our goods and services. For every dollar we send to Mexico, forty cents comes back to the United States. So what is the problem? The man known as the pope and the vicar of Christ but who in light of what follows is probably best referred to by his real name, Jorge Mario Bergoglio recently gave an interview demonstrating why "so many people think he is the anti-Christ." The more salient features follow: Christ as Warmonger In classic relativistic fashion, Jorge claims: It is true that the idea of conquest is inherent in the soul of Islam. However, it is also possible to interpret the objective in Matthew's Gospel, where Jesus sends his disciples to all nations, in terms of the same idea of conquest. Only someone who is ignorant of or hostile to Christianity can make such a claim. To state the obvious: yes, both Christianity and Islam seek to win converts. However, Jesus's call to his disciples to "go forth and make disciples of all nations" in Matthew's Gospel was understood and practiced peacefully. Disciples preached; people converted. No violence, no coercion. In fact, it was Christians chief among them disciples and evangelists who were persecuted and killed simply for preaching Christ, first by the pagan Roman empire and later (and still) by Islam. Conversely, Muhammad said, "I have been sent with the sword between my hands to ensure that no one but Allah is worshipped Allah who put my livelihood under the shadow of my spear and who inflicts humiliation and scorn on those who disobey my commandments (The Al Qaeda Reader, p.12)." The Koran is replete with commands to do violence on those who refuse to submit to Islam and yes, in ways that far transcend comparison with Old Testament violence. Unlike the spread of Christianity, Islam spread through the sword. This is a simple, historic fact, acknowledged by more sober European leaders: the overwhelming majority of territory that today constitutes the "Muslim world" was seized from non-Muslims by great violence and bloodshed. Two thirds of Christendom the Mideast and North Africa was to be swallowed up by Islam a century after Islam's founding. Even Rome was sacked and the Vatican defiled in the name of Islam in the year 846. The making of martyrs is the only similarity that Christianity and Islam share when it comes to how they spread: while Christians were martyred for their faith, Muslims martyred whoever refused their faith. Dislike for "Christian Roots" of Europe (or Dislike for Truth) According to Jorge, "when I hear talk of the Christian roots of Europe, I sometimes dread the tone, which can seem triumphalist or even vengeful. It then takes on colonialist overtones." One expects such ahistorical multicultural drivel from a clueless atheist not the pope. A quick education for Jorge: the "Christian roots of Europe" are a fact. For centuries, after the aforementioned Islamic conquests of the Middle East, the original heartland of Christianity, Europe became the heart and standard-bearer of the Christian faith. That's why it was called "Christendom." How can the supposed vicar, or representative, of Christ "dread" this fact, denouncing it as "triumphalist or even vengeful"? Christianity as a Welcome Doormat Apparently for Jorge, Europeans may express their Christian roots and faith but only by being "welcome" doormats: Yes, Europe has Christian roots and it is Christianity's responsibility to water those roots. But this must be done in a spirit of service as in the washing of the feet. Christianity's duty to Europe is one of service. ... Christianity's contribution to a culture is that of Christ in the washing of the feet. So according to the head of the Catholic Church, the entire purpose and message of Christianity is the "washing of feet" or, in this context, taking in millions of Muslim migrants, many of whom are openly hostile to Christianity. Yes, Christ served and washed his disciples' feet and preached mercy and compassion but that was hardly the sole or even primary purpose of his mission. He offered an entire worldview founded on profound theological assertions. When people erred by profaning the temple, he didn't "turn the other cheek" (let alone wash their feet). He whipped them. He didn't preach naivety open your doors to those who have a long history of subjugating and still seek to subjugate you but rather taught his followers to be "wise as serpents." He spoke of everlasting hell and torments indeed, more so than anyone else in the entire Bible. That's why all Christian denominations have traditionally held that being Christian far transcends "the washing of feet." But for Jorge, the only aspects of Christianity worth expressing are those that benefit Muslim migrants, some of whom hate and persecute Christians in Europe. The Muslim World's Problems: Our Fault and Responsibility When asked if Europe has the capacity to continue accepting so many migrants, Jorge said: "[T]he deeper question is why there are so many migrants now." Like a true apologist for Islam, he went on to cite anything and everything arms manufacturers; hunger; and, parroting the Obama administration, unemployment as causes for upheavals in the Middle East, while ignoring the elephant in the room: Islamic culture, which engenders dysfunctional, intolerant, violent, authoritarian, and tribal societies. Simply look to the birthplace of Islam, where Islamic law is strictly upheld: Saudi Arabia is wealthier than most Western nations and has none of the problems cited by Jorge, yet it too is barbaric, corrupt, backwards, and hostile to all who do not profess Islam. Why? In the same Gospel of Matthew that Jorge cited to conflate the mission of Jesus's disciples with the mission of Muhammad's jihadis, Christ declares, "Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them." If ever there was a person whom this admonition seems to pertain to a man who holds the authoritative office of "representative of Christ," but who empowers the historic (and ongoing) enemy of Christianity, while urging Europeans to suppress their Christian heritage and express their faith exclusively by the "washing of feet," or by lying down before Muslims surely Jorge Mario Bergoglio fits the bill. Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again, holds fellowships at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and the Middle East Forum. Will Cold War II begin because of bananas? The Obama administration has made it clear, Yes, we have no bananas, we have no bananas today. Nevertheless, the distinguished Russian champion figure skater and now politician Irina Rodnina, who lit the Olympic flame at Sochi in February 2014, disagreed. Earlier, on September 2013 she had tweeted a racist picture of President Barack Obama, his mouth full of food, with a hand in the foreground waving a banana at him. The banana warfare continued. In the Russian city of Perm, a number of posters appeared addressing the U.S. President as Banan-Obama. On them were images of bananas labeled Ukraine, and the message dont choke. At a festival in Moscow in 2015 a playful competition featured four participants in blackface alongside an Obama impersonator chasing a banana. Ben Rhodes, the spin doctor at the White House, has not yet misled us about the eating habits of President Obama. However, we do know the next U.S. president has to contemplate Putins political and military appetites, and plan accordingly. Will the next president agree with President George W. Bush who in June 2001 thought, after a good talk with the Russian leader that he had a good sense of Russian President Vladimir Putins soul? The next U.S. president must also have a good sense of Putins body as well as of his soul. Russian leaders do tend to last. Vladimir Lenin, born in 1870 died in January 1924, is now officially 146 years old. His body is embalmed and well preserved with his red moustache and rests in a specially constructed mausoleum in Red Square in Moscow. Putin may not live the 146 years of Lenin but he has been in power in one position or other for 16 years, acting in authoritarian fashion and limiting real dissent in Russia. He does not espouse the dogmatic Communist ideology of Lenin but his guiding principles are clear: to restore the importance and power of the Russian state, to use the Russian Orthodox Church as the basis of values, to reject any Western interference in Russian affairs. Putin projects the image of a strong and physically vital individual, whether bare chested or wearing clothes, whether riding a horse or practicing judo. Corruption and theft may exist within the Russian system, but Putin still appears popular, a patriot in control of a country aiming to be a superpower. Putin has not led from behind in international affairs. He has acted, in Syria, in Georgia in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008. Putin blocked UN proposed action against the Assad regime in Syria and helped Assad militarily, but he also helped in the removal of chemical weapons in Syria in 2013. Russian military jets have carried out more sorties in a day against ISIS than the U.S.-led coalition did in a month, as well as against the anti-Assad rebels. The Russian navy has launched ballistic missiles from the Caspian Sea 900 miles away. Russia since 1971 has controlled the Tartus naval port in Syria. Converted into a permanent Russia base in 2008, it is now as strategically importance to Russia as the electronic intelligence center in Latakia and the anti-aircraft systems installed in Crimea and Kaliningrad. Putin, with a relatively weak hand, had played a daring poker game. He misled the West by asserting that Russia was providing Syria with only primarily defensive weapons to repel anti-regime rebels, and it did supply these, including S-300 anti-aircraft air defense systems. But it also supplied fighter jets, MiG-29Ms that can attack ground forces, and has commercial interests in Syria, especially arms contracts. It is of course Russias annexation of Crimea and its help for the separatists in Eastern Ukraine that led some in the west to believe that Russia was engaged in a plan of expansion. In a new novel 2017: War with Russia, General Sir Richard Shirreff, former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander of NATO in Europe, 2011-2014, suggests that a Russian attack on Eastern European nations, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, all NATO members, is a possibility. The West therefore should act to avert potential catastrophe. This is a chilling prospect because Russia has used nuclear thinking and capability in every aspect of their defense planning. Certainly there are problems. Noticeably, the Russian Black Sea fleet based in Sevastopol has been strengthened since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, to include submarines, missile corvettes and patrol boats. The Russian military presence in the Baltic Sea with ships carrying long range cruise missiles that can reach Rome or Cairo suggests that it may have become a Russian lake. On one occasion in April 2016, two Russian planes flew close to a American destroyer in the Baltic and on another day a Russian airplane came close to an American fighter jet in the Baltic Sea. Russia has not abided by the Minsk Protocol of September 5, 2014 intended to ensure a bilateral ceasefire in Ukraine, nor has Russia withdrawn illegal armed groups and military equipment and fighters from Ukraine. The sanctions imposed on Russia may only be lifted if and when the Protocol agreements are fully implemented. Russia cannot be a superpower as was the Soviet Union, but it has a role in international politics. Yet, that role does not suggest launching an attack on the West. At the same time it does not suggest Russian withdrawal from Crimea or part of Ukraine. This double reality seems to have been understood at the meeting in Brussels of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) at the level of Foreign Ministers on May 20, 2016. The alliance has agreed on a dual track approach towards Russia: maintaining and even reinforcing NATO defenses against a possible Russian threat, but keeping lines of communication to Russia open for political dialogue. The reinforcement part is familiar. NATO is building a defensive Eastern European missile defense shield in Redzikowo, Poland, being serviced by troops, radar, and a launching pad. Its present rapid reaction force of 13,000 will be increased to 30,000 troops. NATO was expanded in 2009 when Albania and Croatia became members. It was surprising that on May 19, 2016, NATO invited the Baltic country of Montenegro, with a population of 680,000 and about the size of Connecticut, to participate in all NATO meetings as an observer. The question is immediate, is any further expansion of NATO helpful? Moreover, NATO is planning to deploy four combat battalions, each of about 1,000 troops, in Eastern Europe as a deterrent. In response, Russia is deploying three military divisions along its western and southern borders, an activity that Secretary of Defense Ash Carter called nuclear sabre rattling. What is refreshing is the NATO foreign ministers decision to revive the NATO-Russia Council that was created on May 28, 2002 as a mechanism for consultation and cooperation between the two sides, especially a dialogue on security issues. In April 2014, because of the situation in Ukraine, practical cooperation between the two sides was suspended. It may be restored in an expected meeting of the two sides before the NATO meeting on July 1, 2016. Normalization of relations between NATO and Russia must be pursued. The two sides must cooperate, not simply on security issues in Eastern Europe, but on the more important problem of defeating Islamist terrorism. The next U.S. president must ensure that this is the case and that it becomes a major priority. The incredible journey of California's high speed rail took another hit this past week when authorities inked a contract revision pushing back the opening of the first segment of the line from 2018 to 2022. Project costs for this one, 119 mile stretch of track through the relatively empty Central Valley have topped $69 billion, with only a fraction of those funds appropriated. The high speed rail authority has only purchased half the land necessary to complete the first leg of the project and not a single foot of track has been laid. The feds are blaming opponents of the project, citing lawsuits and other nuisances. But in fact, the project began with no vision about how it would be funded or built. Politico: Concerns about the projects viability, however, extend well beyond NIMBY-ism and car-bias. The estimated price tag is now equivalent to 35 times the annual federal subsidy for Amtrak. The states voters approved $9 billion in bonds for high-speed rail, and Brown has diverted some revenue from Californias carbon trading program to the project, but Republicans shut off the federal spigot when they took back the House of Representatives in 2010. So while Morales says theres enough money to extend the railway north to San Jose, theres not yet a long-term funding source to finish the entire job. There is some optimism that private firms can help finance construction in anticipation of profits from running the line, but there is also widespread skepticism about the states rosy ridership forecasts. Meanwhile, the choice to start in the middle, in the sparsely populated and economically depressed Central Valley rather than the dense metropolitan areas to the north and south, has been ridiculed as a recipe for a high-priced train to nowhere. The first segment is actually designed to terminate in an empty lot north of Bakersfield. And the authority recently reversed its plans for its second segment, abruptly announcing that it will head north instead of southunderstandable given the engineering challenge of tunneling through mountains en route to Los Angeles, but projecting a bit of a whoopsy-daisy vibe. Its like a Saturday Night Live skit, Patterson said. The original rationale for starting in the middle was that all stimulus dollars had to be spent by September 2017, and the Central Valley run seemed relatively shovel-ready. It didnt require massive urban redevelopment or daunting tunnels. Clearly, though, even the out-of-the-way Central Valley section was less shovel-ready than expected. There have been bitter lawsuits over financing and environmental permitting. There have been protracted negotiations over many of the 1400 parcels the state needs to purchase or seize through eminent domain. As late as 2012, Californias high-speed rail agency had just a dozen employees overseeing the megaproject. And after Brown secured the carbon-trading money, the authority expanded its initial scope of work to include electrification of the line. Even for a government project, the incompetence and mismanagement startles the mind. The enormous sums already wasted should send politicians who support the project - including Governor Jerry Brown - to jail. How irresponsible is it to get $9 billion in a bond issue without having a clear plan to totally fund the project, or even an idea of where the rail line will go? The don't know how to build it. They can't fund it. They can't decide where it should go. The terminus is an empty lot? Are they serious? Think of all the things the state could have done with that money, starting with a tax cut for residents. Instead, Californians are stuck with a white elephant that will never be completed and even if it is, will have to subsidize riders forever. An Associated Press reporter accompanied US CENTCOM commander General Joseph Votel to a secret location in Syria where the general visited some of the 200 US military advisors who are training Syrian Kurds and Arabs to fight Islamic State. Votel is the highest ranking American to visit Syria. Votel's motives for visiting American forces were to highlight the work they are doing in training anti-ISIS fighters. There are no American combat troops in Syria, but US special forces are thought to be assisting Kurdish fighters on the battlefield. Votel said he brought reporters with him because, "We don't have anything to hide. I don't want people guessing about what we're doing here. The American people should have the right to see what we're doing here." Votel flew into northern Syria from Iraq, where he had conferred on Friday with U.S. and Iraqi military commanders. In Syria he met with U.S. military advisers working with Syrian Arab fighters and consulted with leaders of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an umbrella group of Kurdish and Arab fighters supported by the U.S. A small group of reporters accompanied Votel under ground rules that, for security reasons, prohibited disclosing his visit until after he had left Syria. After landing at a remote camp where American military advisers are training Syrian Arab troops in basic soldiering skills, Votel split off from the reporters who flew in with him; he then visited several other undisclosed locations in Syria before returning to the camp. Syria is a raging war zone, torn by multiple conflicts that have created severe human suffering across much of the country. But on Saturday the U.S. advisers camp that Votel visited was quiet. Situated about 50 miles from the nearest fighting, it was remarkably quiet. The sharpest sound was a month-old puppy's yapping as he ran between visitors' legs. A light breeze nudged several bright-yellow flags of the Syrian Democratic Forces attached to small bushes and atop a post buried in an earthen berm beside a shooting range. Aides said Votel's flight into Syria was the first made in daylight by U.S. forces, who have about 200 advisers on the ground. Military ground rules for the trip prohibited reporting the kind of aircraft Votel used, the exact location of where he landed and the names and images of the U.S. military advisers, who said they have been operating from the camp since January. An Associated Press reporter and journalists from two other news organizations were the first Western media to visit the secretive operation. Is it just a coincidence that Russia has offered to carry out joint strikes with the US? Votel disappeared for several hours from the training camp and could have met with Russian military leaders in Syria: Washington Examiner: The White House isn't ruling out an offer from Russia to begin jointly planning and carrying out airstrikes against al-Nusra Front, as well as other militants groups in Syria that are not observing a ceasefire. But a White House spokesman said Friday that if Russia really wants to help maintain a ceasefire, it can lean on the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad to stop his violations of the accord. "We believe that if Russia wants to do something to take on al Nusra and ISIL, the first thing on their to-do list is to make sure that the Assad regime is abiding by the cessation of hostilities," deputy White House press secretary Eric Schultz told reporters during his daily briefing. "Clearly the turmoil and chaos there is what provides a fertile breeding ground for ISIL to conduct its operations," he added when asked if he would rule out cooperating with Russia. "Our goal is for Russia to urge [Assad] to abide by the cessation of hostilities but we're not going to comment on further steps at this point." The problem is whose ground troops would the joint strikes be supporting? I can't see the US taking part in operations led by the Syrian army and Hezb'allah. And the Kurds would be extremely wary of taking help from the Russians, considering that Russian planes have been bombing them mercilessly. Putin may not be serious about a plan for joint air strikes, and could be trying to deflect criticism of cease fire violations by the Syrian government. But it doesn't appear that the forces being trained by the US are anywhere near ready to take on Islamic State. Until they are, the phony cease fire will allow Assad to continue making gains against his primary enemies; the rebels fighting to throw him out. Its another case of the silence of the shams, as the usual suspects for decrying discrimination clam up when Islam is involved. Reuters reports: A group of 51 Muslim states has blocked 11 gay and transgender organizations from attending a high-level meeting at the United Nations next month on ending AIDS, sparking a protest by the United States, Canada and the European Union. Egypt wrote to the president of the 193-member General Assembly on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to object to the participation of the 11 groups. It did not give a reason in the letter, which Reuters saw. Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, wrote to General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft and said the groups appeared to have been blocked for involvement in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy. "Given that transgender people are 49 times more likely to be living with HIV than the general population, their exclusion from the high-level meeting will only impede global progress in combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic," Power wrote. U.N. officials said the European Union and Canada also wrote to Lykketoft to protest the objections by the OIC group, whose members include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Indonesia, Sudan and Uganda. Do left-wing journalists have any responsibility for checking their facts, or is it okay just to lie to support any of their favored candidates? Recently, Andrea Mitchell of NBC, in response to Donald Trump's reminding Sean Hannity's viewers of Bill Clinton's assault of Juanita Broaddrick, claimed that Ms. Broaddrick's assertion of rape has been "discredited." I have closely followed Bill Clinton's marital meanderings for over 20 years, with particular regard to Ms. Broaddrick's very serious charge, and I am completely unaware of any authoritative assertion of such a discrediting event. Perhaps Ms. Mitchell would be kind enough to provide a scintilla of evidence for her charge. In response to the public airing of one of Bill Clinton's many marital misadventures, David Broder, a then liberal reporter for the equally liberal Washington Post, observed that Bill Clinton doesn't have an inappropriate relationship with women; he has an inappropriate relationship with the truth (a kind and generous understatement, to be sure). Apparently, Ms. Mitchell suffers from the same affliction. Ms. Broaddrick did not volunteer the fact of her rape by Bubba; she was outed in connection with the Paula Jones controversy (another instance of a Bill Clinton sexual assault). When she did come forward reluctantly, at first her story included the fact that she had informed various people close to her of the rape, and she did so contemporaneous with the event's having taken place. She did not prosper as a consequence of this disclosure, and in addition, she was a Democrat and a Bill Clinton supporter prior to his having raped her. Unless Ms. Mitchell has some bit of information that has escaped the attention of the rest of us, I suggest that she offer Ms. Broaddrick an apology. Failing to do this, I suggest that NBC fire her. The "rape thing" is interesting in that it reveals Hillary's role as both an enabler of her husband's reckless sexual wanderings and the vicious manner in which she went after the women who were the objects of these wanderings. Also, her current position on the subject of sexual assault reveals just how inept and lacking in judgment she is. You will recall that several months ago, Hillary informed us that a woman's charge of having been sexually assaulted should be taken seriously. When someone had the obvious common sense of asking if that included the women that her husband had sexually assaulted (i.e., Ms. Broaddrick, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, etc.), Ms. Clinton's only response was to qualify her previous statement with this non sequitur: "Well, I would say that everybody should be believed at first until they are disbelieved based on evidence." Applying that rationale to the Broaddrick situation, what clarity does that provide? None! Broaddrick is a believable source, and Bill Clinton is a confirmed liar or as Bob Kerry, fellow Democrat, observed, "a very good liar." Why, you would think, would Hillary ever want to coax the subject of sexual assault or challenge Trump regarding her husband's sexual behavior when her husband has been a serial philanderer from the point of their engagement and even before, during their courtship? A new battlefront just opened in the Democratic Partys Civil War. Hillary Clintons close political ally has a new problem on her hands, one that could divert her attention away from keeping the Rodham candidacy on its path to the nomination. Bernie Sanders is finally putting responsibility to his new party, the Democrats, first, in a step that may relieve it of one its biggest problems: Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Of course, Sanderss motives have nothing to do with helping the party and everything to do with protesting the clear thumb on the scale in favor of Hillary Rodham Clinton by DNC Chair Schultz and the rest of the party apparatus. This morning (via Politico) Sanders, speaking to CNNs Jake Tapper in an interview airing Sunday on "State of the Union," delivered a measure of political payback by announcing his support for Wasserman Schultzs challenger in the her south Florida-based district. Well, clearly, I favor her opponent, Sanders said. His views are much closer to mine than as to Wasserman Schultzs. Sanders also told Tapper that if he were to be elected president, he wouldnt want Wasserman Schultz leading the DNC. The candidate Sanders will be backing: Tim Canova, the law professor and a vocal critic of Wall Street who is challenging Wasserman Schultz. POLITICO Florida reported last week that Canova is on pace to raise $1 million since he entered the race officially on Jan. 7 -- an astounding amount for a primary challenger, especially one who is taking on the leader of the national party. Canova may have trouble defeating Wasserman Schultz. The district went for Hillary 69 to 30 percent. But then again, nobody expected the might Eric Cantor, number two House Republican, to fall to a primary opponent. And while the presidential preference primary in Florida was held in March, the primary for other offices is not until August 30th, well after the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. There could be a lot of black swans flying in between now and then. Jimmy Stewart's The Spirit of St. Louis is a great movie, especially thanks to the scenes of Charles Lindbergh trying to stay awake over the Atlantic Ocean. On May 21 in 1927, Charles Lindbergh did something that had never been done before: At 7:52 a.m. EST on May 20, The Spirit of St. Louis lifted off from Roosevelt Field, so loaded with fuel that it barely cleared the telephone wires at the end of the runway. Lindbergh traveled northeast up the coast. After only four hours, he felt tired and flew within 10 feet of the water to keep his mind clear. As night fell, the aircraft left the coast of Newfoundland and set off across the Atlantic. At about 2 a.m. on May 21, Lindbergh passed the halfway mark, and an hour later dawn came. Soon after, The Spirit of St. Louis entered a fog, and Lindbergh struggled to stay awake, holding his eyelids open with his fingers and hallucinating that ghosts were passing through the cockpit. After 24 hours in the air, he felt a little more awake and spotted fishing boats in the water. At about 11 a.m. (3 p.m. local time), he saw the coast of Ireland. Despite using only rudimentary navigation, he was two hours ahead of schedule and only three miles off course. He flew past England and by 3 p.m. EST was flying over France. It was 8 p.m. in France, and night was falling. At the Le Bourget Aerodrome in Paris, tens of thousands of Saturday night revelers had gathered to await Lindberghs arrival. At 10:24 a.m. local time, his gray and white monoplane slipped out of the darkness and made a perfect landing in the air field. The crowd surged on The Spirit of St. Louis, and Lindbergh, weary from his 33 1/2-hour, 3,600-mile journey, was cheered and lifted above their heads. He hadnt slept for 55 hours. Two French aviators saved Lindbergh from the boisterous crowd, whisking him away in an automobile. He was an immediate international celebrity. The best part of Lindbergh's odyssey is how incredible it was. It was a test not just of a machine, but of the human body and mind. In other words, the flight could have ended if Lindbergh had not stayed awake. He could have crashed and drowned from the lack of sleep. Lindbergh said this about sitting in that small cabin with nothing but his eyes and good instincts to get him to his destination: While my hand is on the stick, my feet on the rudder, and my eyes on the compass, this consciousness, like a winged messenger, goes out to visit the waves below, testing the warmth of water, the speed of wind, the thickness of intervening clouds. It goes north to the glacial coasts of Greenland, over the horizon to the edge of dawn, ahead to Ireland, England, and the continent of Europe, away through space to the moon and stars, always returning, unwillingly, to the mortal duty of seeing that the limbs and muscles have attended their routine while it was gone. Lindbergh died in 1974. Wonder what he thought when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon five years before! P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. The Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset wrote many brilliant books before his death in 1955, but his most famous book still is pertinent almost a century after it was written in 1928. Its title is The Revolt of the Masses, and it chronicles in elegant Spanish prose (which translates well into English) a long-term pattern in human behavior beginning with the Renaissance in Europe and culminating in post-World War I Western civilization namely, the gradual and unrelenting coming to power of the masses as they overthrew the ancient institutions of feudal and imperial rule. What makes The Revolt of the Masses so remarkable is its prophetic account of the rise of totalitarian fascism and communism. Ortega predicted in 1928 the rise of Hitlerian Nazism and Stalinist communism, and the consequences, well before these totalitarian upheavals murdered tens of millions of persons and violently disrupted the lives of hundreds of millions more. Ortega, for all his prophetic brilliance, had his intellectual shortcomings, and they have led to his decline as a universally acclaimed figure in modern thought. He was, for example, a man of aristocratic bent with many 19th-century prejudices about women and the mass of humanity. In today's politically correct world, some of his commentary would seem archaic and tone-deaf. He was also very much a Europhile who somehow (even as late as 1928) did not perceive the United States as the imminent world power and civilizing force it would soon become. Ortega argued, in short, that the masses of humanity, long ruled over by feudal lords, kings, emperors, and dictators, were assuming real power in the world as they gradually overthrew authoritarian institutions. He further argued that this "revolt" was taking two forms. The first was "indirect" power in the form of representative democracy. The second was "direct" power, in which societies acted through totalitarian action, often by violence, without law, without legislation and discourse, and without accountability. It was his prophetic notice of the latter, then making their first appearances in Germany, Italy, and Soviet Russia, that worried him. In the decade following the publication of The Revolt of the Masses, his anxieties would come all too terribly and unspeakably true. Now, in 2016, the phenomenon of mass "disturbance" has apparently come to America not in the pathological form of any "direct action" movement, but in the form of "indirect action" mutinies against the establishments of both major political parties. The liberal media and political establishments thought for a while that this mutiny was limited to the other side, the conservative side, when "outsider" Donald Trump suddenly appeared and presumably won the Republican nomination for president, demolishing "political correctness" and establishment power in the process. But this liberal smugness has now been replaced by the Democrats' own mutiny in the form of "outsider" Bernie Sanders and his wave of populism. Whereas Mr. Trump's GOP opponents retired from the field in the wake of his upset victories in the cycle's primaries and caucuses, Mr. Sanders has refused to withdraw, even in the face of the enormous mathematical odds against his nomination. Not only has he failed to retire, but he has won an impressive string of primary victories after the race was "declared over" by the media and the political class, including, most recently, a win in Oregon and a virtual tie in Kentucky. His actions, designed to move the Democratic Party far to the left, apparently will be played out at the Democratic national convention in Philadelphia two months from now. Before that, the California primary will occur in June. This primary will send a huge number of delegates to the convention. Mr. Trump's opponents have not been entirely inactive, either, but their efforts, almost certainly too late, will not likely change the outcome at the GOP convention in Cleveland. The 2016 U.S. election is both a fulfillment of Ortega's insight into the long-term rise of the masses and a rebuke to his anxiety about the strength and persistence of representative democracy. After it occurs, history is easy to explain. But before it happens, it almost always produces surprises. Someone should send a memo to Washington state Republicans. "To whom it may concern: The race is over." Seattle Times: Donald Trump has all but sewn up the GOP presidential nomination. But as thousands of Washington Republicans converged on a rodeo arena for their state convention over the weekend, the gathering didnt look like a political party yet united behind a Trump-led ticket. Red Ted Cruz T-shirts outnumbered Trump ball caps on the convention floor at the TRAC Center, and supporters of the Texas senator won 40 of the 41 elected delegate slots for the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this summer even though Cruz has dropped out of the race. While GOP leaders stressed unity to defeat Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and Gov. Jay Inslee, some marquee statewide Republican candidates were declaring at the convention that they couldnt vote for Trump or were trying desperately to avoid the subject. The presidential race is its own deal, GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Bryant said after a Friday-night speech in which he didnt mention Trump, but drew enthusiastic cheers as he vowed mass firings of ineffective Inslee-administration bureaucrats. As he has all year, Bryant steadfastly refused to say whether hed support Trump, telling reporters the only people who ask me about it are you guys. Meanwhile, Chris Vance, a former state GOP chairman and current candidate for U.S. Senate, spent portions of a town-hall meeting Thursday explaining why he wont support the likely GOP presidential nominee. Do you think I enjoy this? Not supporting the nominee? Its unpleasant, Vance said as some Republicans criticized him for failing to get behind Trump. The state convention, which drew more than 1,600 state delegates to Pascos TRAC Center, was the final step in electing 41 delegates to the national GOP convention, where the GOP presidential nominee will be formally nominated. State GOP Chairwoman Susan Hutchison and two other party leaders also will head to Cleveland in July as automatic delegates. Let's be honestly introspective for a moment. If you've ever been more concerned with Donald Trump's destructive brand of politics than radical Islamism, America doesn't have time for you anymore. If you believe that criticizing Islamic terrorism only increases the terrorists' recruitment efforts, your legitimacy as a talking head is coming to an end. The sun is setting on the era of political correctness. No, Donald Trump's bullying version is not the requisite norm, but getting into a tizzy because a public figure speaks frankly is definitely passe. For too long, the progressives' army of social justice warriors have been criticizing every aspect of America while simultaneously protecting and promoting the global Muslim ummah. In their worldview, Americans are somehow responsible for all that is bad in this world both globally and at home. Pandering to bullies has always been counterproductive and Islamic extremism is the global bully. We do not avoid punishing a violent offender not because the rate of recidivism is too high, not because we are afraid of reinforcing a deviant stereotype, and not because we fear creating disgruntled familial relations and future criminals. We incarcerate them because we know that the only way to ensure that they will not prey on innocence is to remove them from society. How, then, do some intellectual types adhere to a belief system completely divorced from these realities? When dealing with bullies and criminals, there is an expectation that justice will be meted out. When confronted with radical Islamists, suddenly this formula of identifying dangerous individuals and publicly ostracizing them is abruptly abandoned for a softer more intellectual approach. For the liberal gate guards of Islam, any correlation between the peaceful religion and terror atrocities is a nonstarter. Despite the fact that this approach screams of intellectual dishonesty, liberal powerbrokers of particular note: our current president and presumptive Democratic nominee have determined that this is the path toward progress. Not anymore. Ignoring facts, data, and common sense was yesterday's progressivism. Donald Trump, for all of his many shortcomings, is ushering in a new era of realism. In this new era, Americans are permitted to call a spade a spade. Americans will no longer feel ashamed of putting their needs above the needs of every disadvantaged person in every corner of the world. American families know that before you can be successful in the workplace, you have to be successful in the home. If you neglect the home life, productivity in the workplace inevitably falls. Trump's "America First" proposition is precisely that it's time to take care of the American homeland. As a strong and prosperous nation, America has always assisted globally WWI, WWII, the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, and financing the U.N.'s peacekeeping mission. (The U.S. currently accounts for more than one fifth 22 percent of the regular U.N. budget.) As a weak, divided, and economically depressed nation, we flounder and exert ineffective domestic and foreign policy the Civil War, Vietnam, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. Americans are long overdue for a policy that puts the spotlight back on its citizens. Americans are desperate for a president who assures us that our success, safety, and future are prioritized above our global colleagues. America has a plot of land that is strategically isolated from the epicenter of the world's current problems. We should never use this strategic depth as an excuse to enact isolationist policy, but failing to recognize that our geographic location allows us the opportunity to rebuild our nation while remaining insulated from the societal shift that the Middle East and Europe is currently undergoing is foolish. Let's make America great again first. It is only from a position of strength that we can enact lasting and positive change on the global stage. Anthony DeChristopher holds an M.A. in strategic security studies from National Defense University's College of International Security Affairs. He blogs at exceptionism.com. Long before the Large Hadron Collider was even sketched out on paper, the US Department of Defense embarked on an ambitious project of creating the worlds largest particle accelerator. Construction on the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC), as it was named, began on 1991 in the vicinity of Waxahachie, Texas. Its planned ring circumference was 87.1 kilometers with an energy of 20 TeV per beam of protons numbers that surpasses those of the now operational Large Hadron Collider by a factor of three (27 kilometer with an energy of 7TeV per beam) . The intention of the collider was to detect the elusive Higgs boson, a particle that is thought to exist in all matter and which gives particles their mass, and provide clues to other mysteries of the universe. The initial estimate of the Superconducting Super Collider was $4.4 billion, a figure that eventually rose to $12 billion. Finally, after spending some $2 billion on the project, the Congress pulled the plug. When the project was canceled, 22.5 km of tunnel and 17 shafts to the surface were already dug. For almost fifteen years the SSC was nothing more than the most expensive hole in Texas. In 2006, Arkansan multimillionaire Johnnie Bryan Hunt bought the complex for just $6.5 million in the hope of turning it into one of the largest and most-secure data storage facilities in America. Hunts unique selling point for Collider Data Center was its location and infrastructure. The collider sits on an independent power grid capable of delivering 10 megawatts of power (and up to 100 megawatts if needed), and it has its own dedicated fiber optic line. Its two warehouses can support floor loads of 500 pounds per square foot, perfect for the enormous servers that Hunt intended to buy. The entire complex is clear of flight paths and out of hurricane, tsunami, earthquake and flood zones. Then, in December 2006, less than six months after investing in the property, Hunt slipped on a patch of ice, broke his skull and died. With the driving force behind the Collider Data Center project gone, its future was thrown into doubt and eventually it was shelved. Today, the collider complex remains abandoned and run down with shattered glass, broken wall titles and plywood barred windows. The proposed collider is however still at sale the current appraised is at $20 million. The tunnel, when it was still under construction (below) Sources: Wired, Wikipedia, HEP.net While some device owners are going to begin to look towards the software update for Android N, there are some devices which have yet to receive their update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. When it comes to devices from Samsung, the company has already pushed updates for Marshmallow out to devices like the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 5, as well as nearly every other flagship device they have that was confirmed to be getting the update. Samsungs Galaxy A series of devices is not among those for the most part, but it appears that Samsung is starting to send updates in that direction as it was recently discovered that the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update has begun to hit the Galaxy A9. This would be the first Galaxy A series device to receive Marshmallow so far, and just like with any other Marshmallow device, the usual elements should be expected which includes things like Google Now on Tap, more granular permissions control, and power saving features like App Standby and of course, Doze Mode. The update is reported to be going to the SM-A9000 model of the device, which at this point is the only model available still, and although some users appear to be receiving it that does not mean that all devices will have it immediately, and it may take days before the update hits all users, if not longer. Advertisement The Galaxy A9 was launched in China and is an unlocked model, so its possible that some consumers who have been able to get their hands on it outside of the country could be slated to get the update as well. If you have a Galaxy A9 and you havent seen the update come through to your device, you can always check to see if its available manually by navigating to the settings menu, scrolling to About Phone, and tapping on software updates to see if it shows up. Other features for users to expect will be the Always On Display. If checking for the update manually does not work, then simply waiting for the over-the-air update would be the only thing to do. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. These include establishing an independent agency to conduct the referendum; a target date of 15 June 2019 for the referendum; a detailed work program of activities and associated funding; and a set of basic messages for an initial joint awareness program. In a series of meetings over recent months, a joint team of officials has developed proposals for the referendum. THE meeting achieved outcomes of great significance involving preparations for the Bougainville referendum which must be conducted before mid-2020 . The Joint Supervisory Body of Papua New Guinean and Bougainvillean leaders established to oversee implementation of the Bougainville Peace Agreement met in Port Moresby on Friday chaired jointly by prime minister Peter O'Neill and president John Momis - KJ The Joint Supervisory Body endorsed these proposals. I'm very pleased with these decisions. Although the date for the referendum cannot yet be finally set (because of various legal steps required to be taken first), it would be impossible to plan the referendum without a target date. With that date now agreed, we can plan the steps required to hold the referendum and the time and the funding and personnel needed to carry out each step. Equally pleasing is the national government commitment to provide the funding needed to carry out referendum preparations beginning with the 2017 national budget. The steps necessary to establish the independent agency that will conduct the referendum have been agreed. The two governments are committed to it being established before the end of 2016. The PNG Electoral Commission and the Bougainville Electoral Commission are already cooperating closely in developing the agreement, administrative arrangements and the charter required by the peace agreement for establishing the independent agency. The joint agreement on these and related issues is a huge step forward. It demonstrates once and for all the total commitment of the Papua New Guinea government to full implementation of the Bougainville Peace Agreement and the associated constitutional provisions. As a result, there should no longer be any doubt amongst Bougainvilleans about whether or not the referendum will be held. I know some factions and individuals have retained weapons because of suspicions that the national government would refuse to hold the referendum. But with the historic JSB decisions on 20 May, those suspicions must end. As a result, all Bougainvillean groups must now work towards achieving complete weapons disposal. I now call for full disposal of weapons by the Me'ekamui Defence Force elements, the armed groups associated with Noah Musingku at Tonu, and various former Bougainville Revolutionary Army and Bougainville Resistance Force members and groups that have retained weapons. Only with full weapons disposal will Bougainville be referendumready. The Bougainville Peace Agreement requires that the referendum be free and fair. Without weapons disposal, there will inevitably be doubts about the referendum being free and fair. There are already Bougainvilleans saying that they will not vote if weapons remain. The legitimacy of the result will always be in doubt if weapons remain. I am impressed by the clear commitment of the prime minister and other ministers to implementing the Bougainville Peace Agreement. Once again, Papua New Guinea is providing a lead to other countries that have experienced violent conflict. It shows that the commitment to achieving peace by peaceful means, evident ever since the Bougainville peace process began in 1997, continues to flourish in Papua New Guinea. I salute the Prime Minister for his very positive contribution to this historic outcome. Vatican City (AsiaNews) May Chinese Catholics, together with those who follow other noble religious traditions, become concrete signs of charity and reconciliation. In this way, they will promote an authentic culture of encounter and the harmony of all society , was Pope Francis wish after the midday prayer. May 24 is the Day of Prayer for the Church in China dedicated to the Virgin of Sheshan "help of Christians." Let us ask Mary, the Pope added, "to give to her sons and daughters in China the capacity to discern in every situation the signs of the loving presence of God, who always welcomes and always forgives". Before the prayer, Francis spoke of the Most Holy Trinity and the Gospel of John in which Christ explained to his disciples the deeper truths concerning him: "Jesus knows that the fulfillment of the Fathers plan is near, which will be completed with his death and resurrection. Because of this he wants to assure his followers that he wont abandon them, because his mission will be prolonged by the Holy Spirit. It will be the Holy Spirit who prolongs the mission of Jesus, that is, to guide the Church forward". Jesus reveals what this mission is: In the first place, the Spirit guides us to understand the many things that Jesus himself still has to say (cf John 16:12). This doesnt refer to new or special doctrines, but to a full understanding of all that the Son has heard from the Father and has made known to the disciples (cf verse 15). The Spirit guides us in new existential situations with a gaze fixed on Jesus and at the same time, open to events and to the future. He helps us to walk in history, firmly rooted in the Gospel and with a dynamic fidelity to our traditions and customs". But the mystery of the Trinity also speaks to us of ourselves, of our relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In fact, through baptism, the Holy Spirit has placed us in the prayer and the very life of God, who is a communion of love. God is a family of three Persons who love each other so much they form a single thing. This divine family is not closed in on itself, but is open. It communicates itself in creation and in history and has entered into the world of men to call everyone to form part of it. The trinitarian horizon of communion surrounds all of us and stimulates us to live in love and fraternal sharing, certain that where there is love, there is God". Our being created in the image and likeness of God-Communion calls us to understand ourselves as beings-in-relationship and to live interpersonal relations in solidarity and mutual love. Such relationships play out, above all, in the sphere of our ecclesial communities, so that the image of the Church as icon of the Trinity is ever clearer. But also in every social relationship, from the family to friendships, to work environments, all of them: they are all concrete occasions offered to us in order to build relationships that are increasingly humanly rich, capable of reciprocal respect and disinterested love. The feast of the Holy Trinity concluded Francis invites us to commit ourselves in daily events to being leaven of communion, consolation and mercy. In this mission, we are sustained by the strength that the Holy Spirit gives us: he takes care of the flesh of humanity, wounded by injustice, oppression, hate and avarice.The Virgin Mary, in her humility, welcomed the Fathers will and conceived the Son by the Holy Spirit. May she, Mirror of the Trinity, help us to strengthen our faith in the trinitarian mystery and to translate it to action with choices and attitudes of love and unity". Immediately after the Angelus, the Pope recalled the beatification of Francesco Maria Greco yesterday in Cosenza (an announcement greeted by applause, the Pope then called for an applause for "the many good priests who are here in Italy") and the beginning, tomorrow in Istanbul, of the first World humanitarian Summit, aimed to reflect on the measures to be taken to meet the dramatic humanitarian situations caused by conflicts, environmental problems and extreme poverty: "Let us accompany with prayer the participants in this gathering so they fully commit to reaching the principal humanitarian objective: saving the life of every human being, with no one excluded, in particular the innocent and most defenseless. The Holy See will participate in this encounter, with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state, who will travel there to represent the Holy See." Soon after, Francis added: "On Tuesday May 24, we spiritually unite ourselves to the faithful of China, who on this day celebrate with particular devotion the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, who is venerated at the Sanctuary of Sheshan in Shanghai. Let us ask Mary to give to her sons and daughters in China the capacity to discern in every situation the signs of the loving presence of God, who always welcomes and always forgives. In this Holy Year of Mercy, may Chinese Catholics, together with those who follow other noble religious traditions, become concrete signs of charity and reconciliation. In this way, they will promote an authentic culture of encounter and the harmony of all society. This harmony that the Chinese spirit so loves". After greetings to the faithful - the pope was especially "pleased to welcome" the Orthodox faithful of the Metropolis of Berat, Albania, whom he thanked "for their ecumenical witness" - Francis greeted the Chinese Catholic community in Rome and wished all "a good Sunday. Please do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and goodbye!". Then they crossed the Tagali River and went to Lumu Lumu, Wabia and all around the Huli area telling people not to do evil things. From there Tiame and Baya Baya came into the Huli area where they stopped and slept at Gumu. He was around 14 or 15 years old when he came with Tiame past Duna to Koroba and then down to Lai Terebo places in Duguba. Lai Terebo is a site for performing the ancient dindi ponegone, the ground knot rites. Baya Baya was conceived by the virgin Tiame. He was a perfect young man who went around doing good and persuading people to stop fighting, committing adultery and doing evil things. IN EARLY Huli history, there emerged an important young man named Baya Baya. He was the son of the great high god of Hela, Datagaliwabe, who transformed himself into the sun god Ni, came down to the earth and stayed among the Huli people. At last they came to Bebenete, the special ground called Abureteanda, the most important Lai Terebo place situated beside where Dauli Teachers College is now. Here men were killing pigs for dindi pongone, the ground knot sacrifice, so they decided Baya Baya was going to hold the pigs and would let his blood flow to bless Hela land and stop people doing wrong things. The man in charge of the pig killing said, When you hit the pig, instead of cutting it, just miss and cut Baya Bayas hand between thumb and forefinger. But they hated Baya Baya so they hit him and knocked him to the ground. Then they butchered his body and chopped it into little pieces and mixed his blood with the pigs blood. The women washed out his intestines like that of a pig. The men who murdered Baya Baya were mostly from the hameigini (clans) Padagabua, Abua Amuira, Hogo Yuwi, Koroba Goli, Pailero, Uguma Labe, Dugu Kewai, Hubiyabe, Homa, Ambua, in and around Dauli village and other Huli men, people from Obena, Duna and Duguba were there that day. Pieces of Baya Bayas dismembered body were buried in the territories of all the guilty clans to stop people from doing wrong. Today some of his remains are at one of the secret places inside Mount Lagabe. A certain stream flowing from Abureteanda sometimes appears red due to the underlying clay and the Huli say it is the fluid from Baya Bayas intestines containing his blood. That day, all the men in charge of the killing told the people not to cross the Huria river or go back to their places for six months while they changed their name from Huli to Homa. The people spoke the Homa language for six months then changed back to Huli. The reason they did this was because they were afraid that bingi, the darkness, would come to them because they had done wrong. The darkness had occurred earlier in Huli, but on the day of Baya Bayas death they were afraid it would return so the dindi pongone yi, the specialists who performed ground knot rituals, altered the nouns in the language to avert this. The Huli regard darkness as punishment from Datagaliwabe and say that, since Baya Baya's death, his mother has been keeping a special pandanus tree of angalu nanenamu variety in Duna. When the tree bears fruit, darkness will occur. Since then, whenever there has been trouble, famine or drought, the people have come together at Bebenete and changed all the names around. On the day they killed Baya Baya, they hit his mother and threw mud at her and pulled off her clothes. She ran away naked and dirty, trying to get back to her own place. On the way, the Tani clan, which had not participated in Baya Baya's murder, took her in, washed her, gave her new clothes and looked after her. As she was leaving, Baya Baya's mother said, "Because you have looked after me and helped me in my trouble, one day you, the Tani clan, will be the largest and greatest of all the Huli clans." So today the Tani people are the biggest and strongest clan and are growing bigger and stronger all the time. Who knows, the new Hela Governor might be from the Tani or Ni clan because the first Governor came from the place that killed Baya Baya. Many people believe Baya Baya will one day return to the Huli area. Others fear that his kin may come and demand compensation for his death. This is a common cause for concern since all the Huli clan, except for the Tani, are responsible for his death and it is the only case in Huli history where payback has not been given. The fact that Baya Baya was a perfect man born from a virgin who never did wrong but shed his blood to atone for the sins of all the people, suggests a connection with the Christian gospel, although there is no resurrection of Baya Baya. A similar Messiah-like myth is found amongst the Foe, the details of which are closer to the gospel than the legend of Baya Baya. Possibly similar myths occur amongst other Huli neighbours as well. This is the Messiah like myth found in the Foe area. Long ago a bird came from the sky and alighted upon a virgin woman. She saw a mark on her stomach and knew she was pregnant and a son was born. When he grew up he went around telling people in each village to stop killing, stealing and committing adultery. Because he was a good man people hated him. They wanted to continue doing evil, so they decided to kill him. He knew he would be killed, so he told his mother to come to the place where he would be killed on the fifth day after his death. Eventually the men in a certain longhouse grabbed him and dragged him out to kill him in the village. But he said, Remember you will pollute the village if you kill me outside the village. So they dragged him and killed him in the bush. They then lay his dead body on rock ledges. Five days later his mother came to the place where he had been laid, but his body was no longer there. She saw a strange light in the sky and heard a voice saying Your son is no longer dead but is with his father in the sky. The Messiah-like myths from the Foe and the gospel refer to the same events, but the New Testament accounts are more accurate because they were written down. This indicates that the gospel or a version may have come to the area at least 150 years before contemporary missionary outreach. Concerning Baya Baya the Huli say he is not Jesus Christ but God allowed this legend in their oral history so that they would understand the gospel when it came to them. Hi ThereI have a teleconference with immigration this coming Friday regarding cancelling my 457 visa. I was really hoping for some recommendations for migration agents anyone has used for advice around alternative options or extensions. There are so many out there and I have so much hanging on this that I really want to make sure others have been happy with them! I have a bit of an unusual situation and am really hoping to get the right advice. I would be more than grateful to anyone sparing the time to respondI need to get things moving quickly as I have meeting Friday at 11.Thanks in advance! You don't need to submit anything again. We submitted all our initial evidence right after we submitted the application, and once it was all uploaded we refreshed to find all the "recommended" stuff and either it was unneeded for us (like divorce evidence) or already uploaded (evidence of marriage etc). Just leave it or upload stuff later in that area if you end up getting more evidence, for example there is a "contact while apart" section which initially we already uploaded it before it came up as "recommended", and then a couple months later we had extra contact while apart evidence so we then used the "recommended" button to upload it. Don't reupload anything. It'll just cost you uploads. The recommended thing doesn't go away unless you upload something to it, regardless of whether you've already uploaded something or not. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Fortunately for a seller from Vancouver that turned to Boston-based RR Auction, a 1996 American Motors Hummer was the real deal.We are not talking about fake Hummers here, but about a vehicle that was first owned by rap legend Tupac Amaru Shakur. Yes, the one and only 2Pac owned this Hummer back in 1996.You do not have to be a Tupac fan to know that the artist was tragically gunned down in that same year, and the murderer was never found.Some conspiracy theorists claim that Tupac is still alive, but we do not believe this statement to be true, and neither do collectors of 2Pac Shakur memorabilia.So, this 1996 American Motors Hummer , a model that preceded the Hummer H1 , was the last vehicle ever purchased by the late Tupac Shakur.According to the dates on the title and the moment of his untimely death, the rapper only owned this car for about a month. In that period, this car was also customized according to the wishes of America's Most Wanted.If you ask us, this is probably what made this vehicle worth more than just a regular Hummer that was owned by Tupac. After all, many artists have cars that are entirely stock, and that only differentiate themselves in the parking lot by the color choice and the license plate. Some say that Tupac's car was worth more than any other not just because it was the last vehicle purchased by the star.Instead, we think it sold for $337,144 at RR Auction because it was customized to Tupac Amaru Shakur's wishes. You can't buy that anywhere else, and anything else would just be a replica, and not the real deal. Egypt is deploying a submarine to search for the main wreckage of EgyptAir Flight 804, which could be as deep as 10,000 feet below the surface of the Mediterranean. Searchers found pieces of EgyptAir Flight 804 in theMediterranean Sea along with human remains, officials said Friday. Seats and passenger belongings also were found 180 miles north of Alexandria, Egypt, according to news reports. French officials also confirmed that the aircraft sent an ACARS message reporting smoke in a lavatory and in the avionics bay about the time the aircraft went missing. Crews from multiple countries continue to take part in the search for the Airbus A320 that crashed early Thursday en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board. Fridays announcement from Greek and Egyptian officials comes after retracting statements made the day before that the wreckage had been found. While officials have said its possible a terrorist attack caused the crash, no definitive evidence has been found. TheHellenic Civil Aviation Authority said Friday everything appeared normal at1:48 a.m. Cairo time, when Greek controllers last communicated with the flight, The New York Times reported.At 2:27 a.m., controllers were unable to get a response from the crew. News reportssay the aircraft was at 37,000 feet when itturned left, made a full circle to the right and plunged toward the sea before radar contact was lost. A Washington Post report noted that the discovery of the debris will help target the search of the Mediterranean, but the area includes waters at least 10,000 feet deep and strong currents. Congress and President Obama have overruled an Army decision that briefly banned Women Air Service Pilots (WASP) from being interred at Arlington National Cemetery. In 2015, Army Secretary John McHugh stopped allowing the placing of WASP veterans ashes in an aboveground facility at the cemetery, saying their job of ferrying and testing military aircraft in the Second World War did not meet the standards for eternity at Arlington. In January, the cemetery issued a statement saying the cemetery will run out of space in 20 years and the WASPs service, while commendable, did not reach the level of active duty service required. Tiffany Miller launched an online petition to change the rules last year and said her grandmother Danforth Harmon can finally rest. It was her last wish to be in Arlington, Miller told CNN. We havent been able to hold a funeral for her because we wanted to honor that wish. WASPs flew thousands of non-combat missions from 1942 to 1944, freeing male pilots to fight. There were about 1,000 WASPs and 38 of them died in aircraft accidents. If they were good enough to fly for our country, risk their lives and earn the Congressional Gold Medal, they should be good enough for Arlington, said Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who sponsored the bipartisan bill to change the rules. 22 May 2016 11:00 (UTC+04:00) The bodies of crew members of the Silkway plane that had crashed, will be delivered to their relatives. According to the current results of the forensics carried out in Baku, the prosecuting authorities have agreed for the relatives to have the bodies of the three crew members of the Silkway plane that had crashed on May 18 in Afghanistan. The deceased crew members are Nadir Rzayev, Firdousi Shahverdiyev and Azer Zulfiev. The aircraft crashed while taking off at Afghanistan's Dwyer airport May 18, at 14:30 (UTC/GMT +4 hours). The AN-12 was leased from Azerbaijan's Silk Way for cargo transportations in Afghanistan. The aircraft landed in the Dwyer airport after leaving Afghanistan's Bagram airfield and was flying to Mary, Turkmenistan, for refueling. There was no cargo on board. The rented aircraft had an international crew, which included a citizen of Uzbekistan (captain), three citizens of Ukraine and five Azerbaijani nationals. According to the available information, technicians Andrey Ganzha and Ramzi Aliyev survived the crash and their health condition is stable. In addition, "black boxes" of the crashed AN-12 aircraft have been delivered to Baku in satisfactory condition. The Azerbaijani side will engage in deciphering of the "black boxes" in cooperation with experts of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC). Representatives of the commission established by the State Civil Aviation Administration of Azerbaijan continue to work at the scene. The bodies of crew members of the Silkway plane that had crashed, will be delivered to their relatives. According to the current results of the forensics carried out in Baku, the prosecuting authorities have agreed for the relatives to have the bodies of the three crew members of the Silkway plane that had crashed on May 18 in Afghanistan. The deceased crew members are Nadir Rzayev, Firdousi Shahverdiyev and Azer Zulfiev. The aircraft crashed while taking off at Afghanistan's Dwyer airport May 18, at 14:30 (UTC/GMT +4 hours). The AN-12 was leased from Azerbaijan's Silk Way for cargo transportations in Afghanistan. The aircraft landed in the Dwyer airport after leaving Afghanistan's Bagram airfield and was flying to Mary, Turkmenistan, for refueling. There was no cargo on board. The rented aircraft had an international crew, which included a citizen of Uzbekistan (captain), three citizens of Ukraine and five Azerbaijani nationals. According to the available information, technicians Andrey Ganzha and Ramzi Aliyev survived the crash and their health condition is stable. In addition, "black boxes" of the crashed AN-12 aircraft have been delivered to Baku in satisfactory condition. The Azerbaijani side will engage in deciphering of the "black boxes" in cooperation with experts of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC). Representatives of the commission established by the State Civil Aviation Administration of Azerbaijan continue to work at the scene. 22 May 2016 12:17 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijani Foreign Affairs Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has met with President of the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly, former FM of the Republic of Macedonia Srgjan Kerim on the sidelines of the 16th Doha Global Forum. They discussed the current state and prospects of Azerbaijan-UN cooperation, as well as bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Macedonia. The two also exchanged views over international and regional issues. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 May 2016 16:04 (UTC+04:00) President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received a delegation led by special envoy of the President of the People's Republic of China, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party, Secretary of the party`s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission Meng Jianzhu. President Ilham Aliyev expressed his confidence that the visit of the Chinese delegation led by the President`s special envoy Meng Jianzhu would be successful and contribute to the strengthening of the friendly ties between the two countries. Saying that the bilateral cooperation covered many spheres, the head of state noted that relations between Azerbaijan and China were successfully developing in political, economic, transport, trade and humanitarian areas. The President said that the expansion of cooperation in the areas of law-enforcement and security could contribute to the strengthening of the bilateral relations. Special envoy Meng Jianzhu thanked the Azerbaijani President for high hospitality. He extended the greetings and best wishes of President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping to the head of state. Meng Jianzhu said his delegation included senior officials of all law-enforcement and security bodies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Saying that the people of China had great respect for national leader Heydar Aliyev and President Ilham Aliyev, he noted: Heydar Aliyev is the national leader of the people of Azerbaijan in a true sense of the word. You successfully continue his policy. Under your leadership, Azerbaijan`s economy is rapidly developing, public and political stability has been fully ensured, people enjoy high spirits and mood. Meng Jianzhu said China was interested in expanding cooperation with Azerbaijan in the fields of security, law-enforcement, fight against terrorism, transnational economic crimes, cybercrimes, as well as in ensuring security along the Great Silk Road. He pointed out that cooperation in the field of security could contribute to regional cooperation. The Chinese President`s special envoy described the Great Silk Road project as a promising one. Meng Jianzhu hailed the Azerbaijani President`s state visit to China as successful, saying important documents on the expansion of cooperation were signed during the visit. He also noted that presidents Ilham Aliyev and Xi Jinping enjoyed friendly ties, saying China regarded Azerbaijan as a friendly and fraternal country. Meng Jianzhu said the main goal of the visit was to give impetus to the execution of agreements achieved by the heads of state during the Azerbaijani President`s state visit to China. The special envoy said that prior to visiting Azerbaijan he met with President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, who described Azerbaijan as a beautiful country and expressed his desire to visit it. President Ilham Aliyev thanked the Chinese President`s special envoy for kind words about national leader Heydar Aliyev and Azerbaijan. The head of state said that national leader Heydar Aliyev played an exceptional role in the establishment of fundamental principles of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and China. The President said that founded by the national leader, internal and foreign policy as well as the policy of development of relations with China successfully continued. Saying that China was a friendly and fraternal country for Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev said that development of ties with China was among key foreign policy priorities of Azerbaijan. The head of state said that this was once again evidenced by the meetings and fruitful discussions held during his visit to China. The President pointed to good prospects for cooperation in transportation of goods by railway from China to Europe passing through Azerbaijan, adding that active work was conducted in this regard. Underlining the importance of Azerbaijan-China cooperation in combating terrorism, extremism and separatism, President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan faced Armenian terrorism and separatism. He noted that the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be solved in accordance with norms and principles of international law, within Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity. The head of state reaffirmed Azerbaijan`s support for territorial integrity of China. President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan was interested in having more Chinese companies involved in its economy and expanding tourism cooperation. The head of state thanked China for its support when Azerbaijan was granted a dialogue partner status by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The President added that active cooperation with the organization was among key foreign policy priorities of Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev thanked for the greetings of President Xi Jinping and asked the special envoy to extend his greetings to the Chinese leader. The head of state invited Xi Jinping to pay an official visit to Azerbaijan at his convenience. Results of the Vienna meeting on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was discussed during the meeting. The Chinese side said they wanted the conflict to be solved peacefully. The Chinese President`s special envoy Meng Jianzhu said his country respected Azerbaijan`s efforts to ensure its territorial integrity. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 22 May 2016 12:00 (UTC+04:00) Iran plans to participate in the oil and gas exploration project in Uzbekistan, Hamid Bord, managing director of Iran's Oil Exploration Operations Company (OEOC), said. Iran seeks to participate in international tenders of oil and gas exploration projects in various countries particularly in Central Asia and certain Persian Gulf states, Bord said, Iran's Mehr news agency reported May 18. The OEOC has established an office in Uzbekistan, the Iranian official said, adding the company will actively participate in the country's new oil and gas exploration tenders. He further said that many oil and gas exploration projects in different countries especially in the Middle East have been halted due to sharp fall of oil prices. Bord also added that the OEOC is capable of offering various oil and gas exploration services including two-dimensional and three-dimensional seismic projects as well as exploratory data processing. The company seeks to enhance capabilities of its onshore and offshore logistic fleet, in order to have broader presence in international exploration projects, he noted. Earlier Mohammad Iravani, chairman of Board of Petroleum and gas Drilling Assembly Companies of Iran said that Iranian companies will take part in tenders regarding drilling and exploration projects in Central Asia, Iraq, and Turkmenistan. He noted that Iranian firms have participated in the biggest oil and gas exploration project in Pakistan after wining the related tender. Previously, Iranian deputy oil minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia said that the country plans to buy new shares of oil and gas fields abroad and to participate in oil and gas projects across the world. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Gov. Andrew Cuomo pitched a new big-projects agency as a way to help smooth the way for massive state construction like the planned $29 billion mass transit overhaul in New York City, but critics worry about a power grab by the famously hands-on leader. The new state budget recently signed by Cuomo creates the Design and Construction Corp., a three-member panel to be selected by Cuomo that will advise other state departments on construction projects costing $50 million or more, such as large university buildings, the new Penn Station and planned upgrades at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. While Cuomo's administration argues the new agency will save money by making complex projects more efficient, some contractors question the need for more bureaucracy. Critics also say they worry the agency could allow the powerful Democrat to micromanage projects already overseen by other government agencies. "Fundamentally it's a flawed and bad idea," said Mike Elmendorf, president of the Associated General Contractors. "It's based on the premise that state agencies many of them already controlled by the executive are incapable of delivering large, complex construction projects so they need this group of three people. ... The only person who wanted this was the governor." Cuomo initially wanted the corporation to be able to terminate the contracts of projects but lawmakers balked at giving the new agency such sweeping powers. "I still have concerns about why you would want to put this power into the hands of three people," said Assemblyman Gary Finch, a Cayuga County Republican. "Whoever he appoints they're going to be his people. It puts the governor directly in charge of the whole process." Cuomo plans to appoint the members of the corporation in the coming weeks, spokesman Rich Azzopardi said Friday. He said the new agency is about making government more effective. "We have an obligation to ensure that these infrastructure projects are delivered on time, on budget and that the use of public taxpayer dollars is maximized," he said. "This new process will provide the uniformity, consistency, and coordination to meet this goal and we're glad the Legislature agreed with this approach." The corporation was born out of the fine print in this year's budget, which lawmakers approved last month. Its mission will be to manage timelines and provide oversight and guidance to public agencies working on large construction projects, according to Gerrard Bushell, president and CEO of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, the state's main construction finance agency. It will serve as an umbrella organization for the corporation. In simple terms, the corporation will work with other entities a state agency or a public university, for example to ensure their construction projects don't fall behind or balloon in cost. "To continue to grow in size and strength, we must develop a new interconnected, planned system of mass transportation, roads and bridges and airports for the next 100 years," Cuomo said in unveiling his vision for the agency in his budget proposal in January. "We can and we will." Bushell said many of the concerns about the new agency are based on misinformation. "This is not another bureaucracy," Bushell said. "It's guidance. It's oversight." Much of the debate about the corporation, however, has focused on whether it's an attempt by Cuomo to gain further control over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's $29 billion modernization plan, which includes 30 remodeled subway stations along with repairs to bridges and tunnels. Cuomo has promised the state will pay $8.3 billion of the total price tag. The work will be directed by the MTA board, which is appointed by the governor. The corporation's involvement could give Cuomo even more sway. Jamsion Dague, a research associate with the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan group that studies the operation of state government, said the corporation's involvement could benefit smaller agencies, such as an upstate community college, that have little expertise with big projects. But he added that it could create new problems for large authorities and agencies like the MTA trying to coordinate huge projects especially if it's seen as meddling by the governor. "Implementation will be the key," Dague said. Tell them NOCall your representatives and tell them to vote NO on the Social Services trailer bill on reporting child near fatalities.Go here to for background http://www.dof.ca.gov/budgeting/trailer_bill_language/health_and_human_services/documents/639ChildFatalitiesReportingandDisclosure.pdf And here: http://district16.cssrc.us/ Bakersfield office5701 Truxtun Avenue, Suite 150Bakersfield, CA 93309Phone: 661.323.0443Fax: 661.323.0446Capitol OfficeState Capitol, Room 305Sacramento, CA 95814Phone: 916.651.4016Fax: 916.651.491 https://ad34.asmrc.org/ Bakersfield office4900 California Avenue, Suite 100-BBakersfield, CA 93309661-395-2995661-395-3883 faxCapitol officeState Capitol, Room 4208Sacramento, CA 94249916-319-2034916-319-2134 fax Related Info HOW LONG DO THEY HAVE? Holding an election is a process for the City of Bakersfield, which must meet a series of deadlines leading up to Nov. 8. Initiative supporters will need signatures from 10 percent of Bakersfields 154,375 registered voters, or 15,438 signatures. The Bakersfield City Council will need to pass a resolution at its June 29 or July 20 meetings calling for an election, and so City Attorney Ginny Gennaro said the city highly recommends signatures come in no later than the week of June 20. Kern Citizens for Patient Rights Board Member Jeff Jarvis said thats not a problem. When we needed to do a referendum for the county, we had less than 25 days to gather 18,500 signatures, Jarvis said. Ultimately, they turned in more than 26,000 signatures. STATEWIDE INITIATIVES California Cannabis Hemp Initiative 2016 This initiative qualified for the ballot last Monday. If approved, it would: Allow recreational marijuana use by adults age 21 and older. Prohibit excessive zoning requirements and fees on cannabis outlets Restrict the use of genetically modified cannabis seeds in California Mandate state-established guidelines like those for alcohol Allow the release of prisoners incarcerated for non-violent marijuana offenses Remove cannabis from the California Schedule 1 Controlled Substances Act Adult Use of Marijuana Act Signatures are still being verified to qualify this act for the November ballot. It would: Establish a comprehensive system to legalize, control and regulate the cultivation, processing, manufacture, distribution, testing and sale of non-medical marijuana, including marijuana products, for use by adults 21 years and older Tax the commercial growth and retail sale of marijuana Marty Centers has bipolar disorder. He also has high blood pressure. He doesn't see much of a difference. Centers, 55, of Auburn, careened between depression and rage for decades before finding the right balance of medication and therapy to treat his mental illness. Now, through organizations like Unity House and Peers in Cayuga County, Centers helps others with theirs. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, he wants to help the greater community develop the same empathy toward people with mental illness that his own has afforded him. "We can be treated. We can work in society," he said. "We're not our diagnosis, we're a person first." Centers grew up in Port Byron. One July, when he was 9, he rode a 3.5-horsepower scooter face-first into a tree and spent the summer being pieced back together at Upstate University Hospital. The impact gave Centers a traumatic brain injury. His head, which now contains an acrylic plate and plastic clips, still aches constantly. Psychologically, though, Centers believes the accident also set in motion a whirl of circumstances that caused his bipolar disorder or woke it. Like the 2.6 percent of U.S. adults who live with the disorder, Centers can't cleanly trace it to one cause. The accident and resulting injury is one possibility. But Centers believes some of his relatives also have bipolar disorder, due to behavior they've shown, and therefore suspects he might have developed it with or without his injury. The accident had ripple effects, too. Centers, his face damaged, would be picked on by fellow students. He'd seek refuge in the library and read, by his estimation, two-thirds of it by the time he graduated from Dana L. West Jr.-Sr. High School in 1978. Until a few years ago, Centers would also blame himself and his accident for something that happened just eight days later: His mother dying in a car crash. She might not have gotten in that car with a drunk driver at the wheel if he hadn't put himself in the hospital, Centers told himself. "It took until I was 52 before I realized that it wasn't my fault," he said. "I carried that for 42 years." Whether the cause of Centers' bipolar disorder was one, all, or some of those possibilities, he began to feel its emotional extremes by his late teens. He worked for his father's business in Auburn for a few years after graduating. Sick of New York and its weather, he moved to Georgia in 1990 with his wife and son, Robert, who's now 31. Centers' bipolar disorder didn't just follow him south, it gained on him. He got violent with his wife, who left him in 1995. He considered suicide and, a couple times, tried to act on it, he said. "I live with the idea, every day, that today might be a good day to end my life," he said. The same year his wife left, Centers started to seek help. He didn't immediately reach a place where he could cope with his bipolar disorder, though. There were several hospitalizations, several prescriptions. Multifaceted as the disorder's origins are, Centers said, so too is its treatment. Today, a combination of things keep him centered. There's monthly therapy, which taught him how to remove himself from situations that would make him violent or angry. "I refuse to be angry, because I know what happens when I get angry: I hurt people that I'm around," he said. "I don't want that." There's medication: Centers takes one pill twice daily, and two others once. They don't eliminate his bipolar symptoms, but they do soften them. There's the two cats Centers got after moving back to Auburn a few years ago. You can't dwell on your own problems when there are cats around that need petting, he joked. Then there's the kitchen. Centers, who earned a culinary degree from the Ben Hill-Irwin Campus of Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, has enough chocolate chips in his house to make cookies for the rest of the year, he said. His hands in dough feels as therapeutic as any couch, any pill. "You can't be mad when you're making cookies," he said. "I like to cook for other people because they like to eat, and because I like to show off." Centers hasn't beaten bipolar disorder by any means, but he manages it just like he manages his blood pressure and high cholesterol, he said. It's a perspective he hopes to impart on people who might see mental illness in a more stigmatized light. In one sense, Centers believes, he does that just by defying stereotypes in his own day-to-day life. He takes college courses online, drives a car, manages his own money. He's more than his diagnosis, he repeated. But Centers also makes the same effort through the lives of others. With Unity House of Cayuga County, he helps people with mental illness in the residential program. With Peers in Cayuga County, he calms them through court or Social Security appointments, or just chit-chats with them on the program's 24-hour phone line. He also tells his own story through the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Cayuga County's In Our Own Voice series, and attends the county's Mental Health Subcommittee to share it and the stories of others with community leaders. "He has made a 180 in his life," said Terri Wasilenko, president of NAMI of Cayuga County. "He's very genuine and very authentic when it comes to sharing his story." Centers even tries to talk to people on the street if he hears them describe Peers participants as "crazy," like he did at an Auburn bus stop recently. Society's attitude toward mental illness is improving, he said, but its labels still bother him. Personally, Centers doesn't experience such treatment to any significant degree because he doesn't look mentally ill himself, he said. But, he continued, that just proves his point: Mental illness is no different from the countless other invisible struggles people face every day. "If I didn't tell you I had a mental illness, you'd never know," he said. "But I'm proud to have a mental health issue. It makes me unique. I understand what you're going through because I live it." AUBURN From film projects, the establishment of a national historical park in her honor and the recent U.S. Treasury announcement of the first female likeness to appear on the $20 bill, Harriet Tubman has been making national headlines for several years now. On Saturday morning, people from all over the country gathered at her Auburn grave site to honor and show respect to the woman who more than a century after her death continues to provide inspiration and hope. "It is important that we have not allowed this soldier to fade away," said AME Zion Church Bishop Dennis V. Proctor during the 42nd annual Harriet Tubman Pilgrimage graveside service. "She remains alive and in our lives everyday. She has left her footprints on not only her offspring and family but for generations yet unborn." After her own escape from slavery, the "Moses of her people" went on to help others make it to freedom through the Underground Railroad. Tubman also served in the military during the Civil War, working as a scout, spy and nurse. After the war she came to Auburn where she lived and continued to serve by aiding others in their journey and founding a home for the aged even through she herself was penniless. Immediately following the graveside service the memorial continued at the Harriet Tubman home on South Street where her home and the home for the aged she founded still stands. "It's just so surreal," said Betty Jenkins who traveled from Virginia to attend with her family. "It's truly a dream come true to actually be here, to walk the same lands that she poured herself into. It truly is an honor." In 1983, Roger Cellicion brought his family and tribe together through the power of dance. And more than 30 years later, his son, Fernando, has carried the tradition. The Cellicion Dancers from Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, will celebrate their first full performance at the Museum of Northern Arizonas Heritage Program during the 26th annual Zuni Festival of Arts and Culture. The festival is presented in partnership with the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center (AAMHC) in Zuni at MNA, 3101 N. Fort Valley Road. Events take place Saturday and Sunday, May 28 and 29 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. A members preview opens Friday, May 27 from 6-8 p.m. Regular admission rates apply. Call 774-5213 or visit musnaz.org to learn more. Roger Cellicion was not only an accomplished Zuni dancer, but a religious leader who raised his family in a very traditional household, recalled Fernando Cellicion in a recent interview. Ive always been around traditional danceit came as a natural thing in our family, he added. Today we travel around the world, sharing the importance of learning your traditional heritage, regardless of your heritage. He said every one subscribes to a particular culture, even in todays technological world, and it is a necessary examination to establish an identity. This constant in his teaching practice has brought the family to share in their own culture the world over from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to Turkey, China and beyond. The Cellicion family travels with a minimum of six cousins, brothers and sisters, and up to 15 members. They have become a staple of Zuni dance through their style and reverence for tradition, Cellicion noted proudly, and that is what affords them the opportunity to travel away from the pueblo. Our dances have always been a family affair, he noted of four generations practicing traditional performing arts. And for the elder Cellicion, he is also happy to be following his own dream of being a performer and professional flute player. His accomplished career in the world of flute music began with Carlos Nakaia champion of the genre Cellicion is pleased to call a friend. When a friend passed along Nakais recording, Cellicion called on his days in the school band, when his teacher suggested he pick up the recorder. I started playing along with Carlos songs and started developing my own style, he explained. My parents and family bought me my first flute, and I started playing our traditional tribal songs. Since, Ive gotten songs from different people throughout my travels. Cellicion noted the flute is a charming instrument that sets a relaxed tone. His style is slow, smooth, and sets the mood for his familys presentations of traditional Zuni dances like the Eagle, Buffalo and Deer dances they enact at cultural festivals. Another way the Cellicions have stood apart is in their regalia. The colorful, intricate garments belong to the family, and have either been passed down over generations or obtained in trade. With authentic iconography and materials, the dancers complete the full experience and beauty of movement. We do these dances for shows, but we do them to ask for blessings from our ancestors as well as bless people who come and watch us or even partake within the dance, Cellicion said. We not only pray for ourselves but for our people, but our prayers pertain to all mankind: long-life prosperity thought the world. At MNAs Zuni Festival, dozens of performers, lecturers and artists present and share in their knowledge of their heritage that encompasses a lifestyle carefully enveloping the people and the environment. Over the weekend a number of demonstrations will surround traditional food and more. Jim Enote, AAMHC Executive Director, will discuss Indigenous identity, ownership and the bisections of the offensive and profane. His second lecture will examine faked Zuni iconography and ceremonial objects. AAMHC Cultural Educator Curtis Quam will also present two lectures, including a screening of three objectifying 1923 silent films by Owen Cattell. Cellicion noted his family is proud to share Zuni themes with all visitors, in the hope more people can learn Indigenous identity is not static or one-sided. And for the sake of youth, to learn the ways of their ancestors and honor the culture. Today, these kids are gearing up to take my place as a leader, he added of his troupe. Im glad they want to continue. Thats one thing as an elder we wish all kids would ask. Volunteers with the Florida Dream Center have spent the past six months fixing up a foreclosed home, donated by Wells Fargo Bank, for Lisa Schipper and her family. Lisa Schipper and her three sons moved into a new home Saturday Florida Dream Center and Pinellas County made it all possible Schipper went through several rounds of qualifiers to be selected Schipper and her three children have been living in shelters and motels as she works to get back on her feet. Throughout all of her struggles, Schipper says she managed to stay strong for her kids. "I've never a day in my life not strived to do for them, said Schipper. How I keep it together? I don't know. I've never known since I was 15 how I ever managed to keep it together, but this last year especially has been the hardest ever. The partnership between Florida Dream Center and local government was facilitated through Pinellas Countys Family Housing Assistance Program, which assists families through case management to help them find housing, pay for rent and utilities, improve employment, and receive education and other services. "Just having stability changes things, and having safety you have a place to go to and can count on it. It changes your whole perspective and there's hope for the future, said Bill Losasso, president of the Florida Dream Center. Qualifying individuals must be homeless and living in a shelter or motel, work 25 hours a week, have custody of young children, and work with Human Services staff to become financially self-sufficient. Besides helping the homeless, The Florida Dream Center revitalizes neighborhoods through its Adopt-A-Block program along with several other services. GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. The Milton Road corridor may finally get some congestion relief. A panel of community leaders advising regional transportation leaders has recommended nearly $200 million in improvements not only to the Milton corridor but mainly to the parallel Lone Tree Road corridor. The Regional Transportation Plan Steering Committee is recommending a railroad overpass for Lone Tree to East Route 66, widening Lone Tree between Butler and Pine Knoll and further to J.W. Powell Boulevard, then extending Powell north past the airport to I-17. Not included in this 5-year plan is an expensive interchange at Lone Tree and I-40. Instead the committee included $3 million to plan the interchange. The committee submitted its recommendation to the Flagstaff Metropolitan Planning Organization on May 19. The steering committee was charged with creating an update to the Flagstaff Regional Transportation Plan. The plan is required to be updated every five years by the federal government and gives local leaders an idea of what roadways, bike paths, pedestrian pathways and bus routes might need improvement or expansion in the near future. The $269.1 million plan also includes money for a northbound only bus/bike lane and the widening of the railroad bridge underpass on Milton Road. Additional funds are slated for widening the Fourth Street bridges that cross over I-40 and installing missing sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, bike lanes and improving bus transportation along Fourth Street, West Route 66 and Milton Road. Not included in the list is funding to reduce the congestion on or build a bypass to Highway 180, expanding Milton Road to six lanes, widening I-40 through town or widening I-17. In a press release, the committee said it is hoping that by extending Lone Tree Road via J.W.Powell to I-17 and to East Route 66, it will relieve some of the congestion on Milton Road by providing an alternative route for visitors and residents to get to the downtown area. Its also hoping that by adding a northbound bike/bus lane to Milton and adding money for more bus improvements that more college students will use the bus. A particular concern of the committee was getting the Arizona Department of Transportation to help with funding on some of the projects. There is no funding currently for any of the projects on the list, but the committee has identified a number of possible sources, including the state and federal government, grants and asking the public to renew the citys transportation tax. The transportation tax was approved by voters in 2000 and due to expire in 2020. Its different from the sales tax issue that was passed in November 2014 that is being used for road repairs. The FMPO will review the plan at its June 22 meeting. The committee will also present the plan to the Coconino County Board of Supervisors on June 14 and the Flagstaff City Council on June 28. The FMPO is made up of representatives from the city of Flagstaff, Coconino County, the Arizona Department of Transportation and the federal government. The organization will bring the recommendation to the public for discussion. Travel Tips, Advice for Memorial Weekend They Don't Tell You on the Oregon Coast Published 05/22/2016 at 7:11 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oregon Coast) It's the official kick-off to the summer season, and it will be a big one. Memorial Day weekend on the Oregon coast is a wild and woolly affair, and there's much fun to be had. But several travel tips not often mentioned are important for an even better time and less frustration. (Photo: a secret spot like this one at Neptune State Park near Yachats will be less crowded over Memorial weekend). Lodging Melee. Rule Number One: book your lodging now. Many hotels, motels and vacation rentals are already filled up, and most will be completely filled up just a few days before the weekend begins. Don't leave this to chance. Prices also can greatly increase the closer you get to the holiday. If for some reason you wait to try and find a room last-minute while you're on the coast, you could easily pay a hundred or more dollars over the regular room rate. If you're having serious trouble finding availability, vacation rentals sometimes have a few more openings than regular lodgings, but they are more spendy. Check this for Oregon coast lodging now. Leave Later on Sunday or on Monday. Sunday most often means a massive exodus from the coast. The afternoon hours can be like Portland in rush hour traffic. Wait until just after sunset if you have to go home on Sunday you'll make it much faster. Monday afternoon can be just as bad at times, but usually it's thinned substantially. Watch Your Speed Sting Spots. Because of the much heavier traffic, expect a sizable police patrol. It will be thick along the highways of the Oregon coast range, but also in towns like Newberg or McMinnville that Highway 18 passes through. Be especially cautious between McMinnville and Sheridan along Highway 18 as the sudden speed limit changes may be a surprise, even in the wide open countryside. Sometimes numerous patrol vehicles are clustered at the big rest stop in the coast range on Highway 26. Most often, however, officers are cruising in both directions and can easily see if you're speeding in the opposite lane. Other areas on the coast to look out for include the stop signs at Laneda in Manzanita, Brooten Road just north of Pacific City and those in Newport's Nye Beach. Day Trip Tips: If you head out just for the day and this is true any time of the year bring an extra pair of pants, socks and shoes. Bouncing around the beach, it's easy to get soaked by accidentally falling in a stream or hit by a large wave. Above all, bring a warmer jacket as the sunset hours get chilly fast. Be prepared for all kinds of weather. Caution on Rocky Areas. If youre going to explore rocky tidal areas, bring shoes that stick well and dont slip too easy. Its likely what youll be doing is some kind of climbing, at least in a minor way. Sneakers or hiking boots are best for these areas. Always be careful of extremely slippery areas on the rocks, usually found on green spots near the tide. These green areas should be a red alert for you: its extremely treacherous while wet. Falling on your back or head here is even more risky business, especially since youre close to the water. Keep Beach Safety in Mind. Always keep your eyes on the ocean and do NOT go where the signs tell you not to go. They're there for a reason. On rocky ledges, stay clear of the outer edges. If you see the area is already quite wet or witness a few waves splashing there, stay back from that spot. Stay away from logs in the surf, as it doesn't take much water to make them move and they could roll on you. Much more on beach safety here. Drinking and Driving Mix Even Less. When good people become tourists, bad things can happen in the world of drinking. Penalties for this are often stiffer in coastal counties. Even more importantly, towns like Seaside, Astoria, Newport and Lincoln City have great cab systems that are infinitely cheaper than bigger cities like Portland. Oregon Coast Hotels in these areas - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours More on the Oregon coast below: More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Oregon Coast Summer Science Workshop in July; Science Diversity Seminar Soon Published 05/21/2016 at 7:11 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oregon Coast) Two events on the central Oregon coast during the summer have science in mind, looking at them from two distinctively but fascinating ways. One, at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport looks at a need for a more diverse workforce in the fields of science. Another is the big summer science workshop that covers a wide range of beach-oriented subjects and happening in Depoe Bay. (Photo: intertidal species such as barnacles will show up at the science workshop in July). The summer Shoreline Science Workshop put on by CoastWatch is coming up in July, and now is the time to sign up. This time around, CoastWatch is offering only one Shoreline Science Workshop instead of the usual three. This years workshop will be held July 8-10 at the Depoe Bay Community Hall (220 S.E. Bay Street). Online registration is open: https://oregonshores.givezooks.com/events/2016-coastwatch-shoreline-science-workshop. These workshops are now a CoastWatch tradition, and this year is led by ecologist Stewart Schultz, author of The Northwest Coast: A Natural History. He presents three full days of instruction that covers rocky shore, beach and estuarine habitats in depth. Schultz will also examine coastal forests, the nearshore ocean, marine mammals, tides and oceanography, and citizen science and many other topics. Matters of concern such as marine debris and invasive species will also be discussed. Each session will include field trips, indoor presentations and laboratory experiences (with some variation, depending on the weather). CoastWatch volunteer coordinator Fawn Custer is organizing much of this event and says all members of the public will get something out of this, but there is limited room. While the workshop is open to all, our primary motive in offering it is to provide CoastWatchers with an intensive training opportunity, Custer said. We hope that CoastWatchers will take advantage of this and register soon, so as to assure places. With only one Shoreline Science Workshop this year, and a cap on the number attending, it is likely to fill up, and we would hate to turn away CoastWatchers seeking to enhance their monitoring skills. If you would like to reserve a place, but dont wish to do so online, contact Fawn Custer, CoastWatchs volunteer coordinator, at (541) 270-0027, [email protected] Custer said she can hold a place for you and arrange with you to pay the workshop fee by check. A seminar at the Hatfield Marine Science Center on June 2 asks How diverse is fisheries science in the U.S.? Appearing are Brooke Penaluna and Ivan Arismendi, both research fish biologists with the USFS PNW Research Station. They maintain that a diverse workforce in science can bring about competitive advantages, innovation and new knowledge, skills, and experiences for understanding complex problems involving the science and management of natural resources. In particular, fisheries sciences confronts exceptional challenges due to complicated societal-level problems from the overexploitation and degradation of aquatic ecosystems worldwide. The pair will examine the status of gender and race/ethnicity that comprise the United States fisheries science workforce based on various surveys. This forum provides a starting point for discussions about how disparities of diversity in fisheries compares to other disciplines and what might be done to improve the climate and conditions for the successful inclusion of diverse scientists. It starts at 3:30 p.m. Hatfield Marine Science Center is at 2030 SE Marine Science Drive. (541) 867-0226. http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/. Oregon Coast Hotels for these events - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours. More on these spots below: More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Summer Science Workshop on Oregon Coast Coming Up; Diversity Seminar Published 05/21/2016 at 8:11 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oregon Coast) Two events on the central Oregon coast during the summer have science in mind in two different ways. One, at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport looks at a need for a more diverse workforce in the fields of science. Another is the big summer science workshop that covers a wide range of beach-oriented subjects and happening in Depoe Bay. (Photo: starfish on the Oregon coast will be on subject covered). The summer Shoreline Science Workshop put on by CoastWatch is coming up in July, and now is the time to sign up. This time around, CoastWatch is offering only one Shoreline Science Workshop instead of the usual three. This years workshop will be held July 8-10 at the Depoe Bay Community Hall (220 S.E. Bay Street). Online registration is open: https://oregonshores.givezooks.com/events/2016-coastwatch-shoreline-science-workshop. These workshops are now a CoastWatch tradition, and this year is led by ecologist Stewart Schultz, author of The Northwest Coast: A Natural History. He presents three full days of instruction that covers rocky shore, beach and estuarine habitats in depth. Schultz will also examine coastal forests, the nearshore ocean, marine mammals, tides and oceanography, and citizen science and many other topics. Matters of concern such as marine debris and invasive species will also be discussed. Each session will include field trips, indoor presentations and laboratory experiences (with some variation, depending on the weather). CoastWatch volunteer coordinator Fawn Custer is organizing much of this event and says all members of the public will get something out of this, but there is limited room. While the workshop is open to all, our primary motive in offering it is to provide CoastWatchers with an intensive training opportunity, Custer said. We hope that CoastWatchers will take advantage of this and register soon, so as to assure places. With only one Shoreline Science Workshop this year, and a cap on the number attending, it is likely to fill up, and we would hate to turn away CoastWatchers seeking to enhance their monitoring skills. If you would like to reserve a place, but dont wish to do so online, contact Fawn Custer, CoastWatchs volunteer coordinator, at (541) 270-0027, [email protected] Custer said she can hold a place for you and arrange with you to pay the workshop fee by check. A seminar at the Hatfield Marine Science Center on June 2 asks How diverse is fisheries science in the U.S.? Appearing are Brooke Penaluna and Ivan Arismendi, both research fish biologists with the USFS PNW Research Station. They maintain that a diverse workforce in science can bring about competitive advantages, innovation and new knowledge, skills, and experiences for understanding complex problems involving the science and management of natural resources. In particular, fisheries sciences confronts exceptional challenges due to complicated societal-level problems from the overexploitation and degradation of aquatic ecosystems worldwide. The pair will examine the status of gender and race/ethnicity that comprise the United States fisheries science workforce based on various surveys. This forum provides a starting point for discussions about how disparities of diversity in fisheries compares to other disciplines and what might be done to improve the climate and conditions for the successful inclusion of diverse scientists. It starts at 3:30 p.m. Hatfield Marine Science Center is at 2030 SE Marine Science Drive. (541) 867-0226. http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/. Oregon Coast Hotels for these events - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours. More on these spots below: More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Money for a new city-county courthouse expansion, the first addition of staff positions since the recession and employee pay raises have all made the preliminary cut for next years Coconino County budget. The first draft of the budget was pulled together after a week of intensive discussions at the beginning of May and will go before county supervisors for initial approval June 1. An anticipated $70.4 million in general fund expenditures is $7.5 million higher than last year due in large part to an initial $5 million the county has set aside for a new courthouse project with the city of Flagstaff, estimated to cost $40 million. The courthouse would be located on the site of the old county jail downtown and would house the citys municipal court and Coconino Countys Justice Court. The county came up with the $5 million thanks to a combination of increasing revenues and conservative spending over the past several years, allowing it to save up the money gradually, according to Bonny Lynn, the countys finance director. Another $3 million for the court project will come from the county jail districts budget, which is funded by a separate, dedicated sales tax. Thanks to a projected increase in local and state tax revenues, the county expects to have $2.9 million in additional revenue over this year. About $2.8 million of that money will go toward a combined 5 percent merit and market pay increase for employees, health benefit cost increases, as well as expenditures recommended by the county manager. Those include a new planner and environmental quality specialist in the community development department, money for the development of downtown parking solutions for county staff and customers and a boost to a homecare service program for low income senior citizens. A total of 10 new positions will be added to the countys current staff of 1,056. The final day of board discussions focused on $240,000 in recurring funding that was left over for the board of supervisors to allocate. In the end, the board chose to put the cash toward live video streaming of meetings similar to what is done by the city of Flagstaff, a portion of employee pay increases, an examination of the need for an additional paralegal and an administration position in the superior court. The budget also included $160,000 in extra one-time funds, half of which the supervisors put toward a study of records retention across county departments and another quarter that went toward fulfilling one-time requests from community partners like the Sustainable Economic Development Initiative of Northern Arizona, the Small Business Development Center and the Greater Flagstaff Forest Partnership. The study of records retention is needed to ensure digital storage procedures comply with state standards, to streamline the process of records retention and determine what paper records can be digitized, said Mike Townsend, deputy county manager. He said the county does plan to increase its property tax levy, or the total amount in property taxes it collects, by 2 percent, which means residents may see property tax increases depending on the growth in their assessed property value. The budget puts the county on stable ground financially, with projections showing the countys ending fund balance never dropping below $7.8 million over the next nine years, which is still above the recommended amount to account for emergencies and budget fluctuations, Townsend said. The coming years budget projections show the county will end the year with $14.4 million in its fund balance. Having that sizable fund balance allows the county to respond to emergencies, weather volatilities in tax collections and cuts to state aid, and maintain government bond ratings and affordable interest costs, Lynn wrote in an email. Another help to the budget this year was a small break in fees and costs that legislators have shifted from the state to counties in recent years. Those accumulated cost shifts totaled $1.2 million for Coconino County this year and are projected to drop to $808,000 this coming year, according to data from the County Supervisors Association. The financial picture isnt looking quite as rosy for the Public Health Services District, however. Even with the closing of the countys dental clinic that was supposed to be a money-saving measure, the health district and its $8.6 million budget is looking at a deficit of nearly $900,000 next year, and that is projected to grow to almost $1 million the year after. Thats due to a decrease in grant funding, staff salary increases and a steady rise in state-mandated contributions to Title 36, which refers to a court-ordered evaluation for those who pose a threat to themselves or others, Townsend said. The countys plan is to look at Title 36 to seek potential efficiencies or improvements in that program, he said. The board is really concerned about cutting public health programs to balance the Public Health Services District, Townsend said. The county contributes about $4.8 million to the district out of its general fund and will continue to do so for the next 10 years, according to Lynn. The district is also funded by a dedicated property tax that brings in about $3.8 million. After the first round of budget hearings June 1, the county will hold more hearings to adopt a final budget June 21. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Good news for Ford fans: One of the automaker's most popular trucks could be returning to its lineup by the end of the decade. Multiple auto blogs are reporting that the Ford Ranger is coming back. According to Car And Driver, the truck could be on dealer lots around the country by 2019. A Ford representative said that the company does not comment on future products. According to Ford's official site, the first model year for the Ranger was 1983 with a second-generation model introduced in 1993. It ended its 29-year run in 2012. The popular vehicle has continued on in international markets in various forms. It was initially brought into production to go up against the small trucks being manufactured by Japanese auto makers. RELATED: Check out the 50 hottest cars of the past 100 years Most auto blogs have said that Ford missed a golden opportunity around that time to keep some of the truck customers that GM and Toyota snagged with the Colorado, Canyon, and the Tacoma. Heck, even the Nissan Frontier has made inroads into that niche market. "Car And Driver" also reports that the base price for the new Ranger will be around $25,000, making it competitive with those other truck models. As has been previously reported, Ford will also bring back a newly revamped Bronco SUV by the beginning of the next decade. Broncos were discontinued in 1996 but have remained a cult favorite. Once the Bronco arrives it just might prove to be competition for the best-selling Jeep Wrangler. To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below The firm is highlighting a 'better way to do business' The Co-op has unveiled ambitious plans to hand back 100 million a year to its members and communities. The food-to-funeralcare business is to give members a 5% reward if they buy Co-op branded products and services, with a further 1% for local causes. The company also confirmed plans to bring back its "divi" - a share of profits to members - and will restore its blue clover-leaf logo, which will be rolled out across the business over the next few years. The Co-op is aiming to recruit an extra one million new members and give an extra 3 million in benefits to Fairtrade producer communities. The changes were announced at the Co-op's annual meeting in Manchester. Richard Pennycook, chief executive of the Co-op, said: "This is what the Co-op is all about. Big business is often accused of taking money out of communities - we are putting it back in as we champion a better way of doing business for our members and their communities. "Our intention is to return to paying a dividend again, but we also want to make the rewards for members who trade with the Co-op more meaningful and community-focused. "We're already seeing good momentum across our businesses and this will drive further growth which our members and their communities will benefit from. It clearly demonstrates the Co-op difference being delivered every day." Chairman Allan Leighton said: "We are on the verge of creating a new Co-op economy, one where the trade from our members clearly benefits them, their communities and our thousands of suppliers. "Our brand identity, whether seen on a Fairtrade bottle of wine, on a funeral home fascia or on our insurance website, will signify a better way of doing business." The Co-op said it had identified 1,500 communities close to its food stores and funeralcare homes, where local causes could benefit from the 1% "community reward". The clover leaf logo was phased out in the 1980s but will gradually be restored over the next few years. Turkey is on course to join the European Union in the year 3000 on its current rate of progress, Prime Minister David Cameron has claimed. Turkey is on course to join the European Union in the year 3000 on its current rate of progress, David Cameron said, as he launched a brutal attack one of his own ministers. The Prime Minister attacked Penny Mordaunt's claims that Britain had no veto over Turkish accession to the 28-member bloc as "misleading" and "absolutely wrong". Turkey is set to join the EU in the next eight years and the UK will be unable to block the move, the Armed Forces Minister had insisted. But Mr Cameron told ITV's Peston on Sunday: "The Leave campaign are making a very misleading claim." Asked if Ms Mordaunt had been wrong to say Britain would not be able to veto its membership, he replied: "Absolutely wrong. Let me be clear, Britain and every other country in the European Union has a veto on another country joining. That is a fact, and the fact that the Leave campaign are getting things as straightforward as this wrong should call in to question their whole judgment in making the bigger argument about leaving the EU." Pressed on whether she was qualified to remain in government, the prime minister told the programme: "Her responsibilities are in the Ministry of Defence, she is doing a very good job. "But on this question of whether of not we have a veto, the Leave campaign are wrong." Mr Cameron added: "It is not remotely on the cards that Turkey is going to join the EU any time soon. They applied in 1987. At the current rate of progress they will probably get round to joining in about the year 3000 according to the latest forecasts." As the increasingly bitter clashes between the Remain and Leave camps fuelled divisions within the Conservatives, Mr Cameron insisted the party would "come back together". "Of course this issue raises great passions. It is not surprising that you have people in a political party on either sides of the arguments," he said. "I'm absolutely convinced that at the end of this the Government, the Conservative Party, will come back together and get on with the important job of running the country." Asked if Boris Johnson's comparison between Adolf Hitler and the EU had made it impossible to give him a job in government, the Prime Minister told the programme: "I'm not going to get into jobs and the future now." "Boris is hugely capable in lots of ways but I'm not going to go into Boris today," he added. Mr Cameron insisted that he plans to serve a "full second term" in No 10. Asked if that means he plans to stay in his post until 2019, he said: "It means a full second term, it means what it says." The premier sidestepped questions about Chancellor George Osborne's chances of succeeding him, telling the programme: "I think he's a man of great talent. "I'm not going to pick my, luckily I don't have to, pick my successor, the Conservative Party will do that. "But George is hugely talented, he's a brilliant Chancellor of the Exchequer. "You can see it in the economy; 2.5.million more people in work, almost a million more businesses since he and I got our jobs, the economy growing and so I think he's a great talent." He added: "I think in politics you have to have partnerships. Prime ministers do not do these jobs on their own." Prime Minister David Cameron has said he would be "very happy" to meet the controversial US presidential hopeful Donald Trump. Prime Minister David Cameron has said he would be "very happy" to meet the controversial US presidential hopeful Donald Trump. Mr Cameron insisted he was right to slap down Mr Trump's "very dangerous" comments about Muslims, but said he would meet with any presidential nominee if they were to visit the UK. It comes after Mr Trump said last week that he has already been invited to Downing Street for talks with the PM. Mr Trump has seen off the competition in the Republican race but has yet to be formally crowned the official candidate. Asked by Robert Peston if he would meet Mr Trump ahead of the US election, Mr Cameron said: "I don't know." He then added: "American presidential candidates have made a habit of coming through Europe and through the UK, so if that happens I'd be very happy to. "I don't withdraw in any way what I said about the policy of not letting Muslims in to America. I do think that is wrong and divisive. "We've got to demonstrate that what we're up against here is a very small minority of a minority, Islamist extremists, that want to divide our societies, and we've got to explain that there are billions of people in our world who are devout Muslims but who believe in liberal democracy and all the things we believe in." He told ITV's Peston on Sunday show: "It's a very dangerous thing to say, I'm making it worse now, it's a dangerous thing to say as well as a divisive and wrong one." Mr Cameron has faced calls from the Trump camp to apologise after he branded the Republican's call for foreign Muslims to be temporarily banned from entering the US as ''stupid, divisive, and wrong'' in the Commons last December. Veteran British director Ken Loach has won his second Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday for I, Daniel Blake - a stark and polemical portrayal of a disabled man's struggle with the benefits system in northern England. The 79-year-old was presented the festival's top prize by actor Mel Gibson at a ceremony on the French Riviera. Accepting the award, the silver-haired Loach punched his fists in the air in victory and said that he hoped his social realist film would give out a message of hope. I, Daniel Blake is a warm and realistic drama about a middle-aged widower who, after a heart attack, can neither work nor get government money. It follows the sometimes comic, frequently painful frustrations as he winds his way through an archaic system that seems designed to bring him down. Loach has long brought his distinct portrayals of the British working class to Cannes. He has had 12 films in competition at the festival over the years, including his Palme D'Or-winning The Wind That Shakes The Barley. He is more a regular at Cannes than almost any filmmaker. Like many of Loach's films, social politics is at the heart of I, Daniel Blake. "There is a conscious cruelty in the way that we are organising our lives now, where the most vulnerable people are told that their poverty is their own fault," Loach told reporters earlier in the festival. "If you have no work it's your fault you haven't got a job. Never mind in Britain, there is mass unemployment throughout Europe." Canadian director Xavier Dolan picked up the runner-up Grand Prize, which has been seen by some critics as a vindication for him personally after his film It's Only The End Of The World garnered lukewarm reviews and triggered a spat between him and certain film critics. The 27-year-old won the jury prize in 2014 for Mommy. The jury of the 69th Cannes Film Festival was headed by Australian director George Miller who described the jury's selection as "two words: rigorous and happy". The Cannes jury's decisions are famously unpredictable, and take place behind doors closed to the press for the duration of the May 11-22 festival. Despite mixed reviews, director Asghar Farhadi's film The Salesman picked up several awards including best screenplay and best actor for Shahab Hosseini. Romanian director Cristian Mungui, who was a favourite to win the Palme D'Or for Graduation, won the best director award, which he shared with French director Olivier Assayas for his paranormal thriller Personal Shopper, starring former Twilight star Kristen Stewart. Taliban leader Mullah Mansour is believed to have been killed in a US air strike (AP) Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour has been killed in a US drone strike, a senior commander with the militant group has said. Mullah Abdul Rauf told The Associated Press on Sunday that Mansour died in the strike late Friday night. He said the strike took place "in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area". The office of Afghan president Ashraf Ghani confirmed the strike but could not confirm Mansour's death. Chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, however, said that Mansour is "more than likely" dead. Mansour formally led the Taliban after the death of the movement's founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was announced last summer. Mansour, Mullah Omar's deputy, concealed Mullah Omar's death for more than two years, and ran the Taliban in his name until the death was disclosed by the Afghan government. Speaking live on television as he chaired a cabinet meeting, Abdullah said Mansour's death would have a positive impact on attempts to bring peace to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been waging an insurgency for 15 years. Mansour was "the main figure preventing the Taliban joining the peace process", Abdullah said. "From the day he took over the Taliban following the death of Mullah Omar, he intensified violence against ordinary citizens, especially in Afghanistan." Mullah Rauf was an early detractor of Mansour's but decided this year to declare loyalty to him in the interest of unifying the movement. Earlier, the US Department of Defence said a drone strike had targeted Mansour "in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region". Afghan officials said the drone strike took place in Pakistan's Baluchistan province, in the Ahmad Wal area. The Afghan government has long accused the Pakistani authorities of harbouring and supporting the Afghan Taliban. The drone strike targeted Mansour's vehicle which was carrying Mansour and one other person at the time, a US military source said. Another Taliban source identified the driver as Muhammad Azam Hasanai, and said the vehicle the two men were travelling in was completely destroyed in the drone strike. In Afghanistan t he National Directorate of Security, as the secret service is known, said in a statement that Mansour was killed in Baluchistan province, in south-western Pakistan. "The attack happened on the main road while he was in his vehicle," it said. It referred to "others" in the vehicle without further detail. I interviewed a woman in her seventies, who returned from hiking Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, Africa. It took seven days, said Kathy. The climbing is very well organized by the government. My group had an outstanding Guide Team and porters. Kilimanjaro is 19,341 feet high. Slowly, slowly, we walked to acclimate, she said. Two striking memories were gained just before reaching the top. We walked at night, starting at 11 p.m. and wore lights on our heads. We converged with all the other hikers as we neared the top. I saw a line of lights ahead and behind me in he pitch black. Then later, I looked to the right and saw a red moon and a red star, just as the sun was rising, said Kathy. Kathys hiking friends are a group of women who hike all the time. Many are considered older. However theyve hiked the John Muir Trail in California to a trail in Colorado and more. What an inspiration! From 21st Century Science and Health The error of thinking that we are growing old, and the benefits of destroying that illusion, has noticeable results. Most of us have met someone considered old, but very much young in mind/body/spirit. These people have been interviewed and questioned. Are they lucky? Is it their genes? Is it the food they eat? Maybe or maybe not, however, they usually always attribute their longevity to a positive and loving attitude. They have an awareness of life eternalnot a life of stages and levels with beginnings and endings. The error of thinking that we are growing old, and the benefits of destroying that illusion make for a better life. Care-lined faces, wrinkles, and gray hair are not laws, while youthfulness and dignity are attributes of God. Why not notice the manifestations of Spirit rather than the passing of years? 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Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, express or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. 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. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 21/05/2016 (2348 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The provinces Office of the Childrens Advocate confirms that it is launching a review into the circumstances surrounding the removal or more than 20 children from Brandon foster homes. Childrens Advocate spokesperson Ainsley Krone said the office is working with some of the youth who are affected and receiving regular updates on the situation. In addition, our office is conducting a formal review of the situation, Krone said. Specialized Foster Homes operates about a dozen homes in Brandon for high-risk youth, nearly all of them aboriginals. Many of the youth have histories of being abused, for example, and mental health challenges. Earlier this week, SFH issued an email to community partners notifying them that Dakota Ojibway Child and Family Services had pulled their licences and removed all 21 of its children from SFH homes for which DOCFS was the sole licensor. The Brandon Sun sent an email to DOCFS on Wednesday, asking for the reason behind the teens removal and for a general description or where the children were removed to. In an email sent to the newspaper on Thursday, DOCFS executive director Doreen Moellenbeck said the agency cant comment on specifics of the matter due to the Child and Family Services Act. However, it responded to comments made by SFH program director Jesse Dourado. The agency denies the comments made by Mr. Dourado and is concerned that his comments and actions are in breach of his obligations under the Child and Family Services Act, Moellenbecks email stated. The agency is, however, unable to comment on the specifics in this matter due to the requirements of the act. SFHs email, issued Monday, had stated that DOCFS removed the youth after SFH had filed a financial grievance over money it believed the agency owed it. Dourado had said on Monday that DOCFS hadnt told him the reason for its actions, but there had been no documented allegations of any impropriety. Both parties now say theyll work with the Childrens Advocate. SFH said other agencies had stepped forward with temporary licences that allowed nine of its homes to continue to operate. At last report there were 20 youth living in them. We know the children in our care are safe, and we believe that by working with our partners and agencies, the important things that need to happen now will take place and allow us to come to a resolution very soon, Dourado said in a statement issued Friday afternoon. While theres no official explanation for the youths removal from the homes, Krone said the Childrens Advocate has the legislative clout to get answers. Under Section 8.6 of the CFS Act, all parties are required to participate in the Childrens Advocate review by supplying information when asked. Krone indicated that the Childrens Advocate has already received some explanations from those involved, although she wasnt at liberty to share them. We have received information from multiple parties with respect to the rationale for decisions or the response to those decisions, but I am unable to provide those details to you, she said. Meanwhile, little information has been made public about where the children are now being housed. Sources said some of the children were taken to other Brandon foster homes, while about a dozen were taken to one location described as a camp, although its exact nature isnt known. The agency has and will continue to make decisions that are required in the best interest of the children entrusted to their care, Moellenbeck wrote in her email. Krone said the Childrens Advocate is focused on the safety and health of the youth who were impacted. The advocate has been in touch with the director of child protection, she said. While she indicated that information on the youth who were removed has been received, she didnt share it. ihitchen@brandonsun.com Twitter: @IanHitchen Hundreds have gathered in the courtyard of Dublin Castle today to mark the first anniversary of the passing of the Marriage Equality Referendum. The referendum was passed by 62%, with 1.2 million people voting Yes for same-sex marriage. In 2006, Katherine Zappone and her wife Ann Louise Gilligan unsuccessfully took a case to the High Court for their Canadian marriage to be recognised by Irish law. However, the case became one of first major events in the debate on the recognition of same-sex marriage in Ireland. The now Minister for Children and Youth Affairs said that the long fight for equal recognition of their marriage was worth it in the end. "Ann Louise and I always beleieved that one day it would happen," she said. "We weren't sure how that would unfold, and we also believed that it would need a huge effort by lots of different people throughout the country in order to bring this about." Grainne Healy, a co-director of YesEquality and chair of Marriage Equality said: It is a great joy to see the marriages that have taken place all around Ireland, with couples supported by their families, friends and communities in celebrating their love. 412 couples have already married since November last year. Hundreds more couples had their foreign marriages automatically recognised. We are delighted to share this day with those that helped and supported Yes Equality and look forward to many more happy days out for couples who can share in our joy she added. Kieran Rose, co-chair of GLEN the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network and a co-founder of Yes Equality, said: This day last year was an overwhelming and exhilarating mixture of happiness, elation and generosity shared by all communities across every part of Ireland. It showed the world that Irish people are open, welcoming and supportive of their gay and lesbian family members and friends and wanted to share the happiness of marriage with them. There are still many obstacles to overcome on the path to true equality but offering marriage to all has clearly established fairness, equal opportunity and real happiness for same sex couples in Ireland. To come on such a long journey in such a short space of time is something all Irish people can be truly proud of. Sinn Fein Senator Fintan Warfield warned that marriage equality needs to be spread island wide, however. We dont have civil marriage equality across this island and members of the community in Belfast dont have the same rights as members here in Dublin, he said. So I think the first act of the Sinn Fein Assembly team in Stormont is bringing forward legislation thats going to extend marriage equality across the North, and that will allow us to have island-wide marriage equality, and legislate for that. Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has re-stated her belief that Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan will clarify her instructions to her legal team as how to deal with whistleblower Maurice McCabe at the O'Higgins Commission, write Daniel McConnell and Cormac O'Keeffe. While essentially repeating what she said in the Dail, speaking to the Irish Examiner, Ms Fitzgerald said Ms O'Sullivan would make public whatever is legal and feasible as soon as possible. It is a matter for the Commissioner, I have no doubt she will seek to clarify as much as possible the points raised, she said. The Policing Authority has indicated publicly that it will be addressing and discussing the O'Higgins report with the Garda Commissioner. I think that is a very appropriate forum. There has been calls from across the political spectrum for the Commissioner to clarify her position, given the inconsistencies with her public statements about whistleblowers including Sgt McCabe. Revelations in the Irish Examiner have detailed how legal counsel for Ms O'Sullivan sought to at first challenge Sgt McCabe's integrity and later his credibility and motivations in his dealings with the Commission. New Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin yesterday declared he has no confidence in the Department of Justice, which he said sometimes operates like the downtown office of An Garda Siochana. Mr Howlin warned that he does not have confidence in the departments ability to drive the change necessary within the garda force. The Wexford TD, who was appointed Labour leader on Friday, said the relationship between the department and the gardai is too close. There were two reports in the last year from the Garda Inspectorate relating to very broad ranging reforms that are necessary. I am not convinced yet that they have been embraced, Mr Howlin told RTEs This Week programme. Bluntly, I have no confidence in the Department of Justice to drive that change because I think there is too close of a relationship between the Department of Justice and An Garda Siochana. Who sometimes see themselves as the downtown office of An Garda Siochana, as opposed to the people who are managing policing in Ireland, as well as a number of other things. There was continued radio silence from Garda Headquarters yesterday. There was intense activity between Garda HQ and the Department of Justice, and within the wider Government, at the end of last week to try and craft a statement. Legal concerns around any lifting of client-lawyer privilege and commenting on evidence from a commission of inquiry, as interpreted by Garda legal chiefs and the Attorney General, are thought to explain the delay. Given these wider concerns, the matter is understood to be largely a political one, with senior officials in the department of justice, along with minister Fitzgerald, as well as the Taoiseach and Attorney General, having to sign off on any proposed statement from the commissioner. The statement, while aiming to be sufficient to quell concerns within Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, is likely to be quite limited and unlikely to answer all questions. It is also conceivable no statement will be issued and that the commissioner will only provide information to the Policing Authority at a private meeting next Thursday. Unless chairwoman Josephine Feehily gives an interview after that, the public will not know anything about what was said, at least until the minutes are published the month after. ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has warned the government that on account of... KYIV, Ukraine: Seven civilians have been killed and three injured in the Ukraine city of Bakhmut in the eastern... KABUL: The United States new visa rules against some Taliban members could have a negative impact on ties with... Illustration: John Shakespeare Not so much for Babcock. Its subsequent financial collapse was largely blamed on their generosity on this particular deal. Not that Browning had any sympathy, when contacted after the collapse. Telstra's $5.66m man: Is it time to look for a new leader? Credit:Jesse Marlow "You know, I'm a Clint Eastwood fan and his character Dirty Harry had a line that fits this whole thing, which I've tried to incorporate into my ethos over the past few years: 'A man's got to know his limitations'." Andy's May Day May 1 marked Andy Penn's first anniversary in the top job at Telstra. And he was obviously hoping to clean the slate after an unprecedented series of mobile network outages in recent months that has left its 17 million mobile phone customers wondering why they were paying a gold-plated premium for what is proving to be a tinny service. "Over the past five to six years we have done a lot to improve customer service," he told a business lunch on Thursday. On Friday, Telstra's broadband services decided to take the baton and disrupt customers across Australia. Where will it end? Add in a share price that has dropped a few billion dollars of shareholder value from the telco, and it makes you wonder just how the Andy experiment is working out for Telstra. The raft of network failures raises questions as to whether whether Telstra is looking at a Vodafail level of catastrophe a reference to the network failures at Vodafone that led to an exodus of customers and saw the telco become a national punch line. Penn's board members, and fellow investors, will be under no illusions that the golden run enjoyed by Penn's predecessor, David Thodey, is over. The question is whether he can turn things around. One thing is for certain, the obsessive and driven Penn will not be enjoying this one bit. "What I do do, I like to do really well, and I spend a fair bit of time thinking hard about it," he said in an interview just before he stood down from his CEO role at AXA ahead of its $14.6 billion takeover by AMP. "I wouldn't enjoy it if you are stuffing it up." Despite a $17 million payout from AXA making him the highest paid executive in Australia's financial industry that year Penn was never going to retire to his garage to polish the beloved Aston Martin, or spend more time fly fishing. He wanted another CEO role and showed up at Telstra after a short break. It nearly didn't happen, of course. Takeover target InterOil Corp has talked up the chances of a significant lift to its oil and gas reserves in Papua New Guinea as it seeks to win over shareholder support for an agreed $US2.2 billion ($3 billion) takeover offer from the locally listed Oil Search. Oil Search outlined an agreed bid last Friday implying a value of $US40.25 for each InterOil share, which could rise to significantly more than $US50 a share depending on future exploration success. Michael Hession, the chief executive of InterOil with Papuan villagers. Credit:Ryan Alexander InterOil and its partners are to drill a further exploration well, Antelope 7, which it is anticipated will boost the reserves of the Elk-Antelope field in PNG, which it is hoped will support building a second gas export project in PNG. "We have always been confident Elk-Antelope has sufficient reserves for two trains," or processing units, InterOil chief executive, the former Woodside Petroleum executive Michael Hession, told analysts and investors last Friday. "Antelope 7 has the potential to uncover significant certification upside." The coal mining industry has waved the white flag over a landmark court ruling which prevents them from conducting exploration drilling in paddocks. Hume Coal, the company against which the ruling was made earlier this month, has broken its silence and confirmed it will not challenge Justice Preston's Ruling in the NSW Land and Environment court. The mining industry has conceded defeat after a controversial court ruling that bans exploration drilling in paddocks in NSW. Credit:Kitty Hill On May 10, Justice Preston ruled that paddocks, equestrian facilities and other farm assets had been "significantly improved" and therefore should be off limits to miners under section 31 of the NSW Mining Act. The ruling affects miners exploring for any type of mineral in NSW, but not those exploring in other states. A storm erupted last week when Gizmodo revealed Facebook was secretly curating trending news topics. The revelation the tech giant is acting like a media outlet and screening our news surprised many. But there is an even bigger issue at stake here: the company's increasing curatorial role over ever widening parts of our lives. The curators allege there is regular intervention in Facebook's algorithm to suppress conservative-oriented news that would otherwise show as trending. They said they would also inject stories into the trending section even if the reports were not popular enough to make it by themselves. Examples the curators gave included Syria, which had fallen off the radar, and news related to the Black Lives Matter movement. Perhaps of most concern are allegations that staff were told to suppress trending stories about Facebook itself. If you're the kind of person who likes a bit of chardy with your socialism, you might be thinking 'great'. But whatever your political persuasion, there are reasons to be deeply concerned. London: Original Beastie Boys' member and guitarist John Berry has died aged 52, according to reports. Berry's father, John Berry III, confirmed the news to American music magazine Rolling Stone, and said his son had been suffering from frontal lobe dementia. The musician, who is cited as the person who came up with the name for the band, died at a hospice in Massachusetts, US. The American rap rock band's many hits include (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!), which was from their 1986 debut studio album, Licensed to Ill. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited the Taste Orange food and wine festival at Watsons Bay in his electorate of Wentworth in Sydney on Sunday. Credit:Andrew Meares In The Sydney Morning Herald today, a poll of 16,554 people across 23 countries has found one in five would offer a spare bedroom to a refugee. The flipside of this is that 56 per cent said 'no way'. The ABC has done a lovely piece here where they vox-popped people in Western Sydney about Peter Dutton's comments on how "illiterate and innumerate refugees" would steal Australian jobs and sit on the dole. Some of the responses are really interesting, in particular the commonality between respondents that migrants and asylum seekers come the 'right way' (which supports Howard's argument that Australians are pro-migration as long as its controlled and orderly) and the ambivalence when asked about the leaders. Elsewhere, the Australian Federal Police's extraordinary raids on a Labor MP and two staffers to try and track down who leaked documents relating to poor roll-out of the National Broadband Network unwittingly threw press freedom into the mix of election campaign issues. Anthony Klan in The Australian reports that the AFP have decided not to lay charges over Vodafone's hacking of Sydney Morning Herald journalist Natalie O'Brien, who wrote a story about Vodafone's security flaws. No doubt the media will want to question the AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin over this. And a fascinating experiment. Google is going to allow Australian politicians the chance to clarify and explain what they really meant to say when they gaffe. The additions will come up when people search for their names. 2. Far-right leader close to first victory in Europe It's only a ceremonial role up for grabs Austria, but the contest between the far-right Norbert Hofer and Greens Alexander Van der Bellen is one worth watching. The vote was almost evenly split in latest counts. The centrist parties were knocked out in round one elections for the first time since the Second World War. And if Hofer wins off the back of rising anti-migrant sentiment across Europe, it would be the first election of a far-right leader and a worrying sign for mainstream conservatives and progressives alike. 3. Taliban commander killed A US drone strike in Pakistan has killed the leader of the Afghanistan Taliban Akhatar Muhammad Mansour. It's the first time a senior Afghan figure has been killed on Pakistani soil and is likely to infuriate Islamabad. 4. Brexit Turkey dominated Brexit debate in London on Sunday. David Cameron's Armed Forces Minister Penny Mordaunt is one of those in the Leave camp and made a giant boo-boo when she went on Andrew Marr's BBC politics program and said the UK would not be able to block Turkey joining the European Union. Nice piece here in Politico on what's ahead for Clinton's Democrat rival Bernie Sanders, who doesn't look like quitting the race before the Convention even though the nomination is all but sealed for Clinton. 6. Prowling for tigers in Russia As a worshipper of felines, great and small, I adored this free-to-read piece in the Financial Times about tracking tigers in Russia. I saw tigers in the wild in India earlier this year and it absolutely lived up to my expectations of it being a bucket-list experience. The videos (included in the article) of tigers filmed on camera traps are just gorgeous. That's it for today, you can follow me on Facebook for more. The federal government currently funds aged care services for about 112 out of every 1000 Australians aged 70 and over. By 2021/22 it will fund 125 for every 1000. Of this, it currently funds 25 home care packages, which will grow to 45 packages in 2021/22. Council of the Ageing's chief executive officer, Ian Yates said that while the ratio had grown since it was first set in the 1980s, it should be scrapped in line with a recommendation from the Productivity Commission in 2011. This would mean aged care services were delivered based on need rather than luck. "It is not good enough that thousands of people are forced to wait months and in some cases years to access the level of care and support the government's own independent assessment says they need," he said. "We are talking about older, vulnerable Australians, living day-to-day, missing out on showers, daily care visits and family respite. This is not how we should be treating our elderly parents and grandparents." The group, including Aged and Community Services Australia, Anglicare and unions including United Voice will from Monday urge Australians to sign an online petition calling on the major parties to commit to a timetable to uncap the supply of aged care packages. Mr Yates said more people were living longer and applying for the packages, and waiting longer to receive them. They were more likely to move into aged care homes, because there were not enough packages to go around to assist them at home. Bill Shorten is beginning the third week of the election campaign in Sydney, and what better place to start than behind enemy lines? The Bill Bus - emblazoned with Mr Shorten's face - was provocatively parked at Bondi Pavilion in the heart of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's safe seat of Wentworth on Sunday morning. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Labor immigration spokesman Richard Marles outside the Bondi Pavillion. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr Shorten and the Labor immigration spokesman Richard Marles then set off for a 7.6 kilometre run between Bondi to Clovelly beaches, meeting punters along the way. For the third time in three decades, the deaths of three men in Sydney's eastern suburbs will be investigated after being linked years later to a spate of gay-hate crimes. John Russell's body was found at the bottom of the Bondi-Tamarama cliffs in 1989, four months before Ross Warren disappeared and his possessions were found in the same area. Gilles Mattaini, also a gay man, went missing from the same coastal stretch in 1985. Almost two decades after the botched initial police investigations into their deaths, a coroner found Mr Russell and Mr Warren were murdered and Mr Mattaini probably met a similar fate. A police spokesman said "it was not a random attack". The man, who is yet to be charged, is believed to be known to the family targeted in the attack. A 51-year-old man is being questioned in relation to a drive-by shooting in Carindale early Sunday morning. A Carindale home was targeted in a drive-by shooting early Sunday morning. Police are investigating after a number of shots were fired at a house on Grosmont Street at around 5.40am, with a man and two women inside the home escaping injury. The property receiving damage to a window as well as exterior and interior walls and a vehicle was heard leaving the scene immediately afterwards. Police are asking for anyone who heard the shots or witnessed anyone in the area around the time to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. A car was allegedly stolen by knife and machete wielding youths at the far north community of Aurukun Saturday night. Police are investigating the incident, which happened around 11.30pm, when a man and a woman drove to an address on Wuungkan Lane before stopping to open a gate. They were then allegedly approached by three or four armed teenage boys who demanded wallets and keys. While the man refused to meet the boys' demands, the woman handed over the car keys. A major search for a missing mother will enter its fifth day in Melbourne after failing to find any sign of her over the weekend. The search for Fiona Hawker, 47, was called off on Sunday night but will resume again at first light on Monday, a police spokeswoman said. The body of missing woman Fiona Hawker was found on Monday. Police are concerned Ms Hawker, a mother to five children aged seven to 20 years, may have fallen in rough terrain or become disoriented during her regular walk on Thursday. At 8.15am, she went for her regular morning walk into the Monbulk town centre, leaving her home in McAllister Road, in Melbourne's hilly outer east. Calls for an inquest into the unsolved murder of an 11-year-old boy in Perth almost 20 years ago have been supported by the state opposition, but the coroner will decide if it is necessary. Gerard Ross disappeared while walking along the Rockingham foreshore in October 1997 and his body was found dumped in a pine plantation two weeks later. Gerard Ross disappeared while walking along Kent Street in Rockingham in October 1997. The father of 13-year-old murder victim Daniel Morcombe has reportedly appealed to the West Australian coroner for an inquest into Gerard's death, which has similarities to Daniel's case. In a letter to Coroner Ros Fogliani, Bruce Morcombe urges her to probe Gerard's death and the adequacy of the police investigation, The Sunday Times newspaper reports. "But there is also a sense of relief that - so far - nothing points to the responsibility of either the Egyptian government, authorities or EgyptAir." Personal belongings and other wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804. Credit:Egyptian Armed Forces Within hours of the crash, Egyptian officials speculated that it was caused by terrorism, not a mechanical failure. That helped focus attention on a possible security breach at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, where the flight originated Wednesday night. US investigators also believe terrorism - possibly a bomb smuggled on board - may have caused the Airbus A320 to veer sharply at 37,000 feet before falling from the sky. The theory of an explosion was bolstered Saturday when a French civil aviation agency said the aircraft sent alerts about smoke in the cabin shortly before it lost radar contact. Under pressure: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Credit:Bloomberg But US intelligence agencies have found no evidence that any of the passengers or crew had links to terrorists, and no group has claimed responsibility for the crash. Egyptian officials have issued few statements on the investigation while recovery teams continue to scour the Mediterranean for remains and wreckage, specifically the "black box" cockpit voice and flight data recorders that could hold the keys to what went wrong. "Egypt has speculated no more than the US or France on this crash and sounded very reasonable and measured," said H.A. Hellyer, senior fellow at the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East at the Atlantic Council. People look out over the Mediterranean Sea from the coastline of Alexandria where about 290 kilometers north, search operations are taking place to locate the wreckage of EgyptAir flight MS840. Credit:Getty Images "Had this been a flight that departed from Egypt, the response from the government might not have been quite so measured." Discovery of a security failure by Egyptian authorities, or lapses by the airline, would be another blow to Egypt, and particularly President Abdel Fattah Sisi. A Russian investigator near the wreckage of the Metrojet plane that crashed in Egypt in November. Credit:AP Under Mr Sisi, Egypt has become particularly sensitive to allegations of governance failures. Since 2013, when Mr Sisi ousted the Muslim Brotherhood government that took office in the country's first free elections, the authoritarian former army field marshal has restricted civil rights in favour of stability. Yet, Mr Sisi has faced a growing threat from militancy in the Sinai, which began as a local security problem and has metastasised into a powerful insurgency claiming allegiance to Islamic State. The militants, calling themselves "Sinai Province", have claimed responsibility for attacks in mainland Egypt, including the killings of eight policemen in a southern district of the capital earlier this month. Egyptian forces have launched operations against the militants, but efforts to pacify the insurgency by arming local Bedouin tribes have failed. In October, Islamic State said it had bombed a Russian Metrojet aircraft that crashed in the Sinai, killing all 224 passengers and crew, the vast majority Russian tourists. Egyptian authorities for months blamed technical malfunctions, but Sisi in February appeared to acknowledge that it was terrorism. He said in a speech that "those who downed the flight" wanted to harm Egypt's relations with Russia, which has been carrying out attacks against Islamic State in Syria. "Three years later, Egypt is not as stable and not as secure," Omar Ashour, a professor at the University of Exeter in Britain who studies Egypt, said of Mr Sisi's tenure. "An insurgency that started as a limited security problem on the border of Gaza became a larger insurgency with the capacity to strike elsewhere in the country and pull off attacks like Metrojet. So the government's raison d'etre is undermined." Concerns about Mr Sisi's government also increased after the body of an Italian man was found, tortured and mutilated, in February outside Cairo. The victim, 28-year-old Italian Giulio Regeni, was a doctoral student conducting research on labor unions in Egypt, and his killing bore the hallmarks of an extrajudicial execution by state security forces. The case sparked outrage in Egypt and Italy. The European Parliament issued a stinging statement saying it was "deeply concerned by the overall human rights situation in Egypt" and reports that police brutality and forced disappearances were on the rise. The government has continued a harsh crackdown against human rights activists, particularly pro-democracy groups seen as having supported the protests against Mubarak in 2011. In 2013, a court ordered the closure of several such groups, including Freedom House, a US-based organisation, and issued jail sentences to dozens of staff members. A law banning gatherings of more than 10 people without government permission has stifled protests against Mr Sisi's policies. News coverage of the civil rights crackdown has also generally been muted because many media organisations and commentators supported him for removing the Muslim Brotherhood, which they viewed as extremist. But dissent increased last month after the Sisi Cabinet announced that Egypt was ceding two Red Sea islands to neighbouring Saudi Arabia. Following a rare mass demonstration, state security forces rounded up hundreds of lawyers, activists and journalists, charging many of them with terrorism-related offences. The arrests prompted anger even among Sisi supporters. But many are also outraged at the Muslim Brotherhood - which has been banned as a terrorist organisation since 2013 - for attempting to capitalise on the EgyptAir crash. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams When he was 19, Richard Slavin, a nice Jewish boy from the suburbs of Chicago, went backpacking in Europe for two months. Hey, I told him. I have a son about to do the same thing. But, Slavin added with a twinkle, I never came back! With that he gave a hearty laugh as jolly a sound as the ice cream mans bell. Pure joy. He could laugh now he was laughing now, in a conference room in Midtown, in town for a book tour because at 60-something and bald, he is no longer the wandering hippie of 1970. In fact, he is no longer even Richard Slavin. Today he is Radhanath Swami, one of the most prominent leaders of the Hare Krishnas. The swami was dressed in coral-colored robes, as well as a coral sweatshirt that he took off in the warm corporate office. His assistant jumped up to fold it for him, but the swami spiritual leader to millions nonchalantly did it himself. This is not a guy who lives a Kardashian life. Hes a monk. He sleeps on the floor. He rises at 4 every morning for chanting and meditation and breakfast isnt until 9! So how does a suburban American kid end up living in India, leading a congregation that feeds 300,000 impoverished children a day, along with running a hospital, an orphanage, a handful of eco-villages, and about a dozen schools for the very poor? The swami smiled and raised his eyebrows as I asked. He looked as surprised as me. And by the way, in between all these India duties, the swami travels the world to lecture at campuses across the states, including Googles and Harvards, talking about things like spirituality and stress. I have to admit to them that swamis have as much stress as them, he chuckled. Its just a matter of how you deal with it. The trek from footloose teen to spiritual leader is what his first book, The Journey Home: Autobiography of an American Swami was about. A bestseller. His latest book, The Journey Within: Exploring the Path of Bhakti, is about the spiritual lessons learned along the way. The lessons did not come easily. After he landed in Europe, Slavin hitchhiked across the continent in search of truth. I was going to cathedrals and synagogues to study, because I really believed in the unity of all religions, he recalls. He studied Islam in Turkey and Iran. By the time he got to India to study the religions there, I became a very serious ascetic. I would never sleep inside any building, because I considered that too luxurious. So I slept under trees, or in caves. Now, readers, here I must confess something: This man grew up one suburb way from mine. He went to my rival high school and is just about 10 years older. When we discussed our favorite childhood haunts, he gleefully recalled the local pancake house and summers on Lake Michigan, though, As a swami, I cant tell you what we used to do when wed sneak onto the beach. Another laugh. The point is, he comes from a background very familiar to me. But most of us did not go off and sleep in caves. How on earth did his parents react? When he finally returned to America for the first time, he says, It was a culture shock for me and a culture shock for them. My father and brother came to meet me at the airport. The only luggage I had was a begging bowl. They didnt know what to think. But we adjusted to each other in a very sweet and wonderful way. Thats probably because the swami was not the caricature that many of us had or even still have of the Hare Krishnas lost souls in loose robes chanting in the streets and offering flowers. Cult members. In every religion theres wacky people, the swami said matter-of-factly. Because the Hare Krishna religion was first established in America in 1966, right around the time of the counter-culture, the two got entwined in the public mind. Lost souls did join. So what? Hare Krishna is not an American fad. Its an ancient Indian religion that says we are all one humans, animals, all of us who seek sustenance here on earth. And when we chant the name of Krishna God we get closer and closer to realizing that connectedness. That doesnt sound any dippier than going to church or temple. And if it makes people ready to build schools, respect nature, and provide for the very poor, more power to it and the former Richard Slavin. (But if my son is reading this, please note: Do not stay away for 40 years!) Lenore Skenazy is a keynote speaker and author and founder of the book and blog Free-Range Kids COVID testing as we know it wouldn't have happened without this NJ lab For Quest Diagnostics, the pandemic could not have arrived at a more challenging time. A major new lab was being built in Clifton, New Jersey. PAPER Paging Through History Mark Kurlansky W W Norton & Company 389 pages; $27.95 Paper holds the world together. It wipes our foreheads, cleans up spills, bags groceries and disposes of waste products. It floods into our mailboxes at home and across our desks at work. And it's not going away anytime soon. From the late 1970s, futurologists predicted that we would soon work in paperless offices. Though paper use in offices is decreasing, the average American in white or pink collar still generates two pounds of paper and paper products a day. That in turn is only part of around 700 pounds of paper the average American uses in a year. Mark Kurlansky has written histories of cod and salt. Now he has turned to another apparently insignificant, indispensable subject. More than 2,000 years ago, the Chinese realised that plant fibres, now known as cellulose, could be beaten, mixed with water and then left on a screen to drain until a sheet - a sheet of paper - remains. This modest, practical insight changed the world. Millennia before anyone knew what cellulose was, paper makers separated it from wood and silk, cotton and seaweed, and devised a writing material that is still cheaper and more adaptable than any other. The history of paper is a history of cultural transmission, and Mr Kurlansky tells it vividly in this compact book. He follows paper across borders and oceans - to Japan and Korea, on the one hand, and into Central Asia and what would become the Islamic world on the other - and watches it change. In Andalusia, Roman mills, originally used for making olive oil, ground cellulose exceedingly fine, helping make thin, smooth paper. In Fabriano in the Italian Marche, wire moulds produced paper with handsome surface patterns and distinctive water marks. Paper mills were not good neighbours. They were noisy, processed vast piles of dirty rags, collected by ragpickers, and stank of ammonia, often derived from human urine, which was used to break down the rags' fibres. Nonetheless, paper was needed, and mills spread. Inexpensive paper made possible the creation of enormous libraries, which in turn underpinned the intellectual flowering of the Muslim Middle Ages and the rise of printing in both Asia and Europe. Experimentation never stopped. The 18th century saw the creation of wove paper: a smooth paper, without the ribbed pattern created by traditional wire moulds, which artists like Turner used to create dramatic new effects. In the 19th century, the steam engine turned paper mills into factories that made paper from wood pulp. Even in the digital age, Mr Kurlansky shows, paper finds new uses and serves old ones: If print newspapers are in decline, print books look healthy, especially as new technologies produce them more quickly and cheaply. To put the history of paper in context means knowing its rivals, the other traditional writing materials and the cultures that used them. Mr Kurlansky briskly surveys everything from Chinese oracle bones, cuneiform tablets and Egyptian papyrus to Mexican amate - bark-based writing material, not true paper, on which Aztecs wrote glyphs, though they may also have made real paper from agave. Mr Kurlansky loves explaining technologies, but he is no '90s-style technodeterminist. He cautions against believing in the "technological fallacy." Human needs and abilities determine the success and failure of new technologies. Paper and printing conquered Europe because European society became so curious, hungry for new information that scribes could no longer produce enough books to satisfy it. Similarly, human tastes will probably prevent the computer from creating a world without paper. Paper moves at a fast tempo and it's useful as a broad survey. Mr Kurlansky's historical judgments are often trite and not seldom wrong. He tells us that Europe was by 1500 "the most advanced civilization in the world," a traditional view contradicted by a mass of recent scholarship on Asia. His grasp of details is shaky. Mr Kurlansky describes medieval manuscripts as large and unwieldy. But Petrarch, whom he summons as a witness, carried his little, portable handwritten copy of St Augustine's Confessions all the way to the top of Mont Ventoux. Though Mr Kurlansky mentions the oral traditions that persisted in the age of print, he misses something much bigger: the vast expansion of writing that took place at the same time. Even as printers filled the world with books, governments invested in vast new paper-management systems, impresarios produced handwritten newsletters for select clients, and scholars devoted their lives to filling notebooks with excerpts taken from the vast production of the presses and systematically classified under hundreds of topical headings. The age of Gutenberg was also the age of the "paper king," Philip II of Spain, who took to signing documents with a stamp and waved them around at audiences like a Renaissance Joe McCarthy. Seen in this light, the expansion in paper use that followed the introduction of the PC looks less strange. The German journalist Lothar Muller, whose White Magic was published in English two years ago, does a better job of conveying these paradoxes in paper's story. He also evokes the varied ways in which writers and readers have responded to its strangely provocative white surface. Mr Kurlansky offers a versatile introduction to this long and complicated history. But a true historian of paper needs to understand that every page has another side. 2016 The New York Times News Service In a rare case of banks managing to offload their shares in a company that they had earlier taken over under strategic debt restructuring (SDR), a consortium of lenders is in the last leg of discussions to sell a 51 per cent stake in debt-laden truck maker Motors to the Russia-based Kamaz Group for $50 million, or about Rs 335 crore, according to sources. Under SDR, banks can take majority control of a defaulting company, by converting their debt into equity, and implement management changes. Such an exercise has to be done within 18 months of taking over; otherwise, they will have to incur hefty provisioning. OFFLOAD RELIEF In a rare case, lenders are being able to offload their shares in a company they had taken over under strategic debt restructuring Debtor: Motors Motors Sellers: A consortium led by IDBI, and comprising Bank of India, Federal Bank, UCO Bank and Punjab National Bank A consortium led by IDBI, and comprising Bank of India, Federal Bank, UCO Bank and Punjab National Bank Buyer: Russia-based Kama was among the top three truck makers in the country in certain segments. It ran into rough weather in the past three years as construction and mining activities dipped and demand for new trucks plummeted. During the boom years, AMW volumes more than doubled in two years to hit a career high of 10,021 units in 2011-12 from 3,939 units in 2009-10. However, last year, its volumes slumped to 848 units, down 72 per cent from 2014-15, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). Kamaz is present in India since 2009, with a facility in Hosur, near Bengaluru. AMW has a factory in Bhuj, Gujarat. In April, only 10 trucks were produced by the company. This fall comes at a time when the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (MHCV) industry is on a strong upswing; the segment saw a 25 per cent rise in sales during the month, shows Siam data. AMW could not benefit from the upswing because of lack of enough working capital, say sources. The company is understood to have had held discussions with several global CV makers, including Italys IVECO. It owes about Rs 1,800 crore to banks, and was taken over by the lenders in December under the SDR route. It had been looking for a strategic partner for some time, Kamaz being one. An e-mail to Kamaz went unanswered. AMW did not offer any comment for this story. The lenders'consortium is led by IDBI Bank; there are also Bank of India, Federal Bank, UCO Bank and Punjab National Bank. After the stake sale, the promoters will have 49 per cent equity and the banks will have to take a cut in their claims. Analysts estimate that in any SDR, banks will have to take a cut (termed a haircut) of as much as 50-65 per cent on their claims. However, the lenders will continue with the rest of their debt on the books of the company, instead of converting it into equity, a banker said. If the bankers arrangement with Kamaz goes ahead, sources say, the new entity could operate as a joint venture company on the lines of Volvo-Eicher Motors, the Indo-Swedish venture. There could either be joint branding or independent product retailing through independent brands. Notwithstanding the haircut, if the deal goes through, it would probably be the first such success for banks, as lenders are invariably clueless on how to manage a company once it is taken over under SDR. The best bet for banks is to find outside management experts to run the company and find a buyer. Usually, banks put a director on the board of the company to oversee the functioning. While talk about change in ownership in some SDR cases are ongoing, nothing is concrete and banks say the equities in these are largely dud. It has been challenging for banks to find owners for recently acquired Visa and Electrosteel, even as theyve made some progress in the case of Gammon India. Gurgaon-based bus aggregator Shuttl will be introducing a subscription-based service in the National Capital Region. Financially backed by Sequoia Capital, it is presently the country's largest bus aggregating platform, around 20,000 rides a day. It says the aim is to make daily commuting more convenient for intercity travellers. A year into operations, Amit Singh, co-founder, told this newspaper the company would undertake some experiments in other cities, while concentrating on expansion in existing regions. "The idea is to cover NCR and then go deep. We have gone deep in Gurgaon. We will do top covering overall in the Delhi/NCR." This would continue for few months and Shuttl would consolidate operations after that. Shuttl launched its tech-enabled platform in April 2015. It got $23 million (Rs 155 crore) funding in two tranches, from Sequoia, Times Internet and Lightspeed Ventures. It has a little more than 500 buses on its platform and is not looking for further funds. Customers taking Shuttl make payment through e-wallets. "We do not have cash in the system. Going forward, we will move towards subscription. People will pay for a month and enjoy the rides, just as you pay for TV channels and newspapers," he said. Bus aggregation services cater to a segment of office-goers that cannot afford a car or a taxi ride but do not want to get into crowded public transport. Singh said since their commuters were now used to a better office and home ride, they do not want to undertake a journey in discomfort. A seat is assured during the ride. "There is a pattern of travel every day for office-goers which brings assured business to us and also visibility into our system," he said. The buses operate under a contract carriage licence and are owned by drivers. Shuttl takes the bookings and makes a margin, a portion of which it shares with the drivers. On average, said Singh, 22 per cent of those in offices are women; however, they form 35 per cent of his riders. "Women have limited options. They resort to crowded buses, shared autos, solo cabs, etc. With 15-20 people in a comfortable bus, automatic de-risking happens." For additional safety of women passengers, the software is programmed to not leave a single woman on board a bus. Beside a 'Home Reach' button facility. Shuttl faces competition from Ola Shuttle that offers similar service and other competing modes. Singh recalls Jeff Bezos saying three years after founding Amazon.com that it was Day One for the internet; similarly, he says, it is Day Zero for transportation. "There are 15 million-plus rides in the NCR region. Whoever does 1,500 rides and more is our competitor. Whoever comes with a better offering will win." He said their business had a network effect. "As new persons come to a network, the experience of existing people get better, just as social networking sites. If more people come to Shuttl, more groups will be formed nearer to home. As the network becomes denser, convenience gets better." They are also into tie-ups with companies - examples are Fidelity, Nearbuy, Oyo, Amex and Snapdeal -- for transporting their employees. Titan Co, Indias largest jewellery and watch maker, is betting highly on the countrys economic recovery, as it sees people buying more watches and jewellery with sentiment improving. To tap the aspiring Indians who buy goods online, the Tata group firm recently acquired Caratlane in the online jewellery space. It has also launched smart watches. Bhaskar Bhat, managing director of Titan Co, tells Raghu Krishnan there is traction at higher price points. Edited excerpts: With the Caratlane acquisition, you now have your own e-commerce portal. Why has it not taken off? That is going on its own. We have to keep improving the business. Caratlane is a pure jeweller in the online space. It would take us a few years to reach the level of sophistication in terms of technology. This, for us, is very good. We have two brands leaders in their respective places, both offline and online. When will you place the Tanishq brand on Caratlane? Tanishq will not be on Caratlane, but Miya will be. How much does the online business contribute to the overall business for Titan? E-commerce is less than 1.5 per cent turnover of the company. In watches, it is higher, at around five per cent. Will this change with the Caratlane integration? Our business from online jewellery is Rs 20-30 crore. The acquisition will bring more turnover. In the jewellery business, whether you are online or offline, you have to do Rs 300-400 crore in three years. This is a vast market. When you are bringing the novelty that Caratlane brings, hitting the Rs 400-500 crore mark is not a problem. Are watch sales stagnant? We have been growing in single digits but there was a decline last year. One reason for our lower growth is that we strategically vacated the lower price points in brand Titan, which did not translate into higher value growth or higher volume growth for our Sonata brand. That shows the power of branding because people still want the Titan watch at Rs 1,800, not a Sonata watch at Rs 1,600. Sonata is a big volume brand but it could not pick up the slack left behind by Titan. We launched smart watches towards the end of last year. These havent taken off in India, though they are sought after in terms of curiosity. Have you priced yourself out of the market? We are at Rs 15,000-19,000, lower than rest. Its because we source the components and make our own movements. We have positioned our watch as a stylish smart watch, not just a smart watch as a device on your wrist. Do you see yourself as the largest seller of watches? We dont see that as a reason for the decline. The most important reason for the decline is sentiment. Last year, people were hard-pressed for money. Generally, the economy was not doing well (and) incomes were not rising. Then, the watch is not the important product you want to buy. Today, it is an accessory. It is a higher order fulfilment; were seeing very good traction at higher price points. You had talked about reviewing the watch business... The category is going through a change. It is a 30-year business; it has got cost structures which need to be re-looked and thats one reason for the voluntary retirement scheme we announced for our employees. The business has changed from being manufactured inhouse to a combination of inhouse and outsourced manufactured and back to some integration with a plant in Coimbatore for exports. The employee costs over the years have gone up and there is productivity and automation. It is a profitable business with high gross margins. But, when you dont grow, you can end up with lesser profits. We were at a healthy margin of 12 per cent , which has dropped to 10 per cent. Getting back to that would be the first step and that also has happened because of low growth. We should be able to get back to that growth. Will you launch more smart watches? There will be two more launches during the year - much like Juxt. One in the next four weeks and another later this year. Was your jewellery business hit last year? A lot of things came into play last year. The mandatory requirement to quote Permanent Account Number for high-value purchases and the imposition of excise duty led to protests and forced closure of stores. We lost a fair amount of business in March and April. Those things went against us last year and, as a result, we grew barely 6-7 per cent. Where do you see Titan three years from now? The company would, by and large, remain the same. Jewellery is still a dominant business, followed by watches and eyewear. Maybe we might launch one more business. Not three years, but we will be visible as a significant player in five years. Do you require a five-year period to build this as a separate business? Compared to our size, at Rs 11,000 crore, anything substantial should be Rs 500-1,000 crore. Doing Rs 50-100 crore is not a problem. Even watches is a Rs 2,000 crore business. Everyone is talking about Uberisation of traditional business? Is your business vulnerable? Anything you dont need to have a touch and feel can be disrupted by e-commerce. Particularly, if the product is of small value. There is a certain desire to go out and buy in products like jewellery, which people would like to touch before buying. However, Caratlane's experience has been good . It has invested a lot in technology. Eyewear needs prescription, while sun glasses could get disrupted. If the economy grows well, how will things change? Dramatically. The economy is already seeing changes. Our products are in the heart of the aspiring Indian customer - upper middle class and middle class, who look for trusted brands, quality and after sales service. We will not be the first port of call for a wealthy Indian, globalised Indian, or they don't bat an eyelid to spend Rs 40,000-50,000 to buy a Montblanc pen. For them, Titan is not aspirational, it is respectable. They probably will not feel insulted wearing a Titan watch. Even for them, we have products like Edge, Raga. The premium price point products in Xylus and Nebula are doing well. As e-commerce companies learn to live with lower valuations, Lenskart is defying the trend. Last fortnight, when the Delhi-based start-up raised Rs 400 crore in a new round of funding led by International Finance Corporation, it saw its valuation triple to Rs 1,700 crore. Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, and S Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys, also invested in this round, and for a good reason. Lenskart sells 5,000 spectacles a day. This makes it one of India's top two eyewear firms. Titan Eye Plus, with about 400 outlets, is the largest player. Starting as an online player in 2010, Lenskart switched to an omni-channel approach to make eyewear available online, in high streets, malls and hospitals, and at home. Lenskart was founded by Peyush Bansal and Amit Chaudhary in 2010. Venture capital firm IDG Ventures bet early and invested $4 million in Valyoo Technologies, which owned Lenskart, in November 2011. Just before it raised money, the duo roped in Sumeet Kapahi as the third founder. Kapahi was a business development manager of Luxotica India Eyewear (Rayban). By then, Valyoo had launched two other e-commerce verticals, bagskart and watchkart, followed by jewelskart. All of these were shut down in 2013. "The company has done well since it began focusing on eyewear two-and-a-half years ago," said an investor. According to a study, nearly 530 million people in India need spectacles but only 170 million wear these. "It's got a lot to do with awareness. Till it becomes important, people don't go for glasses," says Peyush Bansal, chief executive of Lenskart, whose stint at Microsoft influenced him to start with customers and work backwards. Ronnie Screwvala, founder of Unilazer Ventures, an early investor in Lenskart, says: "Most people are negligent about their eyes but might behave differently with the convenience of check-ups. The market in India is massive. Unlike in the US, where eyewear is a niche market, it can be a mass market here ." The eyewear market in India is worth $3 billion, or Rs 20,000 crore, and growing 15 per cent a year. Yet, it has not seen many start-ups. Partly because it is a complex business and cannot be easily distributed. "It's not like you can add a tab on your website and find suppliers," says the chief executive of an eyewear company who didn't wish to be named. Start-ups like Yebhi and Healthkart have tried selling eyewear online. There are websites like Glassic and Lensclues, while lens major GKB started a website, gkboptical.com, and put serious money into it. "It is about trust. You want to go to someone who will get your lenses right. Some of the bets we have taken helped us," says Bansal. Others struggled as their orders crossed 100-200 a day. Access is still an issue. India has only 25,000 opticians, of which 22,000 are single-shop opticians. Lenskart has focused on improving access by home eye check-ups, offline stores, home trials and a mobile app. Soon, users can book an eye check-up on an app, just like they book a cab now. Lenskart has removed intermediaries and complexities in operations by centralising lens manufacturing and cutting, helping deliver quality. It buys raw material for frames and has these manufactured in China and Italy. There is a lot of price difference because of this, says Bansal. "The answer to any big thing we have done has come from the consumer," says Bansal. "People said we want to buy from you but we don't know our power." Lenskart started home eye check-ups, which became pivotal as people started talking about the initiative. Today, it conducts 3,500 eye exams a day and 150 camps in a month. Customers may not buy immediately but 40-50 per cent come back to buy from Lenskart. Consumers in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns are not going to buy on the internet so easily. However, eyewear has a lot of recourses: A customer could come back with a problem. "We launched stores in 2014, as we wanted these to be a trust point and a trial point," says Bansal. Its value-for-money price positioning helps it rake in volumes - its average ticket price is Rs 1,500-2,000. A similar product, with thin anti-glare lenses, will cost Rs 5,000-6,000 at a high-street store, claims Bansal. Lenskart's unique franchisee model for stores has helped it scale up fast. The franchisee carries a limited stock for display. The order is placed online and serviced by the company. A franchisee invests Rs 25 lakh to do up the store, in eye-testing equipment and people, earns 30 per cent on an order, and breaks even in a couple of years, says Bansal. But, it's the mobile app that brings most traffic. Lenskart launched its app last year. It also started a service for consumers to try five frames at home and then order. Armed with Rs 400 crore, Lenskart plans to enter 372 cities over the next three years. Among these would be Mathura, Haridwar, Siliguri, Agartala and Tirupati. It is building affordable eye check-up equipment that will help tap smaller towns. FACT BOX E Dean Butller Prescription eyewear2010Peyush Bansal, Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet KapahiRs 714 crore (close to $100 million) in four roundsIDG Ventures, Unilazer Ventures, IFC, TPG Capital, TR Capital, TPG Growth, and AdveqLenskart is the most innovative optical retail start-up anywhere in the world. The key to its success is that the founders did not have an optical industry background and, thus, were not burdened by preconceived notions. Traditional optical retailing, particularly in India, has been oriented to selling modest numbers of eyeglasses at astoundingly high mark-ups - as much as five times the cost. Lenskart uses very modest mark-ups in order to make quality eyeglasses for ordinary people. Another aspect of Lenskart's success is three models for reaching consumers: Online, modern shops and home visits by optometrists on motorbikes. The challenge for Lenskart is to build an organisation that can handle 10 times the current business. They should continue to hire experienced hands, especially in middle management, where much of the business is controlled. E Dean Butller, founder of LensCrafters North America, Vision Express worldwide, and several other optical businesses Sicagen India, which has been in wholesale trade of building materials sales and services, has tied up with UAE-based building material firm, and is planning to set up dealership points for the latter's premium across South India. Sicagen's Building Materials Division is the sole authorised distributor of Danube products in India. The company today launched the second Danube Orientation Centre, a retail initiative, to showcase luxury and bath fittings, focusing on end customers in Chennai today. "Sicagen has been in the building material industry for long and has been strong in the traditional commodities business such as steel. Now, we want a pan India presence with our retail business," said Ashwin Muthaih, chairman, Sicagen. It would be expanding its retail presence across South India in partnership with Danube. Starting its dealership in Kerala in December 2014, it currently has around 50 touch points and it would be looking at expanding it to another 70 touch points in Tamil Nadu, said Sunil Desmukh, chief executive officer, Sicagen India. Danube has entered into the market comparatively late. It has around 20% market share in the Middle East and would look at establishing brands in India, said Anis Sajan, managing director, Danube. The segment in which the company has presence in has a total market of Rs 8,000 crore in India and almost 30% of it is in South India. The company is planning to focus on the South Indian market initially, they said. Faced with numerous complaints from its customers of being 'inhospitable' and 'insensitive', especially in times of flight delays, Government-run wants to address them with the nationalistic spirit. According to carrier's Chairman and Managing Director, Ashwani Lohani, using the words 'Jai Hind,' (Victory to India or Long live India) by the flight commander before take off, would make a tremendous impact (on the passengers in case of delays). "The captain of a flight should often connect with passengers during the journey and, at the end of first address, using the words 'Jai Hind' would make a tremendous impact," Lohani, who is trying to turnaround the loss-making flag carrier said in a recent communication to his employees. Besides, Lohani in his communication has also asked the staff to be "courteous and polite" to passengers and said wearing a smile would be a "good thing". In a lengthy message, Lohani also sought to sensitise the employees to the need of ensuring that passengers have a "good experience" with Air India, especially at a time when the carrier is looking to bring about a turnaround in its fortunes. This comes against the backdrop of multiple incidents in recent times, ranging from controversies involving people with disabilities to bad quality of food, to quarrels among staff, resulting in flight delays. "The cabin crew should greet the passengers while emplaning and deplaning with a 'namaskaar' as was the tradition. A smile on the face and conversing sweetly and politely without an iota of irritation would be a good thing," Lohani said. During Aircraft on Ground (AOG) or progressive delay exceeding 30 minutes, Lohani said, the airport manager and the station manager should immediately reach the site and attend to the passengers. "There should be adequate communication to the passengers and their boarding/lodging needs should be taken care of without delay," he said, adding that station manager and airport manager have to be proactive and positive with a problem solving approach. Dhruv Dua can barely hide his excitement as he finds himself closer to his dream of becoming a doctor. A student of Delhi Public School in Indirapuram in the Capital Region, he is looking forward to a single common entrance test to get into any of the 400-odd medical colleges in the country. "I had filled up forms for six entrance examinations. I am feeling relieved, now that I will have to take just one. And, the common pool is large enough to afford me a chance to get me into one of the decent medical colleges," says an elated Dua. The excitement of Dua and many others like him, however, is short-lived, as the government has decided to promulgate an ordinance to defer the implementation of the recent ruling of the Supreme Court. The apex court had ordered last month that students would be required to take only one test, the Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), to get entry into medical colleges in the country. The apex court had directed the government to hold one such examination on July 24. Separate all-India and state merit lists have to be prepared on the basis of . State governments will have to ensure that seats are filled according to existing reservation provisions and other specified requirements such as domicile status. will only provide a rank to students and institutions will be free to prepare their own merit list based on that. Depending on the merit score, students will have the option to apply to colleges of their choice and will get selected according to the norms prescribed by states. Logistical issues aside, which states are likely to sort out, the NEET will bring back "the glory of the medical profession", says Dr K K Aggarwal, honorary general secretary of Indian Medical Association. Why states don't want NEET this year Some states, such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu want the test to be deferred. Maharashtra's education minister Vinod Tawde tweeted on May 16 urging the Centre to bring an ordinance "to stop compulsory implementation of NEET this year". Some political parties, too, had raised their objection to the holding of NEET this year. The view coming out of an all-party meeting last week was that the Centre should explore options to defer the implementation of the apex court order by a year. What are the main objections of the states and political parties? One, they want the tests to be conducted in local languages instead of just in Hindi and English. They argue since most of the students in their respective states are conversant in local languages alone, switching over to English or Hindi will put them in a disadvantageous position. Their second objection is with regard to the syllabus. They say that since all states offer different curricula to students, asking them all to follow one syllabus will be unfair. One of the main arguments of the states is that there is a difference in curriculum of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and state boards, and that NEET will favour the former, says Supreme Court lawyer Krishna Sarma. Sankalp Charitable Trust, one of the petitioners in the case in the apex court, has a different take on these objections. According to a note prepared by the trust, the NEET which was conducted in 2013 had question papers in local languages also but "not a single student of vernacular language could get admission". The reason is that since most textbooks for physics, chemistry and biology - mandatory reading for getting admission in medical colleges - are in English, most serious aspiring students prefer English over local languages. The note says that according to the Medical Council of India (MCI) guidelines, any student is eligible for admission into an MBBS course only if she or he has cleared English at Class 12 level. "All the objections are really an eyewash. The real reason for continuing with the old system is to continue with the practice of huge capitation fee prevalent in private medical colleges," observes Dr Gulshan Garg, a qualified doctor himself and chairman of Sankalp Charitable Trust. He says he has been overwhelmed with the response his organisation is getting on the issue. "I get calls and e-mails from students. All of them are very happy with the introduction of NEET. But, an impression is given now that it will not be helpful for students. I think it is wrong. NEET should be held without any delay now," he adds. Experts say that even now, as many as 12 states have dispensed with the system of holding separate entrance tests in their states and take students from the All India Pre-Medical Test conducted by CBSE. These examinations are conducted in English and students from these states are happy to participate. Additionally, almost all of private institutions conduct their entrance tests in English and no one has objected to this practice so far, they add. Why some states are opposed to NEET Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was the most relieved man in India as he pumped Prime Minister Narendra Modis hand on Friday to thank him for the decision on an ordinance postponing the implementation of the Supreme Court order on the Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). Private medical colleges, owned by not-for-profit societies and individuals, account for the bulk of Maharashtras Rs 12,000-14,000 crore private medical college economy. Admission to these colleges is not primarily on merit. Those who can afford to pay, manage to get in. Although their course and syllabus (in most cases) is certified by the Medical Council of India, these colleges churn out doctors in large numbers for whom thresholds of education are lower than doctors who get into, say, an institute like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. This economy is fuelled largely by cash. Look at the trend of new medical colleges in the past 15 years. Out of the 151 that have been established by the private trusts, a majority (99) have come up in the affluent states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Little wonder, then, that these states are the ones who have been saying most aggressively that the Supreme Court order should be reviewed. Heres how it works: Money is spent to set up a medical college. Fees are paid and these can be five to 10 times the fees in government medical colleges. Setting up medical colleges is not cheap permission and clearance alone can cost a lot of money. Once the students start coming in, the licence and permission costs are paid off. This could be in the form of sponsoring candidates in elections; or other means. A top political source in Maharashtra said if a common entrance test to get into medical colleges is made mandatory, it will be impossible to manipulate entry into these colleges. The total number of seats for MBBS available in the country till last year was 49,900. According to reliable estimates, 25,330 of them are available in government medical colleges and 24,660 are in private medical colleges. Experts say that there are at least 100 different entrance tests conducted every year for prospective students to get admission in these medical colleges. And, entrance examination fee ranges from Rs 1,200 to Rs 6,000. This means, an expenditure of nearly Rs 25,000 if a student chooses to appear for six or seven entrance tests at different places. And, it does not include the cost involved in travelling to take entrance examinations in various cities. To take care of these hassles faced by students, the idea of a common all-India entrance test was first mooted in 2010. And, the MCI amendment had recommended a common examination for admission to MBBS course every year. The idea was to model NEET on the lines of globally accepted examination systems such as SAT, GRE or TOEFL. The first NEET was conducted in 2012, but 90 medical colleges went ahead with separate entrance tests on their own. The Supreme Court passed an interim order in May 2012 making NEET voluntary permitting medical colleges to take admissions based on their own examinations. The final judgment delivered in 2013 quashed the MCI notification for holding NEET. The Centre filed a review petition in August 2013. The latest decision is in response to the review petition. Incidentally, a recent report of the Parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare strongly advocates a transparent process of admission on the lines of NEET. Since the process is missing at the moment, "private medical colleges/ universities have developed their own screening and admission procedures which are primarily monetary based." Menace of capitation fee The committee further observes that "it is public knowledge that the majority of seats in private medical colleges are allotted for a capitation fee going up to Rs 50 lakh and even more in some colleges despite the fact that it is illegal. This capitation fee is exclusive of the yearly tuition fee and other expenses. The Committee observes that the issue is not just about capitation fee. This has serious implications for our whole system of medical education and healthcare." The existing system keeps the meritorious but underprivileged students out, it says, and if "a unitary Common Entrance Exam is introduced, the capitation fee will be tackled in a huge way; there will be transparency in the system; students will not be burdened with multiple tests; and quality will get a big push." Geographical concentration of medical seats Experts say that medical education in the country not only suffers from the bane of huge capitation fees, it also suffers from concentration of medical colleges in a few states. According to reliable estimates, nearly 65 per cent medical colleges are concentrated in the southern and western states of the country. This has resulted in great variation in doctor-population ratio across the states. States in the north, northeast, and central India have a severe shortage of doctors because of the fewer number of medical colleges in these states. According to the standing committee report, "six states with 31 per cent of India's population account for 58 per cent of the MBBS seats, while eight states which comprise 46 per cent of India's population have 21 per cent of the MBBS seats". Other than having a NEET that will likely take care of the growing menace of capitation fee, the government should ensure more even-spread of medical institutes to improve the doctor-people ratio and increase the access to healthcare in the country, say experts. With NEET likely in place following the Supreme Court decision, will the other measures follow? Mumbai police today said no calls were made or received on Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse's phone from underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's number as claimed by Aam Aadmi Party leader Preeti Sharma Menon. "Our initial analysis of the cell phone number (belonging to Khadse) indicated that there were neither outgoing nor incoming calls from this number to that of the fugitive (Dawood) during the entire period of September, 2015 to April, 2016, as stated in the (AAP) press conference," Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Atulchandra Kulkarni said. The AAP leader, in a press conference yesterday, had alleged that the Maharashtra minister had received several calls from Dawood Ibrahim's wife Mehjabeen Shaikh's number 021-35871639 between September 4, 2015 and April 5, 2016. Menon further claimed that the Maharashtra Chief Minister had asked the police to investigate the matter. has dismissed the allegations as "baseless" stating the particular number was not in use for the last one year. Kulkarni said, "When the issue of contact of the Maharashtra government minister with Mumbai underworld fugitive Dawood Ibrahim, who is abroad, cropped up, we checked the details. Assocham on Sunday described the two-year tenure of the Narendra Modi government as "work in progress". According to the industry chamber, the country's big macroeconomic picture is steady and bold moves have been taken in the roads and highways, railways and energy sectors. It gave seven out of 10 to the government on the performance chart as it awaits the passage of the goods and services (GST) Bill, high disinvestment proceedings, sorting out of tax disputes and farm reforms. "Assocham's assessment about the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government on completion of its two years is based on interactions and feedback of the cross section of industry leaders from manufacturing, banking, real estate, trading and infrastructure industries," the chamber stated. According to Assocham president Sunil Kanoria, Modi's leadership clearly stands out in certain critical areas such as foreign policy and push to the infrastructure sectors. However, the industry would also expect consideration traction in disinvestment, resolution of taxation disputes, agriculture reforms and most importantly, the GST Bill. "While laudable work has been initiated in the key infrastructure areas like highways, power and the railways, aggressive approach would now be required in the challenging sector of agriculture and the entire rural landscape, which is passing through a crisis," said Kanoria. He added that the rural population needs immediate helping hand. "As far as macro economy is concerned, India has come out a lot more stable and stronger than the summer of 2014. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan did commendable work in terms of bringing about a stable exchange rate, drastic reduction in current account deficit and moving some of the key legislative reforms such bankruptcy law and real estate regulation. However, a lot more is required as for as the tax disputes and litigation is concerned." Indian have reason to worry about the new Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act in America, signed into law this February. Under it, the US Customs may stop any imports for reasons such as health and safety, protection of intellectual property rights, currency manipulation, goods produced using forced or child labour, money laundering, bribery and various other practices which are held to put US industry at a disadvantage. The Act is already in force and India is seen as one of the countries under watch. US President Barack Obama had said while signing the new law that US industry needed protection and actually mentioned India in connection with dumping of steel products. Hala Bou Alwan, head of risk market development at media and information services entity Thomson Reuters, said: "The US Customs are under obligation to screen and grade whatever is imported, and ensure the exporter has not violated any prescribed norms." India should, she advises, be pro-active and ensure compliance. Says D S Rawat, director-general of business chamber Assocham, "The intention of the Act is good, which is to discourage bad business practices. However, such provisions may be used to protect local manufacturers, in the garb of (checking) forced labour, money laundering, bribery, etc." It is a fact that compliance costs in countries like India are much lower compared to Western nations. Partly also due to flouting of rules by small and medium enterprises in the supply chain. Mukul Shrivastava, partner, fraud investigation & dispute services, EY, said, "Indian organisations are taking steps to be compliant in the real spirit from a supply chain and integrity standpoint. Companies will have to focus on pro-active measures to minimise, if not zero-ise, risks around non-compliance. That said, for fair play, the decision makers will need to adapt a non-judgemental approach to ensure the Act does not become a barrier for cross-border trade." As an example, there is gold smuggling into India. It is not easy for ultimate jewellery to always verify the source of gold. Technically, this violates the US law. Textiles or apparel are another such product, where the value chain is a long one, with the unorganised sector also coming in.Hala adds: "The process on how to approach such issues is to be finalised and we believe there should be a compliance manual and processes' guidance, internally within organisations and externally from regulators. However, the exporting companies have to give undertakings that norms are being followed to the best of their knowledge, and have to secure similar undertakings from their suppliers down the line of the manufacturing process. The companies should not be waiting to do that until regulatory detailed processes are in place." The undertakings and declarations should contain a pledge not to deal with child labour and the like. And, policies to ensure compliance with various other provisions. India's mercantile export to the US is around $40 billion annually. Gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals and textiles are among the top exports. Hala said they were getting requests from Indian companies on the Act. "We ask them to know their suppliers and ensure they deal with legitimate sources. We ask them to educate their staff on dealing with this and, further, educate their suppliers in this regard - suppliers have to know very well their own suppliers. It's a chain which should be always a clear and clean one. The rail ministry is mulling setting up the long-delayed regulator for the sector through an executive order and later on widen its powers, to ensure the proposal does not meet parliamentary hurdles. The regulator would approve passenger fares and freight rates, ensure fair play and a level-playing field for attracting private investment in the sector and define efficiency benchmarks and performance standards. The proposal comes at a time when the Indian is struggling to meet the current financial year's tall target of incremental freight loading of 50 million tonnes and reverse a declining trend in passenger volumes. PROPOSED REGULATORS AMBIT To approve passenger fares and freight rates To ensure fair play and a level-playing field for attracting private investment Set efficiency benchmarks and performance standards "In order to speed up the process, we will prepare a detailed note very soon and approach the Cabinet for its approval. Once that is achieved, the regulator may be set up through a notification issued by the rail ministry in the form of an executive order," said a senior rail ministry official. The official also said the ministry wanted to ensure the regulator's mandate did not overlap with that of the Competition Commission of India. Besides, it has to be in line with the Railway Act. To ensure this, the ministry has hired a legal firm, DSK Legal. The proposal to set up a rail authority was announced by Minister of Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu while tabling the Rail Budget for 2015-16 in February last year. The ministry had later floated the note detailing the powers and responsibilities of the authority. Prabhu had last week told Business Standard the rail ministry would petition the authority every time a revision in fares or freight rates was required. The concept note said in case the government does not accept the tariff suggested by the regulator, "Indian would need to be compensated appropriately perhaps through increased allocations in the gross budgetary support." The Rail Development Authority has been envisioned as an independent body housed outside the rail ministry but funded through the annual Railway Budget sanctioned by Parliament. The approved Budget would be placed at the disposal of the regulatory authority. It would also be permitted to arrange funds through adjudication fees and penalties levied. The previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had also floated a proposal to set up a regulator for the Indian Railways. That proposal was only meant for a tariff regulator. But it never materialised. The present government has widened the scope of that proposal to other areas, to usher in private sector investments and ramp up efficiency of the system. In 2008, the US Congress passed an innocuously titled legislation - the "Naval Vessel Transfer Act" - that has committed Washington to providing Israel a "qualitative military edge" over every potential adversary. That act bound every US President to ensure Israel always has the "ability to counter and defeat any credible conventional military threat from any individual state or possible coalition of states or from non-state actors, while sustaining minimal damages and casualties." Now, in similar fashion, the US Congress is binding future American Presidents, whatever their alliances or foreign policies, to nurturing US-India defence ties. On Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed the "US India Defense Technology and Partnership Act", as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) - which authorises the US military to spend Budget allocations. Initiated by Representative George Holding, and supported by most of the House, this highlights Congress' dramatic swing towards India and away from Pakistan. The US Congress often passes important, but potentially divisive Bills, by tagging them as amendments to larger, compulsory Bills like the NDAA. A stand-alone Bill would be extensively debated, allowing potential opponents to oppose them. It is easier to pass them as an amendment to another less contentious Bill. The passage of the Bill has not been without tension. Pro-India lobbies have worked discreetly to tamp down opposition from Congressmen disappointed with the tardy pace of India's defence and economic reforms. There is also ire in Washington about New Delhi's continued stonewalling of bilateral "foundational agreements", even though American and Indian officials have agreed on the drafts of two - the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), and the Communications and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA). Anti-India critics complain that India has never fought alongside the US, the way allies like the UK and Australia have. Even so, the growing pro-India mood in the House ensured the Bill comfortably passed. Congressional practice now requires the upper house, the Senate, to pass a similar "companion" Bill. On May 9, Senators Mark Warner and John Cornyn, introduced such a Bill, entitled "Advancing US-India Defense Cooperation Act". Senator Warner, a Democrat; and Senator Cornyn, a Republican, co-chair the Senate's bipartisan, 35-member India Caucus which promotes Washington's relations with New Delhi. After the Senate passes the Warner-Cornyn Bill, as appears likely, the House and Senate versions of the Bill must be reconciled. This is done either by a formal committee, or through a series of Amendments in each chamber until the Bill looks the same in both. This would not be difficult, since the Senate and House versions are already close to identical. The agreed joint version would then be signed into US law. American legislators are increasingly conscious of the Cold War divergence between India and the US; and Washington's continuing support for Pakistan, which makes New Delhi regard the US as a potentially fickle partner. The new Bill aims at reassuring New Delhi of American strategic commitment. Towards this, the House Bill (just passed) and the Senate Bill (under process) require the US President to "formalise India's status as a major partner of the United States." It remains unclear what this status would be. New Delhi's historical non-alignment rules out a formal treaty, like the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (Nato) that binds the US and several European countries into a mutual defence arrangement. New Delhi might also be hesitant to be designated a "major non-Nato ally" (MNNA) - which does not automatically include a mutual defence pact, but which permits Washington to extend a range of defence and financial benefits. The US currently has 15 designated MNNAs, including Australia, Japan and Pakistan. In 2014, Israel was elevated from an MNNA into a higher category and designated a "major strategic partner". For now, US-India defence ties are covered only by a 2015 executive agreement entitled "Framework for the US-India Defence Relationship", which is valid for a decade. This follows previous, less comprehensive agreements signed in 1995 and 2005. The new Bill also requires the President to strengthen the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative, and the India Rapid Reaction Cell - a Pentagon department that irons out wrinkles in defence ties. The Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar paid an official visit to the Sultanate of Oman from 20 to 22 May 2016 at the invitation of H.E. Bader Bin Saud Bin Harib Al Busaidi, Minister Responsible for Defense Affairs of Oman. . . During his visit, the Defence Minister met Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, Minister of Royal Office HE Lt Gen. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Nuamani and held bilateral talks with Minister Responsible for Defense Affairs H.E. Bader Bin Saud Bin Harib Al Busaidi. During the meetings all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation including enhanced military to military exchanges were discussed. Both sides also exchanged views on regional developments of mutual interest. . . Shri Parrikar reiterated the high importance that India attaches to its strategic partnership with Oman. He conveyed his appreciation at the continued support rendered by Oman for the Operational Turnaround (OTR) of Indian Navy ships for anti-piracy patrols as well as technical support for landing and over flight of Indian Air Force aircraft. . . The Minister visited the Military Technology College and the Sultans Armed Forces Museum in Muscat. He also attended a reception at Sultan Qaboos Port to mark the goodwill visit to Oman of INS Delhi, INS Deepak and INS Tarkash. . . Four Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs)/agreements were signed during the visit. These are: . . MOU on Defence Cooperation between the Ministry of Defense of Sultanate of Oman and Ministry of Defence of Republic of India; . . MOU between the Royal Oman Police (Coast Guard) and the Indian Coast Guard in the field of Marine Crime Prevention at Sea; . . MOU between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and the Government of the Republic of India on Maritime Issues; and . . Protocol between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman represented by Royal Air Force of Oman and the Government of India represented by the Indian Air Force on Flight Safety information Exchange. . . Both sides noted that defence cooperation is a key facet of their bilateral strategic partnership, which is based on historical ties as well as mutual trust and shared interests. It was agreed that the two sides would further expand and consolidate their ongoing bilateral defence cooperation. . . The Defence Minister was accompanied by a high-level official delegation comprising Secretary (Defence Production) Shri Ashok Gupta, Secretary (R&D) & DG, DRDO Dr S. Christopher, Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen MMS Rai, FOC-in-C Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, Vice Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal BS Dhanoa and other senior defence ministry officials. A defence industry delegation comprising Additional DG, Ordnance Factory Board Shri SC Bajpai and CMD, Bharat Electronics Limited Shri S.K. Sharma also accompanied the Defence Minister. . . NW/NAo/RAJ A delegation of senior journalists visiting India on familiarisation programme from Nepal calls on Shri Piyush Goyal , Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal , New & Renewable Energy here today. As a part of programme , the delegation will be visiting Mumbai also during their stay in India up to 29th May ,2016. . . While welcoming the members of delegation , Shri Goyal highlighted historical, cultural and people to people relationship between India & Nepal . During interaction , Shri Goyal also provided them status of various power projects being undertaken between both countries. . . RM/ PM's visit to Iran . The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi will toady begin his two day official visit to Iran. . . In a series of tweets on his Twitter Account, the Prime Minister said: . . "I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today and tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani. . . India and Iran enjoy civilizational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region. . . My meetings with President Rouhani and Honble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership. . . Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority. . . I also look forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar Agreement during my visit. . . I will visit Gurudwara in Tehran and inaugurate an International Conference on retrospect and prospect of India and Iran relations.". . Singapore's largest lender Development Bank of Singapore has denied reports about its expansion plans, saying it was not outsourcing about 1,500 jobs to India. The bank referred to last's Friday report on a local news website which said Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) was relocating 1,500 jobs for its new technology hub in Hyderabad. "To be clear, DBS is not relocating its existing tech operations to another location, nor does it have such plans," 'The Sunday Times' quoted the bank's statement yesterday. "DBS Asia Hub in Changi Business Park (in Singapore) continues to be the group's largest tech hub anywhere in the world, supporting its digital strategy," said the bank. The group said the report, which trigerred a reaction from netizens on Twitter and Facebook, was probably the result of its announcement in India earlier last week that it is setting up a technology hub in Hyderabad, which will be the biggest outside of Singapore, with plans to recruit 1,500 people for the facility over the next two years. "The new tech centre in Hyderabad is an addition to DBS' operations as the bank expands," it said in a statement. A spokesman said the bank hired 600 people in Singapore last year, bringing its total headcount here to 10,300. "DBS continues to hire in Singapore across different functions, including in technology," the spokesman was quoted as saying. Last week, the bank said the Hyderabad hub will boost the bank's technological capabilities across Asia as well as its digital banking strategy. It launched India's first mobile-only bank last month, a move that will slowly take capabilities it builds in India and add them to its Singapore operations. In an eerie coincidence, the EgyptAir jetliner that plunged into the Mediterranean on Thursday was once the target of political vandals who wrote in Arabic on its underside, "We will bring this plane down." Three EgyptAir security officials said the threatening graffiti, which appeared about two years ago, had been the work of aviation workers at Cairo Airport. Playing on the phonetic similarity between the last two letters in the plane's registration, SU-GCC, and the surname of Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, some workers also wrote "traitor" and "murderer." The officials, who were interviewed separately and who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the airline's security procedures because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said the graffiti had been linked to the domestic Egyptian political situation at the time rather than to a militant threat. Similar graffiti against Sisi, a former general, was scrawled across Cairo after the military ousted the elected president, Mohamed Morsi, in 2013. Since then, the airline has put into effect a variety of new security measures in response to Egypt's political turmoil, jihadist violence and other aviation disasters like the crash of a Russian plane that killed 224 people in October. EgyptAir has fired employees for their political leanings, stepped up crew searches and added extra unarmed in-flight security guards. Three such guards died in Thursday's crash of Flight 804. Whether those moves were sufficient remained an open question on Saturday as experts pored over data emitted by the plane in its final minutes for clues as to what had brought it down. The French air accident investigation authority confirmed that the data showed that several smoke alarms had been activated while the plane plunged toward the sea. But they cautioned that the signals, sent by a monitoring system on board the Airbus A320 jetliner, did not offer enough information to conclude what had caused the crash. "These are not messages that enable us to interpret anything," said Sebastien Barthe, a spokesman for France's Bureau of Investigations and Analysis. "If there is smoke, it means that there is potentially a fire somewhere, but it doesn't tell us where the fire is, and it doesn't help us establish whether it is something malevolent or something technical." In an audio message released Saturday, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the official spokesman of the Islamic State and the head of a unit dedicated to external attacks, denounced the American-led military campaign against the group but did not mention the EgyptAir crash. EgyptAir's security procedures last came under scrutiny in March when a passenger on a domestic flight pretended to be wearing an explosive vest and forced the plane to land in Cyprus. The crisis was resolved within hours when the man, later determined to be psychologically troubled, surrendered. The Egyptian authorities were quick to post surveillance videos that they said showed he had been searched before boarding the flight. Among the 66 people on Thursday's flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris were three EgyptAir in-flight security personnel - one more than the normal team of two for reasons that were not entirely clear. EgyptAir security guards differ in several respects from the undercover air marshals who travel on American airlines. The Egyptian guards are unarmed and wear an understated uniform consisting of a dark blazer and a white shirt. When called on, they help crew members deal with unruly passengers. They come from a wide variety of backgrounds and earn a moderate wage of about $400 a month. Normally, one security officer sits in the first economy row, behind business class, and the other is at the rear of the aircraft, two members of an EgyptAir crew said. During stopovers at foreign airports, the security officers are usually responsible for searching the workers who clean the plane and checking the credentials of all crew members or employees who board. They do not monitor the baggage handlers who load the plane's hold. Security officials said those procedures would have applied to the EgyptAir plane during short layovers it made at two African airports - in Tunis and the Eritrean capital, Asmara - in the days before the crash. But the procedure is different in Paris because European airports do not permit EgyptAir security officials to search local cleaning workers, a source of disgruntlement among Egyptian officials who feel they are being discriminated against. Colleagues described the security guards who died in Thursday's crash - Walid Ouda, Mohammed Farag and Mahmoud el Sayed - as professionals who had exhibited no signs of unusual behaviour. They described Farag as a lighthearted man who was often teased by friends for not having married, while Ouda cut a more taciturn figure and was polite to a fault. Friends and relatives also presented a uniformly untroubled picture of the pilot, Captain Mohamed Shoukair, 36, and his co-pilot, Mohamed Mamdouh Assem, 24. An EgyptAir pilot, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media, said he had worked with both and described them as professional aviators who had not exhibited any mental or social problems. At 24 years old, Mr. Assem was the average age of many co-pilots at the airline, he said. EgyptAir crew members have been subjected to much stricter security measures since the crash of the Russian jetliner in October, said the pilot, who described the procedures before that crash as lax. The new procedures include personal searches that have prevented crew members from smuggling cigarettes or currency, he said. The graffiti about Mr. Sisi occurred several times for about two years after Mr. Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, was removed as president in July 2013. At the time, it was taken as a sign of the country's bitter political divide rather than a directed threat against the plane. Nonetheless, over that period, EgyptAir fired a number of employees, mostly members of the ground staff, who were presumed to be sympathizers of the Muslim Brotherhood, security officials said. Similar purges took place in other companies in Egypt at the time. More recently, fears of terrorism have tightened security at regional airports, including Tunis, where the Airbus A320 had traveled just before its trip to Paris, the pilot said. Foreign flight crews face new restrictions on their movement and are now prevented, for example, from leaving the plane to buy items in the duty-free shop, he said. EgyptAir flights headed to Europe also face added scrutiny under a European Union program known as SAFA, or Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft, which allows for spot inspections of airplanes at European airports and penalties for violations. Although Egyptian society has been divided in the turmoil that followed the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, there has been a tangible sense of national solidarity since Thursday's crash. Images of grieving relatives have dominated news coverage. As the official crash investigation starts, many Egyptians have reacted furiously to any suggestion that the airline crew bore any responsibility. Ezzat Shoukair, a cousin of the captain, said he was distressed by some of the coverage. "Don't listen to the lies people have been saying since the crash," he said, starting to weep as he spoke. "We just want to know where his body is. Otherwise, where will those who miss him go when they want to visit him?" Year 2010: "Social selling" was launched and it suddenly got a lot of attention. In the last five years, there has been a tremendous buzz around the new technique. This year will see some interesting developments around this exciting concept that is taking the digital world by storm. LinkedIn index will dominate space: LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a phenomenal tool for . It not only allows one to find out the relevant prospects but also enables to reach out and engage with prospects. Its easy-to-use interface requires no training and mobile app enabling provides on-the-go access to key contacts and opportunities. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a phenomenal tool for . It not only allows one to find out the relevant prospects but also enables to reach out and engage with prospects. Its easy-to-use interface requires no training and mobile app enabling provides on-the-go access to key contacts and opportunities. ROI of social selling: Organisations which will deploy will first evaluate the returns of the programme. Measuring the return on investment (ROI) requires a strong attribution model, right from lead generation. It means the enterprise IT solutions and processes have to be robust enough to support multi-channel attribution, which would only happen if they are capturing all interactions with the prospects. The first step to enable attribution is by educating the sales team to select "social selling" as source in the customer relationship system. Organisations which will deploy will first evaluate the returns of the programme. Measuring the return on investment (ROI) requires a strong attribution model, right from lead generation. It means the enterprise IT solutions and processes have to be robust enough to support multi-channel attribution, which would only happen if they are capturing all interactions with the prospects. The first step to enable attribution is by educating the sales team to select "social selling" as source in the customer relationship system. Traditional channels will continue to support sales: Social media is cheaper than any form of advertising today. It is one of the only forms of media that can expose you to over 1,000 people for less than Rs 180. In addition, you can incorporate traditional elements into your social media campaign. You can advertise video commercials, publish articles, host live podcasts and webinars, and much more. Social media is the only "billboard" that can communicate to your customers, answer their questions, and offer them feedback. While social media is really picking up, it is not going to replace the traditional media. In fact, both will be leveraged together. It has already started. Twitter is providing Twitter ads that map with TV audience. Similarly, social selling isn't a replacement for traditional ways of selling. In fact, one can achieve ultimate success if social selling is used as a foundation to take the relationship offline. Social media is cheaper than any form of advertising today. It is one of the only forms of media that can expose you to over 1,000 people for less than Rs 180. In addition, you can incorporate traditional elements into your social media campaign. You can advertise video commercials, publish articles, host live podcasts and webinars, and much more. Social media is the only "billboard" that can communicate to your customers, answer their questions, and offer them feedback. While social media is really picking up, it is not going to replace the traditional media. In fact, both will be leveraged together. It has already started. Twitter is providing Twitter ads that map with TV audience. Similarly, social selling isn't a replacement for traditional ways of selling. In fact, one can achieve ultimate success if social selling is used as a foundation to take the relationship offline. More niche social networks: As the mass-appeal networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter expand functionality to try to be all things to all members, it will rapidly open up opportunities for topical or industry-specific social networks to better serve a niche. As the mass-appeal networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter expand functionality to try to be all things to all members, it will rapidly open up opportunities for topical or industry-specific social networks to better serve a niche. Rise of many automated engagement tools: Now that sales have gone digital, it may seem daunting to keeping up with the endless advance of technology. Fortunately, at the heart of it, social selling is more about people than technology. It's about meeting your buyers where they are, getting to know them by taking a genuine interest in their needs, and giving them the information they need to make the best purchasing decisions. Content is the one of important factor to be successful in social selling. In 2015, there was the rise of many content curation tools. 2016 will witness the rise of more engagement tools. Now that sales have gone digital, it may seem daunting to keeping up with the endless advance of technology. Fortunately, at the heart of it, social selling is more about people than technology. It's about meeting your buyers where they are, getting to know them by taking a genuine interest in their needs, and giving them the information they need to make the best purchasing decisions. Content is the one of important factor to be successful in social selling. In 2015, there was the rise of many content curation tools. 2016 will witness the rise of more engagement tools. Enterprise social selling: A lot of organisations are adopting social selling, but few have been successful. There will be the rise of a mature social selling programme that will follow a structured approach to ensure it is successfully adopted within the organisation. A lot of organisations are adopting social selling, but few have been successful. There will be the rise of a mature social selling programme that will follow a structured approach to ensure it is successfully adopted within the organisation. More listening than talking: Nobody likes someone who keeps talking. It's the same on social media. Social selling is about listening to buyers to discover their interests as much as it is about becoming an effective content curator and thought leader. In the early days, sales reps saw social media as a place to broadcast their message. However, social media's true value is more as a listening tool. Good salespeople have always built relationships and helped people make informed decisions. The difference is that social media makes the whole process easier, faster, more efficient and scalable. Those who can start to keep the conversation alive will win in 2016!Now let's discuss the reasons why social selling might not work for brands. The biggest reason is that many brands simply lack the human approach to their social selling strategy. People don't do business with companies, they do business with people. This is the reason why social selling is based on precisely comprehending their requirements and concerns. It is unprofessional, irritating and desperate to use every interaction with a connection to deliver a sales pitch. This uninformed sales pitch elicits an impression that you're only interested in making the sale, and you are unwilling to learn how the best value can be provided to the consumer. Actually knowing the people, thus, is indispensable for the success of any social selling strategy. According to an independent survey, less than a quarter of online consumers in the US trusts ads in print publications. This number is claimed to be even worse for digital media. People merely don't trust ads - they trust people. So, the best thing to do with your social selling strategy is to acknowledge that it is not for immediate sales. If you're hoping that your business will see sales directly from your social media efforts, you're going to end up chasing your own tail. Although sales are important, your priority on social media shouldn't be selling. It should be getting found and providing value. If you can take care of those two things and get yourself in front of your customers as much as you should, the sales will gradually take care of themselves. Even if it takes a little bit longer than you're used to. Apurva Chamaria Author, VP & head, strategic marketing, HCL Technologies A British man, who murdered eight British citizens, has expressed his wish to be tried by the Pakistani courts. Shahid Mehmood, a Pakistani origin British national, is charged with killing eight British citizens of a single family, reports Dawn. Mehmood approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against his possible extradition to the United Kingdom. IHC Chief Justice Mohammad Anwar Kasi after the preliminary hearing issued a stay order in the matter. Mehmood along with three other co-accused Shahid Iqbal, Nazar Hussain and Shakeel Shahzad threw a petrol bomb in a house situation on Osborne Road, Huddersfield, England, in which all eight people sleeping in the house were murdered. After committing the offence, Mehmood ran away from the UK and came to Pakistan, the documents said. The British Government raised the matter with Pakistan through diplomatic channels and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested Mehmood upon receiving the extradition request last January. He was taken into custody on January 22, 2015, and produced before the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad. Before the Additional Commissioner, the suspect said that he was arrested by the British Police on May 12, 2002, and interrogated before being released on bail. He pleaded that the British Government could not extradite him since there is no extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan. The accused offered to be tried by the Pakistani courts, saying that he could pay the heirs of the deceased blood money as he is permitted to pay a certain amount under Islamic laws. The FIA admitted there is no extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan, but said that a suspect could be extradited if the government issues a notification under Section 4 of the Extradition Act 1972, which has been issued and published in the official gazette by the competent authority. The FIA's rejoinder added that the suspect had violated British laws and could only be prosecuted in the UK. Buoyed by her appointment as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and BJP's chief ministerial candidate for the 2015 Delhi Assembly election Kiran Bedi on Sunday said that she was she was extremely grateful to the Central Government for giving her such a wonderful opportunity. "I am extremely grateful to the government for giving me such a wonderful opportunity," said Bedi, under whose leadership the BJP faced a humiliating defeat in the assembly polls by her one-time colleague Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party. Bedi had contested from the Krishna Nagar seat in east Delhi, which was considered as a BJP stronghold, but failed to win. Talking about her priority as the Lt. Governor of Puducherry, Bedi told ANI: "My priority will be bottom-up approach. I would like to make a constable and a school teacher feel that he or she is the most important." "We are here to carry forward the current momentum of development in all areas with integrity, fairness and no assurances in false," she said. "I don't consider it as power; to me it's a resource to deliver," said Bedi. Meanwhile, congratulating Bedi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwas tweeted: "My best wishes to Kiran Didi for this new role." President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday appointed former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Kiran Bedi as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. Bedi will succeed Lieutenant General (Retd.) Ajay Kumar Singh, who was appointed in July 2013. He was given additional responsibility of the administration of Puducherry in July 2014. Bedi, who became the first woman to join the IPS in 1972, remained in service for 35 years before taking voluntary retirement in 2007 as Director General, Bureau of Police Research and Development. In the recently concluded assembly elections in Puducherry the Congress won 15 and its ally DMK won two out of 30 seats. The Congress Party on Sunday demanded a thorough investigation into allegations that Maharashtra Revenue Minister was in touch with fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. "The inquiry must be conducted. We don't know whether the claims are right or wrong. But whenever there is something connected with Dawood, I think it should be deeply inquired," Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit told ANI. "And if the minister is not involved then obviously the facts will come out. And in case there is some involvement then it must be probed deeply," he added. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) yesterday demanded that the Maharashtra Government conduct an enquiry into the claims that Khadse's mobile number featured in the call logs of Ibrahim's wife. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led party also demanded that Khadse resign from his post to ensure a fair and thorough investigation. "He is lying and he should resign, we have got telephone bills that show Khadse's number was still working a month back," said AAP leader Preeti Sharma Menon. The Maharashtra Revenue Minister, however, dismissed the AAP leader's claim as 'baseless' but admitted that the number in question belonged to him. The Maharashtra Government has asked Mumbai Police Commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar to investigate whether Khadse had indeed got any phone calls from the underworld don. The Congress Party on Sunday demanded a thorough investigation into allegations that Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse was in touch with fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. "The inquiry must be conducted. We don't know whether the claims are right or wrong. But whenever there is something connected with Dawood, I think it should be deeply inquired," Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit told ANI. "And if the minister is not involved then obviously the facts will come out. And in case there is some involvement then it must be probed deeply," he added. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) yesterday demanded that the Maharashtra Government conduct an enquiry into the claims that Khadse's mobile number featured in the call logs of Ibrahim's wife. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led party also demanded that Khadse resign from his post to ensure a fair and thorough investigation. "He is lying and he should resign, we have got telephone bills that show Khadse's number was still working a month back," said AAP leader Preeti Sharma Menon. The Maharashtra Revenue Minister, however, dismissed the AAP leader's claim as 'baseless' but admitted that the number in question belonged to him. The Maharashtra Government has asked Mumbai Police Commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar to investigate whether Khadse had indeed got any phone calls from the underworld don. Workers' Party of Korea chairman Kim Jong-un is all set to launch a Bachelor-style dating competition to find a husband for his spinster sister Kim Yo-jong, who has recently been elected as a member of the powerful Central Committee in North Korea. In order to find a spouse for his unmarried sister, 33-year-old Kim Jong will personally examine thirty likely candidates from the capital Pyongyang's elite, News.com.au reports. The matchmaking contest will be similar to bachelor show with only difference that men will in this vie for Kim's attention. It is being said that a similar event was organized way back in 2012 but no man lived up to the expectations of Jong-un. The North Korean dictator is looking for a spouse, who must be a graduate from Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung University, 5'10 tall with charming personality and should have served in the army. 29-year-old Yo-jong has been elected into the high office at the seventh Congress, which was held for the first time in 36 years earlier this month. Ahead of his two day visit to Iran at the invitation of President Hassan Rouhani, Prime Minister on Sunday said that he was looking forward to the conclusion of the trilateral Chahbahar Agreement, a deal which opens up a route to land-locked Afghanistan with which New Delhi has developed close security ties and economic interests. "I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today & tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani. India and Iran enjoy civilizational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region," the Prime Minister said in a series of tweets. Adding that his meeting with President Rouhani and Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will provide an opportunity to advance the strategic partnership between the two nations, he asserted that enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be his priority during his visit. "I also look forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar Agreement during my visit. I will visit Gurudwara in Tehran and inaugurate an International Conference on 'retrospect and prospect' of India and Iran relations," the Prime Minister said. Prime Minister Modi's visit will mainly focus on connectivity and infrastructure, energy partnership with Tehran and boosting bilateral trade. It will help in promoting regular consultations on peace and stability, particularly in the region and extended neighbourhood. Talks will be held on security and peace issues between the Prime Minister Modi and the Iranian President during their meeting. India, Iran and Afghanistan will sign an agreement on developing Chabahar port on May 23. The port will be a game changer for regional connectivity, especially for Afghanistan, which can find an assured and reliable alternative access to India via sea. The route will also significantly enhance prospects for India's connectivity with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond through synergies with other initiatives touching the region such as North-South transport corridor. Prime Minister Modi's first tour to Iran will feature discussions on terrorism in the region as well as on India's desire to secure energy assets for a fast growing economy. Afghanistan's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah has confirmed that Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, the supreme leader of the Taliban group, was killed in a drone strike in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan province of Pakistan. CEO Abdullah confirmed the death of Mullah Mansoor in an online statement. "Taliban leader Akhtar Mansoor was killed in a drone strike in Quetta, Pakistan at 4:30 pm yesterday (on Saturday)," the Khaama Press quoted him as saying. He added that Mansoor's car was attacked in Quetta's Dahl Bandin area. CEO Abdullah confirmation came shortly after the Afghan Intelligence agency, National Directorate of Security (NDS), confirmed that Mansoor was killed in an airstrike in Pakistan. It was first confirmed by the US Department of Defense on Saturday that the Taliban supreme leader was targeted in a drone strike. "Today, the Department of Defense conducted an airstrike that targeted Taliban leader Mullah Mansur (Mansoor) in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region," the Department of Defence said in a statement. Amid the ongoing controversy over the decision to clear an ordinance to keep state boards out of Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) ambit this year, Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda will brief President Pranab Mukherjee on the issue on Monday. President Mukherjee earlier sought legal advice on the ordinance to keep state boards out of the ambit of uniform medical entrance examination for this year. The ordinance, cleared by the Union Cabinet on Friday, is aimed at partially overturning a Supreme Court verdict which said all government colleges, deemed universities and private medical colleges would be covered under NEET. Earlier today, the state government decided that the examination will be applied in all medical colleges in the capital. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called on the President earlier today to not to sign the ordinance. Kejriwal had earlier written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him not to bring any order against the Supreme Court ruling on NEET, saying the students had welcomed the decision as it discouraged well endowed parents from making 'donations' to get their children admitted into reputed private medical colleges. However the Centre cleared the ordinance to postpone the exam by a year so that the students have enough time to prepare. Even the Congress Party has slammed the government's decision to postpone the implementation of the exam alleging that private medical colleges were being favoured over the students. The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that the students will have to appear for NEET starting this academic session to seek admission to any medical or dental colleges in the country. More than 15 states were opposed to NEET and had raised issues like different syllabus and languages during the recent state health ministers' meeting. The next phase of the exam is scheduled for July 24. Nearly 6.5 lakh students have already taken the medical entrance test in the first phase of NEET held on May 1. Once the ordinance is issued, students of state government boards will not have to sit for NEET on July 24. Union Minister and Assam's likely chief minister designate Sarbanda Sonowal has described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a great head of government and as a man of impeccable character. In an interview given to Jagdeesh Chandra, Head, ETV News, ahead of his swearing-in as Assam's next chief minister in the coming week, Sonowal, speaking on the popular J.C. Show, praising Modi, said, "Narendra Modiji is a great Prime Minister. He is a man of impeccable character and has had an outstanding impact on the youth of this country, and the state of Assam has also benefitted from it. "The Prime Minister's focus on developing the north east region is one of the main reasons and factors for the BJP to emerge victorious in the assembly elections in Assam by such a huge margin. The work done by the Modi-led government at the Centre, has cemented our (BJP's) position in Assam, and we have been able to end the reign of the corruption-ridden Congress regime," Sonowal told Chandra. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) created history in Assam on May 19, by winning 60 of the 126 assembly seats up for grabs. Its coalition partners - the Asom Gani Parishad and the Bodoland People's Front secured 14 and 12 seats respectively. All three together secured 86 of the 126 assembly seats, ending the Congress party's 15-year rule with a decisive mandate. The victory in Assam means the BJP will play a decisive role in the politics of the tumultuous north eastern region, where it has been a marginal political force until now. The Congress party ended up with just 26 seats, feeling the sting of an anti-incumbency wave and popular desire for change. As many as three people, including a home guard were strangulated to death by Naxals at Chakai Police Station area of Jamui district of Bihar late last night. Over 12 armed Naxals attacked Moongi village near Bihar-Jharkhand border and strangulated the home guard and two others on suspicion that they were police informers. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the police have been rushed for the combing operation in the area to nab the Naxals. At least eight Armed Police Force (APF) personnel were injured after an explosive went off at the explosive storage room of the APF Manakamana Battalion in Bhanu Municipality-2 of Nepal's Tanahun district. The incident occurred while they were cleaning the room this afternoon, reports The Himalayan Page. Three of the injured APF personnel are said to be critical. DSP Surendra Bahadur Gurung of the District Police Office, Tanahun, said the injured are undergoing treatment at the Laxmi Hospital in Dumre. Gurung also informed that the injured have been taken to Kathmandu on a Nepal Army helicopter for further treatment. A local leader of the ruling Awami League was shot dead by miscreants in Pabna Sadar upazila in Bangladesh. The deceased Abdur Rahim, 40, was general secretary of Goyeshpur union unit Awami League, reports Daily Star. A group of armed miscreants shot Rahim when he was going to a Payda Bazar in the area around 9:00am, the officer in-charge said. The armed men managed to flee the scene, leaving him dead on the spot, he added. The police recovered the body and sent it to Pabna General Hospital for autopsy. Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi on being elected as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader, chief minister designate Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday said it was a great day for all of them. The newly-elected BJP legislators in Assam met here earlier in the day to elect Sonowal as the legislature party leader. Sonowal met Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi last evening and held a discussion with them on government formation in the state. 53-year-old Sonowal led his party's campaign in the assembly polls in which the BJP-led alliance bagged 86 seats in the 126-member House. Sonowal's swearing-in ceremony on May 24 will be attended by Prime Minister Modi, senior leaders and the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states besides others. United States officials have claimed that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was likely killed in an airstrike in Pakistan. According to CNN, one of the officials said that the strike occurred in a remote area of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, in which Mansour was the target of the strike, and a second adult male traveling with him in a vehicle also was likely killed. The strike was carried out by multiple unmanned aircraft operated by U.S. Special Operations forces. There was no collateral damage, the official added. The Pentagon confirmed the airstrike in a statement but did not say if the Taliban leader was taken out. "Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and coalition partners," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in the statement. "Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict." South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of the more hawkish Republicans in the Senate, welcomed the news in a statement and urged Obama to not withdraw troops from Afghanistan "until conditions on the ground permit their withdrawal." The Taliban revealed last summer that Mansour assumed command following the death of longtime leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, who died in Pakistan in 2013. According to the U.N. Security Council sanctions list, Mansour previously was the Taliban's minister of civil aviation and transportation and was considered "a prominent member of the Taliban leadership. Union Minister and Assam's likely chief minister designate Sarbanda Sonowal has said that when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition assumes administrative charge in the state next week, it will take the decision to seal the border with Bangladesh to prevent infiltration of illegal immigrants. In an interview given to Jagdeesh Chandra, Head, ETV News, ahead of his swearing-in as Assam's next chief minister in the coming week, Sonowal, participating in the popular J.C. Show, said, "The BJP-led government will seal Assam's borders with Bangladesh, as we are concerned about ongoing erosion of Assamese traditions, culture and way of life. Inspite of India having a border agreement with Bangladesh, we keep receiving reports of illegal entries from that country. We see it as a major problem, and it will be my government's endeavour to find a short as well as a long-term solution to it. I am confident we can achieve this goal." In Assam, the agitation against immigrants started as early as 1979. Led by All Students Union (AASU), the movement called for putting a stop on the influx of immigrants and deportation of those who have already settled. It gradually took violent form and ethnic violence started between Assamese and Bengalis, mostly Muslim. It eventually led to the infamous Nellie massacre in 1983 due to a controversy over the 1983 election. In 1985, the Indian Government signed the accord with the leaders of the agitation to stop the issue. As per the accord, India started building a fence along the Assam-Bangladesh border which is now almost complete. However, also has a large number of genuine Indian Muslim Bengalis, and at times, it is difficult to distinguish between illegal Bangladeshis and local Bengali speakers. Allegations of discrimination being practiced by nationalist parties have been doing the rounds. There are also reports of Bangladeshis being able to secure Indian rations and voter identity cards. With demographic patterns undergoing a change after 1991, the problem of illegal entries from Bangladesh became more acute, creating both anxiety and tension in India throughout the nineties. The first BJP-led NDA government at the Centre (1998-2004) subsequently ordered the fencing of the Indo-Bangladesh barrier to stop migrants and illegal trade along the border. It was then planned to expand the existing border barricades to include Assam, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram. It is estimated that on an average around 91,000 Bangladeshis illegal crossed over to India every year between 1981 and1991. The immigrant population in the state is said to range anywhere between two and twenty million. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Contradicting a Pakistan media report, the Afghanistan intelligence agency on Sunday confirmed that Taliban's supreme leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour has been killed in US drone strike in Balochistan. Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) said Mansour was killed on Saturday in a US drone strike in Ahmad Wal town of Balochistan province in Pakistan, Afghanistan's Tolo news reported. Pakistan's Urdu TV channel Samaa in its report had claimed that those killed in the US drone strike were a taxi driver and a passenger, and not Afghan Taliban top leader Mullah Mansour. Corroborating the intelligence agency report, Afghanistan's Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah on Sunday said that Mansour was killed in the US drone strike near Quetta, the Balochistan capital city. Abdullah's statement came after the Afghan intelligence agency statement that the Taliban supreme leader was dead, Khamaa Press reported. The Pentagon in a statement earlier had said Mansour and another Taliban member had been likely killed in US drone attack. The US had targeted a vehicle Mansour was travelling in, the statement said. However, according to Al-Jazeera, Taliban militants who had kept the death of their former leader Mullah Omar secret for more than two years, denied the reports of Mansour's death. Pakistani officials also denied a strike had happened on their side of the border, Al-Jazeera reported. "However, the officials are not ruling out if the attack took place on the Afghan side of the border," it said. "The Taliban sources we have spoken to are denying that their leader has been killed in the attack," the usually reliable channel said. Pakistan's Urdu TV channel Samaa in its report said the US drone strike had killed a taxi driver and a passenger, and not Afghan Taliban top leader Mullah Mansour. Their bodies were brought to a hospital in Nushki, a district close to Ahmad Wal, Samaa said. According to the identity cards collected from the bodies, the driver's name was Muhammad Azam and the passenger's name Wali Muhammad, a resident of Chaman, a town on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Mansour took control of the group in July last year after the announcement of the death of Taliban's former leader Mullah Omar two years earlier. --IANS py/vt Hailing the first ever victory for BJP in Assam as "a testimony of Modi government's good governance and development politics", union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said the party is expanding across the country. "The Assam win is a stamp of public approval for the work done by our government during the last two years. It is a victory of development and the failure of the Congress rule," said a statement by ETV television network, citing Prasad as telling one of its interviewers. The minister said that compared to 2011, the BJP won more seats and bettered its vote share in West Bengal, adding that the party could also open its account in Kerala. Expressing concern over rising crime incidents in Bihar, Prasad said "jungle raj has returned" in the state, according to the ETV statement. The minister said that when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was a member of the ruling coalition in Bihar, there was no lawlessness. "Our government is working against the corruption and the corrupt. The increasing foreign investment and a growth rate of 7.5 percent speak for the work done by this government. It is the beginning of good days," he said. Alluding to the alleged 2G spectrum scam, Prasad said Sanchar Bhavan (Telecom Ministry headquarters) has now been purged of "the middlemen" and the corrupt practices. "Now, nobody can point a finger at the auctioning of spectrum by the government," he said, claiming that he has made BSNL a profit-making company in less than two years' time. "During previous government term, the number of BSNL customers was eight lakh. Now it is 23 lakh, with a profit of Rs.672 crore," the minister noted. Speaking on Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook's recent visit to India, Prasad said the American mobile phone giant may invest in India. The minister criticised the Congress and the Left Front for their alliances in West Bengal and said his is not a party that will play a friend in one state and a foe in another. --IANS mak-nd/kb/dg Former top cop Kiran Bedi, who was on Sunday appointed Lt. Governor of Puducherry, said she will uphold the constitution and thanked all for reposing faith in her. The chief ministers of Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, apart from Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, were among those who wished her well in the new gubernatorial assignment. "This belongs to all who reposed their trust in me, taught me, groomed me, educated me, found time for me. Thank you," Bedi tweeted. She also told reporters that "the role of a Lt. Governor is clearly defined in the constitution" and added that she will uphold the same. "Every department in a government should deliver," she told the media, alluding to her new responsibility. Her friend-turned-political-rival -- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal -- too wished her good luck. "My best wishes to Kiran didi for this new role," Kejriwal tweeted. Kejriwal and Bedi were at the vanguard of the Lokpal bill movement along with anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare in 2011, but parted ways after Kejriwal floated the Aam Admi Party in 2012. Bedi maintained for long that she will stay away from . Later, she joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2015 on the eve of the Delhi assembly elections. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted: "Best wishes for the new responsibility." Prabhu also complimented Bedi in a tweet: "Congrats to Kiran Bedi for being the LG of Puducherry. The great job done as police officer is fondly remembered by all. All the best." Her appointment also saw serving police officials and twitterati taking to the microblogging site. IPS Association said in a tweet: "IPSA congratulates one of its outstanding & key members Kiran bedi, IPS (retd) on her appointment as Lieutenant Governor, Puducherry UT." --IANS aks-nd/tsb/dg A delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders led by union minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday met President Pranab Mukherjee here and gave him a memorandum over violence against party workers in Kerala. The delegation lodged a formal protest with the President over the violence which took place in Kerala on May 19-20 while the Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by the CPI-M, was celebrating its victory in the assembly elections. During a victory procession at Edavilangu Kunneni in Thrissur district, some CPI-M workers allegedly attacked BJP worker V.R. Pramod, 38, seriously injuring him. He later died. "While this incident in particular is one of the few cases of post-election violence unleashed by the LDF in Kerala, there has been a history of over 100 activists and workers of BJP and RSS having been brutally killed or injured for pursuing their nationalist ideological commitment," the memorandum read. "Now with the Left Front assuming power, there are visible signs of large-scale violence being escalated against the BJP workers," it said. The delegation expressed fear that Kerala may witness a "large scale organised crusade by the Left Front government" against the BJP workers and implored the President to initiate action to restrain any further attacks on the party workers. Besides Gadkari, the BJP delegation included union ministers J.P. Nadda, Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, party MPs Meenakshi Lekhi, Arjun Meghwal and M.J. Akbar and Kerala unit president Kummanam Rajasekharan. --IANS mak/kb/vt Hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists on Sunday demonstrated here against the killings of their colleagues in Kerala allegedly by the Communist Party of India-Maxist (CPI-M) workers. "Our protest is against the killings and harassment of BJP workers in Kerala. We are being targeted there very often. Rising crime against BJP workers should immediately be stopped in Kerala," Delhi BJP's media coordinator Praveen Shankar Kapoor told IANS. Led by BJP vice president Shyam Jaju, secretary R.P. Singh and Delhi unit president Satish Upadhyay, the party activists started a protest march from the Delhi BJP's office on Pandit Pant Marg here to the nearby CPI-M office. Closer to the CPI-M office, some of the demonstrators broke police cordons to stage their protest outside the CPI-M office gates. Police used water cannons to disperse the crowd and detained some of the BJP workers. "Our demonstration was peaceful and we broke cordons only when we were stopped. Police detained many of workers," Kapoor said. He also alleged that the CPI-M workers threw stones and bottles at the demonstrators. "Police should probe this. They should arrest the CPI-M supporters behind this act," Kapoor demanded. --IANS sid-am/kb/vt The BJP-RSS' national leadership is behind the organised violence unleashed against the CPI-M in Kerala, said top party leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Sunday. Addressing reporters here after a party meeting, Balakrishnan, who is state secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), claimed that this organised attack against the party here and in Delhi was a planned one. "The BJP-RSS was expecting to win about a dozen seats in the assembly polls here, but they won just one seat," he said, adding that to vent their frustration, the BJP-RSS "has unleashed violence here and in Delhi". "This planned violence was based on a call given by union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and the RSS leadership," he alleged. Balakrishnan said that so far the BJP has unleashed violence at 41 places in eight districts of the state, in which 62 CPI-M workers had been attacked and two have been killed. He said 25 houses and 12 party offices were also attacked. "The Congress party is maintaining silence against this attack and also even when Prasad made a strong statement that they would deal the CPI-M on the streets, the Congress did not utter a word and they are lying low. "We however have asked our workers to remain calm. We have decided to start a state-wide campaign against this attack," said Balakrishnan. --IANS sg/vd Egypt's military on Saturday released images of wreckage and personal belongings as search continued for flight data and cockpit voice recorders belonging to an EgyptAir plane that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea. The chunks of debris included an uninflated life vest, a seat, a purse, shoes, carpet, a scarf, parts of chairs and cushions and a sling bag. The EgyptAir label appeared on one piece of wreckage. The plane left Paris at 11.09 on Wednesday night and was scheduled to arrive in the Egyptian capital soon at 3.15 a.m on Thursday. It disappeared from the radar screens at 2.30 a.m. On board the plane were 56 passengers, seven crew members and three security personnel. "The search is ongoing. It has uncovered initial pieces of the aircraft, body parts, belongings of the deceased, and it will continue hopefully until we can ascertain exactly where the plane has gone down," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told CNN. The US, France, Britain, Russia and others are eager to cooperate in the search, Shoukry said, adding he anticipated assistance in finding the recorders. On Friday, EgyptAir and Greek officials said that searchers found seats, personal belongings, and a body part. The Egyptian military said it discovered debris about 290 km north of Alexandria. No survivors have been found. Egyptian officials have said they suspect the crash was caused by an act of terror, but no group has come forward to claim credit. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told passengers' families on Saturday that "no theory" was ruled out. --IANS ksk Social networking giant Facebook has hired a team of experts in London to create the first European base for its Oculus virtual reality division, a media report said. The social network has substantially expanded its British team of engineers and developer relations staff in the last six months after acquiring Oculus for $2 billion in 2014, the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is betting heavily on virtual reality for his company's future. The social networking site last year bought a British virtual reality start-up, Surreal Vision, and moved its team to the Oculus office in Redmond, Washington, the report said. The Oculus team in Britian is led by Mike LeBeau, a former senior engineer at Google who founded the company's voice search software. He moved to London to join Oculus in January this year. "We're going to build some really cool stuff," LeBeau said in a Facebook post. Zuckerberg strongly believes that virtual reality will be the next major technology we use to interact with each other. "VR (virtual reality) is going to be most social platform (and) we've created new teams at Facebook to build the next generation of social apps and VR," Zuckerberg said earlier this year. Besides Facebook, Google and Sony are also making huge efforts to bring virtual reality into the mainstream. Apple is also believed to be exploring the technology. --IANS vr/ksk/dg Five Indian climbers attempting to scale the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest in Nepal, have gone missing, Nepal Police said on Sunday. They were reported missing since Saturday morning while attempting to climb the towering 8,848-metre-peak, said Solukhumbu District Superintendent of Police Madhav Prasad Budathoki. Everest is in Solukhumbu district of Nepal. The Indian climbers went missing when they were at a height of 8,000 metres. The police officer said search and rescue efforts were beaten back by bad weather. Kathmandu's English daily The Himalayan Times reported that at least two Indian climbers had gone missing above 8,000 metres on the Mount Everest while another sustained frostbite injuries while attempting to summit the peak from the Nepali side. According to Wangchu Sherpa, managing director at Trekking Camp, the organisers of the expedition, there was no contact with two climbers from West Bengal -- Paresh Nath and Goutam Gosh -- since Saturday night. The daily reported that other team members Sunita Hazra and Subhash Pal were, however, rescued by Sherpa climbers to lower camps. "The Sherpas rescued two of them near the south summit point while the fate of two others is still unknown," Sherpa said. He said Subhash, along with a climbing Sherpa, made it to the summit while others were said to be suffering from severe illness due to inclement weather. Four Sherpas were also stranded near Camp IV, officials said. Meanwhile, an Indian woman climber who suffered severe frostbite injuries near Camp IV while descending from Mt. Everest summit was airlifted to a Kathmandu hospital. "Seema Goswami is undergoing treatment at Norvic hospital," Pemba Sherpa, manager at the Seven Summit Treks, said. Seema sumitted Everest on May 20. --IANS giri/tsb/dg Five journalists were arrested in West Midnapore district's Jhargram on Sunday following an alleged brawl with some locals, said to be Trinamool Congress supporters. police said. They were later released on bail. Police claimed the condition of one of the injured in the brawl that took place on May 20 - the day after the declaration of the state assembly poll results - was serious and he was admitted to a hospital in Odisha with a femur bone fracture. After some locals made provocative comments about some news channels playing partisan roles in the recent assembly elections, the journalists protested. While police claimed that the arguments led to a brawl in which one of the locals was seriously injured, the journalists claimed the allegations were "false". The locals, allegedly Trinamool activists, later lodged a complaint against five journalists of leading news channels. However, police could not ascertain the political affiliation of the locals who confronted the journalists. On Sunday, the five journalists were rounded up and presented in a local court which granted them bail. --IANS ssp/vd Gujarat Lions' Dwayne Bravo was on Sunday fined 50 percent of his match fee for breaching the Indian Premier League's (IPL) code of conduct during his team's match against Mumbai Indians at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur on the previous day. "Bravo admitted the Level 2 offence (Article 2.2.7) for inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a player in the course of play during a match," an IPL statement said. "For level 2 breaches of IPL's code of conduct, the match referee's decision is final and binding." Gujarat defeated Mumbai by six wickets in the match to ensure a top-two finish in the points-table and qualification into the play-offs. --IANS sam/dg Three people were killed and four others injured by hot smoke from the eruption of Mount Sinabung on Indonesia's Sumatra island, officials said on Sunday. "The avalanche of hot smoke from Mount Sinabung has again claimed lives," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the head of public relations with the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said on Saturday. The victims were residents of the Gamber village, about 4 km from the mountain, and were working in the fields when the smoke hit them. However, they were not supposed to have been there, as Gamber's proximity to the mountain puts it inside the danger zone, and most inhabitants were evacuated a long time ago and relocated elsewhere. Some villagers had ignored the restrictions and stayed in the village to continue farming, Sutopo said. The hot smoke also destroyed several homes in the area. The volcano belched out hot smoke several times on Saturday, with ash rising up to 3,000 metres in the sky, and eruption warnings still in effect. "People and visitors/tourists are not allowed to conduct any activity within a radius of 3 km from the mountain's top. People living in the south and southeast sector are also prohibited to get as near as 7 km from the mountains top while those in north and northeast sectors are prohibited to get as near as 4 km from the mountains top," Sutopo said. Sinabung has erupted several times since 2010, causing the evacuation of many thousands of people and killing over a dozen. --IANS ksk Kajal Aggarwal, who works in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films, believes that 'star' status has nothing to do with one's sartorial choices, and adds that she is not brand-conscious. "Being a star has nothing to do with your choice. As a star, I'm not very brand-conscious, and I pick and wear anything that attracts my fancy. If I really like something from a brand, I pick it up and know how to combine it with something I bought on the streets," Kajal, during the launch of a GAP store in the city on Saturday, told IANS. In her opinion, a brand is nothing but an association with an intangible feeling. "We think of a brand and what comes to mind defines the brand. When I think of GAP, I find it very comfortable, relatable, modern and chic. The association with such intangible feelings is what really makes a brand," she said. "It is like food connection. You eat something and if you instantly like it, you create an association with it," she added. Kajal, whose fashion sense has turned heads across industries, believes in keeping everything "simple" yet "classy". On the acting front, the 30-year-old star is busy with multiple projects in her kitty. Having completed nearly a decade in the industry, she feels it's important to reinvent with every project. "There's no dearth of self-improvisation. I would like to reinvent in every sphere of the industry and that is the only way to survive in the extremely competitive profession," she said, adding it's also equally important to stay grounded. "Never take failure to your heart and success to your head. That's the only way you can grow in this industry," she said, when asked about how she felt about the colossal flop of her recent Telugu released "Sardaar Gabbar Singh". In Tamil, Kajal awaits the release of Jiiva-starrer "Kavalai Vendam" and a yet-untitled project with Vikram. In Bollywood, she is looking forward to the release of Randeep Hooda-starrer "Do Lafzon Ki Kahani". She also has a Telugu project with her mentor Teja, who introduced her in 2007 film "Lakshmi Kalyanam". (Haricharan Pudipeddi can be contacted at haricharan.p@ians.in) --IANS hp/sug/vt Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived here on Sunday on a two-day visit to Iran, said that Indians living abroad have the capability to assimilate with everyone. "We Indians have a specialty. We accept everyone and assimilate with everyone," Modi said while addressing a community gathering at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara here. Soon after his arrival here to a red carpet welcome with Iranian Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia present to receive him, Modi left for the gurudwara and offered prayers. "The new generation should know about the sacrifices of the great (Sikh) Gurus and about the Guru Granth Sahib," he said. He also said that he has noted several suggestions that have emanated from the Indian community in Iran. "Let us all work together to serve humanity," the prime minister said. The gurudwara was founded in 1941 by Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Tehran. Religious celebrations include morning and evening prayers, and a Guru-Ka-Langer every Friday after the Akhand Path. Community services include establishment of a school where teaching of Punjabi and Dharmik (divinity) studies forms an integral part of the curriculum. According to the Indian embassy here, the Indian community in Iran, which was sizeable earlier, has dwindled and now consists of about 100 families in Tehran and about 20 in Zahedan. There are also around 1,300 Indian students in Iran, a large number of whom pursue theological studies in Qom. Modi will be accorded an official welcome here on Monday following which he will hold talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani. Connectivity, energy security and bilateral trade are on top of Modi's agenda during his visit which comes a a little over a month-and-a-half of his trip to Saudi Arabia. On Monday, the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to develop the Chabahar port in that Gulf nation will be signed. The prime minister will also inaugurate an Indian cultural festival in Iran on Monday. Ahead of his departure from New Delhi, Modi tweeted that he looked forward to his visit to Iran at the invitation of President Rouhani. "India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region," he said. He said his meetings with President Rouhani and Supreme Leader Khamenei would provide an opportunity to advance the strategic partnership between India and Iran. Modi said that priority would be given to enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people-to-people contacts. --IANS ab/vd "X-Men" star James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff plan to continue living together for the "foreseeable future" despite confirming the end of their ten-year marriage this month. According to a report in the Sunday Mirror, they have no plans to change their living arrangements for their young son Brendan, reports dailymail.co.uk. "They have decided to stay where they are for the time being and are trying to minimise disruption at home. James will be there for the foreseeable future," said a source. The source added: "It's completely amicable and they're still getting on well. So, despite all the news breaking, they've decided to keep themselves at their home in London with their son. To all intents, this seems to be the epitome of the perfect break-up." The actor and Duff met on the set of "Shameless" over a decade ago, where they played on-screen lovebirds. The duo confirmed the end of their marriage in a joint statement last week. The news of their parting ways was followed by claims McAvoy has grown close to his "X-Men" co-star Alexandra Shipp. --IANS sug/vt Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday, made it a point to cite foreign publications, which had praised the performance of the AAP government in the national capital. Addressing a public rally here, he said that leading US daily The Washington Post had praised the unique 'mohalla' (neighbourhhood) clinics set up by the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi. "Even The Washington Post has written about whether America can learn from Delhi's mohalla clinic," Kejriwal said, adding that each mohalla clinic was a novel concept which was low in cost, but had brought cheap, but qualitative healthcare to the doorsteps of the poorer sections of society. "There was a time when people used to say one should learn from how they do things in America. Now it is the other way round," he said. Kejriwal also cited a recent article in the Fortune magazine, which the Delhi chief minister said, had praised the "Odd-Even" traffic management scheme implemented twice in the national capital. The Delhi chief minister has been vocally critical of a section of the Indian media, which he has claimed has been unfairly targeting his AAP. --IANS maya/vd World No.12 Petra Kvitova kicked off Day 1 action at the French Open narrowly avoiding an upset against Danka Kovinic 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the second round here on Sunday. For a set and a half, Czech Kvitova looked to be cruising into the second round, only to suddenly find herself dragged into a dogfight against the Montenegrin. By the end, she was hanging onto her title dreams by the thinnest of threads, coming within two points of defeat before taking the final three games to drag herself across the finishing line. In the second round, she will face Taiwanese Hsieh Su-Wei, a 7-6((6), 6-3 winner over Lara Arruabarrena of Spain. --IANS sam/dg Filmmaker Agneya Singh says his film "M Cream", which has garnered positive response internationally, is similar to foreign film "The Motorcycle Diaries". "It is very much like 'The Motorcycle Diaries'. 'M Cream' explores the notions of rebellion in the youth. It follows the journey of four friends from Delhi to Himachal Pradesh in search of a magical drug," Singh told IANS. He added: "It is an attempt to capture the pulse of the youth and also raise a lot of questions." "The Motorcycle Diaries", released in 2004, follows an inspiring journey of self-discovery and traces the youthful origins of a revolutionary heart. The film, directed by Walter Salles, is about a road trip of Ernesto Che Guevara, who later made headlines as Cuban revolutionary. The song track titled "Al otro lado del rio" won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. "M Cream" won the best feature award in Rhode Island following which the film hit the trade all over US and in Europe, where it has been premiered in Ireland, Italy, Germany, France. Actor Naseeruddin Shah's son Imaad Shah and Ira Dubey play important roles in the film, produced by Vindhya Singh under the banner Agniputra Films. The film has been written by Singh and draws heavily from his own life, having lived in Delhi and seen the craze for the particular drug. Singh says the film "sends out a very positive message". He added: "The film is not so much about drugs or the use of drugs as much as it is about confronting the world around you. It is about the young people attempting to bring about a positive change." The film is slated to release on July 22. --IANS uma/sug/vt The question is ringing loud and clear. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has Sarbananda Sonowal in Assam. But what about Uttar Pradesh? With several faces jostling in the BJP landscape for the UP top job, the party has a task cut out: to choose the right chief ministerial face for the 2017 assembly election. Assam has shown the way: the right one can win the election for the party. And the BJP leadership understands it all too well. It's a problem of plenty for the saffron party in the northern state. There are the more-than-willing old guards; and then there are the young guns who are ready to take up any challenge thrown at them. Party insiders say that the central leadership was not convinced about the need for a face in Uttar Pradesh polls and wanted to contest the assembly election "around the Narendra Modi aura". But Assam has changed all of that. The BJP central leadership is now seeking feedback from the grassroots workers on their choice for the chief ministerial candidate. Several names are doing rounds. The list includes Union ministers Kalraj Mishra, Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani and Mahesh Sharma, besides Sultanpur MP Varun Gandhi and Lucknow Mayor Dinesh Sharma. However, the party top brass knows that "too many cooks spoil the broth". So will it be a "collective leadership" to lead the charge in the polls, before a "loyalist" is picked up if the party clinches a victory? Sources say Mishra, who has been the longest-serving BJP state president in Uttar Pradesh, is ruled out because of his age and lack of charisma. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, under whose watch the last BJP government walked into sunset over a decade ago, is said to be "happy with his ministry at the Centre". Noida MP and Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma is one of the front-runners because of his proximity to both Rajnath Singh and Prime Minister Modi. However, Sharma lacks mass support in the state. Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani is another front-runner at the moment. But any delay in naming her could singe her prospects as a "dependable and winning face". She has the confidence of the prime minister and party president Amit Shah. She has a gift of gab, and is fluent in both English and Hindi. She also has a support base among the women as was clear during her 2014 campaign in Amethi against Rahul Gandhi. Dinesh Sharma, the suave Lucknow mayor, has not made much headway despite being a Brahmin. He is seen as "too simple, meek and decent" to take on the onslaught of Mulayam Yadav, Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav. Sultanpur MP Varun Gandhi is extremely popular with the youth of the state. But his candidature is said to have been spiked because of his "surname" and the fact that he is "a man with his own mind." On his birthday a few months back, Gandhi's supporters in Moradabad demanded that he should be the next chief minister of the state. The young leader himself is not averse to the idea of taking charge. Former chief minister Kalyan Singh's name too has popped. Currently the Rajasthan governor, Singh said he was ready for "whatever the party wanted" him to do. The 'whatever' was obvious. But keeping his age in mind and considering the young electorate, he too may be ruled out. A party leader told IANS that initially the party had dabbled with the idea of a caste-based name. But with Keshav Maurya appointed as the party's state president, the caste equation has been addressed. Party sources said that to counter names like Mayawati and incumbent Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the BJP must have a chief ministerial face. "It is the need of the hour," the party leader said. The hunt is on for a credible, charismatic and acceptable face. 'Kaun Banega Mukhyamantri' -- that is now the mission for party strategists. (Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in) --IANS md/bim Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for protection of the environment and said conservation of water and forests was people's responsibility. "Let us pledge to conserve every drop of water. Even if a single drop of water is wasted, it should hurt us," Modi said in his 21st radio address 'Mann Ki Baat'. Citing examples from states including Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the prime minister said: "So many states have undertaken wonderful efforts to mitigate the drought. This is cutting across party lines." He also laid emphasis on using the "drip irrigation" technique to tackle drought. "Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have used technology very well to mitigate the drought. Jan Bhagidari (people's participation) is also vital," he said. Modi spoke about his meeting with the chief ministers of various drought-hit states. "I decided to meet every chief minister individually as opposed to calling all of them together and having one meeting," he said. Modi said this year the UN decided the theme of the World Environment Day on June 5 will be the "Zero Tolerance for Illegal Wildlife Trade". --IANS ruwa-am/ksk/vt Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday left for Iran on a two-day official visit, during which the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to develop the Chabahar port in that Gulf nation will be signed. "PM @narendramodi leaves for Iran in a visit aimed at furthering cooperation and boosting people to people ties," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted. Modi will be accorded an official welcome in Tehran on Monday following which he will hold talks with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani. Connectivity, energy security and bilateral trade are on top of Modi's agenda during his visit which comes a little over a month and a half of his trip to Saui Arabia. The prime minister will also inaugurate an Indian cultural festival in Iran on Monday. --IANS ab/ksk/vt Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived here on Sunday on a two-day visit to Iran, promised a large-scale celebration of Guru Gobind Singh's 350th birth anniversary. "We will celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh ji on a large scale so that his message reverberates widely among youth," Modi tweeted soon after addressing an Indian community gathering at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara here. In his address to the community, he said that Indians living abroad have the capability to assimilate with everyone. "We Indians have a specialty. We accept everyone and assimilate with everyone," he said. Soon after his arrival here to a red carpet welcome with Iranian Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia present to receive him, Modi left for the gurudwara and offered prayers. "The new generation should know about the sacrifices of the great (Sikh) Gurus and about the Guru Granth Sahib," he said. He also said that he has noted several suggestions that have emanated from the Indian community in Iran. "Let us all work together to serve humanity," the prime minister said. The gurudwara was founded in 1941 by Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Tehran. Religious celebrations include morning and evening prayers, and a Guru-Ka-Langer every Friday after the Akhand Path. Community services include establishment of a school where teaching of Punjabi and Dharmik (divinity) studies forms an integral part of the curriculum. After the gurdwara visit, Modi also interacted with a group of Indian schoolchildren at a hotel here. According to the Indian embassy here, the Indian community in Iran, which was sizeable earlier, has dwindled and now consists of about 100 families in Tehran and about 20 in Zahedan. There are also around 1,300 Indian students in Iran, a large number of whom pursue theological studies in Qom, which hosts a number of renowned seminaries. --IANS ab/vd Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived here on Sunday on a two-day official visit to Iran, offered prayers at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara. "Starting with the cultural connect... PM @narendramodi at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara in Tehran," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted. Modi, who was given a red carpet welcome at the airport, was received by Iranian Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia. He will be accorded an official welcome here on Monday following which he will hold talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani. Connectivity, energy security and bilateral trade are on top of Modi's agenda during his visit which comes a a little over a month-and-a-half of his trip to Saudi Arabia. On Monday, the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to develop the Chabahar port in that Gulf nation will be signed. The prime minister will also inaugurate an Indian cultural festival in Iran on Monday. Ahead of his departure from New Delhi, Modi tweeted that he looked forward to his visit to Iran at the invitation of President Rouhani. "India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region," he said. He said his meetings with President Rouhani and Supreme Leader Khamenei would provide an opportunity to advance the strategic partnership between India and Iran. Modi said that priority would be given to enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people-to-people contacts. --IANS ab/vd Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that he would attend the second International Yoga Day programme at Chandigarh. "On June 21, International Day of Yoga, I will join a programme in Chandigarh to practice yoga with them," he said in his radio address 'Mann Ki Baat'. He stressed that prevention was better than cure and "Yoga Day is not merely an event, it inspires to include it in our daily routine for 20-30 minutes." "Poor families have to spend too much for health issues. But there is no cost involved in being healthy," Modi added. The International Yoga Day was declared to be internationally recognised by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on December 11, 2014. Prime Minister suggested the date, June 21, in his address to the UN General Assembly. --IANS ruwa/ksk/vt At least nine people were killed on Sunday morning in the Amritsar district of Punjab when the jeep in which they were travelling rammed into a stationary truck, police said. At least seven others were injured in the accident and were rushed to hospitals in Amritsar, which is 250 km from capital city Chandigarh, police officials said. The accident took place on the Gurdaspur-Amritsar highway near village Boparai, they said. The victims were travelling to Amritsar to visit Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh shrines. The vehicle was clearly overloaded, added the officials. --IANS js/kb What is the one common thing between Canadian model Coco Rocha and Indian celebrities like Randeep Hooda, Mandira Bedi and Dino Morea? Besides their glitzy professions, they all share a love for whiskey! The stars, who had gathered at the Shangri-La hotel here for USL-Diageo's #LoveScotch event to celebrate the World Whiskey Day on Saturday, opened up about their preferred ways of consuming the alcoholic beverage. Rocha, the ambassador of the #LoveScotch campaign, said that traditionally people believed that Scotch is a man's drink, but she enjoys it in varied avatars. "For some reason, it has been believed that Scotch is a man's drink. I drink it all sort of ways, as cocktails. I have always been a cocktail girl. I think women felt that there was just one type of taste, but that's not the case," Rocha told IANS. Meanwhile, Randeep, who even has a horse called Johnnie Walker, said he usually prefers to have whiskey on the rocks. "If I am drinking to unwind, better to have whiskey on the rocks. It is a great conversation drink along with soft jazz," Randeep told IANS. Mandira revealed that she was first introduced to the drink by her father and she developed a taste for it over the years. "I enjoy a good Scotch. My father introduced me to it. I believe if a parent introduces you to a drink, you have a healthier relationship with alcohol. A lot of my taste and what I enjoy have been determined by him," Mandira told IANS. "I prefer my Scotch neat with two blocks of ice. I believe single malts make good cocktails, though," she added. Dino, who is now a successful entrepreneur besides pursuing his career as an actor, says he loves a good single malt. "If I am out on a party, I would like a whiskey cocktail. If I am at home with friends coming in for a party, I would prefer it on the rocks. Maybe a little bit of soda to give it a crackling taste," Dino told IANS. "Someone showed me a mix of whiskey and ginger ale, which I loved," he added. The stars even created some concoctions with single malts and tried their hand at mixing. With a gleeful spirit, they showed the guests that they are not just celebrities who we all see on screen, on the ramp, or on magazine covers, but also aficionados of one of the world's most beloved alcoholic beverages. (The writer was in Bengaluru on the invitation of USL-Diageo. He can be contacted at ankit.s@ians.in) --IANS ank/sug/vt Six troopers were killed when an Assam Rifles convoy was ambushed on Sunday in Manipur's Chandel district by insurgents of the Corcom, the apex body of six proscribed underground organisations, officials said. The attackers also snatched four AK-47 assault rifles, an INSAS rifle, a light machine gun and ammunition, before fleeing the spot. The defence ministry said six personnel including a junior commissioned officer were killed. However, Assam Rifles and police, while confirming the incident, declined to disclose the exact casualty figures. In New Delhi, union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday met top officials, including of intelligence agencies, and directed security forces to take all necessary action against militants involved in the killings. The minister also directed union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi to conduct a review at his level in the security establishment, the sources said. Singh expressed "pain" over the killings and said the government was monitoring the situation. A defence ministry release said that "a convoy of Assam Rifles while returning after assessing a landslide area in Holingjang to the Battalion Headquarters location at Joupi in Chandel District of South Manipur had the encounter with a suspected Valley based insurgent group". Officials in Imphal said the insurgents detonated remote-controlled bombs and opened fire from several sides. The exchange of fire lasted about an hour. "The troops retaliated the insurgent fire effectively. However, the insurgents managed to get away under thick forest cover and bad weather," said the release. As news of the incident was received, reinforcements were rushed to the spot and operations launched to apprehend the perpetrators, who are believed to have escaped to no man's land between Manipur and Myanmar. The area of the encounter has been cordoned off and intensive combing operations have been launched to neutralise the insurgent group, the defence ministry said. The dead soldiers are Subedar B.K. Sharma from Himachal Pradesh, NCO Havildar Surjeet Barla from Jharkhand, and four riflemen - Mahesh Gurung from Uttrakhand, A.K. Pandey from Bihar, Pawan Kumar from Jammu and Kashmir and Bhupinder Singh from Himachal Pradesh. The mortal remains of the martyrs were being taken to their home towns by a team of Assam Rifles personnel. Army's Eastern Command chief, Lt. Gen. Praveen Bakshi expressed deep condolences to the families of the killed personnel. "The nation owes gratitude to the ultimate sacrifice made by the Assam Rifles personnel like them in the fight against insurgents. We in the army are committed to provide all necessary support to their families in this hour of grief. "Such acts of violence by insurgents reinforces our resolve to carry out relentless operations against such anti-national elements for furtherance of peace in the region," he said. On June 4, 2015, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang and other underground groups ambushed an army convoy in Chandel district, killing 18 personnel of the Dogra Regiment and injuring 14 others. --IANS ssp-il/vd Algerian army killed six militants on Saturday during a wide scale dragging operation in the northern province of Bouira, the Defence Ministry said. The operation, which is still underway, was carried out near the forest of Errich in Bouira, Xinhua reported. Sources said forensics identified the killed terrorists, the majority of whom joined the terrorist fiefs in 1997 and 1998. The army retrieved four Kalashnikov submachine guns, an RPK machine gun, a Simonov semiautomatic gun and a quantity of ammunition during this ongoing operation. Some eight militants have been killed and one captured alive since the anti- operation was launched on Tuesday. Also on Saturday, in the woods of Yarkouren in the adjacent province of Tizi Ouzou, army troops discovered a terrorist bunker containing 19 homemade mines, four kilograms of explosives and a power generator, the source added. A few militants linking with the Islamic State are still taking refuge in the woods of central provinces, including Bouira, Boumerdes and Tizi Ouzou on the east of the capital city Algiers. Located in a region plagued by unprecedented security and political instability, Algeria faces ongoing terrorist threats. --IANS ahm/ Pakistani media reports on Sunday said a US airstrike in Balochistan province killed a taxi driver and a passenger but not Taliban chief . CNN earlier on Sunday reported citing a US official that Mansour was was killed when the strike occurred in a remote area of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal. The official said Mansour was the target of the strike, adding that a second adult male combatant travelling with him in a vehicle was also likely killed. According to report by Pakistani Urdu channel Samaa TV, the bodies of the two victims were brought to a hospital in Nushki, a district close to Ahmad Wal, where officials found their identity cards, Xinhua news agency reported. The driver was identified as Muhammad Azam and the passenger as Wali Muhammad, a resident from Chaman, a town on the Pakistan-Afghan border, the report said. Local Urdu TV Channel 92 News quoted an unidentified Taliban commander denying Mansour's death. Al Jazeera also reported that Taliban had denied the reports of Mansour's death. Born in the 1960s, was officially announced as the new top leader of Afghan Taliban on July 30, 2015, a day after the news about the death of former Afghan chief Mullah Omar was disclosed. --IANS ksk Taliban supreme leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour has been killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan, Afghan and Pakistani officials as well as the militant group confirmed on Sunday. Afghanistan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and Afghan intelligence agency besides Pakistani officials and Taliban militants said Mullah Mansour was killed in a US drone strike in Balochistan province of Pakistan the previous day. Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) said Mansour was killed on Saturday in a US drone strike at Ahmad Wal town of Balochistan province, Khamaa Press reported. It was the first official confirmation regarding the supreme leader's death. Following the NDS statement, Abdullah and defence ministry spokesman Daulat Waziri confirmed that Mansour was killed in Saturday's strike. Earlier on Saturday, the Pentagon said Mansour was "likely" killed in a US drone strike authorised by President Barack Obama in Pakistan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Ahmad Wal. The US had targeted a vehicle Mansour was travelling in, a Pentagon statement said. US Secretary of State John Kerry said Mansour had posed "a continuing, imminent threat to US personnel", Xinhua news agency reported. He said the air strike sent "a clear message to the world that we will continue to stand with our Afghan partners". Earlier, Pakistan's Urdu TV channel Samaa in a report on Sunday claimed that those killed in the US drone strike were a taxi driver and a passenger, and not Mullah Mansour. Their bodies were brought to a hospital in Nushki, a district close to Ahmad Wal, Samaa said. After conflicting statements about Mansour's death, Pakistani officials and Taliban militants later confirmed the leader's death. Mullah Abdul Rauf, a senior commander of the militant group, said Mansour had died in the strike, Geo News reported. The office of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also confirmed Mansour's death, saying the Taliban supremo had "refused to answer repeated calls" to end the war in the country. Pakistani government sources also confirmed Mansour's killing, Xinhua reported. However, the report did not identify the sources. Mansour took control of the group in July last year after the announcement of the death of Taliban's former leader Mullah Omar two years earlier. The killing of the Taliban leader is likely to have major ramifications both for efforts to kickstart peace talks and for the often stormy relationship between the US and Pakistan. Mansour's death came days after diplomats from Pakistan, Afghanistan, US and China held the latest round of talks in Islamabad about a flagging effort to draw the Taliban into peace negotiations. His death would be a big blow for the Taliban as Mansour was gradually tightening his grip on the movement by bringing into his fold other leading Taliban members, including a son and a brother of his predecessor Mullah Omar, and by launching large scale attacks on Afghan security forces. Under his leadership, the Taliban managed to capture an important city last year for the first time in 15 years. Mansour also managed to silence the splinter Taliban group under Mullah Rasool, which challenged his leadership, and is credited by his followers for containing the Islamic State terror grouping in Taliban areas. A vacuum created by his death would once again trigger a leadership struggle, observers opined. Islamabad has long argued that the only way to end the war in Afghanistan is to try to coax a united Taliban to the table for peace talks, said the Guardian daily. It has dismissed calls to take military action against an insurgent group whose support networks operate freely in Pakistan, saying attempts to start negotiations must be exhausted first. But amid deadly Taliban attacks, including an April suicide bombing in Kabul that killed 64 people, the Afghan government has run out of patience with Islamabad and has demanded firm action against Taliban networks based on Pakistani soil. Kabul says Pakistan's unwillingness proves it is not prepared to end its longstanding relationship with a movement that Islamabad values as a means of influencing events in Afghanistan. Pakistan directly helped the Taliban in its conquest of Afghanistan in the early 1990s and was one of only a handful of governments to recognise the fundamentalist regime before the US-led intervention in 2001. --IANS py/dg A top US commander completed a secret day-long trip to northern Syria where he met with local forces Washington is helping train to fight the Islamic State (IS) terror group, a media report said on Sunday. Joseph Votel, commanding general of US Central Command, is the highest-ranking American military official to travel into Syria during a time where the country is embroiled in crisis, CNN reported. Votel's meetings included discussions with top Syrian Democratic Forces officials who are asking for arms and ammunition. However, more details of his visit were not disclosed. The top commander's visit comes as the first of 250 additional US special operations forces are beginning to arrive in Syria to work with local forces. The US troops are focused on training small numbers of forces and then sending them out into the field with larger groups. The local forces are being trained on very specialised tasks, such as how to call in precise and timely intelligence reports from the battlefield that could result in coalition airstrikes against IS targets. --IANS ksk At least two people were killed and 11 injured as a gunmen opened fire in a concert in western Austria before committing suicide, the media reported on Sunday. The shooting followed an argument between the man and a woman, after which he brought a gun from his car and opened fire at around 150 people present in the concert, Xinhua news agency reported. The gunman committed suicide, but the woman with whom he argued was unharmed. --IANS py/vt The joke in dealing rooms is that if life ever gets too dull, Greece is always there to provide some action. Indeed, the possibility of "Grexit" still remains, with the Greek government falling short of the rather stringent targets laid down by its principal lenders, the dreaded troika of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union and the European Central Bank. However, the continent's problems are not just about periodic flashpoints in Greece. Europe remains a bagful of woes and there are much bigger economies that are teetering on the brink of a crisis, which could send shock waves across the markets. India has, of late, shown an increasing tendency to be stuck in a particular equilibrium with regard to crime and punishment, one of poor enforcement but harsh penalties. According to economic theory, law-breakers can be deterred by the expected cost of breaking the law - an expectation formed by the probability of being caught interacting with the loss of welfare once apprehended. It has been widely observed that weak, developing states tend to focus more on penalties; strong, modern states on enforcement and implementation of laws. But the problem, of course, is that weak implementation and over-harsh penalties lead to a culture of public and private violence, lawlessness and impunity, such as can be observed in India today. Former Delhi chief minister and Congress leader Sheila Dikshit has finally broken her silence. Last week, she took on current Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the Aam Aadmi Party's draft Bill seeking full statehood for Delhi. "The Delhi government cannot handle MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) alone, how will they handle if statehood is granted," she asked. She added that her regime had demanded that the Delhi government be given some control over Delhi Police; it had also sought representation of the Delhi government in the Delhi Development Authority. "Looking at the situation, we don't think the government of India is in a mood to give statehood to Delhi," she said. It is in the nature of governments to make promises to attract industries to their region, like offering cheap land, electricity and tax exemptions. But such promises carry heavy responsibility. They are bound by the doctrine of promissory estoppel, devised by courts, which says that if the government offers incentives, and industries act upon them and invest their money, the government cannot resile from its promises and is bound by it. Investors who suffer losses can sue the government. Even if they do not suffer losses, the government is liable for the fault, the Supreme Court stated in its judgment last week, titled Manuelsons Hotels Ltd vs State of Kerala. The court emphasised that "it would be unconscionable on the part of the government to get away without fulfilling its promise." The case referred to concessions in building tax promised to new hotels in Kerala to promote tourism. A hotel was built relying on a government order of 1986 promising concessions. But after a few changes in law, the revenue department demanded full tax from the hotel. This was challenged in 1989 in the Kerala High Court. After protracted litigation over decades, the Supreme Court settled the matter partly in favour of the hotel. The court underlined that the law granted the government discretionary power to grant concessions, but if it does not exercise that power, it would be arbitrary and would be hit by the doctrine of promissory estoppel. Normally it is thought that arbitrary use of discretionary power with the government is illegal; but the court went ahead and ruled that failure to exercise it to keep up promises would also be illegal. In the article, "Re-inventing the Congress" (May 21), T N Ninan has correctly analysed the ills of the Congress and suggested remedial measures. Having suffered one electoral reversal after another since its 2009 Lok Sabha poll victory, the party has set up several committees to find the reasons for its defeats and suggest corrective action. But those reports are gathering dust. Since 1947, the party leadership has never allowed any leaders. After 1947, regional satraps of the Congress either died or left it in frustration. Surrounded by a coterie, the Congress leadership became inaccessible to chief ministers from the party and state party presidents. The coterie succeeded in creating an impression that the party would break up without dynastic leadership. The latter, in turn, created fear against dumping the old guard. But now that the dynastic leadership is facing charges of corruption it might become a liability for the party. The time has come for Congress leaders to think out of the box to resurrect the party. The dynasty should realise its limitation and hand over control into safe hands. N Ramamurthy, Chennai Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201 E-mail: letters@bsmail.in All letters must have a postal address and telephone number Petrobras' fourth chief executive in less than five years could finally bring needed change. Michel Temer, Brazil's interim president following the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, has picked a new CEO for the scandal-hit $40-billion state oil producer. Pedro Parente, the former head of agribusiness giant Bunge's Brazilian operations, has promised to end political appointments at Petrobras. If he follows through, it would be a step towards better governance. The commitment may sound unlikely coming from a government appointee who previously served on the board of Petrobras while acting as chief of staff to former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. But Parente, a former engineer who also served as the country's energy minister, is no political hack. Best known for his stint as head of Bunge's local affiliate from 2010 to 2014, Parente has other business experience too. And when he last served on the Petrobras board, the group - smaller at the time - looked like a trailblazer for governments taking a more business-like approach to the management of national champions. It's a contrast to outgoing CEO Aldemir Bendine, formerly head of state-run Banco do Brasil, whose appointment was widely seen as part of Rousseff's meddling. Parente will need both business and political skills to restore investors' faith in Petrobras. Stung by falling oil prices and fallout from a massive corruption probe, the company is straining under $130 billion of total debt - the most of any oil producer. It has also routinely failed to meet ambitious production targets. Along with tightening up governance, Parente will need to accelerate a planned $15 billion of asset sales. Investors seemed to welcome news of the new CEO, pushing the company's New York-listed shares up early on Thursday. There's a heavy load on Parente's shoulders, however. Brazil's oil behemoth is inevitably seen as a proxy for Temer's efforts to create a more investment-friendly environment overall. Both men will have to make unpopular decisions to put Rousseff's interference and the taint of corruption behind them. The US Chamber looked to the announcement of the final National Intellectual Property Rights Policy as the beginning of a new era, with a re-commitment to a strong intellectual property policy framework. The policy announced takes steps to promote Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) awareness and enhances the administration, management and enforcement of IPR. However, the absence of recommendations for specific legislative reforms is troubling and until addressed, will cost India competitiveness in the areas of high-tech and biopharmaceutical innovation and value-added manufacturing. The Maharashtra government will soon decide whether to allow casinos to function in the state. The government has already received two proposals assuring over Rs 1,000 crore a year to the exchequer if it operationalises a 1976-legislation to make offshore casinos legal. The Narendra Modi government on Thursday will complete two years in power at the Centre. Elaborate celebrations are planned, and ministers are giving interviews about their achievements in two years on orders from the Prime Minister himself. Narendra Modi will also address a special Mann ki Baat to list what the government has done in two years. The party will have its own celebration. Sonowal requests Gogoi to attend his swearing-in ceremony Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday requested outgoing chief minister Tarun Gogoi to take part in his swearing-in ceremony to be held on Tuesday in Guwahati. Sonowal visited Gogoi at his official residence in Koinadhara area of the city on Sunday and invited him to the oath-taking function to be held at Khanapara field. A host of dignitaries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah, are slated to attend it. Sonowal also sought Gogoi's advice, goodwill and blessings, the chief minister's office (CMO) stated. Gogoi accepted Sonowal's invitation and said he would attend the swearing-in ceremony and also conveyed good wishes to him, the CMO said. Earlier in the day, Sonowal was unanimously elected as Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party leader in Assam, paving the way for his becoming the next chief minister of the state. It is not known yet whether Sonowal alone will be sworn in or will announce the names of his council of ministers as well. LDF to have lean Cabinet with only 19 ministers Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), which was elected to power in the May 16 assembly polls in Kerala, on Sunday decided to have a leaner cabinet with only 19 ministers. The Pinarayi Vijayan-led new ministry, which will be sworn in on Wednesday, LDF convener Vaikom Viswan told reporters after the LDF state committee meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Of the 19 ministers, CPI-M will have 12, CPI four, Janata Dal (S), Nationalist Congress Party and Congress (S) one each, Viswan said. Other minor parties, which support LDF from outside, including Kerala Congress (B) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (L), which have won one seat each, will not get a berth. While the Speaker's post will go to CPI(M), the deputy speaker's post will be held by CPI. The previous Congress-led UDF government had 21 ministers. Cong's actions have distanced people from it: Jaitley Attacking the Congress over "dynastic politics", Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said when "attraction" for a "family" ends, the party has to pay for it. "When people's attraction for a family ends, the party has to pay a price for it," Jaitley said during his address to BJP workers in Kanpur. The BJP leader said that the Congress acting as an "obstructionist opposition" in Parliament hasn't helped the party's cause much. "The Congress party is working as an obstructionist opposition, which has further distanced people from it and their support base is getting reduced," Jaitley said. Bhutan PM to attend Mamata's swearing-in ceremony Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay will be among those at in attendance during the swearing-in ceremony of Mamata Banerjee as West Bengal Chief Minister for the second consecutive term on Friday. "Looking forward to congratulating Mamata-di personally during her swearing-in ceremony in Kolkata," Tobgay tweeted. In her reply, Banerjee expressed gratitude to him and tweeted, "Thank you so much for the kind words". The two leaders have developed a good rapport ever since Banerjee went to the Himalayan nation last year where Tobgay even drove her once to the hotel in Thimphu. Two charred bodies have been found in a burnt car - that was likely caught up in a US drone attack targetting Taliban leadership - in Pakistan's troubled Balochistan province near the border area with Afghanistan, police said today. The bodies which were shifted to the Civil hospital in Quetta were found late last night in the remote Noshki district in the province, where a rare US drone strike killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor. The deputy commissioner of Chaghi told reporters that the charred bodies were found late on Saturday night with the remains of the car. "They have been identified as Azam (driver) and Muhammad Wali who are Pakistani residents," he said, adding: They were travelling in the vehicle on Quetta-Taftan highway near Noshki. People in the area told the police that they heard gunfire and blasts before the bodies were found. Area residents and officials suspect the car may have been caught up in the drone attack. Two traffic policemen were shot dead by unidentified assailants here, the latest in a spate of attacks on security personnel in the country's commercial capital. The constables were killed on the spot after being shot from close range in their heads by motorcycle-borne attackers yesterday, a senior official told PTI. "The attackers on a motorcycle fired from close range and sped away, giving no time for the constables to retaliate," said DIG (West) Feroze Shah. Taking stock of the situation, IG Sindh A D Khawaja suspended area's head traffic police for not having the slain policemen, who were without weapons and bullet proof jackets, ready for the attack. The counter terrorism department of the Sindh police suspects that some militant groups are behind such frequent attacks. Last month seven policemen on duty were gunned down in two separate incidents in the Orangi town area in a matter of minutes. In September, a traffic police constable was shot dead while two others were injured in an armed attack. According to official figures around 80 policemen, including nine traffic constables, were killed in targeted shootings in the city last year. Five people, including teenagers, died from unknown causes during a pop concert in a suburb of the Philippine capital, police said today. The five were among an estimated 14,000 attending the "Closeup Forever Summer" open-air concert, headlined by Belgian DJ duo Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike late yesterday, investigating officer Giovanni Arcinue told AFP. Among the fatalities was a 33-year-old foreign man, believed to be American, said Arcinue. "They just collapsed individually. They did not know each other. They were all in different places at the time," he said. He said the cause of their collapse was still unknown although police were looking at possible heatstroke or dehydration as the country is sweltering under high temperatures brought on by the El Nino weather phenomenon. He also said it was too early to say that the deaths were caused by drug-laced drinks, despite rumours spreading on social media. Closeup, a major toothpaste company, issued a statement saying: "We regret that despite the very stringent measures and precautions that we have put in place to ensure the safety and security of all attendees involved, this incident still transpired." The company said it was cooperating with authorities in the investigation. Security personnel have recovered 59 can bombs and a powerful IED from Naxal-affected Latehar and Khunti districts, the police said. The can bombs, each weighing half-a-kg, were recovered today from under the ground Serendaag jungles in Latehar district by personnel of CRPF and District Armed Police force. The 40-kg improvised explosive device (IED) was found from near Jerko Musanga area of Khunti district last evening during search operation. These recoveries were made during the on-going anti-Naxal operation being carried out for the past 20-25 days, Latehar Superintendent of Police Anup Birtheray said. Birtheray visited the spot where the can bombs were found and directed bomb disposal squad to defuse the bombs. The IED has been defused by bomb disposal squad of CRPF, police said. Birtheray said during the anti-Naxal operation so far, security personnel have seized around 200 IEDs, huge quantity of ammunition of different bores, Naxal literature and other articles. (REOPENS CES13) The seizure comes a day after police and CRPF personnel seized a tractor-full of grains and other food materials being transported to Maoists at Budha Pahar in the district. The tractor was being driven by its owner Amar Dayal Yadav, who along with five others, were arrested, the SP said. The Maoists had planned a meeting in November there. The Government on Sunday said as many as 6,000 villages in the state have become Open Defecation Free (ODF). State Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Jayanti Kavadia claimed at a function here, all 18,000 villages in the state would become ODF much before 2019, a target set by Centre government under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. "In the last two years, we have built more than 12.50 lakh toilets across . As a result, 6,000 villages are now Open Defecation Free. As of now, 30 talukas in the state now have 100% toilet facility," the minister said. "Centre government wants each state to achieve 100% target by 2019, the year when the nation will celebrate 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. At this pace, I strongly believe that would achieve that target much before 2019," asserted Kavadia. Chief Minister Anandiben Patel criticised the Congress-led government in the state for not doing enough to address the issue while in power between 1960 and 1995. "Congress was in power for almost 40 years in Gujarat. However, they did not pay any attention to this problem. Our government is providing a financial aid of Rs 12,000 to build one toilet. I am confident that we will achieve 100% target before 2019," she said. Patel also launched the 'Smart Village' initiative of the state government under which, 300 villages will be selected in the first phase. Under the scheme, village panchayats need to submit an application along with a vision document having road map of converting their village into a 'smart village'. "A high level committee would select 300 villages from all the applications. After providing them grants for three years, 'smart village' award will be conferred after detailed evaluation, as the village needs to meet several benchmarks, such as 100% ODF, 100% vaccination, wi-fi facility, zero% drop out ratio, door-to-door waste collection, etc," the chief minister said. At the programme, nearly 3,000 sarpanchs of the 6,000 villages were felicitated. A racket of alleged tampering of engineering course answer sheets to increase the scores of students in has been unearthed and eight persons have been arrested in this regard, police said today. The eight persons, including guard of the store room where the answer sheets were kept, who is said to be the kingpin of the racket, were arrested by the police on May 20, they said. According to police, employees of sneaked the answer sheets out of the store room located on the varsity's Kalina campus in suburban Santacruz. The answer sheets were allegedly handed over to the students through agents. The same were put back in the store room after answers were allegedly written on them by the students at home, police said. Bhandup police received a tip-off about the racket and traced one Manoj Shendge (22), who was acting as an agent for his friend who was an examinee, they said. Shendge, who is a student of Commerce, was nabbed on Friday morning when he reached Bhandup railway station to take the answer sheet of his friend which was to be handed over to a university peon to be kept back in the store room. Police said that Shendge, who was being questioned, admitted that a university peon, identified as Mithun More, had allegedly helped him in acquiring the answer sheets following which the latter was arrested. During More's questioning, the police zeroed in on the kingpin of the racket -- Prabhakar Vaze (50) -- the guard of the examination papers housed in the varsity store room, police said, adding that he was also arrested. Besides, three university clerks, identified as Sandeep Jadhav, Rohan More, Siddhesh Jadhav, and three peons - Chiman Solanki, Sanjay Kumbhar, Dinkar Mhatre - were also arrested, police said. As many as 92 answer sheets of Applied Mathematics, the examination of which was conducted on May 11, were recovered from the arrested persons. Besides, Rs 1.18 lakh were also seized from them out of which Rs 45,000 were recovered from Vaze alone, police further said. The police also said that all the answer sheets were planned to be kept back in the store room on May 20, as they were to be scanned for evaluation on May 21. Most of the seized answer sheets were from exam centres of Kamothe, Kharghar, Airoli and Karjat localities, they said. The arrested persons have been booked under relevant sections of the IPC and section 8 (abetment of copying) of the Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices at University, Board and Other Specified Examinations Act, 1982, they said. The answer sheets would be sent to forensic laboratory to ascertain if the answers written on them were tampered, the police added. Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour's rule saw several devastating attacks in Afghanistan, particularly the capital Kabul. It was also during Mansour's brief rule, which ended with his death in a drone strike, that the Taliban, albeit briefly, took control of the northern city of Kunduz and held it for four days. A look at some recent attacks: May 25, 2015: The Taliban launch a deadly attack on Afghan Security forces in southern Helmand province, killing 19 police and seven soldiers. June 13, 2015: The Taliban attack another Afghan security outpost in southern Helmand province, killing 11 security personnel. June 22, 2015: The Taliban launch a coordinated assault outside the Afghan Parliament in the capital, Kabul. A vehicle packed with explosives blew up outside the Parliament gates and six Taliban armed with Kalashnikovs and rocket propelled grenade launchers laid siege until they were killed by Afghan Security Forces. Two civilians were reported killed and several others injured. July 7, 2015: The Taliban stage two separate suicide bombings in Kabul, killing at least one person and wounding three, including a NATO soldier. August 7, 2015: A series of attacks kill at least 44 people and wound over 300 in one day in Kabul. August 22, 2015: A suicide bomber attacks a convoy in Kabul, killing four US contractors. September 14, 2015: More than 350 inmates escape after an attack by Taliban insurgents on the main prison in eastern Ghazni province. October 2015: The Taliban stage a coordinated strike on Kunduz, surrounding the city, forcing Afghan government forces out and taking control of the city. It was the first time the Taliban took an Afghan city since being ousted from power in 2001. The Taliban held on to the city for four days, eventually being driven out by Afghan Security Forces backed by US air strikes. January 5, 2016: A U.S soldier is killed and another two injured in battle in Helmand province between Afghan National Security Forces and the Taliban. February 1, 2016: A suicide bomber detonates his explosives outside an Afghan Civil Police building, killing at least 20 people. March 2, 2016: The Taliban attack the Indian Consulate in eastern Jalalabad, killing four Afghans. No Indian nationals are hurt April 19, 2016: In one of the deadliest attacks on Kabul, a suicide bomber backed by heavily armed militants kills 64 people and wounds hundreds more. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today dismissed as "unsubstantiated" the allegations levelled by Aam Aadmi Party against his cabinet colleague Eknath Khadse that calls were made to the latter's mobile phone from underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's house in Karachi. "The report of ATS chief is very clear. There are neither incoming nor outgoing international calls from the cell number of Eknath Khadse, neither to the fugitive (gangster) nor to anyone else. It is not proper to target a senior minister without substantiated evidence. We condemn such act (of levelling allegations by AAP) and expect that the standards in politics will be maintained," Fadnavis told PTI tonight. He was apparently referring to the Mumbai Police virtually giving a clean chit to Khadse in the matter. The CM's rushing to the defence of the Revenue Minister assumes significance as the seniormost BJP member is viewed as a detractor of Fadnavis. Khadse had recently found himself in a spot after his 'personal assistant' was arrested by ACB for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 30 crore in a land settlement case. AAP spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon had yesterday alleged that calls were made from Dawood's mansion to Khadse's mobile phone and had sought his removal from cabinet, a charge dismissed by the minister as "baseless". Sharma Menon had claimed that Khadse lied about his phone being out of service. "His number received several calls from Dawood Ibrahim's wife Mehjabeen Shaikh's number between September 4 2015 to April 5, 2016," she claimed and asked Mumbai Police to investigate the matter. In his response, Khadse had said, "no international call was made from or received on this phone in last one year". Senior Afghan Taliban sources today confirmed the death of their chief in a US drone strike, adding that a council is underway to decide his successor. "I can say with good authority that Mullah Mansour is no more," a senior Taliban source told AFP. Mansour's death was confirmed by two other senior figures, who said the group's top leaders were gathering in southwest Pakistan to name their future chief. "Mullah Zakir, Mullah Shireen and Siraj Haqqani are strong candidates," one of the sources told AFP. Another Taliban source confirmed Haqqani, leader of the feared Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network and one of Mansour's deputies, was a frontrunner, adding that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was also in contention. In a shocking incident, two large hairy spiders unleashed mayhem on a Canada-bound flight as passengers screamed and stood on their seats after learning that they were sharing the cabin with the eight-legged critters. Two hairy stowaways were blamed for unleashing a rare commotion on board a recent Air Transat flight from the Dominican Republic to Montreal that sent passengers screaming in panic. Not one but two tarantulas, potentially measuring as much as 20 centimetres across, were spotted roaming the carpeted cabin soon after the inflight meal had been served on the April 18 flight from Punta Cana, a popular holiday destination, to Montreal in Quebec. Catherine Moreau was watching a movie on her iPad on a flight to Montreal when she felt what she thought was a wire brushing against her. "I brushed (it) away and it started tickling me again. That's when I noticed the tarantula. I hit it to get it off me before it bit," Moreau told CBC . Moreau is asking Air Transat for a partial refund over her encounter with the spider. The tarantula that climbed her leg was one of two on the Montreal-bound Air Transat flight from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Passengers screamed and stood on their seats after learning they were sharing the cabin with the spiders. Julie Roberts, vice-president of Air Transat's flight attendant union, said flight attendants "did what they could to calm people down." "They gave first aid to the person who said that a spider climbed (her) legs," she said. Flight attendants also asked passengers to put on their shoes and cover their ankles. Moreau wants the four flight tickets for her family partially reimbursed by Air Transat. The incident left her scratched and her 11-year-old daughter suffering from shock, she said. According to Moreau, after she brushed the spider off her leg, it hid under her daughter's luggage. Her husband came and grabbed it and asked for a bag from the cabin crew to hold the spider. "It took a long time from when we screamed to get a bag to put it in," Moreau said. While the tarantula that crawled up her leg remained in custody, the other spider continued to roam the plane before being recovered by a federal agent once the plane landed at Montreal's Trudeau Airport. Ahead of his maiden visit to energy- rich Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said enhancing connectivity, trade, investment and energy partnership will be his priority with the post-sanction Persian Gulf nation. Modi, who arrives here this evening, will hold talks with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and its President Hassan Rouhani to boost bilateral trade, energy and strategic ties. "Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority," he said in a series of tweets. After arrival here, he is scheduled to visit a local gurudwara. Modi said that his meetings with Rouhani and the Supreme Leader of Iran would provide an opportunity to advance "our strategic partnership". Rouhani will be hosting a lunch for him. "My meetings with President Rouhani and Hon'ble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership," he said. Noting that he looked forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar Agreement during his visit, the Prime Minister said, "India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region. Chabahar is a port in South-East Iran that will enable India to bypass Pakistan and open up a route to land-locked Afghanistan with which New Delhi has close security ties and economic interests. From Chabahar, the existing Iranian road network can link up to Zaranj in Afghanistan, about 883 kms from the port. The Zaranj-Delaram road constructed by India in 2009 can give access to Afghanistan's Garland Highway, setting up road access to four major cities in Afghanistan -- Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. Besides visiting the gurudwara, Modi will also inaugurate an International Conference on 'Retrospect and Prospect' of India-Iran relations. "I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today & tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani," he added. Besides signing a deal on development of Chabahar port, India is looking at doubling oil imports from Iran which a few years back was its second-biggest oil supplier, as well as getting rights to develop a giant gas field. Post-sanctions Iran has seen a flurry of diplomatic and business activity with leaders from China and Russia courting Tehran. Earlier, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had visited Tehran. Chabahar port, located in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province on Iran's southern coast, is of great strategic utility for India. It lies outside the Persian Gulf and is easily accessed from India's western coast. The port project will be the first overseas venture for an Indian state-owned port. India and Iran had in 2003 agreed to develop Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman outside the Strait of Hormuz, near Iran's border with Pakistan. But the project moved slowly because of western sanctions against Iran. The sanctions were lifted in January and since then, India has been pushing for conclusion of an agreement. About a fifth of the oil consumed worldwide each day passes through the Strait, a shipping choke point that separates the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean. Indian investment in phase-1 will be in excess of USD 200 million, including USD 150 million line of credit from Exim Bank, an agreement for which would also be signed during the visit. Besides signing of commercial contract for Chabahar Phase-1, Modi will witness signing of a trilateral agreement on transport and transit corridor among India, Afghanistan and Iran. The trilateral agreement is seen to significantly enhance prospects of India's connectivity with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond such as the North-South corridor. Modi and the Iranian president are also likely to review peace and stability in the region which faces several challenges, including terrorism and violent extremism, besides cyber crime and maritime security. Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan, sons of India's Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, enthralled Chinese audience in Shanghai with a two hour-long performance during which they played renditions of poems of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who is well revered in China. The performance was extremely well received by the 1,200 strong mostly Chinese audience who gave them a standing ovation upon completion of the performance, Consul General of the Indian Consulate Prakash Gupta said. The performance was organised by the Consulate at Chaiti Music festival, which is an annual musical event organised under the aegis of the Consulate General of India Shanghai. It derives its name from the Chait season in India -- marking the transition from summer to spring. The event aimed at promote Indian Classical music amongst Chinese audiences was held at the majestic Shanghai Centre Theatre yesterday, Gupta said in statement. Amaan and Ayaan is scheduled to perform in Beijing on May 27.The two artists also held a workshop for young music students from Shanghai at the Aurora Museum today. Earlier, the Consulate organised International Day of Yoga on May 20 at the scenic location of foothills of the Tiantai Mountain, located in Taizhou (in Zhejiang Province) in which over 1,000 Yoga lover took part. A number of Chinese cities are bracing to hold UN Day of International Yoga to be held on June 21. Tiantai county Eastern China Region alone has over hundred Yoga clubs with a following of hundred thousand people, the statement said. An Indian Yoga teacher arranged by the consulate conducted the event.Those who attended the events included Vice Mayor of Taizhou, Zhao Yuejin. Separately, later in the afternoon, another Yoga Workshop was organised at the famous Guoqing Temple in Tiantai, where nearly 250 local people joined in the celebrations. Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan, sons of India's Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, enthralled over 1200 Chinese audience in Shanghai with a two hour long performance during which they played renditions of poems of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who is well revered in China. The two hour performance was extremely well received by the 1200 strong mostly Chinese audience who gave them a standing ovation upon completion of the performance, Consul General of the Indian Consulate Prakash Gupta said. The performance was organised by the Consulate at Chaiti Music festival, which is an annual musical event organised under the aegis of the Consulate General of India Shanghai. It derives its name from the Chait season in India - marking the transition from summer to spring. The event aimed at promote Indian Classical music amongst Chinese audiences was held at the majestic Shanghai Centre Theatre on Saturday, Gupta said in a press release today. Amaan and Ayaan is scheduled to perform in Beijing on May 27.The two artists also held a workshop for young music students from Shanghai at the Aurora Museum today. Earlier, the Consulate organised International Day of Yoga on May 20 at the scenic location of foothills of the Tiantai Mountain, located in Taizhou (in Zhejiang Province) in which over 1000 Yoga lover took part. A number of Chinese cities are bracing to hold UN Day of International Yoga to be held on June 21. Tiantai county Eastern China Region alone has over hundred Yoga clubs with a following of hundred thousand people, the press release said. An Indian Yoga teacher arranged by the consulate conducted the event.Those who attended the events included Vice Mayor of Taizhou, Zhao Yuejin. Separately, later in the afternoon, another Yoga Workshop was organised at the famous Guoqing Temple in Tiantai, where nearly 250 local people joined in the celebrations. A Hizbul Mujahideen militant, who had recently returned from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after 16 years, has been arrested by the army in Budgam district of Kashmir. Dilawar Ahmad Mir, a resident of Magam in Budgam, was apprehended by army personnel during checking last evening, a police official said. He said Mir had gone to PoK in 2000 for arms training and returned home via Nepal recently. "The arrested person was handed over to police by the army personnel," the official said, adding a case has been registered against Mir for illegally crossing the LoC. Austrian far-right hopes of winning a presidential runoff remained on hold today as the candidates were neck-and-neck in a battle closely watched by the EU, which is struggling to contain a surge of anti-immigrant parties. A win would see Norbert Hofer of the Freedom Party (FPOe) become the European Union's first far-right head of state. Today evening, the vote was evenly split between Hofer of the Freedom Party (FPOe) and Green-backed economics professor Alexander van der Bellen, with both on 50.0 according to projections based on almost all the votes cast at polling stations today. As a result, the winner is unlikely to be known before tomorrow, once the postal vote has been counted. Close to 900,000 people -- or a record 14 per cent of Austria's 6.4 million eligible voters -- cast their ballot by mail this year. A huge influx of asylum-seekers, rising unemployment and frozen reforms has driven voters away from the two centrist parties that have dominated Austrian politics since 1945. They are being forced to watch the battle between Hofer and van der Bellen from the sidelines after their candidates failed to make it through a first round for the largely ceremonial post of president. Instead, disgruntled Austrians flocked to the FPOe's "friendly face" who has pushed populist themes with a winning smile instead of the inflammatory rhetoric used by party leader Heinz-Christian Strache. But observers have warned that beneath the smooth image lurks a "wolf in sheep's clothing". He has already threatened to seize upon never-before-used presidential powers and fire the government if it fails to get tougher on migrants and boost the faltering economy. Gun enthusiast Hofer, who was left partially disabled after a paragliding accident, has denied that he posed a risk as president. "I am not a dangerous person," the FPOe star told reporters today after voting in his home town of Pinkafeld, in the eastern Burgenland state. Hofer's win would also pave the way for the FPOe to head the next government after parliamentary elections, scheduled for 2018. "For me personally, it will be the most moving, thrilling, beautiful moment I've experienced to date in my entire political career," Strache told public broadcaster ORF. A victory for the far-right is bound to send shockwaves across the crisis-hit European Union. The deputy of Al-Azhar's grand imam in Egypt said today the top Muslim cleric will bear a message of tolerance when he meets Pope Francis in Rome. Tomorrow's meeting will be the first between the leader of the world's Catholics and one of Islam's most important clerics. Abbas Shuman, deputy to grand imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, told AFP today that Francis's gestures towards Muslims encouraged Tayeb to meet the pope after falling out with his predecessor Benedict XVI. "If it were not for these good positions (by Pope Francis) the meeting would not be happening," Shuman said. Ties between the Vatican and Al-Azhar, one of Islam's most prestigious centres of learning, soured in 2006 when Benedict delivered a speech interpreted as linking the Muslim Prophet Mohammed to violence. Relations have steadily improved since Francis became pope in 2013 with inter-faith dialogue near the top of his agenda. He underlined this improvement in ties with a personal message to the Muslim world to mark the end of the first month of Ramadan during his pontificate. Shuman said Tayeb will have a message for both the West and Muslims. Tayeb's visit aims at setting straight the image of "true Islam and to correct misunderstandings created by extremist terrorist groups" in Western countries, he said. "He encourages countries not to deal with their Muslim citizens as groups that present a threat," Shuman said. "And he encourages Muslims in Western society to meld with their societies... It is a message for both sides." Pope Francis made headlines in April when he returned from a trip to the migrant crisis island of Lesbos with three Syrian Muslim families who are now being put up by the Vatican as they apply for asylum in Italy. Church officials say the choice of families was random, but the gesture was nevertheless highlighted by media throughout the Islamic world. Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal would attend the swearing-in-ceremony of Sarbananda Sonawal as the new chief minister of Assam scheduled in Guwahati for May 24. Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the chief minister's office said that BJP president Amit Shah in a letter to Badal has extended an invitation to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Sonawal. The office has accepted the invite from BJP, he added. The chief minister, accompanied by SAD president and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Rajya Sabha member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, would attend the oath taking ceremony, he said. Lenders, shareholders and even employees can seek attachment of all immovable assets, including those abroad, given as guarantee for loans by the promoters of a company going belly up to recover their dues under the new bankruptcy law. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code approved by Parliament earlier this month empowers employees, creditors and shareholders to initiate resolution process at the first sign of financial stress like a default on repayment of a bank loan, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told PTI. If the issue persists even after the extended nine-month resolution period, they can seek attachment of all immovable assets, including overseas ones, that the promoter had given as personal guarantee for taking loan, Das said. "I would not like to comment on any specific company or case," he said, when asked if the provision can be invoked against businessman Vijay Mallya, who is now living in the UK after defaulting on payment of over Rs 9,000 crore of dues to public sector banks. The new law, Das said, will change the financial sector architecture in India as it will create "a new and vibrant ecosystem where resolution of companies which are in financial distress will be possible quickly and in a time bound manner". "Now the power to initiate the process of resolution, or failing resolution liquidation is right of every stakeholder. Stakeholders would include creditors, financial creditors, operational creditors, also includes workmen and employees," he said. Citing example, he said if the workers and employees were not getting salaries for months together, it obviously is a sign of financial distress of the company. And so the employees can file an application for initiating the resolution proceeding. "If resolution proceedings are not feasible then you go for liquidation," he said. "So therefore, at the earliest sign of financial distress you can initiate the process and the NCLT will take a decision within 14 days on whether the case has to be admitted and taken up under the resolution process." Once it is put in the resolution process, a Committee of Creditors (CoC) will be formed which within 180 days state if resolution is possible or not. If resolution was not possible, liquidation process would be initiated, he said. "Any personal guarantee given by the promoter can be sold to pay back employees or creditors. The property can be within India or outside," he said. "If something is no more viable, then it has to be wound up. And then whatever value is there, that value of the company or assets can be recovered, can be retrieved before it deteriorates or depreciates further," he said adding currently BIFR takes 10 years to decide, a period long enough to reduce equipment and machinery to junk. This, he said, was happening as under the existing law the debtor continues to be in control of assets. "Whereas in the new law the creditors will be in control and possession of the assets," he said. Das said CoC is to within 30 days appoint a resolution professional, who will be responsible for running the day to day affairs of the company. "First they have to appoint an Interim Resolution Professional, then they will appoint a regular Resolution Professional who will be in-charge of the day to day functions of the company. The Promoter is out." This, he said, was also of good for the promoter as he is also able to make a quick exit and can start some other business somewhere. While the Code requires that an insolvency process, once initiated, should be completed in 180 days, an entity can go for an appeal which could possibly result in delays. "Wherever rights are adversely affected, one should have an opportunity to go on appeal. That does not mean that one is delaying the process," Sahoo said, adding that it is not that all cases will pass through an appeal. "Importantly, wherever a matter goes on appeal, the authority lays down the norms which facilitate future transactions. "So instead of thinking that appeals delay the process, I consider that these streamline all future, similar transactions. These help clarify and transactions move faster in the future," the IBBI Chairperson said. When asked whether IBBI has received its first case, Sahoo said cases come before the NCLT. "I am told that quite a few cases have been filed. A few cases have already been admitted by the NCLT. Market needs time to prepare for a new way of life. You need to allow time to see large inflows (of cases)," he added. Belgian premier Charles Michel vowed today that the West will ultimately defeat Islamic State group "terrorists", as the royal family hosted a ceremony marking two months since the deadly Brussels bombings. King Philippe, speaking to an audience of 500 at the royal palace in Brussels, thanked the doctors, police and other emergency services who helped on March 22, when 32 people were killed at Zaventem airport and the Maalbeek metro station. "If we are here in the palace, it is to express the support and gratitude of all the Belgian people," said the monarch, who with his wife Queen Mathilde visited the injured in hospital the day after the attacks. Prime Minister Michel vowed that Belgium and other countries fighting IS - which claimed the Brussels bombings as well as last November's attacks in Paris - will eventually prevail. "This is not a war between the West and Islam. And we will do everything to stop these terrorists. This is a difficult fight. A fight that will take time," he said. "We will know setbacks and successes. But I am confident that we will win." It was the first time the entire royal family - including Philippe's parents Albert II and Paola, his sister Astrid, brother Laurent and their partners - had hosted such a ceremony. Thirty-two white roses were placed in front of a stage to commemorate those who died. "Where blind violence strikes our world, a new sense of fraternity is coming together," said Kristin Verellen, whose 58-year-old husband Johan Van Steen, a senior civil servant, died at Maalbeek station. "There is no point in responding to hatred with hatred ... Us against them, that would only increase the atrocity." Earlier this month, the Belgian government said it would extend its F-16 air strikes against IS positions in Iraq into Syria. But top Belgian officials have been accused of ignoring EU reports of security failings ahead of the attacks. Critics also say the authorities have not done enough to prevent home-grown extremism, with Belgium proportionately the biggest source in Europe of foreign fighters travelling to Syria to join IS. Management buyout firm Excalibur and Indian-origin businessman Sanjeev Guptas Liberty House, the two front-runners in the race to acquire Tata Steels UK assets, are believed to be considering joining forces, it was reported on Sunday. Excalibur, led by the former chief of Tata Steels Port Talbot plant, Stuart Wilkie, is considering backing Liberty House. An Excalibur delegation, including Wilkie and chairman Roger Maggs, held talks with Gupta on Friday at his London office, The Sunday Times reported. They are understood to have discussed backing Guptas plan to convert the vast steelworks into one fed by scrap metal, rather than raw iron ore and coke. The Tata Group has set a deadline of noon on Monday for final bids for the British steel operations, with its board set to finalise a shortlist at a meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday, the report claimed. UK business secretary Sajid Javid is set to fly to Mumbai ahead of the sale and has offered to pump in hundreds of million pounds of loans and take a 25 per cent stake to prevent the steelworks from collapsing. Seven bidders have emerged as being in the running since March, when Tata announced plans to sell its loss-making units as a result of a global slump in steel prices, due to a glut of exports from China and high energy costs. Around 11,000 jobs at Port Talbot in Wales and 11 other UK sites hang in the balance. Beside Liberty House and Excalibur, family investment fund Greybull Capital, Indias second-biggest steel maker, JSW Steel, Chinas Hebei Iron and Steel group, US steel giant Nucor and Leeds-based turnaround fund Endless are among those interested. Greybull, which is buying Tatas Scunthorpe steelworks for a token 1, is believed to be also keen on a deal for Port Talbot. However, JSW last week distanced itself, saying its interest was exploratory. Guptas acquisition plan revolves around gradually replacing blast furnaces with electric arc furnace on the site, as part of his companys GreenSteel strategy. Liberty and Excalibur declined to comment. The UK government said, Officials and ministers have spoken to numerous interested parties to discuss specific proposals. STEEL FORMULA LJP supremo and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today said the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar "will not last long" citing the "ongoing war of words" between the allies JD(U) and RJD. "Given the ongoing war of words between the two alliance partners in Bihar, this (state) government will not last long," the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs told reporters here at party office. Accompanied by party's Parliamentary Board Chairman Chirag Paswan, the Minister asked RJD boss Lalu Prasad to explain if his party's leaders - Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Taslimuddin and Prabhunath Singh - are making statements against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with or without his consent. RJD leaders Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Taslimuddin had recently criticised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar prompting JD(U) to demand action against both of them. Paswan said that Prasad's "silence" shows he has given his "tacit" support to these leaders to mount pressure on Kumar, who has initiated action against various RJD leaders like Mohammad Shahabuddin, Raj Ballabh Yadav, Bindi Yadav, for their alleged involvement criminal activities. Referring to Chirag Paswan's recent meeting with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh demanding President's rule in Bihar over "deteriorating" law and order in the state, Paswan questioned Kumar's good governance claims asking what type of "good governance" he wants if state minister Abdul Gafoor can meet Mohammad Shahabuddin in jail, who is serving life term. "Nitish Kumar should also explain as to what happened to his assurance 'Main Hoon Naa' in reply to a query during Bihar Assembly polls that he has aligned with RJD which is synonymous with 'Jungle Raj'," he said. He should also explain as to what happened to the slogan of 'Bihar Me Bahaar Hai Nitishe Kumar Hai' and there will be rule of law in the state, Paswan said. BJP is likely to sound the poll bugle in Uttar Pradesh from the land of the holy Sangam next month when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and other top leaders would converge in the city to attend a two-day meeting of the national executive. "BJP national executive is scheduled to hold its meeting here on June 12-13. Besides Modi and Shah, the meeting will be attended by all members of the national executive and Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states across the country," UP BJP Chief Keshav Prasad Maurya told party workers here. "Prayag is known as the land where the 12-yearly Kumbh attracts the largest crowds and we must make all efforts to ensure the success of the party's rajneetik kumbh, (political mega congregation) for which Uttar Pradesh has been chosen this time after a long gap," said Maurya, who represents Phulpur constituency in the Lok Sabha, which covers a major part of the city of Allahabad. The development comes at a time when the BJP is gearing up for the high-stakes assembly elections in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, due in less than a year. The party had suffered a steady decline in the state until a dramatic comeback in the last Lok Sabha polls. After touching the rock bottom in the 2012 assembly polls, when it won only 47 seats in a 403-strong house, the BJP surprised all by emerging victorious in 71 out of the 78 Lok Sabha constituencies it had contested in UP. The stupendous performance, which was also the BJP's best ever in the state, has been credited in a large measure to Modi's decision to step out of Gujarat and contest from Varanasi and the organisational skills of Shah who was the party's national general secretary in-charge of UP at that time. Meanwhile, Shah is also likely to address a farmers' rally in Jhusi on the outskirts of the city on May 31, the party's city unit spokesman Devendra Nath Mishra said. CPI(M) in Kerala today slammed BJP and RSS for 'conspiring' at the national level to establish that there was widespread violence in the state after the Left front came to power securing a massive mandate. Party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said BJP and RSS were unleashing attack against their party workers and vandalising their offices across the state out of frustration over their poor performance in the May 16 assembly polls. He said Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's warning that saffron party would not sit quiet and would take on CPI(M) on streets point to the fact that the attacks were with the knowledge of the party's central leadership. He also wondered why no Congress leader had deplored the minister's statement and said it was as good as promoting the politics of violence of RSS. "BJP and RSS are indulging in violence as the results were not up to their expectations. They had earlier claimed that they will come into power winning at least 70 seats and 30 per cent votes and later brought it down to 12....BJP and RSS are conspiring at the national level to establish that there is widespread violence in the state," he told reporters here. However, when they managed to secure only one seat, that too with the support of Congress, the BJP and RSS decided to unleash violence, he alleged. Alleging that the BJP and RSS had "organised" attacks in 41 places in eight districts soon after the poll results were out, he said two party workers were killed and 62 injured. Meanwhile chief minister-designate Pinaryi Vijayan, in a facebook post, said BJP should have the tolerance to accept the verdict of people of Kerala. "BJP is the party which rules at the Centre and it should show the responsibility in this regard. The party leaders should be vigilant while making provocative statements," he said. CPI(M) leader and LDF convenor, Vaikom Viswan also criticised the attacks against the party workers and said the front would convene meetings and rallies across the state against the violence. Slamming Sangh Parivar forces for attacking left activists, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran said the saffron party was unleashing attack in the state as part of their agenda to create insecurity in the country. The attack against the CPI(M) headquarters AKG Bhavan at New Delhi was also part of this, he said adding that there should be strong public protest against it. Hitting back, CPI(M) today blamed BJP and RSS for the violence in Kerala, alleging that their workers had attacked the victory processions of Left leaders as the saffron outfits were not willing to accept the people's verdict. "The CPI(M) very strongly condemns the attacks and vandalism the BJP has organised. It is the BJP and RSS workers who started this bout of violence by attacking a victory procession," party leader Sitaram Yechury alleged. "This has happened across the state. The BJP is simply not willing to accept the democratic verdict of the people of Kerala," he told reporters. The Left party claimed that allegations against its workers were "false" and BJP leadership was adopting a "hypocritical and dishonest position" about what has happened in Kerala. Its reaction came on a day BJP workers staged a demonstration outside the CPI(M) headquarters here over the alleged attacks on party workers in Kerala and a party delegation, comprising Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, J P Nadda and Nirmala Sitharaman, several MPs and Kerala BJP President Kummanam Rajasekharan, met the President over the issue. The CPI(M) politburo, meanwhile, asked BJP to ensure that its Kerala unit "stops making such attacks and issuing threats to it" and said the Left Front will contribute to maintaining peace and avoiding clashes. "The BJP is levelling false allegations about violence by the CPIM) against its workers in Kerala. The BJP leadership is adopting a hypocritical and dishonest position about what has actually happened in Kerala. On May 19, when results were declared, CPI(M) workers took out a victory procession in Pinarayi. "This procession was attacked by the BJP-RSS workers resulting in the death of C V Raveendran, a 53-year-old member of the CPI(M). His son Jishen and four others were injured," it said citing more instances of violence allegedly by BJP workers. "The people of Kerala gave a resounding verdict in favour of the LDF," the statement said, alleging that "it is against this democratic verdict of people that BJP launched attacks in various places against the CPI(M) and LDF workers". Such attacks will not be tolerated by the people, it said. Scores of BJP workers today staged a demonstration outside the CPI(M) office here, protesting against the murder of a 38-year-old party worker allegedly by supporters of the Left party during a poll victory rally in Kerala. Around 150 protestors have been detained, police said. Several police teams were rushed to the spot in New Delhi area today and the entire area was barricaded. CPI(M) workers had also come out of the building to confront the protesters, a senior police official said. BJP worker Pramod (38) had sustained head injuries after he was allegedly hit by a brick following a clash during a victory rally by CPI(M) workers at Idavilangu in Kerala on Thursday. He died the next day. BJP has been targeting the Left over the alleged attacks on its workers in Kerala in the run up to the polls. BJP chief Amit Shah had yesterday accused the Left Front of "violating" the people's mandate. BJP had said it will not sit quiet if the "cycle of violence" continues in the state as it claimed that it has emerged as a powerful alternative voice to the two main fronts led by CPI(M) and Congress. Bombings suspected to have been carried out by the Islamic State group killed at least eight people in northeastern Syria hours after a top US commander visited, security forces said today. Washington regards the Kurdish-led militia that controls most of the northeast as the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria and the head of US Central Command General Joseph Votel made a secret visit yesterday to confer with US military advisers working with them. A CENTCOM spokesman declined to give details of the visit, saying only that Votel had visited several location inside Syria on the highest-ranking visit to the country since the 2011 outbreak of the civil war. Two IS suicide bombers struck the centre of Qamishli, a mainly Kurdish city that is the de facto capital of the swathes of northern Syria where Kurdish militia have set up a self-declared autonomous administration. The bombers hit a restaurant and a bakery in the Christian Wusta neighbourhood of the city that is controlled by a breakaway Christian militia that backs the Damascus regime. A militia spokesman said three Christians were killed and 15 wounded in the bombings. The IS-affiliated Amaq agency reported the bombings but issued no claim. Hours earlier, two car bombs hit a Kurdish checkpoint outside the town of Tal Tamr, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Turkish border. Kurdish security force spokesman Abdallah Saadoun told AFP that there had been advance warning of the attack but that five security force personnel were killed nonetheless. Amaq said a "suicide operation" had killed more than a dozen Kurdish security personnel but issued no claim. Washington has kept up its support for the Kurdish militia in northeastern Syria despite strong opposition from NATO ally Ankara whose misgivings have prevented the delivery of heavier weapons. Ankara regards the main Syrian Kurdish party as a puppet of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has waged a deadly three-decade insurgency in southeastern Turkey. It has repeatedly shelled Syrian Kurdish positions when the militia has made advances in border territory that Turkish commanders consider sensitive. Gujarat Lions all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been penalised 50 per cent of his match fee for breaching the Indian Premier League (IPL) Code of Conduct during his team's match against Mumbai Indians at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur last evening. Bravo admitted to the Level 2 offence (Article 2.2.7) for inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a player in the course of play during a match. For Level 2 breaches of the IPL Code of Conduct, the match referee's decision is final and binding. British director Ken Loach won the Palme d'Or top prize at Cannes today for the second time in a decade with his moving drama "I, Daniel Blake" about the shame of poverty in austerity-hit Europe. The award marked a major upset at the world's top film festival in favour of the left-wing director, who turns 80 this year and is known for shining a light on the downtrodden. He beat out runaway favourites including the rapturously received German comedy "Toni Erdmann" by Maren Ade, one of three women directors in competition, and US indie legend Jim Jarmusch's "Paterson" starring Adam Driver as a poetry-writing bus driver. Both left empty-handed. Loach now joins an elite club of two-time victors at the French Riviera festival including Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Emir Kusterica. "We must give a message of hope -- we must say another world is possible," Loach said as he accepted the prize. The runner-up Grand Jury prize went to Canadian wunderkind director Xavier Dolan, 27, for his hot-tempered family drama "It's Only the End of the World" featuring a cast of A-list French stars which had been widely panned by critics. Britain also claimed the third-place Jury prize, for Andrea Arnold's high-energy "American Honey" starring Shia LaBeouf in a tale of disadvantaged US youths selling magazines door-to-door. The best director prize was shared by Romania's Cristian Mungiu for his drama "Graduation" about the moral rot of corruption in a post-communist society, and France's Olivier Assayas for his supernatural thriller "Personal Shopper" with Hollywood phenomenon Kristen Stewart. Philippine star Jaclyn Jose won best actress for her mesmerising performance in Brillante Mendoza's "Ma' Rosa" as a mother selling drugs to survive who falls prey to corrupt police. Iran's Shahab Hosseini clinched best actor for Asghar Farhadi's taut moral drama "The Salesman", about a married couple thrown into turmoil after the wife is attacked in their home. Farhadi also scooped the screenplay honours. Hosseini had also starred in Farhadi's breakout success, 2011's "A Separation", which won an Oscar for best foreign language film. "Divines", a gripping drama about a young French teenage girl from a tough immigrant suburb who dreams of getting rich quick, got the nod for best first film, the Camera d'Or. Directed by Houda Benyamina, it starred her sister Oulaya Amamra. Accusing the Centre of pressurising the CBI, Congress' Uttarakhand chief Kishore Upadhyay today suggested that it be renamed "Modi Bureau of India" after the agency asked Chief minister Harish Rawat to appear before it in the sting CD case. "In the two years of the Modi government, all charges against people like Gujarat police officer DG Vanzara and Sadhvi Pragya are being dropped, while Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat is being implicated in sting CD case," said Upadhyay during a press conference here. Rawat was today asked by the CBI to appear before it on May 24 in connection with a probe into the sting operation involving him. The CBI had last week rejected the Uttarakhand government's notification withdrawing the case related to the alleged sting operation. "This is evidence enough to suggest that both the investigation agencies (CBI and NIA) are working under Centre's pressure. The two agencies should be combined and named 'Modi Bureau of India'," he said. An alleged sting operation CD purportedly showing Rawat offering bribes to rebel Congress lawmakers to support him during a floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly had emerged last month. Upadhyay said the Congress had no faith in CBI's investigation in the case. "Congress has no confidence in the investigation being carried out by the CBI against Chief Minister Harish Rawat because neither the state government nor the court recommended it," Upadhyay said. He instead suggested that an investigation team headed by a judge be formed to look into the case. "The Centre does not trust the SIT formed by the state government to investigate the case while we don't have any confidence in CBI's probe, it is therefore better if an investigation committee headed by a judge is formed to investigate the case," he said. Upadhyay alleged that BJP was trying to "topple" the Congress government in Uttarakhand with the help of CBI, as a "revenge" after it failed to oust the Rawat government through "legislative and judicial means". A 12-year-old boy who ran away from his home in Bihar for a joyride on the Delhi Metro has been apprehended by CISF security personnel here and would be handed back to his family. The incident occurred at about 5 PM yesterday when a CISF jawan deployed for CCTV monitoring duty at Nawada station noticed the suspicious activities of a young boy in the platform area. Soon after, a CISF team brought the young Manish, a resident of Kaimur district of Bihar, to the station control room where he disclosed that he took a goods train to reach Delhi and then in order to see the Metro, boarded it from Anand Vihar Metro station and exited at Nawada. Manish, a senior official said, then disclosed his mother's mobile number after which the entire story of the 12-year-old boy was confirmed. Manish's mother told the security personnel that he had attempted such run aways earlier too. Subsequently, CISF handed over the boy to station authorities who will hand him over to his family who are on way to Delhi, they said. The historic Vijayawada city will soon have a new icon in the form of a City Square that will be built under the Public-Private Partnership initiative at the Swarajya Maidan in the heart of the city. Guizhou International Investment Corporation of China has designed the City Square that will come up on a five-acre land at an estimated cost of Rs 135 crore. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu approved the design today at a meeting attended by Water Resources Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Krishna district Collector Babu A, Municipal Commissioner G Veerapandian and representatives of GIIC. "The City Square will be a jewel in AP's crown and be a large tourist attraction," Naidu said on the occasion. Vijayawada, the second largest city in AP, is currently serving as the "functional capital" of the state. The proposed City Square will have shopping complexes and a stupa depicting the heritage of the region. An underground parking lot will also be developed. The existing Rythu Bazaar (farmers' market) at Swarajya Maidan will be relocated at Gandhinagar and a new complex built with 350 shops at a cost of Rs 4 crore, according to the district Collector. The existing government buildings belonging to the water resources department will also be dismantled to make space for the City Square. As the Swarajya Maidan has been serving as the only large vacant ground in the city for decades, where every public meeting is held besides the annual industrial exhibition, there has been opposition to convert it into a City Square as it deprived the city of "lung space". Allaying the apprehension, the Collector said vacant space that would be more than twice as large would be created and could be used for public purposes. Bernie Sanders' image gazes out from a corner storefront in Boyle Heights, a Hispanic enclave known for its plump burritos and a plaza where mariachis strum guitars. It's here that his campaign is going house to house to cut into Hillary Clinton's advantage with Latino voters. The oversized painting of the silver-haired Sanders was created by local artists. Perched in a front window, it's a centerpiece in an art gallery-turned-unofficial campaign office, where owner Mercedes Hart displays an array of T-shirts, lapel buttons even pink underwear bearing the Vermont senator's name. Out front, Sanders campaign workers have set up a table to register voters and organize volunteers, who will go out to knock on doors and stuff mailboxes with campaign literature. "I don't ever feel like I believe politicians, but I believe him," says Hart, 35, who lived for years in Mexico. Like many Sanders' devotees, she is a first-time voter, taken up by his concern for workaday Americans in an economy divided by haves and have-nots. Visitors to her gallery are greeted by a sign above the door featuring a clenched fist and the slogan "Viva Bernie." It's just one snapshot of the tough Democratic presidential campaign playing out in the nation's largest state before the June 7 primary, even as Clinton appears to have a near-lock on the nomination. By some estimates, Hispanics could make up as many as 2 in 10 voters in California. The contest comes on the same day as those in New Jersey and several other states, in what amounts to the finale of the 2016 primary season. A come-from-behind win for Sanders in California a Clinton stronghold and home to 1 in 8 people in the US would end the former first lady's campaign with a thud, allowing Sanders to refresh his argument that he's the party's best chance to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November. It would still, though, almost certainly leave him short of the delegates needed to catch up to her. The New Jersey results alone may put her over the top June 7. The California contest has taken on new urgency after Clinton's shaky performance this month. Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs contends that "millions of Americans have growing doubts about the Clinton campaign," citing Sanders' recent victories in Indiana, West Virginia and Oregon. Insisting that she would be the Democratic presidential nominee for the November elections, Hillary Clinton today said she would focus her energy on defeating her Republican rival Donald Trump. "I'm going to keep focused on Donald Trump, because I will be the nominee, I will be running against Donald Trump in the fall and I do not want Americans and, you know, good-thinking Republicans, as well as Democrats and Independents, to start to believe that this is a normal candidacy. It isn't," she said. "I said that if we don't respond to Donald Trump, which I am doing, as you have seen. I've said he was unqualified to be president. I believe that deeply," Clinton said. "What he is advocating -- look what he's done this past week, you know, attacking our closest ally, England. Heaping praise on a dangerous dictator in North Korea. Reiterating his call to pull out of NATO, our strong military alliance. Talking about letting other countries have nuclear weapons. Advocating a return to torture and even murdering the families of suspected terrorists," Clinton said. Meanwhile, a latest opinion poll showed that a Clinton-Trump fight is headed towards a dead end as the former Secretary of State is leading the real estate tycoon by just three percentage points in a hypothetical November matchup. Clinton leads the New York businessman, 46 per to 43per cent, in a test matchup between the two likely nominees, the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll shows. That represents a much tighter margin than her 11-percentage-point lead in April and marks the first time in Journal/NBC polling this year that her support has dropped below 50 per cent in a matchup with Trump. In an interview to MSNBC, Clinton said she is ready to talk to Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, her Democratic rival, whenever he is ready to talk. However, Sanders told CNN that he is still in the race and Clinton is "jumping the gun". Clinton said she would do everything to unite the party and ruled out that Sanders would run as a third-party candidate. "Oh, I don't think so. I think that Senator Sanders has every right to finish off his campaign however he chooses. I do think there will then be the obvious need for us to unify the party. I faced the same challenge in 2008. I will certainly do my part, reaching out to Senator Sanders, reaching out to his supporters. And I expect him to do his," she said. Attacking the over "dynastic politics", Union Minister Arun Jaitley today said that when "attraction" for a "family" ends, the party has to pay for it. "When people's attraction for a family ends, the party has to pay a price for it," Jaitley said during his address to BJP workers here. The BJP leader said that the acting as an "obstructionist opposition" in Parliament hasn't helped the party's cause much. "The party is working as an obstructionist opposition, which has further distanced people from it and their support base is getting reduced," Jaitley claimed. "They go to places where anti- slogans are raised and they try to do there. Can such actions attract people towards the party?" he asked, in an apparent reference to the JNU incident. Jaitley claimed that during UPA rule there was rise in corruption cases as the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not have much say in the decision-making. "UPA gave this nation a prime minister for 10 years but did not give him any rights. As a result, the government was never in a position to take decisions and corruption grew," he said. Jaitley credited the Narendra Modi-led NDA government with changing the political discourse from "corruption towards development". "Earlier, corruption was a common issue but in the last two years, Prime Minister Modi has erased the word corruption from India's dictionary," Jaitley said. "We took swift decisions and those decisions are being implemented. Even our rivals agree. The government's efforts has made India the fastest growing economy in the world in the last two years. And the way things are shaping up, we hope to progress even more swiftly," he added. Buoyed by the positive result in the just-concluded Assembly elections, Jaitley exhorted the party workers to work with dedication so that BJP can raise the victory flag in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled to be held next year. "All the workers should start preparations for the UP elections in order to register victory here. You should reach out to the masses and tell them about the works done by the Centre," he said. Jaitley noted that BJP and its allies were in power in 15 states now and voiced confidence it will also wrest power in Karnataka. Former Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala today warned the CPI(M) and BJP of 'dire consequences' if both parties do not stop the 'violence' unleashed against Congress workers after the assembly polls. As many as 142 small and big incidents of political violence had been reported in the last three days soonafter the results were announced, he said. "CPI(M) and BJP activists have been indulging in violence and attacking Congress and UDF workers since the results of the May 16 assembly polls were announced. It is a matter of great concern," Chennithala said in a press note. It was unfortunate that no leaders of CPI(M) or BJP had deplored the attacks so far, he said. Chennithala alleged that a large number of Congress and Indian Union Muslim League activists were attacked and their houses and offices damaged. "These all indicate towards the politics of violence and intolerance of CPI(M). BJP is indulging in attacks after sowing the seeds of communalism. Congress warns of dire consequences if both parties do not stop violence unleashed against Congress workers after the assembly polls," he said. Police teams were today sent to Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to track down two youths allegedly involved in the murder of a Congolese youth in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area on Friday night. While the prime accused, Mobin Azad Saifi, was arrested yesterday, the other two, identified as Mukesh and Prakash, are still at large. Technical surveillance of their mobile phones showed the presence of one of the accused near Haridwar in Uttarakhand, while another was traced to Himachal Pradesh, following which teams have been sent there, a police official said. The deceased, Masonda Ketanda Olivier, had come to India on a student visa in 2012. He lived here at a rented accommodation in South Extension and had lately started teaching French at a private institute. Olivier had received a deep wound on his head after being attacked repeatedly with a stone. Olivier's friend and other African nationals in the area who rushed to his rescue alleged that it was a racial attack. However, senior police officials denied the allegation and claimed that it was not an incident of hate crime. A fight had broken out between Olivier and the group over hiring of an auto-rickshaw, police said. All three accused have criminal past. Saifi was arrested last year in connection with a case of criminal assault and was sent to Tihar jail where he met Mukesh, who was arrested in a case of cheating. Prakash, who is a driver by profession, had been arrested in a molestation case, police said. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today claimed the election results of five states declared recently has set the trend that the Congress would be gradually "decimated" from the Indian polity. The way Congress has been routed electorally in the recent assembly polls to five states except Pudducherry, it was reflective of people's mood to get rid of its anti-poor policies," Badal said speaking on the sidelines of the death anniversary of Jaswant Kaur, mother of cabinet minister Surjit Singh Rakhra here. He claimed the Congress would also meet the same fate in the 2017 Punjab assembly polls. On any possible financial package to the state by Centre, the CM quipped that BJP-led NDA government has already given several prestigious projects like AIIMS, IIM, Horticulture Institute, Amritsar and Ludhiana as smart cities besides giving heritage status to Amritsar and have never denied us anything when we have asked for. The Centre has also hiked states' share in its financial resources from 32 to 42 per cent, from which Punjab has also immensely benefitted, he said. On shortage of wheat stocks, the Chief Minister said that the state government had already satisfied the Centre with facts and figures as Punjab was undertaking procurement of food grains on behalf of Food Corporation of India. Badal said, "Had we defaulted on this issue, then how the centre have cleared the cash credit limit for the procurement of current wheat procurement season". He lamented that the opposition parties both Congress and AAP were making hue and cry over it just to capture headlines in the media when the state government has already clarified this issue several times through advertisements in newspapers and hoardings. Expressing concern over the post poll violence in Kerala,senior Congress leader K V Thomas today urged CPI(M) and BJP to end "dangerous murder politics" being played out by cadres of both the parties in the state. Thomas, who is also the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament alleged that BJP's protest march outside CPI(M) office in New Delhi and the saffron party delegation's meeting with the President in protest against the killing of its worker in Thrissur district last week was a "clear indication" that they planned to retaliate in a violent manner. Noting that BJP is the ruling party at the Centre and CPI(M) is just assuming power in Kerala, he said both parties are "duty bound to keep peace" in the country and in the state of Kerala. "So they -- both BJP and CPI(M)-- should do their best for establishing political peace in the state", said Thomas. He said statements by BJP President Amit Shah and Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad yesterday clearly indicated that the brutal political killing by BJP and CPI(M), which had been suppressed by the outgoing Oommen Chandy government with a firm hand, would resume again again in Kerala. While Shah had accused the CPI(M)-led LDF of violating the people's mandate in Kerala, his party colleague Prasad had said BJP would not sit quiet and fight on the streets and Parliament if violence continues. "Within one day of CPI(M) coming to power in Kerala, both CPI(M) and BJP are encouraging their cadres to kill each other. The old law of teeth for teeth and eye for an eye what both BJP and CPI(M) are following...It is very dangerous," Thomas said. He said no "political killing game" had been allowed in Kerala during the five year Congress led UDF rule. Strong action was taken by the Chandy government against those who had gone ahead with "murder politics", Thomas said. Thomas statement came hours after BJP workers staged a demonstration outside the CPI(M) office in New Delhi, protesting against the murder of a 38-year-old party worker Pramod,allegedly by supporters of CPI(M)during a poll victory rally in Kerala. BJP has been targeting the Left over the alleged attacks on its workers in Kerala in the run up to the polls. Hitting back at the BJP, CPI(M) has alleged that it was cadres of the BJP who are unleashing violence in Kerala. Singapore's largest lender Development Bank of Singapore has denied reports about its expansion plans, saying it was not outsourcing about 1,500 jobs to India. The bank referred to a last Friday report on a local website which said Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) was relocating 1,500 jobs for its new technology hub in Hyderabad. "To be clear, DBS is not relocating its existing tech operations to another location, nor does it have such plans," 'The Sunday Times' quoted the bank's statement yesterday. "DBS Asia Hub in Changi Business Park (in Singapore) continues to be the group's largest tech hub anywhere in the world, supporting its digital strategy," said the bank. The group said the report, which trigerred a reaction from netizens on Twitter and Facebook, was probably the result of its announcement in India earlier last week that it is setting up a technology hub in Hyderabad, which will be the biggest outside of Singapore, with plans to recruit 1,500 people for the facility over the next two years. "The new tech centre in Hyderabad is an addition to DBS' operations as the bank expands," it said in a statement. A spokesman said the bank hired 600 people in Singapore last year, bringing its total headcount here to 10,300. "DBS continues to hire in Singapore across different functions, including in technology," the spokesman was quoted as saying. Last week, the bank said the Hyderabad hub will boost the bank's technological capabilities across Asia as well as its digital banking strategy. It launched India's first mobile-only bank last month, a move that will slowly take capabilities it builds in India and add them to its Singapore operations. The Delhi Commission for Women has issued notices to city police and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), over alleged rape of a six-year-old girl and security lapses at a night shelter home near Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, here. After a surprise inspection by its members, including Chairperson Swati Maliwal, at the Night Shelter last night, the commission also got two FIRs registered against an alleged local goon for sexually abusing the children. Maliwal said, "Despite a six-year-old girl having been raped recently in this very Night Shelter, no steps have been taken to protect the women and girls here who are living in extremely dangerous surroundings." She said, "It is almost as if we are waiting for another rape to happen here. The Commission has issued Notices and will work towards improving the condition of the Shelter." The team of commission spent the entire night at the shelter home and found major security lapses like there was no separation between male, female and family night shelters. The commission in a statement said that during the visit, many minor girls complained of molestation and stalking by a local goon, who resides in the Night Shelter. "Finally, after getting the support of the Commission, two girls aged 10 years and 5 years have revealed offences to the Police Team called on the spot by the Commission. Two FIRs regarding the same have been registered at the Parliament Street police station," it said. The commission said that it went to visit the night shelter after receiving a complaint about an alleged rape of a girl, who is untraceable, in the same night shelter by the same accused. "On the basis of the visit and the facts that have been revealed, the DCW has issued a Notice to the Parliament Street police station regarding this case. "In the Notice, the Commission has asked the Police to submit an enquiry report into the allegations made in the email and the present whereabouts of the missing girl. The commission has also sought reply from the PS on the steps they will take to protect the two girls who have reported the abuse last night," it said. The commission, while issuing notice to DUSIB said many men and boys were intoxicated and their presence in the shelter was not even marked in a register. Both Delhi Police and DUSIB have been asked by the commission to submit their replies by May 26, 2016. Delhi Government has decided that the uniform medical entrance examination will be applicable in all medical colleges under it, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urging the President not to give his nod to the ordinance exempting the state boards from it. The move came two days after the Centre decided to bring the ordinance to keep state boards out of the ambit of Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for this year. "The Delhi government has decided that admission will happen in all its medical colleges through NEET," a senior official from the Delhi Health Department said. Meanwhile, Kejriwal has urged President Pranab Mukherjee, who has sought legal advice on the ordinance, not to give his assent. "I urge hon'ble President not to sign theordinance," Kejriwal tweeted. Last week, the Delhi Chief Minister had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing the ordinance. The ordinance, cleared by the Union Cabinet on Friday, is aimed at "partially" overturning a Supreme Court verdict which said all government colleges, deemed universities and private medical colleges would be covered under . Earlier in the day, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia called a high-level meeting of vice-chancellors of medical colleges and top officers of education department to discuss the implementation of . Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain recently came out in support of the Supreme Court order and requested the Centre to implement it at the earliest to bring in reform. More than 15 states were opposed to NEET and had raised issues like different syllabus and languages during the recent state health ministers' meeting. The next phase of the exam is scheduled for July 24. Nearly 6.5 lakh students have already taken the medical entrance test in the first phase of NEET held on May 1. Once the ordinance is issued, students of state government boards will not have to sit for NEET on July 24. They, however, will have to become part of the uniform entrance exam from next academic session, government sources said. The exam will be applicable for those applying for central government and private medical colleges. The Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department is developing a mobile application that will help tourists make online bookings and reservations for their visit to the state in a hassle-free manner. "The Tourism department is developing a mobile application which will enable visitors to make online bookings and reservations in a hassle-free manner," Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who holds the Tourism portfolio, said during an interaction with tourism players here. In a bid to improve footfall of tourists this summer, Mehbooba sought cooperation from tourism and business fraternity in reviving the state's economy which primarily depends on its lucrative tourism industry. While interacting with various delegations, she stressed that people associated with the industry have to do a lot to establish a feel-good factor among the visitors. It is the collective responsibility of all stakeholders to ensure that no tourist is harassed, she said. Seeking support in maintaining peace, the Chief Minister said it is the state's tourism and business fraternity which has to suffer the brunt when there is disturbance in the Valley. Mehbooba asked the Tourism Secretary to operate pre-paid taxis from strategic locations, like airports and railway stations for tourists. "We have to reach out to the tourists with open arms so that they enjoy the hospitality for which we are known all over the world," she said, while asking hoteliers, houseboat owners, shikarawallas, ponywallas, tour and travel operators to facilitate visitors so that they go back with rich memories. Asking the Tourism department to promote paying guest concept among people residing in downtown areas, Mehbooba said the government is actively pursuing withdrawal of advisories imposed by some countries on visiting the state. The Chief Minister also floated the idea of incorporating adventure tourism in school curriculum at secondary level. She said the government over the last one year has made strenuous efforts in projecting Kashmir as a world-class tourist destination. Roadshows will be organized in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia from where the Valley receives a fairly large number of tourists, Mehbooba said. She said there are still many places to be explored which will provide a rich experience to visitors. A month after a group of Delhi University students protested over lack of water, parents of some of them have been sent aletter by the hostel administration. Over 200 students ofDelhi University's Undergraduate Hostel for Girls (UGHG)had held a protest on April 23 which went on till around 2.30 AM the next day. There was no water supply to the hostel for two months. Delhi Jal Board (DJB) Chairman Kapil Mishra had met the protesting students and addressed them around midnight. Water supply was restored on April 25. "This is to inform you that your daughter ... Left the hostel on 23 April, 2016 at around 5 PM and returned around 2.30 PM on 24 April, 2016 without obtaining prior permission from the hostel authorities," the letter said. The letter said the act was in "violation of rules and discipline" as laid down in the bulletin of information of the hostel, which the students and their parents had undertaken to abide by at the time of admission to the hostel. "This also has had a bad impact on other residents and brings a bad reputation to the hostel. This action could have caused any incident for which we are not responsible," the letter said. "We only asked for our rights but now the administration is targeting us for speaking up. Demanding water brings them bad reputation but when all of us were living without water for two months no bad reputation was brought to hostel," said a student, whose parents have been sent the letter. Hostel officials did not respond to calls and texts for a response. Early stage investments saw a sharp decline in the first four months of this year, but the outlook seems bullish as the government's initiative for startups is expected to boost investment in this space, experts say. According to PwC, during January-April 2016, early stage PE investments saw a decline of 57% in value terms and 25% in volume terms. Experts attribute the dip in startup investments to a mix of global macroeconomic factors such as a growth slowdown in China and concerns over massive losses incurred by startups. "The slowdown is partly also attributed to companies waiting for stock market conditions to improve to secure better valuations. This year, investor caution has increased manifold, resulting in an acute slowdown in funding, fall in valuations and delayed deal closures," Sumchit Anand Managing Director-Acquisory India Consulting said. Going forward, experts however, have a bullish outlook on this sector as the basic fundamentals which attracted investment in the start ups like consumerism, mobile and Internet penetration etc still remain "valid and bankable". "We continue to be quite optimistic about the space. Clearly some new channels/platforms have been created which did not exist earlier. Having said so, further consolidation in the sector is likely," Sanjeev Krishan, Partner & Leader - PwC said adding "there is still appetite for the sector, and some of the Indian HNI's have been providing seed/angel funding to start-ups." Acquisory India's Anand believes "with the government initiative for startups and with the policy framework being reformed for Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) and PE funding we expect the investment traction will remain in the long run, may go through temporary ups and downs!." In the last two years, significant amount of funding went into the startup sector. But most businesses however continued to burn cash (a large part of which went towards customer acquisition) and required additional funding for operations which was not forthcoming. "The investors took a pause and encouraged consolidation amongst their investees as multiple similar formats sprung up and bled cash," Krishan said. According to Corporate Professionals' Partner & Head - Valuation & Deals Chander Sawhney, "the trend of investments has remained difficult and different in 2016. Many e-tailers have reported decline in number of orders significantly as they cut discounts leading to drop in their GMV and raising eyebrows on their fresh funding rounds and valuations." "With three year tax benefits to new startups and exemption on capital gains benefits, many more investors are expected to join this space," Sawhney said adding that "VC's earn in 2 out of 10 investments and it's a high risk, high return space so Investments would follow in good companies". Egypt today deployed a submarine to hunt for the crucial black boxes of an EgyptAir plane in the Mediterranean, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said as he asserted that no theory was being favoured in the probe into what caused the jet to crash with 66 people on board. A submarine belonging to Egypt's Oil Ministry that could operate at a depth of 3,000 metres under the sea level had been deployed for the purpose, Sisi said in a live televised address, also his first public comments on Thursday's crash. "This (submarine) moved today in the direction of the plane crash because we are working hard to retrieve the two boxes, which are the black boxes," he said, in remarks that began with a minute of silence, adding: "All the theories are possible." "There is no particular theory we can affirm right now," he added, even as the Egyptian aviation minister had earlier said that terrorism was more likely than technical failure in causing the ill-fated EgyptAir Flight MS804, en route from Paris to Cairo, to plunge into the waters. Investigators continued to piece together clues for a potential breakthrough even as some reports of an audio from the jet and even of locating the black boxes emerged. Multinational searchers scouring the waters 290 kms north of Alexandria have made headway by recovering debris, passengers' belongings, body parts, luggage and aircraft seats from the jet, that initially went 'missing' and was later declared crashed. Sisi said "it is very, very important to us to establish the circumstances that led to the crash of that aircraft" even as he pointed out it "will take time" to determine the exact cause of the tragedy that has seen no survivors. His remarks come a day after French authorities also said "all theories are being examined and none is favoured". Smoke was detected inside the cabin of the Airbus A320 minutes before it plunged into the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people on board, including children. France's aviation safety agency said the plane had transmitted automated messages indicating smoke in the cabin and the pilot's flight control unit. However, reports said the first available audio from the plane showed the pilot in normal contact with Swiss air traffic controllers, hours before officials lost contact with the jet. Control: "EgyptAir804 contact Padova 1-2-0, decimal 7-2-5, good night." Pilot: "This is 0-7-2-5 Padova control. (Unintelligible) 8-0-4. Thank you so much. Good day, er, good night." This and the smoke alerts indicate a sudden, dramatic turn of events that led to the plane making "sudden swerves" before dropping off radar over the Mediterranean. It made a 90-degree turn left, and then dropped from 37,000 feet to 15,000 feet before swerving 360 degrees right. Egypt's military displayed wreckage and personal belongings yesterday. The chunks of debris included an uninflated life vest, a seat, a purse, shoes, carpet, a scarf, parts of chairs and cushions and a sling bag. The EgyptAir label appeared on one piece of wreckage. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said "the search is ongoing". "It has uncovered initial pieces of the aircraft, body parts, belongings of the deceased, and it will continue hopefully until we can ascertain exactly where the plane has gone down," he told CNN. Shoukry said it was not clear how long the searchers will take to recover the cockpit voice and flight data recorders - the so-called black boxes - to shed crucial information about what was going on during the final moments before the crash. "We do not, I think, have the technical abilities to operate in such deep waters, whereas many of our partners might have this facility," he said, referring to the US, France, Britain, Russia and others cooperating in the search. Meanwhile, CBS News, quoting an Egyptian government source, reported that search crews located the data recorders close to an area where human remains and debris from the crashed flight were found. The report further said there has been no official confirmation, and EgyptAir did not confirm or deny that the black boxes have been located. French authorities have said that "finding the plane is of course the priority, along with finding the black boxes to analyse them, which will allow us to answer legitimate questions". France's "dual goal" is to offer "solidarity with the families but also transparency... On the circumstances of this plane's disappearance," said Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, at yesterday's conference with the families of the victims, that include 30 Egyptians, 15 French, two Iraqis, and one person each from the UK, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Chad, Portugal, Algeria and Canada. The tragedy has raised fears of a repeat of the bombing of a Russian passenger jet by the Islamic State over Egypt last October that killed all 224 people on board though the dreaded group has not claimed reponsibility for the crash despite issuing a new video yesterday that called for attacks on the US and European countries during Ramzan. Family members of Egyptians detained for planning a demonstration last month say 21 of them have started a hunger strike, protesting what they call an "unfair trial". Heba Mohamed, the wife of Egyptian detainee Nagi Kamel, told The Associated Press today that 10 of the 152 convicted started the hunger strike last week, with another 11 detainees joining them yesterday. She says a new group of detainees will be joining the strike every few days. Egyptian courts convicted 152 protesters in a single day for breaking a law that bans demonstrations, sentencing them to up to five years in prison. The 152 were convicted for demonstrations planned on April 25 to protest the government's surrender to Saudi Arabia of two Red Sea islands. Even as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is keen to fund infra projects in Maharashtra, the Fadnavis government is unlikely to approach the agency for the proposed Rs 30,000-crore Mumbai-Nagpur expressway citing long delays in getting approvals. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which is implementing the 700-km 8-lane expressway, expects to commence work on the project by end October this year and complete by 2019, when the state as well as the nation go to polls. "The proposed Mumbai-Nagpur super-communication expressway is a huge project and we will need to raise funds from various agencies. We are in talks with various national and multilateral lenders like the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank among others. "We may also seek central funds for the project, which we will take up on an EPC model," MSRDC joint managing director SM Ramchandani told PTI. The Devendra Fadnavis government, however, is reluctant to approach the JICA, which offers the cheapest loans for large infra projects, even as the Japanese agency has agreed to fund most of the infrastructure projects in the state, including the Mumbai-Transharbour Link, and upcoming three metros in the megapolis among others. Also, JICA has agreed to fund the Rs 98,000-crore Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project and the proposed Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor. It is already funding the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor as well as the Eastern and Wester Dedicated Freight Corridors. The JICA is funding billions of loans at a rate as low as 0.15 per cent in some projects. In the case of bullet train project, wherein JICA will be funding 81 per cent of project cost, the 50-year soft loan is priced at 0.10 per cent. "We will not approach JICA for the Nagpur expressway project. We want to start work on this project as soon as possible. We have experienced it in the past that the JICA takes a long time to give their approvals and we do not have that much time to wait," Ramchandani said. The JICA, last year, had expressed interest in funding infrastructure projects to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore being undertaken by the state. After almost a year of granting in-principle approval, the Japanese agency recently gave its final approval to fund the much-awaited Rs 17,500-crore 22-km Mumbai TransHarbour Link (MTHL) project and the ambitious Rs 23,136-crore 33.5-km Colaba-Bandra-Seepz underground metro project. The MTHL, which will connect the island city with the satellite city of Navi Mumbai near the proposed new international airport, will go a long way in decongesting the choked easter suburbs of the megapolis. "The detailed project report or DPR of the expressway project is ready and the bidding process and awarding of the contract are expected to be completed by September. By end October we will start the work on the project and we hope to complete it by 2019," Ramchandani added. The proposed super-communication express way is expected to play an important role in the economic growth and development of backward, drought-hit regions of the state as it will pass through 14 districts from Vidarbha and Marathwada regions, which is reeling under one of the worst droughts in history now. The super-communication way is expected to see development of IT, industries, services sector and massive transportation activities connecting hinterland with the ports on the west coast apart from putting up some smart cities along the way. Feeding wild monkeys may pose risk to their health by making them larger in size, more susceptible to diseases and stressed, a new study on macaques in Morocco has found. Researchers led by Laetitia Marechal from University of Roehampton in the UK compared the health of two groups of wild Barbary macaques in Morocco. One group spent nearly 50 per cent of their feeding activity eating food provided by humans. The other group rarely encountered tourists and instead relied on natural food resources, researchers said. The macaques which ate food from tourists were found to have poorer quality fur, with some patches of alopecia, and also suffered from higher levels of stress hormones compared with the other group, they said. All the females in the non-fed group gave birth, but only a third of females in the groups of Barbary macaques frequently fed by tourists had babies, researchers said. The monkeys which relied on natural food were observed to only suffer one incident of a stomach upset, while the group which received large amounts of food from tourists had 32 bouts of illness, they said. The study also found that the effects of feeding by tourists were different depending on sex. While males did not differ between groups in body size and fur quality, the females fed by tourists had larger body sizes, but better coat quality, researchers said. However, the males suffered more from alopecia and higher stress levels, they said. "Barbary macaques are an endangered species and recently tourism was proposed as a potential tool for the conservation of this species in Morocco," said Marechal, currently with University of Lincoln in the UK. "But such tourism is currently unregulated, and feeding is a common practice; therefore regulating tourist provisioning may improve animal welfare," she said. Researchers assessed the primates' health using a range of non-invasive measures, such as birth and survival rates, the quality of their fur, body size, occurrence of injury and disease, and stress hormone levels in faecal samples. The findings support previous research which indicates that wildlife tourism, and particularly so-called 'tourist provisioning', has negative impacts on the health of wild animals, researchers said. The findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE. Five merchant bankers, including ICICI Securities, Citibank and SBI Capital, have been shortlisted for assisting disinvestment of government's 10 per cent stake in blue-chip National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC). The other two merchant bankers/selling brokers are Edelweiss Financial Services and Deutsche Bank. The government has proposed to put up about 39.64 crore shares through Offer for Sale(OFS) and fetch an estimated Rs 3,600 crore at current market price. The short-listed brokers will be making a presentation before an Inter-Ministerial Group on June 3. Government holds 80 per cent stake in the PSU, with a paid up capital of Rs 396.47 crore. The government would also allot shares up to a maximum of 5 per cent of the OFS size to NMDC employees at a discount of 5 per cent to the issue or discovered price. The employees will be eligible to apply for shares up to Rs 2 lakh only. The PSU, which is in the administrative control of Ministry of Steel, is primarily engaged in the business of iron ore mining but is also expanding its activities towards production of steel and other value-added products. Proceeds from NMDC disinvestment will be part of government's total disinvestment target of Rs 56,500 crore this fiscal. Of this, Rs 36,000 crore is estimated to come from minority stake sale in PSUs, and the remaining Rs 20,500 crore from strategic sale in both profit and loss-making companies. have pumped in nearly Rs 1,800 crore into Indian equities so far this month on good performance of the BJP in assembly elections which is likely to enhance the central government's ability to push through legislative reforms. Interestingly, FPIs invested Rs 341 crore into equities on May 19, the day assembly elections results were announced. In March-April, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) had poured in Rs 29,558 crore into the . BJP coming to power in Assam for the first time and improvement in its seat tally in West Bengal and Kerala is likely to enhance the central government's ability to push through legislative reforms, said Shreyash Devalkar Fund Manager - Equities at BNP Paribas Mutual Fund. The data sourced from the depositories showed FPI have invested Rs 1,795 crore in the Indian stock so far this month. However, have pulled out Rs 3,496 crore from the debt during the period under review. Capital poured in by FPIs is often referred to as 'hot money' because of its unpredictability, although they continue to remain among the most important drivers of Indian stock markets. This year, FPIs have invested Rs 14,706 crore in equities while withdrawing Rs 4,436 crore from debt market, resulting in a net inflow of Rs 10,270 crore. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls was today in Israel to advance his country's plan to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts in the face of opposition from his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. Valls, who arrived last night, is to meet Netanyahu tomorrow before travelling to Ramallah on Tuesday to hold talks with Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has welcomed the French initiative to hold a meeting of foreign ministers from a range of countries on June 3, without the Israelis and Palestinians present. Another conference would then be held in the autumn, with the Israelis and Palestinians in attendance. The goal is to eventually restart negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state. Negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014. In an interview with Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam published today, Valls said that Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank must stop. But he also reiterated that his government would not automatically recognise a Palestinian state if the peace initiative failed. A threat to do so was made in January by former foreign minister Laurent Fabius, angering the Israeli government. His successor Jean-Marc Ayrault has since backed away from the statement. "The objective is to arrive at the creation of a Palestinian state," Valls said in the interview. "It is to allow your national aspirations to finally be realised. To say today when we will recognise the Palestinian state is to determine in advance the failure of our initiative." Valls said "we must also guarantee" Israel's security, but called for a halt to settlement building, considered a major stumbling block to peace. Settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law and built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. "Stopping settlements is an imperative," he said. "Because we cannot both want to discuss peace and be sincere in the negotiations and at the same time continue to create facts on the ground." Valls's visit comes at a time of political turbulence in Israel, with Netanyahu expected to soon finalise negotiations with the party of hardliner Avigdor Lieberman, detested by the Palestinians, to join his coalition. An eight-year old girl has been injured after she fell into a gap in an escalator at a department store here in the capital city. The accident happened at the Parkson shopping centre in Fuxingmen yesterday, the Beijing Times reported. A worker was carrying out maintenance on the escalator and had taken out a floor panel, but did not put up warning signs or safety barriers. The girl fell into the escalator and injured her leg, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. A doctor at the Beijing Children's Hospital was quoted as saying that the girl suffered a 25-cm long deep cut, almost to the bone. "She seemed to have fallen in a gap and was cut by a sharp steel board," he said. The girl underwent surgery for more than two hours and she is still in hospital for further observation, the report said. The shopping mall authorities was quoted as saying that it had apologised for the accident and will tighten up safety regulations. There have been several accidents involving escalators on the mainland over the past year. A woman was killed in Jingzhou in Hubei province last year after falling into a gap in an escalator at a shopping centre. She managed to throw her two-year-old son to safety before she fell into the escalator's machinery. Group is in the process of setting up an LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal at Andhra Pradesh's Kakinada sea port with an investment of Rs 471 crore. According to minutes of the meeting held by Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the project envisages a start-up capacity of 1.75 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) which comprises of captive use by Energy Limited to the tune of 0.85 MTPA, with the balance for domestic piped and non-piped users within a radius of 450 kms. " Holding Pvt Ltd has proposed for development of LNG facility with capacity of 1.75 MTPA at Kakinada Deep Water Port (KDWP) berth 7 located adjacent to survey no. 317/318, GMR barge mounted power plant located at survey no. 411, 413, tehsil Kakinada, district East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh. "The proposed LNG facility consists of the following- development of necessary facility/ equipment for ship berthing and mooring, LNG unloading arms with all safety measures, LNG storage and transportation, onshore insulated cryogenic pipeline, LNG regasification facility and pipeline for connectivity to existing gas distribution grid," the EAC said. While recommending the term of reference for the project, the EAC asked the company to conduct a public hearing, besides laying down other conditions. "During presentation, project proponent (GMR) informed that regasification plant will also be installed at berth no. 7. Cost of project is Rs 471 crore. Power requirement will be 8 MW. Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary is located at a distance of 1.5 kms south," it said. Meanwhile, the EAC deferred its decision on environmental and CRZ clearance in case of proposed greenfield facility for import of 5 MMTPA LNG Floating Storage Unit (FSU) and handling facility within Krishnapatnam Port Ltd, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh by LNG Bharat Pvt Ltd. The committee suggested the project proponent that it should submit all the requisite documents to Andhra Pradesh Coastal Zone Management Authority as sought by them. Authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip are planning to carry out a series of public executions, the attorney general in the Palestinian enclave said today. Islamist movement Hamas has carried out previous executions in Gaza, although rarely in public and mainly of people accused of collaborating with Israel. Today's announcement involved those convicted of criminal offences. "Capital punishments will be implemented soon in Gaza," attorney general Ismail Jaber told journalists. "I ask that they take place before a large crowd." 13 men, most convicted of murder connected to robberies, are currently awaiting execution, Hamas official Khalil al-Haya said on Friday at the mainly weekly Muslim prayers. "The victims' families have the right to demand that the punishments be implemented," he said. The families obtained rare permission today to stage a demonstration outside parliament, with dozens demanding that the executions be carried out. The last public executions in Gaza were in 2014 during the last war with Israel when a firing squad from Hamas's armed wing shot dead six men before Gaza City's main mosque following prayers. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), nine death sentences were handed down in the Gaza Strip in 2015 and two in the occupied West Bank, run by the Palestinian Authority. So far this year, around 10 more have been handed down in Gaza. Palestinian law allows the death penalty for collaborators, murderers and drug traffickers. Of the more than 170 Palestinians sentenced to death since the creation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, around 30 have been executed, mostly in Gaza, according to the PCHR. All execution orders must in theory be approved by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas before they can be carried out, but Hamas no longer recognises his legitimacy. Punjab and Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki today called on Home Minister Rajnath Singh and discussed with him various issues concerning the two states and Chandigarh. During the 20-minute meeting, Solanki, who is also the Chandigarh UT Administrator briefed the Home Minister on the prevailing circumstances in Haryana and Punjab, including the drought-like situation, official sources said. The Governor and the Home Minister also discussed various issues concerning Chandigarh, which functions directly under the control of the Union Home Ministry. Actor Henry Cavill and girlfriend Tara King attended the Durrell Wildlife Challenge charity race together despite report that they have split. Cavill, 33, and King, 19, first met at London club Mahiki last year. They were spotted together at a rugby match at Twickenham. He later brought her to the London premiere of his movie "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice". They also walked the red carpet together at Vanity Fair's Oscar after-party last month. The Superman depicter once said the large age gap between them had never been a big deal, reported Aceshowbiz. "People say age is just a number," he had said. "It's actually real and true sign of someone's maturity. But in this case, she's fantastic. Marxist veteran V S Achuthanandan, who was sidelined by the CPI(M) for the Chief Ministerial post, today said he was hale and hearty and would continue his fight against corruption and communalism till his last breath. "I am completely healthy", the 92-year-old veteran said interacting with children of the Nirbhaya Debating Society, a forum of students for various intellectual and social activities, who had gathered to facilitate him here. "There are no health issues. During the campaign for the May 16 polls, I had campaigned from Parasala to Kannur, addressed several meetings. My health now is the same as during the campaign. Is there any change in me now?", he asked. The former Chief Minister, who held the top post from 2006-11, was the face of LDF campaign during the May 16 Assembly polls. The remarks assumes significance as CPI(M) General secretary Sitaram Yechury, while describing Achuthanandan as "Fidel Castro of Kerala" had decided to choose Pinarayi Vijayan for the Chief Minister's post keeping in mind his advanced age and physical limitations. In a Facebook post today Achutanandan said he would continue his fight against corruption and communalism "until my last breath." "I am not stopping my struggles I have undertaken so far. I will continue my fights against corruption, communalism and to protect the nature, soil and pride of Kerala until my last breath," he said. He said political rivals had tried to target him and "trap" him in cases when he attempted to expose Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "But people, who always stood with me in my fights, have given me all support. They have ushered in LDF by giving them a historic mandate of 91 seats," he said. Referring to the fierce state-wide campaign he undertook, he said he had to fulfil a "historic responsibility" at the May 16 polls and that was why he had decided to contest accepting the direction of the party central leadership. "The victory of LDF in Kerala was essential to retain the strength of the Communist parties, who carry out relentless fight against communal forces at the national level," he said. While announcing that he was stepping down as Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Achuthanandan had said here yesterday that he would continue to play the role of a "sentinel" of the people of Kerala. He was elected from Malampuzha constituency in Palakkad district by a margin of 27,142 votes. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored two goals and set up another as Paris Saint-Germain defeated bitter rivals Marseille 4-2 to clinch a 10th French Cup title in the Swede's final game with the club. Blaise Matuidi struck PSG's opening goal inside two minutes at the Stade de France, but Marseille hit back just 10 minutes later through on-loan Newcastle midfielder Florian Thauvin. Ibrahimovic then converted a penalty immediately after half-time to restore the capital club's lead, before he played in Edinson Cavani to add a third goal on 56 minutes. The 34-year-old Swedish star signed off in trademark spectacular style with his second of the evening, the 156th and final goal of his PSG career, eight minutes from time as Laurent Blanc's side repeated last year's domestic treble despite a late consolation from Michy Batshuayi. With the Ligue 1 crown and French League Cup already in the bag, PSG were aiming to move level with record 10-time French Cup winners Marseille in a repeat of the 2006 final, won 2-1 by Paris. Ibrahimovic, who last weekend broke Argentine striker Carlos Bianchi's single-season club record of 37 league goals, was aiming to bring down the curtain the down on a glittering four-year stay in the French capital having already helped PSG to 11 trophies. However, Abdelaziz Barrada fired an early warning signal to PSG in their quest for another title when the midfielder's 25-yard drive flashed just wide of Salvatore Sirigu's right-hand post with less than a minute gone. Blanc's side were ahead though with their first attack as Angel Di Maria, provider of 18 goals in his first Ligue 1 campaign, delivered another from a wicked right-wing cross that was turned in by Matuidi from close range. But Marseille, who were hoping to salvage their season after finishing 13th in the league, responded on 12 minutes as Thauvin's strike from just outside the area clipped's Thiago Silva leg to wrong-foot Sirigu. Thauvin was fortunate to escape punishment when he blocked Ibrahimovic's goalbound strike with his hand shortly before the interval, but Marseille were caught out seconds after the restart as Nicolas Nkoulou bundled over Matuidi inside the box. Ibrahimovic slotted past Steve Mandanda from the penalty spot to put PSG back in front on 47 minutes, before Paris' record goalscorer played in Cavani to steer home a third nine minutes later after Chile international Mauricio Isla lost possession in midfield. Matuidi then released Ibrahimovic to stroke home a fourth on 82 minutes and guarantee PSG a 10th successive win over Marseille, despite Batshuayi converting a rebound three minutes from the end after Sirigu could only Benjamin Mendy's low shot. Blanc then withdrew Ibrahimovic, who will leave Paris when his contract expires at the end of June, to a rapturous ovation late on in the final act of a remarkable chapter in PSG's history. The 'Indefinite strike' by Mizoram's Commercial Vehicles Joint Action Committee (CVJAC) since five AM on May 18 was called off last night. The strike was called off after a meeting of the CVJAC leaders and state Home Minister R Lalzirliana at latter's residence where it was agreed that the CVJAC leaders would hold talks with Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla and Transport Minister John Rotluangliana after their return from Delhi. The state government unconditionally released 41 CVJAC volunteers arrested yesterday and withdrew its decision to suspend over 30 permits of the agitating commercial vehicle owners. The commercial vehicles body, which included cabs, maxi-cabs, city buses and public carriers (trucks), called for a strike making series of demands. Their demands included payment of lifetime road tax by instalments, hike in city bus fare and permission for replacement of taxis. Public bore the brunt of the strike which caused acute shortage of essential commodities including oil and cooking gas and vegetables resulting in the prices of essential goods skyrocketing. With the strike being called off the state has been limping back to normal as supplies of essential commodities arrived in Mizoram from neighbouring states. Two 17-year-old Indian students won laurels at the 24th International Philosophy Olympiad, a philosophy competition for high school students from across the world, held in Belgium recently. While 17-year-old Drishtti Rawat from Noida won a silver medal, Lucknow-based Tathagat Bhatia, also 17, received an honourable mention. India secured an overall third position in the competition where 90 students from 44 countries were required to write essays on a particular topic. This year the main topic was 'War and Peace.' The students from India were awarded for their essays based on the philosophy of Greek philosopher Aristotle who postulated that human emotions are universal irrespective of the language being used to convey them. According to Kedar Soni, Coordinator of Indian Philosophy Olympiad, words are incomplete without intonations, which in turn originate from emotions. For example, he says, when somebody says 'Accha' in Hindi it can be interpreted to mean either an expression of shock or simply okay or under some circumstances can be interpreted to mean an act of thinking. "Two persons can see an object in different ways but the object remains independent of the mind. Take for instance the word 'love'. The desire of love will remain the same but two different artists can use different forms and styles of painting to depict it. So it all stems from similar desires, just the way you depict, it can differ. And this is also a reason how my fellow contestants and I bonded well despite differences in languages," says Rawat. Meanwhile, Bhatia says different connotations to the same word can cause confusion and conflicts due to simple misunderstanding. "Sometimes my friend interprets my text messages as sarcasm or anger when in reality I intended it to be neither. In text messages you don't hear the voice to know the exact meaning and hence you can often end up with wrong interpretation of a sentence," says Bhatia. Soni says the Olympiad honour is especially significant for India since most countries who win at the competition teach philosophy at school level in some form or the other. "It's only before entering the international forum, that the selected students are intensively trained through lectures and workshops at Abhinav Vidyalay in Mumbai's Dombivli," he says. India has been participating in the competition since 2007 and students are chosen through a two-stage process, which include tests to gauge students' logical and verbal reasoning skills besides an essay writing competition. The International Philosophy Olymiad (IPO) is an International Science Olympiad, which is affiliated with the UNESCO. Israel's defense minister officially stepped down today, capping a tumultuous week of politics that is expected to result in the replacement of the former military chief with an inexperienced hard-liner in the sensitive post. Moshe Yaalon's departure cleared the way for Avigdor Lieberman, one of Israel's most polarizing politicians, to take over as defense chief. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week invited Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party into the government in a move meant to shore up his narrow governing majority. But Lieberman reportedly demanded the Defense Ministry as a condition, forcing Netanyahu to ask Yaalon to step aside. Yaalon angrily announced his resignation on Friday, saying the government has been taken over by "extremist and dangerous elements." Netanyahu and Lieberman were still negotiating their coalition agreement today, and it was unclear when he would formally join the government. Yaalon held a brief ceremony at Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, where he was greeted by an honor guard and shook hands with the military leadership. After the ceremony, he was whisked away in a jeep. Yaalon, like Netanyahu, is a security hawk who was deeply skeptical of peace prospects with the Palestinians and led the military through a 50-day war against Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip in 2014. At times, he angered the US by criticizing American peace initiatives in the region as naive or messianic. But he was protective of the military when it came under fire from ideologically-driven hardliners. His departure leaves the Cabinet dominated by religious and ultranationalist ministers who oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state and have close ties to the West Bank settler movement. Lieberman himself is a West Bank settler. At an appearance with the visiting Czech prime minister, Netanyahu described himself as an experienced former army commando who remains in charge of security. "Ultimately the prime minister leads the operations, along with the defense minister and the chief of staff, and apparently I have not done a bad job during my years as prime minister," he said. "This is how it will be now: a responsible, forceful and rational policy to defend Israel." In a three decade political career, Lieberman has at times been Netanyahu's closest ally and at other times a rival. The budget session of Jammu and Kashmir legislature, begining on May 25, is expected to be a stormy one with opposition parties gearing up to corner the PDP-BJP government on several issues, including extension of NEET to the state and "failure" of governance. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti-led government can expect tough questions from the opposition parties -- National Conference, Congress and some independent MLAs -- over the yet fulfilled of promises in the Agenda of Alliance agreed by the two ruling parties at the time of government formation last year. The session -- which was delayed due to stalemate over fresh government formation between the PDP and the BJP following the death of then chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in January this year -- will start with joint address by Governor N N Vohra to the two houses of the legislature on May 25. "There is no dearth of issues to corner the government. There are so many issues of public importance that have not been addressed by this government," Ali Mohammad Sagar, general secretary of the principal opposition party National Conference, told PTI. The National Food Security Act (NFSA), the extension of NEET to Jammu and Kashmir and the alleged "U-turns" on the State Industrial Policy are just a few of the issues that will be raised, he said. "Revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), included in the Agenda of Alliance, has been rejected by the minister concerned on the floor of Parliament. Then there is refusal to return power pojects from NHPC to the state also," Sagar, who is MLA from Khanyar, said. NC spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu said the party will also raise the issues like separate townships for migrant Kashmiri Pandits, shelter homes for non-locals, and settling of non-state subjects in Sainik colonies. "On the NFSA front, there is acute ration shortage across the state. The shortage has even affected the Kashmiri Pandit migrant camps which is funded from security-related expenditure," Mattu said. He said while every promise made in the agenda has been "broken", National Conference will also raise the issue of economic slump. "There is a slump in tourist arrivals, there is a slump in revenue collection. Nothings seems to be right since this government came to power," he charged. Congress MLA from Leh, Nawang Rigzin Jora said the PDP-BJP government had "nothing to show" for more than a year of their rule in the state. "What have the coalition partners done to protect the special status of Jammu and Kashmir? What did they do to keep the state out of the ambit of NEET? We should be kept out of the NEET to protect our students," he said. Jora said his party will also raise the issues related to regularisation of daily wagers and contractual employees besides demanding clarity on the issue of promotions for reserved categories. "We will also raise the ideological incompatibility of the coalition partners which has severely affected governance in the state," he added. The MLAs have submitted over 1,200 questions for the five-week session. The members have also submitted 96 private member resolutions. While the Governor's address will be on May 25, the next three days will see the house having discussion on the Motion of Thanks. The budget for 2016-17 will be presented on May 30. A jawan, who was injured in a fierce gunbattle with militants in Kupwara yesterday, succumbed to injuries today, a defence official said. Naik Gawade Pandurang Mahadev, who was critically injured in the operation at Chak Drugmulla in Kupwara, succumbed at 92 Base Hospital of the Army here, the official said. Five militants were killed in the nine-hour long operation in Kupwara yesterday while two soldiers including Mahadev sustained injuries. "The brave soldier was part of the the column that initially located and engaged the hiding terrorists, leading to the elimination of all five terrorists," the official said. The mortal remains of the soldier will be flown to his village in Sindudurg district of Maharashtra after necessary formalities are completed, he added. (Reopens DES21) Additional Director General(ADG) BSF, Arun Kumar today visited the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital and enquired about the condition of Singh. He said as and when the doctors give permission, Singh would be airlifted to Delhi. "We are waiting for a go ahead from the doctors here and as and when they permit us, we will airlift Gurnam Singh to Delhi for specialised treatment," he said. Actors Jeff Goldblum, Karl Urban will star alongside Chris Hemsworth in the upcoming third instalment of "Thor". Goldblum, 63, will play Grandmaster, a cosmic being who plays chess with lesser life-forms such as humans, said The Hollywood Reporter. Urban, 43, will play Asgard warrior Skurge. "The continuation of the epic Thor franchise will be powerful and unique, and with the additions of Cate, Jeff, Tessa, Karl and Mark to the cast, we have the makings of his most dangerous and heroic adventure yet," enthused producer Kevin Feige in making the announcement. Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) (JVM) today called for a ban on liquor in state on the lines of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. "Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has taken a historic step by declaring the state "liquor free", which is being appreciated by people across the country, said the Secretary of JVM central Committee, Abhay Singh, here today. JVM under the leadership of its Supremo Babulal Marandi, a former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, will also strive to mount pressure on the state government to impose ban on sale of liquor in Jharkhand, he said on the eve of a Party's convention to be held in Ranchi May 23. Accusing BJP-headed government for making hollow promises, Singh alleged that BJP did not fulfill the promises it made and described the state government of being "government of Industrialists'. DMK president Karunanidhi today greeted Pinarayi Vijayan, Mamata Banerjee and Sarbananda Sonowal who will be taking over the reins of new governments in Kerala, West Bengal and Assam respectively. In separate messages to each of the leaders, he said, "Please accept my hearty congratulations to you on your assuming office as Chief Minister." "Very earnestly, I wish you a comfortable and happy tenure as Chief Minister," he said. "I am quite sure that you will take all necessary steps for further economic growth and prosperity of the naturally-endowed state," he wrote to Vijayan. In his message to Banerjee, he referred to her big poll win. "The tremendous faith and confidence the great people of West Bengal have reposed in you have paved the smooth way for you to return to the office of the Chief Minister," he said. "I am sure you will continue the good work with all enthusiasm and speed for the growth of the state," he said. Greeting Sonowal, he said, "I am quite sure that you will work for the protection of the people of Assam, irrespective of their religion, as you have publicly promised to the people. United States Secretary of State John Kerry is set to meet Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi today for her new civilian government's first high level talks as Washington recalibrates its relationship with the former pariah state. The meeting comes days after the US lifted a host of financial and trade embargoes in recognition of dramatic political changes that saw landmark elections sweep Suu Kyi and her party into office after decades of junta rule. Suu Kyi, the foreign minister, also holds the newly-created position of state counsellor to enable her to steer the government despite a junta-scripted constitution that bars her from the presidency - a role now held by her longtime ally Htin Kyaw. Myanmar president's office spokesman Zaw Htay said Kerry would only meet Suu Kyi, without giving details of the topics under discussion. "He will meet the state counsellor, not the president," he told AFP, explaining that Htin Kyaw is yet to return from a summit in Russia. According to the US State Department, Kerry's brief trip to Myanmar is to show "support for the new democratically-elected, civilian-led government" as well as to "further democratic and economic reforms". US President Barack Obama has made two visits to the Southeast Asian nation in recent years, seeking to widen engagement with the country as it embarked on a stunning transition towards democracy after half a century under a repressive military government. Myanmar still faces huge challenges, including decrepit infrastructure, conflicts in resource-rich borderlands, religious tensions and the continued influence of the army and junta-era cronies, who still dominate the economy. American investment in Myanmar remains relatively small compared to other nations, although some US companies including Coca-Cola and Pepsi, fast food restaurant KFC and carmakers Chevrolet and Ford have already established a sales presence. Washington rolled back many of its sanctions to reward reforms since the end of outright military rule in 2011, but retains scores of names on its blacklists as it seeks to push further changes and promote human rights. The latest sanctions rollback further eases constraints on trade. It opened up all Myanmar banks to American business, while also extending indefinitely permission made in December enabling firms to import through Myanmar's ports and airports - many of which are operated by cronies still on the blacklist. A 31-year-old Ukrainian woman, who was allegedly kidnapped in Pakistan three years ago, was today rescued during a police raid in Sindh province, police said. Katrina was found in Katho village near Mithi in Tharpakar district and her alleged abductor was arrested, Sarfaraz Nawaz, SSP, Tharparkar district said. "A joint team of Rangers and police raided the village following a tip-off that a foreign woman was present there and we found Katrina and also arrested her suspected kidnapper, Abdul Munaf Nohrio," he said. Katrina could barely speak Urdu and told the law enforcement officials in English that Munaf had kidnapped her from Rawalpindi three years ago and brought her to Tharparkar, the SSP said. However, Munaf's parents said that their son had married Katrina after the two met on a social networking site. The possibility of other people being involved in the kidnapping is not being ruled out, Shaikh said, adding, an FIR has been registered against Munaf. Katrina and Munaf would be handed to a police team from Rawalpindi for further investigations, he said. Expressing concern over the Mehbooba Mufti-led state government's volte-face on the exclusive colonies for migrant Kashmiri Pandits, Kashmiri Pandit Sabha (KPS) today appealed to the Centre to intervene into the issue. "We appeal to the central Government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to decisively intervene into the matter (of their return and rehabilitation in separate townships in Kashmir) in order to restore the confidence of the Kashmiri Pandits who had welcomed the important steps taken regarding return by them till now,"KPS President K K Khosa said. KPS expressed grave concern over the abrupt volte-face by the State Government over the issue of return and rehabilitation of the KP's in separate townships to which it had agreed in principal after the Centre had approved the proposal in a high level meeting chaired by the union Home Minister, he said. Khosa was reacting to the recent statement of State Minister Naeem Akhtar on separate township for pandits in Kashmir. State Minister for Education Akhtar on May 19 ruled out exclusive colonies for Kashmiri migrant Pandits but said it would consider any alternative plan, even from separatist groups, to rehabilitate the minority community in the Valley. "The proposal is to make land available where everyone can live. There is no question of an exclusive colony. That is out," Akhtar had said in Srinagar. Terming remarks of the PDP Minister Naeem Akhtar as "personal", BJP MLC Surinder Ambardar said yesterday that it is purely prerogative of displaced Kashmiri Pandits to decide on "return module". "If decisions of the State Government are made to overturn under pressure then the people will loose faith in it and it has no business to remain in power," KPS President said. KPS leaders also criticised the Hurriyat Conference, JKLF and all the other main stream political parties who have been objecting to the establishment of concentrated settlements for the Pandits. The Sabha has also criticised the attempt by the tourism department, which is headed by the Chief Minister herself, to arbitrarily change the age old name of Hari Parbhat to Koh-e-maran in the hoarding, they have made for the "Kashmir fort festival". Rescuers pulled out more bodies from the muddy debris of disastrous landslide taking the toll to over 80 while 118 people remained missing today in floods triggered by the heaviest rains in Sri Lanka in over a quarter century even as relief aid poured in from across the world, including India, for lakhs of displaced people. The heavy rains have pounded Sri Lanka since last weekend, triggering huge landslides that have buried some victims in up to 50 feet of mud. Sri Lankan army and other rescuers pulled out 13 more bodies late last night in the worst-hit district of Kegalle. The Disaster Management Centre said the death toll in the landslide has reached to 82 while 118 people are still missing. Around 3,40,000 people have been displaced across the country in the floods and landslides, said Pradeep Kodippili, spokesman of the Disaster Management Centre. The death toll is likely to go up as rescue teams reach some of the worst-hit areas, authorities said. The national Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said that 21 of Sri Lanka's 25 districts have been badly affected due to the floods and landslide. The military said the search for the missing persons is is on in Aranayake where 43 bodies have been pulled out from the debris. "The sun was out this morning, yet the search operations were not easy," Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe said. Meanwhile, floodwaters were receding in the capital Colombo and in the Western province's Kelaniya and Kaduwela areas. International aid began arriving in Sri Lanka yesterday, bringing help to lakhs of people driven from their homes by heavy rains and deadly landslides. Various nations, including India, Pakistan, Australia and Japan are bringing in aid supplies such as blankets, water-purification tablets and drinking water. An Indian Air Force plane and two naval ships carrying emergency supplies arrived in Colombo yesterday. Sri Lanka's military is airdropping food and water to affected areas as rescue operations continue, authorities said. The United Nations has pledged to support the Sri Lankan Government in its efforts to respond to the needs on the ground. UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Una McCauley, today met President Maithripala Sirisena and discussed flood emergency needs. "Wemet President this morning for a briefing on emergency response and coordination. We remain committed to assist all the affected people," a statement by the UN said. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan police have arrested 16 robbers who had entered the flood-hit homes to loot. "We will take strong actionto arrest anyone buying stolen goods," a police spokesman said. (REOPENS FGN 16) China's Red Cross has donated USD 50,000 cash for the relief and rehabilitation of the people affected by the floods and landslides in Sri Lanka. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday sent a message to his Sri Lankan counterpart Mangala Samaraweera, extending condolences over the flash floods and landslides hitting the island country. In the message, Wang expressed deep sympathy to the Sri Lankan government and people in the affected areas and conveyed profound condolences to the victims of the disaster. "As China and Sri Lanka are traditional friendly neighbours, the Chinese people are deeply affected by the disaster sustained by the Sri Lankan people as if they have experienced it themselves," Wang said, state-run Xinhua agency reported. "We believe that under the leadership of the Sri Lankan government, the people of Sri Lanka will definitely be able to overcome difficulties and the disaster," he said. Wang also expressed China's willingness to offer any assistance it can to help Sri Lanka cope with the disaster. Rescuers pulled out 15 more bodies from the muddy debris of disastrous landslide taking the toll to 84 while over 100 people remained missing today in floods triggered by the heaviest rains in Sri Lanka in over a quarter century even as relief aid poured in from across the world, including India, for lakhs of displaced people. The heavy rains have pounded Sri Lanka since last weekend, triggering huge landslides that have buried some victims in up to 50 feet of mud. Sri Lankan army and other rescuers pulled out 15 more bodies in the last 24 hours in the worst-hit district of Kegalle, about 100 kilometres from here. The Disaster Management Centre said the death toll in the landslide has reached to 84 while 116 people are still missing. Around 3,40,000 people have been displaced across the country in the floods and landslides, said Pradeep Kodippili, spokesman of the Disaster Management Centre. The death toll is likely to go up as rescue teams reach some of the worst-hit areas, authorities said. The national Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said that 21 of Sri Lanka's 25 districts have been badly affected due to the floods and landslide. The military said the search for the missing persons is on in Aranayake where over 40 bodies have been pulled out from the debris. "The sun was out this morning, yet the search operations were not easy," Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe said. Meanwhile, floodwaters were receding in the capital Colombo and in the Western province's Kelaniya and Kaduwela areas. Sri Lankan authorities are now bracing to meet the mounting challenge of preventing outbreak of diseases as floodwaters are being contaminated with garbage and raw sewage. "There is a real danger of diarrhoea and skin diseases spreading among the flood victims," Colombo Municipal Council medical chief Ruwan Wijayamuni said. aid poured in Sri Lanka, bringing help to lakhs of people driven from their homes by heavy rains and deadly landslides. Various nations, including India, Pakistan, China, Australia and Japan are bringing in aid supplies such as blankets, water-purification tablets and drinking water. An Indian Air Force plane and two naval ships carrying emergency supplies arrived in Colombo yesterday. Sri Lanka's military is airdropping food and water to affected areas as rescue operations continue, authorities said. The United Nations has pledged to support the Sri Lankan government in its efforts to respond to the needs on the ground. UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Una McCauley, today met President Maithripala Sirisena and discussed flood emergency needs. "Wemet President this morning for a briefing on emergency response and coordination. We remain committed to assist all the affected people," a statement by the UN said. Sirisena today visited centres in Colombo where more than 200,000 people from low-lying parts of the capital were still staying in temporary shelters. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan police have arrested 16 robbers for looting abandoned homes in the flood-hit areas. Soldiers have been deployed to guard some of the flooded neighbourhoods. With CPI(M)-led Left Front decimated in the Assembly polls in the erstwhile red citadel of West Bengal, a politburo member has acknowledged that its alliance with the Congress went against the party which faces serious questions over its existences if it fails to check the erosion of vote bank. Once invincible CPI(M) led Left Front, which had kept aside its "ideological convictions" to align with its one time foe Congress to oust the Trinamool Congress regime in Bengal, is the "biggest loser" in the polls as its tally dropped from 62 seats in 2011 to just 32 seats in the recently ended Assembly elections. "If we can't check the further erosion of our vote bank and support base then we are ought to face serious questions over the very existence of CPI(M) and Left in Bengal. We have not only failed to gauge the mood and pulse of the people but also to regain our lost strength in last five years," CPI(M) politburo member and former MP Hanan Mollah told PTI. Mollah further said the alliance with the Congress was not accepted by the masses. "We tried to forge an alliance with Congress in order to stop the division of anti-TMC votes. It has rather gone against us. The people didn't accept this alliance. We cannot deny that people have voted for Mamata Banerjee and the TMC in large numbers, irrespective of the fact that there has been issues of unemployment, corruption and lack of industrialisation." "We need to asses what went wrong whether it was our electoral line or alienation with the masses," Mollah said. Mollah's comments can be gauged from the fact that the Left's vote share has dipped by near about 19 per cent since 2009. The CPI(M) led Left Front which has received 43.6 per cent in 2009 Lok Sabha polls received 41 per cent votes in 2011 Assembly polls, when it was ousted from power after 34 years of uninterrupted rule. In 2014 Lok Sabha polls Left Front had received 29 percent votes which was reduced to all time low of 24 percent in 2016. Although lacunae on the part of leaders to feel the public pulse, alienation from the masses, organisational glitches, compromising on the ideological line of anti-Congress posture and a hasty electoral alliance with Congress seems to be the main reasons behind the rout, the Left leadership seems to be at its wits end to revive its base in the once impregnable fort. Mollah's colleague in CPI(M)'s politburo, Brinda Karat told PTI that the party leadership will examine the reasons for the poor performance of the CPI(M) and the electoral line adopted by the Bengal unit to draw proper lessons and revival strategy. "The results indicate that several steps, from change in leadership to infusing fresh blood at various levels, that we had taken in last five years have failed to help us in reaching out to the masses. We really don't know what needs to be done to regain our lost glory as we have also compromised our ideological line," a senior CPI(M) state committee leader told PTI on condition of anonymity. CPI(M) politburo member Mohammed Salim, one of the main architects of Congress-CPI(M) alliance on the day of results on May 19, had pointed fingers at Congress. "The Left voters extended their wholehearted support to the Congress, but I feel there remains a question mark over Congress votes coming to us," Salim had said. The Congress seems to have benefited from the alliance and bettered its vote percentage this time to 12.3, compared to 9.09 per cent in 2011, when it had contested in alliance with TMC. The Congress bagged 44 seats and will be the main opposition party in the assembly pushing the Left to the third spot. The Left Front allies Forward Bloc and RSP, who were against formation of alliance with Congress, blamed the CPI(M) and its "big brotherly" attitude for the rout. "There was a myth created by one of our Left Front partner that it is the people's demand to forge an alliance with the Congress. But actually it was not the people's demand. It was the demand of some of the leaders who just wanted to get back to power at any cost, even at the cost of ideology and principle. If you compromise with your ideology you will face crisis over your very existence," Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas told Lifting of international sanctions on Iran has opened up immense opportunities and India is looking to expand cooperation with the Persian Gulf nation in sectors such as trade, investment, infrastructure and energy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today. "India and Iran have always focused to add strength to our relations, even during the difficult times. In the current context, both countries can look to expand our cooperation in the fields of trade, technology, investment and infrastructure and energy security," he told Iran's IRNA agency ahead of his arrival here on a two-day visit. Stating that Indian public and private sector firms were keen on investing in Iran, he said the signing of agreement on development of Chabahar port will provide wider connectivity. "Lifting of the international sanctions against Iran has opened up immense opportunities for both the countries, especially in the economic sphere," Modi said, adding India is keen to enhance its investment in the Persian Gulf nation and also welcomes flow of capital and investments from the oil-rich nation. Modi, who will meet President Hassan Rouhani tomorrow for formal talks, said he had during their last meeting at Ufa last year indicated possibilities of cooperation in ports, fertiliser and petrochemical sector. "Energy is one of the most important dimensions of our bilateral economic cooperation. With Farzad-B, we have gone beyond the buyer-seller relationship to being genuine partners in the field of energy," he said. State-owned ONGC is in talks to secure development rights for the gas field it had discovered in 2008. It has already invested about USD 100 million in the gas field. Expressing satisfaction over the progress made so far on the participation of India in development of the Iranian port of Chabahar, he said: "I am happy that a progress has been made on Chabahar Port and also on wider connectivity initiative involving Chabahar. "Our public and private sectors are keen to invest in Iran. At the same time, we would also welcome the flow of capital and investments from Iran." Elaborating on the agenda for his meetings with top Iranian leadership, Modi said: "Iran is part of our extended neighbourhood, an important country in the region and one of the India's valuable partners. We are connected with each other by the shared history and civilisational ties. (REOPENS FGN 27) India has "shared interest" in peace, stability and prosperity of the region, Modi said, adding combating the menace of international terrorism and radical ideologies is a common challenge for both the countries. "Taking concrete steps for enhancing regional connectivity is one of the most important and promising dimensions of the growing cooperation between our two countries," Modi said. Apart from this, building a genuine energy partnership, cooperation in the infrastructure, ports, railway and petrochemicals sectors and developing age-old civilisational ties through people-to-people exchanges in the modern times will also be a priority, he elaborated. On the possible agreements to be signed during his stay in Iran, the Indian Prime Minister said: "Let us not prejudge the visit. But, we are confident that my visit would have concrete outcomes, including in the fields of energy, infrastructure, trade, investment and culture. "We are confident of turning a new leaf in the history of our relationship and, in months and years ahead, advance a new dimension in our comprehensive strategic partnership." Highlighting India's growing need for energy and Iran's potential to supply the same, Modi said: "India is a country with growing energy needs and Iran has the second largest gas reserves in the world. So, there is natural complementarity between our two countries." He further said both countries have been in constant touch with each other on Farzad-B gas field, which provides the perfect match between India's demand of energy and Iran's supply capacities. "We look forward to an early conclusion of the commercial discussions so that concrete cooperation could be operationalised at an early date," he said. On the Indian position on possibility of laying down a gas pipeline between Chabhar in Iran and Gujarat in India, Modi said: "Our government is excited at the possibilities that Chabahar has to offer for India, Iran and the entire region." Chabahar can be important to develop a network of regional connectivity. It can become a regional hub for transportation and trade as well as flow of energy resources, Modi noted. "I think Afghanistan also looks at the opportunities from development of Chabahar much in the same way," he added. The bilateral energy cooperation and its different elements are important for both India and Iran, Modi said. "At the present stage, when we are re-invigorating our bilateral economic cooperation with Iran, especially in the field of energy, all the feasible and reasonable modes of evacuation of gas would be explored with a view to advancing them suitably," he added. American aerospace and defence major Lockheed Martin is in talks with the Airports Authority of India for possible sale of a wind measuring system that could help the public sector airports operator handle greater traffic. It is also in talks with the Indian Meteorological Department for the same, industry sources said. Called the WindTracer light detection and ranging (LIDAR), it is a wind and aerosol measurement technology used worldwide to improve aviation safety and efficiency, aid in defence and security operations, measure wind resources, and perform meteorological research. Lockheed Martin and the AAI are looking at the possibility of using the system at the congested Mumbai airport, sources said. The two, however, could not be contacted for comments. "The technology can be used to accommodate more air traffic by providing more air space as currently the planes are kept at a wider distance during landing which leads to more time in air and wastage of time and fuel," the sources said. Severe weather conditions at airports, especially wind shear, present huge risks for aviation safety. Wind shear is a sudden change in wind speed and direction over a short distance and is hazardous due to its impact on aircraft control. Known to be the root cause of numerous accidents, what is required is concise information on sudden wind shifts that could affect aircraft handling on the approach or take-off path and is critical to air traffic safety. WindTracers have been applied in life-critical operations for over a decade to provide warning of hazardous winds in real-time for millions of flights worldwide and measure aircraft wakes for hundreds of thousands of flights in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. WindTracer was first deployed at Hong Kong International Airport in 2002, and now successfully operates at airports in Bangkok, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, London, Munich, New York City, Osaka, Paris, San Francisco, and Tokyo. Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao today called for making preservation of bio-diversity a "people's movement" and exhorted the youth to become stakeholders in efforts to preserve flora, fauna and other varieties of life. "Drastic climatic changes witnessed in the country are posing serious challenges like droughts and floods leading to loss of bio-diversity. Needless to say, India needs a comprehensive policy to tackle the global climatic change to protect the life and livelihood of our people and to protect bio-diversity," the Governor said. He was addressing a gathering organised by National Biodiversity Authority under Ministry of Environment to commemorate International Day for Biological Diversity. On the occasion, Rao underlined the need for a partnership among the governments, business organisations, agricultural research institutions, NGOs and farmers to meetchallenges of food security and also of preserving the biological diversity. "Time has come to make the bio-diversity preservation a people's movement. We are a nation with highest number of youths. We must make youths stakeholders in the effort to preserve our biodiversity. "I do feel that the International Day of Biological Diversity should be celebrated in villages, towns and cities, in village panchayats and in Municipal Corporations," he added. Rao said the Day should also be celebrated in all schools and colleges to sensitise the students about bio-diversity and the impending threats to it. "We must persuade the corporate sector to take up the conservation of biodiversity as part of their social responsibility obligation. "Empowering Gram Sabhas in the scheduled areas will go a long way in preserving biodiversity. We must provide incentives to Gram Panchayats preserving biodiversity and empowering communities," the Governor said. He said that as the chancellor of agricultural universities in Maharashtra, he would ask all vice-chancellors to take up the subject of biodiversity on top of their agenda. Legal proceedings in India against beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya have now come to haunt his US-based brewery firm, banking on a $1-million bridge loan promised by his holding firm for survival. Vijay Mallya, the companys chairman and indirect majority shareholder, is presently subject to certain legal proceedings in India, which may impair the companys ability to obtain financing from UBHL (United Breweries Holding Ltd) and other potential funding sources, California-based Mendocino Brewing Company Inc said. This is probably the first admission by the US-listed firm, struggling for funds and served default notices by lenders in the past, about the potential impact of Mallyas legal woes in India on its own fortune. If it fails to secure funds, Mendocino said, the lenders might take recourse against the applicable pledged collateral which includes the companys real and personal property in the US and the UK. In its latest quarterly filing with the US markets regulator Securities and Exchange Commission, Mendocino further said, The board of directors of UBHL during this quarter has approved debt financing to the company in the form of $1,000,000 of bridge loans. If UBHL does not consummate such debt financing, it would have a material adverse effect on the companys financial condition and the companys ability to continue to operate. The company disclosed that its total assets declined to $16 million as on March 31 lower than the total liabilities worth more than $18 million. In the quarter ended March 31, it recorded total sales of about $6.9 million, but suffered a net loss of $637,100. Mallya got a pay package of over Rs 1.7 crore in 2015 from this US-based company, more than half of which was paid by Mendocino to him for promoting the companys beer brands. Mallya serves as chairman of the board of directors of the company, which has an exclusive licence to brew and distribute Kingfisher Premium Lager in various countries. Besides, it produces and sells a number of craft beer brands. United Breweries Holdings Ltd (UBHL), the holding firm of Mallya-led UB Group, is the "indirect majority shareholder" of Mendocino Brewing Company (MBC). Mendocino's North American operations primarily consist of brewing and marketing proprietary craft beers. Its foreign operations are conducted through wholly-owned subsidiary United Breweries International UK Ltd (UBIK) and a step-down unit Kingfisher Beer Europe Ltd. The two largest shareholders of Mendocino are United Breweries America (UBA) and Inversiones, both of which are controlled by Rigby International Corp, a company registered in the British Virgin Island. Rigby, in turn, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UBHL. A man has been sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for possessing 600 grams heroin by a Delhi court which also imposed Rs one lakh fine on him. The court held Rajasthan native Harish Yadav guilty under provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, while rejecting his contention that he was falsely implicated by a friend who had taken Rs 50,000 loan from him. "It is not possible to believe that to save an amount of Rs 50,000, his friend or police staff will illegally plant 600 grams heroin on accused, market value of which is more than Rs 30-40 lakh," special NDPS judge Sahil Jain said. The court also observed that the contradictions in the prosecution testimonies were not proved. "There are contradictions in testimonies of prosecution witnesses regarding the manner of conducting investigation, but no detail contradiction, which can be considered as material or fatal to the case of the prosecution, has been proved or shown," it said. According to the prosecution, the accused was held with the heroin from Kashmere Gate here on March 21, 2014 after police laid a trap, acting on a tip off. The accused claimed he had been falsely implicated in the case at the instance of his friend who allegedly took a loan of Rs 50,000 from him. The court also said no complaint of false implication had been lodged by his family before any authority nor they have appeared as defence witness to prove the same. "In absence of any supporting evidence, defence evidence of the accused cannot be relied upon," the court said. Areas across the national capital, especially areas in North, South and East Delhi suffered outages today piling on the misery of people grappling with a tormenting heat wave. The power cuts, that lasted for up to six hours, occurred multiple times in areas such as CR Park, Okhla, Lodhi Colony, Jangpura Extension, Malviya Nagar, parts of Lajpat Nagar and South Extension and Dwarka. The outages happened despite relatively less power demand as compared to weekdays when it had breached the 6,000 MW. The State Load Despatch Centre recorded peak power load of 5,583 MW at 12 AM, indicating that power demand did not cross that figure through the day. Under mounting criticism over the spate of outages, the Delhi government had yesterday hit out at the discoms, saying the companies would be penalised and made to compensate consumers for unscheduled power cuts. "We have directed the DERC that if any area has unscheduled power cuts and it is not rectified in two hours then people of that area has to be compensated. This policy will be implemented soon so that their (discoms) accountability is fixed," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told reporters. The discoms have been called fora meeting with the Chief Minister on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today arrived in Iran on a two-day visit, which will see India and the Persian Gulf nation working on enhancing economic partnership that includes a possible deal on developing the strategic Chabahar port. "Reached Iran, a land with whom India shares civilisational ties. Hope to enhance economic partnership between our nations. I also hope my Iran visit further cements cultural and people-to-people ties between India and Iran," Modi tweeted. The first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Islamic nation in the last 15 years, Modi was received at the Mehrabad International Airport here by Iran's Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia, after which he left for a local Gurudwara to meet people of Indian origin here. Formal talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are scheduled for tomorrow morning after a ceremonial welcome for the Prime Minister. Rouhani will also host a lunch for him. Modi will also call on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well before his return. Ahead of his arrival, Modi in a series of tweets said, "Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority." "My meetings with President Rouhani and Hon'ble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership," the Prime Minister added. Besides signing a deal on development of Phase-1 of the Chabahar port, India is looking at doubling oil imports from the Persian Gulf nation, which a few years back was its second-biggest oil supplier, as well as making progress on getting rights to develop a giant gas field in the energy-rich country. India's Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari will also be present there for the signing of the agreement on Chabahar port. Post-sanctions Iran has seen a flurry of diplomatic and business activities with leaders from China to Korea courting Tehran. In the run-up to Modi's visit, Transport Minister Gadkari, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had visited Tehran. Stating that he looked forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar agreement during his visit, the Prime Minister said "India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region. Modi began his crucial two-day visit to the energy-rich nation by offering his obeisance at the Iran capital city's only functioning Gurdwara. He will also inaugurate an International Conference on 'retrospect and prospect' of India and Iran relations. "I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today & tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani," he added. In an interview to Iran's IRNA agency before his arrival here, Modi said the two countries have "always focused to add strength to our relations, even during the difficult times. In the current context, both countries can look to expand our cooperation in the fields of trade, technology, investment and infrastructure and energy security." Stating that India's public and private sector firms were keen on investing in Iran, he said the signing of agreement on development of Chabahar port will provide wider connectivity. Chabahar is a port in South-East Iran that will enable India to bypass Pakistan and open up a route to land-locked Afghanistan with which New Delhi has close security ties and economic interests. "Lifting of the international sanctions against Iran has opened up immense opportunities for both the countries, especially in the economic sphere," Modi said, adding India is keen to enhance its investment in the Persian Gulf nation and also welcomes flow of capital and investments from there. The energy sector, he said, was one of the most important dimensions of bilateral economic ties and with investment in development of Farzad-B gas field, the relationship would go beyond the buyer-seller dealings to being genuine partners. On impending meetings with Iranian leaders, Modi said: "Iran is part of our extended neighbourhood, an important nation in the region and one of India's valuable partners. "We are connected with each other by the shared history and civilisational ties. We have shared interest in peace, stability and prosperity of the region. Combating the menace of international terrorism and radical ideologies is a common challenge." He further said taking concrete steps for enhancing regional connectivity is one of the most important and promising dimensions of the ties between India and Iran. "Building a genuine energy partnership, cooperation in the infrastructure, ports, railway and petrochemicals sectors and developing the age-old civilisational ties through people-to-people exchanges in the modern times will also be a priority," Modi said. Looking to strengthen trade, investment and energy ties with Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today arrived here on a two-day visit, during which a crucial agreement is expected to be signed on developing the strategic Chabahar port. Modi, who is the first Indian Prime Minister having visited Iran in the last 15 years, was received at the Mehrabad International Airport by Iran's Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia, after which he left for a local Gurudwara to meet people of Indian origin here. Formal talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are scheduled for tomorrow morning after a ceremonial welcome for the Prime Minister. Rouhani will also host a lunch for him. Modi will also call on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well before his return. Ahead of his arrival, Modi in a series of tweets said, "Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority." "My meetings with President Rouhani and Hon'ble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership," the Prime Minister added. Besides signing a deal on development of Phase-1 of the Chabahar port, India is looking at doubling oil imports from the Persian Gulf nation, which a few years back was its second-biggest oil supplier, as well as making progress on getting rights to develop a giant gas field in the energy-rich country. India's Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari will also be present there for the signing of the agreement on Chabahar port. Post-sanctions Iran has seen a flurry of diplomatic and business activities with leaders from China to Korea courting Tehran. In the run-up to Modi's visit, Transport Minister Gadkari, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had visited Tehran. Stating that he looked forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar agreement during his visit, the Prime Minister said "India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region. Besides visiting Gurudwara, he will also inaugurate an International Conference on 'retrospect and prospect' of India and Iran relations. "I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today & tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani," he added. In an interview to Iran's IRNA news agency before of his arrival here, Modi said the two countries have "always focused to add strength to our relations, even during the difficult times. In the current context, both countries can look to expand our cooperation in the fields of trade, technology, investment and infrastructure and energy security." Stating that India's public and private sector firms were keen on investing in Iran, he said the signing of agreement on development of Chabahar port will provide wider connectivity. Chabahar is a port in South-East Iran that will enable India to bypass Pakistan and open up a route to land-locked Afghanistan with which New Delhi has close security ties and economic interests. "Lifting of the international sanctions against Iran has opened up immense opportunities for both the countries, especially in the economic sphere," Modi said, adding India is keen to enhance its investment in the Persian Gulf nation and also welcomes flow of capital and investments from there. The energy sector, he said, was one of the most important dimensions of bilateral economic ties and with investment in development of Farzad-B gas field, the relationship would go beyond the buyer-seller dealings to being genuine partners. On impending meetings with Iranian leaders, Modi said: "Iran is part of our extended neighbourhood, an important nation in the region and one of India's valuable partners. "We are connected with each other by the shared history and civilisational ties. We have shared interest in peace, stability and prosperity of the region. Combating the menace of international terrorism and radical ideologies is a common challenge." He further said taking concrete steps for enhancing regional connectivity is one of the most important and promising dimensions of the ties between India and Iran. "Building a genuine energy partnership, cooperation in the infrastructure, ports, railway and petrochemicals sectors and developing the age-old civilisational ties through people-to-people exchanges in the modern times will also be a priority," Modi said. Invoking India's "civilisational ties" with Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew in here today on a two-day visit, saying his talks with the Iranian leadership would provide him an opportunity to advance the "strategic partnership" between the two countries. On the first day of his visit that is expected to strengthen trade, investment and energy ties with Iran, Modi began his engagements paying obeisance to the capital city's only functioning gurudwara. Modi's formal talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are scheduled for tomorrow morning after a ceremonial welcome for him. Rouhani will also host a lunch for the Indian Premier. He will also call on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei before his return home. Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to travel to Iran in 15 years on a bilateral visit after Atal Bihari Vajpayee, offered obeisance at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara and also spoke to the head priest. He applauded the efforts of the Sikh community in the Persian Gulf nation for preserving and spreading the culture and tradition of India. "We accept all the people as our own and absorb them in our society because we believe in the philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' -- the entire world is one family. Animated by this spirit, we Indians make every country our home," Modi told the gathering at the gurudwara. In 2012, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a visit here to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit could not visit the gurudwara, but his wife Gursharan Kaur paid her respects there. After landing in Tehran, Modi tweeted, "Reached Iran, a land with whom India shares civilisational ties. Hope to enhance economic partnership between our nations. I also hope my Iran visit further cements cultural and people-to-people ties between India and Iran." Ahead of his arrival, Modi in a series of tweets said, "Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority." "My meetings with President Rouhani and Hon'ble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership," the Prime Minister added. Modi's visit is expected to see India and the Persian Gulf nation working on enhancing economic partnership that includes a possible deal on developing the strategic Chabahar port. Modi was received at the Mehrabad International Airport here by Iran's Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today began his crucial two-day visit to Iran with a visit to the capital city's only functioning gurudwara. Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Iran in 15 years, offered his obeisance at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara and spoke to the head priest. He applauded the efforts of the Sikh community in the Persian Gulf nation for preserving and spreading the culture and tradition of India. "My Iran visit is starting with the blessings before the Guru Granth Sahib at this gurudwara. I am fortunate. I greet you all for having worked on spreading our culture and tradition as well as educating our young generation here. "We accept all the people as our own and absorb them in our society because we believe in the philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' -- the entire world is one family. Animated by this spirit, we Indians make every country our home," Modi said. Addressing the community here, the Indian Prime Minister further said: "We are fortunate to have got an opportunity to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. The government is planning to celebrate this occasion in India and other parts of the world." He stressed that the young generation should know about the sacrifices of the great Gurus and also learn from the central tenets of the Guru Granth Sahib. "I have noted several suggestions that have come from your community. I have considered them and I believe that solutions need to be explored through talks. And we will continue this exercise. Let us all work together to serve humanity," he added. Earlier just after reaching Tehran, Modi tweeted, "Reached Iran, a land with whom India shares civilisational ties. Hope to enhance economic partnership between our nations. I also hope my Iran visit further cements cultural and people-to-people ties between India and Iran. The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a visit here to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in 2012 could not visit the gurudwara, but his wife Gursharan Kaur paid her respects there. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan during his visit to Iran last month also visited the gurudwara. The gurudwara in Tehran's Mesjed Henidyah was founded in 1941 by Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Teheran. There are about 800 Sikh families in Tehran, mostly traders who had moved in early 20th century from Punjab. Most of the visiting dignitaries from India - from the then Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar in 2005 to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj - have all visited the gurudwara on their visits to Tehran. A Christian priest and his two women associates were arrested by police today after a man accused them of "forcibly converting" him and two others by offering them job and money. "We have arrested them under section 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of IPC and (section) 3/4 of Religious Conversion Act," said Kotar police station In-charge, Mahendra Jagat. The trio was produced before a local court which sent them to judicial custody after rejecting their bail applications. They have been identified as A B Anthony, the priest attached to Aber Church under Kotar police station area, and his women assistants P Anthony and Prabha Anthony. The complainant, Prashant Gupta stated the trio had invited him and his two associates-- Rambhan Adivasi and Hemraj Verma--to Aber Church where he was offered job and money. "I was in touch with the priest A B Anthony for quite some time and he had offered me and my two friends job at the church and money. Later, he forced me to embrace Christianity," Gupta alleged. Gupta said he got angry as the priest started "abusing" the country. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Backward Class Commission member, Laxmi Yadav said, "Such incidents are on the rise in the region and police should take tough stand in such issues". Recently, police and Bajrang Dal activists had entered a church in Kogavan area here and stopped the wedding of a minor girl and a boy who had allegedly converted to Christianity four years ago. Police had said that the couple did not inform them about their conversion which is mandatory under law. Amid concerns over possible misuse of always-in-controversy PNotes, mutual funds have emerged as the top users of these offshore instruments for investing in Indian markets with a share of over 60 per cent. Besides, just ten foreign portfolio investors account for almost 73 per cent of total outstanding investments worth over Rs 2.2 lakh crore through the Offshore Derivative Instruments -- commonly known in India as Participatory Notes or PNotes. These FPIs include Singapore and Mauritius-based arms of global giants like Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, HSBC, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and JP Morgan. Markets regulator Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has decided to tighten the due-diligence norms for issuance and transfer of ODIs after concerns were raised by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investment Team (SIT) on Black Money about the possible misuse of these instruments for laundering of black money or round tripping of funds. While foreign investors can register themselves as FPIs to invest directly in India, ODIs are typically market-access instruments preferred by those looking to save on time and operational costs involved with a direct registration. Sebi rules allow certain classes of FPIs to issue ODIs after a proper due-diligence process that has been further tightened now to address the concerns raised by the SIT. The regulator has also collected information for the SIT from the ODI issuers about the number of ODI subscribers in various categories along with their outstanding investment. Out of a total of nearly 2,500 entities that are subscribing to ODIs, nearly 1,500 (over 60 per cent) are mutual funds and about 300 others are 'companies'. Other ODI users included over 50 'Trusts', nearly 100 banks, over 50 sovereign wealth funds, over 200 hedge funds and 60 pension funds. There are also some university funds, endowment funds and charitable societies or foundations. The ODI issuers informed Sebi that they do not issue these instruments to individuals at all. According to Sebi, there are 37 FPIs which are issuing ODIs and these include "global banks and securities houses which issue ODIs all over the world and have well established infrastructure -- both physical and technological -- and documentation programmes in place which are used for global jurisdictions and offer their services in markets globally". An analysis of reports filed by the ODI issuers with Sebi further showed that the top-ten locations where end beneficial owner of FDIs was located together accounted for nearly 93 per cent of total outstanding ODIs. Top on the list is Cayman Islands (over 41 per cent), followed by Mauritius, the UK and the US with nearly 11 per cent share each in the total outstanding ODIs. Also in the top-ten locations were Ireland, France, Luxembourg, Singapore, British Virgin Islands and South Korea with 1-6 per cent share each. Police have busted a criminal gang led by a Delhi-based Nigerian man which cheated gullible Naga women of over Rs 35 lakh by falsely promising cheap i-phones and prize money for winning lotteries. The racket was recently busted by Nagaland police with the help of their Delhi counterparts after a number of women filed multiple complaints at a police station in Dimapur about having been defrauded of their hard-earned money by a "foreigner" who contacted them over the internet, willing to sell them high-end electronic gadgets at a cheap rates and promising them prize money for lotteries they were told they had won. Investigators claim, while probing the case, they came across a smart modus operandi as part of which the gang used multiple bank accounts "sold" by locals to the Nigerian. He used to ask his victims to deposit the money in these accounts to claim the prize and later withdrew it from various ATMs. A Nagaland police team, which recently travelled to Delhi to go deeper into the case and arrest the kingpin identified as C Nwaneri (34), has filed at least three FIRs and found so far these women have been duped of over Rs 35 lakh. Nwaneri was assisted in the crime by three locals, including a chef working at an eatery in a popular Delhi Mall, all of whom "sold" their accounts to the foreigner for Rs 22-25 thousands. "We have seized 42 SIM cards, nine ATM cards, six phones, five bank passbooks and a laptop after searches were carried out at the residence of Nwaneri who lives in Bawana area of Delhi. It looks to be gang operating to dupe people, especially innocent women from Nagaland, with the help of multiple people from places like Delhi and nearby areas," Investigating Officer (IO) of the case and IPS probationer Dinesh Gupta said. Gupta said since the initial part of the case was cracked, more women from Nagaland have come forward to complain about having been cheated the same way. "The investigation is taking us to many cities in the country and is building up," he said. All the women victims, officials said, were allegedly befriended by the Nigerian and his associates over social media posing as foreigners from a western country seeking "friendship" with them using names like 'John Smith' and others and fake profile photos. Officials said after a laptop belonging to the Nigerian was "cracked open" to obtain information, they were shocked to find over 500 emails of individuals from various parts of the country and fake copies of official logos of the RBI, Income Tax department, banks and international bodies like UN and others being allegedly used by the gang to send luring "prize winning" emails, posing as official agencies. "Interestingly, these con incidents were being reported from major urban centres till now, but getting such complaints from women in far off Nagaland is surprising," they said, adding a "daily check book" was also recovered from the laptop where the kingpin had marked the activity against each person he tried to con. "In some cases, it was written that the con email has been sent to the person but no response received, while against some names it was indicated that the person has agreed and will deposit the money sought in the given bank account and has to be collected now," they said. Investigators said Nagaland police have collected CCTV footages from various ATMs from where the Nigerian used to withdraw the money which were deposited in the accounts that he had purchased from locals. Police have slapped charges under various IPC sections like 420 (cheating), 419 (impersonation), 422 (dishonestly or fraudulently preventing debt being available for creditors), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC and provisions of the Information Technology Act. To expand its overseas operations, state-run construction firm NBCC plans to enter Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan markets and is looking for partners to form joint ventures. National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) forayed into overseas markets in 1977, and started executing projects of diverse nature in Libya, Iraq, Yemen, Nepal, Maldives, Mauritius, Turkey and Botswana. Presently, the company has its presence in Maldives, Turkey and Botswana implementing various projects and earning consistent revenue. "We are looking to expand our business operations offshore and have prepared plans to establish joint ventures in two countries namely Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan," NBCC Managing Director Anoop Mittal told PTI. The company is also planning to bid for two projects in Oman through its office in the Gulf nation, Mittal added. NBCC had signed an MoU with Al Naba Services LLC in Oman in order to jointly explore and secure infrastructure projects there and other neighbouring countries. The PSU had secured orders worth Rs 17,516 crore in the last fiscal including some big ticket order projects for redevelopment of ITPO exhibition venue at Pragati Maidan, and AIIMS. The company is aiming to secure orders worth Rs 30,000 crore in the current fiscal to take its outstanding order book to around Rs 65,000 crore by the end of 2016-17. NBCC, a Navratna enterprise under the administrative control of Ministry of Urban Development, has three main segments -- Project Management Consultancy (PMC), Real Estate Development and EPC Contracting. NCERT will place before its Textbook Development Committee a proposal to include tea as a chapter in its textbooks following a request by the North East Tea Association (NETA) in this regard. NETA had appealed to the Union Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Zubin Irani to include a chapter on Tea and its role in the economy and society in the school textbooks, its advisor Bidyanand Barkakoty said. In its reply, NCERT had said in a letter the National Education Policy was in the process of being formulated and as a follow-up, curriculum framework and other teaching learning materials would be developed. This would be placed before the Textbook Development Committee during revision of textbooks, the letter said. Contents related to tea have been already included at relevant places in all geography textbooks from Class VI to Class VIII, it said. Tea is an important crop in the country and keeping this in view, geographic conditions for its cultivation and tea leaves harvesting by women have been illustrated through textbooks. Distribution of tea areas in the country has also been shown through maps, the letter added. Barkakoty in his letter to Irani said India was the largest producer and the largest consumer of black tea in the world, growing about 25 per cent of the world's total tea. The 109-year old tea industry is one of the largest employers in the organised sector in the country with 50 per cent of workers being women. Hence Indian tea industry is the single largest employer of women. Eighty three per cent households in India consume tea and the penetration of tea in Indian household is in the range of 96 to 99 per cent in both urban and rural areas, he said. In Assam tea is not just a product or commodity, it is a culture steeped in history and replete with highlights of development and contribution to economic growth and social progress, Jorhat MP Kamakhya Prasad Tassa said in another letter to Irani. He said it was justified to have a chapter on tea in school curriculum as the industry is agro-based and labour oriented providing direct employment to over one million people. An additional 10 million people derive their livelihood through its forward and backward linkages. Tea is also the cheapest drink in the world, next only to water and is the most widely consumed beverage across the length and breadth of the nation, he said. Besides, tea is the only beverage in India which has its roots in India's freedom struggle. The first Indian tea planter Maniram Dewan was hanged by the British for his involvement in the 1857 Mutiny, Tassa added. Facing acute financial hardship, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has decided to hand over its half a dozen swimming pools to private hands, besides raising the user charges in the range of Rs 100 to Rs 300. The decision to hand over the six swimming pools of the civic body located at Kutcha Bagh (Chandni Chowk), Shalimar Bagh, Prashant Vihar, Rohini Sector III, Majlis Park and Keshav Puram, on a monthly licence fee to outside agency selected through e-auction, was taken at a recent meeting of NDMC standing committee, said a senior municipal corporation officer. The committee also approved the fee structure to be adopted by the selected private agency. The revised rates for municipal, government and aided school children will be Rs 300 instead of the existing Rs 200. User charges for private school children have been raised from Rs 300 to Rs 500, for employees of municipal corporation or their children from Rs 300 to Rs 500, and all other users from Rs 500 to Rs 800, said the official. The civic body took the decision owing to the acute financial scarcity faced by it. Last year (2014-15) the swimming pools earned a revenue of Rs 13.31 lakh, while Rs 9.57 lakh was spent on their repair and maintenance. Work for repair and maintenance of the pools could not be undertaken due to severe financial constraints faced by the civic body in the current year, he said. The licence granted to the selected private agency will be for a period of three years and it could be renewed by the NDMC for one year more upon satisfactory performance. The NDMC has fixed a minimum reserved monthly licence fee of Rs 75,000 for each of the six swimming pools. The selected bidder will have to submit a security deposit totalling six months' licence fee within ten days from the date of issue of the acceptance letter by the civic body, he said. Rapper Nicki Minaj tried to go incognito as she cheered on her niece at her high school play in New York. The 33-year-old "Starships" hitmaker covered up in a hooded top and oversized sunglasses as she supported her young relative, Kellise, likely to avoid drawing attention away from the school theatre group. Minaj later took to Instagram to gush about her niece, as she shared a photo of the pair online. "My epic niece, Kellise did such an amazing job @ her school play today," she captioned the image. "S/O (shout out) to all the students @ #JohnAdamsHS in QUEENS. I wish more HS (high school) students spent time doing things like this. A Nigerian national was arrested from north Goa for allegedly carrying 'ganja', police said today. Anti Narcotic Cell of Goa police apprehended Chika Onyeawasi near Calangute beach for possessing 30 grams of ganja (cannabis) worth Rs 1,500 on Friday evening, they said. The accused was booked under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, added police. India's flagship explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is facing a repeat of the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin fiasco in Iran, as lengthy negotiations on terms may drive it to a point where its discovered gas reserves in Farzad-B field in the Persian Gulf may be drawn out by neighbouring Saudi Arabia. State-owned alleges that 11.12 billion cubic meters of natural gas worth Rs 11,055 crore has flowed from its idling KG basin blocks in Bay of Bengal blocks to neighbouring KG-D6 fields of Reliance Industries. The same is now on the verge of repeating in the Farzad-B field, which it had discovered in 2008 but no contract to exploit the 12.5 trillion cubic feet of recoverable reserves has so far been concluded with Iran. Sources said a portion of Farzad-B field extends into territorial waters controlled by Iran's regional arch-rival Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has already drilled wells on the area falling in its territory, which it has named Hasbah field, and has begun production. The two fields are connected, with the area falling in Iranian territory holding larger share of 12.5 Tcf of recoverable reserves while the Saudi territory has only 3 Tcf or so. But the two fields are connected and whosoever is able to move first would extract more benefits. Sources said in the dispute with RIL, is claiming compensation for its gas flowing through under-sea connected reservoir to KG-D6 and the government has constituted a one-man committee to look into the issue and suggest compensation. But such a thing may not be possible for Farzad-B as rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran may prevent from arriving at any internationally recognised practice of splitting the spoils in conjoined fields. It was expected that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Tehran today and tomorrow may see finalising of a contract, giving developmental rights of Farzad-B field to Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of the state explorer. But Iran is yet to agree to USD 4.3 billion master development plan submitted by OVL. Also, it is yet to agree on the price at which OVL can take all of the gas produced from the field, they said adding that no definitive contract for the development of the field would be signed during Modis visit. Previously, Iran was to pay OVL a fixed fee for its effort for discovering and producing gas from Farzad-B field. The gas ownership was to be with Iran and so Tehran was pushing for a low price of gas. But now a new modified contract is being talked about which will part ownership of the gas produced to OVL. And so naturally, Iran is now seeking a higher gas price, they said. Once investment in the field and the gas price are frozen, possibly by August-end, an agreement confirming development rights on OVL will be signed. But after that negotiations on the terms of the contracts - fixed fee or ownership of gas as well as marketing of the fuel, will begin, sources said adding the entire process may take one year time. Also, Iranian Parliament, Majlis is yet to approve new Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) under which the Farzad-B field is to be given to the OVL-led consortium. IPC ends two-decade old buyback system that prevented foreign from booking reserves or taking equity stakes in Iranian . Under some circumstances, the new model allows reserves to be booked, but foreign would still not own oil fields. While previously foreign firms were paid a fixed fee for discovering and bringing to production an oil and gas field, the new model raises their profit by grading the fee based on the risk of the fields, allows contracts to last for up to 25 years and no ceiling on capital expenditure. Foreign firms are to be paid a fee per barrel and they will also be entitled to an increase in profits in the face of dramatic oil price fluctuations. Back home, ONGC believes the KT-1/D-1 gas find in its Krishna Godavari block KG-DWN-98/2 (KG-D5) and G-4 Pliocene gas find in Godavari Block extend outside the block boundaries into KG-D6. According to ONGC, RIL's D6-A5, D6-A9 and D6-A13 wells drilled close to the block boundary may be draining gas from the G-4 field while the D6-B8 well may be sucking out gas from DWN-D-1 field of KG-DWN-98/2 block. RIL has denied allegations saying RIL it has "scrupulously followed every aspect of the production sharing contract and has confined its petroleum operations within the (boundaries of its) KG-D6 block" in Krishna Godavari basin. Only one in eight of the nearly 400 British Muslim terror suspects, who travelled to Syria and Iraq and returned to the UK, have been prosecuted, according to official figures. UK Home Office data shows that only 54 fighters from the UK suspected of having fought in Syria and Iraq have been convicted of anoffence, 'The Sunday Telegraph' reports. Security services estimate that since 2012, 400 British Muslims who have joined terrorist groups such as Islamic State (ISIS) and Al Qaeda have returned to the UK. Experts on the conflict told the newspaper the number who have returned could be as high as 800 to 1,000. Some are known to have faked their own deaths and slipped back into Britain using new identities. The figures of returning terror suspects were disclosed by Lord Keen of Elie, a Home Office spokesperson in the House of Lords, who made public the number of prosecutions in response to a parliamentary question. He said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was also in the process of prosecuting a further 13 cases involving 30 defendants. The Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland is also dealing with one Syria-related prosecution. Prof Anthony Glees, head of the University of Buckingham's Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, said: "The hundreds of British citizens who have gone to Syria are highly dangerous. The fact so few are being prosecuted when they return is clearly very unsatisfactory and will be very alarming to many people. "We need to know why so many haven't been prosecuted. It suggests to me that they have simply gone off the radar while our security services try to play catch-up." However, some returning suspects have also received stiff sentences. In February, a mother who took her toddler son to Syria to become an ISIS terrorist was jailed for six years. In 2014, two British men who went to Syria to join an Al Qaeda-linked terror group were jailed for nearly 13 years. A Home Office spokesperson said: "Everyone who returns from Syria or Iraq can expect to be subject to investigation to determine if they pose a threat and they should be in no doubt we will take the strongest possible action to protect our national security. "We have a wide range of powers at our disposal to disrupt travel to conflict zones and manage the risk posed by returnees. A 35-year-old woman, who lost her eyes in an acid attack, has been gangraped by three men in Pakistan's Punjab province, police said today. The woman, a resident of Layyah district in the province, had lost her eye sight in the attack in 2001 when her relative threw acid on her face for refusing to develop relations with him. A senior police official said that her neighbour Khalid came to her house and said she would have to go along with him to his friend's house to collect wheat for her. "He took her to his friend's house where he along with his accomplices - Khalid and Sultan - ganged raped her and left her at a deserted place," the official said. Some passers-by spotted her lying unconsciously and shifted her to hospital where doctors confirmed rape. A case has been registered against the accused. Police also claimed to have arrested the three accused. Pakistan today hit out at the US for launching a drone strike on its soil to kill Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour, describing it as a "violation of its sovereignty". Mansour was killed in a rare US drone strike deep inside Pakistan. Mansour and another militant were targeted in a precision air strike by multiple unmanned drones operated by US Special Operations forces yesterday as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near Ahmad Wal town in the restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border. Reacting to the news, Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement that the US had shared information that a drone strike was carried out in Pakistan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area, in which reportedly the Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhter Mansoor was targeted. "This information was shared with the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff after the drone strike. "While further investigations are being carried out, Pakistan wishes to once again state that the drone attack was a violation of its sovereignty, an issue which has been raised with the United States in the past as well," it said. According to the information gathered so far, a person named Wali Muhammad S/o Shah Muhammad carrying a Pakistani passport and an I D Card, resident of Qilla Abdullah, entered Pakistan from Taftan border on May 21. His passport was bearing a valid Iranian visa. He was travelling on a vehicle hired from a transport company in Taftan. This vehicle was found destroyed at Kochaki along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the Foreign Office said. The driver has been identified as Muhammad Azam. "The identity of the second body is being verified on the basis of evidence found at the site of the incident and other relevant information," it said. "It may be recalled that the fifth meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) held on May 18 had reiterated that a politically negotiated settlement was the only viable option for lasting peace in Afghanistan and called upon the Taliban to give up violence and join peace talks," it said. Mansour assumed the leadership in July 2015, replacing Taliban founder and the one-eyed reclusive long-time spiritual head Mullah Mohammad Omar, who died in Pakistan in 2013. Pakistan was "seeking clarification" about the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour, after American officials said the Afghan Taliban chief was killed in a rare US drone strike inside the country. Reacting to reports about Mansour's death, Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said, "I have seen the reports. We are seeking clarification." In what could be a body blow to the insurgents, US officials said Mansour was "likely killed" in a rare US drone strike inside the Pakistani territory in a mission authorised by President Barack Obama. Mansour's death, if confirmed, could further sink prospects of any immediate direct peace talks between the Taliban and the quadrilateral group of Pakistan, the US, Aghanistan and China. It could also spark a new succession battle within the fractious militant group. The drone strikes come days after the US, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan held another round of talks in Islamabad aimed at reviving the long-stalled direct peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. The Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman repeated the country's stance that it was making efforts to bring Taliban back to the negotiating table. Zakaria, however, said "military action is not a solution." According to Pakistani officials, a drone strike took place in remote Noshki area of Balochistan province near the country's border with Afghanistan yesterday. "The strike targeted a car and killed its two occupants," a senior local civilian official said. He said one dead body was completely burnt while the other was intact. "Both the bodies were shifted for further examination," he said on the condition of anonymity. Pakistan security officials have not commented on the incident so far. Taliban in their initial reaction rejected the killing of their leader, saying that their leader was still alive. Earlier, Secretary Kerry said he notified Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by telephone about the drone strike. Born in the 1960s, Mansour was appointed head of the Taliban in July last year following the revelation that the group's founder Mullah Omar had been dead for two years. A student of a prestigious university in Pakistan has been expelled for sending "indecent phone messages" and "obscene pictures" to a female student after she refused his friendship proposal. This is the first incident from Punjab University, the largest university of public sector in the province, that such an action has been taken on a complaint of a female student. "Zarq Tanvir, a student of physical education department of the PU (Punjab University), has confessed to sending indecent phone messages to her class fellow. A disciplinary committee expelled him after listening to him and the female student," PU spokesman Khurram Shahzad said. He said the university has zero-tolerance over such acts. "Tanvir's apology is not accepted by the administration as it wants to give a strong message to students not to indulge in immoral activities," Shahzad said. Tanvir filed a petition in the Lahore High Court a couple of days ago requesting it to order the PU administration to take back his expulsion decision. The petitioner claimed the complainant and her family had pardoned him but the university was not ending his punishment. He said his academic career would suffer irreparable loss if he was not allowed to resume the semester. Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza dismissed the petition, observing that the students involved in "immoral activities" did not deserve any relief. "The PU has rightly expelled the student in question as the students involved in immoral activities deserve no relief from any quarter," the judge said. A source in the PU said Tanvir liked the girl student and wanted to develop friendship with her. "When she refused to be his friend, he started teasing him by sending indecent messages. She filed an application with the PU administration when he crossed the limit and started sending obscene pictures and clips," the source added. BSF personnel today apprehended a Pakistan national while he was allegedly trying to cross over to the Indian side along Indo-Pak International Border near Kanshi Barwan Border Outpost (BOP) of Bamial Sector in Pathankot district. The person has been identified as Mohammad Shah, a resident of Manyal in Pakistan's Punjab province, said R K Bhatian Commandant of 132nd BSF Battalion. A live cartridge of 9MM pistol, Rs 2,349 in Pakistani currency, passbook of Pakistan Bank, an AC remote and a watch were recovered from his possession, the BSF official said. During preliminary investigation, Shah said he crossed the International Border inadvertently. Investigation is on, Bhatian added. As government looks to widen social security cover in India, regulator PFRDA is readying a media blitzkrieg and has decided to rope in a PR agency to increase visibility and public awareness of such products. The public agency, the Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) said, will design and execute an ongoing programme for one year "to ensure media visibility through a high-impact communication strategy and proactively organising national and regional media relation programmes". Currently, 1.30 crore subscribers are registered under various schemes under the National System (NPS) regulated by PFRDA, with the total assets under management (AUM) in excess of Rs 1.20 lakh crore. Keen to spread awareness and increase subscriber base, the regulator plans to train 75,000 people who will form a "totally committed" workforce for implementation of the NPS. In its request for proposal, PFRDA said the objective of the PR strategy will be to increase awareness and disseminate information about various policies, activities and schemes to promote old-age income security. "Keep the media abreast of all important developments related to PFRDA and its activities. The PR agency will proactively identify appropriate media opportunities to highlight business developments and announcements," the RFP said. The selected agency will also have to monitor and report on conversations around PFRDA and its schemes and activities on social media channels and "advise appropriate action". "Setting up and updating of pages/blogs etc on social media vehicles (such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube etc) and managing promotion of NPS and other schemes on these platforms (are part of the profile).," the RFP added. As government looks to widen social security cover in India, pension regulator PFRDA has decided to rope in a PR agency to increase visibility and public awareness about such products. The public agency, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) said, will design and execute an ongoing programme for one year "to ensure media visibility through a high-impact communication strategy and proactively organising national and regional media relation programmes". Currently, 1.30 crore subscribers are registered under various schemes under the National Pension System (NPS) regulated by PFRDA, with the total assets under management (AUM) in excess of Rs 1.20 lakh crore. Keen to spread awareness and increase subscriber base, the regulator plans to train 75,000 people who will form a "totally committed" workforce for implementation of the NPS. In its request for proposal, PFRDA said the objective of the PR strategy will be to increase awareness and disseminate information about various policies, activities and schemes to promote old-age income security. "Keep the media abreast of all important developments related to PFRDA and its activities. The PR agency will proactively identify appropriate media opportunities to highlight business developments and announcements," the RFP said. The selected agency will also have to monitor and report on conversations around PFRDA and its schemes and activities on social media channels and "advise appropriate action". "Setting up and updating of pages/blogs etc on social media vehicles (such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube etc) and managing promotion of NPS and other schemes on these platforms (are part of the profile).," the RFP added. Philippine soap star Jaclyn Jose won best actress at the Cannes film festival today for her mesmerising performance as a slum matriarch who falls prey to corrupt police. A huge star in her homeland, she said she had to forget everything she learned in her 30 years in the business for the role as a sweetshop owner and small-time drug dealer in "Ma' Rosa". "The biggest challenge for me was not to act. Especially since I am coming from television shows where I play loud and campy characters," she told reporters. The 52-year-old said she had to "tone everything down to zero" -- for the stark, realistic portrait of a woman fighting to do the best for her family in director Brillante Mendoza's gritty film. It is a dramatic change from her regular job, playing a spoilt, rich woman in the popular Philippine TV soap opera, "The Millionaire's Wife". Variety magazine praised Jose for the "naturalistic grace" of her film performance, playing the matriarch of a family struggling to survive amid squalor. The daughter of a Filipina mother and a largely absent American serviceman father, Jose first became famous in Philippine showbiz circles for her ethereal beauty. But she has proved to be a versatile and hard-working actress, starring in dramas, comedies, horror stories, romances as well as television soap operas. She has won numerous acting awards in her native country and worked with its most prestigious filmmakers. But it is her relationship with "Ma 'Rosa" director Mendoza -- a friend for over three decades -- which has brought her into the international limelight. She appeared in Mendoza's first movie "The Masseur" 11 years ago and also his drama "Serbis", which competed in Cannes in 2008. The minority community of Pallipatti panchayat in Arvakurichi Assembly constituency, where polling has been deferred to June 13 along with Thanjavur, has urged the Election Commission not to hold the polls on the date during Ramzan. "If the election is held between June 6-July 6 (Ramzan month), Muslims will not be able to stand in queue and exercise their franchise," secretary of the Jamath of Pallipatti panchayat, Mohamed Ali told reporters. He said there were about 26,000 members of the community in Pallipatti, besides 8,000 in seven nearby villages. Political parties in the fray have also deployed community members as booth agents and they would not be able to perform their duties, he said. Ali said local Ulemas were also against holding the poll on that date and added that they had sent a representation to the Chief Electoral Officer and election officer to consider their request. The polling for Aravakurichi and Thanjavur, earlier scheduled to be held on May 16 with other constituencies in the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, was deferred to May 23 due to charges of rampant bribing of voters by candidates and political parties. Later the polling date was postponed to June 13. Yesterday, Madras High Court had directed EC to take a decision on the polling date for the two assembly segments by May 27. Linking the intense heatwave and drought to environmental degradation, Prime Minister today made a strong pitch for a mass movement to save forests and conserve "every drop" of water during the upcoming Monsoon season. Modi, who has been reviewing drought situation with Chief Ministers recently, said a number of states have taken some good initiatives towards water conservation and that he had asked Niti Aayog to study the best practices for their replication all over the country. In his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat', he also talked about some other issues, like the need for moving towards cashless society for transparency and curbing blackmoney. During the 30-minute broadcast, the Prime Minister also urged the countrymen to practice Yoga for illness-free life and informed that on the International Yoga Day on June 21, he would join a programme in Chandigarh. Referring to the intense heatwave being witnessed in the country, he said concerns increased few days back when news came in that Monsoon could be delayed by a week beyond June 1. "Most parts of the country are experiencing intense heatwave. Be it humans, birds or animals, all are troubled. It is only because of environment that such problems continue to increase. Depletion of forests has been going on, trees continue to be cut. In a way, the humankind itself destroyed the environment and put itself on the path of destruction," he said. He mentioned the recent cases of fire in forests of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and said the root cause of such incidents is that there are dry leaves and little carelessness. "That is why, saving forests and conserving water becomes everybody's responsibility," Modi said while underlining the need for saving "every drop" of water, which he described as "God's 'prasad'". "I urge the countrymen, let us decide that we will not let even a drop of water go waste during June, July, August and September (comprising Monsoon season)... The issue of water concerns not only the farmers but everybody... The rainy (Monsoon) season is coming.. Start the preparations now to see where to save water," he said. "I urge you. Do not let this (Monsoon) season go. In the coming four months, a mass movement in the form of 'Save Water Abhiyan' is needed to save every drop of water. And this task is not only of the governments or politicians but that of the common masses," he said, seeking contribution from the media too in this endeavour. Austrians began voting today in a key presidential runoff which could usher in the European Union's first extreme right-wing leader amid the continent's worst migrant crisis since World War II. The vote pits 45-year-old Norbert Hofer of the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPOe) against the Green-backed economics professor Alexander van der Bellen, 72. A year of rising concerns about the migrant crisis and growing unemployment has left Austria deeply polarised and driven disgruntled voters away from traditional parties toward fringe groups. In last month's first round, Hofer -- a gun enthusiast left partially disabled after a paragliding accident -- comfortably beat his rival by 35 per cent to 21 per cent. Leaning on his trademark cane, the far-right hopeful was confident of victory in his final public address Friday. "I will be your new president, a patron for Austria," he told a jubilant crowd at the Viktor-Adler square in Vienna's Favoriten district, an FPOe stronghold. Hofer's win would also pave the way for the FPOe to head the next government after parliamentary elections, scheduled for 2018. Polling stations opened at 0500 GMT and the first results are expected at 1500 GMT. Final results will be announced tomorrow after postal votes have been counted. They could prove to be a tie-breaker in the race, with close to 900,000 people -- or a record 14 per cent of Austria's 6.4 million eligible voters -- casting their ballot by mail this year. Although no official surveys were released ahead of the vote, Austrian betting agencies indicated yesterday that Hofer maintained a slight lead over his opponent. Described as the FPOe's "friendly face", Hofer has pushed populist themes with a winning smile instead of the inflammatory rhetoric used by party leader Heinz-Christian Strache. The approach paid off, earning the FPOe its best result at federal level last month. Meanwhile voters punished the two main parties, which were knocked out of the race with just 11 per cent. The crushing defeat means that for the first time since 1945, the president will not come from the Social Democrats (SPOe) or centre-right People's Party (OeVP). The winner could take advantage of some of the role's never-before-used powers, like firing the government -- something Hofer has already threatened to do if the coalition fails to take a tougher line on migrants or boost the faltering economy. European leaders including European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker have voiced concern at the turn of events in Austria. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Brazil's two biggest cities to protest acting President Michel Temer, trying to keep up pressure on his interim administration only 10 days after he was sworn in. A march in Sao Paulo headed toward Temer's residence yesterday, but police blocked roads near the house and the interim president left for the capital of Brasilia hours earlier. Organisers estimated 2,000 people participated in the demonstration. In Rio de Janeiro, about 1,000 protesters staged a march calling for Temer to resign. Some protesters want suspended President Dilma Rousseff back. Temer replaced her after the Senate voted to suspend the president and put her on trial for allegedly breaking fiscal laws. If 54 of the 81 senators agree that she should be impeached, she would be permanently removed from office and Temer could hold the presidency through 2018. Opinion polls say a majority of Brazilians want Rousseff impeached, and some of the protesters Sunday called for new elections, a mechanism that is not in Brazil's electoral law at the moment. Temer has faced daily protests in Brazil's main cities since he took office. Artists, intellectuals and politicians both left-leaning and moderate have also rejected him acting as president, not only for their opposition to Rousseff's impeachment but also for Temer's naming of an all white-male Cabinet that is trying implement more conservative policies. Even before Temer took office, a poll said 58% of Brazilians wanted him impeached, too. A Supreme Court justice has ruled Temer could face impeachment proceedings for signing decrees of the same kind as those that led to the impeachment proceedings against Rousseff, but that decision has yet to be ratified. Some of the protests against Temer were called by artists angered by his decision to fold the Culture Ministry into the Education Ministry under the control of a conservative politician with no experience in either area. On Saturday, Temer's administration announced he would re-establish the Culture Ministry, but critics said they would keep the pressure on him. With the arrest of two youths, Pune police today claimed to have busted a fake call centre, which was being operated from Delhi. Sonu Singh Ramesh Singh (25), a resident of Panipat, Haryana and Raman Rajendersingh Negi (21) resident of Subhash Nagar in New Delhi, were apprehended, for allegedly cheating 60 people from across the country, including 11 in Maharashtra, by offering them bank loan, cyber cell officials said today. The duo was running a fake call centre in Tilaknagar area in the national capital, they added. "We had launched an investigation following a complaint by one Satosh More from here, who was duped to the tune of around Rs 45,000 by the duo," said Sunil Pawar, inspector with Cyber Cell. The officer said More had received a call in April from Negi, who posed himself as bank representative of a commercial bank. "Negi had told More that bank was offering loan of Rs 15 lakh to him. After More consented, Negi asked him to deposit Rs 12,000 into an account as a loan processing fee. "Time to time, More deposited total Rs 45,000 into the given account only to realise that he has been duped, after which he approached us," Pawar said. According to the officer, during investigation, the account details turned out to from Delhi. "We immediately sent a team and traced their locations in Tilaknagar in Delhi and raided the premise on May 19 and busted the fake call centre," Pawar added. Home Minister Rajnath Singh today directed security forces to take "strongest possible action" against militants involved in killing six Assam Rifles personnel in Manipur. Singh reviewed the situation with Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other top officials in the security establishment following the killing of a Junior Commissioned Officer and five jawans of Assam Rifles in an ambush in Manipur's Chandel district close to Indo-Myanmar border, official sources said. The Home Minister also spoke to Assam Rifles Director General, who apprised him of the situation and action taken so far. Singh expressed sadness over the incident. An Assam Rifles convoy was attacked by heavily armed militants around 1 PM in Joupi Hengshi area of Chandel when the security personnel were returning after inspecting a landslide site in the interior tribal district, defence and police sources said. It is suspected that two or more militant groups jointly carried out the attack. Reinforcements have been rushed to the scene of the ambush and a massive combing operation is under way. Last year, 18 army personnel were killed in the same district in an ambush by NSCN(K) militants. Union minister Rajyavardhan Rathore today asked the media to report terrorism related with sensitivity to avoid panic among people. Citing the example of the coverage of the terrorist attack in France, the Union MoS for Information and Broadcasting said the coverage "demoralised the terrorists there" and this sensitivity in reporting should also be there in this country. "Such news should be presented before the public in such a manner so that it doesn't create panic," Rathore said at a programme here. He said the government is working to increase the reach and coverage of FM network in the country. Towns and cities having population of one lakh will be covered under FM network in coming years. With this, 60 per cent of the country's population will be under FM network, the minister said. He also said that FM facility will be provided on national highways after analysing the pilot project started on Jaipur-Delhi National Highway. The CBI today asked Uttarakhand Chief Minister to appear before the agency on May 24 in connection with a probe into the sting operation involving him. Rawat has been asked to appear on Tuesday, official sources said. The CBI had last week rejected the Uttarakhand government's notification withdrawing the case related to the sting operation. The agency had said the notification was rejected after taking legal opinion, which said there was no ground for its withdrawal and it was "not legally tenable". The CBI will continue its preliminary inquiry into the episode that allegedly involved horse trading attempts to save the Rawat government. CBI had registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) on April 29 to probe the "sting operation" purportedly showing Rawat offering bribes to rebel Congress lawmakers to support him during a floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly. The agency had summoned Rawat for examination for May 9 but he had sought more time after which he won the floor test and returned to power. Rawat has denied the allegation and called the video fake after it was released by the rebel Congress legislators but later admitted that he was on camera in the sting operation. After Rawat's victory in the floor test, the state cabinet met on May 15 and withdrew the notification recommending a CBI probe into a sting operation involving him. Instead, the state cabinet decided to constitute a Special Investigating Team to probe the case as it was a state subject. The case was handed over to the CBI when President's Rule was imposed in the state. The notification was withdrawn immediately after Rawat proved his majority in the Assembly and his government was restored. The Chief Minister had failed to get a reprieve from Uttarakhand High Court also which had refused to quash the ongoing CBI probe into the sting operation. On May 20, Justice Sarvesh Kumar Gupta of the Uttarakhand High Court had said quashing the CBI probe into the sting CD at this stage was not possible. Selfie lovers, take note! People who love clicking pictures of themselves regularly tend to overestimate how good looking and likable they are, a new study has found. Researchers led by Daniel Re from University of Toronto in Canada conducted the study on 198 college students, 100 of whom were regular selfie takers. All participants were asked to take a selfie using a smartphone camera and also had a picture taken by another person. They then had to rate each photo on the basis of how attractive and likable they thought their friends would think they were in the picture if it were uploaded to social media. The pictures were also rated by 178 members of the public, who determined how attractive, likable and narcissistic they thought the people in the photos were likely to be, 'The Telegraph' reported. Researchers found that both the regular selfie-takers and the non-selfie-takers thought they would be seen as more attractive and more likeable in their photos than they were actually seen by the independent raters. They also found that the selfie-takers overestimated themselves much more - and tended to think they looked better in the selfies than in the photos taken by other people. "Selfie-takers generally overperceived the positive attributes purveyed by their selfies," researchers said. Regular selfie-takers were also judged by the external raters as looking "significantly more narcissistic" than the non-selfie-takers. "Self-enhancing misperceptions may support selfie-takers' positive evaluations of their selfies, revealing notable biases in self-perception," said researchers. The findings were published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. Rivigo, the Gurgaon-based technology-enabled logistics company, is looking to hire 500 people this fiscal as part of its aggressive expansion plans. Founded in 2014, Rivigo has over 1,000 trucks, around 1,500 drivers and more than 41 strategically located pit stops across more than 150 distinct routes. Talking about its expansion plans, Rivigo co-founder Gazal Kalra, a former McKinsey & Co consultant, told PTI, "We will be hitting 100 cities soon. We are already present in 50 plus cities and the footprint will be pan India." "As we are increasing our footprint and growing our business line... We are looking to attract great talent. We are already 500 people plus and by the end of this fiscal year we plan to add another 500," she added. The company is planning to hire people across business segments at all levels. "There is a technology team that has 50 people now, we will be scaling it up to build all our technology products. We are building our sales team and looking at IITs, IIMs top tier engineering and management colleges to join us," she said. As part of its employee retention policy, the company is setting up a supply chain academy with the focus on training and development. The company with its "driver relay" and technology-driven model claims to have a faster delivery that takes 50-70 per cent lesser time while improving the quality of life of truck drivers. Rivigo has won contracts from companies like Indorama, Arvind Mills, Hero MotorCorp, Nestle, Lupin among others. It was the largest truck buyer in the country last year. It plans to add another 1,000 trucks in the next 12 months. An Easyjet flight was forced to divert a flight from Glasgow to Toulouse in France because of rowdy passengers. The budget airline said the flight, which left Scotland yesterday evening for Palma in Spain, was redirected to Toulouse in France "due to the disruptive behaviour of a group of passengers". They were escorted off the plane by police. The flight then continued to Palma. Passengers on the return leg to Glasgow were delayed overnight as a result, the BBC reported today. In a statement, the budget airline said: "EasyJet can confirm that flight EZY6895 from Glasgow to Palma on 21 May diverted to Toulouse due to the disruptive behaviour of a group of passengers onboard. "The safety and wellbeing of customers and crew is always our priority and upon landing the passengers were escorted off the aircraft by police. The aircraft then continued to Palma. "As a result of the diversion the crew were unable to operate the return flight to Glasgow as it would exceed their legal operating hours. "The flight has been delayed overnight and passengers have been provided with accommodation and meals. "We would like to apologise to passengers for any inconvenience caused by the diversion. Government has cleared 69 projects envisaging investment of Rs 17,112 crore out of the Rs 1.2 lakh crore-worth proposals received under the till date. "69 out of about 160 proposals under the MSIPS (Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme) have been cleared. Total investment committed in these projects is Rs 17,112 crore," IT and Electronics Secretary Aruna Sharma told PTI in an interview. Till date, proposals worth Rs 1.2 lakh crore were received by the government for electronic manufacturing. Sharma said projects worth about Rs 10,000 crore were rejected for benefits under the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (MSIPS). The scheme provides financial incentives to offset disability and attracts investments in the electronics hardware. It provides subsidy for investments in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and 25 per cent in non-SEZs, is open to receive applications till July 26, 2020. The government launched MSIPS with a view to pushing the domestic manufacturing of electronic products to reduce dependence on imports and check forex outflows. Total import of electronics goods were valued at Rs 2.25 lakh crore in 2014-15 against Rs 1.95 lakh crore in the previous year. Total domestic production of electronic goods based on figures provided by the Electronics Industry Associations was at Rs 1,90,366 crore in 2014-15 against Rs 1,80,454 crore in the previous year. Automotive electronics components manufacturing has attracted investment of about Rs 4,284 crore followed by IT and telecom products at Rs 3,500 crore, electronic components and strategic electronics (Rs 2,300 crore each), consumer appliances (Rs 2,000 crore), LED and solar (Rs 947 crore), medical electronics (Rs 600 crore), semiconductor ATMP (Rs 500 crore) and industrial electronics (Rs 235 crore), among others. The government is keen on pushing manufacturing of electronic circuit boards, LCD screens and their packaging in the country to push employment generation, Sharma said. "We are very keen to promote manufacturing of printed circuit boards (PCBs), LCD screens and packaging of LCD as it has huge employment potential. "There is an open invitation from our side for serious players. We will work them to resolve all constraint that is possible from our end," she said. PCBs are base of all electronic products on which components are laid. As per PCB industry body IPCA, there are about 15 PCB manufacturers in the country and about 75 per cent of domestic PCB requirement is estimated to be met through imports. Besides, there is no company in India that manufactures LCD panel which are widely used in all modern electronic products like mobile phones, television, medical devices, among others. By 2020, India's LCD panel import bill is expected to touch USD 10 billion. Business tycoon Anil Agarwal, promoter of Volcan Investments, has announced plan to set up LCD manufacturing unit in India with an investment of USD 10 billion. Agrawal expects to create jobs for 30,000 people alone from this proposed LCD panel manufacturing plant under Twinstar Display Technologies. According to Indian Cellular Association National President Pankaj Mohindroo, LCD packaging industry has huge growth potential in India with boom in smartphone segment. "The investment in LCD packaging segment is small compared to LCD panel manufacturing but it has huge employment opportunity," Mohindroo said. LCD packaging work includes making the display presentable by use of sensors, backlight, among others. Actor-turned BJP leader Rupa Ganguly was today heckled and her convoy attacked allegedly by Trinamool Congress supporters near Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas district when she was returning to the city. The incident happened when Ganguly, along with other BJP workers, was returning from Ishwaripur village near Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas after visiting a party worker, who was assaulted allegedly by TMC workers yesterday and was admitted to a local hospital there, a senior district police officer told PTI. "Despite several requests, Rupa stopped her car and two other cars in her convoy near Diamond Harbour on her way to Kolkata and started talking to locals, which enraged them. Some boys threw stones at the convoy while few women from the locality pulled Rupa's hair and slapped another woman who was with her," the officer said. The police posted there intervened and restrained the locals and took control of the situation, he said, adding though Rupa was "not injured", she was taken to a local hospital, where from she was released after a check-up. "We have not arrested anybody in connection with the incident, but a police posting has been arranged in the locality," he said. The BJP leader and the party workers accompanying her, however, alleged that they were attacked by TMC activists. Ganguly, the chief of BJP's state Mahila Morcha unit, had unsuccessfully contested from Howrah (North) seat against TMC's Laxmi Ratan Shukla in the just-concluded state assembly elections. Russian warplanes hit a key rebel supply route to Aleppo today in Moscow's first strikes on Syria's battleground second city since a February ceasefire, a monitoring group said. "The Russian and Syrian warplanes together carried out at least 40 air strikes on the Castello road," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman said. "They are the heaviest air strikes there since February, and they are also the first confirmed Russian strikes since the truce began," Abdel Rahman said. The violence wracking Aleppo city over the past month has killed some 300 civilians and left world powers scrambling to save the fragile truce brokered by the United States and Russia nearly three months ago. The northern city - once Syria's commercial powerhouse - is divided between rebel groups in the east and regime forces in the west. The Castello road is a key supply route for rebels leading north out of Aleppo. Even while the rest of the city witnessed relative calm in the first few weeks of the truce, fierce fighting has raged for the highway. On Friday, Moscow proposed joint air strikes with Washington against jihadists in Syria from Wednesday, but its offer was spurned. Russia has been carrying out air strikes in Syria since last September in support of its ally President Bashar al-Assad. Washington launched its air war against the Islamic State group and other jihadists in Syria in 2014. Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the US military does "not collaborate or coordinate with the Russians on any operations in Syria." US State Department spokesman John Kirby said nothing had been agreed with Moscow as its ally Damascus was responsible for the "vast majority" of violations of the February ceasefire. Russia's intervention has significantly strengthened the Syrian government in the five-year-old civil war that has killed more than 270,000 people and driven millions from their homes. After being denied permission to set up a small finance bank by RBI, microfinance lender Satin Creditcare Network now plans to seek universal banking licence in two years. "We would like to continue to be an NBFC for some more time. After some size, we can apply for universal bank licence. I think we will still take two years to get ready for that. We are working on that. When we feel we can operate better as a bank, we will approach RBI," its Chief Operating Officer Vivek Tiwari told PTI. Despite satisfying the criterion set by Reserve Bank to get licence as small finance bank (SFB), Satin Creditcare last year missed the licensing nod alongside another micro lender SKS Microfinance. Tiwari said Satin will use the time as an opportunity to learn from other financial institutions who got in-principle approval from Reserve Bank to start SFB. "Now we have enough time to get learning from others. Our clients need some more products, remittance products. As of now we want to see the experience, Bandhan (Bank) is doing very well. In the SFB we want to see the results, success and failure of others...Later on we want to become the bank for the poor", Tiwari said. Earlier this year, the microfinance institution had raised a sum of Rs 100 crore from NABARD and Rs 50 crore under MUDRA scheme to service more customers, he added. With an average ticket-size of Rs 25,000-26,000, the firm disburses loans to about 1.5 lakh entities/individuals per month, taking the loan disbursal to nearly Rs 400 crore a month. Satin Creditcare Network Ltd (SCNL) is also planning to go fully digital in both collection and disbursal of loans, which presently happens fully in cash mode. Also, on expansion of services, the company plans to start its services in south India beginning with Karnataka this year, Tiwari said along with expansion in the north-east in Assam. At present, SCNL operates in Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Jammu , Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal. The company also plans to increase head-count by adding another 2,000 employees this financial year, taking the total strength to 5,000 people. Ready with a new scrapping policy that will provide incentives for surrendering old polluting vehicles, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said it would boost the automobile industry turnover about four-times to Rs 20 lakh crore in the next five years. The draft of the much-awaited policy is ready and would be put in public domain within a week to seek views of the stakeholders and general public, the road transport and highways minister said. We will put the vehicle scrapping policy on website within a week to seek suggestions and based on that we will seek Finance Ministry's approval. Once approved, it will be sent for the Cabinet nod, Gadkari told PTI in an interview. Automobile industry's turnover, which is about Rs 4.5 lakh crore at present, will touch Rs 20 lakh crore in the next five years with this policy and India can be the number one country to export the world's best cars, he said. Giving further thrust to emission control measures, the draft norms for the 'end of life' policy are likely to provide about 50 per cent rebate in excise duty on new vehicles for buyers who surrender their polluting old ones. We will set up industrial clusters near ports that will manufacture automobile parts at half the market rate. The labour cost in India is less. Car parts like copper, steel, plastic and aluminium would be available in plenty from old vehicles, which would be recycled at these clusters, he said. The government last month said it is planning 29 port-based coastal industrial centres under coastal economic zones which will boost exports by $110 billion besides creating one crore new jobs. The clusters are planned in the vicinity of India's top 12 major ports. The government is also considering giving financial incentives of up to Rs 1.5 lakh on surrender of over-ten-year-old vehicles to check pollution and address road safety concerns, Gadkari had earlier said. The proposed policy will follow the government's earlier announcement to implement stricter emission norms for vehicles from April 2020 despite the auto industry calling it an extremely challenging task. India plans to leapfrog to stricter emission standards of Bharat Stage-VI fuel specifications, skipping BS-V norms altogether, from April 1, 2020. Under the proposed scrapping policy, people would get an incentive of up to Rs 30,000 for discarding small vehicles like cars, while total benefits after taking into account the tax exemptions could be up to Rs 1.5 lakh for big vehicles like trucks, the minister had said earlier. The new policy is likely to be valid for over-ten-year-old vehicles across the country. The plan is to set up 8-10 industrial units near ports like Kandla which will give certificates for accepting old vehicles and also recycle vehicles from India and abroad, thus giving a boost to employment and economy. Hollywood star Sean Penn's film "The Last Face" got negative response by critics after debuting at the Cannes Film Festival. The film is a romance about aid workers in Liberia, reported Variety Online. Penn, 55, brushed aside the bad reviews at a press conference. "I stand by the film as it is, and everyone is going to be entitled to their response. I've finished the film so it's not a discussion I'd be of value to," he said. The director was flanked by stars Javier Bardem, Charlize Theron, Jeno Reno and Jared Harris. Penn's agent Bryan Lourd was also on hand, sitting in the crowd. The actor, a two-time Oscar winner, was full of praise for the cast. "I am surrounded at this table by performances that I'd pay to see 100 times," he said. Amid unease in the Congress and demand for a "major surgery" in the wake of assembly poll debacle, a former Union Minister has pitched for sending over a dozen senior leaders, who he accused of "misleading" party chief Sonia Gandhi, on a compulsory holiday. V Kishore Chandra Deo has warned that if Congress failed to pull up its socks urgently, it would lead to mushrooming of regional parties in several states as "Modi government is out in 2019, if not earlier". Citing the example of Delhi where AAP suddenly sprang up and captured power, he expressed apprehension of the phenomena repeating itself in 15-20 states where there are "no established regional parties at present". In an interview to PTI, Deo's refrain was that there was a need for action as the party has already done "too much introspection". He was apparently hinting at no changes in the organization for the past two years despite the Congress suffering its worst defeat in the last Lok Sabha polls. He made a strong pitch for sending "15-20 leaders" on a compulsory holiday for a few years. This was necessary as they "play the musical chair" in the organization, either in the AICC or as PCC chiefs, or become Union Ministers if the party is in power, he said. Deo did not take any names but his obvious target were most of those occupying positions in the AICC Secretariat or those around the party chief and vice president Rahul Gandhi, advising them on various issues. "They are misleading the leadership, even Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. If the leadership gets wrong information, what results you can expect?" he said, adding compulsory holiday should extend to "a few years". Lamenting the way the organization runs, he said there are norms and guidelines on several things, which are there "only to be violated". The five-time Lok Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh and Tribal Affairs Minister in the Manmohan Singh government, said what Congress needed was credible faces and a mix of youth and experience. Noting that there was a lot of talent within the party, he said it needs to be tapped by the leadership. Deo said Devraj Urs and J Vengal Rao were "not known leaders", but Indira Gandhi gave them the opportunity to become Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh respectively. "Till today, they are remembered in their states". On Congress' defeat in Assam, he said age caught up with the outgoing Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi who "faltered during the last term". Soon after the Lok Sabha poll rout, Deo had lashed out at "rootless wonders and spineless creepers" for the Congress' plight, and insisted the party would not have met such a fate if Rahul Gandhi had ensured implementation of half the promises made after he became party's vice president. He had also suggested that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul should introspect and devise means to "emancipate the Grand Old Party from the clutches of rootless wonders and spineless creepers, who have held sway for more than two decades and have brought the party to such a pass". Deo recalled Rahul had spoken much about transformation of the organisation at the Jaipur brainstorming session after becoming party vice president in Janruary 2013. After Congress' dismal performance in assembly elections in four states and Union Territory of Puducherry, senior party leader Digvijay Singh had suggested a "major surgery" in the organisation. "Today's results disappointing but not unexpected. We have done enough Introspection shouldn't we go for a Major Surgery?" Singh, an AICC General Secretary, had said in a tweet. A group of militants today ambushed a convoy of the Assam Rifles killing a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and five jawans in Chandel district of Manipur near the Indo-Myanmar border. The incident occurred at around 1 PM when the personnel of 29 Assam Rifles were returning to their camp after inspecting a landslide site at Holenjang village in the interior tribal district, defence and police officials said. After the attack by insurgents, the troops retaliated but the insurgents managed to flee under thick forest cover and bad weather. It is suspected that two or more militant groups jointly carried out the attack in Joupi Hengshi area under Molcham police station, the officials said. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh directed security forces to take "strongest possible action" against militants involved in the ambush. Singh reviewed the situation with Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other top officials in the security establishment and also spoke to Assam Rifles Director General about the attack, officials said in New Delhi. "The area of the encounter has been cordoned off and intensive combing operations have been launched to neutralise the insurgent group and prevent them from crossing over to Myanmar," Assam Rifles officials said. Besides Subedar Baldeo Sharma, the JCO, the other deceased were identified as riflemen Pawan Kumar, Mahesh Gurung, Bhupender Kumar and Akhilesh Kumar Pandey and havildar Surajit Barla. Their mortal remains are being sent to their homes. Last year, 18 army personnel were killed in the same district in an ambush by NSCN(K) militants. Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi, Army Commander Eastern Command, expressed his condolences to the families of the bravehearts. "The nation owes gratitude to the ultimate sacrifice made by Assam Rifles personnel like them in the fight against insurgents. We in the Army are committed to provide all necessary support to their families in this hour of grief," he said. He said these acts of violence by insurgents reinforce their resolve to carry out relentless operations against such anti-national elements for furtherance of peace in the region. BJP Legislature Party leader Sarbananda Sonowal today requested outgoing Chef Minister Tarun Gogoi to take part in his swearing-in ceremony to be held on May 24 here. Sonowal visited Gogoi at his official residence in Koinadhara area of the city this afternoon and invited him to the oath-taking function to be held at Khanapara field. A host of dignitaries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah, are slated to attend it. Sonowal also sought Gogoi's advice, goodwill and blessings, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a statement. Gogoi accepted Sonowal's invitation and said he would attend the swearing-in ceremony and also conveyed good wishes to him, the CMO said. Earlier in the day, Sonowal was unanimously elected as BJP Legislature Party leader in Assam, paving the way for his becoming the next chief minister of the state. Following this, he led a delegation of BJP, AGP and BPF members to Raj Bhavan to stake claim to form the next government in Assam. The Governor afterwards invited the BJP-led alliance to form the next government in the state. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and wife Gauri attended their elder son Aryan's graduation ceremony here Aryan, 18, graduated from Sevenoaks School in London. Besides Aryan, his sister Suhana also turned 16 today. Proud father Shah Rukh tweeted, "Today the only negative is that my kids have grown up... Now to wait till they start believing in fairy tales again..." Mother Gauri took to Instagram to share a picture of her son's graduation occasion. Other celebrity kids from the school are Amitabh Bachchan's granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda and Sushmita Sen's elder daughter Rene. The lifeguards in Goa, who are on a three-day strike since Friday, have decided to get back to work from tomorrow, but said they will agitate again if the government fails to fulfil their demands. "The lifeguards will resume duty on Monday. We are monitoring the reaction of state government. If they fail to fulfil our demands, we will agitate again," All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) state secretary Suhas Naik told PTI today. Nearly 600 lifeguards, employed with Drishti Lifesaving Services Pvt Ltd, have been on strike demanding regularisation of services and pay hike. They took out a morcha in Calangute beach village in North Goa yesterday. Amid jeopardy over tourists safety at popular beaches, the state tourism department has instructed police personnel to man the beaches. Naik said the union will also keep a watch on Drishti management's behaviour once lifeguards resume duty tomorrow. "If there is any retrenchment or harassment of the workers, all the lifeguards will strike indefinitely," he said. Meanwhile, the lifeguards today protested at Colva beach in South Goa. The state government has refused to intervene in the demands of lifeguards, claiming that the services have been outsourced and it is a matter between the workers and company management (Drishti). Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi today said a submarine was deployed to locate the black boxes that could provide vital clues on what caused an EgyptAir plane to crash in the Mediterranean Sea carrying 66 people, as he asserted no theory was being favoured in the probe. A submarine that could operate at a depth of 3,000 metres under sea level had been deployed for the purpose, Sisi said in a televised address. "This (submarine) moved today in the direction of the plane crash because we are working hard to retrieve the two boxes, which are the black boxes," he said, adding: "All the theories are possible." "There is no particular theory we can affirm right now," he added, even as the Egyptian aviation minister had earlier said that terrorism was more likely than technical failure in causing the ill-fated EgyptAir Flight MS804, en route from Paris to Cairo, to plunge into the waters on Thursday. Sisi's remarks came a day after French authorities said "all theories are being examined and none is favoured". Investigators continued to piece together clues for a potential breakthrough even as some reports of release of audio from the jet and even of locating the black boxes emerged. Multinational searchers scouring the Mediterranean waters have made headway by recovering debris, passengers' belongings, body parts, luggage and aircraft seats from the jet, that initially went 'missing' and was later declared crashed. Smoke was detected inside the cabin of the Airbus A320 minutes before it plunged into the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people on board, that includes children. Egypt's military displayed wreckage and personal belongings yesterday. The chunks of debris included an uninflated life vest, a seat, a purse, shoes, carpet, a scarf, parts of chairs and cushions and a sling bag. The EgyptAir label appeared on one piece of wreckage. "The search is ongoing. It has uncovered initial pieces of the aircraft, body parts, belongings of the deceased, and it will continue hopefully until we can ascertain exactly where the plane has gone down," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said. CBS News, quoting an Egyptian government source, reported that search crews located the data recorders close to an area where human remains and debris from the crashed flight were found. The report further said there has been no official confirmation, and EgyptAir would not confirm or deny that the black boxes have been located. Shoukry, meanwhile, told CNN that it was not clear how long the searchers will take to recover the cockpit voice and flight data recorders - the so-called black boxes - to shed crucial information about what was going on during the plane's final moments. "We do not, I think, have the technical abilities to operate in such deep waters, whereas many of our partners might have this facility," he said, referring to the US, France, Britain, Russia and others cooperating in the search. Ex-Soviet Tajikistan went to the polls today in a referendum on constitutional changes almost certain to strengthen the hold of long-time President Emomali Rakhmon and his family over the impoverished Central Asian state. After an early morning rush to the polls, the country's electoral commission said the vote was valid, claiming that 80 percent of 4.3 million eligible voters had cast their ballots in a referendum on whether Rakhmon can run for an unlimited number of terms, among other changes. The 63-year-old autocrat has ruled Tajikistan for nearly a quarter of a century, demonstrating what critics say is an increased disregard for religious freedoms, civil society and political pluralism in recent years. Many residents of the near million-strong Tajik capital appeared enthusiastic in their support for Rakhmon, who led the country out of a five-year civil war that began in 1992, less than a year after independence. "Rakhmon brought us peace, he ended the war, and he should rule the country for as long as he has the strength to," 53- year-old voter Nazir Saidzoda told AFP. Other voters were more pessimistic about their leader's capacity to pull the country of eight million out of economic difficulty and curb the rise of extremism in the volatile region. "Everything that is being done is for (the regime) to hold onto power for as long as possible," 37-year-old Marifat Rakhimi said. "We are waiting for a better economy and the disappearance of corruption." The term limit amendment applies only to Rakhmon, owing to the "Leader of the Nation" status parliament voted to grant him last year, which also affords him and his family permanent immunity from criminal prosecution. Other amendments include lowering the minimum age required to be elected president from 35 to 30 and a ban on the formation of parties based on religion. The age limit change could position Rakhmon's 28-year-old son, Rustam, for an early succession, while restrictions on political parties come amid the ongoing trial of key members of a banned Islamic party. The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) had been widely viewed as moderate before the government branded it a terrorist group last year, stripping away the most significant formal opposition to the Rakhmon regime. Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a rare US drone strike inside Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province, the Afghan spy agency said today, in a body blow for the insurgents and a major boost to fledgling peace process in the war-torn country. Mansour and another combatant were targeted yesterday by multiple unmanned aircraft operated by US Special Operations forces as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near the town of Ahmad Wal in Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border, US officials said. Afghanistan's main spy agency said Mansour was killed in a US drone attack inside Pakistan. "Mansour was being closely monitored for a while... Until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle... in Balochistan," the National Directorate of Security said in a brief statement. Speaking to reporters in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, US Secretary of State John Kerry said, "Mansour posed... An imminent threat to US personnel, Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces." Kerry said Mansour was also directly opposed to peace negotiations. The US "has long maintained that an Afghan-led, Afghan- owned reconciliation process is the surest way to ensure peace... Peace is what we want, Mansour was a threat to that," Kerry added. The Pentagon earlier confirmed it targeted Mansour in an operation authorised by President Barack Obama. Mansour assumed the leadership in July 2015, replacing Taliban founder and the one-eyed reclusive long-time spiritual head Mullah Mohammad Omar in Pakistan in 2013. "Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners," said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. "Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict," he said. The drone strike inside Pakistan was a rare one since US Navy Seals killed Al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a stealth raid in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad in 2011. "Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansour's assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous US and Coalition personnel," Cook said. The United States informed both Pakistan and Afghanistan shortly after the strike, a senior White House official said. In Kabul, Afghan CEO Abdullah Abdullah said that if Mansour's death is confirmed major changes within the ranks of the Taliban could be expected as a number of Taliban leaders could join the peace process. Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was "likely killed" in a rare US drone strike inside Pakistan, US officials said today, in what could be a body blow for the insurgents and a major boost to fledgling peace process in war-torn Afghanistan. Mansour and another male combatant were targeted yesterday by multiple unmanned aircraft operated by US Special Operations forces as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near the town of Ahmad Wal in Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border, the officials said. The Pentagon has confirmed it targeted Mansour in strikes but said they were still assessing the results of the operation authorised by President Barack Obama. A senior commander with the Afghan Taliban said Mansour has been killed in the US drone strike. Mullah Abdul Rauf told The Associated Press that Mansour died in the strike late Friday night. But the Afghan government said it could not confirm it. Mansour assumed the leadership in July 2015, replacing Taliban founder and the one-eyed reclusive long-time spiritual head Mullah Mohammad Omar in Pakistan in 2013. "Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners," said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. "Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict," he said. He, however, said the Department of Defense was still assessing the results of its strike inside Pakistan. The drone strike inside Pakistan was a rare one since US Navy Seals killed Al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a stealth raid in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad in 2011. "Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansour's assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous US and Coalition personnel," Cook said. The United States informed both Pakistan and Afghanistan shortly after the strike, a senior White House official said. In Kabul, Afghan CEO Abdullah Abdullah said that if Mansour's death is confirmed major changes within the ranks of the Taliban could be expected. Addressing a press conference, Abdullah said if Mansour is dead a number of Taliban leaders could join the peace process. He said that it was possible that Mansour was killed in a targeted drone attack on Saturday in Pakistan. According to Dawa Khan Menapal, the Afghan president's deputy spokesman, they are still waiting for confirmation of Mansour's death. In a statement issued by the president's office, he said that Mansour had continuously rejected peace and continued to bring carnage and terror to the people of Afghanistan. Abdullah said Mansour had been a major obstacle in the way of the Afghan peace process and that his death would be a big blow to the insurgent group. The possible death of Mansour was also hailed by top American lawmakers. "I welcome the that Mullah Akhtar Mansour has met his just end. I salute the skill and professionalism of the US Armed Forces who carried out this mission. Their actions have made America and Afghanistan safer," said Senator John McCain, Chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee. "I hope this strike against the Taliban's top leader will lead the Administration to reconsider its policy of prohibiting US forces from targeting the Taliban," he said. Noting that the US troops are in Afghanistan today for the same reason they deployed there in 2001 - to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for global terrorists, McCain said Taliban remains allied with terrorists, including al-Qaeda and the Haqqani network. "It is the one force most able and willing to turn Afghanistan into a terrorist safe haven once again," McCain said. "If verified, the death of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour would be an important victory in the fight against terror and welcome to our military personnel in Afghanistan and the Afghan government," said Senator Bob Corker, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "I am thankful for the work our military and intelligence communities are doing to bring justice to those responsible for spreading evil. If Pakistan would play a more constructive role, we could destabilise the Taliban far more rapidly," Corker said. Born in Afghanistan, Mansour was part of the Taliban from the group's beginning in the 1990s and has effectively been in charge since 2013. The death of Mansour, if confirmed, would be a big blow for the Taliban, analysts said, adding that a vacuum created by his death would once again trigger a leadership struggle. (Reopens FGN7) Mansour formerly headed the leadership council of the Taliban and Islamic scholars, also known as the Quetta Shura, which is composed of longtime leaders who direct the Taliban's operations from Pakistan's Baluchistan province, according to the Jamestown Foundation, a global research and analysis group. According to the UN Security Council sanctions list, Mansour previously was the Taliban's minister of civil aviation and transportation and was considered "a prominent member of the Taliban leadership." "He was repatriated to Afghanistan in September 2006 following detention in Pakistan. He is involved in drug trafficking and was active in the provinces of Khost, Paktia and Paktika in Afghanistan as of May 2007. He was also the Taliban 'Governor' of Kandahar as of May 2007," the UN document said. He was an active recruiter in the Taliban's fight against the Afghan government, and before his appointment as Omar's deputy in 2010, he was chief of military affairs for a regional Taliban military council that oversees operations in Nimruz and Helmand provinces, the United Nations said. In a major victory in the war against terrorism, Taliban leader was "likely killed" in a US airstrike in a remote area of western Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, a US official has said. The airstrike that targeted Mansour yesterday was carried out in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, he said. Noting that US President Barack Obama had authorised the operation, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a second man along with Mansour was also believed to have been killed. Several drone aircraft had launched a strike on a vehicle in a remote area near Ahmad Wal, a town in western Pakistan. The strike took place around 6 am local time,'Washington Post' reported. "Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners," said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. "Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict," he said. He, however, said the Department of Defense was still assessing the results of its strike inside Pakistan. "Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansour's assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous US and Coalition personnel," Cook said. The death of Mansour was hailed by top American lawmakers. "I welcome the news that Mullah Akhtar Mansour has met his just end. I salute the skill and professionalism of the US Armed Forces who carried out this mission. Their actions have made America and Afghanistan safer," said Senator John McCain, Chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee. "I hope this strike against the Taliban's top leader will lead the Administration to reconsider its policy of prohibiting US forces from targeting the Taliban," he said. Afghan Taliban supremo was killed in a rare US drone strike deep inside Pakistan, Afghanistan announced today, inflicting a body blow to the insurgents and a removing a major "threat" to the fragile peace process in war-torn Afghanistan. Mansour and another militant were targeted in a precision air strike by multiple unmanned drones operated by US Special Operations forces yesterday as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near Ahmad Wal town in the restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border, US officials said. The drone strike, which US officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama, showed America was ready to target the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which Afghanistan has repeatedly accused of sheltering the militants. Afghanistan's main spy agency said Mansour, said to be in his early 50s, was killed in a US drone attack inside Pakistan. "Mansour was being closely monitored for a while... Until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle... in Balochistan," the National Directorate of Security said in a brief statement today. Afghan defense ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri also confirmed Mansour's death. Addressing a press conference in the Afghan capital, he called on the group to select a new leader and then come to Kabul and act like a political party. Speaking to reporters in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, US Secretary of State John Kerry said, "Mansour posed... An imminent threat to US personnel, Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces." Kerry said Mansour was also directly opposed to peace negotiations. The US "has long maintained that an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned reconciliation process is the surest way to ensure peace... Peace is what we want, Mansour was a threat to that," Kerry said. "If people want to stand in the way of peace and continue to threaten and kill and blow people up, we have no recourse but to respond and I think we responded appropriately," he said. The Pentagon earlier confirmed it targeted Mansour. "Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners," said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. "Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict," he said. The drone strike inside Pakistan was a rare one since US Navy Seals killed Al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a stealth raid in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad in 2011. Mansour assumed the leadership in July 2015, replacing Taliban founder and the one-eyed reclusive long-time spiritual head Mullah Mohammad Omar, who died in Pakistan in 2013. "Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansour's assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous US and Coalition personnel," Pentagon Press Secretary Cook said. The United States informed both Pakistan and Afghanistan shortly after the strike, a senior White House official said. In Kabul, Afghan CEO Abdullah Abdullah said that if Mansour's death is confirmed, major changes within the ranks of the Taliban could be expected as a number of Taliban leaders could join the peace process. Abdullah said Mansour had been a major obstacle in the way of the Afghan peace process and that his death would be a big blow to the insurgent group. Mansour's death would further sink prospects of any immediate direct peace talks between the Taliban and the quadrilateral group of Pakistan, the US, Afghanistan and China, Pakistani media reports suggested. The drone strikes come days after the US, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan held another round of talks in Islamabad aimed at reviving the long-stalled direct peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. The death of Mansour was also hailed by top American lawmakers. "I welcome the news that has met his just end. I salute the skill and professionalism of the US Armed Forces who carried out this mission. Their actions have made America and Afghanistan safer," said Senator John McCain, Chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee. "It is the one force most able and willing to turn Afghanistan into a terrorist safe haven once again," he said. "If verified, the death of Taliban leader would be an important victory in the fight against terror and welcome news to our military personnel in Afghanistan and the Afghan government," said Senator Bob Corker, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "If Pakistan would play a more constructive role, we could destabilise the Taliban far more rapidly," Corker said. Mansour earlier headed the leadership council of the Taliban and Islamic scholars, also known as the Quetta Shura, which is composed of longtime leaders who direct the Taliban's operations from Pakistan's Baluchistan province. According to the UN Security Council sanctions list, Mansour previously was the Taliban's minister of civil aviation and transportation and was considered "a prominent member of the Taliban leadership." "He was repatriated to Afghanistan in September 2006 following detention in Pakistan. He was an active recruiter in the Taliban's fight against the Afghan government, and before his appointment as Omar's deputy in 2010, he was chief of military affairs for a regional Taliban military council that oversees operations in Nimruz and Helmand provinces, the UN said. Afghan Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a rare US drone strike deep inside Pakistan, Afghanistan announced today, inflicting a body blow to the insurgents and removing a major "threat" to the fragile peace process in the war-torn country. Mansour and another militant were targeted in a precision air strike by multiple unmanned drones operated by US Special Operations forces yesterday as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near Ahmad Wal town in the restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border, US officials said. The drone strike, which US officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama, showed America was ready to target the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which Afghanistan has repeatedly accused of sheltering the militants. Afghanistan's main spy agency said Mansour, said to be in his early 50s, was killed in a US drone attack inside Pakistan. "Mansour was being closely monitored for a while... Until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle... in Balochistan," the National Directorate of Security said in a brief statement today. Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and defence ministry spokesman Daulat Waziri also said that Mansour had been killed. Addressing a press conference in the Afghan capital, he called on the group to select a new leader and then come to Kabul and act like a political party. Speaking to reporters in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, US Secretary of State John Kerry said, "Mansour posed... An imminent threat to US personnel, Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces." Kerry said Mansour was also directly opposed to peace negotiations. The US "has long maintained that an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned reconciliation process is the surest way to ensure peace... Peace is what we want, Mansour was a threat to that," Kerry said. "If people want to stand in the way of peace and continue to threaten and kill and blow people up, we have no recourse but to respond and I think we responded appropriately," he said. The Pentagon earlier confirmed it targeted Mansour. "Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners," said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. "Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict," he said. The drone strike inside Pakistan was a rare one since US Navy Seals killed Al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a stealth raid in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad in 2011. With the rolling out of Indian Railways zero-accident mission, global players including French firm Thales, have geared up to be part of the plan to provide latest technology for strengthening the safety of Indias rail network. intends to implement Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) on a total of approximately 7,900 km of main lines across the country out of which 3,300 km has already been budgeted. Currently, TPWS, meant to prevent train accidents due to drivers failure, is being implemented on 68-km long rail line near Chennai on a pilot basis by Thales, which offers effective signalling and supervision to telecommunications for mainline rail and metro system. The pilot project is expected to be completed by the year-end. Indian market is very important for us. It is in our interest to be in Indian market, said Alfred Veider, CEO of Thales in Austria. We are involved in Delhi Metro fare collection system as we have provided the technology support to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). We are also providing communication-based train controlling system for Hyderabad Metro which is a publicprivate partnership project, Veider said. There are 28 TPWS projects in which involves equipping tracksides and onboard systems with latest technology which have already been identified. The implementation of these projects are slated to be in the next five years. Thales has developed the signalling system known as the European Train Control System (ETCS) to prevent train mishaps and chooses the system as the basis of TPWS to enhance safety in train operation. As per plan, a total of approximately, 2600 ETCS on board systems shall be installed on locomotives. Currently two projects are on tender and both are in Kolkata region. While the 128-km long line, 30 stations, 62 electric multiple unit (EMU) trains to be equipped in the Eastern Railway, another 121-km long rail line, 27 stations, 70 EMUs to be equipped with the modern signalling system as accident prevention measure. Veider said ETCS was developed to replace all existing signalling systems in Europe, thus it offers the widest spectrum of functionalities of all available ATP systems and is suitable for all railway environment, high-speed lines, high-density commuter lines, and conventional mixed traffic of freight and passenger main lines. The TPWS is a technology meant to prevent train accidents due to driver's failure. If the train driver fails to observe a signal, through this technology the brake of the train is automatically activated. The TPWS would also give information about the signal aspects and also the permissible speeds. Electronic loops are placed between 50 to 450 metres on the approach side of the stop signal. It is the distance that separates the loops which controls the speed of the train. In addition to this another pair of loops are placed at the signal which indicates danger. Moreover, at the signal the loops are placed together which will detect speeds and immediately stop a train if it runs past a signal. Inside the train, a TPWS panel is placed which is linked to the loops placed on the track. This is considered to be a fool proof system which would go a long way in preventing train accidents. "It is a challenging task. We are in the Indian market for the last ten years and we hope to provide the best railway signalling system," Veider added. Railways aim to achieve zero level accident with the implementation of modern signalling system in the network. On a secret trip to Syria, the new commander of US forces in the Middle East has said he felt a moral obligation to enter a war zone to check on his troops and make his own assessment of progress in organizing local Arab and Kurd fighters for what has been a slow campaign to push the Islamic State out of Syria. "I have responsibility for this mission, and I have responsibility for the people that we put here," Army General Joseph Votel said in an interview as dusk fell on the remote outpost where he had arrived 11 hours earlier. "So it's imperative for me to come and see what they're dealing with to share the risk they are dealing with." Votel, who has headed US Central Command for just seven weeks, became the highest-ranking US military officer known to have entered Syria since the US began its campaign to counter the Islamic State in 2014. The circumstance was exceptional because the US has no combat units in Syria, no diplomatic relations with Syria and for much of the past two years has enveloped much of its Syria military mission in secrecy. Votel said he brought reporters with him because, "We don't have anything to hide. I don't want people guessing about what we're doing here. The American people should have the right to see what we're doing here." Votel flew into northern Syria from Iraq, where he had conferred on Friday with US and Iraqi military commanders. In Syria he met with US military advisers working with Syrian Arab fighters and consulted with leaders of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an umbrella group of Kurdish and Arab fighters supported by the US A small group of reporters accompanied Votel under ground rules that, for security reasons, prohibited disclosing his visit until after he had left Syria. After landing at a remote camp where American military advisers are training Syrian Arab troops in basic soldiering skills, Votel split off from the reporters who flew in with him; he then visited several other undisclosed locations in Syria before returning to the camp. Syria is a raging war zone, torn by multiple conflicts that have created severe human suffering across much of the country. But yestreday the US advisers camp that Votel visited was quiet. Situated about 50 miles from the nearest fighting, it was remarkably quiet. The sharpest sound was a month-old puppy's yapping as he ran between visitors' legs. A light breeze nudged several bright-yellow flags of the Syrian Democratic Forces attached to small bushes and atop a post buried in an earthen berm beside a shooting range. Aides said Votel's flight into Syria was the first made in daylight by US forces, who have about 200 advisers on the ground. Military ground rules for the trip prohibited reporting the kind of aircraft Votel used, the exact location of where he landed and the names and images of the US military advisers, who said they have been operating from the camp since January. Turkey's ruling party confirmed a trusted ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its new chairman today, setting the stage for his appointment as the new prime minister. The move is widely believed to consolidate Erdogan's hold on power. Transport and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim received 1,405 out of a total of 1,470 votes of delegates attending the governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP's, extraordinary congress. The 60-year-old Yildirim, who is a founding member of the AKP, is now set to replace Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who announced earlier this month that he is stepping down amid differences with Erdogan. Yildirim, who ran unopposed for the party's leadership, is widely expected to be more in tune with Erdogan, who is pushing for an overhaul of the constitution that would give the largely ceremonial presidency executive powers. Traditionally, the post of premier in Turkey goes to the leader of the largest party in parliament and Erdogan is expected to formally ask Yildirim to form a new government after the convention. In his speech before the vote Yildirim paid homage to Erdogan and expressed his devotion to him. "We have always proudly said that we are Recep Tayyip Erdogan's companion, that we share a common fate and a common passion," Yildirim said. "Mr. President, we promise you that your passion will be our passion, your cause will be our cause, your path will be our path." He also vowed to work to introduce a new constitution changing Turkey's political system into a presidential system, to make the current "de facto situation" a "legal" one. Earlier, in a message read at the opening of the convention, Erdogan again stressed the need for a new constitution and a new system of government and said he hoped the term ahead would help correct the current "skewed" system of administration. Delegates and party officials stood up as his message was read. "My legal bond with the AKP may have ended the day I took the (presidential) oath of office, but my bonds of love have never ended and never will," Erdogan said. Supporters credit Yildirim for his role in developing major infrastructure projects which have helped buoy Turkey's economy and boost the party's popularity. But critics, including the leader of the main opposition party, have accused him of corruption. Yildirim has rejected the accusation. A 27-year-old man opened fire on people after a concert in a village in western Austria, killing two people and injuring 11 others before turning the gun on himself, police said today. The incident occurred overnight in the province of Vorarlberg where around 150 people remained after the event, at which alcohol was consumed. After getting into an argument, the man went back to his car and returned with a gun with which he began shooting people at random before killing himself, according to preliminary information. The incident did not immediately appear to be linked to Sunday's presidential election runoff vote in Austria that could see a far-right candidate swept to power. The UK is planning to set up a multi- million-pound counter-terrorism "local hub" in the southwest, popular with tourists, to protect isolated areas, amid an IS threat of mass shootings in far-lung villages of the country. The plan is part of a 143-million-pound boost to improve Britain's armed policing capability over the next five years, which will see 1,500 firearms officers recruited. Che Donald, firearms lead for the Police Federation of England and Wales, told 'Sunday Express' that the new counter-terror base in the southwest would provide better cover for a largely rural part of Britain. "Hubs we have at present are in major urban areas, London, West Midlands and Greater Manchester. But I know that plans are afoot to incorporate the south-west region," he said. "This is popular with tourists and home to many holiday parks, so it makes sense to have a local hub to draw cover from as the next nearest place would be the West Midlands, an awful long way," he added. According to intelligence reports sited by the newspaper, Islamic State (IS) terrorists are planning a mass shooting in a remote village of the UK, including gunmen going from house to house. A Tunisia-style attack on a holiday park is also feared. Sensitive sites like nuclear power stations also tend to be in rural areas and police from such areas has already undergone training exercises on how to respond. The new rural hub will have intelligence-gathering teams as well as a unit of specially-trained firearms officers. It is to be located in southwest England and will cover vast tracts of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and parts of Gloucestershire. The world's first humanitarian summit in Istanbul next week is a "once in a generation" chance to alleviate suffering by improving the global response to crises, senior UN officials said today. The two-day UN-backed World Humanitarian Summit which opens tomorrow brings together some 65 heads of state and government with leading NGOs to find a concrete strategy on countering the worst humanitarian crises since World War II. "This is a once in a generation opportunity to to set in motion an ambitious and far-reaching agenda to change the way that we alleviate and prevent the suffering of the world's most vulnerable people," UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O'Brien told reporters ahead of the meeting. He said that the summit differed from other such events as it was not aimed as winning financial pledges but a comprehensive strategy for dealing with crises such as the estimated 60 million people displaced around the world. UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson said that the meeting aimed to tackle the "root causes" of crises emanating from conflict, as well as climate change. "We spend so much on dealing with the late causes of conflict but very little on prevention," he said, urging a focus on the early rather than the late stages of the conflict. Eliasson said the summit should also see a "strong call" for respect of international humanitarian law, which has badly decayed with attacks on schools and hospitals in the conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen. "We have seen a lack of respect for international humanitarian law which is causing huge damage in the world." The summit is the result of years of planning but there has been criticism that its actual outcomes could fall well short of its lofty ambitions. Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is boycotting the event, saying it risked being just a "fig leaf" for the world's failure on humanitarian action. "I regret very much that they came to that decision," said Eliasson. "One of the main purposes of this conference is our outrage against violations of international humanitarian law," adding he hoped the "convictions they (MSF) stand for" would come out of the meeting. Ahead of President Barack Obama's first visit to Vietnam, the country voted today in once-every-five-year-elections for a rubber-stamp parliament whose membership has already been largely determined by the Communist Party. Amid worries about soaring public debt, a serious budget deficit and China's aggressive claims in nearby seas, there's also high hope for Obama's visit, both in the government, which wants him to lift an arms export embargo so it can better deal with Beijing, and among rights activists who want him to hold to account a repressive one-party state seen as treating its critics abysmally. Voting was to close later today, hours before Obama's arrival, and the results for elections to the 500-seat National Assembly are expected to be announced within 20 days. But they are mostly a formality: The Communist Party controls elections and has already chosen who runs and how many non-Party members have seats, according to Human Rights Watch. Expectations may be too high for any major announcements during Obama's trip. But just the fact that he's making time to visit Vietnam during his last year in office, when a president's every waking moment is meticulously choreographed, signals its importance to his administration as it boosts focus on Asia, generally, and stands up to China's rising assertiveness in the region, more specifically. Obama must balance a desire to support Southeast Asian nations like Vietnam as they confront China over disputed maritime territory with worries about the tension with Beijing this will cause and about Vietnam's reluctance to improve its terrible human rights record. Eventually lifting the arms sale embargo would remove a final vestige of wartime animosity and signal a strategic commitment between the former enemies. US lawmakers, however, have urged the president to first make sure Vietnam's rights record has improved, and more political activists are released, before lifting the ban. When he lands in Hanoi, and then moves south to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, he will see a vibrant, bustling land where many have been lifted from poverty in recent years. But Vietnam also struggles with public debt, the legacy of the war unexploded ordinances, for instance and environmental problems, like drought and salt intrusion in the country's main rice-growing region. Some 69 million people are eligible to vote for the 14th National Assembly. A total of 500 deputies will be elected out of 870 candidates. Of them, 458 must belong to the Vietnam Communist Party, which is the only party allowed to govern under the constitution. Among those contesting, 339 candidates are women, accounting for 38.97 per cent, while 204 candidates are from ethnic minorities, making up 23.45 per cent, according to the list of candidates released by the National Election Council in late April. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today said he will fully cooperate with the CBI after the investigation agency had asked him to appear before it on May 24 in connection with a probe into the purported sting operation. "I will fully cooperate with the agency (CBI)," Rawat said. The Chief Minister said he had earlier requested the CBI to come to Dehradun to question him as it would be difficult for him to go to Delhi to appear before them but they rejected his request. Uttarakhand cabinet had on May 15 made a recommendation for forming a judicial panel headed by retired High Court judge to probe into a string of significant issues during the President's rule in the state. The state cabinet also had decided to constitute a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe the case as it was a state subject. Rawat said that CBI, the SIT and the judicial panel will simultaneously probe into the sting operation. The CBI had last week rejected the state government's notification withdrawing the case related to the sting operation. The Delhi High Court has asked pharma major Pfizer Ltd to withdraw stocks of its already imported drug Medrol, used to treat a wide range of inflammatory, allergic and immune disorders, six months before the expiry period of 60 months prescribed under the rules. Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw issued the direction to bind Pfizer to its statement before the court that it will withdraw stocks of the drug six months before date of expiry. "This court by interim order in this petition having restrained DCGI from consequential action pursuant to impugned notice-cum-order of September 15, 2015 against the petitioner (Pfizer), it is deemed appropriate to bind the petitioner to its statement, of withdrawing the drugs from the market six months prior to their expiry, by directing the petitioner to withdraw all stocks of the drug Medrol with the date of expiry to which objection has been taken by the respondents, six months before the prescribed date of expiry, so that there is no possibility of the drug being consumed by anyone in the 61st month of its manufacture," the court said. The order came on the company's plea challenging Drugs Controller General of India's (DCGI) September 2015 order rejecting Pfizer's representation to extend the expiry period of its medicine to 61 months and also refusing to allow continued sale of the concerned batches of Medrol. As per DCGI, statutory period of life of medicines not specified under Schedule P of Drugs and Cosmetics Act and its rules should not exceed 60 months while Medrol's packaging shows an expiry period of 61 months. The authority was of the view that since the company was found to be non-compliant of statutory provisions, it cannot, thereafter, seek the reliefs of extension of expiry period or permission for continued sale of batches concerned of Medrol. It had also said in its September 2015 order that since Pfizer was found to be importing and marketing the product in violation of the Act and Rules, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) may initiate legal proceedings against the company. As per Pfizer, it had shown data indicating that Medrol was stable for 62 months, but this was not considered by the authority. The pharma major had also said Medrol was a fast moving medicine and therefore, the possibility of it being in the market close to its expiry date is inequitable, but this too was rejected by DCGI. Police have opened fire to disperse dozens of Aden residents protesting power cuts in Yemen's second city, killing one, a local government official said today. "A resident was killed and others were wounded" by police gunfire during the late Saturday protests, said the official who requested anonymity. Dozens of people took to the streets in several Aden neighbourhoods protesting a lack of electricity supply as temperatures soared to almost 40 degrees Celsius in the coastal city. Residents blocked roads, erected barricades and set tyres ablaze, prompting police intervention, witnesses said. Most of the city's electricity installations were destroyed during fighting between pro-government forces and Iran-backed rebels last year. The rebels who seized Sanaa in September 2014, expanded south and entered Aden in March last year, but loyalists backed by a Saudi-led coalition pushed them out in July. President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government has so far failed to restore security and power supply in the city that it declared a temporary capital. "Our life is a real disaster," said 20-year-old Aden resident Mohammed Abdulhakim. "We are unable to sleep" because of the heat. "The war has destroyed everything and the aid arriving in Aden is not enough to restore power," he complained. The United Arab Emirates, which plays a key role in the pro-government coalition, has sent generators to Aden in recent months to help restore power supply in the city. Yemen's Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher on Wednesday accused the Huthi rebels and their allies of bringing the country's economy to the brink of collapse. Fighting has killed more than 6,400 people, displaced about 2.8 million and left 82 per cent of Yemen's population in need of aid, the United Nations says. A 21-year old youth, allegedly involved in several crimes in various places in Ganjam district, was arrested after an encounter with the police at Jhagadei on Aska-Bhanjanagara Road, the police said today. A mouser, a country-made gun, three lives ammunition, Rs 10,000 cash and a motorcycle were seized from him after he was arrested yesterday, Ganjam SP Asish Singh said. His accomplice, however, escaped from the spot during the exchange of fire, police said Sustaining bullet injuries in his right leg, the accused, Chaka is undergoing treatment at MKCG Medical College and Hospital here. His condition is stated to be out of danger, they said. The novelty of the boil water notice wore off some time ago. Now there's just grim resolve to see this thing through. When the city of Corpus Christi first declared, yet again, that it was issuing a boil water notice it was occasion for cheeky Friday the 13th jokes. It's just an excuse to drink more beer, I joked. Or, if you will, more chocolate milk. It was small comfort that no deadly E. coli had been found, but still it had found that the level of disinfectant in the city's water supply had dropped below safe levels. Residents made a rush for bottled water. Having experienced boil water notices last July and then again in September, residents know the drill. Boil the water. Use bleach. Tape the windows. No, wait, that's a different emergency. With last weekend's rainstorms, the boil water notice went on, but surely it had to end by early in the week, right? On Tuesday, Ron Olson, city manager since March 2011, resigned, saying he had to be accountable for the occurrence of the third water boil notice in 10 months. But still the water boil notice went on. Late in the week, buying a 32-bottle package of "imported" water seemed a pretty paltry response compared to the unknown days ahead of questionable water. On Wednesday, city officials held a news conference with grim-faced City Council members and Mayor Nelda Martinez in attendance. Deputy City Manager Margie Rose said the city was taking "full responsibility" for the failure of the city water system, a conclusion most residents had long since arrived at. Rose said the city was committed to winning back the "confidence" of the residents. With the city still struggling with its long-running street maintenance crisis, at the moment winning back the "confidence" of Corpus Christi residents seems like a mighty tall order. The week's rains, including that about 11-inch monsoon last weekend, has no connection to the water boil notice. Still, the flooded streets and bridges seemed like more municipal scourging for sins unknown. Must the corner of Kostoryz Road and S. Padre Island Drive flood with every half-inch of rain? I walked up to the door of one local restaurant for lunch and, like others, found myself reading a notice posted on the door. No, it was not the menu, but the list of things not available because of the city emergency. No fountain drinks. No tea. No water, of course. And no coffee. No coffee? Really? OK, this whole thing was getting serious. Corpus Christi even with its regular morning coffee has its issues but a city without its caffeine could be downright ugly. Despite days of testing, investigating and more testing, determining just what the problem is hasn't come easy. The fallback strategy is the "nuclear option." That is, hitting the water system with a heavy dose of pure chlorine. The good part: the system will be rid of those questionable bacteria that keeping showing up. The bad part: the water will stink. OK, maybe not stink, but have a very pungent chlorine odor. And it won't be quick. City officials say, even then, it could take into the coming week before the system passes the required tests. So we are looking at more days of boiling water, more cases of bottled water and more exasperation with City Hall. Don't tell us anymore how you will solve the problem; tell us how you will avoid the problem. One of the hallmarks of a modern city is a system for delivering clean water. We expect the toilets to flush and the lights to come on when we flick the switch. Lately, all of that has come into much question in our part of the world. As I said, some of the problems are associated with the week's stormy weather which caused a city wastewater plant to overflow, drains to be overtaxed and power lines to come down. But at this point, don't ask the average Corpus Christi resident to be too discerning in his complaints. The place is going to hell in a hand basket, OK? At some point, the city's water will be returned to its usual safety-standard level. Given the events of the last 10 months, whether simply returning to normal is enough to remove the question mark over the water supply is itself a question. Nick Jimenez has worked as a reporter, city editor and editorial page editor for more than 40 years in Corpus Christi. He is currently the editorial page editor emeritus for the Caller-Times. His commentary column appears on Wednesdays and Sundays. So much has happened in the world, the state, the city and the neighborhood lately to keep an opinion editor busy. I even learned another new word: Daedalean. The previous week's word was "oof," an exclamatory sound word I wouldn't have learned had I not ignorantly committed an oof by misusing transgender terminology. "Daedalean" came to my attention courtesy of Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett, who wrote the majority opinion explaining the gutless decision to weasel out of finding the public school finance system unconstitutional. "Daedalean" means overly complex. It's an ironic word because using it is Daedalean. It's ironic, also, because thanks to the court's ruling and the Legislature's lack of commitment to public education, future generations won't know "Daedalean," much less how to spell it, which is a shame. I never encountered "oof" or "Daedalean" in school but at least my public school and state university education was good enough that I knew what both words meant just from how they were used in sentences. Here, try it: "Texas's more than five million schoolchildren deserve better than serial litigation over an increasingly Daedalean 'system.'" See? It doesn't take private schooling to know what Willett meant by "Daedalean" or that he was passing the buck. The children, because they deserve better, will get worse, thanks to the court's decision that they deserve better than the court's protection. How's that for irony? While I didn't really need to look up "Daedalean," I'm glad I did because I learned its origin Daedalus, the Athenian architect and labyrinth designer who made wings for himself and his son Icarus so they could escape Crete. Now for a Daedalean segue: For all that happened last week that's wrong with the world Donald Trump, Texas public education, the Texas Republican platform, Corpus Christi's water problem, City Manager Ron Olson's resignation, Donald Trump the event that weighed most heavily on me was the death Tuesday of a philosopher-poet who'd have fit in just fine with the best of the ancient Greeks Guy Clark. I learned on Twitter early that morning of the passing of Clark, one of the Texas musicians who made country cool in the 1970s by scraping off its gaudy rhinestones. Two of Jerry Jeff Walker's best songs, "L.A. Freeway" and "Desperados Waiting for a Train," are Guy Clark songs. My thoughts turned immediately to his first cousin, Mary Lee Grant, a former Caller-Times reporter, now a lecturer at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. She and I had talked about him a lot, and she had told me several times in recent years of his failing health. I texted her a brief condolence: "Just saw a tweet. So sorry to hear." "Hear what?" she replied. "Oh my gosh," I replied, "your famous cousin died. Please tell me you already heard." She hadn't. She had been asleep with her phone off and had missed a call from Clark's sister Jan. But it turned out Mary Lee was grateful to have heard it from me rather than on the radio or from Facebook. We ended up having a long chat. Mary Lee, at my invitation, wrote a nice tribute to her cousin for Friday's Caller-Times. I used to say that I got to see Guy Clark once. From now on I'll say that I got to see him only once. The venue was a small place in Austin near the University, the Capitol Oyster Bar. I'm glad it was a small place. About a dozen years ago I wrote a song that Mary Lee liked and by that I don't mean Facebook-liked. This was before Facebook changed the definition of "like." She had hoped to coax her cousin into hearing and evaluating the song. It was unlikely to happen, and didn't. He was known to be a mentor to aspiring songwriters in a brutal, unforgiving way that helped them discover the best in themselves. I would have relished that. But the people who earned his attention were the kind who'd walk the soles off their shoes to get it, not people like me who don't give up their day jobs. From what I've read about him and why he didn't achieve Willie Nelson-like fame, much of the criticism was about his voice. I loved his voice as much as his lyrics and melodies. Even in his youth, his voice sounded old. And wise. It was a voice that unlocked life's Daedalean intricacies without having to get all Daedalean about it. Contact Tom Whitehurst Jr. at tom.whitehurst@caller.com or 361-886-3619. Join him on Twitter @WhitehurstJr. Contributed photo Beach Gal Bared Yoga will host donation-based yoga classes at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Texas Surf Museum, 309 N. Water St. SHARE SUNDAY YOGA: Beach Gal Bared Yoga will host donation-based yoga classes at 3 p.m. at the Texas Surf Museum, 309 N. Water St. Participants are asked to bring their own yoga mat. Proceeds benefit the Texas Surf Museum. Cost: donations. Information: www.beachgalbared.com/yoga. PERFORMING ARTS: The Rialto Theater will host "Red Velvet Cake Wars" at 2 p.m. at 327 S. Commercial St., Aransas Pass. Cost: $15, regular tickets; $80, reserve premium tables for four. Information: www.rialtotheater.tix.com. ART: The Art Museum of South Texas will host a member's preview reception to view the Dr. Clotilde P. Garcia Spanish Colonial Gallery from 5:30-7 p.m. at 1902 N. Shoreline Blvd. Information: www.artmuseumofsouthtexas.org. DANCE: The Moravian Hall, 5601 Kostoryz Road, will host a dance from 4-7:30 p.m. with music by San Antonio Combo Band. Cost: $8. Information: 361-816-7847. SHARE Farenthold Cuellar By Chris Ramirez of the Caller-Times A pair of South Texas congressmen are coming to the aid of the Port of Corpus Christi in Washington, D.C. U.S. Reps. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, and Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, together worked on language that will be included in the Fiscal Year 2017 House Energy & Water Appropriations Bill. Farenthold said the port's plans to both deepen and widen the channel have taken on special urgency since the December repeal of the decades-old ban on crude oil exports. Shoring up its infrastructure will strengthen its position as a key player in the U.S. economy, particularly in energy, he said. "Having deep water access is vital to ensuring our nation remains globally competitive," said John P. LaRue, the port's executive director. Years before the Eagle Ford Shale energy play became the Coastal Bend's chief economic driver, port officials had long wanted to perform a variety of improvements on the ship channel. Among them is widening the channel to 530 feet from Port Aransas to the Harbor Bridge. Some choke points in the channel are just 400 feet wide. Other plans include deepening the ship channel to 52 feet from its current depth of 45 feet. The language crafted by Farenthold and Cuellar specifically addresses the issue of "new starts" in projects approved by the Army Corps of Engineers. At issue is whether recent plans to begin widening and deepening the channel constitute a "new start" under the Army Corps' terms. Classifying it as a new start would require the project to re-enter a competitive process with other similar projects for funding. In 2007, the port received congressional authorization to begin upgrades that would allow it to better compete in the national and global economies. The Army Corps of Engineers has asserted that because the widening and deepening of the channel are "separable" parts of the port upgrades, they can be considered "new starts." In February, the port's channel improvement plan was not included among the projects the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' plans to fund in 2016. A 2012 study determined Corpus Christi's port is responsible for 66,500 jobs and has an economic impact of $17.4 billion, along with a current $40 billion in new construction. The language will now have to be approved by the full House and Senate before being sent to the President's desk. Some improvements in the channel already have been made. The port completed a $58 million extension of the LaQuinta Ship Channel in 2013, and deepened an extension there the next year. It also built ecosystem restoration features in 2012 that act to protect endangered species, wetlands and sea grasses for $8.5 million. Last year, a record 103.5 million tons of cargo, most of it petroleum, sailed through port waters. Total traffic in 2015 was down 11.3 percent to 7,561 vessels from 8,528 in 2014. Port officials say the trend, when measured against the uptick in cargo weight, suggests companies are using larger ships to transport their goods in and out of the Coastal Bend. Twitter: @Caller_ChrisRam SHIP AND BARGE ACTIVITY Year No. of vessels 2016* 1,651 2015 7,561 2014 8,528 2013 6,870 2012 6,082 2011 5,413 2010 5,768 2009 5,160 2008 6,032 2007 6,744 2006 6,633 2005 7,335 TONNAGE OF COMMODITIES Year Tonnage 2016* 23,383,068 2015 103,478,088 2014 100,588,014 2013 88,891,604 2012 78,806,189 2011 80,310,217 2010 82,194,297 2009 76,519,648 2008 85,859,440 2007 89,319,693 2006 86,982,833 2005 86,785,950 *From January to March Source: Port of Corpus Christi GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Water is flushed out from a hydrant Saturday, May 14, 2016, on the corner of Glenmore St. and Kentner St. in Corpus Christi. By Matt Woolbright of the Caller-Times The City Council was "embarrassed" and "disappointed" last September after the city's second boil water notice in as many months was declared. Now, eight months later and in the midst of a third boil water notice that threatens to be the longest yet, they're furious. So are residents and business owners. But which department, person or process deserves that anger and what went wrong depends on who you ask. Sunday is the 10th day of the boil water notice and city officials can't say exactly what caused the conditions that led to the latest boil water notice. The notice wasn't prompted by a harmful bacteria E. coli being found in the water like the July 2015 notice. It was a discretionary call by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that oversees public water systems. Officials from the state agency declined to comment other than a statement saying the boil notice was "needed based on the results of disinfection residual samples collected from the distribution system." An earlier statement from the agency added boil advisories are triggered when conditions cause officials to believe the drinking water quality may be compromised. Chemical conundrum There are inherent challenges the Corpus Christi system faces keeping it's disinfectant chloramine at adequate levels throughout the system. The hot climate and long distance from the treatment plant to the system's furthest reaches are two of those. If the chloramine which keeps bacterial growth at bay is depleted from the system, harmful bacteria like E. coli can grow and potentially make people and animals sick if ingested. For that reason, the state requires public water systems to keep a certain level of chloramine 0.5 milligrams per liter in the system at all times. This boil advisory was a result of low disinfectant levels not bacteria. The city's testing showed chloramine levels dropped as low as 0.2 milligrams per liter at one location. "We've been dealt with at the harshest possible level they could, instead of with what's best for our citizens," City Councilwoman Colleen McIntyre said. The city believed it would have more time to fix the "localized" issue, said Gabriel Ramirez, the city's water quality manager. "We didn't think this was going to lead to a boil water notice," he said. He added city employees had been working to stabilize the chloramine levels in at least one area for two to three weeks before the boil water notice was issued. The challenge, however, is that the disinfectant's levels dropped as a result of a chemical process called nitrification, which could be caused by a wide range of circumstances that may or may not be in the same area that's affected first, Ramirez said. "If there was a smoking gun somewhere we would have taken care of the issue already," said Bill Mahaffey, who works in the city's gas department but is assisting with the boil advisory. "It's not something where you open this up and say, 'Here's the bull's eye that caused it.'" Because nitrification requires time, heat and nitrogen, city officials have a starting point for addressing the issue. Assistant City Manager Mark Van Vleck said Tuesday the city is now planning to spend about $1 million for infrastructure at the O.N. Stevens Water Treatment Plant in Calallen that either strips or neutralizes heavy nitrogen content from raw water coming in. Since the last boil water notice, the city has also deployed crews to "loop" dead end mains, which are ends of the water system that don't allow the water to circulate. Looping the pipes keeps the water moving and reduces the risk of bacteria growing. That's why low water usage in Corpus Christi last year put the city at a heightened risk of a boil water notice, city officials said. A COSTLY FIX There's a theory that while a relatively recent phenomenon spurred this boil notice, the issue has been building for years as deferred maintenance and replacement costs rapidly outpaced investments. That's what Dan Biles, a former Corpus Christi assistant city manager who now works in Alabama, believes is afflicting his former home. "We historically have not replaced anywhere near what we need to to keep up with (the system's) life expectancy and failure rates," Biles told the Caller-Times. "You're running on a system strung together and one mistake or problem can be the downfall of the system." Biles added the city "probably" does need to spend more on replacing pipes at a faster rate, and that cost would likely have to be borne, at least in part, by the customers' utility bills. "Replacing the pipes doesn't make it invulnerable to boil notices, but it does make the system more resilient to mistakes or isolated issues," Biles said. "And it's not just a Corpus Christi issue. We as a society need to invest more in our infrastructure." In Corpus Christi, Van Vleck recently told the City Council that kind of investment is needed for about 85 percent of the 225 miles of cast iron pipes that were built between 1950 and 1959. "The one we need to address and is going to take funding and time is fixing these lines," Van Vleck said. City officials have discovered much of those pipes have badly decayed over the decades and now slow down the flow of water, which adds to the time element and aids nitrification. City officials have discovered much of those pipes have badly decayed over the decades and now slow down the flow of water. The City Council adopted a plan in May 2015 to begin replacing those, but that plan allocates $2.3 million annually. Van Vleck estimates it would cost about $60 million to make the necessary replacements. Mahaffey said the city is also looking at the elevated storage facilities to see if upgrading those entirely or adding new technology could help reduce the risk of incurring more boil water notices in the future. While the system is not particularly old by public water systems standards the average main pipe is 34 years old, said Temple Williamson, an engineering design manager for the city. Williamson added the water treatment plant is one of the largest in the state, the city does have a unique challenge. That is the geography. Water from the treatment plant can take more than a week to travel about 35 miles to Flour Bluff, and Padre Island is ten more miles away. Still, some city officials don't believe the issue can be pinned solely on the pipes or treatment plant. "We know we have infrastructure issues, but there's also operational questions we have to have answered," Mayor Nelda Martinez said at a news conference last week. A DIFFERENT APPROACH Officials from Corpus Christi's northern neighbor in San Patricio County say planning for the worst has served them well. In Portland, which uses the same raw water as Corpus Christi, Assistant City Manager Brian DeLatte said city officials would expect to be placed under a boil water notice if their chloramine residual levels dropped below the minimum threshold even once. "We try to forecast those trends so it's not getting to the point where we're getting perilously close to having too little chlorine in the water," DeLatte said. "If it starts getting below 2.5 (milligrams per liter) we start having those conversations." The City of Port Aransas buys water treated at the O.N. Stevens plant that is then transported via the Corpus Christi's distribution system and on up Mustang Island, but the tourist town has dodged the boil notice woes that have plagued its larger neighbor in recent months. That's because Port Aransas' water does not come through the older pipes that snake through Corpus Christi's neighborhoods, but instead through main transmission lines, said Mark Young, the district manager for the Nueces County Water Control and Improvement District 4, which handles the tourist town's water supply. He also said there doesn't appear to be an issue with water coming to them from the Corpus Christi treatment plant, but they still re-treat the water when it arrives. "Those are not where the problems lie," Young said of the transmission lines. "The water has adequate chloramine when we get it. It hasn't been below the (state) standard." After the September boil water notice, Corpus Christi officials hatched a plan to "burn out" the system annually with a free chlorine treatment the same process being employed now as a precaution to help stave off nitrification. The treatment is called free chlorine because it is free of ammonia. That "burn out" practice was set to begin in January next year, but that may not be soon enough if the city aims to avoid a fourth boil notice before then. Ramirez said the monochloramine disinfectant regularly used here does present the risk of nitrification, which means lower chloramine levels and barring a change in practice by the state regulators more boil water notices. To combat that, he said, the city may need to consider deploying the potent free chlorine every six months or so. A challenge city officials face with such a plan, however, is customers not happy with the regular rounds of heavy chlorine odor and taste from drinking water. Economic worries And with each day the boil notice continues concerns over the economic impact and city's reputation grow. It's too early to tell how bad the impact will be, experts at the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce and Regional Economic Development Corp. agree. They say the biggest risk created by the city's third boil water notice in 10 months isn't a direct consequence, but a dash to the destination label "The Sparkling City by the Sea" depends on for tourism. "From what we've heard, the hospitality and tourism industry has really been impacted the hardest from a financial standpoint," said Annette Medlin, the chamber's president and CEO. "But the overriding concern is if it will impact people coming back. Feedback from customers has been dissatisfaction." She added smaller businesses may be having a harder time adapting, because they're less likely to have contingency plans ready to go in situations like this. "The story's being played out all over San Antonio and Houston and when they hear, 'water boil,' they're worried," said Kaushik "Charlie" Bhakta, the general manager and vice president at Staybridge Suites. "It's not dangerous this time, but it's the perception that matters." He added guests have told his staff in the past week they will "definitely" rethink future travel plans because of the boil water notice. Iain Vasey, CEO of the Regional Economic Development Corp., said no companies have contacted his office about the water issues, but added how the city responds will play a big role in determining the indirect impact. "At this point given this is not the first of these to occur the fix and improvements to the system need to be definitive and long term to minimize any lasting economic impact," he said. Twitter: @reportermatt Robert Bowcock SHARE Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times file Water flows from a hydrant in the 200 block of Caribbean Drive on July 23, 2015. The water was being flushed so that a city worker could collect a water sample. The city was under a water boil after discovery of E. coli at two locations in Flour Bluff. Robert Bowcock By Chris Ramirez of the Caller-Times A water quality expert who has spent years working alongside environmental activist Erin Brockovich already has thoughts about what's behind Corpus Christi's latest water issues. Robert W. Bowcock, founder of Integrated Resource Management Inc., is expected to attend a special City Council meeting set for Monday. In an interview with the Caller-Times, Bowcock said, without having yet examined the city's water system, he already suspects it has suffered biofouling and nitrification. Both conditions have grown increasingly common around the state. Bowcock also criticized the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for being disconnected, and of applying a one-size-fits-all approach to regulation. "They ... try to apply ink and black and white to real-life situations," Bowcock said. "No two treatment systems are the same. They have their own soul. You have to go in and feel them out." Biofouling is the accumulation of microorganisms on wet surfaces. Nitrification occurs when excess ammonia in water allows the growth of bacteria that convert ammonia into nitrite and nitrate. He said the city should use a free chlorine treatment right away. Water officials started that treatment on Thursday. Bowcock said the strategy will rid the system of biofilm and will start to remove ammonia, a process that may take several weeks. Bowcock's Claremont, California, firm specializes on water resource development, environmental compliance and project management and providing solutions to water, wastewater and environmental issues in both the private and public sectors. His visit to the area is the result of scores of messages sent from residents to Brockovich through social media. They encouraged her to apply the same investigative skills she used to probe a utility company during a high-profile consumer civil case in the 1990s to finding the cause of water problems here. City Councilman Chad Magill spoke last week with Bowcock, who is not being compensated or receiving a contract for his visit. Magill said he was confident Bowcock would have ideas that, if implemented, could turn around the city's water issues. "I'm certainly open to those who want to help, and have the expertise, experience and knowledge," said Magill, an at-large council member. "In our situation, we just have to be." Bowcock also has served as a water utility manager for several communities in Southern California and has designed and built water treatment and distribution systems for various federal branches of government in Southeast Asia and South America. Bowcock and Brockovich have teamed up on several occasions to probe environmental problems, chiefly those involving water. He most recently delved into issues concerning water quality in Flint, Michigan. There was no immediate word on whether Brockovich would also visit Corpus Christi. Brockovich began investigating Pacific Gas & Electric in the 1990s and unearthed proof the utility giant had been poisoning the small town of Hinkley, California, by leaking toxic Chromium 6 into groundwater. Her research resulted in a lawsuit against the utility company ended with the largest toxic tort injury settlement of $333 million in damages. Twitter: @Caller_ChrisRam Joe A. Gonzalez and John Marez will face each other in a primary runoff election May 24 for the Nueces County Precinct 3 commissioner seat. SHARE By Krista M. Torralva of the Caller-Times Confusion may be driving votes in the runoff election for county commissioner Precinct 3. The race came down to Corpus Christi Independent School District board member John Marez and Nueces County jailer Joe A. Gonzalez not to be confused with the Precinct 2 commissioner with the same name. It's a winner-takes-all runoff since there are no Republican candidates. Election day is Tuesday with a handful of statewide and local runoffs for party nominations. Voters have already gotten mixed up, County Clerk Kara Sands said. Sands said voters have called her office angry and feeling tricked because they voted for Gonzalez, thinking they were casting a ballot for the current commissioner who also goes by "JAG." That Gonzalez is not up for re-election this term. Confusion has been suspected of swaying votes before, said Paul Gottemoller, a Del Mar College doctoral political science assistant professor. For example, in 1976, Don Yarbrough was elected to the Texas Supreme Court, but experts believed many voters associated him with U.S. Sen. Ralph Yarborough or former gubernatorial candidate Don Yarborough same name, different spelling. "Often people gravitate to the name that's familiar," Gottemoller said. Gonzalez's first name is Jose, but he said he's known as Joe in county government. He said he isn't capitalizing on having the same initials and credits his success to block walking and face-to-face time with potential voters. That personal interaction is crucial to both candidates' campaign strategies as they struggle to entice voters without a big ticket race on either party ballot. Early voter turnout has been low 1.8 percent of registered voters went to the polls as of Friday morning. That's likely largely because there isn't a big name or top-of-the-ballot runoff to drive people to the polls. In 2012 and 2014, about 3.7 percent of registered voters cast ballots early in each year's primary runoff. Top positions were contested both years. In 2012, a congressional runoff between Republicans David Dewhurst and Ted Cruz likely drove voters. Locally, Rose Meza Harrison and Jerry J. Trevino contended for the Democratic nomination for U.S. representative District 27. Overall turnout was 7.9 percent. In 2014, Dewhurst made another appearance running against Dan Patrick for the Republican pick for lieutenant governor. In Nueces County, a hotly contested race for judge of County Court-at-Law No. 5 between Martha Huerta Quintanilla and Melissa Madrigal drove Democrats to the polls in the runoff. About 6.1 percent overall voted in the primary runoff. With larger dollar races come more television advertisements and mail outs that remind people to vote. That has a trickle-down effect on the local races. "Further down the ballot you kind of rely on those (big races)," Sands said. Early voting turnout this year is better compared to 2008, when 1.3 percent of registered voters voted early. But only Democrats had a runoff, Sands pointed out. Still, it's lower this year than the candidates anticipated. "I knew it was going to be low, but I didn't think it was going to be this low," Gonzalez said. Both candidates have placed emphasis on garnering votes in Robstown. Robstown's Johnny S. Calderon County Building has by far been the most popular voting location in the county. "It's very much the heart of Precinct 3," Marez said. "Voter analysts always look at Robstown as to how it's going to sway the election." Twitter: @CallerKMT SHARE Joseph A Coyle Magill for emperor? Now that the last serious vestige of resistance to "The Magill Agenda" has been removed, is there any remaining opposition to his coronation? This easy, quick meal is somehow light-tasting and satisfying both at once. The trick to getting the soup's signature look is to beat the eggs well and drizzle them into the hot soup very slowly in a thin, steady stream as you stir. Prep time 20 minutes Total time 25 minutes Portion size 4 servings But Robyn Soxsmith, of the Animal Protectors Alliance, said silencers were routinely used but were only necessary to keep the killings "out-of-mind" for those on the suburban fringe. [Your Business Name] Contact Info Phone: Fax: Email: Web: CAPITOLHILLCUBANS.COM Business Overview Geographic Area Line of Business Brands We Carry Products and Services Discounts Offered Additional Information Business Hours Timezone We Accept 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. Renault may have just revived the Alpine brand after two decades, but during this time, the French rolled out some crazy models, including this Clio V6. Considered by many to be the spiritual successor to the mid-engined 5 Turbo, the Clio V1 Phase 1 was produced between 2001 and 2003, in just 1,513 units. It was based on the Clio Mk II, but it didnt share many of its components. In fact, the automaker went for a mid-engine and rear-wheel drive layout, instead of the front-engine and FWD of the standard supermini, with a 3.0-liter V6 sourced from the Laguna, fitted in place of the rear seats, which gave it access to 230 PS (227 HP), enough to propel it from naught to sixty (96 km/h) in 6.2 seconds and up to a top speed of 146 mph (235 km/h). Set to hit SilverstoneAuctions on May 28, the example listed here is chassis 403, built in June 2001 and sold new to Italy. During these 15 years, it traveled to Japan, only to end up in the UK with the vendor. It is accompanied by a letter, stating that the car is in all-original and very good condition, with nearly zero corrosion on the underside and it retains the original spare key, tool kit, book pack and tire inflator. With its odometer indicating 71,115 km (44,810 miles), its expected to fetch between 22,000 and 28,000 ($32,120-40,880). PHOTO GALLERY Its probably always sucked to be the Land Rover Discovery, getting sandwiched between two automotive icons in a celebrity lineup. The outdoorsy British brands Defender and Range Rover lines have long had more cachet. The rebranding to LR3 didnt help matters. And now the Land Rover LR4, as its known in many markets around the world, is about to set off into the SUV sunset without being remembered as the kind of 4x4s. A shame, because the LR4 is just the throwback we need to a more honest time of SUVs. It walks a fine line between being an anachronism and modern classic, a line it walks pretty carefully. And among the lookalike crossovers made to be automotive all-in-ones, the LR4 is distinctive in some of the best ways possible. Its not for mid-week Whole Foods runs, but it does charm its way into your heart. An old new world Not enough SUVs look like SUVs, and thats reason alone to be attracted to this Land Rover. Aside from the obnoxious package that mandates black wheels with this brownish-gray paint, this is what youd expect a functional SUV to look like. Few, if any, concessions have been made to sanitize its appearance for seasoned crossover shoppers. Sure, its reflected in the rather dismal national sales figures for the LR4, but the monied enclaves of the U.S. realize its the look to have if you want to make your neighbors think you take a ski weekend every time theres snow in the California mountains (about once a winter, lately). Its a similar story inside this old Rover. When you think of a big, tall SUV, you think of an interior that lets you tower over other cars, but the LR4 takes it to a new level. The chairs are just that enormous thrones that wouldnt look out of place if someone deciding on the Brexit were sitting in them. While I still have some concern recent Jaguar Land Rover products are losing their interior chops, this highly equipped LR4 is covered in just the right amount of leather and wood inside to give it a traditional British feel inside without being behind the times. Sure, the radio/navigation interface is typically outdated and for $70,000 Im starting to expect adaptive cruise control and blind-spot monitoring. But you forget about those things when theres a perfect place to rest your elbow as you look through enormous windows and feel like youre on top of the world. Its actually a special place to be. Even more impressive, however, is the packaging. The LR4 is a true seven-seater, if so equipped. But thanks to the tall roof and actual chairs, all 5-foot-10 of me would be happy to sit in the rearmost seats for a medium-length trip. Which means kids will find them comically comfortable compared to something like a BMW X5 or, er Range Rover Sport. Too bad any luggage that has to come along would be in my lap. Not that you really want to make the LR4 weigh much more than it already does. Disco, lack of inferno The charm of the Old World fades a bit when the process of driving is concerned. Dont get me wrong, this is not the Discovery of old that couldnt make it above 75 mph in stiff winds and was like a high school carnival ride when you came up to a traffic circle. Its not carlike, but the LR4 isnt the least bit scary in normal city driving. Better still, its relatively svelte dimensions make it a snap compared to many other three-row SUVs when it comes to parallel parking and narrow stalls. But the supercharged V6 that now lives under the enormous hood of the LR4 doesnt evoke the old Rover/Buick V8, nor anything particularly energetic. Thats a shame, because its roughly the same engine that was quite exuberant when powering the Jaguar XJ I drove last year. The LR4 gets up to 50 or so just fine, and with confidence. But it requires a deliberate stab of the right pedal to pass and do highway-plus speeds. Being a big box that weighs nearly three tons means youre also burning fossils at an alarming rate. Think around 15 mpg, and a small tank means going 300 miles between gas stations is optimistic, even on flat highway trips. For that kind of mileage, Id expect more fun from the engine. Of course, thats not the point of the LR4. Its supposed to go everywhere in comfort and class, and that it does. As expected, the air suspension and Terrain Response work magic to take you just about anywhere. You also appreciate the Rovers size out in the wilderness, too, as there are fewer clunking noises on lumpy surfaces than in, say, a Jeep Grand Cherokee with air suspension. The Heavy Duty Package is an extra $1,350 worth of a twin-speed transfer case and rear locking diff that is probably necessary if youre going to cross trails more than crossing parking lots. It should be standard, because they dont make many SUVs like this anymore. Tall order As transportation for a few kids and a dog, the LR4 is overkill, though. It isnt exactly a bargain basement deal when a slightly higher lease payment nets something with the Range Rover name attached. What the LR4 is, however, is a big luxury SUV that flies under the radar. It does just about everything asked of it, and has that invincible feeling few car-based models can pull off. And based on what Land Rover has been showing as the future Discovery, I think a trip to the dealer is in order if you want a Land Rover that looks like a Land Rover. Between the death of the Defender and the final LR4s rolling out of the factory soon, the end of an era is coming. I have little doubt the next LR4/Discovery/whatever will be just as capable off road, but it likely wont have the same presence or occasion as this old, tall brute. The LR4 makes me feel tall and important. Think about that and its value proposition improves considerably. Photos: Carscoops.com/Keith Moore Photos Photo: tripadvisor.ca Sun Peaks will be the tourism centre of the province this week when tourism officials gather for their annual general meeting. The Kamloops-area ski hill is playing host to the Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia's AGM and summit. The three-day event, May 24-26, will include keynote speakers such as Marsha Walden, CEO of Destination BC, and Keith Henry, chairperson and CEO of the Aboriginal Tourism Association of Canada. Tourism Minister Shirley Bond will also be there. "Tourism Sun Peaks recognizes the successful marketing efforts by the province of British Columbia, Destination BC and the Tourism Industry Association of BC that have made British Columbia the leading tourism destination in Canada, said Colin Brost, director of market development for tourism. Sun Peaks winter visits from the past season broke previous records and we are looking forward to a strong summer season, already pacing 22 per cent ahead of last year. Our tourism businesses are excited to have B.C.s tourism leaders meeting here in Sun Peaks and we appreciate industry recognition of Sun Peaks as the ideal meeting location for provincial organizations. "TIABC is ecstatic to bring its first-ever, multi-day AGM and Summit to spectacular Sun Peaks," said Walt Judas, CEO of the tourism industry association. "Along with an excellent program, delegates will find the setting inspirational and the resort's hospitality second to none." The event is the industry's only all-provincial tourism gathering of 2016. Photo: UBCO Jan Unwin (left), participates in a maker demonstration at UBCs Small Schools Think Tank. UBC Okanagan is looking for way to allow rural and small schools to remain relevant. The university's Faculty of Education recently hosted a two-day, Small School Think Tank, which brought educators together in an effort to find a way forward for rural community schools. When we look at what rural and small secondary schools offer the province, we see examples of innovation, creativity, and community partnership, said Leyton Schnellert, co-chair of the B.C. rural education advisory committee and assistant professor of education at UBCs Okanagan campus. Events like the SSTT hold the potential to affirm and strengthen powerful local practices and structures and inspire schools in B.C. to generate their own creative solutions. The think tank offered educators from around the province an opportunity to collaborate and envision a successful future for rural schools. The SSTT epitomizes the agenda of the new K to 12 curriculum, said Jan Unwin, superintendent of graduation and student transitions with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Advanced Education. Rural schools exemplify good teaching because teachers are able to form close bonds with students. Engagement is something that we would like to highlight in the new curriculum. Solutions emerging from the think tank include inviting community members into the schools to see the new ways of learning, while supporting students unique interests in grades 10, 11, and 12, so they continue to be interested in their education. Since 2002, there have been more than 250 school closures in British Columbia, many of them in rural areas. Photo: Contributed The Kelowna RCMP is requesting the publics assistance in locating a missing Kelowna resident. Sandra McLaughlan was last seen on May 19. There is nothing to indicate foul play at this time. Police are very concerned for McLaughlans health and well-being and friends and family report that it is out of character for her to be out of contact for this long. McLaughlan is 60-years-old, five foot, six inches tall and weighs 161 pounds. She has blonde hair and hazel eyes and was last seen wearing beige pants, a red shirt and glasses. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of McLaughlan is urged to contact their local police, or remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, leaving a tip online at www.crimestoppers.net or by texting your tip to CRIMES (274637) ktown. Photo: Contributed Highway 3 will be closed in both directions at Creston because of the Creston Valley Blossom Festival, this long weekend. The closure Sunday is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Monday from 10 a.m. to noon. There is an alternate route along Cook Street. Photo: The Canadian Press Justin Trudeau makes his first major push into Asia this week in Japan, where he hopes to broaden business links with a country that was once Canada's No. 2 trading partner. The prime minister will depart Sunday for his first overseas bilateral visit since taking office last fall. He will meet early in the week in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the emperor and empress as well as leaders in the automotive sector. The visit comes ahead of Trudeau's participation in the Group of Seven summit, on Thursday and Friday, in the Japanese city of Ise-Shima. But before Trudeau sits down with the powerful group of world leaders, he will try to reinvigorate Canada's trade and investment relationship with Japan. His office says it believes there is still a lot of fertile ground in Japan and sees it as a key player in a region where the Liberal government intends to expand economic ties. One of the main goals of Trudeau's visit will be to try to encourage Japanese auto industry officials to invest more and to keep the plants already in Canada. In his meeting with Abe, Trudeau's office said he plans to discuss negotiations on the countries' economic partnership agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, security co-operation, education and the Arctic, given Japan's relative proximity. The Japanese-Canadian relationship has been a smooth one, but there are still several ways it could be improved. For starters, Japan's ambassador in Ottawa notes that fewer than 15 years ago, his country was Canada's No. 2 trading partner after the United States. But Kenjiro Monji says Japan's trade position with Canada has slipped since 2002. In 2009, he said Japan had tumbled to No. 5 after being passed by China, Mexico and the United Kingdom. The value of trade between Japan and British Columbia fell by 45 per cent between 2000 and 2014, Monji added. The slide, he said, is due to nearly two decades of recession in Japan, China's economic boom and the emergence of Canadian trade deals, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement. Monji believes the bilateral trade could get a boost from a key Canadian energy source that Japan needs: liquefied natural gas. Japan, the world's biggest buyer of LNG, is hoping Canada will issue necessary environmental permits to allow companies to export it from British Columbia. B.C. Premier Christy Clark recently told The Canadian Press it's time to proceed given the approval process started more than three years ago. Photo: Contributed For Hugh Lampkin, fentanyl's surge to all but replace heroin on the Vancouver drug scene calls to mind a curious image: a rainbow. "Traditionally, heroin comes in about four different colours," said the longtime drug advocate, describing a bland palette of beiges, browns and blacks. "Well now you're seeing multiple colours, like colours of the rainbow: green and pink and orange and white. ... Right away, when you see these colours that's a pretty good indicator that it's fentanyl that you're doing." As government data tracks a spike of fentanyl across Canada, people who use illicit drugs in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside say there is virtually no heroin left on the street after it has been pushed out by the cheaper and more potent fentanyl. Martin Steward of the Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society said fentanyl's takeover is evident by how easily people are overdosing on small amounts of what is being sold as heroin, and simply by people's physical response to the drug. "I know people who use heroin and they'll inject what they normally do. And the next time they'll do exactly the same thing of what they think is heroin and they're out. Like, they're going under from it," Steward said in an interview, referring to an overdose. "They're using the same thing, the same product, but getting a different result. That's a forerunner for me to see that it's not heroin." There have been 256 fatal overdoses from illicit drugs in the first four months of this year, already more than half the 480 that occurred for all of 2015. Fentanyl's connection to those deaths has been surging at a staggering rate. The B.C. Coroners Service reported last week that the presence of fentanyl in cases of illicit drug overdose deaths rose from a third in 2015 to nearly 50 per cent so far this year. Speaking anecdotally, Lampkin said he doesn't believe anyone in Vancouver has used real heroin in more than a year and that many users don't appear to be aware of it. He's observed overdose victims needing three full vials of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone to recover, he said. "I think it's not so much as they're moving to it as a case of not having any choice," said Lampkin, who sits on the board for the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users. "The people who are controlling the supply, they're passing off what should be heroin as fentanyl because of the close proximity of the high." Vancouver police report heroin-related drug seizures and criminal charges in the city have remained relatively stable over the past five years, but Lampkin said drugs are only tested when charges are laid or usually in the event of a fatal overdose. Sgt. Darin Sheppard, who heads up a British Columbia RCMP division that investigates organized drug crime, said that while heroin is still present in the province, fentanyl is increasingly taking over the market. "It's a growing trend," he said, pegging 2014 as the first year fentanyl was noticed in a significant way. Mark Haden, a public health professor at the University of British Columbia, draws a parallel to alcohol prohibition, which he said led to stronger, more concentrated booze that was often toxic. "Dealers will always want small packages. That's the natural process of drug prohibition," he said, dismissing the war-on-drugs policy approach taken by governments as shortsighted and ineffective. There are multiple explanations offered for the rise of the dangerous opioid, centring on its low production cost and the simplicity of smuggling it across the border in its a compact, concentrated form. Jane Buxton with the Centre for Disease Control said money plays a key role in fentanyl's upward trend line. "Whoever is importing or selling drugs, they're doing it presumably for a profit and therefore if there's a substance that is easy to access and cheap, and can be sold for a great profit, that's what's going to be focused on," she said. The manufacturer of the prescription opioid OxyContin designed a tamper-resistant version of the prescription drug that becomes inert when meddled with, making it impossible to grind and snort, for example. The effectiveness in disabling OxyContin as a drug source has in turn contributed to a spike in black market opioids, Buxton said. Still, it's difficult to know exactly what is happening on the ground without effective and timely data collection, she added. Michael Parkinson of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council in Kitchener, Ont., lamented that no province, territory or the federal government gathers real-time data on opioid overdose fatalities. That is seriously hampering their ability to craft fast and effective responses to drug crises, he added. "(With) other causes of accidental death, for example influenza, we know how many people died or were hospitalized last week," said Parkinson. Alberta and B.C. now have more up-to-date numbers on fentanyl overdose deaths, he said, but other opioids aren't included. "It's an international mystery. It really is. It's scandalous," Parkinson said, pointing out that there have been 4,984 deaths in Ontario due to opioids over a 13-year period. "We get three people dropping off from anaphylaxis and it's all hands on deck," he added. "That hasn't happened with opioid overdoses." Photo: CTV NDP health critic Don Davies is questioning a decision by Health Canada, to allow a U.S. company to sell genetically-modified fish to Canadians. No label is required, according to the government body. AquaBounty Technologies Inc. is able to produce a farmed fish that grows much faster by taking DNA from a chinook salmon and a sea eel and then merging that with an Atlantic salmon. "I know that there's health concerns about this fish, said Davies. A lot of Canadians are very conscious, and increasingly so, about what they're ingesting." The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association wonders why there is no labelling requirement. "We think there's certainly going to be consumer confusion if there's a transgenic fish that's not labelled next to a fish grown in a natural way in an ocean environment, said Jeremy Dunn, executive director. The genetically-modified salmon could be available within a year. with files from CTV News Photo: Contributed Residents of Corner Brook, Newfoundland, can breathe easy after the owner of a missing three-metre boa constrictor says the snake was safely returned. Venus's owners say they found their stolen serpent in a duffel bag left in a basement at about 12 a.m. In a post on Wild World's Facebook page, the pet store owners credit an anonymous source for reuniting them with the boa. According to the post, the tipster said the reptile's captors intended to harm the snake. The boa, weighing 70 lb., was stolen from the yet-to-open pet shop overnight Thursday. The shop's owners say they "didn't use police force in this matter." On Thursday, the manager of the pet store warned the normally docile snake could be hungry and unpredictable when outside of her usual enclosure. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary confirmed on Sunday that the snake was recovered with the help of a local resident. "The police were kind of left out of this," an RNC spokesperson said. He said police received many phone calls from concerned residents, which have stopped since the snake was found. Police say the investigation into the theft is ongoing. Photo: The Canadian Press First the fire destroyed Kimberly Parson's home in Fort McMurray, Alta., and then she had to flee from an oilsands site where she worked, but the topper for the Newfoundland woman is that she can't attend her eldest son's wedding in Jamaica without her passport. The passport was one of the few belongings she had when she left her basement apartment in Fort McMurray earlier this month. Parsons says after that, she had to return to work with a company that supplies coveralls for the oil industry and she left the passport in a room in the Noralta Bighorn Lodge work camp. When the fire got too close and the site where she was working was evacuated, no one was allowed to return to the camp. Evacuation orders for many oilsands sites were lifted late Friday, but Parsons is now staying with her brother in Grande Cache and can't get back to the camp for her passport. Parsons says she's already cancelled her ticket for Jamaica anyway, and will have to make do with pictures of the wedding, which is scheduled for Tuesday in Montego Bay. "We're all supposed to be in Jamaica but it's not working out like that," Parsons said on Saturday. "It's just got me killed that I can't be there." Her younger son, who owned the home where she lived in Fort McMurray, also cancelled his ticket and is staying with her in Grande Cache. The family, which hails from Wesleyville, NL, talked about postponing the wedding due to the stress of that everyone is under, but Parsons said she thought the ceremony should go ahead. Her older son's home in downtown Fort McMurray was spared, but he and his fiancee spent over $7,000 dollars in reservations to fly to Jamaica with their two sons. "I told them if they want to go and get married to do it, this is their day." Parsons is upset she and other workers got called back to work so soon after the Fort McMurray evacuation and while the area was still in danger. The stress has added up, she said, but at least everyone is alive and safe. "It's just so much to deal with, I don't know." Story and video by Gary Moore It seems some people are not getting the message. Within minutes of Castanet arriving at a police road block, someone had been investigated for drinking and driving. "Unfortunately, we do still come across drunk drivers. For example, tonight we have already investigated one drunk driving case so far since the start of this road block. And seized a small amount of marijuana from another vehicle." Const. Jesse O'Donaghey told Castanet. As part of the National Impaired Driving Campaign (NIDC), RCMP and MADD Canada Central Okanagan volunteers teamed up at Clement on the Bernard overpass Saturday night to get impaired drivers off the road - and hand out swag to sober citizens. Carol Fazekas, past president of MADD Central Okanagan Chapter, was on hand not only to hand out goodies, but educate the public. "With the long weekend and the summer months ahead we are trying to educate people about the tragic consequences of drinking and driving. We want to ensure that as the roads and waterways become busier, that people who are planning to consume alcohol or use drugs that they plan ahead to have a safe ride home." O'Donaghey has a warning to people getting behind the wheel impaired. "The (NIDC) is ongoing all year long. Our Municipal Traffic Section, our Integrated Road Safety Unit and our Central Okanagan Traffic Services focus mainly on impaired drivers and they are great at what they do." Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, is interviewed by Editor Martin Baron at a Post event in Washington, D.C., on May 18, 2016. Bezos said Amazon is embracing the kind of technology that would make it difficult for government officials to gain access to any personal information on its devices -- even when those authorities have a warrant. (Linda Davidson / The Washington Post) Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos said Wednesday that his company is wholly aligned with Apple in its fight against government investigators who asked Apple to break its own encryption programs so they could gain access the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, California, terrorists. Bezos said his company is also embracing the kind of technology that would make it difficult for government officials to gain access to any personal information on its devices even when those authorities have a warrant. Such measures prevent device-makers from accessing their customers' data. Amazon's most popular devices include its Kindle readers and tablets, as well as the voice-controlled speaker called the Echo. Advertisement The conflict between privacy and national security is an "issue of our age" that requires greater debate, he said. "It needs to be looked at by the highest courts, by citizens and by lawmakers," said Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post, told the newspaper's executive editor, Martin Baron. The interview was part of an event on innovation at The Post's headquarters. Advertisement Earlier this year, Apple fought an FBI order that ordered the company to write software to unlock an iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook who with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people and injured 22 in San Bernardino in December 2015. The company resisted that request, saying it would irrevocably damage its ability to ensure the privacy of its customers. The ensuing debate drove a wedge between Silicon Valley and Washington, as the tech industry, already wary of government surveillance, rushed to rally behind Apple. Amazon joined Microsoft, Google and a dozen other technology firms when it filed a legal brief supporting Apple's position in March. "[The] government's order to Apple exceeds the bounds of existing law and, when applied more broadly, will harm Americans' security in the long run," the filing said. On Thursday, Bezos said, the issue should be decided by the highest courts in the land or a new law passed by Congress. "We are totally like-minded with Apple on that issue," he said. But Bezos said he was not overly concerned that the U.S. government would pass laws to compel companies to turn over information to law enforcement because of public opinion. When it comes to foreign governments ordering companies to hand over personal data, he said, "all bets are off." With its forays into the smart appliance world, particularly with its voice-activated Echo speaker, Amazon's own data collection could potentially provide useful information for law enforcement. The device is always listening for its trigger word "Alexa," in this case. Bezos encouraged people to reverse-engineer Amazon's devices to ensure that the company is adhering to its own privacy policies, which promises not to violate users' privacy and not use that information for advertising or surveillance. But he also said that he doesn't have an answer for how firms can create connected technologies that aren't vulnerable to hacking. Advertisement So, Baron asked, is it possible for a connected society to ever be fully secure? "I don't know the answer to that," Bezos said. "The technical capability is there to turn any phone into a listening device surreptitiously. " Bezos said the company "works very hard" at trying to make the company's processes secure against nation-state and other hackers. Yet Amazon itself has faced questions about its decisions regarding encryption and its commitment to consumer privacy. NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden once called the firm "morally irresponsible" for not routinely encrypting shoppers' browsing information on its website. The company faced criticism in March after security researchers noticed it had quietly removed encryption from its Fire operating system for its tablets and other smart devices. Amazon later reversed its decision. Last week, Gizmodo reported that it filed a Freedom of Information request with the FBI specifically asking whether the agency had ever wiretapped Amazon's smart speaker for wiretapping purposes. The answer? "[The] FBI neither confirms nor denies the existence of any records," the agency's response said. Build it and they will come. But will they like it? Advertisement "It" is "Magnificent Coloring World," one of four events held in Chicago on Saturday by Chance the Rapper, Chicago's hometown hip-hop hero whose latest gospel-rap mixtape "Coloring Book" has the masses singing its praises. And "they" are Chance's loyal, day-one "10 Day" fans, who flocked to his website to purchase the unknown. Where would it be? TBD. What? It's a surprise! Why? Because Chance, an artist who has based his business model on selling everything but music, can. Advertisement A Reddit user got to the point: "I just payed (sic) $85 for two tickets and I have no idea what the (expletive) this is. Channo save me." Chance's Twitter teased on Wednesday: "not what you think." OK, so, a giant coloring book party? A communal viewing of "Space Jam"? Chance hologram? Kanye? Chano save us. An email arrived Friday afternoon: "Chance is excited to welcome you into his world on Saturday." A second email followed warning that revealing the meeting location, the Pulaski International School of Chicago at 2230 W. McLean Ave., would result in revoked admission. Would we be kidnapped? HAHAHAHA #magnificentcoloringworld TODAY Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) May 21, 2016 At the 2 p.m., "All Ages Experience #1," a long line formed outside the promised yellow school buses, nine total, to transport around 600 passengers. In front of us, a daughter who brought her mom said she drove all the way from Ohio. "It's like Willy Wonka right now," a young fan said to the duo. Advertisement The buses took off 20 minutes after 2 p.m. and with every turn, heads raised higher. The bus finally entered a lot with warehouses to the left. Another narrow turn opened up into a parking area with an industrial building lined by porta-potties. This is it? After more waiting, with anxious mumbles rising from the crowd, a door opened into a dimly lit warehouse. But in the corner there was a ... shrub? And the ground was AstroTurf. Then lights turned on. And then, a welcoming tune: "Are you ready ... ?" Projected on a sheet-screen was a technicolor collage: Chance dancing in a talent show, animated birds flying off into the distance, a "10 Day" Letterman, "Edward Scissorhands" and the Joker splattering paint onto museum art. And then, madness. The sheets fell down and everyone plunged forward into what was, at first look, a magnificent, overwhelming world. Coloring books and magic markers were spread out on picnic tables. Buckets of ice, filled with Kiwi Mistics (no Flaming Hots), dotted the turf. There was a bounce house. And a blow-up slide. A long line formed for balloon animals. The "Sunday Candy" corner had stands giving out free Reese's and Fruit by the Foot. Advertisement To the right of the candy shop was a church, with a line of pews extending back to a dance-floor, white-papered cylinder. Behind was a blank wall, as wide as an oversized chalkboard, which would soon be filled with messages of praise. "Thank you 4 saving hip-hop," read a blue-scrawled message, circled over and over. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 21 Chance the Rapper performs at the Power 92 15th Anniversary Concert at the Chicago Theatre on April 8, 2016, in Chicago. (Roger Morales / Chicago Tribune) There were no rules. Just a playground. The album played through the speakers in this pop-up nostalgia club, as dancers emerged for "Juke Jam," "All Night" and a hefty footwork session in the Chance splattered-portrait area. When the album came to an end with "Blessings," the Chicago Children's Choir was ushered out of a curtain behind the church and added on to the album with a final a cappella chorus. And that was it. The crowd exited and after word of the buses running late surfaced, a mass exodus began. In the crowd of those of us who stuck around for the buses, a halfhearted chant popped up: "We want Chance." A blow-up balloon popped. Advertisement "I wish I could've seen him," said a fan who drove eight hours for the experience, "but it seemed to deliver the message he was going for." "At first I thought it was gonna be cool, but right now I think it's (expletive) stupid," said a DePaul student. "We paid $40, and we were expecting Chance to come out at the end." "I felt blessed," countered a person who came from the suburbs. And according to reports, Chance did make appearances at the subsequent events, masquerading in a Benny the Bull costume. Too bad for the first adventurers. So now, aside from being a Kanye prodigy, busing summer-camp kids to Chicago museums, hosting monthly open-mic events and raising money to buy coats for the homeless, Chance can add immersive-experience creator to his resume. It was up to each "Magnificent Coloring World"-goer to fill in the blanks. RELATED STORIES: Advertisement Chance the Rapper is hosting some thing, some where Chance the Rapper makes freedom sing on 'Coloring Book' Chance the Rapper's 'Coloring Book' released Watch behind-the-scenes footage of Chance the Rapper's 'Angels' video Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 126 Woody introduces the gang to a homemade spork toy with self-esteem issues in "Toy Story 4." Read the review. (Pixar / AP) Either way, though, it would have helped to have the facades of realistic residences on Collette Pollard's set, instead of the cupolalike structures that bugged me all night for they killed a lot of the gags, because you don't buy that they actually have interiors. Newell has his actors form the band in the show (the original production had an actual band). That was no doubt partly a financial decision, and it allows multi-talents like Hellman and the ensemble member Elisa Carlson to show off their musical prowess. But it also lowers the stakes whenever the actors chill out and step out of the action and, it often seems, their roles to pick up an instrument. That's never ideal for farce, which requires events to be unfolding mostly in a state of blind panic. But private contractors staff a tiny fraction of the nation's more than 450 airports. Outside of San Francisco and Kansas City, Mo., airports that use private security are small such as the facility in Jackson Hole, Wyo. It is not clear that having multiple airports privatize would fix TSA-related issues, since the TSA still runs the system, approves the contractors, makes the rules, and writes the checks from the same limited pot of federal money. Over the past year, the Aurora Historical Society has worked to put together a collection of approximately 150 artifacts from World War II. A new exhibit displaying them opened Sunday at the David and Karen Stover Visitors Center in Phillips Park. (David Sharos / The Beacon-News) Aurora's Veterans Advisory Council believes more days should be dedicated to recognizing the contribution of veterans. The council organized the first Aurora Vets Week, which began Sunday with a wreath laying ceremony at the World War II monument in Phillips Park followed by the opening of a new World War II exhibit on display at the park's David and Karen Stover Visitors Center. Advertisement Members of the Aurora Historical Society unveiled a display of about 150 artifacts, photographs, uniforms and other items culled from their collection of World War II memorabilia. Mary Clark Ormond, president of the society, said the idea for the exhibit began more than a year ago, and many months were needed to put it together in time for Memorial Day. Advertisement "Our goal was to create a mini museum inside the visitor center, which would be open beginning (Sunday) until later this year on November 11 Veteran's Day," Ormond said. "At this point, we'll see how it goes. The exhibit might have longer legs than that." User Upload Caption: Over the past year, the Aurora Historical Society has worked to put together a collection of approximately 150 artifacts from World War II. A new exhibit displaying them opened Sunday at the David and Karen Stover Visitors Center in Phillips Park. (David Sharos / The Beacon-News) Ormond said the idea came from members of the Walter E. Truemper family, who lent the highlight of the exhibit Truemper's Medal of Honor. "He was the only Aurora recipient of this award, and the surviving relatives gave it to us on loan for the exhibit," Ormond said. "We added things from our own collection, including uniforms, luggage, a telephone and radio, bullets, blown up newspaper clippings and other artifacts." John Jaros, the executive director of the historical society, said the unveiling was about waiting for the right time. "We didn't want to open the exhibit in the middle of March or something we wanted it to begin when it meant something, which is why we waited closer to Memorial Day," Jaros said. "We're happy with the way it turned out and feel it is a really good representation of what people did, both those in the service as well as those on the home front." A tdozen World War II veterans were invited to the event, which amazed Joe Toma, Aurora Veterans Advisory Council chairman. "These men are all in their 90s, and each has a story to tell," Toma said. "When was the last time you saw a dozen World War II vets all together in the same place? I'm sure seeing what's here, they'll have tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces. We always talk about Korea or Vietnam, but this was the 'quiet generation,' they never talk about what they did." Mary Clark Ormond, president of the Aurora Historical Society, welcomes guests to the new World War II museum exhibit that opened Sunday at the David and Karen Stover Visitors Center in Phillips Park. (David Sharos / The Beacon-News) At least 75 people came to the ribbon cutting and new exhibit, including Aurora resident Brendan Whitson, who said he visits the veteran's memorial at Phillips Park every week. Advertisement "My mom used to live near here and would come out in 1941 and '42, and it's a beautiful place," Whitson said. "Having this World War II museum is great. Every time I see someone who was in the service I thank them, and we are losing so many of these people every day. We need to teach the young what this is all about." One of the veterans who came Sunday was 90-year-old North Aurora resident Dick Williams, who served in the Navy with the Pacific fleet for three years during World War II. He called the idea for the memorial 'beautiful." "I don't hear well, and I'm nearly blind, so I can't really comment on the displays, but I think this was a great idea and is long overdue," Williams said. "If people don't remember what all of us did back then it won't amount to anything." U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, attended the ceremonies and said "the contributions of the greatest generation are seldom matched in history." World War II veterans lay wreaths at the veterans memorial Sunday before visiting the newly opened World War II museum exhibit that was unveiled at Phillips Park in Aurora. (David Sharos / The Beacon-News) "It's wonderful to see people of all ages turn out only to remember what they did," Foster said. The weeklong ceremonies will also include a picnic for vets, a concert and a 5K run, Jaros said. Advertisement "People don't think enough about vets and those that have helped protect our freedom," he said. "Once or twice during the year on holidays isn't enough." David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News Waukegan artist Tom Pedersen puts some finishing touches on a mural with the help of volunteer Gerardo Gordillo, 20, of Waukegan. (By Frank Abderholden / Lake County News-Sun) The 160-foot "Waukegan Express" mural at the city's municipal parking lot has been completed. The mural, on a wall just south of the Genesee Theatre, features silhouettes of two trains, a specialty of artist Tom Pedersen. Advertisement City spokesman David Motley said he knew Pedersen was the right artist to paint the mural as soon as he saw his business card, which featured a train. "It was kind of a kismet," Motley said. "We've always eye-balled that wall as a place for a mural, but there were height limitations." Advertisement Motley said after he received the business card he said, "Oh my God, trains! That's it!" That card started a year-long process that included a donation of paint secured from a nearby Ace Hardware and a 10-foot long sketch Pedersen created that American Outfitters scanned into a computer so the image could be projected onto the wall and traced. Artist Tom Pedersen's Waukegan Express at the municipal parking lot on Sheridan Road just south of the Genesee Theater building (By Frank Abderholden / Lake County News-Sun) Pedersen, the public works department and dozens of volunteers then spent about five days painting the mural. Waukegan graphic artist Gerardo Gordillo, 20, was one of those volunteers. "I really didn't know what to expect, (the space) could be filled with anything, but this was OK by me," Gordillo said. He added that his alderman suggested he volunteer so he grabbed some friends to help. Now he says he is hooked on murals and wants to do one himself. "I have some of my own ideas going on," Gordillo said Friday as they put the finishing touches on the art installation. Motley said it is important the community feels like it owns the artwork. Advertisement "It's a great way to show off the community's creativity," Motley said. He noted several other murals in the city, including one around the corner on the side of the La Opera restaurant that faces the Genesee Theatre. Waukegan Artist Tom Pedersen decided to make a tribute to author Ray Bradbury by putting 451 as the locomotive's number, referencing Bradbury's book Fahrenheit 451. (By Frank Abderholden / Lake County News-Sun) Pedersen said his work includes lots of trains, "but I had to have a design that was simple and would have an impact. I designed it so you could see what it was from 50 yards away." "It's a universal image, everyone will recognize it's a train," Pedersen said. "I drew up the sketch and they liked it." Pedersen, who recently moved to Waukegan, said he enjoys the other murals around the city. He said he was walking down Sheridan Road when he noticed the wall and thought, "that would look a lot better with a mural." As a tribute to Waukegan author Ray Bradbury, Pedersen numbered the old engine 451 in honor of Bradbury's book Fahrenheit 451. Advertisement "We've had a lot of honking," he said of passers-bye who liked what they saw. But not everyone notices. "There are three ladies that power walk every morning, and they never look up," Pedersen said. "One of these days they are going to look up and say, 'Where did that come from?'" Lorenzo Vaglient, owner of nearby jewelry store Horsefeathrs, said it is "better to see murals than empty walls." Artist Tom Pedersen, of Waukegan, puts some finishing touches on the Waukegan Express mural. (By Frank Abderholden / Lake County News-Sun) "It's beautiful. It's going to add something to the (municipal) parking lot, and everyone passing by it's going to catch their attention," Vaglient said. Billy McCaffrey, who is converting a space at 119 Genesee Street into a cigar lounge, added, "this is something great to see. We need more of this in Waukegan." Advertisement fabderholden@tribpub.com Twitter @abderholden The Portage Township School Board is expected to vote to adopt elementary and middle school math and high school social studies programs and resources when the group meets Thursday. The board will have to decide how much they'll pay for the programs and how long they will last, but their decisions will follow a months-long search led by administrators but driven by teachers. Advertisement "It was an excellent experience, because I enjoyed working with the other colleagues and doing all the research and going to the math caravans," said 41-year first-grade teacher Diane Zuick, of Myers Elementary, after a meeting when the board considered the adoptions. "We just believe we're doing what we believe in, and we wanted to kind of be present and see and hopefully be part of the decision making," added Carrie Biggs, a fourth-grade teacher at Aylesworth Elementary. Advertisement The board also will have to deal with some wild cards, namely the chances the Indiana Board of Education and the State Department of Education will change state standards. Historically, the state DOE set educational standards and provided a list of vendors and resources school districts could adopt for six-year cycles, said Assistant Superintendent Debra Dudek. Two years ago, the state dropped that process, giving school districts control over the programs they use to reach state standards. Beginning last November, one representative from each grade level at each elementary and middle school formed a math committee to consider educational resources, digital and more traditional text books and materials, their students will use over the next three or six years. Another committee made of teachers and administrators began studying the next social studies adoption for the two middle schools and Portage High School. The committee changed depending on which subject they were studying, because social studies is a broad, umbrella term, Dudek said. "When we narrowed it down, and it took a lot of work, and we got our colleagues at the schools involved and told them our findings, we talked about it," she said. "We stayed after school, asked questions. It was very collaborative." Through Dudek, the committees pitched their findings to the board for discussion at a packed school board meeting at Ethel Jones Elementary last week. The committees studied what kinds of how much technology will be used for each subject and grade level, with the groups agreeing a "blended" approach, using high-tech and traditional books and hard copies, will be the best approaches, depending on the grade levels and availability of tablet computers and other technologies. Advertisement Much of the discussion at the recent board meeting focused on which length of time for the math adoption the board will choose, either the three-year or the six-year cycle. Several board members leaned toward the shorter time cycle, claiming it's unclear if and when the state may change state standards and what effect such a change may have on the programs the local board chooses. The state DOE "is kind of screwed up right now, so that makes it a tough decision," said Board President Andy Maletta. "I'm not in favor of switching up the curriculum in three years," said board member Deb Ekhahl, a Hammond public schools teacher. "Let's support our teachers." Michael Gonzalez is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. Anyone can use a cellphone to chat with someone else in the country or, for that matter, anywhere in the world. And anyone can use the Internet for the same purpose. However, not everyone can use an amateur radio better known as a "ham" radio to pull off such a feat. Advertisement This can still involve several factors, such as location of the sun, sun-spot flare-ups, bandwidth openings, severe weather, satellite positions, ionization levels, the time of day, and the propagation of atmospheric levels, among other things. This is the art, the science and the continuing fascination behind ham radio usage. Advertisement "Making a rare or difficult contact with someone, or making something work that is a challenge. It's a good adrenaline rush, just like gaming," said Tim McGillen, program chairman for the Lake County Amateur Radio Club. McGillen likens ham radio use to fishing, meaning you don't always know what, or who, you will catch. Tim McGillen, President of The Lake County Amateur Radio Club W9LJ uses an app to convert digital radio data to text. Jim Karczewski/Post-Tribune (Jim Karczewski / Chicago Tribune) "Just imagine catching the same eight-inch fish every time," he said. "After a while, it would get pretty boring. It would lose its challenge. The same goes with using a cellphone or Internet compared to using a ham radio to reel in someone else. It's the challenge of it all." "Some of it is pure luck, some of it is pure science," he added. This may help explain why ham radio operators continue to connect with each other using what outsiders may view as outdated, even unnecessary equipment in our ever-evolving, high-tech digital age. This also may explain why veteran ham radio operators like McGillen, who received his first ham radio license at 13, are looking for new, younger members in his club. "We realize that we need younger members to keep our club going, like many service groups in our region that have dwindling numbers," said McGillen, a 62-year-old doctor of optometry from Schererville. The Lake County Amateur Radio Club has 56 members, down from more than 150 members in its heyday many years ago. Advertisement In our society, there's a certain bandwidth of interest, so to speak, that attracts ham radio operators. "Part of the reason that ham radio operators enjoy this is because all this science stuff jazzes them, like all the technical minutia," McGillen said. "Other hams simply like to build the radio equipment, whether it's a transmitter or antenna, and then see if they can use it. It's like a eureka moment." Tim McGillen, President of The Lake County Amateur Radio Club W9LJ uses a keyer to send Morse code across the world. Jim Karczewski/Post-Tribune (Jim Karczewski / Chicago Tribune) Luke Kern, 24, of Schererville, first got interested in ham radios in 2008, through a neighbor who was much older. He read about the science behind the artistry in magazines and later took a few classes for beginners, offered by McGillen. "I had nine hams in those classes," McGillen explained in ham-radio lingo. Less than a month ago, Kern took his test to earn his license from the Federal Communications Commission. His license was posted just two weeks ago, giving him clearance to begin operating. Kern describes himself as a "weather nerd" who has always enjoyed spotting and reporting storms. Becoming a ham has helped his efforts to do so. Advertisement "We can be the eyes and ears on the ground for the National Weather Service," he said. Like other hams I spoke with, he is looking forward to connecting with others around the world, as well as with orbiting satellites and the International Space Station. And if a natural disaster hits our area, or we lose power, he can still communicate with emergency response officials. "There are many reasons to get into ham radios," Kern said. Amateur radio is defined by the frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchanges of messages, whether it's for sport, recreation or emergencies. According to Amateur Radio Relay League, the national association for amateur radio, these certain frequencies have been designated for amateur use by the FCC. Anyone with a radio receiver or scanner can listen to ham radio communications, but only an operator licensed by the FCC can transmit the signals. "Ham transmission is usually two-way or with groups of people using a transceiver, meaning that two or more hams talk to each other instead of everyone listening to a single ham's broadcast," the ARRL website states. Advertisement Nationally, there are roughly 800,000 licensed ham radio operators, whose numbers have fluctuated through the decades. The amateur radio industry began in the early 20th century to promote international friendship. A century later, it's still doing this. "We are a diverse lot," McGillen said. "Public emergency service, ham radio builders, experimenters, contesters, analog, digital, amateur TV, bouncing signals off the moon, and 52 ham radio satellites so far." Every ham radio operator must be licensed by the FCC, and then assigned a call sign, or ID. McGillen's is N9CA, which he once used as his personal license plate number. At a stoplight one day, McGillen got aggravated by a bus driver behind him who kept honking his horn. It was only after McGillen turned the corner when he figured out the bus driver was honking his call sign in Morse code. "It took me a second, but I finally figured it out," McGillen said. There are three basic classifications for ham radio operators technician license, general license and amateur extra license each allowing more perks and bandwidth strength. Advertisement "It can very overwhelming to outsiders and beginners," admitted McGillen, whose been licensed for nearly a half century. "Each time I become passionate about the hobby, I am stunned by all the new developments." He noted the comparison to younger generations of Americans playing online video games with other players around the world. "I think there is a parallel, but Sony and Microsoft have spent a lot of money to draw attention to themselves," he said. "Ham radio, not so much." Still, all of us have a natural instinct to connect with each other in some form or fashion. Ham radios still serve this purpose, turning strangers into friends, with help from the Lake County club, in addition to the Porter County Amateur Radio Club, and the LaPorte County Amateur Radio Club. Each club welcomes members from across Northwest Indiana. Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday > The Lake County club was incorporated in 1952, and is an ARRL affiliated organization. Its official mission is to provide emergency and public service communications while providing amateur radio operator mentoring and testing. Oh, and why is amateur radio called ham radio? No one knows for sure, but McGillen says the best theory is that Morse code keys were once punched out quickly and sharply. Advertisement "The users had to be ham-fisted to tap out their messages," he said. jdavich@post-trib.com Twitter @jdavich For more info For more info or to join the Lake County Amateur Radio Club, which meets every second Friday of each month, visit www.W9LJ.org. For more info on the industry, visit www.arrl.org or www.AMSAT.org. An official from Italy's motion picture association Anica has called for more co-productions between China and Italy in the film industry. Roberto Stabile, head of the International Department and Events of Anica, the umbrella organization for Italian film, audio-visual and multimedia industries, said at the ongoing 69th Cannes Film Festival that the combination of Italy's creativity and China's high technology could yield nice results. Stabile underlined the importance of China's market, both for Italy's audio-visual sector and the "made in Italy" products. However, he believed that there were challenges to enter the Chinese market as it requires great patience and professionalism. He proposed cooperation models which will bring Chinese films to shoot in Italy or make Italian movies starring Chinese actors and actresses. Such models, he believed, would help Italian movies enter the Chinese market. Stabile also wants to promote vintage Italian movies in China, saying he believed many Chinese audience were attached to some Italian film masters of the past. Scientists from China, Ireland and the United States have used a new process to separate ethylene from a gas mixture at much lower cost. Ethylene, a major raw material for plastic, rubber and paint production, must be separated from acetylene, a byproduct, in order to manufacture these products. The new separation process is considered a breakthrough, as the amount of acetylene absorbed is 5.7 times as much as the current technique, Professor Xing Huabin, a member of the research team from Zhejiang University, said Friday. Xing said the technique will help companies separate purer ethylene while lowering costs because of the new energy-saving separation process. The research, jointly conducted by Zhejiang University, University of Limerick of Ireland and other institutions from the United States, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia, was published in the journal Science on Thursday. Referees of the journal said the work has set a new "benchmark" for separation of the two chemicals, calling the purification capacity "exceptional." The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has labelled U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations into steel plates from countries and regions including China "imprudent" and blamed protectionism for the troubles of American steel. "The United States has recently taken a series of trade remedy measures against steel exports from other countries and regions. Such acts are imprudent and cannot help U.S. steel businesses solve their problems," the ministry said in a statement on Saturday. "After more than three decades of protection and subsidies, the United States has distorted competition in its domestic steel market, deprived local companies of motivation to increase investment or improve technology and subsequently blunted their competitive edge," it said. Against a backdrop of global slowdown and overcapacity, countries should cooperate more, follow WTO rules and promote free trade, rather than resorting to protectionism, according to the statement. China encourages its companies to respond to the U.S. investigations according to law. "We will closely watch the case and will use WTO rules to safeguard the rights and interests of Chinese companies," the ministry vowed. The United States has said in a preliminary ruling that certain carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate from 12 countries and regions including China had substantially harmed the U.S. steel industry. The move came shortly after the U.S. Commerce Department set final anti-dumping duties of 265.79 percent and anti-subsidy duties of 256.44 percent on imports of cold-rolled flat steel from China. You are here: Home The Agricultural Development Bank of China (ADBC) will lend 3 trillion yuan (about US$458 billion) to support the country's poverty relief efforts from now to 2020. By 2020, ADBC will strive to raise its balance of poverty relief loans by 2 trillion yuan, the bank's board chairman Xie Xuezhi said at a recent meeting. The loans will be extended to various areas, including relocation of people in poverty, tourism, environment, education and agricultural infrastructure. As a major policy bank in China to support agricultural and rural development, the ADBC has increased its credit support for poverty-stricken areas in recent years. At the end of 2014, China had more than 70 million people in the countryside living below the nation's poverty line. China aims to eliminate poverty by 2020 when its 13th Five-Year Plan is completed. A court in northwest China's Gansu Province has upheld a rejection of compensation claims brought by five citizens in a 2014 tap water contamination scandal involving several companies. The Intermediate People's Court of Lanzhou City, Gansu's capital, gave the verdict Friday after five citizens appealed following the ruling by a district court last November. In the written verdict, the court rejected the claims of citizens saying the company had adopted remedial measures to deal with and compensate for the pollution. Additionally, it said all citizens in Lanzhou were affected by the pollution, so it is unfair to compensate certain people. On April 11, 2014, the Lanzhou government warned residents not to drink tap water for 24 hours after benzene amounting to more than 10 times the national standard was found in the tap water. The crisis affected more than 600,000 citizens and caused panic. According to investigations, cracks were found on outdated ducts at a water plant owned by Lanzhou Veolia Water Company, a Sino-French joint venture and the sole water supplier for urban Lanzhou. Lanzhou Petrochemical's oil pipeline lies underneath the ducts. Crude oil leaks from the pipeline polluted the soil and groundwater, which seeped through the cracks in the duct and brought hazardous levels of benzene into the city's tap water. The event led to punishment of 20 government officials in Lanzhou and managerial staff of both companies. Nine citizens filed a lawsuit last November against the companies, demanding compensation of 60,000 yuan (around 9,400 U.S. dollars) for the costs including bottled water and physical examinations. The People's Court of Chengguan District overruled the compensation claims. Dissatisfied with the verdict, five of the nine plaintiffs appealed. Political pundits from the Chinese mainland have urged new Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen to clarify her stance on the 1992 Consensus and its essence that both sides belong to one and the same China, after she skirted round the issue in her inaugural speech on Friday. "The 1992 Consensus is the common political foundation reached after a series of cross-Strait communications. The nature of relations between the mainland and Taiwan is an issue that Taiwan's new leader needs to be clear on," Renmin University of China professor Huang Jiashu told Xinhua. Huang described Tsai's talking about political foundations without mentioning the 1992 Consensus as "babble." "The mainland has made it clear that many achievements in cross-Strait relations were made on the grounds of the 1992 Consensus. Without it, there's no way cross-Strait relations can get stronger," said Wu Yongping, vice head of the Institute of Taiwan Studies under Tsinghua University. Cao Xiaoheng, head of the Taiwan Economics Studies Institute of Nankai University, said "a cornerstone for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations has already been shaken with Tsai's failing to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus." According to Cao, if this cornerstone becomes loose, the regular communication mechanism between cross-Strait affairs authorities and talks between the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation will grind to a halt, and exchanges and cooperation will suffer. "Those having altered the status quo will be solely responsible for all those severe consequences," Cao warned, adding that Tsai's future words and deeds will be closely watched as they will determine the direction of the cross-Strait relationship. You are here: Home The 11th Panchen Lama, a spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, blessed thousands of pilgrims in Lhasa on Saturday by conducting a traditional "head-touching" ritual. The 11th Panchen Lama, Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, performed the ritual at his residence in downtown Lhasa. Saturday, the 15th day of the fourth month in the Tibetan calendar, is the traditional Tibetan holiday Saga Dawa, or the anniversary marking Buddha's birth. To celebrate the Saga Dawa, large crowds of devout Buddhists, holding prayer wheels, circumambulated the Potala Palace and Porgor Street, two major pilgrim routes in Lhasa's city center. Gamyang Qoizhoin, 82, heard of the ritual on her daily pilgrimage route early in the morning and stood at the front of the line waiting for a blessing. She was among the first to receive a head-touching and a portrait of the Panchen Lama. The ritual began at 10 a.m. and will last for two days. After receiving the long-awaited blessing, Doje Namgyal, 85, held the Panchen Lama's portrait above his head and whispered a long prayer before stepping back and disappearing in the crowd of pilgrims. "It was the fourth time that I have met the Panchen Lama in person," he said. "But to be blessed at the Saga Dawa is so auspicious. It's too good to be true." The Panchen Lama has traveled to most parts of Tibet Autonomous Region and blessed 1.5 million people since he was enthroned as the spiritual leader in 1995. He arrived in Lhasa on Tuesday and visited the Jokhang Temple on Thursday. The Panchen Lama serves as vice president of the Buddhist Association of China and a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body. Overseas observers and media have voiced worries over new Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen's failure in her inauguration speech on Friday to clearly acknowledge the 1992 Consensus on the one-China principle, the political cornerstone of cross-Strait relations. They called on Taiwan authorities to put the well-being of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait above all and take concrete measures to safeguard peace and stability across the Strait. In her Friday's speech, Tsai of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said she respected "the historical fact that the two institutions representing each side across the Taiwan Strait reached joint acknowledgements and common understandings in 1992 through communication and negotiations." As the mainland and Tsai's predecessor have acknowledged, the 1992 Consensus embodies the common understanding that both sides of the Taiwan Strait uphold the one-China principle. The consensus has explicitly defined the nature of cross-Strait relations. Nasser Abdel-Aal, professor of Chinese studies at Egypt's Ain Shams University, said Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. "Although a small number of countries have been fanning pro-independence sentiments in Taiwan, they cannot stop the trend of cross-Strait reunification," said the expert. He urged Taiwan's new leader to shoulder the responsibility she skirted in the speech, and acknowledge and stick to the 1992 Consensus so as to realize the stable growth of cross-Strait ties and effectively improve Taiwan's economy and people's livelihood. Bambang Suryono, president of the Jakarta-based Nanyang ASEAN Foundation, said in an article that Tsai's ambiguous attitude in her speech has turned the favorable environment for peaceful growth of cross-Strait ties into a complex and grave situation. He called on Taiwan authorities to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus, maintain policies on growing a peaceful and friendly cross-Strait relationship and be dedicated to the country's peaceful reunification. Veteran strategist and retired Indian Army Lt. General Ramesh Chopra said the Taiwan situation is crucial for stability in the Asia-Pacific and is closely related to the situation in the South China Sea. Therefore, it is very important to maintain normal political dialogue across the Strait, he said. "Any action that harms cross-Strait relations and stability in the Taiwan Strait would be detrimental." Xulio Rios, director of the Spanish Observatory of Chinese Politics, said in an article that the new Taiwan leader's failure to be clear on the nature of cross-Strait relations has sparked worries, urging Tsai to properly handle this issue. Chun Ka-lim, a Chinese affairs professor at South Korea's Hoseo University, said that Tsai's ambiguity and equivocation will have a negative impact and that she, as the new Taiwan leader and chairperson of the DPP, should clarify her stance on relevant issues. Zheng Yongnian, director of East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore, said that by skirting the 1992 Consensus, Tsai is actually leaning toward the ideology and political ideas of gradual independence. "You need to keep an eye on this," Zheng said. Russia's Tass news agency quoted observers as saying that the rise to power of the new Taiwan leader, who has been opposed to closer cross-Strait ties, will make cross-Strait relations more complicated and unpredictable. Nouvelles D'Europe, a France-based Chinese newspaper, said in an opinion piece that the 1992 Consensus has been known as the political cornerstone of cross-Strait relations and represents the essential stance and bottom line of the mainland. While there may not be a conflict or war yet, any potential "cold confrontation" would be unbearable for the island's authorities or its economy, said the newspaper. The overseas Chinese community and Chinese expatriates have also voiced their regret and worries over Tsai's inauguration address. "Her dodgy and equivocal attitude will only push the cross-Strait relations toward unstability and turbulence, which I believe neither the Chinese outside and inside China who care about the peaceful development on both sides of the Strait nor the international community would be pleased to see," said Wu Hao, secretary-general of the Association for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China in Russia. "Peace is a pre-requisite for the development of Taiwan. Without peace, all the talks of solving problems, shouldering responsibilities and undertaking reforms would be empty," Wu added. The Alliance for China's Peaceful Reunification, USA, said in a statement that the new Taiwan authorities and the DPP must make a clear pledge to all the Chinese across the world so as to renew the consensus and political foundation that both sides across the Strait belong to one China. It also urged an immediate stop of all forms of activities aimed at de-sinicization or independence of the island. Fengxiang Qiao, chairman of U.S.-China Friendship Association, said that what has happened over the past several decades shows that the cross-Strait relations have a bright future only when both sides stick to the one-China policy. So does the well-being of the people on both sides, especially that of the people on the island, he said. All pro-Taiwan independence ideas, claims and activities are devastating for the hard-earned relations of peaceful development across the Strait and bring Taiwan to a dangerous cliff, Qiao said. Ma Yue, president of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification (New York), said the 1992 Consensus is the basis of the peaceful development, communication and cooperation across the Strait, and that the many livelihood issues Tsai talked about in her speech depend on the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations. Chen Weidong, president of Australian Association for Friends of the the Huangpu Military Academy said, the essence of the 1992 Consensus is both sides across the Strait adhere to one-China policy and strive for the reunification of the motherland. Without such a political basis and political mutual trust, the peaceful development across the Strait will inevitably be affected. So will be the interests of the Taiwan people. "It will not work for the new Taiwan leader to skirt the core commitment that both sides belong to one China and instead attempt to fool the people on both sides of the Strait using the equivocal talk of 'maintaining the current status,'" Chen said. Flash Over 69.265 million Vietnamese voters nationwide are casting their votes for election of deputies to the country's parliament and members of all-level people's councils. The election, which elects deputies to the 14th National Assembly (NA) and all-level People's Councils for the 2016-2021 tenure, started at 7 a.m. local time (00:00 GMT) at 91,476 polling stations across the country on Sunday. As many as 500 deputies will be elected to the 14th NA of Vietnam out of 870 candidates. Among the figure, 339 candidates are female, accounting for 38.97 percent while 204 candidates are from ethnic minorities, making up 23.45 percent, according to the list of candidates released by the National Election Council (NEC) in late April. A total of 97 candidates are not the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) members, accounting for 11.15 percent while 168 candidates are deputies to the 13th NA. Meanwhile, Provincial People's Councils across Vietnam will have 3,918 deputies to be vied by 6,528 candidates. At the district level, as many as 24,993 out of 41,777 candidates will be elected as council members. The respective figures for the communal level are 294,055 and 497,312. The election is scheduled to last till 7 p.m.(12:00 GMT) on Sunday. The result of the election of deputies to the 14th NA will be announced within 20 days after the election, the NEC said in a press release on Friday. The first session of the 14th NA is scheduled to convene in July 2016 when the NA Standing Committee and state leaders will be re-elected. During the final session of the 13th NA, Vietnamese parliament replaced top leadership positions of the country. On March 31, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan became the country's first NA chairwoman, while Tran Dai Quang was elected the new President on April 2, and Nguyen Xuan Phuc was elected the country's new Prime Minister on April 7. Flash Myanmar military claimed on Sunday that seven armed group members of the Shan State Army (SSA) , led by Wanhai, had been captured dead in a recent fighting between the two sides. Some small arms and ammunition, wireless sets, mines , illegal assorted timber and vehicles were seized in the engagement on Friday, the military-run media Myawaddy reported Sunday. One commanding officer from the military side was also killed in action among some casualties, it said. Since May 5, the armed forces columns have carried out area consolidation operation in villages in Hsipaw and Lashio townships in Shan state as the armed group was allegedly to have encroached upon out-of-bound areas. Although the Wanhai-led SSA has participated in meetings to discuss the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA), they have not signed it yet but now reportedly encroaching upon areas close to towns, building camps in the jungle, recruiting soldiers, collecting extorting money and troubling the local populace, the report added. Flash At least 125 militiamen with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and likeminded groups have been killed by the Syrian army in the central province of Hama, state news agency SANA reported on Saturday. Those militants were killed during a military offensive near the town of Hur Binafsuh in Hama countryside, said SANA, adding that the military forces managed to break the siege imposed by the rebels on the Thermal Station of the nearby town of Zara on Saturday. During the actions, over 125 militants were killed, said SANA, adding that armored vehicles have also been destroyed. The Nusra Front and the Ahrar al-Sham have recently unleashed a broad offensive on the town of Zara south of Hama, committing a massacre against civilians of the town, who are largely adherent to the Alewite sect, to whom the ruling elite in Syria belongs. Hundreds of civilians have been killed or wounded, and tens kidnapped by the Nusra militants in Zara, which prompted the Syrian army to carry out a counter offensive to recapture the town and the Hur Binafsuh. The rebels published haunting images from the massacre in Zara, one of which showed the radical rebels stepping on the bodies of bloodied women, with blood splashed on a wall in the background. On May 14, Syria's Foreign Ministry urged the UN Security Council to condemn the massacre, saying the terror group had slaughtered women, children and the elderly without discrimination. The terrorists have viciously killed the civilians in Zara while they were asleep, it added. The ministry said the massacre will not dissuade the Syrian government from continuing to battle the terrorist groups, urging the UN Security Council to condemn the killing of civilians in Zara. Endit Flash Flood victims wait to get relief goods at a temporary relocation site in Kelaniya District, Sri Lanka, May 20, 2016. The death toll from Sri Lanka's flash floods and landslides rose to 64 on Friday as water levels in many districts continued to rise owing to heavy rains, the Disaster Management Center said. (Xinhua/Ajith Perera) The death toll from Sri Lanka's flash floods and landslides rose to 71 on Saturday, while rescue teams continued efforts to search for hundreds who were still missing across the island, the Disaster Management Center said. Sri Lanka's central Kegalle District has recorded the highest number of deaths with 39 killed when two massive landslides struck Aranayake and Bulathkohupitiya on Tuesday and Wednesday. The military said at least 141 people were still missing in Aranayake under the heavy debris and said rescue efforts would continue. "We are still trying to recover at least 141 bodies from the landslide in Aranayake. So far we have recovered 14 bodies and 12 body parts. We will continue with our rescue efforts," the officer in charge of the rescue missions, Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe told Xinhua. However, the officer said efforts were being hampered by severe rains. The landslide in Aranayake, the worst recorded in Sri Lankan history, buried three villages. Rescue officials said the numbers buried under the mud and rocks may be higher than the official figures. Rescue operations in Bulathkohupitiya ceased on Thursday when rescue teams recovered 14 bodies and parts from two bodies. The military said 16 people were missing from the landslide when it buried at least six rows of houses. At least 500,000 people have been affected by the rains to date and 200,000 have been sheltered in temporary camps which have been set up across the island. The Irrigation Department said that while water levels had receded in the Kelani River in the capital, which posed a threat if rains continue, the threat of floods still remained. The Meteorology Department in its latest weather alert said more rains are expected to continue in Sri Lanka for the next few days from a cyclonic storm which is located 1,100 km northeast of Kankasanthurai in the island's north. While the cyclonic storm - Roanu was moving further away from the island, the Meteorology Department said strong windy conditions and spells of showers would continue across the country and the coastal areas. Flash Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, theUnited States, Feb. 1, 2016. (Xinhua file photo/Yin Bogu) The U.S. National Rifle Association's (NRA's) endorsement of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump will help solidify his conservative credentials to win support from conservative Republican voters. The NRA, a powerful gun lobbying organization of American gun owners who advocate the constitutional right to bear firearms, announced their backing of the bombastic businessman on Friday. Its support comes at a time when the Republican Party (GOP) is split over Trump, a controversial candidate whose conservative credentials are questioned by establishment Republicans. Trump in the past has supported Democrats on a number of issues. "The NRA endorsement will strengthen Trump's support among conservatives. Having it will help the billionaire undermine critics who say he is not a real conservative," Brookings Institution's senior fellow Darrell West told Xinhua. "The NRA carries a lot of weight with the grassroots," West added. Indeed, having the NRA's backing will help solidify GOP rank-and-file under Trump's umbrella, as gun rights is a major concern for a number of conservatives, especially in rural areas where police may be far away and where home owners argue they need to protect themselves. Trump has in recent weeks had trouble getting many GOP leaders to back him, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, as mainstream party leaders are upset with Trump's failure to toe the line on key issues, from trade agreements to security agreements with allies such as Japan and the Republic of Korea. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, has also come out against Trump, saying the bombastic businessman is not "presidential," and contending that Trump lacks the qualities that a commander in chief and leader of the world's no. 1 economy should have. Gun violence in the U.S. has in recent years grabbed headlines nationwide and worldwide, especially such cases as the Sandy Hook shooting. The 2012 mass killing in the U.S. State of Connecticut was carried out by 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who entered an elementary school and fatally shot 20 children aged between 6 and 7 years old, as well as six adult staff members. Additionally, the U.S. has seen a number of cases of multi-victim shootings, such as a mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado in 2012. A gunman entered a movie theater and murdered 12 people, injuring 70 others, when he began shooting indiscriminately. But despite these and other incidents, gun violence has not been a major political issue during this election season. While U.S. President Barack Obama has proposed a number of gun control laws, they have not had Congressional backing, and Americans are relatively unconcerned with the issue, according to polls. One major reason for the inaction by U.S. lawmakers to curb gun rights despite the repeated tragedies caused by guns is the great lobbying power boasted by the NRA, which has more than 5 million members and is regarded as one of the top three most influential lobbying groups in Washington. Traditionally, many U.S. politicians, especially the Republicans, try hard to woo the NRA endorsement during elections. Meanwhile, likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is using the NRA's Trump endorsement to gain political points of her own by meeting with a parent of Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old African American who was shot dead in Florida in 2012 during a scuffle with George Zimmerman, an armed neighborhood guard. "(Clinton) is reacting to this by meeting with the parent of Trayvon Martin, a young man who was the victim of gun violence," West said. Clinton talked about the dangers of guns and need for tighter controls, while attacking the NRA for being out of touch about the epidemic of gun violence in America. Flash An old man makes his way through floodwaters in Kelaniya District, Sri Lanka, May 20, 2016. The death toll from Sri Lanka's flash floods and landslides rose to 64 on Friday as water levels in many districts continued to rise owing to heavy rains, the Disaster Management Center said. (Xinhua/A. Rajhitha) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday sent a message to his Sri Lankan counterpart Mangala Samaraweera, extending condolences over the flash floods and landslides hitting the island country. In the message, Wang expressed deep sympathy to the Sri Lankan government and people in the stricken area and conveyed profound condolences to the victims of the disaster. As China and Sri Lanka are traditional friendly neighbors, the Chinese people are deeply affected by the disaster sustained by the Sri Lankan people as if they have experienced it themselves, Wang said. "We believe that under the leadership of the Sri Lankan government, the people of Sri Lanka will definitely be able to overcome difficulties and the disaster," he added. Wang also expressed China's willingness to offer any assistance it can to help Sri Lanka cope with the disaster. Meanwhile, the Red Cross Society of China has donated a sum of 50,000 U.S. dollars in cash to Sri Lanka. Since Monday, at least 64 people have died from floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains, and around half a million people have been driven from home. Flash The United Nations has launched a second drive to recruit personnel in China under its Young Professionals Programme (YPP). Jobs in economic affairs as well as information and communication technology will be open to Chinese candidates under the age of 32, who are fluent in either English or French, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said in a statement. A bachelor's degree is also needed. Candidates need to apply online before July 19, and written exams are scheduled to be held in Beijing on Dec. 14, said the ministry, which will facilitate the exam. The YPP was set up in 2011 based on rounds of national recruitment exams held in China multiple times since 1995. A total of 139 candidates sat the first YPP exam for Chinese citizens in Beijing on Dec. 3, 2013. Wang Hai (L, Front), deputy commander of Chinese Navy, and Royal Thai Navy Fleet Commander Naris Prathumsuwan (R, Front) review troops during the opening ceremony for a joint military exercise in Sattahip Naval Base, Chon Buri province, Thailand, on May 21, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] SATTAHIP, Thailand - Thai and Chinese marine corps held an opening ceremony for a joint military exercise codenamed Blue Strike 2016 here on Saturday. The opening ceremony, held at Sattahip Naval Base, Chon Buri province, was presided over by Royal Thai Navy Fleet Commander Naris Prathumsuwan and Wang Hai, deputy commander of Chinese Navy. The joint exercise includes joint training at sea and on land, evacuating people from conflict-affected areas and disaster relief in counter-terrorism occasions. Wang said the drill manifests the perseverance and ability of marine corps from both countries in counter-terrorism and maintaining peace in the region and the world. Naris said the drill would help boost the long-standing relationship between Thailand and China and the exercise was aimed at increasing cooperation between the two forces by sharing practical knowledge and experiences. The military drill is the third one of its kind, following the Blue Strike 2010 and Blue Strike 2012 joint training exercises. During the opening ceremony, marines also gave performances as a way of exchange. Chinese marines presented kung fu while their Thai counterparts performed Muay Thai. Sattahip Naval Base, where the headquarters of Royal Thai Marine corps is located, is the biggest naval base in Thailand. Chinese tourists visit Tokyo's Ginza district for shopping in August, 2015. Japan is the second-most popular overseas destination. [Photo provided to China Daily] BEIJING - China's economic growth rate may have slowed down, yet its influence on the global economy is set to keep expanding, according to an HSBC report. China added the equivalent of Turkey's entire economy to global GDP in 2015, and the country is responsible for about 12 percent of total world GDP, says the report released on Thursday. China, in its transition from a manufacture-dominated economy to one driven more by domestic consumption, accounts for 30 percent of total global investment demand. Moving beyond familiar commodities, Chinese investment is pouring into a wider range of industries such as retail, property, and financial services. Chinese consumers, contributors of the yet to be enhanced domestic consumption, are getting richer, as HSBC estimates that more than two-thirds of the population will be part of the urban middle-income class -- those earning 12 U.S dollars to 50 dollars per day -- by 2025. This estimation carries rich implications. The population is not only growing in income and taste, it is, more importantly, making its weight felt around the world. Chile, for example, benefits from China's burgeoning middle class. Exports to China now account for 25 percent of total Chilean exports, compared to less than 5 percent in 2000. As another example, Chinese demand may boost South Korea's GDP by anything between 0.2 and 1.8 percentage points depending on the pace of growth in China, according to HSBC. The share of Chinese viewers in global takings for movies has recently jumped to over 10 percent for most films, compared to only 2 percent in 2007, the report says. Movies made in the United States benefited the most from this fast growing demand for films: Chinese box-office takings of American films grew about 49 percent year-over-year in 2015. Cai Hongbin, dean of the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, calls for more efforts to be made to attract talented personnel to West China during the 2016 Southwest China Forum of the Guanghua School of Management on May 22, 2016. [Photo by Huang Zhiling/chinadaily.com.cn ] West China has to pay more attention to attracting talented personnel instead of eyeing outside investment only, a prominent Chinese economist said. Education and talented personnel are of vital importance to regional development. While the country has to invest more in education in West China, the latter has to put more emphasis on attracting new talent, Cai Hongbin said. Cai, an economics professor and dean of the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, made the remarks during the 2016 Southwest China Forum of the Guanghua School of Management on Sunday. Held in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, the forum drew top-notch Chinese economists, well-known corporate executives and government officials to compare notes on development opportunities in Southwest China. A man takes a photo of a screen displaying the main points of a speech by Zhang Laiwu, former vice minister of science and technology, at the 2016 Southwest China Forum of the Guanghua School of Management on May 22, 2016. Nearly 500 managers from enterprises and institutions in Sichuan attended the forum. [Photo by Huang Zhiling/chinadaily.com.cn] Nearly 500 managers from enterprises and institutions in Sichuan attended the forum. The background for holding the forum in Chengdu is that China's central government decided earlier this year to build the Chengdu-Chongqing city cluster as a new economic power engine in the country, according to Teng Fei, deputy Party chief of the Guanghua School of Management. The central government's decision to foster the cluster with 40 million urban residents based around Chengdu and Chongqing, a municipality directly under the central government, is expected to create a new growth engine for the Chinese economy. Chongqing, which borders Sichuan, and Chengdu are the two largest business cities in Southwest China. China's Global Newspaper Sorry, the page you requested was not found. Please check the URL for proper spelling and capitalization. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Chinadaily.com.cn, try visiting the Chinadaily home page Thick plume of black smoke seen near US embassy and NATO-led mission, but they were not affected A Taliban suicide bomb and gun assault on a government security building during Tuesday morning rush hour in central Kabul killed at least 28 people and wounded more than 320, in the most deadly single attack in the Afghan capital since 2011. President Ashraf Ghani condemned the assault "in the strongest possible terms" in a statement from the presidential palace, located only a few hundred meters away from the scene of the blast. A Chinese professor and translator has called for the training of more professional translators in an effort to strengthen cultural exchanges between China and the West. Dong Qiang, director of the French Department at China's prestigious Peking University, said in a recent interview that it was necessary to create more cultural exchange channels, such as translation and literature research institutes, which can promote exchanges between the two cultures. Dong received Thursday in Brussels the title of honorary doctor of the Faculty of Letters, Translation and Communication of the Free University of Brussels (ULB). "Conferring the doctor honoris causa to Dong Qiang is an opportunity to put the translation in honour, in the Year of Languages at the university," said the university in a statement. According to Dong, literary translation is special and important, which requires transl ators to be very familiar with the culture and undergo long time training. He believed that China has attached more importance to the training of translators in recent years. "I am also pleased to see that many European countries, including Belgium, attach great importance to the teaching of the Chinese language and the study of Sinology", he said. Dong is known for his translations of many great French authors, including Rimbaud, Le Clezio, Breton, and Michaux. He was awarded the Great Medal of the Francophonie by the French Academy in 2013 and was awarded the Legion of Honour, which is the highest French honor for military and civil merits, in January 2015. A traditional wedding of the Kazakh ethnic group was held at the Lujiaowan scenic spot, in Shawan county, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, May 21, 2016. [Photo/hongshannet.cn] A blue sky, white clouds, vast grassland and galloping horses set a poetic and picturesque wedding scene in Northwestern China recently. A cultural event, "Tacheng: The Flower Bloom" was held for news media from throughout the nation invited to experience the culture of Tacheng prefecture in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region from Friday to May 29. Hundreds of college students in Shanghai gather on May 19, 2016 to test their balancing skills by standing with various kinds of foods on their heads. The spectacle has drawn large crowds to watch the students and snap photos. Those taking part are also using their display as a way to try to create public awareness about children suffering from poverty and malnutrition in China. It's estimated more than 10 million children less than 5 years old in China suffer from malnutrition caused by poverty. [Photo/qq.com] As China prepares to host its first G20 Summit, the importance of this grouping of major world economies is becoming more apparent, according to experts. The event, slated for Sept 4 and 5 in East China's Hangzhou city, comes at a time when increasing deflationary risks loom over the global economy's recovery. Boosting growth among developing countries is highlighted on the summit's agenda, as is making more progress in areas such as global climate change. Since December, around 30 preparatory meetings have been held at the ministerial or working-group level, including a gathering of personal representatives of heads of state, known as sherpas, as well as finance, trade and foreign ministers. More than 30 additional meetings are scheduled to ensure the summit's success, according to the latest calendar of events published on the G20's website. On April 8, a presidency statement was released following the Second G20 Sherpa Meeting in Guangzhou, stating that the assembled representatives would work toward implementation of the Paris Agreement, which was adopted at the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in December. Huang Wei, a researcher on global economic governance at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, notes: "The G20 now represents the best efficiency in the aspect of global economic governance", while other mechanisms, such as the United Nations and G7, are faced with higher costs or a lack of influence. "The influence of emerging economies upon the global economy and relevant policies will further expand." Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and China's G20 sherpa Li Baodong has described the Hangzhou summit as "the first time that the G20 will formulate an action plan on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development". This ambitious agenda, adopted by the UN General Assembly in September, is designed to serve as the launch pad for action to promote shared prosperity and well-being for the next 15 years. "The concept of development runs through the whole design of the agenda and its outcomes for the Hangzhou Summit, thus serving as an overarching theme in the preparatory work," Li told the UN General Assembly in New York on April 21. Upon China's initiative, the G20 is examining ways to support industrialization in Africa and what are known as least developed countries, Li says. Zhu Jiejin, an associate professor of global governance studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, says if the G20 takes the 2030 Agenda as one of its policy goals, the gathering itself will win more recognition for its role as a "leading international economic cooperation platform". This will "offer political impetus" for implementing the agenda, make the work of international organs such as the UN easier and encourage more countries to join in, Zhu says. Gao Hucheng, minister of commerce, has said China will work alongside various parties to push for establishing the G20 trade and investment cooperation mechanism to "regularize" the G20 trade ministers' meeting. "It is hoped that the G20 global trade growth strategy will be formulated, and the G20 cooperation framework on trade areas is expected to be built, in order to address the trade and financing issues of developing countries and small and medium enterprises," Gao said at a meeting on the sidelines of Boao Asia Forum on March 24. Huang Wei noted that although the G20 has built mechanisms for regularized meetings of finance, labor ministers and governors of central banks, many other ministerial-level meetings are not regularized yet. "This means there is a lack of long-term, lasting discussions on a range of issues, as well as the absence of a fundamental preparation for nurturing consensus and outcomes," Huang says. zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn Hundreds of new moms in Fuzhou, Southeast China's Fujian province have taken partin a breastfeeding-themed campaign, raising awareness of public breastfeeding. [Photo/fznews.com.cn] Hundreds of new moms in Fuzhou, Southeast China's Fujian province have taken part in a breastfeeding-themed campaign, raising awareness of public breastfeeding. Despite scientific evidences that breastfed children grow up with a stronger immune system, the latest stats show only around 28 percent of new mothers in China breastfeed their babies. This is significantly lower than the 80 percent rate seen in countries such as the United States and Japan. BEIJING -- Recent figures have shown that the Chinese economy has generally seen stable growth with deepening supply-side structural reforms, an official from the National Bureau of Statistics said in an article published Monday in People's Daily. Meanwhile, measures have been taken to expand total demand in the first four months of this year, contributing to economic indicators within expectations, Guo Tongxin said. First, the consumption and the services sector have served as the main engine for economic growth, said Guo. "The April data is further evidence that the national economy since the start of this year has grown mainly on domestic demand led by consumption, and that industrial growth is mainly supported by the services sector," Guo said. That is a positive development of structural adjustments to the economy and industrial upgrading, he said, highlighting progress in such sectors as IT, environment, housing, tourism, culture, health and sports. Final consumption has contributed a staggering 84.7 percent to economic growth in the first quarter of this year, up 22 percentage points from the same period last year, he said. The value added of the services sector expanded 7.6 percent in the first quarter, 1.8 percentage points faster than the secondary sector, accounting for 56.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), or 19.4 percentage points higher than the secondary sector. Its contribution to economic growth reached 63.5 percent, 29.3 percentage points higher than the secondary sector, according to the expert. Second, streamlining government administration and the recent introduction of a value-added tax has stimulated market vitality, contributing to early signs of positive results from supply-side structural reforms, Guo said. Newly registered firms exceeded 1.57 million from January to April, up 27.5 percent from the same period last year, with about 80 percent of them in the services sector. In addition, tax reductions since last year has lessened the tax burden on Chinese firms by more than 400 billion yuan, while the introduction of the value-added tax on May 1 is expected to cut another 500 billion yuan in tax this year. Innovation is also playing a key role in China's new economy. New patent licensing has grown another 63 percent in the first four months of this year, following a 61.9 percent growth in 2015. Online retail sales have grown 25.6 percent, 15.3 percentage points faster than that of total retail sales of consumer goods. On macroeconomic policies, Guo said the stability of macroeconomic policies despite downward pressure on the economy has ensured economic growth within a reasonable range. Higher fiscal expenditure coupled with tax reduction shows a more proactive fiscal policy, with government investment flowing more to public services and products, resources and environmental protection and new industries, he said. Monetary policies have been moderate with M2 growth cooling down in April, he added, noting that in general, the growth of total money and credit supply and total social financing remains stable and normal. Meanwhile, unemployment remains generally stable, the expert said. Although unemployment has risen in some regions due to the economic slowdown and a reduction in excess capacity, the growth of the services sector and entrepreneurship has kept the unemployment rate stable, he said. Rural-to-urban migrant workers reached nearly 168 million, up 2.9 percent from the same period last year, while the registered unemployment rate saw a slight decline at 4.04 percent by March, he said. Finally, Guo said the 13th Five-Year Plan approved in March has played an important role in stabilizing and lifting market expectations. The Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) has entered an expansionary period in March and April for the first time since August, while the Producer Price Index (PPI) saw the first rise in years in March, a strong indicator of rising market confidence by firm managers. The expert also cautioned that downward pressure would persist for the Chinese economy, given that the rise of the new economy cannot yet cover the decline in traditional sectors. He suggested focusing on fixing structural supply-side problems in the economy, rather than seek short-term gains and losses. Photo released by Egyptian Armed Forces on May 21, 2016, shows a life jacket from EgyptAir flight 804. [Photo/Xinhua] CAIRO - After France said Saturday that crashed EgyptAir MS804 had transmitted automatic messages indicating smoke in the cabin, Egypt said later that this cannot not reveal the cause of the crash, as search for the plane wreckage and investigations continued. The plane, an Airbus A320, disappeared from radar screens early Thursday en route from Paris to Cairo. It was later confirmed to have plunged into the Mediterranean with 66 people on board, including 30 Egyptians and 15 French. Egyptian aviation minister said Thursday that a terrorist attack is more likely behind the crash than a technical failure. Flight MS804 had transmitted automated messages indicating smoke in the cabin shortly before it plunged into the Mediterranean, France's aviation safety agency said. However, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Saturday that no hypothesis on the cause of the crash has been ruled out, since "at this time... all theories are being examined and none is favored." "Finding the plane is of course the priority, along with finding the black boxes to analyze them, which will allow us to answer legitimate questions," he said, vowing to "tell the entire truth about what happened." "The question now is whether the fire that caused the smoke was the result of an electrical fault - for example a short-circuit caused by damaged wiring - or whether some form of explosive or incendiary device was used - for example by a terrorist - to generate a fire or other damage," aviation safety expert David Learmont said. A preliminary report into the tragedy "will be published in one month ... and will include all the information gathered by the date of its publication," Ayman al-Moqadem, head of Egypt's Air Accidents Investigation department, was quoted by state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper as saying. The Great Wall is a must for any group visitto China. The group from Clark Atlanta University takes a picture on the Great Wall on Friday. [Photo by Yan Dongjie/chinadaily.com.cn] A group of African-American students from Clark Atlanta University on a cultural communications trip to China enjoyed a day of fun with students from Beijing Foreign Studies University on Saturday. More than 200 students from both sides met, making it the largest gathering of its kind between Chinese and African-American students in recent years, said Chen Yi, a project director with the China-United States Exchange Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Beijing and Hong Kong that supports the program. (Photo : Ian Waldie/Getty Images) A young Chinese girl had a 15 cm-long knife (not pictured) stuck to her head. Advertisement Doctors in southern China have successfully removed a knife that was stuck in the head of a young girl. The 12-year-old named Lin had a 15-centimeter knife stuck to the back of her head on May 16, according to Peoples Daily. She was with her schoolmates at a local park in Dongguan in Guangdong province when one of her companions picked a fight with a boy. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Shortly after Lin and her friends turned to leave, the boy pulled a long silver knife out from his pocket and threw it towards them. Lin was hit right at the back of her head. According to Guangzhou Daily, the knife lodged in about 3 cm deep. Lin was immediately rushed to a local hospital for treatment. After a short discussion regarding the method of treatment, doctors attending to Lin decided to hold her head still while they attempted to safely pull the foreign object out using tools. Lin is currently recovering, and will soon be discharged from the hospital once she is well. Meanwhile, police have been able to track and apprehend the boy who threw the knife that lodged in Lin's head. But because he is only 13 and is too young to be held criminally liable, police released him. Instead, both families agreed to settle the matter outside of court. The boys father has reportedly paid most of Lin's 8,000 yuan (about $1,222 USD) treatment cost. Advertisement Tagsknife, headshot, knife in head, Dongguan, Guangdong (Photo : Getty Images) Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain and China's President Xi Jinping. Advertisement To mark the 65th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relationship between China and Pakistan, the leaders of both nations on Saturday exchanged greetings and pledged to deepen their ties further. "I attach great importance to China-Pakistan relations, and would work with you to create a better future for China- Pakistan relations," Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his message. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Xi added that China and Pakistan are all-weather friends, and their friendship has stood the test of time over last 65 years. Pakistan's President Mamnoon Hussain in his message emphasized the importance of Pakistan's relationship with China, calling Beijing a 'reliable partner' and 'iron brother' of Pakistan. "China has always proved to be an iron brother, steadfast friend and a reliable partner of Pakistan. Our long-standing and ever-growing partnership with China is based on mutual respect, trust, and shared values," Hussain said. Most foreign experts view the Pakistan-China relationship as 'India-centric' - aimed at countering India's influence in South Asia. Experts say that China has been more than generous in helping Pakistan to deal with its arch-rival India. China has generously provided financial and military aid to Pakistan over last three decades, which has greatly helped Islamabad to keep pace with the Indian army. Advertisement Tagschina, Pakistan, China and Pakistan, India, Masood Azhar. (Photo : Getty Images) Hillary Clinton has promised to work with China to curb North Korea's nuclear threat if she becomes the next US president. Advertisement Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has said that she will work with China to address the North Korea nuclear threat if she gets elected as the next president of the United States, vowing to make this her top priority. Jake Sullivan, Clinton's policy adviser, said Pyongyang's nuclear programme remains a 'security challenge' for the US and the Korean peninsula as he presented the objectives that would underscore Clinton's foreign policies if she becomes the next president. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement "It will have to be right at the top of the agenda for the next president to deal with. There is a possibility for the United States and China to cooperate on the North Korea issue effectively," he said. Sullivan's statements were made amid North Korea's defiance of a series of economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations in its latest resolution against the isolated state. Indifferent Pyongyang appears to be indifferent to the sanctions as it continues to conduct missile tests and rocket launches including a submarine-launched ballistic missile and intermediate range ballistic missile test conducted recently. Despite hard negotiations led by Beijing and Washington to come up with harsher sanctions against Pyongyang, the current sanctions seem not to be affecting North Korea as it was intended. Sullivan said that North Korea's ballistic missile tests not only jeopardize the security interests of the Pyongyang's neighbors but also those of Japan and the US. "It is hard for me to underscore how important it is that we place priority on this, that we place urgency behind this nuclear threat," he emphasized. Agenda Sullivan pointed out that North Korea's nuclear threat is first and foremost the most important issue on the agenda that should be addressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and the next US president in their first meeting. He said that more should be done by both nations to curb Pyongyang's nuclear programme despite some progress that has already been made by Beijing and Washington. Advertisement TagsHillary Clinton, Pyongyang, Washington, Beijing, UN Resolution, nuclear programme (Photo : Getty Images) China and Thailand are conducting joint military drills. Advertisement The respective navies of China and Thailand commenced a joint military exercise on Saturday at the Sattahip naval base in Thailand. Dubbed "Blue Strike 2016," the joint exercise involved 1,000 Royal Thai Navy and the Chinese Marine Corps officers. This is the third time that the drill is being conducted. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The joint exercise will take place in different locations in the coming days such as Thailand's Chon Buri and Chanthaburi provinces. China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Deputy Commander Wang Hai and Royal Thai Navy Fleet Commander Adm Naris Prathumsuwan presided over the opening ceremony of the naval drills at the Sattahip naval base. Military tactics In his speech, Adm. Naris said the military exercise would help the two nations to share military tactics and strategies, as well as enhance their bilateral relationship which has stood the test of time. He added the joint exercise is a great avenue for the two nations to cement their friendship and share knowledge and skills in military warfare. "The exercises will also help increase the capability of marines who participate in the activities," he said. Humanitarian efforts Rear Adm. Wang said the drills will not only focus on trading military tactics between the two forces but will also include humanitarian efforts, evacuation operations, and naval attacks against terrorism. Wang said Chinese Marines and troops from the Royal Thai Navy would exchange training skills and naval strategies to help ensure maritime peace and the stability. The Rear Adm noted that both sides have the same tenacity to combat global and regional terrorism. Advertisement TagsPeople's Liberation Army Navy, Royal Thai Navy, joint military exercises, Blue Strike 2016, Thailand, china (Photo : Getty Images) Taiwan's new President Tsai Ing-wen refrained from mentioning the 'one China' principle in her inaugural speech. Advertisement China on Saturday threatened to discontinue talks with Taiwan if the country's new regime does not adhere to the 'one China' principle. The spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office Ma Xiaoguang insisted that Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's administration must confirm its adherence to the '1992 Consensus' that embodies the 'one China' principle if Taipei wants to maintain regular interaction with Beijing. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement He explained that the current communication mechanism on Cross-Straits affairs between authorities, which was set up two years ago, is based on the '1992 Consensus.' "This mechanism paved the way for the two sides to contact each other in a timely fashion, avoid misjudgments, keep disagreements under control, and it was also conducive to enhancing understanding and mutual trust," Ma said, according to Xinhua news agency. "With the operation of the regular communication mechanism, some 'impossibilities' in cross-Strait relations have become realities." Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) immediately responded to China's warning saying that Taipei will to communicate with China despite Beijing's threat to cut off Cross-Strait communications. Tsai Ing-wen, the chairperson of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was sworn in as Taiwan's new leader on Friday. The 59-year-old politician, however, refrained from mentioning the 'One China' principle in her inaugural speech. However, she maintained that one of the focus areas for the new government to address is regional peace, stability and development, as well as the proper management of cross-Strait relations. "Taiwan has always played an indispensable role in the region's development. But in recent years, regional dynamics have been changing rapidly," she said. Tsai' party, the DPP, is a pro-independence party and is traditionally opposed to the 'one China' policy. This is the second time in the history of Taiwan that the DPP has come to power. Advertisement Tagschina, Taiwan, 1992 consensus, One China principle, Tsai Ing-wen (Photo : Qilai Shen/Getty Images) Baidu has stated that it is not planning to acquire Meituan Dianping. Advertisement Chinese information technology company Inspur has announced that search engine giant Baidu plans to use the "NF5568M4 server" to support its autonomous vehicle technology. The server is expected to support Baidu's deep learning and image recognition platforms, which will be used for the company's self-driving cars. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement In the autonomous vehicle race, Baidu is going head to head against foreign rivals - such as Google - as it aims to set up demonstrations in ten different cities in China. Recently, the company announced plans to launch a trial zone in the Chinese city of Wuhu in which it will begin tests in limited areas for the next five years. After the first three-year period, Baidu said the trial area will then be expanded to include public highways and the entire city of Wuhu, hopefully leading to the commercialization of the service. Earlier this year, the company also revealed it will conduct tests in the United States as well. In December 2015, Baidu already carried out a successful road test in Beijing, in which one of its self-driving cars was able to move about from the Baidu Tower in the Zhongguancun High-tech Park, passing the Olympic Forest Park, and returning back. Baidu's self-driving cars employ image recognition technology - part of computer vision - in order to sense various objects in the environment. Thanks to Inspur's server and GPU power, it is said that Baidu was able to reach a recognition precision of 90 percent. Specs-wise, the NF5568M4 "co-processing acceleration server" is said to feature two Intel E5-2600v3 processors and four Nvidia Tesla K40 graphics processing units. Based in Jinan, Shandong, Inspur has partnered with American GPU and SOC maker NVIDIA, which is currently the world's biggest vision computing company. Advertisement TagsBaidu Inc., Baidu Driverless Vehicle, Self-Driving Vehicle, Autonomous Cars, Inspur Server home US First openly gay army secretary confirmed by US Senate The Senate confirmed on Tuesday, May 17 the nomination of Eric Fanning, who stands as the United States' first openly gay person to become Army secretary. Fanning was nominated by Pres. Barack Obama in September 2015. However, it was temporarily put on hold by Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts to prioritize another issue regarding Guantanamo Bay detainees. After being reassured by the administration that the detainees will not be transferred to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, Roberts released the hold on the nomination. Gay rights and human rights groups consider Fanning's confirmation as a milestone in the U.S. military. "Eric Fanning's historic confirmation today as Secretary of the U.S. Army is a demonstration of the continued progress towards fairness and equality in our nation's armed forces," Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said in a statement. Fanning served as the Air Force undersecretary from 2013 to 2015 and was acting secretary for about six months. He also served as special assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Robert Work. Fanning also became principal adviser to the Army secretary regarding operation and management. Functioning as the Army's chief management officer, he likewise advised the Secretary on how to efficiently manage the business operations of the Army. His duties as Army secretary will encompass all concerns of the U.S. Army, including weapons systems and equipment acquisition, manpower, installations, personnel, environmental concerns, reserve affairs, financial management and communications. "I'm honored by today's Senate confirmation and thrilled to return to lead the total Army team," Fanning said. The 47-year-old Dartmouth College graduate was unanimously confirmed. Some considered his nomination a "historic moment." "Congratulations to Eric Fanning on historic appointment as the first openly gay @SECARMY," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted. Sen. Dan Sullivan also praised Fanning's confirmation in a tweet, saying it was "an historic moment for #LGBT service members." Android Marshmallow update news: Samsung pushing Android M out to more flagship devices Samsung is known as one of the foremost tech manufacturers that churn out Android-run flagships and mid-range devices. Meanwhile, as talks of Google coming out with the new Android N platform soon, Samsung continues to update its iterations to the latest Android version, Marshmallow. The latest to join the Android update is the Samsung Galaxy S6 lineup for mobile carrier AT&T. Although Google released its stock Android M ROM in the latter part of last year, it was only in early 2016 that carrier-locked devices started updating to the latest Android platform. This is because tech manufacturers and mobile carriers build their own versions of the current Android version, using the stock ROM as a template. Meanwhile, Samsung has also made the new Android Marshmallow version available to its older-gen flagships like the Galaxy S5. GSM Arena reports that the LTE-A model of the lineup, with a South-Korea based network, has also been updated to Android Marshmallow. This is the South Korea-exclusive G906 variant of the Galaxy S5. Meanwhile, the South Korea update is just one of a number of recent Galaxy S5 updates to Android M. The industry follower noted that aside from the South Korea variant, the G901 model of the Galaxy S5 for the EU markets also got its Android M update notifications. In addition, it is said that the Galaxy S5 Plus edition for European regions is also ready to receive Android Marshmallow. Samsung is not limiting its Android Marshmallow update to its flagship smartphones, as the tablet lineup of the company is also receiving the Android M treatment. The latest to get the update is the Galaxy Tab A 9.7, which is being updated to Android Marshmallow 6.0.1. Other slates in the Galaxy Tab lineup have also received OTA notifications. Christians protest 'absurd' ban on civic prayers and 'fraternal hugs' imposed by judge in Colombia Christians are up in arms in Colombia after a judge in the coastal city of Cartagena inexplicably banned prayer and "fraternal hugs" during city council sessions as well as in schools, businesses and even in private family life, CNA reports. Judge Alejandro Bonilla Aldana issued the ruling on May 10, effectively suspending the first article of a 2007 accord which established prayer at "the beginning of all daily activities in local government entities as a basic approach to recovering the religious principles of the city." His ruling was prompted when a lawsuit was brought before the court questioning the accord. Judge Bonilla sided with the plaintiff and forthwith issued an order banning the giving of "fraternal hug at the beginning of activities" not just at the city council, but also in "public and private businesses, educational institutions, police command posts and stations, military battalions, assemblies, the boards of businesses, shopping centres, and taxi stations, trade organisations, associations and in the family." In his ruling, the judge said, "The custom of prayer cannot be taken as a widespread cultural element and the civil authorities cannot impose its obligatory exercise, disregarding freedom of belief." Catholic and other Christian leaders swiftly denounced the "absurd" ruling, with the Archdiocese of Cartagena issuing a statement saying that it violates the human rights "of all the Catholics in Colombia." The ruling sparked "massive prayers" in Cartagena by diverse Christian groups, according to the daily El Tiempo. "No one can prohibit us from praying and giving hugs," Pastor Lida Arias said. "This city and this country need more prayer and less absurd laws." A number of city council members have also publicly come out against Judge Bonilla's decision, according to the daily El Heraldo. The Association of Evangelical Ministers in Bolivar also assailed the ruling, saying that "prayer and a fraternal hugs break down the barriers between people and allow us to forgive one another." The Christian leaders encouraged the people to stage "a peaceful protest of prayer and fraternal hugs be held in every area of Cartagena." Finding God after losing homes: More Muslim refugees from Mideast wanting to embrace Jesus Christ in Germany In Germany, Muslim refugees from war-torn regions in the Middle East may have lost their homes, but at least some of them have found the one true God. More and more Christian churches in Germany are reporting increasing interests among Muslim migrants to convert to Christianity. Pastor Michel Youssif from the German-Arab evangelical community in Hannover, the capital of Lower Saxony, for instance, recently attested that an increasing number of Middle Eastern refugees have sought to be baptised and become Christians. "At the moment there is a lot of interest. Seven Muslims have already been baptised," Youssif, who is himself an immigrant from Egypt, said, as quoted by Sputnik News. The same story of conversion is also happening in the nearby town of Winsen, also in Lower Saxony, where two Palestinians were baptised as Christians on Pentecost Sunday. Modern technology has helped the refugees learn more about Jesus Christ. Evangelical and Catholic churches in the state use SMS or telephone calls to provide information to the migrants in Arabic and Persian languages. The refugees are also given preliminary courses to better understand the faith before they are baptised. Rainer Kiefer, chairman of the evangelical church board in Hannover, said those who sought to convert to Christianity have already been familiar with its teachings even back in their home countries, and only had to have a deeper understanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ. "It is very important that the decision to convert to Christianity is well thought-out, with the help of pastoral workers," Kiefer explained. He added that the refugees are discouraged from converting to Christianity if they only think that it is a way to have a bigger chance of being granted asylum in Germany. Pastor Gunther Oborski meanwhile said the church in Hannover will continue reaching out to the migrants from the Middle East. "There are more baptisms, not only in Hannover but also in the villages where the refugees are based and make contact with Christian communities there," Oborski said. ISIS news: Terrorists reportedly dip captives in nitric acid as new form of execution Ever inventive in its murderous ways, the Islamic State (ISIS) has found yet another method of executing its perceived foes. Reports from Iraq say the terrorist group recently publicly executed 25 civilians by throwing them into a basin containing nitric acid in Iraq's embattled northern city of Mosul in Nineveh Province. "ISIS terrorist members executed 25 persons in Mosul on charges of spying and collaborating with Iraqi security forces," IraqiNews.com quoted an anonymous source as saying. "ISIS put the citizens in a large tub containing nitric acid inside one of its headquarters," the source added. The source said ISIS militants tied all the 25 men with ropes and then lowered them in the tub "till the victims' organs dissolved." According to the Chemical Company, nitric acid, or HNO3, belongs to the group of inorganic acids. It is both extremely corrosive and toxic. Thus, direct contact can result in severe burns. Aside from adding more techniques in executing its captives, the ISIS is also adding new "crimes" punishable by death. ISIS militants recently executed 11 other residents of Mosul on charges of using mobile phones, which is forbidden, according to the Alalam news site. In Kirkuk city, the ISIS militants reportedly burned all five members of an Iraqi family alive a day after accusing them of trying to leave the city, another new "crime" punishable by death. The ISIS has also reportedly forbidden civilians from fleeing the city of Raqqa in Syria, which the Kurdish forces are said to be preparing to recapture, Sputnik agency's sources said. Militants have allegedly begun removing their own families from the ISIS stronghold and de facto capital. The report, citing sources on the ground, follows a U.S.-led coalition's air propaganda campaign urging citizens to leave the city. Meanwhile, in late April, the ISIS executed 250 women in Mosul after they refused to get married to militants, Alalam said. Last week, a mass grave of ISIS victims was found in the Suluk town in Syria, about 30 miles from Raqqa and which was controlled by ISIS until recently. "We discovered thousands of bodies of innocent victims in the ravine," a Kurdish commander told RT.com. "They would bring those still alive to the precipice, blindfold them and shoot above their heads to scare them. People would then start running and fall over the edge. They'd bring the bodies and others, covered in blankets, and throw them off. The proof is these bones and the blood that's there. Nobody knows how deep the gorge is." New counter-extremism law will fuel terrorism, civic leaders warn A coalition of influential civil society groups and individuals has condemned the new counter-extremism legislation that was announced in the Queen's Speech. Sir Peter Fahy, former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police and former National Policing Lead for Prevent, the Government's anti-extremism programmed, heads the individual signatories, who warn the new bill will even feed the very commodity that the terrorists thrive on: fear. The coalition of 26 organisations and prominent individuals includes Rights Watch (UK), Runnymede Trust, Liberal Judaism, Index on Censorship, The Jewish Council for Racial Equality and the National Secular Society. In the statement, posted on the website of the Muslim Council of Britain, they say: "We are a cross section of British society who believe in the necessity of keeping our nation safe and secure. "To defeat the scourge of terrorism we need a strategy underpinned by a soaring confidence in our values and the society we seek to build together. As such, we are gravely concerned that the proposed Counter-Extremism and Safeguarding Bill will feed the very commodity that the terrorists thrive on: fear. We must instead put forward proposals that show those who seek to undermine us that we value our freedom more than they cherish fear." Terrorism in all its forms is already prohibited by the criminal law, as is speech that incites violence or promotes hatred, they argue. They say the bill will give the Government power to exclude from the public space people they simply disagree with, thereby alienating communities and undermining free speech. "There is scant evidence that they will tackle the terrorism we all want to confront," they warn. "When ideas are not violent or do not incite violence we do not ban or censor them, however insulting they might be to our norms as a society." Individual signatories include Bishop Eric Brown, Pentecostal president at Churches Together in England and the Rev Lord Griffiths of Burry Port, former president of the Methodist Conference The Evangelical Alliance warned in a separate statement: "It's extreme to try and tell religious groups what they can and can't teach under the guise of fundamental British values. It's extreme to threaten to send Ofsted inspectors into churches if they don't teach British values. This government's trying to fight extremism with extremism and the main casualty will be our fundamental freedoms." The alliance added: "Whether intentional or not, this strategy looks like the wholesale nationalisation of youth work and the indirect state regulation of privage religious practice the very antithesis of a free liberal democracy. It is extremism." Dr Shuja Shafi of the Muslim Council of Britain, which represents 500 mosques, schools and charities, told The Guardian: "The fact that such a diverse range of groups have come together should tell us there are widespread concerns about the proposals in the government's counter-extremism bill. The terrorists would like nothing better than provoking ill thought-through policies that undermine all our freedoms." Taliban chief likely killed in US air strikes The Afghan Taliban head has been killed in US air strikes on Pakistan, in unconfirmed reports. If confirmed, the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour may trigger a battle for succession and deepen fractures that emerged in the insurgent movement after the death of its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was confirmed last year, more than two years after he died. Saturday's strike, which US officials said was authorized by President Barack Obama and included multiple drones, showed the United States was prepared to go after the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which the Western-backed government in Kabul has repeatedly accused of sheltering the insurgents. It also underscored the belief among US commanders that under Mansour's leadership, the Taliban have grown increasing close to militant groups like al Qaeda, posing a direct threat to US security. "The United States conducted a precision air strike that targeted Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border," US Secretary of State John Kerry told a news conference while on a visit to Myanmar. Mansour posed a "continuing, imminent threat" to US personnel and Afghans, he said. "If people want to stand in the way of peace and continue to threaten and kill and blow people up, we have no recourse but to respond and I think we responded appropriately," said Kerry. Kerry did not confirm whether the strike had killed Mansour. A Pentagon spokesman said earlier the results of the strike were being assessed. The Afghan government also said Mansour's death had not been confirmed though a spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani said it seemed he was dead. Top officials said privately they believed he had been killed. The Taliban have made no official statement but two commanders close to Mansour denied he was dead. With the report of Mansour's death, attention has focused on his deputy, Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of a notorious network blamed for most big suicide attacks in Kabul. "Based purely on matters of hierarchy, he would be the favorite to succeed Mansour," said Michael Kugelman, a senior associate at the Woodrow Wilson Institute think-tank. Haqqani, appointed as number two after Mansour assumed control of the Taliban last year, has generally been seen as an opponent of negotiations and if he does take over, prospects for talks are likely to recede further. Efforts to broker talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban had already stalled following a suicide attack in Kabul last month that killed 64 people and prompted Ghani to prioritize military operations over negotiations. Ghani's office said Taliban who wanted to end bloodshed should return from "alien soil" and join peace efforts. Kerry said the leaders of both Pakistan and Afghanistan were notified of the strike but he declined to say if they were told before or after. He said he had spoken to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by telephone. Pakistan has in the past denounced US strikes on its soil, calling them a violation of sovereignty, but US officials have said Pakistan has approved some strikes, in particular on militants fighting the Pakistani state. Pakistan, which has been trying to broker Afghan talks, was "seeking clarification" on the strike, a foreign ministry spokesman said. He repeated a call for the Taliban to give up violence and join negotiations. Drones targeted Mansour and another combatant in a vehicle in a remote area of Pakistan's Baluchistan province, southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, a US official in Washington said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A Pakistani official in the area said a car had been blown up and two unidentified people had been killed. It was not clear how the vehicle was blown up and the two bodies had been taken to a hospital, said the official, who declined to be identified. One of the Taliban commanders who dismissed the report of Mansour's killing said it had nevertheless spread alarm. "This rumour has created panic among our followers across Afghanistan and Pakistan," the senor Taliban member said by telephone, adding he was telling his comrades to ignore the report. In December, Mansour was reportedly wounded and possibly killed in a shootout at the house of an insurgent leader in Pakistan. The Taliban eventually released an audio recording, purportedly from Mansour, to dispel the reports. A US intelligence analyst said Mansour had been in a power struggle with another commander whose deputy was killed last year in what officials think was a fight with Mansour's more hard-line faction. But the US official cautioned against concluding that a shakeup might diminish the Taliban's broader sense of strength, given recent gains they had made. "It's hard to see much incentive for them to start compromising now, with the fighting just heating up again," the official said. Tuesday Houston Entrepreneurs' Forum: Monthly breakfast meeting. 7-8:30 a.m., Ouisie's Table, 3939 San Felipe. Speaker: Yuen Yung, CEO of Casoro Capital, will discuss his experience on "Shark Tank." Cost: $27 for members; $35 for guests. Reservations: Tracy Park, 713-822-7260, or Tracyspark@aol.com. Wednesday United Way Board Fair: 5-6:30 p.m., 50 Waugh Drive. Meet with representatives of more than 35 area nonprofit organizations recruiting candidates for board service. Information: www.unitedwayhouston.org or 713-685-2787. KW Southwest (Keller Williams) Career Builder: Explore whether a career in real estate is right for you. Noon, 1650 Texas 6, Suite 350, Sugar Land. Information: Norman Lew, 281-265-0000. Thursday The Houston Chapter of NAWIC (National Association of Women in Construction): Meet and greet. 5:30-7:30 p.m., Crush Wine Bar, 20 Waterway Ave., The Woodlands. Information: Terry Nesch, 281-433-1820, or terrynesch@josephchris.net. Financial Reporting Symposium: Conference sponsored by the Houston TSCPA Foundation. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Westin Galleria, 5060 W. Alabama. Cost: $275-$325. Information: 713-622-7733 or www.houstoncpa.org. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Thomas Goggins has been promoted to vice president of operations at Strike Marketing. David M. Sloan has joined Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr as a shareholder in the firm's corporate and securities and finance practices. Cypressbrook Co. has selected Jim Cooper to lead the firm's third-party property management and leasing division. Wood Group has appointed Raymond "Ray" Schlaff to the positions of senior vice president and chief procurement officer, with responsibility for procurement strategies, processes and governance, and to drive efficiencies across the group's global supply chain. Angelica M. Hernandez, a partner at Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, has been appointed to the State Bar of Texas board of directors as a minority director. Raxit Patel has been promoted to associate principal at Henderson Rogers Structural Engineers. Vivek Gurjar has been promoted to senior associate, senior project manager, at Henderson Rogers Structural Engineers. Robert Ling has joined professional services firm HSSK as a senior managing director in the firm's Houston office. J.B. Dollison, managing director of Crutchfield Capital Corp., has been named vice chairman of the board of directors for the Association for Corporate Growth. David N. Calvillo has joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka as senior counsel. He will serve clients in Houston, as well as the Rio Grande Valley, including Brownsville and McAllen. Bill Penczak has joined independent accounting firm Briggs & Veselka Co. as managing director of practice development. J. James Cooper, a partner at Reed Smith, was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel. Cooper is a member of the firm's insurance recovery and shipping groups. Kristie Alexander has joined architecture and engineering firm Johnston as junior associate/senior marketing coordinator. Transwestern announced promotions within the Houston retail services group: Crystal Allen and Grant Walker have been promoted to senior vice president, and Chace Henke and Chris Reyes have been promoted to vice president. Bruce Kulzer has been promoted to regional vice president of the southern region at Cedar Creek, based in its new Houston location. The company distributes wholesale building products. Charles Johnson, Ross Rivers and Tim Kunz have been named senior associates at VLK Architects. Proxibid, a way to connect buyers and sellers of highly valued items, announced that Tim Lancaster and Tom Lancaster have joined the company as sales executives, focusing on the financial, energy, surplus and insurance salvage verticals. They will work with both local and national accounts for Proxibid. The Letton Hall Group, a provider of oil and gas measurement technology, is expanding its services. Thomas Hurstell, a 25-year veteran of process systems in the Gulf of Mexico, serves as senior measurement and allocation adviser. He is joined by Robert A. Webb, former head of measurement at BP and chair of both the API committees on petroleum measurement and production measurement and allocation, and Jefferson Creek, emeritus fellow and former senior research consultant in fluids and flow assurance at Chevron. Wes Garner has been named president of TDECU Wealth Advisors. Although this year's National Small Business Week is now behind us, don't lose sight of the reasons to continue celebrating the benefits of being a small business. American small businesses often have advantages over larger companies. It's important to recognize them - and make the most of them - as you start and grow your company. Here are six characteristics that often give small businesses an edge over bigger competitors: 1 Personal touch: Small-business owners have ample opportunities to develop face-to-face, person-to-person relationships with prospects and clients. Leaders of small, local businesses are generally more accessible than those at bigger more broadly dispersed companies. 2Flexibility: Small businesses usually don't have multiple layers of approval to pass through to adopt ideas and initiatives. They can implement creative ways to serve customers more quickly than many larger businesses. 3 Agility: When changes need to be made to fix a process that's not working well or to meet the challenge of competitive pressures, small businesses can typically act fast. They have fewer employees to communicate with and train for transitions. 4 In touch: Because they often directly interact with customers, small-business owners are aware of what their market needs and can recognize how to better serve it. 5 Power to partner: Small business with complementary products or services and/or those located within the same community, can find power in partnering. By partnering to cross-promote each other or offer a pooled solution to customers, they can adeptly expand their expertise, extend their market reach, and enhance their credibility. 6 Passion: Small-business owners feel closely tied to their businesses and find motivation within themselves to seek success. That drive and desire can result in exceptional products and services - and customer satisfaction. As you work to make your small business successful, remember all that you have going for you. As an entrepreneur, not every day will go as smoothly as you'd like, but realize there are many pluses to being a small business. Keep them in mind not only during the good times, but in the challenging times as well. For more insight about the realities of starting and growing a small business, contact SCORE Houston to request a free and confidential meeting with a business mentor. SCORE mentors have a diverse array of experiences which we can align you with. For assistance with starting or operating a small business, call 713-487-6500 or visit www.houston.score.org. Two men were killed and another was injured Saturday after an argument escalated to a shootout in southeast Houston, police said. The three men had been arguing throughout the day at an apartment in the 8100 block of Jutland, near Bellfort, said Ken Fregia, a homicide investigator with the Houston Police Department. By early evening, the fight worsened, leading at least two of the men to shoot at each other. A rally outside the downtown Houston Islamic Da'wah Center Saturday attracted about a dozen protesters, more than 50 counterprotesters and a local resident armed with a fully charged bubble machine. A group calling themselves Heart of Texas called for the rally to protest what they consider "Islamization" of Texas - sparked in part by the recent opening of a privately funded library inside the downtown center. The group had also encouraged followers to bring legal firearms. Although the Heart of Texas group never showed, about 10 people bearing flags of the United States, Texas and the Confederacy were there. "This is America. We have the right to speak out and protest," said Ken Reed, who wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase "White Lives Matter." "We feel Texas, our great state and the United States is being threatened by the influx of Islam." A lawyer representing the Islamic center said they would not organize any kind of counterprotest. "It would have given the hate group exactly what they wanted, which was a bigger audience and a bigger platform, and endangered people," said Faisal Shah, attorney for the center at 201 Travis St. Protesters were dwarfed by about 60 people there to support Muslims in the Houston area. Rachel Schneider-Vlachos, a doctoral student in religion at Rice University, said it's important to show the Muslim community that people in Houston are willing to stand with them. "There are people here who are willing to say Muslim lives matter, and we love our Muslim neighbors," she said. Houston police kept the opposing groups on opposite sides of the street. A person thought to be sympathetic to the counterprotesters turned on a bubble machine that sent hundreds of shimmering, soapy bubbles cascading on the anti-Islamic Center group. The protest and counterprotest grew raucous at times but was for the most part peaceful. Houston police did arrest one woman for interfering with a police officer. She is accused of not moving out of the way when officers were trying to maneuver one of their vehicles through the area. Ome Mikiztli, who covered his face with a bandana, said he heard about the counterprotest and wanted to take part. "I try to show solidarity with any kind of movement that opposes fascism and racism," he said. Although protesters were encouraged to bring their firearms to the rally, Andrew Gomez was one of the few who did. He kept an AR-15 rifle hanging from a shoulder strap. "I'm just exercising my right to carry. I'm not threatening. I'm just taking my own precautions," Gomez said. The Rev. Hannah Adair Bonner, a Methodist minister, said she wasn't surprised that many more people showed up to support the Islamic Center than oppose it. "We are a diverse city, ethnically and religiously. The voices of hate and exclusion are being drowned out," she said. A pedestrian was killed early Sunday by a driver who fled the scene in northeast Houston. The woman was hit while trying to cross Homestead, near Parker, at 2:30 a.m. She later died at a nearby hospital. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Thousands have gathered to mourn Tejano icon Emilio Navaira at the Freeman Coliseum, where a visitation and rosary is being held Sunday. Navaira, who officials believe died of a heart attack at his New Braunfels home last week, filled that same coliseum with his rugged voice and a charismatic presence that many grew to love during multiple performances throughout his career. Manny Trejo, 61, was one of the first in line for the ceremony. "I saw him here in San Antonio in 2008," said Trejo. "I had missed so many of his (other shows) over the years because I was working night shifts back then, but I didn't know it was going to be the last time I saw him in person." Though the crowd was dressed mostly in black, the mood was upbeat. People smiled, took pictures and even broke out in to spontaneous chants and bits of song. Hundreds had gathered as early as 7 a.m. for the viewing, which began at 10 a.m. and runs through 5 p.m. A rosary will be a 4 p.m. An estimated more than 12,000 in all attended the services throughout Sunday. The concourse was ringed with stands of collages and pictures of Navaira, and people posed for selfies and group pictures, just like they would have at a live performance. "This is a celebration - we want to celebrate Emilio," said Monica Boyle, 35, of New Braunfels. Inside, sisters Cassandra Mendez and Natalia Mendez milled towards the casket, which was surrounded by colorful bouquets and flanked by twin screens playing videos of his past performances. Both had fond memories of Navaira's music. "We had a big truck in high school, and we used to drive from Harlandale over to Padre Park with our friends in the (truck bed) after school was over," Cassandra said. "We had the Tejano station on, we had the country station on, and when (Navaira) came on, the radio was loud." "It's like we're losing a bit of our past," Natalia added. "I'm so sad for him, he died so young." Navaira's legacy of chart-topping Tejano hits garnered years of success and a legion of fans now mourning the man who became staple of Texas culture in the 1990's. A Catholic funeral liturgy for Navaira will be Monday at San Fernando Cathedral, at 115 W. Main Plaza downtown, starting at 1 p.m. The interment portion of his services will follow at San Juan Cemetery Bergs Mill, both are public. 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. One of the leading lights of the Romanian New Wave, director Cristian Mungiu returns to Cannes with Graduation, a contemporary morality tale about how, in attempting to free his daughter from the confines of a corrupt country, a previously honest man himself becomes corrupt. Dr. Romeo Aldea (Adrian Titieni) is a good doctor with a reputation for honesty. He left Romania in his youth but returned following the fall of the Ceausescu regime, a decision he now regrets. With this in mind, hes extremely keen for his daughter Eliza (Maria Dragus) to pass her final school exams and secure her place in an English university. England is a normal country, Romeo repeatedly asserts, not like the corrupt system he has to live under. However, other things are afoot. Someone is breaking the good doctors windows and the day before the all-important exams begin, Eliza is attacked and injured fighting off her would-be rapist. Romeos wife Magda (Lia Bugnar) wants him to go easy on her but now the father is more determined than ever that she leave the country that he has grown to detest. Worried that she wont be able to get the high scores necessary, he is advised by police chief inspector Ivanov (Vlad Ivanov) to appeal to Vice Mayor Bulai (Petre Ciubotaru) to intervene. If the girl marks her paper with a prearranged signal the examiners will make sure she gets the grades she needs. Meanwhile, it also becomes apparent that this is not the only compromise. Romeo is having an affair with school teacher Sandra (Malina Manovici) and the closely woven lies are beginning to become unstuck. This carefully-constructed drama has a way of evoking mysteries without ever bringing them fully to fruition. With all the broken glass around, there is a sense of danger and although this is early summer, the landscape is one of scrubland and brutal tower blocks which look like they are in black and white even when theyre filmed in colour by DoP Tudor Vladimir Panduru. Theres humour as everyone mutters condemnations of their own country and the endemic corruption even as they themselves participate. With Graduation, Mungiu presents a more subtle notion of corruption. When the state is so inflexible and inhumane as not to allow leeway for exceptional circumstances, a little bit of corruption might be a good thing. It allows for citizens to manoeuvre beyond the realms of strict legality. Even fighting corruption can involve corruption as is evident in the visit by two inspectors who hint at offering Romeo immunity if he should cooperate. There is also the generational angle as Eliza has none of her fathers ambition and would much prefer to stay in her own country with all her friends and her boyfriend. They have no illusions about their country, and yet it will be up to them to redefine it. The 69th Cannes Film Festival takes place from 11-22 May 2016. Follow our coverage here. John Bleasdale | @drjonty When patients come to see me, they normally have a problem that physicians call the chief complaint. In investigating and treating that complaint, I must obtain informed consentcommunicating the risks and benefits of any proposed tests, procedures, treatments, and alternative treatments to ensure that my patient makes an informed decision about how to proceed. Gone are the days that a physician could dictate care without such consent. In contrast, when I recommend a screening test, Im not treating a known problem. Rather, Im seeking out a healthy person and proposing a medical procedure to discover unsuspected disease before the patient develops symptoms. To be effective, the screening test must be sensitive enough to detect the presence of the disease and specific enough to identify people who dont have it. There must also be effective treatments, so that catching the disease early, before it becomes clinically apparent, leads to better outcomes. Thus, screening is not directed at individuals with specific complaints but rather at large populations in an attempt to lessen their mortality risk from specific diseases. Screening differs from traditional treatment in another important way. Unlike patients with specific problems, who must give informed consent to treatment, healthy patients are often pressured to undergo screening and are rarely provided with the knowledge needed to make an informed decision. Many medical organizations and patient-advocacy groups oversell the benefits of screening but almost never mention that screening tests, like other medical procedures, have potential harms. One-third of men undergoing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer, for example, dont recall being told that the test was being performed, let alone hearing about the risks and benefits. Yet Americans have enthusiastically embraced screening. The United States performs screening, particularly for cancer, more commonly than other advanced countries. We spend tens of billions annually on cancer screening, including $8 billion for breast cancer, over $6 billion for cervical cancer, and $3 billion for prostate cancer. For some cancers, screening expenditures nearly equal the amount spent on treatment. Why do we encourage large numbers of healthy people to undergo testing that may reveal some future problem, without informing them of the efficacy of these tests and their possible harms, while insisting that people who actually need medical intervention give informed consent? The reasons are more political than scientific. Patient-advocacy groups attract donations, gain prestige, and accumulate power by pushing screening for particular diseases. Physician-specialty groups promote screening in their areas of expertise. Most important, politicians of both parties garner support by funding screening programs for important constituent groups. Yet the effectiveness of screening is overrated: many screening programs mislead the public, waste scarce medical resources, and harm the people they are supposed to help. The Stanford Prevention Research Center, in a comprehensive review of 39 screening tests for 19 diseases, found that reductions in death due to screening are rare. Nevertheless, patients routinely undergo overly intensive, low-value tests. About half of women who had a hysterectomy and no longer have a cervix, for example, are still getting PAP tests for cervical cancer screening. Despite the absence of evidence supporting screening in these older populations, cervical and breast cancer screenings are performed in 38 percent and 50 percent, respectively, of women over 80; and more than 50 percent of men over 75 report that their physicians continue to recommend PSA screening. It is nearly certain that these older men and women will die of some cause other than occult breast, cervical, or prostate cancer. One study found that significant numbers of Medicare patients with a known advanced cancer and a short life expectancy were still being screened for other cancers. Most patients are unaware of screenings side effects. False-positive results lead to additional testing, anxiety, and unnecessary and invasive diagnostic procedures. Screening can overdiagnose disease and lead to needless treatment by uncovering cases that would never have become clinically apparent, let alone life-threatening. Finally, screening generates false negatives as welldeluding patients into a sense of security and encouraging them to ignore signs of disease that they would otherwise bring to medical attention. The contentious debate over mammography screening for breast cancer illustrates the problems surrounding screening. Following publication of several randomized trials assessing breast cancer screening over 30 years ago, U.S. medical groups recommended starting annual mammograms at age 40. Forty-two states enacted laws between 1987 and 2000 requiring insurers to cover mammography screenings in their insurance plans, and patient-advocacy groups such as the Susan Komen Foundation sprang up, supporting screening. Today, barely a week passes without a celebrity revealing her breast cancer diagnosis and urging women to get screened. Male and female politicians pledge unwavering support for mammography programs. Yet the success of mammogram screening in preventing breast cancer deaths is greatly exaggerated. If such screening were effective, it would pick up cancers early, leading to a reduction in cancers diagnosed at advanced stages (those most likely to kill) and reduced breast cancer mortality. A recent study in JAMA Internal Medicine compared different rates of screening, breast cancer incidence, and breast cancer mortality in 16 million woman 40 years and older residing in 547 U.S. counties. The women were screened for breast cancer in 2000 and tracked for ten years. The JAMA study found a positive correlation between the extent of screening and breast cancer incidencethat is, more screening finds more cancersbut no correlation between the extent of screening and ten-year breast cancer mortality. Screening mostly discovered small cancers (less than two centimeters) and early-stage cancers. The study found no reduction in the numbers of larger cancers or in the incidence of more dangerous, locally advanced cancers and cancers that had already spread through distant metastases. These new findings mirror a 2012 New England Journal of Medicine review of 30 years of mammography screening showing a 109 percent increase in the incidence of small, early-stage breast cancer but only an 8 percent decrease in the incidence of advanced cancers, with virtually no reduction in the most advanced, metastatic cases. What explains the lack of success? We have been screening the wrong womenthose younger than 50 and older than 75and screening all women too intensely. Breast cancer incidence rises with age, with the highest rates found in women over age 60. Mammography is less accurate in younger women, whose breasts are denser. As a result, the net benefit of annual screening is less for younger women, who have a lower absolute risk of breast cancer, a greater risk of false positive (and false negative) findings on mammography, and an increased risk of overdiagnosis. Among women who get regular mammograms over ten years, the number whose lives will be saved because of screening will be five of 10,000 40- to 49-year-old women; ten of 10,000 50- to 59-year-old women; and 42 of 10,000 60- to 69-year-old women. Over those same ten years, 61 percent of 40- to 50-year-old women who have annual mammograms will get a false positive, leading to more tests and anxiety and, for about 20 percent of these women, an unneeded biopsy. Mammograms will also miss about 20 percent of breast cancers, falsely reassuring many women and some physicians, who will disregard signs and symptoms of cancer, such as a breast mass. Finally, an estimated 19 percent to 31 percent of the cancers found prove to be overdiagnosesearly cancers that would never become life-threateningleading to overtreatment with surgery (with young women increasingly selecting unilateral or even bilateral mastectomies rather than lumpectomies), radiotherapy (which adversely affects the heart and lungs), and toxic chemotherapy. A recent study in Health Affairs estimates that false positives and overdiagnosis in women 40 to 59 costs $4 billion annuallyhalf the annual expenditure on mammogram screening. A report from Yale researchers in JAMA Internal Medicine found that 40 percent of Medicares annual billion-dollar expenditure on mammogram screening pays for screening women over 75, for whom nearly all cancers detected likely represent overdiagnosis. These older women are far more likely to die of some other ailment than they are of an early, mammographically detected breast cancer. Much of this information is not new, yet mammogram screening remains popular. In fact, questioning its efficacy is a political third rail. When the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a respected, independent panel of primary-care and preventive-medicine experts, advised in 2009 that mammography no longer be routinely recommended for 40- to 49-year-old women and that women between 50 and 74 have mammograms every other year rather than annually, the reaction from official medicine and womens groups was swift and fierce. Legislators, the American Cancer Society, the American College of Radiology, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and various womens groups condemned the recommendations as dangerous. President Obamas Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was being negotiated during this time, requires health plans to cover preventive services, including screening, without any cost sharing (such as co-payments, deductibles, or coinsurance), where the USPSTF has found high certainty of substantial or moderate net benefit (grades A or B). In response to political pressure, the ACA was amended to cover annual mammogram screening at no cost, starting at age 40, though the USPSTF had given only a C grade (moderate certainty of small net benefit) to screening in the 4049 age range. Updating its guidance in 2015, the USPSTF issued draft screening recommendations (finalized in January 2016) that echo its 2009 call to raise the starting age for mammographies and decrease their frequency. The task force acknowledged that screening reduces the risk of dying from breast cancer but found that the benefit for the 4049 age group is small, while the risks of overdiagnosis and false-positive tests resulting in unnecessary procedures are high. Balancing the risks and benefits, the USPSTF recommended against routine screening for average-risk, 4049-year-old women and suggested that women consult with their physicians to determine if they bear greater-than-average risk of cancer that would warrant earlier screening. As it had in 2009, the USPSTF again advised biennial screening for women aged 50 to 74, rather than the annual screening that most cancer groups propose, because published randomized trials indicated no clear trend for greater benefit from annual screening versus biennial screening. Modeling studies predicted minimal benefit when moving from biennial to annual mammography but a large increase in harms (false positives, unnecessary breast biopsies, and overdiagnosed breast cancers). In May 2015, the American College of Physicians (ACP) High Value Care Task Force published identical recommendations. Similarly, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has reaffirmed its 2002 handbook recommending mammography screening only for women between the ages of 50 and 69. These recommendations follow most other countries practices, where screening starts later, ends earlier, and gets done at less frequent intervals than in the United States. European women under 50 are rarely offered screening. The United Kingdom screens women 50 to 70 years old every three years. Last year, the Swiss Medical Board recommended that no new mammography screening programs be initiated and that existing ones be phased out. In 2015, as in 2009, the reaction to the USPSTF was immediate and intense. The medical-specialty societies again condemned the USPSTF guidelines and reiterated their support for annual screening starting at 40. Only the American Cancer Society, which had initially rejected the USPSTF update, has budged: on October 20, 2015, it recommended splitting the difference between its old guidelines and the USPSTFs, suggesting that annual screening start between ages 45 and 54, with biennial screening thereafter. Writing in the Washington Post, Democratic congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz claimed that deferring mammograms until after age 50 is dangerous and will result in needless deaths. More than 60 lawmakers of both parties wrote to the Department of Health and Human Services, urging that it not jeopardize access to these screenings. Republican senator David Vitter warned that we shouldnt let bureaucrats in Washington limit access to prevention and early detection resources. These decisions should be left to women and their doctors. Scientific evidence, not political considerations, should determine health-insurance coverage and payment policies. Leaving the decision to women and their doctors is precisely what the USPSTF was proposing. Both the USPSTF and the ACP emphasized that younger women should make the decision to screen only after consultation with their doctors, weighing the potential benefit against the possible harms, and noted that women who have a first-degree relative with breast or ovarian cancer or other risk factors, such as a known genetic predisposition, should consider early testing. The suggestion that the guidelines will cause needed mammograms to be deferred is simply incorrect. On the contrary, the unneeded, sometimes harmful, mammograms currently being performed on younger women are the ones that will be deferred. Its the politicians who, despite all the evidence, are urging younger women to undergo screening without discussing their individual health needs with their physicians. Women should be informed of the significant risks of overdiagnosis, false positives, and false negatives that most independent review bodies feel outweigh the benefits of mammogram screening in the 40- to 49-year-old age group. Instead, a bipartisan group of lawmakers inserted the Protecting Access to Lifesaving Screenings (PALS) Actplacing a two-year moratorium on implementing the USPSTF recommendationsinto the December 2015 Omnibus Spending Bill. The PALS Act ensures that women will continue to be routinely subjected to screening that starts too early and is conducted too frequently, without having the discussions they need to make informed decisions. Screening advocates also claim that the USPSTFs C grade for screening younger women and the recommendation for biennial rather than annual screening for women over 50 will lead insurers to stop covering screening mammograms without out-of-pocket costscausing women to put off testing. This is unlikely to prove a serious problem. For women who dont need these tests, limiting coverage is a good thing. For women whose risk factors justify screening before age 50 and annually thereafter, insurers will probably continue to cover screening without cost sharing. Even if some women become responsible for some out-of-pocket costs, these costs are unlikely to be a barrier to indicated screening. Poorer women will be covered without expense by Medicaid or the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and administered by the states. Wealthier women already pay some out-of-pocket costs for nearly all their medical care. Few of these women will defer a mammogram that their physicians suggested because they have to share the relatively modest cost. The anomaly in this debate is that screening advocates insist that tests of dubious value and known harms for healthy people be provided free of charge and with minimal or no informed consent, while tests and treatments for people with known illnesses are subject to out-of-pocket expenses. The advocates policy prescription seems designed to lead to overuse of screening and underuse of therapeutic testing and treatment. Scientific evidence, not political considerations, should determine health-insurance coverage and payment policies. If were serious about getting greater value for our health-care dollar, we should rethink our obsession with cancer screening. The $4 billion expended annually on breast cancer screening that leads to false positives and overdiagnoses and the billions more that could be saved by curtailing spending on dubious screening for other diseases (e.g., the USPSTF recommends stopping PSA screening for prostate cancer at any age) would be better directed to cancer research and treatmentand to providing the information that people need to make informed decisions about cancer screening. Research has found no correlation between the extent of screening and ten-year breast cancer mortality. (GARO/PHANIE/THE IMAGE WORKS) wellness-nutrition-2 Three northeast Ohio companies are making amazing changes during the Great Challenge transition. (Courtesy photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio - There is never a dull moment when covering the tech community for this column or being an active entrepreneur in Cleveland these Michael C. DeAloia days. Cleveland is in this wonderful transition from Rust Belt to Tech Belt. At times, it can be an awkward transition, but at the end of the journey ... it will be a worthwhile transformation. Call it the Great Challenge, if you will. How do you transition a global manufacturing center into a technology upstart? How do you muster the resources to make this happen? Which companies and entrepreneurs will initiate the wonderful change? Three companies engaged in the Great Challenge for Northeast Ohio are making amazing changes so far. Eureka at Heureka. Downtown based Heureka Software launched its software platform in December 2015 and is now enjoying great market acceptance of their product. Heureka offers organizations the ability to extract actionable intelligence from their unstructured data. Consider that 80 percent of any company's data is unstructured, and according to Gartner, a research/advisory firm providing information technology-related insight, that is growing 63 percent per year. The company has created the next great data tool which fits well into the narrative of Cleveland as a thought leader in Big Data analytics. The software had its genesis in a litigation support company called VE Discovery. Ron Copfer To support its ever-growing client base and client needs, VE Discovery built an internal tool to focus on unstructured data. Tech entrepreneur Ron Copfer was running VE Discovery at the time, and after some soul searching, he said he felt the software had a larger upside than VE Discovery. Copfer decided to sell VE Discovery to Franklin Data and to reinvest the money into new Heureka Software. Copfer then hired Nate Latessa as Heureka's CEO. Latessa is now focusing on two primary activities - getting the go-to-market strategy perfected and refining the company's capital plan. There are a lot of industries that generate tons of unstructured data, but Heureka believes there to be promising opportunities in the manufacturing, IT and healthcare sectors. On the capital front - the company has raised $200,000 from angels and another $750,000 from an Ohio Innovation Loan. Heureka expects to close on a second angel round in the near future and will seek a Series A round in early 2017. The Great Challenge here is to position a software that offers an unparalleled level Nate Latessa of visibility that no company has had before in its unstructured data. While the sales cycle is significant - Heureka is a typical enterprise sale - the company's pipeline is strong and international in focus. It is a heady contest, but one that Latessa and his mentor Copfer are determined to win. A Capital Gain. How to best finance a promising company is the great debate going on in local entrepreneurial and venture capital circles. Raising money for a startup enterprise is challenging in the Cleveland area; however, there is a maxim that every good deal will eventually find cash. Recently, Eric Golubitsky, vice president of business development, announced that VIPerks had completed a $1.2 million seed round from a group of sophisticated angel investors. The company delivers a cloud-based employee discount and appreciation program that drives employee engagement. Through a white-label web portal, VIPerks promotes exclusive deals on top consumer brands and products to the employees of a company. The idea behind this cloud-based platform is that thoughtful benefits make an employee feel appreciated. Thus, offering a cost-effective white labeled benefit to an employee should help engage and retain the employee. And so far, that theory is working well for VIPerks. The VIPerks platform was launched 20 months ago and now services more than 100 business-to-business clients with more than 500 perks on the portal. The company will invest the seed round into scaling the software platform and validating new market share. The company will expand the number of perks listed on the platform. Finally, the company is seeking its first Chief Financial Officer. The revenue model for VIPerks is to charge a subscription fee for the companies using the platform. Any margin on a perk sold through the platform is also captured by the company as revenue. Also, VIPerks has a number of merchandising affiliates (individuals or companies selling the platform) and collects a percent of each transaction the affiliates completed as revenue. Golubitsky said that VIPerks is studying the size and valuation for a future Series A round. The round must be "substantial to maintain two additional years of high-scale growth. VIPerks proves that good deals will find money. Now, it's all in the execution of the company's aggressive business plan. Tech Talent. Principal of Next IT Staffing Dawn Swit, along with her company, specializes in finding top IT talent in Northeast Ohio. It is not an easy endeavor, she said, and added that there are more vacant IT positions available in Northeast Ohio than can be filled. More and more of her clients are willing to use outside staffing firms and pay them 20-30 percent to help find the right technical talent. Swit said that anyone with talent in Cloud Computing is in huge demand these days. She said she is seeing more middle-market and large corporations hiring additional internal talent to handle their cloud computing needs. Big data analytics too is growing trend in the marketplace and finding enough talented people in this field is super difficult, she said. Swit is passionate about hiring IT talent, and she gets very excited when discovering the next generation of talented people. If you would like to further the conversation on regional IT talent or simply talk shop, make sure to reach out to Swit. ELYRIA, Ohio -- Indictments have been returned against more than a dozen people accused of trafficking heroin and cocaine in Lorain County. Detectives seized more than $200,000 in drugs and $83,000 in cash at the end of a four-month investigation that led to a series of arrests in March in Elyria and Lorain. Thirteen people are facing charges in indictments returned Thursday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. The group faces a range of charges including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, conspiracy, permitting drug abuse, trafficking in drugs and possessing criminal tools, according to court records. Detectives seized 435 grams of heroin, 1020 grams of cocaine, seven pounds of marijuana, and six handguns when they executed five search warrants in March. They also seized $83,445 in cash, six cars, three motorcycles and three all-terrain vehicles, investigators said. The U.S. Postal Service also seized another two kilograms of cocaine being shipped to the drug trafficking organizations. The additional cocaine has a street value of $120,000, investigators said. Investigators identified Lorain residents Hugo Lopez, 45, and Rafael Esquilin, 34, as leaders of the group during a March press conference at the Lorain Police Department. Lopez is charged with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, two counts of conspiracy and four counts of trafficking in drugs. Esquilin is charged with two counts of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, two counts of conspiracy, two counts of permitting drug abuse, possessing criminal tools and having weapons under disability. The others facing charges are Lorain residents David Pena, 32; Ruth Rojas-Avelo, 40; Eric Corn, 29; Angel Rivera, 61; Jonathon Barnette, 20; Eliezer Claudio, 25; Eric Velazquez-Cosme, 30; Rolando Carter, 26; Carlos Lopez-Olmedo, 49; Sherman Ward Sr., 59; and Elyria resident Bobbie Corn Jr., 35. The people facing charges are accused of being members of two separate drug trafficking organizations operating in the county, detectives said. Investigators believe the drugs were coming in from the Chicago area, Lorain Detective Chris Colon said at a March press conference. The U.S. Postal Service, the Lorain County Crime Lab, the Ohio Attorney General's Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation assisted in the investigation. If you would like to comment on this story, visit today's crime and courts comments section. IMG_1621.JPG U.S. Coast Guard crews pulled a man from Lake Erie in Cleveland on Sunday, Cleveland Metroparks Rangers said. (Evan MacDonald, cleveland.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Crews pulled a man from Lake Erie on Sunday afternoon in Cleveland. The U.S. Coast Guard pulled the man from the water approximately 40 feet from the shore at the Cleveland Metroparks Lakefront Reservation's Gordon Park Fishing Area, a Metroparks Rangers spokesman said. Cleveland paramedics took him to University Hospitals Case Medical Center to be treated. The man's condition was not immediately available. Investigators are still working to determine how the man ended up in the water. The Cleveland Fire Department dive team was also called to the scene to assist, a fire spokesman said. The Metroparks Rangers spokesman directed further questions about the incident to the Cleveland Fire Department. If you would like to comment on this story, visit today's crime and courts comments section. watch now watch now watch now watch now China has threatened to cut off regular communication with Taiwan unless the country's new president acknowledges the so-called One China principle. According to a report from Xinhua, the Chinese state media outlet, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang said on Saturday that only by Taiwan confirming the One China principle - which dictates that the island of Taiwan and mainland China are parts of a single Chinese state - could "cross-Strait affairs authorities continue regular communication." Ma said the Chinese and Taiwanese authorities had had active interactions since at least 2014 through a hotline and other means, after establishing a regular mechanism that was based on a political agreement called the 1992 consensus. Ma said the communications arrangement had allowed the countries "to contact each other in a timely fashion, avoid misjudgments, keep disagreements under control, and it was also conducive to enhancing understanding and mutual trust." "With the operation of the regular communication mechanism, some 'impossibilities' in cross-Strait relations have become realities," Ma said, according to the Xinhua report. China: Tsai's speech 'incomplete' watch now Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has traditionally favored independence from China, was sworn in on May 20, replacing China-friendly Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalist Party (KMT). Ma had led Taiwan for the past eight years. Although Tsai, Taiwan's first woman president, said in her inauguration speech on Friday that Taiwan would play a responsible role and be a "staunch guardian of peace" with China, that was considered by China to be insufficient acknowledgment of the One China principle. After Tsai's speech on Friday, the Taiwan Affairs Office said Tsai's remarks were an "incomplete answer," while an editorial published on Saturday in the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party, said that "Taiwan's new leadership must complete their currently incomplete response." "We will not only listen to what she says, but also see what she will do," the People's Daily said in its commentary, according to Xinhua. China wants Tsai to explicitly endorse an interpretation of the One China principle that China says was agreed with the KMT under a framework known as the 1992 Consensus. According to China and the KMT, the 1992 Consensus, reached at a meeting that year between semi-official representatives of the two countries, provided a tacit understanding that the geographic territory of Taiwan belonged to mainland China but that both countries were free to pursue their own interpretation of what "One China" meant. But Tsai's DPP does not accept that there was, in fact, a consensus in 1992. Troubled history Taiwanese military personnel perform at the Presidential Palance at the inauguration ceremony for Tsai Ing-wen. The performance depicts the "228 Incident" in 1947, in which the KMT governing party - the same party Tsai's Democratic Progressive P Alberto Buzzola | LightRocket | Getty Images DeWITT, N.Y. Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE: CBU) announced that it has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 31 cents a share on its common stock. The DeWittbased banking company will pay the dividend on July 11 to shareholders of record as of June 15. The dividend is the same amount that Community Bank paid in each of the last three quarters. At the companys current stock price, the dividend yields more than 3.1 percent on annual basis. Community Bank also announced that four directors up for election at its annual shareholders meeting on May 18 were elected Mark J. Bolus, Nicholas A. DiCerbo, James A. Gabriel, and Edward S. Mucenski. At the same meeting, the shareholders also ratified the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to serve as Community Banks independent registered public accounting firm. Community Bank System operates more than 200 branches across upstate New York and Northeastern Pennsylvania through its banking subsidiary, Community Bank, N.A. It has total assets of about $8.6 billion, ranking it among the countrys 150 largest financial institutions. Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com manoharbalu wrote: Is there any specific ways or methods of send/receive huge data continuosly via Csocket. How to send the big data every interval in a better way. See here. "One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson "Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles ASIO[^](the non-Boost version if you aren't using Boost) and making both the send and receive asynchronous? i am working on a movie database and i have output from my file that i want to load into my linked list,no problem opening file but when i run this function it enters junk values in the list and only works if i enter all the strings without spaces or seperated by special characters. i am reading this from the txt file SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION 120 5 MYSTERY 2009 ENGLISH 3 THE MATRIX 120 5 MYSTERY 2009 ENGLISH 3 THE MATRIX PART1 120 5 MYSTERY 2009 ENGLISH 3 THE MATRIX PART2 120 5 MYSTERY 2009 ENGLISH 3 this is the code for load text from file into a linkedlist(doubly) C++ Copy Code void double_llist::loadfromfile(){ string mname,mgenre,mlanguage; int mrelease_year,mamount, mrating,mruntime; ifstream fromfile; fromfile.open( " database.txt" ); while (fromfile > > mname > > mgenre > > mlanguage > > mrelease_year > > mamount > > mrating > > mruntime) { cout < < mname < < mgenre < < mlanguage < < mrelease_year < < mamount < < mrating < < mruntime < < endl; create_list(mname,mgenre,mlanguage,mrelease_year,mamount,mrating,mruntime); } } the code for doublylinkedlist C++ Copy Code void double_llist::create_list(string mname, string mgenre, string mlanguage, int mrelease_year, int mamount, int mrating, int mruntime) { struct node *s, *temp; temp = new ( struct node); temp- > info=id++; temp- > name = mname; temp- > genre=mgenre; temp- > language=mlanguage; temp- > release_year=mrelease_year; temp- > amount=mamount; temp- > rating=mrating; temp- > runtime=mruntime; temp- > next = NULL; if (start == NULL) { temp- > prev = NULL; start = temp; } else { s = start; while (s- > next != NULL) s = s- > next; s- > next = temp; temp- > prev = s; } } my class and node struct for linkedlist C++ Copy Code #include < iostream > #include < cstdio > #include < cstdlib > #include < string > #include < fstream > using namespace std; struct node { int info; string name; string genre; string language; int release_year; int amount; int rating; int runtime; struct node *next; struct node *prev; static int counter; }*start; int id= 1 ; class double_llist { public: void create_list(string mname, string mgenre, string mlanguage, int mrelease_year, int mamount, int mrating, int mruntime); void delete_element( int value ); void search_element(node *head, int value ); void display_dlist(); void sorting(); void update(node *q , int value ); int count(); void reverse(); void savetofile(); void loadfromfile(); void revertsort(); double_llist() { start = NULL; } }; Copy Code mname = SHAWSHANK mgenre = REDEMPTION mlanguage = 120 mrelease_year = 5 mamount = MYSTERY - which is not an integer mrating = 2009 mruntime = ENGLISH - also not an integer the final 3 will now go into the title next time round the loop. It is the "standard", "usual" and "prefered" way to fix behaviour of classes or objects with methods and functions that aren't exactly as you desire. Can I go so far as to suggest MovieNameStream as a possible title for the extension. In vino veritas Farhan_Karim wrote: works if...all the strings...seperated by special characters. Is that not a possibility? "One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson "Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles I have Dev C++ on my system to practice writing C++ code from my C++ Programming for the Absolute Beginner book. So far, the constant repetition and copying have improved my muscle memory. Then, recently, I just noticed that this application could autocomplete my line. My biggest worry is that this autocomplete thing would make me fail the Computer Science placement exam. I really want to take the placement exam, so then I can get tested into the software development class and skip the introductory CS classes. On the school's website, it says that the placement exam takes place on paper and pencil, so that implies I should know how to write everything down to smallest detail and get it accurate enough so the algorithms would run correctly. Should beginners use Autocomplete? Maybe it's good practice for a beginner to write code on paper and then transfer the code onto the computer? Member KL wrote: Maybe it's good practice for a beginner to write code on paper and then transfer the code onto the computer? That's a good idea for anyone, not just beginners. "One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson "Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles I have however worked on FPGAs, that's a similarly slow process of building/routing. You're not writing things on paper but you're definitely waiting for a really long time for synthesis and routing. I was working on these guys a few years ago now but our builds would take about a couple of hours too. You'd be really disappointed when things didn't quite work or you forgot some debug traces. At the end of the day what will make you a better programmer will ultimately be how many hours you spend programming. Practice, practice, practice.... Good luck! I never write my programs on paper before typing. I only resort to paper to draw diagrams when the current problem is complicated. I do this because I use a very good analyze method. I recommend Dijkstra Top-Down method it is a good start. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-down_and_bottom-up_design[^] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structured_programming[^] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edsger_W._Dijkstra[^] https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/ewd03xx/EWD316.PDF[^] Patrice Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. Albert Einstein Albert Holguin wrote: Definitely use a whiteboard or paper for architecting a complicated system (or a software tool like Visio). That is what I do when I say PPolymorphe Wrote: I only resort to paper to draw diagrams when the current problem is complicated. Albert Holguin wrote: Last thing you want to do is spend a bunch of time writing software that doesn't really make sense in the grand scale of things (architecture-wise). Can only agree. Patrice Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. Albert Einstein ppolymorphe wrote: That is what I do when I say PPolymorphe Wrote: I only resort to paper to draw diagrams when the current problem is complicated. I was only agreeing/elaborating... Patrice Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. Albert Einstein You should avoid using autocomplete or similar helpers so that you can have better hands-on. Professional point of view: You should not miss any helpers (autocomplete, automation etc.) so that you become more productive. Best wishes C++ Copy Code #include < stdlib.h > #include < stdio.h > struct tree { char info; struct tree *left; struct tree *right; }; struct tree *root; struct tree *stree( struct tree *root, struct tree *r, char info); void print_tree( struct tree *root, int l); int main( void ) { char s[ 80 ]; int l= 3 ; root=NULL; do { printf( " enter a letter:" ); gets(s); root=stree(root,root, *s); } while (*s); print_tree(root, 0 ); return 0 ; } struct tree *stree( struct tree *root, struct tree *r, char info) { if (!r) { r=( struct tree *) malloc( sizeof ( struct tree)); if (!r) { printf( " out of memory " ); exit( 0 ); } r- > left=NULL; r- > right=NULL; r- > info=info; if (!root) return r; if (info < root- > info) root- > left=r; else root- > right=r; return r; } if (info < r- > info) stree(r,r- > left,info); else stree(r,r- > right,info); return root; } void print_tree( struct tree *r, int l) { int i; if (!r) return ; print_tree(r- > right,l+1); for (i= 0 ;i < l;++i) printf( " " ); printf( " %c " ,r- > info); print_tree(r- > left,l+1); } Printing aside, you need to first verify that the tree is being built correctly. The only way to do that is to single step through each line of code (the stree() function) using the debugger. Note the values of info , left , and right along the way. As you build the tree on paper, what you see in the debugger should match. Are you trying to print the tree contents pre-order, in-order, or post-order? "One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson "Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles modified 20-May-16 16:09pm. Synthetic hair problems lead MU grad to create banana-based product Ciara Imani May wasn't expecting to develop a protective hairstyle product when she studied business at MU. But that's exactly what she's done. Fall Arts Spotlight: Nina West Creator Takes a Turn in Hairspray Andrew Levitt returns home not as his beloved drag queen character, but as Edna Turnblad in the touring Broadway production of Hairspray. SHARE Barney Sellers/The Commercial Appeal files May 21, 1977 Andrew Blakely (left), Joe Thomas (seated) and Mantudi Garland entertain at a Memphis In May event on May 21, 1977. May 22 25 years ago: 1991 Sidney Shlenker gave the city and county a new commitment Tuesday but no cash and eluded a deadline for his ouster as manager of The Great American Pyramid. Shlenker's company had until noon Tuesday to provide a $3 million letter of credit that would ensure payment of the first-year fee it would owe for running the taxpayers' new riverfront arena. But shortly after the deadline expired, Shlenker and Memphis Mayor Dick Hackett emerged from a meeting with details of a new deal that, in effect, buys the company more time. 50 years ago: 1966 The first all-jazz concert of music and dance to be given by Nelle Fisher since she came to Memphis last fall as artistic director of the Memphis Civic Ballet will be given at Front Street Theater June 4-5. Joseph Russillo, guest artist in three Memphis concerts during the past season, will star in a number which he choreographed, and will be assisted by members of the Civic Ballet. Sharing the program with him will be the Tommy Ferguson Combo consisting of Cliff Acred, bass, Sonnie Tutt, drums, and Edwin Hubbard, flute. 75 years ago: 1941 Baptist Hospital is now installing what will be the first 100 per cent air conditioned operating room in this part of the country, according to George Sheats, superintendent. Nineteen rooms will be conditioned at a cost of approximately $20,000. Mr. Sheats stressed the need for 100 per cent conditioning, due to the explosive nature of anesthetics used. 100 years ago: 1916 The Memphis Zoo, already the second largest in America, had its population increased by more than 200 rare members yesterday, when Phil Casting, superintendent of the Overton Park menagerie, returned from an animal gathering trip to Central America. He arrived yesterday from New Orleans, with his entire lot of new animals, gathered in Colombia, packed in 38 cases. 125 years ago: 1891 The Episcopal church at Collierville, which has been erected during the past year, will be consecrated next Wednesday. Bishop Quintard will officiate, and a number of the clergy from Memphis and other points are expected to be present. SHARE By Beau Kilmer, Los Angeles Times In six months, California will join Maine, Nevada and probably a few other states in deciding whether to legalize large-scale commercial production of marijuana. Residents will be inundated with wild claims about the promises and pitfalls of these initiatives. You will hear debates about government revenue, criminal justice benefits, the environment and the effect of legalization on Mexican drug-trafficking cartels. Public health conversations may prove especially contentious. Some will claim that legalization will constitute a net gain for health. Others will say the exact opposite. Although you shouldn't believe either extreme, one fairly safe bet is that if we legalize and allow profit-maximizing firms to produce, sell, and advertise recreational marijuana, use will increase. The data from Colorado and Washington, where voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, are still preliminary. We do know, however, that the number of Coloradans who reported using marijuana in the past month increased from about 10.5 percent in 2011-12 to nearly 15 percent in 2013-14. In Washington, reported use rose from just above 10 percent to almost 13 percent. Given that both states' pre-existing medical systems already provided quasi-legal availability, it is hard to imagine that commercial legalization did not account for at least some of these increases. (That said, other factors could influence marijuana use and it will be some time before researchers have enough data to conduct rigorous analyses. Some of the increase could also come from respondents being more honest now that marijuana is legal in their states). But is a rise in marijuana consumption bad from a public health standpoint? Not necessarily. Much will depend on the types of users who account for the increase adults or children? Heavy users or light users? No one wants kids to get stoned at school or to become regular users while their brains are still developing. No one wants adults to be impaired at work or behind the wheel. Some heavy users, moreover, struggle to control their consumption, which can create challenges for them and their families. But there are real benefits associated with marijuana use, such as medical relief or simply pleasure. Exactly how people consume marijuana will also help determine public health consequences. In addition to vaporizing marijuana plant material (which reduces inhalation of carcinogens and other substances), people can and do eat, drink, vape hash-oil, and "dab" waxes that are high in the intoxicating chemical THC. The negative effects of overconsuming edibles are well-documented, but much less is known about the pros and cons of these other forms. Perhaps the most important consideration is how increased marijuana consumption may influence the use of other substances. Although the social costs of heavy alcohol use are much larger than the social costs attributable to heavy marijuana use, we do not know if legalization will lead to more or less drinking. The research on the relationship between alcohol and marijuana use is split down the middle. This connection is especially important in terms of traffic safety. The bulk of the research suggests that driving drunk is more dangerous than driving stoned, and driving stoned is worse than driving sober. Research also suggests that driving under the influence of both alcohol and marijuana is worse than either by itself. It would be a real blow to public health if an increase in marijuana use led to increased tobacco use. Even though the bulk of the research suggests this is a possibility, one cannot assume the relationship would remain the same under a different legal regime. Besides, most of the relevant studies were conducted before e-cigarettes and marijuana vape pens became popular, so researchers and voters alike have to be careful about making projections. There is also a new and much smaller body of research suggesting that increasing the availability of marijuana reduces problems with opioid painkillers. Some of these studies, however, are working papers that have not yet been subject to rigorous peer review. When you vote on whether to legalize marijuana, public health consequences may not be at the top of your list. If they are, I'm here to tell you the experts have more questions than answers. That won't change before November. Beau Kilmer is co-director the Rand Drug Policy Research Center and co-author of the recently revised book "Marijuana Legalization." No state is required to have a law prohibiting or regulating marijuana, so across the U.S. today, many states have very different laws concerning pot. In Colorado, where it is legal, a LivWell store manager shows off some of the products marketed by rapper Snoop Dogg in one of the marijuana chain's outlets south of downtown Denver. Associated Press files SHARE By David Courtwright, Special to The Washington Post Since 1970, when President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act, marijuana has been a Schedule I drug. Congress placed it in the most restrictive category of psychoactive substances, those with no currently accepted medical value and a high potential for abuse or dependence. The upshot was a renewed ban on marijuana, except for highly restricted research purposes. I say renewed because Congress first prohibited marijuana use for non-industrial purposes in 1937. The Schedule I designation ratified the status quo, with one notable exception: The 1970 CSA in fact reduced federal penalties for cannabis possession, a bit of Nixon-era liberality few recall. The CSA also authorized the Drug Enforcement Administration, in consultation with the Food and Drug Administration, to schedule, deschedule or reschedule drugs into different categories. The most restrictive category was Schedule I (no medical use), the least restrictive Schedule V (relatively loose prescription requirements). There was nothing unusual in this, scheduling already having been adopted in the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and in other nations' drug laws. What is unusual is that marijuana's Schedule I status is back in play. But marijuana researchers and the marijuana industry have very different aims when they call for a policy shift. Depending on whether the drug is rescheduled or descheduled, consumers could stand to benefit or lose. On April 4, Chuck Rosenberg, the DEA's acting administrator, cosigned a letter to lawmakers saying the agency "understands the widespread interest in the prompt resolution of these petitions [to reschedule marijuana] and hopes to release its determination in the first half of 2016." Cannabis researchers have their fingers crossed. They argue that marijuana, both the plant itself and its active components, has therapeutic potential in conditions as diverse as inflammatory bowel disease and PTSD. Moving marijuana to Schedule II or III would eliminate some of the onerous federal restrictions on cannabis research. The cannabis industry's reaction has been less enthusiastic. It wants a recreational market, not a specialized medical market. Its goal is descheduling, not rescheduling. Removing marijuana from the CSA (something Congress can do without FDA or DEA approval) would make pot like alcohol or tobacco. It would be subject to local, state and federal taxes and regulations, though not federal prescription requirements or bans. As Chris Goldstein wrote in Freedom Leaf, congressional descheduling legislation "would allow states to regulate cannabis as they please." "As they please" includes taxed recreational sales without therapeutic pretext, medical marijuana so easily acquired as to be virtually legalized, and frank commercialization. "As they please" evidently does not include public monopolies to limit consumption and diversion. Speaking at the 2016 Cannabis Science and Policy Summit, Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, said, "We don't want state monopolies. We want to see innovation in this industry." Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, agreed: "A vigorous, competitive process will produce better products for the consumer." The cannabis industry, with a capitalization in excess of $4 billion, has embraced the free market. Its opponents, such as Smart Approaches to Marijuana, counter that unfettered legalization means another Big Tobacco. The danger is that "better products" (mostly high-THC pot and more seductive ways to deliver it) will produce more addiction, accidents, psychoses and cognitive deficits, particularly among daily users who account for the vast majority of sales. When the core business model is phishing for phools by exploiting misinformed buyers, more research is not necessarily welcome. If rescheduling produces additional studies confirming that regular cannabis use causes abnormal brain development, memory impairment and diminished IQ, the drug would look more like lead exposure than a harmless party plant. Of course, the same research could verify cannabis' medical value. But evidence of serious side effects and high potential for dependence would make it impossible for the FDA to rationalize nonprescription sale or to recommend the DEA place cannabis (or products containing THC) in one of the CSA's least restrictive categories. Research into marijuana's non-intoxicating compounds, such as cannabidiol (CBD), is another matter. Even conservative legislatures in states such as Florida have approved high-CBD, low-THC marijuana to treat pediatric epilepsy. Yet whatever PR value the industry derives from such products, they remain orphan drugs. The money is in commercializing the intoxicating strains. Big Cannabis is not inevitable, given the growing concern over opioid- and alcohol-related deaths among downwardly mobile, working-class whites. Once burned by legal drugs, policymakers are twice cautious. But this much is certain: Should marijuana be descheduled, it will be by congressional legislation, not scientifically informed regulatory action by the DEA. Descheduling by legislative fiat would benefit the cannabis industry, not necessarily those in medical need. David Courtwright teaches history at the University of North Florida. Is a rise in marijuana consumption bad from a public health standpoint? Much of the answer will depend on the types of users who account for the increase adults or children? Heavy users or light users? SHARE Associated Press file photos The Federal Bureau of Investigation says nearly 700,000 individuals in the U.S. were arrested in 2013 and charged with marijuana violations almost 90 percent of those for simple possession. Even for those arrested and never prosecuted or convicted, arrest records have real harms in terms of the ability to get jobs, loans, housing and benefits. In Murfreesboro, Tenn., Rachael Hamm has been caught in "a revolving door" concerning her probation for her arrest for possession in 2012. By Erwin Chemerinsky, Special To The Washington Post There are rumors that the federal government may soon lift its ban on marijuana, but that wouldn't end marijuana prohibitions in the United States. This incongruity is the result of federalism: the ability of each jurisdiction the federal government and every state to maintain its own laws as to which drugs are illegal and which are not. Completely legalizing marijuana in the United States would require the actions of both the federal government and every state government. If the federal government repealed its criminal prohibition of marijuana or rescheduled the drug under federal law, that would not change state laws that forbid its possession or sale. Likewise, state governments can repeal their marijuana laws, in whole or in part, but that does not change federal law. When Colorado and Washington legalized the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, questions arose as to how this would interact with federal law. Specifically, the question was whether such state efforts are pre-empted by the federal law, which still prohibits marijuana as a controlled substance like heroin and cocaine. The answer is clear: States can have whatever laws they want with regard to marijuana or any other drug. No state is required to have a law prohibiting or regulating marijuana. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that Congress cannot force states to enact laws; such coercion violates the 10th Amendment. A state could choose to have no law prohibiting marijuana, or a law prohibiting marijuana with an exception for medical use, or a law allowing possession of small amounts of marijuana, or anything else. In fact, across the U.S. today, this is exactly the situation many states have very different laws concerning marijuana. Similarly, if the federal government were to repeal the prohibition of marijuana or reschedule it under the Controlled Substances Act, that would not change state laws. States still could prohibit and punish the sale and possession of marijuana under state criminal statutes. Contrary to what many believe, marijuana laws continue to be enforced by both states and the federal government. According to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 693,482 individuals in the United States were arrested in 2013 and charged with marijuana violations. Of these, 609,423 or 88 percent were arrested for simple possession. There is an enormous cost in terms of law enforcement resources, the criminal justice system and people's lives for marijuana to remain illegal. Even for those arrested and never prosecuted or convicted, arrest records have real harms in terms of the ability to get jobs, loans, housing and benefits. Like all drug laws, the prohibition against marijuana is much more likely to be enforced against African-Americans and Latinos than against whites. According to a 2013 study, whites and blacks use marijuana at roughly the same rates, but blacks are 3.7 times more likely than whites to be arrested for possession of marijuana. Yet there is little benefit to illegality. The primary argument for keeping marijuana illegal is that it is harmful. But as President Obama observed, pot is no "more dangerous than alcohol." Many things are harmful cigarettes, foods high in sugar and salt and cholesterol but that does not mean that they should be illegal. In fact, there is a good deal of evidence that marijuana is significantly less harmful than tobacco or alcohol and that it has benefits in treating some medical conditions such as glaucoma and seizure disorders, and alleviating some of the ill effects of chemotherapy. That is why 24 states and the District allow medical use of marijuana. Like the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s, the prohibition of marijuana has been a failure. The drug is readily available and it is estimated that 30 million Americans used it in the past year. And similar to the prohibition of alcohol, it is a costly failure. In addition to the cost in enforcing the criminal laws, there is the loss of significant revenue that could be gained from taxation and legalization. It is a question of when, not whether, marijuana becomes legal in America. A study by the Pew Research Center last year found that a majority of Americans now favor legalization, and only 44 percent believe it should be illegal. Of those under 35 years old, 68 percent believe that marijuana should be legal. But there is no doubt that the confusion federalism entails will make legalizing marijuana much more difficult. Erwin Chemerinsky is dean and distinguished professor of law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. SHARE Census updates have steadily shown that Memphis and Shelby County, from a population standpoint, have not been growing. Now we learn that after nearly 120 years as Tennessee's largest city, Memphis is on the verge of surrendering that title to fast-growing Nashville, according to census estimates released Thursday. An analysis of the new data by The Commercial Appeal's Tom Charlier reveal that as of July 1 of last year, Memphis clung to a 1,160-person edge in population 655,770 to 654,610, according to the estimates. The gap, which had totaled almost 12,000 just a year earlier, closed as Memphis lost 712 residents and Nashville gained 9,881. As recently as the 2010 Census, Memphis had about 45,000 more residents than Nashville. It is bad enough to lose bragging rights for being the state's largest city, but the trend portends a more ominous outcome for a city that has serious financial problems a shrinking population means a shrinking tax base. Last month, a reader sent a member of The Commercial Appeal's editorial board a copy of story from The (Nashville) Tennessean about Metro Nashville Mayor Megan Barry's first State of Metro address. The reader was making a point about how Nashville was continuing to surpass Memphis. From a vision and financial standpoint, the reader had a point. According to The Tennessean, Barry "outlined a robust agenda buoyed by massive tax revenue increases due to the county's growth." Her administration unveiled an operating budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year that is the first in Nashville's history to exceed $2 billion a 6.1 percent increase over the current year, but does not contain a tax increase. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has proposed a $667 million operating budget and $85 million capital improvement budget, putting more money toward public safety, paving and the city's pension fund. In fairness to Strickland, it is easy to be visionary and robust when you have plenty of money. Memphis does not. And, while Strickland wants to be "brilliant at the basics" with limited resources, that does not bode well for ideas and projects that make great cities. However, you have to live within your means. The new census still has Shelby County No. 1 in population with more than 938,000 residents. That number, however, is tempered by the realization that the Memphis metro area is not growing. Even then, however, there is a bit of good news in that assessment. John Gnuschke, director of the Sparks Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Memphis, said that if the figures show Memphis is not growing, they also confirm that it is not in rapid decline. It is no secret that Memphis' financial woes, in part, are the result of a shrinking tax base. While taxes and population are decreasing, the city still has to provide services for a vast area. Increasing property taxes likely would cause more people to abandon the city, further aggravating the city's financial woes. Turn on the 10 p.m. news in Memphis and crime usually dominates the first 10 minutes. Turn on the first 10 minutes of television news in Nashville and it is usually about crime. Many of Nashville's public schools are as bad as or worse than those in Memphis. While Nashville does not have a nearly 30 percent poverty rate, its 18.2 poverty rate is a serious matter. But Metro Nashville has been able to push ahead of Memphis in attracting good-paying jobs and the kinds of public amenities that spawn population growth. So, while Memphis is not in steep decline, it is not growing. That stagnation could have serious consequences for the city's future economic vitality when it comes to attracting quality jobs and creative new citizens who can enhance the city's quality of life. SHARE Hugh Conway Louisville, Ky. Memphis in the Big 12 Conference? One aspect no one (at least in Memphis) is discussing is the fact that the University of Memphis does not measure up academically with the other institutions being considered for inclusion in an expansion of the conference. Check out the U.S. News College Rankings. Geoff Calkins thinks Memphis is Louisville (Case for inclusion, May 15 column). Not hardly. Louisville ranks at 168, Memphis gets a RNP (rank not published). Rankings for the bottom 25 percent of colleges are not published to save them from embarrassment Thats where Memphis currently stands in the basement. Other schools being considered fare considerably better, and you better believe these college presidents are well aware of this. Houston is 187, Cincinnati 140, and UConn 57. By comparison, current institutions in the Big 12 include OU and Iowa State at 108, and Texas Tech at 168. None has an RNP like the U of M. Memphis would do well to consider plowing some of the resources it has marshalled for the Big 12 push and put them into academic programs. After all, that is what a university is ultimately judged by. The reality is, its very hard to get into a Power 5 conference when your school is the one that doesnt measure up academically. Select Commodity All Ajwan Alasande Gram Almond(Badam) Alsandikai Amaranthus Ambada Seed Amla(Nelli Kai) Amphophalus Antawala Anthorium Apple Apricot(Jardalu/Khumani) Arecanut(Betelnut/Supari) Arecanut(Betelnut/Supari) Arhar (Tur/Red Gram)(Whole) Arhar (Tur/Red Gram)(Whole) Arhar Dal(Tur Dal) Ashgourd Astera Avare Dal Bajra(Pearl Millet/Cumbu) Bajra(Pearl Millet/Cumbu) Balekai Bamboo Banana Banana - Green Barley (Jau) Bay leaf (Tejpatta) Beans Beaten Rice Beetroot Bengal Gram Dal (Chana Dal) Bengal Gram(Gram)(Whole) Ber(Zizyphus/Borehannu) Ber(Zizyphus/Borehannu) Betal Leaves Bhindi(Ladies Finger) Bitter gourd Black Gram (Urd Beans)(Whole) Black Gram Dal (Urd Dal) Black pepper BOP Bottle gourd Bran Brinjal Broken Rice Broomstick(Flower Broom) Bull Bunch Beans Cabbage Calf Capsicum Cardamoms Carnation Carrot Cashewnuts Castor Seed Cauliflower Chapparad Avare Chennangi Dal Cherry Chikoos(Sapota) Chili Red Chilly Capsicum Chow Chow Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum(Loose) Cinamon(Dalchini) Cloves Cluster beans Cock Cocoa Coconut Coconut Oil Coconut Seed Coffee Colacasia Copra Coriander(Leaves) Corriander seed Cotton Cotton Seed Cow Cowpea (Lobia/Karamani) Cowpea (Lobia/Karamani) Cowpea(Veg) Cucumbar(Kheera) Cummin Seed(Jeera) Custard Apple (Sharifa) Dalda Dhaincha Drumstick Dry Chillies Dry Fodder Dry Grapes Duck Duster Beans Egg Elephant Yam (Suran) Field Pea Firewood Fish Foxtail Millet(Navane) French Beans (Frasbean) Galgal(Lemon) Garlic Ghee Gingelly Oil Ginger(Dry) Ginger(Green) Gladiolus Cut Flower Goat Gram Raw(Chholia) Gramflour Grapes Green Avare (W) Green Chilli Green Fodder Green Gram (Moong)(Whole) Green Gram Dal (Moong Dal) Green Peas Ground Nut Oil Ground Nut Seed Groundnut Groundnut (Split) Groundnut pods (raw) Guar Guar Seed(Cluster Beans Seed) Guava Gur(Jaggery) He Buffalo Hen Hippe Seed Honge seed Hybrid Cumbu Indian Beans (Seam) Indian Colza(Sarson) Isabgul (Psyllium) Jack Fruit Jaffri Jamun(Narale Hannu) Jarbara Jasmine Jowar(Sorghum) Jute Kabuli Chana(Chickpeas-White) Kacholam Kakada Kankambra Karamani Karbuja(Musk Melon) Kartali (Kantola) Khoya Kinnow Knool Khol Kodo Millet(Varagu) Kulthi(Horse Gram) Lak(Teora) Leafy Vegetable Lemon Lentil (Masur)(Whole) Lilly Lime Linseed Lint Litchi Little gourd (Kundru) Long Melon(Kakri) Lotus Lotus Sticks Lukad Mahedi Mahua Mahua Seed(Hippe seed) Maida Atta Maize Mango Mango (Raw-Ripe) Marasebu Marget Marigold(Calcutta) Marigold(loose) Mashrooms Masur Dal Mataki Methi Seeds Methi(Leaves) Millets Mint(Pudina) Moath Dal Mousambi(Sweet Lime) Mustard Mustard Oil Myrobolan(Harad) Neem Seed Niger Seed (Ramtil) Nutmeg Onion Onion Green Orange Orchid Ox Paddy(Dhan)(Basmati) Paddy(Dhan)(Common) Papaya Papaya (Raw) Patti Calcutta Peach Pear(Marasebu) Peas cod Peas Wet Peas(Dry) Pegeon Pea (Arhar Fali) Pepper garbled Pepper ungarbled Persimon(Japani Fal) Pigs Pineapple Plum Pointed gourd (Parval) Pomegranate Potato Pumpkin Raddish Ragi (Finger Millet) Raibel Rajgir Ram Rat Tail Radish (Mogari) Raya Resinwood Rice Ridge gourd(Tori) Ridgeguard(Tori) Rose(Local) Rose(Loose) Rose(Loose)) Round gourd Rubber Sabu Dan Sabu Dana Safflower Sajje Same/Savi Season Leaves Seemebadnekai Seetafal Seetapal Sesamum(Sesame,Gingelly,Til) Sesamum(Sesame,Gingelly,Til) She Buffalo She Goat Sheep Snake gourd Snakeguard Soanf Soapnut(Antawala/Retha) Soapnut(Antawala/Retha) Soji Soyabean Spinach Sponge gourd Squash(Chappal Kadoo) Sugar Sugarcane Sunflower Sunhemp Suram Surat Beans (Papadi) Suva (Dill Seed) Suvarna Gadde Sweet Potato Sweet Pumpkin T.V. Cumbu T.V. Cumbu Tamarind Fruit Tamarind Seed Tapioca Taramira Tender Coconut Thinai (Italian Millet) Thogrikai Thondekai Tinda Tobacco Tomato Toria Tube Rose(Double) Tube Rose(Loose) Tube Rose(Single) Turmeric Turmeric (raw) Turnip Walnut Water Melon Wheat Wheat Atta White Peas White Pumpkin Wood Yam Yam (Ratalu) Select State Select Market Todays Observer today carries two stories that the paper doesnt link but that are none the less connected. The first is an attack on Michael Gove over his recent warning over the consequences of future Turkish accession if Britain votes to Remain. The second is a report about the effect that Norbert Hofer, who may today become Austrias new President, and his Freedom Party are having on a bourgeois town in that country. It may well be right to say that Turkey plus Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Serbia will not join the EU by 2020, and that the Justice Secretary is mistaken in so suggesting. But we cannot be sure what will happen next. On the one hand, mainstream European parties are increasingly alarmed by the effect of mass immigration on their chances of gaining and holding office. On the other, and as Mark Wallace argued on this site earlier this month, Erdogan has them over a negotiating barrel. Put simply, the latters stance is: let more Turkish migrants into Europe, or we will send you more refugees. As Mark wrote, Turkey has realised the obvious: that it can demand a high price for its co-operation in stopping refugees and other migrants crossing the Aegean, or failing that it can extort a high price by threatening to effectively wave even more migrants through. Erdogan is not known for passing up opportunities to get what he wants, and he has grabbed the chance eagerly. Then there is the question of a possible European deal with Turkey over visas. It is true that any such agreement and one has not yet been agreed, and may not be at all would be confined to Schengen countries. However, the matter of Turkey and migration and the EU and Britain is not that simple. To quote Mark again: we arent in Schengen, but British voters arent stupid they know the deal involves hefty subsidies for Turkey and even looser controls on access to the continent, as well as attendant security risks and another potential route for asylum claimants to mass in Calais. The core question for many British voters is a simple one: do they really trust the EU to play its part in controlling migration across the continent effectively? Whatever ones view on our EU membership, or whether or not one plans to vote Remain or Leave, the answer surely is that very many of them do not. And its the same in other European countries. Thats why support for Marine Le Pen is swelling in France, and why Hofer may be elected President of his country later today. The EU is often seen as a beacon of democratic values for former fascist countries in the olive belt and former communist ones in Eastern Europe. It is now more accurately viewed, with its porous borders and single currency, as an engine of instability and, in southern Europe, recession and employment. That a fascism-tainted pistol-wielder stands on the verge of his countrys highest office backs up Goves case and should be a signpost to Brexit. SUBSCRIBE Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates straight in your inbox. Close Virtual music band Gorillaz is currently working on their new yet-to-be-titled album which is scheduled to get released sometime later in 2016. The upcoming new album will be a follow up to Gorillaz's widely-acclaimed 2010 effort "Plastic Beach" and the band's first new release in the last five years. According to Consequence of Sound, the band is collaborating with Chicago rapper Vic Mensa for their new album. Producer and frequent Gorillaz collaborator Remi Kabaka recently shared a picture of Mensa in the studio on Instagram. The picture had the Gorillaz official Instagram handle tagged in the caption. Reddit user JordanPowers95 claimed that Mensa was initially tagged in the pic and later removed. This fuels the speculation that the band might want to keep the collaboration under wraps for now. There were also rumors that Noel Gallagher was interested in collaborating with Gorillaz for their new album. In an interview with The Daily Star, when Gallagher was asked about the possibility of a collaboration, he said Damon Albarn is "making a new Gorillaz album and he's got my number, so he's only got to ask. There is talk of doing something but I'm not sure what it is." "You can bet your life the minute I finish this tour he'll go out on his. I mean trying to get the two of us in the same room would be a fucking miracle. But I'm certainly open to the idea, for sure," he added, according to NME. Although, Gorillaz haven't yet announced a release date for their upcoming new album, it is expected that the album will be rolled out in 2016. Band member Jamie Hewlett teased the album's release saying "2016 is going to be Gorillaz all year." "We're doing Gorillaz next year," Hewlett said, according to NME. "Damon [Albarn] has started making some music around all his other projects. I'm working on it at the moment and 2016 is going to be Gorillaz all year." Are you excited about the new Gorillaz album? Let us know in comments below. See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare US Prepares Troop Deployment To Libya Amid Fight For Oil Fields By Bill Van Auken 21 May, 2016 WSWS.org Five years after a US-NATO war shattered Libya, Washington is preparing to send troops into the oil-rich North African nation for a long-term mission, the Pentagons top uniformed commander said Thursday. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters returning aboard his plane from a meeting of NATO commanders in Brussels that the new military deployment, which could involve thousands of US troops, could happen any day. It awaited only a formal agreement with the new government that the Western powers and the UN are attempting to set up in Tripoli, he indicated. General Dunford told reporters that there had been intense dialogue and activities under the surface aimed at bringing about the Libya intervention. This apparently referred to efforts by the US ambassador to Libya, Peter Bodde, and the State Departments special envoy for Libya, Jonathan Winer, to wrest a formal request for military intervention from Fayez al-Sarraj, the unelected head of the Western-backed Libyan Presidential Council. Under UN and US tutelage, Sarraj and his allies established this council in exile in Tunisia, returning to the Libyan capital, Tripoli, at the end of March. It is obvious that this new puppet regime has been created for the sole purpose of providing a veneer of legality to another US-NATO military intervention in the devastated country. Sarrajs legitimacy, however, is by no means clear. His is now one of three competing regimes, including the Islamist-dominated General National Congress (GNC) in Tripoli and the House of Representatives (HoR) based in the eastern city of Tobruk, which was previously recognized by the West as the legitimate government of Libya. Neither the GNC nor the HoR have recognized the authority of Sarrajs presidential council. Nor is it clear what fighting force Sarraj can rely upon and the US and its allies can arm and train. It was revealed earlier this month that US Special Operations troops have been on the ground in Libya since last year attempting to contact and assess various rival militias to see which one could be employed in the service of Washingtons interests in the country. Ostensibly, the US and its allies are intervening to counter the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) inside the country. ISIS fighters, reported to number at least 5,000, have taken control of a stretch of the Libyan Mediterranean coast. It is no accident that the center of this territory is the city of Sirte, formerly the hometown of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The city was reduced to rubble by US-NATO attacks in the days leading up to the October 2011 torture and murder of Gaddafi at the hands of US-backed Islamist militiamen. As in Iraq and Syria, Washington is justifying this new intervention in the name of combating a force that it itself spawned. Libyas ISIS fighters came from the Islamist militias that the CIA and other Western intelligence agencies supported and armed in the bid to oust Gaddafi in 2011. Many of them were then sent into Syria, along with large stockpiles of Libyan weapons that were shipped to that country as part of an operation run out of the secret CIA station in Benghazi. That station and a separate US consulate were overrun by Libyan Islamist militiamen in September 2011, leading to the deaths of US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. Discussions on the coming Libya intervention took place at a meeting of foreign ministers from the US, Europe and the Middle East on Monday in Vienna. Among the decisions taken was to seek exemption from an arms embargo imposed by the UN after the fall of Gaddafi so that weapons can be funneled in to forces loyal to the puppet Sarraj, though it is, as of yet, unclear who those forces are. US Secretary of State John Kerry allowed that a delicate balance had to be found to prevent the arms from falling into the hands of Al Qaeda-linked and ISIS elements that Washington is ostensibly fighting. The real objective in Libya today, as in 2011, is the assertion of undisputed US-NATO hegemony over the country and its massive oil reserves, the largest on the African continent. Having turned Libya into the model of a so-called failed state with its first intervention, Washington appears to want to impose some kind of neocolonial regime with its pending second incursion. The centrality of oil is manifest in the operations of the two major armed militias that are being considered for the role of Western puppet forces. The first is the so-called Libyan National Army formed under the command of Khalifa Hafter, a former Libyan army officer who became an asset of the CIA in the 1980s, set up near the agencys headquarters in Langley, Virginia and then airlifted by the Americans back into Benghazi during the 2011 war for regime change. Hafters forces have been moving slowly west from Benghazi toward the ISIS center of Sirte, expending most of their energies on seizing control of some 14 oil fields along the way. The fields were taken largely from the Petroleum Facilities Guards (PFG), whose commander, Ibrahim Jadhran, had sworn allegiance to the US-backed regime of Sarraj after previously seeking autonomy for the east and attempting to sell oil independently of the government in Tripoli. Meanwhile, a rival militia based in the city of Misurata in northwestern Libya has been approaching Sirte from the opposite direction with similar intentions. It is widely anticipated that these two forces, apparently the principal candidates for serving as the foundation of a Western puppet force in the country, may end up battling each other rather than ISIS. While General Dunford predicted a US-NATO intervention was imminent, he was less forthcoming about its composition. It had been reported initially that Italy, which exercised brutal colonial rule over Libya under the fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, would lead the mission, providing upwards of 5,000 troops. Among Romes principal concernsaside from reasserting its old colonial ambitionsis securing the Libyan coast, which is expected to be the major route for refugees seeking to reach Italy, now that the EU has sealed off the so-called Balkan route. On Monday, however, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said that Italy would not send troops into Libya. While under pressure to intervene in Libya, we have chosen a different approach, Renzi said in a statement. For its part, Germany has reportedly rejected placing any of its troops in Libya, saying that it would only train Libyan forces in neighboring Tunisia. The apparent disarray within NATOs ranks reflects the competing interests of the US and the various European powers as the Libyan intervention escalates what is emerging as a new imperialist scramble for Africa. As Washington prepares to launch another military intervention into a nation that it previously decimated through a war of aggression, its ongoing campaign in Iraq appears in growing danger. Baghdad was placed under military curfew Friday night after Iraqi security forces used tear gas and live fire to drive back thousands of antigovernment demonstrators who stormed the heavily fortified Green Zone, reaching the office of Iraqs US-backed prime minister, Haider al-Abadi. Initial reports indicated at least one civilian, and perhaps several, killed by security forces, and dozens wounded. Protesters, including supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, had stormed into the blast wall-enclosed Green Zone on April 30 to protest government corruption and failure to provide basic services and security. Anger has only deepened in the intervening weeks as the result of a series of terrorist bombings claimed by ISIS that have killed more than 150 people in Baghdad this month. In the wake of the bloodshed in the Green Zone, there is a growing threat that an armed confrontation between government forces and armed Shia militias in the Iraqi capital could eclipse the so-called war against ISIS. Vizhinjam Port Project Causes Environmental Havoc By Countercurrents.org 22 May, 2016 Countercurrents.org Vizhinjam port being built by Adani Group near Trivandrum, capital city of Kerala state of India, is hit by rough weather even as it is taking its baby steps. The rains that lashed at Trivandrum coast on 17th of May itself and made the life miserable for coastal people living all along the erosion-prone beaches on the northern side of the proposed Vizhinjam port! According to news paper reports at least 150 houses washed away around the project area. The sea waves made a mockery of the seawalls put all along the coast, and there are reports that one line of houses along the coast in Valiyathura fishing village had been fully destroyed and soon the second line of houses will also have the same fate. Hundreds of families have been evacuated and are put up in schools and other shelters. Locals say that this kind of erosion is unprecedented and many of them connect it with the dredging and construction at the port site by Adani in Vizhinjam. At few places people came out in streets and put up road blocks to express their anguish! Most of the newspapers and media, even though it was election time, did cover widely the damages caused by erosion along Trivandrum coast. The polling day was 16th May and counting on 19th and many were busy with it. So, only very few of them tried to verify what happened at the project area. Apparently there is also much restriction on people to visit the project site in the name of security. But a few of them managed to find out what was happening there and reported too. Mathrubhoomi, one of the leading daily newspapers has reported on 17th May that, after the rain huge waves started hitting the shore and made havoc at the project site also and large portions of the reclaimed seashore with dredged material deposits were washed away. Even the 100 m long breakwater built with piling up boulders also got severely damaged as these were thrown off to the waters by the surging waves! So Adani has stopped the construction now and may not resume soon, as they also don't know what is in store for them when the actual monsoon arrives! On the night of 19th of May there was heavy rain again, and the road built for the project caused water logging in the area. One news paper reported that water level rose to about 12 feet in the area. Sleeping people got panicked and hundreds of people had to be rescued. In the morning the authorities had to destroy that part of the road which blocked the water flowing into sea with earth movers to solve the water logging problem. The reclaimed coast of Vizhinjam Port site after dredging started in March 2016 At the principal bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi a legal battle is going on even now to decide the fate of Vizhinjam Container Transhipment Terminal awarded to Adani Group by Government of Kerala. Three appeals were filed against the Environment Clearance given to this project on 3 January 2014. But while the decision on these appeals were still to be made by the NGT, Kerala Government managed to get a temporary stay from the Supreme Court on 21 January 2015 on the proceedings of these appeals upon an interim order regarding the power of NGT. With that Kerala Government went ahead with tendering the port project and awarded it to Adani Group on 17th August 2015. Soon after, those who filed appeals against environment clearance approached the Supreme Court (SC) seeking a stay on the construction work that began in November 2015. The SC was almost going to stay the work, but did not do so because of an undertaking given to the Court by State of Kerala that, "if the action of construction is interfered with by this Court in this case, the port trust as well as the State of Kerala will restore the environmental status to its original position". This undertaking was recorded in the Order issued by Supreme Court on 16 December 2015. Then on 3 February 2016 the SC lifted the earlier stay on proceedings in the appeals against environment clearance and asked NGT "to proceed with the hearing and make an endeavour to dispose of the same as far as possible within a period of six weeks". So, hearing on the appeals against Environment Clearance given for Vizhinjam port project has started again last month and is yet to be over. Now in the NGT the main contention to be resolved is whether the coastal stretches in and around the proposed Vizhinjam port area in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala is prone to high erosion or not? This is very crucial because, according to Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification 2011, no port should be constructed in a high erosion coast. So, if the Tribunal finds that the coastal stretches in and around the project area is an erosion prone coast, the Environment Clearance could be squashed. If it happens Government of Kerala will have to restore the original environment status at Vizhinjam coast and nearshore waters. This is very similar to the Aranmula Airport project where the Court directed the project proponent to restore the filled up watersheds and paddy fields. Whether such restoration of environment is possible in the coast and sea is another matter for debate. It is to be noted here that though Adani has bagged the contract, they are not a party in the ongoing legal battle. In fact, Adani has nothing to lose, because all the work being carried out now is at the expense of the State. According to the agreement signed between Kerala Government and Adani, the State should pay Adani Rs.1463 crores in the name of 'Funded Works' to do site preparation and construction of breakwaters. So, even if NGT quashes the Environment Clearance and put an end to the project, they won't lose any money. The loss will be for public exchequer only! Knowing the seriousness of such a situation, the project proponent (Vizhinjam Seaport International Limited) has been trying its very best to convince the tribunal that Trivandrum coast is not at all eroding and even went to the extent of arguing that it is a 'stable' coast. All this was going on when the summer is at its peak both in Kerala and in Delhi. Adani was also going at a great speed to dredge the seabed at the port site and dumb the dredged soil at the adjacent shore for 'reclamation' and create the base for constructing berth area. However, they were worried that monsoon is coming soon and it may wash away all that is dredged and deposited on the beach. So they stopped dredging and started bringing in boulders/rocks to make an artificial breakwater to protect the artificial beach. They expected the monsoon to hit the Kerala coast only by first week of June and were working non-stop day and night. The project proponent would be more worried now; as they may find it difficult to ignore this erosion and to hide the news reports with pictures of erosion-torn beaches in Trivandrum coast, including the erosion and damages on the construction site, from the scrutiny of the Green Tribunal and general public. Their claim of 'stable coast' is proved to be false! Will the Tribunal take note of these recent happenings at the port site and also the severe erosion at the adjoining coast? In the meanwhile, as mentioned earlier, the present ruling UDF is thrown out and a new Government of LDF is coming to power in Kerala State! Interestingly, in their poll campaign, UDF also show-pieced Vizhinjam Port through print and visual media to woo the voters, but the election results prove that people have rejected such 'development' claims. Also, LDF in its campaign had emphasized that 'protection of environment and lives of people is true development and not erecting concrete jungles'. So, now the big question is what will be the attitude and approach of LDF Government towards this port project awarded to Adani? Recently, while the election campaigns were going on, Deshabhimani daily, the organ of CPI (M) in Kerala published a series of reports on the ill effects of port construction activities started by Adani at Vizhinjam, especially the dredging, on the livelihood of fishers of the area. Still, though LDF leaders boycotted the inaugural ceremony of construction of the port, they also stated no breach of agreement with Adani! Unfortunately, the LDF also was in the forefront demanding this Port, thinking that it would be of great benefit to the State and its people. The fact is that they never seriously studied the economic or environmental aspects of this project and took a position on it. All official studies have shown that this is an unfeasible project and is not going to benefit Kerala economy in any way. The only reason why Adani was the lone bidder was the real-estate component added into the port project at the last minute (in April 2015) by betraying State's interests! Deshabhimani daily Cover Page reports on Vizhinjam disaster published on 25 April 2016 Iraqis Storm The Green Zone For The Second Time By Mary Scully 22 May, 2016 Countercurrents.org For the second time within a month, thousands of protesters in Baghdad, Iraq stormed the Green Zone which Al Jazeera says "houses parliament, government buildings & foreign embassies." The Green Zone is a 10-square-km (3.9 sq mi) area completely surrounded by steel-enforced concrete blast walls with entry points controlled by Iraqi & US troops.. It is a military fortress with the biggest US embassy in the world, & with the UK, Australian, & Egyptian embassies. It garrisons US & foreign troops, mercenaries, & is the base for military contractors. To Iraqis, the Green Zone represents the US occupation which Obama declared ended in 2011. It is a monstrous edifice which was also the focus of protests during the Arab uprisings in 2011. It will be a glorious day when Iraqi protesters have razed it to the ground & send the whole lot of criminals packing. Iraqi military forces opened live fire & used tear gas against the protesters. Media reporting on the protest is canned from one media source to the next & comes straight from the military. They say "dozens" of protesters were injured & that "authorities could not immediately verify reports that several civilians had been killed." A media that wasn't embedded up the ass of the US Pentagon would consider it a matter of journalistic integrity & responsibility to find out just how many were injured & killed. When soldiers are shooting live ammo, it is likely there were fatalities. Borrowing a page from the Israeli army, military authorities actually claimed some Iraqi soldiers were stabbed. It was reported that protesters appealed to the soldiers by chanting "Oh army, the country is hurt! Don't side with the corrupt!" It is a profound political tragedy that international antiwar forces are too weak to provide massive solidarity with the Iraqi people. No political mission is more imperative than rebuilding that movement. On May Day, in the state of Odisha, India, protesters carried a banner saying "American attackers should lick Iraqi dust!" We second that. Our fullest solidarity & deepest respect to the Iraqi protesters standing against one of the most powerful & barbaric military forces in the world. Mary Scully has fifty years of political activism behind her in the US: antiwar, women's rights, civil rights, Palestinian solidarity (since 1967), in particular. She is running as an independent socialist candidate for US president 2016. SHARE Don Paul and Pamela Jean Creek 50th anniversary Don Paul and Pamela Jean Creek of Valencia Lakes, Florida, plan to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Creek and the former Pamela Graening were married May 28, 1966, at Zion United Church of Christ in Evansville. They are the parents of Chanel Elmer of Newburgh. They have two grandchildren. Don and Pam Creek retired in 2006 from the family owned business. SHARE Donald Powers By Max Roll of the Courier and Press An Evansville man was arrested early Sunday after police said he pointed a loaded handgun at someone who owed him money. Donald L. Powers, 56, is lodged in Vanderburgh County jail on preliminary charges of pointing a loading firearm, possession of a handgun without a license and intimidation with a deadly weapon. According to an Evansville Police Department arrest affidavit, police were called to 220 East Delaware Street at 5:15 a.m. for a man who claimed Powers had pulled a gun on him because he and his female roommate owed Powers $100 that was borrowed three months ago. The roommates claimed an intoxicated Powers beat on the door and called them all manner of names while threatening to beat up the male roommate, according to the affidavit. Police said the alleged male victim went outside to confront Powers after he walked away to his residence at 303 East Delaware Street and Powers came back and pointed a silver handgun at him and told him he was going to kill him, according to the affidavit. Powers met peacefully with police and told them the handgun was a pellet gun, then changed his story to say he never displayed the gun and then changed it again and said he never got into an argument with the alleged victims, according to the affidavit. Police said Powers, who is not licensed to carry a handgun in Indiana, allowed them inside his residence where they located a Smith and Wesson .38 caliber handgun with a visible serial number. SHARE By Max Roll of the Courier and Press The Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office and the Evansville Police Department will join agencies across the Eastern United States in a Border to Border seat belt enforcement operation. Increased enforcement will happen Monday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. with an emphasis on seat belt and child safety seat violations. Photos by DENNY SIMMONS / COURIER & PRESS Betty Scott of McCutchanville, Ind., (left) settles up her bill with Becky Rexing after picking out a variety of ferns and flowers at Rexing's Blumenhaus in Darmstadt, Ind., Thursday afternoon. "It's a fun business," Rexing said of the business. "You meet a lot of different people." SHARE One of 14 greenhouses at Rexing's Blumenhaus is bare. "Everything was full April 11th when we opened," Becky Rexing said. "That's how quickly we went through everything." DENNY SIMMONS / COURIER & PRESS Rexing's Blumenhaus in Darmstadt, Ind., was clearing out all of their winter plants at 50-percent off to make room at the start of their mum growing season. By Denny Simmons of the Courier and Press DARMSTADT, Ind. -- With most of the spring's flowers and plants long gone, the slow-down at Rexing's Blumenhaus was expected and even welcomed by Becky Rexing. It was a chance to relax and catch her breath before the mum growing season hit. "We opened April 11th," Rexing said of the business she and her husband, Todd, have run for the past two years. All 14 of the Blumenhaus greenhouses were full with 1,000 ferns, 25,000 geraniums and various annuals when the selling began. As of Thursday, less than a quarter of one greenhouse held plants and the house next to it was nearly empty. The other twelve houses sat devoid of everything but wooden slat tables, gravel walkways and some sparse weeds. "That's how quickly we went through everything," she said. Once a full-time teacher, Becky Rexing decided to grow mums with her husband in a side lot of their Haubstadt, Indiana home. "We started the mums for our kids' college funds," she said. When the opportunity to purchase the Darmstadt, Indiana business arose they embraced it. Rexing still does substitute teaching, but she is a full-time nurserywoman these days. Even in the winter. "If there's snow on the ground, we'll be all bundled up and when we get in the greenhouse, then we're down to t-shirts and shorts while we're planting. It gets that warm. Its like a personal tanning bed in these greenhouses," she laughed. "We go through a lot of sunscreen." "We'll close up this week because I have mums coming. I order in the cuttings that are two inches tall," Rexing said. "We'll start planting those and it will take us about 10 days." The Rexings start with 20,000 mums and sell them between the end of August and the beginning of October. "That's when we'll start the ferns," Rexing said. "We'll water them and take care of them until the end of January." When February rolls around, 25,000 geraniums get their starts. "And then its the hanging baskets and annuals from late February to the beginning of March and we'll be ready for spring again. There's year-round work here, but we're open for retail just in the spring and in the fall." --- Highways & Byways is a weekly photographic report from longtime Courier & Press photojournalist Denny Simmons. Republican Sen. Rand Paul speaks during the 145th NRA Convention inside Freedom Hall on Friday afternoon. SHARE By Joseph Gerth, The Courier-Journal / USA TODAY Network U.S. Sen Rand Paul may have been the only speaker at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum in Louisville to give President Barack Obama credit for being right about anything. Or, half right. He derisively referred to many of us clinging to our guns and our religion. He got it half-right, said Paul. I say were clinging to our guns, our religion and our ammunition. Paul said that gun rights are under assault from progressives. Its as if the other side doesnt even think there is a Second Amendment, he said. He said the Second Amendment is vital to the Bill of Rights. Our defense of the Second Amendment should always remind liberals that the right to bear arms is right next to the right to free speech, to the right to practice your religion and the right to freely associate with your friends and neighbors, he said. We should never let them relegate the second amendment to any second tier or rights, Paul said. He called on the NRA to also defend the First Amendment. If we diminish one iota the right to free speech, we risk not having the voice to defend the right to bear arms, Paul said. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence SHARE By Kirsten Clark, The Courier-Journal / USA TODAY Network Indiana Gov. Mike Pences speech at the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting in Louisville on Friday felt a bit like a commercial for the Hoosier state, where the national convention convened two years ago. Its nice to be in Kentucky, he said. But I will tell you that right across the river is the heart of the heartland. In addition to the upcoming Indy 500 and Hoosier hospitality, Pence, who introduced himself as a "card-carrying member of the NRA," touted the states 100-year-old state park system where folks are allowed to concealed carry and the states recent move to arm members of the Indiana National Guard. The state of Indiana works because in Indiana, we dont just talk about freedom, he said. We live it. Breathe it. We keep freedom at the center of who we are. Pence largely strayed from talk of the presidential election a prime area of focus for previous speakers like U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump although he did call out gubernatorial challenger John Gregg, who Pence will face this fall, and his support of Democrat Hillary Clinton. Let me be clear, you cannot support Hillary Clinton for president of the United States and promise the rights of the people to keep and bear arms will not be infringed, Pence said. It just doesnt add up. Rounding out his 10-minute speech, Pence recounted some local history and charged those in attendance to take a lesson from Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who embarked on their journey to explore the Louisiana Purchase from the Falls of the Ohio, located just across the river from Louisville. "They took with them undaunted courage, faith and freedom," he said. "I would say in these uncertain times, we too must face this moment with courage, with faith and with the same commitment to carry freedom forward through this election and beyond. SHARE By Madeline Buckley, USA TODAY NETWORK, Indianapolis Star Indianapolis suburban "doughnut" counties make up four of the top five fastest-growing counties in the state, according to census estimates released Thursday, with Hamilton County leading the state's growth. But Indiana's overall growth remains slow, an expert said, and more than half of the counties in Indiana are shrinking. The U.S. Census Bureau released 2015 population estimates, which show that the state's population has grown about 2 percent since 2010, when the last census was conducted. The government takes an official census every 10 years. "I'm a little surprised that, this far on from the Great Recession, we are still seeing growth as sluggish as it is," said Matthew Kinghorn, chief demographer at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. He noted, though, that Indiana's growth still surpasses neighboring states Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Illinois. The data is on par with trends of past years: The population in rural areas is declining, while suburban counties surrounding metro areas have marked the most growth. Counties in northeast Indiana, near Fort Wayne, and some Indiana suburbs outside of Louisville, Ky., also grew in the past five years. Marion County has grown about 4 percent since 2010, placing its growth at 12th in the state. Hamilton County tops Indiana with an almost 13 percent population increase in the past five years. Boone County closely follows with nearly 12 percent growth. Behind Hamilton and Boone counties: Hendricks at about 9 percent growth; Tippecanoe at 7.5 percent; and Johnson at 7 percent. Within the doughnut counties, Fishers has marked the fastest growth in the past five years, with its population surging by more than 15 percent. Noblesville follows with 13 percent growth. Carmel and Zionsville each grew about 12 percent, and Plainfield, just under 11 percent. In the northern part of the state, the populations of Fort Wayne and South Bend have increased, reversing previous trends of flat or declining populations in the cities, Kinghorn said. Still, he noted, growth in the state even in the doughnut counties falls short of population increases before the recession. "We are not growing at the pace we were in the '90s," Kinghorn said. In 58 of Indiana's 92 counties, the population shrunk or stayed flat, the estimates showed. Those counties represent mostly rural areas that are not near a larger population center. An exception, though, is Lake County, outside of Chicago, which shrunk at a rate of almost 2 percent. Falling at the bottom are Union, Tipton, Rush, Fountain and Randolph counties, having lost about 4 to 5 percent of their populations since 2010. "Rural or midsize communities are seeing population declines, and it's been that way for the past 10 or 15 years," Kinghorn said. "A lot is linked to the loss of industrial jobs, a shrinking employment base. There's just not as much to draw new residents to the area." Everyone who has ever worked in an office knows that it's best to avoid discussing controversial subjects with your colleagues, or else risk getting your inbox flooded by a bunch of poorly researched emails about child vaccination from Janice down in Accounting. Still, regardless of whether you believe climate change exists or not, you'd think it would be something to occasionally bring up when protecting the environment is in your job description. Unless you're in the Florida government, because in Florida, every day is Opposite Day. Continue Reading Below Advertisement The Environmental Protection Agency's entire purpose is to create laws to protect human health and the environment. Their branch in Florida, however, is currently not allowed to mention climate change in any of their communications. The department took a big right turn under their latest governor Rick Scott, a man who looks and acts like a robot wearing its former master's skin. When the Republican became governor in 2011, he installed a new Department of Environmental Protection director, and soon thereafter new orders started circulating instructing all employees to stop going on about this dubious theory of climate change. Phrases like "climate change" and "global warming" were strictly erased from their lexicon, as if saying them three times in a row would summon a crazed Al Gore wielding a solar-powered chainsaw. FAIRFIELD - A man armed with what may have been a pellet gun early Sunday morning attempted to rob two employees as they left the Rio Bravo Restaurant at 770 Commerce Drive, police said. Officers said the employees at about 12:26 a.m. were confronted by a robber they described as a tall, black man holding what appeared to be a firearm. Another male was waiting in a nearby car, police said. The states budget crushing deficit didnt make a loser out of every school district in the region, some will be cutting staff and others will be adding teachers. Districts like Fairfeld and Easton saw their state education grants cut in half and already cash-strapped Bridgeport is absorbing a million dollar loss. Districts like Trumbull and Shelton, on the other hand, actually saw increases in their state aid for education. Shelton will get a $686,000 boost to $6.1 million in their Education Cost Sharing grant according to the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. Trumbull, meanwhile will gain $331,250 and get state ECS payments totaling $3,685,193. Perhaps we got more funding because we are doing an excellent job of improving student achievement, Trumbull First Selectman Timothy Herbst quipped. Thats not how it works, said Alan Shepard, with the legislatures Office of Fiscal Analysis. A formula determines the amount of the grant, he said, and both Shelton and Trumbull were considered underfunded by the state grant formula. During the 2015 legislative session the budget provided additional funding in FY 17 for towns that were less than 55 percent funded, Shepard said. Both Shelton and Trumbull were below this threshold and thus were scheduled for an ECS increase. Bridgeport, too, is underfunded, but not to the degree of Shelton and Trumbull. They are currently funded at just over 80 percent of the formula. The budget agreed on in the special session of the General Assembly this month decreased funding for all towns from what had been approved for the next fiscal year. The state deficit of nearly $1 billion required an adjustment in the budget. But even at those decreased levels, towns like Shelton and Trumbull come out ahead. Herbst added he is glad his municipality did not suffer the same fate as most. Im pleased that (Schools Supt. Gary) Cialfi and his team have the tools to do what they do best, Herbst said, not indicating however if additional town aid will be passed along to the school district. The 2016-17 Trumbull school budget, at $99.9 million, is a 2.79 percent increase over the current budget. In Shelton, Schools Superintendent Chris Clouet a budget already approved by the city will permit the district to add several teaching positions to meet the needs of special education and English language learners as well as maintain programs. Our focus has been on working closely with our city government ... to focus on the needs of the students without making it about the ECS, Clouet said. Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti said the new cash wont be passed along to the district. The budget was judged based on need, Lauretti said. That said, Lauretti said state education aid to Shelton is a fraction of what it once was. To actually gain something, he said, is a first. After the fact In the Region 9 School district, which includes Easton and Redding, a combined cut of $750,871, will impact the ability of both towns to operate municipal government, public services and the schools, Schools Supt. Thomas McMorran said. In Redding and Easton, the school budgets were passed by referendum prior to the finalization of the states budget, McMorran said. The larger implications for the public schools in the region will emerge as each town works on funding for subsequent school years. McMorran said potential state cuts are likely to be anticipated as boards of finance work on future budgets. State Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, a member of the Legislatures education committee, said its wrong-headed to cut school funding when most towns are finished putting their budgets together. (The cuts) violate longstanding expectations, which has caused many town CEOs to become very skeptical of any promises of future funding in any categories whatsoever, Lavielle said. In Milford, Jim Richetelli Jr., the chief operations officer for the school district, said the Board of Alderman already approved a school budget so the cut of $145,750 wont impact the district directly. Obviously it is a loss in revenue for the city but we are grateful that they did not pass that reduction onto the school budget, Richetelli said. Instead, the district has other state cuts to worry about, such as a grant to its Vocational/Agricultural program. Cuts to this grant would likely result in an increase in tuition that would be levied upon the sending district, Richetelli said. Filling holes Fairfield, meanwhile, passed its budget before the revenue loss was known. Fairfields ECS grant is going from $3.5 million to $1.6 million. Schools Superintendent David Title said the budget was approved with the understanding that he and the first selectman would work together on a way to mitigate the revenue loss. The plan is to dip into a health insurance surplus to cover the bulk of the school boards share. I do not anticipate any program cuts, Title said. We are very fortunate. All of our improvements in next year's budget are safe and going forward as planned. Cutting school staff Bridgeport too is dipping into its insurance reserves. Unfortunately that will only scrape the surface of a funding short fall said to be more than $12 million the difference between what administrators say it will cost to run the district next year and what it will get from the city and state. On the proposed chopping block are 171 teacher aides, guidance counselors and home school coordinators, two days off the school calendar, reduced school bus service for elementary schools students and at the high schools, fewer courses and larger class sizes. I dont understand it, Rabinowitz said of some municipalities getting more while Bridgeport, already in desperate need, is getting less. District officials are hopeful the city council will make good on a promise to use a reserve built into its 2016-17 budget toward the school budget. That could end up saving some jobs or busing routes. That decision is coming back to the council but hasn't gotten to us yet, City Council President Tom McCarthy, said. A Bridgeport school board finance committee began meeting this week to start looking for alternative places to cut. Marlene Siegel, the districts chief financial officer, suggested the board prepare a restoration list of what it will pull off her suggested cut list should new funding or savings become available. lclambeck@ctpost.com; @lclambeck WASHINGTON It might seem like a no brainer: The earnings of Amtraks only profitable route, the Northeast Corridor, should be reinvested in maintaining the heavily traveled lines infrastructure. But for decades, profits from the Boston-Washington rail were siphoned off to prop up the 21,300-mile nationwide passenger railroad system, which last year booked a $306.5 million loss. However, buried within the $114 billion bill to fund transportation and housing programs is language stipulating the $300 million in annual profits derived from traffic along the N.E. corridor be channeled back into its deteriorating tracks, bridges, tunnels and other real estate. The full Senate approved the bill last week. It must now be merged with whatever the House passes before moving to the presidents desk for enactment. This was always completely unjustifiable but it persisted because you had 40 states (outside the Northeast) matched up against 10 states (of the corridor), said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who is on the Senate Appropriations transportation subcommittee. Murphy and other lawmakers from the Northeast prevailed upon congressional leaders to stop the diversion in its tracks before the corridor atrophies further. In addition to rechanneling profits, a new Northeast rail fund is getting $345 million this year for a potential total of $600-million-plus to fix accident-plagued lines in Connecticut and throughout the 457-mile line. Also, the transportation-housing bill includes an additional $20 million for cost-sharing between the federal government and states on corridor projects. The Connecticut Department of Transportation owns the 46 miles of Metro North tracks between the New York state line and New Haven. Amtrak owns a total 363 miles of track between Washington and Boston. Although the exact dollar proportions are not known, Connecticut stands to benefit from the new sources of rail funding, Murphy said. This is great news for Connecticut, said Murphy. Connecticut rail commuters have been subsidizing the rest of the countrys money-losing rail operations for years. Now when you buy a Metro North ticket, that money is going to stay here. There is a backlog of $20 billion in projects just to keep the line in a good state of repair over the next 20 years, he said. The money doesnt get us everything, he added. But its a step in the right direction. According to Amtrak, 2,200 passenger and freight trains operate over some portion of the corridor each day. About 750,000 Amtrak and commuter passenger trips are taken each day along the Northeast corridor, by far the nations busiest stretch of track. For startups spread throughout the world and looking to break into the United States, getting accepted to a well-respected U.S.-based accelerator program can feel like winning the lottery. Related: Within 10 Years, the Number of Accelerator Programs in the U.S. Has Increased Tenfold As a mentor to startups based in Ukraine and a technical associate for Techstars Boston, I frequently speak with founders who are about to join a U.S. accelerator, and they couldnt be more enthusiastic about the prospect of meeting the mentors, venture capitalists and other business contacts that will help them grow their businesses. Yet, while getting into a top U.S. accelerator program is certainly cause for celebration, there's more work to be done: Once accepted, entrepreneurs must focus on their preparations for taking full advantage of the experience. I recently caught up with a few of the international teams in the Techstars Boston Spring 2016 program. While everyone was quick to tout the many benefits of joining an accelerator we all know -- valuable VC contacts and expanded U.S. customer bases -- it was clear that these international startups faced additional hurdles relative to companies founded locally. Here are some words of wisdom such companies should know before starting a U.S. accelerator program: 1. Expect to make your own connections. Being part of an accelerator does not mean making connections will be easy. Name-dropping the top-tier accelerator youre a part of is a great conversation starter in many business situations, but compared to startups with U.S. founders, youll still be a step behind in building the business relationships you need for everything from attracting local talent to raising money. If youre a Boston startup, investors know what youre doing -- you may have graduated from the same school, or have other personal connections, says Mauro Repacci, CEO of Navut, a Canadian startup focused on real-estate technology. Also, everyone is trying to hire here, and if you dont have a network here or university contacts, recruiting be hard. The international startup founders most successful in making connections arent shy about consistently putting themselves in positions where they can network with U.S.-based startups, VCs and advisors as soon as they arrive in the United States, says Techstars Boston director Eveline Buchatskiy. Startups shouldnt come with a tourist mentality, Buchatskiy explains. Instead, they should have the mindset of building long-term relationships. 2. Show investors youre committed to having a U.S. presence. International startups might think that swinging into the United States for a few months is the key to getting in touch with the right investors and getting funded, but Nikolay Piriankov, CEO of U.K. online jewelry retailer Rare Pink, says its not quite so simple. People here are much more familiar with the landscape and process of fundraising, commented Piriankov. It can feel like youre starting from zero compared to local companies. As an international startup, making your company a U.S. entity is one way to signal to VCs that youre serious about raising money in this country. Flipping our company to a U.S. entity wasnt a hard requirement for getting into Techstars, but its an implicit requirement if youre going to raise money here, says Norman Wiese, CEO at Tapglue, a German company that builds social networks into apps. Buchatskiy also suggests that hiring local talent is absolutely essential as part of the process of showing U.S. investors that youre committed to building your business here. Related: Why the Number of Accelerators Is Accelerating 3. Be ready to experience to a new entrepreneurial mindset. No two entrepreneurial cultures are alike, and international startups that come to the United States for an accelerator program should prepare themselves to experience the optimistic entrepreneurial culture this country is widely known for. People in the U.S. are thinking bigger, and they require that from you as well, Wiese comments. European companies are more cautious, which people here dont necessarily like. 4. Make sure your teams back home are aligned with the accelerator process. For many international startups joining U.S. accelerators, moving the entire team to the United States simply isnt an option. Instead, the team back home may need to continue running the day-to-day business, while the startups leaders focus on using the accelerator as an opportunity to grow the business. With such different focuses, staying aligned as a company during the accelerator program can be challenging. In an accelerator, youre moving at a very fast pace, but back home your team is going at a more normal pace, says Repacci. As a startup with teams in two different countries, you need to be proactive about keeping them aligned. For many startups, this proactive alignment means setting up regular check-ins, and having collaboration technology in place that everyone is comfortable using. Founders might also consider bringing over each of their team members for a short time to get an understanding of the work being done at an accelerator. 5. Ask your accelerators for professional service recommendations. No sooner do startups arrive in the United States for an accelerator program than theyre faced with decisions about contracting with a variety lawyers, accountants and consultants. While accelerators likely wont provide all these services directly, asking them for recommendations can help startups find the best service providers more quickly. I got every introduction I needed, and Im glad I trusted them, says Rare Pink's Piriankov, describing how he asked Techstars for help getting in touch with professional service providers. Related: Why We Chose an Accelerator in Australia Over One in the U.S. Committing to a U.S. accelerator program is a significant investment for international startups in terms of time and effort, as well as the financial costs of moving. In order to make this investment as worthwhile as possible, take the time to prepare for the experience as much as you possibly can. Related: Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media TRUMBULL Bhavya Bhushan, 17, was not looking to put another notch on Trumbull High Schools Ivy League school-bound belt when she applied to Cornell University. I applied to it randomly, kind of last minute, Bhushan said. Not until the future biomedical engineer got in something only 14 percent of applicants to Cornell do did she realize it had one of the best engineering programs in the country. Pa. is about to vote. Here's what to know about voting and ballot access in 2022 Takeaways from the DeSantis-Crist debate Democrat Charlie Crist came out swinging against Republican incumbent Ron DeSantis in the only televised debate in the Florida gubernatorial race. The power suit has moved out of the office and onto the street in a variety of colours with the celebrity support of Julia Roberts and Cate Blanchett. by Damien Woolnough When he announced he was backing Brexit, there was jubilation among those wanting out of the European Union, and despondency in Downing Street. For Boris was the joker in the political pack. He has been called 'the Heineken Tory', who reaches parts of the electorate that other politicians cannot reach with his wit, his bumbling charisma and crumpled style. Scroll down for video Boris Johnson's stuttering campaign has been scarred by a series of blips and blunders, whether invoking the Third Reich or offending the US President, writes IAN BIRRELL Yet as heat rises in the hard-fought referendum debate and support for staying in seems to harden, there are growing whispers at Westminster that Boris's support may be backfiring on the Brexit cause. His stuttering campaign has been scarred by a series of blips and blunders, whether invoking the Third Reich or offending the US President, and undermined by his backsliding comments and backfiring quips. One prominent anti-EU campaigner told me that he winced whenever Boris appeared on television screens, comparing the EU to ill-fitting underwear and claiming it had banned shoppers from buying bananas in bunches of more than three. The Remain side also believe Boris, for all his undoubted popularity, actually makes the case against Brussels less credible, adding to confusion over what claims of 'sovereignty' might mean for post-Brexit Britain. 'He is getting lots of attention but it's not exactly positive, is it?' said one key source. 'He's doing their campaign and himself damage. You look at him and think the gags are funny but do you really want this guy running the country?' And there's the rub. For the reality is that Boris who admits to 'a healthy dose of sheer egomania' is fuelled by personal ambition, rather than heartfelt resentment to Brussels felt by many of his new allies on the nativist Right. He wants desperately to be Prime Minister and is using this crucial debate for our country to further his personal cause. Back in March, Boris topped a monthly poll by the influential Conservative Home website on who should be next party leader He does not even deny being so torn by the decision over which side to join that he wrote contrasting versions of his Daily Telegraph column revealing his position in March. Indeed, he has admitted in the past 'my preferred option is for us to stay in' and was reported earlier this year to have told fellow MPs 'the trouble is, I'm not an Outer'. Perhaps this explains why three months ago he said departure from the EU would only distract the Government during several years of 'fiddly' negotiations then just weeks later told radio listeners a deal could be done 'very rapidly indeed'. Boris admitted last year that if Britain left the EU 'we wouldn't be able to stick up for what we believe in', there would be 'penalties' and there was 'the Scottish factor', with expectations of a consequent vote for independence north of the border. This lack of deep belief in Brexit may explain why he resorts to such silly inflamed rhetoric, making offensive comments about 'part-Kenyan' Barack Obama and comparing the EU a group of democratic nations with Hitler's dictatorship. It is hard to quibble with his former mentor Lord Heseltine, who condemned Boris's 'preposterous' remarks and suggested his 'judgment seemed to be going'. The result is that he seems to be sliding across the political spectrum, losing support of party moderates who once admired his optimistic outlook, while failing to win over many hardliners on the Right suspicious of his motives. The Remain side also believe Boris, for all his undoubted popularity, actually makes the case against Brussels less credible, writes IAN BIRRELL Back in March, Boris topped a monthly poll by the influential Conservative Home website on who should be next party leader. Now he has slumped into fourth place, even falling behind Liam Fox. He crumbled when challenged by ITV's Tom Bradby over his battle bus slogan that the UK sends 350 million each week to Brussels a central claim of the Brexit brigade, although the real figure is 161 million. 'Yes, we do get some of it back,' he confessed. Meanwhile, flip-flopping on issues such as immigration, where once he called for 'welcoming' policies but now harrumphs about 'uncontrolled' numbers, won him adoring support from Ukip leader Nigel Farage in this newspaper last week. And showing off with an offensive limerick about Turkey's president for a magazine may have won 1,000 and amused some schoolboys, but writing crude lines such as 'There was a fellow from Ankara, who was a terrific w****rer' does not seem the deed of a potential PM. His bluster, bombast and bonhomie works brilliantly in small bursts, but shrivels in the spotlight of such an important debate. Boris is far from a busted flush. He remains the bookies' favourite to succeed David Cameron as Tory leader. He could still prove decisive in this debate. Yet there is growing confidence in the Remain camp that they are set for victory and while Boris's cavalier style can be attractive, it is worth remembering the Roundheads eventually won the Civil War. If the EU referendum is decided on the playing fields of Eton, then the results already in and its a thumping win for Remain. A poll of boys and staff at David Camerons alma mater ended up with 64 per cent in favour of staying in the EU and a paltry 36 per cent against. Whats the betting that the Prime Minister has already rung his fellow Old Etonian, rampant Outer Boris Johnson, to brag about the result? Whats the betting that the Prime Minister has already rung his fellow Old Etonian, rampant Outer Boris Johnson, to brag about the result? No wonder Jeremy Corbyn looked baffled as he walked with David Cameron from the Commons chamber to the Lords to hear the Queens Speech last week. The arch-republican, who maintained a stony silence as the PM attempted the smallest of small talk, had never been to the Upper Chamber in his 33 years as an MP. Says a Labour mole: Jeremy wasnt being rude to Cameron he was just taking in a whole new experience. No wonder Jeremy Corbyn looked baffled as he walked with David Cameron from the Commons chamber to the Lords to hear the Queens Speech last week Luciana swots up for her 'Mersey mission' Liverpool Labour MP Luciana Berger should brush up on her local knowledge if she goes through with her threat to run for mayor of the city. During the 2010 Election, Berger betrayed her bourgeois North London roots by not knowing the answers to two questions that any self-respecting Scouser knows almost from birth: who was Bill Shankly (Liverpool FC manager) and who sang Ferry Cross The Mersey (Gerry And The Pacemakers)? Liverpool Labour MP Luciana Berger (pictured) should brush up on her local knowledge if she goes through with her threat to run for mayor of the city Grizzled Michael Heseltine is regarded by Brexiteers as the hardest bovver boy in the Remain camp. After Hezza savaged Boris Johnsons leadership credentials Bojo had compared the EUs federal state ambitions to Adolf Hitlers Tory Outer Conor Burns retorted: Heseltine has gone from no stone left unturned, to quote from his 2012 report on the economy, to no back left unknifed. The in-law voting out George Osborne appears to be struggling to persuade his father-in-law, Lord Howell, to swing behind Remain. Howell, an ex-Commonwealth Minister, is said to feel more of a pull towards the old colonies than our EU friends. He doesnt like those with German passports being given preference to those from New Zealand, Dog was told. Sunday lunches with the in-laws must be lively at the moment. Staving off Brexit is not the only pressing issue in Osbornes in-tray. The Chancellor, who already has a cat in his No 11 family digs, has now promised the Treasury its very own moggie. Applicants should be experienced mousers and preferably sport paws a different colour to their legs as if theyre wearing socks. Officials have dubbed the plan Project Socks. Sounds more fun than Project Fear. Emily Thornberry maintained a noble Commons tradition last week by shouting b******s at David Cameron. When ex-Labour Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth was accused of doing the same in 2008, he denied it, but still earned the soubriquet B******s Bob. Dog is not sure B******s Emily has quite the same ring to it. As several giants of British retailing add their experienced voices to the anti-Brexit chorus in todays Mail on Sunday, it is clearer than ever that the Leave campaigners are losing the economic argument. They have failed to produce a substantial body of evidence that Britain will prosper or gain as a result of quitting the EU, and time is running out for them to do so. The last tense and crucial period of the campaign is about to begin. From now on, a single error on either side could be fatal, and whoever can capture the initiative will probably keep it. Brexiteers, like Boris Johnson, have failed to produce a substantial body of evidence that Britain will prosper or gain as a result of quitting the EU The anti-EU camp are more or less bound to make maximum use of what they see as their most reliable weapon the immigration question. On the face of it, this is a good issue for them. But here, too, they are more vulnerable than they first appear. They have always suffered from the Ukip problem the narrow, passionate, strident core of the Brexit Army, which has no idea how much its enthusiasm repels moderate, thoughtful voters. Their preoccupation with immigration, however much it is presented quite justifiably as concern for overloaded health and social services, can sometimes seem more like an obsession, and one that is not entirely free of a prejudice that most British people have long ago rejected. What is more, the Brexiteers are far from united or coherent on the subject. Boris Johnson, who once wrote and spoke eloquently in favour of Turkish membership of the EU, said only three years ago: Im probably about the only politician I know of who is actually willing to stand up and say that hes pro-immigration. He has also called for an amnesty for illegal immigrants. This raises the question of whether a Britain outside the EU, perhaps even hungrier than now for cheap labour to sustain its economic growth, would be any more willing or able to introduce real limits on immigration than it is now. So far in this campaign, the more the Leave campaigns arguments have been subjected to the stress test of national debate, the weaker they have looked. They have very little time left to make a consistent and persuasive case for a momentous and radical change in the nations course. Back down on abortion The Mail on Sundays exclusive report about the midwives union chief, Cathy Warwick, calling for the end of the remaining restrictions on abortions has shocked the country. Many people are understandably amazed that someone whose profession is dedicated to bringing new life into the world should employ such chilly logic, regarding abortion as a straightforward medical procedure with no great moral significance. Midwives' union chief Cathy Warwick has come out in support of unrestricted abortion They are right to disapprove. The abortion debate is a complex one with passionate and sincere voices on both sides, but it is surely reasonable to expect the leader of the nations midwives to be, first and foremost, on the side of mothers and their babies. Professor Warwick is perfectly entitled to support unrestricted abortion, even if such opposition is odd in one of her profession. But she has no business conscripting the Royal College of Midwives into such a campaign, without even consulting its governing board. The dogs often appear in front of the camera, on television and in adverts Pooches are dead ringers for celebrities, from their hair to their pouts Celebrities may spend thousands of pounds preening and perfecting their looks, but these doggy lookalikes definitely give them a run for their money. The pooches bear an uncanny resemblance to the rich and the famous, from their hair to their well-practised pouts. But this will come as no surprise to their owners as some of these dogs are well used to being in front of the camera, often appearing on TV and in adverts. Scroll down for video From the hair to the grin, Issac, who is a pug/ Jack Russell cross, has perfected Kelly Osbourne's look A Chinese crested dog is giving Lady Gaga a run for her money when it comes to who's the biggest diva Winny the Corgi is arguably a far cuter version of Donald Trump, but the resemblance is certainly there Layla Flaherty, who heads up Merseyside-based dog talent agency Urban Paws, said she could not help noticing how much some of her four-legged clients resemble celebrities. One of her favourite lookalikes is Elsa the Chihuahua, who shares more characteristics with TV presenter Anne Robinson than you might think. 'Elsa is such a cute dog but with these specs on she pulls off the stern Anne Robinson look,' Layla explained. 'She turns from cuteness to sternness in one picture. Elsa is almost an identical match to Anne.' Max, a Dogue De Bordeaux, resembles a sad-looking David Cameron Amanda Holden's voluminous locks seem to have provided hair inspiration for Abbey the shih tzu Meanwhile Elsa the Chihuahua has got Ann Robinson's stare down to a tee, as well as her pursed lips Dogson, pictured wearing Samuel L Jackson's trademark beret and glasses, looks just like the actor Meanwhile, Issac, who is a pug/Jack Russell cross, has perfected Kelly Osbourne's look - from the open-mouthed grin to the dyed hair. Laya said: 'I love Isaac and Kelly Osbourne, purely for comedy value. Isaac is such a comical character, he totally suits his dyed Mohawk, a look favoured by Kelly. 'Both have very similar characteristics and both have that edgy rock-star look.' Draco, a 50 Cent lookalike, is another one of Layla's favourite match-ups. 'She is such a cool dog with her gold chain and hat. Even being female she pulls off the 50 Cent look effortlessly,' she said. 50 Cent is known for his large gold chains, with Draco, an adorable Boston terrier/ pug cross taking inspiration Daphne, an Afghan hound, has a haircut just like Cher's, complete with centre parting Cheryl's bed hair is being channelled by this shih tzu, who has large brown eyes that would melt butter Pacino the Bullmastiff may be named after one Hollywood actor, but he looks more like Javier Bardem Other dead ringers include Prince, a Chinese crested dog, who gives Lady Gaga a run for her money when it comes to who's the biggest diva. Meanwhile, Max, a Dogue De Bordeaux, resembles a sad-looking David Cameron. Amanda Holden's voluminous locks seem to have provided hair inspiration for Abbey the shih tzu. Boris Johnson is known for his trademark blonde hair, but Smurf the Parson terrier has stolen his look Snoop Dog may be hiding behind his pair of dark shades, but he can't hide from his lookalike Rocky Dogson, pictured wearing Samuel L Jackson's trademark beret and glasses, looks just like the actor. While Daphne, an Afghan hound, has a haircut just like Cher's - complete with centre parting. Cheryl's bed hair is being channeled by Lilly the shih tzu, who has large brown eyes that would melt butter. Meanwhile, Pacino the bullmastiff may be named after one Hollywood actor, but he looks more like Javier Bardem. Nellie the poodle's black hair is looking pretty wild here. Almost as a wild as Tina Turner's hair While this might not be the most flattering comparison, Winston the shar pei looks a lot like Gordon Ramsay The steely eyes and the perfect posture makes Boris a dead ringer for the Russian president Boris Johnson is known for his trademark blonde hair, but Smurf the Parson terrier has stolen his look. And Zeebie the Hungarian Pulik's lengthy black tresses bears a resemblance to Whoopi Goldberg's locks. Snoop Dog may be hiding behind his pair of dark shades, but he can't hide from his lookalike Rocky the dachshund. Nellie the poodle looks like she may have taken hair inspiration from Tina Turner. Simply Red's Mick Hucknall not only has the same hair colour as Hendrix, but also some of his facial features Daisy the Bichon Frise is definitely channeling Marilyn Monroe in this glamorous look While this might not be the most flattering comparison, Winston the shar pei looks a lot like Gordon Ramsay. Donald Trump seems to have found a lookalike in a grumpy puppy - although the extra strands of hair over its head could belong to its owner. Meanwhile, the steely eyes and the perfect posture makes Boris a dead ringer for Russian president Vladimir Putin. Simply Red's Mick Hucknall not only has the same hair colour as Hendrix, but also some of his facial features. Daisy the Bichon Frise is definitely channeling Marilyn Monroe with her glamorous look. The long face also makes Pacino this bullmastiff the perfect match for Ghostface from the film Scream. And Amanda Holden has more than one doggy lookalike, sharing a hair cut with this shih tzu The long face make this bullmastiff the perfect match for Ghostface from the film Scream And Amanda Holden has more than one doggy lookalike, sharing a hair cut with this shih tzu Kim Kardashian and Ms Centenera have been friends since 2011 She is believed to be paid as much as $1 million AUD for this sartorial help The Australian super stylist currently dresses and styles Kim Kardashian Christine Centenera is the fashion director of Vogue Australia One is the fashion director of Vogue Australia, and the other is one of the most famous women in the world. And The Sunday Telegraph has published that stylist Christine Centenera, who is a regular at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia, is reportedly paid as much as $1 million to dress reality TV starlet, Kim Kardashian West. This retainer fee enables Ms Centenera to oversee and curate Kim's wardrobe, from bodycon dress to jaw-dropping red carpet gown. Unusual friendship: Kim Kardashian and Christine Centenera, the fashion director of Vogue Australia, are an unlikely friendship pair Super stylist: The Sunday Telegraph has published that the fashion director of Vogue Australia, Christine Centenera (pictured), is paid as much as $1 million to style Kim Kardashian Style agreement: This retainer fee enables Ms Centenera to oversee and curate Kim's wardrobe, from bodycon dress to jaw-dropping red carpet gown The pair met after Ms Centenera started working with Kim's husband, Kanye West, in 2011, as his styling consultant. And it is Christine Centenera who has been credited for Kim's edgy high-fashion makeover. Since meeting the Australian super stylist, Kim has taken on a fashion-forward neutral wardrobe, favouring minimalist silhouettes and high-fashion footwear. Chance meeting: The pair met after Ms Centenera started working with Kim's husband, Kanye West, in 2011, as his styling consultant Total revamp: It is Christine Centenera who has been credited for Kim's edgy high-fashion makeover Style inspo: Since meeting the Australian super stylist (pictured), Kim has started to dress like Ms Centenera, who is known for her neutral wardrobe, minimalist silhouettes and high-fashion footwear However, their friendship and Kim's admiration for Ms Centenera have also seen the reality TV star don some highly regarded designers to award ceremonies, including Jean Paul Gaultier and Ralph and Russo among others. In the past, when asked about who she admires sartorially Kim has said: 'I really like Christine Centenera from Australia. 'She just knows every accessory to tie an outfit together. She puts different things together that you wouldn't think of.' The eye-watering figure Ms Centenera is allegedly paid to keep the social media mogul looking fabulous might surprise some, but a quick flick through the Vogue fashion director's Instagram page reveals that their friendship goes more than clothes deep. 'Nearest and dearest,' Christine Centenera captions one photo, in which the stylist poses with both Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, and her sister Tricia Centenera. BFFS: Since meeting, Kim has grown into her style, and has donned many big-name designers Sartorial icon: In the past, Kim (pictured) has said that: 'I really like Christine Centenera from Australia [with regard to her wardrobe]' More than clothes deep: A quick browse of Ms Centenera's Instagram page reveals their friendship is more than just about the threads Nearest and dearest: In the past, Ms Centenera has even gone as far as to say that Kim is among her nearest and dearest Another much-liked Instagram post shows Christine Centenera writing: 'Back in LA with this one @kimkardashian'. Most recently, Kim appeared on the June cover of Vogue Australia, styled by her sartorial BFF in her first shoot since giving birth to little Saint. While there's no doubt Ms Centenera's positive influence on Kim has been huge, the rumour mill continues to churn surrounding the exact sum she is paid. Watch this space... Cover girl: Most recently, Kim appeared on the June cover of Vogue Australia, styled by her sartorial BFF in her first shoot since giving birth to little Saint He was Britains first celebrity chef, a charismatic pioneer of fine dining who helped change the tastes and habits of the nation. Albert Roux is famous for other reasons, too, of course, not least for his charm, his self-confessed philandering, and a colourful private life that, even at the age of 80, remains well stocked with elegant blondes. But one of the women in his life a blonde as it happens has found the Michelin-starred chef to be less to her taste in recent times. Indeed, Cheryl Roux, 53, the chefs second wife, has spent the past two years locked in unpleasant and often acrimonious divorce proceedings with him a wrangle in which the rotund restaurateur had sought to obtain a substantial slice of her own multi-million-pound fortune. Cheryl Roux has spent two years locked in unpleasant divorce proceedings with the chef and has finally walked away from Londons High Court with her head held high and her wealth intact And just a few weeks ago, Cheryl finally walked away from Londons High Court with her head held high and her wealth intact. Neither party has been willing to discuss the disintegration of their eight-year marriage, or the final settlement. But The Mail on Sunday has pieced together the story of a bruising legal struggle which left Cheryl fearing she would lose as much as half of her estate to the free-spending gourmet, and concluding that he had only married her in the first place for her money. Built up through her own family inheritance and considerable business acumen, Cheryls fortune has been conservatively estimated at 10 million. And it seems that Roux, despite his impressive restaurant empire, was determined to take his share in cash, property and valuables. However, while the final figures from the settlement have not been disclosed, we can now reveal that Roux has been seriously disappointed receiving significantly less than he had demanded. Albert Roux is famous for other reasons, too, of course, not least for his charm, his self-confessed philandering, and a colourful private life that, even at the age of 80, remains well stocked with elegant blondes Albert got just a fraction of what he had hoped for, says a friend of the couple, one of many who have rallied round Cheryl as she sought to preserve what she brought into the marriage. His list of demands was endless and he is used to getting what he wants. But not this time, said another friend, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity. Albert made some greedy demands, and at one point Cheryl was going to give in and just hand him the money. But she hired a good team of lawyers who advised her well. She has emerged victorious. She is thrilled. Cheryl is also furious, and understandably so not least because the high-living Roux has continued to wine and dine a string of girlfriends despite pleading for a financial settlement. The protracted legal wrangle, and his apparent refusal to settle out of court, mean that for two years Cheryl has not been able to complete the divorce and move on with her own life. In contrast, her estranged husband has so ostentatiously been living his to the full. Cheryl is a wealthy woman in her own right and believes now that Albert only married her for her money, said the friend. She is convinced he did it to secure his own financial future. This is an allegation, it should be said, that Roux denies absolutely. She thought she was going to have to hand over millions. She genuinely believed her family fortune was going to end up with Albert. He has spent a lot of money entertaining his many lady friends since they separated. But thankfully she has now safeguarded her inheritance. For his part, Rouxs attitude is mixed a combination of brave face in public and, it is said by those who know the couple, incandescence in private. He is not used to losing. For decades he has been feted as a culinary genius, the first British-based chef to win a Michelin star, an innovator who, after arriving in this country from France in the mid-1960s with his brother Michel, helped transformed the palate of Britons For decades he has been feted as a culinary genius, the first British-based chef to win a Michelin star, an innovator who, after arriving in this country from France in the mid-1960s with his brother Michel, helped transformed the palate of Britons. THE LADIES WHO LUNCH: SOME OF THE WOMEN LINKED TO ROUX SMITTEN: Roux is said to have lavished meals and trips on former cloakroom attendant Nataliya Lutsyshyna FRIEND: Eastern European hostess Ljiljana Pavicevic has been stepping out with Albert Roux ARTIST: The British landscape painter Lynne Moore has been linked to the restaurateur since his marriage ended PAST LOVE: Roux is said to have rekindled his friendship with Debbie Spivey Izo, whom he dated before marrying Cheryl CLOSE: It is widely believed that the restaurateur has also maintained his friendship with Celine Kohler, who lives in France Advertisement The son of a charcutier from Burgundy, he has two children from his first marriage, to childhood sweetheart Monique. They divorced in 2001, after he met Cheryl Smith, an elegant Zimbabwean 27 years his junior, at an international wine and food festival. Initially, Cheryl rejected his advances, aware of his reputation for carrying on multiple affairs and of his penchant for young blondes from Eastern Europe. When I met Albert at first, he had seven girlfriends, two of whom believed they were living with him, she has said previously. I told him I wasnt prepared to be part of his harem. Undeterred, Roux spent seven months wooing her with flowers, and discarding his other girlfriends, before finally Cheryl relented and agreed to date him. They married in 2006 and for a period, at least, the relationship seemed to go well, with Cheryl said to have played an important part in a restaurant business which today has outposts around the world. In the UK, the venues include Le Gavroche in Mayfair, a restaurant at the Greywalls Hotel in Muirfield, East Lothian, the Roux at The Landau situated at Londons Langham Hotel, as well as Roux at Westminsters Parliament Square. For a while, it seemed Roux was a changed man. But eight years later, when Cheryl initiated divorce proceedings, it was, predictably, Alberts womanising that was cited as the chief reason for the breakdown of their marriage. Court papers revealed that she said her husband had committed adultery with a woman, the identity of whom is known to me, at various times and at various locations, including the marital home and bed. Roux did not contest the claim. Since then, he has led the life of a single man as, of course, he is free to do, but spending money all the while. In the past two years, his coterie of close friends has included an artist, a hospitality manager and, most significantly, the woman said to be at the heart of his break-up with Cheryl a former cloakroom attendant at his own restaurant, Roux in Westminster. He is said to have become completely smitten with Nataliya Lutsyshyna, 41, treating her to expensive lunches, dinners and trips overseas. He has admitted in the past that he began seeing her a week to ten days before the end of my marriage. Shortly after he and Cheryl separated, Roux told The Mail on Sunday: The divorce is now in motion, though I did not file for it. My wife told me to get out and started proceedings. His newly single status has allowed him to also rekindle his friendship with Debbie Spivey Izo, an American divorcee in her 60s, who he dated before he married Cheryl. The two years have also seen him step out with British landscape artist Lynne Moore and Eastern European hostess Ljiljana Pavicevic. It is also widely believed that Roux maintains a close friendship with another female companion, Celine Kohler, who lives in France. Even his own friends say they have been concerned at his recent outgoings, claiming he has spent thousands on Ms Lutsyshyna. Several of his friends are concerned about the amount of money he has spent, said one. Every time he takes Nataliya out, he lavishes expensive gifts on her. Though his restaurants remain highly respected and popular, latest accounts suggest they are not hugely lucrative, with profits from the business registered at around 100,000. At least he has foresight: the chef wisely gave up an early dream of joining the priesthood, correctly judging that he lacked the necessary commitment. Roux and younger brother Michel first opened Le Gavroche on Londons Lower Sloane Street in 1967. It became the first restaurant in Britain to win a Michelin star, the first to win two, and, in 1982, the first to win the coveted three stars. Regular clients included the Queen Mother. Albert trained several chefs who went on to gain Michelin stars of their own, including Gordon Ramsay, Marco Pierre White, Pierre Koffmann and Marcus Wareing. Albert no longer chases Michelin stars and says instead he wants to recreate the kind of restaurant I remember from my home town the kind of place you can go to eat without ringing the bank for permission. That could certainly be helpful for Albert himself particularly now that he has been disappointed by the courts. The truth is Cheryl has won fair and square, said one of her friends. Albert is absolutely seething about it because he is accustomed to getting his own way. But while Cheryl is refusing to comment on the settlement, Roux has been quick to dispute the claims of his wifes friends. He says he is outraged at allegations that he had been greedy in pursuit of a financial settlement. That is totally untrue, he maintained yesterday. What? So I have no money? I am destitute? Thats laughable. Its a joke. I have not been greedy. As for the allegation that I married Cheryl for her money, thats totally untrue too. Laughable and untrue. For Cherylm however, the settlement means she is at last free to apply for a decree absolute and plan for some kind of future. Cheryl has had years of hell, a close friend said. Women also take part in yoga, meditation and cooking classes Shamanic and sound healing, crystal gridding and aromatherapy are used The retreats focus on the mind, body and spirit using methods of healing Corporate women looking to de-stress are ditching the day-spas in favour of a more spiritual approach to healing. Edwina Griffin, a health and fitness professional from Queenslands Sunshine Coast, runs three-day health and healing retreats for women looking to focus on their mind, body and spirit. Ms Griffin told Daily Mail Australia the retreat uses different methods such as shamanic and sound healing, crystal gridding and aromatherapy - as well as meditation and yoga - to give women the tools they need to manage stress and create balance in daily life. Mind, body and spirit: Sunshine Coast resident Edwina Griffin runs three-day health retreats for women All-encompassing: The health and fitness professional focuses on the mind, body and spirit of women looking to make a change New approach: She uses methods such as shamanic and sound healing, crystal gridding and aromatherapy The main difference would be that I am addressing the mind, body and spirit, most retreats focus on one or the other, she said. Secondly, I am giving people a manual and my intention is to educate. My intention is to give people the tools to manage stress and create balance from day-to-day. Working out: As well as yoga and meditation, the retreats provide women with the tools they need to make a positive change Beneficial: The tools will help working women, mums or women recovering from disease to manage stress One way Ms Griffin plans to do that is by using a shamanic healing approach. She does this by using the Wheel of Health concept from the shamanic Australian Dreaming Wheel, and while it sounds complex, incorporating the wheel in to everyday life is not as difficult as it first sounds. The wheel provides a sacred space to meditate, separate from everyday life, and there are six directions in which you can sit that help provide the wisdom and honour needed to survive. For example, those looking for healing, humility and compassion would sit in a west-ward facing position. Australian-based: Ms Griffin uses the Wheel of Health concept from the shamanic Australian Dreaming Wheel Seeking guidance: The wheel is a sacred place for meditation, and you sit in a different direction depending on what you need You sit in a different direction to work through different issues, Ms Griffin said. The retreats are held in Montville, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, close to the national park. The peace and quiet of the retreat means women are able to sort through their issues without distraction. Another technique used is sound healing, using Himalayan and crystal bowls and gongs. Resonating: Sound healing aims to restore the vibrating frequency of the body's cells to a healthy level Instruments for healing: It is performed using Himalayan and crystal bowls and gongs WHAT IS SHAMANIC HEALING? The Dreaming Wheel is an Australian version of the well-known Medicine Wheel. It can be used for meditation, a healing arena, ceremonial setting or a map of ones life journey. By sitting in a different direction, you can focus on different issues: East: New Beginnings and foundations - breathing, posture and gut health. North: Strength and endurance, nutrition, water and exercise. West: Healing and connection, sound healing, earthing and language. South: Mindfulness and intuition, meditation, mindset and soul work. When we are healthy, all our cells, tissues, bones, organs are vibrating at a healthy frequency, Ms Griffin said. When cells are vibrating at the wrong frequency, or is out of harmony, we say this part of the body is diseased. Sound healing aims to restore the correct resonant frequency to the parts of our body and that are vibrating out of ease and harmony by projecting the correct resonant frequency to the area needing healing. Women also take part in drumming journey to find their totem animal, aromatherapy oils and crystal grids that help with healing by creating a protected space. Meditation is also aided through Ajna Pineal activation light, that uses powerful pulsating lights to stimulate the pineal gland in the brain to help you reach a higher consciousness. Lastly, women take part in a vegetarian cooking session and spend time each morning doing exercise and yoga. Seeking change: The majority of women taking part in the retreat are working, busy mums or recovering from illness Its a really mixed group, Ms Griffin said of the women who attend the retreat. The major client base has been working women or busy mums: women who give everything to everyone else. The retreat also appeals those who suffer from stress or are recovering from a mental or physical illness, cancer or an operation. Pregnant women also come to have a nurture before they have a baby, she said. Shifting beliefs: Ms Griffin said in the past 10 years society had seen a shift towards meditation and a stronger emphasis on mind-set Simple techniques: At home, women can manage stress through breathing techniques, aromatherapy oils, exercise or smiling Ms Griffin said in the past 10 years society had seen a shift towards meditation and a stronger emphasis on mind-set. While the retreats are held each month, she said there are some simple techniques people can use at home to improve their well-being. Learning how to breathe correctly, burning aromatherapy oils, exercising and smiling with a pen in your mouth work to boost your body and mind. First there were 'eggspressos' - an Easter creation by an Australian coffee shop, which saw espresso coffee being served inside hollow chocolate Easter eggs. And now, there are edible coffee cups, which allow cafe go-ers to have their coffee and, quite literally, eat the cup, too. Made famous recently by the Sydney-based cafe, Piccolo Me, this latest food trend sees cookie cups, ice cream cones and cakes be filled with steaming hot coffee. It's the ultimate decadent foodie treat. Scoffee trend: The latest Instagram trend is for edible coffee cups, which you can eat once you have finished your flat white Decadent food porn: Made famous recently by the Sydney-based cafe, Piccolo Me, this latest food trend sees cookie cups, ice cream cones and cakes be filled with steaming hot coffee At inventive Sydney CBD cafe, Piccolo Me, edible coffee cups take the form of Nutella cookie cups: 'Drinking my Piccolo Latte out of the new 'Picookie' baked in store Nutella cookie cup topped with crushed M&M peanuts,' one recent post on the cafe's Instagram page reads. Another picture posted shows the edible coffee cup in takeaway form; neatly tucked inside a non-edible cardboard cup and filled with steaming caffeine. Takeaway form: As well as offering sit-in edible cups, Sydney cafe Piccolo Me (pictured) offers the edible coffee cup in takeaway form - neatly tucked inside a non-edible cardboard cup and filled with steaming caffeine Variation on a theme: Other cafes offer edible coffee cups in the form of ice cream cones But Piccolo Me isn't the only cafe to create a coffee cup that is made to be eaten. Instagram is filled with images of coffees served from ice cream cones, cupcakes and all sorts of sweet confectionery. One South-African-based coffee-shop owner, Dayne Levinrad, claims that his #coffeeinacone concept at The Grind cafe has become the most 'liked' coffee-style shot on Instagram. Since he came up with the idea in January, nearly one million posts of coffee-filled cones have been liked on the social network. Plethora of pictures: Instagram is filled with images of coffees served from ice cream cones, cupcakes and all sorts of sweet confectionery Genius idea: One South-African-based coffee-shop owner, Dayne Levinrad, claims that his #coffeeinacone concept at The Grind cafe has become the most 'liked' coffee-style shot on Instagram And while you may have a limited time frame in which you can drink your coffee from an edible cup (Mr Levinrad says that drinkers have about ten minutes to drink their caffeine from his ice cream cones before all of the four layers melt), most would agree that it's an inventive way to get your caffeine hit. Plus there's only one way to make a cup of coffee better than it already is, and that's by adding some chocolate or something sweet around the edges. Cheers! Prince and Princess Amedeo of Belgium have introduced their baby daughter to the world for the first time, announcing she will be called Anna Astrid. Princess Elisabetta, 28, gave birth to the couple's first child on Wednesday and the pair couldn't hide their delight as they left hospital with the new arrival, who is seventh in line to the throne. Speaking to the assembled media, Prince Amedeo, 30, - nephew of King Philippe of Belgium - admitted the couple were a 'little nervous' but looking forward to their new role as parents. Scroll down for video Prince and Princess Amedeo of Belgium have introduced their baby daughter to the world for the first time, announcing she will be called Anna Astrid The little Archduchess is seventh in line to Belgian throne 'It's something new for us. We're a little nervous but it's fantastic. It's a new life that begins,' he said, according to Hello! magazine. The magazine also reported that the baby had been named after her grandmother Anna on her mother's side, while Astrid comes from her paternal grandmother. Anna Astrid's birth was announced on the Facebook page of the Belgian monarchy on Wednesday. 'The Prince and the Princess Amedeo of Belgium have the great joy to announce the birth of a daughter, born at 3 am at Saint-Pierre University Hospital in Brussels. Prince Amedeo admitted the couple were feeling a 'little nervous' about their new role as parents Former journalist Lili with her newborn daughter Anna Astrid The new mother was looking remarkably fresh faced as she left hospital with her baby daughter 'Their families are joining in this great happiness. Their daughter weighs 3.3 pounds and measures 52 inches. The mother and child are both doing well.' Prince Amedeo is the nephew of King Phillipe but gave up his position as sixth in line to the throne to marry Elisabetta in 2014 by failing to obtain a royal decree for the marriage. At the time palace sources claimed it was a deliberate move to give up his right to the throne so that he could live an independent life with wife Elisabetta, who is known as Lili, free of any official role. The baby was named Anna after her maternal grandmother and Astrid after her paternal grandmother The Princess looked glowing as she introduced her newborn daughter to the world Baby Anna is seventh in line to the Belgian throne The newest member of the Belgian royal family was born at 3 am at Saint-Pierre University Hospital in Brussels on Wednesday Instead of Princess of Belgium, she is known as the Archduchess of Austria and Princess of Hungary, titles that pass to her via the prince's father Lorenz, the Archduke of Austria-Este. Amedeo is the eldest grandchild of the abdicated King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium and the son of the sister of King Philippe, who ascended the throne following the abdication of King Albert II. The couple who have been dubbed the William and Kate of Belgium married in July 2014 in an elegant, intimate ceremony at The Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere in Rome. The bride looked stunning in a lace wedding gown and sweeping veil The couple married at The Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere in Rome in 2014 Prince Amedeo gave up his position as sixth in line to the Belgian throne so he could live a more independent life with Lili Although he attended the wedding, King Philippe had not expressly given his permission for the union, and the marriage had not been officially gazetted in the Moniteur Belge with a decree giving 'dynastic authorisation.' The wedding itself was a family affair, with Prince Amedeo's grandparents - King Albert II and Queen Paola - and aunt and uncle - King Philippe and Queen Mathilde - all in attendance. Lili, who arrived at the ceremony with her father Ettore Rosboch von Wolkenstein, wore a sweeping white wedding gown complete with veil and tiara and natural, dewy make-up. The couple, who spend much of their time in New York, had been dating for around seven years before they became engaged and the news was officially announced in February 2014, shortly after the couple were blessed by the Pope at the Vatican alongside hundreds of other engaged couples. Lili is a former journalist who comes from an aristocratic family. She studied in literature and film at Queen Mary University in London before moving to New York where she worked as an arts and culture correspondent for Bloomberg. Lauren Bush Lauren may have recently celebrated her first Mother's Day, but that doesn't mean she isn't also celebrating the other important ladies in her son James' life. The 31-year-old founder of FEED recently celebrated the six-month anniversary of her little boy's birth, and as part of marking the day, posed with her sister, mother and grandmother for a touching four-generation snap. The photo shows the happy family - including Sharon Smith and Ashley Bush - smiling for the camera gathered over little James, which is wearing a sweet little denim onesie. Gathered together: In honor of her son James turning six months old, Lauren Bush Lauren (right) shared a photo of herself and James posing with Lauren's mother, sister and grandmother So in love: Mom Lauren is turning her little boy into an Instagram star with her frequent snaps of him 'Four generations strong and happy 1/2 a year to sweet baby James!' wrote the proud mom in the caption for the image, which appeared on Instagram on Saturday. The whole family is dressed casually for the photo, with Sharon, who was previously married to Lauren and Ashley's father Neil, sporting a striped top standing above the rest. Little James is swiftly becoming an Instagram star thanks to his loving mom, who has been marking every month of his life with posted photos. Each of the adorable photos sees the little blue-eyed tot posing alongside the number and the word 'month', along with a special day wish from his mommy. Keeping up to date: Lauren has been celebrating each month of her son's life with adorable photos online Consistency: Each month sees the beautiful blue-eyed boy posing alongside the number and the word 'month' James is Lauren's son with her husband David, who she first met at the Met Gala in 2004. More than a decade later the happy couple celebrated their 12-year anniversary at the place where their relationship first blossomed. The entrepreneur took to Instagram after the event to share a sweet photo of herself posed with 44-year-old David at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit, enjoying a rare night on the town while their five-month-old son James was at home. 'Celebrating the #MetBall and 12 yrs of knowing this sweet man [sic],' Lauren captioned the snapshot, which sees her and her husband with their cheeks pressed together as they pose in front of a bouquet of roses. So in love: Lauren and her husband David celebrated the 12-year anniversary of their first meeting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit Love story: Lauren took to Instagram on Monday to share a selfie of them at the event, which she captioned: 'Celebrating the #MetBall and 12 yrs of knowing this sweet man [sic]' Lauren paid tribute to her designer father-in-law Ralph Lauren by donning an elegant black tuxedo-inspired gown that featured a white collar and cuffs and a black bow around her neck. The mother-of-one left her caramel-colored hair in lose waves around her shoulders and wore minimal make-up that highlighted her natural beauty. Meanwhile, David, who was also wearing Ralph Lauren, opted for an edgier look to celebrate the night's theme, Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology. Edgy look: David, who wore Ralph Lauren, paired a double breated tuxedo jacket and bow tie with studded leather pants to celebrate the Met Gala's theme, Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology Relationship history: David and Lauren met at the Met Gala in 2004 when Lauren was just 19. David posed with model Filippa Hamilton at the event in 2004 (left) while Lauren is pictured alone at the benefit that year (right) After meeting at the Met Gala in 2004 when Lauren was just 19 years old, the two have returned to the high-profile social event held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art every year since to celebrate the anniversary of their first meeting. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is such a special place for the couple that when it came time to propose to his lady love in 2010 he chose that very spot. David suggested that they meet at the MET to look at some new pictures before attending a dinner nearby, bur when Lauren arrived at the venue she was surprised that no one else was there but Davidand the art work he wanted her to see was a series of photographs from their seven years together. Start of it all: A year after meeting at the Met Gala, David and Lauren attended the 2005 black-tie event hand-in-hand Political family: Lauren and David also posed for pictures by themselves during their trip to Washington, D.C. 'I created our own exhibition of our life together,' David told Vogue in 2011. 'And I got down on my knee and proposed. 'Then we went outside and took a carriage ride with a clarinetist and a saxophonist following us.' Instead of saying 'I do' in their home city of New York, the couple wed at the Lauren family's 17,000-acre Double RL ranch in Ridgway, Colorado, over Labor Day weekend in 2011. Four years later, David and Lauren welcomed their first child James on November 21, and the proud mom often shares photos of her family with her 68,000 Instagram followers. The family in Emma Straubs The Vacationers have a The author and broadcaster suggests key novels to help you through the trickier times in life. At this time of year, it is only too easy to start dreaming about the summer holiday and how it will smoothe away all the annoyances of daily life, the wrinkles in family relations, and restore everyone to their best selves. The truth is, holidays can be remarkably stressful; the combination of sun, cheap booze and unfamiliar plumbing can quickly turn trips into ordeals. The family in Emma Straubs The Vacationers has come to Majorca from New York to escape their troubles The family in Emma Straubs The Vacationers has come to Majorca from New York to escape their troubles. The husband Jim has been sacked from his job for having an affair with an intern; the teenage daughter has been dumped by her high school boyfriend and Franny the mother is facing the prospect of sharing an empty nest with an unfaithful husband. The holiday is meant to be a sticking plaster, but it soon becomes the catalyst for the whole edifice to crumble. On the other hand, having a change of scene can also shift your perspective for the better. Molly Pargeter, the protagonist of John Mortimers novel Summers Lease, is determined to have the family holiday of a lifetime, so she rents a villa in Tuscany for three weeks. Things go wrong from the beginning, culminating with the discovery of a body in the swimming pool. But Molly finds the strength to deal with this and the discovery of her husbands faithlessness through her study of the Tuscan painter Piero della Francesca. Molly Pargeter, the protagonist of John Mortimers novel Summers Lease, is determined to have the family holiday of a lifetime, so she rents a villa in Tuscany for three weeks On her pilgrimage to visit his paintings, she discovers the strength to take charge of her own life. The other thing about holidays is when you put people in unfamiliar settings you often find out things about them that otherwise you might have overlooked. Captain Wentworth is well on the way to proposing marriage to Louisa Musgrove in Jane Austens Persuasion when they make a trip to Lyme Regis. Walking on the Cobb, Louisa insists on jumping down some steps and knocks herself out. Her foolishness makes Captain Wentworth realise they are not suited and that the real love of his life is the calm and sensible Anne Elliot. Following our recent feature about online dating fraudsters, YOU reader Charlotte*, 56, reveals how she was taken in by a charmer who stole her heart and her savings Picture posed by a model Looking back, I can see that I was very vulnerable. When I signed up with the dating agency Plenty of Fish last summer, it was the first time that Id had the courage to put myself out there. Id spent 15 years in an awful marriage with a very controlling husband and, although I finally escaped in 2005, it took me years to recover and build myself back up so that I could face the world. My best friend had just got engaged to someone she met on Plenty of Fish and another divorced friend had recently met a lovely guy on another dating site. They both encouraged me to sign up. I dont have children, I live on my own, I go on holidays by myself. I wanted to have someone else in my life and finally felt strong enough to try. I cant remember exactly what I wrote on my profile, but the basic message was that I was 55, a happy person who loved my life and simply wanted someone to share it with. I uploaded photos from a recent holiday to South Africa one of me walking a cheetah, another riding an elephant. I suppose they immediately showed that I might be someone with money. The first few weeks didnt bring much response. I received a few very crude one-line requests for sex, and there was the odd conversation that faded out, so I was feeling pretty discouraged. Then, one rainy Sunday afternoon last August, I was at home alone when a polite, friendly message came through from someone saying hed seen my profile and thought I looked really nice. Could we chat? I said yes of course, and he then gave me his email address and asked if Id mind chatting off the site. I didnt think anything of it. I emailed straight away. He introduced himself as Anders, 55, divorced, originally from Norway but living in Southampton. His pictures showed a sporty-looking, middle-aged man. He told me he was a geotechnical engineer he built and maintained gas plants. Our 20 March issue (above) reported on how, in the UK last year, fraudsters conned 33 million out of victims falling for fake dating profiles online He had a LinkedIn page and a very professional website. He told me he was between contracts but his agent was about to secure him a job in Dubai. He included cooking and baking among his likes, and his dislikes were lies, deceit, betrayal, cheating. Very soon, we were chatting easily. He told me I was pretty and looked young for my age, that he could tell I had a warm heart and positive energy. Now I can see that he was too keen, too kind but after so long on my own, having so much attention just felt really nice. Our communication gradually increased until he was emailing all day and night to the point where I was hardly getting any sleep. I told Anders about my first marriage and said that it would be hard to trust anyone again. I also said that I was unhappy in my job and looking for something new. Anders said hed never treat me the way my husband had. Hed been divorced for six years and it was time for him to find his soulmate. He also began to mention the possibility of me working for him. Anders wanted to know everything about me my favourite colours, favourite books, favourite films, favourite foods, even the name of my pet cat. Its easy to be flattered most men dont want to know everything about you. Now I know that giving so much information is dangerous. My cats name was the password to my bank account. Eventually, we arranged to meet in Southampton, but on the morning beforehand, Anders called to say hed got the contract in Dubai and had to fly straight out there. It was the first time wed spoken and most of our relationship was conducted by email. It was quite a short, slightly awkward conversation he had an accent but hed told me he was from Norway so I didnt question that. I was disappointed that we couldnt meet, but we continued to email constantly. Very early on, Anders was calling me his pretty lady, then his wife. Wed talk about everything and nothing the weather that morning, what we had for breakfast, what we planned to have for lunch. He sent poems and song lyrics. He even sent flowers to my work address. It seemed like a lovely gesture at the time but of course it gave him an excuse to find out where I worked, to collect as much information about me as possible. Id had an operation on my jaw and was in a lot of pain; Anders found a local acupuncturist through Google and made an appointment for me, setting it all up and telling me to go along. For the first time, it seemed like there was someone who really cared about me. I was excited when Anders offered me a job as his PA. He said wed be true partners, travelling the world. Picture posed by a model He asked for my bank account and passport details so that he could set me up as an employee all of which I gave him, even though we still hadnt met. In the midst of this, Anders asked to borrow 1,000 to cover his hotel bill in Dubai. He explained that he hadnt been paid yet and his daughter who lived in Sweden had paid it so could I reimburse the money into his daughters account? By now, I felt we had a future together and agreed. I did it a second time when he asked me to cover other bills, for his food and travel. When I asked how I could be sure Id get the money back, Anders gave me his offshore bank account he sent a link with his passwords which gave me full access to his own funds. I followed the instructions and saw his account, which looked real enough. I now know it was fake. Once Id paid him the smaller sums, Anders told me that he couldnt access the money in his account until he paid an outstanding tax bill of 15,000. Again, he needed me to help by paying small amounts through Western Union and Moneygram. He gave clear instructions on where the nearest branches were to me, what time I needed to be there and how to pay it. By now I was drawing out of an inheritance left to me by my mother, and when that ran out I sold a diamond bracelet Id been given for my 40th birthday. The more I paid out, the more frightened I became. I knew something was wrong each time I made a payment Id get hot and shaky. Anders told me that paying off the tax this way was illegal and if anyone found out we could both go to prison, so I stopped talking to my friends and my sister. I dont know how long this would have gone on for if my friend hadnt become concerned. I was nervous, avoiding everyone, and when she asked me if I was OK, I broke down in tears and told her everything. She took all the information the bank details, the names, his business websites then she came back and told me Id been conned. In the space of just two months, Id paid about 20,000 to a gang of fraudsters. I cant describe the utter shock. It was as if hed ripped my heart out and thrown it away. At that time, I didnt even know there was such a thing as dating fraud. I learned that I probably hadnt been speaking to one person but to a group who were doing shifts through the day and night, sitting in an internet cafe, laughing at me. I dont know who the photos were of although the police think the one on his website is the face of a random man photoshopped on to the body of the actor Gerard Butler. I felt Id betrayed my mum by losing the money shed left me. I dont have much of a pension and my mothers inheritance was my financial security; money for holidays and emergencies. Its all gone. But the worst thing wasnt the money. It was feeling manipulated, humiliated, used and abused. Id lost all my trust in mankind once again. The police told me that I was very unlikely to get any money back. I was advised to cut contact completely but Anders continued to call and email. First he was asking why Id changed, and couldnt we work together. Then the messages got nasty: youll be in tears for the rest of your life and you will never find happiness. I had to close my email account and change my phone number. The loneliness is hard. You dont want to tell people or look for support because you know theyd think, How could she be so stupid? And theyre right. To be honest, I dont know what has got me through. One thing was joining with other victims through the Facebook community Scamming Scammers. We uncover scams and support victims when theyre at their lowest. Im also having counselling and constantly reminding myself that I did nothing wrong, I didnt hurt anyone except myself. I gave away my own money I didnt steal it or borrow it. Im a victim in this and Im not going to allow those people to make me feel guilty and stupid and suicidal. Im determined to be strong. Id never go on an internet dating site again or trust anyone Ive only communicated with via email. In fact, at the moment, I cant see how Ill ever be able to trust anyone in the future. But Im not going to give up or resign myself to living alone. One day, I hope Ill be brave enough to get out there and fall in love with a real person, not a fantasy. *Name has been changed When Emma Voysey, 24, discovered she was five weeks pregnant last October, it was totally unexpected. My partner Mark Herrod and I were shocked but very happy. Emma carried on working as a dairy farm assessor, riding her horse and helping Mark on their Devon farm. The operator told us she had high concerns about our baby: something wasnt right with her spine and she had a lot of fluid on her brain,' said Emma Voysey (pictured with partner Mark Herrod) At that stage, she had never heard about the importance of taking folic acid before and during pregnancy to help prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida. The 12-week ultrasound scan (when the foetus is fully formed) seemed fine but everything changed when Emma and Mark went for the routine 20-week scan. The operator told us she had high concerns about our baby: something wasnt right with her spine and she had a lot of fluid on her brain. A second operator confirmed that the baby girl, who Emma and Mark named Poppy, had spina bifida. The consultant at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital recommended they have a further scan at Bristols specialist Fetal Medicine Unit, before making a decision about terminating the pregnancy. Meanwhile, Emma had contacted the charity Shine, which specialises in spina bifida: A volunteer spent an hour on the phone explaining the diagnosis. Spina bifida means split spine. The spinal cord, which carries messages from the brain to different parts of the body, does not form properly between the 14th and 23rd days after conception. In the most serious type (myelomeningocele), there is always some paralysis and loss of sensation below the damaged region so bladder, bowels and legs may be compromised. Most babies born with this type also have hydrocephalus (water on the brain), causing swelling and brain damage. Spina bifida means split spine. The spinal cord, which carries messages from the brain to different parts of the body, does not form properly between the 14th and 23rd days after conception The three days before we went to Bristol we lived on hope, remembers Emma. We thought we could give Poppy a happy life if her brain was not affected. But the scan at Bristol revealed it was very severe. 'Poppy would need surgery as soon as she was born, and a minimum of 30 to 40 operations to survive. She would always be in a wheelchair and her quality of life would be very low. Their hope drained away. We were heartbroken but we agreed the kindest thing for Poppy would be to terminate the pregnancy. That took place the following week at the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital (visit rdehospital.nhs.uk for patient information on medical termination of pregnancy). Specially trained midwives (Christine Laws and Nikki Patterson) looked after Emma and Mark until Poppy was born. The midwives were wonderful they made everything feel so normal. They put Poppy in a hand-knitted dress with a rose on the front and we held her in our arms. The following day Poppy was buried in a wood on their farm, where they go most days. Emma and Mark want every woman who might get pregnant to know they should take folic acid daily to help prevent neural tube defects. They are fundraising for Shine, and for more midwives at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital to train to help patients with terminations. We are getting stronger all the time. Our families and friends have been amazing but you feel so isolated at first. 'Then we realised how many others lose babies for different reasons. 'We want them to be helped as we were. HELPFUL ORGANISATIONS Shine, for spina bifida and hydrocephalus: shinecharity.org.uk, 01733 555988 Go Folic, started by Shine to raise awareness about folic acid before you frolic, go folic: gofolic.org.uk Sands, stillbirth and neonatal death charity: uk-sands.org, 020 7436 5881, email: helpline@uk-sands.org Miscarriage Association, for miscarriage, ectopic and molar pregnancies: miscarriageassociation.org.uk , 01924 200799, email: info@miscarriageassociation.org.uk Q My dentist is treating me for gingivitis [inflammation of the gums]. Is there a supplement I can take to help? A Gingivitis is an early stage of gum disease. If left untreated it can lead to receding gums and, possibly, loss of teeth. Symptoms include red and swollen gums, which bleed after flossing or brushing teeth. Ubiquinol, a form of antioxidant coenzyme Q10, has been shown to markedly improve gum health, used with routine therapies. Pharmacist Shabir Daya recommends a daily 100mg dose of Super Ubiquinol CoEnzyme Q10, 42 for 60 softgels, victoriahealth.com Always consult your doctor if you have a medical problem Amy E Williams curates the key pieces youll need to make a splash this holiday season, from designer splurges to high street snips. 1 Yosuzi Sylvester decided to quit her job in film and advertising and turn designer after she was introduced to native Guajiro craftsmen while travelling with her mother in Venezuela (where she hails from). Inspired by their weaving skills and passionate about keeping the craft alive, her label has made Guajiro hats the thing of the moment. Each takes two months to weave, which puts the price into perspective. Dont lose it at sea! Hat, from 260, Yosuzi, net-a-porter.com High street cheat: hat, 25, River Island, river-island.com 2 Olivia Palermo is hard to fault in the sartorial stakes, and she has a particular flair when it comes to selecting sunglasses which can be surprisingly easy to get wrong. Her collaboration with Californian label Westward Leaning is a good bet if youre after a versatile alternative to the ubiquitous Ray-Bans. Sunglasses (left), 160, Olivia Palermo x Westward Leaning, net-a-porter.com. High street cheat: sunglasses (right), 49, Massimo Dutti, massimodutti.com 3 Kiini swimwear was something of an insiders secret last summer (until everyone posted Kiini-clad photos of themselves on Instagram). Each bikini is handmade, so no two will be the same. Theyre not exactly made for the hourglasses among us, though: the tops are not to be dared by more than a D cup while the bottoms are cut to show off the very best of bums.High street cheat: bikini (above): top, 38.60, and bottoms, 32.25, Victorias Secret, victoriassecret.com 4 With the film version of Baywatch in the works we cant help but want to channel our inner Pamela Anderson circa 1994 in one of these red one-pieces by Hunza G the brand that also designed the stretch dress worn by Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Its swimwear is designed in a one-size-fits-all capacity and this years designs feature pretty bows and sexy cut-out details. Swimsuit (left), 100, Hunza G, hunzag.com. High Street cheat: swimsuit (right), 29.50, M&S Collection, marksandspencer.com 5 The Rae Feather monogrammed beach bag a classic straw basket with snazzy stripes has been a smash hit. Theyve been spotted on many a Maldivian shore this winter but we know theyll work just as well in Cornwall, and now they come with playful coloured pompoms. Letters are included in the price but will take up to three weeks to order. Bag (left), 75, Rae Feather, raefeather.com. High street cheat: bag (right), 8, Primark, primark.com Penny Lane sandals, 145, Elina Linardaki, avenue32.com 6 Elina Linardakis statement sandals are not for minimalists. A fabulous flurry of colour and texture (including, yes, more pompoms), theyve proved an Instagram hit. Park yours by the infinity pool this summer the more tanned your legs the better. High street cheat: Sandals (above), 45, aldoshoes.com 7 The embroidered folk dress shows no sign of slipping out of trend, especially with the arrival of New York label March11 at Net-a-Porter. Like Vita Kin, the much-copied label that ignited the trend last year, March11 pieces do not come cheap, but they are embroidered with as much as 2,000 metres of thread and can take a fortnight to make. Dress (left), 700, March11, net-a-porter.com. High street cheat: blouse (right), 29.99, H&M, hm.com The Beauty Bibles Sarah Stacey reveals summer 2016s best sun products Don't skip the prep Thorough preparation is key for a smooth, long-lasting tan so exfoliate regularly and always before applying self-tan and follow with a nourishing moisturiser. Dont moisturise just before applying self-tan, though, as you risk streaking. Use a tanning mitt for an even finish (and clean hands). Instant tint for face: Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Limited Edition Gelee Bronzer, 33, houseoffraser.co.uk; nationwide from June. Wait for the abracadabra moment when you stroke on this creamy wash-off gel bronzer over moisturised skin or on top of foundation. Instant tint for legs Legology: Sun Lite Tinted Leg Cream, 36, legology.co.uk. This tinted jelly-cream version of the brands fab Air-Lite Daily Lift for tired legs is refreshing and gives legs a subtle gilded shade in seconds (washes off). Self-tan for body: Guerlain Terracotta Sunless Tinted Self-Tanning Gel, 37.50, debenhams.com. This fabulous self-tanner gives instant colour that develops into a glorious subtle tan, even on lower legs. Gradual tan for face and body Melvita Prosun Gradual Self-Tanning Moisturizing Gel-Cream, 22, melvita.co.uk. We love gradual tans, which you build up daily to the colour you want, then top up every few days. This brilliant, natural product is wonderfully easy to apply, moisturising, deliciously vanilla-scented and gives a gorgeous glow without dihydroxyacetone, the usual tanning agent, to which some people are sensitive. Sunscreen for face: IS Clinical Extreme Protect SPF 30, 60, victoriahealth.com. From one of Hollywood A-listers favourite brands, recommended by dermatologists, comes this DNA-protecting sunscreen, which also helps repair the effects of sun damage. Worth the investment for its face-saving properties (use it on your body, too, if price is no object). Sun protective make-up: BareMinerals SPF 30 Natural Sunscreen, 25, bareminerals.co.uk. This genius buffing-brush dispenser, which was recommended to us by dermatologist Dr Nick Lowe, is perfect for topping up your sun protection (every hour or two, if you are out in the sun). It comes in three shades and, unlike most, you can layer it over make-up. Hair defender: Philip Kingsley Swimcap, 13, philipkingsley.co.uk. Dubbed a hair saviour by its many devotees, this citrus- and rose-scented treatment has become a bit of a legend, especially for fine, dry and colour-treated hair. Dampen your hair, run Swimcap through, leave in while you swim and then rinse out for protection against UV and chlorinated and salt water. Sunscreen for body: M&S Beauty Sun Smart Moisture Protect Sun Lotion SPF 30, 8.50, marksandspencer.com. A great price for a generously sized bottle of this easily applied lotion, which is good for sensitive skin. Experts recommend using 6-8 tsp on your body (and one on your face) and reapplying at least every two hours, and always after going in the water or perspiring (all those beach games). Lip protector: Kiko Kiss Balm SPF 15, 5.90, kikocosmetics.com. The tender skin on your lips invariably needs lots of TLC when exposed to the drying effects of the sun and sea breezes. In seven fruity-fragrant, luminous, sheer shades (including this coconut one), the Italian brands balm offers lip-soothing moisturisation with SPF at a steal of a price. After-sun Aloe Pura Organic Aloe Vera Gel, 5.57, victoriahealth.com. This light gel, made from a plant traditionally used to treat dry, damaged skin, is excellent for quelling sunburn or prickly heat and generally keeping skin healthy. It acts as a brilliant after-sun, so apply diligently at the end of a day sun-worshipping. One of our favourite body moisturisers is Liz Earle Nourishing Botanical Body Cream , 19/200 ml, which goes on like a dream and is super-effective. Thats a daily must. Q I am hoping to get my legs and bottom in (better) shape for my summer beach holiday. I have a few weeks now to prep. Have you any suggestions? A We have lots of tips for getting lower limbs looking gorgeous, ranging from low(er) cost DIY to salon investment. Heres the bottom line... Exfoliate, moisturise, tan: whatever shape your pins, they will look much, much better if you apply moisturiser daily, exfoliate regularly, and work up a golden tan. There are lots of good scrubs on the market but, for our money, the simplest thing is Dermasuri, a little mitt not a topical product, which you whisk over your body to remove dead skin cells leaving nice smooth skin. Its great for ingrowing hairs, too. They promise you will only need to use it once a fortnight, then watch how moisturiser is lapped up. Dermasuri Deep Exfoliating Mitt, 19.95, victoriahealth.com. One of our favourite body moisturisers is Liz Earle Nourishing Botanical Body Cream, 19, which goes on like a dream and is super-effective. Thats a daily must. A veil of gold any shade from pale to copper looks fabulous and conceals a multitude of blemishes from small veins to cellulite. Our Summer Sun favourites run on beautybible.com throughout June, but we are currently mad about Guerlain Terracotta Sunless Tinted Self-Tanning Gel, 36.50. Friends also rave about Vita Liberata Self Tanning Tinted Mousse, 19.50. Body brush three times a week: get in the habit of using a dry skin body brush and you will never regret it. Weve been doing it for ever and not only does it give you feeling energised in the mornings but neither of us have any cellulite to speak of.Mio Body Brush Kit is a good shape and texture, and notes on how to use it, 14.50, amazon.co.uk. Try a leg-enhancing booster: leading London clinic Absolute Aestheticss innovative Leg Service is proving popular, were told. They offer a range of in-house Booster treatments to brighten and smooth skin with a lactic acid peel, then treat with one of three boosters, massage and remodel (with a mask) then moisturise with an intensifying cream. You can buy homecare products to maintain the effects. Absolute Aesthetics, One Chapel Place, London W1G 0BG, 020 3757 7178 Prices from 100. Lift & sculpt your bottom and thighs: CACI (computer aided cosmetology instrument) has been nudging facial contours upwards for over a generation. Now you can have the same micro-current technology applied to your body, in this case for what the therapist described as a bum lift. Which it definitely did, based on the before and after snaps on Sarahs iPhone. (Its a bit disturbing if you forget they are there and are trying to show friends a picture of something completely different. You might want to press delete after a session.) Using conductive rollers, which release little jolts of electricity (not painful but you might jump at first), the treatment apparently helps to break down fat, tone muscles and tighten targeted areas, as well as stimulating circulation to help flush away toxins. The effect was immediate and noticeable. The Mandara Spa therapist recommended a series of sessions, two to three times a week for a month, then every four weeks for maintenance. CACI Lift & Sculpt, 70 per session, Mandara Spa at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London SE1 7UT, 020 7620 7300. Finally, visit The Legologist at legology.co.uk: theres no one more qualified than our old friend Kate Shapland, who has her own range of high performance leg care plus a site that is bursting with interesting info. Beauty Bible loves Margaret Dabbs Nail Polish Collection, 14. Weve probably never dithered in front of a nail polish fixture for quite so long as at the launch of the new Margaret Dabbs polish collection: a staggering 72 shades of polish spanning wearable neutrals through to fun brights, with lots of reds, fuchsias and rosy shades (each named after English flowers). The new Margaret Dabbs Nail Polishes cost 14 each, margaretdabbs.co.uk Ah, about those roses. Because actually, shade choices aside, thats why weve fallen head-over-heels for this range: it smells truly and honestly of roses, on the nails. True, the scent fades after 24 hours or so, but during that time-frame we kept getting little wafts of rosiness and realised it was our manicure! The formula is infused with a wild rose botanical extract to revitalise nails, along with vitamin E for nail health. Whats not in there? Nasties like formaldehyde, toluene and DBP. Decisions, decisions ... For more information follow Beauty Bible on: Facebook BJP president Amit Shah met the party's social media volunteers A few days after meeting spokespeople from across the country, BJP president Amit Shah met the partys social media volunteers on Sunday and asked them to spread awareness about the good work done by the Narendra Modi government in the last two years. Union ministers VK Singh and Piyush Goyal spoke at length about the governments achievements on the occasion. A monograph on the Modi governments achievements, put together by party vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, was also released by Shah. Calls for a Congress rejig Following the recent poll losses in Assam and Kerala, calls to revamp the party have grown. While Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi suggested a new CWC and early declaration of candidates, former Union Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo said over a dozen senior leaders should be sent on a holiday. Deo accused these veterans of misleading party chief Sonia Gandhi, saying they had been playing musical chairs in the organisation for too long. PM sets Odisha date for June 22 PM Narendra Modi will be at Balasore in Odisha on June 22 for a public meeting. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday visited Balasore and inspected preparations ahead of the PM's visit. This will be Modis third visit to Odisha this year and the fourth since he took over in 2014. Pradhan said Modis rally is part of a series of meetings to be addressed by the PM on completion of two years in office. Sonia greets DMK boss despite loss Though the DMK-Congress alliance failed to dent AIADMK in the recent Assembly polls, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi greeted DMK boss M Karunanidhi as their coalition bagged 98 seats in the 234-member house. While DMK won 89 seats, allies Congress got 8 and IUML got 1 seat. The DMK chief had given only 41 seats to the Congress after much persuasion from former Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Naidu to be Jayas guest today Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will represent the Centre at the AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaas swearing-in ceremony as Tamil Nadu CM on Monday. Amma had invited PM Narendra Modi to the oath-taking function after her win against DMK in the Assembly polls. The PM, however, is on a visit to Iran and Naidu has been asked to represent the Centre. Gurukul, the old-age home run by the NGO Earth Saviour Foundation, has fallen on bad times again. The 300 residents of the home, the only central government-approved facility in Delhi, are battling the same pathetic conditions which preciously led to nearly 30 deaths, making the headlines and causing a huge uproar. Now, in the remotest and most desolate corner of the NCR - Bandhwari village in the Aravalli hills along the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road - the home is operating from tin sheds in extreme temperatures. Residents of the Gurukul old-age home at Bhandwari village in Gurugram are served tea by a volunteer. In July 2015, the NGO was evacuated from Rangpur Pahari on the fringes of south Delhi due to flooding. Between May and June, three dozen inmates succumbed to the heat inside the tin camp, suffering from dehydration and lack of medical aid. The NGO's requests to the Delhi government for a borewell have fallen on deaf ears. Now, the charitable organisation is fighting the land mafia and villagers for survival in Haryana, says its founder, Ravi Kalra. The NGO is a home for the elderly, ranging from the healthy to the mentally sick, bed-ridden, and those breathing their last. Abandoned women and children, and rape victims are also left at its gates. States as far away as Maharashtra send the NGO their destitute, along with courts, asylums, prisons and hospitals. Kalra does not seek any government grants and funds minimal medicines, food and clothing for the abandoned inmates on his own. Inhumane Kalra says: We are tired of wandering in keekar jungles. I wonder, are we all so inhumane that we cant provide a small piece of land for our senior citizens? He says he dreamed of a decent and undisturbed future when they moved to the two-acre plot in Haryana, which is Kalras personal land. However, this experience turned out to be worse than the troubles we faced in the past nine years. B L Anant sold his property, worth Rs 20 lakh, to pay for his daughters' weddings. Since his wife died and his daughters moved abroad, he is now forced to stay at the old-age home. Kamlesh believes it is a sin to stay in a daughter's marital home, and hence lives in the old-age home instead. He laments: Initially, some villagers drove us away saying we are spreading diseases. Then land mafia got scared that the value of farmhouses will fall because of us. So they spread rumours that we are running a kidney racket. The area SDM visited us with a huge police contingent some months back, did a thorough investigation, and realised that it is pure charitable work. They first offered us land near Columbia Hospital, Palam Vihar, but we realised there is a temple on it and we will not be able to remove it. Then a vacant area next to a landfill was given to us, and we refused because of the stench. But now we are hopeful that they will give us a better alternate location. Basic necessities are still a luxury for the residents. Frequent power outages cause their generators to fail, and the solitary borewell proves insufficient. A properly-equipped hospital with doctors is still a dream for Kalra. He is assisted by a small team of volunteers, mostly college girls from the lower middle-class. One of them, Neetu, says: I was a teacher here when the shelter home was located on Green Avenue Road, Vasant Kunj. When a fire erupted there in 2013 in which two persons were burnt to death, I got more attached to them. I vowed to never leave them now. In spite of the harrowing conditions, it is amazing how senior citizens love this shelter. Seventy-year-old Shiv Kumar, who says he was beaten by his nephew and pushed from the sixth floor, says: I will die here, but not go back ever. BL Anant, whose two daughters are settled in New Jersey, USA, says: I sold my Rs 20 lakh worth of property in Paharganj to marry them in good families. Then my wife expired. I had nowhere to go. This is my home. In his novel Alcohol: A History, author Rod Phillips makes the observation that some societies in the developed world have entered post-alcohol phases. The highest alcohol consumption rates, in a number of western countries today, are generally in the older age groups. Younger people also tend to be more respectful of laws regarding drinking and driving. The widespread use of marijuana is evidenced in the growing trend to legalise or decriminalise cannabis. (Picture for representation only) The scenario Phillips outlines is quite alarming for the liquor industry: The overall result is that, unless younger generations start drinking substantially more alcohol as they get older, per capita consumption can be expected to decline even more once the higher-consuming generations die off. If alcohol is no longer the recreational drug of choice, then what is the preferred alternative? Professor Phillips writes: It is possible that younger generations have adopted means other than alcohol to achieve the states that alcohol provides. Drugs of many kinds, especially marijuana, are widely popular. Trend The widespread use of marijuana is evidenced in the growing trend, especially in North America, to legalise or decriminalise cannabis use. In the United States, Alaska, Colarado, Oregon and Washington have legalised marijuana for recreational purposes. California, Nevada and Massachusetts are expected to do so by November. According to a recent report on Bloomberg, at least a dozen states are considering pot-related measures this fall, meaning marijuana could soon be legal in some form in most US states. Canada is going a step further. Justin Trudeau had pressed for legalisation in his election campaign. Now that hes PM, it looks like hes going through with it. The Canadian government is all set to introduce legislation next year that would make the sale of marijuana legal across the nation. If enacted, this would be a hugely significant move, making Canada the largest Western country to allow recreational consumption. Canadas approach to it will be the same as it is to alcohol. The state will control who it is sold to, how it is sold and when it is sold. The legalisation of pot is throwing up new challenges for the lawmakers. The legislators are now wondering how to create laws on driving while under the influence. With drinking it is easier to determine these limits - the drivers blood alcohol shouldnt be more than 0.08 per cent. Measuring the effects of marijuana is trickier; blood tests are an unreliable indicator because the body absorbs alcohol and marijuana in different ways. Most American states that have laws regarding this -to do so by measuring THC levels. Ingredient THC is the active ingredient in marijuana. What is the exact quantifiable amount that allows lawmakers to predict that the persons driving abilities are impaired? At the moment, there is no scientific agreement on how to measure the concentration of the drug. The use of medical marijuana is already legal in Canada; it will be so in Germany by 2017. In America, 1.5 million customers have received medical marijuana licenses from doctors, that enables them to use it for medicinal purposes. Like with any other industry, once its legal, money pours in. Mainstream venture capital firms are now game for business; venture capital investments more than doubled in 2015, up from $97million in 2014 to $215 million. Some American towns are witnessing a marijuana boom, a bit like the gold rush. Desert Hot Springs in California is one such town, which has been inundated with marijuana growers and developers. The LA Times tells the story of Carlos Bravo, the owner of a tow company, who was offered half a million dollars for five acres of undeveloped desert land by a real estate agent, five times of what he had paid six months earlier. Invest Musicians, cutting across genres, have been quick to invest in the companies selling marijuana for recreational use. Privateer Holdings has tied up with Bob Marleys estate to create a mainstream cannabis brand called Marley Natural. Rapper Snoop Dogg has already launched a premium brand, the Rolex of pot, called Leafs by Snoop. Snoop has linked up with a company called LivWell, which has subsequently come under fire for using pesticides. Country legend Willie Nelsons Willies Reserve is expected to be on the market this year. The farmers will have to meet carbon standards. Its a vertically integrated model, benefiting everyone from the farmers who grow it to the stores its sold in. There is no talk of legalising cannabis in India. Possession and sale of ganja and hashish is a criminal offence. As a society, we are good at passing the buck. The evil of homosexuality is a western import. The problem of heroin addiction in MP and Punjab is a Pakistani conspiracy. But what about ganja? Its scientific name is Cannabis Indica. No Mahashivratri and Holi celebrations are complete without its use. The plant grows wild across large swathes of India. As states try and outdo each other in banning alcohol, we have already been forced into a post-alcohol stage. What next? Maybe its time we reclaimed whats ours. Its high time we did some swadeshi soul-searching. And got high. Selling silk sarees online can be a nerve-wrenching experience if you are a weaver. Mohammed Aslam learned it the hard way a few months into his e-business project. An award-winning weaver from Prime Minister Narendra Modis Varanasi constituency, a consignment of Banarasi sarees worth Rs 30,000, which he couriered to a client in Mumbai was promptly returned with its contents replaced with cheap knock offs. Banarasi handloom products are a hit with celebrities. Hollywood actress Goldie Hawn (above). The experience of Aslams fellow weavers too - who were a part of the project - were no different. Many saw their sarees being returned frequently or even worse, used and returned, as rogue and finicky customers took advantage of a clause in online transaction that allows them to return products back to the seller within seven days, if they are not happy with it. The project was a pilot launched by the textile ministry in 2014, in association with leading online retailers for the weavers of Varanasi, allowing them to market their products directly, avoiding exploitative middle men. Handloom weaving is a cottage industry in Varanasi with the whole family involved in making a saree. Weaver Abdul Majeed with his 12-year-old son Mohammad Numan who assists him during his spare time. Less than two years later, many are vowing never to do e-business again. Most of the time sarees are returned saying that the colour and design which they saw on computer while ordering are not the same, says Aslam, who is the chairman of Ujala Silk Weavers, a co-opeative society with 30-35 hand-loom weavers. We do not have any problem with the customers returning the sarees. But, how do I ensure that my sarees do not get stolen or damaged? he asks. In the online world we do not know our customers by face. It is a matter of trust. When you get a negative experience in the beginning itself, you will fear selling again, says Aslam, adding that he gets tensed whenever an order worth Rs 30,000 or more is placed. He spends several anxious days wondering whether to respond to the request or not. Others like Maqbool Hassan, a manufacturer of silk sarees and home furnishings, and Sarfuddin Ansari, a specialist in handwoven Tibetan brocades and scarves, have completely given up e-business or are reluctant to enter a territory which they fear is replete with uncertainties. Selling silk sarees online is risky, says Hassan, owner of Rasham India, who abandoned the idea after about 25 transactions. We get orders from Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai. But only on two occasions I got the payment promptly, he says. It is not similar to selling branded items like a mobile phone or a shoe. There you get what you see. Handloom sarees are different, expectations which people have for handloom products are quite high he says. Apart from the costs, a silk saree can range from Rs 8,000 to Rs 1 lakh, making it a matter of pride as much as means of livelihood for the weavers. Each saree comes with a unique design and takes over a month to make, near about the time aircraft maker Boeing takes to build a plane. The concern of Ansari, who runs Sarfuddin Fabrics, about e-business is regarding deadlines. Since handloom is entirely dependent on weavers, we fear if we will able to deliver on time or not, in case our weavers fall ill, he says. Machines are also replacing manpower at the mills of Varanasi. Many handloom weavers have switched over to power looms, as they are easy and people do not have to slog so hard. The clatter of power looms now dominate the narrow streets of Pilikothi, which once were home to silent armies of weavers, sitting hunched over their looms and working for hours. When handloom weavers saw that power looms also allow them to talk on mobile and watch television during work, they got attracted to it, says Ansari. Several weavers are coming back because the situation of handloom is getting better than what it was three years ago, he says. Taking weavers online to link them with the international market was also one of the several promises that Modi had made during the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign. It is great that the Prime Minister is keen to promote the weavers of Varanasi. The world today looks at the Indian textiles, says Hassan, who is also the Managing Director of Uttar Pradesh Handloom Fabrics Marketing Cooperative Federation. Weaving is a cottage industry here. We make sarees and other hand-woven stuff at home. Our focus and attention are on making sarees. We would prefer customers to come and see the sarees and make their decisions. It is not feasible for us to run after the hassles of online business. It is waste of time, says Hassan. We dont want to do e-business unless online retailers are willing to take responsibility and provide safety and security to our products, he says. Our profit is 20 per cent, but when a saree is stolen or returned damaged, the entire capital is gone, says Hassan. Expressing surprise and ignorance at the weaving communitys grievances towards e-business, Nitesh Dhawan, Assistant Commissioner, Handloom and Textile Industries, Varanasi region, said that the government would appoint marketing and merchandising executives to help out the weavers in pursuing business online. I was not aware about the problems faced by the weavers while doing e-business, Dhawan told Mail Today. Right now we are working on the Varanasi Mega Handloom Cluster Scheme. Under this new initiative, a designer responsible for providing design will also be the marketing and merchandising executive. This will allow the weavers to focus on their work and not run around selling products, he said. But how do you stop theft and ensure that the weavers do not get cheated during transaction? This is an issue that needs to be addressed, says Dhawan. Few days after India Today TV exposed that Maharashtra BJP Minister Eknath Khadse was on the most-dialed list of Dawood Ibrahims international call log, the state government has ordered a probe into whether the phone calls were made from the telephone number registered at the gangsters residence in Karachi. Meanwhile, Khadse has admitted that the telephone number in question was registered under his name, but says he never spoke to the fugitive gangster or any of his family members. The Aam Aadmi Party demanded Khadses removal from the Cabinet led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Eknath Khadse has accepted that the phone number in question, was registered in his name. Khadse, viewed as a detractor of Fadnavis, was also recently in news after his personal assistant was arrested for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 30 crore, in a land settlement case. Though Khadse has dismissed the allegations as baseless, stating the particular telephone number was not in use for the last one year, AAP spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon claimed otherwise. Eknath Khadse lied about his phone being out of service. His number has been in use and has received several calls from Dawood Ibrahims wife Mehjabeen Shaikhs phone between September 4, 2015 to April 5, 2016, Menon told the reporters. File image of alleged gangster Dawood Ibrahim (left) with his aide Chhota Rajan The AAP leader claimed that CM has asked the Mumbai Police to investigate the matter. Menon had recently met Fadnavis and had raised the issue of call records of the four landline numbers, registered at the underworld dons mansion in Karachi. She also pointed at Khadses name allegedly figuring in the list of numbers dialing the don's mansion. Menon claimed that the call details between September 5, 2015 and April 5, 2016 were procured with the help of an ethical hacker. The AAP spokesperson claimed that Police Commissioners office has contacted Bhangale, who has assured all out support to police or any other central investigating agency. The call list of frequently-dialed international numbers from Dawood Ibrahims home phone also includes Eknath Khadses number and it was a total lie that Khadses number was not in service, she said. Explaining how he got the call data records, Bhangale said he first went to Dubai and got Dawoods wife Mehjabeens number, hacked it and placed call details request on her behalf to Pakistan Telecommunication (PTCL). He also claimed that four out of 10 frequently-dialed numbers belonged to Indian politicians who hold command (over) central politics. However, Khadse said, no international call was made from or received on this phone in last one year. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit a home run in the Assam assembly polls, breaking the Congress stranglehold. The flag bearer of Hindutva, hopes to repeat the performance in the crucial Uttar Pradesh elections in 2017 too. Just as in Assam where the RSS succeeded in weaning away from the Congress its traditional vote banks belonging to the SC/ST communities that counted for quite a major proportion of the population (33 per cent OBCs and 30 per cent SCs and STs) through its welfare projects, the organisation is making similar inroads in these electorally dominant sections in Uttar Pradesh too. Just as in Assam, the RSS hopes to wean away traditional vote banks belonging to SC/ST communities in Uttar Pradesh through its social welfare programmes. As the 2017 elections are being billed as a direct clash between the BJP and the Dalit-leadership of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the increase in the number of such RSS projects in UP in the past couple of years could upset the established political equations. The Dalit and OBC communities are the deciding factors in the states politics: Dalits account for over 20 per cent and OBCs for close to 50 per cent of UPs population. While the number of its local organising units, shakhas, have consistently increased in the state over the past three years, the number of its sevakaryas or welfare projects among Dalits and backwards communities has been on the rise too. The RSS calls their ghettos as seva bastis. We dont believe in any discrimination based on caste. So far as social organisational activities are concerned we plan events where people from all castes can come and co-mingle, said Kripashankar, UPs Kshetra Prachar Pramukh for RSS. Talking about the welfare activities, he said: We are making upper caste people to bring home cooked food to seva bastis and share it with the Dalit families. Another ploy to strengthen the society is to campaign for prohibition against liquor and other intoxicants. According to the claims from various RSS functionaries, the number of welfare projects, which are divided under different categories such as education, health, social organisation, self reliance etc, have been on the rise since 2013. In the field of education, the number of such welfare programmes has gone up from 67,710 in 2013-14 to 78,627 in 2014-15. The organisation runs schools for the underprivileged and runs healthcare units in the seva bastis. The RSS has been running free check-up camps and dispensaries. It also runs several awareness campaigns in these places. The number of health projects, claims RSS, has gone up from 19,039 in 2013-14, to 19,591 in 2014-15. Consequently, claimed the RSS, the number of its projects running for imparting skills for self-reliance, svavalambi sevakaryas, has also been on the rise in the above mentioned period. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has directed the security forces to take the strongest possible action against militants involved in the killing of six Assam Rifles personnel in Manipur. Singh reviewed the situation with Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other top officials in the security establishment after the killing of a junior commissioned officer and five jawans. The men perished in an ambush in Manipurs Chandel district close to the Indo-Myanmar border, official sources said. Six Assam Rifles personnel were killed while inspecting a landslide in Manipur. (Picture for representation only) The home minister also spoke to the Assam Rifles Director General, who updated him on the situation. The Assam Rifles convoy was attacked by heavily-armed militants at around 1pm in the Joupi Hengshi area of Chandel. The security personnel were returning after inspecting a landslide site in the interior tribal district, defence sources said. It is suspected that two or more militant groups jointly carried out the attack in Joupi Hengshi area under Molcham police station. The troops retaliated after the assault, but the insurgents managed to flee under thick forest cover. The area has been cordoned off and intensive combing operations have been launched to neutralise the insurgent group and prevent them from crossing over to Myanmar, Assam Rifles officials said. Besides Subedar Baldeo Sharma, the JCO, the other deceased were identified as riflemen Pawan Kumar, Mahesh Gurung, Bhupender Kumar, and Akhilesh Kumar Pandey, and havildar Surajit Barla. Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi, Army Commander Eastern Command, expressed his condolences to the families of the brave soldiers, saying: The nation owes gratitude to the ultimate sacrifice made by Assam Rifles personnel like them in the fight against insurgents. Anglian Water Group, the Dutch National Military Museum and an electricity distribution network in Finland may not seem to have much in common. But they are all owned or part-owned by 3i Infrastructure, a company spun out of the private equity group 3i in 2007 to focus on a wide range of infrastructure assets. Midas first looked at the business in January 2011 when the shares were 114.5p. Going Dutch: 3i Infrastructure helped fund the building of the Netherlands National Military Museum near Amsterdam Today they are 166.75p, the company having launched a 350 million equity fund-raising earlier this month at a price of 165p a share. The new stock is being offered to existing investors on the basis of seven new shares for every 26 held and, if demand is sufficiently high, the company may raise a further 130 million. Meanwhile, new investors can buy stock in the market while the price is slightly depressed by the fund-raising. At the end of April, for example, the stock was 173.5p so it has come down to reflect the level at which the new shares are being sold to investors. 3i Infrastructure has 23 investments in its portfolio, including the Mersey Gateway Bridge, a university campus in France, a wind farm off the coast of Cumbria and a fleet of new trains for the Thameslink service. The company recently made two sizeable investments Wireless Infrastructure Group, which owns and operates the towers that make mobile communication possible, and TCR, which makes airport equipment such as the stairs that take passengers from the plane to the ground. The recent fund-raising is designed to pay for these and leave some money on the table for future deals. Midas verdict: 3i Infrastructure chooses investments that will steadily increase in value and provide stable, long-term income. The group aims to deliver annual returns of 8 to 10 per cent, including dividend payments and share price gains. It has consistently outperformed that target and should continue to do so. A dividend of 7.25p is being paid for the year to March 31 and a 7.55p payment is expected for the current year. The shares are also likely to rise as the company expands its portfolio. Existing investors should benefit from subscribing to the current fund-raising, while new investors could also find value in the stock at todays price. Leading companies may be censoring breaches of ethics and employee safety in their annual reports to investors, a new report will say this week. Three management and accountancy organisations analysed media incidents involving staff and found that a third were not detailed in FTSE 100 firms' annual reports. Some did not fully report issues around breaches of conduct, according to the report by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Chartered Management Institute. 'G4S, a security firm, had a plethora of ethics cases in 2012 and 2014. Furthermore, the firm did not report some serious breaches of conduct,' the report says. Engineer Babcock only reported accidents as statistics. 'In most cases, firms tended to favour the statistical approach for example injury rates, downtime possibly because it avoids the firm having to report specific details which may harm the firm's reputation,' the report says. Companies are not required by law to report on staff issues so there is no suggestion that any have broken accounting rules. But the organisations believe that staff represent much of the hidden value in a company and investors ought to have more detail. Rebekah Bletsch, 36, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head after she went jogging in Dalton Township Jessica Heeringa, then 25, went missing at an Exxon gas station in Norton Shores in 2013 Willis, a married factory worker of Muskegon Township, Michigan, is under investigation in two other cases Investigators found chains, child pornography and a bar with wrist restraints when they searched his home and van Authorities say Jeffrey Willis, 46, got a 16-year-old girl to get into his minivan and pointed a gun at her Jeffrey Willis (pictured), 46 of Muskegon Township, Michigan, has been charged with kidnapping a 16-year-old Investigators have found a ball gag, chains, a pistol with ammunition, child pornography and syringes filled with liquid as they searched the home and the van of a man suspected of kidnapping a 16-year-old girl. Jeffrey Willis, of Muskegon Township, Michigan, has been charged with kidnapping after a 16-year-old told officers he got her to get in his minivan and pointed a gun at her. Police searched his home and vehicle and seized the items according to a probable cause statement released Friday. Willis, a married factory worker, is also being investigated in the 2013 disappearance of then-25-year-old Jessica Heeringa and the 2014 death of 36-year-old Rebekah Bletsch. His van contained a bar with wrist restraints, a mask, a pistol, ammunition and syringes filled with liquid along with the ball gag and chains, the document said. Investigators found child pornography and videos of bound women in his home. A message was left for the public defender's office seeking comment on Willis's behalf. Willis has been charged with kidnapping and was arraigned Wednesday in the attempted abduction of a 16-year-old girl last month in North Muskegon. Authorities say the girl was lost on a rural road last month and went inside his minivan to use his cellphone. Willis later pointed a gun at her, the Detroit Free Press reported, but the girl escaped and described his vehicle, a silver minivan, to the police. She then identified him in a lineup. 'We feel that we for sure have our person who committed the attempted abduction on April 16,' Muskegon County Undersheriff Daniel Stout said according to the newspaper. Police seized hundreds of items from Willis's home after the search on Wednesday. They searched his home in Muskegon Township on Tuesday and a second property, his late grandfather's abandoned home, according to the Muskegon Chronicle, the following day in Norton Shores. Police searched Willis's home and his van on Wendesday (pictured) and seized hundreds of items according to a probable cause statement released Friday Officials found a bar with wrist restraints, a mask, a pistol, ammunition and syringes filled with liquid along with a ball gag and chains in Willis's van during the search on Wednesday (pictured) Investigators also found found child pornography and videos of bound women in Willis's home according to the documents released on Friday. Pictured, an official logs evidence during the search on Wednesday Police say Willis, a married factory worker, got a 16-year-old girl to get into his van last month and later pointed a gun at her. Pictured, law enforcement officials execute a search warrant on Wednesday The 16-year-old girl escaped and described Willis's vehicle to the police, identifying it as a silver minivan. Pictured, officials search his late grandfather's abandoned home on Wednesday Willis, who remains held on a $1 million at Muskegon County Jail, is under investigation in two other cases. Pictured, a law enforcement official removes evidence during the search on Wednesday Meanwhile Willis, who is currently held on a $1 million bail at Muskegon County Jail, is also under investigation in the disappearance of a 25-year-old mother and the death of a 36-year-old jogger, both in Muskegon County. Jessica Heeringa, a mother of one, went missing in April 2013 from the Exxon Mobil gas station where she worked in Norton Shores. She was about to close the station when she vanished. Police later found a small amount of her blood at the scene. The case has remained unsolved even though police released a sketch of what the suspect could look like at the time, based on the account of a witness who saw a male drive away from the gas station. Authorities also published footage showing a silver minivan passing around 11pm at a business about a mile away from the gas station, which didn't have its own surveillance cameras. A witness reported seeing a silver minivan pull up to the gas station not long before closing time. Rebekah Bletsch, a 36-year-old mother of one, was found dead in June 2014 after going on a jog in Dalton Township. Investigators first thought she had been killed in a hit-and-run but later discovered she had a gunshot wound to the head. Willis was fired from a previous job at an elementary school in 1999 for accessing a website with adult content from one of the school's computers, the Muskegon Chronicle reported. This caused a student to be exposed to the contents of the website, according to his termination letter, obtained by the newspaper through a Freedom of Information Act request. Willis, who worked as a probationary custodian that school year, didn't try to explain or defend himself, the letter states, and didn't seem surprised or upset. Jessica Heeringa (left), then 25, went missing in April 2013 from the Exxon Mobil gas station where she worked in Norton Shores. Authorities released a sketch of what the suspect could look like at the time (right) A woman who survived the Holocaust after being sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp as a teenager has died aged 90. Rosalie Chris Lerman, a passionate advocate of Holocaust remembrance, passed away Thursday of natural causes at her home in Philadelphia. 'She was a vibrant, fully mobile, fully functioning, extraordinary ebullient 90,' her daughter Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer said. Lerman, who had celebrated her 90th birthday in March, moved to New York City in 1947 with her husband, who later founded the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. Rosalie Chris Lerman (pictured in March), who survived the Holocaust after being sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp as a teenager, died Thursday of natural causes at her home in Philadelphia aged 90 Lerman (pictured right with her sister Anna in the late 1940s), who had celebrated her 90th birthday in March, moved to New York City in 1947 with her husband Miles. He later founded the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Lerman, who was born in Poland in 1926, was working as a forced laborer in a munitions factory when the Nazis took her mother to a concentration camp, never to be seen again, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The Nazis sent Lerman to Auschwitz-Birkenau with her two sisters, where each of them 'felt obligated to look out for the others', Lerman-Neubauer told the newspaper. All three survived. Lerman later married Miles Lerman, also a Holocaust survivor and a partisan fighter in 1945. They had a chicken farm in Vineland, New Jersey and a home heating oil business that grew into a major distributorship in South Jersey. 'We didn't speak English - but the chickens didn't, either,' Lerman once said according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. She became a philanthropist and lecturer while her husband acted as the founder and chairman of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. He died in 2008. The couple had two children - a daughter and a son, followed by five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Her daughter said she was one of the survivors who talked about her experience early on and worked to gain access to records about the Holocaust, especially 'to document moral choices that people made in the face of Nazism'. 'Some survivors are traumatized, but having survived the war and Auschwitz, my mother felt like everything was possible and she was bound and determined to go out and do it,' her daughter said. Ten years ago, Lerman (pictured in April at Passover Seder) returned to Auschwitz-Birkenau with four generations of relatives, to show them the camp and talk about her experience Lerman returned to Auschwitz-Birkenau a decade ago with four generations of relatives, to show them the camp and talk about her experience. 'Here's where I got off the train.' 'Here's where they shaved my head.' 'Here's where they stripped off my clothes.' 'Here's where they tattooed my arm,' Lerman-Neubauer recalled her mother saying. She also described staring all night long at the chimney towering above the camp and belching flames, and recalled a horrible smell that pervaded the area. 'But even then, the stories she told were about the small acts of human kindness among the different women prisoners, that she held close to assure herself that Auschwitz was the aberration and the world would become normal again if people could hold on to human kindness,' Lerman-Neubauer said. Lerman-Neubauer said her mother's view was that she grew up in a time of great convulsions, but that was only ten years of her life. 'Then she came to America and she lived to 90, so the next 70 years were filled with all the wonderful things one would hope to do in life, building a family, building a business, building a community, the Holocaust museum,' Lerman-Neubauer said. 'She always believed compassion was the strongest weapon and the driver of everything good in civilization,' her daughter also told the Philadelphia Enquirer. Former 'Daily Show' host Jon Stewart and wife Tracey McShane have adopted a horse that lost an eye when it was shot more than 125 times with paintballs at close range. The 20-year-old mare, named Lily, was found in New Holland, Pennsylvania, in March. She was covered in bruises and splotches of paint, was emaciated and had a badly damaged eye. She was rehabilitated and her damaged eye was removed, and now she has a new home - courtesy of the Stewarts, Pix 11 said. Scroll down for video Emaciated: Lily (pictured) was found in New Holland, Pennsylvania, in March, bruised and emaciated and covered in paintball paint Damaged: Lily's eye was so damaged she had to have it surgically removed. Philip Price (right) of Rhode Island was convicted on three counts of animal cruelty related to her treatment on Friday Lily was found at the New Holland Sales Stables in New Holland, Pennsylvania, on March 14, leading to a national outcry. She was taken in by The Lancaster County SPCA, who oversaw her rehabilitation. Meanwhile, police closed in on Phillip S. Price, 65, of East Providence, Rhode Island, who was the man who had transported Lily to the Stables from New Jersey. He was charged with three counts of animal cruelty, a single count of dealing and handling animals without a license, and a single count of importing animals without an interstate health certificate at the end of March. He was convicted Friday in New Holland of all charges, and ordered to pay $3,056 in fines and $10,178 towards Lily's care and recovery, Lancaster Online said. Witnesses included doctors who treated the horse, a representative of the county SPCA, a manager from the auction house and the police detective who filed the charges. Recuperating: Lily, pictured here with another rescue horse that had also lost an eye, has been recuperating since March, and has put on weight and regained confidence A surveillance video from the auction showing Price dropping off the horse was also played. In 2015, Price had pleaded no contest to eight other counts of animal cruelty. The district attorneys have not determined who fired the paintballs at Lily, and there is a $10,000 reward for information leading to their arrest. The horse has put on weight and regained confidence while recuperating. Although it has not been confirmed where Lily will live, it's likely she will be moved to the Stewarts' animal sanctuary on their 12-acre farm in Middletown, New Jersey. Jon Stewart and his wife are both animal enthusiasts whose efforts to help various creatures have seen them in the news on several occasions. In October 2015, they announced a partnership with Farm Sanctuary, a nationwide animal care non-profit, to transform their New Jersey property, Bufflehead Farm, into an animal sanctuary. That same month, they took charge of two pigs that were found by a roadside - presumed to have fallen off a wagon on the way to be slaughtered. And in April, of this year, Stewart adopted a bull that had escaped from a New York slaughterhouse and rampaged through a university in Queens before being captured. One of the United States' highest ranking commanders made a secret trip to war ravaged Syria to check on his troops and assess the battle against ISIS terrorists. General Joseph Votel, the new commander of US forces in the Middle East, also inspected the training of local Arab and Kurd fighters being mobilized to take on the jihadists. He said: 'I have responsibility for this mission, and I have responsibility for the people that we put here,' 'So it's imperative for me to come and see what they're dealing with to share the risk they are dealing with.' Scroll down for videos General Joseph Votel (pictured), the new commander of US forces in the Middle East, became the highest ranking military official to enter the war-torn country Votel, who has headed US Central Command for just seven weeks, became the highest ranking military officer known to have entered Syria since America launched its offensive against ISIS. The visit was particularly exceptional because the US has no combat troops in Syria, no diplomatic relations with Syria and has shrouded most of its missions in the country in secrecy. Votel said he brought reporters with him because 'we don't have anything to hide', adding: 'I don't want people guessing about what we're doing here. I don't want people guessing about what we're doing here. The American people should have the right to see what we're doing here General Joseph Votel 'The American people should have the right to see what we're doing here.' He flew into northern Syria from Iraq, where he had conferred American and Iraqi military commanders on Friday. Once inside Syria, he met with US Army advisers working with Syrian Arab fighters before consulting with leaders of the Syrian Democratic Forces - an umbrella group of American-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters. A small group of reporters accompanied Votel on the condition that - for security reasons - the were forbidden from disclosing the visit until after he had the country. After landing at a remote camp where American advisers were training Syrian-Arab troops in basic combat, he visited other undisclosed locations before returning to the camp. Syria is a raging war zone, torn by multiple conflicts that have created severe human suffering across much of the country. Votel's visit was particularly exceptional because the US has no combat troops in Syria and has shrouded most of its missions in the country in secrecy (file photo of US-backed Arab fighters training in Syria) The US has struggled to find an effective ground force to take on ISIS (file photo) in Syria and President Barack Obama American troops fighting on the ground Aides said Votel's flight into Syria was the first made in daylight by US forces, who have around 200 advisers on the ground there. Military ground rules for the trip prohibited reporters from saying what kind of aircraft Votel used, the exact location of where he landed and the names or images of US military advisers, who have been operating from the camp since January. I left with increased confidence in their capabilities and our ability to support them. I think that model is working and working well General Joseph Votel An Associated Press reporter and journalists from two other news organizations were the first Western media to visit the secretive operation. The last known high-level US official to visit Syria was Brett McGurk, Obama's envoy to the coalition fighting the ISIS. He spent two days in Syria in late January which included a tour of Kobani, the small town near the Turkish border where Kurdish fighters backed by US airstrikes expelled an entrenched group of ISIS fighters last year. In the interview, Votel said his visit had hardened his belief that the US is taking the right approach to developing local forces to fight ISIS. He said: 'I left with increased confidence in their capabilities and our ability to support them. I think that model is working and working well.' The US is now trying to develop credible Arab rebel army to retake ISIS's de-facto capital, Raqqa (pictured) The US has struggled to find an effective ground force to take on ISIS in Syria and President Barack Obama American troops fighting on the ground. It is now trying to develop credible Arab rebel army to retake ISIS's de-facto capital, Raqqa, to add to the territory the extremists have lost in parts of northern Syria. The US is supporting what it calls the Syrian Democratic Forces which is predominantly comprised of around 25,000 Syrian Kurds, with a smaller element of 5,000 Syrian Arabs. Commanders who were made available for interviews at the US camp Saturday said their forces are gaining battlefield momentum but need a lot more help. They were quick to say the US-led coalition should pitch in more. Qarhaman Hasan, the deputy commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said he has given the Americans a list of his most pressing needs. At the top of his list were armored vehicles, as well as heavy weapons including machine guns, rocket launchers and mortars. 'We're creating an army,' he said, suggesting that they had to rely on smuggling to get weapons. He added: 'You can't run an army on smuggling.' Syrian Arab sheik Abu Khalif (pictured) speaks to reporters traveling with Army General Joseph Votel during a secret visit to northern Syria Tribal leaders said in interviews that they also want to see the U.S. do more, both militarily and with humanitarian aid. 'America has the capabilities,' said Sheik Abu Khalid as he puffed on a cigarette under the shade of pomegranate and pine trees. When you're a TV weatherman you have to be prepared to deal with all kinds of scary things: storms, hurricanes, tornadoes and blizzards. But giant spiders? There's a surprise - especially for West Virginia weatherman Bryan Hughes, who was left screaming in terror after an eight-legged beast crawled across the camera lens during a live broadcast Thursday. Hughes's hilarious reaction to the (admittedly pretty horrible) sight has left thousands on the web laughing and wincing in equal amounts, The Blaze said. Scroll down for video Oblivious: At first, WOWK weatherman Bryan Hughes has no idea of what's behind him, as the green screen switches to an aerial camera with a great big spider on it Wait a minute: Hughes' colleagues tell him to look down at the monitor that shows what the viewers see, and there's a split-second where he's not quite sure what he's looking at Scream: But as soon as he does realize, he lets out a high-pitched shriek, flailing his hands and backing out of view of the camera while his colleagues laugh Hughes is happily bantering with his colleagues at WOWK when the map behind him switches to the 'Weather Eye' camera showing a foggy cityscape - and the huge silhouette of a spider on the lens. The poor guy, who's stood in front of a green screen and still chatting away, has no idea what he's in for, until colleagues excitedly tell him to take a look. He then glances down at the monitor showing him what the viewers are seeing and the effect is instantaneous. 'Jeeze Louise,' cries Hughes, as he instinctively backs away from the monitor and disappears off camera. He returns a couple of seconds later, laughing - along with everyone else in the studio. Good humor: Hughes then walks back on camera laughing as well. 'Oh man, saints alive!' he says. 'We gotta get out there and kill those things. Jeeze!' Couldn't help it: Hughes continued his good-natured joking online, where he said he couldn't help screaming 'Why did that just happen?' he guffaws. 'I nearly lost my lunch.' 'Oh man, saints alive. We gotta get out there and kill those things. Jeeze.' Hughes's good-natured reaction continued after the show, as the footage did its rounds on the web, The Blaze reported. 'I couldn't help it,' he said in a Tweet. 'Honestly! I screamed like a little girl. Now, where's the matches and gasoline?!?' And after BBC News Tweeted its weathermen were made of 'tougher stuff,' Hughes replied 'I dare you to a Spider face off! Can you handle an 8 legged monster?!?' Challenge: The BBC later joked that its presenters are made of tougher stuff than Hughes Norbert Hofer is a father- of-four who speaks softly, smiles often and walks with a stick following a paragliding accident. He also packs a Glock pistol under his smart suits, saying that in uncertain times, people try to protect themselves, and likes to post pictures of himself on social media at a shooting range with his children. Today this Austrian politician is expected to send shockwaves around Europe. For polls predict Hofer will sweep to his nations presidency, becoming the first Far Right candidate to be elected head of state on the Continent since the defeat of the Nazis. Ominous: Norbert Hofer is predicted to become the first Far Right candidate to be elected head of state since the defeat of the Nazis His election making him also commander-in-chief of the Austrian army would mark an ominous advance in the growing populist revolt against traditional politics across the West. Already he has crushed two mainstream parties that have ruled Austria since 1945, facing only an elderly professor who once headed the Greens in todays second round of voting. Hofers nationalist appeal to put Austria first and opposition to forced multiculturalism, globalisation and mass immigration won him 35 per cent of the vote in the first round more than triple the share won by either of the familiar governing parties. We had a rendezvous with history, he said afterwards and certainly if he triumphs again today it will be impossible to ignore disconcerting echoes from the past. After all, it was an Austrian named Adolf Hitler who led the Nazis and whose jackbooted German troops were garlanded with flowers after annexing the nation in March 1938, the fuhrer greeted by cheering crowds upon his return to Vienna. Of course Hofer and his Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) present themselves very differently, courting the Jewish vote and claiming to be left of the US Democrats. Yet party founders included ex-Nazis who dreamed of recreating Greater Germany, it has campaigned to legalise Nazi symbols and had links with the British National Party. Like other Far Right groups in Europe, it turns its fire on Muslims rather than Jews these days, exploiting the Continent-wide immigration crisis that hit Austria especially hard. Critics say 45-year-old Hofer, a trained aircraft engineer, is just the friendly face of an extremist party. Despite his mild manner, he claims: Islam has no place in Austria. Hofer denies supporting rebirth of a Greater Germany but has worn a blue cornflower at party meetings, a nationalist symbol adopted by the Nazi party when banned in Austria during the 1930s. He also complains about supposed injustice of the Austrian state of Tyrol being separated from South Tyrol in northern Italy, a legacy of the Austro-Hungarian empires collapse in 1918. Hofer wears the blue cornflower Nazi symbol He is a close ally of long-serving FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache, who caused a furore posting an anti-Semitic cartoon on Facebook, has ranted about Islamisation and dismissed women in Islamic dress as female ninjas. The contrast could not be starker with his rival in todays vote. Alexander Van der Bellen, 72, is the son of refugees who fled the Soviet takeover of Estonia. He detests the Far Right, saying if elected he would refuse to swear in an FPO government, and takes a far more liberal line on asylum. This issue has provoked political turmoil in Austria. First the then chancellor, Werner Faymann, backed Germanys stance of welcoming newcomers then he performed an astonishing U-turn after the arrival of 90,000 people in a nation of under nine million. Amid rising concern over the Continents second highest per capita number of asylum applications, Faymann suddenly shut borders, introduced limits on numbers and led European efforts to confine all new arrivals in Greece. Inevitably this flip-flop fuelled mistrust of mainstream politicians. It also boosted support for the FPO, which opposed Willkommenskultur (welcome culture) from the start, as did the resignation of Faymann earlier this month, which made it look like the party could deliver results. Just as in Germany, the rapid rise in refugee numbers divided Austria and was accompanied by a sharp rise in neo-Nazi attacks. It also hardened hostility to the EU, which looked flat-footed and disunited in response. Although the Austrian presidency is a largely symbolic post, Hofer warns he might dismiss governments that fail to take his advice on immigration. His first-round triumph was greeted with rapture by the Far Right around Europe. Patriotic movements are surging vigorously, said Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Front in France, who seeks similar success next year in her own nations presidential poll. There is merely a collective shrug of shoulders that the birthplace of Adolf Hitler, creator of the last centurys most hideous ideology, looks set to select a Far Right nationalist leader Even Ukips deputy leader, Paul Nuttall, popped up to claim the result underscored EU remoteness and how people were looking for an avenue to vent their spleen. Austria shows how Far Right protest parties are resurgent from Scandinavia to Greece, riding waves of frustration with Brussels and conventional politics. They have joined government coalitions in Finland and Norway, and even emerged as a force in Germany. The same anti-establishment trend is seen with the shock triumph of Donald Trump in the US Republican race or with illiberal governments winning power in central Europe. Brexit is also boosted by this phenomenon. Migration is a factor, along with the alarming Middle East meltdown. Yet the FPO won almost a third of the Austrian vote back in 1999, entering government as a junior partner. These howls of electoral rage against elites are also fuelled by other factors: job insecurity, terrorism fears, political incompetence, corruption, the euro crisis, super-rich tax dodging and housing and skills shortages. Three decades ago another Austrian president was shunned globally after it emerged Kurt Waldheim had links to Nazi atrocities during his wartime army role. Then the country was ostracised in Europe when the FPO joined the government at the turn of the century. Now there is merely a collective shrug of shoulders that the birthplace of Adolf Hitler, creator of the last centurys most hideous ideology, looks set to select a Far Right nationalist leader. Earlier she told students she wanted to prove vegans were not 'weak' She was an experienced climber who previously conquered Kilimanjaro The 34-year-old was joined by her husband Robert for the challenge Maria Strydom, a 34-year-old lecturer at Monash University in Melbourne, died as she made her way down Mount Everest on Saturday A woman who died of altitude sickness while climbing Mount Everest took on the challenge to prove that 'vegans can do anything'. Maria Strydom died on Saturday afternoon after having to turn back from the final leg of the expedition because she felt unwell. She returned to Camp 4, the last camp before the mountain's summit, on Friday where she spent the night but died from lack of oxygen the following day. The 34-year-old South African national taught at Monash University in Melbourne and was an experienced climber. Her husband Robert Gropel is injured but, according to trip organisers, '100 per cent safe'. Weeks before her death Dr Strydom told how she and her husband wanted to dispel the belief that vegans were 'weak' or 'malnourished' by taking on the climb. 'It seems that people have this warped idea of vegans being malnourished and weak. 'By climbing the seven summits we want to prove that vegans can do anything and more,' she said in an interview with the university where she worked. She also told of the dangers most climbers feared when taking on the mountain. 'We've all heard stories of frostbite and having to turn around from excessive waiting times due to inexperienced people blocking routes. 'This can lead to life threatening situations and death where Sherpas and other climbers have to risk their lives to attempt rescues.' Scroll down for video Dr Strydom had begun climbing from Camp 4, the highest camp before the summit, on Friday but was forced to turn back when she felt unwell. She returned to the camp site at 26,085ft with a sherpa while others in her group carried on. Her husband is though to have reached the summit. On Saturday, after spending the night at Camp 4, her condition deteriorated. She 'stopped breathing' due to a lack of oxygen that afternoon, said a spokesman for Seven Summit Treks. Dr Strydom was climbing with her husband Robert (above together) and a group of 10 others The South African national (above during a previous expedition) was an experienced climber who previously conquered Kilimanjaro Dr Strydom, a university finance lecturer, took on the seven summit challenge with her husband Dutch national Eric Arnold, 36, also died after falling ill. It was his fifth attempt at climbing Everest. On Friday he shared a celebratory photograph on Twitter after reaching the summit. A tourism official later confirmed he died while making his descent after complaining of weakness. Authorities are liaising with those in the Netherlands to organise for his body to be airlifted off the mountain. It is not clear when Dr Strydom's body will be returned to Australia. The trek company confirmed on Sunday it was still on the mountain. 'A sherpa has to carry the body to Camp 1 where an air ambulance can pick up but (it is) not fixed when to do that still (sic)' they said. Her husband, they added, was at base camp. A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman told Daily Mail Australia it was assisting an 'injured' Australian man believed to be Dr Strydom's husband. 'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian woman reported to have died on Mt Everest in Nepal. Mount Everest was the latest peak in the couple's 'seven summit' climbing challenge. Above, Dr Strydom at the top of Denali, the highest mountain in North America The 34-year-old (seen above with her husband at Uhuru Peak on Kilimanjaro during a previous climb) said she wanted to dispel the idea vegans were 'weak' or 'malnourished' by climbing Everest Above, a spokesman for the trekking company pointed out where she died on a map on Sunday A live GPS map tracking Dr Strydom's movements gave her family updates on her whereabouts 'DFAT is also providing consular assistance to an injured Australian man accompanying the woman,' they said. The woman's mother, Maritha, shared her grief on Sunday after going days without news from her daughter or son-in-law. Calling her Marisa, she said she was 'too devastated to communicate' after learning of her death. Only hours earlier she shared a post revealing she had heard of Mr Arnold's death but had no news of her daughter. 'No contact with Marisa or Rob yet. We're using all possible ways to locate them,' she said. Another woman claiming to be the lecturer's sister took to the Facebook page of trek organisers Arnold Coster Expenditions to claim she learned of her death online. 'I have just read online that my sister Maria died on Everest. Why can't you contact the family before we have to find out this way?' she said. She later told AAP they learned of the death through The Himalayan Times, a Nepalese newspaper. Eric Arnold, a 36-year-old Dutch national, also died on Saturday from altitude sickness. He is pictured above during previous climbs It was Mr Arnold's fifth attempt at the mountain. He reached the summit on Friday, informing friends online of the accomplishment On Friday Mr Arnold celebrated reaching the mountain's peak by sharing this photograph on Twitter The family had been concerned for Dr Strydom and her husband after going several days with no news of the pair while they completed the toughest portion of the climb. They had been monitoring a GPS tracker for updates which gave their last known location on Saturday. On Sunday Dr Strydom's mother said she was 'praying' for her son-in-law's safety. She earlier told friends that it was the couple's 'mission' to become the 'first vegans' to climb Everest. 'Their mission is to demonstrate that Vegan people can achieve anything everyone else can,' she said. Monash University shared a tribute to the lecturer on Sunday afternoon, writing: 'The Monash University community is deeply saddened by the tragic news of the loss of Dr Maria Strydom on Mt Everest. 'We are liaising with authorities and our heartfelt thoughts and support are extended to Marias family, her friends, colleagues and students.' Detectives are set to review up to 88 deaths dating back to the 1970s that may have been at the centre of horrific gay-hate crimes. NSW Police have widened the scope of the investigations following a spate of brutal deaths and assaults involving gay men in Sydney between the 1970s to late 1990s were uncovered. Nine specialist investigators attached to the Operation Parrabell are scouring every archived documents to determine whether the victims' sexual preferences led to their tragic deaths. Detectives are set to review up to 88 deaths dating back to the 1970s that may have been at the centre of horrific gay-hate crimes (pictured: former AC/DC manager Crispin Dye who was bashed to death in 1993) ACON chief executive officer Nicolas Parkhill said investigators are looking at possible gay-hate angles after 30 deaths of the 88 cases were previously identified as unsolved. 'There were a staggering amount of deaths and assaults involving gay men in public places from the 1980s to the early 2000s, and we believe that many of these murders were mischaracterised as suicides or misadventure,' Mr Parkhill told Fairfax Media. 'The violence that was committed against our community has never been fully acknowledged and the trauma of this remains unresolved. 'At the time there was little effort to prevent this wave of crime confronting our community, and there has been a subsequent lack of resources given to delivering justice for these men.' John Russell, 31, (right) and 25-year-old news presenter Ross Warren (left) were suspected of being the victim of gay bashing before they were thrown off the Bondi-Tamarama cliff tops in 1989 NSW Police have widened the scope of the investigations following a spate of brutal deaths and assaults involving gay men in Sydney between 1970s to late 90s were uncovered (stock image) A NSW Police spokesman has confirmed to Daily Mail Australia detectives will review a number of investigations into the deaths of people connected with the Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Bisexual, Intersex, and Queer (GLBTIQ) community. 'The reviews seek to determine the existence of bias motivation by applying criteria of 10 bias crime indicators,' a NSW Police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia. 'The operation focuses on 88 deaths that occurred between 1976 and 2000, which were highlighted by researchers as having potential bias motivation due to connection with the GLBTIQ community. Police suspect Cyril Olsen, 64, (pictured) was subjected to a gay bashing before he tumbled into the water at Rushcutters Bay and drowned in 1992 'Any case which is determined to show possibility of bias motivation will be recommended for follow-up investigation. 'At the conclusion of the review, it is anticipated the findings of Operation Parrabell will be further scrutinised by an independent academic review. 'Some of these cases are already the subject of reinvestigation by the Unsolved Homicide Squad, with one case presently before the State Coroner.' The investigation comes as detectives previously identified eight unsolved cases that could have been motivated by the hatred of gay men. Among the cases was former AC/DC manager Crispin Dye who was bashed to death after drinking with friends on a night out in Darlinghurst and Surry Hills on December 22, 1993. Witnesses reported seeing three young men standing over Mr Dye's unconscious body after he was brutally bashed before they fled the scene with his wallet. The incident suggested that robbery was the reason behind his bashing but his homosexuality could have motivated his death. In 2014, a $100,000 reward was announced to find the killer. And other homosexual men did not get away from their killers either, including martial arts expert Raymond Keam, 43, who was savagely bashed in Alison Park at Randwick on January 13, 1987. Cyril Olsen, 64, was bashed at Rushcutters Bay in the early hours of August 22, 1992. Police suspect he was subjected to a gay bashing before he tumbled into the water and drowned. Police suspected the three high-profile deaths or disappearances from the Bondi-Tamarama cliff tops were linked to gay-hate assaults. French national Gilles Mattaini (left) was last seen walking near Marks Park in Sydney's east in 1985 before he vanished while martial arts expert Raymond Keam, 43, (right) who was savagely bashed in 1987 Detectives are set to review up to 88 deaths dating back to the 1970s that may have been at the centre of horrific gay-hate crimes (stock image) John Russell, 31, and 25-year-old news presenter Ross Warren were initially ruled as a tragic accident when they fell to their deaths from the cliffs. Mr Warren's keys were found on the rocks but his body was never found. Meanwhile Mr Russell's body was discovered on the rocks in the same area in November 1989. But during a 2005 inquest, deputy state coroner Jacqueline Milledge ruled that both men were murdered and thrown from the cliffs. French national Gilles Mattaini was last seen walking near Marks Park in Sydney's east in 1985 before he vanished. Years later, reports emerged about hate-filled gangs who roamed the streets in the 80s in an attempt to bash, rob and murder men at known gay beats around Sydney. Exaggerator has won the 141st Preakness Stakes in a rain-drenched Baltimore seeing off clear favorite Nyquist who ended the race in third behind outsider Cherry Wine. The loss will be a bitter disappointment for Nyquist's trainer Doug ONeill and owner Paul Reddam who had hoped to take the Triple Crown after winning the Kentucky Derby. Nyquist, who also won the Florida Derby and the Breeders Cup Juvenile, was unbeaten in eight coming into Saturday's race but ultimately failed to deliver. Exaggerator (right, in green) won the 141st Preakness Stakes on Saturday, racing home ahead of unbeaten favorite Nyquist (left, in purple) who dropped back to third after leading for most of the course Exaggerator lost four previous contests against Nyquist but raced to victory in Baltimore, denying the clear favorite a shot at the Triple Crown Exaggerator and jockey Kent Desormeaux had stayed in contention, hugging the rail for most of the race and as Nyquist tired down the home straight they powered home Exaggerator finished his race in 1minute 58.31seconds, paying out $7.20 on a $2 bet to win Veteran jockey Mario Gutierrez got out of the gate at a furious pace and seemed unable to hold the horse back in extremely muddy conditions leaving him with nothing left for the final straight. Meanwhile Exaggerator, the three-year-old son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin trailed by 13 lengths at one point but kept gaining ground along the rail. Desormeaux saw an opening around the final turn, angled outside and Exaggerator took over. In winning his third Preakness, Desormeaux was grateful for a perfect trip that ended Nyquist's perfect record. 'To me it looked like Nyquist was trying to establish an outward position, maybe in the four path,' Desormeaux said. 'He was jockeying for position all the way down the back side. And Exaggerator just kind of slid up the fence to the far turn where I actually got to slow him down and say "whenever I'm ready".' Stradivari was fourth, followed by Lani, Laoban, Uncle Lino, Fellowship, Awesome Speed, Collected and Abiding Star. Exaggerator, the 5-2 second choice, returned $7.20, $3.20 and $2.40. Cherry Wine returned $9.80 and $4.20, and Nyquist paid $2.20 to show. Winning time for the race was 1:58.31. While Nyquist's defeat to Exaggerator comes as something of a surprise, perhaps the bigger shock was finishing behind Cherry Wine. The win for Exaggerator and Desormeaux (left and right) breaks a four-race losing streak against Nyquist who also scooped the Kentucky Derby Speaking after the win, Desormeaux said: 'I can't even put it into words, I can't fathom it. It's going to take a while to process it. I'm in shock' While Kent Desormeaux rode to victory, brother Keith (in the black jacket) was Exaggerator's trainer Ahead of the race it was said that if any horse could stop Nyquist it would be Exaggerator, while Cherry Wine occupied the relatively long-odd spot of 20/1 in the days before the race. The win represents the third victory in Preakness Stakes for Desormeaux who worked alongside brother and trainer Keith Desormeaux. Speaking after the win, Kent said: 'I can't even put it into words, I can't fathom it. It's going to take a while to process it. I'm in shock. 'I had a dream run today. It was just an amazing trip. Exaggerator is an amazing horse, I'm glad my brother didn't have to worry about me, this is my favorite place in Maryland. Kent Desormeaux, who is working with brother Keith, said after the race that he had a 'dream ride' on Saturday adding that it would take some time to process the win Exaggerator eases ahead of Nyquist as jockey Mario Gutierrez yells in frustration on Saturday Ahead of the race, analysts had said that if any horse could beat Nyquist, it would be Exaggerator At the final stretch Nyquist lost out even to Cherry Wine, a relative outsider at 20/1 in the days before the race, who scraped in just ahead Corey Lanerie, riding second-place Cherry Wine, congratulates Kent Desormeaux riding Exaggerator after he scoops the Woodlawn Vase at Preakness Stakes 'To me it looked like Nyquist was jockeying for position all the way around the far side while I just slid up the fence.' Thankfully all the horses finished the final race of the day in one piece and made it back to the barn after tragedy struck in two of the day's earlier events. Homeboykris came from behind to win the day's first race by a half-length but moments after having his victory picture taken in the winner's circle, he collapsed and died. Track officials believe the nine-year-old gelding suffered cardiovascular collapse at Pimlico Race Course and he will now be taken to the New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania for an autopsy. Nyquist set a furious pace, taking an early lead and jockeying for position around the back of the course While Exaggerator (left, in green) had stayed in contention, jockey Desormeaux was content to let Nyquist battle with the likes of Uncle Lino (right) before making his move Nyquist and Uncle Lino battle it out for first position around the back of the course before dropping back Exaggerator (right) hugged the rail down the home straight forcing Nyquist (second left) to the outside where Gutierrez ultimately lost out to Cherry Wine (center) as well Tragedy also plagued Race Four, where four-year-old filly Pramedya collapsed going into the final turn. The horse, wearing number eight, suffered a bone fracture and had to be euthanized on the track. Its jockey, Daniel Centeno, was taken to Sinai hospital after he was found to have fractured his right collarbone. In spite of the rain and temperatures that hovered in the mid-50s, track officials estimated the crowd to be 134,000 a new Preakness record. Fortunately all the horses in the day's final race made it home in once piece after race one winner Homeboykris collapsed and died while on the way back to the barn Bill Shaw (pictured with his MBE) said the huge amounts ploughed into the country have made the situation worse A former British Army officer who was wrongly imprisoned in Afghanistan after he attempted to expose the vast scale of corruption there has called on David Cameron to stop the flood of UK foreign aid to the country. Retired Royal Military Police Major Bill Shaw, who was sentenced to two years on false bribery charges, said the huge amounts ploughed into the country have made the situation worse. He warned that while British money is pouring into Afghanistan, cash is being taken out in suitcases and being used to buy property in Dubai. Mr Shaws demand to turn off the aid tap follows the Prime Ministers admission that Afghanistan was fantastically corrupt. More than 1.3 billion in British taxpayers money was poured in between 2009 and 2014. The country will receive 178 million this year. Mr Shaw said: If the British Government says that it cant account for all the money it pumps into Afghanistan, then it should stop paying all that money. He backed The Mail on Sunday campaign against the Governments pledge to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on aid 12 billion in a year. The matter is now to be debated by MPs on June 13, after our petition demanding the target be scrapped was signed by 230,000 people. Mr Ward said: This expenditure should be based on merit alone. Were encouraging profligacy and the Afghans take advantage. Mr Shaw recalled a culture of kickbacks and cash payments, and claimed the British Embassy also paid for some services in cash. He said: I handled some of these contracts. Sometimes the receipt would say one thing, and the service provided was different. He added: In the customs department in Kabul airport, if you pay the right people you can get anything through, including a suitcase full of cash. We cant change this. It is their way of life. The more money we pump in, the more money they take out. Were giving them free money, to build houses in other countries. This money is flown out of the country. Dubai was a favourite route. Mr Shaw, who was awarded the MBE for services to the Armed Forces, was working for private security firm G4S in 2009 when he complained to the British Embassy in Kabul about illegal bribes being taken by government officials. Two of the companys armoured Land Cruiser 4x4s had been seized by police from the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS), an agency funded and mentored by the Foreign Office. He said: They would confiscate vehicles and demand fines. This also happened with British Embassy security contracted equipment. It would take letters from the Embassy to get them back. Bill Shaw (left) former British Army officer and his co-defendant, an Afghan bodyguard, Maiwand Limar, sits during their hearing at appellate court in Kabul Afghanistan The officials brazenly demanded $12,500 per vehicle to release them and, with the companys approval, Mr Shaw paid the money, asking for a receipt for the G4S accountants. When the receipt failed to turn up, he lodged a complaint to the NDS via the Embassy. Instead, in 2010 he was accused of bribing an official and jailed by an Afghan anti-corruption court funded by UK aid. Mr Shaw spent months in jail until he was acquitted in July 2010. The Government makes no secret of the corruption that riddles Afghanistan. The Department for International Development website admits that poor governance and corruption hamper the delivery of basic services. A Government spokesman said: It is not the case that British aid is exacerbating corruption in Afghanistan. A Marine was barred from walking at her graduation for wearing her uniform instead of a cap and gown at a high school in Chicago. Students said Megan Howerton, who graduated from McHenry High School West Campus on Thursday, wasn't allowed to walk during the school's graduation ceremony because of a dress code issue, according to NBC 4. She was wearing her dress blues when school officials refused to let her participate in the ceremony. Scroll down for video Megan Howerton (left at graduation and right), who graduated from McHenry High School West Campus on Thursday, wasn't allowed to walk during the school's graduation ceremony because of a dress code issue The Chicago school district is now under fire for their decision to not let the marine walk with several angry individuals taking to social media to voice their frustrations prompting the hashtag #LetMeganWalk Twitter users questioned the school's decision to not let Howerton walk across stage saying that she's protecting' the country The Chicago school district is now under fire for their decision to not let the marine walk with several angry individuals taking to social media to voice their frustrations prompting the hashtag #LetMeganWalk. McHenry Community High School District 156 released a statement on Friday that said the attention from the graduation ceremony 'is unfortunate and draws attention away from the collective achievements of the Class of 2016'. The statement went on to say that school officials 'in no way looked to prevent the participation of this graduate or any graduate who has chosen to serve our nation'. 'Rather, the administration communicated in advance via letter, senior meeting, and practice, all the protocols expected of graduates, including attire. 'In some past cases, active-duty students elected to wear their gowns over top of their military uniforms, with their military hats, which was allowed. 'There was no communication to the administration that attire protocols would not be followed prior to the ceremony. 'The tradition of cap and gown regalia is aimed at the idea that our graduates are celebrated as a whole and in similar attire.' The district said that the school 'has a long standing history of avid support for our military branches of service'. An audience member recorded a video at the end of the ceremony of the graduates cheering for Howerton as one of the graduates walked into the audience and brought her down to sit with her classmates. The video was posted to Facebook with the caption: 'The class of 2016 clearly wanted this Marine to be recognized. Regardless of dress code uniformity. 'They were unified as a class and clearly proud of their friend and classmate.' His national campaign expects to receive a $2 million payout from votes Nick Xenophon has mortgaged one of his houses to fund party's campaign Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has bet his home on the upcoming election in anticipation of a $2 million election payout to his political party. Mr Xenophon's political party could be on track for the multi-million dollar payout with predictions his national campaign will secure three senators in South Australia alone, according to The Daily Telegraph. The independent senator has reportedly mortgaged one of his houses for $250,000 to fund his party's campaign ahead of the July 2 election, in confidence he will receive enough votes to pay back the loan. Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has bet his home on the upcoming election in anticipation of a $2 million election payout to his political party The independent senator has reportedly mortgaged one of his houses for $250,000 to fund his party's campaign ahead of the July 2 election Political parties receive $2.62 per vote at the federal election if they secure more than four per cent of the vote. His party, Nick Xenophon Team (NXT), reportedly earned $642,839 at the 2013 federal election, but this year he is expecting a much larger sum despite claiming to run his campaign on a 'dental-floss budget' rather than a shoestring budget. He is also hoping to increase political donations. 'There is no windfall. There's no massive payday. We will get what everyone else gets,' he told The Daily Telegraph. 'The funding we receive is based on the number of votes. I've mortgaged my house to fund the campaign. I might have to borrow more between now and election day.' Mr Xenophon's party is running 13 candidates for the Senate and nine for the House of Representatives nationally. His party, Nick Xenophon Team (NXT), reportedly earned $642,839 at the 2013 federal election, but this year he is expecting a much larger sum Mr Xenophon's party is running 13 candidates for the Senate and nine for the House of Representatives nationally It is claimed Mr Xenophon owns five houses, four which are negatively geared, according to an anonymous Liberal MP quoted by The Daily Telegraph. The 2013 election saw taxpayers fund $58 million for political parties, with the Liberal Party taking $23 million and the Labor Party earning $20 million. The EgyptAir passenger jet that plunged into the Mediterranean Sea killing all 66 people on board was once attacked by a group of political vandals who scrawled an eerily accurate threat on its underside. Aviation workers at Cairo Airport were reportedly behind the attack on the plane, which saw the graffiti message 'we will bring this plane down' written on it in Arabic. Some workers also wrote 'traitor' and 'murderer' in messages directed at Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi - a play on the phonetic similarity between the last two letters in the plane's registration SU-GCC and the leader's surname. Vanished: EgyptAir flight MS804 heading from Paris to Cairo crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after disappearing from radar. The doomed jet was targetted in an attack by political vandals two years ago Some workers also wrote 'traitor' and 'murderer' in messages directed at Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (pictured, at an Africa-focused conference in Sharm el-Sheikh in February 2016) The attack, which came two years ago, was not connected to a jihadi threat but rather to the nation's unstable political situation at the time. According to unnamed officials at Cairo Airport, who revealed the details in an interview with The New York Times, the attack came as a result of unrest after former general el-Sisi ousted the elected president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Since then, several new security measures have been initiated at the capital city's airport - including crew searches and the firing of employees with extreme political views. EgyptAir has also increased the numbers of unarmed security guards sitting among passengers on flights - three of which were killed in the Flight MS804 tragedy. While information has begun to emerge about what might have happened to the plane in its final moments, Egyptian authorities are saying it is still too early to announce a definitive cause of the crash. Leaked data appears to show that smoke alarms were activated on board the plane some three minutes before it lost contact and disappeared from radars. Mourning: Relatives of passengers on board the EgyptAir flight gather at Cairo Airport as they wait to receive information on their loved ones, in the hours following the crash Hunt: The Egyptian army reported finding wreckage and personal belongings from the missing jet around 180 miles north of Alexandria Air industry news site The Aviation Herald published data from the plane's Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) that appears to give clues as to what happened on board the jet. According to the data, smoke alarms in the lavatory behind the cockpit first began sounding at 00.26GMT. Less than a minute later, smoke was also detected in the avionics [electronics]. The final two alerts from the plane indicate faults with the FCU - the flight control unit used by the pilot to input instructions into the flight computer - and the SEC 3 - the computer that controls the plane's spoilers and elevator computers. But experts are cautious in revealing what the data shows. These are not messages that enable us to interpret anything, said Sebastien Barthe, a spokesman for Frances Bureau of Investigations and Analysis. Leak: Data emerged indicating the EgyptAir Flight MS804 was on fire before it plummeted into the Mediterranean. An ACARS screen grab (above) shows smoke alarms in the lavatory behind the cockpit sounded at 00.26GMT, three minutes before the plane lost contact If there is smoke, it means that there is potentially a fire somewhere, but it doesnt tell us where the fire is, and it doesnt help us establish whether it is something malevolent or something technical. The leaked data does appear to indicate that something catastrophic happened to the plane in mid-air, casting doubt on a theory that a pilot or hijacker deliberately crashed the plane into the sea. The fact that no group has yet claimed responsibility for the downing of the jet also casts doubt on the theory that it was a terror attack. A year after a failed joke saw him become the villain of Australian comedy, Ray Badran has taken everything he's learned and put it all into a brand new show in the hopes of moving on. At a warm up gig for last year's Melbourne International Comedy festival, Badran was confronted by an audience member for a joke he told which mentioned rape. After a lot of heckling and a less than graceful exit, the next few weeks saw his face all over the news and his social media accounts filling up with angry people who had heard about the incident. Scroll down for video Comedian Ray Badran told a joke that mentioned rape in a warm up gig for the Melbourne Comedy festival last year and it turned his life upside down The joke goes: 'If you're black you can do jokes about being black, if you're gay you can do jokes about being gay so I'm not sure if you can tell just by looking at me but I can do rape jokes.' The joke is intended to be Badran's self-deprecating take on stereotypes. However, a woman in the audience took offence, and slid off her seat to sit under the table in silent protest. Badran insists he apologised on stage for the incident, but what is remembered is his exit, where he told the woman to 'f*** off and die'. Social media users tweeted angry messages and occasionally tagged media outlets in them, which resulted in a number of articles printed on the incident A few days later, while getting ready for his first gig at the comedy festival, he received a Twitter notification. 'I thought it might be a few people saying they were coming to the show,' he told news.com.au. 'Then the tweet said something like 'I wish your mother had never given birth to you you stupid c**t. 'I thought, 'I don't think they're coming to the show'.' The internet storm had been started by Cecelia Devlin, the woman who sat under her table at Badran's warm up gig. She wrote a blog on reddit that was shared widely on twitter. His manager told him to ignore the situation and let it blow over, but by the next day, hundreds of tweets were flying in and media outlets such as Mamamia and The Age had picked up Cecelia's story. Badran continued to ignore the situation and instead issued a statement to The Age. Badran said he was wrong to have ignored the abuse, which still comes every now and again Badran no longer performs the joke at his shows. He says it isn't funny anymore He said the joke is one he's been performing for two years and never received a complaint until now. As a result of the continued bad press, the 30-year-old comedian lost corporate gigs and a show in Canberra. He has tried to make the best of a bad situation however, and his new show, which premieres at the Sydney Comedy Store in August focuses mostly on the incident and the fallout. 'It was such a big event that happened to me. They say to write about what you know and what's in your life,' he said. 'But when I do focus on it too much, it does still make me pretty angry.' Mr Begg recently caused a storm on Twitter by declaring: 'Israel's crimes far outweigh Taliban's who are in their own country. Zionist Israelis aren't' He went to Afghanistan to build schools for children of Al Qaeda fighters The head of Labour's inquiry into anti-Semitism in the party heaped praised on a militant linked to Jihadi John who once said that the 'crimes' of Israel outweighed those of the Taliban. Shami Chakrabarti who has been appointed by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was accused of 'lacking credibility' after it emerged that she had once described Moazzam Begg as a 'wonderful advocate for human rights and in particular for human liberty'. Mr Begg, who was imprisoned in Guantanamo after travelling to Afghanistan to build schools for children of Al Qaeda fighters, recently caused a storm on Twitter by declaring: 'Israel's crimes far outweigh Taliban's who are in their own country. Zionist Israelis aren't.' Ms Chakrabarti was asked to lead the inquiry after MP Naz Shah and ex-London mayor Ken Livingstone caused a storm over alleged anti-Semitic remarks. Shami Chakrabarti, the head of Labour's inquiry into anti-Semitism in the party, heaped praised on Moazzam Begg, a militant linked to Jihadi John, who once said that the 'crimes' of Israel outweighed those of the Taliban Ms Shah, the MP for Bradford West, was suspended after social media posts emerged in which she suggested Israel should be moved to the United States. Mr Livingstone was disciplined for defending her by claiming Hitler supported Zionism. Ms Chakrabarti, the former head of the human-rights campaign group Liberty, made her remarks about Mr Begg when she shared a platform with him in 2007 at an event organised by Cage, an organisation that advocates on behalf of people convicted of terrorist offences. At the event she praised Mr Begg as 'a wonderful advocate for human rights and in particular for human liberty'. An investigation by The Mail on Sunday last year uncovered evidence that placed Mr Begg, a director of Cage, at the same Syrian training camp as Mohammed Emwazi the real name of Jihadi John in 2012. Briton Emwazi became notorious for beheading Westerners. Mr Begg denied meeting Emwazi, who died in a drone strike in November. Mr Begg, who was imprisoned in Guantanamo after travelling to Afghanistan to build schools for children of Al Qaeda fighters, recently caused a storm on Twitter by declaring: 'Israel's crimes far outweigh Taliban's who are in their own country. Zionist Israelis aren't' Earlier this year during a lecture at Exeter University, Mr Begg failed to condemn the stoning of women. In other lectures he told young Muslims they were being treated in a similar way to Jews under the Nazis, and in 2010 he spoke of his desire for a caliphate-style regime in Britain. Last night MP Andrew Bridgen said: 'If this is the conclusion Shami Chakrabarti comes to on Moazzam Begg, I dread to think how she will adjudicate on Labour's anti-Semitism problem. The inquiry is rapidly losing all credibility.' Advertisement Beautiful beachside villas in Fiji are being marketed to Australians - on sale for the same price as a cramped inner-city apartment in Sydney and Melbourne. Scattered across a private three kilometre stretch of beach on the south coast of Fiji's main island Vitu Levu, the freehold villas offer incredible oceanfront views and are all stones throw away from a world-class resort, with exclusive access to its facilities. The villas, most of which are yet to be built, have a starting price of $681,000 - while vacant blocks in the same region are going for just $550,00. Buyers searching for ultimate luxury can indulge in sites on the Ocean Estates (pictured) Private beachfront Villas on the south coast of Fiji are on sale for a starting price of $681,000 - the same as an inner-city Sydney apartment. The villas are yet to be built (pictured is an artists impression) Buyers searching for ultimate luxury can indulge in sites on the Ocean Estates, with the first property on the market with a guide of $3.1 million. The holiday homes are on the market through real estate agent Reece Coleman of The Agency, Double Bay. 'Only nine per cent of Fiji is available for foreigners to buy and just a fraction of that is coastal,' Mr Coleman told The Daily Telegraph. 'This is a rare opportunity to own a free hold investment in Fiji. As the owner you have complete freedom to use it as you wish. You can live in it, use it as a holiday home and lock it up when you go away.' The villas offer breathtaking oceanfront views of the Pacific Harbour, and are a stones throw from the world-class Nanuku Auberge Resort Owners of the new villas will have access to the facilities offered by the resort, including a private butler and nannying services With a lush forest serving as a backyard and the azure waters of Pacific Harbour acting as the front yard, the homes are expected to be snapped up quickly by opportunistic buyers searching for their perfect holiday home. Located just next door to Nanuku Auberge Resort, the villas will also have access to a number of facilities provided for the guests, including a private butler, nannying services, personal trainers, yoga classes, boutique in-villa spa treatments and exclusive cultural activities. Nanuka is just three minutes from a private airstrip, one of only four on the island, and is 45 minutes from the capital Suva. 'It's a right of passage to go to Fiji when you're young. Now to have the opportunity to get a piece of Fiji, you're buying your family's future holidays,' Mr Coleman said. Nanuka is just three minutes from a private airstrip, one of only four on the island, and is 45 minutes from the capital Suva 'You're buying your family's future holidays,' Sydney real estate agent Reece Coleman of The Agency, Double Bay, said On the other side of the spectrum, first-side buyers hunting for their first home in the highly competitive Sydney and Melbourne property markets will have to settle with a whole lot less for the same amount of money. One apartment currently on sale in Sydney's central business district offers just one bedroom, a cosy kitchen and small east-facing balcony for a price of $650,000. While the Fijian beachfront villas boast a huge open space of 2,176 square metres, the Sydney apartment measures in at just 59 square metres. Cramped: A one-bedroom apartment with 59 square metres of space is on sale for the same price as the Fijian beachfront villas, which sprawl out across a 2,176 square metre block Sharon Osbourne has caused a stir after she suggested the parents of Madeleine McCann were 'insane' for leaving their daughter alone on the night she went missing. The 63-year-old made the comments on her US chat show The Talk while discussing a thread on Mumsnet, which asked whether it was ever okay to leave a 10-month-old baby home alone. In reference to Kate and Gerry McCann, the former X Factor judge criticised parents who would even consider doing this on the CBS show on Friday. Scroll down for video Sharon Osbourne caused a stir when she suggested the parents of Madeleine McCann were 'insane' for leaving their daughter alone A family friend said Kate and Gerry have never forgiven themselves after their daughter was snatched She said: 'I will tell you a very quick story. There was a husband and wife on holiday in Portugal. 'They left their baby in the room sleeping, sleeping while they went to dinner in the restaurant. 'While they were in the resort their baby was taken. And it is like, 'Oh but we can see everything that is going on' and it is, like, insane.' A friend of the McCann family spoke to The Mirror after the show was broadcast and claimed Sharon's remarks were 'ignorant' and 'ill-informed'. The friend added that she should have considered the effect on Madeleine's brother and sister and kept her opinion to herself. Maddie was taken a few days before her fourth birthday and has never been found. She disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, a resort in the Algarve region of Portugal, on the evening of May 3, 2007. Her parents were eating dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. The couples had been taking it in turns to go back to the apartment and check on the children. Maddie was taken a few days before her fourth birthday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, and has never been found In reference to Kate and Gerry McCann, the former X Factor judge criticised parents who would even consider leaving their children unattended The friend told the paper that Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leicester, have never forgiven themselves after their daughter was snatched that night. Adding that the remarks should not have been aired in the random way that they were. Speaking on the show, Sharon claimed that 50 per cent of mothers who responded to the post agreed that they would never leave their 10-month-old unattended at home. She said: 'This is insane. It is like so many things happen in just a second. If you leave a candle on and the curtain blows on it and it caught on fire. A bitter row erupted last night over claims that Jeremy Corbyn has recommended an ex-Labour MP once charged with assault for a gong in an impending honours list. Whitehall sources say former Scottish Labour MP David Davie Hamilton is in line to be named in a raft of awards in the Queens Birthday Honours next month. They say Mr Hamilton, a former aide to Ed Miliband, is expected to be rewarded for his political service including serving for four years as a government whip. David Hamilton, pictured, is in line to be included in the Queen's Birthday Honours in a move that has led to a 'bitter row' over a historic assault charge he faced in the 1980s after being accused of attacking a miner But in the 1980s during the miners strike, the former National Union of Minerworkers delegate was accused of kicking a miner in the eye during a row. He was cleared of the charge but last night the family of the man Mr Hamilton was claimed to have struck said it would be an absolute disgrace if he was honoured. Friends of Mr Hamilton hit back, saying: Davie was wrongly accused of that crime and rightfully acquitted it is totally unfair to drag that up now. Whether its a peerage or a knighthood, he would deserve the honour. Last night, a Labour spokesman said: It would be wrong to comment on or speculate about any appointments before they are made. The move to honour Mr Hamilton will spark surprise at Westminster after repeated signals from the Labour leaders office that he would break with tradition and not recommend political honours to anyone. Party sources yesterday insisted that was still Mr Corbyns position but suggested he might have inherited the recommendation from a list drawn up by previous party bosses. Labour MPs also privately say Mr Hamiltons honour would have been backed by close political ally Rosie Winterton, the Labour Chief Whip who was herself made a dame in the New Years Honours. Labour Chief Whip Dame Rosie Winterton, pictured, is said to have backed Mr Hamilton's nomination Mr Hamilton, 65, stood down as MP for Midlothian, near Edinburgh, at last years General Election after 14 years in the job. The MP, who was an aide to Ed Miliband when he was Energy Secretary in the last Labour government, said he was retiring with a great deal of pride, tinged with some considerable sadness. But in 1984, 17 years before he entered the Commons, Mr Hamilton was accused of attacking miner John Hughes in the lavatory of Dalkeith Miners Welfare and Social Club. Mr Hughes alleged that Mr Hamilton had repeatedly punched him and kicked him in the eye after an argument. But Mr Hamilton, who spent two months in jail before the case came to trial, insisted that he was in fact assaulted by Mr Hughes and claimed self-defence. After a two-day trial, the jury at Edinburgh Sheriff Court took 30 minutes to find Mr Hamilton not guilty. Mr Hughes had told the court that, during the dispute, striking miners did not speak to him because they regarded him as a scab. He died in 1993 from lung cancer. But a family member said last night: It would be an absolute disgrace if David Hamilton gets a gong. Its disgusting. John never got over what happened. He was never the same again. Mr Hamilton was last night not available for comment. But a Labour colleague said: Davie is extremely well liked and respected in the party as a man of principle. A multi-millionaire accused of murder asked to be given funding for his legal fees despite spending hundreds of dollars on lunches out while awaiting trial. Ron Medich is charged with shooting dead his former business associate Michael McGurk in 2009. The 68-year-old denies his killing. His criminal trial is yet to start but he has already asked for it to be delayed on the grounds that he cannot afford celebrity defence lawyer Winston Terrracini's fees. Medich applied for legal aid in March but was turned down, a decision he reportedly admitted came as no surprise. Ron Medich applied for legal aid in March but was turned down. He is awaiting trial accused of murdering a former business associate Appearing in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, he admitted spending hundreds of dollars on eating out because he has 'never cooked'. According to The Daily Telegraph, he attempted to justify large restaurant bills by telling the court: 'I don't cook so I eat out most of the time. 'Ive never cooked,' adding that he had a chef in his former Point Piper home which he sold in 2014 for $37million. One bill was for more than $600, the newspaper claimed. Despite the sale, Medich claims he cannot access large amounts of cash because it is tied up in other court cases. Medich claimed his estranged wife Odetta (above) would not give him money to help cover the cost of the trial The 68-year-old reportedly defaulted on a payment for star lawyer Winston Terracini (right) Michael McGurk (above) was killed in 2009 His estranged wife Odetta, he reportedly said, would not give him any money towards legal costs. 'She made it plain that she wont give me any more money,' he reportedly said. Medich's brother Roy previously lobbied the courts to speed up a civil dispute between them before the beginning of his criminal trial. He appealed to the Supreme court to expedite their case but was turned down. Mr McGurk was killed by a single gun shot to the head outside his home in Sydney in 2009. Medich's former assistant, Lucky Gattellari, and his driver admitted being accessories to his were both jailed in 2013 for their roles in his death. Medic was jailed for two months in 2010 after being charged with the murder and one count of soliciting others to murder. He was bailed in December on strict conditions. A judge is yet to decide on his application to the delay the trial. His estranged wife Odetta, he reportedly said, would not give him any money towards legal costs. 'She made it plain that she wont give me any more money,' he reportedly said. Advertisement Sydney has been shrouded in another smokey haze, as hazard reduction burns continued to spew thick clouds through large parts of the city, leaving behind the smell of fumes. Eerie scenes have emerged of the city being bathed in the haze on Sunday morning, as firefighters carried out an ongoing statewide back-burning in an effort to prevent bushfires. Sydneysiders woke to a blanket of smoke, with several taking to social media to share photographs of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House disappearing into the choking cloud of smog. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is seen through a smoke haze from hazard reduction burns on Sunday morning Sydneysiders have woken to a choking cloud of smoke as the city was bathed in the haze over the weekend The hidden city: Sydney has been shrouded in another smokey haze, as controlled burns continued to spew thick clouds through the city Nick de la Force said on Instagram: 'Sydney, shrouded in smoke this morning... Not exactly the view you hope to wake up to anywhere, I hope everyone out there is ok!' Tom Bunn posted: 'Wasn't lying when I said I was moving to the big smoke.' Mickey Richard wrote: '*cough* What a view! *cough* Breathing Sydney air today is like revisiting an early nineties nightclub....without the fun mullets!' NSW Rural Fire Service has confirmed that smoke across Sydney will begin to clear as the day warms up while residents with lung conditions are urged to stay indoors. 'Smoke exposure can lead people with lung disease or chronic bronchitis to develop shortness of breath, coughing or wheezing, many days after smoke is inhaled,' Deputy Director of Environmental Health Dr Benjamin Scalley said on Friday. NSW Rural Fire Service has confirmed that smoke across Sydney will begin to clear as the day warms up on Sunday Eerie scenes have emerged of the city being bathed in the haze on Sunday morning, as firefighters carried out controlled burns in NSW Beachgoers were treated to eerie scenes in the early hours of Sunday morning as a result of a statewide back-burning this week This comes as controlled blaze continue across the state, including areas in the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Hornsby, Central Coast, Hunter Valley, Wollondilly and Queanbeyan. 'This work needs to be done now to prevent bushfires in the future,' Rural Fire Service Inspector Ben Shepherd told Daily Mail Australia. 'We've been behind where we would like to be in hazard reduction, and that is due to some quite wet winters and autumns especially last year. 'This is giving us a real chance to catch up on some strategic burns around the state. We need to take those opportunities when they present themselves.' Winter wonderland: Sydneysiders watched on as controlled burns continued to spew thick clouds through large parts of the city Eerie scenes have emerged on Sunday morning, with some of Sydney's iconic landmarks hidden beneath blankets of thick smoke Sydney has been shrouded in another smokey haze, with the smell of fumes sweeping throughout the city over the weekend The hidden city: Sydney's iconic landmarks - the Harbour Bridge and Opera House were bathed in thick blankets of smoke on Sunday Sydneysiders have woken to a choking cloud of smog from the ongoing hazard reduction burns across NSW over the weekend Inspector Shepherd said the smoke had found itself stuck in the city due to an inversion overnight, which is where a layer of warm air becomes trapped between two layers of cool air. The inversion makes it impossible for the smoke to disperse as it usually would. As the weather warms during the day, the trapped air is able to move and the smoke can begin to disperse. Eerie scenes have emerged of the city being bathed in the haze, with thick clouds of smoke rolling through Sydney's iconic landmarks were blanketed in a thick smoke on Sunday morning due to back-burning Beachgoers were treated to eerie scenes in the early hours of Sunday morning as a result of a statewide back-burning this week Sydneysiders have woken to a choking cloud of smog from the hazard reduction burns across NSW Sydney has been shrouded in another smokey haze, as hazard reduction burns continued over the weekend Indiana woman Purvi Patel, 35, will appeal the court's decision to sentence her to 20 years in prison on charges of feticide and neglect of a dependent resulting in death An Indiana woman who was sentenced to 20 years in prison after becoming the first in the country to be locked up for killing a fetus when she took abortion drugs bought online and disposed of the baby in a dumpster, will appeal the court's decision. Attorneys for Purvi Patel, will urge the Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday to reverse her 2015 convictions on charges of feticide and neglect of a dependent resulting in death. The state's attorney general's office will defend the northern Indiana jury's decision. At issue is Indiana's feticide statute, which the defense says was 'passed to protect pregnant women from violence' that could harm their developing fetus, not to prosecute women for their own abortions, according to WNDU. The state says that law 'is not limited to third-party actors' and can apply to pregnant women. Patel was arrested in July 2013 after she sought treatment at a local hospital for profuse bleeding after delivering a one and a half-pound infant boy and putting his body in a trash bin behind her family's restaurant. Court records show the 35-year-old purchased abortion-inducing drugs online through a pharmacy in Hong Kong, took those drugs and delivered a premature baby in her home bathroom. Patel lived with her parents and grandparents and feared that her family would discover she had been impregnated by a married man she was involved with, court documents state. Her attorneys contend her convictions are not supported by the evidence and the laws prosecutors used don't apply to her alleged actions in the child's premature delivery. Two dozen women's advocacy groups, as well as Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union, all have filed friend-of-the-court briefs siding with Patel. Scroll down for video Attorneys for Patel (pictured), will urge the Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday to reverse her 2015 convictions on charges of feticide and neglect of a dependent resulting in death At issue is Indiana's feticide statute, which the defense says was 'passed to protect pregnant women from violence' that could harm their developing fetus, not to prosecute women for their own abortions. Pictured is the area in which the fetus was left in a dumpster At least 38 states have fetal homicide laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But the Patel case was the first time a state feticide law has been used against a woman specifically because of 'an alleged self-induced abortion', said Jill E Adams, executive director of the abortion rights advocacy group Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice. 'Prosecutors have been very creative and very egregious, stretching far beyond the letter of the law and even the legislative intent behind the law,' she said of efforts by prosecutors in some states to use a variety of laws to criminalize self-induced abortions. Attorneys for the state argue that Patel's infant was just beyond the threshold of viability, and had taken at least one breath before dying. The state's brief also argues that Patel 'has not met her heavy burden to prove that Indiana's feticide statute constitutes an undue burden on the right to obtain an abortion'. Bryan Corbin, a spokesman for Indiana's attorney general's office, said that in all appeals the 'defendant has the burden of proof on appeal'. Patel's attorneys contend her convictions are not supported by the evidence and the laws prosecutors used don't apply to her alleged actions in the child's premature delivery. Pictured is area where the fetus was found Her appeal also contends she should not have been convicted of neglect, arguing prosecutors failed to prove she knew she had delivered a live baby or that she could have done anything to save its life One of Patel's attorneys, Stanford University law professor Lawrence C Marshall, declined to comment, saying Patel's 'position is contained in the briefs and the arguments that will be delivered Monday'. Patel's appeal also contends she should not have been convicted of neglect, arguing prosecutors failed to prove she knew she had delivered a live baby or that she could have done anything to save its life. It argues that summoning medical help would have been 'futile', citing a forensic pathologist's testimony that the infant likely would have died within about a minute. It was to be the turning point of the war: victory, rather than disaster, would now be the order of the day. At Casablanca in 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, leaders of the two main Western democracies, had gathered with their chiefs of staff to plan their further strategy against Germany, Italy and Japan. This would culminate in 1944 in a challenge even Hitler had balked at in 1940 with Britain on its knees: a massive cross-Channel invasion D-Day, as it would become known. In May of 1943, more than 300,000 troops launched the final offensive in North Africa, and Montgomery's Eighth Army entered the city of Tunis for the unconditional surrender of Axis forces there. Scroll down for video At Casablanca in 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, leaders of the two main Western democracies, had gathered to plan their further strategy against Germany, Italy and Japan With plans for a million US combat troops to be ferried to Britain, Roosevelt saw every prospect of mounting a successful 1944 Second Front, and winning the war that year, or early in 1945. The President had been under the impression his partnership with Churchill, his 'active and ardent lieutenant', was a firm and happy one. Had the two leaders not motored together after the Casablanca Conference to Marrakesh, the fabled Berber city, and sat and surveyed the vast Atlas mountain range? Why, then, three months later in June 1943, was Churchill on his way to Washington on the Queen Mary to argue against a cross-Channel invasion, even in 1944, and reverse the agreements he'd made at Casablanca? It was to become one of the most contentious strategic debates in the history of warfare. I had long venerated Churchill, not least for his six-volume memoirs, The Second World War, which won a Nobel Prize. But as a military historian I became increasingly sceptical about the veracity of his account. Years of research among the Churchill and Roosevelt archives and among papers and diaries kept by those closest to the great war leaders, allowed me to piece together a very different picture from the unreservedly heroic that one that Churchill had portrayed and that is the story of how he covered the traces of his repeated attempts in 1943 to abandon Allied plans for D-Day. At heart, Churchill remained the dashing cavalryman who'd fought the Mahdi in the Sudan and, even as he approached 70, his ever-fertile mind was changing from day to day. In the President's study at the White House on May 12, his lengthy speech, delivered with characteristic rhetorical flair, failed to dispel the US chiefs' fears. The British, it became clear, were not serious about crossing the Channel any time soon, unless the Germans collapsed. After securing Sicily, Churchill argued, the Allies ought to invade Italy, obtain its surrender, then exploit the huge gap in the Adriatic and the Balkans to attack the Third Reich from the south and south-east. The Roosevelt plan: A massive US-led cross-Channel invasion in 1944 that would create a Second Front against Hitler and lead to victory that year or early 1945 A cross-Channel invasion, he allowed, 'must be made at some time in the future' but not 1944. More disturbingly, the British chiefs of staff seemed to be agreeing. The American generals were speechless. All eyes turned to the President. In the nicest yet firmest way the President categorically 'expressed disagreement with any Italian adventure beyond the seizure of Sicily and Sardinia'. As the chief of staff to the Prime Minister, General Ismay, recounted: 'It was clear there was going to be a battle royal.' Even Churchill's wife, Clementine, was worried the US might choose to redirect its efforts to the Pacific, sending him cable after cable at the White House, pleading: 'Surely the liberation of Europe must come first?' The President was shocked. Almost two million Jews had already been 'liquidated' by Hitler's SS troops how many more by 1946? Would the Russians lose faith in the Western Allies and seek an armistice with the Third Reich, leaving Hitler master of Europe? Roosevelt didn't think Stalin would stoop to that, but it could certainly undermine Soviet participation in the post-war United Nations he had in mind. And all so that Britain could sit out the war in Europe, hanging on to India and waiting for the US to win back its lost empire in the Far East? The best way to coax the British out of their funk, the President felt, was not to berate them but help their generals recover their confidence. Extreme hospitality would be the order of the day. The President took Churchill fishing, the wheelchair-bound Roosevelt 'placed with great care by the side of a pool,' Churchill recollected, where he 'sought to entice the nimble and wily fish'. The leaders' weekend in Williamsburg, Virginia, went so well that when talks resumed on May 18 the wholesome food and wine and civil conversation seemed to have done the trick. General Alan Brooke, Churchill's Chief of the Imperial General Staff, had dropped his call to postpone a cross-Channel operation, if operations in the Mediterranean were allowed to continue. Then by November 1 at the latest the best battle-hardened divisions were to be transferred to Britain to prepare for D-Day, and a target date for April 1944. However, Brooke's position was not shared by his boss. At six o'clock on May 18, Canadian prime minister Mackenzie King went to see Churchill and found him already in bed, wearing 'a white night-gown of black and white silk' and looking 'very frail' after seven hours working on the draft of his address to Congress the following day. 'As far as he was concerned,' King wrote later in his diaries, 'the plan was to follow the decisions of the Casablanca conference'. And Churchill now claimed that this had authorised landings in Sicily, but had not explicitly gone further than that. Pressed by King, Churchill confided he remained as implacably opposed to a cross- Channel Second Front indeed more so since the catastrophe of the Dieppe Raid, a disastrous failed assault on the German-held port in 1942. Was Churchill, with his 'glass of Scotch' beside his bed, living in an alcohol-laced cocoon? Alcohol seemed to fuel his rhetorical skills, but did it help him listen to Roosevelt and the Combined Chiefs rather than his own voice? The Churchill plan: An invasion of Italy, which would lead to the Italians' surrender and allow Allied troops to attack Hitler's forces from the south and the Balkans On the afternoon of May 19, Churchill told US congressional representatives he favoured an Allied offensive through Italy and the Balkans. Yet, inexplicably, by that evening when Churchill joined the President and the Combined Chiefs in the Oval Office, he had changed his mind. King wrote: 'The Prime Minister indicated his pleasure that a cross-Channel operation had finally been agreed upon. He had always been in favour of such an operation and had to submit to its delay in the past for reasons beyond control of the United Nations.' Had he truly had a Pauline conversion? Even General Brooke was disbelieving. Churchill was back at the Oval Office on May 24 for the final terms of what was now called the Trident agreement. However, 'the PM,' Brooke recorded with exasperation, 'entirely repudiated the paper we had passed, agreed to, and been congratulated on at our last meeting!!' Brooke had known his Prime Minister to be an occasionally maddening individual, but to behave like a spoiled adolescent in front of a US President not only directing a global war but furnishing the materials and fighting men to win it, seemed the height of folly. Though the Prime Minister meant well, his doctor was worried he might be approaching a mental breakdown, or 'a gradual waning of his powers, brought on by doing the work of three men.' In the President's Map Room after dinner, Roosevelt pulled no punches. The President sternly told the Prime Minister he had better shut up. The date for the cross-Channel invasion was now set. Period. With that, the Trident Conference was over, and D-Day, to be called Operation Overlord, would take place, come hell or high water, in the spring of 1944. This still left the question of its supreme commander an appointment that the President had suggested at Casablanca should go to a British officer to bolster the tentative British commitment. Now he was not so sure. At the White House on July 9, Roosevelt's naval aide brought news that Allied troops had landed in Sicily, and the invasion was proving brilliantly successful. Soon, with complete naval and air superiority and Patton and Montgomery's ground forces threatening to strike out from the beaches, there arose the prospect that the Italians might overthrow Mussolini and submit to unconditional surrender without the Allies needing to invade. However, the President was soon worried by what he was hearing from London. Once again the Prime Minister was plotting a new course. On July 13, he had minuted his chiefs of staff with an immortal phrase epitomising his irrepressible spirit. Why, he'd asked, should the Allies merely land on the toe of Italy and 'crawl up the leg like a harvest bug, from the ankle upwards? Let us rather strike at the knee' landing north of Naples. 'Not only must we take Rome and march as far north as possible in Italy, but our right hand must give succour to the Balkan Patriots.' If the Americans declined to co-operate, 'we have ample forces to act by ourselves.' Only ten days after the landings in Sicily, he was contemplating dumping the Second Front, and now favoured Allied assault landings in Norway. On August 10, Roosevelt emphasised to his Joint Chiefs of Staff that only by relentless concentration of force would the Allies win within a reasonable time frame. He was not averse to opening a front in Italy limited to a line just north of Rome. But when one of his admirals proposed abandoning Overlord if the British wanted to postpone, Roosevelt, to his advisers' amazement, 'said we can, if necessary, carry out the project ourselves.' And with that the President prepared to meet Churchill two days later. His remark about the Americans mounting D-Day by themselves was as ridiculous as Churchill's claim the British could single-handedly liberate Italy, but the two statements indicated how much the two Allies' war strategies were separating. The President drove Churchill and his daughter to Hyde Park, and there explained to Churchill that the imminent surrender of Italy was most welcome, but would not win the war against Germany, nor could be counted upon to keep Russia as an ally. Now Roosevelt decided to use his trump card. For months Churchill had been pressing the US for an agreement to pool research on an atomic bomb. With only a cadre of theoretical physicists, the British had no possibility of producing such a weapon by themselves. If Churchill would not commit to Overlord, the President now quietly indicated, the US would have to withhold such an agreement. But stand by the agreed strategy, and he would sign an agreement to share atomic research with the British and not the Russians. The Prime Minister was shocked. An agreement on the atomic bomb would have to remain as secret as the research itself; Churchill would not be able to reveal, let alone explain, why he had backed off his opposition to Overlord. But after swallowing the bitter pill, he recognised he would have to agree to the President's terms. There was one further potion, the President made clear, that Churchill must take before the two men left Hyde Park. The supreme commander of Overlord must be an American, since the largest contingent in the invasion would be from the US. It was a blow to Churchill's patriotic pride, but there was nothing that he could say other than: Yes, Mr President. Because Roosevelt did not live to write his own account of the war, his true role as US commander-in-chief has often gone unappreciated. Churchill's six-volume The Second World War was, however, near- devastating for Roosevelt's memory, since its magisterial narrative placed Churchill at the centre of the war's direction, and the President very much at the periphery. But had Churchill prevailed, the war might well have been lost for the Allies. The struggle between the two leaders took most of 1943, and in its outcome Roosevelt may justly be said to have saved civilisation but it was a close-run thing. Someone else had to wipe Nicole Faux's tears from her face as she watched her former best friend get sentenced to three years in prison for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. That's because Faux was paralyzed from the neck down on the night Jessica Rice crashed her car into a utility pole in Des Moines after the girls went out on the night of October, 29, 2014. Nearly two years later, 29-year-old Faux is still left with so many 'what-ifs'. Nicole Faux (left) was left paralyzed from the neck down after her former best friend Jessica Rice (right) crashed her car into a utility pole while driving drunk after the girls had a night out in Des Moines in 2014 Faux took the stand during Rice's sentencing hearing to describe how dramatically her life had changed since the accident. And yet, she said, she still forgave her former best friend Rice, a mother of four, (pictured during her hearing) was sentenced to three years in prison on Friday Rice left Faux, whose neck broke during the crash, in the car after the accident and called her husband, Matthew Rice, for help instead of 911. Matthew moved Faux into the backseat of his car and drove home. The couple then left her in the vehicle for eight hours before finally calling her fiance, Derrick Nestvedt, to pick Faux up. 'She was freezing cold,' Nestvedt told WHO-TV in a September interview. 'She was wearing a black sweatshirt that had spit up and blood on it.' Rice (seen in her 2014 mug shot) pleaded guilty in April to operating a vehicle while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an injury accident 'The only thing that kept her from dying was that she stayed up. She didn't fall over.' Faux, who said on the stand she took 'full responsibility' for making the irresponsible decision to get into a car with an intoxicated driver, begged the couple to take her to the hospital. 'I knew I was hurt bad and needed help,' Faux said while testifying during the sentencing hearing. 'No one listened.' Faux received a written statement from a doctor who treated her after the accident that said her injuries would have been 'less severe' if she had been helped sooner, according to the Des Moines Register. Rice, 28, pleaded guilty in April to operating a vehicle while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an injury accident resulting in serious injury. Both were serious and aggravated misdemeanor charges. Faux said she was satisfied with her former friend's sentence, but wish she had received an apology from her on the stand. Rice, a mother-of-four, declined to make a statement when given the opportunity at her sentencing. And her family is left questioning whether the prison term was fair in her circumstances. Mark Linebachs, Rice's uncle, said she has always worked two jobs to support her family. 'Her husband has to go home tonight to tell her four children that mommy's not coming home,' he said. Meanwhile, Faux is left unable to play with her three-year-old daughter, chase her around the park, or even help her get ready for her upcoming first day of school. Faux, pictured with her husband and 3-year-old daughter, is paralyzed from the neck down. She said Rice left her without treatment in her husband's car for eight hours after the accident Faux said she is now left unable to play with her three-year-old daughter, chase her around the park, or even help her get ready for her upcoming first day of school 'I can no longer use my hands, which makes me feel helpless as a mother,' she said in an earlier interview. 'Do her hair or give her baths.' 'I still can't hold her.' Faux now needs help just to take a shower, get dressed or even eat. She said her life has become a constant stream of therapy and doctor appointments. 'The things my fiance has to do to take care of me would horrify any other woman,' she said. 'I don't feel like a human being anymore. I just feel like a burden.' Now Faux is looking to the future. She and her husband are trying to raise money through GoFundMe for a wheelchair van that would help them do more things together as a family. And Nicole said she has come to forgive the woman who put her in the chair she is now bound to every day, the woman who had been her friend since they were teenagers. She said she has to forgive Rice, so that she can move on with her life. However different it may now be. Tony Blair's reputation will be seriously damaged by the upcoming Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War, according to a senior source who has discussed the report with its authors Tony Blair's reputation will be seriously damaged by the upcoming Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War, according to a senior source who has discussed the report with its authors. The report - which will finally be published on July 6 - will also deliver an 'absolute brutal' verdict on the former Labour prime minister, ex-foreign secretary Jack Straw and the former MI6 boss Sir Richard Dearlove, a former government minister added. Mr Blair 'won't be let off the hook' over claims he offered British military assistance to US President George Bush before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. But some of the harshest criticism will be reserved for Mr Straw over the aftermath of the war and the top general who oversaw the city of Basra after it was captured, a source told the Sunday Times. Mr Straw has been sent a 5,000-word letter by the Chilcot inquiry listing alleged failings over the Iraq war, sources said yesterday. The length and weight of detail of potential criticisms indicate the report may draw tough conclusions on the wars architects. Mr Straw, who became Foreign Secretary in 2001, is understood to be at risk of criticism over his handling of the run-up to conflict in 2003 and his departments role in the British occupation of Basra afterwards. The former minister told the Sunday Times that British forces 'did make a mess of the aftermath' and will describe the 2007 withdrawal from Basra as 'embarrassing'. 'Serious mistakes' were made by senior generals running Basra and other southern provinces in the country, the report will say and misjudgments were so bad that British troops 'had to be rescued by the Americans'. The aftermath of the 2003 invasion is expected to be covered at greater length in the report than the build up, but public attention will be much more focussed on the decisions and the period before British forces joined American troops to invade Iraq in 2003 in search of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Mr Dearlove, who served as the head of MI6 at the time of the invasion, will be criticised for failing to stop Blair's government from putting a 'gloss' on the intelligence surrounding Saddam's apparent stock of weapons. It led to a British government document - which became known as the 'dodgy dossier' - published in September 2002 that claimed the Iraqi dictator could attack British targets within just 45 minutes. 'The intelligence community should have resisted' the claims in the memo, the Chilcot report will reportedly say. Remarkably, the source close to the report's findings said Mr Blair's cabinet did not have 'the full picture' - suggesting his informal 'sofa style' of government led to mistakes and oversights in the run up to the 2003 invasion. Tony Blair (pictured with George Bush in February 2001 at Camp David) 'won't be let off the hook' over claims he offered British military assistance to US President George Bush before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a source close to the Chilcot report said Brutal verdict: The report is set to deliver an 'absolutely brutal' verdict on figures including Jack Straw (left) and former MI6 boss Sir Richard Dearlove On Mr Blair's willingness to send in British troops to support the Americans, the source said the report will make it 'clear that he did commit himself to Bush at an early stage and didn't want to be seen as letting Bush down'. A former minister with knowledge of the panel discussions said: 'It will be absolutely brutal for Jack Straw. It will damage the reputation of a number of people, Richard Dearlove as well as Tony Blair and others.' In a damning verdict on the aftermath, the source said: 'We sent in inexperienced people. People were put in positions where they couldn't succeed. We didn't quite know what we were doing. After the invasion we found it very much more difficult than we had expected.' It will also reopen the debate about Britain and America's responsibility for enabling the creation of ISIS. Sir John Chilcot's report will finally be published on July 6 - more than seven years after it was first ordered by Gordon Brown in 2009 and is 2.6 million words long - four times the length of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. But there are fears that the length of the report will make it 'unfocused' as the blame will be at so many doors. Further questions will be raised over the special relationship with America where British diplomats in Washington were kept in the dark over post-invasion plans. Mr Blair and Mr Straw declined to comment on today's revelations. Sir John Chilcot's report will finally be published on Wednesday July 6 some seven years after it was first ordered by Gordon Brown The inquiry was set up by then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009 and examined the events from the summer of 2001, through the 2003 invasion, and until the withdrawal of British combat troops in 2009. The inquiry took evidence from more than 150 witnesses, holding more than 130 sessions of oral evidence. In addition, more than 150,000 government documents were scrutinised by the inquiry - including many previously classified papers. The inquiry was tasked with identifying the decision taken across the crucial period and identifying and lessons to be learned from them. The date of July 6 is likely to cause intense frustration among those who believe the report should have been published years ago. One of the key reasons for the continued delays was thought to be the so-called Maxwellisation process - the legal practice where individuals due to be criticised in an official report are sent details of the criticism in advance to give them a right to reply before publication. Further delays were confirmed by David Cameron last month after it emerged that spy chiefs had been drafted in to vet the findings. It meant the report would not be published before the June 23 EU referendum. Government officials were keen for the report to be published after the vote to ensure it did not influence the outcome. The long list of delays have heightened concerns that the final findings will be a 'whitewash' as key details could have been removed. Reg Keys, whose 20-year-old son Lance Corporal Thomas Keys died in an ambush in Iraq in 2003, said an independent official must oversee the vetting process to ensure was not a 'whitewash'. He told the Telegraph: 'There needs to be a referee almost if someone says 'I am taking this out it needs to be shown to an independent person' otherwise it will be a whitewash, it will be sanitised.' Nearly half of all calls made to our homes are made by cold callers, it has been revealed Nearly half of all calls made to our homes are made by cold callers, it has been revealed. Consumer figurehead Which? analysed seven million calls over the last three years and found that some households were contacted by nuisance numbers as many as 60 times a month. Four in every ten calls made were by pest callers, a study of 4,000 landline subscribers found. Older customers were contacted more often than their younger counterparts, receiving as many as 38 calls, compared to the average of 26. Which? campaign boss Alex Neill told The Sun: 'Millions of people are still being bombarded with nuisance calls, and are sick and tired of this intrusion. 'While there have been steps in the right direction, more must be done to tackle this menace. Senior executives should be held personally accountable when their companies make unlawful calls.' As of May 16, direct marketing companies registered in the UK must display their phone numbers when making unsolicited phone calls - even if their call centres are based abroad. The move follows backing from regulators and consumer groups and will make it easier for people to refuse and report unwanted marketing calls. Ofcom estimates that there are 4.8 billion nuisance calls in the UK every year, while a fifth of direct marketing calls come from an anonymous or fake phone number. Companies can risk fines of up to 500,000 from the ICO if they continue to bombard consumers with unwanted calls. The latest move follows news that a substantial number of fines totalling 2.3 million in the past twelve months alone, have been issued by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). In 2015, this Government made it easier to fine nuisance callers by removing the need for consumers to prove that unwanted marketing calls were causing substantial distress and damage. Gangland figures are refusing to sell guns to potential terrorists because they do not approve of what they are trying to achieve. Organised crime syndicates are denying radicals access to automatic and military style weapons due to ideological clashes and concerns about being associated with extremists, according to the national manager of counter terrorism for the Australian Federal Police, Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan. 'They're not going to co-operate with these guys with extremist views, which is good for us,' Mr Gaughan said. Gangland figures are refusing to sell guns to potential terrorists because they do not approve of what they are trying to achieve The potential consequences if they are caught helping a suspected terrorist is also a major factor he told The Daily Telegraph. Recent arrests in are an indication that potential terrorists have difficulty sourcing weapons in Australia. A 16-year-old boy was arrested in April in western Sydney after police allegedly intercepted him trying to source a gun on the internet. But the lack of firearms hasnt necessarily made stopping terrorists plots any easier, as police believe other weapons may be used, the publication reported. A New South Wales police spokesperson said that the shortage of guns has created its own challenges and that in recent times many attacks have been carried out using knives and machetes. Police presence was increased across the state following the arrest of the teenager. Above are officers at Martin Place in central Sydney in April when the 16-year-old hoped to 'terrorise' non-muslims Incredible drone footage has emerged of over 70 huge tiger sharks tearing apart a dead humpback whale in the crystal clear waters of Shark Bay, on the Western Australia coastline. Two boatloads of tourists were lucky enough to witness the feeding frenzy first-hand, watching on from above as the school of hungry sharks ruthlessly ate away at the enormous frame of the whale. The aerial vision was captured by Eco Abrolhos, an island tour company that stumbled upon the attack just four days into a 14-day cruise to the Kimberley, travelling from Geraldton to Broome. Scroll down for video Feeding frenzy: Two boatloads of tourists on a cruise along the Western Australia coastline witnessed first-hand a school of over 70 sharks tearing apart a dead humpback whale The holidayers watched on in amazement as the apex predators tore apart the dead whale, ripping off huge chunks of flesh at a time Drone footage shows the crystal clear water turn murky as the blood of the deceased whale spreads The aerial vision was captured by Eco Abrolhos Island Tours, whose charter stumbled upon the primal attack just four days into a 14-day cruise to the Kimberley The attack took place in Shark Bay, a World Heritage Site that is home for 28 different species of sharks It's unclear whether the whale, which appears to be close to fifteen metres long and would weigh about 36,000 kilograms, was killed by the tiger sharks or died of natural reasons Tiger sharks are known to prey on whales, often targeting distressed or sick adults for their next meal As the drone surveys the primal hunting scene from above, sharks can be seen circling the mangled whale carcass, biting off huge chunks of flesh at a time before swimming away. The glassy aqua water becomes a dark shade of red as the blood of the deceased whale spreads. It's unclear whether the whale, which appears to be close to fifteen metres long and would weigh about 36,000 kilograms, was killed by the tiger sharks or died of natural reasons. Tiger sharks, responsible for a large percentage of fatal attacks on humans, have a reputation for eating anything and are known to prey on juvenile humpbacks or adults in distress. Shark Bay has one of the largest adult populations of the apex predator tiger shark, which can grow up to six-and-a-half metres long and weight 520 kilograms. Shark Bay, where the feeding frenzy took place, has one of the largest adult populations of tiger sharks The drone was able to capture the incredible feeding display from a number of different angles Jay Cox, cruise operator for Eco Abrolhos told Daily Mail Australia it was the closest he had ever gotten to that amount of tiger sharks. 'We had passengers from Perth, Melbourne and Sydney - they said it was the most amazing thing theyd ever seen in their life,' Mr Cox said, 'We went round for two hours right up close and personal you could reach over and touch them (the sharks). They were very docile and very well fed, we counted around 70 tiger sharks of all shapes and sizes. Some of them were up to six metres long.' He said it was likely the whale had accidentally followed a channel into the shallow water, became breached and then drowned, before being attacked by the school of sharks. The rapist cop jailed for 263 years for attacking black women while on patrol has said he feels no remorse for his victims as he continues to deny his guilt from behind bars. Daniel Holtzclaw, 29, said he 'didn't do anything of a sexual nature' to any of the women involved, and accused investigators of leading witnesses on during questioning and convincing them to lie. Despite DNA evidence. GPS records and testimony from 13 women, the former Oklahoma City cop insists he is being punished in an elaborate setup for being a tough officer. Daniel Holtzclaw, 29 (left behind bars, and right as he was found guilty), said he feels 'no remorse' for his victims and claimed he is being set up for being a tough cop Holtzclaw spoke to NBC affiliate KFOR from inside an unnamed Oklahoma jail where he is living under an alias for his own protection. Asked if he felt remorse, he replied: 'Absolutely not. I will not feel remorse for something I did not do. 'I am not guilty for any of these crimes, I did not do anything of a sexual nature. I did not come on to any of these women.' 'I did my job to the fullest of my ability which I gave an oath, sworn to protect and serve, and that's what I did.' In December last year, Holtzclaw was found guilty on 18 counts including rape, sexual battery and forcible oral sodomy against eight of the women who testified against him. The former cop, who had refused to testify throughout his trial, broke down in tears as the guilty verdicts were read out, shouting 'I didn't do it' as he was lead away. Among his victims were several teenagers and a grandmother in her fifties. Prosecutors said during Holtzclaw's three years on the job he mostly preyed on women who had been in trouble with the law, hoping their word would not hold up against his in court. Holtzclaw maintains his innocence, saying witnesses were led into testifying against him by detectives and that if he were guilty he would have confessed to his family, which he has not done Holtzclaw insists that if he were guilty he would have told his family to give up on him and leave him alone to serve his sentence, which he has not done. Instead, relatives have set up a website entitled The Making of a 'Serial Rapist', deliberately echoing Netflix documentary Making a Murderer, in order to cast doubt on victims and key evidence. In another echo of the TV series, in which defendant Brendan Dassey is apparently led by his own defense into falsely pleading guilty, Holtzclaw is attempting to claim that detectives in his case also led victims into giving false statements. He added: 'The detectives, they kinda led them to it. They basically gave them a lottery ticket. 'The investigation as far as approaching these women saying we have a tip you've been sexually assaulted by an Oklahoma City police officer. You know. 'You're opening the floodgates. You're opening the door. All they had to do was say yes.' Following Holzclaw's sentence, video has emerged of his two-hour interrogation at the hands of detectives in which he is caught out by a lie over his girlfriend. Perhaps in an attempt to explain how female DNA ended up on his uniform pants, Holtzclaw told investigators he 'almost' had sex with his partner when he arrived home from work the previous day. CCTV of Holtzclaw's two-hour interrogation by police has now been released, showing him getting caught in a lie about his girlfriend while speaking with investigators As the detective leaves the room to call the girlfriend and verify the story, Holtzclaw can be seen getting his phone out in an apparent attempt to intervene. As the investigator returns she orders the officer to put his cell away before telling him his story did not match up with his partner. Detective Kim Davis tells him: 'I just talked to [her]. She said she was asleep when you got home, and you did not try to have sex.' Holtzclaw hits back: 'I tried to have sex with her while she was asleep.' But Davis responds: 'I don't believe you. I don't know what to say, because it looks like I just caught you in a lie.' Yale University has made sure visitors at the school's 315th commencement will notice something new on campus this year - the introduction of gender-neutral bathroom in 23 buildings. The school is promoting the bathrooms, which were unveiled last November, on its website for Monday's commencement, complete with a link to a map showing where they can be found. It is one of several changes made in the past school year designed to make the university friendlier to transgender students, staff and visitors, school officials said. Yale also has decided to change a long-standing rule and will allow transgender graduates to have on their diploma the name they use, rather than the name on their birth certificates. Yale University has made sure visitors at the school's 315th commencement will notice something new on campus this year - it has introduced gender-neutral bathroom in 23 buildings The school is promoting the bathrooms, which were unveiled last November (pictured), on its website for Monday's commencement, complete with a link to a map showing where they can be found 'Yale aims to be a leader on this front,' said Tamar Gendler, dean of Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. 'Part of what is important about the all-gender bathroom project and about putting it at the top of our commencement site, is this is about public signaling.' Yale's Equal Opportunity Statement, which covers all students and employees, has since 2006 prohibited discrimination based upon gender identity or expression in admission, education and employment. But Isaac Amend, a rising senior who is transitioning to male, said he and other members of the transgender community noticed a big difference at Yale after Caitlyn Jenner's transition brought transgender issues into the national spotlight. 'I'm pretty sure that if you take any year in Yale history and measure the amount of change that happened with regards to trans rights, this has been the most monumental year, by a lot,' Amend said. Professors are now using preferred pronouns when addressing students, and the school is allowing transgender students to change their names on their school identification card and the school's web portal at no charge, he said. Gender reassignment surgery, hormone suppression therapy and medical procedures are now covered under the student health plan, although Amend said many doctors at the school are not supportive. 'Yale's programs policies and practices are very much what LGBT inclusion looks like for students on a campus,' said Rebby Kern, programs manager at Campus Pride, a nonprofit that tracks LGBT rights on campuses nationwide. Yale is among a growing number of schools changing policies regarding transgender rights. The University of Vermont last year also began officially addressing transgender students using the name and gender pronoun of their choice. Smith College, an all-women's school in Massachusetts, made headlines last year when it began admitting students who were born male but identify as female. Yale's rival Harvard allows housing with the gender with which a student identifies for sophomores, juniors and seniors and allows students to use the bathrooms with which they feel most comfortable. But it does not allow nonlegal names to appear on official documents. It's one of several changes made in order to make the university friendlier to transgender students, staff and visitors, school officials said. Pictured is a unisex sign and 'We Are Not This' outside a bathroom of an Irish pub in Durham, NC, amid nationwide debate over transgender-inclusive bathrooms Yale's all-gender bathrooms are the product of the work of Yale's office of LGBTQ Resources, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Most are single stall restrooms that were once labeled either as either a men's or a women's room. They now include signs that say 'All Gender Restroom' with the traditional man and woman figures next to a figure wearing pants on one leg and a dress on the other. Amend said he was excited to find out that the all-gender bathrooms are being promoted at commencement, when many old-guard alumni will learn of them for the first time. 'That's music to my ears,' he said. 'And what's the greatest harm that can be done? An old white guy makes a snide remark? Who cares?' The move to promote their gender-neutral bathrooms comes amid the nationwide debate over transgender-inclusive bathrooms. Earlier this month, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against North Carolina, its governor and the University of North Carolina, among other parties, for violating federal civil rights laws that prohibit sex discrimination. Avocados are now being sold for $1.80 at Coles and Woolworths Production of avocados is set to quadruple in Western Australia Avocados prices will never reach prices up to $6 per unit again Avocado prices will never reach last summer's astronomical heights again with one of Australia's largest producers to quadruple production for the upcoming season - with a potential oversupply issue predicted. Consumers can now expect to pay $1.80 each at Coles and Woolworths since avocado prices have normalised following a price hike over the summer when independent retailers were charging up to $6 an avocado. Western Australia industry expert and manager of one of he state's largest processing companies Jennie Franceschi claims last year's shortage realistically lasted three days, with some businesses charging more than three times the current price for an extended period of time, according to ABC. Avocado prices will never reach last summer's astronomical heights again with one of Australia's largest producers to quadruple production for the upcoming season Consumers can now expect to pay $1.80 each at Coles and Woolworths since avocado prices have normalised following a price hike over the summer Consumers were hit with high prices over the summer when independent retailers were charging up to $6 an avocado She said the avocado shortage predominantly affected the east coast due to a 'perfect storm' of factors including Christmas holidays, fire, rain and transport problems, according to the news report. 'We were a bit short and there was a bit of panic buying and some people thought 'oh there's no fruit, there's no fruit,' so some people panicked, but realistically in the marketplace there was probably three days of it,' Ms Franchesci said. 'A lot of people will question whether Coles and Woolies were price gouging and I can categorically tell you that they probably lost money at that time because they kept the prices the same. They probably paid a week of particularly high prices, but apart from that it was pretty normal.' Ms Francheschi reportedly said consumers could expect avocado prices to remain low with tree-planting quadrupling production in Western Australia - a state that provides 60 per cent of the nation's avocados. She said in the next five to eight years south-west WA would produce a crop larger than Australia's current entire crop. Her company has anticipated a potential oversupply issue and has looked to export product to Asia. News anchor David Speers has revealed his two-year-old daughter was fighting the life-threatening failure of her kidneys on the same day the federal election was announced. Daughter Olive spent nine days on life support as she battled the condition, with veteran broadcaster Speers camping out by her bedside as she fought her way back from the brink of death. In the space of a fortnight the Sky News broadcaster left her side once - to host the Sky News Leaders Debate at the Windsor RSL in western Sydney, reported The Daily Telegraph. Veteran broadcaster David Speers has revealed how his two-year-old daughter Olive (second from left) was fighting kidney failure on the day the election was announced David and his wife Liz (pictured) have two daughters, Matilda (left) and Olive (right) On May 8 Olive was rushed by helicopter from Speers home in Canberra to the Randwick Childrens Hospital in Sydney. She was placed on life support as her kidneys failed as a result of Croup a viral infection which starts in the throat. Speers told The Daily Telegraph: It was absolutely terrifying. It was a total of nine days she was on life support and sedated. In the end it was two viruses. Speers has won a number of awards for his journalism, including the 2014 Astra Award for the most outstanding performance by a broadcast journalist Speers said the experience gave him a new appreciation for the professionalism and humanity of Australias doctors and nurses. He is now joining a Channel 9 telethon on June 13 to raise money for the hospital which saved his daughters life. Speers lives in Canberra with his wife Liz and his two daughters Matilda and Olive. A couple caught Rey Cruz (pictured), 20, inside their apartment in Bloomington on Wednesday night, authorities say A man accused of breaking into a couple's apartment in Indiana ended up running away from the man who lives there - and got beaten up so bad he had to go to the emergency room. A couple caught Rey Cruz, 20, inside their apartment in Bloomington on Wednesday night, court documents say. The man noticed that Cruz was wearing his jacket and chased him around the building, eventually grabbing him and ripping the jacket off his back, Fox 59 reported. He kept running after Cruz and ended up tackling him on the sidewalk and punching him in the face three to four times, making his nose bleed, an officer wrote in the paperwork. Cruz later went to the emergency room at Indiana University Health Hospital in Bloomington, where police arrested him. He appeared in his mugshot badly beaten up, with a cut on his nose and red marks all over his face. The man who chased him found a pile of clothes left on the sidewalk after the burglary and also recovered a pair of shoes. 'It's better than hearing about a story where the guy gets away with something valuable to the other person. I wouldn't go and do something like that again, if I got beat up,' neighbor Justin Parish told Fox 59. Cruz now faces a charge of felony burglary. Group administrator says the page was created to promote men's health 'I tip my hat' - one man said after making light of hate rape A disturbing and secretive Facebook page that encourages rape and violence against women is continuing to operate under the guise of supporting men's health. The page, which only admits members by invitation and is operated by a group of people from Brisbane, has more than 23 thousand likes since it launched almost two weeks ago. It is full of posts that encourage sexual assault and suggest 'backhanding' a woman to teach her a lesson. The page, which only admits members by invitation and is operated by a group of people from Brisbane including Brock Paulke (pictured), has more than 23 thousand likes since it launched almost two weeks ago One member posted an image of a woman cowering from a man's clenched fist with a title that read: 'If you can't handle him at his worst...you don't deserve him at his best' The Blokes Advice is full of posts that encourage sexual assault and suggest 'backhanding' a woman to teach her a lesson One member posted an image of a woman cowering from a man's clenched fist with a title that read: 'If you can't handle him at his worst...you don't deserve him at his best', according to The Courier-Mail. Another member posted a photo of the character Jack 'The Muss' Heke - a violent, alcoholic wife-beater from 1994 movie 'Once Were Warriors' - with the caption 'Inspirational bloke'. 'Imagine some of the hate rape that went on this weekend due to this page Well done you bunch of sirs I tip my hat,' another person wrote. T-shirts with a 'Blokes Advice' logo, which features a penis and a beer, are being sold to promote the page. 'What would you do if you saw a female in public wearing the Blokes Advice shirt? Surely a few back hands will teach em a lesson,' one man wrote, according to the news report. However, people have condemned the group including one man said the group had started off with the right intentions but had since been sending the wrong message. T-shirts with a 'Blokes Advice' logo, which features a penis and a beer, are being sold to promote the page However, people have condemned the group for disturbing posts (pictured) including one man said the group had started off with the right intentions but had since been sending the wrong message 'Bloke's advice page is filth. (sic) i know not everyone in there is a bad bloke, but encouraging the disgusting behaviour of the few ruined that group for the many. That group is awful,' Harry Bell wrote. An administrator of the page, Brock Paulke, posted to the group to express the need to support men who suffer from domestic violence. 'As previous posts have explained, this is a great opportunity to raise awareness for men's health,' he posted. An administrator of the page, Brock Paulke, posted to the group to express the need to support men who suffer from domestic violence He told The Courier-Mail the page was started to provide a forum for men to speak about mental health. 'I want to do good out of this group,' he said. 'I've said on the group that we need to keep things within the rules of the group, and blokes that are breaching the rules have been removed. A high school student who couldn't attend her own prom because she was wearing a suit instead of a gown attended another school's dance - in the outfit of her choice. Aniya Wolf showed up in a suit, complete with a boutonniere, to her prom at Bishop McDevitt High School, a Catholic school in Harrisburg, earlier this month. But she was forced to leave due to her outfit and said a school official threatened to call the police. Wolf and her date got a new invitation from the principal of William Penn Senior High School in York, who reached out saying: 'We do embrace all.' The two girls arrived for their new prom on Saturday, Wolf wearing her suit and her date in a long, dark blue gown with a glittery strapless bustier. Aniya Wolf attended prom at William Penn Senior High School in York, Pennsylvania (pictured) on Saturday, two weeks after getting thrown out of her Catholic high school's dance for wearing a suit Wolf told ABC 27 after getting thrown out of her first prom, that she had worn shirts and pants exclusively during her three years at Bishop McDevitt High School. 'I've just always been like this, ever since I was little,' she told the network. 'I was always more masculine. You wouldn't catch me playing with any Barbie dolls, I'll tell you that right now.' The school said the dress code was sent to parents three months before the prom dance on May 6. But Wold said in a Facebook post that she had seen two different dress codes: the first one, according to her, stated that 'dresses must be formal' and included guidelines for dresses. But she thought this dress code, which she signed, did not explicitly state that students had to wear dresses. Wolf said she was presented with a new dress code on prom day, stating that students had to wear a formal dress. Her mother Carolyn told ABC 27 that she called the school. 'I told them that I had read the dress code that was given to the students and I didnt think that it precluded her from wearing a suit,' she told the TV station. 'I said that this was very unfair, particularly at the last minute. We had gone out and bought a new suit. I think my daughter is beautiful in a suit.' Wolf wrote on Facebook that she is a 'practicing Catholic' who 'lives out God's teachings'. 'I hands down love my teachers, I feel as if they have given me an excellent education, they have never frowned upon the way I present myself,' she added. 'I'm sorry for all those who feel like they have been victims of hatred throughout this incident but the truth needs to be heard.' Wolf (pictured with her date at Saturday's dance) got a new invitation from William Penn Senior High School's principal, who said: 'We do embrace all' 'I've just always been like this, ever since I was little. I was always more masculine. You wouldn't catch me playing with any Barbie dolls, I'll tell you that right now,' Wold (pictured at prom on Saturday) said previously A Queensland mother whose son was convicted by a jury and jailed for life maintains that her son was an idiot, but not a murderer. Roxanne Brim, from Kurunda, watched her 22 year-old-son William Darcy Reid receive his life sentence for the murder of traveller Travis Davis six weeks ago after a two-week Supreme Court trial. The details of the murder, which occurred in a campsite about 55km north of Cairns in October 2013, remain unknown. It is the lack of information, perhaps, that has left his mother confused and upset. Roxanna Brim does not believe her son murdered Travis Davis in October 2013 and says that her son was an idiot, but not a murderer When her son was being sentenced, Mrs Brim yelled he didnt do it before leaving the courtroom. Im disgusted with myself for the way I behaved once the verdict had been passed. I look back now, I didnt not act as a responsible parent or adult should, she told the Cairns Post. I was in shock. I dont believe that my son actually committed the murder, I do believe that he covered it up though. Reid gave the police three varying statements as to what happened, and before his sentencing, what happened to Mr Davis was still unclear. In only one of his versions of events did he mention his former girlfriend, Austasia Kapteyns involvement in the murder, and insufficient evidence meant she walked free. While Mrs Brim still stands by her son, she says its hard to move on without knowing what happened or why. It is particularly hard on her, because she believes if she had not asked her son, who was at the time living in Tasmania, to come home and give her away in her wedding to Austasias uncle, this would not have happened. For now, she has had to settle for phoning visiting him in Lotus Glen Correctional Centre as much as she can. I cant do anything to help him, she said. The details of the murder, which occurred in a campsite about 55km north of Cairns in October 2013, remain unknown William Darcy Reid received a life sentence for the murder of Travis Davis after a two-week Supreme Court trial The war of words between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton continued early Sunday morning, as he hit back at her claim that he wanted to allow guns in classrooms. Clinton made the remarks Saturday night, at a Florida fund-raiser for Circle of Mothers, an organization that aims to 'empower women to transform communities'. '(Trump says) on his first day in office, hed mandate that every school in America allow guns in their classrooms,' Clinton claimed, according to the NY Daily News. 'That idea isnt just way out there. Its dangerous.' Denial: Trump Tweeted that Clinton was 'wrong' when she told an audience Saturday that he'd 'mandate that every school in America allow guns in their classrooms' Speech: Clinton made the remarks in a speech to Circle of Mothers, a community organization focusing on those who have lost family members to guns, in a direct comparison to Trump's speech to the NRA Saturday Plans: Trump, pictured here talking to the NRA, had in fact said he would 'get rid of gun-free zones' in military bases and classrooms, in an interview with the Outdoor Channel on January 21 'Parents, teachers and schools should have the right to keep guns out of classrooms - just like Donald Trump does at many of his hotels, by the way,' she added. But Trump shot back on Twitter: 'Crooked Hillary said that I want guns brought into the school classroom. Wrong!' But in an interview with Outdoor Channel on January 21, Trump did say he wanted to repeal the laws that ban guns in schools. 'Im going to get rid of the gun-free zones on the military bases,' he said. 'Im also going to do it in schools. 'You say you have a school, and its gun-free. The criminals are out there saying, "This is incredible. This is perfect. Theres no guns in there. Im the only one thats going to have guns." You cant do it.' 'Im going to work with the states, and if I have to, Im going to try and perhaps override the states if I have to, if Im allowed to do that.' Clinton's remarks to the anti-gun group came in direct opposition to Trump's own speech at the NRA convention Saturday night. There, he called her 'the most anti-gun, anti-Second-Amendment candidate ever to run for office'. That was something she made an effort to refute, CNN said. 'I lived in Arkansas and I represented upstate New York. I know that gun ownership is part of the fabric of a lot of law-abiding communities,' Clinton said. 'I also know that we can have common-sense gun reforms that keep weapons out of the hands of criminals and the violently unstable while respecting responsible gun owners.' 'Despite all the political noise we are actually united on this issue,' Clinton said. 'The vast majority of Americans support comprehensive background checks... This isnt a matter of building public support. 'We already have it. Its a matter of making elected officials do their jobs to keep our children safe.' Reform: Clinton, who has been accused by Trump of wanting to destroy the Second Amendment, said she wanted to restrict gun access to criminals and the mentally unwell while 'respecting responsible gun owners' The risk to children from guns was a topic that Clinton kept returning to, in recognition of her audience. She had been introduced to the stage by Circle of Mothers founder Sybrina Fulton - mother of teen Trayvon Martin, who was shot dead by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in 2012 -and spoke to an audience that had been touched by gun violence. Clinton promised to 'do something about the gun violence that stalks communities and terrorizes families.' 'Something is wrong when young people just starting their lives are dying,' she said. 'Something is wrong when so many parents live in fear that their child will be hurt or killed just for being a young black man in a hooded sweatshirt like Trayvon.' And she made a particular point of showing her disgust at Trump, saying that 'unlike (him)' she would not 'pander to the gun lobby'. 'We will not be silenced and we will not be intimidated,' she added. 'As long as children anywhere are being killed by gun violence, we will keep fighting for our kids, because they deserve a president who stands up for them and stands with the mothers here. Their lives are valuable.' The Malaysian student who splurged nearly $5million in less than a year after mistakenly receiving an unlimited overdraft says she thought the money came from her parents. Christine Jia Xin Lee, 21, spent $4.6m on luxury goods in 11 months including $220,000 in a single day at the Christian Dior shop in Sydney. Realising the error, a senior manager at Westpac Bank called Ms Lee on April 8, 2015, and demanded she account for the missing millions, reported Fairfax Media. Scroll down for video Christine Jia Xin Lee, 21, spent $4.6m in just 11 months by splurging on luxury items such as a $90,000 handbag. She told investigators she thought her parents had given her the money The chemical engineering student was arrested at Sydney Airport as she tried to board a flight to Malaysia Transcripts of the call obtained by Fairfax reveal Ms Lees extraordinary explanation. My parents give me lots of money, she told investigations manager Matt Tregoning. I bought clothes, shoes, lots of handbags ... They are in my unit at Rhodes. My mother is coming over to visit me in June and we will give the bank a cheque. I have [told my parents about it] and they are not very happy with me. Ms Lee was arrested on suspicion of spending millions of dollars that were mistakenly transferred into her account four years ago In just one day in April, Lee spent $220,200 at the Sydney Christian Dior store. The next day she returned to spend another $94,000 Court documents have also revealed that Westpac was alerted to Ms Lees reckless spending on April 7, 2015, when she tried to transfer $1.15m to a different account with another bank. Westpac immediately froze the account and contacted Ms Lee to ask what she had done with the money. Following Ms Lee's conversation with Mr Tregoning, Westpac then took court action to seize all her assets, declare her bankrupt and confiscate her passport. The chemical engineering student was arrested on May 4, 2016, after trying to fly home to Malaysia on an emergency passport. She was charged with dishonesty obtaining financial advantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime. After being arrested in May, her release on bail was delayed after her boyfriend, Vincent King, failed to verify his identity as he was only carrying a Malaysian ID card. Ms Lee has been ordered to stay with her boyfriend Vincent King while she is out on bail A list of Ms Lee's purchases shows that the $4.6m was frittered away indulging her expensive taste for luxury items. The list shows she spent $1,350 on a Chanel cashmere pillow, almost $9,000 on a Cartier love bracelet and another $2,500 on a pair of Christian Louboutin boots. She bought 13 Hermes designer scarves and a number of their handbags - which can cost up to $150,000. The mother of Victorian man Daniel O'Keeffe, whose remains were found underneath his family home five years after he went missing, has hit out at police for not prioritising the search of her son. Lori O'Keeffe, who farewelled her 'beautiful boy' at an emotional funeral in April, believes her son's remains would have been found in '20 minutes' if police tracked his phone or used a search dog. 'There's a lot of disappointment, from day one,' Daniel's sister Loren told The Sydney Morning Herald. 'It was very clear from the beginning that Dan was not the priority for them (the police).' The remains of Victorian man Daniel O'Keeffe, 24, were found underneath his family home five years after he went missing His family (pictured is mother Lori and father Des) have hit out at police for their investigative efforts Daniel's mother Lori and sister Loren say that if police had tracked his phone or used a search dog they would have found him in '20 minutes' Both Lori and Loren say that on the day Daniel went missing police barely stepped foot inside their family home, neglecting to inspect his room or personal computer. 'In a way I feel cheated that my last act as mother was taken away from me,' Lori told Fairfax. 'If Dan had been found on the day I would have been able to hold him and say goodbye.' Mr O'Keefe, who had been searching for him since 2011, found his skeletal remains underneath their house on March 21. An autopsy found the death wasn't suspicious. Victorian Police have not made any comments on the exhaustive search process and Daniel's death, as it is still before the coroner. 'In a way I feel cheated that my last act as mother was taken away from me,' said mother Lori (pictured grieving as Daniel's coffin is taken away in the hearse after funeral in April) Mr O'Keefe, who had been searching for him since 2011, found his skeletal remains underneath their house on March 21 (pictured) Victorian Police have not made any comments on the exhaustive search process and Daniel's death, as it is still before the coroner The family last saw the 24-year-old at their home, in Highton, near Geelong, on July 15, 2011. Just days after he went missing, Mr O'Keeffe's sister Loren launched a social media campaign to find her troubled brother, who she believed was alive but not reaching out because of mental health issues. She regularly posted updates and messages to her brother and became a known figure on television, raising awareness for missing people. Despite not finding him during a two-month search of southeast Queensland in 2011 after reported sightings, the family believed he was alive. After his remains were discovered in March, the O'Keeffe family said they were overwhelmed by the support they had received from the community during their five-year search but devastated about the way it ended. Was caught on a beach 700km north of Perth in 2001 with 987kg of A 73-year-old man who rubbed shoulders with Colombian drug lords Pablo Escobar and Jorge Luis Ochoa has written a memoir detailing his life as one of Australia's most infamous drug mules. William 'Roger' Reaves has spent the past 15 years of his life locked away in a West Australian prison after he was caught on a remote beach with almost a tonne of cocaine on July 27, 2001. The Supreme Court found him guilty of importing 987 kilograms of the compressed white powder, after police intercepted his ship, the White Dove, at Dulverton Bay, 700 kilometres north of Perth. William 'Roger' Reaves, 73, pictured on Skype while serving his sentence in a West Australian prison after being caught with almost a tonne of cocaine on a remote beach north of Perth in 2001 The plan, according to a report by The West Australian, was to offload the cocaine before transporting it in a caravan to Sydney. But the Federal police and customs had been monitoring the boat as it sailed into Australian waters and pounced. At a value of $400 million, the drug bust remains one of the biggest in Australian history, marking the end of Reaves' life as one of the world's most prolific drug smugglers. His memoir, written while he has been serving out a life sentence in Acacia prison, a medium security prison in Perth, is titled 'Smuggler' and details his extraordinary life including covering six continents, transporting 20 tonne ship loads of hash, tonnes of cocaine, and more than 100 trips across the US border with plane loads of marijuana. According to the book's blurb, his friends and associates spanned the globe and ranged from Medellin Cartel kingpins Jorge Ochoa and Pablo Escobar; to Welsh drug smuggler 'Mr Nice' Howard Marks and the infamous American drug smuggler Adler Berriman 'Barry' Seal who was Reaves' close friend and employee. Mr Reaves is said to have escaped from prison on five separate occasions, was shot down in Mexico and Colombia; and almost tortured almost to death in a Mexican prison. At a value of $400 million, the drug bust remains one of the biggest in Australian history, marking the end of Reaves' life as one of the world's most prolific drug smugglers Reaves has detailed his life as a smuggler in his memoir 'Smuggler' where he writes about his friends and associates including Pablo Escobar (pictured) who he said built him a 1000ft runway in the South American jungle to pick up tonnes of cocaine Mr Reaves describes how he personally earned $US7 million in just months at the height of the trade and was so influential that Escobar built him a 1000ft (304m) runway in the South American jungle to pick up tonnes of cocaine. He also details his journey from Geraldton to Perth, after his arrest on the remote beach in 2001, and how him and fellow smuggler Joel Parrish had the chance to escape while a policeman was emptying the rubbish from the car. 'I seriously thought of bolting ... I did have a chance and didnt take it, something I kicked myself over for a full year,' Mr Reaves wrote. Reaves was also associates with Medellin Cartel kingpin Jorge Ochoa (pictured), 'Mr Nice' Howard Marks and Adler Berriman 'Barry' Seal He said the pair were presented with a second chance to escape, when they appeared in Perth's Supreme Court to face the drug smuggling charges. 'We were wearing our street clothes ... I asked permission to use the bathroom,' he recalls. 'The (guard) opened the door and I went around the corner, used the facilities and returned. 'I told Joel this was a joke. We could leave any time we wanted to.' There is a possibility the book will activate Proceeds of Crime legislation, under The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The Act provides a scheme to trace, restrain and confiscate the proceeds of crime against Commonwealth law. In some circumstances it can also be used to confiscate the proceeds of crime against foreign law or the proceeds of crime against State law (if those proceeds have been used in a way that contravenes Commonwealth law). Serial killer Fred West (pictured) killed himself in his cell 10 months before his murder trial. Staff at Winson Green Prison in Birmingham failed to take a suicide kit off him Notorious British serial killer Fred West was able to hang himself in prison because staff failed to take a suicide kit off him. Files obtained by The Sun on Sunday show that West - who tortured and raped numerous young women and girls - had a number of items in his cell which he used to kill himself. The documents suggest that prison staff found the stash - which included razor blades, a cotton reel and bed sheets - seven months before he took his own life on January 1, 1995. West, who killed at least 12 women and girls between 1967 and 1987, was found dead at Winson Green Prison in Birmingham, West Midlands, 10 months before his trial for 12 murders at his home in Gloucester. His kit was discovered six days after he arrived at the prison in May 1994 but it was allowed to remain in his cell until he killed himself by making a noose seven months later, aged 53. The killer, who carried out the brutal attacks with his second wife, Rosemary West, took the reel of cotton after prison shirts were delivered to his cell in laundry bags for him to repair. The Sun on Sunday got hold of his prison records - which were supposed to be sealed for three decades - from the public records office in Kew, south west London. They revealed his death was not treated as suicide at first and prison staff initially ruled it as: 'Not applicable. Not suicide.' The documents also include a letter from his adult and 'personal confessor' Janet Leach, who requested to visit him in July 1994. His suicide - which he carried out while he was on remand - highlighted a series of blunders at the prison. Scroll down for video Jail staff who tried to give the serial killer the 'kiss of life' had to use tissue as direct mouth to mouth contact was not permitted. There was also a lack of access to rubber gloves and equipment to clear airways. A doctor arrived 30 minutes later as there was reportedly not one on duty when he was found hanged in his cell. The killer, who carried out the brutal attacks with his second wife, Rosemary West, took the reel of cotton after prison shirts were delivered to his cell in laundry bags for him to repair Fred West (left) and his wife Rosemary (right) carried out some of the attacks together and Rosemary is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted of 10 murders in 1995 West's son Stephen told an inquest in 1996 that his father had claimed he 'conned' a psychiatrist and doctor at the prison into believing his was fine. A secret memo sent to then Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe claimed the prison service was warned about the father-of-eight's suicidal tendencies. Wife Rose, 62, was convicted of 10 murders in 1995 and is serving a life sentence at HMP Low Newton in Durham. Occurred in Melbourne's Point Cook suburb in the south west of the city At least 50 and according to some up reports up to 200 gatecrashers They damaged property and charged at police who attended the scene Up to 200 youths gatecrashing a party organised on Facebook destroyed property and charged at police before they fled. The uninvited youths milled around the property in Point Cook, Melbourne, before smashing doors and windows then breaking in and making off with items like televisions, computers and other valuables. Fights spilled on to the street and police were called to break up the melee. Scroll down for video Debris strewn across the lawn of the Point Cook house in Melbourne which was damaged by gatecrashers on Saturday night Police outside the house where the drama unfolded following a party being organised using Facebook A 17-year-old boy who'd organised the private party on Saturday night with his sister and advertised it on Facebook barricaded themselves inside a room as the chaos unfolded, The Age reported. They'd organised the party while their father was away in Queensland for a week, according to the report. When police arrived at the scene they had to retreat as a group of at least 50 youths of 'African' appearance charged at them, a police report stated. Additional police were called in but the group dispersed. Three people were injured and treated at the scene and the home was extensively damaged. Police outside the house on Saturday night. Police were charged by about 50 youths and had to retreat at one point The uninvited youths had smashed windows and doors before stealing items from the house Police said the uninvited youths had began smashing their way into the house when the youths hosting the party denied them entry. Neighbours described scenes of 'chaos' as the youths worked themselves into a frenzy. Police were investigating the incident on Sunday, including reports the youths had armed themselves with wooden stakes. The parties involved weren't known to each other. Neighbours described scenes of 'chaos' as the youths worked themselves into a frenzy A controversial Australian fundamentalist who believes the Earth is just 6,000 years old says his $100million replica of Noahs Ark was 'a mission from God'. Queensland native Ken Ham, is the driving force behind 'Ark Encounter', a project set to open to the public in July 7, 2016 in the middle of Kentucky with other attractions to follow. The former Queensland school teacher is the founder and president of Answers in Genesis, an organisation who take the book of Genesis in the Bible literally. The ark structure is seven storeys high and is the biggest timber structure in the world, according to The West Australian. Scroll down for video Controversial Australian fundamentalist who believes the Earth is 6000 years old says his $100 million replica of Noahs ark was 'a mission from God' The ark structure is seven stories high and is the biggest timber structure in the world according to Channel 7's Steve Pennels 'I say it's going to make BIG WAVES, as our world-class theme park will attract millions of people from around the world. And yes, it's unashamedly a Christian attractionbut one that all people will be fascinated to visit,' Mr Ham wrote on his Facebook page. The construction of the ark is funded entirely by donations and follows the cubit dimensions mentioned in the Bible. The project aims to teach visitors the views of Mr Ham who 'grew up in a home where we were taught that Genesis is history.' The fundamentalist believes that Noah and his family built a ship of the same size and dimensions as written in the Bible and that all of the animals were brought by God and fit inside the Ark. Mr Ham told Channel 7's Sunday Night program he believes that Noah took dinosaurs on the Ark. Workers on the project must agree to sign a statement of beliefs that align with his views, including the Earth is only 6000 years old and homosexuality is a sin. Of course that sounds radically different than people saying the billions of years, Mr Ham told Sunday Night. 'I ask people how do you know the universe is billions of years old? I mean you dont see a label on it. Mr Ham soon hopes to add a Walled City, the Tower of Babel, a first century Middle Eastern village, and other attractions to the park. Workers on the project must agree to sign a statement of beliefs, including that the Earth is only 6000 years old and homosexuality is a sin The construction of the ark is funded entirely by donations and follows the cubit dimensions mentioned in the Bible The fundamentalist believes that Noah and his family really did build a ship of the same size and dimensions as written in the Bible and that all of the animals were brought by God and fit inside the Ark Mr Ham soon hopes to add a Walled City, the Tower of Babel, a first century Middle Eastern village,and other attractions to the park Despite a devoted following, the views of Mr Ham are not without opposition. Scientist and TV presenter Bill Nye is one such critic, the pair had a highly publicised debate in 2014 at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. On the Sunday Night program Mr Nye said many of Mr Ham's views regarding Noah's Ark were not reasonable. 'It makes your skin crawl that he's able to use these enormous resources, which could have been used for who knows what public good, to influence children in clearly this ludicrous and wrong world view that has to be undone by some of us sooner or later.' Ken Ham is the founder and president of Answers in Genesis, an organisation who take the book of Genesis in the Bible literally The mystery of the EgyptAir jet crash deepened after claims the pilot spoke about 'an emergency descent' aimed at putting out a fire. It was initially claimed Mohamed Said Ali Ali Shoukair lost all radio contact before the Airbus A320 plunged into the sea last Thursday, killing all 66 people on board, en route from Paris to Cairo. But aviation sources in Paris have now said he contacted Egyptian air traffic controllers to say he was going to make an emergency landing because there smoke filling the plane. There was 'conversation several minutes long' between Captain Shoukair and the controllers, which amounted to 'a distress call', according to French TV station M6. However, the claims were last night denied by EgyptAir. A spokesman said: 'Claims made by the French TV station are not true. The pilot did not contact Egypt air control before the incident.' Scroll down for video The mystery of the EgyptAir jet crash deepened today following claims that its pilot Mohamed Said Shoukair spoke about 'an emergency descent' aimed at putting out a fire The first pictures of the mangled wreckage from the EgyptAir flight 804 have emerged as investigators confirm smoke was detected in multiple places moments before the plane plummeted into the Mediterranean Coptic Christians attend prayers in Cairo for those killed in the crash on Thursday. Data indicates there was smoke and fire coming from the plane's toilet in the moments before it crashed A woman grieves during the emotional vigil held in Cairo today to remember the victims of the crash. It is not yet clear what caused the fire, but a terrorist plot is among the possibilities looking highly likely The deadly plane crash killed all 66 on board, many of which were Egyptian nationals. Here, a young man comforts the relatives of those killed on board The news comes as relatives of those killed in Thursday's doomed EgyptAir crash gathered to mourn the loss of their loved ones. M6, the French TV channel, reported that the pilot then initiated a 'rapid descent' aimed at putting out the fire on board, and clearing the smoke. Rapid descents involve dramatic changes in cabin air pressure, and can be extremely dangerous, but the claims about the flight's last moments fit in with earlier information. According to Greece's defence minister, Pano Kammenos, the plane dropped sharply from 37,000 feet to 15,000 feet, and then made 'sudden swerves'. As it entered Egyptian airspace, over the Greek island of Karpathos, the first turn was a sharp, 90-degree one to the east, and then there was a full circular loop. A leaked data report also suggests that a fire blazed across the flight deck minutes before disaster -suggesting a catastrophic electronics malfunction. Relatives of Medhat Michelle, an Egyptian passenger on the flight, cry during the funeral service in Cairo Medhat Michel and Waguih Mourise, both of whom were Coptic Christians, were killed in the crash. They were among the 66 passengers and crew who died on Thursday A group of Coptic Christians cry during the service held to pay tribute to those who died on board the flight Portraits of Medhat Michel (left) and Waguih Mourise (right) are displayed during the church service in Cairo DID ISRAELI AIR FORCE WAR GAMES BRING DOWN MS804? EgyptAir flight MS804 may have been brought down after getting caught up in Israeli air force exercises over the Mediterranean Sea, it has been claimed. Egyptian independent newspaper Al-Mesri al-Youm reported that Tel Aviv had started pilot training exercises in the area the jet disappeared a night before the crash. However, it did not elaborate on how the war games, dubbed Operation Blue Flag, may have caused the passenger plane to crash. The biannual drills involve dozens of F-15 and F-16 fighter jets flying simulated air battles on fixed and moving targets. An alert known as a NOTAM was reportedly issued by Greek authorities warning that military operations would be taking place in an area of the Mediterranean stretching from south of Crete to Cyprus. Last year, the exercises had been conducted at the same time and close to the area where the Russian holiday jet crashed in the Sinai desert, killing 224 people on October 31, it was reported by the Times of Israel. The new information made terrorism seem 'less likely', although it has still not been ruled out. Egypt president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi broke his silence on the crash yesterday, saying a submarine would be used to find the jet's 'black box' data and voice recorders, which emit a locator signal for only a month before batteries run out. He said 'all scenarios are possible'. Details of the jet's final three minutes were revealed yesterday via a flurry of automatic electronic messages showing a rapid loss of control. Smoke was recorded in a toilet behind the cockpit and in a bay of computers controlling the plane. A fixed cockpit window then opened and the flight control unit cut out. Some experts said the rapid series of alarms hinted at a bomb but others suggested faulty wiring could be to blame. Philip Butterworth-Hayes, a British aviation specialist, said: 'It is physically possible there was a technical issue. If it began in the toilet, it could be a suicide bomber.' On Friday, authorities released an audio recording of Captain Shoukair's words to Swiss air traffic control, from around an hour into the planned four-hour flight. The communication occurred around midnight local Swiss time, about two-and-a-half hours before Greek air traffic controllers in Athens lost contact. The plane's twisted blue metal panelling, marked with EgyptAir branding as well as items of clothing and yellow life jackets, has been recovered from the Mediterranean Sea It was initially claimed that Mohamed Said Shoukair lost all radio contact before the Airbus A320 plunged into the sea last Thursday, with the loss of 66 lives, while travelling from Paris to Cairo The exchange suggests those on the plane had no notion at that time of what was to happen later. The pilot was 'in good spirits and thanked the controller in Greek,' according to the Greek civil aviation authority. But transmissions from the aircraft in the minutes before it was lost reveal that smoke was detected underneath the cockpit and in a toilet. These messages were sent to ground computers before the airliner plunged from the sky, killing ten crew and 56 passengers, including one Briton. The hunt is now on for the plane's black boxes - the flight data and cockpit voice recorders that could unlock the mystery. French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said 'all theories are being examined and none is favoured'. But Simon Hradecky, editor of the highly respected website Aviation Herald, said available data suggested an electrical fault on the jet was more likely than a terrorist attack. Mr Hradecky speculated that the plane's oxygen supply could have been breached, causing the fire to spread more quickly, filling the cabin with smoke. The cause of the crash that killed all 66 on board remains unclear but smoke alarms were sounding for almost three minutes before it began its rapid descent, according to data Find: The discovery of the black box could provide vital clue into what caused the passenger jet to crash on its journey from Paris to Cairo TURKISH AIRLINE PILOTS 'SAW UFO WITH GREEN LIGHTS AN HOUR BEFORE MS804 CRASHED' Two Turkish airline pilots claim they saw a UFO flying over their plane around an hour before MS804 crashed. They said the object had green lights and passed by their passenger jet as they approached Istanbul's Ataturk Airport from Bodrum at around 11.30pm on Thursday. According to the Hurriyet Daily News, the pilots told air traffic controllers: 'An unidentified object with green lights passed 2,000ft to 3,000ft above us. 'Then it disappeared all of a sudden. We are guessing that it was a UFO.' The EgyptAir plane crashed 500 miles away in the Mediterranean about an hour later. The General Directorate of State Airports Authority said it did find anything on its radars that could be linked to what the Turkish pilots had described. This, he said, is similar to what happened in 2011 when a fire started near the first officer's oxygen mask on an EgyptAir Boeing 777 during a fire at Cairo airport. 'If the oxygen bottle that feeds the oxygen masks of the pilots ruptures and feeds the fire, then we could have such a rapid development that the fire becomes catastrophic within three minutes.' The Airbus A320 aircraft made a 90-degree turn left, and then dropped from 37,000ft to 15,000ft before swerving 360 degrees right. Contact was lost at 10,000ft. It is believed that passengers and crew may have been alive until the plane plunged into the sea. Philip Baum, the editor of Aviation Security International Magazine, was also leaning towards the fire theory last night. He said: 'There was smoke reported in the aircraft lavatory, then smoke in the avionics bay, and over a period of three minutes the aircraft's systems shut down, so that's starting to indicate it probably wasn't a hijack. David Learmount, consulting editor at Flightglobal magazine, said: 'The question now is whether the fire that caused the smoke was the result of an electrical fault or whether some form of explosive or incendiary device was used.' Details of Flight 804's final moments emerged as human remains and personal belongings were over the weekend recovered by search vessels from some of the victims who died. The Egyptian military released images of some items found, including life vests, parts of seats and objects clearly marked EgyptAir. Debris was found 180 miles north of the port of Alexandria by the Egyptian navy. The spot is south of where the Airbus vanished from radar signals. Data indicates the plane was on fire before it plummeted into the Mediterranean. An ACARS screen grab (above) shows smoke alarms in the lavatory behind the cockpit sounded at 00.26GMT, three minutes before the plane lost contact ISIS have called for attacks against the United States and Europe to take place during the holy month of Ramadan. In a new audio message posted online, the group's spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani attempted to keep morale high among supporters following recent defeats in key city strongholds across Iraq and Syria. He also called for attacks during Ramadan, which starts in early June this year, an appeal he made at the same time last year when urging supporters to seek 'martyrdom'. Scroll down for video Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, earmarked as the group's next leader, was reported as having lost 'a large amount of blood' after being hit in the town of Barwanah, in the Anbar province, yesterday The recording - titled 'That They Live By Proof' - was directed at both Jews and Christians, and spoke of the terror network's plans to take over the world Adnani said: 'Ramadan, the month of conquest and jihad. Get prepared, be ready...to make it a month of calamity everywhere for the non-believers...especially for the fighters and supporters of the caliphate in Europe and America. 'The smallest action you do in their heartland is better and more enduring to us than what you would if you were with us. If one of you hoped to reach the Islamic State, we wish we were in your place to punish the Crusaders day and night. 'Will we be defeated if we lose Mosul, or Sirte, or Raqa, or all the cities, and go back to how we were before? 'No. Defeat is only losing the desire and the will to fight.' The 31-minute recording - posted late on Saturday night - was Adnani's first speech since October. It made no reference to the downing of EgyptAir flight MS804. Al-Adnani is considered the terror network's most prominent public figure in Iraq, having made several audio messages in the past. He is held in the same bracket of notoriety as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the caliph of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and has been suggested as the jihadists' next leader should Baghdadi lose his position. The 31-minute recording - posted late on Saturday night - was Adnani's first speech since October. It made no reference to the downing of EgyptAir flight MS804 (pictured) He was held in custody - believed to have been at the American detention facility, Camp Bucca - after being captured by US troops in 2005, remaining a prisoner until 2010. A 2.5million bounty was issued in May 2014 for information leading to the Syrian born extremist, referring to his 'repeated calls for attacks against Westerns'. In June of that year, he declared a 'caliphate' for parts of Syria and Iraq indicating ISIS' aim of not just being a terrorist group, but a governing body. His latest speech came 24 hours after flyers apparently dropped by the coalition on Raqa city in northern Syria urged residents to leave the city, perhaps ahead of an offensive by anti-IS forces to recapture it. 'It would appear IS is more clearly acknowledging its limitations in holding territory' while stressing the 'idea of living on despite losses,' wrote jihadism expert Aymenn al-Tamimi in reaction to Adnani's recording. Over 12,000 Muslims in English and Welsh jails with 130 terror convicts Experts believe this will stop them from recruiting other Muslims in jails also suggests that jihadis be kept on separate blocks Review says inmates are aware of staff feeling vulnerable to race claims Report: A review claims prison officers are being exploited by Islamic inmates in British jails Prison staff are reluctant to tackle Islamic extremists in fear of being labelled racist. An damning report claims that officers were being exploited by Islamic inmates in British jails who are aware staff are worried about losing their job due to racism complaints. The independent review, commissioned by Justice Secretary Michael Gove, also recommended that Islamic prisoners convicted of terror offences be kept away from other Muslims in a specially designed blocks at high-security jails, reports the Sunday Times. Experts believe this will stop the cons from meeting up with other non-militant inmates and using occasions such as Friday prayers as a chance to recruit them for their jihadi cause. Publication of the review, conducted by former Home Office official Ian Acheson and to be released next month, was delayed by Government bosses over fears that it might have been toned down in order to take criticism away from National Offender Management Scheme (NOMS) staff. Over 12,000 Muslims are behind bars in England and Wales with 130 of those serving terror related sentences, while Government officials believe that 1,000 could be vulnerable to radicalisation. The review, that was originally given to Mr Gove in March, claims NOMS is 'effectively asleep' in dealing with extremism in the nation's jails and that they do not have the skills or the resources to deal with the epidemic. A Whitehall official told the Sunday Times: 'The findings are very uncomfortable for the Government, because they will leave NOMS bruised and embarrassed. 'That's why there has been a chorus of opposition to publishing it in its current form, and officials have even considered publishing a watered-down version, but even then that's being blocked.' The official added that the Justice Secretary was 'determined' to expose the extremism in our prisons. The report comes as it is revealed that just one in eight British jihadi fighters, who have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS and al-Qaeda, have been prosecuted on their return to the UK. Government figures show that of the estimated 400 homegrown extremists only 54 of them have been convicted of an offence. Concerns: Staff believe they will be 'hung out to dry' by their bosses if they are subject to fake claims of racism by Islamist inmates (file photo) Experts believe that some jihadists fake their own deaths and take on different identities to avoid prosecution on arrival. While jihadis are escaping justice on their way back into country, government sources say that those who are serving sentences are manipulating prison officers. Staff believe they will be 'hung out to dry' by their bosses if they are subject to fake claims of racism by Islamist inmates. Many cons are said to be are aware of the anxiety and are 'routinely' threatening staff with such claims as a result. While fact-finding for the review, researchers visited jails in Holland, Spain and France, where managers were shocked that governors allowed terror criminals to fraternise with other Muslim inmates. Extremists: There are 130 of Islamic convicts in England and Wales serving sentences for terror related offences, including Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, who brutally killed fusilier Lee Rigby in 2013 A prison governor said that housing dangerous Islamic extremists, such as Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, who brutally killed fusilier Lee Rigby in 2013, means that jails can become breeding grounds for hate. He told the Sunday Times: 'The problem with having the most dangerous terrorists and Islamists meeting with Muslim offenders locked up for crimes unrelated to terrorism is you create and environment for recruitment and likely radicalisation.' A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the department was committed to tackle extremism in the prison system. He said: 'Islamist extremism is one of the biggest threats facing this country. 'That is why the Justice Secretary commissioned the first ever review of Islamist extremism in prisons. Parramatta Eels star Corey Norman was pictured dining with a group of men including alleged bikies and accused criminals just hours before he was allegedly caught with unknown pills at Sydney's Star casino. Norman was with fellow Parramatta player Junior Paulo and Penrith's James Segeyaro as they dined with former senior bikie Paulie Younan and accused fraudster Rafat Alameddine at a Chinese restaurant on Friday, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The 25-year old was allegedly found with pills later that evening, which are currently being analysed by authorities according to Nine News. The photo is believed to have been taken hours before a group of men, including Norman, were stopped from entering the casino and security found a handful of unidentified pills on a man. Scroll down for video The Parramatta Eels star who was allegedly in possession of pills at Sydney's Star Casino on Friday has uploaded a picture of himself dining with a group of men - some reported to be bikies and accused criminals Parramatta Eels Corey Norman is due to be questioned by police over a drug bust at Sydney's Star casino on Friday (file image) Norman has yet to be interviewed over the incident on Friday night. The club said it was aware of 'an incident on Friday night regarding one of its players' but offered no further details about what happened. 'As per its procedures, the club has notified the NRL and is working with the player and his management to gather all relevant information,' the club said in a statement. Eels front rower Paulo posted the photo on Instagram showing the group of men eating at the restaurant. Captioned, 'Thanks to the boys for having us tonight', it allegedly shows Mr Alameddine, 25, who is on bail having been charged with fraud offences and former senior Nomad bikie boss Mr Younan sitting three seats over. Mr Younan was at once a member of the Bandidos bikie gang but it's now believed he isn't affiliated with any outlaw motorcycle gang. The image was deleted on Sunday night. The 25-year-old did not speak as he arrived for training on Sunday at the club's Parramatta training ground The incident is said to have taken place at Sydney's Star casino (above) on Friday shortly before 11pm 'Shortly before 11pm on Friday 20th May a 25-year-old man was searched by security officers as he entered a venue,' a NSW Police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia. 'The man allegedly produced a small container holding several capsules. He was spoken to by security officers but allowed to leave. 'Police were subsequently contacted and officers from Sydney City Local Area Command continue with their enquiries in to the matter.' A Muslim mother is planning a legal challenge after she was threatened with a fine for taking her children on a pilgrimage to Mecca during term time. Shahnaz Bi, from Sheffield, took her daughters Maryam, 9, and Fatimah, 7, out of school for a two-week break last month. They visited holy cities Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia despite the head teacher of Firs Hill Primary warning that the absence would be unauthorised and she could face a 120 fine from the council. Shahnaz Bi, from Sheffield, took her daughters Fatimah, 7, and Maryam, 9, (all pictured) out of school for a two-week break last month They visited holy cities Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia despite the head teacher of Firs Hill Primary (pictured) warning that the absence would be unauthorised and she could face a 120 fine from the council The mother-of-four is now planning to legally challenge any fine saying that the trip was educational and provided much needed family time. She has also threatened to take her children out of the state school and enroll them in a private Islamic school - even though most of the pupils at Firs Hill are Muslim. She told MailOnline how the trip to Mecca was educational and anything but a holiday, insisting 'it was spiritually uplifting, but physically, mentally and financially draining.' The pilgrimage known as Umrah cost 5,000 and was a package tour that was not available during school holidays. Ms Bi filled in the official form asking for time off from April 14 to April 28 but received a letter back from the head teacher Helen Best refusing her request. 'I organised a head to head meeting, which took place between myself, Mrs Best and two other female school staff and I explained that it was not a holiday and would be educational,' she said. The pilgrimage known as Umrah cost 5,000 and was a package tour that was not available during school holidays. Pictured is Mecca 'Islam is a peaceful religion and teaches respect. Coming back from the Umrah, my daughters would have a greater understanding of what respecting and honouring people, such as their teachers, means.' She said the girls had only ever missed days off school through sickness in the past, and the family break to Cyprus last year was taken during school holidays. Ms Bi knows of other Muslim mothers and children in Sheffield who have been allowed similar trips to Mecca during term time and anticipates other pupils from the 95 per cent Muslim Firs Hill have or will do the same as she has. 'I am not a parent who abuses the rules. This was not a holiday and we had to go at that time because there was no other organised trip available. I am hoping that the fine will be waived.' Ms Bi said said the girls had only ever missed days off school through sickness in the past, and the family break to Cyprus last year was taken during school holidays Ms Bi is supported by campaign group Parents Want a Say, which backed John Platt, 44, when he successfully overturned a 120 fine for taking his daughter to Disney Land during term-time by appealing at the High court. After the landmark case schools minister Nick Gibb told MPs the judgement was a 'significant threat' to the Government's drive to keep children in classes. 'We will seek to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure children attend school when they should,' he added. Steve Double, the Tory MP for St Austell and Newquay, however, insisted term-time holidays did not harm a child's education, and argued the policy damaged the economy of tourist areas by limiting periods when they attract business. Ms Bi is supported by campaign group Parents Want a Say, which backed John Platt, 44, when he successfully overturned a 120 fine for taking his daughter to Disney Land during term-time by appealing at the High court He said it had cost the tourist industry in Cornwall 50million and parents in the area who relied on holiday trade risked losing their jobs or having hours cut. A Department for Education spokesman said: 'We are disappointed with the High Court judgment. 'The evidence is clear that every extra day of school missed can affect a pupil's chance of gaining good GCSEs, which has a lasting effect on their life chances. 'We are confident our policy to reduce school absence is clear and correct. 'We will examine the High Court judgement in detail but are clear that children's attendance at school is non-negotiable so we will now look at whether to change the legislation. We also plan to strengthen statutory guidance to schools and local authorities.' MailOnline has contacted Firs Hill for comment. They claim they didn't receive official notification from the tour organiser Her family found out that she had died after looking up her name online The 34-year-old was joined by her husband Robert for the challenge The family of a woman who died of altitude sickness while climbing Mount Everest said they are devastated that they found out about her death on the internet. Monash University lecturer Maria Strydom, 34, died from a lack of oxygen in Nepal on Saturday afternoon after having to turn back from the final leg of her expedition because she felt unwell. The Melbourne woman's sister Aletta Newman said she found out the experienced climber had perished on the mountain after looking her name up online and finding a news article revealing her identity in the Himalayan Times. Aletta Newman (right) found out that her sister Maria Strydom died as she made her way down Mount Everest after searching her name online Ms Newman claims she has had no official confirmation that her sister has died from the tour's organisers, Seven Summit Treks, despite the company providing comment for local media outlets. 'We just don't have answers and we'd really like to have some,' she told AAP on Sunday. The 34-year-old, who was living in Melbourne, was an experienced climber and had scaled daunting summits all over the world, including Argentina's Aconcagua and Mount Kilimanjaro. Her family were very aware of the risk she was taking by climbing Everest and kept track of her movements via GPS. The South African national (above during a previous expedition) was an experienced climber who previously conquered Kilimanjaro Ms Newman claims she has had no official confirmation that her sister has died from the tour's organisers, Seven Summit Treks, despite the company providing comment for local media outlets A live GPS map tracking Dr Strydom's movements gave her family updates on her whereabouts They became concerned when they stopped receiving 'pings' from the device she was carrying on Friday, but did not think the worst until coming across the news article. 'We all knew that it came with a degree of risks, we looked up statistics and saw that there was about a three per cent fatality rate,' she said. 'So every time we had contact with her we thought `You know this could potentially be the last time', but you don't really think you're going to be that three per cent,' she said. 'She was very giving, very caring, always interested in family and always there to support her friends and family,' she said. The Department of Foreign Affairs did contact the family to confirm the tragic news but Ms Newman said she is still waiting to hear about the welfare of Dr Strydom's husband, Robert Gropel. Weeks before her death Dr Strydom told how she and her husband wanted to dispel the belief that vegans were 'weak' or 'malnourished' by taking on the climb (Pictured with husband Robert Gropel) The veterinarian is injured but trip organisers have reported he is '100 per cent safe'. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Seven Summit Treks for comment. Ms Newman described her sister as a very high achiever who always liked to challenge herself but said she was also very giving and helped her veterinarian husband care for injured animals. The South African National, who died after spending her final night at the last camp before the mountain's summit, took on the challenge to prove that 'vegans can do anything'. Weeks before her death Dr Strydom told how she and her husband wanted to dispel the belief that vegans were 'weak' or 'malnourished' by taking on the climb. 'It seems that people have this warped idea of vegans being malnourished and weak. 'By climbing the seven summits we want to prove that vegans can do anything and more,' she said in an interview with the university where she worked. Dr Strydom, a university finance lecturer, took on the seven summit challenge with her husband The 34-year-old (seen above with her husband at Uhuru Peak on Kilimanjaro during a previous climb) said she wanted to dispel the idea vegans were 'weak' or 'malnourished' by climbing Everest She also told of the dangers most climbers feared when taking on the mountain. 'We've all heard stories of frostbite and having to turn around from excessive waiting times due to inexperienced people blocking routes. 'This can lead to life threatening situations and death where Sherpas and other climbers have to risk their lives to attempt rescues.' Dr Strydom had begun climbing from Camp 4, the highest camp before the summit, on Friday but was forced to turn back when she felt unwell. She returned to the camp site at 26,085ft with a sherpa while others in her group carried on. On Saturday, after spending the night at Camp 4, her condition deteriorated. She 'stopped breathing' due to a lack of oxygen that afternoon, said a spokesman for Seven Summit Treks. Dutch national Eric Arnold, 36, also died after falling ill. It was his fifth attempt at climbing Everest. On Friday he shared a celebratory photograph on Twitter after reaching the summit. Mount Everest was the latest peak in the couple's 'seven summit' climbing challenge. Above, Dr Strydom at the top of Denali, the highest mountain in North America Eric Arnold, a 36-year-old Dutch national, also died on Saturday from altitude sickness. He is pictured above during previous climbs On Friday Mr Arnold celebrated reaching the mountain's peak by sharing this photograph on Twitter Above, a spokesman for the trekking company pointed out where she died on a map on Sunday A tourism official later confirmed he died while making his descent after complaining of weakness. Authorities are liaising with those in the Netherlands to organise for his body to be airlifted off the mountain. It is not clear when Dr Strydom's body will be returned to Australia. The trek company confirmed on Sunday it was still on the mountain. 'A sherpa has to carry the body to Camp 1 where an air ambulance can pick up but (it is) not fixed when to do that still (sic)' they said. The woman's mother, Maritha, shared her grief on Sunday after going days without news from her daughter or son-in-law. Calling her Marisa, she said she was 'too devastated to communicate' after learning of her death. Only hours earlier she shared a post revealing she had heard of Mr Arnold's death but had no news of her daughter. 'No contact with Marisa or Rob yet. We're using all possible ways to locate them,' she said. It was Mr Arnold's fifth attempt at the mountain. He reached the summit on Friday, informing friends online of the accomplishment was used as an observation post during World War Two to look out for incoming Luftwaffe bombers Advertisement A real-life 'Rapunzel tower' built to house a cheating wife is up for sale as a luxury home which at 175ft high is one of the tallest properties in Britain. Grade I listed Hadlow Tower was commissioned by wealthy businessman Walter May in 1838 because he suspected his wife was sleeping with a local farmer and wanted to keep his eye on her. The vast gothic structure near Tonbridge, Kent, was designed by naval architect George Ledwell Taylor and is taller than Nelson's Column. Scroll down for video Living the high life: A 'Rapunzel tower' built to house a cheating wife is up for sale as a luxury home which at 175ft high is one of the tallest properties in Britain Suspicion: Grade I listed Hadlow Tower was commissioned by wealthy businessman Walter May in 1838 because he suspected his wife was sleeping with a local farmer and wanted to keep his eye on her Dizzy heights: The vast gothic structure near Tonbridge, Kent, was designed by naval architect George Ledwell Taylor and is taller than Nelson's Column It was later used as an observation post during World War Two, where the Observer Corps and Home Guard would report incoming Luftwaffe bombers. After surviving the war, the property was badly damaged by the storm of 1987 and during the mid-Nineties Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council were forced to carry out urgent safety work, removing the 40ft 'lantern' which crowned the structure. Hadlow Tower was taken over by the Vivat Trust in 2008, which carried out a full-scale restoration with donations from local fundraisers, 2.6m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, as well as other funding from English Heritage. It now has three bedrooms, a drawing room, dining room, kitchen, two bathrooms and a wet room. But the trust, which was dedicated to rescuing neglected and dilapidated historic buildings throughout the UK, has gone into liquidation. Property consultancy Eddisons has been instructed to sell the tower along with a number of other historic properties owned by Vivat. Lookout: It was later used as an observation post during World War Two, where the Observer Corps and Home Guard would report incoming Luftwaffe bombers Revival: Hadlow Tower was taken over by the Vivat Trust in 2008, which carried out a full-scale restoration with donations from local fundraisers, 2.6m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, as well as other funding from English Heritage. There is no guide price for the tower because it is so unusual there is nothing comparable on the open market, but experts estimate offers will exceed 1million. It is likely the tower will be bought by an investor who could offering it as an unusual holiday let. In the past, holidaymakers have paid 1,000 per week in the winter and 2,000 in the summer to stay there. The tower will be sold alongside Wellbrook Manor, near Hereford and Bolton Percy Gatehouse, near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. Stained glass: The property now has three bedrooms, a drawing room, dining room, kitchen (pictured), two bathrooms and a wet room Assets: The Vivat trust, which was dedicated to rescuing neglected and dilapidated historic buildings throughout the UK, has gone into liquidation For sale: Property consultancy Eddisons has been instructed to sell the tower along with a number of other historic properties owned by Vivat Abdul Jambo, associate director at Eddisons, said: 'The properties are of such a unique and historic nature that we have rarely, if ever, seen anything comparable come to the open market. 'Because of this their values are likely to differ wildly depending on the potential buyers, whether they are a charity or a private enterprise. 'As such we will be leaving this to the market to decide and are looking to receive offers from anyone interested in owning an incredibly special piece of British history.' Stunning: There is no guide price for the tower because it is so unusual there is nothing comparable on the open market, but experts estimate offers will exceed 1million Prospects: It is likely the tower will be bought by an investor who could offering it as an unusual holiday let. In the past, holidaymakers have paid 1,000 per week in the winter and 2,000 in the summer to stay there A police officer was shot and killed during a traffic stop in a central Massachusetts town early Sunday, and a suspect is on the loose, authorities said. Auburn police Officer Ronald Tarentino was shot at about 12.30am after stopping a vehicle on a residential street, Chief Andrew Sluckis said during a news conference Sunday afternoon. The vehicle's occupant shot Tarentino and then fled the scene, Sluckis said. Scroll down for video Auburn police Officer Ronald Tarentino (pictured) was shot and killed early Sunday morning during a traffic stop Tarentino had stopped a vehicle at about 12.30am on Sunday when an occupant shot him and fled the scene Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis (pictured in white) said Tarentino was a 'dedicated and brave public servant' Auburn is about 45 miles southwest of Boston. The 42-year-old Tarentino was taken to UMass Medical Center, in Worcester, where he was pronounced dead. The shooting is under investigation. Sluckis declined to provide further details about the investigation or the suspect. FOX25 reported police are looking for suspects out of Worcester, Massachusetts. 'We will leave no stone unturned in our investigation to determine who was involved,' Sluckis said. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey tweeted out on Sunday: 'Our thoughts & prayers are with the @AuburnMAPolice dept. & family of Off. Tarentino. 'A reminder of the heroic work officers do each day.' Sluckis did not provide details about the investigation or who they thought the suspect was. He said the crime is under investigation Tarentino (pictured) joined the Auburn force three years ago and leaves behind three children and a wife Tarentino, who joined the Auburn Police Department three years ago, is survived by a wife and three children, Sluckis said. Residents in Tarentino's Leicester neighborhood remember him as a pleasant family man. Phillip Stanikmas told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette that Tarentino kept an eye out for his 91-year-old mother when she was home alone. Stanikmas said he was 'distraught' when Tarentino left the Leicester Police Department three years ago to join Auburn because he was a 'great guy'. Next-door neighbor Vin Dagostino called Tarentino a 'super nice guy with a super nice family'. Sluckis called him a 'dedicated and brave public servant'. State and local police officers lined up outside the hospital as a police vehicle, escorted by a police procession, took Tarentino's body to the state medical examiner's office in Boston, where the vehicle was met by a large group of officers. In Auburn, a procession of police cruisers and police motorcycles with lights flashing and sirens sounding drove by the police station around 9.30am while Auburn police officers stood outside and saluted, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported. Sir Winston Churchill's pro-EU grandson launched a foul-mouthed four-letter rant against a fellow Tory MP who is campaigning for Brexit, it was revealed today. James Cleverly, the newly elected Conservative MP for Braintree, approached Sir Nicholas Soames in a Commons dining room to say he agreed with his appeal for the party to unite after June's EU referendum and to hold off from personal attacks. But in an astonishing response, Sir Nicholas reportedly told Mr Cleverly: 'F*** off you c***. scroll down for video Sir Winston Churchill's pro-EU grandson Sir Nicholas Soames (left) launched a foul-mouthed four-letter rant against fellow Tory MP James Cleverly (right) Mr Cleverly laughed off the exchange - reported in the Sunday Times. But it exposes the alarming civil war opening up in the Conservative party during the bitter EU referendum campaign. The pair appear to have made up on Twitter, with Sir Nicholas asking Mr Cleverly: 'Good man who leaked our beautiful and deeply meaningful conversation?' Mr Cleverly replied: 'Didn't come from me,' adding: 'The predictions that the party won't be able to regroup after referendum is grossly overplayed.' Sir Nicholas, a passionate supporter of Britain's membership of the EU, has launched a series of verbal attacks against leading Brexit campaigners Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, despite being friends with the pair before the EU debate began earlier this year. Sir Nicholas, a passionate supporter of Britain's membership of the EU, has launched a series of verbal attacks against leading Brexit campaigners, including Boris Johnson (pictured on the campaign trail last week) He criticised David Cameron for calling the referendum in the first place and earlier this year he advised the Prime Minister to treat his Brexit-backing ministers like a 'growling Alsation' and 'kick them really hard in the balls'. Sir Nicholas has been a constant critic of Mr Johnson since the former London Mayor announced he was campaigning to leave the EU in February. He said Mr Johnson was 'seriously adrift in the argument' when he accused Barack Obama of 'blatant and exorbitant hypocrisy' for telling British voters they must remain in the EU, adding that he was 'totally wrong on almost everything'. The Tory grandee has also described the Tory leadership hopeful as ocean going clot' and said Mr Johnson's compaison of the EU's expansionist ambitions to those of Adolf Hitler, Sir Nicholas said it revealed the 'massive lack of proportion and judgement that he has become famous for'. Sir Nicholas' attacks are humiliating for Mr Johnson, who counts Sir Winston as one of his greatest heroes and has written a biography on the war-time leader. He has also targeted fellow Brexiteer Mr Gove. After reports the Justice Secretary leaked the Queen's private views on Europe, Sir Nicholas suggested he was guilty of treason, comparing the alleged leak to the fate of Sir Thomas More, who was beheaded for high treason. He tweeted: 'If in any doubt of fate of former Lord Chancellors who may have let the side down, do go and look in Westminster Hall.' Responding to reports of his latest outburst, Sir Nicholas told the Sunday Times he was 'not sure I know anyone called Cleverly... stuff that goes on inside the dining room and tea room is private' and told the reporter to 'bugger off'. Today's revelations came on another fierce day of campaigning in the EU referendum. Government figures again traded blows on the airwaves, with Mr Cameron accusing one of his own ministers of being 'absolutely wrong' in claiming Britain 'doesn't' have a veto over Turkey joining the EU. David Cameron (pictured on the Peston on Sunday show this morning) accused his own defence minister of being 'absolutely wrong' in claiming Britain 'doesn't' have a veto over Turkey joining the EU Defence minister Penny Mordaunt (pictured on the Andrew Marr Show this morning) warned thousands of criminals could flood to the UK when Turkey, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro and Macedonia join the EU - pointing to the significantly higher murder rates, kidnap and gun ownership in the five candidate countries Defence minister Penny Mordaunt warned thousands of criminals could flood to the UK when Turkey, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro and Macedonia join the EU - pointing to the significantly higher murder rates, kidnap and gun ownership in the five candidate countries. Ms Mordaunt said this morning it is 'very likely' Turkey will join the EU in the next eight years. But speaking minutes later, the Prime Minister said: 'Let me be clear. Britain and every other country in the European Union has a veto on another country joining. That is a fact. 'The fact that the Leave campaign are getting things as straightforward as this wrong, I think should call into question their whole judgement in making the bigger argument about leaving the EU. 'It is very important, they're basically saying vote to get out of Europe because of this issue of Turkey that we can't stop joining the EU. That is not true, we can stop Turkey becoming a member.' Mr Cameron added: 'Let's be clear, as Boris himself said, Turkey joining the EU is not remotely on the cards. 'At the current rate of progress, it would be decades, literally decades before this even had a prospect of happening. Even at that stage we would be able to say no.' David Cameron visits an Asda supermarket in west London with former Labour interim leader Harriet Harman (left) today as he warned that food bills could rocket by 120 a year if we leave the EU DAVID CAMERON ADMITS HE'S 'POSH' - IN A VERY POSH WAY Pressed on whether he saw himself as 'posh', David Cameron (pictured on ITV's Peston on Sunday show) said: 'I can't hide my background and upbringing and I never have done so' David Cameron admitted he is 'posh' as he was put on the spot in a live TV interview this morning. The Prime Minister said he had never tried to hide his privileged background, having had 'an amazing start in life' but insisted his Queen's Speech last week was about giving other people the same opportunities he had growing up. He joked that 'posh' had various meanings, including the acronym POSH, which stands for 'Port Out, Starboard Home'. 'It originally meant which side of a ship you were on when you were travelling out to India,' he told ITV's Peston on Sunday show, drawing observers to suggest this was the 'most posh answer' he could give. Pressed on whether he saw himself as 'posh' in the more common meaning of the word, Mr Cameron said: 'I can't hide my background and upbringing and I never have done so. Last week Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was asked on the same show whether he saw himself as 'middle class'. He gave a similarly awkward answer, initially saying: 'Oh gawd I dunno.' But he finally admitted: 'Yes, every MP has a lifestyle which is, I suppose, more or less, middle class. Invasion of the EU army! Worried Euro tanks may park on our lawn, Minister? Too late... they're already here A 1,500-strong force of EU troops was on manoeuvres in Britain last week despite Armed Forces Minister Penny Mordaunt warning that plans for a 'Euro army' hatched in Brussels and Berlin are a 'huge concern'. Ms Mordaunt only had to look as far as Salisbury Plain, Britain's largest military training ground, to see that their tanks and vehicles some emblazoned with the EU flag are already on our lawn, as our exclusive photographs show. They were taking part in what is thought to be the biggest EU military exercise in the UK. And in a move that might cause further concern for Brexiteer Ms Mordaunt, the joint war games played out by an 'EU Battle Group' represent a stepping up of plans to mount a European force capable of rapid deployment to foreign shores. Scroll down for video Penny Mordaunt only had to look as far as Salisbury Plain, Britain's largest military training ground, to see that 'Euro army' tanks and vehicles are already on our lawn EUBG: The European Union Battle Groups consist of three 1,500-troop rapid reaction forces, directed by the EU's Council of Ministers, and designed to respond to security crises Even as the columns of troops from Sweden, Latvia, Finland, Lithuania and Ireland rumbled across the English countryside, the Government was forced to reiterate David Cameron's opposition to a European army. 'The Prime Minister has repeatedly made clear that the UK will never be a part of an EU army,' said a spokesman. SO WHAT ARE THE EUROPEAN UNION BATTLE GROUPS? Three 1,500-troop rapid reaction forces, directed by the EU's Council of Ministers, and designed to respond to security crises. Austrian Lieutenant General Wolfgang Wosolsobe is in command. 'We will oppose any measures which would undermine member states' military forces.' That will come as no comfort to Eurosceptics suspicious of the German government's revived enthusiasm for a European army, to be set out in July. The publication of the plans which outlines steps to 'gradually co-ordinate Europe's patchwork of national militaries' was postponed until after the EU referendum on June 23. The 1,500-strong EU Battle Group on Salisbury Plain was joined by troops from 2nd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, and 4th Infantry Brigade, as they planned and executed a 'fictitious peace support operation'. Troops were involved in rapid movements, maintaining public order and peacekeeping in rural and urban environments. While a British Brigadier is in charge of the force during the UK's period of command, he takes his orders from Brussels, not from the UK's operational headquarters. Tactical decisions, such as the rules of engagement for the EU Battle Group, are decided by the Foreign Affairs and Security Council of the European Union. The EU has three Battle Groups and the one deployed to the UK is a 'light force' using armoured patrol vehicles such as Humvees and the RG-32M 'Scout'. Don't panic: A British solider manning a machine-gun keeps a close eye on the EU Battle Group operation Ms Mordaunt reacted furiously earlier this month to a call from Joseph Daul, the French president of the centre-Right European People's Party, to form a Euro army. Mr Daul said in a speech: 'Today more than ever, the peace of our continent cannot be safeguarded without a common and functional security union, including a European army.' Miss Mordaunt said: 'This is proof of the European Union's plan to create a Euro army and it is dishonest for the In campaign to claim otherwise. 'The prospect of having our security policy dictated by Brussels is a huge concern and makes a mockery of the claim Britain is stronger in the EU.' Ms Mordaunt warned that plans for a 'Euro army' hatched in Brussels and Berlin are a 'huge concern' Advertisement The death toll has risen to seven following the eruption of a volcano in western Indonesia as officials warn that there could yet be more blasts to come. Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province sent volcanic ash flying two miles into the sky when it erupted on Saturday, National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho confirmed today. He said ash tumbled down the slopes as far as three miles westward into a river, killing at least seven people and leaving two more in critical condition. Heartbreak: The death toll has risen to seven following the eruption of a volcano in western Indonesia as officials warn that there could yet be more blasts to come Gone: Medical staff attend to the dead body of a victim of the latest Mount Sinabung eruption at a public hospital close to the blast Destroyed: Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province sent volcanic ash flying two miles into the sky when it erupted on Saturday, National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho confirmed today Victims: Dead and injured animals can be seen lying on the ground, while scorched homes and smoking vegetation is all that remains of a mountainside community Tragic: The corpse of a dead dog lies in along the trail of destruction caused by the quick moving volcanic ash that flooded through the village Ravaged: Ash tumbled down the slopes as far as three miles westward into a river, killing at least seven people and leaving two more in critical condition Lost: Villagers inspect the path of a pyroclastic flow from the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Gamber village, North Sumatra All the victims of the eruption were working on their farms in the village of Gamber, about two and a half miles away from the slope, or within the danger area. Photos taken today showed evidence of pyroclastic flows - a fast-moving cloud of hot volcanic gases, rocks and ash - in the village. Dead and injured animals can be seen lying on the ground, while scorched homes and smoking vegetation is all that remains of a mountainside community. No-one: An injured dog covered in volcanic ash lays on the ground after being abandoned in the Gamber Villages following the volcanic eruption Covered: Photos taken today showed evidence of pyroclastic flows - a fast-moving cloud of hot volcanic gases, rocks and ash - in the village Dust covered: This house lies abandoned after its owners were forced to flee when the volcano erupted on Saturday evening Path of destruction: A scorched home is seen after it was hit by pyroclastic flow from the eruption of Mount Sinabung Prayers: A young boy looks towards the mountain from the shell of what was once his family home, hoping that there are no more eruptions due Soldiers were this morning setting up roadblocks as the townsfolk carried what remained of their belongings and led their farm animals to safety. Nata Nail, an official at the local Disaster Management Agency, confirmed that one man died on Sunday at a hospital, leaving two other victims in critical condition. Rescuers including soldiers, police, and personnel from disaster combating agencies, as well as volunteers and villagers, halted search operations around the area after they found there were no more victims or villagers inside the danger zone, Nail said. No entry: Soldiers were this morning setting up roadblocks as the townsfolk carried what remained of their belongings and led their farm animals to safety Caution: Rescuers including soldiers, police, and personnel from disaster combating agencies, as well as volunteers and villagers, halted search operations around the area after they found there were no more victims or villagers inside the danger zone, Nail said Working together: Indonesian soldiers carry a resident's belongings as they aid in evacuation efforts from a village gutted by the blast Rules: Security personnel have prevented some villagers from re-entering the village to retrieve their abandoned belongings Ongoing effort: As soldiers do what they can to help the families affected, a thin stream of smoke continues to come from Mount Sinabung in the background Search and rescue: Indonesian soldiers scout an area of one of the mountainside villages following Saturday's deadly eruption Unexpected: Mount Sinabung had been dormant for four centuries before reviving in 2010, killing two people. An eruption in 2014 killed 16 people All we have left: Villagers gather their belongings as they are evacuated to a safe zone following the eruption of Mount Sinabung Packing up: One young family stand outside their devastated property with all of their possessions stuffed into bags and boxes ahead of relocating away from the volcano Famous: Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin Moving: Villagers board a truck as they are transported from their homes which were considered too close to the volcano, which may erupt again Security personnel have prevented some villagers from re-entering the village to retrieve their abandoned belongings. Nugroho warned of more potential eruptions, with volcanic activity still high at the mountain. Mount Sinabung had been dormant for four centuries before reviving in 2010, killing two people. An eruption in 2014 killed 16 people. Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. Nata Nail, an official at the local Disaster Management Agency, confirmed that one man died on Sunday at a hospital, leaving two other victims in critical condition Grim: Emergency workers wheel the body of a victim through the local hospital as the villages affected mourn their losses Fatality: After being left with horrendous injuries by the volcano blast, one person is placed into a coffin to be buried Doctors were able to save half of the toddler's legs and most of his left arm But a burns expert pushed to delay the amputation to save his living tissue Doctors first thought they would have to amputate all of his arms and legs A toddler who contracted a deadly bacterial infection and was expected to lose all of his limbs has been able to keep part of both his arms and legs after doctors waited over a year to amputate. Robbie Buchan was five months old when his parents, Desiree Scofield and Iain Buchan, from Perth noticed a small rash on his back start to spread all over his tiny body in October 2014. The severe rash was the first sign that the infant had contracted meningococcal, a life-threatening infection which in Robbie's case quickly developed into severe blood poisoning or septicaemia. 'He was purple from head to toe. The doctors said if I hadn't gone into his bedroom in the next 30 minutes, we would have woken up to find him gone,' Ms Schofield told The West Australian. A toddler who contracted a deadly bacterial infection and was expected to lose all of his limbs has been able to keep part of both his arms and legs after doctors waited over a year to amputate His parent's were told that if their young son survived he would need to have his arms cut off at the shoulders and legs amputated from the hip, but leading burns doctor Fiona Wood had another plan. Dr Wood, who was Australian of the Year in 2005, pushed to delay the surgery in the hopes her team would be able to salvage some of the living tissue from Robbie's arms and legs, ultimately giving him a much better chance of mobility once being fitted with prosthetic limbs. The determined medical team from Princess Margaret Hospital spent months cutting away the necrotic tissue - which had consumed 80 per cent of Robbie's body - leaving the brave young boy bedridden for over a year, according to the West Australian. When he was finally taken into surgery, doctors were able to amputate his legs from the knee down and while he lost most of his right arm they were able to cut his left from the elbow. When he was finally taken into surgery, doctors were able to amputate his legs from the knee down and while he lost most of his right arm they were able to cut his left from the elbow The severe rash was the first sign that the infant had contracted meningococcal, a life-threatening infection which in Robbie's case quickly developed into severe blood poisoning or septicaemia By delaying the surgery by 12 months, almost 11 months longer than anyone else attempted before, doctors were able to save much more living tissue and his amputation did not have to be as aggressive as first planned By delaying the surgery by 12 months, almost 11 months longer than anyone else had attempted before, Dr Wood's team were able to save much more living tissue and his amputation did not have to be as aggressive as first planned. SYMPTOMS OF MENINGOCOCCAL High fever Headache Neck stiffness Nausea Vomiting Sensitivity to light Confusion Irritability Drowsiness Up to one in 10 patients with invasive meningococcal disease in Australia dies. Source: Immunise Australia Program 'People find it hard to believe but we feel so lucky because of what they were able to do for Robbie,' Ms Scofield told the West Australian. 'We never cared if he lost his arms and legs, so long as we had him... But we can't thank the staff at PMH enough, saving as much of his limbs as possible,' she added. Young Robbie, who has been left with some scarring on the side of his face and head, will require ongoing treatment for his amputated limbs, including occupational therapy and physiotherapy. Knowing the cost of Robbie's treatment and prosthetic's would put significant financial burden on the family, a fund raising page was set up in the two-year-old's name to help ease the stress. Young Robbie, who has been left with some scarring on the side of his face and head, will require ongoing treatment for his amputated limbs, including occupational therapy and physiotherapy Knowing the cost of Robbie's treatment and prosthetic's would put significant financial burden on the family, a fund raising page was set up in the two-year-old's name to help ease the stress 'We never cared if he lost his arms and legs, so long as we had him,' Ms Schofield said WHAT IS MENINGOCOCCAL? The rare and life-threatening disease occurs when different strains of the bacterium, Neisseria meningitidis, attacks membranes covering the brain and spinal chords. It can take between 3-10 days before any symptoms begin to appear. The symptoms which may not all be present at once include, high fever, headache, neck stiffness, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light, confusion, irritability, and drowsiness. The disease causes the body to feel unwell very quickly causing blood poisoning (septicaemia) and inflammation around the brain and spinal cord (meningitis). Meningococcal is easily spread through coughing, sneezing or close contact with infected people. Once diagnosed, one in 10 people will die from the disease. If you survive, one in 30 are left with severe scars, loss of limbs or severe brain damage. There are 13 strains of the Bacterium around the world, two are common in Australia. Meningococcal B and C. Both strain B and C are vaccine preventable in all age groups. The meningococcal C vaccine is free under the National Immunisation Program. Once diagnosed, one in 10 people will die from the disease, according to the Australian department of health Over $52,000 has been raised which will go towards giving Robbie 'the best opportunity of gaining independence and reaching important developmental milestones through the use of Prosthetics'. There is a vaccine for meningococcal B, which caused Robbie's infection, however it is not funded on the national children's immunisation program, despite being responsible for over 90 per cent of cases in Western Australia. Ms Schofield and Mr Buchan don't have started to campaign for the vaccine to be funded on the federal government's program, arguing they don't want any other parents to go through the same horrific ordeal as Robbie, The West Australian reported. 'A lot of parents still don't even know about meningococcal disease, let alone this vaccine,' Ms Scofield said. Advertisement Poignant photographs and never-before-seen diaries written by some of the one million women who volunteered during World War II have been found after they were stored in dusty boxes more than 60 years ago. The collection of vivid images and reports, which have been described as some of the most important documents 'since the Domesday Book', have emerged after being forgotten about in the 1940s. They show women serving food from a mobile canteen in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, in December 1940 and three ladies making toys for wartime nurseries in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, in 1941. Other photographs show women serving soldiers in Cambridge on November 20 1941, while fellow volunteers were seen measuring children for new clothes in Hastings, East Sussex, on March 4 1944. Scroll down for video Women were photographed running a mobile canteen after a bombing raid in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on December 12, 1940 WVS members were photographed collecting bones for salvage in Cranwell, East Kesteven, Lincolnshire, in May 1941 Members were photographed giving vegetables to minesweepers in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, in May 1941 Meanwhile, a pair of women were photographed collecting bones for glue in Cranwell, East Kesteven, Lincolnshire, in May 1941. And what's more, a staggering 30,000 pages of never-before-seen diaries written by female volunteers have been unearthed. The group of volunteers that penned the reports after signing up to the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS) - now known as the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) - were nicknamed 'the army that Hitler forgot'. And now a campaign has been launched by the RVS on crowdfunding website Kickstarter to help make the heart-felt diaries and photographs accessible to everyone. Transporting toddlers in donkey carts, salvaging dog hair for knitting and running mobile canteens are just a few of the hidden histories of the women documented in the diaries in the RVS archive. The charity will be the first in the UK to use the site to help fund the digitisation of previously unseen records of life on the Home Front, so they are accessible to all. A female member of the Women's Voluntary Service was seen cleaning a children's gas mask in Bath, Somerset, in 1942 Children visited a children's clothing exchange in Hastings, East Sussex, which was run by members of the WVS on March 4, 1944 A group of WVS members made a selection of toys for wartime nurseries at Scots Hill Court, Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, in 1941 The Hidden Histories of A Million Wartime Women project has already raised more than 16,000 online - but it's 9,000 short of reaching its target of 25,000. More than 300,000 pages of diary entries spanning over half a century of British history tell stories of everyday heroism from female volunteers from over 2,000 cities, towns and villages across Great Britain. Their stories were documented at a time when one in 10 women in the UK - around one million females - was a member. If the project hits its target, the Archive & Heritage Collection team at the RVS will begin by digitising the first 28,000 pages covering 1938 to 1941. The online archive will allow the public to access previously unpublished material, which catalogues how the largest volunteer organisation in British history supported Civil Defence. One example report illustrates a volunteer from Bath cleaning an array of children's gas marks. The accompanying narrative describes a particularly busy month for the Bath Centre following a major Blitz on the city between April 28 and 29 1941. This saw volunteers fit 80 children with masks and issue 205 helmets for babies. Two WVS members were photographed combing dogs for their fur for knitting in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in 1943 Evacuee toddlers were photographed being transported in a donkey cart at Lyme Regis in Dorset in 1945 Two female members of the WVS served two soldiers at the new station canteen in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, on November 20 1941 Lady Worsley was seen trying out a WVS snack bar trailer in Hastings, East Sussex, on June 19, 1943 The centre was also responsible for serving 3,350 meals and helped coordinate housing for more than 9,000 people made homeless following the raids. Another more unusual entry comes from Portsmouth in November 1943, and details how the centre's 'dog hair expert' attended a special demonstration day at Harrods. The training session taught volunteers how to salvage fur from dog grooming and spin it into a warm and hardwearing alternative to wool. The entry remarks how Portsmouth's contributions were highly praised at the event, which was organised at the request of the Board of Trade. The archive's UNESCO status means the diaries are considered to be as important as other historical texts such as the Doomsday Book and the Death Warrant of King Charles I. More than 300,000 pages of diary entries spanning over half a century of British history tell stories of everyday heroism from female volunteers from over 2,000 cities, towns and villages across Great Britain Actress, Patricia Routledge who is known for her leading role in Keeping up Appearances, is fronting the campaign. She said: 'The women of the WVS made great sacrifices for this country, but the breadth of their contribution has been hidden from view until now. 'We hope that in making their stories available to everybody, that the value of their contribution will gain the recognition it deserves. 'In Britain, during the Second World War, one in 10 of the female population was a member of the Women Voluntary Service - that's over a million women you have never heard of. 'These volunteers looked after the home front doing just about anything, never saying "no". 'Until now, their story has been a hidden one, forgotten by most but preserved in vivid monthly diaries held in our archive. 'Royal Voluntary Service, as we are now known want to bring the silenced voices of these women back to life. 'We need your help to photograph and make available the first 28,000 pages of this never-before-seen diaries, diaries written between 1938 and 1941 by women fighting the war in their own back yards. 'These precious accounts of everyday heroism survive only on thin browning sheets of paper but are considered by UNESCO to be one of the most important documents in British history. 'Please help us to share these hidden histories of a million wartime women and make a pledge to enable us to reach our target of 25,000 and make available one of the most important documents since the Domesday Book.' And now a campaign has been launched on crowdfunding website Kickstarter to help make the heart-felt diaries and photographs accessible to all for the first time Ruth Goodman, historian and television personality, added: 'It is often the quiet voices of history which are the most revealing. 'They can be easily overlooked amongst the clamour of parliamentary speeches, gunfire and official pronouncements, but the diaries and letters of a host of less celebrated lives speak of the true temperature of the times. 'It is these unassuming thoughts, feelings and reports which tell us what was really happening behind the rhetoric. The Royal Voluntary Service archive offers an all too rare opportunity to hear directly the voices of the twentieth century.' Matthew McMurray, Royal Voluntary Service Archivist, said: 'For six years we have been sorting, protecting and preserving tens of thousands of pieces of fragile paper to get to a point where we can start to capture and share these remarkable stories with everyone. 'Those million women, the army that Hitler forgot, were pivotal in the allied victory in the Second World War, but their efforts have almost completely been forgotten. It has been an imposing fixture of the Glasgow skyline since 1968. But on Sunday a 25-storey block of flats in Glasgow's Rosytonhill tumbled to the ground as a three-second controlled explosion ended its legacy. A dramatic video captured the moment the formidable 72-metre tower collapsed in a huge mushroom cloud of smoke. A video shows 25-storey block of flats in Glasgow's Rosytonhill tumble to the ground in a controlled explosion The spectacular clip shows the flats crumble to the ground in a seamless motion. As it descends, a huge plume of grey smoke can be seen billowing out and shrouding the nearby houses. About 500 tenants in surrounding properties were temporarily evacuated for the demolition. The structure on 40 Rosemount Street was demolished as part of a community regeneration project. The spectacular clip shows the flats crumble to the ground in a seamless motion A crane was on hand at the dramatic scene to help clear the site as smoke filled the air The Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) will now clear the site to carry out the next phase of a housebuilding project in the area. There are plans for 100 new homes to be built. 55 houses have already been built for GHA tenants to move into after the demolition of a neighbouring multi-storey block 20 Rosemount Street in 2013. Daniel Haggerty, 37, who lives in nearby Blochairn, told The Herald Scotland: 'These high rises are slums. It's about time they came down.' The Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) will now clear the site to carry out the next phase of a housebuilding project in the area There are plans for 100 new homes to be built and 55 have already been built since the the demolition of a neighbouring multi-storey block in 2013 Steven Browning, 17, who came to see the demolition with three friends, added: 'I used to live in the Red Road flats and it wasn't a nice place. 'This place looks like a dive too so it's good to see it come down.' The new-build homes at Rosemount Street are part of wider plans to regenerate the north of the city. The plans includes 141 new homes at Sighthill and a further 157 in Barmulloch. David Fletcher, Director of Regeneration for GHA's parent company, Wheatley Group, said: 'We've already started work transforming the area with 55 new homes complete and our tenants are delighted in their new properties. 'This demolition allows us to build another 45 quality homes for our tenants. It's an exciting time for people living in the area. A five-year-old girl has died after she accidentally shot and killed herself while playing with her father's handgun. Haley Moore was at her father Eric's home in LaPlace, Louisiana, on Saturday with her two siblings when she picked up the weapon and accidentally pulled the trigger. She was taken to hospital but died a short time later. Her dad was in the shower at the time while detectives have said the gun was not locked away in a secure location. Five-year-old Haley Moore has died after she accidentally shot and killed herself while playing with her father's handgun at his home in LaPlace, Louisiana She was with her two siblings (pictured) when she picked up the weapon and accidentally pulled the trigger. She was taken to hospital but died a short time later. Haley's father is a disabled military veteran and is separated from the youngster's mother. Joy Ursin, the family's next-door neighbor, said he had the children for the weekend. She told the Times-Picayune he was always mindful of securing his guns when they were staying with him. At around 9.30am on Saturday morning, Ursin's husband ran into the house calling her name. She then went outside to see her husband comforting Moore's two other children. The eldest kept saying 'my sister shot herself', over and over again. 'All I can say is it's an unfortunate thing because Eric is a disabled military veteran and one thing is he has his guns, but he's not ignorant to the fact of the danger, especially when his kids are around,' she told the newspaper. 'He would always stress how he had to secure (them), what he had to go through when the kids came. He made sure of that because he would get his kids every other weekend. 'They had a full schedule planned,' she added. 'He was gonna take them to see "Angry Birds" and they were all excited about that. And then this tragedy.' Haley's father is a disabled military veteran and is separated from the youngster's mother (pictured) 'His kids are his life, so this to him is devastating. He would always bring them over every other Saturday when he would get them and I would have treats for them.' A statement from St John the Baptist Parish Sheriff's Office read: 'The father of a 5-year-old girl reported that his daughter shot herself while playing with a handgun. 'Emergency medical services transported the girl to the hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. Detectives identified the young girl as Haley Moore. 'Detectives said that the handgun was unsecured in the residence. The incident is still under investigation. The same weekend Labor announced plans for a watchdog for gay and lesbian rights, Bill Shorten's campaign bus parked up in the centre of Malcolm Turnbull territory - Wentworth. Both moves targeted the Prime Minister - the first for his so-far failure to act on gay marriage, and in the second, a show of strength - Shorten and his entourage went for a run from Bondi to Covelly after parking up at Bondi Pavillion on Sunday morning. It was Shorten's way of kicking off week three of the election campaign, but the Prime Minister was a few suburbs over, at a food and wine festival in Watsons Bay, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten's campaign bus is seen in Bondi - part of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Wentworth electorate Shorten's bus, complete with an image of his emblazoned on the side, was parked up in Bondi on Sunday morning Bill Shorten went for a run from Bondi to Covelly after parking up in the middle of Turnbull's Wentworth electorate Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull takes a selfie with locals while visiting the markets at Watsons Bay Turnbull spent Sunday out mingling with people at market while Shorten was visiting Bondi Wentworth, currently held by Turnbull, covers the majority of Sydney's eastern suburbs. The Labor Party leader's bus has been travelling from Cairns and will visit marginal seats as it continues on its way to Canberra. Meanwhile, the gay rights watchdog was announced by Labor Senator Penny Wong in Melbourne. If Labor succeeds at election, lesbian, gay, transgender and intersex Australians will have a champion in the form of a LGBTI discrimination commissioner. Senator Penny Wong said Labor would appoint a fulltime commissioner to the Australian Human Rights Commission dedicated to making schools, workplaces and communities safer and more secure for LGBTI Australians (stock image) The announcement comes on top of a pledge that a Federal Labor government would introduce marriage equality legislation within the first 100 days of government (stock image) Senator Penny Wong said Labor would appoint a fulltime commissioner to the Australian Human Rights Commission dedicated to making schools, workplaces and communities safer and more secure for LGBTI Australians. The announcement comes on top of a pledge that a Federal Labor government would introduce marriage equality legislation within the first 100 days of government. Malcolm Turnbull's continuation on Abbott-led Liberal policies regarding marriage equality have been in contradiction to views he'd earlier expressed on the matter. Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said Labor would provide $1.4 million to fund the creation of a discrimination commissioner to champion the rights of LGBTI Australians. 'LGBTI Australians are continuing to experience discrimination. That's what we want to work against,' Mr Dreyfus said. 'We think a specialised commissioner is going to assist that task.' Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said Labor would provide $1.4 million to fund the creation of a discrimination commissioner to champion the rights of LGBTI Australians President Obama is also facing pressure from veterans groups to address the situation of American prisoners of war during his historic state visit to Vietnam. They also want the Commander-in-chief to press Hanoi about the location of ex-soldiers who are missing or were killed during the war. In advance of the president's three-day visit, the White House invited representatives of Vietnam veterans organizations to trace progress in the U.S.-Vietnamese relationship. Scroll down for video President Obama is handed a bouquet of flowers on a red carpet at Noibai International Airport in Hanoi after touching down in Vietnam He walks down the steps of Air Force One following his arrival at the start of the historic state visit A poster of U.S President Barack Obama with footnote read 'Welcome to our city', hangs n a door front in Hanoi, Vietnam. Ahead of his historic visit, the President has faced pressure from veterans groups to address the situation of American POWs Obama's overall mission during his trip to Asia is to build stronger economic and security ties with Asian-Pacific allies anxious about the rise of an increasingly muscular China A man wearing an American flag-designed t-shirt hangs up a poster with two headshots of Obama And it brought in Vietnamese civil society leaders to underscore its commitment to promoting human and political rights in the country. Rick Weidman, executive director for policy at the Vietnam Veterans of America, who participated in one of the meetings, said there still are wounds from Vietnam that need healing. He said the U.S. needs to do more to account for those still missing from the war and to help deal with ill effects from U.S. use of Agent Orange during the war. The administration is expected to announce more steps to help with cleanup of the chemical herbicide during Obama's visit. Obama's overall mission during his trip to Asia is to build stronger economic and security ties with Asian-Pacific allies anxious about the rise of an increasingly muscular China. That forward-looking message will be delivered even as he confronts the legacies of two wars long past Vietnam and World War II that still are fraught with emotion. Obama's first stop on his weeklong Asia trip is Vietnam, where he will be the third sitting president to visit since the end of the war. Four decades after the fall of Saigon, and two decades after President Bill Clinton restored relations with the nation, Obama is eager to upgrade relations with an emerging power whose rapidly expanding middle class beckons as a promising market for U.S. goods and an offset to China's growing strength in the region. A man walks pass a billboard of Vietnam's Parliamentary Election in Hanoi, Vietnam, that take place Sunday A woman and her child pass billboards of Vietnam's Parliamentary Election in Hanoi, Vietnam. Vietnamese citizens will head to the polls on the same day as Obama's arrival Obama arrives in Hanoi late Sunday. During his three-day stay in Vietnam, he'll make the case for stronger commercial and security ties, including approval of the 12-nation trans-Pacific trade agreement that is stalled in Congress and facing strong opposition from the 2016 presidential candidates. Vietnam also is hoping that Obama will use the visit to erase an irksome vestige of the war by lifting the U.S. partial embargo on selling arms to the country. The idea is under consideration, but concern about Vietnam's human rights record could weigh against it. In Japan, Obama will attend a summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations, where the uncertain global economy will be a top concern of the G-7 leaders. They'll also grapple with a full array of world challenges, including the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, the refugee crisis in Europe and Russian aggression. Also on the agenda will be Beijing's assertive claims in the South China Sea that are causing tensions with other countries in the region. While the summit isn't expected to produce any breakthroughs, it gives leaders a rare opportunity to talk through the intractable difficulties they confront. President Barack Obama jogs up the stairs to board Air Force One, in Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, ahead of his visit to Asia Obama waves as he boards Air Force One ahead of his trip. He will spend three days in Vietnam, with stops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, before heading to Japan 'Remember that leaders are lonely people,' says Michael Green, senior vice president for Asia at the private Center for Strategic and International Studies. 'These people don't have much time to sit down with their peers to talk about common challenges.' For all of that, the culminating moment of Obama's trip will be a solemn visit to Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb that killed 140,000 people, ushering in the nuclear age seven decades ago. Another bomb killed 70,000 in Nagasaki three days later. It will be a moment to reflect on the devastating costs of war and to try to give new impetus to the call for a nuclear-free world that Obama issued seven years ago in his first year as president. Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said the Vietnam and Japan visits both reflect Obama's world view 'that we can move beyond difficult and complicated histories' to find areas of common interest. 'You could not have had a more violent conflict than we had with the Japanese in World War II, as a visit to Hiroshima will certainly mark, but now they are among our closest friends in the world,' Rhodes said. 'You could not have a more contested, controversial, costly, tragic war than the Vietnam War, and now (Vietnam) is becoming a partner of the United States, an important partner.' The Catholic Archdiocese of Hue, Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly, center, is welcomed back by Archbishop Tadeo, left, and a senior colleague to his parish in Hue, Ha Nam province, Vietnam. Vietnam granted early release from prison to Ly who is one of its most prominent dissidents His release was widely seen as a goodwill gesture before U.S. President Barack Obama arrives on an official visit late Sunday night Still, concerns about human and political rights will shadow the president's stay in Vietnam. The country did free a Catholic priest who had been one of its longest-serving political prisoners in the lead-up to the president's visit. But the U.S. remains concerned about severe government restrictions on citizens' political rights and limits on civil liberties and free expression. On Sunday, the country was holding parliamentary elections controlled by the Communist Party, which chooses who can stand for election. An ambulance dispatch error may have caused a long delay in reaching the victim of a fatal hit-and-run crash. A 39-year-old woman from Marylands in Sydney's west was killed on Saturday night when she was allegedly hit by a car which failed to stop. She was hit trying to cross Rawson Road in Guildford at the Campbell Hill Road intersection at around 9pm. Emergency crews were called immediately but neighbours said paramedics took between 45 minutes and an hour to arrive. Police performed CPR on the 39-year-old woman victim of a fatal hit-and-run in Guildford in Sydney's west. Neighbours said it took paramedics an hour to arrive Specialist investigators from the Metropolitan Crash Unit were at the scene on Sunday to try to piece together the circumstances of the crash 'Ambulance just doesn't come quick. It takes about an hour or more to get here,' Mohamad Alamedene told 7 News. Cristofer Nicoloau said: 'As we drove past here to go home we saw the lady lying down on the floor not moving. About 45 minutes after... ambulance and police were here.' Police performed CPR on the woman until paramedics arrived. She was taken to Westmead Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. NSW Ambulance said a dispatch error caused the delay and a full investigation would be launched, according to 7 News. Daily Mail Australia has approached NSW Ambulance for comment. Specialist investigators from the Metropolitan Crash Unit were at the scene on Sunday to try to piece together the circumstances of the crash. Police are appealing to the public for information and pleading with the driver to hand themselves in. Inspector Phil Brooks from Traffic Highway and Patrol said: 'Someone must know something that relates to this very sad and tragic event on our roads. 'That driver is well-advised to present themselves as a matter of urgency.' A 71-year-old woman has been told she cannot wed her 21-year-old lover by court officials who fear she has been the victim of an immigration scam. The great-grandmother, from Switzerland, told the court she loved her Tunisian boyfriend, claiming they shared interests in 'rap music and country walks'. The man, who was just 18 when the pair met in an internet chatroom, said the age gap didn't matter because he doesn't want to have children. Denied: A 71-year-old woman has been told she cannot marry her Tunisian fiance, 21. Pictured, file image However the court in Vaud ruled the marriage would be a sham, saying the man was using 'emotional fraud with the aim of migration' to Switzerland. The woman told 20 Minutes that she had met her young lover online and spent three years building their relationship over the internet before flying to Tunisia last summer to meet him. Met online: The couple first made contact on an internet chatroom when the man was just 18. File image Five days later the couple lodged a request to marry at the Swiss Embassy in Tunis. The retired secretary told the paper: 'We both like rap and walks in the countryside. We have the same interests.' The Country Womens Association (CWA) in Victoria have thrown their support behind marriage equality at a state wide conference on Saturday. Members will join an ever-growing list of organisations lobbying in favour of same-sex marriage agreeing they advocate equality for all Australians under the marriage equality act. Victorian president Machelle Crichton said those who judged the group as 'conservative' from the outside really had 'to be in it to know what's going on,' the The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The Country Womens Association (pictured) in Victoria have thrown their support behind marriage equality in a secret ballot at their state wide conference on Saturday 'It has always been socially ahead of its time,' she said. I think this will blow that [image] out of the water'. A post to the CWA Victoria Facebook page on supporting same-sex marriage was met with over 370 shares from Facebook users who have supported their decision. Well done CWA a result that reflects not just members views but the views of many, many people in rural communities,' One user, Vanessa Richards, said. The CWA (pictured) are traditionally seen as a socially conservative group which has made their decision a significant move towards changing their image There is increasing awareness of the terrible impact homophobia has on our children, friends and other community members and this is a great step towards ending that pain, she added. Another user, Cindy Shanahan, said: Moving forward with the times...not staying stuck in the past. While some shared their delight in hearing the news having personally felt a strain when confronted with the idea of same-sex marriage. One user said: Growing up in a regional community I had friends who tried so hard to convince themselves and others that they weren't gay. This was partly to do with the very real threat of assault. This had a huge toll on them mentally and emotionally. A post to the CWA Victoria Facebook page on supporting sam-sex marriage (stock) was met with over 370 shares from Facebook users who have supported their decision Thank you for taking a stand and making the world a little safer for young gay people in regional and rural communities. About 600 women attended the Melbourne conference, representing close to 6,000 members statewide. Ms Crichton said that the response to support marriage equality was strong but would not reveal an exact number and said it achieved a good size. The Victorian branch of the CWA is the first to endorse marriage equality although there is talk of raising the issue in New South Wales who supported legal use of medicinal marijuana last year. New South Wales CWA president Annette Turner told Fairfax: People tend to think of the CWA as older ladies. They're surprised when these things come up in conversation. Same-sex marriage has been a silent issue in the upcoming election and neither side have made this a prominent feature of their campaign I'm never surprised because CWA ladies are passionate, they're intelligent and they're across all areas. Other issues raised at the Victorian branch conference included a call to reduce Australias greenhouse gas emissions, halt the sale of freehold agriculture land to foreign parties and to prioritise rebuilding a regional rail. Same-sex marriage has been a silent issue in the upcoming election campaign with both parties committed to their positions. The Coalition would hold a referendum soon after the election while labor hope to legislate, within 100 days of taking office, a conscience vote in Parliament. Slain gangland lawyer Joe Acquaro once attended a lunch with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, it has been revealed. Mr Acquaro was gunned down outside his Melbourne cafe in March. Documents revealed at the time Mr Acquaro had a $200,000 price on his head and that he'd talked of a 'power struggle' with pizza chain owner Tony Madafferi, brother of mafia drug kingpin Frank Madafferi. It has now been revealed that Mr Acquaro, who for years was a fundraiser for the Liberal Party in Victoria, had attended a lunch in 2008 with the then-Opposition Leader, Mr Turnbull, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Gangland lawyer Joe Acquaro, who was gunned down in March this year outside his Melbourne cafe Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull dined with Mr Acquaro at a lunch in Melbourne in 2008 (stock image) Mr Acquaro, who lobbied Liberal Party members for years and also donated to the party, was gunned down in March The pair dined together at Box restaurant in Melbourne, which specialises in seafood, during a fundraising lunch for Liberal MP Russell Broadbent. Tony Madafferi, a Liberal party donor, was also present along with other donors, according to the report. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister told Fairfax Turnbull could remember the lunch but not the names of the guests. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Mr Acquaro and Mr Madifferi had meetings with senior Liberal party members in 2005. Mr Acquaro claimed on more than one occasion either meetings or meals were related to his political fundraising activities or donations A spokesperson for Turnbull said while he remembered the lunch, he couldn't remember the names of the guests (stock image) Mr Acquaro claimed on more than one occasion either meetings or meals with Liberal Party members were related to his political fundraising activities or donations. He'd also spent time establishing connections to the Liberal Party in New South Wales and Victoria, according to the Herald report. The report also said he'd told associates he'd raised over $100,000 for the Liberals. Mr Broadbent recalled Mr Acquaro as 'charming', but said an element of 'big noting' contributed to Mr Acquaro wanting to be seen with politicians. Mr Acquaro spent his career as a lawyer representing prominent gangland figures in Victoria. There is nothing to suggest the meetings with Liberal Party members and the lunch with Mr Turnbull were inappropriate. A young Joe Acquaro. He spent his career as a lawyer representing gangland figures in Victoria A Conservative activist and Donald Trump supporter was apparently banned from Facebook after complaining about how the social media site censored another conservative. Lauren Southern detailed the ordeal which reportedly began after she mentioned the administrator of a right-wing group had been banned from the site. Her post read: 'As I suspected my friend who runs Disdain for Plebs has been banned on all his accounts that run the page AND Facebook deleted his post calling them out for censoring conservatives. 'This is utterly insane.' Scroll down for video Conservative activist and Donald Trump supporter Lauren Southern (pictured left and right) was banned from Facebook after complaining about how the social media site censored another conservative Southern was sent a notice that she was being temporarily blocked from posting on Facebook (above) Southern detailed, and even videotaped, the ordeal on Friday which began after she mentioned the administrator of a right-wing group had been banned from Facebook (shown above) Her post also included a note from Facebook saying it removed the post 'because it doesn't follow the Facebook Community Standards,' Heat Street reported. Southern shared a screen grab of the post on Twitter and noted her shock: 'Holy s***.' She wrote on Twitter that the administrator of the pro-Trump group, Disdain for Plebs, was banned after writing a post that argued Trump is not anti-Muslim but anti-ISIS. Southern also noted that all of the moderators who run the group's page were also banned. 'Donald Trump is not anti Muslim. He is anti ISIS. What Trump is trying to say is that Homeland Security can not differentiate which Muslim is radical wanting to cause harm and which is a harmless refugee,' the administrator's post read. 'This is why nothing gets done. We are too busy being politically correct. Who is willing to sacrifice their family's safety for the sake of political correctness? Are you? #TRUMP2016.' The administrator of the pro-Trump group, Disdain for Plebs, was banned after writing a post that argued Trump is not anti-Muslim but anti-ISIS (the post shown above) Southern also noted that all of the moderators who run the group's page were also banned Southern (pictured) said in an interview that if Facebook intends to 'continue censoring conservative viewpoints they should at least be honest about it' Facebook removed the post, citing it did not follow Facebook Community Standards, and the administrator's account was suspended, according to Breitbart News. The administrator, who wants to remain anonymous, told Breitbart that being banned for 'stating unfortunate facts is typical of social media these days.' 'Conservatives understand they are forced to stay quiet on controversial topics that need to be addressed, or else be completely exiled from the public eye,' the administrator said. 'Years of hard work and determination can be, and has been, eradicated from people, under the moderation of politically correct censorship masquerading as manners.' Not long after learning the moderator had been kicked off Facebook, Southern shared her post which she said was subsequently deleted. She wrote that she was then told by the social media site that she was being blocked for 30 days. On Twitter, someone accused her of making up that Facebook had handed her a 30-day suspension, telling her to 'work on a better photoshop to make it more convincing.' She then posted a video showing she had been blocked from making posts on Facebook, writing, 'TOTALLY FAKE.' Eventually, Southern's posts were uploaded back on the site and she was unblocked on Facebook. She wrote that she received an apology email from Facebook Above a screen grab of the apology email sent that Southern said she was sent from Facebook in the wake of the ordeal Eventually, Southern's posts were uploaded back on the site and she was unblocked on Facebook, as she credited news reporting of the incident the reason for her Facebook ban being removed. 'Only reason I got unbanned was b/c of Drudge/HeatSt/Infowars - that's unacceptable. Smaller pages are being banned w/ no public awareness,' she tweeted. Southern also wrote that she received an apology email from Facebook saying it was an 'error,' but noted 'these errors seem a tad bias.' Meanwhile she said the administrator of Disdain for Plebs did not have their banned removed. The ordeal comes only days after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had a closed-door meeting with a group of conservatives. During the wide-ranging discussion, he told the 17 conservative leaders and commentators in attendance how his site struggles to reach their supporters. He refused to directly respond to allegations that Facebook employees deliberately suppressed conservative stories and views on its new trending topics feature. The incident comes only days after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) had a closed-door meeting with a group of conservatives in which he told them his site struggles to reach their supporters But he sought to reassure them after the meeting by writing on Facebook: 'I know many conservatives don't trust that our platform surfaces content without a political bias. Southern told Breitbart that if Facebook intends to 'continue censoring conservative viewpoints they should at least be honest about it.' 'Come out and say it Zuckerberg "Our platform that influences billions of people is being used to propagandize left-wing viewpoints." 'Facebook will never issue that statement, though, because it would be embarrassing to do so. The government has been unable to regain Labor's two-party-preferred lead of 51 per cent, compared to the Coalition's 49 per cent after the first two weeks of election campaigning. The Newspoll results reveal the massive approval rating that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had after he replaced Tony Abbott last September no longer exists, The Australian reported. The results represent a two-party swing against the government of 4.5 per cent, with six weeks to go until polling day on July 2. Newspoll results show the massive approval rating that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) had after replacing Tony Abbott in September last year, no longer exists The Coalition government's primary vote remains steady at 41 per cent, while Labor has dropped one point down to 36 per cent. The Greens remain unchanged at 11 per cent, while other parties and the independents are up by one point at 12 per cent. Voters still believe the Coalition will win the election, but that expectation is also reportedly slipping. While Mr Turnbull remains the country's preferred prime minister by 46 per cent, compared with Mr Shorten's 31 per cent, his lead on his Labor rival has more than halved. In the first fortnight of election campaigning the government has focused on promoting jobs and growth, while the Labor has campaigned on education and health. On Sunday opposition leader Bill Shorten and his entourage went for a run from Bondi to Clovelly, while the prime minister attended a food and wine festival in Watson's Bay. The house is fully decked out with art, a kitchen table, light fixtures, a lofted bed, a full bathroom and kitchen A bidding war on eBay to buy the house has brought the price up to $14,000 and the auction ends on Sunday and end homelessness and will sell on eBay to raise funds for The 'tiny home' is part of a project to Advertisement People are willing to pay astronomical amounts just to live in closet-sized apartments in Manhattan. But in just 72 hours, in the heart of New York City, ten 'taskers' from TaskRabbit have built a 'tiny home' that is not only affordable but also has more amenities than most Big Apple rentals. The home includes wall art, plants, a kitchen table, light fixtures, a lofted bed, as well as a full bathroom and kitchen, according to CNN Money. TaskRabbit has built a 'tiny house' (pictured) in the center of Manhattan's Meatpacking District, near the Apple Store, in just 72 hours The house includes all the amenities, which means it has a full kitchen (pictured), although water is not included in the home Inside, the home is fully decorated with wall art and plants. There's enough space for a living room and dining area in the 20-foot by eight-foot home Water, however, is not included. The 'tiny home', on display next to the Apple Store in the Meatpacking District, is currently up for auction on eBay. The funds raised by the auction - currently at $14,000 and ending Sunday night - will go to Community Solutions, a charity focusing on eliminating homelessness. On Thursday, the home will be removed from the Meatpacking District and placed in storage until the winning bidder picks it up. People snap pictures from outside the tiny home in the Meatpacking District. The project hopes to raise funds to alleviate homelessness Day 1: Contractors from TaskRabbit joined together to construct the 'tiny house', which is being auctioned on eBay The TaskRabbit contractors only needed three days to finish the project, which has already received $14,000 in bids on eBay The project is also a way for TaskRabbit to advertise its services, which includes handy work, moving, shopping and delivery, and housecleaning The project is thought to be a way to give homes to those in need and an Austin-based charity, Loaves & Fishes, opened a 27-acre 'tiny home' park earlier this year, CNN Money reported. Rob Willey, vice president of marketing at TaskRabbit, says the house project is also meant to promote the site. TaskRabbit, which employs contractors that work on-demand, can be used for handy work, moving, shopping and delivery, and housecleaning. Taskers dictate their own rates and make an average of $35 per hour, the company said. The company has 50,000 Taskers in 19 cities across the U.S. and London. It has raised more than $50 million since being founded in 2008. The company has 50,000 Taskers in 19 cities across the U.S. and London, and had 100 applicants to build the home in Manhattan Due to time restrictions, only ten were selected to complete the house, which will have all its proceeds donated to Community Solutions Sarah Stevens-Burns, 48, was stopped by West Midlands Police officers in Balsall Heath, Birmingham A police officer has been charged after allegedly refusing to be breathalysed while driving home from a misconduct hearing. Former detective Sarah Stevens-Burns, 48, was stopped by West Midlands Police officers in Balsall Heath, Birmingham, in February. She allegedly told uniformed colleagues that it would not be necessary to breathalyse her before driving away. Officers then drove to her home, where she was later reported for failing to comply with a request for a breath sample. Mrs Stevens-Burns, who is the current chair of West Midlands Police Federation's Constable Branch and represents the force's 4,000 constables, had been returning from a colleague's misconduct hearing at the time. She received a summons to Birmingham Magistrates' Court next month to face the charge. Her high-profile position saw her once lead an unsuccessful campaign to oust the chair of the national Police Federation. She allegedly told uniformed colleagues that it would not be necessary to breathalyse her before driving away (stock image) The emergency motion, put forward during the Constables Central Conference in 2013, was quashed after failing to attract sufficient votes. Married to a police officer, she has been part of the force since 1987 and has been a full-time representative for the Police Federation for eight years. Her role includes representing officers who are being investigated by the force's internal Professional Standards department. A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: 'A serving West Midlands Police officer will appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on June 16 charged with failing to supply a preliminary test for a breathalyser. 'Police Constable Sarah Stevens-Burns, aged 48, who is based in Sheldon, was summonsed to appear at court after she failed to provide a roadside test when requested by officers in Balsall Heath, Birmingham in February this year.' Tiahleigh Palmer (pictured), 12, disappeared in October last year. She was found naked on the banks of the Pimpama River one month later The mother of a 12-year-old girl, who was found washed up on the banks of a river, has launched a fresh appeal for information into her daughter's death. Tiahleigh Palmer disappeared in October last year before a group of fishermen found her naked decomposing body on the banks of the Pimpama River in south-east Queensland on November 5. Her mother, Cyndi, started the 'Justice 4 Tiahleigh' campaign on Sunday - which will see four buses plastered with images of her daughter in a bid to help identify her killer. The buses will follow a route around Marsden State High - where Tiahleigh was last seen - as well as circulating around Brisbane city centre, Springfield and Beaudesert. Ms Palmer told 9News: 'I want answers for what happened to my daughter. To be honest, it's getting harder, not easier.' Police announced a $250,000 reward in February and indemnity for the first person to come forward and provide information that would lead to the arrest of the little girl's murderer. Scroll down for video Tiahleigh's mother, Cyndi (pictured), started a campaign called 'Justice 4 Tiahleigh' on Sunday - which will see four buses plastered with images of her daughter in a bid to help identify her killer And in March Ms Palmer made her first appeal for more information saying she 'definitely needed answers'. 'We don't want another family to have to go through what we're going through,' she said. A week earlier, police dusted the windows of the vacant house for fingerprints and forensic officers also paid particular attention to the backyard of the home in Logan's Waterford West, south of Brisbane. Cyndi's (pictured) hope will be that the buses follow a route around Marsden State High - where Tiahleigh was last seen - as well as circulating around Brisbane city centre, Springfield and Beaudesert The four buses plastered (pictured) with images of Tiahleigh come as a second appeal from her mother, who announced in March she was not satisfied with leaving her daughter's murder a mystery Police arrived at the vacant home on March 22 and ramped up their search the following day. Former tenant Elihuti Nyomungere said he was surprised to learn police were searching the property and said that he had lived at the home with his mother and three brothers for eight years before they moved out. He said the housing commission property had been vacant since then as he had been collecting his mail and said: 'Police didn't tell me anything [about the search]. It's very shocking, very hard.' Justice 4 Tiahleigh has 355 followers on Facebook. The new campaign (pictured) will hopefully bring awareness to more people and convince anyone with information to come forward Tiahleigh (right) was last seen when she was dropped off by her carer near her school in Marsden, south of Brisbane wearing her school uniform and carrying a purple Mambo bad (left) Although Mr Nyomungere said he knew about Tiahleigh's murder from media reports he did not know her personally. The home that was searched is about one kilometre from Tiahleigh's school Marsden State High - where she was last seen being dropped off by her carers. Forensic tests on Tiahleigh's body after a post-mortem examination were unable to determine a cause of death and police have said the recovery of her floral Mambo backpack and maroon pinstripe school uniform may provide vital clues in solving the mystery. Friends and family questioned at the time her body was discovered were unable to provide any information into the murder. Police announced a $250,000 reward in February and indemnity for the first person to come forward to Tiahleigh's (pictured) murder - who isn't the killer - to provide information that would lead to an arrest Hundreds of people from the Logan community joined together at Havenbah Park in Logan, south of Brisbane, for a vigil (pictured) to pay their respects to friends and family When Tiahleigh vanished, her mother, with current and former foster parents, coordinated a desperate search and phoned police repeatedly. However, police considered the schoolgirl to be a 'runaway'. No charges have yet been laid in relation to the murder, and her backpack and school uniform remain missing. Anyone who witnessed the incident or with any information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at crimestoppers.com.au. Ms Palmer (pictured), who was in the process of regaining custody of her daughter, told police she did not want this to happen to someone else's family Tiahleigh Palmer, 12, is laid to rest at a funeral last November where she was farewelled by a large group of mourners including her mother Cyndi In March Police dusted the windows of the vacant house for fingerprints and forensic officers also paid particular attention to the backyard of the home in Logan's Waterford West, south of Brisbane Britain's border control has been slammed as a 'shambles' as it is revealed that only one in eight homegrown extremists are prosecuted on their return to the UK. The Government has been criticised by ministers and security experts as Home Office figures show that out of the 400 Britons estimated to have joined terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq - just 54 have been convicted, reports the Sunday Telegraph. Government officials have been accused of having no idea how many extremists come and go from the country, with some faking their own deaths or taking up false identities to throw the authorities off their trail. Criticism: Britain's border control has been slammed as a 'shambles' as Home Office figures reveal that out of 400 homegrown jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq - just 54 have been prosecuted (file photo) The Crown Prosecution Service is now in the process of prosecuting a further 13 cases which involve 30 people accused of terror crimes. Figures were released by Home Office spokesman in the House of Lords, Lord Keen of Elie after a parliamentary question. Professor Anthony Glees, head of the University of Buckingham's Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, said the figures were concerning. He told the Sunday Telegraph: 'The hundreds of British citizens who have gone to Syria are highly dangerous; the fact so few are being prosecuted when they return is clearly very unsatisfactory and will be very alarming to many people.' Professor Glees demanded that the British people be told why so many extremists are not behind bars and claimed that they had 'gone off radar' while our security forces 'play catch up'. Jihad: Londoner Gianluca Tomaselli, 27, (pictured) allegedly travelled to Syria in 2013 to become a fighter Experts say there are many ways for jihadists to get in and out of the country, whether its via buses or ferry crossings, and that the government should not be lulled into a 'false sense of security' by the fact that we live on an island. Khalid Mahmood, a Labour MP for the Perry Barr district in Birmingham, said not enough was being done by the Home Office. Mr Mahmood, whose constituency has a high Muslim population, said: 'It is a shambles. The Government is not on top of this.The real problem is we don't know who is coming back and where they are coming back from.' Just last week it was revealed that a British jihadi who had left his family to fight for ISIS in Syria had been working at an NHS hospital after returning to Britain. Leaked files exposing the terror groups network of recruits revealed that Muslim convert Gianluca Tomaselli, 27, allegedly travelled to Syria in 2013 to become a fighter. Despite links to a jihadi faction that encouraged other so-called Lions in the UK to take up arms in the Middle East, the father of two has been able to return from the battlefield to a comfortable life in London. Italian-born Tomaselli, who grew up in north London, is working as a parking attendant at a hospital Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone. A Home Office spokesman said the Government had a 'wide range' of powers to disrupt travel zones and 'manage the risk' provided by others returning to the country. Actor Elijah Wood, 35, (pictured) Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood has insisted he has no personal knowledge of an alleged Hollywood paedophile ring after claiming comments made during a recent interview were taken out of context. The Hobbit actor, 35, was interviewed by the Sunday Times about his new film The Trust, in which he plays a corrupt police officer who makes plans to commit a crime. During the interview the actor spoke briefly bout a documentary film he had recently watched on the subject of child abuse. Referring to paedophile DJ Jimmy Savile, he said: 'It must have been devastating.' He added: 'Clearly something major was going on in Hollywood. It was all organized. There are a lot of vipers in this industry, people who only have their own interests in mind.' The Sunday Times story prompted a number of headlines, some of which insinuated the actor had some personal knowledge of the alleged abuse within the industry. However the actor has now spoken out to say his comments have been misinterpreted, insisting he has 'no first-hand experience or observation of the topic. In a statement he said: 'The Sunday Times interviewed me about my latest film but the story became about something else entirely. 'It prompted a number of false and misleading headlines. I had just seen a powerful documentary and I briefly spoke with the reporter about the subject which had consequences I did not intend or expect. 'Let me be clear: This subject of child abuse is an important one that should be discussed and properly investigated. But as I made absolutely clear to the writer, I have no first-hand experience or observation of the topic, so I cannot speak with any authority beyond articles I have read and films I have seen.' The comments to the Sunday Times were published alongside quotes from Anne Henry, co-founder of a group set up to help young actors. Henry believes that around three quarters of child actors that 'went off the rails' later in their life had been abused in Hollywood. Anne Henry, co-founder of Bizparentz, a group to help young actors, said that Tinseltown is currently sheltering around '100 active abusers' She said: 'This problem has been endemic in Hollywood for a long time and it's finally coming to light. Very bad people are still working here, protected by their friends.' In the last 10 years, several wealthy and significant people involved in the industry have been convicted. Some have left prison and returned to Hollywood and continued to work with children. Corey Feldman, who was one of the biggest child stars in the 1980s, was abused when he was a young actor. He said: 'The No 1 problem in Hollywood was and is - and always will be - pedophilia.' Other child actors were reportedly told by adults that it was perfectly normal for older men and younger boys in the industry to have sexual relations. Democratic underdog Bernie Sanders went after the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump this weekend suggesting the businessman isn't as nearly as rich as he boasts. Trump 'tells us he is a billionaire,' Sanders said at a rally Saturday in National City, California, according to ABC News. 'Who knows? He is probably as broke as everybody else is.' But in what could be a political pot meet kettle scenario, the Associated Press reported Saturday that Sanders' campaign could soon be experiencing money troubles thanks to a slowing of donations, but a high burn rate in campaign spending. Scroll down for video Bernie Sanders went after Donald Trump this weekend on whether the businessman is actually a billionaire - while his own campaign's finances - which he often touts - could fall short Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has said he's a billionaire, but hasn't released his tax return citing an audit and a disinterested pubic. On the latter point, his rivals disagree Sanders has made it a part of his stump speech to cheer about the millions of small dollar donations that his campaign has received, getting supporters to chant that the average donation is just '$27.' But at the start of May the Sanders campaign had just $6 million on hand, compared to the $30 million his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton had in the bank, according to the Associated Press' analysis of Federal Election Commission filings. The two were on roughly equal fundraising footing last month, with Clinton and Sanders each raising more than $25 million. But the Vermont senator spent almost $39 million to Clinton's $24 million, the reports showed. This year, Sanders has averaged more than $40 million in spending per month, underlining how quickly he could blow through the cash he had on hand at the beginning of May. Since he started his presidential bid, Sanders has spent nearly $207 million, about $25 million more than Clinton's $182 million in expenditures. For her part, Clinton has averaged $26 million in spending per month since January. Sanders' heavy campaign spending wasn't a problem when his online supporters were minting him money. But now that his fundraising has dropped, his high burn rate could hurt his chance to continue competing. Bernie Sanders had only $6 million in the bank at the beginning in May, which could make competing in the final Democratic primaries difficult. Hillary Clinton had $30 million Even as he racked up primary victories last month and sharpened his attacks against the former secretary of state, online donors started holding back. Sanders raised considerably less in April than his record-setting $46 million in March or $43.5 million in February. The Sanders campaign began taking steps late last month to downsize its operation. He reduced his payroll from about 1,000 to fewer than 400 employees. Sanders has pledged to continue in the race until the final primary, June 14 in Washington, D.C. The latest reports showed that Sanders spent about $21 million on media buys and digital consulting. The campaign paid $17.3 million to Old Towne Media Inc., based in Alexandria, Virginia, and more than $3.6 million to Revolution Messaging, a Washington advertising firm that concentrates on digital outreach. Sanders plans to spend a little more than $525,000 on television and radio advertising in California ahead of its June 7 primary, according to advertising tracker Kantar Media's CMAG. Clinton has not reserved any airtime there. Clinton has tended to spend less on ads than Sanders. In April, her campaign spent about $9.3 million on media buys and $2.7 million more on online advertising, her report showed. Sanders reported raising $26.9 million in April through his campaign. Unlike Sanders, Clinton has been fundraising for months in partnership with the Democratic National Committee and state parties. Through that joint fundraising account and her campaign, she raised $26.4 million in April for her primary battle with Sanders, though fundraising expenses sliced off about $1.4 million. Meanwhile, the DNC and state parties that have benefited from Clinton's fundraising help have begun investing in likely general election battleground states such as Ohio and Florida. As for Trump, who Sanders said Saturday 'doesn't often tell the truth,' ABC News found that he brought in at least $619 million last year, according to his personal financial disclosure documents. The presumptive Republican nominee still hasn't released his tax returns, citing an ongoing audit and the public's disinterest. A woman who was drugged and raped by three men in Korea said she has felt trapped in a 'never ending nightmare' since having to start an online campaign to push police to take her case seriously. Aidre Mattner, from Adelaide, was alone on a pub crawl in Seoul, South Korea's capital, when a stranger spiked her drink, piled her into a taxi and took her back to a seedy hotel where he and two other men forced themselves on her in September last year. Security footage from the hotel, in an area known to locals as 'hookers hill', show two men in white leading a disoriented Ms Mattner inside before they took turns violating her on the bed. Scroll down for video Aidre Mattner was alone on a pub crawl in South Korea when a stranger spiked her drink, piled her into a taxi and took her back to a seedy hotel where he and two other men forced themselves on her last year Security footage from the hotel, in an area known to locals as 'hookers hill', show two men in white leading a disoriented Ms Mattner inside before they took turns violating her on the bed 'I was completely naked on my back on the bed and the man was on top of me trying to force himself inside me,' she told 60 Minutes on Sunday night. 'I struggled as much as I could... I tried to push him off and just wasnt strong enough,' she added. The 25-year-old, who was on holiday from her teaching job in Japan, reported the crime to police but was confronted with numerous invasive physical exams and an 'insulting' line of questioning from local officers. She said the officers did not seem overly concerned with tracking down the men who preyed on her and seemed to blame the situation on what she was wearing, how much she drank and the fact that she was alone. The police had DNA evidence and security footage of Ms Mattner's alleged attackers but closed her case despite the active leads. Ms Mattner said she was 'dumbfounded' by their approach to such a serious crime. I just didnt understand. I felt as if they abandoned me,' she told 60 Minutes. 'I struggled as much as I could... I tried to push him off and just wasnt strong enough,' she told 60 Minutes The police had DNA evidence and security footage of Ms Mattner's alleged attackers (pictured) but closed her case despite the fresh leads Ms Mattner was drugged and taken to the View Motel in Seoul where three men raped her Frustrated and humiliated, Ms Mattner and her mother set up a GoFundMe page to raise money so they could pursue legal action against her attackers which shone a spotlight on the investigation and sparked international outcry from women's rights groups. Korean authorities re-opened the case and within weeks were able to track down a Nigerian man whose DNA matched that taken from Ms Mattner on the night of her attack. He was arrested but in another devastating blow to Ms Mattner, he was only charged with sexual harassment as the 25-year-old was not awake during the assault, 60 Minutes reported. She had been falling in and out of consciousness as her drink was spiked, something she said hit her like a ton of bricks once leaving the club. 'It was not a realisation that something felt strange - it was a black out and being aware that I was in the back of a taxi being taken somewhere,' she said on Sunday. Ms Mattner and her mother set up a GoFundMe page to raise money so they could pursue legal action against her attackers which pointed a spotlight on the investigation and sparked international outcry. After numerous painful exams at a hospital and hours of 'insulting' questioning by police, Ms Mattner said she found out the Korean police records had been 'falsified' and the investigation went nowhere She said she begged and pleaded with the taxi driver to take her home, but he ignored her requests and instead chose to listen to the predator who loaded her into the cab. I was terrified, I didnt know what else I could do other than beg the man to take me back to my hostel,' Ms Mattner said. The English teacher said handfuls of women from all over the world reached out to her after she made her plight for justice public, many with a similar tale of being drugged and taken advantage of in a foreign city. Thats when I really understood how big the problems is its an epidemic,' she said. Thats when I really understood how big the problems is its an epidemic,' she said on Sunday Ms Mattner joined a pub crawl in Seoul, South Korea, (pictured) with the hope of meeting new people when she said she was abducted and taken to a hotel room in the middle of nowhere and assaulted She said the prevalence of sexual assault among tourists in Seoul was 'sickening' and demanded police stand up for the gross breach of human rights. 'It is horrifying how easy it is to fall victim to men like this who specialise in preying on women in such a calculated and targeted manner,' she said. Ms Mattner said she still has trouble sleeping when she thinks back on her time in Seoul. She said when she closes her eyes she is confronted with images of her attackers which leaves her in a state of panic. 'I have survived on a cocktail of anti-depressants, anxiety medication, sleeping tablets and thankfully, the love and support of those around me.' Advertisement Standing shirtless at a Greek beauty spot, this photograph could be of any carefree young Englishman on holiday. But this black-and-white image features a then recently-crowned King Edward VIII, taken while on a cruise with his future wife, Wallis Simpson, in 1936. The remarkable image is part of a private never-before-seen collection of 200 pictures documenting the couple's summer getaway, which the monarch embarked on against the wishes of his government. At the time, the American socialite was still married to her second husband, shipbroker Ernest Simpson, and her illicit relationship with the British monarch was not publicly known. Months after their return, the King announced he wanted to marry his divorcee lover - sparking the British constitutional crisis that would eventually lead to his abdication. Holiday album: A shirtless King Edward VIII poses at a Greek beauty spot during a stop on the controversial cruise in August 1936 Blossoming romance: The King and Wallis Simpson (centre) with friend Katherine Rogers in the grounds of Balmoral Castle in 1936 Private cruise: The King chartered the luxury Nahlin yacht, pictured, for an extended holiday, against the wishes of his Government The photographs were taken by Herman and Katherine Rogers, who were close friends of Mrs Simpson, and later the King. The Rogers' were invited to join the sweethearts on board The Nahlin yacht for the now infamous cruise around the Adriatic Sea. Afterwards, the group continued their fun with a stay at Balmoral Castle. The images were recently uncovered by the Rogers' granddaughter, after more than 80 years locked in a safe at their family home in Canada. They will now be put up for auction alongside a number of tokens and presents from Edward and Wallis. Auctioneer Kerry Taylor said: 'Edward had only been King for a few months and decided to charter a yacht, The Nahlin, and go off on this cruise with Wallis. The Prime Minister advised against it but Edward pretty much said that he was King and he could do what he liked. 'The Rogers joined them and were very savvy with a lot of foresight because they realised they in the middle of something very historic and took photographs and kept mementos from this time. 'The photos clearly illustrate the romance and growing closeness between Edward and Wallis, who was still married at the time. They are lovely photos and show a happy couple who are quite carefree. 'It is astonishing to see any private Royal photographs but to find 200 of them in one album that chart the illicit romance of the king who gave away his Empire for the woman he loved is just remarkable.' Frolicking in the sea: Wallis Simpson, left, wears a bathing suit and swimming cap as she paddles in the water during the cruise Candid moments: (l-r) Louis Mountbatten, King Edward, Katherine Rogers, a friend, Wallis Simpson and Edwina Mountbatten at Balmoral The black-and-white photos show Mrs Simpson dipping her toes in the sea while wearing a bathing suit and swimming cap. The friends are also seen enjoying pictures in the baking European sun. On their return to Britain, Edward was so keen to continue the holiday that he invited the group to join him at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Photographs show the King wearing a kilt while out for a country walk with Wallis and Mrs Rogers. The King's cousin, Louis Mountbatten, also joined the party. Weeks after the holiday, Edward announced his intention to Marry Wallis. The news was met with widespread disapproval by the Government and the British public as Wallis was a divorcee and considered 'morally unsuitable' as a prospective consort. As the monarch, Edward was also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, which did not permit the remarriage of divorced people with living ex-spouses until 2002. In December 1936, Edward abdicated the throne so he could marry Wallis. His younger brother, George VI, became King. The Rogers' collection also includes a gold and sapphire-encrusted Cartier cigarette case gifted to Mr Rogers by Edward and Wallis at their June 1937 wedding. Mr Rogers walked the bride down the aisle. Personal: A page from the Rogers' guest book, including Wallis' signature (third from top), during her marriage to first husband Earl Winfield Spencer. Right, a note from Balmoral signed by King Edward and Wallis. The black border marks the death of King George V On the inside lid of the case is an inscription that reads: 'We will never forget a great friendship. Edward and Wallis', alongside the dates of the abdication and the wedding. The case is expect to fetch 30,000 at auction. A matching compact case gifted to Mrs Wallis is valued at 20,000. There is also Balmoral stationary, signed by Edward, Wallis and Louis Mountbatten, with a black border to mark the death of Edward's father, King George V. The note is thought to be worth 3,000. A guest book from the Rogers' villa in Cannes, in the south of France, will also go under the hammer. The book was signed by a number of high-profile visitors in the 1920s and 1930s, including Wallis. Other gifts for sale include an 18th century engraved silver salver, given to the Rogers by Edward and Wallis, then the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, after the abdication crisis. It is valued at 3,000. The items, worth a total of 60,000, will be sold at Kerry Taylor Auctions, in London, on June 14. Touching gift: The gold and sapphire-encrusted Cartier cigarette case given to Mr Rogers by Edward and Wallis at their June 1937 wedding. The inscription reads: 'We will never forget a great friendship. Edward and Wallis'. Right, one of Wallis' handbags Leaving the EU would jeopardise the lives of 30,000 cancer patients, mental health services, drugs and day-to-day healthcare in the UK, the head of NHS England warned today. Simon Stevens said a Brexit vote would be 'very dangerous' for the NHS because it would send the economy into a 'tailspin', which would subsequently starve the health service of essential funding. He also said the EU's open borders was vital to fill jobs in the NHS and Brexit could trigger a recruitment crisis as some of the 130,000 European doctors, nurses and care workers could quit the UK if Britain votes to leave in the June 23 referendum. Mr Stevens echoed warnings from two of his predecessors - Lord Crisp and Sir David Nicholson - who said the already 'fragile' NHS would suffer heavily from the 'economic leap in the dark' of a vote to quit the EU. His dramatic intervention this morning is a controversial move because his role as chief executive of NHS England is meant to make him impartial during election campaigns. Scroll down for video NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens (pictured on the Andrew Marr Show this morning) warned that a Brexit vote would be 'dangerous' for the NHS' Brexit campaigners immediately hit back, blaming Mr Stevens for making a 'very considerable mess' of the NHS and claimed the biggest danger to Britain's health service was staying in the EU. The Vote Leave campaign argues that were Britain to leave the EU, the Government could spend the 350 million it currently sends to Brussels each week on plugging funding gaps in the NHS. Former Labour foreign secretary Lord Owen, who is campaigning for Brexit, said Mr Stevens should 'better stick to his lathe, which is to manage the health service a great deal more successfully.' 'If there's any danger to the NHS it is in staying in', Lord Owen added. In other developments today with a month to go until the referendum: David Cameron launched an astonishing attack on his own defence minister Penny Mordaunt after she warned Britain was powerless to millions of criminals from Turkey flooding to the UK He reacted angrily to Mordaunt's prediction that it was 'very likely' Turkey will join the EU within the next eight years and claimed Britain 'doesn't have a veto to stop it joining The PM claimed family food bills will soar by more than 220 a year after a Brexit vote Four of UK's most successful high street bosses also warned that leaving the EU prove 'catastrophic' for millions of families and consumers The Tory civil war over Europe intensified further after it emerged pro-EU Tory grandee Sir Nicholas Soames told Brexit MP James Cleverly: 'F*** off you c***' Brexit campaigners brace themselves for the publication of another major Treasury analysis of the economic consequences of leaving the EU on Monday The NHS has become an increasingly central topic in the EU referendum campaign, with pro-EU campaigners arguing that NHS funding can only be guaranteed by a strong economy and claim the uncertainty of a Brexit vote would threaten future healthcare spending. Mr Stevens said his views had been guided by Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, who last week warned that leaving the EU could send the economy into a technical recession. David Cameron (pictured on the Peston on Sunday Show on ITV this morning) welcomed the intervention from Mr Stevens and said voters needed to listen to the concerns from such experts, dismissing complaints that civil servants should remain neutral. He said any fall in the value of the pound would affect drug treatments that the NHS buys because costs are priced in euros and dollars. If sterling drops in value, the cost of imports increase. Dismissing chief Brexit campaigner Michael Gove's warnings about the 'unsustainable' pressure on the NHS, Mr Stevens insisted any pressure on the health service is outweighed by the revenue the NHS receives from EU migrants paying tax and the number of EU nationals who work for the NHS. He said: 'When Mark Carney says that the risk of a slowdown in economic growth, possibly a recession if we end up exiting the EU... then that is a severe concern for the National Health Service, because it would be very dangerous if at precisely the moment the NHS is going to need extra funding actually the economy goes into a tailspin and that funding is not there.' Asked what a Brexit vote would mean for the NHS, Mr Stevens replied: 'We can see that we've got a clear plan to improve cancer services - saving 30,000 lives over the next five years - we need to upgrade our mental health services; we need to strengthen primary care [and] in order to put the fuel in the tank, we will need the proceeds of economic growth. 'It's been true for the 68 years of the NHS' history that when the British economy sneezes the NHS catches a cold, this would be a terrible moment for that to happen at precisely the time the NHS is going to need that extra investment.' NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens (pictured speaking to Andrew Marr this morning) also said the EU's open borders was vital to fill jobs in the NHS and Brexit could trigger a recruitment crisis as some of the 130,000 European doctors, nurses and care workers could quit the UK if Britain votes to leave in the June 23 referendum. David Cameron (pictured ITV's Peston on Sunday show this morning) said Simon Stevens was 'making a very important point which is the fortunes of the NHS are tied to the fortunes of the economy' He insisted he was not telling people how to vote but 'simply speaking for the NHS and talking about what the NHS will require'. He said it was 'perfectly reasonable' for the NHS to lay out the 'practical realities' of how a Brexit would impact the institution in a 'balanced, non-sensationalist way'. DAVID CAMERON ADMITS HE'S 'POSH' - IN A VERY POSH WAY Pressed on whether he saw himself as 'posh', David Cameron (pictured on ITV's Peston on Sunday show) said: 'I can't hide my background and upbringing and I never have done so' David Cameron admitted he is 'posh' as he was put on the spot in a live TV interview this morning. The Prime Minister said he had never tried to hide his privileged background, having had 'an amazing start in life' but insisted his Queen's Speech last week was about giving other people the same opportunities he had growing up. He joked that 'posh' had various meanings, including the acronym POSH, which stands for 'Port Out, Starboard Home'. 'It originally meant which side of a ship you were on when you were travelling out to India,' he told ITV's Peston on Sunday show, drawing observers to suggest this was the 'most posh answer' he could give. Pressed on whether he saw himself as 'posh' in the more common meaning of the word, Mr Cameron said: 'I can't hide my background and upbringing and I never have done so. Last week Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was asked on the same show whether he saw himself as 'middle class'. He gave a similarly awkward answer, initially saying: 'Oh gawd I dunno.' But he finally admitted: 'Yes, every MP has a lifestyle which is, I suppose, more or less, middle class. And praising the contribution of EU migrants to the NHS and wider economy, Mr Stevens said: 'This is not black and white. It clearly is the case that where those migrants are paying taxes that is contributing to the revenues that can afford an expanding NHS.' Writing in the Sunday Times Lord Crisp and Sir David Nicholson - who between them ran the NHS between 2000 and 2014, warned that Britain would find it 'harder and more costly' to employ EU workers if Britain left the EU. They also warned that Brexit would cast doubt on the ability for Britons living in the EU overseas to claim free healthcare and also said the UK would lose essential EU grants for medical research. David Cameron welcomed today's intervention from Mr Stevens and said voters needed to listen to the concerns from such experts, dismissing complaints that civil servants should remain neutral. 'Simon Stevens was making a very important point which is the fortunes of the NHS are tied to the fortunes of the economy,' Mr Cameron said. 'If we have a strong economy, we can have a strong NHS. Now all the experts seem to be saying, the IMF, the OECD, the Bank of England, the Treasury, the Office of Budget responsibility, are all saying the economy would suffer if we left the European Union and the single market. 'And that is quite a consensus. And I think that if that were to happen obviously it would have a bad effect on the NHS.' With 31 days to go until the referendum, today was another fierce day of warnings of the impact of a Brexit vote. Mr Cameron jumped on the intervention of four of Britain's most successful high street bosses this morning after they claimed a Brexit vote would cause shop prices to rocket and prove catastrophic for millions of families and consumers. After visiting an Asda supermarket in west London this morning, he said the impact of leaving the EU would have a particular impact on food prices because 'so much of our food is imported' from Europe's single market. He said Treasury analysis published tomorrow will show food bills for a family of four could rise by more than 220 a year within two years of leaving the Brussels club. But Brexit campaigners dismissed his warnings, saying independent experts had found the EU 'pushes up the prices in our supermarkets because of its protectionist policies'. David Cameron (pictured on the Peston on Sunday show this morning, right) rebuked his own defence minister Penny Mordaunt (pictured left on the Andrew Marr Show), saying she was 'absolutely wrong' to claim Britain 'doesn't' have a veto over Turkey joining the EU Sir Winston Churchill's pro-EU grandson Sir Nicholas Soames (left) launched a foul-mouthed four-letter rant against fellow Tory MP James Cleverly (right) The Prime Minister also launched an astonishing attack on his own defence minister Penny Mordaunt after she warned Britain was powerless to millions of criminals from Turkey flooding to the UK. Ms Mordaunt, who was appointed as a minister by Mr Cameron as recently as last year, said it is 'very likely' Turkey will join the EU within the next eight years and claimed Britain 'doesn't' have a veto to stop it joining. This would make the UK vulnerable to millions of terrorists, gangsters and 12 million more guns if we stay in the EU, pointing to higher murder and kidnapping rates and gun ownership in Turkey and the other four countries currently applying to join the Brussels club. But just minutes after she issued the warning on TV this morning, Mr Cameron firmly rebuked his minister, saying she was 'absolutely wrong' to claim Britain did not have a veto on new EU nations. He said Turkey joining the EU was 'not remotely on the cards' and remarkably, he even called into question her judgement as a minister - despite appointing her to the post last year. In further signs of the escalating division within the Tory party, it was revealed that Sir Nicholas Soames launched a foul-mouthed four-letter rant against a fellow Tory MP who is campaigning for Brexit. James Cleverly, the newly elected Conservative MP for Braintree, approached Sir Winston Churchill's grandson in a Commons dining room to say he agreed with his appeal for the party to unite after June's EU referendum and to hold off from personal attacks. But in an astonishing response, Sir Nicholas reportedly told Mr Cleverly: 'F*** off you c***. Family food bill will soar by 220 a year if we quit the EU, warns David Cameron as high street bosses warn of 'catastrophic' consequences of Brexit Families would face soaring food bills of more than 220 a year if Britain leaves the EU, David Cameron warned today. The Prime Minister jumped on the intervention of four of Britain's most successful high street bosses this morning after they claimed a Brexit vote would cause shop prices to rocket and prove catastrophic for millions of families and consumers. After visiting an Asda supermarket in west London this morning, he said the impact of leaving the EU would have a particular impact on food prices because 'so much of our food is imported' from Europe's single market. But Brexit campaigners dismissed his warnings, saying independent experts had found the EU 'pushes up the prices in our supermarkets because of its protectionist policies'. David Cameron visits an Asda supermarket in west London with former Labour interim leader Harriet Harman (left) today as he warned that family food bills could rocket by 220 a year if we leave the EU Mr Cameron said fresh analysis from the Treasury suggests the value of the pound could fall by 12 per cent following a vote to leave the Brussels club. Such a decline in the value of sterling would push up the price of food imports and add more than 220 a year to the cost of food for a family of four within just two years, Mr Cameron said. The research will come in a major new Treasury document published by Chancellor George Osborne tomorrow - three days before purdah rules ban ministers from using Whitehall departments to back up their arguments in the run up to the June 23 EU referendum. Appearing live on TV this morning, Mr Cameron asked voters: 'Is it worth taking this risk?' His warnings came after a dramatic intervention in the EU referendum debate from the former chiefs of Tesco, Sainsburys, Marks & Spencer and B&Q say leaving the EU would have a devastating effect on the economy. The Prime Minister (pictured talking to Asda staff in a store in west London this morning) jumped on the intervention of four of Britain's most successful high street bosses this morning after they claimed a Brexit vote would cause shop prices to rocket and prove catastrophic for millions of families and consumers After visiting an Asda supermarket in west London this morning, David Cameron (pictured speaking to an Asda worker this morning) said the impact of leaving the EU would have a particular impact on food prices because 'so much of our food is imported' from Europe's single market And they dismiss one of the key claims put forward by Leave campaign leaders Boris Johnson and Michael Gove that we would be better off without EU regulation as nonsense. They also argue that an Out vote could lead to a A spike in inflation, job losses and a plunging pound. The retail experts say the French could even start a tit-for-tat trade war in revenge, banning British lamb if we voted to sever ties with Brussels on June 23. The warnings were backed up by former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling, who wrote in today's Mail on Sunday that Brexit could leave people around 1,800 worse off each year - or nearly 150,000 over a lifetime. Speaking on the Peston on Sunday show on ITV this morning, Mr Cameron said: 'Youve got the heads of a whole bunch of some of the biggest supermarkets in our country, people who used to run them, all saying that prices would go up if we left the EU because there would be a shock to our economy, the pound would fall, and that would mean the prices we pay in our shops would be higher. 'Particularly food, because so much of our food is imported, you could see the impact on a typical family of 220 a year. 'And when you take all these things into account, all these economic dangers, you really have to ask yourself, "Is it worth taking this risk?" 'And I absolutely believe as Prime Minister of this country it is not worth the risk, there would be serious damage to our economy, to jobs, to investment, so we should not take this step.' Sir Terry Leahy (left). He trebled Tesco's value to 30bn during his 14-year reign as chief executive from 1997-2011. Sir Ian Cheshire (right) was chief executive of B&Q owner Kingfisher from 2008-2015, doubling its value to 8bn Warning of the consequences of a fall in the value of sterling, Mr Cameron added: 'The Treasury is going to be producing a report tomorrow, and part of that will be about this issue on prices, because what they are doing is taking a very simple issue on calculation, which is a whole set of economic forecasters have said that the likelihood is on average of a 12 per cent decline in Sterling, and that would translate over time into higher prices. 'Now I know that from my own experience, you know when the pound fell in 2007/8 we saw higher inflation come through in 2010/11. 'It affected peoples living standards, it made people less well off, it damaged our economy, it held back the recovery of our economy. So this is a very serious issue for people to consider.' In an article in todays Mail on Sunday, the former high street bosses Sir Terry Leahy of Tesco, Marc Bolland of M&S, Justin King of Sainsburys and Sir Ian Cheshire of B&Q owner Kingfisher say: We believe an exit could be catastrophic for the consumer recovery on which so much of our economic stability depends. They say that a victory for the Leave campaign would force Britain to seek new trade deals with other countries who were likely to exploit this renegotiation to their benefit. They say the French could be particularly problematic, warning: Its difficult to imagine that French farmers will continue to allow British lamb to be freely imported. Although they dont mention Boris Johnson and Michael Gove by name, they demolish their argument that Britain would be better off without EU regulations. In fact it would make it harder for UK firms to sell goods to Europe, they say. It is impossible to see how there could be an exit without an impact on prices and inflation. The unintended consequences of a Leave vote and the uncertainty it would create would be a massive shock to the system. Justin King: Former head of M&S's food division, he became chief exec of J Sainsbury in 2004, where he remained for a decade, boosting group sales from 15bn a year to 25bn Marc Bolland: After turning ailing Morrisons in his three years as chief executive, Bolland joined M&S in 2010, and left last month. Aged 57, he is also a director of Coca-Cola The retailers add: The much-cited suggestion that we will be free of the apparent constraints of over-regulation if we leave Europe is nonsense. We need regulation to protect consumers and, if we want to continue to trade with Europe, the rules still apply. If we left, there is the risk that Westminster would continue to build additional regulation on top of the European laws, making it more onerous rather than less. The shop bosses intervention was last night welcomed by David Cameron, who told The Mail on Sunday: This is a stark warning from our most successful retailers about the risks Britain faces if we take a leap in the dark and leave the EU. They are absolutely clear that millions of families will face higher prices in the shops. In his article today Mr Darling said the UK would be left permanently poorer after leaving the EU, adding: The cost will fall most harshly on our children and grandchildren every year of their lives. Between them, the four supermarket bosses employed 750,000 staff and were responsible for nearly 100 billion in annual sales. Their views were echoed last night by a fifth former retail giant, ex-Waitrose managing director Mark Price, now a Government Trade Minister, who said: Leaving the EU will see further pressure on the pound, which will mean higher prices. Mr Cameron has been buoyed by two recent polls giving his Remain camp a double-digit lead over Mr Johnsons Leave Tomorrow, the Leave campaign will launch a provocative advertising drive designed to exploit immigration fears over the possibility of Turkey joining the EU. A nationwide poster campaign will show dozens of footsteps walking through an open British passport. Mr Cameron has been buoyed by two recent polls giving his Remain camp a double-digit lead over Mr Johnsons Leave. But the former London Mayor hopes to close the gap when the pre-referendum purdah starts on Thursday, banning Ministers from using Whitehall to promote the Remain argument. The blue on blue war of words between Tories across the divide has become increasingly bitter. Yesterday, Mr Goves close ally Dominic Cummings, the campaign director of Vote Leave, ridiculed George Osbornes claim that house prices would plummet as a result of Brexit. The Chancellor was using Treasury analysis that would be banned during purdah. Mr Cummings posted a message on Twitter saying: Credibility of Whitehall forecasts deeper in toilet with HMTs [Her Majestys Treasury] balls on house prices & Osborne destroying own credibility & leadership hopes. A spokesman for Vote Leave, responding to the retail chiefs article, said: The EU is good for the bosses and for the bankers. It isnt good for the public who have to pay the taxes that go to the EU instead of to our NHS and it isnt good for small businesses. 'As independent experts have found, the EU pushes up the prices in our supermarkets because of its protectionist policies. FOUR GIANTS OF UK RETAIL BREAK SILENCE WITH DEVASTATING VISION OF AN OUT VOTE 'We have had the privilege of leading some of Britains largest and most successful retailers. Over the past 20 years, retail has been through a phenomenal transformation and remains one of the most dynamic and innovative industries in the UK. Consumers have never had such a large range of choice and quality. They can shop 24 hours a day, either in stores or online, at prices more affordable than ever. This has all been achieved with Britain as part of the European Union. Like the Leave campaigners, we believe Britain is a truly world-class country. But unlike them, we believe an exit could be catastrophic for the consumer recovery on which so much of our economic stability depends. It is impossible for us to see how there could be an exit without an impact on prices and inflation, the strong relationships weve built with our EU supplier partners, and the broader innovation and digital agenda. The unintended consequences of a Leave vote and the uncertainty it would create would be a massive shock to the system. It would probably mean further depreciation of the pound, driving up the price of imported goods for consumers. In the UK we have strong and sophisticated supply chain relationships across Europe, integrated in a way they never were in the past. At the moment there are no barriers to trade within the EU. In trading with the rest of the world, all sorts of rules and tariffs get in the way. A vote to exit would necessitate a complete renegotiation of our trading arrangements, which can only be of detriment to UK consumers. We can also expect our trading partners to exploit this renegotiation to their benefit. Its difficult to imagine French farmers will continue to allow British lamb to be freely imported. This leads to questions over the future of British agriculture as well as food manufacturing an industry in which we are net exporters and therefore the ultimate impact on jobs. There is no guarantee we can renegotiate quickly and efficiently enough to deal with some of these issues. As large retailers, our experience over many years is that scale gets you a better deal and being under time pressure is never helpful. British retails advancement over the next ten years is heavily reliant on investment in digital technology. The EUs recently agreed Digital Single Market strategy will open up opportunities for business and consumers across Europe, making the single market fit for the digital age. Britain is the digital hub of Europe and has led the way in shaping the digital economy. Indeed, this country is the e-commerce capital of Europe, with a market share of over one third. We have the expertise to continue to lead and it would be a massive missed opportunity to leave the EU now and not be part of the broader revolution. Finally, there is the issue of regulation. The much-cited suggestion that we will be free of the apparent constraints of over-regulation if we leave Europe is nonsense. We need regulation to protect consumers and, if we want to continue to trade with Europe, the rules still apply. If we left, there is the risk that Westminster would continue to build additional regulation on top of the European laws, making it more onerous rather than less. So it makes much more sense to have a seat at the table to shape future regulatory change rather than simply be bound by it. There is no doubt this is a fundamental decision for the British people. While we are not advocates of scaremongering, it is just good business to understand the risks before reaching a conclusion in this complex debate. We have a responsibility to help inform the consumers we have served for many years. While the EU is by no means perfect, exit would hit consumers the hardest. For that reason we will be voting to stay and continue to play our part in the successful and growing Europe we all want to see.' Sir Terry Leahy, Justin King, Marc Bolland and Sir Ian Cheshire Brexits big idea is a total Turkey, says former Labour chancellor ALISTAIR DARLING Alistair Darling: 'Brexits big idea is a total Turkey' If evidence is needed that Vote Leave campaigners have abandoned the economic argument, take a look at their fearmongering over new countries joining the EU. Their wild predictions are designed to deceive rather than inform. Under current proposals, Turkey wont join the EU in the foreseeable future. If this ever became a realistic prospect, the UK government could veto it, as could all EU countries. The idea that Turkey and others are on the brink of joining is such a far-fetched notion that even Boris Johnson has said it is simply not on the cards. So why is the Leave campaign reaching for the Ukip playbook? Because they cannot win an argument that Britains economy will prosper outside Europe. Analysis by the Treasury, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation all underline the scale of the risk we face. Overwhelming evidence shows that if we vote leave, the UK would be permanently poorer. The case is unanswerable. Assuming we were to follow Vote Leaves policy of negotiating a new free-trade agreement, the annual cost of leaving to the economy would be the equivalent of 1,800 per person per year. This cost will fall most harshly on our children and grandchildren. And its a cost they will face every year of their lives. For those born between 2012 and 2014 the cost over their lifetime would be a staggering 145,800. Not a land of opportunity outside, but the next generation weaker and worse off. The Governor of the Bank of England and the IMF have both said that if we leave, the result could be recession for the British economy. The prospect sends shivers down my spine. I was there last time and I dont want our country to revisit the experience. If there is one thing I know about, it is how it feels when a country faces potential financial ruin. As Chancellor in 2008, I saw the catastrophic effects of a breakdown in confidence and deep uncertainty after the banking crash. I saw confidence drain and jobs threatened, forcing everyone Government, businesses and families to take dramatic steps to keep the economy going. Historical evidence and recent experience show that, when we suffer recession, then insolvencies, repossessions unemployment particularly among young people all soar. Between 2007 and 2009, insolvencies rose more than 60 per cent, repossessions almost doubled and the number of businesses being set up collapsed. New 'Out' poster: Vote Leaves provocative claim that Turkey is on the brink of joining the EU is dismissed by Alistair Darling as fearmongering Do we want to go through such pain again, with working peoples life chances and livelihoods under threat just as they begin to recover? Never again do I want to see people queuing to take their life savings out of cash machines or carrying boxes out of their workplaces. But that is the reality of the Vote Leave offer. Vote Leave wants Britain to leave the EUs single market, which was the reason we joined in the first place to pool our sovereignty and reap the benefits of having an equal part of the worlds largest free-trade area of 500 million people. Within the single market we trade goods and services freely and set the terms of doing business. This brings 250 billion of additional trade, investment, three million jobs and lower prices. Given those benefits, it is no wonder a majority of businesses large and small want us to stay. If we leave, we will be erecting barriers to trade that would hit half our exports. Where is the sense in that? You cannot walk out of the worlds largest free-trade zone one minute and expect all its benefits to fall into your lap the next. Norway, outside the EU, has access to trade but has no say over the rules it has to play by. It also must accept free movement of people the very thing the Leave campaign has set itself against. Switzerland has even more limited access, and Canada, which Boris says we should follow, will not have the full access to Europes markets that we have today. What about trade with the rest of the world? There is nothing to stop us selling more right now to the likes of China or India. Germany, which has a highly successful export trade in engineering goods, does very well while still being a major player in the EU. The single market works. It protects jobs, which in turn generate money for public services such as the NHS. Vote Leave campaigners want to pretend otherwise, but they cannot counter this argument. That is why they are betting the house on the age-old strategy of blaming immigrants for everything. Yes, we must control borders, and we do, but recession is no answer to pressures on public services. As we enter the final five weeks of campaigning it is close, but we in the Remain camp can feel confident. People vote with their pockets and we are winning the arguments over pounds and pence. Stewart Hosie has announced he is standing down as deputy leader of the SNP following revelations he was caught up in a love triangle with politics journalist Serena Cowdy. The 53-year-old MP for Dundee East wrote to his party leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon apologising for the 'hurt and upset I have caused to friends, family and colleagues'. He said he was stepping down due to the 'stress of the intense scrutiny of my private life' and cited his 'high blood pressure' as a reason for quitting. Stewart Hosie (left) has announced he is standing down as deputy leader of the SNP following revelations he was caught up in a love triangle with politics journalist Serena Cowdy (right) Mr Hosie has been admitted to hospital on three occasions in the last few years and suffered a mini stroke in 2012. He split up with his wife after the Daily Mail revealed he was having an affair with 36-year-old journalist Serena Cowdy, who had previously had an affair with fellow SNP MP Angus MacNeil, 45. Miss Cowdy's back-to-back affairs have made front-page headlines in England and Scotland over the last week and have triggered an investigation by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority over claims the two SNP MPs may have used taxpayers' cash for their trysts. Mr Hosie will leave his post as deputy leader of the party at the SNP's autumn conference, when new elections will take place. LOVE-TRIANGLE SERENA 'HOPES TO MARRY STEWART HOSIE' Oxford graduate Serena Cowdy (pictured), who had flings with Angus MacNeil and Stewart Hosie, is 'in love' with Mr Hosie the party's deputy leader and wants a long-term relationship The woman caught up in the SNP love triangle hopes to marry the most recent of her MP lovers, friends have told The Mail on Sunday. Oxford graduate Serena Cowdy, who had flings with Angus MacNeil and Stewart Hosie, is 'in love' with Mr Hosie the party's deputy leader and wants a long-term relationship. The 36-year-old journalist's back- to-back affairs with Mr MacNeil, 45, and Mr Hosie, 53, led to the end of both men's marriages and have triggered an investigation by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority over claims they may have used taxpayers' cash for their trysts. Mr Hosie said last Sunday that he was separating from wife Shona Robison, a senior politician in the Scottish Parliament, while Mr MacNeil announced his separation from wife Jane last year not long after his affair with Miss Cowdy ended. One of Miss Cowdy's friends said: 'She is very upset at the way she is being portrayed. 'Both relationships were important to her, and did not overlap, and she is very much in love with Stewart. 'She sees a long and serious future with him.' Miss Cowdy, who was reported to have described SNP MPs as romantic revolutionaries who were 'the Mujahideen of British politicians', emerged from her South London flat at the end of last week after five days in hiding, but declined to comment. On Friday, Mr Hosie was back in his Dundee East constituency for a stage-managed meeting with his estranged wife. Miss Robison said they would 'continue to work together'. Advertisement Responding to his letter, Mrs Sturgeon paid tribute to Mr Hosie's work as deputy leader and his work on the SNP's 2015 and 2016 election manifestos. But privately Mrs Sturgeon is understood to be angry with Mr Hosie for the negative spotlight his affair has put on the SNP and was pictured consoling his MSP wife, Shona Robison, as she cried in the Holyrood Parliament last week. In his letter to Mrs Sturgeon today, he wrote: 'I am writing to you firstly to apologise for any hurt and upset I have caused to friends, family and colleagues. That was never my intention. 'I am also writing to tell you of my intention not to seek re-election as Depute Leader of the SNP at this year's annual conference, giving ample time for the Party to choose a successor. 'As you know I have been admitted to hospital on three occasions in the past few years with very high blood pressure. 'In that regard, the stress of the intense scrutiny of my private life has been very difficult. 'I intend to concentrate on my constituents, my responsibilities at Westminster, and most importantly, my health. It has been a pleasure to serve under your leadership and I hope to do so for many years to come.' Nominations for finding a new deputy leader will close on August 5 and the outcome of the contest will be announced at the start of the party's autumn conference in October. Labour welcomed Mr Hosie's announcement but said the revelations of his and Mr MacNeil's affair 'exposes something more significant about the SNP at Westminster'. Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said: 'Instead of attacking each other, SNP MPs should be focused on delivering for their constituents. 'Last year the SNP told us their MPs would be stronger for Scotland, but just twelve months on many have been a source of real embarrassment. 'This incident hasn't just seen them let down their party, but they are letting down the people of Scotland who have voted for them and expect much better behaviour.' Mrs Sturgeon, a close friend of Miss Robison, who is Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport in the Scottish Government, said today she wished Mr Hosie well. The First Minister wrote: 'During your tenure in office, amongst your many other duties, you have authored two successful election manifestos - providing the policy platform for our victories in both the 2015 general election and the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. 'These are achievements you should be very proud of. 'As you step down as deputy leader, I know you will continue to make a valuable contribution to the party in many ways and, in particular, through your work in your constituency and as part of the Westminster group.' Mr Hosie said last Sunday he was separating from his wife Shona Robison, the Health Secretary in the Scottish Government and an MSP, whose Dundee constituency overlaps with Mr Hosie's. Mr MacNeil announced his separation from wife Jane last year - not long after his affair with Miss Cowdy ended. The journalist's back- to-back affairs with Mr MacNeil, 45, (left) and Mr Hosie, 53, led to the end of both men's marriages Responding to Stewart Hosie's (left) resignation letter, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon (right) paid tribute to Mr Hosie's work as deputy leader and his work on the SNP's 2015 and 2016 election manifestos. But privately Mrs Sturgeon is understood to be angry with Mr Hosie for the negative spotlight his affair has put on the SNP and was pictured consoling his MSP wife, Shona Robison, as she cried in the Holyrood Parliament last week. Friends of Miss Cowdy told the Mail on Sunday that she hopes to marry Mr Hosie after their affair triggered the break-up of his marriage with Shona Robison, an MSP for the SNP in the Edinburgh Parliament. Miss Cowdy, an Oxford graduate wants a long-term relationship. One of Miss Cowdy's friends said: 'She is very upset at the way she is being portrayed. 'Both relationships were important to her, and did not overlap, and she is very much in love with Stewart. 'She sees a long and serious future with him.' Miss Cowdy, who was reported to have described SNP MPs as romantic revolutionaries who were 'the Mujahideen of British politicians', emerged from her South London flat at the end of last week after five days in hiding, but declined to comment. On Friday, Mr Hosie was back in his Dundee East constituency for a stage-managed meeting with his estranged wife. Miss Robison said they would 'continue to work together'. Mr MacNeil had charged the taxpayer 6,250 for stays at London's Park Plaza in 2014-15, where Miss Cowdy told friends she repeatedly spent the night with him. Yesterday a woman at Mr Hosie's marital home in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, declined to comment. Mr MacNeil is facing calls to quit as chairman of the energy select committee, which comes with a 15,025 boost on top of his MP's salary of nearly 75,000. A senior Labour source said: 'Angus MacNeil must now ask himself whether he can continue in his highly paid position as chair of the House of Commons energy committee. The 44-year-old was in a domestic dispute with his brother earlier An Olympic medalist has been charged with high-range drink driving and gun offences after he was found with a shotgun and 150 rounds of ammunition following a domestic dispute with his brother. Australian target shooter Michael Diamond was arrested at around 9pm on Saturday after police allegedly found him standing beside his car in Shoal Bay, north of Newcastle, with a gun and collection of bullets inside. The dual gold medalist, who won for Australia in 1996 and 2000, refused a roadside breath test and was taken back to Raymond Terrace Police Station where he was found to have a blood-alcohol reading of 0.159, just over three times the legal limit, the Daily Telegraph reported. Scroll down for video Australian target shooter Michael Diamond was arrested at around 9pm on Saturday after police allegedly found him standing beside his car in Shoal Bay, north of Newcastle, with a gun and collection of bullets inside The internationally renowned shooter was believed to have been in an altercation with his brother John earlier that night, with Diamond's sibling slapping a restraining order on him the following day Police said the 44-year-old's licence was suspended and he was charged with high range drink driving, handling a firearm while under the influence and not keeping his weapon in a secure location. The internationally renowned shooter was believed to have been in an altercation with his brother John earlier that night, with Diamond's sibling slapping a restraining order on him the following day. The most recent controversy surrounding the gunman, who launched an online tirade against two of his competitors earlier this year, may cause selectors to rule him out of contention for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. He has been shortlisted for the team however Michell Iles, 17, has been tipped to beat the senior shooter, who has competed in seven straight Olympic Games. The most recent controversy surrounding the gunman, who launched an online tirade against two competitors earlier this year, may cause selectors to rule him out of contention for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games The 44-year-old allegedly got into an altercation with his brother John at his Nelson Bay home Shooting Australia and the Olympic Committee have not commented on the charges, the Daily Telegraph reported. Diamond reportedly received an official warning from police several months ago after telling a group of young partygoers to turn their music down with a shotgun in hand. The 44-year-old was granted conditional bail and is expected to have his case heard at Raymond Terrace Local Court in early June. Britain's children's commissioners have lobbied the UN for a ban on parents smacking their own children. A report that also discussed issues such as the criminal age of responsibility and the voting age was submitted by a delegation earlier this month, reports the Sunday Times. Currently the law in England allows parents to show 'reasonable chastisement' towards their children if they have misbehaved but if they inflict cuts or bruises they can face prosecution. Britain's children's commissioners have lobbied the UN for a ban on parents smacking children (file photo) UN committee members will review the way Britain has respected the rights of children over the past eight years and a delegation from the UK will be grilled by a panel in Geneva during a two-day hearing. Our commissioners, Anne Longfield representing youngsters in England, Tam Baillie, Scotland, Koulla Yiasouma, Northern Ireland and Sally Holland, Wales, have suggested 114 ways in which the nation can improve. Regarding children being smacked, the report says: 'The UK and devolved governments should ensure that children have equal protection from violence under the law. 'All corporal punishment in the family and in all other institutions and forms of alternative care should be prohibited, including through the repeal of legal defences.' Pictured, Anne Longfield is the Children's Commissioner for England and Tam Baillie represents youngsters in Scotland Smacking is currently banned in Germany, Spain and Holland and there have been calls by children's rights campaigners for similar action to be taken here. However, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has said ministers should not tell parents how to raise their children. She said previously: 'I don't want to criminalise parents if that's the decision that they take to discipline their child.' Pictured, Children's Commissioner for Wales Sally Holland (left) and Northern Irish counterpart Koulla Yiasouma Smacking is not the only contentious issue discussed and scrutinised in the report. The commissioners want to see the criminal age of responsibility to be increased, it is currently 10 years old, but they have not outlined to what. They would also like to see the voting age lowered from 18 to 16 and youngsters over 10 to be consulted on politics and Government plans. Now that the Republicans have their nominee, but the Democratic race presses on, polls are showing a very tight race in November between Donald Trump and likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Moody's Analytics predicts Clinton will win in the fall, but of the two major national polls that dropped today she's behind in one of them and ahead of Trump, but within the poll's margin of error, in the other survey. Polling from the swing states of Florida and Ohio shows Clinton one point ahead in the Sunshine State and five points ahead in the Buckeye State. Scroll down for video TIED? In one new poll that came out today, Donald Trump (left) was the general election leader, while another new poll had Hillary Clinton (right) ahead In two new national polls that came out today, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are neck-and-neck in the general election race The new ABC News/Washington Post poll has Trump up by two points 46 percent to 44 percent among registered voters. This represents a shift of 11 points toward the Republican nominee since the end of March. In those two months, Trump's two rivals, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, both dropped out, making the billionaire the Republicans' presumptive nominee. When looking at the bigger pool of American adults, Clinton still holds the lead 48 percent to 42 percent, but she's still down 18 points from where she was in March. Among the registered voters who said they are supporting Clinton, 48 percent were doing so because they liked her as a candidate while another 48 percent were voting against Trump. Of the registered voters who said they were supporting Trump, 44 percent said they were casting a vote for the billionaire, while another 53 percent said they were casting a vote against Clinton. The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that came out today has Clinton up by three points, but within the survey's margin of error of 3.1 percent. Clinton receives 46 percent support from registered voters, while Trump received 43 percent support from the same group. Breaking down those numbers, Clinton does well among African-Americans (88 percent to 9 percent), Latinos (68 percent to 20 percent), women (51 percent to 38 percent) and registered voters ages 18 to 34 (55 percent to 32 percent). Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are basically tied in Florida, a new poll shows, while she's a tiny bit ahead in the battleground state of Ohio Trump scores better with whites (52 percent to 36 percent), seniors (52 percent to 41 percent), men (49 percent to 40 percent) and independents (42 percent to 37 percent). The NBC News poll, like the ABC News/Washington Post poll, was taken after Trump became the presumptive nominee, and thus shows Republicans' coalescing around their man. Now 86 percent of Republicans say they're supporting Trump, versus 6 percent who would defect and vote Clinton. This is up from the 72 percent of Republicans who said they'd support the billionaire last month, versus the 13 percent who'd run across the aisle. With the Democratic race still pressing on, support for Clinton the overwhelming favorite for the nomination hasn't solidified as neatly. While 83 percent of Democrats said they'd support Clinton in the general election, versus 9 percent who'd vote for Trump, just 66 percent of Democratic primary voters who supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said they'd support Clinton over Trump. That compared to 88 percent of Clinton supporters who'd vote for Sanders if he was up against Trump, if the Democratic primary went the other way. There's good news in the new polls for Bernie Sanders too as he's the only candidate of the three who gets net positive ratings from survey respondents Those numbers show the difficulty Clinton may have in reuniting the Democratic Party after what has become, of late, a more bitter and divisive race. Moving on to the new batch of CBS polls, in which voters in the battleground states of Florida and Ohio were surveyed, Clinton was just one point ahead of Trump in Florida, clearly within the poll's four point margin of error. In Ohio, Clinton leads Trump 44 percent to 39 percent, with a margin of error of 3.7 percent. In these battleground states, both candidates have at least eight in 10 members of their respective parties supporting them as the primary contests wind down. While it's highly unlikely that Sanders will be able to win enough pledged delegates to make the case that he should be the Democratic nominee, today's set of polls contain some good news for the underdog. In the ABC News/Washington Post poll, Sanders is the most-liked candidate of the three, achieving a net positive rating among registered voters of a plus-eight percent. Clinton, on the other hand, has a net negative of 16, while Trump's stands at negative 17. The NBC News/Wall Street Journal shows Sanders winning overwhelmingly against Trump in a head-to-head match-up, 54 to 39 percent. This poll, too, shows Sanders with net positives, while Trump and Clinton have net negatives. Sanders would also beat Trump by a bigger margin if they were on the ballot together in Ohio, with Sanders winning 48 to 39 percent. Smiling into the face of her father this is four-and-a-half months-old Joumana the youngest victim of the Egyptair crash. Wrapped up warmly in a pink baby-grow the infant can be seen just days before her young life was cruelly snatched away in the air disaster before it had hardly begun. The baby-girl was the youngest of the 66 passengers and crew to perish when the Egypt air plummeted into the Mediterranean Sea in flames. Tragic loss: Joumana, four months, and her two-and-a-half-year-old brother Mohamed (right) were two of the youngest casualities of the EgyptAir disaster Sat next to her on the passenger jet was her older brother Mohamed, aged two-and-a-half. He is pictured here with a cheeky glint in his bright brown eyes and with soft, curly brown hair. The children were supposed to be enjoying their first seaside holiday, two weeks in the warmth of the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh. Their doting father, Faycal Bettiche, had booked a break for his young family wife Nouha, son Mohamed and baby daughter Joumana French Algerians from the western city of Angers. Faycal and his family were going for a two-week holiday in Egypt, his heart-broken sister Assia told MailOnline. They were flying to Cairo and then take a connecting flight to Sharm El Sheikh. They had packed their swimming costumes and sun hats. Mr Bettiche, a respected fruit and vegetable trader, had wanted to spend time with his family ahead of the summer, his busiest work period. They had not had a proper holiday for three years. Pictured: Faycal Bettiche (left) and his wife Nouha were taking their young children on holiday when travelling on the doomed flight. Right, distressed relatives of EgyptAir gather at Cairo Airport on the day of the crash Vanished: EgyptAir flight MS804 heading from Paris to Cairo crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after disappearing from radar. The doomed jet was targetted in an attack by political vandals two years ago Faycal had been working really hard recently and he just wanted to relax with his young family, Assia continued. He worked in the market here in Angers selling fruit and vegetables. Assia continued: They had two lovely children. Mohamed was only two and a half years old. And Joumana was still a baby, only four and a half months old. They were both still at home with their mother but Mohamed was going to start nursery in September. The plane's twisted blue metal panelling, marked with EgyptAir branding as well as items of clothing and yellow life jackets, has been recovered from the Mediterranean Sea The first pictures of the mangled wreckage from the EgyptAir flight 804 have emerged as investigators confirm smoke was detected in multiple places moments before the plane plummeted into the Mediterranean Yesterday as a stream of well-wishers paid their respects to Mr Bettiches devastated parents at their smart apartment in central Angers his sister Assia told how they had learned of the terrible tragedy. The 38-year-old recalled: We all wished them off when they left Angers for Charles De Gaulle Airport. Then a friend saw what had happened on the news and called us. We are all in terrible shock. Our mother is beside herself. Our father Salah is so upset. He has lost his son. The couple had married some three-and-a-half years before. Faycal, 38, had met his wife Nouha, 28, in Constantine, the Algerian city from which his parents had emigrated to France. She may have gone on a $4.6million spending spree at a bank's expense, but it may be hard to prove criminal charges against student Christine Jia Xin Lee, 21, because the bank provided her with the credit she spent. The Malaysian student has claimed she believed the mistaken money transferred to her had come from her parents. She'd received the millions after opening an account with Australia's Westpac bank in 2012 while studying at the University of Sydney. Scroll down for video It may be hard to prove charges laid against Malaysian student Christine Xia Jin Lee because she had been transferred the money she spent by Westpac Christine Jia Xin Lee, 21, spent $4.6m in just 11 months by splurging on luxury items such as a $90,000 handbag. She told investigators she thought her parents had given her the money The millions transferred to Ms Lee, and her spending, were not noticed for years because monitoring of her account had accidentally been switched off It's because it was the bank that mistakenly provided her the credit that a magistrate said earlier this month it could be hard to prove charges against her. But despite Westpac even freezing her account when an alleged victim of fraud claimed some money had been paid into Ms Lee's account, her spending of the $4.6m fortune wasn't noticed until last year, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Westpac had investigated following the alleged fraud claim, using administration functions to freeze transactions and remove Ms Lee's account from monitoring at the bank where it'd been held using 'Manager 321 Status'. But soon after it was deemed there was no issue. In just one day in April, Lee spent $220,200 at the Sydney Christian Dior store. The next day she returned to spend another $94,000 Ms Lee's account was unfrozen - but Manager 321 Status wasn't removed, leaving it unmonitored, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. She could make withdrawals without them being noticed. That made it possible for her to transfer about $4.5m to her PayPal account and then move about half to two Commonwealth Bank accounts. After that, she allegedly started spending - during an 11-month period in 2014-2015 she took advantage of the money she'd received. On a single day she allegedly splurged $220,000 at the Christian Dior Shop in Sydney. Eventually, she triggered an alert. On April 7, 2015, over 14 transactions, she transferred $1.15 to her PayPal. Westpac's Product Risk unit was alerted, her account frozen, and on April 8, a senior manager called, demanding an explanation for the missing millions. After she was arrested earlier this month attempting to board a flight to Malaysia, she was with dishonesty obtaining financial advantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime. Ms Lee was arrested earlier this month attempting to board a flight to Malaysia, she was with dishonesty obtaining financial advantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime HOW DID MS LEE SPEND THE MONEY? A list of Ms Lee's purchases shows that the $4.6m was frittered away indulging her expensive taste for luxury items. The list shows she spent $1,350 on a Chanel cashmere pillow, almost $9,000 on a Cartier love bracelet and another $2,500 on a pair of Christian Louboutin boots. She bought 13 Hermes designer scarves and a number of their handbags - which can cost up to $150,000. The extensive list shows that on April 9, 2015, she spent $220,200 at the Christian Dior Sydney store, returning the next day to spend a further $94,520. Advertisement When a magistrate said criminal charged could be hard to prove, Westpac argued she had signed terms and conditions that she would not overdraw her account, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Transcripts of the April 8 call obtained by Fairfax reveal Ms Lees extraordinary explanation. My parents give me lots of money, she told investigations manager Matt Tregoning. I bought clothes, shoes, lots of handbags ... They are in my unit at Rhodes. My mother is coming over to visit me in June and we will give the bank a cheque. I have [told my parents about it] and they are not very happy with me. Following Ms Lee's conversation with Mr Tregoning, Westpac then took court action to seize all her assets, declare her bankrupt and confiscate her passport. The bank has recovered the $1.15m transferred to her PayPal last year, however, the remaining money hasn't been returned. A fearless mother who bravely confronted Lee Rigby's machete-wielding killers has told how she wished she acted like a 'coward' that day as the moment has ruined her life. Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, 51, dubbed the 'Angel of Woolwich', said she regrets challenging the crazed killers just seconds after they butchered the 25-year-old soldier to death. Others fled the scene outside the Woolwich barracks on May 22, 2013, but the former cub scout leader tried to keep Michael Adebolajo talking for a long as possible as she was worried he would keep killing. The mother-of-two immediately stepped off the bus in south east London and stood up to the Muslim fanatics as Adebolajo clutched a bloody knife. Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, 51, dubbed the 'Angel of Woolwich', said she regrets challenging the crazed killers just seconds after they butchered the 25-year-old soldier to death But she has now revealed how the events of that day have left her without and job and added that she is battling post-traumatic stress disorder. She also suffers from anxiety attacks and is petrified about leaving her home and can sleep for up to four days in a row. The former teacher, who received a host of bravery awards and praise from Prime Minister David Cameron, told The Sun Online: 'I can't stop sleeping, I just don't wake up. 'I recently lost three stone and have a list of medication as longer than my arm. 'In the winter there is often three or four days before I wake up a little bit, have a drink and go to the loo then go back to sleep.' Ingrid, from Helston, Cornwall, added: 'I've got PTSD and I can't find a doctor to help me. 'I feel sick, poor and isolated. What's the point in being hero if I don't see it in my everyday life?' Ingrid was on the No53 bus which went past Fusilier Rigby's body and sprinted over without realising his killers were just yards away On the afternoon of May 22 2013, Fusilier Lee Rigby (pictured) was attacked and killed by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale Michael Adebolajo, 32, (left) is serving a whole life term while his accomplice Michael Adebowale, 24, (right) is serving at least 45 years for the brutal murder Ingrid was on the No 53 bus which went past Fusilier Rigby's body and sprinted over without realising his killers were just yards away. But she said the publicity surrounding her heroics has made her a target for bullies who have pelted her home with eggs. She said: 'At the time I saw three couples in three cars drive off and thought 'shame on you, you cowards. But maybe next time I would take the cowards way out.' Austria's far right last night claimed the countrys presidential election was rigged after their anti-immigration candidate was narrowly beaten in the knife-edge poll. Norbert Hofer was on course to become Europe's first far-Right leader since the Second World War and was ahead by a narrow margin as votes were counted on Sunday night. But yesterday it was declared he had missed out by just 31,000 votes among the 4.64million cast after a record 700,000 postal ballots were added in. Scroll down for video Austria's Far-Right presidential candidate Norbert Hofer (centre) has conceded defeat in his election bid to become the EU's first anti-immigrant leader Alexander Van der Bellen waves after delivering a statement following the Austrian presidential elections run-off, outside the Palais Schoenburg, in Vienna, Supporters of the controversial Freedom Party candidate, who has ridden to prominence on a wave of public anger over immigration, immediately denounced the result as a fix. Mr Hofer, who won 49.7 per cent of the vote, lost out to Alexander Van der Bellen, a pro-EU independent backed by the Greens, who secured a paper-thin victory with 50.3 per cent support. Despite Mr Hofers loss, the close result is a rude wake-up call for the continents established parties. In a message posted on Facebook, Mr Hofer expressed his disappointment but described it as a step forward ahead of the countrys parliamentary elections in 2018 that opinion polls regularly suggest his part could win. Of course I am sad, the 45-year-old wrote to supporters, but added: Please don't be disheartened. The effort in this election campaign is not wasted, but is an investment for the future. 'I would have liked to take care of our wonderful country for you as president,' he added. Concerns over immigration have become a major issue in the country of just 8.6million people that received 90,000 asylum seekers last year and is expecting a further 75,000 this year. Mr Hofer, who often carries a Glock pistol for 'protection', used his last pre-election gathering to deliver a message with anti-Muslim overtones. At his swearing-in as Freedom Party candidate, he wore a cornflower in his lapel, which was a Nazi symbol in the 1930s. Supporters of presidential candidate Alexander Van der Bellen hugged as they awaited official confirmation of the results The Austrian Interior Ministry said this afternoon that Hofer received 49.7 per cent of the vote while Van der Bellen received 50.3 per cent. Van der Bellen supporters are pictured celebrating Most observers had thought that Mr Van der Bellen, 72, would fail to beat his polished younger rival after lagging 14 points behind him in the first round of voting on April 24. But in the last 14 days, there has been such a momentum among voters... (across) all sections of society, Mr Van der Bellen said after polls for the second round run-off closed on Sunday. Mr Hofer toned down his partys election message to win voters across the spectrum disillusioned with the mainstream parties in the current government that have dominated national politics since 1945. Coalition partners, the Social Democrats and the centre-right People's Party suffered a historic debacle in the first round when they were knocked out with 11 percent each. The shock defeat prompted chancellor Werner Faymann to quit. The vote in Austria has unsettled leaders elsewhere in Europe, particularly in neighbouring Germany where the new anti-immigration Alternative for Germany is on the rise. French Prime Minister Manual Valls on Monday voiced 'relief' over the razor-thin victory. Mr Van der Bellen, left, and Mr Hofer, right, were pictured shaking hands as the polls showed they were level 'Relief to see the Austrians reject populism and extremism,' Valls tweeted about the result from Sunday's cliff-hanger vote. 'Everyone in Europe should learn from this.' In France, the National Front of Marine Le Pen is leading in polls ahead of a presidential election next year. In the first round on April 24, the candidates of the Social Democrats (SPOe) and their centre-right coalition partners People's Party (OeVP), came a disastrous fourth and fifth with just 11 percent of the vote. That meant that for the first time since 1945, these parties, which have long dominated politics in one of the EU's most stable democracies, had to watch the second round from the sidelines. This was also the final straw for Werner Faymann of the SPOe, who quit as chancellor on May 9. His successor, railways boss Christian Kern, was appointed last week, with two years to win voters back from the arms of the far-right before the next scheduled general election. He said the work of his supporters during the election is 'not lost but an investment in the future'. Mr Hofer, right, was slightly ahead of his rival in the polls but Van der Bellen has emerged as the winner Greens Party politician Alexander Van der Bellen, front, second right, ran as an independent candidate Experts had suggested the postal votes could favour Mr Hofer today as they were more likely to be cast by older people who are more Right-wing. A huge influx of asylum-seekers, rising unemployment and frozen reforms has driven voters away from the two centrist parties that have dominated Austrian politics since 1945. AUSTRIA'S NEW PRESIDENT - A MAN WHO DREAMS OF A 'UNITED STATES OF EUROPE' WITHOUT BORDERS AND BOASTS OF BEING THE SON OF MIGRANTS Fans affectionally call him 'the professor' or 'Sascha', a diminutive of Alexander in reference to his Russian roots, while his critics decry him as a haughty 'green dictator'. Instead of healing Austria's political rift, Alexander Van der Bellen has proved as divisive a figure in the country's nailbiting presidential race as his far-right rival. Despite backing from the nation's most illustrous personalities including Chancellor Christian Kern, the ex-Green party leader struggled to convince many conservative voters, who accused him of pandering to the left. Instead of healing Austria's political rift, Alexander Van der Bellen (pictured) has proved as divisive a figure in the country's nailbiting presidential race as his far-right rival But he managed to beat the odds to pip Norbert Hofer of the Freedom Party (FPOe) by a paper-thin margin of just 31,000 votes. 'He's the lesser evil of the two,' was a commonly heard phrase at polling stations in Vienna, and Van der Bellen even used this pitch to undecided Austrians. 'I ask all those who don't like me but perhaps like Hofer even less to vote for me,' he had pleaded ahead of Sunday's runoff. 'Otherwise we run the risk of not recognising Austria if Norbert Hofer becomes president.' At 72, the grey-haired economics professor often cut a somewhat dishevelled and tired-looking figure next to the FPOe's gun-enthusiast Hofer, 45, who walks with a cane after a paragliding accident. But first impressions can be misleading. Van der Bellen's decade-long career as leader of the Greens Party until 2008 has turned him into an agile and at times aggressive opponent in debates. 'I don't want that Austria becomes the first country in western Europe led by a populist right-wing, pan-Germanic fraternity member,' he told voters. He also vowed to not swear in Strache as chancellor if the FPOe, currently ahead in polls, wins the next general election scheduled for 2018. The remark prompted Hofer to call him a 'fascist green dictator'. Increasingly sharp exchanges between the two men often degenerated into political mud-slinging, highlighting their glaring differences over issues like the migrant crisis. Fans affectionally call him 'the professor' or 'Sascha', a diminutive of Alexander in reference to his Russian roots, while his critics decry him as a haughty 'green dictator' Van der Bellen revealed he himself was a 'child of refugees who has received a lot from Austria'. He was born on January 18, 1944 in Vienna to an aristocratic Russian father and an Estonian mother who had fled Stalinism. The arrival of the Red Army a year later forced the family to escape to the southern state of Tyrol, where Van der Bellen spent an 'idyllic childhood'. He studied economics at the University of Innsbruck and finished his PhD in 1970 before going to to become dean of economics at the University of Vienna two decades later. Van der Bellen's professorial manner has become a familiar feature, often riling Hofer. 'I'm talking about Europe: E-U-R-O-P-E. Never heard of it?' Van der Bellen taunted his opponent during a TV duel. 'My God, the schoolmasterliness, Herr Doctor Van der Bellen,' an agitated Hofer shot back. Adversaries have also accused Van der Bellen of being a 'turncoat' because he was a member of the Social Democrats before joining the Greens in the early 1990s and eventually becoming their president. Under his leadership, the party went on to achieve record results, but he quit after the 2008 election when the Greens lost votes for the first time in almost 10 years. As Austrian president, he dreams of a fence-free 'United States of Europe', which defends the rights of minority groups. An outspoken supporter of gay marriage, the divorced and recently remarried father-of-two garnered signatures from more than 4,000 public figures in the course of his presidential campaign. This prompted a seemingly unimpressed Hofer to attack his rival for being too highbrow: 'You have the glitterati, but I have the people,' he snapped. In his private life, Van der Bellen admits to two weaknesses: Donald Duck comics and cigarettes. 'I once quit for four months... but why should I torture myself at my age!', he said. Presidential candidates backed by the Social Democratic Party and People's Party were eliminated in last month's round, marking the first time neither were to be president since the end of the war. His popularity reflected deep disillusionment with the political status quo and their approach to the migrant crisis and other issues. Both men drew clear lines between themselves and their rival as they went into Sunday's race. At his final rally Friday, Van der Bellen, pictured, said he was for 'an open, Europe-friendly, Europe-conscious Austria' He added today that he was 'pro-European' but 'had doubts' whether Mr Hofer was of the same opinion The pair, left and right, faced an agonising wait until today when the remaining postal votes were counted At his final rally Friday, Van der Bellen said he was for 'an open, Europe-friendly, Europe-conscious Austria'. Asked as he arrived to vote today what differentiated him from Hofer, Van der Bellen said: 'I think I'm pro-European and there are some doubts as far as Mr Hofer is concerned.' Hofer, in turn, used his last pre-election gathering to deliver a message with anti-Muslim overtones. 'To those in Austria who go to war for the Islamic State or rape women - I say to those people: 'This is not your home',' he told a cheering crowd. THE GUN ENTHUSIAST SEEN AS THE 'GOLDEN BOY' OF AUSTRIA'S FAR-RIGHT He has been described as the new golden boy of Austria's far fight. Norbert Hofer is a smooth-talking gun enthusiast who sent shock waves through the political establishment by defying polls and shooting to the top of the first round of a presidential ballot earlier this year. Described as the 'friendly face' of the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), the 45-year-old caught everyone by surprise, not least the country's centrist parties whose candidates failed to even make it into the run-off over the weekend. Many voters disgruntled with the ruling coalition, made up of the Social Democrats (SPOe) and conservative People's Party (OeVP), flocked to Hofer and his promise of 'putting Austria first'. Well-dressed and soft-spoken, the self-proclaimed Margaret Thatcher fan pushed traditional FPOe themes like anti-immigration with a smile, using more moderate rhetoric than party leader Heinz-Christian Strache. 'Hofer could set a new trend for the FPOe by being so unbelievably moderate in his tone and coming across as so nice in public appearances... It fits into the FPOe's strategy to target the middle ground of the electorate,' political expert Thomas Hofer told AFP. The father-of-four carries a Glock pistol under his suits and likes to post pictures of himself on social media at shooting ranges Hofer's polished campaign, based on the slogan 'Unspoilt, honest, good', proved a hit with the masses, earning him a whopping 35 percent in the vote's first round - the FPOe best-ever result at federal level since 1945. The ex-deputy parliamentary speaker at first refused to join the race because he felt 'too young'. The FPOe's new star often walks with a cane after a paraglide accident - something Hofer highlighted during his campaign as a sign of his sheer determination and will. 'He always gives 100 percent. Already as a child, he wanted to do everything right,' his mother Gertraud told Austrian media. The trained aeronautical engineer has had a slow but steady climb to the top of the FPOe leadership the past two decades. Born on March 2, 1970 into a middle-class family, Hofer grew up as the son of a local OeVP councillor in Burgenland, the country's least prosperous state close to the Hungarian border. After a short stint working for the now-defunct Lauda Air airline, Hofer joined the FPOe's Burgenland branch in 1994 and became party secretary two years later. Moving up through the ranks, he later became a close advisor to Strache who took over the party reigns from the charismatic Joerg Haider in 2005. Under the new leadership, the party initially grew more extremist and re-introduced racist slogans. Norbert Hofer (pictured casting his vote) has lost his bid to become the first Far Right candidate to be elected head of state on the Continent since the defeat of the Nazis When this failed to translate into votes, Hofer, along with FPOe Secretary General Herbert Kickl, advised Strache to adopt a more moderate course and focus on social welfare and purchasing power, to steal support from the traditional parties as the economic crisis hit. The move paid off, with the FPOe now consistently scoring more than 30 per cent in polls ahead of the next scheduled general election in 2018. But despite his amiable appearance, Hofer is a true-blue member of the far-right who has repeatedly reminded the electorate that he defended 'Freedom party interests'. 'Islam has no place in Austria,' he warned voters, while also threatening to fire the government if it failed to get tougher on migrants. The Oesterreich tabloid described him as 'a kind, nice protest politician who wraps the FPOe's brutal declarations against refugees in soft language'. An avid social media user, his Instagram account shows the father-of-four - who has admitted to occasionally carrying a Glock gun in public - at a shooting range with his children. 'I just love to shoot,' he declared in a recent interview, adding that he understood the rising trend of gun owners in Austria 'given the current uncertainties'. His fans include Austrian extreme sports daredevil Felix Baumgartner who hailed Hofer's young age, saying he 'was the only one able to represent Austria appropriately'. Gun enthusiast Hofer, who was left partially disabled after a paragliding accident, has denied that he posed a risk as president. 'I am not a dangerous person,' he told reporters Sunday after voting in his home town of Pinkafeld, in the eastern Burgenland state. The elections are reverberating beyond Austria's borders, with Hofer's popularity viewed by European parties of all political stripes as evidence of a further advance of populist Eurosceptic parties at the expense of the establishment. In Austria, they would upend decades of business-as-usual politics, with both men serving notice they are not satisfied with the ceremonial role most predecessors have settled for. Van der Bellen says he would not swear in a Freedom Party chancellor even if that party wins the next elections, scheduled within the next two years. Hofer threatened to dismiss Austria's government coalition of the Social Democrats and the People's Party if it failed to heed his repeated admonitions to do a better job - and cast himself as the final arbiter of how the government is performing. Political isolation for Austria may have been in the offing in the event of him winning. Hofer is unlikely to have been welcomed in most European capitals as governments there try to keep their populist Eurosceptic parties in check. It would not have been been a first for Austria. President Kurt Waldheim, who was backed by the centrist People's Party, was boycotted internationally decades ago after revelations that he served in a German unit linked to atrocities in the Second World War. Ahead of the vote, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned 'there will be no debate or dialogue with the far-right'. He is also known for wearing a controversial blue cornflower on his suits (pictured). Adopted by his Freedom Party, Nazis also used to wear it to recognize each other when their party was banned in the 1930s No single country in Europe has elected a Far Right leader since the Second World War - a reminder of Europe's bloody history at the hands of facism Back in 2000, more than 150,000 people marched in the Austrian capital against the FPOe - then led by the late, SS-admiring Joerg Haider - after it entered a much-maligned coalition with the centre-right. This also led to international isolation and turned Austria into an EU pariah. But times have changed, with eurosceptic and populist parties now posing a serious threat to traditional centrist governments. In Austria - the receiver of some 90,000 asylum requests last year - the main parties have been haemorrhaging support to the FPOe, which consistently scores more than 30 percent in opinion polls. The demise means the Social Democrats (SPOe) and centre-right People's Party (OeVP) could fall short of being able to re-form their 'grand coalition' at the next scheduled election in 2018. In the last vote three years ago, they only just managed to secure a majority. Although former Green Party leader Van der Bellen enjoyed backing from many public figures including new Chancellor Christian Kern, he has been a divisive figure, with conservative Austrians accusing him of pandering to the left. When it comes to twisting tales of espionage, his writings have long kept the public enthralled But John le Carre has now turned his literary talents to a rather more noble cause: the protection of the English countryside. Mr le Carre is one of a number of celebrities who have penned short essays on why the nations rolling hills and jagged coastlines must be preserved. John le Carre has penned a short essay on why the nation should work to protect its beautiful countryside The Night Manager author, 84, who has lived in Cornwall for more than four decades, warns that the enemy is everywhere, threatening the future of British greenery. His impassioned defence of the countryside is to be published in 22 Ideas to That Saved the English Countryside, produced by the Campaign to Protect Rural England, and released next month. In his introduction to a chapter by the books main authors, Peter Waine and Oliver Hilliam, he penned that the enemy is, the corrupt council official in search of informal reward. He is the unscrupulous property developer with an army of lawyers. He is the faceless entrepreneur who lobbies in high places for his right to erect wind turbines and mobile phone masts. He is the politician who, in the catch-all name of free enterprise unlocks the last restraint on our rush to destroy the most precious heritage we share: our vanishing English countryside. Other public figures to contribute to the book, include Sir Andrew Motion, who is president of the CPRE, Melvyn Bragg, Joan Bakewell, Julia Bradbury, Jeanette Winterson and Kate Adie. However, it is le Carre who is the most vociferous in his opinions. This is not the first time he has stood up for rural issues. In 2000, he handed half a mile of Cornish coastline that he owned near his home over to the National Trust, while the year before he won a planning battle against a neighbouring farm who wanted to build a cattle shed and house close to his property. In his forward to the book, Sir Andrew says the English countryside is our greatest gift to the world, greater even that Shakespeare. The Night Manager author, 84, who has lived in Cornwall for more than four decades, warns that the enemy is everywhere, threatening the future of British greenery He adds in a second essay: The more we are bombarded by the demands of modern life, the more important it becomes to enjoy peace and quiet: more darkness, more solitude, more beauty, the pleasures of uncluttered ground. While Bragg, who has a home in rural Cumbria, warns: We find ourselves not only holding on to [nature] more and more tenaciously but fearing that we might lose it. Miss Bakewells bugbear is people who litter the countryside and said: We have to teach our children to be tidy so that they grow up knowing its wrong to litter, and added: Litter is a blight we can defeat. And must. Former Countryfile presenter Miss Bradbury spoke of her joy at roaming the English landscape, calling it a precious and deeply appreciated gift. The book itself puts forward 22 proposals which can be used to preserve the countryside. One, endorsed by Ray Mears, is to extend the greenbelt. While Dame Fiona Reynolds argues for better rural planning. She writes: When planning is castigated for holding back development, let us remember it has saved Englands beauty. PM insists: 'Im confident we can answer all questions that are being asked' But it's the first time he has appeared to acknowledge some expenses may not have been declared in David Cameron (pictured on ITV's Peston on Sunday show today) indicated that Tory chairman Lord Feldman may have inadvertently mis-declared or left out vital General Election expenses Tory chairman Lord Feldman may have inadvertently mis-declared or left out vital General Election expenses, David Cameron indicated today as he insisted the party would co-operate with a growing fraud inquiry. Ten police forces and the Electoral Commission are now investigating claims that the Conservative Party spent thousands of pounds more than the law allows in marginal seats across the country during last years election. The Prime Minister insisted today that the party had not done anything wrong. But he appeared to acknowledge that some expenses may not have been declared in compliance with the letter of the law. Asked if Lord Feldman would have to resign, Mr Cameron told ITVs Peston on Sunday programme: Well, I dont believe we have done anything wrong. If there were mis-declarations or things left out we have to put those in place, but Im confident we can answer all the questions that are being put to us. An investigation by Channel Four News and the Daily Mail has revealed concerns about whether the accommodation costs of activists bussed around the country by the Tories to campaign in key constituencies were recorded properly. In many cases, expenses appear to have been recorded as national expenses, or not recorded at all, rather than added to the costs in the constituencies where the campaigning took place. Deliberate breach of spending limits by individual candidates usually around 15,000 is a criminal offence punishable by a fine or even a one-year jail term. Any MP found guilty would be barred automatically from holding public office for three years, triggering a new election. In theory, the Conservatives could lose their 12-seat majority if cases are proved. Mr Cameron yesterday said it was normal practice to record so-called battlebus expenses as national campaign spending, rather than adding it to the total in the seats where the campaigning took place. He said: In the end, Im responsible for everything but Im very confident that the Conservative Party is gripping this with the chairman Andrew Feldman. You know, lots of political parties have these bus tours, you know buses that go around different constituencies and that is a national expense. But this is all now in conversation with the Electoral Commission and these are their investigations so we should let that take its place. But Im confident that the idea of a bus that is a national bus that visits constituencies, I think the Labour Partys done that, the Liberals have done it, weve done it. Asked whether Tory chairman Lord Feldman (pictured left) should resign, David Cameron (pictured right) told ITVs Peston on Sunday programme: Well, I dont believe we have done anything wrong. If there were mis-declarations or things left out we have to put those in place, but Im confident we can answer all the questions that are being put to us Ten police forces and the Electoral Commission are now investigating claims that the Conservative Party spent thousands of pounds more than the law allows in marginal seats across the country during last years election SNP MP Pete Wishart wrote to the Metropolitan Police tonight to call for a wider investigation into whether the Conservatives attempted to subvert the Representation of the People Act. He wrote: Currently there are some 10 police forces investigating the electoral expenditure of some 28 Conservative candidates who contested the 2015 General Election. Where the ongoing cases will take their legal course, the Conservative Party as a whole must be properly investigated to ascertain if there was any systematic attempt to circumvent electoral legislation defining candidate and national expenditure. The Electoral Commission has accused the Conservatives of dragging its feet over the issue. Earlier this month it took the unprecedented step of taking High Court action to force the release of campaign spending details by the party. The Tories deny wrongdoing and blame an administrative error for failing to register some accommodation costs. They also blamed an administrative error for failure to declare costs related to its battlebus campaign in marginal seats in the South West, the Midlands the North. The Road Trip battlebus campaign was the brainchild of Mark Clarke, the so-called Tatler Tory later accused of bullying Elliott Johnson, a 21-year-old activist who committed suicide. Mr Clarke, who was once tipped as a future minister by society magazine Tatler, denies the allegations. Women who served as pilots during World World Two can finally be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, including Elaine Harmon (above) Women who served as pilots during World World Two can finally be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. President Barack Obama signed a bill into law on Friday that enables the ashes of females who flew in the Women Airforce Service Pilots Program (WASP) to be laid to rest at the military cemetery in Virginia, CNN reports. More than 1,000 women joined the WASP program in 1942 and 1943 and 38 of them ended up making the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives during missions. The program was established with the primary goal of flying non-combat missions in the United States to free up male pilots for combat. These fly girls were the first women ever to fly American military aircraft and flew almost every type of plane operated by the U.S. Army Air Force on a wide range of missions. However, their contribution to the war effort remained unacknowledged for years and it wasn't until 1977 that they received veteran status. And it was only in 2009 that Obama signed a bill awarding WASP members the Congressional Gold Medal for their service. 'The Women Airforce Service Pilots courageously answered their country's call in a time of need while blazing a trail for the brave women who have given and continue to give so much in service to this nation since,' Obama said at the time. 'Every American should be grateful for their service, and I am honored to sign this bill to finally give them some of the hard-earned recognition they deserve.' From 2002, the female pilots were able to be buried at Arlington, which is managed by the Army. Scroll down for video From 2002, the female pilots were able to be buried at Arlington (above, file photo), which is managed by the Army but the right was revoked last year. It has now been restored by Obama who signed a bill into law But last year, then-Army Secretary John McHugh revoked that right after lawyers determined that members of the WASP program, despite being listed as 'active duty designees', were not eligible to be buried at Arlington. Obama reversed that decision by signing the bill on Friday. Maryland Sentaor Barbara Mikulsi, a member of the Senate Military Family Caucus, introduced the legislation at the start of this year. In a statement on Friday, she said: 'Today we have righted a terrible wrong so Women Airforce Service Pilots can once and for all be laid to rest alongside our nation's patriots at Arlington National Cemetery. 'I introduced this legislation to honor the service and sacrifice of WASP in defending our freedom. Obama signed a bill awarding WASP members the Congressional Gold Medal for their service in 2009. Above, Obama with some of the pilots, including Harmon (far left) 'Every American should be grateful for their service, and I am honored to sign this bill to finally give them some of the hard-earned recognition they deserve,' Obama said in 2009 (above) 'If they were good enough to fly for our country, risk their lives and earn the Congressional Gold Medal, they should be good enough for Arlington.' It has also delighted Tiffany Miller, who launched a petition last year in a bid to have her grandmother's ashes laid to rest at Arlington. 'It was her last wish to be in Arlington. We haven't been able to hold a funeral for her because we wanted to honor that wish,' Miller told CNN. Her grandmother Elaine Danforth Harmon joined WASP straight out of college at the age of 22 in 1944. In her Change.org petition, which ended with a victory after securing a change and more than 178,000 signatures, she wrote: 'The WASP answered their country's call at a time of dire need. 'The service and hard work of my grandmother and other WASP should afford them the right to be buried alongside other veterans.' She added that her grandmother 'was incredibly proud of her service as a WASP, and she loved her country.' But in a statement in January, Arlington officials said that WASP members have never been eligible for burial or internment there. 'The service of Women Air Force Service Pilots during World War II is highly commendable and, while certainly worthy of recognition, it does not, in itself, reach the level of Active Duty service required for inurnment at Arlington National Cemetery,' the statement said. It added that Arlington is not managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs and its eligibility criteria are more stringent due to space limitations. Officials said that based on current demand, burial space at the cemetery is expected to run out by the mid-2030s. However, it was reported last month that the Army is beginning a year-long environmental assessment of a proposed 38-acre expansion of the cemetery in the hope that it will extend the life of the facility by another 20 years. More than 400,000 people are buried at the cemetery, with as many as 30 new burials a day. The Army Corps of Engineers will conduct its environmental assessment of the proposed expansion over the next year and will solicit public input. The negotiations have been ongoing for several years and the broad outline of the swap is in place: The Army would get land adjacent to the existing cemetery to use for burials, while the county and state would get land to improve transit and traffic on its bustling Columbia Pike corridor, which serves the Pentagon and other commuter hotspots. In addition to permits and environmental assessments, the Army will eventually need to obtain funding from Congress for the expansion. Col. Doug Guttormsen, the cemetery's engineering director, said the cost is currently estimated at $274 million. A 16-year-old high school student was arrested for allegedly writing about 'shooting and killing' his 'neighbor's dinosaur with a gun'. Alex Stone from Summerville, South Carolina, was given an assignment along with his classmates a 'status' as if it was a Facebook page. Alex's 'status' involved the words 'gun' and 'take care of business'. 'I killed my neighbor's pet dinosaur, and, then, in the next status I said I bought the gun to take care of the business,' Stone told Fox Carolina. Alex Stone (pictured), 16, from Summerville, South Carolina, was arrested for writing about 'shooting his neighbor's dinosaur with a gun' as part of a class creative writing assignment Alex's mother Karen Gray (pictured) said the charges are ridiculous and that she was never contacted by the school regarding her son Attorney David Aylor, who is representing Alex, said the arrest was 'completely absurd'. Alex was charged with disorderly conduct and has also been suspended from the school. However, the Summerville Police Department and the school say Alex's story is not why he was arrested and suspended. 'The information that is being reported is grossly incorrect in reference to what led to the juvenile being charged. 'The charges do not stem from anything involving a dinosaur or writing assignment, but the student's conduct,' Summeville police Captan Jon Rogers said in a statement on Thursday. After Alex wrote the 'status' with the word 'gun' in it, teachers contacted administrators. When the school officials asked him why he wrote it, he allegedly became angry and said it was a joke. The school and Summerville police say the writing about dinosaurs is not why Alex was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct Alex's mother Karen Gray said she was never contacted regarding her son's assignment or behavior. 'If the school would have called me and told me about the paper and asked me to come down and discussed everything and, at least, get his point-of-view on the way he meant it. 'I never heard from the school, never. They never called me,' she said. She said the school's charge against Alex is ridiculous. Alex's backpack and locker were searched and no weapons were found. The 16-year-old says he now regrets what he wrote but thinks the school overreacted. 'I regret it because they put it on my record, but I don't see the harm in it. 'I think there might have been a better way of putting it, but I think me writing like that, it shouldn't matter unless I put it out towards a person,' he said. The child-sex gang which groomed, raped and abused 15 teenage girls in Rotherham cost the taxpayer more than 500,000 in legal aid, it has been revealed. Five of the six offenders were jailed for a combined total of 102 years in February, and the collective cost of 529,000 was shelled out to pay for lawyers to defend them at Sheffield Crown Court. Brothers Arshid, Bannaras and Basharat were sentenced after a series of women - most now in their 30s - told a jury how they were sexually, physically and emotionally abused in the South Yorkshire town when they were in their early teens. Brothers Arshid, (top left) Bannaras (top middle) and Basharat (top right) were found guilty of a range of offences along with their uncle, Qurban Ali, (bottom right) and two women - Karen MacGregor (bottom left) and Shelley Davis (bottom middle). The Hussains were found guilty of a range of offences along with their uncle, Qurban Ali, and two women - Karen MacGregor and Shelley Davis. The ringleader of the gang, Arshid, who was jailed for 35 years, cost taxpayers 150,000 alone, the Sun on Sunday revealed from a Freedom of Information Request. It was also reported that the bill paid out to defend the gang could soon be even higher after it was revealed they are appealing against their sentences. The group targeted 15 vulnerable girls, one aged only 11, and forced them to perform horrific sex acts over a sixteen year period. Judge Sarah Wright, who sentenced the gang, told them: 'The harm you have caused is of unimaginable proportions.' Arshid Hussain (left) raped his young victims and subjected them to a catalogue of indecent assaults. The Hussain brothers' uncle, Qurban Ali (right) was also found guilty of conspiracy to rape Karen MacGregor (left) took in girls from children's homes purporting to give them a safe haven and support - only to then have them abused. Shelley Davies, (right), was found guilty of conspiracy to procure prostitutes and false imprisonment Arshid and Basharat Hussain were found guilty of dozens of attacks between them. Basharat was jailed for 25 years. ROTHERHAM SEX GANG SENTENCES Arshid Hussain - 35 years Basharat Hussain - 25 years Bannaras Hussain - 19 years Karen MacGregor - 13 years Qurban Ali - 10 years Shelley Davis - 18 months (suspended) Bannaras Hussain admitted ten charges - including rape, indecent assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was given a 19-year sentence. The brothers' uncle, Qurban Ali appeared alongside them in court. He too was found guilty of conspiracy to rape and has been jailed for 10 years. MacGregor and Davis were found guilty of conspiracy to procure prostitutes and false imprisonment. MacGregor was jailed for 13 years, while Davis was handed an 18-month suspended sentence. Venture capitalist and Shark Tank star Chris Sacca was turned away from the sold-out musical Hamilton after he purchased two counterfeit tickets on the website StubHub. Sacca reportedly said, 'Do you know who I am?,' and got angry, telling both the ticket scanner and the Richard Rodgers Theater manager he flew in from California to celebrate his birthday. Sacca and his wife Crystal English went to an Off-Broadway show instead after leaving 'in a huff' and she tweeted a warning to her friends about scams on the ticket resale website. Sacca disputed the 'tantrum' on his Twitter and wrote he was taking selfies with the staff rather than making a scene. Venture capitalist and Shark Tank star Chris Sacca was turned away from the sold-out musical Hamilton after he purchased two counterfeit tickets on the website StubHub Sacca reportedly said, 'Do you know who I am?,' and got angry, telling both the ticket scanner and the Richard Rodgers Theater manager he flew in from California to celebrate his birthday Sacca, a billionaire who was an early investor for Twitter and Uber, reportedly threw a fit when he was barred entry from the hit show. A Broadway theater worker who witnessed the scene said Sacca was 'condescending', repeatedly asked, 'Do you know who I am?,' and 'wouldn't take no for an answer', the NY Post reported. 'He was getting really angry at the ticket scanner. He said he was a shark on Shark Tank and warned it wouldnt be good if they couldnt get in.' After a manager explained they frequently had to turn away people with counterfeit tickets, both Sacca and English left. He deleted a tweet he wrote earlier that day to the show's writer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, which read: 'Cool if I drop by your place tonight? Any plan around 7:00?,' the Post reported. Sacca tried to recover from the embarrassing incident and went to see Mike Birbiglia's play Thank God For Jokes instead Both Sacca and his wife tweeted at the ticket resale website StubHub, and a spokesperson blamed third party sellers and said an apology had been issued Sacca, who went to comedian Mike Birbiglia's play Thank God For Jokes instead, showed signs of sour grapes. He later tweeted: 'While the rest of you were waiting in line for Hamilton, we broke ribs laughing w/ @birbigs.' Both Sacca and his wife tweeted at the ticket resale website StubHub, and a spokesperson blamed third party sellers and said an apology had been issued. It is unclear how much they paid, but orchestra tickets on the website were listed as high as $2,000 each. A Broadway theater worker who witnessed the scene said Sacca was 'condescending', repeatedly asked, 'Do you know who I am?,' and 'wouldn't take no for an answer', the NY Post reported Police have requested district attorney to charge West with animal cruelty He will be put up for adoption after he makes full recovery It is unclear whether Bubba ingested some of the drugs or inhaled fumes Police noticed Bubba was 'lethargic' and drugs were found in urine test Joshua West, 40, and another unnamed suspect was arrested on March 22 A puppy who was rescued during a drug bust was found with heroin, methamphetamine and nicotine in his system. The terrier mix named Bubba was found in a Tustin, California, motel room after officers arrested Joshua West, 40, who was on parole for drug violations, authorities said. Officials tested Bubba's urine after he appeared 'lethargic', and the dog is recovering after drug addiction treatment. A terrier mix puppy named Bubba (left and right) was rescued during a drug bust and found with heroin, methamphetamine and nicotine in his system after he appeared to be 'lethargic' Along with West, another unnamed person was arrested in the drug bust on March 22, where a 'large quantity of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia' were found in the room, police said. Bubba was taken in by the Orange County Animal Care, and his toxicology results showed he was under the influence. It is unclear whether the dog ingested the drugs or inhaled the fumes, but the Tustin Police Department have asked the district attorney to charge West with animal cruelty. 'This strikes me as pretty horrible,' Tustin police Lieutenant Robert Wright told CBS. 'This is the first time weve ever heard of someone reporting that an animal has been under the influence.' According to the department's Facebook page, 'Bubba has been treated for his drug addiction and is doing excellent.' He is expected to make a full recovery, and will be placed in a rescue organization for adoption. Ever since Fenton the Labrador became a viral sensation for chasing deer in Richmond Park as his owner hollered after him, the importance of keeping dogs on leads has been a hot topic online. And after this video emerged of a dog running out into a peleton as the Tour of Norway passed through the region of Buskerud, nearly causing a major crash, the issue is unlikely to go away. The excited pooch is seen scurrying out onto the road in front of a large group of riders and trying to run alongside them before being knocked down. The excited pooch is seen scurrying out onto the road in front of a large group of riders and trying to run alongside them before being knocked down and running onto the verge The crash happened just as the riders passed the 40km at stage four of the race on Saturday and was shown live on Norwegian channel TV 2 The crash happened just as the riders passed the 40km at stage four of the race on Saturday and was shown live on Norwegian channel TV 2. Fabricio Ferrari, a Uruguayan who rides for team Caja Rural and Sparebanken team member Andreas Vangstand, from Norway, were knocked over but did not suffer major injuries. Thankfully, the dog was unharmed except for a few scratches, and was returned to its owner. It is not known where the animal came from, although a Twitter user said it might have ran out of a backyard. Stage four of the Tour of Norway was won by Edvald Boasson Hagen, a Norwegian who rides for the UCI WorldTour team. This dramatic footage shows four cars being swallowed up after a 100-feet wide sinkhole opened in a city centre in east China. The collapse happened on a major road in Ruijin, Jiangxi Province, creating a crater ten-feet deep that sucked in the vehicles. A tree also fell into the hole, while another car was left hanging over the edge. This dramatic footage shows four cars being swallowed up after a 100-feet wide sinkhole opened in a city centre in east China One man described how he watched his car fall in the hole as he ate lunch nearby. Nobody was hurt and the reason for the subsidence is being investigated. Firefighters used a crane to retrieve the four vehicles. Although many sinkholes occur due to natural underground erosion, a growing number are caused by human activity. Old mines pose a particular risk as flooding can weaken the walls and roofs of caverns, leading them to collapse. Peter Hobbs, from the British Geological Survey (BGS), said: 'Sinkholes are caused by dissolution of rock such as chalk. 'Alternatively, they can be caused by collapse into former mine workings (for flint within the chalk). Changes in the water table may affect the stability of underground cavities.' One man described how he watched his car fall in the hole as he ate lunch nearby. Firefighters used a crane to retrieve the four vehicles Although many sinkholes occur due to natural underground erosion, a growing number are caused by human activity An investment banker claimed he was forced to break into his ex-wifes apartment because a sexy Instagram picture she posted online made him fear for his daughters safety. Cuban-born Manuel Asensio, 61, who works as a money manager in New York, is charged with breaking into the Upper East Side home of his ex-wife Emilie Bosak on December 29 last year. But his lawyer Andrew M. J. Bernstein says Asensio arrived earlier than scheduled to pick up their 11-year-old daughter because of a provocative snap Bosak had posted online, the New York Daily News reports. An investment banker claimed he was forced to break into his ex-wifes apartment because a sexy Instagram picture she posted online (above) made him fear for his daughters safety That day, Asensio saw a picture of Bosak, a former model, posing in a bikini on the beach while smoking a hand-rolled cigarette. Concerned about who was looking after his daughter, he went past the doorman of the building and went upstairs to the apartment, his attorney says. Bosaks mother was babysitting his daughter, but Asensio took the girl early, the Daily News reports. On the date of the incident, [Asensio] committed no crime, Bernstein told the newspaper. On the contrary, he acted as any responsible parent would under the circumstances. He did not know who, if anyone, was watching his daughter. In March, Asensio was arrested for burglary, endangering the welfare of a child and trespassing. Bosak and Asensio (pictured together in 2009) split in 2007 but their divorce was not final until 2013. Last year, Asensio (right) sued Bosak (left) for defamation, making false statements and breaching the terms of their 2003 pre-nuptial agreement Prosecutors claim he had refused to wait in the lobby as instructed and had previously been told by his ex-wife that he was forbidden from entering her apartment. Bosak's attorney said Asensio's 'actions speak louder than words'. In court papers, Assistant District Attorney Stephen MacArthur wrote that Asensio was cursing and yelling as he banged on the door of the apartment and allegedly accused Bosaks mother of kidnapping the girl and referred to his ex-wife as a prostitute, the Daily News reports. All this took place while the child was present, he wrote. Asensio and Bosak wed in 2003 before separating in 2007. Their divorce was finalized in 2013 and he previously called their relationship a marriage of convenience. In June last year, Asensio sued his ex-wife for defamation, making false statements and breaching the terms of their 2003 pre-nuptial agreement. He also claimed she had demonic capacities and had filed false complaints to have him arrested. Bosak went to police three times between 2010 and 2014 claiming she had experienced domestic abuse at his hands, the New York Post reported. She then obtained an orders of protections against Asensio, which he claims she used to '[fraudulently] gain custody of the child', the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit stated. Asensio, who is currently the founder, chairman and president of Asensio & Company, is next scheduled to appear at Manhattan Supreme Court facing charges for the December incident on Wednesday. Prosecutors claim he had refused to wait in the lobby as instructed and had previously been told by his ex-wife that he was forbidden from entering her Upper East Side apartment (above, file photo) Banks was told he wouldn't face murder charges in her death last year They hope the report will persuade prosecutors to When Michelle O'Connell was found shot dead in the home she shared with her sheriff deputy boyfriend in 2010, police quickly said she killed herself. But the 24-year-old Florida mother's family insisted she was murdered by her cop partner Jeremy Banks and have demanded justice ever since. Last year, Banks was told he would not be charged in her death, but results of a new independent autopsy could turn the case on its head. Dr. William Anderson, who had O'Connell's body exhumed at the request of her family, has said his tests indicate her death was a homicide. They are set to file the latest report to the medical examiners office and hope they can persuade a prosecutor to convene a grand jury. Scroll down for video When Michelle O'Connell (left) was found shot dead in the St Augustine, Florida, home she shared with her sheriff deputy boyfriend Jeremy Banks (right) in 2010, police quickly said she killed herself. But a new independent autopsy report, ordered by her family, has said her death was homicide, not suicide Ever since the 24-year-old mother's death, her family have fought for what they believe is justice. They have maintained that she was murdered. The new autopsy reveals her jaw was broken before the fatal shot was fired and would have been gagging on the gun where it was positioned Dr Anderson told Crime Watch Daily: 'I believe that the injury patterns that we see are inconsistent with the individual intraoral gunshot wound. We have external trauma and we have significant trauma unrelated to the wound itself. 'That means that someone else was involved in the scenario.' O'Connell was found dead in the St Augustine home she shared with Banks in September 2010. She had reportedly packed her bags and was preparing to leave him after their relationship had run into problems. Friends and family said she had complained about his violence and claimed she had been physically assaulted. After her death, police conducted a short investigation and quickly cleared one of their own, Banks, insisting the injuries she suffered were from the self-inflicted gunshot wound. They concluded that no one else was involved. But, according to the report compiled by Dr Anderson and with the help of two dental experts, her mandible, or jaw bone, was virtually snapped in two before the fatal gun shot. They also found that the way the gun was placed in her mouth, O'Connell would have been gagging and could even have been choking. The autopsy states the jaw was broken by blunt-force trauma, suggesting she could have been punched in the face or pistol whipped just before she died. At the end of the report, the conclusion plainly states: 'The manner of death should be considered Homicide.' O'Connell's family insist Banks, who is a deputy at the St. John's County Sheriff's department, was behind O'Connells' death. He has never been arrested or changed with the crime. They claim he used his police expertise to cover up the crime. There has however been no investigation into misconduct of any kind. 'I think he would know how to cover up [the crime],' O'Connell's mother, Patty told Crime Watch Daily. Dr. William Anderson, who had O'Connell's body exhumed at the request of her family, has said his tests indicate her death was a homicide Her nine-year-old daughter Alexis, who was four when her mother was killed, says she hopes the family will finally get justice 'We've been telling them all along we knew she didn't kill herself and that should bring justice to Michelle's death. The evidence is there for them to do something with it now,' she adds. Her nine-year-old daughter Alexis, who was four when her mother was killed, says she hopes the family will finally get justice. O'Connell, 24, from St Augustine, was found dead of a gunshot wound to the mouth in September 2010 with her boyfriend Banks' duty weapon by her side. He claimed to have been in another room and that she took her own life. Her death was ruled a suicide by local investigators, but questions were raised about improprieties in the inquiry. The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office investigated Banks, one of its own deputies. Banks has denied any involvement in her death. When asked about the latest allegations in the case, Banks said to go to his lawyer. His attorney, according to Crime Watch Daily, said the findings were ridiculous and insisted the family would keep fighting until they got the truth they wanted. Her mother Patty fought back tears as she discussed the evidence found in the new report. She said the family have told authorities from the start that she didn't commit suicide Banks (pictured center) was told last year that he wouldn't face murder charges in his girlfriend's death. He was interviewed and investigated by his colleagues O'Connell's friends and relatives have said that evidence such as a bruise, cut and a broken tooth suggest that she may not have killed herself, but was the victim of abuse A fresh investigation by an independent prosecutor's office was ordered by Florida Governor Rick Scott through an executive order in October 2014. 'Having assessed all of the evidence adduced in the investigations of this case, I reach the inescapable conclusion that whatever suspicions remain as to the manner of death of Michelle O'Connell, the evidence does not rise to the level of probable cause that a homicide occurred,' Florida State Attorney Jeffrey L. Ashton said in a letter to Scott at the time. O'Connell's friends and relatives have said that evidence such as a bruise, cut and a broken tooth suggest that she may not have killed herself, but was the victim of abuse. They stressed that she would never have left her young daughter. Matt Doran, the host from Crime Watch Daily who covered the story, told Daily Mail Online the decision to dig up O'Connell's body took a huge toll on the family. He added: 'If this (the findings) are true then it points to a cover up or an extraordinary failing of the investigative process. 'There are just so many things that don't add up.' School officials in Portland, Oregon, have banned books questioning climate change from the classroom. The city's public school board voted last week that any material saying climate change doesn't exist or that humans are not at fault should be removed. The resolution also directs school staff to develop an implementation plan for 'curriculum and educational opportunities that address climate change and climate justice in all Portland Public Schools.' Scroll down for video School officials in Portland, Oregon, have banned books questioning climate change from the classroom. The city's public school board voted last week (pictured) that any material that says climate change doesn't exist or that humans are not at fault should be removed The measure was passed even though the Oregon Institute of Science and medicine is circulating a petition which states: 'there is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate.' Bill Bigelow, a former Portland public school teacher who worked to present the resolution said many of the text books are 'thick with the language of doubt' So far it has 32,000 signers, including 9,000 Ph.D.s. Bill Bigelow, a former Portland public school teacher who worked to present the resolution told the Portland Tribune: 'A lot of the text materials are kind of thick with the language of doubt, and obviously the science says otherwise. 'We don't want kids in Portland learning material courtesy of the fossil fuel industry.' Bigelow has published a text book called A People's Curriculum for the Earth, and could gain from the new policy. However he denied that he would profit from the move, insisting that rethinking how children are taught is not a money-maker. 'What we're asking for is not: Buy new stuff,' he added. What we're looking for is a whole different model of curriculum development and distribution. Lincoln High School student Gaby Lemieux submitted testimony to the school board saying why the resolution should be passed. She wrote: 'It is unacceptable that we have textbooks in our schools that spread doubt about the human causes and urgency of the crisis. A war veteran suffering from Alzheimers was evicted from his care home over a disputed 17,000 bill. James Bryants family were threatened with legal action and then presented with a letter giving them four weeks to find another home for the 89-year-old when they refused to pay the money. Mr Bryants daughters and Hertfordshire County Council which had been paying for his care insist they do not owe the private care home anything. 'Heart-breaking': James Bryant being removed from the care home which claims his family owes them a 17,000 after a change in his circumstances Mr Bryant was just 18 when he started working as a military wireless operator at the top-secret Bletchley Park. After the war ended, he served in Egypt for two years. In his later years, he developed Alzheimer's and required care But the owner of Roebuck Nursing Home in Stevenage, Nilufa Somani, claims she is entitled to the money because of a change in Mr Bryants financial circumstances. Mr Bryants daughter, Janet Marshall, 60, said: It comes down to pure greed. Its been a very difficult, horrible time for us. We feel it has been financial abuse' The row followed the death of Mr Bryants wife and the subsequent sale of their marital home, and highlights the complex and often confusing adult care system in Britain. Mr Bryants daughter, Janet Marshall, 60, said: It comes down to pure greed. Its been a very difficult, horrible time for us. We feel it has been financial abuse. You almost need a degree in mathematics to understand it all. But some people dont even have any family to look out for them. Mr Bryant was just 18 when he started working as a military wireless operator at the top-secret Bletchley Park. After the war ended, he served in Egypt for two years. He returned to work as an electrical instrument maker in north London, then at a plastics firm in Stevenage before taking early retirement with his wife, Evelyn, who he married in 1953. In 2011, he was diagnosed with Alzheimers and moved into the nursing home when his wife and daughters could no longer care for him. Hertfordshire council agreed to pay the care costs. Local authorities contribute towards a persons care if they have assets less than 23,250, including their home. As Mrs Bryant was still living in their home, Mr Bryants assets did not pass the threshold. The council had a deal with the care home to pay a reduced rate of 550 a week for Mr Bryants care, to which he made a contribution from his private pension. The standard rate was 880. Mrs Bryant died in December 2013. Half of the value of the property was inherited by the couples two daughters, Mrs Marshall and Jill Dyer, 57. The other half belonged to Mr Bryant. This took his assets above the care threshold, meaning he would no longer qualify for council support. However, it took 17 months before the family were able to sell the house because his daughters had to seek legal permission to sell their fathers share, and had to wait on medical reports to show he would never return there. Mr Bryant and his wife Evelyn on their wedding day in 1953. Mrs Bryant died in December 2013 and their family home was sold - this, the care home claims, bring him over the threshold for subsidised care Local authorities contribute towards a persons care if they have assets less than 23,250, including their home. As Mrs Bryant was still living in their home, Mr Bryants assets did not pass the threshold Mrs Marshall has moved her father and her mother-in-law, who was also a resident at Roebuck Care Home, to a different facility The property was sold at the end of May last year, at which point Mr Bryant moved on to the standard weekly rate of 880. But the nursing home believes he should have paid that rate from the day his wife died. Mrs Marshall said: It was awful. It made visiting my father very uncomfortable. Every time we went they asked us about the money. If we owed it, we would pay it but we are just going by what we have been told. On February 18, Mr Bryants family were handed what they say amounted to an eviction notice. Mrs Marshall added: For my father to be treated like this is just heart-breaking. He would be horrified if he knew what was going on. Mrs Marshall has since moved her father, and her mother-in-law, who was also a resident at Roebuck, to another home. Roebuck Nursing Home (pictured) describes itself as one of the finest purpose-built homes in the country. But the latest Care Quality Commission report found it needed improvement in all areas, including safety and care Mr Bryant, (left) went to Egypt for two years after the end of the war. Here, he is pictured with fellow soldiers in 1946 Mrs Somani, 54, owns the care home through a holding company, Somani Holdings, with husband Hassanali, 55. Roebuck Nursing Home describes itself as one of the finest purpose-built homes in the country. But the latest Care Quality Commission report found it needed improvement in all areas, including safety and care. Mrs Somani could not be reached for comment yesterday but she told The Sunday Times she had referred the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman. With a businessman on the top of the Republican ticket, Hillary Clinton said she'd be open to having a non-politician rounding out the Democratic ticket as well. 'I think we should look widely and broadly,' she told Chuck Todd in an interview that aired on Meet the Press today. 'It is not just people in elected office. It is successful businesspeople. I am very interested in that.' Clinton nodded in approval at Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's interest in the position. 'I appreciate his openness to it,' she said. Scroll down for video Hillary Clinton (left) said that she'd be open to a person outside of politics to be her running mate and said she appreciated hearing that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban (right) was interested in the job Before the Mark Cuban (left, with actor Ian Ziering) veep chatter, the Dallas Mavericks owner moonlit as an actor in the Syfy film 'Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!' He played the president of the United States Cuban, in an interview that also aired on Meet the Press, told Todd that he would 'absolutely' be interested in meeting with Clinton to talk about potentially becoming her running mate. Before this, Cuban memorably played the president of the United States in the campy Syfy film, 'Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!' Conservative author Ann Coulter played his vice president. With Clinton, Cuban said she'd have to step back toward the center politically. 'I like the fact that Sen. Clinton has thought-out proposals,' Cuban said, using one of the former secretary of state's previous titles. 'That's a good thing because at least we get to see where she stands.' 'But I think Sen. Sanders has dragged her a little bit too far to the left,' he added, referring to Clinton preaching more progressive proposals throughout the Democratic primary season. When Todd asked, 'What about Donald Trump?' Cuban replied, 'Same.' 'You know, I'm an independent. And I'm fiercely independent and think for myself,' Cuban said. 'I think Donald has a real chance to win, and that's scary to a lot of people,' he continued. 'But what's scary about it to me is that you can see him now trying to do what he thinks is right to unify the party. And he's listening to everybody, which is fine on the surface,' he added. 'But what's also happening is it's coming across as if he's proposing things based off the last person he talks to.' Mark Cuban said he thought Donald Trump was 'listening to everybody,' which is bad because 'it's coming across as if he's proposing things based off the last person he talks to' Hillary Clinton said she's searching 'far and wide' for a vice president, noting that a successful businessperson - 'as opposed to pretend successful' - could be just the ticket Cuban used the example of Trump releasing the names of potential Supreme Court justices he might appoint. 'I bet you if you asked him about any one of them and then to discuss any one of their findings, he wouldn't be able to do it,' the businessman said. 'And to me, that's a problem.' 'And so if he asked me, I'd be like, "OK Donald, that's great, let's talk about it. But we're both going to have to dig in and really look and understand the issues so we can come up with solutions.' Trump's ascent to the Republican nomination was boosted by an appetite among the American electorate for outsider candidates not interested in playing by Washington's rules. That sentiment helped Trump and also Sen. Ted Cruz, one of the last GOP candidates standing before Trump became the nominee. It's also aided Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, who plans to stay in the Democratic primary race at least until voters in Washington, D.C. head to the polls on June 14, the nation's last contest. Clinton's openness to picking a political outsider shows she's aware of this feeling as well. 'I am absolutely intending to look far and wide,' she told Todd. 'And I think that is the best way to find somebody who can really capture what's needed in the country and businesspeople have, especially successful businesspeople who are really successful, as opposed to pretend successful,' she said, throwing some shade in Trump's direction. Duke also tried to arrange for him to join the Queen's bank Coutts His staff went to great lengths to ensure Sunninghill Park deal was closed Astonishing new details surrounding the mysterious sale of Prince Andrews marital home to a Kazakh oligarch are revealed today. Leaked emails show the Prince was far more involved in the 15 million sale of Sunninghill Park than previously admitted. And they also reveal that his staff went to great lengths to ensure the 2007 deal went through. The Dukes then aide, Amanda Thirsk, discussed interior design and security arrangements with the wealthy Kazakhs. She even tried to secure a deal for oligarch Timur Kulibayev to lease two fields next to the mansion from the Crown Estate for a peppercorn rent. The emails also reveal an extraordinary attempt by Andrew to arrange for Coutts, the Queens bank, to take Kulibayev on as a client. The disclosures follow Saturdays revelations in the Mail that Andrew helped a Greek sewage company and a Swiss finance house pursue a 385 million contract in Kazakhstan. Leaked emails have revealed Prince Andrew, pictured, was involved in the sale of Sunninghill Park in 2007, despite previous claims he 'played no part' in the deal The Berkshire mansion, pictured, was sold for 15million in 2007 but stood dormant for eight years before it was razed The Duke is also revealed to have tried to get Kulibayev, pictured, taken on as a client with the Queen's bank There has always been a funny smell about the 2007 sale of Sunninghill Park, the house near Windsor Castle that was given by the Queen as a wedding present to Prince Andrew. The 12-bedroom property, nicknamed Southyork because of its resemblance to oil baron JR Ewings vulgar mansion Southfork in Eighties soap Dallas, had languished on the market for five years before suddenly changing hands in November of that year. Its purchaser was listed as an opaque company based in the British Virgin Islands, who for reasons that have never been properly explained decided to pay 15 million, 3 million over the asking price. Rather than being done up, the former royal property was then allowed to sit, empty and decaying, for more than eight years. A couple of months ago, it was razed. Thanks to the British Press, we by then knew that Sunninghill Parks ultimate owner was Timur Kulibayev, an oligarch and son-in-law of Prince Andrews friend and goose-hunting partner Nursultan Nazarbayev, the autocratic dictator of Kazakhstan. We also knew the curious 2007 sale had been negotiated by Kulibayevs business partner, another oligarch named Kenges Rakishev. The apparent intention was to provide a family home for Kulibayevs fragrant mistress Goga Ashkenazi (another chum of Prince Andrew), who had given the oligarch two illegitimate sons. But why, the inquisitive Press repeatedly asked, had the mysterious purchaser volunteered to pay so much over the odds? The emails, pictured, show how the Duke tried to arrange a meeting between Kulibayev and bosses of RBS, which owned Coutts, to discuss 'wealth managememt' And what, if anything, did he expect in return from his chum Prince Andrew? At the time, Buckingham Palace was adamant that there was nothing untoward about the transaction. Indeed, it insisted that Prince Andrew had played no part in the arrangements himself, declaring that it was instead negotiated by a trust headed by the Queens leading financial adviser, Sir Alan Reid, and a representative of her lawyers Farrer & Co. The sale of Sunninghill Park was a straight commercial transaction between the Trust which owned the house and the Trust which bought it, read a statement. There were no side deals and absolutely no arrangement from the Duke of York to benefit otherwise or to commit to any other commercial arrangement. Any suggestion otherwise is completely false. All of which sounds perfectly legitimate. Except for one pertinent point: today, the Mail can disclose that Prince Andrews private office was in fact intimately involved in helping to flog Sunninghill Park. His staff went to very great lengths to ensure the sale went through, discussing everything from the mansions interior design to its security arrangements with the wealthy Kazakhs. A tranche of leaked emails further reveal the Dukes involvement in a highly unconventional negotiation for his wealthy chums to lease two fields next to the mansion from the Crown Estate, the organisation which manages land on behalf of the British taxpayer. That deal, by which the existing tenant, a farmer, stood to be turfed off the fields, would have seen the Crown Estate paid just 200 per acre per year by the Kazakhs, a sum described by one Land Agent with knowledge of it as something of a peppercorn rent. What is more, in the years that followed the transaction, the Prince quietly maintained a close relationship with the buyer, oligarch Timur Kulibayev, and, the Mail can further reveal, made an extraordinary attempt in 2011 to arrange for Coutts, the Queens bank, to take the Kazakh oligarch on as a client. Another email revealed Kulibayevs business partner Kenges Rakishev asked whether armed guards could be provided at the Berkshire mansion Emails show the Duke's office was involved in a deal to lease the adjacent two fields to the oligarch The Duke asked if senior figures at the state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, which owned Coutts, could travel to Kazakhstan to meet the billionaire in order to discuss wealth management. His request left the bank in an awkward position, since in the words of a senior source there, Kazakh oligarchs are the sort of people we generally dont touch with a bargepole. Indeed, so corrupt is the country, and so kleptocratic its ruling class, that RBS these days refuses to do any business whatsoever there, as a matter of policy. The extraordinary real story behind the sale of Sunninghill Park comes on the back of the revelation in Saturdays Mail that Andrew used his relationship with the oligarch Kenges Rakishev to act as a fixer by helping a Greek sewerage company and a Swiss finance house pursue 385 million contracts in Kazakhstan. Scandalously, the Duke attempted to set up that deal at a time when he was supposedly employed as Britains roving trade ambassador. Negotiations over Sunninghill Park stretch back to July 2007, when the Dukes deputy private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, began discussing the finer details regarding its sale with Mr Rakishev. Like many a wealthy entrepreneur from a former Soviet bloc country, it soon emerged that he was somewhat paranoid about the issue of domestic security. He was therefore anxious to either buy or lease extra land around Sunninghill Park. Of particular interest were two fields between the house and its nearest road, the B383, at the time leased to a local farmer. The above email reveals the details for the proposed 'peppercorn' rent of the fields, set at 200 per acre Ms Thirsk, a former banker who has since been promoted to private secretary and is regarded as Prince Andrews closest aide, duly contacted the Crown Estate, which owned the land. She asked if the potential buyer of Sunninghill Park could take it over. On July 6, 2007, Philip Everett, the Crown Estate ranger in charge of Windsor Great Park, emailed Amanda Thirsk saying such a deal could indeed be struck. He was quite happy to give you draft terms for you to discuss with the potential owner of Sunninghill Park relating to the land on the north-east side of the property. Everett would, he said, arrange for the Kazakhs to be given a grazing licence, which would allow them effective control over the 5.52 acres of grassland for 200 per acre which, in this case, equates to 1,100. The existing tenant would presumably be turfed off. The grazing licence is for the period of one year, but is normally allowed to run on with similar terms on a year-by-year basis. It was, on paper, a highly curious deal, according to a land agent with knowledge of the offer. After all, 1,100 per year is, on paper, a relatively small fee to dramatically enhance a 15 million home. Sunninghill Park, pictured in the 1940s, was given to the Duke as a wedding gift by The Queen But after it was sold it stood dormant for several years and entered a state of disrepair, pictured For grazing rights, 200 an acre is fair enough, says the agent. But this wasnt really a grazing deal. Here, they were leasing land which would significantly improve the privacy and security of a very expensive private home. Normally, you would expect a land agent, which is what the Crown Estate are, to negotiate as much as they possibly can for such a lease. Here, it doesnt look like any negotiation has taken place at all. Instead they were prepared to let it go for what, compared to what they could have raised, is something of a peppercorn rent. The Crown Estate last week declined to comment on whether the proposed deal represented good value for the taxpayer. Neither would it discuss whether it was appropriate for them to have offered to lease what is effectively public land to a Kazakh oligarch, at the request of the Duke of York. In a statement, it would say only that no such deal was ever finalised, and that the land therefore remained in the hands of a farm tenant. Buckingham Palace denies that the Duke received preferential treatment. Though one wonders whether the Crown Estate would have been so eager to help a Kazakh who didnt have royal backing. Back to 2007. In the second week of July, Andrews then deputy private secretary Amanda Thirsk held a face-to-face meeting with the Kazakh financier Kenges Rakishev to run over a number of other details regarding the sale. Comically, it seems that part of the meeting was taken up by the security-conscious Kazakhs wondering if they would be allowed to install their own gun-toting guards on the premises, a short drive from Windsor Castle. At 12.49 on July 16, Ms Thirsk emailed them on this point. It is not possible to organise armed security in the UK unless it is provided by the police. There is no mechanism that allows payment, she wrote. The July 16 email also sees Ms Thirsk advise the Kazakhs on Sunninghill Parks interior design. She suggests that they hire Annabel Hall, the owner of a firm called Private Lives, which had recently been responsible for the design and re-fit of Royal Lodge, the Dukes current home in Windsor. Ms Hall emailed the following week, saying it would be a pleasure to give the property a facelift since it needs imaginative transformation from a tired, empty house into a warm and beautiful home for a young family. Alas, it was not to be. For reasons that have never been adequately explained, neither Timur Kulibayev son-in-law of the Kazakh president nor his mistress, the socialite Goga Ashkenazi, ever took up residence at Sunninghill Park. PR MAN ASKED 150K A MONTH TO SPIN SALE In April 2010, the prominent public relations boss Roland Rudd emailed Sunninghill Parks new owner to pitch for business helping to address negative headlines surrounding the sale of the mansion. For the UK media, we need to address the situation with Sunninghill Park, he wrote. While the house sits in a state of disrepair, it will continue to support the theory that [its purchase] was not a commercial transaction but rather an attempt to buy influence with the British Royal Family. The house needs to be returned to a habitable state. Rudd, who runs a firm called Finsbury, was offering to represent the houses new owner, Timur Kulibayev, for the princely sum of 150,000 per month. For that fee, he said he would seek to place stories with a string of leading contacts, including James Harding (then editor of The Times, and now in charge of BBC News), Robert Peston, at the time a leading light at the BBC but these days at ITV, and Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times. Lately, Rudd has been doing PR for the Remain campaign in the EU referendum. Think on that next time you wonder how they might have been garnering favourable coverage on the airwaves. Advertisement Instead, the mansion remained empty and it was effectively left to rot. Despite the protestations of the Palace, this sparked continued media speculation about the real motivation behind its sale. Fast forward to the early months of 2011, and with Sunninghill Park still empty, the Duke of York made an extraordinary attempt to help his friend Mr Kulibayev become a client of Coutts. In March that year, the Court Circular recorded that Prince Andrew met with Rory Tapner, the banks CEO, who was also head of RBSs wealth management division. A fortnight later, the Duke then emailed the Kazakh oligarch Kenges Rakishev in an attempt to set up a meeting between Timur Kulibayev the purchaser of Sunninghill Park Rory Tapner and an RBS colleague called John Hourican. If possible, I would like to have the CEO of RBS Wealth, Rory Tapner, and John Hourican, CEO Global Markets, come to Kaz [Kazakhstan] to see TK [Kulibayev] with a view to discuss [sic] Wealth Management and GBM [Global Banking Markets], wrote Andrew, whose emails when they appear in an inbox rather amusingly say they are from a sender called The Duke. Otherwise it could be arranged in London at TKs [Kulibayevs] convenience when or if he comes here next. The Palace has since suggested the Duke, pictured, sent the email about Coutts as a 'favour to the bank' The Princes intervention threatened to leave the bank in a tricky position. This was not, to put it mildly, a meeting that we would have been keen to take, says a source there. Kazakh oligarchs are the sort of people we generally dont touch with a bargepole, regardless of how keen the Duke of York is for us to bring them on board. 'There are too many of what one politely calls compliance issues regarding the source of their enormous wealth. Also, Coutts has a policy of not bringing in new clients on the basis of referrals. It can create awkwardness if you decide to turn them down. So the bank would never have asked Prince Andrew to set up this kind of meeting, or have agreed to him sending an email like this. Little wonder that the mooted meeting never took place, meaning that the Princes hopes that Mr Kulibayev would become a client of the Queens bank came to naught. Strangely given Coutts policy on Kazakhstan and referrals, the Palace suggested last night Prince Andrew had sent the email as a favour to the bank. The Duke of York works to encourage economic growth in the United Kingdom and from time to time he is called upon by UK companies who wish to make contact with overseas markets, they said, in response to an inquiry about the email. Asked to comment on what Ms Thirsks emails reveal about how intimately the Princes private office were involved in the sale of Sunninghill Park, a spokesman said the Palace stands by its statement distancing Andrew from the matter. Quite how it justifies that position is anyones guess. But the public will surely reach its own conclusions. Libertarian Vice Presidential hopeful William Weld is standing by his recent comment likening Donald Trump's vow to deport the 11 million immigrants living in America illegally to Kristallnacht. The former Massachusetts governor had made the comment during an interview on Thursday when he said the presumptive Republican nominee's plan reminded him of the Night of Broken Glass. 'I can hear the glass crunching on Kristallnacht in the ghettos of Warsaw and Vienna when I hear that, honest,' Weld told The New York Times. Libertarian Vice Presidential hopeful William Weld (left) is standing by his recent comment likening Donald Trump's (Trump, right) vow to deport the 11 million immigrants living in America illegally to Kristallnacht Pedestrians glance at the broken windows of a Jewish owned shop in Berlin after the attacks of Kristallnacht in November 1938. Thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues were ransacked by angry anti-Semitic mobs as law-enforcement organs looked on, signaling the start of the Holocaust On November 9, 1938, scores of Jews were killed in the Kristallnacht, a state-sponsored spree of looting and destruction of Jewish property across Germany and Austria, not, as Weld says, in the ghettos of Warsaw and Vienna. German Nazis did not in fact invade Poland until September 1, 1939. The ghettos were not established until after the invasion. Thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues were ransacked by angry anti-Semitic mobs as law-enforcement organs looked on, signaling the start of the Holocaust. When asked if he thought his comment referencing Kristallnacht when speaking about Trump's immigration plan was a little strong, Weld said no. 'No I don't think so. I served five years on the US Holocaust Commission by appointment of president George W Bush,' he told CNN's Jake Tapper in an interview that aired on Sunday on State of the Union. 'I'm absolutely certain that, as we said in those years, if we don't remember, we absolutely will forget. 'And you've got to forget a lot of things to think it's a good idea to round up and deport 11 million people living peaceably, most of them working in America, in the middle of the night. 'No, not the United States. China, maybe. Not the United States.' Weld, 70, who served two terms as the Republican governor of Massachusetts in the 1990s, is seeking the Libertarian Party's vice presidential nomination He recently accepted the invitation to be the running mate of former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson (pictured), as the pair joined forces to strengthen Johnson's Libertarian presidential bid Weld, 70, who served two terms as the Republican governor of Massachusetts in the 1990s, is seeking the Libertarian Party's vice presidential nomination. He recently accepted the invitation to be the running mate of former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, as the pair joined forces to strengthen Johnson's Libertarian presidential bid. While speaking to the New York Times, Weld mentioned that he does not consider himself part of the 'Never Trump movement.' 'I'm not horrified about everything Mr. Trump has done at all,' he told the newspaper, adding 'I think he's done a lot. But when I think about some of the positions, I think they're way out there.' Johnson said in reference to Weld's comment, he would not have made the Holocaust reference, but defended the sentiments behind the comment. 'What are we going to do? Are we going to go in these homes and take these people out of their homes? Come on. He made that reference, Johnson told CNN's Victor Blackwell on CNN Newsroom. Weld was an active fundraiser for 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney (pictured right with Weld). Like Johnson, he has a moderate view on social issues and favors abortion rights and same-sex marriage 'I don't make that reference, but it's crazy. It's off the charts.' Johnson is casting himself as the best and perhaps only alternative to Trump, as the New York billionaire's Republican critics struggle to identify another third-party candidate. Johnson earned just one per cent of the national vote during his 2012 presidential run, but reminds reluctant conservatives that he'll likely be the only third-party candidate on the ballot in all 50 states this fall. Weld, a well-respected former governor in the Northeast, offers Johnson some credibility and badly needed fundraising prowess. 'He could be a huge influence when it comes to fundraising. Huge,' Johnson said this week, whose campaign had only $35,000 in the bank at the end of March. 'That was something that he in fact volunteered that he enjoys doing it.' Weld was an active fundraiser for 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Like Johnson, Weld has a moderate view on social issues. He favors abortion rights and same-sex marriage. Years after leaving the governor's office in Massachusetts, Weld launched an unsuccessful bid for New York governor as a Republican and a Libertarian. He told CNN that while he and Johnson hope to offer fiscally conservative voters another option in the upcoming election, he said he has not spoken to Romney or other party leaders looking for a third-party candidate to run against Trump. 'I want to make sure we've got the building blocks of a national campaign all set up before we go around asking others for help,' Weld said. Pressure was growing last night for an inquiry into Prince Andrews links with Kazakhstan. MPs and human rights campaigners said there was a worrying lack of transparency about the Duke of Yorks business dealings with the former Soviet republic. It follows revelations in Saturdays Daily Mail that Prince Andrew acted as a fixer by helping a Greek sewage company and a Swiss finance house pursue a 385 million contract in Kazakhstan. Prince Andrew, centre, is facing calls for a probe into his dealings with Kazakhstan after leaked emails revealed he was involved in selling his Berkshire mansion to an oligarch despite previous denials The Duke is accused of trying to set up that deal when employed as Britains roving trade ambassador. And emails published by the Daily Mail today reveal how: Andrew was closely involved in organising the 15 million sale of Sunninghill Park in 2007 to Kazakh oligarch Timur Kulibayev, and the Dukes staff went to great lengths to ensure the deal went through; The Duke persuaded the Crown Estate to offer the oligarch a grazing licence at a peppercorn rent for land close to Sunninghill; Andrew tried to arrange for senior figures at the state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, which owned the exclusive bank Coutts, to discuss wealth management for Kulibayev. After the sale, Sunninghill Park sat empty for more than eight years before being demolished earlier this year. Buckingham Palace has insisted that Andrew had played no part in the arrangements for the sale. Yesterday, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron told the Mail: No one should be above the law and if evidence is put forward, then it should be investigated without fear or favour. Sir Vince Cable, the former Business Secretary, called for Andrew to be prevented from playing any official role in representing British trade overseas. He said: It would not be right for him to be speaking for the British Government. Sunninghill Park, pictured, was sold to Timur Kulibayev in 2007 for 3million above its 12million asking price Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, pictured, said 'no one should be above the law' regarding the Duke's deal Shadow Commons leader Chris Bryant said: I dont think there has been enough transparency or scrutiny on the way this nebulous role has been used. The former Foreign Office minister added: When I was at the Foreign Office, nobody could ever tell whether he was looking out for himself or whether he really had the interests of the country at heart. Robert Barrington, of Transparency International UK, the anti-corruption campaign group, told the Mail: You would expect that any deals involving an official British trade envoy should be transparent, with clarity over what the deal involved, who was paid commission and how much commission was paid. A set-up in which middle men take unknown cuts from unknown deals should be considered very high risk for corruption. Referring to the Greek/Swiss deal, Hugh Williamson, of Human Rights Watch, said: This story is very concerning because it shows that new trade arrangements were being negotiated without being placed in the context of the UK Governments policy on human rights and also because the Prince may have been benefiting personally from these deals. DAILY MAIL COMMENT The Mails revelations about Prince Andrews personal and financial links with the despotic ruler of Kazakhstan and his acolytes are profoundly damaging for the Royal Family. But almost equally distasteful has been the blatant attempt by Buckingham Palace to sweep them under the carpet. On Saturday we disclosed that the Prince acted as a fixer for a Swiss/Greek consortium bidding for infrastructure contracts in the oil-rich country. His role, for which he was to be offered nearly 4million, was to smooth the way by persuading a powerful Kazakh oligarch also a friend of his to support the bids. The oligarch Kenges Rakishev just happens to be the man who negotiated the purchase of the Princes house, Sunninghill Park, in 2007 at the hugely inflated price of 15million, and is a close ally of Kazakhstans autocratic president Nursultan Nazarbayev. When Mail journalist Guy Adams first approached the Princes spokesman, he flatly denied that Andrew had had any involvement in the infrastructure deal. We then furnished him with a copy of the personal email sent by the Prince to Mr Rakishev on behalf of the consortium. The spokesman first suggested it must be a forgery but then tried unsuccessfully to stop its publication on privacy grounds. And in further disclosures today, we reveal Andrews role in the sale of Sunninghill aka Southyork to the Kazakhs, a deal in which the Palace previously suggested he had no personal involvement. This constant dissembling not only exposes the Prince to accusations of dishonesty, it undermines the integrity of the entire royal household. Labour MP Paul Flynn, who has campaigned for Parliament to lift its arcane rule that royals cannot be criticised in the Chamber, said Prince Andrew should lose his royal status. He said Andrew and other minor royals were often too constrained, adding: These hangers-on lead a miserable existence. We should liberate them from their status of minor royals and allow them to lead full, normal lives with proper jobs like they have always wanted. We are not short of officials who can cut ribbons in this country. Today the Mail reveals the Dukes then Deputy Private Secretary, Amanda Thirsk, discussed interior design and security arrangements at Sunninghill with the wealthy Kazakhs. Miss Thirsk even tried to secure a deal for the billionaire to lease two fields next to the mansion from the Crown Estate, the organisation which manages land on behalf of the British taxpayer, for a peppercorn rent of 200 an acre. The deal was never finalised. The emails also reveal that Andrew made an extraordinary attempt in 2011 to ensure that Coutts, the Queens bank, took the Kazakh oligarch on as a client. Former Business Secretary Vince Cable, pictured, said the Duke should be prevented from representing Britain in any overseas trade deals The house near Windsor Castle had been given by the Queen as a wedding present to Andrew. It was put up for sale in 2003 but languished on the market for four years before being sold to Kulibayev for 15 million 3 million above the asking price. Kulibayev is the son-in-law of Kazakh dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev. Andrew reportedly met the oligarch through his friend Goga Ashkenazi, a 36-year-old Kazakh billionaire who was raised in Russia but educated in England. British schools are hiring eastern European teaching assistants in a bid to manage the influx of children born to Polish, Slovakian and Lithuanian parents. Millions of pounds are being spent by local authorities in a bid to provide support for those families which have migrated to the UK to work. Services such as bilingual staff and textbooks in a variety of languages are being provided to children of eastern European descent, with many quickly outperforming their British-born counterparts, despite knowing little English. British schools are hiring eastern European teaching assistants in a bid to manage the influx of children born to Polish, Slovakian and Lithuanian parents (stock image) Some British children are even being turned away by schools, while some have a student population where 25 per cent of pupils do not speak English as their first language. One migration hotspot, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, has spent 110million since 2007 to create more than 8,000 school places to cope with the added demand. Iain Erksine, principal of Fulbridge Academy in Peterborough, told The Sunday Times: 'We have seen a rapid increase in European families; one in five our of pupils are from eastern Europe. 'I have hired bilingual assistants to teach them and bought dictionaries of all the different languages.' Mr Erksine added that eastern European children had proven to be the school's highest achievers by the age of 11, while British working-class boys were the hardest to 'move upwards'. St Norbert's Catholic Primary School in Spalding, Lincolnshire, said nearly 70 per cent of its students originated from eastern Europe, and that it too had hired Polish teaching assistants as a result. The same is true of the four schools that made up the Witham Academies Federation in Boston, Lincolnshire, where almost half of its pupils across the academy had eastern European parents. Almost 200,000 pupils in the country now have an Eastern European first language - up from around 52,000 seven years ago. Schools, including those across the Midlands and Yorkshire, have posted job adverts online in recent months in a hunt for suitable teaching assistants. One secondary school in Derbyshire advertised for a Polish teaching assistant for pupils, helping with 'translating information both verbal and written'. A woman killed her husband's puppy to fake a miscarriage after pretending to be pregnant for seven months. Johnny Parker returned home to his mobile home in Lawrence County, Alabama, on Wednesday to find his wife Anita covered in blood and body tissue on their bed. Anita, 43, screamed that she'd had a miscarriage and flushed the fetus down the toilet. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Horrific: Anita Parker (left) is charged with murdering and gutting her husband's eight-month-old chihuahua (center right) on Wednesday to stage a miscarriage after pretending to be pregnant for seven months Lies: Parker allegedly posted this online of a random male fetus, which her husband suspects she found online However, when they got to hospital, doctors took Johnny aside and said tests showed Anita had never been pregnant. Mrs Parker left hospital with another relative. When Mr Parker returned to their trailer his eight-month-old chihuahua was nowhere to be found. Video courtesy of WAFF Eventually his neighbor found the puppy dead and gutted in the trash can outside. 'It hurts like crap, man, about my dog. I loved that dog, man,' Mr Parker cried in an interview with ABC 13 News. He said he never suspected his wife was faking her pregnancy, even though she refused to let him come to her doctor appointments. Distraught: Johnny Parker said he never suspected his wife would lie and said she even looked pregnant Morbid discovery: Mr Parker and his neighbor found the dead puppy in the trash after searching for ages This is the home Mr and Mrs Parker shared. It is where Johnny found Anita covered in blood and tissue To assure him, she would routinely show him ultrasound pictures of a male fetus - which he now suspects she found on the internet. 'I guess she pushed her belly out all the time, because she looked like she was. And she sends me pictures of the ultrasounds,' Mr Parker told ABC. Mrs Parker has been charged with first-degree animal cruelty. A shark bit a 57-year-old woman in Florida after she swam through an area dubbed 'shark alley' on Sunday. Mary Marcus, who was bitten on the thigh, was in stable condition at Indian River Medical Center, according to Florida Today. After she was bitten, Marcus swam to shore, walked to her chair and wrapped her leg with a towel before asking for help. Mary Marcus, 57, was bitten on her thigh while swimming at Vero Beach (pictured) in Florida in front of the Costa d' Este resort, where she was staying. Authorities said Marcus is in stable condition at the local hospital Erik Toomsoo, spokesman for the Vero Beach Lifeguard Association, told Florida Today that he was 'glad it wasn't any worse'. Marcus had apparently swam through an area called 'shark alley' between two reefs paralleling the shore, according to Toomsoo. Toomsoo said the area is where 'sharks are looking for bait fish' and lifeguards usually don't swim farther than 20 yards from shore to avoid the reef zone. In addition to avoiding that area, Toomsoo said he advises people to stay near lifeguards, according to Florida Today. Marcus, who was staying at the Costa d' Este, swam out nearly 100 yards and was bitten once. Visitor, Tracee Kromann, whose beach chair was near Marcus', told Florida Today that the woman 'was super calm'. Kromann said she saw a little blood when March 'wrapped her leg with a towel'. Humiston Beach lifeguard Ellis Baker told the publication that the attack was a 'bite and release'. Hundreds of people remained in the water even after hotel staff alerted visitors on the beach of what happened. There were no other reports of shark attacks in the area on Sunday. He is accused of starting the fire at Mr Stevenson's Geelong home Stuart McKnight, 45, is charged with arson and assault with a weapon The 79-year-old, who also suffered 'stab wounds', died on Sunday night Graham Stevenson was airlifted to hospital on Thursday with severe burns An elderly man who was reportedly stabbed with a BBQ fork before being left for dead in his burning home has died in hospital. Graham Stevenson, 79, was airlifted to hospital on Thursday after being rescued from a fire at his house in Clifton Springs, Geelong. He suffered severe burns to his back and legs and had been stabbed with a barbecue fork on his upper body, it was reported. The pensioner died on Sunday night at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. His neighbour, 45-year-old Stuart McKnight has been charged with setting the blaze and assault with a weapon. Scroll down for video Graham Stevenson, 79, died in hospital on Sunday. He had suffered stab wounds and severe burns to his back and legs after a fire at his Geelong home He is due to appear at Geelong Magistrates' Court on Monday morning. Mr Stevenson was stabbed with a barbecue fork before the fire, Nine News claimed. Police would not confirm the nature of his injuries on Monday. The pensioner was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition on Thursday night shortly before 12am after emergency services were called to the scene. McKnight has been charged with arson, aggravated burglary, conduct endangering life, recklessly causing serious injury and assault with a weapon. Last week a neighbour said the pair were known to one another before the incident. Stuart McKnight, Mr Stevenson's 45-year-old neighbour, has been charged with arson and assault with a weapon McKnight will appear at Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday morning to face the charges Mick Van Beek told Nine News: 'They've had beers together on a few occasions,' confirming McKnight had been arrested at his parents' house. 'The police went into the next-door neighbour's house and came out with my neighbour's son and put him in handcuffs,' he added. Emergency services were called to the house on Thursday shortly before midnight. 'We were called at around 11.40 to reports of a house fire,' an Ambulance Victoria spokesman said. 'A man aged in his 70s had serious injuries to the upper body and burns to the back and legs. 'He was treated by paramedics and airlifted to The Alfred Hospital,' an Ambulance Victoria spokesman said. Mr Stevenson was airlifted to hospital in Melbourne on Thursday night after being rescued from the fire at his home (above) A left-wing agitator in France was facing an attempted murder charge on Sunday after using a metal bar to attack a police commander during an anti-government demonstration. The assault - which also saw the officer being punched and kicked as he lay on the ground - was captured on a video that was posted on Facebook. It shows the 51-year-old commander being set upon in the western city of Nantes during a demonstration against new employment legislation. Wearing a helmet and body armour, and wielding a baton, the officer breaks away from his squad and runs down a shopping street, before tossing a tear gas cannister As he moves forward with the tear gas swirling behind him, he breaks into a sprint, as men - protesting against new employment legislation - kick him from behind Then masked youths move in, and an unnamed 18-year-old allegedly hits the officer around the head with the metal bar Wearing a helmet and body armour, and wielding a baton, the officer breaks away from his squad and runs down a shopping street, before tossing a tear gas cannister. As he moves forward with the tear gas swirling behind him, he breaks into a sprint, as protestors kick him from behind. Then masked youths move in, and an unnamed 18-year-old allegedly hits the officer around the head with the metal bar. Shocked and dazed, the policeman collapses on the ground, and as his helmet is ripped off, other youths move in, punching and kicking him repeatedly. The commander suffered a broken nose, and a wound to the back of the head, all of which required a total of 15 stitches. Six other specialist CRS riot control officers and a beat policeman were also badly injured during the riot in Nantes, which happened on May 3rd, as part of ongoing nationwide protests. A local police spokesman said: 'An 18-year-old man has been placed under investigation for attempted murder, and faces trial. He admits having knocked the officer over, but denies hitting him.' The video was posted by the 'Nantes Riot' group, and by Sunday evening, had been viewed at least seven million times. A message from the group accompanying the film reads: 'An armed policeman (alone) clearly under the influence of cocaine gratuitously charges the protestors, who back off with their hands in the air. Shocked and dazed, the policeman collapses on the ground and other youths move in, punching and kicking him repeatedly The officer's helmet is ripped off. He suffered a broken nose, and a wound to the back of the head, all of which required a total of 15 stitches It continues: 'Bravo on remaining calm. We're thinking of our buddy in jail who is going to be judged for attempted murder.' Earlier this month, terrifying video footage showed a Parisian police car being smashed to pieces and set ablaze while police officers were still inside. Four men have also been placed under investigation for attempted murder in the French capital in connection with the incident. Police took to the streets in about 60 cities on the day of the attack to denounce the hatred and violence they say has been repeatedly directed at them during protests against the government's labour reforms. On the surface, Norbert Hofer appears every inch the softly spoken family man. Lean, greying, always impeccably turned out, this former aeronautical engineer from middle-class Burgenland looks more like a senior sales executive than a fascist demagogue. Indeed, were it not for his penchant for posting pictures of himself on social media toting his favourite Glock pistol, you might think him a perfectly ordinary 45-year-old father of four. But this is a man described by one Austrian politician as a wolf in sheeps clothing, a ticking time bomb. Norbert Hofer, centre, leader of Austria's far-right Freedom Party, is neck-and-neck with Independent rival Alexander Van der Bellen for the country's presidency This is a man who once called for Austria to be reunited with Germany, a man who has for years been sending out subtle signals about his fondness for Austrias history under the Third Reich, and the man who controversially said: Islam has no place in Austria. The truth is that Norbert Hofer is simply the modern face of nationalist extremism. The real giveaway, oddly enough, is in his favourite flower the blue cornflower. Though few people outside Austria would recognise the allusion, the blue cornflower is a symbol of Nazi nostalgia. During the mid-1930s, when the Nazis were banned in Austria, party members wore blue cornflowers so that they could recognise one another in public. Naturally, Mr Hofer denies that his fondness for the cornflower has anything to do with the Nazis. Yet his organisation, the Freedom Party, has never made a secret of its sneaking sympathies for Adolf Hitler, who was born in sleepy Upper Austria in 1889, and did not move to Germany until he was in his mid-twenties. Unlike their German neighbours, the Austrians have never confronted the truth about their crimes in the 1930s and 1940s, preferring to present themselves as victims of the Third Reich, instead of largely willing collaborators. Indeed, at one level the Freedom Party is simply the institutional embodiment of Austrias refusal to recognise its past. It was founded in 1956 by a former Nazi agriculture minister who had served in the SS. Mr Hofer, right, could become Europe's first far-right leader since World War Two and has previously voiced controversial opinions including 'Islam has no place in Austria' While Haider insisted that Austrian Nazi veterans deserved honour and recognition, Norbert Hofer has been more careful. The plain fact, however, is that for all his public blandness, Mr Hofer is the heir to a political tradition steeped in hatred and violence, trading in nationalism and visceral xenophobia. As a relatively conservative Catholic nation, the Austrians have never been renowned for their fondness for outsiders. And as the first Western country in the migration route through the Balkans, with a prosperous economy, affluent population and generous welfare system, it could hardly have been in a worse position. At first, the country bowed to German pressure, throwing open the doors to all-comers. Last year, more than 90,000 people, most of them Muslims from the Middle East and North Africa, applied for asylum in Austria a country with a population of just under nine million people. At the end of March, the Austrian government announced plans to close its borders to asylum seekers. Mr Hofer, right, and Mr Van der Bellen, left, are both polling at 50 per cent, with postal votes set to prove key A few weeks later, they unveiled a plan to build a massive fence along its southern border. All this was a gift to Norbert Hofer. For months he has been thundering against the pusillanimity of the mainstream elites. He expressed his opposition to forced multiculturalism, globalisation and mass immigration, and almost daily inveighs against the irresponsible and dangerous policies of Brussels and Berlin. Every day, he condemns migrants as potential Islamic extremists, rapists and murderers; every day he stokes popular outrage a little further. The terrifying thing is that where Austria leads, other European countries may follow. Indeed, for other far-Right icons such as Marine Le Pen who leads polls for next years French presidential election a Hofer triumph would surely prove an inspiration. The truly disturbing thing about Norbert Hofer is not that he reminds us of his countrys Nazi past. A prolific criminal who shot dead a Massachusetts traffic cop has been gunned down by state troopers after a four-hour stand-off that culminated in a shoot-out in a bedroom. Jorge Zambrano, 35, was at large for 14 hours after shooting married father-of-three Officer Ronald Tarentino, 45, during a traffic stop in Auburn at 12.30am on Sunday. At around 2pm, detectives located the suspect's car outside a home in Oxford, a few miles away from the crime scene. After searching the property they found nothing. They then managed to get inside the apartment next door via the cellar, and began to search the premises. At 6pm, as they went up to a first-floor bedroom, Zambrano burst out of a wardrobe. He shot one of the troopers - a former Navy SEAL and 18-year veteran - who escaped with a minor wound. Another trooper responded by shooting Zambrano, killing him. Scroll down for video Killed: Officer Ronald Tarentino (pictured) was shot and killed on Sunday morning during a traffic stop. Hours later his colleagues found and shot dead the suspect Jorge Zambrano (right) during a stand-off in an apartment Stand-off: The home in the background of this frame is where officers found the suspect's car at 2pm on Sunday. They spent hours searching the property until the suspect, Jorge Zabrano, jumped out of a wardrobe Officers were stationed outside the home for four hours until it reached a climax, shots were fired and the suspect was shot, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early said in a press conference on Sunday Eventually the investigation zeroed in on a home 15 minutes away from the crime scene, which is 45 miles south of Boston. Officers were stationed outside the home for four hours until it reached a climax, shots were fired and the suspect was shot, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early said in a press conference on Sunday evening. Ambulances could be seen driving at a steady pace away from the crime scene. Colonel Richard McKeon of Massachusetts State Police told reporters they will not be naming the wounded Navy SEAL until Monday. As the stand-off played out on Sunday, Officer Tarentino's body was driven from UMass Medical Center to a funeral home nearby. Officers lined the streets saluting as he passed. 42-year-old Tarentino was taken to UMass Medical Center, in Worcester, where he was pronounced dead. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey tweeted out on Sunday: 'Our thoughts & prayers are with the @AuburnMAPolice dept. & family of Off. Tarentino. 'A reminder of the heroic work officers do each day.' Tarentino stopped a vehicle at about 12.30am. The driver shot him and fled the scene (pictured hours later) Investigation: Police did not identify the suspect, who was later traced to a home in nearby Oxford, MA Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis (above in white) said Tarentino was a 'dedicated and brave public servant' At Leicester's Town Common on Sunday evening more than 100 people gathered and lit candles and pay their respects to Tarentino. He was honored in Leicester because he served their community as a police officer before joining the police department in Auburn, WHDH.com reported. More than 100 people gathered to pay tribute to slain police officer Ronald Tarentino Tarentino was shot and killed during a traffic stop early Sunday morning. People lit candles during a tribute on Sunday night Tarentino, who joined the Auburn Police Department three years ago, is survived by a wife and three children, Sluckis said. Residents in Tarentino's Leicester neighborhood remember him as a pleasant family man. Next-door neighbor Vin Dagostino called Tarentino a 'super nice guy with a super nice family'. Sluckis called him a 'dedicated and brave public servant'. State and local police officers lined up outside the hospital as a police vehicle, escorted by a police procession, took Tarentino's body to the state medical examiner's office in Boston, where the vehicle was met by a large group of officers. In Auburn, a procession of police cruisers and police motorcycles with lights flashing and sirens sounding drove by the police station around 9.30am while Auburn police officers stood outside and saluted, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported. Six officers have been fatally shot in Massachusetts since 2000, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. Advertisement Life inside Kowloon Walled City, the most densely populated place on earth, was far from easy before the chaotic cluster of interconnected high-rise buildings was demolished 20 years ago. Around 33,000 people lived in the overcrowded Hong Kong slum, which was blighted by poverty, organised crime, including drug dealing, gambling and prostitution, poor sanitation and inadequate services. Populated by families, business owners, drug addicts and gang members, the settlement was essentially lawless due to a territorial dispute between China and British Hong Kong, but both sides agreed in the 1980s to demolish it and replace it with a park. The former Chinese military site became a sprawling urban settlement after Japanese forces retreated during World War II and squatters moved in. Over the following decades it fell under the grip of the Triads, who were eventually forced out in the 1970s, and was notorious for brothels, casinos and opium dens as it lagged behind the rest of Hong Kong, although crime rates dropped in its later years. Before Kowloon Walled City was finally demolished in 1994, photographers Greg Girard and Ian Lambot spent five years capturing jaw-dropping images of daily life within the six-acre site - from children playing on rooftops to heroin addicts shooting up on the street. Scroll down for video Kowloon Walled City, in Hong Kong, had more than 300 high-rise apartments and an estimated 33,000 people crammed within the site Families with young children, who played on top of apartment buildings, lived among gang members and drug addicts in the slum The settlement was essentially lawless due to a territorial dispute between China and Hong Kong, but both sides agreed to demolish it Food processors freely admitted that they moved into the city to benefit from the low rents and to seek refuge from health inspectors A postman ducks under pipes and cables as he delivers mail to residents who lived along a rat-infested alley covered in rubbish Given the density of the six-acre site, residents had no immediate access to greenery and had to retreat to rooftops for sunlight Employee Kwok Tsang Ming ladles a batch of fried fishballs into baskets in a small factory off Kwong Ming Street Law Yu Yi, aged 90, lived in a small and exceptionally humid third-floor flat off Lung Chun First Alley with her 68-year-old daughter-in-law The former Chinese military site became an urban settlement after Japanese forces retreated during World War II and squatters moved in Airline passengers had a stunning view of the walled city when the flew into Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport, which closed in 1998 A resident upset with compensation protests on the pavement in front of Walled City during clearance operation by police Residents of Kowloon Walled City had access to almost every kind of business or service, including hair salons and doctors Hui Tung Choy operated a noodle business in the home he shared with his wife and two young daughters, who played in the workshop Lee Pui Yuen's store doubled as his family's home. A shop was located at the front while a bedroom was on the other side of a partition Because the family lived in the shop, it remained open throughout the day and evening until Pui Yuen and his wife went to bed Supermarket owner Chan Pak, who sold everything from string to beer, had seven pet cats when this portrait was taken Ovens used for the roasting of pigs (left) raised temperatures inside the city. At right, a worker carries buckets of eels at a fishball factory A resident uses the only remaining natural ground well (left). An addict injects heroin into his leg (right) Kowloon was under the Triads' grip at one time and was notorious for brothels and drug dens as it lagged behind the rest of Hong Kong In the 1980s, authorities proceeded with plans to demolish the walled city and work eventually got underway in 1993 following evictions The rooftops of Kowloon Walled City's high-rise buildings were covered with dozens of TV aerials and cables Many buildings only received a sliver of daylight every day, including the Tin Hau Temple, which was constructed in 1951 Photographer Greg Girard captured jaw-dropping images of daily life within the six-acre site, including children playing on rooftops Residents lived in cramped quarters and used their balconies to store belongings (left). At right, rubbish-filled alley with little sunlight Many of the residents protested the evictions and said they were happy living in the squalid conditions, but they were forced out The government spent $2.7billion Hong Kong dollars in compensation and evacuations started in 1991. They were completed in 1992 Advertisement Sloths love life in the slow lane above all else - and this is where adorable orphaned babies of the species are able to carefully get into the swing of a leisurely life. These pictures show impossibly cute baby sloths at the Sloth Institute in Costa Rica. The centre is a lifeline for them as they probably wouldn't have stood a chance if left alone in the wild. The centre was set up by Sam Trull - known as 'Mother of Sloths' - and Seda Sejud, in a bid to enhance their well-being and assure their conservation. Some of their babies are smaller than the size of a human hand, with one image showing a cheeky sloth snuggled up in a mug. The heartwarming collection was captured for a book called Slothlove by Trull, who has been helping sloths return to the wild since 2013. Her work helps with research around the world on wild and captive sloths as she collaborates with other institutions and, with them, helps to educate the public about the species. These images show how being motivated to help the cute creatures must come quite easily... Best friends: Snuggling up to its teddy, this bright-eyed baby sloth is enjoying a happy recovery after being orphaned as a youngster Some of their babies are smaller than the size of a human hand, with one image showing a cheeky sloth snuggled up in a mug This lovable creature is one of many being cared for by volunteers at the Sloth Institute in Costa Rica, many of whom wouldn't have stood a chance if left alone in the wild This snoozing baby is called Kermie and was the sloth that Trull originally rescued. Kermie became the inspiration to start the centre Unlike other sloth centres that thrive on tourism for funding, the creatures are not available to be seen by the public as it is in their best interest to have as little human contact as possible, according to the website This heart-melting image of two cuddling baby sloths is one of many that Trull took for her Slothlove project Ready for its close-up: This small sloth enjoys the attention its getting from Trull, who has worked with animals for over 20 years The 100-page art-and-photography book includes this playful sloth, who is performing acrobatics on a branch in the Costa Rican retreat The Institure uses a 'soft' release technique to allow sloths to get used to the jungle before they are released into the wild by themselves Let me sleep: The sloth enjoys a peaceful doze at the rehabilitation organisation. Woven in with the colourful images are stories of heartbreak and survival from the animals that Trull has cared for Little star: This tiny sloth is called Elvis, and it is clear to see his playful personality when the camera is on him Snuggles: Three babies huddle together during nap time and look extremely cosy in their surroundings The Sloth Institute was founded because Trull wanted to spend her time getting hand-raised babies back into the jungle The conservationist said that many people steal sloths from the wild for tourists to touch and the sloths die from stress Trull advised that when visiting a country with sloths, never pay to take a picture with one or hold one, for the sake of their well-being Advertisement The most famous cities around the world have been photographed an infinite number of times but they've never been captured quite like this. Russian photography group AirPano have taken stunning nighttime panoramic and 360-degree aerial images of many well-known destinations. So far, their work has included modern constructions in Singapore, Shanghai and Dubai as well as the traditional architecture in Lisbon, Moscow and Rome. Scroll down for video AirPano specialises in panoramic city photography. They've travelled to many cities around the world, including Sydney (pictured above) The Russian group focuses on taking photographs of cities at night. Above, Las Vegas is captured at twilight, with its lights already bright To take the images, the group uses a series of drones. They usually take off just outside of the area they want to photograph, like Shanghai (above) One of the challenges to the group is that the drones have to be stationary while they take the images due to the prolonged exposure. Above, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai Their images feature flowing lines of light, distorted buildings, and famous landmarks, all in stunning clarity. It' no surprise that many of the incredible works have won the group awards. In order to get the angles required for these images, the group has to use a series of drones. They often require permission from the cities they are photographing to get them airborne. As well as the panoramic stills, the result of AirPano's drone flights can be stitched into a 360-degree virtual reality experience. If the drone shakes during the exposure period, the resulting image will be blurry. But images like the one above, taken in Buenos Aires in Argentina, are incredibly clear The group also have to seek permission from the cities they're photographing to fly the drones. Above, Amsterdam just after sunset As well as the panoramic images, the group have also created pictures that make the landscape they're capturing warped so that it looks like they've zoomed in on earth. Above, Cannes in the south of France Sergey Rumyantsev, one of the members, says that getting permission has become more difficult in recent years due to the number of drones in the air. Above, a panoramic of Chechnya The effort is worth it as many of the group's images have won them awards. Above, a statue of Christ captured in Lisbon just after sunset Some cities are filled with light pollution. Above, the buildings packed into the Manhattan landscape light up the sky like it's day time The virtual experiences allow viewers to seamlessly explore the cities' skylines or landmarks from above while rotating from a central point. Sergey Rumyantsev, a member of AirPano, revealed that the group are hoping to shoot London and Vancouver at night in the future but are still making progress on flight permission for their drones. Due to the growing popularity of the devices, Sergey has found it is becoming more difficult for drone photography groups like AirPano because a growing number of locations are banning them. Aside from cities, AirPano's crew have also shot volcanos, the North Pole and the Seven Wonders of the World. Rumyantsev said: 'Because we are creating panoramic content, it's very important to choose the best places for night shots. 'Usually we take off somewhere close to the city centre or in the middle of a big district to have lights all around the camera. 'It's not so easy to shoot at night because we need to use long exposure and, at the same time, the drone has to be static. 'But the night cities photography series is something extremely beautiful and works really well.' Above, a warped image of Shanghai with its skyscrapers, including the Oriental Pearl Tower, seemingly sticking out into the atmosphere The group hope to travel to London and Vancouver for photography in the future. Above, the Emirates tower in Dubai with the Burj Khalifa in the background As well as modern metropolises, the group have also captured historic architecture like the Colosseum in Rome, pictured above Some of their images capture cities and structures that are frequently photographed, but from a different view. Above, Singapore city In this image of Cannes, you can see the yachts breaking the calm waters while its roads are flooded with light like veins of the city Above, Yaroslavl in Russia. The old town of the city is listed as a Unesco World Heritage sight. The city also part of the Golden Ring of Russia, known for their touristic sites Above, a panoramic of Kazan just after sunset. The city is the capital and the largest city of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan Compared to some of the other cities around the world, the Vatican (pictured above) is relatively dark with significantly fewer street lights The warped view of this hotel room in Manhattan makes the city incredibly hard to recognise - another one of the group's stylistic choices Above, St Petersburg in Russia is warped into a globe, now perfectly proportioned to resemble a bauble destined for the Christmas tree This view of Madrid make it seem as though the buildings are falling into each other while the roads spiral out from the roundabout The streets of the Kremlin in Moscow look almost completely deserted in this image. In the background, parts of the city is cast in complete darkness Advertisement A tourist got more than he bargained for when a pair of cheeky monkeys flashed their bare bottoms for the camera. As soon as the playful Chacma baboons noticed they were being photographed at Kruger National Park, they bent over and mooned directly at the camera. The silly sight was captured by hobby photographer Vaughan Veal who was on his first retirement holiday at the South African park. The 62-year-old South African said: 'I was on a game drive in my car heading back to camp at Berg en Dal, when I saw a group of baboons playing in the road. 'I began to photograph and took a series of pictures on a burst. They bent over for a split second. When I looked at the picture where they are showing their bums, it immediately gave me the impression they were mooning me. 'I have on many occasions photographed baboons playing but have never captured something like this before.' Tourists got more than they bargained for when a pair of cheeky monkeys flashed their bare bottoms for the camera (pictured above) The playful pair of Chacma baboons were playing when they were photographed by hobby photographer Vaughan Veal (above) They were part of a group of baboons enjoy each other's company in the middle of the road at the Kruger National Park in South Africa The 62-year-old was heading back to his camp at Berg en Dal when he spotted the baboons. The two monkeys also wrestled with each other (pictured) Hobby photographer Vaughan Veal who was on his first retirement holiday at the South African park. Above, two little ones play around with each other at the Kruger National Park She opted for comfort while running errands with her new beau just days earlier. But on Friday Selma Blair was dressed to impress as she enjoyed a coffee date with her mystery man. The 43-year-old actress stepped out in skintight black leather pants while out with her silver fox in Los Angeles. Coffee date: Selma Blair, 43, was dressed to impress as she enjoyed an afternoon with her mystery man in Los Angeles on Friday The Cruel Intentions starlet teamed the form-fitting trousers with a long chic top which included a thigh high slit. She draped an additional black coat over her ensemble for a layered monochrome look. Rounding out her stylish wardrobe was a chunky vintage necklace and strappy black stilettos. Dressed to impress! The Cruel Intentions starlet stepped out in skintight black leather pants while out with her silver fox beau Low key lover: The award-winning star's beau went with a laid back look in light wash denim jeans and a black zip-up hoodie Her silky raven tresses were styled straight and her blunt bangs fell over her eyes for a dramatic look. The award-winning star's coffee date - whose identity is yet to be confirmed - went with a laid back look in light wash denim jeans and a black zip-up hoodie. He kept concealed behind dark shades and carried a disposable cup from Alfred's Coffee & Kitchen on Melrose Place. Selma and her male companion have been inseparable lately but were first spotted out last year. Laid back look: On Wednesday the Mothers And Daughters star went makeup-free as she picked up a bouquet of flowers in Beverly Hills with her beau The two seemed to enjoy each other's company as they walked side by side with matching to-go cups and smiles. On Wednesday the Mothers And Daughters star went makeup-free as she picked up a bouquet of flowers in Beverly Hills with her beau. The good-looking mystery man has made regular appearances by the Anger Management star's side. Selma's last serious relationship was with fashion designer Jason Bleick, whom she dated from 2010 to 2012 and had her son Arthur, four. 'Happy Birthday Dad': Selma shared this throwback snapshot in April with her former partner Jason Bleick, whom she dated from 2010 to 2012, when she was pregnant with their son Arthur, who is now four Blair rose to fame after starring in the 1999 teen drama Cruel Intentions - also featuring Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe - after she portrayed the privileged Cecile Caldwell. Earlier this year, it was revealed NBC are in development of a TV spin-off series which could subsequently result in the teenage romance making it into production. Despite sequels to the film being both critical and commercial flops, TV bosses have given the go-ahead for a pilot to be made of the series - which is set 15 years after events in the film. She is Australia's culinary queen, penning a number of best-selling cookbooks during her prolific career. And while the MasterChef guest judge has appeared on a number of cooking shows in the past, now Donna Hay will star in her own reality television show. The mother-of-two, who runs who own food empire, announced that she will invite viewers into her home and personal life for the first time, but coyly admitted to News.com.au on Sunday: 'It never occurred to me that people were interested in my life.' Scroll down for video New venture: Donna Hay has revealed she will be starring in her own reality television show The celebrity chef has been relatively private in the past but is now willing to open up the realm of her personal live as she gives viewers insight into what makes her tick. When quizzed about what the series will be based upon, the self-effacing food doyenne described the show as: 'Just me doing average things.' The candid show will track Donna's everyday life, from her morning run to social outings and everything in between. However, the magazine editor and former food stylist admitted there would be 'no go zones,' when it comes to filming. The TV series, titled Basics to Brilliance, on Foxtel's LifeStyle Food channel in Australia, will provide viewers with simple to cook recipes with an unexpected twist. Access all areas: When quizzed about what the series will be based upon, the self-effacing food doyenne described the show as: 'Just me doing average things.' Opening her home: The Australian food doyenne will invite viewers into her home and personal life for the first time, despite being relatively private in the past Talented: Donna is also a guest judge on Masterchef, seen here with judge George Calombaris If her past success if anything to go by, the best-selling author's new series is likely to be a huge hit with viewers. Donna won Most Outstanding Lifestyle program for her show Fast, Fresh, Simple at the 10th ASTRA Awards in Sydney in 2012. Donna will also soon join fellow chef Jamie Oliver on his Food Revolution project which aims to provide children with access to fresh, high quality and nutritious produce. The pair will film the series together, with hopes to bring the UK chef's initiative into Australian homes. Candid: The show will track Donna's everyday life, from her morning run to social outings and everything in between Private: The magazine editor and former food stylist admitted there would be 'no go zones,' when it comes to filming Donna is one of Australias leading food personalities, magazine editor-in-chief and best-selling cookbook author. The foodie is also a popular food columnist and contributes to a number of magazine's. Donna has penned 24- award-winning cookbooks, selling over six million copies worldwide. The former Marie Claire food editor has two sons, Tom and Angus, and resides in Sydney, Australia. Successful: The culinary queen has penned a number of best-selling cookbooks during her prolific career as well as appeared on a number of TV cooking shows She dazzled in a floor-length gown in a scaly metallic frock with a plunging neckline on Thursday. And on the following day, Jessica Hart took some time out from the craziness of the Cannes Film Festival to take a refreshing dip in the ocean. The 30-year-old model put her enviable bikini body on display in a nautical-striped swimsuit as she frolicked in the shallows. Scroll down for video Nautical but nice! Jessica Hart took some time out from the craziness of the Cannes Film Festival to take a refreshing dip in the ocean on Friday Her bikini top was a complementary bandeau style and featured interesting detailing on either side. She shielded her eyes from the warm sun with a pair of over-sized rounded sunglasses, and tied her long blonde locks in a messy, low-slung bun. The Australian model has been enjoying the festivities of the Cannes Film Festival with her sister Ashley. Refreshing! The 30-year-old model put her enviable bikini body on display in a nautical-striped swimsuit Little mermaid: She dazzled in a floor-length gown with a scaly metallic frock with a plunging neckline on Thursday The two siblings stunned on the red carpet at Cannes on Thursday evening, as they attended AmfAR's 23rd Cinema Against AIDS Gala at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. Former Victoria's Secret model Jessica was the more daring out of the two, showing a lot of front in a plunging cream and gold gown that flaunted her cleavage. She further drew attention to her decolletage by accessorising with a dazzling diamond necklace, while toting a small gold bag. Double trouble! The Australian model has been enjoying the festivities of the Cannes Film Festival with her sister Ashley The five-foot-nine glamazon further boosted her height in a pair of stilettos hidden beneath the hem of her dazzling metallic dress. Meanwhile sister Ashley also showed some skin in a sheer red gown with strategically placed beading to cover her modesty. The 27-year-old slicked her hair back into a half-up, half-down 'do, and wore simple accessories, including her gold wedding band from husband Buck Palmer. James McAvoy, 37, and Anne-Marie Duff, 45, plan to continue living together for the 'foreseeable future' despite confirming the end of their ten year marriage this month. The acting pair have no plans to change their living arrangements, according to a report in the Sunday Mirror, with the parents keen to minimise disruption for their young son Brendan. A source told the paper: 'They've decided to stay where they are for the time being and are trying to minimise disruption at home. James will be there for the foreseeable future.' Split: James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff plan to continue living together for the 'foreseeable future' despite confirming the end of their ten year marriage this month 'It's completely amicable and they're still getting on well. So despite all the news breaking, they've decided to keep themselves at their home in London with their son,' the insider continued. 'To all intents, this seems to be the epitome of the perfect break-up.' James was spotted heading to the 1.9 million four-bed maritial home on Monday The actor and Anne-Marie met on the set of Shameless over a decade ago, where they played on-screen lovebirds Steve McBride and Fiona Gallagher. The confirmed the end of their marriage in a joint statement last week, which read: 'It is with tremendous sadness that we have come to the decision to divorce. We enter this next phase with continued friendship, love and respect for one another and the shared focus of caring for our son.' Back in the day: James and Anne-Marie met on the set of Shameless over a decade ago, where they played on-screen lovebirds Steve McBride and Fiona Gallagher The news of their parting ways was followed by claims James has grown close to his X-Men co-star Alexandra Shipp, 24. A source told the Daily Mirror this week, 'Its no great secret how theyve got close. James has been quite open among the cast and crew that his marriage was over and it seems he has struck up a friendship with Alex since then.' They continued: 'Its been the source of some gossip among those connected to the film but theyve kept things low key.' It is believed the pair struck up a friendship on the set of their film amid long-running marriage issues between James and Anne-Marie. Filming for the latest X-Men installment began in March 2015 with the cast on location in Montreal, Canada. Representatives for James and Anne-Marie have been contacted by MailOnline for comment. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy just three months ago. And as Rose Byrne finished a day of duties promoting her new big screen comedy Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising, she swapped her pink pumps for comfortable flip flops. The 36-year-old flaunted her post-baby body in a black and white floral-patterned blouse and black jeans on Friday in New York City. Scroll down for video Ditching the heels: As Rose Byrne finished a day of duties promoting her new big screen comedy Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising, the new mum swapped her pink pumps for comfortable flip flops on Friday The Australian actress left the AOL Studios in the chic ensemble which she had arrived in, although swapped her sky high pumps for a pair of relaxed black flip flops. She draped a black leather tote handbag over her shoulder and held on tight to a pair of stylish sunglasses. Rose wore her balayage dyed locks slightly curled for a tousled look and highlighted her lips with a slick of dark nude lipstick paired with simple makeup to show off her pretty features. She's a natural: Rose wore her balayage dyed locks slightly curled for a tousled look and highlighted her lips with a slick of dark nude lipstick She's got the look: The Sydney-born beauty added a splash of colour with a pair of hot pink pointed toe pumps Earlier in the day the Sydney-born beauty added a splash of colour with a pair of hot pink pointed toe pumps. She wore her stylish ensemble for a visit to the AOL Build Presents Series, where she talked about the comedy sequel in which she stars with Zac Efron and Seth Rogen. Rose returns as her character Kelly Radner in Bad Neighbors 2, which hit theatres on Friday, and she was joined at the event by Seth, who plays her on-screen husband. Looking great: The Australian star wore her shoulder-length hair softy styled in a tousled look for her appearance at AOL Build Strike a pose: Rose was joined by actor Seth Rogen, her co-star and on-screen husband in Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising that opens in theatres Friday The day before, while on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the actress revealed that she was stopped by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at an airport recently because of breast milk she carried in her bag. The starlet had more than three ounces of breast milk with her, exceeding the maximum amount of liquid allowed in a carry-on bag. Rose told Stephen: 'I've been doing a lot of travelling, too, so I've been taking my breast milk everywhere with me.' Having a blast: The pair are busy promoting their big screen comedy sequel Chemistry: They certainly had plenty to entertain the audience with as they joked about making the movie Rose went on: 'They wave this weird thing over the top of it, and there's a whole production going on. They take it very seriously that it could be something.' 'I just stand there and smile and tell them that's it's really breast milk, and that it's nothing.' When the late host suggested she should have just pointed to her son to explain the breast milk, the starlet jokingly said: 'He's really real; he's here. You want me to get 'em out? What do you think? I'm not going to do that. No, no, no!' Jay Z was given a royal welcome by Sean 'Puff Daddy' Combs when he made a surprise appearance on stage at the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour concert in Brooklyn on Friday night. Demonstrating their tight-knit bond, Combs referred to Jay Z as his 'brother' as he introduced the rapper and Tidal mogul to the roaring audience at the Barclay's Center. 'Bad Boy's celebrating 20 years of hits, but this is extended family,' Puff said of Jay Z. A member of the family: Jay Z was given a very warm welcome by Puff Daddy when he took the stage on Friday at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, where the rapper referred to him as his 'brother' The hit-maker continued to heap praise upon Jay Z, to the roaring delight of the audience. 'You've been there with me through my ups and downs, whenever I get in trouble, this is the one I call. This my strategist right here, this my brother, this B.I.G.'s brother,' he added. 'It's Brooklyn's own, Brooklyn!' he added. 'That's why I appreciate you,' he told Jay Z. 'He came five thousand miles away to come here to Brooklyn, to represent the B.I.G.' 'This is my brother': The rapper heaped lavish praise on Jay Z In the palm of their hand: The 46-year-old and Puff commanded the crowd with a performance of Public Service Announcement The pair then performed Jay Z's hit 2003 song, Public Service Announcement. Saturday marks what would have been the late Notorious B.I.G.'s 44th birthday. 'It's so important to keep that going because that's the origin of Bad Boy,' rapper and recording artist Mase said in an interview with the Associated Press. 'Without him there's none of us. He set the way for all of us. He's the reason we're here.' Back for more: The show will return for a second night on Saturday at Barclays and the 25-city tour will kick off on August 25 in Columbus, Ohio this summer Paying tribute: The concerts fell on what would have been the late Notorious B.I.G.'s 44th birthday on Saturday, and the show paid homage to the Hypnotize rapper by playing his music videos She rose to stardom nearly two decades ago in her fierce role as Trinity in The Matrix. And on Saturday, Carrie-Anne Moss, 48, showed she's still got 'it' as she attended the 75th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony in a showstopping strapless jumpsuit. The ageless beauty flawlessly pulled off the stylish outfit that featured a plunging corset-style bodice. Scroll down after video Fierce fashionista! Carrie-Anne Moss, 48, rocked a plunging jumpsuit at the 75th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony in New York City on Saturday The award-winning actress donned the feminine garb with delicate three-quarter length lace sleeves. Her corset-like number cinched at the waistline which highlighted her slender figure and petite frame. She wore her chestnut tresses in her signature pixie cut style and tucked behind her ears to draw attention to her exquisite facial features. Forever young! The Matrix actress looked ever the ageless beauty in the low-cut number with delicate lace three-quarter length sleeves Allowing her ensemble to take centre stage, the stunning actress kept her makeup to a minimum with a touch of nude gloss and smokey eye. Moss rounded out her look at the celebrity event - which was also attended by Emmy Rossum, Krysten Ritter and Jon Stewart - with a small black clutch and dress shoes. The Canadian-born beauty recently wrapped on her upcoming film Brain on Fire. Flawless! Moss' corset-like number cinched at the waistline which highlighted her slender figure and petite frame She stars as Rhona Nack in the Charlize Therone produced movie. The movie is a film adaptation of Susannah Cahalan's memoir and stars Chloe Moretz, Tyler Perry, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jenny Slate, Thomas Mann and Richard Armitage. Shooting took place in Carrie's native country and Moretz stars in the film as a young woman struggling with a rare auto-immune condition that caused violent episodes and delusions. She's rumoured to be dating the father of Kourtney Kardashian's three children. And while Scott Disick continues to party in Europe, Megan Blake Irwin is spending time in her home of Australia. The 21-year-old stunner cut a chic tomboy figure while out for dinner in Sydney on Saturday, interestingly accompanied by a man who shared a striking resemblance to her rumoured beau. Scroll down for video Out and about: Megan Blake Irwin cut a chic tomboy figure while out and about in Sydney on Saturday The leggy blonde showed off her trim pins in a pair of black skinny jeans, which she paired with a black wrap blazer. Showing her penchant for luxury goods, she donned a pair of black Gucci horsebit loafers, and casually draped a black scarf over her shoulders. She was accompanied by two male companions, one of whom bore the same stubble and fashion style as her rumoured beau. Out on the town: She was accompanied by two male companions, one of whom bore the same stubble and fashion style as her rumoured beau In January this year, Megan was 'discovered' by the world's most iconic photographer Mario Testino, who shot her for the April issue of Vogue Australia. Meanwhile, Megan and Scott had most recently been seen putting on an affectionate display when they went for a dinner date at Koi Japanese restaurant in LA. Neither have confirmed they are dating, and Megan on Wednesday refused to talk about their relationship saying only he was a lovely guy. Beauty: In January this year, Megan was 'discovered' by the world's most iconic photographer Mario Testino Rumoured beau: Megan is rumoured to be dating the father of Kourtney Kardashian's three children Following a trip to Cannes, Scott was seen partying in London on Friday, after a dinner with Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West. While in Sydney, Megan attended the launch of P.Jame - a new sleepwear label run by model Bambi Northwood-Blyth and her husband Dan Single - and refused to confirm whether she and Scott were dating. The beauty told The Daily Telegraph: 'Scott is a lovely guy but that's about all I'm going to say about that.' Minnie Driver headed to Las Vegas on Saturday to headline a special gala and fundraiser hosted by James Corden. The 46-year-old Good Will Hunting actress dazzled on the red carpet in a flowing white gown with a plunging neckline that showed off her decolletage. The brunette beauty left her locks falling loose around her shoulders as she stepped out to support the Keep Memory Alive organization's annual Power of Love event. A vision in white: Minnie Driver, 46, dazzled on the red carpet in a flowing gown with a plunging neckline that showed off her decolletage The simple floor-length frock featured long spaghetti straps which continued on to dangle all the way down her back, and subtle white detailing in the form of crisscrossing white strips of fabric. A unique mirrored clutch added some pizzazz, as did some rather large two piece pendant earrings and matching ring from designer Kimberly McDonald. Some light crimson lipstick and a bit of rouge ensured the Hollywood vet was camera ready. Of course she wasn't the only celeb in attendance, with a bevy of other big names following her on the red carpet. Natural beauty: The actress left her brunette locks loose to fall around her shoulders and added some bright red lip color to brighten her classy white gown Details: A unique mirrored clutch added some pizzazz, as did some rather large two piece pendant earrings and matching ring from designer Kimberly McDonald Recording artist Andra Day, 31, delighted in a strapless dress featuring an intricate gold and burgundy pattern. She also donned a peach colored hair scarf, which perfectly complimented the interesting frock. Some very large gold hoops, a slick of scarlet lipstick and some stark eye-liner completed her fresh look. Colorful: Recording artist Andra Day, 31, delighted in a strapless dress featuring an intricate gold and burgundy pattern The whole package: She also donned a peach colored hair scarf, which perfectly complimented the interesting frock Always dapper: TV host James Corden, 37, looked dashing in a classic navy suit with a blue knit tie, matching pocket square and rich brown leather shoes with buckles Sophistocated: His beautiful producer wife Julia Carey looked radiant in a black sleeveless number with white highlights at the waist and down the sides TV host James Corden, 37, looked dashing in a classic navy suit with a blue knit tie, matching pocket square and rich brown leather shoes with buckles. His beautiful producer wife Julia Carey looked radiant in a black sleeveless number with white highlights at the waist and down the sides. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, 68, made his usual impactful style statement with a black silk shirt, dark grey pattern blazer and some eye-catching white and black paisley trousers. Easy to pick out: Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, 68, made his usual impactful style statement with a black silk shirt, dark grey pattern blazer and some eye-catching white and black paisley trousers Eye-catching: Recording artist Darius Rucker, 50, also looked quite slick in his satiny silver suit with sky blue pattern tie and stark black shirt Of course he also rocked a collection of unique necklaces and had his long, curly dark locks on display as well. Predictably, crooner Tony Bennett, 89, who was being honored at the event, was all class in a traditional suit with black tie and red handkerchief. Recording artist Darius Rucker, 50, also looked quite slick in his satiny silver suit with sky blue pattern tie and stark black shirt. Simple and cool: Actor Brad Garrett, 56, also made an appearance, and chose a blue plaid blazer and black slacks Actor Brad Garrett, 56, also made an appearance, and chose a blue plaid blazer and black slacks. The purpose of the night was to benefit the Keep Memory Alive organization which funds research into various brain diseases. Different celebrities took the stage to show their support, including recording legend Quincy Jones, 83. Christina Applegate simply shimmered as she arrived at a Hollywood event Saturday night in a figure-hugging black number. The 44-year-old wore a pencil skirt studded with sequins with over-the-knee boots and a sheer lacy blouse. The scoop-neck top featured flounce quarter-length sleeves and the blonde star paired the vintage look with a formal updo. Wow factor: Christina Applegate looked lovely in all black while at the fourth annual Light Up The Blues on Saturday in Hollywood Christina was accompanied to the Light Up The Blues event by her musician husband Martyn LeNoble. She kept her accessories simple, wearing stud earrings as well a ring on one hand and her wedding band on the other. The actress added a bright touch with her red lipstick, which balanced out her black lined lids and defined brows. Stunning look: The 44-year-old stunned in a lacy bell sleeve blouse and a sequined pencil skirt while walking the carpet at the Pantages Theatre Love is in the air: The actress, who posed with her husband musician Martyn LeNoble, sported bold red lipstick and black boots Jack Black walked the carpet while rocking a wolf emblazoned graphic T-shirt with black trousers and a plaid blazer. The actor was his usual flamboyant self and rocked a slat-and-pepper full beard. And comedian Andy Dick mugged around in a black T-shirt and matching trousers with a grey waistcoat and a blue tie. Good cause: Jack Black also showed support for the event that benefited the nonprofut Autism Speaks Having a blast: The School Of Rock star proudly showed off his wolf-emblazoned colorful graphic T-shirt Strike a pose: Comedian Andy Dick mugged for the cameras n a black T-shirt and matching trousers with a grey waistcoat and a blue tie Focused: Jack was joined by Autism Speaks' Executive Director for Southern California Matt Asner on stage during the event It won't be much longer until they are parents. And pregnant Nicky Hilton was determined to stay cool and casual as she headed out in New York on Saturday with her husband James Rothschild by her side. The 32-year-old ditched the heels and covered up her baby bump in a cosy black sweater paired with skinny jeans and brown moccasins Parents-to-be! Pregnant Nicky Hilton covered up her bump in a casual black sweater as she headed out in New York on Saturday with her husband James Rothschild by her side The socialite added an olive green jacket lined with a fleece and kept her sunglasses on as she strolled. Nicky's long blonde hair had loose waves and blew with the wind as she walked side-by-side with her husband. She looked to have gone for minimal makeup, highlighting her natural radiance with just a bit of foundation. Keeping it comfortable: The socialite teamed her black sweater with jeans, moccasin boots, and an olive green jacket James, a banking heir, kept it casual as well in a black sweater, grey shirt, and blue trousers. This outing comes soon after the expectant mom celebrated her baby shower in Los Angeles last Saturday. The shower was attended by her sister Paris Hilton, 35, as well as LaToya Jackson and Nicky's aunts, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars Kim and Kyle Richards. Aww: Nicky married her financier husband James in a lavish ceremony in London last July after an 11-month engagement Nicky married her financier husband James in a lavish ceremony in London last July after an 11-month engagement. The couple met at their friend Petra Ecclestone's wedding, which took place in Italy. It was announced in January that the fashion designer and mogul is expecting her first child with James. Olivia Culpo wowed in a pale blue one-shoulder dress as she attended a party at Pimlico for the running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. The 24-year-old wore the belted Bec & Bridge frock with nude heels and it perfectly showcased the former beauty queen's svelte frame and toned legs. She accentuated her brown eyes with lashings of mascara and added pink lipstick for a pop of color. Perfection: Olivia Culpo wowed in a pale blue one-shoulder Bec & Bridge dress for The Stronach Group Owner's Chalet at the 141st Preakness Stakes on Saturday The model chose a skintight number with a thick one-shoulder sleeve detail and a matching hued fabric belt. Olivia's frock, which had an asymmetrical hemline, showed off her long legs and toned arms. The beauty carried a blue and silver hued purse while sporting nude heels and a delicate ring on each hand. The Rhode Island-born star styled her dark brunette locks loose, opting for a deep side part and a slight wave. Posing pretty: The former beauty queen showed off her svelte frame and toned legs in the fitted look, opting to add pink lipstick for a pop of color Stylish outing; The 24-year-old wore the belted mini dress with nude heels at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland Olivia, who was crowed Miss Universe in 2012, looked lovely with pink lipstick and brown smokey eye makeup. On Saturday, the beauty shared a photo to her Instagram as she relaxed on a couch with a beverage. She captioned the picture: 'Morrrrning! At my first ever horse race today! @preaknessstakes @gablabrecque #thestronachgroup.' Staying warm: The model chose a skintight number with a thick one shoulder sleeve detail and a matching hued fabric belt; pictured with Belinda Stronach, Chairman and President of The Stronach Group Pucker up: On Saturday, the beauty shared a photo to her Instagram as she relaxed on a couch Olivia posted a picture for her 1.2 million Instagram followers on Friday before she flew out to Baltimore. She looked stylish in ripped skinny jeans, a white T-shirt, a patterned blazer and buckle boots, captioning the snap: 'Bye byeeee LA. See u next week! LA->Baltimore->Bos->Prov->LA.' The actress, who turned 24 on May 8, celebrated her birthday while rocking an all-black ensemble with wavy tresses, as seen on her Instagram. Travel style: She looked stylish in ripped skinny jeans, a white T-shirt, patterned blazer and buckle boots, captioning the snap: 'Bye byeeee LA. See u next week! LA->Baltimore->Bos->Prov->LA' Jaime Pressly was picture perfect in a flirty black mini dress as she helped celebrate the beauty issue of BELLA New York Los Angeles magazine on Saturday. The 38-year-old is the May/June cover girl and could hardly contain her delight as she arrived at the bash held at SUR Restaurant in LA. Jaime's black frock featured a plunging neckline and flared skirt, which put her toned legs and equally toned arms on show. Picture perfect! Jaime Pressly was picture perfect in a flirty black mini dress as she attended to a bash celebrating the beauty issue of BELLA New York Los Angeles magazine in Los Angeles on Saturday She had her light blonde hair slicked back into an edgy style, putting her youthful and radiant face on show. The actress complimented her complexion with a hearty dose of smoky eye shadow, mascara, and pink blush. Top spirits! The actress looked giddy as she left the restaurant following the bash, once more smiling as she stepped outside, holding her red clutch She accessorised the look with long earrings, a gold bracelet, and topped the ensemble off with black heels. The actress looked giddy as she left the restaurant following the bash, once more smiling as she stepped outside, holding her red clutch. Jaime was also joined at arrival by her Mom co-star, Allison Janney. Look who's here! Jaime posed with Beth Hall and her Mom co-star Allison Janney Allison looked to be in just as good a mood as Jaime, smiling brightly as she cosied up to her co-star while holding onto the new issue of BELLA. For her appearance, Allison wore a chic white blazer, grey jeans, and turquoise blue earrings for a pop of colour. Mom will be back on CBS, as the show was recently renewed for another season. The show is about a mother and a daughter - both who are moms - and also stars Anna Faris. Mom just had its season three finale on Thursday. They're among the most in-demand sisters in the fashion world, but sisters Bella and Gigi Hadid have ensured they remain modelling superstars in their own right. Despite both dominating the same highly competitive industry, 19-year-old Bella said there is no sibling rivalry between the pair. During her whirlwind 24-hour trip to Sydney for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia last week, the brunette beauty chatted to E! Australia's The Hype, in her only television appearance Down Under. Scroll down for video 'Mostly she lets me do my thing and be myself': Bella Hadid admitted there is no sibling rivalry with her famous sister and fellow model Gigi Hadid, during and interview at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia last week '[Gigi] gives me advice sometimes but mostly she lets me do my thing and be myself,' Bella confessed to Ksenija Lukich in an interview which aired on Saturday. 'It's nice to have a separation between us.' In terms of direct competition, the sisters are blessed with contrasting looks. Brooding: Bella has long locks of chocolate brown compared to her sister's blonde look Blonde bombshell: Gigi's wild blonde waves and deep bronzed visage are more typical of a Californian beauty Bella's hair is a shade of dark chocolate, with her high fashion beauty similar similar to that of understated French style. Meanwhile Gigi's wild blonde waves and deep bronzed visage are more typical of a Californian bombshell. Bella reportedly cashed in an eye-watering $400,000 to walk the runway for Misha Collection during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week 2016 in Australia last Monday. That's a spicy meatball! Bella reportedly cashed in an eye-watering $400,000 to walk the runway for Misha Collection Blushing beauty: She stunned on the catwalk wearing a strapless blush corset-style dress Bella was named as the face of the Australian brand's resort 17 campaign and newest line, Misha Gold, and was undoubtedly a draw card at the show on Monday night. She stunned on the catwalk wearing a strapless blush corset-style dress teamed with a matching coat. She also sauntered down the runway in a strapless black lace dress, worn over the top of a black bodysuit. Teasers and trailers of the Seven Network's Kiss, Bang, Love have given audiences a look at the latest dating show, which will hit the small screen on Tuesday. And Chris Bateman who was a contestant on the show opened up about his experience in an interview with The Sun Herald published on Sunday. The 24-year-old admitted he was pre-occupied with hygiene before kissing 12 strangers while blindfolded, confessing: 'I brushed my teeth so many times that day.' Keeping fresh: Chris Bateman who was a contestant on the show Kiss, Bang, Love opened up about his experience in an interview with The Sun Herald published on Sunday 'I didn't want to come off as a smelly breath guy. I wanted to be as hygienic as possible,' he added. Chris became involved in the show after he was approached by a talent scout in Melbourne, and after watching previous reality love shows he was ready to give it a go. Brunette beauty Lisa Fewster, 28, also opened up about her experience on the show in the same interview, telling what actually happens when you finally connect with that stranger in the room. Secrets: Brunette beauty Lisa Fewster, 28, also opened up about her experience on the show in the same interview, telling what actually happens when you finally connect with that stranger in the room 'Some guys would really grab you, but I remember one guy he held my hand at the end, and that little squeeze was quite comforting,' she explained. In the latest promotional video for the controversial series, hospitality worker Lisa, blushes after locking lips with one of the 12 complete strangers. 'I believe in love at first sight, [but] obviously I can't see,' she says in a piece-to-camera before being blind-folded and lead into a room with her first suitor. Sweet: Lisa explained to the publication 'Some guys would really grab you, but I remember one guy he held my hand at the end, and that little squeeze was quite comforting' 'Love at first kiss, that would be amazing... A good kiss, you can feel in your heart, [it] beats a little bit faster.' Showing a little bit of nerves, the brunette is seen to have shaky hands before going into a steamy kiss with another contestant. 'He gave me sweaty palms,' she says blushing and smiling nervously. Plenty of action: In the latest promotional video for the controversial series, hospitality worker Lisa, blushes after locking lips with one of the 12 complete strangers According to a press release, Lisa has a tendency to go for the bad boys and she wants to break away from the habit. Having lost her father a couple of years ago, she is hoping to meet someone who shares the same values he did. The show has been labelled 'outrageous' and 'scandalous' by those who have been lucky enough to catch the previews. Kiss Bang Love follows similar social experiment series Seven Year Switch, which aired on the network earlier this year, where six married couples swapped partners in a bid to save their relationship. The ex-partner of Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has urged the star to seek help for what he described as a 'problem' with alcohol. Puppeteer Damon Scott, 36, has spoken of his concerns over his former love's drinking following their split earlier this month. In an interview with The Sun On Sunday, he insisted alcohol contributed to the end of their three-year relationship as Craig, 51, 'only went one day without drinking in their entire time together'. Scroll down for video Lost love: Craig Revel Horwood's ex-partner Damon Scott has spoken out about his concerns for the Strictly Come Dancing star's alcohol consumption and urged him to seek help. Above, Craig (right) and Damon in 2013 Craig and Damon, who shot to fame on the first series of Britain's Got Talent in 2007, first went public in 2013, one year after Craig split from his partner of five years Grant MacPherson. Yet at the start of the month news surfaced that the duo had amicably split, with insiders reporting that Craig had called time on the relationship as he could not see a future for the pair. Now in a shocking new interview, the puppeteer claims that Craig's appetite for alcohol led to the eventual end of their love, claiming that 'his life revolves around it'. Speaking to the publication, he said: 'We could get through a bottle and a half of vodka between us in a night. At times that was a daily thing. If I drank that much now Id be hospitalised. Concerned: Puppeteer Damon Scott, 36, and Craig Revel Horwood (pictured) split earlier this month 'But Craig always denied he had a problem. If I mentioned rehab to him hed just throw it back in my face and say I drank too much which I did then. The difference was that for him it was a need rather than a want.' MailOnline has contacted a representative for Craig for comment. Craig has always been candid about his father Phil's battle with alcoholism, frequently branding him an 'abusive alcoholic', and speaking about the pain of living with an addict. Troublesome: In an interview with The Sun On Sunday, Damon (right with Craig) said alcohol contributed to the end of their three-year relationship as Craig 'only went one day without drinking in their entire time together' His dad, a former Lieutenant in the Royal Australian Navy, passed away in December. Damon has now voiced his concerns that Craig could be headed the same way. However in an interview with The Independent in 2013 - the same year the couple met - Craig insisted he drank with caution after watching his father battle his demons. He said: 'Children of alcoholics have to be careful. I like a drink but I try not to overdo it because when you're dealing with other people's money producing a show you don't want to be caught up in all of that.' Moving on: Worried Damon claims when Craig has not had a drink he shakes 'like he has Parkinson's disease' and also discussed the lengthy benders they would embark on Worried Damon claims when Craig has not had a drink he shakes 'like he has Parkinson's disease' and also discussed the lengthy benders they would embark on. While he was concerned for his ex-partner, he was also quick to insist they had great times - although Damon battled with finding balance with his career and their relationship, often turning down work offers to act as an aide to Craig. Australian model Annabella Barber took a leaf out of Jesinta Campbell's book recently when she wore a netted dress to the Tome runway show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia 2016. And once again, the blonde beauty has left very little to the imagination, wearing a plunging holey maxi dress that exposed her skimpy underwear and bra. The clothes horse attended the Ten Pieces parade at Fashion Week, wearing the head-turning and revealing Zimmermann dress. Scroll down for video Taking a fashion risk! Australian model Annabella Barber wore a plunging black cut-out maxi dress that exposed her skimpy underwear and bra to the Ten Pieces parade at Fashion Week Taking to Instagram, the star shared a selfie of herself in an elevator, posing in the mirror. Holding up her mobile phone, Annabella pouts as she snaps away, giving fans a look at her outfit. Her dress featured cut-outs over her chest right down to her thighs, before it finished in an A-line fringed design. Picture perfect: The blonde is known for her flawless and enviable figure which she regularly shows off online The frock showed off her trim figure and was teamed with a black jacket on top. She had her hair out in loose and tousled curls over her shoulders, with her fringe out. Her make-up included dewy foundation and a taupe lip. The look comes after she wore a black netted dress showing her bra and underwear to the Tome runway show earlier this week. Following in Australian model Jesinta Campbell's footsteps, Annabella wore the look with boots and a jacket. On trend: Annabella wore a black netted dress showing her bra and underwear to the Tome runway show earlier this week, following in the footsteps of model Jesinta Campbell (R, pictured at the Logies this year) Jesinta wore a green netted dress to the 2016 Australian Logie Awards, which made headlines for being so daring. A debate ensued around her dress, but she shut it down on social media when she told the story of fashion designer Tala Raassi - who is from Tahran - who endured 40 lashes for wearing a skirt and T-shirt. Meanwhile, Annabella is no stranger to leaving little to the imagination with her clothing, wearing a black plunging crop top that exposed her toned stomach to the Maticevski show. She also regularly shares images of herself to her Instagram page in revealing gym clothes, showing off her enviable and flawless figure. If you've got it! Meanwhile, Annabella is no stranger to leaving little to the imagination with her clothing, wearing a black plunging crop top that exposed her toned stomach to the Maticevski show She is rumoured to have enjoyed a fling with Justin Bieber. And Chantel Jeffries proved exactly why she caught the eye of an international heartthrob as she attended the pre-Billboard awards bash at Jewel nightclub in Las Vegas on Saturday. The 23-year-old model and actress sizzled in a perilously plunging khaki gown in which she made the most of her sizeable bust and perky derriere. Scroll down for video Stunner: Chantel Jeffries proved exactly why she caught the eye of an international heartthrob as she attended the pre-Billboard awards bash at Jewel nightclub in Las Vegas on Saturday Chantel, who is said to have dated Justin in 2014, looked simply sensational in the Lycra blend dress which clung to every inch of her phenomenal frame. Showing off her extremely ample bust was the low-cut neckline extending from a spaghetti strap, while the dress boasted a caged detail over her chest. Not content with flashing just her cleavage, the Jacksonville-born beauty turned around as she posed up a storm to reveal her curvaceous derriere. She paired the green dress with a delicate pair of khaki heels with a thin ankle strap while going for minimal accessories - allowing her incredible frame to do the talking. Her cup runneth over! The 23-year-old model and actress sizzled in a perilously plunging khaki gown in which she made the most of her sizeable bust and perky derriere Stunner: Chantel, who is said to have dated Justin in 2014, looked simply sensational in the Lycra blend dress which clung to every inch of her phenomenal frame Her shoulder-tickling ombre tresses were worn in loose waves, styled with a wide-barrel curling tong, adding a casual edge to the otherwise eye-popping look. Chantel went for the favoured make-up trend du jour, in the form of contouring, as she applied lashings of strobe cream and bronzer to sculpt her bone structure even more flawlessly. Rounding out the ensemble was a thin gold choker paired with a delicate pair of earrings - making her look dainty and stunning. Curvy queen: Showing off her extremely ample bust was the low-cut neckline extending from a spaghetti strap, while the dress boasted a caged detail over her chest Clearly having had a fun-filled night, Chantel took to Instagram the following day to inform her 1.7million followers she was suffering with a hangover. Yet far from wallowing in bed in her pyjamas, the eternally stunning model slipped into a bikini and later headed to a restaurant to rid herself of her symptoms. She added the caption: 'Smiling through the pain of this hangover... It's the little things in life.' What hangover? Clearly having had a fun-filled night, Chantel took to Instagram the following day to inform her 1.7million followers she was suffering with a hangover Grabbing a bite: Yet far from wallowing in bed in her pyjamas, the eternally stunning model slipped into a bikini and later headed to a restaurant to rid herself of her symptoms Drake was performing at the star-studded gig while his ex-girlfriend Rihanna was reportedly set to take the stage although she is said to have remained off-stage. The Canadian rapper thrilled the 2,000 strong crowd when he played a host of hits including Know Yourself, Back to Back, Summer Sixteen and Jumpman. Drake told the crowds during the gig: 'They want me to do two songs but I got nothing better to do than stay here with you all.' Taking the stage: Drake was performing at the star-studded gig while his ex-girlfriend Rihanna was reportedly set to take the stage although she is said to have remained off-stage They've been married for 18 years and are still smitten with each other. Cindy Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber looked loved up as ever as they attended The Heart Foundation event at Ron Burkle's Green Acres Estate in Beverly Hills on Saturday. Looking sensational in a statement black leather jacket, the 50-year-old supermodel couldn't keep her eyes off her former model other half. Scroll down for video Model couple: Cindy Crawford, 50, and her husband Rande Gerber, 54, attended The Heart Foundation event at Ron Burkle's Green Acres Estate in Beverly Hills on Saturday As someone who's been styled by the best in business, Cindy looked effortlessly chic as she teamed her biker jacket with a plain black Z Supply T-shirt underneath and printed scarf. She accentuated her 5 ft 9 in frame with a pair of dark wash boot cut jeans by McGuire Denim which flared out over a pair of boots. Quite the beauty icon, she opted for natural glamour as she stamped her pout with nude lipstick and sported subtle smokey eye. Smitten: Looking sensational in a statement black leather jacket, the supermodel couldn't keep her eyes off her former model other half Flaunting her style: Cindy looked effortlessly chic as she teamed her biker jacket with a plain black Z Supply top underneath and printed scarf while a boot-cut pair of jeans flared over her shoes Charismatic hunk: It's not difficult to see why Cindy can't keep her eyes off Rande Beauty pioneer: She opted for natural glamour as she stamped her pout with nude lipstick and sported subtle smokey eye Her highlighted brunette mane was styled to perfection in waves which fell upon her shoulders, while a silver necklace and long leaf earrings framed her face. And it wasn't difficult to see why Cindy couldn't part ways with 54-year-old Rande as he put on quite the dishy display in a button town black top. Teaming it with a deep olive green coat, he opted for jeans like his wife while striking a confident pose with his slight grey mane. The event was held to honour Mike Meldman- who received the Steven S. Cohen Humanitarian Award in recognition of his impactful work in improving the lives of children around the world. Blow-dry babe: Her highlighted brunette mane was styled to perfection in waves which fell upon her shoulders Doing it for the boys! Rande put on quite the dishy display in a button town black top which he teamed with a deep olive green coat 'In mom mode!' Both Kaia and Presley are following in Cindy's footsteps and pursuing modelling opportunities The two married after Cindy's divorce from American Gigolo actor Richard Gere in 1995. They are now parents to two stunning children- Presley, 16 and 14-year-old Kaia, who is following in her mother's footsteps and taking the fashion world by storm. Presley is also hot on her tails in terms of fledgling modelling endeavours and has graced the pages of Carine Roitfeld's CR Fashion Book. Sexy: Actress Molly Sims, 42, looked incredible in a lacy black number which flaunted her bra while her strappy shoes showed off her red pedicure The charity event was also graced in appearance by actress Molly Sims who turned heads in a feminine black midi-length number which sported lace detailing on the upper half, giving way to her bra. Flaring out in to a skirt, she stood tall in chunky black heels and opted for old Hollywood glamour with her wavy blonde locks. It was truly a couple's affair as she looked fittingly beautiful on the arms of her film producer husband Scott Stuber- who looked dapper in a grey suit. With her impeccable style and elegance she is rarely seen to lose her composure. Yet Rosamund Pike had a brief moment of grief when she was seen nearly hitting a bollard as she whipped her stunning vintage car around London earlier in the week. The 37-year-old Gone Girl star looked amazing behind the wheel of the mint green motor before taking a dodgy turn and narrowly avoiding the roadside. Scroll down for video Oops! Rosamund Pike had a brief moment of grief when she was seen nearly hitting a bollard as she whipped her stunning vintage car around London earlier in the week Rosamund looked typically chic and preened as she zipped around her native city in the car, which stood out among its modern day equivalents. As she turned a rather narrow corner, the blonde beauty just about avoided hitting a roadside bollard after which she put on an expressive display. With the help of a construction worker nearby, Rosamund managed to tackle the manoeuvre while avoiding doing any damage to the impressive car. After the tricky turn, the actress was seen pointing at herself and then to the road - seemingly in disbelief at the turn of events. Me? The 37-year-old Gone Girl star looked amazing behind the wheel of the mint green motor before taking a dodgy turn and narrowly avoiding the roadside Oops! Rosamund looked typically chic and preened as she zipped around her native city in the stunning motor, which stood out among its modern day equivalents Rosamund's jaunt around London comes after she was the hot topic of conversation in a recent chat with the city's new mayor Sadiq Khan. In an interview with HuffPost UK, he weighed in on the hot debate of who will be the next actor to take the role of James Bond. Khan toyed with the idea of a female Bond, suggesting that Oscar-nominated Rosamund would play the part well as would Naomi Harris. Elegance personified: With her impeccable style and elegance she is rarely seen to lose her composure Nearly... As she turned a rather narrow corner, the blonde beauty just about avoided hitting a roadside bollard after which she put on an expressive display Oopsie: After the tricky turn, the actress was seen pointing at herself and then to the road - seemingly in disbelief at the turn of events Close call: Later on Rosamund appeared to have recovered from her mishap Amid reports Daniel Craig is set to quit the franchise, the topic has been widely discussed, with Rosamund, who played a Bond girl in Die Another Day, in the forefront. The new mayor said: 'How about a woman? A woman Bond. Rosamund Pike would be pretty good. Naomi Harris would be pretty good...I know shes got another role.' The blonde beauty is in the midst of working on a host of projects including action thriller High Wire Act and drama A United Kingdom. The name's Pike... Rosamund Pike: Rosamund's jaunt around London comes after she was the hot topic of conversation in a recent chat with the city's new mayor Sadiq Khan Off she goes: Despite her poor depth deception skills, she still managed to look extremely chic Theyve been smashing the competition on House Rules but Luke and Cody Cook proved to be less adept at breaking plates than knocking down walls. Competing in a plate smashing competition at the Paniyiri Greek Festival in Brisbane on Sunday, the larrikin twins tried their hand at the time-honoured Hellenic tradition. Cody managed a respectable third from the half-dozen competitors but Luke finished dead last, despite looking like he was having a smashing time. Breaking the rules: House Rules twins Luke and Cody Cook proved to be less adept at breaking plates than knocking down walls in a plate smashing competition at the Paniyiri Greek Festival Ready, steady... Cody (right) managed a respectable third from the half-dozen competitors but Luke (left) finished dead last, despite looking like he was having a great time The 23-year-olds quickly fell behind once the whistle sounded, with photographs showing them with most of their pile still to go while others are almost done. The pair wore brightly-coloured chinos and collared shirts with the sleeves rolled up to their elbows and sported fluro orange cloves to protect their hands. But despite their poor showing, the Toowoomba twins appeared to have a great deal of fun as they wore big grins and seemed to be laughing throughout the experience. having a smashing time: The pair wore brightly-coloured chinos and collared shirts with the sleeves rolled up to their elbows and sported fluro orange cloves to protect their hands Bad start: The 23-year-olds quickly fell behind once the whistle sounded, with photographs showing them with most of their pile still to go while others are almost done Earlier in the festival they took on Home And Away stars George Mason and Philippa Northeast in a messy grape squashing contest. The TV stars all got down and dirty in front of packed crowds at the festival on Sunday and were seen spattered in burgundy-coloured grape juice. They were photographed wrestling on stage and the Queensland brothers even held Philippa in a headlock so they could crush some of the grapes on her head. Getting there: Luke resorts to throwing his plates in the air while Cody closes in on the finish line All good fun: Despite their poor showing, the Toowoomba twins appeared to have a great deal of fun as they wore big grins and laughed throughout Big laughs: With the plates shattered at their feet, the duo share a laugh at the funny experience Wearing a black T-shirt and some three-quarter running leggings, Philippa could also be seen holding onto a metal bar while she stomped on a barrel full of grapes. With her brunette locks styled into a side ponytail, the actress smiled and laughed as she crushed the grapes in her bare feet. She also looked as though she was play-fighting with Luke Cook as they competed to produce the most juice. Messy! Earlier in the festival they took on Home And Away stars George Mason (far right) and Philippa Northeast (right) in a grape squashing contest Barefoot battle: They were photographed wrestling on stage at the Paniyiri Greek Festival and the Queensland brothers even held Philippa in a headlock so they could crush some of the grapes on her head Her co-star George, who plays Martin 'Ash' Ashford in Home And Away, donned a grey vest and spotted shorts as he jumped up and down on the barrel of grapes. On Saturday, Philippa and George showed off their moves in a dance-off at the festival, which celebrates Greek culture and heritage. The soap stars impressed the audience with moves that spanned from hair-flicking, body rolling, shimmying to a cultural mix of Greek music. She has undergone a trying time of late after a very public falling out with her ex-boyfriend and Celebrity Big Brother co-star Jeremy McConnell. So Stephanie Davis was no doubt in the mood to pamper herself as she headed to the hair salon in her native Liverpool on Saturday - to transform from a bottle blonde to a beautiful brunette. The 23-year-old former Hollyoaks star, who is said to be expecting a child with the Irish model, 25, looked overjoyed with her new do' just hours before launching a concerning Twitter tirade in which she stated she was feeling her suicidal. Scroll down for video The dark side: Stephanie Davis was no doubt in the mood to pamper herself as she headed to the hair salon in her native Liverpool on Saturday - to transform from a bottle blonde to a beautiful brunette Stephanie stunned fans earlier this year when she made the dazzling transition from the deep brunette locks for which she is known to a peroxide blonde. Yet after a stint of seeing if blondes have more fun, it seems the soap starlet was yearning for her roots so headed to the salon for a makeover. As she stepped out of her car, her blonde tresses, which featured jet black roots, were scraped into an unkempt chignon however she later left with a stunning up do worked into her newly dark tresses. Keeping things low-key for her salon jaunt, she sported a low-key T-shirt emblazoned with the words LA Hills, while also pulling on a grey knitted cardigan. Moving on: Stephanie stunned fans earlier this year when she made the dazzling transition from the deep brunette locks for which she is known to a peroxide blonde Look at her now: Yet after a stint of seeing if blondes have more fun, it seems the soap starlet was yearning for her roots so headed to the salon for a makeover Look at her go! As she stepped out of her car, her blonde tresses, which featured jet black roots, were scraped into an unkempt chignon however she later left with a stunning up do worked into her newly dark tresses While she looked partly made-up when entering the salon, the pretty star appeared to have packed on more make-up for her exit - looking sensational in the process. Establishing the her dismissal of her blonde tresses, she took to Twitter to write: 'Always been a brunette'. Additionally she shared a stunning collage of images with her 507,000 Instagram followers, in which she showed off her new tresses while pouting up a storm. Dolled up: While she looked partly made-up when entering the salon, the pretty star appeared to have packed on more make-up for her exit - looking sensational in the process Onwards and upwards: The trip to the salon was no doubt a bid to rid herself of her recent heartache, as shortly after her pamper session she took to social media rant, sending a barrage of disparaging comments in Twitter about Jeremy Gorgeous: Additionally she shared a stunning collage of images with her 507,000 Instagram followers, in which she showed off her new tresses while pouting up a storm The shade is the same colour Stephanie sported when she first hooked up with former flame Jeremy in the Celebrity Big Brother house in January. The trip to the salon was no doubt a bid to rid herself of her recent heartache, as shortly after her pamper session she took to social media rant, sending a barrage of disparaging comments in Twitter about Jeremy. The actress claimed the Beauty School Cop Outs hunk had 'missed the first scan' as well as having a 'major addiction to drugs.' Chic: Stephanie looked sensational as she left the salon - clearly please with her new do New look: The ex soap star ditched her trademark brunette locks for a bold blonde style shortly after exiting the Celebrity Big Brother house earlier this year Sassy: The star's rant was unexpected as earlier in the day she seemed in good spirits as she shared snaps of herself sporting darker locks in her signature style after previously dying them blonde Beginning her lengthy tirade she wrote: 'U meet one person n wow! What they have been through, impact on ur life n how selfish others are... Wow #respect [sic].' Continuing her incoherent rant she added: 'A lot of people think they have been through a lot little do they realise they need help and the only people... 'Who need there help are the ones who need there mortgage paying not who really care about a human [sic].' Over: Stephanie Davis was on another social media rant on Saturday as she tweeted a barrage of disparaging comments about ex-boyfriend Jeremy Accusations: The actress claimed he had 'missed the first scan' as well as having a 'major addiction to drugs' in a series of tweets Lengthy: The star aired her grievances in a lengthy rant before deleting her account The former soap star claimed the stress had been seriously affecting her mental health as she continued: 'To the s**gs who from the past, u want me to not be here anymore as your press as well as being pregnant has made me suicidle [sic].' She went on to claim her ex-boyfriend had missed her baby scan before accusing him of taking drugs as she wrote: 'Yes I am pregnant yes Jeremy didnt turn up to the first scan and has a major addiction to drugs. 'Well done for finally ruining my life plus a vile human like Jeremy.' Stressed: Stephanie claimed the ordeal had been stressful for herself and her family Hurt: The star lashed out in a series of disparaging posts about her ex-boyfriend Partying: As Stephanie went on her rant Jeremy was booked for a club appearance in Manchester She continued: 'Your one vile vile and needs rehanb. and that's not half. 'If you could only here the voice notes! Disgusting! His mother would be ashamed! Im done! Vile vile vile human. 'Or before the lies he's shown me to *love n trick me* and hurt me to convince his f***ed up head. Get him to rehab and he will thank me 1 day [sic].' She added: 'Untill then my family suffers like il collapse again with stress like he said wants nothing to do with us. Vile. Selfish. P***k. 'Im glad I have my loving family around me and for once nit running away to protect his evil ways! I'll ni longer stay silent or beat down [sic].' MailOnline has contacted a representative for Jeremy for comment. Revealing that she planned to tell all in magazine and television deals, she also implied that she had cheated on him during their short-lived relationship. Tell all: The star vowed to tell her side of the family later in the week Tumultuous: Their short-lived relationship was far from plain sailing and they became famed for their infamous make-ups and break-ups after emerging from the Celebrity Big Brother house Whilst it has been documented that Jeremy had indulged in several dalliances with other women whilst they were together, the newly brunette beauty hinted she too had been unfaithful as she continued: 'I'll tell allllll this week on OK and loose women like he's threatended me and lied I've Been with other men yet he's slept with 5 plus... 'While being with me!!! The silence is over and now it can come out. Disgusting vile none Human species [sic].' Following her rant, Stephanie swiftly deleted her account, whilst Jeremy's last tweet revealed he was at an appearance at a club in Manchester. MailOnline have contacted a representative for Jeremy whilst Stephanie's spokesperson declined to comment. Unfaithful: Whilst it has been documented that Jeremy cheated on the star, Stephanie appeared to insinuate she had also been unfaithful in a series of shocking tweets Moral support: The star has been supported by her friends amid claims she is is expecting her first child with ex-boyfriend Jeremy McConnell Earlier this week Stephanie was posting from her hospital bedside amid claims that she's carrying a child. She posted a graphic image of her right arm hooked up to a drip, accompanied by the caption: 'Feel alwful (sic) but had an epiphany #notimeforawaister' According to The Mirror, the ex soap star also shared and then deleted a cryptic message on Thursday night that hinted at ill health as it read: '#praying #stress #hospital #heartleslyevil'. Stephanie was recognisable from her right wrist tattoo, which is a date stamp from the month that her beloved grandfather passed away in 2015. A representative told MailOnline on Friday: 'Stephanie Davis was admitted to hospital last night due to stress. We can confirm that after routine tests Stephanie is fine and is now back at home and resting.' A source told MailOnline: 'The baby is fine.' Casual: The Celebrity Big Brother chose to tie her hair into a messy top knot when revealing her new look She caught the eye at the screening of her new film, Ma Ma, on Friday night - thanks to her racy leather boots. And Penelope Cruz was seen sporting her thigh-high footwear for the second night in a row as she attended the Q&A session for the flick in New York on Saturday. The 42-year-old was seen arriving at the Landmark Sunshine Theater in the stylish ensemble which consisted off a black silk shirt tucked into her denim jeans. Scroll down for video Thigh's the limit: Penelope Cruz was seen sporting her thigh-high footwear for the second night in a row as she attended the Q&A session for the flick in New York on Saturday She covered up with a black and white floral prink jacet while adding high with her sexy boots. Her brunette locks were loosely tousled and she opted for a simple make-up look with shaped brows, smokey eyeshadow and a nude lip. Her boydguard placed a protective arm around her shoulder as she made her way through the crowd and onto her destination. Make way: The 42-year-old was seen arriving at the Landmark Sunshine Theater in the stylish ensemble which consisted off a black silk shirt tucked into her denim jeans Blooming lovely: She covered up with a black and white floral prink jacet while adding high with her sexy boots Happy girl: Her brunette locks were loosely tousled and she opted for a simple make-up look with shaped brows, smokey eyeshadow and a nude lip On Friday night, the Oscar-winning actress paired the slouched heels with light wash skinny jeans which showcased her slim pins. She added a feminine touch to her edgy attire with a ruffled blouse that was tucked into her denims, further highlighting her slender frame. A fitted black blazer completed the monochrome ensemble and shielded Cruz from the brisk evening weather. Stepping out! On Friday night, the Oscar-winning actress paired the slouched heels with light wash skinny jeans which showcased her slim pins Powerful performance: The Oscar-winning actress attended a screening of her latest film Ma Ma at the Landmark Sunshine Theater in New York City Her silky chestnut tresses cascaded in loose waves past her shoulders and she added a pink glossed lip with touch of black eyeliner. Cruz stars in the film as Magda - a woman fighting breast cancer - and sported a shaved head for her powerful performance. Highlighting an important cause, the actress foregoes her usual glamorous appearance and looks unrecognisable as she bares her body for the heartbreaking role. Leggy display! The Spanish beauty paired the slouched heels with skinny jeans The film was released in Spain last year but is now set for worldwide release. Talking to radio show Cadena Ser last year, the star said that taking on the role was incredibly important to her. 'This is one of the most wonderful characters that I will ever be offered to play,' she said. 'I fell in love with the story of this woman, who is like a goddess, a sage.' Adding: 'It was very important to me to take risks and at no time did I worry if I looked beautiful, was ugly or very ugly. It is a tribute to all women who face this disease.' Ladylike: Penelope added a feminine touch to her edgy attire with a ruffled blouse Final touch: A fitted black blazer completed the monochrome ensemble and shielded Cruz from the brisk evening weather Meanwhile, the Golden Globe nominee is set to star in the upcoming film, Escobar, alongside her husband Javier Bardem, 47. It tells the story of a journalist who strikes up a romantic relationship with notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar, [Bardem]. The Oscar-winning power couple began dating in 2007 and married in July 2010 in a private ceremony in the Bahamas and have two children - Luna, two They have two children - five-year-old son, Leo and their daughter, Luna, aged two. Shes been enjoying a jaunt to the glamourous Riviera and Ashley Hart made sure she soaked up the last rays of sun before heading home. The Australian model bid farewell to the south of France with a racy Instagram pic of her standing by the hotel pool showing off her tanned posterior in a barely-there bikini. Bon Voyage France, thanks for the cheeky trip, she wrote to her 67,500 followers. Scroll down for video 'Thanks for the cheeky trip': Australian model Ashley Hart bid farewell to the south of France with a racy Instagram pic of her standing by the hotel pool showing off her tanned posterior in a barely-there bikini The 27-year-old stood with her back to the camera and flashed a cheeky smile over her shoulder. The minimalist leopard-print outfit left very little to the imagination, exposing her toned derriere and enviable physique while her golden locks flowed free down her bronzed back. The blonde beauty drew further attention to her sleek assets by playfully but suggestively tugging at the rear of her bikini bottom with two fingers. Despite having little to protect her from the late-spring rays, Ashley threw on a pair of oversized round sunglasses and flashed her perfect white teeth. Glam evening: Ashley, who has modelled for the likes of Mambo and Just Jeans, also showed some skin in a sheer red gown with strategically placed beading to cover her modesty She was at the end of a whirlwind tour of Cannes with her supermodel sister Jessica where they appeared as special guests at a charity benefit. The pair strutted the red carpet at AmfAR's 23rd Cinema Against AIDS Gala at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on Thursday night. Former Victoria's Secret model Jessica, 30, was the more daring out of the two, showing a lot of front in a plunging cream and gold gown that flaunted her cleavage. She further drew attention to her decolletage by accessorising with a dazzling diamond necklace, while toting a small gold bag. Double trouble: Ashley and her supermodel sister Jessica (left) strutted the red carpet at AmfAR's 23rd Cinema Against AIDS Gala at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on Thursday night Sister act: They were the end of a whirlwind tour of Cannes where they appeared as special guests at a charity benefit The five-foot-nine glamazon further boosted her height in a pair of stilettos hidden beneath the hem of her dazzling metallic dress. Meanwhile Ashley, who has modelled for the likes of Mambo and Just Jeans, also showed some skin in a sheer red gown with strategically placed beading to cover her modesty. She slicked her hair back into a half-up, half-down 'do, and wore simple accessories, including her gold wedding band from husband Buck Palmer. Ashley then worked up a sweat at the gym the next morning, sharing a selfie to Instagram in a dark crop top and fitted black gym leggings, showing off plenty of midriff. She has been labelled the 'queen of food porn' thanks to her flirtatious manner and suggestive descriptions of dishes. And Nigella Lawson, 56, justified her reputation as a culinary coquette on Sunday night's episode of MasterChef Australia by flirting up a storm with the contestants. She unleashed her feminine charms on Matt Sinclair, telling the 27-year-old that she liked his grey and pink floral T-shirt. Scroll down for video Flirty: Nigella unleashed her feminine charms on some of the contestants during Sunday night's episode of MasterChef Australia During a tour around the kitchen to see what they would all be cooking, she told the coffee roaster: 'I like a man in a flower T-shirt.' Matt could then be seen blushing as he continued to prepare his dish for the mystery box challenge. As soon as she arrived in the kitchen, Nigella also let the competitors know she could eat a lot because she was 'wearing something stretchy'. Flustered: Matt Sinclair (pictured) could be seen blushing after Nigella compliment his floral shirt Culinary coquette: When doing a tour of the kitchen to see what people would be cooking, Nigella told Matt: 'I like a man in a flower T-shirt' Something caught her eye! Nigella and judge Matt Preston also spoke to Harry Foster Wearing a tight, plunging maroon dress, she oozed sex appeal as she sampled a number of delectable dishes, created by contestants. But it was not all sweetness and light, as she also told off judge George Calombaris after she spotted him eating chicken off his knife. During the tasting for her mystery box challenge on Sunday night, the world-famous cook was filmed looking aghast when she saw that George was not eating from his fork. Nigella told him off, saying: 'You just ate with your knife.' George replied, 'I know. I do it all the time.' No manners! During the tasting for the MasterChef Australia mystery box challenge, Nigella Lawson scolded judge George Calombaris for eating off his knife Matt Preston then agreed with Nigella, saying: 'He does it the whole time. Thank you, Nigella. He eats on his knife. It's a disgrace.' The contestants were put through their paces to create two dishes during the show - one using the ingredients from the mystery box and one inventive showstopper using chocolate as the base. Nigella chose butternut pumpkin, chicken thighs, pipis, fresh ginger, pancetta, feta and cumin as the ingredients the contestants had to work with. Heather Day won the first challenge with her open filo pumpkin pie and was given an advantage in the invention test. When tasting her dish, Nigella said: 'A rather big mouthful, but never mind. It never stopped me before. 'I think the contrast of textures is fantastic. But more than that, I love the flavours. The smokiness and subtlety means that you keep wanting to go back in for more. Not impressed! George admitted that he eats off his knife 'all the time' after he was told off by Nigella Shocked: Nigella was filmed looking aghast when she saw that George was not eating from his fork 'This is something that creates joy.' She was put through for the immunity challenge next week along with Karmen Lu and Mimi Baines. When Mimi Baines presented Nigella with her salted chocolate tart with beetroot sorbet during the second challenge, the cook said: 'I just adore these flavours. This is absolutely heavenly.' She then fought over the dessert with Matt Preston and went round from the bench to give Mimi a hug. 'This is my comment, thank you,' Nigella said as she kissed Mimi's cheek.' Judge Matt Preston introduced Nigella, saying she was a 'real hero' of his. 'Never before have we had such a hero of mine fill a mystery box. Every ingredient has been personally chosen by one of the greats of the cooking world. 'Someone who believes that enjoying food is a way of celebrating life, someone who believes that a kitchen is not just a room, but a flavour palace of sensual delights.' 'Absolutely heavenly'! When Mimi Baines presented Nigella with her salted chocolate tart with beetroot sorbet during the second challenge, the cook said: 'I just adore these flavours. This is absolutely heavenly' Magical moment: Nigella fought over the dessert with Matt Preston and went round from the bench to give Mimi a hug Nigella told the remaining contestants that she just wanted the food to 'make her happy'. 'I want flavours that are bold but not tricksy. I want food that is made to give pleasure, not to impress. 'And I want to feel that so much thought and love has gone into the flavour and the textures. It's about balance. And I just want to be made happy when I eat your food. A number of the contestants were seen crying in excitement at the thought of cooking for the culinary goddess. Mimi Baines said: 'It's so amazing to see her in real life. It's like watching an angel walk through the room. 'It's honestly probably the best day of my life so far.' For weeks, Olympia Valance and Greg Cannell were at the centre of rumours that they had rekindled their romance after splitting in February. And on Sunday, Greg ended speculation by sharing a picture of him and the Neighbours actress enjoying a 'date night. In the happy Instagram snap, the pair pose up in the cinema eating popcorn together, posing with their mouths gaping open. Scroll down for video Reunited: On Sunday, Greg Cannell confirmed speculation that he and former girlfriend Olympia Valance are back on, sharing a picture of them enjoying a 'date night' The younger half sister of Holly Candy can be seen in the black and white image glaring at the camera as Greg does the same. For weeks they have been courting speculation that they had reignited their romance. It began when Olympia appeared to be promoting headphones on her Instagram page with the caption 'on the phone to my boyfriend.' And one week ago, she shared a shot of her and Greg dancing at an event. Adding fuel to the fire, Greg also shared a shot of Olympia in a stunning lace dress that she wore to the TV Week Logies two weeks ago captioning it: 'This beauty.' Olympia commented underneath, writing: 'Aw darling. Wish you were with me right now!.' Eyes only for her! Two weeks ago, he also shared a shot of Olympia in her stunning lace dress that she wore to the TV Week Logies, captioning it: 'This beauty' Double date: The pair appeared to be on a a double date with the starlet's Neighbours co-star Travis Burns and his fiancee Emma Victoria Lane (centre) before the Logies Indeed ahead of the Logies, she and Greg dined at Nobu in Melbourne as they joined her Neighbours co-star Travis Burns and his fiancee Emma Victoria Lane. In April, Olympia posted a photo on Snapchat, in which she was seen cuddling up to Greg, before posting another image of the dark-haired stud, simply with the word 'hot'. They also enjoyed sun-baking at the beach recently among other snaps. Close: The pair are seen here cuddling up to one another on Snapchat Calling it like she sees it: Olympia shared this photo of Greg last month, along with the caption 'hot' Sending fans into overdrive: She also shared a selfie alongside Greg as the pair stripped off in the sunshine, spurring rumours the couple might be back together 'Please say your back together': A shot of the former couple's intertwined legs sent fans into a frenzy that the pair have rekindled their romance The pair dated for 15 months before splitting in February. At the time, Olympia issued a short statement via social media, telling her 27,000 followers: 'Just a quick note from me - Sadly Greg & I have separated. 'To the most incredible man ever, I wish him so much happiness and success,' she added, followed by a love heart emoticon. Split: The actress announced the news in a short statement on Twitter Their split came as a shock to many, after the couple only had eyes for each other at the brunette beauty's birthday dinner in January. The pair, who began dating in November 2014, attended the Portsea Polo in early January and posed in a number of cosy shots together, plastered across social media. While in the UK in March at the Empire Awards, she was also linked to comedian and Britain's Got Talent judge, David Walliams. Rumer Willis is known for her incredible sense of style. And that was most certainly the case as the 27-year-old daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis attended a dinner party in West Hollywood on Saturday. The actress looked sensational as she flaunted her lean legs in a striped shirt-dress, as she was joined by her sister Tallulah Willis, who opted for a nightie and slippers. Scroll down for video Trendy sister: Rumer Willis, 27, attended a dinner party in West Hollywood on Saturday Feeling sleepy? Joining Rumer was her 22-year-old sister Tallulah who clad her gym-honed figure in a skimpy cotton lavender nightie- which she teamed with a pair of white slippers Putting on quite the flamboyant display, the red-haired 22-year-old clad her gym-honed figure in a skimpy cotton lavender nightie- which she teamed with a pair of white slippers. She also rocked a pair of stripey socks and edged up the attire with a choker and gold chain. The sleepy attire let her plethora of tattoos to be on display while she mingled with pals and engaged in a phone conversation, while Rumer strutted her much more thought-out attire. Different looks: Rumer (L) strutted along in a pair of metallic gold stiletto's and looked like she'd put more effort in to her attire while Tallulah (R) added an element of edginess with a choker Her metallic gold stiletto heels were in stark contrast to Tallulah's soft-touch kicks. The Sorority Row star's one piece was cinched in at the waist with a thin black belt, while a few buttons were undone at the top- giving it an effortless vibe. Sprucing up her rising starlet status, she clad her perfectly chiselled face with a pair of jet black shades which matched her slick long tresses which cascaded past her shoulders. The beauty looked care-free as she clung on to a drink and some notes in one hand, while carrying a small black structured handbag in the other. While Rumer and Tallulah both have a flair for unique fashion along with their sister Scout, 24,- it is Tallulah who has been the more alternative of the lot. She has also been an avid supporter of the 'Free The Nipple' campaign and she regularly pose topless pictures on social media, with aptly placed coverings. While Rumer likes to join her in supporting the campaign, she is also hard at work proving her own status in Hollywood. Sociable: Her red-hair was up in a half bun and she was spotted having a quick chat with a pal over the phone Rumer will next take her cabaret act to Feinstein's at the Nikko in San Francisco from June 22-23. 'My musical taste comes completely from my dad,' the nepotistically-privileged socialite told Billboard's Soul Sisters podccast this month. Her next acting gig is playing Emily in this year's indie film adaptation of the Manhattan period musical flick, Hello Again. It's based on Michael John LaChiusa's 1994 off-Broadway chamber musical, which was based on Arthur Schnitzler's 1897 play La Ronde. She has followed her footsteps into the world of fashion. And Lottie Moss looks as though she is also pursuing her supermodel half-sister Kate, 42, in other ways - as she was seen enjoying a cigarette during a recent trip to Chelsea's The Bluebird Cafe. The 18-year-old superstar sibling looked typically trendy in a chic bomber jacket and ripped jeans as she sat outside the eatery puffing on a cigarette. Scroll down for video Puffing away: Lottie Moss looks as though she is also pursuing her supermodel half-sister Kate, 48, in other ways - as she was seen enjoying a cigarette during a recent trip to Chelsea's The Bluebird Cafe Lottie just returned from a trip to Cannes alongside her sister, where the duo were seen treading the same red carpet in similar crimson gowns. While their dresses were the same on the trip, the siblings, who share the same father, airline employee Peter Moss, also no doubt shared a smoke. Kate has long been known for smoking her beloved Marlboro Lights, often puffing away both away from the camera and in front of it - yet Lottie's tobacco habit is a new development. The pretty starlet looked stunning for her trip out, yet her smoking would undoubtedly be a concern for influencing her younger generation of fans. Like sister, like sister: The 18-year-old superstar sibling looked typically trendy in a chic bomber jacket and ripped jeans as she sat outside the eatery puffing on a cigarette Having a toke: Kate has long been known to be pictured with her beloved Marlboro Lights, often puffing away both away from the camera and in front of it - yet Lottie's tobacco habit is a new development With her blonde tresses tumbling around her face and her chic varsity jacket, it was apparent the stunning star has youth on her side. She also sat in front of what appeared to be a glass of rose wine as she enjoyed her al fresco dining situation in the prestigious area of London. Lottie was no doubt avidly filling her pals in on her antics from her recent trip to Cannes, where she stole the show at the Chopard Wild Party. Drinking away: With her blonde tresses tumbling around her face and her chic varsity jacket, it was apparent the stunning star has youth on her side Sister, sister: Lottie just returned from a trip to Cannes alongside her sister, where the duo were seen treading the same red carpet in similar crimson gowns The model turned out in a Balmain fall 2016 embellished fringe gown, which left her half-sister very much in the sartorial shade. Lottie landed her first Vogue cover in April at the age of 18 - one year earlier than Kate, who graced the cover age 19. She is set in good stead to go far in the high-fashion business as older half-sibling Kate has graced the cover of British Vogue no less than 30 times with additional appearances on the publication's global issues. Moving on: Lottie first transformed into a cover girl for L'Officiel's March issue last month and in the accompanying interview, she explained she feels 'no pressure' to live up to Kate's legacy The apple does not fall far from the tree... The sisters truly share a number of likenesses as illustrated in their mirrored movements Lottie first transformed into a cover girl for L'Officiel's March issue last month and in the accompanying interview, she explained she feels 'no pressure' to live up to Kate's legacy. She told the prestigious style bible: 'I am who I am and I do what I want, whether that is modelling or anything else. The success of my sister does not affect me in my choices. I feel no pressure in that respect.' Lottie described Kate as 'simply someone other than me' and added it's 'my turn to tell my own story'. Wowing the crowd: The model turned out in a Balmain fall 2016 embellished fringe gown, which left her half-sister very much in the sartorial shade Phoebe Tonkin was certainly dressed to impress when she attended The CW Network's 2016 Upfront party in New York on Thursday. The Originals star looked chic in high-waisted trousers and a tweed jacket, which showed off her enviable figure. The 26-year-old Australian actress flew solo at the event, without her Vampire Diaries star boyfriend, Paul Wesley. Scroll down for video All dressed up: Phoebe Tonkin was certainly dressed to impress when she attended The CW Network's 2016 Upfront party in New York on Thursday, wearing a chic trouser suit Phoebe's trouser suit was black and she matched it with a beige singlet top. She also wore simple black strappy heels and had a black chain bag hanging over her shoulder. The brunette had her locks tied back into a loose ponytail and wore simple make-up, including foundation, blush and a soft pink lip. Mingling: Phoebe chatted to the likes of American actress Caity Lotz (L) of the hit show Arrow and New Zealand's Rose McIver (R) of iZombie For the evening, she mingled with other CW stars, with The Originals and The Vampire Diaries both airing on CW. Phoebe chatted to the likes of American actress Caity Lotz of the hit show Arrow and New Zealand's Rose McIver of iZombie. At one point, Phoebe and Rose wrapped their arms around one another and had a giggle as they posed for photographs. That same day, Phoebe attended The CW upfronts held in New York, wearing a colourful dress. She had attended with her boyfriend, actor Paul Wesley, who looked dapper in a suit. Friends: At one point, Phoebe and Rose wrapped their arms around one another and had a giggle as they posed for photographs Pretty: Rose stunned in a maroon and black long sleeve dress A full day: That same day, Phoebe attended The CW upfronts held in New York alongside boyfriend Paul Wesley, wearing a colourful dress On The Originals, she plays werewolf Hayley Marshall-Kenner. The star - who is originally from Sydney - is also known for previous roles including mermaid Cleo on Australian show H20: Just Add Water. She's had romantic encounters with big names such as Woody Allen and Warren Beatty. But Diane Keaton's latest fling is a homeless man, thanks to her latest movie role in upcoming film, Hampstead. The 70-year-old cut a twee figure on the set in an all brown ensemble, which shrouded her tiny frame with an oversized cardigan and loose fitting trousers. Scroll down for video On-screen love: Diane Keaton's latest fling is a homeless man, thanks to her latest movie role in upcoming film, Hampstead, which is also where she was filming in London on Sunday Although summer is just around the corner, the infamous actress rounded off her look with a cream polo neck jumper and even threw on a chocolate-coloured checked scarf. And the square patterns ran straight through into her chinos, which she rolled up at the bottom to expose just a hint of her contrasting black socks. Diane kept things chic in the footwear department with a pair of brown suede ankle boots, that came complete with tassel detailing. Covering up: The 70-year-old cut a twee figure on the set in an all brown ensemble, which shrouded her tiny frame with an oversized cardigan and loose fitting trousers Keeping cosy: Despite summer being just around the corner, the infamous actress rounded off her look with a cream polo neck jumper and even threw on a chocolate-coloured checked scarf The Godfather star also showed off her timeless beauty as she opted to wear minimal makeup for the outing, apart from a delicate peach lipstick. And she oozed sophistication in a pair of thick framed glasses and left her icy blonde hair to fall straight and sleek around her shoulders. However, despite her comfortable style, Diane looked to be struggling as she hauled her heavy shoulder bag around the North London location. Best foot forward: Despite her otherwise dowdy look, Diane kept things chic in the footwear department with a pair of brown suede ankle boots, that came complete with tassel detailing Youthful: The Godfather star also showed off her timeless beauty as she opted to wear minimal makeup for the outing, apart from a delicate peach lipstick Romantic comedy Hampstead, stars Emmy-winning actor Brendan Gleeson as an 'unkempt man', Donald, who has lived 'quietly and harmoniously on the Heath for 17 years'. His path crosses with American widow Emily Walters, played by Diane Keaton, who helps Donald face property developers 'who've started using heavy-handed tactics to remove him'. While it is not known whether David will triumph over Goliath in the film, Mr Hallowes - who the film is based on - has already had his own happy ending worthy of any feel-good flick. Stunning: Diane oozed sophistication in a pair of thick framed glasses and left her icy blonde hair to fall straight and sleek around her shoulders She lifts: Despite her comfortable style, Diane looked to be struggling as she hauled her heavy shoulder bag around the North London location Mr Hallowes was declared the legal owner of his 90ft-square patch on the north-east edge of the heath eight years ago, when his own property-developing nemesis tried to have him evicted. His squat is in the grounds of Athlone House nursing home, which was sold to the property developers Dwyer International by Kensington and Chelsea Hospital NHS Trust in 2003. To gain planning permission for a block of luxury flats, Dwyer agreed to donate a strip of woodland, which included Mr Hallowes' half-acre, to the Corporation of London, which manages the heath. Dwyer began proceedings to evict Mr Hallowes in March 2005 but dropped the case after it was proved that he had lived there for more than 12 years and could therefore not be removed. Mr Hallowes, nicknamed 'Harry the Hermit' by local newspapers, was awarded squatters' rights and declared the legal owner by the Land Registry. Leading lady: Romantic comedy Hampstead, stars Emmy-winning actor Brendan Gleeson as an 'unkempt man', Donald, who has lived 'quietly and harmoniously on the Heath for 17 years' They first revealed that they were expecting twins last December. And Ronnie Wood was seen doting over his very pregnant wife Sally as they were pictured out and about in London on Monday afternoon. The 68-year-old rocker cut a casual figure as he headed into a waiting car with his expectant wife just weeks before the birth of their first children together. Scroll down for video Nearly there: Ronnie Wood was seen doting over his very pregnant wife Sally as they were pictured out and about in London on Monday afternoon Sally, 38, showcased her burgeoning bump in a black top and jeans while she kept her feet comfortable in a pair of black boots. The dark-haired theatre production company owner wore her hair in a natural waves while she completed her look with a black handbag. The soon-to-be mum was seen holding a paper shopping bag and carrying a red and white blanket as she chatted to her husband. So excited: The 68-year-old rocker cut a casual figure as he headed into a waiting car with his expectant wife just weeks before the birth of their first children together Glowing: The 38-year-old showcased her burgeoning bump in a black top and jeans while she kept her feet comfortable in a pair of black boots See you later: The dark-haired theatre production company owner wore her hair in a natural waves while she completed her look with a black handbag as they conversed with a friend Ronnie, who is two years younger than Sallys mother Alison, was dressed in a purple shirt and red jacket while he completed the look with brown trousers. He also sported purple aviator shades, black trainers and wore his locks were in their typical shabby style. Ronnie recently returned from Cuba where he was touring with The Rolling Stones again. It wrapped up with good time to spare until he becomes a father for the fifth and sixth time to his daughters in a few weeks. Take this: The soon-to-be mum was seen holding a paper shopping bag and carrying a red and white blanket as she chatted to her husband Let's go: Ronnie, who is two years younger than Sallys mother Alison, was dressed in a purple shirt and red jacket while he completed the look with brown trousers Hop in: He also sported purple aviator shades, black trainers and wore his locks were in their typical shabby style He recently revealed the band's excitement in an interview with HELLO! magazine, explaining: 'The Rolling Stones are all thrilled. Keith [Richards] loves kids, so he's excited, and Mick [Jagger] keeps telling me to give him a year and then he'll be our nanny so now we're calling him 'Nanny Mick'." 'The Stones are one big family. It's all about the kids. In this tour, everyone's been there: (Sir Mick's children) Jade, Karis, James, Lizzy, Gabriel, Lucas and Georgia May; Patti and Keith's girls (Theodora and Alexandra) and Charlie's granddaughter Charlotte. 'My girls will be two more added into the mix. I hope my girls will be coming on tour with me for years to come.' Taking a break: Ronnie recently returned from Cuba where he was touring with The Rolling Stones again Krysten Ritter was a far cry from her scruffy character in Jessica Jones on Saturday. The 34-year-old got glammed up to accept a Peabody Award for the show during a star-studded ceremony in New York City. Krysten highlighted her slender figure in a tight gold sequined top with daring sheer panels which flashed a glimpse of her toned tummy. Scroll down for video Golden girl: Krysten Ritter looked gorgeous at the Peabody Awards in New York City on Saturday night The actress teamed the embellished top with a pair of smart black trousers and matching heeled pumps, adding a chunky Sylva & Cie ring to complete the look. Meanwhile Krysten's raven hair was styled in a ponytail and she finished off her look with frosted eyeshadow, winged eyeliner and a generous slick of red lipstick. The beauty was joined by co-star Carrie-Anne Moss, showrunner Melissa Rosenberg, and comic book writer and Marvel Television's Executive Vice President, Jeph Loeb. Krysten plays the titular character in Jessica Jones. Shining bright: The 34-year-old turned heads as she accepted an award for Marvel's Jessica Jones In fine form: Krysten wore a gold top with sheer panels, along with smart black trousers and matching pumps The Netflix show was praised by critics following its first season, which also starred David Tennant as baddie Kilgrave and Mike Colter as Luke Cage. Mike will reprise the character not only in Jessica Jones's second season but also in spin-off series Luke Cage, which is set to air later this year, What's more, Krysten and Mike are joining forces with Charlie Cox, who plays Daredevil in the show of the same name, and Finn Jones, who will portray Iron Fist, in ensemble show The Defenders. Bright spark: The actress sported lashings of bold red lipstick, frosted eyeshadow and winged black eyeliner Winner: The series won a Peabody Award from the University of Georgias Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication along with two other Netflix shows: Master Of None and Beasts Of No Nation The Defenders is in pre-production and likely to be released in 2017. The two spin-offs leave little time to focus on Jessica Jones itself, and Bloomberg recently revealed that the second season of the show won't begin production until next year. Before attending the Peabody Awards on Saturday, Krysten was at Vulture Festival, where she gave a hint about what to expect next season. Dream team: Krysten was joined at the event by co-star Carrie-Anne Moss (L) and showrunner Melissa Rosenberg Say cheese: Carrie-Anne, 48, snapped a photo of Krysen proudly posing with the trophy '[Kilgrave] was her reason for getting up at 3 oclock in the afternoon,' she joked, according to EW. 'She spends most of the show trying to get him into prison. 'She doesnt want to kill him, but that becomes her only choice. I dont think all that trauma and PTSD goes away now that she kills him.' The series won a Peabody Award from the University of Georgias Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication along with two other Netflix shows: Master Of None and Beasts Of No Nation. Busy day: Earlier on, the raven-haired beauty had attended Vulture Festival where she discussed season two She has pulled out all the sartorial stops for her turn at The 69th Annual Cannes Film Festival. And Elle Fanning ensured she looked her very best for the entire week as she once again managed to pull off a sensational getup on Sunday. The 18-year-old Maleficent actress was glowing in a pale yellow coordinate set comprising of a stunning pussybow blouse and chic Pallazzo pants. Scroll down for video Beautiful: Elle Fanning ensured she looked her very best for the entire week as she once again managed to pull off a sensational getup on Sunday Elle, who started acting at the tender age of three, is in Cannes to promote her new movie The Neon Demon and has ensured she turns heads at every point with a string of flawless ensembles. The two-piece she opted for on Sunday was no only perfect for her figure but also ideal for the searing sunshine in the idyllic town currently dominated by stars. Elle's top boasted a pussybow neckline tied into a dramatic bow while showing off her slender arms through the sleeveless detailing. Her trousers were the same pattern as her top - an extremely pale yellow with a delicate pattern accentuated throughout - yet made of a thicker material. Feeling fabulous: The 18-year-old Maleficent actress was glowing in a pale yellow coordinate set comprising of a stunning pussybow blouse and chic Pallazzo pants Pretty and pale: The individual beauty opted to forego the false tan look favoured by so many stars as she showed off her flawless alabaster complexion which glowed in the bright sunlight The individual beauty opted to forego the false tan look favoured by so many stars as she showed off her flawless alabaster complexion which glowed in the bright sunlight. Her youthful skin was flawless, enhanced by her choice to wear minimal make-up comprising of a dash of mascara and a slight touch of rouge to add a slight colour to her cheeks. Elle's blonde tresses were worn in a dead straight style extending from a centre parting and tumbling over her shoulders in a mid-length. One Elle of a look! Elle's blonde tresses were worn in a dead straight style extending from a centre parting and tumbling over her shoulders in a mid-length Mellow yellow: Elle looked a vision of grace and sophistication in her ensemble Spooky: The Neon Demon sees Elle star alongside Keanu Reeves and Christina Hendricks in the Nicolas Winding Refn-directed film which has divided critics during screenings The Neon Demon sees Elle star alongside Keanu Reeves and Christina Hendricks in the Nicolas Winding Refn-directed film which has divided critics during screenings. Elle plays Jesse, an aspiring model who moves to Los Angeles where her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will do whatever it takes to get what she has. It's the third consecutive film directed by the Danish 45-year-old to compete for the festival's Palme d'Or prize after Only God Forgives and Drive. Sensational: Additionally on Friday, she wowed in an exquisite ballgown for the screening of The Neon Demon Strutting her stuff: Elle looked far beyond her style years in the elegant ensemble Amazon Studios will release The Neon Demon in US theaters sometime in June and in UK theaters beginning July 8. On Thursday,she wowed once again at the amfAR's 23rd Cinema Against AIDS Gala at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, where she positively ruled the red carpet in her gorgeous, earth toned gown with a peacock patterned skirt. Additionally on Friday, she wowed in an exquisite ballgown for the screening of The Neon Demon. She is expecting a child with fiance Rob Kardashian. And Blac Chyna was rattled to learn she had gained twenty pounds when she stepped onto the scale during a Saturday in with her three-year-old son King Cairo. The pregnant 28-year-old Snapchatted the weigh-in, exclaiming to her son as the numbers 163.2 flashed onto the screen, 'Mommy's gained 20 pounds!' Weighing in: Pregnant Blac Chyna was rattled to learn on Saturday that she had gained twenty pounds when she stepped onto the scale during a day in with her son King Cairo In the videos, the model also asked her son, whose father is her ex-fiance Tyga, about her future child's gender. It comes not long after Blac took aim at trolls who were criticizing her changing body. In the now deleted post, Blac wrote: 'To all you people out here with negative comments and insecure words (obviously because you have nothing else to do but criticize the next) I AM HAVING A BABY!' She continued that she wants her pregnancy to be as comfortable as possible and that she wants to keep any negativity away from her future child. Another on the way! Chyna, pictured in Los Angeles on Friday, and her fiance Rob Kardashian announced the pregnancy earlier this month She wrote: 'Exactly what do you expect to see?! If I walked out in makeup and heels everyday to be beautiful to you means I WOULD BE MISERABLE AND UNHAPPY which are two vibes I refuse to transfer to my little one. 'If I comment on y'all pics and go in on them tired ass weaves or unblended a** contours I'll be wrong right? 'It'll be tragic! So stop playing & Put Some Respeck on my name.' Her little one: Blac was busy spending time on Saturday with her son King Cairo, whose father is her ex-fiance Tyga With love: The 28-year-old spoke about her future child with her three-year-old son The strongly worded caption was accompanied by photos from her relaxing poolside outing in Miami on Monday. Blac and her fiance Rob Kardashian confirmed the pregnancy earlier this month. During a recent episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Rob oddly joked that he had a son named 'Robert the third.' The sock entrepreneur was named after his late father, prominent attorney Robert Kardashian. Because he is Robert II, if he named his son Robert as well, that child would be Robert III. So in love: Rob and Chyna, pictured in New York on Wednesday, started dating in January 2016 and became engaged in April Rob and Blac went public with their relationship in January 2016 and became engaged in April. And with Rob and Chyna planning to get hitched, the Kardashian clan have begun to warm to Blac once more - after feuding with her while Kylie Jenner was dating the model's ex, Tyga. On a recent episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kim Kardashian explained: 'She gave him confidence, more power to her. 'After Rob and Blac Chyna started dating, Rob is now, like, all over social media and, like, out and about.' She lived up to the theme of the jewlers' de Grisogono party on Tuesday night in Cannes, in her shimmering chainmail gown. But even before she started preparing her red carpet look for the evening that day, Kim Kardashian wax pulling no punches when it came to the style stakes as she enjoyed a catch-up with the firm's founder, Fawaz Gruosi. Heading to the exclusive Martinez Hotel to meet the jeweller to the stars, the 35-year-old reality star put on a very busty display in a extremely low-cut silver dress. Scroll down for video Fun in the sun? Kim Kardashian wax pulling no punches when it came to the style stakes as she enjoyed a catch-up with de Grisogono founder, Fawaz Gruosi Meeting up with de Grisogono boss at his suite in the luxurious hotel, Kim appeared in high spirits despite touching down just hours earlier in the South of France. Slipping her famous curves into a fitted silver satin mini dress, the TV star and business woman certainly wasn't afraid to showcase her assets. With her ample bust on display thanks to the strappy number's low-cut neckline, the E! superstar ensure a generous amount of flesh was on display. Busty display: Heading to the exclusive Martinez Hotel to meet the jeweller to the stars, the 35-year-old reality star put on a very busty display in a extremely low-cut silver dress Adding a more casual edge to her outfit, Kim - who is married to rapper turned fashion designer Kanye West - wore a chunky cable-knit cardigan. And in keeping with her more relaxed mood before the party, the star kept her look free from clutter - choosing to only accessorise with a pair of large dark sunglasses. She wore her dark tresses in a centre-parting with her long locks tumbling down around her shoulders in tousled waves, the reality star let her hair frame her famous face. Shimmering in the sun: Meeting up with de Grisogono boss at his suite in the luxurious hotel, Kim appeared in high spirits despite touching down just hours earlier in the South of France Summer chic: Slipping her famous curves into a fitted silver satin mini dress, the TV star and business woman certainly wasn't afraid to showcase her assets Chilled out and relaxed? Adding a more casual edge to her outfit, Kim - who is married to rapper turned fashion designer Kanye West - wore a chunky cable-knit cardigan Lustrous locks: She wore her dark tresses in a centre-parting with her long locks tumbling down around her shoulders in tousled waves, the reality star let her hair frame her famous face Sat on the balcony of the Martinez, with the glittering vista of the Cote d'Azur behind her, the reality star looked delighted to see Fawaz. The pair chatted away in the sunshine as they caught up before the excitement of the party. And despite not stopping since she landed Kim managed to pull out all the stops when she arrived at the star-studded De Grisogono party in a chainmail gown at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes. Sat on the balcony of the Martinez, with the glittering vista of the Cote d'Azur behind her, the reality star looked delighted to see Fawaz. Stealing the show: Kim Kardashian looked amazing as she arrived at the De Grisogono at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on Tuesday night Glaring good looks: Far from dancing around in party mode, Kim maintained her steely pout usually reserved for selfies The reality TV star was dripping in diamond jewellery, with her raven locks pinned back in a tight bun. After recently boasting of her tremendous weight loss she was flaunting the fruits of her gym-honed labour as she sizzled on the red carpet. Just days before the bash Kim shared her delight with fans as she revealed she is back to her pre-baby weight of 135.8lbs, five months after giving birth to son Saint. Her astounding couture gown was the perfect outlet to show off her fabulous frame. In a nod to the jeweller hosting the event, Kim was dripping with diamonds including a pair of dazzling teardrop earrings with an eye-wateringly huge emerald ring which dazzled on her perfectly manicured finger. The mother-of-two showed no signs of jetlag and looked immaculate as ever as she stole the show at the De Grisogono party Smoke gets in your eyes: The reality TV star went for heavily smoky eyes and her signature contouring make-up Laden: Kim's love of cosmetics was blatantly apparent as she went for heavy contouring paired with a smokey eye and strong brow Her date for the night... In lieu of her husband Kanye West, Kim spent the night on the arm of De Grisogogono creative director Fawaz Gruosi In lieu of her rapper husband Kanye West, Kim spent the night on the arm of De Grisogogono creative director Fawaz Gruosi. The businessman looked dashing and debonair in a white dinner jacket with a black bowtie and trousers. Kim's make-up was naturally preened to perfection, given her candid love of all things cosmetic. Giving a nod to the wildly popular love of contouring, Kim's face was mapped out with an array of shades creating the perfect foundation for flawless bone structure. Her tresses were slicked into an impossible tight chignon, elegantly curled into a bun at the back of her naturally flawless person. The slicked back hair helped highlight her smokey shadow laden eyes which were outlined to show their almond shape. Finishing her perfect beauty regimen was her strong brow - an extremely fashionable look which helps define and shape the face perfectly. Glimmering girl: Just days before the bash Kim shared her delight with fans as she revealed she is back to her pre-baby weight of 135.8lbs, five months after giving birth to son Saint. Her astounding couture gown was the perfect outlet to show off her fabulous frame Later on: Kim arrived on the French Riviera earlier on Tuesday, despite appearing at an awards ceremony in New York on Monday night Lucky guy! Fawaz was no doubt overjoyed to have one of the world's most famous, and beautiful, women on his arm All eyes on her: Kim glistened and glittered as she posed with her head over her shoulder Getting along nicely: Kim and Fawaz were deep in conversation with a host of other guests as the party got into full swing Kim arrived on the French Riviera earlier on Tuesday, despite appearing at an awards ceremony in New York on Monday night. It's a hectic week for the mother-of-two, who will appear AmfAR Gala on Thursday, then heading to London for a Vogue 100 Festival appearance before ending her whirlwind European trip with Valentino's birthday in Italy. Her appearance comes hours after she was the proud recipient of a Webby Award, where she spoke about her excitement about becoming an aunt again when brother Rob welcomes a baby with his fiancee Blac Chyna. She told People: 'Everyone is doing really great. Everyone is super excited.' In demand: Kim has gone from New York to Cannes and will be expected in London and Italy later this week Train reaction: Kim needed some assistance to prepare her train from her chainmail dress for the black carpet Hey there: Kim appeared to be over the moon when she caught up with the creative director Stand by your brand: Kim posed proudly next to the jewellers name - obviously glowing with pride to front such a high-class event What a body! Kim's figure looked simply sensational as she turned every which way, displaying her phenomenal form at all angles Pert posterior: Kim looked incredible from every angle as she was guided down some steps Working her magic: Kim appeared to be perfectly body confident as she showed off her slim post-baby figure Holding on tight: Kim was never far from Fawaz's arm as they strutted around the bash arm-in-arm Up close and personal: Her tresses were slicked into an impossible tight chignon, elegantly curled into a bun at the back of her naturally flawless person. The slicked back hair helped highlight her smokey shadow laden eyes which were outlined to show their almond shape Inseparable: Kim and Fawaz were never far apart, making for a fine pair thanks to their evening finery All that glitters: She couldn't seem to take her eyes off the glittering array of jewels that were displayed at the event Fancy seeing you here! Once inside the bash, Kim caught up with family friend Bella Hadid who looked busty and chic Terrific trio: Bella grabbed the arm of Fawaz for a brief chat as Kim looked out at the festivities at the party Good genes: Kim also had the company of her mother, Kris Jenner, who seriously held her own in an elaborate gown All white on the night: Kris showed off her figure in a very tight white gown with silver embellishments across the chest Keeping up with the Kardashians! Kris Jenner and daughter Kim Kardashian enjoyed a girls' night out in Cannes Hitching it up: The reality star was pictured adjusting her outfit, making sure she didn't have a faux pas The biggest she's ever seen: Kim visibly gasped when Fawaz pulled out his massive rock Snapping away: Kim, Bella and Kris took some time aside to pose for some video content together for Snapchat Pout of this world: The girls all looked incredibly glamorous as they enjoyed their night out together Selfie Queen: Kim appears to have perfected the art of posing for a photograph as she looked perfect from every angle Two of a kind: Kris dazzled in white whilst Bella looked lovely in black as they rubbed shoulders with the other guests at the party The 35-year-old arrived to the ceremony, held at Cipriani Wall Street in New York, in a stunning ensemble where she was honoured with the brand new Break The Internet Award, and vowed to post 'nude selfies until I die'. Kim, who has over 70 million Instagram followers, 45 million Twitter followers, and a hugely successful mobile game, Kim Kardashian's Hollywood - is the first-ever recipient of the accolade at the annual Webby Awards in recognition of her 'bold and creative' use of online platforms. When Kim was presented with the award by author, journalist and internet commentator, Kara Swisher, she made a five-word acceptance speech as she stated: 'Nude selfies until I die.' Joining Kim at the bash was her mother Kris Jenner, who has spent the past few days on the Riviera with her model daughter Kendall Jenner and Scott Disick. The mother-of-six, 60, showed off her figure in a very tight white gown with silver embellishments across the chest. Natural beauty: Meanwhile, also at the De Grisogono party was Victoria's Secret model Chanel Iman, who showed off her lithe figure in a daring olive cut-out dress with thigh-high split. In yet another nod to the dazzling event she packed on glimmering gold accessories Stunning: Her hair was styled into slick Hollywood waves which cascaded over her shoulder in an elegant style while her make-up was flawlessly finished with a slick of nude lipstick layered under gloss to perfect her dazzling look All that jazz: Chanel gave yet another nod to the dazzling event she packed on glimmering gold accessories Incredibly chic: Bella Hadid shone bright at the jewellery bash as she slipped into a bedazzled pinstripe suit with a flesh-flashing bustier underneath Quirky: She also shone at the party in an unusual pinstriped trouser suit with a very revealing tasselled blouse Gorgeous girl: Also representing the model contingent was Bella Hadid, who had jetted in from Australia where she was modelling at Sydney Fashion Week. The 19-year-old supermodel shone bright at the jewellery bash as she slipped into a bedazzled pinstripe suit with a flesh-flashing bustier underneath A dazzling display: Bella made the most of her statuesque frame as she sported the dazzling black two-piece which featured a tailored suit jacket and flared trousers Busty babe: The clue was in the detail with the stunning suit as the entirety of the two-piece was given the bling factor with a delicate trim of dazzling silver chains Knows how to pose: Bella's doe-eyed stare no doubt captivated the red carpet as she dazzled in her suit Meanwhile, also at the De Grisogono party was Victoria's Secret model Chanel Iman, who showed off her lithe figure in a daring olive cut-out dress with thigh-high split. In yet another nod to the dazzling event she packed on glimmering gold accessories. Her hair was styled into slick Hollywood waves which cascaded over her shoulder in an elegant style while her make-up was flawlessly finished with a slick of nude lipstick layered under gloss to perfect her dazzling look. Also representing the model contingent was Bella Hadid, who had jetted in from Australia where she was modelling at Sydney Fashion Week. The 19-year-old supermodel shone bright at the jewellery bash as she slipped into a bedazzled pinstripe suit with a flesh-flashing bustier underneath. Bella made the most of her statuesque frame as she sported the dazzling black two-piece which featured a tailored suit jacket and flared trousers. The clue was in the detail with the stunning suit as the entirety of the two-piece was given the bling factor with a delicate trim of dazzling silver chains. Famous faces: Other A-Listers at the annual party, held during the 69th Cannes Film Festival at the luxurious Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc included Robert De Niro and his wife Grace Hightower A good looking pair: Robert's wife Grace made the most of her age-defying figure in a black gown with a defining bustier and a glamorous full bodied skirt Long time love: Even after 19 years of marriage, Robert and Grace appear to be the image of love Green with envy? TOWIE star Chloe was no doubt awestruck to party with the likes of a Kardashian so ensured she dressed to impress in a sultry backless gown with green sequins all over Robert De Niro looked dashing in a navy suit with light catching sheen while his stunning wife Grace Hightower, 61, made the most of her age-defying figure in a black gown with a defining bustier and a glamorous full bodied skirt. While the very top of the A-list were headed to the party, some more unlisted celebrities trod the carpet such as British reality stars Chloe Sims and Mark Francis Vandelli. TOWIE star Chloe was no doubt awestruck to party with the likes of a Kardashian so ensured she dressed to impress in a sultry backless gown with green sequins all over. She was joined yet again by millionaire property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz who she has been partying with throughout Cannes. Made In Chelsea star Mark Francis was also flying the flag for the reality contingent as he smartened things up in a white dinner jacket. He posed with glamorous brand ambassador Amanda Cronin who slipped into a glamorous silver gown. TOWIE wowie: Chloe was joined yet again by millionaire property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz who she has been partying with throughout Cannes Reunion: Paris Hilton partied at the same extravagant bash as her old bestie Kim Kardashian Wave your hands in the air! Paris seemed to be having the time of her life as she reclined on a white sofa Strike a pose! The heiress seemed to be loving the chance to pose for snaps and happily obliged Two's company! The heiress cosied up to a pal as they threw a series of poses together on the sofas Party girl: Paris looked phenomenal back in her old stomping grounds - the Cannes Film Festival Model material: (L to R) Toni Garrn, Siran Manoukian and Mischa Barton gave the rest of the guests a run for their money in their thigh-split gowns by Siran Velvet dream: Toni looked incredible in her low-cut high thigh-split Siran gown which trailed down to the floor Stunner: Milla Jovovich showed off some serious leg as she worked her magic at the venue Leggy lady! The gown featured a daring thigh split that showed off one of her lean legs which were elongated by suede heels Glamour girls: Mischa channelled old-school Hollywood glamour (L), while model Barbara Palvin stuck to all-black Mellow yellow: Actress Godeliv Van Den Brandt wowed in a dazzling yellow dress which featured a long train and bust flashing top Feathered fancy: Actress and fashion designer Georgina Chapman oozed sophistication in a chic feathered top Reality bites: Made In Chelsea star Mark Francis was also flying the flag for the reality contingent as he smartened things up in a white dinner jacket. He posed with glamorous brand ambassador Amanda Cronin who slipped into a glamorous silver gown Glamourpuss Caprice dazzled in a perilously plunging sequinned gown which showed off an abundance of cleavage. She pulled her blonde tresses into a side parting with lustrous curls falling over her shoulder. She caught up with socialite Hofit Golan at the event, who was wearing a dangerously semi-sheer number which had black embellishments keeping everything in place. Swedish beauty Victoria Silvstedt stuck to her tried and tested over the top glamour look. Giving a generous glimpse of her generous cleavage in an entirely sheer gown, the blonde beauty sizzled in the cornflower blue ensemble. Glitzy: Model Caprice caught up with socialite Hofit Golan, who was wearing a dangerously semi-sheer number which had black embellishments keeping everything in place Wowing the crowd: Glamourpuss Caprice dazzled in a perilously plunging sequinned gown which showed off an abundance of cleavage. She pulled her blonde tresses into a side parting with lustrous curls falling over her shoulder Glamour girl: Swedish beauty Victoria Silvstedt stuck to her tried and tested over the top glamour look. Giving a generous glimpse of her generous cleavage in an entirely sheer gown, the blonde beauty sizzled in the cornflower blue ensemble Show-stoppers: Ivana Trump (L) and Massimo Gargia pulled out all the stops in their very glitzy ensembles Party time: Chris Tucker appeared to be in great spirits as he danced around in a grey polka dot suit He recently confessed that his commitments as a globe-trotting DJ have put immense pressure on his relationship with model Nicola Hughes. But on Saturday evening Made in Chelsea star Alex Mytton and his Irish blonde bombshell girlfriend pushed past any stress and strain as they shared a steamy night at the Industry Nightclub in Co. Meath, Ireland. In between his DJ sets, the gym-honed stud got physical with Nicola, who smiled from ear-to-ear as he caressed her cheeks and squeezed her tight. Scroll down for video Out and about: On Saturday evening Made in Chelsea star Alex Mytton and his blonde bombshell girlfriend Nicola Hughes shared a steamy night at the Industry Nightclub in Co. Meath, Ireland Alex, who took the time to pose with his legion of fans inside the club, put on a pec-tacular display in a tight black t-shirt, showing off his bulging biceps. Nicola looked totally at ease as she rubbed up against her beau, at times nestling her face in his beard. She wore a thigh-skimming skirt that stopped well north of her knees, and a scintillating top with plunging neckline that showed off her stunning decolletage. Quality time: In between his DJ sets, the gym-honed stud got physical with Nicola, who smiled from ear-to-ear as he caressed her cheeks and squeezed her tight Nice: Alex, who took the time to pose with his legion of fans inside the club, put on a pec-tacular display in tight black t-shirt, showing off his bulging biceps Divine: Nicola, who signed with a modelling agency at the age of 19, wore a thigh-skimming skirt that stopped well north of her knees, and a scintillating top with plunging neckline Keen to add a bit of boho flair, she topped off her high-glam look with a puffy brown leather jacket with a distinct vintage feel. Alex, who is notorious for his philandering ways while seeing ex Binky, met Nicola in August 2014 while making an appearance with co-star Jamie Laing at the Naas Court Hotel in Co. Kildare, Ireland. They reportedly met each other's parents within a month. Loving it: DJ Alex recently revealed that work commitments impact his romance. Speaking to Bang Showbiz he said: 'Being away - like travelling around Europe and the UK - can put a strain on your relationship' Despite that auspicious start, their relationship hasn't been smooth sailing. Speaking to BANG Showbiz earlier this month, Alex said: "Being away - like travelling around Europe and the UK - can put a strain on your relationship. 'I do have a lot of female attention but it's not as bad as everyone thinks. We're good. She's still living with the girls but we're trying to work through things.' Boy's night out: Alex was more than happy to spend time with his fans, who raised a glass to him Advertisement She has thrilled the crowds in Cannes and London this week alone. But Kim Kardashian kept her best outfit until last as she led the stars at one of glamorously high-brow premieres in recent memory. The reality TV queen led the glamour as she was among the first stars to arrive for the uber-chic opening of Sofia Coppola's take on La Traviata. Scroll down for video Going highbrow: Kim Kardashian kept her best outfit of her European tour until last as she led the stars at one of glamorously high-brow premieres in recent memory - Sofia Coppola's opening night of La Traviata The stunning mother-of-two looked sensational as she slipped her famous curves into a very figure-hugging white Vivienne Westwood number. The star's generous assets were on full display as she worked the red carpet. She was joined by rapper husband Kanye West, who looked smart in a black tuxedo and suede boots. The pair were the special guests of designer Valentino, the man who has created the lavish costumes for Coppola's big opera debut. Kim was given a run for her money in the style stakes by Keira Knightley, who is a rare addition to the A-list packed red carpets now she is a mother. That's amore: The reality TV queen led the glamour as she was among the first stars to arrive for the uber-chic opening of Sofia Coppola's take on La Traviata alongside husband Kanye West All white on the night: The stunning mother-of-two looked sensational as she slipped her famous curves into a very figure-hugging white Vivienne Westwood number Snap happy: Kim seemed more interested in checking her make-up looked flawless rather than attending the glitzy premiere Best foot forward: As they arrived, Kim carefully exited her car in her thigh-slash number Here comes the bride: Kim rocked the bridal-inspired gown as she emerged from her limo, garnering a rare smile from Kanye - before the rapper broke back into one of his scowls Lover's tiff? Kim said something to her husband which didn't seem to impress the Stronger hitmaker Very highbrow: The stunning star added some height to her petite frame in a pair of killer gold platforms as Kanye stayed glued to her side Alright sunshine? Kim looked incredible as the evening Italian sun hit her flawless skin on the red carpet Walk this way: The beauty led her man into the venue for the highly anticipated opening night of the opera, which has boosted the struggling site's ticket sales Keira was also among the well-heeled guests at the event, and stunned in a seriously seductive scarlet gown. The actress showed off her slender figure on the red carpet in the daring velvet number, which featured a cut-out bodice. The star posed alongside her rocker husband James Righton, who looked dapper in a blue suit. The filmmaker, daughter of silver screen legend Francis Ford Coppola, has taken charge of the new production at the Opera of Rome in Italy. Red-dy to rule the red carpet: Kim was given a run for her money in the style stakes by Keira Knightley, who is a rare addition to the A-list packed red carpets now she is a mother Scarlet woman: Keira was also among the well-heeled guests at the event, and stunned in a seriously seductive scarlet gown The star posed alongside her rocker husband James Righton, who looked dapper in a dinner suit, and Valentino designers Maria Grazia Chiuri (left) and Pierpaolo Piccioli The real Queen of the night? Keira Knightley appeared to have taken some influence from the tomes of operatic history as she embraced a sizzling theatrical inspired sartorial theme Date night? Arriving alongisde her husband James Righton, the 31-year-old actress looked sensational in flesh-flashing scarlet gown Happy family: The couple - who have been married three years - still looked a perfect match, and James couldn't have appeared prouder of his radiant wife All white on the night: Elizabeth Hurley also arrived in a stunning white gown, which clung to her enviable figure Figure flaunting fashion: The model and actress ensured there was little to detract from her simple and striking dress, keeping her wardrobe uncluttered The auteur, who was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for Lost in Translation, revealed she was nervous about taking on such a revered piece of work until Valentino talked her into it. She explained: 'I didnt really know what to expect and I never could have had the courage to direct an opera, but then Valentino and Mr [Giancarlo] Giammetti [the designers artistic collaborator] asked me. 'I thought what an incredible experience to be able to work in the Rome opera house with the beautiful costumes and the team here, so that motivated me to take a chance and do something that was scary and very unfamiliar. 'My great uncle has conducted La Traviata so he sat down and spoke to me a lot I felt lucky to have this culture in my family.' Mamma mia! Bond beauty Monica Bellucci looked resplendent in a plunging black silk gown which she had added some serious bling to in the form of a sapphire and diamond necklace Bell of the ball: Sofia, who was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for Lost in Translation, revealed she was nervous about taking on such a revered piece of work until Valentino talked her into it Valentino - who is a patron of the opera house - invited Coppola after watching her 2006 movie Marie Antoinette. The 84-year-old admits he was drawn by her skill of 'balancing the classic and the modern'. The collaboration has already proven box office gold - with 1.2 million euros being taken already for the run, which lasts until June 30. This is a huge success for the venue, which has struggled to compete with its rivals and has been hit with financial difficulties in recent years. Carlo Fuortes, the general manager of the opera house, says: 'We had no doubts about her abilities but crossing from cinema to opera is not easy. She turned out to be a wonderful director. For us its a great honour to have her here. 'The opera house has already had requests from theatres in Japan and Spain to stage the production... Its very rare for that to happen before the preview performance has even taken place.' Coppola and Valentino have also teamed up with Nathan Crowley, a Brit production designer who has worked on the Batman franchise. She's taken on many a look in her time as an actress, from period pirate to Dickensian dame. But on Sunday evening in Rome Keira Knightley appeared to have taken some influence from the tomes of operatic history as she embraced a sizzling theatrical inspired sartorial theme. Arriving at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma for the premiere of Sofia Coppola's La Traviata alongside her husband James Righton, the 31-year-old actress looked sensational in flesh-flashing scarlet gown. Scroll down for video The real Queen of the night? On Sunday evening in Rome Keira Knightley appeared to have taken some influence from the tomes of operatic history as she embraced a sizzling theatrical inspired sartorial theme Date night? Arriving at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma for the premiere of Sofia Coppola's La Traviata alongside her husband James Righton, the 31-year-old actress looked sensational in flesh-flashing scarlet gown The couple were among a host of A-List guests who turned out for the first performance of the director's - daughter of cinema icon Francis Ford Coppola - take on Giuseppe Verdi's classic opera. And they were clearly delighted with the opportunity to enjoy a romantic evening out, with the star looking more loved-up than ever as they made their way to the La Traviata premiere under the Roman sun. Keira looked to have taken some inspiration form Mozart's opera, The Magic Flute, and channeled the character The Queen of the Night as she conquered the style stakes in a ruched red sleeveless number. When in Rome! The couple were among a host of A-List guests who turned out for the first performance of the director's - daughter of cinema icon Francis Ford Coppola - take on Giuseppe Verdi's classic opera Featuring a halterneck design, which featured tow neck to navel slashes, allowed the actress to flash a tantalizing hint of her alabaster skin in the backless number. With a knotted belt detail on the waist, the Imitation Game star ensured she showcased her phenomenal figure. Rounding the long trailing dress off with a pair of contrasting gold stilettos, the brunette beauty added some subtle definition to her slender frame. A Rome-antic evening out: Clearly delighted with the opportunity to enjoy a romantic evening out, with the star looking more loved-up than ever as they made their way to the La Traviata premiere under the Roman sun Happy family: The couple - who have been married three years - still looked a perfect match Lady in red: Keira looked to have taken some inspiration form Mozart's opera, The Magic Flute, and channeled the character The Queen of the Night as she conquered the style stakes in a ruched red sleeveless number Wearing her long chestnut tresses in an elegant centre-parting, which tumbled down her back, allowing her striking and radiant features to shine through. Using a natural palette of make-up, Keira subtly highlight her pretty face with a flash of mascara, a hint of blusher and a slick of pink lipstick. She arrived on the red carpet alongside her rocker husband, James, 32, who looked debonair and suave in a slim cut tuxedo, shirt and tie. Sartorial sizzle: Featuring a halterneck design, which featured tow neck to navel slashes, allowed the actress to flash a tantalizing hint of her alabaster skin in the backless number Screen siren: Wearing her long chestnut tresses in an elegant centre-parting, which tumbled down her back, allowing her striking and radiant features to shine through Chic couple: She arrived on the red carpet alongside her rocker husband, James, 32, who looked debonair and suave in a slim cut tuxedo, shirt and tie (picture L-R Grazia Chiuri, James, Keira and Pierpaolo Piccioli) The Klaxons' frontman sported his bushy thick hair in a sweeping fringe, while he kept his features clean shaven for the event. Other famous faces at the event included Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, who arrived together following a stay in Cannes for the 69th Film Festival. Kim embraced her usual red carpet raciness, and donned a white gown which featured thigh-high slash from Vivienne Westwood's latest collection. The pair have been busy at Cannes indulging in a spot of retail therapy as the Film Festival was underway. And Tyga and his rumoured new girlfriend Demi Rose Mawby proved the fun doesn't stop as they were spotted grabbing a kebab at 5am on Sunday after a night out on the French Riviera. The 21-year-old lingerie model and the rapper, 26, looked in high spirits - despite the time - as they left the fast food joint and walked to their waiting car. Scroll down for video Glamorous: Tyga and his rumoured new girlfriend Demi Rose Mawby proved the fun doesn't stop as they were spotted grabbing a kebab at 5AM on Sunday after a night out on the riviera Demi Rose opted for a revealing look in a skimpy black dress with long train and matching pointed stilettos with laces to add height to her 5ft 2in frame. She accessorised her ensemble with a simple pendant necklace and an understated stainless steel watch. Her flowing brunette tresses were worn in a relaxed wavy style over her shoulders and were pulled back to highlight her diamond earrings and flawless complexion. Clearly mindful of dehydration, the Birmingham native clutched a bottle of water to take back to her hotel. Relaxed: The 21-year-old lingerie model and the rapper, 26, looked in high spirits - despite the time - as they left the fast food joint and walked to their waiting car Revealing: Demi Rose opted for an all-black look in a skimpy dress with long train and matching pointed stilettos with laces to add height to her 5ft 2in frame All change? Tyga's ex Kylie Jenner looked remarkably similar to his rumoured new flame Demi Rose in their LBDs Tyga meanwhile went home empty handed in his trademark dressed down look of a yellow sweatshirt with matching bandana teamed with black jeans and trainers. He outclassed his rumoured girlfriend in the bling stakes wearing a host of gaudy chains, rings and bracelets. The duo are yet to confirm their relationship and didn't hold hands during their latest outing, but it seemed they were close as the nipped out for their late night snack. Pared-back: She accessorised her ensemble with a simple pendant necklace and an understated stainless steel watch Dressed down: Tyga rocked his trademark casual look with a yellow sweatshirt with matching bandana teamed with black jeans and trainers Glowing: The lingerie model looked radiant despite the time of her visit to the kebab shop Tyga split from ex Kylie Jenner before this year's Met Gala and the reality TV star is said to have moved on too - she's been linked to another rapper, PartyNextDoor - real name Jahron Brathwaite. Tyga recently said he 'still loves' Kylie - although that was before he started seeing Demi Rose. When asked if the difference in age played a factor in their break up, he said: 'Um, uh, I think, you know, we're both just focusing on our lives, our individual lives right now, you know? Sometimes things don't work out. But, you know, I love her.' In love? Tyga and Demi Rose are yet to confirm their relationship and didn't hold hands during their latest outing Famous diners: It seemed the duo were close as the nipped out for their late night snack along with their entourage Moving on? Tyga split from ex Kylie before this year's Met Gala but seems to have got over the break up This week MailOnline revealed the British model - who now seems to have replaced Kylie as the rapper's girlfriend - grew up in a middle class home in Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham. Parents Barrie, 78, a former bank manager, and Christine, 61, said she is a very different person at home and insisted they were proud of her. Her mother said: 'We're right behind her. She's such a beautiful girl, why shouldn't she? If you've got it, flaunt it. 'She's very kind and a really down-to-earth girl nothing like what we are seeing in the press.' The Instagram favourite, who has more than two million followers, has become the talk of the globe after being pictured in a very revealing outfit on her way to a party with the American musician in Cannes. Dazzling: Tyga outclassed his rumoured girlfriend in the bling stakes wearing a host of gaudy chains, rings and bracelets Luscious locks: Her flowing brunette tresses were worn in a relaxed wavy style over her shoulders and were pulled back to highlight her diamond earrings and flawless complexion Health conscious: Clearly mindful of dehydration, the Birmingham native clutched a bottle of water to take back to her hotel Fifth-time lucky as Exaggerator wins 141st Preakness Exaggerator shattered the Triple Crown dream of heavy favorite Nyquist on Saturday to claim victory in a rain-sodden 141st Preakness at Pimlico. Nyquist -- unbeaten in his eight-race career -- had been targeting the second leg of a Triple Crown following an emphatic victory at the Kentucky Derby earlier this month. But Exaggerator -- beaten four times in four previous races against Nyquist, including at the Derby -- produced a masterful display on a sodden course to overhaul the 3/5 favorite on the home straight. Exaggerator, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, leads the field to win the 141st running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 21, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland Patrick Smith (Getty/AFP) Nyquist, who had led almost from the start, tied up towards the line, eventually finishing third bheind Cherry Wine. It was a third career Preakness victory for Exaggerator jockey Kent Desormeaux, who admitted he had used his expert knowledge of the track to his advantage. "I can't even fathom. It's going to take a while. I'm in shock right now," said Desormeaux. "I had a dream trip today. "I was on the fence and they all stayed wide. With these turns, you want to paint the fence. We did, they didn't -- knowledge is power." Desormeaux's brother Keith, the trainer of Exaggerator, revealed he had deliberately given the horse a light workload in the weeks since finishing second to Nyquist at Churchill Downs. "The horse has been training phenomenally," the veteran trainer told NBC television. "My philosophy was to take the training as easy as possible because you're not going to gain any fitness in those two weeks. "I did what I could to get him happy, and freshened and strong. He's always had a great ability to recover and he showed it today." It was a desperately disappointing outing for Nyquist, seen by many as a strong contender to emulate American Pharoah's Triple Crown victory of last year with wins in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. Trainer Doug O'Neill had missed out on a possible Triple Crown four years ago when his horse I'll Have Another won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness only to withdraw on the eve of the Belmont Stakes with a tendon injury. O'Neill congratulated the Desormeaux brothers for masterminding Exaggerator's win. "Hats off to Exaggerator and Team Desormeaux -- what a great run," O'Neill said. "I didn't think we could get beat to be honest with you. Nyquist is such an amazing horse. He still ran a great race." O'Neill would not confirm if Nyquist would run in the Belmont Stakes next month. "We'll kind of figure it out," O'Neill said. "We'll watch the replays and we'll see how he comes out of it." Taliban leader Mansour: man of war, not peace talks Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who according to US officials was probably killed in a drone strike, took over as head of the insurgent movement last July following the revelation that the group's founder Mullah Omar had been dead for two years. He was initially thought to favour peace talks with the government, but after becoming leader he repeatedly refused to come to the negotiating table. For some Mansour was the obvious choice to succeed Mullah Omar, the one-eyed warrior-cleric who led the Taliban from its rise in the chaos of the Afghan civil war of the 1990s. Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, like his predecessor Mullah Omar, was born in the southern province of Kandahar, pictured here in December 2014 Roberto Schmidt (AFP/File) Born in the same southern province, Kandahar, some time in the early 1960s, Mansour was part of the movement from the start and effectively in charge since 2013, according to Taliban sources. Mansour spent part of his life in Pakistan, like millions of Afghans who fled the Soviet occupation. There he reportedly developed links with the country's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, which nurtured the Taliban in the 1990s and even now is regularly accused of fuelling the insurgency. He served as civil aviation minister in the Taliban government which ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until it was ousted by the US-led invasion in 2001, when he fled again to Pakistan. He repeatedly showed a canny ability to navigate between different currents in the Taliban movement, from the Quetta Shura to the "political office" in Qatar to commanders on the ground in Afghanistan. To take the leadership he outmanoeuvred Mullah Yakoub, Omar's son who was favoured by some commanders as the new leader but judged too young and inexperienced at 26. But his leadership got off to a rocky start. Some Taliban were unhappy at the thought Mansour may have deceived them for over a year about Omar's death and others accused him of riding roughshod over the process to appoint a successor. While Mansour was close to his predecessor, he wasn't known for having Omar's aura of religious authority though the Taliban did confer upon him the title "leader of the faithful", by which the old chief was known. He initially faced a huge challenge in trying to unite a movement that was already showing signs of fragmenting and questions about his legitimacy at the highest echelon of the Taliban did not bolster his position. But analysts say Mansour quickly set out to consolidate his authority, rooting out opposition to his leadership by buying the support of rebellious commanders, quashing renegade groups and luring dissidents with leadership positions. - 'Decisive strikes' - There was speculation about Mansour's fate last summer following reports he was critically wounded in a firefight with his own commanders in Pakistan shortly after he assumed the mantle of leadership. The Taliban subsequently released an audio message purportedly from Mansour, vehemently rejecting reports of any shootout as "enemy propaganda". The hardline group has seen a resurgence under Mansour's leadership, leaving Afghan forces struggling to rein in the expanding insurgency. They briefly captured the strategic northern city of Kunduz in September in their most spectacular victory in 14 years. The militants have also claimed a series of high-profile attacks over the past year on embassies, media as well as the UN and NATO properties in and near the diplomatic quarter in Kabul. In a recent message posted online, Mansour told his followers to prepare for "decisive strikes" during the Taliban's annual spring offensive. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a US official on Saturday said Mansour was targeted and "likely killed" in a US drone strike in a remote area of Pakistan along the Afghan border. Nancy Kidwell is a modern-day pioneer of the American desert, a rough-riding frontierswoman who built an entire town amid the lonely Yucca trees and sagebrush, where nothing existed before. A half-century ago, Kidwell and first husband Slim turned a triangle-shaped gravel airstrip abandoned by the US military into a thriving community that featured a casino, store, camper van park, motel, bar and restaurant that drew high-desert wanderers from thousands of miles around. Many travelers landed in private planes to frequent this gambling state's first-ever fly-in gaming emporium, that once advertised 'seven hours of fun' where one-armed bandit aficionados could touch down in the late afternoon and taxi out that same night. Scroll down for video A half-century ago Nancy Kidwell and first husband Slim turned a triangle-shaped gravel airstrip abandoned by the U.S. military into a community that featured a casino, store, camper van park, motel, bar and restaurant With both of her husbands now dead, Kidwell is looking to sell the entire town for $8million and move on Oasis: Above, a view of the tiny town from above. Cal-Nev-Ari is located about a north of Las Vegas in the Nevada desert Will Mayo walks from his small single-engine plane after arriving for breakfast at the Cal-Nev-Ari Casino in Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada on May 15, 2016 Above, a picture of Kidwell's late second husband Ace Kidwell, who was the son of her first husband Slim Kidwell (from another marriage) Now it's all up for sale - a couple's dreamscape of 350 hardy residents, carved from hardscrabble land an hour south of Las Vegas, where Nevada's narrow southern tip comes within 10 miles of both California and Arizona. Asking price: $8 million. For the 78-year-old Kidwell, the sale is bittersweet. This patch of desert is all she's known since she and Slim first flew over the arid expanse in 1965, gawking at the isolation and sheer beauty of the spot they'd chosen to make a break from the California rat race. But now her beloved Slim is long gone -- a victim of Alzheimer's disease in 1983 -- and Kidwell has grown weary of working seven-day weeks supervising 22 employees, playing the role of the town's mayor, police chief and sole businesswoman. She wants to travel, maybe buy another airplane for a tour of the nation's parks -- Yosemite, Yellowstone and Gettysburg included. 'I'm going to find out what you do after you spend 51 years of your life working in one place,' she said, 'when you suddenly don't have to wake up at 5 am each day to get the work done.' Kidwell is selling a full square mile along US Highway 95, with 500 acres (202 hectares) of the parcel ready for immediate development. After all, she and Slim already did the back-breaking work of building the infrastructure, bringing in utilities and digging the wells. Town founder Nancy Kidwell locks up an ATM at her Cal-Nev-Ari Casino in Nevada on May 15, 2016. Kidwell says she may spend her retirement traveling around America's national parks Slim Kidwell first spied the plot of land in 1965, when he got lost flying back to California from Minnesota. Above, a model bi-plane is seen handing in the coffee shop at the casino on May 15 Kidwell greets diners at her Cal-Nev-Ari Casino Casino on May 15, 2016. Kidwell's first husband Slim died of Alzheimer's in 1983 Kidwell (R) greets a customer from the confines of the small post office inside her Cal-Nev-Ari Casino in Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada on May 15, 2016 Kidwell pulls the shirt of Dick Clark, showing off the 51st anniversary of her town, Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada inside the coffee shop on May 15, 2016. After her husband passed, Kidwell fell in love with his son and they married Pilots taxi their single-engine planes by homes as they head to the runway to depart after flying in for breakfast in Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada. Kidwell's second husband Ace died in 2011 from Alzheimer's as well Pilot Will Mayo taxis his single-engine plane by homes after arriving for breakfast in Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada on May 15, 2016 Many travelers landed in private planes to frequent Nevada's first-ever fly-in gaming emporium, the Cal-Nev-Ari Casino Many of Nancy Kidwell's employees are divided by the sale of Cal-Nev-Ari as they don't want the town's matriarch to step down but she's promised them a Hawaiian vacation once the sale goes through Bartender Debbie Aguilera (center serves customers inside the Cal-Nev-Ari Casino in Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada on May 15, 2016 Years ago, when Kidwell put the town up for sale at $17 million, two developers got into a bidding war before the real estate market collapsed and her well-laid plans turned back to dust. Now, at a mere $8 million, Kidwell is seeing sizable interest: 'My broker says the whole thing has gone viral.' She has no idea what her town will become once it's sold, but has received calls from people who want to turn it into everything from a renewable energy project, motorsports park, guest ranch, survival school or shooting range. Recently, Kidwell sat in the casino restaurant, drinking coffee and eating a biscuit and gravy, her frame still beanstalk-slim, her reddish hair worn in the same coiffed swirl she's kept for, well, forever. Kidwell was born in rural Utah and later moved to Southern California, where the young adventuress made enough money in her airfield secretarial job to take flying lessons. Town founder Nancy Kidwell is seen in an undated photo, sitting on the wing of a single engine plane as it is displayed in her office at the Cal-Nev-Ari Casino A highway billboard directs motorists to the Cal-Nev-Ari Casino on May 15, 2016 That's when she met Slim Kidwell -- she was 28 and he was 62, and the couple launched on a spring-autumn relationship that would provide the adventure of two lifetimes. One day, Slim got lost flying back to Torrance from Minnesota and passed a windswept desert airfield, an outpost where he decided to stake a claim for his future. To take ownership from the government under a land-settlement act, the couple had to develop a water source and grow some kind of crop for at least one season. They moved into an old trailer abandoned by some Wyoming cowboys. While they worked the land, they hauled in their water in 55-gallon drums as Kidwell dealt with her new neighbors -- the rats, squirrels, jackrabbits, coyotes and free-range cattle. People laughed at their foolishness - friends had a good cackle over Slim Kidwell and his 'blue-sky dreams' - which just made the couple work harder. Drop in for breakfast: Above, an exterior of the casino/restaurant in Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada. The casino was the first fly-in casino in the world A stone plaque in the town explains the area's history to visitors passing through in cars or airplanes Slowly, the desert came to life. They built a mobile home park and gas station, then opened the Cal-Nev-Ari Casino, building backyard hangars for pilots to stash their planes. They opened what they lovingly called the Blue-Sky Motel. Eventually, people moved here. The government put in a post office and a fire depot. When Slim got sick with Alzheimer's, a son from a previous marriage, Ace, came to help care for his father. After Slim's death, Nancy and Ace eventually fell in love, and the couple married. She says she knew what a sacrifice he'd made, selling his business in California, and wanted to make sure he'd be set financially if she were to die. But Ace died in 2011 - also of Alzheimer's. Both father and son, members of a secretive club for male aviators known as the Quiet Birdmen, are buried out by the gravel runway -- their markers bearing the group's slogan 'Gone West' with an image of a plane taking off toward the sunset. Many of Kidwell's employees are divided by the sale. They don't want the town's matriarch to step down, but she's promised to take them on a Hawaiian vacation once the sale goes through. For now, Kidwell still wakes at 5 am, hoping to stay on as a consultant for any new buyer. When her time finally comes, she wants to be buried out on the airfield next to her men. She's already got the tombstone with the same markings as Slim and Ace. Everything is in place except for that final date. US killer's gun sells for $250,000: auctioneers A Florida neighborhood watchman has sold for $250,000 the gun he used to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, auctioneers said. United Gun Group, which hosted the auction on its website, confirmed Saturday the amount of the sale of the Kel-Tec PF-9, a 9mm pistol. The price, also reported by television stations in Nevada and Florida a day earlier, far exceeded the market value of a secondhand weapon. Picture of Trayvon Martin, fatally shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in 2012, is seen with pictures of other people killed by gun violence before Hillary Clinton speaks to the Circle of Mothers conference in Fort Lauderdale Joe Raedle (Getty/AFP/File) The very fact that the weapon was even being auctioned off had triggered a major backlash due to the nature of 17-year-old Martin's 2012 shooting. Watchman George Zimmerman claims he acted in self-defense but the teen's family and friends claimed it was a murder driven by racism. Zimmerman's trial and subsequent acquittal exposed deep racial divides in US society, and nationwide protests erupted over the shooting. The TMZ celebrity news website said the winning bid was a last-minute one, denying a Florida bar owner to own for $150,000 what Zimmerman has called an "opportunity to own a piece of American history." The sale ends 10 days of a drawn-out process that first saw Zimmerman try to auction off the weapon on GunBroker.com, which promptly removed the post, before turning to United Gun Group. Hoax buyers then managed to temporarily curtail the sale by posting fake bids of more than $65 million, including some by a bidder using the screen name "Racist McShootface." After filtering out fake buyers, United Gun Group opened a second auction that led to the final sale. While serving as a neighborhood watch volunteer in a gated community in Florida, Zimmerman fatally shot high school student Martin as he was walking home with iced tea and candy in February 2012. Zimmerman insisted he had been following the teenager on suspicion he was involved in robbery, and that he shot him in an act of self-defense. He was acquitted of second-degree murder the following year, setting off protests nationwide over Florida's "stand your ground" gun laws. Philippines halts probe into president-elect's suspected death squads The Philippines has halted an investigation into an alleged vigilante death squad linked to president-elect Rodrigo Duterte after the key witness disappeared, likely due to fear of the incoming leader, officials said. Outgoing justice secretary Emmanuel Caparas said the Justice Department's investigation could not proceed because the sole witness had left the government's witness protection programme. "There's really nothing there. I don't think the witness is there any more... because he hasn't surfaced again," he said. Rodrigo Duterte was elected president in a landslide on May 9 Ted Aljibe (AFP/File) "Unless that (person) comes forward, its very difficult to do anything about it," he told reporters. Former justice secretary Leila de Lima, who initiated the probe into the death squads, said Sunday the witness clearly feared Duterte -- who was elected president in a landslide on May 9. "From all indications, the decision of the witness to leave (the protection programme) is definitely in reaction to Duterte's (likely) victory," said de Lima, who was elected senator in the May 9 polls. Duterte, longtime mayor of the southern city of Davao, had boasted while campaigning of being involved with vigilante death squads that had killed over a thousand people in his city. He had also vowed that once elected, he would kill 100,000 criminals and dump so many in Manila Bay that the "fish will grow fat" from feeding on them. De Lima told AFP that "even before the elections, he (the witness) was worried of a Duterte victory". The former justice secretary said the witness asked to leave the witness protection programme after she resigned from the department in October to run for office. Human rights groups have accused Duterte of organising or tolerating vigilante squads that have targeted suspected criminals and street children in Davao, killing more than 1,000 people since the 1980s. But Duterte, whose tough-talking style and ruthless approach to crime has won him a huge following, has brushed aside such concerns. The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the decision to drop the investigation was "a disturbing failure" to address the many government-linked killings in the strife-torn Philippines. "The decision sends a chilling message that those responsible for targeted killings don't need to fear about being punished for their egregious crimes," the group said in a statement on Sunday. It called on the government to reopen the investigation. Spokesmen for Duterte, who takes office on June 30, could not be contacted for comment. French PM visits Israel to push for peace plan French Prime Minister Manuel Valls visited Israel on Sunday to advance his country's plan to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts in the face of opposition from his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. Valls, who arrived on Saturday night, is to meet Netanyahu on Monday before holding talks in Ramallah on Tuesday with Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has welcomed the French initiative to hold a meeting of foreign ministers from a range of countries on June 3, without the Israelis and Palestinians present. French Prime minister Manuel Valls is in Israel in a bid to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, which have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014 Thomas Samson (AFP/File) Another conference would then be held in the autumn, with the Israelis and Palestinians in attendance. The goal is to eventually restart negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state. Netanyahu has criticised the initiative and called for direct negotiations between the two sides. Negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014. In an interview with Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam published Sunday, Valls called himself a "friend of Israel" but said that Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank must stop. He also reiterated that his government would not automatically recognise a Palestinian state if the peace initiative failed. A threat to do so was made in January by former foreign minister Laurent Fabius, angering the Israeli government, which argued that it removed any incentive for the Palestinians to negotiate in good faith. His successor Jean-Marc Ayrault has since backed away from the statement. "The objective is to arrive at the creation of a Palestinian state," Valls said in the interview. "It is to allow your national aspirations to finally be realised. To say today when we will recognise the Palestinian state is to determine in advance the failure of our initiative." - 'Facts on the ground' - Valls said "we must also guarantee" Israel's security, but called for a halt to settlement building, considered a major stumbling block to peace. Settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law and built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. "Stopping settlements is an imperative," he said. "Because we cannot both want to discuss peace and be sincere in the negotiations and at the same time continue to create facts on the ground." Seeking to address Israel's concerns, Valls said that France's initiative would not try to impose a solution and that negotiations between the two sides would ultimately resolve the conflict. Valls's visit comes at a time of political turbulence in Israel, with Netanyahu expected to soon finalise negotiations with the party of hardliner Avigdor Lieberman to join his coalition. Lieberman, who lives in a West Bank settlement and is detested by the Palestinians, is expected to take on the key role of defence minister. On Sunday, Netanyahu sought to ease concerns over the expected entrance of Lieberman's party into his coalition, saying his government would still seek peace with the Palestinians. Valls's visit on Sunday was mainly devoted to economic and cultural issues. Bombs kill 8 in northeast Syria as US commander visits Bombings suspected to have been carried out by the Islamic State group killed at least eight people in northeastern Syria hours after a top US commander visited, security forces said Sunday. Washington regards the Kurdish-led militia that controls most of the northeast as the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria and the head of US Central Command General Joseph Votel made a secret visit Saturday to confer with US military advisers working with them. A CENTCOM spokesman declined to give details of the visit, saying only that Votel had visited several location inside Syria on the highest-ranking visit to the country since the 2011 outbreak of the civil war. A suicide bombing suspected to have been carried out by the Islamic State group on May 22, 2016 in the Christian Wusta neighbourhood of the divided Syrian northeastern city of Qamishli Delil Souleiman (AFP) Two IS suicide bombers struck the centre of Qamishli, a mainly Kurdish city that is the de facto capital of the swathes of northern Syria where Kurdish militia have set up a self-declared autonomous administration. The bombers hit a restaurant and a bakery in the Christian Wusta neighbourhood of the city that is controlled by a breakaway Christian militia that backs the Damascus regime. A militia spokesman said three Christians were killed and 15 wounded in the bombings. The IS-affiliated Amaq news agency reported the bombings but issued no claim. Hours earlier, two car bombs hit a Kurdish checkpoint outside the town of Tal Tamr, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Turkish border. Kurdish security force spokesman Abdallah Saadoun told AFP that there had been advance warning of the attack but that five security force personnel were killed nonetheless. Amaq said a "suicide operation" had killed more than a dozen Kurdish security personnel but issued no claim. Washington has kept up its support for the Kurdish militia in northeastern Syria despite strong opposition from NATO ally Ankara whose misgivings have prevented the delivery of heavier weapons. Ankara regards the main Syrian Kurdish party as a puppet of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has waged a deadly three-decade insurgency in southeastern Turkey. It has repeatedly shelled Syrian Kurdish positions when the militia has made advances in border territory that Turkish commanders consider sensitive. Egypt president says no theory favoured on EgyptAir crash President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Sunday no theory was being favoured on why EgyptAir MS804 plunged into the Mediterranean and that Egypt was using a submarine to locate the black boxes. The Airbus A320 carrying 66 people had crashed into the sea while flying from Paris to Cairo early Thursday, and some wreckage but not the black boxes has been found. Egypt's aviation minister had said that terrorism was more likely than technical failure, but Sisi said in a televised address that "all the theories are possible". Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi says "all the theories are possible" as investigators probe the EgyptAir plane crash "There is no particular theory we can affirm right now," he said. Sisi said a submarine that could operate at a depth of 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) under sea level had been deployed on Sunday to search for the black boxes. "This (submarine) moved today in the direction of the plane crash because we are working hard to retrieve the two boxes, which are the black boxes," he said. Search on for clues in EgyptAir crash Egypt enlisted a submersible Sunday to search the Mediterranean seabed for the black boxes of EgyptAir MS804, hoping the recorders would determine whether the plane crash was an accident or attack. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said it was too early to tell what caused the Airbus A320 to plunge into the sea with 66 people on board last Thursday. Some wreckage from the plane that had been en route to Cairo from Paris has been found, but none of the passengers' bodies, a civil aviation ministry spokesman said on Sunday. A ceremony on May 22, 2016 at the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Coptic Orthodox Church in Cairo's Abbasiya district for those lost on EgyptAir MS804 Khaled Desouki (AFP) France's aviation safety agency said Flight MS804 had transmitted automated messages indicating smoke in the cabin and a fault in the Flight Control Unit. Sisi said a submersible that can operate 3,000 metres (9,800) below sea level had been enlisted from the oil ministry, and urged against speculation on why the plane went down. "All the theories are possible," he said in a televised address. "There is no particular theory we can affirm right now." Egypt's aviation minister has said terrorism is more likely than technical failure, without offering any evidence. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said "all theories are being examined and none is favoured". A French navy spokesman said a French maritime surveillance plane "on Sunday detected a lot of floating objects, probably related to the aircraft, in the search area". The disaster follows the bombing of a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula last October that killed all 224 people on board. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for that attack within hours, but there has been no claim linked to the EgyptAir crash. A rare audio message on Saturday by the jihadist group's spokesman Mohamed al-Adnani made no mention of the plane, although it called for attacks on the US and European countries, especially civilians, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which begins in June. The message may have been recorded before the EgyptAir disaster. A French patrol boat carrying equipment capable of tracing the black boxes was expected in the search area between the Greek island of Karpathos and the Egyptian coast on Monday afternoon. - Black box signals - But experts have warned that the equipment could be useless if the black boxes -- which can emit signals for up to five weeks -- have sunk to a depth of more than 2,000 metres (6,500 feet). French and Egyptian aviation officials have said it is too soon determine what brought down the plane. It is "far too soon to interpret and understand the cause of the accident as long as we have not found the wreckage or the flight data recorders", a spokesman for France's Bureau of Investigations and Analysis (BEA) said. An Egyptian aviation ministry statement cautioned against drawing conclusions based on a "single source of information such as the ACARS messages which are signals and indicators that may have different causes". ACARS -- Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System -- transmits short messages between aircraft and ground stations. The ACARS messages read "smoke lavatory smoke" then "avionics smoke" -- referring to the plane's electronic systems -- then a "fault" with the FCU, the flight control unit, and another control unit, a BEA official told AFP. The plane had turned sharply twice before plunging 6,700 metres (22,000 feet) and vanishing from radar screens early Thursday, Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said. The passengers were 30 Egyptians, 15 French citizens, two Iraqis, two Canadians, and citizens from Algeria, Belgium, Britain, Chad, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. They included a boy and two babies. Seven crew and three security personnel were also on board. EgyptAir Holding Company chairman Safwat Moslem told AFP the priority was finding the passengers' remains and the flight recorders, which will stop emitting a signal when the batteries are exhausted. The airline said on Sunday it was working with the government to issue death certificates for the victims. On Saturday, a funeral service was held at a Cairo church for 26-year-old EgyptAir hostess Yara Hany Farag. In a hall decorated with flowers, a picture of a smiling Yara was placed on a cross covered entirely with white flowers. The young woman was engaged to be married. Debris from MS804 found in Mediterranean Sea A French soldier searches for debris from the crashed EgyptAir flight MS804 over the Mediterranean Sea Alexandre Groyer (Marine Nationale/AFP) Picture on the official Facebook page of the Egyptian military spokesperson shows part of debris found by search teams looking for the EgyptAir flight which plunged into the Mediterranean HO (Egyptian military spokesperson's facebook page/AFP/File) Netanyahu seeks to ease fears over changes in his govt Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought on Sunday to ease concerns over the expected entrance of a hardline nationalist party into his coalition, saying his government would still seek peace with the Palestinians. Netanyahu was expected to soon conclude negotiations with the Yisrael Beitenu party led by Avigdor Lieberman, a far-right politician detested by the Palestinians. Lieberman would take on the key role of defence minister under the deal being negotiated and expand Netanyahu's current majority of 61 seats in the 120 seat parliament to 66. Since forming his government a year ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not concealed his ambition to expand his razor-thin majority in the 120-member parliament Gali Tibbon (AFP/File) The move would tilt further to the right Netanyahu's government, which is already among the most right-wing in Israel's history. "I want it to be clear that an expanded government will continue to aspire to a political process with the Palestinians and will do it with help from parts of the region," Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. Adding Lieberman's party to his coalition would bring weeks of political manoeuvring to a stunning conclusion. Netanyahu had earlier engaged in negotiations with Labour party leader Isaac Herzog to join the government before turning to Lieberman instead. Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon, from Netanyahu's Likud party and a former armed forces chief, announced his resignation from the government on Friday, harshly criticising the premier in the process. He warned of a rising tide of extremism in the Likud and the country as a whole. Yaalon had been at odds with Netanyahu after deputy armed forces chief Major General Yair Golan enraged the premier by comparing contemporary Israeli society to Nazi Germany. Yaalon insisted on senior officers' right to "speak their mind." The defence minister also found himself under fire from far-right cabinet members and their supporters over the arrest and prosecution of a soldier who shot a wounded Palestinian assailant in the head as he lay on the ground without posing any apparent threat. Myanmar's Suu Kyi, Kerry walk tightrope over 'Rohingya' question Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday addressed controversy over the use of the word "Rohingya" to describe the persecuted and stateless Muslim minority, warning that use of the term risked inflaming communal tensions in Myanmar. Suu Kyi said her new government was determined to address deep hatreds in western Rakhine State, where tens of thousands of Rohingya are confined to squalid displacement camps after waves of deadly unrest with local Buddhists in 2012. Buddhist nationalists have staged protests across the country against using the term Rohingya. Myanmar Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Naypyidaw on May 22, 2016 Ntein Chan Naing (POOL/AFP) They label the group "Bengalis", casting Myanmar's more than one million Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. "The Rakhine Buddhists object to the term 'Rohingya' just as much as the Muslims object to the term 'Bengali'," Suu Kyi said during a press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry in the capital Naypyidaw. The words carry "all kinds of political and emotional implications which are unacceptable to the opposite parties," she added. Suu Kyi, who has faced criticism internationally for not speaking up for the Rohingya, pledged to work towards a situation where the communities "live peacefully and securely outside the camps". "That is why we say that we need the space to build up trust and security within the community", Suu Kyi added. The new government was trying to tiptoe through the deeply controversial subject to find a solution that is acceptable for all, she explained. Myanmar's Rohingya population are denied citizenship even though many can trace their roots in the country back generations. Kerry praised his counterpart for explaining her approach to the incendiary issue. "At the same time we all understand as a matter of fact that there is a group here in Myanmar that calls itself Rohingya," he added. The US says it backs the rights of all ethnic groups to identify as they wish. In recent weeks Washington has come under pressure from hardline Buddhists after the US embassy used the term "Rohingya" to refer to the persecuted Muslim minority. Yemen police kill one in Aden protests over power cuts Police have opened fire to disperse dozens of Aden residents protesting power cuts in Yemen's second city, killing one, a local government official said on Sunday. "A resident was killed and others were wounded" by police gunfire during the late Saturday protests, said the official who requested anonymity. Dozens of people took to the streets in Aden's districts of Crater, Mualla, and Mansura to protest against the lack of power supply as temperatures soared to almost 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coastal city. Fighting in Yemen has killed more than 6,400 people, displaced about 2.8 million and left 82 percent of the population in need of aid Saleh Al-Obeidi (AFP/File) Residents blocked roads, erected barricades and set tyres ablaze, prompting police intervention, witnesses said. Most of the city's electricity stallations were destroyed during fighting between pro-government forces and Iran-backed rebels last year. The rebels who seized Sanaa in September 2014, expanded south and entered Aden in March last year, but loyalists backed by a Saudi-led coalition pushed them out in July. President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government has so far failed to restore security and power supply in the city that it declared a temporary capital. "Our life is a real disaster," said 20-year-old Aden resident Mohammed Abdulhakim. "We are unable to sleep" because of the heat. "The war has destroyed everything and the aid arriving in Aden is not enough to restore power," he complained. The United Arab Emirates, which plays a key role in the pro-government coalition, has sent generators to Aden in recent months to help restore power supply in the city. But governor of the nearby Abyan province, Elkhedr al-Saidi, said earlier this month that "weak generating capability" in Aden's power plants is affecting supplies in the southern provinces of Abyan, Daleh and Lahj. Yemen's Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher on Wednesday accused the Huthi rebels and their allies of bringing the country's economy to the brink of collapse. Russia in first raids on Syria's Aleppo since truce: monitor Russian warplanes hit a key rebel supply route to Aleppo on Sunday in Moscow's first strikes on Syria's battleground second city since a February ceasefire, a monitoring group said. "The Russian and Syrian warplanes together carried out at least 40 air strikes on the Castello road," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman said. "They are the heaviest air strikes there since February, and they are also the first confirmed Russian strikes since the truce began," Abdel Rahman said. Moscow has been conducting a bombing campaign to back up ally President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, but in March Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the "main part" of his forces to pull out of the country Vasily Maximov (AFP/File) The violence wracking Aleppo city over the past month has killed some 300 civilians and left world powers scrambling to save the fragile truce brokered by the United States and Russia nearly three months ago. The northern city -- once Syria's commercial powerhouse -- is divided between rebel groups in the east and regime forces in the west. The Castello road is a key supply route for rebels leading north out of Aleppo. Even while the rest of the city witnessed relative calm in the first few weeks of the truce, fierce fighting has raged for the highway. On Friday, Moscow proposed joint air strikes with Washington against jihadists in Syria from Wednesday, but its offer was spurned. Russia has been carrying out air strikes in Syria since last September in support of its ally President Bashar al-Assad. Washington launched its air war against the Islamic State group and other jihadists in Syria in 2014. Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the US military does "not collaborate or coordinate with the Russians on any operations in Syria." US State Department spokesman John Kirby said nothing had been agreed with Moscow as its ally Damascus was responsible for the "vast majority" of violations of the February ceasefire. Syria rebels give truce brokers 48 hours to end regime assault Rebel groups Sunday set a 48-hour deadline for the US and Russian sponsors of a February ceasefire in Syria's conflict to halt a regime offensive in the Damascus region. "We are giving the sponsors of the ceasefire 48 hours to rescue what remains of the accord and to force the criminal regime of (President Bashar al-) Assad and his allies to completely and immediately halt their brutal offensive against Daraya and Eastern Ghouta," 29 rebel groups said in a statement. "In view of the regime's offensive against all the liberated regions, in particular Daraya... we consider the ceasefire accord to have totally collapsed," the groups said. A Syrian rebel fighter aims his weapon against regime forces in a rebel-controlled village in the Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of Damascus Abdulmonam Eassa (AFP/File) "Rebel groups will take all possible measures and respond with all means to defend our people and on all fronts until the regime totally halts its offensives against all liberated regions, especially Daraya, and pulls back to its pre-May 14 positions," they said. Syria's army, backed by Lebanon's Shiite militia Hezbollah, on Thursday recaptured the town of Deir al-Assafir and nine nearby villages in the Damascus region, taking advantage of clashes in the Eastern Ghouta area between rival rebel groups Jaish al-Islam and Faylaq al-Rahman which were among those listed on the joint statement. Hundreds of families fled the area, which Islamist rebels had controlled since 2012. The town of Daraya, also near the capital, was one of the first to erupt in demonstrations against the government in 2011. It has been under a strict regime siege since late 2012. The rebel groups urged the international community and friendly nations "to act to save Daraya from genocide". Anti-regime group the Local Coordinating Committees said Sunday clashes were taking place in suburbs of Daraya, and the pro-regime Al-Masdar website said the army "is preparing a major operation" to capture it within the next few days. Iraq says its forces preparing for Fallujah battle Iraqi forces are heading to Fallujah to launch a long-awaited operation to retake the city from the Islamic State jihadist group, the prime minister's spokesman announced on Sunday. "Your sons the heroic fighters in the armed forces are ready to achieve a new victory... they are going to the city of Fallujah to clear it from the Daesh (IS) gang," Saad al-Hadithi said in a statement. He did not say when an assault on the jihadist bastion, located in Anbar province just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, would begin. Iraqi security forces gather on the outskirts of Fallujah as they prepare an operation aimed at retaking the city from the Islamic State group, on May 22, 2016 Ahmad Al-Rubaye (AFP) The announcement apparently settles the issue of which IS-held city Iraq should seek to retake next -- a subject of debate among Iraqi officials and international forces helping the country fight the jihadists. Iraq's second city Mosul was the American military's recommended target, but powerful Iraqi militias may have helped force the issue by deploying reinforcements to the Fallujah area in preparation for an assault. Karim al-Nuri, spokesman for Badr, one of the main Shiite militia forces, said the operation would start soon. "Now everything is ready, and nothing remains except launching the operation," Nuri said. Earlier Sunday, Iraq's Joint Operations Command warned civilians still in Fallujah -- estimated to number in the tens of thousands -- to leave the city. It also said that families who cannot leave should raise a white flag over their location and stay away from IS headquarters and gatherings. Officials said several dozen families had fled the city, but IS has sought to prevent civilians from leaving, and forces surrounding Fallujah have also been accused of preventing foodstuffs from entering. - IS bastion - Iraqi forces have in recent days been massing around the city, which has been out of government control since January 2014. Anti-government fighters seized it after the army was withdrawn, and Fallujah later became one of IS's main strongholds. Fallujah and Mosul, the capital of the northern province of Nineveh, are the last two major cities IS still holds in Iraq. Fallujah is almost completely surrounded by Iraqi forces, who have regained significant ground in the Anbar province in recent months, including its capital Ramadi further up the Euphrates River valley. American forces launched two major assaults on Fallujah in 2004 in which they saw some of their heaviest fighting since the Vietnam War. Iraqi forces would have the advantage of greater knowledge of the area, especially if they employ pro-government Anbar tribal fighters in the battle. But they lack the training and enormous firepower that American forces brought to the Fallujah battles. IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in June 2014, and Iraqi forces performed dismally during the offensive despite significantly outnumbering the jihadists. Baghdad's forces have since managed to regain significant ground from IS with the backing of US-led air strikes, training and other support. But the battle for Fallujah -- a city that has long been a Sunni insurgent stronghold and which IS has had some two years to reinforce -- will be one of the toughest challenges they have yet faced. Members of the Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades), formed by Iraqi Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, parade in Najaf as they prepare to reinforce government forces in the fight against the Islamic State group for control of Fallujah Haidar Hamdani (AFP/File) Cameron 'very happy' to meet Trump Prime Minister David Cameron, who who has hit out at Donald Trump's stance on Muslim immigration, said Sunday he would be "very happy" to meet the White House hopeful if he visited Britain. Cameron has branded Trump's suggested ban on Muslims entering the United States as "stupid, divisive and wrong," and did not retract from that position when asked about the possibility of meeting the presumptive Republican nominee. Asked if he would meet tycoon Trump before the November election, Cameron told ITV television: "I don't know. British Prime Minister David Cameron pictured outside 10 Downing Street in central London on May 13, 2016 Daniel Leal-Olivas (AFP) "American presidential candidates have made a habit of coming through Europe and through the UK, and so if that happens I'd be very happy to." In December, Trump called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on", citing "great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population". Cameron told ITV: "I don't withdraw in any way what I said about the policy of not letting Muslims into America. I do think that is wrong and divisive. "We've got to demonstrate that what we're up against here is a very small minority of a minority, Islamist extremists, that want to divide our societies. "We've got to explain that there are billions of people in our world who are devout Muslims but who believe in liberal democracy and all the things we believe in." Trump warned Monday he may end up having a bad relationship with Cameron. "It looks like we are not going to have a very good relationship," the tycoon said. "Who knows, I hope to have a good relationship with him but he's not willing to address the problem either." Obama lands in Vietnam to boost security, trade ties US President Barack Obama landed in Vietnam late Sunday for a landmark visit capping two decades of rapprochement between the former wartime foes, as both countries look to push trade and check Beijing's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. Air Force One touched down in Hanoi just after 9:30 pm (1430 GMT) for the beginning of a three-day trip in which Obama will meet Vietnam's communist leadership and stress improving relations with the dynamic and rapidly emerging nation. For many Americans, Vietnam remains a painful byword for slaughter and folly since hostilities in the decade-long ruinous war between the two nations finally ended in 1975. US President Barack Obama disembarks from Airforce One after landing at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on May 22, 2016 Hoang Dinh Nam (Pool/AFP) Yet few countries have seen such a dramatic turnaround in their relations since Obama's Democrat predecessor Bill Clinton normalised relations and later became the first post-war president to visit Vietnam in 2000. The Obama administration now sees the country as a vital plank in America's much vaunted pivot to the Asia-Pacific region. Vietnam's leadership hope to strengthen ties with the world's most powerful nation, particularly as it chafes with China over disputed waters. "There always is an element of distrust in some sectors of Vietnam's elite, the political structure," said Murray Hiebert of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "But China's increased assertiveness in the South China Sea has really sharpened the Vietnamese mind and prompted Vietnam to probably move faster with the US than it might have otherwise." On Monday morning Obama will meet the country's president, its prime minister and the country's de facto leader Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of the Communist Party. Trong and Obama met last July, when he was given a prestigious Oval Office meeting. - Arms embargo - A major talking point will be the lifting of a US arms embargo, a last vestige of the decade-long war between the two nations. Advocates argue an embargo lift is vital to helping Vietnam improve coastal defences and bolster its outdated, largely Russian-origin military equipment to better counter Beijing. But weighing against it are concerns about communist-ruled Vietnam's still dismal human rights record, an issue Obama is likely to address when he delivers a speech in Hanoi. US diplomats have pressed for the release of political prisoners as a sign that Vietnam can be trusted with advanced weaponry. Prominent dissident Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest who has spent much of the last two decades in jail, was released on Friday. But the one-party state still ruthlessly cracks down on protests, jails dissidents and bans trade unions. Hours before Obama's arrival the limited extent of one-party Vietnam's democratic progress was on full display, as authorities held a nationwide parliamentary election on Sunday where independent candidates were barred. Critics of the election say they were beaten and placed under house arrest in the weeks leading up to the vote. - Talking up trade - Increased trade ties will also feature prominently during the trip, with Obama keen to make the case for a trans-Pacific trade deal that faces an uncertain future. On Tuesday afternoon Obama will fly to Ho Chi Minh City, the southern Vietnamese metropolis formerly known as Saigon which, in the 40 years since American troops hastily beat a retreat, has transformed itself into the country's thriving commercial heart. Michael Froman, US Trade Representative, said America was keen to tap into Vietnam's middle class, a demographic expected to double between 2014 and 2020. "As middle class consumers emerge, they want more of everything that the United States is well-positioned to make and to export. But we face significant barriers to those exports," he said. Examples he gave were a 70 percent tariff on auto exports, a 34 percent tariff on beef products and a 59 percent tariff on machinery parts -- all barriers that the US-led Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which Vietnam has signed up to, aims to eliminate. American officials meanwhile stress the TPP will force Vietnam to make positive reforms, such as bringing in better environmental and child labour protection measures as well as allowing independent unions. Sandy Pho, a regional expert at the Wilson Center, said Obama must "execute a delicate diplomatic dance" while in Vietnam to avoid alienating China. "He will need to take care not to introduce new tensions in America's complex yet essential relationship with China," she said. Obama is the third post-war president to visit Vietnam after Clinton and George W Bush in 2006. After Vietnam he will fly to Japan for a trip that will include both a G7 summit and a visit to Hiroshima. Posters of US president Barack Obama are seen on sale at a picture gallery in Ho Chi Minh City ahead of his visit Le Quang Nhat (AFP) Obama will meet Vietnam's president, prime minister and de facto leader Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of the Communist Party (pictured) Kham. (Pool/AFP/File) Azhar imam to urge tolerance in historic pope meeting The deputy of Al-Azhar's grand imam in Egypt said on Sunday the top Muslim cleric will bear a message of tolerance when he meets Pope Francis in Rome. Mondays meeting will be the first between the leader of the world's Catholics and one of Islam's most important clerics. Abbas Shuman, deputy to grand imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, told AFP on Sunday that Francis's gestures towards Muslims encouraged Tayeb to meet the pope after falling out with his predecessor Benedict XVI. Pope Francis (left) is to receive the spiritual leader of the world's Sunni Muslims, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb (right), at the Vatican Kenzo Tribouillard, Filippo Monteforte (AFP/File) "If it were not for these good positions (by Pope Francis) the meeting would not be happening," Shuman said. Ties between the Vatican and Al-Azhar, one of Islam's most prestigious centres of learning, soured in 2006 when Benedict delivered a speech interpreted as linking the Muslim Prophet Mohammed to violence. Relations have steadily improved since Francis became pope in 2013 with inter-faith dialogue near the top of his agenda. He underlined this improvement in ties with a personal message to the Muslim world to mark the end of the first month of Ramadan during his pontificate. Shuman said Tayeb will have a message for both the West and Muslims. Tayeb's visit aims at setting straight the image of "true Islam and to correct misunderstandings created by extremist terrorist groups" in Western countries, he said. "He encourages countries not to deal with their Muslim citizens as groups that present a threat," Shuman said. "And he encourages Muslims in Western society to meld with their societies... it is a message for both sides." Pope Francis made headlines in April when he returned from a trip to the migrant crisis island of Lesbos with three Syrian Muslim families who are now being put up by the Vatican as they apply for asylum in Italy. Pakistan denounces US drone strike on Afghan Taliban chief Pakistan on Sunday denounced the US drone strike believed to have killed the Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour as a violation of its air space and said only negotiations could bring a lasting peace to Afghanistan. The statement, issued by Pakistan's Foreign Office late Sunday, said one of the victims of the attack was a driver named Muhammad Azam while the identity of the second "is being verified". "On late Saturday 21st May, 2016, the United States shared information that a drone strike was carried out in Pakistan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area," in which Mansour was targeted, it said. Pakistani security officials and hospital staff move a dead body into a morgue in Quetta on May 22, 2016, following a drone strike in Balochistan that targeted Afghan Taliban Chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour Banaras Khan (AFP) "This information was shared with the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff after the drone strike." The statement denounced the drone attack as a "violation of (Pakistan's) sovereignty, an issue which has been raised with the United States in the past as well." Israeli cabinet revises contentious offshore gas deal The Israeli government on Sunday approved changes to a major offshore gas deal with a US-led consortium after the country's supreme court rejected an earlier version of the accord. The deal is intended to clear the way for Israel to both bolster its energy supplies and become a gas exporter, which could provide it with strategic leverage in the turbulent region. "The new agreement incorporates the comments that we received from the supreme court," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the weekly cabinet meeting, according to a statement from his office. The Tamar Israeli gas-drill platform in the Mediterranean Sea off Tel Aviv -- Israel has been trying to extract offshore gas since the discovery of the Tamar and Leviathan fields in 2009 and 2010 Ahikam Seri (AFP) "This is a very important - even historic - step for the Israeli economy ... and we will use this gift that nature has granted us for the benefit of the state and its citizens." After protracted political and bureaucratic challenges to the deal, including objections from anti-trust officials, the supreme court in March struck it down. The case had been closely watched, with Netanyahu himself appearing before the justices on behalf of the government. The court objected to a clause which guaranteed that its provisions could not be changed for a decade. It ruled that such a pledge would limit the authority of future administrations, and the court gave the government a year to amend the agreement with Texas-based Noble Energy and Israel's Delek. A cabinet statement quotes the revised version as recognising "the need for a regulatory environment that encourages investment by international and local companies in the field of natural gas exploration and production." Israeli business daily Globes said the agreement now pledged "to act in favour of regulatory stability for 10 years in the gas sector, but does not guarantee that nothing will be changed in taxation, ownership of the (fields) and exports." It said compensation would be considered for the companies involved if changes occur. The court is expected to review the new version of the deal. Delek on Sunday welcomed the cabinet decision and said it intended to have gas flowing from the Mediterranean field known as Leviathan "to the local market by the end of 2019". Leviathan is the largest of Israel's offshore gas fields, with enough gas to turn the country into a significant exporter. It is estimated to hold 18.9 trillion cubic feet (535 billion cubic metres, or bcm) of natural gas, along with 34.1 million barrels of condensate. UN says Sudan 'expels' senior humanitarian official Sudan has "de facto expelled" a senior United Nations humanitarian affairs official after refusing to renew his "stay permit" for another year, a UN statement said on Sunday. The foreign ministry informed the UN in Sudan that the annual permit for Ivo Freijsen, who heads the Sudan office of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), will not be renewed when it expires on June 6, the statement said. "This is despite the request for a 12-month extension of his stay permit... which was submitted on 10 April 2016," it said, adding that the ministry did not provide an explanation in writing for its decision. The annual permit for Ivo Freijsen, who heads the Sudan office of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, will not be renewed when it expires on June 6, 2016 Tom Little (AFP/File) "The action by the government of Sudan is inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the international civil service enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations... to which Sudan is a party." Freijsen, who is Dutch, is the fourth senior UN official to be expelled from Sudan over the past two years, the statement said. His expulsion comes in addition to the "forced closure of international NGO Tearfund in December 2015 and the de facto expulsion of three international NGO country representatives in recent months", it said. OCHA in Sudan regularly highlights the humanitarian situation in war-torn areas such as Darfur, where a conflict since 2003 has left tens of thousands of people dead and about 2.5 million displaced, according to UN figures. It also monitors South Sudanese refugees who flee to Sudan from war and food shortages in their country. In its latest weekly bulletin, OCHA said that more than 69,000 South Sudanese had arrived in Sudan since January, the majority taking refuge in East Darfur. It also said that meeting humanitarian needs of newly displaced tens of thousands of people from an upsurge in fighting in the mountainous Jebel Marra region this year was becoming "difficult" amid low levels of funding. Freijsen was appointed to the OCHA post in February 2014, his sixth official appointment in Sudan. He has worked for more than a decade in Sudan during a career spanning 23 years and more than 15 countries. "During 12 years at OCHA he has led principled humanitarian coordination work, focusing on providing life-saving and emergency assistance to people in need," the statement said. The Humanitarian Country Team, a top level coordinating agency among various UN agencies and NGOs in Sudan, expressed "shock and disappointment" at Freijsen's expulsion. The team "is concerned about the impact of this decision on the operating environment for all humanitarian organisations in Sudan", a statement said. In 2015, the team and its partners implemented the delivery of more than $600 million worth of aid to hundreds of thousands of people across Sudan, it said. Afghan Taliban sources confirm death of leader in US attack Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone attack in Pakistan, senior militant sources told AFP Sunday, adding that an insurgent assembly was underway to decide on his successor. Saturday's bombing raid, the first known US assault on a top Afghan Taliban leader on Pakistani soil, marks a major blow to the militant movement which saw a new resurgence under Mansour. The elimination of Mansour, who rose to the rank of leader nine months earlier after a bitter internal leadership struggle, could also scupper any immediate prospect of peace talks. Pakistani security officials and hospital staff move a dead body into a morgue in Quetta on May 22, 2016, following a drone strike in the remote town of Ahmad Wal in Balochistan that targeted Afghan Taliban Chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour Banaras Khan (AFP) "I can say with good authority that Mullah Mansour is no more," a senior Taliban source told AFP. Mansour's death, which risks igniting new succession battles within the fractious group, was confirmed by two other senior figures who said its top leaders were gathering in Quetta to name their future chief. The Taliban sources said that Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the dreaded Haqqani network and one of Mansour's deputies, was among the frontrunners, adding that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was also in contention. Both figures are said to be close to the Pakistani military establishment, which has historically nurtured and supported the Taliban. Mullah Yakoub, the son of the group's deceased founder Mullah Omar, is also favoured by many Taliban commanders for the leader's post. It is unclear when Mansour's successor will be announced. The Taliban have not commented officially on Mansour's death or the leadership succession. US officials had said they had no definitive proof of his death in multiple drone strikes, authorised by President Barack Obama, in the remote Pakistani town of Ahmad Wal in Balochistan province. But both Afghanistan's main spy agency, and the country's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, asserted that Mansour had been killed in the attack. "Mansour was being closely monitored for a while... until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle," Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security said in a statement. Pakistan on Sunday lambasted the US over the drone attack, calling it a violation of its sovereignty and asserting that information about it was shared with its prime minister and army chief only after the raid. Pakistani security officials said they recovered two bodies charred beyond recognition from a smouldering vehicle at the scene of the attack. The passenger, suspected to have been Mansour, was said to be returning from Iran and was using a Pakistani passport in the name of Muhammad Wali. The driver -- who also died in Saturday's attack -- was a civilian who worked for a local car rental company, according to the officials, contradicting the US account that he was a "second combatant". - 'Imminent threat' - Mansour was formally appointed head of the Taliban in July last year following the revelation that Mullah Omar had been dead for two years. The group saw striking military victories under the firebrand supremo, helping to cement his authority by burnishing his credentials as a commander. The Taliban briefly captured the strategic northern city of Kunduz last September in their most spectacular victory since they were toppled from power in 2001. The southern opium-rich province of Helmand is also almost entirely under insurgent control. "Mansour posed... an imminent threat to US personnel, Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces," US Secretary of State John Kerry said during a visit to Myanmar Sunday. "He was also directly opposed to peace negotiations." But Mansour's death was not immediately seen as likely to push the Taliban closer to peace talks. It could press them to show they are still able to wage an aggressive battle, observers say. "The war has been going on for so long, the Taliban has so many leaders and so much ability to function at the local level even without strong central guidance, that we would be well advised to keep expectations in check," said Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution think-tank. The drone attack came just days after representatives from the US, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan held another round of negotiations in Islamabad aimed at reviving long-stalled direct peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. However pressure has been building in recent months for the United States to return to direct attacks on the Taliban, particularly via air strikes. NATO ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in December 2014, pulling out the bulk of its troops, although a 13,000-strong residual force remains for training and counterterrorism operations. The Taliban, who announced the start of their annual spring offensive last month, have already stepped up their campaign against the Western-backed Kabul government for the season. Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour Pakistani residents gather around a destroyed vehicle hit by a drone strike in which Afghan Taliban Chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was believed to be travelling in the remote town of Ahmad Wal in Balochistan, on May 21, 2016 Angry Kyrgios wins as rain brings havoc to French Open Controversial Nick Kyrgios claimed he was the victim of biased officiating at the French Open on Sunday as torrential rain caused havoc, allowing just 10 of the scheduled 32 matches to be completed. Kyrgios overcame a first-set code violation to defeat Italy's Marco Cecchinato 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (8/6), 6-4. The 17th seed picked up the warning for screaming at a ball boy on a shivering Court One where the temperature refused to budge above 15 degrees. Australia's Nick Kyrgios returns the ball to Italy's Marco Cecchinato during their first round match at the Roland Garros French Open in Paris on May 22, 2016 Thomas Samson (AFP) Kyrgios insisted he only screamed at the youngster during the first-set tiebreak because he wanted his towel. He then accused umpire Carlos Ramos of "unbelievable bias" for dishing out the violation. That was a reference to world number one Novak Djokovic escaping a sanction for shoving the arm of umpire Carlos Bernardes at the Rome Masters last week. "All of us in this room know that if that was me, it would have been a circus. The fact that nothing happened (to Djokovic) speaks for itself," said Kyrgios who ranted on court that Ramos's decision was "fucking bullshit". The code violation was handed down when Kyrgios screamed "towel" at the ballboy. "When I get my towel I always say 'thank you' to the ballboys but sometimes you get mad at them," added Kyrgios. Despite the controversy, Kyrgios recovered his composure to see off world number 124 Cecchinato who had two set points in the second set. He next faces Dutch lucky loser Igor Sijsling. The 21-year-old Australian fired 16 aces and 50 winners on his way to victory as he attempts to go beyond his best performance in Paris -- a third-round exit to Andy Murray 12 months ago. - Czechs at the double - Kyrgios's latest brush with the authorities came on a day when heavy rain pushed 22 matches back to Monday. Sixteen of those ties had yet to be started, victims of a delay of almost three hours in the afternoon. Play resumed just before 1800 (1600GMT), but only 30 more minutes of action was possible before the miserable smattering of spectators were put out of their misery. Czech 10th seed Petra Kvitova survived a scare to beat Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. The two-time Wimbledon champion was two points away from defeat when she trailed the world number 57 at 4-5 in the decider. But she claimed the next three games and goes on to face Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh for a place in the last 32. Kvitova, a semi-finalist in Paris in 2012, committed 10 double faults in a typically rollercoaster display against an opponent who made the Istanbul final on clay this season. Hsieh made the second round by beating Spain's Lara Arruabarrena 7-6 (8/6), 6-3. Also going through was last year's runner-up Lucie Safarova who won the first eight games in her 6-0, 6-2 win over Russia's Vitalia Diatchenko. Safarova, the 11th seeded Czech whose form has been compromised this year by a bacterial infection, needed just 56 minutes to beat world number 223 Diatchenko who was playing for the first time since injuring her left foot at the 2015 US Open. Benoit Paire, the French 19th seed, gave the hosts a winning start with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 victory over Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot. When rain halted play Sunday, Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori, a quarter-finalist in 2015, was looking to secure his 50th Grand Slam triumph against Italy's Simone Bolelli. He was leading 6-1, 7-5, 2-1. Meanwhile, defending champion Stan Wawrinka insisted that last year's stunning triumph over Djokovic would have little bearing on his chances this time round. The 31-year-old Swiss, seeded three, only arrived in Paris on Saturday night after clinching his hometown Geneva clay-court title. "I watched some highlights of the final. I never watched it completely," said Wawrinka, who starts his campaign on Monday against Lukas Rosol, the Czech he defeated in the Geneva semi-finals on Friday. "But it was one year ago. It's a completely different story." Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova faces Montenegro's Danka Kovinic in a first round match at the Roland Garros 2016 French Open in Paris on May 22, 2016 Eric Feferberg (AFP) India's Modi in Iran on trip to boost trade Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Iran on Sunday on a visit aimed at boosting trade after the lifting of international sanctions under Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. "I have arrived in Iran, a country with which we have linked civilisations. I hope to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries," Modi wrote in a tweet sent in Farsi. Iranian media reported that on Monday he will meet both President Hassan Rouhani and the Islamic republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his two-day visit. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he speaks during the launch of the National Agriculture Market in New Delhi on April 14, 2016 Money Sharma (AFP/File) Modi's trip is aimed primarily at increasing economic and commercial ties with Iran. Iran was Indias second largest supplier of oil until 2011-12, when economic sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme forced New Delhi to reduce its dependence on Iranian oil. According to Iranian media reports, India is now seeking to double its imports of Iranian oil. The official IRNA news agency reported that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani would also be in the country on Monday to sign a tripartite agreement. This would transform Iran's southern port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman into a transit centre for trade between Iran, India and Afghanistan and central Asia generally, bypassing Pakistan. Earlier this year, India approved a $150 million project to develop Chabahar. India still owes Iran $6.5 billion that Tehran was unable to recover because of the international sanctions. Clinton, in 'dead heat' with Trump, offers sharper contrast Hillary Clinton tried to draw a sharper contrast with Donald Trump on Sunday, saying the central message of her campaign was "We're stronger together," even as a new poll showed the two candidates in a statistical tie. The new Washington Post/ABC News survey found the presidential frontrunners in "a virtual dead heat" among registered voters. Never in the poll's history, The Post said, had two major party nominees been viewed as harshly, with nearly 6 in 10 voters holding negative impressions of both candidates. US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally on May 11, 2016 in Blackwood, New Jersey Kena Betancur (AFP/File) That underscored a growing sense of urgency in the Clinton campaign to define her both more clearly and positively -- a task made harder by her inability to shake off her tenacious Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders. Clinton, in an appearance on NBC, challenged Trump's "Make America Great" slogan, suggesting that "he seems to be particularly focused on making himself appear great." The former secretary of state said her campaign would be "demonstrating the hollowness of his rhetoric, and the danger of a lot of what he has said." - 'We're stronger together' - Asked to sum up her own message, Clinton said, "We're stronger together." She said Americans needed to unify and work together to improve the economy. "We're stronger together when we have a bipartisan, even nonpartisan foreign policy that protects our country. And that provides the kind of steady, strong, smart leadership that the rest of the world expects." But the new poll seemed to show that if Americans are united about anything, it is in their dissatisfaction with the two leading candidates. What is shaping up to be the nastiest American presidential campaign in recent memory is beginning with voters expressing historically deep and practically identical levels of discomfort with both Trump and Clinton. This has shaken up some in the Democratic camp, who assumed Trump would be an easy target, and it has provided encouragement to Sanders, the Vermont senator who trails Clinton but keeps winning primaries. Appearing on Sunday talk shows, Sanders pleaded with the hundreds of the party's so-called super-delegates who support Clinton to reconsider their allegiance ahead of the Democratic nominating convention in late July. A frequent critic of the Democrats' selection process, he said the party was headed for an "anointment" of Clinton. As the race for the White House grows closer, Clinton supporters and some Democratic Party leaders have made increasingly insistent calls for Sanders to step aside and let Clinton turn her full attention to Trump. But Sanders vowed yet again on Sunday to stay in the race at least until California, the most populous state, stages its primary on June 7. The Post/ABC poll found the two leading candidates are in a statistical dead heat, with 46 percent of registered voters favoring Trump and 44 percent supporting Clinton. That amounted to an 11-point shift in the Republican's favor since March. Clinton's net negative rating among registered voters was a minus 16, virtually the same as Trump's minus 17, though his negatives were significantly higher among all adults. - Positive ratings - Voters gave Sanders the most positive ratings of the three, with a net positive of 8 points among registered voters. But Clinton suggested on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the Sanders numbers might be meaningless, because early polls are often unreliable and because Sanders has not borne the brunt of the intense scrutiny that she has faced for decades. "I don't think he's ever had a single negative ad against him," she said. "That's fine, but we know what we're going into and understand what it's going to take to win in the fall. "Finally, I would say that polls this far out mean nothing. They certainly mean nothing to me." Voters also continued to express positive views of President Obama, to whom Clinton has closely tied her campaign, giving him a 51-percent approval rating. Clinton has largely aligned herself with Obama -- while taking her distance on issues like trade with Asia -- but said Sunday that she is her own person. "I'm not running for anybody's third term," she said on NBC. "I'm running for my first term. I also want to do what works. My goal is to produce positive results for the American people." US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally May 5, 2016 in Charleston, West Virginia Brendan Smialowski (AFP/File) Israel anti-occupation NGO rejects state's demand to name sources An Israeli NGO which tracks alleged army abuses of Palestinians told a court Sunday that it could no longer function if the government forced it to name its anonymous informants. "To demand lifting the confidentiality of testimonies would amount to simply demanding the end of Breaking The Silence," the group's lawyer Michael Sfard told the magistrates court on the first day of hearings on the state's demand that it hand over the names. Proceedings are set to continue on July 18. Michael Sfard, the lawyer sfor Breaking The Silence, pictured on May 6, 2014 Jack Guez (AFP/File) The NGO provides a platform for military veterans to describe what they say were disturbing aspects of their service in the 2014 war in the Gaza Strip and in operations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The state attorney's office says that anonymous witnesses allow potential lies to spread and make it impossible to investigate alleged abuses. "What is at stake is more than the future of Breaking The Silence," Sfard said in the packed courtroom in Petah Tikvah near Tel Aviv. "Today it is Breaking The Silence which finds itself in court, tomorrow it will be bloggers, tomorrow it will be other members of the press and of course NGOs which defend human rights." Founded in 2004 by army veterans, the organisation has come under political pressure from the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most rightwing in Israel's history. It drew intensified fire last year when it published a book about the 2014 Gaza war, in which 2,251 Palestinians and 73 Israelis died, which included allegations by more than 60 officers and troops of abuse and excessive use of force. Libya coastguard intercepts 850 migrants: navy Libyan coastguards said they intercepted seven vessels on Sunday carrying around 850 African migrants trying to reach Europe illegally by sea. "The coastguard in the west was patrolling the area off the Zawiya refinery (45 kilometres, 28 miles west of Tripoli) and ... they intercepted seven large inflatables," Libyan navy spokesman Colonel Ayoub Qassem told AFP. He said the migrants "from several African countries" included 79 women -- 11 of them pregnant -- and 11 children. A breakwater barrier is picture at the port serving the Zawiya Oil Refinery Marco Longari (AFP/File) "The migrants were handed over to the authorities for transfer to shelters," he said. The chaos in the North African country since Moamer Kadhafi's fall in 2011 has been exploited by people traffickers, with thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe from Libya just 300 kilometres from Italy. The onset of better weather conditions has raised fears of huge numbers of people attempting the still perilous sea crossing. At the end of March, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian estimated that around 800,000 migrants were waiting to head for Europe from Libya. On May 13, a British parliamentary report said the EU's naval mission to combat people trafficking off the Libyan coast was "failing" and had only succeeded in forcing smugglers to change tactics. Operation Sophia "does not in any meaningful way deter the flow of migrants, disrupt the smugglers' networks or impede the business of people smuggling on the central Mediterranean route", it said. Committee chairman Lord Tugendhat said the mission to patrol an area six times larger than Italy "was always going to present an enormous challenge". Philippine soap star Jaclyn Jose won best actress at the Cannes film festival Sunday for her mesmerising performance as a slum matriarch who falls prey to corrupt police. A huge star in her homeland, she said she had to forget everything she learned in her 30 years in the business for the role as a sweetshop owner and small-time drug dealer in "Ma' Rosa". "The biggest challenge for me was not to act. Especially since I am coming from television shows where I play loud and campy characters," she told reporters. Jaclyn Jose celebrates on stage after being awarded with the Best Actress prize during the closing ceremony of the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 22, 2016 Valery Hache (AFP) The 52-year-old said she had to "tone everything down to zero" -- for the stark, realistic portrait of a woman fighting to do the best for her family in director Brillante Mendoza's gritty film. It is a dramatic change from her regular job, playing a spoilt, rich woman in the popular Philippine TV soap opera, "The Millionaire's Wife". Variety magazine praised Jose for the "naturalistic grace" of her film performance, playing the matriarch of a family struggling to survive amid squalor. The daughter of a Filipina mother and a largely absent American serviceman father, Jose first became famous in Philippine showbiz circles for her ethereal beauty. But she has proved to be a versatile and hard-working actress, starring in dramas, comedies, horror stories, romances as well as television soap operas. She has won numerous acting awards in her native country and worked with its most prestigious filmmakers. But it is her relationship with "Ma 'Rosa" director Mendoza -- a friend for over three decades -- which has brought her into the international limelight. She appeared in Mendoza's first movie "The Masseur" 11 years ago and also his drama "Serbis", which competed in Cannes in 2008. New York subway on the brink of change The New York subway is the seventh busiest in the world and has its highest ridership in 70 years, increasing delays and forcing management to formulate a plan of salvation. The morning commuter crush in Brooklyn, the city's most populated borough, can be overwhelming. Tempers can fray. Sometimes commuters have to wait for at least one, if not two trains to go by before they can board. "I saw two women pulling each other's hair because they had bumped into each other," said commuter Ana Fernandez, although such behavior is rare. Morning commuters wait to board a train in a subway station in New York on May 11, 2016 Jewel Samad (AFP/File) Kevin Ortiz, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) that operates the subway, said: "We are a victim of our own success." In 2015, New Yorkers clocked up 1.76 billion journeys on the subway, the highest number since 1948 and an increase of 61 percent in 20 years. The city's population has grown by nearly a million since 1994 and crime in the subway, at an all-time high in the early 1990s, has drastically fallen. Since 1981, $115 billion has been invested in what is one of the oldest subway networks in the world, which Ortiz described as having been in a "state of decay and disrepair" in the early 1980s. Today, it is considered the quickest and cheapest mode of transport around the city and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. David King, assistant professor of urban planning at Columbia University, said the transit system is largely in good repair. "Crowding issues are likely a larger source of troubles," he said. "The trains are safe and clean, and breakdowns are rare." A looming closure of the tunnel that connects the ultra-hip Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg to Manhattan, for possibly 18 months of repair work, is likely to make overcrowding even worse. - Technology to the rescue - The 4, 5 and 6 lines that ply much of the same route from Brooklyn, up the eastern side of Manhattan to the Bronx have more passengers than the entire subway systems in Boston, Chicago and Washington put together. "I go early, before the rush," said Fernandez, who commutes on the 6 line. A recent report from the New York state comptroller has highlighted an increase in delays, which the MTA attributes largely to the need to do maintenance work while ensuring that the subway operates 24 hours a day. "It is certainly a challenge to meet that increased demand," said Ortiz, who outlined various steps that the MTA is taking in the short and the long-term. All trains are currently being used but the plan is to upgrade existing equipment. The MTA has ordered a new type of train that has no separation between carriages and would increase capacity. MTA is also rolling out advanced signaling, the Communications-Based Train Control, which pinpoints the precise location of each train, allowing operators to run trains closer together to provide more service. In the longer term, New York plans to extend the Q line to help relieve pressure on the 4, 5 and 6 lines, billed as the first major expansion of the subway system in more than 50 years. Beyond the scope of the MTA, some blame exponential growth of parts of Brooklyn, where high-rise towers are being built in the place of older, smaller buildings. "They're overdeveloping when it comes to real estate with absolutely no plans for infrastructure -- transportation, schools, everything," said David Dobosz, a retired teacher from Brooklyn. "There needs to be a thorough and robust conversation with the city as they move forward with development plans," recognized Ortiz. "There needs to be more of a robust collaboration between us and the city." But the situation is not unique to New York. Chicago, San Francisco and Washington have also all launched large-scale projects to upgrade their subways. Jewel Samad (AFP/File) In Rwanda, a phone text can save a baby Using an old mobile phone, health worker Floride Uwinkesha logs the latest local pregnancy, part of efforts in Rwanda to boost maternal health through a monitoring programme in isolated rural areas. The scheme has already helped slash infant and maternal mortality rates. Marceline Mwubahamana, three months pregnant at 31, doesn't even have to leave home to have her details logged into a national database at the health ministry. A pregnant woman records her information by SMS on the country's "RapidSMS" health system on April 27, 2016 in Nyarukombe, Rwanda Stephanie Aglietti (AFP/File) Uwinkesha, the community officer in charge of maternal health in the rural Nyarukombe district of eastern Rwanda, sends through simple codes on a basic mobile phone. The database known as RapidSMS, was set up in 2009 with the backing of the UN children's agency Unicef and underpins a medical monitoring program for pregnancies and babies aged up to two years. Uwinkesha is one of 45,000 community volunteers helping track health across the remotest parts of the rolling hills of Rwanda. They are elected by the people of their village and given basic training by the government. "PRE," she taps, giving a code that means that the pregnancy was confirmed by a health centre. "NP," she adds, meaning "no problem". Once Mwubahamana's details are recorded in the database, the software automatically generates a date for her next prenatal visit. - 'Red alert' - "I also send basic information, such as their identity number, if this is her first pregnancy or not and if there are any problems," Uwinkesha said. She will receive a reminder text message ahead of the next appointment. This pregnancy is going well, but should there be health concerns or an emergency, the health worker can notify the nearest medical facility via a "red alert" text message. Once logged into the system, alerts help to flag up women who may be in danger. "We can easily find the names of women who have high-risk pregnancies, like those who have had repeated miscarriages or have had gynaecological surgery," said Francois Hakizimana, who runs the Murambi medical centre, a short drive outside the capital Kigali. Typing on his computer, Hakizimana demonstrates how the system works, scrolling down the screen to show dozens of names of pregnant women living in villages. "We can tell them to go to the nearest health facility as soon as we see that there is any problem," Hakizimana said. Those involved in the text message programme say it has helped save many lives since its launch, but no exact figures are available since measuring the precise impact is tough. In any event, Rwanda has registered huge progress in maternal health, according to World Bank data. The infant mortality ratio for babies aged under one year was 31 deaths per thousand births in 2015, just below the world average of 31.7 - a significant advance from 2009, when the rate stood at 47 per thousand. - Death rates cut - Over the same period, the maternal mortality rate was cut by almost a third, from 411 to 290 deaths per 100,000 births. Uwinkesha will keep checking on Mwubahamana and her baby for up to 28 days after birth. After that, a health worker specialised in infant care will take over. Two carers are trained per village, often one man and a woman, who will perform at least three home visits in two years to verify the health of the child and record data such as its weight and normal breathing rate. "The main risks at birth are infections, malnutrition, diarrhoea and respiratory diseases," said Joseph Nkinzingabo, who coordinates 1,422 health workers spread over an area comprising 14 health centres. Nkinzingabo just received a "red alert": a woman who is about to give birth at home. Calling the mobile phone of her health worker, he checks that all is well. The mother was able to reach a health centre and delivered safely. "No need to send an ambulance," he said. Ayana close to Dibaba record at Rabat Diamond debut Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana came close to beating Tirunesh Dibaba's 5000m world record and world best times of the year were set as Morocco hosted its first Diamond League meeting on Sunday at a windy Rabat. Also at the meeting, seven-time world champion American LaShawn Merritt never looked in any danger as he tore round the track in 44.66sec in the 400m. But in the very last race of the inaugural night, world 5000m champion Ayana blamed the wind after she came over five seconds short of Dibaba's 2008 record of 14min 11.15sec set in Oslo with a pace setter. Ethopia's Almaz Ayana, pictured on September 3, 2015, came close to beating Tirunesh Dibaba's 5000m world record Michael Buholzer (AFP/File) Despite blazing to victory in 14min 16.31sec ahead of Kenya's Viola Kibiwot, who was some 13 seconds adrift with another Ethiopian Senbere Teferi in third, Ayana was clearly disappointed. "The wind was too much, I'm sure that I'll beat the record in one of my upcoming outings though," said Ayana, who aims to race both the 5000m and 10000m at the Rio Olympics. Other highlights of the night came as Kenyan Conseslus Kipruto, his face twisted in a grimace over the home straight, won the 3000m steeplechase ahead of three compatriots. He also set a season's world best time of 8min 02.77sec, beating the previous one he himself had established at Doha. The 21-year-old double world silver medallist from 2013 and 2015 was under pressure from Jairus Kipchoge Birech, but eventually ran over a second faster for his seventh Diamond League win after taking the lead on the last turn. Frenchman Mahiedine Mekhissi returned to competition after two bouts of surgery on his foot and then heel and 18 months out of racing, but the evening turned sour for the two-time Olympic silver medallist when he pulled up injured again. Another Kenyan victory came in the 1500m with Timothy Cheruiyot winning in 3min 33.61sec ahead of compatriot Silas Kiplagat and Australian Ryan Gregson. Ukrainian Bogdan Bondarenko boosted his Diamond Race hopes in the high jump, beating leader Erik Kynard with a jump of 2.31m to cut the gap to just six points. - Home cheer - Caster Semenya was on flying form, also setting a world best time for 2016 of 1min 56.84sec in the 800m as she eased ahead of Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba and the up-and-coming Frenchwoman Renelle Lamote. In the men's 800m France's 24-year-old Pierre-Ambroise Bosse booked himself a date at the Rio Games when he clinched victory in 1min 44.51sec, narrowly edging reigning 1500m Olympic champion, Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi (1:44.91). Bosnia's Amel Tuka was third. Another South African, Rushwai Samaai, won the men's long jump with a personal best effort of 8.38 metres, albeit with a favourable wind, beating world indoor champion Australian Fabrice Lapierre into second by 2cm. Poland were all smiles in the discus after world champion Piotr Malachowski won the event with an effort of 67.45m to fend off compatriot Robert Urbanek, who was second with 65.04. Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson ran into a 1.3sec headwind to register a 100m victory in 11.02sec. There was some home cheer as world and Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Abdelaati Iguider won the 3000m with a world best time for the year of 7:38.85 over the non-Olympic distance. Canada highlights Syrian refugees in bid for UN Council seat Canada's UN ambassador said Sunday that the country's experience welcoming Syrian refugees helps qualify it for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, part of its push for a more active role on the world stage. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in mid-March that Canada would seek a rotating seat on the council during the 2021-2022 term. "Our experience with Syrian refugees, our experience living together in diversity with lasting peace and prosperity is an example for the world," the country's UN ambassador Marc-Andre Blanchard told public broadcaster CBC on Sunday. Syrian refugees fleeing the embattled city of Aleppo walk through a camp on February 6, 2016 in Bab al-Salama, northern Syria, near the Turkish border crossing Bulent Kilic (AFP/File) Canada has welcomed more than 26,000 Syrian refugees following a campaign pledge by Trudeau, and has plans to take in up to 31,000 more by the end of the year. The Security Council has a total of 15 members, five of them permanent -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- and another 10 that serve rotating two-year terms. "In recent months, Canada's leadership has stood out with agreements on climate change, Syrian refugee issues, drugs recently and indigenous people last week," Blanchard said in French. "These are all examples of Canada's multilateral re-engagement." Canada is also asserting its peacekeeping experience in its push for a Security Council seat. Ottawa aims to provide "expertise for rapid strategic deployment in conflict zones" and even command forces training, Blanchard said. The country currently has 84 police, nine military experts and 20 soldiers deployed on peacekeeping missions, but those numbers could grow as Ottawa plans to take over command of the UN stabilization mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and replace Brazilian forces before the end of the year. A UN member since 1945, Canada has already served on the council several times. But it suffered a blow when it was passed over by the UN General Assembly during a 2010 bid to join the council. The assembly chose Portugal and Germany instead -- both from the same Western region to which Canada belongs. Elderly book end-of-life talks once labeled 'death panels' HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) The doctor got right down to business after Herbert Diamond bounded in. A single green form before her, she had some questions for the agile 88-year-old: about comas and ventilators, about feeding tubes and CPR, about intense and irreversible suffering. "You want treatments as long as you are going to have good quality of life?" Dr. Manisha Parulekar asked. The retired accountant nodded. "And at that point," she continued, "you would like to focus more on comfort, right?" There was no hesitation before his soft-spoken reply: "Right." In this Wednesday, April 13, 2016 photo, Herbert Diamond, 88, left, of Fort Lee, N.J., speaks with Dr. Manisha Parulekar about his end of life preferences, at the Hackensack Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J. Such conversations, are slowly spreading across the U.S. as Medicare rolls out government payments for the consultations. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Scenes like this have been spreading across the U.S. in the months since Medicare started paying for conversations on end-of-life planning. Seven years after that very idea spurred fears of "death panels," supporters hope lingering doubts will fade. "The more and more that that happens, the more patients, families and doctors will become comfortable with it," said Dr. Joe Rotella, chief medical officer of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine . "Any distrust people have about, 'What is this?' really disappears when patients sit down and find out this is about empowering them." The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services quietly tucked the change allowing for payment for end-of-life counseling into a massive package of regulations last summer, with billing permissible as of Jan. 1. To date, CMS has not released any data on how many people have taken part in the sessions, but a survey released last month suggests it may be off to a slow start. Three non-profits the California Health Care Foundation, Cambia Health Foundation and John A. Hartford Foundation fielded a poll of 736 doctors who see patients 65 and older. Only 14 percent said they had already billed Medicare for the new counseling, though the survey was conducted February 18 through March 7, meaning the earliest participants only had about six weeks from the start of the benefit. Altogether, 95 percent of doctors in the poll expressed support for the Medicare benefit and a big majority considered such conversations important. Some doctors had already incorporated end-of-life planning into regular visits, and certain private insurers began offering reimbursement for it before Medicare announced its change. But because Medicare is the single largest payer of health care in the U.S., this could stand to be one of the most significant developments in end-of-life care ever seen in the country. It also gives Americans a glimpse into something many only knew through the lens of controversy. Diamond arrived for his appointment at Hackensack University Medical Center on a mundane day in which he had reviewed investments, had a dentist appointment and ate a couple slices of pizza for lunch. In his last visit with Parulekar, she gave him a copy of "practitioner orders for life-sustaining treatment," or POLST , a doctor-signed document that makes end-of-life preferences known. "Did you have a chance to look at the form?" she asked. He had, and they set out to review it as Parulekar filled it out. "I wish to live a full and long life but not at all costs," she wrote as a goal of care, repeating language common in living wills, something Diamond long ago completed. This document will go further in its specificity and authoritativeness. It serves as a medical order to dictate the response to a health crisis should patients no longer be able to make their own decisions known. The doctor calmly addressed questions as they moved through the document with Diamond: How long would he feel comfortable being on a feeding tube? If hope seems lost, should CPR be performed anyway? Would you want to be put on a respirator? "I wouldn't want to be on a machine for the rest of my life, that's for sure," Diamond told her. All told, it was only about 20 minutes before Diamond's white sneakers shuffled out of the room and the appointment was over. He was to review the paperwork with his two daughters before signing it, but he said he had looked forward to the session simply because it was a new experience. Diamond said he saw it as both necessary and comforting. Medicare reimbursements for the appointments vary by region and the type of facility, but on average, an initial 30-minute session in a doctor's office costs $86. As those experiences proliferate, the topic of discussing end-of-life care may return to the relatively uncontentious mantle it once enjoyed. For years before the Affordable Care Act was written, there was bipartisan consensus on the value in helping people understand their desires at the end of their lives and make those wishes known. A 1991 law passed under President George H.W. Bush requires hospitals and nursing homes to help patients who want to prepare living wills and advance directives and similar efforts gained particular resonance after the 2005 death of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman whose family fought for years over whether she'd want to be kept alive in a vegetative state. In 2008, Congress overwhelmingly passed legislation requiring doctors to discuss issues like living wills with new Medicare enrollees. And just months before being tapped as Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin signed a proclamation recognizing Healthcare Decision Day to spread word of a statewide campaign about the importance of advance directives. That history dissipated in an instant in 2009 as President Obama's health care proposal spurred angry protests. Early drafts of the bill included a provision to pay for voluntary end-of-life conversations. Palin claimed it amounted to creating "death panels" and said it would allow government officials to decide whether sick people get to live. "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care," she wrote in a Facebook post at the time. Palin hammered the "death panel" idea. Her staff made clear she was specifically addressing advance-care planning. And the controversy led to the proposal being dropped from the bill. With the Medicare change in sight, at the close of 2015 Politico penned an obituary for "death panels." But fears stoked by the idea which PolitiFact named the "Lie of the Year" in 2009 still remain. Obama even made light of the lingering impact in addressing the White House Correspondents' Association dinner last month, noting his own impending retirement and joking : "Eight years ago, I was a young man, full of idealism and vigor. And look at me now: I am gray, grizzled, just counting down the days till my death panel." A March 2016 poll by Public Policy Polling, commissioned by Ari Rabin-Havt for his book "Lies, Incorporated," found 29 percent of respondents believed the health reform law established "death panels," with an additional 31 percent unsure. Among Republicans, 45 percent said they believed the law established "death panels." Requests for comment from Palin via her political action committee went unanswered. "Lies are very sticky," Rabin-Havt said, "and this is yet another example of how sticky lies are and the damage they can do." Hackensack University Medical Center, where Diamond had his session, is taking part in an advance-care planning campaign to educate and encourage people to put their preferences in writing. Linda Farber Post, the hospital's director of bioethics, said the goal was to have all doctors, not just those treating the elderly or dying, to have such discussions with their patients. "This is not something where doctors should be saying, 'Let's just leave it to the geriatricians and the palliative care folks,'" she said. Diamond said all the men on both sides of his family died before they reached 65, and so he never expected to live as long as he has. But years ago, when his wife was hospitalized, dying with lymphoma, he recalled an old man in a bed next to her hooked up to all kinds of paraphernalia, in seeming misery. It was a lesson to him to make sure he never found himself in the same place. "It just seemed quite apparent to this layman that he was suffering and yet his family couldn't let go," he said. "I would never want that for me." ___ Sedensky can be reached at msedensky@ap.org or https://twitter.com/sedensky In this Wednesday, April 13, 2016 photo, Herbert Diamond, 88, of Fort Lee, N.J., meets with Dr. Manisha Parulekar about his end of life preferences at the Hackensack Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J. For years before the Affordable Care Act was written, there was bipartisan consensus on the value in helping people understand their desires at the end of their lives and make those wishes known. A 1991 law passed under President George H.W. Bush requires hospitals and nursing homes to help patients who want to prepare living wills and advance directives. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) In this Wednesday, April 13, 2016 photo, Herbert Diamond, left, 88, of Fort Lee, N.J., meets with Dr. Manisha Parulekar about his end of life preferences at the Hackensack Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J. Some doctors had already incorporated end-of-life planning into regular visits, and certain private insurers began offering reimbursement for it before Medicare announced its change. But because Medicare is the single largest payer of health care in the U.S., this could stand to be one of the most significant developments in end-of-life care ever seen in the country. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Hinchcliffe takes top seed in Indy qualifying with late push INDIANAPOLIS (AP) James Hinchcliffe never fretted about posting the best four-lap average in qualifying at Indianapolis on Saturday. All he wanted was a chance to win the pole Sunday. The Canadian driver who nearly died last year from a life-threatening leg injury sustained during practice for the 500, survived two challenges in the final 25 minutes and barely held onto the top seed with a speed of 230.946 mph. Ryan Hunter-Reay was second at 230.805 on the next-to-last run in the session. Team Penske's Will Power came in third at 230.736. James Hinchcliffe, right, of Canada, celebrates with a crew member after he qualified on the opening day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) "Our first run, that was the hardest qualifying attempt I'd ever done at the speedway here," Hinchcliffe said. "When you kind of take a step back and let yourself think about it a little bit, it does feel good." To complete his comeback with a pole-winning run for the May 29 centennial race, Hinchcliffe must do it all over Sunday. The nine fastest drivers from Saturday will compete in a late afternoon pole shootout, and if it resembles anything like the first day of qualifications, fans could be in for a real treat. The lead changed twice in the final 40 minutes, nearly changed two more times in the last 25 minutes and included Russia's Mikhail Aleshin bumping his way into the shootout on the final run of the day. Hinchcliffe and Aleshin are teammates with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Not enough? Hunter-Reay made the top nine with a daring run that knocked out teammate Marco Andretti, the son of Andretti Autosport's team owner, Michael, just moments after Andretti had bumped out Hunter-Reay. "That was hectic," the 2014 Indy winner said after finishing second. "I have some bad memories at this place being right as the gun goes off. I had to keep reminding myself, 'It's only for the top nine. Everything's good.'" It also was a challenging day. Another Andretti driver, Townsend Bell, led most of the afternoon and his 230.452 and held up until three-time 500 champion Helio Castroneves, of Brazil, went 230.500. Then, after American Graham Rahal made his second attempt, Hinchcliffe drove onto the track and moved past Castroneves. The biggest problem might have been the weather. Rain delayed practice by more than 4 1/2 hours, and when the cars finally made it onto the 2.5-mile oval, the conditions were totally different. When the sun came out, the track temperature warmed up and the wind gusts began, drivers found themselves fighting to stay on the track. "I was really holding on from Lap to Lap 2 and it was worse on Lap 3, I thought, 'I wish this was the last one,'" said Scott Dixon, the four-time series champ and 2015 Indy pole winner who drives for Target Chip Ganassi. He wasn't the only one struggling. English driver Pippa Mann, of Dale Coyne Racing, crashed in qualifying and another English driver, Max Chilton, who drives for Ganassi crashed in practice. Both were released from the infield medical center and were cleared to drive but did not return to the track. Four of the six former Indy winners including Dixon, of New Zealand, and Penske driver Juan Pablo Montoya, the defending champion from Colombia, also missed the shootout. Hinchcliffe, on the other hand, hung on long enough to give himself one more chance. "It doesn't mean much today," he said. "It's bragging rights. It gets us into the fast nine." WHO'S HOT: Team Penske and Andretti Autosport. Each team put three drivers in the shootout. Penske has Power (third), Castroneves (fourth) and points leader Simon Pagenaud of France (ninth). Michael Andretti has Hunter-Reay (second), Bell (fifth) and Carlos Munoz of Colombia (eighth). Andretti's other drivers, rookie Alexander Rossi (10th) and Marco Andretti (11th), just missed out. WHO'S NOT: Chip Ganassi Racing. None of the four cars in Ganassi's stable made the shootout, and the only driver to make the top 15 was Dixon (13th). All 33 drivers will have their Saturday times wiped out Sunday. HONDA OR CHEVY: Again, Honda overpowered Chevrolet at the top of the speed chart. The top two spots both went to Honda drivers, though four of the next seven spots went to Chevy drivers. THE NEW AND THE OLD: American Josef Newgarden, of Ed Carpenter Racing, wound up sixth in qualifying with an average of 230.229. The 25-year-old will appear in his third straight shootout Sunday and his fourth in five 500 career Indy starts. UP NEXT: Second day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500. Practice begins at noon. Each car outside the top nine will get one qualifying attempt starting at 2:45 p.m. The pole shootout begins at 5 p.m. Will Power, of Australia, drives the the first turn during a practice session on the opening day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) Townsend Bell walks with his car through the line to qualify on the opening day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) Max Chilton, of England, hits the wall in the second turn during a practice session on the opening day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Greg Huey) The car driven by Pippa Mann, of England, spins in the second turn during a qualification-attempt on the opening day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Greg Huey) Members of the pet crew for driver Townsend Bell wear shirts depicting historic images from the 100 runnings of the Indianapolis 500 on the opening day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) Ryan Hunter-Reay after he qualified on the opening day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) No kidding: Exaggerator beats Nyquist in Preakness BALTIMORE (AP) Despite the fog, the rain and an undefeated Kentucky Derby winner to contend with, Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux knew the best route to the Preakness winner's circle with Exaggerator stay inside and wait. The rider who started his career in Maryland guided Exaggerator to a 3 1/2-length victory over Cherry Wine in Saturday's $1.5 million Preakness, ending any chance for a Triple Crown follow up after American Pharoah accomplished the rare feat last year. Nyquist finished third. Just call Pimlico Race Course home track advantage, Desormeaux. Exaggerator, right, with Kent Desormeaux aboard wins the 141st Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 21, 2016, in Baltimore. Cherry Wine, left, with Corey Lanerie aboard places second. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) Stride by stride, Exaggerator made up ground along the rail as Nyquist and Uncle Lino dueled for the lead. Desormeaux was watching. "I had a dream trip," he said. "To me it looked like Nyquist was trying to establish an outward position, maybe in the four path. He was jockeying for position all the way down the back side. And Exaggerator just kind of slid up the fence to the far turn where I actually got to slow him down and say 'whenever I'm ready.'" He was ready with 3/16ths of a mile to go, and splashed his way past Nyquist to finally beat his nemesis after four losses, including a runner-up finish in the Derby. "It was an amazing race and Exaggerator is an amazing horse," Desormeaux said. The day began on a somber note. Two horses died and a jockey was injured in the first four races, one of the horses bred and owned by Gretchen and Roy Jackson the owners of the ill-fated Barbaro. It was 10 years ago when Derby winner Barbaro shattered bones in his right hind leg at the start of the Preakness. Seven months later, he was euthanized. The Jacksons' 4-year-old filly Pramedya was euthanized on the track Saturday after she broke down during the fourth race. Jockey Daniel Centeno broke his right collar bone. Earlier, 9-year-old gelding Homeboykris won the first race, and then collapsed and died while being led back to his barn. Nyquist was the 3-5 favorite in the 11-horse field, with Exaggerator the second choice at 5-2. But this day was all Exaggerator no kidding. The 3-year-old son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin trailed by 13 lengths at one point but kept gaining ground along the rail. Desormeaux saw an opening around the final turn, angled outside and Exaggerator took over. "I was actually trying to slow him down, asking him to wait," Desormeaux said. "And he just blew up and felt like King Kong. And when I pitched him out, he did what he can do. He exploded." Stradivari was fourth, followed by Lani, Laoban, Uncle Lino, Fellowship, Awesome Speed, Collected and Abiding Star. Exaggerator, the 5-2 second choice, returned $7.20, $3.20 and $2.40. Cherry Wine paid $9.80 and $4.20, and Nyquist $2.20 to show. Winning time for the race was 1:58.31. Nyquist broke well under Mario Gutierrez, and he and 34-1 long shot Uncle Lino went back and forth on the lead. The duel was costly. When asked for his usual winning burst, the son of Uncle Mo just didn't have it for the first time in his career. "Hats off to Exaggerator and Team Desormeaux. What a great run," Nyquist's trainer Doug O'Neill said. "I didn't think we could get beat, to be honest with you." Trained by Kent's younger brother, Keith, Exaggerator showed his talent in the slop once again. He won the Santa Anita Derby over a sloppy track. It was the first Preakness winner for the trainer who also began his career in Maryland, and third for the Hall of Fame rider. Last year, American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, and there were many who thought Nyquist would make it two in a row and become the 13th horse to sweep the Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Exaggerator earned $900,000 for the win, improving his career bankroll to $2,971,120. The powerfully built bay colt has won five of 11 starts, with three runner-finishes. He was beaten by Nyquist twice last year in the debut race for each last June, and then in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. In the 3-year old debuts for each, it was Nyquist by 1 1/2 lengths in the San Vicente. "I did what I could to get him happy and fresh and strong. I've always said he's had a great ability to recover and he showed it today," Keith Desormeaux said The Desormeaux brothers have different personalities, and seem to enjoy ribbing each other. There were no family hugs, and no special celebrations. "I looked at him and he looked at me, and I got a fist pump," Kent said. "That's all we did." A drenched record crowd of 135,256 saw Exaggerator end his losing streak in a big way. "It wasn't like we felt we could grind him down," Keith said. "We always felt we had an exceptional talent." And now, it's on to the Belmont Stakes for Exaggerator. "We can't wait to run in that race," Keith said. Exaggerator with Kent Desormeaux aboard wins the 141st Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 21, 2016, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) Exaggerator with Kent Desormeaux aboard moves past Nyquist with Mario Gutierrez during the 141st Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 21, 2016, in Baltimore. Exaggerator won the race. (AP Photo/Garry Jones) Horses leave the starting gate during the 141st Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 21, 2016, in Baltimore. Exaggerator won the race. (AP Photo/Garry Jones) Exaggerator (5), with Kent Desormeaux aboard, moves past Nyquist (3), with Mario Gutierrez riding, during the 141st Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 21, 2016, in Baltimore. Exaggerator won the race. (AP Photo/Garry Jones) Kent Desormeaux riding Exaggerator is congratulated by Corey Lanerie atop Cherry Wine after the 141st Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 21, 2016, in Baltimore. Exaggerator won the race. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) Jose Lezcano atop Fellowship moves off the track after the 141st Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 21, 2016, in Baltimore. Exaggerator won the race. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) Horses leave the starting gate during the 141st Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 21, 2016, in Baltimore. Exaggerator won the race. (AP Photo/Nick Wass) Clinton calls Trump's gun policies "dangerous" FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) Donald Trump's gun policies are "not just way out there" but "dangerous" and would make America less safe, Hillary Clinton said Saturday. "This is someone running to be president of the United States of America a country facing a gun violence epidemic and he's talking about more guns in our schools, he's talking about more hatred and division in our streets," the likely Democratic presidential nominee said of her presumptive Republican rival. "That's no way to keep us safe." Clinton's criticism of Trump came the day after he slammed her as "Heartless Hillary" for backing restrictions on gun ownership in a speech before the National Rifle Association convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at the Trayvon Martin Foundation's "Circle of Mothers" Gala at the Embassy Suites Hotel on Saturday, May 21, 2016 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The group offers support to women who have lost a child to gun violence. (AP Photo/Joel Auerbach) Clinton spoke at a conference organized by the Trayvon Martin Foundation to help mothers whose children or other relatives have died from shootings. It was led by Sybrina Fulton, whose 17-year-old son, Trayvon Martin, was fatally shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in 2012. She has campaigned with Clinton during the Democratic presidential primaries. "The reason why I stand with her is because she first stood with me," Fulton said before introducing Clinton to more than 200 people packed inside a hotel banquet room. Queen Thompson Brown, a Miami mother whose son was the victim of gun violence in 2006 and who has mentored Fulton, said she and others do not want to take away guns from Americans but hope to "promote common sense gun laws." Clinton praised the courage of Fulton and others who had suffered the loss of loved ones to gun violence or while in police custody. "We have a moral obligation to protect our children no matter what zip code they live in," she said. She then turned her attention to Trump and his gun policies. "If you want to imagine what Trump's America will look like, picture more kids at risk of violence and bigotry, picture more anger and fear," she said. Clinton repeated her pledge to fight the powerful National Rifle Association lobby, saying "we will not be silenced, we will not be intimidated." The gun rights organization endorsed Trump, even though he had previously supported measures like an assault weapons ban that the NRA vigorously opposes. The group applauded Trump's call for ending "gun-free zones" across the country. A sun-powered aircraft, Solar Impulse 2, has finished the latest leg in its record-breaking quest to circle the globe without consuming a drop of fuel. Swiss adventurer Andre Borschberg landed the aircraft in Dayton, Ohio, late on Saturday as he finished the twelfth leg of the round-the-world trip in the experimental solar-powered aircraft. The plane is expected to make at least one more stop in the US before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Europe or northern Africa. Solar Impulse 2 has finished the latest leg in its record-breaking quest to circle the globe without consuming a drop of fuel. Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard (left) and pilot Andre Borschberg landed in Dayton, Ohio, late on Saturday as he finished the twelfth leg of the round-the-world trip in the experimental solar-powered aircraft The twelfth leg lasted 16 hours 34 minutes, Mr Borschberg took off from Tulsa International Airport before 5am local time (6am ET/11am BST) on Saturday. HOW DOES SOLAR IMPULSE WORK? Solar Impulse 2 is powered by 17,000 solar cells and on-board rechargeable lithium batteries, allowing it to fly through the night. Its wingspan is longer than a jumbo jet but its light construction keeps its weight to about as much as a car. Solar Impulse 2 relies on getting enough solar power during the day to survive the night. It is also extremely light - about the weight of a car - and as wide as a passenger jet. Both of these combined means it is extremely susceptible to the weather. In high winds it can struggle to stay aloft at the altitudes necessary to gather sunlight. After taking off in the darkness, the aircraft soared to an altitude of 11,463 feet (3,500 metres) as the sun began to rise over the horizon. Mr Borschberg flew the aircraft 692 miles (1,113km), taking 20 minute catnaps before returning to the controls as he passed over Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, until finally arriving in Ohio. The city of Dayton is important to Mr Borschberg and his fellow pilot Bertrand Piccard because it was the home of the Wright Brothers, the first men to fly a power-driven aircraft heavier than air. 'People told the Wright Brothers and us what we wanted to achieve was impossible,' said Bertrand Piccard after landing. 'They were wrong!' The plane is expected to make at least one more stop in the United States, in New York, before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Europe or northern Africa, but exactly when this will happen is uncertain. 'Our team at the Monaco Mission Control Center is trying to identify a weather window,' the company website said. Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, holding a historical model of a plane designed by the Wright brothers at Dayton International Airport, Ohio. 'People told the Wright Brothers and us what we wanted to achieve was impossible,' he said after landing. 'They were wrong!' Solar Impulse 2 is powered by 17,000 solar cells and on-board rechargeable lithium batteries, allowing it to fly through the night. It is also extremely light - about the weight of a car - and as wide as a passenger jet With a wingspan exceeding that of a Boeing 747 but an ultra-light carbon-fiber skin and overall weight of a car, the Solar Impulse cruises at speeds ranging from only 34 to 62 miles per hour (55 to 100 km/h). The four engines of the propeller-driven aircraft are powered exclusively by energy collected from more than 17,000 solar cells built into its wings. Excess energy is stored in four batteries during daylight hours to keep the plane flying after dark. THE JOURNEY The globe-circling voyage began in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan. Piccard and Andre Borschberg have been taking turns piloting the plane on each leg of the journey. Both have trained to stay alert for long stretches of time by practicing meditation and hypnosis. Borschberg set a new endurance record for the longest non-stop solo flight last July during a 118-hour trans-Pacific crossing, over five days and five nights, from Japan to Hawaii. A world map shows the path of the solar powered-plane so far, as it continues to cross the United States. Today's stage will take Solar Impulse across the mid US, heading towards New York for its next major challenge - crossing the Atlantic Ocean Picture taken by Swiss adventurer Andre Borschberg onboard Solar Impulse 2 during the flight from Tusla to Dayton shows the Mississippi river at sunset Solar Impulse 2 in preparation for the take off from Tulsa International Airport early on Saturday morning. The four engines of the propeller-driven aircraft are powered exclusively by energy collected from more than 17,000 solar cells built into its wings The globe-circling voyage began in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan. The plane can climb to 28,000 feet (8,500 meters), but generally flies at lower altitudes at night to conserve energy. Mr Piccard and Mr Borschberg have been taking turns piloting the plane on each leg of the journey. Both have trained to stay alert for long stretches of time by practicing meditation and hypnosis. The inflatable hangar installed on the tarmac in Dayton, Ohio. The city of Dayton is important to Mr Piccard and Mr Borschberg because it was the home of the Wright Brothers, the first men to fly a power-driven aircraft heavier than air Solar Impulse 2 in preparation for the take off from Tulsa International Airport, Oklahoma, before starting the latest leg of its round-the-world trip, landing 17 hours later in Dayton, Ohio. After taking off in the darkness, the aircraft soared to an altitude of 11,463 feet (3,500 metres) Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg (pictured taking off in Tulsa, Oklahoma) have been taking turns piloting the plane on each leg of the journey. Both have trained to stay alert for long stretches of time by practicing meditation and hypnosis Borschberg set a new endurance record for the longest non-stop solo flight last July during a 118-hour trans-Pacific crossing, over five days and five nights, from Japan to Hawaii. He also set new duration and distance records for solar-powered flight. Battery damage sustained during the crossing kept the aircraft grounded for nine months. The Swiss team's ultimate goal is to achieve the first round-the-world solar-powered flight, part of its campaign to bolster support for clean-energy technologies. The Solar Impulse 2 is built from a range of lightweight materials and high storage batteries (illustrated) to help keep the experimental aircraft in the air for long periods using just the power from sunlight Walsh Jennings, Ross win FIVB Cincinnati Open MASON, Ohio (AP) Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross won the FIVB Cincinnati Open on Saturday, beating China's Chen Xue and Xinyi Xia 20-22, 21-14 and 18-16. "They served lights-out and we gave up too many points, so we fought back," Walsh Jenning said. "We got some mojo at the end of the first set and carried that into set 2. April served like the first 10 points it felt like. And then we just kept riding momentum. Game 3 was back and forth. We took the lead and gave it up a little, but we just stuck together. "That's what this sport is all about, that's what sports, that's what life is all about. It's really fun to go to battle with April and I have faith in her regardless of the situation." In the men's final, Brazil's Gustavo Carvalhaes and Saymon Barbosa beat Canada's Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter 22-20, 21-8. A look at verbal U-turns by Philippines' likely next leader MANILA, Philippines (AP) Rodrigo Duterte kept Filipinos guessing for months last year whether he would run for president. He repeatedly declared that he wouldn't, then cited different reasons when he finally did. On the campaign trail, he flipped and flopped on a number of key pronouncements. That has made it difficult to discern when the brash Duterte, who spikes his speeches with sarcasm and hyperbole for added punch, is serious or, in his own words, is "just taking you for a ride." Some of the verbal U-turns made by the Philippines' likely next president: RUNNING OR NOT? FILE - In this May 9, 2016 file photo, a supporter pinches the cheek of front-running presidential candidate Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as he leaves Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School at Matina district, his hometown, after voting in Davao city in southern Philippines. Duterte kept Filipinos guessing for months last year whether he would run for president. He repeatedly declared that he wouldnt, then cited different reasons when he finally did. On the campaign trail, he flipped and flopped on a number of key pronouncements. That has made it difficult to discern when the brash Duterte, who spikes his speeches with sarcasm and hyperbole for added punch, is serious or, in his own words, is "just taking you for a ride." (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File) Last year, Duterte kept the entire country and his rivals at a loss over whether he would run for president, declaring initially in a June 21 TV interview that he was not closing the door on the prospect. "I will leave it open for God to decide," he said. He turned around the next day, chiding reporters for not listening carefully and telling them what he actually said was that he was keeping his doorway open for women. As an October deadline for signing up for the race approached, he rejected clamors for him to run by supporters, some of whom, including his daughter, shaved their heads to underscore their plea. Duterte said he didn't harbor the ambition to be president. The following month, however, he switched places with a fellow party member who had registered for the race, saying he decided to run out of dismay over a decision to allow a rival candidate to run despite protests that she was not a natural-born Filipino as the constitution requires. He would later say he ran because his southern region has been neglected by past presidents. ___ ZERO CRIME On the campaign trail, Duterte promised to end crime and corruption in three to six months, an impossible feat that nevertheless resonated with crime-weary Filipinos. "If I fail," he dared, "kill me." Duterte eventually toned down the big promise, saying in a campaign rally that "I cannot really stop as in stop (crime). For as long as there is society, and there are men and women and children in society, there will always be crime." "Ending" then gave way to "suppressing" crime. ___ POPE GO HOME In November, Duterte cursed Pope Francis for causing a traffic jam during a Manila visit that trapped Duterte for five hours. He told a crowd, "I wanted to call and tell him, 'Pope, you son of a bitch, go home. Don't visit here anymore.'" Amid ensuing criticism, he backtracked and explained that he was cursing the mishandling of the traffic and not the pontiff. Still, he wrote a letter of apology to the Vatican. After it became clear Duterte had won the presidency, his spokesman announced plans to visit the Vatican because "he really needs to explain to the pope and ask for forgiveness." Three days later, Duterte shot down the idea, saying he had canceled the planned Vatican trip. Duterte said he had already sent a letter of apology to the leader of the Catholic world, adding, "That's enough." ___ CONFRONTING CHINA Duterte and his camp have adopted a gamut of options in dealing with China over contested territories in the South China Sea. Under his presidency, he said the Philippines will prod China to abide by the upcoming decision of an arbitration court that's handling a Philippine lawsuit against Beijing. If China doesn't budge, he says he'll be open to one-on-one talks with Beijing. Another time, he said he leaned toward multilateral negotiations that would involve the United States and Japan and rival claimant governments to resolve the escalating conflicts. But at a televised debate he revealed his most outlandish approach: He said he has thought about traveling to the disputed waters by Jet Ski and planting a Philippine flag on one of the new Chinese man-made islands, saying it's up to the Chinese to shoot him and turn him into a national hero. ___ BANK ACCOUNTS When one of Duterte's harshest critics, Sen. Antonio Trillanes, alleged last month that Duterte had a secret bank account with his daughter with at least 211 million pesos ($4.5 million) that he failed to declare in 2014 as required by law, Duterte's spokesman initially denied the account existed. Critics, however, proved it existed by depositing a token amount to get a receipt that showed the names of Duterte and his daughter, prompting Duterte to acknowledge he had the account. He then suggested that the account had a smaller amount, but later backpedaled by saying at a news conference that he had "a little less than 211 million" pesos. Duterte said that amount wasn't declared because he had already spent it by the deadline that requires officials to make public only their existing assets. Although he has not fully disclosed details of the account and where the money came from, Duterte swore he wasn't corrupt and cites the absence of any corruption case against him in his more than 22 years as mayor of the southern city of Davao. ___ RAPE JOKE In his most infamous campaign joke, Duterte said he had wished to be the first in line to rape a beautiful Australian missionary who was sexually abused and killed by inmates during a 1989 Davao jail riot. He later struggled to ease the backlash by saying his remark was slang for expressing his disgust, and refused to apologize. With criticism growing during the campaign homestretch, his spokesman and political party issued an apology on his behalf in which Duterte apologized to the Filipino people and said, "I am a man of many flaws and contradictions." Duterte later disowned the apology and added that he never approved his own party's statement. Moments later, he grudgingly suggested that the statement of apology was fine. FILE - In this May 7, 2016 file photo, Philippine presidential race front-runner Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte speaks during his final campaign rally in Manila, Philippines. Duterte kept Filipinos guessing for months last year whether he would run for president. He repeatedly declared that he wouldnt, then cited different reasons when he finally did. On the campaign trail, he flipped and flopped on a number of key pronouncements. That has made it difficult to discern when the brash Duterte, who spikes his speeches with sarcasm and hyperbole for added punch, is serious or, in his own words, is "just taking you for a ride." (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File) Afghan leaders see Taliban leader's death as hopeful sign KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) The killing of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour in a U.S. drone strike was greeted Sunday by Kabul's political leadership as a game-changer in efforts to end the long insurgent war plaguing Afghanistan. In a rare show of unity, President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah both welcomed the news of Mansour's death as the removal of a man who unleashed violence against innocent civilians in Afghanistan and was widely regarded as an obstacle to peace within the militant group. Mansour, believed to be in his 50s, was killed when a U.S. drone fired on his vehicle in the southwestern Pakistan province of Baluchistan, although there were conflicting accounts whether the airstrike occurred Friday or Saturday. He had emerged as the successor to Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, whose 2013 death was only revealed last summer. This photo taken by freelance photographer Abdul Malik on Saturday, May 21, 2016, purports to show volunteers standing near the wreckage of the destroyed vehicle, in which Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour was allegedly traveling in the Ahmed Wal area in Baluchistan province of Pakistan, near Afghanistan border. A senior commander of the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Sunday that the extremist group's leader, Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Abdul Malik) Mansour "engaged in deception, concealment of facts, drug-smuggling and terrorism while intimidating, maiming and killing innocent Afghans," Ghani said in a statement on his official Twitter account. "A new opportunity presents itself to those Taliban who are willing to end war and bloodshed," he added. Mansour was "the main figure preventing the Taliban joining the peace process," Abdullah said, speaking live on television as he chaired a Cabinet meeting. "From the day he took over the Taliban following the death of Mullah Omar, he intensified violence against ordinary citizens, especially in Afghanistan." Ghani and Abdullah serve in a so-called national unity government brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry following a divisive 2014 election. As president and chief executive, the two rarely see eye-to-eye on even the most important decisions for a country beset by war for almost 40 years, including appointments to key security posts. On Sunday, at least, they seemed to be on the same page. Kerry hailed the news of Mansour's demise even before it was officially confirmed an indication of how much Washington has wearied of the Taliban's 15-year war with Kabul. "Peace is what we want. Mansour was a threat to that effort," Kerry said, speaking from Myanmar. "He also was directly opposed to peace negotiations and to the reconciliation process. It is time for Afghans to stop fighting and to start building a real future together." His death clears the way for a succession battle, the movement's second in less than a year. Whoever wins that battle will largely determine the direction for both the Taliban and the beleaguered Afghan peace process. Mansour leaves behind a checkered history during his brief reign. He ascended to the leadership shrouded in controversy and accusations from many of his own senior commanders. That internal bitterness stemmed from the revelation last summer of Mullah Omar's death more than two years earlier a fact that Mansour and his clique seem to have hidden not only from the outside world but from other senior Taliban commanders. Mansour's subsequent formal coronation as Taliban leader prompted open revolt inside the group for several months, with members of Mullah Omar's family rebelling and Taliban ground forces splitting into factional warfare. But Mansour patiently mended the rift, appointing as his deputy Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the powerful semi-independent al-Qaida-affiliated Haqqani network faction. Haqqani helped bring Mullah Omar's brother and son back into the fold in exchange for senior leadership positions. While he played peacemaker inside the Taliban, Mansour pursued an aggressive line with the Kabul government, shunning all overtures for peace and launching a series of bold attacks. In September 2015, Taliban fighters surprised Afghan security forces and overran the northern city of Kunduz the first time since their regime was overthrown in the 2001 U.S. invasion that they had captured a provincial capital. They held the city for four days before retreating in the face of a coordinated U.S.-backed government assault, but the end result was an enduring embarrassment for Ghani's government. In the aftermath, Mansour boasted about the prowess of his men and promised that the Taliban's return to power in Kabul was only a matter of time. Mansour's death inside Pakistan could further damage the already deeply suspicious relationship between Kabul and Islamabad. Afghan and U.S. officials have repeatedly accused Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency of keeping the Taliban leadership safe in cities across the porous and lawless border. A senior Afghan official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, complained before Mansour's death was announced that Taliban fighters were being taken from the battlefields of Afghanistan to Pakistani hospitals. In a statement late Sunday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry repeated the country's protest of drone attacks on its territory. It also repeated Pakistan's preference to settle the protracted war in Afghanistan through talks, calling on the Taliban to renounce violence in favor of negotiations. "While further investigations are being carried out, Pakistan wishes to once again state that the drone attack was a violation of its sovereignty, an issue which has been raised with the United States in the past as well," it said. Ghani has not hidden his own frustrations with Islamabad. His government initially embraced Pakistan's role as a liaison to the Taliban and engaged in four-nation meetings with Pakistan, China and the U.S. seeking to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table. But he has publicly soured on Islamabad: At the most recent quartet meeting, Kabul declined to send a high-level delegation and was represented only by the ambassador to Pakistan. Political analyst Haroun Mir noted Mansour's apparent confidence in moving around the Pakistani province of Baluchistan in an unarmored car with no convoy, decoys or other security precautions. That shows "the Taliban are active and move freely with the support of the Pakistani authorities," Mir said. Mansour's death could open a new chapter in Kabul's quest for enduring peace with the Taliban, Mir said. The time has come, he added, for "the Afghan government to get some benefit out of this, in bringing the Taliban into the peace process." Whether the Taliban will be open to those fresh overtures depends on who succeeds Mansour. Afghan officials say meetings have already begun in the Pakistani city of Quetta among the Taliban elite to discuss the direction the movement will take. Mullah Mohammad Yaqub, the son of Mullah Omar, is popular, charismatic and believed by some officials to favor participation in peace talks. He controls the Taliban's military commissions in 15 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces. Haqqani is another candidate. His network has deep pockets and is responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan, including one in Kabul on April 19 that killed 64 people and injured more than 300. In the meantime, the drone strike that killed Mansour has sent a message to other extremist leaders not only Taliban but others active in Afghanistan and the region that they are no longer safe on Pakistani territory. "It was a message to Pakistan that whenever the USA wants, it can attack whoever they want inside Pakistan," said independent analyst Ahmad Saedi. "It was a message to the Taliban that no one is safe, and if America wants, it can target anyone, anywhere, at any time." ___ Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez in Kabul, Afghanistan, Kathy Gannon in Islamabad and Matthew Lee in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, contributed to this report. This photo taken by a freelance photographer Abdul Salam Khan using his smart phone on Sunday, May 22, 2016, purports to show the destroyed vehicle in which Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour was traveling in the Ahmad Wal area in Baluchistan province of Pakistan, near Afghanistan's border. A senior commander of the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Sunday that the extremist group's leader, Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Abdul Salam Khan) FILE - In this Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015 file photo, shows Taliban leader Mullah Mansour. The U.S. conducted an airstrike Saturday, May 21, 2016, against the Taliban leader the Pentagon said, and a U.S. official said Mansour was believed to have been killed. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the attack occurred in a remote region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. He said the U.S. was studying the results of the attack. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File) This photo taken by a freelance photographer Abdul Salam Khan using his smart phone on Sunday, May 22, 2016, purports to show the destroyed vehicle in which Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour was traveling in the Ahmad Wal area in Baluchistan province of Pakistan, near Afghanistan's border. A senior commander of the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Sunday that the extremist group's leader, Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Abdul Salam Khan) This photo taken by a freelance photographer Abdul Salam Khan using his smart phone on Sunday, May 22, 2016, purports to show the destroyed vehicle in which Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour was traveling in the Ahmad Wal area in Baluchistan province of Pakistan, near Afghanistan's border. A senior commander of the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Sunday that the extremist group's leader, Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Abdul Salam Khan) FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2015 file photo, an Afghan man reads a local newspaper with photos of the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Mansour, in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Pentagon has announced that the U.S. has conducted an airstrike targeting Taliban leader Mullah Mansour. A U.S. official who wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the operation said Mansour and a second male combatant accompanying him in a vehicle were likely killed. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) North Korean diplomat mourned as serious loss for country PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) The North Korean diplomat who negotiated a 1994 deal to freeze the country's nuclear programs in exchange for aid was mourned at his state funeral Sunday as a serious loss for the country. Senior military and ruling party officials attended the ceremony for Kang Sok Ju, a longtime foreign policy specialist for the North, at the Sojang Club in Pyongyang. Several officials bowed before the open casket, which was later driven to Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery where he was buried. State media reported died of esophageal cancer at age 76 on Friday. In this image made from video, family and officials mourn for North Korea's foreign policy specialist Kang Sok Ju, lying in state during funeral services at the Sojang Club, Sunday, May 22, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Kang died of cancer at the age of 76 on Friday, according to a news report released by the Korean Central News Agency early Saturday. (AP Photo/APTN) "The demise of a sincere revolutionary and a capable political activist like Comrade Kang Sok Ju is a serious loss for our party and our people," said Workers' Party member Choe Ryong Hae, who headed his funeral committee. "It comes as the whole country is celebrating the historical 7th Party Congress, as a Congress of victors, and a glorious Congress. And it comes as the whole country is rushing towards a great new victory of our revolution." Kang was Pyongyang's chief negotiator when it reached the landmark agreement with Washington in 1994 to freeze and eventually dismantle its nuclear facilities in exchange for international aid to build two electricity-producing nuclear reactors. The deal fell apart in 2002 after revelations that the North had operated a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of the agreement, which was disclosed shortly after a meeting between Kang and then-U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly. From 1984, Kang served as Vice Foreign Minister and then First Vice Foreign Minister. In 2010 he was promoted to Vice Premier and from 2014 he was also the Director of the International Affairs Department of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. He was a member of the party's politburo from 2010 until early May 2016. In this image made from video, North Korea's foreign policy specialist Kang Sok Ju, lies in state during funeral services at the Sojang Club, Sunday, May 22, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Kang died of cancer at the age of 76 on Friday, according to a news report released by the Korean Central News Agency early Saturday. (AP Photo/APTN) In this image made from video, North Korea's foreign policy specialist Kang Sok Ju, lies in state during funeral services at the Sojang Club, Sunday, May 22, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Kang died of cancer at the age of 76 on Friday, according to a news report released by the Korean Central News Agency early Saturday. (AP Photo/APTN) Gunman fires into crowd at concert in Austria, killing 2 VIENNA (AP) A gunman fired shots early Sunday into a small crowd attending an open air concert organized by a local motorcycle club, killing two people and wounding 11 others before shooting himself to death, police said. Witnesses said panic broke out as the first shots rang out, with many in the crowd running into nearby woods or onto a freeway close to the venue in Austria's westernmost Vorarlberg province, according to Florian Kasseroler, mayor of the town Nenzing. He said the gunman apparently fired from a Kalashnikov assault rifle and cited one witness as estimating that a burst of up to 40 shots was fired. This image made from TV shows police attending the scene of a shooting near Nenzing, Austria, Sunday May 22, 2016. A gunman fired shots early Sunday into a small crowd attending an open air concert organized by a local motorcycle club, killing two people and wounding others before shooting himself to death, police said. (Laendle.TV via AP) AUSTRIA OUT Police declined to comment on the type of weapon used beyond describing it as a long gun. They said the overnight shooting was preceded by a loud argument between the 27-year-old gunman and a woman in a nearby parking lot. "This argument must have escalated," said police spokeswoman Susanne Dilp. "The man then grabbed a gun from his car, went to the concert venue and started shooting around wildly." The man killed himself after returning to the parking lot, said police. The concert had been organized in a field by "The Lords" motorcycle club and was attended by about 150 people. The woman, described as the gunman's partner, was not wounded in the shooting near Nenzing, about 40 kilometers (24 miles) east of Austria's border to Liechtenstein. Police said one of the victims was in critical condition, while eight others remained hospitalized by Sunday afternoon, more than 10 hours after the shooting. ___ Philipp Jenne in Vienna also contributed. This image made from TV shows a body bag in a field as police and forensic staff searched for evidence at the scene of a shooting near Nenzing, Austria, Sunday May 22, 2016. A gunman fired shots early Sunday into a small crowd attending an open air concert organized by a local motorcycle club, killing two people and wounding others before shooting himself to death, police said. (Laendle.TV via AP) AUSTRIA OUT This image made from TV shows forensic staff searching for evidence at the scene of a shooting near Nenzing, Austria, Sunday May 22, 2016. A gunman fired shots early Sunday into a small crowd attending an open air concert organized by a local motorcycle club, killing two people and wounding others before shooting himself to death, police said. (Laendle.TV via AP) AUSTRIA OUT Mansour's brief reign as chief marked by turmoil ISLAMABAD (AP) Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour's brief rule, which ended with his death in a drone strike, was marked by mistrust and strife. Mansour, who was believed to be in his mid-50s, was reported killed by an airstrike in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, according to U.S. and Afghan officials. However a senior Taliban commander told The Associated Press that he was killed Friday night. Since his takeover of the movement following the announcement last year of founder Mullah Mohammed Omar's death, Mansour had battled other Taliban commanders. He eventually enlisted the powerful semi-independent faction known as the Haqqani network to cajole important commanders back into the fold and promised positions on the leadership council to entice Mullah Omar's family to his side. FILE - In this Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015 file photo, shows Taliban leader Mullah Mansour. The U.S. conducted an airstrike Saturday, May 21, 2016, against the Taliban leader the Pentagon said, and a U.S. official said Mansour was believed to have been killed. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the attack occurred in a remote region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. He said the U.S. was studying the results of the attack. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File) So divisive was Mansour's rise to the leadership of the Taliban that at the meeting announcing his ascendance, several of the movement's top commanders stormed out, according to one Taliban official familiar with the proceedings, but who didn't want to be identified because of orders not to speak independently to the media. Tayyab Aga, a close ally of Omar's and a former peace negotiator on behalf of the Taliban, refused to swear allegiance to Mansour. In a statement following the announcement that Omar had died two years earlier, Aga accused Mansour of hiding the founder's death in order to secure his power at the helm. Meanwhile Mansour set about trying to buttress his position, appointing as his main deputy, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the Haqqani network, which is considered by both Afghanistan and the United States as the strength behind the Taliban. Bringing in the Haqqanis added both manpower and military sophistication to the Taliban operations. Mansour also gave Mullah Omar's son and brother positions on the leadership council. It took several months and bloody battles inside Afghanistan between warring Taliban factions before a semblance of unity was brought to the movement. Under the guiding hand of Haqqani, several key commanders agreed to support Mansour, but some also made their support conditional demanding Mansour reveal the circumstances around Mullah Omar's death. Since the 2001 ouster of Mullah Omar and the Taliban by a U.S.-led military coalition, the Taliban founder was seen only by a handful of followers, including Mansour. This recently caused some within the movement, including Aga, to speculate that Mansour had intentionally concealed Mullah Omar's death. Mansour was openly accused by several within the Taliban of manufacturing recordings by Omar and issuing orders using his name. When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, Mansour held several positions in the government. In 1999 when the United Nations imposed wide-ranging sanctions on the movement, Mansour was both aviation minister, trying to keep the national airline operating without spare parts, and military commander in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. Among the Taliban leaders at the time, Mansour was considered among those closest to Mullah Omar and like the Taliban founder, Mansour rarely travelled to Kabul instead running his Aviation Ministry from the southern city of Kandahar. Mansour was a member of Afghanistan's powerful Ishaqzai tribe in Kandahar, the spiritual headquarters of the Taliban. His tribal affiliation speaks to his significance as an ethnic Pashtun, whose members comprise the backbone of the Taliban. Critics of Mansour also accused him of being close to Pakistan's intelligence agency, known by its acronym ISI. His death has some hoping that the new Taliban leadership will be more open to peace overtures from the Kabul government. Under Mansour, the Taliban refused to negotiate directly with Kabul and largely ignored a four-country effort involving Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States to bring peace to Afghanistan. "Peace is what we want. Mansour was a threat to that effort," U.S. Secretary of State Jon Kerry said Sunday during a visit to Myanmar. "It is time for Afghans to stop fighting and to start building a real future together." Gen. Joseph Votel, the top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, said Sunday that the Taliban are at a crossroads. Votel, speaking during a visit to Amman, Jordan, said the Taliban are on "the horns of a dilemma" as they determine their post-Mansour leadership and direction. Turkey's Erdogan asks longtime ally to form new government ANKARA, Turkey (AP) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday appointed one of his most trusted allies to form Turkey's new government, in a move seen to help consolidate his hold on power. Binali Yildirim, the transportation and communications minister and a founding member of the ruling party, was tapped to replace Ahmet Davutoglu who stepped down amid growing differences with Erdogan, including his wish to overhaul the constitution to give the largely ceremonial presidency executive powers. Yildirim has said he would work to legalize the "de facto" presidential system by introducing a new constitution to that effect. Binali Yildirim, Turkey's current Transportation Minister and founding member of the AKP, Turkeys governing party, salutes during a meeting in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 19, 2016. Officials of the Party tapped Yildirim as their candidate of choice as a new leader and the countrys next prime minister. Yildirim will run unopposed for the party leadership at an extraordinary to be held Sunday in Ankara.(AP Photo) The appointment of the 60-year-old politician came hours after the ruling party confirmed him as party chairman, and he immediately expressed allegiance to the Turkish leader, vowing to follow his path. Davutoglu remains caretaker premier until Yildirim forms a new Cabinet. "Our path is the path of the voice and the breath of the people, our party's leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan," Yildirim said in a speech to thank delegates who voted overwhelmingly earlier on Sunday to endorse him as the new chairman of the governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP. "We have always proudly said that we are Recep Tayyip Erdogan's companion, that we share a common fate and a common passion," Yildirim said. "Mr. President, we promise you that your passion will be our passion, your cause will be our cause, your path will be our path." In a message read at the opening of the convention, Erdogan again stressed his wish for a new constitution, which he said would help correct the current "skewed" system of administration. Delegates and party officials stood up as his message was read. "My legal bond with the AKP may have ended the day I took the (presidential) oath of office, but my bonds of love have never ended and never will," Erdogan said. Supporters credit Yildirim for his role in developing major infrastructure projects which have helped buoy Turkey's economy and boost the party's popularity. But critics, including the leader of the main opposition party, have accused him of corruption. Yildirim has rejected the accusation. The change in party leadership comes at a time when NATO member Turkey is facing an array of security threats including renewed conflict with Kurdish rebels in the southeast, a wave of suicide bombings linked to Kurdish and Islamic State militants, as well as growing blowback from the war in neighboring Syria. The transition also coincides with growing tensions with the European Union over a controversial deal to reduce the flow of illegal migrants from Turkey to Greece, which Davutoglu helped broker. Davutoglu, a one-time adviser to Erdogan and a former foreign minister, fell out with the president over several issues including the possibility of peace talks with Kurdish rebels, and the pre-trial detention of journalists accused of spying and academics accused of supporting terrorism. Erdogan is pushing for a broader definition of terrorism, alarming rights groups who say existing laws are already too widely interpreted to crush dissent. His stance is also at odds with EU conditions for Turkish citizens to benefit from visa-free travel. In his speech, Yildirim said Turkey would press ahead with operations against Kurdish rebels until the group's armed campaign comes to an end, and he called on the EU to end "the confusion" over Turkey's membership bid and the migration deal. "It is time we know what they think about Turkey," Yildirim said. "Whether Turkey becomes a member or not, it will continue to expand its democracy and development with determination." In his farewell speech, Davutoglu said resigning was not his wish but that he agreed to it to preserve the unity of the party. Binali Yildirim, Turkey's current Transportation Minister and founding member of the AKP, Turkeys governing party, salutes during a meeting in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 19, 2016. Yildirim is expected to stand unopposed for the party leadership and automatically become Prime Minister at an extraordinary meeting to be held Sunday in Ankara. The shake up comes after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stepped down on May 4. (AP Photo) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu shake hands as they pose for a photograph during a final farewell in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 19, 2016. Davutoglu stepped down on May 4 over differences with Erdogan who is pushing for a constitutional overhaul that would concentrate greater powers in his hands.(Kayhan Ozer/Pool Photo via AP) Binali Yildirim, Turkey's current Transportation Minister and founding member of the AKP, Turkeys governing party, and his wife Semiha Yildirim salute supporters during party congress in Ankara, Turkey, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Turkey's ruling party held a special convention on Sunday to confirm Binali Yildirim, a longtime ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its new chairman and next prime minister, a move that is likely to consolidate the Turkish leader's hold on power.(AP Photo/Riza Ozel, Pool) Binali Yildirim, Turkey's current Transportation Minister and founding member of the AKP, Turkeys governing party, throws carnations towards supporters during party congress in Ankara, Turkey, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Turkey's ruling party held a special convention on Sunday to confirm Binali Yildirim, a longtime ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its new chairman and next prime minister, a move that is likely to consolidate the Turkish leader's hold on power.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici) Head of the governing Justice and Development Party and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu with his wife Sare Davutoglu, left, waves towards supporters during the party congress in Ankara, Turkey, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Binali Yildirim, the transport and communications minister is set to replace Davutoglu who announced earlier this month that he is stepping down amid differences with Erdogan. Yildirim, a longtime ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will replace Davutoglu as the next prime minister, a move that is likely to consolidate the Turkish leader's hold on power.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici) Supporters hold a banner with images of Binali Yildirim, Turkey's current Transportation Minister and founding member of the AKP, Turkeys governing party, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during party congress in Ankara, Turkey, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Turkey's ruling party held a special convention on Sunday to confirm Binali Yildirim, a longtime ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its new chairman and next prime minister, a move that is likely to consolidate the Turkish leader's hold on power.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici) Phillips scores 3 tries in Bulldogs' NRL win over Roosters SYDNEY (AP) Tyrone Phillips scored three tries to lead Canterbury to a 32-20 win over the Sydney Roosters on Sunday, moving the Bulldogs into fifth place in the National Rugby League. In the only other match Sunday, Gold Coast fullback Anthony Don scored a try in the final minute after a Penrith turnover to give the Titans a 28-24 win over the Panthers. Earlier in the round, Cronulla moved into first place after an eighth consecutive win, beating Manly 20-12. Second-place Brisbane, third-place North Queensland and Melbourne are two points behind with 16 each, followed by Canterbury with 14. 7 dead after volcano erupts in western Indonesia GAMBER, Indonesia (AP) The death toll in the eruption of a volcano in western Indonesia rose to seven on Sunday, with two other people in critical condition, as an official warned of more eruptions. Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province blasted volcanic ash as high as 3 kilometers (2 miles) into the sky on Saturday, said National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. He said ash tumbled down the slopes as far as 4.5 kilometers (3 miles) westward into a river. All the victims of the eruption were working on their farms in the village of Gamber, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) away from the slope, or within the danger area. A villager carries his belonging during an evacuation following the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Gamber village, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The volcano in western Indonesian unleashed hot clouds of ash on Saturday, killing several villagers, oficials said. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara) Photos taken on Sunday showed evidence of pyroclastic flows a fast-moving cloud of hot volcanic gases, rocks and ash in the village. Dead and injured animals were lying on the ground, around them scorched homes and smoky vegetation. Soldiers were setting up roadblocks and people were carrying their belongings and leading farm animals to safety. Nata Nail, an official at the local Disaster Management Agency, said a man died Sunday at a hospital, leaving two other people in critical condition. The bodies of six other victims have been found near the mountain. Rescuers including soldiers, police, and personnel from disaster combating agencies, as well as volunteers and villagers, halted search operations around the area after they found there were no more victims or villagers inside the danger zone, Nail said. Earlier on Sunday, security personnel blocked some villagers who wanted to enter the village to take their abandoned belongings. Nugroho warned of more potential eruptions, with volcanic activity still high at the mountain. Mount Sinabung had been dormant for four centuries before reviving in 2010, killing two people. An eruption in 2014 killed 16 people. Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. Rescuers rush to help villagers to evacuate their homes following the eruption of Mt. Sinabung in Gamber village, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The volcano in western Indonesian unleashed hot clouds of ash on Saturday, killing several villagers, an official said. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara) Indonesian soldiers carry people's belongings during an evacuation following the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Gamber village, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The volcano in western Indonesian unleashed hot clouds of ash on Saturday, killing several villagers, officals said. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara) A villager leads his goats as he evacuates his home following the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Gamber village, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The volcano in western Indonesian unleashed hot clouds of ash on Saturday, killing several villagers, an official said. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara) An apparently injured dog covered in volcanic ash crouches down in an empty village after it was abandoned following the eruption of Mt. Sinabung in Gamber village, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The volcano in western Indonesian unleashed hot clouds of ash on Saturday, killing several villagers, an official said. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara) Villagers board a truck as they are transported from their homes too close to the danger zone following the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Gamber village, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The volcano in western Indonesian unleashed hot clouds of ash on Saturday, killing several villagers, an official said. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara) Medical workers prepare to put the body of one of the victims of the eruption of Mt. Sinabung into a coffin at a hospital in Kabanjahe, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The volcano in western Indonesia unleashed hot clouds of ash on Saturday, killing several villagers, an official said. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara) A scorched home is seen after it was hit by pyroclastic flow from the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Gamber village, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The volcano in western Indonesian unleashed hot clouds of ash on Saturday, killing several villagers, an official said. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara) Villagers inspect the path of a pyroclastic flow from the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Gamber village, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The volcano in western Indonesian unleashed hot clouds of ash on Saturday, killing several villagers, officals said. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara) Indonesian soldiers set up a road block to prevent people from entering the danger zone following the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Gamber village, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The volcano in western Indonesian unleashed hot clouds of ash on Saturday, killing several villagers, officials said. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara) Villagers gather their belongings to evacuate their homes to a safe zone following the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Gamber village, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The volcano in western Indonesian unleashed hot clouds of ash on Saturday, killing several villagers, officials said. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara) Hundreds in central China protest lack of college placements ZHENGZHOU, China (AP) Some 500 people on Sunday protested what they say is a lack of university student placements in their central China province, in the latest protest over education reform. Parents holding banners that read "Fair education" rallied in Zhengzhou city against what they say is a serious shortage of college placements in Henan province. The protest in Zhengzhou's Erqi Square ended peacefully. The Ministry of Education says Henan has more than 207,000 college placements, and almost 300,000 students from the province were enrolled in undergraduate courses in the country last year. People hold signs reading "fair education" as they hold a protest in Erqi Square in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan province, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Around 500 people protested what they say is a lack of university student placements in their central China province during the latest protest over education reform. (Chinatopix via AP) CHINA OUT This year, the ministry says at least an additional 16,800 Henan students will be able to study in other provinces. But 820,000 Henan students have applied to take the university entrance exam this year, and the protesters say more placements are needed. Protests over reform to college enrollment quotas also took place last weekend in nearby provinces, Hubei and Jiangsu. However, those parents were against cuts in the numbers of college placements for locals in their areas to enable more students from poorer provinces, like Henan, to have more access to universities. A child sits on a man's shoulder holding a paper reads "fair education" as they hold a protest in Erqi Square in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan province, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Around 500 people have protested what they say is a lack of university student placement in their central China province in the latest protest over education reform. Parents holding banners that read "Fair education"i rallied in Zhengzhou city against what they say is a serious shortage of college places in Henan province. (Chinatopix via AP) CHINA OUT People hold signs reading "return me" and "fair education" as they protest in Erqi Square in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan province, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Around 500 people have protested what they say is a lack of university student placements in their central China province in the latest protest over education reform. (Chinatopix via AP) CHINA OUT Policemen try to disperse protesters in Erqi Square in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan province, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Around 500 people have protested what they say is a lack of university student placements in their central China province in the latest protest over education reform. (Chinatopix via AP) CHINA OUT Egypt sends submarine to hunt for crashed jet's black boxes CAIRO (AP) Egypt sent a submarine Sunday to join the hunt for the flight recorders from the EgyptAir jetliner that crashed in the Mediterranean and killed all 66 people aboard, while hundreds of Coptic Christian mourners filled a church in Cairo to pray for their relatives among the dead. Mounting evidence pointed to a sudden and dramatic catastrophe that led to Thursday's crash of Flight 804 from Paris to Cairo, although Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said it "will take time" to establish what happened aboard the Airbus A320. In his first public comments since the crash, el-Sissi cautioned against premature speculation. Coptic Christians grieve during prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of EgyptAir flight 804 at Al-Boutrossiya Church, at the main Coptic Cathedral complex, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Making his first public comments since the crash of the Airbus A320 while en route from Paris to Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Sunday it will take time to determine the exact cause of the crash, which killed all 66 people on board. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) "It is very, very important to us to establish the circumstances that led to the crash of that aircraft," el-Sissi said in remarks broadcast live on Egyptian TV. "There is not one scenario that we can exclusively subscribe to. ... All scenarios are possible." A submarine belonging to the Oil Ministry was headed to the site about 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of the Egyptian port of Alexandria to join the search, el-Sissi said. The vessel can operate at a depth of 3,000 meters (9,800 feet), he said. After starting his comments with a minute of silence to remember the victims, he thanked the nations that have joined Egyptian ships and aircraft in the search. Beside Egypt, ships and planes from Britain, Cyprus, France, Greece and the United States are taking part in the search for the debris from the aircraft, including its flight data and cockpit voice recorders. Some wreckage, including human remains, have been recovered already. Egypt's aviation industry has been under international scrutiny since Oct. 31, when a Russian Airbus A321 traveling to St. Petersburg from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people aboard. Russia said the crash was caused by a bomb planted on the plane, and the local branch of the Islamic State claimed responsibility, citing Moscow's involvement in Syria. Thursday's crash will further damage Egypt's tourism industry, already reeling from years of political turmoil. The nation of 90 million people has been in crisis after crisis since a popular 2011 uprising toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Since then, it has seen a dramatic surge in attacks by Islamic militants, bouts of deadly unrest, a battered economy and the steady decline in the value of its currency. El-Sissi spoke a day after the leak of flight data indicated a sensor detected smoke in a lavatory and a fault in two of the plane's cockpit windows in the final moments of the flight. The data was published by The Aviation Herald. Authorities say the plane lurched left, then right, spun all the way around and plummeted 38,000 feet (11,582 meters) into the sea, never issuing a distress call. Investigators have been studying the passenger list and questioning ground crew at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, where the airplane took off. In Cairo, several hundred mourners attended a memorial service for nine Coptic Christians killed in the crash, including 26-year-old flight attendants Yara Tawfik. The service was held in the Boutrossiya Church, located inside Cairo's St. Mark Cathedral, the seat of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church. Relatives sobbed and prayed as Bishop Daniel, the senior cleric who led the service, offered words of comfort on behalf of Pope Tawadros II, leader of the Coptic church. "The church, the pope, the state and its representatives are very moved by this painful incident and are all standing together in offering their condolences to these families," Daniel said. "They've ascended to heaven." Nader Medhat, a cousin of Tawfik, said Saturday he was still trying to come to terms with the disaster. "We hear about such accidents, a plane falls or explodes, but it is always far away from us, it was always so far-fetched until it happened to us," he said. A service was held Saturday in a Cairo mosque for co-pilot Mohamed Mamdouh, 25, another of the 30 Egyptians among the dead. "The funeral service was so packed with people there was no place for anyone to stand," said Ahmed Amin, Mamdouh's childhood friend. "It was really heartwarming." ___ Associated Press writers Salma Shukrallah and Amr Nabil contributed. Bishop Daniel, deputy priest of Al-Boutrossiya Church, swings an incense burner during prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of Thursday's crash of EgyptAir flight 804, at Al-Boutrossiya Church, the main Coptic Cathedral complex, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Making his first public comments since the crash of the Airbus A320 while en route from Paris to Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Sunday, in comments broadcast live on Egyptian TV channels, that it will take time to determine the exact cause of the crash, which killed all 66 people on board. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) Coptic Christians attend prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of Thursday's crash of EgyptAir flight 804, at Al-Boutrossiya Church, the main Coptic Cathedral complex, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Making his first public comments since the crash of the Airbus A320 while en route from Paris to Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Sunday, in comments broadcast live on Egyptian TV channels, that it will take time to determine the exact cause of the crash, which killed all 66 people on board. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) A Coptic Christian lights a candle following prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of Thursday's crash of EgyptAir flight 804, at Al-Boutrossiya Church, the main Coptic Cathedral complex, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Making his first public comments since the crash of the Airbus A320 while en route from Paris to Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Sunday, in comments broadcast live on Egyptian TV channels, that it will take time to determine the exact cause of the crash, which killed all 66 people on board. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) Coptic Christians grieve during prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of Thursday's crash of EgyptAir flight 804, at Al-Boutrossiya Church, the main Coptic Cathedral complex, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Making his first public comments since the crash of the Airbus A320 while en route from Paris to Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Sunday, in comments broadcast live on Egyptian TV channels, that it will take time to determine the exact cause of the crash, which killed all 66 people on board. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) Christians grieve during prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of EgyptAir Flight-804, at Al-Boutrossiya Church, in the main Coptic Cathedral complex, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Making his first public comments since the crash of the Airbus A320 while en route from Paris to Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Sunday it will take time to determine the exact cause of the crash, which killed all 66 people on board. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) Coptic Christians grieve during prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of EgyptAir flight 804 at Al-Boutrossiya Church, at the main Coptic Cathedral complex, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Making his first public comments since the crash of the Airbus A320 while en route from Paris to Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Sunday it will take time to determine the exact cause of the crash, which killed all 66 people on board. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) Coptic Christians attend prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of EgyptAir flight 804 at Al-Boutrossiya Church, in the main Coptic Cathedral complex, Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Making his first public comments since the crash of the Airbus A320 while en route from Paris to Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Sunday it will take time to determine the exact cause of the crash, which killed all 66 people on board. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) The mother of Yara Hani Tawfik, an EgyptAir stewardess who died on flight 804, prays during a service for the departed, remembering the victims of Thursday's crash, at Al-Boutrossiya Church, in the main Coptic Cathedral complex, Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Making his first public comments since the crash of the Airbus A320 while en route from Paris to Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Sunday it will take time to determine the exact cause of the crash, which killed all 66 people on board. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) An Egyptian Coptic Christian prays during a service for the departed remembering the victims of EgyptAir flight 804, at Al-Boutrossiya Church, in the main Coptic Cathedral complex, Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The Airbus A320 plane was flying from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew when it disappeared early last Thursday over the Mediterranean Sea. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) Coptic Christians pray during a service for the departed remembering the victims of EgyptAir flight 804, at Al-Boutrossiya Church, in the main Coptic Cathedral complex, Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The Airbus A320 plane was flying from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew when it disappeared early last Thursday over the Mediterranean Sea. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) An Egyptian Coptic Christian prays during a service for the departed remembering the victims of EgyptAir flight 804, at Al-Boutrossiya Church, the main Coptic Cathedral complex in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The Airbus A320 plane was flying from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew when it disappeared early last Thursday over the Mediterranean Sea. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) Islamic State's lasting grip is a new hurdle for Europe, US PARIS (AP) The girl, speaking in the lilting accent of southern France, appeared in government ads describing how she was recruited by Islamic State extremists during her quest for religion, then encouraged to quit school and go to Syria, and finally to plot a suicide attack against a synagogue at home. "I have a hard time even admitting now that I was indoctrinated," she says to the camera in the ad before breaking down, describing how she tried to recruit others. The teen, known as Lea, was meant to be the poster child of a nascent program in France aimed at de-radicalizing young people to stem their flow to Syria. But the jihadi rehab didn't work. Six times she reconnected with the extremists, and six times she called her counselor in tears to apologize. In this May 13, 2016 photo, former Guantanamo detainee and al-Qaida trainee Mourad Benchellali talks during an interview with the Associated Press in Gennevilliers, suburban Paris, France. With thousands of young Europeans joining the ranks of radical Islamists in Syria, some people have stepped forward to offer to deter them. But most governments and groups trying to prevent the exodus of vulnerable youths are cautious about accepting such services _ since the volunteers were once radicals themselves. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere) The seventh time, late in 2015, landed her in jail. France's effort is one of many around the world trying to break the hold Muslim radicals have on their recruits by figuring out what drew them to the groups in the first place. The United States has launched its first formal effort in Minnesota, on the orders of a federal judge. But it's not clear how effective the programs can be in the long term. France alone has nearly 2,000 people like Lea about 600 who have left for Syria, but far more who are involved in jihadi networks at home. Across Europe, an estimated 5,000 people have joined extremist fighters in Syria, and about a third of them have returned. Most, experts and government officials say, will cause no harm. Dounia Bouzar, who runs France's jihadi rehab program, works with more than 1,000 young people flagged as potential extremists. Lea's story, she said, is more the rule than the exception. Islamic State and al-Qaida extremists don't break off contact just because someone is caught and the young people themselves have a hard time pulling away from what she described as their "online tribe." "A young person who reconnects, that's normal," she said. "Monday, they come to bear witness and save others. Wednesday, they denounce someone who wants to leave and say, 'save him.' And Friday, they re-connect and threaten your life." There is no reasoning with someone in the thrall of a jihadi group, those who run the program say, so the recruits have to experience tangible doubts about the jihadi promises they once believed. Bouzar said that can mean countering a message of anti-materialism by showing them the videos of fighters lounging in fancy villas or sporting watches with an Islamic State logo. Or finding someone who has returned from Syria to explain that instead of offering humanitarian aid, the extremists are taking over entire villages, sometimes lacing them with explosives. Only once doubts are seeded can young would-be jihadis themselves reason their way back to their former selves, she said. In the United States, a young Minnesota man who admitted he planned to go Syria to join the Islamic State group is among the first to take part in Minnesota's de-radicalization program, the first of its kind in the United States. In early 2014, just after turning 18, Abdullahi Mohamud Yusuf applied for a fast-track passport with a vague plan to go to Istanbul. He was stopped at the airport in May 2014, but remained free. He enrolled in community college, got a job, then was arrested in November that year on two terrorism charges for trying to join Islamic State. Yusuf, now 20, stayed in a halfway house while his case was pending and remained there after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He went back to jail after a box cutter was found beneath his bed. His lawyer says his client did not know anything about it. The program enlists the expertise of Daniel Koehler, a German researcher who works with would-be jihadis and their families. In the U.S., participants are already charged with terrorism offenses, and the goal is to assess their risk of backsliding and give them the tools to keep from slipping back into the networks that once drew them in. "It's a form of psychological warfare," he said before leaving to evaluate the Minnesota suspects. What neither Koehler nor Bouzar will offer is immunity from charges. In the case of the Minnesota program, participants are already in the federal justice system. The program is initially being offered to Yusuf and five others who have pleaded guilty to terrorism charges. In France, Bouzar only deals with people who have not travelled to Syria. Nearly all the jihadis who return from the war zone mostly voluntarily and numbering around 250 are jailed immediately. This is a sore subject for her, because, as she puts it "we just run after those who have repented" to offer the most persuasive arguments against joining. "I think the government is afraid of being manipulated," said Bouzar, who has an annual budget of around 600,000 euros ($676,000). "At the same time, I think for most of those who returned, it's because they saw the reality and it didn't correspond to their dreams. There's nothing better than someone who has escaped Daesh." That is why she placed so much hope in Lea's recovery, even though she knew the risk that Lea would reconnect with recruiters. One unexpected voice to emerge is that of Mourad Benchellali, a French former Guantanamo inmate cleared of terror links who now lectures to groups of young people throughout France and Belgium, including in Brussels' Molenbeek neighborhood, home to so many of the Paris and Brussels attackers. Benchellali, who was captured in 2001 after being misled into a trip that landed him in an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan, recounts his five years of imprisonment without rancor. And it's the lack of bitterness that may resonate the most. He has returned to the French prison where he was held after being released from Guantanamo, this time to persuade inmates not to turn to violent extremism. French prisons in particular have been pilloried as breeding grounds for Islamic radicalism. In Molenbeek, he has talked to a population of young people of immigrant backgrounds who feel cut off from mainstream Belgians. He said many in the West just think of violent punishment beheading, cutting off hands when they hear about Islamic Sharia law. "The problem is that reality is more complicated. Sharia is above all a complete system. It's a political system, a judicial system, an entire system. Everyone has a role to play," Benchellali said at a recent round table on radicalization. "So they have a real alternative. It's not just getting married. They're being offered an entire new life when they arrive. They get a new worth." That is especially true for those already caught up in a spiral of crime, unemployment and alienation, said Steve Lambert, a Brussels lawyer linked to jihadi cases. Carrying out an attack "is an exit strategy by default, after being closed off by all the failures you've caused in your life," Lambert said. "Nothing is simple and there are no absolutes, but there has to be a solution," he added. "Every time we harden ourselves, we create new martyrs for the cause." Finding out what motivates the slide into violent extremism is crucial to instilling doubts and ultimately changing minds, as is a risk assessment, said Koehler, who has worked directly with several dozen families in six countries. The French de-radicalization sessions are conducted in rented rooms, the five participants only told the location 10 minutes in advance because, Bouzar said, Islamic State recruiters "are hounding them, trying to geo-locate us." No cellphones are allowed. In Minnesota, the program started in April with risk evaluations of Yusuf and five others who have pleaded guilty to terror charges. Koehler evaluated their level of engagement in terror activities and chances of relapsing, and the federal judge overseeing their cases will use that information and other factors to determine their sentences. Koehler will also come up with recommendations, such as counseling or mentoring, to keep these men on the right track. The judge could use those recommendations as conditions of the men's parole meaning they could be taken back into custody if they don't follow the program. In March, U.S. District Judge Michael Davis said the program could also be expanded to other terror defendants, including those being released from prison and re-entering society. The goal is to keep the community safe while helping the young men become productive members of society. Koehler will also train U.S. probation and pretrial officers, who will be responsible for supervising the defendants once they are out of prison. But on the minds of law enforcement are cases like that of a young Frenchman known as Abu Oussama , seen in extraordinary hidden camera footage captured by an undercover documentary filmmaker . Flagged to police by his father, detained in Turkey trying to reach Syria, he was imprisoned in France for five months until authorities determined he was no longer a danger, he says. Yet the young man says he is plotting an attack on his homeland. "They said since I was de-radicalized, since I was quiet ..." he says, giggling toward the camera he cannot see. "It's all part of the ruse, brother." ___ Amy Forliti contributed from Minneapolis. Pope asks followers to pray for Turkey humanitarian summit VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis has asked for prayers so that participants at a humanitarian summit in Turkey fully commit to achieve what he defines as their main aim: saving the life of every human being. Francis addressed tens of thousands of tourists and pilgrims in St. Peter's Square Sunday and expressed his hopes for the summit which opens the next day in Istanbul. He noted that the first such world summit aims to reflect on which measures should be adopted to deal with "dramatic humanitarian situations caused by conflicts, environmental issues and extreme poverty." Pope Francis delivers his blessing during the Angelus noon prayer he celebrated from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Francis, addressing tens of thousands of tourists and pilgrims in St. Peters Square Sunday, expressed his hopes for an humanitarian summit opening the next day in Istanbul. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) He invited prayers so that the summit will yield a commitment to "save the life of every human being, no one excluded, especially the innocents and most defenseless." Francis' secretary of state will attend the summit. Tajikistan vote on allowing president to rule for life DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (AP) Tajikistan held a referendum Sunday on changing the Constitution to allow its authoritarian president to run for office indefinitely, effectively allowing him to rule for life. The 63-year-old Emomali Rakhmon has ruled the former Soviet republic in Central Asia since 1992. During those 24 years, he has crushed or cowed all opposition to his rule and the referendum is expected to pass easily. One of the constitutional changes considered in the vote would lower the minimum age for presidents from 35 to 30 years. This would allow Rakhmon's son, now 29, to run in the next presidential election in 2020. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon casts his ballot at a polling station in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Tajikistan holds a referendum on changing the constitution to allow Rakhmon to remain in office for life and to make it easier for his eldest son to succeed him as leader of the former Soviet republic in Central Asia. (Tajikistan Presidential Press Service via AP) Reported turnout was high. Election officials said that 88 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 6 p.m. local time (1300 GMT), two hours before polls closed. The referendum has been organized and held with only cursory international scrutiny. No election in Tajikistan has ever been deemed free and fair by the most thorough monitoring organization. In the months preceding the referendum, authorities in Tajikistan have systemically dismantled the few remaining remnants of dissent to Rakhmon's rule. The Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan, the only opposition party with any real following, was declared a terrorist organization following an alleged coup attempt in September. Little is known of the purported plot to overthrow the government, including whether it actually took place. More than a dozen of the party's leaders were charged with involvement in the coup attempt and have been tried behind closed doors in a trial that has drawn broad international criticism. Few in Tajikistan dare to speak openly in opposition to Rakhmon for fear of repercussions. That climate has fostered much apathy and indifference even toward the government's political initiatives. Voters queried at polling stations on Sunday either repeated talking points regularly aired on state television or displayed uncertainty about what they had cast their ballot for. "I didn't read anything. Somebody just told me to write 'yes,' so I just did it and left," said college student Shamsiddin Burhonov. Like many others pressed on whether he knew what changes to the Constitution were being approved, Burhonov struggled to answer. In fact, voters were being asked to approve a total of 41 amendments, although the ballot paper included none of the details. One amendment will introduce a ban on religious-based parties, which is apparently a measure intended to ensure the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan is unable to resurface under a different guise. A look at deadly attacks carried out under Mullah Mansour ISLAMABAD (AP) Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour's rule saw several devastating attacks in Afghanistan, particularly the capital Kabul. It was also during Mansour's brief rule, which ended with his death in a drone strike, that the Taliban, albeit briefly, took control of the northern city of Kunduz and held it for four days. A look at some recent attacks: May 25, 2015: The Taliban launch a deadly attack on Afghan Security forces in southern Helmand province, killing 19 police and seven soldiers. This photo taken by a freelance photographer Abdul Salam Khan using his smart phone on Sunday, May 22, 2016, purports to show the destroyed vehicle in which Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour was traveling in the Ahmad Wal area in Baluchistan province of Pakistan, near Afghanistan's border. A senior commander of the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Sunday that the extremist group's leader, Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Abdul Salam Khan) June 13, 2015: The Taliban attack another Afghan security outpost in southern Helmand province, killing 11 security personnel. June 22, 2015: The Taliban launch a coordinated assault outside the Afghan Parliament in the capital, Kabul. A vehicle packed with explosives blew up outside the Parliament gates and six Taliban armed with Kalashnikovs and rocket propelled grenade launchers laid siege until they were killed by Afghan Security Forces. Two civilians were reported killed and several others injured. July 7, 2015: The Taliban stage two separate suicide bombings in Kabul, killing at least one person and wounding three, including a NATO soldier. Aug. 7, 2015: A series of attacks kill at least 44 people and wound over 300 in one day in Kabul. Aug. 22, 2015: A suicide bomber attacks a convoy in Kabul, killing four U.S. contractors. Sept. 14, 2015: More than 350 inmates escape after an attack by Taliban insurgents on the main prison in eastern Ghazni province. October 2015: The Taliban stage a coordinated strike on Kunduz, surrounding the city, forcing Afghan government forces out and taking control of the city. It was the first time the Taliban took an Afghan city since being ousted from power in 2001. The Taliban held on to the city for four days, eventually being driven out by Afghan Security Forces backed by U.S. air strikes. Jan. 5, 2016: A U.S soldier is killed and another two injured in battle in Helmand province between Afghan National Security Forces and the Taliban. Feb. 1, 2016: A suicide bomber detonates his explosives outside an Afghan Civil Police building, killing at least 20 people. March 2, 2016: The Taliban attack the Indian Consulate in eastern Jalalabad, killing four Afghans. No Indian nationals are hurt April 19, 2016: In one of the deadliest attacks on Kabul, a suicide bomber backed by heavily armed militants kills 64 people and wounds hundreds more. This photo taken by freelance photographer Abdul Malik on Saturday, May 21, 2016, purports to show volunteers standing near the wreckage of the destroyed vehicle, in which Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour was allegedly traveling in the Ahmed Wal area in Baluchistan province of Pakistan, near Afghanistan border. A senior commander of the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Sunday that the extremist group's leader, Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Abdul Malik) Clinton shrugs, sees benefits in Trump's personal attacks WASHINGTON (AP) Hillary Clinton has a message for Donald Trump: keep on talking. She's just weeks away from wrapping up the Democratic presidential nomination, and friends, aides and supporters describe a candidate who isn't particularly rattled by what she expects will be Trump's increasingly direct attacks on her marriage and husband's personal indiscretions. In fact, Clinton believes that she can turn Trump's deeply personal assaults to her benefit, they say, particularly among suburban women who could be crucial to her hopes in the fall. Her plan is never to engage in any back-and-forth over the scandals. Instead, she'll merely cast him as a bully and talk about policy. In this May 20, 2016 photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association convention, in Louisville, Ky. Hillary Clinton has a message for Donald Trump: Bring it on. As Clinton's path to the Democratic nomination seems all-but-assured, friends, aides and supporters describe a candidate who is not only prepared to tune out Trump's increasingly direct attacks on her husband's personal indiscretions but believes they will eventually benefit her presidential aspirations. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) "I don't care what he says about me, but I do resent what he says about other people, other successful women, who have worked hard, who have done their part," she told an audience in Louisville, Kentucky, this month. Trump has made clear that nothing is off-limits. He described one of the allegations of past sexual misconduct involving Bill Clinton as a rape. "It's all fair," Trump told The Associated Press last week. He drew a distinction between his own personal history, which includes three marriages and public admissions of infidelity, with that of the former president. "He was the president of the United States when certain things happened," he said. "My stuff is nothing when you take a look, in terms of a comparison." Clinton said she wouldn't respond to those kinds of attacks. "That's exactly what he's fishing for," she told CNN. Her supporters contend Trump's slams on her character will motivate Democrats, particularly female voters, so long as Clinton stays focused on rising above these matters. "I couldn't believe it, you blame the woman for male infidelity?" said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. "To me it was kind of bizarre that you would visit the sins of one on the other. I don't think there's any woman in America that doesn't understand that." Trump says his quarrel with Hillary Clinton's character is rooted in her involvement in past efforts to discredit the women linked to her husband, while portraying herself as a champion of women's issues. Aides at her campaign headquarters in New York have closely studied the various strategies of the Republican primary contenders who tried and failed to deflect Trump's insults. They expect far worst to be directed at Clinton. "It is no surprise he is running his campaign from the gutter, but Hillary Clinton doesn't care what he says about her," said Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon. Ed Klein, one of her most strident critics and the author of books spreading often discredited rumors about her marriage, had lunch with Trump this month. Another influence on Trump, GOP consultant Roger Stone, is known for peddling conspiracy theories about the Clintons and recently came out with a book, "The Clintons' War on Women," that outlines many of the allegations Trump has hinted at already. None of that particularly bothers Clinton, say aides, who's fended off personal attacks for decades and has become disciplined at ignoring them. But friends say Bill Clinton has been bracing for a revision of some of the worst moments of his presidency, including his impeachment proceedings. While he's been looking forward to going after Trump, some worry that he won't be able to stay on message if Trump's attacks grow even more personal. "He's despicable," said Susie Buell, a longtime Clinton backer, of Trump. "This is the reality and they know it, they don't go into it with blinders on." Clinton backers say she's seen her approval ratings rise in times of trouble. Her favorability peaked in late 1998, after her husband was impeached during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. And she won over female voters in New York after Republican opponent Rick Lazio invaded her personal space during a Senate debate. "Hillary Clinton has been through a lot of fires in her life and her career," said Stephanie Schriock, president of Emily's List, a Democratic group that backs female candidates who support abortion rights. Still, Trump's eagerness to make gender a major issue has complicated the delicate balancing act she already faces as the first woman to head a major party ticket. Clinton has stopped explicitly mentioning her role in history and joking about being the "youngest woman president." That's by design: Those kinds of direct appeals weren't working with voters. "De-emphasize the 'first' talk," advised a research report done by Emily's List. "They already know she'd be the first woman president," the report said of donors, "but we don't get anything by reminding them." Another challenge, say some of her aides, is tuning out the sometimes conflicting advice from her vast network of friends, former aides and advisers when they offer guidance on running while female. "If she's just herself it's going to be fine," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. "She just needs to be with America the way she is with us." ___ Lucey reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writers Julie Pace and Jeff Horowitz in Washington and Jill Colvin in Jersey City, New Jersey, contributed to this report. Clinton, Sanders duel over Latino vote in California LOS ANGELES (AP) Bernie Sanders' image gazes out from a corner storefront in Boyle Heights, a Hispanic enclave known for its plump burritos and a plaza where mariachis strum guitars. It's here that his campaign is going house to house to cut into Hillary Clinton's advantage with Latino voters. The oversized painting of the silver-haired Sanders was created by local artists. Perched in a front window, it's a centerpiece in an art gallery-turned-unofficial campaign office, where owner Mercedes Hart displays an array of T-shirts, lapel buttons even pink underwear bearing the Vermont senator's name. Out front, Sanders campaign workers have set up a table to register voters and organize volunteers, who will go out to knock on doors and stuff mailboxes with campaign literature. FILE - In this May 5, 2016 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes a photo with supporters at the end of a campaign stop at East Los Angeles College in Los Angeles. Bernie Sanders' campaign is mining deep into voter data from Hispanic enclaves, scouting for hidden supporters in an effort to undercut Hillary Clinton in a contest that he has vowed to fight to the end. Clinton ran up a 2-1 advantage with Hispanics in her 2008 win in California over Barack Obama and is making a strong push to do that again. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) "I don't ever feel like I believe politicians, but I believe him," says Hart, 35, who lived for years in Mexico. Like many Sanders' devotees, she is a first-time voter, taken up by his concern for workaday Americans in an economy divided by haves and have-nots. Visitors to her gallery are greeted by a sign above the door featuring a clenched fist and the slogan "Viva Bernie." It's just one snapshot of the tough Democratic presidential campaign playing out in the nation's largest state before the June 7 primary, even as Clinton appears to have a near-lock on the nomination. By some estimates, Hispanics could make up as many as 2 in 10 voters in California. The contest comes on the same day as those in New Jersey and several other states, in what amounts to the finale of the 2016 primary season. A come-from-behind win for Sanders in California a Clinton stronghold and home to 1 in 8 people in the United States would end the former first lady's campaign with a thud, allowing Sanders to refresh his argument that he's the party's best chance to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November. It would still, though, almost certainly leave him short of the delegates needed to catch up to her. The New Jersey results alone may put her over the top June 7. The California contest has taken on new urgency after Clinton's shaky performance this month. Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs contends that "millions of Americans have growing doubts about the Clinton campaign," citing Sanders' recent victories in Indiana, West Virginia and Oregon. You could say that age lines have defined the fight for the Latino vote. Clinton ran up a commanding 2-to-1 edge with Hispanics when she carried California over Barack Obama in the state's 2008 presidential primary. But an independent Field Poll last month revealed a much closer contest and a familiar divide in the electorate: Clinton had a 7-point edge with Hispanics overall, while Sanders was the choice by a nearly 3-to-1 margin for Latinos under age 40. Meanwhile, voter registration among young Hispanics, those age 18 to 29, has been climbing, and they lean to Sanders. Sanders "has a real potential to win Latinos" in California, predicted Sanders campaign pollster Ben Tulchin. "He needs an influx of young Latinos and he's getting it, it's happening." Who ultimately turns out on election day will be critical to the outcome, said Jaime Regalado, former executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles. Also, younger voters are notoriously fickle, especially among Hispanics. "The most likely Latino voter is still an older voter in California," Regalado said. "And those voters, almost to a person, will stay with Clinton." Clinton can count endorsements from virtually all of the state's prominent Hispanic politicians, including former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Secretary of State Alex Padilla and U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra, who heads the House Democratic Caucus. This past week, she added Dolores Huerta, a co-founder of United Farm Workers, to her list of Hispanic advisers. Longtime labor leader Eliseo Medina, another newly enlisted Clinton adviser, told reporters that the campaign was working to boost Hispanic turnout. "We need to do better, especially among our young people," Medina said. Both campaigns have been drilling into voter data to find potential supporters in Hispanic neighborhoods, and lacing their speeches with touchstone issues for Hispanics, including education, immigration and wages. One example of the fierce competition: Clinton held a rally at a nearby college on Cinco de Mayo, the annual celebration of all things Mexican, where Sanders supporters organized a noisy protest. At a community college near downtown Los Angeles that enrolls a large number of Hispanics, Sanders volunteers last week were asking students, "Are you registered to vote?" and handing out postcards with a depiction of Sanders, dressed as Uncle Sam. Among Latino voters, the question is whether Sanders can keep closing the once-wide gap with Clinton, says Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo. "It's the younger crowd and the new voters that have been really helping Sanders," he said. "The question then becomes, has that momentum continued?" Efimova's provisional doping ban lifted by FINA LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) Four-time world champion Yulia Efimova has had her provisional doping suspension lifted by swimming's governing body. FINA says it is following a recommendation from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which is conducting further scientific research on Meldonium. Efimova said she tested positive for Meldonium earlier this year, but she professed her innocence. The endurance-boosting drug was banned on Jan. 1. WADA is researching whether a low concentration of Meldonium can indicate whether athletes did not take it after Jan. 1 FINA "clarifies that this case is not closed. Following the outcome of WADA's scientific studies and subsequent indication on this matter, the FINA Doping Panel will take a decision." Protesters march to mark 2nd anniversary of Thailand coup BANGKOK (AP) More than 200 people marched in Thailand's capital on Sunday to protest military rule on the second anniversary of the coup that toppled the country's elected government. The march in Bangkok was one of the biggest anti-junta protests since the takeover and was treated with unusual tolerance by the authorities, who usually take a heavy-handed approach to dissent, both on the streets and online. The protest was spearheaded by a small group of students who have been involved in a string of spirited smaller demonstrations that represent the most significant public opposition to military rule. A pro-coup demonstrator chants as she is led away from anti-coup protesters at Democracy Monument during a ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the military take over of government in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Thailand's military seized power from an elected government on May 22, 2014, with the justification that it wanted to end chaotic and violent political confrontations that had wracked the country for years. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) "I think they should give the people democracy, return power to the people," said protester Bang-orn Saeling. "It's been two years already!" The army took power on May 22, 2014, after several months of militant and sometimes violent protests against the government of then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted as prime minister in a 2006 coup, and his supporters and opponents have been engaged in a political power struggle since then. Sunday's march came less than three months before a referendum on a new, contentious, military-directed constitution. Critics say the charter would weaken political parties and force future governments to stick to policies preordained by the junta. A new law threatens heavy punishment for anyone campaigning for a "no" vote, but marchers took the chance to make their views known. Some protesters wore T-shirts that said in English "Vote No," and in Thai "No to a future that we have not chosen." They called for the draft charter's rejection and staged a mock ballot in which they cast votes against it. The march covered historic ground, from Thammasat University, known for its political activism, to nearby Democracy Monument, a popular venue for mass protests. It was peaceful except for some minor disruptions by a handful of counter-demonstrators whom police isolated from the marchers. Protesters march from Thammasat University in a protest to mark the second anniversary of the military take over of government in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Thailand's military seized power from an elected government on May 22, 2014, with the justification that it wanted to end chaotic and violent political confrontations that had wracked the country for years. But more than an attempt to restore stability was at play. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) Wearing a headband that reads: "bring back the constitution," a demonstrator smiles during a protest to mark the second anniversary of the military take over of government in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Thailand's military seized power from an elected government on May 22, 2014, with the justification that it wanted to end chaotic and violent political confrontations that had wracked the country for years. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) Police stand watch as anti-coup demonstrators protest on the steps of Democracy Monument to mark the second anniversary of the military take over of government in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Thailand's military seized power from an elected government on May 22, 2014, with the justification that it wanted to end chaotic and violent political confrontations that had wracked the country for years. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) A man wears a plastic bag on his head for protection from the rain as he watches anti-coup protesters march to Democracy Monument to mark the second anniversary of the military take over of the government in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Thailand's military seized power from an elected government on May 22, 2014, with the justification that it wanted to end chaotic and violent political confrontations that had wracked the country for years. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) A demonstrator holds up banners during an anti-coup protest on the steps of Democracy Monument to mark the second anniversary of the military take over of government in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Thailand's military seized power from an elected government on May 22, 2014, with the justification that it wanted to end chaotic and violent political confrontations that had wracked the country for years. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) Students from Thammasat University attent a protest to mark the second anniversary of the military take over of government in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) Merkel expresses concern about situation of Kurds in Turkey BERLIN (AP) Ahead of her visit to Turkey, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says "some developments in Turkey fill us with big worries." The chancellor expressed concern over the Kurdish conflict in an interview with weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on Sunday saying "we want that the Kurdish people have an equal place and a good future in Turkey." Merkel left for Turkey on Sunday afternoon to attend the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul and also meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Texas police say criminals often using imitation weapons DALLAS (AP) Police in Texas say more crimes are being committed with imitation weapons like BB guns, likely because they're cheap, easy to obtain and criminals may believe mistakenly that if they're caught, they'll avoid the severe punishment that can come with illegally possessing a real one. Police Lt. Christopher Cook in the Dallas suburb of Arlington says his officers are being told by arrested suspects of their preference for the imitation weapons. They can be purchased for as little as $25 and no background check is required. But if the victim of a crime in Texas believes a weapon pointed at them is real, that's enough to warrant a first-degree felony charge and a maximum sentence of life in prison. New Jersey has a similar law, though the punishment is less harsh, while others states, including California, draw a greater distinction between real and imitation weapons. This photo posted to Twitter on May 8, 2016 by the Arlington Police Department shows a BB gun and fake ammunition that were taken from a drug suspect police say. Police in Texas say more crimes are being committed with imitation weapons like BB guns, likely because they're cheap, easy to obtain and criminals may mistakenly believe that if they're caught, they'll avoid the severe punishment that can come with a serious weapons charge. (Arlington Police Department via AP) Arlington police this year have seen at least half a dozen instances where gang members were found in possession of a BB, air, toy or some other kind of imitation gun, Cook said. Officers have also responded to at least five armed robberies where the suspect was armed with one. In the most recent case, police caught a teenager Thursday night who robbed an Arlington store using an imitation handgun, he said. Houston police say they, too, have seen a rising use of imitation weapons that peaked a couple of years ago, spokeswoman Jodi Silva said. "They're easily accessible and they're cheap," Silva said. John Convery with the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association said he hasn't heard of many court cases involving defendants found with a fake weapon. But he noted that many Texas residents are licensed to carry handguns, so it could be life-threatening to commit a crime while brandishing a weapon, fake or real. "If it looks like a gun and acts like a gun," he said. "The victim is going to believe it's a gun." Cook noted that officers have fired on armed suspects who they later learned were carrying an imitation gun. Earlier this month in El Paso, police fatally shot a man after he ran toward them waving what turned out to be a BB gun. "There's no training in the world that will allow officers to make split-second decisions on the difference between real guns and fake guns," Cook said, adding that his department may lobby for a state law that places restrictions on imitations firearms. "We just don't believe there's a legitimate reason to manufacture them in a way that makes them look so real," he said. Cleveland officials last month reached a $6 million settlement in a lawsuit over the death of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black boy shot by a white police officer while playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation center. The pellet gun, which Tamir borrowed from a friend, was missing the orange tip that federal regulations require on imitations to distinguish them from real firearms. "All they have to do is pull the little orange cap off and it's very realistic," Silva said. Some states have imposed stiffer restrictions. New York announced in December that 30 online retailers had agreed to stop selling realistic imitation guns in the state, where a law requires that fake or toy guns be brightly colored or have colored striping down the barrel. California adopted similar measures in 2014. Ten other states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. also have passed legislation regarding imitation firearms, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Texas is not among them. Many manufacturers of imitation weapons are based abroad. One of the largest in the U.S., Daisy Outdoor Products, didn't respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. One of the largest U.S. distributors, Jag Precision, also didn't return a message. Manufacturers often include disclaimers warning against misuse or any unauthorized alterations. ___ Follow David Warren on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/WarrenJourno. Top US commander makes secret visit to Syria NORTHERN SYRIA (AP) On a secret trip to Syria, the new commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said he felt a moral obligation to enter a war zone to check on his troops and make his own assessment of progress in organizing local Arab and Kurd fighters for what has been a slow campaign to push the Islamic State group out of Syria. "I have responsibility for this mission, and I have responsibility for the people that we put here," Army Gen. Joseph Votel said in an interview as dusk fell Saturday on the remote outpost where he had arrived 11 hours earlier. "So it's imperative for me to come and see what they're dealing with to share the risk they are dealing with." Votel, who has headed U.S. Central Command for just seven weeks, became the highest-ranking U.S. military officer known to have entered Syria since the U.S. began its campaign to counter the Islamic State group in 2014. The circumstance was exceptional because the U.S. has no combat units in Syria, no diplomatic relations with Syria and for much of the past two years has enveloped much of its Syria military mission in secrecy. Army Gen. Joseph Votel speaks to reporters Saturday, May 21, 2016 during a secret trip to Syria. Votel said he is encouraged by progress in building local Syrian Arab and Kurdish forces to fight the Islamic State. (AP Photo/Robert Burns) Votel said he brought reporters with him because, "We don't have anything to hide. I don't want people guessing about what we're doing here. The American people should have the right to see what we're doing here." Votel flew into northern Syria from Iraq, where he had conferred on Friday with U.S. and Iraqi military commanders. In Syria he met with U.S. military advisers working with Syrian Arab fighters and consulted with leaders of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an umbrella group of Kurdish and Arab fighters supported by the U.S. A small group of reporters accompanied Votel under ground rules that, for security reasons, prohibited disclosing his visit until after he had left Syria. After landing at a remote camp where American military advisers are training Syrian Arab troops in basic soldiering skills, Votel split off from the reporters who flew in with him; he then visited several other undisclosed locations in Syria before returning to the camp. Syria is a raging war zone, torn by multiple conflicts that have created severe human suffering across much of the country. But on Saturday the U.S. advisers camp that Votel visited was quiet. Situated about 50 miles from the nearest fighting, it was remarkably quiet. The sharpest sound was a month-old puppy's yapping as he ran between visitors' legs. A light breeze nudged several bright-yellow flags of the Syrian Democratic Forces attached to small bushes and atop a post buried in an earthen berm beside a shooting range. Aides said Votel's flight into Syria was the first made in daylight by U.S. forces, who have about 200 advisers on the ground. Military ground rules for the trip prohibited reporting the kind of aircraft Votel used, the exact location of where he landed and the names and images of the U.S. military advisers, who said they have been operating from the camp since January. An Associated Press reporter and journalists from two other news organizations were the first Western media to visit the secretive operation. The last known high-level U.S. official to visit Syria was Brett McGurk, Obama's envoy to the coalition fighting Islamic State militants. He spent two days in Syria in late January, including a tour of Kobani, the small town near the Turkish border where Kurdish fighters backed by U.S. airstrikes had expelled an entrenched group of Islamic State fighters a year earlier. In the interview, Votel said his visit had hardened his belief that the U.S. is taking the right approach to developing local forces to fight IS, an acronym for the Islamic State group. "I left with increased confidence in their capabilities and our ability to support them," he said. "I think that model is working and working well." The U.S. has struggled to find an effective ground force to take on IS in Syria, where President Barack Obama has ruled out a U.S. ground combat role. This presents a different problem than in Iraq, where the U.S. at least has a government to partner with. The problem in Syria is complicated by the fractured nature of the opposition to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. is trying to develop credible Arab fighters to retake Raqqa, the Islamic State group's self-declared capital, while Syrian Kurds have retaken territory from IS in other parts of northern Syria. The U.S. is supporting what it calls the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is predominantly comprised of Syrian Kurds, numbering at least 25,000 fighters, with a smaller element of Syrian Arabs, numbering perhaps 5,000 to 6,000. The U.S. is trying to increase the Arab numbers. Syrian Arab commanders who were made available for interviews at the U.S. camp Saturday said their forces are gaining battlefield momentum but also need a lot more help. They were quick to say the U.S.-led coalition should pitch in more. Qarhaman Hasan, the deputy commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said he has given the Americans a list of his most pressing needs. Atop his list: armored vehicles, heavy weapons like machine guns, as well as rocket launchers and mortars. "We're creating an army," he said through an interpreter, and have had to rely on smuggling to get weapons. "You can't run an army on smuggling," he said. Tribal leaders said in interviews that they also want to see the U.S. do more, both militarily and with humanitarian aid. "America has the capabilities," said Sheik Abu Khalid as he puffed on a cigarette under the shade of pomegranate and pine trees. Talal Selo, spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, was especially strong in his criticism of the U.S. for providing too little assistance and for giving the SDF "very useless" support. He said that if this continued, the Syrians opposing the Islamic State group will have to fight for another 50 years. Syrian Arab sheik, Abu Khalif, speaks to reporters traveling with Army Gen. Joseph Votel during a secret visit to northern Syria, Saturday, May 21, 2016. Votel, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East secretly visited Syria for a first-hand look at efforts to build cohesive alliances of Arab, Kurd and other local fighters to defeat the Islamic State. (AP Photo/Robert Burns) Obama looks to boost economic, security ties in Asia HANOI, Vietnam (AP) President Barack Obama's mission in Vietnam and Japan is to build stronger economic and security ties with Asian-Pacific allies anxious about the rise of an increasingly muscular China. That forward-looking message will be delivered even as he confronts the legacies of two wars long past Vietnam and World War II that still are fraught with emotion. Obama's first stop on his weeklong Asia trip was Vietnam, where he is the third sitting president to visit since the end of the war. Four decades after the fall of Saigon, and two decades after President Bill Clinton restored relations with the nation, Obama is eager to upgrade relations with an emerging power whose rapidly expanding middle class beckons as a promising market for U.S. goods and an offset to China's growing strength in the region. Obama arrived in Hanoi late Sunday. He went to the Presidential Palace and complimented the Vietnamese on making "extraordinary progress." Obama referred to strengthened ties between the two countries and took a photo with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang. Obama and Quang will also hold a press conference after their meeting. U.S. President Barack Obama arrives on Air Force One at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The president is on a weeklong trip to Asia as part of his effort to pay more attention to the region and boost economic and security cooperation. (Hoang Dinh Nam/ Pool Photo via AP) During his three-day stay in Vietnam, he'll make the case for stronger commercial and security ties, including approval of the 12-nation trans-Pacific trade agreement that is stalled in Congress and facing strong opposition from the 2016 presidential candidates. Vietnam also is hoping that Obama will use the visit to erase an irksome vestige of the war by lifting the U.S. partial embargo on selling arms to the country. The idea is under consideration, but concern about Vietnam's human rights record could weigh against it. In Japan, Obama will attend a summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations, where the uncertain global economy will be a top concern of the G-7 leaders. They'll also grapple with a full array of world challenges, including the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, the refugee crisis in Europe and Russian aggression. Also on the agenda will be Beijing's assertive claims in the South China Sea that are causing tensions with other countries in the region. While the summit isn't expected to produce any breakthroughs, it gives leaders a rare opportunity to talk through the intractable difficulties they confront. "Remember that leaders are lonely people," says Michael Green, senior vice president for Asia at the private Center for Strategic and International Studies. "These people don't have much time to sit down with their peers to talk about common challenges." For all of that, the culminating moment of Obama's trip will be a solemn visit to Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb that killed 140,000 people, ushering in the nuclear age seven decades ago. Another bomb killed 70,000 in Nagasaki three days later. It will be a moment to reflect on the devastating costs of war and to try to give new impetus to the call for a nuclear-free world that Obama issued seven years ago in his first year as president. Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said the Vietnam and Japan visits both reflect Obama's world view "that we can move beyond difficult and complicated histories" to find areas of common interest. "You could not have had a more violent conflict than we had with the Japanese in World War II, as a visit to Hiroshima will certainly mark, but now they are among our closest friends in the world," Rhodes said. "You could not have a more contested, controversial, costly, tragic war than the Vietnam War, and now (Vietnam) is becoming a partner of the United States, an important partner." Still, concerns about human and political rights shadow the president's stay in Vietnam. The country did free a Catholic priest who had been one of its longest-serving political prisoners in the lead-up to the president's visit. But the U.S. remains concerned about severe government restrictions on citizens' political rights and limits on civil liberties and free expression. On Sunday, the country held parliamentary elections controlled by the Communist Party, which chooses who can stand for election. The government's heavy-handed response to recent unrest over mass fish deaths off the coast of Ha Tinh province prompted the advocacy group Human Rights Watch to call on Vietnamese leaders to put a stop to "harassment, intimidation and persecution" of environmental activists. In an unprecedented show of defiance for the communist country, thousands of people have protested publicly in at least seven cities on recent Sundays to demand a transparent government investigation. The protests were forcibly put down by security forces. In advance of the president's visit, the White House invited representatives of Vietnam veterans' organizations to trace progress in the U.S.-Vietnamese relationship. And it brought in Vietnamese civic to underscore its commitment to promoting human and political rights in the country. Rick Weidman, executive director for policy at the Vietnam Veterans of America, who participated in one of the meetings, said there still are wounds from Vietnam that need healing. He said the U.S. needs to do more to account for those still missing from the war and to help deal with ill effects from U.S. use of Agent Orange during the war. The administration is expected to announce more steps during Obama's visit to help with cleanup of the chemical herbicide. ___ Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nbenac U.S. President Barack Obama arrives on Air Force One at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The president is on a weeklong trip to Asia as part of his effort to pay more attention to the region and boost economic and security cooperation. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) U.S. President Barack Obama is given flowers by Linh Tran, the ceremonial flower girl, as he arrives on Air Force One at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The president is on a weeklong trip to Asia as part of his effort to pay more attention to the region and boost economic and security cooperation. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) A Vietnamese couple pass a poster of U.S President Barack Obama with footnote read "Welcome to our city", hanging in a door front in Hanoi, Vietnam on Sunday, May 22, 2016. Obama is expected to land in Hanoi on Monday for a three-day state visit to Vietnam. There's high hope for his visit, both from the government, which wants him to lift an arms export embargo, and from rights activists who want him to hold to account a leadership seen as treating its critics abysmally. (AP Photo/ Hau Dinh) A man walks pass a billboard of Vietnam's Parliamentary Election in Hanoi, Vietnam on Sunday, May 22, 2016. Ahead of President Barack Obama's first visit to Vietnam, the country voted Sunday in once-every-five-year-elections for a rubber-stamp parliament whose membership has already been largely determined by the Communist Party. (AP Photo/ Hau Dinh) 'Angry Birds' flocks to No. 1 over 'Neighbors,' 'Nice Guys' LOS ANGELES (AP) "Captain America" has found a worthy competitor in a bunch of flightless birds. "The Angry Birds Movie" soared to $39 million in its debut weekend, knocking "Captain America: Civil War" off its first-place perch, while new adult comedies "Neighbors 2" and the "The Nice Guys" struggled to get their footing, according to comScore estimates Sunday. Rovio Animation spearheaded the production of "The Angry Birds Movie," which cost around $73 million to make, and it opened strong internationally last weekend. The film has already earned $150 million worldwide, according to estimates from Sony, which is distributing the film. "The Angry Birds Movie" features the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad and Danny McBride and has received mixed reviews from critics in its attempt to create a compelling story out of a fairly simplistic app-based game. But audiences under 25 gave the film an A CinemaScore, which should help the film continue to perform well over Memorial Day weekend. This image released by Sony Pictures shows the character Red, voiced by Jason Sudeikis, in a scene from "The Angry Birds Movie." (Sony Pictures via AP) "It's very difficult turning a video-game property into a successful movie," said Josh Greenstein, Sony's president of worldwide marketing and distribution. "To use a bad pun, we are flying high." Video-game adaptations have not had the best track record, but comScore's Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian notes that the success of "Angry Birds" likely has more to do with its family appeal and ingrained brand recognition. "Families are always looking for out-of-the-home content," Dergarabedian said, noting also that this is the latest in a string of very successful PG-rated films including "The Jungle Book" and "Zootopia." "PG is the hot new rating now. There used to be a stigma that younger teens wouldn't be interested," he said. "The numbers prove that when you go after the broadest base possible, you can be highly successful." The PG-13 rated "Captain America: Civil War" wasn't too far behind, earning an additional $33.1 million this weekend for a second-place spot, which brings its domestic total to $347.4 million. And, even in its third weekend in theaters, the superhero proved mightier than a fresh batch of R-rated comedies, "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising" and "The Nice Guys," both of which underwhelmed in their debuts. "Neighbors 2" brought in only $21.8 million less than half of the first film's $49 million opening in 2014. But the film from director Nick Stoller also cost only $35 million to make. "We're really proud of 'Neighbors 2'," said Nick Carpou, Universal's President of Domestic Distribution. "We're not just out there trying to go to the bank on something. It really is a different take." Stars Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne and Zac Efron all returned for the sequel, which puts a new spin on the frat next door idea by having the young family's new neighbors be a sorority comprised of girls upset about the unequal rules for fraternities and sororities. The R-rated 70s-set buddy comedy "The Nice Guys," meanwhile, grossed $11.3 million for a fourth-place spot. Warner Bros. handled the domestic distribution for the Shane Black-directed film, which stars Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. It has been very well-received by critics, but it seemed to fly under the radar on this crowded weekend. While the comedy openings might be less than hoped for, both could still provide decent counterprogramming to the spectacle-driven films opening on Memorial Day weekend, when mega productions "X-Men: Apocalypse," which made $103.3 million internationally this weekend, and "Alice Through the Looking Glass" take over. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. 1. "The Angry Birds Movie," $39 million ($55.5 million international). 2. "Captain America: Civil War," $33.1 million ($30.7 million international). 3. "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising," $21.8 million ($6 million international). 4. "The Nice Guys," $11.3 million. 5. "The Jungle Book," $11 million ($7.4 million international). 6. "Money Monster," $7.1 million ($2.8 million international). 7. "The Darkness," $2.4 million. 8. "Zootopia," $1.7 million ($4.7 million international). 9. "The Huntsman: Winter's War," $1.2 million ($610,000 international). 10. "Mother's Day," $1.1 million ($485,000 international). ___ Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to comScore: 1. "X-Men: Apocalypse," $103.3 million. 2. "The Angry Birds Movie," $55.5 million. 3. "Captain America: Civil War," $30.7 million. 4. "The Wailing," $11.1 million. 5. "The Divergent Series: Allegiant," $11 million. 6. "The Jungle Book," $7.4 million. 7. "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising," $6 million. 8. "Zootopia," $4.7 million. 9. "Night Peacock," $3.9 million. 10. "Money Monster," $2.8 million. ___ Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC. ___ Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/ldbahr This image released by Universal Pictures shows, from left, Carla Gallo, Ike Barinholtz, Zac Efron, Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne in a scene from "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising." (Chuck Zlotnick/Universal Pictures via AP) Iowa landowners challenge pipeline's authority to seize land DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Landowners have filed two lawsuits in northwest Iowa in an attempt to block construction of a $3.8 billion oil pipeline. The Des Moines Register reports (http://dmreg.co/1OHctQe ) the landowners are trying to keep the pipeline company from being able to use eminent domain powers to secure access to their land for the project. Houston-based Dakota Access LLC wants to build the pipeline from northwest North Dakota to a storage facility in south-central Illinois. The pipeline would transport up to 570,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the Bakken oil field in western North Dakota. Construction has begun in North Dakota, South Dakota and Illinois, but the Iowa Utilities Board has not authorized work to begin. And the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hasn't yet issued permits for the project. Dakota Access officials have said the company will work with regulators to move forward with construction of the pipeline in Iowa. Lawyer Bill Hanigan, who represents both couples that sued on Friday, said the landowners hope the court will block Cherokee County proceedings to set the value of the land Dakota Access wants to build the pipeline on. County officials are set to meet June 13. "Landowners have begun receiving notices of the county compensation meetings," Hanigan said in a prepared statement. "Unless suspended, the meetings will result in Dakota Access taking possession of the farmland. We are asking Iowa's courts to suspend these actions until after a full hearing on the merits of each landowner's case." The lawsuits argue that because Dakota Access is not a utility, it should not be able to use eminent domain to force landowners to sell access to their land for the project. Eminent domain is the power governments use to take private property for a public purpose in return for fair-market compensation. A separate lawsuit filed in Polk County argues that the Iowa Utility Board shouldn't have approved eminent domain authority for the pipeline. The Corps of Engineers is reviewing the proposed pipeline project because it would cross the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Officials have said that the Corps will likely decide on those permits within the next 60 to 120 days. ___ Serbia police find 43 migrants, accuse 2 women of smuggling BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) Serbian police say they have found 43 migrants in two private houses in the capital of Belgrade. Police said Sunday that two Serbian women who were also in the houses are facing charges of people smuggling and illegal crossing of the state border. The statement says that migrants had no documents. Police have not specified their nationalities. Migrants have been using the help of smugglers to reach the European Union after the closure of the so-called Balkan corridor and an EU-Turkey agreement aimed at curbing the influx. Egyptians detained over islands protest start hunger strike CAIRO (AP) Over a dozen Egyptians detained for planning a demonstration last month have gone on hunger strike in protest at what they describe as their "unfair trial," their family members said Sunday. Of the 152 detained, 10 went on hunger strike last week and another 11 joined them Saturday, Heba Mohamed, the wife of Egyptian detainee Nagi Kamel, told The Associated Press. A new group of detainees will be joining the strike every few days, she said. Three of the hunger strikers were moved to hospital on Saturday according to Misr Abdel-Wahed, a sister of one of them. "They took extreme measures by going on hunger strike without the availability of proper health care," said lawyer Mokhtar Mounir, adding that this was the only way they could express their opposition to the trials. The 152 were convicted for demonstrations planned on April 25 to protest the government's surrender to Saudi Arabia of two Red Sea islands. All 152 were convicted on a single day, in three mass hearings, for breaking a law that effectively bans demonstrations. Some were sentenced to up to five years in prison. To claw or not to claw? NY cat proposal sparks frisky debate ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) For many decades, declawing cats has been a routine veterinary procedure, but this is no simple pedicure. There's anesthesia, pain medication and the amputation of the cat's toes back to the first knuckle. New York's first-in-the-nation legislative proposal to ban the declawing of cats has sparked a heated debate among veterinarians and cat lovers alike, with some insisting it's inhumane and others saying it should be allowed as a last resort for felines that won't stop scratching furniture, carpets and their owners. "None of us love the procedure," said Richard Goldstein, a veterinarian at New York City's Animal Medical Center and a former faculty member at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. "But when the alternative is condemning the cat to a shelter or to death? That's why we do it." In this May 19, 2016 photo provided by Lisa Fernandez, school children interact with "Rubio," who is a poster cat for The Paw Project, an advocacy organization against feline declawing. Fernandez, a Brooklyn elementary school principal, leads a program to teach the schoolchildren about declawing and help them stage action against it. At rear left is Jacques Cadeau, Suleila Clarke, is in the foreground and Brandon Blue is at right. (Lisa Fernandez via AP) The state and national veterinary organizations that say they oppose a ban on declawing do so because it's often the only way for cats with behavioral problems to keep from being abandoned or euthanized, they say. Such medical decisions should be left to the professionals and cat owners, not lawmakers, they add. It's the reality of the procedure itself that has raised the backs of opponents. Unlike human nails, a cat's claws are attached to bone, so declawing a feline requires a veterinarian to slice through tendon and nerves to remove the last segment of bone in a cat's toes. "It's amputation. It is the equivalent of taking a cigar cutter and cutting the end joint off," said Jenner Conrad, a California veterinarian who traveled to Albany this past week to lobby lawmakers for the proposed ban. Brooklyn elementary school principal Lisa Fernandez said she declawed her own cat before she knew what it entailed. Students at her school are now participating in a lobbying campaign to urge lawmakers to support the ban. "When I found out what it was, I was horrified," said Fernandez. The debate comes as Americans' feelings about their four-legged friends continue to evolve. Another bill in New York's Legislature would remove sales taxes on pet food, and lawmakers here voted last year to allow dogs to join their human companions on the patios of restaurants. Several states have now banned surgeries which remove a dog's vocal cords. And all 50 states now have statutes making severe animal cruelty a felony. "There's a rising tide of social concern about animal welfare," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States. "We've proven that the American public is deeply concerned about the welfare of animals, the ones that live with them and the ones used for food production." Australia, Britain and several European countries already ban cat declawing. It's also illegal in Los Angeles and some other California cities. Estimates are that about a quarter of all household cats will be declawed in their lifetimes though vets that spoke to the AP say it's becoming less and less common. At the Animal Haven shelter in lower Manhattan, associate director Kendra Mara said about 10 percent of the cats up for adoption are declawed. Some of the felines who have the procedure resort to biting instead, and some avoid using the litter box because the litter can aggravate their wounds. "It's never an easy adoption," she said. "There's always the need to work on the behavior issue." Manhattan resident Brian Gari, one of several cat owners interviewed by the AP, inherited his 10-year-old cat Kiki when his father passed away and declawed her because "he put his furniture in front of the welfare of the cat." Gari said Kiki has problems using the litterbox, forcing him to put her into a room lined with newspapers. "It's a total nightmare. I have to work around the situation," he said. "She's very sweet though. But she's completely screwed up." Vets who spoke to the AP said cat owners increasingly turn to alternatives scratching posts, regular clippings or small caps that go over a cat's nails. The New York State Veterinary Medical Society, however, remains opposed to a full ban. President Susan Wylegala said the number of declawings at her Buffalo-area practice is less than 50 percent of what it was just three years ago. "We're seeing it in significantly lower numbers because vets are educating clients on the alternatives that are available," she said. "It needs to remain that last option." FILE- In this May 17, 2016, file photo, a cat named Rubio walks in front of the podium during a news conference in Albany, N.Y. Legislation in New York to ban declawing cats is singling out a once-common procedure that veterinarians say is now on the decline. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File) In this Friday, May 20, 2016, photo, Chief Medical Officer at the Animal Medical Center, Dr. Richard Goldstein speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in New York. Goldstein says that veterinarians dont like to declaw cats but its better than the alternatives of housing the cat in a shelter or putting it to death. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) 3 races in 3 days: Dafne Schippers shows top form at FBK HENGELO, Netherlands (AP) World champion Dafne Schippers set a world-leading time in the 200 meters at the FBK Games Sunday in her third sprint race in as many days to show her early form in the Olympic season. If not for a headwind and constant rain that left the track slippery, the Dutchwoman would have been the first to dip under 22 seconds this year. Instead, she had to settle for 22.02 seconds, shaving .23 off her previous season's best at her home meeting in eastern Netherlands. "It was typical Dutch weather," Schippers said. "You have to be able to run in all conditions." She beat Jodie Williams of Britain, who finished with 23.06. Tiffany Townsend of the United States was third in 23.12. "I hadn't expected a time like this already now," said Schippers, the third best performer of all time with a time of 21.63. No one has run faster in the 21st century. It was the second convincing victory for Schippers in three days after she won the 100 at Manchester's Great City Games in 10.94 with a big margin of .25 over American rival Tianna Bartolleta. It would have been a perfect 3-for-3 had the Dutch 4x100 relay team not had a botched handover on the anchor leg, well after Schippers had seemingly sent them on their way to victory. On Sunday, Schippers was not all that worried about the lack of top class opposition. What she required was race rhythm, the kind she will need in Rio, where she will be looking for a 100-200 sprint gold double and perhaps a shot at a relay medal. At the European championships in Amsterdam in July, she will be running a potential four races in five days and at the Rio Games, she faces a potential eight races in 10 days. Mexican police find 13 pounds of heroin headed for US MEXICO CITY (AP) Prosecutors in Mexico say they have seized 13 pounds (6.2 kilograms) of heroin that was headed for the United States. The Attorney General's Office says the heroin was found in a hidden compartment of a car near the city of Iguala, Guerrero. That's the city where officials say police in league with drug gangs kidnapped and killed more than 40 teachers' college students. The office says in a statement Sunday that the purified heroin known as China white was being transported from the Guerrero state capital of Chilpancingo. Two men in the car told officials the drugs were to be delivered in the city of Cuernavaca and were eventually destined for the U.S. market. Guerrero state is a main producer of opium paste. The Latest: Injured state trooper scheduled for surgery AUBURN, Mass. (AP) The Latest on a police officer that was shot and killed in a Massachusetts town (all times local): 9:00 p.m. The state trooper who was shot by the man who authorities say killed a Massachusetts police officer is scheduled to undergo surgery. This undated identification photo released by the Massachusetts State Police shows Jorge Zambrano, killed Sunday, May 22, 2016, during an exchange of gunfire with police at an apartment building in Oxford, Mass. Zambrano had been suspected in the shooting death of Auburn, Mass., Police Officer Ronald Tarentino during a traffic stop early Sunday morning. (Massachusetts State Police via AP) State police say the trooper suffered a gunshot wound to his left shoulder Sunday evening during an exchange of gunfire with the suspect. He was being prepped for surgery Sunday night. The trooper is an 18-year veteran of the state police, where his duties include assignment to the department's Special Tactical Operations Team. He's a former U.S. Navy Seal. His name wasn't immediately released. The suspect, 35-year-old Jorge Zambrano, was killed during the shootout with law enforcement officials at an apartment building in Oxford, about 7 miles south of Auburn. The manhunt began after Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino was fatally shot during a traffic stop early Sunday morning. ___ 8:25 p.m. Officials in Massachusetts are assuring residents they are safe following a statewide manhunt for the suspect in the fatal shooting of a police officer. Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis said in a news conference Sunday evening that any threat was over. The suspect, 35-year-old Jorge Zambrano, was killed during an exchange of gunfire with police at an apartment building in Oxford, about 7 miles south of Auburn. A state trooper also was injured. He's expected to survive. Authorities say they found a vehicle that Zambrano had been driving parked in the back of the building. They were searching an apartment when a bedroom closet door burst open and Zambrano opened fire. The manhunt began after Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino was fatally shot during a traffic stop about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. ___ 7:55 p.m. Authorities have identified the suspect in the fatal shooting of a Massachusetts police officer as 35-year-old Jorge Zambrano. They say Zambrano was killed Sunday evening during a shootout with police at an Oxford apartment building. A state trooper also was injured during the exchange of gunfire. The 18-year veteran of the state police and former Navy Seal is expected to survive. His name was not immediately released. Authorities say they were searching an apartment when a closet door in a bedroom burst open and Zambrano opened fire. The manhunt began after Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino was fatally shot during a traffic stop about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. The 42-year-old Tarentino leaves behind a wife and three children. ___ 7:10 p.m. Massachusetts authorities say the suspect in the fatal shooting of an Auburn police officer has been shot in an exchange of gunfire and has died. Authorities say at a news conference Sunday evening that a Massachusetts State trooper also was injured in the exchange with the suspect and he was taken to a hospital. The trooper's name wasn't released. A manhunt began after Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino was fatally shot during a traffic stop about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis assured the central Massachusetts community that they are safe and any threat to area residents is over. ___ 3:30 p.m. Neighbors of a Massachusetts police officer who was fatally shot during a traffic stop are mourning his death. Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino was shot around 12:30 a.m. Sunday. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Residents in Tarentino's Leicester neighborhood remember him as a pleasant family man. Phillip Stanikmas told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette that Tarentino kept an eye out for his 91-year-old mother when she was home alone. Stanikmas said he was "distraught" when Tarentino left the Leicester Police Department two years ago to join Auburn because he was a "great guy." Next-door neighbor Vin Dagostino called Tarentino a "super nice guy with a super nice family." The 42-year-old Tarentino leaves behind a wife and three children. Police are still searching for a suspect. ___ This story has been corrected to show Tarentino had been with the Auburn police for two years, not three. ___ 12:20 p.m. Authorities say a police officer has died hours after being shot during a traffic stop in a central Massachusetts town, and a suspect is on the loose. Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis says Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino was shot and killed early Sunday. Sluckis said the 42-year-old Tarentino was shot at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday in Auburn, about 45 miles southwest of Boston. The officer was transported to UMass Medical Center where he later died. The shooting is under investigation. Police guard the scene on Rochdale Street near Zabelle Ave where an Auburn Police officer was shot Sunday morning May 22, 2016, in Auburn, Mass. Massachusetts State Police say in a statement that an Auburn police officer was shot at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Auburn is about 45 miles southwest of Boston. Officials say the officer was transported to a hospital. The identity and medical condition of officer were not immediately available. The shooting is under investigation. (Rick Cinclair/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis reads a statement about Auburn police Officer Ronald Tarentino who was was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Auburn, Mass., Sunday, May 22, 2016. Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr., right, joins Sluckis at the briefing. (Rick Cinclair/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Massachusetts State Police divers search Stoneville Pond near the site where Auburn police Officer Ronald Tarentino was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Auburn, Mass., Sunday, May 22, 2016. A suspect is on the loose, authorities said. (Rick Cinclair/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Protests in Brazil's 2 biggest cities against acting leader RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Brazil's two biggest cities Sunday to protest against acting President Michel Temer, trying to keep up pressure on his interim administration only 10 days after he was sworn in. At least 2,000 protesters in Sao Paulo tried to march to Temer's residence but were blocked by police on neighboring roads. Led by the country's homeless movements, many decided to camp out only 300 meters (yards) from the house. The interim president had left for Brasilia hours earlier. In Rio de Janeiro, about 1,000 protesters staged a march calling for Temer to resign. Stopped by a police barricade, demonstrators shout slogans during protest a against Brazil's acting President Michel Temer and in support of Brazil's suspended President Dilma Rousseff, close to Temer's residence in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Temer took office after Rousseff was suspended for up to 180 days while the Senate holds an impeachment trial. The large poster reads in Portuguese "Temer Out." (AP Photo/Andre Penner) Some protesters want suspended President Dilma Rousseff back. Temer replaced her after the Senate voted to suspend the president and put her on trial for allegedly breaking fiscal laws. If 54 of the 81 senators agree that she should be impeached, she would be permanently removed from office and Temer could hold the presidency through 2018. Opinion polls say a majority of Brazilians want Rousseff and Temer impeached. Some of the protesters Sunday called for new elections, a mechanism that is not in Brazil's electoral law at the moment. Speaking near Temer's residence, homeless movement leader Guilherme Boulos said, "Mr. Temer's street is under siege by the Brazilian people and there will be no break until he is out." "We will camp out as long as we need. This might be a fancy neighborhood, but now it will be all ours," Boulos told supporters over a speaker. Temer has faced daily protests in Brazil's main cities since he took office. Artists, intellectuals and politicians both left-leaning and moderate have also rejected him acting as president, not only for their opposition to Rousseff's impeachment but also for Temer's naming of an all white-male Cabinet that is trying implement more conservative policies. Protesters who have occupied a federal government building in Rio for a week has staged daily concerts against Temer and his administration. Among those that appeared are Grammy award winner Caetano Veloso and "City of God" actor and singer Seu Jorge. Neither are supporters of Rousseff's Worker's Party. Sao Paulo also saw protests by artists in concerts organized this weekend by the administration of Mayor Fernando Haddad, a Rousseff ally. Even when singers did not call for Temer's resignation, those in the audience did. Even before Temer took office, a poll said 58 percent of Brazilians wanted him impeached, too. A Supreme Court justice has ruled Temer could face impeachment proceedings for signing decrees of the same kind as those that led to the impeachment proceedings against Rousseff, but that decision has yet to be ratified by a full court session. Some of the protests against Temer were called by artists angered by his decision to fold the Culture Ministry into the Education Ministry under the control of a conservative politician with no experience in either area. On Saturday, Temer's administration announced he would re-establish the Culture Ministry, but critics said they would keep the pressure on him. With signs that read in Portuguese "Dilma come back" and "Temer Out," demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against Brazil's acting President Michel Temer and in support of Brazil's suspended President Dilma Rousseff, close to Temer's residence in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Temer took office after Rousseff was suspended for up to 180 days while the Senate holds an impeachment trial. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) With a sign that reads in Portuguese "Temer out," demonstrators march against Brazil's acting President Michel Temer and in support of Brazil's suspended President Dilma Rousseff, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Temer took office after Rousseff was suspended for up to 180 days while the Senate holds an impeachment trial. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) Riot police stand guard on the street leading to Brazil's acting President Michel Temer's residence during a march against Temer and in support of Brazil's suspended President Dilma Rousseff, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Temer took office after Rousseff was suspended for up to 180 days while the Senate holds an impeachment trial. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) With a sign that reads in Portuguese "Temer out," demonstrators march against Brazil's acting President Michel Temer and in support of Brazil's suspended President Dilma Rousseff, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Temer took office after Rousseff was suspended for up to 180 days while the Senate holds an impeachment trial. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) Stopped by a police barricade, demonstrators shout slogans as one of them waves a Workers Party flag, during a protest against Brazil's acting President Michel Temer and in support of Brazil's suspended President Dilma Rousseff, close to Temer's residence in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Temer took office after Rousseff was suspended for up to 180 days while the Senate holds an impeachment trial. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) Roman police probe whether pharma boss died in car crash BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) Romanian police say they are investigating the death of a man whose car slammed into a tree. The victim's identity wasn't immediately confirmed but police said Sunday that they found identity documents of the chief executive of a pharmaceutical company which is under indictment. lfov county police said that identity documents belonging to Dan Condrea, 40, who heads Hexi Pharma, were found in the car. Police say they were interviewing two witnesses to the crash. Hexi Pharma has been indicted on charges that the disinfectants it manufactured were highly diluted and ineffective. No bail for man accused of dumping wife's corpse on lawn NEW YORK (AP) A New York man was being held without bail Sunday after police say he killed his wife and then wheeled her body around before dumping it on the front lawn of a Staten Island home. Thirty-one-year-old Anthony Lopez pleaded not guilty to a murder charge during an arraignment in state Supreme Court on Staten Island. The medical examiner's office said 26-year-old Aduba Obiamaka died of ligature strangulation. District Attorney Michael McMahon said domestic violence may have been a factor in her death. This undated photo provided by the New York City Police Department on Saturday, May 21, 2016 shows Anthony Lopez. Police are looking for Lopez in connection with a man who was seen wheeling a dead body on a dolly before leaving it in front of a New York City home on Friday, May 20, 2016. (New York City Police Department via AP) Police say Lopez fled Friday morning after an off-duty detective on State Island saw him wheeling the corpse, on a dolly and partly covered with a sheet. He was arrested Saturday in Manhattan after a foot chase. On Sunday, Lopez also was arraigned on a criminal mischief charge from earlier this month on Staten Island. Authorities say he threw a brick into the windshield of a woman's car and a side window, shattering both. Bail was set at $1,000 in that misdemeanor complaint. Lopez's next court appearance is Tuesday. Suspect in Massachusetts officer's slaying dies in shootout AUBURN, Mass. (AP) The suspect in the fatal shooting of a Massachusetts police officer died after an exchange of gunfire Sunday as authorities closed in on him at a small town residence, police said. The man, identified as 35-year-old Jorge Zambrano, burst out of a closet and opened fire on the officers as they approached him inside a duplex apartment in Oxford, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said at a news conference. "The suspect appeared from inside a closet and fired on the troopers, striking one of them," State Police Colonel Richard McKeon said. "The STOP (State Police Special Tactical Operations) team returned fire and struck the suspect." This undated identification photo released by the Massachusetts State Police shows Jorge Zambrano, killed Sunday, May 22, 2016, during an exchange of gunfire with police at an apartment building in Oxford, Mass. Zambrano had been suspected in the shooting death of Auburn, Mass., Police Officer Ronald Tarentino during a traffic stop early Sunday morning. (Massachusetts State Police via AP) Zambrano, who authorities said had a criminal history, was taken to a hospital, where he died. A Massachusetts State trooper, also wounded, was scheduled to undergo surgery late Sunday night. He suffered a gunshot wound to his left shoulder during the shootout, authorities said. The name of the 18-year veteran and former U.S. Navy Seal wasn't released. The manhunt for Zambrano began after Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino was fatally shot during a traffic stop about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Tarentino stopped the vehicle on a residential road, and the vehicle's occupant shot the officer then fled the scene, Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis said earlier Sunday. Auburn is about 45 miles southwest of Boston. The 42-year-old Tarentino was taken to UMass Medical Center in Worcester, where he was pronounced dead. He had been with the Auburn police force for two years and before that worked with the Leicester Police Department in his hometown. At the news conference after the manhunt, Sluckis assured the central Massachusetts community that residents were safe. "The threat he posed to our community is now over," Sluckis said. Officials said they had "developed information" that Zambrano was at the duplex in Oxford, about 7 miles south of Auburn. They said they found what they believed was his vehicle parked behind the building. With Tarentino's shooting, the manhunt got underway full force. State police divers searched a pond near the traffic stop. "We will leave no stone unturned in our investigation to determine who was involved," Sluckis said. He called Tarentino a "dedicated and brave public servant." State and local police officers lined up outside the hospital as a police vehicle, escorted by a procession, took Tarentino's body to the state medical examiner's office in Boston, where the vehicle was met by another large contingent of officers. Tarentino was the second police officer to die in the line of duty in Massachusetts this year. State police Trooper Thomas Clardy was killed March 16 when his cruiser was struck by another vehicle. Outside the Auburn police station, the American flag was lowered to half-staff. The town's residents left bouquets of flowers and miniature American flags piled at the bottom of a stone monument dedicated to law enforcement officers who've been killed in the line of duty. Residents in Tarentino's Leicester neighborhood remembered him Sunday as a pleasant family man. Tarentino is survived by a wife and three children. Phillip Stanikmas told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette that Tarentino kept an eye out for his 91-year-old mother when she was home alone. Stanikmas said he was "distraught" when Tarentino left the Leicester Police Department because he was a "great guy." "I wanted him to stay in Leicester," Stanikmas said. ___ This story has been corrected to show Tarentino was with the Auburn police two years, not three. ___ Associated Press writer Amy Anthony in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report. A Massachusetts State Police diver uses a metal detector to search Stoneville Pond near the site where Auburn police Officer Ronald Tarentino was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Auburn, Mass., Sunday, May 22, 2016. A suspect is on the loose, authorities said. (Rick Cinclair/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Massachusetts State Police divers search Stoneville Pond near the site where Auburn police Officer Ronald Tarentino was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Auburn, Mass., Sunday, May 22, 2016. A suspect is on the loose, authorities said. (Rick Cinclair/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Police guard the scene on Rochdale Street near Zabelle Ave where an Auburn Police officer was shot Sunday morning May 22, 2016, in Auburn, Mass. Massachusetts State Police say in a statement that an Auburn police officer was shot at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Auburn is about 45 miles southwest of Boston. Officials say the officer was transported to a hospital. The identity and medical condition of officer were not immediately available. The shooting is under investigation. (Rick Cinclair/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Massive Navajo farm heads into week 2 with no irrigation The largest farm on the Navajo Nation has been without water for more than a week after a pipeline break, endangering food crops worth millions of dollars and threatening jobs. Most of the crops on the land managed by the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry near Farmington, New Mexico, were planted just before the concrete pipe failed, cutting off water to 72,000 acres of farmland. Officials have pegged June 11 as the date to have repairs completed, with water flowing through a canal system days later. In the meantime, they're holding out hope that the skies will stay cloudy and enough moisture will fall to sustain the plants in the desert. The Navajo Agricultural Products Industry headquarters are pictured south of Farmington on Aug. 9, 2014 in this file photo. The largest farm on the Navajo Nation has been without water for more than a week after a pipeline break, endangering food crops worth millions of dollars and threatening jobs. (The Farmington Daily Times via AP) "Hopefully with the small amount of rain we've gotten, that will help," said LoRenzo Bates, a farmer who represents the region on the Navajo Nation Council. "At the end of the day, there will need to be some serious management decisions by all the growers as to whether or not to go with what's still there or replant." The irrigation canal delivers water to the tribal farm from the San Juan River through Navajo Dam. The water that was in the canal when the 17-foot diameter pipe broke May 13 is being rationed among the crops grown by the tribal company and those who lease land. A New Mexico State University research station is not taking water on its 250-acre plot nor is it planting anything new. Instead, the station is using the situation to study how plants respond to stress and the vulnerability of irrigation-dependent agriculture in the Southwest, said Kevin Lombard, superintendent of the school's Agricultural Science Center in Farmington, New Mexico. "It's not a good time to be worrying about not having water," he said. "It's very stressful, very emotional." Contractors and the chief executive of NAPI, Wilton Charley, said they believe the crops that include alfalfa, corn, beans and pumpkins can weather three weeks with little to no water, but anything beyond that becomes risky. The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs is responsible for operating and maintenance of the irrigation system that was built decades ago by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, federal officials said. The Navajo Nation oversees all on-site activities on the farms. Crews have spent the past week excavating the 20-foot section of pipe and figuring out where a replacement could be manufactured, given its age of 44 years. The expectation is that it could be fixed by June 11, but it would take a few days to refill the canal before crops could be watered from it, bureau spokeswoman Nedra Darling said. Darling did not have a cost estimate and didn't immediately know the pipe's last inspection date. Hauling water to the farms or laying a pipe across the wash are not viable options because of the size of the farmland, Charley said. Already, the tribal farm and contractors are making tough decisions to let some crops go dry, forgo additional planting and lay off workers. John Hamby, whose family owns companies that grow pumpkins and popping corn on 5,100 acres of the tribal farm, cut half of the staff after the water break, leaving 15 workers. The number of people needed at harvest time swells to 600. The 1,000 truckloads of pumpkins produced per year are destined for fundraising and the popped corn to the wholesale market. Hamby said popping corn is less important right now than the pumpkins, which haven't sustained much damage but also don't need a whole lot of water right now. "If this would have happened in July, this would have been a disaster," he said. Mark Anderson, who heads Anderson Hay and Grain Co. Inc., said the company will expedite its first cut of alfalfa by a few days. From there, it goes to a compressing facility in Los Angeles and to domestic and export markets and to dairy farmers in the United States. "So there's plenty of jobs impacted and plenty of customers and marketplaces that expect hay," he said. "If there wasn't a fix in fairly short order, there could be a fairly big impact." Some of the tribal farm's inventory from last year still is being shipped to the market, Charley said. Alfalfa, pinto beans, potatoes and corn are sold under the Navajo Pride label. He said it's too early to tell whether this year's expectations for harvest will be met. "Once we get a better handle of where we're at, we'll approach those discussions then," he said. Exporters report modest growth due to 'headwinds' Firms which export goods are only reporting modest growth as they face a number of "headwinds", according to a new study. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said there were clear differences between the performance of exporters in different sectors. Manufacturers have enjoyed a slight increase in exports in the first few months of the year but growth dipped in the services sector. Exporters are facing challenging times, research shows Dr Adam Marshall, acting director general of the BCC, said: "Our latest analysis suggests that, despite efforts from businesses and government alike, we are not yet succeeding in transforming the UK's export performance. "There are a number of headwinds affecting our exporters, including a slowing global economy and major structural issues at home. Britain's politicians need to focus on fixing the fundamentals of infrastructure, training and access to finance if we are to help UK firms to become more productive and competitive on the global stage. "Although we saw a gentle rise in confidence and export orders this quarter, these improvements were from a low base. Manufacturers in particular have seen a long period of slowing export growth." Phil Couchman, chief executive of DHL Express, which helped with the research, added that it was an "unpredictable" time for businesses in the UK. A Business Department spokesman said: "This Government wants to make Britain the best place in Europe to do business with and increasing exports remains a key priority. "We have taken a number of steps to boost exports as we work towards having 100,000 more UK companies exporting by 2020. Jutland battle relatives urged to share memories to mark centenary Relatives of the seamen who fought in the Battle of Jutland have been asked to share their stories to mark the centenary of the largest naval battle of the First World War. More than 8,000 men died off the coast of Jutland, in Denmark, in the 36-hour battle which began on May 31 1916. The British Grand Fleet sailed from Rosyth, Cromarty and Scapa Flow to repel the German High Seas Fleet fighting to break a British blockade. HMS Invincible blowing up during the Battle of Jutland (PA/MoD) Both sides claimed victory as the Germans lost 11 ships and Britain lost 14, but the German surface fleet failed to significantly challenge the British again during the war. To mark the centenary, Imperial War Museums (IWM) is seeking contributions for a permanent digital memorial, Lives of the First World War. TV broadcaster and naval historian Dan Snow said: "Jutland is one of the greatest sea battles of all time. It decisively affected the outcome of the First World War and thus the course of the twentieth century. "It was the apogee of 400 years of naval warfare which saw battleships fire guns at each other; the last major battle before the advent of aircraft changed war at sea forever. "The experience of the men involved or the terrible fate of those sailors trapped on doomed ships deserve to be remembered. "Digital memorials like Lives of the First World War help to ensure that they will be." The memorial currently includes a memoir from Signalman Reuben Poole, who was among the seamen rescued from the stricken HMS Warrior and taken to Scotland for recovery on June 2 1916. He said: "The wounded were passed across the starboard after gun turret to the (HMS) Engadine. "One unfortunate wounded man fell between the two crashing ships. "Bravely, Lieutenant FJ Rutland, the seaplane pilot of Engadine, risked being crushed to death and went over the side to rescue the wounded man. "The Albert medal was awarded to Lieutenant Rutland for his gallant act. Weekly shop warning from David Cameron and Harriet Harman at Asda David Cameron and Harriet Harman made an early morning trip to a supermarket, as the Prime Minister warned the cost of the weekly shop will rise by almost 3% if Britain left the EU. The Conservative leader and Labour MP met staff at a branch of Asda in west London and walked side by side down the store's cereal aisle before the shop officially opened for the day. Mr Cameron claims a vote to leave the EU would mean the average family would pay out an extra 123 a year on food and drink, while an extra 98 would be spent on clothes and footwear. David Cameron and Harriet Harman met staff at Asda Asked if Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was supportive of her supermarket engagement with Mr Cameron, Ms Harman said: "Oh yes, because we are very worried about the implications, what would happen, if we were to leave the EU. "And I think really the last thing anybody wants is their food prices to go up. "And that's even more an issue if you're a household on quite a low income, then the food costs are a big part of your weekly bills. "So going out of the EU, especially when so many of our goods come from the EU, it would increase people's food prices." Ms Harman said it is "blindingly obvious" that leaving the EU - which she said would cause a "big economic shock" - would hit the value of the pound and imports will cost more. "I mean it's a no brainer," she said. Ms Harman was asked if she thought the Leave campaign could cause racial tension, following their claims that Britain will open the doors to high levels of murderers and terrorists from countries like Turkey if it remains in the EU. "I think that they're throwing out an awful lot of speculation when we think that they should be focusing on the basic issues of jobs and prices. "I mean there's been a suggestion that Turkey would be joining the EU, and then immediately everybody from Turkey would be coming to live in the UK. "But even the EU itself says that there's no question of Turkey joining. And even if there was a question of that, we would be able to veto it. "So I think that that is scaremongering," she said. Ms Harman and Mr Cameron's first stop in Asda was in the fruit and vegetable section, before they made their way via the cereal aisle to a staff room. The Treasury took the average of estimated depreciations (12%) in sterling following a vote to leave in a bid to show the impact on prices after two years. Brexit 'would hurt police cooperation' says Europol head The UK's access to some systems it depends on to keep its people and borders safe could be diminished after Brexit, the head of the EU's law enforcement agency has said. Rob Wainwright suggested that redrawing arrangements around police cooperation tools following a vote to leave may take at least two years. The Welsh-born director of Europol told the Press Association the need for international police cooperation is "stronger than ever" in the face of terrorism and serious crime. Rob Wainwright, director of Europol, has raised concerns about the impact of Brexit A highly-charged debate on security has exposed divisions at the top of government and within the intelligence community ahead of next month's referendum. While some prominent figures have warned about the repercussions of leaving, others have played down the risk and suggested there could be benefits. Mr Wainwright said threats are now "much more complex and international in nature". He said: "Drugs are coming from abroad, terrorists are radicalised in Syria and Iraq and coming back. "Our real security challenges are European in nature so we need to stay strong together to face them together." EU instruments provide British authorities with "vital information" every day, he said, adding: " If you take that away at this critical time ... then of course you weaken your overall defence mechanisms in the face of those threats." The UK "would lose some of its access to some of the systems that it currently depends on to keep its borders and its people safe" if it departed, Mr Wainwright claimed. He continued: "How you mitigate that risk depends on how the negotiations would go afterwards. "At the moment Britain's security relies on a number of things, which includes access to EU information systems. "If you put that access under any kind of threat or diminish that access it's bound to have potential negative consequences." Hundreds of messages are exchanged through Europol channels between British authorities and their European counterparts every day, he said, while 2,500 new cases for cross-border co-operation were launched through the body last year. Other tools include the European Arrest Warrant and the Schengen Information System database. Mr Wainwright said: "I'm pretty sure because Britain is such a strong partner that it would get a pretty good deal in having at least partial access to most of those systems." However, there is a "lot of uncertainty" about any deal, he said. "I'm not saying the sky is going to fall in," he said. "All I'm saying is that we have to accept that EU systems form an instrumental part of the way we protect ourselves these days and if leave we are not going to have the same effective access to those as we have now." On how long it could take to form new agreements after Brexit, he said Britain is currently participating in around 35 instruments on security, adding: "It's going to take some years. I guess at least two years, maybe longer." Creating a parallel system for the UK alone would be a "huge logistical exercise", Mr Wainwright said. Asked about any suggestion of scaremongering over warnings relating to security, he said he was not "part of a political process" adding: "I'm not campaigning for any political party or either side and neither are my fellow colleagues. "None of them - not one of them who is a current chief that I've spoken to - believes that our security wouldn't be affected if we left." The Paris and Brussels attacks showed information-sharing levels were "still not great" across Europe, Mr Wainwright conceded. He added: "Europe hasn't got this perfectly right yet, but what's our response to that - to walk away from that or stay in and continue to improve? I think it has to be the latter." Home Secretary Theresa May has said the country would be more secure from crime and terrorism if it remains a member of the EU. However, there have been contrasting arguments from former intelligence chiefs and other cabinet members. Turkey is on course to join the European Union in the year 3000 on its current rate of progress, David Cameron said, as he launched a brutal attack one of his own ministers. The Prime Minister attacked Penny Mordaunt's claims that Britain had no veto over Turkish accession to the 28-member bloc as "misleading" and "absolutely wrong". Turkey is set to join the EU in the next eight years and the UK will be unable to block the move, the Armed Forces Minister had insisted. David Cameron attacked Penny Mordaunt's claims that Britain had no veto over Turkish accession to the EU But Mr Cameron told ITV's Peston on Sunday: "The Leave campaign are making a very misleading claim." Asked if Ms Mordaunt had been wrong to say Britain would not be able to veto its membership, he replied: "Absolutely wrong. Let me be clear, Britain and every other country in the European Union has a veto on another country joining. That is a fact, and the fact that the Leave campaign are getting things as straightforward as this wrong should call in to question their whole judgment in making the bigger argument about leaving the EU." Pressed on whether she was qualified to remain in government, the prime minister told the programme: "Her responsibilities are in the Ministry of Defence, she is doing a very good job. "But on this question of whether of not we have a veto, the Leave campaign are wrong." Mr Cameron added: "It is not remotely on the cards that Turkey is going to join the EU any time soon. They applied in 1987. At the current rate of progress they will probably get round to joining in about the year 3000 according to the latest forecasts." As the increasingly bitter clashes between the Remain and Leave camps fuelled divisions within the Conservatives, Mr Cameron insisted the party would "come back together". "Of course this issue raises great passions. It is not surprising that you have people in a political party on either sides of the arguments," he said. "I'm absolutely convinced that at the end of this the Government, the Conservative Party, will come back together and get on with the important job of running the country." Asked if Boris Johnson's comparison between Adolf Hitler and the EU had made it impossible to give him a job in government, t he Prime Minister told the programme: "I'm not going to get into jobs and the future now." "Boris is hugely capable in lots of ways but I'm not going to go into Boris today," he added. Mr Cameron insisted that he plans to serve a "full second term" in No 10. Asked if that means he plans to stay in his post until 2019, he said: "It means a full second term, it means what it says." The premier sidestepped questions about Chancellor George Osborne's chances of succeeding him, telling the programme: "I think he's a man of great talent. "I'm not going to pick my, luckily I don't have to, pick my successor, the Conservative Party will do that. "But George is hugely talented, he's a brilliant Chancellor of the Exchequer. "You can see it in the economy; 2.5.million more people in work, almost a million more businesses since he and I got our jobs, the economy growing and so I think he's a great talent." He added: "I think in politics you have to have partnerships. Prime ministers do not do these jobs on their own." Leave campaigners claim Britain will open the doors to high levels of murderers, terrorists and kidnappers from countries like Turkey if it remains in the EU. Turkish membership will also cost NHS maternity services 400 million in a decade, they warned. Ms Mordaunt said it is "very likely" that Turkey will join the EU in the next eight years, and insisted Britain "doesn't" have a veto to stop such a move. She told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "I do not think the EU is going to keep Turkey out. I think it is going to join, I think the migrant crisis is pushing it more that way." Pressed on her veto claims, Ms Mordaunt said that in the face of the migrant crisis "we will be unable to stop Turkey joining". "This is a matter for the British people to decide and the only shot that they will get at expressing a view on this is in this referendum. "I don't think the UK will be able to stop Turkey joining." Ms Mordaunt denied the warnings about Turkey were "dog-whistle" claims, telling the programme: "Those facts and figures are agreed on by both sides of this debate." The minister accused the Remain camp of "scaremongering" and "false reports". "I think that the public have got tired of this constant stream of hysteria from the establishment," she said. Ms Mordaunt said Bank of England governor Mark Carney's warning that quitting the EU could spark a recession "was the tipping point when people realised there is another agenda going". Asked if the In campaign was an "establishment stitch-up", she replied: "I think so." James McGrory, c hief campaign spokesman for Britain Stronger in Europe, accused the minister of "lying". He said: " Mordaunt is plain and simple lying to people. We have a veto on whether Turkey can join the EU. As does every other EU nation. " That was a disgraceful from Penny Mordaunt on @MarrShow. Criticises dishonesty and then is utterly dishonest about our veto on Turkey." In 2010, Mr Cameron told Turkey he would "remain your strongest possible advocate for EU membership and for greater influence at the top table of European diplomacy". Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: " Veto? Mr. Cameron has said he wants to pave the road from Ankara to Brussels." The row came the day before the one-month countdown to the referendum on June 23. Conservative MP Kwasi Kwarteng suggested that Britain would not block Turkish membership. He told Pienaar's Politics on BBC Radio 5: " Well, we didn't have a veto with the accession of eastern Europe, and we were told that 30,000 people a year would come, and it was ten times that number. We've gone through that, we've experienced it, we've seen this movie. To say this won't have any impact at all I think is not right." Told Britain legally had a veto over membership, he replied: " You are presenting legal facts to me, I am talking about historical facts, it was a fact that when the accession happened to the eastern European countries they all had free access, that's very likely to happen in this instance." Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott said: " David Cameron has said he wants to pave the road to Ankara and has repeatedly confirmed it is government policy for Turkey to join the EU. "The EU is speeding up the process of Turkey joining and we are paying nearly 2 billion to help make it happen. If it isn't on the cards, why are taxpayers footing the bill for it already? " As with so much in the referendum the remain campaign are saying one thing now before the vote but are planning for the exact opposite after 23 June." Leave campaigner Lord Owen, a former foreign secretary, said: " Only nine weeks ago David Cameron committed the country at the European Council to re-energise the accession process of Turkey into the EU. David Cameron would be 'very happy' to meet Donald Trump The Prime Minister has said he would be "very happy" to meet the controversial US presidential hopeful Donald Trump. David Cameron insisted he was right to slap down Mr Trump's "very dangerous" comments about Muslims, but said he would meet with any presidential nominee if they were to visit the UK. It comes after Mr Trump said last week that he has already been invited to Downing Street for talks with the PM. Donald Trump said last week that he has already been invited to Downing Street for talks Mr Trump has seen off the competition in the Republican race but has yet to be formally crowned the official candidate. Asked by Robert Peston if he would meet Mr Trump ahead of the US election, Mr Cameron said: "I don't know." He then added: "American presidential candidates have made a habit of coming through Europe and through the UK, so if that happens I'd be very happy to. "I don't withdraw in any way what I said about the policy of not letting Muslims in to America. I do think that is wrong and divisive. "We've got to demonstrate that what we're up against here is a very small minority of a minority, Islamist extremists, that want to divide our societies, and we've got to explain that there are billions of people in our world who are devout Muslims but who believe in liberal democracy and all the things we believe in." He told ITV's Peston on Sunday show: "It's a very dangerous thing to say, I'm making it worse now, it's a dangerous thing to say as well as a divisive and wrong one." Turkey on course to join EU in year 3000 insists David Cameron Turkey is on course to join the European Union in the year 3000 on its current rate of progress, David Cameron said, as he launched a brutal attack one of his own ministers. The Prime Minister attacked Penny Mordaunt's claims that Britain had no veto over Turkish accession to the 28-member bloc as "misleading" and "absolutely wrong". Turkey is set to join the EU in the next eight years and the UK will be unable to block the move, the Armed Forces Minister had insisted. David Cameron attacked Penny Mordaunt's claims that Britain had no veto over Turkish accession to the EU But Mr Cameron told ITV's Peston on Sunday: "The Leave campaign are making a very misleading claim." Asked if Ms Mordaunt had been wrong to say Britain would not be able to veto its membership, he replied: "Absolutely wrong. Let me be clear, Britain and every other country in the European Union has a veto on another country joining. That is a fact, and the fact that the Leave campaign are getting things as straightforward as this wrong should call in to question their whole judgment in making the bigger argument about leaving the EU." Pressed on whether she was qualified to remain in government, the prime minister told the programme: "Her responsibilities are in the Ministry of Defence, she is doing a very good job. "But on this question of whether of not we have a veto, the Leave campaign are wrong." Mr Cameron added: "It is not remotely on the cards that Turkey is going to join the EU any time soon. They applied in 1987. At the current rate of progress they will probably get round to joining in about the year 3000 according to the latest forecasts." As the increasingly bitter clashes between the Remain and Leave camps fuelled divisions within the Conservatives, Mr Cameron insisted the party would "come back together". "Of course this issue raises great passions. It is not surprising that you have people in a political party on either sides of the arguments," he said. "I'm absolutely convinced that at the end of this the Government, the Conservative Party, will come back together and get on with the important job of running the country." Asked if Boris Johnson's comparison between Adolf Hitler and the EU had made it impossible to give him a job in government, t he Prime Minister told the programme: "I'm not going to get into jobs and the future now." "Boris is hugely capable in lots of ways but I'm not going to go into Boris today," he added. Mr Cameron insisted that he plans to serve a "full second term" in No 10. Asked if that means he plans to stay in his post until 2019, he said: "It means a full second term, it means what it says." The premier sidestepped questions about Chancellor George Osborne's chances of succeeding him, telling the programme: "I think he's a man of great talent. "I'm not going to pick my, luckily I don't have to, pick my successor, the Conservative Party will do that. "But George is hugely talented, he's a brilliant Chancellor of the Exchequer. "You can see it in the economy; 2.5.million more people in work, almost a million more businesses since he and I got our jobs, the economy growing and so I think he's a great talent." He added: "I think in politics you have to have partnerships. Prime ministers do not do these jobs on their own." Leave campaigners claim Britain will open the doors to high levels of murderers, terrorists and kidnappers from countries like Turkey if it remains in the EU. Turkish membership will also cost NHS maternity services 400 million in a decade, they warned. Ms Mordaunt said it is "very likely" that Turkey will join the EU in the next eight years, and insisted Britain "doesn't" have a veto to stop such a move. She told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "I do not think the EU is going to keep Turkey out. I think it is going to join, I think the migrant crisis is pushing it more that way." Pressed on her veto claims, Ms Mordaunt said that in the face of the migrant crisis "we will be unable to stop Turkey joining". "This is a matter for the British people to decide and the only shot that they will get at expressing a view on this is in this referendum. "I don't think the UK will be able to stop Turkey joining." Ms Mordaunt denied the warnings about Turkey were "dog-whistle" claims, telling the programme: "Those facts and figures are agreed on by both sides of this debate." The minister accused the Remain camp of "scaremongering" and "false reports". "I think that the public have got tired of this constant stream of hysteria from the establishment," she said. Ms Mordaunt said Bank of England governor Mark Carney's warning that quitting the EU could spark a recession "was the tipping point when people realised there is another agenda going". Asked if the In campaign was an "establishment stitch-up", she replied: "I think so." James McGrory, c hief campaign spokesman for Britain Stronger in Europe, accused the minister of "lying". He said: " Mordaunt is plain and simple lying to people. We have a veto on whether Turkey can join the EU. As does every other EU nation. " That was a disgraceful from Penny Mordaunt on @MarrShow. Criticises dishonesty and then is utterly dishonest about our veto on Turkey." In 2010, Mr Cameron told Turkey he would "remain your strongest possible advocate for EU membership and for greater influence at the top table of European diplomacy". Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: " Veto? Mr. Cameron has said he wants to pave the road from Ankara to Brussels." The row came the day before the one-month countdown to the referendum on June 23. Conservative MP Kwasi Kwarteng suggested that Britain would not block Turkish membership. He told Pienaar's Politics on BBC Radio 5: " Well, we didn't have a veto with the accession of eastern Europe, and we were told that 30,000 people a year would come, and it was ten times that number. We've gone through that, we've experienced it, we've seen this movie. To say this won't have any impact at all I think is not right." Told Britain legally had a veto over membership, he replied: " You are presenting legal facts to me, I am talking about historical facts, it was a fact that when the accession happened to the eastern European countries they all had free access, that's very likely to happen in this instance." Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott said: " David Cameron has said he wants to pave the road to Ankara and has repeatedly confirmed it is government policy for Turkey to join the EU. "The EU is speeding up the process of Turkey joining and we are paying nearly 2 billion to help make it happen. If it isn't on the cards, why are taxpayers footing the bill for it already? " As with so much in the referendum the remain campaign are saying one thing now before the vote but are planning for the exact opposite after 23 June." Leave campaigner Lord Owen, a former foreign secretary, said: " Only nine weeks ago David Cameron committed the country at the European Council to re-energise the accession process of Turkey into the EU. "The EU is continuing the preparatory work for Turkey at an accelerating pace with all of this going forward in parallel." Mr Cameron's former strategy guru said the Prime Minister had made only " modest" demands during the EU renegotiations and backed Brexit. Union vote to halt production at Total's Normandy refinery By Bate Felix PARIS, May 20 (Reuters) - Oil workers from the hardline French CGT union voted on Friday to shut down production at Total's Normandy refinery and to prolong the strike at Grandpuits refinery for 72 hours, a union official said. The vote, aimed at pressuring the socialist government of President Francoise Hollande to withdraw a labour reform bill which the unions consider as unfavourable to workers, could stoke concerns over refined products supply in France. A prolonged strike at refineries in France in 2010 led to a glut of crude in Europe because it could not be delivered to refineries, and a spike in refined products prices due to low output from refineries. Total's five refineries in France have already been running at "minimum output" since May 17, a CGT union official told Reuters on Thursday, after oil sector workers decided to join the rolling protest that began in March. The union members at the refineries met on Friday to decide whether to halt production at the refineries. "In Normandy, 56 percent voted for a complete shutdown of the refinery and in Grandpuits, they voted to prolong the strike for 72 hours," CGT delegate Thierry Defrense, told Reuters. Defrense said workers were in talks with the refinery's management on the shutdown process which could take up to five days, and given that a restart could also take up to 4 days, he said the 198,600 barrels per day (bpd) Normandy refinery could be out for up to 12 days. He said Total's management could decide to also halt production at the 102,000 bpd Grandpuits refinery where output had been cut in the past days and reservoirs were full due to a blockade by striking workers preventing supplies from leaving. Defrense said workers were still meeting at Donges, La Mede and Feyzin refineries. He added CGT Union workers in Le Havre port were blocking a crude storage facility, preventing imports. Another CGT union official said on Friday the goal of the strike was not to create (fuel) shortages but to obtain the withdrawal of the labour bill. However, it has led to supply disruption and shortages in some parts of France. A Total spokesman said on Thursday although refineries were running normally, it faced supply disruption because striking workers were blockading refineries, and one in five service stations in some areas lacked fuel, including some in Paris. Germany worried by "polarisation" in Turkey's political debate BERLIN, May 20 (Reuters) - Germany is concerned by the increasing polarisation of the domestic political debate in Turkey and Chancellor Angela Merkel will broach this topic with President Tayipp Erdogan at a meeting on Monday, a government spokesman said on Friday. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert, responding to Turkey's parliament on Friday approving the first clause of a bill to lift lawmakers' immunity from prosecution, said: "The German government has just taken note of the result of this vote. The increasing polarisation of the domestic political debate in Turkey fills us with concern." "The whole issue will definitely be among the issues that the chancellor discusses in Istanbul on the margins of the humanitarian summit with the president of Turkey," Seibert said. U.S. drones strike at Afghan Taliban leader in Pakistan By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - The United States carried out a drone strike on Saturday against the leader of Afghan Taliban, likely killing him on the Pakistan side of the remote border region with Afghanistan in a mission authorized by U.S. President Barack Obama, officials said. The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour, should it be confirmed, could have implications for stalled peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government. It could also have political repercussions within the Taliban, where rival factions rejected Mansour's leadership after he publicly assumed the title of his predecessor, Mullah Omar. Omar's death was only disclosed last July after being kept secret for more than two years. The Pentagon branded Mansour "an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban" and said he was actively involved in planning attacks that threatened U.S., Afghan and allied forces. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook, confirming an air strike targeting Mansour in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, said Mansour had prohibited Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government. "We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more information as it becomes available," Cook said. Multiple U.S. drones targeted the men as they rode in a vehicle in the remote area, southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. U.S. special operations forces operated the drones, in a mission authorized by U.S. President Barack Obama, the official said. The strike took place at about 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT), a U.S. official said, which would have placed it at Saturday in 3 p.m. in Pakistan. A State Department official said both Pakistan and Afghanistan were notified of the strike, but did not disclose whether that notification was prior to it being carried out. Afghan Taliban leader in Pakistan likely killed in US drone strike By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - The United States conducted a drone strike on Saturday against the leader of Afghan Taliban, likely killing him on the Pakistan side of the remote border region with Afghanistan in a mission authorized by U.S. President Barack Obama, officials said. The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour, should it be confirmed, could further fracture the Taliban - an outcome that experts cautioned might make the insurgents even less likely to participate in long-stalled peace efforts. The mission, which included multiple drones, demonstrated a clear willingness by Obama to go after the Afghan Taliban leadership in Pakistan now that the insurgents control or contest more territory in Afghanistan than at any time since being ousted by a U.S.-led intervention in 2001. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook confirmed an air strike targeting Mansour in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region but declined to speculate on his fate, although multiple U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters he likely was killed. "We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more information as it becomes available," Cook said. A Taliban commander close to Mansour, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, denied Mansour was dead. "We heard about these baseless reports but this not first time," the commander said. "Just wanted to share with you my own information that Mullah Mansour has not been killed." In December, Mansour was reportedly wounded and possibly killed in a shootout at the house of another Taliban leader near Quetta in Pakistan. Bruce Riedel, an Afghanistan expert at the Brookings Institution think-tank, described the U.S. operation in Pakistan as an unprecedented move but cautioned about possible fallout with Pakistan, where Taliban leadership has long been accused of having safe haven. A State Department official said both Pakistan and Afghanistan were notified of the strike but did not disclose whether that notification was prior to it being carried out. "The opportunity to conduct this operation to eliminate the threat that Mansour posed was a distinctive one and we acted on it," the official said. TROUBLED PEACE TALKS The U.S. drones targeted Mansour and another combatant as the men rode in a vehicle in a remote area southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, another U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. U.S. special operations forces operated the drones in a mission authorized by Obama that took place at about 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT), the official said. That would have placed it at Saturday at 3 p.m. in Pakistan. Cook branded Mansour "an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban" and said he was involved in planning attacks that threatened U.S., Afghan and allied forces. Michael Kugelman, a senior associate for South and Southeast Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, said the strike was unlikely to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table any time soon. "The Taliban won't simply meekly agree to talks and especially as this strike could worsen the fragmentation within the organization," he said. Kugelman said the most important target for the United States remained the top leadership of the Haqqani network, which is allied with the Taliban. Mansour had failed to win over rival factions within the Taliban after formally assuming the helm last year after the Taliban admitted the group's founding leader, Mullah Omar, had been dead for more than two years. It was unclear who Mansour's successor might be. "If Mansour is dead it will provoke a crisis inside the Taliban," Riedel said. U.S. Senator John McCain, the Republican head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he hoped the strike would herald a change in the Obama administration's policy against more broadly targeting the Taliban. The new U.S. commander in Afghanistan is currently reviewing U.S. strategy, including whether broader powers are needed to target insurgents and whether to proceed with plans to reduce the number of U.S. forces. "Our troops are in Afghanistan today for the same reason they deployed there in 2001 - to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for global terrorists," McCain said. Afghan Taliban leader likely killed in US drone strike in Pakistan By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - The United States conducted a drone strike on Saturday against the leader of Afghan Taliban, likely killing him on the Pakistan side of the remote border region with Afghanistan in a mission authorized by U.S. President Barack Obama, officials said. The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour, should it be confirmed, could further fracture the Taliban - an outcome that experts cautioned might make the insurgents even less likely to participate in long-stalled peace efforts. The mission, which included multiple drones, demonstrated a clear willingness by Obama to go after the Afghan Taliban leadership in Pakistan now that the insurgents control or contest more territory in Afghanistan than at any time since being ousted by a U.S.-led intervention in 2001. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook confirmed an air strike targeting Mansour in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region but declined to speculate on his fate, although U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters he likely was killed. "We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more information as it becomes available," Cook said. A Taliban commander close to Mansour, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, denied Mansour was dead. "We heard about these baseless reports but this not first time," the commander said. "Just wanted to share with you my own information that Mullah Mansour has not been killed." In December, Mansour was reportedly wounded and possibly killed in a shootout at the house of another Taliban leader near Quetta in Pakistan. Bruce Riedel, an Afghanistan expert at the Brookings Institution think-tank, described the U.S. operation in Pakistan as an unprecedented move but cautioned about possible fallout with Pakistan, where Taliban leadership has long been said to have safe haven. Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States, predicted strained ties between the U.S. and Pakistani militaries and said it would put Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency on alert. "It is also a signal to the ISI that the U.S. is losing patience with promises of Pakistan facilitating talks with the Taliban and is finally willing to strike at the Afghan Taliban leadership in Pakistan," he said. A State Department official said both Pakistan and Afghanistan were notified of the strike but did not disclose whether that notification was prior to it being carried out. "The opportunity to conduct this operation to eliminate the threat that Mansour posed was a distinctive one and we acted on it," the official said. There was no comment immediately available from Afghan security and intelligence officials. The Pakistani military also did not respond to requests for comment. TROUBLED PEACE TALKS The U.S. drones targeted Mansour and another combatant as the men rode in a vehicle in a remote area southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, another U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. U.S. special operations forces operated the drones in a mission authorized by Obama that took place at about 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT), the official said. That would have placed it at Saturday at 3 p.m. in Pakistan. Cook called Mansour "an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban" and said he was involved in planning attacks that threatened U.S., Afghan and allied forces. Michael Kugelman, a senior associate for South and Southeast Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, said the most important target for the United States remained the top leadership of the Haqqani network, which is allied with the Taliban. Mansour had failed to win over rival factions within the Taliban after formally assuming the helm last year after the Taliban admitted the group's founding leader, Mullah Omar, had been dead for more than two years. It was unclear who Mansour's successor might be and Riedel said his death could create a crisis for the Taliban. A U.S. intelligence analyst said Mansour had been in a power struggle with Mullah Mohammad Rasoul, whose deputy, Mullah Dadullah, was killed late last year in what officials think was a fight with Mansour's more hard-line faction. But the U.S. official cautioned against concluding that the shakeup might diminish the Taliban's broader sense of strength, given political tensions in Kabul and the uneven performance of U.S.-backed Afghan forces in recent months. "The Taliban have made considerable progress in Helmand (province) and elsewhere so it's hard to see much incentive for them to start compromising now, with the fighting just heating up again," the official said. Australian firm names Russia, Putin in MH17 compensation claim -report MELBOURNE, May 21 (Reuters) - An Australian law firm has filed a compensation claim against Russia and President Vladimir Putin in the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of families of victims of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, shot down in 2014, media reported. The jetliner crashed in Ukraine in pro-Russian rebel-held territory on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board, including 28 Australians. The aircraft, which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded in its final report late last year. Fighting was raging in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces when the aircraft was downed and many Western experts and governments blamed the rebels. Australia's Fairfax media reported on Saturday that 33 next of kin were of victims named in an application by Sydney law firm LHD Lawyers, representing people from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. Reuters could not immediately reach LHD Lawyers for comment. The application was filed on May 9 and names the Russian Federation and Putin as respondents and seeks $10 million in compensation per passenger, the report said. The Dutch Safety Board, which was not empowered to address questions of responsibility, did not point the finger at any group or party for launching the missile. "So far we don't have (such information)" Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax news agency when asked to comment on reports of the compensation claim. Cypriots go to polls to elect new legislature ATHENS, May 22 (Reuters) - Cyprus went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament in a vote surveys suggest could be won by conservatives backing the presidential incumbent leading peace talks on the ethnically split island. Just over 540,000 people have the right to vote for 56 deputies in Cyprus's House of Representatives, typically seen as a tussle between the right-wing Democratic Rally and the communist AKEL, with the centrist Democratic Party in third place. Although Cyprus has an executive system of government and the president is elected separately, the vote on Sunday is a popularity gauge for President Nicos Anastasiades, whose term expires in 2018. Anastasiades represents Greek Cypriots in talks with Turkish Cypriots to reunify the island, split in a 1974 Turkish military invasion triggered by a brief Greece-inspired coup. Diplomats are cautiously optimistic a solution could be in sight for the long-running conflict. Obama, bound for Vietnam, seeks to turn old foe into new partner By Matt Spetalnick ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, May 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday headed for his first visit to Vietnam, a trip aimed at sealing the transformation of an old enemy into a new partner to help counter China's growing assertiveness in the region. Four decades after the Vietnam War, Obama - the first U.S. leader to come of age after a conflict that bitterly divided America - will seek to deepen defense and economic ties with the country's communist government while also prodding them on human rights, aides say. Pressure has mounted for Obama to use his landmark visit, which begins on Monday, to roll back a 32-year-old arms embargo on Hanoi, one of the last vestiges of wartime animosity. Lifting the ban - something Vietnam has long sought - would anger Beijing, which resents U.S. efforts to forge stronger military bonds with its smaller neighbors at a time of rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea. But there was no immediate word of a final U.S. decision on the issue. Vietnam's poor human rights record remains a possible sticking point, but the Obama administration appears increasingly swayed toward giving Hanoi some leeway to build its deterrent against China. "Nobody has any illusions," said Evan Medeiros, Obama's former top Asia adviser. "This trip sends important signals to China about U.S. activism in the region and growing U.S. concern about Chinese behavior." Closer military cooperation with allies and partners has been a major thrust of Obama's strategic "rebalance" toward the Asia-Pacific region, a centerpiece of his foreign policy. Obama's Vietnam visit comes just days after Chinese fighter jets carried out what the Pentagon said was an "unsafe" intercept of a U.S. military reconnaissance plane in the South China Sea. Beijing is pursuing territorial claims there that conflict with those of Vietnam and several other countries. 'UPGRADE' OF RELATIONS Obama will be the third consecutive U.S. president to visit Vietnam since diplomatic relations were restored in 1995. "What we want to demonstrate with this visit is a significant upgrade in the relationship between the United States and Vietnam ... even as we have areas of difference," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser. Washington wants Vietnam to open up more on the economic front and also move closer militarily, including increased port visits by U.S. warships, possibly with access to the strategic harbor at Cam Ranh Bay, U.S. officials say. But even as the two sides look forward, there will be reminders of the past. Obama will be accompanied by Secretary of State John Kerry, who after a tour in Vietnam as a young Navy officer burst onto the scene as an antiwar protester in the 1970s. At the first stop of Obama's three-day visit, Hanoi, the seat of communist rule, he will meet Vietnam's new president, Tran Dai Quang, its new prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Obama won't be able to avoid prominently displayed images and busts of the late Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, revered by many of his compatriots but widely reviled in the United States during the war. The conflict involving U.S. combat forces was estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese and 58,000 American troops. In the country's commercial hub, Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, Obama will meet entrepreneurs, a chance to tout Hanoi's role in a trans-Pacific trade pact he has championed. But the name of the city, the capital of South Vietnam during the war, evokes searing images for many Americans of a final frantic U.S. airlift in 1975. While Vietnam wants warmer ties, some officials are suspicious that the United States seeks to undermine their one-party rule. Afghan Taliban meets on succession after U.S. drones target leader By Mirwais Harooni and Phil Stewart KABUL/WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - The Afghan Taliban's leadership council met on Sunday to start considering succession after a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan targeted its commander, two Taliban sources told Reuters, in the strongest sign yet the insurgency had accepted he was dead. The strike targeting Mullah Akhtar Mansour on Saturday was perhaps the most high-profile U.S. incursion into Pakistan since the 2011 raid to kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and sparked a protest by Islamabad that its sovereignty had been violated. If confirmed, Mansour's death could trigger a succession battle within a Taliban insurgency that has proven extremely resilient despite a decade and a half of U.S. military deployments to Afghanistan. The Taliban have not yet officially confirmed that Mansour was killed and there were conflicting accounts on Sunday, with the Afghan government declaring him dead, while Washington stopped just short of doing so. "At this point, we're not quite prepared to confirm that he was killed, though it appears likely," U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told "Fox News Sunday." The Taliban sources said that Sunday's meeting of the Rahbari Shura, or leadership council, included discussion of possible successors, including guerrilla commander Sirajuddin Haqqani. Haqqani, who has a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, would likely prove an even more implacable foe of Afghan government forces and their U.S. allies. He is widely seen by U.S. and Afghan officials as the most dangerous warlord in the Taliban insurgency, responsible for the most bloody attacks, including one last month in Kabul in which 64 people were killed. "Based purely on matters of hierarchy, (Haqqani) would be the favourite to succeed Mansour," said Michael Kugelman, a senior associate at the Woodrow Wilson Institute think tank. The Taliban were also considering Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, a potential unifier because of his father's name. Former Guantanamo detainee Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir and Mullah Sherin were also cited, the sources said. PAKISTANI PROTESTS The Saturday drone strike, which U.S. officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama, showed the United States was prepared to go after the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which the government in Kabul has repeatedly accused of sheltering the insurgents. Pakistan protested on Sunday, saying the U.S. government did not inform Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif beforehand. "This is a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty," Sharif told reporters in London, saying it was still unclear who was killed. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that Washington only notified Pakistan after the operation. It was unclear how long Mansour might have been inside Pakistan before the U.S. strike. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry disclosed that a passport found at the site, bearing a different name, carried a valid Iranian visa. It added that the purported passport holder was believed to have returned to Pakistan from Iran on Saturday, the day of the drone strike targeting Mansour. Photos of the passport, bearing the name Wali Muhammad, seen by Reuters showed a passing resemblance to some of the old photos available of Mansour. If it is confirmed that Mansour had travelled to Iran before his death, it would raise new questions about the Taliban's use of neighbouring territories, including Iran. The drone strike underscored the belief among U.S. commanders that the Taliban under Mansour's leadership had grown increasingly close to militant groups like al Qaeda, posing a direct threat to U.S. security. Mansour had failed to win over rival factions within the Taliban after formally assuming the helm last year after the Taliban admitted Mullah Omar had been dead for more than two years. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States had conducted a precision air strike that targeted Mansour "in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border". Mansour posed a "continuing, imminent threat" to U.S. personnel and Afghans, Kerry told a news conference while on a visit to Myanmar. "If people want to stand in the way of peace and continue to threaten and kill and blow people up, we have no recourse but to respond and I think we responded appropriately," Kerry said. PEACE TALKS Efforts to broker talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban had already stalled after a suicide attack in Kabul last month that prompted President Ashraf Ghani to prioritize military operations over negotiations. But Ghani's office said on Sunday the removal of Mansour could open the door to talks and that Taliban members who wanted to end bloodshed should return from "alien soil" and join peace efforts. U.S. experts were less optimistic, cautioning against the idea that the shake-up would diminish the Taliban's broader sense of strength, particularly given the uneven performance of U.S.-backed Afghan forces last year and a pullback by Western troops. "The Taliban have made considerable progress in Helmand (province) and elsewhere, so it's hard to see much incentive for them to start compromising now," a U.S. intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. The new U.S. commander in Afghanistan is reviewing strategy, including whether to request broader powers to target Taliban insurgents and whether to seek a halt in plans to reduce the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. One U.S. government analyst said the Taliban were likely encouraged by the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Thirteen militants killed in southern Yemen raid - army ADEN, May 22 (Reuters) - Yemeni troops killed 13 militants in a raid on a house outside the southern city of Mukalla on Sunday in which two soldiers also died, the army said, extending a struggle to restore security in the area ruled until last month by al Qaeda. "Special forces and the army gained complete control over the site backed up by helicopters from the Arab coalition, which dealt with groups of terrorists spread around the area who were fleeing," an army statement said. "A search confirmed that these fighters were about to carry out a surprise terrorist attack on some military command centres at dawn this morning." Before being forced out, al Qaeda militants took advantage of more than a year of war between Iran-allied Houthi forces and supporters of Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to carve out a mini-state stretching across much of the Arabian Peninsula country's southern coast, including Mukalla. The United Arab Emirates trained and funded Yemeni forces for months and backed up their re-conquest of Mukalla on April 25 with air strikes. {nL5N17R0EX] Militants in Yemen's branch of Islamic State have carried out a series of suicide attacks on all parties to Yemen's tangled conflict, killing 25 police recruits in a bombing outside Mukalla last week. Ten facts about Boko Haram's seven-year insurgency By Kieran Guilbert NIAMEY, May 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - World leaders and aid chiefs have been discussing how to coordinate the fight against Boko Haram and respond to the humanitarian crisis created by the Islamist militant group's seven-year insurgency in northeast Nigeria. Nigeria's neighbours, French President Francois Hollande, and senior U.S. and British officials attended a security summit earlier this month in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. U.N. aid chief Stephen O'Brien will speak at a panel on the impact of Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin region at this week's World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, where he hopes to draw attention to the needs of the affected populations. Here are 10 facts about Boko Haram: *The Islamist militant group Boko Haram became active in 2003 and carried out its first attack in 2004, from its then heartland in northeast Nigeria around Maiduguri. *Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sinful" in the Hausa language, demands the adoption of sharia (Islamic law) across Nigeria and considers all people who do not follow its ideology to be infidels, whether they are Muslim or Christian. *Since 2009, the militants have waged an insurgency aimed at establishing an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria. *The most high-profile attack took place on April 14, 2014, when the militants kidnapped 276 schoolgirls, from a secondary school in Chibok in Borno state, northeast Nigeria. About 50 of the girls escaped but 219 were captured. *Boko Haram controlled a swath of land in northeast Nigeria around the size of Belgium at the start of 2015, but was pushed out by Nigerian and regional troops. The militants have since struck back with cross-border attacks and suicide bombings. *About 2,000 girls and boys have been kidnapped by Boko Haram since the beginning of 2014, and are used by the group as cooks, sex slaves, fighters and even suicide bombers. *Boko Haram used 44 children to carry out suicide attacks in West Africa last year, up from four in 2014, with some as young as eight, mostly girls, detonating bombs in schools and markets. *The insurgency has forced around 2.4 million people to flee their homes in the four Lake Chad Basin countries - Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. *The militant group has killed more than 15,000 people. *Boko Haram last year pledged allegiance to Islamic State, which rules a self-declared caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, and may be sending fighters to assist the group in Libya. Monitor: 60,000 have died in Syrian government jails during war BEIRUT, May 22 (Reuters) - A monitoring group has said that at least 60,000 people have died in Syrian government jails during the five-year conflict. Syrian government officials could not be reached for comment on the report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which cited sources in the security apparatus for the toll. The government has rejected similar reports in the past. "No fewer than 60,000 detainees were martyred ... either as a result of direct bodily torture, or denial of food and medicine" the Observatory said in a written statement on Saturday. The Observatory's director, Rami Abdulrahman, said it had arrived at the number by adding up death tolls provided by sources in several Syrian jails and security agencies. He said more than 20,000 of them had died at Sednaya prison near Damascus. The Observatory said it had been able to verify the deaths of 14,456 people, 110 of them under the age of 18, since the start of the Syrian uprising in 2011. Abdulrahman said his sources were serving officials seeking to expose what was going on, and the Observatory had been gathering the information since the start of the year. U.N. investigators said in February that detainees held by the Syrian government were being killed on a massive scale. "LARGE NUMBERS" "We know large numbers of people have died in detention in Syria," said Nadim Houry, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch in a telephone interview. "The only way to get to the bottom of the numbers question is to allow for independent monitors into the detention centres," he added. A Syrian defector known as Caesar in 2013 smuggled out tens of thousands of photos taken between May 2011 and August 2013 that show at least 6,786 separate individuals who had died in government custody, HRW said in a report issued in December. That toll was calculated by the Syrian Association for Missing and Conscience Detainees (SAFMCD), which was formed by an opposition body and reviewed all the photos, the HRW report said. President Bashar al-Assad, in a 2015 interview, dismissed the Caesar photos as "allegations without evidence", and part of a Qatar-funded plot against his government. Houry said: "Whether it is 60,000 or 30,000, the number is just huge. Despite the Caesar photos, the multiple reports, there is no international traction." The U.N. investigators said in February the reported killings of detainees amounting to a state policy of "extermination" of the civilian population, a crime against humanity. Pakistan seeks "clarification" of U.S. strike on Afghan Taliban leader ISLAMABAD, May 22 (Reuters) - Pakistan is "seeking clarification" about a U.S. drone strike against Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the foreign ministry spokesman said on Sunday, after U.S. officials said Mansour was likely killed in an air strike on Pakistani soil. "I have seen the reports. We are seeking clarification," Nafees Zakaria said in a statement. He added that Pakistan wanted the Taliban to return to the negotiating table to end the long war in Afghanistan. "Military action is not a solution," he added. Iraq announces start of Falluja operation, some residents flee By Stephen Kalin and Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD, May 22 (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the launching of an offensive to retake the Islamic State stronghold of Falluja after the military told residents on Sunday to get ready to leave before fighting started. "Zero hour for the liberation of Falluja has arrived. The moment of great victory has drawn near and Daesh has no choice but to flee," Abadi said on his official Twitter feed, using an Arabic acronym for the jihadist group. He said the offensive would be conducted by the army, police, counterterrorism forces, local tribal fighters and a coalition of mostly Shi'ite Muslim militias. A U.S.-led coalition that has bombed Islamic State in Iraq and neighbouring Syria for nearly two years was expected to provide air support. Falluja, a longtime bastion of Sunni Muslim jihadists, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, was the first city to fall to the jihadists, in January 2014, six months before the group declared a caliphate spanning large parts of Iraq and Syria. Iraqi officials said Shi'ite militias, including ones backed by neighbouring Iran, may be restricted to operating outside the city proper, as they were largely in the battle for Ramadi, to avoid aggravating sectarian tensions with Sunni residents. The Iraqi army, police and the militias, backed by coalition air strikes, have surrounded Falluja since late last year, while the jihadists have been preventing residents from leaving for months. Families who cannot flee should raise white flags to mark their location in the city, the military's media unit said in a statement on state television, a tactic employed with some success in other recent offensives. Deputy District Council Chairman Falih al-Essawi said three corridors would be opened for civilians to camps west, southwest and southeast of the city, and a subsequent military statement said some residents had begun to flee. "Our goal is to liberate civilians from Daesh's repression and terrorism," Abadi said in a televised speech. TRAPPED CIVILIANS Residents told Reuters about 20 families set out from a southern front-line neighbourhood late on Saturday but that only half of them made it out. Some were intercepted by Islamic State, while others were killed by explosives planted along the road by the jihadists, the residents said. The United Nations and Human Rights Watch said last month that residents were facing acute shortages of food and medicine during a siege by government forces. Aid has not reached the city since the Iraqi military recaptured nearby Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital, in December. Essawi told a local television channel on Sunday that more than 75,000 civilians remained in Falluja, in keeping with a recent U.S. military estimate of 60,000 to 90,000. About 300,000 people lived in the Euphrates River city before the war. Known as the "City of Minarets and Mother of Mosques", Falluja is a focus for Sunni Muslim faith and identity in Iraq. It was badly damaged in two offensives by U.S. forces against al Qaeda insurgents in 2004. Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for Abadi, said the city's "liberation" would help restore normal life to Anbar province, over which Islamic State took nearly complete control in 2014. Following recent government offensives in Rutba and Hit, control of Falluja would secure the road more than 500 km (300 miles) from Baghdad to the Jordanian border and northwards to Haditha, 190 km (115 miles) northwest of the capital. Afghan government CEO says Taliban leader Mansour dead KABUL, May 22 (Reuters) - Afghan government Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah issued the highest level confirmation on Sunday that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour had been killed in an attack by U.S. drones in Pakistan a day earlier. "Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour was killed in a drone strike in Quetta, Pakistan, at 04:30 pm yesterday. His car was attacked in Dahl Bandin," Abdullah said in a tweet, referring to a district in Pakistan's Baluchistan province just over the border with Afghanistan. Heavy air strikes hit rebel road to Syria's Aleppo - monitor, rebels By Tom Perry and Suleiman Al-Khalidi BEIRUT/AMMAN, May 22 (Reuters) - Air strikes hit the only road into rebel-held areas of Aleppo city on Sunday in the heaviest bombing since February, a rebel official and monitors said, jeopardising access where around 300,000 Syrians live. Russian warplanes carried out the attacks on the Castello road, which was still open but dangerous, the official and monitors said. Defence officials from Syria's government and its ally Russia could not immediately be reached for comment. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said the road was hit in a week of escalating air strikes, with Sunday's attack the most intense yet. The city of Aleppo, about 30 miles (50 km) south of the Turkish border, is divided between the government and rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A truce was brokered by the United States and Russia in February. But the agreement has since unravelled, with fighting and bombardment in Aleppo playing a big part in its collapse. Kurdish-led YPG forces, which control the Sheikh Maqsoud area in Aleppo that overlooks the Castello road and are tacitly aligned with the government, have also disrupted the road with snipers who target civilians using the road that is a lifeline for the city to the countryside. Mainstream Syrian rebel groups said on Sunday they would no longer abide by the U.N. truce deal unless the Syrian army ended a major assault on their positions in the suburbs of Damascus within 48 hours. A statement by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) signed by nearly 40 rebel groups that operate across Syria said they would deem the cessation of hostilities deal as having "totally collapsed" if the assault by Syrian government and allied Lebanese Hezbollah forces fighters did not cease within two days. The signatories, who include Western- and Turkish-backed groups operating on the main frontlines in northern and southern Syria, said that once the two-day period had ended, rebels would respond with "all the legitimate means to defend the civilians living in these areas". In their joint statement, the rebels said the continued attacks by the army on the besieged rebel-held areas around Damascus and their strongholds in Aleppo city and Idlib province were putting peace-making efforts at risk. The Syrian army stopped extending the cessation of hostilities this month after accusing rebels of violating the agreement by firing at government-controlled residential areas RUSSIAN JETS POUND ALEPPO HIGHWAY A senior official in the rebel group Fastaqim that operates in the Aleppo area said there was heavy Russian bombing of rebel areas on the strategic route all day, developments the Syrian Observatory confirmed later. "From 1 a.m. until 10 a.m., Russian jets were not quiet on the Handarat-Castello front," said Zakaria Malahefji. "A group (of fighters) stationed there was killed." Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said the raids had been happening for a week. "This is more intense than the last days," he added. A Russian defence ministry statement issued on Saturday accused insurgents of firing missiles at nearby areas, identifying them as members of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which was not included in the truce. Rebels fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army say Nusra has little or no presence in Aleppo city. Russia deployed its air force to Syria last year to bomb in support of the Syrian military and its allies. Rebels say they can distinguish Russian from Syrian warplanes by the accuracy and intensity of their bombing, the way they fly in squadrons and the fact they carry out raids at night. Syrian government forces have mounted several offensives aimed at encircling rebel-held eastern Aleppo but these have all failed to date. West of Palmyra city, which the Syria army took with Russian aid, heavy battles continue to rage with militants. Rebels said air strikes on residential areas and busy market places on rebel-held towns and cities across northern Syria that killed dozens would not go without being avenged. On Sunday, several civilians were killed in aerial bombing of rebel held Idlib city's main busy market place. Cyprus ruling conservatives hold slim lead in parliamentary vote exit poll ATHENS, May 22 (Reuters) - Cyprus's ruling conservatives held a slim lead in Sunday's parliamentary elections, an exit poll by state television showed after the end of voting. Cyprus parliamentary vote puts far-right in parliament By Michele Kambas ATHENS, May 22 (Reuters) - Cyprus's ruling conservatives took the lead in Sunday's general election, results showed, while a far-right party won its first seats in the legislature amid voter disillusionment after a 2013 financial meltdown. With the voting tally at 100 percent, and an unprecedentedly high abstention rate, the right-wing Democratic Rally party was ahead with 30.6 percent of the vote followed by Communist AKEL with 25.6 percent. Compared to the previous elections of 2011, those two main parties on the Cypriot political scene suffered setbacks. AKEL's Communists lost up to seven percentage points while Democratic Rally lost 3.7 percentage points. By contrast ELAM, an extremist party forged on the coat-tails of Greece's Golden Dawn, scraped past a newly-imposed 3.6 percent electoral threshold and won up to two seats, according to preliminary estimates. "It's sort of a kindergarten version of Golden Dawn," said political analyst Hubert Faustmann, referring to the party formed in 2008. "All the big parties lost." Cyprus has an executive system of government and the president is elected separately, but the vote on Sunday was seen as a popularity gauge for President Nicos Anastasiades, whose term expires in 2018. Anastasiades represents Greek Cypriots in talks with Turkish Cypriots to reunite the island that was split in a 1974 Turkish military invasion triggered by a brief Greece-inspired coup. Diplomats are cautiously optimistic a solution could be in sight for the long-running conflict. ELAM disagrees with the vision of Cyprus reunited under a bi-zonal federal umbrella as part of a settlement. Other small parties share that view. "For the first time, Cyprus will get nationalists in its parliament," Golden Dawn leader Nikos Mihaloliakos told Greece's parliament minutes after the exit poll results were released. Sunday's election was the first since Cyprus required an international bailout in 2013, partly because of the exposure its systemic banks had to Greece's write-down of sovereign debt. It introduced a 'bail-in' on clients deposits at one major bank and wound down a second, leaving thousands of disgruntled bank deposit holders. "A lot (of the result) was dissatisfaction of the public with the bigger parties," said Faustmann. "Another reading could be that parliamentary elections in Cyprus are not that important, given the weakness of the Cypriot parliament," he said, referring to the power given to the executive. The abstention rate in the election exceeded 30 percent, one of the highest in a national vote since the inception of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960. The prospect of a high abstention rate was expected and officials during the day repeatedly appealed to eligible voters to exercise their democratic right. "If this right is forfeited it gives others the right to decide for those abstaining ... if someone spurns that right, they shouldn't complain the next day," Anastasiades said. UN says Sudan refuses to renew permit of senior humanitarian official KHARTOUM, May 22 (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Sunday that Sudanese authorities had declined to renew a permit for the head of its humanitarian coordination office in Khartoum, Ivo Freijsen, saying he was being effectively expelled from the country. A statement from the UN humanitarian country team in Sudan expressed "shock and disappointment at the de facto expulsion by the Government of Sudan of one of its senior UN officials." Pakistan says victim of U.S. drone strike targeting Taliban leader had been in Iran ISLAMABAD, May 22 (Reuters) - A passport found at the site of a U.S. drone attack targeting Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour bears the name of a Pakistani man named Wali Muhammad, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. The purported passport holder was believed to have returned to Pakistan from Iran on May 21, the day of the drone strike targeting Mansour. One of the charred bodies has been identified as a local taxi driver but the badly burnt second body has not. Photos of Muhammad's passport seen by Reuters show a passing resemblance to some of the old photos available of Mansour, though the ministry did not directly comment on the possibility that Mansour had been travelling under another name. Pakistan hints Mansour may have been in Iran before U.S. drone strike By Drazen Jorgic ISLAMABAD, May 22 (Reuters) - A passport found at the site of a U.S. drone attack targeting Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour bears the name of a Pakistani man named Wali Muhammad and carries a valid Iranian visa, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. The ministry did not directly comment on the possibility that Mansour might have been travelling under another name. Afghanistan's spy agency said it was sure Mansour had been killed in the attack, but Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told reporters in London that Pakistan was unsure if Muhammad was "Mullah Mansour or someone else". He called the attack "a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty". Saturday's strike, which U.S. officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama and involved multiple drones, took place in Pakistan's remote Baluchistan area near the Afghan border. Pakistan said the air strike had destroyed a car carrying two people, and that Sharif had not been told about it in advance. The ministry said one of the charred bodies had been identified as a local taxi driver but the badly burnt second body had not. It added that the purported passport holder was believed to have returned to Pakistan from Iran on May 21, the day of the drone strike targeting Mansour. Photos of Muhammad's passport seen by Reuters show a passing resemblance to some of the old photos available of Mansour. "(Muhammad's) passport was bearing a valid Iranian visa," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Mohammad Qasim, brother of the dead taxi driver, told Reuters his brother had picked up his passenger from Taftan, a town on the Iranian-Pakistani border. If it is confirmed Mansour had travelled to Iran before his death, it would raise fresh questions about the Taliban's use of neighbouring territories. Afghanistan has often accused Pakistan of harbouring Taliban and other Islamist militant groups, and said Islamabad has not put enough pressure on the Taliban leadership to commit to stuttering peace talks. Pakistan has said it is doing all it can to pressure the Taliban to enter talks. Iran has no plans to freeze oil exports, official says ahead of OPEC meeting DUBAI, May 22 (Reuters) - Iran has no plans to freeze the level of its oil production and exports, Deputy Oil Minister Rokneddin Javadi was quoted on Sunday as saying, as the country tries to raise its crude exports to pre-sanctions levels. "Under the present circumstances, the government and the Oil Ministry have not issued any policy or plan to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) towards halting the increase in the production and exports of oil," Javadi, who also heads the state-run NIOC, told Iran's Mehr news agency. "Currently, Iran's crude oil exports, excluding gas condensates, have reached 2 million barrels per day (bpd)," Javadi said. "Iran's crude oil export capacity will reach 2.2 million barrels by the middle of summer." A meeting of the OPEC exporters' group, including Iran, is scheduled for June 2. Plans for a deal between OPEC and non-OPEC producers to shore up crude prices by freezing output fell apart in April when Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran, its main rival for influence in the region, join in. New aid network to boost local charities helping people in crisis By Megan Rowling ISTANBUL, May 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - African, Asian and Middle Eastern aid groups have set up a network to help them gain more funding for their work with communities hit by war and natural disasters, and a greater say in how aid is delivered. Large international aid agencies often take priority over smaller local groups when it comes to resources and deciding how to help people hit by a crisis, groups based in developing countries said. The Network for Empowered Aid Response (NEAR), launched in Istanbul ahead of the May 23-24 World Humanitarian Summit, brings together some 55 organisations with the aim of sharing their expertise and gaining greater recognition for their work. "We hope NEAR will provide the much-needed platform to strengthen the collective voice of those working directly with local communities," said Degan Ali, executive director of Adeso, an African NGO that works in Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan. "What we have is proximity and intimate understanding of our communities, along with local credibility and trust," she added. Jemilah Mahmood, under secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that local aid groups tend to be sidelined. "Because proximity ... is so critical, it is the local and national actors that are getting access (to affected people), but they are left out," she said. Naomi Tulay-Solanke, executive director of Community Health Initiative, which supports vulnerable people in Liberia's slums, said that during the Ebola epidemic her organisation had come up with a wash stand with eight taps that allowed school children to wash their hands more quickly before entering class - cutting down on long waits. This idea was borrowed by international aid groups, with little acknowledgement until global charity ActionAid helped Community Health Initiative install 112 handwashing stands in around half of Liberia's 15 counties, she said. "Because we were local, no one partnered with us," said Tulay-Solanke. "We should be recognised at international level - it motivates us to work more." FUNDING TARGET A group of major government donors and aid organisations are due to pledge at the summit in Istanbul to channel a quarter of their humanitarian funding through national and local agencies by 2020. New figures by British research group Development Initiatives show that they received only 2.5 percent of direct humanitarian funding in 2015, up from 0.9 percent in 2014. While the new target has been welcomed by potential recipients such as Adeso, they say they want to be involved in putting the goal into practice and making sure it is met. "We need to make sure that this percentage will be effectively implemented," said Virginie Lefevre of Lebanese aid agency Amel Association, which works with Syrian refugees and other groups in need. "It is also about fair partnerships." Local and national groups, which often receive large chunks of their funding via U.N. or international agencies, have long complained they do not get enough money to cover their overheads, expand their work or operate safely in risky places. "We want NEAR to be an inclusive network ... that promotes equitable, dignified and accountable partnership in the humanitarian and development world," said Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, executive director of COAST Bangladesh, and a member of the NEAR leadership council. The new network will focus on advocacy, financing and research, among other things. It has plans for concrete measures such as setting up national pooled funds managed by local groups that would distribute money for aid projects to approved members, Ali said. Another key aim of many agencies at the Istanbul summit, including the Red Cross, is to invest in helping local groups lower the risks of hazards like floods, earthquakes and droughts turning into disasters. "The response to challenges is very dependent on how resilient the community is, and how well prepared the government and local organisations are," said NEAR's Executive Director Smruti Patel. Scholastica Nasinyama of InterAid Uganda said one good reason to support local groups is that they carry on working in communities even after they have recovered from a disaster. Azwar Hasan returned to his native Banda Aceh after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 killed 10 members of his family, and set up Forum Bangun Aceh, which works on education and reducing disaster risk. But he warned that if the same thing happened again, many local communities would still not be ready. After the AAP's stupendous victory in Delhi last year, many had wondered what the way ahead for the party would be. A foray into Punjab seemed a natural next step given that it was Punjab where the party had put up its best performance during its otherwise disastrous outing in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. However, what has surprised observers is the growing buzz about the AAP in Goa. Silently, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has worked its way to become the talk of the town in the small coastal state of Goa. It is increasingly being noticed, and is being attacked by both the BJP and Congress - the two parties that dominate Goa's political landscape. The state is swarming with AAP volunteers canvassing for the polls due next year. The toddler of yesterday increasingly seems like a giant of tomorrow. As the state's political class awaits with bated breath for Kejriwal's mega rally on Sunday (May 22), let's try to understand the factors that explain this unexpected boom of the broom in Goa. 1. A political vacuum caused by disillusionment with existing political system Goa is a beautiful place endowed with abundant natural resources. But its natural wealth has become a curse. The state has been looted by the mining mafia in connivance with a compromised political class. The mining mafia has wrecked the environment, caused a loss of state revenue, trampled upon the land rights of the local population and jeopardised law and order. The menace of illegal mining reached its peak under the erstwhile Congress regime until courts had to step in. The present BJP regime that came to power promising to end this menace and put the guilty behind bars hasn't been up to the task. The mining mafia continues to rule the roost as the political class, comprising both the Congress and BJP, is itself a stakeholder in this loot. Is Goa ready to wield the broom in the next elections? The state also suffers from poor healthcare and education systems. Political dynasties are endemic in the state making the ordinary people of Goa even more alienated from the political class. The only solution the BJP regime seems to offer is talks of replacing the chief minister. Also the Congress' past misadventures present the Goa electorate little to choose from - it's like devil or the deep sea for them. Thus there exists a political vacuum that has resulted from the disillusionment with the existing political class. It is this political vacuum that underpins the AAP's rise. 2. Energetic and innovative volunteers This political vacuum signifies a distinct opportunity. But it still has to be tapped through hardwork and dedication. Till last year, the AAP could not make much of an impact despite the political vacuum. But over time, it has seriously worked on fixing its local organisation and today, it has an active volunteer base of over 5,000 who are going across the state with the message of change. Then there are volunteers from outside Goa who are also pitching in. The same kind of energetic and innovative approach that yielded rich dividends in Delhi is being tried here. Door-to-door campaigning is helping the AAP get more intimate with the electorate. The ability of the AAP to garner more passionate volunteers who can inspire trust in others is a factor that makes the party stand out. 3. Allure of the Delhi model The AAP's message in Goa relies significantly on the achievements in Delhi. The steps for improvement of healthcare and education taken by the Delhi government are being appreciated by the ordinary people of Goa, troubled as they are by a broken healthcare and education system. Savings on public projects like building flyovers in Delhi is again something that is helping the the AAP impress the voters in Goa. The Delhi model is also appealing because as in Delhi, the AAP rise in Goa is premised on breaking the foothold of established players. The ordinary voter in Goa, who had no platform for getting into politics as the space was monopolised by the existing biggies, is getting an opportunity to enter public service. The sons and daughters of working class people are behind the AAP surge in Goa as in the AAP they see a party where they too can be the representatives and not just the represented. 4. Small size like Delhi Goa, like Delhi, is a small state. It can be criss-crossed in a matter of few hours. For a new party, this small geography significantly reduces the entry barrier. It can deploy resources everywhere. The small size of Goa is allowing the AAP to make a foray without too much of cost. 5. Presence of minorities and weakness of Congress Goa is a state with a high minority population (26.5 per cent Christians and 8.3 per cent Muslims). Given the national political environment marred by issues like beef ban, ghar wapsi, love jihad and coerced chanting of "Bharat Mata ki jai", the minorities are obviously not too happy with the BJP. But the Congress is not much of a choice either. The Congress organisation in Goa is as non-existent and decaying as it's elsewhere and the Congress suffers from debilitating infighting. The constant run-in of the AAP with the Modi government helps it gain sympathy of the minorities who too are at the receiving end of the excesses of the BJP regime. Also its secular and honest image makes it an appealing prospect for the minorities. This is perhaps why rumours abound trying to link the AAP with RSS so as to prevent it from consolidating minority support. Challenges While we have discussed the many factors that are keeping the AAP going strong in Goa, it is necessary to underline that the party still has a long road ahead if it wants to make an impact in Goa as forceful as in Delhi. It will have to brace up to deal with rumours such as the one about it being the B-team of the RSS. Also, it will have to do a lot to shed the outsiders tag. Lack of a prominent local face is another handicap it will have to sort out if the promise of the AAP's rise in Goa is to come true. The party must also be weary of losing the momentum as elections are still a year away. It must remember that there is many a slip between the cup and the lip. Therefore, while there are obvious challenges that the AAP must tackle in its struggle for dominance in Goa, there is no denying the fact that the AAP is rising in Goa today. For sometime now, the BJP and those affiliated to it, obvious or behind-the-scene, have been asking the question "who's funding you?" They put this question to Kanhaiya Kumar on his plane tickets. Arnab Goswami opened the famous February 9 episode of his show by asking Umar Khalid who was funding him, and several NGOs like Greenpeace have gone hoarse trying to answer innumerable people voicing this sinister question. Foreign agents, we are made to believe, are funding these NGOs and anti-national leaders for their nefarious anti-Indian agendas. The capital buys them influence in policy-making is the prevalent argument, and it is true, but the good news is that the government is levelling the playing field. Thanks to its tweaking of the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) passed as a money bill in the last budget session, one can finally ask all political parties, including the BJP and Congress, who is funding them. As it stood before the amendment, the FCRA prevented political parties from receiving funds from any company with more than 50 per cent FDI - that is, if more than half of the company is held by "foreign sources". In practice, though, the issue came to the limelight when civil society organisation Association for Democratic Reforms and EAS Sarma, a retired Indian Administrative Service officer and former Union secretary, filed a public interest litigation in the Delhi High Court in 2014 alleging that both the Congress and the BJP had accepted political funding from Sesa Goa and Sterlite - daughter companies of the Vedanta Group based out of the UK, qualifying as a foreign source, between 2004 and 2012. The Delhi High Court found both parties guilty in March 2014, and they have since filed a joint appeal in the Supreme Court which is still pending, bringing us back to the amendment passed in the last budget session. Ostensibly, the proceedings were initiated when Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley received a letter from at least 22 corporates including Axis Bank and Infosys in 2014 about difficulties in spending their mandatory two per cent corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore because of limitations imposed by the FCRA in its existing form. However, after passing the amendment as a money bill, bypassing the Rajya Sabha in the process, and much subsequent dilly-dallying, the government - specifically minister of state (home) Kiren Rijiju - admitted earlier last week that the new FCRA amendment allows foreign companies to donate to political parties in the name of CSR spending. The amendment put in place changes the definition of a "foreign source", which earlier implied any company with more than 50 per cent FDI, essentially, to any company listed in India regardless of its present shareholding pattern. Moreover, this amendment is to be retroactively implemented, thereby absolving the BJP and Congress both from their conviction by the high court, since by the new definition, Vedanta would not be a foreign source. This may explain why the Congress - opposed to the GST Bill - is supporting the government on this one. However, much more worrying are the government's own erstwhile concerns about the consequences of foreign funding to NGOs or the anti-nationals. By the government's own logic, capital buys influence, and the influx of foreign funds into our political parties would also come with favours and the said party would then owe the corporate. Experts, including Sarma, believe the introduction of foreign funds will fundamentally alter the nature of Indian politics. What the new direction would look like is easily visible from the trajectory of American politics and especially the Republican Party, which receives unlimited funding from corporate sources, and its current presidential candidate Donald Trump. Also at present, the subsidies and tax cuts already being provided to multi-billion dollar enterprises are only going to get worse, since such corporate lobbies will have excessive influence on the government and policymaking, and given the BJP government's strong affinity to free market and large corporates, the party is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of such funding. The process by which the amendment was introduced in the first place is, however, being questioned in court. A Business Standard editorial described it as "legislative impropriety", while Janata Dal United leader KC Tyagi attacked the government for bringing the amendment through the money bill route, saying it "endangered democracy". Also of importance is the government's crackdown on the funding for NGOs such as Greenpeace, which has been severely curtailed citing the same FCRA that the government is evading. This begs the question of how foreign funding for an NGO is unjust if it is just for political parties, but such a question of equality seem to be unanswerable in India's current political scenario. How political outfits plan to evade the downsides remains a puzzling question, but the bill, meanwhile, has already been in effect for two months now. The tug of war over whether the central medical exam, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), will apply from this year or not has been going on for over a month. After long discussions with the state governments, the Centre has decided to bring in an ordinance to partially restore the state of affairs that prevailed before the Supreme Court's judgment on the issue. This has only created a bigger storm with opponents of the BJP isolating it over the issue. But if the politics is kept aside, one still can't appreciate what the ordinance will do. We shall discuss why the ordinance is wrong but before that let's briefly get up-to-date with the whole controversy. History of the controversy Till 2013, the students aspiring for graduation in medical science (MBBS and BDS) had three routes through which they could get admission to the college of their choice - central government AIPMT, entrance exams for state government institutions and exams for state private medical institutions. But this system was riddled with problems, which led the Central government to usher in a unified entrance examination - the NEET. The first NEET exam was held by the Medical Council of India (MCI) on May 5, 2013. The pre-NEET entrance structure was ridden with corruption, it burdened students with too many exams. But following a writ petition of aggrieved state governments and private medical colleges, the NEET was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. This restored the status quo until the Supreme Court, on April 11, 2016, recalled its earlier judgment and ordered the NEET to be held from this year itself. But on May 20, 2016, the Union cabinet decided to bring in an ordinance to delay the NEET till next year. While the details of the ordinance are yet to be available, it will allow states and unaided private colleges to hold their separate exams for this year at least. Logic for NEET Having introduced you to the chequered history of the NEET, it is imperative to understand why the entrance exam was necessitated in the first place. The pre-NEET entrance structure was ridden with corruption, it burdened students with too many exams and ended up producing a system devoid of the merit. So to get over this problem of too many exams and a lack of transparency and standard in them, the NEET was introduced. It eliminates rampant corruption and favouritism and replaces it with merit. It also helps poor students who can't afford the cost of travel and forms of over three dozen admission exams which were prevalent before. Also by reducing the number of exams, the NEET reduced the stress that students have to face because of multiple exams. So the compelling benefits of the NEET are there for all to see. Yet such is the power of the private medical college lobby, that an urgently-needed idea like the NEET has been on the backburner for all this while until the Supreme Court brought it back from the dead. But the influence of the private medical college lobby ensured that the Narendra Modi government which had not cared to bring an ordinance on the NEET for two years got hyperactive and postponed the NEET through an ordinance passed within one month of the Supreme Court judgment. If only the government had shown this interest in getting the NEET through, this crisis wouldn't have arisen. But government has argued that the ordinance is necessary to get states on board, to avoid uncertainty and confusion and in any case, the NEET would be implemented from next year. But all these arguments look unconvincing for following reasons: 1. Why not this year? The argument that students require time to adjust and thus the NEET shouldn't be rushed is full of loopholes. Given that the NEET will save aspirants time, money and stress, the students surely would not lose by its quicker introduction. Also most of them will in any case have prepared for the AIPMT on the pattern and syllabus of which the NEET will be held. If the exam not being held in local languages is the concern, it could have been ensured by passing an ordinance on this rather than allowing the private medical colleges to milk the helpless aspirants for one more year. All these seem to be merely excuses to delay the progressive decision of Supreme Court. Considering how the government has used every trick in its book to keep avoiding the NEET, one can't help but believe that this delaying tactic is rather a derailing tactic. 2. Will cause more uncertainty and increase students' stress The ordinance will push the aspirants once more into uncertainty as after over a month of preparing for the NEET they will once again have to tune into the old system. Also since the ordinance has been challenged in the courts the sword of another cancellation will keep hanging. Thus contrary to government's claim of the ordinance addressing the uncertainty, it will only make the uncertainty more profound and disturbing. This will increase the students' stress and amounts to playing with the future of these students. 3. If separate exams only for this year, why bring in an ordinance? It will only increase friction with the judiciary If the Centre wanted to cancel the NEET only for this year, it should have been able to convince the court of its intent and wouldn't have required an ordinance. But that the government had to resort to an ordinance reveals the weak case the Centre's had. Also given the sternness of the Supreme Court in its review judgment, it is unlikely that it would take too kindly to the ordinance. Therefore, there are high chances that the apex court may scrap the ordinance. This will be embarrassing for the government but more importantly, it will increase friction between the judiciary and executive and will reduce chances of them working cordially in issues such as filling of vacancies in the courts. 4. Why did the Centre not do anything for two years? The doubt over the Centre's intent also originates as the Modi government had no interest in bringing the NEET back for two whole years. It sat over, nay it didn't even contemplate bringing in a legislation to overturn the 2013 Supreme Court judgement. But when the court asked for the NEET to be held, the government wasted no time in getting it delayed. This contrasting speed in the two instances speak volumes about what the Centre thinks, and whose interest - that of the students or the private medical college lobby - it cares more about. 5. Endanger trust of our young generation in our representatives The harm from such an ad hoc action like bringing in an ordinance devoid of any morality is not limited to a particular field. It weakens the very fabric of our democracy. The lakhs of students who have been betrayed by this ordinance will now lose trust in the country's political class. They will believe that the system had sold their future for the profit of the high and mighty. They will learn how black money (education is a sector that has one of the largest black economies) thrives even under those who claimed to be its biggest nemesis. This will weaken their engagement with democracy and have a detrimental impact on the cooperation between the State and society. STAUNTON-The unassuming pillars stand on N. Augusta Street, identified only by an etching of the Star of David. For the past 150 years, Jews within Staunton have used this cemetery to honor their ancestors. The cemetery, as is often the case, was the first thing acquired, even before there was a congregation, said Rabbi Joe Blair, head of the Temple House of Israel in Staunton. The congregation would begin by building the Metaher, or the House of Rounds. Its just a single room with one bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. Originally it was used as a functional location to prepare the dead for burial. Although this particular Metaher is no longer in use today, the cemetery is still active. The most recent burial took place within the past eight months. There are one or two plots from the more recent burials, but we have larger family plots from earlier on, Blair said. These were founding families, and they bought large plots with the expectation that their family would be buried here. These founding members of the Jewish community came to Staunton in the 1880s from regions in central and eastern Europe to escape religious discrimination. By 1886, there were enough Jews in Staunton to form a congregation, and they commissioned local architect T. J. Collins to build a synagogue. Many of these families established businesses in downtown Staunton, according to Ruth Chowder and Karen Lynne Johnston. Although these family businesses thrived up through the early 20 th century, many of their descendants have moved away from the area. Many of these families, however, choose to be buried within the same cemetery as their parents and grandparents. Although the cemetery extends over an acre, less than half is filled with grave sites. Its a significant piece of property, but in the 150 years the congregation has been here this is the entire population who is buried here, Blair said. Despite the small number of graves, the cemetery is well kept by members of the congregation who make sure the stones are level and clean, and repair any damage to the property. Some of the more recent repairs have included replacing the roof of the Metaher and replacing the base of a headstone that was crushed by a fallen tree, Blair said. The fence which originally surrounded the grave sites was taken down due to an overgrowth of poison ivy. Blair said members of the congregation are currently discussing how to replace the fence, which will most likely take place in the near future. Many of the headstones have small stones placed on top, left there by visitors. When you visit a cemetery, the custom is to leave a symbol that somebody is still visiting, that the memorial to the person is continually being built, Blair said. It is a way of noting that people have come. According to Blair, the idea of honoring the dead within the community is an important one to the Jewish congregation. It goes along with the concept that when we have services, one of the things we do is remember the dead who have passed away at that time of year, Blair said. Were always naming these people; theyre part of our consciousness. Throughout the year, services are conducted within the cemetery as a special commemoration of the dead. For Blair, the cemetery provides a peaceful connection to those who have passed from the community. I find myself when I come out here, looking around and thinking I know way too many of these people, he said. It is a place where I find myself feeling more in touch with the people who are gone, a place where I can feel more comfortable speaking to them. Victoria Kearney is a news correspondent for The News-Virginian. LONDON - England - A new poll has revealed that when Turkey joins the EU, 12 million Turks will ascend on Britain and the NHS will be under threat. The survey was conducted in 27 provinces of Turkey. In response to the question If Turkey becomes a full member of the EU, and Britain remains in the EU, would you, or any member of your family, consider relocating to Britain? 16 percent of the respondents said they would. This conservative number means 12 million citizens of Turkey would descend upon Britain, although the numbers would be far larger in the long term. Fast Track Turkey EU Membership Angela Merkel is fast tracking Turkeys EU ascension, and David Cameron is 100% behind the country joining the EU. UK paying 2 billion helping Turkey join the EU. Germany is also brokering a visa deal with Turkey which will allow all 77 million Turks access to Britains NHS if they so wish. The Turks cannot be blamed for wanting a better life with free health care, well paid jobs, benefits and a high standard of education which can be found in the UK. When they are given the opportunity, they will take it with open arms. NHS Will Be Ruined The drawback for Britain will be an overwhelming deluge upon the already strained NHS and other public services, which are under constant attack and have been inundated from years of EU migration after former Labour PM, Tony Blair opened the doors during his premiership. If the UK does not Vote Leave on June 23 it will be sitting within an EU open corridor from Ankara to Dover. The NHS will be so overwhelmed that it will have to eventually be privatised and become a paid for service to survive. Schools will be overwhelmed to a point that indigenous British people will not be able to send their kids to school within their area, or at all. There will be no places for your children in local schools. Salaries and wages will be hit as the deluge overwhelms the UK. Voting to remain in the EU is suicidal, and an act of ultimate destruction on Britain. Dont do it. Instead, You Must Vote to Leave to Save our NHS and Public Services. Vote Leave on June 23 to save Britain. Mumbai: India Inc has turned the corner of distress with their debt securities receiving positive ratings overall. According to Sebi, as many as 852 of 952 long-term corporate debt securities were rated to be investment grade. This is good news compared to a Crisil rating agency report that had in April 2016 said debt of firms downgraded by Crisil in its universe of companies in fiscal 2016 has risen to an all-time high of Rs 3.8 lakh crore, underscoring that credit quality pressures continue to mount for India Inc. More than half of this debt belonged to firms in metal sector, which were hit by falling realisation and high debt. And the second-biggest chunk of about a quarter belonged to the infrastructure sector. Somasekhar Vemuri, senior director, Crisil, had observed then that debt under stress at infrastructure and metal-linked firms is at a record level because there hasnt been any meaningful deleveraging of balance sheets, and metal prices continue to be low. These perhaps formed the 100 issues in 2015-16 that Sebi report found to be of non-investment grade. Sebi has taken the ratings of besides the widely reported Crisil, ICRA, CARE and India Ratings and Research Brickwork Ratings India and SMERA Ratings. According to the Sebi report quoted by PTI, whilst between 2011-12 and 2014-15 barely between 36-44 issues met the investment grade category in 2014-15, the investment grade ratings took an upturn when about 61 per cent of the debt issues were assig-ned investment grade. In 2015-16 this figure touched 89.5 per cent. During 2015-16, 852 debt issues had investment grade ratings with highest-to-moderate safety profile. These included, 309 debt issues worth `1.93 lakh crore with high safety (AA), 178 issues (`10.3 lakh crore) as highest safety (AAA), 214 issues (`40,889 crore) were assigned as adequately safety (A) and 151 issues (`6,180 crore) were classified under moderate safety (BBB) in 2015-16. Prior to the 2008-09 crisis nearly 79 per cent corporate debt issues were rated to be of investment quality, but the after effects of the 2008 crisis saw the credit profile of companies deteriorating. Mumbai: Even as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is keen to fund infra projects in Maharashtra, the Fadnavis government is unlikely to approach the agency for the proposed Rs 30,000-crore Mumbai-Nagpur expressway citing long delays in getting approvals. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which is implementing the 700-km 8-lane expressway, expects to commence work on the project by end October this year and complete by 2019, when the state as well as the nation go to polls. "The proposed Mumbai-Nagpur super-communication expressway is a huge project and we will need to raise funds from various agencies. We are in talks with various national and multilateral lenders like the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank among others."We may also seek central funds for the project, which we will take up on an EPC model," MSRDC joint managing director SM Ramchandani told PTI. The Devendra Fadnavis government, however, is reluctant to approach the JICA, which offers the cheapest loans for large infra projects, even as the Japanese agency has agreed to fund most of the infrastructure projects in the state, including the Mumbai-Transharbour Link, and upcoming three metros in the megapolis among others. Also, JICA has agreed to fund the Rs 98,000-crore Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project and the proposed Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor. It is already funding the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor as well as the Eastern and Wester Dedicated Freight Corridors. The JICA is funding billions of loans at a rate as low as 0.15 per cent in some projects. In the case of bullet train project, wherein JICA will be funding 81 per cent of project cost, the 50-year soft loan is priced at 0.10 per cent. "We will not approach JICA for the Nagpur expressway project. We want to start work on this project as soon as possible. We have experienced it in the past that the JICA takes a long time to give their approvals and we do not have that much time to wait," Ramchandani said. The JICA, last year, had expressed interest in funding infrastructure projects to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore being undertaken by the state. After almost a year of granting in-principle approval, the Japanese agency recently gave its final approval to fund the much-awaited Rs 17,500-crore 22-km Mumbai TransHarbour Link (MTHL) project and the ambitious Rs 23,136-crore 33.5-km Colaba-Bandra-Seepz underground metro project. Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif reportedly shot a few scenes in the location featured as Astapor. The many pictures and videos from the sets of Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaifs Jagga Jasoos have given us a vague idea of what to expect from the film. However, not many know the connection the film shares with the popular television show Game of Thrones. After Salman Khans Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Ranbir and Katrinas action-adventure film seems to be the second Bollywood film to have a GOT element in it. The director, who is currently shooting a few scenes in Morocco, has reportedly picked the very same location featured as Astapor in the Emmy Award winning series. The 'Jagga Jasoos' team along with Katrina Kaif shooting for a scene in Morocco. A scene from 'Game of Thrones' shot in Morocco. Ranbir and Katrina were photographed shooting a few scenes believed to be in the same location Daenerys Targaryen bought (and ultimately frees) an army of 8,000 Unsullied. Jagga Jasoos, which is being directed by Anurag Basu, is an adventure mystery about a young college lad in search of his missing father. The film will have a mix of adventure, mystery, romance and action. Mumbai: In an industry known for its rivalries between leading actresses, Kangana Ranaut has found thick friends in Vidya Balan and Priyanka Chopra and the 'Queen' star says they have expressed concern as her legal war with Hrithik Roshan continues. Kangana, 29, and her 'Krrish 3' co-star Hrithik, 42, have been at loggerheads since early this year with both the stars slapping legal notices at each other. While he says they never had a relationship, Kangana maintains otherwise. Actresses like like Vidya, Sonam Kapoor and Kalki Koechlin have praised Kangana for taking a stand for herself in the legal battle. All my girls are just amazing. We are so thick. We dont discuss our personal lives, like nobody ever questioned me, What happened?, but all I get is calls, lots of love and concern. Everybody has called me and asked me, whether its Priyanka, Vidya or Sonam. A lot of men have responded too, Kangana told PTI in an interview. The 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns' star says she is happy that people in the industry have also reached out to both her and and the other side as that is a testament to the strong bond the actors share with their colleagues. I think its about the personal equation someone has with you. You dont see things objectively. You do get emotional if bonding is there and thats the most important thing. In this situation, be it me or the other side, we havent been crucified. I feel that tomorrow if I see two people in such a situation, I would want to reach out, not to find out but just to see that the two people are okay. I am honoured to be in this place, where people are much more human than I could think. While many have lauded Kanganas fearless response to whole feud, she has also been criticised by some people. Kangana says she is happy with the appreciation but does not consider herself special. I am an actor, I am here to do my job. Right now, I dont know how these tags like that of a fashion designer or a feminist fit into my scheme of things. But it is nice that these virtues have been bestowed upon me, that people think I have high morality standards and believe my creative energies are such that I can be an actor, director or a superhuman but I dont know if I am that special as people think about me. Kangana feels she has not realised her true potential as an actress and she would want to concentrate on her work more now. Right now, I think I am doing fairly good. I am concentrating on my work. In fact, at times I feel I am not living up to the best of my abilities but I will manage. And one day I would love to be all this that people call me. She recently won the National Award for 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns', but her name was also reportedly recommended for a Padma Shri, which she did get. The actress, however, is more than happy to have been left out as she thinks theres a long way to go before earning an honour like Padma Shri. I dont feel bad about it. I am too young for a Padma Shri. To be honest, I wouldnt want it right now. Its a big deal, and also if you misbehave they take it back. Something or the other keep happening in my life, she said with a laugh. So, I think Ive a long way to go before I get a Padma Shri Padma Shri is more than just work, its about being an ideal example to the rest of the country which I dont think I am. Bollywoods first Greek god, Salman Khan has time and again inspired many with his impressive physique. But when it comes to his friends and co-actors, it isnt just inspiration that he provides, but ample help as well. He had personally trained Katrina Kaif for Dhoom 3 and had done the same for Arjun Kapoor in his 2012 debut Ishaqzaade. Zarine Khan, too, shed oodles of weight before her debut in Veer all thanks to Salman. And now, while Salman has been pushing himself a little extra to sport a perfect physique in director Ali Abbas Zafars next Sultan, he is also taking due care in making sure his leading lady Anushka gets all the help she needs as well. To portray the role of a Haryanvi wrestler, Salman had to undergo a lot of training to get not only the moves right but also the physique. And to help him with his training, a special fitness trainer, Hans Marrero, who has previously worked in Baahubali and also in Marvels Captain America: Civil War was brought on board. And being the helpful soul he is, Salman had suggested the trainers name to Anushka as well and was apparently hands-on with her training. A source close to the film reveals, Salman suggested his personal trainer Hans Merrero to Anushka during the schedule of Sultan in Ludhiana. Salman even kept a close check on her fitness level and trained her to ensure that she continued to be in best shape since the actress had to play a wrestler. Anushka, who has undergone special training to retain a certain body type for the film, will essay the role of Arfa, a female Haryanvi wrestler. Bollywood beauty turned Hollywood baddie Deepika Padukone, has work her charm on fans abroad. The actress, who has been in Canada for the past few months, shot the last sequence of xXx: The Return of Xander Cage in downtown Toronto last night. Deepika and her three male co-stars- Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa and Michael Bisping- shot their final scene together on a street corner that was corded off for the shoot. To her surprise, a large group of fans assembled on the sidewalk to meet her and cheer her on. Deepika, who was busy shooting a scene, wandered off the sets to meet her fans and sign autographs. A video posted by Layan (@deepikapadukone_arabfc) on May 21, 2016 at 10:31am PDT The star was beaming with joy to see her fans, she however informed them that she wouldnt be able to pose for pictures as she was in costume. Deepika, who will be seen playing a huntress in this action flick, was seen in an all black leather outfit, with knee high boots. #DeepikaPadukone last night on set of #xXx3 final shooting. ~ TFS: neverfallapart (twitter) A video posted by Deepika Padukone FC (@deepikapworld) on May 21, 2016 at 3:21pm PDT Deepika Padukone, Mike Bisping, Donnie Yen and Tony Jaa shooting for XXX: The Return of Xander Cage. #xXx3 A video posted by Deepika Padukone (@deepikamazing) on May 21, 2016 at 7:50pm PDT After the shoot, Deepika welcomed her fans with open arms and posed with them for group and solo pictures. Deepika has been busy shooting for her film for the past three months. She took a break in-between, to attend a friends wedding in Sri Lanka. On the work front, Deepika will be seen starring opposite Salman Khan in Kabir Khans next. Rumours are also running wild that the actress is in the running to be cast as the leading lady in the next James Bond film. Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif have wrapped up shooting the Moroccan schedule of their film Jagga Jasoos. The former flames, who have been shooting a song, dance and action sequence for the film in Morocco, were seen driving around a marketplace. Ranbir and Katrina had to shoot a scene on a moped. Ranbir took the front seat, but had a little trouble getting the bike started. With a little help from the assistants on the sets, the actor finally managed to get the engine running. Katrina on the other hand held on tight as Ranbir maneuvered through the crowded marketplace. A video posted by soomakaif (@soomakaif) on May 20, 2016 at 11:15am PDT A video posted by Katrina Kaif (@_katriinakaif) on May 21, 2016 at 3:38am PDT This is the first time fans of the film are getting to see the two stars shoot some action sequences, be it riding a bike, jumping off rooftops or even zooming away on a speed boat. After the shoot, Ranbir was also photographed helping around on the sets by angling the large film cameras. A photo posted by Ranbir Kapoor fan club Peru (@ranbirkapoorfcperu) on May 20, 2016 at 12:31pm PDT A photo posted by Jagga Jasoos Fan Club (@jaggajasoos.fc) on May 20, 2016 at 1:39pm PDT Jagga Jasoos that is being directed by Anurag Basu, will have Ranbir Kapoor playing a teenage detective in search of his missing father, while Katrina will be essaying the role of his love interest in the film. Satish and his friend took her to an isolated place on the pretext of sorting out an issue and allegedly gangraped her before fleeing the spot. (Representational image) Bengaluru: In less than a week, another woman was allegedly gang-raped by two drunk men known to the survivor in Hulimavu police limits on Friday evening. The survivor, who is around 50 years old, is a resident of Chikkakamanahalli. She works as a maid. The Hulimavu police have arrested one accused, while the other is on the run. The arrested, Satish, is a carpenter. On Friday evening, the survivor was returning home after completing her chores when Satish and his friend took her to an isolated place on the pretext of sorting out an issue and allegedly gangraped her before fleeing the spot. The survivor reached home late in the night and when asked by her husband why she was late, she narrated the incident. They approached the police station and lodged a complaint. Based on the information given, the Hulimavu police arrested Satish. The survivor and the accused were subjected to medical tests and a case was registered, the police said. Early on Monday morning, a 25-year-old beautician from Bhutan was gangraped by three men in an apartment in Electronics City. Later, the trio was arrested by the Electronics City police. The police also detained two pub operators from Gaur-4 claiming their business promoted untoward activities (Photo: Representational Image) Rautahat: The Nepal Police have intensified crackdown on public houses in Rautahat in wake of reports that the Indian nationals from Bihar enter the country to enjoy drinks post the liquor ban in the state. The police have so far detained 70 Indian nationals from pubs of neighbouring Nepali villages in last 50 days, reports The Himalayan Times. At least nine Indian nationals, who had arrived at a village outside the Rautahat district headquarters Gaur from Sitamarhi of Bihar, were nabbed by the police last evening but later released after they signed a commitment not to enter Nepal again for drinking. DSP Nabil Krishna Bhandari said all were fined Rs. 1,000. Meanwhile, the police also detained two pub operators from Gaur-4 claiming their business promoted untoward activities. Since the local police were insisting only on a compromise, the woman had lodged an online complaint through the Citizens Portal of the state police website on Saturday. Chennai: A womans four-month-old pregnancy was terminated after she was thrashed by supporters of Tiruvottiyur DMK MLA KPP Samy as they got worked up by celebrations of her kith and kin over AIADMKs victory, on Thursday. No case is registered yet. It all began when a section of AIADMK supporters began celebrating soon after the news of the party supremo J. Jayalalithaas romp to power became imminent with a thumping majority came. AIADMK cadres burst firecrackers and distributed sweets in the neighbourhood marking the celebrations. The DMK cadres kept quite through the day until Samy won the seat and the official announcement was made. Around 7 pm, when the counting was almost at its end, the woman, Divya, was riding home with her husband, Raghu, in Tiruvottiyur Kuppam, where they were intercepted by known aides of the MLA and a few known local hands. The gang wondered as to what her family is going to do since DMK has won Tiruvottiyur seat, and picked up a quarrel. My sister was pushed down from the vehicle. They had her kicked in the stomach purposefully. Divya collapsed on the spot. My mother who leaped to help her was prevented. They also attacked Divyas husband Raghu. The celebration of the AIADMKs victory was ridiculed, and received verbal abuse, Apannu, elder brother of Divya, told DC. She was rushed to a private hospital where the doctors after examining her informed that her pregnancy was terminated, and the fetus had to be removed. She is still under treatment. Meanwhile, the neighbours caught hold of the men involved in the thrashing, and handed them over to Tiruvottiyur cops. However, the men were released with the intervention of advocates without registering any case. Since the local police were insisting only on a compromise, the woman had lodged an online complaint through the Citizens Portal of the state police website on Saturday. Bengaluru: An industrialist opened fire at the roof of his office in K.R. Puram on Saturday in a bid to intimidate his business partner over a financial dispute running into crores. Fortunately, there were no casualties and the partner left the office hastily fearing for his life, the police said. The police have slapped charges of attempt to murder and several sections under the Arms Act on the accused, identified as Ravi Kumar, aged around 45, who have been detained. According to the police, the incident happened around 2.30 pm at Ravi Kumars office - RKM Sand and Aggregates on Devasandra main road, opposite to Tent Road in K.R. Puram. Girish Babu, a resident of Hosur, and a business partner with Ravi Kumar had come to the latters office to demand his share in the profit, which was longtime pending. Both Ravi and Girish were in stone crushing business and also supply sand and different inches of jelly. Ravi and Girish got into heated arguments after the latter demanded his share in the profit of `5.5 crore, the police stated. In a bid to threaten Girish, Ravi pulled out his licensed pistol, a 7.65 mm caliber, and fired at the roof of his office, located on the first floor of a commercial complex Radhakrishna Nilaya. Girish and his associates immediately left fearing for their lives. Some staffers, who were present at the office, were shocked and they too rushed outside. The police was intimated and senior officials, including Additional Commissioner of Police P. Harishekaran, rushed to the spot. The K.R. Puram police have registered a case and arrested Ravi and further investigations are underway. The incident took place in December, when the accused and the complainant went to a friend's rented house for a party and he forced himself upon her (Photo: Representational Image) New Delhi: A 23-year-old JNU student has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman classmate, police said on Sunday. Both the complainant and the accused (names witheld) are pursuing post graduation degree in the varsity's Centre for Historical Studies. The incident took place in December, when the accused and the complainant went to a friend's rented house for a party and he forced himself upon her, a senior police official said. However, the woman approached the police and reported the matter this Thursday. A case under IPC Section 376 (rape) was registered immediately in connection with the incident and the accused was arrested, the official said. Bharath Venkateswaran, one of the top scorers in CBSE class 12 exams, celebrates with his friends. (Photo: DC) Chennai: Of 10.65 lakh students who wrote the CBSE class 12 exams this year, 83.05 per cent of them were successful. As usual, girls outperformed boys this year too with 88.58 per cent clearing the exam against boys 78.85 per cent. Thiruvananthapuram region recorded the highest pass percentage CBSE class XII exams compared to other regions with 97.61per cent followed by Chennai region which recorded 92.63 per cent. Chennai region comprises six states including Tamil Nadu and three union territories. Of 13,625 students who sat for the exam in Tamil Nadu, 13,180 were successful (96.73 per cent). Though Chennai region achieved a slight increase in the pass percentage (1.49 per cent) compared to last year, performance of Tamil Nadu students has witnessed a slight decrease of 0.55 per cent. For the fourth consecutive year, Delhi students secured the top rank. Sukriti Gupta from Ashok Vihar in Delhi scored 497 marks out of 500. Ajish Sekar wants to become a software engineer. He is preparing for IIT entrance exam JEE (Advanced) which is scheduled for tomorrow. I expected 480 marks and above. But I didnt expect 495 marks. My school informed me that I secured the third rank at the all India level. I was surprised, he said. He likes playing video games during free time. He secured 100 marks in Maths, 99 in Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science, and 98 in English. His father was a retired software professional. His mother works as a Montessori trainer at Hariri Vidyalaya at RA Puram. His brother Anish completed engineering course. Topper Bharath Venkateswaran secured centum in Maths and Physics. In Chemistry and Computer Science he scored 99 and in English, 97 marks. He said the centum in Maths surprised him. This year Maths paper was bit unconventional and tough. So I expected 485-490 marks. His father P.Venkateswaran is working in Singapore and mother Shanthi is a homemaker. Ashwin Tunga from Maharishi Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School at Chetpet scored 492 out of 500 marks. He also secured full marks in Maths. When contacted, he said Maths was tougher than usual, but he was expecting centum in the subject. He wants to pursue computer science engineering. This comes against the backdrop of multiple incidents in recent times, ranging from controversies involving people with disabilities to bad quality of food, to quarrels among staff, resulting in flight delays (Photo: File) New Delhi: Faced with numerous complaints from its customers of being 'inhospitable' and 'insensitive', especially in times of flight delays, Government-run Air India wants to address them with the nationalistic spirit. According to carrier's Chairman and Managing Director, Ashwani Lohani, using the words 'Jai Hind,' by the flight commander before take off, would make a tremendous impact (on the passengers in case of delays). "The captain of a flight should often connect with passengers during the journey and, at the end of first address, using the words 'Jai Hind' would make a tremendous impact," Lohani, who is trying to turnaround the loss-making flag carrier said in a recent communication to his employees. Besides, Lohani in his communication has also asked the staff to be "courteous and polite" to passengers and said wearing a smile would be a "good thing". In a lengthy message, Lohani also sought to sensitise the employees to the need of ensuring that passengers have a "good experience" with Air India, especially at a time when the carrier is looking to bring about a turnaround in its fortunes. This comes against the backdrop of multiple incidents in recent times, ranging from controversies involving people with disabilities to bad quality of food, to quarrels among staff, resulting in flight delays. "The cabin crew should greet the passengers while emplaning and deplaning with a 'namaskaar' as was the tradition. A smile on the face and conversing sweetly and politely without an iota of irritation would be a good thing," Lohani said. During Aircraft on Ground (AOG) or progressive delay exceeding 30 minutes, Lohani said, the airport manager and the station manager should immediately reach the site and attend to the passengers. "There should be adequate communication to the passengers and their boarding/lodging needs should be taken care of without delay," he said, adding that station manager and airport manager have to be proactive and positive with a problem solving approach. The two leaders have developed a good rapport ever since Banerjee went to the Himalayan nation last year where Tobgay even drove her once to the hotel in Thimphu (Photo: PTI) Kolkata: Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay will be among those in attendance during the swearing-in ceremony of Mamata Banerjee as West Bengal Chief Minister for the second consecutive term on May 27. "Looking forward to congratulating Mamata-di personally during her swearing-in ceremony in Kolkata," Tobgay tweeted. Read: Mamata reinstates top cop Rajiv Kumar who was removed by EC In her reply, Banerjee expressed gratitude to him and tweeted, "Thank you so much for the kind words". The two leaders have developed a good rapport ever since Banerjee went to the Himalayan nation last year where Tobgay even drove her once to the hotel in Thimphu. West Bengal shares over 180 km long border with Bhutan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Akhilesh Yadav are also likely to be invited to the ceremony. Kolkata: Actor-turned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Roopa Ganguly was on Sunday heckled and her convoy attacked allegedly by Trinamool Congress supporters near Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas district when she was returning to the city. The incident happened when Ganguly, along with other BJP workers, was returning from Ishwaripur village near Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas after visiting a party worker, who was assaulted allegedly by TMC workers yesterday and was admitted to a local hospital there, a senior district police officer told PTI. "Despite several requests, Roopa stopped her car and two other cars in her convoy near Diamond Harbour on her way to Kolkata and started talking to locals, which enraged them. Some boys threw stones at the convoy while few women from the locality pulled Roopa's hair and slapped another woman who was with her," the officer said. The police posted there intervened and restrained the locals and took control of the situation, he said, adding though Roopa was "not injured", she was taken to a local hospital, where from she was released after a check-up. "We have not arrested anybody in connection with the incident, but a police posting has been arranged in the locality," he said. The BJP leader and the party workers accompanying her, however, alleged that they were attacked by TMC activists. Ganguly, the chief of BJP's state Mahila Morcha unit, had unsuccessfully contested from Howrah (North) seat against TMC's Laxmi Ratan Shukla in the just-concluded state assembly elections. New Delhi: An investigator in a coal block allocation scam has told a special court that order to file a closure report in the case was given by then CBI chief Ranjit Sinha whose role is under scanner of a Supreme Court-appointed panel on whether his decisions had led to scuttling of probe. The probe officer was recording his testimony as a prosecution witness in the case involving Madhya Pradesh-based Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd (KSSPL) and others in which the court had rejected CBI's closure report and has been proceeding with the trial in the case. The CBI had named as accused KSSPL, its directors, Pawan, Kamaljeet Ahluwalia, Prashant Ahluwalia, Amit Goyal and some unknown public servants in FIR for allegedly misrepresenting facts, including inflated net worth, to acquire coal blocks. The officer told the court that after completing the probe, he had submitted the report to his senior but the final order was received from the "competent authority" to close the case. On being asked by special CBI judge Bharat Parashar as to who was the "competent authority" referred by investigating officer (IO), in his examination-in-chief, who had directed to file closure report in the case, DSP Sanjay Dubey said "Ranjit Sinha the then Director CBI." The controversy regarding Sinha's alleged meetings with some coal block allocation scam accused at his official residence during his tenure as CBI director had reached to the Supreme Court which had constituted a team to look into it. An initial report has been given in the apex court by former special director of CBI M L Sharma-headed panel and it is still continuing with its inquiry into the allegations that Sinha's meetings with accused and others had led to botching up of investigation in the Coalgate cases. During his deposition, the IO said, "Upon completion of all necessary investigation, I submitted my report to my senior officer in CBI. However, the final order as was received from the then competent authority was to file a closure report against all accused persons. Accordingly, a final report in the nature of closure report was filed by me in the court on March 27, 2014." The IO said the court, however, did not agree with the conclusion drawn in the final report filed by him and had taken cognisance of various offenses against various private parties and public servants in October 2014 and had ordered the CBI to carry out further investigation. The case pertains to alleged irregularities in allocation of Thesgora-B Rudrapuri coal block in Madhya Pradesh to KSSPL. The court had summoned the Madhya Pradesh-based company and its managing director Pawan Kumar Ahluwalia, senior official and Chartered Accountant, Amit Goyal, former Coal Secretary H C Gupta and two government officials as accused in the case. The other two government officials who were summoned as accused were Ministry of Coal's (MOC) then Joint Secretary, K S Kropha, and one of its then director K C Samaria. These accused are facing trial for the alleged offences under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) of the IPC and under the Prevention of Corruption Act. New Delhi: You can now dial a four-digit toll-free number to listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' programme if you missed it on radio. Telecom Ministry has given head-up to '1922' to help people listen to the programme. All telecom service providers across the country have been informed about the allocation of the number for voice services, according to the Ministry's order. The Prime Minister holds forth on various contemporary matters on "Mann Ki Baat" programme on All India Radio every month. "Calls to this number shall be toll free. Short code (1922) should be accessible for international in-roamers within India," it said. While there has been no official announcement, a call made to 1922 by PTI said "Mann Ki Baat me call karne ke liye dhanyawaad" (Thank you for calling Mann Ki Baat) before automatically disconnecting. After some time, a return call was received broadcasting Mann Ki Baat. In addition, a Short Message Service (SMS) was also received, that mentioned "Thank you for calling. Dial 1922 again at your convenience and listen to Mann Ki Baat". The approval of competent authority has been given to allocate the short code '1922' for voice services across all the states and Union Territories for receiving and redirecting calls to National Informatics Centre (NIC) platform for the PM's initiative, the Ministry's order said. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar reiterated the high importance that India attaches to its strategic partnership with Oman (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: India and Oman on Sunday vowed to deepen bilateral defence ties as the two countries signed four key agreements in the critical sector with focus on enhancing military cooperation. The agreements on defence cooperation, marine crime prevention, maritime issues and flight safety information exchange was signed following the maiden visit of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to Oman, considered one of the closest country in the middle east. Parrikar, who is on an official visit at the invitation of Bader Bin Saud Bin Harib Al Busaidi, Minister Responsible for Defense Affairs of Oman, on Sunday wrapped up his visit and left for UAE. During his talks with the leadership there, all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation including enhanced military to military exchanges were discussed. Both sides also exchanged views on regional developments of mutual interest, a statement by the Defence Ministry said. Both sides noted that defence cooperation is a key facet of their bilateral strategic partnership. It was agreed that the two sides would further expand and consolidate their ongoing bilateral defence cooperation, the statement said. Parrikar reiterated the high importance that India attaches to its strategic partnership with Oman and also conveyed his appreciation at the continued support rendered by Oman for the Operational Turnaround (OTR) of Indian Navy ships for anti-piracy patrols as well as technical support for landing and overflight of IAF planes. He visited the Military Technology College and the Sultan's Armed Forces Museum in Muscat. He also attended a reception at Sultan Qaboos Port to mark the goodwill visit to Oman of naval ships INS Delhi, INS Deepak and INS Tarkash. Parrikar was accompanied by a high-level official delegation comprising Secretary (Defence Production) Ashok Gupta, DRDO chief Dr S Christopher, Army Vice Chief Lt Gen MMS Rai, designated new Navy chief Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal BS Dhanoa besides other senior defence ministry officials. A defence industry delegation comprising SC Bajpai, Additional DG, Ordinance Factory Board and SK Sharma, CMD, Bharat Electronics Limited also accompanied Parrikar. AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa called on Governor K. Rosaiah and staked claim for forming the next government at Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Saturday. She also handed over the letter from 133 MLAs electing her as the leader of the legislature party of the AIADMK to the Governor. (Photo: DC) Chennai: AIADMK supremo J.Jayalalithaa will be sworn in as Chief Minister for a record sixth time on Monday (May 23) at the head of a 28-member Cabinet which has an equal mix of experienced and new comers. O. Panneerselvam will continue to hold the finance portfolio in the new government too. Jayalalithaa, who was elected as Leader of AIADMK Legislature Party on Friday evening, met Governor K. Rosaiah on Saturday and staked her claim to form the government by handing over the letter of her election as well as the list of ministers. She and her cabinet colleagues will take oath on Monday at noon at the Centenary Auditorium of Madras University. While retaining 13 ministers of the outgoing cabinet, the Chief Minister also brought in party veteran Dindigul C. Srinivasan by making him forests ministers, allotting fisheries to D.Jayakumar, who had served as minister and Speaker of the Assembly in her previous governments and giving handlooms and textiles to another old-timer and former Rajya Sabha MP O. S. Manian. Jayalalithaa will retain public, IAS, IPS, IFS, general administration, district revenue officers, police and home departments with her and inducted Udumalai Radhkrishnan, who was Chairman of Arasu Cable TV corporation, into the cabinet and allotted housing and urban development to him. Bengaluru: The state governments decision to transfer CID SP Bhushan Gulabrao Borase, who was the supervising investigation officer in the sensational murder case of renowned scholar Dr M. M. Kalburgi, is seen as a setback to the probe in the blind case. Borase, who was transferred to CID just a few months ago, was the second supervising investigation officer in the case. The government, on Friday, transferred and posted him as SP of Dakshina Kannada district. In fact, seniors officials in the CID had handed over the case to Borase after he assumed charge, as they were reportedly not satisfied with the progress. Earlier, the case was being handled by another SP D. C. Rajappa. It is learnt that the top cops wanted quick results and thus handed over the case to Borase. However, now that he has been transferred, the case is set to see its third supervising investigation officer. Its always good to have one officer to supervise the case. Considering the veracity of Dr. Kalburgis murder case and the lack of clues about the assailants, it would have been better that Borase was retained. Also, he was posted just a few months ago to CID and the investigation was on full swing. Coordinated efforts were being made to crack the case. With his transfer, the case has to be handed over to another officer, who will have to study the case in detail now. This would, in a way, slow down the pace of investigation, an officer said. Sources said that the case would be mostly handed over to SP Ida Martin Marbaniang, who is currently handling the second PU question paper leak case and other cases as well. Though we cannot say that the entire investigation will be hampered with the transfer of one officer, it has certain impacts on the probe, the official added. New Delhi: Amping up its offensive against the Left Front in Kerala, a BJP delegation on Sunday met President Pranab Mukherjee over attacks on party workers allegedly by CPI(M) supporters and also questioned the silence of Congress, saying it is not good for democracy. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari told reporters after meeting the President that BJP and RSS workers were facing "atrocities" from CPI(M), which led the alliance that won the Assembly polls in the state. Read: BJP workers protest outside CPI(M) office in Delhi, 600 detained He alleged that police was not taking appropriate action. "We have given the President details of these cases, including photographs. Our worker Pramod was killed. Houses of more than 100 workers have been vandalised. Situation is not good. He has assured us that he will take appropriate action. Read: Violence spreads in Kozhikode district "Unfortunately, UPA, Congress are keeping quiet. This is not good for democracy. Democracy is a battle of ideas and parties cannot grow by taking law into their hands. We hope that those having faith in democracy will condemn this violence," he said. Asked about CPI(M)'s charge that BJP was misleading the country, he said details of the incidents have been submitted to Mukherjee. Besides Gadkari, the delegation included Union ministers J P Nadda, Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, MPs Meenakshi Lekhi and M J Akbar and Kerala BJP President Kummanam Rajasekharan. Read: Amit Shah slams LDF over party worker's murder Attacking the Left Front, BJP chief Amit Shah had on Saturday accused it of "violating" the people's mandate as his party said it will not sit quiet and fight on the streets if violence continues. The Left Front has instead attacked BJP and RSS for targeting its workers and accused the party of misleading the people. Tehran: Lifting of international sanctions on Iran has opened up immense opportunities and India is looking to expand cooperation with the Persian Gulf nation in sectors such as trade, investment, infrastructure and energy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. "India and Iran have always focused to add strength to our relations, even during the difficult times. In the current context, both countries can look to expand our cooperation in the fields of trade, technology, investment and infrastructure and energy security," he told Iran's IRNA news agency ahead of his arrival here on a two-day visit. Stating that Indian public and private sector firms were keen on investing in Iran, he said the signing of agreement on development of Chabahar port will provide wider connectivity. "Lifting of the international sanctions against Iran has opened up immense opportunities for both the countries, especially in the economic sphere," Modi said, adding India is keen to enhance its investment in the Persian Gulf nation and also welcomes flow of capital and investments from the oil-rich nation. Modi, who will meet President Hassan Rouhani tomorrow for formal talks, said he had during their last meeting at Ufa last year indicated possibilities of cooperation in ports, fertiliser and petrochemical sector. "Energy is one of the most important dimensions of our bilateral economic cooperation. With Farzad-B, we have gone beyond the buyer-seller relationship to being genuine partners in the field of energy," he said. State-owned ONGC is in talks to secure development rights for the gas field it had discovered in 2008. It has already invested about USD 100 million in the gas field. Expressing satisfaction over the progress made so far on the participation of India in development of the Iranian port of Chabahar, he said: "I am happy that a progress has been made on Chabahar Port and also on wider connectivity initiative involving Chabahar. "Our public and private sectors are keen to invest in Iran. At the same time, we would also welcome the flow of capital and investments from Iran." Elaborating on the agenda for his meetings with top Iranian leadership, Modi said: "Iran is part of our extended neighbourhood, an important country in the region and one of the India's valuable partners. We are connected with each other by the shared history and civilisational ties." CorCom, which is responsible for many bombings, is an umbrella group in Manipur, is an umbrella group of several left-wing extremist organisations. (Photo: Representational Image) Imphal: A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and five jawans of Assam Rifles were killed on Sunday in an ambush by militants in Chandel district of Manipur near the Indo-Myanmar border. An Assam Rifles convoy was attacked by heavily armed militants around 1 PM in Joupi Hengshi area of Chandel when the security personnel were returning after inspecting a landslide site in the interior tribal district, defence and police sources said. The slain personnel belonged to 29 Assam Rifles. It is suspected that two or more militant groups jointly carried out the attack. More troops were rushed to the area and a massive search operation is underway, they said. The incident occurred near Joupi village within the limits of Molcham Police Station, a police officer said. Last year, 18 army personnel were killed in the same district in an ambush by NSCN(K) militants. New Delhi: Police have busted a criminal gang led by a Delhi-based Nigerian man which cheated gullible Naga women of over Rs 35 lakh by falsely promising cheap i-phones and prize money for winning lotteries. The racket was recently busted by Nagaland police with the help of their Delhi counterparts after a number of women filed multiple complaints at a police station in Dimapur about having been defrauded of their hard-earned money by a "foreigner" who contacted them over the internet, willing to sell them high-end electronic gadgets at a cheap rates and promising them prize money for lotteries they were told they had won. Investigators claim, while probing the case, they came across a smart modus operandi as part of which the gang used multiple bank accounts "sold" by locals to the Nigerian. He used to ask his victims to deposit the money in these accounts to claim the prize and later withdrew it from various ATMs. A Nagaland police team, which recently travelled to Delhi to go deeper into the case and arrest the kingpin identified as C Nwaneri (34), has filed at least three FIRs and found so far these women have been duped of over Rs 35 lakh. Nwaneri was assisted in the crime by three locals, including a chef working at an eatery in a popular Delhi Mall, all of whom "sold" their accounts to the foreigner for Rs 22-25 thousands. "We have seized 42 SIM cards, nine ATM cards, six phones, five bank passbooks and a laptop after searches were carried out at the residence of Nwaneri who lives in Bawana area of Delhi. It looks to be gang operating to dupe people, especially innocent women from Nagaland, with the help of multiple people from places like Delhi and nearby areas," Investigating Officer (IO) of the case and IPS probationer Dinesh Gupta said. Gupta said since the initial part of the case was cracked, more women from Nagaland have come forward to complain about having been cheated the same way. New Delhi: Congratulating students who excelled in the board examinations , Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday advised parents not to impose their unrealistic aspiration on their children. He consoled the non-successful students and said this is not the end of the road. The Prime Minister, who was addressing the nation in the 20th edition of his 'Mann ki Baat' programme, advised them to identify and focus on their strength. Gaurav, I have read your letter and I am sure there are many like you out there: PM @narendramodi #MannKiBaat PMO India (@PMOIndia) May 22, 2016 Gaurav from MP commented he scored 89% and I was very happy but he said his family was not happy and they wanted him to get 90%: PM PMO India (@PMOIndia) May 22, 2016 "Gaurav from Madhya Pradesh commented that he scored 89 percent and I was very happy, but he said his family was not happy and they wanted him to get 90 percent. Gaurav, I have read your letter and I am sure there are many like you out there. The parents must not impose their aspirations on their children," he said. The Central Board of Secondary Education ( CBSE) on Saturday declared the results for Class XII this year. While the pass percentage in government schools is 88.98 percent, the same for private schools is 86.67 percent. Delhi's Sukriti Gupta, a student of Montfort Senior Secondary School in Ashok Vihar, topped the exam scoring 99.4 percent. The girls performed better than boys - with 88.58 percent against 78.85 percent. The pass percentage this year increased by a marginal 1.05 percent compared to last year's 82 percent. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday left on a two-day official visit to Iran at the invitation of President Hassan Rouhani. Prime Minister Modi earlier on Sunday said that he was looking forward to the conclusion of the trilateral Chabahar agreement, a deal which opens up a route to land-locked Afghanistan with which New Delhi has developed close security and economic ties. Stating that his meeting with President Rouhani and Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would provide an opportunity to advance the strategic partnership between the two nations, he asserted that enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be his priority. Prime Minister Modi's visit will mainly focus on connectivity and infrastructure, energy partnership with Tehran and boosting bilateral trade. It will help in promoting regular consultations on peace and stability, particularly in the region and extended neighbourhood. India, Iran and Afghanistan will sign an agreement on developing Chabahar port on May 23. The port will be a game changer for regional connectivity, especially for Afghanistan, which can find an assured and reliable alternative access to India via sea. The route will also significantly enhance prospects for India's connectivity with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond through synergies with other initiatives touching the region such as North-South transport corridor. Prime Minister Modi's first tour to Iran will feature discussions on terrorism in the region as well as on India's desire to secure energy assets for a fast growing economy. New Delhi: The one-man commission of Inquiry constituted by the HRD ministry to look into the circumstances of research scholar Rohith Vemula's death at the Hyderabad Central University has been given more time and it will now submit its report by August 1, this year. The HRD ministry has issued a notification in this regard. The suicide by Vemula had triggered a huge political storm with opposition parties launching a massive attack at the Union Government over the issue. According to official sources, the Justice (retd) Ashok Kumar Roopanwal commission has met all the stakeholders and examining the voluminous representations received from them requires three months more time to draw a conclusion. Consequently, the ministry has extended the tenure of the Commission till August 1, 2016. Earlier, following Vemula's death, which also triggered a massive political storm, the Ministry had in January this year decided to constitute a Judicial Commission to review the entire sequence of events and the circumstances and to establish the facts and correctives in the context of the University. Vemula was a PhD student had committed suicide on January 17th 2016 and was suspended from his hostel by the HCU administration in August last year for allegedly attacking an ABVP leader. M. Hemalatha of Nellore secured the first rank. She said that she wants to become a doctor to serve society. (Representational Image) VIJAYAWADA: With the Centre planning to issue an ordinance postponing Neet, Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu released the medical stream results of Eamcet in Vijayawada on Sunday. M. Hemalatha of Nellore secured the first rank. She said that she wants to become a doctor to serve society. The top ten students were M. Hemalatha (Nellore, 156 marks), Y. Satwik Reddy (Hyderabad, 155), A. Yagnapriya (Hyderabad, 153), Ch. Neha (Vijayawada, 152), I. Khan (Hyderabad, 152), S. Sahiti Savitri (Secunderabad, 152), P. Sailaja (Visakhapat-nam, 150), B. Greeshma Meenan (Warangal, 150), D. Siva Kumar (Nalgonda, 150) and K. Sai Pradeep Reddy (Prakasam, 150). The CM said that the Centres ordinance on Neet had allowed Andhra Pradesh to select students for medical and agriculture courses through the existing Eamcet system, for this year. AP Eamcet-2016 Chairman and JNTUK vice-chancellor V.S.S. Kumar said that 92,468 students applied for the exams, 78,218 attended and 14,250 were absent. A total of 95.13 per cent of students took the exam. He said that the students taking the exam for entrance to medical and agriculture courses was about 1.03 lakh; of whom 98,752 attended. Out of these, a total of 4,498 students failed in the intermediate exams, and they allocated the ranks to 81,986 students. Chandrababu Naidu tells tale of hardship Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Saturday that employees should sacrifice their interests in the interests of the state and shift base to Vijayawada. He said that he when he started his work from Vijayawada he slept in a bus and still lived away from family members. There is no time to meet his grandson and other family members, Mr Naidu said. The ill fated car which capsized into a roadside ditch near Karur in the early hours of Saturday claimed two lives and caused injuries to five others (Photo: DC) Karur: Three persons including two women were killed and five others injured in two different road accidents in Karur and Tiruchy districts on Saturday. Police said that two women were killed and five others including three men were injured when the car in which they were travelling overturned in a roadside ditch at Attayamparappu village near Karur in the wee hours of Saturday. The occupants of the car hail from Tenkasi in Tirunelveli district and were on their way to Bengaluru when the accident occurred. The deceased were identified as Mrs Papathi (57) who died on the spot and Mrs Sornam, (70), who died on his way to hospital. The injured Dharmar (53) and his wife Saroja (50), their relatives Madasamy (51) Mrs Saraswathy (54) and car driver Anilkumar were admitted to a private hospital at Karur, police added. Pasupathipalayam police registered a case and are investigating. In the other accident, a 40-year-old contract labourer of BHEL was killed on the spot when a lorry knocked him down along with his two-wheeler at Valadi village on the Tiruchy-Ariyalur highway near Tiruchy on Saturday. The deceased was identified as M. Senthilkumar of Lalgudi. He was on his way to BHEL, when a Madurai-bound lorry hit him as he had attempted to avoid hitting some cattle that crossed the road suddenly, police said. Naidu dismissed the possibility of hardline elements within the party getting strengthened in wake of victory in Assam, where BJP had made infiltration of Bangladeshi Muslims a major poll plank (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: As BJP reaped a rich electoral harvest in Assam after sewing up an alliance with regional parties, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday indicated the party will go the whole hog firming up coalitions in states where it cannot win elections on its own in the future. "Wherever there is a possibility, you must firm up alliances, you must identify issues and then strategise accordingly," Naidu said when asked what were the major takeaways from the recent assembly elections in four states and the Union Territory of Puducherry. At the same time, he dismissed the view that Congress lost the Assam polls as it did not forge an alliance, saying only forming coalitions do not yield positive results and that the performance of governments and leadership also count. He took a jibe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had said that Congress lost Assam as it opted to go it all alone. Claiming that the election results were an "endorsement of Narendra Modi's development agenda", the BJP leader said the message from the assembly polls in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam, besides Puducherry was that Congress is being marginalized while "BJP is becoming a pan India party". In an interview to PTI, Naidu dismissed the possibility of hardline elements within the party getting strengthened in wake of victory in Assam, where BJP had made infiltration of Bangladeshi Muslims a major poll plank. "There is suspicion in the mind of people that after the opponents have been cut to size, they (hardliners) would create further trouble. That's my counter. Why is this apprehension? Who organized it. Congress party had propped up Muslim League. It has given it credibility. It is continuing with the alliance with Muslim League in Kerala Assembly. Communists also had an alliance with Muslim League. "What is the government's line. Unnecessary motives are being attributed and speculations are being created and wrong propaganda is being carried out," he said. Asked whether he agrees with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's contention that Congress lost elections in Assam only because it did not go for an alliance, Naidu reminded that the party lost in Kerala and West Bengal despite having alliances. "It is (also) the question of performance. Performance of Congress (governments) was bad both in Assam and Kerala. It was mired in corruption and could not deliver on promises. In Bengal, Congress and Communists came together but nothing happened. "It's not alliance alone, it's your performance, your stand on issues, your approach, your leadership, your image all these things will count," he said. BJP has tasted victory for the first time in Assam which had returned a Congress government thrice in a row under Tarun Gogoi. Congress-led alliance was also dethroned by the Left in Kerala, while Congress-CPI(M) alliance in West Bengal and Congress-DMK alliance in Tamil Nadu had to eat humble pie. Apart from winning Assam, BJP also bettered its performance in Kerala and West Bengal. The Union Minister repeatedly described the victory of BJP in Assam and increase in its vote share in Kerala and West Bengal as public endorsement of the "development agenda" of the Modi government. As the Modi government completes two years in office, the Union Minister insisted a "change" was visible in overall atmosphere and things are looking up. Under attack from the Opposition, particularly the Congress, for allegedly doing "nothing" in two years, Naidu alluded to the corruption cases during UPA and insisted that the NDA government has checked the menace. "The biggest achievement is containing corruption at the top. Corruption was rampant earlier. Now there is no allegation at any level so far. That's one of the biggest achievements. Second is the return of confidence. Confidence was lacking earlier among the people, among the investors, because the government was non-functional, there was policy paralysis. "Now corruption and policy paralysis is not there anymore. There is ease of doing business, ease of approvals and speedy disposal of proposals. So the confidence of the people of country and investors has gone up because of the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Another major achievement is that keeping in mind federal spirit, 42 per cent of central revenue was transferred to states. It's a major leap forward and we want to work as Team India... that is the spirit," he said, rejecting criticism that neither employment nor investment has picked up under Modi. Claiming that people have endorsed the development agenda of Modi in these elections, Naidu said that the results have brought BJP to the centre stage of Indian politics. "In Lok Sabha elections, we, as a single party to govern, were given mandate after 30 years. Now in 15 states, BJP and its allies are ruling. 35 per cent of Indian population and 45 percent of Indian geographical area is under the influence of the BJP governments. "All major states have gone out of Congress' hands including Kerala and Assam. The lesson for anybody from these elections is that Congress is being marginalized, the BJP is occupying centre stage and it has emerged as a pan India party. "The lesson for the BJP is work hard, implement your programmes and plans more effectively and reach out, further widen and broaden your base because the atmosphere is favourable to you. The gateway has opened in north east," he said. Downplaying a recent controversy over Union Minister VK Singh seeking renaming Akbar Road after Maharana Pratap, Naidu said in a democracy, people speak and one has to see whether the party, the government is acting or not. "Somebody says name this road and the next day the concerned minister says no such proposal. That is the end to the matter. Why people are still raising that issue. Earlier people would say the government, the Prime Minister, the concerned minister should have said something. I am the concerned minister. I have said. "What we have done in last two years that you talk of hardline...Some people are trying to divert us. I tell them join our development task, we are busy. We have no time for other issues. We will pay undivided attention to development. Our priority is development and good governance," he said. Bengaluru: A fake policeman diverted the attention of a 59-year-old woman and escaped with her gold chain, weighing 40 grams, in Channasandra in Raja Rajeshwarinagar police station limits on Saturday evening. Madhumathi, a resident of Channasandra, was returning home from a vegetable shop. A man approached her and introduced himself as a policeman. He reportedly told the woman that numerous incidents of chain snatching were reported in the locality and it was not safe to wear gold chains. Then he asked her to give the chain so that he could wrap it in paper and it would be safe. The woman did not realise that she was being conned and gave him the chain. The miscreant acted as if he wrapped it in paper and returned it to her. When she reached home and checked, there was no gold chain. She immediately rushed to the police station and filed a compliant, the police said. Bengaluru: The opposition BJP on Sunday set the ball rolling for the Rajya Sabha polls to four seats from Karnataka, choosing Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu again for the sole seat the party can win on its own. The ruling Congress is undecided on the two candidates it can send to the Upper House with the names of former Union ministers P. Chidambaram and Oscar Fernandes doing the rounds for the June 11 polls. The fourth seat is up for grabs with Janata Dal (S), which has 40 members in the Assembly, hoping to put up an Independent and win with the support of other parties. The JD(S) Legislature Party will meet in Bengaluru on May 26 to select the candidate. Party state president H.D. Kumaraswamy said they will field a personality from Karnataka but did not reveal if the candidate would be an industrialist. The BJP too is eyeing the fourth seat with party sources saying talks would be held with the JD(S) on putting up a candidate. BJPs Rajya Sabha choice: Its Venkaiah again Bengaluru: Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will be the BJP candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections due to be held next month. This was decided by the party state core committee meeting which met here on Sunday under the chairmanship of State BJP chief B.S. Yeddyurappa. Mr Naidu's name was unanimously recommended to the party parliamentary board in Delhi for making a formal announcement. However, there was no unanimity on the candidates for the Council polls. While a section of leaders like Union ministers Ananth Kumar and D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar and former DCM R. Ashok supported the candidature of sitting MLC V Somanna, others including Mr Yeddyurappa batted in favor of Bengaluru City BJP president Subba Narasimha. The name of former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu also cropped up. With no unanimity, the names were forwarded to the BJP top brass in Delhi. After the meeting, Mr Yeddyurappa refused to comment on the stiff opposition in social media against sending Mr Naidu to Rajya Sabha. In the morning, Mr Somanna went to the residence of Mr Shettar to seek his support for a second innings in the Council. This visit assumed importance in the wake of opposition from Mr Yeddyurappa to Mr Somanna's re-nomination. Aware of the clout Mr Somanna enjoys in Bengaluru, Mr Shettar batted in his favor, party sources told DC. Sources said the BJP meeting discussed the possibility of seeking support of JD(S) which has 40-members in the 224-member Assembly for putting up a second candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls. State leaders are expected to hold talks with the JD(S) leaders next week regarding extending support to each other in the Council polls. A view of the message a group of artists from Paradsinga village of Madhya Pradesh carved out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to Grow in India. Via web Bhopal: With parts of the country still reeling from drought and farmer suicides, a group of artists from Paradsinga village of Madhya Pradesh carved out a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to, Grow in India. The message is part of the Gram Art Project, aimed to discuss why Indias young are not taking to farming or cultivation. The all-natural mural has been created by using actual vegetables on a 7200 sft field. According to the creators, the art is trying to convince BT cotton-growing farmers to explore other crops using Indian seeds rather than those from international companies. The idea was put into action by two Nagpur-based artists Shweta Bhattad and Lalit Vikamshi. Both are not new to protest art. In December last year, during a performance in Paris to highlight farmers plight, Bhattad dressed up as Bharat Mata, was placed in a coffin and buried for several hours. While we found that local farmers are battling against seed and land mafia, water shortage, electricity and other issues, we also realized that they have completely shun traditional agriculture which was more sustainable. Modern-day farmers are a misguided lot living under fear instigated by private agencies, Bhattad was quoted as saying in a report. Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is keeping everyone in suspense over the two Rajya Sabha seats amid a growing clamour for nominations. The elections, if they are needed, will be held on June 11. Among the front-runners is said to be former minister Capt. V. Laxmikantha Rao, a friend of Mr Rao and T-movement leader. I am sure he will get it, a source close to Mr Rao said. It is said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his recent meeting with Mr Rao, requested the CM to spare one seat for a BJP nominee. Mr Rao remained non-committal. Its true there is talk Mr Modi and the Congress leadership reportedly approached Mr Rao for a seat. But CM garu did not commit. The CM wants to have two TRS members in the Rajya Sabha, a senior party leader said. Other names doing the rounds are those of Mr Raos Man Friday and Namaste Telangana daily publisher D. Damodar Rao, government adviser D. Srinivas, special representative in Delhi Dr S. Venugopala Chary and TNGOs leader Devi Prasad. The two seats fell vacant due to the retirement of Mr V. Hanumantha Rao (Congress) and Gundu Sudharani (TD, who joined TRS). TRS has one RS member in party secretary-general K. Kesava Rao. Asked about his chances, TNGOs leader Devi Prasad said, CM will decide. CMs Always send top aides to Rajya Sabha The trend of trusted aides of Chief Ministers and party leaders being nominated to the Rajya Sabha is a regular feature in AP and TS. This time too, it is likely that contractors and close confidants of CMs and party bosses will get into the Upper House. Then Chief Minsiter Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had sent his close aide K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao to the Rajya Sabha. YSRC chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy decided to field his auditor V. Vijay Sai Red-dy to the Upper House. AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had previously nominated industrialist Sujana Chowdary and contractor C.M. Ramesh to the Upper House. Earlier too, Mr Naidu had nominated his close confidants Khambapati Rammohan Rao and Garikapati Ramamohan Rao to the RS. In several such cases, the MPs indulged in actions that raised controversy. While Mr Ramachandra Rao was grilled by the CBI in some cases, another case is pending against him in the US. Mr Vijay Sai Reddy has been arrested and is facing trial in several cases relating to Mr Jagan Mohan Reddys alleged quid pro quo deals. Mr Chowdary, a Union minister, is facing a civil case with regard to the Mauritius Bank. Political circles are waiting to see who TS Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will send to the Rajya Sabha. Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will be discussing the issue of creation of new districts, revenue divisions and mandals on Monday during a meeting with collectors and joint collectors. According to informed sources, the Chief Minister has completed the exercise of creating 14 more districts, in addition to the existing 10 in the state. Given the opposition from political parties over carving out the new districts from Karimnagar, Warangal, Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy and Mahbubnagar, Mr Rao may ask collectors to either go by the proposals already sent to the government or suggest alternatives, the sources said. Leader of the Opposition K. Jana Reddy suggested that Mr Rao discuss the issue with leaders of all parties and proceed. There could be unrest among people in several districts especially Nalgonda district, Mr Jana Reddy had cautioned. Responding to this, a senior official said that when 330 taluks were abolished in united AP and 1,100 mandals created in 1987 by the N.T. Rama Rao government, there was no discussion or debate. The Cabinet took the decision all of a sudden, he pointed out. The official pointed out that even after the government announces the new districts, revenue divisions and mandals, it will be thrown for public opinion and time will be alloted to gather objections. Asked about the threat of the Congress that it would move courts against the new districts, the official said the government was following due procedure and rules including inviting objections. The courts may not intervene till the process is completed, he said. Speaking at an event organized to mark the 25th death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi and commemoration of Buddha Poornima Diwas at KPCC office here, Dr Parameshwar noticed that only three of nearly 85 chairpersons of state-owned boards and corporations attended the event. Bengaluru: Taking serious note of the absence of several leaders at 25th death anniversary of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, KPCC president, Dr G. Parameshwar, stated on Saturday that the party ought to have committed leaders rather than visiting card leaders. Speaking at an event organized to mark the 25th death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi and commemoration of Buddha Poornima Diwas at KPCC office here, Dr Parameshwar noticed that only three of nearly 85 chairpersons of state-owned boards and corporations attended the event. When you (leaders) seek appointment to such boards and corporations, you do everything possible to get to these posts. When it comes to attending important events organized by the party, you go missing. This is unfair. The Congress does not need any Visiting Card leader. Instead we want committed leaders, he said even as several party workers shouted slogans against those who skipped the event. He wondered why Congress leaders were not even speaking aloud to counter claims of BJP leaders over Congress Mukth Bharat. Thiruvananthapuram: CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran has given enough hints at reopening the bars the UDF government closed. Mr Rajendran told reporters here on Saturday that the LDF would bring in changes in the liquor policy. Mr Oommen Chandy has no right to enforce a lifelong alcohol policy, he said. The LDF will discuss and decide a new policy as there was a court ruling that it should be announced every April. He said the availability of liquor had not been reduced in the state and that the peoples verdict was against the liquor policy of the UDF government. He made it clear that the policy of the LDF was not liquor ban but abstinence from it. Any organisation including Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KSBC) can cooperate with the campaign against alcohol initiated by the government. The LDF will not ban liquor as a complete ban was not practical. There is no place in the world which successfully enforced prohibition. However, there should be efforts to educate the people against the use of liquor. Mr Kanam refused to comment on the chief minister post saying that the CPM had the freedom to choose its parliamentary party leader. On the CPI ministers, he said the state party panel would decide them. He said he was not interested in reacting further. CPI had won 70 percent of seats contested, Mr Kanam said. Pinarayi holds informal talks with CPI leaders After calling upon V.S. Achutanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan headed straight to CPI state headquarters M N Smarakam and held discussions with the leaders. CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran, CPI national executive council member Pannyan Raveendran and other CPI leader were present in the meeting. The CPM-CPI had informal discussions on the government formation and policy issues, Pinarayi said. Veteran leader V.S. Achuthanandan greets Pinarayi Vijayan who called on him at the Cantonment House along with CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. Pinarayi will be sworn in as chief minister on May 25. (Photo: A.V. MUZAFAR) THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was a day of courtesy calls for the CPM politburo member and chief minister in waiting Pinarayi Vijayan as he set out from his house on Saturday morning to meet leaders. The first stop was outgoing Opposition Leader V S Achthandnans official residence Cantonment House. Pinarayi accompanied by Kodiyeri Balakrishnan arrived there at 9.15 am in full media glare, went inside the house. After exchanging pleasantries with Achuthanandan who was wearing his favourite blue T Shirt, both leaders shook hands giving a rare photo op to a battery of photographers stationed there since morning. The three leaders were then closeted for over 15 minutes. From our party he was the last chief minister and someone with practical experience. I wanted to seek his guidance and wanted to get an understanding from him. I can be considered as a new comer. So we wanted to learn from his experience, on issues that the government should focus on, he told media-persons after emerging from Achuthandans room. Hyderabad: Telangana Congress leaders on Saturday flayed Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Raos statement that defamation cases will be slapped on Opposition leaders if they continue to accuse his government of corruption without showing proof. TPCC leaders N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and Mohd. Shabbir Ali accused Mr Rao of trying to gag the Opposition with threats. Speaking at a function organised at the Gandhi Bhavan to mark the 25th year of Rajiv Gandhis assassination, Mr Reddy said such intimidating statements does not suit the stature of a person holding the post of the Chief Minister. KCR must realise that in a democracy, the Opposition has a right to criticise the wrong policies of the government. It is the responsibility of the government to rebut the allegations. He wants the Opposition, especially the Congress, to remain silent on his wrong policies, Mr Reddy said. He said Congress will continue to highlight the failures of the TRS government, unmindful of the consequences. KCR is becoming increasingly arrogant. Now he has stooped to threatening Opposition leaders, Mr Reddy said. Elsewhere, Mr Shabbir Ali said, We will continue to raise peoples issues and expose the failures of the TRS government. Congress is not afraid to speak the truth. It will take the decision to seal the border with Bangladesh to prevent infiltration of illegal immigrants. (Phot:PTI) New Delhi: Union Minister and Assam's likely chief minister designate Sarbananda Sonowal has said that when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition assumes administrative charge in the state next week, it will take the decision to seal the border with Bangladesh to prevent infiltration of illegal immigrants. In an interview given to Jagdeesh Chandra, Head, ETV News, ahead of his swearing-in as Assam's next chief minister in the coming week, Sonowal, participating in the popular J.C. Show, said, "The BJP-led government will seal Assam's borders with Bangladesh, as we are concerned about ongoing erosion of Assamese traditions, culture and way of life. Inspite of India having a border agreement with Bangladesh, we keep receiving reports of illegal entries from that country. We see it as a major problem, and it will be my government's endeavour to find a short as well as a long-term solution to it. I am confident we can achieve this goal." In Assam, the agitation against immigrants started as early as 1979. Led by All Assam Students Union (AASU), the movement called for putting a stop on the influx of immigrants and deportation of those who have already settled. It gradually took violent form and ethnic violence started between Assamese and Bengalis, mostly Muslim. It eventually led to the infamous Nellie massacre in 1983 due to a controversy over the 1983 election. In 1985, the Indian Government signed the Assam accord with the leaders of the agitation to stop the issue. As per the accord, India started building a fence along the Assam-Bangladesh border which is now almost complete. However, Assam also has a large number of genuine Indian Muslim Bengalis, and at times, it is difficult to distinguish between illegal Bangladeshis and local Bengali speakers. Allegations of discrimination being practiced by nationalist parties have been doing the rounds. There are also reports of Bangladeshis being able to secure Indian rations and voter identity cards. With demographic patterns undergoing a change after 1991, the problem of illegal entries from Bangladesh became more acute, creating both anxiety and tension in India throughout the nineties. The first BJP-led NDA government at the Centre (1998-2004) subsequently ordered the fencing of the Indo-Bangladesh barrier to stop migrants and illegal trade along the border. It was then planned to expand the existing border barricades to include Assam, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram. It is estimated that on an average around 91000 Bangladeshis illegal crossed over to India every year between 1981 and1991. The immigrant population in the state is said to range anywhere between two and twenty million. It is sad to see a great institution crumble. The Congress is more than just a political party. Its the movement that won India independence and created the democratic secular state we still live in. Crises have never been far for the party. Indira Gandhi subjected it to two splits to assert her power and it has faced reverses remember the drubbing it got after Indira called elections after the Emergency? But somehow the woeful results of the Assembly polls in which the Congress lost two states, with Karnataka the only remaining major state also wobbling, feel different. Its as if the will to revitalise the party is missing, with Congressmens reactions varying from seeking surgery to a wholesale changeover to youth. There is little sense in pretending that the partys leadership is anything but dynastic. How far Jawaharlal Nehru facilitated the ascent of daughter Indira, one removed, is still a matter of speculation, but the pattern was set with Indira pushing her impetuous ill-fated son Sanjay to power, ultimately setting the stage for elder son Rajiv Gandhi to succeed her after her tragic end. Succeeding members of the family kept alive the template of dynastic succession after Indiras daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi came to the rescue after a period of mourning for husband Rajiv. Dutifully, she led her son Rahul into the party, finally making him vice-president. There lies the rub. Rahul Gandhi, despite his periodic time-outs for contemplation and fighting his demons, has demonstrated he has not inherited the political genes of the family. Mrs Gandhi is not in the best of health and has reached a dead end in dynastic terms. So where does the Congress go from here? We shall have a flood of solutions from partymen and women repeating tired old arguments that will ultimately lead to grand plans ending up in the overflowing party archives. But before putting all the blame on the Congress, we must remember that dynastic succession is a very Indian tradition, with the head of the household seeing it as his duty to place his son in a profession for his future prosperity. Usually, he thinks of his own profession. A lawyer will apprentice him to a law firm, and by the same logic a politician will nurture him in political life. You only have to look around. The Badals and Mulayam Yadavs are more upfront in promoting their sons, there are a multitude of ministers, state legislators and MPs with sons and daughters in advantageous positions to make the leap when the time comes, even discounting Lalu Prasad Yadavs experiment in installing his wife as chief minister when he became ineligible. Even the BJP, which used to pride itself as a party with a difference, has numerous children of their partymen and women waiting in the wings. It is the rule in dynastic systems that courtiers draw a ring around dynasties, isolating them from any dissenting opinion. Therefore, it needs a shrewd leader like Indira, after her initial learning process, to pierce through the wall built around her. Mrs Gandhi, studying her mother-in-law, acquired a measure of her political skills but Rahul Gandhi is still at sea, with partymen perennially complaining he is inaccessible. For the Congress, the questions raised by its dismal showing in the Assembly polls are existential in nature. The paradox is that without the dynasty the Congress will evaporate as a party as it is now. Also, considering Rahul Gandhis performance, Mrs Gandhi is still hesitating to pass on the baton. Rahuls supporters say he should be given a chance to swim or sink, but if he sinks, then what? After some two years of the Narendra Modi government in office, the political climate has changed dramatically. The BJP has made no secret of its determination to bury the secular order honed by Jawaharlal Nehru in favour of a majoritarian model. The minorities must live under sufferance and Hindu ideas and symbols must merge with those of the state. The consequences of the new philosophy are unravelling each day. While the BJP is willing to make tactical adjustments in its new projection as a national party (in Kashmir and Punjab, for instance), it is mindful of its goal to convert India into a predominantly Hindu nation. The BJP has by and large chosen the drip method, though some of its loud-mouthed supporters spoil the show by jumping the gun. One day it is how high the national flag should fly over university buildings, the next day it is prescribing the chant Om before starting yoga exercises. Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, among others, fill the role of party divines. The BJP is far from unique in wrapping itself in the national flag to promote its partisan political objectives. Infamously, the fascists and Nazis were conspicuous forerunners in merging their political philosophies with the state. But it is a new experience for India, bred on 60-plus years on the ideal of secularism, however faulty its implementation might have been. Beyond these trends, is there a place for a party like the Congress in tomorrows India? As the Assembly polls show, the trend in opposition to the BJPs well-oiled machine is towards regional nationalism, apart from the unique brand of Dravidian duopoly evolved in Tamil Nadu. In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has shown that she can continue to demolish by regional nationalism the Marxists, who had become the states perennial rulers. The problem for the Congress boils down to its ability to surmount the dynasty in order to begin a new innings. Will the party stalwarts even begin to try such an experiment? Senior leader Digvijay Singh, after pleading for major surgery in the party, has handed back the role of surgeons to Mrs Gandhi and her son. Even before the election process in the five states was completed, the BJP put the party in election gear in Karnataka. The mood in the party on the morrow of the announcement of election results was that if it could make it in a turbulent state like Assam, theres nothing to indicate it cannot return to power in Karnataka. The nomination of former chief minister B.S.Yeddyurappa as the president of the state BJP last month should be read in that context. Although a formal announcement is yet to be made, it is apparent that he will head the next BJP government if the party does come to power after Assembly elections in 2018. The JD(S), which is more a party capable of mischief than one to govern the state has already made it known that H.D. Kumaraswamy of H.D. Deve Gowda & Sons will be its chief ministerial nominee. The dismal performance of the Congress in the recent round of Assembly elections and the loss of two major states, Kerala and Assam, has actually come as a godsend for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The party can ill-afford to unseat him and Siddaramaiah looks safe for the remaining two years of his term. The next election will be a round robin tournament among Siddaramaiah, Yeddyurappa and Kumaraswamy. The BJP had no other choice in Karnataka. It is another thing that like the other political parties, the BJP too suffers from the malady of mediocrity among its leaders. The exception might be S.M. Krishna of the Congress, but age he turned 84 early this month is against him. There is a dearth of leaders of stature who can appeal to a broad section, especially to the critical educated class and the more discerning among the semi-educated, in the state BJP. Yeddyurappas main rival in the state organisation, H.N.Ananth Kumar, is well entrenched in Delhi as a Union minister. He has so far scored over BSY in ingratiating himself to the national leadership. It is being said that the secret of his success in that regard is Ananth Kumars knowledge of Hindi and the fact that he has been an MP since 1996. Yeddyurappa is wanting in both Hindi and English. His fortunes turned for the better only after Narendra Modi became prime minister. On the other hand, Ananth Kumar has been a protege of L.K.Advani. After his return to the BJP, Yeddyurappa was elected to the Lok Sabha from Shimoga and was appointed a national vice-president of the BJP. The other party leader from Karnataka, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, has his limitations and has been fortunate to be rewarded with the weighty portfolio of Law in the Modi dispensation. Yeddyurappa replaced Pralhad Joshi, MP from Dharwad North, as the state BJP president. Joshi had done nothing wrong to be replaced. In fact, the party did well in the Lok Sabha elections under his leadership. But unlike Yeddyurappa, Joshi belongs to a numerically small Brahmin caste which, though influential, is withdrawing itself from public affairs. Ananth Kumar, who too is a Brahmin, suffers from the same disadvantage. It is no secret that the national leadership of the BJP chose Yeddyurappa as he belongs to the numerically strong and politically dominant Lingayat caste. Among other reasons, it was the Lingayat vote, support and patronage which brought the party to power in 2008. The other factors were the appeal of the national leaders of the BJP, particularly A.B.Vajpayee and L.K. Advani. Narendra Modi had not risen high at that time. The rise of the BJP in Karnataka owes much to the Ramjanmabhoomi movement led by Advani. The party has been on the ascendant since 1991. Otherwise, the BJP and its earlier avatar, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, were in the waiting list for power in Mysore and later Karnataka since 1952. The BJP had no alternative caste group to rely on. Even today the Vokkaligas have shied away from it. The Lingayats flocked to the BJP after they found themselves unwanted in the Congress and the JD (S). Their entry into the party was via the Congress (O) and the united Janata Dal. There is a vacuum in political leadership among the Lingayats. It has no leaders of the stature of S.Nijalingappa, H.Siddaveerappa, H.M.Channabasappa, J.B. Mallaradhya, S.R.Bommai or J.H.Patel. It was the bureaucrat-turned-legislator Mallaradhya who protested vehemently when the Devaraj Urs government dropped Lingayats from the list of other backward classes in 1977 acting on the report of the Havanur Commission. Yeddyurappa is the only leader the caste can look upto. However, it would be unfair to dub BSY as a mere Lingayat leader. Nor will it be right to say that an enlightened caste such as the Lingayats will support the BJP merely because it has appointed one of their own as state president. For instance, many influential Lingayat politicians had sided with Indira Gandhi and against Nijalingappa and Veerendra Patil in the years after the Congress split of 1969. The plus points of Yeddyurappa are that he is a relentless fighter and his grim visage is matched by the same determination to grapple with public causes. He has already promised to rid Karnataka of the Congress (Congress-mukt Karnataka). In the 2013 Assembly elections, when he was heading the Karnataka Janata Party, Yeddyurappa proved that he has a following of his own. That party played the spoilsport for the BJP winning six Assembly seats and ten percent of the votes, enough to dislodge the BJP from power. However, the formidable negative factors against Yeddyurappa are the corruption charges against him and his ministers when they were at the helm. The worst spoiler for the BJP was Gali Janardhana Reddy of the Republic of Bellary and the charges of corruption and illegal export of iron ore. Reddys misdeeds and the dust of illegal mining still haunt the BJP. Yeddyurappa continues to be an accused in a few corruption charges, although the High Court of Karnataka has acquitted him in some major cases of denotification of urban land. He had the mortification of tenancy in the Bangalore Central Jail during October-November 2011, although he has not been convicted to this day. A Lokayukta court had remanded him to jail in a land denotification case. However, what has brightened the prospects of the BJP in the state is that the party is in power at the Centre and has not committed any major wrong so far, the Siddaramaiah governments casteist approach and the dip in the fortunes of the JD(S). Siddaramaiah is still suffering from AHINDA (minorities, backward classes and Dalits) fixation and has not reached out to other sections of people.The so-called inclusive politics of the Congress isnt visible in Karnataka today. Narendra Modi, if not Amit Shah, continues to be a crowd and vote-puller in Karnataka, and the people at large might forget and forgive the misdeeds of BJP rule during 2008-13. But BSY should bar the entry of the tainted mine owners from Bellary into the party office and his home. The reason for this apprehension is the hostile relations that Amar Singh has shared with the likes of Beni Prasad Verma, Ram Gopal Yadav and Jaya Bachchan in recent years. The announcement of Rajya Sabha names by the Samajwadi Party may or may not have led to fireworks in Lucknow but party leaders agree that once the members start attending the Upper House, fireworks are bound to take place. The Monsoon Session of the Rajya Sabha will have less water and more fire since that is when these members will start attending the Upper House, quipped a senior minister in the SP shortly after the list was announced. The reason for this apprehension is the hostile relations that Amar Singh has shared with the likes of Beni Prasad Verma, Ram Gopal Yadav and Jaya Bachchan in recent years. All these leaders have issued unprintable and even derogatory statements against each other and now that all of them will be under one roof, sparks are bound to fly. A Rajya Sabha MP from the SP said, Mr Yadav has obviously bitten off more than he can chew and it will be tough making all his members remain cordial with each other. Didi's befitting reply For the past three months, a shrill campaign was carried out against Mamata Banerjee and her party by Opposition parties. Since in journalism, bad news is good news, the media lapped up everything Surjya Kanta Mishra, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury or Sidharth Nath Singh said about the ruling party in West Bengal. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury visited West Bengal and launched scathing attacks against Didi and her party leaders. In March the Opposition got more lethal ammunition in the shape of the Narada sting video footage and the Vivekananda Road flyover crash. Ms Banerjee and other Trinamul Congress leaders were undoubtedly on the backfoot. Towards the last phase of the campaign, at a couple of rallies, overcome by emotion, Didi even told voters that if they thought that she had done some wrong then they could slap her. Ms Banerjee often rued the fact that all the development work her government had done and the various social security schemes it launched for the poor were overshadowed by the Oppositions noisy canards on corruption. Didi often warned the Opposition that the people did not like the venom that they were spewing and that they would get a befitting reply for this. Thursdays landslide victory proved that Ms Banerjees confidence in the people of West Bengal was not misplaced. As TMC vice-president Mukul Roy said, Its not just victory: it is vindication. Elections ultimate tests Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik neither addresses any press conferences nor does he speak much in the state Assembly. He just reads out written speeches prepared by his officers. In the recently-concluded Budget Session, when the Opposition stalled the Assembly for days demanding the scalp of food supplies minister Sanjay Kumar Das Burma after the latter was summoned by the CBI for his alleged links with the multi-crore chit-fund scam, Mr Patnaik did not speak a word. The Congress and BJP leaders fired salvos at Mr Patnaik saying he was harbouring a tainted and corrupt minister. Unperturbed, the ruling BJD adjourned the House sine die. Angered by this, the Congress and BJP leaders called a series of press conferences and alleged that Mr Patnaik had killed democracy by adjourning the House. In a damage control bid, the ruling BJD released two pages of advertisements in all leading newspapers detailing its successes. Mr Patnaik, who has won Assembly polls consecutively four times since 2000, posted those two-page advertisements in his Facebook page with a remark that in a democracy elections are the ultimate tests of the faith of people. Teased and taunted, the Opposition is looking for the next move to nail Mr Patnaik. PM got it right this time Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known for his use of social media tools to connect with the masses and also with leaders from across the country and across the globe. He is often seen wishing senior leaders on their birthdays. About three months ago, he had given birthday greetings to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on a wrong date. However, this was corrected by Mr Modi last week when he wished Mr Ghani on the correct date, May 19. Happy Birthday President @ashrafghani... Got the date right this time. :), Mr Modi tweeted. Mr Ghani responded saying: @narendramodi Bahut dhanyavaad Mr PM. Its always a delight to hear from such dear friend of mine and a strong supporter of our people. The faux pas had led to the trolling of Mr Modi on the social media. New Delhi: Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook and Prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday discussed possibilities of manufacturing and retailing of Apple products in India. Mr Cook shared Apple Incs future plans for India with the Prime Minister. Apple CEO appreciated the young talent in India, and said the youth have significant skills which Apple would like to tap. He mentioned the immense potential for app-development that exists in the country. He elaborated on the Map Development Centre that Apple Inc. is setting up in Hyderabad. He also appreciated the Prime Ministers initiatives in ease of doing business. Modi government has been encouraging global mobile handsets manufacturers to set up plants in India as part of Make-in-India programme. On its part Apple has been keen to open its stores in India and also sell used phones in India as its growth is slowing down in other parts of world where markets are maturing. However Indian government has not been keen to allow Apple to sell used phones in India as some quarters see it as dumping of e-waste in the country. During the meet Mr Cook also launched an updated version of the Narendra Modi Mobile App. Issues regarding cyber-security and data encryption also came up for discussion. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. A San Francisco-based company has won a US government-sponsored competition with an alcohol monitoring devices that can be worn on the wrist. (Representational image) A San Francisco-based company has won a US government-sponsored competition with an alcohol monitoring devices that can be worn on the wrist, the latest milestone in the development of wearable technologies that monitor and diagnose medical conditions. BACtrack, a privately held medical device maker, took the $200,000 top prize in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Wearable Biosensor Challenge on Thursday with its wristband monitor, which measures blood alcohol levels via sweat on the skin. The product, dubbed BACtrack Skyn, has not yet been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for marketing approval. Dr. George Koob, head of the NIH's National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, said he expected the device to be a valuable resource for alcohol research community. It can help doctors accurately measure a patients drinking history, and not just depend on the most recent tests," Koob said. "This can help a lot with the treatment. Medical, law enforcement and transportation officials have long sought better technology for detection of blood alcohol levels. Traditional portable breath alcohol testers (PBTs) are unwieldy and can cost over $1,000, and they don't provide ongoing monitoring of alcohol levels. The blood alcohol monitoring devices used in legal and medical circles are big and bulky, like a ball and chain for the ones using it, said Keith Nothacker, president of BACtrack. We wanted to make something people would want to wear." The device in its current form will not, however, be a substitute for breathalyzers or blood tests used by law enforcement, because the device does not provide real-time blood-alcohol levels. Nothacker said it takes about 45 minutes for ethanol to be transmitted through the skin, and that the device is designed to provide a recent history of alcohol use. BACtrack has been experimenting with consumer-centric alcohol testing for several years. In 2013, it introduced the BACtrack Mobile Breathalyzer, which syncs with a smartphone to track blood alcohol content. BACtrack beat seven other smaller companies to win the NIH competition. Milo, a Santa Barbara based technology startup, won the $100,000 second-place prize for its design of a wearable alcohol content tracker that also uses a skin sensor and communicates with a smartphone using wireless technology. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Mansour was appointed head of the Taliban in July 2015 following the revelation that the group's founder Mullah Omar had been dead for two years. (Photo: AFP) Washington, United States: Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was targeted and "likely killed" on Saturday in a US drone strike in a remote area of Pakistan along the Afghan border, a US official said. Taliban commander also confirmed the death of Mansour shortly after US informed Pakistan about the drone strike. The airstrike, authorized by President Barack Obama, also killed a second adult male combatant as the two traveled in a vehicle southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, but no civilians were killed, the official said under condition of anonymity. Read: Afghanistan probes Mansour's fate after deadly US drone attack "Mansour was the target and was likely killed," in the strikes, which occurred around 6:00 am (1000 GMT) and were carried out by multiple unmanned aircraft operated by US Special Operations Forces, the official said. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement that Mansour "has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners." Mansour was appointed head of the Taliban in July 2015 following the revelation that the group's founder Mullah Omar had been dead for two years. Read: US notified Pakistan after strike on Taliban commander: official "Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansur's assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous US and Coalition personnel," Cook said. Officials are still assessing the results and will provide more information when available, he added. 'Keep Expectations in Check' Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution think-tank said Mansour's death may help the US effort in Afghanistan "modestly." "The war has been going on for so long, the Taliban has so many leaders and so much ability to function at the local level even without strong central guidance, that we would be well advised to keep expectations in check," he said. US lawmakers welcomed the news and some called on the Obama administration to take a firmer stand. Read: Talibans second-in-command Haqqani may be a deadlier foe than Mansour "I appreciate President Obama for authorizing the attack," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said, adding "I strongly encourage the Obama Administration to not withdraw troops until conditions on the ground permit their withdrawal." Republican Senator John McCain, head of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, said he hoped "this strike against the Taliban's top leader will lead the administration to reconsider its policy of prohibiting US forces from targeting the Taliban." Part of Movement from Start Born in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar sometime in the early 1960s, Mansour was part of the Taliban movement from its start in the 1990s and has effectively been in charge since 2013, according to Taliban sources. He shuns public appearances. The few pictures believed to be of him show a thickset man with the dark beard and turban that are virtually the uniform for senior Taliban cadres. Mansour spent part of his life in Pakistan, like millions of Afghans who fled the Soviet occupation. He succeeded Omar, the one-eyed warrior-cleric who led the Taliban from its rise in the chaos of the Afghan civil war of the 1990s. "Mansur has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict," Cook said. In addition to fighting on the ground and pressure from all sides to negotiate, the Taliban also faces the challenge of halting the expansion of the ISIS group in Afghanistan, which has been recruiting disaffected fighters. Ravinder Bhalla, city council member at large and council president of Hoboken, New Jersey. (Photo: Via web) New York: A Sikh-American councilman was called a terrorist on Twitter by a Donald Trump supporter but the Indian-origin politician hit back at the troll, saying you clearly dont know what it means to be an American. Ravinder Bhalla, city council member at large and council president of Hoboken, New Jersey, posted a message on Twitter about the Hoboken City Council approving a waterfront multi- use pathway. After Bhalla sent out the tweet, Robert Dubenezic an open supporter of Republican presidential nominee Trump expressed shock that Bhalla was a councilman. How the hell did Hoboken allow the guys to be councilman? Shouldnt even be allowed in the US #terrorist, Dubenezic tweeted on Thursday. Bhalla, was quick to answer, exclaiming, Sir, I am born and raised in America. You clearly don't know what it means to be an American...#ignorant. Donald Trumps muslim comments are wrong, says David cameron British Prime Minister David Cameron says hed be happy to meet Donald Trump if he becomes the Republican presidential candidate. But the British leader repeated his claim that Trumps proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States is wrong and divisive and a very dangerous thing to say. Trump said last week that he was not going to have a very good relationship with Cameron, though he later backtracked and even said the prime minister had invited him to visit 10 Downing St. Asked on ITVs Peston on Sunday show if he'd meet Trump, Cameron said: I don't know. Naypyidaw: US Secretary of State John Kerry Sunday hailed Myanmar's transition to a civilian government steered by Aung San Suu Kyi as a "remarkable statement" that furthers the cause of global democracy. In the first high-level meeting with Suu Kyi and her administration since it took office in March, Kerry applauded the country's evolution towards democracy after decades under military rule and said that the transition served as a beacon of hope. "Today my message is very, very simple; we strongly support the democratic transition that is taking place here," he told reporters at a joint press conference with Suu Kyi in the capital Naypyidaw. Historic elections in November swept Suu Kyi and her party into office and effectively ended half a century of military rule. Kerry applauded the process as a "remarkable statement to people all over the world", adding that the new government "has already accomplished extraordinary things." Washington last week lifted a host of financial and trade embargoes, but has kept the backbone of its sanctions as well as a blacklist of cronies and businesses close to the former junta. "I know that the legacy of more than half a century of military rule has not been completely erased," Kerry said. Suu Kyi, a veteran activist whose decades-long struggle against the generals won the world's admiration, has much political capital in Washington. She now serves as Myanmar's foreign minister, while also holding the newly-created position of state counsellor putting her at the helm of government in defiance of an army-drafted constitution that bars her from the presidency.That role is now held by her longtime ally Htin Kyaw. In addition to November's landmark election, reforms so far have seen hundreds of political prisoners freed, the press unshackled from censorship and foreign investment flood into a country cut-off from the world for so long by paranoid generals. As he enters the twilight of his term in office, US President Barack Obama is doubling down on his "Asia pivot" -- a diplomatic strategy to engage the continent's leaders and tap its growing economies. Tension remains Kerry will also meet army chief Min Aung Hlaing, as Washington looks to induce further democratic moves. The army retains significant economic interests and political clout under a charter it scripted -- including a quarter of all parliamentary seats and control of key security ministries. Myanmar faces other huge challenges, including decrepit infrastructure, conflicts in resource-rich borderlands, religious tensions and the continued influence of the army and junta-era cronies, who still dominate the economy. US investment in Myanmar remains relatively low, although some US companies including Coca-Cola and Pepsi, fast food restaurant KFC and carmakers Chevrolet and Ford have already established a sales presence. Last week Washington rolled back more sanctions, opening up all Myanmar banks to American business, while also extending indefinitely permission for firms to import through Myanmar's ports and airports -- many of which are operated by cronies still on the blacklist. But tension points remain. In recent weeks Washington has come under pressure from hardline Buddhists after the US embassy used the term "Rohingya" to refer to the persecuted Muslim minority in the western state of Rakhine. The term is incendiary to Buddhist nationalists who label the group "Bengalis" and view them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. More than 100,000 Rohinyga languish in displacement camps following sectarian violence in 2012. Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya are denied citizenship even though many can trace their roots in the country back generations. Conceding it is a "sensitive issue", a State Department official reiterated America's stance that all people have the right "to self-identify, including the Rohingya." Kerry will go on to Vietnam Sunday to accompany Obama to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for a three-day visit likely to focus on trade, security and human rights. "The Fire Line: The Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots and One of the Deadliest Days in American Firefighting" By Fernanda Santos Flatiron Books It began as a routine assignment for the 20 men of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. Wielding picks, axes, shovels and chain saws, they set out to build a barrier to protect homes and people from an Arizona wildfire sparked by lightning. Within hours, their mission ended in tragedy. Fifty mph winds set off by a powerful thunderstorm had changed direction, fanning a raging fire that raced down Yarnell Hill, cutting off the crew's escape route and trapping the men in a canyon. Nineteen of them perished, the bodies found in portable fire shelters that were no match for the 2,000-degree heat. The death toll of professional wildland firefighters was the largest in more than a century. The only survivor was the assigned lookout who barely escaped the flames. In this riveting and poignant narrative, Fernanda Santos introduces the reader to a brave band of men, most of them in their 20s, who battle destructive wildfires that pose a mounting threat as developers in the West build vacation and retirement homes in areas where urban boundaries intersect with fire-prone woods and brush. Based in Prescott, Ariz., Granite Mountain was one of 107 elite Hotshot crews in the U.S. at the time of the 2013 fire and the only one run by a municipality. Its members are deployed around the country, riding in 10-seat, diesel-powered "buggies" that transport them to the fires. Once there, their task is to fell trees, hack away brush and cut roots to build a fire line that can block the flames. It's a task that demands strength, endurance and teamwork. The pay is meager rookies received $12.09 an hour and crew members relied on long hours of overtime during fire season to make ends meet. Santos, the Phoenix bureau chief for The New York Times, covered the Yarnell Hill story and was taken with the stories of victims she admired but never met. She bonded with family members to learn about the lives of these fallen firefighters, some of them "second chancers" who saw the physical challenge and discipline of the job as a path toward overcoming earlier stumbles that ranged from alcoholism or drug addiction to minor crimes. The author also walked the walk, taking two courses at a wildfire management academy in Prescott that many of the Granite Mountain crew had attended. She donned flame-resistant clothing, wielded the tools of the Hotshots' trade, cut fire line in the wild and even practiced deploying an emergency shelter that she carried along with a loaded backpack. The product of her efforts is a gripping account of one of the nation's most deadly wildfires and an inspiring look at the men who put their lives on the line and the loved ones they left behind. The book is reminiscent of Norman Maclean's classic "Young Men and Fire" that told of the 1949 Mann Gulch fire in western Montana that killed 13 firefighters, and his son John's story of the 1994 South Canyon fire in Colorado that took 14 lives. Santos has turned out a worthy addition to the genre. London: British Prime Minister David Cameron said that he would be happy to meet Donald Trump if he becomes the Republican presidential candidate. But the British leader repeated his claim that Trump's proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States is "wrong and divisive" and "a very dangerous thing to say." Trump said last week that he was "not going to have a very good relationship" with Cameron, though he later backtracked - and even said the prime minister had invited him to visit 10 Downing St. He added, "American presidential candidates have made a habit of coming through Europe and through the U.K., and if that happens I'd be very happy to." Cairo: The first audio available from the doomed EgyptAir Flight 804 indicates all was routine as the plane checked in with air traffic controllers in Zurich, Switzerland and joked with their Greek counterparts not long before the aircraft crashed into the Mediterranean, killing all 66 on board, Mirror repoted. The recording was released as leaked flight data showing trouble in the cockpit and smoke in one of the toilets brought into focus the chaotic final moments of the Airbus 320, which was on its way to Cairo from Paris. The pilot contacted Zurich late on Wednesday night, before being handed over to Italian air traffic controllers in Padua (Padova). The Zurich controller says: EgyptAir 804, contact Padova 1-2-0, decimal 7-2-5, good night. The pilot responds: This is 0-7-2-5 Padova control. (Unintelligible) 8-0-4. Thank you so much. Good day, er, good night. The audio recording was taken from www.liveatc.net, a website that provides live air traffic control broadcasts from around the world. Submarine used to find black boxes Cairo: Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday said a submarine was deployed to locate the black boxes that could provide vital clues on what caused an EgyptAir plane to crash in the Mediterranean Sea carrying 66 people, as he asserted no theory was being favoured in the probe. This (submarine) moved today in the direction of the plane crash because we are working hard to retrieve the two boxes, which are the black boxes, he said, adding: All the theories are possible. Members of the Syrian Organisation for the Victims of War (SOVW) display pictures documenting the torture of detainees inside the Assad regimes prisons and detention centres. (Photo: AFP) Beirut: At least 60,000 people have died in Syrian government prisons over the past five years from torture or due to dire humanitarian conditions, including a lack of food, a monitor said on Saturday. The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, Rami Abdel Rahman, said he compiled the toll from regime sources. Since March 2011, at least 60,000 people lost their lives to torture or to horrible conditions, notably the lack of medication or food in regime detention centres, Abdel Rahman said. He said the highest number of deaths had been recorded in the infamous Saydnaya prison as well as detention centres run by Syrias notorious air force intelligence and state security forces. Thousands of prisoners are held in the military-run Saydnaya prison, one of the countrys largest detention centre located 30 kilometres (18 miles) north of Damascus. Rights groups have accused Syrias government of systematically using torture and inhumane practices in its detention centres. A UN probe in February accused the Syrian government of a policy of extermination in its jails. The Britain-based Observatory says it has compiled a list of 14,456 names -- including 110 children -- who have died in regime prisons. According to Abdel Rahman, government forces have arrested a total of 500,000 people since Syrias conflict erupted in 2011. While some have been released and others died, the whereabouts of thousands of detainees remain unknown. Abdel Rahman also said that several thousand people have died while being held by rebel groups and jihadist factions like the Islamic State group. In early 2014, a regime defector calling himself Caesar smuggled out of Syria some 55,000 photographs depicting the tortured and abused bodies of around 11,000 people who had reportedly died in Syrian jails during the first two years of the conflict. Earlier this month, the UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, named Eva Svoboda to oversee progress on the issue of detainees. Hamas' last public executions in Gaza were in 2014 during the last war with Israel. (Photo: AFP) Gaza: Authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip are planning to carry out a series of public executions, the attorney general in the Palestinian enclave said on Sunday. Islamist movement Hamas has carried out previous executions in Gaza, although rarely in public and mainly of people accused of collaborating with Israel. Sunday's announcement involved those convicted of criminal offences. "Capital punishments will be implemented soon in Gaza," attorney general Ismail Jaber told journalists. "I ask that they take place before a large crowd." Thirteen men, most convicted of murder connected to robberies, are currently awaiting execution, Hamas official Khalil al-Haya said on Friday at the mainly weekly Muslim prayers. "The victims' families have the right to demand that the punishments be implemented," he said. The families obtained rare permission on Sunday to stage a demonstration outside parliament, with dozens demanding that the executions be carried out. The last public executions in Gaza were in 2014 during the last war with Israel when a firing squad from Hamas's armed wing shot dead six men before Gaza City's main mosque following prayers. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), nine death sentences were handed down in the Gaza Strip in 2015 and two in the occupied West Bank, run by the Palestinian Authority. So far this year, around 10 more have been handed down in Gaza. Palestinian law allows the death penalty for collaborators, murderers and drug traffickers. Of the more than 170 Palestinians sentenced to death since the creation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, around 30 have been executed, mostly in Gaza, according to the PCHR. All execution orders must in theory be approved by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas before they can be carried out, but Hamas no longer recognises his legitimacy. ISIS has already used chemical weapons against Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq and Syria and is expected to use them when the western alliance attempts to retake Mosul (Photo: PTI) Mosul: In fresh cause for horror, the Islamic State (IS) group is advancing its research in chemical weapons by testing homemade chlorine and mustard gas on prisoners in densely populated areas. ISIS is reported to have set up laboratories in built-up neighbourhoods in the heart of its so-called caliphate to avoid being targeted by coalition air strikes, says a report in the Telegraph. ISIS has a special unit for chemical weapons research made up of Iraqi scientists who worked on weapons programmes under Saddam Hussein, as well as foreign experts. The head of the unit, Sleiman Daoud al-Afari, was captured during a raid by US forces outside Mosul and has now divulged information on the plans of the terror group to produce chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Al-Afari has now been replaced by Abu Shaima, an Iraqi doctor who worked at the University of Baghdad during Saddams reign. Shaima has moved the chemical operations of ISIS away from its main laboratories at the universities of Mosul and Tel Afar, into residential areas to protect them against aerial attacks by US-led forces. Mohandseen, a prominently Christian neighbourhood until ISIS seized the city, has now been occupied by ISIS terrorists who are using several houses to conduct deadly experiments. ISIS has already been testing on rabbits and dogs, who after death have been thrown into rubbish bins on Mohandseen streets. ISIS has also been carrying out experiments on prisoners they are holding at a secret jail in al-Andalus, in the Nineveh governorate of Mosul, to test the toxicity of chemicals. Residents near the prison have reported breathing difficulties and children developing severe rashes. The terrorists have seized large quantities of industrial chlorine and are believed to have the expertise to make mustard gas. They are also feared to have captured chemical weapon stocks from Bashar al-Assads regime across the border in Syria. ISIS has already used chemical weapons against Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq and Syria and is expected to use them when the western alliance attempts to retake Mosul. Modi, who is the first Indian Prime Minister having visited Iran in the last 15 years, was received at the Mehrabad International Airport by Iran's Finance and Economic (Photo: Twitter) Tehran: Looking to strengthen trade, investment and energy ties with Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday arrived here on a two-day visit, during which a crucial agreement is expected to be signed on developing the strategic Chabahar port. Modi, who is the first Indian Prime Minister having visited Iran in the last 15 years, was received at the Mehrabad International Airport by Iran's Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia, after which he left for a local Gurudwara to meet people of Indian origin here. Formal talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are scheduled for tomorrow morning after a ceremonial welcome for the Prime Minister. Rouhani will also host a lunch for him. Salam Tehran! PM @narendramodi arrives in Iran for a landmark visit, receives a red carpet welcome. pic.twitter.com/QkgKGbugwH Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) May 22, 2016 Modi will also call on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well before his return. Modi started his Tehran visit with a visit to a Gurudwara. It is my pleasure that my 2-day visit to Iran has started with me seeking blessing from Guru Granth Sahib, Modi said, speaking at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara in Tehran. PM @narendramodi :It's a matter of great privilege to celebrate 350 anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh shortly pic.twitter.com/RL6BgBKVDO Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) May 22, 2016 Ahead of his arrival, Modi in a series of tweets said, "Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority." "My meetings with President Rouhani and Hon'ble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership," the Prime Minister added. Besides signing a deal on development of Phase-1 of the Chabahar port, India is looking at doubling oil imports from the Persian Gulf nation, which a few years back was its second-biggest oil supplier, as well as making progress on getting rights to develop a giant gas field in the energy-rich country. Read: Lifting of sanctions on Iran opens immense opportunities: Narendra Modi India's Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari will also be present there for the signing of the agreement on Chabahar port. Post-sanctions Iran has seen a flurry of diplomatic and business activities with leaders from China to Korea courting Tehran. In the run-up to Modi's visit, Transport Minister Gadkari, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had visited Tehran. Stating that he looked forward to the conclusion of the Chabahar agreement during his visit, the Prime Minister said "India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region." Besides visiting Gurudwara, he will also inaugurate an International Conference on 'retrospect and prospect' of India and Iran relations. "I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today & tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani," he added. In an interview to Iran's IRNA news agency before of his arrival here, Modi said the two countries have "always focused to add strength to our relations, even during the difficult times. In the current context, both countries can look to expand our cooperation in the fields of trade, technology, investment and infrastructure and energy security." Stating that India's public and private sector firms were keen on investing in Iran, he said the signing of agreement on development of Chabahar port will provide wider connectivity. Chabahar is a port in South-East Iran that will enable India to bypass Pakistan and open up a route to land-locked Afghanistan with which New Delhi has close security ties and economic interests. "Lifting of the international sanctions against Iran has opened up immense opportunities for both the countries, especially in the economic sphere," Modi said, adding India is keen to enhance its investment in the Persian Gulf nation and also welcomes flow of capital and investments from there. The energy sector, he said, was one of the most important dimensions of bilateral economic ties and with investment in development of Farzad-B gas field, the relationship would go beyond the buyer-seller dealings to being genuine partners. On impending meetings with Iranian leaders, Modi said: "Iran is part of our extended neighbourhood, an important nation in the region and one of India's valuable partners. "We are connected with each other by the shared history and civilisational ties. We have shared interest in peace, stability and prosperity of the region. Combating the menace of international terrorism and radical ideologies is a common challenge." He further said taking concrete steps for enhancing regional connectivity is one of the most important and promising dimensions of the ties between India and Iran. "Building a genuine energy partnership, cooperation in the infrastructure, ports, railway and petrochemicals sectors and developing the age-old civilisational ties through people-to-people exchanges in the modern times will also be a priority," Modi said. An agreement on state-owned Nalco setting up a 5-lakh tonne per annum aluminium plant in Chabahar free-trade zone is also to be signed tomorrow. From Chabahar, the existing Iranian road network can link up to Zaranj in Afghanistan, about 883 kms from the port. The Zaranj-Delaram road constructed by India in 2009 can give access to Afghanistan's Garland Highway, setting up road access to four major cities in Afghanistan -- Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. Chabahar port, located in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province on Iran's southern coast, is of great strategic utility for India. It lies outside the Persian Gulf and is easily accessed from India's western coast. The port project will be the first overseas venture for an Indian state-owned port. India and Iran had in 2003 agreed to develop Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman outside the Strait of Hormuz, near Iran's border with Pakistan. But the project moved slowly because of western sanctions against Iran. The sanctions were lifted in January and since then, India has been pushing for conclusion of an agreement. About a fifth of the oil consumed worldwide each day passes through the Strait, a shipping choke point that separates the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean. Indian investment in phase-1 will be in excess of USD 200 million, including USD 150 million line of credit from Exim Bank, an agreement for which would also be signed during the visit. Besides signing of commercial contract for Chabahar Phase-1, Modi will witness signing of a trilateral agreement on transport and transit corridor among India, Afghanistan and Iran. The trilateral agreement is seen to significantly enhance prospects of India's connectivity with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond such as the North-South corridor. Modi and the Iranian president are also likely to review peace and stability in the region which faces several challenges, including terrorism and violent extremism, besides cyber crime and maritime security. On May 6 NAB officials had recovered around 730 million rupees in local and foreign currency during a raid at the residence of Baluchistan's Finance Secretary Mushtaq Ahmed Raisani. (Photo: AFP, Representational Image) Karachi: Pakistan's top anti-graft official shave recovered a fresh haul of 57 million rupees from a bakery in Baluchistan region during an ongoing investigation into a mega corruption scandal involving bureaucrats from the restive province. National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials recovered the money from inside a bakery in the Satellite Town area of Quetta yesterday after information was provided by a key facilitator, a NAB spokesman said. On May 6 NAB officials had recovered around 730 million rupees in local and foreign currency during a raid at the residence of Baluchistan's Finance Secretary Mushtaq Ahmed Raisani. Since that raid the anti-corruption investigations have uncovered a web of deception and corruption by government bureaucrats and officials who have siphoned off billions of rupees from development and other funds. Five to six well-placed officers in the finance department were also suspected of involvement in the mega-corruption case and would be arrested soon, NAB officials said. Director General NAB Baluchistan Tariq Mehmood Malik told a news channel that currently 150 cases of corruption were being investigated in the province amounting to billions. Provincial finance adviser Khalid Langove had offered his resignation soon after the recovery of the cash from Raisani's residence and has since then gone underground. He has also failed to appear before NAB despite prior notices served to him on two occasions. The woman had lost her eyesight in an acid attack by her relative in 2001 (Photo: Representational Image) Lahore: A 35-year-old woman, who lost her eyes in an acid attack, has been gang raped by three men in Pakistan's Punjab province, police said on Sunday. The woman, a resident of Layyah district in the province, had lost her eyesight in the attack in 2001 when her relative threw acid on her face for refusing to develop relations with him. A senior police official said that her neighbour Khalid came to her house and said she would have to go along with him to his friend's house to collect wheat for her. "He took her to his friend's house where he along with his accomplices Khalid and Sultan ganged raped her and left her at a deserted place," the official said. Some passers-by spotted her lying unconscious and shifted her to hospital where doctors confirmed rape. A case has been registered against the accused. Police also claimed to have arrested the three accused. Vayeeleng Moua, a former Missoula County Youth Court officer, wont spend a day in prison for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl. At the end of a hearing on Thursday, District Court Judge James Manley of Lake County gave the convicted child molester a six-year deferral of sentence for felony sexual assault of a minor, lower than the mandatory minimum for that crime. During a trial in November, Moua had been convicted of the felony but found not guilty of two other felony charges, one for sexual intercourse without consent and another for indecent exposure. In a statement before pronouncing the sentence, Manley called the case the most unique and difficult decision Ive had to make and said he views Mouas child molestation as in some ways the most serious, most cruel crime. However in the end, he chose to side with the recommendation of the defense and experts who performed psycho-sexual evaluations on Moua and said the best place for him to receive treatment is out in the community. Manley said the shame Moua brought onto his family and his Hmong culture, as well as the loss of his career, was punishment for his crime. Nothing I do to punish Mr. Moua will be as much as he will punish himself, he said. Ole Olson, one of the state prosecutors on the case, had requested a 20-year Montana State Prison sentence with 15 years suspended. He said without some type of incarceration, he would have a hard time telling victims of similar crimes that it was worth the pain of going through a court case if the end result was person not being put behind bars. The state cannot appeal the sentence. During the hearing, Olson had asked the victims mother if she would have put her daughter through the case had she known the result wouldnt be jail time. The woman said no, never. This sentencing is going to send a message, Olson said. 3 felonies In January 2015, Moua was charged with three felonies in the case, after prosecutors say he repeatedly sexually abused and inappropriately touched the teenage girl during the summers of 2012 and 2013. During Thursdays sentencing hearing, two of the victims aunts, as well as her sister and mother, testified. The aunts both said Moua had touched them inappropriately when they were teenagers more than 15 years ago, after Moua and his then-13-year-old wife had their first child. The victims sister said Moua had also had inappropriate contact with her the year after he assaulted her sister. All four, including the victims mother, said they wanted to see some amount of jail time for what Moua had done, adding that since the trial, the victim has become more withdrawn and rarely speaks with her family. I would like to know that other little girls are safe from this predator, one of the aunts said. While sexual assault of a minor carries a mandatory minimum of four years in prison, a judge can choose to go below that level if he or she determines the treatment of the offender is better done in the community and that such treatment is in the interest of protecting the victim and society. Judges can also defer sentences if a financial penalty is imposed, like the $1,000 fine Moua received. Michael Sullivan, a clinical social worker who performed a psycho-sexual evaluation on Moua, said he classified as a tier one, or at low risk of reoffending, sex offender, and recommended that his treatment take place in the community rather than through incarceration, saying there is often a wait list for such treatment in prison. He also said Moua continues to deny that any inappropriate conduct occurred, but that the denial doesnt affect his potential for recidivism. Sullivan said he knew about the other accusations made against Moua, but that they didnt factor into his determination. The defenses character witnesses, including family, friends and former colleagues of Mouas from Youth Court, all spoke highly of him. Glen Welch, chief juvenile probation officer, and Murray Pierce, home arrest program coordinator, said Moua had been an outstanding employee. If he had been acquitted, I would have hired him back, Welch said. Pierce said he was surprised when he read the charging documents against Moua. The (Moua) that we knew did not fit what we read, he said. Forensic psychiatrist and Moua family friend Dr. William Stratford said before the conviction, there was not a better citizen in this town than Moua. When asked by Olson what he thought of the other women who had come forward saying Moua had had inappropriate contact with them in the past, Stratford said it didnt effect his opinion, adding that allegation can be fact or fantasy. Family testimony Moua's friends and family who testified wouldnt give straight answers when Olson asked whether they believed Moua had molested the victim. When Moua's father Chou took the stand, he was more blunt. He did not do what he is accused of, Chou said, adding that the stories against his son were made up by people with no evidence, no proof, and said the case should be dismissed. Olson recommended Mouas sentence include at least some prison time. He said he didnt think treatment in the community was a good idea for the sex offender, saying the defense had not presented anyone who believed Moua had committed the crime of which he is convicted. Mouas father also touched on his own history working with the U.S. Armed Forces while he was in the military in Laos before he was airlifted and eventually came to the States. Before Manley sentenced Moua, the judge shared he had been drafted into the Vietnam War and had worked alongside the Hmong people overseas, gaining an admiration and respect for their culture. The judge also said Moua should be commended for the letters that have been sent to the court supporting him. John Smith, one of Mouas attorneys, said imposing a deferred sentence with probation restrictions would allow Manley to impose a strict sentence if Moua violated the conditions. You have the huge hammer over him that way, Smith said. Yes, taking him out of here in cuffs is punishment, but so is everything hes gone through up to this point. With the arrest of three men Delhi Police claimed to have busted a gang which would organize magic shows and dupe people by diverting their attention. According to police, the accused have been identified as Hamid Ali, Hussain and Arbid Khan. They were arrested from Bhalswa Dairy. 10 mobile phones, one iron rod and an Eeco car used in crimes by the gang have been recovered from their possession, police said. Police also said that with the arrest of the three, 10 cases of robbery have been solved. The incident came to the fore on March 25, when the complainant, Pradeep Prasad Verma, an Uber taxi driver had parked his car near the IIT gate. In the mean time, two boys came on a motor cycle and robbed him of his belongings by threatening him with a sharp object. During investigation, it was revealed that by using the ATM card of victim, the culprits had withdrawn cash Rs 25,000 from the ATM of Kotak Mahindra Bank, in Hauz Khas. On receipt of specific input about the culprits, the police teams raided in JJ cluster, Bhalaswa Dairy, and arrested all the four accused persons, said police. During interrogation the gang revealed that they used to organize magic shows on road and used to cheat people on the pretext of doubling their cash using magical powers. They would identify vulnerable targets in the crowd and target them. They would ask the target to part with their belongings. Then they would ask the person to walk for several meters in a particular direction. The gang would in the meantime board an Eeco car and fled the spot, a police officer said. The gang members used to target people in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida in the morning from 7 am to 11 am and would target people at road side. After committing the crime in a particular area, they would change the place for the next few days. They are suspected to have committed more than 100 such incidents. Driving on NH-24 towards Indirapuram from Delhi, its hard to miss this mountain of garbage on your right where the road sign reads Ghazipur murga mandi. An attempt to go near the 40-metre high pile-up, spreading across 70 acres is a struggle in itself. First the stench from the chicken and fish markets on the way hits you. Once past the meat markets, the air is still foul. Over 2,000 tonnes of garbage is dumped daily at nearby landfill site. The mega-garbage dump takes in about a quarter of the garbage the city produces and has an important role in overall waste management in Delhi. But for the thousands living for decades near the `khatta as they call the landfill is a huge problem. Something they have to face every moment of their lives. Around 100 metres from the landfill, Mullah Colony is the residential locality situated nearest to it. In a locality of around 10,000 people who live in pucca houses, the khatta is an omnipresent entity affecting their life in multiple ways. You are lucky that the air is not flowing from the direction presently, or you wouldnt be able to stand here for more than few minutes due to the stench, says Amjad, a man in his twenties, lying on the cot outside his house. Despite arriving at a relatively better time, according to the residents of Mullah Colony, the smell was repulsive. We have relatives all over the city and outside too. But barring weddings or Eid and Diwali, no one likes to come here, says Amjad. Even during wedding, people dont like to stay here overnight. They finish eating and rush back to their places. We struggle to find brides for our boys here, he adds. Fussing over the lack of a social life is the least of the concerns of Mullah Colony residents. Health issues, ranging from breathlessness and tuberculosis to inadequate body weight, are attributed by the local people to the khatta and the foul smell that comes from it. Rarely one lives beyond 60 here. People have their bellies swollen up disproportionately. When one gets sick, it takes very long time to recover, says Amjad. During rainy season the problem magnifies when the garbage gets mixed with water and starts flowing down to the doorsteps of people in Mullah Colony. The garbage starts decomposing after mixing with rain and produces an awful stench, which even enters inside our houses. Comparatively, winter is the best season for us, says Khursheed, another resident. In the summer, chemical reactions trigger minor fires in the landfill. Sometimes, the fires turn big and consume a part of the garbage pile-up. For people living near the landfill site, the fires brings an added round of misery with smoke and soot entering their houses, and filling their lungs with toxic particles. Amjads uncle Mohammad Hanif recalls the time when they came here 20 years back. It was not as big then as it is today. It has risen exponentially in the last 10-12 years. Earlier also the problem of foul smell was there but the problem related to fires and the resultant smoke was very less, says the elderly. Apart from Mullah Colony, there are a dozen other localities which are affected by the landfill. Rajveer Colony, Khoda Colony, Sapera Basti, Kondli and many more localities are affected by this landfill. We have urged people in the government to do something about it but our complaints have not been listened to yet, says Hanif. Even the sweepers dont come here. Once few came but they ran away due to the stench, he adds. In the nearby Ghazipur DDA colony, middle-class households are also up in arms against the landfill site. Sanjeev Singh, who has lived there for 17 years, says he has developed breathlessness. For the last few years I have been getting headaches and find myself out of breath while walking around the colony, says the retired government employee. Anil Pandey, another retired government servant, and a resident of the locality for 24 years, says the polluted air from the landfill was hitting senior citizens the worst. Meanwhile, disillusioned residents of Mullah Colony want a final solution to the problem and not just another visit by a journalist. Near a landfill site in Rohini, government has developed a park which absorbs the stench that comes from the site. The other solution could be to put soil on it or some chemicals which suppress the stench, says Amjad. Much of Delhis solid waste gets dumped at 3 landfill sites, unsightly mounds of garbage which are getting higher by the day and posing health hazards. The city needs better ways to deal with the garbage it produces Delhi desperately needs more land to dump its ever increasing gar-bage. The 3 existing landfills reached their saturation points long ago. Still, around 8,500 metric tonnes of solid waste is being dumped daily at these sites, making it a recipe for disaster. Residents living in the vicinity of the 3 landfill sites at Bhalswa, Ghazipur and Okhla face serious health hazards due to the mountain of garbage pilling up at these dumps. But the multiplicity of agencies in Delhi has proved to be the biggest hindrance in providing land to the municipalities for alternative dumping sites. The Aam Aadmi Party government says that these 3 landfill sites have been running without the authorisation of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). The municipal corporations, however, say that they have no option but to use them for disposal of solid waste as there is a dearth of land which can be used for landfills. The municipalities say that they have been asking the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the land owning agency, to allot open spaces to be used as landfill sites. But in vain. Further, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and the North civic agency have even informed the DPCC that these landfill sites are being continued at the risk of human life. Many people living in the area have been diagnosed with respiratory problems due to the poisonous gases emanating from the Okhla landfill site, says Pritam Sinha, a Sukhdev Vihar resident. As many as five civic agencies deal with 8,370 tonnes of waste produced in the city on a daily basis. While areas under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation generate 3,100 metric tonnes per day (MTD) of solid waste, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation is responsible for disposing of 2,700 tonnes. The East Delhi Municipal Corporation dumps 2,200 MTD at landfill sites, the New Delhi Municipal Council takes care of 300 tonnes and the Delhi Cantonment handles 70 MTD. Of the 8,370 tonnes of waste generated by the city daily, there is a provision to treat only 4,800 MTD. Of the total 2,200 MTD waste generated by the East Corporation, the upcoming waste-to-energy plant at Ghazipur can treat up to 1,300 MTD waste. The plant has been permitted to run on trial for two months. Even the waste-to-energy plants have not been able to provide the much needed relief. In all, the city has 3 waste-to-energy plants at Okhla, Narela-Bawana and Ghazipur. The waste-to-energy plant at Okhla is operational, the plant at Ghazipur is under trial and the Narela-Bawana plant will start functioning from June. But they have the capacity to handle only a portion of waste generated in the city. Landfill fires Excessive dumping of waste at the saturated landfill sites has become a contributing factor to the frequent fires there. The harmful gases emanating from the landfill are a serious health concern. The recent fires at the Bhalswa landfill under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation during the second phase of city governments odd-even scheme courted controversy. The AAP government accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-run civic agency of deliberately triggering the fire to sabotage the road-rationing plan for reducing air pollution. But the engineers at the landfill sites say such fires are a natural phenomenon, caused due to methane. Methane gas generated at the landfill is highly inflammable, which causes these fires, says an engineer. The problem of landfill fires is not only being faced by India but also by developed countries like the USA. In the USA, around 8,300 fire incidents are reported in a year (source: US Fire Administration 2001) and in the United Kingdom around 280 to 300 incidents are reported in a year, said the North Corporation in a reply to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation takes preventive and remedial measures on a regular basis to foil the fire incidents at landfill sites. These measures include dressing and levelling of municipal solid waste. Municipal staff is also deployed at the landfill site to stop and report the fire incidents, says a senior official with the North civic agency. Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain has asked the area sub divisional magistrate to take action against the municipality if it is not able to control such fires in future. He also asked the area SHOs to depute mobile squads for preventing the entry of unauthorised persons at the landfill sites. In February, the DPCC had imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 per day on the North and East Corporations for burning garbage at Bhalswa and Ghazipur landfill sites. Burning garbage at landfill sites was a common phenomenon as observed during the inspection on May 20, 2015, February 5, 2016, March 18, 2016, and March 22, 2016, said the Delhi government, quoting the DPCC. A number of complaints have also been received from the public against the burning of garbage at landfill sites. It is also admitted fact by the municipal bodies that often burning of garbage is observed at landfill sites which is due to generation of methane gas from the decomposition process of garbage. No commitment has been made by municipal bodies in time-bound manner for the establishment of scientific landfill sites and reclamation of land for existing landfill sites. Letters and directions have been issued to municipal bodies but no action plan has been submitted, it added. According to the Delhi Pollution Control Committees status report on burning of garbage at the 3 landfill sites at Bhalswa, Ghazipur and Okhla were not designed as per schedule 3 of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Rules which came into effect in 2000. These rules specify the treatment mechanism for the garbage. But the corporations remind that the Bhalswa landfill site was commissioned in 1994, Ghazipur in 1984 and Okhla in 1996. The MSW Rules 2000 were not in place then. Therefore, Bhalswa landfill site was not designed as an engineered landfill site but a mere dump site. Only one landfill site has been developed by the North Corporation after the MSW Rules came into force, which is at Narela-Bawana. There has been no incident of fire at this engineered landfill site, the North municipality had said in a letter to the DPCC. Waste segregation Delhis landfill sites are overflowing and civic agencies are running out of space to dispose of nearly 8,500 tonnes of garbage generated daily. Soil and groundwater get contaminated at these dumps. Segregation of waste at the source and reuse of garbage are possible options before city planners. The NGO Chintan says doorstep waste collection should be done exclusively by wastepickers so that dry waste is segregated from the wet waste at the source and less of it reaches the landfill sites. The NGO says that the civic agencies should formally engage wastepickers, kabariwalas and recyclers for better disposal of waste, in turn cleaning the city in a sustainable manner. The civic agencies should identify wastepickers to collect waste from households, offices and commercial buildings and they should be paid a minimum wage. Space for waste segregation, composting and storage at colony, ward, district and municipal level is what is needed, says the NGO. Many students who had mathematics as one of their subjects in CBSE class XII examinations were left disappointed on Saturday as they scored below their expectations due to tough setting of the paper. A controversy broke out this year over the paper as students and parents complained that the paper was tough, tricky, and above the standard of class XII. Students who had thought of getting full score in the exam on March 14 were left in tears as they said that the paper had many unfamiliar sums. When the result was declared on Saturday, many who have done well in other subjects blamed the tough math exam for bringing their percentage down. They now will be applying for rechecking of the exam. Amol Prithani, a student of Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj, who has scored 91%, said that she was expecting much more in Math than she has got. I had prepared well but the paper was tough but still I thought I will at least get above 80, said Prithani, who has scored 75 in the subject. In rest of the four subjects, she has got more than 95 marks. I will go for rechecking of the paper, said Prithani. Similarly, Aditya Shankar, a resident of East Delhi, said that even though the paper was tricky, he had thought of getting at least above 90. I was aiming for full marks but since the paper was tough, I made some mistakes and thought I will at least get in 90s but that didnt happen. I will apply for re-evaluation of the paper, said Aditya, who has got 94%, and 81 marks in Mathematics. Even the schools said that as compared to last year, the average marks in Mathematics is low and even the bright students have not done as expected.The result for mathematics is below our expectations, said Manohar Lal, Principal, DPS, Mathura Road. Ameeta Wuttal, Principal, Springdales School said that every year there are at least one or two students scoring 100 in Math, but this has not happened this time. After several complaints, the issue was also raised in the Parliament and the CBSE had said that it will adopt remedial measures in the form of lenient checking.However, school teachers said that no such instructions were given to them while checking the papers. In March, even Delhis Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the Education portfolio, had written to Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani for providing grace marks to students in the checking. Math is a high scoring subject and students have expectations of scoring high in it. But this years question paper can break all those dreams, the letter sent by Sisodia had said. The onset of tourist season is filling more seats in airlines with April figures showing an increase of more than one lakh people flying compared with the previous months. If one takes the figure of April 2015, the growth is 20.93% last month. According to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), domestic carriers flew 79.32 lakh people in April this year compared with 65.59 lakh last. Last months figure was also higher than the first three months this year. While there were 76.55 lakh fliers in January, it fell to 74.77 lakh the next month only to rise to 78.72 lakh in March. In the first four months of the year, airlines carried 309.35 lakh passengers, which is an increase of 23.22% compared with the same period last year. DGCA Director General M Sathiyavathy believes that the number of domestic passengers would cross 100 million by year-end riding on the continuous growth in passenger traffic. Last year, India with 81.09 million had outstripped the passenger traffic growth of the United States and China. We have now crossed in the past four months of the current year 30 million domestic passengers. At this rate, we will cross 100 million domestic passengers by the end of this year which perhaps is the highest in the entire world, she said. The DGCA report also showed that seat occupancy also recorded a reversal of trend with all airlines, except Jet Airways, showing a rise in passenger load. March witness a slight decrease compared to February. SpiceJet continued to be on the top on seat occupancy managing to fill 93.2% of its seats, a rise from 91.1% in March. GoAir (87.8%), IndiGo (85.8%), AirAsia India (84.8%) and Air Costa (84%) had impressive figures. While Air India increased its seat occupancy from 75.7% to 78.9%, Jet Airways slided to 78.5% from 79.1%. The overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines for the month of April 2016 has been 0.44% and Bengaluru-based Air Pegasus topped the list with 14.22%. During April, 674 passenger related complaints were received by airlines. The number of complaints per 10,000 passengers carried for the month of April 2016 has been 0.8, the report said. Bill Gates Foundation Trust and his personal investment fund are locked in a shareholder dispute in Switzerland over the sale of a controlling interest in Swiss specialty-chemicals maker Sika. This is more than just another activist battle, however, showing how things in Europe these days look more and more American. The fight began in 2014, when the fifth generation of Sikas founding family, the Burkards, decided to sell its controlling stake. Though the family members owned only 16% of the 100-year-old company, their shares had special voting rights, giving them a controlling voting interest in the company. Burkard family members explained they were selling their stake because the younger generations of the family had not been involved in its day-to-day operations for some time. They thought they had found a stable, long-term owner in a Sika competitor, Frances Cie de Saint-Gobain. And it is not hard to see their rationale for selling. The price they received $2.8 billion carried an 80% premium. Other shareholders were left in the cold, however. Saint-Gobain announced it would not bid for the shares of Sika that were not being sold by the Burkard family. Instead, it would seek to enter into arms-length arrangements that would allow Saint-Gobain to control the company and consolidate its earnings and revenue on its books without having to pay for all the shares. In Europe, there is a rule that an acquisition for control of more than 30% of a company requires a mandatory offer for the rest of the shares. In Switzerland, however, there is an opt-out provision, and the Burkards used it. That meant they could unload their shares and controlling interest in the company without offering the same sweet deal to other shareholders. So began a tale of intrigue, lawsuits, shareholder expectations and infighting. Its a tale that easily could be told in the United States. Here, shareholders are legally allowed to sell controlling stakes at a premium without permission of the company. To limit this right and prevent other shareholders from losing out, companies often have restrictions in their organisational documents. The 2009 Merck-Schering Plough merger was structured to get around change of control restrictions in the drug Remicade that would have forced Merck to sell it to Johnson & Johnson. That saga, too, ended in litigation. Not surprisingly, the Burkards move did not sit well. Shareholders and independent directors immediately struck back, relying on a provision in Sikas organisation documents dating to the 1970s that permitted the board to refuse an acquirer of more than 5% of registered shares the permission to register them in the companys books. The board refused to approve the sale and restricted the voting rights of the Burkards to only 5% of the company. The Burkards sued in Zug, a city in Switzerland, claiming that the restrictions on shareholder transfers did not apply to their sale of shares to Saint-Gobain. They claimed that because they were selling their shares through a company, not as individuals, the provision on which the board had relied did not apply. This is where Bill Gates came in. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and Cascade Investment, which manages Gates personal wealth, owned 5% of Sika and had for seven years without selling a single share. The Gates funds, run by Michael Larson, are known for their secretiveness. But they have been willing to take public, activist positions from time to time. Cascade Investment pushed Waste Management to drop its takeover of Republic Services in 2008, calling it a wasteful expenditure of shareholder funds, for example. The Gates funds have been on the warpath over the Sika sale, joined by two European investor allies, Columbia Threadneedle and Fidelity International. At a recent shareholder meeting, the Gates funds made a statement that if this were only about money we could have sold our shares and moved on, saying that their fight was instead about the rule of law trumping individual greed and ensuring respect for the shareholder protections put in place by previous generations of the Burkard family. The Gates funds challenged the deal in a claim to the Swiss Takeover Board in Zurich, saying that Saint-Gobain was required under the Swiss takeover law to make an offer for the remaining shares at the same price it offered the Burkards. The funds have also sued Urs Burkard, the patriarch of the Burkard family and a director of Sika, claiming that he breached his fiduciary duty. That case is pending. There is another Gates Foundation lawsuit against two other Sika directors, claiming that they assisted in this illegal takeover. And the Gates funds joined the main lawsuit against the Burkards seeking to invalidate the voting restrictions imposed by Sikas board. That is four lawsuits that involve the Gates funds in the fight over the sale of these shares. The main action is in the suit over whether the Zug court will allow the board to restrict the familys ability to vote more than a 5% interest. And things are moving slowly, with a decision expected in 2017 at the earliest. Maintaining staus quo The Zug court has issued a favourable order requiring that the status quo be maintained while this transaction is pending. In limiting the Burkard familys voting rights to 5%, the board acted to defend itself and prevent the Burkards from unseating the directors to push through the deal. But the board has not limited the Burkards from acting in all situations, and for the last two years, the Burkards have been able to block board members from being paid for their services. The Sika board has still refused to back down, taking the same position as the Gates funds. And thats where this scrum stands today as everyone awaits for a decision by the court of Zug or for Saint-Gobain to walk away. Saint-Gobain has said it is willing to wait out the fight. After last years meeting, it said that it had a determination to complete the transaction and has full confidence that the Swiss courts shall allow them to regain their rights according to the law. The Sika saga may be an important one for Switzerland. It is one of the first truly modern shareholder disputes in that country. The outcome is tabloid fodder involving one of the biggest Swiss companies and will set the tone for shareholder rights and management relations in the future. But the real lesson here may be broader. Global investors are going to be looking for standards to guide their investments, and those standards are for the most part set by practices in the United States and Britain. When things go awry, these global investors are willing to push forward their agendas. That the Gates funds were willing to participate in four lawsuits in Switzerland shows not only that these investors are going to enforce standards globally, but also that convergence is likely to increase. At a time when the district faces a severe drought, one is reminded of the drought management institute (Wilson Anti-famine Institute), set up in 1927. It was the first such institute in the country set up during the rule of the British. The institute was a model for the whole country, but has now been locked up following charges of irregularities there recently. The building which housed the institute is in a dilapidated condition and the then deputy commissioner took the land back to the governments control, due to the irregularities, in 2011. The building also houses many departments of the government. The institute came into existence when Wilson was the governor of the Mumbai Presidency. V H Naik, the then collector of the district, had created a scientific project to overcome the severe drought. Land measuring 5,576 sq yard was granted the same year as per the collectors recommendation to start the institute for an yearly rent of Rs 115. Nayak got the soil samples from the agricultural fields of the district tested by experts from England. He ensured that funds were granted for the rejuvenation of the open wells. Steps were also taken to improve the water table in the district, enhance the quality of the soil and harvest rainwater by building tanks. Shrubs that sapped groundwater were also cleared. The institute was started with the major objective of agriculture development and creation of jobs. It won accolades in its initial years from farmers in the region for its role in increasing the green cover. The fortunes of the institute began to slide after independence when separate departments came into existence for agriculture, horticulture and forests. Funds became a problem. The institute then came to be managed by the drought management co-operative society, with 15 directors elected by 1800 farmer members since 1983, as the DC could not oversee its functioning due to workload. As years went by, there was no transparent functioning of the institute. D Randeep, the Vijayapura deputy commissioner, told Deccan Herald that the institute had sub-leased its premises to a few private agencies, which goes against its principal objectives. Thus the land was taken back in 2011, he said. The High Court also upheld the DCs move, he said. Goolappa Shetagar, the president of the Society, told Deccan Herald that the excellent institute had been closed due to the ego of a few political leaders and the misconception of the DC. He said they would urge the chief minister to take steps to revive the institute, failing which they would move court, questioning the DCs action. The bandh called by pro-Hindu organisations in the town on Sunday, against the police for releasing three persons who had disfigured the carvings of Hindu gods on the wall of the historical fort here, evoked a mixed response. It is said that three miscreants - Shamshuddin of Srirangapatna, Jamiulla of Mysuru and Danash of Uttar Pradesh were seen disfiguring the carvings of Lord Ganesha and Lord Hanuman on the wall of the fort near the obelisk memorial here on Saturday evening. The public, who noticed the same caught the trio, thrashed them and handed them over to the police. But the police released the trio within an hour, which irked the members of Hindu outfits, who said that the police had neglected the issue. Taluk Panchayat president T Sridhar, Hindu Jagarana Vedike taluk convenor Chandan and others demanded action against the police for dereliction of duty. IGP Vijay Kumar Singh (southern range), SP Sudhir Kumar Reddy camped in the town on Sunday and gathered information from the local officers. Speaking to Deccan Herald, Inspector M K Deepak said cases had been filed against the trio under Section 295 of the IPC and they were released later. A probe was on and if necessary, they would be taken into custody, he said. During the bandh, vehicular traffic was almost normal. The members of Hindu Jagarana Vedike, RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and BJP took part in a protest march, which passed through the main streets of the town. They raised slogans against the government and the police. There was heated exchange of words between the agitators and the police near the Jamia Masjid Circle. Montana term limits frustrate, but do not stop, legislators from seeking election as many times as they wish. Nearly all senators and representatives serve as long at the state Capitol as they did before voters added term limits to the Montana Constitution with a 1992 ballot measure, according to a Lee Newspapers analysis. And a recent change to state law removed the requirement to take a break after 16 years. It used to be you served eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate then you had to be out for two years before you could come back, Secretary of State Linda McCulloch said. But they took that period out. Sen. Jim Keane, D-Butte, is the first legislator to take advantage of the seemingly minor definition change. It allows him to run for a seat in his original chamber immediately after serving maximum consecutive terms in both the House and Senate. Conveniently, Rep. Edie McClafferty, also a Democrat, is termed out of the House, so her district is without an incumbent. He has filed for election to her HD 73 seat, while she has decided to run for his SD 38 seat to likewise continue service. Most legislators argue that the maneuvering forced by term limits is not only a hassle, but has damaged the balance of the state government by draining the body of institutional knowledge while shifting power to the governor, bureaucrats and lobbyists. Other political observers also argue term limits have been a driving factor behind increased partisanship that has tied up or killed major bills in recent sessions. Term limits have not been good for Montana, said McCulloch, who is responsible for overseeing elections throughout the state. She admitted the rules, nonetheless, are unlikely to go away. Ed Butcher, the former state senator from Winifred who worked with his son to put term limits on the ballot, called the rules a success. We didnt want to stop them from serving in the Legislature, he said, noting that he does not consider it a loophole in the law that legislators can switch back-and-forth between chambers. We just wanted to break up the power structures that develop when people are there forever. Starting in the 1990s, Montana was one of 21 states where voters created term limits through the initiative process, a number that likely would be higher if more states allowed ballot measures. In addition to limits on executive offices like governor, Montana legislators can only serve eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate during any 16-year period. Like other states, Montana tried to set limits for leaders elected to U.S. Congress, but the Supreme Court of the United States struck down those provisions. Some political scientists have since speculated that the popularity of the movement was driven largely by an interest to fight corruption at the federal level. The state Legislature may have paid the price for an impression people had about Congress, said Bob Brown, a Republican who served 30 years in the Legislature before being elected Secretary of State and narrowly losing a 2004 gubernatorial race against Brian Schweitzer. Hard to change Courts or legislatures in six states have repealed term limits. Because Montanas rules were added to the Constitution, legislators cannot amend them without voter approval by referendum. Every session some legislators discuss asking voters to expand or remove the limits, but few of those measures make it to the ballot and those that have were shot down. I believe the trend was driven by people who wanted to ensure our democracy was citizen-driven and not done by professionals, said Wendy Underhill, director of elections and redistricting at the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the end, its not at all clear that having term limits has had that effect. Most Montana legislators serve just as long today as they did before term limits, according to an analysis of years served at the time of a legislators departure. Legislators who left office in the 1990s or 1980s served a median of six years, slightly higher than the four-year median seen each of the previous five decades. Even after the first legislators were termed out of office, the median remains six years. Montana political observers argue that term limits force sometimes uncomfortable decisions for legislators who want to continue their service but do not have a convenient district opening. Nancy Keenan also argues that they weakening the power of a vote. It takes away the voice of the people for who they want and for how long they want them, said the executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. Of the 13 House districts where term limits have forced out incumbents, five of those legislators are running for open Senate seats in this falls election. Of 11 senators who have reached their maximum in that chamber, three have filed for House district races. Two of those races involve a district swap similar to the one between Keane and McClafferty of Butte. Carolyn Pease-Lopez of Billings was elected to the House the same year Sharon Stewart-Peregoy of Crow Agency was elected to the Senate. Eight years later, both Democrats have filed to run for each others seat. No significant difference exists between the median length of service for Republicans and Democrats, nor the number of members from each party that have been termed out of office. But one party has dominated the list of longest serving members and has therefore lost the largest accumulation of institutional knowledge. Of the 25 people who served the most time in the Legislature ranging from 24 to 53 years 18 were Democrats. Most left office before term limits appeared on the 1992 ballot. Underhill said long-serving legislators can be an asset or a barrier to fellow members, depending on their willingness to collaborate. If you like that person, its really a great thing, she said of veteran legislators who accrue authority within committees or caucuses. If you dont like that person, it can be really frustrating. Moving forward Butcher, a Republican, said his motivation behind pushing for term limits was not about party affiliation, but rather focused on giving new ideas a better chance of moving forward and breaking up entrenched political alliances. Theres stagnation that happens when you have people serve too long, he said. We had an old guard running committees that would table bills they didnt want to consider. David Wanzenried, a Democrat who worked on the governors staff before serving 18 years in the Legislature, disputed Butchers characterization. He said a handful of incidents cannot be construed as being a regular occurrence. I dont know that old-timers stymied newcomers as much as people would say, he said, recalling earlier decades when he says committees fostered substantive discussions rather than taking turns to make talking points. Now, a lot of the people that get elected want to go to Helena to do A or B. They dont want to discuss it. No negotiations. No collaboration. They just want to go over and do it. Thats a problem. Any deliberative body has to have an exchange of ideas. Political observers said its difficult to pinpoint how much term limits contributed to the culture shift at the Legislature, particularly because of a growing polarization in political discourse nationwide. At minimum, they both share an underlying theme: Voters increasingly distrust government. Years before Bob Keenan of Bigfork ran for the Legislature, he was among the 67 percent of Montanans fed up with reports of cronyism in Washington, D.C. and who voted to add term limits to the state Constitution, assuming to some degree the same problems also existed in state government. I was on the outside looking in and didnt know anything about the issue other than it was a bumper-sticker mentality of, Lets clean up the House and the Senate, too, the Republican recalled. Keenan, who has now served nearly 14 years in the Legislature, has since changed his mind about state term limits. If youre in office and youre opposed to term limits youre accused of being a career politician and that couldnt be further from the truth, he said, noting that the stress of balancing his service with business and family commitments was the main reason he did not return to the House after being termed out of the Senate in 2006. He successfully ran again for a Senate seat in 2014, when Verdell Jackson was termed out. You really have to get out and get a job and make a living. Even before term limits, Montana leaders prided themselves on serving what they considered the most citizen-oriented Legislature in the country. It is one of just four states where the Legislature meets biennially rather than annually. Montana legislators spend fewer days in session 90 days every two years than any other state in the country, meaning they spend more time living in the communities they represent. Members of the House, who must run for reelection every two years, can easily spend more time campaigning than governing. When attempts are made to raise the limited pay $10.33 an hour plus mileage during the 90-day session some argue it is a good idea to make legislative service a personal financial sacrifice to discourage career politicians. When I voted for term limits, I didnt realize the importance of having the people who had been there through lots of different issues, he said, noting that he was mentored in his first terms by some of the last decades-serving members. Now that Im back in the Legislature, Ive found it to be a very different place. Because of term limits, the need to form new relationships never ends. Few of the legislators Keenan served with during his first stint remain. Even Keane, among the longest-serving members of the Legislatures recent era, expects to start from scratch if he returns to the House in 2017. I dont know most of the people in the House, he said. Itll be a new game for me over there. In a repeat of the Delhi gang-rape case of 2012, a 19-year-old girl was gangraped by four persons in Madhubani and then stabbed multiple times. Assuming her to be dead, the assailants dumped the unconscious girl bleeding in the bush. When she gained consciousness, she narrated her tale following which she was rushed from Madhubani to Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). Unfortunately, the doctors were on strike there and, therefore, she had to return to Madhubani hospital where she is recuperating but is said to be critical. In her statement to the police, the victim said when she alighted at Madhubani, she was forcibly taken to a secluded place in an auto-rickshaw where the auto-driver and three of his friends took turns to rape her. The culprits stabbed her 16 times. Thinking her to be dead, they dumped her in a nearby bush. The girl, who sustained injuries all over her body, besides private parts, is now being treated at Madhubani Sadar Hospital. Meanwhile, the police recovered an ATM card, a mobile and a knife from the incident site. Tracking mobile, the cops apprehended one of the culprits Md Suleman. Based on his statement, the vehicle used in the crime has been recovered, informed a police source. The recent attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party workers in Kerala generated much heat here on Sunday as the saffron party workers held a protest outside the CPM headquarters leading to vandalism and a scuffle with the Left party workers. While the Delhi police struggled to calm down the tempers after the BJP and CPM cadre clashed, a BJP delegation led by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari called on President Pranab Mukherjee and apprised him of the atrocities (done) against the RSS and BJP workers before and after elections in Kerala. We have given the President details of these cases, including photographs. Our worker Pramod was killed. Houses of more than 100 workers have been vandalised. Situation is not good. He has assured us that he will take appropriate action, Gadkari told reporters after meeting the President. He also criticised Congress for keeping quite on the issue, where state Assembly polls recently concluded with victory of the Left Democratic Front. Unfortunately, UPA, Congress are keeping quiet. This is not good for democracy. Democracy is a battle of ideas and parties cannot grow by taking law into their hands. We hope that those having faith in democracy will condemn this violence, Gadkari said. The BJP delegation comprised Union Ministers J P Nadda, Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Kerala BJP President Kummanam Rajasekharan, among others. The CPM very strongly condemns the attacks and vandalism organised by BJP. It is the BJP and RSS workers who started this bout of violence by attacking a victory procession. This has happened across the state. The BJP is simply not willing to accept the democratic verdict of the people of Kerala, party leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters, countering the BJPs charge. After the situation was brought under control by the police teams deployed near the CPM headquarters, DCP (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal told reporters, Around 600 people have been detained under provisions of law and the situation is under control. The BJP workers took out a march to the CPM headquarters in protest against murder of a party worker in Kerala. Their agitation turned violent as a group of CPM workers came out of the building to confront them. While the BJP activists broke the police barricades and damaged the signboards at the CPM headquarters, some of them were seen scuffling with the Left party activists outside the building. Police dispersed the mob using mild force and arrested BJP workers. Later, Delhi BJP spokesman Praveen Kapoor said the partys protest was peaceful. But, police detained our leaders and workers but not the CPM workers who resorted to violence, he said. In the chasm between the Trinamool Congress resounding victory and the Lefts rout lie more than eight lakh citizens who did not vote for either side. They opted for the None of The Above (NOTA) option, which analysts believe is a verdict against all the parties. A large number of voters in West Bengal opted for NOTA after it debuted on EVMs in the state this year. Although the figure is a staggering 8,31,845, NOTAs vote share stands at a mere 1.52 per cent. While the CPI got 1.4 per cent, RSP got 1.7, which is slightly more than NOTAs vote share. GJM, which rules the roost in Darjeeling Hills, got 0.5 per cent, and Independent candidates 2.2 per cent. Interestingly, NOTA votes in Bengal are nearly half of the total of such votes cast across the five states that went to polls. While the three hill seats registered the maximum number of NOTA votes, including 5,817 at Darjeeling, even in prominent flash points like Singur and Nandigram, a large number of voters opted fpr NOTA. The scene was no different in the 11 Kolkata constituencies, including at TMC chief Mamata Banerjees home seat of Bhawanipore, where around 2,500 people voted for NOTA. The total NOTA votes cast in Kolkata stands at more than 30,000, with Nandigram recording the lowest at 1,278 among the prominent seats. Dissatisfied Voters According to analyst Aloke Banerjee, a high volume of NOTA votes represents peoples dissatisfaction. Interestingly, if the Oppositions campaign on corruption against Trinamool had an effect on these voters, they decided to go with NOTA rather than vote for the Left or BJP. This means the Left and Congress failed to emerge as a credible alternative despite a strong campaign in favour of the coalition, he said. Political observer Biswajit Bhattacharya pointed out that since the introduction of NOTA, Chhattisgarh recorded the highest such votes, primarily under the influence of Maoists. In Bengal, there is no such catalyst. Yet, a significant number voted for NOTA. Most analysts thought the controversial Narada footage and flyover collapse in Kolkata would have an effect on the electorate in urban areas, where Mamatas dole politics did not play a role. While that did work to some extent, it was not enough to rescue the Left. The vote share of CPI, the oldest Left party in India, is testimony to that, he said. Setting the stage for a confrontation with the Congress-led Uttarakhand government, the CBI has summoned Chief Minister Harish Rawat for questioning on Tuesday. This is the second time that Rawat has been summoned in connection with a sting operation on him, the first was on May 9. But Rawat is unlikely to appear for questioning on the ground that his government has already withdrawn the notification entrusting the case to CBI. The summon to Rawat comes as they are continuing with the probe despite the withdrawal of the notification by the state government. CBI sources said the agency has taken legal opinion, which said that there was no ground for its withdrawal and it was "not legally tenable". The Chief Minister has also not received any relief from the Uttarakhand High Court, which refused to quash the ongoing CBI probe into the sting operation on May 20. Rawat, who denied the allegations, was purportedly shown talking about buying the support of some rebel Congress MLAs. The sting video was released by the nine rebel MLAs. The CBI registered a preliminary enquiry on April 29 in to the sting operation when Uttarakhand was in political turmoil after budget presentation when rebel Congress MLAs opposed it. The state was put under the Presidents Rule on March 29 but after Supreme Court verdict, he returned to power winning a trust vote. Five days after winning the trust vote, the Uttarakhand Cabinet on May 15 withdrew the permission given to CBI by Governor K K Paul. It also decided to constitute a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe the case. The CBI move is likely to set the stage for confrontation between Congress-led government and the Centre. The Congress had accused the BJP of trying to destabilise the state government and install its government in the state. On its part, the CBI is claiming that the sting CD was sent to Central Forensics Science Laboratory in Chandigarh, which confirmed that the video was authentic. However, it is to be seen how could CBI move forward in the case at this stage. After a brief lull, militants on Sunday targeted the security personnel on the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur. At least six Assam Rifles personnel, including a Junior Commissioned officer (JCO), were killed in an ambush with suspected militants in Manipurs Chandel district. The incident took place in the same area where 18 Indian Army troopers were gunned down my militants last year. According to Assam Rifles sources, troopers from 29 Assam Rifles, who were posted to guard the porous Indo-Myanmar border, were returning after inspecting a landslide-hit area near the border when they were ambushed at new Somtal area near Hengsi of Joupi under Tegnoupal police station. The militants also snatched six AK 47 rifles, one LMG and ammunition from the soldiers. On May 19, Peoples Liberation Army militants had ambushed BSF personnel in Thoubal district of Manipur, but no casualty was reported. Reinforcements have been sent to the ambush site, a source added. After almost five years, the Defence Ministry has finally approved setting up of the National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) at a site close to the India-China border in Ladakh. Besides studying the intricacies of solar dynamics and magnetism, the NLST may also be used in the night to search for extra-solar planets. A tiny village named Merak near Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh was the preferred site for the NLST, which was thought of as one of the mega-science facilities to be built in India. But the project hit a stonewall when the Ministry of Defence objected to it citing proximity to the Sino-Indian border. Almost eight weeks ago, the permission finally came from the Defence Ministry for the Merak site. We will now revise the proposal because of cost enhancement, sources in the department of Science and Technology told DH. The 2-metre class telescope was to cost about Rs 300 crore and was to be ready by 2017. Because of the five-year delay in getting the permission, both cost and completion schedule would have to be reworked. Earlier this month, a panel of law-makers asked the department of Science and Technology to move fast on the NLST and advised the Finance Ministry to arrange for necessary funding. The University of Hamburg was thought of as one of the partners, specifically for instrumentation. The NLSTs main task would be studying the sun to know more about its magnetic field, sun spots and solar activity. When completed, it will be one the worlds largest solar telescopes. Two other large solar telescopes are being created by the USA and Spain. China too has proposed to build a giant one for researching on solar activities. The location of the telescope needs to provide a large number of clear hours for making observations with very good seeing and transparency. Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, who lost as BJPs chief ministerial candidate in Delhi Assembly polls last year, was on Sunday appointed Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. President Pranab Mukherjee cleared the appointment, which will be from the date she assumes charge of her office, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said. The post of Lt Governor in Puducherry was vacant for two years, since the sacking of Virendra Kataria by the Narendra Modi-led government in July 2014. Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Island Lt Gen Ajay Singh was holding additional charge of Puducherry. Kiran Bedis appointment comes against the backdrop of the Congress preparing to form government in the Union Territory. The Congress has won 15 seats and its ally DMK two in the latest polls for the 30-member Assembly. In her reaction to the appointment, the 66-year-old former IPS officer said she would assume the office by the weekend. Asked about her priorities, she told DH: Every department is important. All departments should deliver. I will be part of the system from inside and not from outside. My priority will be bottom-up approach, I would like to make the constable, the teacher in a school feel that he or she is most important.I stand another test. I am trustworthy in terms of governance and I am going to live up to it. I look forward to giving every bit of myself to the responsibility, she said. One in 4,000 pulls is a jackpot, Lou Adler said. The coin goes in, a lever is pulled and a collection of gears, springs and pieces move inside the contraption. A spinning piece randomizes a row of iconscherries, oranges, bells and the like. A row of three identical icons wins. Adler, 81, is in the business of antique slot machines. His south Billings workshop is full of them, and he said he has more than 200 in stock. He refurbishes, repairs and sells the ornate machines for people across the country under the brand Slots of Montana. "The old saying around the house is that it's an old hobby that went wrong," Adler said. He got his first slot machine in 1957 and has tinkered with them since. On Thursday, he was updating his stock for the website, making sure they had all been photographed. Adler said he shipped 63 units last year and is on track to have record sales in 2016. He scours internet auctions, estate sales and a network of enthusiasts for the old units. "You get them banged up. You do," he said. "That's the challenge." Most of the slot machines are more than 60 years old. Adler said he has one at home from 1915. Adler looks up the serial number for each one, logs the data and keeps them on file. The best machines, he said, were built after World War II. It's the quality of the steel that makes them hold up over the decades until they reach Adler. They run from around $1,500 to $7,500 for a tall, wood-enclosed machine. Adler's customers are mostly people who want a little flair in a rec room. He gets calls from collectors, who want a specific machine. The stylized Jennings-brand units are among the most popular, he said. The slot machines are all mechanical. They require no electrical input to work, other than some small lighted displays. That's the draw for many who take interest in them. "When it's gone, there's no replacing," said Wes Harr, a fellow enthusiast in Deer Lodge who works with Adler on refurbishing. "They're kind of one-of-a-kind." Harr said he might search online for used parts. The machines employ a number of springs, which are easily bought new. Some of the small, metal pieces can be irreplaceable or too costly to manufacture if they're lost. Harr has been working with Adler for 17 years, but he said he's worked on mechanical machines for decades. He puts up to 60 hours per week into the restoration work, mostly for Adler. "I can take a machine completely down to nothing" and put it back together, he said. There are "450-something" parts inside the average antique slot machine, according to Adler, but he knows every piece. Slots of Montana has been his main gig since he retired around 1999. Born in Madison, Wis., Adler and his family came to Montana for the climate. His father, a Greyhound bus mechanic, suffered from asthma. He worked for years as a bag boy in local grocers until 1954, when he interviewed with the Campbell's soup company. He took the job in the marketing department. When he retired in 1999, he wanted to continue working with his hands. "I thought about getting into wood and furniture," he said. He settled on slot machines. He said that his wife was floored when he said he wanted to use the equivalent of a year's salary to invest in slot machines. Buy one and sell for the price of three, he told her. Today, he's also the manager of the local Knights of Columbus hall and runs a parking lot paint striping business with his son. Adler is registered with the Montana Department of Justice Gambling Control Division to deal in antique slot machines. They're still deemed "illegal gambling devices" in the Montana code. In public places, antique slot machines are required to be made inoperable. They're legal to possess privately if the units are 25 years or older, according to Rick Ask, the division administrator. It wasn't always like that. For years, slot machines were banned. "In the early years, if we found them we had to seize them," Ask said. Adler has seemingly endless stories about his customers over the years. He said he has a guy in Denver who keeps coming up to Billings for more slot machines. A week before, he shipped out three of his stock to other states. He builds custom crates for all of them. If they're broken in shipping, he said they can just send them back for repair or refund. Adler's workshop door is usually open, if the weather is right. "I enjoy people," he said. "I like to work with people." On Monday, Adler will be featured on the Montana PBS show "Backroads of Montana," airing at 8 p.m. Delhi University colleges may set the cut-off bar higher this year, as CBSE continues to throw up more high scorers. According to the Delhi government, 546 public schools have students with 90% and above in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 12 exams. Last year, 525 government schools in Delhi achieved this feat. Hundred and thirty schools have achieved 100% result as against 103 last year, the government said. Government aided schools including Kendriya Vidyalayas reported better scores this year. Countrywide, CBSE said about 10.8% of the successful candidates--89,030scored 90% and above while there are 14,838 candidates with more than 95%. Not all may line up turn up for admissions in DU, but the high scorers getting out of Delhi schools may certainly want to stay closer home. Many top scorers tend to flock DU colleges, pushing the cut-off farther and farther. For Economics (Hons) at Shri Ram College of Commerce, the cut-off mark rose to 98.25% from 89.25-91.25% in 2000-01. Similarly, the cut-off for general category students seeking admission in BCom (Hons) increased to 97.3% from 90.5-94.5% in 2000-01. With less than 1% drop in cut-off, students make a beeline at the admission counters. Last year, some colleges even had over admission in popular courses, as the university policy doesn't allow colleges to deny admission if a student meets the cut-off criteria, a university official said. Delhi College of Arts and Commerce Principal Rajiv Chopra said he was expecting only a minor rise in cut-off, as the university gets students from the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) and state boards as well. He added that not all boards report significant surge in number of high scorers. Some Delhi colleges are also eyeing to start new courses from this years academic session. Chopra said his college is awaiting University Grant Commission (UGC) approval to start BSc Mathematics (Hons). Nineteen colleges have already got approval to start 35 new courses from this year that will add 2000 new seats, Nachiketa Singh, member of the Academic Council and part of the standing committee that approved the courses, said. R N Dubey, a member of the admission committee, said the college will need approval of the funding agencies i.e. either UGC or the Delhi government. University insiders, however, claim that not all colleges will be able to get approvals this year. Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, Iowa, is expecting a rare addition in the fall: an eastern black rhinoceros. Ayana and Kiano, eastern black rhinos, are expecting a baby in late October or early November, The Des Moines Register reported. Ayanas pregnancy is the first confirmed among the eastern black rhino zoo population in almost two years, experts say, marking a major turning point in the species decades-long decline. Listed as critically endangered by the World Wildlife Fund, Des Moines rhinos are two of just 46 eastern black rhinos in North American zoos, according to Zoos & Aquariums. Only six of those 46 rhinos are breeding females. This is fantastic for us and for the rhino population, said Robyn Scanlon, a zookeeper who has been working with Ayana and Kiano for three years. Ayana and Kiano moved into Blank Parks $4 million African exhibition in 2012. Both were born in captivity Ayana at a Miami zoo and Kiano in Sioux Falls, S.D. and began breeding in July. COLORADO SPRINGS Nestled among manicured, million-dollar homes and near the buzzing expanse of The Broadmoor hotel sit 189 acres of historic park land that officials here want to trade away. But the proposed property swap between Colorado Springs and the resort has drawn complaints from some residents who wonder whether the city is putting one of its biggest businesses as well as its biggest billionaire ahead of the publics interest. The trade includes some of Colorado Springs most iconic outdoor attractions the Manitou Incline and Barr Trail and deepens the statewide debate over the management of public and private land. A city councilman called the proposed exchange the most tumultuous issue he has dealt with during his term, and tempers have been flaring. The city is being ripped off, said Kent Obee, who has served on different Colorado Springs parks boards and opposes the deal. For months, a group led by Obee and others has been working to halt the transfer of the 189-acre parcel, called Strawberry Hill but known as Strawberry Fields, to The Broadmoor. The land was purchased by the city in 1885 after a citizen vote. Although its just one piece of a complex deal, detractors, backed by the local Sierra Club branch, say the city is offering up a valuable piece of park land that was never meant to be a bartering chip. They believe it also represents a dangerous precedent and have threatened legal action. On the other side, The Broadmoor and Colorado Springs officials, including Mayor John Suthers, tout the deal as a way to protect the land, secure Colorado Springs parks goals and boost The Broadmoors positive impact. The swap benefits the public, they contend, by increasing and preserving the citys overall accessible acreage. If you talk to the mayor, he will tell you about (The Broadmoors) tax revenue, and thats undeniable, Obee said as he hiked through the area this month. But I think in this case, the mayor and The Broadmoor have overstepped. Those trying to stop the swap say it would be as ludicrous as slicing off a portion of the iconic Maroon Bells Wilderness Area near Aspen and offering it to the Ritz-Carlton. Villainized? The Broadmoor, which sits on 5,000 acres, has expanded its Colorado Springs reach in recent years, buying the naming rights to the 7,300-plus-seat World Arena and acquiring the popular Seven Falls attraction. Also, Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, the resorts proprietor since 2011, now owns the citys daily newspaper, The Gazette, whose editorial board has supported the trade, and the smaller Cheyenne Edition, which covers the neighborhoods near the hotel. Jack Damioli, the resorts president and CEO, defends the deal. I think we have been villainized, he said. Damioli said the resorts ultimate goal is to make a community investment by protecting, and promising to be good stewards of, the land. The resort has committed to cleaning up trash, mitigating erosion damage and removing graffiti sprawled across a boulder formation known as Party Rock. Damioli explained that The Broadmoor has made changes to the deal in response to public concerns, including its decision to not allow parking at the site or install fencing. I use the term win-win-win, he said. The city benefits, the public benefits and we benefit. The Colorado Springs Parks Advisory Board approved the deal, and the citys nonprofit Trails and Open Space Coalition followed suit last month. The latter groups decision was contingent upon a promised easement and public-access guarantees for the land. Opponents have circulated petitions and barraged elected leaders with e-mails, and they now are demanding that the issue be put before the voters. The City Council on Tuesday is scheduled to decide whether to accept the swap, decline it or put it on the ballot. Council members also could vote to postpone their decision, as they did in late April to hear more public comment. Since there are so many citizens that are concerned about this, obviously its very, very important that we on council give this a very hard study before we make any decisions, said Councilman Don Knight, who has not decided how he will vote on the swap. Weve traded in the past small parcels here and there. But to do this, at this size, would be precedent-setting. I can fully understand peoples fear that if we allow this, where do we stop? A property puzzle The Strawberry Fields area, in Cheyenne Canon, is just one piece of the complex deals property puzzle. Under terms of the swap, The Broadmoor would get Strawberry Fields and a half-acre of parking space near the resort-owned Cog Railway in Manitou Springs, which takes thousands of tourists each year to the top of Pikes Peak. In return, Colorado Springs would receive 155 acres of land called Ruxton Canyon that includes the heart of the Manitou Incline and the popular Barr Trail. The Broadmoor also would hand over 9 acres of highly valued land adjacent to Bear Creek Regional Park and 208 acres of mountain space along the western edge of North Cheyenne Canon Park. Further, the resort would grant trail easements over three of its properties for the construction of the Chamberlin Trail, which would connect several Colorado Springs parks and has been a major goal of the city for years. This is really an opportunity for us to look at property that the city has a significant investment in, said Karen Palus, Colorado Springs parks director. Palus pointed to the roughly 350,000 trips up the Incline last year and the importance of securing the routes public access. She favors the trade, saying Strawberry Fields has not seen as much public use as other city land. She also notes that The Broadmoor has agreed to a conservation easement that bars construction outside an 8-acre envelope. The Broadmoor says it plans to turn the small portion of Strawberry Fields included in the envelope into a picnic area that can be rented out by the public. The resort is also considering the property for a boutique horse-stable operation with riding trails for resort guests. Will this help generate more revenue? Yes, it will, Damioli said during a town hall this month. This is not going to be something you would normally find (at The Broadmoor). Theres not carpeting. Theres not fabric on the walls. Theres not chandeliers hanging from the ceilings. The rest of the land would be developed into trails for free public access. But the deals detractors say what the city is getting in return doesnt rise to the level of Strawberry Fields, which they claim doesnt need The Broadmoors cleanup aid. Years without issue Those who oppose the deal believe the Cheyenne Canon land the city would get is out of the way and undesirable and that people have been hiking the Incline and Barr Trail for years without issue. The U.S. Forest Service is also working on an easement agreement with The Broadmoor for some of the latter property. They also question whether the city will be able to manage the increased acreage from the trade if it so far hasnt been able to take care of Strawberry Fields. Doubts also have been raised, including by council members, about a city-contracted appraisal of the properties involved. The Broadmoors property was valued at $3.6 million, while the citys property was at about $2.2 million. Strawberry Fields was listed as worth $1.58 million. Yes, the ownership changes, Palus said of Strawberry Fields, but the use does not change to the current public access. A Colorado Springs spokeswoman said Suthers would not be available for an interview, but the mayor has been outspoken about his support for the deal in public meetings. I would not favor such a transaction unless it was, from an objective standpoint, clearly in the interest in the city, he said at a town hall. Based on what I see, being as objective as I possibly can be, I believe the city is getting a heck of a deal here. He added that it wouldnt be a bad thing to have a five-star resort in the community benefiting from the deal. Suthers pointed out that The Broadmoor pays millions in taxes each year and is one of the citys most recognizable attractions. Nobody wants to hurt The Broadmoor, said Richard Skorman, a political fixture in Colorado Springs who opposes the deal. He said he understands why the land would be good for The Broadmoor but questioned how the deal would help citizens. Skorman, a former city councilman and failed mayoral candidate, has led almost 90 hikes through Strawberry Fields, which is close to his home, to show residents what could be swapped away. I think there are people within the city that like the idea of helping The Broadmoor as a commercial venue, he said while sipping a beer outside his downtown restaurant and shop. It gets us a lot of positive national attention. But he questions the cost. To just give it away because you want to help the economy as an economical driver isnt ultimately in the best interest of the citizens, Skorman said. As Robert Johnsons three step-daughters sat on a rug placed just behind a Honda CR-V, Johnson climbed into the drivers seat. He was taking part in the Spot the Tot demonstration Saturday morning, one of the activities at the Kids Fun Day 2016 at Grandview Park in Billings put on by St. Vincent Healthcare. Johnson checked the rear-view mirror and did everything he could to see the trio of little girls, who were spaced 10, 12 and 14 feet away from the back of the vehicle. But the youngsters were invisible to his eyes. When they stood up, Johnson was able to see the one standing farthest away. Before I get in my car, I make sure they all go where the car isnt, he said. And then Ill get in the car. Thats what Marilyn Morris likes to hear. Morris is a child advocacy specialist with Primary Childrens Hospital in Salt Lake City. Small toddlers, if theyre on a Wiggle car or drawing with chalk on the driveway, you cant see them, she said. Spot the Tot helps bring that message home, Morris said. She was pleased to share it with Billings kids and adults as part of the celebration of recently announced affiliation between St. Vincent, Primary Childrens Hospital and the University of Utah Medical Center. The idea of the partnership between St. Vincent and the two Salt Lake City entities is to provide more specialty pediatric care in the area, while sharing information and resources. Michael Skehan, St. Vincents chief operating officer, was on hand for the event. He said the new affiliation is terrific for the hospital and all the youngsters that it serves. For many years St. Vincent Healthcare has been a great provider of pediatric care for our community, Skehan said. And this is an opportunity to advance our pediatric capabilities in a whole new way. Activities on Saturday ranged from inflatables to face painting and animal balloons. Children also got their pictures taken with a pair of Frozen princesses, played games and ate a free barbecue lunch. There was also an educational component to the day, which included Spot the Tot. The prevention program originated at the Utah hospital after its emergency room physicians saw 10 children in rapid succession transported to the ER after they had been hit by the back of a moving vehicle. All 10 died. And even one child backed over is too many, Morris said. So they came to Janet Brooks, our Child Advocacy Department manager, and said Is there anything that child advocacy could do to prevent this from happening? So in 2005, Primary Childrens Hospital collaborated with a couple of community organizations to establish the program. Its popularity caused Spot the Tot to spread throughout the United States, and then Safe Kids Worldwide adopted it in 2006, Morris said, and it's now used around the world. The program encourages parents, teenagers anyone whos driving before they get in the car to walk around it and look for children, she said. Also it encourages children not to play behind cars. The black rug, which is placed behind the demonstration vehicle, contains yellow circles that are spaced out at 2-foot intervals. With older youngsters, Morris has them pick a circle where they think the driver will be able to see them. Even at 20 feet, she said, the driver sometimes cant see the child. Weve even had a time where weve had 30 children behind the car and from the rearview mirror you cant see any of them, Morris said. And when the camera pans around and you see all those kids, its really quite striking. It really makes the point that you need to be aware. When a child is killed by a moving vehicle, the driver, often a parent, a family member, a neighbor or friend, is forced to live with a lifetime of pain. Its just devastating, especially when it could have been prevented, Morris said. Weve known people that just never recover from it. Vehicles with backup cameras can help to a degree, she said. But a child might crawl under a car on a hot day to find shade, which will put them in harms way. (The cameras) help, but dont only rely on them, Morris said. Before you ever get into the car, take three seconds and walk around the car. It just makes a big difference. Charlize Theron's First Look For Fast 8 Revealed Oller: How John Frank found peace after life of football punishment Former Ohio State tight end John Frank finds joy and meaning in Orthodox Judaism, which ironically would have precluded him from playing football. Seventy years after the first Montana Highway Patrol Trooper was killed in the line of duty, hail, wind and rain threatened to further delay his memorial highway dedication ceremony Saturday. Prior to the 3:30 p.m. ceremony, dark clouds lifted to show blue sky along a stretch of highway between Billings and Laurel as a group of around 30 gathered near the spot where MHP Trooper Robert Steele was murdered in 1946. In the patrols history, eight troopers have been killed on duty, and it is tradition to honor them with highway dedications. Yet for various reasons, including difficulty finding family members, Steeles ceremony never happened. MHP Trooper Scott Ayers, assisted by retired MHP Capt. Ken Hoefner, began searching for Steele's relatives in the fall and was able to track them down through a detailed genealogical research. Among the uniformed men gathered Saturday were two pairs of women and a local law enforcement officer with ties to Steele. Connie Murphy, 70, came from California with her daughter Janae Bryant. Murphys mother was Steeles sister. Bob was her only sibling, Murphy said. By (age) 20 they had both lost their parents. She was 32, he was 30, when he was killed. It was a tragedy. He had just returned from the war, alive. Then he was killed. On a cold November night seven decades ago, Steele and his partner Gordon McDermid, both World War II veterans, had approached a vehicle parked along the highway between Laurel and Billings that had suspiciously switched off its lights. The vehicle belonged to two men who, a half hour earlier, had robbed a Billings hotel at gunpoint. After parking behind the car, the partners approached. Steele was in front. One of the robbers, Richard Smothers, jumped from the car and fatally shot Steele. A gun fight ensued before Smothers was killed trying to flee the scene. Bryant said that the ceremony had gotten her mother talking about what it was like growing up on a Montana farm, which she'd left for good at 17. "It's been therapeutic for her," Bryant said. Just last month Murphys brother died. At the time of Steeles death, Murphy was a year old and her brother was 10. She said she wished shed asked him more about their uncle. Murphys mother has also died, leaving Murphy wishing her mother could have seen the sun shining on the new sign bearing his name that overlooks I-90 East at mile marker 439. McDermids niece DRenne Hodson was there with her daughter Ti. Murphy said she felt the real story of the day was that the Hodsons had come too: two nieces, and their daughters, related to men who had been partners in the early days of the highway patrol, had come to Billings to pay their respects. Joining them was Stillwater County Undersheriff Chip Kem and Kem's 13-year-old son, Tyler. Kem's grandmother was Steele's cousin. "He was a big influence on me getting into law enforcement," Kem said, showing off a memorial band for Steele on his wrist he had made while at the police academy in 1993. "Even though I didn't know him, his story and my grandmother's stories about him always touched a chord in me." Montana Attorney General Tim Fox also attended the ceremony. "It's important for the public to know that the law enforcement community takes their job seriously, despite the risks, despite the challenges, they love what they do," Fox said. Fox remarked that though much had changed over the years, the essential dangers of the job remained. MHP Colonel Tom Butler also spoke. "In order to know where you're going, you have to know where you've been," Butler said of the history surrounding the ceremony. Commemorative medallions, known as challenge coins, were given to family members from MHP, Butler and Fox. Ayers said that some of the coins feature eight stars, one for every trooper killed while on duty. "By virtue of being given the attorney general's coin, the colonel's coin, the MHP coin," Ayers said, "it's kind of like bringing you into the family, into the fold." Clean water in Montana survived an under-the-radar attack in the U.S. Senate last month. And its a good thing, too, for it jeopardized Montanas famed fish and wildlife populations, as well as our drinking water and irrigation supplies. During debate before passage of the Senates Energy Appropriations bill, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., introduced an amendment to block implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection agencys so-called Clean Water Rule. The agency developed the rule several years ago at the request of industries that wanted clarification on which of the nations waters merit protection under the federal Clean Water Act. The rule, which was subject to a long public comment period and reviewed in numerous meetings and congressional hearings, simply affirmed that waters protected under the law when the act was passed 40 years ago (including headwater streams in Montana) still merit protection. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., continued his strong support for clean water by voting against this unsuccessful amendment. Perplexingly, however, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., voted for the amendment. Contradictory votes In a recent op-ed Daines touted his efforts to protect Montana's lands and waters, and the jobs they support, by voting for the Energy Bill, which included permanent authorization of the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund. For that, he deserves thanks. However, Senator Daines also undermined his stated support for fish and wildlife by then voting to kill the Clean Water Rule. He thereby supported dropping protection for water quality and important habitat supplied by Montana's headwater streams and some wetlands. These contradictory positions are inexplicable. The Senate energy bill will now have to be reconciled with a U.S. House version. This process will likely include more discussion of permanent authorization of the LWCF. It will also provide Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., an opportunity to demonstrate that he indeed, as he often states, identifies with Teddy Roosevelt, one of the nations most celebrated conservationists. He can do that by supporting full authorization of LWCF, and, by demonstrating he supports protecting Montanas headwater tributaries and streamside wetlands from pollution by reversing his position opposing the Clean Water Rule. Zinke recently stated unequivocally in an op-ed published in several Montana dailies that the EPAs Superfund program in Montana has failed. He cited this as a reason for not using this program to advance the stalled cleanup of toxic materials at the Columbia Falls Aluminum site. He said he prefers working things out with the responsible party at the site, Glencore, a large Swiss-based corporation. Glencore, however, has demonstrated little interest in cooperating. Superfunded in Libby As with the Clean Water Rule, Zinke needs to take a second look at Superfund in Montana. Without this program and the funding and legal hammer it brings to the table, more than half a billion dollars of cleanup and health related aid to folks contaminated by asbestos in Libby would not have occurred. Certainly W.R. Grace wasnt going to help. Similarly, without Superfund, the heirs to the assets of the Anaconda Company, BPA-Arco, would not have been prodded into investing hundreds of millions into cleanup and restoration of the severely mine damaged upper Clark Fork basin from Butte and Anaconda to Milltown. The result so far has been a cleaner river, healthier communities, more trout and a restoration economy that has been a huge economic boon to the region. Certainly, Columbia Falls deserves as much. To some in Congress, it is fine sport to deploy slogans and parrot industry in bashing EPA and federal laws that protect our water, air and lands. This is one sport Montanas congressional delegation need not be part of. Ernest Blythe continued to travel the county in the hope of encouraging others to join the ranks of the IRB and the Irish Volunteers. He met with some success in Raphoe, where he made contact with Johnny McShane. He was also successful in recruiting men in Letterkenny, where he met Conal Carberry, whom Blythe considered to be the most influential man he had met in the north. He also recruited men in Ballybofey, Stranorlar and Donegal town. Despite his best efforts, Blythe recruited a relatively small number of men over his four to five weeks in the county. While every effort was being made to raise companies of the Irish Volunteers in County Donegal, these efforts were met with little success. The dismal state of the Donegal Irish Volunteers was summed up by Michael Monaghan, Mountcharles, listing the complete arsenal of the Mountcharles company as one Lee Enfield rifle, which was the property of Joseph McManus. The first opportunity for the IRB to publicly express their intentions to strike a blow against the British establishment in Ireland came about following the death of the Fenian, Jeremiah ODonovan Rossa in 1915. ODonovan Rossa had died in exile in America in early July 1915. The IRB selected Padraig Pearse to deliver the now famous, graveside oration at the funeral in Glasnevin cemetery on the 1st August 1915. Part of Pearses oration read, Life springs from death and from the graves of patriot men and women spring living nations. The defenders of this realm have worked well in secret and in the open. They think that they have pacified Ireland. They think that they have foreseen everything, think they have provided against everything; but the fools, the fools, the fools, they have left us our Fenian dead and while Ireland holds these graves Ireland unfree shall never be at peace. The obvious interpretation of this oration was that the time had come to end British rule through physical force resistance. Engagement with Germany While it was evident that every effort was made by the IRB to procure weapons, the Military Council had been actively engaging with the German military through contacts in America to land a large shipment of some 30,000 rifles and ammunition in Ireland in advance of the planned Rising. Roger Casement had travelled to Germany at the behest of the IRB and John Devoy, John T. Ryan and Joe Garritty, leaders of Clann na Gael in America. John Devoy had been informed by the IRB Military Council on 5th February 1916 that the date of the Rising was set for Easter Sunday, 23rd April. On receipt of this, John Devoy established contact with two Germans, men called Von Papen and Von Skall, who were based in the German Embassy in America and the weapons shipment was arranged between the German representatives in America and Berlin. The Germans communicated with Berlin through a radio station based in Mexico. The arrangement had been months in the planning and the date was set for landing the weapons in Ireland on board the cargo boat, Aud. The Germans had communicated to Berlin that the Aud should arrive on the Irish coast at Limerick or at Fenit in County Kerry between 20th and 23rd April. However, a message was received by John Devoy in America from the IRB Military Council that the Aud should not arrive until 23rd April. This was communicated to Berlin through the radio station in Mexico, but unfortunately by that time the Aud had already been at sea and as a cargo ship did not have any radio equipment. A bad start, worsened The plot to land weapons had got off to a bad start and this matter was made much more precarious following the discovery of the plans by the American Secret Service on 15th April 1916. After discovering the plot, the Secret Service carried out a raid on the offices of Von Skall, where they discovered the details in correspondence from John Devoy in connection with the weapons shipment. The Secret Service informed the British of the planned gun-running mission, but for some unknown reason the British did not take immediate action and failed to intercept Aud on the high sea. The intelligence was later communicated and patrols sailed along the Irish coast on the lookout for a German cruiser carrying weapons. While Aud was sailing towards Ireland another tragedy was to beset the already doomed gun-running plot. Members of the IRB were detailed to travel from Dublin to County Kerry, with instructions to brief local members there about the arrival of Aud. While the original plan was for Aud to arrive at Fenit, four of the IRB members while travelling to that area took a wrong turn and in the dark of night and their car plunged off a pier at Ballykissane into the water. Only one of the men, Tom McInerney, survived by swimming ashore while the three others, Sheehan, Monaghan and Keating, all perished. In the early hours of Good Friday morning, 21st April 1916, Aud arrived in Tralee Bay at the agreed time, piloted by Reserve-Lieutenant Karl Spindler of the German Navy. However, due to the unfortunate series of misfortunes her signals went unanswered. Karl Spindler decided to spend the night hiding behind one of the Magharee Islands off Ballycurrane on the Kerry coast. At dawn a ship carrying a pilot flag approached the Aud, and much to the German commander's surprise the pilot boat hoisted the British flag of war and the cargo was discovered. Aud was detained later that day. As the Aud was being escorted to Cork the crew scuttled the boat and on surrendering identified themselves as sailors of the German navy. Roger Casement, who had been transported from Germany on the German U-19, was soon after captured by the RIC near Banna Strand. Rosses man, Joseph Sweeney Joseph Sweeney (pictured) from Burtonport had been a student at Padraig Pearses school Saint Endas (Scoil Eanna) in Cullenswood House in Ranelagh. While there he was greatly influenced by Pearses teachings and lectures in Irish history. In 1916 he was a 19-year-old engineering student at UCD, but lived at Saint Endas. Conor and Eunan McGinley, whose father was a native of Glenswilly, were also former students of Saint Endas and part of the group. They were cousins of Dr. J.P. McGinley, who was also a member of the Irish Volunteers having joined while a medical student at Queens University in Belfast. Dr. J.P. McGinley was in Dublin over the Easter weekend but did not take part in any of the action, as he was not assigned to any of the battalions in the city. Joe Sweeney had been sworn into the IRB by Padraig Pearse in 1915. There a number of other former pupils of Saint Endas attending UCD and resided in the school were also sworn members of the IRB including the McGinley brothers. In early 1916 Padraig Pearse told them that the date of the rising had been fixed for Easter Sunday of that year. On Easter Sunday morning in Dublin many of the young volunteers including Joe Sweeney were awakened early. Sweeney attended mass at Mount Argus, but on his return to Saint Endas he saw posters pasted at various locations stating that the Volunteer parade had been cancelled by Irish Volunteers Chief of Staff, Eoin MacNeill. MacNeill on hearing about the capture of Casement and the weapons had feared that the rising would amount to nothing and had an article published in the Sunday Independent cancelling the Volunteer parade. MacNeill had only shortly before discovered that the Volunteer parade was to be the vehicle by the IRB were to strike against the British establishment in Ireland. The countermand issued by MacNeill created a very confused situation throughout the country and the IRB Military Council took the decision to abandon their plans for Easter Sunday morning and instead postponed until the following morning, Easter Monday. This was not an ideal position, as throughout the country many volunteers were made to believe that the planned rising had been postponed indefinitely while others were preparing for action. Unknown to the leaders and Volunteers, and notwithstanding the best efforts of the IRB Military Council to keep the plans a secret, the British had received intelligence that the Rising was to take place some time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. However, the intelligence was not given much credence and there was no obvious preparations by the British to counter any efforts by the Volunteers. Halloween creatures owls, crows and bats all live at Crossroads, and that makes us very happy, for these scary animals make a positive contribution to the habitats of the preserve. We don't even mind black cats, IF they are kept indoors. Feral and outdoor cats are exceedingly harmful to wildlife ... and that's not a superstition! But to tamp down superstitions, we at Crossroads will spend the week demystifying Halloween creatures. On October 28, 2022, at 6 p.m. will be our Evening with Owls. The Open Door Bird Sanctuary will be at Crossroads, offering a one-hour presentation followed by the opportunity to meet and greet live birds. Learn all about owls and the other incredible birds in the care of the Sanctuary! Down through the centuries, in many cultures throughout the world, owls have been associated with evil and death. Truth is, owls probably are not smart enough to be evil. But researchers agree that owls are about as dim as the nighttime forests in which they hunt. Owls don't need to be smart. They have everything else going for them. They are muscular. They fly silently. Their huge eyes enable them to see in the dark. Their beaks and talons are strong and wickedly sharp. But their sensitive ears are what make owls extraordinary hunters. Most people assume that the plumicorns (a.k.a. "horns) of an owl are its ears. Not so. The actual ears lie under feathers on the sides of the head, and they aren't symmetrical. Because one ear is higher than the other and the ears are unequal in size, sound is different from different directions, helping owls locate prey, which they do almost unfailingly, even in total darkness. Owls do not smell their prey. As with most birds, the sense of smell is insignificant, if it exists are all. Great Horned Owls frequently prey on skunks. Enough said. But well-developed intelligence? Researchers have observed owls beating their wings on bushes to try to flush out little birds. Is this learned behavior? Is it problem-solving? Maybe. For the most part, owls do not have a lot of problems to solve. They appropriate abandoned nests of other birds, so they don't need building skills. They are stealthy by nature, and they pounce on and usually catch anything they hear, so they don't need hunting techniques. In spite of ghost stories, legends of American First People, and superstitions from Europe and India, hooting owls do not foretell impending death, although their nocturnal calls are spooky. We hear them now and then this time of year, but we will regularly hear those eerie calls at Crossroads in January or February. In contrast to owls, crows are noisy all year round and they are amazingly intelligent. They can learn. They can remember. They can solve problems. They can even identify individual humans. And they detest owls, though whether this is innate or learned behavior is not clear. Those curious about crows will want to attend the Crossroads Book Club on Wednesday, October 26, at 10:00 a.m. This month, the book Crow Planet, Essential Wisdom for the Urban Wilderness by Lyanda Lynn Haupt will explore the fascinating world of these remarkable birds. The program is free and open to all, whether or not they have read the book. So bring the family to our program on owls, learn about crows at the Crossroads Book Club, or learn about bats at our pre-school Junior Nature Club on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. or our Family Science Saturday program at 2:00 p.m. Costumes are encouraged but not required at Junior Nature Club and Science Saturday, and adult visitors are welcome. HELENA Jennifer Waites takes the calls from people who have just witnessed a murder or seen a horrific car crash. Although emotions can be nearly overwhelming at times, it's her job as 911 dispatcher to remain collected. "There's a lot of times I want to cry along with the caller. But, that gets in the way," Waites said. "We hear it. We may not see the facial emotions, but we hear their tone of voice and hear how much they are in pain or in crisis." Her calm demeanor is one of the reasons her boss, Lewis and Clark County 911 Center manager Peter Callahan, nominated Waites for the state Emergency Medical Dispatcher of the Year Award. It is the first time a dispatcher has received the acknowledgement. "She's strong and steady," Callahan said. "Consistent is the key word." Waites is one of 13 dispatchers for the county and Helena. She and her cohorts answer about 27,000 911 calls annually. The bulk of calls are drunk driving, domestic disturbances, medical calls and animal complaints. Waites has been in her position since 2009. "She's one of our cornerstones here," Callahan said. "She was an easy choice." Lt. Brett Petty with the Helena Police Department said he is especially impressed with Waites when he reflects on the more gruesome calls that are received. "It's terror," Petty said. "And they get the dispatcher on the other line who's calm, cool and collected. It's amazing" When Waites learned she was chosen for the award, which was handed out by the state Department of Public Health and Human Services earlier this week, she was surprised and honored. "I was really blown away," she said. "Dispatchers don't usually get a lot of recognition so it's nice to know that people out there are thinking of us." dpa ElectionsData With dpa ElectionsData you get access to a unique collection of data. Via a programming interface (Rest-API), your developers can access detailed information, candidate profiles and live results for all national elections in the European Union and important international elections, like the US Midterm elections etc. The data pool also includes all heads of state and government as well as about 20,000 elected members of parliament throughout the EU. In addition to their data (name, party, constituency or list position), we collect social media profiles and official websites of individuals and parties. MISSOULA The National Trappers Association has brought its outdoor expo to western Montana for the first time. The largest gathering of trappers in the West opened Friday at the Missoula County Fairgrounds. The two-day Western Regional Trapping and Outdoor Expo is expected to attract some 700 outdoor enthusiasts from 10 western states and Canada. Tamara Masterson of the National Trappers Association says it is a chance for young people to learn about the heritage of trapping. Experts from across the West are holding workshops on snare making and other skills. Trap-setting contests and a skillet toss also are on the agenda. No matter how hard every Irish government tries to ignore the pension problems we have in this country, or to pass the parcel to the next administration, they simply wont go away. I attended at a major pension conference last week on the dire conditions of our state old age pension organised by the Society of Actuaries and the think-tank, PublicPolicy.ie. The most salient and ironic comment made was by the retired head of the Pensions Board (and PublicPolicy.ie director) Anne Maher who said, If we had undertaken the pension reforms recommended in the late 1990s or in the 2000s, we would not be here today. I remember well the first major report which started being compiled in 1993, the ground breaking and seminal National Pensions Policy Initiative. Its most notable achievement years later was the introduction of the Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs). Several other major studies have been rolled out since then, but the pension time ticks away, louder and faster. We are not the only country struggling to come to grips ageing populations and insufficient amount of funding. Back in 1993 we were in a perfect demographic position (with a very, very young population) so reform the old age pension, but 23 years later, we too are running out of road and now face a huge jump in the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) needed over the next few decades if todays young workers will see any benefit from their PRSI contributions. Since this is the fourth article in our Spring Clean/Declutter Your Finances series, you might want to know what kind of conclusions and recommendations were being bandied around at last weeks conference: three important reports were discussed, the substantive 2014 OECD Review of Pension Systems and two others, on Ireland, by the private consultants, Milliman and McKinsey. All three come to the pretty much the same conclusions: Irish people are living longer, which is a good thing but they are not contributing enough to state or private pensions. Universal benefits are too high; deficits are growing and are becoming unsustainable. There is too much inflexibility around retirement rules. The recommendations that have emerged are and this is the good news are varied, practical and do-able, but will take considerable political will and courage: retirement age has to increase to reflect greater longevity and improved health outcomes for older people; contributions have to increase if benefits are to be sustained for longer; universal benefits, need to be reconsidered to improve more equitable financial outcomes for all pensioners. Incentives need to be considered to change attitudes in favour of working longer, but differently and taxation has to be reviewed to stop incentivising early retirement. This isnt an exhaustive list. But if these key recommendations are ignored, the gap in Ireland between how much it currently costs up to fund the 12,131 per annum pension to 600,000 pensioners 3% of GDP - will soar to over 9% of GDP by 2055 assuming our pensioner population more than doubles to c1.4 million over 65s. So if you have a state pension, lucky you. Yes, you paid into it, as did your employers, a total of 14.75% of your annual salary. But if you retire at 66 and live to be 86, you will collect (at the current payment) nearly 243,000 in benefits (and at least another 161,700 if you also claim for an adult dependent). Even if you earned the average industrial wage every year of your working life, the amount paid into the Social Insurance Fund (which is not exclusively for pensions) would have been far, far less than what you will collect. Most civil and public servants who receive a final salary defined benefit pension (half salary, plus 1.5 times final salary as a taxable lump sum) will enjoy a greater income than if they received the State pension. But the people who will struggle most, are those members of defined contribution or self employed pensions who, on average will end up with private retirement incomes of between 3,000 - 5,000 per year. Without the state pension, which represents c33% of the average industrial wage, many would be destitute. Until governments start taking action on the funding and sustainability of ALL pensions, you need to: Review your PRSI contributions. The eligibility rules keep changing. Will you have paid enough to claim your pension at retirement age? Do you have a private pension? How much of your salary are you and your employer contributing? You should be allocating at least 10% of your gross salaryfrom the moment you start working. Are you nearing retirement age, (say within 10 years)? Get an accurate assessment of what your fund is worth now and how much income and tax free lump sum that represents. Get a forward estimate as well. Will it be enough, with the state pension, for you to live on? If you are facing a pension income shortfall, get ALL your retirement provision reviewed by an independent, impartial adviser. See www.sfpi.ie for a financial planner near you. Superior Insurance earns recognition Superior Insurance, an independent agency in Bismarck, earned the status of Pinnacle/Leader for last years business performance with MetLife Auto & Home. Superior was recognized for its achievement at the companys annual Leaders Conference last month. The Pinnacle/Leader designation requires meeting or exceeding the companys production and quality requirements. Metro ambulance gets heart award Metro Area Ambulance Service has received the American Heart Associations Mission: Lifeline EMS Silver Award for implementing quality improvement measures for the treatment of patients who experience severe heart attacks. Award recipients must have demonstrated at least 75 percent compliance for each required achievement measure for one year. Killdeer business adds U-Haul service Ju-Jus Pit Stop LLC in Killdeer has signed on as a U-Haul neighborhood dealer. Chunhua Yang owns the business at 19 Central Ave. S. that will offer U-Haul trucks, trailers, towing equipment, support rental items and in-store pickup for boxes. Hours for U-Haul rentals are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday and after-hours drop-off is available. It is a very rare occurrence when the North Dakota legislature creates a commission and singles out an individual by name to become a permanent member of it. This happened in 1895 when the legislature created the state Historical Commission. The law stated that members of the commission shall consist of "the Governor, State Auditor, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor, president of the North Dakota Historical Society and William H. Moorhead. " Moorhead arrived in northern Dakota Territory in 1856 and worked as a carpenter, fur trader, medical practitioner, land speculator, postmaster, farmer and undertaker. He was also the first sheriff in what is now North Dakota. Moorhead was known to be a "hard worker, honest, always square, and honorable." His friend, Charles Cavileer, pointed out what he described as two imperfections. In his business dealings, Moorhead was "sometimes reckless," leaving him financially short on transactions. Cavileer also wrote, "I cannot say that he was handsome," nevertheless, he quickly pointed out that Moorhead "was popular with the fair sex." William Henry Moorhead Jr. was born Sept. 20, 1832, to William Sr. and Harriet (Holmes) Moorhead, in Freeport, Penn. On April 1, 1852, Moorhead left Pittsburgh and arrived in St. Paul, Minn., one month later. After working as a carpenter in St. Paul for two years, he relocated to Sauk Rapids, establishing a business in which he traded with the Winnebago Indians. He later returned to St. Paul and was joined by six of his friends in a plan to organize a company that would lay out town sites in the Red River Valley. They knew they could purchase land for $1.25 an acre, which they would then develop and sell for $2 an acre. They first selected a site nestled on the northeast shore of Otter Tail Lake that they named Otter Tail City. The men then laid out a second town, 40 miles away, which they named Merriam. After building five log houses at Otter Tail and temporary quarters at Merriam, they discovered that it was nearly "impossible to get supplies" and the project was abandoned. Moorhead returned to St. Paul in the spring of 1857, where he met Joseph Rolette, a member of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature. Rolette represented Pembina County, which was part of Minnesota Territory. When Rolette learned that Moorhead was an expert carpenter, he persuaded the young man to return with him to Pembina since he had a number of new buildings he wanted constructed. On July 7, 1857, the two men left St. Paul and journeyed to Pembina. In 1858, Minnesota became a state, but Pembina no longer belonged to Minnesota. When Moorhead completed the building project, Rolette hired him as a clerk for his fur-trading enterprise. Rolette could see that Moorhead was trustworthy, intelligent and a hard worker, and he began to give the young man more responsibilities. In February, he sent Moorhead on the long trip by dog sled to St. Paul to purchase supplies. Soon thereafter, he was taking over a dozen Red River carts loaded with furs, hides and pemmican to St. Paul and to St. Boniface and Fort Garry in Canada. By 1859, Moorhead was trading goods with the Indians all along the Canadian border from the Souris River to the Lake of the Woods in Minnesota. In the spring of 1861, the Red River overflowed its banks, causing serious flooding to Pembina and the surrounding community. Because of the high water level, Moorhead was confined to the attic of his house for 22 days. When the water level went down, he formed a fur-trading partnership with Joseph Lemae, the former customs officer at Pembina, and they moved their base of operation to St. Joseph, later named Walhalla. Moorhead formed a close friendship with the Sioux, Creeks, Chippewa and Assiniboine Indians, and trading was brisk the first year. In mid-August 1862, a band of Sioux, under the leadership of Little Crow, attacked white settlers in Minnesota because food provisions, promised by treaties, were not delivered, and the Dakota War began. One of the items that Moorhead had been providing to the peaceful Indians in northeastern Dakota Territory was ammunition. After the war began, Moorhead moved his operational base to Devils Lake to avoid selling ammunition to the Indians. In the fall of 1862, most of the hostile Indians surrendered, and the opportunity for peaceful relations was improved. When Moorhead lived in St. Paul, he had become friends with Alexander Ramsey, the Minnesota Territorial governor. Ramsey was now governor of the state of Minnesota, and Moorhead had saved 250 bison tongues, which were considered a delicacy, to give to him. Because bison were very scarce in the spring of 1863, many Indians suffered from hunger and they "had to boil their raw hides and harnesses to keep from starving." When Moorhead discovered their plight, he gave the tongues to the Indians in his area. On Jan. 17, 1865, Moorhead was appointed postmaster of St. Joseph. In 1867, the Dakota Territorial legislature re-created Pembina County, and on Aug. 12, Moorhead was appointed county sheriff. In this position, it has been written that, "No complaint was ever made as to any of his official transactions." In 1870, the Preemption Act went into effect in Dakota Territory, whereby squatters could now purchase the government land upon which they resided. In December, in northern Dakota Territory, Joseph Rolette filed the first claim; Charles Cavileer, the second; and Moorhead, the third. Moorhead settled on the land and, for the next 27 years, became very active in the Pembina community. At every Independence Day celebration, Moorhead liked to dress up as Uncle Sam and lead the procession through downtown Pembina. After suffering from an illness in 1897, Moorhead died on July 3. At the Independence Day procession, he once again led, this time in a casket. It has been reported that it was the longest procession ever held in Pembina. Fargo businessman Doug Burgum is playing his candidacy for governor as a CEO might launch a new marketing plan and voters are taking notice. Burgum says he would change the political landscape by revamping what he calls an outdated government model and require daily budget updates as do most companies. Burgum is squaring off against two other Republican candidates in the June 14 primary election. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem is the partys endorsed candidate. Bismarck business consultant Paul Sorum also is running. The governors job is a CEO job, Burgum, 59, said. Were in a downturn. We need someone whos a game-changer, not a caretaker. The state is changing and needs someone with his executive experience as governor to guide the state through tough fiscal times and in a new direction, said Burgum, who has been waging an expensive primary campaign, blanketing the airwaves with advertising in an effort to topple Stenehjem. We need to reinvent how we budget. Its disingenuous to say we planned for this.' It rings so hollow to those out there on the receiving end of this," said Burgum, a native of Arthur, who has gone all-in to make his case to voters, with his recent pre-primary campaign finance report showing more than $960,000 in contributions. Hes also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising. If elected governor, he will be looking at the state's $1.074 billion projected budget shortfall for the current biennium that is being made up primarily through budget cuts and use of rainy day funds. Despite the economic situation, Burgum says he is optimistic about the future. With the right push, the state can apply new technologies and approaches to government and become leaders in areas including health care and education, according to Burgum. Ive more excited than ever about the future of North Dakota. We have an incredible opportunity to redefine our future, said Burgum, who pointed to a report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that shows North Dakota's economy has shed 17,600 jobs since April 2015 more than any other state in the country. Whether or not status quo politicians want to acknowledge it, our economy is changing, and thousands of families across North Dakota are feeling the effects," said Burgum, citing North Dakota as one of two states in the country to experience a statistically significant increase in unemployment. "Now more than ever, North Dakota needs to be represented by business leaders with the private sector experience to diversify our economy and get us back on the right track." A business history In 1983, he joined Great Plains Software. When crisscrossing the state, he often tells the story of how he bet the family farm, providing the seed capital for the business. As chairman and CEO, the company grew and, in 2001, it was sold to Microsoft for $1.1 billion. He served as a senior vice president for Microsoft until 2007. In 2006, he founded the Kilbourne Group, which works to redevelop downtown Fargo, and, in 2008, he co-founded the venture capital company Arthur Ventures. This background makes him the one most capable of addressing the states fiscal downturn, according to Burgum. Politicized tax credits Burgum has taken flak from the Stenehjem campaign for his involvement in angel fund tax credits, some of which were used for out-of-state investments. The use of the tax credits was within lawful guidelines, which lawmakers have been studying this interim and consider to be lax and in need of tightening. This is in my mind a great program that is highly politicized, said Burgum, adding that he doesnt believe it would have taken such a political bent if not for the gubernatorial campaign. The North Dakota angel fund investment tax credit is available to all income taxpayers. A taxpayer can claim 45 percent of the amount to each angel fund each taxable year, capped at $45,000 per year with a lifetime limit of $500,000 in credits. Criteria for being granted the credit includes that an angel fund must be organized with the intent of investing in at least three primary-sector non-publicly traded businesses with strong growth potential. The GOP candidate that wins on June 14 will face Democratic-NPL state Rep. Marvin Nelson of Rolla in November and Libertarian Party candidate Marty Riske. Considered to be the Ten Best UFO Photos Ever Taken I am sure that we could add more pictures to this list but these are considered ten o... The Joint Masters Degree (MSc) Programme on Integrated Drylands Management brings together different expertise and scientific resources of the partner institutes to build advanced human capital, and generate and adapt global knowledge for local solutions in drylands. The programme provides young professionals and scientists an international perspective on integrated resources management approaches in drylands and allows them to gain practical experience in different dryland countries. A limited number of Fellowships will be provided to qualified candidates from developing countries on a competitive basis. These fellowships will cover the travel costs between the country of origin and IRA, CAREERI, ICARDA, and TU, as needed. The tuition fee will be waived for students who are Fellowship recipients. During the course work in 2016, IRA will house the students with full boarding and lodging in a suitable accommodation in Medenine, Tunisia. During laboratory research work, TU will provide non-Japanese students with allowance for accommodation and meals in Tottori, Japan. Eligibility: Admission is based on the following criteria: Applicants must already be registered in a Masters degree programme at one of the Programme partner institutes and have completed their basic course work. Applicants registered in a Masters programme at an accredited university outside the Programme partners may be eligible to apply if they have completed their basic coursework, and can establish a link with a Programme partners for their field research and thesis work which will be undertaken jointly with their current supervisor. Such applicants should contact the interested Programme partner institute directly to explore options and arrangements. Applicants must demonstrate a proved competence in relevant research methodologies, laboratory and computer skills. Applicants must demonstrate proof of proficiency in English (oral and written). Applicants must submit a research proposal of five pages, whose priority aligns with that of programme partner who will host the proposed research. Working experience in dryland management is desirable. Application: To apply, one must submit the completed and signed application form together with the supporting documents by June 30. It is important to read the 2016-2017 Brochure and visit the official website (link found below) to access the applications form and for detailed information on how to apply for this scholarship. Website: http://inweh.unu.edu/msc-drylands/ With every sector and function in the global economy using big data to measure business decisions, the scope of a career in this field is growing. The work involves gathering intelligence from data collected through various sources and using the information for commercial benefit. A career in big data entails the analysis of large volumes of data to gain insights. When analysing such data, one needs to use newer technologies because the existing resources were not built to handle the type of data we generate today. The scope Most enterprises are using big data, though some are cautious and want to wait and watch. Early adopters are trying different technologies and building solutions based on what works best for them. Many start-ups in the field offer a wide range of products on various technologies. As big data has challenged conventional ways of storing, retrieving and analysing data, these start-ups are providing viable and attractive alternatives. In the US, almost every large and mid-sized enterprise is investing in big data initiatives. Naturally, this is creating jobs. In India, financial institutions, e-commerce enterprises, retailers and telecom companies are investing in big data initiatives. The emerging field provides growth opportunities across sectors. New trends Analysts estimate that the volume of data we generate doubles every year. The term big data initially referred to this phenomenon of large volumes of data being created and stored. However, in the last one-two years, big data increasingly moved towards the analysis of this data to gain insights into customer behaviour, supply chain, market microstructures, etc. Now, big data is inclined towards predictive analytics. When we talk of data, we inadvertently mean well-structured data. A new trend in industry is to mine unstructured data and gain insights from it. A significant amount of research is being conducted in this area. And new algorithms to mine unstructured data are being published regularly. Another trend is Hadoop, a distributed file storage system on commodity hardware. It started as an open source project. The primary drivers for the adoption of Hadoop are its ability to store both structured and unstructured data at a lower cost. Job profiles Students who have completed courses in big data can work as junior or associate data scientists. In this position, one will most likely work with a team of data scientists on a big data issue. This profile will require them to understand the data, extract relevant portions and prepare them for analysis. With experience, they can work at senior positions and perform advanced statistical modelling. Skill set Professionals who wish to make a career in this field must have an analytical bent of mind, the creativity to solve critical issues, an inquisitive mind, knowledge of statistical methods, sufficient programming skills to perform tasks like data preparation, visualisation, validation of results, etc, and strong communication skills. Remuneration The remuneration depends on factors such as knowledge and experience, job role, profile of the firm, etc. One with more knowledge and experience will command a higher salary. This is true for positions involving customer interface or managing large teams for solution development, as well. In India, a data scientist with two to three years of experience can earn Rs 8 lakh-20 lakh per year. Senior professionals can earn up to Rs 25 lakh per year. -As told to Anisha Sahijwala About two weeks ago, two gubernatorial candidates held a press conference calling for an audit of North Dakotas Oil and Gas Division. Republican Paul Sorum and Democrat Marvin Nelson argued the audit is needed because there were questions about whether production numbers are being verified and that they received a tip that public records had been ordered destroyed. Last week, Bismarck attorney Derrick Braaten filed an open records request and a legal notice demanding the Department of Mineral Resources preserve its public records and not destroy or delete them. Braaten said he doesnt know if the accusations about files being destroyed are true, but he wants to make sure the records are protected. The problem, the Tribune Editorial Board believes, is that the candidates called for the audit without presenting solid supporting evidence. The Department of Mineral Resources denies records have been ordered destroyed and pointed out the state auditors office recently completed a routine audit of the agency for the 2013-15 biennium and there were no formal findings for the Oil and Gas Division. Sorum and Nelson want a performance audit to determine whether the internal numbers the state auditor reviewed were accurate. Sorum and Nelson said the tip about records being destroyed came from an attorney of an employee who didnt want to be identified. Sorum later said he had no reason not to believe the employee. Sorum and Nelson also said they didnt contact Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem about their concerns because hes on the state Industrial Commission that oversees the Oil and Gas Division. That, Sorum said, makes Stenehjem part of the problem. Stenehjem and Doug Burgum are running against Sorum in June for the Republican nomination for governor. Braaten said he made the open records request because he wants to determine whether oil companies are skimming oil and selling it privately, rather than reporting it as produced oil and sharing the revenue with royalty owners. He's also looking for proof that oil companies are using mobile gas strippers at the well site, removing the valuable gases, such as butane and propane, under the allowable premise of "used back on lease site" and not sharing sale revenue with mineral owners. When Braaten receives the records he should conduct his review and release his findings. Sorum and Nelson need someone to come forward to explain the allegations and provide some proof. So far nothing has been offered to support the allegations, opening Sorum and Nelson to accusations of a political maneuver. If there is a whiff of evidence indicating skimming or record tampering, it would merit an outside review. Until that time, the call for an audit appears premature. HAWLEY, Minn. -- Details of the Netflix documentary series "Making A Murderer" rattle off Krystyne Frandson's tongue as easily as a mother reciting her children's names and birthdates. But the 45-year-old Hawley, Minn., woman isn't just transfixed by the onscreen drama, as countless others were after the series was released in late December. Frandson has immersed herself in the real-life case that was the focus of the 10-part documentary. She's even going to Manitowoc, Wis., in a few weeks for a rally aimed at drawing attention to what she and others believe is the innocence of the two men convicted in the murder case the series examines. "Passionate is a good word but probably obsessed, if we're being honest," Frandson said. Frandson has watched the series six times, amounting to a 60-hour time investment without even counting when she's gone back to re-watch certain witness testimony and specific interrogations. That hyperfocus is due to her belief that Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey, both serving life terms in Wisconsin for the 2005 murder of photographer Teresa Halbach, were wrongfully convicted and should be set free. "I couldn't quit thinking about it," Frandson said. Prior to the murder conviction, Avery had already spent 18 years in prison for a rape he did not commit. Advanced DNA evidence proved his innocence, and he was released. But as he was pursuing a $36 million civil lawsuit against those who wrongfully put him behind bars, Halbach was murdered and Avery was pinned as the suspect. The possibility that Avery, operator of an auto salvage yard, was wrongfully convicted a second time was too much for Frandson to bear. She dove into online research and dedicated Facebook groups, believing that law enforcement had many viable suspects but honed in on Avery, in part, because of his pending legal action and reputation in the community. Since then, she's reached out to members of the Avery family and become something of a de facto spokeswoman. "I've got Rosie O'Donnell following me on Twitter because of this, seriously," Frandson said. "It's that far down the rabbit hole." An 'amateur sleuth' A few weeks after her first run-through of "Making A Murderer," Frandson ran across a woman in a Facebook group chat who seemed to know a lot about the case and a possible suspect who was never questioned in the murder. She private messaged the woman, and they started a long dialogue. "She'd been watching this case for years, and she unloaded on me," Frandson said. Frandson thought the information might be valuable, so the Avery family put her in touch with Chicago attorney Kathleen Zellner, who recently took on Avery's case and is known for getting wrongful convictions overturned. She said she spoke by phone with Zellner and ended up turning over 150 pages of information to her. And she's not the only one. Zellner's website encourages people to contact her with tips, turning it into what some are calling a "crowdsourcing investigation." "We're all amateur super sleuths after you watch something like this," Frandson said. "You'd be surprised at how many free investigators Kathleen's got working for her." Zellner has stated it's not her desire to win Avery a new trial, but to uncover new evidence pointing to a different suspect, and to get Avery's conviction and sentence vacated. "She's fresh on it, so her mind was wide open," Frandson said of her conversation with Zellner. Righting a wrong Frandson said she has a couple of reasons for wanting to help right any potential wrongs. Abused by alcoholic parents for the first seven years of her life, she went into foster care. Even though she was later adopted and raised in a loving home, she said she was a damaged kid who made a lot of mistakes into adulthood. When she went through an ugly divorce and custody dispute, some of those past mistakes were used against her, she says, something that also happened to Steven Avery. "When I thought about those things ... not on that level, but being wrongfully accused, that part touched me," Frandson said. Another factor relates to Avery's nephew Brendan Dassey, who has some form of mental disability, and who many think was coerced into confessing and implicating his uncle. Frandson's 14-year-old son, Jette, one of her six children, has Asperger's syndrome, on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. She said he's easily influenced and doesn't deal with stress well. "He's got a high IQ, but put in a situation, a torturous situation ... my son would do it. It hit me like a brick," Frandson said. Rallies for innocence Next month, Frandson will travel to Manitowoc with Jette for the #WeStand4Innocence event, one of nearly a dozen being held nationwide and overseas aimed at exonerating Avery and Dassey. A rally there June 11 will be held outside the very courthouse where the two were convicted. Frandson expects a good turnout of people who believe as she does. She also suspects there will be plenty who she calls "guiltys," those who support the men's convictions. Some people think the directors of "Making A Murderer" purposely left out evidence, deliberately swaying the audience to believe the men are innocent. She hopes all of the attention leads to change for the men behind bars and the people who put them there. "I hope he's freed, and I hope to hell they pay, and I hope to God that they provide him with the mental health services that he's going to need," she said. In the meantime, plans are in the works for a second season of "Making A Murderer," and with Avery's appeal in the works, there could be plenty of material for it. One-third of heart failure patients do not return to work Return to work more likely in men, younger patients, and those with higher education level Topics: Heart failure, cardiac rehabilitation Florence, Italy - May 22, 2016: One-third of patients hospitalised with heart failure for the first time have not returned to work one year later, reveals a study in nearly 12 000 patients presented today at Heart Failure 2016 and the 3rd World Congress on Acute Heart Failure by Dr Rasmus Roerth, a physician at Copenhagen University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark.1 "Employment is crucial for self esteem and quality of life, as well as being of financial importance, in patients with all kinds of chronic illness," said Dr Roerth. He continued: "Inability to maintain a full time job is an indirect consequence of heart failure beyond the usual clinical parameters of hospitalisation and death. Most information on heart failure is derived from studies in older patients since they are the majority. This has led to a knowledge gap regarding the impact of living with heart failure among younger patients, who perhaps have the most to lose from the condition." The study included 11 880 heart failure patients of working age (18 to 60 years) who were employed prior to being hospitalised for heart failure. Information on age, length of hospital stay, gender, education level, income, comorbidities and working status was obtained from Danish nationwide registries.2 All Danish residents are included in the registries and have a unique personal identification number making it possible to link information on an individual level. The researchers found that one year after being hospitalised for heart failure for the first time, 68% of patients had returned to work, 25% had not, and 7% had died. Dr Roerth said: "Among patients who are alive one year after their first heart failure hospitalisation, 37% did not return to work, which is a substantial proportion. It confirms that heart failure significantly reduces a patient's capacity to maintain a normal life and live independently." Younger patients (18 to 30 years) were over three times more likely to return to work than older patients (51 to 60 years). "This is perhaps not that surprising because younger patients have fewer comorbidities and may have a greater determination to stay employed," said Dr Roerth. Patients with a higher level of education were twice as likely to return to work as those with basic schooling. Dr Roerth said: "This could be because higher education is associated with less physically demanding jobs. In addition, it may be more possible for highly educated patients to arrange a flexible work life." Men were 24% more likely to return to work than women. "We do not think that this is primarily explained by men having a better recovery than women," said Dr Roerth. "It could be that men are more often forced to return to work, for economical and other reasons. Having a work identify may be more important to men." Conversely, patients were less likely to return to work if they had stayed in hospital for more than 7 days, or had a history of stroke, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes or cancer. Dr Roerth said: "It's important to highlight that our findings are associations and not necessarily causal connections. The associations might help to identify which patients are at the greatest risk of becoming unemployed after being in hospital with heart failure for the first time." He continued: "More research is needed to better understand why this loss of employment occurs among those who were working before they went into hospital. It could be that physicians are afraid to advise returning to work because they have unfounded concerns about the risks. Some patients may have been wrongly told they were at high risk of death but could safely return to the workforce." Dr Roerth concluded: "Removal from the labour market and dependence on public benefits has great economic consequences which go beyond the already significant financial burden that these patients place on the healthcare system. More knowledge on what stops patients going back to work will put us in a better position to find ways of preventing it, for example with more intensive rehabilitation, psychological support, or education." ### Written by ACM *Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/- Speaking after a very Critical EU Parliament's Debate last week in Strasbourg, and just a few Days before Key Contacts at an International Summit in Istanbul (Constantinople) next Monday, May 23, a Frontrunner for Crucial Presidential Elections in Less than a Year in France, Head of mainstream Opposition "Republican" Party, Experiened former President of the Country, Nicolas Sarkozy, Denounced Strongly the Controversial and UnPopular EU-Turkey Deal to Give a "Visa-Free" status to 80 Millions of Turks from June (or October) 2016, as Contrary to Europe's Values and current Needs to Fae the Migrants' Crisis and Security Issues, as well as Not to Yield to "Blackmail", which Risks to Alienate further EU Citizens vis a vis EU Institutions. Sarkozy's Move came immediately after the Publication of an EU Commission's Report in Brussels, Warning of possible "Security Risks" if that "Visa-Free" Deal for all the Turkish Population entered into force, and just 4 Days Before Crucial Presidential Elections in Austria, on Sunday, May 22, where the Candidate of Rightist Party "FPO", linked to French Rightists of the "National Front", after Winning the 1st Round on April, (where a Governing "GroKo" by former mainstream Parties was crashed, and bypassed even by a "Green" candidate), he might reportedly win also this Final, 2nd Round, for the 1st Time in the History of this Central EU Member Country, with an obviously possible Impact also on several Other EU Countries where various Rightist Parties are notoriously rising recently. It unfolded in a Series of Public Statements made at an Interview to "Le Monde" Newspaper, followed by a Speech at a Meeting of the"Republican" Party and EU Politicians for Debate and Consultation on its Project for Europe, as well as in a Discussion at "France Inter" Radio, later that same Day, etc. --------------------------------- - Sarkozy denounced as"Senseless" the Idea to Drop Visas for 80 Millions of Turks, at this moment of Migratory pressures", during his Wednesday Speech : - "As for that Foolish Idea to Drop Visas for 8O Millions of Turks, in the current Migration and Security Climate, one Wonders whether some People really Think, or not, at least with a Minimum of Common Sense", he Criticized, - Because, "in the Context of Today, Suppress Visas for 80 Millions of Turks is Particularly Nonsense". - "Give Visas for Turkish Businessmen, for Studens, we can Discuss it. There is No Problem", he conceded. - "But, Yield to Mr. Erdogan's Blacmail, especialy Now, on the Pretext that we (EU) would Need the Turks in order to Manage one of the Consequences of Syria's Collapse ?", he questioned. - "It's a Blackmail, end we (EU) must Not Yield to Blackmails !", Firmly stressed Sarkozy. - "It's not the fact to have some "HotSpots" in Turkey, that I Contest in the Agreemet (of the EU) with that Country" - " It's the Suppression of "Visas", which is Irresponsible", particularly "in the Current Climate about Security" Issues, "and the ReLaunching of (EU) Accession Negotiations", which is "Incomprehensible", "considering (also) the (recent) developments on the Turkish Authorities vis a vis Democratic Freedoms", he stressed. --------------------------------------------------- - in an Interview published Yesterday, on Tuesday 17 May, Reacting to Center-Left Newspaper "Le Monde"'s obviously provocative Claim that "the EU - Turkey Deal" would "be Successful", he Denied that : - "No", Sarkozy sharply Replied. "Can Europe Trust a Turkish Government which evolves, more and more, towards an Authoritarian regime ? I Contest that". + Moreover, "We (EU) shouldn't Confuse what is Circumstancial, with what is Structural". F.ex., "Syria"s collapse provokes a Population Influx towards Europe. Moreover, Afrika is going to Double its Population in 30 Years. Believe that Turkey could manage and solve these Problems in a Sustainable way, is an Error", he criticaly observed. - And "the Solution of the Problem of Syria, it's Not Turkey that has it. But it's rather to Eradicate ISIL"'s Terrorists, he pointed out. => In this regard, "it was a Monumental Error to put Russia Out of the circuit, because we (EU) Need Russia in order to Solve the Issue of Syria", the experiened former French President stressed. ++ Speaking later Today (Wednesday Afternoon, May 18) at "France Inter" Radio, Sarkozy was very Critical on the Controversial Policies of Turkey : - "If People really See what Erdogan is Doing" recently, it becomes obvious that "it's Not a Moment to Make Deals with him", he pointed out, (referring to Human Rights Violations, Refusals to adapt Turkish Laws to EU Standards, Lift of Parliamentary Immunity of Dissident MPs, use of Violence in Kurdish regions, suspect complacency viis a vis ISIL's Extreme Islamist Terrorists, etc). - "Erdogan knows only the Balance of Power" : F.ex., we had witnessed, together with Chancelor Merkel, how Turkey had "Blocked the NATO Summit" of 2009 in Strasbourg, "during 2 whole Days", because he Vetoed the Election of (former Danish Prime Minister) Rasmussen as New Secretary General", on the Pretext of Press Freedom Issues :! - "It was really Scandalous !", denounced Sarkozy. => He also Pleaded in favour of Mass Asylum Seekers/Migrants' <<"Hotspots" Outside of Europe>>, "Not only in Turkey, but also in Other Neighbouring Countries, (according to the Official PanEuropean ChristianDemocrat/EPP Policy, adopted at EPP's latest Congress in Spain, on October 2015). ----------------------------------------------- However, Sarkozy explicitly "Refuse(d) to Criticize Mrs Merkel and the German Policy", despite a Question by "Le Monde" about whether "German Chancelor Angie Merkel would be Wrong about the Refugees' Crisis", as they had said. - Instead, "I was Shocked to see Mrs Merkel negotiate Alone with the Turkish Government. ... Where was France's voice ?", he criticaly queried. ... Perhaps, "France Disappeared from the Diplomatic Map ? .... It's Less Mrs Merkel's Leadership, than the Fading away of Mr. Hollande that I deplore". - Because "the Only Possible Leadership in Europe (is) the Franco-German Leadership", and "one of the Major Problems, currently, in Europe is a total Absence of (that) Leadership", he explained. Moreover, "there is a Difference between Speeches and Realities in Germany. Some Wordings used by the Chancelor (Angie Merkel), might have given an Impression that Germany would Underestimate the Problem. ... But, we must Admit that, Behind Speeches, there is a very Strong Hardening of German Rules", and "it's a real Relief for me to see that", he found. + At the Same Time, Sarkozy strongly Defended Hungary's and Poland's qualities as fully "Functioning Democracies" Today, as well as Popular (3 Times brillantly re-Elected with an Absolute Majority of People's Votes) Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban's "Respect for Democracy", together wtth that of Polish Leader of the Governing Party Jaroslaw Kaczynski, (both Known for their Leadership among the "Visegrad" Group EU Member Countries, such as Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, etc., added to Western Balkans' Countries, such as Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, FYROM, etrc., who have Strongly Critical Viewpoints and Practices concerning the recent Massive Asylum Seekers/Irregular Migrants' influx through Turkey). ------------------------------------------------ + At any case, "Turkey has No Vocation to Enter Europe", "Turkey's place is Not inside Europe". but to "remain a Link between Europe and Asia", as well as a Partner for "Global" affairs. - Otherwise, "We could Not Explain to SchoolChildren that Europe's Borders would be at Syria !", he pointed out. - Therefore, "ReOpen a so-called EU "Accession" Process for Ankara, particularly "with what is Going on Today in Turkey", and "even Open the Negotiations' Chapter for Monetary Policy", (that France had included among the 5 Chapters concerning the Core of EU Membership, that Paris had officialy asked to Block, already since August 2007, as a minimal Condition in order Not to put a Veto against all EU - Turkey Negotiations, as it had been promissed and Strongly Endorsed by a Large Majority of French People, in the crucial, 2007 National Elections), is an error, because "Turkey has Nothing to do inside Europe !", Sarkozy strongly denounced. + In addition, Today, "the Worst of all, would be a "BrExit" (UK's Exit from the EU, after the forthcoming June 2016 Referendum), and Turkey's Accession" to the EU : - "We'd have made the Biggest Top Blunder !", he Criticized Timely. - But, "we don't want that the Peoples turn their back to Europe". Already, "as things stand Today, there are Many Convinced Europeans who don't Recognize this Europe anymore", Sarkozy Warned => Therefore, "We Need a New Foundation, for a New Europe", he urged. And the questions raised now about the "Brexit" offer "an Opportunity for a New Foundation of Europe : Regardless of whether it will be the "Yes", or the "No", (particularly the "No"), which might prevail, "we Must create a New Foundation for Europe", Sarkozy stressed ---------------------------- + More Widely speaking, "the Free Movement of Europeans inside the EU does Not mean that All those who are Not Europeans would have a Liberty to Move throughout Europe", also added, as a matter of General Principle., Sarkozy, who his Intention to immediately launch an Initiative for a "Shengen 2" Treaty, if he's re-elected on May 2017, while also welcoming Hungary's and Poland's "Democracies which Function", shortly after Victor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary, presented another Plan for a Solution to the Massive Asylum Seekers/Irregular Migrants' "Tsunami" through Turkey, named also after "Shengen 2", (which calls for EU External Borders"' Protection, "Hotspots" at Neighbouring Countries, etc). => Thus, Sarkozy "propose(d) that Non-Europeans' Liberty of Circulation throughout the EU should Not be allowed anymore, as long as Schengen 2 is not yet adopted", (with an Harmonisation of Social advantages for Refugees among all EU Member States, a 5 Years Period before Newcomer Immigrants could start benefiting from Social Welfare Services, as well as the Creation of a Shengen's Governance composed by Member States' JHA Ministers, and Headed by a "Stable" Presidency, responsible for FRONTEX's role to Protect EU's External Borders, etc). ----------------------- + Meanwhile, "we can perfectly think about a New Grouping, which would Bring Together EU, Russia and Turkey, with a very High Level Political Cooperation, Joint Reflexion on Security, and in order to eventualy faciltate Economic Exchanges, (which doesn't mean "Common Market", because that has Other Consequences)", he added - "Thus, wa shall have a (GeoPolitical) Landscape, in our Continent and beyond, where the main element, quite loose, would be : EU, Russia, Turkey, in order to Speak Security, Politics, eventualy Economic Cooperation", etc. In this regard, "We (EU) have a Diverging view vis a vis our American Friends on Russiia :" - "EU and Russia's vocation is to Work Together. Not to be Opposed to eachother. We (Europeans) doN's want a New Cold Warn but a Cooperation with Russia", Sarkozy stressed. - "Naturaly, this doesn't mean that we'd endorse Everything that Mr. Putin is doing" . - "But, then, what would we say on what are doing ISIL, Al Quaida, or so many Dictators throughout the World, North Korea, etc. ?", he Wondered. + "Beyond that, would be the Europe of 28 (EU Member States), which would have a Vocaaion to become 32, Together with the (Western) Balkan (Countries). And afterwards, the Europe of the uroZone, which would have the Vocation to Integrate", he Concluded, (describing almost a well-known overall Schema, most of which, he had Previously Highlighted (and presented even in a Joint Press Conference with US President Obama in Paris), during his 2007-2012 Presidency). => Therefore, we need to Open "a Debate on Europe, for a New Stage" of the European Construction, Sarkozy concluded, after anouncing his intention to profoundly ReStructure the European Project, particularly via a "New Treaty", "for which France would take an Initiative, already from Summer 2017". ++ Wishing to ReVitalise and Complete the Project that he had Started to Build, together with German Chancelor Angie Merkel, as early as already since Summer 2011, (V., f.ex., among others, also, "Eurofora"s NewsReport from an Exceptional Franco-German Summit at Paris' Elysee Palace, on August 2011 : ...., followed by a Brussels' EU Summit's subsequent Decision for the Creation of an "uroZone"'s Council of Heads of States/Governments : .....), the former French President also called for an Economic Governance of uroZone, due to become More Integrated, while, on the Contrary, the Wider EU should Focus only on Deepening the Common Marke and certain Key Big Policies, (such as Energy, Industry, Agriculture, Trade, etc, as he had earlier HighLighted at a landmark Speech in Berlin's Adenauer Foundation, back on February 2014). In this overall Context, he Firmly reiterated that "only in case of a Total Ignorance of Europe's History, might someone Deny the Christian Roots of Europe", strongly Applauded. -------------------------- + "HOT" EU REPORT WARNS : ------------------------------------------ + Sarkozy's move came just after an EU Commission Report published in Brussels Yesterday Morning denounced an increased mobility into the Schengen area of criminals and terrorists who are citizens of Turkey, or who are foreigners based in Turkey. Curiously, it seems that it forgot to mention what is probably the most Important, in this regard : I.e. Smugglers and/or Jihadists Transiting through Turkey, (f.ex. from ISIL-controled Syrian and/or Iraq Territories, etc). => Therefore, "The proposed Visa liberalisation for Turkish citizens travelling to the EU could potentially have an impact on the Terrorist Risk in the EU, in as far as the Movement of Terrorists of Turkish citizenship to and from the Schengen area is concerned", EU Report Warned. + Moreover, that Controversial EU Turkey Deal may give an Opportunity to Turkish Smugglers in Drugs, Prostitution, Arms, Migrants, etc. for Europe, to make a direct territorial Expansion towards the EU . ++ In even Wider terms, Suspect individuals being allowed to travel to the Schengen territory without the need to go through a Visa request procedure would have a greater ability to Enter the EU withOut being Noticed. +++ "As soon as Turkish citizens will obtain Visa-Free entry to the EU, Foreign nationals will Start trying to obtain Turkish Passports in order to ... enter the EU..., or Use the identities of Turkish citizens, or to obtain by Fraud the Turkish citizenship"; EU Report expects. - This possibility may attract not only Irregular Migrants, but also Criminals or Terrorists". ---------------------- + WORRYING FACTS : ------------------------------ Already, among Many other Relevant Worrying Facts recently, can be mentioned, inter alia, f.ex. : The Infiltration of several ISIL's Deadly Terrorists who Attacked innocent Civilian People in Paris, Brussels, etc, afte being Hidden amidst Massive "Refugee" Influx through Turkey. The Traffic of Hundreds of Falsified EU Passports, Hidden inside .. Pizzas, by a Turkish - origin Smuggler from Belgium to Turkey, apparently Destinated for the ISIL Extreme Islamist Terrorists - Occupied Territories in Syria/Iraq. Amerian Press' Interviews of Turkish Smugglers Exploiting Thousand of Asylum Seekers/Irregular Migrants that they send into the EU by Tresspassing at the Aegean Sea, who revealed that they Planned to Enter also pzersonaly, themselves, inside the EU, where they had several Mafia Traffic Networks. The Prosecution and Condemnation to Prison against 2 Dissident Turkish Journalists who Revealed that Ankara's Government was Secretly sending Deadly Heavy Weapons (Rockets) to Violent Armed Terrorists inside Syria. The Murder of 3 Women, Political Dissidents living in Paris, for which, a Secret Agent reportedly send by Turkey was the main Suspect to be the cold-blood Killer, who remains still in Total Impunity since January 2013. Etc.... ----------------------- >>> As UK's former MI6 Chief, Sir Richard Dearlove had reportedly Warned earlier this week, on Monday, May 16, give a VisaFree status to 80 Millions of Turks for 90 Days Stay inside the EU each Semester, (i.e. about 6 Months Each Year !), on Pretext "to stem the Flow of Migrants accross the Aegean", "seems Perverse", and is like ..."storing Gasoline next to the Fire" ! (../..) ------------------------------------------ *** (Fast Translation from the Original in French. + "DraftNews", as already send to "Eurofora's Subsribers/Donors. A more accurate, full Final Version, might be published asap). *** STANLEY Enduring North Dakotas oil slump tested the resiliency of WCE Oil Field Services workers who lost jobs suddenly last year when the company collapsed. While many employees left the area, one crew that stuck together has now formed a new company and is starting to see signs of hope. Everythings slow right now, but we hear a lot of rumors that its picking back up, said Eduardo Salgado. When WCE went out of business in May 2015, many of the workers and independent contractors didnt get paid, some still owed tens of thousands of dollars, according to a court judgment. While they were missing their paychecks, the workers had to search for new jobs in the midst of the oil slowdown. We did struggle a lot, the whole crew, said Ricardo Salgado. It was really, really difficult for us to survive for the first month. Many of the workers are from the same family, and others have grown close after working together in the Bakken for several years. Some moved and shared smaller homes or apartments to save on rent, and others lent each other money while they looked for work and waited for their next paycheck. My family has helped me a lot. And since theyve helped me, Ive helped other family members because of the example they set, said Felipe Salgado. The whole crew that we have, theyre like family to me because theyve stuck with me the whole time. A few of the workers formed a new company, CS Welding, and recruited some of their former crew members. They do welding and roustabout work, or construction and maintenance of the facilities on oil well pads. Work never picked back up to the level it was, and the crew primarily has been doing maintenance work and working shorter hours than they did before, said Felipe Salgado, a supervisor for the new company. Drilling is at an 11-year low in North Dakota, and many companies are waiting to frack wells until prices improve. But one oil company CSW works with plans to complete three wells soon, which means the roustabout crew will set up the tanks and other facilities to get the well site ready. Its a sign of hope, I guess, Felipe Salgado said. The workers are hopeful their new company will be well positioned in the Bakken when oil prices improve. We know the oil is down there. We just wait for the big companies to bring it out, said Nicolas Salgado. Sadly people are separated from there own children for reasons they cannot control (e.g not meeting the financial requirements). Sadly the consequences of making false statements are very serious. It sounds like you were fully aware stating that you were engaged may have led to a refusal. As someone who is separated from my wife its very difficult - and tempting to say whatever to get to a love one again. But its not worth it. There is a chance if you get some advice and address your previous statements with honesty and remorse, you still have a chance of been reunited. However, you also need to way up whether or not how much you have made. Especially if you made false statements in order to gain access to the UK. If you made a statement that is false or gave a false answer on an application or question. Or you stayed longer than you stated then these can be grounds for things more serious than another refusal. My advice would be to get a good immigration lawyer and get some advice on how to deal with this ongoing. I've read a lot of on forums in these in the last 2 months and a lot of people state "i didnt realize saying {false statement} was such a big deal" yet they knew at the time that by making that making the false statement would help them get a visa or avoid problems. Not being aware of the consequences doesn't mean your not going feel them. Hi, My name is birendra and new member for this site. I have issue with the passport that it is an ordinary ( hand written) passport, my visa has stamped on it and it expires on 4th April 2017. My passport expiry date is 10/9/2019. My problem is I want to go vacation for a month, can I Exit from Dubai with the old passport or not ? Please help me....thank you ! Hello, My wife living in France since 2000. She demanded naturalisation par decret last year Feb 2015. She has 2 children who are already French by their father. 2 days ago she got a letter from Prefecture that her application of naturalization has been adjourned for 2 years because her did not declare sufficient resources (insertion professionnelle). Actaually she was working on CDD and during that she got pregnant and her employer didn't renew her contract due to the pregnency and at the end of year 2015 prefecture demanded copy of new contract and payslips which she could not give to them. Now they adjourned her application because she is jobless and taking chomage. Now her previous employer is offering her job but they are not giving her a long term contract. They are giving one month CDD to her which they will sign every month. Now my question is that if she make an appeal with the new playslips and contract what will be the result? Is it sufficient for naturalization? Please guide me. Thanks in advance. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate While San Antonio-based Palmaz Scientific Inc. was careening toward financial ruin in 2014, its then-CEO was cutting a deal with CannLabs Inc. one of the largest marijuana-testing companies in Colorado. Steven B. Solomon, who co-founded the now-bankrupt Palmaz Scientific with legendary inventor Dr. Julio Palmaz, invested $500,000 in CannLabs and was advising the company on a complex transaction to raise additional funds by going public. Dr. Palmaz supposedly was interested in commercializing the drugs possible therapeutic benefits, so Solomon told CannLabs owners at the time, according to CannLabs founder and former President Genifer Murray. Both companies have since been left in shambles and entangled in separate messy lawsuits. The board of CannLabs fired Murray in September. The company closed its Denver lab and laid off as many as 15 people in November. Palmaz Scientific, a medical technology company, separately sought bankruptcy protection in March. The company and Solomon, who resigned last year to pursue other opportunities, have both been subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in Denver, although the reason is unclear, a company lawyer recently revealed in bankruptcy court. We dont really know what the SEC is looking at, Ronald Breaux, a Dallas attorney for Palmaz Scientific and Solomon, said at an April 19 bankruptcy hearing. He didnt respond to requests for comment. Through his attorneys, Solomon said in an email that his sole involvement with CannLabs was as a passive investor. There is no evidence that Palmaz Scientific or its founder Dr. Julio Palmaz were directly involved with or had any interest in CannLabs, despite Murrays account of Solomons alleged claims to executives at the cannabis-testing company. Its a point the lawyers for the company and Palmaz, as well as Solomon, want to hit home. I can tell you emphatically that we have received no inquiry related to CannLabs, Andy Taylor, who represents Palmaz Scientific, said of the SECs subpoenas. He declined to say what the SEC requested, out of respect for them and their process. Thomas Krysa, associate regional director in the SECs Denver office, didnt respond to a request for comment. Solomon, however, provided $1.5 million more through a limited partnership to CannLabs, took a large ownership stake in the company and had a role in choosing management, according to court testimony from Solomon and CannLabs then-Chief Financial Officer Scott McPherson, as well as SEC filings. It all looked so promising when Austin broker Susan Harriman introduced Solomon, 51, and CannLabs owners in 2014. CannLabs, which tested marijuana for potency and purity, was poised to reap the benefits of Colorados Amendment 64. Passed in November 2012, the law allows anyone 21 or older to buy up to an ounce of weed. And the states Marijuana Enforcement Division required cannabis products to be tested as a public safety measure. The legalized marijuana market is the fastest-growing industry in the United States and could become larger than the organic food industry by 2020, CannLabs touted in an SEC filing in June 2015. U.S. consumption estimates were projected at as high as $100 million annually. By comparison, Americans spend $91 billion on cigarettes and $97 billion on beer each year, the filing added. Unusual choice Solomons role advising CannLabs on its financing and running Palmaz Scientific were unusual, given his checkered resume and lack of a college degree. He first met Julio Palmaz through Philip Romano of Romanos Macaroni Grill fame. Romano provided some of Palmazs early money to help bring a heart stent invention to market in 1985. Romano also had sat on the board of CT Holdings Inc., which was run by Solomon. Phil Romano introduced Julio to Steve, Taylor said. Romano would serve as a Palmaz Scientific director. While Palmaz brought the medical and scientific expertise to Palmaz Scientific, Solomon knew the ins-and-outs of public and private equity and debt financings even though he never earned a college degree. I went into my career in business, Solomon said, according to a June 2015 transcript of a deposition he gave in a case Harriman brought against CannLabs. He had his share of early missteps. In 1988, he went to work for one-time penny-stock brokerage Stuart-James Co. Inc. in Boca Raton, Florida. He eventually was accused of authorizing the transfer of almost $60,000 from a customers account to his personal account while he was at the brokerage. It led to a censure and a $5,000 fine in 1991, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. That same year, at the age of 26, Solomon filed for personal bankruptcy liquidation, court records show. That didnt seem to throw off Solomons career. He would go on to serve as president of LoneStar Hospitality Corp., which operated Miami Subs franchised restaurants. The company later merged with a security software firm, Citadel Technology Inc. Dot-com Dogs In 1999, Solomon sought to capitalize on the dot-com boom by taking Citadel spinoff How2.com Inc. public even though the company, which processed online rebates, only had $872,553 in revenue for the first six months of that year, an SEC filing shows. How2 was featured in a 1999 Salon article titled Dot-com Dogs. Mediocre IPOs are growing as plentiful as fleas on a stray hound, Salon wrote. How2 later withdrew its IPO plans in March 2000. Another spinoff company, Citadel Software Security Inc., ended up selling the majority of its assets in 2006 to security software company McAfee Inc. for about $61 million, according to an SEC filing. Before the sale, Citadel Software shareholders sued Solomon and CFO Richard Connelly for alleged insider trading, gross mismanagement and waste of corporate assets, court records show. The company settled that case and a related securities fraud case for nearly $1.8 million without any admission of wrongdoing, a court filing shows. Connelly would later serve as Palmaz Scientifics CFO. Attention shifting As Palmaz Scientific struggled to achieve commercial success, Solomons attention shifted elsewhere. He expressed eagerness to enter the burgeoning legalized marijuana business and didnt hesitate to drop Dr. Palmazs name to do it, according to Murray, CannLabs founder and former president. She was looking to raise money to grow the business and was introduced to Solomon during her search by Harriman, the investment banker. Murray said Solomon told her, Dr. Palmaz wanted to make cannabis basically into a medicinal form. CannLabs was planning to get into product development, producing gel caps, capsules and other medicinal forms for third parties, she said. San Antonio lawyer Jason Davis, who represents Palmaz, denied that the doctor had any interest in CannLabs. To suggest a connection between CannLabs and Dr. Palmaz is reckless. There is no connection, Davis said. Through his attorneys, Solomon denied that he ever used the Palmaz name in connection with CannLabs. Solomons investment was unrelated to Palmaz or Palmaz Scientific, he added in his email. Solomon boasted about Palmazs achievements to Murray and directed her to Palmaz Scientifics website, she said. Now I know why, obviously, Murray said of why she was told to view the website. Because it involved a doctor and it involved Phil Romano. When you see people like that, you think credibility. Or at least I did. Shame on me. In a transcript of testimony he gave in a lawsuit last year, McPherson, CannLabs CFO at the time, said that after he was hired by the company, Solomon told him one of his first tasks was to take CannLabs public. Less than two months later, in June 2014, CannLabs went public in a so-called reverse merger with North Carolina race car design company Speedsport Branding Inc. In a reverse merger, shareholders of a private company CannLabs in this case purchase control of a publicly traded shell company. Its a faster and cheaper way for a private company to go public than a traditional IPO. SB Dallas Investments Solomon took a stake in CannLabs through a limited partnership he controlled called SB Dallas Investments I LP, a regulatory filing shows. SB Dallas owned at least 5.6 million shares, the filing shows. On paper, at least, it looked like a sweetheart deal. Less than a month after the merger, CannLabs shares got as high as $2.38. SB Dallas agreed to provide $500,000 to CannLabs at the closing of the merger. In return, SB Dallas got 500,000 preferred shares that it could convert to more than 30 million common shares. The conversion price was less than 1.7 cents a share. SB Dallas also received warrants to buy 20 million shares, a regulatory filing shows. SB Dallas also provided an additional $1.5 million to the company, Solomon testified. Had SB Dallas converted and exercised the warrants, it had the potential to own about half of the pot-testing companys shares, McPherson said. Asked if Solomons ability to control that much of the stock dissuaded investors, McPherson replied, To a certain extent, yeah. Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot. Solomon took a very active role in CannLabs even though he was not a part of the management team or board of directors, Murray said. He picked Mark Mirken, a former How2 senior vice president, to be CEO, she said. Mirken didnt respond to a phone call. Sean Reid, CannLabs lawyer, when asked about the company, said, I dont think I have any comment on that. Reid also is Solomons personal lawyer. And McPherson testified that he interviewed with Solomon for the CFO job and was hired without even presenting a resume. Solomons associates also were named to CannLabs board, including Joe Allbaugh, George W. Bushs presidential campaign manager in 2000 and FEMA director. Allbaugh earlier this year was appointed interim director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. He resigned from CannLabs board before taking the position, the Oklahoma Watch reported. Allbaugh had served on the board of Solomons Citadel Security Software. Solomon told Murray that CannLabs could raise a couple million dollars from prospective investors in Dallas, she said. I gave presentations to a couple of gentlemen, and I found out later Steve Solomon had already sold shares in private sales to these same gentlemen, Murray said in an interview. SEC Denver office Harriman, the investment banker who introduced the CannLabs owners to Solomon in 2014, said she told the SECs Denver office last summer that she questioned whether Solomon was improperly trading CannLabs shares through SB Dallas. Murray challenged the propriety of SB Dallas Investments private sales of stock in an August 2015 letter to the CannLabs board. She said her attorney also sent a letter concerning CannLabs to the SECs Denver office. Through his attorneys, Solomon responded, Neither SB Dallas nor Mr. Solomon personally were insiders and SB Dallas was permitted to sell such unrestricted shares in private transactions that complied with all applicable securities laws, Harriman surely has an ax to grind. She had sued CannLabs for allegedly stiffing her on the introduction fee and is embroiled in litigation with Palmaz Scientific. CannLabs gave Harriman nearly 3 million shares and $500,000 to settle the case, but she said she never got any of the money. Palmaz Scientific sued Harriman for defamation in San Antonio federal court, accusing her of intentionally driving away investors and ginning up bad publicity. That case was dismissed and Harriman immediately filed her own defamation claims against Palmaz Scientific, Palmaz and Solomon in Dallas County. They responded with defamation claims of their own against her. Both of those actions have been put on hold while the company works through its bankruptcy. After leaving Palmaz Scientific last summer, Solomon said in a written statement submitted in a court proceeding that Harriman spread false, defamatory and disparaging statements that irreparably damaged his reputation and poisoned Palmaz Scientifics reputation. He added, I have grave concerns about the reputational damage (her statements) will continue to cause Palmaz Scientific. The company said Harriman made it impossible for it to raise money. Taylor, one of Palmaz Scientifics outside lawyers, said the company fully expects the SEC will take no action against the company. The SECs Fort Worth office and the Justice Department in Dallas conducted their own separate investigations, both of which ended with no action taken against the company, he said. At the April 19 bankruptcy hearing where the subpoenas were disclosed, Palmaz Scientific and Solomon attorney Breaux said, Whether the company is a target, or Mr. Solomon is a target, or somebody else is a target, right now we have no idea. Troubles brewing Meanwhile, troubles were brewing at CannLabs. In its last financial report in July filed more than a month late with the SEC, CannLabs reported a threefold increase in revenue to $470,488 in the first quarter of 2015. But its net loss swelled from $100,000 to $1.2 million. Payroll and other administrative expenses totaled more than $1.1 million. CannLabs board terminated Murray for cause on Sept. 4, it disclosed in an SEC filing nearly a month later. Murray responded with a resignation letter to the board: The way you have conducted yourselves in terms of noncompliance and outrageous expenditures as Directors of the company has seriously damaged the company and its shareholders, she wrote. In hindsight, I realized this merger with Steve Solomons public company was a result of very bad advice and was detrimental to the work I have been devoted to for the past five and half years. pdanner@express-news.net Twitter: @AlamoPD News Researcher Misty Harris contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Courtesy / Jim Neumann Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Courtesy / Jim Neumann Show More Show Less Our family has a few old photos we were wondering if you might be able to answer some questions about. The first picture shows a home, which we believe may have been the residence of the Joske family or the owners of the Pearl Brewery, the Koehlers. It is now an art museum, just east of San Pedro Avenue and north of San Antonio College. The second photo shows all the workers who constructed the home, on the steps to the right side of the house in the first photo. We believe my grandfather is in that photo Karl Schulze, one of the partners of the Schulze Bros. Manufacturing Co. (an early San Antonio planing mill that used to be east of the Southern Pacific Depot downtown). We believe the man dressed in the dark suit and derby hat at the bottom right is either Karl or his brother Otto, another partner. They would have done all the woodworking involved in the building, such as doors, windows, banisters and stairways. The photo shows the various workers holding the tools of their particular crafts, such as the man in the middle on the steps, who is holding an old telephone, and several others holding saws or rafter squares. Our questions are: Are Karl or Otto Schulze in this picture? When was it taken? Who were the architect and the general contractor? Is there any information about anyone else in this picture? WASHINGTON As Republicans start to coalesce around Donald Trumps presidential campaign, a high-stakes game is playing out over what role defeated rival Ted Cruz could play at the partys national convention in July. Almost three weeks since the Indiana primary, which knocked Cruz out of the race, the U.S. senator from Texas continues to withhold his support for the outspoken real estate mogul, whom he attacked as utterly immoral and a pathological liar. At stake for Cruz is a coveted speaking slot at the convention, a platform that served as a launch pad to the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. With his eye on 2020, Cruz faces a difficult time of choosing between his conservative principles and the pragmatic need for party unity in the face of the coming fall clash with presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Officials in the camps of Trump and Cruz the top two rivals in the GOP nomination battle declined to comment on their plans for a possible stage appearance by Cruz, who will arrive at the convention with a throng of about 567 delegates. Conversations about the program are just beginning, said Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski. This is very much something we do alongside the campaign and have now started that process. The negotiations are likely to be delicate, according to GOP operatives and analysts with experience in national conventions. The sensitivities involved could resonate from the top party echelons down to the grass-roots base. It certainly would not make sense for Ted Cruz not to have a speaking slot at the national convention, said Dr. Robin Armstrong, a Cruz supporter and RNC member from Friendswood. If he did not have a role at the convention, I would be shocked. If everyone is talking about unity going forward in November, that would be a good step toward it. Former Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri, a veteran of the 1976 convention battle between Reagan and President Gerald Ford, said much could depend on the final position Cruz takes on Trump. In order to have a speaking spot, you have to have endorsed the nominee, said Munisteri, one of the Lone Star States 155 convention delegates. Thats the question that comes first. Although decisions about speakers and other facets of the nationally televised convention program technically are up to the party, Munisteri said the most critical decisions are heavily influenced by the nominees campaign. My experience is that the presumptive nominee decides who speaks at the convention, and I would be surprised if the person deciding who speaks would agree to let somebody speak whos not behind him, Munisteri said. Some analysts suggest that the decision may not be so clear-cut for Trump, particularly as he seeks to woo skeptical conservatives in what some now call the Cruz wing of the party. I dont know how much Trump can control, but at this point, Trump probably needs Cruz more than Cruz needs Trump, said Reagan biographer Craig Shirley. Trump needs a unified convention, and Cruz leads an important constituency. Shirleys chronicle of the contested 1976 convention between Reagan and Ford often is cited in Republican circles as a model for how Cruz could use a passionate convention speech to set the stage for another White House bid, as Reagan did. After losing to Ford in a bitter floor fight, Reagan famously was invited at the last minute to join the incumbent president on stage. However unprepared, Reagan galvanized the crowd in a way Ford had not. Shirleys account came from Reagan field operative Kenny Klinge, who recalled a Ford delegate from Florida turning to him and saying, Oh my God, we have nominated the wrong man. Few would expect Cruz to steal the show from Trump, a reality TV star who built his campaign on massively raucous televised rallies. Shirley, however, sees opportunities in Cleveland for both men, despite their bitter rivalry. What it requires is for both of them to get past the past and focus on the future, Shirley said. Both have an interest in unity. Cruz gets to speak and lay the groundwork for a future run, and Trump gets a unified convention. So, they both have a shared interest during one narrow slice of history. There also are risks. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett recalled the 1992 Republican convention in Houston. The main business at hand was nominating President George H.W. Bush for re-election, but it is better remembered for long-shot rival Pat Buchanans opening-night Culture War call to arms for a nationwide battle over social values. A lot of people look back on that and say that it damaged Bush, said Emmett, a Republican who supported the former presidents son, Jeb Bush, in this years primaries. But in this case, I dont think theres anything Cruz says that can damage Trump. While the maverick billionaire has made no public overtures to Cruz since he became the presumptive GOP nominee, he still is laboring to win the support of other top Republican luminaries, from 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney to U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan. Some analysts say Cruz, as a link to the partys grass-roots base, actually could be more important to Trump. Cruz has structural power, because he has delegates, and he has symbolic power, because he is seen to be the heir apparent to the Republican nomination, said University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus. There are risks for Cruz, as well. The party is closing ranks, and you dont want to be the person who was not part of the team, Munisteri said. Either outcome in November could have a downside for a GOP rival who holds out: A Trump victory would leave Cruz isolated within his own party; while a Clinton victory could be blamed on conservative disunity. If the convention presents a delicate dance for the two rivals, Rottinghaus sees the potential for a face-saving accommodation in which Cruz could campaign against Clinton without explicitly endorsing Trump. I think the Trump campaign would be happy to have Cruz fill the role of attacker in chief even if he never says Donald Trump is going to be the next president, Rottinghaus said. Weighing on Cruzs decision is a Texas delegation that has grown increasingly reconciled to Trump, even as most of the delegates loyalties remain with Cruz, including more than half the 48 delegates who are bound to Trump. That was seen at this months state GOP convention in Dallas, where Cruz got standing ovations and Trumps name hardly came up. The Trump people just didnt show up, said Texas GOP strategist Brendan Steinhauser. A similar display could be awkward in Cleveland. Theres certainly some frustration and anger. Theres some major disappointment among Cruz supporters, Steinhauser said. So, I think they will focus on other things. That would be the inevitable debates over the national partys platform and rules, both potential battlegrounds with implications for a 2020 Cruz candidacy. While some Cruz holdouts remain, Texas GOP officials say the majority are going to Cleveland determined to beat Clinton. That means backing Trump with or without Cruz. I expect there will be a great emphasis on unity as we move forward to Cleveland, but I think people need to have time to adjust to it, said Texas GOP Party Chairman Tom Mechler. Its still pretty fresh from what happened a few weeks ago in Indiana. As Cruz supporter Armstrong put it: We all understand who the nominee is. Were not all happy about that, but were going to get on board. Youve got to put on your big-boy pants, your cowboy boots and spurs, and move forward. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate MCALLEN In a border region where family counts for a lot, Tuesdays Democratic runoff for the seat being vacated by the retiring U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa is in many ways the tale of a family name. The race pits political newcomer Vicente Gonzalez against Edinburg school board member Juan Sonny Palacios, scion of an influential family with deep roots in the Rio Grande Valley and its politics. Their backgrounds open a window into a South Texas political culture rooted in humble upbringings, hardscrabble traditions and the occasional scrape with the law. Gonzalez, a 48-year-old lawyer from McAllen, styles himself as an outsider running against what he calls the Palacios political machine a powerful family network whose members serve as county commissioners, district attorneys, judges and justices of the peace in Hidalgo County, in the heart of the district. Palacios, 44, also a lawyer, terms himself a fourth-generation Texan who grew up in Edinburg working the fields with his father, picking honeydew melons, broccoli and cabbage. We are the first generation out of the fields, he said in an interview. My dad made his mark by hard work. Gonzalez tells his own tale of humble beginnings, having grown up in a military family, dropping out of high school, and then, at his mothers urging, returning to get his GED, finishing college and eventually getting a law degree. In a largely Hispanic congressional district that votes overwhelmingly Democratic, Tuesdays runoff between two Spanish-surnamed rivals will produce a candidate who is heavily favored to go to Washington next year. The 15th Congressional District, a narrow slice of Texas that runs from the Mexican border to the San Antonio suburbs, is sometimes called the fajita strip district, owing to its long, gerrymandered shape. It has had only two congressmen in the past 50 years, so a new face will be something of a novelty. Hinojosa, who has held the seat since 1997, has stayed publicly neutral. Despite Palacios extensive family connections, he finished second to the better-funded Gonzalez in a six-way primary contest on March 1. Palacios got nearly 19 percent of the vote. Gonzalez, though the top vote-getter with 42 percent, fell below the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff. Going into Tuesdays two-way election, Gonzalezs internal polls put him well ahead of Palacios, but he says he is taking nothing for granted in a matchup with the well-connected clan. Palacios, for his part, has touted his childhood connections in the region. He also has questioned Gonzalezs relative lack of experience in the public arena. Most pointedly, he has been sharply critical of Gonzalezs decision to bankroll much of his campaign with his own money, accusing him of trying to buy the election. Gonzalez, who has spent $1.7 million on the race, makes no excuses for using his own money. If you have eight or 10 relatives who are elected officials or actually involved in politics I dont have one youve got a lot of help, he said. Each one has a base they can bring together to help. So, theres a built-in political machine in the region that can be easily activated. I dont come from a political family. Im not a career politician and I dont have a political machine. Palacios, who has raised about $400,000, says most of that came in small contributions, a testament to his lifelong ties to the community. Gonzalez, in turn, has sought to use Palacios large personal network against him by depicting it as a family dynasty. Theres been some concern about one family having so many political spots in the area, Gonzalez said. It doesnt seem to have played very well at the polls in the primary. Blood ties often pay off in local races, especially in South Texas politics. It appears, however, that Gonzalez has managed to nullify much of that advantage. There might be some people who will vote against Palacios rather than for Gonzalez just on the context of his family, said Jerry Polinard, a veteran political science professor at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. There may also be some who will vote for Palacios for the same reason. Runoffs are, by nature, a different beast, and with low early voting turnout, the candidate with the better ground game likely will determine the winner, according to Ricardo Ric Godinez, chairman of the Hidalgo County Democratic Party. I would have to give the edge to Sonny only because hes done it before, said Godinez, who has not endorsed a candidate. When youre part of the Palacios family, a lot of loyalty and friendships are made that Im sure theyre cashing in on this time around. Others say that Gonzalezs early strategy of knocking on doors, airing TV spots and posting billboards across the region has introduced a style of campaigning rarely seen in South Texas. And those efforts paid dividends heading into the primary. It probably helps that he is a political outsider, said Gonzalez adviser Moses Mercado, a principal at Ogilvy Government Relations. In South Texas, most campaigns dont have his type of operation, and I think that comes from his outside view of things. In some ways, the race reflects the national mood. The climate today doesnt fall advantageously to a person like Mr. Palacios, said Ruben Villarreal, who is in a runoff against Tim Westley for the Republican nomination in the congressional race. Coming from a political dynasty is not what it used to be. As a Republican in a heavily Democratic district, Villarreal, the former mayor of Rio Grande City, is familiar with the outsider role. On the campaign trail he has sensed a shifting tone among the electorate. What Im seeing now in the Hispanic community is that people are searching for change, Villarreal said. Not surprisingly, Palacios is not the only member of his family who will be in a runoff on Tuesday. One of his cousins, Renee Rodriguez-Betancourt, is running for state district judge. She is the wife of Edinburg City Councilman J.R. Betancourt and the sister of Hidalgo County District Attorney Ricky Rodriguez. We are not a political machine, Palacios said. We are public servants. We got into politics to make a difference. The Palacios name, for all its political leverage, also has been tainted in the past by scandal, some of it touching on public corruption. Among those making headlines was Palacios cousin, Aida Palacios, once an investigator in the Hidalgo County district attorneys office until she was implicated three years ago in a wide-ranging drug case that brought down former county Sheriff Guadalupe Lupe Trevino. Then came the arrest last year of hospice worker Monica Melissa Patterson, daughter of former Hidalgo County Commissioner Hector Tito Palacios, on capital murder charges. The case involved the death of a 96-year-old man who allegedly left her his estate. While the Palacios name got dragged into the news, Sonny Palacios says there is little kinship there. If you go back five or six generations, we might be related, he said. Like everybody with the name Johnson is related. Hanging in the background even unspoken the two high-profile court cases may have helped Gonzalez create the impression that he is running against an entrenched network that has been in power too long. Sonny Palacios pleads guilty only to being part of a big family. We are a family of 500 or 600 cousins, he said. You go back to Hispanic culture. We have a lot of kids. He estimates about 800 Palacioses live in Hidalgo County, with about seven of them in elected office. Theres no quota, Palacios said. If the people want to vote us in, they can vote us in. If they dont want to vote us in, they wont. But is there a large conspiracy to take over the world? No there is not. kevin.diaz@chron.com twitter.com/DiazChron anelsen@express-news.net twitter.com/amnelsen This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Serving freshly cooked food at the Pearl Farmers Market became a little more expensive on Saturday as vendors paid a new fire inspection fee that they say cuts into their already thin profit margins. All vendors who cook their food over open flames or with electrical appliances must pay the new fee every day they operate at a farmers market in San Antonio. The fee, which is part of a food-booth ordinance passed in October, is $35 if paid ahead of time through a visit to a city administration building or $45 if paid on the spot, along with a $1.05 technology fee. On Saturday morning, a fire inspector made the rounds at the Pearl market to check permits or collect checks from booths that didnt have them. Several booth operators said the fee was burdensome and unfair, especially when compared with fees paid by other food businesses such as brick-and-mortar restaurants and food trucks, which pay a $300 annual fire permit fee. Charging us for fire safety I think thats fair, said Luis Morales, owner of the Humble House booth, which serves dishes such as grilled sweet corn and fried chicken skins. The amount of money thats whats not fair. Ming Qian, co-owner of the Mings Thing Asian street food booth, griped about the new fee to the inspector before writing a $45 check on Saturday morning. She said she was too busy to drop off the money ahead of time. I understand its a safety issue, Qian said. I just dont understand why we have to pay so much. Its going to kill the market, period. For vendors who work a single booth once a week and pay ahead of time, the new fee will cost them $1,874.60 a year; if they pay on the spot, it will cost $2,340 annually. Qian, who operates her booth at the Pearl market on Saturdays and Sundays, said she expects the new fee to cost her almost $5,000 a year. Thats a hefty sum when compared to the $7,000 profit her booth made last year, she said. The permit system seems designed for one-time events and not established businesses, Qian and other vendors said. They said getting the permits was time-consuming, requiring frequent visits to city offices. The fee only hits vendors who make ready-to-eat food. Those selling fresh produce, fresh or frozen meat, or canned, jarred and other packaged food are unaffected. Still, many fear that the fee could endanger San Antonios growing farmers market industry, including events such as the Peoples Nite Market at La Villita. I dont know what this money means or why we have to pay it, said Will Hoppe, who works at YAPA Artisan Empanadas. Some (vendors) dont make a lot of money. Recently, local farmers markets have expanded their offerings beyond produce grown by area farmers and have become a combination of community gathering place and outdoor food court, where shoppers can buy prepared goods as well as hot meals. Efforts to lessen or abolish the fee are already underway. Representatives from the Pearl market have told the San Antonio Express-News that they have a meeting scheduled for next week to address the matter with Fire Chief Charles Hood. The Food Policy Council of San Antonio has formed a farmers market working group to look into the fees, according to board member Stephen Paprocki. The city and local farmers market also clashed in 2013, after the city health department introduced a farmers market vendor permit intended to make it easier for farmers to sell their products. But the permit also prohibited vendors from selling meals cooked on site. Following criticism, the city reversed itself and passed a proposal liberalizing the rules. The new fees mark the first time the city has consistently levied a fire safety fee on farmers market booths, Morales said. At certain times in the past, the booths have been expected to pay annual fees under mobile vending regulations, he said. I think weve always been in a gray area, he said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, best known outside his home state for advocating legal marijuana, could lift the Libertarian Party to new heights as its presidential candidate amid widespread dissatisfaction with the major party candidates. How high Libertarians rise will depend on whether Republicans and Democrats come home to their parties, as they usually do and perhaps whether Johnson makes it to the big stage of candidate debates. Its not that my message doesnt resonate with people, its that people dont hear my message. The microphones are not in front of my face, he said in an interview last week. Johnson, 63, a GOP governor for two terms, is set to secure the Libertarian Party nomination in at the partys convention in Orlando next weekend. Delegates, including 71 from Texas, also will vote on Johnsons likely running mate, William Weld, who twice was elected Massachusetts governor as a Republican. Johnson said Welds decision last week to seek the vice presidential nomination brings new credibility to the Libertarian ticket, and perhaps an infusion of cash. Given unrest in both parties, Libertarians see an electoral pathway like never before. In a New York Times/CBS poll last week, 52 percent of voters said they want more options, unusual this late in the election cycle. Johnson is a longtime proponent of the Libertarian core values of limited government and social tolerance but hes not known as an inspiring speaker or a dynamic personality. Hes an entrepreneur who became wealthy in the construction trade, growing a handyman business into multimillion-dollar Big J Enterprises with more than 1,000 employees. He is an accomplished triathlete and a climber with the skill to conquer Mount Everest. I know how to put one foot in front of the other. I know how to climb uphill, he remarked in San Antonio last month. As New Mexico governor, Johnson became known as Gov. No for wielding his veto knife like a machete. He vetoed 739 bills from 1995 to 2003 and left his state with a billion-dollar surplus. After a halting stab at winning the GOP nomination in 2012, Johnson ran under the Libertarian Party banner. His tally of 1.27 million votes (just under 1 percent) was a record for a Libertarian and the best showing by a third-party candidate since 2000. Johnson vows the Libertarian candidate will make the ballot in every state in November; he was on 48 ballots in 2012. His aim is to at least surpass 5 percent of the vote in November, which would open the door to ballot access and federal matching funds. He has said he intends to sue the Commission on Presidential Debates over its rule that a candidate must reach 15 percent in polls to take part in debates, a requirement that could relegate him to the margins. Johnson has worked recently to bring restless supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to his cause. He remarked in the interview that he aligns closely with Sanders on social issues, military intervention and what he referred to as crony capitalism and all these endless wars. Obviously, we get to a T in the road when it comes to the economy, Johnson said. Cannabis candidate Besides aiming at Sanderss supporters and Democrats, Johnson hopes to draw Republican voters upset at what many regard as Donald Trumps hostile takeover of their party. Republicans may find some of what Johnson offers appealing. He calls the $19 trillion national debt obscene and vows to balance the federal budget. He considers the IRS a massive deployment of government force on our lives, our finances and our freedom. But on immigration policy, he departs sharply from Republican orthodoxy, arguing that problems result from artificial quotas, bureaucratic incompetence and the shameful failure of Congress. A bigger fence along the Southwest border, he argues, will only produce taller ladders and deeper tunnels. Many Republicans also might be repelled by Johnsons approach to marijuana, which he proposed legalizing in 1999, the highest-ranking elected official in the country at the time to do so. Before announcing his candidacy, Johnson was president and CEO of Cannabis Sativa Inc., a company seeking business beachheads like its Hi Brands International subsidiary in the expanding marijuana industry. He told an interviewer in March that he uses marijuana occasionally, most recently in the form of cannabis-infused chocolate taffy. Speaking at a Libertarian candidate debate in San Antonio last month, Johnson said: I think this country is going to take a quantum leap forward with the legalization of marijuana, recognizing that its so much safer than everything that is out there, starting with alcohol. Without doubt, Johnson stands out. In a double-barreled blast at Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, GOP consultant Ed Rogers blogged about him recently: Hes not a nut and hes not manifestly dishonest, and that sets him apart from the field. Matt Welch, editor-in-chief of the libertarian Reason Magazine, noted that Johnson had placed in double digits in a national poll in March alongside Clinton and Trump. Nobody even knew who he was. They just wanted somebody else, Welch said. The term Libertarian has more widespread acceptance now. You find people casually describing themselves that way. Who might Johnson appeal to and from which major party candidate might he subtract votes? Such questions will surface with the backdrop of Ralph Naders third-party success in 2000, arguably costing Democrat Al Gore the White House. Most pollsters arent asking yet how Johnson might stack up, which is vexing to him. If Mickey Mouse were the third name against Hillary and Trump, Mickey would be at 30 percent, he said. Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-aligned firm, found in a recent poll that a combination of Johnson (4 percent) and the Green Partys Jill Stein (2 percent) were drawing slightly more from Clinton. The Green Party will select a nominee at its convention in Houston in August. In a Public Policy poll last week in Arizona which has voted Republican in nine of the past 10 presidential contests Johnson scored 6 percent and was doing the most damage to Trump. Public Policy Pollings Tom Jensen said that in Democratic-trending New Mexico, where Johnson was governor, he polled at 16 percent last week in a survey for a private client. In Jensens view, Johnson could have more impact in New Mexico than in any other state and potentially draw there from Clinton because of his appeal to younger voters. San Antonio links In San Antonio last month, Texas Libertarians got a fresh look at their likely standard-bearer at their partys state convention. Beforehand, Johnson met some of his backers at a Lion & Rose Pub. (He doesnt drink alcohol.) Johnson is familiar with San Antonio; his brother, Scott, is chief of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Texas School of Medicine in San Antonio. Dr. Gil Robinson, chair of the Bexar County Libertarian Party, thinks Johnsons stance on civil liberties gives him credibility with Sanders devotees. Like Johnson, Sanders wants to legalize recreational marijuana. Robinson says his party is drawing some, but not all, inquiring Republicans. When they find out were serious about ending the drug war, cutting military spending and giving equal rights to gay couples they say Im out of here, he said. For every two Republicans who come through the door, one of them leaves. Texas Libertarian Party secretary Arthur Thomas IV, of San Antonio, predicted Johnson will contrast favorably with Clinton and Trump, who he referred to as a status quo, war-hawk Democrat and an absolutely crazy Republican. Referring to Trump, Thomas said Republicans have told him Libertarians are unrealistic. I say to them now, this is what your party has produced and youre saying that to us? Thomas said he is a little disappointed at the emergence of Weld. I don't want us to be seen as a party that just pulls from people that give up on the Republican Party. We are absolutely not Republicans, he said. Libertarians had high expectations this election for Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul, son of Libertarian icon and former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. The younger Paul stoked their support a year ago by carrying out a nearly 13-hour filibuster on the Senate floor to protest government surveillance and drone strikes against terrorism suspects. But Pauls noninterventionist leanings amid a rash terror strikes in the world, coupled with his prickliness, led to an early exit. He dropped out in February early after placing fifth in the Iowa caucuses. Johnson, too, might come up short in appealing to Republicans favoring a toughened military response in Syria. Likewise, Sanders devotees committed to the senators call for a carbon tax to combat climate might well reject the Libertarian anti-tax fervor. Johnson said he believes the governments role with regard to the warming planet is setting scientific standards. He noted the request for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month by Peabody Energy, the worlds largest coal company. You and I are demanding carbon reductions. The coal industry is bankrupt, he said. That was the free-market at work. STANLEY At least 42 employees of a North Dakota oilfield service company that folded a year ago are still owed hundreds of thousands in unpaid wages in a business debacle that also took its toll on Minnesota investors and other companies. Lawsuits and red tape have yet to bring any relief to the oilfield workers. For Armando Barrera, the missing paycheck and lost job meant his wife and kids had to leave North Dakota to live with family in Texas. Felipe Salgado returned his new truck to the dealership and moved into a smaller house with his brothers. Armando Casas got behind on his bills and borrowed money from friends. The former employees of WCE Oil Field Services say they struggled to survive after the company stopped operating and didnt pay workers for their final weeks of work. Its not right what they did to us. Were hard workers, were here to support our families, said Amado Enrique de Leon, who is owed $19,000 in wages, penalties and interest. A labor union is now working to try to hold someone accountable to the workers as the former company is tied up in a web of litigation that includes a dispute between the founders of the company and private equity investors. One of the investors says the company failed due to a series of business misfortunes that coincided with the crash in oil prices. In addition to the workers, many Minnesota investors also suffered a devastating loss, and the bank, vendors and other creditors are still owed money as well, said Jack Helms, CEO of Minneapolis-based Helms Capital, one of the firms that invested in the company. Sometimes there just isnt anybody to blame, said Helms, who said he was a minority investor and board member of WCE. It was a confluence of incredibly unfortunate, concurrent events, some bad luck and some unfortunate mistakes that got made in good faith. Claims growing The North Dakota Department of Labor has received wage claims for 42 employees of Fargo-based WCE Oil Field Services, which did pipeline projects and oil-related construction and maintenance work. Labor Commissioner Troy Seibel said its one of the largest claims the department has ever received against a single employer, and the complaints keep coming. That number continues to grow, Seibel said. I dont know when it will stop. WCE has not responded to the labor departments demand for payment, so now the Attorney Generals Office is involved to attempt to enforce the payment, Seibel said. A judge recently awarded a judgment against WCE for more than $570,000 owed to 29 employees in wages, interest and penalties. The labor department plans to seek a second court action for the remaining claims, and could potentially seek a third if more employees come forward within the two-year statute of limitations, Seibel said. The labor department also has investigated claims from WCE workers who say their health insurance was canceled even though they had paid premiums, Seibel said. Andrew Altringer, an accountant who worked in WCEs Fargo office until the company abruptly stopped operating in May 2015, is owed about $12,000 by WCE, according to the court judgment. He doubts hell ever get paid. They broke state laws by not paying us and no one cares, Altringer said. I just dont understand how that happens. Series of misfortunes The WCE investors sent a letter to former workers last summer explaining a series of troubles that led up to the company's financial demise. The first involved a dispute between WCE and one of its big customers, Caliber Midstream. WCE claims that Caliber still owes money for a project, but Caliber countered that WCE overbilled. A lawsuit is still pending. Next, WCE lost money on a pipeline project for Oneok, which investors attributed to a combination of underestimating the bid and poor execution at the job site. The financial strain on WCE hit a breaking point while the company worked on a gathering pipeline system in McKenzie County for Paradigm Energy Partners of Texas. WCE contends that a testing company that X-rayed welds on the pipeline used faulty equipment or faulty film that cost WCE $2.5 million to retest and verify the welds. WCE also is suing the testing company. In addition, the timing of construction on the Paradigm project was pushed back from fall to winter, which cost WCE significantly more money than it bid for the project. All told, WCE lost about $6 million from those three contracts at the same time that oil prices began to crash in late 2014 and new business came to a standstill. The reason we lost the company was a combination of these three really bad contracts and the collapse of the market at the same time, Helms said. Investors said they tried to help the company survive in early 2015 by infusing more money while attempting to settle the pending lawsuits. But in May 2015, the bank pulled its line of credit and refused to advance money for payroll, Helms said. We were dumbfounded and caught flat-footed, Helms said. It was 10 days worth of work and the company had no resources to pay payroll. Todd Louis, one of the original founders of WCE, disputes the investors account of what happened and instead points to mismanagement by the private equity investors who purchased about 65 percent ownership of the company in fall 2014. Louis and one of his partners also have pursued litigation against the new investors. They talked a pretty good game. They painted a picture of significant growth, of some acquisitions, some of the tools they could bring to the table, Louis said. It felt good, otherwise we wouldnt have sold the company at the time. Louis, who founded the company with his partners in 2008 and retained some ownership in the company when it was sold, said the investors attempted to run the company from Minnesota without hiring management with adequate expertise in the oil industry. They didnt really act very fast to control things as that (oil) price dropped, Louis said. Helms counters that the three contracts that cost the company money were negotiated by the founders of the company. The investors, primarily from Minnesota, also lost money when they lost the company to the bank, he said. I think everybody loses in a terrible situation like this. All the vendors who did work for WCE lost their accounts receivable. All the investors lost all of their money. The bank lost a lot of money, Helms said. A court-appointed receiver in Minneapolis now has control of the assets while the matters are pending in court. A representative for the receiver declined to comment. North Dakotas labor department will continue to pursue payment from WCE, Seibel said. Theres very little left in the way of assets, but were still going to carry out our own efforts through the Attorney Generals Office to see if we can locate anything for these workers, Seibel said. EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan was joined on the debating platform with the CLA President Ross Murray at the Devon County Show. Taking part in the CLA breakfast event, Mr Murray said that rural businesses needed a clear understanding of the options and consequences involved in the referendum. He said the CLA would not be telling members how to vote, and that it is important to have a full picture of how a vote to leave the EU would affect Britains trade agreements. He also criticised EU regulation, citing: "The back breaking panoply of rules, regulations, forms, blind alleys, hurdles and hoops." Mr Hogan told CLA members and guests that any notion that business would go on as usual should an exit vote be recorded on 23 June was fantasy. He said: "I believe the Common Agricultural Policy offers the stability which can help secure a viable future for Devon farmers but I want the CAP to do more for farmers, to be less remote and less complex, to support farmers towards compliance rather than trying to trip them up and penalise them." He assured the audience that he had identified hundreds of regulations which were set for the chop. "I want to help farmers overcome this climate of fear about checks and regulations and together move towards a system where second chances exist and where people will not automatically land in trouble," he said. But he did not accept all the blame. He agreed with Mr Murray that there had to be a sharing of responsibility with Defra to reduce paperwork and bureaucracy. He said existing trade agreements gave UK Farmers access to global markets and that EU negotiating power was opening new and exciting markets in other parts of the world markets which would not be so readily available to the UK if it were outside of Europe. There were, he said, some 53 free trade agreements currently in place including 27 in Europe and renegotiating those would take some considerable time. "We dont want to see you cutting off your nose to spite your own face," he said. "We want the UK to be at the heart of Europe on food markets and on research and development and we, in turn, want to work with rural businesses and communities to help protect key services and to help expand the UKs markets across the globe." Farmers reaching retirement age are being advised to undertake a valuation of their property and put in place suitable plans that will allow them to live on in the farmhouse while the land is let on a Farm Business Tenancy (FBT) agreement. It is believed that changes to the nil band inheritance tax rate applying to farm houses being left to lineal descendants will open up more opportunities for new entrants into the agriculture sector via FBTs. Thats the view of the rural team at Bruton Knowles who believe the changes that come into effect in April 2017 will not only make it easier for farmers to keep the properties while the land is leased to those wanting to earn their living through an FBT. It will come about because from April 2017 an inheritance tax Main Residence Nil Rate Band (MRNRB) will be introduced to allow residential property that has been an individuals home to be passed free of IHT to direct descendants. The new levels will, according to Roger Bush at Bruton Knowles, bring more properties within the nil IHT band and offer married couples with lineal descendants a more direct and less problematic relief than having to show that the dwelling house is a farmhouse. It will therefore making the process of passing on property between families a much simpler process while agreements on working the land can be reached through FBT. Roger is now advising that an up-to-date valuation would be a prudent course of action to take before deciding on retirement plans. Savings could be substantial Roger said: "The introduction of the new rules is less than a year away so taking action now could be worth considering. "Weve undertaken a number of valuations on behalf of clients and looked at what occupation arrangements the owners could enter into. "Our advice is to look ahead and get a plan in place. With an IHT rate of 40 per cent the savings could be substantial. "The new rules will probably see more families keeping the house while looking for suitable arrangements to maintain the land as a working farm. "This is good news for new entrants looking for a way in to the sector so were likely to see a rise in the number of FBT agreements in the future. "Weve been undertaking appraisals on farm house values to facilitate tax planning in time for April 2017 and our advice to anyone who falls into this bracket is to act now." FARGO -- While teachers and chaperones quickly recognized the annoying screech, the sound of a '90s dial-up modem caused bemused looks on the faces of third-, fourth- and fifth-graders. A sound that was the norm for one generation is no longer recognized by another. This was the exact point industry professionals were trying to make at a recent event geared toward educating kids about entrepreneurship and innovation: technology is changing everything. "Game Boy Color versus iPad. My youth versus yours," said entrepreneur Joe Burgum, who spoke to the students during the Marketplace For Kids Technology Education Day on April 29. When Burgum asked how many students had ever used an iPad, all hands rose in enthusiasm. A device that was considered a luxury when first invented six years ago has become a familiar classroom learning tool today. "You are the pioneers of the next generation," Burgum said to the students. "You will have jobs that have never existed." While experts in the industry can't necessarily teach children about the jobs or technology that may exist in their future, they can show them how to remain progressive, innovative and fearless of change. It's a task educators and economic development groups alike have taken on--ensuring today's students will succeed in future careers by promoting these entrepreneurial skills. Examples include the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce's Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA) and the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corp.'s Education that Works initiative, as well as Marketplace for Kids, a nonprofit that promotes creativity, problem-solving and innovation. Remaining curious Adrian Dawson-Becker, digital content chief at Forum Communications Company, illustrates the idea with a parable: A man was preparing ham for Christmas. His son asked him, "Why do you cut the ends off the ham?" The man responded, "I don't know, my mom did." When the man asked his mother for her reason, she responded, "Because the ham wouldn't fit in the pan." Remaining curious is vital in a technology-centered world. "We always need to ask ourselves, 'Why am I doing it this way?' " Dawson-Becker said. The same standards, rules or procedures that applied to one generation may not necessarily apply to the future. Take agriculture, for example. What started as manual seed sowing transitioned into an ox-powered wooden plow and eventually into today's hi-tech equipment programmed with GPS technology for precision planting and spraying. According to Joel Kaczynski of RDO Equipment, those aren't the only ways the agriculture industry is advancing. Unmanned aircrafts, or drones, have been integrated into several industries, including ecommerce, filmmaking and photography, armed forces and farming. In agriculture, drones allow farmers to survey fields and monitor crop yields in ways they've never been able to before. The agriculture industry isn't the only one enabled by technology. In the photography industry, programs like Photoshop have fueled imagination and created brand new jobs for digital image editors. In marketing and advertising, social media--a platform intended to connect people--has become a useful outlet for marketing, creating positions for social media marketing specialists. Consider the possibilities of 3-D printing. Today, NASA uses the technology to print tools in space that may not otherwise withstand launch. But according to John Schneider of Fargo 3D Printing, the future of three-dimensional printing holds so much more, including the ability to manufacture houses and produce working human organs. Creating the future Classrooms that once taught standard English and math have evolved. Application and website development -- jobs that didn't exist years ago -- are now a part of elementary education. Events like the North Dakota Youth Film Festival introduce students to skills and career paths that were only previously available to those who pursued the field in college. In the end, looking back on how technology has changed in the last 10 years gives little insight into the future. Technology is advancing exponentially. So fast, in fact, that even those in the heart of the industry cannot predict what is to come. "I'm not qualified to talk about the future," said Dan Leeaphon, the principal software engineer manager at Microsoft, told students at last month's event. "You guys are creating it." With a future that's so unpredictable, the only thing to be certain of is change. What does that mean for kids today? "Stay curious," Burgum said. Three large collaborative grants, totalling 9.5m, have been announced by the Medical Research Council (MRC) as part of a cross-Council initiative to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The awards together mark one of the biggest investments into AMR since the initiative launched and will use new technology to exploit natural compounds, develop a tool to offer better and faster diagnostics and explore how the bodys own immune system can be boosted to fight infection. AMR is a significant and growing challenge. The world is facing an increase in the number and type of bacteria resistant to antibiotics alongside stagnation in the development of new antibiotics or viable alternatives. It is clear that an interdisciplinary approach at a global level is needed to tackle the challenge if we are to save millions of lives being lost as a result of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The MRC has been working with the other Research Councils that form Research Councils UK to identify research opportunities that cross disciplines to help tackle the rise in AMR. The latest round of awards has been funded by the MRC, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Economic and Physical Social Research Council (EPSRC) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through the AMR cross-Council initiative, established in 2014 as part of a strategic and co-ordinated effort to address the growing problem head on. Dr Jonathan Pearce, Head of Infections and Immunity at the MRC, said: "There is undoubtedly an urgent need to develop new antibiotics but tackling the issue of AMR is about much more. "We need to be imaginative and look at what alternatives there are to antibiotic use, and to do this successfully we need to work in partnership. "These awards are a concrete example of what the MRC in collaboration with the other research councils is doing across a wide range of disciplines to fight AMR." Dr Adam Staines, Head of Agriculture and Food Security at BBSRC added: "It is important that we remain cognisant of the interplay between humans, animals and the and the implications this has on the risks associated with resistant bacterial pathogens." "This multidisciplinary call is an excellent opportunity to invest in fundamental research which also has significant scope to influence antimicrobial usage and alternative strategies for infection management in farmed animals and humans, impacting on the agriculture, food and health systems both in the UK and further afield." Just Ramblin Along also ranks highly in the breed for growth. Its growth figures of +21, +46 and +64 for 200, 400 and 600 days rank it in the top 1pc for 400 and 600 days and top 5pc for 200 days. "I'd never dreamed that I would sell bulls to other studs, but it shows that we must be doing something right," he said. "For myself, it was an inspiring opportunity to begin the transition from my last year of studying animal science at Murdoch University, to entering the workforce and beginning to play my part in the agricultural industry next year." More than half of employees who work for CCS make $43K or more a year An Army helicopter dropped Carlan Kraft into a clearing in the Vietnamese jungle with $100,000 in his backpack in June 1970. He told the pilot to come back in 30 minutes. Kraft and one other officer waited for a local woman who had said she could deliver American, Thai and Vietnamese prisoners of war. He had met with the woman several times and signed for the money himself. He thought she was a valid source. But no one showed. "We were desperate to recover some Americans because no one had been able to do it," he said. "And we took a risk. It could have turned out badly. Fortunately, it didn't. It's just part of the process." It was Kraft's riskiest mission as a captain during the Vietnam War. A ranger-qualified graduate of West Point, Kraft was a member of a highly classified unit responsible for locating and retrieving prisoners of war and downed pilots in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. At the time, he told his family he was doing special operations. Details of the covert missions were only declassified in the mid-1990s. He traveled around the region in a jeep and met with people who claimed to have information about where prisoners were held. He took sources on flyovers to examine the alleged holding areas. The intelligence was often stale by the time it got to Kraft, because the Vietnamese moved prisoners frequently. Some sources did not want anything in return for the information, while others were looking for money or safety. None of the missions he was involved in were successful, though there were some close calls, he said. "My mission was such that I didn't question it," said Kraft. "I did it to the best of my ability." The reconnaissance efforts were highly secretive, but Kraft was also charged with a more public mission of reassuring pilots that the Army would rescue them if they went down in enemy territory. One time he flew to an aircraft carrier in the Philippines to demonstrate the Fulton Skyhook, a mechanism for picking up downed pilots. In order to pull off a Fulton Skyhook, pilots carried big suits with long nylon cords attached to helium balloons. If a pilot was shot down, he was supposed to alert the military of his location. As the rescue plane flew over, the pilot would release the helium balloon and instantly shoot 300 feet into the air. The cord would snag on the plane, and the pilot would be pulled to safety. Though Kraft was "not a big fan of circus rides," he was intrigued to try the mechanism. He describes it as like "reverse bungee jumping" or being on a slingshot. Though no pilot was ever rescued this way, Kraft said the training made the pilots feel "some degree of comfort." The officers were either grateful or wowed enough to buy his drinks that night. Kraft got to Vietnam by way of West Point. The child of a hairdresser and a gas station attendant in Rugby, "I looked for the most prestigious school I could afford," he said. He studied hard and wrote to his congressmen, who appointed him to the military academy in 1963. The Vietnam War had already begun, and Kraft knew he would likely serve. "That's what I signed up for going to West Point," he said. Near the end of his service, Kraft took the LSAT in Saigon. The U.S. Army offered to put him through law school if he stayed in, but he decided to go his own way. "It was one of those points in the road where you decide to go one direction and could have gone another," said Kraft, adding that the intelligence training he received in the military was a benefit to his career as an attorney. Amber Riley has hit out at critics of her "big juicy ass". Amber Riley The former 'Glee' star shared an emotional video on Instagram in which she asked her detractors why they care so much about her being overweight. She said: "You know, there are just some things that my sober mind keeps me from sharing. That ends tonight. I've got some things I need to get off my chest." "Why does me being fat offend so many people? Is it because I'm confident and I'm fly and I'm sexy? Do my thighs offend? Does my stomach offend? Does my big juicy ass offend? Why?! Why?!" Amber went on to insist that she is proud of her shape and revealed she attracts plenty of positive attention from the opposite sex. She added: "Let my big ass live. I let you all live. I love all colours, shapes and sizes. So, just so you know, when you come on here and you call me fat, it's not an insult dummy. "My ass is fat and the fellas love it and so do I." Meanwhile, Amber, 30, recently insisted she leads a very "normal" life, despite her fame, and doesn't worry about her success coming to an end so long as she can still pursue her passions in other ways. She said: "To me, Hollywood is a place where I go to play, it's not real. My life is very normal. I always make sure that I leave whatever it is I'm doing at work outside my home. "It's a privilege to be a part of it, but if it was all over for me, I would just find something else to do, even if it was doing local theatre or gigs. "Singing, acting and dancing will always be part of my life." Amber is best known for playing Mercedes Jones in 'Glee' and found adjusting to life without the show "weird". She explained "All good things must come to an end. But the last week was so sad. "It was weird because you go from being on set every day and having people telling you what you are doing tomorrow, to having to take control of your life." Elijah Wood has alleged there is a high-powered paedophile ring at work in Hollywood. Elijah Wood The 35-year-old actor - who is best known for his starring role in the 'Lord of the Rings' franchise - has claimed there is a conspiracy to cover-up historic cases of child abuse involving some of the movie industry's most influential names, likening the situation to the case of British entertainer Jimmy Savile, who was exposed as a paedophile after his death in 2011. He said: "You all grew up with Savile, Jesus, it must have been devastating." The deceased entertainer was a popular figure in the UK until it emerged he abused hundreds of victims over the course of his career, and used his fame and influence to cover his tracks. Elijah told the Sunday Times newspaper: "Clearly something major was going on in Hollywood. It was all organised. There are a lot of vipers in this industry, people who only have their own interests in mind. There is darkness in the underbelly - if you can imagine it, it's probably happened." Elijah added that abuse victims cannot speak loudly enough to have their voices heard amid the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. However, he remains grateful to his own mother for ensuring he was protected from sinister characters during his early years in the movie business. He said: "She was far more concerned with raising me to be a good human than facilitating my career." Elijah's claims echo those made previously by 'Stand by Me' star Corey Feldman, who argued in his autobiography 'Coreyography: A Memoir' that child abuse was rife in Hollywood. The former child actor - who also starred in 'The Goonies' and 'Gremlins' - explained: "The No 1 problem in Hollywood was and is - and always will be - paedophilia. [sic]" Megadeth have paid tribute to former bandmate Nick Menza following his shock death. Megadeth The group's ex-drummer - who joined the band in 1989 and played on four albums before his departure in 1988 - suffered a "massive heart attack" while performing with his band OHM at the Baked Potato in Los Angeles on Saturday (21.05.16) night, and was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. And now his former bandmates have paid tribute to the 53-year-old musician on social media. Founder Dave Mustaine tweeted: "TELL ME THIS ISN'T TRUE! I woke at 4 AM to hear Nick Menza passed away on 5/21 playing his drums w/Ohm at the Baked Potato (sic)" And the band's former guitarist, Marty Friedman, wrote on Facebook: "We all know the great and unique drummer that Nick Menza was, but he was also a trustworthy friend, a hilarious bandmate, as well as a very loving dad. I'm beyond sad, did not see this coming at all. RIP Brother." Biographer J. Marshall Craig, who says he has asked by Nick's family to be their "public representative", appealed for "privacy and prayers" for the rocker's family, including wife Terri and their two young sons. He wrote on Facebook: "Nick Menza was in musician heaven last month when I took him to Rose Lane Studio a few weeks back to meet Sjoerd Auke Koppert and Damion 'Damizza' Young and the team there. There were many plans in the works, for the release of Nick's book that we wrote, a comic book version of his time with Megadeth and many, many other wonderful things, including a trip to stay with me and my family here in Cape Cod tomorrow. He died last night on stage in L.A. doing what he loved. "I have been asked by his family to be their public representative though this tragic and difficult time, so will be fielding all press inquiries. His mother Rose and father Don ask for privacy and prayers for them, and Nick's two young boys." Plans for a memorial are already underway. He added: "News of a service, remembrance and celebration of Nick's life and music will be announced in the days to come." In a time, space and society when the notion of love still conforms itself to the man-woman relationship, Chennai-based poet, filmmaker and activist Leena Manimekalai has caused quite a stir with her unconventional ideas and out-of-the-box thinking. Shes frank about her own sexuality, as well as the way she views the world. In my second poetry collection Ulakin Azhakiya Muthal Penn, which literally translates into The First Beautiful Woman In The World, I penned down my thoughts as a bisexual woman. Unfortunately, I was attacked from all quarters, and people called me all sorts of names. They called for a ban on my book. There was so much abuse on social media, particularly in Tamil. At least when someone harasses you in a bus, there is an identity. Online, I didnt even know who these abusers were. But I decided long ago, that these so called critics and saviours of our culture were no one to accuse me. I would myself claim the titleand so my third poetry collection was called Parathaiyarul Raani or Queen Of Sluts. Leena laments that women in India are not encouraged to explore their sexuality, or even have one of their own! Their bodies are never for themselvesthey always belong to someone else. Most women dont even know what their private parts look like. They are even told to bathe with their clothes on. A lot of the words in Tamil which refer to breasts, or vagina, have all become swear words. I needed to reclaim those words for my poetry, and of course, there were people who objected to this. There has been a severe backlash to her work, but Leenas notions of love, which she believes should transcend gender and social norms, remain unchanged. My poetry collection, Anthara Kanni has queer poetry with its roots in myths, legends and stories. Its ironic that there are so many references to lesbian, gay and transgender characters in Indian mythology, but we gloss over it in more recent literature. I have tried to bring these age-old stories to the fore. The book also features Tamil translations of poems by Russian lesbian punk band Pussy Riot, and of bisexual American poet June Jordans About my Rights. Leena grew up in Chennai and Trichy and studied engineering in Madurai, though she was always interested in the arts. As a bright middle-class student, I was told to finish my engineering, and only then think about life. After college, she was introduced to film director P Bharatiraja, a family friend, and started working in his creative team. I worked for a few months as an assistant director, but because of family pressure, left for Bangalore to work as an engineer. My passion was always literature and cinema. So I resigned and went back home to Chennai. Realising that cinema didnt pay very well, Leena chose to work in television for sometime, where she mostly worked behind-the-scenes, sometimes even landing anchoring jobs when the regular anchor didnt turn up. I worked in about 11 companies. Women were not common in television then, but in cinema, they were practically unheard of a decade ago. Leena was involved in politics till 2004, and at one point, the idealist in her wanted to become a full-time Communist Party of India worker. But she soon realised she was too independent for them and there was no platform to grow. Also, as a woman, she felt out of place in a male-dominated bastion. It was around this time that she began to find mainstream work in the media unsatisfying, but it helped her subsidise the independent work she had started. When I assisted in commercial cinema with Bharatiraja, it felt like a feudal set-up. From the content to the filmmaking process, everything seemed so far away from me. Good cinema is an alchemy of how you blend human resources with technology and your imagination, and I initially thought if I was part of a film crew, I could learn this. But that wasnt the case. Then the digital revolution came along, and, as Leena puts it, really democratised the process. Suddenly, cameras, microphones and software were available at a moderate cost. So I started learning on the jobmaking community films, involving like-minded people, getting them to pitch in and work for free. Youre making something non-consumerist, about real issues, and it is completely non-profit. You can use it for advocacy, to raise awareness, create a discourse, take it to the relevant authorities and demand attention. A piece of film becomes a relevant political tool. Leena attracted controversy from her very first film Mathamma. The 16-minute film delved into the practices of the Arunthathiyar community on the Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border, which offered young girl children to the deity, so they become Mathammas, the deitys wives. The girls cant go on to marry or have any sort of social life, and are eventually exploited. People said that the film would affect sentiments, and should be banned. If bans are the solution, each and every film should be banned, because they all affect womens sentiments and portray them shabbily. I have had many run-ins with the Censor Board, who seem to think every film of mine will start a riot. However, I manage to get my films cleared and there has only been a positive impact. Mathamma was showcased from street corners to film festivals, and the National Human Rights Commission took note and visited villages to take action. The problem is, the market doesnt want people to think. When I realised how efficiently a film can be used to get people into a dialogue, I realised what a powerful tool it was. Leena has made 13 short and feature-length films in 10 years, spanning across genresfiction, non-fiction, poetry and experimental. Her films like Goddesses, Sengadal and White Van Stories have won multiple national and international awards including Golden Conch for Best International Documentary in Mumbai International Film Festival and NAWFF Award for Best Asian Women Cinema in Tokyo. Goddesses is about the uncelebrated women in society, like graveyard workers, mourners and fish hunters. Sengadal is on the plight of Dhanushkodi fishermen, while White Van Stories is on enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka during the ethnic war against Tamils. Leenas own experiences with love have been turbulent. She was expected to marry her maternal uncle when she was barely an adult, in keeping with the family tradition. I found the idea incestuous, so I ran away from home. I was brought back, and after much coaxing on my part, the marriage was called off. Today, he is happily married. Leena was married once as well, but contrary to speculation, it wasnt her bisexuality that sounded the death knell of her marriage. Its hard to say what went wrong, but when I think back, its probably because Im too independent and free-spirited to be boxed into an institution. I guess I just outgrew my marriage! She's also acting in and producing a feature film in Malayalam and English on poet Kamala Das life. She is portrayed as a passionate bisexual polyamorous woman who is absolutely free spirited in terms of her sexuality. Its exactly my cup of tea! Here is an excerpt from one of her poems: {Whore} Translated from Tamil to English by Nisha Kommattam and Sascha Ebeling the first time I heard the word whore I must have been ten I didnt have breasts yet the word burned me like hot blood gushing out when a razor blade slits open a vagina that has not yet come of age why did they call me a whore? because I stepped out of the front door without panties when I came home late from school in the evening when I forgot the rice cooking on the stove while I was playing when i put on too much kaajal when I gave in to romantic advances or when I didnt when I made my own decisions as i got older there were more and more opportunities for being called a whore these days writing poetry is reason enough Site Blocked In order to access website you need to accept our cookie policy. View cookie policy. Accept Dubbed as the `golden milk with a cult following', turmeric latte is the latest rage in the West. To us Indians, it is what we as kids used to scrunch up our noses and only drink it, because our mothers forced us to do so, when we were children. What the West seems to have just discovered as turmeric latte, is what Indians have all along known as haldidoodh up north and manjapaal in Tamil. However, there are other foods which are very rooted in its Indian-ness, and have hip avatars abroad. Here are a few of them... COLLOQUIALLY KNOWN AS: GHEE CLARIFIED BUTTER Kourtney Kardashian recently claimed that the secret behind her hot bod was drinking a teaspoon of clarified butter every day, which brought focus on what Indians have always been practicing -using ghee (which is what we call clarified butter) - in cooking. COLLOQUIALLY KNOWN AS: HALDI DOODH OR MANJAPAAL TURMERIC LATTE From San Francisco to Sydney , there is much hullaballoo around `turmeric latte', which is being hailed for its therapeutic properties. In India, it -haldi doodh or manjapaal - is what you have when you have a cold. Or to simply get a good night's sleep. The western version, turmeric latte, is apparently cold-pressed turmeric juice, mixed with almond or soy milk, is now in the running for the `Drink of 2016'! Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts We need a national conversation before we think about changing the genetic material of our children, writes oncologist and author of `The Gene', Siddhartha Mukherjee. A few years ago, scientists developed powerful technologies to "edit" the genomes of human cells. There are two words in that sentence that deserve explanation -and that matter greatly for India. The "genome" is the entire repository of genetic material that is needed to build, repair and maintain humans. It contains about 3 billion letters of DNA -A,C,T and G -strung together in a rather inscrutable sequence (ACTGGGTTT... and so forth). It might be likened to an encyclopedia of our genetic material -all the genes in all our cells, the additional sequences of DNA that tell our bodies when and where to deploy these genes, and stretches that have no known function. Indeed, if it was printed as an encyclopedia, it would encompass 66 full sets of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Until recently, "editing" the human genome (or any genome, for that matter) was thought to be impossible -that is, scientists generally agreed that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to change the code written into the encyclopedia in an intentional manner. All of this changed in 2012, when a team of biologists discovered a trick by which the human genome can be altered in a rather simple manner. To return to our analogy , this would be like picking one book from the massive library of encyclopedias, changing a single word in that book, and leaving the rest of the code untouched. We still don't know the safety or fidelity of this method -perhaps other words in the code are unintentionally changed -but it is a more powerful method of intervening on the genome than we have encountered in the history of science.This technique has been called "gene editing". What does this mean, and why is it important? On one hand, the capacity to change the human genome in an intentional manner opens up powerful new therapeutic capabilities. Medical scientists can imagine using this technology for gene therapy in human lungs or blood cells -correcting the genetic abnormality that causes sickle cell anaemia, for instance, or other devastating human diseases.But is there also the possibility that these tools will be used to enhance height, or intelligence? What if scientists used these technologies to change the genetic material of human embryos -thereby permanently changing the human gene pool? These questions were raging urgently throughout the scientific world when a disruptive experiment was published. In the spring of 2015, a laboratory in China announced that it had attempted to "edit" the genomes of human embryos. At the Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, a team led by Junjiu Huang obtained 86 human embryos from an IVF clinic and tried to use "gene editing" to correct a gene responsible for a common blood disorder (only embryos that were non-viable in the long term were chosen). Seventy-one embryos survived. Of the 54 embryos tested, only four were found to have the corrected gene inserted. Rage and anguish broke out through the scientific world in response to the experiment in China. In the US, genetic intervention on a human embryo is barricaded through strict laws -and this arena is especially scrutinized as biologists continue to explore gene-editing technologies. Chinese commentators, however, were more genuine about the use of such technologies. When the prospect of an international moratorium on gene editing in human embryos was suggested, one scientist wrote: "I don't think China wants to take a Mora to rium." A Chinese bio ethicist clarified, "Confucian thinking says someone becomes a person after they are born. That is different from the US and other countries with a Christian influence, where because of religion they may feel research on embryos is not okay". Where might India fit in this bioethical spectrum? At least this much is clear: a response is necessary, because the tools to modify human embryos are becoming simpler, more accurate, and widely available around the world. With burgeoning biotechnological capabilities, scientists in India could potentially perform experiments similar to the ones performed in China, or other experiments that might lead to gene editing in human embryos. In 2001, as described in the British Medical Journal, a national bio ethics panel in India "said that scientists may harvest human embryos for re search before day 14 of gestation with the in formed consent of the donor. All projects would have to be approved by the national bio ethics p a n e l , a n d re searchers would have to share any commercial benefits that emerge from embryonic stem cell lines with the donor." The Indian Council for Medical Research, and other bio ethics panels in the country are performing an admirable task of re-evaluating these guidelines in the light of new gene editing technologies. But this needs to be a national and public conversation. What moral precepts should guide us as we think about changing the genetic material of our children? Where does our culture, or history, force us to draw strong lines? The context is especially important, because the desire for genetic intervention exists in this country . In parts of India, crude technologies of genetic diagnosis through amniocentesis (and other methods) have reportedly resulted in the selective abortion of female fetus. The impact of genetic diagnosis remains unclear, but the overall skew in the gender ratio in parts of India is striking: about 850 females to every 1,000 males in Punjab and Haryana. The shift towards male children in these states may underscore a more general aspiration to use interventions -genetic or otherwise -to produce more "desirable" children. Should the bioethics panels require the consensus of such citizens in drafting a policy on genetic intervention on human embryos? These questions will only be amplified in intensity as we move towards the future. For now, as we consider the wider implications of gene editing in India, it might be advisable to use three guiding principles for the future. First, genetic interventions should only be used to alleviate extraordinary suffering -that is, their role should be restricted to diseases that devastate human beings. Second: these interventions should be used on genes that are clearly implicated in diseases, and not genes where the link to the illness is weak or speculative (and certainly not used to tamper with genes that purportedly influence height or intelligence, about which we know very little). And third, and most important: the interventions should not be carried out without state mandate or state supervision. These principles might be imagined as a "safe triangle" within which genetic interventions on humans may still be performed -while the Indian public considers future policies in this arena. Until a time that a consensus is reached, Indian scientists might also wish to join the proposed international moratorium on gene editing on human embryos. Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts Designer Wendell Rodricks has started work on turning his home into a museum of Goan sartorial traditions Fashion designer Wendell Rodricks is alarmingly unattached to his magically begotten and lovingly dressed heritage home in the village of Colvale in Goa. The bungalow is in the process of being converted into a museum of Goan costume. "I feel no remorse," he says. "It's a place with such happy energies. I want to give it back to Goa; it will be my contribution to Colvale." This is his ancestral village; of which the Rodricks are 'gaonkars' -the first people who settled and started a village. "If I dig deep enough in the church records, I can find my family's Hindu names before they converted," he says. "Living in my village truly gives me a sense of connect. From my people, I learn the native wisdom I have lost -like you have to warm up mango blossoms in winters so that you can have fruit in the winters." Rodricks is sitting in the veranda that extends at the back of his house. This is the centre of his family life with partner Jerome Marrel, their four dogs, and three cats. The small table by the pool is at different times of the day a breakfast table, the morning office and dinner area. As the sun sets and Rodricks returns from his passoi (daily evening walk in the village or to the hill close by), candles light up the area. They don't use electricity in this part of the house at night. Four-hundred-and-fifty-year-old Casa Dona Maria is a cultural landmark in the fashion world, almost as famous as its inhabitant. Rodricks bought it for the price of a city SUV in 1993 and named it after the mother-in-law of Olinda Braganza, the lady who sold it to him. He bought the brick-and-mortar structure sitting on half-an-acre of land but inherited the 200-year-old mango trees that yield almost every variety of the fruit grown in the state. By December 2018, Casa Dona Maria will, all Goan gods willing, become Moda Goa -a museum of Goan costume and clothing. Rodricks is on the phone right now, arranging for the money to buy a vintage silver buckle and brooch from a family.It's the price of a Sabyasachi lehenga. "We searched for modern buildings that didn't have the problems of an old structure, but found that houses in Panjim were too close to the river and the water tends to rise up through the laterite stone," says the 56-yearold designer. Meanwhile, Rodricks got an offer to part with Casa Dona Maria for $3 million. The buyer most likely had a boutique hotel in mind. But Rodricks remembered his promise to its previous owner, that he would never break down the house and only make alterations to enhance it. So, for the museum, the windows will be sealed, the rooms will be climate-controlled to save the artefacts from humidity and special cases are being brought in for the precious pieces. The idea of a museum for Goan costume came to Rodricks while working on the book, Moda Goa, about costumes of Goa. And instead of building a new a modern structure, Rodricks decided to move into a rented home two minutes away, and turn Casa Dona Maria into a museum.In fact, the index of the book will form the structure of the museum too. The decision could have been influenced by the excitement of two new design projects -one is changing the Dona Maria from a residence to a commercial space; the second to turn the rental home into a Rodricks-appropriate residence. "I want the museum to run on the American business style model, like the Metropolitan museum (in New York City)," says Rodricks, who has been collecting books for the museum archives since 2010. "I want visitors to spend two, two-and-a-half hours wandering around, and finishing the tour with my mother's prawn curry and rice in the cafeteria. There will also be a photographic archive and library for students who want to research Goan history and clothing. I want it to come alive as a place of learning. Instead of plaques, I want information to be received in the way I am telling you know, like a story. So the curator will be trained to do that. I could helm tours if I am around or if there's a VIP group." The process has already begun to empty the rooms. Rodricks's self-admittedly has the largest collection of contemporary Goan art, and pieces like the Chaitali Morajkar painting, above his desk in the Opium Room, and the furniture in the salon have already been shortlisted for sale to fund the museum trust. Funds for the museum trust are also beings raised by liquidating their real estate assets in Panaji. The only things that will stay are pieces of furniture like the harp-backed choir bench which can be used in the new home or pieces that will not fetch a price because they have been damaged by his pets. "When I moved to Goa, I had this dream of a house with white linens and beige upholstery... Then this happened," he says, pointing at Zeus, a harlequin Great Dane lounging on the colonial fainting couch, nursing a snake bite. "I would have kept a more beautiful house without them." The couple has been in talks with Pundole's Auction house for their artwork and furniture. A spokesperson for the auction house says she hasn't yet seen the pictures of the objects and cannot comment on the period or estimate the money it can raise. The museum will retain the narrative structure of the home. You start by taking the stairs to the salon, which will house the prehistoric costumes kunbi saris, unstitched cloth of the tribals, what the gods wore, and the saris offered to the Shanta Durga goddess. The adjoining Opium Room, named for the opium bed Jerome acquired, will hold clothes with Chinese influence -namely the Pano Bhaju costume used to perform the Mando. Then you will descend to the grand dining room, which sits in the centre of the home. Here you will find clothes with Portuguese influence, like a pristine preserved wedding dress from the 1930s donated by a Goan lady. Parts of a Portuguese altar will stay on the walls like they do now.There will also be accessories such as jewellery, embroidered altar clothes that formed the dowry of a Goan bride, hats and gloves they wore to church, sartorial delicacies such as lintels, powder boxes with feather dusters, and crystal perfume bottles. "The Goans are very stylish people," says Rodricks."The Portuguese arrived in 1510, 25 years before the Mughals. They came here and found that their velvets were not suited to our weather. So they took something from us, and we took something from them. Goan Daivadnya Brahmins, noted for their fine gold filigree, were also the first people to travel to Lisbon for work. The word -IndoWestern -which we throw around so loosely now, started in Goa." Rodricks has been collecting objects of interest since 2010, buying them from families, reaching out through the media to families, asking them to donate or sell their heirlooms. "These pieces of culture deserve a wider audience," he says. "There was this wonderful necklace that I was trying to buy from a lady and she, understandably, wanted to keep it in the family. I reminded her that her descendants would probably just bring it out once or twice in their lifetimes. Here, the family's name and the object would be preserved for posterity." It will also put Colvale on the cultural map. A fashion maven once drawled, "But who will come to Colvale, Wendell?" But that seems set to change. The realisation is that the village is just off the Mumbai Goa highway, five or seven kilometres before Mapusa. The state, as is, has distributed tourism among its beaches, second homes housed in gated communities in villages and cultural landmarks like the Mario Miranda museum in Loutolim. Now, Colvale will also be an interesting stop. THE DONA MARIA MYTH Wendell Rodricks knew of the house in his village, but had never been inside it. One day, in the late 80s, he dreamt of it in detail while he was working in Oman. His mother, Greta, happened to mention this to its owner Olinda, at church. "When your son comes for his holidays next, tell him to come over," Mrs Braganza said. Rodricks did that on his next trip home, and Olinda said, "Since you know my house so well, why don't you take me around." Rodricks surprised her by starting at the salon at the top of the house and ending with her husband's room hidden at the top of the stairs. Seven years later, Braganza was migrating to Canada to be with her children and insisted that Wendell would be the right person to have it. Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts CUPERTINO (dpa-AFX) - The Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc. (AAPL), Tim Cook, called on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. Cook shared Apple's future plans for India. Mr. Cook talked about his visit to India, and said he had been received with great warmth. He spoke about his visit to different parts of the country, and his meetings with people including youth, business leaders, and film actors. The Prime Minister, appreciating Mr. Cook, said that in India, 'seeing is believing' and added that these experiences would definitely steer Mr. Cook's business decisions. Cook shared Apple Inc.'s future plans for India. He spoke of the possibilities of manufacturing and retailing in India. He appreciated the breadth of young talent in India, and said the youth have significant skills which Apple would like to tap. He mentioned the immense potential for 'app-development' that exists in the country. He also elaborated on the Map Development Centre that Apple Inc. is setting up in Hyderabad. He appreciated the Prime Minister's initiatives in 'ease of doing business.' Mr. Cook also appreciated the Prime Minister's initiatives for renewable energy. He said Apple runs on 93 per cent renewable energy, and spoke of plans to move Apple's entire supply chain to renewable energy.. Both Mr. Cook and the Prime Minister shared some unique stories of entrepreneurship that they had come across in app-development and renewable energy. The Indian Prime Minister explained his Digital India initiative, and identified three key objectives of Digital India as e-education, health and increasing farmers' incomes. He sought support from Apple in furthering these objectives. Issues regarding cyber-security and data encryption also came up for discussion. The Prime Minister encouraged Mr. Cook to help the global community to cope with the challenges of cyber-crime. Mr. Tim Cook also launched an updated version of the 'Narendra Modi Mobile App.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Curapel, a Cardiff, Wales, UK-based healthcare company, raised 350k in equity funding. Backers included Finance Wales (250k), Lancaster Capital and another investor. The company is using the funds to to develop and commercialise its Histimex, Melidex and Olidex products. Founded as a spinout from the University of Manchester by Chief Technology Officer Dr Neil Gibbs and led by Chief Executive Officer Dr Peter Luebcke, Curapel develops innovative new treatments for eczema and psoriasis as well as skin pigmentation conditions. Formulated from safe, natural and GRAS-designated ingredients, the companys products are patent protected and all in late-stage product development, with clinical testing set to continue through 2016. Products include: Histimex, an oral treatment that has shown early clinical potential in eczema and atopic dermatitis and also has commercial potential as a treatment for paediatric eczema. Melidex, a cosmetic product designed to even skin tone and treat pigmentation conditions, and Olidex, a topical treatment for psoriasis. Why do we watch films, why do films appeal to us, why do they make us laugh, cry and shout in joy? Why are we so captivated by films? I think it is because films are a mirror that reflect us and the world around, a mirror which is both concave and convex at the same time - offering a micro as well as a panoramic view of ourselves and the world. But of course, mirrors distort, mirrors lie too, mirrors can offer a surrealist view, mirrors can offer a dreamy-fantasy realm. Films do all these, as much as life too does. Thats why we have various depictions of our lived-in lives and society reflected in films, and I am fascinated by it. Queer cinema, both in India and worldwide, has over the decades, been able to project this diversity with varying degrees of skill and aptitude. We cannot dismiss any portrayal as good, bad or ugly. All of them exist in films, as much as they exist in society. All LGBT persons are not necessarily good, or all families are not necessarily evil. It takes all sorts to make the world, and world queer cinema encompasses all kinds of portrayals. What is needed though is that we have enough representations and not just one or two stereotypes. It is necessary to break the image that seems to be overarching and stereotypical. If we have diverse representation, than it is up to those looking into these film-mirrors what they want to see and how they wish to perceive it. I have seen positive changes in the depiction of LGBT characters in Indian cinema over the past two decades. From absolute homophobia, gay and trans bashing to more empathetic and nuanced characters. From loud, inane Kantaben jokes in Kal Ho na Ho we have matured to Prof Siras subtle gestures in Aligarh, from sidekick gay buffoons (numerous film to count) we have moved to a mature lesbian relationship in Angry Indian Goddesses so there is hope. There is hope in regional cinema, with amazingly sensitive films in Bengali (the entire oeuvre of Rituporno Ghosh), Malayalam (Sancharam) and Kannada (Naanu Avanalla, Avanu). Many of these films have been commercially released and have done well. The only reflection I have is that most of them are about transgender characters, rather than gay or lesbian characters. Transgender stories seem more acceptable as part of mainstream films, but a gay or lesbian romance still remains a taboo. My dreams and passion lie with the short films and documentaries. They are more honest, more positive, but also more diverse in their content the stories, the characters, the lives and even the filmmaking styles are more grounded and balanced. Only problem is these films hardly find distribution and unable to reach the audiences. Thats a real pity. Thats why we started KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, a festival which from its inception in 2010, has been placed in a mainstream theater. We were keen to broaden the framework of a LGBT film festival by placing it in a space that is accessible and comfortable to larger audience segment. While 70 percent of KASHISH audiences are from the LGBT community, we have 30 percent and more audiences who are non-LGBT - who come to KASHISH to see films on LGBT issues, or just to watch good cinema. This is in tune with our festivals two-fold mission: of creating a safe space for the LGBT community to watch global LGBT films on the big screen with no shame, guilt or anxiety, which believe me (I am speaking as a gay man), is a huge goose-bump raising experience; and for the mainstream audience a window to understand LGBT people better, by dispelling myths and misconceptions they may have. For a large number of non-LGBT audience, the take back was that gays are not from Mars, lesbians are not from Venus (or vice-versa!), transgenders are not from Jupiter, and that they are regular people who (are) maybe in their own homes, in their neighbourhoods, in their office spaces it is just that they have not paused to think, talk, discuss, reflect. All it needs is a moment, an experience, a look into the mirror. KASHISH is a global hallway of mirrors, reflecting diverse realities, in both its microcosm and macrocosm. The films we programme range from a normal day in the life of a transgender to a 20-year struggle for LGBT rights in a country where being gay is perhaps punishable by death. In the 182 films from 53 countries we are screening at this years KASHISH, all of us can find a reflection of ourselves, our lives, our societies, our struggles, our happiness whether one is gay, lesbian, transgender or heterosexual after all it as all about '7 Shades of Love', which is the theme of this years festival, and one that resonates in every film. The genre could be different a comedy, a tragedy, a low-key drama, a cutting-edge avant garde thriller, or even a gay zombie film (yes we have one this year!) but the experience we carry back is LGBT people are just normal human beings and LGBT rights are nothing but basic human rights to love someone of your choice and to live a life with dignity. That has to be a given right? But it is not so in many countries, in many societies Iran, Lebanon, Morocco, Sri Lanka, and even India. Films screening at KASHISH will unravel all these and much more on the big screen at three venues. There is a film for everyone, just be there at the festival, because if you miss it, you probably would never get to see them again. Most of these films are not on torrent or YouTube (trust me I have scoured!) and again the magic of big screen experience is another thing. No, I am not hard selling the festival, it is a plea from the heart, since there is so much on offer, so much to learn, so much to enjoy. I will see you all soon at KASHISH, and as I said, be ready for a world of mirrors no dont be afraid of them, you will see many wonderful images too! Mirrors that reflect the diversity of multi-cultural, multi-generational, multi-racial, multi-sexual world we all live in. The author is a filmmaker and the festival director of the KASHISH Queer International Film Festival. NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) said it was collaborating with trade unions, government as well as the U.N. to improve workers' conditions after a study found violations in supplying garment factories in India and Cambodia. The study by the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) found workers stitching clothes for H&M in factories in Delhi and Phnom Penh faced problems such as low wages, fixed-term contracts, forced overtime and loss of job if pregnant. The AFWA, a coalition of trade unions and labour rights groups, accused the Western high street retailer of failing on its commitments to clean up its supply chain. An official from H&M told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Saturday that the fashion firm has been working actively to improve the lives of textile workers for many years. "The report raises important issues and we are dedicated to contribute to positive long-term development for the people working in the textile industry in our sourcing markets," said Therese Sundberg from H&M's press and communications department. "The issues addressed in the report are industry wide problems. They are often difficult to address as an individual company and we firmly believe that collaboration is key." H&M has partnered with the International Labour Organization, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency as well as global and local trade unions to seek out solutions, she added in an emailed statement. The fashion industry has come under increasing pressure to improve factory conditions and workers' rights, particularly after the collapse of the Rana Plaza complex in Bangladesh three years ago, when 1,136 garment workers were killed. FORCED OVERTIME, SACKED FOR PREGNANCY The study, which surveyed 50 Indian workers from five factories and 201 Cambodians workers from 12 factories from August to October 2015. It found that overtime in all the factories was expected by employers. Cambodian workers reported they had to do two hours of overtime daily, while Indian workers reported working at least 9 hours to 17 hours a day. "Workers are routinely required to work until 2 a.m. in order to meet production targets and then to report to work at 9 a.m.," it said, referring to workers in Indian factories. "The financial imperative of working overtime due to the persistence of minimum wage standards below living wage standards can be viewed as a form of economic coercion that leads to involuntary or forced overtime," it added. The study also found that fixed-term contracts were being used in 9 of the 12 Cambodian and all Indian factories surveyed. These contracts facilitate arbitrary termination and deprive workers of job security, pension, healthcare, seniority benefits and gratuity, say activists. Workers also reported discrimination in maternity benefits in both the Indian and Cambodian factories, said the study. Cambodian workers from 11 of the 12 factories reported either witnessing or experiencing termination of employment during pregnancy, while Indians from all five factories said women were fired during their pregnancies, said the study. "Permanent workers report being forced to take leave without pay for the period of their pregnancy," it said. "Contract, piece rate and casual workers reported that although most of the time they are reinstated in their jobs after pregnancy, they receive completely new contracts that cause them to lose seniority." H&M's Sundberg said solving all these issues was a long-term process which continues "step-by-step" and that the Swedish retailer was committed to improving labour rights in its supplying factories. "The continued presence of long-term, responsible buyers is vital to the future development of countries such as Cambodia and India, and we want to continue to contribute to increased improvements in these markets," said Sundberg. (Reporting by Nita Bhalla; Editing by Belinda Goldsmith.; 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) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. For months rape was the dubious distinction for India. Now, it has been joined by another sinister cousin. The cold blooded immensely senseless killing of an African teacher in Delhi's Vasant Kunj area only underscores our inner prejudice for colour and against it. These idiot people who beat him up did so because they felt they could do it and get away with it. The guy was blacker than them. Hence inferior.The system would understand. The same message that skinfair manufacturers and film stars who peddle these creams send out. Black deeds. Blackguards. Black money. Black people. Same difference. For racism it is tough to beat us. We have made it an art form. We club all Africans into drug dealers and this miscarriage of social justice was once spearheaded by a Minister of the Aam Aadmi party who entered the home of four Ugandan women without any warrant. The Gestapo is well, alive and living in Delhi, open the door. If I was African Id be scared to live in India. Racism spawns bigotry and prejudice. Indias historical fractures of caste, colour and creed, you and me, have gotten worse. We have even added the new dimension of reverse racism with the so called upper castes being outnumbered and often made to the pay for the arrogance of their flipping ancestors. North Indians look upon their fellow countrymen from the south with a conceit that is difficult to understand but it exists. Aryans and Dravidians play off against each other with a ball made of leathery contempt. Dont even touch religion, thats another dimension entirely. So much for our strength in diversity or is it unity? We have become so much more insular with technology when we should actually have been enlightened by it. We all gasp with agony and then shrug it off, it is just a story in the papers unless it happens too close to home. Then we scream a bit and carry on. Not even a fraction of a percent of 1.2 billion people cares enough for each such incident. Like with an aircraft that crashes, it is a series of little errors that create that firecracker string and lead to the crash. We have started our errors. Ill tell you a sad story. My friend married an Afro American nuclear physicist. But he did not tell his parents. When they saw her at the airport they reeled with shock. Mum got into bed and wailed. On the fourth day the couple left as the neighbours sniggered and they never came back. Yep, thats how crappy we are. That Congolese teacher didnt deserve this. No one does. Wake up to those errors, use the social platforms to talk about these things, that boys death is a lot more symptom of the illness in the body public than you wish to think. That cancer will spread. Tehran: Ahead of his maiden visit to energy-rich Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said enhancing connectivity, trade, investment and energy partnership will be his priority with the post-sanction Persian Gulf nation. Modi, who arrives here this evening, will hold talks with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and its President Hassan Rouhani to boost bilateral trade, energy and strategic ties. "Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority," he said in a series of tweets. After arrival in Tehran, he was scheduled to visit a local gurudwara. Modi said that his meetings with Rouhani and the Supreme Leader of Iran would provide an opportunity to advance "our strategic partnership". Rouhani will be hosting a lunch for him. "My meetings with President Rouhani and Hon'ble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership," he said. Noting that he looked forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar Agreement during his visit, the Prime Minister said, "India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region. Chabahar is a port in South-East Iran that will enable India to bypass Pakistan and open up a route to land-locked Afghanistan with which New Delhi has close security ties and economic interests. From Chabahar, the existing Iranian road network can link up to Zaranj in Afghanistan, about 883 kms from the port. The Zaranj-Delaram road constructed by India in 2009 can give access to Afghanistan's Garland Highway, setting up road access to four major cities in Afghanistan Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. Besides visiting the gurudwara, Modi will also inaugurate an International Conference on 'Retrospect and Prospect' of India-Iran relations. "I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today & tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani," he added. Besides signing a deal on development of Chabahar port, India is looking at doubling oil imports from Iran which a few years back was its second-biggest oil supplier, as well as getting rights to develop a giant gas field. Post-sanctions Iran has seen a flurry of diplomatic and business activity with leaders from China and Russia courting Tehran. Earlier, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had visited Tehran. Chabahar port, located in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province on Iran's southern coast, is of great strategic utility for India. It lies outside the Persian Gulf and is easily accessed from India's western coast. The port project will be the first overseas venture for an Indian state-owned port. India and Iran had in 2003 agreed to develop Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman outside the Strait of Hormuz, near Iran's border with Pakistan. But the project moved slowly because of western sanctions against Iran. The sanctions were lifted in January and since then, India has been pushing for conclusion of an agreement. About a fifth of the oil consumed worldwide each day passes through the Strait, a shipping choke point that separates the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean. Indian investment in phase-1 will be in excess of USD 200 million, including USD 150 million line of credit from Exim Bank, an agreement for which would also be signed during the visit. Besides signing of commercial contract for Chabahar Phase-1, Modi will witness signing of a trilateral agreement on transport and transit corridor among India, Afghanistan and Iran. The trilateral agreement is seen to significantly enhance prospects of India's connectivity with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond such as the North-South corridor. Modi and the Iranian president are also likely to review peace and stability in the region which faces several challenges, including terrorism and violent extremism, besides cyber crime and maritime security. On Sunday, the President of India Pranab Mukherjee appointed former cop Kiran Bedi as the lieutenant governor of Puducherry, reported The Hindu. She will take charge from the retired LG Ajay Kumar Singh. A Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said "the President has been pleased to appoint Ms Kiran Bedi, to be the Lt. Governor of Puducherry with effect from the date she assumes charges of her office." "I look forward to giving every bit of myself to the responsibility. I am there for the benefit of the country. I am here to give my best every day, each day. I am grateful for the government's decision. They trusted me," said Bedi. The 66-year-old was last in the news when she was contesting the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections on a BJP ticket. She was a high profile chief ministerial candidate in those elections, but she lost from the Krishna Nagar constituency. On Sunday, in an interview with NDTV, she professed her love for the administrative services and claimed she would make a very good lieutenant governor in Puducherry. She said, "This is going to give me plenty of work. I am so much at home. I love serving. Puducherry is a UT and in my days as an IPS officer, I was part of the UT cadre. But I never got a chance to serve there." Bedi joined the administrative services in 1972 and become the first female IPS officer in India. She has held various other posts such as deputy director general (narcotics) in the Narcotics Control Bureau, inspector general prisons of Tihar and deputy commissioner of Police West and North Delhi. In the Puducherry Assembly Elections which concluded on Thursday, Congress won 15 seats and its ally DMK won two. AINRC won eight seats and AIADMK won four seats. With inputs from PTI New Delhi: On Sunday, the CBI asked Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat to appear before the agency on 24 May in connection with a probe into the sting operation involving him. Rawat has been asked to appear on Tuesday, official sources said. The CBI had last week rejected the Uttarakhand government's notification withdrawing the case related to the sting operation. The agency had said the notification was rejected after taking legal opinion, which said there was no ground for its withdrawal and it was "not legally tenable". The CBI will continue its preliminary inquiry into the episode that allegedly involved horse trading attempts to save the Rawat government. CBI had registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) on 29 April to probe the "sting operation" purportedly showing Rawat offering bribes to rebel Congress lawmakers to support him during a floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly. The agency had summoned Rawat for examination for 9 May but he had sought more time after which he won the floor test and returned to power. Rawat has denied the allegation and called the video fake after it was released by the rebel Congress legislators but later admitted that he was on camera in the sting operation. After Rawat's victory in the floor test, the state cabinet met on 15 May and withdrew the notification recommending a CBI probe into a sting operation involving him. Instead, the state cabinet decided to constitute a Special Investigating Team to probe the case as it was a state subject. The case was handed over to the CBI when President's Rule was imposed in the state. The notification was withdrawn immediately after Rawat proved his majority in the Assembly and his government was restored. The Chief Minister had failed to get a reprieve from Uttarakhand High Court also which had refused to quash the ongoing CBI probe into the sting operation. On 20 May, Justice Sarvesh Kumar Gupta of the Uttarakhand High Court had said quashing the CBI probe into the sting CD at this stage was not possible. Dhaka: At least 24 people have been killed and over 100 others injured as cyclone Roanu battered Bangladesh's southern coast, triggering landslides, prompting authorities to evacuate about five lakh people. With a wind speed of up to 88 kilometres per hour, the cyclone hit the Barisal-Chittagong region, sending impacts across the country. Most places witnessed rain and thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty and squally wind on Saturday morning. "The death toll now stands at 24 with four more casualties reported overnight," Bangladesh's Disaster Management department's Director General Reaz Ahmed told PTI. 11 people including minor children were killed in the northwestern port city of Chittagong, which appeared to have suffered the worst in the cyclone, Ahmed said. The southwestern Bhola, northwestern Noakhali and Cox's Bazar coastal districts witnessed three deaths while the storm damaged 85,000 homesteads and business structures along the coastlines, he said. Several of the victims drowned in inflated waters caused by surges while landslides, collapse of houses and uprooted trees killed others, officials said. "The officer in charge of Banskhali (of Chittagong) police station reported that seven people were killed there alone... they were victims of drowning or landslides," a police officer stationed in the port city said. A disaster management ministry spokesman said some 500,000 people were evacuated to cyclone shelters though preparations have done to secure some 21,00,000 people. Meteorologists said the cyclone first hit the southwestern coast and then proceeded towards the southeast turning the sea very rough. The Shah Amanat International Airport, Chittagong suspended all of its flight operations due to Roanu. Experts said the casualty figures appeared less than it hit the coastlines in day time while the government ordered a massive evacuation campaign after the MeT office on Saturday turned its "local warning signals" to "danger signals" for all its four seaports, covering the entire coastlines. The main port of Chittagong, earlier, internally issued a "red alert" ordering ships to immediately leave the port and anchor in the outer anchorage for the safety of the facility and asked the lighterages to take shelter in river banks inside the mainland. Bangladesh is vulnerable to cyclones because of its location at the triangular shaped head of the Bay of Bengal, the sea-level geography of its coastal area and its high population density while two deadliest cyclones occurred in 1970 and 1991 claimed some 500,000 and almost 14,0000 lives respectively. Portugal has made a huge headway in clean energy. The nation consumed electricity only from renewable sources for more than four days, revealed ZERO - System Sustainable Land Association. The organisation, in collaboration with the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association (APREN), analysed data provided by the National Energy Network (REN), to come to the conclusion that between 6.45 am on 7 May, and 5.45 pm on 11 May, the country did not rely on any non-renewable energy source. According to a report by The World Economic Forum, Portugal was generating only 7.5 percent of its electricity from wind in 2013. In 2015, it increased its production to 22 percent, with clean energy sources like solar energy or wind energy contributing towards almost half of the nation's annual energy requirements. The landmark rise in temperatures around the world, is pushing more and more nations to adopt clean sources of energy. Germany too stepped up its game in this department when the country achieved another milestone in its goal to exit coal power before 2050. On 8 May, the solar, wind, hydro and biomass energy sources were supplying 87 percent of the total energy consumption. A Quartz report suggested that on that afternoon, these plants were supplying 55GW of the 63GW consumption owing to which the power prices went negative for several hours, meaning commercial customers were being paid to consume electricity. A document acquired by Reuters suggested that Germany generated more than a quarter of its electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar power in 2014. The document said the amount of energy produced by green sources should increase by around 75 percent by 2030. According to a report by The Guardian, in 2015, wind power alone met 42 percent of electricity demand in Denmark, 20 percent in Spain, 13 percent in Germany and 11 percent in the UK. In fact, in a historic turn, the amount of electricity generated from coal in the UK fell to zero several times in the first week of May 2016. This was the first time the country had been without electricity from coal, since 1882, according to the Carbon Brief website. The adoption of clean energy can be a huge step towards curbing global warming. Portugal is hopeful that if it can produce electricity through solar power in spring, then summer should provide it with a greater opportunity to do so. GETTY IMAGE In a slice of satiric life, people are calling Leonardo DiCaprio a hypocrite for being a vocal activist against global warming while using private jets to travel to environmental awards ceremonies. Whether the actor and activist being raked over the coals due to his hypocritical travel plans is up to your own personal morals. In order to traverse from France to New York City for a Riverkeeper event (which works towards keeping New Yorks rivers clean) and back to France, where he would accept an award at the amfARs Cinema Against Aids gala within 24 hours, it seems like this was necessary. Decadent, but necessary. Lets put this in perspective. Leonardo DiCaprio pledged $15 million to environmental causes at the World Economic Forum this year. In 2015, the Leonardo DiCaprio foundation pledged $15 million to support various activist organizations. In 2013, he gave $3 million to the World Wildlife Fund in order to aid the protection of endangered tigers in Nepal. After those $15 million donations, Leo sprinted towards his checkbook while shooting a squirt gun in the air to write Ecuador a $3.4 million check. So in the last 3 years, Leo has donated almost $40 million towards the environment and people in need, plus hes raised millions more through fundraisers and appearances. Our first big break came from a music major. A pianist, I think, who joined our team several months into the project. Within a matter of weeks, she had hit upon a method to make the Ss hold on to the correct attributes even when their parent A was changed. We had been paralyzed. The minute we tweaked one bit of logic, we realized wed fouled up another. But our music major moved freely. Instead of freezing up over the logical permutations behind each A and S, she found that these symbols put her in the mind of musical notes. As notes, they could be made to work in concert. They could be orchestrated. On a subsequent project, our problem was pointers. In programming language, a pointer is an object that refers to some master value stored elsewhere. This might sound straightforward, but pointers are like ghosts in the system. A single misdirected one can crash a program. Our pointer wizard was a philosophy major who had no trouble at all with the idea of a named thing being a transient stand-in for some other unseen Thing. For a Plato man, this was mothers milk. Ive worked in software for years and, time and again, Ive seen someone apply the arts to solve a problem of systems. The reason for this is simple. As a practice, software development is far more creative than algorithmic. The developer stands before her source code editor in the same way the author confronts the blank page. Theres an idea for what is to be created, and the (daunting) knowledge that there are a billion possible ways to go about it. To proceed, each relies on one part training to three parts creative intuition. They may also share a healthy impatience for the ways things have always been done and a generative desire to break conventions. When the module is finished or the pages complete, their quality is judged against many of the same standards: elegance, concision, cohesion; the discovery of symmetries where none were seen to exist. Yes, even beauty. To be sure, each craft also requires a command of the language and its rules of syntax. But these are only starting points. To say that more good developers will be produced by swapping the arts for engineering is like saying that to produce great writers, we should double down on sentence diagraming. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Continue reading the main story Here the technologists may cry foul, say Im misrepresenting the argument, that theyre not calling to avoid the humanities altogether, but only to replace them in undergraduate study. Let college be for science and engineering, with the humanities later. In tech speak, this is an argument for the humanities as plug-in. But if anything can be treated as a plug-in, its learning how to code. It took me 18 months to become proficient as a developer. This isnt to pretend software development is easy those were long months, and I never touched the heights of my truly gifted peers. But in my experience, programming lends itself to concentrated self-study in a way that, say, To the Lighthouse or Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction do not. To learn how to write code, you need a few good books. To enter the mind of an artist, you need a human guide. For folks like Mr. Khosla, such an approach is dangerous: If subjects like history and literature are focused on too early, it is easy for someone not to learn to think for themselves and not to question assumptions, conclusions, and expert philosophies. (Where some of these kill-the-humanities pieces are concerned, the strongest case for the liberal arts is made just in trying to read them.) Sign Up for the Opinion Today Newsletter Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, The Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world. How much better is the view of another Silicon Valley figure, who argued that technology alone is not enough its technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing. His name? Steve Jobs. Credit cards are one of Bank of America's (BAC 0.34%) most important product lines, yet they're rarely a center of conversation among analysts and commentators. Given this, I dug through the North Carolina-based bank's latest quarterly filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission to learn more about its credit card operations. What follows are three numbers that help put the extent of these operations in perspective. 1. Portfolio size The first number is $96.4 billion. That's the size of Bank of America's credit card portfolio. When you buy something on a Bank of America credit card, it records the purchase as a loan on its balance sheet. Its $96.4 billion portfolio is thus the cumulative amount of unpaid balances across all of its customers. This is a big number, even for a bank with $2.2 trillion in assets on its balance sheet. Outside of residential mortgages, it's Bank of America's second largest category of loans, accounting for 22% of its outstanding consumer loans. It's also a big number when you compare it to other banks. JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup both have larger portfolios, but Bank of America's is still three times the size of Wells Fargo's, the third-biggest U.S. bank by assets. 2. Unused credit commitments When you're talking about credit cards, the size of Bank of America's outstanding credit card portfolio is only half the issue. The other half concerns the size of its unused credit commitments. Let's say you have a Bank of America credit card with a $2,000 balance and a $10,000 limit. The $8,000 difference is an unused credit commitment -- Bank of America has made it available, you just haven't used it. If you add up the unused credit commitments of all Bank of America customers, it comes out to $378.6 billion. Another way to think about this is that Bank of America's customers have used an average of 20% of their available credit. 3. Credit card purchase volumes The final number I found interesting was $51.2 billion: This is the purchase volume of Bank of America's customers in the first three months of the year. It's the amount they spent on their cards during the first quarter. This is important not only for Bank of America, which generates interchange income every time its customers make a purchase with their cards, but also for the wider economy, as consumer expenditures account for roughly 70% of the nation's gross domestic product. It's worth noting, moreover, that this figure doesn't include the value of debit card transactions by Bank of America customers, which added up to $69.1 billion in the first quarter. On an annualized basis, this amounts to roughly half a trillion dollars' worth of consumer purchases, which adds up to almost 4% of all consumer purchases made in the United States on an annual basis. Much has been said about the firing of Lending Club (LC -1.94%) this month after the company's loan review process allowed a secondary market investor to buy loans that didn't meet the requirements of the purchase agreement. In this segment of The Motley Fool's Industry Focus podcast, host Gaby Lapera and bank analyst Jay Jenkins reveal the one strategic change online lenders should make to, believe it or not, do business a little bit more like you'd see at a high-performing, old-school bank like Wells Fargo (WFC 0.83%). Because if they don't and the industry continues to stumble, well-heeled banks that are currently nipping on their heels could drive them out of the market altogether. A transcript follows the video. This podcast was recorded on May 16, 2016. Gaby Lapera: There are some people who need access to loans but, you're right, they have low credit ratings or they have other risk factors associated with them. They can't get loans from a bank. A lot of these people turn to payday lenders, which a lot of the time, I'm going to say most of the time, are predatory lenders, right? They end up in much more debt than they with have otherwise. Jay Jenkins: That's right. Lapera: This could potentially present an avenue for these people, but the way it's being done now is just so risky. Jenkins: It absolutely is. I'm not smart enough to find the solution to this problem, but to me, there is an answer in online and in payday lending. I'll give you an example of a couple traditional banks doing it right. Wells Fargo has rolled out an online business application. Wells Fargo is the number one, by number of loans, SBA lender. SBA loans are government-guaranteed small business loans. The number two SBA lender is a small private bank in Wilmington, North Carolina. Both of those banks accept SBA applications online, the user experience is smooth, it's easy, it's intuitive. But in both those cases, it's not 100% automated. There is a human being that gets routed this information, all the stuff is verified, human eyes with human instinct and gut make a decision, and they can move forward on the loan. It's this nice balance where you get the benefits of online, the speed, the transparency, plus you get the benefits of a traditional risk management department who can protect deposit holders and protect investors from all these undue losses from perhaps unscrupulous borrowers who might try to do something shady. This article was updated on Dec. 13, 2016, and originally published on May 22, 2016. We all have healthcare needs, and as we get older, those needs tend to increase. That's why it's important to understand Medicare's many ins and outs. The basics Established in 1965, Medicare is a federal health insurance program that provides benefits to seniors and those with disabilities and certain illnesses. Medicare has several parts. Part A covers hospitals, nursing facilities, and home health services. Part B covers preventative services like doctor visits, diagnostic tests, and medical equipment. Part D covers prescription drugs, and Part C, also known as Medicare Advantage, offers its own additional benefits. While Part A is typically free, Parts B, C, and D come with premiums. Medicare eligibility If you're a U.S. citizen or have been a permanent legal resident for at least five years, your Medicare eligibility starts at age 65 provided you meet these requirements: You or your spouse worked enough years to be eligible for Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits. You or your spouse is a government employee or retiree who has not paid into Social Security but has paid Medicare taxes. Certain individuals under 65 are eligible for Medicare as well -- namely: Anyone who's permanently disabled and has received disability benefits for at least two years. Those with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Those with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). If you meet the necessary criteria, you can sign up for Medicare at the start of your initial enrollment period, which is a seven-month period that begins three months before your 65th birthday. Enrolling in Medicare Some people are enrolled in Medicare automatically, while others need to sign up. If you fall into the latter category and fail to sign up during your initial enrollment period, you may be hit with a penalty. If you miss your initial enrollment period, you'll be able to sign up during the general enrollment period, which runs from Jan. 1 to March 31 each year. You'll be enrolled into Medicare Parts A and B automatically if you're already receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits, in which case your Medicare benefits will kick in on the first day of the month you turn 65. If you're under 65 and disabled, you'll also be automatically enrolled in Parts A and B if you've gotten Social Security or Railroad Retirement disability benefits for 24 months. And if you have ALS, you'll start getting Parts A and B the month your disability benefits begin. Medicare costs Some people are under the impression that Medicare is free, but unfortunately, that's only a tiny bit true. Medicare Part A is free for most people in that the average enrollee doesn't have to pay a premium, but there are other out-of-pocket costs associated with Part A. For example, in 2017, Part A comes with a $1,316 deductible for each benefit period. As for Parts B, C, and D, be prepared to pay a premium. Most people's Part B premium is $134 per month in 2017, with a deductible of $183 per year. Once that deductible is met, enrollees usually pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for most covered services, like doctor visits. If you already receive Social Security, Railroad Retirement, or Civil Service benefits, you don't have to worry about paying your Part B premium -- it'll automatically get deducted from your benefit payment. Otherwise you can sign up for Medicare Easy Pay, which lets you automatically pay your monthly premiums from your bank. Now let's talk about Part C Medicare Advantage coverage. Part C is designed to offer the same basic coverage as standard Medicare, only through a network of private insurers. Depending on your plan, you might pay a lower monthly premium than you would for regular Medicare, and you may be eligible for additional benefits or coverage. Each Medicare Advantage plan comes at its own cost, but if you enroll, your maximum out-of-pocket limit for 2017 will be $6,700. Finally, there's Part D, the prescription drug plan. Your Part D premiums will depend heavily on your income level and the plan you choose. Among the plans with the highest enrollment in 2016, the average monthly premiums in 2017 range from $16.81 a month to $71.66 a month. Furthermore, your Part D deductible will be capped at $400 for 2017 . Clearly, Medicare is a pretty complex beast, so if you're planning to enroll, make sure to review the options available to you. Even if you're a few years away, it never hurts to read up on Medicare and learn more about how the program works. Arsenal 16-17 Home Kit The new Arsenal 16-17 Home Kit introduces a sleek design that draws inspiration from 1990s Arsenal jerseys. Made by Puma, the new Arsenal 2016-2017 Jersey was launched today. Fly Emirates once again serves as main sponsor on the front of the new Arsenal 2016-2017 Home Kit.This is the new Arsenal 2016-2017 Home Jersey.The new Arsenal 16-17 Home Kit features the traditional design of the Gunners. The new Arsenal 2016-2017 Jersey comes with a red body and white sleeves. A subtle tonal stripe is running down the middle of the shirt, inspired by Arsenal's kits of the 1990s.Arsenal's 2016-2017 Shirt features a unique constructed collar with navy trim. The design of collar is echoed by that of the sleeve cuffs of the new Arsenal Jersey, which are also white with navy trim. As always, the Fly Emirates logo on the front of the new Arsenal kit is white.The Arsenal 2016-2017 Home Kit is combined with white shorts and red socks, a renunciation from the club's traditional style.What's your verdict on the new Arsenal 2016-2017 Home Kit? Let us know in the comments below. Half of all cancer deaths could be avoided if people simply adopted a healthier lifestyle, a major study has found. If people stopped smoking, kept fit, slimmed down and had no more than a drink or two a day, cancer death rates would be slashed dramatically, Harvard scientists claim. Doctors have long warned unhealthy lifestyles increase the risk of cancer in later life. Yet just one in five women and one in four men follow the health advice, the researchers found. The stark findings are the first to put a figure on how many lives could be saved if people took responsibility for their own health. Scroll down for video +2 If people stopped smoking, kept fit, slimmed down and had no more than a drink or two a day, cancer death rates would be slashed dramatically, Harvard scientists claim Scientists at Harvard Medical School today announced their findings after examining the health records of 136,000 white Americans. They found cases of cancer would fall by 20 to 40 per cent, and deaths would drop by half, if the entire population adopted a healthy lifestyle. The team said this would be achieved by: * Quitting smoking, * Doing at least two and a half hours of moderate exercise a week * Consuming no more than one drink a day for women - or two for men * Keeping to a body mass index of between 18.5 and 27.5 - which for someone with a height of 56 means a weight of 8st3lb to 12st3lb. And if the entire population followed this well-publicised health advice: * Deaths for lung cancer would be slashed by 80 per cent * For bowel cancer by up to 30 per cent * Prostate cancer by 21 per cent * Breast cancer by 12 per cent The authors, writing in the journal JAMA Oncology, found falling short on even one of these lifestyle patterns was enough to raise cancer risk. They classified those who met all four criteria as low risk and everyone else as high risk. Alarmingly, they found just 18 per cent of women and 25 per cent of men ticked every box, enabling them to be classified as at low risk of cancer. Treatments for cancer have leaped forwards in recent years, with the best new drugs able to harness the bodys immune system and blast tumours, in some cases destroying them within weeks. But the research authors, who included doctors from Massachusetts General Hospital, said persuading people to improve their lifestyle could save more lives than any drug. +2 We should consume no more than one drink a day for women - or two for men World Cancer Research: Healthy diet helps prevent cancer Loaded : 0% Progress : 0% 0:00 Play Mute Current Time 0:00 / Duration Time 1:21 Fullscreen Need Text These findings reinforce the predominate importance of lifestyle factors in determining cancer risk, they wrote. Therefore, primary prevention should remain a priority for cancer control. British public health experts last night welcomed the findings. Dr Anne Mackie, deputy director of health and wellbeing at Public Health England, said: It is well known certain behaviours like drinking alcohol, smoking and being overweight can increase your risk of developing cancer. Cancer is not an inevitable part of aging and there are many simple steps you can take to reduce your risk of developing it. PHE recently launched the One You campaign to give adults in England the tools to help them make those changes. Make no mistake, driverless cars are on their way. By 2035, about 10% of all new light vehicles sold globally will be fully autonomous (as in, they can drive themselves around without any human interaction), and some estimates predict we'll see them much sooner. And while carmakers and technology companies are making a lot of progress in driverless autos, there's still plenty of time for investors to get in on one of the largest industry shifts in automotive history. NVIDIA , Alphabet's Google, NXP Semiconductors N.V. , Baidu and Tesla Motors are all companies that are making big strides in driverless car technology. Google's driverless head start Most investors are pretty familiar with Google's leadership in the driverless car space. The company's already logged over 1.5 million miles with its autonomous cars and has driverless prototypes on the the road in five states. It also has a huge lobbying presence and has advocated for looser driverless car laws to Congress. But the company's most important driverless car move came recently with its deal with Fiat Chrysler to use its autonomous car technology in 100 of Pacifica minivans. That marks Google's first official deal with an automaker to bring its driverless tech to the road. Advantages: Googlehas a clear first mover advantage and has been working on driverless car tech for years. It also has a massive amount of data on its users, and that could be very beneficial when autonomous cars become pervasive and start suggesting where we should go. Google has always used its data collection to serve up betteradvertisements, and knowing where we go and when we go there couldcertainly improve the company's targeted ads. Googlehas a clear first mover advantage and has been working on driverless car tech for years. It also has a massive amount of data on its users, and that could be very beneficial when autonomous cars become pervasive and start suggesting where we should go. Google has always used its data collection to serve up betteradvertisements, and knowing where we go and when we go there couldcertainly improve the company's targeted ads. Drawbacks: Any early revenue from Google's driverless technology isn't likely to effect the company's bottom line all that much. Alphabet's simply too big for sales of its driverless car technology to impact the company and we don't yet know if (or how much) it will charge automakers to use its technology. NVIDIA's artificially intelligent approach NVIDA is tackling driverless technology head on with what it does best: using powerful graphics processing units (GPUs) to fuel its technology. The company is already on its second generation of driverless car computing system, Drive PX 2, and 80 automakers and Tier 1 automotive suppliers are already using or testing the system. Drive PX 2 is essentially like adding an artificially intelligent (AI) supercomputer into the trunk of a driverless car, and one that can learn based on past experiences. To top it all off, the company also has a cloud-based supercomputer that Drive PX can link up with to create an even more powerful driverless car system for automakers. Advantages: It's impressive the company is already on its second-generation driverless system, but the real benefit could come from carmakers using the company's GPUs to run powerful AI driverless systems. NVIDIAcould drive sales of its GPUs, if itcan convince automakers to adopt its driverless technology. It's impressive the company is already on its second-generation driverless system, but the real benefit could come from carmakers using the company's GPUs to run powerful AI driverless systems. NVIDIAcould drive sales of its GPUs, if itcan convince automakers to adopt its driverless technology. Drawbacks: The Drive PX 2 computer isn't a complete driverless system, which means automakers have to fuse NVIDIA's driverless brains with components and sensors from other manufacturers. That's not all bad, but NXP Semiconductor just released an off-the-shelf system that does (see below). Also, the company only made about 6% of its total fiscal Q1 2017 revenue from automotive sales. It's growing this segment quickly, but revenue still trail far behind its core gaming business. NXP Semiconductors' box of driverless goodies NXP is already a leader in automotive technology and has shipped 30 million advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) processors to date. ADAS features server as the stepping stones to fully autonomous cars and NXP already supplies the processors to eight of the 10 largest automakers. But the company also just made a huge move into driverless technology with the recent release of its BlueBox system. BlueBox includes the processors, software, sensors, and other components for highly automated driverless cars (at an SAE Level 4), essentially allowing automakers to create a driverless car right off the shelf. Advantages: The company says BlueBox will help automakers release driverless cars by 2020. That time frame is critical to automakers as semi-autonomous and autonomous cars are quickly advancing. But the real advantage for NXP is that it is already the leading supplier of silicon to automotive companies (in part because of its recent purchase of Freescale Semiconductor). NXP earned 36% of its Q1 2016 revenue from the automotive market and its lead in the industry should benefit BlueBox sales to automakers. The company says BlueBox will help automakers release driverless cars by 2020. That time frame is critical to automakers as semi-autonomous and autonomous cars are quickly advancing. But the real advantage for NXP is that it is already the leading supplier of silicon to automotive companies (in part because of its recent purchase of Freescale Semiconductor). NXP earned 36% of its Q1 2016 revenue from the automotive market and its lead in the industry should benefit BlueBox sales to automakers. Drawbacks: NXP and its competitors could be hampered by U.S. regulation. The company's goal of helping automakers release driverless cars in just four years may be a bit ambitious. Overall, though, its driverless ambitions look very promising. Tesla's ambitious autonomous goals Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that his company will release a car that can be summoned by its owner all the way across the country and drive itself there to pick them up all on its own by 2018 (though he has also admitted that time frame may be a bit optimistic). In any case, Tesla's current Autopilot feature, which allows its vehicles to drive themselves on the highway, is one of the most advanced semi-autonomous features available right now. And its Summon feature allows its cars to enter or exit a garage and park themselves, all without the driver in the car. Advantages: Tesla's Autopilot is already one of the most advanced on the road, giving it a head start over other carmakers. The company does a great job of offering its customers a superior driving experience along with the option of letting the car drive itself -- and not many automakers can make that claim. Tesla's Autopilot is already one of the most advanced on the road, giving it a head start over other carmakers. The company does a great job of offering its customers a superior driving experience along with the option of letting the car drive itself -- and not many automakers can make that claim. Drawbacks: While Tesla's been quick to release new semi-autonomous features, it could be argued that it releases them too quickly. The company's summon feature has been released to the public despite the face that it's still in "beta" mode. The idea of releasing self-driving elements before they're perfectedcould be problematic in the long run. Baidu's tapping into China's desire for driverless autos The China-based tech giant has committed to bringing driverless car technology to China's public transportation system by 2018. The company's already tested its vehicles on Beijing's highways and its cars have merged into traffic and overtaken other vehicles on the highway all by themselves. It is also in the process of testing driverless autos on U.S. roads. And just recently, the Chinese city of Wuhu said it will allow Baidu's driverless vans and buses to roam around its city (unoccupied) as part of a fiver-year plan to test its autonomous driving technology. Advantages: The clearest advantage for Baidu is that the company has the support of the Chinese government and isn't as impeded by government regulation as companies in the U.S. That's allowing it to quickly expand its driverless car tests and why Wuhu will see driverless cars without occupants (something the U.S. strictly forbids) roaming its roads soon. The company also owns a substantial number of driverless car patents, which it could sell to other companies and earn royalties from. The clearest advantage for Baidu is that the company has the support of the Chinese government and isn't as impeded by government regulation as companies in the U.S. That's allowing it to quickly expand its driverless car tests and why Wuhu will see driverless cars without occupants (something the U.S. strictly forbids) roaming its roads soon. The company also owns a substantial number of driverless car patents, which it could sell to other companies and earn royalties from. Drawbacks: Like Google, Baidu's driverless car technology is just a very small piece of a larger tech puzzle. Any advancements right now aren't likely to add to the company's bottom line, and Baidu still doesn't have a clear vision for how it will make money from autonomous vehicles. Boston Consulting Group estimates that the driverless car market will be worth $42 billion by 2025, which means investors looking to make a move now will be doing so just before one of the most disruptive times in automotive history. The article 5 Stocks to Get Your Driverless Car Investments Up to Speed originally appeared on Fool.com. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Chris Neiger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Baidu, NVIDIA, NXP Semiconductors, and Tesla Motors. 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. Here's a fun fact if you haven't heard it before: 88% of Fortune 500 companies from 1955 were gone, merged, or contracted by the time the book was closed on 2015. Think about that. Only a meager 12% of companies survived those six decades because of mergers as well as pressure from innovative companies disrupting industries and markets. While your portfolio can succeed with only a few big winners over a long period of time, it's just as important to pick as few big losers as possible. With that said, two stocks to absolutely avoid, in my opinion, are Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and Office Depot. Wrong side of the trend Dr. Pepper Snapple has a few things investors love to see, including some widely recognized brands such as 7UP, A&W Root Beer, Sunkist and, of course, Dr. Pepper and Snapple. The company has also focused on improving its operations, and it very efficiently manages its inventory turns, which have helped improve its profitability despite a stagnant top line. Consider that Dr. Pepper Snapple's revenue has increased a meager 10% over the past eight years since its spinoff. That's not a compound annual growth rate you'll see investors leaping over one another to get their hands on. That stagnant revenue is a signal that the company finds itself battling changing consumer preferences. Image source: Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. As more and more consumers become health conscious, it's putting companies like Dr. Pepper Snapple on the wrong side of a trend that doesn't appear to be slowing down. Because of a more health-conscious U.S. consumer, soda consumption per capita has consistently declined over the past decade in the U.S. market. That's a bad thing when you consider that Dr. Pepper generates more than 80% of its revenue in the U.S., and its noncarbonated portfolio of drinks make up roughly 18% of the company's volume, according to Morningstar. Even worse, 12% of the company's 2015 sales were to one customer: Wal-Mart. Investors who deal with Wal-Mart, or have ever shopped there, understand the retail giant's pricing power, which limits Dr. Pepper Snapple's leverage and ability to increase prices and margins. Ultimately, while Dr. Pepper Snapple's operations are excellent, it faces so many headwinds that it's hard to imagine the company beating the market going forward -- despite having done so over the past decade. Consider that its growth is limited thanks to its No. 3 rank in the carbonated beverage industry -- behindPepsi Co. and Coca-Cola -- in a U.S. market that continues to drink less of said beverages, to boot. The retail struggle is real It hasn't been an enjoyable couple of weeks for Office Depot after a U.S. federal judge ordered the deal between the company and competitor Staples be temporarily halted because of antitrust concerns -- forcing the two companies to abandon the merger. That leaves Office Depot, fresh with $250 million from Staples thanks to the failed merger, working with Bain & Co. to conduct a strategic review of its business -- which is a fancy way of saying "please help -- save us." Office Depot was able to extend its asset-based credit line for five more years with the $1.2 billion line maturing in 2021. But none of that covers up how badly Office Depot needed this merger, and after the ruling hit the news feeds, the company's stock price abruptly plunged 40%. Office Depot's revenue declined by 10% in 2015, dropping from $16.1 billion to $14.5 billion, and that revenue figure is expected to sink by nearly another $1 billion in 2016 down to $13.6 billion. That pressure was felt on the bottom line last quarter as well, with the company's adjusted operating income dropping 15% compared to the prior year. Even worse for investors is that Office Depot carries more debt than rival Staples, despite being the smaller of the two companies, which will make it increasingly difficult to fund its turnaround ambitions. Not only that, but the fact is, demand for its office goods are simply in decline, and there's competition from not only Staples -- now that the merger has failed -- but online retailers such asAmazon. There's a fine line between being a value investor and catching a falling knife. That's how Office Depot appears to me: a falling knife to avoid as demand for its products remains weak and it maintains no clear strategy to take on its competition. Dr. Pepper Snapple, on the other hand, has continued to warrant a fair multiple for its stock price, but with growth stagnant and a business on the wrong side of the health-conscious movement, it doesn't seem like a future winner for investors. The article 2 Stocks to Avoid Like the Plague originally appeared on Fool.com. Daniel Miller has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. 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. In the first two months of 2016, shares of J.C. Penney surged from less than $7 to nearly $12 as investors started to believe in the company's turnaround. However, in the past few weeks, J.C. Penney stock has given up nearly all of these gains as many analysts and investors have panicked about widespread sales declines across the retail industry. J.C. Penney year-to-date stock performance. Data by YCharts. However, despite the tough sales climate for department stores, J.C. Penney's turnaround still appears to be on track. Let's take a look at three key ways that many analysts and investors are underestimating J.C. Penney's prospects. J.C. Penney can outperform peers Earlier this month, the New York Post published a rather alarming account of "emergency measures" taken by J.C. Penney to meet an "expense challenge" caused by slow sales. J.C. Penney's comparable-store sales did decline last quarter but only by 0.4%. That didn't stop J.C. Penney from increasing its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization by 63%, to $176 million. Moreover, the company maintained its full-year guidance for 3%-4% comp sales growth. By contrast, Macy's reported an ugly 5.6% comparable-store sales decline in Q1. Macy's proceeded to slash its guidance and now expects a 3%-4% decline in comp sales for the full year. It's clear that department stores and mall-based retailers are struggling, but J.C. Penney is dramatically outperforming rivals like Macy's. Every major retailer expects sales trends to improve as the year progresses. If that happens, J.C. Penney's sales should return to growth. Some analysts instead fear that J.C. Penney's sales will inevitably converge to the poor trends seen at Macy's and other department stores. However, even if apparel sales trends remain sluggish, J.C. Penney is pursuing growth in other categories, particularly home. The home department fared the worst when J.C. Penney's sales cratered during 2012 and 2013. The company now aims to grow home department sales by $750 million in the next couple of years. J.C. Penney is working to boost sales in its home department. One example of this focus is J.C. Penney's decision to begin large appliances in more than 500 stores. But it's also expanding its window treatments business and testing new partnerships with Empire Today and Ashley Furniture to sell flooring and furniture, respectively. Lower-margin categories won't hurt profitability J.C. Penney's aggressive move into the appliance business has given rise to another concern: that low-margin appliance sales will weigh on J.C. Penney's profitability. It's true that J.C. Penney expects gross margins in the appliance business to be lower than the company average. However, J.C. Penney found that the new appliance sections in its pilot stores generated 10 times the sales of the products they displaced on the selling floor. A section generating $10 million of sales at a 20% gross margin will produce five times as much gross profit as a section with $1 million of sales at a 40% gross margin. Thus, unless adding these appliance sections drives up operating expenses dramatically -- which doesn't appear to be the case -- they will bolster J.C. Penney's profit margin as well as its revenue. The debt load is manageable and declining A third concern among some investors is J.C. Penney's debt load. The company ended 2015 with $4.8 billion of debt, compared to $900 million of cash on hand. That's more debt than would be ideal. Still, J.C. Penney had $5.6 billion of debt at the end of 2013. The fact that it has been able to reduce its debt load when it was less profitable than it is today bodes well for its future debt reduction efforts. J.C. Penney plans to pay down another $400 million-$500 million of debt this year, using its free cash flow as well as the proceeds from the planned sale-leaseback of its home office. By the end of 2017, J.C. Penney expects to have cut its net debt to $3.1 billion. As free cash flow rises in the years ahead, J.C. Penney will be able to continue strengthening its balance sheet. This will make the company's stock less risky, which should improve its valuation. It will also have a direct positive impact on earnings by reducing J.C. Penney's interest expense, which has exceeded $400 million in each of the last two years. Still on track Despite its slight sales decline last quarter, J.C. Penney's turnaround remains on track. Sales trends rebounded near the end of Q1 and remained strong in the first two weeks of Q2, which suggests that J.C. Penney's management isn't being unrealistic by maintaining its guidance. J.C. Penney is in the early stages of a transformation almost as dramatic as the one it attempted four years ago. The difference is that under new CEO Marvin Ellison, everything is being tested rigorously before being implemented. That gives J.C. Penney very good odds of successfully reinventing itself this time around. With the stock down by a third since early March, I am strongly considering adding to my holdings of J.C. Penney. The article 3 Things Skeptics Don't Understand About J.C. Penney's Turnaround originally appeared on Fool.com. Adam Levine-Weinberg owns shares of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. and Macy's, Inc. 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. This year marks the 20th anniversary of marijuana receiving its first state-level approval, when California gave cannabis the green light with Proposition 215. Since that 1996 approval, cannabis has spread like a weed, gaining legalization into other states and giving both patients and consumers hope that they would soon have access to both medical and recreational marijuana. As we look at the marijuana industry today, a number of amazing facts and figures stand out. As objective observers, and investors, let's take a closer look at nine fast facts about marijuana, including one telling statistic. 1. 24 states have legalized medical marijuana Probably the most important fact regarding marijuana's expansion is that it's now legal in two dozen states -- nearly half of the union. The most recent approval came in mid-April when Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed a medical marijuana bill into law that had been passed back and forth between the state's House and Senate over the previous year. Pennsylvania's medical marijuana approval is also noteworthy because it was done entirely through the legislative process (i.e., without residents voting). 2. Four states have approved its recreational use Of the 24 states that have legalized marijuana, four states -- Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Alaska -- have approved the use of recreational marijuana for adults aged 21 and up. This is especially remarkable given that just a decade ago, only a third of the American public was in favor of legalizing marijuana. And as you'll see below, more states may be on the way. 3. 58% support for full nationwide legalization Based on the latest nationwide poll from Gallup, a whopping 58% of the American public now supports the full legalization of marijuana. This ties the all-time high for marijuana support in a Gallup poll, and it's up dramatically from two decades ago, when support for the substance stood at just 25%. 4. 84% support medical marijuana If you thought full legalization support was high, you haven't seen anything yet. Based on a CBS News poll conducted in April 2015, 84% of those surveyed wanted to see marijuana legalized for medicinal use nationwide. It's not hard to understand why, either, with companies like GW Pharmaceuticals showcasing the many uses of cannabinoids in early- and mid-stage clinical trials. For instance, GW Pharmaceuticals' Epidiolex helped reduced seizure frequency by more than 50% in two midstage studies for childhood-onset epilepsy in Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. 5. Three states are set to vote on marijuana in 2016 Marijuana may also be primed for its biggest year yet in terms of expansion. Three states are guaranteed to vote on marijuana initiatives come November -- medical marijuana in Florida, and recreational marijuana in Maine and Nevada. Meanwhile, signatures are still being collected, and ballot initiatives debated, in a bounty of other states. Expansion is viewed as the key to prompting Congress to take up the debate over rescheduling or decriminalizing marijuana on a national scale. 6. $135 million in taxes generated in Colorado alone Image source: Flickr user Cannabis Culture. State-level legalization of marijuana has led legal sales of the drug to explode higher. In Colorado, legal sales of marijuana totaled $996.2 million in 2015, allowing $135 million in taxes and license fees to flow into the state's coffers. A decent chunk of this tax revenue is being used to boost the state's education budget, along with law enforcement and drug abuse programs. Best of all, based on data released last week by the Colorado Department of Revenue, Colorado has sold $270 million worth of legal marijuana through the first three months of 2016. Although sales can be a bit lumpy on a month-to-month basis, Colorado is on pace to report around $1.1 billion in legal marijuana sales in 2016. 7. 30% compound annual growth rate through 2020 However, marijuana's growth isn't just a Colorado phenomenon. According to cannabis research firm ArcView Market Research, the legal marijuana market totaled $5.4 billion in sales in 2015, and it's on pace to grow to $6.7 billion in 2016. More importantly, ArcView believes the legal marijuana industry could grow at a compound annual rate of 30% through 2020. If this growth does indeed come to fruition, legal marijuana sales may total $22 billion by 2020. 8. 100,000 jobs created by cannabis if legalized In 1994, Dale Gieringer, Ph.D., of California NORML, extrapolated the job-creating capacity of the cannabis industry and determined that approximately 100,000 jobs could be created in the U.S. if marijuana were legalized nationwide. Things have changed a bit in the 22 years since this prognostication, and in Colorado alone, an estimated 10,000 new jobs have been created by the cannabis industry. In other words, 100,000 would likely be a very conservative estimate of the positive impact marijuana legalization could have on the U.S. labor market. 9. 59% won't try marijuana Image source: Flickr user Hobvias Sudoneighm. Now for that promised "telling statistic." Despite marijuana's growing approval on a national scale, a recent poll conducted by Fortune and Morning Consult showed that if marijuana were legalized in their state, nearly three in five people (59%) wouldn't try it. Another 35% said they were likely to try it, and 6% either had no opinion or didn't know. Of course, 35% still gives the cannabis industry a large market to work with. However, it's an eye-opener that while nearly three in five support marijuana legalization efforts, three in five people also have no desire to use marijuana. This last statistic is just another reason why I've questioned whether investing in marijuana stocks makes sense. Not only do a majority of Americans show no interest in trying marijuana, but marijuana businesses in general are struggling with a lack of access to basic banking services, such as checking accounts, which makes security and business expansion a major challenge. Marijuana businesses are also paying the price come tax time, given that they cannot take normal business deductions. Despite these eight great statistics, marijuana's most telling statistic should give investors all the more reason to stick to the sidelines. The article 9 Fast Facts About Marijuana, Including 1 Telling Statistic originally appeared on Fool.com. Sean Williamshas no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen nameTMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle@TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Vector Space Systems is testing its rockets. First commercial launch: 2018. Image source: Vector Space. America's new-space industry is suffocating -- but that's OK. Vector Space Systems is here to save it. A few days ago, I had the opportunity to talk over the future of spaceflight with Jim Cantrell, the original rocket scientist at Elon Musk's SpaceX. Cantrell has been working in the space industry for nigh on 30 years now, and for organizations as varied as StratSpace (a business development company assisting "new-space" start-ups), CNES (France's version of NASA), NASA (our version of NASA), and SpaceX itself. He helped Elon Musk set up SpaceX in 2002, and served as SpaceX's first VP of Business Development. Today, Cantrell helms an even newer space start-up that goes by the name Vector Space Systems. Introducing Vector Space Systems With the help of some other space industry veterans, Cantrell set up Vector just a few months ago to address two increasingly irksome problems in the business of space launch: Congestion, and cost. Currently, only a few large companies provide space launch services to commercial customers -- companies like Arianespace in Europe, or SpaceX, or Boeing and Lockheed Martin's United Launch Alliance here at home. Taken all together, and even including government-sponsored launches from Roskosmos in Russia, the combined might of all these companies is only enough to launch about 30 to 40 rockets into space annually. Worse for customers, the space on these launches is largely occupied by large companies launching large satellites, and paying $60 million, $80 million, or even $200 million (that's what Boeing and Lockheed are said to charge) for the privilege. When someone wants to launch a smaller satellite into orbit, or cannot come up with the eight-to-nine figure price of hiring a rocket, they must wait until extra space opens up on a larger satellite's launch, and hitch a ride as a "secondary payload." It can take three years or more for such secondary slots to open. (Case in point: Remember how I told you about the ultra-micro "CubeSats" that will go up on Boeing's Space Launch System in 2018? That article ran in early 2016. The CubeSats' makers are still waiting for their ride.) Vector Space Systems wants to solve this problem by opening up an entirely new class of space launches: Rockets built specifically to carry small nano- and microsatellites into orbit, produced in large quantities, and costing as little as $1.5 million (to as much as $2.5 million) per launch. Microsatellites, a class that includes "cube satellites," look just like you'd expect -- as small as four inches, cubed. A solution in search of a problem Why hasn't this been tried before? Mainly, because until recently, satellites cost too much to build, and too much to launch, to create much demand for microsatellite deliveries. Up until a couple years ago, it cost $2 million to $3 million just to buy the parts needed to build a micro-sized communications satellite. Prices have come down dramatically, though. Today, you can buy the parts needed to build a small, 50-pound satellite for as little as $25,000. (Some assembly required). This is spurring a huge increase in demand for microsatellite launches. Last year, 175 such microsatellites hitched rides aboard rockets carrying larger satellites into orbit. By 2020, Cantrell predicts that number to triple to 500 -- or more -- and make up 75% of all satellites heading into orbit. Of course, even a $25,000 satellite isn't much of a bargain if it costs $60 million or more to launch it. That's where Vector Space comes in with its design for a 36 feet tall, 1,500-pound rocket ship capable of lofting a 100-pound microsatellite into orbit 120 miles above Earth (or sending a 55-pound satellite up 240 miles). Priced at $2.5 million for a "we need this done yesterday" launch, and as cheap as $1.5 million for customers with more flexible schedules, Vector's prices are cheaper than anyone else offers. Cheap enough to make putting a satellite in space -- or blanketing the Earth with a whole constellation of small, low-cost satellites -- economical for the new wave of space-tech start-ups beginning to emerge. Start-ups like whom? Cantrell mentioned a couple of such up-and-comers who might be interested in a low-cost solution for putting microsatellites into orbit. PlanetiQ is working toward putting a constellation of 18 weather-monitoring satellites in low earth orbit. If it succeeds, the company says it will generate "more than 10 times the amount of data" currently provided by orbiting weather satellites, and vastly improve the quality of weather forecasting here on Earth. Another company, Planet Labs, already has 100 microsatellites in orbit -- and counting. Its mission is to put so many satellites up that they'll be able to produce daily images of every square foot of Earth's surface. Why? Much as we all love Google Earth, you've probably noticed that its images are blurry or clearly out of date. That's because at present, satellite coverage of the planet is spotty enough that some portions of the globe go as long as three months between new imagery being generated. Planet Labs wants to knock that number down to one refresh-per-day -- everywhere. And speaking of Google, you've probably heard that Alphabet invested $1 billion in SpaceX? Well, Alphabet made that investment as part of a plan to put 4,000 small communications satellites in orbit, permitting broadband Internet service to reach every location on Earth. Whether or not Alphabet and SpaceX proceed with project, this is exactly the kind of project that Vector Space can facilitate with its microsat-launching rockets. Vector Space Systems plans to start taking signing up customers in the next few months, and will begin launching satellites in early 2018. By 2019, the company expects to be fully operational, and launching a dozen rockets a year, ramping rapidly to 100 a year or more. Buckle up, investors. The future is now. Vector Space's prototype, the 1/3-scale P-19 rocket, is ready for liftoff. Image source:Vector Space. The article Got $25,000? Then You Can Build a Satellite -- and a SpaceX Cofounder Will Help You Launch It originally appeared on Fool.com. Fool contributorRich Smithdoes not own shares of, nor is he short, any company named above. You can find him onMotley Fool CAPS, publicly pontificating under the handleTMFDitty, where he's currently ranked No. 291 out of more than 75,000 rated members.Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares). 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. We all have healthcare needs, and as we get older, those needs tend to increase. That's why it's important to understand Medicare's many ins and outs. The basicsEstablished in 1965, Medicare is a federal health insurance program that provides benefits to seniors and those with disabilities and certain illnesses. Medicare has several parts. Part A covers hospitals, nursing facilities, and home health services. Part B covers preventative services like doctor visits, diagnostic tests, and medical equipment. Part D covers prescription drugs, and Part C, also known as Medicare Advantage, offers its own additional benefits. While Part A is typically free, Parts B, C, and D come with premiums. IMAGE SOURCE: PIXABAY. Medicare eligibilityIf you're a U.S. citizen or have been a permanent legal resident for at least five years, your Medicare eligibility starts at age 65 provided you meet these requirements: You or your spouse worked enough years to be eligible for Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits. You or your spouse is a government employee or retiree who has not paid into Social Security but has paid Medicare taxes. Certain individuals under 65 are eligible for Medicare as well -- namely: Anyone who's permanently disabled and has received disability benefits for at least two years. Those with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Those with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). If you meet the necessary criteria, you can sign up for Medicare at the start of your initial enrollment period, which is a seven-month period that begins three months before your 65th birthday. Enrolling in MedicareSome people are enrolled in Medicare automatically, while others need to sign up. If you fall into the latter category and fail to sign up during your initial enrollment period, you may be hit with a penalty. If you miss your initial enrollment period, you'll be able to sign up during the general enrollment period, which runs from Jan. 1 to March 31 each year. You'll be enrolled into Medicare Parts A and B automatically if you're already receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits, in which case your Medicare benefits will kick in on the first day of the month you turn 65. If you're under 65 and disabled, you'll also be automatically enrolled in Parts A and B if you've gotten Social Security or Railroad Retirement disability benefits for 24 months. And if you have ALS, you'll start getting Parts A and B the month your disability benefits begin. Medicare costsSome people are under the impression that Medicare is free, but unfortunately, that's only a tiny bit true. Medicare Part A is free for most people in that the average enrollee doesn't have to pay a premium, but there are other out-of-pocket costs associated with Part A. For example, this year, Part A comes with a $1,288 deductible for each benefit period. As for Parts B, C, and D, be prepared to pay a premium. Most people's Part B premium is $104.90 per month, with a deductible of $166 per year. Once that deductible is met, enrollees usually pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for most covered services, like doctor visits. If you already receive Social Security, Railroad Retirement, or Civil Service benefits, you don't have to worry about paying your Part B premium -- it'll automatically get deducted from your benefit payment. Otherwise you can sign up for Medicare Easy Pay, which lets you automatically pay your monthly premiums from your bank. IMAGE SOURCE: PIXABAY. Now let's talk about Part C Medicare Advantage coverage. Part C is designed to offer the same basic coverage as standard Medicare, only through a network of private insurers. Depending on your plan, you might pay a lower monthly premium than you would for regular Medicare, and you may be eligible for additional benefits or coverage. Each Medicare Advantage plan comes at its own cost, but if you enroll, your maximum out-of-pocket limit this year will be $6,700. Finally, there's Part D, the prescription drug plan. Your Part D premiums will depend heavily on your income level. If you're single and earn less than $85,000 ($170,000 for a couple filing jointly), you'll be responsible for the standard premium only. But if you earn more than $214,000 ($428,000 for a couple filing jointly), you'll pay $72.90 on top of your plan's premium. In addition, most Part D plans come with an annual deductible. For 2016, that deductible maxes out at $360. Once you meet your deductible, your plan will usually pay about 75% of your prescription costs. And no matter which plan you choose, this year, your out-of-pocket limit can't exceed $4,850. Clearly, Medicare is a pretty complex beast, so if you're planning to enroll, make sure to review the options available to you. Even if you're a few years away, it never hurts to read up on Medicare and learn more about how the program works. The article How Does Medicare Work? originally appeared on Fool.com. 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. In recent weeks, Apple stock has been buffeted by increasingly alarmist reports about the outlook for iPhone sales. iPhone sales have missed expectations this year. Image source: Apple. The iPhone 6s product cycle has already proven to be a disappointment. iPhone unit sales fell 16% year over year last quarter, and Apple's guidance for the current quarter implies that another double-digit decline is probably on the way. Now, some media outlets are suggesting that iPhone sales will continue to sink even after the iPhone 7 hits the market this fall. However, these reports -- which are based on supply chain leaks -- don't pass the sniff test. It's way too early for Apple's suppliers to know how many iPhones Apple expects to build this fall, let alone how many it will actually sell. iPhone fears reach a fever pitch Earlier this month, the Nikkei Asian Review reported that iPhone suppliers in Taiwan expect to get significantly fewer orders in the second half of 2016 than they got a year earlier. For chip foundry giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the article claimed that A10 processor shipments would be 20% to 30% lower than its A9 shipments last year. Moreover, TSMC is set to be the sole A10 supplier this year, whereas Samsung got some of Apple's chip orders last year. This would imply that Apple is expecting a massive decline in iPhone sales: on the order of a 40% to 50% drop. This simply isn't credible. First, even the struggling iPad product line has never posted a sales decline of that magnitude -- and iPhone upgrade demand is much more predictable. Second, Apple CEO Tim Cook was upbeat about the iPhone business on Apple's earnings call last month. He wouldn't have taken such a bullish tone if he expected sales to crash and burn later this year, as he will face a massive backlash if iPhone sales declines accelerate in the next few quarters. Instead, these reports seem to be a case of people reading too much into a limited slice of supply chain data. Cook has repeatedly warned analysts and reporters about the dangers of doing that. Nevertheless, some Wall Street analysts appear to be taking the Nikkei Asian Review report at face value. A brighter outlook Analog Devices' recent earnings report provides a more plausible explanation for what's going on here. Analog Devices, a major Apple supplier, reported that revenue fell 5% last quarter and expects a similar decline of about 5% this quarter. Analysts initially took this news as another sign that Apple is expecting weak demand for the iPhone 7. However, on Analog Devices' earnings call, CFO Dave Zinsner suggested that the projected decline has to do with the timing of Apple's chip orders. Analog Devices doesn't expect iPhone 7-related production to pick up until July, the last month of its fiscal third quarter. That means the peak demand from Apple will fall into the following quarter. More broadly, this suggests that other suppliers probably don't know Apple's true expectations around iPhone 7 demand. Furthermore, Apple itself doesn't know how much demand there will be. A lot will depend on how many iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users decide to upgrade this fall. iPhone 7 sales will depend heavily on how many iPhone 6 users upgrade. Image source: Apple. Apple probably wants to maintain as much flexibility on inventory as possible this year, given that demand hasn't lived up to its expectations in the past six months or so. In that context, it wouldn't be surprising if Apple starts with fewer orders than it did last year. It can then put in more orders after it has a chance to assess initial demand levels in September. Use your best judgment Supply chain data can be useful for assessing iPhone sales trends. It's an early indicator of short-term demand fluctuations, albeit an imprecise signal. Supply chain rumors did correctly forecast the current iPhone sales slump. However, supply chain rumors aren't likely to produce good predictions of longer-term iPhone sales trends. The recent Nikkei Asian Review report projecting a massive sales decline will likely go down as one of the more egregious examples of this problem. The article iPhone 7 Worries Have Been Blown Way Out of Proportion originally appeared on Fool.com. Adam Levine-Weinberg is long January 2017 $85 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple and is long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on 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. Lawrenceville, New Jersey (CNN) When Donald Trump stepped on stage Thursday night, the event had all the makings of a normal Trump rally, but the podium read "New Jersey" instead of "Trump." That's because the presumptive Republican nominee was raising money here for his former rival-turned-supporter Chris Christie. "So you know Chris paid off his entire campaign debt tonight," Trump said. The billionaire businessman also had a little fun with the New Jersey governor. As usual, Trump was lamenting Nabisco's decision to move jobs to Mexico, and he declared that he's not eating Oreos anymore. He then pointed to Christie and asked, "You're not eating Oreos anymore, are you?" "No more Oreos for either of us, Chris. Don't feel bad," Trump said, as the crowd awkwardly laughed. Since endorsing Trump this spring, Christie has taken on a significant role in the campaign. He has appeared with the candidate at election night events and was recently announced as the chairman of Trump's transition team. Thursday night's event, with a ticket price of $200, was held to retire Christie's remaining campaign debt from his White House bid. At the end of March, the New Jersey governor had about $250,000 in debt, according to financial reports. Trump also appeared at a smaller, private fundraiser for the New Jersey Republican Party that had a higher ticket price of $25,000. Trump got in on some of the New Jersey pride, which could be felt from the raucous audience. Though small, it was just as rowdy as any normal Trump rally. "There's nothing like New Jersey. Wiseguys, so many wiseguys," Trump said, commenting on what some of the men in the crowd were shouting about Trump's opponents. "Tell you what, if you can make it in New Jersey, you can do just about anything you want in life." He also threw in some tough-guy humor. "We are not going to be the stupid country anymore. We are viewed as the stupid country," he said. "We're like a big, big sloppy bully that gets punched in the face and goes down. You ever see a bully get knocked out? It's a terrible thing unless you're doing the punching -- then it's OK." Trump spoke just hours after Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton told CNN he was not "qualified" to run for president. Referencing the attack, Trump pointed to some of the scandals that have dogged her campaign and argued that it's an "absolute disgrace" that she's allowed to run for president. He also weighed in on the plane crash in the Mediterranean Sea, calling it a "terrible tragedy" and definitively saying it was an act of terror. He railed against Clinton for not using the term "radical Islamic terrorism." "She doesn't want to use that term, she refuses to use that term," he said. "I'm saying to myself, what just happened about 12 hours ago? A plane got blown out of the sky, and if anybody thinks it wasn't blown out of the sky, you're 100% wrong, folks." For his part, Christie defended his decision to back Trump, which he said "shocked" the world back in March. Christie was the first sitting governor and one of the first so-called establishment Republicans to endorse the candidate. "I know that New Jersey, on June 7, on primary day, with our votes and our delegates, are going to be the people who put him officially over the top as the Republican nominee," Christie said as he introduced Trump, with most of the New Jersey governor's family on stage behind him. There was one big story in solar last week: the potential divorce of the co-sponsors of 8point3 Energy Partners. I've covered that here, and will discuss it more in the coming week as I talk to those involved in making decisions about the future of the yieldco. But for my weekly recap, there was some interesting research that may have a big impact on solar stocks over the next year or two. And two tech giants may even make their mark on solar energy. Image source: SunPower. Big tech bets on microgrids Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are joining with investment firm Allotrope Partners to build a microgrid investment fund that will help bring electricity to developing regions around the world. Between 2018 and 2020, the fund expects to deploy around $50 million in India, Indonesia, and East Africa. Microgrids have an opportunity to transform the energy landscape in developing regions that don't have access to electricity. Transmission lines are expensive to buildout, but if solar and energy storage can be built cost effectively to serve communities it will be a big win for the industry. And partners like Facebook and Microsoft, which have a vested interest in getting electricity to people around the world, could help advance these efforts by financing needed capital investments. The U.K.'s solar growth National Grid (NYSE: NGG) came out with some interesting information last week, saying 2.4 GW of distributed solar was added in the U.K. between February 2016 and February 2017 and another 1.5 GW is expected in the next year. The U.K. isn't exactly a hotbed for solar activity, but it's growing as an important market. As more markets become multi-GW markets for the solar industry, there are more opportunities for businesses to fill niches in each region, and more stability as they're less dependent on a single market. So, while the U.K. may not seem like a big solar hotspot, it's a key place for distributed solar energy. Maybe 2017 won't be so bad after all A couple of months ago, I wrote that projections in the solar industry were that installations may fall from 74 GW in 2016 to 69 GW globally in 2017. Last week, GTM Research upped that estimate and said that they expect installations to grow to 85 GW this year. The driver of the increased projections is a new flood of Chinese installations in the first half of 2017 and India's solar market doubling in the past year alone. And as the cost of solar energy falls, the opportunity for the industry only grows. In fact, new projections from GTM Research suggest that solar energy could fall below 2 cents per kWh by the end of this year. That would truly be a game changer for the energy industry. 10 stocks we like better thanWal-MartWhen investing geniuses David and TomGardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter theyhave run for over a decade, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tomjust revealed what they believe are theten best stocksfor investors to buy right now... and Wal-Mart wasn't one of them! That's right -- theythink these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click hereto learn about these picks! *StockAdvisor returns as of April 3, 2017The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned. Teresa Kersten is an employee of LinkedIn and is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft. Travis Hoium owns shares of 8point3 Energy Partners and SunPower. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Facebook and National Grid. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. On Wednesday, Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) raised its dividend 33% and launched a new $2 billion share buyback program at its annual meeting in Chicago. Outside, hundreds of Southwest's pilots picketed the meeting. Pilots also picketed at Chicago's Midway Airport, where Southwest Airlines is the dominant carrier. The pilots are frustrated by the fact that they still haven't reached a new contract deal with Southwest, four years after the previous contract became amendable. Southwest Airlines pilots want raises totaling 33% by late 2019. Image source: The Motley Fool. Southwest's pilots aren't alone, either. Pilots at Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) and Hawaiian Holdings (NASDAQ:HA) have also become increasingly militant this year in their quests to gain higher pay and other work rule improvements. Southwest pilots want a big raise Last fall, Southwest Airlines' pilots rejected a tentative contract agreement that would have raised their base pay by more than 17%. 62% of the pilots who participated voted against the deal. One of their biggest complaints was language that would have given Southwest more flexibility to partner with other airlines (and thus potentially "outsource" some flying). In March, the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association (SWAPA) released their own contract proposal. Some of the key requests were better work rules, a significantly improved retirement plan, and bigger raises. The SWAPA proposal calls for an immediate 18% jump in pay rates upon ratification and a total increase of 33% above current levels by October 1, 2019. This would raise the top-of-scale wage (for a 12-year captain) to $289.44/hour, up from $218.06/hour today. SWAPA also wants 4% annual raises indefinitely beyond 2020, in case the next round of contract negotiations also drags on for many years. For comparison, the highest wage for pilots flying similar planes at other airlines in the U.S. is $245.80/hour today (at United Continental), with more increases set for the next few years. Big demands are the new normal The Southwest Airlines pilots' demands may seem steep, but big demands have become the new normal in pilot contract negotiations. Delta Air Lines' pilots recently called for an immediate 22% pay increase and a total base pay increase of 39.7% by 2018 -- while keeping their very generous profit-sharing formula. This would raise the top-of-scale wage rate for Delta's 737 pilots to more than $300/hour by 2018. Delta's pilots have demanded even higher raises than the Southwest pilots. Image source: The Motley Fool. Meanwhile, Hawaiian Airlines pilots -- who are starting from lower pay rates today -- are demanding a 52% increase in total compensation, according to the airline. The pilots say they should be paid the same as pilots flying similar planes at Hawaiian Holdings' larger competitors. Can airlines afford these raises? Pilots are negotiating for big wage increases at an auspicious time, as most airlines (including Southwest, Delta, and Hawaiian) are raking in record profits. Nevertheless, negotiations have been tense. Airline management teams are wary of giving away too much, as looming oil price increases and falling industry unit revenue could start to erode their profit margins in the next couple of years. Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly has stated that he is willing to give pilots a big pay increase. However, he said the new contract would need to provide the company significant productivity improvements to ensure that Southwest remains a low-cost producer. SWAPA counters that while its proposal would add $508 million to Southwest's costs in 2017, that's less than the amount Southwest lost on bad fuel hedges last year. It's also about equal to the annual windfall Southwest is getting from its new co-branded credit card agreement. The implication is that pilots shouldn't have to offer major concessions in return for pay increases. In the end, Southwest will probably get some productivity benefits. And with operating income of $4 billion last year -- which is expected to rise by double-digits in 2016 -- Southwest can absorb the hit to earnings from a big step-up in pilot pay. Delta Air Lines is similarly positioned. One independent analysis has pegged the annual cost of its pilots' contract proposal at roughly $750 million by 2018. Delta's recently updated financial goals imply that it will generate over $7 billion of annual operating income for the next several years. Hawaiian Holdings faces the biggest pay increase demands, and it is also the least able to afford those costs. The company says that the pilots' demands would cost $74 million in the first year of the new contract. Analysts' 2016 earnings estimates imply that Hawaiian's operating income might be about $450 million this year. Still, it's impressive that even Hawaiian Holdings would be able to meet its pilots' maximum demands while remaining quite profitable. This suggests that airlines and their pilots will eventually break through the current negotiating impasses -- thus rewarding pilots for their patience without hurting shareholders too much. The article Southwest Airlines Pilots Are Fed Up -- and They Aren't Alone originally appeared on Fool.com. Adam Levine-Weinberg owns shares of United Continental Holdings, Inc. and Hawaiian Holdings, Inc., and is long January 2017 $40 calls on Delta Air Lines, Inc. and short October 2016 $50 calls on Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. 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. Eva Longoria is a married woman! The 41-year-old actress married Jose "Pepe" Antonio Baston in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, a lakesisde town about 88 miles from Mexico City, on Saturday, according to local reports. WATCH: Eva Longoria Says She Was 'Laughing So Hard' During 'Memorable' Proposal The lavish event took place at a private home, with fireworks reportedly coming after the ceremony. Photos posted by the Telemundo news program "Al Rojo Vivo" show Longoria and Baston exchanging their vows in front of a giant cross under a canopy of white flowers. The "Telenovela" star can be seen wearing a white gown that appears strapless, as well as a long veil. The star-studded guest list was said to have included her BFF Victoria Beckham -- who was rumored to be creating Longoria's wedding dress -- and her husband, David Beckham. Longoria's "Desperate Housewives" co-star, Felicity Huffman, was also said to be in attendance, as were Penelope Cruz, Ricky Martin, Katy Perry, and "Prison Break" star Amaury Nolasco, according to People. Ahead of the nuptials, Longoria posted a number of gorgeous shots on Instagram regaling her stay in Mexico. The first was a stunning beach shot that she geo-tagged as Puerto Vallarta on Thursday... PHOTOS: Best Celebrity Wedding Dresses ...which was followed by a semi-blurry shot of a resort in Acapulco. You already know what to expect during pregnancy: weight gain, morning sickness and fatigue. But with all of the hormones and changes your body goes through, there are other pregnancy symptoms that might surprise you. And while they may be strange, theyre completely normal. Although its always a good idea to talk to your doctor first, rest assured these 10 common symptoms are nothing to worry about. 1. Excess vaginal discharge Leucorrhea, or an increase in vaginal discharge, is common and happens because of the hormonal changes that happen during pregnancy. The hormones cause the glands in the vagina to have an increased production of secretions which then manifests itself as leucorrhea, said Dr. Kelly Kasper, a board-certified OB-GYN at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis. Excess vaginal discharge can also occur as you near your due date because the cervix will begin to ripen, or become soft to prepare your body to give birth. Vaginal discharge thats white to light yellow is nothing to worry about, but if it becomes itchy or has an odor it could mean you have a yeast infection. Also, if the discharge is persistent and watery, it could mean youre leaking amniotic fluid, so call your doctor immediately. 2. Spotting Between 20 and 40 percent of women will have spotting during the first trimester and most of the time its simply because more blood is being pumped into the cervix. Spotting can also happen because of implantation bleeding when the embryo is implanted in the uterine lining, which happens between six and twelve days after fertilization. A small amount of light pink or brown blood is normal but if its bright red or its heavy like your period, call your physician. Bleeding could indicate placenta previa or a miscarriage but most of the time, its normal and will resolve itself. Dont freak about it because it happens a lot and most people are fine. But do take precautions and talk to your physician thats what theyre there for, said Jeanne Faulkner, a registered nurse in Portland, Ore., author of Common Sense Pregnancy: Navigating a Healthy Pregnancy and Birth for Mother and Baby and host of the Common Sense Pregnancy & Parenting podcast. 3. Bloody noses and bleeding gums The pregnancy hormones that increase the blood vessel supply throughout the body can also make the tissues in the nose and gums hypersensitive. As a result, you might have a bloody nose and notice that your gums bleed when you brush them or have a dental cleaning. Running a humidifier at night and using a saline nasal spray or gel can help keep your nasal passages moist. When you brush your teeth, use a soft bristle toothbrush and brush gently. 4. Skin tags Skin tags are small outpockets or excess skin growths that show up in the folds of the body like the neck, the underarms and the groin and usually develop between the fourth and six month of pregnancy. Although its unclear why they happen, it might be due to hormones and weight gain. There also seems to be a genetic component and they tend to happen more frequently with age. Sometimes they regress or fall off after pregnancy but most of the time, theyre markers of pregnancy and they tend to stay until your dermatologist snips it off or burns it off, said Dr. Doris Day, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City and author of Forget the Facelift: Turn Back the Clock with Dr. Days Revolutionary Four-Step Program for Ageless Skin. If you notice new or changing skin lesions or moles, however, tell your doctor at your next prenatal visit to make sure its not skin cancer, which is common but treatable during pregnancy. 5. Racing heart or a pumping sensation in the ear The increased blood volume means theres more blood for your heart to pump throughout your body, so your heart has to work harder. If you feel your heart beating harder or even hear the sound of your heart beating in your ear, know that its nothing to stress out about. 6. Varicose veins in the legs and the vulva As your blood volume increases and your uterus and baby grow, the pressure on the large blood vessels can make it difficult for the blood to circulate back to your lower extremities. As a result, the blood can pool and create varicose veins in your legs and even in your vulva, which happens in about 10 percent of women and can be quite uncomfortable. To prevent varicose veins, try not to gain more than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy and walk everyday to increase your circulation. Spandex pants and pregnancy compression hose can help varicose veins in your legs. After pregnancy, they may improve or get better. If they dont, there are many treatments available. If you have varicose veins in your vulva, you can still deliver vaginally and they will disappear after pregnancy. Meanwhile, ice packs can make them feel more comfortable now. 7. Dark nipples During pregnancy, its perfectly normal for your nipples and areolas (the area around your nipples) to become larger and darker. The change is a result of the increased blood volume but its also natures way to prepare your body for your baby. It creates the bullseye that makes it easier for the baby to latch on later, Faulkner said. 8. Numbness and tingling During pregnancy, the hormone relaxin, which helps to open up the pelvis to deliver your baby, can also make the rest of the joints in your body loose too. As a result, it can cause sciatica or pain that starts in the lower back and radiates down the legs. The two sacroiliac joints at the bottom of the spine can get loose and create a sensation of sciatica too, Kasper said. Although its almost always not a cause for concern and can be relieved with pregnancy massage or prenatal yoga, numbness and tingling sensations might mean you have a bulging or herniated disc in your lower back thats compressing the sciatic nerve. Left untreated, it could lead to permanent nerve damage so be sure to run it by your doctor at your next prenatal visit. 9. Pain in the wrist Swelling in the tissues of the wrists can compress the nerves and cause carpal tunnel syndrome. It usually shows up later on in pregnancy when swelling is more common and it can cause pain as well as numbness and tingling in the fingers. Carpal tunnel syndrome will resolve after delivery but a hand brace or splint can help to decrease the swelling. 10. Scary dreams Vivid, frightening dreams about your unborn baby or about your other children are perfectly normal and happen because you subconsciously want your baby to be healthy and safe. Its not a premonition that anything bad is going to happen, Kasper said. Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of pandering to the gun lobby in a speech to a conference Saturday, organized by the Trayvon Martin Foundation to help families of gun violence victims, warning the audience about a Trump presidency that would put more children at risk of violence and bigotry. Clinton spoke one day after presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said that she wants to abolish the Second Amendment. Donald Trump's gun policies are "not just way out there" but "dangerous" and would make America less safe, Hillary Clinton said Saturday. "This is someone running to be president of the United States of America a country facing a gun violence epidemic and he's talking about more guns in our schools, he's talking about more hatred and division in our streets," the likely Democratic presidential nominee said of her presumptive Republican rival. "That's no way to keep us safe." Clinton's criticism of the Trump came the day after he slammed her as "Heartless Hillary" for backing restrictions on gun ownership in a speech before the National Rifle Association convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Clinton and Trump are likely to meet in the general election. The conference was led by Sybrina Fulton, whose 17-year-old son, Trayvon Martin, was fatally shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in 2012. She has campaigned with Clinton during the Democratic presidential primaries. "The reason why I stand with her is because she first stood with me," Fulton said before introducing Clinton to more than 200 people packed inside a hotel banquet room. Queen Thompson Brown, a Miami mother whose son was the victim of gun violence in 2006 and who has mentored Fulton, said she and others do not want to take away guns from Americans but hope to "promote common sense gun laws." Clinton praised the courage of Fulton and others who had suffered the loss of loved ones to gun violence or while in police custody. "We have a moral obligation to protect our children no matter what zip code they live in," she said. "If you want to imagine what Trump's America will look like, picture more kids at risk of violence and bigotry, picture more anger and fear," she said. Clinton repeated her pledge to fight the powerful National Rifle Association lobby, saying "we will not be silenced, we will not be intimidated." The gun rights organization endorsed Trump, even though he had previously supported measures like an assault weapons ban that the NRA vigorously opposes. The group applauded Trump's call for ending "gun-free zones" across the country. Speaking at a National Rifle Association forum Friday in Louisville, Ky., Trump vowed to preserve Americans gun-ownership rights and warned that Clinton, if elected, could curtail such rights with her Supreme Court nominations. I would like for Hillary Clinton to put a list together also, Trump, who recently announced his list of potential nominees, said at the NRA Institute for Legislative Action forum. I want to see what the list consists of. It will be day and night. It wont be good for the people in this room and the country. Trump also won the endorsement of the NRA-ILA and said he has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Crooked Hillary is the most anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment candidate, he also said. She wants to take your guns away from you, just remember that. NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox, who announced the Trump endorsement said in a written statement: "The stakes in this year's presidential election could not be higher for gun owners. If Hillary Clinton gets the opportunity to replace Antonin Scalia with an anti-gun Supreme Court justice, we will lose the individual right to keep a gun in the home for self-defense. So the choice for gun owners in this election is clear. And that choice is Donald Trump. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Hillary Clinton on Sunday effectively dismissed her two remaining White House rivals, suggesting that shes better vetted and tested than Democratic primary opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders and that presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump is only pretend successful. I have been vetted and tested, the Democratic front-runner and former secretary of state said on NBCs Meet the Press. Clinton also suggested that the Vermont senator has not had a negative ad against him during the primary and said, I am going to be the nominee. Im in a much stronger position, and voters who have given me 3 million more votes think that as well. Clinton repeated what she has said in recent days, Were stronger together, a likely reference to the acrimony between the Clinton and Sanders campaigns and supporters, as Sanders keeps alive his longshot White House bid. Recalling how she stayed late into her failed 2008 primary race against now-President Obama, Clinton said that Sanders, campaigning hard this weekend in California ahead of the states June 7 primary, has every right to finish off his campaign however he chooses. She also appeared to dismiss Trumps business success, the centerpiece of which is his real estate holdings, in an apparent attempt to get him to release his tax returns. She compared him to business people who are really successful, instead of pretend successful. Clinton said Trump has to prove that he actually has the level of success he claims to have. On Sunday, Trump tweeted: "Hillary Clinton is not qualified to be president because her judgement has been proven to be so bad! Would be four more years of stupidity!" Clinton appeared uninterested in the Fox News Channel offer for her to debate Sanders before the delegate-rich California primary, saying she hasnt thought about it. Clinton also appeared to try to bring her party together by saying shes wiling to "take into account" what Sanders is asking for at the party's national convention in July. She said she would reach out to Sanders supporters and that she thinks Sanders will do his part to create party unity in the likely contest against Trump. Relatives of U.S. military members missing in Vietnam are urging President Obama to press Hanoi on the whereabouts of anyone who may have been killed or captured during the post-World War II conflict. Vietnam hopes that Obama will agree to lift an arms export embargo so it can better deal with China in the South China Sea dispute, while rights activists want him to hold to account a repressive one-party state seen as treating its critics abysmally during his visit on Monday. According to The Telegraph, some Americans believe there is still some unfinished business to take care of in discovering the unknown fates of more than 1,600 military members who never returned home from the Vietnam War. Relatives of those military members want Vietnams help in accounting for those who may have died after being shot down or died as a prisoner of war. Some others want Obama to seek answers as to whether Vietnam held Americans as prisoners of war after 1973 instead of releasing all the captives as the peace agreement called for. Hanoi has repeatedly insisted that it has provided Washington with its help in discovering the whereabouts of all of its missing personnel and denied that it held prisoners of war after the conflict was over. Just over 1,000 Americans have already been accounted for and had their remains returned, The Telegraph reported. Even though the last 591 American POWs returned to the U.S. in April 1973, there are still suspicions that the then-North Vietnamese retained some prisoners of war to leverage an aid package with President Richard Nixon that couldve enticed the end of the war. The theory states that the aid payment failed because of Nixons Watergate scandal and the North Vietnamese kept the prisoners. The theory continues as saying that some American prisoners of war are believed to have been killed or to provide military secrets in exchange for their lives under the Communist rule, according to The Telegraph. Speculation was also fueled by unconfirmed sightings of American POWs in Vietnam by a Vietnam expat and the findings of a 1993 Senate committee, headed by Secretary of State John Kerry. However, no real proof has ever been offered. We acknowledge that there is no proof that US POWs survived, but neither is there proof that all of those who did not return had died, it concluded. There is evidence, moreover, that indicates the possibility of survival, at least for a small number, after Operation Homecoming. Sen. John McCain, who was a prisoner of war captured by Vietnam, said he received full access to the Vietnamese records in the 1990s and didnt believe there were any surviving American POWs remaining in the Asian nation. Lt. Morgan Donahues plane was shot down over modern-day Laos in 1968 and has never been accounted for, his brother Jeffrey told The Telegraph. Jeffrey Donahue said he believes he was taken by the Vietnamese and was eliminated when they didnt receive their aid from the Nixon administration. The government says he is dead. But Im absolutely convinced he was still alive at the end of the war. I dont hold any hope that he is alive now. The prisoners of war issue may not be on the series of topics in Obamas visit to Hanoi. Hes expected to address the Communist nation on Chinas threat and the countrys civil rights issues. Ahead of Obama's visit, in what was seen as a goodwill gesture, Vietnam granted early release from prison to a prominent dissident Catholic priest. The Rev. Nguyen Van Ly has served several long terms in prison or been under house arrest for promoting political and religious freedoms. Both Washington and international rights groups criticize Vietnam for jailing people who peacefully express their views by using vaguely worded security laws. Hanoi says that only lawbreakers are punished. In March, seven bloggers and activists were sentenced for "abusing democratic freedoms" and "spreading anti-state propaganda." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from The Telegraph. US President Barack Obama is being urged to address the ongoing health impacts caused by Agent Orange when he visits Vietnam later this week. The US military sprayed around 12 million gallons of the toxic herbicide across the country during the war 40 years ago. It contained dioxin, one of the most poisonous chemicals ever known. Campaigners want the President to visit some of the tens of thousands of people over three generation that Vietnamese authorities say are still living with the effects of exposure to the herbicide. The US government already pays compensation to American veterans and their families, for numerous health problems linked to Agent Orange exposure. But US officials have consistently denied a connection between contact with the defoliant, which was used to destroy forest that provided cover for the Viet Cong, and similar health issues experienced by people in Vietnam. The President of the Da Nang Association for Victims of Agent Orange, Nguyen Thi Hien, said President Obama should visit one of the many victim centers around the country to understand the perceived injustice. "If you compensate US veterans it means you recognize and acknowledge that those who served in the war are Agent Orange victims, why can't you recognize justice for the victims here? We are all victims of the same thing - it's not fair" she said. The US has, however, been stepping up its assistance to Vietnam in recent years. The first phase of a multi-million dollar US-funded dioxin decontamination project at Da Nang airbase has now been completed, with around 45,000 cubic metres of soil cleaned through heat processing. Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam and US Ambassador Ted Osius both gave speeches at the ceremony praising the "comprehensive partnership" and "friendship" that now exists between the two countries. But when asked by Sky News whether the time had come for the US to explicitly address the health impacts of Agent Orange in Vietnam, Ambassador Osius ducked the question and hurried to his vehicle. There is an expectation that President Obama may announce funding for an even bigger decontamination project during his visit, likely at the Bien Hoa airbase outside Ho Chi Minh city, where Agent Orange was stored during the war. That will certainly be welcomed, but Vietnamese politicians have made clear there is more that could be done. "I would like to see President Obama make a firmer declaration about how Vietnam and the US can overcome the consequences of war. "We need that in order to close the door to the past and open a door to future cooperation" said Vietnam's Vice Minister of National Defence, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh. Click for more from Sky News. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders said hes throwing his support to the opponent of Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in her Florida primary contest Aug. 30 for her congressional seat. The Vermont senator said in an interview with CNN, which will be broadcast Sunday, he favors Tim Canova in Floridas 23rd congressional district, the Associated Press reported. Sanders has been feuding with the Democratic National Committee and Wasserman Schultz. "I'm so proud to know that Bernie Sanders favors our progressive campaign. Like Senator Sanders, I'm running a campaign that's truly backed by the people, not big corporations one that stands up to Wall Street interests instead of cozying up to them, Canovas campaign said in a statement. Sanders said in a pre-taped interview to be aired Sunday on the network that Canovas views are much closer to his views. Clearly I favor her opponent, he said. Sanders trails Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential race. But he said if he's elected president, "she would not be reappointed to be chair of the DNC." Wasserman Schultz said Saturday that she would remain neutral in the Democratic presidential race despite his endorsement of her primary opponent. "Even though Senator Sanders has endorsed my opponent, I remain, as I have been from the beginning, neutral in the presidential Democratic primary," she said. "I look forward to working together with him for Democratic victories in the fall." Sanders has accused the DNC and Wasserman Schultz of favoring Clinton. And he has criticized the party for scheduling debates on weekend nights, for having many closed primaries and for its superdelegate system that helped Clinton pad her lead. Fox News Lauren Blanchard and the Associated Press contributed to this report. A California lawyer reportedly is asking a federal judge to extend voter registration past the Monday deadline, alleging the states rules on the June 7 presidential primary is causing widespread confusion. The presidential contests are controlled by the states Democratic and Republican parties, unlike statewide primaries in which voters can choose any candidate regardless of their political party, according to The Los Angeles Times, which first reported the story. Democrats have opened their primary between front-runner Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to voters who have no political affiliation. However, the lawsuit alleges that elections officials in some of California's 58 counties aren't making that provision clear to unaffiliated voters. Supporters of Sanders, whose candidacy has been boosted in other states by independent voters, are focused on the state's so-called "no party preference" voters, considering they account for roughly one-quarter of the states registered electorate. According to the paper, Sanders volunteers were announcing to the crowd going into a campaign rally last week in Carson, Calif., that they had to be registered as either unaffiliated or a Democrat to vote. And those who were not were given step-by-step instructions about the process. The suit was filed Friday by Oakland civil rights attorney William Simpich, according to The Los Angeles Times. He said a judge should require state elections officials to conduct a broad public-awareness campaign about the voting rules before May 31, the deadline for requesting a ballot by mail. And he wants voter registration to be extended through the June 7 balloting. Clinton only needs about 90 of the 939 delegates still available in their partys remaining seven contests to clinch the nomination, with 475 of them at stake in California. The Republican Party did not open its California presidential primary, in which Donald Trump is running uncontested, to unaffiliated voters. Click here to read more from the Los Angeles Times: Dick Clark ProductionsThe Billboard Music Awards air Sunday night with a performances by Rihanna and appearances by Whiz Khalifa and Tyrese. Madonna also will deliver a tribute to Prince. But hosts Ludacris and Ciara say what makes the show different from other awards shows is it's focus. "Because its the people that vote," Ludacris tells ABC Radio. "You know, when it comes to the charts, every artist is constantly looking at the Billboard charts but this award show has been about the people, for the people, by the people for decades." But, explains Luda's co-host, the awards aren't just about popular personalities, because they're based on the actual Billboard charts. "Its a big part of what we do. You know, as artists, you know, like we look to the Billboard," Ciara says. "I remember my first song, 'Goodies,' being number one for eight weeks on the Billboard chart and it was pretty huge." The Weeknd is this year's leading nominee, with nods in 16 categories, while Drake and Fetty Wap have scored 10 nods each. The Billboard Music Awards air Sunday, May 22 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Genres : Horror Starring : Barbara Bouchet, Ugo Pagliai, Marina Malfatti, Anthony Steffen Director : Emilio Miraglia Plot Synopsis At the height of the Italian giallo boom in the early 1970s, scores of filmmakers turned their hand to crafting their own unique takes on these lurid murder-mystery thrillers. This limited edition double pack features two distinctive offerings by Emilio P. Miraglia, which meld twisty whodunit narratives with gothic chills. In The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, troubled aristocrat Alan Cunningham (Anthony Steffen, Django the B*stard), haunted by the death of his first wife Evelyn, tries to move on by marrying the seductive Gladys (Marina Malfatti, All the Colours of the Dark). Marital bliss is short-lived, however, as various relatives meet untimely and gruesome deaths, prompting speculation that a vengeful Evelyn has risen from the grave... Meanwhile, in The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, an age-old family curse hits sisters Kitty (Barbara Bouchet, Milano Calibro 9) and Franziska (Marina Malfatti) following the death of their grandfather Tobias (Rudolf Schundler, The Exorcist, Suspiria). Every hundred years, so the legend goes, the bloodthirsty Red Queen returns and claims seven fresh victims. Was Tobias just the first... and are Kitty and Franziska next? With both films making their worldwide Blu-ray debuts in stunning new 2K restorations, there has never been a better time to explore these little-seen giallo gems! Donald Trump suggested Sunday that he might have to sell a building from his real estate empire to finance a general election run, amid reports that wealthy GOP donors wont support his bid and Trumps repeated vows that the donor class wont control him. These are people who wont have access to the White House, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, told Fox News Fox and Friends Weekend. They want to have control over me. I dont want people telling me what to do. Trumps comments were in response to a New York Times story published Sunday that stated several GOP mega-donors wont support a Trump candidacy. (It follows a report by the newspaper several weeks ago that billionaire Republican donor Sheldon Adelson is willing to give Trump as much as $100 million for his presidential campaign -- a purported record-setting amount for the wealthy casino magnate.) Trump said Sunday that he financed his primary campaign with millions of his own money and small-dollar donations. He also said he has borrowed against his own assets and that he is working with Washington Republicans to raise money, but acknowledged the tremendous cost of a general election race. "To finance a billion dollars I would have to sell a building," he said. "Will I do that? I could. I have the option of doing it." In the phone interview, Trump also said he is heartened by recent polls showing him and Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton running neck-and-neck in a possible November matchup. A Washington Post/ABC News poll released Sunday showed voters favored Trump over Clinton 46-to-44 percent. Trump also appeared to criticize Clintons remarks Saturday night at the Trayvon Martin Foundation event, in which she suggested Trump, endorsed by the influential National Rifle Association, wants gun in classrooms. I dont want guns in classrooms, although in some cases teachers should have guns in classrooms, Trump said. Trump also suggested that he might get some Democratic cross-over votes from those who support Clinton challenger Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. A lot of Bernie Sanders voters, they dont like Hillary Clinton. They think shes crooked Hillary, he said. Just look at her record. Gun rights advocates are taking shots at a sign they claim is misleading at an Alabama government building, Fox6 News reported. Local guns rights group taking aim at #Northport city leaders over this sign on city hall. More at 9 #WBRC pic.twitter.com/7q3yxV0xZU Josh Gauntt (@joshg_TV) May 21, 2016 According to the station, the sign at Northport City Hall reads: Firearms Restricted. Pursuant to Alabama Code 13A-11-61.2." The sign also has an image of a gun, with the universal no sign. Critics of the sign, including Eddie Fulmer of the group Bama Carry, say the code only restricts guns during city council meetings, which are after business hours. Bama Carry wants city leaders to take down the sign, or make it clear to gun owners that there is not a firearms ban at city hall. "It's distasteful and I think this sign is spiritually and morally corrupt. Basically it conveys to an unknowing public who won't take the time to go look up the code that you can't bring a firearm into city hall," Fulmer told Fox6. Northport City Councilman Jay Logan says the city will look at the issue, and decide whether the wording on the signs should be made clearer. He added that the city is not trying to impede on citizens Second Amendment rights. Click for more from Fox6 News. An Illinois high school has come under fire after officials refused to let a graduate, who is also a U.S. Marine, walk across the stage Thursday in her blues. Marine Corps Pvt. Megan Howerton technically finished up her studies at McHenry West High School early in order to start her career as a Marine, WLS-TV reported. But when she returned to the school to join her classmates at graduation, she wasnt allowed to walk with her class. "Megan has always been very determined to do what's right, and I think she felt that the military was a calling for her," Grace Rodriguez, McHenry West graduate, told WLS-TV. The school said its decision to refuse Howerton to walk for graduation because she wore her blues instead of the traditional cap and gown. "The district and administration in no way looked to prevent the participation of this graduate or any graduate who has chosen to serve our nation, the school said in a statement. "Rather, the administration communicated in advance via letter, senior meeting, and practice, all the protocols expected of graduates, including attire. In some past cases, active-duty students elected to wear their gowns over top of their military uniforms, with their military hats, which was allowed. There was no communication to the administration that attire protocols would not be followed prior to the ceremony. The tradition of cap and gown regalia is aimed at the idea that our graduates are celebrated as a whole and in similar attire. According to the Northwest Herald, Howerton said in a statement released by the Corps that she was informed of the districts policy. "I do not want the controversy that is saturating social media, and I do not want to draw attention away from the class of 2016," Howerton stated. "That being said, it was my choice not to participate in the graduation." Nellie Weiss, a former student at McHenry West, told that the school starts its day by pledging allegiance, and when a student does pledge allegiance to her country wearing her dress blues she was just shot down. Cole Petty, a student at the school, defended the schools decision not to left Howerton walk. "Rules are rules, but just because she's in the military doesn't mean you can break them. The Marines stand for rules and order, so she should follow those rules and order since she's fighting for them, he said. Sgt. Trevon Peracca, the marketing and public affairs representative for Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Chicago said in a statement to the Northwest Herald that the Corps recognized there are guidelines for graduation dress code. "As high school graduations recognize the academic accomplishments of the class and the class's final chapter at that institution, the decision to allow individuals to wear uniforms during graduations is at the discretion of the school," Peracca said Colin Brennan, an active-duty Marine and McHenry West class of 2014 graduate, said in a letter posted on the school districts website that his dress code was the cap and gown because it wasnt a military event. "It is unfair to the district to be looked at so negatively by the entire community for following a rule," Brennan said. Click for more from WLS-TV. Click for more from Northwest Herald. The last American combat flag from the Vietnam War is being put up for auction. War hero Army Col. Chester Bailey McCoid took the large flag with him when he became the last ground force soldier to leave the South Vietnam port city of Da Nang on March 29, 1973, a month before the fall of Saigon, the Washington Examiner reports. The flag is being sold by the Maryland auctioneer Alexander Historical Auctions, according to the news outlet. The live and online auction of the flag and other historic mementos is slated for this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. The auction comes as President Obama arrived in Vietnam Sunday for a three-day visit aimed at boosting economic and defense ties with the former U.S. enemy. Bill Panagopulos, president of the auction house, called the flag a historic relic from a war which still stirs controversy at its very mention. He expects the flag will fetch at least $10,000 and as much as $50,000, according to the Examiner. The flag offered here is the flag taken by McCoid from his field headquarters in Da Nang following the final negotiating session of the war, Alexander notes in its online auction catalog. It measures 52 inches by 34 inches. McCoid's role in Da Nang was to carry out terms of the Paris Peace Accords signed two months earlier by President Richard Nixon. McCoid was 77 when he died in 2000 after a distinguished career in the Army as a combat infantryman. He joined the Army during World War II after lying about his age, the Examiner reported. He also served in the Korean War. The imprisoned U.S. Army private convicted of sending secret information to WikiLeaks in what is the biggest leak of classified documents in U.S. history has filed an appeal to have his 35-year prison sentence reduced to 10 years. Bradley Manning filed a 209-page appeal on Wednesday with the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals, calling his prison sentence grossly unfair and unprecedented. Manning, 28, who was arrested in 2010 and later convicted of violating the Espionage Act after admitting he handed over secret documents -- from the State Department and Defense Department -- to WikiLeaks, also claims in his appeal that no whistle-blower in American history has been sentenced this harshly. Manning's civilian attorney Vincent Ward said Manning, who now goes by the name Chelsea, was deprived of a fair court-martial because overzealous prosecutors confused the judge in their unsuccessful effort to convict Manning of aiding the enemy. "I think that that's apparent from some of the judge's rulings in the way that she interpreted the law on all of these legal issues," Ward said in a telephone interview. Manning was convicted of six Espionage Act violations and 14 other offenses for leaking more than 700,000 secret documents, plus some battlefield video. He is imprisoned at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Lt. Col. Jennifer Johnson, an Army spokeswoman at the Pentagon, declined to comment on the substance of the appeal. "As legal action is ongoing, we continue to maintain careful respect for the military-judicial process, the rights of the accused and ensuring the case's fairness and impartiality," she wrote in an email. A 209-page, unclassified version of the appeal was released a day after the documents were filed with the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals at Fort Belvoir, Va. It calls Manning's sentence "grossly unfair" and says the soldiers actions were those of a naive, troubled soldier who aimed to reveal the toll of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The appeal says Manning's disclosures harmed no one. At Manning's trial, prosecutors said the leaked material damaged U.S. security and put people's lives at risk by identifying informants who had helped U.S. forces. The request for a reversal of charges is based on the harsh conditions Manning endured during nine months in a Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Va. The trial judge, Col. Denise Lind, ruled it illegal pretrial punishment and subtracted 112 days from Manning's sentence as compensation. The appeal says Lind did not fully credit Manning "for the deplorable and inhumane conditions, which were tantamount to solitary confinement." The appeal notes that Manning pleaded guilty to lesser offenses that could have brought up to 20 years behind bars, yet the government chose to pursue the original, more serious charges. If the charges aren't reversed, the court should reduce Manning's confinement to 10 years, as Manning's defense team recommended, the document says. The document also challenges the constitutionality of the Espionage Act. A supporting document filed by the American Civil Liberties Union expands on those arguments, calling the act a "statute that allows the government to subject speakers and messages it dislikes to discriminatory prosecution." Michael Navarre, a former active-duty Navy lawyer now in private practice in Washington, said Manning's lawyers face a high hurdle in trying to persuade the court to reverse all charges as a remedy for unlawful pretrial punishment. They would have to show that Lind's decision was based on a clearly erroneous view of the facts or an incorrect interpretation of the law, he said. Navarre chuckled at the document's assertion that Lind made errors because she was confused by overzealous prosecutors. "I don't think it's likely any court of criminal appeals will reverse a case because an Army colonel was bullied by the prosecutors," he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Maine couple whose son vanished without a trace in 1977 is wondering who would have sent them a letter recently claiming to have knowledge of the disappearance. The unsigned letter has renewed police interest in the Bernard Bunny Ross Jr. missing persons case and dredged up old emotions for his parents, the Portland Press Herald reported Friday. Ross was 18 and living with his parents in Fort Kent when he disappeared May 12, 1977. He walked out of the house, distressed over suspicion that he had stolen a vehicle, later found abandoned on a dirt road, the paper reported. The letter postmarked in March was addressed to Carol Ross, 78, and her 80-year-old husband Bernard Ross Sr. at their home in Portland, according to the paper. The writer claimed knowledge of their sons disappearance and referenced a story that appeared in the Kennebec Journal. The article was about missing person cases and mentioned Bunny Ross, the Press Herald reported. The writer also suggested that another story about the Ross case should appear in the paper, prompting police to arrange for reporters to interview the Ross parents Friday. Ive never had anything like this happen in my career, Maine State Police Lt Troy Gardner told the paper. Basically, all were doing is extending an olive branch, saying we want to make contact with this person. Of course, theres no way of knowing whether the letters truthful or the information is accurate, but we are asking for whoever wrote the letter to please contact us. Carol Ross told the Press Herald the only calls theyve gotten after their son disappeared were from detectives around the country trying to identify a body. Weve had several calls, Carol Ross said. Youd get your hopes up, but of course it would turn out to be someone else. The Portland Public Schools board voted last week to ban any materials that cast doubt on climate change, the Portland Tribune reported. According to the resolution passed May 17, the school district must remove any textbooks and other materials that suggest climate change is not occurring or that says human beings are not responsible for it. A lot of the text materials are kind of thick with the language of doubt, and obviously the science says otherwise, said Bill Bigelow, a former Portland public school teacher who worked to present the resolution. Bigelow says textbook publishers are yielding to pressure from fossil fuels companies. We dont want kids in Portland learning material courtesy of the fossil fuel industry. One commenter to the Portland Tribune story responded to the news, saying, I have never seen a case for homeschooling more clearly put forward. This is further proof that public schools are not interested in education, only political indoctrination. A petition, meanwhile, circulated by the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (OISM) currently lists nearly 32,000 signers, including 9,000 Ph.D.s, who say, there is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth. Still, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says addressing the issue of global warming will help to improve public health, according to U.S. News & World Report. "I don't want people to think that EPA is just about big rules, or that climate change is just about polar bears," EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said. "It really is about direct public health issues like asthma and kids, like cardiovascular and pulmonary disease associated with air pollution." The Portland decision comes weeks after Yale University announced its climate change program will close at the end of June. The shuttering follows three consecutive years of budget cuts for the program, which was established eight years ago to conduct climate change research. The impending closure was announced in an email from the institutes co-directors, geology and geophysics professors David Bercovici and Jay Ague, and reported by the Yale Daily News. While not all good things have to come to an end, sometimes they just do, the email dated May 2 said. Franchise Players is Entrepreneurs Q&A interview column that puts the spotlight on franchisees. If youre a franchisee with advice and tips to share, email franchiseplayers@entrepreneur.com. Names: Marianne Conti Burt and Craig Burt Franchise: Wine Design, Cary, NC, and Apex, NC, a "paint and sip" franchise featuring chic, upbeat spaces with wine tasting and group (and children's) painting classes taught by local artists Number of years in business/Number of employees: 11 years/15 employees Initial Investment: $46,150 to $95,000; the Burts paid about $46,000 Back during the height of the recession, Marianne and Craig Burt -- both self-employed artists -- were hardly feeling financial stable. In fact they faced the possibility of losing their home. But, as fine artists who'd graduated from the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the couple had the skills, and the will, to get by. Marianne had taught art. And Craig had a retouching business, Revelation Imaging and Design, in which he'd worked with a top advertising agency and photographer in a mid-Atlantic state. But when the recession came, the two were down on their luck and facing financial ruin. Then, in 2010, Marianne got a response from a local artist job opening she'd spotted on Craigslist, teaching art two hours a week. And that was the couple's introduction to Harriet Mills, founder and CEO of Wine & Design, who wanted to turn her "paint and sip" business into a franchise system offering customers chic, upbeat spaces with wine tastings, and group and children's painting classes. Turns out that Mills and the Burts saw art -- and wine -- eye to eye and eventually became partners. "Although we didnt enter the business with the intent to franchise, we believed in the brand and its services so much, we wanted to be involved in the direction and growth of it," Marianne Burt recalled by email. She and her husband opened Wine & Design's first franchise, in Cary, NC, in 2011. "We were already in love with the brand and knew it was a perfect business concept at the perfect time in the economy," Burt writes. "Both being self-employed artists, opening up our own Wine & Design was an outlet for us to use our artistry and talents in a proven business model. Not to mention, the joy and satisfaction we brought to so many people, who thought they had no talent, was extremely rewarding. Related: Franchise Players: Go-Getter Franchisee on Opening a BYOB Painting and Wine Franchise "Its safe to say that this is a business that has staying power -- a lot like wine!" Burt adds, with a dash of humor. "Whether it be a glass or two of pinot grigio while painting Van Goghs Starry Night, or a sip of Cabernet Sauvignon while painting a photo of your puppy, there is nothing more enjoyable than a night of art class, drinks, food and friends." Something else the Burts enjoyed was the business' affordability. They spent about $20,000 apart from the $25,000 franchise fee. The money went toward tables, chairs, lease agreements, renovations, signage and town permits, etc. And what resulted was more than just a pretty place in which to to paint: Wine & Design provided an opportunity for community and creativity. "Friends and painting is what Wine & Design is all about," Burt says. "As the brand believes that sophistication shouldnt always come at a high price point, Wine & Design is affordable without sacrificing what makes it special." En route, the couple focused on making their business just as attractive to couples on a "date night" as to families with kids. They established five different divisions of programs and classes, with names like On Wheels, Team Building, Paint it Forward and Art Buzz Kids. For research, Marianne Burt says, she relied on her fine art degree and experience teaching advanced art students. But, aware that her Wine & Design customers were hardly at the level of BFA students, she and Craig pioneered teaching concepts for the new franchises. "I had to simplify my concept paintings and teaching skills to a more common ground so that anyone could paint as I guided them step-by-step through their two-hour journey with me," Burt says. Craig Burt, meanwhile, incorporated his expertise in photographic manipulation, introducing his concept of printing the outlines of photographs onto canvases, so customers could recreate and paint photos they cherish. Adds his wife: "Working together with Craig and knowing each others strengths, we brought all of our experience from the art and business realm to create the class structure, teaching techniques and production techniques that Wine & Design is known for." Of course it wasn't all easy. Unforeseen costs like new air conditioning, township permits and the need to find just the right flex-space to lease were some of the challenges the Burts faced. But, passion for pulling others into art, and for the business they were building, kept them going. "Customer service and a great product are your priorities," Marianne Burt says. "Your business will reflect your authenticity." Says Craig Burt, offering advice to other franchisees: "Love what you do. This is a customer service business. The joy and gratification comes from making people happy and giving them a sense of accomplishment. Done correctly, the business will grow and you will be rewarded financially and spiritually." Ten months ago, the couple open their second franchise, in Apex, NC., requiring not just additional money but additional creative thinking. En route, the Burts introduced the concept of tracing, teaching skills and techniques that has helped set a strong foundation for future franchise locations. For more information: Wine & Design Egypt's president said on Sunday a submarine belonging to his country's Oil Ministry was headed to the site of the crash of EgyptAir Flight-804 in the eastern Mediterranean to join the search for the cockpit voice and flight data recorders, commonly known as black boxes. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi also said Egypt was jointly investigating the Thursday crash with the French government. "It is very, very important to us to establish the circumstances that led to the crash of that aircraft," he said in comments broadcast live on Egyptian TV channels. He said the submarine, which has the capacity to operate at a depth of 3,000 meters below the surface, left for the site Sunday. He gave no further details. Making his first public comments since the crash of the Airbus A320 while en route from Paris to Cairo, el-Sissi says it "will take time" to determine the exact cause of the crash, which killed all 66 people on board. The announcement comes just one day after the first available audio from the doomed EgyptAir Flight 804 was released. The audio showed the pilot in normal contact with Swiss air traffic controllers as the flight continued on its course from Paris toward Cairo, hours before officials lost contact with the jet. The seemingly standard dialogue came to light hours after Egypt denied media reports the doomed jet's black boxes had been located. The new audio indicated that all was routine as the plane checked in with air traffic controllers in Zurich late Wednesday night, before being handed over to Italian air traffic controllers in Padua. Control: "EgyptAir804 contact Padova 1-2-0, decimal 7-2-5, good night." Pilot: "This is 0-7-2-5 Padova control. (Unintelligible) 8-0-4. Thank you so much. Good day, er, good night." The audio recording was taken from www.liveatc.net, a website that provides live air traffic control broadcasts from around the world. The communication occurred around midnight local time, about 2 hours before Greek air traffic controllers in Athens lost contact with EgyptAir Flight 804. A senior official at the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry refuted the reports as did a spokesman for Egypts military who said he had no information to share on the retrieval of the black boxes, or cockpit voice and flight data recorders. The statements came as French investigators announced Saturday that smoke was detected in multiple places on the ill-fated EgyptAir plane before it plummeted into the Mediterranean Sea. The Aviation Herald initially reported that sensors detected smoke in a lavatory, suggesting a fire onboard the aircraft before it went down. David Learmount, a noted aviation expert, told Fox News Friday that the data received from some satellites indicates that a fire couldve started in the avionics compartment of the plane which knocked out computers and control mechanisms on the flight. He said that wouldve caused the plane to crash. French officials didnt say what could have caused parts of Flight 804 to fill up with smoke. Spokesman Sebastien Barthe told the Associated Press the planes automatic detection system sent messages indicating smoke a few minutes before it disappeared from radar. He said the messages generally mean the start of a fire. "We are drawing no conclusions from this. Everything else is pure conjecture, Barthe added. According to The Wall Street Journal, sensors aboard the plane detected smoke in the lavatory on the aircrafts nose. The paper, citing someone familiar with the aircrafts data, reported the messages suggest there was damage to the right-side of the cockpit windows. Officials who have reviewed the data told the Journal that the broadcast information by itself is insufficient to determine whether the plane crashed because of a bomb or another cause. Rockwell Collins, a global aviation telecommunications provider, said late Friday it transmitted the messages over its networks to the carrier in real time. Learmount said the possibility of terrorism couldnt be ruled out. He said there were a couple other scenarios that could have caused the plane to crash. A terrorist got into the avionics compartment and placed a device that triggered the fire and alarm That all of these sensors were picking up smoke and then disablement following a bomb going off. That the fault in the avionics and the terror attack happened concurrently. An EgyptAir official confirmed Friday that wreckage of the missing plane was found, including body parts, luggage and passengers seats. The announcement came hours after a Greece official also reported evidence being found. "A short while ago we were briefed by the Egyptian authorities... on the discovery of a body part, a seat and baggage just south of where the aircraft signal was lost," Defense Minister Panos Kammenos told reporters in Athens, according to Reuters. The Cairo-bound Airbus 320 had left Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris late Wednesday night with 66 on board, and disappeared from radar as it neared its destination. A mile-long oil slick was identified from satellite images from the European Space Agency, which cautioned that there was no guarantee the slick was from the missing aircraft. The agency said the slick was about 25 miles southeast of the plane's last known location, and passed the information to relevant authorities late Thursday. The Egyptian presidency Friday expressed its "deep sadness and extreme regret" over the deaths of the passengers and crew members aboard the flight -- the first official recognition of the tragic crash. Egyptian army spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir wrote on his Facebook page that Egyptian jets and naval vessels participating in the search for the missing plane had found "personal belongings of the passengers and parts of the plane debris." No terror groups has taken credit for the disaster and authorities were going through the passenger manifest, crew members' backgrounds and airport staff for possible links to terror. Authorities said the plane swerved and spun wildly before plummeting into the sea. The Egyptian military said that no distress call was received from the pilot. In Paris, French authorities scoured Charles de Gaulle Airport, the country's main hub, for any sign of a security breach prior to the flight's departure. Reuters reported that investigators were interviewing officers who were on duty at the airport Wednesday night to determine whether they heard or saw anything suspicious. "We are in the early stages here," a police source told Reuters about the investigation. Flight 804 was carrying 56 passengers, including one child and two babies, three security staff and seven crew members, officials said. Egypt's aviation minister, Sharif Fathy, described those on board as including 15 French passengers, 30 Egyptians, one Briton, two Iraqis, one Kuwaiti, one Saudi, one Sudanese, one Chadian, one Portuguese, one Algerian and one Canadian. In Egypt, home to 30 of the victims, grieving families and friends wondered if their loved ones would ever be recovered. Many gathered in mosques for Salat al-Ghaib, or "prayers for the absent," held for the dead whose bodies have not been found. "This is what is ripping our hearts apart, when we think about it. When someone you love so much dies, at least you have a body to bury. But we have no body until now," said Sherif al-Metanawi, a childhood friend of the pilot, Mohammed Shoukair. Among those killed were Salah Abu Laban, his wife Sahar Qouidar, their son Ghassan Abu Laban and daughter-in-law Reem al-Sebaei The relative, Abdel-Rahman al-Nasry, told The Associated Press, "I ask God for forgiveness. This is very hard for the family." Magdi Badr, a family friend, said, "we pray for the victims." Fox News Greg Palkot and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Afghan authorities confirmed Sunday that the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour, was killed in a U.S. drone strike. The National Directorate of Security said in a statement that Mansour was killed at 3:45 p.m. local time Saturday. The Associated Press, citing a statement from the spy agency, said the attack took place in Baluchistan province, in southwestern Pakistan. "The attack happened on the main road while he was in his vehicle," the statement said. Mullah Abdul Rauf, a senior Taliban commander, told the Associated Press earlier Sunday that Mansour was indeed killed in the drone strike. A U.S. official told Fox News Saturday that Mansour was likely killed in the strike, while the White House is awaiting official confirmation of Mansours death before releasing their own statement about the strike. President Obama authorized the strike in a remote area along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Mansour was traveling in a vehicle when the strike occurred. It was carried out my multiple unmanned aircraft operated by U.S. Special Operations Forces. Officials said there was no collateral damage in the aftermath of the strike. The official told Fox News Mansour was killed in a vehicle. "Mansour killed American soldiers and thousands of Afghans. The world is a better place without him." Secretary of State John Kerry praised Mansours death while on a visit to Myanmar. He also spoke about Mansour in the past-tense, even though the White House hasnt officially confirmed Mansours death. "Mansour posed a continuing imminent threat to U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, Afghan civilians, Afghan security forces and members of Resolute Support," Kerry said. "Peace is what we want. Mansour was a threat to that effort." Kerry called for a post-Mansour Taliban to engage in serious peace negotiations with the Kabul government, saying, "It is time for Afghans to stop fighting and to start building a real future together." The official declined to say if Pakistan gave the US military permission to strike. Mansour was not listed on the State Department's Rewards for Justice list, a placement reserved for America's top enemies. However, there was a $10 million bounty on the head of previous Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who was pronounced dead by the Afghan government in 2015 and reportedly died in 2013 in Pakistan. Mullah Omar had sheltered Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan. The Taliban and Al Qaeda have "worked closely" at times, a US general tells Fox News. But, they are not categorized as a foreign terrorist organization as defined by the State Department. Members of Congress lauded the attack. One lawmaker said Mansour's death, if confirmed, would be a significant blow to the Taliban, though not be enough to allow the U.S. to disengage from a conflict that has involved thousands of U.S. troops for nearly 15 years. "We must remain vigilant and well-resourced in the field, and must continue to help create the conditions for a political solution," said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., said he was glad Mansour "has met his just end" but urged stepped up coalition attacks on the Taliban. "Our troops are in Afghanistan today for the same reason they deployed there in 2001 to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for global terrorists," McCain said. Mansour was chosen to take the helm of the Afghan Taliban last summer after Omar's death became public. Omar's longtime deputy, Mansour had actually been the Taliban's de facto leader for years, according to the Afghan government. His formal ascension was divisive in the Taliban, handing him the challenge of uniting a fractured but still lethal insurgency that has seen fighters desert for more extreme groups such as the Islamic State. The Taliban ruled Afghanistan according to a harsh interpretation of Islamic law until the group was toppled by a U.S.-led invasion following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Almost 15 years later, there are about 13,000 troops in the country from a U.S.-NATO coalition, including around 9,800 Americans. While they are mostly focused on training and helping Afghan government forces battle the insurgency, about 3,000 of them are conducting counterterrorism operations against the Taliban and the extremist groups Al Qaeda and Islamic State. They have increased their ranks by 20 percent since 2009, and have taken over Helmand Province. A bumper poppy crop and opium harvest there last month ensured the Taliban have renewed a major revenue source according to officials. Fox News Lucas Tomlinson and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Genres : Comedy, Drama Starring : Miles Chapin, Blanche Baker, David Marshall Grant Director : Willard Huyck Plot Synopsis French Postcards, directed by Willard Huyck (Best Defense) from a screenplay co-written by Huyck and Gloria Katz (American Graffiti) tells the story of a group of American students attending the Institute of French Studies for a one-year stay. The students include Joel (Miles Chapin, Man on the Moon), conflicted, by-the-book and searching for true romance; Alex (David Marshall Grant, The Devil Wears Prada), a carefree romantic who'll find love in the wrong place; and Laura (Blanche Baker, Sixteen Candles), the unofficial narrator of the group via her postcard writing to a never-seen boyfriend back in the States. Fellow students, friends and love interests include Debra Winger (Betrayed) as fellow student Melanie; Mandy Patinkin (Daniel) as Sayyid, Laura s dubious suitor; Valerie Quennessen (Summer Lovers) as Toni, Joel s French love interest; and Marie-France Pisier (The Other Side of Midnight) and Jean Rochefort (Ridicule) as the Tessiers, teachers at the Institute and in the case of Madame Tessier... much more. The Islamic State militant group on Saturday urged its supporters to intensify attacks against the West but didnt take responsibility for the disappearance of EgyptAir Flight 804. A 31-minute recorded statement, the first by a high-level Islamic State leader since late last year, came on the cusp of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in June and was a rallying cry for followers to continue fighting. Islamic militants consider Ramadan to be the most sacred period for acts of martyrdom. It is a month dedicated to personal sacrifice and fasting, and extremist groups such as Islamic State, al Qaeda and the Taliban rally their troops ahead of the month. Ramadan is upon us, the month of invasions and jihad... the month of conquests. So get ready and prepared. Be keen on spending it as a conqueror in the name of God, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, an Islamic State spokesman and senior leader, said in the statement that was posted on online. He implored supporters to make Ramadan a month of destruction on infidels everywhere, especially soldiers of infidels in Europe and the U.S. Supporters of Islamic State have been cheering the demise of EgyptAir Flight 804 on social media since the Airbus 320 aircraft came down in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday as it approached Egypts coastline on a flight from Paris. Sixty-six people were on board. Islamic States supporters had speculated on social media on Saturday that the militants statement would carry an admission of responsibility. The groups Egyptian affiliate Sinai Province had claimed the downing of a Russian passenger jet in October, which killed all 224 on board. But days after Flight 804s disappearance, there hasnt been a claim of responsibility for the crash. Egyptian authorities said the tragedy was more likely due to terrorism than a technical fault, and investigators claimed the plane sent a series of automated warning messages minutes before crashing, indicating smoke was detected in the aircrafts nose. If it is indeed terrorism and there isnt a claim, it could be because the organization wants to give the other cell members time to go to ground, said William McCants, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Islamic States Ramadan appeal will likely spawn an pickup in violence across the Mideast, where the extremist group has used its affiliates to fan out across the region, threatening countries from Egypt to Yemen. Click for more from The Wall Street Journal. Genres : Comedy, Blaxploitation Starring : Rudy Ray Moore Director : Rudy Ray Moore Plot Synopsis Dolemite (Rudy Ray Moore) is back and badder than ever in The Human Tornado! After being run out of town by a racist sheriff, Dolemite returns to LA only to discover that Queen Bee's (Lady Reed) club has been taken over by the mafia. On top of that they have also kidnapped two of Queen Bee's top girls! With the law hot on his tail, Dolemite rounds up the toughest Kung-Fu fighting badasses in Southern California to take on the mob, culminating in one of the craziest surprise endings in blaxploitation film history! Wilder and more over the top than its predecessor, The Human Tornado is a non-stop assault on the senses, combining comedy, action, horror, and jaw dropping weirdness, featuring supporting performances from Ernie Hudson, Jimmy Lynch and world karate champion Howard Jackson. Vinegar Syndrome proudly presents The Human Tornado on Blu-ray, restored from original 35mm vault elements. The teacher crisis is real, and were not going to work our way out of it simply by making it easier to hire teachers. Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. 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 major new glasshouse is opening in Essex following a two-year legal battle by growers to secure planning permission. The first phase of a 9.7ha expansion scheme was unveiled by Valley Grown Nurseries unveiled at Nazeing, near Harlow, on Friday (20 May). NFU president Meurig Raymond described the glasshouse as good news for British growers, the British public and the British economy. Self-sufficiency in the horticultural industry has fallen for a number of years, said Mr Raymond at the glasshouse opening. See also: Planning permission how farmers can get it right We now import four out of every five tomatoes eaten in this country, at a time when the public is actively seeking to buy quality British produce. There is tremendous scope to grow more salad crops to meet public demand, but modern agriculture and horticulture require investment in modern buildings and modern facilities, he added. Thats why this new development is so welcome. Scope for growth Lee Stiles, of the Lea Valley Growers Association, said developments such as the glasshouse would help ensure the area had a viable economic future. We have a great opportunity to grow more local food, reduce food imports and create local jobs through glasshouse expansion in the Lea Valley. The development represents the largest addition of glasshouses to the Lea Valley since the 1950s, with the new structures used for growing tomatoes and sweet peppers. Valley Grown Nurseries obtained planning permission in 2014 to construct the glasshouse within the Green Belt, but the decision was challenged by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority. The authority unsuccessfully took its case to the High Court and then the Court of Appeal. The NFU provided support to growers during the appeal process. Delighted at planning permission Jimmy Russo of Valley Grown Nurseries praised the union and the Lea Valley Growers Association for helping to make the expansion scheme possible. After several years of uncertainty, and huge financial costs, we are delighted that Epping Forest District Council has been fully justified in granting planning permission. Mr Russo added: It is great news that the challenge has been dismissed and we can now get on with growing fantastic food. Situated just north of London, the Lea Valley had the highest concentration of glasshouses in the world in the 1950s, but the growing area has since declined by about 80%. Today, there are 121ha of specialist glasshouses, where growers produce 80m cucumbers and 70m sweet peppers annually, as well as other salad crops. UFC 2016 Latest News: President Dana White Hosts Talk For Conor McGregor VS Nate Diaz Fight Fizzle A much awaited rematch between UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz may have hit a serious snag following reports that talks between UFC president Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta didnt quite end with everyone smiling. The meeting which took place Friday in Stockton, California was requested by Diaz via ESPN and everyone seemed okay. According to TMZ, things got a bit serious and the meeting ended uncannily with White reportedly storming out of the tavern upset. "Wasn't a good day," White said when asked about the meeting. The meeting happened just two days after White had sat down with McGregor in Los Angeles to set up a botched rematch which was originally set for UFC 200 this July. The main event got pulled when McGregor held out on promotional duties citing he wanted to focus on training rather than help out in the marketing aspect. With McGregor pulled, the UFC planned to offer Diaz a replacement fighter. Diaz was however only interested in fighting The Notorious and no one else. The reason behind the walk-out of White is still unclear though it may have something to do with the financial returns that Diaz would be getting. The 31-year-old fighter has made it known that he has not been given the proper credit for defeating McGregor at UFC 196, forcing the Irishman to submit in the second round. With the developments, the rematch between McGregor and Diaz remains uncertain. Had both parties come to terms, the rematch may have likely been one of the main cards for UFC 202 for August that will likely be held in Las Vegas. McGregor is expected to take home about $10 million in the rematch should it happen. Though it wasnt mentioned, it is likely that Diaz would want a little bit more than that considering he did defeat Whites golden goose. This is a story of reconciliation. The war with Japan in the Pacific was a necessary and mas Funeral for Niklas P. : Saying goodbye hand in hand Bad Godesberg Hundreds of people came to say goodbye to Niklas on Saturday in Bad Godesberg. The community mourned together. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken More than 700 people came to pay their last respects to Niklas P. in a moving funeral service followed by the burial in Bad Godesberg. Young Rapper Djaspora sang a song he composed Fur Niklas to begin the one and half hour funeral service. He sang, We mourn together, cry together, and take this difficult path together hand in hand. The service was held at Sankt Marien Church in Bad Godesberg on Saturday morning. For the family of Niklas, added to the tragedy of the youths untimely death was the fact that his father had died three years ago. Only the mother and the sister, Laura remain. Together, they released two white doves into the skies. The public had been invited to the service and their response was overwhelming. Many had to stand behind the full church pews or on the sides of the church. Numerous people had also gathered in front of the church. Two loudspeakers carried the funeral service to those standing outside. 17-year-old Niklas P. died a week ago after succumbing to injuries suffered in a brutal attack. Authorities have since arrested the main suspect in the attack, a 20-year-old man who remains in custody while investigations proceed. Police are still searching for two accomplices. Local politicians attended the funeral service and clergy from the Catholic church led the ceremony. The casket was white and covered with white Lily arrangements. Next to the casket was a large black and white picture of Niklas. Father Wolfgang Picken praised Niklas as a polite and fun-loving young man, One of his most prominent traits was his humor. Further, he emphasized We owe it to Niklas, that the City, our society and the Church do everything we can to make sure that something like this never happens again. Donations taken during the service were to be donated to organizations or projects involved in youth work. In finishing his homily, Father Picken asked what was on many peoples minds How is it possible that people living here in our society are capable of such an act? Why does it happen repeatedly that here in this part of the city, there is such brutal violence? He said it was the wish of the family of Niklas that we use his death as an impulse to work against violence amongst youth and work towards bringing all people and cultures together in Bad Godesberg. Mayor Ashok Sridharan said to the General Anzeiger, I promise you, this is something we dont need to be reminded of. In this month, they have already put together a roundtable discussion with representatives of the City, youth workers, schools, churches and police. Their goal is to find solutions to combat the violence. During the Our Father prayer, Rapper Djaspora asked everyone to join hands. People reached out beyond the pews to connect hands with everyone. After the funeral, a procession led to the Burgfriedhof cemetery. Cologne Auxiliary Bishop Ansgar Puff gave his blessings. At the end of the burial rites, the song Never forget you from Zara Larsson was played. It was the last song Niklas had posted on the evening of the brutal attack. The songs refrain: And in my heart I will always be sure, that I will never forget you. itel India unveils smartphones, affordable feature phones News oi -GizBot Bureau Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Transsion Holdings on Friday unveiled its flagship brand itel with three smartphones and three feature phones varients in India. The feature phones -- SmartSelfie, SmartPower and Shine series -- will be strategically priced below Rs.2,000 while smartphones SelfiePro, PowerPro and Wish series will be available at prices below Rs.10,000. Google's Project Ara Likely To Debut This Fall: Here are 5 reasons to be excited about it "In today's digitally-led world, mobile connectivity has become a necessity instead of a privilege. With the launch of these phones, we are providing Indian consumers with the perfect amalgamation of value plus and functionality," said Sudhir Kumar, CEO, itel India, in a statement. SmartSelfie will attempt to redefine the consumer expectation with front camera. SmartPower will be focused on a long-lasting battery and Shine series will have good looks. Similarly, smartphones will have SelfiePro focusing on better camera experience, PowerPro catering long-lasting battery and Wish series providing value with better looks. Best Metal-clad Beauties: Top 10 Full Metal Body Smartphones, priced Under Rs 15,000 The company will focus on rural and semi-urban consumers which have been "largely untapped by the incumbent mobile players". Source IANS Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications US Surveillance Plane Approaches Russian Border for 8th Time in 2 Weeks Sputnik News 17:49 21.05.2016(updated 21:33 21.05.2016) An United States Air Force RC-135 surveillance aircraft came perilously close to the Russian border over the Baltic Sea. The aircraft, with registration number 64-14844 and call sign JAMES12, took off from the Mildenhall airbase in Britain and flew to the southern part of the Baltic Sea. It was expected to stay in the area for two hours, Ruposters reported. This is the eighth time when a US surveillance aircraft has approached the Russian border near the Kaliningrad Region in the past two weeks. A day earlier, a Royal Air Force RC-135 was detected over the Baltic Sea. A week ago, another US Air Force RC-135 aircraft approached the Russian border, over the Baltic Sea. According to media reports, a Russian Su-27 jet was scrambled to intercept the plane. Late last month, Pentagon officials claimed that a Russian fighter jet Su-27 allegedly performed a "barrel roll" within 24 feet of a US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane. On April 28, Russian media reported that a Russian MiG-31 jet intercepted a US Boeing P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft near the city of Petropavlosk-Kamchatsky. In mid-April, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said all flights by airplanes from Russia's Aerospace Forces were completed in accordance with international norms. His comments came in response to statements that Russia had completed dangerous actions over the Baltic Sea. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Military Strikes Target ISIL in Iraq, Syria From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 21, 2016 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Attack, bomber, ground attack and remotely piloted aircraft conducted seven strikes in Syria: -- Near Raqqah, four strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL weapons cache and destroyed an ISIL oil pump-jack and an ISIL checkpoint. -- Near Ayn Isa, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position. -- Near Mara, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and three ISIL command and control nodes. Strikes in Iraq Bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 18 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government: -- Near Baghdadi, a strike destroyed an ISIL anti-air artillery piece. -- Near Huwayjah, a strike suppressed an ISIL mortar position. -- Near Fallujah, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL improvised explosive device cache, two ISIL staging areas and an ISIL excavator. -- Near Habbaniyah, a strike suppressed an ISIL mortar position. -- Near Kisik, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL-used bridge and four ISIL-used culverts. -- Near Mosul, four strikes struck four separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, two ISIL assembly areas, three ISIL vehicles, an ISIL supply cache, an ISIL weapons cache and an ISIL rocket rail. -- Near Qayyarah, two strikes struck an ISIL weapons cache and destroyed an ISIL mortar system. -- Near Rawah, a strike struck an ISIL staging area and an ISIL safe house. -- Near Sinjar, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL assembly area. -- Near Tal Afar, two strikes destroyed an ISIL vehicle storage area, two ISIL weapons caches, two ISIL command and control nodes, and an ISIL IED facilitation node. 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. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the 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, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Coast Guard mulling including Okinotori in annual patrol route ROC Central News Agency 2016/05/21 15:21:39 Taipei, May 21 (CNA) Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) vowed Saturday to continue its protection of Taiwanese fishermen's right to fish in a disputed area of the sea close to Okinotori, adding that it is mulling including the waters around the Japanese-held atoll in its annual patrol plan on the high seas. The CGA began patrolling the waters near Okinotori on May 1 to protect Taiwanese fishermen fishing there, after a Taiwan fishing boat, the "Tung Sheng Chi No. 16," was seized on April 25 by the Japanese coast guard while operating in waters some 150 nautical miles from the atoll. The boat and its crew were released on April 26 only after the owner paid 6 million Japanese yen (US$54,442) as a deposit demanded by the Japanese. The CGA said there is no plan to suspend the ongoing patrol around Okinotori, and will continue to keep two CGA vessels as well as a ship belonging to the Fishery Agency in the area. The CGA also said it could include the protection around the disputed waters into its annual patrol mission on the high seas after evaluating how its force will coordinate their patrols with fishermen. Japan claims a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone around the tiny atoll, but Taiwan argues that Okinotori is a reef rather than an island -- as Japan defines it -- and therefore is not entitled to anything more than a 500-meter "security zone" around it. Lee Chung-wei (), the first CGA director-general to have a career military background, is expected to hold meetings with CGA officials on May 23 and 26 to learn about the current situation. (By Liu Chien-pang and Lee Hsin-Yin) ENDITEM/cs NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Department of Defense Press Operations News Release No. NR-182-16 May 21, 2016 Readout of Secretary Carter's call with Japanese Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook provided the following readout: This morning, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter spoke by phone with his Japanese counterpart Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani. Secretary Carter conveyed his sadness and his regret over the murder of a young woman in Okinawa and extended his sincere apologies to the victim's family and friends. He also expressed his sympathies to the people of Japan. Secretary Carter told Minister Nakatani that the United States hopes the perpetrator of this crime will be held accountable under the Japanese legal system. Secretary Carter further pledged that the Department of Defense is determined to cooperate fully with the Government of Japan and local authorities regarding the investigation so that justice can be carried out. He said the department will do all it can to prevent incidents like this in the future. Despite this shocking and tragic incident, Secretary Carter and Minister Nakatani reaffirmed that the U.S.-Japan alliance remains steadfast and continues to serve as the cornerstone of peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region. They both said they look forward to discussing the security relationship when they meet next month during the upcoming Shangri-La Dialogue. http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/778250/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taliban leader 'likely killed' in US drone strike: US official Iran Press TV Sat May 21, 2016 9:27PM The United States has carried out a major operation against Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour and "likely killed" him, according to a US official. The drone strike was authorized by President Barack Obama, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Mansour was the target and was likely killed." The official said the strike occurred on Saturday in a remote area of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal. The strike also killed another adult militant as the two men were traveling in a vehicle, but no civilians were killed, the official claimed. A senior Obama administration official told CNN that it would likely take several days to get "physical confirmation" because of the remote location of the area. The official was speaking under the condition of anonymity. The first official added that several unmanned aircraft operated by US Special Operations forces participated in the operation. The US Department of Defense confirmed the drone strike but didn't say whether the Taliban leader was killed or not. "Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and coalition partners," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement issued on Saturday. "Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict," Cook added. Mansour assumed command of the Taliban on July 29 2015, following the death of its longtime leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, who purportedly died on April 23 2013 from tuberculosis. The Taliban revealed last summer that Omar had died. As the founder of the Taliban, Omar brought the militant group to power following the withdrawal of the Soviet forces from Afghanistan in the 1990s. He was ousted in 2001, when the United States and its allies invaded the country as part of Washington's so-called war on terror. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Venezuela completes first day of massive drills Iran Press TV Sat May 21, 2016 9:37AM Venezuela has completed the first day of two-day military drills across the entire country in what has been described as a preparatory measure against "external threats." Nearly 520,000 troops are reportedly taking part in the massive drills, code-named "Independence 2016," which began on Friday. "The military exercise is part of our country's annual military agenda and is one of our country's military strategies," said Edgar Zambrano, the chairman of the Venezuelan National Assembly's Committee on Security and Defense. "But the military exercise this year is a bit different in that the exercise is being carried out in all the states across the country this year instead of at a single location in previous years. And that's why this year's exercise has drawn so much attention," he added. The drills are said to be especially intended as a warning to Washington, which last year designated Venezuela a threat to its national security. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez has said, "This exercise should not cause any alarm in the country," explaining that Venezuela faces threats from domestic and foreign sources that seek to "undermine the revolution." Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30MK2 strike jets and other aircraft flew over various parts of Venezuela at the start of the drills. The two-day drills have been described as Venezuela's biggest-ever military exercises. They come as embattled President Nicolas Maduro faces an opposition drive to legally oust him. He is blamed for the acute economic meltdown in the country. Maduro has imposed a 60-day state of emergency nation-wide, granting extra powers to security forces to maintain order. The state of emergency has been rejected by the opposition-dominated National Assembly. Since 2014, Venezuela has been grappling with protests against Maduro, with the opposition vigorously pushing for a recall election. Opponents have been calling for his removal more vociferously since last December, when the opposition gained control of the National Assembly in legislative elections. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US to place military equipment in Vietnam: US officials Iran Press TV Sat May 21, 2016 5:23AM The US is in talks with Vietnam to place military equipment in the country for the first time since the end of the Vietnam War just over forty years ago, according to US officials. The US and Vietnamese governments have been discussing the use of Da Nang as a site to store military equipment that could purportedly be used to respond to natural disasters in the region. The coastal city, perched strategically on the South China Sea, is where US combat forces first arrived in Vietnam in 1965. The talks about pre-positioning equipment have more symbolic significance. The two former enemies share anxiety about a rising China, making them partners over the past two decades. Beijing, however, accuses Washington of meddling in the regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions in the South China Sea. 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. US President Barack Obama will arrive in Hanoi on Sunday for a three-day visit that will anoint Vietnam, a one-party communist state, as an essential part of his "pivot" towards Asia. The Obama administration had hoped to announce the end of an embargo on selling offensive weapons to Vietnam, which would be another symbolic step in normalizing relations, before Obama's visit. But the cautious nature of the military engagements between Washington and Hanoi, which include limits on the number of port visits and a stress on humanitarian missions, underlines the sensitivities that surround any US involvement in Vietnam. The US carried out an eight-year military intervention in the country from 1965-73. While Vietnam wants to work with the US to challenge China's expansive territorial claims on the South China Sea, it is concerned about irritating its powerful neighbor, a fellow Communist-run state with which Vietnam shares a complex set of security, trade and political ties. Hanoi has a complicated past with Beijing, which controlled much of northern Vietnam for centuries. "As a Communist party, the US and its values pose an existential threat to [Vietnam's] regime but China poses an existential threat to the future of Vietnam as a country," says Marvin Ott, a Southeast Asia expert at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. "They have 2000 years of dealing with a China problem and they are better at managing it than anyone else," Ott said. Across Southeast Asia, concerns about China and its growing military have created an opportunity for the US to improve relationships. In recent years, American aircraft and ships have returned to the Philippines for the first time in more than two decades, while US Marines have started training in Australia and new guidelines have allowed for closer cooperation with Japan. Vietnam has also requested US assistance, albeit at a slower pace. "Vietnam is going to be very cautious about not crossing red lines with China and the United States is going to respect that," said Patrick Cronin, Asia director at the Center for a New American Security. "We are not looking for any new bases." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Central Asian Referendum May 21, 2016 by Bruce Pannier Tajikistan is conducting a referendum on amendments to the constitution on May 22. As is typical of Central Asian referendums, the May 22 poll is mainly about the executive branch of power. Almost every referendum in Central Asia has been about the executive branch of power and with one very notable exception, these referendums are usually about giving the executive branch more power. Tajikistan's May 22 referendum concerns 41 proposed amendments to the constitution. The two most important would eliminate the term limit for incumbent President Emomali Rahmon and lower the age of eligibility to become president. By my count, there have been 15 referendums in Central Asia, excluding the first referendum all five countries conducted in 1991 to approve sovereignty as the collapse of the Soviet Union. Turkmenistan held the first referendum, in January 1994. The purpose was to approve a measure that extended President Saparmurat Niyazov's term in office until 2002. Niyazov won the 1992 presidential election. It would be the only election he ever ran in. In 1999 Niyazov was named leader for life and he stayed in office until he died in December 2006. His successor, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, is currently working on constitutional amendments that would strike the maximum age for being president (70 years old). There is no presidential term limit in Turkmenistan's constitution. It is unclear if the impending constitutional amendments will be put to a referendum or simply approved by the compliant government. After Turkmenistan's referendum, Uzbekistan conducted a referendum in March 1995 that prolonged President Islam Karimov's term in office until 2000. Next up -- Kazakhstan, where President Nursultan Nazarbaev had dissolved parliament in March 1995. In late April 1995, Kazakhstan conducted a referendum to prolong Nazarbaev's term in office until the end of 2000 (though he called a snap election for early 1999). A subsequent referendum in Kazakhstan in August 1995 removed some of parliament's powers and gave more power to the presidency. Kyrgyzstan conducted the first of its referendums in January 1994. The purpose was to bolster President Askar Akaev, who was facing fierce resistance from the country's parliament. The simple question people voted on was "Do you confirm that the president of Kyrgyzstan who was democratically elected on October 12, 1991, for five years is the president of the Kyrgyz Republic with the right to act as head of state during his term in office?" A referendum in October that same year made the unicameral parliament into a bicameral body and transferred some of parliament's powers to the executive branch. Referendums in February 1996, October 1998, and February 2003 served to further strengthen the office of the presidency and in the process so changed the constitution that it was decided Akaev's first two terms in office under the "old" constitution did not count and he was free to run for two more terms. Tajikistan took this same path. President Rahmon was selected at a very small event in northern Tajikistan in November 1992 to be speaker of parliament. The country was falling into civil war at the time and, after it had gone through several presidents in just a few months, the office of the presidency had been abolished. Speaker of parliament was therefore the highest post in Tajikistan. Rahmon was elected president on November 6, 1994. There were two votes that day -- one the presidential election, the other to approve a new constitution that reinstated the office of president. I've always wondered what would have happened if Rahmon won the election but the constitution was rejected and there was no office of president. Quite impossible of course, but it pointed to the orchestration of elections to come. Tajikistan's next referendum was in September 1999 and it was probably the most important referendum Tajikistan ever held. That one approved the legalization of religious political parties. It was necessary because the peace deal that ended Tajikistan's 1992-97 civil war stipulated that members of the opposition, the bulk of whom were from the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, would receive places in government. That referendum also approved lengthening the presidential term in office from five to seven years and later, on that basis, President Rahmon did the same thing Kyrgyz President Akaev did -- declare that the first two presidential elections did not count as part of the two-term limit. The last referendum in Tajikistan took place in June 2003 and changed a clause written into the constitution in 1999 that specified a one-term limit for the president, transforming that to a two-term limit. And on May 22 term limits for the "Leader of the Nation" (Rahmon) will be removed entirely. The minimum age of eligibility to be elected president will also drop from 35 to 30, which many interpret as a means for Rahmon to see his son Rustam Emomali, currently 29, become the next president. Uzbekistan conducted one more referendum in 2002 to prolong Karimov's term and change the length of a presidential term from five years to seven, as well as introducing a bicameral parliament. Karimov was, and technically still is, constitutionally bound to two terms in office. But when his second term expired in 2007 he simply ran again and Uzbek officials did not raise any objections. Uzbek officials remained quiet when Karimov was again reelected in 2015. Kyrgyzstan's referendum in June 2010 is the sole exception to the trend established by these previous referendums. That referendum approved a new constitution that transformed Kyrgyzstan from a presidential system of government to a parliamentary system. It also reversed some of the changes made in Kyrgyzstan's referendum of October 2007, which had further concentrated power in the hands of then-President Kurmanbek Bakiev. However, Tajikistan is taking the image of the Central Asian referendum back to its more traditional use on May 22. Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/qishloq-ovozi- central-asian-referendum/27749109.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taliban Suicide Bomber Hits NATO Convoy Near Kabul by Ayaz Gul May 21, 2016 The NATO-led military coalition in Afghanistan says a suicide bomber struck one of its vehicles north of Kabul Saturday, but caused no casualties to its personnel. The attack occurred in Bagram district, which hosts the largest U.S. military airbase in Afghanistan, some 55 kilometers from the Afghan capital. "Resolute Support can confirm that one coalition vehicle was struck by a personnel borne IED (improvised explosives device) this morning in the vicinity of Bagram. Despite Taliban claims and reports in the media, there were no injuries to coalition personnel involved," said a statement the NATO-led coalition released in Kabul. Earlier, a Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the suicide car bombing on a convoy of the "invaders," a references the Islamist insurgency uses for U.S. and allied forces. The spokesman claimed the attack inflicted "several casualties and damage to vehicles," though the Taliban often exaggerates details of such attacks. Saturday's bombing came a day after NATO foreign ministers and alliance partners agreed to extend beyond 2016 the Resolute Support mission, which is mandated to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces and institutions. The Taliban says its violent campaign will continue until the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan and implementation of an Islamic system in the country. Officers killed Separately, officials in the restive southern Uruzgan province say six Afghan police personnel were killed when their colleagues turned their guns on them at a security outpost early Saturday. The police chief for the Charghino district, the site of the violence, told reporters that three officers involved in the shooting have escaped taking weapons and vehicles with them. On Friday, an Afghan security guard at a U.N. compound in Kabul shot dead a Nepalese guard and wounded another. U.N. officials say the incident is under investigation. The Taliban often claims responsibility for such "insider" attacks, saying its loyalists have"infiltrated enemy ranks." Earlier in the week in the southern Zabul province, eight policemen were shot dead by a colleague. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility, saying the shooter was its member and managed to escape and return to insurgent ranks. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China is staunch force for peace, stability in South China Sea: ambassador People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 15:37, May 21, 2016 LONDON, May 20 (Xinhua) -- China is committed to peace and stability in the South China Sea, and desires to solve disputes peacefully through negotiation, Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming said Friday. In a speech at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Liu said China has long exercised "a high-level of self-restraint and forbearance" regarding the territorial disputes in the region. "We have always approached the disputes in a constructive and responsible manner. If China had not maintained self-restraint, the South China Sea would not be what it is today," he told his audience. Expounding on China's position and policy, Liu said that the islands and reefs in the South China Sea have belonged to China since ancient times. China was the first to discover the islands in the South China Sea, the first to name the islands, the first to exercise administrative jurisdiction in the South China Sea, and also the first to develop the islands, he said. "The aforementioned four 'Firsts' are based on substantial and concrete historical evidence. They testify to the fact that the islands of the South China Sea have long been Chinese territory," added the ambassador. One actor in the region, the Philippines, has approached the issue through unilaterally arbitration, something China rejects. "China's rejection of the arbitration is an act of exercising its legitimate rights empowered by international law." China and the Philippines reached a number of bilateral agreements on resolving disputes, according to the diplomat. In the Declaration of Conduct reached between China and the Philippines and other ASEANcountries, it is clearly stipulated that "the parties concerned undertake to resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means," he stressed. "'Pacta sunt servanda' is a basic rule in international relations. This is the bottom line of morality that every country must strictly observe. To put it simply, the Philippines has reneged on its words and deeds," Liu noted. He pointed out that The United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) stipulates that States Parties have the right to settle a dispute by any peaceful means of their own choice. "The aforementioned arbitration was unilaterally forced by the Philippines, who did not seek consent from China. This violates China's legitimate rights under the international law," he said. The 15 submissions made by the Philippines concern territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation, Liu said, noting that "the UNCLOS has no jurisdiction over issues related to sovereignty." "As for maritime delimitation, China made a declaration in 2006 in accordance with Article 298 of the UNCLOS. This made it very clear China would exclude disputes on maritime delimitation from compulsory arbitration, so China has exercised its legitimate rights conferred by the UNCLOS. China's action complies with international law," he elaborated. "It should be noted that over 30 other countries...have made similar declarations on the same principle of exclusion. These declarations have constituted an inseparable part of the UNCLOS," he continued. Regarding claims that China is "militarizing" the South China Sea, the ambassador said more than half of the U.S.'s military force is deployed in Asia-Pacific, and it frequently flexes its military muscles together with its allies in the region. "This is shown with the conduct of highly-targeted military drills. Then there are the military jets and warships on close-in reconnaissance in the nearby waters and air space of China's islands and reefs," he explained. "It is these provocative and hostile actions that have raised the tension in the South China Sea. These acts have sent the wrong signal to the Philippines and others who have recklessly deployed military facilities on their illegally occupied islands," said the envoy. He urged the United Statesto "stop its dangerous provocations that challenge China's sovereignty and security" and "take concrete steps to facilitate peace and stability in the region." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address N Korea willing to hold 'working-level contact' with South ahead of military talks Iran Press TV Sat May 21, 2016 4:8PM North Korea's Defense Ministry said Saturday it was willing to hold "working-level contact" with the South Korean side ahead of the opening of Pyongyang-Seoul military talks. "We propose to hold working-level contact for opening the north-south military authorities' talks at the date and place both sides deem convenient in late May or early June," the Defense Ministry was quoted as saying in a statement carried by state media. The proposed working-level contact comes ahead of military talks between the two Koreas. It could "prevent in advance a second Korean war," the statement said. The military dialogue had initially been offered by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a speech to the congress of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party earlier this month. South Korea rejected the offer. Pyongyang reiterated the offer on Friday, only to be rebuffed again by Seoul the same day. On Saturday, North Korea pushed again for the preparatory meeting. "It is an urgent matter directly related to the existence of the Korean nation to defuse the military tension and prevent in advance a second Korean war," the statement said. In the meantime, Seoul has announced it will only consider engaging in substantive dialogue with the North on one condition: Pyongyang takes tangible steps toward denuclearization of its arsenal. North Korea has repeatedly rejected the demand, saying its nuclear arsenal is not up for negotiation. In May, Kim revealed that Pyongyang would continue its efforts in boosting North Korea's economic and military capacities. "We will consistently take hold on the strategic line of simultaneously pushing forward the economic construction and the building of nuclear force and boost self-defensive nuclear force both in quality and quantity as long as the imperialists persist in their nuclear threat and arbitrary practices," the North Korean leader said. North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2005. Pyongyang has conducted four nuclear weapons tests ever since. Seoul is concerned about Pyongyang's nuclear capacity as relations between the North and South have been turbulent for decades. Tensions have escalated further in past years over joint military exercises by Washington and Seoul. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Zarif: US, EU should take practical steps to implement JCPOA IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, May 21, IRNA -- Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif said on Saturday that US and EU should take more practical steps to implement the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Zarif made the remarks in reaction to a statement released by the US Secretary of State John Kerry and foreign ministers of the European states reaffirming commitment to JCPOA. 'The statement released by the US Secretary of State John Kerry and foreign ministers of three European states in New York indicated that the governments abide by their JCPOA commitments. However, they are expected to take practical steps as well,' Zarif said in a joint press conference with New Zealand counterpart Murray McCully. He said that the parties to JCPOA have undertaken to eliminate barriers to banking cooperation. 'We have not yet achieved what we were supposed to do and more steps should be taken by the US. Over the past weeks and months, we have reached considerable success to achieve our own national economy targets including the Economy of Resistance in tune with terms of the post-JCPOA era.' He said that economic institutes are remarkably willing to cooperate with Iran and widescale presence of major economic institutes along with political delegations from various countries show interest of the international community to cooperation with Iran. Zarif said that the barriers on the way of Iran's economic cooperation with other countries in the past decade were mainly because of the US hostile policies and of the sanctions imposed by Washington are getting eliminated. 'Of course, part of the sanctions were lifted as per the context of the JCPOA, but, something should be done in practice by the US in parallel with the statement of foreign ministers parties to JCPOA.' 1420**1416 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Jahangiri: Resistance economy being implemented IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, May 21, IRNA -- First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri underlined that the resistance economy is on the path of being implemented. 'It is an honor that the young Iranian experts are producing new, expensive and rare drugs on their own and it shows that the resistance economy and knowledge-based economy are in the path of being implemented,' Jahangiri wrote on his Instagram page on Saturday. 'Today I visited pharmaceutical center of Tehran Medical Sciences University and witnessing the production of two new drugs each month in the Wisdom and Hope Government by young Iranian experts is source of honor and pride,' he added. The first vice president reiterated that most of the drugs are used for curing the cancerous patients. 2050**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran FM urges 'more from US' on nuclear deal Iran Press TV Sat May 21, 2016 2:48PM Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urges Europe and the US to take "practical steps" towards lifting banking and economic sanctions on Iran under last year's nuclear agreement between Tehran and the P5+1 group of countries. "We have not fully achieved what we must have, and more measures need to be carried out by the US," Zarif said in a joint press conference with New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully in Tehran on Saturday. Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia plus Germany signed a nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on July 14, 2015 following two and a half years of intensive talks. Under the deal, which took effect on January 16, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the Security Council and the US would be lifted. Iran has, in return, put some limitations on its nuclear activities. Zarif added that massive presence of economic enterprises and political delegations from different countries in Iran indicate the international community's keenness to cooperate with Iran. He noted that the US hostile policies and sanctions imposed on Iran by Washington and the international community against Iran have created obstacles in the way of the Islamic Republic's economic cooperation with other countries over the past decade. "A portion of these sanctions have been officially lifted as part of their commitments under the JCPOA but we believe that practical measures must be adopted along with statements," the Iranian foreign minister said. Zarif's remarks came as major European banks are still refraining from handling Iranian payments four months after the lifting of sanctions on Tehran. On Thursday, US Secretary of State John Kerry met with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and foreign ministers from France, Germany and the UK in Brussels where they pledged to encourage companies to resume trade with Iran. In a statement on the same day, the US, Britain, France and Germany said they were exploring various areas of cooperation with Iran, including the use of exports credits to boost trade, project financing and investment in Iran. Zarif also said he held talks with his New Zealand's counterpart on banking facilities so that banks and financial institutions would be able to support cooperation among the two countries' tradesmen. The Iranian minister added that they also discussed ways to expand bilateral scientific and academic cooperation. "We also held talks [with New Zealand] as a member of the United Nations Security Council on the latest developments in the region and the fight against extremism and terrorism, and we hope we will contribute to settlement of differences in the region," Zarif said. The New Zealand foreign minister arrived in Tehran on Saturday on a two-day official visit to hold talks with senior Iranian officials and sign agreements for enhanced economic cooperation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraqi premier calls for unity, warns against chaos Iran Press TV Fri May 20, 2016 11:42PM Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called on the nation to set aside political differences and unite against the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, which is wreaking havoc in parts of Iraq, saying bringing chaos is not in the interest of the country. Abadi's remarks, made in a statement addressing Iraq's "dear people" on Friday, came hours after anti-government protesters broke into the fortified Green Zone for the second time in three weeks. Clashes ensued between security forces and the reform-seeking protesters. Dozens of demonstrators, mostly the supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, were wounded after police fired teargas. The breach also made the government declare a curfew in the capital, only to be lifted hours later by the premier. "During the past year and a half, your brave fighters managed to liberate provinces, cities and villages from the Daesh terror group and succeeded in returning displaced people to their homes. The town of Rutbah has just been liberated and we are at the doorsteps of Fallujah to bring it back to the bosom of the nation," Abadi said. He added these victories that would continue until the full liberation of Anbar province and then Mosul are coincided with Daesh bomb attacks against civilians in the capital, where some people "are dragging the country into chaos and attack our brave security forces" instead of attacking Daesh terrorists. Abadi noted that his government was making its utmost effort to overcome the difficult challenges and to carry out reforms. "We renew our call for our people to be cautious and vigilant of those who are seeking to create chaos to achieve their ambitions," he went on to say. The Friday protests came amid a turbulent political situation in Iraq where repeated attempts by Abadi for introducing a reform-minded cabinet have failed due to consistent differences among rival political factions. Earlier this month, Sadr followers broke into the compound of parliament inside the Green Zone area, protesting a stalled vote to endorse Abadi's nominees in the chamber. Violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since Daesh Takfiris launched an offensive in the country in June 2014, and took control of portions of the Iraqi territory. The Daeshis have been committing crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and others. Iraqi army soldiers and fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units are fighting to win back militant-held regions in joint operations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address At least 2 protesters killed in Baghdad's Green Zone breach: Officials Iran Press TV Sat May 21, 2016 3:12PM At least two anti-government protesters have been killed when Iraqi forces opened fire on a group of reform-seeking demonstrators in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, officials say. Nearly 60 people were also wounded in the Friday unrest, in which forces used tear gas, water cannons and sound bombs against protesters who broke into the high-security Green Zone area of Baghdad which houses government buildings, parliament and embassies. Protesters broke into the Green Zone for the second time in three weeks, challenging the government's ability to secure the capital. Earlier reports quoting medical sources said that at least four anti-government protesters were killed and 90 others wounded in the unrest. Demonstrators, mostly the supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, are upset with the government's failure to approve anti-corruption reforms and maintain security in Baghdad. The breach also prompted the government to declare a curfew in the capital, only to be lifted hours later by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Meanwhile, Jaafar al-Moussawi, deputy leader of Sadr's political movement, condemned the government for using what he called "excessive force." "Using live bullets against peaceful protesters is completely unjustified and stark evidence that a supposedly legitimate government has turned into an oppressive government," Moussawi said in a statement on Saturday. The United Nations also expressed "deep concern" about the incident and warned it could hamper efforts to defeat Daesh, which is wreaking havoc in parts of Iraq. "Only the enemies of Iraq, Daesh at the forefront, benefit from chaos," UN Special Representative for Iraq, Jan Kubis, said in a statement on Saturday. The Iraqi premier on Friday condemned the Green Zone breach and warned against chaos and strife as government forces seek to keep up momentum against Daesh terrorists. The Friday protests came amid a turbulent political situation in Iraq where repeated attempts by Abadi for introducing a reform-minded cabinet have failed due to consistent differences among rival political factions. Earlier this month, Sadr followers broke into the compound of parliament inside the Green Zone area, protesting a stalled vote to endorse Abadi's nominees in the chamber. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Daesh commanders fleeing western Iraqi town as security forces close in Iran Press TV Sat May 21, 2016 7:4AM Senior commanders from the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group have reportedly started fleeing the town of Karma in Iraq's beleaguered western province of Anbar en masse as Iraqi security forces are making headway toward the area. Iraqi military commander Colonel MahmoudMorzi al-Jumaili announced that the terrorist commanders have begun escaping from the town, which is located 48 kilometers (30 miles) west of the capital, Baghdad, and heading toward an unknown location in Anbar Province, Lebanon's al-Ahed news website reported. Meanwhile, at least 35 Daesh terrorists have turned themselves in to Iraqi security forces deployed to the outskirts of the city of Fallujah, which is located roughly 69 kilometers (43 miles) west of Baghdad and is held by Daesh. A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the development attests to the panic, confusion and serious cracks within the ranks of Daesh. Separately, Iraqi security forces together with Popular Mobilization units retook control of a strategic highway on the outskirts of Trebil Village, which lies in Anbar Province and on the Iraq-Jordan border, on Friday. Violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since Daesh Takfiris launched an offensive in the country in June 2014 and took control of portions of Iraqi territory. The militants have been committing crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and others. Iraqi army soldiers and fighters from allied Popular Mobilization units have been fighting to win back militant-held regions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US military gearing up for upcoming Libya mission: Dunford Iran Press TV Sat May 21, 2016 1:41AM The US military is in a "period of intense dialogue" with the Libyan government and may deploy troops and equipment to the troubled North African country "any day" now, says the US military's top general. Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the comments on Thursday, on his way back to the US from the Belgian capital city of Brussels, where he met with military chiefs from NATO nations. "There's a lot of activity going on underneath the surface," Dunford said. "We're just not ready to deploy capabilities yet because there hasn't been an agreement. And frankly, any day that could happen." The general noted that some NATO members were interested in the mission. However, the specifics of the mission remain unclear at this point. The operation will assumingly focus on training and equipping militant groups loyal to Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, the leader of the new Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), which is backed by the United Nations. This is while according to a Washington Post report citing unnamed US officials, some two dozen special operations troops have been positioned at two outposts in Libya since late last year. Earlier this week, the US and a number of other states said at the Libya talks in Vienna that they were ready to supply weapons to the Libyan government. In March 2011, a coalition of US-backed Western countries, including the UK and France, launched missile and air strikes on Libya in a bid to help oust Gaddafi following a national uprising. Gaddafi was deposed later that year shortly after the fall of the capital Tripoli on August 20. But the ensuing power vacuum allowed various militant groups, including a Daesh affiliate, to gain power in the country and exploit its natural resources. Daesh controls a tenth of Libya's coastline and reportedly has 4,000 to 6,000 militants in the country. The terrorists have exploited the chaos in Libya and seized parts of Sirte, a city on the country's Mediterranean coast. They have also been launching attacks on oil facilities along the country's coast. US President Barack Obama says his "worst mistake" in the past eight years has been the mishandling of the crisis in Libya. He has also put part of the blame on two traditional US allies, France and the UK. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia beefs up military presence in southwestern regions Iran Press TV Fri May 20, 2016 9:7PM Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says his country has boosted its military presence in the country's southwest with "precision long-range weapons" to fend off developing threats. The military might has been beefed up in the region in response to "attempts by some nations to expand their military presence near our borders," Shoigu was quoted by the Associated Press as saying on Friday. He made the remarks in an apparent reference to the US and its NATO allies. He further said that the Southern Military District has also been strengthened by air defense and the Russian navy potential in southwest has been strengthened by one-third. NATO leaders are scheduled to officially approve deploying more troops into east European member states as part of a "deter and dialog" strategy at a Warsaw summit in July. They announced that the agenda of the summit is establishing closer cooperation between NATO member states and the European Union. On May 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly criticized the deployment of the US missile system near his country, and vowed to neutralize any threats against Russia. Putin's remarks came a day after the US activated a land-based missile system in Romania, despite Russia's previous warnings against a growing US-led arms deployment near its borders. Moscow has repeatedly warned that the move could complicate security in the West Balkan region. Ties between NATO and Russia have been tense for the last two years over a crisis in Ukraine, where the government and its Western allies keep accusing Moscow of having a hand in the militancy in the east. The Kremlin strongly rejects the claims. Russia has also criticized NATO's expansion policy to include countries in the Western Balkan region, saying the move directly harms Russia's strategic interests in the area. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia expresses concern over NATO eastward expansion People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 09:52, May 21, 2016 SOCHI, Russia, May 20 -- Russia on Friday expressed concern again over the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), one day after the military alliance and Montenegro signed an accession protocol. "This process doesn't strengthen European security from our point of view, but just the opposite. It extremely raises the degree of tensions on the continent," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He stressed that Russia is always open to dialogue, which is the only efficient method of solving problems between the two parties. "The dialogue must be more or less trust-based and constructive, so to speak, and based on the respect for mutual interests. Otherwise it is unlikely to be productive," Peskov was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying. The spokesman welcomed an initiative from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who said earlier Friday that NATO would seek another NATO-Russia Council (NRC) meeting at the level of ambassadors prior to the NATO summit scheduled for July 8-9 in Warsaw, Poland. The previous NRC meeting held in April in Brussels, Belgium showed profound disagreements between Russia and NATO, as cooperation within the council was suspended in April 2014 following the soured bilateral ties over the Ukraine crisis. In a separate development, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Stoltenberg should have consulted Moscow before announcing the Russia-NATO Council meeting plans. "The NATO-Russia Council works by consensus. If they want to discuss it with us, let them do it instead of grabbing a microphone," Lavrov said. Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 13 accused NATO of its military deployment in East Europe, adding that Russia would take responsive measures to any national security threat. The foreign ministers of NATO member states and Montenegro signed an accession protocol on Thursday, allowing the Balkan country to participate as an observer in NATO meetings. The protocol has to be ratified by the parliaments of all NATO 28 member states before Montenegro becomes the 29th member of the military bloc. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Moscow vows response to NATO build-up on Russia's frontiers Iran Press TV Sat May 21, 2016 6:52AM Moscow has pledged to monitor NATO moves on Russia's borders, warning to take necessary measures in response to the security risks arising from the Western military alliance's build-up. Russia's Ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushko made the remarks on Friday following a meeting by the bloc's foreign ministers in the Belgian capital, Brussels. Grushko said NATO's new planning in Europe will be taken into account and "all the necessary military-technical measures will be taken to limit the risks related to the new configuration of forces that has appeared on our (Russia's) borders." The Russian envoy further called for a qualitative review of NATO's relations with Moscow, criticizing the coalition for boosting its military activity in the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. NATO is seeking "to project its military force onto us using constant rotations, endless drills, the creation of additional groups and the position of missile defense facilities along our borders," he said. The remarks came one day after NATO foreign ministers finalized the alliance's biggest military build-up since the end of the Cold War to counter what they called a more aggressive and unpredictable Russia. Last week, officials from the US and NATO also declared a missile system based in southern Romania operational. The missiles' activation marked the penultimate step in the completion of a so-called missile shield, which Washington proposed nearly a decade ago. Elsewhere in his remarks, Grushko said there is no sign of NATO's readiness to return to normal interaction with Russia. He further warned that the alliance will hurt its own interests if it continues with its policy of combining deterrence and dialogue in its approach to Russia. NATO has stepped up its military build-up near Russia's borders since it suspended all ties with Moscow in April 2014 after the Crimean Peninsula re-integrated into the Russian Federation following a referendum. Moscow has on many occasions slammed NATO's expansion near its borders, saying such a move poses a threat to both regional and international peace. Earlier this week, NATO formally invited Montenegro to become its 29th member, a decision that must still be approved by the US Senate, as well as the bloc's other 27 parliaments and Montenegro's own legislature. The Kremlin condemned NATO's further expansion, saying the invitation to Montenegro risked fuelling geopolitical tensions across Europe. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia's Mi-28 Attack Helicopter to Get Laser Missile Defense Gear Sputnik News 17:27 21.05.2016(updated 18:09 21.05.2016) Russia's Mi-28 Night Hunter attack helicopters will soon be equipped with an advanced on-board laser system to defend against MANPAD missiles and air-to-air missiles, a senior adviser to the deputy head of the Radio-Electronic Technologies Concern (KRET), told RIA Novosti. According to Vladimir Mikheyev, the electronic jamming station features a laser illumination detector, an ultraviolet missile approach warning system, an electro-optical electronic warfare system, decoy flares, and a control system to considerably increase the helicopters' combat survivability. "The system is now undergoing final trials and will soon be installed on all of our Mi-28 helicopters," Mikhevev told RIA. The Mil Mi-28 (NATO reporting name "Havoc") is an all-weather, day-night, military tandem, two-seat anti-armor attack helicopter. It carries a single gun in an under-nose barbette, plus external loads carried on pylons beneath stub wings. KRET had earlier announced that it was going to equip Russia's MiG-35 multirole fighter jets with the latest platform-less inertial navigation system. The LINS-100RS and BINS-SP2 inertial systems are designed to determine the location of the object, complex processing and delivering navigation and flight information. They are also able to determine the coordinates and parameters of an object in the autonomous mode and in the absence of terrestrial, marine or space signals. The Radio-Electronic Technologies Concern, Russia's biggest in its field, is a holding company focused on electronic warfare and aircraft instruments, radio-electronic systems and various measuring apparatuses. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US rejects Russia's call for join airstrikes in Syria Iran Press TV Fri May 20, 2016 8:56PM The United States has rejected a proposal by Russia to conduct joint airstrikes against Daesh terrorists in Syria from next week, but did not rule out the possibility of discussing ways to better monitor an existing ceasefire in the war-torn country. "We do not collaborate or coordinate with the Russians on any operations in Syria," Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis told reporters on Friday. Davis said that the US and Russia are pursuing separate military objectives, claiming that "Russian operations are supporting and enabling the (Bashar al-) Assad regime and our focus is solely on degrading and defeating ISIL." Since September 30, 2015, Russia has been conducting airstrikes against Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria at the Syrian government's request. The strikes have killed hundreds of Daesh terrorists and other foreign-backed militants and inflicted heavy material damage on them. Since September 20014, the US and its allies have also been carrying out airstrikes in Syria purportedly against Daesh positions. However, the Syrian government has charged that the airstrikes had targeted the country's infrastructure in many instances and done little to stop the advances of terrorists. Earlier on Friday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the two countries should carry out joint airstrikes against Jabhat al-Nusra and other armed groups that do not support a truce reached by Moscow and Washington to facilitate negotiations between warring sides to the conflict. Shoigu also called for joint strikes to be conducted against "convoys containing weapons and ammunition, armed units that illegally cross the Syrian-Turkish border." He said that such operations would begin as of May 25 and be coordinated with the Syrian government. "We believe the adoption of these measures will allow a transition to a peaceful process to be achieved in the entire territory of Syria," he said. "Of course, these measures have been coordinated with the leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic." Davis said Moscow had not made a formal proposal to the United States. "I've only seen the same press reports you have -- nothing formal has been presented to us." The Syria truce, which went into effect late February and excludes Daesh militants and al-Nusra Front, is still officially in place in many parts of Syria despite surging violence in Aleppo. Last week, top diplomats from 17 nations resumed Vienna talks on the Syria conflict, hoping to reinvigorate a peace effort that has effectively collapsed. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were chairing the meeting of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) on Tuesday. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Friday that "what we are discussing with our Russian counterparts -- in keeping with the ISSG communique last week in Vienna -- are proposals for a sustainable mechanism to better monitor and enforce the cessation of hostilities." "None of those proposals have yet been agreed upon," Kirby added. Syria has been gripped by militancy since March 2011. Damascus has long been saying that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar are funding and arming anti-Syria terrorist groups, including Daesh terrorists. UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has also displaced over half of the Arab country's pre-war population of about 23 million. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian forces seize Turkish aid supplies bound for Daesh Iran Press TV Sat May 21, 2016 8:19PM Syrian forces have reportedly captured a truck transporting $100,000 worth of medical supplies from Turkey for Takfiri terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria. Syrian security forces confiscated the truck that belonged to the Turkish al-Yaman medical company as it was carrying over 25 tons of supplies in the northwestern Syrian province of Aleppo, Syria's official SANA news agency reported on Saturday. "Al-Yaman Company in Istanbul is sending medicine, equipment, and medical supplies to Daesh organization in Manbej and Mosul and to other terrorist groups," said a Syrian military source. The source added that a militant commander was also arrested along with the shipment. Turkey has on multiple occasions been accused of aiding and abetting militant groups operating in Syria with reports saying that Ankara actively trains and arms Takfiri militants there, and facilitates their safe passage into the Arab country. Ankara has also been accused of buying smuggled oil from Daesh. Last week, Syrian intelligence forces said that they have captured another haul of medical supplies near Aleppo that came from Turkey and was destined for Daesh terrorists in the Iraqi city of Mosul. A colonel in Syria's Military Intelligence Directorate, Hussein al-Omar, said the truck loaded with some 25 tons of medicine and hospital supplies, including a number of dialysis machines, had entered Syria from Turkey's Bab al-Hawa international border crossing and was heading for Mosul. Last year, Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, posted footage purportedly showing Turkish MIT intelligence trucks carrying weapons to Takfiri groups in Syria in 2014. Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. Damascus says Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar are the main supporters of the militants fighting the government forces. United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the Syrian crisis. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian troops advance against terrorists in several areas Iran Press TV Sat May 21, 2016 9:48AM Syrian forces have made fresh gains against terrorists in a suburb of Damascus and the Western province of Hama, killing a number of militants in their push to win back militant-held areas. On Friday, the Syrian army troops conducted an operation in the Eastern Ghouta region of Damascus and managed to retake 13 villages from the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front elements. A military source also told Syria's SANA news agency on Saturday that the army units foiled an attack by Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham terrorists on military posts in the northern countryside of Hama, killing 25 of the extremists. Meanwhile, the Syrian soldiers broke the siege imposed on al-Zara power plant in Hama and forced terrorists to withdraw to the town of Harbanafseh in the southern countryside of the province. The Syrian forces further wrested control over all the important positions to the north and east of Harbanafseh, leaving over 100 terrorists dead while destroying 10 of their machine gun-equipped vehicles. Elsewhere in the central Homs Province, the Syrian Air Force destroyed positions held by Daesh terrorists in al-Shaer field and Um al-Tababeer area. The developments mark the latest in a string of victories over Takfiris wreaking havoc in the war-torn Middle Eastern country. The Syrian army has vowed to press ahead with its counter-terror military operations and drive terrorists out of their major strongholds. Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. Damascus says Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar are the main supporters of the militants fighting the government forces. United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the Syrian crisis. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Invasion? Syrian Kurds Report Turkish Military Crossed Syrian Border Sputnik News 21:17 21.05.2016(updated 21:18 21.05.2016) Turkish soldiers accompanied by two tanks entered the territory of Syria near the Turkish city of Nusaybin, the media center of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan reported, referring to the statements of eyewitnesses. According to reports, the Turkish military started building fortifications using bulldozers on the Syrian territory in the areas belonging to private individuals. "Today, around 9:45 local time, the Turkish military, moving from the district of Nusaybin and accompanied by a bulldozer, two tanks and several trucks, invaded Rozhava (located in Syrian Kurdistan) near the city of Al-Qamishli," the media center reported. Throughout 2016 there have been growing signs of Ankara's intention to deploy ground forces in Syria. In February, the Russian government reported "a growing number of signs of hidden preparation by the Turkish armed forces to carry out active operations in Syria." Illegal crossings of the Syrian border by the Turkish military were also registered in March in the northwestern regions of the country, near the cities of Afrin and Azaz, where the Turkish soldiers were reportedly building fortifications to protect their borders against Kurdish fighters. On Thursday, President Erdogan gave further indication that his government is actively considering the deployment of troops in Syria. Nusaybin is a city in southeastern Syria. Since the beginning of the year, it has witnessed fierce fighting between Kurdish rebels and the Turkish military. Nusaybin borders the Syrian city of Al-Qamishli, which is considered the "capital" of the Syrian Kurds. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Daesh in Panic: Nearly 70 Terrorists Killed in Raqqa Infighting Sputnik News 19:02 21.05.2016(updated 19:03 21.05.2016) Violent clashes erupted among Daesh terrorists in Raqqa ahead of a planned Kurdish offensive to retake the city. SULEIMANIA (Iraq), (Sputnik) Up to 70 Daesh militants were killed in internal fighting in the de-facto Daesh capital of Raqqa in northern Syria, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said Saturday. "Witnesses inside Raqqa stated that violent clashes took place between the battalions of [Daesh leader Abu Bakr] Baghdadi and Qassimi, resulting in the killing of 70 militants. It is said that none of the killed militants are Syrian citizens," the PUK media center said. Kurdish defense units were said to consolidate 23 miles north of Raqqa in preparation for a planned offensive. Daesh terrorists retreated from their positions without resistance, while unmanned aerial vehicles carried out airstrikes. Daesh, a radical Sunni group banned in many countries including Russia, has seized vast areas in Iraq and Syria, taking control of the Syrian city of Raqqa in 2013. Sputnik Arabic reported in the early hours of Saturday, citing eyewitnesses and local sources, that Daesh militants began evacuating their families in the direction of Deir ez-Zor ahead of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces' (SDF) liberation campaign. The families of foreign mercenaries were the first ones to leave the city on Friday afternoon. Inmates have been let free from Raqqa prisons. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian Army Terminates Hundreds of Militants in Hama Province Sputnik News 16:12 21.05.2016(updated 18:39 21.05.2016) Military operations in Hama province in the west of Syria have killed more than 100 militants of the al-Nusra Front and Ahrar ash-Sham terrorist groups. Army units broke through the defense near the electric power plant which was held by the terrorists pushing them deep into the village of Hurbinafsah in the south of the province, SANA news agency reported citing a military source. "During the operation, the military took all of the important positions to the north and east of Hurbinafsah, killing more than 100 terrorists and 10 vehicles with machine guns," the source said. Earlier, the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria reported that the militants of al-Nusra Front were shelling towns in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia and Damascus, staging a massacre in Homs province, after which many people fled from their homes. The day before, the Syrian Democratic Forces announced that it will start a large-scale operation to liberate the 'capital' city of Daesh terrorists, Raqqa. The Syrian Democratic Forces' representative Tackr Kobani shared details of the forthcoming operation in an interview with Sputnik saying that, "The operation will be conducted simultaneously from three different directions from Tsrin, Seregrar and Haseke. The coalition forces will help us with air support and weapons." In Syria, a ceasefire regime has been implemented since February 27. The truce does not ban organizations such as Daesh and al-Nusra Front. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Daesh Bans Raqqa Residents From Leaving City Ahead of Kurdish Offensive Sputnik News 05:34 21.05.2016 Daesh terrorists have forbidden Raqqa residents from leaving the militants' self-declared capital in Syria and have started evacuating their own families. BEIRUT (Sputnik) Islamic State (ISIL, also known as Daesh) militants have forbidden Raqqa residents from leaving the militants' self-declared capital in Syria and have started evacuating their own families in the direction of Deir ez-Zor, Sputnik Arabic reports citing eye witnesses and local sources. The families of foreign mercenaries were the first ones to leave the city on Friday afternoon. Inmates have been let free from Raqqa prisons. Meanwhile Kurdish forces have established a stronghold about 37 kilometers (23 miles) north of Raqqa. A spokesperson of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) told Sputnik Turkey on Friday that Kurds were planning to launch an offensive on Raqqa in the coming days. Daesh, a radical Sunni group that has seized vast areas in Iraq and Syria, took control of the Syrian city of Raqqa in 2013. Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups, including Daesh, which is banned in range of countries including Russia. A US-Russia-brokered ceasefire agreement came into force across Syria on February 27. The deal does not apply to terrorist groups such as Daesh. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taiwan to continue to communicate with China: MAC ROC Central News Agency 2016/05/21 22:37:41 Taipei, May 21 (CNA) Taiwan will continue to communicate with China to maintain cross-strait dialogue and contacts, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Saturday. "The MAC will continue to communicate with the other side of the Taiwan Strait to uphold the mechanism of cross-strait dialogue and contacts," said MAC deputy minister and spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng (). There have been concerns over whether channels of communication between the MAC and China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) -- the two bodies in charge of cross-strait policy-making -- and the two cross-strait intermediaries -- Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS)-- can be continued under the new administration led by President Tsai Ing-wen (). Beijing has insisted that Tsai's government accept the "1992 consensus" that underpinned Taiwan-China relations during the eight years her predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou (), was in office, something she and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have been unwilling to do. China reaffirmed Saturday that only by insisting on the "1992 consensus" can cross-strait exchanges be maintained. TAO spokesman Ma Xiaoguang () said that when the heads of the TAO and the MAC first met in Nanjing in February 2014, they decided to establish a regular communication mechanism between the two bodies under the "1992 consensus." Ma Xiaoguang noted that the TAO and MAC have had active exchanges over the past two years and established a cross-strait hotline and handled many complicated and sensitive issues. He stressed that only by reaffirming the 1992 consensus, "which fleshes out the common political foundation of the one China principle," can cross-strait communications be extended. The ARATS has expressed similar remarks. (By Chen Chia-yu and Lilian Wu) Enditem/ls NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. hopes for continued cross-strait dialogue ROC Central News Agency 2016/05/21 09:33:38 Washington, May 20 (CNA) The United States hopes for continued high-level exchanges between Taiwan and China and encourages the two sides to continue their constructive dialogue following the inauguration of Taiwan's new president, the U.S. Department of State said Friday. The United States looks forward to working with Taiwan's new administration under President Tsai Ing-wen () and leaders from all parties to further strengthen U.S.-Taiwan relations, said Grace H. Choi, spokesperson of the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Reiterating Washington's longstanding position, Choi said the United States has a deep and abiding interest in the continuation of cross-Strait peace and stability and believes that cross-Taiwan Strait issues should be resolved peacefully "in a manner, pace, and scope acceptable to people on both sides of the Strait." The United States welcomes the steps by both sides of the Taiwan Strait over the last few years to reduce tensions and improve cross-Strait relations, she said in an e-mail response to CNA's questions. "We hope that high-level communication and interactions of this nature will continue going forward," said Choi. "We encourage both sides to continue their constructive dialogue on the basis of dignity and respect," she said. (By Rita Cheng) Enditem/jc NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Tsai's stance on one China 'incomplete' People's Daily Online (China Daily) 09:42, May 21, 2016 Beijing has accused Tsai Ing-wen, who took office on Friday as Taiwan's new leader, of taking an ambiguous stand on the one-China principle in a speech after she was sworn in, thereby bringing uncertainty to cross-Straits relations. Tsai, Taiwan's first female leader, did not explicitly recognize the 1992 Consensus, which says that both sides are part of one China, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said in a statement after Tsai took office. She also failed to put forward concrete ways to ensure the peaceful and stable development of cross-Straits relations, it said, adding that her remarks were an "incomplete answer sheet". Tsai, chairwoman of the Democratic Progressive Party, defeated Kuomintang candidate Eric Chu and People First Party Chairman James Soong in January to become the island's top leader. In her 25-minute speech, Tsai mentioned the talks between the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and the island's Straits Exchange Foundation in 1992, and conceded that those talks reached a common understanding. She said the new leadership on the island will continue pushing forward the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and maintain existing cross-Straits exchanges and communication. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said the Taiwan leader has to choose between upholding the one China principle and pursuing "Taiwan independence", which will lead to a different future. The Taiwan authorities must make the choice with concrete actions and face the test of history and the people, according to the statement. Li Yihu, head of Peking University's Taiwan Institute, said, "Tsai mentioned seeking common ground while reserving differences in the cross-Straits relations, without saying what is the common ground." "The island's new leader has to answer whether she endorses the 1992 Consensus. It's not an optional question," said Li. "The question must be answered with actions." Li said the mainland won't tolerate any vagueness regarding the consensus, without which the peaceful development of the relations would be off course and would founder. Ni Yongjie, deputy director of Shanghai's Taiwan Research Institute, said, "As Tsai mentioned in her speech, Taiwan has many problems. ... Her top priority will be reviving the island's flagging economy". Ni noted that Taiwan's economy grew by less than 1 percent last year. "Refusing to endorse the 1992 Consensus not only sabotages the political foundation and trust between the two sides, but also destroys prospects for economic exchange and cooperation," he said. "As a result, the interests of people from both sides will be hurt." Zhang Guanhua, deputy director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said cross-Straits relations might enter a "cold" stage after Tsai's taking office, with cooperation and communication likely to be suspended. Timeline of cross-Straits relations January 1979 The mainland's top legislature issues a statement asking for an end to military confrontation across the Straits. October 1987 Taiwan allows its residents to visit their families on the mainland for the first time since 1949. October-December 1992 The mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation meet in Hong Kong and agree on the 1992 Consensus. April 27-29, 1993 ARATS Chairman Wang Daohan and SEF Chairman Koo Chen-fu meet in Singapore. April 29, 2005 Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Kuomintang Honorary Chairman Lien Chan in Beijing. June 11-14, 2008 A delegation headed by Taiwan-based SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung visits Beijing for talks with Chen Yunlin, head of ARATS, marking the resumption of cross-Straits institutional consultations after a nine-year suspension. Nov 3-7, 2008 Chen Yunlin leads a delegation to Taiwan to discuss issues including increasing direct flights, opening direct cargo shipping routes and fully opening postal services. On Dec 15, 2008, the Three Links (mail, transportation and trade) are officially launched. June 2010 The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, a preferential trade agreement, is signed to reduce tariffs and commercial barriers. November 2015 President Xi Jinping and Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou meet in Singapore. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey opposition to challenge bill on lifting MPs immunity Iran Press TV Fri May 20, 2016 5:14PM Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition has criticized as undemocratic a decision by the parliament to lift immunity of lawmakers, vowing to challenge it at the country's top court. Earlier on Friday, 376 MPs in the 550-seat parliament voted in the third and final vote ballot for a government-backed bill which would lift the lawmakers' immunity from prosecution. The bill will become law once ratified by President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan. In a news conference on Friday, Selahattin Demirtas, the co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), said the decision aims to boost the powers of the president who seeks stronger powers in Turkey. Demirtas further said that the HDP would challenge the decision at the constitutional court. Erdogan has called for the prosecution of HDP members, accusing them of being affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, an accusation denied by the political party. On Friday, Erdogan voiced his support for the bill, saying, "My nation does not want to see guilty lawmakers in this country's parliament. Above all it does not want to see those supported by the separatist terror group in parliament," referring to the PKK. The prosecution of the HDP lawmakers and their departure from the parliament is seen as an attempt to change the constitution and create a presidential system in Turkey which is strongly desired by Erdogan. Tensions have been on the rise between the Turkish government and the PKK over the military's campaign in several regions with a majority Kurdish population in the past few months, following a number of deadly bombing attacks in the country last year. Some 138 lawmakers, of whom 101 are from the HDP and main opposition CHP, currently face investigation and stripping the lawmakers of immunity will allow their prosecution. The HDP said the bill could lead to the prosecution of 50 HDP legislators out of its total contingent of 59. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address President Obama's Clean Power Plan is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court in an unusual move that will bypass the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The court's move is another twist in a case that has defied the traditional legal track. With emergency requests streaming in from a swarm of states, utilities, and other stakeholders, the Supreme Court made an unprecedented decision in February to step in and freeze the Clean Power Plan during D.C. Circuit review. The issue has to be of extreme importance for the Supreme Court to take this unusual step. Opponents of the plan to cut carbon emissions from the power sector say the court's decision is evidence of judicial skepticism toward the rule. While EPA has said that the Clean Power Plan is just another Clean Air Act, the Court's actions seem to indicate that is not the case. The Clean Power Plan was adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency on Aug. 3, 2015. It will implement more stringent regulations on the emissions that are believed to contribute to global warming. The final version of the plan aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electrical power generation by 32 percent within 15 years relative to 2005 levels. The plan will require individual states to meet specific standards with respect to reduction of carbon emissions. States are free to reduce emissions by various means, and must submit emissions reductions plans by September 2016, or, with an extension approval, by September 2018. If a state has not submitted a plan by then, the EPA will impose its own plan on that state. The EPA divided the country into three regions based on connected regional electricity grids to determine a state's goal. States are to implement their plans by focusing on three building blocks: increasing the generation efficiency of existing fossil fuel plants, substituting lower carbon dioxide emitting natural gas generation for coal powered generation, and substituting generation from new zero carbon dioxide emitting renewable sources for fossil fuel powered generation. States may use regionally available low carbon generation sources when substituting for in-state coal generation and coordinate with other states to develop multistate plans. The EPA decided in 2014 that the Clean Air Act is ambiguous, and it decided to develop new air emission regulations for power plants that are more restrictive on fossil fuels that generate electricity. Twenty-seven states asked the D.C. Court of Appeals for an emergency stay to prevent implementation. They argued that EPA overstepped its legal authority. The Supreme Court on Feb. 9 ordered EPA to stop enforcement until the lower court rules. Last week, the Supreme Court decided to hear the case on Sept. 27. Alex Mills is president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. The opinions expressed are solely of the author. "The green, green grass of home" could be just about anywhere in West and Central Texas these days. Unlike the lyrics of the song written by Curly Putman, where a man dreams of returning to his childhood home to "touch the green, green grass of home," I am only thinking of my boyhood home in Kimble County at the western edge of the Texas Hill Country, where more than 5 inches of rainfall this past week has created heavenly pastures for livestock. My former digs, the Caparrosa Ranch headquarters, above the forks of East and West Copperas Creek about 15 miles west of Junction, received more than 4 inches of rain over several days to put both creeks on a rise. "I poured out 4 inches Thursday morning early, and it was still raining," Clay Simon told me. "There was more rain upstream, and the water was running over the slab at the ranch entrance on Farm-to-Market Road 1674. We may have some water gaps to prepare, and that would be worth receiving the rain." Simon, current owner and operator of the ranch, said not only is the grass growing, but so are the thistles. This prickly weed is growing profusely in pastures and roadways everywhere I traveled in recent weeks and it's kinda pretty with its white flowers. But hold on, the thistles will turn on us once the blooms leave. Clay and his brother Kelly are proprietors of Simon Brothers Mercantile in Roosevelt, on Ranch Road 291 off Interstate 10 about 16 miles west of Junction. Along with their father, Gene Simon, the brothers have operated the business since 1996. The establishment hasn't changed much since the early 1900s, when Gene's uncle Ben F. Simon owned it. "We still offer just about anything a person really needs in the country," Gene said. "If you are looking for ranch supplies, feed, plumbing needs or just plenty of cold beer, look no further." "Come 'step back in time' and relax in this friendly atmosphere if only to join the 'come-and-go' coffee drinkers at 'The Roosevelt Round Table' for a little while," Clay said. Old-timers of my youth called these conditions "pastures with Sunday clothes." It's perhaps one of the best springs in decades, with meadows covered in wildflowers hidden by tall grass. "It's a delight to the eye," said William Jennings Bryan, three-time nominee for president of the United States, in 1923 when he stood on a hillside near Junction where the confluence of the South and North Llano Rivers forked. Bryan was traveling with his wife from Florida to California and visited the region while en route. Former Gov. Coke Stevenson told me of the visit. Stevenson was Kimble County judge at the time and met the Bryan party in Kerrville, and guided them through the Texas Hill Country. But I digress, Greer Kothmann, who lives up Cedar Creek south of Junction, said more than 4 inches of rain was gauged at his house. "I went to Fort McKavett to check things at a ranch near there Wednesday. Everything was muddy but there was no runoff, so Clay must be right. It must have rained a lot more Wednesday night," Greer said. He said a ranch out on Johnson Fork Creek southeast of Junction has received almost an annual rainfall the first five months of 2016. Meanwhile, most of the Concho Valley received nice rains, and several ranchers are pleased that even though the soil is saturated, their dirt stock tanks are overflowing. In Reagan County, range and pasture conditions were very good, according to the weekly crop and weather report issued by the Texas A&M Agri-Life Extension agents. Sheep were sheared and wool was being taken to market, with lamb shipments expected to begin in late June in Upton County. Cotton planting was off to a slow start in Glasscock County, where moisture levels evaporated quicker than expected due to chiseled or plowed fields, according to Brad Easterling, integrated pest manager for Glasscock, Reagan and Upton counties. Wheat farmers are ready for sunshine to allow harvest to start on mature crops, while cotton farmers are ready to begin planting. In the Big Country, above-average yields are expected for this year's wheat, according to Robert Pritz, Taylor County agricultural agent. Pritz said some of the wheat fields received damage from hail and high wind, but the major wheat production regions dodged a bullet. Jerry Lackey is the agriculture editor emeritus. Contact him at jlackey@wcc.net or 325-949-2291. Kristen Stewart attends the Personal Shopper screening on May 17, 2016 as part of the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France. (Lionel Hahn/Abaca Press/TNS) SHARE By Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times (TNS) CANNES, France Inside the restricted press enclosure at the chic Majestic Beach restaurant, organized chaos is the rule as reporters, photographers, publicists, makeup artists and assistants, and supernumeraries without number hover like satellites around the blazing sun of celebrity. In one corner sits Jeff Nichols, director of Loving, talking with a series of journalists. In another, Kristen Stewart, the actress of the moment at this years festival with very different but equally impressive roles in both Woody Allens Cafe Society and Olivier Assayas Personal Shopper, is posing for a series of photographers, looking languid and removed. In conversation, however, the 26-year-old Stewart is nothing of the sort. Animated, ardent and involved when she warms to her subject, she is a cinematic true believer, passionate about the art of film and the ways she hopes to contribute to it. Its a lucky turn for me. Im definitely reaping the benefits, Stewart says of her double play. Its really fantastic; Im forcing myself to be present, to feel it, to really revel in it. Because Cafe Society opened the festival a week ago, its the more recent Personal Shopper thats on everyones lips, an unclassifiable film thats been getting both hisses and standing ovations at successive screenings. (Asked about the response at the films news conference, Stewart was unconcerned, saying, Hey, everybody did not boo.) The story of a young American woman in Paris who works as a personal shopper for a wealthy celebrity while trying to make spiritual contact with her recently deceased twin brother, its an atmospheric, unexpectedly involving film part spooky ghost story, part thriller, part coming-of-age drama with everything joined and enlarged by Stewarts bravura performance. Personal Shopper is her second film with top French director Assayas; the first, Clouds of Sils Maria, won Stewart a Cesar, the French Oscar, for supporting actress. She was the first American actor to win the French award, and that reality still bowls her over. It blew my head off, I couldnt believe it, Stewart remembers. The fact that Im not from here, its a fish-out-of-water story, for sure. And it speaks to whats important here. In the States, we provide accolades for much more extreme performances: cancer movies, shaved heads, people who lose a whole bunch of weight or gain a whole bunch of weight . Whats felt more than cinematic culture is (the) movie industry. Here, she continues about French filmmaking, theyve stayed in touch with what we used to do in the 1970s: movies that provoke thought. Though shes definitely not averse to doing another Hollywood blockbuster, she emphasizes that it has to be with the right people. It has to be worth it. What is definitely worth it for Stewart is working with Assayas, a director she has formed an especially close creative bond with. Theres no label for it, she says, its hard to nail down with words I feel visible when Im around him. I feel understood, which is a really necessary feeling between an actor and a director. We always agree on everything, even if we dont articulate it. We know when weve nailed a feeling in a scene. I know when hes going to move on. Its the goal, its the ideal version of what I want, but its not an ideal anymore, its real. Working with Allen, the actress says, was a different but also involving experience. His ability to instill that very unique tone he has was surprising to me, because he doesnt direct a lot, its a lot more free form than I anticipated, Stewart says. He reveals himself so naturally, without overt direction. He has a kind of trust in initial reactions. The actress, who is in just about every scene of Personal Shopper, says the day-to-day filming was exhausting, really relentless. On other films, there are moments when you can breathe, days off when you can recharge, replenish the well, but not here, she adds. Making things a bit more complicated is that in real life, Stewart loathes shopping. I love clothes, but shopping for them feels indulgent and weird. I dont like to ask for help in stores, and I dont want to be the person who just takes everything. I have to really love something to buy it. To help stay fresh with the complicated Personal Shopper experience, Stewart read the script only once and followed her policy of learning her lines only on the day they were shot. I want to have to reach for them, she says. I dont want to feel them on the tip of my tongue. Stewarts parents are both in the business (her mothers a script supervisor, her father a stage manager) and that upbringing, she says, endowed me with the right motivations that still guide her movie work, though not without occasional problems. My field of vision is very narrow when it comes to career, she says. My motivation is to follow my creative impulse rather than trying to achieve some kind of status, some level of accomplishment. At times, its made it difficult to adapt to such an occasionally stupid world. But I learned I can float above that, not feel moored to it. I used to think, This is all B.S., its all about money, money, money. But its not all that way, everyone is not that way, and we can find each other. This image released by A24 Films shows Colin Farrell, left, and Rachel Weisz in a scene from the film, "The Lobster." The movie opens Friday, May 13, 2016. (A24 Films via AP) SHARE This image released by A24 Films shows, from left, John C. Reilly, Ben Whishaw and Colin Farrell in a scene from the film, "The Lobster." The movie opens Friday, May 13, 2016. (A24 Films via AP) This image released by A24 Films shows Colin Farrell in a scene from, "The Lobster." (A24 Films via AP) This image released by A24 Films shows Rachel Weisz in a scene from, "The Lobster." (A24 Films via AP) This image released by A24 Films shows Ariane Labed, left, and Colin Farrell in a scene from, "The Lobster." (A24 Films via AP) By Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune (TNS) A long way from Tinder, the entrancingly strange black comedy The Lobster imagines single life not as an array of swipe-right options, but rather as a quest for a mate for life on a serious deadline, to prevent being turned into a member of a nonhuman species. Allow me to explain. In the world of The Lobster, singlehood is illegal. The unmarried have 45 days to find a mate on the grounds of a large, beige hotel, or else become transformed into the animal of their choice and fend for themselves in the nearby woods. As with nearly everything filling in the contours of co-writer and director Yorgos Lanthimos first English-language feature he has made four films in his native Greece this insane dystopian premise is tapped into place at the outset, and you believe it. Best known in the U.S. for his Oscar-nominated Dogtooth, Lanthimos has long asserted himself as a master of tone management. As a stage director and a filmmaker, hes steeped in not just deadpan absurdism, but the general, perplexing absurdity of love and family in the realm of totalitarian excess. At the hotel check-in counter, we meet David, played with perfect, dodgy timidity by Colin Farrell. The man has arrived at the hotel accompanied by Bob, a dog, formerly his brother. Davids politely grilled by the desk clerk. Gay or straight? A pause. David wonders if theres a bisexual option. No, hes told. This option is no longer available, due to various operational problems. We come to learn the rules and regulations of this place along with David, and his fellow singles played by Ben Whishaw and John C. Reilly. David informs the management that hes chosen the lobster as his next incarnation. Thick of neck and droopy of mustache, David is a man who may have been born beaten down, or may have been beaten down by whatever world this world has become. But change is possible; once he meets his match, a similarly shortsighted woman played by Rachel Weisz, who also narrates the film, this empty vessel finds meaning and purpose and something like love. Lest I make The Lobster sound conventionally upbeat and life-affirming, it should be noted that Lanthimos eccentric marvel of a film is all of a piece with its makers earlier work. The performance style is one of vaguely robotic minimalism, as if the characters had learned a common language phonetically, without quite grasping the meaning or the feeling of what they say. There are short, sharp shocks of heinous violence, as when Reillys character is nailed for a transgression and subjected to brief but painful torture involving his hand and a hot toaster. Much of The Lobster takes place in the woods, charting Davids escape from the hotel into the realm of a militant group known as the Loners, led by Lea Deader Than Deadpan Seydoux. In the wild David meets the Weisz character, and while the rhythm of the storytelling in these later sequences can get a little pokey, Lanthimos takes the story to a tantalizing, ambiguous conclusion. Everyones excellent in The Lobster, and the suffocatingly bland settings brake just short of monumental claustrophobia. Cinematographer Thimios Bakatakis shot much of the film in County Kerry, Ireland, on what appears to have been a string of relentlessly gray, windy days. The classically driven score, heavy on the Shostakovich and Stravinsky, becomes one with the images. Seeing it a second time, I wasnt sure if the increasingly narrow focus of Lanthimos dark fairy tale worked, entirely. Im still not sure. Yet everything within the film connects to neighboring elements, performance to performance to cryptic absurdity (the opening is one of the strangest of the year) to surprisingly heartfelt acknowledgment of the power of love. Whether things work out or not. THE LOBSTER 3.5 out of 4 stars MPAA rating: R (for sexual content including dialogue, and some violence) Running time: 1:58 Chef Eric Ripert, tastes sauces in the kitchen of his restaurant, Le Bernadin, before the lunch service, in New York, Tuesday, May 17, 2016. Ripert recalls an uphill climb to culinary greatness in an engrossing new memoir, 32 Yolks. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) SHARE Chef Eric Ripert, sniffs the truffles in the kitchen of his restaurant, Le Bernadin, before the lunch service, in New York, Tuesday, May 17, 2016. Ripert recalls an uphill climb to culinary greatness in an engrossing new memoir, 32 Yolks. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Chef Eric Ripert, is interviewed in the conference room of his restaurant, Le Bernadin, in New York, Tuesday, May 17, 2016. Ripert recalls an uphill climb to culinary greatness in an engrossing new memoir, 32 Yolks. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Chef Eric Ripert, poses for photos in the dining room of his restaurant, Le Bernadin. in New York, Tuesday, May 17, 2016. Ripert recalls an uphill climb to culinary greatness in an engrossing new memoir, 32 Yolks. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Chef Eric Ripert, tastes sauces in the kitchen of his restaurant, Le Bernadin, before the lunch service, in New York, Tuesday, May 17, 2016. Ripert recalls an uphill climb to culinary greatness in an engrossing new memoir, 32 Yolks. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) By JOCELYN NOVECK, AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) When Eric Ripert turned 18, he had a crisis of confidence. He was working in Paris at the famed La Tour D'Argent, a grueling first step on the journey from his childhood in the mountains of Andorra to where he is now one of the most admired chefs in the world, leading Manhattan's elegant Le Bernardin for more than 20 years. But one day, it occurred to him that perhaps he should be a fashion model instead. "I had finally started dating," he explains with a grin. "And a girlfriend said, 'Wow, you're good-looking, you should be a model!" Ripert's mother back in Andorra, a tiny principality between Spain and France, was dismayed. But she had fashion-world connections, and arranged a meeting for her son at the Courreges label. And that's where they put him straight. "Listen," a man at the fashion house told Ripert. "You may THINK you're good-looking, and probably in your home village, you are. But this is Paris!" It was, Ripert says now, "the shortest meeting I ever had in my life." Somehow, that anecdote never made it into Ripert's engrossing new memoir, "32 Yolks," which came out this week. But the 51-year-old chef recalled it as he sat down with The Associated Press recently at Le Bernardin and reflected on his arduous climb to the pinnacle of the culinary world. Being a top chef was a dream he'd had since he was a young boy hanging out after school in a local chef's kitchen, polishing off bowls of chocolate mousse. "I always had a passion for eating and for good ingredients," Ripert says. That passion for ingredients had been on display just minutes before the interview, as Ripert prepared for the restaurant's lunchtime opening. His first task was to sample the sauces, as he does each day in his bustling but airy kitchen, staffed by more than 50 cooks. "Too spicy," he had quietly pronounced of the sauce intended for octopus. "Spicy is good," he explained later, "but what we don't want is to be burned here" he touched the sides of his throat. The cook in charge of the sauce station was already correcting the situation by discarding half, then adding more and calibrating the ingredients. It's hardly a simple task; the sauce station is the toughest in the kitchen. "You start with salads and move up in the hierarchy and end in the sauce station," Ripert says, echoing his own training. "In every kitchen it's the most difficult. Because you're basically capturing flavors in a liquid, and that's complicated." And it's not just about capturing flavors, but by keeping them calibrated all night long. "The last client should have the same taste as the first client. But some ingredients expand, and some die," he explains. "And some are killers, they destroy everything." A drop of lemon juice, for example: "An hour later any other flavor that was with it is dead." Ripert knows well what it's like to be that guy at the kitchen station any station. "32 Yolks" refers to his disastrous first day at La Tour d'Argent, his first job out of culinary school. He was asked to mince some shallots; he sliced his finger open on the first one. Then he was asked to take 32 yolks and make a hollandaise sauce. He bombed. Then he was asked to fetch some chervil. He had no idea what it looked like. Two weeks later, he hoisted a three-foot tall pot of boiling water and lost control. When he removed his socks, his scalded skin peeled off with them. He was sent home for a three-week recovery, but hobbled back a week later with swollen feet to show his dedication. And worse was to come. Ripert's next boss, culinary wizard Joel Robuchon, was obsessed with earning a third Michelin star, and worked his staff to extremes; once, he asked them to peel every single pea individually, to remove a tiny sprout inside. "I saw a few guys punch the walls," Ripert writes of his time there. "Some guys suffered crippling anxiety attacks." Still, he greatly admires Robuchon's talent and calls him "my hero." Ripert also writes with frankness of his childhood of happy years with his father before his parents divorced, and unhappy times afterward with his stepfather, who bullied him, made his home life hell, and sent him to boarding school, where, he writes, a priest made advances on him. Throughout, food saved him: He ended up at culinary school, which launched his career. Ripert was in his 20s when he got the offer to go to Washington and work for French chef Jean-Louis Palladin at the Watergate Hotel (the book ends here). We have to ask, was it finally smooth sailing? Hardly, Ripert laughs. "I didn't speak English," he says. "And I guess I had an ego, and the naive idea that America was the continent of the burgers, and I was coming to save the world. I expected a red carpet. That was a rude awakening." Things got so tough, he thought of going home. But he stayed, and in 1991, he was summoned to New York by Gilbert LeCoze at Le Bernardin. Three years later, LeCoze died, and Ripert took over as head chef. The rest is culinary history, and Ripert sees no end coming soon. "Passion never goes away," he says. "I'll be here for a long time." SHARE Diedra Laird/Charlotte Observer/TNS One of Jim McNamara's old photos of himself in 1946 when the trials were going on. After six months of combat, Jim McNamara was 19 in the Philippines when he reassigned to stand guard at war crimes trials after World War II in Manila in late 1945 to October 1946. He would guard some of the most fearsome Japanese military leaders including the "Beast of Bataan" who commanded troops that committed atrocities on the famous 65-mile march on which 10,000 died. (Diedra Laird/Charlotte Observer/TNS) photos by Diedra Laird/Charlotte Observer/TNS Jim McNamara looks over some of his old photos at his home. After six months of combat, Jim McNamara was 19 in the Philippines when he reassigned to stand guard at war-crimes trials after World War II in Manila, Philippines, in late 1945 to October 1946. He would guard some of the most fearsome Japanese military leaders including the "Beast of Bataan" who commanded troops that committed atrocities on the famous march on which 10,000 died. Diedra Laird/Charlotte Observer/TNS Jim McNamara holds one of his old photos showing him in action as an honor guard (far left in photo) in the trial of Japanese Gen. Masaharu Homma, the 'Beast of Bataan" (third from left, seated at table in white suit looking through pages of evidence that would ultimately send him before a firing squad). After six months of combat, Jim McNamara was 19 in the Philippines when he reassigned to stand guard at war crimes trials after World War II in Manila in late 1945 to October 1946. He would guard some of the most fearsome Japanese military leaders including the "Beast of Bataan" who commanded troops that committed atrocities on the famous 65-mile march on which 10,000 died. (Diedra Laird/Charlotte Observer/TNS) One of McNamara's old photos showing him in action as an honor guard (far left) in the trial of Japanese Gen. Masaharu Homma, the 'Beast of Bataan," seated at table in white suit looking through pages of evidence that would ultimately send him before a firing squad. Veteran recalls escorting officers from cells to trials By David Perlmutt, The Charlotte Observer (TNS) CHARLOTTE, N.C. In a fading black-and-white photo snapped 70 years ago, Japanese Gen. Masaharu Homma, historys Beast of Bataan, sits stoically on a hard bench in a makeshift Manila, Philippines, courtroom. He is dressed in a white suit and rifling through pages of evidence that ultimately would send him before a firing squad. Behind Homma, standing guard in a U.S. Army MPs uniform and white helmet, is Jim McNamara. Just 19 then, hed joined the fighting in the Philippines six months before it stopped, and then, with little chance of going home, was placed in the 738th Honor Guard assigned to keep watch on some of Japans most fearsome military leaders on trial for war crimes. Many Americans know about the trials of Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg, Germany. Lesser known were the complicated and sometimes controversial trials of about 5,700 accused Japanese war criminals in Tokyo and other Asian Pacific countries where the Japanese had unleashed unspeakable crimes against humanity including in the Philippines. With Japans surrender in September 1945, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander for the Allied Forces, oversaw the occupation. As the world watched how MacArthur would dismantle Japans military, he decided that the commanders in the Philippines would be the first to go to trial. High on the list were Homma, held responsible for the so-called Bataan Death March at the wars outset, and Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, who commanded Japanese troops in the Philippines. By the time the Tokyo tribunal began in May 1946, McNamara was already on guard duty in Manila, listening in on the hastily assembled Manila trials at the bullet-pocked American High Commissioners Residence. What unfolded was a snippet of legal history that would capture headlines and newsreels around the world. I didnt know it then, but it was like watching history, said McNamara, 89, whose job was to escort defendants from their cells in the residence to the courtroom, and once they were sentenced to a waiting armored truck. What sticks in his memory 70 years later is the little emotion each officer showed. Hed nudge them to the front of the commission for their sentencing. The commissioners would say, OK out, recalled McNamara, a retired regional manager for a pharmaceutical company whos lived in Charlotte since 1963. And they would stand at attention, click their heels, then bow, and Id take them to the truck. They never chickened out. McNamara grew up in Washington, D.C., and was 17 and a student at a D.C. military school in August 1944 when he tried to enlist in the Marines. A bad left eye disqualified him. It was probably a good thing he would have been assigned to a Marine unit that ended up fighting at Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific. I was told that half of them got killed, he said. He signed up for the draft, anxious to get into the war before it was over. All but three people in my class of 96 had gone into the military and into the war, he said. I felt left out. By then, the Army needed replacements, and McNamara was sent to Camp Blanding in Florida and assigned to a rifle company. With Allied forces preparing to invade the Japanese mainland, it took 31 days on board a troop ship to get to the Philippines. McNamara got off at Luzon and walked 20 miles to join the Armys 37th Division in Manila. The 37th had already captured the city, after a fight that left it in shambles. He was in combat for six months, until two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima (Aug. 6) and Nagasaki (three days later) forced the Japanese to unconditionally surrender. Before the formal signing of surrender documents in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, Japanese military leaders worked long hours destroying heaps of evidence of war crimes. They advised POW commanders to hide or blend in with civilians. Gen. MacArthur quickly ordered the round-up of suspected war criminals and established a War Crimes Board to investigate the allegations. McNamara was reassigned to the honor guard. MacArthur decided that Yamashita and Homma would be held responsible for atrocities in the Philippines and the Bataan Death March. He wanted them tried quickly, even before the creation of the tribunal that would try the major war criminals in Tokyo and elsewhere. Yamashita, the last general in charge of the Japanese Army in the Philippines, was tried first, charged in late September 1945 for not controlling his troops who committed more than 100 crimes. The crimes included slaughtering Filipinos and American POWs, women, children and priests and beheadings, burnings, tortures and destruction. A military commission convicted him on Dec. 7, 1945, the fourth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor that drew America into the war. His sentence: death by hanging. His conviction was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, his American lawyers questioning whether the trials were legal. The court upheld the conviction, though there was a dissenter who wrote that Yamashita hadnt received a fair trial. He was hanged Feb. 23, 1946, outside Manila. Jim McNamara missed his trial; hed arrived a month after Yamashitas trial began. But he was standing guard over Homma as Yamashita awaited his appeal. Homma had commanded the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. Japan hit full force, outnumbering Allied troops 17-1. The Americans and Filipinos were ill-fed and ill-equipped to hold off the Japanese advance. Most who survived the onslaught were ordered to surrender on Bataan Peninsula or a speck of island called Corregidor in mid-1942. Those captured on Bataan were forced to march 65 miles along hot jungle roads with little water and less food to a POW camp in the city of San Fernando. Ten thousand died on the six-day march 650 of them Americans during some of the wars darkest hours. They were shot or bayoneted for collapsing or stopping to sip water from artesian wells. Some dug their own graves. Many died from hunger or disease. Homma was extradited to the Philippines after Japans surrender and faced 48 counts of violating international rules of war for not controlling his troops who committed the atrocities. He was also charged with bombing Manila in late 1941, after MacArthur had declared it an open city, and for refusing to accept the surrender of Americans on Bataan in May 1942. But it was the mistreatment of Filipino and American prisoners that earned him his Beast of Bataan nickname and a place at the top of those tried first. Everyone in those trials said, This was not my idea, we were ordered to do it, he said. Theyd lay someone up against a fence and tell them to do something, and if they didnt, they just bayonetted them. They were brutal. McNamara talked to some of the defendants, but not Homma or Yamashita. His orders were to get Homma and the others from their cells and escort them to the commission room. But he listened closely to all the testimony. During Hommas trial, dozens of Bataan march survivors were flown from the United States to testify. Homma wore suits, while the others, including Yamashita, wore uniforms. McNamara said that Hommas wife was allowed to testify that her husband had been dismissed from his command in August 1942 because hadnt been hard enough on the Filipinos. A five-man commission convicted Homma. His sentence: Shot to death with musketry. McNamara and other MPs escorted him from the room his head held high, shoulders back. I look back and Im proud of what I did, McNamara said. I remember thinking Homma and the others deserved everything they got. The stories that were told against them were tragic. I couldnt believe that they could do these things to another human being. SHARE Green was convicted of stealing $63,000 from the county water district.$RETURN$$RETURN$ Big Spring facility is likely home for 1 year By Monique Ching After serving his sentence, Yantis Green will likely return to San Angelo to help with the family business, said Jesse Martinez, former Tom Green County Justice of the Peace and close friend to Green. "He knew he did wrong and made bad choices. He was ready to accept the consequences," Martinez said. "He's going to serve his time, come back and make a living here." Martinez, who has met with Green once a week to have coffee and pray together since they became close friends about eight years ago, said the news of Green's embezzlement scandal last year came as a shock to him. "I was in disbelief. I was crushed for him ? he had a very bright political career," he said. "He was very embarrassed. I said, ?Let's go pray about it, ask for forgiveness and move forward.' " Last July, Green was fired as district manager of the Tom Green County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 after it was revealed that he spent almost $63,000 on personal purchases using district credit cards for about five years, according to documents filed in federal court. The water district provides water to farmers from a $4 million federally funded canal. The district manages farmers' money to pay off the project. Green apologized profusely, both when he repaid the full amount to the water district and when he resigned his position as a Tom Green County Commissioner last October, after which the county appointed Precinct 4 Commissioner Bill Ford to finish out the term. "Bill Ford is doing an excellent job," said Judge Mike Brown. "I was shocked when I heard about (the scandal). I couldn't describe it any other way." Jeff Betty, chairman of the Tom Green County Republican Party, has known Green through the party for about 14 years. He said he was surprised by the news but felt that Green was sincere in his apology. "I have spoken with Yantis on a couple of occasions back in the fall, and he seemed genuinely remorseful and contrite," Betty said via email. Green was sentenced Jan. 25 in the U.S. Northern District Court in Lubbock to 12 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, a $3,000 fine and a $100 mandatory special assessment. Green was ordered to report to the institution by March 1 and was recommended to serve his time at Federal Prison Camp Big Spring. "It wasn't anything remarkable," said David Guinn, Green's Attorney. "It was standard sentencing. He didn't have a previous record. He performed perfectly on bond." According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, a Federal Prison Camp is a minimum-security facility with dormitory housing. It has a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio with limited or no perimeter fencing. The facilities are work- and program-oriented, as many are adjacent to larger institutions or military bases, allowing inmates to help serve the labor needs of the other institution. A weekly population report showed FPC Big Spring had a population of 219 Thursday. "The court looks at what is the first bed available closest to home, for family visitation," Guinn said. "(FPC Big Spring) is for the least dangerous people. They have a lot of responsibility." According to Patrick Metze, professor of law at Texas Tech University, although the monetary value often defines the level of the crime, the judge will take into account whether the defendant accepts responsibility or not. "Someone could get a ?discount,' if you will, for assuming responsibility,' Metze said. Having said that, though, Metze said this is still no easy punishment. Under the conditions of his supervision, Green cannot incur new credit card charges or open additional lines of credit without the approval of a probation officer, unless the officer determines he is in compliance with the payment schedule of the fine. He must also provide any requested financial information to the probation officer and abstain from alcohol use during the supervision. Once he has served his sentence, this charge will have implications for the rest of Green's life. "There's a whole host of collateral consequences with being a convicted felon," Metze said. "It's a pretty big deal as far as the rest of his life concerns." Along with relinquishing the right to vote, bear arms or hold public office, Green will also have some difficulty seeking employment or holding a job where he is entrusted with money, Metze said. "Our entire criminal and civil justice system is predicated on the idea that a person who violates the law should be punished and ... should, at the completion of their punishment, be free to rejoin society. Forgiveness is appropriate and necessary for a society and an individual," Betty said. "Having said that, Yantis has broken our trust and will have to earn back what he can when he returns." Green's position and good reputation definitely had an impact on how the public responded, Betty said, but the situation demonstrates the necessity of good financial management and strong oversight, regardless of an official's reputation. "I suspect and hope that members of many charitable organizations and associations will be scrutinizing the financial records a bit more carefully rather than just granting pro forma approval of budget reports and expenditure statements," Betty said. "I was taught to forgive, and I will try to do so, just as I hope we all will try to do for every person who makes mistakes. Forgiveness, however, does not require that we forget, and I doubt many will." With just less than a month until Green has to report to federal prison, David Guinn said Green is preparing for his year of absence, but it may be some time before the federal court informs him which facility he is to report to. "I hope everything works out for him," Brown said. Martinez said he is certain if Green could go back in time he would have made different decisions. The time in prison will give him a chance to reflect and return to help others learn from his experience. "He's going to be resilient. He's going to bounce back. I see him coming out of the other side as a person with a new perspective, a new understanding. He really felt bad ? there's no doubt in my mind," Martinez said. "He still has a future ahead of him. His close friends have not left him. They've supported him, and that's what he needs." Abbott SHARE By Rashda Khan, Rashda.Khan@gosanangelo.com / @Rashda_SAST Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will be in San Angelo on Monday to sign his book, "Broken But Unbowed." The stop is part of his 19-city book promotion tour. The book, released May 17, shares the story of the accident that left Abbott in a wheelchair, how he tackled this personal challenge and forged his career. It also deals with his ideas to fix the Constitution and America's problems. According to the book blurb on Amazon, "In Broken but Unbowed, Governor Abbott describes firsthand what it was like to be on the battlefield in the historic fights that have refined the Constitution and the lessons he's learned along the way, offering solutions that will bring us back a government that lives up to the American dream." He will be at San Angelo's Hastings at 2:30 p.m. However, Hastings staff advised attendees to arrive about an hour early and expect the signing to move quickly once it gets started. The store has 500 copies of the book for the signing, said Justine Harker, a manager at Hastings. She shared some ground rules for the event, which is expected to similar to a Ben Carson signing in 2014: Abbott will only sign copies of "Broken, But Unbowed." No purses, backpacks and similar items will be allowed in the area. No pictures will be allowed. However, Abbott will be accompanied by photographer who will take pictures and provide a link for people to later access them online. On Tuesday, Abbott is scheduled to be at Amarillo's Barnes & Noble at 11 a.m., at Lubbock's Hastings at 82nd & Slide at 3 p.m. and finally at Midland's Hastings at 7 p.m. One hundred percent of net proceeds from "Broken But Unbowed" will be donated to Operation FINALLY HOME, a Texas-based nonprofit that provides custom-built, mortgage-free homes to veterans and their families. IF YOU GO What: Gov. Greg Abbott book signing When: 2:30 p.m. Monday Where: Hastings Entertainment, 4238 Sunset Drive Contact: 325-949-9401 Contributed photo Josh Wilkins (from left) plays the part of Adam, Dalton Holbert plays the part of Dan and Haley Kelley plays the part of Laura in "Sweet Nothing in My Ear," the one-act play Christoval High School students will perform in the UIL 2A State One-Act Play Competition on May 24 in the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center. SHARE Christoval, Mason veterans of competition By Jane Jeschke, Special to the Standard-Times The one-act play casts from Mason and Christoval high schools have created a well-beaten path to the University Interscholastic League State One-Act Play Competition in Austin. When Mason takes the stage Tuesday, it will be the students' fourth year in a row to compete. For Christoval, it will be three consecutive years. Both schools survived five rounds of competition to make it this far. "One hundred eighty-seven schools started the class 2A one-act play contest, and there are now only eight schools remaining," said Travis Morganstean, Christoval's director. Christoval placed fifth at state in 2014 and was first runner-up last year. The cast of 12 characters, five crew members and four alternates will perform the drama "Sweet Nothing in My Ear," by Stephen Sachs. "The story revolves around a mother and father," Morganstean explained. "Laura is deaf and Dan is hearing. Their son Adam was born hearing but loses it at age 5. The story begins when Adam is 6, and it's a struggle of whether or not to get him a cochlear implant. The mother is not for it. Laura takes pride in being deaf, but Dan wants it." More than half of the actors play characters that are deaf and had to learn American Sign Language, Morganstean said. "The kids were excited to learn ASL," he said. "We just translated what was in the script, but they were curious and wanted to learn more." He related one story that happened during the regional competition, when cast members encountered a hearing-impaired man and were able to have a nice conversation with him through sign language. Morganstean knew his students were up to learning ASL, but the real challenge was interpreting the play to the audience. Some of the actors portray shadow characters to voice what the deaf members are saying. "They have to have the same emotions as the real character," he said. "They have got to be in sync. There's blocking and timing, sometimes without being able to see each other onstage. Or they have to face each other, and you have to find movement so it doesn't look staged. You have to find a balance." Morganstean said his cast and crew are excited about returning to state. "Our goal from the start was to tell a good story and then make it to state," he said. "I've told the kids to have fun now. Everyone is good at this level, so we're not stressing." Mason's one-act play will be trying for a three-peat. They are the defending state champions from both last year and 2014. They were first runner-up in 2013. Director Jacki Maenius chose the play "You Can't Take It With You," by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. The classic American comedy revolves around the eccentric Sycamore family and their encounters with the more straight-laced Kirby family. This year the state competition will move from its traditional venue on the University of Texas campus to the larger Austin ISD Performing Arts Center, which seats 1,200. Christoval will perform second in Session I, and Mason will perform first in Session II. Other 2A schools competing include Brackettville: Brackett High School, Colmesneil, Martinsville, Stinnett: West Texas High School, Hico and Gladewater: Union Grove High School. Yfat Yossifor / Standard-Times Ken Phinney, a farmer on the Tom Green Coutny Water Control and Improvement District 1 board, pulls the cover off the tank where he pumps wastewater to his farm from a lateral canal in Veribest. SHARE Yfat Yossifor / Standard-Times Pumps and holding tanks divert wastewater from a lateral canal to a farm in Veribest. Yfat Yossifor / Standard-Times Ken Phinney, a farmer on the Water Control and Improvement District 1 board, looks at the lateral canal where he pumps water to his farm in Veribest. Yfat Yossifor / Standard-Times The main canal moves wastewater to farms in Veribest. Yfat Yossifor / Standard-Times Ken Phinney, a farmer on the Water Control and Improvement District 1 board, uses wastewater for his farm in Veribest. By Rashda Khan, Rashda.Khan@gosanangelo.com / @Rashda_SAST For almost 20 years, many farmers east of San Angelo have used the city's treated wastewater effluent to grow their crops. Mostly they grow cotton, but also corn, milo, wheat and, sometimes, sesame seed. Now they're worried the city's proposed direct potable reuse facility will make that wastewater disappear. An October 1997 agreement between the city of San Angelo and the Tom Green County Water Control & Improvement District 1 gives the farmers rights to use the effluent, of which the city produces about 8 million gallons a day. The treated water is sent to two big storage ponds, and from there it is pumped to the district's irrigation canal. The way the agreement is written, farmers agree to use the effluent first before using fresh water via from Twin Buttes Reservoir, said city Water Utilities Director Bill Riley. According to a 2015 Reclaimed Water Alternatives Evaluation Study the city paid for, the deal "gives the district a more reliable water supply and could result in more water in Twin Buttes Reservoir for municipal water use." Lynn Hatley, manager of the water district, said the wastewater supplies farms east of San Angelo, from near Loop 306 to 2 miles past the small community of Veribest. He sees the treated wastewater as more than reliable. "In a dry year many wouldn't make a crop without the wastewater," he said. "Many of these farmers and their families spend money in San Angelo." Hatley is also a ditch rider and manages the treated wastewater from the city into the district's canal and its laterals, which provide water to the turnouts or head gates that supply water to the individual farms. The canal was originally built to carry fresh water from the Twin Buttes Reservoir. Hatley, who has worked with the district about 10 years, remembers pulling fresh water about three times. For the district's Twin Buttes water rights to activate, the reservoir must be at a certain level, Hatley said, and it hasn't rained enough recently to boost it to that level. A document detailing the Twin Buttes water allocation for the district shows the farmers cannot use the water until the reservoir contains more than 40,000 acre-feet. According to a lake level report from the city, Twin Buttes contained only about 25,500 acre-feet Friday. Ken Phinney, a fourth-generation cotton farmer in Veribest, said he has about 260 acres on the canal. "Without the canal water I would have to turn those 260 acres over to dryland cotton," which is grown without irrigation, with no water other than rain, he said. "Who knows what you'll make on a dryland crop." He said crop insurance helps, but it's a case of diminishing returns and it eventually runs out. "Insurance is based on yield," Phinney said. "Over time, the premium will be higher and higher, while the insurance (payout) will be lower and lower." If the DPR plan were approved, the effluent would be further treated to produce 7 mgd of reclaimed potable water. San Angelo's average water use is 14 mgd. "Well, if they use it 100 percent, it means we'll lose the trade we made with the city," Ted Weatherford, a farmer from east of town, said after the last Water Advisory Board meeting May 10. "According to all the data, that would mean a third of the years we will not get any water. The effluent offers farmers a supply (of water) that's guaranteed yearly." Weatherford reminded the board of the history behind the deal. "We're trading fresh water for sewage water," he said. "It has been safe for the city for 18 and a half years." But it hasn't always been so. "In the 1990s, the city was due to be fined $50,000 a day for the effluent flowing into the river," Weatherford said. "The city didn't have sufficient land area to dispose of the wastewater at the city farm." At the May 10 Water Advisory Board Meeting, Weatherford was under the impression the agreement with the water district, which allowed the city to deal with its effluent, is over at the end of next year, when it would be time to renegotiate a new contract. However, Riley with city pointed out, using a printed copy of the agreement, that the deal doesn't have an expiration date, but either party "can terminate the deal without cause by giving the other party at least one year's prior notice." Also, if the city "terminates the agreement before Dec. 31, 2017, the city must reimburse the district for a prorated portion of the costs associated with the construction of the district's return flow pumping station." Similarly, if the district terminated the agreement before that date, it would have to "pay to the city an amount equal to the total amount of outstanding debt, principal and interest the city has remaining" on the loan it got from the Texas Water Development Board to construct a pipeline to deliver the reclaimed water from the holding ponds to the district. Weatherford wants to renegotiate a new 20-year agreement, replacing the one-year opt out clause with a five-year clause. "It'll give us five years to pay for capital improvements, center pivots, drip irrigation, whatever," he said, adding the farmers would like to see the partnership with the city continue. "It'll take you four years to get this (DPR) plant built and gives you another year to think about it. And you can see by the comments, I think you may need another year to think about it." City staff expects a wastewater reclamation facility equipped for advance treatment would take about two and a half to three years to build at a projected cost of $136 million. The original deal with the water district was signed by former Mayor Johnny Fender, but when contacted he gave credit for the idea to then City Manager Tom Adams. "We worked on water a lot when I was there," Adams said when contacted by phone. "It made sense then to give them (the district) the wastewater and keep more of the fresh water in Twin Buttes. But that was just an early step, an early part of the process. The whole purpose was to come up with a strategy to protect and preserve San Angelo. Water is critical to the future." Hatley wants the wants the city to think hard about the deal and about DPR. "I think the city needs to think about these farmers. These farmers are the ones who grow the food we eat and the cotton we wear," he said. "This should be last resort." SHARE Although with group that has al-Qaida ties, he was granted entry By Hannah Allam, McClatchy Washington Bureau (TNS) WASHINGTON A senior figure from a Syrian rebel group with links to al-Qaida was allowed into the United States for a brief visit, raising questions about how much the Obama administration will compromise in the search for partners in the conflict. Labib al Nahhas, foreign affairs director for the Islamist fighting group Ahrar al Sham, spent a few days in Washington in December, according to four people with direct knowledge of the trip and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of U.S. relations with Syrian rebels. His previously undisclosed visit is a delicate matter for both sides the conservative Salafist insurgents risk their credibility with even perceived ties to the United States, and the U.S. government risks looking soft on screenings by allowing entry to a member of an Islamist paramilitary force. National security analysts say U.S. authorities likely knew of Nahhas' arrival intelligence agencies for years have watched his group's interactions with al-Qaida's Syrian branch, the Nusra Front. That suggests that authorities granted him entry at a time when U.S. immigration authorities face political pressure to block visitors with even tenuous ties to extremist groups. Four months after Nahhas entered the United States on a European passport, U.S. authorities denied entry to a well-known Syrian humanitarian leader who had been approved to visit Washington to receive an award from international aid groups. "They're treating Labib al Nahhas as an individual, and it's also useful to have someone to talk to on the other side," said Faysal Itani, a Syria specialist with the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, who said he'd known about Nahhas' visit. "They could make, quickly, the decision that he's persona non grata in the United States, and yet they haven't." A Syrian opposition official with knowledge of the matter said it shouldn't have been surprising that he was allowed entry, because Ahrar al Sham is not among U.S.-designated terrorist groups. He said Nahhas hadn't planned meetings with any U.S. officials but wanted to speak with "third parties" who might be able to influence policymakers. He declined to elaborate on the "third parties." Others said the plan was to meet with lobbyists and Middle East researchers. The State Department declined to answer whether any U.S. officials knew in advance about Nahhas's presence in Washington, or whether State Department officials had assisted his entry. SHARE The San Angelo Police Department issued this Nixle alert for a missing man at 6:24 p.m. Saturday: Missing/at risk 79yo R.A. Anders, W/M, Gray/Bro, 6'/180, last seen Wed @ Best Value Inn. Department seeks your help in locating a missing "at risk" person: R. A. Anders, 79 year old white male, 6'/160lbs., gray hair, brown eyes. Last seen: Best Value Inn, 1601 S. Bryant Blvd, Wednesday May 18 at noon. Vehicle: blue 2000 Chevy Silverado pickup. Texas LP- CHV9797 Mr. Anders is listed as "at risk" due to medical conditions that pose a risk to his health and safety. If you have information that can assist in helping safely locate Anders, please call 911. SHARE State waves off research as arbitrary By Anna Kuchment The Dallas Morning News (TNS) DALLAS Despite mounting evidence that oil and gas activity has triggered all of the recent earthquakes in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, regulators have consistently questioned the link. Now a new study by researchers at the University of Texas and Southern Methodist University argues that humans have been causing earthquakes not just in North Texas but throughout the state for nearly 100 years. The public thinks these started in 2008, but nothing could be further from the truth, said Cliff Frohlich, a senior research scientist at UT-Austin and lead author of the new study. The paper, published this week in the journal Seismological Research Letters, concludes that activities associated with petroleum production almost certainly or probably set off 59 percent of earthquakes across the state between 1975 and 2015, including the recent earthquakes in Irving and Dallas. Another 28 percent were possibly triggered by oil and gas activities. Scientists deemed only 13 percent of the quakes to be natural. A spokesperson for the Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates the oil and gas industry, dismissed the studys methods as arbitrary, but an expert at the U.S. Geological Survey said the study offers important new information that could affect the agencys future threat assessments for Texas. The commission will continue to use objective, credible scientific study as the basis for our regulatory and rulemaking functions, Ramona Nye, a spokeswoman for the Railroad Commission, wrote in an email after she and her colleagues reviewed an embargoed copy of the paper. However this new study acknowledges the basis for its conclusions are purely subjective in nature and in fact, admits its categorization of seismic events to be arbitrary. Frohlich and colleagues at UT and at Southern Methodist University argue in the paper that state regulators have been slow to acknowledge the link between industrial practices and ground shaking. Oklahoma, which experienced 890 earthquakes of magnitude 3 and above last year compared with Texas 21, has recognized the connection and ordered operators to slash the volume of wastewater from oil and gas production that they pump into wells. Studies by academic scientists and those at the USGS have shown that pressure from high-volume wastewater injections has disturbed faults in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas and a handful of other states, creating earthquakes. The Railroad Commission has taken some similar steps, Nye wrote. In November 2014 the commission tightened its rules for disposal wells. Since then, it has received 51 disposal well applications. Of these, 22 permits were issued with special conditions, such as requirements to reduce daily maximum injection volumes and pressure and to record volumes and pressures daily as opposed to monthly. Nine permits were issued without special conditions. The rest were either withdrawn, returned to the applicant for more information, protested and sent to a hearing, or are still pending. Following a magnitude-4 earthquake near Venus and Mansfield last year, the commission asked one operator to plug its well to a shallower depth, Nye added, presumably to lower the risk that it would disturb a deep fault. Texas man-made earthquakes date to the early days of the oil and gas industry, the new study reports. The first man-made quake struck in 1925 in the Goose Creek oil field along the Gulf Coast east of Houston. Humble Oil, a precursor of Exxon, had extracted so much oil that the ground sank and caused houses to shake and dishes to crash to the floor. Over the years, different petroleum production methods have triggered quakes, including oil and gas extraction and enhanced recovery, in which operators pump water or carbon dioxide into reservoirs to boost the flow of oil. Each method can, in rare cases, raise or lower pressure on faults and cause them to rupture. As the industry has changed, the oilfield practices that caused earthquakes have changed as well, said Frohlich. Since 2008, wastewater disposal from hydraulic fracturing has triggered most of the states earthquakes, according to the study. Fracking involves injecting a mix of water, sand and chemicals down wells at high pressure to fracture rock and release oil and natural gas. When the oil and gas flow up to the surface, they bring fracking fluid as well as salty groundwater. Companies separate the water from the oil and gas and pump the brine down a set of deeper wells designed to keep it from polluting drinking water supplies. As Texas shale boom got underway in the early 2000s, the number of fracked wells and the volume of water pumped down disposal wells increased rapidly. Between 2007 and 2014, the amount of wastewater pumped into wells in Texas more than doubled from an average of 30 million barrels per month to 70 million barrels per month, according to data available online from the Railroad Commission. During roughly that same period, the states earthquake rate rose from two per year to 12 per year, according to the new study. Robert Williams, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo., said the paper could affect his agencys assessment of earthquake threats in Texas. Earlier this year, the USGS released a report showing that parts of Texas, including Dallas and Fort Worth, now have a tenfold higher risk than in 2008 of experiencing a damaging earthquake. Frohlichs paper highlights areas of human-induced activity previously unknown to the USGS, including in the Permian Basin in Far West Texas and in the Panhandle, said Williams. Those sites are new and may need to be considered by USGS in future induced seismic hazard maps, he said. The new paper uses an updated classification system based on five questions to distinguish natural from human-induced earthquakes. The questions include: Do the earthquakes occur after potentially influential human activities begin? Are the earthquakes and human activities close enough so that a causal relationship is plausible? Do the earthquakes appear to be shallow, like most other human-induced events? Have credible scientific studies linked the earthquakes to human activities? The more yes answers, the greater the likelihood that a quake was induced. Frohlich acknowledges that the system is subjective. But, he wrote in the paper, the method serves to focus discussion on the critical aspects of the evidence, such as precisely what additional data researchers need in order to undertake future studies. Before 1980, he added, there wasnt accurate enough data on earthquake locations and well-injection volumes in Texas to perform a rigorous statistical analysis. Such an analysis can help rule out the possibility that quakes have occurred near wells by chance. Williams found the classification system in the paper convincing. It is still based on correlation, and youll never know for absolute certain, but its pretty strong evidence, he said. Polio workers write in chalk outside a house to indicate vaccination status in Karachi, Pakistan. Wariness over the vaccine has led the disease to linger in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Shashank Bengali/Los Angeles Times/TNS SHARE Shashank Bengali/Los Angeles Times/TNS Saira Nazimuddin, right, confers with a fellow polio vaccinator. (Shashank Bengali/Los Angeles Times/TNS) Workers strive to end vaccine fears By Shashank Bengali, Los Angeles Times (TNS) KARACHI, Pakistan Her slender hand sheathed in a black glove, Saira Nizamuddin gathered the fabric of her abaya as she stepped across an alley strewn with rocks and trash. The 19-year-old health worker walked alone, the mid-morning sun pressing down on the dirt streets and soaking into the black fabric covering her from head to toe. It was better this way, she thought. In the past, for security reasons, police officers had followed her as she visited houses to administer the polio vaccine to children. Now, she and 10 vaccinators, all local women, were working unguarded. The low-profile approach was meant to assuage fears in their community that the vaccine was unsafe, forbidden by Islam or a cover for Western espionage rumors that have given the crippling virus, eradicated nearly everywhere else in the world, a footholdin conservative Pakistan. This is my neighborhood, Nizamuddin said. Were fine without the police. On the third day of a weeklong anti-polio drive last month in Karachi, Nizamuddin turned left down an unmarked road. Two colleagues were waiting outside a residence. A metal gate opened slightly, and the women slipped inside. Two hours later, however, the campaign was suspended across the city. Nizamuddin and her team were instructed to go home immediately. A few miles away, in a rough-and-tumble district called Orangi Town, seven police officers providing security for a polio team had been shot to death by gunmen riding motorcycles. Pakistans long struggle against the disease was interrupted once again. The militant violence that has claimed tens of thousands of Pakistani lives in the past decade also has stood in the way of a multibillion-dollar global campaign to wipe out what once was among the worlds most feared afflictions. From 1988, when the world reported more than 350,000 new polio cases, the number dropped to just 74 last year: 54 in Pakistan, the rest in Afghanistan. Those are the only countries where the virus hangs on, finding sanctuary in the remote, mountainous border region and in the open sewers of hot, crowded neighborhoods in Karachi, a melting pot of 22 million-plus inhabitants. India was declared polio-free in 2014, five years after it accounted for half the cases in the world. Nigeria, formerly a reservoir for the disease in Africa, hasnt reported a new case in nearly two years. It feels like all the fingers are pointing at us, said Aziz Memon, chairman of Rotary Internationals PolioPlus campaign in Pakistan. Polio invades the central nervous system, can trigger life-threatening paralysis and is easily transmitted between humans in places with poor sanitation. There is no cure, but the virus can be eliminated from a population through mass immunizations. In the United States, that has meant injecting young children with the vaccine introduced by Jonas Salk in the 1950s. But in countries like Pakistan, where children are more vulnerable to infections and there are fewer trained health workers, community-wide resistance to the disease has been improved with a less-expensive oral vaccine a couple of drops on a childs tongue, administered multiple times before age 5. Workers go door-to-door throughout the year in an effort to reach every child, a painstaking mission underwritten by international donors at a cost of $1 billion every year. The U.S. has spent more than $1.3 billion on global anti-polio efforts since 2009. But health officials and international experts think Pakistan could finally stop the spread of the disease this year. One of their reasons for optimism is people like Nizamuddin, who is part of a new strategy to employ local women to administer the vaccine and make regular house visits in some of the highest risk areas. That includes her neighborhood in Gulshan, a warren of low-slung concrete blocks in eastern Karachi that is home to a large population of migrants from the Afghan border region, and the remote province of Baluchistan, both polio hotbeds. A 17-month-old boy was diagnosed with the virus here in December, the seventh case in the city last year. Reports said the boys family had refused the vaccine. For years, Pakistani Taliban militants waged a propaganda war against the immunizations, describing them as a Western plot to sterilize Muslims and issuing a fatwa, or religious decree, against female health workers. In 2012, militant leaders in the border area banned vaccinations in protest of U.S. drone strikes, leaving half a million children out of reach. The same year, immunization teams came under attack after it emerged that the CIA previously had enlisted a Pakistani doctor to snoop on Osama bin Ladens hideout using the cover of a fake anti-hepatitis campaign. Attacks blamed on extremists since have killed more than 100 health workers and security forces assigned to protect them. Male vaccinators in particular were suspected as spies, making them reluctant to travel without escort. People would ask me, Are you a real health worker or a fake one? said Nizamuddin, who has worked on polio drives for four years. Or parents would refuse on religious grounds. From 2012, when Pakistan recorded just 58 new polio cases and none in Karachi the number jumped to 306 in 2014, by far the most of any country. Over the past two years, a security crackdown against militants in the border area and inside Karachi has allowed polio workers back into many former no-go zones. By late 2015, only about 30,000 children remained inaccessible, and transmission had slowed considerably: In the first four months of this year, Pakistan had eight new polio cases, down from 22 over the comparable period last year. But the Global Polio Eradication Initiatives Independent Monitoring Board warned that without successful vaccination campaigns this spring, the disease would reemerge in the heat of summer. We were very close in the last decade, said Memon, the PolioPlus campaign chairman in Pakistan. This time, we hope were not going to miss the opportunity. From the parking lot of a government health clinic in Gulshan, pairs of female health workers, covered from head to toe in headscarves and black abayas, set off into the neighborhood carrying vials of polio vaccines in unmarked thermos bottles. Three paramilitary Rangers in drab uniforms watched from a parked pickup, then drove off to patrol the periphery of the neighborhood. The women didnt see them again for hours. Theres no need for security, said Sikander Ali, a local health department official, who added that the presence of gun-toting police often scared residents. People view the female health workers as locals. In the monochrome crowd, Nizamuddin, a team leader, stood out with a glittery blue headband, oversized purple watch and yellow trousers peeking out from under her abaya. She comes from a family of polio workers. Her two elder sisters volunteered until they got married; her mother worked for eight years until she had to drop out this year because she couldnt read, and the World Health Organization sought to recruit more educated women. She feels bad, Nizamuddin said of her mother. But she is happy that I can still help the cause. The WHO increased funding for female health workers, who earn full-time salaries of $150 a month. Attendance and morale have improved over the earlier system, which employed part-timers, including men, whose $5 daily wages were paid by the government, and often delayed. The men werent as dedicated, Nizamuddin said. And families used to refuse male workers. The interaction we have is totally different. One of her team members, Nagma, a mother of four, said few families reject the immunizations now. In one case, she persuaded a reluctant mother to allow the vaccine to be given by showing her cellphone pictures of her own children, who had been vaccinated multiple times. In more difficult cases, the women called on Surat Khan Osman, a genial local cleric with a black beard that shone like lacquer and a battered cellphone that flashed with text messages notifying him of families who declined vaccinations. Officials say clerics have become key partners. That morning, Osman and a team of female vaccinators visited two houses where parents claimed the vaccine would cause infertility. He won them over with a copy of a 2014 fatwa from religious scholars that said the vaccine was fully permissible under Islamic law and that parents were obligated to protect their children from polio. We are part of the community, Osman said, so people cannot refuse us. The morning after last months shooting death of the officers, shaken health workers resumed the drive across the city. Rangers beefed up their presence in some areas; plainclothes security forces shadowed teams in others. In Nizamuddins neighborhood of Sachal Goth, the women opted for an even lower profile. They avoided being seen in groups and varied their schedules. For the rest of the week, they tried to complete their rounds before lunch. By weeks end, the teams in Sachal Goth inoculated 2,117 children two dozen more than had been counted in a pre-campaign survey days earlier. One of Nizamuddins teams found a child whose family was visiting from outside the city and wasnt on their list, but took the opportunity to administer the polio drops because he was scheduled to be vaccinated. The female teams are now covering nearly 40 percent of Karachis 2.2 million children younger than 5, and the initiative soon could be expanded further. International officials describe its success as part of an overall improvement in Pakistans management of the crisis. The results are very promising, said Huma Khan, a UNICEF polio specialist who has worked in the field for seven years. It looks like were getting close to eradication. Ive never been so hopeful that this can be done. SHARE By Britt Towery In 1922, the daughter of a Brownwood grocer graduated from Howard Payne College (now University) and in 1929 she died in San Angelo. Neither event made headlines. Annie Lois Howard was one of a small percentage of young women to graduate from college in the 1920s. Most were fortunate to have a high school education. During the Roaring Twenties, as media called the 1920s, the war had just ended and it was a carefree time. Radio was in its infancy, but fast catching on. Radio became more fun than listening to a neighbors telephone party line. Women had won the right to vote in 1920 144 years after the famous Declaration of Independence for white men. Blacks were still viewed as second-class citizens, if considered at all. Towns such as Brownwood and San Angelo were not roaring so much as simply trying to survive the pre-Depression years. Somehow, somewhere along Annie Lois Howards growing-up years she became intensely interested in China and the foreign mission endeavors. (Regular readers of mine knew I would bring China into the story.) At the time, Howard Payne had alumni in China as Baptist missionaries. Blanche Rose Walker, a 1899 grad, went to China in 1910. John Wilson Fielder and his wife both attended Howard Payne and were married in Shanghai in 1914 (as told in my paperback, Strangers in a Strange Land). Lois, as she was called, could have read about these early missionaries and possibly heard them on their trips home from time to time. Just two years before Lois graduated, another HPC grad, Cecile Lancaster, had gone to Japan as a missionary. Her letters meant a lot to Lois while still in college. While considering becoming a missionary she met a Baylor University graduate with the same calling. James Robert Mashburn, a native of Tennessee, was scheduled to serve in Shandong, North China. Lois was asked to go to South Chinas Guangdong province. Now Guangdong is as far from Shandong as Houston is from Boston. They married in the Coggin Avenue Baptist Church in Brownwood, where for years there was a Sunday school class named for Lois. Lois let the Foreign Mission Board know the need for her to go to North China. And they sent her. With two years of language study in Beijing, the newlyweds served churches outside the city of Jinan on the banks of the Yellow River. Lois, as did most women missionaries, pushed for more education opportunities for Chinese girls. Her letters told of how neglected and mistreated girls where in this new land (new to Lois). They also worked in Pingdu, where the most famous of Southern Baptist missionaries, Lottie Moon, lived. On their first home leave Lois became ill. They were living in San Angelo while in the States. As suddenly as the illness took her, it took her life. Lois, age 33, was buried beside her parents in Brownwoods Greenleaf Cemetery on July 25, 1929. Honorary pallbearers were members of the Lois Mashburn Sunday school class. James Robert Mashburns health was not good but he returned to China, where he ministered until his death in 1935. Mary Culpepper Walker, a missionary kid and later missionary to Japan, told me how the missionaries were concerned for the lonely widower during those five years. As I read Lois Howard Mashburns obituary I learned something about myself one of the pallbearers was Dr. D.R. Scott, who, six months after he helped bury a China missionary, presided over my birth on Jan. 12, 1930. Ive been accused of being a mystic. Now, was I preordained to carry on Lois work? Mugello has been turned yellow by the flags of Valentino's fans and so it becomes Mugiallo (yellow in Italian). This is the idea behind the special helmet that Rossi has prepared, as per tradition, for his home Grand Prix. His colour transforms the Tuscan hillside and the name of the circuit follows suit. The livery pays tribute to the track (which is depicted on the top) and it blends with one of the Doctor's symbols, the yellow of his people. There are two Italian flags on the chin bar, whereas Valentino's animal friends pay homage to the three-coloured pattern. On the back the two dogs, Cesare and Cecilia, and the Tuscan cat are green, white and red like the Italian flag. As always, the graphics were created by Aldo Drudi. Toyota Motor North America is joining forces with DEKA Research and Development, the company founded by inventor Dean Kamen, to support mobility solutions for the disabled community. This agreement will help DEKA to proceed with plans to complete the development and launch the next generation iBOT motorized wheelchair. The iBOT is a motorized wheelchair with two sets of powered wheels that can be rotated to allow the user to walk up and down stairs. The wheelchair allows users to rise from a sitting level to approximately six feet in height and travel in this standing configuration, and is capable of traveling through a wide variety of terrain types. Under the terms of the agreement, Toyota will license balancing technologies held by DEKA and its affiliate for medical rehabilitative therapy and potentially other purposes. The companies continue to engage in ongoing discussions about how Toyota can further support DEKA and its mobility assistance technology. Today is Sunday, May 22, the 143rd day of 2016. There are 223 days left in the year. On this date: In 1860, the United States and Japan exchanged ratifications of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce during a ceremony in Washington. In 1913, the American Cancer Society was founded in New York under its original name, the American Society for the Control of Cancer. In 1915, the Lassen Peak volcano in California exploded, devastating nearby areas but causing no deaths. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appeared before Congress to explain his decision to veto a bill that would have allowed World War I veterans to cash in bonus certificates before their 1945 due date. In 1939, the foreign ministers of Germany and Italy, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano, signed a Pact of Steel committing the two countries to a military alliance. In 1947, the Truman Doctrine was enacted as Congress appropriated military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey. In 1960, an earthquake of magnitude 9.5, the strongest ever measured, struck southern Chile, claiming some 1,655 lives. In 1968, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion, with 99 men aboard, sank in the Atlantic Ocean. (The remains of the sub were later found on the ocean floor 400 miles southwest of the Azores.) In 1969, the lunar module of Apollo 10, with Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene Cernan aboard, flew to within nine miles of the moons surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing. In 1972, President Richard Nixon began a visit to the Soviet Union, during which he and Kremlin leaders signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The island nation of Ceylon became the republic of Sri Lanka. In 1981 Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe was convicted in London of murdering 13 women and was sentenced to life in prison. In 1992, after a reign lasting nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson hosted NBCs Tonight Show for the last time.In 1996, Mission: Impossible, an action-thriller inspired by the TV series and starring Tom Cruise, was released by Paramount Pictures. In one of the busiest weeks of late we saw the announcement of the 4th generation Moto G, now in three flavors. The Moto G4, Moto G4 Plus and Moto G4 Play became official on Tuesday and we also got a chance for a brief hands-on. We were also given an exclusive look at the upcoming iPhone 7, courtesy of a casemaker, while the box of Apple's next-gen smartphone was pictured in the wild. Back to official news, Sony announced the 6-inch Xperia XA Ultra with a 16MP stabilized selfie camera. Meanwhile, Nokia changed ownership once again, and is now in the hands of Chinese manufacturer Foxconn. The future Zenfone 3 also made headlines this week. On one occasion it was teased by official channels, on another specs were leaked detailing the differences between the three models, which will be available. As usual, below you can find links to these stories, as well as other hot topics from the past week. Lenovo Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus unveiled with 5.5" 1080p screens The Moto G4 Plus has a 16MP camera with Hybrid AF. Both phones have faster chipsets and more memory than the 3rd generation Gs. Exclusive: Apple iPhone 7 renders appear The renders you see below are based on actual 3D technical drawings of the upcoming iPhone 7 Lenovo Moto G4 Plus hands-on, camera samples too After a long round of rumors, the eagerly anticipated Lenovo Moto G4 and G4 Plus were just announced at a dedicated event. Sony Xperia XA Ultra is official with a 16MP OIS selfie camera Under the hood, the Sony Xperia XA Ultra features a Mediatek Helio P10 chipset and 3GB of RAM, which run Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow Alleged Moto G4 press render leaks ahead of unveiling The leak - which shows off the front of the device - comes courtesy of the usually reliable tipster @evleaks. Xiaomi Mi Max now up for international pre-orders The device was officially unveiled earlier last week, and is all set to go on its first flash sale in China tomorrow. Moto G4 Play completes the Moto G4 Family Moto G4 Play, or just the Moto G Play, is the last smartphone to join the newly announced series. Xiaomi pips Apple to become world's No. 2 wearable vendor; Samsung's back in top 5 Market research firm IDC has released its latest (Q1 2016) stats for the worldwide wearables market, revealing that Xiaomi is now the number two player in the business, surpassing Apple which is now o... Motorola announces availability details for new Moto G4 line-up Both Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus are now available for purchase in Brazil, while the Plus variant is on sale in India as well. Lenovo Vibe C with 5-inch display and quad-core SoC spotted online The device is available for pre-order from Croatian e-tailer eKupi, which is selling it for around $105. Shipments begin May 18. Windows 10 Mobile update to launch on July 29 The update will greatly improve the Continuum functionality, will also update the Edge browser. Haiti - Politic : Prime Minister in Turkey On Saturday, Prime Minister Enex Jean-Charles, accompanied by Aviol Fleurant, Minister of Planning and External Cooperation, has left the country to Istanbul in Turkey to attend the World Humanitarian Summit. A delegation of 11 people, including 5 of the Haitian State and 6 of private sector, of local Haitian organizations and international, will represent Haiti in the framework of this Summit. The Prime Minister will return to the country Thursday, May 26 During his absence, Camille Edouard, the Minister of Justice will assume the interim. This event that will take place on 23 and 24 May 2016 in Istanbul is a global call to action launched by the Secretary General of United Nations Ban Ki-moon. It will mark a turning point in how the international community prepares and faces the crisis. Faced with the fragility and vulnerability of the country to natural phenomena, the NGO community has focused on the priorities of Haiti for community resilience to which it is necessary to advocate at the global and national level. Thus, it is willing to engage in discussions, especially for the integration of local organizations in humanitarian response, the strengthening of local capacity, the participation of people with special needs and women in decision making and the effectiveness of humanitarian action. the NGO community called for a humanitarian assistance that takes into account the local culture and reality while relying on local and national expertise in order to be effective. It is important to mention that discussions were conducted with the Haitian government on the priorities for Haiti. In this sense, from the 11 people that who will represent Haiti at the summit, five of them work in government institutions. This delegation will ensure the establishment of a monitoring committee to ensure the implementation of the recommendations of the summit and to diffuse the commitments made by the Haitian Government and partners. The Summit will bring together the international community to reaffirm solidarity with people affected by crises and also to collectively commit to humanity. In Istanbul, the global and local leaders representing government, business, and civil society, among others, will announce concrete actions and commitments to stop conflicts, alleviate suffering and reduce risk. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - FLASH : Guy Philippe is challenging Jocelerme Privert In a recorded message of a little over 4 minutes posted on the Internet, the former rebel leader Guy Philippe, Senate candidate for the Grand'Anse under the banner "The National Consortium of Political Parties", denies once again forcefully his involvement in the attack against the police station of Les Cayes https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-17478-icihaiti-flash-guy-philippe-denied-his-involvement-in-the-commando-of-les-cayes.html He recalls that some media reported the alleged confession of a perpetrator who accused him. Yet he points out that the video where the wounded attacker was questioned among others by a journalist that he accuses of bias, told the reporter he does not know Guy Philippe. He regretted that despite what is said, false confessions continue to be broadcast, some people even threatening him. Guy Philippe says police and the Armed Forces of Haiti are not enemies and that it will support any action against them, stating that his enemies are at the National Palace, including President Privert, which wishes have his head by handing him a trap... According to him the Head of State is a usurper "[...] a macaque that is covered with the skin of a tiger [...]" challenging the head of State. "If he thinks be a tiger, that he comes to Pestel execute his threats," adding "highly motivated "If the President decides to attack me, as did before him Aristide and Rene Preval [...] do not worry, we will react [...] I do not ask (to the population) to face them, I have people to do it [...] If they want to come, let them. But when they come at the level of Deriveau, cut all the ways to prevent them to go back and I'll take care of the rest," says Guy Philippe in a threatening way and unequivocal. Message of Guy Philippe : HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping politics... The Senate finally ready to present its report on the DG a.i. of the PNH The Commission "Justice and security" of the Senate of the Republic is ready to present its work report on the analysis of documents submitted by Michel-Ange Gedeon, Director General a.i. of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) installed March 1, 2016 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16752-haiti-security-new-dg-to-the-central-directorate-of-administrative-police.html informed its President Jean Renel Senatus, the Senate must schedule a session to enable the Commission to submit the document to his colleagues. Let's recall taht these documents had been filed April 18 in the Senate... https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17210-haiti-politic-the-new-dg-ai-of-the-pnh-filed-its-documents-to-the-senate.html Assad Volcy denies accusations of PHTK Assad Volcy, Secretary-General of the Platform "Pitit Desalin" denies the accusations of some members of PHTK according to whom he would have a significant amount of money to cause trouble in the country. Moreover he also denied having recommended to the President a.i. Privert, the current Minister of Social Affairs, Rene Jean Antoine Nicolas, ensuring he had only given its opinion on this choice. The situation of Haitian workers in DR Jean Alexis Tholbert, Minister Counsellor at the Consulate General of Haiti in Higuey, Dominican Republic, met with officials of the sugar factory "Central Romana Corporation. Ltd "to inquire about the situation of Haitian workers in this factory. Less than 2% of workers receive social coverage The Confederation of Workers of America (CSA) and its partners, including the International Labour Organisation argue for the adoption of a system of social protection in Haiti. Irvelt admit, the President of the National Commission for protection and social security, said that less than 2% of workers enjoyed social security coverage in Haiti. He encourages the ratification and implementation of the Convention #102 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) concerning minimum safety standards that require, like sections 22, 23 and 25 of the Haitian Constitution, social benefits, health insurance and compensation in case of accidents. One can dream Cholzer Chancy, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, expressed hope that the heads of three branches of government are working together to ensure peace and stability in the country, considering that these elements are essential for democratic elections in the country. HL/ HaitiLibre Published on 2016/05/22 | Source Actress actor couple Ku Hye-sun and Ahn Jae-hyun have become a married couple officially. One of the reasons why so many people send blessings to their marriage is probably because of their warm hearts. Advertisement On May 21, Ku Hye-sun and Ahn Jae-hyun visited Yonsei University Severance Hospital to donate to the pediatrics department of the hospital. The couple registered their marriage on May 20 and then visited the hospital to make a donation in place of their wedding ceremony on May 21, which falls on Married Couples' Day in Korea. The couple dressed up in neat and humble clothing instead of wedding dress and tuxedo. The couple said "Thank You" shyly. This married couple looked more beautiful than any other couples found in a wedding hall. Ku Hye-sun and Ahn Jae-hyun co-starred in KBS 2TV's "Blood". They faced harsh reviewes at the time for the low viewership rating and poor acting performances. As they spent the difficult time together, they started feeling ardent towards each other and their relationship turned into romance. Although their relationship began through the difficult time, their marriage begins among so many blessings from many people. Published on 2016/05/22 | Source Korea's air quality ranks close to the bottom among 180 countries. Advertisement The country scored a mere 45.51 out of a maximum 100 points in terms of air quality to rank 173rd in the Environmental Performance Index by Yale and Columbia universities announced Monday. When it comes to air quality indoors, Korea ranked at the top, but it fell to 174th in terms of ultra-fine dust pollution and at the bottom of the list along with the Netherlands and Belgium for nitrogen dioxide pollution. China ranked last but has made much more dramatic headlines for its barely breathable air. The index, which is announced every two years, measures the environmental sustainability of countries based on 20 categories, including improvements in the environment, climate change, health, agriculture and maritime conditions. For example, it looks at how much nitrogen dioxide in the air has improved compared to the base year of 1997. Korea's air quality has barely changed. Overall Korea scored 70.61 points, which includes water quality and an array of other factors, ranking 80th or middling, but that is a drastic plunge from 43rd in the 2012 and 2014 studies. Finland got the top score followed by Iceland, Sweden and Denmark. One environmentalist blamed a massive surge in the sale of cheap diesel cars in Korea, which belch toxic fumes into the atmosphere, coupled with toxic haze blown over from China. Read this article in Korean Published on 2016/05/22 | Source Korean cosmetics are gradually asserting their presence in Europe after sweeping China and Southeast Asia. Advertisement Last year, Too Cool for School opened an outlet in Paris' Galeries Lafayette Department Store, while Amore Pacific forged a strategic partnership with Christian Dior. Sales in France are growing particularly strongly. "The popularity of K-pop in Europe is apparently boosting sales of Korean cosmetics products there", said a spokesman for Tonymoly. "To meet demand we opened outlets in 825 Sephora stores in 14 European countries this month". According to EU data, French imports of Korean cosmetics rose from 4 million euros in 2010 to 16.41 million euros last year. Industry insiders here say this is a promising sign as France retains a leading position in the global cosmetics industry, so success there means Korean products have a better chance in other European countries as well. Login or sign up to follow actresses, movies & dramas and get specific updates and news Login Sign Up New Ad-free Subscriber Login Email Password Password Username Your E-mail will only be used to retrieve a lost password. Stay logged in Help Published on 2016/05/22 | Source Naver's popular mobile messaging app Line has evolved from a local to a global business platform, often by adapting to foreign markets and offering content like emojis tailored specifically to them. Advertisement Some of the content then proves so successful that it is being exported back to the countries of origin, Korea and Japan. Unlike Kakao Talk, the No. 1 messaging app in Korea but no great shakes abroad, Line has grown mainly overseas. As of the end of March, the total number of Line users stood at 218.4 million, No. 3 globally after WhatsApp, now owned by Facebook (900 million users) and Tencent's WeChat (500 million users). Line is No. 1 in Japan (68 million users) and Thailand (33 million) and growing quickly in the U.S. (25 million) and Spain (18 million). In Thailand, more than 80 percent of an estimated 40 million smartphone users use Line, and it has become an overseas base to expand into other foreign markets. Line has already established itself as a significant business platform. Dunkin' Donuts in Thailand, for instance, started distributing coupons via Line, giving out a free box of doughnuts for every box purchased and generated more than 14 million baht (around W457.1 million) in just eight days. A Line Man app delivery driver brings street food to a customer in Thailand in this promotional picture. Around 250 businesses in Thailand use Line to market their products, and some 100,000 Thai entrepreneurs sell their characters and emojis on Line's "Creators Market". Line lets its overseas subsidiaries handle the development of new services from the planning stage, unlike behemoths like Google that insist on running everything out of headquarters. For example, the new Line Man app was developed by the company's Thai subsidiary to let customers order food from the ubiquitous street food stalls there. Line Man connects hungry customers with delivery helpers who order and pick up food from street stalls that do not make their own deliveries. Now Naver plans to expand the service to Korea and other countries where home delivery is popular. Naver's Taiwanese subsidiary recently set up a team that works on new apps, and the company's Indonesian subsidiary developed a popular app that hails motorcycles. The strategy seems to pay off. Last year Naver made W1.74 trillion in revenues overseas, accounting for one-third of its total sales. Over the last five years, domestic sales rose 20 percent while overseas revenues grew 2.3 times. Published on 2016/05/22 | Source /Yonhap Advertisement Nonagenarian Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho was admitted to Seoul National University Hospital on Monday for a checkup of his mental faculties. The results will determine whether he needs a legal guardian. The founder is embroiled in a messy power struggle between his two sons which began last summer. Last December, his younger sister Shin Jung-sook asked a court to appoint a legal guardian, saying he has senile dementia. Shin's first son Dong-joo, the chairman of SDJ Corporation, has claimed that his father named him as the legitimate successor, but the boards and management of the vast Japanese-Korean conglomerate have sided with his other son Dong-bin. The tests will take about two weeks, and the results are expected in June. Published on 2016/05/22 | Source Middle school students spend more time studying outside the classroom than high school students even though they face no immediate prospect of university entrance exams. Advertisement The main reason seems to be that middle schools have more or less given up on their task of educating pupils since they know that many of them get their education from crammers anyway. The Population Association of Korea surveyed 6,408 elementary, middle and high school students in 2014 to gauge how long they spend studying and where. Middle school students spent an average of 203.2 minutes studying outside the classroom but high schoolers only 189.2 minutes and elementary schoolkids 151.7. That includes both crammer attendance and homework. Statistics Korea data last year also showed parents of middle schoolers spent the most on crammers. Those of elementary schoolkids paid an average of W231,000 a month, those of high schoolers spent W236,000 and of middle schoolers W275,000. There is still considerable demand from middle schoolers preparing to get into prestigious high schools or for advanced lessons in math and English", said Yang Jung-ho at Sungkyunkwan University. "Public schools can't address this need so parents are turning to crammers". Published on 2016/05/22 | Source The costs of Korea's reunification would run to US$1 trillion by conservative estimates, the Economist claimed on Saturday. Advertisement In an article titled "What North and South Korea would gain if they were reunified", the British weekly described the cost as "staggering", or three-quarters of annual GDP. South Korea's GDP was $1.4 trillion in 2015. South Korea would need a social security system to provide for 25 million North Koreans, "many of them brutalized and malnourished, and including tens of thousands of prisoners in the North's gulag". But the gains would also be significant as North Koreans see their living standards improve while South Korea would be able to recover economic vitality from an abundant young labor force and underground resources from the North. "Disbanding the North's standing army, the fourth-largest in the world, would free up workers. In total, about 17 million workers would join the South's 36 million -- though admittedly with far lower skills and education", at a time when "South Korea's working-age population begins to shrink from 2017", the weekly wrote. "South Korea would also reap a windfall in reserves of rare earths, which are used in electronics", it added. The underground resources in the North are estimated to be worth about $10 trillion, 20 times as much as those of South Korea. DuPont cleanup plan may signal 'donut hole' acquisition Map shows potential site of contaminants at the old X-ray plant site, the privately owned 'donut hole' and at DuPont State Forest. Supporters of acquiring the DuPont State Forest donut hole for public use are applauding as a significant step forward the filing of detailed cleanup plans by the former operators of the X-ray film manufacturer, E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. Related Stories The DuPont company, the state Department of Agriculture and state environmental regulators have been negotiating for several years a process under which the state would acquire the property for potential joint use by the National Guard and the Forest Service, the Department of Agriculture division that runs DuPont State Forest. Called the donut hole because it remains a privately owned parcel in the middle of the 10,400-acre state forest, the 400-acre site was home for 43 years to the X-ray plant that at one time employed 1,000 workers. On Saturday, the Friends of DuPont Forest sent a link after a portal from the state Department of Environmental Quality went live. The site describes a cleanup plan of groundwater and surface water contamination over a three- or four-year period. It probably means were heading down a process leading to acquisition of the donut hole, said state Rep. Chuck McGrady, who was active in the effort to preserve the surrounding property 15 years ago and has been tracking the effort of state agencies to reach an agreement. The Department of Environmental Quality (formerly DENR) and the Department of Agriculture and the National Guard and DuPont have been working together to come up with a sort of comprehensive deal between all those parties, McGrady said Sunday. DEQ is the regulator and it has responsibility for the cleanup. DuPont obviously does not want to turn over the property while retaining a lot of liability. DEQ wants to make sure the property doesnt come with liability thats going to cost a lot to clean up later. The property is expected to be used by the North Carolina National Guard as the headquarters of a training facility for mountain and swift-water rescue; its also could be the site of a DuPont State Forest headquarters for the Forest Service. I believe theres going to be an announcement soon that all the parties have come together on terms of the remediation and the states acquisition of the land, McGrady said. The Council of State has to agree to the acquisition of any land so theres a series of steps that need to occur here. Bill Yarborough, a special assistant to Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, confirmed Sunday that the state agencies were close to consummating an agreement that would result in state ownership of the site. The state does not plan to buy the land, he added. Its still in negotiation with DuPont and the DEQ, Yarborough said. There will be a public meeting at some point probably within the next six weeks on the remediation. Hopefully everything thing works out. Its been a long time. State Rep. Chris Whitmire has been updating constituents on the effort to convert the old plant site to public use. The Donut Hole is getting closer and closer to being unlocked for the First Responder Training Center and other uses, Whitmire said in an April 30 newsletter. Bev Parlier, chair of the Friends of DuPont Forest, said the organization supports the transfer of the property to the state and the proposed National Guard and Forest Service office use. A summary of the site includes a list of potentially contaminated areas of groundwater or surface water or dirt, locations of storage containers like barrels and numerous letters back and forth from the chemical companys Charlotte-based engineer and Mark Wilkins, a hydrogeologist in the hazardous waste section of DEQ. State law makes DuPont the responsible party for assessment and cleanup of contamination under the oversight of the DEQs Division of Waste Management and the federal EPA, which classifies the site as a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act facility. The factory was demolished, leaving behind concrete building pads, foundations and basements and underground utilities. Based on sampling data, it appears that there are 20 areas where contaminants have been detected above unrestricted use standards, the Division of Waste Management said in an evaluation dated Sept. 5, 2014. DuPont at that time was in the process of assessing and remediating the potentially contaminated spots, the division said. A table of potential contaminants lists 37 separate sites or former uses categorized as either solid waste management units or areas of concern. They include 12 sites classified as clean and closed, with no further action required. Among those uses were 55-gallon drums stored on pallets on concrete pads, outdoor storage of drums containing oil and paint thinner, a former silver recovery drying bed and hydrocarbon waste areas. Twenty-five more sites have cleanup plans that include continued water or ground sampling or closing and capping. A typical entry in the five-page table said a silver recovery transfer running from the research and development building to the save-all recovery unit had shown no contamination. Areas that are not certified as cleaned up and closed are the subject of something called an RFI, or a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Facility Investigation. An example of that is an unlined landfill containing domestic garbage, film scraps, weak acids, glycol and digester sludge that was capped with soil of unspecified thickness and permeability. Surrounding soil and groundwater were contaminated with VOCs (volatile organic compounds), biphenyl and metals. The proposed fix for that is to cap the landfill and leave it in place with land-use restrictions around it, regulators said. Terrific 10: Championship season brings out best in county athletes Tesla Cup and Central Maryland Conference championships were decided last week, with county teams and athletes rising to the occasion. Two narratives have emerged following last weeks assembly election results in five states. One points to the Congresss irresistible decline. The losses in Assam and Kerala follow defeats in Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir in recent years. From ruling 13 states in 2004, the Congress is down to seven with only a single big state in its control, Karnataka. As the data journalism website IndiaSpend concludes, the Congress now directly rules about 190 million Indians, down from 270 million in 2004 while the BJP governs 520 million Indians in 12 states. Read | Poll results: A lot of fight left in the saffron camp The second narrative, however, argues that the recent BJP gains do not indicate a real and deep saffron spread. Commentator Mohan Guruswamy was among the first to point out that even though the Congress was trounced in Assam and Kerala, it still managed to win 115 Assembly constituencies in five states as compared to the BJPs 65. The Congress vote share, in fact, exceeded the BJPs in four of the five states. The BJP fared worse than the Congress in Delhis recent civic polls and won only four of the 607 seats it contested outside Assam. It has a little over 10% of the vote share in Bengal and Kerala and won Assam, a state of 31 million people not a big state in the national scheme of things. In fact, had the DMK run a better campaign in Tamil Nadu and had the Congress not let go of Himanta Biswa Sarma, a last minute defection to the BJP in Assam, a very different electoral story would have emerged. And as some have pointed out, the BJP also had the luck of not having a single drought-ridden state in central India head to the polls. Both these narratives can invoke a measure of conviction and strongly suggest that the political landscape in India remains fluid and unsettled notwithstanding Amit Shahs declaration that the country has taken two steps towards a Congress-mukt Bharat. What the recent Assembly elections do nonetheless clearly suggest is that the BJP has indeed become a formidable electoral machine with the drive and organisational muscle to strike in newer territories. A capacity that is also greatly enabled by the vast financial resources that the BJP is able and willing to spend. But whether the BJP has achieved total political dominance is still an open question. For one, the BJP continues to fail against regional parties. The non-Congress opposition space in India remains vibrant, muscular and remarkably obstinate. Even Assam for the BJP required a truce with the Asom Gana Parishad and the Bodoland Peoples Front. Read | In BJP-yukt Bharat, Congress must focus on national security On the other hand, anti-incumbency pressures await the BJP in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Rajasthan. That the BJP is thinking of replacing Anandiben Patel as chief minister of Gujarat also points to anxieties that it could potentially lose in Hindutvas flagship state. Put differently, the wave of assembly elections in India in post 2014 with the see-saw of victory and defeats and the potential outcomes of the coming assembly elections is being allowed to haunt the credibility and standing of the Modi government. Small wonder then that the Prime Minister, in perhaps either a mood of electoral exhaustion or genuine administrative concern, unambiguously expressed his desire for all elections to be held in a single go. In part, treating assembly elections as mini referendums with consequences for long-term policy decision-making reveals an unprecedented and unhelpful political strategy. In what appears to be calculations that are chiefly ideological driven, the country has been plunged post 2014, in the conduct of its politics, into an almost uninterrupted election mode. The BJP has seemingly settled into a groove of sorts for delivering regular electoral shock and awe tactics, where symbolic issues are aggressively pitched at election intervals such as the beef ban, Love Jihad, the sedition controversy in JNU and the raucous noise over AgustaWestland. Social and political temperatures have thus been so raised that the much-needed discussion on growth, employment, reform, education and the economy in general has almost been sidelined. Read | Mamata won because of five years of consistent performance It appears that the BJPs clear and significant mandate in the 2014 election is rapidly being frittered away over assembly or municipal election anxieties and outcomes. A strange unease and lack of confidence in governance is now becoming obvious as the government attempts another electoral validation exercise rather than dealing with the exceptional mandate promise of 2014. Will election fatigue ultimately unsettle the BJP, at this rate? Has the Prime Ministers office turned too much into a campaign-driven enterprise? How many electoral victories are required by the BJP for it to singularly focus on governance? It is probable, as many will argue, that the mandate of 2014 was less about a Congress mukt bharat than it was about the palpable economic frustration arising out of demographic change. Meeting such expectations entails a less confrontational approach to politics. The BJP is simultaneously attempting wholesale political capture and a cultural turnaround unmindful of the deal making with political peers that is needed for governance. It would do well to heed the popular saying about the cavalry-based central Asian empires of the late medieval period: You needed a horse to conquer an empire but to govern one you had to get off the saddle. Read | Poll results: A saffron footprint in Gods Own Country Rohan DSouza is Associate Professor, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University . The views expressed are personal Atmospherics and verbal commitments may make for great photo-ops but the real litmus test of any foreign policy lies in getting down to brass tacks in terms of implementation. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this has been an article of faith. This is why when he took over in 2014, he reviewed Indias commitments to projects in the neighbourhood, particularly in Afghanistan and Bhutan with a view to getting them up and running. Cost over-runs and delays plagued many of them, particularly the Punatsangchu Hydroelectric Project in Bhutan. While the strategic significance of this cannot be underestimated, two other projects hobbled by the same problems caught his eye the Chabahar Port in Iran and the Salma Dam Project (42 MW) at Herat in Afghanistan. Situated 72 km west of the Pakistan-China joint venture Gwadar port and on the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the Chabahar Port made its first appearance on the India-Iran bilateral map during the previous NDA regime in 2003. The Manmohan Singh government understood the significance of the Chabahar Port. But it was shackled by fear of the US sanctions and its impact on the 2005 civilian nuclear agreement. It approved Indias investment only about a decade later when the Iran-US rapprochement became a real possibility. Modi inherited these impediments when he took office. To complicate matters, the Iranians tried to change the joint-venture partner which had been approved by the UPA. Read | 3-nation Chabahar port pact to be signed as Modi visits Iran next week: To get the project moving, Modi set up the NDA governments first informal group of ministers comprising finance minister Arun Jaitley, transport and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari and petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan with the National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, as its coordinator. Last May, Gadkari sealed the Chabahar Port MoU with the Iran Ports and Maritime Organization, promising $85 million direct investment and $150-million credit for its development. Today, one year later, Modi will sign the Chabahar Port contract and a Trilateral Transit Trade Agreement with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. The contract promises an enviable number of benefits from the development and operation of two terminals and five multi-cargo berths at the Chabahar Special Economic Zone. This could become Indias trade, transport and energy hub in the coming decade. Incidentally, Modi will dedicate the Salma Dam Project in Herat next month, which is part of a rehabilitation and reconstruction project announced in 2001. Read | India responds to a changing West Asia The Chabahar Port will be a game changer for India because it will provide connectivity to Afghanistan, Iran and Eurasia, strategically outflanking an intransigent Islamabad. It is also a counter to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Foreign minister Sushma Swarajs interest in connecting Irans Mashhad, near the Caspian Sea, with Zahedan, next to the Afghanistan border, via an India-built 900-km rail line with the Chabahar Port will unlock a new gateway to Central Asia and Europe, bypassing the Pakistan-China arc. Through a Tripartite Trade and Transport Agreement, India plans to link with the Afghan highway through the Zahedan-Zaranj-Delaram route in Nimroz province to shore up Kabul and also open trade routes with Central Asian (CA) republics, particularly Tajikistan. Read | India to invest $20 billion in Irans Chabahar port development During his trip to the five Central Asian republics last year, Modi laid the foundation for Indias entry into the Oman-Iran-Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan Ashgabat Agreement, a multimodal deal, for transporting natural gas to the Chabahar Port, and from there through LNG ships or pipelines for energy-hungry India. Modi intends to bring back more than the port agreement from Iran. He may also sign a contract to invest more in the Farzad B gas field, which has a potential of 9.7 trillion cubic feet of gas, which could fire the joint-venture urea fertiliser plants in the Chabahar SEZ. India can also join the North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC) through Mashhad for trade connectivity to Russia and Europe via the Baltic states. According to NSTC studies, this route saves 60% time and 50% cost compared to the traditional sea route from India to Europe. The Chabahar Port fits as much into Modis plans for energy security as with his maritime security grid with the port sitting astride the vital sea lanes of communication that supplies nearly 55% of the hydrocarbon needs of the South-East and North Asian countries, including China and Japan. Modis reached out to US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to address Indias maritime security concerns in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, particularly in the contentious South China Sea. India plans to extend its maritime reach in the area between the Persian Gulf and the Pacific with the proposed development of a deep sea port in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with Japans help and the logistics support agreement with US. Foreign policy should be the driver for economic development and this is what has been achieved with regional connectivity on Indias eastern board: Last June, New Delhi signed the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal trade and transport agreement as part of the Saarc connectivity initiatives, even though ties with Kathmandu are yet to overcome the legacy of the previous UPA regime. The outreach to Pakistan was based on pushing regional connectivity and a trade transit corridor to Afghanistan via the Khyber Pass. But what would have been an economic win-win for both countries has yet to fructify thanks to the fact that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs decision is still at the mercy of the army and the terror groups it backs. Public sentiment often drives Indias Pakistan policy. But Modi, unlike his predecessor, grasped the nettle and reached out to Sharif by travelling to Raiwind in Pakistan in December. It was a brave bid to normalise ties. This was done after India supplied four Mi-25 attack helicopters to Afghanistan after mulling over what its ramifications could be for over a decade. Instead of talking about a pan-Asian trade connectivity, Pakistan is refusing to cooperate on the terror issue. With the Chabahar Port agreement, Modi has not only engaged with Indias long-term ally Iran but has broken through the strategic encirclement by China and Pakistan. If the future of strategic discourse hinges on maritime trade and security, India is sailing in fairly calm waters for the moment. Views expressed are personal. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Sarbananda Sonowal was on Sunday unanimously elected as BJP Legislature Party leader in Assam, paving the way for his becoming next chief minister of the state. In the first meeting of the BJP legislators after the Assembly polls, party MLA Himanta Biswa Sarma proposed Sonowals name as their leader in the House. MLAs P Phukan, Atul Bora, Angoorlata Dela, Bhabesh Kalita and AC Jain supported Sonowals name. Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot, who attended the meeting as an Observer from the BJP central unit, declared Sonowal elected unanimously as the Legislature Party leader. Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support, Sonowal said, We have the spirit of unity and we have to live up to the peoples expectations. Talking about his meeting with Modi on Saturday, Sonowal said the Prime Minister has asked everyone to work honestly for development of all sections of the society. He (Modi) said we have got a scope to work for all. He is there for us in our every need. We have to complete the unfinished work, Sonowal said. He said the BJP winning 60 seats in Assam on its own was completely unexpected for him. People wholeheartedly gave their mandate in our favour. Nothing can be better than this. We have a big responsibility now, he added. After the meeting, when asked by media about his priorities, Sonowal said implementation of Assam Accord is topmost for him. He also said there is no discomfort in working with his former senior and AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and he will seek guidance from him. As actors move on in life, based on their relationships and careers, many of them have been spotted scouting for new houses Actor Priyanka Chopra has been looking for a house in New York as she will be staying there for the new season of her show Quantico. (PHOTO: RAAJESSH KASHYAP) Priyanka Chopra As she prepares for the second season of her American show Quantico, actor Priyanka Chopra has also been hunting for an apartment in Manhattan because this season will be shot in New York. The show was earlier being shot in Montreal, Canada. She will now be renting an apartment in a posh area in NYC. Priyanka is currently shooting for Baywatch with co-stars, Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron, in which she plays the villain. Actor Sushant Singh Rajput has been looking for a house after his break up with actor Ankita Lokhande. (Photo: R Burman) Sushant Singh Rajput After his break up with Ankita Lokhande, actor Sushant Singh Rajput is now on a house-hunting spree, as the two were earlier living together. Finding a good apartment and balancing your work can be tricky and Sushant is taking the help of a few friends in Mumbai. Sushant is considering getting a pad in and around Bandra and has been in touch with a few brokers for the same. Since he is shooting in Budapest, a few of his friends are keeping a constant tab on the progress, a source was quoted as saying. Actor Katrina Kaif has finally moved out of the house she was renting with her ex boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor, when they were dating, and moved into a new apartment. Katrina Kaif Actor Katrina Kaif has finally moved out of the house that she and former boyfriend, actor Ranbir Kapoor, had rented while they were dating.Katrina had stayed on after Ranbir packed his bags and left, perhaps in the hope that he would return. Also, the rent had been paid for the next six months, so it made sense to continue and stay there, rather than move out immediately after he left. Although, she would keep shuttling between her earlier rented apartment on Waterfield Road and the Carter Road apartment. She had been hunting for another apartment in Bandra, and now she has found it, a source was quoted as saying. Actor Preity Zinta is looking for a new place to stay along with her husband Gene Goodenough in Los Angeles. (Yogen Shah) Preity Zinta Actor Preity Zinta, who tied the knot with longtime boyfriend Gene Goodenough, has been looking for a home in Los Angeles. Before she came to India for her wedding, it was reported that she was spotted hunting for residential properties with her husband. In fact, she might be buying a lot more than that. There was buzz that she might also be buying a yacht. Preity was offered a few roles in Bollywood films too, but she turned them all down because she wants to move to LA with Gene at the earliest, a source was quoted as saying. Actor Shraddha Kapoor got a new apartment recently, but says that she has no plans of moving out of her house. Shraddha Kapoor Actor Shraddha Kapoor was also in the news sometime back for moving out of her parents house. There was buzz that the actor was looking for another apartment, but she clarified that the house was not for her to live, but to work. I am very much living with my parents. I cant imagine not living with them.I got an apartment, but its a place for me to do my fitting and put all the stuff that doesnt fit in my room. I will not be living there. I am very happy to be living with my family, Shraddha was quoted as saying. Shah Rukh Khans son Aryan Khan and Amitabh Bachchans granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda recently celebrated graduating from school. And both went ballistic on social media, posting several images of the big day along with photos of their prom. Shah Rukh was in attendance and tweeted out congratulations to Aryan with the message, Today the only negative is that my kids have grown upnow to wait till they start believing in fairy tales again Today the only negative is that my kids have grown upnow to wait till they start believing in fairy tales again pic.twitter.com/XKJCWV4bd0 Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) May 21, 2016 Both Aryan Khan and Navya Naveli Nanda have been in the spotlight since their birth, and if rumours are to be believed, theyre both eyeing a career in the film industry. Read: I will launch Aryan Khan only after he finishes studies: Karan Johar Karan Johar had previously said, Aryan has to study now and after few years he will decide if he wants to enter movies. I am his godparent and I will hope for the best. In pics: 16 Bollywood star kids who rule the social media Navya Naveli, on the other hand, made her public debut at last years prestigious Bal des Debutantes or Le Bal in Paris. Read: Bollywood princess Navya Naveli Nanda to debut at Parisian ball Here are some of the pictures they shared Schools out and this is how Navya Naveli Nanda is celebrating. (Instagram) Navya Naveli Nanda (third from left) and her friends at the Sevenoaks school celebrate graduation. (Instagram) Navya Naveli with her mother Shweta Nanda. (Instagram) Aryan Khan with a buddy. (Instagram) The boys celebrate with a drink. (Instagram) More drinking, more celebrating. (Instagram) Is it a bird, is it a plane? No its Aryan Khan graduating school. (Instagram) Aryan Khan with his classmates. (Instagram) Aryan Khan with his sister Suhana Khan on the day of his graduation. (Instagram) The ladies are all decked up as Navya Naveli Nanda hadoukens them. (Instagram) Superstar Salman Khans rumoured girlfriend Iulia Vantur says she has no immediate plans of marriage, amid speculations that the duo is set to tie the knot later this year. Breaking her silence over the marriage rumours, the Romanian beauty took to Instagram to post the clarification. Also, Iulia refuted media reports that she was earlier married to a musician. Dear friends, I didnt feel the need to react to any rumours... But now I think I should state clearly that I was never married and I am in no hurry to wear my wedding dress. God bless us all! she wrote. Dear friends, I didn't feel the need to react to any rumors... But now I think I should state clearly that I was never married and I am in no hurry to wear my wedding dress. God bless us all! A photo posted by Iulia Vantur Official Account (@vanturiulia) on May 21, 2016 at 5:55am PDT Salman and Iulia have long been speculated to be in a relationship but the pair has always kept mum.The marriage rumours recently caught fire when Iulia was seen at the Mumbai airport with Salmans mother Salma and sister Alvira. In pics: Salman Khans mom accepts Iulia Vantur as the bahu? Later, Salman made his first joint public appearance with lulia at actor and good friend Preity Zintas wedding reception. Read: Salman Khan attends Preity Zinta reception with girlfriend Iulia Vantur At an event, when asked about the rumours, Salman did not debunk the reports but said he will not tell the media about his marriage and will rather tweet, to inform his fans. Read: Salman will tweet if hes getting married, so everyone get back to work Follow @htshowbiz for more Chandigarh girl Surveen Chawla, who has acted in Hindi and Punjabi movies, besides several music albums will be next seen in the second season of popular television series 24 along with Anil Kapoor. Surveen, who came as a showstopper for a fashion show said, I am open to doing good Punjabi movies that offer stronger roles. Replying to a query whether she was looking for woman-oriented roles, the Hate Story 2 actress said, I would like to do strong Punjabi films but that does not mean it has to be women oriented. I really dont understand the concept of women-oriented or male-oriented movies. Just follow your dreams and keep going. In fact, I dont want to sugarcoat. Its a long way and is not gonna be easy, she says. (HT Photo) The actor said returning to Chandigarh means home, family and delicious food for her. Proud about being a part of Punjabi cinema, the actress who worked in Punjabi movies like Taur Mittran Di, Saadi Love Story, Singh vs Kaur etc said, The Punjabi cinema has grown phenomenally. I was a part of the period when the graph went up from remaining constant for many years. Many good Punjabi movies have been made recently such as Punjab 1984,Chaar Sahibzade, Angrej. Giving out a message to youngsters who want to make it big in the glamour world, Surveen said, Just follow your dreams and keep going. In fact, I dont want to sugarcoat. Its a long way and is not gonna be easy, she signs off. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The trailer of Salman Khans highly-anticipated film Sultan is all set to launch on 24 May. Trade analyst Taran Adash took to his Twitter handle to share the news, writing, Are you ready? #Sultan trailer launch on Tuesday, 24 May. #YRF #Eid2016. Salman Khan in #Sultan... Trailer launch on Tue... Eid release. pic.twitter.com/zjXWTdxvER taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) May 22, 2016 Recently, Salman Khan gifted customised Sultan hoodies to all the crew members and to his fellow actors after wrapping the films shoot. Read: Sultan shooting done, Salman Khan gifts customised hoodies to crew .@BeingSalmanKhan gets everyone in Hoodie Mode by gifting customized #Sultan hoodies to all present on sets.Je baat! pic.twitter.com/brnRjSy5mT Sultan Official (@SultanTheMovie) May 17, 2016 Based on the life of a wrestler, the movie will see the Kick actor portraying the role of Sultan Ali Khan, a wrestler who faces problems both in his professional as well as in his personal life while Anushka Sharma will play the role of Aarfa, a young wrestler. In pics: Sultan wrap party: Salman Khan proves he is THE boss The film that also stars Randeep Hooda and Amit Sadh, is slated for release on Eid this year. Follow @htshowbiz for more Sonali Bendre Behl, who released her book on parenting last year, recently gave a talk at the Women Economic Forum an annual summit held in Delhi. It was organised by the All Ladies League, a non-profit organisation that works for women empowerment in India. The actor spoke about her book, and the experience of motherhood at the event, which took place on May 20. Read:Sonali Bendre Behl to address a seminar on parenting in London Sonali Bendre was seen leaving the eatery in Mumbai. (Shakti Yadav) A source says, Sonali spoke on the subject, Modern-day working women and parenting. Apart from other things, she stressed on the fact that double income is a requirement in households today, and that empowering working women is the need of the hour. She was joined by eminent personalities like Her Highness Sheikha Hissah Saad Al Abdallah Al Salem Al Sabah of Kuwait, along with 20 of the most-powerful businesswomen in the world, and representatives from over 60 countries. When contacted, Sonali confirmed she spoke at the event. Read:Sonali Bendre returns to Marathi cinema Its raining cheap airfares. After flash sales by no-frills carriers SpiceJet and IndiGo, full-service Air India too joined the bandwagon offering all-inclusive tickets starting as low as Rs 1,499 on its domestic network. The discounted tickets offered by the three airlines, which command a combined domestic market share of close to 67%, are more or less for the same period July to September, which is traditionally considered a lean season for airlines. The flash sales, industry experts say, are targeted at ensuring that airlines fly with decent load factors during the lean phase when schools and colleges re-open and air travel sees a decline. The October-December quarter, which coincides with the festive season starting with Durga Puja and ending the Christmas-New Year break, is considered to be the peak season for airlines followed by April-June when schools close for summer breaks. Read | Airlines launch flash sale but where are the low cost tickets? The latest sales, however, come at a time when the average ticket prices are already at their lowest compared to the past many years. The fares are definitely at the lowestalmost 20% cheaper than last year and they have been so for last six-seven months. Thats what is really driving the growth, said Sharat Dhall, President, Yatra.com. India was the fastest growing aviation market in the world in March 2016 clocking a growth of 27.4%, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Indias growth was over six times than that of the US, which with 4.1% was the second fastest growing market in the world. Fares were down 25-28% during the January-March 2016 quarter on a year-on-year, said Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet. Domestic airlines carried over 30 million passengers during January-April this year as compared to the 25 million last year a growth of 23.22%, according to the latest figures released by the government. That growth has really been driven by the fact that prices are much lower than last year, said Dhall. Read | SpiceJet quarterly net profit climbs to Rs 73 crore An analysis done by MakeMyTrip reveals that average fares on most domestic routes like Delhi-Goa, Mumbai-Goa, Delhi-Leh, Delhi-Srinagar for April-June, 2016 period are much cheaper as compared to the corresponding period last year. Average airfares have come down thanks to airlines adding capacity and a fall in fuel prices. Even ticket prices during the last October-December quarter saw a sharp dip, said Rajji Rai, former chief of the Travel Agents Association of India. The low airfares have made the fare difference between travel by train and air negligible giving a big boost to air travel, said Rai. The latest airline sales have been a big hit. Last week sales went up 70% on a week-on-week basis because of the sales. However, there are very few seats at the lowest fare and those tend to go away very quickly. So, one has be to really quick, said Dhall. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The nine rebel Congress legislators who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on May 18 in Delhi arrived in Dehradun to a rousing welcome on Sunday. They said they would work to make Uttarakhand Congress-free in the 2017 assembly elections. The new entrants, who had sided with the Opposition in its demand for a vote on the money bill thereby plunging the state into a political crisis, said they joined the saffron party to rid the state of the corrupt Congress regime. The nine former Congress leaders jumped ship after chief minister Harish Rawat won the trust vote in a Supreme Court-monitored floor test on May 10. Another Congress rebel, Rekha Arya, who voted in favour of the BJP during the floor test, is also likely to join the latter. Speaking at a function attended by almost all top state BJP leaders, rebel leader and former CM Vijay Bahuguna dubbed their decision to join the saffron party as historic. It was...a decision not motivated by any selfish reasons, he said, in a jibe at Harish Rawats alleged individualistic style of politics. He accused the chief minister of being a double-faced person who has turned a blind eye to corruption prevailing in his regime, and also of being a narrow-minded person who acts with a feeling of vindictiveness against his detractors. Bahuguna, who was replaced midterm as the chief minister by Harish Rawat, said he could have done the same, but I refrained from stooping to that level because the party is always above the post. Rebel MLA Harak Singh Rawat, who returned to the BJP after 20 years, said the chief minister was playing into the hands of land, liquor and mining mafia. We joined the BJP to rid the state of the corrupt Rawat-led Congress regime, he said. He also accused Harish Rawat of seeking then BJP national president Nitin Gadkaris help in toppling the Bahuguna government. Rawatji did not succeed in his attempt as Gadkariji outrightly rejected his request, he said. Chief minister Harish Rawat, however, expressed relief over the rebels leaving and alleged that the nine leaders were a burden on Congress because of their involvement in corruption. Its in our interest that they have switched sides along with their baggage, he said at a press conference on Sunday. BJP national general secretary (organisation) Shiv Prakash attempted to allay fears over ideological clashes between BJP cadres and supporters of the rebel leaders. Bahuguna too said the cadres from both sides would work in tandem to ensure the BJPs victory in the 2017 elections. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Months of anxiety for more than a million students has ended with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announcing the crucial Class 12 examination results. Here are 10 things to know about the results: 1) With an overall pass percentage of 88.58, girls performed better compared to the boys 78.85. The pass percentage for boys in 2015 was 81.59%, while it was 90.87% for girls. 2) Sukriti Gupta of Montfort School in west Delhi secured 99.4% marks to top the exam. Gupta, a science stream student, scored full marks in Physics and Chemistry and got 99 out of 100 in English, Mathematics and Computer Science each. She aggregated 497 out of 500. 3) Palak Goyal of Tagore Public School, Kurukshetra, stood second in the all-India ranking, securing just one mark less than Gupta. She scored 99.2%. 4) According to CBSE, 83.05% students cleared the examination this year against 82% last year. Read: Gurgaon twins score identical marks in CBSE Class 12 exams, equal in JEE 5) Thiruvananthapuram recorded the highest pass percentage of 97.61%, followed by Chennai at 92.63%. 6) Over 10 lakh students had appeared in the examinations that began on March 1 and concluded on April 22. 7) In the differently abled category, Mudita Jagota of DAV Public School, Faridabad, stood first with 97% marks, Siddhartha Biswas of Kendriya Vidyalaya School, RK Puram, Delhi, came second and Rakshit Malik of Amity International School, Noida, stood third. 8) About 2.38% more candidates had registered for the examinations this year compared to the last year. 9) Government schools fared better than private schools in the exam. The central government-run Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) school students have scored a pass percentage of 95.43%, much above the national average of 83.05 while the pupils of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV), which are established in rural areas, have done even better with a pass percentage of 96.73%. Independent private schools showed a pass percentage of 82.40% which is better than their score last year of 81.08%, but still behind many government schools. 10) The board results for all its regions can be accessed at on three websites -- www.results.nic.in, www.cbseresults.nic.in and www.cbse.nic.in. With inputs from agencies A Union Public Service Commission-appointed committee is set to tell the government to reduce the upper age-limit for appearing in the examination to get into premier civil services such as the IAS and IPS. The UPSC appointed the panel headed by former education secretary BS Baswan last August as part of an initiative by the Narendra Modi government to overhaul the civil services examination. The government had promised to review the examination after a string of protests in 2015 against a civil service aptitude test introduced by the previous Manmohan Singh-led government in the preliminary exam. We feel that the entry age is on the higher side. At the same time, we realise that candidates should not be put to any unforeseen hardship. Therefore, we would prepare a road map which will give all candidates sufficient time to adapt to the new system, Baswan said. Over the decades, the upper age-limit for candidates from general categories has gone up from 24 years in the 1960s to 32 years for the 2014 exam. The upper age is relaxed by five years for candidates from the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes while those from the other backward classes get a three-year relaxation. Disabled candidates get an additional 10-year cut. Read | UPSC issues notification for civil services, IFS exams 2016 In 2012 and 2013, the proportion of successful candidates well past their 30th birthday was in the range of 6 to 11%. A 43-year-old grandfather, a disabled from the scheduled caste community who had applied for age relaxation on both counts, could be the face of the panels argument for lowering the age in its report. Sources said the panel was trying to locate the candidate to make its point. Baswan refused comment, saying he would let the report do the talking. A senior government official informed that a call on the recommendation would be taken once the panel submitted its report. He, however, said the panel which has time till August to give its report had sounded them out about its conclusion; that reducing the entry age for candidates had to be at the heart of any exam reforms. I can only say that the government is very clear in its mind that it will not spring a surprise on the candidates, the official said, referring to the previous UPA governments last-minute decisions to change exams format. It was in this context that the Baswan panel had been told to not only recommend changes but also spell out a reasonable time frame for implementation of its recommendations. Government officials and training academies tasked to prepare successful candidates for a career in civil services have been pushing for lowering of the entry age. A common argument is that the civil servants found it difficult to adapt and internalise the core values demanded of the civil services once they were past their thirties. But it will not be an easy decision for the government. There have been several attempts in the past to explore the possibility of reducing the upper age. Former prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh had supported the proposal but had to back out after loud protests from politicians, insisting that it put rural candidates at a disadvantage. The UPA government had even accepted the second administrative reforms commission recommendation to lower the upper limit to 26 years for general candidates. But the government ended up raising the age limit by two years, months before the 2014 general elections. Nearly 460,000 candidates appeared for the three-stage UPSC examination in 2015, hoping to join the administrative services that continue to remain the dream job for many. Less than one in 400 of them made it. Read | UPSC marks disclosed: Civil services topper Tina Dabi got 52.49% SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Galleria market in DLF Phase-4 may face problems related to power supply and maintenance as banks have sealed the accounts of Galleria condominium association (GCA), which looks into the maintenance of the commercial hub, following the state registrars order to quash election of the body held in September. The situation has left the shop and office owners in the market worried. They say that there are frequent power cuts in the area these days and the stock of diesel for generator sets may last only till Monday. There are five gensets for the market. These gensets are owned and maintained by the association. Even routine expenses cannot be met as the accounts are sealed, shop owners said. State registrar Wazir Singh on May 12 quashed the GCA election held on September 18 on a petition filed by Galleria occupants Jitesh Sahgal, Neeraj Yadav and Varun Ahuja. The GCA has accounts with two private banks, which were sealed after the petitioners informed the banks about the registrars order. The petitioners contended that since the GCA executive was no more in power it was not authorised to operate the finances. Former GCA president Atul Mitra on Saturday released a circular, stating that the bank accounts were sealed on Friday. The circular stated that no show-cause notice or intimation was given to the GCA by the registrar before issuing notice for quashing the election. Mitra said the association has neither received a copy of the order passed by the registrar nor intimation from the banks. We are making all possible endeavours to resolve the issue. However, payments for various services like electricity and diesel etc are due. The association has sufficient funds in the bank accounts but on account of non-cooperation by the banks, it is not possible to make any payments, the circular stated. Mitra said the situation was normal on Sunday but might worsen from Monday, as electricity bills have to be paid and the stock of diesel for generator sets will last only till Monday. It (sealing of bank accounts) will affect operation of lifts, supply of water, use of generators and routine expenses of the association, he said. The circular advised the occupants to be prepared for any situation. The state registrar ordered the Gurgaon district registrar to appoint an adhoc committee of five neutral members and conduct free and fair elections within three months. The district registrar has not implemented the order and not appointed the adhoc committee even after a week of the order, alleged Jitesh Sahgal, one of the petitioners. Galleria complex, which houses about 500 shops and offices, was ranked the third costliest market in India in a report released by real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield last year. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Residents of Block C in Sushant Lok-1 held a meeting in the park of the locality on Sunday morning to discuss alleged inadequate infrastructure in their area and poor maintenance of facilities. The meeting was attended by residents, members of executive committee and residents welfare association (RWA) members. Executive committee acts as a mediator between the residents and the RWA. The residents highlighted various problems such as bad condition of roads and streetlights, poor quality of supply water and lack of safety. The residents alleged that they have been raising the issue with the developer and the administration over the past eight years, but no action has been taken so far. Some of the major problems raised by them were related to the takeover of the colony by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG), pathetic condition of roads and electrical infrastructure and alleged lack of transparency in the functioning of Sushant Lok-1 resident welfare association (SLRWA). Residents said they pay house tax to the MCG and some of this money should be spent on the development of the area. Why cant the MCG spend some money and repair the road and the community centre. If we are paying the tax, we should get the basic facilities, said Sumit Bhatia, a resident. Residents alleged that due to the inability of the SLRWA to suggest concrete solution to these problems, they have lost trust in the elected body. The condition of roads and streetlights is pathetic. There are frequent power cuts and the quality of water is bad. We have been complaining about these problems for several years, said Neelu Sharma, (co-founder) of the Residents United, a body of residents. Some residents alleged that despite paying a high maintenance charges, the infrastructure of the locality is poor. RWA members, meanwhile, claimed that almost 50% of the residents do not pay maintenance charges, making it difficult for them to bear expenses and carry out the maintenance work. A K Nagpal, president of SLRWA, said, We have held many meetings with the builder and the MCG. Two months ago, the MCG gave the builder a months notice to carry out repair work, but it is yet to be done. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal kicked off the partys campaign for the Goa Assembly polls scheduled to be held in 2017 on Sunday. Kejriwal took a dig at his political rivals during a public meeting in Panaji, saying he would not even spare his own children if they were found involved in illegalities. Tomorrow even if my child is involved in illegality, I will not spare him (and) take stringent action against him, Kejriwal said. Kejriwal recalled how the AAP government (in Delhi) had dismissed its own food minister from the Cabinet after he was caught demanding bribe. In his 40-minute speech, Kejriwal touched on the issue of liquor baron Vijay Mallyas debt to the banks and alleged that Congress had given Rs 9,000 crore subsidy to Mallya. We gave (electricity) subsidy of Rs 1,400 crore, which benefited 36 lakh families (in Delhi). But the Congress kept on criticising AAP government for the subsidy. We gave subsidy to help the common men, while Congress gave Rs 9,000 crore subsidy and that too for one person, Vijay Mallya, he alleged. Taking a dig at BJP, Kejriwal said, When the party came to power (at the Centre) they allowed him (Mallya) to run away so that he is not caught. The Delhi chief minister further said his government has slashed down the power tariffs in Delhi to the second lowest as against highest in the country a year-and-half ago during Congress rule. Rejuvenated from its Assam victory, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has now started preparing for the mother of all electoral battles in Uttar Pradesh early next year. The state is critical to the partys aspirations of retaining power at the Centre as well as increasing its strength in the Rajya Sabha. However, the contest here will be tough owing to a more crowded electoral battlefield when compared to the ones at Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry. In the 2012 assembly polls, around 220 political parties had entered the poll arena. Of these, ten barring the Independents had won seats ranging from one (Apna Dal) to 224 (Samajwadi Party). Now, with even more political parties jamming the already crowded electoral space with a now or never mission, it is going to be a fierce battle for every vote. UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is presented a model of the Samajwadi Party symbol cycle by supporters at a public meeting in Ballia. (File photo/ PTI) However, the BJP can take solace from the fact that the opposing parties are unlikely to form a united front against it. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumars desperate effort to build an alliance of the Congress, Rashtriya Lok Dal and other smaller parties cannot take off without either of the two regional forces the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) coming aboard. Second, the Bihar rout cannot discount the BJPs overwhelming victory in the state during the Lok Sabha polls, where it won 71 of 80 seats and gained leads in over 300 of 403 assembly segments. The BJPs real worries will be the SP and the BSP, two regional parties that have dominated the states political landscape for over 20 years. While chief minister Akhilesh Yadav hopes that the recent trend of voters favouring prevalent governments in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Bihar will give it a second chance, Mayawati is banking on anti-incumbency votes to return to power. BSP chief Mayawati hopes to retain her Dalit vote bank in the upcoming polls in 2017. (HT File/ Arvind Yadav) However, even those predicting Mayawatis return to power concede that the BJP will be no pushover in the coming elections, considering that it polled over 42% votes in the 2014 polls. The results of the 2012 assembly polls help one gauge how close the fight will be. Of the total votes polled, six national parties bagged 53.10% votes; two state parties the SP and RLD took away 31.46% votes; while a huge chunk of 16% votes was claimed by other caste-based parties. Although the BSP polled 24, 43,269 votes, about 4% less than the SP, it managed to win just 80 seats against the winning partys 224. So, every party of significance is chalking out strategies and requisitioning surveys to lay the groundwork for fiery election campaigns to follow. The Congress has hired master-election strategist Prashant Kishor to helm its efforts, but it remains to be seen if he can pull off a success story here. The Congress hopes to use poll strategist Prashant Kishor to score a win in Uttar Pradesh. (HT File) Given Uttar Pradeshs penchant for caste politics, everybody is trying to grab a slice of the pie. As most of the major castes are already aligned with specific parties or leaders, efforts are on to woo members of sub-castes and their leaders. The OBCs, who account for 50% of the vote bank, have 70 sub-castes including the numerically and politically powerful Yadavs, Kurmis and the Lodhs. Similarly, 21% scheduled castes have 65 sub-castes, including the dominant Jatavs. Another strategy is to divide vote banks by polarising communities. While Dalits and Muslims clashed in Azamgarh recently, the Muzaffarnagar riots demolished the Jat-Muslim vote bank that former prime minister Charan Singh had built so assiduously. As the stakes are high for all the key players in the Uttar Pradesh elections, brace yourself for a nail-biting battle to come. Lok Janshakti Party supremo Ram Vilas Paswan condemned the attack on BJP MP Tarun Vijay for leading Dalits into a temple in Dehradun recently and urged Union home minister Rajnath Singh to identify temples and public places where entry of Dalits is prohibited. We will request Union home minister Rajnath Singh to get the work done on identification of temples and public places where Dalits and women are prohibited and if necessary, central forces should be deployed at such places, Paswan told reporters, referring to the recent Supreme Court order that allowed women to enter temples. The Union minister for consumer affairs, who was accompanied by partys parliamentary board chairperson Chirag Paswan, said a case of conspiracy to kill Vijay should be registered and speedy trial conducted in the matter. A mob had on May 20 attacked Vijay and Dalit leaders for visiting a temple in Chakrata in Dehradun where entry of Dalits is prohibited. Paswan said he would take up the matter with Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat. After so many years of Independence and laws against untouchability, Dalits are still prohibited from entering temples and if someone like Tarun Vijay, who is an MP, tries to take Dalits into temples, he is attacked, Paswan said. The minister said steps should be taken to ensure entry of Dalits into temples and public places where from they are, at present, prohibited. The Narendra Modi government named on Sunday former top police officer-turned-politician Kiran Bedi as the lieutenant-governor of Puducherry, just days after the opposition Congress wrested power in this centrally administered territory. The 66-year-old Bedi, the countrys first woman to serve the elite Indian Police Service, joined the ruling BJP in January 2015 and was the partys chief-ministerial candidate in its disastrous Delhi assembly election. She was blamed for the partys drubbing as the Aam Aadmi Party, led by her former ally Arvind Kejriwal, won 67 of the 70 seats. Bedi even lost in her constituency. I am trustworthy in terms of governance. Im going to live up to that, she told a television channel soon after her appointment was announced by the Presidents office. During an illustrious career, Bedi picked a reputation as a stickler for the law. She is remembered for transforming Tihar, Asias largest prison, into a reformist penitentiary. While in service and after retirement, Bedi was a model for young girls aspiring to join public service. My priority will be a bottom-up approach. I would like to make a constable and a schoolteacher feel that he or she is the most important I dont consider it as power; to me its a resource to deliver, said Bedi, who will be succeeding sacked UPA nominee Virendra Kataria at the Raj Bhawan in the small former French colony. A second phase of her public activism started when she plunged right into the centre of the Anna Hazare movement against corruption, alongside Kejriwal, building on her fame as an upright policewoman and targeting the Congress-led UPA government. She joined the BJP after falling out with Kejriwal. Delhi chief minister Kejriwal, who refrained from attacking Bedi directly despite an acrimonious campaign against the BJP during the 2015 assembly polls, congratulated her via Twitter. My best wishes to Kiran Didi for this new role, he tweeted. But the Janata Dal (United) called her new assignment a political appointment to serve the ruling partys interests. They are first appointed and then misused. Even during Congress time political appointments were made. Then we and BJP used to oppose it together. Now these appointments are being made by the BJP as well, party general secretary KC Tyagi told PTI. The appointment came three days after the Congress-DMK alliance won 17 seats in the 30-member Puducherry assembly. AIADMK won four seats while the BJP could not open its account. Bedi, a 1972-batch IPS officer who took voluntary retirement in 2007, has been no stranger to controversy. At the height of the anti-corruption agitation, she drew flak for saying the media did not go after corrupt politicians as much as they pursued small rape case or assault. In 2011, she faced allegations of charging business-class fares to her hosts when called to participate in events, but travelling on discounted economy-class tickets instead. She denied the charges. A sports lover, an author, and recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award and the UN Medal for outstanding service, this Delhi University law graduate and PhD from IIT Delhi has a wide range of administrative experience. She was secretary to Delhis former lieutenant-governor Tejinder Khanna during 1998-99. Florida neighbourhood watchman has sold for $250,000 the gun he used to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, auctioneers said. United Gun Group, which hosted the auction on its website, confirmed yesterday the amount of the sale of the Kel-Tec PF-9, a 9mm pistol. The price, also reported by television stations in Nevada and Florida a day earlier, far exceeded the market value of a secondhand weapon. The very fact that the weapon was even being auctioned off had triggered a major backlash due to the nature of 17-year-old Martins 2012 shooting. Watchman George Zimmerman claims he acted in self-defense but the teens family and friends claimed it was a murder driven by racism. Zimmermans trial and subsequent acquittal exposed deep racial divides in US society, and nationwide protests erupted over the shooting. The TMZ celebrity news website said the winning bid was a last-minute one, denying a Florida bar owner to own for $150,000 what Zimmerman has called an opportunity to own a piece of American history. The sale ends 10 days of a drawn-out process that first saw Zimmerman try to auction off the weapon on GunBroker.com, which promptly removed the post, before turning to United Gun Group. Hoax buyers then managed to temporarily curtail the sale by posting fake bids of more than USD 65 million, including some by a bidder using the screen name Racist McShootface. After filtering out fake buyers, United Gun Group opened a second auction that led to the final sale. While serving as a neighbourhood watch volunteer in a gated community in Florida, Zimmerman fatally shot high school student Martin as he was walking home with iced tea and candy in February 2012. Zimmerman insisted he had been following the teenager on suspicion he was involved in robbery, and that he shot him in an act of self-defense. He was acquitted of second-degree murder the following year, setting off protests nationwide over Floridas stand your ground gun laws. In announcing the sale, Zimmerman had said that a portion of the proceeds would serve to fight BLM (Black Lives Matter) violence against law enforcement officers. Girls once again outperformed boys by achieving a pass percentage of 52.62 % as compared to the boys 45.71 % in the Haryana Board Class 10 results which were declared by the Board of Secondary Education, Haryana, on Sunday. As many as 3,17,507 students appeared for the exam, out of which only 1,55,191 passed. However, a marginal rise in the pass percentage was observed this year with 48.88% students passing the exam as compared to 45.84% last year. The results can be checked at the official website of the board. Rural students, with a pass percentage of 50.38%, outshone their urban counterparts whose pass percentage stood at 45.30%. Private schools performed better than government schools by 2.11 percentage points. The trends in the districts this year were similar to the ones seen during the Class 12 results. Read more: Haryana board Class 10 results: Girls outshine boys again After claiming the top spot in the recently-declared Class 12 results, Sonepat district once again showed the best result with 69.84% students of the districts passing the exam. The second spot was secured by Mahendragarh with a 63.79% pass percentage while Faridabad stood last, again, with only 34.47% students making the cut. The Haryana government has decided to give free laptops to the top 500 students in Class 10. Read more: Haryana Board Class 10 results: 61% students fail in Pkula district Union health minister JP Nadda is expected to meet President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday afternoon to explain the rationale behind taking the ordinance route to defer participation of state boards in the common entrance test National eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for a year. Mukherjee has sought an explanation for the reasons behind bringing in the ordinance against the Supreme Court decision on making participation mandatory for all medical colleges state, deemed universities and private colleges to admit students from the academic year 2016-17. The ordinance, cleared by the Union Cabinet on Friday, is aimed at partially overturning the Supreme Courts April 11 order that paved the way for the Medical Council of India (MCI) to conduct NEET this year. The court ordered a single medical test, benefiting aspirants who juggle clashing exam schedules and differing admission norms by private colleges. The test was allowed to be held in two phases the first phase was conducted on May 1 and the second phase is scheduled for July 24. The President has reportedly also sought the opinion of in-house and legal experts on the ordinance. If it is passed, states will be allowed to continue with their entrance tests this year. Health ministry sources said private college seats earmarked by the state government will also be exempted. Different states set aside anything between 12 to 15% seats under the state quota. States were allowed exemption for a year, following concerns that a common national examination hurts rural students because of no vernacular language options and widely varying syllabi of different boards. Representatives from 18 states met Nadda last Monday and informed that NEET would put non-CBSE candidates at a disadvantage as there was too little time left for students to bridge the difference between state board syllabi and the central curriculum. Upping its ante against the Left Front in Kerala, a BJP delegation on Sunday met President Pranab Mukherjee over attacks on party workers allegedly by CPI(M) supporters and also questioned the silence of Congress, saying it is not good for democracy. Union minister Nitin Gadkari told reporters after meeting the President that BJP and RSS workers were facing atrocities from CPI(M), which led the alliance that won the Assembly polls in the state. He alleged that police was not taking appropriate action. We have given the President details of these cases, including photographs. Our worker Pramod was killed. Houses of more than 100 workers have been vandalised. Situation is not good. He has assured us that he will take appropriate action. Unfortunately, UPA, Congress are keeping quiet. This is not good for democracy. Democracy is a battle of ideas and parties cannot grow by taking law into their hands. We hope that those having faith in democracy will condemn this violence, he said. Asked about CPI(M)s charge that BJP was misleading, he said details of the incidents have been submitted to Mukherjee. Besides Gadkari, the delegation included Union ministers J P Nadda, Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, MPs Meenakshi Lekhi and M J Akbar and Kerala BJP President Kummanam Rajasekharan. Attacking the Left Front, BJP chief Amit Shah had yesterday accused it of violating the peoples mandate as his party said it will not sit quiet and fight on the streets if violence continues. The Left Front has instead attacked BJP and RSS for targeting its workers and accused the party of misleading the people. An army soldier, who was wounded during an encounter with militants in north Kashmirs Kupwara district on Saturday, succumbed to his injuries on Sunday. An army spokesman said Naik Gawade Pandurang Mahadev sustained head injuries during the gun fight in Chak Drugmulla village of Kupwara and was evacuated to 92 Base Hospital for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries on Sunday. He made a supreme sacrifice while fighting valiantly with the terrorists in Drugmulla village on May 21, the spokesman said. The mortal remains of the soldier will be flown to his village in Sindudurg district of Maharashtra after necessary formalities. Security forces said that five militants were killed and two soldiers were wounded in a fierce gun battle in Drugmulla on Saturday. Meanwhile, thousands of people participated in the funeral of the five militants, who were killed in the encounter. Staged gunfight On Sunday, thousands of people from the villages of Kupwara converged at Chak Drugmulla to participate in the funeral procession of the militants amid pro-freedom slogans. After the militants were laid to rest in the morning, locals took to streets to protest. Some locals alleged that the militants were killed in a staged gun fight. They said that the state of dead bodies indicated that they might have been killed a week back. The marks on the bodies of the militants do not indicate that they were killed today. It seems they have been killed 6-7 days ago and brought here, the residents alleged. However, superintendent of Police Kupwara, Aijaz Ahmad denied the allegations. This is not true, he said. He said that the militants were foreigners and seem to have infiltrated recently. Meanwhile internet services were also suspended in Kupwara district as authorities feared that situation could escalate owing to the spread of rumours. Tipplers from Bihar have been crossing into adjoining Nepal in thousands for their daily liquor quota ever since the Indian state went dry on April 1. However, scores end up spending the night in Nepal Police lockups and pay hefty fines. Police in Rautahat district of Nepal said at least 70 Indian nationals have been fined Rs.1,000 each for drinking in dozens of shacks that have mushroomed in Nepal territory along Bihars border with the Himalayan nation. These makeshift but illegal huts were set up specially to cater to the needs of the Bacchus-worshipers from India. In the last week, we have fined 70 Indians who came here to consume liquor, said Ganesh Regmi, the superintendent of police in Rautahat. These Indian nationals were also kept in custody for a night and let off the following day, the SP said. On Saturday, police rounded up nine Indians, kept them in custody for a night and set them free only after getting written undertakings that they will not show up again in Nepal territory to consume alcohol, Regmi added. Nepal Police have began taking action against the makeshift shops due to apprehensions of a surge in crime due to short visits by tipplers from India to satisfy their liquor craving. Police routinely raid liquor shops set up in hutments after 6 p.m. everyday to look for boozing Indians. Police on the Indian side too have sought coordination with their Nepali counterparts and local authorities to keep a tab on the influx of Indian nationals into the Himalayan nation since it could impact crime on the open India-Nepal border. Since the international border between India and Nepal is open, free flow of people from either side is allowed after routine security checks. Now, to avoid any brush with the Nepal Police, many Bacchus-worshipers from India visit nearby Nepali towns, consume alcohol, spend a night there and return to their homes the next day. After the liquor ban in Bihar, not only have new liquor shops sprung up in Nepal areas along the border but also many enterprising Indians have set up small restaurants in Nepal border towns to specially target Indian tipplers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday began his two-day trip to Iran with a visit to the capital citys only functioning gurudwara where he paid obeisance. Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Iran in 15 years, offered prayers at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara and also spoke to the head priest. He applauded the efforts of the Sikh community in the Persian Gulf nation for preserving and spreading the culture and tradition of India. My Iran visit is starting with the blessings before the Guru Granth Sahib at this gurudwara. I am fortunate. I greet you all for having worked on spreading our culture and tradition as well as educating our young generation here. We accept all the people as our own and absorb them in our society because we believe in the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam -- the entire world is one family. Animated by this spirit, we Indians make every country our home, Modi told the gathering at the gurudwara. Read | PM Modi arrives in Iran; boosting trade, energy partnership high on agenda Addressing the community in Tehran, Modi said, We are fortunate to have got an opportunity to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. The government is planning to celebrate this occasion in India and other parts of the world. He stressed that the young generation should know about the sacrifices of the great Gurus and also learn from the central tenets of the Guru Granth Sahib. I have noted several suggestions that have come from your community. I have considered them and I believe that solutions need to be explored through talks. And we will continue this exercise. Let us all work together to serve humanity, he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Transport Nitin Gadkari (extreme right) at Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara in Tehran during his visit to Iran. (PTI) Earlier just after reaching Tehran, Modi tweeted, Reached Iran, a land with whom India shares civilisational ties. Hope to enhance economic partnership between our nations. I also hope my Iran visit further cements cultural and people-to-people ties between India and Iran. In 2012, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a visit to Tehran to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit could not visit the gurudwara, but his wife Gursharan Kaur paid her respects there. Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan during his visit to Iran last month also visited the gurudwara. The gurudwara in Tehrans Mesjed Henidyah was founded in 1941 by Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Tehran. There are about 800 Sikh families in Tehran, mostly traders who had moved in early 20th century from Punjab. Most of the visiting dignitaries from India -- from the then Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar in 2005 to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj -- have all visited the gurudwara on their visits to Tehran. Looking to strengthen trade, investment and energy ties with Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday arrived in Tehran on a two-day visit, during which a crucial agreement is expected to be signed on developing the strategic Chabahar port. Modi, who is the first Indian Prime Minister having visited Iran in the last 15 years, was received at the Mehrabad International Airport by Irans finance and economic affairs minister Ali Tayyebnia, after which he left for a local Gurudwara to meet people of Indian origin. Formal talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are scheduled for Monday morning after a ceremonial welcome for the Prime Minister. Rouhani will also host a lunch for him. Modi will also call on Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well before his return. Ahead of his arrival, Modi in a series of tweets said, Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority. My meetings with President Rouhani and Honble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership, the Prime Minister added. Besides signing a deal on development of Phase-1 of the Chabahar port, India is looking at doubling oil imports from the Persian Gulf nation, which a few years back was its second-biggest oil supplier, as well as making progress on getting rights to develop a giant gas field in the energy-rich country. Read: 3-nation Chabahar port pact to be signed as Modi visits Iran next week Indias Road Transport, highways and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari will also be present there for the signing of the agreement on Chabahar port. Post-sanctions Iran has seen a flurry of diplomatic and business activities with leaders from China to Korea courting Tehran. In the run-up to Modis visit, transport minister Gadkari, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had visited Tehran. Stating that he looked forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar agreement during his visit, the Prime Minister said India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region. Read: Govt pays part of Irans $4.6bn oil dues ahead of PM Modis visit An investigator in a coal block allocation scam has told a special court that order to file a closure report in the case was given by then CBI chief Ranjit Sinha whose role is under the scanner of a Supreme Court-appointed panel on whether his decisions had led to scuttling of probe or not. The probe officer was recording his testimony as a prosecution witness in the case involving Madhya Pradesh-based Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd (KSSPL) and others in which the court had rejected CBIs closure report and has been proceeding with the trial in the case. The CBI had named KSSPL, its directors, Pawan, Kamaljeet Ahluwalia, Prashant Ahluwalia, Amit Goyal and some unknown public servants as accused in FIR for allegedly misrepresenting facts, including inflated net worth, to acquire coal blocks. The officer told the court that after completing the probe, he had submitted the report to his senior but the final order was received from the competent authority to close the case. On being asked by special CBI judge Bharat Parashar as to who was the competent authority referred by investigating officer (IO), DSP Sanjay Dubey said Ranjit Sinha, the then director, CBI. Actor turned BJP leader Rupa Ganguly was beaten up and her car ransacked on Sunday when a group of alleged Trinamool Congress supporters launched an attack on her as she was returning from a village in Diamond Harbour after meeting some victims of poll-post violence. This incident took place amid reports of post-poll violence pouring in from different parts of the state including those caused by the ruling partys infighting. Several offices of Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) have been vandalised in West Midnapore, East Midnapore, Bankura and Hooghly districts. A political party who has won the polls with a mammoth victory should show some restraint. Here they have unleashed goons against all others who have opposed them. We strongly condemn the incident, said Rahul Sinha, BJP national secretary. If such violence and attacks continue we would request our central leaders to boycott Mamata Banerjees swearing in ceremony, said Dilip Ghosh state BJP president. BJP has also planned for a protest march from Hazra crossing to chief ministers residence in Kalighat on Monday. Rupa Ganguly, the chief of BJPs Mahila Morcha (womens wing), was heading towards Ishwaripur village in Kakdwip on Sunday along with other members of the organisation to help women members of a family return home. All four members of the family was abused and beaten up on Sunday. While two of them had to be admitted to Kakdwip hospital, the two others stayed back inside the hospital premises on Saturday night. On Sunday, when Gangulys team meet the injured persons at Kakdwip hospital and was accompanying the two other members a woman and her daughter to their village, when the very group of allegedly Trinamool supporters who attacked the family on Saturday mounted an attack on the Gangulys car. She was hit in the head. We are taking her to Diamond Harbour hospital. The car has been ransacked, said BJP womens wing leader Amrita Banerjee who accompanied Ganguly. Meanwhile, incidents of post violence were reported from different parts of Kolkata and districts. Trinamool Congress in-fighting broke out since last night at Sovabazar in North Kolkata. One policeman was injured and two groups clashed one alleging the other of betraying the party during the assembly polls. Trinamool Congress workers allegedly beat up CPIM supporters in Jadavpur area too. According to Sujan Chakraborty CPIM MLA from Jadavpur, over a dozen of houses were also torched. In districts like Hooghly and Howrah, CPIM party offices were attacked and workers threatened allegedly by Trinamool Congress backed miscreants. At Bishnupur in Bankura district, it was the other way round where a Trinamool Congress office was vandalised. While Trinamool leader and former minister Shyamapada Mukherjee, who lost from Bishnupur this time, blamed the CPI(M) for the attack, the CPI(M) denied and charge and said Trinamools infighting was behind it. Trinamool offices were vandalised in West Midnapore, East Midnapore and Hooghly districts as well. In all instances the CPI(M) blamed Trinamools infighting for the vandalism. In separate incident police arrested five journalists in Jhargram, West Midnapore after they landed up in fisticuffs with Trinamool Congress supporters after assembly poll results were out. copy ends A 35-year-old drunken man jumped into a lion enclosure at Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad on Sunday reportedly to shake hand with a lion but was rescued unhurt by the alert animal keeper. Mukesh, a native of Sikar district in Rajasthan, crossed the barricade of the African lion enclosure despite warnings by the security staff, Nehru Zoological Park Curator Shivani Dogra said. #WATCH: Drunk man jumps into a lion's enclosure in Hyderabad, was safely rescued by zoo authoritieshttps://t.co/an77mTXpIm ANI (@ANI_news) May 22, 2016 The lioness (Radhika) was inside the enclosure but the person was rescued unhurt by its keeper R Papaiah, the zoo officials said, adding the big cat had moved close to Mukesh but Papaiah diverted the lioness from him. After preliminary enquiry it was found that Mukesh was in an inebriated state and had jumped inside the enclosure to go near the lion. He has been handed over to Bahadurpura Police, Dogra said. Mukesh works as a labourer with L&T Metro Rail in Hyderabad. When contacted, Bahadurpura Police Station Inspector Harish Kaushik said Mukesh jumped into the lion enclosure in an intoxicated condition and he will be booked on the charge of trespass under IPC. This kind of incident is creating fear among public, even after Nehru Zoological Park administration is trying its level best to make the zoo park a safe and secure place to visit, Dogra said. Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday that he would not even spare his own children if they were found to be involved in any illegal activities. Tomorrow even if my child is involved in any illegality, I will not spare him (and) I will take stringent action against him, Kejriwal said while addressing a rally in Panaji, kicking off AAPs campaign for Goa assembly polls scheduled to be held in 2017. Kejriwal recalled how the AAP government (in Delhi) had dismissed its own food minister from the Cabinet after he was caught demanding a bribe. In his 40-minute speech, Kejriwal touched on the issue of liquor baron Vijay Mallyas debt to the banks. The Delhi chief minister alleged that Congress had given Rs 9,000 crore subsidy to Mallya. We gave (electricity) subsidy of Rs 1,400 crore that benefited 36 lakh families (in Delhi). But the Congress kept on criticising AAP government for the subsidy. We gave subsidy to help the common men, while Congress gave Rs 9,000 crore subsidy and that too for one person: Vijay Mallya, he alleged. Taking a dig at BJP, Kejriwal said, When the party came to power (at the Centre) they allowed him (Mallya) to run away so that he is not caught. Kejriwal said his government has slashed down power tariffs in Delhi to the second lowest ,against the highest tariffs in the capital a year and half ago during Congress rule. Then government was not heeding to the demand of the people that private firms providing electricity to Delhi were running scams. But when we came to power, we did the audit of their accounts through CAG that revealed a Rs 8,000 crore scam, Kejriwal claimed. We want to take action against these power firms and recover the money but the case is pending in the Supreme Court. Once we win the case, we promise that Delhis power tariff would be reduced further, he added. Gujarat Lions booked their play-off spot in the Indian Premier League thanks to their 6-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians on Saturday. The win took the IPL debutants to 18 points and it also made sure that Sunrisers Hyderabad became the second team to qualify irrespective of what happens in their last group match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday. However, three teams - Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Daredevils (DD) will be fighting it out for the two remaining spots on Sunday as they all play their last group stage matches. Heres a look at the possible scenarios for the three competing teams: Delhi Daredevils: The Delhi side is currently on 14 points and a win against RCB would take them through to the next round. Even if they lose against RCB, they have a chance on net run-rate if Kolkata Knight Riders suffer a heavy defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Royal Challengers Bangalore: RCB have revived their campaign with a late surge and a win against Delhi in their last match will confirm their spot in play-off. If they win versus DD and KKR beats SRH, they can finish in top two. If SRH beats KKR, RCB will be through even if they lose to DD because of their much superior net run-rate. Kolkata Knight Riders: KKR were almost certain of a last-four berth at the middle stages of the tournament, but the team lost their momentum towards the end of the group stages. They need to win against SRH to qualify and a loss would mean that they have to depend on net run-rate. However, if the match is abandoned due to rain, KKR will qualify with 15 points and the match between DD and RCB will be become a decider for the last play-off spot. Apart from these three teams, Mumbai Indians still have an outside chance of qualifying despite their defeat on Saturday. If SRH beats KKR and RCB lose to DD, then KKR, RCB and MI remain on 14 points. Depending on the win margins, the net run rate can allow MI to claim the spot. Sometimes its an offer of help -- let me take that, its too heavy for you. At other times, its more overt -- instructions are met with a grim silence, audible whispers talk of teaching her a lesson. Its hard work fitting in if youre a woman in a professional kitchen -- one of the last remaining male bastions in the white-collar world. In Chennai, 23-year-old Komal Sunder Rajan was singled out on her first day of training at a five-star hotel kitchen and asked if she could cut an onion. No one else was asked, she remembers. I just looked at the instructor and said, I can cut an onion. In Guwahati, entry-level chef Kavya Gupta* says she has endured open hostility ever since she began her career eight months ago. The men tell me I talk too much. They say I wont be able to perform at their level, says the 26-year-old. Im not allowed to work on main courses. If I offer an idea, it is met with silence. Gupta says that the discrimination has left her disheartened, but determined to continue. Its been my dream to be a professional chef, so I wont quit, but I have been depressed, frustrated and angered by the treatment I have received -- for no other reason than because Im a woman in a professional kitchen full of men who dont like that. Sexism in the kitchen is alive and kicking and it comes down to two factors the physically strenuous nature of the work, and how male-dominated the industry is, says Vir Sanghvi, food writer and editorial adviser to the Hindustan Times. These two factors make it a very macho environment, he adds. In the metro cities, chefs tend to be well-educated and this can make things slightly easier. But theres a long way to go before the situation equalises, and that will only happen over time as more women enter professional kitchens. Trial by fire: Women chefs and the challenges they face in kitchens Ive been asked, Can you cut an onion? On the other hand, Ive been told to roast a chicken, though Im not at that level yet, just to try and intimidate me, says Chennai chef Komal Sunder Rajan. (AR Sumanth Kumar/HT Photo) What makes the identity of the woman in the kitchen so interesting, especially in India, is how bipolar it is, adds Smriti Godbole, a Bangalore-based sociologist who is working on a PhD thesis on indigenous foods of the Konkan region. In the home, the woman was traditionally told her place was the kitchen. The professional kitchen, however, was never associated with femininity or womens work, but with making money, she says. It then became a male zone, and still remains one -- in many cases. For a long time, Godbole adds, women who wanted to cook outside the home navigated this by writing cookbooks or being home chefs, catering for special events or supplying packed lunches. When I started out in 1975, we didnt have a single woman working full-time in our kitchen, says Rahul Akerkar, the chef and restauranteur behind the Indigo chain of restaurants. That has changed now, for a couple of reasons. One, professional cooking has emerged as a legitimate and honourable profession, whereas earlier it was just seen as hard labour. Second, the role of women culturally has changed, so theyre not hesitating as much to venture into traditionally male arenas. Read: Things are changing in professional kitchens around the world It also helps that there are now mentors and role models to light their way. In Mumbai, Pooja Dhingra has launched Le 15, a successful patisserie chain. In Delhi, Megha Shah is head chef at Lavaash by Saby, a one-of-its-kind Armenian restaurant. In Chennai, Aloka Gupta runs The Bayleaf, one of the citys most iconic restaurants. In Bangalore, Tori Macdonald is the head chef at The Humming Bird cafe and bar, one of the citys most popular music venues. Macdonald is one of those who found the constant offers of help from her team of 12 men discriminatory and oppressive. I was forced to enact rules to curb this problem, she says. Now, nobody is allowed to help me unless I ask them. THE NEWBIE: IM HOPING TO HAVE BETTER LUCK ABROAD Trial by fire: Women chefs and the challenges they face in kitchens People in the kitchen call us maam, but the men are called chef, Devika Manjrekar says. Any opinion we offer is dismissed, or met with an awkward silence -- as if I?shouldnt have spoken at all. (Aalok Soni/HT Photo) Cooking is what I love more than anything else, says Devika Manjrekar, 22. So as soon as I had graduated, I got my culinary degree in the UK. Manjrekar then moved back home to Mumbai and, three months ago, was hired as an entry-level chef at a newly opened cafe in Colaba. She is one of only two women on the team of 12, and shes now looking to move on to kitchens abroad, frustrated with what she found in Mumbai. People in the kitchen call us maam, but the men are called chef, Manjrekar says. Any opinion we offer is dismissed, or met with an awkward silence -- as if I shouldnt have spoken at all. Its clearly a culture thing. Its not overt hostility, but its the constant strain of knowing you are unwelcome in this space and having to scurry around and work harder just to get the same amount of validation. Manjrekar adds that she doesnt feel she can talk to anyone in the kitchen, even about things other than work. Its got to the point where I start every day with the thought that I just need to get through it. She now plans to head out to work in kitchens abroad. Im hoping to find a better kitchen culture, she says. THE YOUNG BOSS: I HAD TO DEMAND TO BE HEARD At 23, Delhi-born Anahita Dhondy took up her first job in a professional kitchen. Armed with a grand diplome from Le Cordon Bleu, London, she joined as chef manager, a title which put her at the top of the kitchens pecking order. It was also a title that would become one of her biggest challenges over the next three years. Being young and a woman acted doubly against me, says Dhondy. I was seen as flippant, someone who would leave the kitchen in a few years when I wanted to start a family. The immediate perception was this girl has been hired because she looks good and can chat with the guests. Dhondys team at SodaBottleOpenerWalla an Irani cafe-themed restaurant chain based in Delhi consisted of 13 men, ranging from interns to fellow chefs. I was in charge of men with ten and fifteen years of experience. They would not take me seriously, she says. If I suggested flavour inputs for dishes, for instance, they were never implemented. Dhondy says it took three months of uphill work before she was taken seriously. I had to learn how to compete in a kitchen full of men, she says. That meant making a change to the way I acted. It wasnt enough to just be the boss; I had to explain my expertise to them. I had to be clear that though I lacked the hands-on experience that they had, I more than made up for it with my technical and creative expertise. I had to be forceful about my inputs, repeating myself and standing firm. I had to demand to be heard in a way that others didnt have to. Dhondy says she didnt verbalise these concerns to her seniors. I felt it was important to handle it myself, she says. But yes, the professional kitchen is a very sexist place in two ways its hard for women to enter, and once they do they have to work doubly hard to prove their mettle. Restauranteur AD Singh, owner of the SBOW brand, says it is harder for women chefs in India. They have to work much more to stand out. We get very few female applicants. Anahita is articulate, attractive and Parsi, with many amazing stories of her own and of her family to tell. Of course, she is also a very talented chef, who last year was one of two employees who made it to the Asia finals of an international competition for young chefs. Read: Few women enter the restaurant kitchen. Its a global phenomenon Dhondy is still the only full-time woman employee in her kitchen, which is among Delhis most popular. We had a girl in the Mumbai branch, but shes quit, Dhondy says. I want to be impartial in how I hire chefs, but at the same time I want to encourage other women, so its a balancing act. Things are changing, but very slowly. THE SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT: A DIFFERENT KITCHEN CULTURE Shradda Tayade is a chef at The Bombay Canteen in Mumbai, co-owned by Sameer Seth. I had no conception of the professional kitchen being a male area, says Seth, a former banker. We set the tone early on and everyone is treated equal. (Aalok Soni/HT Photo) Ive been doing this for four years and Ive loved every minute of it, says Shradda Tayade, 26, a chef at The Bombay Canteen, a modern-Indian cuisine restaurant in Mumbai. Tayade started out under a female head chef, where she says she received the kind of mentoring she needed. I was included in every stage of the cooking process. It was very educational. I was never underestimated as I have heard other women chefs tend to be. A year ago, Tayade moved to her current workplace, where she is one of five female chefs on a team of 18, an unusually high ratio. Here, the owner and the head chef are male, Tayade says. But everyone only cares about the work. Co-owner Sameer Seth says it wasnt difficult to create a gender-neutral environment in his kitchen. This was my first foray into the restaurant business, so I had no conception of the professional kitchen being a stereotypically male area, says the former banker. I think the second that our team realised that keeping it about the work was going to help us work better, everyone got on board. We never had any incidents of men and women being treated differently because right from the start and down the line -- from the management down to the guys washing the sinks -- it was made clear that Bombay Canteen is a group effort and negativity will not be stood for. SINGLE, WHITE, FEMALE The guys I work with seemed to have really low expectations of me, says Tori MacDonald, laughing. They would insist on cutting up bacon for me rather than have me handle a really large knife. (Kashif Masood/HT Photo) Before moving here in 2014 to be closer to her Indian boyfriend, Canadian chef Tori Macdonald had worked almost exclusively with female head chefs. That isnt the norm abroad, but I guess I got lucky, she says. Macdonald, 30, now works at The Humming Tree, a music venue and bar in Bangalore. She is head chef, and the only woman in a kitchen of 16 men, which has led to some unique problems. Sometimes the guys I work with have really low expectations of me, she says, laughing. So if I am making a bacon whisky chocolate tart, they would insist on cutting up the bacon for me rather than have me handle such a large knife. The language barrier was a problem too. I had some difficulty integrating into the kitchen culture because of both being a woman and not being able to speak any Hindi, Kannada or Telegu, she says. In the two years since, Macdonald has learnt some basic words in the local language -- and enforced a strict rule in the kitchen. Nobody is allowed to help me unless I ask, she says. Its true that there are fewer women in kitchens than men, but its hard to say why, says restaurant manager Anuj Mehta. I have worked with some very talented female chefs, but 80% of chefs are still men, he adds. I think we need to encourage women more. Tori is a strong woman who can handle these pressures. PICKED ON, IGNORED Kavya Gupta*, 26, has been an entry-level at an Indian restaurant in Guwahati for six months. But the trauma of working in a kitchen full of men has been too much to handle, she says. I am still working here because its my passion, but its changed me as a person. Ive started feeling like theres something wrong with me. The men say Im too talkative, that I would have to be taught a lesson. Im made to work extra hours, stay back to clean dishes after everyone has left. I dont talk less or work less, because Im stubborn. I think, why should I let these men cow me down? Trying to talk to a senior about her problems only made the team more hostile. The kitchen has a very strong hierarchy, and if you breach it you get punished. Kitchen culture is very toxic, she says. The stress of all this impacted me very badly in the beginning. I was sleeping less and lashing out at friends and family. Now Im calmer. I know I can take whatever they throw at me and I wont stop working. She has a new mission too, she adds. Two months ago another young woman joined. I have been mentoring her because I dont want her to have the same bad experience. (* Name changed on request) Watch: Women chefs from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai discuss their experiences A 22-year-old man was feared drowned at Juhu beach after he had gone with his three friends for a swim on Sunday. The incident occurred around 1.30pm when Abrail Gulam Mohammad Shaikh was pulled in by the strong current of water. This is the second incident in the past three days at Juhu beach after Irshad Qureshi, 26, resident of Bandra, who had gone along with his two other friends on Friday, drowned. The fire brigade department and life guards posted on beach were alerted soon after the incident. The search operation began from afternoon but they did not find him yet, said senior inspector Shantanu Pawar of the Santacruz police station. According to the police, Abrail Gulam Mohammad Shaikh is a resident of Behram Nagar area in Bandra (East) and works in a Bakery at Bandra. His friends are also residents of Bandra and they met around 11am and decided to go to Juhu beach for a swim They reached the beach around 12.15pm and entered the water soon after. Around 1.30pm, the three others noticed that Shaikh was not around them. So they started searching for him and saw that he was being dragged in by the current and was struggling to stay afloat, said a police officer. The trio then rushed out of the water and informed other people standing on the beach. The Mumbai police control was informed about the incident. The fire brigade officers and policemen from Santacruz police station reached the spot while life guards also rushed there and they started a search operation, said a police officer. Manohar Shetty the lifeguard on duty told HT, We conduct patrolling on the beach and always warn people about not going inside during high tide. We dont have a vehicle and patrol by foot. We were five guards on duty at the time. The beach is 4 kilometres long and nowadays it is difficult to handle as the beach gets overcrowded owing to summer vacations. Shaikhs family was informed about the incident. His parents and younger brother along with few neighbours visited the spot and later went to the police station, added the officer. younger brother along with few neighbours visited on the spot and later they were taken to the police station, added officer. -------------------- A day after eight employees of the Mumbai university (MU) were arrested for smuggling answer sheets of first-year engineering students out of the examination centre, state education minister Vinod Tawde warned the varsity could lose its autonomous status if the malpractices in examinations continued. The officials allegedly gave the answer sheets to a few students, so they could fill in the answers and return it to them. The accused were arrested while trying to place the answer sheets back. Tawde, who has asked for an inquiry and a detailed report on the incident, said, These malpractices are brewing within the university, with the involvement of university officials. The MU has to take full responsibility [of the incident]. The fact that this is the second such incident in less than a year is something to think about. We are taking serious cognisance of the matter, Tawde told HT on Sunday. Making it clear that such incidents are ruining the name of MU, one of the best universities in the country, Tawde said stern action will be taken. We are considering revamping the autonomous status of the MU to make sure such incidents dont occur in the future, he said. The minister said officials from his department are in touch with deputy commissioner of police, zone 7. The university officials, too, have been asked to conduct an internal inquiry and submit a report on it at the earliest. The university stands for quality education and scams like these are only maligning the reputation of the institute. We hope all culprits are caught and brought to justice, said Tawde. While the MU set up a fact-finding committee on Saturday, the committee members and the board of examinations conducted a meeting at MUs Fort campus on Sunday. As a precautionary measure, the board has suggested installation of CCTV cameras in the exam house and controlled access to answer sheets. The MUs management council will on Monday discuss the suggestions and final action against culprits. In May 2015, a paan seller outside the universitys Kalina campus was caught selling fake mark sheets to students who had failed their final-year exams. He had been charging students Rs25,000 to change the marks for one subject. While the police investigation was on, the MU set up a fact-finding committee to conduct a parallel inquiry. The report submitted by the committee revealed the involvement of four employees of the examination committee -- assistant registrar Chetan Kamlalu, head clerk Priti Raul, junior clerk Uttam Jaitapkar and superintendent Rajshri Chavan. They were suspended in July 2015. HT had reported in February this year that these employees have been reinstated, pending inquiry. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An eerie silence prevailed outside the house of Gagandeep Singh, who is allegedly involved in the murderous attack on Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale, at Chhandran village in Sahnewal. His father Major Singh, who runs cement shop in the village, breaks down when asked about his son. The family, shell-shocked after the arrest of their son, refuses to make any comment. Our son is innocent and has been falsely framed, said Gagandeeps father. The neighbours, however, narrate a different story. Arrested by the police two days ago as one of the eight accused involved in the attack on Dhadrianwale that left his follower dead, Gagandeep had gone to Ludhiana with his cousin Jaspreet on May 17 evening, telling his family they are going to hold a chhabeel in Ludhiana with their friends, reveal neighbours. Both Jaspreet and Gagandeep are now behind bars for their involvement in the attack. Both had left home saying Mumbai wala chhabeel laga raha (Their cousin in Mumbai is organising the chhabeel). The family is an ardent follower of Damdami Taksal head Harnam Singh Dhumma and had been visiting the dera in Amritsar quiet often, said one of the neighbours, requesting anonymity. It was at this chhabeel on the Barewal road in Ludhiana that Dhadrianwale was asked to stop and then attacked. Police sources said hunt was on to nab Jaspreets cousin in Mumbai, the alleged mastermind who arranged all the men who executed the attack. Accused has criminal background The residence of Manveer Singh, the third accused arrested from Ludhiana, in Hissowal village is locked for the past many years. His father, Jagdev Singh, left the village 15 years ago and is a known criminal is serving a jail term. His father had links with terrorists and later he took to drug smuggling. Manveers house is locked for the past many years, said village sarpanch Iqbal Singh. Manveers mother committed suicide some years ago after she caught her husband cheating on her. The accused, who is a mahant comes to the village rarely. I cannot even recognise him if he comes in front of me, added the sarpanch. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Ashveen Bansal of Bhupindra International Public School (BIPS) topped the district in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class-12 examinations results declared on Saturday. Ashveen, a student of science (non-medical) stream, scored 486 out of 500 marks (97.2 %) by obtaining 99 marks in Physics, 95 in Chemistry and marks in Mathematics. Parmansh Singh of BIPS and Akashdeep Kaur Dhillon of Budha Dal Public School, jointly, bagged the second position with 96.8 % marks. Meanwhile, Simran Seth of St Xaviers Public School, Harmanjit Singh of BIPS, and Vivek Arora of St Peters Academy, scored the third position across the district with 96.6 % marks. Talking to HT, Ashveen said he wanted to become a software engineer and was preparing for IIT (Advanced) test to get admission in IIT, Delhi. I got my inspiration to become a software engineer from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and want to lead the world in the field of software engineering, he said. He added that the support of his teachers and motivation by his parents helped him to achieve the desired result. Paramansh Singh, who scored 484 marks in the non-medical stream, too, was preparing for IIT (Advanced) and wanted to shift Bombay, seeking a career in software engineering. Since my childhood, I have been interested in engineering, as both my parents are engineers. They have supported me at every step to attain my goal, he said, adding that his family and teachers helped him in his studies and solved his every problem. Akashdeep, who shared the second position, appeared to be determined about her career. She said she wanted to become a business woman and would start her own business as an entrepreneur. She said she was inspired from Indra Nooyi, CEO of food-and-drink conglomerate PepsiCo, and always wanted to become like her. She added that she was going to join a reputed college for a graduation degree in commerce. First of all, I want to thank god and secondly my family and teachers for inspiring me to perform better, said Akashdeep. Simran Seth, a joint third position holder across the district, wanted to join IIT, Delhi by securing good position in IIT Advanced. She said her teachers always inspired her to perform better and unconditional support of her parents helped her score 483 marks. Harmanjit Singh from non-medical science stream and Vivek Arora from commerce stream, who shared the third rank with Simran thanked their teachers and parents for their help and support in every manner. Four people, including son of a police sub-inspector, opened fire at a gangster at his rented accommodation at Star Colony on the Barewal road in Ludhiana late on Sunday evening following a verbal spat. The accused fled after firing gunshots. The injured, Sukha Barewal, has been rushed to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), where his condition has been stated to be critical. The police said Sukha is facing trail in 30 cases, including murder, loot and abduction. The police have identified two accused Sanjiv Sharma, son of late sub-inspector Surjit Chand Sharma, and his accomplice Nanak, and hunt has been launched to nab the other two accused. Assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Surinder Mohan said Sanjiv, along with his accomplices, turned up at Sukhas room in the evening and following heated arguments, he fired a gunshot at Sukha and fled. He said a case under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code had been registered against the four accused. As four men accused of shooting at Patiala Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale and killing one of his aides on Tuesday (May 17) were produced in a court here on Saturday, the supporters of a radical Sikh leader whose hand he sees in the attack stormed in and shouted: We are innocent, but if Dhadrianwale defames Harnam Singh Dhumma, he will not be spared. The accused are followers of Damdami Taksal leader Dhumma. Raising slogans against Punjab Police and in favour of Dhumma and slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, 30-odd people barged into the courtroom and started pushing the cops who had brought the accused in. They then issued open threats to Dhadrianwale and showered accused Sukhwinder Singh, Manveer Singh, Gurpreet Singh, and Satnam Singh with flower petals. The court remanded the accused in police custody till Tuesday (May 24). Their arrest had come on Friday. Accused Sukhwinder Singh told the media he was innocent and Dhadrianwale had got himself attacked for publicity and defaming the Taksal. If he speaks against the Taksal in future, he will pay for it, he said. Charanjit Singh, a close aide of Damdami Taksal head Harnam Singh Khalsa and a representative of the Taksal in Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), accused police of targeting Dhumma supporters and framing them. Dhadrianwale has been speaking against our chief for the past few months but the government and police have let it. We, however, will not sit silent, he said, adding that if the police harassed or tortured the accused, they will face the ire of the Taksal supporters. So far, eight accused in the May 17 attack are under arrest. A hunt is on for more. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Girls outperformed boys in bagging top positions in schools of the district in the Class-12 examination of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the result of which was declared on Saturday. Anchal Jain from MGN School of the city became the overall topper in the district by getting 98% marks. She is from the commerce stream and plans to excel in the field of management. An elated Anchal, said that the result was totally unbelievable. I still do not believe that I have topped the district by getting 98%. I had never expected this. I want to pursue MBA in finance in Delhi. When I was waiting for the results, I was hoping to get admission in a college in Punjab only, but since I have topped, I am definitely going to Delhi and I am sure my father will never stop me, she said. Rahul Jain, father of Anchal, is a businessman. DPS boy stands first in non-medical In the non-medical stream, Naman Aggarwal, the only boy among those who stood first in their stream in the district from Delhi Public School, has scored first position with 97.6% marks. Namans happiness knew no limit when he came to know of the results. My ultimate aim is to do research work in astrophysics, a subject which I find most interesting. I am so happy that I am not even studying for the JEE exam, I am just relaxing instead. His father, Deepak Aggarwal, who is a businessman, said that his son has always been a topper since his childhood days. Army Public School girl top in medical Nirmaljeet Kaur from Army Public School has secured top position in the district in the medical stream by getting 97% marks in the medical stream. Nirmaljeet, who was out in Chandigarh to appear in the exam for Mai Bhago armed forces preparatory institute for girls, said that the moment she came out of the centre after giving the exam, she saw missed calls on her mobile and she was amused to know that she had topped with 97% marks. I want to join armed forces medical college, she said sharing her lifes aim. Her father Harpal Singh, who also accompanied her to Chandigarh, said, This kind of feeling was so unique, she has made me proud. Richa Gera shines in humanities Richa Gera from Phagwara, who is studying in Police DAV Public School, has secured 96.6 % marks in the humanities stream. Richa aspires to become a judge for which she is already working hard to get admission in a top law college. The 14 students of the Institute for the Blind, Sector 26, once again proved that visual impairment need not be a hindrance in academic excellence, ensuring a 100% passing record in Class 12. Earlier affiliated to Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), this was the first time the students appeared for CBSE exams. CBSE Class 12 results: Super 7 grab tricitys top spots Kavita Rani topped the institute with 90%, followed by Anjali Raturi with 89.2%, while Tulsi Bhardwaj secured the third spot with 88.8%. Of the 14 students, nine secured above 80% marks. The topper last year had secured 87.1%, and five students had scored above 80%. Kavita, daughter of a shop owner in Sangrur, said she could not believe that she was capable of securing such high marks. Her mother, a homemaker, told HT: Kavita has made us extremely proud and proved that if one is willing to work hard, no disability can pull you back. Kavita wishes to become a lecturer and will pursue further studies at Panjab University. While Anjali could not be contacted, principal JS Jyara said she was an all-rounder and loved to sing besides studying. Tulsi, who hails from Ambala, and is partially blind, said regularity was the key to her success. She said she wishes to study history and become a lecturer in the subject. She said even though her brother too is blind, her parents never let that deter their passion towards life. Samta, daughter of a passport officer, secured 88.4%. Even though my father is visually impaired too, and my mother has a problem in a leg, I have never seen them give up on life. Thats what made me want to do well, she said. Her father, Shamlal, who also cleans shoes of the students for free at the school every Saturday, told HT, They are all like my children and this is the least I can do for them. I am proud of all of them. Also read | CBSE result flip side: Nayagaon boy fails, kills self SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The mortuary on the campus of Government Medical College, Amritsar, which has been non-functional for the past two years, is crying for attention. On one hand the college authorities are blaming the public works department (PWD) for the poor condition of the mortuary on the hand the PWD officials are accusing the college authorities of the same. Reportedly the AC chamber in the mortuary is non-functional, making it tough for keeping the bodies in it. However, the hospital authorities have made a provision to preserve the bodies by keeping them immersed in chemicals. Prem Chand, Talmal Taramedical Association union leader, said, We have put in requests repeatedly to repair the AC chamber. Dr Ravi Kant, head of anatomy department, Government Medical College, said, We have written to department concerned as the maintenance work lies with PWD and not the college. Adding to this, Dr BS Bal, principal, Government Medical College, said, As the mortuary is controlled by the PWD, the AC chamber will be repaired only when funds are sanctioned. However, PWD junior engineer Darshan Kumar, who is deputed at the medical college, said, We are only the service providers. The building is not under our control. We are only responsible for providing and repairing electrical work. Its not just about the AC chamber. The building is in a mess and needs total restoration. It is learnt that the funds to repair the mortuary have already been cleared. Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday met Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale at Gurdwara Parmeshar Dwar, 15 km from here, and assured him of getting to the bottom of the attack on his cavalcade. Law will take its own course and the state government will probe the matter thoroughly to get to the bottom of the case, Badal told Dhadrianwale, during the half-an-hour meeting. The chief minister (CM) told the 36-year-old preacher that police have already nabbed eight persons, who were involved in the attack that occurred near Ludhiana on May 17 and left one of his aides dead. Dhadrianwale, however, told Badal that the probe will not be complete till the arrest of the mastermind behind the attack. He also cautioned the CM that with each passing day, his followers are pressing him to launch a protest. Read: Dhummas supporters issue open threat to Dhadrianwale Read: Attack on Dhadrianwale: To go after Taksal or not, Badal govt in bind Read: Everyone knows the mastermind, hope cops reveal name by May 26 Later, reacting to the CMs visit, Dhadrianwale alleged the murderous attack was a well-planned conspiracy and its mastermind is still roaming free. I have already said that if the government fails to arrest the conspirators by May 24, I will name them. The sangat is pressing me to start an agitation, but I have been pacifying the followers and telling them to wait for the deadline given to the government, he said. Opposition should not play politics: Badal Talking to mediapersons, Badal reiterated that law will take its own course, adding that all other culprits responsible for this dastardly act will be brought to book soon. Badal, however, kept mum on the involvement of Damdami Taksal activists in the attack. Being the CM, it will be unethical and improper to make any observation that might influence or hamper the inquiry at this crucial stage, he said. Dismissing the Congress demand of calling a special assembly session to discuss law and order in view of the attack and other similar incidents in the state, Badal said it will serve no purpose, as the government is already seized of the matter. Asking the opposition not to play politics on sensitive issues, the CM said the crime graph is rising in every state, but the Punjab government is fully committed to maintain peace and communal harmony in the state. Dhillon visits deceased Bhupinder Singhs family Ludhiana: Punjab irrigation minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon on Sunday visited the family of Bhupinder Singh, who died in the attack on Dhadrianwales cavalcade here on Tuesday. Condemning the attack during the visit to Khasi Kalan village, Dhillon expressed grief on his death. I visited Bhupinder Singhs house as a family member, and not a politician, said Dhillon, who represents the constituency. Scheduled caste panel chairman Rajesh Bagha, too, visited Khasi Kalan on Sunday. He appealed to the Punjab government to arrest all those involved in the crime. Bhattal demands Presidents rule in Punjab PATIALA: Congress leader and former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal on Sunday met Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale. Accusing the state government of failing to provide security to Sikh preachers and religious figures, she said criminals have lost all fear of the state police. This is a big failure on part of the Punjab government. The Bargari sacrilege incident, murder of Namdhari matriarch Chand Kaur and the attack on Dhadriawale points to the deteriorating law and order situation in the state, she said, while demanding imposition of the Presidents rule in the state. The poor show from city government schools continued this year as well with pass percentage being recorded at 68.3%, a dip of 4.3% over last years 72.6%. In 2014, the pass percentage was 75.4%. Of 39 senior secondary schools, 13 failed to even record a pass percentage of 50%. Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Kaimbwala, recorded the poorest result with only 5.8% students ( 3 on 51) clearing the exam; 22 students failed with the rest getting a compartment. Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Dhanas, was the second worst school with only 29 of 214 passing. In this school, 95 students failed and 90 got compartments. Harmeet Kaur, principal of the Government Senior Secondary School, Dhanas, said, In our school, students with only 3-4 cumulative grade point average in Class 10 take admission when they fail to get into other school and this reflects in the result. Government Model Senior Secondary School (GMSSS), Sector 38 west recorded the third poorest results with 56% failing to clear the exam. Chitranjan Singh, principal, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 38 (W) said, I had joined the school in February when students had been asked to self-study. I found a lot of indiscipline in the school. It seemed that the previous principal at the time of retirement did not take much interest . Ill assure that the results for the session 2016-17 will be much better and improved. A senior official from the education department said the excess of extra-curricular activities in the schools for the poor results. These days, students are not getting adequate time in school as they are made to participate in a lot of extra-curricular activities. The brighter side Government Model Senior Secondary School (Manimajra Housing Complex), Manimajra, has once again topped government schools with 97.8% pass percentage. a slight dip over last years result of 98.6%. Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, scored a record percentage of 97.36% and stood second. Government Model Senior Secondary School, sector 37 B, remained at the third position with pass percentage of 95.07%. Director School Education (DSE) Rubinderjit Singh Brar said, We will look into this. We will fix responsibility, whether it be principals, school heads or the lecturers. We will ensure better results in the next academic session. A 21-year-old woman committed suicide by hanging herself inside a washroom at Balianwali police station near here on Saturday evening. Identified as Jasvir Kaur, the victim is a resident of Dadu village in the neighbouring Haryana. She hanged herself when she, along with her family members and relatives, had gone to the police station to file a missing report of her relative, Balwinder Kaur, 21, a resident of Kotra Kauran Wala village. Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) Swapan Sharma said the village panchayat, along with victims mother and relatives from Kotra Kauran Wala village had come to police station as Balwinder had gone missing. Jasvir and Balwinder worked in a spinning mill in Ambala for the three-four years. They had come to Patiala on Friday to visit Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib. But Balwinder went missing from there and Jasvir came to her relatives house in Kotra Kauran village on Friday. Jasvir, her family members and village panchayat had come to the police station to lodge a missing complaint, said SSP. Meanwhile, Jasvir, her mother and maternal aunt went to washroom in the police station. As victim didnt come out a woman constable peeped into the washroom and saw her hanging. She was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared her brought dead. The SSP said the police would conduct inquest proceedings in presence of a magistrate. He denied of any action against the cops at the police station saying that around 40 people, including panchayat members, and her family members were present when the incident took place. The woman might be upset that her relative had gone missing, added the SSP. A road trip in the scorching summer heat may not sound like a winning proposition to most, but we were convinced to give it a try when the destinations included a mix of hill stations, an adventure haven and what is considered one of the holiest cities in India. Unsurprisingly, the hill state of Uttarakhand did not disappoint. So, if you are still looking for a break this summer, head to Dehradun, and check out a few options in the vicinity. Dehradun Like in our case, several hikers and holidaymakers tend to use Dehradun as the starting or transit point to explore spots that are located in the vicinity either by self-drive or by hiring cabs here. Nestled in a valley, and once considered a quiet place to retire in, the city has witnessed unprecedented growth in the Past few years. Should you visit, be prepared for unending traffic jams, roads under construction and attractions that are teeming with people. Also, gone are the days of cooler climes. Summers now mean unbearable heat. But, interspersed around the city are points that are worth checking out. We recommend visiting the informative Forest Research Institute or the local Buddha Temple. Those interested in a mix of adventure and nature could head to Sahastradhara. Stay: MakeMyTrip and Oyo Rooms offer several options depending on your budget. Must-visit: Head to Robbers Cave to soak your feet in the waters of a flowing stream, while munching on chowmein or ice cream. Read: The Fall: Documenting Indias first frozen waterfall trek Photographers and tourists local and international are known to gather at Haridwar every evening for the renowned Ganga aarti. (iStock) Haridwar Distance from Dehradun: 52km (approximately) Good for a day trip, this temple town needs no introduction. Photographers and tourists local and international are known to gather every evening in the thousands at the Har Ki Pauri ghat for the renowned Ganga aarti. A walk down the many bylanes leading to the ghats can offer enriching insights into the history of the city, thought to be one of the oldest in the world. Spend some time visiting the many temples in the area, head to the Bara Bazaar to shop, or indulge in some Aloo Puri with Halwa at Mohan Ji Puri Wale. Must-visit: Prakash Lok, which is located near Har Ki Pauri, is renowned for its creamy lassi. The mighty Ganga is a force to reckon at Rishikesh, and attracts adrenaline junkies looking to indulge in some white-water rafting . (iStock) Rishikesh Distance from Dehradun: 45km (approximately) Head to the unofficial yoga capital of the world that is usually packed with spiritual seekers looking to spend some time at one of the many ashrams or meditation centres that dot this town. But they arent the only tourists you will spot here. You are also likely to come across backpackers, who use Rishikesh as a gateway to the many treks that one can undertake in the region. The mighty Ganga is a force to reckon with here, and attracts adrenaline junkies looking to indulge in some white-water rafting at camping sites that have cropped up at Shivpuri, which is located upstream. Visit the Lakshman Jhula, spend some time at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram, where the Beatles once stayed, or learn more about rudraksh beads from the local shopkeepers. Stay: At one of the ashrams. Must-visit: The 13-storey temple on the banks of the Lakshman Jhula. The famed hill station of Mussoorie provides a welcome relief from the heat in the summer months. (ImagesBazaar) Mussoorie Distance from Dehradun: 37km (approximately) A short drive away from Dehradun, making it ideal for a day trip, the famed hill station provides a welcome relief from the heat in the summer months. But avoid making the trip during long weekends or public holidays, when the car build-up to the place can put traffic jams on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway to shame. Once there, make your way to Gun Hill which is accessible by a cable car for views of the Doon Valley, take a walk down the Mall Road (the staple main road of most hill stations in India) to visit Gandhi Chowk or Kulri Bazaar, spend time watching a piranha at the Jawahar Aquarium, head to the beautiful Kempty Falls, or try the momos with spicy Schezwan sauce available at every nook and corner of Mussoorie. Must-visit: One of the many Maggi Points on the way to Mussoorie, or Howard, the revolving restaurant, in the main market. Read: 7 out of 10 travellers now book exclusively online There isnt much to do in Dhanaulti, except breathe fresh air and enjoy the greenery and the scenery. Dhanaulti Distance from Dehradun: 59km (approximately) Another quick getaway, Dhanaulti offers solitude to those looking to escape the fast life. There isnt much to do over here, except breathe fresh air, enjoy the greenery and the scenery, and enjoy some chowmein or pakoras at the local stalls or restaurants. But, should you do decide to check the place out, head to the Eco Park or Adventure Park for some relaxation. Stay: Whispering Pines Himalayan Retreat offers a tent experience. Must-visit: Surkhanada Devi Temple. Reaching here involves a bit of a trek, but the devout and nature lovers are likely to find the hike well worth it. Surrounded by evergreen deodar trees, Chakrata offers panoramic views of the Himalayan mountain ranges in the vicinity. (Sneha Mahale) Chakrata Distance from Dehradun: 95km (approximately) The roads to Chakrata are bumpy, and theres a chance of a landslide or cloudburst (we experienced one and just about managed to survive to tell the tale). But the destination is worth the journey. Surrounded by evergreen deodar trees and offering panoramic views of the Himalayan mountain ranges in the vicinity, this hill station looks like something straight out of a postcard. Do visit the tiny Chakrata market to snag a good deal on the Chakrata Ka Special Rajma (grown locally), spend some time visiting the Tiger Falls, or just relax in your room to watch the sun rise and set behind the imposing snow-capped mountains. Stay: Try Hotel Snow View, Himalayan Eco Lodge or Hotel Burans. Must-visit: Deoban is a picturesque spot that is located about 16km from Chakrata. A 15-minute walk through the dense deodar forest leads you to Vyas Shikhar, where Vyasa apparently penned the Mahabharata. The United States has announced that it targeted Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mansur in a drone strike on Saturday, and were investigating his fate. The National Directorate of Security, Afghanistans intelligence agency, later confirmed Mansurs death. US department of defense press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement: Today, the Department of Defense conducted an airstrike that targeted Taliban leader Mullah Mansur in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more information as it becomes available, he added. But unidentified officials told US media that Mansur was killed, along with another Taliban figure, in an attack carried out simultaneously by multiple drones. They said US President Barack Obama approved the operation, which targeted a vehicle carrying Mansur at a town in western Pakistan. Mansur was an aide to former Taliban chief Mullah Umar and the transportation minister in the outfits 1996-2001 government. He took charge of the party after Umars death became public. Press secretary Cook said in his statement, Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansurs assumption of leadership, the Taliban conducted many attacks that resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and security forces as well as numerous US and coalition personnel. Cook called Mansur an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, claiming that he stopped the outfit from participating in peace talks. Afghan President Ashraf Ghanis office had confirmed the strike earlier in the day, adding that they were investigating whether Mansur was killed. The Afghan government is trying to gather details regarding the fate of Mullah Mansur, the presidential palace said in a statement. This drone strike shows that terrorists fuelling conflict will not be safe anywhere. A member of the Quetta Shura, the Talibans leadership council, told AFP that Mansur had been unreachable on his mobile phone since Saturday night. We are not sure if something is really wrong or he purposely switched off his phone fearing an attack, he said on the condition of anonymity. Mansur was formally appointed head of the Taliban in July last year, following the revelation that Omar had been dead for two years. The group saw a resurgence under the firebrand supremo with striking military victories, helping to cement his authority by burnishing his credentials as a commander. The new head also integrated the Haqqani Network, which has remained an independent arm of the Taliban, into the outfit according its leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, a larger role. News reports and analysts say Haqqani now calls the shots in planning Taliban military operations, which include targeting the local government and US-led coalition forces, in Afghanistan. (With agency inputs) Senior Afghan Taliban sources confirmed the death of their chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a US drone strike, adding that a council is underway to decide his successor. I can say with good authority that Mullah Mansour is no more, a senior Taliban source told AFP. Read | Pakistan denounces US strike believed to have killed Afghan Taliban chief Mansours death was confirmed by two other senior figures, who said the groups top leaders were gathering in southwest Pakistan to name their future chief. Mullah Zakir, Mullah Shireen and Siraj Haqqani are strong candidates, one of the sources told AFP. Read | Talibans second-in-command Haqqani may be a deadlier foe than Mansour Another Taliban source confirmed Haqqani, leader of the feared Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network and one of Mansours deputies, was a frontrunner, adding that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was also in contention. There is a gnawing sense of urgency as the June 23 referendum on Britains membership of the European Union draws near: the outcome will affect one and all at various levels, and it is now clear that Indians and other minorities may hold the balance because there seems to be equal support for the In and Out campaigns among white voters. The acrimonious campaign has seen friends turn foes and vice-versa among leading politicians, but in the Indian community, the opinion seems to be overwhelmingly in favour of UK remaining in the EU, a position in line with that of the Indian government, as articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his November visit. Priti Patel, minister of state for employment in the David Cameron government, is the only major lawmaker of Indian origin in the Brexit camp. Patel has stuck to her long-held Eurosceptic position, earning her grudging respect from critics even if her arguments are often laughed at. A new British Election Study survey reveals the crucial position of the Indian and other minority communities, categorised in official discourse as the BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) communities. It found that opinion among the majority of white voters is absolutely neck and neck in favour of the Remain in EU (41.85%) and Brexit (41.79%) camps. But opinion among BAME communities, including Indians, is clearly 2 to 1 in favour of remaining. The voter turnout among BAME communities is traditionally lower than that of whites, but given their crucial position, there is an added urgency to ensure that members of these communities register and turn out to vote. The Remain camp is pulling all stops to encourage the BAME voters to turn out in large numbers. Hugo Swire, Foreign Office minister responsible for India and the Commonwealth, has been urging the Asian media in Britain to spread awareness about the referendum and highlight its importance to high-achieving young professionals who need the opportunities and access that membership of the EU brings. Conservative MP Alok Sharma, who is co-ordinating the cross-party campaign group British Indians for IN, told HT: In the past few weeks I have been speaking at events across the country and there is very strong support for the UK remaining in the European Union within the British Indian community. Our community is hugely successful and understands very clearly the significant economic risks we would all face if we voted to leave the EU. The argument that somehow both the UK and India would benefit economically and increase bi-lateral trade and investment if the UK left the EU is simply misguided.In my role as the Prime Ministers Infrastructure Envoy to India, I speak regularly to Indian corporates which see the UK as a gateway into a market of 500 million people in the EU. Indian companies have informed me that some decisions on future investments into the UK have been deferred until the outcome of the referendum is known and, if we vote to leave the EU, I believe there is a big risk that India companies will think twice before investing in the UK. Noting that both FICCI and CII had made clear statements about the risks for the UK of leaving the EU and the knock on effects for Indian companies and Indian investment in the UK, Sharma said: Not a single Commonwealth leader has come out in favour of the UK leaving the EU. Frankly, anyone arguing that the UK and India will benefit from the UKs exit of the EU is either economically illiterate or grossly misleading voters. A Channel 4 debate on the referendum in the multicultural town of Leicester also known as Little India reinforced the surveys findings that BAME communities are 2 to 1 in favour of remaining. But it also revealed some support for Brexit from immigrants, on the ground that remaining in the EU led to uncontrolled immigration from east European countries. An Indian origin estate agent said he was for Brexit because increasing numbers of east European migrants pushed down wages and put strain on public resources such as schools and hospitals. Indian immigrants talking against immigration that is duplicity or double standards so typical of our community, said Rajeev Mehta, a leading hotelier in Harrow, who insists that Britain should remain in the EU. He is happy employing very hard-working east Europeans who, according to him, do not depend on Britains generous social security system. Brexit camp leaflet citing India. (HT PHOTO) Agrees Jaffer Kapasi, a Mumbai-origin business leader who moved to Leicester in the early 1970s when Idi Amin expelled Asians and is now Ugandas consul-general in the Midlands: I believe we should remain in the EU because we are stronger in and better off. Many Indian companies have invested in the UK so that they can access the EU market. Sunil Chopra, Labour councillor and former mayor of the London borough of Southwark, is firmly in the Remain camp: I am worried that if UK goes outside the EU, it will have impact on jobs and businesses not only for the Indian diaspora but for everyone. It may well be the case that a known devil is better than an unknown angel, and Britain narrowly votes to remain in the EU, particularly since no one not even the Brexit camp knows for sure what the future holds if the vote is to exit the EU. Will the millions of pounds spent to produce data-laden handouts and booklets to support rival camps make a difference? It is clear that many are still unconvinced, either way, a month before the referendum, and some cant wait for the neverendum of personality clashes and complex economic arguments to be over with. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A gunman fired shots early Sunday into a small crowd attending an open air concert organised by a local motorcycle club, killing two people and wounding 11 others before shooting himself to death, police said. Police said the overnight shooting in Austrias westernmost Voralberg province was preceded by a loud argument between the gunman and a woman in a nearby parking lot. The man then fetched a gun out of his car, left the parking lot and went to a field that was used as a concert venue, where he started shooting into the crowd of about 150 people, apparently at random. They said he killed himself after returning to the parking lot. The woman was not wounded in the shooting near Nenzing, a town about 40 kilometers (24 miles) east of Austrias border to Liechtenstein. State broadcaster ORF said the man apparently used a rifle or similar long weapon. Local media quoted rescue workers as saying some of the surviving victims were in serious condition. Police spokeswoman Susanne Dilp said she could not confirm that but described their wounds as very diverse. She refused to name the motorcycle club but described it as regional rather than international. Dilp said no other details were available as police continued their investigation at the scene. The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group doesnt just have a toehold in the subcontinent and China but is growing in strength as well, making India and its neighbours vulnerable to its madness. The hated Sunni jihadist outfit may not have a direct presence in these countries but it has loyal and bloodthirsty followers in home-grown extremist groups that swear allegiance to it. Also, it has moles and modules that brainwash and recruit young Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and Chinese Uyghurs to join its fighting ranks. Pakistan has faced the most brutalities for its myriad jihadi groups getting attracted to the IS doctrine. It was the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistans Jamatul Ahrar group under Qasim Khurasani, which pledged allegiance to the IS, that is behind the December 2014 attack on a military school in Peshawar, where 150 people, mostly children, were killed indiscriminately. Since then, the group attacked several public places and military targets, including Bacha Khan University and the Easter strike on a park in Lahore. The IS found recruits among Pakistans younger, educated generation. Two gruesome attacks one on a bus carrying members of the Ismaili community in May 2015, killing 46 people, and the murder of free speech campaigner Sabeen Mahmud, in Karachi were traced to Saad Aziz, a young and enterprising restaurant owner and his three western-educated friends. They had pledged allegiance to the IS. Many more have left to fight for the IS in Syria and Iraq over the past two years. Chinas official opinion on the IS threat have been opaque but it too is feeling the heat, especially in the western border province of Xinjiang where Muslim Uyghur militants are fighting a separatist war. In November 2015, the IS executed Chinese national Fan Jinghui along with a Norwegian captive, prompting President Xi Jinping to condemn the incident from Manila, where he was attending an economic summit. Terrorism is a universal enemy of mankind, Xi said. Soon after, an expert said the IS threat to China was real. The threat, he said, was from Uyghurs returning to China after training in west Asia. Li Shaoxian from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations said many hundreds or thousands of Uyghurs are loyal IS followers. Read | Islamic State says it has killed Norwegian, Chinese captives The terror attacks in China like the one at Tiananmen Square a couple of years ago and at the Kunming railway station in 2014 were blamed on Uyghurs. In Bangladesh, which has a long and porous border with India, the Sheikh Hasina government denied any IS presence in the country. The government blamed local groups connected with the opposition, especially the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami party, for a spate of killings claimed by the IS. Authorities held the outlawed Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and several little-known outfits for fatal attacks on rational bloggers, liberals and religious minority groups. These radical extremist groups possibly to enhance their stature by linking themselves with the dreaded international outfit or probably getting direct support from it have become the face of the IS in Bangladesh. An IS-run magazine, Dabiq, says its efforts to recruit soldiers of the Khilafah (caliphate) in Bangladesh have gained great momentum with many Muslims joining it. The magazine mentioned Bangladesh as Bengal and said the country is strategically important and its members were up for attacks on India and Myanmar from its bases in the country. (With inputs from HTC Dhaka) Read | Goa tops Islamic States India hitlist, foreign tourists its main target Barack Obama departed Saturday on a trip to Vietnam and Japan that will include the first visit to Hiroshima, site of the worlds first nuclear attack, by a sitting US president. Obama left at 1:20 pm (1720 GMT) aboard Air Force One on the first leg of the trip, which ends with a refueling stop at Elmendrf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. The presidents tenth trip to Asia aims in part to close painful chapters on two 20th century wars in a region he sees as vital to Americas future. It begins in Hanoi, where Obama will stress improving relations with a dynamic and rapidly emerging country, but one which, for most Americans, remains a by-word for slaughter and folly. A major talking point will be the lifting of a US arms embargo, a last vestige of a war that ended in 1975. He will meet the president, prime minister, leader of the national assembly and the countrys de facto leader Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of the Communist Party. Trong and Obama met last July, when the Vietnamese leader was given a prestigious Oval Office meeting. Arms embargo Tense maritime disputes between Vietnam and its larger neighbor China are also likely to feature prominently in discussions. Advocates of lifting the arms embargo argue it is vital to helping Vietnam improve coastal defenses and bolster it militarily against Beijing. Vietnam wants and needs to steadily pursue military modernization, and it values US military technology as a potential source of strategic leverage, said Murray Hiebert of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Not only does Vietnam need to build an effective deterrent force in the face of Chinas aggressiveness ... it also prefers to gradually reduce its over-reliance on Russian-made systems. But weighing against it are concerns about Communist-ruled Vietnams human rights record. US diplomats have pressed for the release of political prisoners as a sign that Hanoi can be trusted with advanced weaponry. Obama is likely to address the issue of political freedoms when he delivers a speech in Hanoi, but he will also make the case for a trans-Pacific trade deal that faces an uncertain future. Obama will also travel to Vietnams economic hub Ho Chi Minh City, the former capital of South Vietnam, to highlight the countrys growing commercial clout. Hiroshima In Japan, Obama will attend a G7 summit and make history by becoming the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, where in 1945 then-president Harry Truman dropped the worlds first atomic bomb. The trip to Hiroshima has inevitably stirred debate about whether Trumans epoch-making decision was just. Many Americans believe that while it killed about 140,000 Japanese, bombing Hiroshima and then Nagasaki avoided an even bloodier ground invasion of Japan. Victims of the bombings have called for an apology, which the White House says it is not willing to give. Obama believes its important to acknowledge history, its important to look squarely at history, its important to have a dialogue about history, said close Obama foreign policy aide Ben Rhodes. Pakistan is seeking clarification about a US drone strike against Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the foreign ministry spokesperson said on Sunday, after US officials said Mansour was likely killed in an air strike on Pakistani soil. Read: Afghan Taliban leader killed in US drone strike in Pakistan I have seen the reports. We are seeking clarification, Nafees Zakaria said in a statement. He added that Pakistan wanted the Taliban to return to the negotiating table to end the long war in Afghanistan. Military action is not a solution, he added. US secretary of state John Kerry said on Sunday that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was notified of the air strike which took place a day earlier, but declined to elaborate on the timing of the notification. Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday addressed controversy over the use of the word Rohingya to describe the persecuted and stateless Muslim minority, warning that use of the term risked inflaming communal tensions in Myanmar. Suu Kyi said her new government was determined to address deep hatreds in western Rakhine State, where tens of thousands of Rohingya are confined to squalid displacement camps after waves of deadly unrest with local Buddhists in 2012. Buddhist nationalists have staged protests across the country against using the term Rohingya. They label the group Bengalis, casting Myanmars more than one million Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The Rakhine Buddhists object to the term Rohingya just as much as the Muslims object to the term Bengali, Suu Kyi said during a press conference with US secretary of state John Kerry in the capital Naypyidaw. The words carry all kinds of political and emotional implications which are unacceptable to the opposite parties, she added. Suu Kyi, who has faced criticism internationally for not speaking up for the Rohingya, pledged to work towards a situation where the communities live peacefully and securely outside the camps. That is why we say that we need the space to build up trust and security within the community, Suu Kyi added. The new government was trying to tiptoe through the deeply controversial subject to find a solution that is acceptable for all, she explained. Myanmars Rohingya population are denied citizenship even though many can trace their roots in the country back generations. Kerry praised his counterpart for explaining her approach to the incendiary issue. At the same time we all understand as a matter of fact that there is a group here in Myanmar that calls itself Rohingya, he added. The US says it backs the rights of all ethnic groups to identify as they wish. In recent weeks Washington has come under pressure from hardline Buddhists after the US embassy used the term Rohingya to refer to the persecuted Muslim minority. Rebel groups on Sunday set a 48-hour deadline for the US and Russian sponsors of a February ceasefire in Syrias conflict to halt a regime offensive in the Damascus region. We are giving the sponsors of the ceasefire 48 hours to rescue what remains of the accord and to force the criminal regime of (President Bashar al-) Assad and his allies to completely and immediately halt their brutal offensive against Daraya and Eastern Ghouta, 29 rebel groups said in a statement. In view of the regimes offensive against all the liberated regions, in particular Daraya... we consider the ceasefire accord to have totally collapsed, the groups said. Rebel groups will take all possible measures and respond with all means to defend our people and on all fronts until the regime totally halts its offensives against all liberated regions, especially Daraya, and pulls back to its pre-May 14 positions, they said. Syrias army, backed by Lebanons Shia militia Hezbollah, on Thursday, recaptured the town of Deir al Assafir and nine nearby villages in the Damascus region, taking advantage of clashes in the Eastern Ghouta area between rival rebel groups Jaish al-Islam and Faylaq al-Rahman, which were among those listed on the joint statement. Hundreds of families fled the area, which Islamist rebels had controlled since 2012. The town of Daraya, also near the capital, was one of the first to erupt in demonstrations against the government in 2011. It has been under a strict regime siege since late 2012. Afghan guerrilla commander Sirajuddin Haqqani, a possible successor to Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, would likely prove an even more implacable foe of beleaguered Afghan government forces and their US allies. The United States killed Mansour in an air strike in a remote border area just inside Pakistan, the Afghanistan government said on Sunday, in an attack likely to dash any immediate prospect for peace talks. The US has not confirmed Mansours death. Haqqani, who has a $5 million US bounty on his head, is widely seen by US and Afghan officials as the most dangerous warlord in the Taliban insurgency, responsible for the most bloody attacks, including one last month in Kabul in which 64 people were killed. If Haqqani is confirmed as the next Taliban leader it may be seen as fitting for the scion of a family that has been famously involved in Afghanistans decades of bloodshed. His father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, was a heavily bearded leader of the mujahideen who fought the Soviet troops that invaded Afghanistan in 1979. A former US Congressman, Charlie Wilson, once called Jalaluddin goodness personified and he was held in such high esteem as he visited the White House when Ronald Reagan was president. His son is seen as even more ruthless. Sirajuddin Haqqani became one of two deputy Taliban commanders last year, integrating his feared militant faction, known as the Haqqani network, closely into the Afghan Taliban insurgency. The Taliban now control more territory than they have done since their ouster from government in 2001. Hopes of peace talks that the United States was pushing have all but collapsed as the bloodshed has increased. Read | Pakistan seeks clarification of US strike on Afghan Taliban leader Mansour The Haqqani network is thought to have introduced suicide bombing to Afghanistan and the US State Department calls it the most lethal insurgent group targeting US-led government forces in Afghanistan. It labels Sirajuddin Haqqani a specially designated global terrorist. Sources close to the Haqqani network said they were still trying to verify whether Mansour had been killed. It is too early to comment if Sirajuddin Haqqani would be willing to replace Mullah Mansour, a source said. Haqqani, who is in his mid-40s, has been trying to reconcile factions within the Taliban who refused to accept Mansours leadership since last year when it became clear that the groups founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had died nearly two years earlier. The wanted poster issued by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation for Sirajuddin Haqqani is seen in an undated handout photo. (Reuters Photo) He had been made head of a committee tasked to resolve a bloody split between Mansour and a rival faction led by Mullah Mohammad Rasool, a senior member of the Afghan Taliban told Reuters earlier this week, speaking on condition of anonymity. Haqqani far from certain But it is by no means certain that Haqqani would be named Taliban leader. The Haqqani network, which has for years had strongholds in northwest Pakistani border lands, is a powerful force in eastern Afghanistans Paktika province, and the wider Loya Paktia region, but not in the birthplace of the Taliban - Kandahar province in the south. Haqqani ... as a non-Kandahari and as someone who is unfamiliar with the insurgency landscape beyond Loya Paktia, would likely struggle to gain the support of the powerful southern Taliban commanders who still dominate, Thomas Ruttig from the Afghanistan Analysts Network wrote in a February article on potential successors to Mansour. Ruttig said Haibatullah Akhundzada, a former top member of the Taliban judiciary who became the other deputy along with Haqqani in July 2015, was a more natural successor. A respected cleric from Kandahar, Haibatullah was among the few thought to have gained Mullah Omars trust and to whom the late Taliban leader would turn for a final say on sensitive decisions, Ruttig said. The other question is if Pakistan is ready to show its hand by having a leader of the Haqqani network, with which it has long been tied to, command the Taliban. A Pakistani police officer and paramedics stand beside two dead bodies reportedly killed in a US drone strike in the Ahmad Wal area in Baluchistan province, Pakistan, at a hopsital in Quetta, Pakistan. (AP Photo) Former US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen described the Haqqani network as a veritable arm of Pakistans intelligence services after a 2011 attack on the US embassy in Kabul. Pakistan remains a powerful player in the Afghan theatre. Instead, the choice of a successor may fall to someone with more distance from Pakistan, said Mohammad Taqi, a former columnist at Pakistans Daily Times newspaper who has written extensively on Pakistans intelligence agencies ties to militant groups. Mullah Omars son, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, and brother, Mullah Abdul Manan, who were given important positions recently within the Taliban could also be in the running. What looks almost certain, is more violence in the Taliban ranks as rivals lay claims in a leadership struggle that has not been resolved since Mullah Omars death was announced, Taqi said. Still, the Haqqani network is the most cohesive, capable and best-funded insurgent organisation in the region, with activities ranging from extortion and ransom to investments in firms abroad through front companies. It may therefore be best placed to wield the muscle in the weeks ahead to ensure it is in a position to decide the leadership. Read | US targets Taliban head in drone strike, Afghanistan confirms death This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Houston dentist Dr. Reza Sanjar faced a common concern for those in his industry: He'd refer patients to a specialist, but see nothing in return. Unlike the tooth fairy, specialists weren't expected to reward people who basically sent them teeth. "And then what happened was that the specialist might not have room for my patient for two weeks," Sanjar said. "So my patient had to get by until then." Sanjar, one of two dentists who formed West Houston Dentistry in 2011, discussed the problem with his partner, Dr. T.J. Sahota. The dentists agreed on whether the Internet would offer a platform for finding specialists and getting them quickly to their office. The idea went nowhere until one of Sanjar's longtime friends moved back to Houston. Trey Tepichin, a Harvard-trained attorney, picked up where the partners left off in 2014. "There wasn't anyone doing it quite like this, and that's why I got so excited about it," Tepichin said. "You had a few mobile dentists doing it one-on-one, but for some reason people weren't adopting it large scale." More Information On the Web clouddentistry.com See More Collapse It's not uncommon for staffing agencies to match dental workers and practices, but Sanjar said some of the systems can be cumbersome. "If one of our assistants couldn't show up for the day, I'd have to call an agency and they'd send over whoever was available. I wouldn't get much say in the process," Sanjar said. "There was a lot of back and forth, and it wasn't very efficient." Tepichin said the goal was to let dentists pick and choose from candidates online and let both sides rate each other afterward. The result was clouddentistry.com. The website began as a way to bring specialists to general dentists, but it morphed to include dental hygienists and dental assistants. "Only because there are so many more of them," Tepichin said. "The dental industry is characterized by significant turnover. Some 50 percent of dental employees are either temp or part-time workers. And, in Texas alone, there are thousands of assistants and hygienists, but only 200 to 300 specialists." The website went live Feb. 24 using Houston-area providers. "What makes it shine is the quickness," said Ali Khan, who manages three dental offices and also builds out offices and provides consultations for dentists. "Last week I needed to bring in a specialist for an extraction that involved wisdom teeth. I went online, read the profiles and - boom - I'd booked someone within five minutes." Ten partners, both passive and active, have spent some $1 million to bring the website to this point. Included in that total are marketing materials that company president Glenn Barnett uses to attract more people and offices to the site. "One of the ways we reach people is through dental associations and trade seminars," Barnett said. "We also sponsor all of the state's dental schools." Now the partners are looking to expand the website to other cities. "The product is very scalable, so we're considering everything from Dallas to El Paso and Midland," Tepichin said. The site earns money two ways: as a subscription service, or by people finding staff on a case-by-case basis. According to Tepichin, some 100 practices in the state have become subscribers so far. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON - A bipartisan agreement reached by House and Senate negotiators would set new safety standards for asbestos and other dangerous chemicals, including tens of thousands that have gone unregulated for decades. A bill to be voted on as soon as next week would offer new protections for pregnant women, children, workers and others vulnerable to the effects of chemicals such as formaldehyde and styrene used in homes and businesses every day. If enacted into law, the bill would be the first significant update to the Toxic Substances Control Act since the law was adopted in 1976. The bill, more than three years in the making, has won the backing of both industry officials and some of the Capitol's most liberal lawmakers, including Sens. Barbara Boxer of California and Edward Markey of Massachusetts. The bill also has the support of conservative Republicans such as Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana and James Inhofe of Oklahoma. "This is a political Halley's Comet" that may not be seen again for many years, said Markey, a former foe of the bill who signed onto it after changes were made to ensure that states that regulate chemicals closely can continue to do so. Markey called the bill "a special piece of legislation" that finally updates one of the major environmental laws approved during the 1970s. The agreement announced Thursday merges bills that the House and Senate passed last year. Negotiations had stalled in recent weeks, as lawmakers struggled over a provision that allows states to continue regulating toxic chemicals. The proposal announced Thursday declares that any state law or rule in place before April 22 would not be pre-empted by federal law. The proposal also would allow states to work on regulations while federal rules are being developed, a process that can take years. Boxer, who had opposed earlier versions of the bill, said the proposal protects the rights of California and other states that aggressively regulate chemicals "to continue their critical work to protect their citizens from harmful toxic chemicals." States that do not regulate chemicals closely would follow the federal standard. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Thursday that the measure "goes a long way to providing businesses with much needed clarity and certainty by facilitating a more predictable federal regulatory program" for chemicals. Richard Denison, a senior scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund, called the bill a "significant victory for public health," noting that it will require safety reviews for thousands of chemicals already in use and mandate greater scrutiny of new chemicals before they can be sold. Chemicals used in everyday products such as household cleaners, clothing and furniture have been linked to serious illnesses, including cancer, infertility, diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Under current law, only a small fraction of chemicals used in these products have been reviewed for safety. "People believe when they go to the grocery store or the hardware store (and) get a product, that that product has been tested and it's been determined to be safe. That isn't the case," said Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., a lead sponsor of the bill. "Today we are stepping forward and we are putting a law in place that will protect American families and protect children from chemicals." Regulation of chemicals took on new urgency after a 2014 spill in West Virginia contaminated drinking water for 300,000 people. The chemical, crude MCHM, is one of thousands unregulated under current law. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate At the University Museum at Texas Southern University, Alvia Wardlaw stands proudly in front of the "Web of Life," a mural painted by renowned Houston artist John Biggers. The piece has a special significance for Wardlaw, who is the museum's curator and director. For years, it hung outside the office of her father, Alvin Holmes Wardlaw, the former chair of the university's math department and TSU budget director who retired in 2010 at age 85 and lives a block from the campus. As a young girl, Wardlaw was captivated by the mural. Now, this prestigious piece that celebrates the balance of nature is in her space. "I grew up on this campus. This is home," Wardlaw says. Born in Atlanta and raised in Houston, she was encouraged to take a creative path early on. She took art-history and painting classes at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, during her years at Yates High School. After graduating, she went on to earn a degree in art history from Wellesley College in Massachusetts, a master's degree in art history from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts and a doctorate in the field from the University of Texas. She was recently nominated for a six-year term as an alumna trustee at Wellesley and is among the nation's experts in African-American art history. "My mother had a way of planting seeds of exploration, and being on this campus as young girl, I was encouraged to learn, grow and spread my wings." More Information For The Sake of Art The bi-annual wearable art competition celebrating emerging artists and designers and is a charity fund-raiser for the University Museum at Texas Southern University. This year, the event honors Shelby Marcus (of Neiman Marcus) and Kermit Oliver, a graduate of Texas Southern University and the only American designer for Hermes. Emerging artists and designers will showcase their garments, which based on a chosen work of art from Oliver's permanent collection at the university. Judges include Houston native fashion designer Cesar Galindo and Los Angeles-based fashion designer Kevan Hall. When: 7-10 p.m. Friday, June 10 Where: Omni Hotel, 4 Riverway, Houston, TX 77056 Tickets: $350-$1,000 available www.forthesakeofarttsu.com or for information, call the museum at 713-313-1164. See More Collapse But she didn't find her passion - African-American art - until college, where she led a two-day seminar for fellow students based on the 1943 book "Modern Negro Art" by James Porter. She found the book while combing the special collections at TSU. "No one had taken the time to study African-American art, so anyone who knew anything about it relied on this book. It was the bible," she says. "I got my hands on it, and that sent me on my way." Early in her career, Wardlaw worked as curatorial assistant at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and joined TSU's art department in 1973, teaching art history. She became the MFAH's curator of modern and contemporary art in 1994 and organized the Biggers retrospective the next year. She also became director and curator of TSU's University Museum when it opened in 2000. She retired from the MFAH in 2008 after 22 years and continues her work at the University Museum today. Nurturing student artists is Wardlaw's passion. On June 10, she will head up the fourth For the Sake of Art wearable-art competition at the Omni Houston Hotel. It was her brainchild and a way to raise money for the museum. Wardlaw turned to noted Houston fashion designer Toni Whitaker to help carry out the vision. This year, competing artists will present wearable art pieces inspired by Kermit Oliver's artwork at the museum. Oliver, a TSU graduate and retired postal worker who lives in Waco, is the only American who designs for Hermes; he is expected to attend the event. "I want to give young artists a chance to be in the spotlight. I'm hoping we have some real out-of-the-box creations," she says. Wardlaw has passed on her love for art to her son, Mani Jasiri Short, who collects art, and granddaughter Nela Sinclair Short, 19, who developed a talent for photography after a summer-abroad trip to Paris. She's currently a sophomore at the University of Alabama. Recently back from a trip with a group of museum curators to Beijing, Wardlaw says her style often represents her love of travel and exploration. She points to a wooden-bead bracelet she bought on that trip and says it's one of her favorite accessories. "My travels have influenced my style the most, and I love expressing myself through accessories," she says. "The richness of handmade things is something that moves me." Personal style: Eclectic Style heroes: Her late mother, Virginia Cage Wardlaw; Michelle Obama and France's Christine Lagarde Pairs of shoes: 50 Favorite accessory: a wooden-bead bracelet purchased in Beijing Item she should toss but can't: A pair of incredibly heavy platform sandals Trend she'll never wear: Bubble dress On bedside table: Photos of son and granddaughter, yellow leather journal, rosary and book of Zanzibar recipes Must-have beauty product: Sheer lip gloss First car: A 1973 Ford called "Blue Goose" Favorite travel destination: Zanzibar, Tanzania, and Cape Town, South Africa Most hated household chore: Purging paper Favorite fragrance: Ivorie de Balmain Best advice: Follow your passion Favorite movie: "The Deer Hunter" (1978) Celeb she would like to have dinner with: President Barack Obama Theme song: "Order My Steps" by Donnie McClurkin Houston tires of the floods. It is inevitable that we will flood again. But is it inevitable that property will be damaged and that people will perish in the floods? Are flood disasters like the Tax Day flood just random events, that no matter where you live in Houston, you might wake up one day and climb out of bed and step into two feet of water in your house? There are two ways to look at the matter. Consider the definition of the word "disaster": disaster (n.) from Italian disastro "ill-starred," from dis-, + astro "star, planet," The sense is astrological, of a calamity blamed on an unfavorable position of a planet. (Online Etymology Dictionary). Perhaps the origin of the word disaster "ill-starred" really does speak to the truth of our area? If a disaster is inevitable, maybe no one is at fault, and there is nothing we can do. But maybe the problem lies elsewhere. The fault, dear Houston, is not in our stars / But in ourselves, that we are underlings. (Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene III, L. 140-141, as amended by Jacob, 2016) Maybe the fault is in ourselves: that we are underlings, powerless to effect change, and ignorant of the causes of the disasters that afflict us. Underlings that just accept the way things are, that just pray we wont be the ones wading in four feet of water in the next flood. We are not, however, condemned to be underlings; we can take fate into our own hands. But we have to pay attention. We have to learn about our place, how to live and how to build on this flat wet coastal plain. Most importantly, though, we need a bold vision of the kind of city we want to be. Flooding is just one symptom of a larger issue. Czars and task forces focused on specific symptoms will not fix what ails us. As the good book more or less says, when there is no vision, the people flood, or they have to breathe polluted air, or they find can no longer swim in the bayous, or they have to evacuate because a chemical storage unit next door catches fire. (The actual King James Version verse, Proverbs 29:18, says the people perish which seems about right these days.) Witness the Spring Branch hazardous materials facility fire earlier this month. An unrelated symptom, or part of a larger complex of symptoms associated with a broader condition? What was this facility doing so close to residences? How is it that the storage company had no procedures in place for containment? Just another random dis-aster that we as underlings cannot control? A recent study commissioned by the Chronicle revealed thousands of such facilities all over the Houston area. A task force to address this? Of course! But is a specialist enough? We need a holistic diagnosis that looks at the whole patient, and all the symptoms in context. The patient the greater Houston area is not at deaths door nor anywhere near it. In fact, it seems to be transforming itself into a great city, or at least it wants to. But there is a dis-ease that seems to hobble us. We are increasingly ill-at-ease with these seemingly random events we cant control. This kind of dis-ease is keeping us from performing as we should and from becoming the great city that we could be. Steve Gonzales In point of fact, we do know quite a bit about the causes of what ails us. We can start with the loss of prairies and forests that detain floodwaters, dampening downstream floods, and cleaning runoff water, insuring a healthy bay and seafood harvest, among other benefits. We know that allowing development in floodways or floodplains (this is still happening!) is risky behavior that guarantees severe pain and suffering every few years. We know that allowing hazardous industrial activities close to residential areas is a recipe for disaster. We know that a lack of accessible and well-designed parks and other civic spaces hinders the development of the social capital we need for a great city. We know that a lack of walkable complete streets and transit options means that that cars in congested traffic become the only option. Even the overall lack of beauty adds to our general malaise. We need to attack each of these issues individually of course, but without a grand vision, we end up with a piecemeal approach. For example, our engineering community is telling us we need a massive new infusion of money to engineer massive new flood reduction projects. We couldnt live on this flat plain without the drainage works our illustrious engineers have provided over the years. And no doubt we will need continuing support from the profession. But the watchword for the coming decades should be planning. Planning to stay out of the floodplains for starters. Planning for a stable and resilient future. Planning for a city our grandchildren and their children will love. A lovable city that will remain vibrant no matter what nature or the economy throws at us. A diverse city not rent asunder by class, race, or belief. Yes, this might mean we resurrect the feared Z word zoning! And why not? Why should this be off the table? If we want a city we can love, why shouldnt we carefully plan for the future? Can we not imagine some kind of planning and zoning system that fits Houston? Perhaps some kind of zoning lite that is not overly draconian, but that keeps us out of trouble while allowing flexibility for growth. Its time we plan for more than just making money. Yes, of course, we want to be successful, even wealthy. But more than that, we want to be healthy healthy in every way. A healthy city is surrounded and penetrated by ecologically intact prairies and forests. Farmland is available, in the outskirts and on vacant lots, and occupied by young new farmers, supplying restaurants and citizens with the freshest and tastiest of produce, the kind that doesnt stand up to shipping well and doesnt taste like it does. A healthy city is a convivial city a city of parks and public spaces, spaces where citizens of all classes can meet and interact. A healthy city is a city built for walking, with great sidewalks and places to walk to. A healthy city is a safe city, where its citizens need not live in fear of flooding, of respiratory disease, of exposure to toxic chemicals. A healthy city is a city of great neighborhoods, with ready access to vibrant commercial nodes, and more than one way to get around. We cannot get to where we want to go without a vision. And equally important, we cant get there without a plan to achieve that vision. I have a stake in Houston. I am not here because I have to be. I believe we will become a great city, and I want to be part of it. My grandkids are here, and I want them to find this a better city than I found it. To cure what ails us requires a community vision, and community planning to get there. A free market has to be part of our vision. But it cannot be the sole driver of our future. If we are to be more than underlings subject to the whims of the market and of nature, then we must jointly grab hold of our destiny, and take steps to become a healthy city. That destiny is in all of our hands together not in the stars. John Jacob is a professor and extension specialist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas Sea Grant. Jacob directs Texas A&Ms Texas Coastal Watershed Program in Clear Lake. The opinions expressed here are his own. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Take fate into your own hands. Bookmark Gray Matters. On the occasion of the Houston Chronicle's 115th anniversary, we would like to proclaim that the story of Houston is a grand tale of unadulterated greatness, an inevitable unfolding of destiny, of hard-working heroes marching nobly toward glory. But that wouldn't be the truth. The truth is: Houston has always been a mess. In 1836, our founding brothers, Augustus and John Kirby Allen, rushed to the area right after the Battle of San Jacinto gave birth to an independent nation, the Republic of Texas. They calculated, correctly, that American fortune-seekers would hasten to this new country, this fresh frontier. And with that in mind, they aimed to make a real-estate fortune by selling land in a new settlement on Texas' eastern coast, near the site of the Battle of San Jacinto. They bought 8,850 acres of prairie swamp on Texas' Fever Coast. Aug. 30, 1836 the day we now celebrate as Houston's birthday wasn't the date that the Allens landed, or the day they bought the land, or the day the cornerstone of the new city was laid. It was the day that the Allens' ads first appeared. Yes: Houston sprang into being as ad copy. "Well-developed," the first ad proclaimed the town. (The place was untouched by roads or infrastructure.) "Steamboats now run in this river," it said of Buffalo Bayou. (They didn't.) An illustration showed what looks like an Alpine village perched on the side of mountains. (No buildings. No mountains.) "Well-watered" was the truest thing about the ad: With 50 inches of annual rainfall, the place was, in fact, flood-prone. Such is our city's foundation myth, its genesis. Houston was founded not on bedrock, but in a swamp of hope and lies, dreams and shameless promotion. 'Most miserable place' The Allens, bless their developers' hearts, weren't content just to hawk their new city through ads. They also maneuvered to make their raw prairie acreage into the capital city of the new Republic of Texas. Their first stroke of brilliance was the town's name: Its namesake, Sam Houston, was the hero of the Battle of San Jacinto, soon to be elected president of the shiny new republic. Then there was J.K. Allen's spot in the legislature (he represented Nacogdoches); and there were well-placed gifts of land and promises of credit. With those, the brothers won the vote in the Texas Legislature. Suddenly, Houston could plausibly be described as a promising city-in-the-making: It would be Texas' seat of government, the capital of a young nation. The rush was on. By Jan. 1, 1837, Houston had 12 residents and one log cabin; four months later, there were 1,500 people and 100 houses. It was a frontier boomtown with a reputation for drunkenness, brawling, prostitution and mud. More Information ON THE BAYOU On Jan. 10, 1901, Spindletop erupted: an oil gusher such as the world had never seen, the well that would change the United States' relationship with cars and energy. Without planning or warning, Houston - a cotton-trading town - was suddenly poised to become the energy capital of the world. See More Collapse Legislators hated the place. Beastly hot and plagued by mosquitoes and yellow fever, Houston was rough even by Texas standards. "I find this the most miserable place in the world," wrote lawmaker Kelsey H. Douglass. In 1839, legislators voted to move to a more civilized spot. And as quickly as Houston had boomed, it went bust. Dreams as a port city For about 60 years, this was just another East Texas town. During that period, most of Houston's history wasn't specific to Houston. Texas joined the U.S.; Texas fought in the Civil War; Emancipation came, followed by Reconstruction. Without Texas' government, Houston's economy shifted mainly to trade - largely, trade of the cotton grown on the area's slave plantations. Little shallow-water steamboats carried the area's goods to Galveston, Texas' biggest port; and from there, ocean-going ships transported those goods to the world. The men who profited from that trade worked to build the infrastructure that would let them do more business, make bigger profits: roads were paved and cleared; railroads criss-crossed the city; and Buffalo Bayou was cleared and dredged, allowing bigger ships. Sometimes there was talk that, as a center of trade, Houston could rival Galveston Island. But that talk seemed like hopeful bluster, as dreamy as the Allen brothers' mountains: Galveston was older and more established, and the island actually touched the ocean. No, it didn't have Houston's railroads. But it also wasn't 60 miles inland, connected to the world by a twisty bayou. Hurricane winds of change At the beginning of the new century, two events unforeseen, a few months apart, unconnected, and neither actually occurring in Houston shaped the city we know. The first was a disaster that immediately rocked the world. On Sept. 8, 1900, with nearly no warning, the Great Storm struck Galveston. This hurricane, estimated to have killed 8,000 of the 36,000 people who lived on the island, is still cited as the deadliest natural disaster in the U.S. Texas' largest port lay in ruins, wreckage piled on its beaches, fortunes lost. Galveston had plainly, obviously changed forever. Suddenly businessmen and shippers considered the island dangerous, and just as suddenly, Houston's inland port seemed more attractive. Houston rushed to take over Galveston's trade. The second of those two great events wasn't, at the time, so obviously a game-changer. On Jan. 10, 1901, Spindletop erupted: an oil gusher such as the world had never seen, the well that would change the United States' relationship with cars and energy. Without planning or warning, Houston a cotton-trading town was suddenly poised to become the energy capital of the world. It's easy to see all that in hindsight. But on Jan. 11, Spindletop was just another business story. The Houston Post gave it the prim headline "Oil Struck near Beaumont." It ran on Page 3. The birth of the Chronicle That brings us to our second creation story: the Houston Chronicle's own. M.E. Foster, the Post reporter who traveled to Beaumont to cover Spindletop, invested $30, a week's pay, in the well. A week later, he sold his stake for $5,000 more than three times his annual salary. Foster had been unhappy at the Post, and he used his windfall, and the investment of friends, to launch his own newspaper. As a business proposition, it hardly seemed a sure thing: Houston, a town of only 44,000 people, already had two established dailies. It wasn't clear that a third could survive. But Foster carved out a place. On Oct. 14, 1901, the Houston Chronicle published its first edition. It was an afternoon paper that sold for 2 cents a copy cheaper than its competitors. Unlike them, it accepted no front-page ads. And its aggressive coverage soon won fans. Oil money made possible a newspaperman's dream: To cover this swamp city as it lurched from one big thing to the next. To sift out truth from the lies that are the place's birthright. To find bedrock in a place where it may not even exist. One hundred and fifteen years later, Houston remains a great news town. An hour or so north of the city that bears his name, flanking the highway that connects two enormous metropolitan areas unimaginable in his day, Sam Houston stands above all, walking stick in hand, peering vaguely westward into an ineffable expanse of time and geography. There is no context - just a gleaming white colossus arising from gently rolling hills that soon give way to the coastal plain where Houston and his soldiers made their mark in American history 180 years ago. Of course, the man in marble did spend his final years not far away in the town of Huntsville and is buried there in Oakwood Cemetery. Yet the moment and place of Houston's passing is a trivial matter compared to what he did in the 70 remarkable years that preceded it. While some passers-by might dismiss the 67-foot statue erected in his honor as one more testament to the state's oversized ego, historians are likely to disagree. If ever there lived a Texan worthy of larger-than-life designation, it was the Virginia-born, Tennessee-raised, frontier-inspired military and political leader, a man who did not inspire the so-called Texas Revolution but helped guide it to a successful end and then paved the way for American westward expansion through the tricky process of annexation. "He was the single most important politician in the U.S. between Jackson and Lincoln," said James Haley, who wrote a lengthy biography of Houston in 2002. "Manifest destiny was a term first used in connection with Texas' annexation. If there hadn't been Texas independence, the U.S. might not have been a continental country in the way that it came to be. Really, the Battle of San Jacinto was a huge key to ... expanding to the Pacific." More Information HOUSTON IN BRIEF Born March 2, 1793, in Rockbridge County, Va., but moved with his family to eastern Tennessee in 1807. Joined the U.S. Army in 1813 to fight against the British, though his combat experience came against Creek Indian tribes. Distinguished himself in battle at the cost of serious physical wounds. Elected to Congress in 1822 after four years as chief local prosecutor in Nashville. Served two terms in office, then ran for governor of Tennessee in 1827. He was elected but resigned from the office during a re-election campaign because of a personal marital scandal. Came to Texas, then a Mexican state, in late 1832. Quickly became involved in the movement for Texas independence. Was named commander of the fledgling Texian army in 1836, with his force defeating a split detachment of the Mexican army at San Jacinto and capturing its general, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Married for the third time in 1840 to Margaret Lea of Alabama. The couple had eight children. Elected president of the newly independent Republic of Texas in 1836 and again in 1841, serving in a makeshift capitol in a new city named in his honor. After annexation in 1845, he represented the state in the U.S. Senate until 1859. Elected governor of Texas in 1859 but was removed from office two years later after the state government joined the Confederacy, to which he refused to pledge his loyalty. Died of pneumonia on July 26, 1863, in his home near Huntsville at age 70. See More Collapse The broad outline of Houston's life is known to every Texas schoolchild who completed the seventh grade, even if his great human flaws, including a taste for drink and no lack of hubris, rarely get emphasized in history class. But he certainly was more than a Texan. The general who captured Santa Anna and forced a treaty that brought its legal separation from Mexico enjoyed a substantial career long before he left what was then the United States. Raised on a hardscrabble plantation near Maryvill, Tenn., not far from current-day Knoxville, Houston was one of nine children born to Samuel and Elizabeth Paxton Houston. The patriarch of the family died young, in 1807, before the family's move to Tennessee was completed. That left Sam's mother and older children to establish their new home. His brothers worked hard, both in the fields and running a dry goods store. Young Sam was an uninspired student, preferring to gain knowledge through independent reading from his father's expansive library. And neither did he enjoy the rigors of farm labor or mercantile employment. This led him to run away and live periodically with a nearby Cherokee tribe when he was 14. From that period, when the tribal leader virtually adopted him, gave him a Cherokee name meaning "Raven," and taught him their language, emerged Houston's love and respect for Native Americans, especially the more friendly but equally mistreated Cherokee, whose betrayal by the fledgling Texas government after the war angered him to his dying days. He served as both a formal and informal advocate for the Cherokee for much of his life. Houston made a name for himself during the War of 1812 when he fought against a Creek Indian uprising under the overall command of Andrew Jackson, who in time would become his political mentor and periodic benefactor. His first job after the war, and after recovering from serious wounds suffered in it, was to assist in the relocation of Cherokee tribes from eastern Tennessee to Arkansas. Later he studied the law, then a more common practice than attending a formal law school, and became head prosecutor for Nashville. That helped launch a political career that took him to Congress for two terms and then the Tennessee governor's office. He was running for re-election and perhaps would have spent the remainder of his days in that state but for an unfortunate marriage. His unstable young bride left him shortly after they were wed, causing a personal scandal that prompted him to resign from office during the campaign. As Haley views it, Houston had imagined a line of progression of sorts in which he might have ended up in the White House, arguing that he was "the all-but-annointed heir to the most popular president since Washington himself." Though long interested in the West, Houston had no romantic notions then about taking his political capital and spending it on behalf of this uncertain turf called Texas, a "swamp of intrigue into which American filibusters had wandered and died for thirty years." But as events transpired, Houston did leave Tennessee - amid his personal and professional turmoil - and headed to Arkansas Territory, spending time working on behalf of the Cherokee in their dealings with the U.S. government because of passage of the Indian Removal Act. While there he also got into a literal fight with a congressman from Ohio over accusations - unproved - of profiting from contracts to provide food and provisions to the tribes being forcibly removed west of the Mississippi River. A criminal conviction by a narrow vote of the U.S. House of Representatives led to only a light sanction, but a subsequent civil judgment for $500, a significant sum, went unpaid as he departed Washington for what was then part of Mexico. Houston arrived in Texas on Dec. 2, 1832, likely with an eye on how to deliver it to Jackson someday, but with the purported purpose of inquiring on Jackson's behalf about the possibility of some sort of peace treaty between the displaced "civilized tribes" pushed west and the Plains Indian tribes already there. The smokescreen, though short-lived, was useful. Jackson wanted Texas, and his attempts to purchase it, a la Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase, had been rebuffed by Mexico. Houston's genius, in Haley's view, was "surfing" on the top of ongoing events, capitalizing on his popularity and reputation while looking for the opportunity to help nudge their course. It was not long before the newly arrived Houston - and there weren't so many old Texas hands - made himself indispensible to the cause of independence. He had previously been involved, at a distance, with a Texas land venture. Now he was there in person. In less than four years, he had become the leader of a rag-tag Texian army. It was unclear precisely how Houston, with his ill-trained and poorly equipped troops, figured on defeating a much bigger Mexican army led by Gen. Santa Anna. Some historians now believe that Houston's repeated retreats were really an attempt to get Santa Anna to cross the Neches River, not far from a large group of American soldiers who lay in wait for anything that could be made to resemble a border crossing. But Santa Anna split his troops and headed toward Galveston, not taking the bait. The smaller force was weaker of course, and in the brief Battle of San Jacinto, it was routed and, more important, Santa Anna captured. Houston was the man of the moment and once again a great figure, perhaps greater than he had been in Tennessee. First, he served as president of the new republic. Because he could not serve successive terms, he became a representative for two years before again being elected president. He also married, happily and for the third time, in 1840. Houston served in a new city that had been named in his honor. There wasn't much to the swampy little burg, certainly nothing befitting a national capital. That changed within a few decades, though not thanks to government. When Mirabeau Lamar became president, the capital was moved to central Texas. Lamar, a Houston foe, had a different vision for Texas: perpetual independence and eventual expansion to the Pacific, with no consideration for Native Americans other than their destruction. Houston, of course, was an ardent unionist. He saw himself as an American, and America as a transcontinental nation, with Texas having a role in making that happen. It took endless finesse to bring annexation about. Mexico was opposed, with a new invasion from its army an ongoing and reasonable fear, and so were many northern abolitionists who saw in Texas another slave state. Houston's greatest accomplishment may have been keeping the rough-hewn and destitute new nation afloat, building its legal and literal infrastructure while gaining formal recognition from the U.S. and other foreign countries, until the opportunity was ripe. Texas finally joined the nation in 1845 as the 28th state. Upon annexation, Houston served first as one of Texas' two senators. Then, in 1859, he won a term as governor. He is the only person to have been elected governor in two states. Houston might have died then a happy man, yet he lived on to see his dream crushed by secession and the rise of the Confederacy. He was removed from office when he refused to pledge loyalty to the new would-be nation. He believed in the rights of the member states, though profound, did not include the right to abandon the Union. While much was made of his opposition to the Confederate cause, in truth Houston was no abolitionist. He had invited British ships to interdict any slave ships bound for Texas shores, and he had no qualms about condemning the practice of slavery. Yet he recognized that it was too well-established to reasonably advocate its sudden end. As with many more enlightened Southerners, he believed its days were already numbered. In civil war, he saw needless folly and the ruination of the South. That he could not convince his fellow Texans that the war was wrong and destined to end badly made for a baleful, if brief, retirement. He died in Huntsville in 1863. "He died thinking he was a failure," biographer Haley said. "He had fought for Texas as part of the Union." The giant statue along Interstate 45 is ample evidence otherwise. However accurate Houston's predictions for the eventual fate of the southern states, Texas ended up a marginal player that quickly boomed in war's aftermath. And as it did, Houston remained a revered figure. Its people believed their singular history owed much to his timely arrival. Asked how Houston might regard his giant stone resemblance standing a sort of perpetual guard, Haley believes he would take it in stride. "I think he would smile and ask why it isn't a little bit bigger," he said. Northwest Houston is feeling the sting from the downturn in the oil-and-gas industries, but the area's economy as a whole is seeing sustained and steady growth in other sectors. That's the perspective of industry experts in transportation, real estate and economics who spoke during Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce's 2016 Economic Outlook Forum. One of those is the real estate market, which saw growth in residential and commercial construction in 2015. "This growth that we saw from last year has not stopped," Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said at the recent forum at Southwestern Energy in Spring. "Our builders are busy and today we trying to make sure we've got the bridges and infrastructure in place." While single-family housing starts were down slightly in 2015, the regional market was still pretty robust, said Scott Davis, executive director for Houston-based Metrostudy. "Our top 15 builders started 2,500 more homes than Atlanta, which is the No. 3 market," Davis said. "We continue to provide the bulk of single-family housing built the United States here in Houston and will continue to do so over each of the next three years." Parkway a hot spot As expected, much of the development is happening or projected to happen along the newly opened segments of the Grand Parkway, connecting U.S. 290 Cypress to Interstate 69 north of Kingwood. The segments located between U.S. 290 and Interstate 45, opened in early February. The remaining segment, which connects interstates 45 and 69, opened the last week of March. Much of those segments fall within Cagle's precinct, as do other key roadways, such as Texas 249 in Tomball where the 153-acre Grand Parkway Town Center is under development. Davis said the Houston metro area has seen steady growth since the last Census in 2010. Influx of new residents Davis said that over that five-year span, the Houston metro area has added more than 750,000 new residents, with many choosing to live in northwest Houston. He said the region has seen "by far the largest growth of any metro area (in the nation), and the recently released Census statistics show that we added 159,000 people to the Houston metro area in the last year." Roughly 60,000 of those came through births, with the rest coming from new residents, he said. While the energy industry is a major part of the local economy, Davis said much market growth has not been related to that sector. Last year, University of Houston economist Bill Gilmer accurately predicted the regional economy would slow because of lower demand for oil and gas. The region lost 17,000 energy-sector jobs last year. Despite that, Davis said, "We still added 15,000 jobs last year." Health care, which is the region's largest employer with more than 300,000 employees, spurred growth in 2015. Davis projected more growth in the education and hospitality fields over the next year with some of that related to the coming of the Super Bowl in February. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In Briargrove, children play freely in front yards, ride their bikes down sidewalks and neighbors are all on a first-name basis. That's why John and Leah Leggett decided to build in the neighborhood west of the Galleria. That, and some good friends who already lived there knew a home had just gone on the market and alerted the couple, who bought it immediately. The Leggetts tore down the existing 1950s-era ranch and built a two-story, 4,800-square-foot home. John Leggett is CEO of On Point Custom Homes, a company he launched a few years after moving to Houston from North Carolina for a job in the energy industry. Leah Leggett - his college sweetheart - is a realtor with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Anderson Properties and stages and lists all of On Point's spec homes. After building and selling high-end homes with every amenity you can imagine, they threw all of their best ideas into their own. They'd traveled to Spain and loved the beam-and-barrel ceilings they saw there. Her parents entertained a lot and had a bar in their great room; the Leggetts wanted one, too, and added a 1,200-bottle wine room with a Herculite commercial glass door. An art niche spotted in a magazine became the focus of their second-floor landing. Some of their ideas have come from homes On Point has built in the decade or so it's been in operation. Leggett started the company wanting to build high-end contemporary homes despite friends urging him to take a broader view. He thought his clientele would be young families, and some are. But many of his customers are empty nesters who want lower-maintenance homes that allow them to age in place. Still others are suburbanites tired of ever-growing commutes. When the Leggetts lucked into the Briargrove lot, they took a few things into consideration when building their home: the needs of their then 3-year-old daughter McKenzie, their own hobbies and the dream list they'd been compiling. "My thing was the wine room, and Leah wanted the outside space," John Leggett said. "We wanted an open-concept floor plan with a living-kitchen all together for entertaining purposes." The downstairs living area, with stained and polished concrete floors, is where much of the action happens. When friends are over, a frameless corner opens for seamless indoor-outdoor traffic. The bar is a natural gathering place for adults, and others perch on stools at their roomy quartz-topped kitchen island. Initially, a downstairs guest bedroom was used as a playroom for McKenzie. Now it doubles as an office for Leah Leggett and a TV room for her daughter and friends. They tried a few other things, just to find out if they were worth recommending to clients. The built-in coffeemaker? You bet. The bathtub that fills from the ceiling? Not so much; "It's loud and it splashes," Leah Leggett said. The rubbery sport-court flooring for an upstairs exercise room? Only if it's downstairs or has more insulation to deaden the noise. In the backyard, a covered outdoor seating area with three TVs includes a summer kitchen and a concrete-topped island for dining. The spectacular emerald-green grass is actually artificial turf. And a newer addition, a remote-controlled awning, helps keep the sun out if you're sitting outdoors in the heat of the day. Their swimming pool is anchored on one end by a hot tub, and an outdoor fireplace adds a beautiful glow at night. They even took landscaping into consideration, building a fence with horizontal boards for a shiplap look. Across the yard, jasmine is trained onto a diamond-shaped espalier design. All of it combines to make a home where the Leggetts' friends like to congregate - and where McKenzie's play pack always feels right at home. "I think we have better snacks," John Leggett said. "If you want to keep kids at your house, you've got to have better snacks." He's not kidding, either. Sometimes, neighborhood kids come over to play only to discover that McKenzie is elsewhere. "Can we come in to get some Skittles?" the kids still ask. "Yeah, sure," John Leggett tells them. "We have a big bowl." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Dr. David Persse was watching his 5-year-old grandson playing in the backyard recently when he noticed the child wasn't wearing mosquito repellent. When he asked his son-in-law about it, he said the young man, whom he described as "very intelligent," seemed to shrug it off, telling Persse: "He's not going to get pregnant." The response didn't go over too well with Persse, who happens to be Houston's public health authority and the city's unofficial Zika czar. The doctor explained that if the boy got bitten, he could become a reservoir for the virus that could infect another mosquito that could infect a pregnant woman. Besides that, he said, we don't fully understand the Zika virus. If it can affect a developing fetal brain, perhaps it can do the same to a developing 5-year-old brain. He could see in his son-in-law's eyes that he hadn't thought of that. The exchange demonstrates how far public health officials have to go in educating the public about Zika, a virus that can cause microcephaly, a birth defect in which babies are born with small heads and underdeveloped brains. On Friday, federal health officials announced that doctors are monitoring 279 pregnant women with confirmed or suspected Zika infections in the United States and the territories. As of Friday, there were 36 confirmed cases of the Zika virus in Texas, none transmitted by mosquitoes here, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Of those, 13 were reported in Harris County, and two in Fort Bend County. With the Aedes Aegypti mosquito weeks away from breeding in the humid, post-flood Houston area, Persse and others are pleading with the public and officials who hold purse strings to take the threat seriously. He worries that in Washington, there's bickering about a bill to fund research on Zika and related birth defects, and response teams to limit the spread and fight Zika in other countries. President Barack Obama asked for $1.9 billion in funding; the Senate approved $1.1 billion last week while the House allocated $622 million. The White House has called the House version "woefully inadequate." It's also three months late. The World Health Organization declared Zika a global health emergency in February. "This is different from an earthquake," Persse said. "We can see this coming." 'Frustration' grows He said he believes Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett understand the threat but lack money for the best response. The money is at the federal level. "You sense the frustration in my voice," Persse said. "Once we have a child born in the U.S. with microcephaly, everybody's going to be pointing fingers and saying, 'Who didn't do something six months ago?' " Persse said the city has set up an incident command center, such as the ones for natural disasters, and has been knocking on doors to inform residents about the virus. He said the city also has ramped up efforts to collect heavy trash on Saturdays, resulting in an extra 2,500 tons picked up over the last two months. He said about 1,400 tires, a favorite mosquito breeding ground, have been collected. The city has worked with Metro and the county to put up signs about the "3-D Zika defense: drain, dress, Deet." In other words: drain water from places where it can pool, dress in clothing that protects skin from bites and use effective bug spray. One big challenge, Persse said, is the "self-centered thinking" today. As a boy, he said, his parents and others were concerned about protecting the entire community from polio. Today, he said, we have a more narrow focus on our own families. "We've got to be worried about all the kids in the community, all the pregnant women." Sluggish response Beyond that, it's hard to change behaviors. Some of us aren't used to cleaning out our rain gutters, for instance, or emptying our bird baths every week, or wearing insect repellent. "This is Houston. We're all used to getting mosquito bites," he said. "We've got to have a different attitude about it now." Last week, Legacy Community Health Services began distributing packets of bug spray, condoms and virus information to patients at its federally qualified health center in the Gulfton area. "Most of our patients, spending $5 for a can of mosquito spray means they don't eat," said executive director Katy Caldwell. A pregnant woman who contracted Zika in El Salvador is one of the clinic's patients; so far, her baby shows no signs of abnormality, said Dr. Juan Franco. Franco said every patient is screened for Zika and informed about it during visits. He said many aren't aware the virus can be sexually transmitted. Caldwell said she'd like to see a more extensive response locally, on par with cities such as Washington D.C. and New York, which are conducting large-scale community outreach and handing out prevention packets. The sluggish response in Texas reminds her of the HIV epidemic, another virus that wasn't well understood or taken seriously until too late. We can't afford the same complacency, from our public officials, or from ourselves. Obama suggested on Friday that Americans tell their congressional representatives to "get on the job." It's good advice for all of us. A large fight in north Houston turned deadly Saturday morning when one man was fatally shot and another was injured. Eight to 10 people were involved in the fight around 6 a.m. Saturday in the 1800 block of McDaniel near Schneider, according to Houston police. Gov. Greg Abbott in a brief and lighthearted speech Saturday encouraged graduates of the University of St. Thomas to make their mark on the world around them. "What will matter is the unique fingerprint you leave on this world," he told the 1,041 graduates seated at NRG Arena. "Ultimately, your life will be remembered by the impression that you leave." In a speech lasting less than 15 minutes, Abbott said little about the issues of the day or politics, choosing instead to poke fun at himself and give a little laugh to the friends and families of the class of 2016. "You have no idea how much joy they feel for you," he said over a sea of black caps and gowns. "So, today would be a great time to ask for money." Before his commencement address, Abbott received an honorary doctorate of letters. His wife Cecilia Abbott, who has three degrees from the institution, was given a distinguished alumni award. The Abbotts have been married 34 years and have one daughter. "Steadfast courage' In a speech about overcoming challenges, Abbott told the oft-repeated story of how he was paralyzed by a falling oak tree while jogging in Houston in 1984. "Every time I tell that story, I watch people shake their heads, and I know they're thinking, 'How slow was that guy jogging to get hit by a tree?'" In a wheelchair since that incident, Abbott somberly noted that he was told at his law school graduation that he would be confronted by challenges that he could not foresee. "Little did I know that the picture of me walking across the stage to receive my diploma would be the last picture of me walking," he said. Robert Ivany, UST president, welcomed the governor as graduation speaker. "He is a powerful role model of selfless service to the people of Texas and of steadfast courage to pursue his dream," Ivany said. 'Such character' Observers gave the governor high marks and credited him with being open about his personal story. "His background was interesting," said John Lastrapes, a 57-year-old Missouri City man attending his daughter's graduation. "And I was really impressed by his wife. I didn't realize her deep roots with the university." His wife said Abbott's speech affected her emotionally. "I always get choked up at hearing about people having a tragedy in their life and coming out of it with such character," said Colleen Lastrapes, 56. Others said he was an inspiration to the recent graduates. "His overall speech was good advice for the students," said Yessica Hui, 33. Nyar, a killer whale born in 1993 at SeaWorld Orlando, was rejected and bullied so badly by her mother that she had to be separated in her own pool - and her condition went downhill from there. The "super-friendly" young orca became weaker while taking medication several times a day for a fungal infection, said John Jett, who worked with her while he was a trainer at the park. She eventually had to be force-fed with a bottle and a stomach tube when she became too feeble to lift her head on the side of the tank for meals, he said. Finally, Nyar died at age 2 from the infection in her brain. "It was a really pitiful case," said Jett, who left his job as a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando shortly after Nyar died in April 1996. "When she died, I had had enough." Nyar's illness is common at SeaWorld's parks in San Antonio, Orlando and San Diego, where almost 150 sea lions, beluga whales, orcas and other dolphins have died from infections since 1986, out of a total of 816 listed under the parks' care, according to information reported by SeaWorld to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and analyzed by the San Antonio Express-News. In San Antonio, five dolphins, whales and sea lions have died from infections since May 2014 and another three from inflammatory diseases, including Stella the beluga whale before Thanksgiving from inflammation of the brain and Unna the killer whale around Christmas from a bacterial infection. Dart, a Pacific white-sided dolphin, died in February from a fungal infection in her brain. "Infectious disease is the No. 1 cause of death in animals both in the wild as well as animals that live in managed care," said Chris Dold, SeaWorld's vice president of veterinary services. "The number of animals that come in and die of infectious disease in our rescue and rehabilitation programs greatly outnumbers the number of animals that die within our parks." 60 percent of deaths Infections have caused more than 35 percent of marine mammal deaths at the parks, while another 11 percent were due to disorders often caused by infections, such as inflammation of the brain and intestines, records show. They have been especially deadly for orcas and other dolphins, contributing to 60 percent of the deaths of orcas at the three parks and 55 percent for bottlenose and Pacific white-sided dolphins, according to the data, which was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The rates are lower for harbor seals, with 37 percent; beluga whales, with 30 percent; and California sea lions, with 25 percent, the data show. No one is certain whether animals at SeaWorld parks die from infections more often than they would in nature, because experts say it's difficult to collect data on wild marine mammals. There have been instances in the wild in which bacterial and viral infections killed masses of dolphins and whales. A viral outbreak killed hundreds of bottlenose dolphins that washed up along the East Coast between 2013 and 2015. "I'm not sure that anyone" can say for sure whether infections are more common in captivity or the wild, said Kevin Willis, vice president for biological programs at the Minnesota Zoo, who served as president of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums in 2014. Dr. Martin Haulena, the staff veterinarian at the Vancouver Aquarium, said SeaWorld's rates of infection deaths "seem reasonable," adding, "I don't think there's any evidence at all" that infections are more common in captivity. SeaWorld executives say captivity isn't harmful to their animals. Orcas and other dolphins have high infection rates because their respiratory systems are vulnerable to diseases, they say. Unlike other species, the dolphins don't have noses to filter harmful particles. But many veterinarians, biologists and activists say captivity makes marine mammals more vulnerable to infection by creating a stressful environment that impairs their immune systems. Infection rates are higher for orcas and other dolphins, SeaWorld's critics say, because the animals are large and intelligent and thus ill-suited to captivity. The Merck Veterinary Manual, a reference used by veterinarians, says captive marine mammals "seem particularly prone to fungal infections." Long criticized The stress of captivity, along with a lack of stimulation, leads orcas at SeaWorld to break open their teeth on concrete and metal in their tanks, the critics say - a habit that is documented in government reports - opening a door for bacteria. Former SeaWorld trainers say they drilled holes into orcas' fractured teeth and flushed them out daily with disinfectant. For decades, animal rights groups have criticized SeaWorld's practice of keeping orcas and other marine mammals in captivity. After an orca named Tilikum killed trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010, the public increasingly began to feel the same. The 2013 documentary "Blackfish," which examined Brancheau's death and questioned whether orcas become aggressive when held in captivity, triggered a decline in the company's attendance and profits. Falling popularity Trained orca shows have fallen out of favor with the nation's 83 million millennials, the biggest adult spending group since the baby-boomers, SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby said in an interview. Manby, a former automotive executive, was hired after former CEO Jim Atchison resigned amid bad publicity following the release of "Blackfish." Attendance dropped at SeaWorld's parks in San Antonio and San Diego for at least part of last year. The company's net income dropped to a loss of $84 million in the first quarter of this year from a loss of $40.4 million during that time in 2013, and its stock price declined by half over that time. Then the California Coastal Commission moved last fall to ban orca breeding at the company's San Diego park. In February, Manby overhauled SeaWorld's upper ranks, and he announced the next month that the company would stop breeding killer whales and phase out its theatrical shows. "Society was changing, and we felt we needed to change with it," Manby said. "Orcas have inspired a lot of people, (but) it also was clear that it was becoming a really big reason - in fact, the No. 1 reason - for a lot of people not to visit SeaWorld, because of the perception of these orcas under human care." While animal rights groups cheered SeaWorld's changes, the parks will still likely keep orcas in captivity for decades. The company still has 29 orcas - including a handful at the Loro Parque zoo in Spain - ranging from toddler age to elder ones like 35-year-old Tilikum. One of its orcas at the San Antonio park is pregnant. And the company is investing in its displays for other animals; SeaWorld San Antonio is opening a dolphin habitat this month called Discovery Point, where visitors will be able to pay extra to swim with the dolphins and take photographs. SeaWorld points out on its website that it has rescued almost 500 dolphins and whales, more than 7,000 sea lions and seals and thousands of other animals during its 50-year history. While taking care of captive dolphins and whales, the company has collected precious knowledge that is used in rescue efforts, executives say. "If we don't exist, there's no place for stranded dolphins to go," Manby said. "It's easy for someone to say, 'You shouldn't breed ever.' Well, you've got to have the facilities and the knowledge. And we use that knowledge so we can rescue them." Not 'cutting corners' The infection deaths at SeaWorld aren't necessarily caused by SeaWorld's animal care, some critics say. Naomi Rose, a biologist who studies marine mammals for the nonprofit Animal Welfare Institute, called the company "state of the art" and "the best there is." Still, no amount of veterinary attention and medical technology is enough to overcome the damage wrought by captivity on the immune system, Rose and other critics say. "I don't think SeaWorld is cutting any corners," she said. "But they're working with what they can. They have only so many tools, and it's not enough." SeaWorld San Antonio has two full-time veterinarians and another on contract, executives said. It gives its orcas a physical every month - every four months for beluga whales and Pacific white-sided dolphins, every six months for bottlenose dolphins - including blood tests looking for signs of infection. It tests water in the animals' tanks for bacteria once a week. It's difficult to compare rates of infection at SeaWorld with other marine mammal parks because some parks use less detail when reporting an animal's death. Parks such as Gulf World Marine Park in Florida, the National Aquarium in Baltimore and Sea Life Park Hawaii have often written "unknown" and other vague terms as causes of death. Comparing infection rates for orcas is especially challenging since SeaWorld is the only company that has held a large number of them. SeaWorld's death rate attributable to infections for bottlenose dolphins - 55 percent - is below the 67 percent rate for Gulf World Marine Park in Panama City Beach, Fla., and 63 percent for Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport, Miss. But it's above the 48 percent rate at the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Fractured teeth A major health problem faced by SeaWorld's orcas is fractured teeth caused by chewing on the concrete walls and metal gates in their tanks. When the teeth break open, trainers drill holes into them to remove crevices where debris could get stuck. Some orcas in the wild wear down their teeth, especially groups that feed on sharks that are tough to chew on. But SeaWorld's critics say the level of breakage in the company's orcas is unusual and caused by the animals' stress and boredom. "That, in my opinion, is the No. 1 health concern for killer whales in captivity," said Jeffrey Ventre, a former trainer who worked at SeaWorld Orlando from 1987 to 1995. The orcas' dental problem "answers the questions of why they're chronically medicated a lot with antibiotics, and why they get infections." SeaWorld says that fractured teeth among captive and wild orcas is a natural result of the orcas "exploring and manipulating things in their environment." Manby, the CEO of SeaWorld, said the company is looking at ways of enriching the orca tanks, including by adding waves and a whirlpool. The use of antibiotics Critics of SeaWorld have accused the company of overmedicating, using antibiotics so frequently that its animals are at risk of developing resistant strains of pathogens. SeaWorld pushes back against the accusation, saying it offers top-notch veterinary care unavailable to wild animals. "We do not overmedicate our dolphins," said Dold, SeaWorld's vice president of veterinary services. "Our primary charge is the judicious use of medications to treat illnesses after we have gone through an entire diagnostic cascade We take that oath very seriously." Former SeaWorld trainers say they regularly gave antibiotics to orcas and other marine mammals, stuffing the pills into the fish they ate. Some of the animals took them often, they said, including Nyar and Unna, who "never came off fungal medication," according to John Hargrove, who was a trainer at SeaWorld's parks in San Antonio and San Diego for a total of 12 years between 1993 and 2012. Trainers who worked with Tilikum say he's been on antibiotics for much of his life. Tilikum was taking an antibiotic and an antifungal medication when he killed Brancheau, according to investigative documents from APHIS. While Tilikum is currently on antibiotics, he has not been on them for a large portion of his time under SeaWorld's care, the company said in an email. Tilikum's strain of bacteria has been resistant to treatment, and so was the fungus that killed Unna, the orca that died in San Antonio in December, according to SeaWorld's website. "I cannot express to you enough how doped up on antibiotics these whales are," said Hargrove, the former trainer at SeaWorld San Antonio and San Diego. "We had some whales that never came off of antibiotics. We had other whales that, they would be treated with antibiotics, they would come off, and within a month they were back on antibiotics." 'Best place for them' There's one thing SeaWorld and its critics agree on: releasing the orcas into the wild isn't an option. After spending so much time in captivity, the animals don't have the skills necessary to hunt and socialize in the wild, they say. "These are not normal whales and dolphins," Rose, a biologist, said. "They don't know where the hunting grounds are, they don't know the migratory paths. They don't even know how to behave with other whales normally. The etiquette of social behavior in whale pods would be completely foreign to them." Manby, SeaWorld's CEO, compared it to "putting your dog in the middle of a forest." SeaWorld's critics applauded its decision to end its orca breeding program and phase out its theatrical orca shows, but they aren't satisfied with the company's plan to keep the animals in captivity for the rest of their lives. APHIS has proposed new regulations that would increase the amount of time that dolphins and other marine mammals are allowed to interact with the public from two to three hours. The changes are "based on recommendations from licensees with long-running in-water interactive programs," the agency says on its website. Manby said SeaWorld hasn't pressed for the change. Many of the critics urge SeaWorld to release its beluga whales, orcas and other dolphins into "sea pens," or large netted enclosures close to the shore where the animals could swim in natural waters while receiving food and veterinary care from humans. Manby said the sea pens would expose the animals to pollution, bad weather and pathogens that they weren't accustomed to in captivity. "We don't see any better option" than keeping the orcas at SeaWorld parks, Manby said. "We think it's the best place for them." AUSTIN - Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has spent nearly $1 million in taxpayer money to entice dozens of people fired by his administration to agree not to sue him or the agency, a practice that may run afoul of a ban on severance pay for state workers. Bush, a first-term Republican, has directed the General Land Office to keep at least 40 people on the payroll for as long as five months after ending their employment, according to an analysis of records obtained by the Houston Chronicle. The ex-staffers did not have to use vacation time and, in fact, continued to accrue more time for as long as they were on the payroll. In return, they agreed in writing not to sue the agency or discuss the deal. Many of the recipients were top aides to former Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson who were fired during an agency "reboot" in which Bush replaced more than 100 employees. Such separation arrangements are made frequently in the corporate world but are not allowed in Texas government, where there is no severance and staffers generally are required to work to be paid, according to employment lawyers, union leaders and former state officials. "I can understand the thinking of an agency head who wants to get rid of someone and thinks that this is an easy way to do it, but this is not the way to do it," said Buck Wood, an ethics expert and former deputy state comptroller, noting the detailed rules that govern how agencies can spend money do not authorize that purpose. "Keeping someone on the payroll when they're not coming to work so you can avoid the hassle of a lawsuit is just illegal." Malinda Gaul, a San Antonio employment lawyer who has represented state workers for 33 years, said she had never heard of such an arrangement. Spokespeople for the General Land Office and Bush's political shop did not return multiple messages seeking comment, nor did they respond to a hand-delivered request for comment. The separation agreements state that they were meant "to give (employees) time to seek other employment and to avoid the potential expense to the GLO of any administrative or judicial proceedings related to (employees') employment." 'Emergency leave' Many of the agreements followed termination letters that said employees could choose to be fired or to agree to resign, sign the deal and take the extra pay while not working. Almost everybody offered the deal accepted it, records indicate. The agency's practices appear to be part of a pattern of Texas state officials paying certain departing employees for different reasons and through different avenues. The Chronicle reported last year that agencies have spent nearly $50 million over the previous decade on bonuses for staffers who left state government shortly thereafter. Much of it was given to favored aides by officials who were on the way out themselves, such as former Gov. Rick Perry, who paid more in bonuses in one day during his last month in office than he had in the preceding four years combined. And more recently, Attorney General Ken Paxton drew scrutiny for continuing to pay three top aides after their resignations by putting them on "emergency leave," which agency heads can use when they believe there is "good cause." Paxton's office has not explained the leave other than to tell a conservative website the attorney general "acted in a compassionate, legal and ethical manner" in granting pay to staffers "who had worked tirelessly for the state." State lawmakers last week said they plan to look into limiting the use of emergency leave for departing staffers. Costly practice A Chronicle analysis found the practice already is relatively rare, however. Over the past three years, about 20 of the 120 state agencies in Texas have had at least 133 staffers end their time on the payroll with an emergency leave stint of two weeks or more. In some cases, the leave appears to have been used to placate disgruntled departing employees and preventing them from suing. The Attorney General's Office, Teacher Retirement System and Water Development Board, three of the biggest users of emergency leave, all said they have agreed to give the leave in deals with staffers who promised not to sue. The land office has spent far more on payments for departing employees than any other agency has spent on emergency leave for ex-staffers, even agencies with far more workers, according to the Chronicle's analysis. The state Department of Family and Protective Services, which has 11,000 employees, has given out the most emergency leave to ex-staffers - about 1,375 workdays over the past three years, including 500 days for one worker during an internal investigation. The General Land Office, which has 600 employees, has given out nearly 1,850 days of pay for ex-staffers in just the year and a half of Bush's tenure, costing taxpayers at least $655,000 in salaries, plus the additional costs for benefits that the ex-staffers received in that time, including leave accruals, health insurance and retirement contributions. A recent report by the state auditor's office said those benefits are worth about a third of an employee's total compensation. Appropriate use? Among those who got paid for not working under a separation deal were Christopher Burnett and Julie Masek, the director and the deputy director of the agency's Office of Compliance and Ethics. Bush fired both of them last month, just a year after announcing the creation of the ethics office. The ex-staffer who received the most money was Erin Guillette, former Commissioner Patterson's director of executive administration, who got more than $40,000 in salary while not working for nearly four months. Patterson's former general counsel, William Warnick, got the longest stint of pay for not working, five months, under an arrangement in which his salary was reduced so he could make it to retirement age. On average, the ex-staffers each received two months of pay after leaving the agency. Steve Aragon, a former general counsel for the Health and Human Services Commission, said he thinks there are justifiable reasons to pay employees for not working, including to prevent litigation in cases in which it was clear that a staffer likely would not come back. However, he said, it is not something that state agencies should do frequently. "These situations should be exceptional and would not be expected as a matter of routine," Aragon said. Others objected to any use of the practice, including Seth Hutchinson, a spokesman for the Texas State Employees Union. "It's not an appropriate use of state funds," Hutchinson said. "If people are being wrongfully fired, they're being wrongfully fired, and they shouldn't be using state funds to cover it up." After being told that it is not uncommon in the corporate world, Hutchinson scoffed. "State government should be held to a higher standard of accountability," he said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate On an afternoon last June, Mac Shafer carried some deeply personal cargo in the back seat of his Ford F-150 as he drove home to Mineral Wells. That morning, 58-year-old Shafer, an avid art collector, had retrieved four favorite paintings he had loaned to Dallas' Museum of Biblical Art. He had one more stop to make. He swept past the rounded arches of the Kimbell Art Museum's stately entrance, headed for an appointment with two of the Fort Worth museum's most senior officials. Not in their offices. But in the museum's underground garage. Kimbell director Eric M. Lee and deputy director George T. M. Shackelford walked toward Shafer's parked truck. They were intrigued by him for several reasons: He had approached them through the powerful recommendation of his friend Alice Walton, one of the Kimbell's most loyal supporters and one of the world's wealthiest women. And Shafer was convinced he had some interesting art to exhibit at the museum. Using a trash can as a display area, Shafer presented the canvases, which had a consistent religious theme. And one by one, Lee and Shackelford showed polite, if muted, enthusiasm for their quality. Except for painting No. 3. An oil sketch of a European church, the work portrayed a somewhat gloomy Romanesque interior, a Gothic arch and a tabernacle rising over the altar. It bore the date 1841 and the signature "D. Roberts" - David Roberts, a somewhat renowned 19th-century Scottish painter. Shafer had purchased the work, sold as Roberts' Interior of Cathedral, in 2004. Upon seeing this painting, Shackelford and Lee lost interest in the other pieces. Shackelford immediately snapped four iPhone shots of it. "Both Eric and I noticed the quality of the brushwork was so high, so assured," recalls Shackelford. "Of all the paintings Eric and I saw that day in the garage, it was the only one that had spark." They had an inkling that there might be more to this painting than met the eye. And thus, in that 35-minute parking-garage meeting began one of the most improbable acquisitions of an important work in the Kimbell's 44-year history - one that involved mistaken identity, careful forensic work and a bit of serendipity. A happy accident From the beginning, Lee and Shackelford were suspicious that this painting signed "David Roberts" was not at all a David Roberts painting. It was not a typical work by Roberts, who was best known for his Middle Eastern subjects. In fact, Lee thought it looked more like the work of an infinitely more important artist, Richard Parkes Bonington. Bonington (1802-1828) was a revered 19th-century British Romantic painter, a gifted landscape artist comparable in stature to J.M.W. Turner and John Constable. One of the Kimbell's first acquisitions under Lee's direction, in 2009, was a Bonington oil sketch called The Grand Canal, Venice, Looking Toward the Rialto, which is part of the museum's permanent collection. Lee has always held a special fondness for Bonington's work. "He just speaks to me," he says. "There is this freshness about his paintings." Then, a clue. A week after seeing Shafer's painting, Shackelford went online to identify a watercolor of a Venetian palace. He thought of Bonington, who had done some of his finest watercolors in Venice. "I remember typing 'Bonington and watercolors,'" he says. "In the center of one of the image rows was a watercolor with exactly the same composition as Shafer's 'David Roberts.'" Shackelford traced the link on that watercolor to London's Wallace Collection, which attributed it to Bonington as Interior of Sant' Ambrogio, Milan - a church scene that matched all the elements within Shafer's "David Roberts" church painting. Although the "Roberts" in Fort Worth was an oil painting and the Wallace Collection's Bonington was a watercolor, the match made sense - Bonington was known to work up oil sketches to use as the basis for a later studio watercolor or oil. "Then by extension, the painting had to be connected to the watercolor," Shackelford says. "Figuring out how was the next step." He sent the Wallace Collection photograph to Lee. "I immediately noticed that the overall composition of the Bonington watercolor was so similar to the 'David Roberts' oil sketch church interior," Lee says. Indeed, the similarities continued to tantalize Shackelford and Lee. "Looking back, it was such a one-in-a-million, pure accident that I would see this Bonington watercolor at the Wallace Collection and make the connection to Shafer's painting," Shackelford says. But forensic work would be needed to confirm their suspicions. Forged signature Lee asked Shafer to bring the painting back to the Kimbell. "I can still hear him saying very excitedly that he thought the Roberts I had was a lost painting and that he was very anxious for me to bring it back in so the museum could do more research on it," Shafer says. When it arrived, the museum's director of conservation, Claire Barry, began to examine it. During a cursory cleaning, she lifted off the "D. Roberts 1841" inscription. That the signature could so easily be removed from its outer varnish layer indicated that it likely had been forged by an unscrupulous art dealer "In looking into the provenance of the 'David Roberts' work," recalls Barry, "we discovered that the collector of this then-unsigned piece thought it must be a David Roberts because he was known to occasionally paint church interiors. And by faking the Roberts signature in 1841, they thought they could get more money at auction." Using X-radiography and infrared images, she compared the bold blocking of all the architectural elements used by Bonington in the Kimbell's Grand Canal, Venice canvas with the same strong blocking for "Roberts" interior. Both works showed the same use of a squared-off brush, lead white paint and delicate brush detail, she said. "Those strokes are like the fingerprints of an artist," she said. "It was clear they were both done by the same hand." Barry's forensic work also revealed that both works shared a specific brand of millboard used to support the canvases. Millboard was a convenient support used by 19th-century painters when painting outdoor oil sketches. Her finding was confirmed by Patrick Noon, the Elizabeth MacMillan Chair of Paintings at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the world's foremost Bonington expert. In a recent interview, Noon offered another bit of intriguing information. "Bonington never signed his oil sketches," Noon says. "So it is likely that the owner or dealer of this unsigned work decided to put David Roberts' name and date in a specific attempt to deceive. It couldn't be Roberts. It didn't even look like his signature." While Barry conducted forensic examinations, Lee did some detective work. He found in Noon's catalog of Bonington's work a reproduction of the watercolor of the Sant' Ambrogio, Milan church interior, based on an untraced oil sketch. Lee also read Noon's account of Bonington's time in Milan where personal letters mention making oil sketches of the nocturnal lighting effect on the interior of a church. "I began hyperventilating," Lee says. "I called up Patrick Noon to tell him that we might have discovered a rare Bonington painting." Noon vividly remembers that call from Lee. "A painting by an artist like that doesn't necessarily walk in off the streets of Texas," Noon says. In fact, it had taken a long and winding road to Shafer's home in Mineral Wells. Changing hands According to a Christie's number on the painting, it was first sold as a Roberts work titled Serving Mass at Christie's in London in 1946. Another label shows it went to auction again in 1995, in Stockholm. The work was later acquired by a collector who consigned it to auction in New Orleans in 2003 as Roberts' Interior of Cathedral, but it went unsold. That year, Shafer - who began collecting art seriously after retiring from the oil and gas business - paged through a catalog from the Neal Auction Co. of New Orleans when his eye caught an interior church scene painted by David Roberts. He immediately contacted the auction house and learned the work had been shipped back to its original owner, Leonard Walley, in nearby Garland. In April 2004, the men met to look at the Roberts painting in a mutually convenient location: the parking lot of Fort Worth's Railhead Smokehouse. "I took one look at that David Roberts painting, and I didn't dicker one moment over the price," Shafer recalls. "I wrote him a check for $3,800 - literally what he asked for it - because I knew I wanted that painting." Shafer took it home and hung it in his Mineral Wells office for years, until 2009, when he loaned it and three other religious-themed works to Dallas' Museum of Biblical Art - where they were on display for six years, until the day last summer when he drove it to the Kimbell. The final sale As evidence mounted that Shafer's "Roberts" was a long-lost and much coveted Bonington, Noon flew to Fort Worth to examine the work. "Clearly, this painting showed Bonington's style of execution," Noon says. "He was just so wonderfully facile in how quickly he put the paint down, with such assurance." The team determined that Shafer's "David Roberts" work was, indeed, Richard Bonington's The Interior of Sant' Ambrogio, Milan, 1826. Once Noon gave the Bonington his final imprimatur, the Kimbell purchased it from Shafer in December. According to art market sources, the Kimbell paid under $1 million, or approximately $2.8 million less than what was reportedly paid at a Christie's auction last July for a major Bonington coastal landscape. Shafer, a collector with an uncommonly sharp eye for a masterpiece, was moved to see his Bonington hanging in the hallowed walls of perhaps his favorite museum. "It really was a dream come true," Shafer says, "because I so love art and to see my painting that I had in my collection since 2004 hanging at the Kimbell, all cleaned, well, that's simply amazing." NORTHERN SYRIA - On a secret trip to Syria, the new commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said Saturday that he felt a moral obligation to enter a war zone to check on his troops and make his own assessment of progress in organizing local Arab and Kurd fighters for what has been a slow campaign to push the Islamic State out of Syria. "I have responsibility for this mission, and I have responsibility for the people that we put here," Army Gen. Joseph Votel said in an interview as dusk fell on the remote outpost where he had arrived 11 hours earlier. "So it's imperative for me to come and see what they're dealing with - to share the risk they are dealing with." Nothing to hide Votel, who has headed U.S. Central Command for just seven weeks, became the highest-ranking U.S. military officer known to have entered Syria since the U.S. began its campaign to counter the Islamic State in 2014. The circumstance was exceptional because the U.S. has no combat units in Syria, no diplomatic relations with Syria and for much of the past two years has enveloped much of its Syria military mission in secrecy. Votel said he brought reporters with him because, "We don't have anything to hide. I don't want people guessing about what we're doing here. The American people should have the right to see what we're doing here." Votel flew into northern Syria from Iraq, where he had conferred on Friday with U.S. and Iraqi military commanders. In Syria he met with U.S. military advisers working with Syrian Arab fighters and consulted with leaders of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an umbrella group of Kurdish and Arab fighters supported by the U.S. A small group of reporters accompanied Votel under ground rules that, for security reasons, prohibited disclosing his visit until after he had left Syria. After landing at a remote camp where American military advisers are training Syrian Arab troops in basic soldiering skills, Votel split off from the reporters who flew in with him; he then visited several other undisclosed locations in Syria before returning to the camp. 'Increased confidence' Syria is a raging war zone, torn by multiple conflicts that have created severe human suffering across much of the country. But on Saturday the U.S. advisers camp that Votel visited was quiet. Situated about 50 miles from the nearest fighting, the sharpest sound was a month-old puppy's yapping as he ran between visitors' legs. A light breeze nudged several bright-yellow flags of the Syrian Democratic Forces attached to small bushes and atop a post buried in an earthen berm beside a shooting range. Aides said Votel's flight into Syria was the first made in daylight by U.S. forces, who have about 200 advisers on the ground. Military ground rules for the trip prohibited reporting the kind of aircraft Votel used, the exact location of where he landed and the names and images of the U.S. military advisers, who said they have been operating from the camp since January. The last known high-level U.S. official to visit Syria was Brett McGurk, Obama's envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State. He spent two days in Syria in late January, including a tour of Kobani, the small town near the Turkish border where Kurdish fighters backed by U.S. airstrikes had expelled an entrenched group of Islamic State fighters a year earlier. In the interview, Votel said his visit had hardened his belief that the U.S. is taking the right approach to developing local forces to fight ISIS. "I left with increased confidence in their capabilities and our ability to support them." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate McALLEN In a border region where family counts for a lot, Tuesday's Democratic runoff for the seat being vacated by the retiring U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa is in many ways the tale of a family name. The race pits political newcomer Vicente Gonzalez against Edinburg school board member Juan "Sonny" Palacios, scion of an influential family with deep roots in the Rio Grande Valley and its politics. Their backgrounds open a window into a South Texas political culture rooted in humble upbringings, hard-scrabble traditions and the occasional scrape with the law. Gonzalez, a 48-year-old lawyer from McAllen, styles himself as an outsider running against what he calls the Palacios "political machine" - a powerful family network whose members serve as county commissioners, district attorneys, judges and justices of the peace in Hidalgo County, in the heart of the district. Palacios, 44, also a lawyer, terms himself a fourth-generation Texan who grew up in Edinburg working the fields with his father, picking honeydew melons, broccoli and cabbage. "We are the first generation out of the fields," he said in an interview. "My dad made his mark by hard work." Gonzalez tells his own tale of humble beginnings, having grown up in a military family, dropping out of high school, and then, at his mother's urging, returning to get his GED, finishing college and eventually getting a law degree. Novelty election In a largely Hispanic congressional district that votes overwhelmingly Democratic, Tuesday's runoff between two Spanish-surnamed rivals will produce a candidate who is heavily-favored to go to Washington next year. The 15th Congressional District, a narrow slice of Texas that runs from the Mexican border to the San Antonio suburbs, is sometimes called the "Fajita strip district," owing to its long, gerrymandered shape. It has had only two congressmen in the past 50 years, so a new face will be something of a novelty. Hinojosa, who has held the seat since 1997, has stayed publicly neutral. Despite Palacios' extensive family connections, he finished second to the better-funded Gonzalez in a six-way primary contest on March 1. Palacios got nearly 19 percent of the vote. Gonzalez, though the top vote-getter with 42 percent, fell below the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff. 'Political machine' Going into Tuesday's two-way election, Gonzalez' internal polls put him well ahead of Palacios, but he says he is taking nothing for granted in a match-up with the well-connected clan. Palacios, for his part, has touted his childhood connections in the region. He also has questioned Gonzalez' relative lack of experience in the public arena. Most pointedly, he has been sharply critical of Gonzalez' decision to bankroll much of his campaign with his own money, accusing him of trying to "buy the election." Gonzalez, who has spent $1.7 million on the race, makes no excuses for using his own money. "If you have eight or 10 relatives who are elected officials or actually involved in politics - I don't have one - you've got a lot of help," he said. "Each one has a base they can bring together to help. So, there's a built-in political machine in the region that can be easily activated. I don't come from a political family. I'm not a career politician, and I don't have a political machine." Palacios, who has raised about $400,000, says most of that came in small contributions, a testament to his lifelong ties to the community. Gonzalez, in turn, has sought to use Palacios' large personal network against him by depicting it as family dynasty. "There's been some concern about one family having so many political spots in the area," Gonzalez said. "It doesn't seem to have played very well at the polls in the primary." Different beast Blood ties often pay off in local races, especially in South Texas politics. It appears, however, that Gonzalez has managed to nullify much of that advantage. "There might be some people who will vote against Palacios rather than for Gonzalez just on the context of his family," said Jerry Polinard, a veteran political science professor at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. "There may also be some who will vote for Palacios for the same reason." Runoffs are, by nature, a different beast, and with low early voting turnout, the candidate with the better ground game likely will determine the winner, according to Ricardo "Ric" Godinez, chairman of the Hidalgo County Democratic party. "I would have to give the edge to Sonny only because he's done it before," said Godinez, who has not endorsed a candidate. "When you're part of the Palacios family, a lot of loyalty and friendships are made that I'm sure they're cashing in on this time around." Others say that Gonzalez' early strategy of knocking on doors, airing TV spots and posting billboards across the region, has introduced a style of campaigning rarely seen in South Texas. And those efforts paid dividends heading into the primary. "It probably helps that he is a political outsider," said Gonzalez adviser Moses Mercado, a principal at Ogilvy Government Relations. "In South Texas, most campaigns don't have his type of operation, and I think that comes from his outside view of things." In some ways, the race reflects the national mood. "The climate today doesn't fall advantageously to a person like Mr. Palacios," said Ruben Villarreal, who is in a runoff against Tim Westley for the Republican nomination in the congressional race. "Coming from a political dynasty is not what it used to be." As a Republican in a heavily Democratic district, Villarreal, the former mayor of Rio Grande City, is familiar with the outsider role. On the campaign trail, he has sensed a shifting tone among the electorate. "What I'm seeing now in the Hispanic community is that people are searching for change," Villarreal said. Not surprisingly, Palacios is not the only member of his family in Tuesday's run-off election. One of his cousins, Renee Rodriguez-Betancourt, is running for state district judge. She is the wife of Edinburg City Councilman J.R. Betancourt and the sister of Hidalgo CountyDistrict Attorney Ricky Rodriguez. "We are not a political machine," Palacios said. "We are public servants. We got into politics to make a difference." Checkered past The Palacios name, for all its political leverage, also has been tainted in the past by scandal, some of it touching on public corruption. Among those making headlines was Palacios' cousin, Aida Palacios, once an investigator in the Hidalgo CountyDistrict Attorney's office until she was implicated three years ago a wide-ranging drug case that brought down former county Sheriff Guadalupe "Lupe" Trevino. Then came the arrest last year of hospice worker Monica Melissa Patterson - daughter of former Hidalgo County Commissioner Hector "Tito" Palacios - on capital murder charges. The case involved the death of a 96-year-old man who allegedly left her his estate. While the Palacios name got dragged into the news, Sonny Palacios says there is little kinship there. "If you go back five or six generations, we might be related," he said. "Like everybody with the name Johnson is related." Hanging in the background - even unspoken - the two high-profile court cases may have helped Gonzalez create the impression that he is running against an entrenched network that has been in power too long. Sonny Palacios pleads guilty only to being part of a big family. "We are a family of 500 or 600 cousins," he said. "You go back to Hispanic culture. We have a lot of kids." He estimates about 800 Palacios live in Hidalgo County, about seven of them in elected office. "There's no quota," Palacios said. "If the people want to vote us in, they can vote us in. If they don't want to vote us in, they won't. But is there a large conspiracy to take over the world? No there is not." Where do senior citizens contribute to overcrowding schools? In Tomball, apparently. Plans for a low-income retirement community in that northwest Harris County city garnered bizarre pushback when it was first announced, as Chronicle reporter Mihir Zaveri wrote last week. Tomball residents expressed concerns that the complex of 140 units, available only to senior citizens whose income is 30 to 60 percent of the region's median income, would somehow contribute to crime, decreasing property values and, yes, overcrowding schools. In an online petition, some people even described the public-private partnership project as a "ghetto" that would invite "thugs" to the neighborhood. What ever happened to respecting your elders? This follows on a Galleria-area battle over plans for a multi-family apartment complex that would have a mix of market-rate and subsidized rents. Expect these to be the first in many similar fights. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court found that a Texas federal housing subsidy program was illegally reinforcing segregated housing. Too many affordable units were being directed exclusively to neighborhoods mostly made up of poor blacks and Hispanics. Now local authorities are under pressure to comply with the federal Fair Housing Act and ensure that their actions don't unduly burden any specific group. This means that new affordable housing projects are being directed to wealthier, whiter neighborhoods that previously worked to keep these sorts of projects far from their bucolic streets. It isn't hard to understand this gut instinct to protect one's home against a perceived threat. For many Americans, a home is their biggest asset. The specter of an affordable housing project dragging down the value of that major investment is likely to lead any homeowner to push back out of fear. But does affordable housing actually hurt nearby property values? In the short term, maybe. But not in the long term. An extensive study by the Furman Center for Real Estate and Housing Policy at New York University found that different types of subsidized rental housing can have different impacts on surrounding neighborhoods - some drove prices up and others caused values to lag. However, while the positive effects lingered, the negative effects eventually disappeared over a few years. Folks looking to put their house on the market may worry that the new project going up around the corner could shave dollars off the end price, but anyone treating their home as a long-term investment has little to worry about. However, there's another long-term effect of subsidized housing that deserves some attention: The effect of wealthy neighborhoods on poor children. A social experiment called Moving to Opportunity found that kids in low-income families who moved to high-income areas ended up mirroring the achievements and values of their wealthier peers. Not only did those kids end up getting a better education and earning more money, but they were also more likely to get married and build stable households of their own. Those socioeconomic gains are even passed down to the next generation, essentially ending the curse of multigenerational poverty. At a certain point people have to overcome their fears and recognize the reality of public policy. Affordable housing helps businesses keep workers and cities maintain neighborhoods while contributing to better lives for kids in Houston and all across the country - not to mention retirees in Tomball. Searching Regarding "What do millennials know about socialism" (Page A15, May 13), socialism in the Soviet Union and its various cousins was an attempt by the worst, most powerful elements to enslave their people and to exploit their labor for personal gain. There was no freedom; whoever didn't work could go to jail, except for the ruling class. I know, I lived there. It was similar to the monarchy system and to the right-wing, wealth-ruling system, with a huge disparity in income and wealth, which is evolving in the U.S. Columnist Jonah Goldberg needs to create fear to promote the right-wing agenda, so he misrepresents the real reasons for the downfall of Eastern European socialism. On the other hand he completely ignores the real, well-functioning socialist countries like Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Holland and others. These are the countries that are beating the rest of the world in education and are, year after year, recognized as home to the happiest people in the world. The U.S. millennials are looking at socialism and "togetherness" because they are tired of waiting for drops from Reagan's dried-up trickle-down economy, one of the many right-wing scams. Jan Cadik, The Woodlands Eye-opener Young millennials or anyone feeling the "Bern" should take a look at "Venezuela's health system collapses with economy" (Page A1, May 16). The problems in Venezuela can give insight into what can happen when you rely on government for your well-being. Neither governments, nor the people in charge of them, are infallible. Many in government think they know what is best for us commoners and will try to convince us with their speeches. Just as President Nicolas Maduro tried when he claimed, "I doubt that anywhere in the world, except in Cuba, there exists a better health system than this one." Even though conditions in Venezuela's hospitals resemble conditions from a war zone, in a country with no war the socialists spin is "Everything is good, all is fine." Sound familiar? James Connealy, Baytown Few teachers will tell you they're in the profession to earn accolades. The work is much too hard to want to do it for any reason other than to be of service to our community in the education of our children. While many school districts spotlight their best teachers - HISD's are featured in our section today - the work of good educators often goes unmentioned and even unnoticed. So recognition from "outside the walls" like H-E-B's annual Excellence in Education awards, which were announced May 13 in the awards' 15th year, becomes an important symbol of the community's interest in great teachers. This year, two Houston-area educators drew honors. Clear Creek ISD's Tammy Verstrate of LaVace Stewart Elementary won in the leadership category, which honors teachers with 10 to 20 years in the classroom, and Hilda Flores Nanez, 28, a teacher at Galena Park ISD's Green Valley Elementary, was named a rising star. Teachers with fewer than 10 years of experience are eligible for the award. We visited with Nanez, a bilingual intervention teacher and five-year educator, to learn more about her still relatively new career. The following is an excerpt of her conversation last week with Outlook Editor Veronica Flores-Paniagua. Q: What drew you into teaching? A: My passion for education started when I was forced to "sink or swim" in the fourth grade. I had been in a bilingual classroom (at an area elementary school) from pre-K to third grade. In fourth grade, there were no bilingual classes or bilingual teachers. I was placed in an English classroom where I received no Spanish support. I went from having all A's in third grade to having failing grades. But I was determined to have a successful fourth-grade year. My progress was showcased when we had a school-wide writing contest. I remember being ecstatic about this competition. Everyone who participated had to present their essays in front of the entire school. Miraculously, when I finished presenting my essay I got a standing ovation and ended up being the first-place winner. I then was able to go compete downtown at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King oratorical competition. It was through my perseverance and determination that I was able to swim. In that moment, I knew one day I wanted to become a bilingual teacher and help bilingual students like myself be able to swim. Q: The category in which you were recognized is called "Rising Star." Might a better name for the award be "Grueling Uphill Climb?" A: I think we could call it that, but I believe that every year is a different climb. You have to assess each student's needs, and set instructional goals according to their needs. Every August, a new climb begins. And it is like climbing a mountain, and you have to see how you and your students will reach the other side of the mountain together. Q: After the first year, why did you go back to the classroom? A: My first year, it was grueling. I had to learn so much. But I do have a passion for what I do. I love my kids making so much growth by the end of the year. I was not only so happy to come back the second year - my challenge now was: How am I going to make this year as successful for my students? Q: What have been the greatest challenges of your still-young career, and how have these shaped you? A: One of the greatest challenges has been to see (the progress of) some of my new-arrival students; they get discouraged because they don't speak English and they want to maintain their academic goals. So it's been a challenge to keep them from getting discouraged. Also, knowing what we know about their home life and their backgrounds. Sometimes you feel helpless knowing what they go back home to. But it's essential to know about their home life so that I can offer extra support in the classroom. Having always taught in Title I (high poverty-concentration) schools, I instill in my students the power of perseverance. I let my students know that they are all capable of achieving anything no matter what their current home situation is. Q: What have been your greatest joys as a teacher? How have the experiences affected your work? A: One of the most rewarding things about being a bilingual teacher is that I see myself in a lot of my bilingual students. I instill in them the passion to want to succeed and be fluent in both languages. Year after year, I tell my students, "El que habla dos idiomas vale por dos." (He who speaks two languages has twice as much value.) I explain to them the importance of being fluent in both languages and I connect with them by sharing my own personal story. I know that one of the key elements to being a successful teacher is the importance of building a bond with each individual student. My students know that I care about them; therefore, they always give it their all and succeed throughout the school year. The perseverance characteristic that defines me is one that I like to instill in each student I teach because I know that they can accomplish anything they set their mind to. One of the most important things that I like to create at the beginning of the year is a classroom family. I let students know that we should appreciate one another and help each other in our learning journey. This approach has worked wonderfully year after year as the students aren't afraid to share out loud or ask for help from their peers or me. Q: We often hear that teachers are stressed and overworked by bureaucracy - paperwork, benchmark tests to assess student preparedness for standardized tests, etc. How do you keep these from overwhelming you? A: We do have a million things to do every single day. I tell the new teachers here: It's OK. You're going to scratch two things off and add five. It's always like that. We have to prioritize what's really important. Q: If you had the opportunity to address future elementary teachers, what guidance would you give them? A: First, I would reiterate the importance of taking the time to build relationships and getting to know your students. Second, a value that I stand by is that, as teachers, we need to pursue any learning opportunities that come our way. We can never stop learning. As educators, the day we stop learning or the day we think we know it all will be the day that we start offering a disservice to our students. This week marks the end of the school year for most area students, and our community's focus naturally turns to the achievements of those marking the milestone of high school graduation. Across the region, thousands are crossing the stage to receive their diplomas, and they are to be celebrated for the accomplishment. But what of the cadre of educators who helped get them there? Who celebrates them and their accomplishments helping students arrive at this seminal moment? Today, we do. While we can't recognize the work of all educators on these pages, the Houston Independent School District, the state's largest school district, featured finalists for its Teacher of the Year awards using an innovative, and appropriate, theme: Super heroes. Winners of the award were announced at a banquet Friday, and they are among these pictured below. After severe budget cuts worth $5.4 billion in 2011, 600 school districts sued the state for inadequately funding our schools. Since then, the Legislature used the pending litigation as an excuse to hold off making any decisions to fully restore the funding or fix the way the state funds public education. With the Supreme Court's recent ruling of the school funding system as constitutional, the Legislature is officially off the legal hook. In filing suit against the state, hundreds of school districts - both rich and poor districts - and charter school systems expressed their dissatisfaction with the way the state funds schools. Their main argument: Our state's funding for schools is not enough to guarantee even a bare minimum education for all kids, and this spells trouble for Texas' future. The court's ruling hasn't changed the outlook: Texas' schools still need an appropriate level of funding to ensure student success. I graduated from high school just last year. My classmates and I were freshmen when the 2011 budget cuts first rolled in. By the time we graduated, we had spent more than 16,000 hours in the public school classroom - and 4,000 of those hours in underfunded schools. So a few of us came together to give students a voice in this lawsuit. As members of the Houston ISD Student Congress, a student-run, student-led organization that represents the 215,000 students of our school district, we authored a 35-page amicus brief explaining the importance of adequate school funding. We used student stories to put names and faces to the dry legal facts the court system was used to, and we submitted our brief. But the Texas Supreme Court was unmoved. On May 13 (Friday the 13th, mind you), the court announced a unanimous ruling. Rather than directing the state to fix our broken education funding system, the elected justices opted instead for a punt, arguing that school finance is almost always a responsibility for the Legislature and not for the court system. In a lengthy footnote on Page 24, the court opinion stated that the HISD Student Congress had "filed an excellent amicus brief" and, on page 100, the justices acknowledged that our state's school system is an "ossified regime that is ill suited for 21st century Texas." Yet, they still lacked the judicial integrity to do anything about it, asserting in multiple references that the court should be "very deferential" to the Legislature. The Texas Supreme Court insisted it should not interfere in school finance if Texas' public schools satisfy "minimum constitutional requirements" for adequacy. In other words, according to the court, our schools are currently "minimally adequate." Incredibly, after five years of the Legislature waiting for the court system to make a ruling before lawmakers take action, the court deferred back to the Legislature. Meanwhile, students have been stuck in "minimally adequate" schools, and apparently will continue to be as the court ruling likely means the Legislature is not compelled by law to make things better. Come the next session in 2017, the Legislature, with its history of reluctance to tackle this issue unless shoved by the courts, will likely take the stand that school underfunding is exclusively a bureaucratic fiscal mismanagement problem, pushing the onus back to local school districts, bringing the problem full circle without improving a single thing. My classmates and our younger peers still in school are worth more than the "minimally adequate" effort our leaders are putting in. Showing just enough interest to demonstrate that they care, but not enough to effectuate any real change is dismissive of students and an abdication of legislators' official and moral duty. Texas students are extraordinary and worth more than some lawmaker's minimally adequate attention. In Houston, those students include a girl who dealt with anorexia for four years before learning what it was. She's now a sophomore at Westside High School. They include a student who wakes up every morning remembering her best friend who committed suicide because of bullying in sixth grade. The student is now a junior at Yates High School. And they include a kid who grew up with a single father and six siblings, none of whom spoke English when he started elementary school. He's now a senior at Austin High School. But they wake up every morning and go to school, determined to graduate and to put forth their best contribution to our great state. In Texas, where 60 percent of public schoolchildren are now economically disadvantaged, these students' struggles are commonplace. Theirs are the kinds of names and faces we presented to the court - the kids the Texas Supreme Court has declared only require a "minimally adequate" education. The 5 million public schoolchildren in Texas deserve better than this. If they can work that hard, why can't lawmakers? We owe it to our extraordinary youth to act upon our conscience and do our best to improve their lives. Our leaders must consider the voices, stories and lives of my classmates and our 5 million younger peers. We cannot collectively punt our shared responsibility. The future of Texas' children is not a game of hot potato. Tameez is the founding speaker of the HISD Student Congress and a Posse Houston Scholar at the University of Virginia. A wanted Cabool woman was arrested Saturday morning in Texas County. Becky K. Long, 59, was wanted on a misdemeanor Texas County warrant for failing to appear on an endangering the welfare of a child charge. She was also charged for failure to register a motor vehicle. Long was taken to the Texas County Jail. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. An Edmonton woman was sentenced Friday to two and a half years in prison, and to pay back thousands in unpaid wages for exploiting more than 70 foreign workers. Jennilyn Morris, 46, pleaded guilty to two labour trafficking charges under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in February, making her the first person to be charged under the act in the province. Morris came to Canada herself as a live-in caregiver in 1998, according to a column in the Edmonton Journal, and went on to build two businesses, a restaurant, Smokey Joes Hickory Smoke House and Demot Cleaning Inc., which provided cleaning and kitchen staff to hotels. Advertisement In addition, Morris also lent her Demot staffers out to Webco Printing to operate printing presses and insert flyers into newspapers, according to the Edmonton Journal. It was after a Canada Border Services Agency raid on Webco that Morris' worker exploitation was discovered, Global News reports. "If you can stand, you can work." Under her management, Morris had her employees work up to 14 to 16 hours a day for less than minimum wage at $9 per hour and $8 per hour if they worked overtime, meanwhile, she was paid up to $20 per hour for staff, according to an Edmonton Journal column by Paula Simmons. One victim, single mother Teodora Bautista, was brought over to Edmonton from the Philippines, where she worked to support her five children back home. Advertisement "When [Bautista] questioned Morris about the hours, Morris responded by saying, 'If you can stand, you can work.'" according to court documents obtained by CBC News. Morris also provided rental housing for her victims where up to five people shared one bed or slept on the floor. Some workers were charged $20 for a blanket. "They felt like second-class citizens." From the start of 2007 until summer 2010, Morris also brought three people from the Philippines to Canada, and misled both them, and the Canadian government about their work contracts, wages to be paid and overtime rates, according to Global News. She also made them cover the cost of their paperwork and airfare. At least 68 of the workers she had on staff at both of her businesses were foreign nationals whom Morris employed illegally and exploited. They either had visitor visas, or work permits for other employers, according to court records from earlier this year. These are the two offences for which Morris is being charged, according to the Edmonton Journal. Three of the original five charges were dropped. Advertisement Justice Ken Nielsen heard 28 victim impact statements this week and he noted their "shame, shock, confusion and lack of confidence," CBC News reports. "They felt like second-class citizens," the CBC News quotes the judge saying. "They felt if they expressed their concerns, they'd have their work hours reduced or get sent back to the Philippines." In addition to the two and a half year jail sentence, Morris will have to pay $22,000 in restitution to 13 of her victims. Justice Nielsen said Morris did not appear to express remorse, and a clear message needed to be sent to deter others from this crime, Global reports. Also on HuffPost: Finally an agreement between the government and the BMA seems to be emerging over the issue of the junior doctors' contract. The new proposal allows Jeremy Hunt to crow, in typical Hunt fashion, that he has forced junior doctors to work more hours at the weekend for no extra pay when, in typical Hunt fashion, this is not true. The BMA are pleased with the offer because, in reality, any junior doctor working a standard rota will continue to receive premium pay for unsociable weekend hours. It remains to be seen whether junior doctors will accept the contract when the detail has been made public but at least this represents some progress. This would have been fantastic news nine months ago, it would have been good news six months ago but, with a final decision not likely till early July, this has come far too late. The damage has been done, and the damage is substantial. Had Hunt turned up to the negotiating table and offered to stuff junior doctors' mouths with gold and give them a one day working week, this would not have been enough to undo the cataclysm that is awaiting the NHS come August. August is the month when most junior doctors change jobs. It is also the month when newly graduated medical students take to the wards. This August there will be many fewer doctors than there are supposed to be because this dispute, and the subsequent strikes, have prompted many doctors and students to reconsider their future in the NHS. The government seems to be in a state of denial about this but it is very real and very obvious to see for those working in healthcare. Advertisement Applications for the paperwork required to work overseas sky rocketed after the imposition of the contract. 300 doctors applied in just one day after the Secretary of State announced the contract imposition. Many of these applications may have been made in protest but thousands of doctors do leave each year and the number is rising year on year and the drain has undoubtedly been made worse because of the dispute. The number of doctors looking to move overseas is a sensitive barometer of discontent but the absolute numbers who actually leave probably won't be devastating. More worrying is the number of doctors who are not progressing onto specialist training. After two years of general training doctors are expected to choose a specialism to pursue. Less than half, just 48%, of doctors are choosing to go onto a specialty training scheme. The knock on effect of this is that there will be 52% fewer junior doctors than anticipated on specialty rotas over the coming years and 52% fewer consultants available to the NHS in seven to ten years time than the government is anticipating. Most worrying of all, however, are the indications that final year medical students are choosing not to take up jobs in the NHS. For the first time since medical careers were restructured in 2005 it looks likely that there will be unfilled posts for newly qualified doctors. A BMA survey has found that three quarters of medical students in England are more likely to start their careers outside of the NHS. It has taken five or six years and over 300, 000 of tax payer money to train each of these students and, if they don't start their training in the NHS, they are unlikely ever to return to it. This is a disaster the legacy of which will last a generation. Until last year, few had known the story of Lili Elbe - the Danish artist who started life as the male landscape painter Einar Wegener and faced the challenge of pioneering gender realignment surgery in the early 1930s, at a time when it was almost unknown. That all changed with the beautifully-told drama 'The Danish Girl', starring Eddie Redmayne in the role of Lili. As well as his Oscar nomination, Alicia Vikander won an Academy Award for her performance as his wife Gerda, an artist herself thrown into unique circumstances when she learned of her husband's wish to transform himself. Director Tom Hooper (also an Oscar winner for 'The King's Speech) made the decision to shoot his film on the streets of Copenhagen, Lili and Gerda's home, and a few hours in the Danish capital brings to life the extraordinary story of these two artists inspired to break away from all that was conventionally expected of them. Advertisement You can take your first step into history with a walk along the Nyhavn Canal, a colourful waterfront peppered by colourful 17th century townhouses, restaurants and bars. This canal goes all the way to the harbour and is home to many historical wooden ships. Just outside Cap Horn (a restaurant full of organic Danish dishes - don't forget to try the herring), you'll spot where, in the film, Eddie's Lili meets up with Henrik (played by Ben Whishaw), the first person to challenge her unique union with wife Gerda. During the making of the film, the waterfront was transformed into a 1920s fish market, but it really doesn't look very different in reality. Tom Hooper directing Eddie Redmayne on Nyhavn waterfront in 2015 A few streets away are the Nyboder former naval barracks, the distinct row of yellow houses where 'The Danish Girl' viewers can see Lili paying a secret visit to Henrik. Tom Hooper must have whistled with delight when he first saw this street, it is beautiful and entirely untouched by modern history. Nor would he be the first cultural figure to be so affected. Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard previously wrote, "Why was I not born in Nyboder, why did I not die as a baby?" High praise indeed... probably. A short walk away through the Old Town of Copenhagen is the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where Lili and Gerda first met and both studied in real life. Here are some of the landscape paintings that established Einar as a formidable talent, and the building can be seen in the film hosting the artists' ball where Lili makes her public debut. Advertisement You can also poke your head in the Royal Library, the reading room where, in the film, Lili researched gender reassignment and discovered she wasn't alone in her desires. Tom Hooper had to do very little to transform the Nyboder area of Copenhagen, for this scene in the film Copenhagen's Frederiksstad district is a contender for UNESCO World Heritage status, so many more scenes from the film found their natural locale in these parts. Dipping into a wine bar, one of Lili's actual real-life paintings can be seen on the wall, and a wander through these streets brings home the light, beautiful architecture and sense of freedom that would have each inspired Lili and Gerda's life here. Lili is everywhere for sure, but Gerda's is an equally interesting story, one which has been overlooked for nearly a century. This has been remedied by Copenhagen's Arken Museum of Modern Art, a gallery that sits on the sea half an hour out of the city, and is as proudly international as it is Danish. Advertisement Running until January 2017 is an exhibition dedicated to Gerda's career, both before and after her husband's transformation inspired her second chapter, and it becomes clear that Lili's journey from man to woman both challenged her personally, but inspired her creatively. One seductive portrait by Gerda of Lili finds the subject looking over her shoulder, coquettish but also beseeching - theirs was obviously a very complex relationship. 'A Summer Day' hints at the complexities in the relationship between the artist Gerda Wegener, the subject Lili Elbe (centre) and her husband as he had been (left) More sophisticated yet is a huge picture 'A Summer Day', where Gerda has accommodated both her husband Einar, trapped behind an easel, and Lili, up front and centre, resplendent but bashful in her hard-fought, female form. Advertisement You can sit in front of this huge painting for quite a while, musing on the demands of love, and it was here that the cast and crew of 'The Danish Girl' held their first press conference for the film, way back in 2015. Long before Awards Season frenzy carried the movie all the way to the Oscars, Eddie Redmayne was impressing the Arken curators with his knowledge of the artistic duo, jumping up to point out elements of Gerda's work to a surprised but impressed press corps. On the way back to the centre of Copenhagen, make sure to stop off for a hot chocolate, or something stronger, at Rainbow Square, the area next to City Hall that the council voted in 2014 to rename in honour of the LGBT flag, and the country's commitment to equal rights. Sitting here, toasting both Lili and Gerda and the challenges they faced together, brought so beautifully to life in 'The Danish Girl', is a fitting reminder that, while Lili Elbe may have faced singular challenges ahead of her time, she was fortunate in one respect - that of being born in a country that can pride itself on its progressiveness, and a pioneering spirit she so evidently shared. 'The Danish Girl' is out to own on DVD and Blu-ray now The social housing crisis Britain faces today isn't just about the chronic shortage of council and housing association homes. It's about people. It's about people worrying about their future, as more and more households are unable to rent or buy without help. It's about 1.2 million people in England alone on social housing waiting lists, struggling to provide sufficient accommodation for themselves and their families. With nearly 100,000 social housing properties in the UK being occupied by someone who shouldn't be there - it's also about those people who are actively abusing the system. Advertisement With parents who both grew up on council estates, I understand the difference social housing can make to people's lives. My parents were able to use this as their start in life. A solid base with which to focus on their futures. When I was a teen, myself and my family went through some difficult times. Business developments that were out of their control took a turn for the worse, which led to us desperately trying to work out how we'd survive this new phase of our lives. The big question being 'just how are we going to keep a roof above our heads?!' Thankfully, our situation improved in time but it left me with the stark realisation that a home is one of, if not THE most important thing a human being can have. Right now, families in genuine need are being deprived of this not only because of the housing shortage but because of those who actively choose to defraud the system. As the housing crisis worsens, it seems there's really no limit to the levels that some people will go to cheat the system. Within this year's series of Council House Crackdown, some of the case studies myself and Luke Doonan have come across are truly shocking. Advertisement By law, a social housing property must be used as a tenant's main and principal home. In one case we see a man who obtained not one but three social housing tenancies, whilst also part owning two other properties. Added to this, it was also found that he'd been unlawfully subletting the three council houses and pocketing a small fortune. Then there is the case of one woman who claimed to have an income of less than 18,000 to get her council house in Bristol. In reality she was living comfortably in Nottingham earning over 30,000 a year whilst illegally subletting the Bristol council property. She also failed to mention that she owned two other properties, one of which she'd purchased using the right to buy scheme. Another case sees a man involved in multiple illegal sublets using three different identities. The housing investigators' continued mission to crack down on tenancy cheats is what eventually stopped all these individuals in their tracks and allowed the council to deliver the homes back to people who really need them. In this year's series, I really hope to shed yet more light on just how important it is for council and housing association homes to be given to deserving families. The housing investigators hard work and ingenuity is what will really start to turn the tide in the battle against tenancy cheats and hopefully have a positive impact on Britain's social housing crisis. However, with housing shortages, people abandoning their homes and those cheating the system - this is clearly not an easy task. Advertisement The pro-EU lobby has brought out the big guns in their campaign to get the UK to stay in Europe. They have told us the economic sky is going to fall down if we leave the EU, and have thrown financial forecasts from the Treasury, think-tanks, and even a sitting US President in the arena. But none of the parties above can be trusted to give impartial advice: they all have vested interests in trying to provoke fear in voters' minds. Let's take Chancellor George Osbourne. His Treasury calculation that every household in the UK would be 4,300 worse off if we leave the EU assumes the economy will shrink by 6% by 2030. Is this really the case? Advertisement Well, it's impossible to say. But putting an exact figure on this is simply ridiculous. No one can forecast this with any degree of accuracy - but if the Treasury hadn't "sexed up" the stats Osborne wouldn't have his headline grabbing figure. What can be said with a great degree of accuracy is that Britain is around 8.5bn down on its net contributions to the EU this year. We send 13bn and we get around 4.5bn back, mostly on payments to farmers and the poorer regions of the UK such as Wales and Cornwall. In other words, already this year 1,851 has been given to the EU for every adult in the UK. And that figure will be considerably bigger by 2030. In addition to saving all that money, we could reduce net migration into the UK from EU-mandated 329,000 to around 185,000 a year, which would put a lot less pressure on our public services. Advertisement Post-Brexit, we would have three possible scenarios for trade: 1. Becoming a member of European Economic Area, like Norway. 2. Negotiate a bilateral deal, like Canada. 3. Or have no specific agreement with the EU and rely on securing access through individual negotiations, like any other member of the World Trade Organisation. These are not bad options, and we should not underestimate our power in the market: we imported 5.3bn worth of goods from Germany in February 2016 alone and 2.3bn from France. No German Chancellor or French President will want to harm the trade with the UK by starting a trade war. If the prices of French and German goods are pushed up by trade tariffs, UK consumers will simply not buy their products. The Paris-based think tank The Organisation for Economic Co-operation (OECD) also says Brexit spells financial disaster for the UK. They estimate GDP would plunge by 3.3% by 2020, lowering annual household income by 2,200. But the OECD receives millions of Euros a year from the EU, and it also recommended that Britain join the Exchange Rate Mechanism, which cost the British tax payer 3.3bn on Black Wednesday in September 1992. So perhaps we should take their advice with a pinch of salt. Another 'big gun' was the President of the United States, Barack Obama, who weighed in last week saying the UK would be significantly weaker outside of the EU, and trade with the USA would suffer as a result. Advertisement Trade with the USA is a major consideration: we are a net exporter to the USA, unlike the EU, from which we are a net importer. But we don't need to be part of the EU to trade with the United States. We can forge our trade deals with America more easily without having to put agreements through the turgid bureaucracy of Brussels. The bottom line is that it suits US interests for the UK to remain in the EU - but remaining involves the UK making agreements that the American government would never consent to in a million years. They want us to have open borders, yet they strengthen theirs and Donald Trump even proposes building a wall all the way across the US - Mexican border. So yet again it's a case of do what we say and not what we do. Donald Trump breaks the rules. For his followers, that's part of his appeal. Trump specializes in the lie. That, too, draws his followers to him. That's because Trump's movement is an appeal to the authoritarian personality, which is built around a fundamental lie, and which is, at its root, a rebellion against the order it pretends to serve. Let me explain. TRUMP AS TRANSGRESSIVE LEADER The pundits have exclaimed since near the outset about how the usual rules don't apply to Trump. His insults to Mexicans, John McCain, Fox News, his opponents, etc. - all these transgressions were supposed to bring him down. But they didn't. Instead, Trump's support just kept building. ("I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters," Trump famously said.) Advertisement His transgressions showed millions of people that he was their kind of guy. Take Trump's use of the idea of "political correctness." In the world that Trump has created for his followers, hostility to the term "politically correct" has been expanded into permission to behave badly in a whole variety of ways. Not only are old forms of bigotry allowed, by the transgressive leader, to crawl back out from under the rocks. But more broadly, Trump claims a license to take a sledge hammer to our political norms, to good manners, and to just plain decency. Trump enacts all his transgressions under the banner of making America "great again." As if our nation's greatness has nothing to do with its values. Which is also why the man who says he'll make our nation great again also says he will exercise powers not granted the president by the Constitution, condones political violence, and deals with the press as if the Bill of Rights did not exist. The strangeness of using a wrecking ball as a primary tool to supposedly build back our national greatness connects with the role of the lie in his leadership. A fact-checking organization - the Pulitzer Prize winning Politifact -- found that 76% of the statements from Donald Trump were either mostly false, false, or "pants on fire" false. Trump's percentage of falsehoods was much higher than any of the other presidential candidates. And Politifact gave the "Lie of the Year" award to the whole body of Trump's campaign misstatements. Advertisement Norm Ornstein has said that while many voters care about the truth, we don't know what that portion is. But the big question is why is it that the portion of voters who don't care about the truth is so large that they've been able to elevate a consistent liar to the status of nominee for president of one of America's two major parties. To answer that, it is necessary to understand the authoritarian personality. THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY First, it should be noted: it has been empirically established -- by a study by Matthew MacWilliams, published on Politico -- that authoritarians are a major component in Trump's following. Indeed, MacWilliam's study found that "authoritarianism" is the variable most highly predictive of whether a voter's preferred candidate was Donald Trump. Authoritarianism is a long-established concept in both theory and in empirical research. (The work goes back to the years right after World War II, when many felt a pressing need to understand how Nazism could have gained power in such a "civilized" nation as Germany." Psychological studies have suggested that to raise children to be authoritarians, one should subject them to demands harsh enough - with deviation or rebellion so little tolerated -- that the children will feel safer identifying with the powerful authority, even at the cost of pushing their real needs and feelings underground. Those parts of the self for which there is no place in the harsh "morality" that is being imposed are thereafter denied. That denial of a vital part of the real self is the lie around which the authoritarian personality forms. It's a lie that says, "I am the wholehearted defender of our sacred values - God and country and morality." It's a lie because all that has been repressed does not disappear, but remains a powerful - if unconscious -- motive force. The "good" self on the surface, the "bad" self down below. Advertisement That lie at the root gets reflected at a larger scale in the fact that authoritarian movements so often end up destroying the very things they claim to be serving. For an illustration, consider "patriots" like Clive Bundy, the Nevada rancher who provoked an armed standoff with federal authorities at his ranch (over his non-payment of fees for grazing rights), and Bundy's son who helped seize a federal building in Oregon. They claim - and presumably believe--that they are defenders of America, but the reality of their conduct is that of traitors and rebels and criminals damaging the rule of law which is at the heart of the nation. The way that such authoritarians show their "patriotism" points toward the central lie of the authoritarian personality: underneath the mask of conscious devotion to the beloved order, there is a powerful impulse toward rebellion against that order. Traitors under the banner of patriotism, radicals under the banner of conservatism, hate and strife under the banner of the Christianity that preaches love and peace, wholesale destruction under the banner of building a Thousand Year Reich. HOW THE TRANSGRESSIVE LEADER FULFILLS HIS FOLLOWERS The lie at the root of the authoritarian personality - the false allegiance, the denial of the forbidden impulse of rebellion - explains the attractiveness of transgressive leadership to authoritarian followers. Advertisement This is why a leader like Trump offers fulfillment to his followers. They don't mind the lies because their lack of psychological integration has compelled them to live a lie. The lie creates a welcome because familiar world to dwell in. And they welcome the permission such a transgressive leader gives them to enact through him their rebellion against the received order-- an order that, in the family in which they took psychological shape, has injured them by setting them at war against themselves. In the original formation of their character, the authoritarians established the pattern of surrendering to a powerful authority figure. It is he who gets to define what's right. If the leader says it's OK, it's OK. And so, repeating that pattern, the authoritarian follower is given permission by the transgressive leader to express the forbidden. The followers can participate with the leader in knocking down the constrains against which they have chafed. Under the pretense of making America great again, the transgressive leader enacts the rebellion that will tear down the nation. And there is little reason to doubt that a President Trump would leave America less "great" in almost every way. Advertisement Brokenness begets brokenness. Broken people can become vehicles for inflicting brokenness onto the nation. Let us hope there are not enough of them to put a Donald Trump into the White House. This week the nation watched as the #NeverTrump movement folded faster than one of the presumptive nominee's beachfront developments. As many tried to explain away Trump's reckless, racist extremism, a few put principle over party. The wife of former Republican Senator Bob Bennett, who died on May 4, revealed that her husband spent his dying hours reaching out to Muslims. "He would go to people with the hijab [on] and tell them he was glad they were in America," she told the Daily Beast. "He wanted to apologize on behalf of the Republican Party." In the U.K., Prime Minister David Cameron called Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., "divisive, stupid and wrong." Trump's reply was that he didn't think he and Cameron would "have a very good relationship." The press is also doing its part to whitewash extremism. The New York Times called Trump's racism "a reductive approach to ethnicity," and said Trump's attitude toward women is "complex" and "defies simple categorization," as if sexism is suddenly as complicated as string theory. Not everybody's going along. Bob Garfield, co-host of "On the Media," warned the press of the danger of normalizing Trump. "Every interview with Donald Trump, every single one should hold him accountable for bigotry, incitement, juvenile conduct and blithe contempt for the Constitution," he said. "The voters will do what the voters will do, but it must not be, cannot be because the press did not do enough." Among the many hits written by lyricist Hal David and composer Burt Bacharach, one song had a curious history. When the songwriting team showed it to Dionne Warwick (a frequent collaborator), she initially turned it down. In 1965, the song was first released by Jackie DeShannon. After The Supremes recorded it in 1968, it became a major hit. Its message was pure and simple: "What the world needs now is love, sweet love It's the only thing that there's just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love No, not just for some, but for everyone." As one monitors current events, Hal David's lyrics become more and more timely. From the political violence being stirred up by demagogues in a Presidential election year to the terrorist bombings in Europe and Africa; from the desperate plight of Syrian refugees to the bitter hatred driving North Carolina's odious Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act and Mississippi's vicious Religious Freedom Restoration Act, it's painfully obvious that the distemper found throughout our society has metastasized into a cancerous attack on human rights. Advertisement When one examines the racism, heterosexism, anti-Semitism, and misogyny that capture today's headlines, the theme song from 1961's Carnival! makes one yearn for a kinder, gentler world. Are such naive sentiments doomed to destruction? Is there any hope at all for peace on earth? That depends on how people treat each other on a one-to-one basis. Sometimes, the intimacy of a simple act of love and kindness can send ripples of warmth and comfort through a person's soul. It's not always about karma. On many occasions, extending a helping hand is the simplest and most logical thing to do. * * * * * * * * * * One of the most poignant films I've seen since 2008's Departures is Sweet Bean, a most delicate and graceful piece of storytelling by Naomi Kawase which starts slow, seems to be concerned with small culinary details, and then quietly blows the audience away with its depth and humanity. Adapted from a novel by Durian Sukegawa, the film begins with its focus on Sentaro (Masatoshi Nagase), a middle-aged man who makes dorayaki pancakes in his small bakery. Sentaro (Masatoshi Nagase) bakes and sells dorayaki in Sweet Bean The secret appeal of a dorayaki lies in the red bean paste at its core. Sentaro's treats are far from memorable (he buys his bean paste in bulk) until an elderly woman stops by and changes his life. At 76, Tokue (Kirin Kiki) is hardly the type of applicant the depressed Sentaro envisioned when he put up a "Help Wanted" sign. The fact that she is willing to arrive for work early every morning and accept a ridiculously low wage (even less than Sentaro offered) doesn't make much sense, either. Advertisement But Tokue is a woman with several secrets. The most obvious one is that she knows how to make the perfect red bean paste. For someone like Sentaro (whose lack of enthusiasm is reflected in his pancakes), Tokue's insistence on listening to the stories that the beans tell her of wind, sun, and rain, sounds like sheer madness. Yet there is no denying the sublime taste of her red bean paste. As his customer base rapidly grows thanks to word of mouth, Sentaro has no knowledge of Tokue's backstory other than the fact that she does not have a telephone number and will not write her address down on his standard employment form. Tokue (Kirin Kiki) is a 76-year-old woman with a dark secret who comes to work for Sentaro in Sweet Bean Nor is Tokue Sentaro's fairy godmother. When the shop owner (Miyoko Asada), a gossipy and extremely materialistic woman, tells him what she has heard via the grapevine and demands that Sentaro fire Tokue at once, he can't bring himself to obey (even if it means watching his business go from boom to bust overnight). In her director's statement, Naomi Kawase writes: "Cherry trees in full bloom remind us of death. I do not know of any other tree whose flowers blossom in such a spectacular way, only to have their petals scatter just as suddenly. Is this the reason behind our fascination for blossoming cherry trees? Is this why we are compelled to see a reflection of our own lives in them? Our society is not always predisposed to letting our dreams become reality. Sometimes, it swallows up our hopes. Sometimes an impenetrable silence engulfs us. And yet, the joy resulting from commitment and connection to the world allows us to better appreciate its changes and evolution. Sweet Bean is the meeting of two souls who unite in order to face life's obstacles. How many times must we be knocked down before we can reach paradise?" Poster art for Sweet Bean "Throughout our lives, there are times when we might find ourselves filled with regret and despair, and feel like giving in. Despite this (or maybe even because of this) we are nevertheless capable of holding onto our hopes and of continuing to have faith in the future. By unveiling the complex mechanics of this society, I hope to further an understanding of the very essence of existence. Sentaro, Tokue, and Wakana meet when the cherry trees are in full bloom. The trajectories of these three people are very different. And yet, their souls cross paths and meet one another in the same landscapes. After learning that Tokue is infected with leprosy, the story pulls us into a quest for the very essence of what makes us human. As a director, I have the honor and pleasure of exploring different lives through cinema, as is the case with this film." Sentaro (Masatoshi Nagase) and his friend, Wakana (Kyara Uchida), in a scene from Sweet Bean With the loss of business following Tokue's departure, the shop owner informs Sentaro that she is planning to turn the business over to her nephew, whom she expects Sentaro to mentor. When Sentaro's friend, Wakana (Kyara Uchida) suggests that they pay a visit to Tokue, the old woman tells them about her life and introduces them to her close friend, Yoshiko (Etsuko Ichihara). While Kawase's deeply moving film does a splendid job of depicting the discrimination faced by an elderly segment of Japan's population who are forced to live their lives segregated from the rest of society, it also demonstrates how the walking wounded continually seek out and find dignity in their lives. Here's the trailer: * * * * * * * * * * Over at Thick House, Crowded Fire Theater recently presented the Bay area premiere of Jonas Hassen Khemiri's achingly beautiful play, I Call My Brothers. In 2012, CFT presented the Bay area premiere of another play by Khemiri entitled Invasion! In the following clip, the playwright reads a passage from I Call My Brothers which gives a sense of the poetry in his writing. Advertisement Written one week after a December 2010 suicide bombing in Stockholm that shocked Sweden, I Call My Brothers first appeared in essay form in Dagens Nyheter. Khemiri's novel was published to great acclaim and was subsequently transformed into a play (directed by Farnaz Arbabi) that toured Sweden with Riksteatern in 2013 and premiered in New York in January 2014. I Call My Brothers has since been performed in Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, and Finland. In the following clip, Khemiri describes how watching a production of his play in another language helped him to fully comprehend the universality of his drama. Directed by Evren Odcikin with a lyricism and vitality that sweeps the audience into the story of Amor (Shoresh Alaudini), a young Muslim who tries to appear cool to his friends while he is trembling inside, CFT's production of I Call My Brothers is a triumph for everyone involved. Shoresh Alaudini stars as Amor in I Call My Brothers (Photo by: Pak Han) As the play begins, Amor and his friends are dancing in a club and having themselves a great time. As Amor describes his friendship with Shavi (Mohammad Shehata), he portrays Shavi as his nerdy best friend from childhood days who eventually got married and became a doting father. Nevertheless, Amor and Shavi still consider themselves as close as brothers, remaining in constant touch via phone. Lately, however, Amor hasn't always been answering Shavi's phone calls as quickly as usual. One night, while dancing in a club, he feels his cell phone vibrating in his pants pocket but ignores Shavi's messages. Amor later learns that a car bomb has exploded and Shavi was desperately trying to contact Amor to make sure he was safe. Advertisement Olivia Rosaldo, Mohammad Shehata, Shoresh Alaudini, and Denmo Ibrahim are the cast of I Call My Brothers (Photo by: Pak Han) For a young Muslim in a large city whose police force is on edge, safety is a critical concern. Crowded Fire Theater's artistic director, Mina Morita, stresses that: "...2016 is a time of great verbal, physical, and spiritual violence on every continent. It seems that we are bending under the weight of hopelessness, uncertainty, or fear, even amid the birth of an increasingly global context in our cities and on our digital devices. In a time that is so connected, why do we feel so isolated, so helpless, so unable to access the trust and understanding that can smother violence? How do we stand as individuals and stand together to survive this explosive time? [Khemiri] has created a complicated, powerful portrait of Muslim-influenced, Western-based identities grappling with the weight of accusatory gazes and words. Part of his genius is tapping into the universal levity of humor that can open minds long enough for truths to enter." Adeline Smith's unit set for I Call My Brothers (Photo by: Pak Han) The humor in I Call My Brothers surfaces in Amor's phone calls with Shavi, with his sister, Ahlem (who is helping their parents build a new house outside of the city), with his sarcastic lifelong friend, Valeria, and most notably, with Caroline (a telemarketer who won't take no for an answer). But when Amor tries to make his way home he is distracted and disturbed by the sight of a police car that has pulled over a dark-skinned driver and seems to be interrogating him. From a distance, Amor can see the man's wife nervously sitting in the passenger seat. Amor's first impulse is to approach the policeman in case a fellow Muslim is being unfairly targeted for harassment. But when he gets closer to the scene and realizes that the driver had merely asked for directions, his embarrassment makes him turn around and quickly head back toward his apartment. Advertisement As his self-doubt and paranoia continue to spiral, Amor starts running, hoping that he can get home safely without drawing attention to himself. Suddenly, he finds himself in a conversation with the radiant spirit of his dead grandmother, Tyra (Denmo Ibrahim), who reassures him that she has been with him all through the day -- watching over him, caring about him, sitting beside him, and loving him in the best way she can. With his confidence restored, Amor's pace slows to a walk and he continues into the night. Amor (Shoresh Alaudini) is comforted by his grandmother, Tyra (Denmo Ibrahim) in a scene from I Call My Brothers (Photo by: Pak Han) While Mohammad Shehata (Shavi) and Olivia Rosaldo (Valeria and Caroline) lend sturdy support in smaller roles, the evening's heavy lifting is in the impressive hands of Shoresh Alaudini as Amor and the ever-amazing Denmo Ibrahim, doubling as Ahlem and Tyra. I've enjoyed Ibrahim's work in other productions but, in I Call My Brothers, her expressive eyes become bottomless pools of empathy, doubt, and unconditional love. Hers is an exquisite performance not to be missed. Adeline Smith's simple unit set features a plexiglass mobile representing the shards of broken glass resulting from the car bomb. Beth Hersh's lighting design and Sara Huddleston's superb sound design contribute to 90 minutes of breathtaking theatricality guided by Evren Odcikin's loving direction and choreography. Here's the trailer. Advertisement In the hours after one presidential debate recently, Google searches for "how can I move to Canada" reportedly spiked 1,150 percent. Best Places in the World to Escape the 2016 Political Season We have nothing against Canada. But it should be said: There are warmer, better-value options to consider ... all over the world. Each year at International Living we release our Global Retirement Index. Researched over months with the help of our ever-growing team of correspondents, editors, and contributors all over the world, this Retirement Index is the ultimate resource for helping you find your ideal retirement haven. This year, across 10 categories from healthcare to cost of living, we factored in absolutely everything needed to make a great retirement destination. How much to rent? Can you catch a movie in English? What is the average humidity? Can you get direct flights to and from the U.S.? How much does a doctor's visit cost? Do they speak English? The list goes on... Advertisement In welcoming, good-weather escapes from Europe to Latin America to Southeast Asia, you can live better than you do now -- for half the price. All 23 countries featured in the Index are terrific retirement destinations. Here we give you a taster of three top choices to consider -- all three made it into our top 10 in the Index this year. Cuenca, Ecuador Ecuador -- Land of Eternal Spring In Ecuador, you'll not only be in the middle of the world, but you could be on top of it. That's because thanks to its location on the equatorial "bulge," the peak of the country's 20,564-foot Mt. Chimborazo is the point on the Earth's surface that's the farthest from the Earth's core and closest to the sun. There truly is something for everyone here. Mountains, beaches, rainforests, cities, and small towns ... all with a price tag nearly anyone can afford. By the way, Ecuador's currency is the U.S. dollar -- no currency conversions necessary. Arguably, Ecuador offers the world's best climate choices in its four distinct regions, from Amazonian rainforests in the east (El Oriente) to warm coastal lowlands (La Costa) in the west and the Galapagos Islands, 600 miles offshore. The Andes Mountains cut right down the middle of the country from north to south, and in this La Sierra region you'll find the temperate weather patterns that give Ecuador its status as the "Land of Eternal Spring." Ecuador has only two seasons: dry, from June to September, and wet, from October to May. On the coast, daytime temperatures typically range in the mid-80s and only occasionally the mid-90s. But in the Sierras, daily temperatures hover near 75 F. Advertisement This near-perfect weather contributes to a low cost of living in Ecuador. If you don't need heat or air conditioning for your home, your utility costs are negligible. Cotacachi, Ecuador "Our electric bills are rarely more than $24," says International Living editor Suzan Haskins who lives in the Andean village of Cotacachi. "And the only heat we need is for hot water. We can easily live on less than $1,500 a month (excluding rent as we own our condo), and that includes local transportation and evenings out. Suzan's budget doesn't include health insurance, but that's affordable in Ecuador, too. You can buy private insurance for typically one-half to one-fourth the cost you may be paying now in the U.S. for instance. Or you can opt to use Ecuador's national social security healthcare system for an average cost of about $70 a month. If you are over 65 and have a resident visa, you can take advantage of Ecuador's retirement benefits program. You can get discounts on domestic airfares and internationals airfares that originate in and return to Ecuador. You'll be eligible for a free landline telephone, 50 percent off public transportation, admission to sporting and cultural events, reduced utility bills, and more. If there are any challenges to living in Ecuador it's that some of your favorite items are either unavailable or more expensive than at home -- things like your favorite brand of peanut butter for instance. But weigh that against amazing geographic diversity, tremendous overall affordability, and the world's most perfect climate, and it's hard to complain about anything in Ecuador. Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia Malaysia -- High Standard, Low-Cost Living in Asia Advertisement Every year, more and more expats are waking up to the amazing opportunities Malaysia has to offer. The country has one of the most robust economies in Asia, and this is reflected in the consistently high standard of living available to locals and expats alike. Quality of life in Malaysia is cost-efficient as well as excellent. In typical expat locations such as Kuala Lumpur and Penang, high-quality real estate is available for rent at a low cost. Why buy when you can rent a 1,600-square-foot apartment with a swimming pool for just $850 a month? On a modest budget, you truly can savor a life of luxury here. With your money going further, you can afford to treat yourself to the stunning array of local food -- which mirrors Malaysia's diverse cultural make-up. For as little as $5, you can enjoy an excellent meal, with a bottle of wine setting you back the same price. The street food is similarly scrumptious and one of the true charms of Malaysian cuisine. "In Penang, we spend anywhere from a quarter to a third of what our monthly budget was back in Chicago," says International Living's Malaysia correspondent Kirsten Raccuia. "For a three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 2,300-square-foot apartment overlooking the ocean and the jungle, we pay about $650 a month. Depending on the week, we spend about $20 in groceries, and if we don't feel like cooking dinner, we can go out to one of the fabulous hawker stalls. A feast for two, including drinks, costs just $12." Advertisement The country makes a perfect base from which you can explore the innumerable natural, historical, and cultural treasures that Southeast Asia has to offer. The proliferation of cheap Asian airlines in recent years has made it easier (and more affordable) than ever to explore Thailand, Indonesia, India, and Japan. In Malaysia, Asia is truly at your doorstep. Direct flights to the U.S. are also available, so getting home for the holidays needn't be a concern. Neither is Internet access, as every year high-speed Internet makes more and more inroads into the country. It's already widely and cheaply available in popular expat destinations like Kuala Lumpur and Penang. As a throwback to the British colonial period, English is widely spoken by locals, making it all the easier to adjust and find your way around. And cities like Penang have plenty of social occasions and festivities for you to enjoy, perfect opportunities to mingle with locals and expats alike. Because of its easy mix of the archaic and modern, Malaysia has been described by expats as stepping back in time, yet with all the benefits of modern comforts. Twenty-first century conveniences abound, but Malaysia holds onto enough of its Old-World, Asian charm to make it a real haven for those eager to experience new cultures and traditions. The public transport network is comprehensive -- you don't need a car, particularly in the cities. And the quality of the roads is first-rate, so if you do decide to invest in a vehicle, dirt tracks won't be an issue. Healthcare quality is similarly top-notch, particularly in the larger cities, where it is comparable to that in any First-World nation. A doctor's appointment will set you back as little as $15. The Alhambra, Granada, Spain Spain -- Europe's Most Affordable Retirement Haven For those seeking sun and affordable living in Europe, Spain remains by far the best option available. "Spain is a great favorite with many people, including me," says International Living Editor Glynna Prentice. "It has the rich history and traditions that you expect from Europe, and all the First-World conveniences. But it also has a fun-loving, late-night culture, wonderful food, and people who place great value on family and friendships, and that's very appealing." Although not as cheap as in most of Latin America, property in Spain is often of a high standard and far better value than in many other European countries. Likewise, Spain's cost of living is lower than what you find in much of Europe. A couple can live comfortably in many cities in Spain for about $2,600 a month, including rent, making Spain a great warm-weather, low-cost choice for anyone who wants to spend time in Europe. For years, Spain's famously warm climate has been attracting expats from colder climes. So if it's sun you're after, you can do much worse. The aptly named Costa del Sol ("Coast of the Sun"), a 100-mile stretch along Spain's southern Mediterranean coast, is blessed with some of the best summers (and beaches) in the world. But even the more northern reaches of the country (such as Catalonia and parts of the northwest coast) provide tee-shirts-and-shorts weather late into the year. Winters in these areas are never worse than mild. Spain is truly a country that has it all. "Whether you want to dine like royalty in San Sebastian, ski in the Pyrenees, run with the bulls in Pamplona, explore museums in Barcelona, hit the beach in Alicante, or wander Moorish palaces in Granada, Spain delivers," says Glynna. "Spain is incredibly diverse, with something to suit everyone." Advertisement Spain's people, cityscapes, and famed food draw influence from the many groups who have settled there over the centuries: Basques, Moors, Celts, Catalans, and others, with each region flavored by its own identity. It all guarantees you have plenty to see and do. For lovers of wide-open spaces, Spain's vast, photogenic landscapes are a hiker's heaven. Owing to its location at the meeting point of Eurasia and Africa, it also boasts some of the best bird-watching on the planet: Each season brings different feathered treasures, as they migrate from one continent to the other. All the First-World amenities you would expect of a European country are abundant in Spain. The internet is reliable and fast, with coverage everywhere. Public transport is so efficient that you only need a car in the most remote regions. Home comforts -- U.S. television, movies, and music -- are easy to come by, too. Spain's healthcare system is routinely recognized by the World Health Organization as one of the best in the world. To find out more about the above countries and to discover the seven other winners, check out International Living's Global Retirement Index 2016. Advertisement This article comes to us courtesy of InternationalLiving.com, the world's leading authority on how to live, work, invest, travel, and retire better overseas. Bombed out street in Aleppo As the crow flies Aleppo and Mosul are little more than 300 miles apart. They mark, roughly, the western and eastern edges of the Islamic State. Both cities are presently the scenes of important battles for control that will help determine the future of the Islamic State, and by extension, the current Syrian and Iraqi governments; and currently, both battles are going badly for Washington and its allies. Aleppo is the second largest city in Syria. For the last four years it has been contested by the Free Syrian Army, various Jihadist groups, including the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusrah Front, and the Assad government. At one point during the summer of 2015, it seemed that the Free Syrian Army was on the verge of taking control of the city and expelling the pro-Assad Syrian Army and its militias. The loss of Aleppo would have been a significant setback for the Assad government. It might well have marked the beginning of the end for the Assad dynasty in Syria. Some nine months later, following the intervention of Russian military forces in support of the Syrian government, the situation is sharply reversed. It is the Free Syrian Army that now finds itself largely surrounded and, its recent successes notwithstanding, in danger of collapsing. Its lifeline to Turkey is almost entirely closed off, while Syrian troops, supported by Russian air power and Russian Special Forces units, are steadily drawing a noose around Aleppo's beleaguered defenders. Advertisement In the meantime, the Obama Administration continues to play out the farce that it is engaging with Russia to organize a ceasefire and craft a political solution to end the Syrian Civil War. The Syrian ceasefire is failing because neither Damascus nor Moscow has any interest in maintaining it or in crafting a political solution to end the fighting in Syria. Indeed, the Kremlin has already made it clear what it considers an acceptable political solution: the continuation of the Assad government, an unspecified role for the "moderate" Syrian rebels in an Assad administration and a combined Russian-American effort to eradicate Islamic State and other radical jihadist groups. To his credit Vladimir Putin is well on his way to accomplishing exactly what he said he was going to do. A lesson that is not lost on Russia's allies in the Middle East nor on America's. The Syrian government always had the advantage when it came to air power. Modest as its air forces were, they was still more than those possessed by the Free Syrian Army. They had none to speak of. Russian air power, however, tipped the balance of military power decisively in favor of the Assad government. After a rocky start, the combination of Syrian ground troops and Russian air forces have proven to be an effective and lethal combination. In Aleppo they have steadily worn down the Free Syrian Army and its Islamist allies. At this point, barring a dramatic change in battlefield conditions, it is only a question of time until Assad's troops prevail in the Battle of Aleppo. Washington had an opportunity to declare a no-fly zone over the Syrian battlefield prior to Russia's intervention. Syrian rebel groups were asking for a no-fly zone as early as 2011. In February 2014, UN Security Council Resolution 2139 demanded an end to attacks on civilians and called for "further steps in the case of non-compliance." This was widely interpreted as a call for a no fly zone. The Obama Administration, however, demurred. A no-fly zone at this point would have shifted the military balance in favor of the Syrian rebels. Advertisement Following the Russian intervention, the Obama White House was quick to declare that "it would not cooperate" with Moscow's aims and that the Kremlin's actions would lead Russia into a "quagmire" and further aggravate the crisis in the Middle East. The Obama Administration continued to insist that a resolution of the Syrian Civil War would require the departure of Bashar al-Assad. At the same time, however, the White House made it clear that it would not challenge Russian air power over Syria, and while it would continue to supply arms to the Free Syrian Army, it would not attack the Syrian Army or defend the Free Syrian Army from Russian attacks. Disposition of Syrian rebel and Syrian Army forces in Aleppo, Spring 2016. Pink: Syrian Army Froces, Green: Syrian Rebels, Grey: Islamic State. The outcome was predictable. Bolstered by Russian air power, the Assad government steadily tipped the military balance in its favor. It was clear by the winter of 2015, that in the absence of any concerted US action, only a Turkish ground invasion would save the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo from being surrounded and overrun. A Turkish ground invasion, however, would have required American air cover to be successful. After toying with the idea the Obama administration opted not to participate. Instead the White House agreed to the Russian proposal for a ceasefire. A ceasefire that was little more than a facade to forestall a Turkish intervention and to give political cover to Washington and save it from the embarrassment of having a bankrupt policy clearly exposed. While the ceasefire may have diminished, somewhat, the intensity of the fighting in Syria, it did little to stop the fighting for Aleppo. Instead, whenever world opinion reaches a crescendo, Russia, aided by the United States, trots out the prospect of a new ceasefire until the outrage over the carnage in Syria diminishes sufficiently for Moscow and Damascus to return to business as usual. The Kremlin is not yet ready to declare victory in the Syrian Civil War, but it has made considerable progress in redefining the political landscape in Syria. It is now inconceivable that there is any scenario in the future of Syria that will not include the continued involvement of Bashar al-Assad. For the United States and its allies the choice is increasingly one between accepting the continuation of the Assad regime, albeit possibly with some participation of the Syrian rebels, or aligning itself with radical jihadist elements to overthrow Assad. Given that those jihadist groups include organizations that are mortal enemies of the United Stated, it's clear there is little choice. Advertisement Three hundred miles away, another battle is gearing up. This one for Mosul, once the second largest city in Iraq, with a population of around two million people. Today it is around a quarter of that. The city has been largely surrounded, with all of the major roads, except for Highway 1 to Baji, blocked. Iraqi troops and Shiite militias have been advancing from the south, while Peshmerga forces have held defensive positions to the north, east and west of the city. As of May 22, Iraqi troops were contesting the village of Al Qayyarah, about 22 miles south of Mosul and about 5 miles east of the junction with Highway 1. Al Qayyarah also hosts a former Iraqi Air Force base (Saddam Air Base), about 15 miles due west of the town. The air base, now known as Qayyarah West Airfield, is a major facility. Its runways can accommodate a C-5 Galaxy, and the air base can serve as a major supply point during the upcoming battle for Mosul. Russian president Vladimir Putin and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. The US has quietly built up its deployment in the area in support of the Iraqi offensive. It's unclear what the total American ground presence in Iraq is, but it is certainly higher than the authorized limit of 3,870, the official estimate previously circulated by the Pentagon. The actual number of US troops on the ground is estimated at between 4,000 and 5,000. In addition, notwithstanding the Obama White House's insistence that the American troops are in Iraq in an advisory and training role, Marine General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has confirmed in Congressional testimony that US troops are actively involved in combat roles. US Special Forces are involved in training and advising their Iraqi counterparts, and they are also carrying out their own missions independent of the Iraqi military. In addition the US has established a fire base (Fire Base Bell/Kara Soar Counter Fire Complex) near Makhmour to provide artillery support for Iraqi troops. The fire base hosts four 155 mm howitzers and is manned by approximately 200 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Pentagon has indicated that it is open to establishing more fire bases in northern Iraq as needed. The Marines at Fire Base Bell are soon going to be replaced by members of the 101st Airborne from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Despite the appearance of steady progress, privately US military officials have expressed serious misgivings about the upcoming battle for Mosul. What role the Shiite militias will play has not been settled. The US has been adamant that Shia militias would not be involved in the liberation of Mosul. The radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, widely seen as an Iranian proxy in Iraq, has, on the other hand, demanded a role for his official militia, the Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades). Advertisement Russian Sukhoi conducting an attack in Syria The Peace Brigades are a part of a broader grouping of Shia militias known as the Popular Mobilization Unit, which was organized in June 2014, following the routing of the Iraqi Army by Islamic State militants. The group also includes the Hezbollah Brigades, Asaib al-Haq (Righteous League), Harakat Nujaba (Movement of the Noble), Saraya Khorasan (Khorasan Brigades) and the Iman Ali Brigades. All of these groups are hostile to the US and have received arms, financing and training by Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The Hezbollah Brigades are classified as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the US State Department and many of the leaders of the other militias are listed as foreign terrorists. On April 30, thousands of supporters of al-Sadr burst into the heavily defended, supposedly impenetrable, Green Zone, and occupied the Iraqi Parliament, as well as a number of other government buildings. The protest was triggered by al-Sadr's repeated calls to end the endemic corruption in the Iraqi government, hold early elections and improve the delivery of government social services to Iraqis. Al-Sadr has also been demanding an end to the political quota system originally set up by the US. The abolishment of the quota system would further marginalize Iraq's Sunni and Kurdish populations. On May 20, al-Sadr supporters again invaded the Green Zone, the latest incident in what is now a recurring pattern of weekly Friday protests against the Baghdad government. This time they were dispersed by tear gas before they could occupy any buildings. Initially, the occupation of the Iraqi Parliament by al-Sadr's supporters was seen as a potential coup attempt. Those fears were abated when the protestors peacefully disbanded the next day. Although the protestors did not specifically cite the role of the Shia militias in the liberation of Mosul, the lesson was not lost on the government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Muqtada al-Sadr is rapidly emerging as the de facto king maker in Baghdad. Attempts to exclude the Shia militias from the upcoming battle for Mosul will simply add to the instability and deadlock that is already gripping the Baghdad government. Advertisement How the combination of Iraqi military, Shia militias and Kurdish Peshmerga forces will collaborate remains to be seen. The initial plan floated by US military officials was for Peshmerga forces to assume defensive roles to the north, east and west of Mosul and control the major roads from the city, while Iraqi military forces advanced from the south. The Shiite militias are wild cards that will complicate this strategy. They will not take direction from US military officials nor does the US want to use them. Under the direction of their Iranian Revolutionary Guard advisors, they may execute their own battle strategy; one that may well put them at odds with the American-led effort. Already there have been a number of clashes between Kurdish troops and Shia militias in the area. The Battle for Mosul will require both a military plan and a political one. Without a political consensus on who will fight the battle, what role each party will play and most importantly what the post-ISIS disposition of Mosul is going to be, any military strategy risks falling apart to political feuding. Moreover, the political solution regarding the Battle for Mosul risks becoming an additional factor destabilizing the Baghdad government. Militarily, the battle for Mosul can be won without having a political solution in place, but it will make fighting such a battle harder, longer and far more complicated than it would otherwise be. Finally, there is the issue of the Iraqi Army's battlefield performance. To date, to put it charitably, it has been mixed. Some elements of the Iraqi Army, especially the US trained Special Forces have performed well. Other units have not. On March 19, for example, Marine Sargent Louis Cardin, 27, was killed and eight other Marines were injured at Fire Base Bell by Islamic State mortar attacks. The IS militants were able to advance within range of the fire base when the Iraqi troops defending the base abandoned their positions in response to attacks by Islamic State forces. Australian Army trainer with the Iraqi 23rd Army Brigade. The current US effort in support of Iraqi forces is much more substantial and much more focused than previous efforts. In addition to the US troops on the ground and the artillery support at Fire Base Bell, it appears that the US has imbedded forward air controllers with Peshmerga and Iraqi units to better coordinate air support. It still falls on the Iraqi Army, however, to fight Islamic State militants for the eventual control of Mosul. The question of whether the Iraqi military is up to that fight remains unanswered, as does the issue of whether a political consensus on how the battle for Mosul will be fought can be reached. Advertisement Two cities, two battles--the one for Aleppo now entering a decisive phase, while the one for Mosul is just beginning. In Aleppo, a US ally is being decimated while Washington, having ceded the initiative in Syria to Moscow, stands by. In Mosul the absence of a political consensus means the battle will be long, difficult and far more complicated than it needs to be. The Obama Administration wants to project the image that it has a sophisticated, nuanced view of events in the Middle East, a view tempered by history and part of a well thought out, long-term plan to disengage the US from the region while bringing it the stability of a balance of power among the various nations there. Criticism of the Administration is dismissed by President Obama as "mumbo jumbo," and his critics as would be hawks with a hopelessly naive view of Middle East realities. The fact is that the inability and the unwillingness of the Obama White House to act to reduce the violence tearing the region apart has created a far bigger crisis and a far greater humanitarian toll, one that will ultimately have far graver consequences for the US and its allies. A faster, more focused response, like a no-fly zone over Syria back in 2014, or a more determined effort to crush Islamic State, especially to destroy its financial resources, would have contained the crisis and the violence it is spewing far better. In September 2014 a group of religious leaders and scholars met for two days in New York to address what have become significant sources of tension in various United Nations settings: family, sex, reproductive health, and women's rights. The diverse group was drawn from different world religions, widely different cultural traditions and, unusually for such settings, genders. UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund) organized the meeting, with Norwegian government support. Their intense discussions zeroed in on sensitive language and still more sensitive topics. Speaking frankly about sex is rarely easy but in religious settings it tends to be especially difficult. But the group valiantly tackled the issues and emerged with a moving declaration. At its heart are insistent calls for what should NOT be done "in our name", that is, in the name of religion: -"Not in our name should any mother die while giving birth. -Not in our name should any girl, boy, woman or man be abused, violated, or killed. -Not in our name should a girl child be deprived of her education, be married, be harmed or abused. -Not in our name should anyone be denied access to basic health care, nor should a child or an adolescent be denied knowledge of and care for her/his body. -Not in our name should any person be denied their human rights." Advertisement A larger and similarly diverse group took the topic further at an Oslo, Norway meeting on May 20. The provocative conference title highlighted a willingness to take on difficult issues: "Religion and Development: Dialogue on Gender, Rights, and Sensitive Issues". The meeting launched a UNFPA/NORAD report that focused on "Points of Contention and Paths of Opportunity" (I contributed to the report). The context is the perception and the reality that an alliance, one some term "unholy" (because religious voices are so prominent), works systematically to contest "progressive" approaches to sexual rights and reproductive health. That means first and foremost women's health and family planning, but too often rights of LGBTI people and the very notion of equality between men and women come into question. Increasingly in virtually any discussion where equal rights is at issue (that means pretty much anything) contentious negotiations surround language, for example the word "gender", and provoke difficult and often unproductive debates. Questions arise even when something like ending child marriage, fighting HIV and AIDS, or combatting domestic violence, seemingly hard to question, is on the table. To be clear, it is governments that negotiate these documents but religious beliefs color the policy stances of many governments in complex ways. "Women's rights are human rights" (the title of Hilary Clinton's powerful speech in 1994 in Beijing) has become a common call. Two important international meetings, in Cairo in 1994 on Population and Development and in Beijing in 1995 on women, highlighted a broad understanding of what those rights meant and stand as landmarks of principles and practice. In the decades since then, the focus on women's rights has seen ups and downs. Remarkable progress in some domains, especially education, contrasts with lethargic change in others. The rhetoric of world leaders highlights national action plans for women. But implementation often flags, for example in reforms in key areas like family law, land policy, political representation, and family planning. Two important doubts creep in to this happy story of progress. The first is the reality of ugly backlash against women's rights in many places. Indonesia, Bangladesh, and the United States are among too many places that are witness to rhetoric that calls the most basic notions of equality into question. And the second is priority: too often, especially where security seems to be at issue, the false notion that women's rights are not the priority kicks women's issues off the agenda. Advertisement What women's rights mean in different religious and cultural settings is indeed contentious. Rights begin in the family, and understandings of sexuality and assumptions about the significance of gender roles are shaped in this context. Religious beliefs very often play an important part in this intimate process, as they do at a social and political level. But to assume as many do that religion is primarily about patriarchy and about subordination of women and denial of joy and change in sexual norms is a lie. Most religious traditions at their core are about human dignity and opportunity. Religious communities include some of the world's most valiant fighters for social justice and change. The New York and Oslo meetings convey three powerful messages: The United States needs to do more than wag its finger at Syrian rebel groups for "comingling" with Al Qaeda-affiliated Salafist jihadists or else an already tenuous ceasefire accord between government and opposition forces is destined to collapse. Earlier this week, the International Syrian Support Group (ISSG) co-chaired by the U.S. and Russia agreed to render persistent violators of the ceasefire as "fair game" on the battlefield, relegating them to the same status as the Islamic State and Jabhat-al Nusra, or the Nusra Front, which is Al Qaeda's franchisee in Syria. On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson John Kirby expressed concerns that U.S.-backed Syrian opposition factions such as Ahrar al-Sham have been cohabitating with the Nusra Front. However, Washington has doggedly resisted calls to add the Al Qaeda collaborators to the UN terrorist list - claiming it would damage the ceasefire - which journalist Finian Cunningham sees as an "unwitting U.S. admission" about who is really leading the Syrian "rebellion." Advertisement Ahrar al-Sham along with Jaysh al-Islam, another Western-sponsored faction, not only have zero inclination to respect the ceasefire, they have aspirations that completely contradict the U.S. stated goal of ushering in a Jeffersonian democracy to replace Syrian President Bashar Assad. Both organizations, according to University of Ottawa extremism specialist Kamran Bokhari, share the common goal of instituting an Islamic state governed by sharia law. Further, Bokhari argues, the real reason the U.S. opposes designating them as terrorists is because they are proxy groups supported by American allies Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Hence, it has nothing to do with concerns about the ceasefire. Moreover, on May 12, according to the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Ahrar al-Sham collaborated with the Nusra Front in an assault on the Alawite-majority village of al-Zara, killing at least 19 civilians, including women and children. Point being, the attack provided clear evidence that Ahrar al-Sham is doing more than intermingling with Al Qaeda's Syria branch. Three days later, The New York Times reported that Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri plans to create an alternate headquarters in Syria to "lay the groundwork for possibly establishing an emirate through Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front," which some experts claim complicates Washington's support for the rebels even further. Advertisement "The United States has placed itself in a very difficult situation because many of the rebel groups that it wants to become principal holders of state power in Syria work hand and glove with Al Qaeda," University of Oklahoma Center for Middle East Studies Director Joshua Landis told Sputnik on Monday. Islamists are not only leading the Syrian opposition's charge on the military front, they are dominating its role in the peace talks in Geneva as well. The rebel political delegation is being led by Jaysh al-Islam and other Islamist parties while the secular Syrian Kurds have been excluded, a surreal development fully sponsored by the United States. During the early stages of the intra-Syrian talks in January, Washington Kurdish Institute Director of Media and Policy Yousuf Ismael said without the Kurds the creation of an Islamic system of government in Syria was inevitable based on the current constitution of the opposition's High Negotiations Committee (HNC). Even more disconcerting is the lack of outrage or any major objections to U.S. policy emanating from either Congress, the media or the public at large. American media outlets, including CNN, the Associated Press and the Washington Post, among others, have consistently propagated the fictional narrative that the United States is supporting "moderate opposition forces" on the battlefield and in the peace talks in Geneva. Not to mention the media's primary focus has been on Syrian government ceasefire violations with little attention paid to opposition transgressions. Secretary of State John Kerry has long claimed that the United States is committed to seeing a "whole, unified, pluralistic, nonsectarian Syria," which is hard to believe given the State Department's objection to classifying these two organizations as what they truly are: jihadist terrorist groups that should be excluded from any cessation of hostilities. Advertisement Which prompts a fair question that goes beyond simply upholding a fragile ceasefire: How in the world does the U.S. government believe for a second that a post-Assad regime in Syria will be secular to any degree based on the current makeup of the opposition's negotiating team, whose members by and large have openly proclaimed that they want to establish an Islamist state? The unfortunate answer is that the U.S. government has never absorbed the lessons of previous policies based on the credo, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Washington is following the exact same playbook employed during the jihad against the Soviets in the 1980s, in just one example, wherein we supported the most radical and virulently anti-Western factions within the mujahideen to achieve geopolitical ends at all costs, leading to the well-documented blowback known as Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. French President Francois Hollande (L), China's President Xi Jinping (C) and US President Barack Obama (R) arrive to take part in a P5+1 meeting during the Nuclear Security Summit at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on April 1, 2016 in Washington, DC. / AFP / STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN (Photo credit should read STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images) When the United States or any other Western country embraces a "pivot to Asia" as a central element of its foreign policy, it must be more than a "pivot to China." Nations such as South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam and others all keep a close eye on China, but they also know that they individually and especially collectively possess enough economic and political vitality to offset some of China's regional dominance.At a conference in Brisbane, Australia May 18-20, "Soft Power and Public Diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific," government officials and academics from an array of Pacific countries discussed ways that they might best use soft power -- attraction rather than coercion -- to advance their strategic interests. The roundtable conversations underscored the importance of relying on innovative public diplomacy to reach soft power goals. In this region, as elsewhere in the world, internet-based media are connecting growing numbers of people, and this connectivity empowers them to an unprecedented degree. They expect to be involved in the policymaking that affects their lives. Governments, in turn, increasingly understand that they can no longer conduct diplomacy in ways that are detached from public scrutiny and participation. Advertisement That is the essence of the change in global politics that enables the rise of public diplomacy. The theory is not complicated, but putting public diplomacy to work requires imagination and persistence. Among the ideas discussed at the conference was "collaborative public diplomacy," which would involve a number of states working in concert to reach regional publics. This would be especially important in dealing with issues such as climate change. The futures of most Pacific countries are linked in one way or another to the ocean itself and the industries, such as fishing, derived from it. After centuries of taking the ocean and its resources for granted, the region's nations have recognized, to varying degrees, the fragility of this asset. Collaborative efforts will be essential in enlisting the region-wide political support needed to respond to climate change through revised priorities and policies. North Korea's militarism is another Pacific issue for which public diplomacy is important, particularly in efforts to forestall a nuclear arms race in the region. Soft power is most effective when it has a hard edge. The United States hopes diplomacy can control North Korea, but neighbors such as South Korea and Japan will trust diplomacy only if they believe that the United States will protect them. A question that arose at the conference was this: If North Korea develops nuclear missiles that could not reach Hawaii or California, but could devastate Seoul or Tokyo, would the United States use its hard power and intervene militarily? Unless citizens within striking distance of North Korea believe that the answer to this is "Yes," U.S. soft power overtures will not dissuade those countries from developing their own nuclear weapons, an outcome no one wants.As for the chess match with China, President Barack Obama's visit to Vietnam illustrates how part of that game is being played. By reaching out to the Vietnamese public, the United States can enhance its own stature in the region and constructively reinforce the historic animosity between Vietnam and China. The United States rightly sees strategic value in using public diplomacy to give China things to worry about close to home. Advertisement Let the talk about a Plan B stop out of mercy for the victims of the policies of attrition and the patchwork strategies being pursued in the raging battlefields of Syria and Yemen. There is no Plan B in Syria, because the US administration will not agree to what it will be needed to bring about a qualitative shift in the military equation in Syria, because of the lack of confidence in the abilities of the moderate Syrian rebels, and because the priority for both Washington and Moscow remains the US-Russian accord and de-facto partnership in Syria. Let the two key players stop pretending their differences are vast, or that US Secretary of State John Kerry has a Plan B as he exchanges retorts with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in what resembles more a comedy with pre-arranged roles. There is no Plan B in Syria because the Gulf countries, which speak of "alternatives" leading to the departure of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, do not intend to use the Islamic armies they are mobilizing to fight terrorism to topple Assad's regime, nor do they intend to dispatch advanced weapons to the Syrian rebels to achieve a breakthrough that would tip the military balance of power. It is time to return to the policy-drafting table to scrutinize the reality of these conflicts today, after the policy of attrition proved to be a failure and to have an appalling human cost. Reconsidering policies in light of new facts is not surrender; it is a necessary awakening to the dire need for a realistic re-evaluation of policies and strategies, to replace the principle of attrition with the principle of stopping the bleeding. This applies to both Yemen and Syria, and it is time to be candid without fear of recrimination.Clearly, Kuwait, which is hosting intra-Yemeni talks brokered by UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, is worried about the prospect of the negotiations collapsing. For this reason, the emir of Kuwait intervened personally to rescue them. Oman, which is playing a behind-the-scenes role to prevent the collapse of the critical negotiations between Yemeni government and rebel representatives, and all the Gulf countries, is holding its breath because it is aware the collapse of negotiations would mean the continuation of the war of attrition in Yemen, now a gaping wound in the Gulf body.Simply put, the ongoing negotiations are stuck at discussing UN Security Council resolution 2216, which was adopted following the coup in Yemen. The resolution was a "masterstroke" for having laid the roadmap for what can be described as the surrender of the rebels to the legitimate government. The resolution called on the forces of the Houthis and those loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh to withdraw from cities and handover their weapons in surrender to the legitimate government, in addition to releasing detainees and restoring the situation that existed prior to the coup, while effectively granting them immunity.That was an important diplomatic achievement for Saudi Arabia scored by its ambassador to the United Nations Abdullah al-Muallem, with the resolution winning unanimous approval and becoming the reference frame for the solution in Yemen and legitimacy there.That was then. But today, due to the reality on the ground and military balances, and the resulting attrition strategy and the situation in the Yemeni arena, sticking to it to the letter is neither practical nor realistic. This is the view of many Gulf stakeholders, who feat a protracted conflict in Yemen and the repercussions of the humanitarian crisis there on Gulf countries themselves and their image in the eyes of international public opinion. The climate in the Gulf suggests interest in Yemen has receded, and that Saudi Arabia, which leads the Arab coalition forces in Yemen, has lost a lot of its enthusiasm in the recent period. According to a notable observer, "it has lost the will to continue the fight," which inevitably affects both the military and political course of events. According to another veteran Gulf observer, a senior official in the Saudi leadership believes the war in Yemen was a pre-emptive one to avert projects by the Houthis and Ali Abdullah Saleh against Saudi interests, national security, and the interior. Advertisement Therefore, the goal of the Saudi war in Yemen was to prevent a Yemeni war in Saudi Arabia, and this has been achieved in the Saudi view. From the standpoint of Yemen's interests, however, the cost has been high without a clear prospect of salvation. The destruction of Yemen has become clear and embarrassing for the Arab coalition, particularly since the international public opinion, including the Islamic and Arab one, is critical of turning Yemen into a scorched earth as part of the pre-emptive strategy. The UN has blamed the Arab coalition and its leaders, not just Saleh's forces and the Houthis. Famine is coming to Yemen, exacerbating the humanitarian situation there and inviting more recrimination, criticism, and calls for an end to attrition in favor of policies that stop the bloodletting. Especially so when al-Qaeda is spreading in the south, and ISIS is planning to enter Yemen to carry out its schemes in that scorched earth. The major powers, especially the US and Russia, are currently giving leeway for negotiations led by the UN envoy to Yemen. However, according to both public and behind-the-scenes indications, they are preparing to place Yemen under US-Russian bilateral care similar to Syria. Advertisement Such a development would pull the rug from under the feet of Saudi Arabia in particular, as the leading military player in Yemen's conflict. So far, there is a desire in the Obama administration not to comply with the Russian call for withdrawing the Yemeni issue from the Security Council and Saudi Arabia, to be handled by the US-Russian diplomatic duo. However, more deterioration in Yemen and the collapse of negotiations will help Russia to get its way along with the US. Such a development is something that Saudi leaders find extremely dangerous with long-term repercussions. These circles also speak about the background of the decision made by the Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to replace the prime minister Khaled Bahah a few months ago, in a measure that was sudden for the Saudi leadership. According to these informed circles, the Yemeni president, whom Riyadh is keen to keep as the image of legitimacy, acted without coordination with the capital that is hosting him. Riyadh was said to be upset by the surprise move and the claim that Hadi "tried to contact" them but could not. These important issues require a new approach to the question of how to end the war in Yemen, regardless of who exactly needs an exit strategy. In truth, there is no other option now except pursuing an exit strategy to leave the Yemeni quagmire and end the humanitarian tragedy. This requires first and foremost admitting to the failure of the costly policies of attrition, which have a moral, humanitarian, as well as material toll. The military situation in Yemen has yet to produce a decisive victory or defeat for any of the parties. The continuation of the current situation and its high cost might also be an unfavorable situation for Saudi Arabia, which wants the world to focus on its vision for 2030 instead of pigeonholing it though its role in Yemen's war. Ali Abdullah Saleh and some Houthis could benefit from the policy of counter-attrition, and thus may not mind for Yemen to become a quagmire for others. Advertisement There is a chance for a political solution through the UN envoy, who simplified the equation accurately when he said that there can be no solution except when the Yemeni and other parties agree to compromise. The room for compromise begins with a serious intention to implement a ceasefire and agree a transitional government, which accepts the Houthis as part of the internal Yemeni fabric rather than an outlawed group. One of the most prominent obstacles to this solution is the resolution 2216 itself. The government party insists, with Saudi support, on the full implementation of resolution 2216, which has become impossible. The Houthis meanwhile believe there is no need for them to surrender as per the resolution, and therefore are seeking a different solution to the one at the heart of 2216, which they believe is unrealistic. Some in their ranks want a full divorce with the resolution, which is also impossible. Others are willing to make concessions, but link them to similar concessions by the other party. This is in fact the only possible solution in the current negotiations. Such a solution would take into account the facts on the ground, while enshrining consensus and not dictating surrender, which is no longer an option anyway. The foe remains strong, and there is no Plan B in Yemen just as there is no Plan B in Syria. The Afghanization of Arab wars, especially the Syrian and Yemeni conflicts, is not a wise policy. It is the worst form of investment for all concerned, and will backfire sooner or later. Wisdom instead requires for a decision to be taken to stop the attrition, and replace the Afghan model with the Bosnian model, based on de-escalation and compromise solutions. It is just unacceptable to sustain Syria's crucible for years to come, until Assad falls. His fate ultimately is to leave, because of the Afghanization he and others imported into Syria. But the condition to remove Assad as a first step towards a solution is no longer feasible, because of the military balance of power on the ground. There is an axis supporting Assad that has dedicated for carnage huge military capabilities, from Russia's warplanes to Iran's ground forces and militias. By contrast, the backers of the Syrian opposition have been reluctant about providing game-changing military support that can overturn the balance of power or influence the battlefield for diplomatic gains. Obama's United States has held on to the pledge not to supply weapons to the opposition, and not to implicate its forces in Syria, or do anything that would shake its accord with Russia, including holding accountable the Islamic Republic of Iran for its actions in Syria. Turkey played the Syrian card arrogantly, and ended up implicating rather than helping the opposition. The Gulf countries took one step forward and two steps back, under the pretext of US restrictions on supplying US-made weapons to the Syrian opposition, but they continued to issue threats without a meaningful Plan B. All this made the current balance of power what it is, and it is no longer possible to change it because of the weakness of the opposition. Advertisement Political solutions, when they are reached, cannot be seen in isolation from actual maps imposed by the military balance of power through war. The facts on the ground require a return to the policy-drafting table. If the investment in changing the regime in Damascus adopted the failed policy of attrition while the foe adopted a policy of sustained military support, perhaps it is time to consider compromise solutions, even if they are cosmetic. This will be no surrender because the fact of the matter is that there is no victor in Syria, regardless of whether some might believe Assad remaining in power is a victory. There is no victor in Yemen either, no matter how much some might believe containing the war in Yemen is a victory. Let there be cosmetic solution at the expense of UN resolutions and principles. This is the lesser evil, lesser than subjecting Syria and Yemen to another year of horrific tragedies. Neither the illegitimacy of Assad nor the legitimacy of Hadi deserve crushing Syria and Yemen's children, as long as there is no Plan B as a serious option against war crimes, away from criminal justice. It would be great to think of 2008 as a bygone past, and the dire consequences for workers phased out in a bad economy yesteryear's news, but the play Skeleton Crew, an Atlantic Theater Company production at the Linda Gross Theater, Dominique Morisseau's powerful look at Detroit autoworkers, now moved to the, registers a cycle that's still out of control for many Americans. In a locker room, four characters take breaks, bicker, and make for a company family, an ensemble of workers: Faye (an excellent Lynda Gravatt) who is also a union rep, Dez (Jason Dirden), an angry but decent guy with a gun, Shanita (Nikiya Mathis), pregnant and happy at work, and Reggie (Wendell B. Franklin), their empathetic, emotionally entangled supervisor. Under Ruben Santiago-Hudson's fine, sensitive direction, the play evokes their world in rhythms and starts as their work opportunities shrink. Auto plants are failing, becoming ghosts, and this is the crew that's left, each individual trying to be visible and viable. It's hard to keep your job, harder to reinvent yourself, but this group has its heart at the wheel. A fifth player, choreographer Adesola Osakalumi does a robot dance during breaks; often he's seen behind a scrim, his movements sharp and mechanical. When Faye reveals she's been living in this break room, her home seized by the banks, you just don't know where she's going to end up. The center of this riveting drama, Faye is not alone; you wonder, who will be next. Advertisement Watch episode six of the new video series "Becoming Pain Free," to follow one man's journey in eliminating chronic pain naturally with the help of the Egoscue Method. Severe or chronic pain affects nearly 50 million American adults, reports a new study prepared by National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, which was published in The Journal of Pain last summer. About half of these people are suffering from chronic pain every single day. Steven, the subject of Sonima.com's new video series called "Becoming Pain Free," is one of them. The 34-year-old independent filmmaker and photographer, who just moved to Los Angeles with his wife, Melanie, and 5-year-old son, Victor, has been battling consistent joint pain in his legs, wrists, and lower back -- a byproduct of his profession that requires holding heavy camera equipment for hours -- for about nine years. It's common for Steven to wake up with numb arms and feet and unable to walk. When doctors couldn't help him address the pain, he turned to Pete Egoscue, Sonima.com's pain and anatomy advisor, author of multiple books including Pain Free, and creator of the Egoscue Method, an exercise therapy program -- taught at more than 25 clinics worldwide -- designed to treat chronic pain without prescription painkillers or invasive surgery. Advertisement In episode six of this video series, Steven is introduced to the Egoscue "Patch" workouts, which leverage specially designed equipment to create an obstacle course of sorts. Because of the apparatus' uneven structure, seemingly simple maneuvers over, under, and around the patch challenge the body in unique ways to help build strength, agility, and better posture. Watch as Steven attempts a patch workout for the first time and hear how it affects his body. Missed the first episodes of "Becoming Pain Free"? Watch them here: "One of the problems I see in this field of evolutionary biology is that there are now a variety of definitions of what the neo-Darwinist Modern Synthesis includes. A recent reply to my J Exp Biol article even includes the inheritance of acquired characteristics! But if we define the Modern Synthesis as its original formulation to exclude the inheritance of acquired characteristics, which was Weizmann's intention, which was followed by many others and summarized by Mayr, then the ES must be a replacement not simply an extension and it is so by definition. Moreover, anyone who now tries to include the inheritance of acquired characteristics in neo-Darwinism is left with the question why it should any longer be described as neo-Darwinism since Darwin also included the inheritance of acquired characteristics in his Origin of Species and even, in a later work, developed his theory of gemmules to account for it. The key difference between Darwinism and neo-Darwinism disappears. There is then no need for neo-Darwinism. Of course there are many other reasons for replacing the MS by a more integrative, multi-process theory. Those include symbiogenesis, natural genetic engineering, the physics of development. . . . . . . . . ." You've just graduated from college and you're feeling invincible. Student loans are a burden, but other than that you're ready to take on the world. But what if you're in an accident or have a health issue? Before you head out into the world, take a few minutes to think about health insurance. Here are four things to consider about post-grad health insurance protection. --Examine your current health coverage. Perhaps your student coverage won't terminate on graduation day, and can fill the gap until you qualify at work. Be sure to get it in writing! Advertisement --Stay on your parents' plan. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, you can stay on your parents' plan until age 26. Your parents may have coverage through their jobs but probably didn't include you if you were covered under a less expensive student health plan. After graduation, if your parent decides to add you back onto a work-based health insurance policy, the costs at many companies could be an additional $500 a month or more! There are less expensive alternatives. --Get your own Obamacare policy. Under the Affordable Care Act, you can only enroll in health coverage during the open enrollment period, which runs from November 1 through January 31 each year, except if you qualify for a special enrollment period. You have to enroll within 60 days of that qualifying event. Then it could take as long as six weeks for coverage to start. While college graduation is not considered a qualifying event for special enrollment, you may qualify for special enrollment if graduation causes you to lose your qualified student health plan coverage or if you move to a different state. The government website www.Healthcare.gov allows you to search for traditional plans available in your state. You can search and apply online at this efficient government website. --Consider short-term health insurance, not an Obamacare plan. At www.AgileHealthInsurance.com you can search for short-term health insurance policies designed specifically for more temporary coverage until you get benefits from your job. If you're healthy and have no pre-existing conditions, this could be a far less expensive alternative than Obamacare or your parents' coverage. (In the example above, where a parental plan cost $495 per month, the graduate found her own short-term plan for $43 per month!) Advertisement It's easy to compare the various offerings. The variables include: Deductibles, which range from $250 to $10,000; Co-insurance costs, which could range from zero to 20 percent; Maximum out-of-pocket expenses, which typically range from $2,500 to $9,000; Length of coverage, which typically ranges from one month to 12 months. (You can renew at the end of the term, but you have to reapply.) Application is simple and done right from the site in minutes. The vast majority of applicants are accepted instantly. Once approved online, your coverage starts the next day and you can print out your own health insurance card. Sam Gibbs, Executive Director at AgileHealthInsurance.com, says: "Don't let yourself become overwhelmed by the process. What you're really looking for is an affordable health insurance option to carry you through this period of uncertainty over your job prospects and workplace coverage." Whether you're just trying to bridge the period until your job-related coverage takes over, or you're uncertain about your future, don't ignore the potential need for health insurance coverage. Yes, you'll get treated in an emergency room even if you don't have insurance -- but then you'll face paying the bills or bankruptcy. Subsequent enrollment in Obamacare won't cover past services. Syrian woman in the camp for displaced persons in Qatma, Syria (January 2013) A humanitarian crisis can turn worlds upside down in an instant. But the recovery can take decades. Conflict, tsunami and cyclones are just some of crises that have changed the lives of people permanently this year. Globally, we know that around 125 million people are affected by crises and 26 million of them are women and girls. Women and girls are disproportionately influenced by humanitarian crises exposed to early marriage, trafficking, rape, forced pregnancies, unattended service delivery during complicated pregnancies and delivery. Women and girls are 14 times more likely to die in disaster settings than men. Advertisement This is what the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) will be talking about at the first ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul this week. You hear of populations dislodged and of the immediate challenges of food and shelter. But what about the need for reproductive health and neo-natal services? What about the dangers of sexual violence that women and girls in particular face? Reproductive health services are often neglected or ignored in humanitarian emergencies, a time when services are most needed yet are not prioritized. For many women and girls, this would mean the difference between life and death. We need to ensure access to life-saving Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights services are made a priority for women, men and children in times of crisis. Advertisement In Syria, an estimated 46,500 women will suffer gender based violence, including rape, as a result of the ongoing conflict. More than 75% of Syrian refugees who fled are women and children. Specialized front line services are needed to offer the support and protection in a critical time where women and girls are at high risks of physical and sexual violence. We need to ensure that the human rights of women and girls are protected and able to access sexual and reproductive healthcare. Progress in targeting women and girls has been achieved in the past decade but sexual and reproductive health services are often neglected in humanitarian emergencies and still remain a less universally acknowledged priority. Fundamentally, we need to put money and efforts into ensuring the integration of a comprehensive package on reproductive health into the standard humanitarian response. Advertisement Access to sexual and reproductive services, even in the midst of war or natural disaster, is a human right which does not only saves lives in the short run, but also helps build resilience among refugees and those displaced. Yet it's one of the most important aspects of humanitarian assistance that is often forgotten when disaster and conflicts strike. There are a number of commitments we want to see at this Summit. First we need to ensure that there is a coordinated response on the ground which has the same status as other humanitarian response like water or food. This is a minimum set of standards for a sexual and reproductive health front line actions. It's not new. It is already recognized as the international standard for reproductive health in crises, known as the Minimal Initial Service Package (MISP). Second, we urge governments to factor to recognize and implement reproductive health into their own humanitarian response delivery. Advertisement Finally, donor governments need to ensure that services are more equitably distributed between conflict zones and natural disasters. In particular in conflict areas, lack of funding leads to worse sexual and reproductive health outcomes for women and girls. Mint via Getty Images NEW DELHI, INDIA - NOVEMBER 17: Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India, addressing the media on November 17, 2015 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Ramesh Pathania/Mint via Getty Images) NEW DELHI -- Hitting back, CPI(M) today blamed BJP and RSS for the violence in Kerala, alleging that their workers had attacked the victory processions of Left leaders as the saffron outfits were not willing to accept the people's verdict. "The CPI(M) very strongly condemns the attacks and vandalism the BJP has organised. It is the BJP and RSS workers who started this bout of violence by attacking a victory procession," party leader Sitaram Yechury alleged. Advertisement "This has happened across the state. The BJP is simply not willing to accept the democratic verdict of the people of Kerala," he told reporters. The Left party claimed that allegations against its workers were "false" and BJP leadership was adopting a "hypocritical and dishonest position" about what has happened in Kerala. "Allegations against CPI(M) workers are false and BJP leadership is adopting a hypocritical and dishonest position about what happened in Kerala." Its reaction came on a day BJP workers staged a demonstration outside the CPI(M) headquarters here over the alleged attacks on party workers in Kerala and a party delegation, comprising Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, J P Nadda and Nirmala Sitharaman, several MPs and Kerala BJP President Kummanam Rajasekharan, met the President over the issue. Advertisement The CPI(M) politburo, meanwhile, asked BJP to ensure that its Kerala unit "stops making such attacks and issuing threats to it" and said the Left Front will contribute to maintaining peace and avoiding clashes. "The BJP is levelling false allegations about violence by the CPIM) against its workers in Kerala. The BJP leadership is adopting a hypocritical and dishonest position about what has actually happened in Kerala. On May 19, when results were declared, CPI(M) workers took out a victory procession in Pinarayi. "This procession was attacked by the BJP-RSS workers resulting in the death of C V Raveendran, a 53-year-old member of the CPI(M). His son Jishen and four others were injured," it said citing more instances of violence allegedly by BJP workers. "The people of Kerala gave a resounding verdict in favour of the LDF," the statement said, alleging that "it is against this democratic verdict of people that BJP launched attacks in various places against the CPI(M) and LDF workers". Kansas fourth-, eighth-grade scores drop on Nation's Report Card Kansas' declines on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, if expected, were still significant as schools attempt to rebound academically. Into the Fray - The battle against MS Rochester, Minnesota - Like a case of breaking and entering, when multiple sclerosis attacks the central nervous system, it leaves an evidence trail of theft and damage in the brain. But just as its difficult to assess the full extent of a burglary until one begins looking for clues in each room, MS has similarly challenged scientific investigators. Theyve had to search different areas of the brain to assess what and how much has gone missing, determine how valuable those items are and whether theyre replaceable. MS doesnt lend itself to one simple definition, but recent studies have shed light on the variability across stages and subtypes of the disease, and among patients. Damaging the communication highway between brain and body, MS can harm the ability to talk, walk, eat or even think. At the root of the problem are disrupted nerve signals that seem to result from damage to the myelin sheath that wraps around nerve fibers, much like a wire with a frayed casing fails to conduct electricity properly. Claudia F. Lucchinetti, M.D., Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Professor of Neurosciences, is chair of the department of neurology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. She has developed the worlds largest tissue bank of multiple sclerosis lesions in her quest to find effective treatments for the condition. Since MS was first diagnosed a century and a half ago, it has puzzled and intrigued physicians and researchers with its complexity. While MS now affects approximately 2.3 million people worldwide, the cause remains unknown, the course of disease is unpredictable and there is currently no cure. Diagnosis and treatment are also challenging because no single diagnostic test exists, but Mayo Clinic researchers such as Claudia Lucchinetti, M.D., chair of neurology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., are hoping to tackle these unknowns. Insights into Early Disease Stages Since 1995, Dr. Lucchinettis research program has been trying to understand the lesions caused by MS and what drives their progression, so effective treatments can be developed. She began to collect and analyze MS lesion brain biopsies from patients who had not yet been diagnosed as having MS. Whats unique about these patients is that they were being worked up for tumor or something that required biopsy to exclude another diagnosis, she explains. With over 900 MS tissue samples to date, Dr. Lucchinettis collection is the largest of its kind in the world. It has provided a unique window into the earliest stages of MS, as well as its later development. Those samples helped Dr. Lucchinetti to establish and name four types of MS lesions. We thought that MS lesions were formed in a similar way in different patients, says Dr. Lucchinetti, but our work suggested distinct pathways of tissue injury in different patient subgroups. Moreover, the findings suggest that patients didnt change lesion subtype over time, but maintained a consistent pattern. The revelation that these lesion differences werent stage-dependent but patient-dependent caused a major shift in the field. It seemed to explain some of the tremendous variability we saw in patients with regards to clinical course, clinical outcome, prognosis and treatment response, says Dr. Lucchinetti. This scanning electron microscope image shows mouse cortical axons (the long strands in gray and purple) that are under attack by an anti-axonal CD8+ T cell (the blue-green cell). The attacking T cell has lifted several axons off the plate and is actively damaging the fibers. This is what researchers think happens to demyelinated axons in the central nervous system of a patient with multiple sclerosis. Identifying and blocking these anti-axonal CD8+ T cells is one of the major goals. These watershed findings, published in the Annals of Neurology in 2000, helped that same year to launch the MS Lesion Project an international research initiative led by Dr. Lucchinetti and funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the National Institutes of Health. Patients from the study have returned to Mayo Clinic years later for detailed cognitive assessment and imaging follow-up. Its a way to examine how early stages of the disease may affect how it plays out years later, Dr. Lucchinetti says. Her team has also demonstrated the involvement of the brains cortex in MS. In 2010, they published a groundbreaking study in the New England Journal of Medicine, which offered solid evidence that the cerebral cortex may be the first area targeted and affected by MS. The findings showed that marked inflammation was also present early in the disease process. Although inflammation is transient during later disease stages, Dr. Lucchinetti demonstrated its ongoing relevance and the importance of finding strategies that target the inflammatory process in MS. Better Imaging and Disease Models Dr. Lucchinettis work is also helping to develop better models and imaging biomarkers for MS. A major challenge has been the need for animal models that adequately mimic human disease, says Dr. Lucchinetti. Anything we learn from animal models needs to be reconciled with human lesions. Neurology researcher Charles L. Howe, Ph.D., is working at the molecular level to prevent axon injuries. Charles Howe, Ph.D., neurology researcher at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., has been working closely with Dr. Lucchinetti, using experimental animal models to study how the immune system injures nerve fibers, known as axons, and to identify therapeutic targets and strategies to tackle that damage. One of the hallmarks of MS thats visible on MRI is demyelination when nerve fibers in the central nervous system are stripped of their protective myelin sheath. Axon injury underlies the loss of function that patients experience, and for decades experts assumed that demyelination alone was to blame. However, Dr. Howe showed that demyelination only predisposes the axons to injury. Currently, hes investigating several molecules that are potentially involved in injuring demyelinated axons. Our focus is on how to protect the axons so we prevent progression, since once an axon is gone, its gone for good, Dr. Howe explains. This is setting a new direction in MS research. The team is examining the role of an immune cell called CD8+. Many MS drugs have been based on another type called CD4+ cells, which were suspected of playing a leading role in neurologic dysfunction, but Dr. Howe challenged that notion. The problem for patients on drugs that prevent or reduce demyelination is that many still go on to a progressive phase, he says. Dr. Howe used a more complete animal model that involves both types of immune cells (CD4+ and CD8+). It was designed by Moses Rodriguez, M.D., an emeritus Mayo researcher who continues to study therapies for remyelination (repairing and replacing lost myelin). Using the more complete model, Dr. Howe demonstrated that CD8+ cells are also complicit in causing functional deficits and axonal injury. One of Dr. Howes latest projects is to build a biobank of neurons and oligodendrocytes (cells that make up myelin), grown in the laboratory from human neural stem cells from MS patients. The goal is to grow human axons in a dish right now so that we can test therapies that protect them, explains Dr. Howe. In addition, when stem cell transplant therapies become available, patients can readily access their banked cells. Drs. Howe and Lucchinetti are also collaborating on research that involves subjecting neurons, axons and oligodendrocytes to stress, then using their metabolic by-products as potential clinical biomarkers to understand pathology, identify therapeutic targets and customize treatment. Jan-Mendelt Tillema, M.D., studies multiple sclerosis in children, seeking to improve diagnosis as well as treatments. Another researcher has been focused on developing better imaging techniques. Pediatric neurologist Jan-Mendelt Tillema, M.D., has been looking at MS and other demyelinating diseases in children. While only 3 to 5 percent of MS cases have childhood onset, lesions in pediatric patients are less well demarcated on MRI, making diagnosis particularly tricky. Thats one reason why Dr. Tillema and the late Istvan Pirko, M.D., had been working on developing advanced imaging techniques that would be useful for both pediatric and adult patients. Building on Dr. Lucchinettis findings about cortical involvement in MS, Drs. Pirko and Tillema also focused on sharpening imaging tools to better detect early cortical lesions, since they arent typically visible on routine MRIs. Cortical involvement is currently underestimated; we can only detect one in five lesions with available imaging techniques, Dr. Tillema says. Continuing some of the work led by Dr. Pirko, Dr. Tillema, with John Port, M.D., Ph.D., is using imaging tools to better tailor therapies and identify ways to measure progression. Looking ahead, Dr. Lucchinetti and her colleagues at Mayo Clinic will continue to focus on how to limit progressive disability, which is one of the major drivers of problems that MS patients experience. Recognizing MS as a complex, multifaceted disease that requires a multidimensional approach, the Mayo Clinic team has set ambitious goals: finding early diagnostic biomarkers, designing better imaging tools and animal models, and creating targeted therapies that will finally put the brakes on the disease. Slowing progression is the key in MS research, says Dr. Lucchinetti. It is at the core of our research efforts at Mayo, and well continue to take a collaborative, multidisciplinary, team-based approach to address this significant, unmet need in our patients. ~ Angela Pirisi Spark of Discovery Ignites New Era of Cancer Therapies Rochester, Minnesota - Former President Jimmy Carter made news around the world a few months ago when, after a battle with potentially deadly melanoma, he revealed he was cancer-free. Hearing that a so-called miracle drug was responsible, Dr. Haidong Dong could not help but smile. Discoveries in a Mayo Clinic lab years earlier had helped to make this therapy, and a new generation of similar cancer therapies, possible. Lots of people work in these research fields for years, for decades, says Dr. Dong. They never give up and their persistence eventually makes a big difference. Dr. Larry Pease, the co-director of the Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy Program in the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, agrees. Basically, at Mayo Clinic, what were interested in is meeting the unmet needs of the patients, says Dr. Pease. But, you know, from a biological perspective, one of the goals is to try to figure out how the immune system works. Dr. Dong adds, This is our responsibility: to find answers. From the Mayo Clinic News Network, Dennis Douda has more on the story. President Obama's Call with Prime Minster Haidar Al-Abadi of Iraq Washington, DC - President Obama spoke by phone today with Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi of Iraq to reaffirm United States support for the Iraqi people and our common fight against ISIL, as well as to offer condolences on behalf of the American people for the recent terrorist attacks in Baghdad. The two leaders discussed the progress being made in the Counter-ISIL campaign as Iraqi Security Forces continue their advance in Anbar province. The President reiterated United States support for the Iraqi Security Forces, emphasizing that as the campaign continues the United States and the International Coalition to counter ISIL will continue to play a key role in training, advising, and assisting Iraqi forces. The President and the Prime Minister agreed on the critical importance of improving the security of Baghdad and the International Zone, noting the importance of continued dialogue among all parties in Iraq so that the Iraqi people can address their aspirations through their democratic institutions. President Obama commended the Prime Minister and the steps his government has taken in finalizing an agreement with the International Monetary Fund and agreed that it is important the international community support Iraq's economic recovery amidst its ongoing fight against ISIL. Finally, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the strategic partnership between the United States and Iraq. FIFA Gamer Invites Three Online Friends to His Wedding Who He Had Never Met Before Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Cannes is the place where Chloe Sevigny gained notoriety in 2003, when The Brown Bunny featured the actress and Vincent Gallo in an unsimulated fellatio scene. How times have changed in the intervening period; this week I met with the 41-year-old in Cannes, where Kitty, the short film that she directed, is closing the Critics Week section of the festival. Given the number of guises that shes had in her career, perhaps the move into directing was inevitable. I love acting, but I dont think that Ive ever really been that fulfilled," she says. "I never feel like its been my own thing, obviously. This "obviously" seems to be a nod to the illustrious career shes had outside of acting. Even before her movie debut in Kids in 1995, author Jay McInerney profiled her for The New Yorker, labelling her "the coolest girl in the world" after she modelled for Sassy magazine and appeared in a video by rock band Sonic Youth. She lived up to the cool moniker by appearing in edgy film roles and several seasons creating fashion lines carrying her name, for her friends at the fashion retailer Opening Ceremony. There was also an autobiographical book on her personal fashion style that came out in 2015. Yet the early fame also meant she suffered from casting-couch problems. She vaguely mentions incidents rather than directors names at a public talk on filmmaking by women, recalling inappropriate comments made in auditions, such as advising her to wear more revealing clothes. She handled the situations when they arose. But I ask if, looking back, she feels she had too much fame too soon? It happened," she says. "I wish I had the confidence I had now. I was insecure. Everyone says, what do you regret? And I know that they want me to say The Brown Bunny, but I wont. What she does regret is all the acting jobs she let pass by. She made Demonlover with Olivier Assayas, but then said no to another of his projects. She also turned down Todd Haynes, John Waters, Claire Denis and Catherine Breillat. Why would she turn down some of the biggest filmmakers in the world? I was too judgmental and too scared, says Sevigny. "It was timing. I was tired. I was scared I was not a good enough actress to play the parts. I turned down one of the films because there were a lot of sexual things, and I didnt want to do that again." Arguably, Sevigny is still one of the coolest girls in the world. She looks fabulous in a short blue dress and matching hat although she laughs at the suggestion that this inimitable, constantly praised style must come as an offshoot of fashion designing. Im not like Yves Saint Laurent or Alexander McQueen, retorts the Massachusetts-born star. Kitty is a 15-minute short film about a young girl who feels ignored by her mother. Seeing her mother doting on her pet cat, the girl begins to transform herself into a cat. Its poignant and at times sad, but also in the age of Internet memes, any short film with a cat somehow seems adorable although, at the suggestion of this, she interjects: I dont know if its so cute; I think its quite sad and a little strange. I ask why she would want to make a film about a young girl who yearns for attention. Or perhaps its about her mother not recognising something in her daughter, says the director. "Her daughter having to deal with the consequences. I think its about a lot of things. She sounds like a fun director for actors to work with. She wore a floral dress on the first day of the three-day shoot and says the set was delightful. "You know why? Because I surrounded myself with delightful people, who I enjoy being with, who I already had a relationship with. That process was great. The post-production process was hard. There are just too many highs and lows. I dont like that. Im kind of a little even-keeled, until PMS. Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Her own mother is Polish American and father an accountant turned interior painter. Does the maternal nature of the film say something about her own upbringing? I think I like the mother-daughter relationship, and obviously I have a mother," she says. "There are not enough mother-daughter stories. She continues, My mum is dying to see it. She will die because the teddy bears were my teddy bears, the dolls and the tea set too, a lot of things are very me." The films to know about at Cannes 2016 Show all 14 1 /14 The films to know about at Cannes 2016 The films to know about at Cannes 2016 Julieta Director: Pedro Almodovar Starring: Adriana Ugarte, Emma Suarez What's it about? The Spanish filmmaker's 20th film is based on three short stories from Alice Munro's 2004 book, Runaway which tracks a woman's search for her missing daughter. The films to know about at Cannes 2016 American Honey Director: Andrea Arnold Starring: Sasha Lane, Kate Mara, Shia LaBeouf What's it about? In British filmmaker Andrea Arnold's (Red Road) American road movie - her first film set and filmed outside the UK - a teenage girl who gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying as she crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits. The films to know about at Cannes 2016 Personal Shopper Director: Olivier Assayas Starring: Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, Nora von Waldstatten What's it about? Stewart reteams with French filmmaker Assayas following Clouds of Sils Maria for this ghost story set in the fashion underworld of Paris. The films to know about at Cannes 2016 It's Only the End of the World Director: Xavier Dolan Starring: Lea Seydoux, Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel What's it about? Xavier Dolan (Mommy) returns with this film based on the play Juste la fin du monde which tells the story of a terminally ill writer who returns home after 12 years to announce his impending death. The films to know about at Cannes 2016 Paterson Director: Jim Jarmusch, Starring: Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani What's it about? An original film from Amazon Studios that follows Paterson, a bus driver in the city of Paterson, New Jersey who lives an inhibited life compared to that of his wife, Laura. The films to know about at Cannes 2016 I, Daniel Blake Director: Ken Loach Starring: Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Micky McGregor What's it about? Written by Paul Laverty (the man behind Loach's Palme d'Or winner The Wind That Shakes the Barley, the film follows the titular protagonist, a joiner who seeks financial felp from the state following an illness. The films to know about at Cannes 2016 Loving Director: Jeff Nichols Starring: Joel Edgerton, Michael Shannon, Marton Csokas What's it about? Jeff Nichols' Midnight Special follow-up tracks an interracial couple based in Virginia sentenced to prison in 1958 for getting married. The films to know about at Cannes 2016 The Handmaid Director: Park Chan-wook Starring: Kim Min-hee, Ha Jung-woo, Kim Tae-ri What's it about? The Oldboy director's latest South Korean film follows an heiress who falls in love with a petty thief. The films to know about at Cannes 2016 The Neon Demon Director: Nicolas Winding Refn Starring: Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks What's it about? Winding Refn's third consecutive film to compete for the Palme d'Or, this horror thriller follows an aspiring model who moves to Los Angeles where 'her vitality and youth are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means to get what she has.' The films to know about at Cannes 2016 Cafe Society Director: Woody Allen Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively What's it about? Woody Allen's latest will open the Festival. It is a New York romantic comedy set in the 1930s with a cast including Steve Carell, Parker Posey, Corey Stoll and Judy Davis. The films to know about at Cannes 2016 The BFG Director: Steven Spielberg Starring: Mark Rylance, Rebecca Hall, Bill Hader What's it about? Based on the Roald Dahl classic, the story follows a young girl named Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) who befriends a friendly giant. The films to know about at Cannes 2016 Money Monster Director: Jodie Foster Starring: George Clooney, Jack O'Connell, Julia Roberts What's it about? A money-oriented live TV show is interrupted when the presenter is taken hostage by a blue-collar worker compelled to turn to violence following his recent financial losses. The films to know about at Cannes 2016 The Nice Guys Director: Shane Black Starring: Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe Reason to see: Shane Black (Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) and his razor sharp wit return in a comedy set in 70s LA. The films to know about at Cannes 2016 Captain Fantastic Director: Matt Ross Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Frank Langella, Kathryn Hahn What's it about? In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father who devoted his life to raising his six kids with an irreverent education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the 'real' world. She quit her Opening Ceremony gig to concentrate on acting again, because after five or six seasons she disliked all the judging, being nervous. And people not responding to it". British cinema audiences can soon enjoy her latest role, in Whit Stillman drama Love & Friendship, based on the Jane Austen novella Lady Susan. Sevigny plays Alicia Johnson, the American confidante of Kate Beckinsdales Lady Susan. Initially Sevigny was displeased when the decision was made to make her character American: I found it hard because I had studied the lines in a British accent and when I got to Dublin for the shoot [Stillman] said 'I want to make her American, I think it will be funnier and there will be a character for the American audience to grasp onto', and he was right. But shes not a fan of the number of Brits playing Americans. I think a lot of British actors do bad American accents. Its too Elma Fuddy. They go too flat. They forget the jazz. When she mentions music, I tell Sevigny that when I spent time in New York in 2003, I would always see her out in clubs. She challenges me to name some. And I pull out a Smiths night in a pub that used to happen on Sundays. Oh Sway, that closed last year, she recalls. People love The Smiths. Morrissey is a huge influence on me. I admire his provocation, intellect, his talent, hes always been a hero of mine. Prince died, Bowie died; if Morrissey died, I would be crying and stuck on the ground. Love & Friendship is out on 27 May. Kitty is at the Cannes Film Festival until Sunday Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} William Friedkin - the esteemed director of horror classic The Exorcist - has claimed the Vatican invited him to film a real exorcism earlier this month. Speaking at a Masterclass at Cannes, the 80-year-old told the audience how he was invited to Rome to film an exorcism - the first time an exorcism performed at the Vatican has ever been photographed. "I was invited by the Vatican exorcist to shoot and video an actual exorcism which... few people have ever seen and which nobody has ever photographed," he said according to AFP. Friedkin noted how similar the ritual was to that depicted in his film: "I was pretty astonished by that. I don't think I will ever be the same having seen this astonishing thing. The Exorcist uncut: Secrets of the scariest movie ever made Show all 4 1 /4 The Exorcist uncut: Secrets of the scariest movie ever made The Exorcist uncut: Secrets of the scariest movie ever made 474201.bin AP The Exorcist uncut: Secrets of the scariest movie ever made 474202.bin AP The Exorcist uncut: Secrets of the scariest movie ever made 474203.bin Rex Features The Exorcist uncut: Secrets of the scariest movie ever made 474204.bin Rex Features "I am not talking about some cult, I am talking about an exorcism by the Catholic Church in Rome. Conversely, The Vatican has denied inviting him to film an exorcism, spokesperson saying The Vatican (itself) does not have an exorcist. He added: People often confuse any Catholic initiative/organisation/person with the Vatican. Perhaps this is the case here. Whether or not Friedkins new film exists is currently unknown, but hopefully there will be some more supernatural footage soon. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ayad Akhtar won the Pulitzer Prize for his play Disgraced, which examines the penalties of denying one's cultural and religious roots through the story of a prosperous New York corporate lawyer who ends up paying a stiff price for having obscured his Muslim and Pakistani upbringing in the interests of his career. Matters of money, cultural identity and religion are again the nagging concern of The Invisible Hand, his latest play to reach London, though the themes are addressed here in a tense, thriller-like scenario. Nick Bright, a high-flying American banker, has been kidnapped by militants in rural Pakistan who mistook him for his Citibank boss. They demand a $10m ransom for his release. But because their leader has been officially labelled a terrorist, the US won't negotiate. The intriguing twist is that Nick nonetheless manages to convince his captors that he's an asset worth keeping alive. He undertakes to raise the ransom money in a year by playing the international stock market, trading in futures and currencies, and treating them all to a masterclass in how to profit from free-market capitalism. Punctuated by blinding lights and blaring noise between the scenes (all set in Nick's stark cell), Indhu Rubasingham's compelling production captures the dangerous volatility and grim humour of the situation and communicates well the fraught, absolutely addictive nature of stock market gambling. One of the many ironies in this thought-provoking piece is that it dramatises a reverse form of Stockholm Syndrome. Parth Thakerar's Bashir, a chippy young recruit from Hounslow who is much given to anti-Western tirades, becomes more adept than his master at the trading game. Nick (sensitively played by Daniel Lapaine) is far from being a greed-is-good Gordon Gekko figure. He's just never searchingly questioned the ethics of a system where currency is king. Or at least not until he sees the lengths to which Bashir is eventually prepared to carry its logic. We are prisoners of a corrupt country of our own making, declares Imam Saleem (Tony Jayawardena), whose father died as a result of one of his own youthful investigative pieces into diverted funds. But now while using Nick's money for road and irrigation projects and to purchase vaccines, he also slips a tidy cut into his own pockets. Akhtar charts the disintegration of the cell with neatly plotted stealth and, though the play is instructive in more senses than one as it explains the jargon of puts and shorts and basket trading, you always feel that you are attending a fast-paced drama rather than an international finance seminar. To 2 July; 020 7328 1000 For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Calvin Harris has been forced to cancel a second gig after being involved in a car crash on Friday night while driving to Los Angeles airport. The scottish 32-year-old DJ sustained minor injuries after a VW Beetle collided with his Cadilac SUV at around 11pm local time in Coldwater Canyon, near Beverley Hills. He was taken to hospital by ambulance with a cut to his nose and has now been released from hospital. A Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) spokeswoman told Press Assocation a juvenile was ejected from the other vehicle for not wearing a seatbelt and suffered a broken pelvis. The other vehicle was reportedly driven by a 16-year-old girl. The musician, who is one of the worlds highest earning DJs, cancelled a performance at Omina nightclub in Las Vegas on Friday night and has now called off a second gig at the Hangout Festival in Alabama on Saturday night. The festival announced the cancellation and wished him a speedy recovery. Calvin Harris is unable to perform tonight. All of us at Hangout wish him and everyone involved in last night's collision a speedy recovery, they wrote on Twitter. People news in pictures Show all 18 1 /18 People news in pictures People news in pictures 7 October 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an ice hockey match between former NHL stars and officials at the Shayba Arena in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Vladimir Putin spent his 63rd birthday on the ice, playing hockey with NHL stars against Russian officials and tycoons EPA People news in pictures 6 October 2015 German designer Karl Lagerfeld (R) and model Cara Delevingne (C) appear at the end of his Spring/Summer 2016 women's ready-to-wear collection for fashion house Chanel at the Grand Palais which is transformed into a Chanel airport during the Fashion Week in Paris, France Reuters People news in pictures 5 October 2015 Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne addresses the Conservative party conference in Manchester. The Chancellor argued that reducing the payments to people in low paid jobs would give them economic security by reducing the Governments spending deficit Getty Images People news in pictures 4 October 2015 Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston takes a moment in the centre of the field with his daughter Frankie Thurston, holding dark-skinned doll, after winning the 2015 NRL Grand Final match between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The image quickly became the talking point of Australias National Rugby League Final and provoked a strong reaction on social media, with many praising Thurston for giving his child a toy that promotes inclusiveness and diversity Getty Images People news in pictures 3 October 2015 Pope Francis gives a thumbs-up as he greets people at the end of an audience to the participants of a meeting organized by the "Food Bank" at the Paul VI audience hall in Vatican Getty Images People news in pictures 2 October 2015 Britain's Finance Minister George Osborne (L) throws an American football as he meets with former American football players Dan Marino (2nd R) and Curtis Martin (not pictured) at 11 Downing Street in London, ahead of the New York Jets playing against the Miami Dolphins at London's Wembley Stadium on 4 October Getty Images People news in pictures 1 October 2015 An honor guard opens the door as Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall to attend a meeting with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia People news in pictures 30 September 2015 Former Mrs America Lisa Christie, who alleges misconduct by Bill Cosby, holds up photos of her younger self during a news conference at the law office of attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Matt Damon has defended himself against claims that he instructed gay actors to remain in the closet. He had said I think youre a better actor the less people know about you and sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether youre straight or gay, people shouldnt know anything about your sexuality but an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show said, I was just trying to say actors are more effective when theyre a mystery. Right? Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Marion Cotillard has said that there is no place for feminism in Hollywood. Speaking to Porter magazine, she saidFilm-making is not about gender/ You cannot ask a president in a festival like Cannes to have, like, five movies directed by women and five by men. For me it doesnt create equality, it creates separation. I mean, I dont qualify myself as a feminist." Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Paul Walkers daughter, Meadow, is suing Porsche over her fathers death in a lawsuit that claims he was trapped in the burning car because of design flaws and the seat belt. The Fast and Furious star was killed when the Porsche Carrera GT he was a passenger in hit a pole in California in 2013. The driver, his friend Roger Rodas, also died when the vehicle burst into flames. AP People news in pictures 28 September 2015 Robert Mugabe waits to address the United Nations General Assembly. The leader of Zimbabwe reportedly exclaimed 'We are not gay!' as he criticised Western nation's "double standards and attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions and beliefs. In 2013 he described homosexuals as worse than pigs, goats and birds. Reuters People news in pictures 28 September 2015 South African comedian Trevor Noah hosts the first 'Daily Show' since taking over from Jon Stewart as host. Stewart had presented the US satirical news show since 1999 and was described by Noah during the show as a 'Political father' 2015 Getty Images People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Sir Elton John may have received a phone call from the real Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin's spokesman announced he had made contact weeks after the singer was duped by pranksters pretending to be the Russian President. Getty People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was mistakenly declared as the artist who produced the Mona Lisa by Fox News anchor Shepard Smith. It was in fact Leonardo da Vinci. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 A new biography claims Donald Trump expected to be dead by 40 and never marry. The Guardian says the a new book also claims that in 1980, Mr Trump manufactured a fake vice-president of his real estate conglomerate, whom he called John Baron. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 The Dalai Lama has said that Britain's policy towards China is just about 'Money, money, money.' And asked 'Where is morality?' People news in pictures 24 September 2015 Puff Daddy secured the number-one spot on the Forbes Hip Hop Cash Kings list, with the publication calculating he made an estimated $60million (39m) between June 2014 and June 2015. Panic! At The Disco, who moved their set to fill in for the headliner, also sent their condolesences to Harris. Harris, whose real name is Adam Richard Wiles, was told to rest for a few days after the accident and a statement was posted confirming the news on his official Facebook page. Adam's transport was involved in a collision this evening on the way to the airport," it read. "As a result he will be unable to perform at Omnia tonight. He has been examined by doctors and told to rest for a few days. The DJ and record producer was on the 2015 Forbes magazine list of top earning DJs with an estimated $66 million in annual income. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Elijah Wood claims Hollywood is in the grip of a child sexual abuse scandal similar to that of Jimmy Savile in the UK. The 35-year-old said paedophiles were shielded by powerful figures in the film industry and claimed that the abuse was organised. He said his mother protected him from abuse when he arrived in Hollywood at the age of eight and he didnt attend the type of parties where such incidents occurred. You all grew up with Savile Jesus, it must have been devastating, he told The Sunday Times. Clearly something major was going on in Hollywood. It was all organised. #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Show all 19 1 /19 #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Jada Pinkett-Smith Today is Martin Luther Kings birthday, and I cant help but ask the question: Is it time that people of color recognize how much power and influence we have amassed that we no longer need to ask to be invited anywhere? I ask the question: Have we come to a new time and place where we recognize that we can no longer beg for the love, acknowledge, or respect of any group? - Posted on her Facebook page. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Will Smith "The beauty of Hollywood combined with American ideals is the ultimate dream for humanity: the basis of the American concept of anything is possible, with hard work and dedication, no matter your race or religion, creed, none of that matters in America. I think that diversity is the American superpower. That's why we are great. So many different people from so many different places adding their ideas and their inspiration and their influences to this beautiful American gumbo and for me, at its best, Hollywood represents and then creates the imagery for that beauty. But for my part, I think I have to fight for and protect the ideals that make our country and make our Hollywood community great. So when I look at the series of nominations of the Academy, it's not reflecting that beauty." - Quote from ABC News appearance. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Reese Witherspoon "I really appreciated this article in TIME on the lack of racial and gender diversity in this year's Oscar nominations. So disappointed that some of 2015's best films, filmmakers and performances were not recognized... Nothing can diminish the quality of their work, but these filmmakers deserve recognition. As an Academy member, I would love to see a more diverse voting membership." - Posted on her Facebook page. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Spike Lee "This whole Academy thing is a misdirection play. We're chasing a guy down the field, he doesn't even have the ball. The other guy's high-stepping in the end zone. It goes further than the Academy Awards. It has to go back to the gatekeepers. We're not in the room. The executives, when they have these greenlight meetings quarterly, they look at the scripts and see who's in it and decide what we're making and what we're not making." - Quote from ABC appearance. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say George Clooney "If you think back 10 years ago, the Academy was doing a better job. Think about how many more African Americans were nominated. I would also make the argument, I dont think its a problem of who youre picking as much as it is: How many options are available to minorities in film, particularly in quality films? There should be 20 or 30 or 40 films of the quality that people would consider for the Oscars. By the way, were talking about African Americans. For Hispanics, its even worse. We need to get better at this. We used to be better at it." - Interview with Variety. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Snoop Dogg Somebody was actually like am I gonna watch the motherf***ing Oscars. F*** no. What the f*** am I going to watch that bulls*** for? They aint got no n***** nominated. All these great movies and all this great s*** yall keep stealing from us. F*** you! F*** you! - Posted on his Instagram page. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Don Cheadle "Yo, Chris. Come check me out at #TheOscars this year. They got me parking cars on G level." - Posted on his Twitter page, directed at host Chris Rock. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Mark Ruffalo I woke up in the morning thinking, what is the right way to do this? Because if you look at Martin Luther Kings legacy, what he was saying was that the good people who dont act are much worse than the wrongdoers who are purposefully not acting and dont know the right way. - Quote from interview with BBC News. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Lupita Nyong'o "I am disappointed by the lack of inclusion in this year's Academy Awards nominations. It has me thinking about unconscious prejudice and what merits prestige in our culture. The awards should not dictate the terms of art in our modern society, but rather be a diverse reflection of the best of what our art has to offer today. I stand with my peers who are calling for change in expanding the stories that are told and recognition of the people who tell them." - Posted on her Instagram page. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Tyrese Gibson "This is not us saying we're against the Oscars because we're gonna combat racism. We're just saying, 'Yo, this is not cool.' You can't be doing this in 2016 and act as if no one is gonna notice." - Quote from interview with People. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say David Oyelowo The reason why the Oscars are so important is because it is the zenith, it is the epitome, it is the height of celebration of artistic endeavor within the filmmaking community. We grow up aspiring, dreaming, longing to be accepted into that august establishment because it is the height of excellence. I would like to walk away and say it doesnt matter, but it does, because that acknowledgement changes the trajectory of your life, your career, and the culture of the world we live in. This institution doesnt reflect its president and it doesnt reflect this room. I am an Academy member and it doesnt reflect me, and it doesnt reflect this nation." - Speech at gala honoring Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Brie Larson "Thank you @hollywoodreporter for covering this very unique moment in my life! It was wonderful spending time with all of you. Personally, I'm interested in reading their article on #OscarsSoWhite. This is a conversation that deserves attention." - Posted on her Instagram page. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say How many black films are being produced every year? How are they being distributed? The films that are being made, are the big-time producers thinking outside of the box in terms of how to cast the role? Can you cast a black woman in that role? Can you cast a black man in that role? You can change the Academy, but if there are no black films being produced, what is there to vote for? - Quote from interview with Entertainment Weekly. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Charlotte Rampling "It is racist to whites. One can never really know, but perhaps the black actors did not deserve to make the final list. Why classify people? These days everyone is more or less accepted... People will always say: Him, hes less handsome; Him, hes too black; He is too white... someone will always be saying You are too [this or that]... But do we have to take from this that there should be lots of minorities everywhere?" - Quote from interview on Europe 1. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Michael Caine Theres loads of black actors. In the end you can't vote for an actor because he's black. You can't say 'I'm going to vote for him, he's not very good, but he's black, I'll vote for him'. You have to give a good performance and I'm sure people have. I saw Idris Elba (in Beasts Of No Nation).I thought he was wonderful. Be patient. Of course it will come. It took years to get an Oscar, years. - Quote from interview with Radio 4 Today programme. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Steve McQueen "This is exactly like MTV was in the 1980s. Could you imagine now if MTV only showed music videos by a majority of white people, then after 11 oclock it showed a majority of black people? Could you imagine that happening now? Its the same situation happening in the movies. Hopefully, when people look back at this in 20 years, itll be like seeing that David Bowie clip in 1983 [of artist critiquing channel for not featuring black artists]. I dont even want to wait 20 years. Forgive me; Im hoping in 12 months or so we can look back and say this was a watershed moment, and thank God we put that right." Quote from interview with The Guardian. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Julie Delpy "Two years ago, I said something about the Academy being very white male, which is the reality, and I was slashed to pieces by the media. It's funny - women can't talk. I sometimes wish I were African American because people don't bash them afterwards. It's the hardest to be a woman. Feminism is something people hate above all. Nothing worse than being a woman in this business. I really believe that." Delpy has since clarified these remarks, saying, "I'm very sorry for how I expressed myself. It was never meant to diminish the injustice done to African American artists or to any other people that struggle for equal opportunities and rights; on the contrary. All I was trying to do is to address the issues of inequality of opportunity in the industry for women as well (as I am a woman)." Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Clint Eastwood "I don't know anything about it. All I know is there's thousands of people in the Academy, and the majority of them haven't won Oscars. A lot of people are crying, I guess." - Quoted by TMZ. Getty #OscarsSoWhite: What Hollywood has to say Ellen Page Its awful, and I think what just happened in regards to the nominations two years in a row is a reflection of the industry itself, and the lack of diversity in all positions. Its so upsetting that were still having this conversation. I dont know what to say other than its so disheartening, and I feel like we all have to be doing what we can to make a change, because were supposed to be telling stories that reflect human experience, and we cant just be showing one group of people." Quote from interview with The Wrap. Getty There are a lot of vipers in this industry, people who only have their own interests in mind, he added. There is a darkness in the underbelly if you can imagine it, its probably happened. Wood said abuse prevails because victims are unable to speak as loudly as those in power. Thats the tragedy of attempting to reveal what is happening to innocent people, he said. They can be squashed but their lives have been irreparably damaged. Anne Henry, the co-founder of Bizparents, an organisation set up to help young actors, claimed Hollywood was currently sheltering 100 active abusers and a tsunami of claims was emerging. Louis Theroux says Savile didn't seem 'malevolent' at the time These claims have not been substantiated. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio flew an additional 8,000 miles from France to New York and back to accept an award on climate change. The actor suffered a massive blow on his carbon footprint when he took one jet from the Cannes Film Festival to New York City to attend the green awards ceremony, before hopping on board a second jet for a fund-raising event back in Cannes the following evening. The New York awards ceremony was the Riverkeeper Fishermens Ball at Chelsea Piers, where he was honoured by the clean-water advocacy group and fellow actor Robert De Niro for his efforts to raise awareness on climate change. His foundation also pledged $15 million at the World Economic Forum to help environmental causes. Mr DiCaprio was back in France 24 hours later to give a speech at the celebrity-packed amfARs Cinema Against AIDS gala alongside Uma Thurman, Katy Perry, Heidi Klum and Orlando Bloom. During his Oscar acceptance speech in 2016, where he scooped his first award for his role in The Revenant, Mr DiCaprio said: Climate change is real. It is happening right now, it is the most urgent threat facing our entire species. Environmental analyst Robert Rapier told Fox News that the actors movie-star lifestyle, complete with jets and yachts, diminishes his moral authority to lecture others on reducing their own carbon emissions. On social media, one user said there is one rule for them and one for everybody else. David Vance, a right-wing political commentator, called Mr DiCaprio shameless on Twitter. Mr DiCaprio, as the United Nations Messenger of Peace, spoke as a concerned citizen at the opening Climate Summit in 2014 about droughts, methane rising from the ocean floor, dramatic weather events and melting ice. As an actor I pretend for a living. I play fictitious characters often solving fictitious problems, he said. I believe mankind is looking at climate change in that same way, as if it were a fiction. As if pretending climate change were not real, it would somehow make it go away. But we know better than that now. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Experts have urged the public to report any sightings of Asian hornets, which can wipe out entire bee colonies. The National Bee Unit has asked members of the public to report any potential sighting of the hornet over fears they could cause further damage to the UK's bee population. Asian hornets prey on honey bees, which are defenceless to their attacks. A group of hornets can destroy an entire bee colony. The species is thought to have arrived in France in 2004 in a shipment of pottery from China. While there have been no confirmed sightings of the insects in the UK, there are fears they could make their way across the English Channel. Professor Dave Goulson, from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Sussex, told The Independent it was "certainly plausible" the hornets could make their way over from France. "They could get here any year and it would be another problem that beekeepers have to face," he said. "There have been issues with honey bee colonies dying and wild bees in decline. We could certainly do without any other predators for them. "So it wouldn't be particularly good news if it crossed the channel." A female Asian Hornet (Vespa velutina) with its sting (GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP/Getty Images) Asian hornets are smaller and less dangerous than the Giant Asian hornet, which they are often confused with, but their sting can cause anaphylactic shock in rare cases. Last year, five people are thought to have died in France after being stung by the Asian hornet. Experts think reported sightings of Asian hornets in the UK are actually sightings of European hornets. Asian hornets are similar in size to European hornets but have a darker colouring. Although Asian hornets are relatively harmless to humans, they can destroy entire bee colonies. Professor Goulson said: "They attack honey bee hives en masse. A gang of hornets will sit outside the hives entrance and snip the heads off all the bees. "When there are no bees left, they go inside and take all the brood back to feed their own offspring. "They can wipe out the whole hive." Anyone who suspects they have found an Asian hornet is asked to send it to the National Bee Unit for examination. A spokesperson for the National Bee Unit told the Daily Telegraph: "The hornet preys on honeybee and disrupts the ecological role which it provides, harming commercial beekeeping activities. "All beekeepers should remain vigilant and be on the look out for it in their apiaries." Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A long awaited parliamentary report into Britains armed forces being given a highly controversial anti-malarial medication, Lariam, is due to recommend that it is banned except in very restricted cases, according to campaigners against the use of the drug and senior Whitehall sources. Campaigners had hoped for a complete end to the prescribing of the drug. Nevertheless, the findings of the Defence Select Committee, out on Tuesday, are seen as likely to be enough for hundreds of legal cases being taken against the Ministry of Defence by service men and women who say they have suffered terribly from taking Lariam. A number of senior officers say that recognition of the dangerous side-effects that the use of Lariam is long overdue. General Lord Richards, the former head of the British military, told The Independent that measures should be taken to implement the recommendations in the report, due out on Tuesday, without delay. Recommended Read more MoD condemned by medical experts for giving soldiers Lariam It is understood that as Chief of Defence Staff, General Richards had raised the issue of concern over the drug within the Ministry of Defence. He said today If the use of Lariam is banned, or even restricted, it would not be before time. There has been worry for a very long time over the use of Lariam, I know personally from when we were serving in Sierra Leone in 2000. We know people who have been affected by this drug. I certainly hope that appropriate steps are taken as soon as possible. Lady Caroline Richards, the Generals wife, had also taken a keen interest in matter for a long time. She added Wives and partners of people who had been affected by the use of Lariam approached me and described what had happened. There were some terrible, sad stories of trauma, of relationships ending, psychological problems. We heard about other forces which have stopped using Lariam, so this is obviously something which needed looking into. Gen Richards led British troops in Sierra Leone when the civilian population of the country was under attack from armed militias. He was also the head of international forces in Afghanistan. British troops serving in both countries were prescribed Lariam by the MoD. Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Show all 10 1 /10 Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 30 per cent of people deal with anxiety by talking to a friend or relative, or by going for a walk. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report Almost one in five people feel anxious all or a lot of the time. PA Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 22 per cent of women feel anxious a lot or all of the time, compared to 15 per cent of men. Roman Levin/Flickr Creative Commons Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 45 per cent of people who feel anxious in everyday life cite financial issues as their biggest cause of worry. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report And 26 per cent of people who feel anxious say fearing for the welfare of their children and loved ones leaves them burdened with worry. And 26 per cent of people say fearing for the welfare of their children and loved ones leaves them burdened with anxiety. Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 27 per cent of people who suffer from anxiety say work issues, such as long hours, are the source of the problem. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report But 16 per cent use alcohol to cope, while 10 per cent turn to cigarettes in the face of anxiety. Unemployed people are more likely to resort to these harmful strategies: 27 per cent use alcohol and 23 per cent use cigarettes. AFP/Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report Only seven per cent of people who say they suffer from anxiety seek help from their GP. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report People are thought to be more anxious than they were five years ago. Alessandra/Flickr Creative Commons Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report The stresses of modern life are thought to have created "The Age of Anxiety". Getty Lariam is the brand name of the medication Mefloquine which was developed by the US Army in the 1970s. In 2012 it was alleged, but not proven, that a US soldier, Staff Sergeant Robert Bales who massacred 16 villagers in southern Afghanistan, was on Lariam. In 2013 the US Food and Drug Administration added a warning to the packages of the drug regarding potential neuropsychiatric side effects which may persist even after its use is ended. The same year US special forces stopped prescribing Lariam to its members. Bales is accused of gunning down 16 villagers - mostly women and children - in 2012 (REUTERS) The British military no longer gives Lariam to its divers or pilots, but continues to do so with soldiers. The law firm, Hilary Meredith Solicitors, say they have already been contacted by 470 former military personnel prescribed Lariam who have suffered from a range of side effects including hallucinations, severe depression, sleep deprivation and anxiety. Another firm, Irwin Mitchell, say they have received more than 30 approaches from people affected by taking the medication. The Legal firms representing the former personnel hold that prospect of successful litigation will be strengthened as the Defence Committee report shows that the MoD had failed to find the correct balance between providing protection against malaria and the side effects of Lariam. Philippa Tuckman, a partner at Hilary Meredith Solicitors, said because of the risks associated with Lariam the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority (MHRA) as long ago as 1996 took the extremely rare step of saying that any doctor who is going to prescribe Lariam needs to make sure not only that the patient is completely aware of the possibility of psychiatric and other problems, but also that they know they must get to a doctor, before the next dose, if they experience any of these problems. Above all, the MHRA made it crystal clear that absolutely no one with any history whatever of neuropsychiatric disorders - and that would include problems that are common in the military, such as PTSD and anger management or alcohol issues - should be given the drug. It is negligent to administer Lariam without following the MHRAs guidance. I have personally heard so many service personnel tell me that they were not asked about their history, that they were not told about the potentially catastrophic side effects of the drug. Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Marriott, of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was prescribed Lariam before going to Sierra Leone to train the countrys troops in 2003. He was told that there may be side effects, but that these would be temporary. Instead he has suffered severe long-term problems. The MoD has accepted my condition was caused by Lariam, said Lt Col Marriott. I have not had one nights undisturbed sleep since 2002. I have nightmares which I do not want to tell anyone about. Lt Col Marriott, who left the Army in 2008, said: This problem has been known about for a very long time. It is quite disgraceful that it has taken so long for something to be done. There needs to be a detailed examination of some of the officials on this matter. We are told that Lariam only adversely affects a small number of people. But why on earth would anyone want to risk that with people using weapons in a hostile situation? I have been in the Army for 30 years and served all over the world. Hasty decisions are sometimes made in the heat of battle which are mistakes and which are then rectified. But the decisions on Lariam were made by people sitting in relative safety back home; and they refuse to rectify their mistakes. An MOD spokesperson said: All anti-malarial treatments have associated side effects but we must protect our personnel from this potentially fatal disease. We need to be able to use the most appropriate drug to ensure resistance and base our advice on Public Health England guidelines. While Mefloquine [Lariam} is used throughout the world, its not prescribed widely in the UK military, and only after an individual risk assessment. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will join the EU referendum campaign fray on Monday, appearing alongside Plaid Cymrus leader Leanne Wood, and the Green Party MP Caroline Lucas to set out the progressive case for voting to Remain. With the Labour In For Britain campaign so far eclipsed by the clash between the Government and the Conservative-led Vote Leave group, Ms Sturgeon will seek to shift attention onto the social benefits of EU membership, including maternity rights. The campaign event in London will see Ms Sturgeon reunited with fellow nationalist party leader Ms Wood, with whom she has enjoyed positive relations in the past. Alongside, Ms Lucas, the leaders are expected to make a bid to change the debate on EU migration, hailing the benefits of freedom of movement. Speaking at the SNPs National Council meeting in Perth on Saturday, Ms Sturgeon said she was a passionate believer in the positive, progressive case for EU membership. The social protections and benefits that membership has given us from maternity rights, to workers rights to freedom of movement - are almost so ingrained in our daily lives that it is easy to take them for granted, she said. With the Tories itching to scrap the Human Rights Act and their attempts to curb Trade Union rights, it is clear that these social protections would not be safe in the hands of a Westminster government. What has the EU ever done for us? Show all 7 1 /7 What has the EU ever done for us? What has the EU ever done for us? 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe As a member of the EU, UK citizens benefit from freedom of movement across the continent. Considered one of the so-called four pillars of the European Union, this freedom allows all EU citizens to live, work and travel in other member states. What has the EU ever done for us? 2. It sustains millions of jobs A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UKs exports to the EU. What has the EU ever done for us? 3. Your holiday is much easier - and safer Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of EU membership, with Britons having made 31 million visits to the EU in 2014 alone. But a lot of the benefits of being an EU citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed. What has the EU ever done for us? 4. It means you're less likely to get ripped off Consumer protection is a key benefit of the EUs single market, and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe. What has the EU ever done for us? 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime Another example of a lesser-known advantage of EU membership is the benefit of cross-country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime. What has the EU ever done for us? 6. Our businesses depend on it According to 71% of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (CBI), and 67 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EU has had an overall positive impact on their business. What has the EU ever done for us? 7. We have greater influence Robin Niblett, Director of think-tank Chatham House, stated in a report published last year: For a mid-sized country like the UK, which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally, and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms, being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence. The SNP leader will also meet with the new Labour mayor of London Sadiq Khan on Monday, in a head-to-head where the two leaders will discuss economic links between London and Scotland, and their shared opposition to a range of Tory policies, SNP sources said. Senior Labour figures have in recent days raised the prospects that any future Labour government may have to work with the SNP. With recent Scottish election results seeing the party slip into third place, seemingly eradicating any hopes of a Labour resurgence in Scotland in the 2020 General Election, hopes of a Labour majority at Westminster are thin, and a number of Labour figures see some accommodation with the Scottish Nationalists as the only likely route to power. Yesterday former Prime Minister Gordon Brown returned to the EU campaign trail, issuing a plea Britains nine million Labour voters and young people to turn out and vote on June 23. Polls have shown that Leave supporters are more likely to be older, and more likely to turnout to vote a factor that gives the Leave campaign the edge in some polls. Speaking at the Fabian Society, Mr Brown also urged mothers to vote to stay in the EU for the sake of their children. If we the British then decided we were going to walk away from our nearest neighbours, refuse to cooperate on economic and other matters that are vital to our future, deny young people in our country the chance to plan for the future because we are breaking off links to countries that are nearest to us, what sort of message would we send to the world about what kind of world we are going to build for the future if we could not engage in cooperation with our nearest neighbours? he said. "By the strength of our common endeavours we can achieve more together than ever we could achieve on our own," he added. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Only one in eight jihadists who have travelled to Syria and Iraq have been prosecuted on their return to the UK, it has been revealed. It is estimated that 400 British Muslims have travelled abroad and joined terrorist groups such as Islamic State and then returned to the UK since 2012. Answering a parliamentary question about the number of prosecutions of returning Jihadists, Home Office spokesman in the House of Lords, Lord Keen of Elie, revealed that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has only successfully prosecuted 35 cases involving 54 such defendants. He said 13 prosecutions involving 30 defendants are ongoing, and that the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland was also dealing with one case involving a suspected jihadist who travelled to and returned from Syria. Lord Keen said: If there is evidence that people are going abroad to engage in terrorist activity, they can be arrested and prosecuted. They can also be arrested and prosecuted if they return to the UK. There are a wide range of offences that can be used to prosecute such individuals but each case has to be considered individually on its merits and whether an arrest or prosecution can take place will depend on the evidence available. If the police refer a case to the CPS, they consider whether the test in the Code for Crown Prosecutors is met. That is, whether there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence and, if so, whether it is in the public interest to prosecute. An Isis propaganda video purporting to show fighters near the Iraqi city of Tikrit AFP/Getty (AFP/Getty) The low prosecution rate is concerning, considering that the number of suspected British jihadists returning to the UK is likely to be much higher than estimated - with experts saying many find ways to make their re-entry into the country without detection. Professor Anthony Glees, head of the University of Buckinghams Centre for Security and Intelligence Services, told the Daily Telegraph, which first reported the figures: The hundreds of British citizens who have gone to Syria are highly dangerous. The fact that so few are being prosecuted when they return is clearly very unsatisfactory and will be very alarming to many people. We need to know why so many havent been prosecuted. It suggests to me that they have simply gone off the radar while our security services try to play catch-up. A Home Office spokesman said it had a wide range of powers at our disposal to disrupt travel to conflict zones and manage the risk posed by returnees. He said: Everyone who returns from Syria or Iraq can expect to be subject to investigation to determine if they pose a threat and they should be in no doubt we will take the strongest possible action to protect our national security. Border Force works closely with counter-terrorism police to ensure the security of the UK border and identify those who may have been involved in terrorist activity overseas. The vast majority of passengers are checked against our systems before they even travel, so we know who is arriving, and all passengers are checked against police, security and immigration watch lists when they reach passport control. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The last time Penny Mordaunt was publicly ridiculed live on ITV, she was at least there to defend herself. On that occasion, she was wearing a sequinned red one piece and had just ended her attempt at a backward somersault from 7.5 metres by splatting arse first in to the pool to a look of casual disdain from Tom Daley. But that is a crime eminently more forgivable in a cabinet minister than seemingly not knowing about the UKs veto on EU accession. If this is how Sunday mornings are going to work from now on, the price in untouched pastries will certainly be worth it. (On that front, spare a thought for poor Ed Balls. He was meant to be Chancellor by now. On Monday he had to do give a speech at Stansted airport next to George Osborne. And this morning ITV sat him in front of a tray of pain au chocolats and made him answer questions about the EU referendum. Not even the KGB up anything that cruel.) What has the EU ever done for us? Show all 7 1 /7 What has the EU ever done for us? What has the EU ever done for us? 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe As a member of the EU, UK citizens benefit from freedom of movement across the continent. Considered one of the so-called four pillars of the European Union, this freedom allows all EU citizens to live, work and travel in other member states. What has the EU ever done for us? 2. It sustains millions of jobs A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UKs exports to the EU. What has the EU ever done for us? 3. Your holiday is much easier - and safer Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of EU membership, with Britons having made 31 million visits to the EU in 2014 alone. But a lot of the benefits of being an EU citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed. What has the EU ever done for us? 4. It means you're less likely to get ripped off Consumer protection is a key benefit of the EUs single market, and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe. What has the EU ever done for us? 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime Another example of a lesser-known advantage of EU membership is the benefit of cross-country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime. What has the EU ever done for us? 6. Our businesses depend on it According to 71% of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (CBI), and 67 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EU has had an overall positive impact on their business. What has the EU ever done for us? 7. We have greater influence Robin Niblett, Director of think-tank Chatham House, stated in a report published last year: For a mid-sized country like the UK, which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally, and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms, being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence. 09.30am: Government minister Mordaunt appears on Andrew Marr Show, makes dubious assertion that I dont think the UK will be able to stop Turking joining the EU. 10.15am: Tieless Prime Minister appears on the altogether more casual Peston On Sunday, and breezily claims his own minister is absolutely wrong. If nothing else, its certainly efficient. Civil servants are busy fretting about what to do when the House of Commons is soon forced to close for several years to stop it crumbling into the Thames. One hitherto unexplored option is to govern the land via the BBC and ITVs rival Sunday morning sofas. How much more pleasant Prime Ministers Questions might be if Jeremy Corbyn put all his questions to Andrew Marr, then David Cameron gave all his answers to Robert Peston, before launching straight into some idle chit chat with Lily Allen and David Baddiel. By the way, the Prime Minister repeated his claim that Turkeys membership of the EU is not on the cards, which to the novice ear does sound quite a bit like the Chancellors favourite claim that there are no plans for cuts to the welfare budget in this parliament. That Turkey joining the EU has been official government policy since at least the point at which Cameron went to Ankara in 2010 and gave a speech in favour of it, should at least be borne in mind when one comes to decide on the likelihood of that veto ever being deployed. Cameron was there to put out the Remain camps line of the day. That Brexit would lead to a family spending 220 a year more on clothes and shopping. The battle lines are clear enough now. Its migration versus the economy. And as the old saying goes, if you throw enough pain au chocolat, some of it sticks. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} George Osborne is facing pressure from campaigners after failing to scrap the tampon tax. Campaigners claim the Government has gone quiet on the matter since announcing the five per cent VAT on sanitary products would be scrapped back in March. Mr Osborne originally made the pledge to remove the tampon tax last November, but was unable to do so due to regulations applied by the European Commission that prevented member states from removing the tax. The Chancellor had proposed to instead redistribute the estimated 15m a year in VAT to womens charities. But in March the EU regulations were relaxed, allowing countries to extend the number of zero rates for VAT and therefore making it possible for the UK Government to scrap the tax. In a speech to the House of Commons in March, the Prime Minister David Cameron said: Britain will be able to have a zero rate for sanitary products, meaning the end of the tampon tax". This was viewed as a success for an online petition fighting to get rid of the tampon tax called 'Stop taxing periods. Period', which had obtained over 320,000 signatures. Bu two months on the tax has not yet been scrapped, and campaigners have expressed concern that despite the Government's promise the legislation will be dropped. Laura Coryton, 22, who launched the petition in May 2014, said Mr Osborne has gone quiet on the matter. She told The Independent: The relevant legislation has been accepted by the House of Commons and is currently going through Parliament, but no date has been published for the legislation to be passed. Despite Osborne's new-found freedom from EU red tape, he still hasn't followed through with his pledge. Our government doesn't seem to be interested in making that final step to change this. We don't want the legislation to be dropped following a dip in public pressure. It is so important that we keep the tampon tax spotlight on Osborne so that finally we can scrap this sexist and alienating tax. Yesterday (Saturday 21 May), Miss Coryton, who is a graduate from Goldsmith's University and now works for the Labour party, organised a demonstration outside Parliament to put pressure on the Government over the issue. Around 50 people - mainly women - gathered to put pressure on Mr Osborne to fulfill his pledge. Among them were women's rights campaigners from across the globe including Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, a feminist activist from New York, and Megan Mukuria, founder of Zana Africa, a charity supporting adolescent girls in Kenya. Miss Coryton, who is a recent graduate from Goldsmith's University in London, said the demonstration went "amazingly". "It was fantastic to have such enthusiastic support from so many of our fearless supporters. We marched the streets to make sure this final step is taken," she said. Protesters chanted and held up banners with messages including Stamp on tampon tax and Axe tampon tax and Do you know how much this sign cost?, with tampons hanging from it. Emily Lane, 23, a trainee teacher who lives in Bristol, was among the protesters. She said: It is just important to be represented and to have those issues that normally get swept under the carpet into the public eye. "We can't let George Osborne think that we have stepped down yet. We are so nearly there." Manjit K Gill, founder of Binti International a charity fighting for menstrual dignity was also at the demonstration. She said: "The young women today came to battle for what they believe is a human right. "It also means that homeless women in the UK may no longer have to use socks, rags or newspaper. This is the year for incredible change to smash period shame." Last week Labour MP Paul Sherriff, who has campaigned on the issue of tampon tax, called for a windfall if retailers and manufacturers do not pass on the full tax cut to women if and when the legislation passes. Ms Sherriff has asked for Britain's biggest retailers to provide guarantees to pass on the tax cut, and vowed to propose amendments to the Finance Bill that would provide for a windfall tax if retailers fail to pass on the full cut. The move follows a recent cut in VAT on women's sanitary products in France that saw firms pocketing the extra cash. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The long-awaited Chilcot report into the Iraq war is reportedly set to savage Tony Blair and other former government officials in an absolutely brutal verdict on the failings of the occupation. The former Prime Minister wont be let off the hook over claims he offered military assistance to the former American President George W Bush, a year before the invasion of Iraq, a source told the Sunday Times. The Inquiry, which was set up by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown in June 2009 to look into the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, will release its 2.6 million word report just two weeks after the EU referendum. It is expected to damage the reputations of a number of high-ranking officials. Recommended Read more Timeline of events of the Chilcot inquiry The source added that the harshest criticism will be reserved for the former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. It will be absolutely brutal for [Mr] Straw, they told the Sunday Times. The build-up to war is very crucial. It will damage the reputations of a number of people, Richard Dearlove as well as Tony Blair and others. But there is a second half. The report will say that we really did make a mess of the aftermath. We sent in inexperienced people. People were put in positions where they couldnt succeed. We didnt quite know what we were doing. After the invasion we found it very much more difficult than we had expected. Sir John Chilcot announced he will deliver his report in summer 2016 (AFP Getty) All the things the British had been saying about how much better we were at dealing with post-conflict resolution than the Americans came very badly unstuck. Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, will also face criticism for failing to prevent Downing Street from putting gloss on intelligence surrounding the alleged weapons of mass destruction. Mr Blair will already be familiar with the criticisms in the report due to the Maxwellisation process, which allows those under fire to respond to the allegations in the report before publication. Blair sorry over Iraq War Last year, in an interview with CNN, the former Labour Prime Minister issued a partial apology. He said: I can say that I apologise for the fact that the intelligence I received was wrong. I also apologise for some of the mistakes in planning, and certainly, our mistake in our understanding of what would happen once you removed the regime. The Iraq Inquiry will be based on the testimony of more than 150 witnesses, who contributed to more than 130 sessions of oral evidence. It also incorporates the results of the examination of 150,000 Government documents examined. Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on Show all 31 1 /31 Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20169.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20158.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20159.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20160.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20161.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20157.bin AFP/GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20162.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20163.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20164.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20136.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20165.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20138.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20139.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20140.bin AFP/GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20141.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20142.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20156.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20155.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20154.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20152.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20151.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20150.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20149.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20148.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20147.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20145.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20144.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20143.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20135.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20166.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20167.bin GETTY IMAGES But delays to the report, which started nearly seven years ago, have been criticised by families of those who died during the eight-year occupation of Iraq between 2003 and 2011. Reg Keys, who lost his 20-year-old son Lance Corporal Thomas Keys Thomas was killed in the conflict said it was dragging out the agony of the families who want to draw a line under this. The office of Tony Blair refused to comment on the reports. The Independent has also contacted Mr Straw. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} David Cameron has deflected a question on whether or not he is posh by explaining the etymology of the word and its alleged connection to citizens of the British Empire travelling by ship to India. The arguably posh response to the straight-forward question on ITVs Robert Peston Show came as the Prime Minister was confronted with the publics most frequent Google searches about him. Others included: How much does David Cameron earn? and Is David Cameron related to the Queen? Mr Cameron, who attended Eton and grew up in leafy Oxfordshire, responded: Look, I cant hide my background or upbringing and I never have done so. Recommended Read more Jeremy Corbyn refuses to admit he is middle class But is that posh? asked Mr Peston. Well, other people would probably say that. Its a funny expression. It can mean lots of different things: it originally meant which side of a ship you were on when you were travelling out to India, the Prime Minister added. My parents gave me an amazing start in life, very warm family, great school and the chance to get on and make something with my life. What I want is to do as much as that for other people and thats actually what the Queens speech this week was all about. Though, Mr Camerons claim that posh is an old nautical term an acronym of Port Out, Starboard Home is likely to raise eyebrows in some nautical circles. According to Fiona McPherson, a senior editor at the Oxford English Dictionary, claims posh, meaning smart, stylish, splendid, luxurious is first recorded in 1914, with the chiefly British strand of meaning, typical of the upper classes; snooty, following soon after. David Cameron's biggest controversies Show all 8 1 /8 David Cameron's biggest controversies David Cameron's biggest controversies Pig-gate A book released by Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft alleged that an MP and Oxford contemporary of David Cameron had allegedly seen a photograph of Mr Cameron performing a sex act on a pig while at university. Downing Street did not comment on the allegations and the peer said they could have been a case of mistaken identity David Hartley/REX Shutterstock David Cameron's biggest controversies Swarm of migrants In July 2015 David Cameron referred to refugees coming into Europe from the Middle East and North Africa as a swarm. He was criticised for using the language, which critics said was dehumanising Getty David Cameron's biggest controversies Child tax credits In April 2015 David Cameron was asked whether hed cut child tax credits. No, I dont want to do that, he said, saying that he rejected reports that he would. Shortly after the election the Government unveiled cuts to child tax credits EPA David Cameron's biggest controversies Cycling to work As leader of the opposition David Cameron was regularly photographed cycling to work. In early 2006 he was photographed cycling but with a driver in a car carrying his belongings. It was suggested at the time the cycling was just for show and that having two vehicles on the road instead of one was wasteful Rex David Cameron's biggest controversies Andy Coulson David Cameron employed former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as government communications director from 2010. After stepping down from the post due to coverage of the phone hacking affairs, Mr Coulson was later found guilty of conspiracy to intercept voicemails. He served a short prison sentence AFP David Cameron's biggest controversies His personal windmill Early in his leadership of the Conservative David Cameron made an effort to change the partys image by making eco-friendly gesures. As one of these gestures, the future PM put a wind turbine on his house. However, the turbine later had to be removed after neighbours condemned it as an eyesore and the councils planning committee said it had been put in the wrong place Getty David Cameron's biggest controversies Funeral selfie David Cameron was pictured posing for a selfie with Danish PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Barack Obama at Nelson Mandelas funeral. Some in the press criticised the prime minister for showing in an inappropriately low level of respect for the gravity of the occasion AFP/Getty Images David Cameron's biggest controversies Eating a hotdog with a knife and fork The Prime Minister was pictured eating a hotdog with a knife and fork in the run up to the 2015 general election. He was accused of being posh. I had a very privileged upbringing... I've never tried to hide that, he said Reuters She also adds that no evidence exists to back up Mr Camerons explanation of the word. Sadly, posh will just have to remain in the origin unknown category. Last week Jeremy Corbyn floundered on the programme when asked very simply and directly: Do you think of yourself as middle class? Oh gawd I dunno, Mr Corbyn began, before launching into a convoluted explanation of how his personal circumstances were like those of every MP which is, I suppose, more or less, middle class. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} David Cameron has said he would be happy to meet Donald Trump despite renewing his attack on the Presidential candidate and branding his policy towards Muslims as dangerous. The Prime Minister, who has previously referred to the presumptive Republican candidates plans to temporarily stop Muslims from entering the United States as divisive, stupid and wrong, went a step further and said Mr Trumps comment were dangerous. It comes after Mr Trump said last week that he has already been invited to Downing Street for talks with the Prime Minister. However, a spokesperson for Number 10 said to The Independent that given the parties have yet to choose their nominees, there are no confirmed dates for this. They added: Its long-standing practice for the PM to meet with the Republican and Democrat Presidential nominees if they visit the UK. Asked on ITV's Robert Peston show whether he was going to see Mr Trump before the American election the Prime Minister said: I dont know. American Presidential candidates have made a habit of coming through Europe and through the UK and so if that happens, Id be very happy to [meet him]. JK Rowling on Trump He added: I dont withdraw in any way what I said about the policy of not letting Muslims into America. I do think that is wrong and divisive as I said because weve got to demonstrate that were up against here is a very small minority of a minority: Islamist extremists that want to divide our societies. Weve got to explain that there are millions and billions of people in our world that worshipthat are devout Muslims but believe in liberal democracy and all the things we believe in. Its a very dangerous thing to say, I am making it worse now, as well as a divisive and wrong one. 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 In an interview with Pierce Morgan on ITV last week Mr Trump was asked whether Mr Cameron was damaging the special relationship with his recent comments. He responded: Honestly, I dont care, it doesnt matter. It looks like were not going to have a very good relationship. I hope to have a good relationship with him, but it sounds like hes not willing to address the problem either. Number one, Im not stupid, I can tell you that right now, just the opposite. I dont think Im a divisive person, Im a unifier, unlike our president now. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} David Cameron has hit back at one of his own ministers over her claim Britain would have no say over whether Turkey joined the EU. The Prime Minister said such a move would happen in about the year 3000, rejecting a new warning from the Vote Leave campaign that Turkey (population 76 million) is joining the EU. And Mr Cameron said Penny Mordaunt, the Armed Forces minister, was absolutely wrong to say the UK does not have a veto on whether Turkey is allowed to accede to the bloc. David Cameron speaks on ITV's Peston on Sunday programme (ITV/Peston on Sunday) (ITV) Ms Mordaunt has been accused of flat out lying after she told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show that Turkey is set to join the EU in the next eight years and the UK will be unable to block the move. Speaking to ITVs Peston on Sunday a short while later, Mr Cameron said: Let me be clear, Britain and every other country in the European Union has a veto on another country joining. That is a fact, and the fact that the Leave campaign are getting things as straightforward as this wrong should call in to question their whole judgment in making the bigger argument about leaving the EU. Robert Peston questioned whether a minister who had gone something so wrong, and whose judgment he had called into question, should remain in Mr Camerons government. The Prime Minister said: Her responsibilities are in the Ministry of Defence, she is doing a very good job. But on this question of whether of not we have a veto, the Leave campaign are wrong. Mr Cameron added: It is not remotely on the cards that Turkey is going to join the EU any time soon. They applied in 1987. At the current rate of progress they will probably get round to joining in about the year 3000 according to the latest forecasts. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Eurosceptic Tory minister has been accused of plain and simple lying over the possibility of Turkey joining the EU, prompting an extraordinary intervention from the Prime Minister. Penny Mordaunt, the armed forces minister, said the UK does not have a veto over the new membership of states such as Turkey despite it being a key part of the Treaty of the European Union. David Cameron said the minister was absolutely wrong on the matter, and implied her judgement on other matters should be called into question as a result. Ms Mordaunt found herself at the centre of the controversy after she endorsed a controversial new Vote Leave campaign poster which shows dirty footprints entering an enlarged British passport with the caption: Turkey (population 76 million) is joining the EU. Asked if she was resorting to dog whistle politics, Ms Mordaunt told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show it was the Remain campaign that was resorting to "scaremongering" and "false reports: On Turkeys chances of joining the EU, she said: This is our last chance to have a say on this, were not going to be consulted on whether those countries should join. Those countries are going to join, it is a matter of when. Andrew Marr suggested this was wrong, given the British government does have a veto on Turkey joining, so we dont have to let them join. But Ms Mordaunt replied: No, it doesnt. We are not going to be able to have a say. Marr was forced again to bring up the issue at the end of the interview to clarify Ms Morduants point. He said: Im going to return to this business, because Im pretty sure that we do have a veto over stopping Turkey joining if we want to. Are you sure that we dont? Ms Mordaunt said: We havent I think that with the current situation, the migrant crisis and other issues in Europe at the moment, we would be unable to stop Turkey joining. I think this is a matter for the British people to decide, and the only shot that they will get to express a view on this is in this referendum I dont think that the UK will be able to stop Turkey joining. Political commentators, Remain campaigners and the Labour party were quick to call out Ms Mordaunts claim but it is the blue-on-blue attack from Mr Cameron which threatens to claim a second Eurosceptic cabinet minister in as many months. The Prime Minister told ITV's Peston on Sunday: "Let me be clear, Britain and every other country in the European Union has a veto on another country joining. "That is a fact, and the fact that the Leave campaign are getting things as straightforward as this wrong should call in to question their whole judgment in making the bigger argument about leaving the EU." James McGrory, a spokesman for Britain Stronger in Europe, said the minister is "plain and simple lying to people". "We have a veto on whether Turkey can join the EU," he said. "As does every other EU nation. "That was disgraceful from Penny Mordaunt on [the Andrew Marr Show]. Criticises dishonesty and then is utterly dishonest about our veto on Turkey." Labours Hillary Benn said Ms Mordaunt was wrong, and said Leave must stop misleading people. He said: Even if a long time in the future Turkey did become an EU member, Britain and other EU countries would be able, if they wanted to, to control the movement of workers. Thomas Cole, a former foreign policy official with the EU Commission who now campaigns for Remain, said: Penny Mordaunt just lied on Andew Marr. I should know. I used to work on EU enlargement. Faisal Islam, Sky News political editor, said the ministers comments on the programme were straightforwardly not true. He reproduced Article 49 of the EU treaty, on countries applying to become a new member of the union, which states: The applicant shall address its application to the Council, which shall act unanimously. And Ben Wallace, one of Ms Mordaunts fellow Conservative MPs, said: What Leave never mention is that accession states, including Turkey, can only join the EU with a unanimous vote of members. The veto applies. Elsewhere in the interview on Marr, Ms Mordaunt described the campaign to Remain as an establishment stitch-up. Some viewers were quick to point out the irony of such a statement coming from a minister within the Government. What has the EU ever done for us? Show all 7 1 /7 What has the EU ever done for us? What has the EU ever done for us? 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe As a member of the EU, UK citizens benefit from freedom of movement across the continent. Considered one of the so-called four pillars of the European Union, this freedom allows all EU citizens to live, work and travel in other member states. What has the EU ever done for us? 2. It sustains millions of jobs A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UKs exports to the EU. What has the EU ever done for us? 3. Your holiday is much easier - and safer Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of EU membership, with Britons having made 31 million visits to the EU in 2014 alone. But a lot of the benefits of being an EU citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed. What has the EU ever done for us? 4. It means you're less likely to get ripped off Consumer protection is a key benefit of the EUs single market, and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe. What has the EU ever done for us? 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime Another example of a lesser-known advantage of EU membership is the benefit of cross-country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime. What has the EU ever done for us? 6. Our businesses depend on it According to 71% of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (CBI), and 67 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EU has had an overall positive impact on their business. What has the EU ever done for us? 7. We have greater influence Robin Niblett, Director of think-tank Chatham House, stated in a report published last year: For a mid-sized country like the UK, which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally, and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms, being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence. Tweeting during Ms Mordaunts appearance, the official Vote Leave campaign account insisted you cant trust David Cameron on Turkey, and posted a video showing Turkish MPs fighting in Parliament in Ankara. Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott said: "David Cameron has said he wants to pave the road to Ankara and has repeatedly confirmed it is government policy for Turkey to join the EU. The EU is speeding up the process of Turkey joining and we are paying nearly 2 billion to help make it happen. If it isn't on the cards, why are taxpayers footing the bill for it already? As with so much in the referendum the remain campaign are saying one thing now before the vote but are planning for the exact opposite after 23 June. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The SNP has called on the Metropolitan Police to investigate whether the Conservatives fraudulently recorded local candidate spending as part of their national expenditure. SNP MP Pete Wishart wrote to the Met Police to call for an investigation into whether the Tories attempted to subvert the Representation of the People Act in the way they recorded their election spending. "Currently there are some 10 police forces investigating the electoral expenditure of some 28 Conservative candidates who contested the 2015 General Election," he said in a letter disclosed to Channel 4 News. General election 2015: Polling day Show all 16 1 /16 General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 Nuns arrive to vote at a polling station at St John's Church in Paddington, London General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 A voter leaves the White Horse Inn in Priors Dean, also known as the 'Pub with no name', which is part of the East Hampshire constituency and acts as a local polling station on the day of the election General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 General view of inside the White Horse Inn in Priors Dean General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 People cast their votes as a man uses a punch bag in the East Hull Boxing Academy, which is being used as a polling station in Hull General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 Penny Higbee waits to greet voters at her home in Routh, East Yorkshire, which is being used as a rural polling station General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 Voters in Ironbridge, Shropshire, arrive to cast their vote at The Iron Bridge Tollhouse General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 A voter arrives at the North West Ambulance Service Station at Milton Green, Cheshire, which is being used as a polling station as Britain goes to the ballot box General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 A polling station has been installed in a launderette in Oxford General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 SNP candidate for the Gordon constituency and Former First Minister Alex Salmond with first time voter Nicki Falconer, and her family, (L-R) Mackenzie, Nicki, Skye, Alex Salmond and Keiran at their local polling station in the Gordon constituency in Ellon, Scotland General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron and wife Samantha after casting their votes at Spelsbury Memorial Hall, Witney General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and his wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez arrive at Hall Park Hill Community Centre to cast their votes, in Sheffield General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 Labour Party leader Ed Miliband and his wife Justine Thornton leave the polling station at Sutton Village Hall in Sutton after casting their votes in the 2015 general election in Doncaster General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 First Minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP Nicola Sturgeon, votes with her husband Peter Murrell in Glasgow, Scotland General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 Ukip leader Nigel Farage arrives to cast his vote for the South Thanet constituency in Ramsgate General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood arrives at a polling station in Penygraig, Rhondda, Wales General election 2015: Polling day General election 2015 Green Party leader Natalie Bennett after casting her vote at Ossulston Tenants' Hall, London "Where the ongoing cases will take their legal course, the Conservative Party as a whole must be properly investigated to ascertain if there was any systematic attempt to circumvent electoral legislation defining candidate and national expenditure. "If evidence is found of wrongdoing I am asking you to submit that evidence to the Director of Public Prosecutions." Police forces are now investigating whether the Tories breached election spending rules by failing to record accommodation costs for bussing activists to key constituencies. They are alleged to have recorded the costs as part of national campaign spending, rather than as part of candidates' spending. The best calamities and gaffes of Election 2015 Up to 29 Conservative candidates are thought to have benefitted from the Tory "Battlebus" campaigns. The Conservatives said they failed to register the costs following an investigation by Channel 4, blaming an "administrative error". Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Stewart Hosie is to step down as the SNPs leader in Westminster in the autumn, citing intense scrutiny of his private life. Confirming he will not seek re-election at the partys annual conference, 53-year-old Mr Hosie wrote in a letter to leader Nicola Sturgeon: I am writing to you to firstly apologise for any hurt and upset I have cause to friends, family and colleagues. That was never my intention. Mr Hosie's announcement comes after several newspaper allegations concerning his private life appeared. He had recently separated from his wife, SNP Scottish Assembly member Shona Robison a close friend of Ms Sturgeon. Recommended Read more SNP politicians reported to watchdog over expenses allegations Mr Hosie added: As you know I have been admitted to hospital on three occasions in the past few years with very high blood pressure. In that regard, the stress of the intense scrutiny of my private life has been very difficult. "I intend to concentrate on my constituents, my responsibilities at Westminster, and most importantly, my health. It has been a pleasure to serve under your leadership and I hope to do so for many years to come. "I wish you, your Government and our Party every success." Pete Wishart, the SNPs shadow leader in the Commons, said: Really sad, but totally understand why Stewart Hosie would want to stand down as Deputy Leader. Hes been a fantastic Deputy in the party. Mr Hosie, alongside his parliamentary colleague Angus McNeil, were last week reported to the parliamentary standards watchdog over allegations they conducted affairs with a journalist at hotels or accommodation paid for on expenses. They are both alleged to have had separate extra-marital affairs with Westminster journalist Serena Cowdy. SNP wins third term but loses majority In response to Mr Hosies resignation letter Ms Sturgeon said: I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your service as Deputy leader since November 2014. During your tenure in office, amongst you many other duties, you have authored two successful election manifestos providing the policy reform for our victories in both the 2015 General Election and the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. These are achievements you should be very proud of. She added: I have enjoyed working with you as Deputy Leader and I look forward to continuing to work with you in the future. I wish you well. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Egypt has sent a robot submarine to join the hunt for an EgyptAir plane which crashed in some of the deepest waters of the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people on board, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday. Ships and planes scouring the sea north of Alexandria have found body parts, personal belongings and debris from the Airbus 320, but are still trying to locate the black box recorders that could shed light on the cause of Thursday's crash. President Sisi said that underwater equipment from Egypt's offshore oil industry was being brought in to help the search. "They have a submarine that can reach 3,000 metres under water," he said in a televised speech. "It moved today in the direction of the plane crash site because we are working hard to salvage the black boxes." In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 Show all 5 1 /5 In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May Egyptian army In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May Egyptian army In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May Egyptian army In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May An oil ministry source said Mr Sisi was referring to a robot submarine used mostly to maintain offshore oil rigs. It was not clear whether the vessel would be able to help locate the black boxes, or would be used in later stages of the operation. Air crash investigation experts say the search teams have around 30 days to listen for pings sent out once every second from beacons attached to the two black boxes. At this stage of the search they would typically use acoustic hydrophones, bringing in more advanced robots later to scan the seabed and retrieve any objects once they have been found. EgyptAir flight 804 from Paris to Cairo vanished off radar screens early on Thursday as it entered Egyptian airspace over the Mediterranean. The 10 crew and 56 passengers included 30 Egyptian and 15 French nationals. French investigators say that the plane sent a series of warnings indicating that smoke had been detected on board shortly before it disappeared. The signals did not indicate what caused the smoke or fire, and aviation experts have not ruled out either deliberate sabotage or a technical fault, but they offered early clues as to what unfolded in the moments before the crash. "Until now all scenarios are possible," Sisi said in his first public remarks on the crash. "So please, it is very important that we do not talk and say there is a specific scenario." EgyptAir crash - body parts and suitcases found among debris The crash was the third blow since October to hit Egypt's travel industry, still reeling from political unrest following the 2011 uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak. A suspected Isis bombing brought down a Russian airliner after it took off from Sharm al-Sheikh airport in late October, killing all 224 people on board, and an EgyptAir plane was hijacked in March by a man wearing a fake suicide belt. Isis claimed responsibility for the Sharm al-Sheikh bombing within hours but a purported statement from the group's spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, distributed on Saturday, made no mention of the crash. EgyptAir has told relatives of the victims that recovering and identifying bodies from the sea could take weeks, adding to the pain and uncertainty of grieving families. Relatives and friends of passengers of the EgyptAir plane that crashed in the Mediterranean, pray on May 20, 2016 at Abou Bakr el-Sedek mosque in Cairo. (AFP/Getty Images) Samar Ezzedine, 27 years old and newly wed, was one of the cabin crew on flight 804. Her mother Amal has sat in the lobby of a hotel overlooking Cairo Airport, still waiting for her daughter to come back. "She is missing, who hosts a funeral for a missing person?" she murmured. Samar's aunt, Mona, said Amal was reluctant to go home or even move away from the hotel door. "She doesn't want to believe it ... I told her to switch off her phone, but she said: What if Samar calls?" An EgyptAir union appealed to Sisi to allow death certificates to be issued for the victims, to avoid the usual five-year delay in the case of missing people which leaves relatives in a legal limbo, including over pensions. Egyptians perform prayers for the dead for victims of EgyptAir flight 804 at al Thawrah Mosque in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, May 20, 2016. (AP) In his speech on Sunday, Sisi said the investigation would not be over quickly, but promised it would be transparent. "This could take a long time but no one can hide these things. As soon as the results are out, people will be informed," he told ministers and parliamentarians in the port city of Damietta. The October crash devastated Egyptian tourism, a main source of foreign exchange for a country of 80 million people. Tourism revenue in the first three months of the year plunged by two thirds to $500 million from a year earlier, and the latest incident could crush hopes for a swift recovery. EgyptAir Chairman Safwat Moslem said the radius of the search zone was 40 nautical miles, but could be expanded. The radius is equivalent to an area of 5,000 square nautical miles (17,000 square km). A European satellite spotted a 2 km-long oil slick in the Mediterranean, about 40 km (20 nautical miles) southeast of the aircraft's last known position, the European Space Agency said. Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Graffiti warning we will bring this plane down was once daubed on the downed EgyptAir aeroplane, it has emerged. The ominous warning appeared in Arabic on the underside of the Airbus plane around two years ago in what was reportedly a protest against Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. The MS804 night flight from Paris to Cairo was carrying 66 passengers, including one British man, crashed into the Mediterranean sea in the early hours of Thursday morning. There were no survivors. Three EgyptAir security officials said the threatening graffiti had been the work of aviation workers at Cairo airport and is thought to have played on the phonetic similarity between the last two letters in the planes registration, SU-GCC, and President Sisis surname. Three unnamed officials told the New York Times the airline had since stepped up security measures in response to the political turmoil following the ousting of Mohamed Morsis government in 2013 and a terror attack on a Russian Metrojet flight which killed 224 people in October last year. EgyptAir has previously fired staff for their political leanings, stepped up crew searches and introduced more inflight security guards. Three such guards were onboard the MS804 flight when it crashed. Wreckage from EgyptAir flight MS804 has been found in the Mediterranean Sea alongside passengers belongings (EPA) It comes after data from the flight emerged showing a fire in the lavatory and main electronics bay may have broken out before the crash. Two messages sent to EgyptAirs engineering base from the plane via the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (Acars) indicated there was smoke on board moments before it fell from the sky. Acars reports are short text messages sent between an aircraft and ground crew to let them know if they need to address any problems when the plane lands. In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 Show all 5 1 /5 In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May Egyptian army In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May Egyptian army In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May Egyptian army In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May In pictures: Wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 EgyptAir wreckage The Egyptian army published photos showing wreckage and debris from EgyptAir flight 804 on 21 May The plane made no distress call after it lurched erratically in the sky at 38,000ft before going into a nosedive. Both pilots may have been incapacitated or too busy trying to save the plane to send a Mayday signal. The Egyptian military has published the first photos of the wreckage from the aircraft showing mangled plane parts, seats and passengers possessions. One picture showed part of the planes metal body and another showed what looks like an uninflated lifejacket and part of a childs bag or blanket. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The pilot of the doomed EgyptAir flight spoke to air traffic control in Egypt for several minutes just before the plane crashed, a French television station has claimed. M6 said that the pilot told Cairo control about the smoke which had engulfed parts of the aircraft and decided to make an emergency descent to try to clear the fumes. This account directly contradicts the official claim that there was no distress call from the plane. M6s story, quoting unnamed French aviation officials, was not confirmed by the French air accident investigation agency, the BEA. No such information had been passed by the Egyptian authorities to three BEA investigators who had flown to Cairo to take part in the official inquiry, the agency said. M6 said that the pilot of the Egyptair A320 had "a conversation several minutes long" with Cairo air traffic control after the plane ran into difficulties in the early hours of Thursday morning. As a result of the conversation, the pilot decided to make an emergency descent, depressurising the cabin, in an attempt to clear smoke fumes which had invaded the front of the aircraft. Just after the Paris-Cairo flight vanished on Thursday, there were contradictory claims about distress calls or signals. An airline spokesman initially said that there had been a distress call from the airbus. This statement was denied by the Egyptian military and withdrawn by EgyptAir. In pictures: EgyptAir flight MS804 crash Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: EgyptAir flight MS804 crash In pictures: EgyptAir flight MS804 crash A relative of a passenger who was flying aboard an EgyptAir plane that vanished from radar en route from Paris to Cairo overnight cries as family members are transported by bus to a gathering point at Cairo airport Getty Images In pictures: EgyptAir flight MS804 crash Security personnel are seen outside an Egyptair in-flight service building at Cairo International Airport Reuters In pictures: EgyptAir flight MS804 crash Relatives of passengers on a vanished EgyptAir flight grieve as they leave the in-flight service building where they were held at Cairo International Airport Getty Images In pictures: EgyptAir flight MS804 crash Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail talks to reporters at Cairo International Airport AP In pictures: EgyptAir flight MS804 crash Relatives leave the Egyptair in-flight service building where they were held at Cairo International Airport In pictures: EgyptAir flight MS804 crash A relative of the victims of the EgyptAir flight 804 reacts as she makes a phone call at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside of Paris In pictures: EgyptAir flight MS804 crash A relative of the victims of the EgyptAir flight 804 wipes her tears as she is comforted by unidentified people at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside of Paris In pictures: EgyptAir flight MS804 crash A relative of the victims of the EgyptAir flight 804 is escorted at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside of Paris In pictures: EgyptAir flight MS804 crash Relatives of missing EgyptAir flight MS804 are seen at Cairo Airport In pictures: EgyptAir flight MS804 crash Flight path of EgyptAir Flight MS804 The claims follow reports of leaked flight data showing trouble in the cockpit and smoke in a plane lavatory just before the plane crashed. Officials have cautioned it's still too early to say what happened to the aircraft, but mounting evidence points to a sudden, dramatic catastrophe that led to its crash into the eastern Mediterranean. The Egyptian military on Saturday released the first images of aircraft debris plucked from the sea, including personal items and damaged seats. Egypt is leading a multi-nation effort to search for the plane's black boxes the flight data and cockpit voice recorders and other clues that could help explain its sudden plunge into the sea. Images of EgyptAir wreckage "If they lost the aircraft within three minutes that's very, very quick," said aviation security expert Philip Baum. "They were dealing with an extremely serious incident." Authorities say the plane lurched left, then right, spun all the way around and plummeted 38,000 feet (11,582 meters) into the sea never issuing a distress call. The Facebook page of the chief spokesman for Egypt's military showed the first photographs of debris from the plane, shredded remains of plane seats, life jackets one seemingly undamaged and a scrap of cloth that might be part of a baby's purple-and-pink blanket. The spokesman, Brig-Gen. Mohammed Samir, later posted a video showing what appeared to be a piece of blue carpet, seat belts, a shoe and a white handbag. The clip opened with aerial footage of an unidentified navy ship followed by a speedboat heading toward floating debris. Flight 804 left from Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport on Wednesday night en route to Cairo with 66 people aboard. The first available audio from the doomed flight indicates that all was routine as the pilot checked in with air traffic controllers in Zurich, Switzerland, around midnight, before being handed over to Italian air traffic controllers in Padua (Padova): Pilot "This is 0-7-2-5 Padova control. (Unintelligible) 8-0-4. Thank you so much. Good day er good night." The communication, taken from liveatc.net which provides live air traffic control broadcasts from around the world, occurred about 2 hours before Greek air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane. Greek officials say at 2:24 a.m. local time the flight entered the Athens sector of Greek airspace. Twenty-four minutes later, controllers chatted with the pilot, who appeared to be in good spirits. In Greek, the pilot quipped: "Thank you." At 3:12 a.m., the plane passed over the Greek island of Kasos before heading into the eastern Mediterranean, according to flight data maintained by FlightRadar24. Less than 15 minutes later, about midway between Greece and Egypt, a sensor detected smoke in a lavatory and a fault in two of the plane's cockpit windows, according to leaked flight data published by The Aviation Herald. Messages like these "generally mean the start of a fire," said Sebastien Barthe, a spokesman for France's air accident investigation agency. But he warned against inferring too much more from the reading. "Everything else is pure conjecture." At 3:27 a.m. Greek time, air traffic controllers in Athens attempted to contact the plane to hand over monitoring of the flight from Greek to Egyptian authorities, according to Greek officials. There was no response from the plane despite repeated calls, including on the emergency frequency. At the same time, a sensor detected that smoke had reached the aircraft's avionics, the network of computers and wires that control the plane, according to the leaked flight data. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Rescuers have found up to 80 dogs living in squalid conditions in a home infested with more than 100,000 rats. Police were called to the property in Indiana after neighbours complained about rats spreading to their homes. Officials found the house of Paul Purcell over-run with rats and as many as 80 dogs living in filthy conditions, most of them malnourished. Animal shelter The Owen County Humane Society was asked by police to assist with the removal of the dogs from the home. After a court order was obtained last Wednesday, 54 dogs were originally taken from the property in Owen County. A further 16 were removed on Thursday and several more were collected on Friday, all with the co-operation of Mr Purcell. Among the dogs rescued were two mothers with puppies and five puppies without a mother. According to the Humane Society, the dogs have problems with fleas, ticks and other skin conditions. One dog was reported to have tumours on both front paws and the charity said the dog would probably need a partial amputation. Owen County Sheriff Leonard Hobbs told WishTV.Com: They were just living in filth. You see stuff like this on TV but when youre first hand looking at it, it takes you back. It kind of takes your breath away a little bit. He said someone called his office to complain about rats on their property and when investigators responded they found the dogs. Greg Parker of pest control company Inter Tec said there were at least 100,000 rats found on the property but this did not include those which had spread to neighbouring homes. In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dog meat market, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dogs in holding pen at slaughterhouse, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Cats crammed in wire cage, delivered to slaughterhouse in Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dogs held at slaughterhouse, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Cat looks out from its crate as arrives at slaughterhouse, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dogs in blood-covered holding pen at slaughterhouse, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dogs at slaughterhouse, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dog meat market, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dog meat market, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Cat slaughterhouse, Yulin Speaking to WishTV.Com, Mr Parker said: I would rather live in a cave. I mean its pretty much like a cave. He estimated it could take him up to a month to deal with the rat infestation. The Owen County Humane Society has asked for urgent donations of bleach, paper towels, laundry detergent and soap to help and has called on other animal shelters to help house the dogs. Turning to social media for assistance, the charity posted: Today we made the news, and depending on how you look at it; is a good light or a bad light. We are choosing to focus on the good light; there are 70 animals that are alive that were living in some of the most deplorable conditions this group has ever seen. The amount of trash, rats and squalor is hard to imagine, even as you are seeing it, tasting it, and smelling it your brain cannot fully comprehend Please if you can, we need donations of bleach, paper towels, laundry detergent and dawn dish soap. We are very much in need of monetary donations that can be sent to the Owen County Humane Society. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} President Barack Obama is visiting Vietnam as part of his 10th trip to Asia to re-focus American foreign policy efforts away from Middle Eastern hotspots and on to forging more links across Asia Pacific. Mr Obama will stop in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the first time since Bill Clinton arrived 20 years after the Vietnam War in 1995, when he famously went into the countryside to search for the remains of a downed fighter pilot who had never been recovered. The current presidents task may seem less dramatic than Mr Clinton's in 2016, but certain tensions have not let up, including the Vietnam governments repression of the people, jailing dissidents and stalled political reform. We obviously have enormous economic and national security interests in the Asia Pacific region, just as we have a profound and enduring interest in preventing any acts of terrorism, Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, told CNN. We, of course, will be pursuing I think a very important assessment of an agenda that has an enormous bearing on the long-term interests of the American people. The president aims to continue to strengthen ties between the two countries following the Vietnam war between 1955 and 1975, which killed millions of people. Obama in Cuba Show all 6 1 /6 Obama in Cuba Obama in Cuba U.S. President Barack Obama makes a face towards a group of children in the audience as he stand on stage with first lady Michelle Obama as he is introduced by Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis Charge d'Affaires to the U.S. Embassy in Cuba Obama in Cuba President Barack Obama shakes hands with Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez upon arrival to the airport in Havana, Cuba Obama in Cuba U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle approach Cuba's foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez as they arrive at Havana's international airport Obama in Cuba US President Barack Obama waves after his arrival on Jose Marti Airport in Havana, Cuba Obama in Cuba US President Barack Obama carries an umbrella as he is followed by First Lady Michelle Obama after their arrival on Jose Marti Airport in Havana, Cuba Obama in Cuba The 'Air Force One' jet carrying US President Barack Obama touches down at the Jose Marti Airport in Havana, Cuba Senator John McCain, who spent more than five years in Vietnam as a prisoner of war, supports ending a US arms embargo on the country. As China becomes more aggressive in the South China Sea, Vietnam has emerged as a key counter. President Obama has not announced whether he will end the embargo, which has been maintained in the face of Vietnamese human rights violations, but has said the issue is under consideration. The US holds little hope that it will be able to establish its own base at the Cam Ranh Bay naval facility it is strategically positioned on the western border of the South China Sea but is more optimistic that simply being able to access the naval base at all would help to deter China. Mr Obama will then meet G7 leaders on his visit to Japan. Terrorism will remain high on the G7 agenda, following the downing of an EgyptAir Flight 804 over the Mediterranean Sea. The president is also expected to face questions about Donald Trumps foreign policy proposals, and to explain why his plans to launch the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal are languishing as government prepares for the election. Mr Obama will visit Hiroshima, the first sitting president to make a trip to the site. He is not expected to apologise for the US dropping two nuclear bombs at the end of World War II; rather he will focus on how war impacts innocent civilians around the world. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Oklahomas Republican Governor Mary Fallin vetoed a bill on Friday that would have sent doctors who performed abortions to prison. Governor Fallin said that the legislation would have never withstood a criminal constitutional legal challenge, since the US Supreme Court ruled abortion legal in 1973. "The bill is so ambiguous and so vague that doctors cannot be certain what medical circumstances would be considered 'necessary to preserve the life of the mother,'" Fallin said. "While I consistently have and continue to support a re-examination of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade, this legislation cannot accomplish that re-examination." Recommended Read more Oklahoma passes bill to make abortion a criminal offense The statement from the governors office also reassured her supporters that she is the most pro-life governor in the nation. The Republican-dominated legislature approved the bill yesterday, that would have revoked the license of any doctor performing abortions. Abortion rights groups promised a tough and expensive legal battle if the bill had been signed into law, which Oklahoma simply could not afford as it battles a $1.3 billion budget hole, according to Reuters. Governor Fallin did the right thing today in vetoing this utterly unconstitutional and dangerous bill, Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Two lions have reportedly been shot dead by zookeepers in front of a crowd of visitors after severely mauling a man who had entered their enclosure in an apparent suicide attempt. The man, named as 20-year-old Franco Luis Ferrada by local media, had reportedly climbed onto the rooftop of the lion enclosure at Santiago National Zoo, Chile, and forced his way into the pen before stripped naked and taunting the lions into attacking him. As the lions set upon Mr Ferrada a zookeeper reportedly opened fire with tranquiliser darts - accidentally hitting Mr Ferrada in the neck. The zookeeper is then said to have opened fire with live rounds, killing the two big cats in front of a large crowd of visitors to the zoo. Mr Ferrada was taken to a nearby hospital and was said to be in grave condition, with injuries to the pelvis and head. Since the incident on Saturday morning scores of people have taken to the Santiago Metropolitan Zoo Facebook page expressing anger at the execution of the two big cats. Facebook user, John Smith, described the zoo as an "evil zoo with backward methods for dealing with problems". Mr Smith added: "They sacrifice animals to protect humans who choose to enter enclosures at their own free will." Others claimed the zoo should be boycotted for poor security and condemned the zoo for using deadly force against the animals. In an official statement, a spokesperson for the zoo said: "We were forced to implement all our security protocols. "[The death of the lions] is deeply painful for each of us and especially for every one of the officials of the zoo, who care for them day by day. "Despite the pain which led to this action, it was necessary to preserve the life of the individual, [who] was removed from the premises and taken to a clinic to receive the appropriate care, where he remains at the moment. "We want to clarify that the halls of our zoo are absolutely safe for our regular visitors and that, in cases like this, in which a person violates the security protocols of the enclosure, are absolutely out of the ordinary." Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump's first filmed address to Hispanic Christian voters was stylistically less conventional than that of his rival Hillary Clinton. Filmed by mobile phone, held vertically, with poor sound quality, the presumptive nominee sat at a table on his plane, reading from bullet points on a sheet of paper. Near the end of the two-minute video, he almost dropped his paper to the floor. Using language reminiscent of a hotel manager welcoming guests, he said: National Hispanic Christian, three great words. We are going to take care of you, we are going to work with you, you are going to be very happy, you are going to like president Trump. His address comes before the country's largest Hispanic evangelical conference, attended by about 1,200 religious leaders. Mr Trump also stressed the need to curb illegal immigrants, drug trafficking and battle unsafe communities which are unfair to Hispanics, and frankly to everybody else, and added: Youre going to start paying taxes after youre making a lot of money, and thats hopefully going to be soon. A Fox News Latino poll released on Friday revealed that 62 per cent of Hispanics would vote for Ms Clinton while just 23 per cent would vote for Mr Trump. A total of 74 per cent of Hispanics have a negative view of him; and 41 per cent feel unfavourably about her. Ms Clinton also released a video to address the conference, standing in front of a world map and speaking from a teleprompter. The two videos were shared by conference leaders with Bloomberg. She took the opportunity to remind Hispanics that her rival had accused them of being murderers, rapists and drug-dealers. We're hearing some divisive and dangerous rhetoric in this election, said Ms Clinton. We have a candidate who wants to tear families apart and forcibly deport 11 million undocumented immigrants; who calls Mexicans rapists; who talks about banning Muslims from entering the country. That is not who we are as a people. Ms Clinton said she has always been a person of faith and wished the viewers God speed as she signed off. Samuel Rodriguez, who is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren last week: Can Donald Trump redeem the narrative? I'm a pastor. I do believe in miracles but, boy, this would be a miracle. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An energy-generating tower at the worlds largest solar power plant was shut down after a combination of mirrors and sunlight started a fire. Flames were reported from the ninth floor at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in Nevada, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department. The fire at the two-year-old plant was just smouldering by the time the fire crew arrived on Thursday morning as staff had handled the flames with a fire extinguisher. They said it had started due to a mirror misalignment which had caused sunlight to burn through electrical wiring. The plant, situated in the Mojave Desert near Las Vegas, uses large mirrors to reflect sunlight to boilers which stand on top of three 459-feet towers. Energy from the sun heats the water to more than 1,000 degrees, creating the steam that spins the power-generating turbines. Yet this week it was discovered that some of its 350,000 mirrors were wrongly positioned to focus sunlight on a different spot, as Capitan Mike McClintock told the Associated Press. Only one of three towers is in operation as workers repair the damaged cables and carry out maintenance work. The plant was also criticised for scorching birds to death, as dozens of dead animals were discovered near the plant with singed wings or feathers. In 2014 news reports claimed the plant was only producuing about half of its expected annual output. The California Energy Commission blamed clouds, jet contrails and weather". Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A cyclone battered coastal Bangladesh on Saturday, killing at least 21 people and forcing around 500,000 people to be evacuated. The cyclone formed south of Sri Lanka and travelled up the Bay of Bengal, making landfall north of Chittagong, Bangladesh. It has now lost some of its strength and has been downgraded to a tropical depression, but is still causing periodic outbursts of violent winds and rain. Meteorologists warned there was still a risk of flooding in northeast India and northern Burma. Disaster Management and Relief Minister in Bangladesh, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, said the authorities had "shifted most of the people who are vulnerable" and added that people were working "all-out" to contain and tackle the damage. Cyclone winds damaged houses and shops and uprooted trees, while some places were inundated by a storm surge of up to four feet above the normal tidal height, officials said. In pictures: Sri Lanka floods Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Sri Lanka floods In pictures: Sri Lanka floods An elderly Sri Lankan woman is shifted on a makeshift raft at a flooded area in Colombo AP In pictures: Sri Lanka floods A Sri Lankan woman wades through floodwaters in Kelaniya suburb of the capital Colombo Getty Images In pictures: Sri Lanka floods A Sri Lankan woman wades through floodwaters inside her home in Kelaniya suburb of the capital Colombo Getty Images In pictures: Sri Lanka floods Sri Lankan residents wade through floodwaters as they go about their daily chores in Kelaniya suburb of the capital Colombo Getty Images In pictures: Sri Lanka floods Sri Lankan commuters drive through floodwaters along an expressway in the suburb of Athurugeriya in capital Colombo Getty Images In pictures: Sri Lanka floods Sri Lankans displaced by the floods take refuge in a temporary shelter next to a railway track in Colombo AP In pictures: Sri Lanka floods Sri Lankan flood victims flock around a bus to receive food parcels on a inundated road in Colombo AP In pictures: Sri Lanka floods Sri Lankans wade through a road submerged in flood waters in Colombo AP In pictures: Sri Lanka floods Sri Lankan youths wade through floodwaters in Biyagama, about 17 km from the capital Colombo S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Sri Lanka floods Members of a Sri Lankan Army rescue team carry a woman to safety through floodwaters in the suburb of Kaduwela in capital Colombo. Emergency workers in Sri Lanka found the bodies of a woman and two children killed in a landslide, taking the toll from two days of heavy rain to 11, with thousands more forced to flee their homes Getty Images Authorities also evacuated people from hilly areas of Chittagong as a precaution against landslides triggered by persistent rain. Flights were also suspended at Chittagong airport while the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority restricted movement of all ships and ferries. Fishing boats and trawlers were advised to remain sheltered until noon on Sunday. In Sri Lanka, heavy flooding and landslides caused by days of heavy reain have seen at least 73 people die. Around 120 more are missing and there are fears some could be stuck under metres of mud which swamped three villages as hills collapsed in the central district of Kegalle. Around 243,000 people across the country were forced from their homes and remained in temporary shelters on Saturday. Recommended Read more The major cities most likely to be flooded because of global warming In the capital, Colombo, thousands of homes remained inundated with water, although there have been signs the water levels are receding. Officials said the main priority now is to prevent outbreak of water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea and typhoid. As civilians volunteered to provide cooked food and clothing to the affected people, foreign assistance began to arrive following an appeal by Sri Lanka's foreign minister. India and Japan sent relief items including medicine, tents, tarpaulin sheets, generators and water purifiers. Japan will also send disaster management experts to help expedite relief efforts and look at ways to reduce landslide risks, the Japanese Embassy in Colombo said. The United States has announced a three-year project to help Sri Lanka maintain supplies of safe drinking water even during times of drought and flooding. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} In a rare appeal to India's Muslim minority, Isis says it is planning to avenge the deaths of Muslims killed in riots in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat and elsewhere. India, a Hindu-majority country, is home to more than 160 million Muslims, but only a handful of them have joined the Middle Eastern group. Indian leaders and members of the community say this testifies to the strength of the country's secular democracy. In a video monitored by the US intelligence group SITE, Isis mocked Muslims living in harmony with Hindus who worship cows, trees and the sun, and urged them to travel to Isis-held territories in the "Caliphate". 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 "In this land you get to have hatred for the kuffar. In this land you get to perform jihad," said an Indian fighter who is identified as Abu Salman al-Hindi, operating in the Syrian province of Homs. "In this land your religion is safe. In this land Allah's Law is the highest. In this land you have nothing that stops you from doing good deeds, from doing da'wah, from preaching Islam. In this land your life, your honour, your property is protected." Another fighter then says Isis will come to India to liberate Muslims and avenge the violence perpetrated against them in 2002 in the western state of Gujarat as well Kashmir and the destruction of a mosque by Hindu zealots in 1992. Palmyra before ISIS "We will come back, with the sword, to free you, to avenge Babri mosque, Gujarat, Kashmir," the fighter says. More than 1,000 people were killed in Gujarat. Most of them were Muslims, attacked by Hindu mobs in retaliation for the burning of Hindus in a train. Mr Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat at the time and faced allegations that he did not do enough to stop the bloodshed. But a Supreme Court-ordered investigation has said there was no case against him. India has suffered from Islamist attacks. In 2008 a militant group based in Pakistan launched a rampage through the city of Mumbai that killed 166 people and traumatised the country. Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The US drone strike that killed the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan was a violation of sovereignty, the country's foreign ministry has said. The Afghan spy agency confirmed today that Mullah Akhtar Mansour died in Saturdays strike. Mansour was targeted by the US while he was riding in a vehicle with another combatant in a remote area of Pakistans Baluchistan province, south-west of the town of Ahmad Wal, close to the border with Afghanistan. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the strike violated its sovereignty as it was carried out on Pakistani soil. The US has not yet confirmed the leader's death, but Secretary of State John Kerry said the strike had targeted Mansour, who has led the extremist group since July last year. Mansour posed a continuing, imminent threat to US personnel and Afghans, he said. This action sends a clear message to the world that we will continue to stand with our Afghan partners as they work to build a more stable, united, secure and prosperous Afghanistan. Peace is what we want. Mansour was a threat to that effort and to bringing an end to the violence and suffering people of Afghanistan have endured for so many years now. He was also directly opposed to the peace negotiation and to the reconciliation process. The Taliban has not made any official statement about the death. A battle for succession of the leadership may now ensue, deepening fractures that emerged in the insurgent movement after the death of its founder Mullah Mohammad Omar was confirmed last year, more than two years after he died. US officials said Saturdays mission was authorised by President Barack Obama and included multiple drones. The Afghan government said it had been informed of the strike by Washington. Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Show all 7 1 /7 Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack An relative of one of the victims who was killed in a suicide bomb blast in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 April 2016. (EPA) EPA Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack An injured girl is carried to safety following the blast in Kabul (EPA) EPA Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack A man stands inside his damaged shop near the scene of a bomb blast in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 April 2016 (EPA) EPA Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack Afghan quick reaction forces arrive at the site of a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan April 19, 2016 (Reuters) Reuters Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack Afghan security forces carry an injured security personnel after a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan April 19, 2016. (Reuters) Reuters Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack Afghan security forces inspect the site of a Taliban-claimed attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 19, 2016. (AP) AP Taliban attacks Kabul security compound - in pictures Kabul attack Relatives and loved ones carry the coffin of a victim killed in the April 19 Taliban truck bomb attack, at a funeral in Kabul on April 20, 2016. (AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Abdullah Abdullah, chief executive of the Afghan government, said Mansours death would have a positive impact on attempts to bring peace to Afghanistan, where the Taliban has been waging an insurgency for 15 years. Mansour was the main figure preventing the Taliban joining the peace process, he said. From the day he took over the Taliban following the death of Mullah Omar, he intensified violence against ordinary citizens, especially in Afghanistan. In December, Mansour was reportedly wounded and possibly killed in a shoot-out at the house of an insurgent leader near Quetta in Pakistan. The Taliban eventually released an audio recording, purportedly from Mansour, to dispel the reports. A US intelligence analyst said Mansour had been in a power struggle with Mullah Mohammad Rasoul, whose deputy, Mullah Dadullah, was killed late last year in what officials believe was a fight with Mansours more hard-line faction. But the official said it would be wrong to believe that a shake-up within the group might diminish the Taliban's strength. The Taliban have made considerable progress in Helmand [province] and elsewhere so it's hard to see much incentive for them to start compromising now, with the fighting just heating up again, he said. The new US commander in Afghanistan is reviewing its strategy, including whether broader powers are needed to target insurgents and whether to proceed with plans to reduce the number of US forces. Additional reporting by Reuters and AP For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Two Indian climbers have gone missing on Mount Everest just days after two others died from apparent altitude sickness. Paresh Nath and Goutam Ghosh have been missing since Saturday and were last seen near the Everest summit, the expedition organiser said. Wangchu Sherpa, from the Trekking Camp Nepal agency in Kathmandu said two of their companions who fell sick were being helped down the mountain. Several Sherpa guides carried one sick climber from the highest camp, at nearly 8,000 meters (26,420ft) above sea level to Camp 2 at 6,400 metres (21,000ft) where attempts were made to pick her up with a helicopter. Another member of the agency, Pemba Sherpa, identified her as Seema Goshwami of India. He said she had frostbite on her hands and feet and was unable to move. "It took a big and risky effort, but we were able to save her," he said. Another climber, an Iranian identified only as S.Hadi, has already been brought down and is recovering in a hospital in Kathmandu. Dutch climber Eric Arnold climbing Mount Everest in 2012 (Courtesy of Eric Arnold) Around 30 climbers have developed frostbite or altitude sickness near the summit in recent days. It comes after two climbers on a separate expedition were the first deaths on the mountain this year following two years of low activity due to two fatal avalanches and the major earthquake which struck last year. The climbers have been named as Dutch mountaineer Eric Arnold, 36, and Australian finance lecturer Maria Strydom, 34. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Mr Arnold is believed to have had enough bottled oxygen and climbing partners but complained of getting weak during the teams descent and died on Friday night near South Col before being able to reach lower altitude. Hours later, Dr Strydom showed signs of altitude sickness and died on Saturday afternoon. It is currently undecided whether their bodies will be brought down from the high altitude as it will depend on team and family members. Pasang Phurba of the Seven Summits trekking agency said it requires eight sherpas to carry bodies down the mountain because they become frozen and heavier than normal. Nearly 400 climbers have reached the summit of Mount Everest in recent weeks (Reuters) Fair weather has meant nearly 400 climbers have reached the summit from Nepal in the last two weeks but altitude, harsh terrain and sudden changes in the weather can cause problems at any point. Mr Arnold, who had finally reached the top of the mountain on his fifth try, told the Dutch broadcaster RTV Rjnmond last year the majority of accidents happened when someone is on the way down. He said: "Two-thirds of the accidents happen on the way down. "If you get euphoric and think 'I have reached my goal,' the most dangerous part is still ahead of you." Additional reporting by AP For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A gunman has killed two people at a concert in western Austria before turning the weapon on himself. Police said the 27-year-old gunman fired shots into a crowd of about 150 peole attending an open air concert in the early hours of Sunday morning. The incident happened near the town of Nenzing in the Voralberg province, about 24 miles east of Austria's border with Liechtenstein. Eleven people were also wounded in the shooting and are understood to be in a serious condition in hospital. According to the police, the 1am (GMT) shooting followed a loud argument between the man and a woman in the car park at the open air venue. He is then thought to have returned to his car, retrieved a gun reported to be a rifle, and opened fire at the concert. Witneses said many of the terrified concert-goers fled into the surrounding woodland and even onto the nearby motorway to escape the shooting. Police spokeswoman Susanne Dilp said:"The exact course of events is still unclear" but she added the victims' wounds were "very diverse". The event was being hosted at a property believed to be used by a motorcycle club called "The Lords". For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A divisive far-right politican who is anti-immigrant is locked in a virtual dead heat with his independent rival in the race to become Austria's new head of state, exit polls suggest. Norbert Hofer, of the right-wing Freedom Party, is vying with independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, backed by the Greens, to become the countrys next president. Direct ballots counted gave the right-winger 51.9 per cent to 48.1 per cent for the independent candidate. Final projections, including still-to-be-counted absdentee ballots, put each at 50 per cent with Mr Van der Bellen narrowly ahead. Two different exit polls initially gave Mr Hofer the lead, but subsequent projections have given his rival a slight advantage. Nearly 700,000 absentee ballots will be counted Monday, making them the likely decider by a miniscule portion of votes, considering 4.48 million people voted directly Sunday. Presidential candidates supported by the country's two ruling parties in government the dominant Social Democratic party and centrist Peoples Party were eliminated in the first round of voting last month. The choice faced by Austrians in today's poll reflects growing disillusionment with the government's reponse to the migrant crisis, which has seen support for the far right grow. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty A win for Mr Hofer would be a seismic shift in European politics and would see him become the first far-right politician to be elected as a head of state on the continent since the Second World War. Indeed, former Freedom Party leader Joerg Haider once praised Adolf Hitler's employment policies as orderly. And Mr Hofer himself has run his election campaign on a pro-gun manifesto, carrying his Glock pistol around, and declaring that the public arming themselves would be a logical reaction to the influx of refugees into the country. Addressing supporters at his final election rally in Vienna on Friday, the 45-year-old said: Those people who respect and love Austria have found a new home here are warmly welcome. Candidate Alexander Van der Bellen casts his ballot Getty (Getty) But those, it has to be said, those who do not value our country, who fight for Islamic State, or who rape women, I say to these people: this is not your homeland. You cannot stay in Austria. At his last rally, Mr Van der Bellen, 72, said he was for an open, Europe-friendly, Europe-conscious Austria. Austria took in 90,000 asylum seekers last year, but has since clamped down on immigration and asylum. The presidents of the European Commission and the European Parliament, Jean-Claude Juncker and Martin Schulz, have both reportedly expressed their concerns about what a win for Mr Hofer today could mean. Although the role is largely ceremonial, the Austrian president swears in the chancellor, is commander-in-chief of the military, and has the power to dismiss the cabinet something Mr Hofer has already threatened to do if he is elected. The Freedom Party candidate unexpectedly won the first round of the election, winning 35 per cent of the vote, while Mr Van der Bellen won 21 per cent. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Dog owners in Berlin are facing a new breed of bureaucratic by-laws as they must now obtain a drivers licence to let their pooch loose. A draft law was approved by The Berlin House of Representatives, according to the Berlin Magazine, last Wednesday requiring dog owners to hold a Hundefuhrerschein. The literal translation is a dog drivers licence and the aim is to ensure every owner acquires one before letting their pet off the lead. Dog licences in Great Britain were abolished in 1987. But Berlins dog owners are already required to register their pet. Recommended Read more Several children hospitalised after being attacked by dog in park The new laws, reported in the Atlantic Citylab, are targeted at keeping potentially dangerous breeds in check. However, it is likely to prove controversial with the German capitals 100,000-dog owners as it will cost around 100 Euros and needs to be renewed annually at a cost of 40 Euros. Not only will all new dog owners now have to pay for their pet permit, the canine must also pass basic training and prove to be manageable. Only small dogs such as chihuahuas and corgis will be exempt from the rule. Breeding of four types of dog: the Staffordshire terrier, the American pitbull, the bull terrier and the Tosa is outlawed and they will be forced to wear muzzles. And all Berliners who take their dog for a walk without being prepared to scoop the poop will also face a fine. The latest canine crackdown comes a year after dogs in Berlin were banned from some beauty spots in the city. For mans best friend in Berlin, it really is proving to be a dogs life. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A British-manufactured cluster bomb has been found in a Yemeni village, all but confirming the banned weapons are being used by Saudi-led coalition forces in the Yemeni civil war. The BL-755 cluster bomb is designed to be dropped by UK-manufactured Tornado jets used by the Saudi Arabian Air Force, though the highly controversial weapons were banned in conflict decades ago. Amnesty International discovered the unexploded munition during an inspection of a village in northern Yemen. The weapon, originally manufactured in the 1970s by a Bedfordshire company called Hunting Engineering, contains 147 bomblets which scatter across a wide area, but often do not detonate until they are disturbed at later date, often by unsuspecting civilians picking them up. One man, who herds goats in a village in Hajjah governorate approximately six miles from the Saudi Arabia border, told Amnesty: In the area next to us, there are bombs hanging off the trees. Amnesty International says the UK government must do more to trace the whereabouts of these weapons sold in the past, and to destroy existing stockpiles. Cluster munitions are banned in more than 100 countries. Since the 1980s and 1990s the UK is thought to have sold large numbers of cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia and the UAE (which is also part of the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition), and the weapon is known to be in the ordnance stockpiles of both Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Saudi Arabia has purchased scores of UK Tornado jets, through contracts which provide for British personnel to work in pilot training and service roles connected to the planes. Amnesty Internationals head of UK Arms Controls said it would be an absolute scandal if British personnel had been in any connected to the incident. Yemen's splendid isolation Show all 7 1 /7 Yemen's splendid isolation Yemen's splendid isolation AFP/Getty Yemen's splendid isolation EPA Yemen's splendid isolation Nick Redmayne Yemen's splendid isolation AFP/Getty Yemen's splendid isolation EPA Yemen's splendid isolation Nick Redmayne Yemen's splendid isolation AP Cluster bombs are one of the nastiest weapons in the history of warfare, rightly banned by more than 100 countries, so its truly shocking that a British cluster munition has been dropped on a civilian area in Yemen, he said. "Given that this type of cluster bomb is very likely to have been used in combination with Tornado war planes which the UK has also sold to Saudi Arabia, theres even a possibility that British support personnel might have been involved in the cluster bombing of Yemen. This would be an absolute scandal if confirmed. Yemeni civilians told Amnesty International that they have had to resort to removing bomblets themselves, fearing that children will pick them up or their livestock killed. Hindi Ibrahim, a 25-year-old father of two from Dugheij Village, Hayran, Hajjah governorate, said his his arm was injured by an explosion when he and other villagers attempted to clear hundreds of bomblets from their village: Houthi forces use banned weapons The original airstrike happened late last July or August during the day and [some of] the bomblets exploded. There were also Apaches [helicopters] that shot at people as they ran away. There were 500 pieces in the village everywhere we wanted to remove them. Some were inside the house in the courtyard and kitchen [the de-mining organisation] kept on promising they would come but they never came. They told us they were busy in other areas. By February, we were forced to clean them ourselves because of the children. At the time I went into the house and put ten [submunitions] on a tray and carried them out of the house. The bombs started hitting against each other and one went off. I dropped the tray and the rest went off. A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: The UK is not a member of the Saudi-led Coalition. British personnel are not involved in carrying out strikes, directing or conducting operations in Yemen or selecting targets and are not involved in the Saudi targeting decision-making process. The UK Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application. The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with this export licensing criteria. Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn said: "This report is shocking and it is further clear evidence pointing to the use of cluster bombs by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. "The UK helped to lead the adoption of the international ban on cluster munitions and the Government should now launch an immediate investigation to find out what has happened." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A suspected US-led coalition airstrike on a northern Syrian village killed seven members of the same family, activists have said. Arshaf, held by Islamic State militants, lies near the front lines of the war between the extremist group and U.S.-backed Syrian rebels. Recent advances by the rebels, backed by coalition airstrikes, have eaten away at Isis territory near the Turkish border. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group that monitors the Syria conflict through local observers, said the planes responsible for the Arshaf strikes were seen to cross into Syrian airspace from Turkey. It said the strikes killed seven family members, among them five women and a child. The Local Coordination Committees activist network said 10 people were killed. 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 Arshaf lies five miles (eight kilometres) from the contested town of Marea, north of the city of Aleppo. To the east, in the city of Raqqa, where the extremist group has maintained its de facto capital since 2014, mosques broadcast an announcement that civilians would be allowed to leave the city to the countryside, after planes thought to belong to the international coalition dropped flyers on the city instructing residents to leave, a local group reported. The group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, which smuggles information out of the Isis territory, said the illustrated flyers, scattered over the city Thursday and Friday, show a family fleeing a dark, urban war zone where three Isis militants appear to lie dead by the side of the road to a sun-lit, hilly, green countryside scene. "The time you have been waiting for has arrived. It is time to depart Raqqa," the flyer says. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Iraq's military said on Sunday it was preparing to launch an offensive to retake the Isis stronghold of Fallujah and told residents to get ready to leave before fighting started. Families who could not flee should raise white flags to mark their location in the city 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, the military's media unit said in a statement on state television. Fallujah, a long-time bastion of Sunni Muslim jihadists, was the first city to fall to Isis, in January 2014, six months before the group swept through large parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria. In pictures: The rise of Isis Show all 74 1 /74 In pictures: The rise of Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters of the Islamic State wave the group's flag from a damaged display of a government fighter jet following the battle for the Tabqa air base, in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from Islamic State group sit on their tank during a parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from the Islamic State group pray at the Tabqa air base after capturing it from the Syrian government in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from extremist Islamic State group parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping A video uploaded to social networks shows men in underwear being marched barefoot along a desert road before being allegedly executed by Isis Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Haruna Yukawa after his capture by Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Khalinda Sharaf Ajour, a Yazidi, says two of her daughters were captured by Isis militants Washington Post In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Spokesperson for Isis Vice News via Youtube In pictures: The rise of Isis A pro-Isis leaflet A pro-Isis leaflet handed out on Oxford Street In London Ghaffar Hussain In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Isis Jihadists burn their passports In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A man collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A woman collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid Local civilians queue for aid administered by Isis. Since it declared a caliphate the group has increasingly been delivering services such as healthcare, and distributing aid and free fuel In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces detain men suspected of being militants of the Isis group in Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Mourners carry the coffin of a Shi'ite volunteer from the brigades of peace, who joined the Iraqi army and was killed during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Samarra, during his funeral in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Shiite Turkmen family fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, arrives at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi A photograph made from a video by the jihadist affiliated group Furqan Media via their twitter account allegedly showing Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at a mosque in Mosul. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamist caliphate in the territory under the group's control in Iraq and Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Smoke and debris go up in the air as Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul. Images posted online show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory - the city of Mosul and the town of Tal Afar - they have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq A bulldozer destroys Sunni's Ahmed al-Rifai shrine and tomb in Mahlabiya district outside of Tal Afar In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces celebrate after clashes with followers of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi, in front of his home in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi at his home after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A vehicle burns in front of a home of a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman holds her exhausted son as over 1000 Iraqis who have fled fighting in and around the city of Mosul and Tal Afar wait at a Kurdish checkpoint in the hopes of entering a temporary displacement camp in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees Displaced Iraqi women hold pots as they queue to receive food during the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, at an encampment for displaced Iraqis who fled from Mosul and other towns, in the Khazer area outside Irbil, north Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A militant Islamist fighter waving a flag, cheers as he takes part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters wave flags as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters travel in a vehicle as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade with a missile in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from an al-Qaida splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from the splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters hold a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A member loyal to the Isis waves an Isis flag in Raqqa In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi anti-government gunmen from Sunni tribes in the western Anbar province march during a protest in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. The United Nations warned that Iraq is at a "crossroads" and appealed for restraint, as a bloody four-day wave of violence killed 195 people. The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shiite-majority country more than four months ago, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces hold up a flag of the Isis group they captured during an operation to regain control of Dallah Abbas north of Baqouba, the capital of Iraq's Diyala province, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Isis fighters parade in the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Isis group, demonstrate their skills during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Kurdish Peshmerga troops fire a cannon during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Jalawla, Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference Iraqi Prime Minister's security spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference about the latest military development in Iraq, in the capital Baghdad. Iraqi forces pressed a campaign to retake militant-held Tikrit, clashing with jihadist-led Sunni militants nearby and pounding positions inside the city with air strikes in their biggest counter-offensive so far In pictures: The rise of Isis A police station building destroyed by Isis fighters An exterior view of a police station building destroyed by gunmen in Mosul city, northern Iraq. Iraq's new parliament is expected to convene to start the process of setting up a new government, despite deepening political rifts and an ongoing Islamist-led insurgency. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani issued a decree inviting the new House of Representatives to meet and form a new government In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Smoke billows from an area controlled by the Isis between the Iraqi towns of Naojul and Tuz Khurmatu, both located north of the capital Baghdad, as Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces take part in an operation to repel the Sunni militants In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An elderly Iraqi woman is helped into a temporary displacement camp for Iraqis caught-up in the fighting in and around the city of Mosul in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Christian woman fleeing the violence in the village of Qaraqush, about 30 kms east of the northern province of Nineveh, cries upon her arrival at a community center in the Kurdish city of Arbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman, who fled with her family from the northern city of Mosul, prays with a copy of the Quran AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq The body of an Isis militant killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces on the outskirts of the city of Samarra Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi civilians inspect the damage at a market after an air strike by the Iraqi army in central Mosul EPA In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Members of the Al-Abbas brigades, who volunteered to protect the Shiite Muslim holy sites in Karbala against Sunni militants fighting the Baghdad government, parade in the streets of the city AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Shia tribesmen gather in Baghdad to take up arms against Sunni insurgents marching on the capital. Thousands have volunteered to bolster defences AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A van carrying volunteers joining Iraqi security forces against Jihadist militants. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the Iraqi government would arm and equip civilians who volunteered to fight AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters of the Isis group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle down a main road at the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An Islamist fighter, identified as Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni from Britain (R), speaks in this still image taken undated video shot at an unknown location and uploaded to a social media website. Five Islamist fighters identified as Australian and British nationals have called on Muslims to join the wars in Syria and Iraq, in the new video released by the Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Al-Qaida inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint belonging to Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad. The fighting at Beiji comes as Iraq has asked the U.S. for airstrikes targeting the militants from the Isis group. While U.S. President Barack Obama has not fully ruled out the possibility of launching airstrikes, such action is not imminent in part because intelligence agencies have been unable to identify clear targets on the ground, officials said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants attacked Iraq's main oil refinein Baiji as they pressed an offensive that has seen them capture swathes of territory, a manager and a refinery employee said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants from the Isis group parading with their weapons in the northern city of Baiji in the in Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A smoke rises after an attack by Isis militants on the country's largest oil refinery in Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad. Iraqi security forces battled insurgents targeting the country's main oil refinery and said they regained partial control of a city near the Syrian border, trying to blunt an offensive by Sunni militants who diplomats fear may have also seized some 100 foreign workers In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group stand next to captured vehicles left behind by Iraqi security forces at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province. For militant groups, the fight over public perception can be even more important than actual combat, turning military losses into propaganda victories and battlefield successes into powerful tools to build support for the cause In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An injured fighter (C) from the Isis group after a battle with Iraqi soldiers at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis aiming at advancing Iraqi troops at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group taking position at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group inspecting vehicles of the Iraqi army after they were seized at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq One Iraqi captive, a corporal, is reluctant to say the slogan, and has to be shouted at repeatedly before he obeys Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group force captured Iraqi security forces members to the transport In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group transporting dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members to an unknown location in the Salaheddin province ahead of executing them In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A major offensive spearheaded by Isis but also involving supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein has overrun all of one province and chunks of three others In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group executing dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants taking position at a Iraqi border post on the Syrian-Iraqi border between the Iraqi Nineveh province and the Syrian town of Al-Hasakah In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis rebels show their flag after seizing an army post AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants waving an Islamist flag after the seizure of an Iraqi army checkpoint in Salahuddin Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Demonstrators chant slogans as they carry al-Qaida flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad. In the week since it captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, a Muslim extremist group has tried to win over residents and has stopped short of widely enforcing its strict brand of Islamic law, residents say. Churches remain unharmed and street cleaners are back at work The Iraqi army, police and Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militias, backed by air strikes from a US-led coalition, have surrounded Fallujah since late last year. The jihadists have been preventing residents leaving for months. The army "is asking citizens that are still in Fallujah to be prepared to leave the city through secured routes that will be announced later", the statement said, without spelling out when any offensive might start. Deputy district council chairman Falih al-Essawi said three corridors would be opened for civilians to camps west, southwest and southeast of the city, and a subsequent military statement said some residents had begun to flee. Residents told Reuters about 20 families had set out from a southern front-line neighbourhood overnight, but only half of them made it out. Some were intercepted by Isis, while others were killed by explosives planted along the road by the jihadists. Iraqi security forces gather on the outskirts of Fallujah as they prepare an operation aimed at retaking the city from the Isis, 22 May, 2016 (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images) The United Nations and Human Rights Watch said last month that residents of Fallujah were facing acute shortages of food and medicine amid a siege by government forces. Aid has not reached the city since the Iraqi military recaptured nearby Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital, in December. Essawi told a local television channel that more than 75,000 civilians remained in Fallujah, in keeping with a recent US. military estimate of 60,000 to 90,000. Around 300,000 people lived in the Euphrates river city before the war. Known as the "City of Minarets and Mother of Mosques", Fallujah is a focus for Sunni Muslim faith and identity in Iraq. It was badly damaged in two offensives by US forces against al-Qaeda insurgents in 2004. Fallujah siege leaves thousands of Iraqis without food Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, said the "liberation" of Fallujah would help restore normal life to Anbar, the western province over which Isis took nearly complete control in 2014. Following recent government offensives in Rutba and Hit, control of Fallujah would secure the road more than 500 km (300 miles) from Baghdad to the Jordanian border and northwards to Haditha, 190 km northwest of the capital. But Isis still controls vast swathes of territory and major cities such as Mosul in the north. Iraqi authorities have pledged to retake Mosul this year, though in private some officials question whether the army will be ready in time. Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} One of Isiss most senior officials has called on the groups international followers to carry out attacks on civilians during the holy month of Ramadan. Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, a close aide and a possible successor to leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, said lone wolf attacks in the US and Europe were dearer to us than the biggest action by us in Iraq and Syria. The comments come in a 31-minute audio message released by Isiss al-Furqan media wing, the first time Adnani has been seen or heard in a recording since last October. There was no mention of the crashed EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo in the message, but there were nods towards recent military setbacks the group has suffered in its heartlands. Ramadan, the month of conquest and jihad, Adnani said. Get prepared, be ready ... to make it a month of calamity everywhere for the non-believers ... especially for the fighters and supporters of the caliphate in Europe and America. The smallest action you do in their heartland is better and more enduring to us than what you would if you were with us. If one of you hoped to reach the Islamic State, we wish we were in your place to punish the Crusaders day and night. The speech may well have been aimed at boosting fighters morale, with Adnani insisting the US-led Coalitions efforts were doomed to fail as America [falls] in the swamp of perdition. But it also shows the highest ranks of the militant group acknowledging losses on the battlefield. Do you think you have won because you have killed one or more leaders? It is a false victory, he said. Even if we lose Raqqa or Sirte, we wont be defeated. Defeat is the loss of will and the desire to fight. Though the message has been widely shared by Isis followers, its authenticity could not be immediately verified, nor the time at which it was recorded. In pictures: The rise of Isis Show all 74 1 /74 In pictures: The rise of Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters of the Islamic State wave the group's flag from a damaged display of a government fighter jet following the battle for the Tabqa air base, in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from Islamic State group sit on their tank during a parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from the Islamic State group pray at the Tabqa air base after capturing it from the Syrian government in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from extremist Islamic State group parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping A video uploaded to social networks shows men in underwear being marched barefoot along a desert road before being allegedly executed by Isis Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Haruna Yukawa after his capture by Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Khalinda Sharaf Ajour, a Yazidi, says two of her daughters were captured by Isis militants Washington Post In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Spokesperson for Isis Vice News via Youtube In pictures: The rise of Isis A pro-Isis leaflet A pro-Isis leaflet handed out on Oxford Street In London Ghaffar Hussain In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Isis Jihadists burn their passports In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A man collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A woman collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid Local civilians queue for aid administered by Isis. Since it declared a caliphate the group has increasingly been delivering services such as healthcare, and distributing aid and free fuel In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces detain men suspected of being militants of the Isis group in Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Mourners carry the coffin of a Shi'ite volunteer from the brigades of peace, who joined the Iraqi army and was killed during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Samarra, during his funeral in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Shiite Turkmen family fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, arrives at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi A photograph made from a video by the jihadist affiliated group Furqan Media via their twitter account allegedly showing Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at a mosque in Mosul. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamist caliphate in the territory under the group's control in Iraq and Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Smoke and debris go up in the air as Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul. Images posted online show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory - the city of Mosul and the town of Tal Afar - they have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq A bulldozer destroys Sunni's Ahmed al-Rifai shrine and tomb in Mahlabiya district outside of Tal Afar In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces celebrate after clashes with followers of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi, in front of his home in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi at his home after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A vehicle burns in front of a home of a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman holds her exhausted son as over 1000 Iraqis who have fled fighting in and around the city of Mosul and Tal Afar wait at a Kurdish checkpoint in the hopes of entering a temporary displacement camp in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees Displaced Iraqi women hold pots as they queue to receive food during the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, at an encampment for displaced Iraqis who fled from Mosul and other towns, in the Khazer area outside Irbil, north Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A militant Islamist fighter waving a flag, cheers as he takes part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters wave flags as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters travel in a vehicle as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade with a missile in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from an al-Qaida splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from the splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters hold a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A member loyal to the Isis waves an Isis flag in Raqqa In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi anti-government gunmen from Sunni tribes in the western Anbar province march during a protest in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. The United Nations warned that Iraq is at a "crossroads" and appealed for restraint, as a bloody four-day wave of violence killed 195 people. The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shiite-majority country more than four months ago, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces hold up a flag of the Isis group they captured during an operation to regain control of Dallah Abbas north of Baqouba, the capital of Iraq's Diyala province, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Isis fighters parade in the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Isis group, demonstrate their skills during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Kurdish Peshmerga troops fire a cannon during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Jalawla, Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference Iraqi Prime Minister's security spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference about the latest military development in Iraq, in the capital Baghdad. Iraqi forces pressed a campaign to retake militant-held Tikrit, clashing with jihadist-led Sunni militants nearby and pounding positions inside the city with air strikes in their biggest counter-offensive so far In pictures: The rise of Isis A police station building destroyed by Isis fighters An exterior view of a police station building destroyed by gunmen in Mosul city, northern Iraq. Iraq's new parliament is expected to convene to start the process of setting up a new government, despite deepening political rifts and an ongoing Islamist-led insurgency. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani issued a decree inviting the new House of Representatives to meet and form a new government In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Smoke billows from an area controlled by the Isis between the Iraqi towns of Naojul and Tuz Khurmatu, both located north of the capital Baghdad, as Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces take part in an operation to repel the Sunni militants In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An elderly Iraqi woman is helped into a temporary displacement camp for Iraqis caught-up in the fighting in and around the city of Mosul in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Christian woman fleeing the violence in the village of Qaraqush, about 30 kms east of the northern province of Nineveh, cries upon her arrival at a community center in the Kurdish city of Arbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman, who fled with her family from the northern city of Mosul, prays with a copy of the Quran AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq The body of an Isis militant killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces on the outskirts of the city of Samarra Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi civilians inspect the damage at a market after an air strike by the Iraqi army in central Mosul EPA In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Members of the Al-Abbas brigades, who volunteered to protect the Shiite Muslim holy sites in Karbala against Sunni militants fighting the Baghdad government, parade in the streets of the city AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Shia tribesmen gather in Baghdad to take up arms against Sunni insurgents marching on the capital. Thousands have volunteered to bolster defences AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A van carrying volunteers joining Iraqi security forces against Jihadist militants. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the Iraqi government would arm and equip civilians who volunteered to fight AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters of the Isis group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle down a main road at the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An Islamist fighter, identified as Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni from Britain (R), speaks in this still image taken undated video shot at an unknown location and uploaded to a social media website. Five Islamist fighters identified as Australian and British nationals have called on Muslims to join the wars in Syria and Iraq, in the new video released by the Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Al-Qaida inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint belonging to Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad. The fighting at Beiji comes as Iraq has asked the U.S. for airstrikes targeting the militants from the Isis group. While U.S. President Barack Obama has not fully ruled out the possibility of launching airstrikes, such action is not imminent in part because intelligence agencies have been unable to identify clear targets on the ground, officials said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants attacked Iraq's main oil refinein Baiji as they pressed an offensive that has seen them capture swathes of territory, a manager and a refinery employee said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants from the Isis group parading with their weapons in the northern city of Baiji in the in Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A smoke rises after an attack by Isis militants on the country's largest oil refinery in Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad. Iraqi security forces battled insurgents targeting the country's main oil refinery and said they regained partial control of a city near the Syrian border, trying to blunt an offensive by Sunni militants who diplomats fear may have also seized some 100 foreign workers In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group stand next to captured vehicles left behind by Iraqi security forces at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province. For militant groups, the fight over public perception can be even more important than actual combat, turning military losses into propaganda victories and battlefield successes into powerful tools to build support for the cause In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An injured fighter (C) from the Isis group after a battle with Iraqi soldiers at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis aiming at advancing Iraqi troops at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group taking position at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group inspecting vehicles of the Iraqi army after they were seized at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq One Iraqi captive, a corporal, is reluctant to say the slogan, and has to be shouted at repeatedly before he obeys Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group force captured Iraqi security forces members to the transport In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group transporting dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members to an unknown location in the Salaheddin province ahead of executing them In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A major offensive spearheaded by Isis but also involving supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein has overrun all of one province and chunks of three others In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group executing dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants taking position at a Iraqi border post on the Syrian-Iraqi border between the Iraqi Nineveh province and the Syrian town of Al-Hasakah In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis rebels show their flag after seizing an army post AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants waving an Islamist flag after the seizure of an Iraqi army checkpoint in Salahuddin Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Demonstrators chant slogans as they carry al-Qaida flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad. In the week since it captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, a Muslim extremist group has tried to win over residents and has stopped short of widely enforcing its strict brand of Islamic law, residents say. Churches remain unharmed and street cleaners are back at work Such messages are often the only proof given to the international community that Isiss leaders are still alive, and there had been speculation before Adnanis was released that one was due from Baghdadi himself. Instead, Adnani referred in his message to the current Isis minister of war Omar al-Shishani an indirect denial of a Pentagon report suggesting Shishani was killed in an air strike in Syria in March. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} At the start we didn't enter any homes. Isis usually booby trap them with IEDS, Jason Troy, a Canadian fighter with the Kurdish Peshmerga says, pushing open the gate to a bombed out building in Sinjar, Iraqi Kurdistan. Smell anything? he asks as he clambers over the rubble to point out the remnants of a rocket fired by Isis a few weeks ago. An overpowering smell of garlic hits us as the 38-year-old Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) from Alberta talks with frenzied energy. Thats mustard gas, he claims before asking if we want to join him later to meet his unit. Troy is part of a large network of foreign volunteers fighting with Kurdish armed groups in both Syria and Iraq. He left Canada last year to join the Peshmerga soldiers on the frontline with Isis in Sinjar, the town he helped liberate last November. He remembers the fighting vividly. We were so close to them, you could hear them talking. We were just meters apart at that stage. Im lucky I got to see so much action but I proved myself. A lot of foreign volunteers come here and just sit around. Not their fault, its just the way it is here. Troy is one of a handful of foreign volunteers on the Sinjar frontline. The others are former US military, highly skilled and experienced combatants. Unlike his friends Troy had no military training and moved to the Middle East initially for humanitarian reasons. In pictures: The rise of Isis Show all 74 1 /74 In pictures: The rise of Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters of the Islamic State wave the group's flag from a damaged display of a government fighter jet following the battle for the Tabqa air base, in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from Islamic State group sit on their tank during a parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from the Islamic State group pray at the Tabqa air base after capturing it from the Syrian government in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from extremist Islamic State group parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping A video uploaded to social networks shows men in underwear being marched barefoot along a desert road before being allegedly executed by Isis Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Haruna Yukawa after his capture by Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Khalinda Sharaf Ajour, a Yazidi, says two of her daughters were captured by Isis militants Washington Post In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Spokesperson for Isis Vice News via Youtube In pictures: The rise of Isis A pro-Isis leaflet A pro-Isis leaflet handed out on Oxford Street In London Ghaffar Hussain In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Isis Jihadists burn their passports In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A man collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A woman collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid Local civilians queue for aid administered by Isis. Since it declared a caliphate the group has increasingly been delivering services such as healthcare, and distributing aid and free fuel In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces detain men suspected of being militants of the Isis group in Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Mourners carry the coffin of a Shi'ite volunteer from the brigades of peace, who joined the Iraqi army and was killed during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Samarra, during his funeral in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Shiite Turkmen family fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, arrives at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi A photograph made from a video by the jihadist affiliated group Furqan Media via their twitter account allegedly showing Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at a mosque in Mosul. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamist caliphate in the territory under the group's control in Iraq and Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Smoke and debris go up in the air as Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul. Images posted online show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory - the city of Mosul and the town of Tal Afar - they have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq A bulldozer destroys Sunni's Ahmed al-Rifai shrine and tomb in Mahlabiya district outside of Tal Afar In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces celebrate after clashes with followers of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi, in front of his home in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi at his home after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A vehicle burns in front of a home of a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman holds her exhausted son as over 1000 Iraqis who have fled fighting in and around the city of Mosul and Tal Afar wait at a Kurdish checkpoint in the hopes of entering a temporary displacement camp in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees Displaced Iraqi women hold pots as they queue to receive food during the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, at an encampment for displaced Iraqis who fled from Mosul and other towns, in the Khazer area outside Irbil, north Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A militant Islamist fighter waving a flag, cheers as he takes part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters wave flags as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters travel in a vehicle as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade with a missile in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from an al-Qaida splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from the splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters hold a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A member loyal to the Isis waves an Isis flag in Raqqa In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi anti-government gunmen from Sunni tribes in the western Anbar province march during a protest in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. The United Nations warned that Iraq is at a "crossroads" and appealed for restraint, as a bloody four-day wave of violence killed 195 people. The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shiite-majority country more than four months ago, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces hold up a flag of the Isis group they captured during an operation to regain control of Dallah Abbas north of Baqouba, the capital of Iraq's Diyala province, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Isis fighters parade in the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Isis group, demonstrate their skills during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Kurdish Peshmerga troops fire a cannon during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Jalawla, Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference Iraqi Prime Minister's security spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference about the latest military development in Iraq, in the capital Baghdad. Iraqi forces pressed a campaign to retake militant-held Tikrit, clashing with jihadist-led Sunni militants nearby and pounding positions inside the city with air strikes in their biggest counter-offensive so far In pictures: The rise of Isis A police station building destroyed by Isis fighters An exterior view of a police station building destroyed by gunmen in Mosul city, northern Iraq. Iraq's new parliament is expected to convene to start the process of setting up a new government, despite deepening political rifts and an ongoing Islamist-led insurgency. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani issued a decree inviting the new House of Representatives to meet and form a new government In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Smoke billows from an area controlled by the Isis between the Iraqi towns of Naojul and Tuz Khurmatu, both located north of the capital Baghdad, as Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces take part in an operation to repel the Sunni militants In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An elderly Iraqi woman is helped into a temporary displacement camp for Iraqis caught-up in the fighting in and around the city of Mosul in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Christian woman fleeing the violence in the village of Qaraqush, about 30 kms east of the northern province of Nineveh, cries upon her arrival at a community center in the Kurdish city of Arbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman, who fled with her family from the northern city of Mosul, prays with a copy of the Quran AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq The body of an Isis militant killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces on the outskirts of the city of Samarra Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi civilians inspect the damage at a market after an air strike by the Iraqi army in central Mosul EPA In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Members of the Al-Abbas brigades, who volunteered to protect the Shiite Muslim holy sites in Karbala against Sunni militants fighting the Baghdad government, parade in the streets of the city AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Shia tribesmen gather in Baghdad to take up arms against Sunni insurgents marching on the capital. Thousands have volunteered to bolster defences AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A van carrying volunteers joining Iraqi security forces against Jihadist militants. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the Iraqi government would arm and equip civilians who volunteered to fight AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters of the Isis group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle down a main road at the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An Islamist fighter, identified as Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni from Britain (R), speaks in this still image taken undated video shot at an unknown location and uploaded to a social media website. Five Islamist fighters identified as Australian and British nationals have called on Muslims to join the wars in Syria and Iraq, in the new video released by the Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Al-Qaida inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint belonging to Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad. The fighting at Beiji comes as Iraq has asked the U.S. for airstrikes targeting the militants from the Isis group. While U.S. President Barack Obama has not fully ruled out the possibility of launching airstrikes, such action is not imminent in part because intelligence agencies have been unable to identify clear targets on the ground, officials said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants attacked Iraq's main oil refinein Baiji as they pressed an offensive that has seen them capture swathes of territory, a manager and a refinery employee said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants from the Isis group parading with their weapons in the northern city of Baiji in the in Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A smoke rises after an attack by Isis militants on the country's largest oil refinery in Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad. Iraqi security forces battled insurgents targeting the country's main oil refinery and said they regained partial control of a city near the Syrian border, trying to blunt an offensive by Sunni militants who diplomats fear may have also seized some 100 foreign workers In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group stand next to captured vehicles left behind by Iraqi security forces at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province. For militant groups, the fight over public perception can be even more important than actual combat, turning military losses into propaganda victories and battlefield successes into powerful tools to build support for the cause In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An injured fighter (C) from the Isis group after a battle with Iraqi soldiers at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis aiming at advancing Iraqi troops at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group taking position at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group inspecting vehicles of the Iraqi army after they were seized at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq One Iraqi captive, a corporal, is reluctant to say the slogan, and has to be shouted at repeatedly before he obeys Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group force captured Iraqi security forces members to the transport In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group transporting dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members to an unknown location in the Salaheddin province ahead of executing them In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A major offensive spearheaded by Isis but also involving supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein has overrun all of one province and chunks of three others In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group executing dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants taking position at a Iraqi border post on the Syrian-Iraqi border between the Iraqi Nineveh province and the Syrian town of Al-Hasakah In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis rebels show their flag after seizing an army post AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants waving an Islamist flag after the seizure of an Iraqi army checkpoint in Salahuddin Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Demonstrators chant slogans as they carry al-Qaida flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad. In the week since it captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, a Muslim extremist group has tried to win over residents and has stopped short of widely enforcing its strict brand of Islamic law, residents say. Churches remain unharmed and street cleaners are back at work Two of my friends came here to fight Isis. It interested me, especially with my medical training. I made contact with a Kurdish group in Calgary who were an incredible help, then in October last year I arrived here with a Swedish veteran. We were part of the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's) Peshmerga unit for the liberation of Sinjar, The operation to retake Mosul and its surrounding villages from Isis prompted Troy to return to Iraq this year but the bid to wrangle the city from the jihadist group is moving forward at a snail's pace. For more than two months Troy has been waiting on the frontline for orders to advance, a slow moving life far removed from the heroic endeavours typically presented by foreign fighters on YouTube. Troy admits life as a foreign fighter can be dull with long periods of boredom. Theres a lot of waiting. You know a lot of the foreign guys dont see much action. I was lucky to get to Sinjar, for many guys its just a lot of hanging around. Its no reflection on them its just how it goes. They do a lot of civilian work, On the other side of Iraqi Kurdistan near the Iranian border, more foreign volunteers wait for instructions from Kurdish fighters from the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian offshoot of the PKK who have also recruited westerners to join their fight against Isis. The YPGs socialist ideology has been a magnet for disenfranchised youth from the west, some who travel thousands of miles to fight with the group. In a cramped hotel lobby in the city of Sulaimaniya which feels eerily like a youth hostel, would-be-fighters wait for clearance to join Syrian Kurdish fighters across the Iraqi border in a region known as Rojava, a name that has become synonymous with socialist revolution. Cameron's ISIS Brexit warning At 19-years-of age, Otto from Germany is the youngest member of the hotel fighters. The chatty philosophy student abandoned his studies in Vienna to join the revolution. I found people on social media and asked them if I could come. They wrote back saying yes, we need you here. I thought about it for over a year before I made the final decision and booked a ticket, he said over the din of foreign voices and traditional Kurdish music. Ottos new colleagues in arms Brandon and Jack, spend their time drinking tea and waiting for calls from their individual contacts who they hope will smuggle them into Syria via Iraqs desert roads unhindered by Peshmerga or interior security. Brandon, a 27-year-old electrician from Pittsburgh in a beanie hat and turtleneck shirt shakes his head when asked if hes heard from Rojava. These would-be-guerrillas face an uncertain future as the complex networks that used to recruit and assist foreign fighters seems to have hit a stumbling block. One of the major networks for foreign fighters, the Lions of Rojava, announced they will no longer be in a position to help foreign fighters who want to fight in Syria. A blow to those who had intended on travelling, and while some more clandestine networks remain open, contact is often patchy sometimes for weeks on end. For over a week we heard nothing, Otto said. Turns out someone had bombed their comms tower. Mobile numbers are passed around as the young volunteers try to find links to speed up their entry as the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) clamp down on illegal crossings of its porous border with Syria. For the foreign volunteers who rely on smugglers to sneak them in news of arrests and fragmenting smuggler links strike a blow to their upbeat spirits. I was told this week that we couldnt get in. I travelled from the states to get here, I spent nearly $3,000 (2,000), quit my job, left my house. For me its Rojava or bust, Jack an ecologist from Oklahoma lamented. Each day, with each rejection, dreams of the revolution fade for those waiting in their hotel rooms in light of the news that the de facto government of Rojava, would be unable to afford to keep up paying for their stay, some volunteers are now being told to go home. As we are chatting about the young fighters options, I get a message from an English friend inside Qamishli the capital of Rojava. Tell them to go home he writes. When I ask him what changed he sends me a picture, a sombre image of two young foreign fighters killed in Syria, now martyrs on a wall thousands of miles from home. Troy is less cynical, his friend John Gallagher was killed in Syria last year fighting Isis. He says young fighter should be seen as heroes and not villains by their own government. When John came home they gave him the same reception they would give an Afghan veteran. I think it's important to remember what we're fighting for and against when we come out here. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Schoolchildren in Russia will soon be taught military skills such assembling assault rifles as part of a new drive by the Russian defence ministry. The training will reportedly be carried out by a revived Soviet-era organisation called Yunarmiya - also known as the Young Army. Skills taught will include assembling assault rifles, shooting and parachute jumping, as well as theoretical teaching such as military history and tactics. Recommended Read more The rise and rise of Russian nationalism The movement was launched today as a pilot scheme in the city of Yoraslavl, and is set to go nationwide in September. Russias Ministry of Defense has said it will meet the acute demand for the growing sense of patriotism and service to the country, according to local Russian press. Military education is already offered in schools, but the ministry hopes the pilot will make the country's growing number of patriotic military movements more structured. The age range of the students is not yet known - but reports say children could start the training as young as the age of 10. Officials stress that the training will be in addition to normal existing lessons and that attendance will not be compulsory. It is thought students will wear uniform and units will have their own headquarters and banner. Russia has seen a surge in nationalism since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014 and launched military campaigns in Ukraine and Syria. Nationalist groups have been on the rise and in January the Russian government more than doubled funding for a patriotic education programme. Reaction to the introduction of military training appears to be mixed. Valentina Melnikova, head of a soldiers' rights group in Russia, told local news Gazeta: Attempts to militarise children are a violation of their rights". But Russian citizens have said they are not surprised. A resident of Russia told The Independent: Since the Russian-Ukraine conflict started the surge in nationalism is big, so its not surprising that this type of programs is being reintroduced. Most people take this stuff in stride. But Putin's propaganda machine is extremely effective. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Q Is there an airline that would allow us to spend some time in Hong Kong before travelling on to Sydney? Lynne Jones A Building in a stopover during the long haul to Australia and back is both straightforward and sensible. All the airlines that offer connections between the UK and Australia offer the option to stop off along the way. Pragmatically, a pause for a couple of days helps you overcome jet lag; and aesthetically it takes advantage of the fact that youre flying almost halfway around the world and can stop more or less wherever you wish. For a straightforward trip from London or Manchester to Sydney that includes Hong Kong, the natural choice is Cathay Pacific - the citys home airline. From London the choices are increasing; by June 2017 it will fly from Gatwick as well as the existing five-daily Heathrow service. The Gatwick service offers both low fares (at that time of year it could be as low as 600 return) and attractive timings: out just after noon, touching down in Hong Kong around 7am, which is ideal for making the most of your time - and coming back overnight. Like all the big Asian airlines, Cathay serves Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. But it is also one of the few full service carriers (as opposed to no-frills airlines) to serve Cairns. You can easily book an open jaw trip, out to Sydney and back from Cairns (or vice-versa), travelling overland between the two. You could do it all yourself, but on a big trip like this I suggest seeking the advice of a good travel agent, who can find just the right flights for your proposed trip. Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a readers question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Back in March 2014, when the scandal over Brazils state-run oil company Petrobras that would eventually topple the government was just getting started, some of President Dilma Rousseffs top aides saw a golden opportunity to kill the investigation or at least badly wound it. Marcio Anselmo, the Federal Police deputy in charge of the probe, had given an interview to Jornal Nacional, Brazils most-watched news programme. On-camera, Anselmo and others laid out the main points of the case, which would soon become notorious: a former Petrobras board member who had accepted a Land Rover as a bribe, the money launderer whose plea-bargain testimony would prove key, and the bribes paid by some of the countrys biggest construction companies for lucrative Petrobras contracts. For President Rousseff, the stakes were huge: The presidential election was just six months away, and she was facing a tight race. But some ministers were convinced the TV interview was a blessing in disguise. They believed Anselmo had broken a dictatorship-era statute that, they argued, prohibited Federal Police officials from discussing cases in progress with the media. Fire him, they urged. Fire him now and attack the investigators for using the media to selectively leak information damaging to the government. Recommended Read more Never has the Brazilian cabinet been so unrepresentative of its people To their astonishment, President Rousseff refused. Ill never do that, she replied dismissively, according to someone who was in the room. Im not afraid of this investigation. It has nothing to do with me. I covered President Rousseff known as Dilma closely for five years as a reporter and there are not too many anecdotes about her I do not know. This one has it all: her blustery arrogance, her refusal to listen to even her closest aides and her apparent inability to understand just how much trouble she was in, right to the very end. But it also reveals a side to her that should improve her standing in the annals of Brazilian history: her refusal, for the most part, to stand in the way of corruption investigations at Petrobras and elsewhere, even when it became clear they would contribute to her demise. Brazils Congress has now voted to remove President Rousseff from office, almost certainly for good, so she can stand trial for breaking budget laws in a way that masked Brazils economic woes. She departs with a near-single-digit approval rating, primary responsibility for Brazils worst recession in at least 80 years, and very few friends at home or abroad. And yet, she also deserves some credit for the main achievement of this otherwise horrid decade in Brazil: the consolidation of the rule of law under its young democracy, as well as the notion that the corrupt will be investigated, convicted and jailed, no matter how powerful they may be. Protesters in favor of impeachment of Rousseff protest at Fiesp in Paulista Avenue on the evening in Sao Paulo, Brazil on May 11, 2016 (Getty) Acknowledging Rousseffs role in this achievement is controversial, in part because her behaviour also was not impeccable here. Indeed, she may soon face charges for obstruction of justice for appointing her mentor and predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, as a minister in her final days in government at a time when prosecutors were seeking his arrest on corruption charges. The move was widely seen as designed to make Lula less susceptible to imprisonment, since ministers enjoy special legal protections. But it may have been less an attempt to hinder the investigation itself and more an act of personal loyalty and realpolitik, based on the belief that only Lula had the negotiating prowess to save her government. Starting in early 2014, Rousseff had numerous opportunities to hinder, or at least delay, the investigation of Petrobras and other high-profile corruption cases targeting powerful people. The argument against Anselmo, the Federal Police deputy, seems in retrospect to be flimsy but in any case she let the opportunity pass. She could have declined in 2015 to reappoint the attorney general, Rodrigo Janot, who had already shown he would go along with the so-called Lava Jato (Operation Car Wash) probe. She not only retained Janot but also publicly reaffirmed his autonomy a mandate he would soon seize upon by requesting charges against Lula and an investigation of Rousseff. Rousseff also could have put someone less apt to cooperate with prosecutors in charge of the Federal Police or actively pressed her allies on the Supreme Court to remove the Petrobras case from Judge Sergio Moro, who is based in the city of Curitiba, on the argument that judges in Rio de Janeiro, where the company is based, were better-suited to handle it. Finally, she could have started attacking Moro as biased much earlier and more aggressively than she ultimately did. All along, Rousseff had senior figures within the Workers Party urging her to do all of these things. But instead, as recently as January of this year, she was publicly celebrating Lava Jato as a necessary purge of practices that had existed in Brazil for decades. I have to emphasise the fact that Brazil needs this investigation, she told the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, limiting her criticism to procedural issues. Rousseff didnt begin to vilify the investigation in earnest until a few weeks ago, when Moro released wiretapped conversations between her and Lula. And there well, lets say she may have had a point. Brazil: Michel Temer takes charge as Senate suspends Dilma Rousseff There are those who will never give Rousseff any credit for letting Brazils judiciary do its job. What choice did she have, they ask. OK. But ask yourself the following: would leaders elsewhere in Latin America have done the same? What about recent governments in Argentina? Or Mexico? Not to mention China or Russia. For that matter, what can we expect from the incoming Michel Temer government in Brazil? Temer, who was Rousseffs vice-president, is a 75-year-old constitutional lawyer who will try to lead Brazil in a more business-friendly direction. But he comes from a different political party, several of whose leaders are also implicated in the Lava Jato probe. One irony of Rousseffs impeachment is that it may lead to more political interference in the Petrobras investigation. Temer has said theres nothing to fear, but prosecutors in Curitiba and Brasilia privately say they are preparing for setbacks. They may end up missing Rousseff most of all. So the final question: why did she do it? Why did Rousseff stand by as her government fell apart? Some of the explanation probably lies in her origin story. Not the one weve all heard about the Dilma Rousseff of her early twenties, the guerrilla who endured jail and torture. No, Im talking about Dilma Rousseff the adult, after her release from prison in 1973, the one who undertook a much less glamorous life as an economist and public servant. This is the bespectacled energy policy wonk who just 20 years ago was editing an obscure magazine called Economic Indicators and never showed any interest in politics or higher office. This Rousseffs only passion was for numbers performance targets, spreadsheets, the arcane day-to-day business of government. Even after Lula plucked her from nowhere to be his chief of staff and ultimately his successor, even after the plastic surgery and makeover that preceded Rousseffs run for president, she still had no time for anything but numbers. Unfortunately for Rousseff, this prevented her from making any friends, in Congress or elsewhere, who might have protected her toward the end. But it also made her intolerant of corruption not for moral reasons, perhaps, but because it might keep the numbers in the G column on Excel from lining up correctly. From the very beginning of Rousseffs government, when a minister or other aide was accused of fraud, she made it clear that person was expected to resign. Six ministers left under such circumstances during her first year in office. This was a radical departure from the Lula years, and it contributed to a new culture that ultimately resulted in Lava Jato. Of course, there are other, much less flattering explanations. Its clear that Rousseff, isolated and politically tone-deaf, failed until it was too late to fully grasp the threat to her survival. The Rousseff-as-earnest-technocrat theory also has a major hole in it: if she was so focused on numbers, how did she miss the sheer scale of the robbery at Petrobras, especially during the years she was energy minister and the chair of the companys board? The answer probably lies in the simplest, most damning criticism of Rousseff: she just wasnt that good. Mediocre to the end and overwhelmed by a position she was never qualified to hold, she consistently failed to ask the right questions of her aides or her party. She also harboured antiquated economic philosophies, believed she could dictate the day-to-day business of the country (including parts of the private sector ) by personal fiat and alienated most people she worked with. Her presidency will go down as a case study in why leadership matters why a democracy as big and complex as Brazils cannot simply be handed over to anyone and put on automatic pilot. But Rousseff had virtues too. Even her enemies concede she was honest and stole nothing for herself. In a region where many leaders spend their waking hours scheming about how to make themselves or their friends richer or exact revenge on their enemies, Rousseff seemed genuinely focused on tackling Brazils still-legendary poverty and inequality. And in the end, any desire she had to stay in office or protect her party seems to have been outweighed by a long-term concern for Brazil and the need to build functioning institutions. That should count for something. This article was first published by Americas Quarterly, where Brian Winter is the editor-in-chief IBT Media Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Conservative politicians, rightly worried that their party will struggle to heal the gaping wounds exposed by the EU referendum, hope that some balm will be applied two weeks later by the publication of the long overdue Chilcot report into the Iraq War. True, the seven-year inquiry into the 2003 invasion and its aftermath will shift the spotlight on to Tony Blair and his Government. Yet the US-led invasion was supported by the Tory opposition at the time, David Cameron included, even if the Tories insist they would have acted differently if they had known then what they know now about Saddam Husseins non-existent weapons of mass destruction. So the report might make easier reading for Jeremy Corbyn, one of the 139 Labour MPs who voted against the war as Blair relied on the Tories to win Parliaments backing. For once, Corbyns rebellious past should work in his favour. Latest speculation about Sir John Chilcots findings suggests he will point the finger of blame not only at Blair for promising George Bush Britain would be there a year before the invasion but will cast the net much wider. Those in the line of fire in the 2.6m-word tome may include Jack Straw, the former Foreign Secretary, over the running of Iraq after the conflict; Sir Richard Dearlove, the former MI6 head, for allowing Downing Street to put a gloss on intelligence about Saddams weapons; General Sir Nicholas Houghton, the current Chief of the Defence Staff who was Britains senior officer in Iraq in 2005 and 2006 and General Sir Mike Jackson, the former Head of the Army. Many criticisms such as the infamous claim that Saddam could attack British targets at 45 minutes notice are bound to feel very familiar. The latest speculation suggests that the unexpected element may be a powerful condemnation of Britains role during the occupation of Iraq after the war. The soft hat stuff was supposed to be what Britain was good at. Such criticism would add yet another layer to this utter disaster, making it harder for those involved to blame the Americans for failing to plan for the day after the conflict. Although there will still be some lessons to be learnt, the final tragedy of Iraq not least for relatives of those who lost their lives or the injured is that this investigation has taken far too long. A more efficient one might have ensured lessons were learnt in time to avoid the serious mistakes Britain has made since in Libya and Syria. Perhaps we need an inquiry into how we do inquiries. A short one, that is. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Having been bombarded with information from the Remain and Leave camps, far too much and mainly too insulting to analyse rationally, it seems to me that the question we need to ask ourselves before we place a cross in one of the boxes is this, "Do we want to aspire to be more like countries such as Norway and Switzerland"? They appear to be doing very nicely thank you. The answer we give ourselves determines which box we tick; Yes = Leave, No = Remain. Roger Wilson Hayling Island The current unseemly phoney war amongst the stay or leave politicians is showing the public just how much the confrontational "party" system is redundant. Mark Twain called them "stretchers"; we should call them downright extremely biased views of individuals with vested interests. This so called debate should encourage the view that only proportional representation can possibly give us the system and MPs we should be demanding. David Mustoe Northampton America is what it is because, of the Union. India is prospering because it has moved from princely states to a unified enormous country. Great Britain is great because of the Union. As per the African proverb, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to far go together. Let us remain in the European Union and have a future together. Jehangir Sarosh Bushey The EU referendum hyperbole will cease when a public-spirited whistleblower breaks cover to reveal the manipulation. Geoff Naylor Hampshire The spectre of Iraq John Rentoul should know better than to repeat the old story about Harold Wilson's legacy. Possibly his greatest gift to us was to keep us out of the Vietnam War. If journalists and historians had acknowledged and celebrated that achievement Tony Blair might have made different choices and the Middle East would have been a better place today. Joanna Pallister Durham Far right wins in Austria The result of the Austrian presidential election brings to mind the words of the Viennese writer Hans Weigel: "Please don't think evil thoughts about the Austrians. They have enough of those themselves." John Doherty Vienna Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Stonewaller, shape-shifter, liar. I wrote this week about how an all-but-certain presidential nominee embodied these characteristics, prompting comments from readers observing, with varying degrees of snarkiness, that they had assumed I was referring to Hillary Clinton. My target was Donald Trump, but these readers raise a reasonable and important question: cant the same criticism I heaped on the presumptive Republican nominee be applied to the Democratic front-runner? To all politicians, for that matter? Am I just whaling on Trump and going soft on Clinton because I disagree with Trumps positions and agree, for the most part, with Clintons? Some will conclude that I am simply in the tank for Clinton, willfully blind to her faults. (On that score, full disclosure: my college-age daughter has volunteered for the Clinton campaign as an unpaid intern this summer.) People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Show all 8 1 /8 People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Miley Cyrus 'God he thinks he is the f***ing chosen one or some shit! Honestly f*** this sh*t I am moving if this is my president! I dont say things I dont mean!' Jemal Countess/Getty Images People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Whoopi Goldberg 'I dont think thats America. I dont want it to be America. Maybe its time for me to move you know' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Samuel L. Jackson 'If that mother**er becomes president, Im moving my black ass to South Africa' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Raven Symone 'My confession for this election is, if any Republican gets nominated, Im gonna move to Canada with my entire family. Is that bad? I already have my ticket. I literally bought my ticket, I swear' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Cher 'If he were to be elected, I'm moving to Jupiter' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Neve Campbell 'Im terrified. Its really scary. My biggest fear is that Trump will triumph. I cannot believe that he is still in the game ... [I'll] move back to Canada' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Jon Stewart 'I would consider getting in a rocket and going to another planet, because clearly this planets gone bonkers' People who will flee America if Donald Trump wins Randy Blythe 'He could just be a clown. If he is the president, though, I am leaving America 'till he's gone' But Id make two countervailing points. First, I have been a tough critic of Clinton where it was merited: on her bone-headed decision to use a private email account and her clumsy handling of its aftermath; on her relentless speechifying and her refusal to disclose the transcripts of these remarks; on her about-face on trade. Second, and this goes to the question of whether my assessment of Trump is motivated, intentionally or subconsciously, by ideological disagreement: in the three presidential election cycles during which I have been an opinion writer, I have never used language anywhere near that strong about previous Republican nominees. Because Trump is different in degree more than in kind, but in his case the difference of degree is a yawning chasm. All politicians deflect unwanted questions and demands for information (stonewaller). All evolve, if not outright flip-flop (shape-shifter). All, at times, say things that turn out to be untrue (liar). What puts Trump in a different league is his outright unwillingness to abide by the customary norms of disclosure (releasing tax returns); his reversals on issues within the course of a single interview, no less a single campaign; and his determined refusal ever to acknowledge error even when confronted with irrefutable facts to the contrary. Contrast Clinton, which is not to say that she is pure or angelic. On stonewalling, it is fair to say that Clinton has a penchant for secrecy. When Bill Clinton first ran for president in 1992, the Clintons declined to release tax returns prior to 1980, which would have revealed the quick $100,000 profit that Hillary Clinton made trading commodities. At the same time, the Clintons did release more than a decades worth of tax returns back then, and more since. Transparency is not Clintons first instinct. But Trumps refusal to release his returns is so far outside historical practice that he makes Clinton look like the epitome of openness. On shape-shifting, Clinton is not alone among politicians in altering positions in ways that can fairly be interpreted to accord with political interests. She said she was opposed to same-sex marriage when that position was politically convenient, and she changed that position when the political climate changed. She was for free trade agreements before she was against them, first praising the Trans-Pacific Partnership as the gold standard of trade deals and then assailing it. Yet voters, agree or disagree, can have reasonable confidence about Clintons basic worldview and where she stands on issues. Trump is erratic. He stakes out a position one minute (punishing women who have abortions) and abandons it the next. He is against raising the minimum wage, but then supports a higher wage, or maybe not. He has a tax plan but might totally change it. On lying, one of the common counts against Clinton involves her statements about what prompted the attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. Space prevents re-litigating that issue here, but the accusation of deliberate lying remains unfounded. As PolitiFact concluded, There simply is not enough concrete information in the public domain for... anyone to claim as fact that Clinton did or did not lie to the Benghazi families. The Posts fact-checker, Glenn Kessler, similarly found there was not enough evidence to label Clinton a liar. Clintons handling of another lie is instructive. At several points during the 2008 campaign, Clinton described landing under sniper fire in Bosnia in 1996; video debunked that account. But confronted with conflicting evidence, Clinton acknowledged that she misspoke. Has Trump ever backed down from his bevy of demonstrably false statements? My point here is not that Clinton is a perfect politician far from it. Still, she plays within the goal posts of ordinary political behavior. Trump operates far outside any of the usual lines. This article was first published in the Washington Post. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The end of Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the head of the Taliban, in an American drone strike is a killing of great significance violently highlighting the shifting dynamics of conflict and intrigue in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The usual area of US air attacks hitherto had been the tribal belt of north and south Waziristan where the targets had been al-Qaeda and foreign fighters. This time it was in Balochistan, where the Talibans governing Quetta Shura is believed to be based, and the target was a senior member of the Taliban. Furthermore, Mullah Mansour was said to have been groomed by the Pakistani secret police, ISI, and was seen as their candidate to take over in the fractious struggle following the death of Mullah Omar. It was the influence which factions of the Pakistani military and the ISI wields over the Taliban THAT led Afghan president Ashraf Ghani to reverse the policy of enmity of his predecessor, Hamid Karzai, with Islamabad. On assuming power the Afghan leader visited the Pakistani military and ISI hierarchy before meeting the countrys political leadership. The hope was that the people with real clout with the insurgents would be able to bring them to the negotiating table. That did not happen; instead the level of bombings and shootings in Afghanistan, including on the capital, Kabul, rose alarmingly. President Ghani has lately carried out a volte face and demanded that Islamabad take action against the Afghan Taliban who move around relatively freely inside Pakistan. The Pakistani position has remained that the Taliban need to be brought into the peace process and punitive action would only drive them underground. Islamabad also persuaded the Americans that this is the way to proceed; there have been hardly any drone strikes against the Afghan Taliban leadership in recent years. What appears to have changed was Mullah Mansours growing closeness to al-Qaeda which is now re-establishing itself in Afghanistan, joining Isis and the Taliban in a resurgent jihad. It led to Ayman Zawahiri, the head of al-Qaeda, pledging fealty to Mullah Mansour and the Taliban leader promising co-operation in return. The rising violence in Afghanistan with the arrival of al-Qaeda and Isis has meant that it is highly unlikely President Obama would be able to cut troop numbers in Afghanistan, as had been planned this year. There is a growing feeling in the US administration that drastic steps have to be taken. The Americans decided that Mullah Mansour and his coterie were not going to help to bring about negotiations but has, instead, become a hindrance to it. President Obama, it was reported in Washington, had personally authorised the strike. John Kerry stated: We have long said Mansoor posed an imminent threat to us and to Afghan civilians. This action sends a clear message to the world that we will continue to work with our Afghan partners. The Afghan intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, seemed to have details of Mansours death before the Pakistanis. The US Secretary of State refused to say whether Islamabad informed of the attack before it took place. He had spoken to the countrys Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, but that was on Sunday morning after the air strike. The Pentagon sought to stress that Mansour had become an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban. Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansours assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous US and coalition personnel. The killing of Mansour will boost President Ghani in Afghanistan where he has been facing severe criticism over growing strife and his failed overture to Islamabad. It will be seen as a blow to the Mullahs friends in the Pakistani military and security establishment and start another struggle for the Taliban leadership. The US, meanwhile, is embarking on renewed aggressive policy on Afghanistan, a war in which President Obama had pledged to end American involvement. Banks have said they do not consider meetings with Finance Minister Michael Noonan last September to discuss their positions on variable rates as lobbying. Photo: Frank McGrath Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB have said they do not consider meetings with Finance Minister Michael Noonan last September to discuss their positions on variable rates as lobbying. Noonan and senior Department of Finance officials met with senior management from Ireland's main retail banks late last year for discussions on variable rates, in which the banks agreed to review their rates. Irish banks charge significantly higher variable rates than their European counterparts. Two other banks who attended the meetings, Ulster Bank and KBC, both reported the meetings to a register set up with the passing of the Registration of Lobbying Act 2015. The publicly accessible register was designed to make the lobbying process more transparent. Bank of Ireland said it complies fully with the Lobbying Act adding that the meetings in question and topics discussed did not constitute lobbying under the Act. The Act describes lobbying as "the initiation, development or modification of any public policy or of any public programme; the preparation or amendment of any law; or the award of any grant, loan, contract, or of any licence or other authorisation involving public funds." Permanent TSB said it "has not registered under the Act on the basis that it doesn't engage in lobbying as set out in the relevant provisions". AIB said that because of its state ownership, it was exempt from registering the mortgage rate meetings under the Lobbying Act. A spokeswoman said it did not report the meeting because "communications between a Minister or his/her Department and the company in which that Minster is a shareholder, which occur in the ordinary course of business of that company, are an 'excepted communication', and so are not classed as lobbying under the Act." Fianna Fail finance spokesperson Michael McGrath said that any and all meetings between senior bank officials and the Minister for Finance should be recorded on the lobbying register. The Standards in Public Office Commission regulates the lobbying register. SIPO can not currently investigate or enforce suspected breaches of the Act; that power should come into effect this September, after its first year in operation. A spokeswoman for SIPO said she would not comment on individual cases. She told the Sunday Independent that the fact that a government official requested a meeting did not make any difference to whether it should be considered lobbying. "The Act makes no distinction as to who initiated the communication" she said. Coillte is the latest company to express an interest in the state-subsidised National Broadband Plan Coillte is the latest company to put its hand up for business opportunities provided by the State-subsidised National Broadband Plan, in what appears to be a reversal of its exit from the telecoms sector. The state forestry company wants to rent out its land to companies who will deliver the huge state-subsidised scheme, which intends to roll out high-speed broadband to hundreds of thousands of homes across rural Ireland. Five private groups have already bid to deliver the scheme - they are thought to be Vodafone/ESB joint venture Siro, Eir, eNet (which is backed by US telecoms entrepreneur David McCourt), Sean Bolger's Imagine group and the Gigabit consortium. The Government has promised to spend up to 500m on the plan, which may be awarded in two contracts. Coillte owns approximately 6pc of Ireland's land. "The National Broadband Plan is a very important government initiative and part of Coillte's strategy is to deploy its assets in support of government policies," a spokesperson for the group said. "Coillte land is available and we are keen to collaborate on a commercial basis." Coillte had until now appeared to be stepping out of the telecoms business, selling its network of 298 telecoms masts to a French investment fund, Infravia Capital Partners, for about 70m last August. As well as masts, that portfolio included sites which were leased by Coillte to other companies who developed masts while Coillte acted as landlord - the same sort of business it now appears to be seeking as part of the National Broadband Plan. Last year, Coillte completed a strategic review of its business led by new chief executive Fergal Leamy. It now includes plans to double output from Coillte's forests over the next decade. The target is to achieve a 5pc cash yield on assets. InfraStrata has commenced drilling activity at a controversial oil well at Woodburn Forest in Co Antrim. (Stock Image) Surrey-based InfraStrata has commenced drilling activity at a controversial oil well at Woodburn Forest in Co Antrim. The representative body for the UK oil and gas sector has said it is an important test of whether Northern Ireland could have its own oil and gas industry, reducing its reliance on imported energy. The project has been met with protests by residents, who are concerned that the project might contaminate the local water supply. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has also spoken against the project. InfraStrata chief executive Andrew Hindle said the company is "committed to completing this project in an environmentally responsible and safe manner and will seek to minimise disruption for local residents at all times". He said he wanted to thank the site's construction team for dedication they had shown "during very difficult and challenging circumstances". The drilling is set to conclude in five or six weeks. The exploratory well will be plugged and abandoned after it is drilled. Any further development at the site will require more planning permission. InfraStrata has a 20pc interest and seven different partners in the project, which is located in an area that has been lightly explored for oil and gas thus far. Partners include Baron Oil and Horizon Energy Partners. In geological terms, the area is seen as similar to the East Irish Sea basin from which gas has been recovered. The InfraStrata well will dig 2,000 metres underground. The company has undertaken a major analysis of seismic data covering 400 kilometres. Analysts at Allenby Capital give the well a 16pc chance of success. Major studies by Independent News and Media found that every 1 spent on print advertising returns up to 39 for the retail sector. A quarter of all sales delivered by media are driven by print advertising, according to new research. Two major studies by Independent News and Media also found that every 1 spent on print advertising returns up to 39 for the retail sector. The studies, conducted with Amarach Research and Ignite Research, were based on more than 13,000 face-to-face consumer interviews and three years of data collected from around 20m data points. Their aim was to gauge the value of print to advertisers in light of the changing media landscape and new consumer habits. The research found that the print channel continues to be a pivotal element in the marketing mix, delivering a significant return on investment across all key sectors. Print advertising is up to 1.5 times more effective than radio advertising in delivering return on investment for the retail industry, the research found. It is up to twice as effective as television advertising in delivering return on investment for the motoring sector. Some 38pc of test drives in the motoring industry are as a direct result of print advertising. For travel advertisers, it returns up to 35 for every 1 spent. Just over a fifth of all travel sales, and one in 10 visits to travel websites, are achieved through print advertising. The research also gauged how much time consumers dedicate to reading INM newspapers - the Sunday Independent, Irish Independent, Sunday World and Herald. Over 1.2m INM newspapers are sold every week, reaching around 2.4m people when combined with Independent.ie. Readers spend 70 minutes reading the Irish Independent and 101 minutes reading the Sunday Independent against an industry average of 66 minutes. Some 83pc of Irish Independent newspaper readers said they buy the paper as often or more often than they did before. At a launch event in Dublin last week, INM chief executive Robert Pitt told marketing executives that their clients need to have their brands advertised in print. "If you're not in print, and you're not in print with a strategy that goes across digital media as well, and other channels, you're letting your customer down," he said. Print advertising spending saw significant growth last year as the economy recovered, its first annual increase since 2007. National newspaper groups collected 164.5m in advertising revenue from their print and digital editions last year, up 5.5pc on the year before, figures from NewsBrands Ireland show. Spending by advertising agencies rose 8pc to 98.4m, while the other 66.1m in revenues was generated from direct advertising such as property and recruitment. Spending on all types of advertising is expected to grow by a tenth this year as Ireland's economy expands at the fastest pace in Europe. It should be the first year of double-digit growth since the recession. Financial technology firm First Derivatives is in talks with a Formula 1 team, an oil and gas company, a supermarket chain and an aircraft manufacturer as part of a push into new markets. The company is expanding the applications of its software, which crunches vast amounts of data in real time, beyond the financial services sector, chief executive and founder Brian Conlon said. First Derivatives, founded by Conlon in Newry in 1996, has grown its headcount rapidly in recent years through an ambitious graduate training programme. Staff numbers have grown at a rate of 20pc a year. It will recruit another 250 people to its training programme this summer, taking its numbers to around 1,850. More and more staff are being recruited from abroad, Conlon said, from locations as diverse as South Africa, Singapore, Canada and Sweden. The business remains headquartered in Newry but has teams deployed around the world who work with clients on a consultancy basis. Revenue for its 2016 financial year was 117m (152m), First Derivatives said last week, a 41pc increase on the 83m it reported for 2015. The 2014 purchase of a controlling stake in Kx Systems, a Palo Alto company which delivers big data solutions for investment banks, hedge funds and financial regulators, is paying off, Conlon said. First Derivatives paid 36m for a 47pc stake in Kx in October 2014, growing its shareholding in the business to 65pc. "We have always known the underlying technology in Kx had huge potential," Conlon said. "Since buying a controlling stake in late 2014, we have been investing in developing its reach beyond finance." The company has completed five separate acquisitions in the last 18 months and "has access to equity capital and significant debt headroom" if more opportunities emerge, Conlon said. "We are always looking." The Newry native added that he is not overly concerned about the looming threat of a British exit from the EU. Many commentators have opined that Northern Ireland could suffer the most economically in the event of a Brexit, as it is particularly dependent on the Republic for trade. "There will be no immediate impact, they are not going to shut down the borders. We are well braced for shocks, a lot of our business is re-occuring. We maintained growth after the Lehman crisis and the same would be true in the event of a Brexit," Conlon said. An IRISH rival to Hailo is expanding into the US. Lynk is working with thousands of drivers in New York, Washington and Boston and will launch in those cities before the end of 2016. It will expand on a franchise basis, with local US taxi companies signing up to use its technology. Three companies in Washington and one each in New York and Boston have agreed deals. Independent driver groups have also signed up. The biggest expense for Lynk will be marketing, for which it has allocated a 12.5m budget. "The plan is to take it right across the US," said chief executive Noel Ebbs. "We will install the technology and establish an initial customer base and then the franchisees will take over from there." Lynk was launched in February 2015 by Ebbs, who was previously managing director of Global Taxis and Eight Twenty Cabs. Unlike Hailo, which takes a percentage of every cab fare, Lynk makes most of its revenue from fees for the use of its technology. It is also expanding in Ireland and the UK, spending another 12.5m on mergers and acquisitions rather than a franchise strategy. It will launch in Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway this summer alongside a simultaneous UK launch in London, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Oxford, Ebbs said. One thing the company won't have on its side in those cities is Luas strikes. On strike days in Dublin, it has seen a 300pc increase in downloads of its app and another 300pc increase in bookings. Joko Widodo is trying to deepen business ties with the EU. Photo: Getty/Bloomberg Indonesian President Joko Widodo's recent European visit to push for deeper economic ties with the EU has enhanced opportunities for Irish firms in South East Asia. Trade talks between the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) collapsed in 2009, and since then the Commission has adopted a strategy of bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with member countries. Already, ASEAN members Vietnam, South Korea and Singapore, have agreed FTAs; and in April, President Widodo - or Jokowi, as he is widely known - met EU leaders, when it was agreed to start talks on a deal for Indonesia. Jokowi is a reformist who recognises that openness and competition are a pre-requisite for driving one of the largest emerging economies in the world over the past decade. The average annual growth rate there exceeded 5pc over the past 15 years, and modest growth was even recorded during the global crash. The raw statistics show Indonesia accounts for almost half the GDP of the 10-nation ASEAN bloc and a quarter of the population. But a word of warning - despite being the fourth most populous country in the world with over 250m people, many are scattered across 17,000 islands, shut off from world markets and the thriving Javanese economy around the capital, Jakarta. There is though, a burgeoning middle class with ever-increasing disposable income. Boston Consulting estimates 71m people are in the Middle-Class and Affluent Consumer (MAC) category, and that will double by 2020. So, when Jokowi recognises the need for market-friendly measures and the lowering of regulatory and trade barriers, then Irish exporters' ears should prick up - especially among those already trading in South East Asia who can leverage their position. The legal and regulatory environment is a challenge. However, while getting a market foothold can be slow going, there is a strong appetite for partnerships within the business community and experienced professionals ready to assist. A colony of the Netherlands until 1945, Indonesians are familiar with dealing with Europeans. Irish firms like airplane upholsterer Botany Weaving, engineering design firm PM Group, food ingredients supplier Kerry Group and H&K International kitchen supplies have been doing business there for years. Historically, Indonesia has imported mainly from China, Japan, the US and its ASEAN neighbours, but there is a growing support network for European firms. Importing expertise and technology rather than goods and services is a noticeable feature of Indonesian business strategy. Many Irish third-level institutions are active in this market - the booming aviation sector has substantial training needs and, as domestic manufacturing increases, firms experienced in delivering services for multinationals in Ireland can export this know-how. But Irish companies need not limit their ambition here. Tech travels and Indonesians, particularly the younger population, are big on connectivity, in every sense, and often carry two phones. Apps and other mobile-enabled services are major growth sectors. Irish companies experienced in the added-value technology sell have opportunities in sectors such as telecoms, aviation and health. There is also increased demand for foreign brands and produce. This presents an opportunity for Ireland's food and ingredients companies offering quality products, new flavours and more variety. In Indonesia, relationships are central to doing business, and a local partner is strongly advised. Choosing the right route to market is crucial and local associates are advised because of their knowledge of the legal environment, the way of doing business and their networks. Unlike some markets, where it is possible to sell largely on the strength of your offering, serving the Indonesian market remotely from Ireland through email and web conferences will not work, even for the technology sell. Facetime is a pre-requisite and be prepared for meetings where more time is spent with small talk rather than big numbers. It's very social. They work on 'jam karet', or 'rubber time', meaning punctuality or meeting duration is unpredictable and nothing gets done in a hurry. It's about building the relationship. Presence on the ground or even in a neighbouring ASEAN market is well received and highlights your long-term commitment. They've got to like you before they trust you. And they've got to trust you before they'll do business with you. To seize the Indonesian opportunity, come early and come often. Smruti Inamdar is a director of the ASEAN region with Enterprise Ireland and is based in Singapore To stay in the Euro club or to go: that is the big question In one month, the future direction of the UK economy will shift to voters as the country decides on whether to stay in or leave the European Union. While the leave camp insists there is little to worry about, businesses in the UK, Ireland and elsewhere are trying to weigh up the potential risks. Surveys show this is a roll of the dice few business leaders would consider taking. The economic fallout of a Brexit on both countries cannot, in my view, be overestimated. A few figures. With more than 1.2bn of bilateral trade every week and strong ties in sectors such as food and drink, financial services and energy, ING Bank has predicted a 1.1pc fall in Irish Gross Domestic Product by the end of 2017. AXA has predicted anything from 2 to 7pc falls in UK GDP. The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) predicts trade flows between the UK and Ireland could fall by as much as 20pc. The mechanics of exporting and moving people around could become more difficult. The UK is Ireland's largest export market, with goods and services exports at 30bn in 2014 - 17pc of total Irish exports. The UK ranks as Ireland's biggest market for services exports and second for goods exports at 16.5bn and 13.4bn respectively in 2014. These are big numbers and big issues. Ireland recently regained an A-grade credit rating. It shows confidence in the direction of the economy. Yet Fitch, a credit rating agency, says Ireland is one of the most exposed markets in the EU to the UK "via merchandise and service exports". Any disruption in the financial markets, in Foreign Direct Investment flows such as in the ICT sector and a potentially weakened UK economy through Brexit, would have a substantial knock-on effect on the Republic of Ireland. A vote to remain would likely have a positive impact on business confidence. Joining the EU was one of the most significant steps the UK and Ireland have taken. The economic benefits of the UK's membership are huge, through international trade deals, through access to a single market (including digital) of 500 million people, through FDI and through movement of people. Some 45pc of UK exports are to the EU, which supports 3 million UK jobs. If Britain left the single market, it could face the common external tariff, which - given that 40pc of our exports to the EU are in high-tariff industries such as cars, chemicals and food - would have a detrimental impact on businesses and households. Many investors from Japan, China, USA and India chose our nations as a runway to the EU. Outside the EU, the UK would be advocating its interests against those of 27: a nation of 65 million people with 2pc of global GDP dealing with a bloc of over 400 million with 16pc. As someone used to negotiating business deals, this does not seem like a strong hand. There has been no credible articulation by the leave camp of how businesses can retain, let alone improve upon, the benefits we currently get from the EU by walking away. Indeed, my preference would be to stay and drive reform in the EU services, digital and energy markets. We should strengthen not weaken the EU's hand in seeking international trade deals. Some have pointed to the 250,000 British citizens in the Republic eligible to vote. Estimates suggest the 'Irish-linked' cohort among the voting public in Ireland and the UK at more than three-quarters of a million. With profound potential business and trade impacts for Ireland, every eligible citizen should spare time to think hard about their vote on whether the UK should remain in the EU. As someone with both Irish and British ancestry, I do hope everyone pauses for reflection before June 23, 2016. Sir Michael Rake is chairman of BT Group Central Bank chief Philip Lane said the rules could be changed. Photo: Frank Mc Grath Around one third of first-time buyers is trying to get around the Central Bank's new mortgage lending rules, the Sunday Independent understands. They are seeking exemptions to the rules, with most looking for a way out of lending limits linked to their income, according to a group of mortgage brokers and at least one bank. The Central Bank limits the amount a bank can provide in new lending to 3.5 times a first-time buyer's income (the loan-to-income restriction) and also sets limits on how much the buyer must stump up for a deposit (the loan-to-value restriction). For first-timers buying principal dwellings, banks can lend 90pc on properties valued at 220,000 or less, and 80pc on any excess value over this amount. Non-first-time buyers are subject to a limit of 80pc loan-to-value on the total purchase price of a property. Mortgages for buy-to-lets have different restrictions. The rules have been blamed for limiting banks' ability to lend and for trapping people in the expensive rental market, at a time when rents are continually rising and there is a shortage of properties to let and buy. Some exceptions are available. Banks are permitted by the regulator to offer exemptions on the loan-to-value rule for up to 15pc of lending for primary dwelling purposes. They are also permitted to offer exemptions on the loan-to-income rule for up to 20pc of the value of all housing loans for primary dwelling purposes. Only one type of exception can be granted per buyer, not both. "First-time buyers are seeking more exceptions to the loan-to-income limit than the deposit rule," said home loans expert Michael Dowling, who chairs the mortgage committee at the Irish Brokers' Association. "Take a house priced at 300,000. Under the new rules, a first-time buyer can actually borrow up to 87pc of the purchase price, so the deposit would work out at around 39,000 which for a couple is not completely out of reach. "But for two people on an average industrial wage of 36,000, making a combined 72,000, the most they can borrow due to the loan-to-income rule is 252,000. That's nearly 50,000 in the difference, a bigger challenge." Michael Quinn, head of mortgage sourcing platform Mortgage Brain, described it as an "exceptions-driven mortgage market". A study of 200 mortgage brokers by his organisation last year found that it is the income rule which provides a 'killer blow' to first-time buyers and not the deposits, as previously expected by many analysts. The clampdown on lending is contributing to a clamour for higher pay, which could escalate into a summer of industrial unrest. Starting salaries for many State workers, which were slashed by up to 10pc during the crisis years, mean they have no chance of buying a home. Clerical assistants are working for pay rates that are more than 8,000 lower than colleagues who had been recruited before them. Gardai earn 23,750 on attestation, and 25,726 in year one. A full-time firefighter in Dublin earns 22,976 a year, while a newly hired teacher's pay is 31,009. The average house price nationally is 191,194 and 358,333 in Dublin. The Central Bank recently said it would invite public submissions on its annual review of the rules. Central Bank governor Philip Lane said that while the rules are intended to be a permanent feature, the "calibration of these rules can be tightened, loosened or left unchanged". I've spent my whole career working for entrepreneurial, tech-based start-ups. When I graduated from the LSE in London with a maths and economics degree under my belt, I accepted a fantastic job offer in corporate tax in one of the big four firms. I was about to take the first step on a serious career path in the City. However, between graduating and starting the job, I took an intern position at Groupon. I trusted my gut, which told me to take the risk and ride the wave of Groupon's incredible growth cycle. Back then, people were all talk of tech bubbles and I know I gave my mother a few sleepless nights. But I'm glad I did it and if I knew then what I know now I'd have made more of the incredible connections. I had joined Groupon fresh out of college. And if I knew then what I know now I'd have spent less time in the classroom and more time out and about setting up societies and events. In university I was the president of the ski club and the sailing club, and ran both as big business interests. While in full-time study, I'd regularly organise events for over 200 people that were funded with budgets close to 200k. I learned a lot about the fundamentals then; I managed big teams, managed cash flows with P&L responsibility, dealt with big-scale logistics and operations. Another thing I've learned is the importance of work-life balance. In London, I was paid a London weighting salary but I very much worked to live as everything about the city is expensive. I later moved to Berlin and it opened my eyes. It was not only a cheaper place to live, but it was a better way to live. Last August, when I moved to Dublin to head up Deliveroo, it got even better. I spend most of my time on my bike now. I finish work and head off for a run on the beach, or I'll ride out to Dun Laoghaire and go sailing with friends. I've learned how important it is to be hands-on too as a business leader. Sometimes at lunch or at dinner time, I'll hop on my bike and do some Deliveroo deliveries. I always learn so much; from the restaurants who serve the meals to the feedback from our clients when I drop off the food at their door. In a year, Deliveroo has grown to four cities and we're about to launch into our fifth, Limerick. We've ramped it up, and fast. If I knew then what I know now, we'd have taken more risks on our marketing and maybe launched some markets earlier. There's only one form of retirement that Peter Sutherland can think of. But as death has a certain air of finality about it, the 70-year-old - one of Ireland's best-known internationalists - prefers not to contemplate retirement at all. In the past seven days, the former Attorney General, European Commissioner, Director General of the World Trade Organisation, ex-chairman of oil giant BP and Goldman Sachs International - amongst many other accolades - has visited refugee reception centres in Sicily and Greece. The United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for International Migration, who is also the President of the International Catholic Migration Commission, also spent time in Copenhagen and Brussels, before flying home to speak at a conference in Dublin's Aviva Stadium last Thursday on the thorny issue of a Brexit. We bump into each other on Friday morning and agree to meet for a chat the following day, in which time Sutherland has packed in a half-day of filming for a television programme and a wedding. Yet when I visited his Donnybrook home yesterday morning, 'Sud's' energy levels showed no signs of the depletion that might affect someone half his age with such a schedule. "I'm up to my gills in travel and dealing with the migration issue," says the recent convert to Twitter, who was staggered, when he posed for a recent selfie with Brian O'Driscoll, to learn that the former Ireland rugby star has almost 700,000 followers. "The pace of life is going up, not slowing down," says Sutherland, himself a former rugby prop forward. "I'm extremely busy and I love it." It has always been thus for Sutherland, who says his public life has always been more important than his private life. I wonder. Surrounded by a stunning collection of Spanish 17th-century art, his favourite portrait in his living room is a small, framed, black and white photo of his Spanish wife Maruja on their wedding day. "Didn't I do well," the grandfather of 10 beams with pride as we turn to what he describes as the "inconceivable and dreadful" prospect of Britain losing its influence and the benefit of up to 50 international trade agreements in the event of a bitter and protracted exit from the European Union. Sutherland, a lifelong Europhile and unflinching disciple of the European integration process, believes that Ireland needs to set aside any fears of stepping on sovereign toes and immerse itself fully in the Brexit debate. "The more we intervene, the better," says Sutherland who is disgusted by what he describes as the "toxic" and biased debate conducted by the UK's "lurid" tabloid press, one of which described Sutherland in less than flattering terms as "the globe's grandee". "Everyone else is intervening. Obama is intervening, the President of Japan is intervening. Every independent voice in the world is saying it would be an act of insanity to leave the EU. "We should do it. The Irish should not hold back and should give voice to their very strong reservations. "And anyone who suggests that Little Ireland should shut up? I know what I would say to them in reply." Sutherland's post-Brexit predictions are more catastrophic than most. But the first Director General of the WTO, who was involved in the early stages of the epic Uruguay Round - the largest trade negotiation of its kind - knows more than most of the potential difficulties Ireland may face should its closest trading partner have to renegotiate its relationship with the EU. Sutherland says it is inevitable that any negotiations between the UK and the EU will be tough in the event of a Brexit - and they must be. "If the EU were to allow those outside to simply be part of an internal market but not part of the EU, the union would simply collapse," says Sutherland, who believes that the European integration process will survive a Brexit. "The price of its failure would be so disastrous, it won't be allowed to happen," he adds. Sutherland thinks Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his new Government should hit the road in the UK with a strong 'Remain' message, especially for the 500,000 Irish in Britain who are eligible to vote on June 23. It's a message whose tone should be sympathetic, rather than belligerent, he explains, one that expresses concerns for Britain's interests, as well as our own. But Sutherland is adamant that Ireland's desire to help its neighbour, and to retain a favourable position with it in the event of a Brexit, should not come at any price. "Our bottom line has to be that we will be helpful, if we can, to Britain but not at the price of jettisoning any of the principles that are fundamental to the European Union." I ask Sutherland, who says migration is the defining challenge of our age - and, increasingly, his life's work - what is his greatest fear? How bad could a Brexit really be? He draws a long breath and slowly exhales as he contemplates his answer. Sutherland, who has been in remission from throat cancer for several years, says his biggest fear is that the cumulative effect of the Brexit debate will be the loosening of the bonds of the European integration process. It is a concept for which he accepts the European Union has failed to secure support in recent years as the financial crisis deepened and the migration crisis escalated. But it is integration, in all its forms, that drives Sutherland on. "My life's work all stems from a single stream of belief in integrating people, in the dignity and quality of the human person. That's what's drives me, that's why I love what I'm doing. I can't even think about retirement." The issue of how products are labelled has become increasingly important and more sophisticated in recent years. Not just because good labelling helps with branding and encouraging consumers to buy one product over another, but because a whole raft of legislation now requires that manufacturers provide information to potential customers on everything from ingredients and the 'best before' dates, to how to use a product properly. Professional labelling, therefore, is no longer a luxury but an essential part of any production or marketing process. This week, I visited James Costello, MD of one of Ireland's premier labelling firms, Label Tech. Set up in 1992 by his late father, Padraig, who sadly died shortly afterwards, the company employs 40 staff and has an annual turnover of more than 8m. "We specialise in the manufacture and printing of premium self-adhesive labels," explains James as he welcomes me to the company's modern production facility in Santry, north Dublin. Around the office and production floor are samples of labels the company has produced. Ranging from SMEs to large multinationals, most of their customers are from the FMCG, food and beverage, logistics, pharma and retail sectors - among them many household names, such as Dunnes Stores, Aldi, Lidl, DHL and Glanbia. While many are Irish-based, the company also exports approximately 25pc of total sales, particularly to Northern Ireland and the UK. "The production process starts with us receiving artwork from our customers in soft copy format," explains James. "Our dedicated graphic design team then work on it to fully maximise the colour and design combination to ensure a high quality label that will stand out on a shelf, or wherever it is destined for." As we make our way around the production floor, there are numerous large industrial machines busily printing away in the background. Some are state-of-the-art digital printers, while others are of more traditional flexographical type. So, what's the difference? "The flexographic machines use traditional printing plates and ink and, as such, require traditional skills to run them effectively," explains James. "Each colour is layered on individually by the printing plates before the next one is added. Therefore, great care and precision is required to ensure that, as it moves along the line, each new colour or pattern fits perfectly into the space designed and allocated for it. What we want is a perfect label with no gaps or overlapping of colours. In the industry, we refer to this as perfect registration. While they take more time to set up, these machines can achieve very high volumes and at very high speed, making them ideal for very large print runs where quality and costs are both important. "However, because of the time and cost involved in setting them up, they are not as economical or suitable for shorter runs. This type of work is more suited to digital printing machines. These computerised and software-based machines use state-of-the-art one-hit technology, where all colours are applied at the same time. Because they require no set-up time or costs, these are ideally suited for use on the lower volume or shorter print runs." There is little that James doesn't seem to know about printing, but that's not surprising, given that he started working in the industry straight from school. His late father had been working for many years in sales within the printing sector until, faced with ill health which resulted in him losing a leg, he had to give up his job. Determined to provide for himself and his family, Padraig decided his best option lay in starting his own printing business and, in 1992, having assembled a small team - including James who joined in a sales role - he struck out on his own. "Lots of people thought he was mad at the time," recalls James. "He had no money, so he borrowed what we could from family and friends and was very grateful to receive a loan from Cambridge Finance to buy the machines we needed to get up and running. Perhaps the fact that we were all naive back then might have actually helped us, because we really had no understanding of the challenges that lay ahead. If we had, we might never have started." However, his father had built up a very large network of contacts over his many years in the industry. Known as a decent man and a very hard worker, he had a real talent for establishing rapport and relationships with those with whom he did business. Once he was set up, many of his former customers rallied to support him. Everything looked bright for the new entrepreneur. However, Padraig's dream was sadly cut short when he passed away just 10 months later while on a family holiday in Waterford. The management team at the time continued to run the business, even moving premises to keep up with growing demand. While it was a difficult time for the business, it was also a difficult time for James. Committed to making sure his father's legacy would continue, he immersed himself completely in his work. He also went on to complete an MBA, part-time, in Smurfit Graduate School - something that helped broaden his outlook and increase his confidence. In 2001, he finally took over as MD. The following year, seasoned financial director, David Keogh, joined the business, helping to put in place a strategy for further growth that included doubling the size of the factory. "The introduction, in 2006, of the new digital printing technology was a real game-changer for the business and made us more versatile and flexible. Because there were no origination or set-up costs, it allowed us offer smaller label runs at more competitive prices," insists James. Today, James and his team continue to focus on growth. His target now is to grow the company's turnover to 12m per year within the next five years. To achieve this, he is focusing on broadening his sectoral expertise to encompass major growth areas such as the logistics, drink and pharma sectors. Not surprisingly, James is continuing to adopt a similar approach to that of his father. For him, business is not all about making a sale, but about developing a long-term relationship with his customers. "Key to this," he insists "is the ongoing loyalty and dedication of our staff, many of whom have been with the company for over 20 years." James, like his father before him, is a decent and hard-working man. It is obvious from meeting him that he loves what he does. It is obvious too, that he and Label Tech have mastered their field. While Padraig Costello did not get to see his dream become a reality, he would no doubt be proud that the business he worked so hard to set up continues to flourish in the very safe hands of his son. For further information: www.labeltech.ie A stock market flotation of O2, the UK mobile business led by Dubliner Ronan Dunne, is emerging as the preferred option for the telecom giant's future, the Sunday Independent has learned. Dunne, the Telefonica UK (O2) chief executive was linked with a potential 8.5bn (11bn) management buyout of the company last week. The MBO has been dismissed by sources close to the company as "premature", but Dunne has been inundated with expressions of interest from private equity firms since the blocked takeover of 02. Earlier this month, the European Commission blocked a planned 13bn sale of 02 to CK Hutchison, the owner of Three, a move that would have left the UK with just three major mobile phone network operators. Dunne vowed to leave O2 had the merger been approved and was contemplating a series of job offers in the US and Europe on foot of any departure. However, he is now likely to remain with the Telefonica-owned company as it assesses a series of proposals. Spanish giant Telefonica refused to be drawn on the identities of the consortia that have submitted expressions of interest. However, it is understood that they include private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, one of the world's leading private equity investment firms which has already dabbled in the telecoms sector. Last March, shares in Swiss-listed telco Sunrise Communications soared after CVC sold its stake to German mobile telecommunications Freenet for 714m. Telefonica and Hong Kong-based Hutchison are bound by an exclusivity agreement until the end of next month. However, Dunne and his team are assessing offers for O2, one of the UK's biggest brands which has a 25 million strong customer base. Dunne, who spent last week meeting thousands of O2 staff in Twickenham to brief them on the firm's future, and his local management team are to remain in situ in the event of a future IPO or flotation. O2 confirmed that a number of different options are being considered by Telefonica. "In the meantime, the O2 business continues to perform well in the market," it said. "Our customers are our priority and we will continue to differentiate, compete fiercely and remain successful, long into the future". Supermarket pioneer looks back on life with great pride without any mudslinging. There is a story Feargal Quinn relates in this memoir from when he was growing up in North County Dublin. Europe was at war and the young lad decided that the field behind the new family home in Clontarf could be put to good use in the name of protecting neutral Ireland from stray German bombing. He divided the rectangular plot of buttercups and daisies into three parts. He'd pick all the buttercups from the middle third, leaving it white. All the daisies would go from the section beside it, leaving it yellow with buttercups. The final portion would have all its flowers removed to make it green, leaving a huge tricolour visible from the sky to identify the nation to passing planes. Naturally, the plan was never finished but the intent is remarkable. After all, he was only six years old at the time. Fly forward through decades of momentous commercial success, five honorary doctorates, a papal knighthood and a noteworthy move into Seanad politics and Quinn finds himself quoting Masatoshi Ito's line about "whether you believe you can or whether you believe you can't, you're right". Quinn clearly understood this long before he had come to know of the Japanese tycoon. The 79-year-old looks back on his life with great pride in this, his third published title (after 1990's Crowning the Customer and Mind Your Own Business in 2013). A family man through and through, he spends affectionate chapters introducing his kinspeople. His father, Eamonn, was the original captain of industry, a Newry grocer who after planting the first seeds of supermarket culture in the Republic with his Payantake stores and went on to open the successful Skerries holiday resort, Red Island. That his father charmingly met his mother Maureen at a post office in Dun Laoghaire influenced Quinn Jr's decision to take on the chair of An Bord Poist many years later. Other notable members of the Quinn dynasty of overachievers includes his cousins, former minister Ruairi and Irish banking giant Lochlann, but neither are given much in the way of paragraph inches here. Long before An Post or the Seanad, Quinn was a simple millionaire supermarket mogul. Time working in France as a journeyman in his late teens introduced him to a new retail concept sweeping Europe - self-service. He returned to Ireland and at age 23 founded what would become the Superquinn chain. After the success of the flagship store in Dundalk, new sites further south in Leinster began to be acquired with the help of gushing banks. Never a week passed without Quinn's near-pathological nose for publicity and a nifty deal pushing the company into the ground-level conversation of the consumer. Very little was spent on traditional advertising in favour of what reads like shameless stunt-pulling - elephants, open-air rivalries with competitors, you name it - that were designed solely to keep the word-of-mouth fires smouldering. This along with a stern adherence to smiley, US-style service and innovations such as loyalty cards (a European first for the firm in 1993, according to Quinn) clearly paid off - the opening chapter is a log of the sale of Superquinn in 2005 and the mixed emotions of parting with it after 50 years. It was reported to have been purchased for 400m by a consortium who clearly recognised the brand name's time-forged muscle. The publicity swoops and the chatty shop-floor manner with customers are evidence of Quinn "The Showman". He admits to this and puts it down to his time working for his father in Skerries as a waiter or bingo caller. The supermarket landscape - with Quinnsworth and Dunnes Stores sharing the spoils - was a cut-and-thrust world (especially during its "Price Wars" zenith during the late eighties) with each scrambling to get one over on the other. It was all part of the territory, Quinn happily shrugs with hindsight, even if it occasionally makes for an exhausting litany of wealthy grown men playing tit-for-tat. There is no mudslinging against his old rivals, however. Quinn comes across as a sportsmanlike competitor at all times and built bridges in the name of lobbying where mooted government policy looked to affect business. He talks about inviting Bernard Dunne and Quinnsworth boss Don Tidey to his Howth abode for a chat and a swim on consecutive days to try and corral support, but neglects to say whether it was the same pair of togs that he lent both men. His family's own brush with a foiled ransom kidnapping in the early eighties also meant Quinn had great empathy for Dunne and Tidey, who did not manage to evade the threat. Liberal exclamation marks fly at you from the page as Quinn details all kinds of yarnish carry-on from the good old days of Irish commerce or from his many salutary lessons learned about how to do good business (customer satisfaction over profit margin is a mantra that is played on loop throughout the Superquinn years and his time overseeing An Post). He brought this attitude to politics and laments the lack of business know-how in the solicitor-and-teacher dominated Dail. He argues with equal robustness in favour of his beloved Seanad which he feels is a key component of the Irish political machine, if in need of a tweak here and there. A life as long and varied as Quinn's ends up reading like a potted history, not just of Ireland's entry into the capitalist realm but also key events that would shape the nation to greater or lesser degrees. The Troubles. Veronica Guerin. The Stardust disaster. Reigning over 24 Superquinn outlets, with 3,500 jobs created and a say in Irish public life meant Quinn had degrees of separation with all. Quinn's medicine-show days reveal great drive and gumption, for sure, but it is in this memoir's asides, where he quietly, almost in passing, pinpoints what really matters in life that his essence truly shows. Children's author Dame Jacqueline Wilson (70) has written an incredible 105 books, including the much-loved Tracy Beaker series. She grew up in Kingston-upon-Thames, England, and is divorced. Her daughter, Emma, is a Cambridge professor. I lived in a world of my own as I'm an only child and wasn't desperately close to my parents. It was a tense childhood as they didn't get on, but they stuck together for years even though they were totally unsuited in every way. I grew up on a council estate, and my mum sent me to elocution lessons so I wouldn't get the wrong kind of accent. She was all for keeping up appearances, and always impressed on me that it was a 'better class of council estate.' I was laughed at because I wanted to become a writer from the age of six. My teachers thought it was a silly idea because people from my background didn't go on to become writers. I loved books and had a vivid imagination, which was a great escape for me. When I was 17, I saw an ad for teenage writers for a magazine that hadn't yet been published. I wrote them a story, and to my astonishment, they bought it and offered me a job, which taught me so much about writing. When they were choosing a name for it, the guys in charge told me they were calling it Jackie after me. I started off living in a hostel with other girls, and one time, they were reading a horoscope column in the magazine and drinking it all in, but it was just me, making it all up. I wrote two or three novels in my early 20s but had the sense to know they weren't any good. I got married at 19 to a policeman. The happiest day of my life was when my lovely daughter Emma was born, although I was very young at 21. So many women around my age find it very difficult with a strong-willed parent who will not comply and doesn't want help. My dad Harry died in his 50s, but my mum Biddy only died last year at the age of 93. It was a difficult time as she had dementia and was in a sorry state with a lot of physical problems. Mum was a lady who liked men and had her last boyfriend in her 80s. She and dad split up when Emma was six and they both loved her a lot. We had to do separate occasions like birthday and Christmas, as they couldn't be in the same room together without arguing. Having a daughter who's there for you and you're there for her is wonderful. Emma cried a lot as a baby, but all my hours rocking and walking around with her created a really close bond. We're still very close even though we have different interests and personalities. It was a bit of a shock when my own marriage ended 20 years ago, but we are perfectly amicable now. I hardly ever see my ex but there is no screaming and shouting when we do. He left me for another woman, which is always a blow to your pride. I remember being shocked and upset, but then I decided I would make sure it didn't make me feel bitter. I didn't want to be one of those women who bash up their husband's car because the only person you're hurting is yourself. I concentrated hard on my career and worked twice as hard, and I wouldn't be in the position I'm in now if I didn't have that big incentive to continue with my own life and make some money. I think women have a knack of coming into their own after a break-up or being widowed. We have better coping mechanisms so can generally sort our lives out, while men tend to wander around sadly. I feel, weirdly, happiest of all these days, which is great. Video of the Day I was quite wary about love for about six years after my marriage broke up. I didn't want to find someone out of loneliness or desperation and then discover it was a mistake. There were one or two people who were interested, which was flattering, but I was really quite cautious about getting into any sort of entanglement. I'm very happily in a relationship now. You have to be slightly obsessive to be a successful writer. I nearly always write first thing when I get up, and will even get up half an hour earlier on Christmas Day to get something down. I have rare moments of inspiration where I know what I'm going to write next, but mostly I just plod along and twist the words around until something works. Ideally, I like to write 1,000 words per day, and when you do that, you can get two books a year done, easily. I was only going to write 100 books, but I don't want to stop now so I will probably keep writing forever. I don't write about teenage girls now because I don't know how to get the tone right. Social media and the pressure on girls to do things like sending topless photos is really worrying. Normally I get into the characters' heads, but if I was to do that with a 15-year-old girl, the adult in me would want to interfere. I wouldn't want to write a terribly preachy book. Success was a complete surprise, but now I'm very competitive and want my books to do well. It's the children's response that means the most. I get a special kick when the kid who 'hates reading because it's boring' loves the books. The latest book is about a child who doesn't get the opportunity to be a bridesmaid, so she puts an ad up in the newsagent for people to hire her and gets to go to several different weddings. I've learned not to worry so much. My marriage broke up and I had a few health problems but I just got on with it. The other things I obsessed about mostly didn't happen, so it was such a waste of time worrying. 'Rent a Bridesmaid' by Jacqueline Wilson, published by Doubleday at 16.99, is out now The French actress Madeleine Lebeau, who has died aged 92, was the last surviving cast member of Casablanca (1942). She is best known for her tearful but defiant singing of La Marseillaise and cry of "Vive La France!" in one of the film's most memorable and moving scenes. Although her role as Yvonne, the spurned ex-lover of Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine, was small, it was crucial to the film. Her relationship with Rick, the disaffected bar owner in Vichy-controlled Casablanca during the war, revealed Bogart's character as that of an embittered and lonely man, seemingly uninterested in any kind of commitment, let alone a lasting relationship with a woman. "Where were you last night?" Yvonne asks Rick. "That's so long ago," he replies, "I don't remember." "Will I see you tonight?" she persists. "I never make plans that far ahead." Cast off by Rick, she then goes off with a German officer, but is redeemed in a scene which has come to be known as the "duel of anthems". Set in Rick's bar, it begins with a group of Nazi officers singing Die Wacht am Rhein, a patriotic German folk song. When the Czech Resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) hears the song, he tells the band: "Play the Marseillaise! Play it!" The band members look at Rick, who nods to them, thereby finally taking a stand against the Nazis and allying himself with the Resistance. Laszlo begins the song alone, but soon others - including the dolefully beautiful and moist-eyed Yvonne - are joining in; the music swells and La Marseillaise drowns out Die Wacht am Rhein. Many cast members of Casablanca were refugees from Europe who had recently fled Nazi occupation. Madeleine Lebeau herself had left France for Hollywood with her then husband, Marcel Dalio, a French actor of Jewish origin, shortly before the Germans invaded Paris. During the filming of the "duel of anthems", several of the actors were genuinely crying. "They brought to a dozen small roles in Casablanca," wrote the film historian Aljean Harmetz "an understanding and a desperation that could never have come from central casting." Marie Madeleine Berthe Lebeau was born in Paris on June 10, 1923. At the age of 16, she was given a small role in a play starring Dalio. The actor, who was 20 years her senior, was captivated by her beauty and they married in 1939. In June 1940, the couple fled Paris via Spain and Portugal and managed to obtain visas to Chile. En route to South America, however, their ship stopped in Mexico, where, after discovering that their Chilean visas were forgeries, they managed to get temporary Canadian passports and finally reached the US. Madeleine Lebeau's first Hollywood film was Hold Back the Dawn (1941), starring Olivia de Havilland. This was followed by an appearance the following year in the Errol Flynn picture, Gentleman Jim, after which she was cast as Yvonne in Casablanca and signed to Warner Brothers. While she was filming her scenes in Casablanca, Dalio, who played Emil the croupier in the film, filed for divorce. Professional disappointment followed when Warners terminated her contract shortly before Casablanca's release. She had hoped that the film would be her stepping stone to Hollywood stardom, but it was, instead, her finest hour. Video of the Day In 1943, she appeared in the French underground drama Paris After Dark (1943) and the following year had a role in Music for Millions, a musical with Margaret O'Brien and Jimmy Durante. After the war, however, she returned to France, appearing in Cage of Gold (1950). Her later films included Une Parisienne (1957), starring Brigitte Bardot, and Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 (1963). In November 2015, in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Paris, the "duel of anthems", a two-minute YouTube video of Madeleine Lebeau's rousing scene, was shared by thousands to show solidarity with the victims. Madeleine, who died on May 1, married the Italian screenwriter Tullio Pinelli in 1988. He died in 2009. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Ryan Gosling has said his part in The Nice Guys as inept private detective Holland March is a "what not to do" guide to fatherhood. The actor, whose second daughter with the actress Eva Mendes was born last month, is on-screen father to Holly March, played by Angourie Rice. Speaking at the film's UK premiere, he said: "It's basically a what not to do guide. It basically became more of a mother-son relationship than it really was father-daughter." Holly tries to keep her father on the straight and narrow and stop him making a fool of himself. But Gosling's character ends up in above his head as he teams up with hard-edged enforcer Jackson Healy, played by Russell Crowe. The thriller-comedy, set in Los Angeles in 1977, sees the unlikely duo team up to investigate the apparent suicide of a young porn star. Gladiator star Crowe and The Notebook's Gosling are better known as "straight" actors, but The Nice Guys sees them show off their comic skills. Gosling said: "I think they cast us not because we're funny, but because we're not funny, and that's funny. "W e're in such ridiculous situations in this movie, and it's so much fun, it's so silly, that I knew it would work because I know that Russell, he doesn't really do anything that doesn't work." On working with Crowe, Gosling joked: " Try not to look him in the eye because he takes it as a sign of aggression." But he added: "No, we were having a great time, we were having a laugh." The two first meet in the movie when Crowe's character breaks Gosling's character's arm. Video of the Day Crowe said: " Did I enjoy the unabashed violence of the character? It's all for the gags, mate. "There's a certain brutality that comes with shooting a movie like this, because all of the stunts are actually physically shot. "People are getting used to that CGI where the stunts and the explosions and stuff are more than 50% cartoon. They're just drawn. "When, in this movie, if a car goes through a house, that was a car, and until recently that was a house. And that's why it's hitting people so hard. "So that brutality is by design." Director and co-writer Shane Black said the film's stars give The Nice Guys its "slick, grounded feel". The movie was actually over 13 years in the making, as Black first wrote the script in 2001 with Anthony Bagarozzi. It was unsuccessfully pitched multiple times, but Black tried again in 2014 - and Gosling said he was keen. The Iron Man 3 director said: " We tried various ways to get versions of this film made, whether for film or TV, and thank god that we were unsuccessful up until now, because we found these two absolutely perfect guys, sent straight from heaven. And they just kill it." He added: " This isn't exactly a comedy, you know. It's a thriller, it's a mystery, and there's comedy in it. "So we wanted people who could give you that cool, that slick, grounded feel that comes from having a real heartfelt and organic friendship in a movie that is also funny." The movie also sees him team up for the first time in a decade with producer Joel Silver. Their partnership goes back 30 years, starting from the first Lethal Weapon movie, but they last worked together on 2005's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Silver said: " Shane's a great talent and I'm just so proud of everything. This is the best film we ever did, I really think so." Australian actress Rice first got to know her on-screen father Gosling when he invited her to his house before Halloween to carve pumpkins together. The teenager said: " He's just a lovely guy, so nice to hang out with. "It was just fantastic, having that lunch with him, because he's such a great guy and so down-to-earth as well." The film has a 15 certificate, with the British Board of Film Classification citing "strong violence, sex references, strong language". Rice said: " Both Ryan and Russell are hilarious and they're always cracking jokes, so I would just start giggling. "While I was on set it was all pretty PG-rated, so after I left, that's when they filmed all the adult scenes." Michael Kelly sometimes frightens people. To some extent, it's understandable: on Netflix's hit political drama series House of Cards, he plays White House chief of staff Doug Stamper, one of the most quietly intimidating characters on television. Stamper is the unsung hero of the show: he is ferociously loyal to Kevin Spacey's Frank Underwood, and we've seen him bribe, blackmail and murder in his efforts to aid Frank's relentless pursuit of power. In person, however, Kelly couldn't be further from his on-screen persona. He is easy to talk to and very relaxed, with a laugh that is never far away. With a name like Michael Kelly, it's hard to deny an Irish heritage. For the 46-year-old actor, it traces back to his grandfather Edward, who made his way from Donegal to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in search of work. "He didn't have any money. When my grandfather got to the States, he shovelled bridges and worked in a bread factory. Eventually, he became a superintendent of an apartment building and took great pride in it. "When I was growing up, we lived in rural Georgia, so going to the city was a real experience for us. My grandfather bought me my first bicycle, and I remember riding that bike with him, and we would ride it all the way to the end of the boardwalk and get little sugar doughnuts. Some of the greatest moments of my childhood were with him." Although Kelly hasn't had a chance to visit Donegal, he says it's a trip he hopes to make sometime soon: "I really want to go there some day; it's something I really want to do with my dad." Last year, Kelly was honoured by the American Ireland Fund. "I do feel a connection to Ireland and I try to stay in touch with my roots," he says. Right on cue, an assistant from Netflix offers him a beer, which he politely declines, joking, "See, I'm so Irish!" Kelly lives in New York with his wife, Karyn, and their two children, Franke (6) and Clinton (3). "It's really hard being away from my kids," he sighs. "We shoot for six months in Baltimore, but I'm home at least every weekend. I miss them a lot, and it's very hard, but when I'm home, I'm 100pc home. "I leave Doug in Baltimore, and I can give them my undivided attention. It's tough, but when I'm not working, I get to spend two straight months hanging out with my kids every day. What other dads get to do that?" Back in 2011, when Netflix first announced their venture into original programming, some in the industry were sceptical. At the time, it was best known as a DVD-by-post service, and had recently introduced a streaming catalogue. A Netflix original series was considered a risky experiment, but Kelly didn't see it that way. "It wasn't risky for me, because David Fincher, Beau Willimon, Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright and Kate Mara were already attached. I had read the first two scripts and they were phenomenal, so I knew we were going to make a great project, I just didn't know if anyone would ever see it. "Netflix was where you got your DVDs in the mail! I was thinking: well, maybe people will see it, maybe they won't, but with those kinds of people involved, it's going to be good." Video of the Day Four seasons later, Netflix has changed the television landscape forever. The site famously does not release viewing figures, but following the success of House of Cards, it expanded its roster of original programming with series like Orange is the New Black and Bloodline. Netflix now boasts a stable of more than 30 original series and 75 million subscribers worldwide. "It was neat to be a part of that television revolution. Look what it's become now - Amazon and Hulu are jumping on board, and we're getting so much more great television because of it. One day I'll tell my kids, 'you know how you watch TV? We started that!' It's pretty cool that we were the first ones to do it." As he reflects on the show's influence, Kelly beams with pride. His love for his job, and his show, is immediately obvious. He can't talk about his work without breaking out into a huge smile, and often mentions how lucky he is. Before House of Cards, Kelly had small roles on shows like The Sopranos, but it wasn't until he landed the role of Doug Stamper, at age 42, that his career really took off. Last year, he earned a Best Supporting Actor nod at the Emmy awards. "I feel that I've built such a solid foundation by taking these small baby steps throughout my career," he says of achieving fame later in life. "I'm glad it happened like this. I found love later in life, I had kids later; I'm just a little bit slower out of the gate than everybody else." Last season, Kelly shocked audiences by returning from the dead: after convincing viewers Doug had been killed, showrunner Beau Willimon decided to bring him back, and gave Kelly the biggest acting challenge of his career. Doug underwent a complex recovery, ultimately ending up back in his role as chief of staff. In the new season, Doug finds himself in the rather undesirable position of being caught between a feuding Frank and Claire. "That's the last place you want to be!" he winces. "Doug's loyalty is obviously with Frank, so if they were to go their separate ways, I know which way he would go. Even if Frank was losing, he's not going to jump ship." The relationship between the Underwoods is vital to the show's success, as Jodie Foster, who has directed on the show, articulated when she described it as "in some ways, the greatest love story of all time". When Kelly hears this, he nods vigorously. "I'm not going to say it's a perfect love story, but it's certainly a compelling one. I think at its core, the show is about power. It's set in the political world, but it's about who has power, who wants it, and what they'll do to get it. Frank and Claire's relationship is equally about power, but that doesn't mean it's equal." In season 4, we find Frank making a bid to return to the presidency. Of course, it is also a presidential election year in the US, and it's difficult to avoid the parallels. "I studied political science in college before I fell into acting, it's something I've always been interested in. But I think the current state in our country warrants everyone to pay attention to politics. It's crazy," Kelly says, as if he can't quite believe it's real life. A glance at Kelly's Twitter feed shows clear support for Hillary Clinton, but what does he think of the front-runner for the Republican nomination? "I love Hillary, and I think she'd be a fantastic president, but I can't stand Donald Trump. If Trump was on our show, people would say, 'that guy does not exist in DC.' "I would take Frank Underwood over Donald Trump in a heartbeat - and I know that he's killed people! I'd still take him over Trump! Anything to keep Donald Trump out of the White House." 'House of Cards' is on Netflix now Michael Kelly sometimes frightens people. To some extent, it's understandable: on Netflix's hit political drama series House of Cards, he plays White House chief of staff Doug Stamper, one of the most quietly intimidating characters on television. Stamper is the unsung hero of the show: he is ferociously loyal to Kevin Spacey's Frank Underwood, and we've seen him bribe, blackmail and murder in his efforts to aid Frank's relentless pursuit of power. In person, however, Kelly couldn't be further from his on-screen persona. He is easy to talk to and very relaxed, with a laugh that is never far away. With a name like Michael Kelly, it's hard to deny an Irish heritage. For the 46-year-old actor, it traces back to his grandfather Edward, who made his way from Donegal to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in search of work. "He didn't have any money. When my grandfather got to the States, he shovelled bridges and worked in a bread factory. Eventually, he became a superintendent of an apartment building and took great pride in it. "At the time, my family were living in rural Georgia, and going to the city was a real experience for us. He bought me my first bicycle, and I remember riding that bike with him, and we would ride it all the way to the end of the boardwalk and get little sugar doughnuts. Some of the greatest moments of my childhood were with him." Although Kelly hasn't had a chance to visit Donegal, he says it's a trip he hopes to make sometime soon: "I really want to go there some day; it's something I really want to do with my dad." Last year, Kelly was honoured by the American Ireland Fund. "I do feel a connection to Ireland and I try to stay in touch with my roots," he says. Right on cue, an assistant from Netflix offers him a beer, which he politely declines, joking, "See, I'm so Irish!" Kelly lives in New York with his wife, Karyn, and their two children, Franke (6) and Clinton (3). "It's really hard being away from my kids," he sighs. "We shoot for six months in Baltimore, but I'm home at least every weekend. I miss them a lot, and it's very hard, but when I'm home, I'm 100pc home. "I leave Doug in Baltimore, and I can give them my undivided attention. It's tough, but when I'm not working, I get to spend two straight months hanging out with my kids every day. What other dads get to do that?" Back in 2011, when Netflix first announced their venture into original programming, some in the industry were sceptical. At the time, it was best known as a DVD-by-post service, and had recently introduced a streaming catalogue. A Netflix original series was considered a risky experiment, but Kelly didn't see it that way. "It wasn't risky for me, because David Fincher, Beau Willimon, Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright and Kate Mara were already attached. I had read the first two scripts and they were phenomenal, so I knew we were going to make a great project, I just didn't know if anyone would ever see it. "Netflix was where you got your DVDs in the mail! I was thinking: well, maybe people will see it, maybe they won't, but with those kinds of people involved, it's going to be good." Four seasons later, Netflix has changed the television landscape forever. The site famously does not release viewing figures, but following the success of House of Cards, it expanded its roster of original programming with series like Orange is the New Black and Bloodline. Netflix now boasts a stable of more than 30 original series and 75 million subscribers worldwide. "It was neat to be a part of that television revolution. Look what it's become now - Amazon and Hulu are jumping on board, and we're getting so much more great television because of it. One day I'll tell my kids, 'you know how you watch TV? We started that!' It's pretty cool that we were the first ones to do it." As he reflects on the show's influence, Kelly beams with pride. His love for his job, and his show, is immediately obvious. He can't talk about his work without breaking out into a huge smile, and often mentions how lucky he is. Before House of Cards, Kelly had small roles on shows like The Sopranos, but it wasn't until he landed the role of Stamper, at age 42, that his career really took off. Last year, he earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Emmy awards. "I feel that I've built such a solid foundation by taking these small baby steps throughout my career," he says of achieving fame later in life. "I'm glad it happened like this. I found love later in life, I had kids later; I'm just a little bit slower out of the gate than everybody else." Last season, Kelly shocked audiences by returning from the dead: after convincing viewers Doug had been killed, showrunner Beau Willimon decided to bring him back, and gave Kelly the biggest acting challenge of his career. Doug underwent a complex recovery, ultimately ending up back in his role as chief of staff. In the new season, Doug finds himself in the rather undesirable position of being caught between a feuding Frank and Claire. "That's the last place you want to be!" he winces. "Doug's loyalty is obviously with Frank, so if they were to go their separate ways, I know which way he would go. Even if Frank was losing, he's not going to jump ship." The relationship between the Underwoods is vital to the show's success, as Jodie Foster, who has directed on the show, articulated when she described it as "in some ways, the greatest love story of all time". When Kelly hears this, he nods vigorously. "I'm not going to say it's a perfect love story, but it's certainly a compelling one. I think at its core, the show is about power. It's set in the political world, but it's about who has power, who wants it, and what they'll do to get it. Frank and Claire's relationship is equally about power, but that doesn't mean it's equal." In Season 4, we find Frank making a bid to return to the presidency. Of course, it is also a presidential election year in the US, and it's difficult to avoid the parallels. "I studied political science in college before I fell into acting, it's something I've always been interested in. But I think the current state in our country warrants everyone to pay attention to politics. It's crazy," Kelly says, as if he can't quite believe it's real life. A glance at Kelly's Twitter feed shows clear support for Hillary Clinton, but what does he think of the front-runner for the Republican nomination? "I love Hillary, I think she'd be a fantastic president, and I can't stand Donald Trump. If Donald Trump was on our show, people would say, 'that guy does not exist in DC.' "I would take Frank Underwood over Donald Trump in a heartbeat - and I know that he's killed people! I'd still take him over Trump! Anything to keep Donald Trump out of the White House." 'House of Cards' is on Netflix now Gerard Quinn was killed in an incident on Saturday, May 21 Tributes have been paid 24-year-old Gerard Quinn who was murdered in Derry on Saturday. Friends of the young father from Derry described have spoken of their devastation at his death on social media, paying tribute to him as "funny and kind". Gerard Quinn (24) died after he was assaulted in the Milldale Crescent area on Saturday night. A 16-year-old boy is being questioned at Strand Road police station. He was arrested shortly after midnight on Sunday. Read More Politicians said a house party descended into violence and the victim may have been stabbed in the neck with a bottle. Police received the report at about 10.30pm on Saturday. Mr Quinn was taken to hospital where he later died. A post mortem is due to take place tomorrow (Monday). Another 24-year-old man - believed to be Mr Quinn's twin brother - received head injuries which were not life threatening. Detective chief inspector Michael Harvey said: "At this time it is my belief that there was some sort of altercation in the Milldale Crescent area." He said the young man's death was tragic and appealed for anyone with information to contact police. The detective said investigators had received an excellent response with a good number of people coming forward to provide important information. Friends took to social media to pay tribute to Mr Quinn. Emma Dobbins said: "Can't get my head round it Gerard Quinn. "So funny n kind. I will never forget this night." Agnes Miroslawska said he always made her laugh. "I'm still in shock. I really can't believe it. It's soooo sad to see another young life taken far too soon. "Thinking of your family at this really sad time." Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said the death of this young man in these circumstances was a tragedy that had shocked the local area. "There is a live police investigation into this incident and that should be allowed to go ahead. "My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the man who was killed at this difficult time." SDLP Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan also extended his sympathies of the family of the 24-year-old man. Awful news that a young man has been murdered in Derry. Thoughts and prayers are with family and all affected at this sad + traumatic time. Mark H Durkan (@MarkHDurkan) May 22, 2016 "This morning a family is coming to terms with the death of a son in the most horrific of circumstances," he said. "The loss of a young man in any circumstances is absolutely tragic but to have had someone with their whole life in front of them murdered like this will be particularly devastating for his family and his community. "My thoughts and prayers, and those of my party, are with the young mans family and friends at this difficult time. "I have no doubt that the community here will rally around them and provide every support that they need. "I would urge anyone with any information about this crime or who may have heard a disturbance in the Milldale Crescent area last night to come forward to the police as soon as possible." A senior associate of the Hutch gang has survived a second murder bid after shots were fired through a window in the early hours of this morning. Keith Murtagh (32) suffered a grazed arm when a gunman opened fire on a house in Cherry Orchard Court, Ballyfermot in West Dublin. A woman, who was in the house at the time, also suffered minor injuries in the attack. Gardai believe that Murtagh was the intended target when a hitman shot dead innocent drug addict Martin ORourke last April. Detectives are now investigating if this latest attack is linked to the ongoing Kinahan/Hutch feud which has already claimed six lives in just eight months. It is believed that Murtagh, a convicted armed robber, was targeted because of his association with members of the Hutch gang. Murtagh initially fled to the UK following the shooting of Martin ORourke on Sheriff St on April 15. Read More He has been warned by gardai that his life is under threat. Expand Close Martin O'Rourke / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Martin O'Rourke It is believed that a 100,000 sum has been offered for the killing of Murtagh, which was ordered by a close associate of Regency Hotel murder victim David Byrne (33). Murtagh was part of an armed gang which included Derek Hutch that conspired to rob a large sum of money from a cash in transit van in Lucan, Co Dublin, seven years ago. Gardai had intelligence about the plan and they moved in as the crime was underway. Murtagh was wounded and one of his accomplices, Garrett Molloy (27), was shot dead when gardai opened fire. Murtagh later pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and possession of a weapon with intent to endanger life at Foxboro Road, Lucan, on May 15, 2009. Garda sources in Dublin say there is no end in sight to the feud which was sparked by the Kinahan gang's murder of Gary Hutch (34) in southern Spain last September. This was followed by an attempt to murder Derek Hutch in prison. He was stabbed repeatedly with a home-made knife and only saved by the intervention of prison staff in Mountjoy Prison. Keith Murtagh has been one of the top targets of the Kinahan gang since the Regency Hotel attack on February 5 in which David Byrne (32), a senior Kinahan gang member, was shot dead. There is no suggestion that Murtagh was in any way involved in the attack, but it is believed he is being targeted because of his close links to Derek Hutch and other members of the northside gang. According to Garda sources, the Kinahan gang's representatives, based mainly in the southside of inner city Dublin, are determined to destroy the Hutch gang and its associates. So far, the Kinahan gang have killed five people in the feud, including Gerry Hutch's brother, Eddie (59), a taxi driver who was not involved in organised crime. Woody Allen has a point when he says that the most beautiful words in the world are: 'It's benign'. Yes, if you are 16, you think it's 'I will love you forever', and if you are trying for a baby, you will sink to the floor with relief and joy to hear 'you are pregnant'. But 'it's benign' is certainly up there. On Monday, the person glorying in those words was me. Less than a week after a dermatologist took a needle biopsy from my face after determining that something needed to be checked, I got the news that it was clear. Now, I have form with skin cancer. Malignant melanoma, to be precise - the most dangerous and, if untreated, fatal version of the three forms of skin cancer. Years ago, I had a malignant melanoma removed from my hip. It was thin and therefore, all removed surgically. At the time, surgery was the only option - but now, there are incredible new drugs which have turned this once fatal cancer into a curable one. I diagnosed my melanoma myself and have made myself the bane of all doctors' lives since with my conviction that I know lots of stuff. Plus, I watched every episode of ER in the '90s. I have always downplayed the melanoma because I didn't want people with what I saw as real cancers - people living with fear, who were throwing up with chemo, suffering with hair loss or radiation burns, who had endured radical surgery, and those who were living with cancer - to see me with my scar on my hip and hear my 'story'. I had a tiny surgical procedure. Nothing to see here, folks. My motto is: move on, get checked, and use factor 50 sunblock and factor 90 when visiting hot places. Years later, as a former skin cancer sufferer, you end up having dermatology appointments where bits of you are looked at in the cold light of day. You hear that a mark on your face looks dodgy (not exact medical terminology). It needs to come off. I can catastrophise, people, and I can do it fast. "Don't worry", says the wonderful dermatologist with kindness. Worry? It is my specialist Mastermind subject, one of many things I cannot delegate. Luckily, my sister works at Cancer Research UK and we discussed coolly - I am very scientific and cool, despite the catastrophic thinking - the success rates with skin cancer. There's a 90pc cure rate with early diagnosis, we figure out. Most melanomas are diagnosed early, hence the good figures. I think of all the new drugs, like the fascinating immunotherapy ones - one of the many new approaches to cancer treatment, including melanoma treatment, where drugs trigger the immune system to fight cancer cells. In 10 years, US reports suggest that immunotherapy could be the most valuable class of drugs in history. These drugs are more efficient and less toxic than any previous drugs. Not so bad, I decide. I think of years ago, working with wonderful oncologist Dr Cathy Kelly (yes, really - she is obviously the talented one, the one who routinely and, with huge compassion, saves lives in the Mater Hospital) on a plan to educate people about cancer trials. I think of my dear friend and fellow author Emma Hannigan's radiation burns in her mouth on her eighth round of cancer treatment. With the right drugs, I will be alive - benign or not. Which is the point when you have beloved twin sons, not quite 13. As the American Express advert says: priceless. Then, on Tuesday, I heard Professor John Crown on radio highlighting the plight of a group of patients with advanced melanoma who were not getting the big immunotherapy cancer drugs. September has been mentioned as when they might get them - and September may be too late for them. Some will not survive 'til then and others will be too sick to take the drugs - only Professor Crown, who has to look these people in the eye, can say this with such ferocity. The European Medical Agency has approved these drugs, says Professor Crown. Ireland will be getting them. Just not yet. Why? Because no big decisions have been made during the non-Governmental months. So amazing people, with families and loved ones, hopes and dreams, will die. "I have been very harshly critical of medical economics in the past and I understand the need for it," says Professor Crown, "but this time, they are getting it wrong. I have got one young man who is really desperate to get these drugs. He says 'who will I call? Will I call the minister?'" The drugs they need are Pembrolizumab (which put President Jimmy Carter's melanoma, which had spread to his brain, into remission) and Nivolumab. The patients are being treated with an older drug, Ipilimumab, commonly known as 'Ippi'. Great drug, but not the 'we will fix you' one required in these cases. The thing is, folks, we are at a tipping point in the curing cancer stage. Cancer trials are where it's at. Professor Crown adds: "I would say most of the improvements over the past 15 years in the area of breast cancer have been down to drug trials." Thanks to ICORG, The All-Ireland Co-Operative Oncology Research Group which he set up 15 years ago, Ireland has more than carried its weight in drug trials. But trials in hospital cost money - US figures say it costs three to five times as much money per person undergoing treatment. There's more monitoring, more inputting. The scientists in the wonderful Breast Cancer Ireland Research Centre are at the forefront of breast cancer research in Ireland. Associate Professor Dr Leonie Young, who is vital and passionate about helping women, and talks about the loneliness of women who have breast cancer, explains the fascinating work she is involved in. "It's sometimes called 'Precision Medicine'," she explains brilliantly, knowing how complex it is but understanding that non-scientists need simple words we can cling to. "We are looking for biomarkers so clinicians (oncologists) can figure out the correct treatment to use. Sometimes, a treatment stops working midway - and we need to find out why." This is very targeted and, indeed, precision medicine. She explains it's about constant analysis and re-analysis to find out why some drugs fail in some women, and to analyse - using serum biomarkers - which ones do work. This work, Leonie says, means oncologists will be able to target the correct drug for each person, rather than subject them to a drug they do not need. Herceptin is a breast cancer 'wonder drug'. Professor Arnold Hill of Breast Cancer Ireland, who helped fund the Breast Cancer Ireland Research Centre, has described it as "a game changer", and it has been trialed in Beaumont Hospital. You see? From research in Irish hospitals to saving women's lives. I feel humbled by these stories and these brilliant scientists. My heart breaks for the people waiting for the vital immunotherapy drugs. Our government, and groups like Science Foundation Ireland and the Health Research Board, are there with funds to help research. But massive private fundraising is still needed to help charity organisations like Breast Cancer Ireland, set up to fund research and increase breast cancer education. And when amazing drugs are discovered, we need to use them. Or people die. Lovely Minister Harris, I know you have thousands of deserving and ill people begging you for help right now, but if you were still in your constituency office in Bray, about a mile from me right now, I'd nip down and beg you myself. For the people who sadly never heard 'it's benign' the way I did on Monday. Gay members of the Defence Forces can now apply to get married on military bases, the Sunday Independent has learned. Serving members of the Army can also host their wedding function in the standard 'officers mess' - the military dining hall attached to the standard barracks. However, there are currently no facilities for an exclusively civil marriage ceremony - for either heterosexual or homosexual couples - within defence force precincts. The same-sex referendum was carried one year ago this weekend, and an Army spokesman confirmed there is no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Defence Force members can get married in uniform with an Army chaplain presiding. Approximately 10 heterosexual couples get married annually in military compounds. The first gay marriage involving Defence Force personnel took place earlier this month. Naval Service Lieutenant, Grace Fanning, married her partner, Carol Brady, a nurse, at a ceremony in the Riverside Hotel in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. It is believed she was the first lesbian member of either the Army, Navy, or Air Corps, to get married. During the ceremony, eight of Lieutenant Fanning's naval service colleagues provided a guard of honour. Last August, speaking at the launch of a new recruitment drive, former defence minister Simon Coveney said he would like to see a military that "fully represents" modern Ireland in all its dimensions. In a statement to the Sunday Independent, a spokesman for the Defence Forces confirmed that any member can apply to their relevant commanding officer, requesting they marry in a "military installation". He stressed there is commitment to full equality among all its personnel, irrespective of gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. "There are no restrictions or limitations on subsequent career advancement because of sexual identity," he added. A well-placed source said gay military personnel can also book an officers' mess for their wedding reception. "There's nothing preventing them from doing so. In any case, a commander couldn't turn them down, even if he wanted to. We see diversity not as political correctness, but as a way of strengthening the organisation," he stressed. It is understood restrictions on gay members joining the Defence Forces were lifted in 1993, when Ireland officially passed legislation which finally decriminalised homosexuality. PDFORRA general secretary Gerry Rooney, who represents members of the Defence Forces, said he is satisfied major strides have been made within the organisation with regards to gay members. "If gay personnel wish to get married on a military barracks, of course they should be allowed to do so," he said. "I think the Defence Forces have come a long way and LGBT soldiers, sailors, and air crew, are accepted." Davin Roche, the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network's (Glen) director of workplace diversity, said the organisation has being working with the Defence Forces in this area. "We are helping them ensure their HR policies are fully inclusive of their LGBT staff.There are plans to establish an LGBT network within the Defence Forces, and that would certainly be a positive step." In a statement, the Department of Defence pointed out none of its properties are currently registered for the solemnising of civil marriage. There are no plans to register properties for this function, it added. Dublin fire brigade were forced to cut a driver from their car after it flipped over today. It was one of three serious incidents that the fire service dealt with during the unsettled weather today. We're on scene at a car fire on the #M1 southbound between jct's 5 and 4. Disruptions in the area. pic.twitter.com/Jx3lxzNGzQ Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) May 22, 2016 Earlier units were called to the scene of a car fire on the M1 southbound between junction five and four. There were disruptions in the area as they dealt with the blaze. Writing on their Twitter page the service said units in Tallaght were then called out to an overturned car in Tallaght. "We attended a rollover RTC in Tallaght with driver trapped. Holmatro cutting gear used. 1 to hosp, minor injuries." They posted dramatic pictures of the overturned car online. We attended a rollover RTC in Tallaght with driver trapped. Holmatro cutting gear used. 1 to hosp, minor injuries pic.twitter.com/Yd7YzxPSCa Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) May 22, 2016 This afternoon units were called to Balrothery in North Dublin after a car left the road. Luckily there were no serious injuries in any of the incidents but the fire service advised motorists to drive safely in the poor weather. Violent offender Philip Murphy speaks on a mobile outside his accommodation in Gardiner Street Convicted predator Philip Murphy has been seen hanging around the area where he kidnapped a woman eight years ago. The 36-year-old was released from Arbour Hill prison in February after serving eight years of a 10-year sentence for falsely imprisoning a Polish woman in Clondalkin, Dublin, on June 7, 2008. This week, Murphy was spotted lurking around the scene where he kidnapped the woman at knifepoint. Hes doing a lot of scouring around the area. He was spotted in Newcastle all day on Wednesday, a source told the Irish Mirror. Expand Close Philip Murphy / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Philip Murphy He was hanging around the Monastery Road area, at Knockmeenagh Lane, where the attack happened. That was the first time hes been spotted there but we dont know why hes up there at all. The father-of-three was arrested in March, less than four weeks after his release, and questioned about an alleged attempt to abduct a woman in Dublin. He was released without charge. Local people in Clondalkin are said to be outraged about his return, and see him as a threat to other women in the area. Hes a nasty piece of work. The thing is, hes gone off the radar now and the danger is hes going to prowl now. Thats why weve kept a close eye on him, the source said. We approached him the other day, because hes hanging around there. During the trial in 2009, Judge Frank ODonnell said Murphy had been scouring the countryside looking for a victim. He imposed a 10-year sentence for false imprisonment and a further three years for producing a knife, to run concurrently. The court heard that the woman had been waiting at a bus stop at 6.30am to go to work when a car pulled up and offered her a lift. Expand Close Philip Murphy leaving Arbour Hill prison after he was released / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Philip Murphy leaving Arbour Hill prison after he was released Although she initially refused, she accepted his offer when he returned a short time later. After driving for a short distance and chatting normally, she asked him to turn right towards her workplace, but he told her he had to get petrol first. When she asked to get out of the car, he produced a craft knife and told her to be quiet or he would cut her. She pleaded with him, and said she believed she was going to be raped or killed, but eventually fled the car. The fear will never leave me, she said in a statement. Murphy was also the chief suspect in a similar incident that occurred in 2008. He was questioned in connection with an attempted abduction of an Eastern European woman in Dublin, but no charges were brought against him. Campaigners gather to celebrate a year since the historic yes vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Campaigners gather to celebrate a year since the historic yes vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Campaigners gather to celebrate a year since the historic yes vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Campaigners gather to celebrate a year since the historic yes vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Campaigners gather to celebrate a year since the historic yes vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Hundreds gathered at Dublin Castle this afternoon to celebrate the anniversary of the marriage equality vote. Crowds of people including Yes Equality campaigners and politicians turned out in the courtyard to mark the day with a huge rainbow wedding cake made by the Cupcake Bloke. Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald was amongst those present. Its a very joyous occasion here, people are really celebrating. You can feel some of the atmosphere that we had here last year, because this means so much to people on an individual level, she told Independent.ie. Expand Close Campaigners gather to celebrate a year since the historic yes vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Campaigners gather to celebrate a year since the historic yes vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Thats what its about really. We changed the law in a historic vote by the Irish people, but its the impact on individuals, on families and children, that really matters. I think the joy is very personal and felt by people who have really been freed by the decision Irish people made and the generous and supportive environment in which this decision was made. Read More During the campaign, Katherine Zappone was one of the most visible faces on the Yes side, and famously described the people as voting for a republic of love. Expand Close Campaigners gather to celebrate a year since the historic yes vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Campaigners gather to celebrate a year since the historic yes vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins We definitely had a republic of love here this morning as we all gathered. I do think it isnt just a feeling that happened today, it is part of the cultural shift that happened as a result of the peoples choice a year ago. Its an extraordinary, joyful moment, which I started to feel when I walked through the gates of Dublin Castle this morning. People started pouring in, and it felt a lot like what we felt last year, the Children and Youth Affairs Minister said today. Reflecting on how the marriage referendum impact on her life, she continued: Oh my goodness, my life has changed enormously and I think especially because of the referendum and that great sense of freedom that just erupted throughout the country. I have felt that many, many times in speaking with a lot of LGBT people and their parents and their partners. Expand Close Campaigners gather to celebrate a year since the historic yes vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Campaigners gather to celebrate a year since the historic yes vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Read More When the result was delivered last May, Ms Zappone took the opportunity to propose to her spouse Ann Louise Gilligan live on television. The pair tied the knot for the second time in January. Ann Louise and I were so thrilled to gather family, friends and colleague in City Hall to bring our marriage home. 13 years ago, we got married in Canada and felt a bit like exiles to have to go out of country to do that. We said that when we got it here in this country we said we would re-enact or renew the vows, and it was extraordinary. New research from LGBT organisation BeLong To published in the Sunday Independent revealed that there has been an enormous surge in the number of young people coming out since the vote, but that 62pc of those surveyed noted problems with bullying and lack of support. Ms Zappone cited the figures and mentioned issues in education, health and community support as particularly concerning. Read More There still are many challenges for young people about their sexual identity that the government and society needs to address. Colm OGorman, executive director of Amnesty Ireland, was another prominent figure during the campaign, and said that he was glad that he could introduce his partner of 17 years as his husband. We were already married, as far as we were concerned, but of course it makes a significant difference to have our marriage recognised in Irish law, to not feel like Im saying something odd when I introduce Paul as my husband. He mentioned both young and old members of the LGBT community in Ireland as particularly benefiting from the result, especially those living in rural parts of the country. Hopefully whats next is that we get on with our lives, and that our sexual orientation becomes an important aspect of who we are but no more important than heterosexuality is to somebody who is straight. Read More That we recognise that Ireland is a place where we value love, care-giving and family regardless of the people involved and that we do so on an equal basis, he said. Mr OGorman also noted that there is still a job of work to be done to bring full equality to Ireland. Im not suggesting that everything is easy and straightforward from that point on. Mary McAleese during the campaign referred to dismantling the architecture of homophobia, and May 22 last year was a massive moment in that, but we need to continue to do that, he said. Its important that those who were concerned about the outcome of the referendum recognise that the roof hasnt fallen in, that Ireland is still Ireland, as a matter of fact that were more Ireland than we were before that moment. Spying game: Detectives use a variety of methods to observe their targets Photo: Gerry Mooney Private detectives employed by local authorities are using night-vision glasses, 'spy bugs' and covert cameras to snoop on members of the public - and one council has used a private eye to track down a "missing" employee. A trawl through the accounts of some of the country's largest councils, reveals private sleuths are being used to gather evidence in a variety of situations, including the investigation of bogus compensation claims and possible social welfare fraud. Figures show 12 of the country's 31 local authorities spent over 350,000 on this kind of probe since 2009. Investigators have also been used to secure information on serious cases of anti-social behaviour, nuisance neighbours, and large-scale illegal dumpers. In 2011, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council employed investigators after receiving a serious complaint from a business owner within their jurisdiction. It was decided to engage a detective agency to carry out "surveillance work", which cost 8,300. Meanwhile, Dublin City Council, the country's largest local authority, spent 22,000 in the past five years employing the services of private eyes to carry out various evidence- gathering assignments. Three investigators were engaged for the purpose of probing four personal injury cases involving legal proceedings being taken against the council. Council chiefs also decided to use a private investigator to try to locate a member of staff who had mysteriously gone "missing." In a statement, the council said the purpose of the investigation was to find the employee who was "absent from duty without explanation". However, it refused to provide the specific details of the disappearance, and said it was "not in a position" to give the overall costs in this case. The council also declined to divulge whether the staff member was ever found. Meanwhile, Fingal County Council paid out over 32,600 in the past five years to investigators by way of gathering information on suspect compensation claims against the council. Documents obtained by the Sunday Independent under a Freedom of Information request reveal that South Dublin County Council spent 8,185 over the same period on suspect claims. Elsewhere, Cork County Council resorted to private surveillance techniques to carry out a background check on an alleged "large-scale polluter". A tenant who "abandoned" their council house was also investigated. Nearly 900 was allocated to try to establish the financial means of a litigant who refused to pay costs to the council arising from a court case. Cork City Council, meanwhile, allocated 27,000 to gather evidence of those who were engaged in serious anti-social behaviour and "drug dealing." In a statement, it stressed the overall objective is to protect its finances, and to assist the council in the defence of "spurious, exaggerated, or fraudulent claims." Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Michael Foley from Foley Detective & Security Agency, based in Dublin, described each operation as "unique", requiring individual planning. Night-vision glasses and specialised listening devices are used by some private investigators, he said, but the methods required are generally more straightforward than that. "The technology in an iPhone is excellent, so we use that in the majority of circumstances, when it comes to recording data. "We usually start the surveillance early because we need to get an idea of the individual's daily routine," he said. "If it involves a nuisance neighbour, we usually try to get video evidence. For instance, during the summer, the individual causing trouble might be sitting outside in the sun, drinking alcohol. "In a case like that we'd take video footage and still photographs using SLR cameras with optical and digital zoom." A covert stakeout operation is usually carried out while sitting in a van across the street, he said. "In cases involving members of the public making claims for an accident, such as a fall in a public place, we'd keep an eye on them over a few days, to see what they're up to and to ensure that the claim is genuine." Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin has launched a scathing attack on the Department of Justice, which he said sometimes operates like the downtown office of An Garda Siochana. Mr Howlin warned that he does not have confidence in the departments ability to drive the change necessary within the garda force. The Wexford TD, who was appointed Labour leader on Friday, said the relationship between the department and the gardai is too close. There were two reports in the last year from the Garda Inspectorate relating to very broad ranging reforms that are necessary. I am not convinced yet that they have been embraced, Mr Howlin told RTEs This Week programme. Bluntly, I have no confidence in the Department of Justice to drive that change because I think there is too close of a relationship between the Department of Justice and An Garda Siochana. Who sometimes see themselves as the downtown office of An Garda Siochana, as opposed to the people who are managing policing in Ireland, as well as a number of other things. His comments will heap huge pressure on Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan. Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said the gardai had a lot of making up to do after austerity put a strain on garda numbers and resources. She also refused to say when the Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan should clarify why her legal team initially attacked Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabes credibility during the commission. That is entirely up to the Garda Commissioner. There is a meeting of the Police Authority on Thursday, we will have the debate in the Dail and there will be other forums where this will be discussed. As I said in relation to the Garda Commissioner, whats legal and feasible, I am sure she will in the appropriate form, make a comment in relation to that. The minister also said the Dail would debate the findings of the OHiggins report this week. She said that during the period that Brendan Howlin was Minister for Public Expenditure there was not a lot of investment in An garda Siochana.During the changes and the period of the economy doing poorly, clearly investment virtually stopped so there is a lot of making up to do. The OHiggins commission looked in a very detailed way at a whole range of issues in relation to An Garda Siochana. There is a lot of learning there. Much has changed since 2007 and 2008. There has been a programme of reform, indeed a lot of investment. Ms OSullivan is under mounting pressure to clarify what instructions she gave her legal team in relation to dealing with Garda Whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe. The Commissioner is due to appear in front of the Policing Authority this week. Review: Leo Varadkar is concerned that employers are using the scheme as a cheap alternative to hiring new staff Social protection minister Leo Varadkar is scrapping JobBridge - the controversial state-supported internship scheme for unemployed workers. Just two weeks into his new role, Mr Varadkar has decided to axe the social welfare scheme which has been the subject of intense criticism since it was introduced five years ago. JobBridge sees unemployed people paid an additional 52.50 on top of their weekly dole in return for working as a full-time interns with companies. The state-supported work experience programme is aimed at upskilling those on social welfare and securing them full-time employment. However, businesses and state agencies have been accused of abusing the scheme and using it as a source of cheap labour during the economic downturn. Mr Varadkar said JobBridge in its current form had "served its purpose" but added that he wanted to see it replaced with a new scheme better suited to the current jobs market. He added that JobBridge was launched during the recession when unemployment was soaring and companies were not hiring because they could not afford to recruit, while the firms that were employing insisted on high levels of experience from job applicants. "Large numbers of recent graduates and people who lost their jobs in the recession couldn't get the relevant workplace experience they needed to get a first or a new job," Mr Varadkar told the Sunday Independent. "That crisis is now over, the economy is growing and employers are hiring again." The minister added that he was concerned by reports that employers were using the scheme as a "cheap alternative to hiring new employees". "On the other hand, I am very conscious that there are still many people who lost their jobs in the depth of the recession who are struggling to break back into the labour market, and schemes like JobBridge can provide a valuable pathway to such people, in particular where it is associated with a training programme," he added. JobBridge was introduced by Mr Varadkar's predecessor in the Department of Social Protection and constituency colleague, Joan Burton. Around a third of the 46,500 people who signed up to the work experience programme have gone on to secure full-time employment. However, since Ms Burton established the intern scheme it has faced criticism from at home and abroad. Among the main concerns relating to JobBridge is the hiring of people on social welfare for low-skilled jobs when the aim of the programme is for workers to gain experience while searching for full-time employment. In 2014, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said JobBridge was "large and expensive" and "not targeted specifically at the most disadvantaged groups". Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein and the Anti-Austerity Alliance People Before Profit have all called for the Government to abandon the scheme. Impact trade union called for the scheme to be axed and replaced with targeted programmes aimed at specific groups, including unemployed early school leavers, graduates and the long-term unemployed. A recent report showed the HSE hired 399 people through JobBridge, while the GAA took on 249. Last week, newly appointed training and Sskill junior minister John Halligan said the scheme was "not fit for purpose" and should be replaced as soon as possible. However, sources close to Mr Varadkar insisted the social protection minister's decision to axe the scheme was taken before Mr Halligan's intervention. Consultancy agency Indecon is currently undertaking a review of JobBridge which will report back to the minister in September. The outcome of the review will guide the minister as to the future of the scheme and what could ultimately replace it. Mr Varadkar said he personally knew people who benefited from taking up a JobBridge position but recognised it was "very much a scheme of its time". "I don't think it should just be scrapped. You should never take opportunity away unless you replace it with a better opportunity. However, I won't be making any final decision on the future of the scheme until the Indecon report has been published in September," he added. The current JobBridge scheme will remain in place until the review is completed and when axed those on programmes will see out the remainder of their internships. It is expected that the length of internships, which is between six and nine months under the current scheme, will be reduced to less than six months when a new programme is introduced by Mr Varadkar. Adopted children as young as 13 are using Facebook to secretly try and track down their birth parents, risking contact with dangerous online predators. Adoption agencies have confirmed children and young teenagers, as well as birth relatives, are now making contact with each other in this manner. However, there is growing concern over the psychological impact this kind of 'meet-up' online is having on both parent and child. Charities have also warned of the rising number of adopted children contacted by their birth parents searching for names or photographs. This secretive online searching is particularly high risk for children and teenagers because of who they might make contact with on social media. Experts also warn mothers who kept their pregnancy a secret could be "outed" if the children they put up for adoption get in touch with relatives. The Adoption Authority of Ireland is worried that children under the age of 18 may be making clandestine contact with "complete strangers" through the internet. "They could trace the wrong person and end up making an approach to a complete stranger," warned Patricia Carey, chief executive of the authority. "I have heard anecdotally of young teenagers aged 13, 14 or 15 using social media for this purpose. Because they are so young there are obviously many issues surrounding safety and security. "We are particularly concerned when children are making these searches without supervision - because it's so clandestine and unsafe." Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Ms Carey also stressed that if a child does meet the actual person they are looking for, they may be left devastated by what they discover. "Their birth mother and father may have subsequently married, or they may have siblings the adopted child never knew about. "Finding out that sort of information, in such an ad-hoc way, can be upsetting for all involved. In other instances they could discover their birth mother has died, or that a parent is in difficult circumstances, such as in prison. There's also the possibility that their natural mother or father is not the person they thought they would be. That can have traumatic consequences." Dublin-born actress Amy De Bhrun has written a new play about Lady Mary Heath, an extraordinary aviator and athlete in the 1900s Photo: Brian McEvoy The lost stories of hundreds of extraordinary Irish women from the darkest days of our history right up to the present day are to be told for the first time. Herstory, a new national and international cultural movement, aims to bring their forgotten tales to life through a series of performances, exhibitions and talks over the next three years. From artists, aviators, astronomers and athletes to scientists, explorers, warriors and witches, Herstory's objective is to start a global movement where Ireland inspires countries around the world to celebrate their lost heroines. Melanie Lynch, founder and director of Herstory, said: "We've discovered that the 1916 women were no exception. There are hundreds of women that have been erased from Irish history and we are going to bring them back to life through song, dance, comedy, theatre, fine art, photography and much more. "I was inspired by pure curiosity, every story led to another, and they were all equally as remarkable and fascinating as Countess Markievicz," she said. With very few records or photographs available, 22 historians from universities all over Ireland and the UK are working together to build a database. The project also aims to challenge the impact of celebrity culture, like reality TV stars the Kardashians and controversial performer Miley Cyrus, on young Irish girls who might view them as role models. Dublin-born actress Amy De Bhrun has written a new play about Lady Mary Heath (1896-1939) which she will perform at the launch of Herstory at the Pillar Room in the Rotunda Hospital this Wednesday at 6.30pm. Dr Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain, UCD lecturer and TV presenter, will give a keynote speech at the event. "These women have literally faded from history - they've essentially been erased," said Ms De Bhrun. "The world is changing very fast and there are role models out there who are famous for the sake of being famous. It's so frustrating that years ago when people like Lady Mary Heath, an incredible aviator and athlete, were around they weren't acknowledged for any of their achievements," she said. The 32-year-old, who stars as a CIA agent in the upcoming Hollywood blockbuster Jason Bourne, alongside Matt Damon, first heard of Lady Mary Heath just a few months ago. "If you were writing her story now people would say you are making it up. She was an amazing woman who remained true to her femininity in a man's world. She used to pilot her planes wearing lavish fur coats and dripping in diamonds," she said. "She was married three times in early 1900s Ireland and her third marriage was to a mixed-race man which lead to her suffering huge racial abuse." The Limerick native was also a prize-winning athlete competing in, javelin, high jump and discus sports. "She wasn't seen as a child, her achievements were ignored and history just forgot about her," the actress added. Ms De Bhrun, who has worked with John Ridley, the Oscar-winning writer of 12 Years a Slave, says she can somewhat identify with the forgotten women. Despite her international success and promising prospects, the actress says she gets more recognition abroad than at home where she can feel overlooked in favour of the "big names". "I think people often go with the old reliable, I don't know why. In doing so, you run the risk of settling for mediocrity and not really trying to inspire and embrace new talent," she said. Dr Jennifer Redmond, president of the Women's History Association of Ireland, said "it's crucial" to acknowledge these women as role models, particularly in a centenary year. "It's about young people being able to see that women have a past, they've contributed and that can inspire them for the future," she added. The late Mullingar-born writer Josephine Hart was a big inspiration for Herstory. Organisers say that she was "a mesmerising, genuine role model" who was bulldozed out of history when her childhood home was demolished and turned into a carpark last year. The Herstory movement is backed by The National Women's Council of Ireland, Waking the Feminists and many other women's advocates. For much of the 20th century, relations between Ireland and its nearest neighbour were cool. Temperatures dropped significantly over the economic war in the '30s and Ireland's neutrality in World War II. The sense of unfinished business permeated diplomacy during the Troubles, but by 1990 there was significant warmth in trade, tourism, business and even politics. The new President, elected in that year, had made a big play of reaching out to Irish emigrants and saw the opportunity to help Anglo-Irish relations. And so, on May 27, 1993 - her 49th birthday - President Mary Robinson popped in for tea with the head of state of those neighbours, Queen Elizabeth II of England. None of her predecessors had set foot in Britain, except to change planes. Even when President Hillery was invited to the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, he was advised by the Government to decline the invitation. But Mrs Robinson decided she wouldn't be pushed around, and successfully insisted she be allowed join other heads of state at the opening of a European bank in London. Next she asked the government could she travel to Cambridge to deliver a speech and receive an honorary degree. It was only after he reluctantly agreed that Taoiseach Charlie Haughey realised that the Chancellor of the University was the Queen's husband, Prince Philip. She met the royal, the world remained on its axis, and a precedent had been set. "Partly because I've never been fazed by royalty of any kind, least of all the British royal family, I felt entirely relaxed," recalled Mrs Robinson in her authorised biography. She next met the prince at a memorial service for the victims of an IRA bombing in Warrington, where she was applauded as she left the church. Soon, she was meeting royals all over the place, at rugby matches and memorial ceremonies, and told a TV interview that she would like to meet the Queen. By February 1993, Mr Haughey had gone and Albert Reynolds granted permission for her to travel for a strictly personal visit. The visit didn't happen in a vacuum - Reynolds was in secret discussions with Republicans that would end in the IRA ceasefire - and the Taoiseach was keen not to give any suggestion that this was a State visit, which would require a reciprocal visit. Mrs Robinson's party arrived at Buckingham Palace at 4.55pm where they were greeted by the Queen's private secretary, Sir Robert Fellowes. Robinson's staff pushed the Palace to allow press photographers, reckoning that a historic moment needed to be captured. Mrs Robinson, in an Ib Jorgensen fuchsia suit (later donated to Madame Tussaud's waxworks) and her husband Nick were brought up to the first floor to meet the Queen for a friendly and informal tea party that lasted 30 minutes. They sipped a blend of Chinese and India tea in Minton cups, exchanged signed photos of themselves, and discussed the prospects for peace. The President also handed over an extra present of a hand-turned wooden cup from Spiddal. Afterwards, the ground-breaking photos were taken and published all over the world, including the front page of the Irish Independent. "Palace Talks Prepare Way for State Visit" ran the lead headline over a piece by Bernard Purcell and Gene McKenna. They went on, reporting the President as saying the visit was "symbolic of the maturing relationship between Ireland and Britain". In 1996 the President's 15th visit to Britain was upgraded to an Official Visit, and she left office the following year. Her successor took things further, and met the Queen several times in London and at First World War commemorations on the continent. In May 2011 President McAleese welcomed Queen Elizabeth on her four-day State Visit to Ireland, and in April 2014 President Higgins made the first State Visit to the UK. Pickle is Sunil Ghai's first standalone restaurant. Located at the Bleeding Horse end of Camden Street, it could not be more different to the plushly draped Ananda in Dundrum Town Centre that was his base for most of the last decade. Ghai came to Ireland 15 years ago to work for the Jaipur group of restaurants that includes Jaipur in Dalkey and Chakra in Greystones, as well as Ananda. Moving in succession from one restaurant in the group to the next, his food became ever more sophisticated, a world away from the standard curry-house fare that most of us expect from Indian restaurants. By the time that he arrived at Ananda, Ghai's food was a showcase for the French techniques and plating skills that he had learned during his training with Oberoi in India, combined always with exquisite Indian spicing. It's the kind of food that is seen in high-end Indian restaurants such as Benares in London, and its most well-known exponent is Atul Kochar, who was involved in setting up Ananda. The chattering classes thought that Ghai was in line for a Michelin star last year. (Atul Kochar was awarded Michelin stars at both Tamarind and Benares.) But there was to be no star at Ananda - it appears more difficult for ethnic restaurants than others to achieve that accolade - and perhaps he was fed up waiting for one, because before the year was out he had made plans to move on. And now, with his business partner, Benny Jacob, who had been in charge of front of house at Ananda, he has Pickle. The decor is simple: wooden floors, modest tables and chairs, Indian movie and travel posters on the walls, home-style crockery. On the Wednesday night that we visit, without a booking, the place is jammed, but they squeeze us in. There's a good buzz in the room, which is long and narrow, with the open kitchen at the very back beside a raised area of tables. It feels more in keeping with the mood of the moment than luxe Ananda, yet with none of the theme park Raj-pastiche of Gymkhana in London (where Ghai's brother happens to be the executive chef, and which has a star) but with which there are similarities in terms of the food offering. The menu makes it clear that it's not just in physical terms that Ghai has moved on from Ananda. The chef has made a conscious return to his roots, with a range of dishes focused on regional cuisine, and most coming from the North of India. Ghai is a native of Gwalior, and grew up in a home where his mother had the honour of being the pickle-maker for the household. He chose the name for his restaurant as a tribute to her, a conscious nod of respect to age, experience and authenticity. The cheapest thing on the menu at Pickle is the home-made pickle, priced at 1, and you should be sure to order it. On the night of our visit it was a little pot of heritage tomato pickle: dry, complex, tangy and mouth-puckeringly delicious. But I'm getting ahead of myself, because the pickle came later on in our meal. We began with simple street food-inspired potato cakes filled with asafoetida, served with lentils infused with raw mango and a sour-sweet trio of chutneys. We ate curried scallops - just two - served with a green tomato chutney and a riff on Bombay mix, made out of spiced puffed rice that Ghai should produce commercially. We shared tandoori lamb chops - pink and lovely - with ginger and fennel, smoked aubergine and strawberry green chilly chutney, and full-flavoured jumbo prawns with Kashmiri chilly, lime and butter milk with a gutsy bang of charcoal. Our favourite plate was a goat mince curry with shallots, garlic and black cardamom (at Gymkhana you can pay a supplement and have a similar dish with added pearls of goat brain, and if you go there I would recommend that you do), served with a light and puffy pao bread. Black kali dal was intensely good and comforting, while warm spinach with fennel was extra-garlicky. We almost didn't order the bread basket, and that would have been a mistake. To finish, the kulfi falooda: rose-flavoured Indian ice -cream with caramelised pistachios and saffron-soaked vermicelli that we enjoyed more than we'd expected to. At the next table a couple of young doctors were discussing rotations. One told the other that she'd been trying to get a table for weeks...and went on to order Pickle's version of chicken korma, a dish that I'm pretty sure Ghai would prefer not to have on the menu. This is multi-layered, mindful modern food full of bright, vibrant flavours that is deliberately lighter than the interpretation of Indian food that we have been used to getting in Ireland. I'd like to see better information on sourcing (the menu says only that meats are sourced locally and halal certified), and a more-considered wine list. Our bill for two, with two large bottles of water, a couple of soft drinks and two glasses of Veramonte Reserve Pinot Noir 2014 from Chile, came to 119.50 before service. On a budget Pickle serves an 'Express Lunch' from 12 noon until 3pm. A Gwalior tiffin box, featuring cottage cheese, lentils, rice, naan, pickle, vegetables and a samosa costs 11. On a blowout Crispy prawns followed by lobster poached in turmeric and ginger, with masala duck egg bhurji, a couple of vegetable dishes, bread, condiments, and dessert for two would run to 138 before wine or service. The high point The best Indian food I've eaten in Ireland. The low point Seeing the unadventurous food choices being made at other tables. The rating 9/10 food 8/10 ambience 7/10 value for money 24/30 Whispers from the gastronomicon The Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen are lists of the conventional foods that are the least and most sprayed with pesticides, and therefore the least and most likely to contain pesticide residues. The list comes from the US, but even though spraying practices there differ from those in Europe, we can assume that a European list would be broadly similar. Top of the 2016 clean list are avocados, sweetcorn, pineapple, cabbage and peas, while top of the dirty list - and therefore the foods that it's most important to eat organic - are strawberries, apples, nectarines, peaches, celery and grapes. Most of us know that it feels good to be kind but did you know that it could actually be a life-saver - not just for the person you are helping, but for yourself? As well as boosting levels of so-called 'feel-good' chemicals, such as dopamine, in your brain, (resulting in a "helper's high") being kind also produces a hormone called oxytocin, which dilates blood vessels and reduces blood pressure. Triggering a release of oxytocin into your system also reduces levels of free radicals - molecules which are known to cause cancer - and inflammation in the cardiovascular system. Since both of these are also known to play a role in heart-disease, according to doctors, in this way kindness is 'cardioprotective'. What a lovely thought! So, go on, do something nice today. Take on a task for someone at home or at work, or treat your community to a random act of kindness. Not only will it make you feel like a saint but your ticker will thank you for it too! * Marianne Power is the author of helpmeblog.net Agent: Casey & Kingston Auctioneers (021) 427 1127 Viewing: By appointment only When it comes to the perfect second-home destination for a food critic, Kinsale, gourmet capital of Ireland, is surely the hot contender. And that's exactly where Sunday Independent food critic Lucinda O'Sullivan chose 10 years ago. An historic and cosmopolitan spot on the south-west coast that not only sated her appetite on countless occasions, it also provided a postcard-perfect backdrop for magical memories. "Kinsale is a very special place and is a must-visit for nearly every American wanting good food. I went there first when I was 18 and my husband, Brendan, and I honeymooned there. It's also where my children took their first steps. We have been going to Kinsale forever," O'Sullivan reminisces. When the Shearwater development overlooking the marina and inner harbour commenced construction, the family moved quickly to secure a 105sqm duplex penthouse apartment there. "The minute we heard that apartments were being built on the site of the old candle factory on Pier Road, we decided to buy. We felt that there wouldn't be anything else built there. The location is unprecedented, beside Kinsale Yacht Club and between two big hotels, Actons and The Trident," says O'Sullivan. "You just have to park your car and you can walk out and enjoy restaurants and bars - it's a type of cafe society water life," she muses. "We love the drama of the enormous open-plan living area on the first floor, with its double-height ceiling. You can sit and relax by the bay window, looking out across the rooftops at the boats." Featuring nautical influences in the decor, the first-floor kitchen, equipped with fitted eye- and floor-level units and Neff appliances, has been used by O'Sullivan - just not too often. "I love cooking and entertaining and I'd often buy fresh food and plenty of wine when I'm in Kinsale. However, why would you cook too often there? All the restaurants are so good," she says. But do the owners quake in their boots when they see her coming? "No, they don't. They're all wonderful. They know me for too many years." The space afforded by the two bedrooms at entrance level was a big draw. With a bay window, the en suite master bedroom has a double-door built-in wardrobe, as does the second bedroom. There's a three-piece suite, with shower attachment in the shower room. "It's more like a house than an apartment, with steps up to the totally self-contained duplex, which has access to a communal patio. You also have storage and your own space in the underground park," O'Sullivan outlines. The duplex penthouse has ticked all the boxes for the family - location, space proximity to good food and blue flag beaches, as well as to the airport and Cork city. It also served as a beautiful base when visiting the south and south-west. "We adore the duplex and Kinsale but we just don't get the opportunity to spend enough time there any more, we are so busy with my Great Places to Stay and Eat Guide, which involves constantly travelling to visit new places around the country. Also our sons have grown up and have busy lives," says O'Sullivan. "It's a very special, different place, offering a lovely glamorous lifestyle. People always want to return to Kinsale. It's the pioneer of the food movement in Ireland and this year Kinsale's Good Food Circle will celebrate the 40th gourmet festival in October. It will make a wonderful home for someone downsizing or who wants a second home." Sam Kingston of Casey & Kingston Auctioneers, the selling agent, says the property is in a highly desirable location and would be ideal for someone who wants to live in Kinsale year-round or as an investor who could use it as a holiday home. He says: "Kinsale is an ever-popular tourist spot and the apartment can achieve up to 1,000 per week as a short-term let in the height of the summer. Its bright, spacious interior is highly attractive and its sale has generated a lot of interest from owner-occupiers and investors alike." With over 1,400 people either returning to work in Ireland each week or moving here for the first time, according to recent CSO figures, the pressure on an already strained rental market is growing. Rents are soaring and those seeking leased accommodation are turning up at viewings to find a queue of people also interested in the property on offer. Thanks to high rents and high levels of competition, it's become difficult for a native of the city to find the right place. Imagine then landing in Dublin for work, as many non-nationals and returning emigrants are, and entering the renting market fray alongside seasoned renters and those with proximity and references on their side. So what's a newcomer or former ex-pat to do? Well, the answer for many companies bringing new recruits in to Ireland seems to be to use a rental relocation service. The idea is that these companies handle all the tricky bits associated with moving to Ireland for the new or returning employee in the relatively short term and their company foot the bill. On paper, it's efficient for the business and also allows the newcomer a settling-in period before they have to tackle the property market themselves. It also affords those coming here on a short-term contract a no-fuss approach. As such, the rental-relocation business is booming. British company Inhous has just opened a Dublin office. "We decided to open here after three successful years in London because we could see the amount of people moving home for jobs as the economy is growing again," says the company's Barbara Carty. "There was an average of 2.6pc employment growth here last year and with the amount of technology companies relocating to Ireland, as well as the aviation industry because of the available skills and tax regime, it made sense." Barbara says that they get requests from all kinds of companies. "We provide bespoke employee destination and relocation services. People may be relocating and renting for the first year, some are here for three to six months and so short-term rentals are the answer there. "One of the hardest elements of relocating to Dublin is to find suitable accommodation; it's very hard when you're not living in the country. The rental market is very low on stock and when something good does come up, it is snapped up, so you need to have someone here on the ground doing the search for you." Inhous works with both corporate and private clients, and offers advice to prospective renters on different locales, proximity to amenities, schools and public transport as well as leisure facilities and places of worship. They can also assist with household set-up, education consultancy and concierge benefits. "We don't have our own properties; rather we work with agents and different companies to find our clients what they need." Corporate Care Relocation has been up and running in Ireland since 1997 and the company has successfully relocated over 3,500 clients. "There are two distinct categories of companies who look for our services," says MD Chris Winning. "Firstly, companies who are relocating existing employees or recruiting new staff from other locations; this applies equally to multinational and indigenous companies. "The second category of company is the global relocation management companies (RMCs). They typically sign a deal at company headquarters - wherever that is in the world - to provide consistent and cost-effective relocation-support services in every country that the company has a presence. They then engage with destination service providers, such as ourselves, who are country-specific to deliver the required suite of services on their behalf." Chris says that it benefits the companies, as they want to see their staff settled in Ireland with the minimum of stress and disruption. "They need to comply with all relevant immigration requirements and get their employees settled in terms of accommodation, schools, cars, etc, quickly and cost-effectively, so that they can focus on the project or role. Apart from immigration support, the core services we provide are area orientation, home finding, schools and educational support and settling-in support." If it sounds like a very 'boom-is-back' sort of service, that's perhaps because during the recession, few companies would have had the funds for such things. Fees vary with each project and depend on what services are availed of. However, businesses used the service even during the economic downturn; companies have always required people with specific key skills and experience, so relocating them is nothing new. Perhaps it's the abundance of global companies moving staff to their Irish EMEA headquarters, as well as the wealth seeping back in to the country, that means it's a service being availed of more and more. Yvonne Brophy works in executive rentals at Goffs Property and they work with companies like Corporate Care and Irishrelo, who look after international relocations, as well as private clients. "We do some work with the K Club for the clients who want an executive-style property - a gated community with security. Then other companies want apartments in the Sallins and Naas areas for proximity to the office. "I wouldn't say the business is booming any more than usual, but there is certainly a market for it as more companies like Intel bring staff to Ireland for 18-month stints." As for the popularity of relocation rentals, Chris thinks that the big companies based in Ireland are cottoning on to the fact that taking good care of their staff pays big dividends in terms of performance on the job and company loyalty. "Research shows that relocation can be a very stressful experience where an individual or family will often face challenges associated with a new country, new work environment, different language, different culture, driving on the 'wrong' side of the road and more. These companies also realise that relocation support is not a core HR function and dedicated professionals are required to provide professional solutions." Case study Russell Rochford, 39, is a solicitor from Dublin. He's just relocated back from London with his English wife and their children. My wife and I have lived in London for over six years and we have a two-year-old and a four-month-old. When she became pregnant again, we started thinking about our long-term options, which were to stay in the UK and commute in to London, or come back to Ireland. We decided Dublin was the best option, primarily because of the support network we have here in terms of family, but also because of the schools here and the affordability of property compared to London. On top of that, there was potential to move my career forward here. With a newborn, a relocation was going to be pretty stressful, so we felt we wouldn't have the time or energy to find a great place ourselves as there's so much else involved with moving country anyway. It was absolutely great to have finding somewhere to live off our plate and to have someone dedicated on the case. Initially, we were concerned primarily with proximity to my office but we listened to our consultant Barbara from Inhous and came around to the idea that we wanted space over location, a bit of a compromise. Now we're renting a great four-bedroom house in Stillorgan and we don't know ourselves with the space - especially compared to our flat in London. It was also really important to be close to a centre of sorts, because in London everything is so concentrated. We lived in Clapham, like lots of other Irish people, and everything is very convenient there, lots of shops and restaurants. So we feel like we have that in Stillorgan village - and we're not far from Blackrock either. We were certainly thinking down the line and Barbara gave us good advice about creches and primary schools because, although I'm from Dublin, I didn't know much about that kind of thing! We thought the service was great. As well as taking that hassle away from us, it educated us about the market. We hadn't appreciated that the rental market here is almost as fast-paced as London, so with Barbara's help we were able to move quickly. Ultimately, down the line we would like to buy our own place, but at the moment we're absolutely delighted. I was a great admirer of the poet Winifred Letts but had never met her. I begged my friend Monk Gibbon, the poet, to arrange a meeting. He was close to her and actually acted as messenger between her and the immortal Yeats. Winifred had a world reputation but like many others, she hadn't that much praise showered on her at home. But there is no doubt she was that rare species, a true poet. Her poems appealed so much to the great composer Charles Villiers Stanford that he set many of them to music. I was over the moon when Monk finally arranged a visit to Winifred Letts at the Dun Laoghaire Nursing Home. I thought her charming and still able to quote from the many poems that she had in her head. She had no side whatsoever and never even tried to boast of the famous poets and composers she knew. I told her I was a great fan of her poetry, in particular 'A Soft Day', which turned rain into something some people might like. She gave a tinkling little laugh and said: "No matter, the important thing is that you like my poem." Don't you think its title could only have been invented in Ireland? A Soft Day A soft day, thank God! A wind from the south With a honeyed mouth; A scent of drenching leaves, Briar and beech and lime, White elder-flower and thyme And the soaking grass smells sweet, Crushed by my two bare feet, While the rain drips, Drips, drips, drips from the eaves. A soft day, thank God! The hills wear a shroud Of silver cloud; The web the spider weaves Is a glittering net; The woodland path is wet, And the soaking earth smells sweet Under my two bare feet, And the rain drips, Drips, drips, drips from the leaves. Winifred Letts 1882-1972 Summer is sizzling, so everyone in this country town is out and about. But grey skies and downpours never fully dampen our sociable spirits, though they drive us indoors, where not just drink is taken, but also partners in dances, as well as sides in discussions and lively debates. Because beautiful weather is just a bonus that doesn't essentially change anything. Even when it's cold, folk are forever beeping their horns and hollering at familiar faces they pass, while, in time-honoured tradition, the traffic behind waits good-humouredly, the drivers understanding that greetings and gossip must be exchanged. Life in an Irish country town means you don't need a fictional bar for everyone to know your name - and more besides. But so much is tolerated with a casual kindness, casting seasonal light on the fact that we don't have such a bad set-up here, especially when you consider some of the truly appalling alternatives around the world. Because it has always been our way for men and women, young and old, to generally get on together, like the snowy-haired grandfather with his matching westie dog and blond toddler grandchild who roam the floodplain most days - whatever the weather, while very few young folk plod about with their heads down, focussed on their mobile phones. Plenty more boisterous boys and equally gregarious girls cradle hurling and camogie sticks, full of beans as they prepare for the next big match. Meanwhile, the green, white and orange flutters in the balmy breeze, though official commemorations are largely complete. For many communities countrywide are still conducting centenary celebrations, proud of what this Republic has achieved. Despite the knock-backs, corruption and recessions, we have mostly maintained our reputation for resilience and tenacity, compassion and cleverness. Which prompts many to hold their heads high. And all the better if they get burnt to a 'Tayto' crisp in the process. No wonder so many flock here to make it their home. Certainly, there are a fair few foreigners in this town. So much so that 'The Salmon Pool', which is hosting a local version of The X Factor, could consider putting on not just the Eurovision, but a global vocal fest too. Because while we no longer 'dial M for doctor', 'S' is for the superlative German GP who took his place, part of the veritable United Nations in this rural neck of the woods that includes Indians and Africans, an eclectic mix of Europeans, Americans, Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos - including my neighbour across the road, whose name matches this month. While last but most certainly no least, are our neighbours from just across the water, adding the sugar and spice of natives new and nice to our already well flavoured seasons! Premium New hospital for a tenner may come at too high a price The Taoiseach is under a lot of pressure the kind of pressure that leads to costly mistakes. It perhaps explains why he has been saying things that are not quite true. Micheal Martin is in a tight political corner. From all sides hes being told he has to get the contract signed for the new National Maternity Hospital. Premium Ian O'Doherty Opinion For once, the UN is right were standing on the edge of a deadly nuclear precipice For those of us of a certain age, the last few months have felt as if we have somehow time-warped back to the 1980s. Stranger Things, which is set in that decade, has been the biggest show on TV. Kate Bush thanks, incidentally, to Stranger Things is now regularly played on the radio and she has reached number one in 2022 with the re-release of her 1985 hit, Running Up That Hill. Not for nothing was Barbara Bush known as 'The Enforcer' Barbara Bush, tougher than her husband and known to her family as 'The Enforcer', is probably the most popular of all ex-US first ladies of recent times. Jackie Kennedy is remembered across the globe for elegance and tragedy, but she was not loved. Rosalynn Carter worked hard and was a noted campaigner on issues of mental health, but she has suffered in retrospect because of her bitterness at his defeat by Ronald Reagan, who is widely perceived to have been as great a success as Carter was a failure. The brittle Nancy Reagan was an essential support to her husband, but was thought to care little for anyone else. Hillary Clinton was loathed by those who thought her a careerist. The likeable Laura Bush did a lot of useful work but lacked her mother-in-law's commanding personality. And although Michelle Obama had rock-star status, that has diminished as she and her husband embrace luxury and celebrity. Betty Ford is probably the closest rival, having been far more effective and formidable than her husband Gerald, the 38th president, and still having a posthumous reputation for her prowess as a campaigner on addiction, not least because so many of the famous troop to the Betty Ford Clinic. There is a certain smug satisfaction among Labour luvvies this weekend that they have seen off, for now, the man they call AK47, the inimitable Alan Kelly. Nothing new there then, because you can be sure the Labour Party will always find something to be smug about. But the party has little reason for satisfaction these days, so if the takedown of Alan Kelly is as good as it gets, then so be it. What the selection of Brendan Howlin over the election of Alan Kelly really tells us, however, is that there is a lazy assumption at work in the Labour Party. The assumption is that voters will, inevitably, return to Labour. It is as if the luvvies have looked at the Fine Gael meltdown in 2002, comeback in 2007 and return to office in 2011 and have assumed that is what will also happen in the case of Labour. If Fianna Fail can come back from the brink of oblivion, then so too can Labour, goes the unstated argument. All it has to do is, well, sit back and allow it to happen. But Labour is no Fine Gael or Fianna Fail, both of which could fall back on the depth and breadth of their connections with voters from which to regroup and come again. Labour may be the oldest political party in the country, but it is also the least developed and most under threat. For that, Labour has only itself to blame. Years ago, it abandoned the left tradition from which it came, a position which has been taken by the so-called far or hard Left. For the life of me, I cannot see Brendan Howlin marching into Jobstown, for example, to restake that ground. For that matter, it is doubtful that Alan Kelly would have gotten much change there either, although he would have rolled up his sleeves to give it a go. In the comfortable space left available, Labour must now elbow out room between, or alongside, Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein and the Social Democrats. The party will find that far more difficult to achieve than it believes. Because the greatest existential threat to Labour is not from the Social Democrats, as many believe, but from Sinn Fein. The role played by Jack O'Connor, the Siptu leader, in damning Alan Kelly with faint praise, effectively advocating for Brendan Howlin, was a key factor in this leadership contest that never was. But Sinn Fein numbers a few former Siptu officials among its new TDs and has its sights firmly set on a trade union movement endorsement. Here then will be a real challenge for Labour - to make the party meaningful again to the dues-paying members of the trade union movement. But it is not the only challenge. The main challenge will be to try to connect the party to what we might call the real people of Ireland. There will be a lot of talk in the party about what that will involve, but for Howlin and his luvvies, they might first ask what it actually means. For many, that has been a fundamental failing of the Labour Party in recent years. Notable individual exceptions aside, Labour as a movement seems to many to no longer have a true sense of the wider electorate. And for all his perceived faults and failings, many of them overstated, that is certainly not something Alan Kelly could be accused of. Say what you like about the man - in Labour, they do - but you can not say he does not know how to get elected. But many of the smug luvvies chuckling into their Chianti this weekend do not understand that, because they do not fully, or at all, understand the real people of Ireland. If Brendan Howlin wants to make Labour relevant again, he should start there, and the first thing he should do is call is Alan Kelly and beg him for his help. A month ahead of the referendum in the United Kingdom on its membership of the European Union, and writing as someone who is able to effortlessly regard each of these neighbouring islands as home, I find myself increasingly concerned about the possible outcome from the perspective of both British and Irish citizens. Despite being a member of the House of Lords, on this occasion I'll be able to vote and I will be firmly ticking the 'Remain' box on June 23. The choice is an easy one for me. It's informed both by my daily experience of life and a sincere belief that the colossal decision facing us is, in terms of its political, economic and social ramifications, the most important to be made in a generation. While I don't for one moment take for granted the voices and opinions of multiple business leaders and those many others who have voiced their opposition to 'Brexit', I tend to view the referendum from the perspective of the world I know best: that's to say its likely effect on jobs in the film, TV and other creative industries. I know enough to be thoroughly convinced that life outside the EU would massively impoverish the United Kingdom, both culturally and financially. I think, at the very minimum, 'Brexit' raises a number of questions to which I've yet to hear any remotely satisfactory answers. For example, as someone who's passionate about education, I wonder if British universities would lose out on the vital research funding that's provided by EU programmes, such as Horizon 2020? Equally, as someone who lives in both Cork and London, I've come to recognise that the destiny of our two islands is uniquely intertwined, and though borne from a complex and difficult history, the relationship is thriving as never before. We even joined the EU on the same day! Sadly, the uncertainty which a 'Brexit' result would inevitably deliver raises serious questions about the future stability of this relationship; and that holds true in a number of spheres. The most immediate concerns arise as a result of the shared border, across which any amount of business is now conducted efficiently and with increasing ease. Indeed the peace process itself, along with many of its resulting benefits, have been supported by the EU to the tune of 1.5 bn. The fourth 'peace programme' is due to run until 2020. Who's to tell if this will be in jeopardy? There are other incredibly serious issues regarding the movement of people which would need to be addressed. How, for example, would the 'Common Travel Area' be affected, even temporarily? What would be the impact on the eligibility of Irish and British citizens to live, work and study on either island? The EU has announced it's abolishing roaming charges across Europe from June 2017. Would an EU exit mean that these charges could still apply on this island, and beyond, and for all travellers to the UK? Dozens and dozens of questions such as these, small and large, would have to be addressed and resolved. Business leaders in Ireland, North and South, have identified other troubling concerns, such as the effects on currency exchange, energy costs and tourism. As Ireland's Digital Champion, I've witnessed at first-hand the importance of the Digital Single Market and the significant opportunities it brings in helping people and communities, in both islands, to develop the skills and competences which are increasingly essential to any hope of a successful 21st century future. I know that Irish people across the board are very supportive of Ireland's membership of the EU. An opinion poll carried out by Red C for European Movement Ireland in 2015 showed that 84pc of those living in Ireland believe that membership of the EU has benefited the country. Spending a portion of every week in both places, I can attest to the fact that what's good for Ireland is also good for Britain. The clearest evidence of the close historical ties between our two islands is that some half a million Irish-born people now living in Britain have the right to vote in next month's referendum. I hope that they will thoughtfully use this opportunity, and the significant responsibility that comes with it. A group made up of people from a variety of backgrounds has formed 'Irish4Europe' and is working hard to ensure that the Irish in Britain are aware of their right to vote, and urging them to do so. For my part, as well as voting 'Remain' next month, I'm taking part in the European Movement Ireland's #PhoneAFriend campaign. I feel compelled, in what I regard as the interests of sanity, to urge all of the young and not so young Irish in Britain to please register to vote by the June 7 deadline. As someone who is now happily tucked into in my 'Third Age' I feel an enormous responsibility to future generations. In casting my vote next month, I'm particularly mindful of the legacy we'll be leaving behind for them. I include in this the enormous multi-faceted challenges facing our planet as a whole, not least climate change; a growing humanitarian refugee crisis; and the fragility inherent in the co-existing issues of an aging population and youth unemployment. As I'm sure is by now clear, I'm personally convinced that this is not the time for the United Kingdom to make a once-in-a-generation decision to cut itself off from the rest of our continent. I believe it's incumbent upon all of us who care about the continuing peace and prosperity of our communities to offer leadership and genuine innovation in drawing our countries closer together, rather than attempting to push them apart. For all of these reasons and more, I urge - in fact I beg - everyone who can, to register to vote, and exercise their democratic duty with the very greatest care and consideration on June 23. David Puttnam is film producer and a Labour peer in the House of Lords Hollywood is in the grip a child sexual abuse scandal similar to that of Jimmy Savile in Britain, Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood has claimed. The 35-year-old former child actor said paedophiles had been protected by powerful figures in the movie business and that abuse was probably still taking place. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Wood said he had been protected from abuse as he was growing up, but that other child actors had been regularly preyed upon at parties by industry figures. You all grew up with Savile Jesus, it must have been devastating, he said. Clearly something major was going on in Hollywood. It was all organised. There are a lot of vipers in this industry, people who only have their own interests in mind. There is a darkness in the underbelly if you can imagine it, its probably happened. Expand Close Leelee Sobieski with Elijah Wood in 1998's Deep Impact / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Leelee Sobieski with Elijah Wood in 1998's Deep Impact Wood said the abuse was allowed to continue because victims cant speak as loudly as people in power. Thats the tragedy of attempting to reveal what is happening to innocent people, he said. They can be squashed but their lives have been irreparably damaged. Allegations that senior Hollywood figures have been protecting child abusers have gathered pace in recent years. Anne Henry, co-founder of Bizparents, a group set up to help child actors, said Hollywood is currently sheltering around 100 active abusers and said a tsunami of claims was beginning. Corey Feldman, another former child actor who started in films such as Gremlins, the Goonies and Stand by Me in the 1980s , has said that as a young teenager he was surrounded by abusers. In 2012 he told a British tabloid that when he was 14 and 15 older men had been leching around like vultures. The actor went on to suffer mental health problems, alcoholism and drug addiction. Wood said he had been spared similar experiences while growing up because his mother had not let him attend parties. She was far more concerned with raising me to be a good human than facilitating my career, he said. If youre innocent you have very little knowledge of the world and you want to succeed. People with parasitic interests will see you as their prey. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Fire crews rescued two parachutist after they getting stuck on a phone mast Two parachutists had to be rescued after getting stuck on a phone mast as they came in to land. Essex Fire and Rescue said it helped the pair after they were snared 20 metres in the air close to Halstead, near Braintree. Firefighers arrived shortly before 6pm on Sunday and had the two daredevils on the ground around an hour and 20 minutes later. A fire service spokesman said: "Crews used the aerial ladder platform (ALP) to rescue the two parachutists from the mast. They were left in the care of the ambulance service." A photo from the Facebook page of the Egyptian armed forces shows debris recovered from EgyptAir flight 804 A Coptic Christian grieves during prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of Thursday's crash (AP) A submarine from the Egyptian oil ministry is heading to the site of the crash of EgyptAir Flight 804 to join the search for the cockpit voice and flight data recorders, or black boxes, the country's president said. Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi also said Egypt was jointly investigating the crash with the French government. "It is very, very important to us to establish the circumstances that led to the crash of that aircraft," he said, in comments broadcast live on Egyptian TV channels on Sunday. He said the submarine, which has the capacity to operate at a depth of 3,000 metres (9842 feet) below the surface, left for the site on Sunday. Making his first public comments since the crash of the Airbus A320 in the eastern Mediterranean while en route from Paris to Cairo, el-Sisi says it "will take time" to determine the exact cause of the crash, which killed all 66 people on board. He thanked the nations that have joined Egyptian navy ships and aircraft in the search for the wreckage and began with a minute's silence in remembrance of the victims. El-Sisi also cautioned the media against premature speculation on the cause of the crash. "There is not one scenario that we can exclusively subscribe to, all scenarios are possible," he said. El-Sisi spoke a day after the leak of flight data showing trouble in the cockpit and smoke in a plane lavatory aboard the doomed aircraft, bringing into focus the chaotic final moments of the flight, including a three-minute period before contact was lost as alarms on the plane screeched one after another. Officials have been cautioning that it was still too early to say what happened to the aircraft, but mounting evidence points to a sudden, dramatic catastrophe that led to the crash. Egypt's military on Saturday released the first images of aircraft debris plucked from the sea, including personal items and damaged seats. Egypt is leading a multi-nation effort to search for the plane's black boxes and other clues that could help explain its sudden plunge into the sea. "If they lost the aircraft within three minutes that's very, very quick," said aviation security expert Philip Baum. "They were dealing with an extremely serious incident." Authorities say the plane lurched left, then right, spun all the way around and plummeted 38,000 feet (11,582 metres) into the sea - never issuing a distress call. Investigators have been poring over the plane's passenger list and questioning ground crew at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, from where the plane took off. Besides Egypt, ships and planes from Britain, Cyprus, France, Greece and the United States are searching a wide area of sea 180 miles (290 kilometres) north of the Egyptian port city of Alexandria. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has formally asked his trusted ally, the transport and communications minister Binali Yildirim, to form Turkey's next government. Mr Yildirim will replace former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who stepped down amid growing differences with the Turkish leader, including Mr Erdogan's wish to overhaul of the constitution to give the largely ceremonial presidency executive powers. Mr Davutoglu remains caretaker premier until Mr Yildirim forms a new cabinet. Mr Yildirim's appointment came hours after the ruling party confirmed him as its new party chairman at an extraordinary convention during which the 60-year-old politician vowed to follow Mr Erdogan's path. He made clear he intends to work toward introducing a new constitution that would change Turkey's political system into a presidential one. Relatives and friends of EgyptAir hostess Yara Hani, who was onboard Flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo shortly before it plunged into the Mediterranean, mourn during a ceremony at a church in Cairo on May 21, 2016 Relatives and friends of EgyptAir hostess Yara Hani, who was onboard Flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo shortly before it plunged into the Mediterranean, mourn during a ceremony at a church in Cairo on May 21, 2016 An image grab taken from a video uploaded on the official Facebook page of the Egyptian military spokesperson on May 21, 2016 and taken from an undisclosed location reportedly shows search teams looking for debris in the sea after the EgyptAir Airbus A320 crashed in the Mediterranean Friends and relatives of EgyptAir hostess Yara Hani who was working aboard EgyptAir MS840 mourn during a ceremony at a church in Cairo on May 21, 2016 An image grab taken from a video uploaded on the official Facebook page of the Egyptian military spokesperson on May 21, 2016 and taken from an undisclosed location reportedly shows some debris that the search teams found in the sea after the EgyptAir Airbus A320 crashed in the Mediterranean. Data from the final moments before EgyptAir flight MS804 crashed into the Mediterranean suggest an "internal explosion" tore through the right side of the aircraft, a pilot said last night. Investigators trying to determine whether the A320 was brought down by terrorism or a technical fault are poring over a series of warnings indicating smoke filled the cabin shortly before it disappeared from radar. Expand Close Friends and relatives of EgyptAir hostess Yara Hani who was working aboard EgyptAir MS840 mourn during a ceremony at a church in Cairo on May 21, 2016 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Friends and relatives of EgyptAir hostess Yara Hani who was working aboard EgyptAir MS840 mourn during a ceremony at a church in Cairo on May 21, 2016 French authorities confirmed that smoke detectors went off aboard the flight a few minutes before it crashed but said it was not clear what caused the smoke or fire. Read More A commercial pilot with a major European airline said that other parts of the data log suggested that windows in the right side of the cockpit were blown out by an explosion inside the aircraft. "It looks like the right front and side window were blown out, most probably from inside out," said the pilot, who flies an A330 similar to the crashed A320 and spoke on condition of anonymity. Expand Close An image grab taken from a video uploaded on the official Facebook page of the Egyptian military spokesperson on May 21, 2016 and taken from an undisclosed location reportedly shows search teams looking for debris in the sea after the EgyptAir Airbus A320 crashed in the Mediterranean / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An image grab taken from a video uploaded on the official Facebook page of the Egyptian military spokesperson on May 21, 2016 and taken from an undisclosed location reportedly shows search teams looking for debris in the sea after the EgyptAir Airbus A320 crashed in the Mediterranean The data was taken from the plane's Acars system, which sends short transmissions from the aircraft to receivers on the ground. Until investigators find the aircraft's black boxes, which are still missing in the Mediterannean, the Acars offers the best sens on what was happening aboard. Expand Close Relatives and friends of EgyptAir hostess Yara Hani, who was onboard Flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo shortly before it plunged into the Mediterranean, mourn during a ceremony at a church in Cairo on May 21, 2016 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Relatives and friends of EgyptAir hostess Yara Hani, who was onboard Flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo shortly before it plunged into the Mediterranean, mourn during a ceremony at a church in Cairo on May 21, 2016 Three different warnings showed there were faults in the windows next to the co-pilot, suggesting they could have been blasted outwards by an onboard bomb. That does not mean the explosion came from the cockpit but indicates the right side of the plane was more badly damaged than the left. The pilot suggested the smoke detectors may have been triggered not fire but by fog which filled the cabin as it lost air pressure in the moments after the explosion. Expand Close Relatives and friends of EgyptAir hostess Yara Hani, who was onboard Flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo shortly before it plunged into the Mediterranean, mourn during a ceremony at a church in Cairo on May 21, 2016 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Relatives and friends of EgyptAir hostess Yara Hani, who was onboard Flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo shortly before it plunged into the Mediterranean, mourn during a ceremony at a church in Cairo on May 21, 2016 Meanwhile, the Egyptian military released images of shoes, handbags and other forlorn items pulled out of the sea near the crash site. Video footage showed unused life vests and torn up parts of seats scattered across the deck of an Egyptian naval ship. French and Egyptian ships are focused on trying to recover the black boxes, which would reveal what said in the cockpit before the plane crashed. Although no terrorist group has claimed responsibility, French detectives are examining a pool of around 85,000 people with "red badge" security clearance that gives them access to restricted areas of Charles de Gaulle airport. The task is complicated by the fact that many work for sub-contractors and turnover is high. Screenings are often limited to checking an employee has no criminal convictions and does not appear on a terror watch list. Last December around 70 red badges were withdrawn from staff at Charles de Gaulle who were found to have praised the attacks in Paris, prayed at mosques linked to radicalism or showing signs of growing religiosity like refusing to shake hands with women. A French trade union also warned that short stopovers like that made by Flight 804, which was on the ground a little over an hour, gave little time for security staff to carry out thro With no bodies to bury, Egypt continued to mourn the loss of 30 of its citizens but was unable to carry out formal funerals. Among the dead was a husband and wife who sold everything to pay for lifesaving cancer treatment and now leave behind their three young children as orphans. Ahmed Ashery, 31, sold his family's flat and car to raise money so his wife Reham could undergo cancer surgery in France, according the Egyptian newspaper Masrawy. The couple left their young son and two daughters with his mother and spent a month in Paris, where Mrs Ashery had surgery and seemed on the path to a full recovery. They boarded Flight 804 on Wednesday night excited to be reunited with their small children but the plane never made it back to Cairo. "Ahmed sold everything to save his wife and ease her grief," said Mohamed al-Shenawi, a family friend. "I advised him to accept the command of God and look for treatment in Egypt but he insisted on travelling. They spent a month and then they returned onboard the plane which didn't arrive and now will never arrive. Family and friends of flight attendant Yara Hany Farag gathered at a Coptic church in Cairo to grieve around a large cross of white flowers with a picture of the young woman. Her grandmother stood in front of the picture crying: "Yara answer me, I want hold you." Her mother described her unmarried daughter as "a bride for heaven". Earlier in the day the family were asked by EgyptAir to provide DNA samples to help with eventual identification of bodies. So far a few human parts but no full bodies have been recovered. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Police investigate the scene of a shooting on May 22, 2016 in Nenzing, near Vorarlberg, where a man fatally shot two individuals and wounded eleven at a village party, before killing himself A police investigator catalogues evidence at the scene of a shooting on May 22, 2016 in Nenzing, near Vorarlberg, where a man fatally shot two individuals and wounded eleven during a village party, before killing himself Police investigate the scene of a shooting on May 22, 2016 in Nenzing, near Vorarlberg, where a man fatally shot two individuals and wounded eleven during a village party, before killing himself This photo taken on May 22, 2016 in Nenzing, near Vorarlberg, shows the scene of a shooting where a man fatally shot two individuals and wounded eleven during a village party, before killing himself Police stand guard on May 22, 2016 in Nenzing, near Vorarlberg, at the scene of a shooting where a man fatally shot two individuals and wounded eleven during a village party, before killing himself Three people have been killed and 11 wounded by a gunman who fired shots into a small crowd attending an open air concert in Austria before shooting himself dead. Police say the overnight shooting near the town of Nenzing, about 24 miles east of the border with Liechtenstein, was preceded by a loud argument between the gunman and a woman in a nearby car park. They said on Sunday that the man then fetched a gun out of his car, left the car park, went to the concert venue and started shooting, apparently at random. State broadcaster ORF says the shooting happened on property used by a motorcycle club. Wiitneses said many of the terrified concert-goers fled into the surrounding woodland and even onto the nearby motorway to escape the shooting. Police spokeswoman Susanne Dilp said:"The exact course of events is still unclear" but she added the victims' wounds were "very diverse". The event was being hosted at a property used by a motorcycle club called "The Lords". Greece's parliament on Sunday passed an omnibus reform bill providing for tax hikes, more austerity reforms and a new privatisation superfund, which will manage almost all state property. There was one small dent in the left-led government majority of 153 politicians in the 300-member Parliament, with one Syriza party MP voting against the superfund and the contingency mechanism that will trigger automatic spending cuts if Greece fails to meet the targets of its bailout agreement with its creditors. Greece now hopes the creditors will complete the first assessment of its third bailout programme, freeing loan disbursements that will allow Greece to meet its obligations and avoid default. Greece also hopes the vote on the 7,500-page will open the way to a discussion on easing the terms of its loans. But it will have to navigate differences between the International Monetary Fund, which call for a generous debt cut albeit with more austerity measures, and the Europeans, chief among them German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble, who want no such cuts. At the end of an acrimonious four-day debate, including in committee, prime minister Alexis Tsipras blasted the main conservative opposition and other centrist parties for having supported last August's third bailout deal, but not the laws that have been voted on as prerequisites for concluding the assessment. Opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis countered that the bailout terms never included the superfund, which will expire in 2115. He said the precise terms were the results of Mr Tsipras' failure to negotiate reforms he and his leftist party have never believed in. He said he would prefer spending cuts to higher taxes and would negotiate with the creditors for lower annual levels of budget surpluses (2% of GDP instead of 3.5%) from 2018 onward. The government majority was momentarily shaken on Saturday when the junior partner, right-wing Independent Greeks, objected to freezes in pay hikes for so-called "special categories" of civil servants, including military, police, diplomats, judges, public health service doctors and university professors. The pay cuts, which would have saved about 120 million euro, were shelved and will be partly replaced by bringing forward taxes on Internet users and beer. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Avigdor Lieberman to join the Israeli government last week Israel's defence minister has officially stepped down, capping a tumultuous week of politics that is expected to bring a hard-line novice into the sensitive post. During a short ceremony at Israel's military headquarters on Sunday, Moshe Yaalon greeted the country's military leaders before leaving the premises. His departure clears the way for Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the hardline Yisrael Beitenu party, to join the government. Over a three-decade political career, Lieberman has staked out tough positions toward the Palestinians and expressed cynicism towards internationally backed peace efforts. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Mr Lieberman to join his government last week. The move, meant to shore up a shaky governing majority, led Mr Yaalon, a former military chief, to quit in protest. Mr Lieberman's appointment is expected to become official in the coming days. Islamic State has moved its chemical weapons operation to densely populated residential areas and is testing homemade chlorine and mustard gas on its prisoners, residents of the Iraqi city of Mosul have claimed. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) is reported to have set up laboratories in built-up neighbourhoods in the heart of its so-called caliphate to avoid being targeted by coalition air strikes. The terror group is known to harbour chemical and nuclear ambitions, and is trying to manufacture weapons not only for attacks within Iraq and Syria but also the West. It has a special unit for chemical weapons research made up of Iraqi scientists who worked on weapons programmes under Saddam Hussein, as well as foreign experts. The head of the unit, Sleiman Daoud al-Afari, was captured during a raid by US special forces outside Mosul in March and is now sharing intelligence on Isils chemical operation. An investigation by Syrian and Iraqi citizen journalists who report under the name Sound and Picture, reveal he has now been replaced by Abu Shaima, an Iraqi doctor who worked at the University of Baghdad during Saddams reign. Other than his links to the late Iraqi dictator little is known about Shaima, which is customary for top Isil leaders. He is said last month to have moved the groups operations away from its main laboratories at the universities of Mosul and Tel Afar, which have both been hit in recent months, to residential areas to protect it against aerial attack. Expand Close ISIS forces / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp ISIS forces Residents of al-Mohandseen - which had been a wealthy Christian neighbourhood until Isil seized the city - said several houses had been taken over by Isil officials in the last few weeks. A number of large unmarked trucks have been parked outside and more recently they reported seeing dozens of dead dogs and rabbits in nearby rubbish containers. An Isil insider confirmed to the journalists, who shared the information with the Telegraph, that they had been dumped there after they were used for chemical testing. The report also claimed Isil has been carrying out experiments on prisoners they are holding at a secret jail in al-Andalus, in the Nineveh governorate of Mosul, exposing them to chlorine and mustard gas to test the toxicity. Residents near the prison have reported breathing difficulties and children developing severe rashes - some of the side effects of exposure to such substances. The extremists have seized large quantities of industrial chlorine and are believed to have the expertise to make mustard gas. They are also feared to have captured chemical weapon stocks from Bashar al-Assads regime across the border in Syria. The militant group has already used chemical weapons against Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq and Syria. And in March, a suspected Isil chemical 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. Brig Roger Noble, the deputy commander of international troops training and supporting the Iraqi army, told the Telegraph that Isil militants are expected to use chemical weapons against troops trying to retake Mosul, Iraqs second city. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, former commanding officer of the UK Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment (CBRN) and chemical weapons adviser to NGOs in Syria and Iraq, told the Telegraph the revelations showed the group was adapting to the coalitions punishing air strikes. "Isils chemical weapons operation has been heavily targeted - as is detailed in this report - and moving into residential areas is exactly what you would expect them to do now. He said Western security services should be concerned that their chemical operations have effectively gone underground, allowing them to continue their work outside of strike range. Now we know the extent of the Isil chemical and dirty bomb aspirations we must make doubly sure that our security in the UK is absolutely water-tight against this threat. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Taliban leader Mullah Mansour has been killed in a US air strike (AP) Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour has been killed in a US drone strike, a senior commander with the militant group has said. Mullah Abdul Rauf told The Associated Press on Sunday that Mansour died in the strike late Friday night. He said the strike took place "in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area". The office of Afghan president Ashraf Ghani confirmed the strike but could not confirm Mansour's death. Chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, however, said that Mansour is "more than likely" dead. Mansour formally led the Taliban after the death of the movement's founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was announced last summer. Mansour, Mullah Omar's deputy, concealed Mullah Omar's death for more than two years, and ran the Taliban in his name until the death was disclosed by the Afghan government. Speaking live on television as he chaired a cabinet meeting, Abdullah said Mansour's death would have a positive impact on attempts to bring peace to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been waging an insurgency for 15 years. Mansour was "the main figure preventing the Taliban joining the peace process", Abdullah said. "From the day he took over the Taliban following the death of Mullah Omar, he intensified violence against ordinary citizens, especially in Afghanistan." Mullah Rauf was an early detractor of Mansour's but decided this year to declare loyalty to him in the interest of unifying the movement. Earlier, the US Department of Defence said a drone strike had targeted Mansour "in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region". Afghan officials said the drone strike took place in Pakistan's Baluchistan province, in the Ahmad Wal area. The Afghan government has long accused the Pakistani authorities of harbouring and supporting the Afghan Taliban. The drone strike targeted Mansour's vehicle which was carrying Mansour and one other person at the time, a US military source said. Another Taliban source identified the driver as Muhammad Azam Hasanai, and said the vehicle the two men were travelling in was completely destroyed in the drone strike. In Afghanistan t he National Directorate of Security, as the secret service is known, said in a statement that Mansour was killed in Baluchistan province, in south-western Pakistan. "The attack happened on the main road while he was in his vehicle," it said. It referred to "others" in the vehicle without further detail. Graduate Keyanna Desirae Kimp hugs Assistant Principle Mickie Morton after the Pendleton High School graduation ceremony at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Saturday, May 21, 2016 in Greenville. SHARE Graduate Antonio Freeman dances after the Pendleton High School graduation ceremony at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Saturday, May 21, 2016 in Greenville. Graduates KeKe Rooks and Chandra Richey take selfies in their caps and gowns before the start of the Pendleton High School graduation ceremony at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Saturday, May 21, 2016 in Greenville. Linda Wooten, left, and Shari Newton, right, cheer on graduates during the Pendleton High School graduation ceremony at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Saturday, May 21, 2016 in Greenville. By Abe Hardesty of the Independent Mail GREENVILLE Pendleton High School's newest graduates were treated to an old tradition Saturday. The Pendleton faculty and staff honored the school's 175 newest grads by forming a corridor of emotion-stirring lines immediately after Saturday's graduation exercises. As the Class 2016 departed the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, it walked between the two lines trading broad smiles, high-fives, cheers and convincing hugs along the way. "We're still cheering for them," said assistant principal Mickie Morton, who has been part of the tunnel for 27 years. "The tunnel is a long, long tradition here. It's the cap of graduation here," principal Brian Couch said. "We have the pleasure of being a small school, which makes it easier to do something like this. If we tried to stop, we'd probably be tarred and feathered." Patty Vilag, part of the academic support staff, said the wall of emotional support seems natural. "We are cheerleaders for them, and we'll continue to be," she said. Couch, a fourth-year principal who came to the school when Saturday's grads were incoming freshmen, said the tradition tribute was especially fitting for this group. "As a group, I think this class has shown more school spirit than I've seen in a long time. This group really loves Pendleton High," he said. It also was a special graduation for Anderson School District 4 Superintendent Joanne Avery, a deputy assistant for six years before she stepped into that role in August. Avery sent handwritten notes to all 175 graduates, and joined Couch at the back of the tunnel. "It feels good for me because I know these kids are ready. They have the tools to succeed," she said. Avery conferred the diplomas, while Couch joined valedictorian Raymond Owen Cummings and salutatorian Turner Stephenson Lomas in making brief remarks during the one-hour ceremony. Renovations to Clemson's Littlejohn Coliseum forced the school to stage its graduation exercise in Greenville, where the event drew a crowd of about 2,500. Cummings and Stephenson were among 57 honor graduates. Cummings thanked the faculty and staff during his remarks, noting that "we are carrying a little of our teachers with us as we move forward," to the next chapter of life. Follow Abe Hardesty on Twitter @abe_hardesty SHARE By Romando Dixson, rdixon@greenvillenews.com Victims of sexual assault and anyone else who monitors South Carolina's sex offender registry may be viewing false information, The Greenville News found during a review of the state's sex offender registry. The uncertainty arose as the state transitioned to new tracking software this year. In addition to misleading information, the state inadvertently published juvenile sex offender information online for nearly two weeks when the new system was rolled out. Months into the changeover, The Greenville News found intrastate and interstate discrepancies in sex offender data, revealing a lack of communication between jurisdictions. It's a chilling feeling when a victim sees conflicting information about their molester, said Tim Fisher, a Nevada resident who is a survivor of sexual assault and an advocate for victims. How is someone supposed to know which information is correct? "Why scare me?" Fisher said. "When there's an offender who's listed as absconder in one state and compliant in another, nine times out of 10, your victim, your survivor, is not going to look at the other record. They're going to see the one red flag, and they're going to freak. These are mothers. These are kids like myself who grew up and are literally afraid of what our abusers can do because we know what they did do." The State Law Enforcement Division defended the accuracy of the new system, blaming discrepancies on sex offenders who failed to properly register with law enforcement. SLED Chief Mark Keel said the inconsistencies could be found in any state. "It's only as good as what information gets put in it," Keel said. The root of the problem Until this year, South Carolina was among 21 states that used OffenderWatch to track sex offenders, according to Watch Systems, the company that provides OffenderWatch. Once the state's business relationship dissolved with OffenderWatch, SLED mandated that starting this year every South Carolina county use the Sex Offender Registry Tool (SORT), a free application provided by the Department of Justice. Within weeks of using SORT and encountering various issues, multiple counties agreed to a contract with OffenderWatch, a paid subscription service that previously was in effect statewide. "And now we have a problem," Fisher said. "Because now we have the state system, which does not communicate with the other systems." Keel said the state never would've left the previous vendor "if we had a system that we felt worked and was efficient and was accurate." "I wasn't going to be allowed as an agency head to be held hostage by a vendor who can go up on me, increase my cost, at any time they want to and there's nothing I can do about it," Keel said. The counties using SORT and OffenderWatch must update the systems separately. Spartanburg, Anderson, Richland, Berkeley, Darlington, Dillon and Horry counties continue to use OffenderWatch for various reasons, said Joe Gauthier, director of client services for Watch Systems. The counties signed contracts based on population, adding an expense they didn't have when the state paid for OffenderWatch. Spartanburg, Richland and Horry counties paid $6,375 for a one-year contract, according to Gauthier. Darlington, Anderson and Berkeley counties paid $4,250, while Dillon County signed a $1,025 contract, Gauthier said. The counties that resumed using OffenderWatch said productivity and efficiency dropped without it because many of the processes were automated, Gauthier said. "Deputies were taken out of the communities and forced into a manual data entry role," Gauthier said. A benefit of OffenderWatch is that when a sex offender record is updated, the system updates the file in real time for every client in the OffenderWatch network, which includes 3,500 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the country. Most states in the Southeast, including North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, have statewide contracts with OffenderWatch, according to the company's website. Although SORT is a government application, SLED employs a programmer who builds the system, adds state-specific functionalities and addresses issues. SLED said SORT also updates information immediately and has done so since it was implemented here. Gauthier said this does not happen with SORT. The Horry County Sheriff's Office concurred with Watch Systems' assessment and renewed its OffenderWatch contract "while some of the issues with the SORT program are being worked out," Sgt. Sherri Smith told The News. "At the time we renewed our contract, our greatest concern was the ability to update the website in real time," Smith said in an email. The Anderson County Sheriff's Office uses every available tool to keep track of sex offenders, Lt. Sheila Cole said. "That being said, we continue to use Offender Watch in addition to SORT because it provides functionality that allows us to more easily identify offenders who fail to register," Cole told The News. "Also, Offender Watch allows us to perform searches based on a suspect description. It also provides our investigators (in the field) the ability to remotely verify and update the status of an offender." SLED said SORT can perform searches based on descriptions but does not have the other two functions within SORT that Cole mentioned. Keel said major advantages with SORT are: SLED maintains the database, can customize the software to South Carolina laws and create functionalities the sheriffs want. However, some of the customized options and improvements will take time to implement. "When I talked with the sheriffs, I told them it would take us a year to get everything fully functional the way we wanted it to make the improvements," Keel said, adding that counties have reported that system is efficient and easy to operate. Any problems this year were "nothing more than what you would normally expect any time you change from one system to another," SLED spokesman Thom Berry said. However, the state had to deal with a new problem. A data conversion issue caused information for juvenile sex offenders, more than 900 in the state, to be available for about 12 days in January, Berry said. The names, pictures, birth dates, addresses and physical descriptions the same information available for adult offenders was published. Oconee County authorities notified SLED, and state staff resolved the issue on Jan. 14, state officials said. How the registry works More than 15,000 individuals are labeled as sex offenders in the South Carolina registry, according to SLED records. An individual is considered a sex offender in South Carolina if convicted of certain crimes, including, but not limited to: criminal sexual conduct, incest, peeping and voyeurism. Kidnapping and trafficking in people, depending on the details of the case, may also land a person on the sex offender registry. A judge has discretion to determine if someone found urinating in public would be required to register. A South Carolina sex offender is required to register biannually for life, during the person's birthday month and six months later, according to state law. Some offenders are required to register every three months. Sex offender registries exist, in part, to help the victims and communities keep track of offenders in their neighborhoods. The registries also serve as a tool for law enforcement. The information on the South Carolina registry comes from local sheriff's offices, Berry said. Laura Hudson, the executive director of South Carolina Crime Victims Council, described the state's sex offender registry as a "passive" system, meaning it's up to residents to find the information. It is important for the public to be diligent, she said, because sex offenders sometimes can move here from another state and "we don't know it." The sex offender registry is a good tool for law enforcement, but is not the "end all and be all of safety," Hudson said. "As far as I know, the material that is on SLED, I've never had anybody claim that it wasn't accurate," Hudson said. "I have had people say I know somebody that's a sex offender and they're not on there." Some discrepancies The News, by checking the different websites, confirmed multiple instances in the Upstate in which data for a sex offender conflicted with the information of other states. A review also found sex offenders listed as noncompliant or not registered in a county but compliant on the state's registry, creating confusion rooted in the fact that there are two different systems. Fisher also found multiple instances in which data for an offender did not match up across state lines, including in Greenville County. One man, for example, was labeled as an absconder in Greenville County but compliant in North Carolina. In this case, the Sheriff's Office said it was aware of the individual registering in North Carolina. The South Carolina registry was updated after The News questioned the discrepancy. "We are responsible for offenders in our county," the Greenville County Sheriff's Office said in a statement, "and we periodically audit our noncompliant offenders to see if we can locate and verify that they are compliant in another state. We encourage anyone who has a question or concern regarding an offender to contact Beverly Pettit at 864-467-5192. The Greenville County Sheriff's Office investigates every tip and complaint that comes into our office regarding sex offenders." In one example, a man is listed as noncompliant and incarcerated on Spartanburg County's OffenderWatch site. The confusion arises when the information is checked against the state registry. The SLED site does not indicate the sex offender is an absconder, or noncompliant, because he's in jail, Berry said. But the state website also does not have a section to show that the sex offender is incarcerated, Berry said. "It should be showing the address where the individual is incarcerated," Berry said. "If it does not, then that could be something the folks at the local departments can address." Fisher found multiple cases involving inconsistent information between Spartanburg County and the state registry. "When they're compliant and noncompliant in the same state, that should not happen," Fisher said. Users also may be confused because SORT and OffenderWatch have different formats. "We went back to using OffenderWatch in conjunction with SORT at the beginning of February, which our agency pays for, because we felt like it is easier to read and is more user friendly," Spartanburg County Lt. Kevin Bobo said in an email. In another example, a man is listed as noncompliant in Spartanburg County and an absconder on the state registry. So the data matches within the state, although the verbiage is different. That person, however, is registered and compliant in Georgia, according to the national registry. A victim may wonder which one is correct. Fisher said he did not notice these issues when South Carolina used OffenderWatch. Fisher, who lives in Las Vegas, has audited sex offender registries nationwide for about six years. He says there is no method for how he chooses a state to audit. He may see something online or someone may bring an issue to his attention via Facebook. He said he has built a rapport with the Department of Public Safety in Nevada. He sends them tips about registered sex offenders who are noncompliant in Nevada but compliant in another state. The state researches the tip and contacts the proper jurisdiction. "They know my track record is impeccable," Fisher said. "The hard part is getting law enforcement in other jurisdictions to accept that. Law enforcement, most often, believes that they're correct 100 percent." More than 800,000 sex offenders are registered in the United States, according to Parents For Megan's Law and The Crime Victims Center, a nonprofit organization committed to prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse and rape. Fisher said he has provided more than 900 tips to law enforcement nationwide. Fisher said law enforcement agencies need to do a better job communicating across state lines and with the offenders, especially when it appears they are trying to do the right thing. "I'm thinking it's a major flaw in that we're not telling these offenders exactly what they have to do," Fisher said. "If you're trying to hide, you're not going to register where you're going. But the jurisdictions don't communicate." Berry said SLED has the means to communicate with every state in the nation. "We use SORT exchange to communicate with the other states, so, yes we do have that linkage," he said. "It's just not within SORT itself, but we do have the SORT exchange that we do use to communicate state to state." Fisher said if the state websites have conflicting information then people cannot protect their children and they question the accuracy of the information. "Each one of these offenders represents at least one victim," Fisher said. "I was a victim for seven years when I was kid. Two other victims were found after I made my report, which meant that my offender took three kids over the course of 12 years and molested them. Each one of these offenders represents a victim or a survivor, depending on where that person is in their life right now. I know we use these tools, the sex offender registries, because we want to know where our bad guys are. It's not just for concerned parents living in this neighborhood or that neighborhood." We all know about the immense popularity of Superstar Rajinikanth in Malaysia among both the Tamil as well as Malay population living in that country. We witnessed the king's welcome accorded to the evergreen Superstar of Indian cinema by the Malaysian people as well as the Government when he visited the country for shooting last year. Now the star's upcoming film 'Kabali' has created a new history that relates to Malaysia. 'Kabali' directed by Pa.Ranjith and produced by Kalaipuli.S.Thanu has been dubbed in Malay language and this is the first Tamil film to be dubbed in the language. This has been done mainly to cater to the craze of native Malay speakers for the man Rajinikanth. Even the teaser of the film in Malay language has been released. It is worth noting that the underworld flick has been extensively shot in Malaysia. 'Kabali' stars Rajinikanth and Radhika Apte in lead roles. Taiwanese actor Winston Chao has acted as the lead villain in the film which has musical score rendered by Santhosh Narayanan. Dilip Shanghvi, promoter of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, reportedly said that he was withdrawing his plan to launch a payments bank. Shanghvi had announced a tie-up with Telenor Financial Services and IDFC Bank Ltd to pursue the venture. Report says that Telenor Financial Services, IDFC Bank and Dilip Shanghvi jointly announced withdrawal of efforts to form a Payments Bank venture in India. The regulator had allowed 11 entities and individuals to open payment banks, subject to final approvals. The staff-level agreement between Iraq and the IMF for a three-year Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), under which Iraq could access USD5.4bn of financial assistance, is credit positive, Fitch Ratings says. The deal is likely to pave the way for further international support and may enable the government to issue international bonds. This will provide some support to Iraq's finances as the country faces sharply lower oil revenue, ongoing conflict with the Islamic State (IS) group and a political crisis that has paralysed parliament and led to mass protests. Engagement with the IMF could bring some improvements to economic policymaking and management. Following on from the Staff-Monitored Program agreed in November, the SBA is likely to set benchmarks related to budget spending levels, non-accumulation of arrears and various fiscal reforms, as well as strengthening the government's cash management. The twin shocks of sharply lower oil prices and the conflict with IS have severely damaged Iraq's financial position. We project the budget deficit in 2016 to widen to 15% of GDP - around USD22bn, assuming crude exports marketed by the central government remain around 3.3 million b/d and the government makes modest spending cuts. The government has also built up arrears. Lower oil revenue is also causing a balance-of-payments shock. The central bank's stock of foreign reserves (including gold) has fallen from USD78bn at end-2013 to around USD50bn currently. This is still a robust level, at around nine months of current external payments, but is set to fall further this year and next. Disbursements under the SBA and the further foreign assistance that is likely to follow will be a source of additional finance, but cannot mask the challenges Iraq faces. Oil revenue accounts for more than 90% of budget revenue and current external receipts. Government expenditure increased rapidly before the oil price collapse in 2014, creating a fiscal breakeven oil price above USD100/barrel. Full implementation of the SBA will prove challenging. Wide-ranging fiscal reforms that would put Iraq's finances back on a sustainable footing would require tackling a bloated civil service (the government accounts for 40% of total employment), a troubled banking sector, and serious weaknesses in governance. Iraq's political challenges have vividly played out in Baghdad in recent months. In February, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced his intention to appoint a new technocratic government, but has been unable to do so as various parties seek to protect their influence. Meanwhile, large protests culminated in the storming of the previously unviolated Green Zone and parliament itself. This situation remains unresolved and presents a risk of further political instability and violence. Progress has been made in retaking territory from IS, but it still holds significant parts of the country, and continues to present a major threat. Paswan said that State Food Ministers conference noticed that, the prices of the specified food items like pulses, sugar, edible oil seeds commodity shoot up abnormally due to hoarding, profiteering and cartelling by traders and middlemen- without any benefit to the farmers. It was pointed out that the traders hoard the stock of a commodity in a bordering State where stock limits are not imposed. Therefore, there is a need that all States & UTs impose and implement stock There should be a logical and scientific formula for stock limits separately in consuming states and surplus states limits and also for millers, producers and importers. so that supply chain mechanism remains smooth and pulses are available at reasonable prices Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has urged the States to exempt pulses from VAT and other local taxes. It may help cool the prices of the pulses by 5% to 7%. Briefing the media about the deliberations and decisions taken in the States Food and Consumer Affairs meeting held here today,Paswan said that State Food Ministers conference noticed that, the prices of the specified food items like pulses, sugar, edible oil seeds commodity shoot up abnormally due to hoarding, profiteering and cartelling by traders and middlemen- without any benefit to the farmers. It was pointed out that the traders hoard the stock of a commodity in a bordering State where stock limits are not imposed. Therefore, there is a need that all States & UTs impose and implement stock There should be a logical and scientific formula for stock limits separately in consuming states and surplus states limits and also for millers, producers and importers. so that supply chain mechanism remains smooth and pulses are available at reasonable prices It was also recommended that importers of pulses should display stock position on public platforms such as portals of Ministry of Consumer Affairs or States Government portals to bring in more transparency about availability of stock. It was strongly felt that Government agencies should opt for long term supply contracts in place of tenders for time to time import of pulses for building up buffer stock. Regarding the prices of sugar, Shri Paswan said that he has written to the chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu requesting them to keep a close watch on the release and stock held by sugar mills to ensure availability in the domestic market. He said that production linked export incentive scheme has been withdrawn midway to ensure adequate availability of the sugar in the domestic market. The states have been asked to implement stock limit effectively. Shri Paswan said the government is effectively using Price Stabilization Fund for creating buffer stock of pulses and onions. So far about 50,000 MT Kharif and about 25,000 Rabi pulses have been procured and 26,000 MT contracted for import for buffer stock. Out of this 10,000 MT have allocated to the States. Requests from other States are awaited for further allocations. He said that the Centre has further decided to strengthen price monitoring mechanism by including more markets for collecting price data. He said that State Governments have also been requested to set up price monitoring mechanism at their level also to take timely action to ensure availability. Appreciating the efforts of State Governments for implementing National Food Security Act, Shri Paswan said now 72 crores people across 33 States/UTs have become eligible for wheat at Rs2/kg and rice at Rs 3/kg. He said now States should focus better targeting of food subsidy. He said End-to-End computerization of TPDS would certainly help in this venture. So far about 56% ration cards have been seeded with Aadhar cards against the total Aadhar coverage of about 83%. More than 1,15,909 FPSs are automated across the country by installing e-Point of Sale devices, and this count is likely to be increased to 3,06,526 FPSs by March, 2017. About 1.62 crore ineligible ration cards have been eliminated and food grains worth Rs. 10,000 crore have been better targeted. Shri Paswan said decision was also taken to ensure online allocation of food grain up to FPS within two months in the States where it has yet to be done. So far it is being made in 25 States. States were also requested to expedite preparation for online procurement of food grains by their agencies. Farmers mobile numbers should be registered and their accounts numbers should be taken for direct deposit of system generated cheques. Remaining non-DCP States were requested to take up DCP operations as it would help in saving food subsidy, enhancing the efficiency of procurement and public distribution & encouraging local procurement to the maximum extent thereby extending the benefits of MSP to local farmers. In order to strengthen storage facilities Government has approved a road map for construction of steel Silos of 100 LMT capacity in the next 4-5 years in three phases for both wheat and rice. Depot-Online has been launched for monitoring the operations in 30 FCI Depots on pilot basis and by July this year all the 554 depots of FCI will be online. Shri Paswan expressed hope that these efforts will result in improving food grain management. He said as decided by the conference State Governments will work in coordinated way to ensure availability of essential commodities at reasonable prices. Addressing the meeting, Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister appreciated farmers and State Governments efforts for ensuring enough food gain production despite drought for last two years. He said recent estimates indicate production during 2015-16 will be more than the last year. Agriculture Minister said that as our country is the largest consumer of pulses, there is need to increase the production of pulses. A scheme for this purpose is being implemented under mission mode, to improve the production of pulses, 50% of the NFSM is being allocated for pulses production. He said that the Government is working on various plans to reduce the cost of agriculture inputs and increase the returns of the farmers for their produce. He also requested the States to develop agri-markets and bring them on-line so that farmers get reasonable price for produce. Temples are a beacon of hope for devotees who visit them. With each prayer comes an offering that makes the god 'rich', and the temple richer than ever. In this 'give and take', the deities rake in more moolah than even some billionaires do. Don't believe us? Take a look at these numbers. 1. Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Kerala Image Credit: huffingtonpost.in Wealth: Rs. 1 lakh crore Located in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, valuables worth Rs. 1 lakh crore were recently discovered from the secret cellars of this temple. Sacks full of gold chains, coins, sheaf, and crowns were unearthed from the treasure. The temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams (holy abodes of Vishnu) and is known to be the richest Hindu temple in the world. 2. Tirupati Balaji, Andhra Pradesh Image Credit: viresattached.com Wealth: Rs. 900 crore Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), the trust that manages the temple money, has recorded a whopping Rs. 900 crore as hundi collections last year. The temple has 14,000 permanent employees and has pension funds of Rs 115 crore. Apart from all this, the temple has gold reserves and 52 tonnes of golden ornaments which they have deposited with the Indian Overseas Bank and the State Bank of India. 3. Shirdi Sai Baba, Nashik Image Credit: mybusblog Wealth: Rs 540 crore Shirdi Sai Baba has a following of disciples, irrespective of their caste, creed and religion. The donation box of the deity is never empty and disciples are known to anonymously put diamonds and gold into the donation box. 4. Vaishno Devi Temple, Jammu Image Credit: jagran Wealth: Over 500 crore The temple sees at least 10 million pilgrims every year, which makes it the second biggest crowd-puller after the Tirupati temple. With an annual income of 500 crore, the temple also stores 1.2 tonnes of gold. 5. Siddhi Vinayak Temple, Mumbai Image Credit:templefolks Wealth: Rs 125 crore Mumbais richest temple has a dome coated with 3.75 kgs of gold. Siddhi Vinayak temple is flocked by over 25 thousand devotees and the number also goes over lakhs on Tuesdays and on Sankashti Chaturthis. 6. Golden Temple, Amritsar Image Credit: travelquest Wealth: Undisclosed Known as the Harmandir Sahib, the Golden Temple is the holiest Gurdwara of Sikhism. Built under the patronage of Guru Arjan Dev, the canopy of the temple is made of gold. Devotees sing gurbaani kirtan from the opening of the temple gates till they close. The kitchen at the temple feeds up to 100,000 people and the langar is devoured by all the devotees. The figures of the temple money is not made public, but its estimated that it goes over crores! 7. Meenakshi Temple, Madurai Image Credit: wikipedia Wealth: Over 60 crores The temple is located on the banks of Vaigai river in Madurai, and is said to be one of the wealthiest temples in the whole of South India. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the temple attracts around 10 lakh devotees every year. 8. Sabarimala Temple, Kerala Image Credit: newsx Wealth: Rs 105 crores This pilgrimage site attracts over a million devotees each year. The temple, dedicated to Lord Ayyappa, is said to be so rich that the temple committee are thinking of employing robots for the service! It has over 15 kgs of gold and its annual income is over Rs 105 crores! 9. Guruvayurappan Temple, Kerala Image Credit: thehindu Wealth: 50 crores The Guruvayurappan temple is known as the Holy Abode of Vishnu on Earth. The temple is known to have 600 kgs of gold with 500 kgs deposited in the State Bank of India. With an annual income of Rs 50 crore, the temple stores its wealth in its inner chambers. 10. Jagannath Temple, Puri Image Credit: epuja Wealth: 208 kg gold and 25,711 acres of land Its an irony that one of the richest temples in India needs an emergency structural intervention today. The temple receives more than 10 kg gold from the devotees as donations. The Lord dons gold jewellery of over 208 kg during the famous Suna Besha ritual. Its also surprising that 30,000 acres of land is registered under the name of Lord Jagannath, making him the richest landlord! 11. Somnath Temple, Gujarat Image Credit: myoksha Wealth: 109 kg gold The temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is Gujarats first temple to deposit gold to the PMs Gold Monetisation Scheme. The trust of the temple owns land worth Rs 1639 crore. A leading diamond merchant donated 40 kg of gold to the temple making the shrines golden collection 109 kg! 12. Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi Image Credit: journeymart Wealth: Undisclosed A former priest at this temple had accused the temple management of hiding 99 kg of gold in its chambers. Kashi Vishwanath remains one of the oldest and holiest Hindu temples. Its spirals and domes are made of gold, thus making it look like the Golden Temple. Though the assets of the temple are undisclosed, the temple is known for its riches. 13. Mahalaxmi Temple, Kolhapur Image Credit: Wikipedia Wealth: Undisclosed The temple dedicated to Goddess Laxmi is bound to be rich. According to a report, the temple appeared in the list of 3,067 temples whose total income came to Rs. 14,66,83,000 during the accounting year 2013-14! 6 Assam Rifles jawans were killed in an ambush near Joupi village in Chandel district of Manipur around 1 pm. Their army convoy was ambushed in Chandel district of Manipur. This is reportedly an ambush by militants operating in the region. Local daily Manipur Update has reporrted that "The deadly attack took place around 12:30 pm at one Henshi of Joupi area (New Somtal Village) under Tengnoupal Police station, informed our sources. The attacked was made while one colonel of 29 AR along with his guard were on their patrol, and during the encounter six AR personnel were killed that includes 5 ORs and 1 JCO." The deadly attack took place around 12:30 pm at one Henshi of Joupi area (New Somtal Village) under Tengnoupal Police station, informed our sources. The attacked was made while one colonel of 29 AR along with his guard were on their patrol, and during the encounter six AR personnel were killed that includes 5 ORs and 1 JCO. Lost a Para Special Forces officer Maj Amit Deswal in Manipur, in April. Fell to an ambush by ZLF group. Jugal R Purohit (@jrpur) May 22, 2016 This is the second attack on Indian forces in Manipur - a A Border Security Force (BSF) convoy on foot patrol was ambushed by militants armed with rocket launchers and sophisticated automatic weapons in Thoubal district. However, there was no casualty to this attack, which happened on the 19th of May. The BSF personnel retaliated, and a 30-minute gun battle ensued. 3 weeks prior, suspected armed cadres of National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Isak-Muivah assaulted eleven labourers at the ambush site. According to a 2013 finding, people with disabilities account for 1% of the total Indian corporate workforce. However, it is heartening to see that leading companies of India Inc. isnt making them feel like a minority, but giving them a dignified quality of employment. Jubilant FoodWorks blogging4jobs | representational purpose only Jubilant FoodWorks, which owns the franchise for Domino's Pizza in India, has introduced a programme that will see differently-abled employees in managerial roles in a year or two. The company also plans to have one differently-abled worker in tier-1 city outlets that have 25 or more employees, said Biplob Banerjee, executive vice-president-human resources and and CSR, Jubilant FoodWorks, which also runs the Dunkin' Donuts chain in the country. With this initiative, Jubilant FoodWorks has become the latest in a growing list of companies in India that are chalking out the career paths of people with disabilities and training them for managerial roles. IBM India wikimedia Earlier this year, IBM India put in place four-hour awareness sessions for senior employees on unconscious bias and the need to include more differently-abled employees in the workforce. "Differently-abled employees bring in a diversity of thought to the organisation, and hiring such persons is a business imperative for us, not a CSR activity," said DP Singh, vice-president of HR (India/South Asia) at IBM And at IBM, there's a commitment to always target hiring of more such persons than they did a year ago. Ernst & Young ey pinterest At EY, differently-abled talent is sourced through the Ability Foundation in Chennai, and a governance mechanism is in place to monitor such recruitment programmes for the differently-abled. Infosys poetsandquants infosys In December last year, Infosys launched a 'practice guideline' aimed at sensitising, informing and enabling functions like HR, facilities and infrastructure, transport, and technology support teams to deal better with disability at the workplace. "The guideline details practices and recommendations intended to enable stakeholders to make informed choices in their line of duty towards building an inclusive workplace," said Aruna Newton, head of global diversity and inclusion at Infosys. Dell techstory dell india Dell's employee resource group, 'True Ability', for people impacted with disabilities and/or special needs, held workshops across all its sites in India on International Disability Day last year to sensitise people on the issue of special need .. The company also provides software or services that enables persons with disabilities to productively work with the systems and technology infrastructure. Accenture accenture Accentures inclusion and diversity sponsors and practitioners from FY15 will have a business card printed in Braille. Last November, Accenture established the India Accessibility Council, comprising leaders who directly influence and impact accessibility and accommodation outcomes. "The council has identified four work streams -- physical accessibility, technology accessibility, assistive technology accessibility and attitudinal accessibility. These work streams have laid out specific milestones which the council will focus on achieving going forward," said Parag Pande, managing director of HR, Accenture (India). And the coming months look positive, as other companies are looking to actively hire more people with disabilities. SAP Labs India sapp SAP Labs India has set a target of hiring an additional 10 differently-abled persons by the end of this year. The company recently implemented the suggestions that came from a formal accessibility audit of all its facilities, which includes special evacuation chairs for people in wheelchairs, Braille signs across all buildings in the campus, brighter lighting outside buildings at night and relevant education for all support staff. "By 2020, SAP aims to have 1% of its global workforce made up of autistic employees, who can be fit into relevant IT roles," said Kiran Venkataramanappa, lead for Autism at Work for SAP in India. EMC India forbes Last year, EMC India rolled out an internship programme called 'Redefine Abilities' exclusively for differently-abled people, under which 12 interns worked with the company for a year on technical and non-technical projects. Inputs from Economic Times They'll throw you off a building for being gay, but ISIS doesn't discriminate against the handicapped. Among the many militant recruits in ISIS stronghold Sirte (Libya), is a wheelchair-bound executioner, a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) has revealed. The coastal city is the the birthplace of Libyas former leader Muammar Gaddafi, and is now the only Islamic State stronghold outside Syria and Iraq. NGOs and 45 former citizens have confirmed to the NGO that at least 49 people have been confirmed killed by IS in the city since February 2015. Read more Hey but there was much more happening today. Check these stories out! 1. 300 Fast Trains Will Drive Through The World's Longest Mountain Tunnel In Switzerland Everyday! businessinsider Gotthard tunnel, the worlds longest underground rail passage will be fully operational from December and handle 300 fast trains every day. It is equipped with state-of-the-art signalling and train control system, and the 57 km tunnel aims at reducing travel time between Zurich and Milan, shifting goods transportation from road to rail and is expected to be used by hundreds of passengers and freight trains every day. Read more 2. To Teach Her Alcoholic Husband A Lesson, Wife Puts Fevikwik Glue In His Eyes In Madhya Pradesh! Image Credit: hindi.eenaduindia.com Only an agitated wife can come up with the idea of putting glue in eyes as a lesson for her alcoholic husband. Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh saw the most bizarre incident where a woman put fevikwik glue into her husbands eyes after a dispute! Read more from this marriage-horror story! 3. 6 Assam Rifles Jawans Killed In Manipur Ambush, Militants Steal Indian Weapons 6 Assam Rifles jawans were killed in an ambush near Joupi village in Chandel district of Manipur around 1 pm. Their army convoy was ambushed in Chandel district of Manipur. This is reportedly an ambush by militants operating in the region. Local daily Manipur Update has reported that "The deadly attack took place around 12:30 pm at one Henshi of Joupi area (New Somtal Village) under Tengnoupal Police station, informed our sources. The attacked was made while one colonel of 29 AR along with his guard were on their patrol, and during the encounter six AR personnel were killed that includes 5 ORs and 1 JCO." Read more 4. Gaya Teen Shot By MLC Son, Scores 70% In CBSE Class 12 Board Exam #JusticeForAditya YouTube Aditya Sachdeva, the teen who was allegedly shot by suspended JD (U) MLC Manorama Devi's son Rocky for overtaking his vehicle in Gaya on May 7, scored 70 per cent in the CBSE's Class XII exam, the result of which was announced on Saturday. The commerce student of Nazareth Academy, a Christian missionary school in Gaya, scored 72 in English and 77, 56, 82 and 61 respectively in Hindi, Economics, Business Studies and Accountancy. Read more 5. Kejriwal Begins His Move For A 2017 National Dominance With Camp Goa Arvind Kejriwal's first rally in the state of Goa as Delhi chief minister just took place, and it is an all-out attack on the incumbent BJP. Arvind Kejriwal being welcomed by supporters and Goan tribal women upon arrival in Goa.#GoaWelcomesKejriwal pic.twitter.com/xVw8cDLrja Saurabh Singh (@SaurabhAzadSin) May 22, 2016 The AAP addressed a large gathering at Campal Grounds in the capital city on Sunday evening, featuring 7 speakers including Punjab MP Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal. Going local Read more Om Puri appreciated fellow actor Nana Patekar's initiatives to help the distressed farmers in the country. Puri, who plays the role of a farmer in Marathwada (one of the worst drought-affected areas) was present at the trailer and poster launch of the film. Even though he openly lauded Nana Patekar's efforts, he thinks that a lot more needs to be done for their welfare. He said: "People, in their personal capacity, have made a contribution, like Nana Patekar , and there are others as well. Nana not just provided financial help, he even embraced the farmers and shed tears with them, consoled them." Calling Nana Patekar's efforts to 'putting a drop into the ocean', Om Puri added, "This should be thought about very seriously, not just by the government but also us people." While talking about how he prepared for the role, he added: #projectmarathwada #bollywood #cinema #hollywood #farmerssuicide #ompuri #farrahkader #artist #meaningfulcinema A photo posted by FK (@farrahkader) on May 21, 2016 at 6:45am PDT "It's been 60 years of acting for me. We know about the farmers' issues as you read about the same in newspapers, see it on TV... you see farmers talking about it; so I didn't have to do any preparation. My only preparation was to grow my beard a bit." Giving his two cents on water conservation, he said: "We should utilise water better. Where water is more, we should divert it and create small rivers, just like we're making roads to connect villages and cities (With inputs from IANS) It remains the highpoint of the Barack Obama presidency. Five years to the day US Navy Seals busted open a door in a house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, to eliminate Osama bin Laden, the ardour of avenging the worse terrorist attack in history still courses through American discourse. bccl Reminded in a CNN interview on the fifth anniversary of bin Laden's death (May 2) that the last person the terrorist icon saw on Earth was an American, Obama added, "And hopefully , at that moment, he understood that the American people hadn't forgotten the some 3,000 people who he killed." Many things about the said remain unclear, including how exactly bin Laden was tracked down and what role Pakistan played (or didn't) in hiding him andor betraying him. But one thing remains clear: while Washington avenged bin Laden's 911 attack, the country that is widely believed to have sheltered him and continues to host many terrorists still remains the beneficiary of US munificence to the tune of more than a billion dollars every year. pbs.org Despite the wellspring of support Pakistan has in the US state department, the freebie lifeline is becoming harder to sustain each passing month in the face of intense legislative scrutiny . Few things indicate Pakistan's terrorist sympathies and patronage more than the continued incarceration of Dr Shakil Afridi, the physician who is said to have helped the CIA track down bin Laden in Abbottabad. While the CIA threw Afridi under the bus by publicly talking about how he had helped even as the Pakis tani intelligence took him into custody , many US lawmakers have not forgotten him. dawn.com Among them, California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who has called for a Congressional medal and a US citizenship for Afridi while pressing for his release, and senator Rand Paul, who had led the move to block sale for F-16s to Pakistan, maintaining that "in addition to Pakistan's support of terrorism and deplorable human rights record, it continues to imprison Dr Shakil Afridi, who helped the US locate and kill bin Laden." freeafridi.com While the US Congress began punitive action against Pakistan's implicit support for bin Laden and terrorist by first cutting $33 million in aid ($1million for each of the 33 years it sentenced Dr Afridi to, it explained helpfully), the cost of terrorism sponsorship is becoming higher for Pakistan despite the state department arguing for buying its support for US operations in Afghanistan. Last week, lawmakers on a bipartisan basis blocked a move by the administration to subsidise, as it usually does, lethal military purchases by Pakistan. Ankita and Harshita Chauhan, twin siblings from Gurgaon, Haryana have a lot in common, quite literally. The 17-year-old siblings who appeared for the class 12 CBSE exams this year came out withflying colours. Both scored the exact same marks, 93% each. Indian Express This is not the first time they ended up scoring the same marks. The duo, both science students, had scored equal marks in the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) 2016. However they couldnt qualify for the advanced examinations. They will now join the same college in Chennai to study software engineering. We cannot get over the fact that our results are same. Neither can our parents believe it, said an excited Ankita. Ankita worked very hard and was expecting a higher score than me in the board examinations but our father used to say that we will score equally. When we opened the result, we were in shock to see that he was right, added Harshita. The girls who say they study together were neck to neck in every subject, with a score of 95 in both Physics and Physical Education. While Harshita scored 87 in English, 93 in Chemistry and 95 in Maths, her sister Ankita scored 93, 95 and 87 respectively. I do not know how to react. Its amazing as well as shocking. The two have always supported each other and their results reflect the same,said the girls father Chauhan, who is a civil engineer. Gotthard tunnel, the worlds longest underground rail passage will be fully operational from December and handle 300 fast trains every day. It is equipped with state-of-the-art signalling and train control system, and the 57 km tunnel aims at reducing travel time between Zurich and Milan, shifting goods transportation from road to rail and is expected to be used by hundreds of passengers and freight trains every day. businessinsider India Is Building A Sea Bridge And Tunnel To SL, You Might Soon Be Able To Drive To Your Island Vacation! Journey time between Zurich and Milan will be reduced by one hour, from the current four hours to three hours when the Gotthard tunnel opens, Peter Huber, General Manager of Transtec Gotthard, told reporters here. The tunnel is equipped with European Train Control System (ETCS) technology which enables the train to run at speeds upto 250 km per hour. Thales, a major player in mainline rail signalling system, has provided the ETCS in the tunnel. Trial runs are being successfully conducted in the tunnel and it will be handed over to Swiss authorities on June 1 and the full-fledged commercial operation will start from December this year, Huber said. He said it cost about 10 billion Swiss franc to construct the tunnel which is expected to handle six freight trains and two passenger trains per hour. Also known as the New Rail Link through the Alps (NRLA), the project consists of two single-track tunnels connecting Erstfeld with Biasca. "The creation of a fast and efficient high-speed railway network passing through the Alps was never going to be an easy feat. There were many challenges. The work started after elaborate planning way back in 1999 and tunneling was completed in 2010," he said. Besides the ETCS, it is also equipped with GSM-R digital wireless communication system and the tunnel radio system. With the operation of the tunnel, it will significantly reduce CO2 emissions as a considerable goods movement will be shifted to rail from the roads. The tunnel is also equipped with fire alarm system, emergency lamps and video cameras among other essential equipment required to meet any emergency situation. It was only recently that we reported how. Pakistani Taliban was planning to launch an offensive in Syria and take on ISIS. Well, sadly for them, their plans have surely hit a roadblock as of now. news06.com An American drone strike targeted and "likely killed" Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a remote area of Pakistan, US officials said, in a major and rare American military raid in Pakistan. The air strike, authorized by President Barack Obama, also killed a second adult male combatant as the pair traveled in a vehicle southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal near the Afghan border, a US official said. "Mansour was the target and was likely killed" by the strikes, which were carried out around 6:00 am (1000 GMT) by multiple unmanned aircraft operated by US Special Operations Forces, the US official added, speaking on conditions of anonymity. There were no other known casualties. In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the US military was still assessing whether Mansour had in fact been killed. The deaths of Taliban leaders have often been falsely, reported, and Mansour himself was rumored to have been killed in December. The United States informed both Pakistan and Afghanistan shortly after the strike, a senior White House official said. As for out feelings, we are happy that at least there's one less terrorist to worry about. A former Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General Temisan Raymond Omatseye will spend the next five years in prison following yesterdays verdict by a Federal High Court in Lagos, over a N1.5 billion contract scam. Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia convicted him on a 27-count charge bordering on bid rigging and contract splitting. In the instant charge, the defendant testified in his evidence in chief that he was released on administrative bail and asked to come back the following day and in his statement, he responded that his threshold for supply was N2.5 million, the judge said. Furthermore, his statement was corroborated by Pw2 (prosecution witness two) and Pw3. Pw2 stated in his testimony that in line with the Public Procurement Act, the Chief Executive Officer had a threshold of N2.5 million for goods and N5 million for works. From the foregoing, I find that the exhibit PD 16 A-Y are all above the threshold and approved limit of the DG; that means, they are all above N2.5 million. The testimony of Pw2 and Pw3 that the approved threshold of the defendant on goods and services was N2.5million does not only corroborate the statement of the defendant, but totally lends credence to the threshold limit applicable on the defendant as DG of NIMASA. I find that the threshold as contained in exhibit PD 16 Z is applicable to the defendant, setting his limit as N2.5 million for procurement of goods, and N5 million for procurement of services. A calm perusal of exhibit PD 16 series reveals that they are repetitive awards of contract for the supply of goods approved by the defendant in his position as DG of NIMASA. It is clear that all the contract sums are above the threshold as set out in exhibit PD 16 Z, thereby violating the provisions of section 161 (a) of the Public Procurement Act 2007. Accordingly, based on the foregoing before this court, I am satisfied that the prosecution has proved its case against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt, in the face of the offence contained in counts 1-20,24,25,26,and 27. I accordingly find him guilty as charged on these counts. The second issue is whether the prosecution has proved the offence of bid rigging? It is trite law that the prosecution must prove all the essential ingredients of the offence before it can be said to have been proved beyound reasonable doubt. It is my view that the prosecution has not established the offence of bid rigging against the defendant to secure a conviction on that ground, and I so hold. The accused is hereby sentenced to five years imprisonment on counts 1 to 20,24,25,26 and 27 of the charge.He is discharged and acquitted of counts 21, 22, and 23 of the charge. The terms of imprisonment are to run concurrently. Omatseyes sentence is the first major high profile conviction since President Muhammadu Buhari began his anti-corruption crusade. Armed men believed to be members of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have blown up a section of the Tebidaba-Brass pipelines along the Azuzuama- Ikienghenbiri creek in the swamp of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. The facility is owned by oil giant, Nigerian Agip Oil Company NAOC. The NDA had made a 10-point demand from the federal government, including the unconditional release of the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPoB) Mr Nnamdi Kanu and the immediate implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference. It also said President Muhammadu Buhari, the DSS and former Bayelsa governor, Timipre Sylva, should apologise to the people of the Niger Delta and family of the late Chief DSP Alamieyesegha over his death. The spokesperson of the Avengers, Mudoch Agbinibo, said the group would not stop its bombing operations until its demands are met. No one has claimed responsibility for the Bayelsa attack. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. An Irish father is facing a court battle to be reunited with his son after the mother who fled with the child to the U.S. died earlier this month. John Hopkins, 40, hasnt seen his son since 2013, when his wife and their son Cody, then nine-year-old, left for a holiday in America and never came back, the Irish Independent reports. Hopkins met Codys mother, Jackie, an America, online in 2002. He traveled to Wisconsin to meet her and a few months later, they were married in Las Vegas. On September 10, 2003, Cody was born. The family lived in the United States until 2006, when they decided to move to Northern Ireland after Johns mother suffered two strokes. In 2013, Jackie began feeling homesick, and a two-week trip was arranged for her and Cody, to visit Jackies family in the States. Throughout the trip, Jackie kept in contact with John, sending him messages about what they were doing and finishing each one with the words love you. Jackie and Cody were due to fly back home on July 13. John stood waiting at the airport, but his wife and child never arrived, and from then on, all contact ceased. "My wife couldn't make friends and couldn't get a job," John said. "I knew she was struggling, but it was a complete shock when she just didn't come back." John contacted police in Wisconsin, where Jackie was staying, and was told she was fine and that she would be catching the next flight to Northern Ireland. However, a few days later, police said they did not know where Jackie or Cody were and had listed Cody as missing. "I was always expecting her to come home," John said. "It was hard when I realized. I've left Cody's bedroom as it was. I couldn't go into it for the first year, but it's basically untouched. "Cody is my only son and for the last three years I've been contacting someone nearly every day to try and get information." "I did almost give up at times, but I've had a lot of support from groups on Facebook and the charity Reunite, who all told me never to give up."There have been children who have been found after five or six years. I had to keep working at it." This month, John received news that Cody had been found. On May 8, Jackie had died of a massive heart attack in Tennessee. She had been on the run for three years and had used a false name to avoid detection. Following her her death, the authorities were able to identify her and contacted John to tell him Cody was safe. "I have been suffering with severe anxiety because of this, but the moment I found out that Cody was safe, it just dropped away - it was a sense of pure relief," he said. Johns happiness was short-lived because Cody is now in the custody of child protection services in Tennessee, and his father faces a lengthy and expensive court battle to bring him back to Ireland. So far, John has been unable to contact Cody. "When I heard the news, I just wanted to be with my son," he said. "But I'm not allowed any contact whatsoever until it goes through the courts, which will be by June 8 at the latest. "I just can't wait to see him. I haven't even seen photographs of him, so I don't even know what he looks like now." John has set up an online petition in a bid to show the courts how much love and support Cody will have in Northern Ireland. "He's pretty much on his own over there and we just want to show that we want him back," he said. "He lived here for seven years and he has loads of friends around here."We want him to come back to his life here." The State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs said: "We are aware of reports of an international parental child abduction from the United Kingdom to the United States. The 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is in force between the United Kingdom and the United States. "The Bureau of Consular Affairs, along with our Embassies and Consulates, works with parents and foreign governments to try to resolve these difficult cases. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment." Having been defeated by Ruairi Quinn in 1997 and Pat Rabbitte in 2002, Howlin, aged 60, had made it known he would only take the job if unopposed. After several days of internal discussions, Alan Kellys bid to become leader ran into the sand as not one of his colleagues would second his nomination. Howlins moment in the sun yesterday was partly overshadowed by Kellys petulant decision not to show up to the press conference. Brendan Howlin flanked by senior Labour Party members including, from left, TD Jan OSullivan, senator Kevin Humphreys, TD and party chairman Willie Penrose, and TD and former party leader Joan Burton. Described by a former colleagues as a combative Jack Russell, a reference to his diminutive stature, Howlin is a politician of vast experience who, by this stage, has seen and done it all. The task he faces is anything but diminutive, as the party is struggling to stay relevant in a very crowded political field. But, according to those who have worked with him, both in government and in opposition, Howlins collegiate attitude and knowledge of how the Oireachtas works will stand to him in the 32nd Dail. His will be a credible voice of opposition, not the loony left or the amateur nature of Sinn Fein. He is the steady hand at the tiller at this most critical time, said one former ministerial colleague. It is an extraordinary privilege and honour to be elected Leader of the Labour Party-Brendan Howlin pic.twitter.com/cZ2d1UFJ3e The Labour Party (@labour) May 20, 2016 A former national school teacher, Howlins strong links to the unions, given his Wexford base, has been a major factor in his approach to political life. He said the Labour Party is in his DNA and many of the partys wounded troops see him as the ideal man to save it from obliteration. First elected to the Dail in 1987, having been a senator since 1982, Howlin has held several key minsterial posts. In the last Dail, he was Public Expenditure Minister during the most traumatic period in recent history and implemented harsh austerity among many groupings who would have been sympathetic to Labour. The self-declared Minister for Cuts was to turn into the Minister for Giveaways but the splurge was too little too late for an angry and weary people. He was the Minister for the Environment who previously abolished water charges in 1996, and a former Health Minister. A singleton, Howlin according to many of his closest allies, say he is married to his party and is the quintessential Labour man. Newly-elected Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin pays tribute to Joan Burtonhttps://t.co/nL7kA8piJo RTE News (@rtenews) May 20, 2016 Howlins mother Molly died in 2003, having lost her husband 17, years previously. One of four children, he has one brother, Ted, and two sisters, Mary and Jackie. His late parents were steeped in the Labour movement. He paid warm tribute to his father during the press conference yesterday. John Howlin was secretary of Irish Transport and General Workers Union in Wexford for 40 years, a member of Wexford Corporation for 18 years and election agent to the late Brendan Corish. Howlin will have to abandon his tendency to be a bit pompous and cling to his collegiate strengths if he is to save his beloved party from destruction. Burma US Secretary of State Kerry Urges Further Reforms in Burma US Secretary of State John Kerry urges Burmas new civilian-led government to complete the Southeast Asian nations transition to democracy by implementing further reforms. NAYPYIDAW US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged Burmas new civilian-led government to complete the Southeast Asian nations transition to democracy by implementing further reforms to enshrine free markets, development and human rights. Speaking with Burmas foreign minister and de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, after talks in the capital Naypyidaw, Kerry pledged continuing US support for the country and hailed progress it has made since Suu Kyis political party took office in late March after winning historic elections that ended decades of military control. We strongly support the democratic transition that is taking place here, Kerry said. His visit came less than a week after the Obama administration lifted sanctions against 10 state-run companies and banks in a sweeping modification of penalties imposed while Burma was under military rule. The administration, however, left in place restrictions on trade and investment with the nations still-powerful military. The changes are intended to spur more US investment and support economic growth under the new government, but also to encourage more reforms. The United States waived its longstanding bans on investment and trade in 2012 after Burma began political and economic reforms, but retained restrictions on dozens of companies and individuals designated by the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control because they oppose reform, or are implicated in human rights abuses and military trade with North Korea. In addition, the United States continues to ban the import of jade and rubies from Burma. The key to the lifting of the [remaining] sanctions is really the progress that is made within Myanmar in continuing to move down the road of democratization, Kerry said, adding, It is very difficult to complete that journey, in fact impossible to complete that journey, with the current Constitution. He called for the charter to be revised to fully respect civilian authority and clearly spell out a separation of powers among various branches of government as well as protect minority rights and promote inclusivity. And he said he would raise those issues with the commander in chief of Burmas military before leaving the country later Sunday to join President Barack Obama on a visit to Vietnam. Suu Kyi said she did not believe the remaining sanctions would stay in place for long, but did not look at them as a punishment. Were not afraid of sanctions, were not afraid of scrutiny, she said. The time will come soon that the United States will know that this is no longer the time for sanctions. Under the current, junta-era Constitution, Burmas military controls the ministries for defense, home affairs and border affairs, and 25 percent of parliamentary seats. Rights groups say stateless Rohingya Muslims and other minorities still face repression. The treatment of the Rohingya remains a major sticking point in US-Burma ties, with the government complaining of even US officials use the term to refer to the group, which many Buddhists inside Burma call Bengalis. They say the 1 million or so members of the minority are mostly illegal immigrants and not a native ethnic group. In fact, the families of many Rohingya have lived in Burma for generations. Because Burma does not officially recognize the Rohingya as an ethnic group, it denies most of them citizenship and basic rights. Conflict over land and resources in the western state of Arakan, where most of them live, caused deadly violence between Buddhists and Muslims that later spread to other parts of the country. More than 100,000 Rohingya were forced to flee their homes and now live in poor conditions in decrepit camps. Suu Kyi, who won international admiration and a Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent struggle for democracy during Burmas years of military rule, has in recent years disappointed many former fans by failing to speak on behalf of the Rohingya. Despite international expressions of concern, Burmas previous military-backed government did nothing to ease the Rohingyas plight. She called on Burmas well-wishers, like the United States, to give the authorities time and space to deal with what she acknowledged was a problem. But she also warned against using the term Rohingya, saying it is a sensitive matter that complicates efforts to resolve the situation. Emotive terms make it very difficult for us to find a peaceful and sensible solution, she said. People should be aware of the difficulties that we are facing and give us a safe distance. What we are saying is that there are more important things to deal with than issues of nomenclature. Kerry agreed that the matter was a sensitive one, but said it is key to ease the crisis in Arakan State. The name issue is obviously very sensitive, it is divisive and I know that it arouses strong passions here, he said, adding, however, that the matter could not be ignored. What is critical to focus on is solving the problems. The recent news regarding Verizon and the union workers on strike has led to many unprecedented concerns. The issues pertaining to the rising complaints have led to the involvement of the White House and its great oval office. Along that line, notions of the tyranny and the division ending with the involvement of nation's seat of government arise. As the Verizon labor stoppage of 2016 drags into its fifth week and nearly 40,000 workers continue their protest efforts, 88 U.S. Congress members have issued a plea for the two sides to end the strike, and on Thursday, the legislators issued a joint statement about the Verizon labor negotiation, reports Hoboken Patch. As Congress demands the rapport between two segments to get better, it appears that it might be easier said than done. Although none contests Verizon's skills and capability to render services in the telecommunications industry, the ongoing Verizon strike has led the congress to take part in. "Verizon workers build, install and maintain the state-of-the-art FiOS broadband system, and ensure that the millions of customers still reliant on the copper network continue to receive high quality service. In addition, Verizon Wireless retail store workers and technicians work in one of the most profitable sectors of the economy. We are troubled that the lack of a negotiated labor agreement could increase the likelihood that good jobs will be offshored to the Philippines, Mexico and other locations overseas or outsourced to low-wage, non-union domestic contractors. And we are concerned that Verizon wireless retail workers, who joined the union back in 2014, still have not been able to negotiate improvements in their wages, benefits and working conditions," according to a written statement released by the 88 congress as cited by the same post. The statement further added, "We urge the parties to negotiate in good faith and agree to a fair contract. We firmly believe it is in the public interest to protect middle class jobs, reduce outsourcing and off shoring, and ensure high quality telecommunications services to the public." The decision to ensure that the rift is settled is largely due to the awareness that other segments and enterprises have been affected by the strike as well. A former post from iTech Post has already revealed that the tech giant has already lost big time, owing to the massive unrest from its union workers. It stands to reason that if Verizon strike persists, it might ultimately bring negative downturns for the company and in the end decapitate its overall performance and operations. It is undeniable that the Verizon strike indicated the decision of the union workers into not backing down if the tech company continues to outsource. Even with the White House's involvement, there are no certainties that the rift will end. iTWire has received a tip from an anonymous source over the weekend that claims that Telstra's horror run of outages in 2016 stems from bad firmware in Telstra supplied modems. You can read the inital report from Friday here. You can read the Saturday and Sunday update here. The Sydney Morning Herald has also reported the issue. "Telstra tried to do a firmware upgrade on their Gateway modems, and it didn't go to plan resulting in a constant loop of resetting," one reader from Busselton in Western Australia told Fairfax Media on Sunday. This would appear to corroborate the following email. The issue seems to be that on around Thursday Telstra pushed apparently bad firmware (possibly untested or the issue was not found during testing, or it was not tested enough before being pushed). This is unlike most Telstra problems, and I think it has the potential to cost Telstra millions, and I will explain why. The modems that have the bad firmware are crashing after booting, shortly after connecting. Most people are referring to this as a 'drop out' but it is caused by bad firmware completely crashing the kernel in the Telstra supplied and managed modems. Telstra is advising people not to power down their modems because there is an off chance it may not crash for long enough that it will contact the remote update server and download the fix, but I wouldn't count on it for most customers. And the other problem is that when you call their support line and wait for three hours on hold, they have been telling people to power down and restart the modems, which is only exacerbating the problem of the modem not being up for long enough to successfully contact the update server before crashing again. The direct costs are going to be compensation the likes of which Telstra has not seen before covering virtually every product they offer. The indirect costs are going to be increased phone support to try and bring down the three hour wait times. There is going to be thousands of people that are going to have to most likely send their modems back to Telstra because, for whatever reason, it is not able to stay up long enough to get the fix before it crashes again. Then you are going to have all those people who want to leave Telstra possibly having contracts completely waived, at a loss of thousands of dollars per contract times how many customers demand out. This is the fourth major mass nationwide Telstra outage, and you are probably going to see the share price adjustment accordingly. We will attempt to get a response from Telstra today and publish it here. The Telstra brand is rapidly turning to poison over these outages. The long-term brand damage could easily cost them millions let alone everything else. Lastly, they have scheduled planned maintenance in the coming days and weeks for virtually every product they offer which people are going to think is yet another outage or a continuance of the problems when they are Telstra deliberately taking down services to try and fix them. These are the perils of allowing your ISP to remotely manage your modem. If Telstra cannot even keep the lights on when there is a blue sky outside and perfect weather, how are they going to do it when there is a natural disaster or another emergency. Makes you wonder at this point because people are paying a very decent premium price for what they think is a premium service when in reality most of the support is outsourced, and the modems are garbage too. We are awaiting a response from Telstra and will publish it as soon as it is received. Get unlimited access to all content and features at ivpressonline.com with our Full Online Access Subscription. Read our E-Edition, the digital replica of the print newspaper online, access content in exclusive sections including Family, Teen, Business, Databases, Farm and more. This option does not include daily home delivery of the Imperial Valley Press newspaper. For home delivery service, please select Premium or Premium Plus. What's changed about Milwaukee's absentee ballots since 2018 strife The tight partisan races next month come in the context of controversy over absentee ballots in the 2020 and 2018 elections. SHARE By Grand Rapids, Mich. Michigan's U.S. senators want the Department of Transportation to make sure oil pipelines crossing underneath the Great Lakes are treated as "offshore" and not "onshore" to ensure the owners will have to pay the full cost of a cleanup if there is a spill. Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, both Democrats, sent U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx a letter last week urging him to make sure underwater pipeline segments in and around the Great Lakes are classified as separate "offshore" facilities. The senators wrote the finding has "significant consequence," because under the Oil Pollution Act the liability for cleanup costs for owners or operators of onshore facilities are capped at $634 million, "whereas companies operating pipelines classified as offshore facilities are required to demonstrate they have sufficient resources to pay for all cleanup costs." The pipeline belongs to Enbridge, based in Calgary, Alberta, and runs from Wisconsin to Ontario, Canada, including the Straits of Mackinac, which connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Line 5 transports 23 million gallons of crude oil and liquid natural gas daily. Enbridge was responsible for one of the largest inland oil spills in U.S. history, when in 2010, more than 800,000 gallons of oil poured out of a ruptured line in southwestern Michigan, spoiling the Kalamazoo River and tributaries. Total cleanup cost more than $1.2 billion. Enbridge's estimated cleanup for a spill from Line 5 reaches $1 billion if the break were to happen in the winter, when the straits are iced-over. Peters told The Grand Rapids Press that the DOT's Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration should be able to change the classification of the pipeline to offshore on its own, but said he's prepared to insert language requiring the reclassification if the agency's 2016 reauthorization bill comes back to the Senate. "We're asking them to get it done," he said. "Legislation takes time." Artealia Gilliard, a spokeswoman for the pipeline administration, told the newspaper in an email that the administration had received the letter from Peters and Stabenow and "will respond directly to the Senators." Lori Laatsch is shown during a 2012 appearance in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. Credit: Michael Sears SHARE By of the A judge, saying Lori Laatsch's actions were "nothing short of despicable," has ordered her to pay $1.2 million to the estate for the family that owns Derzon Coins for trying to use the Derzon assets as her "own piggy bank." The order issued by Milwaukee County Judge David Borowski late Friday is the second financial blow against Laatsch, who in 2012 was stripped of any interest she had in the $3 million estate of Rebecca Derzon, the widow of David Derzon. David Derzon died in 2007 at age 83 after building West Allis-based Derzon Coins into a business worth at least $1 million. Rebecca Derzon died eight months later after an accidental overdose of alcohol and prescription drugs. She was 59. In the years since her death, control of the estate has been the subject of a bitter court battle launched by Rebecca's half brother and the two adult sons of David Derzon. The Derzon estate is now 60% controlled by brothers Mark and Alan Derzon both attorneys with the remainder belonging to Paul Johnson, Rebecca Derzon's half brother. Borowski's order was in response to a request by the estate that Laatsch, of Glendale, be ordered to cover the legal and related expenses incurred by the estate as the result of her actions. Laatsch "engaged in a pattern of deceit for years that needlessly prolonged the litigation she herself caused," Borowski wrote. "If ever there was a case that demands a surcharge and sanctions, this is it." The judge ordered Laatsch to pay $1.2 million because of her "bad faith, fraud and deliberate dishonesty." Laatsch is Rebecca Derzon's half sister who, according to court testimony, had gone decades without seeing Rebecca until becoming close to her when David Derzon was being treated for brain cancer in 2006. "She intentionally and conveniently re-entered Rebecca's life as Rebecca's husband was dying," Borowski wrote in the eight-page order. A rewritten will In the months after David Derzon died, Rebecca Derzon rewrote her will, cutting out Mark and Alan Derzon and giving Laatsch 75% of the coin business, with the remainder going to Diane Mehalko, a friend of Laatsch's and longtime employee of the coin store. In 2012, Circuit Court Judge Jane Carroll voided the rewritten will, saying Laatsch had used improper pressure to persuade Rebecca Derzon to rewrite her will. Laatsch was later ordered to return $792,000 in cash she took from the business in the days before Carroll's ruling. "It is difficult to conceive of a more extensive, comprehensive plot than that engaged in by Lori Laatsch," Borowski wrote. "She tried to turn Rebecca Derzon's assets into her own piggy bank." Neither Laatsch nor her attorney, F. Brian McElligott, returned calls for comment. McElligott was not involved in the writing of the will. Carroll's 2012 order also sharply criticized the attorneys involved in rewriting Rebecca Derzon's will, a document that had the word "draft" stamped on the signature page. The rewritten will was prepared by John Remmers, an attorney at the Waukesha firm of Cramer, Multhauf & Hammes. The estate sued Remmers and the firm for malpractice in 2013, a case that was settled last year for an undisclosed amount. Carroll's ruling noted that documents were destroyed or altered saying that "the number of irregularities in the documents provided establish that Lori Laatsch and her attorneys had something to hide; their motives are suspect." Though not disclosing the amount paid in the malpractice suit, Borowski noted that the Derzon estate had originally sought $1.7 million. The estate agreed to "offset (Laatsch's) liability related to the amount obtained in the estate's settlement" with the Cramer law firm, Borowski noted. The estate also dropped its demand that Lastsch pay back funds she received when she served as the executor for the Derzon estate. UW-Madison: For the Wisconsin Idea to flourish, mutual respect is needed. Credit: Mark Hoffman SHARE By It's hard to recall a school year in Wisconsin with more conflict than the one that is drawing to a close. Changes to the University of Wisconsin System's tenure and shared governance policies received much debate, pitting faculty, staff and their supporters against lawmakers and other state officials. The drama has harmed our state and diverted attention away from the important work that should be our collective focus: ensuring Wisconsin has a top-notch university system for generations to come. Continuing to battle one another will mean our undoing. I'll be the first to say that faculty like me could have done more to prevent this sorry state of affairs. We haven't always done what we could to acknowledge the challenges facing many hard-working Wisconsin families whose support is needed to keep the UW System strong. We don't always make the effort to explain how and why our work improves our state, assuming it's obvious. In fact, we sometimes assume the public will celebrate us at every turn a clear and grave mistake. But there's also no question that many state officials have spent more time airing their grievances against the university system than building its capacity for the 21st century. Every public institution has room for improvement, but stirring up such hostility smacks of partisanship rather than leadership. The people of Wisconsin deserve better. And let's be clear: the issue isn't "jobs for life." Before this debate arose, our campuses already had effective procedures to address underperforming faculty. Studies show that most faculty work 60 or more hours a week teaching, conducting research, supervising graduate students and problem-solving with government, industry and community stakeholders. Classroom time is just one of our many activities. The number of faculty who are not performing at a high level in today's competitive environment is vanishingly small. We are as committed to our work as any other top public or private sector professionals. The issue is respect. Faculty are here to serve our state and its people. This is The Wisconsin Idea. I and my colleagues regularly help students find internships and jobs and assist Wisconsin businesses and farms to improve their productivity and profitability. Our work deserves the same respect as any worker's, yet some dismiss us as freeloaders. In fact, in order to conduct my research, I must raise more than $200,000 each year in grants to purchase supplies and pay employees. I'm not alone most faculty do the same and more. Instead of being regarded as "costs" on our societal balance sheet, we should be seen as assets. To be sure, simply doing this work does not make us immune from accountability or criticism. We need to be frugal with public money. Efforts to promote this notion are welcome; punitive efforts to micromanage our finances and dictate our academic priorities are not. Like us, state officials are here to serve Wisconsin and its people. I respect the challenge they face in balancing competing demands for an often strained pool of public funds. But take note that a recent survey showed two-thirds of Wisconsinites opposed the recent budget cuts to the UW System. So let's stop fighting one another. Instead, let's raise up all of our state's hard-working people and recognize their contributions. We are all valuable, so let's act like it. Let's give each other the dignity and respect we deserve. Irwin Goldman is a professor of horticulture in the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Jonah Goldberg: Now, one can have sympathy for the transgendered I certainly do while simultaneously holding to the scientific fact that boys do not menstruate. Credit: Getty Images SHARE By Why do liberals hate science? The left has long claimed that it has something of a monopoly on scientific expertise. For instance, long before Al Gore started making millions by claiming that anyone who disagreed with his apocalyptic prophecies was "anti-science," there were the "scientific socialists." "Social engineer" is now rightly seen as a term of scorn and derision, but it once was a label that progressive eggheads eagerly accepted. Masking opinions in a white smock is a brilliant, albeit infuriating and shabby, rhetorical tactic. As the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." Science is the language of facts, and when people pretend to be speaking it, they're not only claiming that their preferences are more than mere opinions, they're also insinuating that anyone who disagrees is a fool or a zealot for objecting to "settled science." Put aside the fact that there is no such thing as settled science. Scientists are constantly questioning their understanding of things; that is what science does. All the great scientists of history are justly famous for overturning the assumptions of their fields. The real problem is that in politics, invocations of science are very often marketing techniques masquerading as appeals to irrefutable authority. In an increasingly secular society, having science on your side is better than having God on your side at least in an argument. I'm not saying that you can't have science in your corner, or that lawmakers shouldn't look to science when making policy. (Legislation that rejects the existence of gravity makes for very silly laws indeed.) But the real intent behind so many claims to "settled science" is to avoid having to make your case. It's an undemocratic technique for delegitimizing opposing views and saying "shut up" to dissenters. For example, even if the existence of global warming is "settled," the policies for how to best respond to it are not. But in the political debates about climate change, activists say that their climatological claims are irrefutable and so are their preferred remedies. If climate change is the threat they claim, I'd rather spend billions on geoengineering to fix it than trillions on impoverishing economic policies that at best slightly delay it. It doesn't matter; I'm the Luddite buffoon for thinking ethanol subsidies and windmills are boondoggles. Even more outrageous: If you dispute, say, the necessity of spending billions on windmills or on killing the coal industry, you are not merely wrong on climate change, you are "anti-science." Which brings me to the raging hysteria over the plight of transgendered people who need to use the bathroom. The New York Times recently reported about A.J. Jackson's travails in a Vermont high school. "There were practical issues," Anemona Hartocollis writes. "When he had his period, he wondered if he should revert to the girls' bathroom, because there was no place to throw away his used tampons." Now, one can have sympathy for the transgendered I certainly do while simultaneously holding to the scientific fact that boys do not menstruate. This is a fact far more settled than the very best climate science. Perhaps it's rude to say so, but facts do not cease to be facts simply because they offend. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio is pushing to fine businesses that do not address customers by their "preferred name, pronoun and title (e.g., Ms./Mrs.) regardless of the individual's sex assigned at birth, anatomy, gender, medical history, appearance, or the sex indicated on the individual's identification." The NYC Commission on Human Rights can penalize offenders up to $250,000. Many liberals believe that "denying" climate science should be a criminal offense while also believing that denying biological science is a moral obligation. In the law, truth is a defense against the charge of slander, but for liberals, inconvenient truth is no defense against the charge of bigotry. Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. Email goldbergcolumn@gmail.com Twitter: @JonahNRO Reddit Email 0 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | Baghdad was a ghost town on Saturday,, as security forces fanned out, blocking key roads into the Green Zone, the area downtown, closed off by blast walls, that houses parliament and foreign embassies. On Friday, over a hundred protesters were wounded and at least 2 died as crowds poured into the Green Zone for a second time in a month. Some attacked the home of Iraqi prime minister Haydar al-`Abadi. In response, he ordered a curfew in the capital that lasted until Saturday morning. Security forces expelled the crowds from the Green Zone, using live ammunition and tear gas. On Saturday, huge crowds of mourners came out in East Baghdad, protesting the deaths and woundings of the protesters, and continuing their protest of the lack of security and services in the capital. In the past week a wave of Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) bombings has killed dozens in the Iraqi capital, and several attacks targeted poor Shiite districts. The hundreds of protesters who came to Baghdads Tahrir Square (liberation square) on Friday and then invaded the Green Zone have been characterized as the poorest of the poor, Shiite followers of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. That is, this turmoil is in part a class struggle between the disadvantaged Shiites in Iraq and the Shiite state bourgeoisie of post-Baath Iraq. One group is outside the system of well-heeled parties who control government patronage and the distribution of proceeds from the oil industry. The other group, much smaller, uses government positions to reward their party members. Whether this class struggle can be contained or tamped down will determine Iraqs future, since a Shiite on Shiite struggle would inevitably benefit Daesh and delay the decisive move on Mosul. Related video added by Juan Cole: CCTV News: Baghdad protests: 4 killed, 90 injured in riots in Baghdads Green Zone Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks) | The planet keeps getting warmer. The level of destruction from natural disasters is also climbing. Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down.. . For the 12th month in a row, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced record-high global temperatures marking a yearlong heat streak that scientists say is grim sign of climate change in action. April 2016 was the hottest April ever recorded by NOAA since it started tracking global temperatures in 1880, the agency announced Wednesday. This is the 12th consecutive month the agency has identified a monthly global temperature record. Thats the longest such streak NOAA has ever recorded. The April temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.98F above the 20th century average of 56.7F, NOAA announced. This was the highest for April in the 1880-2016 record, surpassing the previous record set in 2010 by 0.50F. Reddit Email 0 Shares By IMEMC | Palestinian members of local neighborhood watch committee, in Talfit village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, managed to capture two armed fanatic Israeli colonists, who invaded the village and attacked farmers. Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official in charge of Israeli settlements file in the northern parts of the West Bank, said that the committee members managed to subdue the armed settlers, and handed them to the Palestinian Authority. Daghlas added that the Palestinian Security Forces will later hand the infiltrating fanatics to the Israeli army. He also stated that the two colonists were moved to the Palestinian police station in Qabalan village, and that the police confiscated their guns. The Israeli army declared a state of high alert, and installed many roadblocks in the area. ==== Related video added by Juan Cole: Press TV Documentaries: 10 Minutes: Israels Illegal Settlement JURIST Guest Columnist Nicholas Johnson of the Fordham University School of Law discusses the recent suit filed by the families of the Newtown victims Some of the families who survived the horror of the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting are suing the manufacturer and distributors of the Armalite Rifle Model 15, or AR-15 that was used by the deranged gunman who murdered 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The recent denial of Defendants motion to dismiss Soto v. Bushmaster [PDF], has generated a great deal of attention. Some of that commentary reflects the hope that Judge Barbra Bellis denial of the motion to dismiss might prefigure a blow against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, (PLCAA) which grants gun manufactures limited immunity from this sort of litigation. This hope is likely to be disappointed. The denial of the motion to dismiss is attributable to a quirk in the Connecticut pleading rules that makes the ruling far less suggestive than an equivalent dismissal in federal court. The central element of Judge Barbara Bellis opinion is that the PLCAA does not deny courts subject matter jurisdiction, which is the Connecticut requirement for dispensing with Plaintiffs claim at this stage of the litigation. Judge Bellis simply concluded that the PLCAA does not limit the power of the courts. Rather it is a limitation on the rights of litigants. Thus, within the procedural context of the case, Judge Bellis has simply concluded that the PLCAA does not limit her authority to hear the case. Judge Bellis ruling seems to have drawn attention because the PLCAA actually has been the basis for successful motions to dismiss in similar federal court cases. So some have inferred that the denial of a motion to dismiss in Soto signals Bellis skepticism about the scope of the PLCAA. But all that this really signals is a difference in federal and state pleading rules. As judge Bellis makes clear, those prior federal cases proceeded under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), where a motion to dismiss is used to challenge the legal sufficiency of a pleading, not the courts jurisdiction. Judge Bellis denial of defendants motion is, in contrast, grounded on whether she has subject matter jurisdiction, and is in no way a comment on the threshold sufficiency of the plaintiffs claim. In Judge Bellis words, at this juncture, the court need not and will not consider the merits of plaintiffs negligent entrustment theory or the CUTPAs (Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act) applicability to the sale of marketing of firearms. All this said, there is still no denying that the shooting in Newtown left deep scars that might prompt exceptional judicial activity. And that possibility warrants an examination of viability of the substantive claims that Judge Bellis deferred. The Soto litigation is precisely the sort of action that is barred by the PLCAA. Following the lead of thirty states that passed similar legislation, Congress passed the PLCAA in response to several years worth of lawsuits against the gun industry grounded on a variety of novel theories. Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell explained in a speech to the American Bar Association that the litigation was designed to avoid consolidation and stretch the ability of gun makers to pay for legal defense in dozens of jurisdictions at once. Some of those claims dripped with irony. One legal theory was that gun manufacturersdefying the profit motivewere negligently marketing and oversupplying firearms to distressed communities. The irony was that the only real evidence of product-dumping was that some of the plaintiffs had upgraded the police arsenals of their cities by selling large lots of used police guns at below-market prices. The PLCCA allows manufacturers to be sued for selling defective firearms and for violating the complex system of laws and regulations directly governing firearms. But sellers of properly functioning firearms who comply with the National Firearms Act, the Gun Control Act of 1968 (with its many amendments) and myriad other federal and state laws governing the manufacture and sale of firearms, cannot be sued for criminal use of their products. The Soto complaint [PDF] attempts to carve out an exception to the PLCCA with the claim that the AR-15 is unique; that government and military have taken special efforts to keep these guns exclusively in government and military hands, and; that manufacturers like Bushmaster, defying these efforts, have negligently entrusted the AR-15 to civilians. There is no such exception in the PLCCA. So the suit attempts to establish an implied, overriding qualification, that the AR-15 are in such a different, extraordinary category that an exception to the PLCCA is implicit. The answer to this argument is evident in the national norms that are demonstrated by the basics of U.S. firearms regulation. It is plain that Congress itself has explicitly entrusted semiautomatic firearms, including the AR-15, to civilians through a variety of affirmative legislative choices. The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) [PDF] and the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), are two of the most pertinent. The NFA places heightened restrictions on owning fully automatic firearms and destructive devices that Congress deemed exceptional and that are technologically distinct from the broader pool of common firearms. Common long guns and handguns, including repeaters like lever actions, revolvers, and semiautomatics with detachable box magazines (like the AR-15), were placed outside the strict regulations of the NFA. More than 30 years later, those common firearms were subjected to the provisions of the Gun Control Act of 1968 [PDF]. The 1968 law and its many amendments restrict who may possess firearms, but explicitly entrust the spectrum of common firearms to law abiding citizens. In 1994, Congress nominally banned guns deemed assault weapons. The ban was pure security theater. It prohibited further manufacture of guns based on appearance and left functionally identical guns in slightly different configurations freely available. The bans main effect was to spur demand for the prohibited configurations. A decade later, when the ban expired, even a prominent original supporter said the expiration would not make one whit of difference. Presumably Sotos lawyers would say that any congressional entrustment of the AR-15 and other guns to civilians here is implicit at best; that allowing trade in semiautomatic firearms under the Gun Control Act, and the failure to reenact the 1994 assault weapon ban are different from explicit federal entrustment of these guns to the public. The pointed answer to that argument is the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP). Under the CMP, which has existed since 1903, the U.S. government has directly entrustedmeaning given and soldactual military firearms, including semiautomatic rifles with detachable box magazines, to individuals and shooting clubs. The CMP program was created to encourage civilian training and practice with military arms. It reflected the broad judgment that Americans were and should continue to be a nation of riflemen. Through a cooperative arrangement between the CMP and (for over 50 years) the National Rifle Association, citizens could purchase government-surplus rifles and handguns. In 1994, the CMP was removed from the federal budget and required to sustain itself financially. Pursuant to 36 USC 40729, it still promotes marksmanship training and national shooting competitions, and it sells semiautomatic military battle rifles to individual citizens and clubs. Over the decades, the federal government has directly entrusted to civilians, semiautomatic battle rifles and carbines that duplicate or exceed the capabilities of the AR-15. Although the government does not sell AR-15 rifles through the CMP, the AR-15 is one of the most popular rifles in CMP competitions. The stalwart of the CMP program is the semiautomatic M-1 Garand in .30-06. General George Patton called the Garand the greatest battle implement ever devised. Ballistically, the .223 cartridge fired by the AR-15 pales in comparison to the Garands far more powerful .30-06 cartridge. Unlike the AR-15, the Garand is not a civilian likeness of a military arm. The Garand is the actual World War II battle rifle. Also on the CMP list of federally entrusted firearms is the M-1 carbine. The M-1 carbine shares many of the characteristics of the AR-15. It is more compact than the Garand. It fires a lower powered cartridge than the Garand. The M1 Carbines 110 grain, .30 caliber cartridge is in the same intermediate ballistics category as the AR-15s 55 grain, .223 cartridge. Like the AR-15 and the M-14, the M1 Carbine feeds ammunition through a detachable box magazine. Although it is highly likely that the Soto suit will be dismissed long before this sort of evidence is introduced, the public decision-making surrounding the sale and distribution of firearms in the U.S. strongly refutes Plaintiffs negligent entrustment theory. Nicholas Johnson is a professor of law at Fordham University School of Law and author of Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Cases and Materials, (Aspen Press 2011), with Kopel, Mocsary and OShea. Suggested citation: Nicholas Johnson, Newtown Families Suit Against Gunmakers Likely Ends in Dismissal, JURIST Academic Commentary, May 21,, 2016, http://jurist.org/forum/2016/04/nicholas-johnson-newtown-litigation.php. This article was prepared for publication by Dave Rodkey, an Assistant Editor for JURIST Commentary service. Please direct any questions or comments to him at commentary@jurist.org JURIST Guest Columnist Eric Ruben of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law responds to a recent JURIST article about the Second Amendment and firearm industry immunity. Eight years after the Supreme Court struck down a handgun ban in District of Columbia v. Heller, Second Amendment law has not developed the way gun advocates hoped. They expected that popularly enacted gun laws would fall like dominoes. But lower courts for the most part have repeatedly upheld restrictions that stopped short of handgun bans, consistent with Hellers careful signal that the opinion left plenty of room for reasonable regulations. That result is deeply dissatisfying to the advocates, who have resorted to a tired attack on the courts for what the National Rifle Association called a pervasive pattern of stubborn resistance. Given that the Supreme Court has had over 60 opportunities to correct lower court rulings in Second Amendment cases, but has chosen to do so only once, this critique is increasingly strained. In an attempt to show just how rebellious judges have been, historian Joyce Lee Malcolm opens a new line of attack in her recent JURIST commentary. Malcolm asserts that the disturbing pattern of nullification is seen not only in Second Amendment cases, but also in a case brought against a gun manufacturer by the families of the children shot and killed at Sandy Hook: The decision of Connecticut judge Barbara Bellis to ignore federal law by permitting gun manufacturers to be sued for criminal use of a gun is part of a disturbing pattern. The affirmation of a Second Amendment right of individuals to be armed seems to be provoking otherwise sober-minded judges to nullify U.S. Supreme Court decisions and now federal law. This novel allegation is both baseless and misleading about just how obstructive the federal immunity statute has been. Far from ignoring industry immunity, courts have applied it repeatedly, giving the firearm industry a free pass no other business enjoys, let alone one that manufactures a lethal product like the assault rifle used to spray 154 bullets in under five minutes in Newtown, Connecticut. If the Sandy Hook defendant did not sell guns, the parents of the slain children would be entitled to make a case. If the case lacked merit under ordinary liability principles, they would lose; otherwise, they would win. But as Malcolm concedes, firearm manufacturers are differentindustry lobbyists in 2005 secured immunity from liability at the expense of gun victims in a federal statute called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). As a result, only two cases against gun dealers have fit into one of PLCAAs narrow exceptions and reached a jury since the federal immunity benefit was granted to the industry. Needless to say, this hardly reflects what Malcolm characterizes as a disturbing pattern of judicial defiance. Indeed, even the claim of judicial nullification in the Sandy Hook case is demonstrably unfounded and belies a misrepresentation of the cases procedural posture. According to Malcolm, Bellis ignor[ed] federal law by permitting gun manufacturers to be sued. But, as a practical matter, the immunity statute does not prevent a gun manufacturer from be[ing] sued. Rather, as interpreted by numerous courts, it provides the gun manufacturer with a defense against many types of claims after they are sued. In fact, Bellis has not even ruled whether immunity applies in the case, so Malcolms argument is a red herring. Although Bellis rejected the gun manufacturers motion to dismiss in April, she did not rule on immunity [PDF]. Perhaps the confusion is that a federal motion to dismiss would be a procedural vehicle for raising and deciding the issue. This case is pending in Connecticut state court, however, where Bellis will await a separate motion to strike to consider whether the gun maker is immune from liability. The sad reality is that the Sandy Hook plaintiffs like all gun violence victims face an uphill battle because of PLCAA. At a minimum, however, the plaintiffs deserve a thoughtful determination whether, among other things, the civilian marketing and sale of the assault rifle constituted a negligent entrustment, an exception in the statute, in which case immunity would not apply and the case could proceed. No basis exists to assert a disturbing pattern of judges nullifying the federal law providing firearm industry immunity. More relevant than arguing about whether courts have heeded the immunity statute they have is considering whether it is just to slam the courthouse door on victims solely because they had the terrible misfortune of being harmed by a deadly product manufactured by a powerful industry. Eric Ruben is a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, where his work focuses on Second Amendment jurisprudence. Suggested citation: Eric Ruben, Exaggerated Claims of Judicial Nullification in Gun Cases, JURIST Professional Commentary, May 21, 2016, http://jurist.org/hotline/2016/05/eric-ruben-judicial-nullification.php. This article was prepared for publication by Dave Rodkey, an Assistant Editor for JURIST Commentary service. Please direct any questions or comments to him at commentary@jurist.org Singapore police officials [official website] on Friday announced [press release] the hanging death of Jabing Kho, hours after the High Court of Singapore [official website] denied his final appeal for clemency. Jabing was sentenced to death in 2010 for his part in the murder of a construction worker he assaulted with a piece of wood. He had exhausted multiple appeals and even temporarily had his death sentence set aside before his execution on Friday. According to the press release: Jabing subsequently applied to the Court of Appeal to review its earlier decision. On 5 April 2016, the Court of Appeal dismissed the application. On 18 May 2016, Jabing filed a criminal motion to the Court of Appeal for a stay of execution. On 19 May 2016, the Court of the Appeal dismissed the application. On the same day, Jabing filed another legal challenge and applied for a stay of execution of the sentence so that the legal challenge could be heard. The application for a stay was heard and dismissed by the High Court on the same day. Jabing further appealed against the High Courts dismissal of the stay application. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on 20 May 2016, commenting that the arguments in the legal challenge were unmeritorious in any event. He was represented by counsel throughout the legal process. Singapore amended [ABC News report] its death penalty laws in 2012, making the death sentence no longer mandatory for murder or drug trafficking. Capital punishment [JURIST op-ed] remains a controversial issue in the US and worldwide. A spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday condemned [JURIST report] Iranian authorities for the sentencing of Nargis Mohammadi, an anti-death penalty activist. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein on Thursday welcomed [JURIST report] the measures being taken by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to prevent the use of its drugs in state-sponsored execution by lethal injection. UN human rights experts expressed [JURIST report] grave concern earlier this month over Belarus death penalty practices after reports surfaced that a man was executed while his case was before the UN Human Rights Committee. US President Barack Obama signed [press release] a bill [HR 4238 materials] into law Friday that would remove terms such as Negro and Oriental from federal law in an effort to modernize racial language. The bill seeks not only to replace these terms with African-American and Asian-American, but to also redefine minorities in legislation. Minorities were previously defined as Negro, Puerto Rican, American Indian, Eskimo, Oriental, or Aleut or is a Spanish speaking individual of Spanish descent, and the new language will read US citizens who are Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders, African American, Hispanic, Native American, or Alaska Natives. Representative Grace Meng (D-NY) [official website], sponsor of the legislation, welcomed [press release] the presidents signature: The term Oriental has no place in federal law and at long last this insulting and outdated term will be gone for good. No longer will any law of the United States refer to Asian Americans in such an offensive way, and I applaud and thank President Obama for signing my bill to get rid of this antiquated term. Many Americans may not be aware that the word Oriental is derogatory. But it is an insulting term that needed to be removed from the books, and I am extremely pleased that my legislation to do that is now the law of the land. The legislation passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate. The Obama administration has made previous efforts to address racial inequalities. Last July the Obama administration announced new rules requiring cities and towns to address racial disparities in their housing practices [JURIST report]. The new rules aim to bring current housing practices in line with the goals of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (FHA) [text]. In 2014 the administration announced new rules intended to decrease racial profiling [JURIST report]. Dayco develops and manufactures engine products and drive systems, including timing belts, chain kits, belts and pulleys for the OE and aftermarket. Matthew Beecham caught up with Steve Carolan, national sales manager, Dayco Aftermarket UK to learn how its business is taking shape. Dayco entered the UK aftermarket in February 2011. What have been your key milestones since then? Over the five years since we set up the UK operation, we have expanded the team to encompass technical and customer service support alongside sales and added a warehouse facility. This has allowed us to grow the business substantially. The key to this strategy was to increase the number of channels through which we reach the end user and therefore stimulate sales. In tandem, some of the pioneering products that Dayco has developed for vehicle manufacturers at original equipment (OE) level, such as the high tenacity or white timing belt and the belt in oil (BIO), have begun to filter through to the aftermarket. This in itself has raised awareness of the Dayco brand and its OE pedigree. How is your UK aftermarket business shaping-up this year? Across the board, the market is challenging as there is over supply in virtually every segment. However, our major customers are seeing growth. How has power transmission changed over the past decade and how has that impacted on your business? Kit sales now represent 99 percent of all timing drive sales and with European engine production still equally split between belt and chain, so the belt kit market will remain more or less static in size. However, the introduction of timing chain kits and BIO kits means that those factors supplying, and workshops installing, Dayco products have great opportunities across the whole power transmission sector. Dayco is a strong brand name in the aftermarket. What does that mean for a garage? With Dayco, installers know they are fitting a quality product and this knowledge helps the relationship with their customers, as motorists directly benefit from having OE quality products that are reliable and fit for purpose when their vehicles are serviced. The European aftermarket is flooded with non-branded low quality parts whereas Dayco aftermarket products are manufactured to match OE quality. How do you set about getting your message across to the garage on the merits of your products? As an OE manufacturer, this is less of an issue for Dayco, particularly as technicians regularly come across our products when they replace the vehicles original components and see the Dayco name on a wide range of vehicles from many European manufacturers. We are hearing that garages and technicians prefer parts to come out of an OE box, even if that exact same part is available in an aftermarket branded box. If thats the case, how do you set about educating folk that those parts are the same, regardless of packaging? The remainder of this interview is available on just-autos Global light vehicle engine technologies market- forecasts to 2030 OMAHA -- When you look out into the zoos new African Grasslands exhibit, youll see giraffes foraging for food alongside rhinos and ostriches. At a nearby watering hole, elephants will spray zebras, impalas, guinea fowl and geese. No cages. No glass panes. No fences at least none in your line of sight. Just a lush green backdrop. This Friday, the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium will officially open its $73 million, 28-acre African Grasslands exhibit. Its the most expensive and ambitious undertaking in the zoos history, and it marks the first major opening in a total redesign of the zoo that will group species by their native regions of the world. Omaha is a shining example of where zoo exhibits are heading, said Rob Vernon, spokesman for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The Africa area is going to be incredible. African Grasslands is designed to immerse visitors in a savanna landscape, a perfect canvas for the regions most recognizable animals. Zoos around the world are gravitating toward these types of exhibits, and Omahas is one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind, Vernon said. Creating a sense of immersion took years of patience, flexibility and orchestration. It began with a mock-up. In 2010 the zoo released its 15-year master plan, which included a tentative model for the African Grasslands. Ground was broken for the project two years ago. Construction workers built animal storage buildings the largest of which, for elephants, measures 29,000 square feet and sank those buildings into the earth, building up shrub-covered berms to hide the behemoths from view. Some were tucked away down hills or around corners. Crews painted buildings and fences brown so theyd blend in. They blended real rocks with artificial ones. They planted trees and shrubs to cover back fences, so that when visitors look out, they dont see the BNSF Railway in the distance or the administrative buildings under the aquarium they just see the animals and plenty of green. If we do this all right, you dont notice that weve gone to this extra effort, said Dennis Pate, the zoos CEO and executive director, but you notice that the giraffes look really good. To pay for the project, the zoo financed most of the $73 million cost with private donations. In fall 2014 the Omaha Zoo Foundation started a campaign, Raise Wild, to solicit the remaining $5 million needed for the project, offering naming rights, engraved giraffe hoof prints and more. Donor Bill Cenovic said the project was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give back to the zoo. He remembers fishing off the lagoon bridge with his grandparents as a child back when it was still Riverview Park, and he relishes the moments he has spent with his children, Jack and Claire, at the zoo, teaching them about the animals while pushing their stroller. When the zoo started raising money for this project, Cenovic offered to help, donating enough to name an exhibit. He let Jack and Claire, 13 and 11, pick what they wanted to name; they chose the African pygmy goat kraal, or enclosure, and dad put his kids names on it instead of his own. Its just a major impact for the community and for the region and for the area, Cenovic said. The travelers and the kids that come through there can get a window into the world. Its tremendous. Donor Dr. Stan Truhlsen (African Lodge) said he wanted to give back to one of the prime cultural spots in the city. A monetary contribution, donor Syd Cate (Giraffe Herd Room) said, is an expression of thanks for a community that has been so good to me. The project covers a huge section of the zoo, stretching from the south end to its farthest-east point. Before construction, the area housed addax, red river hogs, bongo, giraffes, black-footed penguins, Grevys zebras, gazelles, sable antelope, cheetahs and rhinos. The zoo moved most of those species to other zoos, places within Omahas zoo or the Simmons Safari Park in Ashland for temporary holding during construction. It had to shift around animals to keep some, such as giraffes and rhinos, at the zoo, while building the other exhibits. Moving those animals proved tricky. The zoo had a young giraffe, LoLo, and didnt want to crate the animal without its mother. So it did what few zoos do: trained the giraffes to walk across the sidewalk from their old building into their new one. It took two months, the giraffes progressing just a step or two a day down a fenced walkway, baited by dangling branches full of leaves. Giraffes are panicky creatures, fearful of change, but with time, they came across. Now that construction is complete, zookeepers have had to do it all over again. Theyve been training giraffes to go back across the visitor sidewalk from their overnight barn into their new yard, which theyll share with white rhinos, impalas, ostriches, spur-winged geese and white storks. This time the process is going much more quickly. The giraffes have been able to watch from the side yard in their new barn while the entire African Grasslands has come into form, so theyre more familiar with their surroundings and are less hesitant to move. Keepers are training almost every animal in the African Grasslands to go into its exhibit every morning and come back to its holding barn at night even little birds like guinea fowl. Were afraid if we leave them out overnight theyre going to get picked off by hawks and owls, Pate said. So were training them to respond to a whistle so they can go back in the barn at night. In the African Grasslands, there will be two yards where multiple species will share a space together, just as they would in the wild. The zoo is slowly introducing those animals to one another. Predators and prey wont live together, but its still tricky getting animals comfortable with strangers. They dont know if theyre going to be eaten or if everything is going to be OK, because none of these giraffe, I believe, have seen a rhinoceros before, Pate said. We want to show them a rhinoceros first and show them that theyre pretty easygoing. At first the rhinos will be isolated in an area sectioned off by electric cattle wire, just to be sure the species get gradually acquainted. Across the path, elephants will also have a separate yard, but Pate said the zoo will try to let them intermingle with zebras, impalas and guinea fowl sooner than later. While construction moved forward, the zoos curators assembled a collection of 22 species of animals for the exhibit, including several that were already at the zoo, but also some newcomers. Helmeted guinea fowl, pink-backed pelican and impala are all making their debut at the zoo, while elephants, zebras, white-faced whistling ducks and African spurred tortoises are returning to the zoo after some time away. Theres kind of a different story with (acquiring) every one, said Dan Cassidy, the zoos general curator. One bongo breeder promised a breeding-age bull to the zoo, then forgot about it and sold the animal to another institution. Four pink-backed pelicans are still waiting to clear quarantine. And, of course, there were the elephants, which arrived from Swaziland in March after some resistance from animal-rights groups. But now the collection is assembled, the exhibits are complete and the grand opening is ready. An official ribbon-cutting will be Friday at 10:30 a.m. This will mark the finish line of the African Grasslands, but Pate still wont say its completely done. In a few years the sea lions, which mark the northeast edge of the African Grasslands, will get a new exhibit of their own elsewhere in the zoo. Pate already has his eye on their pool as a spot to put another African Grasslands display. It could be wild dogs, could be hippos, could be another antelope species, could be crocodiles, could be a primate species, could be lots of things it could be an aviary, he said. We havent given it any thought because were just focused on getting done what we promised we would. 58K Shares Share The following is paraphrased documentation, authored by a physician I know, regarding an intoxicated patient in the ER: 1 a.m.: Patient is telling nurse, Before I leave, I need everyones name for my lawsuit. Tell the phlebotomist that if hes good, hell get a cut. 1:40 a.m.: Patient is making inappropriate sexual comments and is verbally aggressive with medical staff. He is advised to stay in bed. 2:02 a.m.: Patient (who had been sleeping comfortably) wakes up and begins screaming obscenities at everyone. When a nurse asks why he was angry, he says, What do you think, mother f*****? I will wipe your a**. Multiple attempts to calm patient fail. I will stop here, because the insulting language, obscene physical gestures, and eventual threats of physical abuse only become more vulgar and inappropriate. The attending recorded in the chart, word for word, the things that spewed from the patients mouth and, eventually, when he became physically aggressive, called the crisis team who came and restrained the patient. The story was shared with me by one of the residents who had witnessed the entire discourse, and we laughed about the absurdity of some of the drunken babble. We also smiled in speaking about the state of mind of the doc who documented the conversation so meticulously in the chart. She must have just had it with the abuse and decided she was going to permanently record all the nonsense in the EMR. As I sat by myself, thinking about the somewhat comical story, I realized that it really was not funny at all. This is the status quo. Health care professionals deal with patients like the one above every day. The verbal abuse and physical threats are so common that we have settled in to just trying to find some humor in them. This type of abuse is not unique to the health care field, but the difference is that you cannot just stop treating your abuser. You have to make sure he or she gets better. You cannot fire a patient in an ER who would die in the street if you kicked him out. Every doc or nurse has an anecdote in which they have been spit on, urinated on, cursed at, assaulted, or threatened. In the medical world, we do not talk a lot about this aspect of our training and experience. Incoming residents have no idea that, along with their medical education, they will be getting a pedagogy in dealing with some seriously aggressive personalities. Whether it is a drunk patient in the ED, an angry family member, or the overtly psychotic patient on the psych ward, being on guard becomes second nature. I remember one resident laughing hysterically as he described an enraged patient using the TV remote as weapon against his caretakers, swinging it in circles like a lasso. Or the time a family member broke into the medical lounge and attempted to physically intimidate a resident into changing a medical plan for a dying patient in the ICU. I have seen female trainees and attendings cat-called, harassed (both physically and verbally), and made to feel unsafe by the people they care for. It is tough to diagnose and treat someone when you cannot put your hands on them without fear of a violation of personal space. This is medicine. There is so much beauty in the patient-doctor relationship and so much that I could say about the wonderful people whom I have learned from and loved while they were under my care. But, like anything else in life, medicine has a dark side that we rarely discuss with people outside of the field. With an increasing percentage of doctors feeling unappreciated, abused, and depressed, maybe it is time to share the whole story. P.S. God bless nurses, who deal with this stuff even more often than docs do. Ahmad Yousaf is an internal medicine physician who blogs at Insights on Residency Training, a part of NEJM Journal Watch. Image credit: Shutterstock.com contributed photos East Bremerton Rotary Club members stand in front of a new commercial refrigerator with Bremerton Foodline Executive Director Kim Faulkner. SHARE Naval Hospital Bremerton 2015 Sailor of the Year, Junior Sailor of the Year and Blue Jacket of the Year were recognized by the Navy League of the United States Bremerton/Olympic Council. Shown are Tim Katona (from left), council president; Capt. David Weiss, Naval Hospital Bremerton commanding officer; Jerry Currier, holding the award for Sailor of the Year Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Bradley Jr. (unable to attend); Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Spangler, Junior Sailor of the Year; and Hospitalman Tryzon Valencia, Blue Jacket of the Year. COMMUNITY Rotary funds help update food banks Three local food banks received major upgrades in May thanks to a project involving five Kitsap and North Mason Rotary clubs. The clubs together raised more than $12,000, and combined the funds with a $10,500 grant secured in a competitive process from Rotary District 5020, which includes Western Washington and British Columbia. The donation paid for a new commercial freezer at North Mason Foodline, a new commercial refrigerator at Bremerton Foodline and a complete electrical upgrade to South Kitsap Helpline's facility. Members of the Rotary clubs in Bremerton, East Bremerton, South Kitsap, Port Orchard and North Mason raised the money and contributed volunteer labor at all three food banks, including removing old equipment and prepping each facility for the upgrades. The clubs also held "fill the fridge" events on Wednesday at each food bank to celebrate the installations and donate needed items. Foundation raises money for BISD Bainbridge Schools Foundation presented the Bainbridge School Board with a check for $545,406 on May 12. This is the first check toward a total contribution of $833,000 this year. All students in the Bainbridge Island School District will benefit from the support of BSF during their K-12 career. The foundation raised funds during the 2015-16 school year through the fall Clickathon campaign, the annual gala auction dinner, the spring campaign and through partnerships with several corporate sponsors. The funds provide professional development for teachers, academic support and intervention and support innovative programs like the K-4 Design and Engineering program and Edible Education in partnership with EduCulture. Clear Creek RV honored as inclusive employer Vadis, a nonprofit organization that works with people with disabilities, has named Clear Creek RV its 2015 Kitsap County Employer of the Year. The award honors the company's dedication to inclusive employment. Clear Creek RV has been working with Vadis since 2014 to offer employment to people with disabilities. Vadis honored Clear Creek's commitment with a plaque presentation on May 19 at Clear Creek RV, 11572 Clear Creek Road NW, in Silverdale. Jacob, a Vadis client, has worked at the facility since it was known as A1 RV. "They enabled Jacob to have his dream job, working with RVs," said Deanna Wentz, vice president of program services. Clear Creek RV owners are Paul Gurtler and Jim Fisher. Since 1979, Vadis has focused on needs of businesses and helped them find the right job candidate to meet those needs. Vadis is in King, Pierce, Kitsap, Thurston and Mason counties. Humane Society elects new board president The Kitsap Humane Society (KHS) recently elected David Sanders as the organization's president of the board of directors. Sanders is the executive vice president at Casey Family Programs in Seattle, responsible for its public policy work. He first joined KHS' board of directors in January 2014. He brings extensive senior level administrative experience in local government and in balancing complex budgets. Sanders is replacing Scott Menard, a retired teacher, who served KHS as its board president for two years. Menard stepped down from his position after serving his full term but is still a member of the board and a weekly volunteer at the shelter as an adoption counselor. Foundation awards grants, scholarships Kitsap Community Foundation recently awarded grants to 26 county nonprofits through its annual competitive grant process. The foundation received 63 grant applications requesting $250,000 in funding. The foundation was able to award $100,000 in grants. Scholarships also went to local students, ranging from $950 to $1,000. Recipients are: Alan & Ellen Newberg Scholarships ($1,000): Bryn Porter and Jin Chang (University of Washington), Dezerae Hamblin (Olympic College), Calvin Beddoe (North Kitsap High School) Charles and Dorothy Martell Family Music Scholarship ($1,000): Liam Near (Kingston High School & West Sound Academy) Fred and Marvel Hill Scholarship ($980): Kasey Stenman (North Kitsap High School) Kitsap Childrens Musical Theatre Scholarship ($1,000): Jackson Tucker and Morgan Kathryn Goodfellow (North Kitsap High School) Nova Group Engineering or Construction Management Scholarship ($1,000): Rebecca Darrow (North Kitsap High School) Nicole (Lyle) Tranilla Memorial Scholarship ($500): Madison Largey (Central Kitsap High School) Marie A Barker Teaching Scholarship ($1,000): Deanndra McDonald LETTER OF THANKS Thanks for a successful run The Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation would like to thank participants, volunteers and sponsors for helping to make the inaugural Trillium Trail 10K a fantastic success! Over 200 runners and walkers turned out May 7 for this fun run benefiting the Parks Foundation. While officially an untimed race, we want to give a shout out to our record holders: Ryan Cox (men's) at 40:06 and Fuxia Stankus (women's) at 51:11. Congratulations to you both! We also offer a special thanks to the 30-plus volunteers who helped make this event possible. From marking the course to registering participants and handing out water, our volunteers made sure everyone had a seamless and enjoyable experience! Furthermore, we thank our fantastic sponsors for providing an array of prizes to make outdoor play even more fun! The Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that has been quietly awarding grants for small parks-related capital projects for over 15 years. An expanded board and first-time staff are now increasing the role of this nonprofit, actively lining up projects to improve our parks and a connective network of island trails. BIPF is also facilitating the acquisition of new trails to expand the island trail system. Yours for thriving parks! Barb Trafton, Executive Director Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation Have an item for Good for you? Email sunnews@kitsapsun.com. SHARE By Ed Palm Donald Trump's determination to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border reminds me of something I heard some wag of a comedian say long ago. Citing Michael J. Fox and other Canadian performers who have made millions in America, this comedian suggested that we're guarding the wrong border. I was reminded of that crack last week. I ran into a young friend who is thinking of seeking his fortune in Canada. "I've always felt at home there," he told me. To his credit, he's not planning to leave in a fit of pique should Trump get elected as Miley Cyrus, Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Cher and at least five other celebrities are threatening to do. Frankly, count me among those who think that a Trump presidency would be a disaster. But any number of threatened high-profile defections would not diminish Trump's prospects. As George Packer writes in the May 16 issue of The New Yorker, "the ideology that has gripped (the Republican) Party since the late nineteen-seventies anti-government, pro-business, nominally pious has little appeal for millions of ordinary Republicans." "Middle-aged white working-class" Americans, Packer observes, have suffered "as much as any demographic group" due to "globalization, low-wage immigrant labor, and free trade." This group is not likely to mourn the loss of anyone who has made it big in America. And therein lies a key distinction. As Packer points out, Trump has replaced the Republican Party's "conservative orthodoxy" with a "dangerous" appeal to "white identity politics." But that appeal is certainly not what motivates my young friend. As The New York Times reported in 2012, researchers have found that America lags behind "Canada and much of Western Europe" in upward mobility. We've all heard and read the news reports about how the children of the middle class, by and large, are not likely to get as far in life as their parents have gotten. Given the current state of our nation, I can hardly blame young people for trying their luck in Canada. Those without sought-after college degrees or skilled trades may be disappointed to find their job prospects no better in Canada than here, but basic health care is guaranteed, racial harmony is greater and gun violence is less. But that's how I look at it today. Like most Americans of the fabled baby-boom generation, I was nurtured in the mythos of America and couldn't understand why anyone would consider leaving. That's how I looked at it in 1964 when a family in my neighborhood opted to move to Canada. The Kleins lived across the street from my uncle and aunt. They were still in their thirties and had two small children. Mrs. Klein was a stay-at-home homemaker. Mr. Klein was an executive with Atlas Chemical, an early multinational corporation. I used to see him coming home nattily dressed in a coat and tie a rarity in our working-class neighborhood. Looking back on it, I believe two events moved the Kleins toward expatriation. My uncle, who had become a father figure to Mr. Klein, died suddenly of a heart attack. Not long after that, President Kennedy was assassinated, and within two days, his assassin was murdered. Only those of us of a certain age understand how the events of that terrible weekend in November 1963 shook our faith in America. Still, it came as a shock when Mr. Klein the following summer announced that he had accepted a transfer to his company's Canadian division and that he and his family were not intending to come back. I never heard how the Kleins were faring in Canada, or whether they ever returned to America. But I suspect that Vietnam and Watergate may have gone a long way toward convincing them they had made the right move. nnn A coda on globalization and free trade: It occurs to me that in citing globalization and free trade as elements of Republican orthodoxy Packer has been unfair. Democrats and Republicans alike have supported both but for characteristically different reasons. Republicans support moving jobs overseas to lower labor costs and to increase profits. Democrats cloak it in idealism. They assume we're all locked into a global economy and that improving the standard of living in developing countries will ultimately benefit us in that the people there, in turn, will buy our goods. The old cliche about a rising tide raising all ships applies. Witness Obama's recent support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, for instance. The truth of the matter, however, is that water seeks its own level. While marginally improving the standard of living in the developing world, international trade agreements such as NAFTA have brought ours down. Two of my uncles, for instance, never graduated from high school but still managed to raise their families while working in factories. Those days are long gone, and both parties are all wet. SHARE By the Kitsap Sun Editorial Board We may not do everything exactly right in Washington when it comes to elections witness the failure to move our primary up to the more relevant month of March or the Democratic Party's insistence on using the antiquated caucus process to allocate delegates for its presidential nomination. But with the period for candidates to file for office having concluded Friday and the state's presidential primary closing on Tuesday, it's time to note the benefit to democracy from our process that allows ballots to be distributed and submitted by mail, an experiment that debuted in the early 1990s and went to all-mail in 2012. Seems about time the rest of the country could learn from our successful experience, and use our example to give voters a ballot in hand so a decision can be made on a person's own schedule, or eliminate complaints about disenfranchisement by forcing folks to stand in line all day long at a polling place. The mail-in election's success is worth noting before the May 24 primary, with preliminary numbers again a testament. Even in a contest where only one name of three on the ballot for the Republican party remains in the race and the Democrats aren't even considering the primary total in assigning delegates (the Bernie-Hillary split comes from caucus results), people are still participating. The Secretary of State is forecasting more than 1.5 million votes will be cast statewide, and Kitsap County turnout could top 30 percent. To us that's remarkable given the inevitably of a Donald Trump-Hillary Clinton matchup that's been decided by primaries in other states over the past three months. But as Dave Ammons from the Secretary of State's Office told us this week, "Obviously, voters don't see this as unimportant." What an omen this is for the potential participation in November's contest, when we'll select a president, governor, state legislators, a county commissioner and local judges. The Kitsap County Auditor's office deserves a nod for adding two drop-boxes for ballots in South Kitsap this year. That gives the county nine locations where a ballot may be cast anytime before 8 p.m. on Tuesday, which is important in a day and age when not all keep postage stamps on hand. Having enough centrally located drop sites helps the system run smoothly. (Find a list of sites at www.kitsapgov.com/aud.) Politics is messy, particularly this time around, it seems, and the mudslinging between candidates or frustration with a system that seems to change very slowly can turn voters off. Take solace that our state's system of voting by mail helps keep more of us involved moving to earlier primaries that count for both parties would enhance that prospect in Washington, we'll note and it would be nice to see more states adopt the model. Presidential primary ballots are due Tuesday, and stay tuned as our local races officially begin this week. Our democracy depends on all of us taking part. The Kitsap Sun editorial board is Editor David Nelson; Opinion Editor emeritus Jim Campbell; and community members Martha Burke, Susanne Hughes, Bart Kale, Drayton Jackson and Jim Stark. SHARE We must frankly face the fact that the front-runners in both political parties represent a new low, at a time of domestic polarization and unprecedented nuclear dangers internationally. This year's general election will offer a choice between a thoroughly corrupt liar and an utterly irresponsible egomaniac. The Republican establishment, whose serial betrayals of their supporters created the setting for a Donald Trump to arise, must now decide how best to deal with the apparent inevitability of his candidacy. Choosing among various unpalatable options may require some tricky maneuvering on their part, but they have been used to tricky maneuvering before, which is how they find themselves in this predicament in the first place. Apparently some Republican leaders have opted to try to make the best of a bad situation by creating at least the illusion of party "unity" going into this year's elections. But the toxic image of Donald Trump can follow the Republicans repeatedly in future elections. The careers of young Republicans are especially at risk of acquiring an indelible stain by being associated with Trump, much as Marco Rubio may never live down his association with Senator Chuck Schumer's attempt to create bipartisan amnesty. The smart money says that, when all is said and done, Republican voters are going to have to vote for Trump. If they stay home, that is the same as voting for Hillary Clinton. As former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich put it, Hillary Clinton in the White House means a Supreme Court packed with justices who will undermine the Constitution for decades to come. He has a point but not necessarily a decisive point. Seeing the freedom for which generations of Americans have fought and died eroded away by judicial sophistry in the coming years is certainly a grim prospect. But nuclear annihilation is one of the few prospects that are even worse and a man with a runaway egomania may not have the finesse or the depth to steer through troubled international waters that include a nuclear Iran and a nuclear North Korea. If a man in his sixties has not yet matured, he is unlikely to grow up in his seventies. This is not a question about whether Donald Trump is as evil as Hillary Clinton. He may well be the proverbial "lesser of the two evils" in that sense, and yet be the more dangerous President to have in the White House. Some have argued that a President Trump could surround himself with experienced and savvy advisers to cover for his own shallow understanding of many national and international issues. But Barack Obama has already shown us that a headstrong egomaniac can ignore even unanimous advice from military advisers. That is how he pulled troops out of Iraq and set the stage for ISIS. Those of us who are far more concerned about the fate of this country than about the fate of the Republican party face far tougher questions than how to get through this year's election. Some people are said to be thinking about a third-party candidate. Desperate times may call for desperate measures. But if such a desperate choice is made, a third party has virtually no chance of electing its candidate. The most a third party could hope for would be to take enough votes from both Democrats and Republicans to deny either party's candidate a victory in the Electoral College. That would throw the election of the President of the United States into the House of Representatives. No one knows who would then become President. But it would be hard to find someone worse than either Hillary or Trump. The very fact that we are left with such desperate options is not only a rebuke to the professional politicians, but also a painful revelation about the voting public. Immediately after electing a President with virtually no track record, on the basis of rhetoric and symbolism, and seeing disaster after disaster during his administration, many are now prepared to do the same thing all over again. More than two centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson said, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." If so, can people who cannot be bothered to look up from their electronic devices expect to remain a free people? Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His website is www.tsowell.com. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Syrian refugees fleeing war in their country are being met with resistance in some parts of the United States. SHARE Destination Imagination, a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching students the creative process through hands-on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics as well as social entrepreneurship challenges, will present their solutions to trained appraisers at Global Finals 2016 beginning Wednesday at the Knoxville Convention Center. The event lasts through Saturday evening. For a complete schedule of events, visit globalfinals.org/schedule. The Tennessee Small Business Development Center is hosting the following events at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce: Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., small business startup workshop; June 3 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., proposal writing interactive workshop. A fourth workshop will be held June 2 at the Roane County Chamber of Commerce in Kingston from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The topic will be on effective marketing. The events are free, but registration is required. To register, call 865-483-2668 or email jbangs@tsbdc.org Registration is open for the annual Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit, held June 1-2 in Cookeville. Leaders need to register by Monday to attend. The summit will be held on the campus of Tennessee Tech University and focuses on the role entrepreneurs provide in turning the brain power and technologies from the region's universities and federal programs into new business startups and the expansion of existing businesses. For more information visit www.TennValleyCorridor.org or email jwiggins@akinsps.com. SHARE Janet Brewer Benita Claiborne (right) Lane Fox Kelci Frederick Janet Brewer has been named senior vice president and chief communications and marketing officer for TVA. She has served as vice president of communications since joining TVA in 2012. BB&T has named Benita Claiborne, a community bank cluster market leader IV, as a Sterling Performer. Claiborne is based at BB&T's financial center at 109 Associates Blvd. The Sterling designation is awarded to the top BB&T sales producers for their respective divisions. Sevier County Bank named R. Lane Fox as senior vice president and director of information technology. Fox, who joined Sevier County Bank in 2015 after spending 12 years as head of IT for the Bank Currituck in Currituck, N.C., will oversee the bank's information systems, including maintaining the ongoing confidentiality and integrity of bank operations and customer information data. Kelci Frederick recently joined The Trust Company as a trust assistant. Previously, she worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority and Regions Bank. Joshalyn Hundley has joined First Tennessee as vice president and community development manager for Knox and Blount counties and the Tri-Cities in East Tennessee. Hundley will facilitate relationships with community development organizations and nonprofits within the region to identify lending, investment, and service opportunities that contribute to First Tennessee's Community Reinvestment Act strategic goals. Rhett Lankford has joined FTB Advisors, which delivers investment products and services and is part of the First Tennessee family of companies. Lankford is vice president and financial adviser, providing advice, guidance and education on retirement planning and investment and insurance products and services. Shawn McLeod has been named branch manager of Axle Logistics' office in downtown Knoxville. McLeod will be responsible for leading and sustaining all of the branch's sales and client service operations, including developing relationships with prospective customers, negotiating with carriers, and mentoring staff to ensure the company's performance and service standards are being met and are consistent. The East Tennessee Women's Leadership Council announced that Phyllis Nichols will receive the Lizzie Crozier French Leadership Award. Nichols is president and chief executive officer of the Knoxville Area Urban League. The East Tennessee Women's Leadership Council will present The Lizzie to Nichols on June 10 at the Summit. Donathan Cassidy, Regina Lewis and Kim Rosenbalm have joined Pinnacle Financial Partners' mortgage team. Cassidy is a senior vice president and mortgage adviser at the Emory Road office. He most recently worked for Farm Credit Mid-America. Lewis is a mortgage adviser assistant who recently worked at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Rosenbalm is a mortgage adviser assistant. Both are based at Pinnacle's Northshore office. Designsensory has hired Jamie Stewart as a media planner and Samantha Smoak as a public relations specialist. Stewart most recent worked at an integrated marketing firm in Nashville. Smoak is a recent graduate of the University of Tennessee who has been building professional experience at nonprofits, news organizations and marketing agencies. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has selected the Tennova Center for Advanced Orthopedics at Physicians Regional Medical Center as a Blue Distinction Center for spine surgery as well as a Blue Distinction Center Plus for knee and hip replacement surgery. Blue Distinction centers are nationally designated health care facilities shown to deliver improved patient safety and better health outcomes. Wood Properties, Inc., recently awarded brokers Brad Blackwell, George Brown and Mike Fuller the top sales and leasing awards for 2015. SHARE The Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont will hold an open house from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday to kick off the bird-banding season. Tremont and the Citizen Science Association are hosting the event as part of a month-long national celebration of citizen science. Bird banding is one of the Tremont Institute's most popular citizen science programs because it offers the rare opportunity to glimpse wild birds up close. Nets will be set up around the Tremont campus as part of a research project studying the Louisiana waterthrush. Tremont faculty members will collect birds from the nets, record the information, band the birds and then release them. In addition to the bird banding station, volunteers will be on site to share information about other research projects happening at Tremont and how anyone can become a citizen scientist. Citizen science projects include salamander monitoring, monarch butterfly tagging, otter spotting and more. The Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont is in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near the park's Townsend entrance. Tiffany Beachy, Tremont's citizen science coordinator, said the bird banding project targets the Louisiana waterthrush because it's a species of warbler that requires rivers and streams to breed and forage. "Many of our hemlocks are along streams, so we're investigating whether the decline of this tree species due to the exotic hemlock wooly adelgid is having an impact on breeding populations of the Louisiana waterthrush," Beachy said. There is no charge for the Tremont bird-banding event, and no registration is necessary. For more information, call 865-448-9732, ext. 14, or email: heather@gsmit.org. Sarma Melngailis allegedly stole $2 million from her popular vegan restaurant Pure Food and Wine. (Photo: Erica Allen/francispearl.com via the New York Post) SHARE Anthony Strangis (Photo via The New York Post) By News Sentinel staff A restaurateur described as New York City's "hottest vegan" was arrested in a Sevier County hotel last week after being "on the lam" for 10 months. Sarma Melngailis and her husband Anthony Strangis, which the New York Post called the "foodie fugitives," were arrested after law enforcement officers learned of their whereabouts in Tennessee through a pizza delivery to their Sevierville hotel, where they had been for 40 days. Melngailis, who has an Ivy League degree and model looks, owned the trendy vegan restaurant, Pure Food and Wine in New York, frequented by celebrities Alec Baldwin, Woody Harrelson and Bill Clinton. Melngailis and Strangis, a 275-pound alleged gambling addict with a criminal record, are accused of stealing some $2 million from her restaurant company to splurge on Rolex watches, lavish European vacations and trips to casinos, the Post reported. Among the 24 charges the couple face are grand larceny, tax fraud and scheming to defraud for not paying ex-employees. Now back in New York and in jail at Riker's Island, Melngailis said the conditions there, at least, are better than the jail in Sevierville. She told the Post she was held in a cell with no windows and was forced to sleep on the floor. Melngailis educated the other inmates about veganism and healthy eating while being held in Tennessee, she told the newspaper. Continue reading at The New York Post. SHARE Jeremy Durham - 65th District By Tom Humphrey of the Knoxville News Sentinel NASHVILLE Embattled state Rep. Jeremy Durham has brought criminal trespass charges against Cari Wade Gervin, a reporter for the Nashville Scene weekly newspaper, contending she tried to enter his Franklin home while seeking an interview. In an affidavit, the Republican lawmaker contends Gervin on Tuesday evening "attempted to enter the residence over multiple objections and demands" from Durham and his wife, Jessica, that she leave. "The Durhams were able to physically prevent Ms. Gervin's body from completely entering the residence. However, Ms. Gervin then placed her foot in the doorway, preventing the door from closing," says the affidavit, posted by former state Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, on his Facebook page. When the door was subsequently closed, the affidavit says, Gervin "remained in the front yard of the property for another 5-10 minutes." The Scene, quoting Gervin, gave a somewhat differing account of the encounter. "When Gervin rang the doorbell of Durham's residence shortly after 8 p.m. and subsequently introduced herself, the representative screamed at her to leave his property and tried to grab her cellphone out of her hand. Soon after, because Gervin had momentarily partially stepped onto his threshold during the altercation, Durham called the police to report that she was 'criminally trespassing,' " the Scene said. Durham called police, and Gervin waited on the street in front of the residence for the arrival of three Franklin officers and then talked with two of them while apparently recording the conversation, according to the Scene account. She was then allowed to leave, with police telling her there would be an investigation. From the Scene story: " 'Here's the situation. I've got two witnesses that said you tried to cross the threshold of a house uninvited,' (police Sgt. Todd) Stamper said. 'By state law, that is criminal trespass. Doesn't matter if you're a journalist, doesn't matter if he's a public official. Does not matter.' " Gervin is quoted as saying in her 14-year career of reporting, "I have never been physically intimidated in this manner by anyone, much less by an elected public official." The summons to Williamson County General Sessions Court that accompanied Durham's affidavit indicates no court date has been set on the misdemeanor charge. Gervin, who previously worked in Knoxville for Metro Pulse, no longer published, said in a text message that she had been advised not to further discuss the episode while charges are pending. Campfield's Facebook posting of the Durham affidavit includes criticism of her past reporting on his activities. The Scene story says Gervin was trying to question Durham, who took a two-week leave of absence from the Legislature in February, about entries in his latest campaign finance disclosure that "suggest he was spending a lot of time away from treatment" that the legislator reportedly was seeking while accused of sexually harassing women and engaged in "apparent campaigning" instead. Gervin said Durham had previously refused to return her phone calls and had sent her a text message asking her not to contact him. The episode came during a week when Breitbart News, a national news website with staunchly conservative leanings, ran a couple of stories questioning whether the investigation of Durham by state Attorney General Herbert Slatery's office, requested by House Speaker Beth Harwell, is legally authorized under Tennessee's state constitution and state law. State Rep. Rick Womick, R-Rockvale, has requested a formal opinion from Slatery on the legal validity of the investigation. State Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mount Juliet, told the online publication she believes the investigation is inappropriate and could lead to more support next year for her efforts to have the attorney general elected by popular vote rather than being appointed by the state Supreme Court. Pamela England straightens the wine section at the Kroger grocery store Friday in Gallatin, Tenn. The store became one of the first grocers in the state to stock shelves with wine, although customers won't be able to purchase it until July 1. (LARRY MCCORMACK/ THE TENNESSEAN) By Joel Ebert And Lizzy Alfs, USA TODAY NETWORK The Tennessean A major change to Tennessee's liquor laws that will allow grocery stores to sell wine in six weeks has retailers, distributors and the state's Alcoholic Beverage Commission scrambling to prepare. Kroger became one of the first grocers in the state this week to stock some of its shelves with wine putting thousands of bottles on display although customers still won't be able to purchase it until July 1 when the new law takes effect. The commission has approved more than 250 applications so far for grocery stores wanting to sell wine. But the ABC still has nearly 200 more to go, meaning the agency will need to average about seven a day between now and July 1 and that's if the commission receives no more requests. On top of that, some retailers have found the application process and the mountain of paperwork a major hurdle, one that could keep them from being ready on time. The state application forms involve about 18 documents, many of them multipage, that must be filled out for each store that is going to sell wine, said Bill Weigel, the CEO of Knoxville-based Weigel's Stores Inc. Sign up for our free email newsletters. Get headlines in your inbox. Kroger's stores are among the 251 applications already granted conditional approval by the ABC to sell wine. Of those, 72 are for Kroger stores in Middle and East Tennessee and 34 in West Tennessee. Food Lion, Publix and Walmart are among other retailers that have received conditional approval for specific stores. "Wine has been one of the most requested items in our stores for years, so I think we're going to see a lot of interest," Kroger spokeswoman Melissa Eads said. Jonathan Rowlett is one of those customers who will likely take advantage of the new law. "It's a good idea," the Gallatin, Tenn., resident said. "I'm not going to rush in to get it once it's on sale, but it will be nice to have and it's convenient for customers." The onslaught of paperwork comes after the ABC started accepting applications for grocers to sell wine in January. Issuing the licenses is a critical step in enacting the wine-in-grocery-stores legislation that lawmakers approved in 2014 after seven years of debate. Between May 11 and Friday, the commission received 29 additional applications. In the same time period, 136 applications were given approval. To be able to sell wine, a grocer needs to take a variety of steps, including designating managers who can place orders for alcohol. They must also provide the commission material such as tax returns and sales tax information and proof that they own or lease the property, according to Joshua Stepp, an attorney for the commission. As of Friday, no applications had been rejected. Publix spokeswoman Brenda Reid said the company's 39 stores in Tennessee will sell wine, but the grocer has not yet started stocking its shelves. "We have fully trained all of our managers who are going to be responsible for our wine sales program," Reid said. "We are right on target with being ready and prepared and trained." Kroger was able to display wine early, thanks to legislation approved in March to allow grocers to place orders with wholesalers and start stocking ahead of July 1. The move was necessary because of concerns that wide interest from retailers could slow distribution for months. On Wednesday, Rob Ikard, president of the Tennessee Grocers and Convenience Store Association, praised the ABC's handling of applications so far. "Since they've started approving them they've turned these around as quickly as we think they can," he said. Ikard said some issues have delayed retailers from completing their applications. He said some local governments have been slow to provide retailers a necessary certificate. A requirement that managers undergo training, which only recently began, also has delayed some retailers as they worked to complete applications. Ultimately, Ikard said he is pleased with the way the ABC has handled the entire process. In late April, the three-member commission, which had been in charge of processing and approving all applications, transferred approval authority to Executive Director Ginna Winfree. Winfree stepped into the position on an interim basis in late March after then-executive director Keith Bell abruptly resigned. Although the reasons for Bell's departure remain unclear, some worried the timing could complicate the rollout of the new law. Further complicating matters, Winfree is expected to join Nashville-based law firm Gullett Sanford Robinson and Martin, a firm with several attorneys and lobbyists who work on alcohol-related issues. Winfree was set to join the law firm in April but is still serving as interim executive director of the commission. While it is unclear whether she will remain in her position until July 1, the agenda for the ABC's May 24 meeting includes the appointment of a new executive director. Winfree did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Tennessean. ASSOCIATED PRESS Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally on May 6 in Eugene, Ore. Trump won the Republican presidential primary in Oregon, adding another state to the presumptive GOP nominee's tally of victories. SHARE Sell your Adam Smith ties, everybody, and smash your busts of Ronald Reagan. It's all over. Why? Because we have entered a new era of "nationalism," or "patriotism," or simply "Trumpism," and the GOP will never be a traditionally and ideologically conservative party ever again. That seems to be the conclusion of a vast and growing number of prominent conservative commentators who are sure that Donald Trump has changed, or destroyed, conservatism forever. Type "The Republican Party is Dead" or "GOP R.I.P." into a search engine and you'll get a sense of how far and wide this notion has spread. Consider the inestimable Peggy Noonan, writing from the Olympian heights of the Wall Street Journal. She is increasingly adamant that Trump has ushered in a grand new era, a kind of Year Zero for the American right. The once-conservative masses no longer want to hear about liberty or freedom they want to be "protected" by government, Noonan wrote in February. As Trump solidified his power, Noonan set about to shoot the wounded. "Those conservative writers and thinkers who have for nine months warned the base that Mr. Trump is not a conservative should consider the idea that a large portion of the Republican base no longer sees itself as conservative," she wrote last month. A week later, Noonan again castigated anti-Trump forces in Washington. She insinuated that the Beltway elitists opposed to Trump seek to rebuild a post-Trump GOP as "a neoconservative, functionally open-borders, slash-the-entitlements party." That won't happen, she insists, because "centers of gravity are shifting. The new Republican Party will not be rebuilt and re-formed in (the tony D.C. suburb) McLean, it will be rebuilt or re-formed in Massapequa (the Long Island suburb made famous by Joey Buttafuoco)." Looking past the uncharacteristically weak and unfair snipes, this is somewhat amusing, given where Noonan works. The Wall Street Journal arguably America's best newspaper, by the way is editorially closer to "open borders" than any other mainstream outlet. Its position on entitlements is even more stridently and more correctly in favor of major reform, as was Noonan not long ago. The term "slash" is beneath her, given that this is the sort of irresponsible left-wing rhetoric she once decried. Which gets me closer to my real point. A few years ago, Noonan lionized another populist movement. "Here is a great virtue of the tea party: They know what time it is. It's getting late," Noonan wrote. "If we don't get the size and cost of government in line now, we won't be able to. We're teetering on the brink of some vast, dark new world states and cities on the brink of bankruptcy, the federal government too. The issue isn't 'big spending' anymore. It's ruinous spending that they fear will end America as we know it, as they promised it to their children." The point here isn't to criticize Noonan, of whom I am a fan (though I have profound disagreements with her of late). Again, she is hardly alone in claiming that Trump represents a welcome break from conservative ideas as we've known them ideas I once associated Noonan with. We can debate whether the New Thinking is good or bad. But we can all agree that one of the lessons of the Trump moment is that the conventional wisdom can change in an instant. And yet to listen to Trump's biggest media cheerleaders, most of them in that populist heartland of New York City, the new conventional wisdom will go on and on forever. As George Orwell noted, such assumptions stem from power-worship; that the winner of the moment will be invincible for all time. For instance, in 2010, when Noonan was praising the free-market and constitutionalist tea party, our entitlement situation was worse, our immigration problems were no better, and Big Government was roughly the same (serious) threat it is today. Yet now she rallies to the protectionist and Constitution-agnostic Trump, despite Trump's admission he will do nothing to fix entitlements or shrink government. The math on entitlements hasn't changed, just the mood. Hence Trump's focus on a Muslim ban and a wall on the Mexican border. Whether or not those are good ideas (I think the former is insane, the latter sadly necessary), it seems rather silly to expect this agenda to permanently displace the ideas that have formed the backbone of the conservative movement for generations. The mood will change again. It will be interesting to see whose ideas change with them. Jonah Goldberg is an editor-at-large of National Review Online and a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He may be reached at JonahsColumn@aol.com. Early in the Revolutionary War, Thomas Paine wrote in "The Crisis" the following line: "These are the times that try men's souls." The purpose of Paine's words was to galvanize the colonists for war with England. It was not clear at the time that the fledging Americans would rise to the occasion of fighting the British throne for their freedom. Indeed, many believed they were better off economically as Tories British loyalists as Founding Father Samuel Adams initially did. But Paine, also a Founding Father, knew that "taxation without representation" was unjust, unworkable and merely another form of slavery to King George III. He called on his fellow colonists to do what was right and just. At the time, it was not an easy slog. Many could not see that standing for principles and not taking the easy way out of a difficult situation was the right thing to do. In wars and causes, mankind often comes face-to-face with times that try men's souls. The people of Germany, Italy and Japan were confronted with this test, which they failed, and the world suffered. No one suffered more than the people of these countries as their cities were bombed to dust. Even the righteous who passed the test suffered, as did the British in the bombardment of London by Adolph Hitler's Luftwaffe. The civil rights movement of the 1960s was a time that tried men's souls. Those called upon to face baton-wielding cops with snarling dogs and fire hoses, imprisonment, beatings and possible death had tried souls. Many survived the test and our nation is better off because of what they did. When the cause is right and just, this is what people of courage do. Now our country, particularly the Republican Party, faces a similar test: Should Donald Trump be elected president of the United States? Millions think he should. Millions more think he should not. Many have answered Trump's clarion call to deport 12 million people to their native lands, as impractical as that would be. For those who believe a billionaire businessman needs to run the nation, Trump recently delivered a sobering message let the United States go bankrupt so he can negotiate a "better deal." The problem is that government is not a business. Bankruptcies may have worked for Trump in the private sector, but government cannot operate as private business. Chaos would result. Global markets would crash and the world economy would be thrust into a global depression. His "suggestion" to ban all Muslims from entering the United States flies in the face of the inscription found at the base of the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." The list of inane policy "suggestions" goes on and on. Trump supporters are quick to point out that he has received more votes than John McCain or Mitt Romney. What they seemingly have forgotten is that both men lost their elections to the presidency. Roughly 40 million voters cast ballots in the Republican primaries and caucuses. Trump did not get all of those votes. Now the electorate expands to hundreds of millions. Trump is trying to insult his way to the White House by going after Bill Clinton, accusing him of being "the worst abuser of women in the history of the presidency." Trump needs to check U.S. history. None could be worse that the third president of the United States. As a slave owner, Thomas Jefferson forced his slave, Sally Hemings, into sexual submissiveness. She bore several of Jefferson's children. In a master-slave relationship, Hemings had no choice. And who can forget the Trump line about "two Corinthians?" Were they walking down a road on their way to a bar to watch the Miss Universe Pageant? Many Republican leaders are now faced with times that try men's and women's souls. Some have passed the test. Others, like the entire Republican congressional delegation from Tennessee, have not. They seem ready to yield to political expediency rather than stand for principle and the future of the United States. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? These are the times. ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS Sen. Eugene McCarthy campaigns at the Sacramento airport on May 11, 1968. SHARE Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy delivers campaign speech at Dane County Coliseum, at Madison, Wis., March 26, 1968. (AP Photo/Paul Shane) Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., greets supporters during a rally at the Julian Carroll Convention Center in Paducah, Ky., Sunday, May 15, 2016. (Ryan Hermens/The Paducah Sun via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., greets supporters following a town hall meeting on Sept. 3, 2015, in Grinnell, Iowa. There are several paths to the White House for Donald Trump, the presumptive (as the pundits like to say) Republican nominee. But the one that gives me the most concern is the path that U.S. Sen. Eugene McCarthy carved out for Richard Nixon in the 1968 presidential contest. It could happen all over again, but this time McCarthy's role would be played by Bernie Sanders. What happened nearly a half-century ago? The more mature readers of these pages will recall the extraordinary drama that unfolded: President Lyndon Johnson's announcement not to seek re-election, McCarthy's anti-Vietnam War presidential candidacy followed shortly thereafter by a similar announcement from U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy, then the candidacy of Vice President Hubert Humphrey that focused on caucus states rather than primaries. All the while, Alabama Gov. George Wallace was whipping up support among disgruntled segregationists and angry blue-collar workers. McCarthy and Kennedy traded primary victories heading toward the critical California primary in early June. Kennedy won a hard-fought but narrow 200,000-vote victory. But in one of the tragic moments of American political history, Kennedy was murdered in the aftermath of his victory party. Humphrey had already secured a delegate lead over Kennedy prior to California, but many of Kennedy's delegates nonetheless switched their support to U.S. Sen. George McGovern. McCarthy, for his part, continued his outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War and thus foreshadowed a spirited battle at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Spirited is one thing, but bloody violence is another. Bloody violence is what happened when McCarthy-inspired students and others clashed with Chicago police in Grant Park and inside the convention hall itself. Even so, Humphrey went on to win the nomination on the first ballot, though he left Chicago with the war and the convention violence hanging over his candidacy. The Republicans, reveling in the Democrats' disorder, had earlier nominated Nixon. The main event was on, with Humphrey trailing Nixon in the Gallup Poll by 15 points. What happened next proved to be crucial. Despite differences on how best to end the war, McGovern immediately endorsed Humphrey and pleaded with his Kennedy delegates to do the same. U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy and other members of the Kennedy family joined ranks behind Humphrey. But not Eugene McCarthy. He again condemned the police violence and then left Chicago without endorsing Humphrey, his long-time friend and mentor from Minnesota. Nor did he encourage his anti-war protestors to do anything but sit on their hands. Many did. McCarthy knew full well the likely consequences of a Nixon presidency. He had been an active Minnesota Democrat during the years that Nixon earned the label of "Tricky Dick." He also knew Humphrey's extraordinary contributions to American democracy during his years as senator and how the vice presidency had all but submerged his initial opposition to an expanded U.S. presence in Vietnam. But for reasons known only to him and that were never explained McCarthy found it impossible to support Humphrey's candidacy in any meaningful way. He just went silent. This translated into terrible burdens for Humphrey. He initially found it all but impossible to raise the money needed for the campaign. He encountered vitriolic, and at times violent, opposition at many campaign appearances, especially on college campuses. He struggled to alter the conventional wisdom that a Humphrey victory was simply impossible. Of course, all of this changed in the aftermath of a nationwide speech Humphrey made in Salt Lake City at the end of September. He set forth in precise detail how he would stop the bombing and end the war. The campaign was reborn money flowed in, enthusiastic crowds appeared, and he relentlessly closed the gap with Nixon in the polls. On election eve, one national poll even had Humphrey leading. The race had become a toss-up. In the end, Humphrey lost the popular vote by 0.7 percent. He also lost California by 223,000 votes and with it any chance to win the White House. Since McCarthy had received 1.2 million votes in the California primary, what difference would it have made if he had strongly encouraged his supporters to stand with Humphrey? It seems very likely that Humphrey would have prevailed, thereby opening up a clear path to victory. And the consequences of McCarthy's remaining silent? The war continued for another four years, with 25,000 more Americans killed. Humphrey would have moved decisively to stop the bombing and end the war in his first year as president. Watergate with all its constitutional ramifications and violations never would have happened. The nightmare of resignations, first of Vice President Spiro Agnew and then Nixon's, would have been avoided. Instead, Humphrey would have focused on making it possible for all Americans to share more fully in the bounty of our nation, along with building a more stable international order and controlling the threat of nuclear weapons. A similar stark choice will likely face Sanders. Without denying his appeal to younger voters, his remarkable success at fundraising or his challenging agenda, Sanders seems all but certain to lose the nomination to Hillary Clinton. It also is very likely that the substantial bloc of voters that stood with Sanders in the primaries could comprise the margin of victory over Trump. Which path will Sanders follow the one chosen by McGovern and Ted Kennedy, or the one pursed by McCarthy? Will he sit on his hands during one of the most consequential presidential elections in American history? One thing is certain as in 1968, the consequences of his decision will be very real. John G. Stewart directed speechwriting and research for the Hubert H. Humphrey's 1968 presidential campaign. He lives in Knoxville. More standout achievements from the 2016 legislative session: Furor Resolution Award: Remember the uproar preceding the legislative session over fears of Islamic indoctrination in Tennessee schools? Probably so. Remember what happened a result? Probably not. What happened was a bill, sponsored by Rep. Matthew Hill, R-Jonesborough, and Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, that basically restates what is already standard procedure and declares that the educational bureaucracy publicly notify people about that procedure. Maybe the centerpiece is a declaration that teachers and schools systems cannot "proselytize" when discussing religion, though it can be mentioned in history or social studies. They cannot do so now, but that word wasn't used in the code before. Sign up for our free email newsletters. Get headlines in your inbox. The measure, after amendments, was so innocuous that it passed almost unanimously with nobody paying attention. The Family Action Council of Tennessee, the state's leading Christian conservative lobby, didn't even mention it in its ratings of legislators this year. In other words, much ado resulted in nothing much, but angry constituents were appeased without triggering a lawsuit and without anyone canceling planned trips or conventions in Tennessee. As it's said in the unofficial state book, blessed are the peacemakers. Therapist of the Year: Gov. Bill Haslam, of course, who once likened being the state's chief executive to serving as senior pastor at a big church. The governor counseled legislators against passage of a bill allowing therapists to reject clients whose actions would run counter to their sincerely held principles. They passed it anyway. He counseled them against demanding the attorney general file a lawsuit against the federal government for sending refugees to Tennessee. They passed it anyway. He counseled them against defunding the University of Tennessee's diversity program. They did anyway. He advised that fiscal therapy principles entail not repealing the Hall tax on investment income without something to replace the revenue. That was ignored, too. Yes, he also counseled them against making the Holy Bible Tennessee's official state book. They did anyway, but, after further counseling from the governor, repented and upheld his veto of that one. The supermajority by and large heeded him on most other matters, especially anything involving direct spending of state money. And even when the objective of his pastoral advice was ignored, members of the supermajority modified their behavior through amendments dropping the idea, for example, of putting the motto "In God We Trust" on Highway Patrol cars with savings from the diversity program cut. The governor has demonstrated that, despite personal principles, one can still act as a counselor to those who think otherwise and maybe improve inappropriate behavior in the process. Blessed are the meek, especially in political counseling services.. Golden Goose and Gander Honors: Jointly to the House caucus chairmen, Democrat Mike Stewart and Republican Glenn Casada, for showing that filing floor amendments can be the political equivalent of chasing wild geese on a gender-neutral basis. Named for Casada's favorite phrase in proposing GOP amendments to derail Democrat-sponsored bills in retaliation for Democrats proposing unwanted and politically-charged amendments to Republican-sponsored bills: "What's good for the goose is good for the gander." Stewart maybe gets the edge in partisan gamesmanship for bringing an assault rifle to committee to goose Republicans on a gun control bill. Honorable mention goes to Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, who, upon taking a gander at Stewart with a gun, questioned his knowledge of firearms safety. Times-have-changed Appreciation Award: For Rep. Jeremy Durham, R-Franklin, who was exiled from the Legislative Plaza after being accused of sexually harassing women and sent by House Speaker Beth Harwell to the nearby Rachel Jackson Building to avoid any harassment of women in the legislative arena. The building is named after the wife of former President Andrew Jackson, who on May 30, 1816, killed in a pistol duel a man who had insulted her in a sexually related matter, adultery. More from Tom Humphrey on "Humphrey on the Hill:" SHARE The American Counseling Association's annual conference was supposed to be in Nashville next year, but the group announced recently that it won't be. This conference usually attracts up to 4,000 professional counselors and is considered the premiere annual event for the ACA's 56,000 members. Now the association is looking for other cities to host the big March gathering. The decision to spend money elsewhere came as a result of the new Tennessee law that allows professional counselors to refuse to treat clients based on the counselor's "sincerely held principles." The law does stipulate that counselors may not refer clients if they are in a life-threatening situation (i.e. suicidal) and that counselors must also provide the potential client with a referral to another appropriate therapist. The ACA, noting Tennessee was the only state to pass such a law, called it an "unprecedented attack" on the counseling profession. That's in large part because our latest ACA Code of Ethics, updated in 2014, mandates that counselors cannot transfer clients strictly based on a values conflict. Being able to work with a diverse clientele is part of the counseling identity. If we refer because of a values conflict, then aren't we giving our personal beliefs a higher priority than the needs of the client? Can you imagine your physician informing you that she cannot treat you because you hold a conflicting personal belief? Absurd. It should not be the case with your counselor, either. What makes this Tennessee law so harmful is the language. Any counselor can refer a potential client because of a conflict with personal principles. We've always had the right to refer out because we're not the best professional fit (for instance, I'm not trained in treating depression). But it's another thing entirely to say, "I don't want to help you because of who you are or what you believe." It's now legal to make it a personal problem, not just a professional one. That's dangerous to the one whose welfare should be protected most the client. Some counselors could be using the professional loophole to avoid treating certain clients, but this law takes it to another level, permitting them to easily and openly turn away whole categories of people seeking help. Many critics, for example, are worried that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people will be excluded from counseling and therefore harmed by the law. And of course, that will happen. Not only is this a concern, but it's also about other situations. For instance, imagine that Joe, a veteran who served our country faithfully, comes to counseling at a rural Tennessee practice. He talks about his strong opinions concerning the Islamic State terrorist group and ways the military should be intervening. His male counselor happens to be a pacifist. This counselor has strong feelings against any kind of war or any type of military intervention against ISIS. Before the new law, he would have felt obligated the help Joe. Now, he refers Joe to another counselor 25 miles away from where Joe resides. Joe becomes angry and ultimately avoids getting help. The harm has been done. I'm not sure about the ACA's decision to move out of Nashville. I know it was a difficult choice, and many counselors were torn about what to do. Maybe it's the right move because money talks. Or maybe we should have stayed in Tennessee to support the counselors there, by holding a statewide advocacy campaign at the Tennessee Capitol next spring. I am not sure what the best course was, but I support the ACA's final decision. What I am sure of is that this bill is wrong on many levels. I'm a professional counselor, and I do not let my personal beliefs interfere with doing what I do best serving others and meeting them where they are. That's my ethical code. And the government shouldn't have a say about that, especially when it harms the client. Keith J. Myers, a licensed professional counselor and co-chair of the American Counseling Association's Ethics Committee, is a trauma therapist and veterans advocate in the Atlanta area. A version of this column was published first in USA TODAY. SHARE Editor's note: This editorial has been corrected to accurately note that the Tennessee Senate ethics has investigated complaints and resolved them before a meeting of the full panel was necessary. Tennessee lawmakers can carry on affairs with interns, accumulate sexual harassment complaints and even face criminal charges without having to appear before legislative ethics panels. The situation is intolerable, but legislators are unlikely to do anything about it because they benefit from the lack of oversight. The Legislature's ethics panels are committees in name only. The Tennessee House ethics committee hasn't met in at least six years, The Tennessean reported last week. The Senate ethics committee has not met in longer than a decade. The two panels have different rules, but the results remain the same. Any Tennessee resident can file a complaint with the Senate ethics committee. According to Adam Kleinheider, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey's communications director, a handful of complaints have been filed since 2005 but all were "investigated and resolved before a full committee meeting was needed." The committee did not meet in 2009, when then-Sen. Paul Stanley, R-Germantown, faced allegations he had an affair with a 22-year-old intern. When the intern's boyfriend tried to extort $10,000 from him, Stanley went to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. His marriage crumbled and he resigned his seat. Only House members can file complaints with the House ethics committee, a situation that certainly reduces the likelihood of any action. No House member has filed a complaint against Rep. Jeremy Durham, R-Franklin, who is being investigated by the Attorney General's office over allegations he has sexually harassed numerous women who work for or with the Legislature. Only House Speaker Beth Harwell took action by requesting the Attorney General's probe and ordering Durham to move his office out of the Capitol and to limit his appearances there to committee meetings and floor sessions. The apathy is bipartisan. No one has filed a complaint against Rep. Joe Armstrong, D-Knoxville, either, even though he has been indicted on federal income tax evasion charges stemming from a legal scheme to profit off a cigarette tax increase he supported. Despite those obvious examples, Rep. Steve McDaniel, R-Parkers Crossroads, chairman of the Tennessee House ethics committee, apparently is unconcerned. "Until someone brings us a complaint, we have no reason to be meeting," he told The Tennessean. With the exception of campaign financial disclosures and lobbying activity, which are regulated by the Tennessee Ethics Commission, Tennessee lawmakers police themselves. Other states have more effective oversight. Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, California and Florida all have non-legislative ethics commissions in addition to legislative ethics committees. Arkansas, Kentucky, Virginia and Connecticut use non-legislative commissions only. Those commissions actually do their jobs. The Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission has received 16 complaints since 2010 and determined that lawmakers violated the code of ethics in five instances. The Connecticut ethics office conducted 132 reviews of potential violations by elected officials, state employees, lobbyists or contractors in 2014 and reviewed 232 cases in 2013. Carol Carson, executive director of the Connecticut Office of State Ethics and a former president of the Council on Government Ethics Laws, told The Tennessean that effective ethics oversight boards must be independent, receive adequate resources and have enforcement authority. Tennessee's system encourages lawmakers to make changes only after major scandals. The last reforms came after the Tennessee Waltz bribery investigation in 2005 that resulted in the arrest of seven legislators. Waiting to reform ethics laws until after a scandal is like vowing to change the oil regularly in your car after the engine is already blown. Tennesseans should not have to wait for disaster to strike. An independent ethics commission would provide true accountability, but self-interest makes it unlikely lawmakers will change the status quo. SHARE Supporters of Donald Trump are resistant to facts. A recent letter writer claims that Trump will make America great again. Here's a newsflash for these supporters: America is already great. What makes his supporters think he can pull off his flashy slogan, considering that all he has done in his campaign is alienate a large segment of the population with his hateful and divisive rhetoric? His business model as a casino and real estate mogul is that the house is the winner and all others are losers. Basically, he is saying that he will win, which means the rest of the country will lose. His proposed fiscal plan for America is to triple the budget deficit by giving large tax cuts to the wealthy. He also recently made the statement that we do not have to worry about defaulting on the debt since we print the money. His approach would ruin the financial stability of Americans who have worked and saved throughout their lives. If his supporters follow through in their blind allegiance to this man, there is no telling how much havoc he will wreak on America. The last businessman to become president of the United States was Herbert Hoover. How did that work out? Would you hire a businessman who has gone bankrupt four times to run (ruin) your company? Roy Douglas Wilcox, Knoxville By Lee Hyung-bae Lee Hyung-bae The cloud discussion, percolating through the IT industry for a good seven years, now shows every sign of going to a full boil. The reason is simple: it is not just IT people who might want cloud computing. Business people now crave what the cloud can bring agility, efficiency and innovation. In a world in which your newest competitor was born in the cloud, it is nice to have access to the same weaponry. But there is a lot more to IT than the shiny bits that run in a public cloud. There are already core applications that power the business, and starting over in a public cloud is not always an option. More important, consider the vast databases of sensitive and valuable information that are entrusted to IT departments for safekeeping. Pushing all of that out to a public cloud is not an option in so many cases. The need is great for IT services that offer the speed and agility of the public cloud but also interact easily with existing enterprise applications and an safely house data behind the corporate firewall. The industry has responded with a plethora of private clouds that try to do this, with varying degrees of success. All the industry surveys show the same thing: most organizations see themselves using a combination of public and private cloud resources for the foreseeable future. But will they work together? The problem is that most public and private clouds are inherently dissimilar. They are built on different technologies. They are paid for, operated, consumed, and supported differently. They behave differently. No matter what aspect you consider, it is the differences you notice, not the similarities. Every part of the stack infrastructure, network, middleware, applications, security, monitoring, and so on requires specialized glue and adapters. Almost nothing between most public and private clouds works out of the box. And anything that is custom built has to be maintained indefinitely, which unfortunately defeats a major reason for moving to cloud in the first place. Complexity is the enemy of efficiency in the world of IT, and the industry has inadvertently left its customers with a tremendously difficult problem to manage as they move to cloud architectures. Most public cloud vendors cannot offer their customers a compatible private cloud option. And most private cloud vendors cannot offer a compatible public option. You can buy each, but making them work together is up to you, the customer. And the sort of corner into which we have painted ourselves is now starting to become apparent. Having watched the industry try to promote and drive new technologies over many years, we know that school is always in session every day there is something new to be learned. We solve today's problems and immediately learn about new ones. The lesson we are learning today is that we need to think of enterprise cloud computing as an interoperable, manageable whole, in the aspects of enterprise networks, enterprise applications, and enterprise messaging. Public clouds without compatible private cloud options will be of limited use to most enterprises. The same option will be applied for private clouds without compatible public cloud options. The writer is sales vice president of Oracle Korea. Hallyu increases Asians' affinity for Korea By Kim Jae-kyoung Singapore Tourism Board (STB) Chief Executive Lionel Yeo speaks at the STB's office in Singapore. /Courtesy of STB SINGAPORE Singapore will harness its robotic and other advanced technologies to renew its tourism sector by improving productivity and tackling manpower challenges, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) Chief Executive Lionel Yeo said. The move is one of Singapore's initiatives to ensure a successful tourism transformation that will benefit from long-term growth opportunities. To this end, he said the city state will invest SGD 700 million (600 billion won) over the next five years. Key enhancements to the fund include support for travel agents and event organizers, and hoteliers to renovate their premises. "One of our constraints for growth is manpower," Yeo said at STB's Singapore office. "Looking at automation and robots is one way we are able to sustain growth without requiring such a large additional intake of (foreign) manpower." The robotics project, with STB's support, will be implemented at the Park Avenue Rochester Hotel in July. Two robots will be used for housekeeping and back-of-the-house functions such as transporting linen, refuse and bulky items. If the project is successful, it could be extended to front-of-the-house functions such as luggage delivery and room service. Yeo, who took the STB's helm in July 2012, said the project is a good example of the board working with industry to seek innovative solutions. He indicated that to achieve sustainable growth, the STB will seek to foster innovative players that can "disrupt" the tourism industry. "We are all familiar with how the Internet, mobile computing and superior processing power have changed our lives," he said. "It has transformed the way we work, the way we do banking, the way we shop, the way we consume media and even the way we socialize. "It has enabled innovative players to disrupt the tourism sector _ the rise of online travel agents and sharing platforms. In this brave new world, the operating rule seems to be disrupt or be disrupted. So which would you rather be?" Yeo reorganized the STB to create a Technology Transformation Group that would change the way the board manages data, change the visitor experience and foster the adoption of technology by industry partners. Singapore, one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, is trying to find a breakthrough after its tourism sector experienced subdued growth over the past year. In 2015, international arrivals grew a modest 0.9 percent to 15.2 million from the previous year, with tourist spending falling by 6.8 percent to $22 billion. The tourism sector accounts for around 4 percent of Singapore's GDP. Sharpening quality tourism The approach by the STB, a tourism promotion organization under the Ministry for Trade and Industry, is in line with Singapore's long-term plan to sharpen its strategies toward so-called quality tourism, which focuses more on the cruise and business travel industries. "We will pursue a yield-driven marketing approach to attract quality visitors who are willing to spend on what Singapore has to offer, while supporting a quality industry that is core to Singapore's economy and provides good jobs," Yeo said. Singapore plans to expand investment in the cruise industry, which it believes has high growth potential and generates significant spillover economic benefits through ground-handling services, bunkering and ship repair. "We will also build public engagement so that Singaporeans and residents appreciate and are supportive of the offerings and benefits brought about by quality tourism development," Yeo said. For quality tourism, he said the STB focuses on travelers with greater propensity to visit and spend in Singapore. "This means co-marketing with partners' travel packages that are highlighting to consumers Singapore's range of interesting experiences," he said. For example, the board collaborated with leading luxury travel publication Conde Nast Traveller India to produce a special issue aimed at encouraging affluent Indian travelers to visit Singapore. Yeo, who has been an officer of the Singapore Administrative Service since 1996, stressed the importance of developing a country's unique story to attract international travelers. "Travelers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and discerning," he said. "Besides seeking world-class experiences, they are also looking for authentic local ones that allow them to gain an in-depth understanding of a travel destination. "With this in mind, we need to be able to tell our stories better or from a different perspective to provide them with the authentic experience that they are looking for, and to entice them to visit over and over again." A good example of what the STB has done in this area is the Singapore: Inside Out project, which was a showcase of its contemporary creative talents held with Singapore's Golden Jubilee. "It offered a different side of Singapore that is lesser known to the rest of the world," he said. "Consumers also relate well to stories from sources they are familiar with and trust. So we try to encourage and work with third parties, including ordinary residents and visitors, to generate stories about Singapore." Hallyu is powerful' Yeo appreciates the rising visibility of Korea as a tourist destination, saying that hallyu, or the Korean wave, has played a key role in raising Korea's profile in the Asian market. "Korea has been doing extremely well in terms of growing creative sectors _ music, film and TV series," he said. "Those are major export items now. I think it's not just something you export but it is something in which you start to earn affinity with consumers. "So people who consume K-pop and K-dramas are growing affinity toward the country. I think that's powerful. It is a significant factor accounting for Korea's success in tourism in recent years." Citing Korea as one of Singapore's important markets, Yeo said the STB will continue to focus on raising destination awareness among Korean travelers, especially through increasing its digital presence. "We are currently engaging the Korean audience via Facebook, as well as Naver, where we regularly share information on Singapore's hidden gems and ways to enjoy Singapore, as well as event updates," he said. "In addition, we seek more opportunities to promote Singapore through engaging Korean influencers who can present the diversity of Singapore through their own perspectives and level of influence." The former dean and CEO of Singapore's Civil Service College said integrated resorts (IRs), such as Marina Bay Sands, have played an important role in not only reviving the tourism industry but also improving Singapore's image. According to the STB, IRs create more than 40,000 jobs across various sectors such as retail, food and beverage and transportation. About 22,000 people, mostly locals, are directly employed by IRs. In addition, many of their outsourcing and procurement contracts have been secured by Singapore's small and medium enterprises. "Beyond the economic benefits, the IRs also played an important role in raising the profile of Singapore and remaking the city into an exciting and vibrant destination for visitors and a place to live, work and play for locals," he said. "All in all, the IRs have enhanced Singapore's overall destination attractiveness and contributed significantly to our economy." Key personnel join Samjong KPMG and EY Hanyoung By Nam Hyun-woo Top consultants at Deloitte Anjin, the consulting firm tainted with breach of trust over its failure to uncover Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering's (DSME) erroneous financial statements, are leaving in droves to join competitors. The continued exodus could put its business in Korea in severe danger. According to sources, up to 20 consultants from its restructuring services unit the key division plan to leave. Corporate restructuring is one of the key businesses for accounting firms, and Deloitte Anjin has provided such services to the Korea Development Bank's (KDB) various projects. The consultants cite the firm's tainted reputation and loss of business as the reasons for leaving. Since 2013, Deloitte Anjin has conducted due diligence on Hyundai Merchant Marine, whose main creditor is KDB, and provided relevant services for the state-run lender to control the shipper's immense debt. This stopped when the accounting firm was found to have failed to uncover DSME's alleged accounting fraud. "We cannot work with Deloitte Anjin anymore because it was incompetent in auditing DSME," a KDB official said. Worse for Deloitte Anjin, its role as lead manager for Kumho Tire's sale was cancelled and Samil PwC was given the job. Korea Eximbank also chose Samil to conduct due diligence on promising small- and medium-sized enterprises, changing its initial plan to work with Deloitte Anjin. "KDB has been working with Deloitte Anjin for a long time, but the DSME case severely tarnished the firm's reputation, making the state-run lender reconsider giving orders to the firm," an analyst said, asking not to be named. Deteriorating business For Deloitte Anjin, losing KDB is a critical blow, because KDB is the so-called "big shot" in the domestic merger and acquisition (M&A) market. Most recently, KDB sold its 43 percent stake in KDB Daewoo Securities to Mirae Asset Securities at 2.4 trillion won. In the past, it has led sizeable M&A deals, such as sales of Kumho Industrial. Also, there are 132 non-financial companies in which KDB owns stakes larger than 5 percent. KDB said last year that it would sell all these stakes until 2018, and that 46 of them would be sold within this year to increase capital. Given that Deloitte Anjin's influence in KDB is getting weaker, market watchers expect three others of the so-called big four accounting firms Samil PwC, Samjong KPMG and EY Hanyoung will enjoy increased orders in KDB's selling spree, as well as recruiting experienced accountants from Deloitte Anjin. Samjong KPMG and EY Hanyoung have been putting focus on restructuring their departments. EY Hanyoung hired several specialists, such as former KDB Financial Group president Yoon Man-ho, who is expected to specialize in restructuring. On March 10, Samjong KPMG also launched a corporate restructuring center with about 50 experts. Samjong KPMG said its sales from restructuring services had increased by 30 to 40 percent for two straight years from 2014. While its peers are rising, Deloitte Anjin has suffered another blow to its reputation. On Friday, Deloitte Anjin presented its plan for improving a development system for foreign natural resources, a study ordered by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. But experts heavily criticized the plan as unworkable. Yoo Seung-ho(inbox) and a paper target shot and signed by him / Courtesy of Instagram By Ko Dong-hwan Yoo while serving his military service / Courtesy of Naver blog Actor Yoo Seung-ho has shown outstanding shooting skills on Jeju Island. The online manager of Jeju Shooting Range has posted on its official Instagram site on May 18 a photo of a paper target with eight bullet holes in the center. At the bottom of the target is Yoo's signature. Details show the date as May 18 and that Yoo fired from 10 meters for a score of 117 out of 120. "He is a great actor, handsome, gentle, and his shooting skill is top of the top," the manager said. "I could tell by the way he held his gun that he was superior to the other shooters." Yoo, 22, was an officer at a training facility in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, during his mandatory military service from March 2013 to December 2014. Visitors to the SNS attributed his shooting skills to his military training. Yoo debuted as a child actor in 2000 and rose to stardom two years later in the movie "The Way Home." He finished filming a TV drama "Remember: War of the Son" for SBS in February. In March, the site also praised the skills of Sehun from K-pop boy band EXO. The site showed a photo of his target and, although no bullet holes could be seen, said his shooting score was high. /Courtesy of Twitter By Lee Han-soo Namdaemun in Jung-gu, central Seoul, will host a global festival from May 26-28. The festival will feature various hallyu events in which tourists can participate or simply watch and listen. A two-storey global center will be set up near Namdaemun market entrance No.1. Open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the center will sell fashion items seen in hallyu TV soap operas. There will also be "K style" photo zones, "K pop" karaoke and will even serve Korean military food from the celebrated TV drama "Descendents of the Sun." Park Hun, who played a supporting role in the KBS drama, will hold a fan meeting. The center also plans to show samulnori (traditional Korean percussion music), Nanta (Korean music that incorporates samulnori rhythms with kitchen ware), K-pop songs and traditional songs. K-pop girl group "Pocket Girls" will also perform. Namdaemun will also feature "flea market style" fashion shows in Districts A and B. U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Friday he will continue to defend South Korea, but wants the Asian ally to pay more for American defense support. Speaking on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Trump also said that he's willing to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but won't go to the communist nation. "As far as Japan and South Korea are concerned, all I'm saying is we defend them. They are paying us a tiny fraction of what it's costing. I want them to pay," Trump said. "I would love to continue to defend Japan. I would love to continue to defend South Korea. We have 28,000 soldiers on the line between North and South Korea right now." Trump has unnerved foreign countries, especially such allies as South Korea and Japan, as he has displayed deeply negative views of U.S. security commitments overseas, contending the U.S. should stop being the policeman of the world. The real-estate tycoon has said that the U.S. should be prepared to end protection of allies unless they pay more. He even suggested allowing South Korea and Japan to develop their own nuclear weapons for self-defense so as to reduce U.S. security burdens. "We are not a country that can afford to defend Saudi Arabia, Germany, the NATO nations, 28 NATO nations, many of which are not paying us and they're not living up to their agreement," Trump said on MSNBC. "Japan, South Korea, nobody, we're like the dummies that protect everybody. All I'm saying is, we have to get reimbursed because we can't afford it." South Korea currently pays about half the costs, about US$900 million a year, to help finance the troop presence. U.S. officials, including new U.S. Forces Korea Commander Vincent Brooks, said it would cost more to keep those troops stationed in the U.S. than it does in Korea. Trump's top foreign policy adviser, Walid Phares, said in a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency that Trump's remarks made as a candidate should be taken as an expression of principles, rather than policy, meaning that such extreme scenarios as troop pullout are only for negotiation purposes. Maximizing U.S. interests through negotiation is the No. 1 point in Trump's "America First" foreign policy. Trump and aides have repeatedly emphasized the businessman is an excellent negotiator and is ready to use the skill to regain American interests lost under Democratic administrations. Earlier this week, Trump even expressed a willingness to negotiate with North Korea's leader, saying in a media interview, "I would speak to him. I would have no problem speaking to him." The remark also sparked criticism that a meeting with the North would end up bolstering the dictator. On Friday, Trump insisted that he would talk to the North, but added that does not mean he's willing to go to the North. "I wouldn't go to North Korea," he said. "The last thing I do is go. I would never go to North Korea. I don't know who would say I would go there." Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said it would be a "big mistake" for Trump to meet with the North's leader. "Because every other dictator in the world is going to look at you differently. The last thing you want to do is empower this guy in North Korea," Graham said on CNN. "I think it would be a mistake for the president of the United States to meet directly with this butcher." (Yonhap) The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) is inviting residents to take part in a two-day discussion to improve various aspects of the city such as welfare, the environment, tourism and transportation. The SMG and Seoul Business Agency will host the event on June 25 and 26 at the S-Plex Center in Sangam-dong, northwestern Seoul. One hundred four-person teams made up of Korean and foreign residents will be selected to offer ideas on products and services. The teams can apply to participate at www.sba.seoul.kr before June 3. Outstanding teams will receive a mayor's award as well as prize money; and assistance in registering patents for products adopted. "This will be the first event in which the ideas of 400 residents will be used to solve the city's problems," Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said. "We will find answers to problems such as traffic congestions and fine dust and will link them to business projects." An Environment Ministry official shows seven banned biocide products at the Sejong Government Complex, Tuesday. Consumers say some of the products continued to be sold until recently. / Yonhap By Kim Bo-eun The government banned the sale of several harmful biocide products earlier this year, but one product remained on sale until recently. A shoe deodorizer by the company Biophyton, containing polyhexamethylene (PHMG), was one of seven products that the Ministry of Environment banned in January. PHMG is used in the toxic humidifier disinfectant products of Oxy Reckitt Benckiser (RB) Korea, Lotte Mart and Home plus, which caused lung damage and deaths. The ministry screened the shoe deodorizer and other six products after safety tests on 331 biocide products from last July to January. Although it ordered the sales ban in January, the ministry did not announce it until last Tuesday. It said the banned product list had been posted on its website, so consumers could check the list. It added that the manufacturers halted sales of the banned products, recalled stock and disposed of the products by April. However, the ministry's comment triggered an angry response from consumers, who said online retailers had continued to sell the shoe deodorizer until recently. "I cannot believe it. I have been using the product all along," one online comment said. Another said, "I don't think there are any biocide products that we can trust and use." Yet another said, "Unless the government makes an official announcement through the mass media, consumers are highly likely to continue using the products without knowing the danger. The government seems to have a slack attitude toward issues related to people's health." Biophyton has posted an apology on its website and is providing refunds. Other banned products included air conditioner and heater sterilizers, detergents and tattoo dyes. Meanwhile, the prosecution today will summon and question Oxy RB former head John Lee, who was chief of the company's decision making at the time its humidifier disinfectant became popular. Lee was company head from 2005 to 2010, following Shin Hyun-woo, who was arrested earlier. During Lee's term, complaints of the side effects of the Oxy product, such as chest pains and breathing difficulties, flooded in. The prosecution suspects Lee was responsible for ignoring the complaints. The humidifier disinfectants caused more than 140 deaths, most of them from Oxy's product. Surviving victims and families of those who died plan to file a complaint with the prosecution against former environment ministers and high-ranking officials of the ministry for allowing the disinfectants to be sold without proper safety tests. By Rachel Lee The government will announce plans this week to compensate firms forced out of the inter-Korean Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) following heightened cross-border tension in February. An official said Sunday that the government has conducted an investigation since March to find out the actual cost of damages to the companies, and that the process was in its "final stage." On Feb. 10, South Korea shut down the complex in North Korea as a punitive measure against Pyongyang's nuclear test and long-range rocket launch. In retaliation for Seoul's suspension, Pyongyang froze all assets there. According to the GIC's emergency committee, the total amount of losses for fixed assets such as production facilities is approximately 569 billion won, and that for liquid assets including finished products and raw materials left behind in Pyongyang around 246 billion won. Under the economic cooperation insurance scheme, the government provided 217 billion won in insurance coverage to 112 firms, guaranteeing up to 90 percent of fixed assets with a 7 billion won-limit. But since none of the Gaeseong complex companies had trade insurance, compensation for liquid assets could not be made. The government's support plan is likely to focus on providing compensation for liquid assets. The amount is expected to be around 100 billion won, accounting for about 40 percent of the support money. "The investigation result is the basis for the government's damage support plans so evidence checking is a must," said a ministry official. "Based on the result and through a necessary process, the support measures will be given for the losses." Seoul invested 1.19 trillion won at both the governmental and civic level after the GIC opened in 2004, including 616 billion won in cash, according to the government, with 132 billion won invested in 2015. A total of 124 South Korean companies, mostly small- and medium-sized enterprises, employed some 54,000 North Korean employees there before the Feb. 10 decision. By Rachel Lee Loyalists to late President Roh Moo-hyun are determined to hold their ground ahead of the 2017 presidential election based on the results of the April 13 general election. The pro-Roh faction produced 12 lawmaker-elects, including districts in Busan, Daegu and South Gyeongsang Province, known colloquially as Youngnam that had served as a traditional stronghold for the ruling Saenuri Party. On the seventh anniversary of Roh's death, which falls today, the faction is expected to regroup and have a bigger voice within the party. "Commemorating the seventh anniversary of the late president's death this year, it seems more meaningful for what the MPK has done," said a lawmaker-elect. "The party has overcome the three-party system based on regionalism and pursued an opportunity to regain support in Youngnam, fulfilling the will of the late President Roh to move towards a politics of." The lawmaker added that what the party has done may also increase the possibility of a change of government. Twelve lawmakers from the pro-Roh group including former presidential speech secretary Kim Kyung-soo, won a parliamentary seat in the general election. The first-time elect lawmakers from Roh's administration include Kim Doo-kwan, former governor of South Gyeongsang Province, and Kim Byung-gi, former director of the personnel bureau of the National Intelligence Service. The future of the Roh loyalists is likely to depend on potential presidential candidates within the opposition bloc because division within the opposition has become unavoidable. The advent of a three-party system as well as Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo-led minority opposition People's Party's strong influence in the Honam region were the factors behind it. Ahn, who won a seat in Nowon district in Seoul, is calling for the adoption of a presidential runoff vote and expressed his intention to run for the presidential campaign without agreeing on a single candidacy. Former MPK chairman Moon Jae-in, the main figure of the pro-Roh faction within the party, is another potential presidential runner within the opposition bloc. Moon faces important challenges such as restoring Honam support to position himself as the leading runner within the opposition. "The pro-Roh group holds good in terms of value, but classifying them just as a faction does not mean anything now," a lawmaker said. "On this 7th anniversary, lawmakers will come together to solidify our determination to gain influence and power for regime change next year." The pro-Roh lawmakers will attend the memorial service in Bongha Village in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, today. The pro-Roh faction lost influence both inside and outside the then main opposition Democratic Party following defeats in the general and presidential elections held in 2012. The MPK has become the largest party in the National Assembly with 123 seats. People's Party secured more than 20 seats in the election. The ruling Saenuri Party won 122 seats, down from 152 four years ago. USFK commander vows to take care of civilian workforce By Jun Ji-hye Some 3,000 Korean employees working at U.S. military bases in Korea held a mass rally in Yongsan, central Seoul, Saturday, to protest possible layoffs following the planned relocation of American forces to Pyeongtaek, southern Gyeonggi Province, next year. They argued that the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) is moving to reduce the number of Korean personnel or replace full-time workers with part-time ones as it relocates the USFK headquarters and the Eighth U.S. Army headquarters in Yongsan Garrison as well as the 2nd Infantry Division (2ID), north of Seoul, to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek. The USFK Korean Employees Union said that the rally held in front of the War Memorial of Korea, adjacent to the USFK headquarters, was the biggest-ever gathering of Korean employees since American troops were stationed here following the 1950-53 Korean War. The union claimed that management in charge of commissaries said it planned to cut its workforce by 50 percent and use part-time workers. The USFK's Community Bank also plans to replace 50 percent of its full-time workers with part-timers from July 1, the union said. "Some 3,000 Korean employees are expected to be laid off," the union said. "The USFK should immediately stop this." South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn finished his schedule in Uzbekistan and departed for Saudi Arabia on Saturday, in an apparent bid to maintain a balanced diplomacy in the Middle East following the president's visit to Iran earlier this month. It marks the first time since 2005 that a South Korean prime minister will visit Saudi Arabia. Policy watchers said his visit to Saudi Arabia is in line with South Korea's efforts to maintain balance in the Middle East, especially as President Park Geun-hye recently visited Iran to expand diplomatic ties. Hwang is set to hold talks with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to discuss ways to expand ties in the energy, construction and plant industries. On the last leg of his trip, Hwang will visit Turkey to join the World Humanitarian Summit, where South Korea will exchange ideas on human rights issues with other countries. Hwang also plans to hold a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Turkey to discuss various issues at home and abroad. He will return to South Korea on Tuesday. (Yonhap) Kuwaiti Acting Oil Minister Anas Khalid Al Saleh, right, poses with Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, at the Government Complex in Seoul on May 9. / Courtesy of the Embassy of Kuwait By Rachel Lee Kuwait wants more investment from Korea so the two nations can build on their already strong relations, a Kuwaiti minister says. Acting Oil Minister Anas Khalid Al Saleh believes the two sides have already cooperated closely on both a political and economic level since they began diplomatic relations 1979. Al Saleh, who is also deputy prime minister and minister of finance, came to Seoul early in May with Prime Minister Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah. "I met with Korean companies, and I could sense the greater opportunities that Korean individuals can offer," Al Saleh told The Korea Times. "I feel Korea has a level of discipline in terms of efficiency." The oil minister held talks with Korean Trade and Energy Minister Joo Hyung-hwan about industrial and energy cooperation. "We expressed our interest in more Korean participation in Kuwait's large infrastructure projects and explained that we have introduced new laws that will benefit Korean companies," he said. Kuwait depends on oil revenue to fund more than 98 percent of its national budget. "The major issues in Kuwait are finance and oil the huge drop in our oil revenue due to a drop in prices has had a major negative impact on our budget negatively." Al Saleh said Korea was one of Kuwait's most important clients for oil. "We have a major partnership with some of the major companies here in the petrochemical and the fineries sector," the deputy prime minister said. "Large contracts in the oil sector have been won by Korean companies. We admire the Korean efficiency, management and performance." During the visit, the two nations signed a memorandum of understanding to develop South Saad Al Abdullah New City, which will be the first Middle East city to be both eco friendly and smart, according to the Kuwaiti Embassy in Seoul. The embassy also said South Saad Al Abdulla City spanning about 59 square kilometers is situated 40 kilometers west of the center of Kuwait. About 30,000 housing units will be built. Under the agreement, Korea Land and Housing Corporation will work on the plan and conduct feasibility analysis. The corporation will work with Kuwait's Public Authority for Housing Welfare to establish a joint company in charge of designing, constructing and operating the project. Total estimated cost will be several billion dollars. According to the Korea International Trade Association, trade volume between the two nations reached $9.89 billion last year. Turkish Ambassador to Korea Arslan Hakan Okcal speaks at a press conference held ahead of the "World Humanitarian Summit" at Dalgaebi, Seoul, on May 16. / Courtesy of the Embassy of Turkey By Rachel Lee The "World Humanitarian Summit" began in Istanbul, today. According to the Turkish Embassy, the meeting, co-hosted by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, aims to provide a "vital platform to address the challenges burdening the humanitarian system," addressing the question of dignity and safety in humanitarian action with user-friendly approaches. More than 5,000 people from around the world including heads of state and government, and leaders from crisis-affected communities and CEOs from the private sector are participating in the event, which will run until May 24. "Humanitarian crises are becoming increasingly complex and widespread, transcending borders. At the same time, the gap between increasing needs and limited resources available is growing," Turkish Ambassador to Korea Arslan Hakan Okcal told a press conference at Dalgaebi, Seoul, on May 16. The ambassador said the meeting would focus on five responsibilities that Ban had identified to prevent and end conflict; respect the rules of war; leave no one behind; work differently to end the need for aid, and invest in humanity. "Our world is facing severe and protracted humanitarian crises in many regions," Okcal said. "More efforts to encourage new donors is particularly important to generate a greater sense of collective ownership and create an enabling environment for more diverse funds to flow to countries in crisis." "When it comes to humanitarian aid, Korea is also a special country. Korea has turned into a donor country from an aid recipient in a very short span of time. That makes Korea an important stakeholder at the Istanbul World Humanitarian Summit." Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Ministers Mevlut Cavusoglu said 125 million people needed humanitarian aid around the around. The number of displaced people 60 million had almost doubled in just a decade. "These numbers stand as testament to the human suffering caused by the growing complexity of humanitarian crises, our inability and unwillingness to tackle them, and the widening financial gap between increasing needs and limited resources," the minister said. "We are all responsible for what happens next to those vulnerable people looking to us for help. Istanbul is an opportunity to step up and shoulder that responsibility." North Korea on Saturday proposed holding a working-level meeting with South Korea in late May or early June in preparation for military talks that can diffuse tension on the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang's charm offensive toward Seoul came one day after it called on South Korea to immediately accept its latest proposal for inter-Korean dialogue made by the North's leader Kim Jong-un at the country's recently concluded ruling party congress. "We propose to hold working-level contact for opening (the two Koreas') military authorities talks at the date and place both sides deem convenient in late May or early June in a bid to defuse military tension and create confidence-building atmosphere between the military authorities of North and South Korea," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an English dispatch. South Korea's defense ministry said it received the message sent by the North's Ministry of the People's Armed Forces earlier in the day. Citing the need to ease military tension, the North's leader proposed to have military talks with the South at the rare Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) congress, which concluded its four-day run on May 9. "There is no change in the government's stance that denuclearization steps should be a top priority when it comes to dialogue with North Korea," South Korea's defense ministry said Saturday. This position is unchanged from South Korea's previous one that dismissed the North's offer as a propaganda ploy that lacks sincerity. Inter-Korean relations have fallen to one of the lowest points this year in the wake of the North's fourth nuclear test in January and launch of a long-range missile the following month. In early March, the United Nations Security Council imposed the toughest ever sanctions on the reclusive country for defying calls by the international community to give up its nuclear weapons program. The North's leader, meanwhile, declared his country a "responsible" nuclear weapons state in a clear sign that he has no intention of abandoning its nuclear program. North Korea insists that its nuclear program is a powerful deterrent against what it claims is Washington's hostile policy toward its sovereignty. Analysts said that the North's latest dialogue offer is designed to help the country extract itself from deepening isolation in the face of the tough international sanctions regime. "South Korea needs to make its own proposal for inter-Korean talks in a bid to find out whether the North has sincerity in its dialogue offer," said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University. The scholar then said the North is trying to tell the world that Pyongyang is making efforts to ease the military tension, but South Korea is not reciprocating. "Their strategy is to blame the South for the tensions on the Korean Peninsula," he said. Other North Korean watchers added that Pyongyang's efforts are aimed at winning over countries to get them to end the international sanctions, while blaming Seoul for not doing its part to ease tensions. (Yonhap) North Koreans may be disenchanted with Kim's empty talk on economy By Kim Jae-kyoung SINGAPORE North Korea's "byeongjin line" or its dual policy to pursue nuclear armament and economic developments simultaneously may backfire on the Kim Jong-un regime, according to North Korea experts. North Korean leader Kim highlighted the policy during the latest party congress but analysts say that Kim's empty talk on the economic front will put a growing burden on his regime over time. "Clearly it (congress) raises the profile of Kim Jung-un, recasting his role as one now squarely in charge of the Workers' Party," William Brown, professor at the Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, told The Korea Times. "The problem is there is nothing new in the business he talked about so it would be easy to see the public quickly becoming disenchanted with more propaganda about nuclear weapons and more empty talk about economic development." During the Workers' Party Congress from May 6 to 9, the leader of the isolated country, while declaring North Korea as a nuclear weapons state, introduced a five-year economic development plan with little substance to it. "There must be some danger in this. With no details, it's hard to figure what he aims to do but he probably has to do something in terms of laying out some goals and allocating resources to meet them," Brown said. "Kim continues to raise expectations both on the military and economic fronts but he will have a hard time fulfilling them. And this could eventually spell trouble." Kim used the first party congress in 36 years to consolidate his leadership and strengthen internal unity against the outside amid a worsening economy and deepening isolation. North Korea's economy is suffering from a further squeeze in the wake of the latest UN economic sanctions aimed at depriving Pyongyang of funds if it continues its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Worried about people's panic A Singapore-based businessman knowledgeable of North Korea, who recently visited Pyongyang, said that the latest sanctions have yet to send a ripple effect on the livelihood of North Korean people but the government there is worried about the rise of dissatisfaction. "The problem is that Kim and his regime know they have to change its economy more toward a market-based system but they don't have plans and don't know how," the businessman said, asking not to be named. That's why they are wittingly allowing individuals to open shops and stores to support the growth of a private market economy without relevant laws and systems to support it, according to him. "I think Pyongyang does care about the UN sanctions but they suppress information about it so that people do not have it. They become afraid that the economy will stop growing and they don't want people to panic," he said. "North Korean people still have very limited access to information from the outside. The country doesn't have a lot of foreign investment going in. So they don't care much about it. What they care about is the domestic economy." The five-year economic blueprint unveiled by Kim, who became leader in 2011 after death of his late father Kim Jong-il, focuses on restoring Pyongyang's electricity supply and developing domestic energy resources through nuclear power. According to the state's Korean Central News Agency, Kim said in his speech during the congress that he will place a top priority on solving the energy problem and place the basic industry section on the right track to improve the lives of the people. Deepening isolation His pledge to beef up the energy sector, however, is far from happening in reality. Brown, a former U.S. government official, pointed out that talking about the need to fix the electric power sector, for example, in a five-year time frame, is particularly risky. According to him, the country has put far too much emphasis on nuclear power electricity for a long time without any significant amount of it actually being produced. "I don't think there is even a significant new capacity under construction," he said. The small pilot project at Yongbeon in his view must be decades away from any commercial scale production and all the dams they talk about don't really add up to much. Experts expect that the congress may help Kim earn some attention from the outside world but it will eventually deepen Pyongyang's isolation from the world. "Occasions like this must instill a strong impression that North Korea is a place like no other, and thus leads to isolation both from the inside and from the outside," Brown said. Kongdan Oh, a researcher at the Institute for Defense Analyses, echoed the view, saying, "North Korea will keep developing weapons of mass destruction and nothing fundamentally changed." She is also a research fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "Kim will continue tightening social control, but how effectively he can manage that is a real question. I saw bored faces at the official meeting," she added. "It was relatively sad event: lonely king's lonely and controlled coronation." By Stephen Costello What do U.S. officials really believe about how their policies will impact North Korea? How do they really think the North Korean leaders see the U.S.? As an adversary, potential partner, or enemy? These questions have come up in recent weeks as various officials, semi-officials and analysts debate options in the remaining months of the Obama administration. It is coincidental but important that the North Koreans are now holding a rare party convention for the first time in 36 years. The best and wonderfully concise review of U.S. and North Korean views of each other was recently published by Keith Luce, executive director of the National Committee for North Korea. www.ncnk.org Luce notes that now is a dangerous time, because following recent DPRK nuclear tests and rocket launches the U.S. and South Korea are pushing unprecedentedly severe sanctions while North Korea is continuing to demonstrate its intention to persevere and continue its weapons development. The crucial sentences in the Luce article note that the North Koreans believe they have good reasons to doubt the sincerity and reliability of the U.S. administration, and he gives several examples. Luce doesn't say so, but the most obvious reason for the North Korean's distrust is probably the unilateral reversal of U.S. policy in 2001, mainly for ideological reasons. U.S. officials regularly say they can't trust the North Koreans, but they never acknowledge what their government's previous actions have taught the DPRK. This has led to recent official and semi-official statements that project disingenuousness or selective history. In one case, it is claimed that North Korea fears any interaction with the outside more than it wants security or economic development. Another official claimed that U.S. policy was consistent from Presidents Clinton to Bush. And the old refrain was advanced that if only China would talk about post-collapse scenarios in the North we would be able to draw up a plan. It is difficult to believe these statements at face value. In this environment, some commentators are worried that someone in the White House would respond to new North Korean peace initiatives, following its Workers' Party Congress last week. Perhaps they are dreaming of adding North Korea to the U.S. agreements reached with Iran and Cuba. Such concerns seem farfetched. Who in this tightly-controlled U.S. administration could raise such an idea, and why would they provoke the ugly internal battle that would result from such a suggestion? Luce correctly cautions that if such a battle were to break out, strong opinions would divide policy people, and no one would be satisfied. His larger point is more important, however. It is that there is no way for the U.S. to respond to any North Korean offers, no matter how sincere they may be, in the last months of the Obama presidency. This is because the built-up mistrust and long trail of statements and red lines prevents the kind of policy structure, and public rationale, that could support a sincere American response to a DPRK offer. They couldn't respond if they wanted to. If nothing can happen for now, what about next year, when there may be a Hillary Clinton administration? Of course anything can happen, and the papers are full of warnings that Donald Trump could surprise everyone and win the presidency. Still, that's unlikely. If Ms. Clinton is the next US.. president, what can we expect from her approaches to the Korean Peninsula? So far there is no indication that she would re-think the consistent policy line from George W. Bush through Barak Obama; or alternatively that she would remember the logic and advantages of her husband's engagement before that. It is more likely she will continue recent policies in some form and extend a 16-year streak of failure. If there is a silver lining here, it may be that the results of this period are so dismal, and U.S. policy inputs have been so counterproductive, that a real policy review might be required, allowing in some fresh ideas. Nevertheless, whatever new posture the next administration adopts, it is likely to fall far short of what is required to return to long-term deal making over the larger Korean Peninsula issues. And that is why the recent Assembly elections in Korea, and the prospect of a more powerful voice for North-South cooperation and interaction in Seoul, are so important. It may be that real movement cannot begin unless a more flexible and capable Korean president is elected at the end of 2017, but the planning for that movement has now begun. Unlike the last time, the U.S. would not be a central actor providing the North Koreans with security and economic incentives to begin opening and disarmament. This time, it will be South Korea leading the way, and pulling the U.S. reluctantly along. The interconnection of the North Korea initiatives with other big efforts will be the same, however. South Korean businesses of all sizes would benefit. ROK relationships with China, Russia, Japan and the U.S. will have renewed purpose and require extensive management. Defense and security planning will need to be reviewed. Korean leaders could talk frankly about the nation's interests. There is no certainty that these diplomatic advances will happen. Many powerful forces are opposed to it, just as they have always been. But with the changing political power arrangements in Seoul, the U.S. election seven months away, and a newly interesting Korean presidential election 13 months after that, the door has opened for the first time in 16 years. It may not stay open for long. Stephen Costello is a producer of AsiaEast, a web and broadcast-based policy roundtable focused on security, development and politics in Northeast Asia. He writes from Washington, D.C. He can be reached at scost55@gmail.com. Kim Hyo-soo, a renowned cardiologist and medical researcher at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH), said he wants to set a new bar for the nation's biomedical success. /Courtesy of Seoul National University Hospital By Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chul Converting medical research into great commercial success has never been an easy task. Among the 27 drugs developed in Korea, Boryung Pharmaceutical's Kanarb, a hypertension drug, is the first and only one to reach 30 billion won ($26 million) in its annual sales. The rest of them have either disappeared from the market or fallen far below sales expectations. Aiming to solve health issues possibly affecting millions of people across the world, Kim Hyo-soo, a renowned cardiologist and medical researcher at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH), wants to set a new bar for the nation's biomedical success. "Our goal is to realize the huge potential of the nation's biomedical field by creating wealth in five years," Kim said in an interview. "We are trying to develop ways to selectively block resistin, a hormone that links abdominal obesity to atherosclerosis and diabetes (cardiometabolic syndrome). If we succeed, the impact will be profound." In 2014, his team discovered that adenylyl cyclase-associated protein 1 (CAP1) is a functional receptor for human resistin and published the finding in the journal Cell Metabolism. "We found that resistin binds to CAP1 in monocytes to mediate up-regulation of noxious cytokines, which eventually leads to various health issues," Kim said. "I believe, by preventing resistin from binding to CAP1 or blocking CAP1's activity, it is possible to block the activity of inflammatory monocytes and therefore prevent arteriosclerosis and diabetes (cardiometabolic syndrome). "Since the discovery, our team has been working to develop an antibody and peptide that can do the job, in collaboration with Daewoong Pharmaceutical," he said. Many scientific discoveries remain just that discoveries, while others make a fortune. Over the past 20 years, Kim has been focusing on research in various medical fields, publishing about 250 papers in international journals. Now he wants to prove that his achievements as scientist extend beyond the academic world. "As a scholar, I wanted to discover new molecules, which were my biggest interest for a long time," he said. "But recently, I realized that it would be more meaningful to make something helpful for people. So I shifted gears from doing research like something more of a hobby to developing practical applications. "In addition, I thought making big commercial successes would open more opportunities for my colleagues and students." Last year, Kim found that the molecule CD82/KAI1 is expressed predominantly on long-term repopulating hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs). He also discovered that DARC/CD234 plays a role in stabilizing CD82 on LT-HSCs. He believes the findings also have potential for clinical application. Hematopoietic stem cells, also known as blood stem cells, give rise to different types of specialized cells found in the blood. Located in the red bone marrow, which is contained in the core of most bones, they are essential for the body's immune system and are capable of self-renewing and copying themselves. "LT-HSCs refer to the cells with long-term regeneration capacities. Quiescence, which means a state of dormancy, allows them to keep the capabilities. Normally, LT-HSCs stay hidden in the bone marrow; they come out and produce blood cells only when they have to," Kim said. "What we found is the mechanism behind quiescence, and the finding has been published in the journal Cell Stem Cell last year." He believes knowledge about the mechanism can be used for patients whose bone marrows are damaged. To keep the blood healthy, hematopoietic stem cells need to make just the right amount of each type of blood cell, which is a very sophisticated process. If anything goes wrong, it may cause a blood disease such as leukemia or anemia. His goal is to tackle such problems. With scientists around the world still learning about blood stem cells and searching for ways to produce a limitless supply of them, Kim's discovery is a meaningful step toward developing new treatment methods. A cardiologist who wanted to learn more than cardiology After graduating from Seoul National University College of Medicine in 1984, Kim started working as a cardiology specialist. His career took a drastic turn in 1992 when his teachers Lee Young-woo and Park Young-bae offered him an opportunity to study in Japan. "I was thinking about studying in the United States like what most of my classmates did at that time. But Lee totally changed my mind. He said, With much less resources, doctors in Japan produce competitive research papers. I want you to go there and learn their know-how,'" Kim recalled. "I took his advice and went to Japan." At the University of Tokyo, he studied molecular biology, which was a burgeoning field at the time. For two years, he did exactly as his professor told him to do. "I learned much about basic research and built good relationships with Japanese scholars who I still keep in touch with," he said. "I'm glad that I listened to my teachers and made the decision." Since Kim returned to SNUH in 1994, he has dedicated himself to cardiovascular research at the school. "For the first few years, my job was largely about setting up the right research environment," he said. "I received lots of support from senior professors and colleagues, who trusted me." While doing research and administrative work as a director, he continued treating patients. But he found himself gravitating more toward research every day. "I wanted to do something more creative and original," he said. He also wanted to continue learning more about research. In 2000, he flew to St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, where he learned about gene therapy and stem cell therapy for two years as a visiting professor. His experience at the school led him to various research projects, including on hematopoietic stem cells. "I was intrigued by the potential of stem cells, which appeared to be capable of treating any problems anywhere in the body," Kim said. Since he returned to Korea in 2002, he cemented his position as a physician-scientist whose expertise goes far beyond cardiology. Meanwhile, the Cardiovascular Center at SNUH has grown into one of Korea's best clinical and research institutions, which is also respected outside of the country. "I really appreciate my teachers and colleagues who have supported me along the way. Without them, I would not be able to make it here. Giving what I received back to my students is my obligation, and I'm going to try my best to do so until I retire," he said. By Kim Min-seo It happened again. A 12-year-old Pakistani suicide bomber killed 31 army cadets. Suffering from poverty, the boy had only one choice, that is to subject himself to the extreme religious ideologies and follow its demands: wear a vest dangling with explosives. Razwan Taj, a psychiatrist who has treated young militants said, "He was probably inducted into a madrassa for the last five to 10 years. The child sees no life outside the madrassa. It is everything It's the world he knows." Taj's words resonate with what the most prominent Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said in her TED talk, "The Danger of a Single Story." Adichie asserted, "A single story creates a stereotype. The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story." Just as the Pakistani boy was fed by a single story, albeit to a different degree, I have experienced the same. Throughout my elementary and middle school years in Korea, I have been fed by a single story about success in life: Study hard and get into a good college. I was told, "Your success is directly related to the name of your college." But as I became more independent, I realized that I was injected with only a single story of success. I moved from Korea to America in my 9th grade and started living in a school dormitory. The transition threw me into a very different environment and exposed me to multiple stories of success. In my new school, I saw students digging up textbooks, playing several sports, participating in arts, music, or their choice of hobbies. They studied hard and played hard. For them, success would not necessarily mean studying hard to get into a good college but finding happiness in whatever they do. I learned from them that success is not confined to my school transcript or prospective colleges. Later, I also learned that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Steven Spielberg and many famous people who made a difference had one thing in common: They achieved this without a college degree. As a person who used to believe in a single story of success their multiple different ways of achievement were inconceivable to me. Their stories taught me that success depended on me, not on GPA or even college. Also, I realized that their secret to success was enjoying what they do. When Gates was young, he enjoyed creating creative board games for his siblings. Whenever Spielberg had free time, he picked up his video camera and created films with his friends. I realized from this that I was looking for the wrong ingredients for success. Students in my high school and the famous college dropouts helped me practice what Adichie said, "When we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise." I rejected the single story that I have cherished for a long time and began to embrace multiple stories. The writer is a senior at Forest Ridge High School in Bellevue, Washington, and a staff writer for the school's newspaper. Write to her at mikim@forestridge.org. By Tong Kim A couple of points of observation ought to be made from the 7th Workers Party Congress that was recently held in Pyongyang. First, the denuclearization of North Korea will not be achieved by negotiation. Second, the young and relatively inexperienced Kim Jong-un has firmly consolidated power, and his regime is not likely to collapse in a foreseeable future. The party congress refined North Korea's nuclear doctrine: North Korea will not give up its nuclear weapons. Instead, it will "constantly grapple" with the so-called byungjin policy, aiming to improve and increase its nuclear arsenal, while rebuilding the economy. North Korea has publicly declared and codified itself as a nuclear state in its constitution as well as in the charter of the Workers Party. The North Koreans made it clear that they will not negotiate their nuclear weapons away for anything in return. They will keep nuclear weapons for "the dignity and power" of the DPRK that, they believe for the right or the wrong reason, will protect the survival of their regime. Kim Jong-un takes credit for developing nuclear weapons and missiles, which legitimizes the monarchial rule of the Kim family. The third leader in succession was elevated to the new title of the chairman of the Workers Party to wield "monolithic leadership" over the party, the military, the government, and the people of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK). At the congress, Chairman Kim declared that his country "will not use a nuclear weapon first, unless its sovereignty is encroached upon by aggressive hostile forces with nuclear weapons." He also said the DPRK would behave as a responsible nuclear state, taking necessary measures to assure nonproliferation and to work with other countries to build a world free of nuclear weapons. The ultimate goal of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty is to eliminate all nuclear weapons, a goal shared by President Barack Obama. The North Korean leader also proposed inter-Korean military talks to reduce tensions. This proposal was quickly rejected by the Seoul government as part of "an insincere peace offensive." Some people in Seoul suspect that the North wants to seek the suspension of South Korea's loud speaker operations along the DMZ as well as the cancellation of joint ROK-U.S. military drills. The party congress also disclosed a daunting challenge of economic recovery, while fighting the pressure of sanctions from the international community. Politically, the congress is seen to have "normalized" North Korea's power structure by restoring the central ruling power of the Workers Party. Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Jong-il's "military first policy" was an aberration that had focused on coping with the disintegration of the old Soviet socialist camp and struggling with the economic plight by going through an "arduous march" fighting droughts, floods, and starvation. The shifting of power from the military back to the party, by which the party will have more control of money and power, may cause a schism between the party and the military. However, given the tight networking of the ruling elites with proven loyalty by way of family relations or dedicated contributions to the DPRK system, and in view of the absolute authority of the supreme leader, it would not be a source of serious political trouble or something that might lead to a coup against the regime that will bring down the current leadership or precipitate regime change. Now it is clear that the DPRK will not negotiate its nuclear weapons. Yet, Seoul or Washington is not talking about any new approach to deal with a de facto North Korean nuclear state. People are still hoping that the full implementation of U.N. sanctions and additional sanctions by individual countries would compel Pyongyang to come to the negotiation table. It may take a year or two for the sanctions to work. Sanctions have proven some efficacy but they did not succeed in paving a path to denuclearization. Whether the latest set of sanctions, known as toughest so far, would work remains to be seen. In the mean time, North Korea policymakers with an exception of the Chinese do not seem to have a new idea about what to do regarding the latest development in North Korea. It should not be a surprise if the Park government or the Obama administration, occupied with other priorities, does not do anything new or different during the remainder of their terms in office. Pyongyang is already looking forward to seeing the change of administrations in Seoul and Washington. It is obvious that North Korean would prefer to see a Trump administration come into being, albeit unpredictability of its foreign policy. Pyongyang knows if Hillary Clinton be elected, her policy towards Korea would be more or less the same as Obama's, although there are some indications that her administration would be tougher on North Korea. Pyongyang is also looking forward to seeing a change of guard in Seoul. The next Korean presidential election that will be held in December 2017 would likely be contested in a three way race among the three major parties Saenuri, Democratic, and People's unless the two opposition parties produce a single, unified candidate to represent all opposition forces and their supporters. A Saenuri Party candidate would have an advantage in a race against a divided opposition camp. At a minimum, it is essential to maintain peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, until political transitions will have taken place in Washington and Seoul. The question is how are we going to contain a nuclear North Korea and seek a new way forward to deter nuclear threats from the North. What's your take? Tong Kim is a Washington correspondent and columnist for The Korea Times. He is also a fellow at the Institute of Korean-American Studies. He can be contacted at tong.kim8@yahoo.com. By Yang Dong-hee "Jolhon," or "sotzcon" in Japanese, which means "graduation from marriage" without ending the lawful wedlock with divorce, seems to have become a popular marital relationship among senior citizens in Japan. Sotzcon was unfamiliar to most of the Japanese public until author Yumiko Sugiyama coined the word in her book "Recommending the Graduation from Marriage" in 2004, defining it as "designing the secondary life after a long, dutiful marriage." Most famously, comedian Akira Shimizu and his wife announced they would graduate from marriage and published a book "Sotzcon A New Form of Love." In that book, they said they just "want to live freely with minimal marital obligations." CNN earlier this month reported the ever-increasing number of Japanese elderly couples under this new state of marriage. It's a different conception from a divorce, considering the fact that couples in sotzcon will meet, dine and sleep together with their legal spouses sometimes, and it is also different from those who are "living separately but still married," which is a usual step before divorce. I had a group of Japanese lady guests last week who came to Seoul from Osaka to shop. All three of them were over 55 and "kind of single." When they said, laughingly, they were "not attached," I brought up a CNN news story that came out about a week earlier. They asked if I heard about sotzcon. One of the group members was the widow of my longtime business partner and the two others, Sachiko and Michiko, were in a state of sotzcon. They called themselves "sotzcon-zok (people)." The offspring of these two ladies all married and left home five to six years ago. Sachiko said, "My husband may still think I am a piece of furniture or something always at home. I want to live freely for the rest of my life." Sachiko's husband, recently retired from an electronic company, agreed and moved out of the couple's home to his hometown some two hours away. They agreed to see each other once a month, but they actually see each other five or six times a year. Michiko soon followed her best friend's path. She said, "It's a peaceful way of living separately and independently. You can pull yourself together after all those hardworking years for the family." A self-claimed typical Japanese woman who sacrificed all her younger years for her husband and three children, Michiko said she made up her mind "to live a new life for myself." Sachiko and Michiko both have secret savings of their own and they both have jobs. CNN, introducing this new Japanese lifestyle of older people welcomed by many older housewives, cited housewife Kazumi Yamamoto, who graduated from marriage a year ago, as an example. After an amicable agreement with her husband "to live apart together" in their sunset years to achieve their separate dreams, she moved from Hiroshima to Tokyo to open a beauty parlor, which was her lifelong dream. While running a small beauty salon in Tokyo, she delivers fortnightly sotzcon seminars to a group of women aged between 30 and 60 years old. A 56-year-old woman in her recent sotzcon seminar said, "My husband thinks I'm his maid, but I don't want to divorce him as I might feel lonely when my health becomes weaker." According to a 2014 survey of 200 married woman aged between 30 and 65 years old, 56.8 percent said they eventually wanted to graduate from marriage. And more Japanese women are earning their own money. In 2014, 64 percent of Japanese women aged 15 to 64 were working, compared to 46 percent in 1969. With the ever-increasing number of "sotzcon-zok," a new kind of social gathering service called "machicon" is becoming popular, especially among those who have more generous spouses. "Machicon," "street meeting" in Japanese, has been a popular matchup for singles since 2004 when the association of downtown restaurants in Wutsunomiya, a city near Tokyo, started "Wutsunomiya Machicon" by advertising on the city's website for all singles over 18. It was an instant success. "Wutsunomiya Machicon" has now developed national-level events called "Miyacon," and the designer of the matchmaking service was elected to city council. All Machicon attendants, who paid 5,000 to 8,000 yen per man and 3,000 to 5,000 yen per woman, can freely introduce themselves to any attendee of the opposite sex during the three-hour gatherings with free food and drinks in designated areas of participating restaurants. Machicon is growing in Japan. In 2012, it was no. 9 on the list of "Hit Products of the Year" by Nihon Keijai Shimbun. The Hiroshima Machicon on Feb. 25, 2012, reached 3,100 attendees, more than half coming from other cities such as Osaka and Kobe. At the Tokyo Dome Machicon held in February 2015, spots for 5,000 men and women each sold out quickly. In August 2015, the number of machicon held in one month all over Japan numbered 1,700. It's now considered a new industry. Linkbaru, a machicon company, was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in April last year, with a net profit of 159 million yen in 2014 from 8 million yen in 2012, expanding almost 20 times in three years. The Japanese social meetup service is expanding further with senior citizens. At a 2012 Senior Machicon organized by Matszaka city for singles aged over 30, a large number of retired people attended the matchup party. Among the retired, some were in their 80s. Both Michiko and Sachiko said they didn't think of "twilight divorce." They, however, sometimes go all the way to Kobe and Kyoto by train looking for "better chances" but "just for fun" in sotzcon. Perhaps sotzcon is the ultimate climax of Japanese individualization. The writer worked as a reporter for The Korea Times and the Hankook Ilbo-New York and as a stringer for the Wall Street Journal. He was the first managing director in Korea of the U.S.-based International Management Group (IMG). North's charm offensive could be handled likewise There should be more than one way to skin a cat. The government should bear this saying in mind when dealing with North Korea after its recent Workers' Party Congress at which young dictator Kim Jong-un cemented his power. The first test is the North's proposal for military talks. The North's National Defense Commission, which Kim was named as first chairman of at the May 6 congress, demanded Friday that the South immediately agree to its proposal for military talks aimed at easing military tension and improving inter-Korean relations. On Saturday, the North offered to hold the talks late this month or early June. The North added its usual litany of threats to the effect that if the two sides trained guns against each other in a continuation of the current semi-war situation without communication channels, it could lead to an unexpected armed conflict and a full-fledged war. The government rejected the North's offer out of hand, saying the offer lacked sincerity. The South reiterated that the North needed to give up its nuclear weapons before any talks began. Experts agreed that it was a ruse by the North to resume dialogue with the United States. From our perspective, it is quite tempting to continue the present pressure tactics against the North and see it buckle once and for all. The international community is tightening the noose around the neck of the North on the basis of the toughest-ever United Nations introduced after it tested its fourth nuclear device and launched a long-range missile. Now Russia is cutting off trade with its former client state and so is Switzerland, where the young dictator studied. He is known to have a predilection for Swiss goods as well. China, the North's only benefactor, has been playing its part as well, leaving the North with nowhere to turn. Time and again, it has been proved that the only language the North heeds is that spoken from a position of strength. The international community is exerting its superior strength on the North. However, the usual two dilemmas involved in dealing with the North must be taken into account its unpredictability which its nuclear arsenal makes even more worrying and the what happens if the North implodes, such as a refugee crisis and major chaos. Nobody wants these unwanted scenarios to become reality. But now that all channels of communication with the North are closed and its sense of isolation deepening, it could be one of those critical moments. As part of efforts to prevent any further rise in tension, the South as well as the international community should sometimes play the old game with the North, for instance showing interest in its dialogue overture the next time such a suggestion is made. Under this old game, the South may ask the North to provide a specific agenda for the meeting and press for its priority items such as the North's denuclearization to be included even for dialogue for dialogue's sake or to reduce tension for the moment. This does not mean unilateral a back-down on our part it would be an effort to make our North Korea policy flexible. Our policy has often been black and white, and all or nothing. Now, it should be "ambidextrous" enough to deal with the North from a more flexible carrot-and-stick point of view. The end goal is to wind down the North's nuclear program. The one-handed approach has succeeded only sporadically. So why not use both hands for a change? Kang Sok-ju, a top North Korean diplomat who negotiated a now-defunct 1994 nuclear deal with the United States, has died, Pyongyang's state media reported Saturday. Kang, a Workers' Party secretary in charge of international affairs, died of esophagus cancer at 4:10 p.m. on Friday at age 76, the Korean Central Broadcasting Station reported. Kang has long been a top foreign policy brain of the North and negotiated the Agreed Framework deal with the U.S. that defused the 1994 nuclear crisis. The deal, also known as the Geneva Agreement, committed the North to freezing and ultimately dismantling its nuclear program in exchange for two proliferation-resistant light water reactors for power generation, and the normalization of relations with the United States. But the landmark agreement fell apart with the second nuclear crisis in late 2002, with revelations that Pyongyang had pursued a clandestine uranium enrichment program. The six-party talks were then launched in 2003 to defuse the crisis, but the standoff is still ongoing. (Yonhap) Jeju Province Governor Won Hee-ryong, center, and a group of animation industry officials in Korea and China, participate in the tape-cutting ceremony of the Asia CGI Animation (AGA) Center in Seogwipo on the nation's resort island of Jeju, Thursday. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the Jeju provincial government invested some 10 billion won ($8.4 million) to build the animation studio. / Courtesy of Asia CGI Animation (AGA) center By Lee Min-hyung JEJU The government opened a digital animation center on the resort island of Jeju, Thursday, in a bid to revitalize the sagging animation industry by turning the facility into a "retail hub" to connect cartoon businesses in Korea and China. The Jeju provincial government has teamed up with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) in building the Asia CGI Animation (ACA) Center in which they have invested a total of 10 billion won ($8.4 million) since 2014. The move is aimed at helping local animation producers export their content to the Asia's largest economic powerhouse with ease, according to the provincial government. At the opening ceremony, the government invited more than 150 animation producers and distributors from 19 Chinese companies, including Hunan Broadcasting System, the country's second-largest broadcasting operator. "The ACA will be the driving force in helping creative animation companies produce globally-acknowledged animation," Jeju Province Governor Won Hee-ryong said at the opening ceremony, at Seogwipo. "Expectations are that the animation studio will serve as a key venue for local companies to produce and export their content across the world." The provincial government said it hopes the productions inspired by the ACA Center will generate more than 100 billion won over the next five years. Animation industry experts will run the 720-square-meter center, offering localized strategies targeting the Chinese market and developing manpower in collaboration with local universities. As of now, three Korean animation companies are producing content at the center, with the studio planning to help more firms take advantage of its systematic distribution and production capabilities. The Jeju government expressed confidence about its success, saying it has also secured a budget of some 25 billion won to establish what it calls "animation street" near the ACA. The MSIP said the Asian animation market is the key to help invigorate the local animation industry's growth, pledging to spare no efforts in offering technological and financial support for the studio. Kim Yong-soo, the head of the information and communication policy division at the MSIP, said: "The MSIP will help the ACA to forge partnerships with animators in China, thereby laying the foundation to tap deeper into the global stage including the United States." Global Animation Partners (GAP) ACA Chairman Jeong Geun-po said the center will continue to diversify and expand distribution channels between Korea and China, helping local animations make footholds in the Chinese market. "The nation's animation industry has so far focused on creating better products, but failed to generate enough revenue due to the government's production-focused support," the ACA chief said in a meeting with local reporters after the opening ceremony. Korea is one of the top three computer-generated (CG) animation-producing countries in the world along with the United States and Japan, according to him. But the revenue from the local animation industry falls hugely short of the animators in these other countries. Toward that end, the ACA center plans to run an animation retail program called Global Animation Partners (GAP). Nineteen Chinese retail partners and eight local distributors have signed a deal to join the project for mutual growth in the animation industries. The participating firms include CJ CGV, the nation's largest movie theater chain, and Jin Ying Cartoon, China's largest TV cartoon channel. "The retail issue was the biggest stumbling block for the growth of the local animation industry," said the ACA chief. "The ACA Center plans to offer a wider range of services including investment, production and retail for local animation producers to tap into the fast-growing Chinese market." Expectations are that the animation center will produce tangible results as early as next year, as the ACA has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese retail giants in broadcasting before opening the studio, according to him. By Kim Yoo-chul Lotte Chemical, the Lotte Group's chemical affiliate, has completed construction of a big gas plant in Uzbekistan. The "Surgil project," was a result of collaboration between Korea Gas Corp, Lotte Chemical and GS E&R. Completion of the plant comes more than eight years after the South Korean group set up a joint venture with Uzbekistan's state-own oil gas company to create Uz-Kor Gas Chemical LLC. Lotte said the gas from the Uzbekistan plant had been commercially available since January this year. Lotte added that completion of the petrochemical complex made Lott the first Korean company to export its petrochemical technology in Eurasia, the combined continental landmass of Europe and Asia. "Completion of the complex will significantly help Lotte Chemical expand its business territories to Russia and North Africa as well Europe and Central Asia," Lotte Chemical said in a statement. Lotte is the sole local chemical company to manufacture PE/PP chemical materials used in the complex. A total of 3.58 million tons a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) equivalent, or 4.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas, will be produced from the offshore project. Uzbekistan's state-run oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz will buy at least 3 million tons of LNG a year. Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering employees cross a bridge to the main yards at Okpo on Geoje Island, South Gyeongsang Province, in this file photo. / Korea Times file Labor ministry says considers subsidy packages By Kim Yoo-chul The ongoing action by the government and state-owned banks to save ailing local shipbuilders may result in international trade disputes. "If the government steps in to save shipbuilders by implementing various support measures, then this could bring about trade disputes. Therefore, it should think carefully before taking action for the shipbuilders," an official said Sunday, asking for anonymity. He said the banks and ministries were in talks to minimize their intervention in the ongoing restructuring of Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME). In October 2002, Korea was brought to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the European Union over the government-led restructuring in shipbuilding, semiconductor, automotive and electronics sectors in the early 2000s. After two years, the WTO ruled mostly in Korea's favor, saying the rescue plans weren't against international trade law. But it did state that subsidies to save Hynix Semiconductor, which is now SK hynix, did violate the law. "The government should let creditors handle the restructuring of shipbuilders. Any intervention must be minimized," the official said. In a meeting with reporters, last week, Employment and Labor Minister Lee Ki-kweon said the government had granted "full authority" to creditors to handle the restructuring of the industry. "Talks with creditors and the shipbuilders should be first. It's too early to talk about any government role," Lee said. His remarks were embargoed until Sunday morning. Massive restructuring HHI and Samsung Heavy, which have submitted self-rescue plans, said that they will launch what officials say is a "massive job-cutting" program from this week. "Samsung Heavy will do our best. We don't know about the scale and the intensity of job cutting. But the one thing is that the restructuring this time will be the largest ever," said one official, who plans to join a retirement program. Samsung Heavy filed its self-rescue plan, which included selling none-core assets, with the Korea Development Bank (KDB) last week. KDB is said to be trying to get Samsung Group to help its shipbuilding affiliate. Officials say the state-owned bank will ask Samsung Heavy to submit a revised plan. Samsung Group said the restructuring of Samsung Heavy was an issue between the shipbuilder and KDB. DSME plans to separate its defense unit to streamline its structure via discussions with its largest shareholder also KDB. "Daewoo will submit a plan to KDB that includes separating the defense division, which will be listed on the stock exchange. Money earned from the listing to be used for restructuring," said a DSME official. The defense unit has so far been regarded as one of the company's cash-cows. KDB is expected to order DSME to fire more than 3,000 employees by 2019. The situation isn't much different at HHI, which was once the world's top shipyard. The company will extend its early retirement program period after it agreed with the union to cut about 500 jobs. HHI is also expected to sell off some of its none-core affiliates. It also plans to list Hyundai OilBank and sell stakes in Hi Investment. By Yoon Sung-won SK Telecom will provide faster mobile network services earlier than KT and LG Uplus, tapping into the wider long-term evolution (LTE) bandwidth it secured during a frequency auction this month. As SK Telecom has obtained an advantageous position in the transition period before the launch of the fifth-generation (5G) mobile service in 2020, KT and LG Uplus which have claimed their services are faster and more stable are under pressure to come up with their own strategies in the next phase of network speed race. The nation's largest telco said Sunday it would launch next month what it calls the "LTE-A Pro," which supports up to 500-megabit-per-second (Mbps) speed, and plans to provide the 1-gigabit-per-second (Gbps) nationwide LTE service, which is about 13 times faster than the original LTE service, by 2019. "Our competitors cannot follow us," SK Telecom's infrastructure strategy division senior vice president Choi Seung-won told a media forum in Seoul, Friday. "Through this month's frequency auction, we have established a basis to provide the nation's only five-band carrier aggregation (CA) service." During the government's frequency auction on May 2, SK Telecom added 50-megahertz (MHz) LTE bandwidth, securing a total of 70MHz download bandwidth for faster mobile services. KT and LG Uplus both secured 50MHz after the auction. Theoretically, wider frequency capacity leads to faster LTE network speed. This means SK Telecom has obtained a competitive edge in the race for network speed. However, in the actual environments, the network speed may be slowed if subscribers overcrowd the bandwidth. SK Telecom said it would launch the faster network service first in the metropolitan area by 2018 and expand coverage to 90 percent of the nation by 2019 with more than 90,000 base stations. SK Telecom said it would add the latest LTE technologies such as 256 quadrature amplitude modulation and four-by-four multiple input multiple output to its 2.6GHz broadband bandwidth to boost network speed. The company also said that once it was able to provide both the LTE-A Pro and five-band CA technologies it would realize the 1Gbps speed. If it added the inter-networking technology that combined LTE to Wi-Fi networks, the maximum speed would rise to 2.7Gbps. LG Uplus, which secured an LTE bandwidth in the 2.1GHz frequency range during the auction, said it would provide "dual broadband triband CA" services, which supported up to 700Mbps speed. "We will apply the next-generation LTE technologies on our dual broadband bandwidth to provide up to 700Mbps speed network within this year," LG Uplus said. KT also argued that the gigabit-class mobile network services were not exclusive to SK Telecom. "We commercialized the GiGA LTE for the first time in the world in June last year, realizing the 1Gbps mobile network speed," a KT spokesman said. "The LTE-A Pro is not SK Telecom's specialty technology. All three telecom companies are providing this." KT's GiGA LTE provides faster network speed on latest mobile devices by combining its broadband LTE network and Wi-Fi local networks. The nation's second-largest telecom company also points out that providing the faster network to more users was more important that the maximum speed. "Less than 10 percent of users benefit from the triband CA technology now and we believe that offering a faster network evenly is more important," the KT spokesman said. "To that end, we have pushed for a network upgrade, mainly targeting highly populated buildings." Meanwhile, SK Telecom also said it would accelerate setting up the nation's only low-power wide area network dedicated to Internet of Things (IoT) services, called "LoRa," and complete it within June. The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary Read more QUESTION: Im a dedicated long-term board director with industry certificates thanking me for outstanding membership in the community. As president I pride myself on being fair, but the board is receiving too many accommodation demands by people claiming to be disabled. People are using their disabled status to gain advantages that dont relate to their handicaps. Continuous demands for frivolous accommodations are wasting board time and association resources, which is why many truly disabled owners are being denied their rights. Using a disability as an excuse to demand concessions that have nothing to do with a disability creates animosity in our community. First, someone wants a wheelchair ramp, then handrails, wider doors, handicapped parking, etc. It never ends. Residents complain that accommodations change the ambience of our planned community and the needs of a few are dominating all the rest of us. Parking spaces are pre-assigned so theres no need for handicapped spaces. The objective of handicapped parking is to allow persons with limited mobility to exit a wheelchair-equipped vehicle or have the shortest possible walking distance between their home and parking. If theyve been driven, a caretaker guides the distance needed to walk. The same goes for the textured yellow cutouts we cut into our sidewalks at street corners; it assumes a blind person will somehow drive themselves to the parking space and require a touch-sensitive walkway to find their way to the street. This is absurd. If someone drove them there, that person is certainly capable of guiding them to the door. Advertisement There is no benefit to the blind in having a handicapped parking space as theres no possibility they will be driving by themselves and theres no guarantee another handicapped person will not park there. A caretaker of a disabled person does not need a disabled parking space! What do I have to do to get this across to our owners? ANSWER: Being an outstanding member of your community is not a substitute for expertise in evaluating disability accommodations and medical conditions. Although you may be a dedicated board director, there are benefits to sensitivity training. It is the associations legal obligation and the boards duty to comply with modification and accommodation requests for physically impaired residents and employees. Interfering with obligations imposed by federal and state law can create a liability for the association you purport to dutifully serve. Facilities, including developments and associations that may have received any federal funds, are subject to accessibility laws and, even if no federal funds were obtained, these guidelines offer a blueprint for compliance. For example, pedestrian-facility design must comply with standards in the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. Title II of the ADA also requires effective communications with persons with disabilities. The U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration recognize people have differing physical abilities. They have published guidelines about how to construct sidewalks that take into account how the aged, handicapped and others navigate their way with varying agility, balance, hearing and vision, among other things. For example, a manual wheelchair provides easy mobility on flat, firm, obstacle-free surfaces, but its difficult to maneuver on stairs, steep grades, cross slopes and uneven transition points like where a sidewalk meets a street. Both powered and manual wheelchairs can become very unstable and difficult to control on sloped surfaces. Every association should be concerned about wet, icy or snow-covered walkways and ramps, as they have little or no slip resistance, making them even more dangerous without handrails. How does the inclusion of a wheelchair ramp or nonskid surface change the ambience and character of your planned community? The textured yellow warning pads at street corners you criticize help the visually impaired to recognize an intersection and assist anyone in a wheelchair to slow down and not lose control, ending up in traffic. A method of gaining better understanding of the needs of the handicapped is through sensitivity training. Such training can include disability-simulated situations, such as navigating throughout the day while wearing a blindfold or being confined in a wheelchair to experience its limitations while maneuvering around sidewalks. Training will also make you aware of invisible disabilities, those which are not readily identifiable to the able-bodied person. Disability awareness training should be made available to all board directors. Generally, even if a disabled resident has assistance, it is reasonable to allow for accommodations, such as specially marked parking spaces. Every resident is entitled to ingress and egress from their unit, and handicapped spaces do not detract from other residents use and enjoyment of property; it merely evens the circumstances. Why make things more difficult? Zachary Levine, a partner at Wolk & Levine, a business and intellectual property law firm, co-wrote this column. Vanitzian is an arbitrator and mediator. Send questions to Donie Vanitzian, JD, P.O. Box 10490, Marina del Rey, CA 90295 ornoexit@mindspring.com Location, location, location. The setting for certain plays can have as much personality as any character. Indeed, in these post-mortgage-crisis days of real estate dreaming, a desirable property in the right part of town could give even a protagonist a run for her money. This is certainly the case in The City of Conversation, Anthony Giardinas pertinent political drama set in the handsome Georgetown townhouse of Hester Ferris, an influential hostess in the Pamela Harriman mode who brings together Washingtons power brokers to advance progressive causes. The production, which opened Friday at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts under the direction of Michael Wilson, makes the most of its posh Washingtonian milieu. Set over three different watershed periods in the history of modern-day liberalism, the play unfolds in a living room where history receives some behind-the-scenes nudging. Advertisement As suavely played by Christine Lahti, Hester is a soft-spoken, iron-willed Great Society liberal on a mission. Elegantly attired to show off a frame that is as slender as it is statuesque, she is highly skilled at the art of socializing, understanding that her nighttime work is every bit as important as the daytime deal-making going on at the Capitol. Hester describes the gatherings at her home (tastefully appointed by scenic designer Jeff Cowie) as tense with purpose, though the flirtatious hobnobbing, literary small talk and good cognac ensure that no one will ever turn down one of her invitations. To be on her guest list is a confirmation of being part of the ruling elite. Visitors to the house will learn it sits opposite another famous Georgetown salon, the one presided over by political columnist Joseph Alsop, where John F. Kennedy one night received some fateful advice about the Russians from none other than Isaiah Berlin. (Giardinas play, which was originally produced by Lincoln Center Theater in 2014, could be packaged as a boxed set with David Auburns 2012 play about Alsop, The Columnist.) Hester shares the house with her widowed sister, Jean (Deborah Offner), who serves as her gal Friday, and Chandler Harris (Steven Culp), a senator from Virginia whose inconvenient marriage imposes on Hester a discretion that is perfectly natural in this city of secrets and incessant conversation. The drama begins in 1979, just as Ted Kennedy is preparing to challenge Jimmy Carter for the Democratic presidential nomination. Hester, a die-hard devotee of the Kennedys, is preparing for a soiree in which George Mallonee (David Selby), a conservative Republican senator from Kentucky, and his wife, Carolyn (Michael Learned in a brief but wonderful turn), have been invited so that Chandler can persuade George to support a bill that will boost Kennedys odds of defeating Carter. The unexpected arrival of Hesters son, Colin (Jason Ritter), and his ambitious girlfriend Anna (Georgia King), who have both just finished their studies at the London School of Economics, alters the dinner party dynamic. Hester senses that Anna would like to play Eve to her Margo Channing in a political remake of All About Eve. But she is completely shocked to learn that both Anna and her son have been swept up in the new Republican wave that will propel Ronald Reagan, whom Hester dismisses as that washed-up movie star governor, straight to the White House. The second half of the play is divided into two periods. The first takes place in 1987, just as Hester is working feverishly to block Robert Bork from becoming a Supreme Court Justice a fight she is waging against her son, who has not only married Anna but has adopted her stridently conservative worldview. The second, about which not much can be said without spoiling the plot, is set in 2009, on the evening of President Barack Obamas inauguration, when battle-weary liberals are watching younger progressives celebrate a new dawn. Giardina, a novelist as well as a playwright, has constructed a plot (with some rather old-fashioned mechanics) that connects family turmoil to the fate of contemporary American politics. The City of Conversation captures the changing tenor of the way Washington conducts business as the ideological balance of power keeps shifting and scorched earth tactics become routine. You know, one of the nice things I always believed about Georgetown was the way we all used to lay down our arms at the end of the day and become convivial, Hester says in a heated exchange with Anna. As if to say, though the battles are very real, we are all finally people, and we have to rest and break bread together in order to get up the next day and do battle again. That era, as Hesters disintegrating relationship with her son and daughter-in-law reveals, has ended. The play mournfully depicts the way in which Washington has grown so factionalized that opposing sides can no longer stand to be in the same room with one another. The human element has been lost, and neither the left nor the right can plead innocent in this coarsening of American politics. Set in the past, The City of Conversation feels uncannily of the moment. Unfortunately, the plays resonant ideas arent always convincingly rendered on the level of character and dialogue. Theres a blunt carpentry to some of Giardinias playwriting that results in melodramatic flourishes that not even an actor as subtle as Lahti can soften. King has perhaps the toughest time trying to make Anna into something more than simply Hesters increasingly truculent antagonist. Giardina is alert to the ironies in the attitudes and positions of both liberal and conservative hard-liners, but Annas credibility as a character charts a steady decline. Theres strong work from Ritter, whose restraint conveys Colins Oedipally conflicted heart, though too bad hes saddled with such a ludicrous wig in Act 1. Culp, in a straightforwardly realistic role flecked with minimal color, makes it easy to imagine Chandler talking policy with CNNs Wolf Blitzer. As George, Selby accentuates the Kentucky senators showboating Southern flair. Offner isnt able to do much with obedient lap dog Jean. Lahti wisely underplays Hesters ideological convictions only to make them seem all the more pronounced when in pitched battle with her family. Her performance never lets us lose sight of the personal toll of these political wars, the damage they wreak not only on our system but on our collective humanity. In an election year that promises to be one of the most vitriolic in history, this is a reminder all of us should heed. charles.mcnulty@latimes.com ------------ The City of Conversation Where: Bram Goldsmith Theater at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Ends June 4. Tickets: $39-$110 Info: (310) 746-4000, www.thewallis.org Running time: 2 hours and 5 minutes (including one 15-minute intermission) If you ever need to find actor Joe Gilgun on the New Mexico set of AMCs new supernatural western Preacher, just follow the trail of blood. [Im] constantly covered in blood, the tatted Englishman exclaims with a kind of mischievous glee. There are hand prints everywhere, on the doors. My trailer was like a kill room. Like Id killed loads of children in there. A distressing statement. Yet declared with Gilguns rapid-fire cadence its disarmingly captivating. Its as if hes daring you to be entertained by the uncomfortable imagery. And thats Preacher in a nutshell. The new drama series premiering Sunday night on AMC relishes in the absurd and obscene. And if you cant help but crack a smile, blame Gilguns cheeky delivery. Advertisement It helps that the actor has been cast in the role he was undoubtedly born to play. Think Billy Idol if he were a blood-thirsty Irish vampire, but one blessedly free of the usually requisite vampire fangs. Gilgun, of course, finds the fun in all the other vampire perks, specifically getting ridiculously doused in gore. Blood and my character are like peas and carrots, Gilgun says. Ill have to put the outfit on that I had the night before, and that was covered in cold, sticky [fake blood]. Its just like being covered in actual blood only it doesnt smell of iron and that. Its like minty. On set you know where Ive gone because you can smell cannabis and theres a blood trail all the way through. Adapted from the hyper-violent, 1990s comics created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, Preacher took almost a decade to get made. Thanks to the non-stop persistence of Hollywood comedy darlings Evan Goldberg (writer of Pineapple Express) and actor Seth Rogen, Preacher was eventually delivered into the hands of writer-producer Sam Catlin of Breaking Bad fame. Together the trio finally christened Preacher with a pilot that crams humor, action and a pondering of the meaning of existence into a single hour of television. Set in the no-horse town of Annville, Texas, the series follows the prodigal son turned village preacher Jessie Custer (Dominic Cooper) as he attempts to guide his meager flock into salvation. Jessie must head toward the light while avoiding job propositions from his ex-crime partner (and ex-girlfriend) Tulip (Ruth Negga) and the hijinks of one marooned vampire named Cassidy (Gilgun). Due to divine intervention (or pure happenstance), the preacher, the con and the vampire all become entangled in a holy war. Even the premise sounds like the start of a joke that lands with a biblical apocalypse twist. And AMC is hoping that the Frankensteined mashup of styles will keep the series unique. Its so genre hopping, executive producer Catlin says. [Preacher] can be a serious drama about the meaning of life, it can be a silly Monty Python-esque comedy, it can be a crazy-violent [Quentin] Tarantino [film]. Its a western. It has a lot of different tones to it that I havent seen before on TV. I originally scripted her as biting off the guys nose. And Seth and Evan said, No, no, no....It was too disgusting. Sam Catlin So how did Preacher find the balance between the silly and the serious? How did they find the humor when Gilgun is knee-deep in gore? Apparently theres an art to it. Theres different treatments of violence, Catlin explains. There is something about Tarantino where he just throws so much blood at his audience that it creates a sort of an ironic distance from it all. We treated violence on Breaking Bad in a very different way, which was incredibly realistic, grounded. If someone got punched on the nose they would have a bloody nose. It was very meticulously mapped out. So in a lot of ways the violence in that show would hit harder than the violence we have on Preacher. It sort of becomes part of the landscape. And thats just part of the world that Garth created. This is a word that has lost its moorings. Its an embellishment of the violent American frontier spirit. Everything is analyzed, from the size of a characters smirk right before he lands a punch, to what body part should be lobbed off that would be gross, but not too disgusting. For example, in the original pilot script the character Tulip is introduced mid-fight, slugging multiple attackers in a careening car. I originally scripted her as biting off the guys nose, Catlin says. And Seth and Evan said, No, no, no, we did that before. It was too disgusting. It has to be an ear. Because for some reason the ear is less disturbing than the nose. And I think they were right. Gilgun applies the same dissection of hyper violence and comedy to pry open the mind of his 119-year-old character. I know hes funny, but hes constantly being shot, Gilgun says. Its agony. Its the same pain as it is for a normal human being; its all the same. He got used to it. Hes got used to being shot. Hes got used to pulling bullets out of him. You think about it, get rid of the comical aspects of it, hes a really sad man. Hes been subjected to some terrible [things]. We cant have enormous amounts of blood, terrible gore, every episode. Theres nothing to look forward to in that sense. Joe Gilgun Cassidy is a fantasy creature who doesnt believe in the fantastic even as he makes his way through a bizarre world where angels, demons and monsters are all very, very real. Instead of living the Interview with a Vampire life of lace and luxury, hes broke, and spends most of his time drinking away the minutes on his endless clock. And though we wont see much of Cassidys comic book origin story this season, we will witness the character struggle with the reality of his own absurd existence. I remember when my Auntie Doris was an old lady. She went, I wake up everyday. I went, Go on? And she went, Nah thats it: I wake up every day. Shes sick of it. Shes had enough. It was her time to go. She knew that and she was looking forward to it. It was inspiring to me, as a model human being, to listen to Auntie Doris, whos lived and enjoyed it and is ready to go. The first episode of Preacher has three impressively choreographed fight scenes but, Gilgun warns, things will cool off a bit, because again, its a balancing act. We cant have enormous amounts of blood, terrible gore, every episode, Gilgun says. Theres nothing to look forward to in that sense. Its like a spliff, like having a joint. If you smoke it all day long, endlessly, its just something you do. Its not a treat anymore, is it? Will the genre splicing win over the modern-day TV audience? Will folks fall for the Irish vampire with great banter, but a deeply twisted past? No one can say for sure, not even Catlin who confesses that he may be looking for a job in a couple of months. But he does know that Preacher comes in strong. And with todays television audiences, theres really no other way you can introduce an idea this intricate. You gotta go big. Theres just been so much great, innovative television in the last 10 years that sort of the paved the way: The Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men, Breaking Bad. Catlin says. People took really big swings on those shows, and they paid off. Now audiences expect big swings. Audiences are so much more sophisticated and so much more cynical is too pejorative a word, but theyve seen a lot of great stuff. So it takes a lot to surprise them. I think AMC and Sony know that Preacher is nothing if not a big swing. And if Preacher can make folks wince when a ridiculous vampire takes a bullet, perhaps it has a prayer of a chance with todays audience. MORE: REVIEW: AMCs faith in Preacher largely pays off Seth Rogens SXSW Preacher premiere ends one long journey, begins another AMCs Preacher will stray from its comic book scripture On Twitter: @MedellW Its not always noted, but there are two Cannes film festivals, one composed of critics, journalists and industry professionals, and the other inhabited by the sequestered jury. Sometimes these two Cannes speak with one voice, but in this 69th festival, they definitely did not. The German film Toni Erdmann, directed by Maren Ade, one of the few women in the competition, was easily the non-jury favorite among the 21 films eligible for prizes. Both wildly raucous and movingly humane, it chronicles the evolving relationship between a prankster father and his high-powered careerist daughter. Far from winning a top prize, however, Toni Erdmann was totally shut out by the jury chaired by Mad Max director George Miller. Advertisement Instead, the Palme dOr went to 79-year-old British filmmaker Ken Loach for I, Daniel Blake, the on-the-nose narrative of working-class folks getting the run around from an unfeeling government welfare bureaucracy. Loach, who first won the Palme a decade ago for The Wind That Shakes the Barley, did give an impassioned acceptance speech, championing a cinema of dissent against those who are powerful and mighty. We must show that another world is possible and necessary. Aside from I, Daniel Blake, the big winner Sunday night was Iranian director Asghar Farhadis solid but unremarkable The Salesman, which took two awards. A drama about revenge and its discontents, The Salesman took home both the best screenplay prize for Farhadi and the best actor prize for his star Shahab Hosseini, who plays a high school teacher-actor starring in a Tehran production of Death of a Salesman. Splitting the best director prize were Frances Olivier Assayas for his unclassifiable, Kristen Stewart-starring Personal Shopper, and Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu for Graduation, a gripping story of a loving father facing a moral dilemma in a corrupt society. The other awards, each baffling in its own way, included the Grand Prix to Canadas Xavier Dolan for his Its Only the End of the World, the Jury Prize to Britains Andrea Arnold for American Honey, and the best actress award to Jaclyn Jose, the star of Phillipine director Brillante Mendozas Ma Rosa. Especially glaring in the face of all this was the neglect of Loving, arguably the most satisfying of the English-language films in the competition. Centering on Loving v. Virginia, the landmark 1967 Supreme Court case that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage, the film focuses not on courtroom drama but on the people involved. Beautifully acted by Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga (Jimi: All Is by My Side) and directed with powerful but understated emotion by Jeff Nichols, Loving has the look of an Oscar-season contender. One of the characteristics of this years Cannes is that many of its finest films were unaccountably left out of the main competition. German director Maren Ade at a press conference for the film Toni Erdmann at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. (Laurent Emmanuel / AFP/Getty Images ) The best of these might have been Neruda, directed by Chiles Pablo Larrain (No), which played in the Directors Fortnight event. Thoughtful and provocative, it deals with the cat-and-mouse game between a poet with a sense of history and a detective with a sense of despair (Gael Garcia Bernal) who is trying to arrest the poet for his communist political beliefs. Playing in the Un Certain Regard section was the lovely After the Storm, the drama of a feckless man trying to salvage relationships with both his family of origin and his young son, all done with the always impressive delicacy of Japans Hirokazu Kore-Eda (Like Father, Like Son.) Several films from Israel also made a strong impression as they dealt with the way the personal becomes political and the political personal in that crisis-ridden part of the world. Maha Hajs debut feature, Personal Affairs, a low-key but pointed film that is simultaneously droll and sad, explores the lives of an extended family of Palestinian Israelis. And Beyond the Mountains and Hills, the latest by The Bands Visits Eran Kolirin, is an increasingly despairing film about a society that has lost is bearings. The festivals Cannes Classics section, featuring restorations and films on film history, always offers unexpected experiences like 1945s Momotaro, Sacred Sailors, Japans first animated feature, a kid-friendly film that is also a startling piece of wartime military propaganda. The most involving films on film history included Women Who Run Hollywood, the not-always-told story of the power women had in the movie business early days, and The Cinema Travellers, which follows exhibitors who show films in fairground tents in the remotest parts of India. In a class by itself was A Journey Through French Cinema, director-historian Bertrand Taverniers personal, three-hour-plus history of decades of his countrys cinema, a trip back in time that is both celebratory and smartly analytical. As the choices above indicate, every visitor to Cannes constructs his or her own festival out of what interests them and what they can manage to see. A personal treat for me, for instance, was a fine documentary discovered in the Marche, or film market, Robert Doisneau: Through the Lens, a warm look at the great French photographer directed by his granddaughter Clementine Deroudille. Because being at Cannes is nothing if not frustrating, I leave it not satisfied, not only by the jurys choices but also by the films I heard were wonderful that I couldnt fit into my schedule. These include the French, animated My Life as a Courgette, Finlands The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki, and Pietro Germis classic 1966 Signori & Signore (The Birds, the Bees and the Italians), long unavailable in the U.S. Cinema is a large universe, and Cannes at its best allows you to touch many of its bases. The movies opening may as well arrive with an on-screen statement. Loud shrieking lends the impression a couple is having sex. But the first sight is a close-up of a cat. Then the camera cuts to the source of the shrieks, and it turns out what sounded like love is actually an assault. Paul Verhoeven is baa-aack. Needling, absurd, campy, sexual, ambitious, kinetic all those adjectives and a few more apply to Verhoeven. The Dutch-born director has followed one of the more improbable career arcs in modern cinema from European obscurity to Hollywood heights to industry punch-line (Showgirls, anyone?), back to European acclaim. And then, finally, to silence. Advertisement Now, after a 10-year feature-film hiatus, the 77-year-old has returned with one of his most provocative and unclassifiable films yet, one that dances between two genres and subverts them both. It is vintage Verhoeven by not being vintage Verhoeven. Elle, which jolted the Cannes Film Festival when it premiered here Saturday, is a hybrid European-style character drama and American-flavored thriller, a Gamergate-themed doozy about trauma, video games, fidelity, family and rape, not necessarily in that order. Its politically incorrect portrayal of a rape victim is sure to prompt critical essays and set Activist Twitter ablaze, even while the film is likely to delight and even surpass the expectations of those in need of a good Verhoeven fix. 1 / 89 French actress Marion Cotillard leaves after the screening of Juste la Fin du Monde (Its Only the End of the World) during the 69th Cannes Film Festival. (Julien Warnand / EPA) 2 / 89 British director Ken Loach reacts as he receives the Palme dOr award for his movie I, Daniel Blake. (Sebastien Nogier / EPA) 3 / 89 French Moroccan director Houda Benyamina poses with the Camera dOr award for her movie Divines. (Ian Langsdon / EPA) 4 / 89 Spanish director Juanjo Gimenez, center, receives the Best Short Film award for Timecode from French actress Marina Fois, right, and Japanese director Naomi Kawase. (Sebastien Nogier / EPA) 5 / 89 Iranian director Ashgar Farhadi, right, and Iranian actor Shahab Hosseini pose during the award winners photo call after they won the Best Screenplay award and the Best Performance by an Actor award for the movie Forushande (The Salesman). (Julien Warnand / EPA) 6 / 89 Canadian director Xavier Dolan with his Grand Prix award for Juste la Fin du Monde (Its Only the End of the World). (Ian Langsdon / EPA) 7 / 89 Filipina actress Jaclyn Jose with her Best Actress prize during a photo call at 69th Cannes Film Festival. (Loic Venance / AFP/Getty Images) 8 / 89 Romanian director Cristian Mungiu with his trophy during a photo call after he was awarded the Best Director prize for the film Graduation (Bacalaureate). (Loic Venance / AFP/Getty Images) 9 / 89 Mel Gibson and girlfriend Rosalind Ross (Sebastien Nogier / EPA) 10 / 89 British director Andrea Arnold poses with her trophy during a photo call after she was awarded with the Jury Prize for the film American Honey at 69th Cannes Film Festival. (Loic Venance / AFP/Getty Images) 11 / 89 Actress Marion Cotillard and director Xavier Dolan arrive at the screening of the film Its Only the End Of The World. (Thibault Camus / Associated Press) 12 / 89 Singer Iggy Pop, left, and director Jim Jarmusch arrive at the screening of Gimme Danger. (Thibault Camus / Associated Press) 13 / 89 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio conducts an auction during the amfARs 23rd Cinema Against AIDS Gala. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images) 14 / 89 Faye Dunaway, left, and actor Kevin Spacey perform on stage during the amfARs 23rd Cinema Against AIDS Gala. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images) 15 / 89 French actress and singer Stephanie Sokolinski arrives for the screening of the film Its Only The End Of The World at the 69th Cannes Film Festival. (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 16 / 89 Actress Valentina Acca, left, producer and member of the jury Valeria Golino, director Stefano Mordini, actress Marina Fois, actor and producer Riccardo Scamarcio and producer Viola Prestieri arrive for the screening of the film Pericle (Pericle il Nero) at the 69th Cannes Film Festival. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images) 17 / 89 Eric Anzalone, front, Ray Simpson, Jim Newman, Felipe Rose, Bill Whitefield and Alex Briley of the band Village People pose as they arrive for the amfARs 23rd Cinema Against AIDS Gala. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images) 18 / 89 Producer Harvey Weinstein and his wife, British actress Georgina Chapman, pose as they arrive for the amfARs 23rd Cinema Against AIDS Gala. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images) 19 / 89 Director Olivier Assayas, actress Kristen Stewart and actress Nora von Waldstatten attend the Cannes Film Festival screening of the film Personal Shopper on May 17. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images) 20 / 89 Milla Jovovich attends the De Grisogono party at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17. (Jean Christophe Madnenet / AFP/Getty Images) 21 / 89 Kristen Stewart poses during a photocall for the film Personal Shopper at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday. (Loic Venance / AFP/Getty Images) 22 / 89 From left, Inma Cuesta, Emma Suarez, Rossy de Palma, Adriana Ugarte and Michelle Jenner pose during the Julieta photocall at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday. (Guillaume Horcajuelo / EPA) 23 / 89 From left, Viggo Mortensen, Annalise Basso, Nicholas Hamilton, Charlie Shotwell, Samantha Isle, Shree Crooks and director Matt Ross pose for photographers during the Captain Fantastic photocall at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday. (Thibault Camus / Associated Press) 24 / 89 French model Cindy Bruna arrives for the Chopard Wild party at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday. (Jean Christophe Magnenet / AFP/Getty Images) 25 / 89 Former boxer Roberto Duran, left, and actor Robert De Niro pose for photographers at the screening of the film Hands of Stone at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday. (Joel Ryan / Associated Press) 26 / 89 Jason Derulo performs at the Harmonist cocktail party at the Plage du Grand Hyatt during the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. (Samir Hussein / Getty Images for The Harmonist) 27 / 89 Usher Raymond IV, left, Ana de Armas and Edgar Ramirez during a photocall for the film Hands of Stone at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP / Getty Images) 28 / 89 Edgar Ramirez, left, Robert de Niro and Usher Raymond IV at the Hands of Stone photocall. (Loic Venance / AFP / Getty Images) 29 / 89 Adam Driver poses during a photocall for the film Paterson on Monday in Cannes. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP / Getty Images) 30 / 89 Actor Adam Driver, left, actress Golshifteh Farahani and director Jim Jarmusch after Mondays screening of the film Paterson. (Valery Hache / AFP / Getty Images) 31 / 89 Chris Pine, left, and Ben Foster share a laugh at a photocall for the film Hell or High Water on Monday. (Loic Venance / AFP/Getty Images) 32 / 89 Salma Hayek Pinault attends Kering Women in Motion talk at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday. (Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images for Kering) 33 / 89 Susan Sarandon, from left, Salma Hayek, Geena Davis and Kering CEO Francois-Henri Pinault arrive for the Kering Women in Motion Honor Awards during the 69th Cannes Film Festival. (Guillaume Horcajuelo / EPA) 34 / 89 Actress and jury member Kirsten Dunst arrives at the premiere of Loving on Monday. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP / Getty Images) 35 / 89 Mischa Barton on the red carpet at the Loving premiere. (Loic Venance / AFP / Getty Images) 36 / 89 Actors Murielle Telio, left, actor Russell Crowe, actress Angourie Rice, actor Matt Bomer, actor Ryan Gosling, director Shane Black and producer Joel Silver pose upon arrival at the screening of the film The Nice Guys at the 69th Cannes Film Festival. (Joel Ryan / Associated Press) 37 / 89 Actors Matt Bomer, left and Ryan Gosling and director Shane Black arrive for the screening of The Nice Guys. (Ian Langsdon / EPA) 38 / 89 Actor Russell Crowe takes a picture at The Nice Guys premiere. (Ian Gavan / Getty Images) 39 / 89 Actress Geena Davis attends The Nice Guys premiere during the Cannes Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals. (Tristan Fewings / Getty Images) 40 / 89 Actress Marion Cotillard poses as she leaves the screening of the film Mal de Pierres (From the Land of the Moon) at the 69th Cannes Film Festival. (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 41 / 89 Model Kendall Jenner poses for photographers upon arrival at the screening of the film Mal De Pierres (From the Land of the Moon). (Thibault Camus / Associated Press) 42 / 89 Actress Sonam Kapoor poses as she arrives for the screening of the film Mal de Pierres (From the Land of the Moon). (Loic Venance / AFP/Getty Images) 43 / 89 Actress Kirsten Dunst arrives for the Kering Women in Motion Honor Awards during the 69th Cannes Film Festival. (Guillaume Horcajuelo / EPA) 44 / 89 Actors Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough leave the American Honey premiere during the 69th Cannes Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals. (Ian Gavan / Getty Images) 45 / 89 Actress Aishwarya Rai poses as she arrives for the screening of the film Mal de Pierres (From the Land of the Moon). (Loic Venance / AFP/Getty Images) 46 / 89 Actresses Sonam Kapoor, left, and Araya A. Hargate pose as they arrive for the screening of the film Mal de Pierres (From the Land of the Moon). (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 47 / 89 Actress Salma Hayek arrives for the Kering Women in Motion Honor Awards during the 69th Cannes Film Festival. (Guillaume Horcajuelo / EPA) 48 / 89 Actors Gael Garcia Bernal, Salma Hayek and Diego Luna arrive for the Kering Women in Motion Honor Awards. (Guillaume Horcajuelo / EPA) 49 / 89 Actor Shia LaBeouf poses for photographers during a photo call for the film American Honey. (Lionel Cironneau / Associated Press) 50 / 89 From left: Director Jodie Foster, actress Julia Roberts, and actor George Clooney pose together before leaving the Festival Palace after the screening of their new film"Money Monster at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday night. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images) 51 / 89 Blake Lively on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of Ma Loute (Slack Bay) on May 13. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images) 52 / 89 Juliette Binoche arrives for the screening of Ma Loute (Slack Bay) at the Cannes Film Festival on May 13. (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 53 / 89 Aishwarya Rai poses for the cameras at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of Ma Loute (Slack Bay) on May 13. (Antonin Thuillier / AFP/Getty Images) 54 / 89 Lily-Rose Depp poses at a Cannes Film Festival hotocall for the film La Danseuse (The Dancer) on May 13. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images) 55 / 89 Diego Luna, a member of the Un Certain Regard jury, waves during a Cannes Film Festival photocall on May 13. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images) 56 / 89 Juliette Binoche smiles during a Cannes Film Festival news conference for Ma Loute (Slack Bay) on May 13. (Laurent Emmanuel / AFP/Getty Images) 57 / 89 Director Jodie Foster and actor Jack OConnell discuss Money Monster in Cannes on Thursday. (Ian Gavan / EPA) 58 / 89 Julia Roberts of Money Monster at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday. (Loic Venance / AFP/Getty Images) 59 / 89 Money Monster director Jodie Foster, center, with stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts at the Cannes Film Festival. (Thibault Camus / Associated Press) 60 / 89 George Clooney of Money Monster waves to photographers at the Cannes Film Festival. (Thibault Camus / Associated Press) 61 / 89 George Clooney and Julia Roberts at the Cannes photo call for Money Monster. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images) 62 / 89 Actress Vanessa Redgrave and director Jim Ivory of the 1992 film Howards End, which is screening in the Cannes Classics section. (Thibault Camus / Associated Press) 63 / 89 Director Woody Allen, actress Kristen Stewart and actor Jesse Eisenberg arrive for the screening of Cafe Society"and the opening ceremony. (Ian Langsdon / EPA) 64 / 89 Festival director Thierry Fremau, from left, producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, actors Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake and festival president Pierre Lescure at the Cafe Society premiere and opening night gala. (Andreas Rentz / Getty Images) 65 / 89 Actors Corey Stoll, left, and Blake Lively arrive for the screening of Cafe Society. (Ian Langsdon / EPA) 66 / 89 Eva Longoria on the red carpet at the premiere of Cafe Society at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. (Neilson Barnard / Getty Images) 67 / 89 The scene outside the Cannes Film Festivals opening night gala. (Clemens Bilan / Getty Images) 68 / 89 Actress Kristen Stewart and actor Jesse Eisenberg arrive for the screening of Cafe Society and the opening ceremony of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. (Ian Langsdon / EPA) 69 / 89 From left, actresses Julianne Moore, Susan Sarandon and Naomi Watts pose for photographers at the Cannes Film Festival screening of Woody Allens Cafe Society on Wednesday. (Thibault Camus / Associated Press) 70 / 89 Cannes Film Festival jury member Donald Sutherland attends the Cafe Society premiere and opening night festival gala at the Palais des Festivals on May 11. (Tristan Fewings / Getty Images) 71 / 89 Actress Gong Li arrives at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP / Getty Images) 72 / 89 Actress Jessica Chastain smiles as she arrives at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP / Getty Images) 73 / 89 Actor and festival juror Mads Mikkelsen appears on stage during the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 74 / 89 Actress and festival juror Kirsten Dunst waves to the crowd during the opening ceremony of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 75 / 89 George Miller, president of the Cannes Film Festival jury, fourth from right, poses with jury members, from left, Arnaud Desplechin, Kirsten Dunst, Laszio Nemes, Vanessa Paradis, Donald Sutherland, Katayoon Shahabi, Mads Mikkelsen and Valeria Golino at the 69th edition of the festival in France on Wednesday. (Thibault Camus / Associated Press) 76 / 89 Actress Anna Kendrick, left, and Justin Timberlake, right, arrive by boat to the photocall for Trolls at the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. (Jerome Roux / EPA) 77 / 89 Among those attending the Trolls photocall at the Cannes Film festival Wednesday, are, in front row, starting second from left, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Justin Timberlake, director Mike Mitchell, Anna Kendrick and director Walt Dohrn. (Neilson Barnard / Getty Images) 78 / 89 Actress Kristen Stewart attends a photocall for the film Cafe Society at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. (Thibault Camus / Associated Press) 79 / 89 From left, director of photography Vittorio Storaro, director Woody Allen, and actors Jesse Eisenberg, Corey Stoll, Blake Lively and Kristen Stewart attend the Cafe Society photocall during the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. (Andreas Rentz / Getty Images) 80 / 89 Actress Blake Lively poses Wednesday during a photocall for the film Cafe Society at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in France. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images) 81 / 89 Jury member Vanessa Paradis arrives at the 69th Cannes Film Festival. (Joel Ryan / Associated Press) 82 / 89 Cannes Film Festival jury member Valeria Golino arrives in southern France for the festival. (Joel Ryan / Associated Press) 83 / 89 Jury Director George Miller poses for photographers upon arrival at Cannes for the 69th international film festival. (Joel Ryan / Associated Press) 84 / 89 Jury member and actor Mads Mikkelsen at the 69th Canness Film Festival. (Joel Ryan / Associated Press) 85 / 89 Jury member Donald Sutherland arrives at the Cannes Film Fetival. (Joel Ryan / Associated Press) 86 / 89 A beach artist creates an image with sand on the beach in front of the entrance of the Festival Palace in Cannes. (Joel Ryan / Associated Press) 87 / 89 Jury members actress Kirsten Dunst, left, actress and director Valeria Golino and actress and singer Vanessa Paradis on the balcony at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images) 88 / 89 Iranian producer and jury member Katayoon Shahabi arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images) 89 / 89 Hungarian director and jury member Laszlo Nemes arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images) Is it the second comeback? The third? Ive lost track, Verhoeven said playfully. The directors French-language movie just had its first screening, and he looked relaxed and ready on this Saturday afternoon as he sipped water in a hotel suite. Verhoeven has been waiting a long time for this moment, since his taut WWII thriller Black Book, one of the most well-received foreign-language movies of 2006, failed to produce a career resurgence. Instead, Verhoeven weathered the doldrums of second-tier Hollywood offers, the Sisyphean stops and starts of a Jesus passion project and a Marvel era that has rendered moot Verhoevens brand of R-rated, elegantly original pulp. He was even willing to go in another direction. Somehow early on in Hollywood I was typecast as a thriller and science-fiction guy. I would have done any script someone sent me if it was interesting, said the director, who has a chatty streak. If Woody Allen sent me a script for a romantic comedy, I would have done that. But he never did. The mind wanders to how Midnight in Paris" might have looked if directed by Verhoeven. But no matter. There is perhaps even more to mentally chew on in the film he did make. Elle the product of a French-Armenian novelist, French-Tunisian producer, American screenwriter and Dutch director is an international stew of the most captivating sort. (Sony Pictures Classics has acquired U.S. rights to Elle and will bring it to theaters later this year.) >>>READ: Full Cannes Coverage Isabelle Huppert plays Michele, a successful head of a video company who, in the films startling opening scene, is raped in her home by a masked assailant. (The attack recurs several times in flashbacks, with effective variations.) Rather than show understandable scarring or anxiety, Michele responds with a ho-hum equanimity, part of the characters generally cool irony that makes her so intriguing and part of the devilishly complex behavior that made Huppert an Oscar front-runner from the moment the screening ended. (The actress has never been nominated.) As Michele continues to receive text-message threats, the movie dangles the possibility the culprit could be an employee at her video game company, where misogyny abounds. Michele, however, decides not to go to the police, owing at least in part to a past entanglement with law enforcement over her jailed father, whose crimes become apparent over the course of the film (and whose actions traumatized Michelle when she was a child). Instead, the executive quietly seeks to see if she might unearth the attacker herself. This movie is about me going to American culture, living in the United States, and coming back out to Europe with an American heritage. Paul Verhoeven But even as Elle builds suspense over the rapists identity, it explores a larger interpersonal story of a complicated late-40-something executive. The movie layers in Micheles doe-eyed slacker son and his demanding baby mama, her ex-husband, her devil-may-care mother, her close friend and business partner and the friends husband, with whom Michele has been sleeping. Among other characters. Even though the movie has the beating heart of a thriller, many of its parts have little or nothing to do with the mystery, becoming a larger and more complex story of one womans entanglements, an unexpected hybrid. Much, it should be said, like its director. This movie is about me going to American culture, living in the United States, and coming back out to Europe with an American heritage, he said. Elles borrowing from film cultures on both sides of the pond without every fully being defined by either is the result of a filmmaker who has frequently done the same. As a 30-something in the 1970s, Verhoeven was making well-regarded literary adaptations in his native Netherlands. Then he arrived in Hollywood, and in the 1980s and 1990s he was a high priest of pop culture with smashes such as Robocop, Total Recall and Basic Instinct. That latter one, with its steamy sexuality that prompted some protests, was merely overture to what was to come. Verhoeven would a few years later become the vicar of camp thanks to Showgirls"--before reinventing himself once again, in 2006, with Black Book. The return to European productions has been partly by design, he said, and partly by circumstance; he couldnt get the top-flight scripts he wanted from studios. (Verhoeven continues to live in Los Angeles.) Elle was in fact initially conceived by its producer, the Tunisian-born and Paris-based Said ben Said, as an English-language American movie, which is why the script was written in English by the American screenwriter David Birke, based on Philippe Djians French-language novel Oh Verhoeven and Birke made several key changes, including moving the story into the more visual and charged world of gaming. Yet for all its tight thriller-y structure, the tale retained its European character. Subplots can wander in unexpected directions. Causal explanations are rarely given how much Micheles early-childhood trauma is responsible for her unusual approach to being raped, for instance, is left unclear. Paul Verhoeven doesnt try to give explanations, Huppert told reporters Saturday. He raises hypotheses. That, she said, also makes it easy to deliver a performance, because you dont have to explain things you just react. Meanwhile, though some self-consciously raunchy flourishes do remain, unlike Verhoevens Hollywood work, of course famed for its excesses, there is dare we say it a sense of restraint. A scene in which Michele and her business partner appear to be taking a Sapphic turn doesnt go there. I actually shot it, he said of a full sex scene. But then I watched it in editing and I said too much, he laughed. Thats a rare sentiment to hear from the man who opted to film Sharon Stone uncrossing her legs. (He also said, of Showgirls. I think it was badly understood at the time it was over the top because it was a movie about Las Vegas, which is over the top. But there probably were too many naked breasts. Yes, this is really Paul Verhoeven speaking.) The director hasnt been totally on hiatus. He has struggled for years to crack a Jesus story that will contain some of the ambivalence he has personally toward religion (that subtext is in this film too), and has of late been working on an epic project about the French Resistance during WWII which he hopes to get off the ground. Three years ago, he also made a deliciously fun featurette called Tricked, about a blackmailed Dutch businessman, that tried some novel attempts at story creation. But much of the time, he said, he was eyeing Hollywood movies and then rejecting them--often to his regret. I should have made more movies. I shouldnt have been so critical of the projects coming to me. Why did I not take [an offered] movie that was not so good and then try to change it?, he said. I should have made four movies since Hollow Man (the 2000 sci-fi film that was a critical dud but a modest commercial success) instead of two. I dont know where the time went, he added. Though Verhoeven has never had any intention of retiring, he says he does have mortality on the brain. You get older and death looks different. Its around the corner. When a woman dies in your film and youre 30, you dont identify with it. It was all about sexuality, or something else. This movie has a lot of death and it meant more personally. Elle will be the same in one respect: It will put Verhoeven back in the headlines. The press notes for the film dryly say: No American actress would take on a part this amoral. They may be right. More startling than Micheles initial laissez faire reaction is what happens when she does learn who the attacker was. Verhoeven has a direct reply to those who find unconscionable that a rape victim would do anything other than seek maximum justice."This is not all women. Its one woman, and a woman who had this very specific event in her childhood. We are not trying to represent everyone. Still, some are likely to say the movie is trivializing sexual assaults, a reaction that could put the film in the news in an unwanted way. In Europe I think it will be fine, Verhoeven said. And in America? The director took a pause and gave a small wry smile. It cant be worse than Showgirls. @ZeitchikLAT 5:27 P.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE I, Daniel Blake wins Cannes Palme dOr as a jury goes its own way British director Ken Loach with his trophy after winning the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival. (Loic Venance / AFP/Getty Images) Its not always noted, but there are two Cannes film festivals, one composed of critics, journalists and industry professionals, and the other inhabited by the sequestered jury. Sometimes these two Cannes speak with one voice, but in this 69th festival, they definitely did not. The German film Toni Erdmann, directed by Maren Ade, one of the few women in the competition, was easily the non-jury favorite among the 21 films eligible for prizes. Both wildly raucous and movingly humane, it chronicles the evolving relationship between a prankster father and his high-powered careerist daughter. Far from winning a top prize, however, Toni Erdmann was totally shut out by the jury chaired by Mad Max director George Miller. Instead, the Palme dOr went to 79-year-old British filmmaker Ken Loach for I, Daniel Blake, the on-the-nose narrative of working-class folks getting the run around from an unfeeling government welfare bureaucracy. Read more 3:16 P.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE Cannes: How George Millers jury got it wrong George Miller, president of the Cannes Film Festival jury, fourth from right, poses with jury members, from left, Arnaud Desplechin, Kirsten Dunst, Laszio Nemes, Vanessa Paradis, Donald Sutherland, Katayoon Shahabi, Mads Mikkelsen and Valeria Golino. (Thibault Camus / Associated Press) During a news conference after last years Cannes Film Festival awards ceremony, Joel Coen, co-president of the jury, responded to a question about why the Palme dOr had gone to Jacques Audiards tepidly received Dheepan, rather than one of the more acclaimed films in competition. Coens response was characteristically blunt: This isnt a jury of film critics. Indeed. And setting aside my own obvious bias in the matter, I can say that this arrangement is in theory, and sometimes in practice a good thing. We critics are often accused, sometimes rightly, of approaching our chosen art form with harsh scowls and highfalutin criteria at the ready, our judgments reflecting a profound detachment from the experience of the general audience, as well as of the artists who work hard to entertain them. At the same time, I would counter that Cannes, the greatest film festival in the world, has a mandate to honor the best in world cinema, which at times means pushing back against popular expectations. Theres also the fact that anyone who serves on a festival jury is, by definition, exercising critical judgment and making an assertion of personal taste. Some of the most satisfying Palme dOr winners in recent memory Amour, Blue Is the Warmest Color, The Tree of Life, and even a difficult work like Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives have demonstrated that its possible for non-card-carrying critics to make smart, aesthetically adventurous decisions. Theyve also demonstrated that honoring the art form and satisfying an audience are not mutually exclusive goals. There were a number of films in this years competition that managed to do both, perhaps none more brilliantly than Toni Erdmann, an alternately piercing and side-splitting dramedy from the German director Maren Ade, which premiered to rapturous acclaim early on and led the critics polls to the very end. Close behind was Paterson, Jim Jarmuschs exquisitely wrought portrait of the poet as a young city-bus driver (played by wait for it Adam Driver), which emerged as an immediate and unexpected high point in the American indie darlings career. And the competition ended on a strong note with Paul Verhoevens supremely sinuous Elle, starring Isabelle Huppert in a career-crowning performance as a woman who turns the tables not only on her rapist, but on the entire troubling subgenre of rape-revenge thrillers. Hayley Squires and Dave Johns in I, Daniel Blake. (Joss Barratt) None of these films won a thing. Instead the jury, led by the Australian director George Miller, awarded the Palme dOr to Ken Loachs I, Daniel Blake, an appreciably passionate, sometimes stirring yet excessively contrived and self-congratulatory drama about the ravages of poverty and unemployment in the U.K. Its a film that many in Cannes liked more than I did, and which drew widespread praise from British critics in particular, who can surely attest to the authenticity of its harsh depiction of their welfare state. But in handing Loach his second Palme (he won the first in 2006 for The Wind That Shakes the Barley), Millers jury, deliberately or not, wound up favoring an angry, relevant message rather than a great work of cinema. Loach inadvertently seemed to confirm as much when he noted in his acceptance speech that film is exciting, its fun, and as youve seen tonight, its also very important. Still, better for the Palme to have gone to Loach than to Quebecs Xavier Dolan, the 27-year-old world-cinema enfant terrible who pretty much horrified the press audience by inexplicably winning the runner-up Grand Prix for Its Only the End of the World. In my 11 years of attending Cannes I cannot recall a worse jury decision than this one. A badly shot, shrilly performed and all-around excruciatingly misjudged dysfunctional-family torture session that felt far longer than its 97-minute running time, World was by far the least endurable film in competition (and that includes Sean Penns dreadful but dreadfully entertaining The Last Face). Far inferior to the directors 2014 jury-prize winner, Mommy, the picture failed to win over even Dolans many fans, and I have counted myself among them on more than one occasion. The jury did honor excellent films elsewhere. The decision to split the director award between Romanias Cristian Mungiu and Frances Olivier Assayas was inspired; Mungius Graduation is a tense, beautifully structured and richly expansive morality tale framed and acted with his usual precision, while Assayas Personal Shopper, an eccentric supernatural thriller starring Kristen Stewart as a medium, was one of the festivals most successful and surprising experiments. Frankly, handing Mungiu and Assayas the top two prizes would have made for a more satisfying outcome. Along similar lines, I had hoped that Andrea Arnolds deeply enveloping road movie American Honey would garner something more than a jury prize the third such honor shes won at Cannes (after 2006s Red Road and 2009s Fish Tank). Given the advance the new film represents in terms of scope, ambition and achievement, Arnold surely rated more than another third-place mention this time around. Shahab Hosseini and Taraneh Alidoosti in The Salesman. (Habib Majidi / SMPSP) I cant begrudge the Iranian drama The Salesman its prizes for actor Shahab Hosseini and for writer-director Asghar Farhadis solid, well-carpentered screenplay. Nor can I dispute the effectiveness of the quietly stirring performance given by the Filipino actress Jaclyn Jose in Brillante Mendozas Ma Rosa, except to point out that it was chosen in a year with so many superb female performances including Sandra Huller in Toni Erdmann, Sonia Braga in Aquarius, Stewart in Personal Shopper, Ruth Negga in Loving, Huppert in Elle that struck me as fuller, richer and more resonant achievements. Asked about their decisions at Sundays news conference, Millers jury responded with the kind of diplomatic evasiveness that past Cannes juries have showed before them: There were so many fine films, it was a difficult decision, you cant please everyone, etc. My own sense, judging by their awards slate, is that they entered their deliberations with Ken Loachs buzzword importance ringing in their ears. By and large, their taste ran toward tales that focused on economic disparity around the world (I, Daniel Blake, Ma Rosa and even American Honey), or that examined human corruption under oppressive societal circumstances (Graduation, The Salesman). These are worthy causes to illuminate and, in some cases, worthy films as well. But after seeing all 21 movies in competition, I can attest that the 2016 Cannes Film Festival will not be remembered most for the films that trumpeted their importance (and self-importance) the loudest. It will be remembered for the gorgeous flurries of comedy and heartache in Toni Erdmann, which was acquired during the festival by Sony Pictures Classics and should put Maren Ade decisively on the international map. It will be remembered for the still but deep-running waters of Paterson, and for the high-wire interplay of terror, eroticism and provocation in Elle (and, for that matter, in Park Chan-wooks highly entertaining The Handmaiden). Is there no room, in the recognition of cinematic excellence, for movies that dont wear their politics or morality on their sleeve that touch less obvious, more nuanced chords? (Like, for example, the movies of George Miller?) That say a lot without raising a megaphone? That show that comedy is worth taking seriously? As Joel Coen noted, no, this is not a jury of film critics. But it should be a jury of artists with a less rigid, more sophisticated idea of what award-worthy cinema can and should be. And who can recognize a terrible Xavier Dolan movie when its staring them in the face. 7:14 A.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE Cannes: With Elle, Paul Verhoeven makes noise, and another comeback French actress Isabelle Huppert and Dutch director Paul Verhoeven arrive for the screening of Elle at Cannes. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images) The movies opening may as well arrive with an on-screen statement. Loud shrieking lends the impression a couple is having sex, but the first sight is a close-up of a cat. Then the camera cuts to the source of the shrieks, and it turns out what sounded like love was actually an assault. Paul Verhoeven is baa-aack. Needling, absurd, sexual, kinetic all those adjectives apply to Verhoeven. The Dutch-born director has followed one of the more improbable career arcs in modern cinema from European obscurity to Hollywood heights to industry punch-line (Showgirls, anyone?), back to European acclaim. And then, finally, to silence. Now, after a 10-year feature-film hiatus, the 77-year-old has returned with one of his most provocative and unclassifiable films yet. It is vintage Verhoeven by not being vintage Verhoeven. Read more 6:18 P.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE Cannes: Why Toni Erdmann could win the Palme dOr and other predictions Peter Simonischek in Toni Erdmann. (The Match Factory) Predicting the major prizewinners at the Cannes Film Festival awards that are handed out by a nine-person jury that changes annually, and whose individual reactions have been a complete mystery all festival long is a fools errand. But Ive never been one to let that (or my dismal track record) stop me. Here are my thoroughly whimsical, highly unscientific predictions for what will win the Palme dOr and other prizes from George Millers jury on Sunday evening. I am adhering to the festivals rules, which state that no film can win more than one prize (with the exception of the acting and screenplay awards, which can be paired for the same film). Palme dOr: Toni Erdmann. Maren Ades achingly funny, utterly surprising relationship comedy has been the dominant critical favorite of the competition, and the dominant critical favorite often wins. (Last years middlingly received Dheepan proved an exception to the rule, but other recent winners Blue Is the Warmest Color and Amour come to mind have borne it out.) It helps, too, that Toni Erdmann is a genuine crowdpleaser, packed with the sort of showstopping moments that make its lengthy 162-minute running time feel not just bearable but wholly earned. A win for Ade would not only be richly deserved, but also make her the first female director to win the most prestigious award in international cinema for the first time since Jane Campions The Piano tied with Chen Kaiges Farewell My Concubine. It would also be a nice feather in the cap of Germany, which hasnt been well represented at Cannes of late: The last German-directed films to win the Palme were Wim Wenders Paris, Texas (1984) and Volker Schlondorffs The Tin Drum (1979). Some potential spoilers: Julieta has not been rousingly received, but Pedro Almodovar is considered long overdue for a Palme, and affection for this beloved auteur runs deep. (Expect the film to win the Palme or nothing.) The two Romanian heavyweights, Cristi Puius Sieranevada and Cristian Mungius Graduation, were both well received and have passionate admirers. And Andrea Arnolds American Honey, the only other female-directed film in competition besides Toni Erdmann to have generated significant acclaim, might well emerge as a major challenger. Grand Prix: Sieranevada. Puius two-ton family epic screened on the competitions first day and has remained in the running ever since. Rumors that it was one of the festivals best films had long preceded its arrival on the Croisette, where they were roundly confirmed. Like all Puius films, Sieranevada rewards patience in spades; it takes some time, though not much, for the directors filmmaking mastery of character and dialogue, tone and style, framing and blocking to get its hooks into you. Graduation offers a worthy and more accessible alternative, but if the jury takes into account Mungius awards history (a Palme for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, screenplay and acting prizes for Beyond the Hills), they may be inclined to give this runner-up prize or the Palme itself to the other godfather of the Romanian New Wave. Jury Prize: Graduation. A total shot in the dark, especially since this third-place award could conceivably go to any film (or films) that the jury likes well enough. Even if both Romanian films emerge with big prizes, its not at all likely or certain that theyll be honored in this particular configuration, and the awards history I mentioned earlier could work against Graduation as well. But I have a feeling that the intelligence of the films construction, the seamlessness of the camerawork, the resonance of the storys moral inquiry and the emotional impact of the ending will make it hard for a jury not to recognize Mungius achievement somewhere along the line. Most of the films mixed notices have taken issue with its familiarity in the context of the directors work, but thats a complaint lodged more often by critics than jurors, who are often encountering a filmmaker or an entire national cinema for the first time. Sasha Lane in American Honey. (Protagonist Pictures) Director: Andrea Arnold, American Honey. Arnold has twice won the festivals jury prize (for Red Road and Fish Tank), and while her roving, ravishing, pop-and-adrenaline-fueled youth road movie was one of the festivals more polarizing entries, I suspect the jury might be more favorably inclined than not toward its outsized ambition. As noted earlier, Arnold could be in line for an even bigger prize, but her sheer display of formal chops here a decisive triumph of bold, jagged image making over thin-to-nonexistent narrative seems most likely to be rewarded in this category. Other possibilities: Ade for Toni Erdmann, and Alain Guiraudie for Staying Vertical, one of the competitions most likably eccentric titles and a master class in sustained, low-key dream logic. Actress: Sonia Braga, Aquarius. The years single most competitive category, and how refreshing is that? Isabelle Huppert gives an arguably career-best performance in Paul Verhoevens marvelously deft thriller Elle, but shes won this award twice already, and I imagine the jury may want to acknowledge someone new. Kristen Stewart holds you for every minute of Olivier Assayas spooky paranormal thriller Personal Shopper, but her presence in two films here (the other being Woody Allens Cafe Society) and her international stardom may seem reward enough. Sandra Huller is a knockout in Toni Erdmann, but assuming that film is bound for a bigger prize, as Im predicting, she wouldnt be eligible for this one. In a lesser year, I imagine Adele Haenel (the Dardenne brothers The Unknown Girl), Elle Fanning (The Neon Demon) and Sasha Lane (American Honey) would have been stronger candidates. Should the jury be inclined to honor a fresh face, they might well go with Ruth Neggas gently revelatory work in Jeff Nichols Loving. But in the end, I think this is Bragas to lose. Shes stupendous in Kleber Mendonca Filhos Aquarius, in which she plays a woman in her prime at 65, taking on corrupt developers and flaunting her blazingly intelligent, funny, righteous, dignified, sexy-as-hell presence in scene after scene. The chance to reward a veteran for one of her finest performances may be too much for the jury to resist. Actor: Adam Driver, Paterson. Pickings are slimmer where the boys are concerned, though the competition did turn up some excellent late-in-the-game options, courtesy of Adrian Titieni (Graduation) and Shahab Hosseini (Asghar Farhadis The Salesman), both giving nuanced performances as family men navigating slippery slopes into moral corruption. The British actor-comedian Dave Johns could be a favorite, too, for Ken Loachs I, Daniel Blake, in which he plays a down-on-his-luck carpenter railing against the bureaucratic tyranny of the British welfare state, and is always convincing even when the film goes into oppressively worthy Stations of the Cross mode. But amid all these talky, sometimes shouty performances, the quiet dignity of Drivers work in Paterson stands out all the more. Showing theres more to him as an actor than brash comedy and Kylo Ren, hes in the frame at almost every moment, and he commands the screen through sheer taciturn presence alone. This isnt a mopey performance or a self-consciously minimalist one; its a beautifully rendered study of a man trying, at every moment, to synchronize his rhythms with those of his environment. Driver won best actor at the Venice Film Festival two years ago for Saverio Costanzos Hungry Hearts; a second major festival prize would be well deserved. Screenplay: David Birke, Elle. Not in any way a confident prediction, and a writing award might seem odd for a film that is so clearly such a high-wire feat of acting and direction. But listen to just a few of the scintillating lines in Birkes surprisingly ambitious and gloriously unpredictable script (adapted from Philippe Djians novel Oh ), and the worthiness of this choice becomes very clear. Other contenders, assuming they dont win big elsewhere: the tidal wave of talk that is Sieranevada, the intricately nested wordplay of Paterson, the cleverly structured morality plays of Graduation and The Salesman, and the bravura loop-de-loop twists of Park Chan-wooks The Handmaiden. 12:54 P.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE Cannes: Elle, with Isabelle Huppert, brings competition to a strong close Isabelle Huppert in Elle. (Guy Ferrandis / SBS Entertainment) The Dutch-born, Hollywood-friendly director Paul Verhoeven has a gift for bringing out the very best in his leading ladies, usually by forcing them to embrace the very worst. From Sharon Stones ice-pick-wielding femme fatale in Basic Instinct (1992), to Carice van Houtens Nazi-seducing Jewish resistance fighter in Black Book (2006), Verhoeven has always had fun playing with his heroines desires and desirability, allowing them to wield their sexuality with the kind of brazen self-assurance rarely accorded women on American screens. But he also likes putting them through the wringer, as evidenced by the hideously memorable image of van Houten covered in human excrement at once an act of degradation and the foulest sort of baptism. Not unlike Brian De Palma, another filmmaker who likes to skirt the boundaries of good taste, Verhoeven has inspired no shortage of gender-based arguments over the years: Whether his female characters are misogynist constructs or avatars of empowerment is a topic open to continual debate and reappraisal. That seems unlikely to change with his latest work, Elle, a breathtakingly elegant and continually surprising French-language thriller that brought the 69th Cannes Film Festival competition to a rousing close on Saturday. If the early reactions seem tilted in Verhoevens favor, its surely because this indecently entertaining provocation his first film since Black Book, and his first to compete for the Palme dOr since Basic Instinct seems to belong equally to the French actress Isabelle Huppert, who rises to the occasion with one of the greatest performances of her very great career. In Huppert, Verhoeven has more than met his match; he has found a stunning collaborator, an actress who brings flurries of wit and tremors of complication to the sort of material that, in less assured hands, might well have tilted into outright disaster. In Elle, Huppert plays Michele, a mother, a recent divorcee and a successful video-game company executive. We know none of these things about her, however, in the startling opening scene, in which she is sexually assaulted on the floor of her home by a masked intruder. The act is quick, brutal, and filmed with nary a hint of exploitation. Verhoeven doesnt seem to be trying to shock us; he merely seems to be dispensing with the nasty preliminaries, the better to get on with his slow and steady deconstruction of Micheles psyche. Most importantly, he doesnt make the mistake of assuming that being a victim is the most interesting thing about her. And victim, in any case, is hardly the operative word here. After sweeping up some broken crockery and taking a bath, Michele returns to her normal routine with eerie calm. In the days that follow, she bickers with her mother and her son, and clashes with her (mostly male) co-workers. She matter-of-factly informs her ex-husband and closest friends about the attack, quietly shrugging off their horror. She thinks about what happened to her, and what she might have done differently and when her attacker unexpectedly resurfaces, she contemplates what she might do next. I dont want to give away too much about Elle, the considerable pleasure of which lies in the steady unraveling of its secrets. (The beautifully constructed screenplay was adapted by David Birke from Philippe Dijans novel Oh ) Suffice to say that what seems at the outset like a standard-issue rape-revenge thriller gradually becomes something deeper: a subtle character portrait and a wickedly dry comedy of manners, in which the characters gender and power dynamics are continually being renegotiated, scene by scene. Even uttering the words comedy and rape in the same sentence, of course, immediately risks offending certain sensibilities. And while Verhoeven doesnt downplay or trivialize the trauma of sexual assault, he isnt afraid to suggest that Michele might respond to her attack in any number of difficult, troubling ways, not all of them wholly or purely negative. All in all, its hard to imagine Elle working without the poker-faced reserve of Hupperts mesmerizing performance: Always among the most steely intelligent of actors, she illuminates the mystery of Micheles identity, paradoxically, by holding her feelings in check. Huppert is no stranger to exploring the outer limits of sexual debasement, as she did 15 years ago in Michael Hanekes The Piano Teacher, which earned her the second of two best actress prizes at Cannes. No one who sees Elle will begrudge her for winning a third. You dont always understand what Michele is doing and thinking, but you cannot help but believe her, every delectably perverse step of the way. ***** Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem in The Last Face. (Kelly Walsh) Saving one of the competitions very best offerings for last was smart scheduling on the festivals part. It would have been even smarter had they spared us the embarrassment of Sean Penns atrocious The Last Face, which stars Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem as international aid workers falling in and out of love in war-torn Africa. Its astonishing, in this day and age and less than a year after Cary Joji Fukunagas scrupulous, superior Beasts of No Nation to encounter a movie that so blithely presents Third World atrocities as grist for a romance between two gorgeous movie stars. Its even more astonishing coming from Penn, who has done good work behind the camera before (Into the Wild, The Pledge), and whose own passionate commitment to humanitarian causes can scarcely be disputed. But again and again over the course of this 132-minute movie, that sincerity proves his undoing. Climaxing with a dreadfully teary-eyed speech from Therons character about how poverty attacks dreams, The Last Face is both hectoring and drippy, an interminably goopy romance and a fatuous humanitarian lecture. Deservedly laughed off the screen on Friday, Penns film immediately supplanted Xavier Dolans Its Only the End of the World as the worst-received title in competition; if its completely forgotten by next week, itll be a kinder fate than the film deserves. The late screening of Elle also served to put a provocative bit of punctuation on a program that has featured an uncommonly rich array of movies about women. Maren Ades Toni Erdmann, Andrea Arnolds American Honey, Olivier Assayas Personal Shopper, Park Chan-wooks The Handmaiden, Pedro Almodovars Julieta, Kleber Mendonca Filhos Aquarius, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardennes The Unknown Girl and, yes, Nicolas Winding Refns The Neon Demon its an altogether astounding lineup, and the fact that many if not all of them will be headed to American theaters serves as a welcome corrective to the glut of male-centric movies that, with a few heartening exceptions, tend to clog our cinemas year-round. In one of those peculiar threes-a-trend coincidences, Elle is the third film in nearly as many days in which the plot pivots on a vicious physical attack on a woman by a man. The other two are Cristian Mungius well-received Graduation and Asghar Farhadis solid if underwhelming The Salesman, which was acquired for North American distribution by Amazon Studios shortly before its unveiling on Friday in Cannes. The film is another of Farhadis characteristically thoughtful morality plays stemming from a series of dangerous, all-too-human misunderstandings: A woman in Tehran lets a man into her apartment, mistaking him for her husband; the accidental encounter leaves deep physically and psychological scars, awakening in her husband a wholly understandable yet all-consuming desire for revenge. Beautifully acted by its three principals (Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti and especially Babak Karimi), Farhadis movie is a grave inquiry into the many varieties of male aggression and the moral cost of punishing our enemies, especially those who turn out to be as pitifully, redeemably human as we are. Its title is a deliberate nod to Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman, a local production of which the husband and his wife are both performing in a peripheral metaphor that never quite satisfyingly merges with the bigger-picture drama. If The Salesman feels like a lesser achievement than Farhadis About Elly, The Past and his Oscar-winning masterwork, A Separation, it may be because it lacks the dizzyingly intricate craftsmanship of those films, which functioned like humanist detective stories: Ingeniously plotted and endlessly multifaceted, they were Hitchcockian thrillers by way of Jean Renoir. Nevertheless, the new films wrenching final moments ably confirm Farhadis standing as a dramatist of the first rank, an artist whose far-flung domestic dramas can make us feel painfully at home. 12:40 P.M. CANNES, FRANCE Neon Demon director Nicolas Winding Refn brought his pulsating provocations to Cannes Nicolas Winding Refn is one of those directors who pushes buttons as much with his pronouncements as his work. In an interview with The Times at Cannes a few years ago for the polarizing Thai western Only God Forgives, he fashioned an elaborate metaphor out of the image of a birth canal then proceeded to compare it to sex. The Danes appearance at the festival this year has been no less needling. Refns Neon Demon played its first screening Thursday, and the movies hyper-stylized mashup of noir, fashion films and a host of other influences quickly became the most debated movie of the festival. In person, too, the artsploitation auteur wasted little time getting down to business as the self-proclaimed punk king of the global cinema world a comparison that became literal in one instance. He also dropped a dis track on a countryman. Here is a sampling of his comments from the Neon Demon news conference Friday afternoon. On the divided reaction to Neon Demon: If I dont split, what are we doing here? Creativity is about reactions. And reactions are the essence of experience. If you dont react, what are you doing here? Why would you waste your time? There are so many things in life you could do besides watch a film or TV show. Look at all the reactions you guys are having. Take it or leave it, but you cant deny it. On the punk-like quality of that last quote: I passed Iggy Pop on the way to rehearsal last night. Its like we took the trophy from him. On countryman Lars von Trier: Lars. Hes done a lot of drugs. Over the hill. The last time I saw Lars, he was telling my wife he wants to have sex with her. I told him to [bleep] off. So he found another slut. On his unlikely bit of casting: Just having Keanu with a knife at someones throat is the best. On feminism in his new movie: All the men are like the girlfriends in other movies. Because the women are the focus. The men represent certain approaches of fear, or control, or predatory behavior. On the unlikely connections between fashion, mortality and iPhones (theres a through-line in here somewhere): "Theres something very interesting about the digital revolution becoming a reality. Digital alters reality, so what you see is unreal which is death. Beauty and death are the same because theres nothing; its just the end of the line. Theres a dangerous possibility of this alternate world becoming a reality for our children because were not going to reverse the wheel. Its just going to get more and more." This is about, well, the thing that, you see...never mind, we cant really set this one up: The lesbian necrophilia scene is the essence of the film. We shot at the L.A. Morgue We had to sign a paper that if someone died, we had to leave. It escalated into a really intense necrophilia scene. [I asked actress Jena Malone] Can you stick your tongue in the mouth [ of the actor playing a corpse]? OK, thats great. Can you get more saliva on her? [He describes increasingly sexual acts.] And after that, we found the character. So now go with God. The lesbian necrophilia scene is the essence of the film. We shot at the L.A. Morgue. We had to sign a paper that if someone died, we had to leave. ... It escalated into a really intense necrophilia scene. And after that, we found the character. So now go with God. @ZeitchikLAT 7:12 P.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE Cannes: The Neon Demon, Graduation and the curse of auteur expectations Elle Fanning in The Neon Demon. (Gunther Campine) How you approach the sick, ravishing object that is Nicolas Winding Refns The Neon Demon is entirely up to you. Nervy feminist provocation or misogynist freakshow? Hypnotic art piece or exploitative trash? Im still wrestling with it myself, and have not yet ruled out the possibility that it may be all of the above. Refn, who competed in Cannes years ago with the very good Drive (2011) and the very bad Only God Forgives (2013), has in some ways surpassed Quentin Tarantino as the filmmaker with the least shame or discretion when it comes to projecting his most demented fetishes and fantasies onto the screen. This is no small thing. For all the praise directors routinely get for the honesty of their visions, it can be galvanizing to encounter one who truly operates without a filter (except, of course, for whatever filter he uses to achieve those sizzling reds and cool blues in his gorgeously tinted widescreen images). A voluptuously arid, glacially paced evisceration of an industry that routinely leaches beautiful women of sustenance and soul, The Neon Demon stars Elle Fanning as a naive, fresh-faced 16-year-old beauty who moves to L.A. and becomes the sensation of the modeling world. This prompts her impeccably coiffed, nipped-and-tucked rivals to begin their (very) slow descent into murderous jealousy. The movie is Refns Black Swan, his Mulholland Dr., his All About Eve, his Death Becomes Her and his Suspiria rolled into one. Its got gold body paint, menstrual floods, cannibalism, lesbian necrophilia and Keanu Reeves. Its bewitching to behold, with its surreal strobe effects and static, fashion-shoot-style compositions, and bewitching to listen to, with its nightmarish synth-on-stilettos score by Cliff Martinez. Its banal, ludicrous, thuddingly one-note and once you adjust to its narcotic rhythms entirely mesmerizing. By the end I was aghast and, loath though I was to admit it, impressed by the terrible coherence of Refns vision. Others were less impressed, and not shy about making their displeasure known: It was clear, five minutes into the screening, that The Neon Demon was going to draw the loudest and longest boos of the competition though as is always the case with a movie willing to sink to such disreputable depths, the catcalls were answered by a blast of defiant applause. Itll be interesting to see how Amazon Studios, after such classy, well-received Cannes entries as Paterson and The Handmaiden, handles the marketing and release of this already critically derided oddity. If past festival scandales have taught us anything, its that hatred is usually far preferable to indifference. I bowed to no one in my contempt for Only God Forgives, which, a juicy performance from Kristin Scott Thomas aside, felt like a creative dead end from a talented filmmaker. Featuring a cast of beauties made to look like bulimic vampires, The Neon Demon may be no less the work of a director with his head (and camera) somewhere in the vicinity of his colon. But what a beautiful colon it is! And what intoxicating moods it produces! The movie builds to a silly, unforgettable image with a nice little sting of a visual punchline: In this debauched charnel house of a movie, beauty truly is, ahem, in the eye of the beholder. ***** Adrian Titieni and Maria Dragus in Graduation. (Mobra Films / Why Not Productions / Les Films du Fleuve) Neon Demon or no Neon Demon, this has been one of the most consistent, strength-to-strength competition programs in some time. For many, an estimable Palme dOr contender arrived Thursday in the form of Graduation, Cristian Mungius latest sobering glimpse into the cold, black heart of Romanian society. Such an outcome would make Mungiu a double Palme winner, as he won the festivals top prize in 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. (His 2012 follow-up, the arthouse exorcism drama Beyond the Hills, won Cannes prizes for acting and screenwriting.) Less galvanizing than 4 Months, but more complex and persuasive than Beyond the Hills, Graduation traces the welter of moral complications that arise when a high-school senior, Eliza (Maria Dragus), is attacked one morning; her injuries, though not serious, will make it harder for her to take her all-important final exam. Her father, a middle-aged doctor named Romeo (Adrian Titieni), unwisely decides to intervene, at which point this swiftly paced, scrupulously measured film becomes a blow-by-blow indictment of this man and his manifold hypocrisies. Those who know a thing or two about Romanian history may pick up on a subtext about the lingering aftereffects of the Nicolae Ceausescu regime and how they impacted men like Romeo, who pride themselves on their strict moral compasses but are at the mercy of desire and self-interest. But even those who bring no such background knowledge to the table will be held, I imagine, by the force and fluidity of Mungius storytelling, and by the richness of the moral dilemmas he confronts us with: Who wouldnt want to do the best for their children, and to spare them the cruel deprivations of an earlier generation? Dragus, a German actress, first came to international attention in Michael Hanekes The White Ribbon, and there is something of the Austrian directors chilly spirit suffusing Mungius characteristically gray palette this time around: With its tale of rocks being thrown through windows and startling, out-of-nowhere physical attacks, Graduation evokes the social paranoia of both The White Ribbon and Hanekes earlier Cache. But this is finally a gentler, more compassionate film than either; Mungiu may be a ruthless realist with no love for the grim regimes of despots past, but his final shot offers bracing assurance that children really are the future. ***** Nathalie Baye and Gaspard Ulliel in Its Only the End of the World. (Shayne Laverdiere / Sons of Manual) Compete at Cannes often enough and youll find that your biggest rival may be your own enviable track record. Graduation, although admired by many, also drew criticism from those who felt Mungiu was treading thematic water rather than breaking new ground. Ironically, the Romanian film counts among its producers the great Belgian filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, whose own competition entry, The Unknown Girl, came in for even worse knocks a day earlier most of them directed at the unusually schematic nature of the story. The Dardennes, who have twice won the Palme dOr (for Rosetta and Lenfant), are among the most consistent filmmakers alive, to the point that even their strongest films are sometimes received with an impatience that can tilt over into ingratitude. Ill concede that The Unknown Girl, a socially conscious detective story that reminded me in some ways of Ruth Rendells 1994 crime novel Simisola, is something of a disappointment: Although fronted by a remarkable performance by the French actress Adele Haenel, it lacks the powerful moral and dramatic surprises typical of their best work. But if all disappointments were this thoughtful and mature or, for that matter, as thoughtful and mature as Pedro Almodovars tepidly received Julieta life would be almost too marvelous to bear. Auteur expectations are all but impossible to shake off at Cannes: If theres a reason a competition entry like Toni Erdmann has been such a critical favorite, its that Maren Ade, with just two features under her belt, arrived here as something of an unknown quantity. The same goes for the Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonca Filho, whose sophomore effort, Aquarius, merges the rich social critique of his acclaimed debut, Neighboring Sounds, with an unexpectedly accessible character study. Playing a woman who refuses to vacate her longtime apartment and finds herself at war with the buildings new owners, the 65-year-old Sonia Braga gives a performance of bravura intelligence, sensuality and emotional range. And if theres a director whose every new movie arrives bearing far too much expectational baggage these days, its surely Xavier Dolan, that 27-year-old Canadian enfant terrible, whos been known to divide audiences with films such as Mommy (winner of a Cannes jury prize in 2014), Tom at the Farm and Laurence Anyways. Ive been an erratic but sincere admirer of Dolans work over the years, but no amount of devotion could have kept me from recoiling from Its Only the End of the World, an insufferable compendium of dysfunctional family neuroses that stars a maddeningly aloof Gaspard Ulliel as a gay man making a rare trip home to tell his folks of his impending death. Im all for no-holds-barred emotional scrutiny, but rarely have I felt so imprisoned by a movie as by this one. The actors who include Lea Seydoux, Nathalie Baye, Vincent Cassel and an unprecedentedly awful Marion Cotillard are wretchedly served by their material, as well as by Dolans decision to trap them all in extreme closeups throughout. Ingmar Bergman believed the human face was the greatest subject in all of cinema, but I doubt even he would have lasted five minutes into Its Only the End of the World. Youve seen Biore pore-cleansing-strip commercials before, and theres no reason for them to be this tediously shrill. 3:55 P.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE Going under the shell of Cannes animated sensation The Red Turtle A still from the Dutch animator Michael Dudok de Wits film The Red Turtle. (Touchwood PR) CANNES, France The opportunity to make a feature film is, for most directors, the ultimate grail, a pearl without price, but for Dutch animator Michael Dudok de Wit, its always been an offer he felt he had to refuse. Until he couldnt. The 62-year old Dudok de Wit, a Dutch filmmaker based in London, is not just any short-film animator. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award in that category and took home the Oscar in 2001 for his emotional Father and Daughter. When I direct a short, I do all the elements myself: the design, the backgrounds, everything, I dont have to justify or explain, I just do it, the filmmaker says. With features there are always discussions, and that really puts me off. And I was not ready for the struggle of raising money. A thoughtful man with a quiet, reserved air, Dudok de Wit arrived at Cannes with two things he didnt expect: an infection that led to a bandage over his right eye, and a dazzling animated feature, The Red Turtle, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section, earning exceptional early notices and a U.S. distribution deal with Sony Pictures Classics. Read more 4:30 A.M. Feminism, Spielberg and a German showstopper: Times staffers make sense of Cannes (Walt Disney Pictures) The Cannes Film Festival hits its one-week mark Wednesday night, and while for some that sounds like an endless amount of time, for those at the fest -- where big movies from the likes of Paul Verhoeven, Sean Penn and Nicolas Winding Refn are yet to premiere -- thats far from the end. Its a good moment, in other words, to have a conversation about whats unfolded here at the so-called Olympics of cinema. READ MORE 4:35 A.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE Julian Assange film Risk offers an inside look at controversial Wikileaks founder Wikileaks founder Julian Assange squints in the sunlight as he prepares to speak from the balcony of the Ecuador Embassy in London in February. (Carl Court / Getty Images) New administrations can mean a change in fortunes for controversial figures. But a Hillary Clinton presidency would not improve the status of Julian Assange, say those aligned with the Wikileaks founder, who remains in Ecuadors London embassy pending a Swedish extradition request. In fact, they argue, it could well do the opposite. Under Clinton [Assanges situation] will possibly get worse, said Wikileaks staffer Jacob Applebaum. Clinton was secretary of State when Wikileaks released a trove of classified cables in 2010, many of them sensitive or embarrassing to the U.S. government. Applebaum noted a meeting he had with a senior Clinton staffer at the time that he said carried with it an air of intimidation. (Incidentally and not unexpectedly, Applebaum was hardly bullish on Donald Trump either. I dont have any ideas about other candidates but I dont think they have any ideas either.) Read more 1:09 A.M. Cannes: Jeff Nichols Loving stirs a festival and enters Hollywoods diversity debate (Patricia Williams / For The Times) As it reached a boiling point earlier this year, the #OscarsSoWhite movement and its proponents raised strong doubts about Hollywoods willingness to address issues of equality. Serious, topical films about race were lacking, they said, and consequently so were black nominees. At the Cannes Film Festival on Monday, those critics were given an answer. Premiering at the worlds most prestigious cinema gathering was Loving, a fact-based drama, from the Arkansas-raised auteur Jeff Nichols, about an interracial romance deemed illicit in Virginia circa 1958. Impeccably made and drawn closely from historical research, the film tells the relatively little-known story of Mildred and Richard Loving, a couple whose case, which eventually went to the Supreme Court, both exposed the racial divides of the time and helped bridge them. But as with so many films that touch on diversity, the movie has also just as quickly drawn skepticism, in this case for not being sufficiently hard-hitting about the racism of the era. Nichols has sought to keep a distance from the fray, saying he was simply looking to tell an intimate tale of a couple that overcame obstacles, not a larger social history. You look at this film from a distance and there are so many pitfalls for melodrama or histrionics, the writer-director said in an interview with The Times. But then you start to look at these people and theyre not melodramatic. Read more 6:23 P.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE Cannes: Kristen Stewart in Personal Shopper, and other grief-haunted heroines Kristen Stewart in Personal Shopper. (MK2 Pictures) There may not be enough female directors competing for the Palme dOr, but there has certainly been no shortage of stories about women in the mix. Its not the first time that assessment has been trotted out at Cannes, but oh well: It happens to be very, very true this year, and as such its a point worth both critiquing and celebrating. Not that the media audience seemed to be in a very celebratory mood on Monday night, to judge by the ill-considered boos that greeted Olivier Assayas Personal Shopper, a deliriously spooky paranormal thriller featuring another remarkable performance from Kristen Stewart this time as a fashion buyer and spiritual medium haunted by her twin brothers recent death. Booing films off the screen is a silly yet time-honored festival tradition, and my main objection to the practice apart from how it reduces an artistic showcase to a sporting event is that the movies that wind up getting the brunt of it are usually those with ambiguous endings or unconventional narratives. In short, the ones that attempt the most significant or daring creative risks. (Among the recently Cannes-booed, Abbas Kiarostamis Like Someone in Love and Carlos Reygadas Post Tenebras Lux come to mind.) If youll allow me to butcher Susan Sontag, the act of booing is too often little more than the revenge of the audience upon the intellect. There were no boos, if I recall correctly, for Assayas and Stewarts first collaboration, Clouds of Sils Maria, which premiered in competition at Cannes in 2014 and went on to win a raft of international acting prizes for Stewart (including the Cesar for best supporting actress). That film gave her a wryly humorous turn as a celebritys assistant, and so does Personal Shopper, except that here the celebrity stays almost entirely off screen while Stewart remains front and center. Its a smart choice: Assayas plot is preposterous and he knows it. He needs every moment of his leading ladys restless intelligence and twitchy, self-effacing beauty to carry it off. Stewart plays Maureen, an American living in Paris. (Assayas, savvy cine-globalist that he is, knows better than to explain why.) Maureen is moderately conversant with the spirit world, and Assayas wastes no time plunging her into the inky shadows of a haunted house, where she moves from room to room, murmuring the name of her late brother (Lewis ?) while a ghostly, ectoplasmic presence materializes every so often behind her. Before long, Maureen is receiving coyly menacing text messages from an all-knowing presence, and the escalating intensity of their back-and-forth makes for perhaps the most creepily sustained use of screen-within-a-screen since last years Unfriended. Where some might see an extended product placement for Apple, I see a director in full command of his craft and not too proud to flex his genre muscles. Assayas display of raw filmmaking chops here is so shiveringly bravura he turns those little iPhone text-in-progress bubbles into a harbinger of dread that it almost doesnt matter whether the ideas behind it cohere. And yet, on some eerie, subterranean level, they do. In films as different as his autumnal masterpiece Summer Hours and his sensationally trashy cyber-thriller demonlover, Assayas has long evinced a fascination with how globalization and technology are continually reshaping our relationships with the modern world, and with one another. His roving camera is forever drawing invisible lines and parallels between his characters, but here he has chosen to emphasize disconnection and disembodiment in every frame. Why does the movie end in Oman? What happens during Maureens climactic hotel-room assignation with the mystery texter? How hot does Stewart look in a black bondage gown? Only one of those questions will be answered definitively, but they are arguably not the right questions to start with. In Personal Shopper, a thriller whose heroine is forever at the mercy of unseen tormenters communicating with her remotely (her boss not least among them), Assayas has stumbled on perhaps the most literal definition of ghosts in the machine. And in Stewart, an extraordinary talent who does her best work at her most seemingly ordinary, he has found an ideal medium for his ideas. Maybe Im over-intellectualizing. A friend summed things up perfectly as we exited the theater: Its got Cartier and ghosts. Whats not to like? ***** Adriana Ugarte in Julieta. (Sony Pictures Classics) If youd asked me months ago which director would show up in Cannes with a kinky supernatural chiller about a woman reeling from personal tragedy, I might well have guessed Pedro Almodovar. Instead this justly beloved Spanish auteur has arrived on the Croisette with Julieta, a more subdued yet still powerfully affecting portrait of implacable grief and its myriad ripple effects. The movie is what you might call a return to form but then, after his mirthless airplane comedy Im So Excited!, you might call anything other than 96 minutes of uninterrupted black screen a return to form. Shuffling with effortless grace between the past and present lives of his title heroine (played at different stages by Adriana Ugarte and Emma Suarez), Almodovar seems to have taken the theme of loss unusually to heart. Julieta is a melodrama by subtraction; its about the traumas we dont always see or register, the painful emotions that we actively stifle and allow to consume us. The scenes that cut the deepest are practically invisible: A fatal accident is left off screen. Without explanation, a lady vanishes (not the films sole nod to Hitchcock). The teary ending we expect never happens and in some ways, the one we get is even more shattering. The reviews of Julieta have run the gamut from raves to polite yawns; the words minor Almodovar have popped up more than once, and in this context they feel both understandable and a bit ungenerous. Its true that since his triumphant Volver (which narrowly lost the Palme dOr at Cannes in 2006), Almodovars films, including Broken Embraces and The Skin I Live In, have seemed to merely go through the motions. You could see the gears spinning: After years of flooding the screen with outre melodramatic gestures, lush homages to Sirk and Hitchcock, and acres of crimson-streaked production design, the directors heart didnt seem to be in it anymore. Julieta is promising evidence to the contrary. This deceptively tamped-down film may not have the audacity and emotional force of an Almodovar masterpiece, but it reveals his mastery nonetheless. His manipulation of time frames, his sly infusions of comedy and his flawless direction of his actors all merge together with the dexterity of an artist who doesnt need to wow us to earn our love. Its a lesson I hope Almodovar carries with him always, even in the unlikely event of some idiots booing him off the screen. 1:57 P.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE Cannes pays tribute to 1992s richly emotional Howards End (Derrick Santini / Sony Pictures Classics) The Cannes Film Festival does more than anoint the triumphs of the present, it also celebrates whats transcendent in the past. Which is why a crowd of admirers waited patiently in line a few nights ago, a few with autograph books and posters they hoped would be signed, to both see a new 4K restoration of a modern classic, 1992s Howards End, and to do so in the presence of its director, James Ivory, and its perhaps most ethereal star, Vanessa Redgrave. Read more 1:54 P.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE Oldboy director brings feminist thriller The Handmaiden to Cannes Kim Tae-ri, from left, director Park Chan-wook, Kim Min-hee and Ha Jung-woo at Cannes. (Albert Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images) In The Handmaiden a thriller told Rashomon style by original Oldboy auteur and all-around gore maestro Park Chan-wook the two lead female characters are the narrative focus, theyre the love story and, though there are times one or both seems powerless, they often gain leverage, with their minds far more than their bodies. (OK, there is plenty here involving their bodies too; this is a lesbian romance that doesnt skimp on the sex scenes.) Im not afraid of this being called a feminist film, and certainly I had that intention, said Park, via an interpreter, as he sat on a rooftop deck here Sunday. Then, in his inimitably better-you-than-me-to-interpret-my-work manner, he added, But once you start labeling movies you start focusing only on that. And I dont want to focus just on that. Read more 6:11 A.M. Cannes, France Cannes 2016: Kristen Stewart shares her philosophy, work approach (Ian Langsdon / EPA) Kristen Stewart addressed reporters ahead of the premiere of Personal Shopper, her Europe-set ghost tale that reunites her with director Olivier Assayas, in Cannes on Tuesday. Here are excerpts from her comments: The constant nature of life is so terrifying that you cant get away from it. Right now. I cant get out. I cant get out. Thats really scary. "[This film] is a ghost story but supernatural aspects lead you to the very base questions. Am I making this up right now? Is this current reality a thing? Its so ridiculous. Is this (my) perception compared to yours? It is really a movie about finding yourself. Its an identity crisis movie. On super-fame: Sometimes I feel like I have my limbs cut off. Thats not a bad feeling. Its just surreal. On playing an assistant to a person so rich and famous she cant leave the house: Theres a lot of hatred and conflicted desires that go along with [my characters] attraction to shiny things. To be on the other side [of someone who is] not able to go to a store and buy something. Technically you can but it can prove to be ... not worth it. Maureen is so capable just so tactile and physical.. It was fun to play someone who was sort of like um, whats the word Im looking for dude. So capable. Ive been thinking a lot about distractions. Im absolutely guilty of constant stimula thats not actually stimulation.In the context of the movie the fact that she can sit behind the phone and feel closer and feel alive, it says something about how we interact with technology. It would be a lot easier for me to sit down and write an email of what Im talking about right now. [Pause.] But its nice to engage too. On Assayas, who also directed her in Clouds of Sils Maria: Theres a flame he lights under mine [butt] that is stronger than I ever felt. I dont know why. I really try to navigate my career by feel, and I just feel him. Without any religious implications, Im agnostic about ghosts. [Pauses] This is going to sound great in quotes. Im really sensitive to energies. I truly believe were driven by something. Im driven by something, I cant really define. I cant necessarily take responsibility for it and it gives me a feeling were not so alone. On sexually charged scenes: I wasnt afraid of that. Im really--Ill do anything. I really appreciate all of it. On acting technique: Im not trying to affect you, Im not trying to manipulate you. [Its not about] packaging and delivering a notion. Its being shocked by it and then someone captures it. And the only way to do that is to get naked. My favorite kind of work is someone says did you know that about yourself, because I saw it and wanted to highlight it. Do I believe in ghosts? I guess. I believe in something. Thats not a very finite answer. But thats the film. 11:10 A.M. Photos from the red carpet and beyond Actors Matt Bomer, left, and Ryan Gosling and director Shane Black arrive for the screening of The Nice Guys at the Cannes Film Festival. (Ian Langsdon / European Pressphoto Agency) Edgar Ramirez, left, Robert de Niro and Usher Raymond IV at the Hands of Stone photocall at the Cannes Film Festival. (Loic Venance / AFP/Getty Images) Adam Driver poses during a photocall for the film Paterson at the Cannes Film Festival. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images) Actress and jury member Kirsten Dunst arrives at the premiere of Loving at the Cannes Film Festival. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP/Getty Images) Read more 8:37 A.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE Cannes: The happy marriages of Jeff Nichols Loving and Jim Jarmuschs Paterson Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton in Loving. (Focus Features) Though he could scarcely be accused of making the same movie twice, Jeff Nichols has established a set of cinematic themes and preoccupations as consistent as those of any American writer-director working today. Stories of the rural South, rich in mythic undertones and the odd apocalyptic portent. Families that come under threat. Brooding, laconic men of action, usually played by Michael Shannon. Fiercely resilient women. Immaculate visual and rhythmic control. And, as seen in the recent Midnight Special, many, many shots of people behind the wheel, often at night. There are a few of those signature nocturnal driving scenes in Loving, Nichols second film of 2016, his second film to premiere in competition at Cannes (after Mud in 2012), and in some ways both his least typical and his most emblematic work to date. It tells the fact-based story of Richard and Mildred Loving (played by Joel Edgerton), a Virginia couple whose mixed-race marriage he was white, she was black challenged the social expectations of the era and ultimately led to the Supreme Courts 1967 civil rights decision against the prohibition of interracial marriage. It sounds like prime Oscar-bait on paper. And sure enough, the films well-received press screening had barely ended before the first wave of awards handicapping erupted on Twitter much of it focused on how the radiant Negga will singlehandedly dispel the curse of #OscarSoWhite. Maybe she will. But Id like to think at least some of the films applause was in appreciation of how largely un-baity it plays on screen, some overly insistent musical cues aside. Its the sort of movie whose flaws and familiarities wind up revealing its makers strengths: Nichols direction is clear-eyed and restrained, almost to a fault, and he refuses every opportunity to grandstand. In this he is operating very much in line with his characters, whom we never once hear extolling the importance of what theyre doing, or raising their voices or fists to those trying to tear their family apart. Nichols keeps the Lovings front and center, cutting away only when he must. When Richard refuses to attend the Supreme Court hearings and listen to the states noxious arguments on the dangers of miscegenation, the film honors his decision and keeps its distance as well. Nichols seems almost relieved at being able to skip the usual courtroom histrionics. The Lovings struggle is one of quiet, incremental persistence, their bond a force as permanent and elemental as the sun-kissed Virginia fields where they strive to make their home. The applicability of their story to Americas ongoing marriage-equality debate is implicit but goes entirely unmentioned. Specificity, self-control and humility are the hallmarks of Nichols approach. Negga and Edgerton are both outstanding, and at times their characters mutual devotion acquires an almost comic tinge. Mildred gently takes the lead in most of their decisions, smiling agreeably as a lawyer (a slightly jarring Nick Kroll) steers them this way and that, while Richard frowns in silence, his spirit willing but his mouth frozen in a pucker of revolt. Edgerton is playing one of Nichols quintessentially decent, inarticulate men, the kind of guy usually played by his Midnight Special co-star Michael Shannon, who turns up here as a friendly Life magazine photographer assigned to show the world who the Lovings really are. Which is, in the end, the goal of Nichols film as well. Richard and Mildred are not the most vigorous or demonstrative of protagonists, which makes Loving feel at once scrupulously honest and dramatically under-powered. That seems to suit Nichols just fine. The unalloyed perfection of his characters relationship may not make for the most urgent drama, but it makes their moral high ground that much more unassailable. The final shot underscores perhaps the overriding theme of Nichols work: an urgent yearning to return home, even if it means building one anew. ***** Adam Driver and Golshifteh Farahani in Paterson. (Amazon Studios) The Cannes programmers must have seen fit to schedule Loving as the second half of a double bill with Jim Jarmuschs wonderful Paterson, another portrait of a happy marriage between a white man and a woman of color. The similarities end there: The characters ethnicities go unmentioned in Paterson, and the film itself is unlikely to be confused for Oscar-bait anytime soon. Working in a mode that feels both completely accessible and richly personal, Jarmusch spends two hours observing a week in the humdrum life of a bus driver in Paterson, N.J. Every morning he rises at 6 a.m., eats breakfast, smiles at his wifes plans for the day (usually involving curtain or cupcake decoration), drives his bus, goes home for dinner, walks their ill-tempered English bulldog (an impudent scene-stealer), and ends the night at a local bar. The driver is played by Adam Driver, and whether that casting was a happy coincidence or the joke from which the movies central conceit arose, we have every reason to be grateful. For the bus driver is not just a bus driver but a poet, scribbling warm, intuitive free-verse observations in a notebook he keeps with him at all times. And Paterson itself is a sort of poem one with its own delicately calibrated internal structure, predicated on a cleverly sustained scheme of rhyme and repetition. Jarmuschs screenplay is a marvel of intricate visual and verbal gamesmanship. Mysterious doublings recur throughout: Drivers driver not only lives in Paterson but also is named Paterson. William Carlos Williams becomes a significant plot device. Lines of dialogue in one scene are replicated, with uncanny accuracy, a few scenes later. Characters from a movie by another American indie darling make a delightful surprise appearance. One of Patersons poems invites us to consider the beauty of a book of Ohio Blue Tip matches, and if your brain works the way mine does, youll immediately think of matches in the other sense, perhaps in stealth reference to the identical twins who keep popping up in the background. A work of becalmed eccentricity and unforced charm, Paterson is a portrait of an artists world, and how that world presented here as recognizably mundane, and yet touched by a sort of cats-cradle enchantment can provide him or her with inspiration, nourishment and an inevitable dose of failure. Driver, whose career from Girls to Kylo Ren has been a succession of off-the-wall surprises, gives a performance of great, taciturn melancholy. Sacrificing the boisterous comic personality he brought to movies like While Were Young and What If has taken him to soulful new depths as an actor. (Also, if that is indeed his scrawl we see on the screen, he has lovely penmanship.) As his wife, the superb Golshifteh Farahani is a perpetually upbeat figure, comically idealized in ways that somehow only deepen the movies wellspring of melancholy. When it was announced that Paterson was Cannes-bound, a colleague warned me that hed heard it was extremely minor Jarmusch. That didnt bother me in the slightest: His previous work, Only Lovers Left Alive, slipped into Cannes 2013 with little early fanfare and emerged one of the festivals unexpected highlights. And since the directors brand of low-wattage indie minimalism has always insisted that we learn to see the beauty in the small and everyday, as well as in the neglected and rarefied, it stands to reason that his minor effort might in fact turn out to be the deepest, truest expression of his ethos as an artist. The tedious common line on Jarmusch is that his filmmaking, like so much poetry, is too idiosyncratic to be savored by more than an appreciative few. The unfashionable wit, delicacy and modesty of Paterson would seem to confirm that truism, even as the emotional effect of the film utterly rebukes it. Jarmusch has made a movie for anyone whos ever felt out of step with the world which is to say, a movie for everyone. 7:07 A.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE Cannes: American Honey, The Handmaiden and a (brief) word on long movies Sasha Lane in American Honey, which runs 162 minutes. (Protagonist Pictures) How long is too long? Its a question that moviegoers are accustomed to asking at the Festival de Cannes, with its reputation for marathon running times, and this year has been no exception. The official selection got its most time-consuming entry out of the way on the first day with Cristi Puius just-shy-of-three-hours Sieranevada. But Puius film is scarcely the sole competition entry to have clocked in at well north of two hours. Park Chan-wooks The Handmaiden runs a tightly coiled 145 minutes, and Maren Ades Toni Erdmann and Andrea Arnolds American Honey last a somewhat baggier 162 minutes each and have, even in their most glowing notices, taken some flak for their perceived self-indulgence. (Still to come: Kleber Mendonca Filhos 140-minute Aquarius and Na Hong-jins out-of-competition thriller The Wailing, listed in the festival program with a running time of 156 minutes.) Ive already written about why I think Toni Erdmann, in mapping the contours of an unusually intricate father-daughter relationship, largely earns the right to be unhurried and exhaustive. American Honey, though in some ways trickier to parse, earns it, too. Arnold, the prodigiously talented British director of Red Road, Fish Tank and Wuthering Heights, has shown an increasingly fearless command of form with each film, and in American Honey, her tough, electrifying, the-kids-are-definitely-not-all-right road movie, she leaves conventional ideas of narrative structure almost completely by the wayside, relying on pure texture, sensuality, imagery, music and performance to drive her picture forward. The astonishing newcomer Sasha Lane plays Star, a Texas girl who, fed up with her depressing home life, impulsively tags along with a band of teenage drifters making their way across the Midwest. At the instruction of their whip-cracking manager, Krystal (a terrific Riley Keough), these kids raid remote outposts and suburban neighborhoods trying to sell magazine subscriptions, though its soon clear that what theyre really selling are their own dead-end sob stories something that will stir the charitable empathy of the poor and wealthy alike. They are in effect selling themselves, the implication of which Arnold follows, at one point, to its logical conclusion. There are some toxic romantic complications and misunderstandings involving Krystals top seller, Jake (a charismatically grunged-up Shia LaBeouf), who shows Star the ropes and soon shows her other things as well. But the movie never becomes fully invested in their on-again-off-again flirtation, and with a few exceptions, we never learn much about the other kids in this nomadic commune, either. Arnolds attention gravitates toward other elements in this rural American panorama: the startling beauty of a prairie sunset, the furious pop energy supplied by the films terrific soundtrack, and the small insects that repeatedly creep into the frame as though drawn, moth-like, to the flame of Lanes magnetism. You cant blame them: Arnold and her extraordinary cinematographer, Robbie Ryan, keep their camera close to their leading lady, who has both a spunky-sultry impudence and a profile worthy of a Greek coin a quality emphasized repeatedly in Ryans ravishing square-frame compositions. American Honey is a jaggedly beautiful aesthetic object, and at two hours and 42 minutes, its accumulation of immersive details is meant to frustrate your sense of time passing. The subculture being examined here is a fascinating one, but long stretches of tedium, we come to understand, are also a significant part of the characters journey. Which is not to suggest that Arnolds road movie, for all its sensory pleasures, lacks an arc or a destination: In a revelatory culmination of song, image and wordless exchange, the movie arrives exactly where it needs to, with Star emerging a bit sadder and a bit wiser an epiphany that wouldnt matter as much to us if we hadnt seen and experienced so much alongside her. How long is too long? Roger Ebert was fond of saying, No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough. I have a feeling he would have dug American Honey. ***** Kim Min-hee and Kim Tae-ri in The Handmaiden. (CJ Entertainment) The Handmaiden is the Korean director Park Chan-wooks most delectable narrative feature in years and I say that as someone who found his Stoker a genial hoot, but had little patience for Thirst, Oldboy and his other strained exercises in gore-sloshing perversity. Theres a little of that sadism on display here, but it doesnt rear its head until the very end, and when it does it feels almost reflexive, compulsive as if Park himself had become so wrapped up in the yarn he was spinning that he suddenly realized, shoot, he hadnt sliced off anyones fingers yet. Adapted from Sarah Waters Victorian-set novel Fingersmith, but relocated to 1930s Korea, this ornately art-directed erotic puzzler centers around two beautiful women: Sook-hee (Kim Tae-ri), a wily pickpocket turned duplicitous caretaker, and Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee), a Japanese heiress who is the target of Sook-hees deception. Over the course of the movies three chapters, two of which provide a revelatory, Rashomon"-style shift in perspective, the women will become lovers, rivals and allies, and their teasing, mercurial role play is what gives the movie its seductive pull. A sort of Gaslight-meets-Jane Eyre with a big ol splash of Diabolique, The Handmaiden has predictably generated a lot of ink over its explicit lesbian love scenes a touch that might well have been decried as exploitative (just as Blue is the Warmest Color came under attack here at Cannes three years ago), if not for the righteous narrative primacy that Park grants his leading ladies. Guys may well get off on the sight of these two women going at it, but the entire audience can take a certain gratification in the way they turn the tables on the devious and controlling men in the picture, including Hidekos uncle (Cho Jin-woong), a pervy old purveyor of Japanese erotica who keeps a collection of human genital parts in jars. Fetishism is both a crucial plot point and an entirely accurate description of Parks stylistic approach. The Handmaiden may not be much more than ravishing surface at the end of the day, but Parks embrace of his own voyeurism is awfully infectious. He likes to watch, and its a pleasure to admit that we do, too. ***** Marion Cotillard and Alex Brendemuhl in From the Land of the Moon. (Studiocanal) By Eberts running-time logic, Nicole Garcias dreary competition entry From the Land of the Moon, though relatively trim at two hours, should feel positively interminable. It doesnt, exactly. Marion Cotillard never ceases to be watchable even in a role as painfully limiting as Gabrielle, a gorgeously miserable 1950s Frenchwoman who spends all (and I do mean all) her time pining for men who will never be hers, while her perfectly decent, sensitively stubbled husband (Alex Brendemuhl) suffers silently in the background. Wallowing gently in picturesque scenery, coyly filmed couplings and prettily tortured shots of Louis Garrel, but without ever building the sort of delirious, full-on sexual boil that might have cut through its exquisite drippiness, the film (adapted from Milena Angus book Mal di Pietre) builds to a ludicrous final twist thats pure Nicholas Sparks. That said, this particular masochistic weepie is still preferable to last years stealth Nicholas Sparks movie in competition, Gus Van Sants indefensible The Sea of Trees. (Presumably the sea of trees and the land of the moon are thematically if not geographically adjacent.) In a year of heightened attention to industry-wide diversity issues, much worthy attention has been focused on the presence of three female filmmakers in competition: Its not enough, but its still an improvement over past editions of Cannes, and Id argue that the improvement is as much a factor of quality as quantity. Toni Erdmann and American Honey both have their detractors, but youd be hard-pressed to find two Palme dOr contenders that feel more thrillingly, urgently and cinematically alive. From the Land of the Moon isnt in the same league, though Im leery of comparing leagues in the first place: Why lump filmmakers together simply because theyre female and why hold Garcia to a more exacting standard than that of the numerous male-directed mediocrities that have been slotted into competition without a second thought? Garcias film can be defended, up to a point, as an old-fashioned throwback to the womens pictures of the 1940s and 50s, though its retrograde sexual politics would almost certainly have felt livelier and less dated in that context. Like most movies that take themselves with such deadly (and deeply French) seriousness, this unhappy-marriage drama almost begs to be remade as a comedy, perhaps even a sitcom. One of these days, Gabby, bang, zoom! Straight to the land of the moon! 4:07 P.M. REPORTING FROM CANNES, FRANCE Cannes: Mark Rylance reunites with Steven Spielberg and astonishes anew in The BFG Mark Rylance in The BFG. (Walt Disney Pictures) By his own admission, Steven Spielberg doesnt become personal friends with many of the actors he works with. I have a lot of acquaintances over 44 years [as a filmmaker], he told reporters at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. And I havent brought a lot of people into my life from the movies ... He has, however, made an exception for Mark Rylance. The director said hes become close with the actor, a fact that runs parallel to their professional lives, with two collaborations under their belts and a third on the way. Audiences should be glad for the relationship. Rylance, who played the simmering spy Rudolf Abel in Spielbergs 2015 hit Bridge of Spies, returns, in a remarkably different guise, in Spielbergs latest, the adaptation of the Roald Dahl childrens fantasy The BFG, which premieres here Saturday. The 56-year-old British-born Tony and Oscar winner (and Emmy and Golden Globe nominee) stars as said title character -- it stands for big friendly giant. He gives a performance in motion capture as rich and subtle as his turn in the Soviet-era espionage drama. Read more He came from a family of pilots. One uncle was an air force captain. Two cousins, like him, flew for the national carrier, EgyptAir. Mohamed Saeed Shokair died doing what he was born to do, family members said Sunday at a funeral service for the pilot of EgyptAir Flight 804, which crashed into the Mediterranean last week with 66 people on board. It was not a job; it was his passion, Samir Shokair, a cousin, said outside the mosque in eastern Cairo where relatives gathered on a dry, windy evening to bid quiet farewells. Advertisement Like all the funerals held across Egypt this weekend for the crash victims, there was no body to bury. Only unidentified human remains and bits of debris have surfaced since the plane went down Thursday morning, confounding investigators and deepening the anguish of family members. A Coptic Christian grieves during prayers for the victims of Thursdays crash of EgyptAir Flight 804, at Al-Boutrossiya Church in Cairo on May 22, 2016. (Amr Nabil / Associated Press ) He was not an extremist. He was a popular person, close with everyone. He always wanted to be a pilot. Samir Shokair, cousin of the EgyptAir pilot Authorities have dismissed theories that Shokair, 36, or his 24-year-old copilot brought the aircraft down intentionally as happened with a 1999 EgyptAir flight that originated in Los Angeles and crashed into the waters off New England. They have described Shokair as a respected veteran with more than 6,000 hours of flying time under his belt one-third of that at the controls of an A320. Family members, too, have had to contend with speculation about Shokairs motives or mental state. He was not an extremist, Samir Shokair said. He was a popular person, close with everyone. He always wanted to be a pilot. Outside the prayer hall, close male relatives in dark suits stood in two rows, greeting mourners with hugs and solemn handshakes. Women waited in an adjacent room, some clutching handkerchiefs close to their faces. Mohamed Shokairs father, wearing a gray jacket and open shirt collar, arrived at the mosque at dusk looking drained. He walked with a slight stoop. But when questioned by an Egyptian news crew, he suddenly grabbed the reporters microphone and spoke directly into the camera in a calm, forceful voice. Mohamed was a good pilot. He had flown a lot of hours he was not some beginner, Saeed Shokair said, his eyes fixed. And he knows God. He never missed a prayer. His father told a story about how, a few months ago, airline employees were on the verge of striking over working conditions. Shokair helped organize a dinner meeting for pilots in a Cairo suburb where they reached a decision to avert the work stoppage, winning him praise from civil aviation officials. We are a nationalistic people, his father said. We should support EgyptAir. Sharif Fathy, the civil aviation minister, came to pay his respects, as officials and EgyptAir executives have done at several funerals for crew members. Afterward, Fathy described Shokair as a trustworthy pilot with enough experience and rejected speculation that the crash was caused by human error. He didnt do anything wrong, Fathy said. Acknowledging the grief of families, Fathy said that recovering the bodies of the victims was the No. 1 priority of search teams. He said Egypt had requested additional equipment from private companies and foreign countries to assist in the search, but declined to speculate on the scant clues that have surfaced so far. Among them is the finding by French civil aviation authorities that automatic messages sent from the aircraft indicated smoke in the cabin shortly before it lost radar contact at 2:30 a.m. Thursday. Although the French agency said it was too early to determine what caused the smoke, aviation experts said the information was consistent with a fire on board. Fathy, who made headlines in the early hours following the crash for saying terrorism was the most likely cause, declined to speculate any further. It doesnt mean anything so far, he said. Smoke can come for many reasons. Questions have also surrounded Shokairs copilot, Mohamed Mamdouh Assem, who the airline said had amassed 2,766 flying hours. Assems friends described him as a warm, popular young man who was living out the dream he set for himself as a schoolboy: to fly for EgyptAir, which he joined straight out of aviation school about two years ago. He always talked about being a pilot, said Ahmed Amin, a childhood friend from Cairo. He was very happy doing what he was doing. Assem suffered tragedy about two years ago when his mother died of cancer, Amin said. But he met a woman recently, and the two were making plans to get married. Shokair was unmarried and had no children, family members said. But he also was planning to settle down; he bought land outside the city where he was going to build a house, his father said. Those hopes were extinguished Thursday, leaving an elderly father to grieve the loss of his only son. I hope whoever took away my son will lose the light in their eyes, Saeed Shokair said. Because Ive lost the light of my eye. Special correspondent Omar El Adl contributed to this report. ALSO Still few answers in EgyptAir crash and no claim of responsibility Egypt cant catch a break: Flight 804 disaster adds to a litany of woes Smoke detected on EgyptAir plane before crash, investigators say; images of debris revealed When President Obama arrives in Vietnam early Monday he will encounter both a youthful, liberalizing society and an aging communist leadership slow to change its authoritarian ways. The welcome from both will be enthusiastic, analysts agree, because relations have never been better between the old adversaries in what is called here the American War. Under the Obama administration, relations have really deepened quite dramatically, said Murray Hiebert, a Southeast Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Advertisement Vietnam is considered a key player in Obamas long-stated effort to rebalance U.S. foreign policy in Asia. Chinas island-building in a disputed swath of the South China Sea has brought to the fore the countries shared interest in protecting access to waters through which about $5 trillion in trade is shipped every year and raised the potential for military cooperation as Vietnam aims to move out from under its giant neighbors shadow. Vietnam and the Philippines both applauded the Obama administration when it sent a U.S. warship cruising within view of Chinese construction projects on a rocky archipelago that is also claimed by the two countries. The U.S. has said it does not take sides regarding the competing claims to islands and reefs in the area but is committed to freedom of navigation in international waters. U.S. officials are concerned that China eventually wants to use the islets for military purposes and is ultimately seeking to push U.S. forces out of what it regards as its own backyard. Obamas two-day visit to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City aims to build on other high-level meetings, including one between the president and Nguyen Phu Tong, the 72-year-old Vietnam Communist Party general secretary, in Washington last year. Topping the agenda are Vietnams desire to purchase more U.S. weaponry and the U.S. Navys interest in being able to resupply and make repairs at Cam Ranh Bay, the strategic port built by U.S. forces in an attempt to prevent the toppling of the South Vietnamese government in 1975. Vietnam is also seeking assurances of enhanced trade with the U.S. regardless of the fate of the 12-nation Pacific Rim deal that still needs congressional approval. Vietnam the least developed of the 12, and the only one under communist leadership anticipates a hefty boost to an already bustling economy that has spawned a growing middle class. Excitement surrounding Obamas visit the first by a U.S. president in a decade could help explain a recent surge on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, said Hanoi economist Quan Hoang Vuong. Human rights activists are urging U.S. leaders to use the visit to press their Vietnamese counterparts to stop persecuting political and religious dissidents. Hanoi has become less oppressive than in years past, Hiebert said, but about 100 Vietnamese citizens remain in prison for political reasons. In a move widely seen as a goodwill gesture before Obamas arrival, Vietnam granted early release to a Catholic priest, the Rev. Nguyen Van Ly, who is one of the countrys most prominent dissidents. However, the visit is expected to coincide with a hunger strike by another prisoner, jailed human rights activist Tran Huynh Duy Thuc. Brad Adams, Asia director of the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said Thuc bucked authorities who tried to force him to accept exile in the U.S. or remain in prison an approach used with other dissidents. Obama should insist that Thuc and other peaceful activists are released from prison and allowed to live free from government harassment in their own country, Adams said in a statement. The authoritarian reflex was on display recently when police beat and detained protesters who were angry about the governments handling of a massive fish die-off along the central coast in April that raised concerns about the nations food supply, according to the rights group. Officials blamed a terrorist group with ties to the Vietnamese immigrant community in the U.S. for organizing a the protest in Ho Chi Minh City. First, Viet Tan is not a terrorist group, said Carlyle Thayer, a Southeast Asia scholar at the Australian Defense Force Academy. Secondly, he said, The charge that Viet Tan was involved is obviously designed to undermine the legitimacy of public protests and distract attention from the governments poor handling of the dead fish issue. Vietnam today is dramatically different from the country that President George W. Bush visited in 2006 and President Clinton in 2000. Normalization of relations in 1995 20 years after the end of a war estimated to have claimed up to 2 million lives accelerated Vietnams transition from a dysfunctional, centrally planned economy to what it calls market-oriented socialism. The country emerged from post-war misery to become one of the worlds top exporters of rice, coffee, seafood and textiles. Multinational companies such as Samsung and Intel Corp. have invested billions into a growing tech sector, helping Vietnam to edge into global middle-income status as measured by the World Bank. With rising prosperity, the economic contrasts have grown starker: Millions still live in poverty while sales of SUVs and luxury sedans have soared. In Hanoi, peddlers who earn a few dollars a day shoulder yoke-like ganhs as they walk past new shopping malls that cater to soaring consumer culture, and the hammer-and-sickle still waves. A popular coffeehouse chain called Cong Ca Phe salutes the irony with commie kitsch decor that mixes Marx and Lenin paperbacks with black-and-white wartime images. The cocktail menu includes a B-52, named after the American bomber than once rained death and destruction on this land. Vietnams youth about two-thirds of its 90 million people were born after the 1975 reunification of the North and South have embraced social media, a global outlook and more liberal values. Increased prosperity has enabled young Vietnamese to travel more widely; about 17,000 attend school in the U.S. Just four years after Hanoi held its first gay pride parade, the decriminalization of same-sex unions and a law allowing people to alter their gender have put Vietnam at the forefront of the gay rights movement in Asia. It is a cause championed by the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, Ted Osius, and his husband, Clayton Bond, who often attend public events with their children. The hope in some quarters is that Vietnams new social attitudes will lead to greater freedom of expression. But the great leap forward in gay rights has not seemed to nudge authorities toward greater tolerance of political dissent. In the human rights field, one Western diplomat said, gay rights is an easy box to check off. ALSO A womans slaying in Seouls tony Gangnam district stirs emotions in South Korea Taliban leader Mullah Mansour believed killed in U.S. drone strike in Pakistan Egypt cant catch a break: Flight 804 disaster adds to a litany of woes Harris is a special correspondent. San Francisco police are looking for numerous people, mostly teenagers, who attacked a man in the South of Market district. Authorities told local media that the assailants drove up in cars early Friday morning and beat the man and hit him with bottles. He was in a coma in critical condition. Glass bottles were used, but it was mostly punching and kicking that led to his brain injuries, San Francisco Police spokesman Carlos Manfredi told KPIX-TV. Its just cold. Its heartless. You know, were raised better than that. At the very least, call 911. Because hes got severe head trauma from the blows to his head. Advertisement The man, described by a 29-year-old from Hayward, was attacked in an industrial area near Harrison and Harriet streets thats lined by auto shops and big parking lots. The motive for the attack was unclear. ALSO Hospital was undercharged $800,000 for water; Poway wants it to pay up Muslim group on helping San Bernardino shooters family: No one should suffer for the sins of others Once-sedate L.A. Police Commission meetings upended by protesters set on disrupting business as usual Sanders avoids criticizing Clinton Bernie takes stage in Irvine, says "it looks to me like we got a lot of ppl here ready for a political revolution" pic.twitter.com/0yt9Jf8bNJ Seema (@LATSeema) May 23, 2016 Bernie Sanders, hurtling toward a series of primaries that will almost certainly end his presidential bid, avoided criticizing Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton during a campaign rally in Irvine on Sunday night. Instead, the Vermont senator railed against Republicans, presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, the wealthy, corporations and the media. And he repeatedly called for a political revolution to fix the nations woes, which include a rigged economy and a corrupt campaign finance system. It looks like the American people in fact are sick and tired of establishment politics and establishment economics. And it looks like the American people are ready to transform our country in very profound ways, he told several thousand raucous supporters at the outdoor rally. Given the nature of American economics and politics today, no president can do it alone. We need a political revolution. This is a fight we have to wage together. Sanders has won 20 state primaries and caucuses, but he is badly trailing Clinton in the total vote and the delegate tally. Clinton is fewer than 100 delegates shy of winning the Democratic nomination, and is expected to clinch it on June 7, when California and five other states hold primaries. In recent appearances in California, Sanders acknowledged that he faced a steep hill to winning the Democratic nomination. On Sunday, he didnt once mention the race for the nomination. Instead, he laid out his policy priorities, including tuition-free college, universal healthcare, expanded Social Security, paid family and medical leave, equal pay and investments in infrastructure and inner cities. He mentioned several areas where he and Clinton differ, notably trade and the Iraq war. In the past, he typically used these items as opportunities to draw contrasts with Clinton. But he did not on Sunday evening, instead only mentioning her by name twice when he highlighted recent polls that show that he fares better against Donald Trump than Clinton does in a general election matchup. If the Democratic Party wants the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump, and we all know for the future of this country, weve got to defeat Donald Trump, it will be our campaign that defeats Donald Trump, he said, citing an NBC poll released Sunday that showed Clinton beating Trump by 3 points and Sanders beating Trump by 15 points. Early polling is not predictive, which Sanders seemed to acknowledge when he added, Polls go up and polls go down. What is most important in terms of understanding which campaign will decisively defeat Trump is you, he told the diverse cheering crowd of students, young families and senior citizens. Look around here, and what you will see here in Irvine is what I have seen all over this country, and that is millions of people that are prepared to stand up and fight back, people who are prepared to take on Wall Street, take on the greed of corporate America, take on the fossil fuel industry, take on the pharmaceutical industry. The message offers a preview of the tone Sanders will take as he heads into the Democratic National Convention with more than 1,500 delegates. There is nothing I have said this evening that is not supported by the vast majority of the American people. Nothing is radical, he said. But together we have got to create a government that listens to us, not just wealthy campaign contributors. That is what this campaign is about. Political tension ramps up at legislative hearing on Newsoms gun control initiative Backers of a gun control initiative proposed for the November ballot argued during a legislative forum Tuesday that it is needed to make California safer, while opponents said it will unfairly harm law-abiding gun owners and is primarily aimed at getting Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom elected governor. Newsom turned in 600,000 signatures last week for an initiative that would require background checks for ammunition purchasers, ban large-capacity magazines, make gun thefts a felony and require those convicted of serious crimes to give up their firearms within 14 days. The Assembly and Senate Public Safety committees held a joint hearing on the proposal Tuesday in anticipation of the measure qualifying. Craig DeLuz, head of the Firearms Policy Coalition, told lawmakers that most of the provisions in the initiative have been rejected by the Legislature or the governor as too extreme or unworkable. He said the real purpose of the initiative is to get Newsom elected as governor in 2018. Its for one individual to get his name in the paper so he can run for higher office, DeLuz told the lawmakers. That drew a rubuke from state Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley), chair of the Senate panel. I do take offense at the personal attacks on the proponents of the intiative, Hancock said during the hearing. Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) responded, saying the initiative is unnecessary. I am equally offended that the person who came up with this initiative isnt here today to address this body, she said. Thats incredibly disrespectful. Newsom, who has fueded with legislative leaders who are pursuing their own gun control bills, did not attend the hearing, instead participating in a memorial service held for California Highway Patrol officers, a representative said. Attorneys for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which co-wrote the initiative, told lawmakers it will plug serious loopholes in Californias tough gun laws. We believe reasonably that more can and should be done to protect California families and keep lethal weapons out of dangerous hands, added Ari Freilich, a staff attorney at the center. The initiative was criticized by Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Michele Hanisee, president of the Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys of Los Angeles, who predicted many people will not obey the new laws requiring them to get rid of high-capacity magazines. The initiative places additional burdens on an already overburdened court system, she added. None of the lawmakers at the hearing commited to endorsing the initiative. Lawmakers raised questions about the cost of enforcing the initiative, but the Legislative Analysts Office said the bulk of costs may be recovered by fees authorized by the measure. Hancock said she is interested in alternative approaches to addressing gun violence, including a look at improving mental health services. As the space shuttle external tank called ET-94 rolled toward them on Inglewoods Arbor Vitae Street on Saturday afternoon, 6-year-olds Jonah Levy and Christopher Urbano offered a play-by-play of the slow-moving action. Its getting closer! Whoa! Thats so giant! Look, everyone! Thats ginormous! Christopher thought it resembled a punching bag. Jonah thought its orange insulating foam seemed furry. And, nearby in the crowd, 84-year-old Dorothy Ramirez thought it looked cuddly. Dont you want to hug it? she asked. Like the shuttle Endeavour before it, ET-94 drew thousands of spectators, young and old -- many grasping for the words to describe it -- during its daylong ride through 16.5 miles of Los Angeles and Inglewood city streets en route to its permanent home at the California Science Center in Exposition Park. Advertisement The 15-story tanks journey began last month when it left NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where it was completed in 2001. It was welded to an ocean barge and pulled by a tugboat for 4,000 nautical miles. It rode out a storm in the Cayman Islands, traversed the Panama Canal and rescued four people off the coast of Baja California after their fishing boat sank. The Space Shuttle fuel tank arrived at Exposition Park at about 6:15 p.m. Saturday. It sailed through its route from Marina Del Rey to the California Science Center, arriving far ahead of schedule. The tank docked in Marina del Rey, crossed the 405 Freeway and -- most improbably -- sailed through L.A. traffic to arrive at Exposition Park ahead of schedule. ET-94, perched atop a 42-wheel transportation device, started the drive in a parking lot near Fishermans Village in Marina del Rey at 12:08 a.m., with a New Orleans jazz band playing, a near-full moon overhead and dozens of people waving white handkerchiefs to bid it farewell in the cool night air. Paula Madison, a member of the California Science Center Foundation Board of Trustees, walked behind the tank and said it was a perfect moment. Its spectacular, she said. Think of all the thousands of kids who are going to see this. They are going to say, People made this. And so can I. As the tank turned onto Fiji Way, it was met by dozens of onlookers lining both sides of the road. They came in pajamas and on bicycles. And they posed for selfies -- even the police officers standing guard. ET-94, which never flew into space, is the last remaining flight-ready fuel tank in existence. The tanks, which carried liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, were designed to detach when they were about 70 miles above Earths surface, then burn up in the atmosphere. Each launch required a new one. At the Science Center, it will be displayed with Endeavour, positioned vertically as if ready for launch. Once completed, the exhibit at the museums Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will be the only space shuttle in the nation with a complete set of real flight hardware, museum officials said. Youd think something this darn big couldnt get off the ground. Look what we can do when we put our minds to it. Eric Finister, tank observer On Saturday, the 66,000-pound tank was pulled at brisk walking speed by a red truck bearing a sign on its grill that said ET Xing. It was surrounded by real astronauts walking with it -- and by children wearing astronaut costumes. By the time it reached Fast Auto Loans on Inglewoods Arbor Vitae Street, the procession had the feel of a street party. Branch manager Trashon Perkins turned up some music and handed out juice boxes to the crowd lining the street. Mioko Lollis said her 11-year-old son, Jamier Flowers, had been talking for days about seeing the tank, which passed just a block from their home. This is like a once-in-a-lifetime thing to see it, Lollis said. For him, this is history. Jamier peered down the street for his first view of the oncoming tank. Its getting closer, Mom! he said. I can see it! The cross-country move, financed by a science center fundraising campaign, was meticulously planned for months. Every pole, phone line, traffic signal and turn on the route had been mapped in detail. As the tank crept by, there were rolling street closures, with traffic lights temporarily removed and utility wires raised or lowered. A little before noon, James Ziegler, 10, posed for a picture in front of the tank near La Brea Avenue and Manchester Boulevard, clutching an inflatable model of the Endeavour. He and his dad, Kelly Ziegler, had been following the tanks journey through the city for hours already and planned to keep going. James said the tank looked a lot different than he anticipated. I didnt imagine it with the coating on it, he said of its orange foam. From far away, it looked fuzzy. Up close it looks like stucco. At Manchester and Vermont avenues, wide roads provided a particularly scenic opportunity for photographers as the tank scooted through the commercial area of pawn shops, thrift stores and nail salons with surprising efficiency and precision. The tank took just 10 minutes to navigate the turn and begin the last leg of its journey -- a four-mile straight-away to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. California Science Center President Jeffrey Rudolph, walking alongside the tank, shook his head in amazement. Ive been watching the thing closely out of concern that all goes well, he said. With the exception of a few minor delays early on, things are just great. As the tank rumbled toward downtown like a huge torpedo, Eric Finister tightened his grip on a walking cane and weighed his words carefully. Youd think something this darn big couldnt get off the ground, Finister said. He smiled and added: Look what we can do when we put our minds to it. ET-94 finally rolled into Exposition Park about 6:15 p.m. to shouts of USA! USA! from hundreds of greeters. Chelsey Chavez stood smiling with an American flag in one hand and a colorful, glitter-covered sign in the other that read, Welcome home, ET! Giving it a thoughtful look, the 8-year-old declared, It looks awfully pretty -- and pretty old, too. Monty Icenogle, a space shuttle buff whos been blind since birth, had traveled from Bakersfield to witness the event.. I wouldnt miss this for the world, he said as the immense fuel tank was being nestled into its new home just 100 yards away. So, its final mission accomplished, he said with a smile. How cool is that? ALSO How the space shuttles external fuel tank will travel to the California Science Center Freeway miracle? Dog survives 5 weeks on highway median with a broken leg and no food or water DJ Calvin Harris cancels Las Vegas show after being hurt in L.A. car crash hailey.branson@latimes.com Twitter: @haileybranson deborah.netburn@latimes.com Twitter: @DeborahNetburn louis.sahagun@latimes.com Twitter: @LouisSahagun With its tract homes, expansive lots and rural soul, Yorba Linda exemplifies the sort of sleepy suburb that would coin the motto Land of Gracious Living. Recently, though, this upscale Orange County city of 66,000 has been anything but. Longtime residents are engaged in a legal brawl with their water provider, punctuated by vitriol and name-calling that some say reminds them of the 2016 presidential campaign. Advertisement At issue is a $25-per-month rate hike that Yorba Linda Water District officials say was needed to keep the agency solvent after state-mandated water conservation blew a hole in its budget. A group of residents said the sudden spike was much higher than necessary and collected enough signatures to put a referendum on the water rates before voters. The water district refused to back down and declared the referendum improper under the law. The residents sued. An Orange County Superior Court judge is expected to rule in June on whether customers can void a rate increase using this type of ballot measure. If these Yorba Linda residents get their way, the referendum will provide them with a new tool they can use to challenge rates more easily than under existing law. But the decision potentially carries far wider implications. If the Yorba Linda residents win, the case would embolden other customers across California to use a referendum any time officials propose a rate hike, legal experts and water watchers say. Its the road to disaster for utilities, said Rob Hunter, general manager of the Municipal Water District of Orange County. People would just say, No, we dont want to pay more money [and] your rates roll back to what they were. To the members of the Yorba Linda Taxpayers Assn., thats the point. We are fighting for our constitutional right ... for voters to be able to decide a water-rate increase, said Ed Rakochy, the associations community relations director. This [water district] board believes that they serve themselves but not the customers. They serve us. For decades, the water district hummed along, collecting vast sums of money from residents who used lots of water on citrus groves and massive green lawns. That revenue helped cover the districts operating costs and drive down the flat fee charged for water service paid by all customers -- including those who used comparatively little water. The public thinks water is free but no one thinks about the infrastructure you need to get the water. Thats what youre paying for. Sanjay Gaur, vice president of Raftelis Financial Consultants But heavy consumption became taboo in the fourth year of Californias drought, and when Gov. Jerry Brown ordered hundreds of districts statewide to slash their water use, Yorba Lindas revenue model was suddenly threatened. State regulators told the district to slash its use by 36% from 2013 levels. If their customers cut back that much, officials concluded that the district would lose approximately $9 million in fiscal year 2016. To help cover the gap, the district hastily raised the basic service charge from about $16 to $41. The taxpayer group collected protest letters in an effort to overturn the new water rates through the cumbersome process prescribed by Proposition 218, a 1996 law aimed at ensuring that voters approve all taxes and most charges levied on property owners. But the group did not get a majority of property owners to formally protest the water rates, as the law requires, so the increases took effect in October. About a month later, the residents submitted a referendum, which required far fewer signatures to move forward. The referendum petition, which the county registrar later certified, demanded that the district repeal the new rates or put them up to a vote. But the water district rejected the referendum, saying it was not valid under Proposition 218. By January, residents sued the district, asking a judge to order the water provider to honor the referendum. Two months later the taxpayers association began a campaign to recall two of the water districts five board members. Two others are up for reelection in the fall. People are being taken advantage of, said Jeff Decker, chairman and co-founder of the taxpayers association. How much is enough? Over the last several months, the fight between the water district and some of its customers has become heated and personal. The districts general manager said someone broke into his car and stole his work computer. A spokesman for the district produced a letter sent to his home in which a group of concerned YLWD customers threatened to drop by. On the taxpayer associations Facebook page, a few residents called for a boycott of a local restaurant owned by one of the water districts board members. Weve got an election coming and we cant wait, longtime resident Kent Ebinger said at a district board meeting in January. If somebody has the word incumbent next to his name, hell, he might as well have the name of a rapist or a child molester as far as Im concerned. Water district board members have returned fire, accusing the group of attempting to seize political power. The land of gracious living is apparently no longer the land of gracious people, the agencys attorney said at a public meeting. In an interview, Marc Marcantonio, the water districts general manager, invoked his actual wartime experience to describe the level of hostility. Im a big guy. Ive been in the Army 23 years. ... Ive endured a lot from the Vietnam era and everything else, Marcantonio said. But this has been the most insulting, toxic environment -- I just cant believe what has transpired. Thanks in large part to the drought and Browns executive order, the vast majority of Californias urban water suppliers have raised or are raising their water rates, officials say. As water sales decrease, most water agencies need to do what Yorba Linda did: increase their basic service charge to cover a larger share of their fixed costs, such as system maintenance and personnel. The fixed costs, experts say, make up the majority of a water districts expenses and must be paid regardless of how much water customers use. The public thinks water is free but no one thinks about the infrastructure you need to get the water. Thats what youre paying for, said Sanjay Gaur, vice president of Raftelis Financial Consultants, which performed Yorba Lindas recent rate study. As a result, many water district officials are watching the Yorba Linda case and worrying about its potential impacts on their own rate-making ability. Repealing water rate hikes through a referendum icould cause suppliers to default on debt obligations and go bankrupt, officials say. Nobody in Yorba Linda wants to hinder the water districts ability to deliver water, make capital improvements or perform other basic operations, Decker said. That, he added, would be foolish. But officials warn that too much cost cutting could even lead to consequences like those in Flint, Mich., which faces a contaminated-water crisis. They got lower water rates, said Ric Collett, president of Yorba Linda Water Districts board. Do you want that? ALSO Tired of homelessness? Here are some opportunities to take action Public space: Shuttle tank delights big crowds during its ride through Los Angeles Freeway miracle? Dog survives 5 weeks on highway median with a broken leg and no food or water Times researcher Scott Wilson contributed to this report. matt.stevens@latimes.com Twitter: @ByMattStevens The call about the missing man and the massacre came in the early afternoon to the front desk of the office in Anaheim. Farhan Khan told Hussam Ayloush, the Council on American-Islamic Relations executive director in Los Angeles, that his brother-in-law, Syed Rizwan Farook, could not be accounted for after someone barged into a meeting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino and opened fire, killing and wounding scores of people. Khan feared that his wifes brother was among the dead. Less than an hour later, after Ayloush had urged him to remain calm, Khan called back. Farook was not a victim of the mass shooting, but the suspected author of it, Khan said. Advertisement Later that day, Ayloush and CAIR took a step the group had never taken before: It would advise the family of a suspected mass shooter and terrorist. Soon, Khan spoke to a ring of reporters at a news conference organized by CAIR. Farhan Khan, second from right, joins religious leaders during a press conference at the Council of American Islamic Relations in Anaheim on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. Khan is the brother-in-law of San Bernardino shooting suspect Said Farook. Khan said he is at a loss to explain F (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) The organization received angry calls and critical coverage from conservative media, including Breitbart, which ran a headline asking, Why is CAIR helping San Bernardino terrorists after the fact? Others wondered why CAIR was getting involved before it was clear whether others possibly even other family members had known of the attacks before they occurred. Almost half a year after the deadliest attack on American soil since 9/11, Ayloush said CAIR does not regret the decision. It is not about what is popular or convenient, Ayloush said. We wanted to make sure no one is punished for the sins of others. For years, CAIR, which has 30 chapters in the U.S., has acted to condemn terrorist attacks and educate the public about Islam at a time when anti-Muslim sentiment was high. But it also has been a polarizing organization, reviled by critics who accuse it of being linked with radical Islam, terrorism and groups such as Hamas. In 2007, CAIR, along with hundreds of other organizations and individuals, was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a case against the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation, a charity prosecutors accused of supporting Hamas. The Holy Land Foundation and several of its officers were convicted in November 2008. CAIR was not accused of wrongdoing. Still, the FBI suspended relations with the council. Critics also pointed to the organizations sometimes contentious relationship with law enforcement, including the councils battle with the FBI over surveillance of Muslims in U.S. mosques. Mark Juergensmeyer, an expert in religious studies at UC Santa Barbara, said CAIRs work is bound to be criticized because there is a strong public perception that being Muslim leads to terrorism. The organizations decision to help Farooks family was understandable, he said. I took CAIRs role at that point as a concern that the family not be tarred with public perception, Juergensmeyer said, that innocent victims not be deprived their liberties because of the acts of a few. At the time that Ayloush and CAIR were dealing with Farooks family, the FBI and local police were trying to find out whether the family had any prior knowledge about the shooting carried out by Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik. Ayloush decided he would ask Khan. Among the questions: Was there anything unusual about Farooks life? Did he have a gun? Was he a member of Islamic State? Some of the questions might have seemed unfairly probing, but they revealed that Khans brother-in-law had made the hajj, an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Ayloush knew that it would come up. Throughout the meeting, Khan wept. I was not playing the role of investigator, but I was looking at what to expect. He went for hajj? OK, great, thats going to be mentioned. His wife was born in Pakistan? Great, thats going to be mentioned, Ayloush recalled. It was clear Farhan was outraged, angered, shocked by what happened. This is not a media center; this is a family that actually has been unable to conduct their normal life. Hussam Ayloush, CAIR executive director in Los Angeles Eventually, CAIR began receiving threatening comments and calls, Ayloush said. He asked the organizations civil rights department to report those calls to authorities. Throughout December, Ayloush periodically called or stopped by Khans house to make sure the family wasnt being harassed. During the first week, reporters stood watch outside the Riverside home, occasionally knocking on the front door. The family would politely ask that they contact their attorney. When Ayloush visited on a weekend, he noticed Khans children on the floor eating candy. Their mother told him that they had run out of food because they didnt feel comfortable leaving the home to shop for groceries. I said, Oh, my God, at the end of the day, this is a family, Ayloush recalled. This is not a media center; this is a family that actually has been unable to conduct their normal life. He told the family he would pick up a few things from the store fruit, eggs, milk. CAIRs legal department also made sure the Khans were being treated fairly and not being discriminated against because of their faith, as they sought custody of Farook and Maliks then 6-month-old daughter. In the months after the terrorist attack, CAIR has moved onto other issues. When a Muslim student in Rancho Cucamonga was falsely identified as Isis Phillips in her high school yearbook in May, the group sent an email blast and hosted a news conference for the student to address the media. When a top Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department official was caught sending Islamophobic and racist emails, CAIR sent a letter calling for his resignation. And when a group of Muslim women were kicked out of Urth Caffe in Orange County, CAIR expressed its concern that they were removed because of their faith. But Ayloush said the legacy of San Bernardino still lives with the group, especially in the way it handles the threat of terrorism and the fear it can spark. CAIR should be honest about everything: more honest within the community about the fact that we cannot discount the threat of barbaric groups like ISIS, he said. We must not say its tiny and it will disappear. ALSO Fifty years later, the first campus massacre lives on EgyptAir crash raises new questions about European airport security Afghanistans intelligence agency confirms Taliban leader killed in U.S. airstrike sarah.parvini@latimes.com @sarahparvini Police have arrested a man on charges of attempted murder for allegedly lighting two people on fire at a South Los Angeles homeless encampment. Phillip Darryl Cole, 54, was arrested about 4 p.m. Saturday by patrol officers who saw him sitting at a bus bench at West Florence Avenue and South Figueroa Street, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department. Detectives believe Cole approached an encampment at an empty lot at West 83rd Street and South Vermont Avenue around 6:40 a.m. on May 19, threw a flammable liquid on two people and then set them on fire. Advertisement See the most-read stories this hour >> Both victims were seriously injured and are in stable condition, according to police. Police described Cole as a transient who lives in the area where the attack took place. Officers identified him from a photograph and a description they were provided and took him into custody without incident. Cole is being held on $1.27 million bail, police said. tony.barboza@latimes.com Twitter: @tonybarboza ALSO Yorba Linda legal fight turns nasty as residents seek to overturn water rate hike Beverly Hilton owner wants voters to approve 26-story condo tower Freeway miracle? Dog survives 5 weeks on highway median with a broken leg and no food or water A puppy that was high on drugs when police busted his owner has recovered from addiction and is on the mend, authorities said. Bubba, a terrier mix, was showing signs of being under the influence when officers in March arrested his owner, who was in possession of a large quantity of illegal drugs, according to the Tustin Police Department. Bubba was found to have heroin, methamphetamine and nicotine in his system due to living with his drug-using owners, the Police Department wrote in a Facebook post earlier this month. Officers picked the puppy up and took him to Orange County Animal Care. Advertisement Based on Bubbas toxicology results, additional charges of animal cruelty will be filed against his former owners, according to the Facebook post. It is unclear how Bubba ingested the drugs. Bubbas story was picked up by CBS-Los Angeles and other news organizations over the weekend, and public outrage and support for Bubba has flooded social media. Bubbas owner, Joshua West, 40, was arrested for an outstanding warrant, a parole violation, and possession of drug paraphernalia, heroin and methamphetamine, according to CBS-LA. Earlier this month, police reported that Bubba had been treated for his drug addiction and is looking much better. Once Bubba has fully recovered, he will be placed with a rescue organization with hopes of finding a loving home, police said. rosanna.xia@latimes.com Follow @RosannaXia for more Southern California ALSO Heartless mob attack by teenagers in San Francisco leaves man in coma Man accused of attempted murder after 2 people set afire at homeless camp San Diego Gay Mens Chorus angry over silencing during national anthem at Padres game The entrance to the tower looming over the University of Texas here is inscribed with the Bible verse John 8:32 in massive block letters: Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. It befits academic life at one of the countrys premier public universities. But the tower is best known as the perch from which a former Marine sniper carried out what is widely considered the nations first mass shooting. Advertisement In that sense, the inscription speaks to a different quest for truth: the truth about who killed the killer that August day 50 years ago. The question still hangs over the man who has long been celebrated as the hero. It hangs over the family of the man who went to his grave believing he deserved more credit. None of them, it seems, will ever be free. Long before Columbine, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook, there was the UT Austin tower. On Aug. 1, 1966, a clean-cut architecture and engineering student named Charles Whitman wheeled a dolly full of guns and ammunition on to the tower elevator, made his way to the observation deck and began shooting at people 27 stories below. By the time it ended 96 minutes later, 14 people were dead and more than 30 wounded. Derailed by mental illness, Whitman had started his rampage the day before by killing his mother and his wife. The death toll would surely have been higher had it not been for two police officers. Ramiro Martinez was a 29-year-old sergeant and had been on the force for six years. He was off duty when he heard on the noon news that a shooting was in progress, and rushed to the scene with his .38 service revolver. On the metal stairs leading to the observation deck, he stopped briefly to help a woman who was bleeding badly and struggling to breathe. Then he forced open the door that Whitman had barricaded with his dolly. As he rounded the tower, he looked back and saw a familiar face: Houston McCoy. McCoy, a 26-year-old patrolman who had been on the force three years, had been working his beat near campus when a dispatcher called him to the scene. Carrying a shotgun, he had entered the tower through a maintenance tunnel and made his way to the top. When the two men rounded the corner together, Whitman came into view. Both officers fired their weapons. The next thing that is known for sure is that Martinez left the tower first, yelling, I got him! At a news conference the next day, Police Chief Robert Miles credited Martinez with shooting Whitman, calling him the hero of the day. I had a job to do and thats what I was going out there to do, Martinez told reporters as camera flashbulbs went off around him. In 2006, the city designated Aug. 1 Ramiro Martinez Day. The county later named a building for him. At the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame & Museum in Waco, a display case features his revolver. Austin needed a hero, and Martinez embraced the role. Former Austin police Sgt. Ramiro Ray Martinez has several awards for bravery on the wall of his home. (Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times ) In his home office in New Braunfels, an hours drive south of Austin, 79-year-old Martinez pored over the old newspaper clippings, the transcripts of the emergency calls, the autopsy report of the shooter. He pointed to a grainy photograph of himself, taken minutes after the killing ended, his uniform stained with the blood of victims he helped. Its all there all the evidence of the day that came to define his entire life. The reason I got the publicity a lot of the time was I was willing to speak to the media, Martinez said. I felt like this was therapy for me, not to keep it bottled up. In his telling, he unloaded his six-shot revolver hitting Whitman before McCoy got him with his shotgun then grabbed the shotgun and fired a final shot as the sniper was still moving. That was the story that stuck. Martinez went on to have a long career as a Texas Ranger. Retired now, balding and trim, he still has a troopers stiff posture. Pacing his office in black ostrich Texas Ranger boots, Martinez pointed out awards for bravery covering one wall and bristled at the suggestion that McCoys shots may have hit Whitman first. I knew what I was hitting, he said, carrying a file into the dining room and spreading it on the table as his wife, VerNell, stood nearby. When I look at the autopsy report I can see where I was hitting him. Then, for a moment, he seemed willing to allow that maybe the truth is more complicated. Now, Im not going to stand here and say I fired the fatal shot, he said. I dont care who fired the fatal projectiles. I just care that the job was done. His wife has heard it all many times. It doesnt matter which bullets killed him, she said. Why make such a big deal about it? But Martinez cant let it go. Time doesnt go by that I dont wake up at night and its still going, he said. The tower is there. Fifty years and its still going. Austin police Officer Monika McCoy patrols her beat, which like her fathers includes the area around the University of Texas tower, (Ilana Panich-Linsman / For the Times ) Monika McCoy cannot escape it either. By the time she was born five years after the tower shooting her father had already left the police force for a better-paying job as a civilian flight instructor with the Air Force and moved his growing family back to his native West Texas. The youngest of his four children, Monika McCoy grew up on 300 acres along the San Saba River, 170 miles west of Austin. Her parents were always taking in strangers passing through. Her father hunted for arrowheads, barbecued goat, made his own venison jerky and sausage and spoke little about the tower shooting. A discerning person will know the truth, he used to say. Old photographs of him in his police uniform fired his daughters imagination. He looked stoic, she thought. The shootings clearly remained on his mind. He took refuge in Winston cigarettes and Lone Star beer. It was the designation of Ramiro Martinez Day in 2006 that finally persuaded Houston McCoy to tell his side of the story. By then he was in a nursing home with lung disease. His daughter helped him research the shooting and post his account online. It took them five years. According to the account, Martinez quickly emptied his revolver before McCoy aimed his shotgun at Whitmans white headband and pulled the trigger. As the first shot would prove to be instantly fatal, I saw him alive for only a split second before he was dead and of no more danger, he wrote. At that point, he said, Martinez jerked the shotgun from my hands, and while yelling, ran to the motionless body and fired point blank. Martinez then forcefully threw my shotgun onto the floor, began jumping up and down and waving his arms, and repeatedly hollered, I got him! McCoy died within a month after publishing his account. He was 72. His daughter, who has continued to dedicate herself to setting the record straight about her fathers role in stopping the carnage, said the hero-status that Martinez achieved would not have bothered her if her father and others who helped that day were also honored. It would have never mattered if it was portrayed as a team effort, she said. She has carried on his legacy in another way as well. Three years ago, she became an officer with the Austin police force. Now 45, she works her fathers old beat in the shadow of the tower. The University of Texas tower is still open to visitors. (Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times ) On Aug. 1, the 50th anniversary of the shooting, a new Texas law is set to go into effect expanding gun rights on college campuses. The tower has loomed in the background of bitter debate over the law, which with few exceptions requires public schools to honor state-issued concealed weapons permits. Some gun rights advocates testified in hearings with state lawmakers that armed citizens improve public safety. But opponents argued that the new law would increase the likelihood of accidental or mass shootings. In an interview, Martinez called the new law stupid and unlikely to deter crime. Its opening up a Pandoras box, he said. During the tower shooting, some armed citizens on the ground shot at Whitman. That restricted his movement, Martinez said, but also put him and McCoy in danger. Monika McCoy said that since shes a police officer, she cant comment on the politically charged law. As for mass shootings, she has yet to respond to one. But she keeps track of them 89 so far this year across the country and has the same reaction each time. Most people read the news and move on with their lives. But she thinks about the effect it will have across generations. ALSO Surfing icon Laird Hamilton shares his 10-point plan to live forever EgyptAir crash raises new questions about European airport security Afghanistans intelligence agency confirms Taliban leader killed in U.S. airstrike molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com @mollyhf Between 1846 and 1870, Californias Indian population plunged from perhaps 150,000 to 30,000. Diseases, dislocation and starvation caused many of these deaths, but the near-annihilation of the California Indians was not the unavoidable result of two civilizations coming into contact for the first time. It was genocide, sanctioned and facilitated by California officials. Neither the U.S. government nor the state of California has acknowledged that the California Indian catastrophe fits the two-part legal definition of genocide set forth by the United Nations Genocide Convention in 1948. According to the convention, perpetrators must first demonstrate their intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such. Second, they must commit one of the five genocidal acts listed in the convention: Killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. It is not an exaggeration to say that California legislators also established a state-sponsored killing machine. Advertisement Californias Legislature first convened in 1850, and one of its initial orders of business was banning all Indians from voting, barring those with one-half of Indian blood or more from giving evidence for or against whites in criminal cases, and denying Indians the right to serve as jurors. California legislators later banned Indians from serving as attorneys. In combination, these laws largely shut Indians out of participation in and protection by the state legal system. This amounted to a virtual grant of impunity to those who attacked them. That same year, state legislators endorsed unfree Indian labor by legalizing white custody of Indian minors and Indian prisoner leasing. In 1860, they extended the 1850 act to legalize indenture of any Indian. These laws triggered a boom in violent kidnappings while separating men and women during peak reproductive years, both of which accelerated the decline of the California Indian population. Some Indians were treated as disposable laborers. One lawyer recalled: Los Angeles had its slave mart [and] thousands of honest, useful people were absolutely destroyed in this way. Between 1850 and 1870, L.A.s Indian population fell from 3,693 to 219. It is not an exaggeration to say that California legislators also established a state-sponsored killing machine. California governors called out or authorized no fewer than 24 state militia expeditions between 1850 and 1861, which killed at least 1,340 California Indians. State legislators also passed three bills in the 1850s that raised up to $1.51 million to fund these operations a great deal of money at the time for past and future anti-Indian militia operations. By demonstrating that the state would not punish Indian killers, but instead reward them, militia expeditions helped inspire vigilantes to kill at least 6,460 California Indians between 1846 and 1873. The U.S. Army and their auxiliaries also killed at least 1,680 California Indians between 1846 and 1873. Meanwhile, in 1852, state politicians and U.S. senators stopped the establishment of permanent federal reservations in California, thus denying California Indians land while exposing them to danger. State endorsement of genocide was only thinly veiled. In 1851, California Gov. Peter Burnett declared that a war of extermination will continue to be waged ... until the Indian race becomes extinct. In 1852, U.S. Sen. John Weller who became Californias governor in 1858 went further. He told his colleagues in the Senate that California Indians will be exterminated before the onward march of the white man, arguing that the interest of the white man demands their extinction. Beyond premeditated, systematic killings of California Indians, other acts of genocide proliferated too. Many rapes and beatings occurred, and these meet the U.N. Genocide Conventions definition of causing serious bodily harm to victims on the basis of their group identity and with the intent to destroy the group. The sustained military and civilian policy of demolishing California Indian villages and their food stores while driving Indians into inhospitable mountain regions amounted to deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. Because malnutrition and exposure predictably lowered the birthrate, some state and federal decision-makers also appear guilty of imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group. Finally, the state of California, slave raiders and federal officials were all involved in forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. Thousands of California Indian children suffered such forced transfers. By breaking up families and communities, forced removals constituted imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group. In effect, the state legalized abduction and enslavement of Indian minors; slavers exploited indenture laws and federal officials prevented U.S. Army intervention to protect the victims. The issue of genocide in California poses explosive political, economic and educational questions for the state, Californias tribes and individual California Indians. It is up to them not academics like me to determine the best way forward. Will state officials tender public apologies, as Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush did in the 1980s for the relocation and internment of some 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II? Should state officials offer compensation, along the lines of the more than $1.6 billion Congress paid to 82,210 of these Japanese Americans and their heirs? Might California officials decrease or altogether eliminate their cut of California Indians annual gaming revenues ($7.3 billion in 2014) as a way of paying reparations? Should the state return control to California Indian communities of state lands where genocidal events took place? Should the state stop commemorating the supporters and perpetrators of this genocide, including Burnett, Kit Carson and John C. Fremont? Will the genocide against California Indians join the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust in public school curricula and public discourse? These are crucial questions. Whats beyond doubt is that the state and the federal government should acknowledge the genocide that took place in California. Decency demands that even long after the deaths of the victims, we preserve the truth of what befell them, so that their memory can be honored and the repetition of similar crimes deterred. Justice demands that even long after the perpetrators have vanished, we document the crimes that they and their advocates have too often concealed or denied. Finally, historical veracity demands that we acknowledge this state-sponsored catastrophe in all its varied aspects and causes, in order to better understand formative events in both California Indian and California state history. Benjamin Madley is assistant professor of history at UCLA and the author of An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873. He will present this work at Skylight Books on May 25. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook When President Obama declared in 2011 that he wanted U.S. foreign policy to pivot to Asia, some derided the move as a clumsy attempt to flee the messy conflicts of the Middle East. But the pivot has actually worked pretty well as will be evident when Obama travels to Asia this week. Almost every country in the region is clamoring for a closer relationship with the United States. The most striking case is Vietnam, most of whose leaders are old enough to have fought in their countrys war with the United States. The communist regime has been openly courting a deeper military relationship, and has even invited the U.S. Navy to return to Cam Ranh Bay, its base during much of the war. During his visit, Obama is expected to announce an expansion of American military sales. Advertisement The United States does have one asymmetric advantage of its own: its ability to forge stronger alliances with Chinas worried neighbors. The impetus for this rapprochement is China, Asias increasingly assertive great power. Beijings pursuit of sovereignty over the islands of the South China Sea, most of which are also claimed by other countries, has flung Chinas neighbors into the arms of the United States. Any time China tries to put its thumb on any of its neighbors, that makes them enthusiastic about getting close to us, noted Derek Chollet, a former Defense Department official. Only a few hundred miles from Vietnams coast, Chinese construction teams have been dredging the seafloor and using landfill techniques to increase the size of Chinas territories, then building infrastructure to support military facilities. The newly-built islands arent much use in a military conflict with the United States; U.S. Navy officers dismiss them as sitting ducks. But as military bases, they could still help Beijing intimidate weaker neighbors such as Vietnam and the Philippines. Eventually, the islands could also enable China to assert economic rights to the estimated 11 billion barrels of oil beneath the seabed. Even fishing rights are at stake; Chinas fishing industry, the worlds largest, employs more than 14 million people. On a visit to Washington last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised not to militarize the islands, but he never defined what the term meant. Some Chinese officials later said Xis policy merely banned major offensive weapons. That created alarm in the Pentagon and prompted the Obama administration to sharpen its denunciations of the construction projects. This is an asymmetric struggle; there arent many practical steps the United States can take to stop Chinas dredging. The Pentagon sends ships near the islands to assert U.S. freedom of navigation, but that hasnt slowed the construction. Its not clear what else we can do, a former official told me. Were not going to start a war, and were not going to occupy an island ourselves. The United States does have one asymmetric advantage of its own: its ability to forge stronger alliances with Chinas worried neighbors not only Vietnam, but the Philippines, Malaysia and others as well. A stronger Vietnamese navy one that holds joint maneuvers with the U.S. Navy would deny China some of the military advantage it hoped to gain from building all those airstrips. The idea, in short, is to raise the long-term cost to Beijing. Of course, that strategy works only if the United States is willing to invest in those stronger relationships through not only a U.S. military presence, but expanded trade agreements, too. So Obama faces what Chollet calls a reassurance challenge. All these countries are looking for reassurance that the United States will be there, he said. They all want the United States to do more and we cant possibly deliver everything they want. Indeed, all three remaining candidates in the presidential campaign have been critical of the Trans Pacific Partnership, Obamas trade agreement with most of Asia except China. Donald Trump, in particular, has promised to scrap TPP if hes elected. That would be a particularly acute problem for Vietnam, a low-income country which would be a major beneficiary of the agreement. Administration officials warn that if Congress refused to ratify TPP, Vietnam and other developing countries will have little choice but to tie their economies more closely with Chinas. In other words, if Trump gets his way, the biggest beneficiary in Southeast Asia might well be China. doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com Twitter: @DoyleMcManus Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook This is the end of my life. These were my patients only words an economy of phrasing made necessary by an all-consuming air hunger. She had just arrived in the emergency room, Code 3 critical, after a lights-and-sirens ambulance transport from her nursing home. Awake, alert and intensely focused, every effort of her frail, 90-year-old body was concentrated on the simple act of breathing. Her weak heart and failed kidneys had caused her lungs to fill with fluid, every breath becoming a mixture of water and air. The analogy to drowning is inevitable. As her physician, I was going to have to make some big decisions quickly, including this one: How much should I do to save her life? Typically, when patients gasping for air and with very low oxygen levels show up in my emergency room, its obvious what to do first: Intubate them. You put a tube in their mouth down into their lungs and connect them to a respirator. Its an aggressive treatment, and anyone awake for it will tell you its unpleasant. But without enough oxygen in the bloodstream, bad, often irreversible things happen to the body very quickly. The human will to live is powerful. Most of the time when patients truly face death, they insist we do what we can to keep them alive. Advertisement But this patient wasnt typical. She was old, she had no next of kin, and it was clear that a series of recent medical interventions had failed to stabilize her. Shed been in our intensive care unit three times for over a week in the last four months alone. Her most recent stay had involved a seven-day stint on a respirator. Her eventual discharge to the nursing home was a medical high-wire act; an all-too-familiar pattern of readmission to discharge to readmission was playing out. Perhaps with this in mind, my patient had months earlier completed an advance directive. I was holding it in my hand. We were allowed to make her comfortable: pain medication, oxygen. Explicitly proscribed were intubation, vasopressor medications to support blood pressure, invasive procedures and chest compressions. Her chart noted that she had been intubated the last time she was at the hospital because, as is often the case, paramedics didnt have the advance directive. The chart also noted she was upset about this. Heres the thing about advance directives: They are guidelines. They do not have the force of law. This is a good thing. Despite what many of us think, we cant truly anticipate how we will feel when we are about to die. Advance directives are especially valuable when someone has a terminal disease or a stroke, and they want to tell doctors what to do when they can no longer decide for themselves. But with a patient such as mine, who was alert despite her distress, its much more complicated. The human will to live is powerful. Most of the time when patients truly face death, they insist we do what we can to keep them alive. And so three minutes after her arrival, my patient was surrounded by doctors, nurses and respiratory techs getting ready to do what we do, getting ready to save her life. An oxygen mask was already placed over her nose and mouth, intravenous lines started, cardiac monitor leads attached. A doctor waited at the head of the bed, sedation medications in hand, poised to intubate. As the senior doctor on duty, what happened next was my call. I knew her medical history. I knew what her advance directive said. And most importantly, I knew what she had said to me minutes ago, when I laid eyes on her: This is the end of my life. There had been no inflection in her voice. It was not a question. Before I explain what I did next, I want you to stop and consider what you would have done. I ask because society has been debating for decades the role physicians should play in how and when we die. In June, California will join four other states in allowing doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill but mentally competent patients. While I support the new California law, I also worry about its implementation and the gantlet of checks and balances patients and caregivers will have to navigate. Who will be in charge of enforcement? Will there be an appeals process for denials? Can any law codify something as complex, emotionally charged and controversial as end-of-life decisions. In truth, the options arent black and white but intensely gray, defined by nuance and competing goals, and in the moment, doctor and patient may struggle to find common ground. Although the preservation of life is paramount in medicine, the inevitability of death necessitates a pivot at some point by patient and physician. When and how this happens will be different every time. The patient with terminal cancer choosing to forgo chemotherapy is familiar to most of us. But what of the bedridden stroke patient with a failing heart who now requires dialysis, or someone with severe Alzheimers who needs open heart surgery, or the alcoholic who will die without a new liver but continues to drink? As we age or when we become ill, the many decisions we make with our doctor about our care, even small ones, link to create a system of values we will draw upon when our time comes. Put another way, choices about how to live ones life ultimately and simultaneously are choices about ones death. A doctor can inform us, advise us, but in the end and right up to the end the choice is each of ours to make. The Hippocratic oath is both vague and specific about how to manage death. It cautions against playing God while acknowledging it may be within our power to take a life; an awesome responsibility that must be faced with great humility and awareness of ones frailty. What this means is that to first do no harm, you should think about how you would like to be treated in the same situation. At the patients bedside, I chose to do less rather than more: Supportive care only, I said. It was an uncomfortable, conflicted moment for everyone in the room. Our job is to heal the sick and save lives. Then and there, though we could have righted this sinking ship, we did not. What was left was to bring a measure of comfort to what would inevitably be her death. I gave her a small dose of narcotic in her intravenous line to quiet her air hunger. The effect was almost immediate. Her breathing slowed. Her face relaxed. Her eyes remained open, but she was asleep. It took about an hour for her to die. First the alarm on the cardiac monitor started going off, unaccustomed to the kinds of numbers it was registering. Then her breathing became erratic fast and deep, punctuated by long pauses. Her heart rate slowed to 20 beats per minute, then accelerated, then dropped back into the 20s. We disconnected her from the monitor, and the beeping went silent. Sometimes my profession forgets that the end point of medical innovation and intervention isnt immortality. I waited and watched for a full 10 minutes more, half expecting her to resume breathing. She didnt. The drugs hadnt killed her. It was the lack of oxygen in her blood. The drugs just made her more comfortable while that process took place which is what she had wanted. I have thought a lot about this patient in the months since that night. I know we did the right thing, and I know many doctors who would have done exactly what I did. But I also know many who would have intubated her in the absence of a signed affidavit reaffirming her advance directive. I cant help wondering if what makes end-of-life decisions so complicated is our definition of medicine itself. The idea of doctoring as a pitched battle against disease is compelling. But it belies the uncomfortable fact that physicians are really more stewards than soldiers. Our patients, and indeed each of us, always die in the end. Its remarkable and good that medicine allows us to live 25 years longer on average than we did 100 years ago. But sometimes my profession forgets that the end point of medical innovation and intervention isnt immortality. Back in the ER, I completed my patients medical chart, laboring to put into words the complex choreography of the last hour a life reduced in death to time stamps, vital signs, monitor readings and the like. Lost in my recounting was the drama of what happened, the nobility of a woman utterly self-aware and in tune with the narrative of her own mortality. She had rejected the false hope of a science that still struggles to understand or communicate its own limitations. At the end of my shift, the charge nurse reminded me to call the coroner. After giving the coroner my patients basic demographic information, I was asked the inevitable question Doctor, whats the cause of death? I hesitated knowing hed be looking for cardiopulmonary arrest, heart failure or some other expression of convenience. He needed to check a box on a form and yet, I couldnt bring myself to say my lines. The patient died with a weak heart and failing kidneys, not because of them. I wanted to acknowledge this womans choice her role in her death and ours. After what must have seemed like a very long time, I spoke. Natural causes, I said. She died of natural causes. Dr. Eric Snoey is vice chair of the department of emergency medicine at Highland Hospital in Oakland. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: To break the ice on Judge Merrick Garlands nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court (How to make the Senate consider Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court, Opinion, May 18), consider the following scenario: Assume Democrat Hillary Clinton (or Bernie Sanders) wins in a landslide in November and the Republicans lose their Senate majority. Would a lame-duck Republican-controlled Senate then continue to put politics first by pushing the nomination forward and approve him because this well-qualified moderate would appear as a much better option than a liberal nominated by the next Democratic president and approved by a Democratic Senate? The folly of this Republican attempt to control the Supreme Court is that past performance is not an indication of future decisions; many appointees have surprised the Senate and White House with decisions varying from their previous record. Advertisement The essential qualification for the Supreme Court is a brilliant legal mind, as the late Justice Antonia Scalia stated when he reportedly suggested that President Obama nominate Elena Kagan for an open seat. Brian Crowley, El Segundo .. To the editor: Absent a win by Clinton in November, there are absolutely no circumstances under which Garland would be confirmed to the Supreme Court by the Republican majority in the Senate. So, why should the institution take the time for hearings and a vote? Plus, if you are Garland, would you rather be rejected by a formal Senate vote or not have your nomination taken up? Further, what the two liberal members of Congress who authored this op-ed article assert are some of the more important legal issues of our time are simply not on the minds of the Republican-led Senate (or the House for that matter) as matters that need resolution. Reproductive healthcare, the fate of immigrant families, the water situation in Flint, Mich., and the debt crisis in Puerto Rico are all liberal priorities, not Republican ones. Contrary to what President Obama believes, inaction is indeed a time honored form of specific action by the opposite party. George A. Vandeman, Pacific Palisades Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook A federal lawsuit alleging widespread confusion over Californias presidential primary rules asks that voter registration be extended past Mondays deadline until the day of the states primary election on June 7. Mistakes are being made, said William Simpich, an Oakland civil rights attorney who filed the lawsuit Friday. At issue is whether voters understand the rules for the presidential primary, which differ from those governing other elections in California. Advertisement Unlike statewide primaries where voters now choose any candidate, no matter the political party the presidential contests are controlled by the parties themselves. Democrats have opened up their primary between Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to voters that have no political affiliation, known in California as having no party preference. But the lawsuit alleges elections officials in some of Californias 58 counties arent making that clear to these unaffiliated voters. Theres mass confusion, Simpich said in an interview on Saturday night. This is a situation that really shouts out for some uniformity. Simpich said a judge should require state elections officials to conduct a broad public awareness campaign about the voting rules before May 31, the deadline for requesting a ballot by mail. And to ensure unregistered Californians arent disenfranchised in the presidential contest, the lawsuit asks voter registration be extended from its deadline on Monday until June 7, the day of the election. There is no indication yet of whether a judge will agree with the suit. The lawsuits plaintiffs include two Bay Area voters and the American Independent Party, a minor party that is allowing unaffiliated voters to cast presidential ballots and has also faced its own problems with voter confusion in recent weeks. (The Republican Party did not open its California presidential primary to unaffiliated voters.) Also listed as a plaintiff is a group called the Voting Rights Defense Project, described as an organization campaigning to heighten voter education and voter turnout for their candidate, Bernie Sanders. The lawsuit names the registrars of voters in San Francisco and Alameda counties as well as Secretary of State Alex Padilla as defendants. A spokesman for Padilla on Sunday declined to comment on the pending litigation. The suit focuses on whether no party preference voters who intend to cast ballots by mail understand they can ask for a ballot from one of the three parties that allow them to cross over and participate in the race for president: the Democratic Party, the Libertarian Party, and Californias American Independent Party. If they do not make the request, those voters will receive a ballot with a blank space where partisan ballots list the presidential candidates. The lawsuit alleges that some counties have not done an adequate job of informing these voters. A recent report by Political Data Inc., a company that is paid to analyze California voter information for candidates and campaigns, found relatively few unaffiliated voters have asked for a ballot with presidential candidates. As of last week, only 9% of no party preference voters in Los Angeles County had been mailed a Democratic ballot. Neal Kelley, registrar of voters in Orange County and president of the state association of elections officials, said that about 23% of his countys no party preference voters have asked for partisan ballots. And he said that the outreach effort was carefully planned. Counties have been gearing up for this for well over a year, Kelley said. While he would not comment on the allegations contained in the federal lawsuit, Kelley said its not possible for elections officials to register voters on election day. California has plans to move to a same-day registration system in 2018 after certifying its new statewide voter database. In the meantime, the current elections process relies on paper documents at each polling place listing eligible voters. The infrastructures not in place, said Kelley. Both Sanders and Clinton are ramping up their efforts in California with the presidential primary a little more than two weeks away. Sanders held a rally outside of San Diego on Saturday and has multiple events planned, while Clinton arrives Monday night and plans several days worth of events. Supporters of Sanders, whose candidacy has been boosted in other states by independent voters, are intently focused on the states no party preference voters who now account for roughly one quarter of the registered electorate. Simpich, a Sanders backer, suggested the problems extend beyond just informing voters. He said accusations have been made that some elections officials are training poll workers to hand out provisional ballots on election day to any no party preference voter who asks for a partisan presidential ballot, and even then only if one is requested. Provisional ballots are used for instances of last-minute confusion and only counted after a special effort at verifying a voters identity. Kelley said no party preference voters can easily resolve problems on election day including those who didnt receive the ballot they wanted in the mail. They can take that ballot in and surrender it, he said. Theres no need to vote a provisional ballot in that case. john.myers@latimes.com Follow @johnmyers on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast ALSO: Are you really an independent voter in California? Clintons California advantage: Her allies live in your neighborhood With a sense of urgency, Sanders barnstorms California Updates on California politics Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders railed against corporate power in America before thousands of followers in National City on Saturday night just hours after making a more intimate visit to Friendship Park on the Mexican border. The Vermont senator gave a sweeping speech that maintained the central theme of addressing inequality. Im running for president because we are going to create an economy that works for all of us, not just wealthy campaign contributors, Sanders said at yet another of his massive rallies, this one in Kimball Park with an estimated 10,000 attendees. Advertisement He said the goal of the campaign was ending the rigged economy. Sanders rarely mentioned his Democratic opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, though he did harshly criticize presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. We will not allow the Trumps of the world to divide us up, he said. Sanders has continued to campaign hard against Clinton, even though she is close to winning enough delegates to clinch the nomination. In an interview before his speech, Sanders said he believed Democrats would close ranks after the fissures that opened in the primaries. I think virtually every Democrat understands that Donald Trump would be a disaster for this country if he becomes president, Sanders said. We cannot have a president who insults every other day, Mexicans, Latinos, who insults Muslims, who insults women, who insults African-Americans, who, in a sense, is doing everything he can do divide us up. Sanders is the only man I love as much as my husband. Carol Crawford, Sanders supporter It was his first rally in San Diego County since March, and hes scheduled to make several more stops in the region in the coming days, starting Sunday afternoon with an event at Rancho Buena Vista High School in Vista. Hell then head to Irvine. On Monday, he has rallies planned in Santa Monica and Anaheim, and later in the week in the Inland Empire. In National City, Sanders talked about the need to reform the criminal justice system, bring people out of poverty, provide free college education and put more people to work helping to rebuild the nations aging infrastructure. We need a massive federal jobs program and [to] put people back to work at decent wages, he said, reiterating his call for a $15-an-hour minimum wage. Sanders urged a halt to what he considers unjust deportations. Before the rally, he issued a statement about his unannounced visit to Friendship Park, a meeting place for families and friends divided by the border. All of this tells us why we need comprehensive immigration reform, Sanders said after hearing stories of families who can see their loved ones only on weekends. I would hope that the Republicans in Congress understand that we have a very, very broken immigration system and that it must be reformed and that they should in fact work with Democrats to pass comprehensive immigration reform. If not and if I am elected president of the United States, I will use the executive powers that the president has to do that the best that I can. As with all Sanders events, this rally drew a big crowd, with many arriving hours before it started. Carol and Martin Crawford showed up at about 3 p.m. from Temecula to get a good spot in the grassy field in front of Sanders stage. Natives of the United Kingdom, they became U.S. citizens in 2010 in part to vote for a second term for President Barack Obama. They both said theyre big Sanders supporters. Sanders is the only man I love as much as my husband, Carol Crawford said. Martin Crawford said he supports Sanders over Clinton because he has a clear vision for the countrys future, while Clintons isnt defined. Carol Crawford, who said she plans to volunteer for the campaign, said healthcare is the most important issue for her. Its not just what matters for us but what matters for everyone, she said. Throughout his campaign, Sanders has called for healthcare as a matter of right rather than privilege. Juan Torres of San Diego was leaning against a fence separating the crowd from the press pit. He said he doesnt know who hell vote for, but it will be either Sanders or Clinton. Were here to make up our minds, he said. Sanders seems more candid and more authentic compared to Clinton, who seems well-polished and market-tested, Torres said. He added that Sanders unfinished feel makes him more relatable and likable. Emilio Reyes, 30, said her reason for supporting Sanders is fairly simple. Hes fighting for everything we believe in for a better future, she said. Reyes attended with Debbie Luna, 30, and Daisy Bravo, 17 all members of San Diego Latinos Unidos Con Bernie (United for Bernie). The group has been meeting weekly leading up to the June primary to register voters the deadline is Monday and trying to collect money to lease office space somewhere in National City so they can set up shop. The trio, all Chula Vista residents, said they support Sanders as the Democratic presidential candidate because they trust him when he says he is for all people. I couldnt go to SDSU because I cant afford it, Luna said. Bernie is for free education. Claudia Ferreira, another volunteer from San Diego Latinos, said that many of the citizens the organization speaks with are from Chula Vista, National City and San Ysidro. A lot of them said they are going to vote for Bernie, she said. Some of them even changed their party from Republican to Democrat because they want to vote for Bernie. Escondido resident Jeff Beeler, 59, said he came to participate in Saturdays rally because its a critical election. There are such extreme points of view, he said. Im impressed with Bernies record. Hes been consistently for the people since hes been in office. I think Bernie has the peoples vote. Sanders is making a swing through a region that was Clinton country eight years ago. During her 2008 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton won eight of the 10 counties in Southern California, losing to Barack Obama in just Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. She won the state with 52 percent of the vote. Not looking to give up any ground this year and hoping to decisively win the largest and last state primary, the Clinton campaign opened eight offices in California and is holding several rallies. The San Diego office opened Tuesday and is the first south of Democrat-rich Los Angeles. Bill Clinton spoke in Chula Vista and Pomona on Saturday, and Hillary Clinton will be campaigning in the Los Angeles area and the Inland Empire next week. Hillary Clinton has picked up significant endorsements in the area, including that of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. All three of San Diegos Democratic members in the House of Representatives have also endorsed her, as has former California Assembly speaker Toni Atkins. joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com Stewart writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. ALSO Donald Trump sees political gain in Bill Clintons extramarital affairs Clintons California advantage over Sanders: Her allies living in your neighborhood Gov. Jerry Brown warns against scorched earth presidential campaign for Democrats A La Canada resident with experience in corporate finance has been named the new executive director of the La Canada Flintridge Educational Foundation, it was announced Wednesday. Marilyn Yang will begin her new job in July, according to the announcement. She replaces Deborah Weirick, who earlier this spring said she would be stepping down June 30 after four years at the helm of the organization. NEWSLETTER: Stay up to date with whats going on in your community >> Its been a great run, but Im just ready to do something else, Weirick told the Valley Sun in an April interview. After an extensive search that included candidates from both within and outside the community, I am delighted to announce that we have found our next executive director, LCFEF President Stephanie Fossan said in this weeks statement announcing Yangs appointment. She added Yang has served on the foundations board for four years, three as treasurer and two as chairman of the annual Spring Gala auction committee. The foundation, now in its fourth decade of existence, raises funds in support of La Canadas public schools. In recent years, it has donated about $2 million annually to La Canada Unified School District. Yang and her husband, Kaiser, are the parents of 10-year-old twins, Jared and Jada, who attend Paradise Canyon Elementary School. A resident of the city for more than 15 years, Yang has not only volunteered with the educational foundation, but has also been an active PTA member at her childrens school and is involved with the Flintridge Guild of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Yang did her undergraduate work at UCLA, where she earned a bachelors degree in economics. She then went on to earn an MBA from the University of Michigan. She has worked as an accountant for Ernst & Young LLP, as an investment banker for Banc of America Securities and as a corporate financier for the Walt Disney Co. Im passionate about maintaining the high standards of our school district and am grateful for the opportunity to serve our community as the executive director for LCFEF, Yang said in the announcement. -- Carol Cormaci, carol.cormaci@latimes.com Twitter: @CarolCormaci AFRICA Workshop Learn how to plan a trip to Africa, including tips on what to do, where to go, what gear to pack and how to get off the beaten track. When, where: 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Adventure 16 store in Los Angeles, 11161 W. Pico Blvd. Admission, info: Free. (310) 473-4574 SAN PEDRO Open house Explore the Salinas de San Pedro salt marsh with marine educators and naturalists. Advertisement When, where: Salt marsh open 11 a.m.-1 p.m. May 29 at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro. Museum opens at 10 a.m. Admission, info: Free, (310) 548-7562. Please email announcements at least three weeks before the event to travel@latimes.com. Heres a travel app for New York hipsters or anyone else who wants to travel just like them. Name: Where is Williamsburg What it does: Helps urban travelers find the hippest locations around the globe or the destinations that are the most like Brooklyns Williamsburg neighborhood. Available: In the App Store, requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Advertisement Cost: Free Whats hot: If you want to find pour-over coffee, brunch, American Apparel or a brew similar to Pabst Blue Ribbon anywhere in the world, this is your app. Its quick, its spot-on, and if you disagree with its choices it allows you to drag the map to wherever you think Williamsburg is for its consideration. Once it tells you the neighborhood, you can click through four icons to figure out if that coffeehouse, bar or restaurant is right for you. The details are powered by Foursquare, which offer directions, contact info, tips, reviews and more. It also lets you agree, disagree or tell it that its choice is Meh. It delivers cool travel options: When I clicked on Cairo, I was intrigued to know more about Zamalek, even though there were no listings for pour-over coffee, brunch or American Apparel. A quick search of the neighborhood led me to descriptions and images that would satisfy a hipsters cravings. Whats not: Its available only for Apple users. Im sure there are Android users out there that want pour-over coffee too. Wait, nah. Afghan and Pakistani officials confirmed Sunday that the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan, setting off a pivotal succession battle inside the insurgent movement that could further challenge U.S.-backed efforts to start negotiations aimed at ending the 15-year war in Afghanistan. The Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, said in a statement that Mansour was killed in an airstrike Saturday afternoon while traveling in a car in Pakistans Baluchistan province. A senior Pakistani official also confirmed Mansours death. During his trip in Vietnam, President Obama said in a statement that Mansours death was an important milestone in helping bring peace to Afghanistan. He said the U.S. would keep targeting extremist networks that threaten the United States. Advertisement The Taliban did not immediately issue a statement, but the shura, or leadership council, called a meeting beginning Sunday, according to an individual close to the Taliban. Such meetings are usually called to discuss matters of extreme importance, said the individual, who could not be named for security reasons. Mansour was appointed last summer after the Taliban confirmed that its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had died after a long absence. His appointment sparked a power struggle that has left the insurgent movement, which had been largely cohesive under Omar, more divided than ever even as the group gained more territory in northern and southern Afghanistan. Once regarded as a proponent of ending hostilities against Afghan and U.S.-led international forces and entering into peace talks, Mansour presided over a resurgence of the Talibans fighting capabilities and made a public statement last year calling for jihad until we bring Islamic rule to Afghanistan. The increased insurgent attacks pushed civilian casualties in Afghanistan last year to their highest levels since the United Nations began tracking figures several years ago. The failures of Afghan government forces forced the White House to delay plans to withdraw the remaining 9,800 U.S. troops stationed in the country. With the Taliban succeeding on the battlefield capturing the northern city of Kunduz briefly last fall Afghan President Ashraf Ghanis efforts to engage the Taliban in direct talks for the first time failed to make progress. At the latest meeting between diplomats from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the U.S. and China all of whom are pressing for negotiations the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan, Omar Zakhilwal, described the Taliban as irreconcilable. [Mansour was] the main figure preventing the Taliban from joining in the peace process. Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistans chief executive In recent months, Afghan officials repeatedly called on Pakistan where the Taliban leadership is based to take action against Taliban leaders who were opposed to peace talks. The airstrike, which Pentagon officials said was ordered by President Obama, marked a swift escalation of U.S. firepower against the Taliban, which the U.S. government has not labeled a terrorist group. In the past, top U.S. officials have said they would not target members of the group in airstrikes unless they posed a direct threat to U.S. forces or interests. In 2011, Vice President Joe Biden said, The Taliban per se is not our enemy. But on Sunday, Secretary of State John F. Kerry offered a justification for the airstrike, saying that Mansour posed a continuing, imminent threat to U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, to Afghan civilians, Afghan security forces and Resolute Support coalition members across the country. Resolute Support is the name of the U.S.-led NATO military force in Afghanistan. This action sends a clear message to the world that we will continue to stand with our Afghan partners as they look to build a more stable, united, secure and prosperous Afghanistan, Kerry told reporters in Myanmar, where he was on an official visit. Afghanistans chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, said Mansour was the main figure preventing the Taliban from joining in the peace process and had intensified violence against ordinary civilians. Yet Mansours demise could make the Taliban even less amenable to negotiations. While the Talibans internal workings are rarely transparent to outsiders, the primary candidates to succeed Mansour are believed to be his two deputies: Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, an elderly religious scholar, and Sirajuddin Haqqani, the operational commander of the hard-line Haqqani network, one of the most potent fighting forces inside the insurgent movement. Haqqani, whose fighters are blamed for some of the deadliest attacks against Afghan and U.S.-led international forces in recent years, is reported to have gained standing inside the Talibans central leadership in recent months. The groups past suggests to some observers that if Haqqani were to take control, the Taliban would become even more potent and deadly. Mansours death would definitely further strengthen the Haqqani network, said Mushtaq Yusufzai, a journalist in Peshawar, Pakistan, who closely follows the Taliban. Pakistans security establishment, which is believed to have influence over senior Taliban leaders, is also reported to be close to Haqqani. Others say Akhundzada, a former head of the Talibans religious courts, could have the upper hand. He was close to the groups founder and spiritual leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, according to an analysis by Thomas Ruttig and Borhan Osman of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, a Kabul-based research group. Wahid Mujda, a former official in the Taliban government that led Afghanistan until the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, said the succession process could take months. When Mullah Omars death was announced, Mullah Mansour had already been serving as a de facto leader, said Mujda, now a political analyst. This time there is no clear successor or exact procedure for electing a new leader. A new leader must be elected, but it wont be quick this time. Haji Din Mohammad, a member of the Afghan governments High Peace Council, which is charged with negotiating with the Taliban, said there were other contenders including relatives of Omar, who were believed to oppose Mansours leadership. Mansours death doesnt necessarily mean that peace is closer than it was yesterday, Mohammad said. Details of the airstrike emerged slowly from Baluchistan, one of Pakistans most inaccessible regions. Residents reached by telephone said a Toyota coming from Taftan, a town near the Pakistani border with Iran, was targeted on a highway about 40 miles from the border and two people inside were killed. Bodies were taken to a government-run hospital and were expected to be shifted to Quetta, the provincial capital, for autopsy, officials said. Reports from Pakistani officials and media sources said the driver of the car was killed along with a man presumed to be Mansour who was carrying a Pakistani passport under the name of Wali Muhammad. The Pakistani government issued a statement saying that U.S. officials informed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the strike after it happened, which it called a violation of its sovereignty language Pakistan often uses to distance itself from U.S. strikes on its soil. The U.S. has often carried out aerial attacks against suspected militants with tacit Pakistani support, although this was a rare U.S. attack outside Pakistans northern tribal areas. In 2011, U.S.-Pakistani relations soured after U.S. forces secretly raided former Osama bin Ladens hideout in Abbottabad, killing the former Al Qaeda leader. Special correspondent Latifi reported from Kabul and staff writer Bengali from Cairo. Special correspondents Zulfiqar Ali in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Aoun Sahi in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report. ALSO Fifty years later, the first campus massacre lives on Surfing icon Laird Hamilton shares his 10-point plan to live forever EgyptAir crash raises new questions about European airport security shashank.bengali@latimes.com Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia UPDATES: 11:08 p.m.: This story was updated with a statement from President Obama. 8:24 a.m.: This story was updated with new details throughout. The first version of this article was published at 2:58 a.m. A gunman fired shots early Sunday into a small crowd attending an open-air concert organized by a local motorcycle club, killing two people and wounding 11 others before shooting himself to death, police said. Police said the overnight shooting in Austrias westernmost Voralberg province was preceded by a loud argument between the gunman and a woman in a nearby parking lot. The man then fetched a gun out of his car, left the parking lot and went to a field that was used as a concert venue, where he started shooting into the crowd of about 150 people, apparently at random. They said he killed himself after returning to the parking lot. The woman was not wounded in the shooting near Nenzing, a town about 24 miles east of Austrias border with Liechtenstein. Advertisement State broadcaster ORF said the man apparently used a rifle or similar long weapon. Local media quoted rescue workers as saying some of the surviving victims were in serious condition. Police spokeswoman Susanne Dilp said she could not confirm that but described their wounds as very diverse. She refused to name the motorcycle club but described it as regional rather than international. Dilp said no other details were available as police continued their investigation at the scene. UPDATES: 1:13 a.m.: Updated with details. This article was first posted at 11:58 p.m. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi urged patience Sunday as the search for the wreckage of EgyptAir Flight 804 concluded a third day with scant progress. Government investigators said it would be a month before they would release preliminary findings. Egyptian officials, who speculated following the crash that terrorism was the likely cause, have sounded a more cautious note in subsequent days since no militant group has claimed responsibility and Egyptian military units have recovered only bits of debris and human remains from the sea. All scenarios are possible, Sisi said at the opening of a fertilizer factory in Damietta, in northern Egypt. Advertisement I must thank the armed forces, the navy and countries that have stood by us and have assisted in the search. The Egyptian petroleum ministry dispatched a submarine to the Mediterranean to aid in the search for the black box recorders from the Airbus A320 jet, which are believed to have sunk to the sea floor since the crash Thursday morning. Relatives and friends of EgyptAir hostess Yara Hani, who was on board Flight 804 from Paris to Cairo when it plunged into the Mediterranean, mourn during a ceremony in Cairo on May 21, 2016. (STR/AFP/Getty Images ) As funerals were held across Cairo for Egyptian victims of the crash, Ayman El-Moqadem, head of the government-appointed investigation committee, said an initial report into the incident would be completed within a month, according to a report in the state-run Ahram newspaper. The mystery over the plane which crashed with 56 passengers and 10 airline personnel aboard en route from Paris to Cairo has deepened since U.S. and Egyptian officials first speculated Thursday that a mechanical failure could not have caused the accident. The airliner, which Egyptian authorities have said had a clean safety record, was cruising at 37,000 feet when radar showed it suddenly veered left, made a full turn to the right and dived into the sea. Aviation experts said the information suggested a catastrophic failure that was unlikely to have been caused by those flying the aircraft. French civil aviation authorities reported Saturday that automatic messages sent from the aircraft indicated smoke in the cabin shortly before it lost radar contact at 2:30 a.m. Thursday. But authorities said it was not possible to determine what caused the smoke. Moqadem, speaking to Ahram newspaper, declined to comment on the reports. Attention initially focused on Islamic State, the militant group that has a branch in Egypts Sinai peninsula, because the group claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Russian passenger jet that crashed in the Sinai in October. But a 31-minute recorded statement released Saturday by an Islamic State spokesman, Abu Mohammed Adnani, made no mention of the EgyptAir crash. Special correspondent Omar El Adl contributed to this report. shashank.bengali@latimes.com Twitter: @SBengali This week in social media, Facebook tried to reassure conservatives, Reddit introduced post embedding, and Twitter may stop counting photos and links against its character limit. It's time for Social Media Sunday! Facebook Talking About Trending Topics Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg held a private meeting on Wednesday with top conservative media figures to reassure them about Facebook's commitment to ideological diversity. As Latin Post previously reported, the world's largest social media platform's Trending Topics news experiment was accused of suppressing right-wing news topics and sources in a report based on anonymous former workers in the project last week. The meeting seemingly went well, with some of the 16 conservative pundits saying Zuckerberg gave them a strong sense of concern about the problem and curiosity about their viewpoints. Whether meeting with a few top conservatives will quell suspicions about Facebook by the rank-and-file right is still up for debate. Messenger Privacy Suit Facebook is the target these days of a lot of privacy lawsuits, and another one against the company received class action status this week. The suit, taking place in Northern California's District Court, is based around Facebook's scanning and logging of web addresses sent through Messenger. It's a practice that, as The Verge noted, is aimed at preventing spam and malicious links, along with scanning for child pornography as part of an industry standard, but the lawsuit alleges that Facebook is saving scanned data in a searchable form, in order to target users for advertising. I f true, the practice violates the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and California's Invasion of Privacy Act. Facebook meanwhile maintains that the URL data is anonymized and not maintained in a searchable database. Twitter More Usable Characters Twitter's quirky 140-character limit seems to be going nowhere, but according to a Bloomberg report this week, it may get a little more flexible for users soon. Based on an anonymous source, Bloomberg reported that in as soon as two weeks, links and photos in tweets will no longer count in any way against the 140-character limit. Currently, links (even short URLs) typically cost you 23 characters. So far, the rumored change to a limit of as much as 10,000 characters doesn't appear to be happening, but as anyone who's found themselves spending 10 agonizing minutes trying to edit down a single tweet to fit the limit knows, every extra character counts. Reddit Now You Can Embed Anywhere Reddit has always been a strange, somewhat insular social media community. For the uninitiated, prepare to start seeing more of Reddit's special brand of social media posting and commenting throughout the Internet, because now Reddit's posts are embeddable. According to TheVerge, Reddit users can embed a post by clicking the share button next to the comment link, and then click on the embed icon on the far right. You'll get a preview of the post and an embed code. It works with GIFs, photos, any other media, and comment threads. I, for one, welcome Reddit's invasion of the rest of the Internet. More than forty states have now seen traveled-associated cases of Zika outbreak, prompting more government officials to seek greater funding for fighting the mosquito-borne virus. As the congressional debate over funding plays out, an increasing number of health officials are shifting resources and recalibrating priorities in hopes of getting a better handle over the virus. "Stealing money from myself" is how Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health describes having to pull funds from the agency's malaria, tuberculosis and influenza programs to now cover a Zika vaccine. Researchers Insist More Funding Needed Fauci insists the agency will surely need a cash infusion sometime during the month of June to keep the vaccine on schedule and recoup the nearly $20 million it has borrowed from other areas of funding. "If we don't get something soon, then we're going to have a real problem," he said. Exacerbating the situation all the more is the ever present danger of another outbreak of some sort coming along at the same time. "It's Zika now, but three months from now, who knows what it might be?" said Dr. Tim Jones, state epidemiologist in Tennessee. Already, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reallocated $44 million to Zika from emergency preparedness grants designed to aid state and local health departments with everything from flu outbreaks to hurricanes. "You have to be careful when you take cuts from core infrastructure for the disease of the day," Tennessee's Jones said. "That's a risky way to do things." Zika can spell dire consequences for pregnant women that become infected, causing devastating birth defects and even fetal deaths. The virus has been directly linked to microcephaly, a condition where infants are born with abnormally small heads and can be vulnerable to the potentially deadly temporary paralysis syndrome known as Guillain-Barre. All of the 540 cases of the disease thus far diagnosed in the U.S. have involved travel to impacted areas or sex with pregnant infected women. Obama Administration Pushing for More Funding Back in February, the Obama administration requested $1.9 billion in emergency funding to fight the virus, a proposal that has drawn stern opposition from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Though the administration has already shifted nearly $600 million from funds for Ebola flare-ups in West Africa and other accounts to fund the fight against the virus, several states have also launched local assistance efforts. In Florida, officials have opened a Zika information hotline that has fielded more than 1,700 calls since February. Not far away in New Orleans, the health department has started sending staffers into neighborhoods to educate residents about the virus, including ways to make their surroundings less mosquito-friendly as hurricane season fast approaches. In Virginia, authorities earmarked about $700,000 remaining from a federal Ebola grant for the hiring of two mosquito biologists and a campaign where they distributed information about the disease to nearly half-million residents. Meanwile, Georgia's Chatham County has one of the state's best-funded mosquito-control departments at $3.8 million and soon after news of the virus began to spread announced that state officials planned to send some mosquitoes to the University of Georgia for Zika testing. Federal health officials here in the U.S. recently announced that doctors are now monitoring some 279 pregnant women with either confirmed or suspected cases of Zika. Back in February, the World Health Organization officially declared Zika a global health emergency. A team of University of Florida scientists have discovered a trio of Nile crocodiles from Africa lurking in the swamps of Florida. Researchers were able to identify the reptiles as members of the second-largest reptile species through DNA testing. All of the creatures were captured in the wild in 2009, 2011 and 2014. There Could be Other Crocs Across Florida Recently published in the journal of Herpetological Conservation and Biology, researchers added the discovery could be just the tip of the iceberg, as there could be more of the reptiles lurking across the Sunshine State. "The odds that the few of us who study Florida reptiles have found all of the Nile crocs out there is probably unlikely," Kenneth Krysko, herpetology collections manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida indicated in a statement. He later added, "We know that they can survive in the Florida wilderness for numerous years, we know that they grow quickly here and we know their behavior in their native range, and there is no reason to suggest that would change here in Florida." In Africa, the creatures have a dangerous reputation that include them being responsible for at least 480 attacks on humans over a four-year period beginning in 2010. Of the attacks, 123 ended in fatalities. By comparison, the International Shark Attack File reports 2015 saw 98 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide and six deaths. Nile crocodiles can grow to be as long as 18 feet and come to weight as much as a small vehicle. The last decade has seen large quantities of the creatures imported to the U.S. from such places as South Africa and Madagascar, but scientists are convinced the state's exotic pet trade is responsible for introducing the latest onsalught across the state. Researchers Hoping Discovery Serves as Wake-Up Call Given its subtropical surroundings, Florida owns the world's largest number of invasive species. "My hope as a biologist is that the introduction of Nile crocodiles in Florida opens everyone's eyes to the problem of invasive species that we have here in our state," Krysko said. "Now here's another one, but this time it isn't just a tiny house gecko from Africa." Nile crocodiles are described as generalist predators, meaning everything from birds, mammals to even other crocodiles and alligators are among their prey. St. Joseph's Church in Easton is ready to close its doors following one final Mass next Sunday. But longtime congregants say the memories inside the building at 129 Davis St. on the city's South Side will not be forgotten. The Diocese of Allentown in April announced the closure of St. Joseph after congregants were unable to raise the $3 million needed in building repairs. The original building was constructed in 1862 and St. Joseph's current building was in use since 1915. More than 50 people gathered Sunday for a "Sharing Memories Open House" event, which prefaces the church's closing next weekend. The church also hosted a similar session on Saturday. Guests had a chance to see vintage photographs and memorabilia, as well as share with each other memories of the church. The parish plans to put together a book of the memories to be published in the near future. The church is part of the Our Lady of Mercy parish, which includes St. Bernard's Oratory and St. Michael's Church, also in Easton. Following the closing of St. Joseph, all services for the Our Lady of Mercy parish will be held at St. Bernard's Oratory Lifelong memories Ninety-nine-year-old Mary Ogden, a lifelong parishioner, recalled walking to the outhouses behind the convent as a pupil of the church's Catholic school. It was a time before restrooms were in school buildings. "They taught me well," Ogden said of the nuns. "I think it's closing is terrible. It breaks my heart to think that. Ever since the merging was going on, this was always my church." Susan Bradley, chairwoman of the church's closing committee and another lifelong congregant, said she admired the stained glass windows and stations of the cross plaques throughout the church. "As a young child, you have less of an influence," she said. "This church had such an ornate message and pure power in it, which really spoke to me." Marianne Hess, of the 300 block of West Wilkes-Barre Street, also attended the school until eighth grade. Her son later became an alter server for 13 years. "My whole life is here," Hess said, noting she was married at St. Joseph. "We tried so hard to fix it up, and the parish just couldn't raise the money for it." Future of worship The Rev. Father Keith Laskowski has offered guidance to parishioners and is helping in the effort to move the church forward as a joint community. The church's closure is challenging for many, he said. "They call me 'Father,' So I'm a part of the family," Laskowski said "It's sad, but my job is to lead them and support them, but also help them to know God does not abandon us." The future of the church's actual building, however, remains uncertain. The church, school and rectory are expected to be sold as a unit with some religious pieces likely being sold to other area catholic churches. John Dagon, a parishioner, in mid-April attempted to appeal the closure to Bishop John Barre, but said Friday via-phone call he was denied. He has about a week to decide whether to take his appeal to the Vatican. "Do I tie the church up for two years and spend money for it to stay open or just let it go?" he asked. "I don't know; I told the bishop I don't think I'm going to do it." Ashleigh Albert is lehighvalleylive.com's Russell J. Flanagan Memorial news intern. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Surviving the influx of modernization, historical gems remain staples throughout the Lehigh Valley: our covered bridges. Seven covered bridges still stand in Lehigh Valley presently, six of which are in Lehigh County and one of which is in Northampton County. Discover Lehigh Valley offers an arranged covered-bridge tour of the seven bridges on its website, detailing the history of these treasures, many of which are edging 200 years old. Bogert's Bridge is in Allentown. The original bridge's structure was made of wood. Using only cross planks, the structural design helped the bridge survive flooding and lessened wear and tear damages from daily use. In 1956, local citizens saved the bridge from being destroyed. Today, the bridge is closed to vehicle traffic. Bogert's Bridge is part of the Lehigh Parkway in Allentown. Geiger's Covered Bridge is in North Whitehall Township and was built in 1860. It spans Jordan Creek. Located on the east side of Trexler-Lehigh County Game Preserve, this bridge has a "stepped portal design," making it noticeably different from the other such bridges. Kreidersville Covered Bridge is the only surviving bridge in Northampton County, located in Allen Township. In 1959, the bridge was nearly demolished but citizens successfully saved it. Every other year, the Kreidersville Covered Bridge Association holds a Covered Bridge Festival in the park surrounding the bridge. Proceeds contribute to the bridge's preservation as well as the grounds surrounding it. This year the event will occur on June 4-5. "The bridge takes you back to when life was simpler and slower. It's a link to the past you really can get your hands on, bringing you back generations," said Tom Christopher, treasurer of the Kreidersville Covered Bridge Association. Christopher said the bridge stands a better chance of surviving well into the future because it has been closed to vehicular traffic. Manasses Guth Bridge crosses over Jordan Creek in South Whitehall Township. This bridge was constructed in 1858. It's named after a man who lived in an adjacent farmhouse. The bridge sits at the eastern end of Covered Bridge Park. Rex's Covered Bridge, in North Whitehall Township, is open to vehicular traffic. It is believed to have originally been built in 1858 near the former Kern's Mill, although the exact location of the mill is unknown. The bridge's original stone walls have been covered by cement and painted white. Schlicher's Covered Bridge is in the heart of the Trexler-Lehigh County Game Preserve in North Whitehall Township. Although the bridge's builder is unknown, it is the newest bridge in the Valley as it was built in 1882. The bridge was rebuilt in 1995 with reinforcements. Wehr's Covered Bridge crosses over the Jordan River and in South Whitehall Township. The bridge, known as Sieger's Covered Bridge as far back as 1862, was renamed after William Wehr repurchased it. Today, the area surrounding the bridge is known as Wehr's Dam. Many may recognize the name "Wehr," as the surrounding dam was the source of attention in 2015, when the discussion of the possible removal of the dam had many community members in battle with one another. Discover Lehigh Valley President Michael Stershic believes covered bridges have provided an opportunity for people to experience a leisurely drive through the Lehigh Valley. Aside from providing nostalgia for simpler times, the bridges provide a variety of other uses, he said. "They often provide a backdrop for wedding and family portraits," Stershic said. "We are fortunate to have such colorful and well preserved assets in Lehigh Valley." History of covered bridges in Pennsylvania Covered bridges can be traced back to European roots. German immigrants brought the design to the United States, and the bridges usually were named after the builders, nearby residents, or businesses. Bridges were covered on the basis of keeping the plank roadways dry. Find more information about the covered bridges featured above here. Ashleigh Albert is lehighvalleylive.com's Russell J. Flanagan Memorial news intern. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Firefighters from multiple agencies battled a blaze for several hours early Sunday at a home in Liberty Township. Mountain Lake Fire Co. Chief Frank Jalosky said the fire began shortly before 6:30 a.m. at 51 Quenby Mountain Road. A female homeowner -- the only person at the home -- woke up to the sound of a loud bang and glass breaking, Jalosky said. She then walked outside and saw the single-story brick ranch house fully engulfed, Jalosky said, noting flames were shooting out of the roof. The woman had difficulty breathing and was taken to an area hospital for treatment. "The house is 100 percent lost," he said. Jalosky said it took firefighters two hours just to get the blaze under control and the scene was not cleared until 12:30 p.m. There also were obstacles to combat. Jalosky said crews had to utilize a tanker task force with a portable pond set up at the end of the driveway to supply water to fight the fire. There were no hydrants in that area, he said, and the driveway was about 450 to 500 feet long, he said. Responding were firefighters from the Independence Fire Department, Oxford Fire Department, Hackettstown Fire Department, Belvidere Fire Department, Hope Fire Department, Allamuchy Fire Department, Blairstown Fire Department and Mansfield Fire Department, as well as the Warren County fire coordinator. Also at the scene was the Oxford Rescue Squad and Independence Township Emergency Medical Services. It remains unclear where the fire began or how it started. New Jersey State Police in Washington is handling the investigation. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. Richard Tynan from Killenard, Portarlington has won on the treble at this years BT Young Scientist and Technology Competition. Richard Tynan from Killenard, Portarlington has won on the treble at this years BT Young Scientist and Technology Competition. A sixth year student at Cistercian College Roscrea, Richard took first place in the Senior Individual Technology Section, for his project Advanced Modelling and Infilling Algorithms for 3d Printing. He also won the Analog Devices Technology Award, for the student who showed outstanding achievement in technology, winning an all expenses trip to San Francisco, Silicon Valley and to Stanford University. Richard, a son of Richard and Carmel Tynan, won a third award for the quality of his display. He had an inkling he was in the running for top prize because of the number of judges around his stand on the last day. And my report book went missing during the night, we thought it was lost, but the judges were having a second look, he said. It is his third year to enter the event and win awards, and he was thrilled to win again. I was shaking coming back down. I am over the moon, and looking forward to heading to Silicon Valley with Analog Devices, he said. He has already been offered a course in computer science with physics at Cambridge University, dependent on his leaving cert results. Richard is a past pupil of Killenard NS. Other Laois students were Heywood CS students Ruth Bergin, Caoimhe OKeeffe and Ella Barrett with projects on protecting Irish wetlands, and the efficacy of iPads in teaching maths, and Mountmellick CS students Romeo Ncube and Adam Culleton, investigating air quality at Kyletalesha Landfill. In the Primary Science Fair, Scoil Mhuire Fatima, Timahoe won an award for Excellence in application of investigative science on their wind turbine project. The overall winner was Paul Clarke from Raheny, for his project Contributions to cyclic graph theory, presented by Minister Ruairi Quinn. On Friday, the official Leave campaign released a deeply unpleasant video suggesting that Turkey is on the brink of joining the EU. Lib Dem Peer Meral Hussein-Ece was horrified: This is more desperation from Brexit and Project Fear. This is a xenophobic attack from a leave campaign that knows it is losing the debate. Stigmatising Turkey and the people who live there is a dangerous move which comes from the propaganda playbooks of 100 years ago. One of the great things about the EU is that it encourages us to work together; instead the leave campaign are offering a world of division and distrust. This is not a future we should be fighting for. Boris Johnson knows that Turkey wont be joining the EU any time soon; they have been a candidate since 1987 and have only met one target of the 36 stipulated by the EU. Yet again Boris has recklessly made up new facts on the spot. You have to wonder if theres a myth that Boris wont promote in the run-up to the referendum, from the bogus 350 million a week figure to his bizarre comments that you cant buy bananas in bunches of more than three. Boris needs to remember that he will long be associated with the Leave campaign and all the nasty scaremongering, scapegoating stuff on immigration that it spews out. Only two months ago, he said quite openly on his Call Boris show on LBC that it was unlikely that Turkey would join the EU. Leave seems quite happy to echo the disgraceful stomach-turning xenophobia that rose to the surface in UKIPs February anti-Turkey video that the Liberal Democrats reported to OFCOM The unofficial campaign, led by Nigel Farage, Leave.EU, has reportedly been targeting Facebook advertising at people who like sickening far-right organisations as Britain First, the BNP and the EDL. From the Sunday Times (): Leave.EU used the social media site to direct adverts at users who had shown an interest in the British National party, National Front, Britain First and the English Defence League. Pro-EU politicians said that the behaviour of Leave.EU, which is funded by the millionaire Ukip donor Arron Banks, was beyond the pale. Tim Farron accused them of trawling the dark corners of the internet: It is staggering that major players in the leave campaign have been trawling the dark corners of the internet to bring people to their cause. No view is too odious for them to try and play on prejudice and court support. When your scapegoating and scaremongering gets too much for the Mail on Sunday, you must know that you are in a very dark place indeed. An editorial in the paper today says: So far in this campaign, the more the Leave campaigns arguments have been subjected to the stress test of national debate, the weaker they have looked. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 458th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (15-21 May, 2016), together with a hand-picked quintet, you might otherwise have missed. Dont forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox just click here ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, lets start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. What do Labour moderates do with this poll? by Nick Tyrone on nicktyrone.com. There are no good options. 2. Police apply to courts or more time to investigate ANOTHER Tory MP by Mark Pack on Mark Pack. The total number now exceeds their majority. 3. Kill or cure: why Kirsty Williams might take a Welsh Government position by Energlyn Churchill on Towards Gunfire. What has she got to lose? 4. Why disasters get covered up and how to stop this by David Boyle on The Real Blog. The capacity for citizens to challenge the authorities must be preserved. 5. Tim Farron backs Kirsty Williams cabinet post plan by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England. Find out why Jonathan thinks hes right. 6. The likely casualties of Labours failure to secure a majority in Wales by Peter Black on Peter Black. Two of Carwyn Jones big initiatives are likely to bite the dust and some Labour AMs wont be troubled. 7. Shaffaq Mohammed is back as leader of Sheffield Lib Dems by Mark Pack on Mark Pack. The Lib Dems are gaining again in Sheffield. And now to the five blog-posts that come highly recommended, regardless of the number of Aggregator click-throughs they attracted. To nominate a Lib Dem blog article published in the past seven days your own, or someone elses, all you have to do is drop a line to [email protected] You can also contact us via Twitter, where were @libdemvoice 8.A Zip for Europe, in England by Gareth Epps on Liberators Blog. On a proposal to ensure gender and other diversity for the European elections 9. Orgreave by Peter Wrigley on Keynesian Liberal. Especially in context of David Boyles post above. Peter contrasts the relative speeds of the decision on an Orgreave enquiry with the action taken after the riots in London. 10. Campaign Diary: Day 5 Canvassing proper begins by Mark Valladares on Liberal Bureaucracy. Mark hits the campaign trail. 11. Addressing the targeting problem by Cen Philips on Liberal Thoughts. Some suggestions for helping build capacity in our weaker areas. 12. Shropshires unitary authority has failed and its hurting our county by Andy Boddington on Andy Boddington. Andy explains the failure in the local government structure. And thats it for another week. Happy blogging n reading n nominating. Featured? Add this to your blog post! Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings A JUDGE said she cant massage the law for a well-known Limerick publican before she fined him 400 and ordered him to refrain from selling cigarettes for three weeks, after he failed to ensure that the smoking area of his pub is compliant with legislation. Michael Houlihan of Michael Houlihans Bar, Sarsfield Street, Kilmallock was before the local court for being in breach of the Public Health Tobacco Act on May 15, 2015. The case was last before the court in January when, making a formal order to convict, Judge Marian OLeary stated we have to be practical as well and adjourned the case to allow the defendant time to comply with the rule of having a minimum of 50% of the perimeter open. In January, James Cahill, an environment health officer, told the court that where there is a fixed or removable roof there is a legal requirement that a minimum of 50% of the perimeter has to be open. The court heard that the smoking area was originally a laneway between two buildings the public house and a fast food outlet. At this Tuesdays hearing, solicitor for the HSE, Kevin Sherry said that the portion of the area that is uncovered is in compliance - just that area but the remaining covered area is still in contravention with the legislation. He said that his client met with the defendant in February and explained to him that he would need to take off half of the roof in order for 50% of the enclosed area to be in compliance with the legislation. The defendant knew exactly what was required to comply with the legislation, he said. Mr Sherry said that the roofing would literally have to be halved, length ways. My client observed a patron smoking in that area as of yesterday, he said, this Tuesday. Mr Sherry said that the defendant had a different view of things and my instructions are that he didnt accept what my clients were telling him. Mr Sherry told the court that it is the perimeter of the covered area that is the relevant area. He said his client measured it and said that 88% of the area was enclosed and therefore was not compliant with the legislation. He said that while his client would admit that there were amendments made,unfortunately the remaining roof is still in non-compliance. James Cahill said that they were governed by circumstances on site which meant that there werent a number of solutions. There is just one and unfortunately its not the one he has taken, he said. Solicitor for Mr Houlihan, Robin Lee, said that neither he nor his client were of the view that a conviction had been recorded in the case at the January hearing. Judge OLeary said that she had recorded a conviction. Mr Lee put it to Mr Cahill that there was a roadside door, three windows overhead and a vacant space overhead the three windows which he should have included in his calculations of the spaces that are open. Mr Cahill said that the windows or doors werent open. Mr Lee asked him if he tested them to see if they were functioning. Mr Cahill said he did not. You are interpreting Section 47, 7 precisely and literally down to the 50%, said Mr Lee, without making any allowances for the opening and closing of windows and doors, and vacant space overhead. Mr Cahill said unfortunately I am restricted and I have to apply the law as set out, not by what I would like to include in it. Judge Marian OLeary said: Unfortunately we cannot massage the law to suit a person. Statistics, statistics and damn statistics, said Mr Lee who said his client is doing what he can. Mr Lee also pointed out safety concerns over the proposed design of the roof [which would be in compliance], in strong winds. Well, then, all he is left with is the street. I cant do anything about that, said Judge OLeary. Solicitor for the HSE, Kevin Sherry, said he was anxious to have the case finalised as it has been a year since the offence. He said he had been in court on a number of occasions and would be seeking costs of 4,000 plus VAT. Judge OLeary said to submit his bill to Mr Lee first. Judge Marian OLeary imposed a fine of 400. She said that costs were to be taxed. Judge OLeary also ordered that Mr Houlihan be prohibited from selling tobacco related products on his premises for a period of three weeks. Recognizance were fixed in the event of an appeal. PROMINENT city business-woman Elenora Hogan is to contest the co-option to the seat vacated by new senator Maria Byrne on the council. It was confirmed this week that the Upper William Street pharmacist was nominated unanimously by her branch of Fine Gael to seek co-option to the position in City West. Ms Hogan, who lives in the South Circular Road, and chairs Fine Gaels James Reidy city branch, is to face competition from Felim Cronin, who has been selected by the Raheen/Dooradoyle branch, and Fergus Kilcoyne, who is expected to be selected by the Patrickswell branch. But Mr Kilcoyne, a publican in the village has indicated that he may not decide to throw his hat into the ring, due to the strength in numbers of the city branch. If the numbers do not stack up, there is no point contesting it in my view, he told the Limerick Leader. The Patrickswell branch has 17 members eligible to vote, while Raheen/Dooradoyle has 20 members eligible. But the city branch has almost 80 members who can cast a vote. If Ms Hogan can get this vote out, it would make her the clear favourite to take on Senator Byrnes seat. Speaking to the Limerick Leader, Ms Hogan said: You have to ensure people vote for you before you can say youre a favourite to win an election. It is a very strong, vibrant branch, it always has been. But we just have to wait and see what happens at the selection convention. Asked why she put her name forward, she added: I have been involved in politics for a very long time, and it seems like now is an opportune time to do it. Certainly as a business woman in the city, I would be interested in seeing Limerick prosper and improve. If I can play a role in that, I would be keen to do so. Mr Kilcoyne, who came agonisingly close to election in City West back in 2014, said his branch will meet this Thursday night to decide whether to stand a candidate. If they do, it is he who will likely be the man. I was the last man standing in the last election, so I would love to get the chance to represent the people of Limerick and bring a business head to the table. I feel there is an awful lot of waste in money, and the council could be tightened up in a big way, he said. For his part, Mr Cronin said: I ran the last time in the area, but there were other factors in play including the number of candidates Fine Gael ran. Id like to give it another try. Nominations for the vacant seat in City West have to be in by next Thursday. It is then up to Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran to decide when and where the selection convention is held. IT was a coup pulled off by the Alliance Francaise de Limerick with funding from the City of Culture three years ago. And now the Tres Court International Film Festival is returning exclusively to the city this June bank holiday weekend, after drawing hundreds of viewers in the past two years since it was first staged here. Anne Blondelle and Maria Hensey, of the Alliance, have been credited with its instigation and its continued success, in bringing this unique festival to Ireland seeing it thrive. The festival also serves to promote the Alliance, a non-profit organisation, which is seeing a continued number of students sign up for the French language classes among them rugby legend Paul OConnell and his son Paddy before their expected move to France. The festival will presents an international selection of over 40 original short movies, of less than three minutes in duration each, at the Belltable, on Friday, June 3 at 8pm. The films are less than three minutes in duration each. It starts at 8pm. Tickets are priced at 10, or 8 for students, OAPs. Longford native Sinead Quinn has been appointed Business Channel Manager at PhoneWatch, Irelands leading provider of home safety systems . Sinead is the daughter of John and Margaret Quinn of Cartrons and attended secondary school at St Josephs Convent. ALSO: Phonewatch She then studied at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology graduating with a degree in Tourism and Marketing. In her new role Sinead will be responsible for driving the sales strategy and growing PhoneWatchs SME customer base. Prior to joining PhoneWatch, Sinead spent 13 years in telecommunication sales including the positions of Regional Sales Manager with Eir and Vodafone. Speaking of her appointment Sinead said: I am very excited to lead PhoneWatchs entry into the SME market and I look forward to bringing over 25 years of PhoneWatch success in residential security to commercial properties throughout Ireland. PhoneWatch has a great reputation in the home safety market and we now have ambitious plans to grow our customer base in the business sector. According to Irish Small and Medium Enterprise organisation (ISME) 36% of companies have been victims of crime in the past year. Business crime costs up to 1.62bn annually with 66% of business victims not insured for their crime losses. (www.isme.ie). Sinead explained, The PhoneWatch SME Smart Security System includes 24 hour monitoring, motion sensors with cameras and the PhoneWatch Alarm App for Alarm Remote Access. She concluded, PhoneWatch will provide a service to business owners that will give them complete piece of mind, knowing that their businesses are safe, secure and monitored 24 hours a day. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. 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 The National Directorate of Security for Afghanistan intelligence service, says Taliban Mullah Mansour died in yesterdays airstrike that was carried out by the US in Pakistan. #AkhtarMansoor, #Taliban leader is killed yesterday in a air strike in Dalbandine, #Balouchistan, Pakistan, the NDS posted on its official Twitter account. Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistans Chief Executive Officer, echoed the NDS and claimed that Mansour was killed in a drone strike in Quetta, Pakistan at 4:30 pm yesterday, TOLONews reported. Quetta is the capital of Pakistans Baluchistan province. The US military, which executed yesterdays airstrike that targeted Mansour, has not confirmed Mansours death. US officials are still working for physical confirmation if he is dead or alive. Mansour was thought to have been traveling near the town of Ahmad Wal in Baluchistan province at the time of the attack. The Taliban has not released an official statement on Mansours status. The groups official website, Voice of Jihad, remains offline; it has been down for all but several hours in the last six days. Taliban spokesmen Qari Yousef Ahmadi and Zabihullah Muhajid have resumed tweeting, but have not commented on reports of Mansours death. Their tweets consist only of standard Taliban propaganda. If Mansour is alive, expect the Taliban to issue a denial, likely via an audio message from Mansour himself. In December 2015, after rumors of Mansours death persisted in the media, the Taliban issued an audio statement from the emir in which he confirmed he was alive. However, if Mansour was injured in the airstrike or the US struck close to his location, the Taliban may be reluctant to provide any information that may disclose the nature of his whereabouts. They may fear an audio file can provide intelligence on his location. If Mansour was indeed killed, the Taliban may not be forthcoming. The Taliban hid the death of Mullah Omar, the revered founder and first emir of the group, for more than two years until the jihadist group was forced to admit in July 2015 that he died in April 2013. However, the failure to disclose Omars death caused divisions within the Taliban that have only been mended until recently, with the help of Siraj Haqqani, Mansours deputy. Given Sirajs stature within the Taliban as well as with Pakistans military and Inter-Service Intelligence Directorate, Taliban leadership may be eager to turn the page from Mansours brief tenure. Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of 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. These were some of the points discussed in a session titled For the Global Good: A Howto Guide for Pro Bono IP Work Around the World yesterday, which was moderated by Rose Hickman Rigole of Strategy IP. The panelists provided an overview of the legal framework in their countries, the level of pro bono work, and their firms pro bono initiatives. Referral work can come from networking with clients, colleagues in other jurisdictions, legal charities and NGOs. PILnet and TrustLaw were two networks mentioned. The panelists advised having the right resources, management and expertise in your firm to set up or take on pro bono work. There are many ways to do this. Start small, David Aylen of Gowling WLG said enthusiastically. You may crash due to lack of commitment if you take on a huge project. Look for ones that encourage team building or are educational in nature and slowly build it up, he added. Employee engagement is the key, according to Eugene Low of Hogan Lovells. Julia Hopf of Spoor & Fisher also participated. Low said junior lawyers, for example, should be allowed to take ownership of the project. Find out what they are interested in, and it doesnt necessarily have to be in IP, he said. Formalize the initiative, develop a pro bono policy, and manage client expectations. Registrants also learned of resources to help with implementing programs. For example, INTA has resources such as the Pro Bono Toolkit and Pro Bono Resource Guide on its website. Aside from prioritizing fee-paying work, legal practitioners can also find that it is not straightforward to take on pro bono work due to regulatory issues. This is particularly true for foreign-qualified lawyers in countries such as Russia, Japan and China. However, Aylen said this does not hinder such lawyers utilizing their skills in society. Interestingly, he also said that the tax authorities in Russia consider pro bono work as taxable, but he hopes this will cease to be the case soon. Speakers agreed that their clients do not mind that they engage in pro bono work, provided it does not affect their other work. Some clients may well have corporate social responsibility initiatives in which they are happy to get your help. Our clients even ask us about the pro bono work we have done each year, said Aylen. Philippe Bhering of Bhering Advogados in Brazil noted that trademark practitioners should help clients get up to speed on other cultures. Trademarks do bridge the gap between different cultures but so do trademark practitioners, he said. It is very important for them to know how the local market is. Mark David McVicar of Winkler Partners in Taiwan gave an example of being sensitive to a particular countrys norms. A pharmaceutical company with a major drug brand was concerned about websites referring to it generically. In a survey of 100 hospitals and clinics in Taiwan, 50 of them were referring to the brand generically on their websites. It was a classic case of genericide, said McVicar. His firm had to a draft a letter that was culturally appropriate. This needed a subtle juggling of cultural factors to please the client who wanted to protect its brand, the local company that wanted to protect relationships with the hospitals and clinics, and the clinics themselves because we didnt want to scare them off. The form letter thanked them for their use of brand but also asked them to make sure their use conformed to the clients trademark use. After the letter was sent out the percentage of websites that did not refer to the brand generically rose from 50% to 70% and then, after another round of letters, to 90%. The key was that on the back of the letter was an attached picture of their website, very specifically saying please change this to this. That made it very easy for the clinic to follow. So we made sure the trademark was being used correctly and in the end everyone was happy. In addition, McVicar noted that even in areas where you think they are homogenous there are always differences. He gave one example where a client had agreed on a trademark name for underwear in China and Taiwan, only to be told by the Hong Kong office that it absolutely could not be used, despite all three countries speaking Chinese. Meeting in person also highlights differences in culture that can be interpreted badly. Moderator Alison Tan of The Procter & Gamble Company in the U.S. said that eye contact in Asia is considered rude or confrontational whereas in the U.S. it is considered rude not to look someone in the eye. After 11 years in the U.S. I can now look people in the eyes! she reported. Stephen Jiew of Al Tamimi & Company in the United Arab Emirates noted it can very difficult to interpret social cues or be rude without realizing. You could offend a senior person by, for example, presenting your business card to a junior person first. It can also be quite tricky trying to ascertain the true hierarchy of a firm. Some clues may come from age and job title but Jiew warned: Tread very carefully. Myrtha Hurtado Rivas of Novartis Pharma in Switzerland also participated. You can also go too far in attempting to conform to other cultures. It is a delicate line between trying to be respectful and overly ingratiating yourself for a business purposeit exposes you as a phony, said Jiew. INTA registered its branch office in Singapore in March. This reflects the Associations increased engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly with IP offices, enforcement agencies and the judiciary, according to Asia-Pacific Chief Representative Seth Hays. The new office is, says Hays, geographically in the middle of the region that stretches from Australia and New Zealand in the south to Japan and South Korea in the north. Singapore is also a self-proclaimed IP Hub, hosting local offices for ICANN, Interpol and WIPO. INTAs office in Shanghai, which has existed for more than 10 years, will continue to focus on mainland China. Hays says policy advocacy is a big part of his role in Asia-Pacific. One focus of this is the new ASEAN Economic Community, comprising 10 countries in southeast Asia. IP is a big part of that, and INTA is working with organizations, including the ASEAN IP Association and the ASEAN Working Group on IP Cooperation, to help develop the IP community here in southeast Asia, he adds. While INTA brings the perspective of its global membership in promoting harmonization of trademark law and practice, it is also working to help local businesses (95% of whom are SMEs) to develop and internationalize their trademark portfolios, says Hays: We aim to contribute to the body of knowledge on the importance of trademarks and make more people aware of that. On World IP Day in April this year, for example, INTA organized an education panel focusing on protection for SMEs at the Lao PDR World IP Day Fair. And during the coming year, the Association plans to commission research on the economic impact of trademark-intensive industries in the region. Whether you are a developing or a developed country, there is an immediate value to protecting trademarks, says Hays. The new office also comes as major political developments are underway. Many countries in the region are signatories to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, while the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which may be concluded this year, could become the worlds largest trading bloc by population. Meanwhile, several governments are committed to joining international IP treaties: Lao DPR acceded to the Madrid Protocol in December last year, and Malaysia and Thailand are expected to do so soon. There has been significant growth in INTAs membership and participation from the Asia-Pacific region, while relations with IP offices have also been developing: INTA has signed Memorandums of Understanding with the IPOPHL, IPOS, HKIPD, KIPO and Chinas SAIC, and this year the Annual Meeting welcomes representatives of the offices of Australia, China, Japan, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and The Philippines. The Honorable Yasuhito Okinaka, a judge from the Tokyo District Court, is taking part in todays session on Free Speech and Trademark Law. Engagement with the judiciary, as well as with IP offices and enforcement agencies such as Customs, is one of Hayss priorities: INTA recently filed an amicus brief before the Supreme Court of The Philippines and more amicus filings are likely to follow. There are also likely to be more events hosted in the region following the two held in Singapore earlier this yeara seminar on designs (jointly with AIPPI) and a workshop on the roles of intermediaries in enforcing IP rights (in association with BASCAP). Contact details Seth Hays Chief Representative, Asia-Pacific Office Singapore Tel: +65 6866 3206 Email: shays@inta.org A panel at the INTA Annual Meeting tomorrow will focus on anticounterfeiting strategies in south-east Asia and Africa. These are two massive regions, so we cant cover everything but we hope to provide the audience with key strategies and pointers for these important areas, says Lara Kayode, of O Kayode & Company in Nigeria, who is moderating the session. She emphasizes the importance for brand owners of looking at different means to tackle counterfeiting. For example, in some countries, regulatory legislation may be more up-to-date and enforcement agencies better resourced than police or the courts. Going to the Regulatory Body to attack counterfeits may be the best option in some cases, says Kayode. Regulatory bodies may also be better able to deal with issues such as relabeling/repackaging and forged date codes or authorization certificates. One of the speakers on the panel is Kingsley Ejiofor of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Nigeria. Speaking to the INTA Daily News, he acknowledged that the incidence of counterfeiting in Africa is higher than in developed countries but said that agencies such as NAFDAC are making progress: There have been eight or nine cases in the federal courts in Nigeria recently. One resulted in a five-year imprisonment. Another led to a seven-year sentence. He said such sentences, combined with the destruction of counterfeit products and other penalties, have helped to deter counterfeiters: I saw one criminal and he was in tears when he realized the implications of what he had done. But he added that effective enforcement will require much bigger fines to be issued, to reflect the scale of the gains that counterfeiters make. Another speaker on the panel, William Mansfield of ABRO Industries, Inc will bring first-hand perspective from a U.S. company that sells a lot of products in Africa, while Nick Redfearn of Rouse & Co International has the task of providing an overview of developments and strategies throughout southeast Asia. Kayode says that the biggest targets for counterfeiters include western brands in the food and fashion industries, electrical goods and car parts, as well as pharmaceuticals: counterfeit malaria and asthma medicines are often discovered. But she adds that one emerging trend is the counterfeiting of African fashions, which are going through a Renaissance in Africa: hollandais fabric (pictured) is a particular target of overseas counterfeiters. Asked what brand owners can do to improve enforcement, Ejiofor emphasizes sharing information and collaborating with agencies, helping with training of judicial officers and promoting technology such as authentication services to sort genuine from fake products. For overseas investors in Africa, Kayode warns against working with distributors who you dont know well, and ensuring you do due diligence on local partners: Before you start working with distributors, do your homeworkjust like you would anywhere else. CM21 Anticounterfeiting Strategies in South East Asia and Africa takes place tomorrow 11:45 am to 1:00 pm Advertising laws in Asia Another session tomorrow will look at how advertising laws impact brand owners in Asias large consumer markets, with speakers from China, India, South Korea, Japan and the United States. These marketswhich span several billion peoplehave growing middle classes that are becoming increasingly sophisticated consumers. One result of this is that advertising laws and regulations are tightening up. Specific issues due to be addressed include the recently revised Chinese Advertising Law, comparative advertising, the role of trademark law and how advertising is treated in the digital and analogue spheres. Speakers will also give examples of recent case studies in each jurisdiction. During the panel there will be discussion of specific industry sectors, including tobacco, alcohol, medication, educational services, financial investment services and advertising targeting minors, and examples of specific cultural taboos in certain jurisdictions. RM20 Regional Update: Asian PowerhousesBuy, Buy, BuyHow Advertising Laws Impact Brand Owners in the Large Consumer Markets of Asia takes place tomorrow from 11:45 am to 1:00 pm. Reaching out in Asia The past few months have seen lots of INTA activity throughout Asia. In November last year, INTA held an Anticounterfeiting Policy Dialogue on Customs Practices in Putrajaya, Malaysia. INTA was also represented at the ASEAN IPA Annual Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in March this year, which was attended by government officials and practitioners from throughout the region. Singapore hosted INTAs Designs Conference in February, which was organized jointly with AIPPI, followed by an INTA-BASCAP Workshop in Intermediaries and Rights HoldersWorking Together to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy. On March 4 INTAs Unreal Campaign held its first student engagement campaign in Asia, at the Nanyang Girls High School. In March, a delegation visited India, for meetings with government officials and other organizations, and a workshop on Strategic Brand Management was held in Mumbai. Building Africa with Brands, INTAs first conference to be held in Africa for 20 years, will take place in Cape Town, South Africa from September 1 to 2 2016. It will be preceded by the INTA-BASCAP Workshop: Intermediaries and Rights HoldersWorking Together to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy. For more details and to register, please visit the INTA registration desk or inta.org/2016 Africa What does your day-to-day role entail? Im director and assistant general counsel of IP and privacy. On a day-to-day basis I manage the Office Depot and OfficeMax trademark portfolios. I work with outside counsel to make sure all the renewals are done, I work with our private brand team as well as e-commerce and other business groups to clear trademarks for use in advertising, packaging, print materials and brochuresPreview. I review product packaging. I also do some agreement reviewing of IP provisions in contracts and the general due diligence work relating to trademarks. Thats the trademark hat. Then I also have the privacy hat. What are some of the overlaps between trademarks and the privacy side? There are issues that overlap. Ultimately, if there is a data breach your brand is at issue. Your customers and your employee data is at issue but fundamentally it really affects your brand. Thats why I think it is important for trademark attorneys to understand the privacy side a bit more. The main issue is how to control the damage to your brand if you have a data breach. If you have a well-planned security program and privacy program in place at your corporation then you are going to be much more likely to be able to handle things more easily and potentially on a more expedited basis, and in turn reduce the risk and damage to your brand. How many trademarks do you manage? Well over 1,000 by the time you add in the global portfolio. We have business operations throughout the world in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Asia and Canada. What are the biggest challenges in your role? One of the biggest challenges when I started was that the company had just gone through the Office Depot/OfficeMax merger [the merger was completed in November 2013]. So it was trying to figure out what the portfolio actually consisted of and then working with the private brand team to understand how we were going to use the Office Depot marks in conjunction with or without the OfficeMax marks. Not only did I have one portfolio, but a second as well, and it was a new portfolio for the company as a whole. There was not anybody here who could provide any historical knowledge or usage relating to the marks. So that was something I had to get up to speed on relatively quickly. On a day-to-day basis, it is really keeping track of everything, because there are some days when I get multiple requests for trademark searches and clearance work. The deadlines with much of the work I do are really tight, so that seems to be one of the biggest challenges I have. What are the trademark issues that are specific to your industry? For any company that has a website there are always issues relating to unauthorized people setting up websites that use your name. There are still a lot of internet related issues that we have to deal with. Tell me a little bit about the team? What do you use the outside counsel for? I am the team. I do have a paralegal and there is a second paralegal who has worked on intellectual property matters in the past. But for day-to-day matters there is really only two of us. It is a small team, so we are very busy. We do things in house but, because there are only two of us, we tend to use outside counsel more for trademark searches and renewals and also to assist with foreign matters. How much do you deal with international matters? Quite a bit. I am responsible for the trademark portfolio globally so I play a part when there are new marks that need to be cleared in Europe, domain names that need to be registered, or if we find out that a third party is using one of our tardemarks in a store in another country, or online on a country-specific website. I generally work with the business people and we do have counsel in most of our foreign countries. What does well-known trade mark status mean? Whats the difference between the protection offered by a well-known trade mark and a normal one? Samiko Sun: The well-known trademark status means that the mark has acquired high reputation and influence among the public through extensive and continuous use, and it has been recognized as a well-known trademark by the relevant public, based on which a broader scope of protection could be given on a case-by-case basis. A well-known trademark is offered a broader scope of protection, which is not limited to the designated goods and services covered by the registration. It means that the protection for a well-known mark could be extended to the non-similar goods and services; even though, sometimes, the gap among the goods and services is large, the well-known mark would also be protected to prevent the possible dilution of the well-known mark. However, the extent of such extended scope may depend on the degree of the well-known status as well as the distinctiveness of the mark. What factors are considered in determining well-known trademark status? Samiko Sun: The following factors are the keys when determining the well-known trademarks: Time of registration: though theoretically an unregistered well-known trademark is also possible, it is extremely rare in practice. It is generally considered that a well-known mark should be registered in China for at least two years prior to the filing date of the opposed or canceled mark. Length, geographic coverage and volume of use: It is generally considered that a well-known mark should be used in China for at least five years prior to the filing date of the opposed or canceled mark. Such use shall cover at least 10 provinces, and the sales volume should be large based on specific industry. The degree of similarity between the subject mark and the opposed mark should be high. The designated goods/services of the two parties should be dissimilar according to the Chinese Classifications, but connected, so that there is likelihood of misleading; only very well-known marks may enjoy the protection based on dilution. Are there any other significant issues that have arisen following the changes? Gloria Wu: In some recent opposition cases since late 2015, where the opponents earlier cited mark is similar to the opposed mark, the goods are dissimilar according to the Chinese Classification of Goods and Services but are connected to some extent, such as Class 24 (bed sheets) and Class 25 (clothing), and the cited mark has enjoyed certain reputation but not yet reached the standard of well-known mark, the TMO held that the opposed mark shall be rejected according to Article 10.1.7 of the China Trademark Law, signs deceptive, and may easily mislead the public with regards to quality and other features of the goods. This Article 10.1.7 used to be only applied in cases where the mark is inherently deceptive instead of relative ground involving conflict with earlier rights. Though the criteria of applying Article 10.1.7 in such relative ground oppositions is not clear by now, for example the required extent of high reputation and extent of connection of the goods, it is nevertheless a favorable change for many foreign brand owners whose trademarks are copied by others in different but related classes and the evidence of prior use and reputation is not sufficient to establish well-known trademark in China. It is also worth noticing that in some earlier opposition cases, TMO occasionally used Article 10.1.8 (signs detrimental to social morality or having other negative influence) in relative ground as described above, whereas the TRAB and the courts made it very clear that Article 10.1.8 can only be applied in absolute grounds where the mark itself has inherent negative meaning and cannot be applied in relative grounds where conflict of rights exists. Nowadays, the TMO seems to follow the same rule and stop using Article 10.1.8 in relative grounds as well. Another significant change is according to Article 14.5 of China Trademark Law, producers and dealers shall not use the words well-known trademark on their goods and the packages or containers of their goods or for the advertisements, exhibitions, and other commercial activities. According to Article 53, where a party violates the provision of Article 14.5, the local administrative authority for industry and commerce shall order the party to rectify the situation and impose a fine of 100,000 ($15,500). The purpose of it is to prevent the misuse of well-known trademark as a kind of government award or guarantee of quality which would mislead the consumers. What suggestions do you have for an international company that is seeking to obtain well-known trade marks in China? Gloria Wu: Firstly, better management of evidence is always important, whether or not for the purpose of obtaining recognition of well-known trademark, as the sufficiency of evidence especially related to use and reputation of the mark in China for each year in each region and on each type of products or services is always a core factor affecting the chances of success of the case. The brand owner could discuss with a trademark attorney to form an efficient way of sharing and collecting evidence on a regular basis, and if the brand owner has any branch office or distributor in China, the way of collaborating among the parties. The reason for doing so is that the time limit for submitting evidence in trademark cases is usually no more than three months from filing the action (such as opposition, invalidation), which sounds quite long, but in fact, when some evidence needs to be notarized and legalized, some need affidavit from certain person, some need audit report issued by qualified auditors for a certain year, three months may be too short to complete all the work. Therefore, a mechanism of regular maintenance of a well-categorized evidence database by the trademark attorney for the brand owner is very important and has great value. Secondly, as the recognition of the well-known trademark is on a case-by-case basis, it is possible that one mark is recognized as well-known mark in one case, but fails in another, and the reason might be that the filing date of the opposed/disputed mark is different and thus the period of required use evidence differs, or the degree of connection between the goods and services may differ, or degree of similarity between the marks may differ. Thirdly, even if the brand owner is confident about the sufficiency of evidence to support the well-known status, it is better to base the case not only on well-known trademark claim, but also other possible grounds, such as Article 10.1.7 (signs deceptive) and Article 7 (Principle of Good Faith). What else to do if a right holder cannot obtain well-know status? Gloria Wu: Defensive applications in other related or even unrelated classes of goods/services would be an economic and efficient method, as compared to filing oppositions against endless new marks of others. Besides, even for the classes of existing registrations or applications, it is sensible to double check the subclasses covered to see whether the protection scope is sufficient according to the Chinese examination criteria. One risk related to defensive applications is the possibility of non-use cancellation, i.e. after three years of registration, if anyone files non-use cancellation against such trademark, the registrant need to submit use evidence, otherwise, the trademark might be cancelled then. Another possible option is copyright protection, especially over the device mark or the complete logo including word and device or the word mark in stylized form. The protection of copyright is not limited to any specific class of goods or services, which is a big benefit of such type of right, but the threshold of similarity is normally higher than that between trademarks. Similar to many other countries, copyright recordal is not mandatory in China, but the recordal certificate can serve as a prima facie evidence if the recordal date is earlier than the trademark filing date. If the recordal date is later than the filing date of the opposed/disputed trademark, the owner then needs to provide additional evidence to prove the ownership of the copyright (such as agreement with designer, original manuscript), as well as the accessibility of the works before the filing date of the mark (such as publication of the copyright on magazines distributed in China, or publication via the Internet). In case one trademark has been registered for over five years, any invalidation against it needs to be based on the ground of well-known trademark and bad faith claim, i.e. the cited mark had been well-known in China before the filing date of the disputed mark, and the registrant of the disputed mark filed this mark in bad faith, or absolute grounds. If neither of these grounds can be based, one may need to wait for three years to file the non-use cancellation, or try other ways such as negotiation of assignment with the registrant. At the same time, the use of the same or similar mark over the same or similar goods without authorization of the registrant may face the risk of infringement. Though the possible infringement litigation could be suspended upon request to the court based on a pending invalidation against the trademark registration cited as ground in the infringement proceeding, the legal risk is still high and damages might be claimed if the registrant obtains sufficient evidence. Samiko Sun Samiko Sun obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Information System and Management from the Beijing Technology and Science University in 2007 and her Masters degree in IP Management from National University of Singapore in 2009. Ms Sun joined Kangxin in 2010 and started her career as a trademark attorney. Her main areas of practice are in the fields of trademark, vopyright, domain names and Customs. Ms Sun has considerable experience in trademark prosecution, including trademark application, opposition, recordal of trademark assignment, recordal of trademark license agreement, and Customs recordal of registered trademark, domain name registration and dispute resolution, as well as copyright recordal. Gloria Q Wu Gloria Wu graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University, School of Law in 2005, and joined Kangxin in the same year and started her IP practice. Ms Wu has assisted brand owners from all over the world in devising and implementing tailored strategies for trademark protection in China, with regard to both prosecution and litigation. She is also experienced in dealing with cases involving different types of IP rights, such as trademarks, copyright, design patents and domain names. Based on her deep knowledge and extensive experience of trademark practice, she provides proactive, insightful advice to clients who encounter complicated trademark disputes in China, and helps them to resolve their problems successfully and efficiently. Ms Wu has been recognized for her expertise in the trademark field (both prosecution and contentious) by Chambers and Partners and World Trademark Review, and is consistently ranked among the top IP professionals in China. Ms Wu is also active in IP transaction and licensing area. She has successfully assisted her clients in monetization of IP assets through various ways and also provided legal services such as drafting and reviewing agreements, due diligence during the process. She has also authored many articles in both Chinese and international journals and has been frequently consulted and interviewed by legal media to give comments and opinion in relation to latest influential trademark cases or other new development in legal system in China. She is also an active speaker and moderator at international conferences and seminars, sharing her knowledge and experience of IP practice in China with audiences from all over the world. Ms Wu is a member of the Legislation and Regulation Committee of INTA, and is also a member of the China Trademark Association Development Committee. A cyclone battered coastal Bangladesh on Saturday, killing at least 21 people and injuring many more, but has now weakened into a depression that the weather office said could still bring brief periods of violent wind or rain. Authorities in low-lying Bangladesh have moved about 500,000 people into 3,500 shelters, the disaster minister said. Cyclone Roanu has killed people in house collapses, landslides and a storm surge that broke embankments at two places in the Chittagong port city in the southeast. "We've shifted most of the people who are vulnerable," said Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, adding that people were working "all-out" to contain and tackle the damage. Several people were injured after gusty winds damaged houses and shops and uprooted trees and electric poles. Some places were inundated by a storm surge of 3 to 4 feet (a metre or more) above normal tide height, officials said. Authorities were also evacuating people from hilly parts of Chittagong in case persistent rain triggers more landslides. Officials suspended flights at Chittagong airport while the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority restricted movement of all ships and ferries. The weather office, in its final update for the day, advised fishing boats and trawlers to remain in shelter until Sunday noon. Bangladesh is frequently battered by such storms. More than 3,000 people were killed by Cyclone Sidr in 2007 and around 200 lives were lost to Cyclone Aila in 2009. (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Writing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Robert Birsel and Ruth Pitchford) On April 26, 2016, Cheoy Lee Shipyards launched the 100th vessel it has built to a Robert Allan Ltd. design, becoming the second shipyard worldwide to do so, after Sanmars initial achievement of this milestone in 2013. This epic tug, Hull Number 5098 at Cheoy Lee, is a RAstar 3200 class ASD tug, with completion expected in August, 2016. At present Cheoy Lees Hin Lee yard in China is very busy with a flotilla of Robert Allan Ltd. tugs at various stages of completion. The cooperation between Robert Allan Ltd. and Cheoy Lee dates back to 2003, with the construction of the first of the Z-Tech series tugs for PSA Marine. Since that time the two companies have developed a close and cooperative working relationship, providing high quality custom-tailored tugs for the international market. (Singapore, 22 May 2016) The topside of Ivar Aasen field was completed on Sunday at the shipyard in Singapore and sailed to Norway shortly. The tire was delivered on budget and on time, which enables field development is on track to start production on December 1. "Ivar Aasen field is an important development on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and the Norwegian as operator . We are therefore very pleased to finalize the platform deck according to budget and on time. Work performed in Singapore are of high quality, and the project is an example of a successful global supplier collaboration to create value on the Norwegian continental shelf," says Karl Johnny Hersvik, CEO of the Norwegian. The topside is now moved from the shipyard to SMOE to Cosco vessel Xiang Rui Kou, who will be carrying the installation of Ivar Aasen field in the Utsira High in the North Sea. On Utsira High shall topside lifted on the chassis that is built on Sardinia, and living quarters built on Stord. At its peak, more than 2,300 people from 35 nations work on the project. After almost 15 million hours we have not detected serious incidents, which we are very proud of. We have had a close and good cooperation between the Norwegian operator and SMOE company Sembawang, where we deliver on budget and without serious injuries, says project manager for the topside Snorre Fossum. The topside of Ivar Aasen is shipped from the port of Singapore in early June and come to Norway a month later. Avoiding a War in Space Space is becoming more congested, contested and competitive. Since the Soviet Union put the first satellite, Sputnik I, into space in 1957, no nation has deliberately destroyed another's satellite in orbit. But there is a growing possibility that battles may soon be waged in space. Although the militarization of space started long ago, a number of technological developments and tests over the past decade show that the race toward its weaponization is accelerating. Driven by Washington's dominance of and strategic dependence on space, U.S. rivals are working to develop and deploy anti-satellite weapons (widely known as ASATs). The technology, which began to be developed during the Cold War, has become an area of intense competition for the world's most capable militaries over the past decade. For the United States, being the leader in military space technologies provides immense advantages. At the same time, its outsize reliance on those technologies entails risks. The current unequal dependence on space, the United States fears, could give adversaries incentive to attack its infrastructure in orbit. Washington is therefore pushing to bolster its capabilities and is preparing for the possibility that a future conflict could escalate into space. As the militarized space race continues, the United States will stay focused on deterrence. A war in space would be devastating to all, and preventing it, rather than finding ways to fight it, will likely remain the goal. An Unequal Dependence Washington's dependence on space infrastructure reflects the United States' dominance in space. The tyranny of time and distance inherently hinders the United States' ability to deploy its military across the globe. But the space domain effectively helps the country to overcome the limitations, allowing for enhanced force projection. As a result, the U.S. military relies heavily on its orbital assets for navigation, intelligence collection, precision targeting, communication, early warning and several other crucial activities. The great advantages that space assets afford the United States have not gone unnoticed by its potential rivals. Though China and Russia, for instance, also rely on space, they are less dependent on their space assets than the United States is. First, neither nation has as much in orbit. In addition, because both put greater focus on their immediate geographic regions, they can use more conventional tools to achieve their objectives. For instance, Beijing, by virtue of geographic proximity, could rely on its ground-based radars and sensors in a conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The United States, on the other hand, would have to lean on its satellites to support a response in the same area. Despite the United States' superior ability to strike at enemy space constellations groups of similar kinds of satellites competitors may determine that the resulting loss of space access would be worthwhile if they could severely degrade U.S. space access. And while the United States is the most proficient nation in space-based warfare, there are limits to its abilities. Satellites in orbit follow predictable movements, have restricted maneuverability and are difficult to defend from an attack. There is little doubt that a full kinetic strike on U.S. satellites, which would inflict physical damage, would invite a devastating response. But tactics designed to degrade the satellites' abilities, rather than to destroy their hardware, could be deemed less escalatory and therefore perhaps worth the risk. These include jamming signals, hacking operational software and dazzling (temporarily blinding) or permanently disabling sensors. Calculating the risk of nonkinetic strikes, which would create little physical damage and could even be reversed, a potential foe would take into account the United States' hesitance to escalate a conflict in space, given its heavy dependence on orbital technology. Reinforcing Deterrence If the United States wants to preserve its primacy in the face of increasing threats to its strength in space, Washington will need to invest in strategies to deter attacks on its orbital assets. The first step in strengthening space deterrence is to ensure proper attribution: The United States cannot hold its enemies accountable for attacks if it does not know who initiated them. But the vastness of space, along with the difficulty of obtaining physical evidence from attacked satellites, can make responsibility hard to prove. To that end, the United States is investing in a second-generation surveillance system, known as Space Fence, to track satellites and orbital debris. Slated to begin operating in 2018, Space Fence uses ground-based radars that give it 10 times the detection capability of its predecessor, the Air Force Space Surveillance System. In addition, the United States has been working with a classified satellite defense technology called the Self-Awareness Space Situational Awareness system, which reportedly will be able to pinpoint the source of a laser fired at a satellite. Redundancy and shielding can also deter limited attacks against satellites. The innate redundancy of large satellite constellations could make attacking them too risky; such an assault would fail to significantly impair U.S. space control while still inviting retaliation. Meanwhile, more widespread use of resistant antenna designs, filters, surge arresters and fiber-optic components, which are less vulnerable to attack, is already being explored to further shield satellites from jamming, dazzling and blinding. Finally, the United States can work alongside its global partners and allies to convey the idea that a full-blown battle that would destroy orbiting satellites would be bad for all of humanity. Reinforcing this message and openly tying it to a powerful U.S. response could further bolster deterrence. Preventing a War in Space While the United States works to discourage hostilities in space, in no small part to ensure its enduring advantage there, Washington is also taking more steps to plan for the contingency of a war in space. The Department of Defense has nominated the secretary of the U.S. Air Force as the initiative's principal adviser, tasked with coordinating space-related efforts across the military. Late last year, the United States also established the Joint Interagency Combined Space Operations Center at Colorado's Schriever Air Force Base. The center facilitates information sharing across the national security space enterprise and has already run a number of wargame scenarios to simulate conflict in orbit. Furthermore, the Pentagon has added $5 billion to its space programs budget in 2016, pushing the total to about $27 billion. The budget provides for spending on technologies and tactics that can help the United States mitigate and recover from a space attack. One effort, spearheaded by the Operationally Responsive Space Office, aims to develop small satellites and associated launch systems that can be built and deployed quickly and cheaply. (For the most part, the current U.S. fleet consists of large, sophisticated and expensive satellites, some of which cost billions of dollars and take years to construct.) As part of this endeavor, the office has directed the development of a standardized but modular satellite chassis that allows for multiple payload variations. The result is increased flexibility, as well as lower costs and quicker turnaround in production. Developing a less expensive and more efficient way to launch replacements for destroyed or disabled systems is the next step. With that in mind, the Operationally Responsive Space Office is funding the development of the Spaceborne Payload Assist Rocket-Kauai (SPARK) launch system, designed to send miniaturized satellites into low-Earth and sun-synchronous orbits. In its efforts to rapidly launch swarms of miniaturized satellites on the cheap, the U.S. military is also looking to leverage the private sector. Companies such as Virgin Galactic (with the LauncherOne) and the Rocket Lab (with the Electron Vehicle) have expressed keen interest in the initiative. The small satellite revolution promises the speedy replacement of disabled satellites in the event of attack theoretically securing the U.S. military's use of space constellations in support of operations during a conflict. Small satellites are not a magic bullet, however; key satellite functions will still depend on bulkier and more complex systems, such as the large but critically important nuclear-hardened command-and-control mission satellites. Many of these systems involve hefty antennas and considerable power sources. Given that access to orbit may not be guaranteed during a war in space, the United States has also been exploring alternative ways to perform some of the core functions that satellites now provide. At this stage, high-flying unmanned aerial vehicles with satellite-like payloads offer the most advanced alternative. But considering the vehicles' vulnerability to sophisticated air defenses, their lower altitude and endurance relative to orbital satellites, and their limited global reach, this remains a tentative solution at best. Overall, the United States is getting far more serious about the threat of space warfare. Investment in new technologies is increasing, and the organizational architecture to deal with such a contingency is being put in place. In the race between shield and sword, however, there is no guarantee that offensive ASAT capabilities will not have the advantage, potentially denying critical access to space during a catastrophic celestial war. The High Cost of a War in Space Increased competition in space is reviving fears of a war there, one with devastating consequences. Humanity depends on space systems for communication, exploration, navigation and a host of other functions integral to modern life. Moreover, future breakthroughs may await in space, including solar energy improvements, nuclear waste disposal and extraterrestrial mining. A war in space would disable a number of key satellites, and the resulting debris would place vital orbital regions at risk. The damage to the world economy could also be disastrous. In severity, the consequences of space warfare could be comparable to those of nuclear war. What's more, disabling key constellations that give early launch warnings could be seen as the opening salvo in a nuclear attack, driving the threat of a wider conflagration. While the United States and other nations are taking measures to better prepare for a potential war in space, their emphasis will likely remain on deterrence. This is an important notion to understand, not only for potential U.S. enemies but also for the United States itself. For instance, it is conceivable that technological advancements in the coming decades could allow the United States to recover militarily from a space clash more quickly than the ever-more space dependent China or Russia. In such a scenario, the costs that a space war would have for the world as a whole might be enough to dissuade Washington from launching its own space attack. "Avoiding a War in Space is republished with permission of Stratfor." This analysis was just a fraction of what our Members enjoy, Click Here to start your Free Membership Trial Today! "This report is republished with permission of STRATFOR" Copyright 2016 Stratfor. All rights reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only. 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. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Gold Bull-Phase I Continues to Confound (The Trek to Known Values) Since January 20th the precious metal stocks have been in an upward impulse. I have classified this impulse as phase I of a new bull market. My essay The three phases of a bull market located on this site explains this in further detail. http://www.talkmarkets.com/content/goldprecious-metals/the-three-phases-of-a-bull-market?post=92292 In short, phase I is the move off bear market lows to known Values. Just prior to this move stocks were left on the bargain table and farsighted, wise investors picked them up from discouraged and distressed sellers. I have described this impulse move toward known values as analogous to a beach ball held under water then released. With the exception of Rambus, Spock and myself virtually all Precious Metals newsletter writers have advised their subscribers and flocks to take profits and head for the sidelines. No move like this can continue without a major and violent correction is what they have advised. They caution we are past due for a severe pullback, staying positioned in these stretched issues is nothing short of reckless. I have observed otherwise however, and have sat tight in my positions judging that known values are still somewhat above us. That exalted level is now starting to come into clearer view as is shown in the following charts: The Battle for the Matterhorn. This is the current battle between the gold bulls vs bears. It is an outstanding portrayal of the visual picture of accumulation of stronger hands over weaker ones. Saucer shaped bowls are text book patterns of accumulation and we see two prominent depictions here. We also see a rare double stack of two Cup & Handle formations. The higher is a fractal of the first and its handle takes the form of a classic bull flag. Last weeks shake-out action only served to fill out the handle, a case of weaker hands surrendering to stronger hands. This is a bullish picture and appears to be positioning to make a run at the Matterhorn. If it can bust that level the implications of that move are impressive. The Bottom : Taking a step back and looking at a 4 year weekly view lends perspective. In late 2015 we have a final bottom in the bear market taking the form of an inverted H&S bottom. Gold then rocketed up in an impulse move of 19% before consolidating. This consolidation took the form of a pennant which may possibly be a half-way pattern. If so an impulse to impulse measured move would project gold to about the $1475 level. Last weeks action appears to have been a shake out back test of the pennant. Determining Known Values Implications for the gold stocks: Here is a review of the HUI over the past 13 years. I have shown this before as it depicts the round trip made by the bull and bear. Old news.however here is something new which lends some insight to determining our known values price objective. Both bull and bear markets undergo a point of recognition (POR) This is a psychological phenomenon where an inflection point occurs. It is where a critical mass of market participants collectively realize they are now in either a bull or bear market. Up until this moment it is not clear in their minds. It makes sense that this moment corresponds with a rapid price movement. In a bull market investors rush in and in a bear we normally see a crash. This point comes surprisingly well into either the bull or bear. Up until this moment the masses simply dont get it for various reasons. The POR in the 2000-2011 bull market came in September 2007. Hard to believe it took over 6 years for this moment to gel in peoples minds, but it did. It was a clear division of psychology in the average investors mind. After this moment the public understood gold was in a bull market. In the 5 year bear market from 2011 to 2016 the POR occurred with the Goldman bear raid of April 2013. Recall days before GS put out its infamous short gold recommendation then massive paper sell contracts hit the market in the early thinly traded hours in Asia. PM investors had been getting beaten down for months and this was the final straw. After this event the word bear market came out of the closet and could be spoken in public. It was the POR. It is fascinating that these two opposite events, both bull and bear, occurred at the same price level in the HUI. Since this price level relates to a psychological phenomenon it speaks significance. So my thesis is that the POR of both the prior bull and bear market is related to the publics acceptance of known values. When price left this level they recognized it as a departure from normalcy. In the bull they rushed to buy stock and in the bear they panicked and sold. The average investors psychological framework was attached to this price level. I believe the two PORs give us a clue as to where known values exist. The red dots depict the two PORs and how they relate to our current trek to these known values. Measured move impulses: The next chart shows us the impulse off of the January lows. It has been a surge which simply has not looked back. Once it initial impulse was over in early March (red arrow) it entered into a steep bull flag. The steep angle of incidence is consistent with a very bullish event. The bull flag appears to be a half-way pattern with a measured move impulse projecting to a level of HUI 370, which of course is the level of the two PORs. So here we have a technical indication that supports the thesis that known values may be in the area of HUI 370. The fuel for the second impulse: As noted the market is now ripe with sold out bulls waiting for lower entry points. These are PM investors who have sold out, on the advice of their mentors, because a correction is imminent. Some have even entered short positions. If gold breaks through the Matterhorn level ($1309) it could provide a spark to these investors to reenter the market and require shorts to cover. This would be the fuel to power the final move for Phase 1 to reach Known Values. By Plunger Editors Note : Plunger is Resident Market Historian with Rambus Chartology http://plunger.goldtadise.com/ My Pen name "Plunger" is a spoof based on a quote from P.J. ORourke, an American political satirist and journalist Giving assets to a stock market plunger is like giving beer and car keys to teenage boys " A plunger is the polar opposite of a prudent investor. "Most prudent investors find that their permanent profits come from a diversified portfolio where they maintain a discipline of letting profits run and cutting losses quickly. A plunger, on the other hand, will make daring emotional speculations, risking a large percentage of capital on a single trade, having total unquestioned certainty on their "trade-of-the-month". Seldom do they build into a position over time adding increasing purchases only after the market validates their market opinion. No, instead they plunge into the trade all at once." In my Formal Training I achieved a BS in Economics with a focus on econometrics and political economy . After earning my degree, my academic journey revealed to me that conventional Keynesian theory was wholly insufficient in explaining the financial world we live in. This led me to the Austrian school of economics as founded by Ludwick Von Mises. I was mentored by Harry Browne and have studied the entire works of Mises and Murray Rothbard. As an investor and trader I have been principally influenced by Dow Theory and the great analysts who developed and evolved it to what it is today. Modern portfolio management falls far short of what the great stock market theorists of the 20th century had to offer. What has been lost is the skill of interpreting the averages through reading the language of the market . My role as a market historian has evolved from reading the greats on market history. I have observed the great Wall Street analysts of old were far superior to anyone providing analysis today. So we use the method of these analysts, Charles Dow, William P. Hamilton, Robert Rhea and Richard Russell to guide us. I am also a student of the technical analysis discipline know as Chartology ( a modern adaptation , by TA analyst Rambus , of the classical work authored in the 1950s by Edwards and Magee) To be successful as an investor one must not follow Wall Streets recommendations, but instead develop the skills to independently interpret the market. I have been fortunate the past 30 years observing, up close, the economies and cultures of the world in the role of being a Captain for a major International airline." Copyright 2016 Plunger - All Rights Reserved All ideas, opinions, and/or forecasts, expressed or implied herein, are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a recommendation to invest, trade, and/or speculate in the markets. Any investments, trades, and/or speculations made in light of the ideas, opinions, and/or forecasts, expressed or implied herein, are committed at your own risk, financial or otherwise. The information on this site has been prepared without regard to any particular investors investment objectives, financial situation, and needs. Accordingly, investors should not act on any information on this site without obtaining specific advice from their financial advisor. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. The road to success oftentimes branches off into different paths for everyone. Henry County Public Schools recently held a screening at Bassett High School of One Potato Productions documentary, Most Likely to Succeed, which covered both the history and potential future of the American educational system, which many citizens believe is the most direct path to a fulfilling life. In 1892, the Committee of Ten a group of educators pressed the need to standardize learning in the classroom. These men designed an educational system based on the Prussian educational system, which separated students by age, ability, and subject. The American educational system has largely remained the same for the past 125 years. For the past approximately 100 years, the skills set for jobs remained the same. However, it is estimated that sixty-five percent of todays grade-school children will end up in jobs that have not yet been invented. Therefore, the educational system that has been present for the past 124 years is in need of renovation. While many believe that there has been a decline in the countys number of available jobs due to the recession and jobs going overseas, Most Likely to Succeed explored the idea that human jobs have been replaced by technology. For example, in the early 1900s, it took a whole team of people to build a vehicle. Now, manpower has been replaced by advanced machinery. Greg Whiteley, the director and screenplay writer of the film, expressed that artificial intelligence has taken over many previously human-powered jobs. Therefore, to succeed in the modern world, it is imperative that students learn in the ways of the present and future instead of the past. High Tech High, an experimental school in San Diego, California, has no bells, is not divided into class periods, or subjects, and allows teachers free reign over what they want to teach students and how they want to teach it. The teachers, who are hired under one-year contracts, have total intellectual freedom. Under this form of leadership, students are able to build soft skills, like confidence, time management, and communication, as opposed to learning how to retain a body of knowledge about topics studies show they quickly forget. While other schools teach students memorization tactics in order to score well on a test, schools like High Tech High focus on learning citizenship-readiness. This form of educational guidance encourages movement, noise, and activity in the classroom. Each year, the public is invited to a community event hosted by students at High Tech High. Each student works on a group project, the act of which encourages teambuilding. Educators noted that a common thread was that students worked on their portions of their teams project with a sense of purpose. While some students succeeded at their task, others did not. If the group did not perform to standard on exhibition night, teachers helped the members of the team realize what went wrong. While some parents worried about the innovative form of education, students at High Tech High and similar facilities in the county scored on average 10 percent higher on senior exit exams. Student also had a 98 percent acceptance rate into college. After the film ended, Monica Hatchett, Dr. Jared Cotton, Jamese Black, John Gibbs, Frankeeta Tatum, and Brandon Hampton held a panel discussion while members from the audience asked questions, most of which related to Magna Vistas Warrior Tech and Bassetts upcoming Bengal Tech programs. Magna Vista High School Principal Jamese Black said, Learning in Warrior Tech occurs on an automatic basis. Black said that when students are interested in learning about a topic, their vocabulary expands, though they might be timid at first. Collaboration is important, but they are silent on the first day. They are trained to come into a classroom and be quiet, Black said. However, it does not take long for the Warrior Tech students to start communicating with one another. The Magna Vista principal said that the community connections the students are able to make through Warrior Tech are invaluable. They are given something to do, step out to do it, receive feedback, and listen to and apply that feedback, Black said. Cotton expressed how excited HCPS were to expand the program to Bassett High School as Bengal Tech in the fall. Bassett High School Principal John Gibbs recently visited schools in five states to learn more about similar project-based programs. I met good kids who want to learn in different ways, Gibbs said. One audience member asked the panel about the requirements to be in the tech programs. Cotton said that in Warrior Tech, there were students who came to high school with straight As and students who came in struggling. All you have to have is an interest to learn differently Cotton said. Cotton also said that Warrior Tech students do not realize they are doing homework. They call them projects, Cotton said. Theyre not forced to do things; they want to learn them, Black said. Its amazing to watch our students learn what they would like to do. Imagine that youve got a big bucket of crabs. As youre waiting for your water to boil, you notice something odd; any one crab is perfectly capable of climbing out of the bucket and escaping, but each time a crab is almost out of the bucket, all of the other crabs drag it back down in their own attempts to escape, dooming them all to the same delicious, buttery fate. This phenomenon is called crab mentality, and unfortunately, that if I cant have it, neither can you philosophy doesnt just apply to crustaceans. On Wednesday, the Dan River Basin Association (DRBA) hosted a public input session to gather local opinions regarding weekend power generation at Philpott Dam. The saga of weekend power generation is long and winding, stretching back more than a decade. Essentially, after a large number of paddlers requested weekend generation so that they could actually paddle the Smith River on weekends, DRBA and others took the cause to a variety of agencies, including Dominion Power, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF), the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and others, and Dominion agreed in August to generate for four hours on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. so that paddlers could have a window to enjoy the river. The idea, according to DRBA Program Manager Brian Williams, was that fishermen would have the mornings and evenings to wade, and paddlers would have the early to mid-afternoon to paddle to their hearts content. Power generation at the dam is currently offline due to a switchgear fire that struck in March, but that equipment will be replaced later this year, so DRBA is hosting public input sessions to see how local residents feel about weekend generation. Some local anglers are displeased with the decision, because it forces them to pause their fishing and move upstream during that four-hour window. And at the Wednesday public input session, a member of Smith River Trout Unlimited (SRTU) locked horns with Williams on the topic. That back-and-forth covered a wide variety of subjects, from allegations that DRBA hasnt done enough to bring stakeholders to the table, to claims that DRBA isnt disclosing enough information on its website, to suspicions that DRBA is making unilateral decisions without telling anyone. All of this culminated in an almost comical disagreement in which the SRTU member alleged that a member of VDGIF was not able to get a copy of the minutes of a recent meeting from DRBA, which caused an exasperated Williams to say that he didnt know why the man needed the minutes considering that he sat next to the gentleman at that very meeting. All of this, of course, has about as much to do with weekend power generation as the price of tea in China. SRTU like DRBA is fine organization that does great work in the community, and we dont mean to cast aspersions on either party. But ask any local agency, and youll learn one great fundamental truth: If there are two agencies in an area that have remotely similar goals, they are eventually going to come into conflict with each other. In some cases, that conflict can turn into a war of attrition, and eventually, making sure that the opposing agency doesnt accomplish its goals becomes just as important as achieving your own. To paraphrase an old quote about academic politics, the conflict becomes increasingly heated because so little is at stake. We shouldnt act like crabs in a bucket. If Dominion allows it, we should maintain the schedule of four hours of mid-day power generation on Saturdays and Sundays. That schedule allows everyone anglers and paddlers alike to have a period of time when they can enjoy the river. The Smith River is a beautiful natural resource, not a toothbrush. We have to learn to share it. SPRINGFIELD -- Science fiction is science fact at Trident Alloys, 181 Abbe Ave., where Neptune -- who carried a Trident, get it? -- is a $500,000 robot who 3-D prints sand molds for casting metal parts quickly. Neptune is one of the five business stories you might have missed this week. 1) Trident Alloys in Springfield has first-of-its kind robot building sand molds for metal casting The 37-year-old company is using the robot to knock weeks off the prototyping process. 2) UMass explained Thursday why having more out-of-state students at the flagship Amherst campus increases opportunity for everyone and doesn't squeeze out students from Massachusetts. Pioneer Institute report: Is UMass expanding at expense of in-state applicants? In its response, UMass pointed out that while it offered admission to more out-of-state students than Massachusetts residents for the 2015-16 academic year, a majority of entering freshmen were Massachusetts residents. This indicates that out-of-state students often decide, for whatever reason, not to attend UMass. UMass administration: Out-of-state students don't cut opportunity for Massachusetts students 3) Memorial Day travel 2016: More than 38 million Americans expected to hit the road Low gas prices have folks headed out on the highway. Look for more information on this as Memorial Day approaches. 4) Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council introduces Cubic branding firm The new branding for our region might do away with the "Pioneer Valley" nickname folks find confusing. To many, it conjures images of prairies and covered wagons, not New England. 5) Eversource: State OKs 26 percent drop in WMass electricity rates But conservation is still important. Don't run that air conditioning during the day while you are at work. Seasonal energy-saving tips are here. IMG_5201.jpg Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Becket. (Photo by Ken Ross) BECKET - For the first time since 1998, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival will have a new executive director, Pamela Tatge. Tatge replaces Ella Baff, a familiar face to anyone who's been to a performance at the Pillow since Baff took over 18 years ago. Baff often introduced every single performance in the Pillow's two main theaters and ended each intro with two, cheerful words, "Let's dance!" But Baff's legacy will live on this summer since many programming decisions are made many months in advance. And Tatge only recently took over for Baff, who left after last summer's festival to become the Senior Program Officer for Arts and Cultural Heritage at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. So what can dance fans expect to see this summer? And what if you've never been to the Pillow or don't even know what it is? Fortunately, you've come to the right place. And to you understand why you should be so excited about the upcoming dance festival, here are some of the most frequently asked questions about Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Where is Jacob's Pillow? Jacob's Pillow is located in the rural town of Becket in the Berkshires. To get there, drive down a winding, tree-lined lane named George Carter Road just off Route 20 a few miles from Exit 2 in Lee on the Massachusetts Turnpike. It takes less than a hour to drive from Springfield, Northampton, Holyoke and many other places in Western Massachusetts to "the Pillow" as it's known. What is Jacob's Pillow? A former stop on the Underground Railroad, this 220-acre farm was built in 1790 and began presenting dance performances here in 1933. Originally called "tea lecture demonstrations," the dance performances quickly became a regular, popular event at the Pillow. The Pillow also has a world-renowned summer dance school on its grounds. That might explain why the Pillow is a National Historic Landmark and received the prestigious National Medal of Arts for being America's longest-running international dance festival. Who started Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival? Dance pioneers Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn purchased the farm at the Pillow in 1930 as a summer retreat. This innovative couple helped create modern dance and their dance company served as an incubator for some of the most famous modern dancers and choreographers, including Martha Graham. Shawn was especially instrumental in the creation and promotion of Jacob's Pillow through his groundbreaking all-male dance company formed in 1933 and comprised of eight male dancers from Shawn's physical education classes at Springfield College, where Shawn taught When does Jacob's Pillow take place? Jacob's Pillow presents dance performances year round at various locations. But its signature summer dance festival in Becket at "the Pillow" as it's known normally runs for 10 weeks. This summer, that's June 22 to Aug. 28. There's also a season-opening gala on June 18. How many theaters are located at Jacob's Pillow? Two. There's the larger Ted Shawn Theatre and the smaller Doris Duke Theatre. Both theaters normally present a different dance company each week during the summer dance festival. There's also an outdoor amphitheater named the Henry J. Leir Stage and Marcia & Seymour Simon Performance Space, where Inside/Out performances are presented during the summer season. Does Jacob's Pillow present ballet? Jacob's Pillow may be famous for presenting groundbreaking modern dance companies, the Pillow also regularly presents many different ballet companies. This summer, the ballet companies performing at the Pillow include Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (June 22 - 26), Ballet X (July 20 - 24), New York Theatre Ballet (Aug. 3 - 7) and Pacific Northwest Ballet (Aug. 24 - 28). Another performance this summer will also feature former New York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan in one of the highlights of the summer, "Some of a Thousands Words" (July 27 - 31). Whelan performed three years ago at Jacob's Pillow in "Restless Creature," one of the best performances in years at the Pillow featuring Whelan dancing with four different choreographers in four different pieces. Where do the dance companies come from at Jacob's Pillow? The dance companies literally come from all over the world. That's part of what makes the Pillow so special. You can watch dancers from many of the world's leading dance companies. This summer's festival features dance groups from Spain (Juan Siddi Flamenco Santa Fe, June 22 - 26), Argentina (Che Malambo, June 29 - July 3), South Korea (Bereishit Dance Company, June 29 - July 3), Germany (Gauthier Dance//Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart, July 6 - 10), Algeria (Compagnie Herve Koubi, Aug. 3 - 7), and Burkina Faso (Compagnie Herve Koubi, Aug. 3 - 7, and Souleymane Badolo, Aug. 24 - 28). Are there free events at Jacob's Pillow? Yes. There are usually four free performances every week as part of the Inside/Out program. Most free performances take place Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the festival at 6:15 p.m. For a complete list of free performances this summer at the Pillow, visit the festival's website. Is there a pillow at Jacob's Pillow? Yes, there is a "pillow" at Jacob's Pillow. But it's probably not the type of pillow you would want to rest your head on to sleep for a long period of time. The pillow is actually a large boulder located near a picnic area behind the cafeteria used mainly by staff and students at the School at Jacob's Pillow. But that doesn't stop countless people from taking photos of themselves and others resting on this large rock. And that certainly didn't stop Ted Shawn from doing the same based on photos of him taking a break while leaning against this imposing rock face. Where can I eat at Jacob's Pillow? There are several restaurants on the grounds at the Pillow. There are also places to sit and have a picnic outdoors like Tanglewood, the other famous summer arts festival a few miles down the road. Should I go to Jacob's Pillow this summer? I'll tell you same thing I told you last year - Do you really need to ask that question? Seriously? Let me just speak for myself. When I moved to this area 21 years ago this summer, I felt like a kid again when I went to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park for the first time that year. I had the same feeling that summer when I went to Jacob's Pillow for the first time. A friend asked me to go there with her. I can still vividly recall the program by the Trisha Brown Dance Company as much as watching batting practice from center field in Fenway Park that summer. It was the first modern dance performance I had ever seen in my life. Watching the dancers, it was like someone had opened a door and revealed a world I didn't even know existed. Even now, years later, I still often get goosebumps when I go there during the summer. There's just something so magical, so special about this place devoted to making dance come alive, right before our eyes, week after week throughout the summer. To learn more about Jacob's Pillow or this summer's program there, visit the Pillow's website or call (413) 243-0745 for more information. gavel courtroom (Photo by Joe Gratz / Flickr) SPRINGFIELD - Interested residents of Western Massachusetts can receive free legal advice on Wednesday through the Massachusetts Bar Association's semi-annual Western Massachusetts Dial-A-Lawyer call-in program. Volunteer lawyers from the bar association will field phone calls from 4 to 7 p.m., from residents of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties who have legal concerns or problems. The legal advice is provided at no charge as a public service of the organization. The Dial-A-Lawyer phone number is (413) 782-1659. If callers get a busy signal, they are asked to hang up and try again. Normal telephone charges will apply. During previous Dial-A-Lawyer programs, attorneys answered questions on a wide range of legal questions, including issues involving workers' compensation, divorce, estate planning, landlord disputes, health and Medicare problems, criminal matters, discrimination and adoption. The Massachusetts Bar Association's Dial-A-Lawyer program is co-sponsored by Western New England University School of Law, The Republican, El Pueblo Latino, the Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys and the Hispanic National Bar Association. CHICOPEE - The Department of Veterans' Services is announcing a variety of events which will be held to commemorate Memorial Day and remember those who died in war. Throughout the week retired Air Force Reserve Senior Master Sgt. Michael Brunette will work with local Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops, high school students and other volunteers to place flags on the more than 7,000 graves of veterans located in the city's 11 cemeteries. The city will honor a resident with the Sgt. Charles H. Tracy Award, which is given to a veteran who goes above and beyond to help fellow veterans. The event will be held at 9 a.m., May 26 outside 36 Center St. and is open to the public. The road will be closed for a short period of time for the ceremony. On May 27, the Veterans Memorial and Patriotic Committee of Chicopee and the Department of Veterans' Services, with the help of a variety of local veterans organizations, will visit local schools, speak about the history of Memorial Day and hold a short ceremonies where they will lay wreaths at school flag poles. The Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 111 will hold a candlelight memorial service at 7 p.m., May 29, to remember those killed in war and those missing in action. The event is held at the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Park, on Chicopee Street, where a bronze plaque for each of the 15 residents who were killed in the war is attached to each of the 15 brick pillars which surround the park. The Memorial Day Parade will step off at 10 a.m. on May 30 from the American Legion Post 452 on Exchange Street and will march down Cabot and Front Streets, ending at the Veterans' Plaza, located in front of the Sgt. Kevin Dupont Middle School. At about 11:15 a.m. remembrance services will be held in the plaza. by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, May 20, 2016 While there will be billions of Internet-connected consumer things ranging from wearables to appliances, one of the most visible objects for marketers still will be beacons, at least into the foreseeable future. Beacons are quite nicely maturing from simply on-the-spot-ad-triggering systems to devices that facilitate the collection of consumer location data combined with analysis that translates that into new behavioral insights. And based on new forecasts just out, that potential can be dramatically increased from now well into the future. The market of Bluetooth Low Energy beacons will more than double this year, according to ABI Research. Even more significantly, the number of beacons is on track to break the 400 million shipments mark by 2021. Retail is the main focus of beacons today, according to ABI, and some contracts with beacon sellers are starting to pass 1 million units. advertisement advertisement Beacons will impact mobile advertising, leading to a new generation of advertising companies, according to the researchers. The dedicated beacon advertising market is projected to grow strongly and collaboration and aggregation of beacon networks will develop this year, driven by the need for larger scale. Beacons this year are projected to support up to five-year battery life, concurrent transmission of Googles Eddystone and Apples IBeacon standards, sensor integration and proprietary transmission of data. Beacons also are expanding beyond traditional ad-triggering uses, with data being gathered as consumers pass by beacons for later usage. Some of these uses involve the capability to more accurately predict when a person is likely to go shopping, so that more timely and relevant ads can be sent, as I wrote about here. Beacons are also being used outside of advertising, with more of a service bent. For example, Citibank and beacon-maker Gimbal just introduced beacons integrated with the Citi app at some bank branches in New York. Customers with the app passing by an ATM machine in a branch get a beacon-triggered message allowing them to tap their smartphone screen to unlock the door, rather than using a bank card. This is a similar idea to airport check-in, where beacons can trigger smartphone activity when a person nears a certain location. nThe marketing potential using beacons is almost limitless. Especially with there being several hundred million of them in place. This column was originally published in Connected Thinking on May 11, 2016. Advertisement "There is no effective international system ready to respond quickly to a pandemic." Kim, a medical doctor and expert on health and disease in developing countries, put the World Bank in the lead of the response to Ebola at the time. But he acknowledged that it took months to bring together the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to pay for deploying health personnel, supplies, and other relief to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.In the meantime, he said, the death toll rose ten-fold. Kim announced the creation of the PEF at the gathering of G7 finance ministers in Sendai, Japan. He said the group of global powers had pressed the World Bank last year to develop a quicker way for the world to respond to pandemics. Kim said Japan was the first to commit support for the PEF, with a $50 million contribution.The insurance will cover outbreaks of several classes of infectious diseases most at risk for epidemics: new orthomyxoviruses including influenza pandemic viruses A, B and C; coronaviruses like SARS and MERS; filoviruses like Ebola and Marburg; and other zoonotic diseases -- those that move between animals and humans -- including Crimean Congo, Rift Valley and Lassa fever. That list does not include Zika, the deadly mosquito-borne virus spreading through the Americas.But Kim said the bank is also putting together a separate emergency "cash window" to address that and other outbreaks not covered. Under the program the 77 least developed countries will be covered by the insurance. Unlike common insurance that repays losses after a disaster, the PEF insurance is designed to release funds as soon as a disease outbreak reaches a certain level as defined by specific criteria.Kim said the World Bank has worked with insurers on the product, which will total $500 million at first, and is confident the global financial markets will accept it. "If we had had the PEF up and running in mid-2014, the Ebola outbreak would have looked very different," he said. "The countries and the world, and the insurance industry, have the same incentives to prevent the spread of pandemics."Source: AFP Despite Flipping in Surf 4 Times in a Year, Marines Say New ACV Is the Future of Amphibious Warfare Some Marine veterans familiar with the vehicle and its operations have worried about the reliability of the ACV. Afghanistan's spy agency and some Taliban spokesmen confirmed Sunday that top Taliban leader Mullah Mansour was killed in a U.S. drone strike Saturday in Pakistan that U.S. officials said could mark a new phase in the nearly 15-year-old war. Secretary of State John Kerry repeatedly referred to Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour (also spelled "Mansur" and "Mansoor") in the past tense while stressing that he had been the main obstacle to peace talks pressed by the U.S. and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that fell apart earlier this year before they began. Mansour "was directly opposed to the peace process," Kerry told reporters in Myanmar, formerly Burma, where he stopped enroute to joining President Barack Obama in Vietnam for talks on the rebalance of U.S. forces to the Pacific. "Peace is what we want," Kerry said. "Mansour was a threat to that effort and to bringing an end to the violence and suffering the people of Afghanistan have endured for so many years now." Army Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, the main spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, was more cautious on whether Mansour had been killed in what was reportedly a strike on his car by multiple U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles firing AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. "We are confident, but at this point we do not have indisputable facts that he is dead," Cleveland told The New York Times. In previous briefings to the Pentagon, Cleveland said that Mansour, who emerged as the Taliban commander last year following a leadership struggle brought on by the death of Mullah Omar, was the main organizer of the Taliban's poppy and heroin trade that provides the main source of funding for the insurgents. Shortly after the airstrike in Pakistan's Baluchistan province near the town of Ahmad Wal, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said Saturday, "Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and coalition partners." Cook said that Mansour was directly responsible for the deaths of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. "Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansour's assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous U.S. and coalition personnel," he said. The strike, which appeared to be consistent with the complicated rules of engagement for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, may suggest Army Gen. Joseph Votel, the former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command and now commander of U.S. Central Command, is taking a more aggressive approach since succeeding Army Gen. Lloyd Austin at CentCom. On the same day that the drones struck in Pakistan, Votel became the first top U.S. commander to go into Syria to gauge first-hand the progress of Syrian rebel forces trained and advised by U.S. Special Forces at a small base in northeastern Syria. Mansour, who was suspected of having close ties to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, was reportedly returning from a trip to Iran in a rental car when the drones struck, killing him and the driver. Photos obtained by Agence France Presse showed burning wreckage and two bodies inside the car. The British newspaper Daily Mail reported that the bodies were taken to the Pakistani city of Quetta where autopsies were performed and they were turned over to relatives. A Taliban spokesman later told Western news outlets that Mansour had survived the strike and an audio recording would be produced to provide proof, but another Taliban spokesman confirmed to the Associated Press that he had been killed. Afghanistan's spy agency, the National Security Directorate, said that Mansour was dead and Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan's chief executive and second in the leadership structure to Ghani, tweeted that Mansour "was killed in a drone strike" near Quetta. Afghan social media spread reports that Mullah Mansour may have been traveling on a Pakistani passport and also had a visa from Iran when he was killed. Mansour succeeded Mullah Omar last year after it became public that Omar, the founder of the Taliban, had been dead since 2013, reportedly of natural causes. His succession followed a power struggle for ascendancy in the Taliban in which Mansour reportedly was wounded. Mansour's death raised the prospect that a more militant leader might take his place. Mansour last year named Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of the founder of the Taliban-allied "Haqqani network," a deputy commander of the Taliban. The U.S. has offered a $5 million reward for the capture or killing of Sirajuddin Haqqani. In reaction to the strike in Pakistan, even the most consistent critics of the Obama administration's conduct of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria praised the action and Obama's authorization of it. The critics also argued that the success of the strike should influence Obama's coming decision on whether to proceed with the original plan to withdraw more troops from Afghanistan later this year. Army Gen. John Nicholson, the new commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, was expected to make his recommendations by the end of May on whether to maintain the current level of U.S, troops at about 9,800 or draw down to 5,500 by the end of this year. 'I'm glad to hear we decided to bring the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, to justice," Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, told CNN. "'I appreciate President Obama for authorizing the attack. And job-well-done to the members of our military and intelligence communities who carried out the mission." Graham and Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, both said that Obama should now keep the U.S. troop presence at current levels in Afghanistan. "I welcome the news that Mullah Akhtar Mansour has met his just end," McCain said in a statement. "I hope this strike against the Taliban's top leader will lead the administration to reconsider its policy of prohibiting U.S. forces from targeting the Taliban." Under the current rules of engagement, U.S. forces are limited to a train, advise and anti-terror mission that permits strikes against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The rules were modified earlier this year to allow strikes against the affiliates of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, which operate mostly in Afghanistan's southeastern Nangarhar province. However, strikes against the Taliban currently are permitted only in "self-defense" of U.S. and coalition forces. In commenting on the prospects for peace, Bruce Riedel, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Near East and South Asia, wrote for the Daily Beast that Mansour's death was "a significant but not fatal blow to both the Taliban and their Pakistani Army patrons. "The critical question Afghans and Pakistanis are asking is whether this is a one-off or the beginning of a more aggressive American approach to fighting the war in Afghanistan," Riedel said. --Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. The first available audio from EgyptAir Flight 804 showed the pilot in normal contact with Swiss air traffic controllers as the flight continued on its course from Paris toward Cairo, hours before officials lost contact with the jet, the Associated Press reported Saturday evening. The seemingly standard dialogue came to light hours after Egypt denied media reports the doomed jet's black boxes had been located. The new audio indicated that all was routine as the plane checked in with air traffic controllers in Zurich late Wednesday night, before being handed over to Italian air traffic controllers in Padua. Control: "EgyptAir804 contact Padova 1-2-0, decimal 7-2-5, good night." Pilot: "This is 0-7-2-5 Padova control. (Unintelligible) 8-0-4. Thank you so much. Good day, er, good night." The audio recording was taken from www.liveatc.net, a website that provides live air traffic control broadcasts from around the world. The communication occurred around midnight local time, about 2 1/2 hours before Greek air traffic controllers in Athens lost contact with EgyptAir Flight 804. Earlier Saturday, Egypt denied reports that the black boxes from the missing plane had been located by investigators seeking answers to what brought down the aircraft over the Mediterranean. A senior official at the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry refuted the reports as did a spokesman for Egypt's military who said he had no information to share on the retrieval of the black boxes, or cockpit voice and flight data recorders. The statements came as French investigators announced Saturday that smoke was detected in multiple places on the ill-fated EgyptAir plane before it plummeted into the Mediterranean Sea. The Aviation Herald initially reported that sensors detected smoke in a lavatory, suggesting a fire on board the aircraft before it went down. David Learmount, a noted aviation expert, told Fox News Friday that the data received from some satellites indicates that a fire could've started in the avionics compartment of the plane which knocked out computers and control mechanisms on the flight. He said that would've caused the plane to crash. French officials didn't say what could have caused parts of Flight 804 to fill up with smoke. Spokesman Sebastien Barthe told the Associated Press the plane's automatic detection system sent messages indicating smoke a few minutes before it disappeared from radar. He said the messages "generally mean the start of a fire." "We are drawing no conclusions from this. Everything else is pure conjecture," Barthe added. According to The Wall Street Journal, sensors aboard the plane detected smoke in the lavatory on the aircraft's nose. The paper, citing someone familiar with the aircraft's data, reported the messages suggest there was damage to the right-side of the cockpit windows. Officials who have reviewed the data told the Journal that the broadcast information by itself is insufficient to determine whether the plane crashed because of a bomb or another cause. Rockwell Collins, a global aviation telecommunications provider, said late Friday it transmitted the messages over its networks to the carrier in real time. ___ Fox News' Greg Palkot and The Associated Press contributed to this report. meijeropening.jpg Hank Meijer opened stores in Kentucky and Indiana last week. (Courtesy photo) WALKER, MI -- Meijer opened two stores this week, part of a $400 million investment in nine new and 32 remodeled stores in 2016 across the Michigan-based retailer's six-state footprint. The new 192,000 square-foot supercenters in Evansville, Ind. and Owensboro, Ky., are built to Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design standards and will be open 24 hours a day. "Investing in Evansville and Owensboro was an easy decision for us," Hank Meijer, chief executive officer, said in a statement. "We're excited to serve new friends and neighbors. We're looking forward to working with both communities and growing alongside the families of the tri-state area." Meijer operates more than 40 stores located throughout Indiana and Kentucky, which are among 225 locations across the Midwest. Each store employs about 300 full and part-time positions. "Our teams have exceeded expectations every step of the way as we prepared for these openings," Meijer President Rick Keyes said in the release. "Our No. 1 priority is to serve customers, so we're ready to provide our neighbors in Owensboro and Evansville the shopping experience they deserve." Shandra Martinez covers business and other topics for MLive. Email her or follow her on Twitter @shandramartinez. KALAMAZOO, MI -- Kalamazoo Central High School students celebrated Prom 2016 on Saturday, May 21. Many students and their families gathered for photos at Kalamazoo's Bronson Park before heading out to a masquerade ball. The spring formal was held at Rose Street Market in downtown Kalamazoo and the Kalamazoo Gazette was there to photograph the prom-goers. If you have your own photos of the prom you'd like to have included in our photo gallery, email them to kznews@mlive.com. ANN ARBOR -- Lincoln High School celebrated its 2016 prom at the Morris Lawrence Building on Washtenaw Community College campus Saturday night. This year's theme was "Under the Stars". Stars hanging from trees and the ceiling over the dance floor. Student enjoyed a night of dancing and socializing in their fancy dresses and tuxedos. Check out photos from the event. EMPLOY LOCAl From 2004: From left, Roger Ott of Bay City and Andy Cabala of Pinconning, both unemployed carpenters with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters local 706 of Saginaw, wave to motorist who honk their horns for support.Unemployed carpenters with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters local 706 of Saginaw picket at the corner Saginaw and 7th Streets in Bay City near the Doubletree Hotel & Conference Center claiming non-union workers from Texas have been hired to perform work for a non-prevailing wage. (Dan Staudacher | MLive File Photo) BAY CITY, MI -- Bay City Commission leadership says bringing back the prevailing wage is on their radar following a Michigan Supreme Court ruling last week that deemed constitutional ordinances requiring union-rate pay and benefits on city jobs. But chances of the ordinance coming back to Bay City are slim, officials said. The 6-0 opinion was made Tuesday, May 17, by the Republican-majority court in a case involving the Associated Builders and Contractors, which sued the city of Lansing in a 2012 attempt to overturn the city's prevailing wage ordinance as unconstitutional. Bay City Commission President Andrew Niedzinski, 3rd Ward, said if the court's ruling were to supersede a 2015 bill that prevented local governments from enacting new prevailing wage ordinances, he would want to see a vote this calendar year to bring it back to Bay City -- four years after the commission repealed it. "The prevailing wage creates a fairer playing field for everyone," Niedzinski said. "These folks deserve a decent living wage." Jimmy Greene, chief executive officer of Associated Builders and Contractors, said Bay City "can't do anything" to bring back the prevailing wage after Gov. Rick Snyder signed House Bill 4052 in 2015. "The bill that was signed by the governor prevented any municipality from further enacting a prevailing wage ordinance unless it was grandfathered in," he said. Green said 95 percent of state municipalities are unable to enact the prevailing wage. Officials from the office of state Rep. Charles Brunner, D-Bay City, who supports the prevailing wage, also believe the ruling wouldn't supersede the 2015 law. "I think if someone challenged it in court, they would probably end up losing," said Ian Mays, legislative director for Brunner. "Under the Constitution, the powers of a local government are granted by the state, so the state does have the power to limit that." Mays said lawmakers would have to pass new legislation allowing local governments to pass prevailing wage ordinances. State Rep. Earl Poleski, R-Jackson, who authored the 2015 law, said in a press release Wednesday, May 18, "Prohibiting local wage ordinances is common sense." "It's about making sure local businesses have consistent regulations across municipal lines in regards to their employees' compensation and benefits," he said. "When forced to comply with overlapping city, township and county laws, it becomes not only complicated, but also costly. This law makes it easier to create jobs in Michigan." If municipalities, like Bay City, pay for public projects using state or federal funds, they're required to pay the prevailing wage. In January 2012, The Bay City Commission repealed the city's prevailing wage on a contentious 5-4 vote that drew more than 100 people to City Hall for the meeting. During that meeting, those in favor of repealing the ordinance said it was their "responsibility for the survival of the city." Niedzinski, however, said he feels there would be enough votes today in favor of bringing back the prevailing wage. "This commission, compared to 2012, is completely flipped ideologically," he said. "If I were to do a rough count, I think a majority of the commission would support it." Commissioners David Terrasi, 2nd Ward; Brentt Brunner, 4th Ward; John Davidson, 6th Ward, and Ed Clements, 8th Ward, all of whom were elected last November, said they were in favor of reinstating the prevailing wage. In 2012, Commissioners Larry Elliott, 9th Ward, and Jim Irving, 5th Ward, voted against repealing the prevailing wage. Commissioner Lynn Stamiris, 1st Ward, said he is against bringing the law back. "The prevailing wage gives you a fair living wage for a select handful of people who are going to be involved in these jobs," Stamiris said. "It's going to take away from city residents who are paying the taxes for these projects." [May 22, 2016] Pay TV Booms in Middle East as Revenue Crosses Billion Euro Mark, IHS Says 2015 was the year of growth for the pay TV market in the Middle East and North Africa region, according to a new report from IHS (News - Alert) Inc. (NYSE: IHS), the leading global source of critical information and insight. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160521005007/en/ (Graphic: Business Wire) The report, entitled Middle East and North Africa Pay TV Market Monitor, says the number of pay TV households jumped 10 percent in 2015 to 4.95 million. In the 13 countries covered by the annual report, revenues from pay TV passed the billion-euro mark for the first time. Revenues from primary households' subscriptions grew 37 percent, from 852 million in 2014 to 1.17 billion in 2015, the report noted. "Pay TV in the Middle East and North Africa region is growing rapidly and faster than any other region we analyse," said Constantinos Papavassilopoulos, senior analyst, IHS Technology. IHS forecasts that pay TV subscribers will increase to 6.54 million by the end of 2020, up 32 percent on the end of 2015 and representing a CAGR of 6 percent over the five-year period. IHS expects that the positive drive of the pay TV market will continue persistently for the next five years, with revenues almost doubling to just over 2 billion in that time frame. The growth will be due to the enhanced level of competition between the major operators, the introduction of TV Audience (News - Alert) Ratings Systems in the Gulf States, the expansion of fibre networks, which facilitate the offering of premium pay TV services and the growth of the SVoD OTT services. Huge opportunities for investors The opening of the Iranian TV market, a largely untapped mrket for pay TV business, is providing a wealth of opportunities for the regional operators. According to local data sources, 71 percent of TV household in Tehran are equipped with a satellite dish. But there are still barriers to be surpassed. "The online-video market is very nascent," Papavassilopoulos said. "IHS put broadband penetration at 56 percent of households at the end 2015. However, due to the Iranian government policy of regulating access to the Internet for its citizens, broadband speeds are lower than in neighboring Arab states. Content will also have to be carefully chosen to appeal to the Iranian audience. Simply repurposing content that was made for wider Arabic audiences will not work for Iran." There is optimism both inside Iran and internationally that the lifting of sanctions will put added pressure on the government to relieve some of these restrictions, according to the IHS report. IHS forecasts that TV advertising revenues can grow from $275 million in 2015 to $627 million in 2020 if the normalization of trade between Iran and the rest of the world continues. "The TV market would benefit hugely," Papavassilopoulos said. "Our forecast figures would represent a healthy CAGR of 18 percent." Report Methodology: All forecasts in IHS Technology - MENA Media & Telecoms Intelligence Service are conductedin-house based on historical and current data gathered first-hand directly from the companies concerned, and from trade bodies, regulatory authorities or government departments with which IHS Technology maintains a relationship. IHS does not rely on third-party sources for its reports. This approach provides a sound basis on which to develop IHS models, all of which are built company-by-company and technology-by-technology. Totals are then derived from the component parts and are thus wholly granular. Countries included in the study are: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the UAE. To request a copy of the report, contact: [email protected] About IHS (www.ihs.com) IHS (NYSE: IHS) is the leading source of insight, analytics and expertise in critical areas that shape today's business landscape. Businesses and governments in more than 140 countries around the globe rely on the comprehensive content, expert independent analysis and flexible delivery methods of IHS to make high-impact decisions and develop strategies with speed and confidence. IHS has been in business since 1959 and became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, USA, IHS is committed to sustainable, profitable growth and employs nearly 9,000 people in 33 countries around the world. IHS is a registered trademark of IHS Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. 2016 IHS Inc. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160521005007/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] By Audrey Dekalu, GNA Accra, May 20, GNA - Ghana produces about 16 million metric tonnes of cassava, of which 11 million tonnes is available for consumption. Out of the figure only four million tonnes is being consumed leaving more than seven million tonnes as surplus. This was made known by the Statistics, Research and Information Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture 2013-2014 report. Over the last five years, there has been a steady growth in demand for commercial and industrial use of new cassava value added products including High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF), Industrial Grade Cassava Flour, High Quality Cassava Chips, Starch and Wet Cakes. To attract new investors; provide access to market for investors (processors) and small-holder farmers, the Food Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (FRI/CSIR) under the Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (C:AVA) Project has organised an investment forum in Accra to encourage industrialization and expansion in job creation in rural & semi-urban areas, It was on the theme 'Cassava: A Versatile Crop for Economic Transformation and Industrial Growth.' The forum seeks to provide a holistic overview of the cassava value chain in Ghana; emphasising on the opportunities/prospect and the challenges. It would in particular look at the improvement of livelihoods and incomes of at least 90,000 smallholder households as direct beneficiaries, including women and disadvantaged groups by helping them develop value chains for HQCF in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and Malawi. Participants were taken through Investment Opportunity for potential chain actors such as: Critical Success Factors, Challenges, Constraints and Concerns, Strategies to address challenges and increase investment, Lessons learnt by CAVA Ghana and CAVA II Ghana's Achievement Mr Victor Agyemeng, Director General of CSIR said the CAVA project would promote the use of HQCF as a versatile raw material for which diverse markets exist and called on investors to come on board to help make good use of the wastage in the system. Alhaji Mahammed Bin Ibrahim, Member of the CSIR Governing Board called on stakeholders to come up with innovative ways of preserving cassava to maximise production and profit. Dr Nanam Tay Dziedzoave, Director of the FRI urged investors to come on board to good use of unused cassava left to go waste. Cassava production and processing represent around 22 per cent of Ghana's agricultural GDP. Traditionally cassava is consumed in the form of fresh cassava roots and processed products such as fufu, Gari, Kokonte, Agbelima amongst others. Ghana is the sixth largest producer of cassava in the world with potential to produce much more. Majority of people employ in the agriculture sector in Ghana engage in cassava production or intercrop with cassava. The sub-sector therefore contributes significantly to increasing income and livelihoods for men and women in the rural and semi-urban areas. Present phenomena of industrialisation and commercialisation of the value chain, has created an additional opportunity for upstream and downstream chain actors to leverage for increased income and prosperity. This is being driven by what could be termed as 'the new industries for cassava prominence', processing and drying technologies. The demand for HQCF by the brewery/distillery industries as well as local use in bakery/pastries and in local dishes in the various cycles of education provides important opportunities for entrepreneurs to create wealth and employment. Since the inception of the CAVA project, lessons learnt have indicated that inadequate processing capacity to mop up cassava produced by the farmers is a major constraint. Consistent increase in demand for processed cassava products has put pressure on the current small number of processors whose production capacities are very low. However, experience suggest that there is very significant number of potential investors scouting for reliable source of information on economic and industrial potentials in the cassava value chain. The investment forum therefore seeks to provide a holistic overview of the cassava value chain in Ghana; emphasising on the opportunities/prospect and the challenges. GNA 22.05.2016 LISTEN Gone are the days when America and Russia used to battle it out for supremacy in space ; trying to put the first man in space, landing a man on the moon and bringing him back safely. Nowadays the two old rivals are quite happy to invest their joint knowledge and resources in the maintenance of the International Space Station. But theres a new space race going on, not between two superpower nations, but between privately-owned space vehicle launching companies aiming to put the first commercial private astronaut into space, kicking off the much anticipated era of space tourism. Soon well be able to book flights to the very edge of space and back, effectively becoming astronauts having crossed the Karman Line an altitude of 100 kilometres where space begins. The price of these tickets will start from $150,000, reservations are being made and anybody who is physically and mentally fit will be able to go. The front runners in this new race who have either built or are building space vehicles are: 1, Virgin Galactic 2, Blue Origin 3, XCOR Aerospace. There are others such as the Swiss Suborbital Aircraft Reusable, or SOAR, ESAs Space jet or Copenhagen Suborbitals but these are just concepts that havent made it off the drawing boards yet. Virgin Galactic is owned by Sir Richard Branson. Their two-stage rocket ship is based upon the 2004 Burt Rutan X-prize winning SpaceShipOne. The VG configuration consists of a turbo-jet mother plane called the White Knight which carries the rocketship, SpaceShipTwo, to an altitude of 15,240 metres before releasing it. SpaceShipTwo, designed to carry six passengers and two pilots, then fires its rocket engines sending it streaking into space at 4,200 km/h. Passengers will be subjected to a maximum of 4Gs, experiencing up to six minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth in an un-powered glide. Next on the list is Blue Origin, the rocket company owned by Amazons Jeff Bezo. His single stage to sub orbit rocket called the New Shepard takes off vertically lifting a capsule that can carry six people. At an altitude of 40 kilometres the capsule separates and carries on into space under its own momentum whilst the booster section returns to the launch pad for a vertical powered landing. The capsule with its six occupants later returns to Earth by parachute, touching down not too far from the launch pad. The last contender on the list is the most unusual of them all as it doesnt take-off vertically like a rocket and neither is it dropped from a mother-plane. It takes off from a runway like a normal plane. Called the Lynx spaceplane its roughly the size of a jet-fighter and sits a pilot and passenger. Taking off horizontally from a runway its four LOX-Kerosene rocket engines soon accelerate it to the speed of sound and beyond. Climbing at a steep forty-five degrees it soon leaves the Earths atmosphere behind where the lone occupant(-and pilot) will experience a few minutes of weightlessness, see the curvature of the Earth before returning back. All three space vehicles have been built and are currently undergoing trial before commercial flights can commence. These trials are necessary to make sure they are safe and dont blow up on ascent or crash on landing. Virgin Galactic lost a spaceship in a much publicized crash in 2014 which killed one of the test pilots. Modifications have since been made and they have a new craft up and flying. Just like the Wright Brothers kicked off manned flight in 1903 its believed in 2020, or earlier, the first private commercial sub-orbital fights will be commencing. The question is which of these companies will be the first. 22.05.2016 LISTEN Being election year, all citizens are required to contribute towards peace, before, during and after the presidential and parliamentary elections in November. Although the political parties are the main activists in elections, the youth, most of who are in schools, are the major beneficiaries of peaceful elections in future. For that matter the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) which has the mandate to promote Civic education would devote this years citizenship week celebrations to sensitize the youth and children on the need to obey their parents and teachers and adhere to discipline and orderliness in Ghana especially during the elections. All disciplined youth would be required to follow rules and regulations at home and school and desist from joining gangs of hooligans to attack innocent persons and political opponents and disrupt elections during the polls. According to official statement from the NCCE this years Citizenship Week Celebration under the theme My Ghana: the Power of One, 10,000 basic schools throughout the country have been targeted for the celebrations, adding that the Citizenship Week activities will be organized at the levels of all two hundred and twenty seven 227 District, Regional and National offices of the Commission nationwide. while In 2015, the NCCE engaged 6,000 basic schools during the celebration this year the NCCE will target 10,000 schools an increase of four thousand 4,000 schools. The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has the mandate to promote and sustain Ghanas democracy and inculcate in the citizenry, the awareness of their rights and obligations through civic education. Citizenship week was introduced in 2012 to target pupils in basic schools across the country. It however, remains part of the annual Constitution Week Celebration to commemorate Ghanas return to democratic rule by adopting the 1992 Constitution. The Citizenship Week celebration is always used to remind children of their responsibilities as citizens and the role they can play to build a strong, vibrant and democratic Ghana. It also creates the platform where people in leadership positions and accomplished citizens interact and impart virtues of good citizenship in pupils of basic schools across the country. RESOURCE PERSONS Resource persons for Citizenship Week are mostly selected from the following: Academia Professionals Performing artistes Clergy Public servants Civil servants Business community OBJECTIVES Specifically the Project seeks: To inculcate the spirit of good citizenship in the pupils so they will grow up as responsible citizens To promote amongst the children ideals of democracy and good governance; and To increase the childrens knowledge and understanding of some pertinent national issues 3.0 PROJECT STRATEGY The Commission uses an interactive teaching and learning approach as a strategy for delivering the citizenship week discussions. People in leadership positions and accomplished citizens voluntarily visit selected basic schools throughout the country and spend an hour of their time to interact with the pupils on issues relating to good governance and civic responsibilities. The volunteers, as role models, impart knowledge and values of good citizenship to the pupils. GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE Citizenship Week activities are organized at the levels of all two hundred and twenty seven 227 District, Regional and National offices of the Commission nationwide. In 2015, the NCCE engaged 6,000 basic schools during Citizenship Week celebration. In 2016, 10,000 basic schools have been targeted for the celebration. In collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) the Commission will carry out the interactive program with the school pupils across the country from May 26 to June 3, 2016. Proposed regional quotas for basic schools are as follows: Greater Accra - 1,000 Ashanti - 1,000 Volta - 1,000 Central - 1,000 Eastern - 1,000 Western - 1,000 Brong-Ahafo 1,000 Northern - 1,000 Upper West - 800 Upper East - 900 Headquarters -300 5.0 THEME FOR 2016 CITIZENSHIP WEEK The Commission will focus on a nationwide campaign to tackle social indiscipline and political intolerance. The Commission would promote the values of discipline, patriotism and nationalism in Ghanaians during the weeklong celebration. The theme for the years program is MY GHANA: THE POWER OF ONE. This emphasizes the power of the individual to effect change and help create a vibrant and stronger democratic Ghana. For the 2016 Citizenship Week, a proposed sub theme is A DISCIPLINED GHANA. This is to create awareness among the youth of the increased social and political indiscipline such as environmental abuse and degradation, violence, corruption, disrespect for the elderly and disrespect for the rule of law leading to disobedience of rules and regulations in our communities and institutions, and which are adversely affecting our nation. There is therefore the need for all to eschew acts of indiscipline in order to contribute positively to the development of our country. Abiding by the laws of the country no doubt, will create an atmosphere of peace where development can thrive. Peace is a necessary basis for active participation of the entire citizenry in the democratic process. The absence of peace therefore limits the ability of citizens to exercise this right. It is important for all hands to be on the wheel to work towards maintaining peace especially in this election year and beyond. This can only be achieved if we have a disciplined people. This therefore calls for inclusiveness and participation by all persons, including children. EXPECTED OUTCOMES The pupils learn the values of being disciplined countrywide. Patriotism and nationalism instilled in the youth. An assurance of responsible and good citizens in the future Improved unity, harmony and national cohesion . The Citizenship Week is a flagship program of the Commission with a focus on school pupils at the basic level. It permits people in leadership positions and the celebrities to interact with the young ones and impart in them the virtues of patriotism and good citizenship as role models and mentors. The theme for the celebration is A Disciplined Ghana which is the sub theme of the general theme for the Commissions activities of the year- My Ghana: the Power of One . Ghanaians are therefore to rise in unity to make our nation the ultimate winner in all endeavors. which is the sub theme of the general theme for the Commissions activities of the year- . Ghanaians are therefore to rise in unity to make our nation the ultimate winner in all endeavors. The theme of the celebration draws the attention of Ghanaians to the need for discipline in the society. Discipline is the practice of training people to obey rules and orders or a code of behavior and punishing them to correct disobedience. Discipline in all facets of life is important for nation building and the youth is being called upon to exhibit this to right the wrongs of the adults through eschewing acts of corruption, disrespect for the elderly, environmental degradation, under age voting, snatching of ballot boxes, rioting among other vices. Citizenship bestows on Ghanaians rights and this must be balanced with the appropriate or corresponding responsibilities. Patriotism is the love for ones nation and we must be proud first of all to be Ghanaians, and do our best to promote the good name of Ghana. Respect for the symbols of the state like the national flag, anthem and the pledge, as well as the values we hold in high esteem are duties of a citizen. A disciplined person is one who: Obeys the laws of the country Works hard, both at home and in school Is punctual at all times Is truthful and honest He/she does not cheat or steal Is tolerant of other persons and groups, including their cultures. Protects public property As Ghana goes to the polls to elect our leaders for another four year term, pupils below the age of voting are not permitted to get involved in the electoral process. Do not be lured or led by any person(s) to commit acts of violence that will mar the conduct of the elections. Failure to stay away from fomenting trouble at the elections, could lead you into trouble. This can affect your education. The state has a responsibility to ensure that as citizens you are safe in the community where you live and will do anything to protect you. As pupils, you also have a duty to report to the appropriate authorities anyone who is about to cause trouble or involved in all forms of criminal activities that could affect the elections negatively. As future leaders, you have to contribute positively to the development of Ghana, and this can be done through peaceful co-existence, tolerance, and respect for each others opinions and suggestions. You are encouraged to take your studies seriously, respect the elderly, learn from them good things and avoid the bad ones. As we observe this years Citizenship Week, the Commission says, ayikoo and may you remain disciplined. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EANFOWORLD FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 0244 370345/ 0274853710/0208844791 [email protected]/[email protected] The 2016 Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has urged the people of the Volta Region to repose their trust in him to become president of Ghana in 2017 so he can transform the economy. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made this comments while addressing the Awomefia of Anloga, Togbui Sri III, as part of his 4-day tour of the Volta Region. He assured Voltarians, You have nothing to fear with me, nothing whatsoever to fear in me. Nana Akufo-Addo noted that it is not a secret that the relation between the NPP and the Volta Region has not been a particularly good one, and the purpose of his tour is to help improve that relationship. I believe that the time has come for us to find a way to build a better relationship, and that is why I am here, through your good offices, to build a relationship of confidence and trust between our party and the Volta Region, its chiefs and people, he said. J.A. Kufuor in the 8 years that he was in office indicated to the people of the region and to the Ghanaians that it was possible to rule Ghana without discrimination, and without ill-will or favour towards any particular person, but in the overall interest of our country. Volta Region got many of the things it was entitled to in his era. I am coming to build on that legacy and add more to it, he said. Continuing, the NPP flagbearer acknowledged that many things have been said about our party and myself in the region very denigrating things. Things to suggest that there is some kind of hostility on the part of the party and of myself towards the region. I want to use this occasion, through you and the chiefs under you, to let you know that there is not an iota of truth in this propaganda. Nana Akufo-Addo maintained that it is a propaganda that has been done because it serves some people's political interests. There is not a tribal agenda of the party or of myself. Our agenda is a national agenda. What we can do to bring progress and prosperity to our nation that is the NPP agenda. He reassured that the NPP's plan for the development of the country is meant to encompass all parts of Ghana, without a difference and without discrimination. Thus, it was imperative for the people of the Region to have confidence and repose their trust in the NPP, so Ghana can be returned onto the path of progress and prosperity. These are not good times for Ghana and I don't believe there is any honest person who can state that these are good times in Ghana. They are not good times in Ghana. We can build a better time for ourselves in Ghana, and we can build a stronger and more prosperous nation. I believe from the very bottom of my soul that it is possible, he said. Akufo-Addo reiterated his belief that, in the NPP, we have the leadership, the men and women if given the opportunity, who can make Ghana prosperous and fulfil the dreams of our ancestors who began the struggle for the freedom of our country. For that to happen, the NPP needs the full and active support of the people of this important region. . The NPP flagbearer, thus, extended a genuine, sincere and trustworthy hand of friendship and co-operation to the people of the Volta Region, stating that my presence in Ghanaian politics is not to enrich myself or my family. I came into politics because I understood it to be about service. It is not about self-enrichment and it is certainly not about corruption. He added that it would be one of the watershed moments in the history of our country if this year the Volta region was to say, 'after all these efforts that you have made, Akufo-Addo we are going to try you this time. We are going to put our trust in you and try you'. I came here to say that if you arrive at that conclusion, I will not disappoint you. To the people of the region, he further assured that the NPP has an agenda for the development of Ghana, its industry, agriculture and infrastructure. He noted that mini-harbours were to be constructed along the entire coastal line of Ghana by the NPP government when Gladys Asmah was Minister for Fisheries, a project which has been abandoned by the current Mahama government. Thus, a harbour at Keta, Nana Akufo-Addo said, will be constructed when he wins the elections, stressing that in her memory, we are going to realise that vision if we get the opportunity. We are going to expand the work that Kufuor did on the sea defence wall these are the projects we are going to do to bring life, jobs and prosperity back to the region. Nana Akufo-Addo added that his government will intensify and accelerate efforts to determine if the Volta Basin has oil deposits in commercial quantities. We are here to ask for your intercession and that of the Chiefs with whom you work to say, we want to turn over a new leaf in the book of Ghana. A new leaf that is going to say tribal and ethnic considerations are not the issues that will determine the life of our country in the 21st century. What will determine the life of our nation is competence, quality, honesty and integrity in the ordering of our state. Once that message goes through, the impetus that it will give to the nation is incalculable, he added. Togui Sri III on his part welcomed Nana Akufo-Addo into Anloga and thanked him for the courtesy of his visit. He admonished the NPP flagbearer and the party in the region to conduct their campaign strictly based on issues and concerns of Ghanaians. He further indicated that Nana Akufo-Addo was welcome and free to campaign in the region, and at any time of his choosing. The NPP flagbearer was accompanied on his visit by John Peter Amewu, Volta Regional NPP Chairman; Tommy Amematekpor, former Advisor to former President Kufuor; Mrs Agnes Okudzeto, former NPP 3rd National Vice Chairperson; Dr. Archibald Letsa, Volta Regional NPP 1st Vice Chairman; Esther Edjeani, Volta Regional NPP 2nd Vice Chairperson; Joe Denteh, NPP Volta Regional Treasurer; Makafui Kofi Woanya, NPP Volta Regional Organiser; Joseph Hoemenyah, NPP Volta Regional NPP Secretary; Edward Kwadzo Eddah, NPP parliamentary candidate for Anlo; Anthony Desewu, NPP parliamentary candidate for Keta; Kenwuud Nuworsu, former Volta Regional NPP Chairman; Johnson Avulate, former Volta Regional NPP Organiser, amongst others. Myjoyonline Ghana is to receive some 100 mega watts of power in 2017 to help ease the power challenges confronting the country. It follows the award of a $704,815 grant by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to Ghanaian solar power developer, Home Energy Africa Limited. The grant will also offer technical assistance for the generation of the 100-megawatt solar power to feed the national grid. The photovoltaic (PV) project which is near financial closure is situated in the village of Nyimbale-Sankana, in the Upper West Region of Ghana. USTDA's partnership with Home Energy Africa also falls in line with the goals of Power Africa, a U.S. government-led initiative to increase electricity access across sub-Saharan Africa. Speaking at the signing ceremony, the US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson cited the inadequate electric power supply as one of Ghana's paramount constraints to sustainable economic growth. Businesses and entrepreneurs need electricity to function, so they can contribute to the broad-based economic growth and development that will lift millions out of poverty. That's why we have made increasing access to power one of the top priorities for our bilateral relationship, Ambassador added, Presently, Ghana has 2,450 megawatts of installed generation capacity. The government of Ghana aspires to double that capacity to 5,000 megawatts this year, including 10 percent from renewable sources. Through programmes such as Power Africa, the Partnership for Growth, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, we're cooperating with government, the private sector and others to make Ghana's future brighter. The CEO of Home Energy Africa Charles Sena Ayenu told Citi Business News the project when completed in 2017 is expected to create over 200 permanent jobs for the youth. This is a 100 mega watts power project and based on our estimate today we are looking at generating about 200 jobs for this particular project. We are mainly looking at hiring people from those living in the community to work on the site. It will be value addition for the community as the youth will be employed and be part of the project which will help ease the power challenges in the country at the moment. The project will also meet Ghana's goals for clean and sustainable energy, and provide electricity to at least 80,000 average homes in Ghana, the company is looking at debt and equity financing for the $150 million solar project. Charles Sena Ayenu further noted that the company has already secured 30 per cent equity from a French company, the Erin Group. The other 70 per cent it says it expects to raise from stock. Home Energy Africa has selected GreenMax Capital Advisors (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to carry out the technical assistance. This will include preparation for power purchase agreement negotiations, services contracts and financing arrangements. Implementation of the project will support the Government of Ghana in achieving its target of 5,000 MW of installed generation, including 10 percent from renewable sources. By: Norvan Acquah Hayford/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana 22.05.2016 LISTEN 4G Internet services provider Busy has been adjudged 4GLTE Provider and IT Team of the year at the 6th edition of the Ghana Information Technology and Telecoms Awards (GITTA) held on Saturday at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra. The awards are in recognition of Busys customary quality and reliable data offerings, exceptional customer experience and its contribution to the internet connectivity and ICT industry in Ghana. It also represents an appreciation of Busys commitment towards empowering individuals and corporate entities to enrich their lives and businesses through internet connectivity. Since 2001, Busy has consistently provided efficient services to businesses and the public. The company rebranded to Busy and introduced 4G LTE service to provide mobile data services to customers. Busy now offers an innovative and flexible range of data packages with MiFis and routers to meet every need. Receiving the award, the Chief Executive Officer of Busy, Mr. Praveen Sadalage, expressed his excitement at the award and heartfelt appreciation to the organizers of the event. He dedicated the awards to the Busy team for their hard work and dedication which earned them these two prestigious awards. Mr. Praveen added; We deem this effort at rewarding hardworking players in the sector as very commendable because it means that our work is being monitored and recognised. At Busy, we have been able to create a unique brand identity by focusing on reliability and customer service. We are motivated by these awards to sustain the quality of service and the delivery of innovative products to give maximum satisfaction to our customers. We remain committed to making good things happen He stated. The GITTA Award is Ghanas only platform for recognizing excellence in the ICT industry. The award is the most respected accolade in the industry, celebrating excellence in innovation, product development, and service delivery. Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL. Khartoum (AFP) - Sudan has "de facto expelled" a senior United Nations humanitarian affairs official after refusing to renew his "stay permit" for another year, a UN statement said on Sunday. The foreign ministry informed the UN in Sudan that the annual permit for Ivo Freijsen, who heads the Sudan office of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), will not be renewed when it expires on June 6, the statement said. "This is despite the request for a 12-month extension of his stay permit... which was submitted on 10 April 2016," it said, adding that the ministry did not provide an explanation in writing for its decision. "The action by the government of Sudan is inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the international civil service enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations... to which Sudan is a party." Freijsen, who is Dutch, is the fourth senior UN official to be expelled from Sudan over the past two years, the statement said. His expulsion comes in addition to the "forced closure of international NGO Tearfund in December 2015 and the de facto expulsion of three international NGO country representatives in recent months", it said. OCHA in Sudan regularly highlights the humanitarian situation in war-torn areas such as Darfur, where a conflict since 2003 has left tens of thousands of people dead and about 2.5 million displaced, according to UN figures. It also monitors South Sudanese refugees who flee to Sudan from war and food shortages in their country. In its latest weekly bulletin, OCHA said that more than 69,000 South Sudanese had arrived in Sudan since January, the majority taking refuge in East Darfur. It also said that meeting humanitarian needs of newly displaced tens of thousands of people from an upsurge in fighting in the mountainous Jebel Marra region this year was becoming "difficult" amid low levels of funding. Freijsen was appointed to the OCHA post in February 2014, his sixth official appointment in Sudan. He has worked for more than a decade in Sudan during a career spanning 23 years and more than 15 countries. "During 12 years at OCHA he has led principled humanitarian coordination work, focusing on providing life-saving and emergency assistance to people in need," the statement said. The Humanitarian Country Team, a top level coordinating agency among various UN agencies and NGOs in Sudan, expressed "shock and disappointment" at Freijsen's expulsion. The team "is concerned about the impact of this decision on the operating environment for all humanitarian organisations in Sudan", a statement said. In 2015, the team and its partners implemented the delivery of more than $600 million worth of aid to hundreds of thousands of people across Sudan, it said. "The Humanitarian Country Team calls upon the government of Sudan to ensure a fully conducive environment for delivering timely, principled and quality humanitarian assistance," its statement added. To effectively drive the nail into the coffin of Seth Mifetu, it is important that an NDC goon tells the story of their wickedness. The NDC as a party, founded on the blood of innocent Ghanaians and corroborated by John Dramani Mahama at one of his rallies in the run up to the Presidential congress, is one that has no respect for civil liberties, human rights, self-respect, and patriotism to the Motherland. In fact, some of my Muslim brethren in the NDC are shameful. It hurts me to speak like this but sometimes, if a person is too deep in hibernation, a jab from a needle would startle them back to their senses. How would they allow such a gayist freak as Seth Mifetu to speak on their behalf. It seems that they are too comfortable to haul ass and speak a word of truth because they are neck deep in corruption, theft and embezzlement. I reckon so, otherwise no Muslim having respect for Islam will allow someone like Mifetu to go on a shameless spree of vituperations against one of their own. Dr Mahmoudu Bawumia has always been at the forefront of transparency and accountable governance. How then can such an infidel be allowed to spurt such rubbish as he did? Just like they allowed the unfashionable tyrant, Eric Opoku, Minister of the Brong Ahafo region to insult Islam, they are now quiet over Seth Mifetu's insult of Muslims. Such a rabid person has now been joined by a non-achiever, Solomon Nkanasa, who alleged that Dr Mahmoudu Bawumia bought his Doctorate Degree. Dr Mahmoudu Bawumia must take this senseless freak on for the pejorative discourse that makes no sense and is totally bereft of logic. It smacks of malice aimed at denigrating this Muslim brother whose brethren on the NDC side have allowed foolish people to make such unguarded statements. On the other hand, the expose on page 1,000,059 of the Panama Papers that suggested that John Mahama had illegally taken from the coffers of Ghana 10 Billion Dollars does not shake Seth Mifetu's conscience. The overpriced Ridge Hospital extension that made it the most expensive of its kind in the world will not move his conscience. The recent 250 million dollar theft is meaningless to his conscience. The 400 million dollar Sada theft moves neither his eyebrow nor conscience. The Amerideal in which John Mahama and his cronies stole 290 million dollars is nothing to his conscience. The 250,000 Dollars squandered on one trip by Haruna Iddrisu, certainly, will not worry his conscience. And the list of thefts, lies, and wickedness knows no end. The reason why Seth Mifetu is not moved by all these improprieties and injustice is because he has no conscience, otherwise he would bury himself in shame for aligning with the bloodiest party to have ever formed in Africa - the NDC. Below is an excerpt of a statement made by Mohammed Kelly, an independent Parliamentary Candidate for Nalerigu constituency, who extricated himself from the dictatorial NDC due to threats on his life: "I wish my fellow young men in politics will learn and begin to accept the naked truth that Dr Alhaji Bawumia is the biggest political dividend that Mamprugu stands to reap in the 4th republic. I used to speak against Dr Bawumia on political platforms and write on social media also out of the infantile love for the NDC. We vilified Dr Bawumia, our own kind in the hope of maximizing our common good through the NDC. But I got disappointed at last! It was nothing but a mirage! In 2008, I had serious issues with my own father whose advice to me to be careful about how I gave my youthful resources to the NDC, I ignored. I remember in one of my political arguments with my own father, my blind love for the NDC angered him to the extent that he slapped me! News about it quickly spread in my neighbourhood the next.I had to arrange for mallams to apologise on my behalf. How foolish I was! I sincerely regret for my folly, my ignorance maybe! And today, the sycophants in the NDC are saying what? The new comers are saying nothing but nonsense. I have come a long way and nobody can understand my conviction except myself. I don't care whatever you say! That's your opinion! All I know is loyalty pays not in the NDC, especially in the Nalerigu - Gambaga Constituency. The GREEDY BASTARDS are running the show; how can loyalty pay? As the legend, Bob Marley said "some people are feeling the rain; others just get wet". Politics 101 is about beginning! To the wise ....!" So shut your beaks Seth Mifetu and Solomon Nkansa!!! #StillDrBawumiahWillExposeJohnMahama #VoteJohnMahama&TheNDCIntoRelegationZone 22.05.2016 LISTEN By Amadu Kamil Sanah, GNA Accra, May 22, GNA - Alhaji Collins Dauda, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, has said Ghana is challenged with the provision of adequate improved sanitation facilities to ensure a healthy environment and lives. 'Currently, access to improved sanitation in the country is only 15 percent, while 58 per cent of the population share latrines and 19 per cent do open defaecation,' he said. However, he noted, sound environmental and sanitation practices were key to the health of every nation. Alhaji Dauda, said these in a speech, read on his behalf by Alhaji Amin Abdul-Rahman, the Director of Finance and Administration of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, at a ceremony to handover 11 vehicles valued at $327,600 to six regions, including the five most deprived regions namely: Volta, Central, Northern, Upper West and Upper East. The vehicles were funded by the United Nations Children and Education Fund (UNICEF), the Canadian and the Netherlands Governments and their non-governmental partners. They comprise nine Toyota Hilux and two Toyota Land cruiser vehicles The vehicles would be utilised for scaling-up the on-going Ghana - UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Programme activities in schools and the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach, which encourages people to own their toilet facilities and Sanitation Marketing and Technology Support programmes. Alhaji Dauda said the Government had committed itself to overcome the challenges of improving access to sanitation through the implementation of the CLTS, the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Sanitation and executing Water Projects in low income communities. Other initiatives are the microfinance approach for household toilets and Ghana Sanitation Challenge Project, with complementary efforts in sanitation marketing WASH programmes in schools. The Minister said effective monitoring had continued to be a major challenge in the implementation of the above interventions and called on the development partners to help enhance the monitoring and evaluation role of the RCC's Departments and Agencies and key partners involved in the programmes. He urged beneficiary institutions to give the vehicles to the intended agencies and emphasised that the vehicles were to support the attainment of critical results. Ms Susan Namondo Ngongi, UNICEF's Representative in Ghana, said the country could not progress in its health growth without meeting its sanitation goals. She said the WASH Programme was aimed at reaching two million people to change their behaviour and empower them to build toilets and improve environmental sanitation. Ms Ngongi said open defaecation rates had come down too slowly, therefore, it was important to dramatically increase these rate of improvement, otherwise it would take 500 years for Ghana to end open defaecation. Madam Tina Guthrie, the Representative of Canada, said it was worrying that only 15 per cent of Ghanaians had access to improved water and sanitation, while the situation was five per cent the three northern regions. She said this meant that about 22 million people did not have healthy, safe and dignified places of personal convenience and this could be collectively resolved by all stakeholders as a responsibility to save lives and health resources. Mr Fred Smith, a Representative of the Netherlands, said the focus areas of the Ghana/Netherlands WASH-Programme were urban sanitation and the private sector. He said the Netherlands was supporting UNICEF efforts to fulfil the sanitation goals targeted under the Sustainable Development Goals. Despite the progress made by the Government in providing access to improved water sources, UNICEF says about 3,600 children die each year from diarrhoea, and suffer from stunting, which is linked to poor water and sanitation. About 20 million Ghanaians do not have access to improved sanitation and five million engage in defaecation. GNA you are here: May 22, 2016 Some Morally Defective 'Superpower' Claptrap Please guess which two countries are meant here: These two countries, bedeviled by decades of misunderstandings, violence and wariness, now have the chance to create a partnership ... The sentence puts a serial rapist and killer and its victims on the same moral level. It is whitewashing the very one sided killing of a million people. It is from a NYT piece previewing Obama's visit to Vietnam. There is another propagandistic claptrap line in there probably to prompt the reader to throw up: [The] goal has been to get enough human rights guarantees from the Vietnamese to allow for the lifting of sanctions on arms sales to Vietnam and perhaps the return of American military units to its shores The U.S., THE U.S.(!), is asking Vietnam(!) for human rights guarantees? This not out of moral concerns or something alike (not that anyone would believe that anyway) but only so it can rob Vietnam again via arms sales, reoccupy it militarily and use it as a mere pawn against China. There must be some pathological character deformation that allows people to write and read such sentences without utter disgust. Posted by b on May 22, 2016 at 14:49 UTC | Permalink Comments Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive. To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research. Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process. One of the oil industrys top leaders is winding down his career after 35 years, off to pursue new adventures apart from the wild rides so prevalent in the business of crude exploration and production. Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield announced Thursday his intent to retire as executive of one of the Permian Basins most successful and healthiest companies. Weve got the best rocks in the business in other words, the best geology here around Midland, Sheffield told the Reporter-Telegram before a private function Thursday. We have the best culture with the best people, and we have the best balance sheet of any independent today. Despite the downturn that has seen crude oil prices dip from more than $100 a barrel in mid-2014 to $26 in February, Sheffield has led Pioneer to continued success and investor interest while many of his peers have lost significant value or have shuttered operations altogether. Sheffield attributes much of Pioneers persistence to Midlands culture, which he first experienced in the 1970s during the summers as a petroleum engineering student at the University of Texas. Living here 18 years, from 1979 to 1997, Midland is more of a family town, so I think that probably helped develop the culture at Pioneer because we have a family culture at Pioneer, he said. Sheffield moved to Odessa in 1975 to work for Amoco and later was called by Joe Parsley of Parker & Parsley to work as a petroleum engineer in 1979. From there, he rose in the ranks, becoming vice president of engineering in 1981, president and director in 1985 and chairman and CEO in 1989. It was during that time that Sheffield had the foresight to buy big in the Permian Basin, but the sheer success of Pioneer, which was formed after a merger with Mesa Petroleum in 1997, is a combination of good fortune and technological progress. I wanted to buy as much Spraberry as I could back in the 1980s and 90s, so we picked up most of our 800,000 acres (back then), he said. Now, you can call it luck, the fact that we turned it from a vertical drilling play into a horizontal play, but it was really the technology of our drilling and completion guys and our geologists and geophysicists. Better drilling and completion techniques helped turn Pioneer from a $32 million company in the 1980s to a $28 billion company today. Pioneers presence is felt throughout the region. We are the largest employer, to my knowledge, in industry in the Midland-Odessa area, Sheffield said, noting that the E&P currently employs about 1,800 people in West Texas. Hes humble when he talks about Pioneers employees. They are the backbone of the oil and gas industry, noting that the year-old Permian Basin headquarters at ClayDesta is a testament to how much employees mean to the company and that a second building will be erected as growth continues. The companys impact extends beyond Midland County lines. I see us being the largest employer and largest taxpayer in several counties, he said. I know Midland, Martin County, most likely Upton County, were the largest taxpayer, and well continue to be for a long period of time. The company has the most active rigs. We have 12 rigs running. With oil moving back to $50, we hope to add rigs in the future, and were looking at an exciting time for a long period of time. Pioneers influence in the region doesnt end at new buildings and tax payments, however. Weve put in a lot of capital, and we still give back to the Midland community significantly, Sheffield said. Were going out to a Habitat house (Friday) that our employees are building. Weve done a lot of things with the Early College High School program and a lot with almost every charitable organization in the city, and well continue to do that: give back. Among its philanthropic efforts was helping fund the multi-million dollar remodeling project at the Petroleum Museum that modernized not only the experience that tells the story of the petroleum industry. He is truly a remarkable man, having built Pioneer to the company it is today, said Petroleum Museum Executive Director Kathy Shannon. The community will certainly miss him, but I know he has instilled a strong culture of community involvement throughout Pioneer, which I am confident will continue. He and his wife, Kimberley, along with Pioneer, were significant donors to our capital project. His early commitment underscored the importance of our project and helped us launch our capital campaign. The museum is grateful to have the support of both Scott and Kimberley and of Pioneer. Sheffields philanthropy extends beyond capital projects. Without Pioneer, there would be no Busting for Badges, which is the largest law enforcement fundraiser we have, said Sgt. Jimmy Young, who works in community relations for the Midland Police Department and is Busting for Badges treasurer. It benefits Midland Police Department, Midland County Sheriffs office, Odessa Police Department and Ector County Sheriffs Department. Pioneer has gone all in, giving us 20 employees to help organize it; theyre the title sponsor. MPD and the other agencies are truly grateful for their support. Ive spoken to representatives from the company who greatly support local law enforcement, and that support comes from the top. Sheffields business acumen has trickled down over the years, and his mentorship has guided others to start their own prosperous companies, such CrownQuest Operating CEO Tim Dunn. Scott gave me a huge opportunity, Dunn said via email. He hired me as a senior executive when I was only 32. He did for many others what Joe Parsley did for him: gave them a chance. The oil patch is strewn with leaders Scott identified and mentored. The Permian Basin would have a different face without Scott Sheffields influence. Perhaps Sheffields most important mentee will be his successor, President and Chief Operating Officer Timothy Dove. I hired him 22 years ago, and hes been a great employee; hes been well-trained, Sheffield said. He started off running business development, then (was) chief financial officer, then president. When I appointed him president and chief operating officer in 2004, I knew he was probably going to be my successor at that point in time. Were only in difference in age about four to five years, so I also wanted to make sure he had a chance to run this company. While Dove readies to take the chief executive reins in 2017, Sheffield readies to spend more time with his wife, five children and 10 grandchildren and will reside in Santa Fe, N.M. Highly respected and highly influential is how Sheffield is regarded as a business leader and community member. When Sheffield looks at his legacy as an oilman in West Texas, he recalls an article from seven decades ago. In his own words: Ive always said taking the worlds most un-economic oil field which (the Permian) was labeled by Time magazine in the early 1950s and turning it into the second-largest oil field in the world. Oil Editor Mella McEwen contributed to this report. Like Trevor on Facebook and follow him on Twitter at @HowdyHawes. Richard E. Biggerstaff Jr., 42, of Midland was charged May 12 with stalking. Francisco Diaz, 30, was charged May 12 with driving while intoxicated with child under 15 years of age. Segundo C. Diaz, 67, of Midland was charged May 12 with forgery of a government financial instrument. Xavier D. Grogan, 19, of Midland was charged May 12 with failure to appear, bail jumping. Ramiro Salazar III, 18, of Midland was charged May 13 with racing on highway causing bodily injury. Heriberto Torres-Gual, 22, was charged May 13 with tampering with/fabricating physical evidence. Abraham Valenzuela, 23, of Midland was charged May 13 with possession of a controlled substance under 200 grams. Triston K. Vincent, 19, of Midland was charged May 13 with two counts of theft of a firearm, prohibited substance/item in a correctional facility, and sexual assault of a child. Jesus G. Garza, 47, was charged May 14 with driving while intoxicated, third offense. Dana D. Jordan, 28, of Midland was charged May 14 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram and tampering with/fabricating physical evidence. Christina R. Masdon, 33, of Midland was charged May 14 with driving while intoxicated with a child under 15 years of age. Jason Menefee, 37, was charged May 14 with manufacturing/delivering a controlled substance under 4 grams. Jesse Orona, 21, of Odessa was charged May 14 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Jesus A. Silva-Chavira, 22, of Midland was charged May 14 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Nathan D. Southerland, 21, of Midland was charged May 14 with unlicensed carry of a weapon. Earsmo Tamez, 26, of Midland was charged May 14 with two counts of manufacturing/delivering a controlled substance under 200 grams and possession of marijuana under 5 pounds. Jolee D. Williams Sr., 54, of Midland was charged May 14 with evading arrest/detention with a vehicle. Esquivel M. Cruz, 34, of Midland was charged May 15 with driving while intoxicated, third offense. Alan J. Norris, 48, of Midland was charged May 15 with driving while intoxicated, third offense. Jenny L. Plaza, 31, was charged May 15 with driving while intoxicated with a child under 15 years of age. Jorge O. Rivero, 31, of Pecos was charged May 15 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Dustin K. Suiter, 29, of Odessa was charged May 15 with evading arrest/detention with vehicle. Justin L. Thornton, 21, was charged May 15 with abandonment/endangerment of a child, criminal negligence. Jason T. Womack, 30, of Midland was charged May 15 with assault of a family/house member impeding breath. Miguel A. Cruz Esquivel, 34, of Midland was charged May 17 with driving while intoxicated, third offense. Kaylie S. Stroud, 20, of Midland was charged May 17 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. John H. White, 24, of Midland was charged May 17 with tampering with/fabricating physical evidence and possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Rachel R. Allen, 18, of Odessa was charged May 18 with possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Shane P. Gracco, 43, of Midland was charged May 18 with possession of a controlled substance under 200 grams and tampering with/fabricating physical evidence. Johnny R. Marmolejo Jr., 29, of Midland was charged May 18 with possession of a controlled substance under 200 grams and possession of marijuana under 5 pounds. William P. Snipes Jr., 49, of Midland was charged May 18 with two counts of theft under $1,500. Anthony L. Adams, 32, of Odessa was charged May 19 with theft under $20,000. Billy J. Applin, 54, of Midland was charged May 19 with theft of property under $1,500 and possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. Aaron J. Chambers, 21, of Midland was charged May 19 with possession of a controlled substance under 200 grams. Miranda A. Fabela, 18, of Midland was charged May 19 with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Josue Gonzalez, 21, of Midland was charged May 19 with manufacturing/delivering a controlled substance under 28 grams. Hugo Gonzalez-Avelar, 34, of Fort Worth was charged May 19 with impersonating/exercising the function of a public servant. Jose A. Hernandez Jr., 28, of Midland was charged May 19 with unauthorized use of vehicle and two counts of possession of a controlled substance under 1 gram. We are two weeks away from the end of classes for the 2015-16 school year, and please be very proud of our communitys kids and school staff. Weve had an outstanding school year, and that is due largely to the efforts of both of these groups. In the next couple of weeks, I will be writing my normal end of the year article that pays tribute to our graduating seniors, but I do want everyone to know that we are very proud of all of our students and staff members who did just a great job this year. Ive got two very important issues to discuss this week in my article. Personally Im not that superstitious, so I usually never equate Friday the 13th with any kind of bad luck, but Friday, May 13th, will go down as a challenging day for the school district. Before I get into the national and statewide issues, I do want to hold up the faculty and staff of Bunche Elementary School and Midlands emergency responders, because it is not every day when we have to deal with a live hand grenade a couple of blocks from any of our schools, but that is exactly what happened last Friday. Most of our communitys media teams reported that a live grenade had been found in the vicinity of Bunche Elementary School. The schools staff immediately got busy shutting down the campus, and our emergency responders from the Midland Police Department did a wonderful job dealing with the threat and neutralizing it quickly. Thank you to all groups that helped out on this. As the Bunche team was dealing with that issue, every school district in the state was dealing with two items of information that were released to us on May 13. The first was the Texas Supreme Court ruling on the Texas public education finance system. Out of the states 1,000 school districts, over 600 -- with Midland ISD being one of those -- sued the state of Texas for what we called an inadequate and unfair system that is being used to fund our schools. On page 99 of the courts 100 page ruling, our Supreme Court stated, .the school funding system is undeniably imperfect, with immense room for improvement. But it satisfies minimum constitutional requirements. In its ruling, the court went on to state that Texass 5 million public school students deserve a revamped system fit for the 21st century. But this court declined to force our state legislature to do so. To hopefully continue good, meaningful conversations about this in our community, let me give everyone a couple of my main takeaways from this ruling which are: 1. The justices who make up the current version of our Supreme Court made the decision not to second-guess or micromanage the state legislature in relation to the Texas School finance system. The justices have decreed this is one of the most important responsibilities of our state leaders -- to adequately, equitably and efficiently fund Texass public school -- and the Supreme Court should not play a part. However, the justices also explained court action in six other school finance cases dating back to 1989. The true fear of Texas public school leaders, parents and other stakeholders is that our state legislators have never made substantive change to the finance system unless the Supreme Court has mandated the change. 2. The academic expectations we have for children in this state do not match the expectations we have from our government. The statement in the ruling -- that our system meets minimum constitutional requirements -- is an absolute slap in the face to students and parents of Texas. Over the last five years, teachers, students, and parents/caregivers have been forced to comply with the most rigorous academic standards in the history of Texas public schools. The implementation of the new exam -- the STAAR -- has caused issues for all public schools and their children, and now we are told that a funding system that has not truly been updated in 25 years is sufficient to meet these academic standards. Only time will tell if our legislative leaders see this ruling as a pass to not address school finance in Texas or if they will see it as a true challenge from the court and take dynamic measures to right the system. Though the Supreme Court justices deemed our system constitutional, they also documented every aspect that is wrong with the system. And as the justices surmised in the ruling - our kids deserve better. The second issue we dealt with on Friday, May 13th, was the joint letter from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education that laid out the federal governments stance on childrens gender identities. Both at the MISD Central Office and at various campuses, we have received many phone calls and messages from parents and other stakeholders regarding what this means to us. In the very legalistic world of public schools, all district leaders know a guidance letter from both the Department of Justice and the Department of Education is a very important document. This kind of correspondence is rare from these agencies, so we understand the gravity behind the issues outlined in the guidance letter. Having said that, school district leaders also know guidance letters from the federal government do not constitute law, and it is very important to understand that as we move forward. There are two very important issues that we need to consider in my comments about this which are: (1) the privacy of our children who are dealing with any kind of personal issues is of paramount importance for the district. The spotlight the president and some of our state leaders have put on these children is both unfair, and in many cases, unwanted; but also (2) it is important that Midland ISD stakeholders know the districts stance on issues such as these. The comments I will make below about this issue are meant to explain the districts position and to alleviate any fears that might be in our community, and the comments are written to hopefully remove that spotlight from children who are dealing with personal issues. As to the processes and procedures of MISD - the following has been true for many years: -- Every school year, MISD staff deal with children who have needs above and beyond what we call the regular issues kids face. -- The district does its very best to understand these needs and to address them in compassionate manners that provide support to the students and their families. We do this by sitting down with these families, talking through the issue and/or challenge and coming up with plans to address the situations. This is called individualized service for our students. - If the issue is privacy, then we make alternative plans for students to assure that they can have the most privacy we can devise on our campuses to support them - no matter what their issue is. We feel this is in the best interest for all of our students. -- The most important challenge in our school district is not academics, it is safety. Every day, our staff must assure we have 38 campuses that are safe for our children and adults in those buildings, and this safety applies to their physical and mental states. - One very important concept that goes into our safety measures is a simple concept -- control. We must be in control of our buildings at all times. It is easy to argue with the federal governments stance regarding restroom and/or locker room access for all children, because most of us feel this goes against everything we were brought up to believe; however, one very important aspect for the schools is simple control of the facilities. -- We cannot have a school environment in which children who identify themselves as transgender feel uncomfortable, to the point of anxiety, about where they belong. And we cannot have children who have no gender identity issues feeling uncomfortable about their assigned facilities in the school. Both of these issues could lead to a loss of control on our campuses, and we cannot allow that. So - MISD will maintain the processes and procedures we have always followed in dealing with student differences. We will have single sex bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, etc., until a true legal, binding decision tells us to do otherwise, and we will work diligently to recognize and accommodate any students who need different plans to support their needs. Every child matters in Midland, and the most important thing we do every day is to keep them safe, and we will continue to make this a priority. As usual, please know how much we appreciate the support our kids receive from our community. As I stated above, we have had a wonderful school year, and we could not have done that without the support. If anyone has questions and/or comments regarding the issues in this article, please do not hesitate to contact me at your convenience -- ryder.warren@midlandisd.net. If you would like more information about these two issues, we have placed copies of the federal guidance letter and the ruling of the Texas Supreme Court on our website at http://www.midlandisd.net/Domain/23. Thank you again for your support. 'Our focus is to stabilise cedi' ... As National Police Week 2016 wrapped up Saturday, local law enforcement agencies in Brevard County gathered in Melbourne to honor hometown heroes and talk public safety. Police Memorial Day and Public Safety Expo started at 10 a.m. in Melbourne Square Event offers opportunities for local departments to interact with and educate the public on policies, training, and equipment Some local departments are looking to change the negative view many communities have of law enforcement. Ive been a cop for 36 years, said Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey, and Ive never seen what I see going on today. Many people looked on during the annual Police Memorial Day and Public Safety Expo as Ivey shared his thoughts on how he believes law enforcement is currently viewed in this county. All of a sudden its become OK to physically and verbally target law enforcement officers, said Ivey. While that may be the case in other communities, Ivey says thats not what officers are encountering in his county. We dont have that in Brevard," said Ivey. "What we have is just the opposite: we have a community that loves our law enforcement, that protects us just like we protect them." Sheriff Ivey attributes that positivity to the involvement each law enforcement agency has throughout the county. Hosting events like Saturdays Police Memorial and Safety Expo allow the different departments to educate adults and children on some of the most technologically advanced weapons and vehicles as well as medical training to keep the community safe. Law enforcement agencies from all over the county were at the Expo, and thousands of residents were able to visit and meet the men and women who serve and protect. The outreach effort is one Ivey hopes more officers will do across the country. When you see whats going on like last year, 129 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty, you look at the blog sites and everything else that talks ill of our heroes, and its time for America to say 'thats enough.' Ivey said. A drone battery charging inside a Maitland apartment caused a fire to erupt early Sunday morning, according to Maitland Fire Rescue. Charging drone battery caused fire, fire officials say One of the buildings at the Arbors at Maitland Summit was evacuated No injuries were reported The fire happened around 1 a.m. inside one of the units at the Arbors at Maitland Summit apartments. Fire officials say the woman inside the apartment tried to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher, but the fire grew, causing the sprinkler system to go off. According to fire officials, the drone battery was left unattended while it was charging. They but it on the charger, they went to sleep, said Assistant Fire Chief Van Camp. Someone woke up from the smell of smoke, went out saw the batter was on fire, tried to put it out and it kept growing on them. Only one building at the apartment complex was evacuated. Those residents have since been allowed back into their apartments. No injuries were reported. The unit where the fire started sustained water damage, according to fire officials. Dying Army and Vietnam veteran, Roberto Gonzalez, from Premont, Texas, who was receiving care at Audie Murphy Veterans Hospital in San Antonio had a special request this weekend, he wanted to see his beloved horses one final time. The vet's family relayed his request to hospital staff who agreed and on Saturday his two horses were brought to the hospital's front doors where Gonzales, surrounded by family, had his final visit with them. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate LAREDO, Texas (AP) Officials say a ninth person has died after being injured in the crash of a charter bus in South Texas last weekend. Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Johnny Hernandez says 83-year-old Atanacio Almendares Trejo of Weslaco died Friday at a hospital from injuries sustained the crash. Other media reports Trejo died at University Hospital Thursday. The Texas agency and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the May 14 crash on a rain-slicked highway north of Laredo. Seven people died at the scene. One died at the hospital the day of the crash. The bus was headed to a casino in Eagle Pass, about 125 miles northwest of Laredo. No other vehicles were involved. The 29-year-old bus driver was injured. He's been released from a hospital. Officials have said only the first row of bus had seat belts. San Antonio police and fire units responded to a bomb threat at the La Cascada Condominium complex in downtown Sunday afternoon that turned out to be a firework thrown in trash bin according to local media. According to the San Antonio Fire Department active incident page, a call was placed about 1:31 p.m., Sunday, for a "bomb w/device." By the time, he was 10 years old, Stanley Wallace and his siblings were removed from their home and put up for adoption. The adversity that followed taught him how to navigate through life. Always a storyteller, Wallace could hold his wife's attention with the adventures of his youth. He talked about traveling from Sunray, Texas, to California on Highway 66 and taking odd jobs along the way. Because he had such a horrible childhood, he did everything he could do to be what every dad should be, wife Rosemary Wallace said. He worked two jobs; he was there for every birthday, every celebration, he didn't miss anything. He spoiled us, she said. On May 15, Wallace died of cancer at home, surrounded by his wife and four children. He was 73. More Information Stanley L. Wallace Born: Jan 23, 1943, Centralia, Illinois Died: May 15, 2016, Schertz Survived by: Wife Rosemary Wallace; sons John Wallace, Michael Wallace and daughter-in-law Natalie Wallace; daughters Mandy Johnson and son-in-law Brian Johnson, Becky Risley and son-in-law Greg Risley; sister Shelia Nicholson and numerous grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Services: Visitation 4-8 p.m. Tuesday; service Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., both at Schertz Funeral Home Chapel, 2217 F.M. 3009, Schertz. Burial to follow at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. See More Collapse Rosemary Wallace met her husband while on vacation with her girlfriends. We met at Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, she said. Wallace was a soldier stationed nearby at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. He asked me to dance July 12, 1974. They married almost a year later. Wallace's Army career took his family to Fort Lewis in Washington, Germany and Texas. He started out as an Army Ranger but had to change jobs because of land mine injuries suffered in Vietnam. When Wallace retired at Fort Sam Houston after more than 20 years of service, it gave him more time to spend with family. He was happy to be surrounded by his kids, kicked back in the recliner with a glass of ice tea, his wife said. He used to say, If God made anything better than ice tea, then he kept it for himself. It was common to see Wallace walking in cowboy boots through the doors of one of the El Jalisco restaurants in Schertz. He had made a lot of friends there. Everybody knew him, his stories would draw them in, Rosemary Wallace said. He told about being in Dallas when Kennedy was shot and running into John Wayne while standing in a bathroom, she said. He always had a story and a good joke, his wife said. Once in a while, the couple would take a road trip to Florida to visit their grandchildren. Wallace, a history buff, loved to step off the beaten path and explore interesting places along the way. He made pens as mementos from historical items he found, giving them to friends, family and Wounded Warriors, she said. The cancer diagnosis was unexpected and Wallace had little time to say goodbye to his family. "What I have learned is to cherish every second you have with those you love, because you never know, his wife said. iwilgen@express-news.net In the 90s, sometime between Freddy Fender and the Banda sound and somewhere between Garth Brooks and Mana, something really cool happened in South Texas. Tejano music exploded. For those who had long been fans of conjunto and the sounds familiar to Spanish language radio, it was a long time coming. There were Mexican-American musicians in Texas singing in Spanish and groovin on keyboards back in the 70s when The Doors were all the rage. But for many of us, Spanish-language music was what our folks made us listen to in the car on weekend road trips to Laredo or the Valley; we wanted to hear Michael Jackson or Journey or Olivia Newton-John. Kids, after all, dont like to be different from the other kids in the classroom. Thing is, parents are aware of the differences between the people in the front seat and the little ones in the back seat, especially cultural ones. How important is it to fit in with your English-speaking classmates? Very. My parents wanted me to sound like ONJ singing Please, Mr. Please and not like a Jose Jimenez bit. But how important is Spanish? Very, because they wanted me to communicate with Grandma, who spoke Spanish; because Spanish was the language they preferred; and because, as a Mexican-American, Spanish is an inextricable part of who I was and who I would become. By the 90s, Tejano artists married the language of our families and traditional sounds with more American elements. The style was exciting: the boots, the hats, the keyboards, accordions and, most of all, the love songs all performed in Spanish! It was hard not to be won over by the energy of this wave of Latino talent. Even those of us who didnt understand Spanish or who werent a fan of big rodeo belt buckles were drawn in, because it was really cool to watch. And it was a lot of fun. Watching a Tejano band play on an open stage at an outdoor venue such as Market Square or the Poteet Strawberry Festival or Laredos Jalapeno Days was like a party at a relatives house. The mood was always familiar; it was impossible not to dance a little and it was tempting to dance a lot. And thats where South Texas fell in love with Selena and Emilio. Corpus Christis Selena Quintanilla Perez, who was known as The Queen of Tejano, was on the verge of crossing over to mainstream pop when she was killed in 1995. With her luminous golden skin and beautiful dark hair, she stood out among the pop princesses. And then there was that voice. And San Antonios Emilio Navaira, who was huge in the Tejano scene, brought many fans into the fold. His good looks and stage presence put him on commercials for Ford trucks, Coca-Cola and Miller Lite. While many saw a mustache-wearing Latino who dressed like Garth Brooks, others saw a star who looked and dressed like their cousins who grew up on the ranch. And then there was that voice. Last week, when news of Navairas death became public, it brought back memories of the Tejano Nineties. Things have changed a bit, maybe because Tejanos time in the spotlight happened. And that was important for many Americans. Were here, and even if everyone doesnt understand the lyrics, were not so different. mariaanglin@yahoo.com There is a world of difference between apology and taking an opportunity to use the example of Hiroshima to foster international resolve to avoid other Hiroshimas. On Friday, President Barack Obama will be the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site of the worlds first nuclear attack. The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and one on Nagasaki three days later to force Japanese surrender and end World War II. The surrender came on Aug. 15, formally signed on Sept. 2. This visit, already dubbed another apology tour by Obamas critics, isnt a bid to relitigate that issue. The White House says the United States does not owe Japan an apology. We agree. But the United States does owe the world its best efforts to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons. And the need to do just that will be the message Obama takes to Hiroshima. A presidential visit to Vietnam is also scheduled for this trip and this, too, will likely be viewed as apology for the U.S. role in the Vietnam War. But this visit should be viewed only as an attempt to soothe relations between once bitter enemies. And Japan offers the greatest example. It is now one of our staunchest allies in a part of the world being roiled by Chinas military actions and by a perpetually bellicose North Korea, whose nuclear program directly threatens Japan. Earlier, Obama visited the Mideast and Turkey and noted some flaws in previous U.S. policy. Critics called this an apology tour, but no apologies were issued. And none are expected in this Asia trip. We prefer to view it as a resolve tour resolving to prevent nuclear proliferation, whether that be expansion in an already armed North Korea, in a nuclear-ambitious Iran or any nation now without these weapons. Its called diplomacy and its preferable to war. Several years ago, I volunteered with a transgendered woman. She shared her story with me. During our volunteer efforts, we often used the women's restroom. It never crossed my mind that there was a problem. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick would do well to focus on the many needs of this state and forget this nonissue. Barbara Moschner Confused I enjoy hearing from all these concerned citizens worried that clothes make the man. Dressing in female attire to invade the women's toilet could be considered an invasion of privacy, I would think. Changing one's gender, as strange as that is to comprehend, is not some prank just to go where no man has gone before. We need to be tolerant of those who have a problem with this medical advance. Republicans have a hard time changing their minds, much less their gender. Caitlyn Jenner is the exception. Sometimes things get turned around. Gene Elder Fear mongering Re: Bathroom controversy much ado about nothing, Editorial, May 17: Two questions: First, how many people are horrified at the thought of sharing a bathroom with a transgendered person? Second, how many actually know whether they have or not? I dont know the answer to the first question. But Im pretty sure the answer to the second question is none. Thats why it should be a non-issue. And it would be, if people like Dan Patrick didnt go out of their way to make it one. How much better off we would be if politicians put fear mongering aside, and spent their time on real issues! Carl Lloyd A real danger Re: Bathroom controversy much ado about nothing, Editorial, May 17: I am a woman by birth. I would be much more afraid of another natural woman with an open carry gun entering the woman's restroom than I would be of a transgendered woman entering the restroom. Marty Hixon Potential scholars? A question to those who will be or are considering voting for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee: Would you have enrolled in Trump University? Carl Olson Politics, indigestion Re: Trumpenstein, Your Turn, May 13: The letter writer is wrong. If Rush Limbaugh and Fox News have been so successful, how do you explain President Barack Obama's two elections, the advancement of liberal social causes such as gay marriage, and Bernie Sanders? No, both Trump and Sanders are the electorate's reaction to do-nothing politicians, both left and right. Sounds like the letter writer had some bad pizza. Jimmie Jones, New Braunfels Can the smugness Re: Trump in Control, Your Turn, May 16: You should not be so smug about Trump not needing the GOP. To date, Trump has asked the Republican National Committee to help him raise $1 billion for the general election. The first Republican Party donors to kick off the massive $1 billion fundraiser will take place in Los Angeles, May 25. So who is needing whom now? Mary Centeno Absentee senators Re: Cruising Cruz, Your Turn, May 16: The letter writer comments on Ted Cruz being absent from the Senate while campaigning for president. Sen. Marco Rubio has been similarly criticized in Florida. I havent heard of criticism of Bernie Sanders from the liberals in Vermont, although it also applies. Members of Congress should be required to give up their seat if they run for president. Then the wannabes and also-rans would be separated from the ones who have a serious chance of winning. Frank Sawyer, Seguin A political creature Re: Trumpenstein, Your Turn, May 13: Amen to this letter writer on his comments regarding the disastrous rise of Donald Trump. My thoughts exactly. Suzanne Roberts Tale of two trials The lawsuit brought about by former students of Trump University trial date has been set after the November election. The judge felt it would be too much for Trump to handle while campaigning. Let's be fair. The FBI investigation into Hillary's use of her private server goes on with a possible outcome anytime now. Double standard? Let's be fair. Richard Caldwell, Boerne Assumptions Re: Arrogant protesters, Your Turn, May 13: The letter writer has remarkable eyesight. I looked back at video news coverage of Donald Trump at the California Republican convention. I saw protesters, many signs, some flags both Mexican and American. Reporters mentioned some rock throwing, but I did not see it on the videos. And yet the letter writer can deduce that the crowd was composed of Mexican nationals waving Mexican flags and stoning police cars, Illegal immigrants protesting an American running for president. I saw many people exercising free speech, but I could determine neither their nationality nor citizenship status from the photos. Dave Searcey Smell test Re: Law requires officials to disclose conflicts, Brian Chasnoff, May 14: If Willie Ng, Jr., the chief investigator for District Attorney Nico LaHood and the owner of Blue Armor Security, gets the contract to provide security for the county, it will not pass the smell test. Doris Kinsey Political analogy Donald Trump is to President Ronald Reagan as the National Enquirer is to the Express-News. Rick Reyes Yves here. Weve written from time to time that the notion that companies exist to maximize shareholder value was made up by Milton Friedman in 1970 in an intellectually incoherent New York Times op ed. It started to get traction in the 1980s as the leveraged buyout boom made people like Henry Kravis extremely rich and those who wanted in on the act were in need of intellectual air cover. One minor quibble with this piece: Lynn Stout makes it sound as if the new maximize shareholder value has become a duty. If you read any guide for board members, you wont see it listed among the things they have to worry about. It is more accurate to say that it has become so widely accepted from the standpoint of business practice that CEOs have succeeded in institutionalizing it. Its considered to be good practice to have share-price linked pay schemes even the author of the theory that executives should be paid like entrepreneurs, Harvard Business Schools Michael Jensen, has repudiated his earlier work. Similarly, compliant compensation consultants and boards regularly find ways to justify paying CEOs for non-performance (making excuses for moving the goalposts) and overpaying for what performance there arguably was (when high CEO pay is negatively correlated with performance). In other words, the maximize shareholder value regime has served as an excuse for greatly increasing the level of executive pay relative to average worker compensation, often with destructive results. An interview by David Sloan Wilson, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Biology and Anthropology at Binghamton University and Arne Nss Chair in Global Justice and the Environment at the University of Oslo. Twitter: @David_S_Wilson. Originally published at Evonomics A bedrock assumption of economics is that firms become well adapted by competing against each other. If so, then consider a study that I reported upon earlier, which monitored the survival of 136 firms starting from the time they initiated their public offering on the US Stock Market. Five years later, the survivorsby a wide marginwere the firms that did best by their employees. If only the fittest firms survive, then doing well by employees would have become the prevailing business practice a long time ago. That hasnt happened, so something is wrong with the simple idea that best business practices evolve by between-firm selection. That something is multilevel selection, which is well known to evolutionary biologists and needs to become better known among economists and the business community. Multilevel selection theory is based on the fact that competition can take place at all levels of a multi-tier hierarchy of unitsnot only among firms, but also among individuals and subunits within firms. The practices that evolve (culturally in addition to genetically) by lower-level selection are often cancerous for the welfare of the higher-level unit. By the same token, if selection did operate exclusively at the level of firms, then the outcome would often be cancerous for the multi-firm economy. When it comes to the cancerous effects of lower-level selection, there is no invisible hand to save the day. The kind of firm selection imagined by economists, along with the invisible hand assumption that lower-level selection is robustly beneficial for the higher-level common good, would be called naive group selectionism by evolutionary biologists. Its biological counterpart was roundly criticized during the 1960s and has had a half century to mature. Modern multilevel selection theory is not naive and has much to teach the economics profession and business community. That is the topic of my interview with Lynn Stout, who knows a thing or two about firms. She is Distinguished Professor of Corporate and Business Law at the Cornell Law School and author of Cultivating Conscience: How Good Laws Make Good People and The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Shareholders First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public. Lynn and I decided to conduct this interview by email after a pleasant get-together over drinks and a light meal at Ithacas Agave restauranthighly recommended! DSW: Hello, Lynn, and welcome to Evonomics.com, which has already featured your work. LS: Thank you for inviting me to have a conversation. I think the evolutionary approach offers a lot of insights into the workings of corporations. DSW: Let me begin by making sure that I havent constructed a straw man. Am I correct that between-firm selection is a bedrock assumption of economics? I have in mind Milton Freemans classic 1953 essay in which he invokes between-firm selection to explain why people behave as if the assumptions of neoclassical economics are true (go here for more). LS: Its a pretty fair claim. Although a lot of people never make the assumption explicit, the bedrock of many debates in corporate governance today is the often unspoken-belief that corporations have to maximize profits and shareholder value in order to survive, and the companies that sometimes sacrifice these goals in order to take care of their employees, suppliers, customers or communities are at a disadvantage and will be selected out. DSW: Right! From your own perspective, why are these beliefs a myth as you put it in the title of your most recent book? LS: Corporations are complex systems that bring together intellectual capital, physical capital, the human capital of employees and executives, and financial capital from equity and debt investors. These different elements work together over time to produce a number of important social benefits, including not only dividends and share price appreciation for stockholders, but also interest payments to bondholders, salaries for employees and executives, useful goods and services for consumers, tax revenues for taxing governments, and technological innovations for future generations. The shareholding system (that is, the system within the corporation by which shareholders contribute financial capital on the rare occasions when companies issue stock) is only one of the important subsystems that corporations need to function. Unfortunately, the modern cult of shareholder value privileges the interests of the shareholding subsystem over the interests of the corporate entity as a whole. The result has been an obsessive focus on raising share price in many public companies that may be threatening their ability to survive. If you look back at the last quarter-century, with the rise shareholder value ideology now hardwired into a number of federal securities regulations and tax code rules you will also see declining numbers of public companies, dramatically reduced corporate life expectancy, and reduced long-term returns for shareholders themselves. DSW: OK, thats a cancerous social process if ever there was one! Why isnt it easily diagnosed as life threatening for the body politic? The power of narrative to trump reality and elites benefitting at the expense of the common good are two reasons that spring to mind, but I am eager to hear your diagnosis. LS: Youve identified the combination of factors that has made shareholder value thinking so influential. Talking about corporations as if they are owned by shareholders is a very simple, reductionist story that makes life easy for professors and journalists who are either unaware of, or dont want to go into, the essential but messy legal details of what corporate legal personality really means. And unfortunately, this reductionist narrative has proven extremely useful for short-term investors who use it as a basis for claiming managers should unlock shareholder value. Theyve even been able to push through federal rule changes, like tax code rules that pressure companies into tying executive pay to shareholder returns, that drive companies to focus even more on short term results for shareholders. DSW: Biology offers the example of cancer, which eats multi-cellular organisms from within. In addition, even when multi-cellular organisms are cancer-free, they often interact with each other in ways that are highly dysfunctional at the level of single-species social groups and multi-species ecosystems. Special conditions are required for higher-level units to function as super-organisms. During our get-together, you told me about some business practices that are highly predatory and no more desirable for an economic ecosystem than the crown of thorns starfish destroying coral reef ecosystems. Could you elaborate on that here? LS: Theres no better example of corporate predators than activist hedge funds. These are investment funds catering to wealthy individuals and institutions that typically target companies, take a modest stock position, then use the threat of an embarrassing proxy contest to pressure managers into unlocking value by selling assets, taking on leverage, or cutting accounting costs like payroll and R&D to make the company looked more profitable. These strategies have a good chance of raising the share price in the short term, which is all the activists care about as theyre planning to sell as soon as the price rises. Unfortunately, this kind of financial engineering often ends up harming companies in the long run, along with their employees, customers, and remaining investors. The predatory nature of activist funds is well captured in the slang business term for a group of hedge funds working together to target a company: a wolf pack. If activists targeted only weaker companies, it could be argued that they play a useful role in the corporate ecosystem. Unfortunately, shareholder activism creates a destructive feedback loop. As activists earn profits from damaging companies, they become wealthier, allowing them to target more companies, become still wealthier, and so forth. Of course eventually they will run out of companies to target. Weve already seen the population of U.S. public companies drop by 50%, as new corporations avoid activists by remaining privately held and declining to go public in the first place. But when corporations stay private, the wealth generated by corporate production remains concentrated in the hands of the very wealthy. Meanwhile, the ongoing destruction of U.S. public companies produces negative consequences for employees, customers, long-term investors, and the nation. DSW: Wow. Companies staying private to avoid getting attacked by hedge fund wolf packs is so similar to biological examples of prey remaining in refuges to avoid getting attacked by predators, even though they would do much better leaving their refuges in the absence of the predators. Im also reminded of the predatory nature of high frequency trading, as recounted by Michael Lewis in his book Flash Boys, which I interpret from a game theoretic perspective here. Here is how Lewis describes the emotionally numb view of one of the books characters, Don Bollerman: Don wasnt shocked or even all that disturbed by what had happened, or, if he was, he disguised his feelings. The facts of Wall Street life were inherently brutal, in his view. There was nothing he couldnt imagine someone on Wall Street doing. He was fully aware that the high-frequency traders were preying on investors, and that the exchanges and brokers were being paid to help them to do it. He refused to feel morally outraged or self-righteous about any of it. I would ask the question, On the savannah, are the hyenas and the vultures the bad guys? he said. We have a boom in carcasses on the savannah. So what? Its not their fault. The opportunity is there. To Dons way of thinking, you were never going to change human naturethough you might alter the environment in which it expressed itself. The more I learn about theories of economics and business, the more I realize how far they lag behind theories of evolution, ecology, and behavior, which are my home disciplines. The idea that ecosystems achieve some sort of benign balance by themselves, which is best left undisturbed by human intervention, no longer has any basis in theory [go here for more]. Special conditions are required for multi-agent systems to function well as systems. Multi-level selection theory begins to spell out the conditions for both natural and human systems (e.g., here and here). From your own legal perspective, what is required for multi-agent corporate ecosystems to function well as systems? LS. The first and absolutely necessary step is to recognize that the business sector is indeed a system. If we want it to work well, we need to treat it as such. That includes looking out for potential problems like decreasing diversity, lack of resilience, runaway feedback loops, and so forth. Ironically, one of the most dangerous feedback loops is the ability of wealthy individuals and institutions to buy the legislation and regulation they want through campaign contributions and lobbying. Left to its own devices, the business sector is pretty good at finding efficient and stable solutionsas long as the law doesnt get in the way too much. DSW: What is the role of the government in regulating corporate ecosystems? Is it possible for corporations to regulate themselves and are there any examples? LS. Business corporations need governments to provide and enforce basic rules against theft, fraud, and obvious market failures like monopolies and pollution. Beyond that, government tinkering often does more harm than good, as our current campaign finance system allows powerful interests to hijack regulation and bend it in their favor. For example, if were worried about pollution and climate change, a simple carbon tax is a great solution compared to attempts to micromanage through investment tax credits, carbon markets, performance standards, and so forth. Similarly, back in the days when corporate law was mostly state law and mostly enabling, meaning business people could choose their own firm structures and objectives, US corporations were more resilient and profitable, and did a better job for their employees and other stakeholders, than today. Tinkering with the business sector raises many of the same problems as tinkering with an ecological system; you never know what the unintended consequences of your actions are going to be. DSW: Thats the challenge of managing complex systems. Central planning wont work. Lack of regulations wont work. Something in between is required, which David Colander and Roland Kupers call Activist Laissez-faire. Thanks very much for your insights! Disproving Our Preconceived Notions of Animal Intelligence Truthout (furzy) This Genius Made A Cheese Ball Machine Gun Huffington Post (furzy) Scientists Say Nuclear Fuel Pools Pose Safety, Health Risks Slashdot (resilc) Nuclear Shutdowns Could Ramp Up U.S. Carbon Emissions MIT Technology Review Portugal runs for four days straight on renewable energy alone Guardian (resilc) AI will create useless class of human, predicts bestselling historian Guardian (Chuck L) Google appeals French order for global right to be forgotten Reuters (furzy) China? Brazil: Temer Orders Military to Surround Residence of Dilma Rousseff teleSUR Frances Guillotining of Global Free Speech Continues Lauren Weinstein (Chuck L) Pensions crisis: millions of German must expect to face losses Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (German original here). Guurst: Here in Holland practically the same situation> Brexit? Grexit? Greece: Creditors out to crush any trace of Syriza disobedience Defend Democracy Big Brother is Watching You Watch Imperial Collapse Watch The Vietnam War Is Still Killing People New Yorker (resilc) Trade Traitors The TPP Is Disastrous for Working Families and Central to the 2016 Campaign Nation 2016 Reminder: Hillarys promise to have a debate in May was part of a BARGAIN. Shes not holding up her end of the deal Reddit (martha r) They Lit The Bern, What Comes Next? Popular Resistance (martha r) State delegates turn backs on congressional rep rick larsen in silent protest at WA congressional district caucus Twitter. Martha r: Photo. Small room, but very cool. These 3 people just tore apart the Democratic Party Medium. Martha r: NV Dem convention 2016: The awakening of a generation. So many of them do not yet grasp the full enormity of what they are up against. but they are learning fast. Key Sanders backer: DNC chair must apologize The Hill (martha r) Democrats Cant Unite Unless Wasserman Schultz Goes Bill Moyers and Michael Winship Sanders throws support behind primary opponent of DNC head Wasserman Schultz Raw Story (furzy) Why wont Bernie Sanders step down for the sake of the American Left? Independent. For the sake of the American left? As if Clinton has any intention of doing anything for them? Jeff W: Its kind of a compendium of Clinton talking points. (My favorite is the popular Clinton has won x million more popular votes which ignores the caucus states, no matter who won them. I guess the other thing is, even if you win 100% of the votes among one-third of the people who are likely to voteand none of the other two-thirds of the people are willing to vote for youyou are not a winning candidate.) The commenters are taking none of it lying down Sanders supporters have secured protest permits for DNC Business Insider (martha r) The Most Reliably Democratic County in America Just Sent Hillary Clinton a Signal The Nation (martha r) Why Hillary Clintons 90s nostalgia is so dangerous Thomas Frank, Guardian (resilc) Race Talk and the New Deal Corey Robin. Important. Tom Perez has guts: US labor secretary being eyed as Clintons running mate Guardian (resilc) I asked 5 fascism experts whether Donald Trump is a fascist. Heres what they said. Vox (Bob W) The only problem with debunking an idea is that the effort has the effect of reinforcing the connection by putting the key words in close proximity. Trump once revealed his income tax returns. They showed he didnt pay a cent. Washington Post (furzy) Donald Trump Doesnt Have the Juice to Change the G.O.P. Vanity Fair (furzy). The argument is incoherent. It basically tries saying if Trump wins, by the time the party comes around, his issues will be stale. That is not at all the same as saying he cant change the GOP. BUSTED: Trump-loving comment trolls pose as Sanders and Clinton supporters to divide Democrats Raw Story (furzy) People Are Soooo Convinced Trump Cant Win the Presidency Ian Welsh (Tony Wikrent). Lambert: From May 5 but still interesting. Experts are quietly assessing what a Trump presidency might actually look like in practice New York Times Vets blast fraud Trump over claim he raised $6 million: His mouth writes checks no one can cash Raw Story (furzy) And the Surge Goes On Political Data (martha r). California. From 5/17. SHARE Editor's note: Attorneys at Goede, Adamczyk, DeBoest & Cross respond to questions about Florida community association law. With offices in Naples, Fort Myers, Coral Gables and Boca Raton, the firm represents community associations throughout Florida and focuses on condominium and homeowner association law, real estate law, litigation, estate planning and business law. Q. Our association always had a volunteer organization that gathered baby equipment (cribs, high chairs, etc.) and elder care equipment (wheelchairs, walkers, etc.) for use by our residents. Last year, under a different insurance carrier, the carrier reported that this activity was not covered by our then insurance provider. At that time, due to no insurance, we discontinued this activity. This year, we have switched insurance carrier providers. This new provider reports that our general liability and umbrella policies cover us for any liability that might stem from this activity. Our question for you is, since this liability is now covered by our liability insurance, are there any legal concerns about reinstating this activity? L.S. Naples, FL A. Yes, my recommendation would be to not provide this service. But if you still want to, the fact that you are covered by insurance makes the risk lower but not nonexistent. I also think some type of release for the people who use the items is advisable as well as a regular documented inspection of the items to make sure they are serviceable. Even with all that however, you are accepting a degree of unnecessary liability that does not exist if you simply do not provide this service. What I mean is that with the insurance, the risk of having to pay a large damage award is lowered. However, you are always assured you are covered by the agent until you make a claim and then you are not covered. And of course, even if you are covered there is the deductible. If someone gets injured using a piece of equipment the association provided them they will undoubtedly sue the association. Providing this type of loaner equipment to owners is beyond the scope of the purpose of an association. One of the primary jobs of a board is to reduce liability. Even with insurance coverage there is liability in providing loaner equipment, tools and the like to the owners. That is why I do not recommend you do it even if you are just trying to be helpful. Q. Thanks for your column about condos. Lots of good information is provided. Here is a question for you. About one-third of the approximately 1,600 owners at my condo have provided their email address to the condo and authorized them to send information to them via email. The condo says for anything they send via email, they must also send to those owners not on the email list by mail. I can see that with material and official things, but it seems like there should be some provision for lesser, urgent or just helpful things. Examples: 1. The local water authority, because of a break or repair, advises that people should boil water for consumption before using it for the next 48 hours. It would seem appropriate and helpful to use the email list to get the word out and to post notices. But, a mailing would be useless as the need would go away before the mail arrived. 2. Election materials are available for pick up for a couple of days, to save mailing costs. Notice of availability is posted and put in the weekly bulletin. Materials not picked up will be mailed. It would seem appropriate and helpful to use the email list to get the word out. The condo saves money and no one who does not pick up the materials is harmed in any way. 3. Board meeting notices are posted around the condo. It would seem appropriate and helpful to use the email list to get the word out. Owners who don't see the notices or are away would not otherwise know about the meeting. The notices are never mailed to anyone. Given the normal short notice period of 48 hours, it would be useless to mail the notice. Also what is the difference between an email and a bulletin of activities made available every week? Owners can pick it up if they want it, but there has been no effort to mail it to all owners. I could not find anything about this in Florida Statutes Chapter 718 (2011 version) or in the book by Peter Dunbar, The Condominium Concept (11th edition). K.E. Naples A. Great question and I agree with you. Owners determine how they wish to receive official communication from the board that must be delivered to all owners as required by the law. Such official communication would include notice of members meetings, special board meetings, ballots, and proxies. Owners can choose traditional mail or electronic mail for their official communication. The law does not address or dictate how unofficial communication is delivered or to whom it must be delivered. Unofficial communications are things like you have described, along with notice of community social events. The board can determine how to deliver such casual notices. I do not think there is any legal requirement to mail unofficial information via the U.S. Mail to the people who have not provided their email address. Those people can get the information in a variety of ways such as posting on the property, posting on the community website, electronic mail, social media, etc. The postage costs for such a large community would be enormous particularly considering active communities tend to send email information very frequently. Q. All of the directors on our board are retired. They hold the regular board meetings during the workweek in the middle of the day. This makes it impossible for those owners who still work to attend the meetings. We have requested that meetings be held outside of working hours but the board has refused. Is this legal? Can we make the board hold meetings that are more convenient to all owners? C.D. Marco Island A. No. Unless your governing documents dictate when board meetings are held, which is very unlikely, the time and date of the board meeting is completely at the discretion of the board. Likewise the community association laws do not require that board meetings be held at any particular time. The only way you could require the board to hold its meetings at a more convenient time would be to amend the bylaws to require it. With that said, no matter when the board meeting is held it will undoubtedly inconvenience some owners, particularly if it is held when ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" is on television. The community association laws do, however, require that board meetings be held in a location that is accessible to a handicapped person if the handicapped person requests it. Attorney Richard D. DeBoest is a shareholder at the law firm of Goede, Adamczyk, DeBoest & Cross. Visit the website at www.gadclaw.com or ask questions about your issues for future columns by sending an inquiry to: info@gadclaw.com. Goede, Adamczyk, DeBoest & Cross is a full-service law firm with a focus on condominium and homeowner association law, real estate law, litigation, estate planning and business law. With offices in Naples, Fort Myers, Coral Gables and Boca Raton, the firm represents community associations throughout Florida. The information provided herein is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The publication of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and Goede, Adamczyk, DeBoest & Cross or any of our attorneys. Readers should not act or refrain from acting based upon the information contained in this article without first contacting an attorney, if you have questions about any of the issues raised herein. The hiring of an attorney is a decision that should not be based solely on advertisements or this column. Credit: iStock School is in session for 180 days. Students enrolled in Collier County schools hail from 114 countries. You can begin to see the problem with flag days. At least six Immokalee High School students were sent home for wearing shirts displaying the Haitian flag on Wednesday, a date celebrated in the island nation to mark the creation of the country's flag in 1803. Critics claim the action was based in racism and the story caught on far and wide, with radio stations in Miami and even the New York Daily News picking up on it. But in cold reality, the action is more about education than denigration. Flags on campus have been a point of contention in Collier schools for more than a decade. The school board decreed in the early 2000s that displays of flags on clothing caused more bother than they were worth. A dress code was adopted that specifically banned flags other than the U.S. flag, the flag of Florida, the POW/MIA flag and the flag of the particular school. Historically, it wasn't the flag of Haiti, or any other of the scores of students' native countries, that caused the problem. More than any other, display of the Confederate battle flag drove the policy. In 2001 and again in 2003, media reports described students being sent home after refusing to remove clothing bearing the Confederate States of America flag. Accounts from then and now share similarities. ""On Cinco de Mayo, they had all the tacos and we didn't say nothing. But when it came to Haitian flag day, they wanted to take away our fun," Immokalee High sophomore Cassidy Previlus told NBC-2. "Why only enforce it against the Confederate flag? That's wrong, you either ban it unilaterally across the board or not," the parent of a Naples High student told the Daily News in 2003. The dress code segment dealing with flags reads, "The wearing or display of flags on our campuses has historically and currently caused dissension along with a potentially unsafe and hostile learning environment for our students. In an effort to provide safe schools and prevent potential disruption, the following flags are the only ones that may be displayed and/or worn on Collier County Public Schools campuses and at off campus school-related activities: (1) the United States and POW/MIA flags; (2) the State of Florida flag; and (3) official school flags." It provides, "Exceptions to this rule may be made for national flags on special occasions or in designated areas consistent with the learning objectives of the district and at the discretion of the principal." School system spokesman Greg Turchetta said no request was made for an exception to the rule for Haitian flag day. "No request was made this year, or any year. That continues to be the rub," Turchetta said. Last year an unauthorized observance devolved into 200 students running through the halls yelling, he said. With testing going on in some classrooms, administrators were determined not to allow a repeat this year. Immokalee High Principal Ken Fairbanks would have been amenable to a small observance of the occasion, had he been asked, Turchetta said. "If you want to have a celebration tell us in advance and we'll plan it in a way that's consistent with our learning objectives," Turchetta said. Later in the week, Fairbanks met with students and agreed to plan an event for next year, district spokeswoman Jennifer Weimer said. No other group of students has asked for an in-school observance of a flag day, Turchetta added. It isn't unusual for a student at Immokalee, or any other school in the county, to be asked to change clothes or go home over a dress code violation, Turchetta said. The code also covers ill-fitting clothes, the length of shorts, proper necklines and symbols such as corporate logos. RELATED: Some accounts put the number of students asked to go home Wednesday as high as 50 and indicate some students received suspensions beyond the one day. Turchetta declined to go into specifics of the discipline handed out, citing school confidentiality rules. But, he said, "This escalated in a way that had little to do with the shirts." Turchetta defends the Immokalee administrators' actions. "If you're going to have a dress code policy and you don't enforce it, you don't have a policy," he said. Media accounts that caught on outside the area lacked mention of the portion of the dress code that allows for exceptions at the principal's discretion. "I think it's a little more exciting outside the facts," he said. Every year high schoolers test the limits imposed by their schools. The term "senior prank" is universally recognized as a rite of spring. The Immokalee students' sartorial displays were doubtless rooted in a sense of pride in their homeland. But their sincerity doesn't justify defiance of a school policy adopted years ago for good reason. (Connect with Brent Batten at brent.batten@naplesnews.com, on Twitter@NDN_BrentBatten and at facebook.com/ndnbrentbatten) SHARE Q: I rent my condominium under an annual lease. My tenant stopped paying rent. I know I am supposed to give some type of formal notice before filing suit for eviction, but I am not sure how to do that. Can you help? A: Floridas Residential Landlord and Tenant Act is contained in Chapter 83 of Florida Statutes. The Act details rights and obligations of both parties to a residential lease and contains specific requirements for notice of termination. Failure to comply with the statutory notice requirements can be fatal to an eviction case. Nevertheless, many cases are dismissed for just that reason. Section 83.56 of the Act contains the requirements for notice terminating a residential lease for failure to pay rent. A landlord may only terminate the rental agreement for failure to pay rent if the failure continues for three days, excluding Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays, after delivery of written demand by the landlord for payment of the rent or possession of the premises. The three-day notice must contain a statement in substantially the following form: You are hereby notified that you are indebted to me in the sum of $_________ dollars for the rent and use of the premises (address of leased premises, including county), Florida, now occupied by you and that I demand payment of the rent or possession of the premises within three (3) days (excluding Saturday, Sunday, and legal holidays) from the date of delivery of this notice, to wit: on or before the ___ day of _____, 20 ___. Where do landlords go wrong? Some do not count the days or forget to delete holidays. Others fail to properly serve the notice. In a few cases, the landlord is so anxious to get rid of the tenant that the notice is served before the rent is actually due. The most common defect is including amounts due other than rent such as utility payments, late fees or other charges. The three-day notice must either be mailed to the tenant or hand-delivered. If hand-delivery is attempted and the tenant is absent from the premises, the notice can be left at the residence. The notice requirement cannot be waived in the lease. The notice is so crucial under the statute that virtually any defect will invalidate the notice and with it, a landlords chances for success at trial. Even if a landlord complies with the Act, the landlord may be foiled by his or her own lease. If the lease requires service of notice different than the statute, the lease must be followed. Many leases require all notices be sent by certified mail. If the landlord hand-delivers or leaves the notice on the premises, and the lease requires certified mail, the landlord will face dismissal of the case. And, some leases even require a longer notice than the three-day minimum under Florida Statutes. It is likely a trial judge somewhere in Florida is dismissing an eviction case for failure to comply with the notice requirements every day. One example is the case of Karfitsas v. Llanos. In that case, the court found the notice defective because it demanded the tenant vacate, quit and deliver possession of the leased premises, which the court ruled was not in substantial compliance with the statutory requirement. The notice was also defective because it was served on May 1 and demanded May rent. The court further ruled that because the notice demanded $100 in attorneys fees, it failed to meet the statutory requirements. Pouring salt into the landlords wound, the court reserved jurisdiction to determine if the tenant was the prevailing party and therefore entitled to recover reasonable attorneys fees under the Act. The case of Wilson v. Plummer involves a different defect. In Wilson, the landlord served a three-day notice which apparently complied with all aspects of the statute, except one. The notice was served on May 23 and demanded compliance on May 23. The statute requires three days notice and the court found the notice fatally defective. Floridas Residential Landlord and Tenant Act is a minefield for the inexperienced. I suggest you retain an attorney to pursue eviction, rather than risk losing your case because you have been tripped up by some technicality. William G. Morris is an attorney whose practice covers a broad range of subjects, including civil litigation, real estate, business and corporate law, estate planning and probate, domestic relations and contracts. He writes this column periodically with respect to legal matters that frequently affect non-lawyers. The information contained in this column is not intended as legal advice and, of necessity, is generalized. For questions about specific circumstances, the reader should consult a qualified attorney. Questions for this column can be sent to: William G. Morris, e-mail: wgmorrislaw@embarqmail.com or by fax, (239) 642-0722. Other articles of interest can be viewed at our website, www.wgmorrislaw.com. SHARE By Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat The state of Florida wants to weaken its restrictions on roughly two dozen cancer-causing chemicals that can be discharged into its rivers, lakes, streams and coastal waters. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has proposed revising limits on toxic chemicals that can be released into surface waters, something it's supposed to do from time to time under the Clean Water Act but hasn't since the early 1990s. The agency is updating human-health criteria for 43 dangerous chemical compounds it currently regulates and adopting standards for the first time for another 39. Of the 82 toxic substances, the vast majority would have lower standards than recommendations from the Environmental Protection Agency. And of the 43 chemicals now regulated, a couple of dozen would see limits increased beyond those currently allowed. DEP officials say the new standards based on risk and factors like seafood consumption would let Floridians safely eat Florida fish and drink local tap water their entire lives. They say the concentration of pollutants in the water wouldn't pose a significant risk to the average Floridian's health. But environmental groups and some doctors say the new standards would increase chances people will get sick or develop cancer from the contamination in seafood and water. The proposal drew fire during a recent DEP workshop in Tallahassee, one of three held around the state. "The DEP should be pushing for even more stringent criteria than what we have now rather than trying to weaken them," said Dr. Ron Saff, a Tallahassee allergist and immunologist. "Your job is to protect Floridians, not to poison us." Linda Young, executive director of the Florida Clean Water Network, said Florida's tourism economy could be destroyed if the state allows more pollution into its waters. "I can promise you that nobody takes a vacation to Love Canal," she said, referring to the contaminated Superfund site in New York. "If you keep weakening Florida's water quality standards, which you've been on a roll for a while now doing ... the word's going to get out that Florida's waters are toxic." Agency officials said the proposed standards were developed using EPA-approved risk levels and methodologies and Florida-specific data to protect human health. They noted that under the proposal, the number of pollutants DEP would regulate would nearly double. "DEP is proposing to regulate 39 new compounds and update the 43 existing criteria using the latest science and Florida-specific data to ensure Floridians can continue to safely eat Florida seafood and recreate in our waters," said Tom Frick, director of the Division of Environmental Assessment and Restoration, in an email. Environmental groups suspect the new standards are part of efforts to bring fracking to Florida. Allowable amounts of benzene, a well known carcinogen used in fracking and found in high levels in fracking waste water, would go up nearly three times. "All this is about is that somebody wants to pollute," said Dr. Lonnie Draper, president of the Florida chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility. "And in this case, it's probably the fracking industry." But agency officials have denied that the proposed standards are in any way tied to fracking, a drilling technique that opponents say causes environmental and human-health problems. "They are not connected," said Ken Weaver, DEP's environmental administrator for water quality standards. "I had no pressure to affect the benzene criteria. It's just this is the methodology (and) that's the number that came out of it." Under DEP's proposal, allowable levels of chloroform would go up significantly, though they would be similar to new EPA guidelines, Young said. Allowable levels of arsenic would stay the same but remain more than 1,000 times higher for potable water than what the EPA recommends, she said. The proposed criteria could go before the Florida Environmental Regulation Commission as soon as this fall for possible approval. The board, whose seven members are appointed by the governor, tabled criteria proposed by DEP in 2013. The state's plan would leave unregulated several dozen toxic compounds on the EPA's list of recommended criteria, including dioxin, a by-product of pulp and paper mills that's contaminated places like the Fenholloway River in Florida's Panhandle. "We're threatening our real-estate values, our seafood industry and our tourism economy for the benefit of a handful of large corporations that want to externalize their operating costs by dumping their toxins in our waters," Young said in an interview. "No one wants this except for the polluters." SHARE Josiah Hatt, Naples Respect or ridicule I suspect many of us didn't know what "transgender" meant until recently. It could be that it's a small percentage of the populace. This has prompted others to take exception to the unsolicited attention this group has received, since being barred, by law, from their bathroom of choice in North Carolina. My religion challenges me to offer respect in lieu of ridicule. I'll abide by that. Key players in 2022-23 Silly Season Can you hear it? Just listen. That is the sound of the NASCAR rumor mill starting up, and there are plenty of questions to answer for 2023. $3,000,000 shall be used by the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture, for consumer outreach to promote understanding and acceptance of agricultural biotechnology and biotechnology-derived food products and animal feed, including through publication and distribution of science-based educational information on the environmental, nutritional, food safety, economic, and humanitarian benefits of such biotechnology, food products, and feed. Monsanto propaganda experts Lying and bribing their way to global dominance (NaturalNews) As more and more people find out about the countless dangers to human health and the environment caused by GMO food, and make an effort to actively avoid it, many food companies are starting to meet the demand by going GMO-free In an ideal world, this would be the beginning of the end for the GMO industry. Unfortunately, that's not the way it works in a world where the biotech industry, and Monsanto in particular , have friends in very high places.In fact, a new federal spending bill could mean that even if you steadfastly refuse to buy GMO foods, you will still be paying for the GMO industry's propaganda campaign! As reported by the' target='_blank'>http://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfile... bill states:Good for the environment? Ask the important pollinators such as bees' target='_blank'>http://www.bees.news/">bees and butterflies that are dying off by as much as 40 percent in some places, leading to lower crop yields and higher prices. Ask the dead soil that lacks the microbes needed to support plant life.Nutritional benefits? Even the World Health Organization acknowledges it's a "probable carcinogen." It stays in our bodies even after we stop eating it, and has been linked to immune problems, infertility, allergies and insulin regulation issues, to name just a few. It's particularly dangerous for pregnant women and babies.The notion that GMOs provide environmental and nutritional benefits is completely laughable and not supported by facts, so one might wonder exactly how they plan to educate consumers about its "benefits."They will probably accomplish this in the same way that they have always operated: buying their way to the top; using junk science and getting misleading studies published; lying to regulators; using flawed procedures; and bullying and threatening scientists and journalists who speak out against them.Monsanto has a history of coercing and paying off government officials both in the U.S. and abroad. At least 140 officials have been on the receiving end of https://www.naturalnews.com/Monsanto.html>Mon... bribes in Indonesia. Monsanto has installed its own people in important government positions in Brazil, Europe and India. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., the person in charge of the FDA's GMO policy was actually Monsanto's Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Michael Taylor. After that, he was the vice president of Monsanto, before returning to the FDA as the food' target='_blank'>http://www.truthwiki.org/michael-r-taylor-fd... safety czar!Monsanto's tactics when it comes to rigging research are equally outrageous. For example, their studies might take such dishonest approaches as not using enough subjects to obtain statistically significant results, keeping studies short to avoid uncovering long-term impacts, or employing poor detection techniques and statistical methods. They have also been known to use animals with different starting weights to help obscure certain effects.The biotech industry fought tooth and nail to try to get the government to ban' target='_blank'>http://www.labeling.news/">ban the labeling of GMO foods, but they ultimately failed. Now they are taking a different approach, and are trying to get all of us to pay for it. While we can insist on eating organic food and educate ourselves on food safety thanks to books such as Mike Adams' ' target='_blank'>http://foodforensics.com/"> , we need to do more to expose this corruption and prevent lies that threaten our very existence. http://www.activistpost.com/2016/05/federal-... target="_blank">ActivistPost.com https://www.naturalnews.com/047849_GMOs_envir... target="_blank">NaturalNews.com http://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfile... target="_blank">Appropriations.House.gov https://www.naturalnews.com/053308_butterflie... target="_blank">NaturalNews.com https://www.naturalnews.com/029325_Monsanto_d... target="_blank">NaturalNews.com http://www.truthwiki.org/michael-r-taylor-fd... target="_blank">TruthWiki.org https://www.naturalnews.com/046451_Monsanto_p... target="_blank">NaturalNews.com http://foodforensics.com/" target="_blank">FoodForensics.com A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hit Ecuador on Wednesday at around 3am. Later that day a magnitude 6.8 tremor followed leaving one person dead and 85 others injured. Don Juan is still in the process of recovering from last month's devastating catastrophe that took 654 lives, injured more than 4,000 people and left 30,000 homeless. "Several large aftershocks a month out is not that unusual after a 7.8 quake," said John Bellini of the U.S. Geological Survey. "You don't see a lot of them, but they do happen," he added, according to CNN. ABC News reported that classes nationwide have been cancelled as a precautionary measure. President Rafael Correa appealed to the public to stay calm yet be on guard as aftershocks of this magnitude are expected up to two months. "These sorts of aftershocks are normal but that doesn't mean they're not scary and can cause damage," said Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador After the disastrous earthquake, on April, President Rafael Correa proposed a temporary sales tax increase and for rich citizens to give a portion of their salaries to cover up for the earthquake recovery. This "solidarity law" gained criticisms and has been the subject of arguments to many. But while the arguments went on, the devastation that hit the country on April had been an opportunity for Ecuadorian citizens of all ages to show their patriotism through lending strength to those badly affected by the calamity. People from different parts of the country did and brought whatever they can to reach out to earthquake victims. Volunteers who came were about 57,000 helping to distribute 464,000 food kits. Cecilia Davila Molina, a Quito resident and 25-year emergency coordinator for UNICEF in Latin America was deeply touched seeing young people without trainings and experiences in rescue and relief operations on the site. She then decided to put up a volunteer camp. Aside from rescue volunteers, a team of artists organized the "Art For Life Caravan" to perform in the affected areas and give the victims a sense of hope. "We have to remember that it's not right to put the blame on anyone," said Piedad, one of the show's lead roles. "Not the devil, not mother nature. Earthquakes are a natural phenomenon and we as human beings have to confront them" she added, as per The Christian Science Monitor. Watch this video on the most recent Ecuador earthquake. NBC Bay Area has learned that three people have been arrested in connection with the murder of 27-year-old Keith Green, a father and Millbrae resident. One of the suspects who was arrested was Tiffany Li, Green's ex-girlfriend, according to Green's mother. According to the police department, Li was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder and murder. Another man, believed to be Li's boyfriend, has also been arrested, sources close to the family said. Details on the third suspect were not immediately available. The sherrif's department is not commenting on the case, but neighbors say that an early morning police raid in Hillsborough is related to the murder investigation and arrests. The noise caused by the raid woke up neighbors. "Around 3:30 a.m, I woke up, my husband woke up, a lot of the neighbors woke up, because there were police cars surrounding the house on the street. There were police officers in my yard," neighbor Anna Lipton said. "They had a loudspeaker. They were asking for a female suspect to come out." Lipton called the experience upsetting. On April 28, the day Green went missing, he left home without his wallet or car. The next morning, his cellphone was found by a hiker in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. At the time, police sent out news releases asking the public for help locating him. His body was found in the Sonoma area last week, and police at the time said they believed it to be a homicide. A federal jury has found a San Jose man who traveled to Manila several times to have sex with an underage girl guilty of sex tourism. A federal jury on Friday also convicted 56-year-old Michael Lindsay of obstruction charges. Federal prosecutors say evidence showed that Lindsay frequently traveled from San Francisco to the Philippines capital to have sex with a 13-year-old girl. They say the investigation began in 2012 when Homeland Security Investigations received a report that Lindsay arranged the meetings with the girl's mother and paid the woman for the sexual encounters. Prosecutors say Lindsay tried to tamper with a witness and obstruct justice after finding out a federal grand jury had charged him. He is currently in custody and is scheduled to be sentenced in August in San Francisco. Acting San Francisco police Chief Toney Chaplin received a raucous reception Sunday during the local NAACP meeting at Third Baptist Church in San Francisco. Chaplin was invited to the meeting by the Rev. Amos Brown, director of the San Francisco branch of the NAACP. Members of the Frisco Five also attended the meeting. Brown said Sunday that the NAACP has been working in a "very focused and deliberate way" since last April to address violence and crime in the entire San Francisco community and that Chaplin has been at the table from day one and every step of the way in that effort. "San Francisco is a diverse city and we want our ranks to reflect that," Chaplin said. "I look out and see some young faces in the crowd, and that's how we win this, by getting them to sit where I'm at right now with this uniform on. Because you cannot change anything from the outside looking in." Chaplin took over for former Chief Greg Suhr last week after Suhr resigned in the wake of an officer-involved shooting that killed a 29-year-old African-American woman. It was the third fatal officer-involved shooting in San Francisco since December. In Chaplin's first address to the media on Friday, he stressed reforms such as body cameras for officers, re-examining the department's use-of-force policies and community outreach. He reiterated much of the community outreach aspect on Sunday. "We have mothers in here who have lost their children," he said. "That's not going to be solved if there's a wall between the police department and the community. That's got to come down. And hopefully, I'm going to be the person to start moving those bricks." Shawn Richard, NAACP San Francisco's vice president and executive director of Brothers Against Guns, was also on hand and said he was very impressed with the new chief's ideas and plans. He said Chaplin has a solid track record with no hiccups and is honest, compassionate and direct. Chaplin worked for more than two decades at the Mission and Tavaral stations on the department's gang task force. He told the gathering he's determined to get the San Francisco Police Department to a better place in everyone's eyes. "I'm not going to let anything sway us from the path were on," Chaplin said. "And that's to changing things and getting us to a place where we are all happy and all understand the police are here to help you, that theyre guardians of the community." Brown offered words of support for outgoing Chief Suhr, saying it was a mistake to blame one person for the department's troubles. Hillary Clinton's advantage over Donald Trump has narrowed to just three points, resulting in a dead-heat general-election contest with more than five months to go until November, according to results from a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. The Democrat Clinton gets support from 46 percent of registered voters, while the Republican Trump gets 43 percent. In April, Clinton held an 11-point advantage over Trump, 50 percent to 39 percent, and had led him consistently by double digits since December. In a more hypothetical matchup, Democrat Bernie Sanders leads Trump by 15 points, 54 percent to 39 percent. The NBC/WSJ poll conducted May 15-19 comes after Trump has become the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee, but also as the ongoing Clinton-vs.-Sanders Democratic race has become more contentious in recent days. One man is dead and 7 other people were injured in shootings over the course of an hour and a half across Chicago Saturday evening, authorities said. According to the Chicago Police Department, the shootings all occurred between 6:10 and 7:38 p.m. on Saturday. Three of the victims were critically wounded, officials said. The six shootings were as follows: At 6:10 p.m. in the 6600 block of S Champlain Ave in the West Woodlawn neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, a 28-year-old female told police she was about to cross the street when she heard shots and felt pain. She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where her condition was stabilized. In the 1000 block of W 92nd in the Brainerd neighborhood, a 20-year-old man was walking at 6:16 p.m. A green car drove past, police said, and fired shots. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in good condition. Three people were shot in the 4300 block of W Hirsch St in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood at 7:02 p.m. They were standing outside when an unknown male offender in a hoodie approached on foot and fired several shots before fleeing. A 29-year-old man was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the back. An 18-year-old man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition with a gunshot wound to the buttocks, and a 19-year-old man was taken to Norwegian Hospital in good condition with a gunshot wound to the right hand. A 26-year-old man is dead after a shooting in the 7000 block of S Carpenter Blvd in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, police said. He was walking at 7:28 p.m. when two unknown offenders emerged from a gangway and fired shots, police said. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, according to police. The Cook County Medical Examiner could not immediately confirm the fatality. At 7:30 p.m., a 19-year-old man was in a parked car at 115th St and S Stewart Ave in the West Pullman neighborhood when someone in a dark-colored SUV behind him fired shots. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the back and chest. Another shooting occurred in the 1600 block of W 89th St in the Gresham neighborhood at 7:38 p.m. Fire officials said a 40-year-old woman was critically wounded, and taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, but police did not have further details about the shooting. In each of these incidents, no one is in custody, according to police, and the investigations are ongoing. At least three other people have died and ten others have been wounded in weekend violence since Friday afternoon. A family is devastated and the community in mourning after an innocent city employee was killed as she left a Starbucks just two blocks from Chicago Police headquarters Friday afternoon. 49-year-old Yvonne Nelson was a 311 operator in the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications. She was leaving the coffee shop at 35th and State Streets in Bronzeville after her shift at 4 p.m. when she was struck by gunfire intended for someone else, according to police. "The female victim was completely innocent, she just happened to be exiting out of the Starbucks when she was struck by a gunshot," said Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. She was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, officials confirmed. Nelson lived in the 4900 block of S Vincennes, where the community is shaken over her untimely death. "I'm still numb and shocked. I'm still numb and shocked about what happened," said next-door neighbor Stephen Lewis, who is now caring for her dog Max. "She went to work, walked her dog, and you know, enjoyed time with her family and her church, and that was pretty much it. She kept to herself." "I went to the house last night, we stood outside her house actually, Yvonne's house, and prayed with the family," said Pastor John Hannah of the New Life Covenant Church. "They're devastated. Totally shocked. And they just need the prayers of the city to cover them." Nelson had worked as a communications operator at the OEMC since 2002. "Yvonne Nelson was a dedicated and hardworking employee," the OEMC said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time. She will be deeply missed by her fellow staff at 311." "When I saw her face yesterday, it occurred to me that I knew who she was," Superintendent Johnson said Saturday. "So we're going to work this case. Not that we don't work the other ones, but this one has a personal touch to it." Police said the intended target, a man in his mid-20s, is a documented gang member. He was shot several times and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition, according to officials, but sustained non-life threatening injuries. "This incident right here highlights what I've been saying for the last month and a half about how brazen these violent offenders are," Johnson added. "It illustrates how people have weapons in the city of Chicago, and they don't mind using them." Authorities said the offender fled on foot, westbound toward U.S. Cellular Field. No one is in custody and authorities continue to investigate. Her friends call it "Boomerang." Maika Nicholsons car has been stolen four times, but has also returned four times. I always come out to make sure its there because often times its not, Nicholson said about her 97 Honda Civic. Its been stolen in San Francisco three times and probably been broken into three or four times, I would say. I cant even keep count anymore. This week, her car came back for the fourth time. San Francisco Police found it less than a mile from her Noe Valley Home. The first time, I was pretty upset. Now, its just kind of funny to me, said Nicholson, who has even tracked the car down herself using an app on her smartphone. The third time it was stolen, the thieves dumped it a couple blocks away, without any damage. According to SFPDs Carlos Manfredi, they could be stealing the car for two reasons: to joyride in it, drive around town, "do donuts," or use it to commit crimes. The Bay Area has one of the nations highest rates of car thefts, according to the FBI. This is especially true in San Francisco, where more than 1,300 cars have been stolen so far this year. Those are easy cars to break. All you need is a fork, Manfredi said, explaining thieve usually target older models because theyre easy to break into. Nicholson has a club on her steering wheel to deter thieves, however, officers have recommended she get a new car with a smart key, if she does not want it stolen a fifth time. For Nicholson, though, its not easy to trade in an old friend. Its funny because it just keeps coming back to me, so I have a little bit of a weird attachment to it, Nicholson said. Beg, borrow and steal: Zika preparation involves a bit of all three as federal, state and local health officials try to get a jump on the mosquito-borne virus while Congress haggles over how much money they really need. With that financing in limbo, health officials are shifting resources and setting priorities -- and not just in states where mosquitoes are starting to buzz. All but six states so far have seen travel-associated cases of Zika. "Stealing money from myself" is how Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health describes raiding his agency's malaria, tuberculosis and influenza programs to fund a Zika vaccine. He needs more cash by the end of June to keep the vaccine on schedule. And there's no guarantee those other critical diseases will recoup about $20 million. "If we don't get something soon, then we're going to have a real problem," Fauci said. Adding to the stress: What if another health emergency comes along at the same time? "It's Zika now, but three months from now, who knows what it might be?" said Dr. Tim Jones, state epidemiologist in Tennessee, where few counties have mosquito eradication efforts. Yet with funding pleas unanswered, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shifted $44 million to Zika from emergency preparedness grants that help state and local health departments with crises from flu outbreaks to hurricanes. "You have to be careful when you take cuts from core infrastructure for the disease of the day," Tennessee's Jones said. "That's a risky way to do things." Zika can cause devastating birth defects and fetal death if pregnant women become infected. Mosquitoes aren't yet spreading Zika in the continental U.S., but the epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean has experts predicting small outbreaks here as mosquito season heats up. The more than 540 U.S. cases diagnosed so far involve travel to outbreak areas or sex with infected travelers. The CDC is tracking the outcomes of 157 Zika-infected pregnant women in the U.S., plus another 122 in U.S. territories. Three months ago, President Barack Obama requested $1.9 billion in emergency funding to fend off Zika. The House and Senate are arguing over how much to grant -- and whether the money should come from cuts to other programs -- with no final agreement in sight. House Republicans say the administration has padded its Zika request. The Obama administration already shifted nearly $600 million from funds for Ebola flare-ups in West Africa and other accounts. On Friday, the president said lifetime care for a child born with Zika-caused brain damage may cost up to $10 million. "Add that up. It doesn't take a lot of cases for you to get to $1.9 billion. Why wouldn't we want to make that investment now?" Obama said. Many state and local health departments aren't waiting, but efforts vary widely: --Florida is no stranger to mosquito-borne outbreaks -- it has handled small outbreaks of dengue, carried by the same mosquito as Zika -- and is squeezing money out of its usual budget to step up training and traps for areas that need extra help. Officials opened a Zika information hotline that has fielded more than 1,700 calls since February. Miami-Dade County is stepping up enforcement of standing water violations and statewide, residents are being told to screen windows and rid their property of containers that trap rainwater. Gov. Rick Scott has said the threat of a Zika outbreak should trigger the same response as an approaching hurricane and last week lobbied in Washington for more resources. While Scott hasn't named a dollar figure, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has supported Obama's request. "It's a mistake for Congress to try and deal with Zika on the cheap," he said on Friday. --New Orleans' health department has begun sending staffers into neighborhoods to educate residents about Zika and advise them on making their yards less mosquito-friendly -- workers also preparing for hurricane season. "Whether we get money or not, we're going to do what we got to do," said health director Charlotte Parent. "But it sure would help to have those extra bodies to get that work done." --Virginia took about $700,000 remaining from a federal Ebola grant to hire two mosquito biologists, pay for some testing of mosquitoes and travelers, and educate the public, including plans to hang information on 450,000 doors. This marks Virginia's first mosquito surveillance program since 2007. --Texas can perform dozens of blood tests a week for Zika, but that capacity could easily be overwhelmed if there's an outbreak, Health Commissioner John Hellerstedt said. The state is spending $2 million in federal emergency preparedness money on public awareness but can't estimate how much more it needs, in part because mosquito control, like in many states, is funded almost entirely at the county and local level. --Savannah and surrounding Chatham County has Georgia's best-funded mosquito-control department at $3.8 million and will send some mosquitoes for Zika testing at the University of Georgia. "A lot of these counties wouldn't be able to afford to do that," said Savannah mosquito control director. Dallas police report a pair of young brothers who ran away from home have been located and are safe. Police said 9-year-old Aden Bronston and his 13-year-old brother Romi ran away from the 200 block of Stoneport Drive in Dallas around 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. An Amber Alert was not been issued because the boys are runaways. Police said the boys are safe. No other information is being given to the public at this time. Dallas police are fighting back against the increase in violent crime. The results are starting to show. It was evident during the first-ever Forest Audelia Community Festival on Forest Lane which is considered one of the city's most violent neighborhoods. A few hundred people showed up for the festival which included face-painting, a bounce house, vendors and musical performances. Its an event that would never have happened a few months ago, when the area saw a spike in drugs and violent crime. Shokee Clays son, Taydren Young, was murdered not far from where the festival took place back on March 17. If its one person, one kid, one life, anybody that I can touch so that they dont end up this way, Im down for anything I can do to help, Clay said. In March, the Dallas Police Department launched a violent crimes task force, targeting five of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city, including Forest Audelia. Since then Dallas Deputy Chief Andy Acord says crime in the Forest Audelia area has decreased 13 percent. It's gotten a lot better, mother Brittany Tucker said. I can actually go to the store without being asked if I want to buy some drugs, grandmother Yolanda Bradford said. A security guard was killed and another person sent to the hospital after a double shooting outside a Dallas nightclub, police said. Officers were called to a club at 1919 Riverfront Boulevard shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday. According to Lieutenant Latoya Porter, shots were fired among a group of people gathered outside the club. 39-year-old Kendrick Forrest, who had been working security at the time of the shooting, was pronounced deceased at a hospital. Another man, identified as Randy Green, was shot outside the club. Green was expected to make a full recovery. Crime Stoppers offered a $5,000 reward for information that could lead to an arrest. The three sons of the prominent Dallas civil attorney who died one week ago say they're trying to stay strong, because their dad would want them to "keep smiling and carry on." Ira Tobolowsky, 68, died in a garage fire at his North Dallas home last week. Investigators say the fire may have been arson, and now Dallas Police Department homicide detectives are investigating the "suspicious" circumstances surrounding the death. But investigators are still looking for more answers. His sons hope by speaking out and sharing memories of their proud, dedicated father someone may come forward with a tip that can help police with the investigation. "I want whoever did this to my dad to be brought to justice," said Michael Tobolowsky. "And I want my dad be remembered the way he should be." "He was a dad, he was a best friend, he was a mentor. He was everything that we could one day hope to be come," he added. Ira Tobolowsky was a brilliant litigator who once argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, but his children say he was also a funny, sweet-natured dad who never missed a ball game or school recital as his kids grew up. "He was just so supportive, all the time, and sometimes we took it for granted," Michael Tobolowsky said. "We would say, 'Hey dad, you really don't have to come to every game. You can work if you need to.' And he would always say, 'No, I'm not working. I'm coming.'" "And it meant something to us then, but it means more to us now because we won't get that chance anymore," he added. Ira Tobolowsky had difficulty standing up straight and moving his head, but he never let his physical limitations get him down. "From the second he walked into the courtroom he was underestimated. And you can feel the sense of confidence oozing from the other side, until the moment he started speaking," Michael Tobolowsky said. Now, Michael Tobolowsky is also a successful civil attorney in Dallas. Ira Tobolowsky's funeral was this past Sunday, on his son Michael's 29th birthday. "It feels like a movie, and when we fall asleep it turns into a dream, but when you wake up it's still reality all over again," Michael Tobolowsky said. Ira Tobolowsky's eldest son, Jonathan Tobolowsky, is getting married at the end of the month, on May 29. "There's not enough words to explain how much I miss him, how I will always miss him, and he will always be the biggest part of my life," Jonathan Tobolowsky said. Jonathan Tobolowsky said he knows his dad is proud of him and would want the celebration to go on. "Every little thing we did, he would continually assure us how proud of us he was. And I will forever miss being told by my father how proud he is of me," he said. "Will you hear those words in your head when you get married?" asked NBC 5. "I hear those words right now, I hear them when I wake up, and when I go to sleep. That's what gets me through this," Jonathan Tobolowsky responded. There will changes to the reception, and the mood will certainly be different, but Jonathan Tobolowsky said it's important for the celebration of life and family to go on, and he knows he'll feel his father's presence. "He'd tell me you live a long life, you live a happy life, and I'll always be there to keep an eye on you," he said. The youngest son is 26-year-old Zachary Tobolowsky, who is in his third year of law school at Southern Methodist University. He wants to grow up to be like his dad, and said he spoke to his father nearly every day. "He would call me every day asking about what I did in class, and what I'm learning about, and he'd share a story about a case he had about that issue," Zachary Tobolowsky said. "A defining feature about him was that you could be having the worst day imaginable, and he would find a way to make you smile," he added. The family says Ira Tobolowsky had a disarming wit about him that could win over the judge, the jury and even the opposing counsel. Michael Tobolowsky shared a story about the time his dad argued a case before the Supreme Court in 1982. "They asked him, 'How did you get here?' And instead of talking about his background or law practice, he said, 'Through that back door right there,'" he said. Once during a deposition, the family says Ira Tobolowsky was questioning a woman about her questionable spending habits on her husband's bank accounts. "'So you mean to tell me you ask permission from your husband before you buy something?'" Ira Tobolowsky asked, the sons recalled. "Yes, absolutely," the woman responded. There was a brief pause. "Will you marry me?" he responded. "That was Ira being Ira. Dad being dad. And that's how we always want to remember him," Michael Tobolowsky said. Police said a 17-year-old male stabbed a 19-year-old woman during a high school graduation in Dallas Saturday. Dallas police said the teen stabbed Camille Smith of Plano with a pocket knife about 30 minutes into the graduation at Dallas Lutheran School in the 8900 block of Stults Road at about 10:30 a.m. Smith was a guest of a graduate. She was taken to the hospital and treated for injuries that police said were not life threatening. In a news release, Dallas Lutheran School executive director Dave Bangert the attacker was "quickly subdued." "The school was immediately locked down and after an appropriate time the ceremony resumed after prayer for both the victim and the attacker," Bangert stated. Police said the teen was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. It's not known what provoked the attack. The school said the rest of the ceremony went on without incident. A lesbian couple who sued the city of Honolulu and a police officer are dismissing their lawsuit in exchange for a settlement, NBC News reported. Courtney Wilson and Taylor Guerrero will receive $80,000 for dropping the case against the city and Officer Bobby Harrison. The lawsuit said the couple was holding hands and kissing in a grocery store in March 2015 when Harrison told them to stop and take it somewhere else. The two were allegedly placed in restraints when they failed to comply and were jailed for two days on charges of assault on a law enforcement officer. The charges were eventually dropped. Guerrero and Wilson have since split, but they remain friends. Guerrero said she's happy with the money from the settlement, and is glad it's over with." Donald Trump's gun policies are "not just way out there" but "dangerous" and would make America less safe, Hillary Clinton said Saturday. "This is someone running to be president of the United States of America a country facing a gun violence epidemic and he's talking about more guns in our schools, he's talking about more hatred and division in our streets," the likely Democratic presidential nominee said of her presumptive Republican rival. "That's no way to keep us safe." Clinton's criticism of the Trump came the day after he slammed her as "Heartless Hillary" for backing restrictions on gun ownership in a speech before the National Rifle Association convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Trump, who was endorsed by the NRA Friday, called Clinton "heartless" for calling on restrictions on gun ownership. The real estate mogul said that would leave Americans in high-crime areas vulnerable and without means to protect themselves. Trump also told the crowd Friday that, if elected, he would end "gun-free zones" across the country, a suggestion that was met with enthusiasm by the NRA crowd. Clinton spoke at a conference organized by the Trayvon Martin Foundation to help mothers whose children or other relatives have died from shootings. It was led by Sybrina Fulton, whose 17-year-old son, Trayvon Martin, was fatally shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in 2012. She has campaigned with Clinton during the Democratic presidential primaries. "The reason why I stand with her is because she first stood with me," Fulton said before introducing Clinton to more than 200 people packed inside a hotel banquet room. Queen Thompson Brown, a Miami mother whose son was the victim of gun violence in 2006 and who has mentored Fulton, said she and others do not want to take away guns from Americans but hope to "promote common sense gun laws." Clinton praised the courage of Fulton and others who had suffered the loss of loved ones to gun violence or while in police custody. "We have a moral obligation to protect our children no matter what zip code they live in," she said. She then turned her attention to Trump and his gun policies. "If you want to imagine what Trump's America will look like, picture more kids at risk of violence and bigotry, picture more anger and fear," she said. Clinton repeated her pledge to fight the powerful National Rifle Association lobby, saying "we will not be silenced, we will not be intimidated." The gun rights organization endorsed Trump, even though he had previously supported measures like an assault weapons ban that the NRA vigorously opposes. The group applauded Trump's call for ending "gun-free zones" across the country. A Mexican consulate employee says he was beat up for speaking Spanish on a city bus. The victims attorney Gene Iredale explained what happened to his client Jorge. Iredale says Jorge was talking to his mother in Mexico as he rode the bus home. That's when a man came up and attacked him, giving him black eyes and a bloody lip. He was grabbed and Turner hit him six times in the face full on, his eyes his mouth, and his check, Iredale said. Police arrested Hew Turner for the crime. The District Attorney has charged Turner with two counts of battery with one special allegation, crime due to race color creed. The man appeared to be angry or enraged with him. He never had seen the man before , he had never done anything to give offense, other than speaking to his mother in Mexico and speaking in Spanish, Iredale said. Jorge works at the Mexican consulate. His attorney says the whole situation seemed surreal to him. He said it was strange. He didn't understand at first what had happened because he had done nothing to give offence, Iredale said. At this point, Jorge most likely will not pursue a civil case because Turner doesn't have ability to pay restitution according to Iredale. But said it's not just about the Doctor bills. The harm that was caused to him was the random violence in which he was selected simply because he is who he is, not for anything he did. Right now Turner is in jail facing the battery charges. A popular movie franchise is rolling out the red carpet at this years Comic-Con International in San Diego. Star Trek Beyond, the next installment in the Star Trek franchise, will hold its exclusive red carpet World Premiere at Comic-Con, according to the Comic-Con website. The premiere will be held on Wednesday, July 20th at the Embarcadero Marina Park. Some fans will have a chance to attend the special screening and watch the movie in a first-ever outdoor IMAX format. The cast of Star Trek Beyond, and the crew will be attending. There will also be a live concert performance by the San Diego symphony orchestra. Details about tickets to the event will be announced before the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con International. A senior commander of the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Sunday that the extremist group's leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansur, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike. Mullah Abdul Rauf, who recently reconciled with Mansur after initially rebelling against his ascension to the leadership, told The Associated Press that Mansur died in the strike late Friday "in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area." The office of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirmed in a statement that the strike took place but could not confirm Mansur's death. Today DoD carried out a precision airstrike targeting Taliban leader Mullah Mansur. Another step to make our troops safer in Afghanistan Alyssa Farah (@PentagonPresSec) May 21, 2016 Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, however, said that Mansur is "more than likely" dead. Speaking live on television as he chaired a Cabinet meeting, Abdullah said Mansur's death would have a positive impact on attempts to bring peace to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been waging an insurgency for 15 years. Mansur was "the main figure preventing the Taliban joining the peace process," Abdullah said. "From the day he took over the Taliban following the death of Mullah Omar, he intensified violence against ordinary citizens, especially in Afghanistan." Mansur formally led the Taliban after the death was announced last summer of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the movement's founder. Mansur, Mullah Omar's deputy, concealed Mullah Omar's death for more than two years, and ran the Taliban in his name until the death was revealed by the Afghan government. The revelation caused wide fissures in the movement that Mansur worked hard to mend. Mullah Rauf was an early detractor of Mansur's but decided earlier this year to declare loyalty to him in the interest of unifying the movement. Earlier, the U.S. Department of Defense said a drone strike had targeted Mansur "in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region." Afghan officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be named as they were not authorized to speak to media on the subject, said the drone strike took place in Pakistan's Baluchistan province, in the Ahmad Wal area. The Afghan government has long accused the Pakistani authorities of harboring and supporting the Afghan Taliban. The drone strike targeted Mansur's vehicle which was carrying Mansur and one other person at the time, a U.S. military source said. Another Taliban source identified the driver as Muhammad Azam Hasanai, and said the vehicle the two men were traveling in was completely destroyed in the drone strike. A South Florida pastor who had been reported missing by his family has been found safe. Pastor Fidel Honorio Rodriguez, 69, went missing Friday around 6 p.m. from his home in the 13000 block of Southwest 66th Street in Miami. Rodriguez left his home and headed to a nearby store. He was found safe on Saturday evening. Rodriguez has pastored at Hispanic churches Los Pinos Nuevos in West Miami and the Iglesia Entera Restauracion in Little Havana. A child care worker faces a criminal charge accusing her of dragging a disabled teenager across the floor and injuring her at a family services facility on Long Island, police said Saturday. Reneisha Goodridge, 27, engaged in an argument with a 17-year-old girl on May 15 at SCO Family of Services in Sea Cliff, Nassau County police said. She pushed the teen, then grabbed her arm and dragged her across the floor, investigators said. The teen suffered a bruised eye, swollen lip and scratches on her neck. After the SCO conducted an internal review of the incident, the facility notified police. Goodridge, a Huntington resident, subsequently was charged Friday with endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person. She pleaded not guilty to the charge at her arraignment Saturday in First District Court in Hempstead. She was released on bail. Police released images on Sunday of three men suspected of attacking a transgender woman as she walked from a subway in Brooklyn on May 13. The 32-year-old victim was walking along 9th Street near 7th Avenue in the Park Slope neighborhood at about 11:30 a.m. when she was ambushed, investigators said. The victim told NBC 4 New York last Wednesday she had just gotten off the train when she noticed a man walk up to her, and then she was suddenly surrounded. They yelled a derogatory slur, and she tried to walk away. "I was just trying to get away at that point, I just didn't want any altercation," she said. "Next thing you know, I got my hair pulled and was just getting hit in multiple directions, fists at the same time," she said. She was taken to New York Methodist Hospital. Bruises were still visible underneath her left eye Wednesday. She said she's afraid of what her attackers could do next. "These individuals seem like they would do it to the next person, would brutally beat up somebody," she said. The victim says she's in good spirits as she recovers. "It can be traumatic but you can't let someone that's hateful keep you down," she said. The three suspects were described as: a man wearing a gray Nike shirt with red sleeves; a man wearing a dark-colored jacket with a royal blue Adidas T-shirt; and a bald man wearing a blue jean jacket and eyeglasses. Anyone with information about the suspects should call the NYPD Crime Stoppers Hotline at 888-577-TIPS. A southern New Jersey police officer has admitted using his job to sexually assault a teenage girl. Atlantic County prosecutors announced Sunday that 45-year-old Ralph Pereira pleaded guilty Friday to official misconduct and sexual assault charges. He faces a five-year prison term when he's sentenced July 1 and will have to register as a sex offender. The 10-year veteran of the Brigantine police force has been suspended without pay since his arrest in May 2014. Officials there say they will move to fire Pereira now that he's pleaded guilty. Pereira and a former Atlantic City officer were both accused of having a sexual relationship with the 16-year-old victim. The other officer pleaded guilty last year and is now serving a prison term. Prosecutors have said Pereira held a position of authority and had disciplinary power over the teen. Police are searching for the driver of a taxi that they suspect was involved in a Brooklyn hit-and-run that left a woman injured. The woman was at 3rd Avenue and 7th Street in Gowanus at about midnight Saturday when she was hit by a green taxi, police said. The woman was taken to Methodist Hospital, police said. Information about the extent of her injuries wasn't available. Three air marshals were flying on EgyptAir Flight MS804, which crashed over the Mediterranean Sea early Thursday, according to authorities. EgyptAir confirmed the names of the security team to NBC News Thursday as Mohamed Ahmed Abd al Razak Abd al Kareem, Ahmed Mohamed Magdy Ahmad and Mohamed Abdel Monim Al Ghoneimy al Kyal. A former NTSB investigator told MSNBC that Egypt recently boosted security, which could explain for the number of officers on board. But Frances transport chief Alain Vidalies said having that many security forces on board such a flight was the usual practice. Sixty-six passengers were on board the plance, which was able to carry up to 189 passengers. The flight was not transporting any freight, Vidalies said. Egyptian security has been under scrutiny since a Russian Metrojet plane crashed after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh airport on Oct. 31, killing all 224 people on board. The leader of the Taliban has been killed in a U.S. airstrike, the Afghan government said Sunday. A statement from the National Directorate of Security was the first official confirmation of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor's death, NBC News reported. It was soon followed by confirmation from Afghanistan's chief executive. There has been no acknowledgement from the Taliban on Mansoor's death. The U.S. conducted a precision airstrike targeting Mansoor on Saturday in a remote part of southwest Pakistan. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook had said the U.S. was "still assessing the results" of the strikes, though senior defense officials told NBC News that Mansoor was "likely killed." Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the beginning of military operations to retake the Islamic State-held held city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, in a televised address on Sunday night. Iraqi forces are "approaching a moment of great victory" against the Islamic State group, said al-Abadi, who was surrounded by top military commanders from the Ministry of Defense and the country's elite counterterrorism forces. However, Iraqi forces are expected to face a complicated fight to push ISIS out of Fallujah, which is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, and has been under the militants' control for more than two years. A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told NBC News that 20,000 soldiers were deployed, with another 15,000 expected to join. Asked about the Iraqi announcement on plans to retake Falliujah, the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon did not immediately comment. During the Iraq War, Fallujah was an insurgent stronghold and the site of the bloodiest battle of the Iraq War. In November 2004, U.S. forces led a coalition attack against several thousand insurgents in Fallujah in which thousands of buildings were destroyed in house-to-house fighting. More than 80 U.S. troops were killed along with an estimated 2,000 insurgents. Al-Abadi's announcement comes at a time when Iraqi ground forces backed by U.S.-led coalition air support are gaining territory against ISIS, most recently in Iraq's vast western Anbar province. Last week. Iraqi forces pushed ISIS out of the western town of Rutba, located 240 miles (380 kilometers) west of Baghdad, on the edge of Anbar province. Last month, Iraqi forces cleared territory along Anbar's Euphrates river valley after the provincial capital Ramadi was declared fully liberated earlier this year. Fallujah is still home to tens of thousands of civilians and has been under ISIS rule since January 2014, longer than any other territory recently retaken by Iraqi forces. Iraqi security forces repeated calls for civilians trapped inside Fallujah to flee on Sunday, but residents say that checkpoints controlled by the extremists along all roads leading out of the city are preventing most from fleeing. Iraq's military is also still struggling to rebuild after it largely collapsed when ISIS fighters overran Mosul in the summer of 2014. Since then, successful operations against ISIS have largely been led by the country's powerful Shiite militias or Iraq's elite counterterrorism forces closely backed by coalition airstrikes. An array of fighters including Shiite militias and counterterrorism forces have announced they plan to take part in the Fallujah operation, but it's unclear how command and control will be exercised over the disparate groups. U.S.-led coalition aircraft have carried out seven airstrikes in and around Fallujah over the past week. Retaking Fallujah could help protect the Iraqi capital from ISIS bombings like those seen over the past two weeks, according to the Baghdad-based spokesman for the US-led coalition in Iraq, Col. Steve Warren. Fallujah is "a safe haven for (the Islamic State group) where they can construct their bombs and plan their operations in relatively close proximity to Baghdad," Warren said. But despite gains on the front lines, al-Abadi's government must deal with deepening political and social unrest in Baghdad. Clashes between protesters and Iraqi security forces inside Baghdad's highly fortified Green Zone compound which houses most Iraqi government ministries and foreign embassies left two people dead after security forces fired tear gas, water cannon and live ammunition in an attempt to disperse the crowds. Over 100 people were wounded, hospital and police officials said. They spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to brief the press. Al-Abadi's office released a preliminary investigation Sunday that claimed police and military guards did not fire directly into the crowd of demonstrators, according to a statement released Sunday by Saad al-Hadithi, the prime minister's spokesman. Many of the protesters were supporters of powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has led months of demonstrations and sit-ins calling for government reforms. Al-Sadr has since issued a statement condemning the use of force against "peaceful" demonstrations and vowed to continue to support the "revolution" against the government. Al-Abadi spoke by phone with U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday and "agreed on the critical importance of improving the security" of Baghdad and the Green Zone, according to a White House statement. It added that the two leaders also discussed progress being made in the campaign against the Islamic State group. Iraq's political crisis has left the government deadlocked as security forces struggle to fight the Islamic State group. Despite a string of territorial defeats, ISIS still controls significant patches of Iraqi territory in the country's north and west including Mosul, the country's second largest city. The militant group also has claimed responsibility for a series of large-scale bombings in and around Baghdad recently that have killed hundreds of people. Bernie Sanders said Saturday he would not back Democratic National Committee Chairwoman and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in the Democratic primary race for Floridas 23rd congressional race, NBC News reported. During a pre-taped interview with CNN that will air Sunday, Sanders said he would support Nova Southeastern University law professor Tim Canova over Rep. Wasserman Schultz. He also added that she would not reappointed her to head the DNC if he is elected president. "Well, clearly, I favor her opponent," Sanders told "State of the Union" anchor Jake Tapper. "His views are much closer to mine than as to Wasserman Schultz's." Canova is a Sanders supporter and has accused Wasserman Schultz of backing Hillary Clinton. In a statement provided to NBC News Saturday, Wasserman Schultz said she has been neutral in the race and would remain so despite Sanders' support of Canova. Camden County police are searching for a driver who they say struck a young boy in a parking lot and then fled the scene. The unidentified driver pulled into a parking lot on the 200 block of Branch Village Drive in Camden, New Jersey around 4 p.m. Friday and struck a 7-year-old boy, police said. The driver then allegedly fled the scene and drove out of the lot toward 9th Street. The boy was taken to Cooper University Hospital. Officials have not yet revealed his condition. Police say the hit-and-run vehicle is a black or gray SUV-type vehicle with a Pennsylvania license plate and the letters DLW. If you have any information on the suspects whereabouts, please call the Camden County Police tip line at 856-757-7042. Capping off a very busy weekend of politics in San Diego, U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders held a rally in Vista Sunday. Ahead of Californias June 7 primary, Sanders took his campaign to San Diego's North County, holding an outdoor rally at the stadium of Rancho Buena Vista High School, located at 1601 Longhorn Dr. Sanders was first introduced by "The Divergent Series" actress Shailene Woodley. Prior to the rally, the star posted messages about her appearance at the political event, along with a video of the school's band. She urged voters to get to the polls and vote for Sanders. "I need every one of you to know that our voices matter," said Woodley. "We're living in a country right now where the establishment is doing everything it possibly can to squelch Democracy." After speaking for about four minutes, Woodley introduced Sanders to the podium. Divergent actress Shailene Woodley supported Bernie Sanders at his rally in Vista on Sunday. Woodley spoke to voters and introduced Sanders to the crowd in north San Diego County. The U.S. Senator started his speech by discussing the 1 percent of wealthy Americans, as well as calling out Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump. Vista, are we ready for a political revolution? Are we ready to tell the 1 percent that they are not going to get it all?" Sanders said to his cheering supporters. "We do not make progress unless we stand together, unless we prevent the Donald Trumps of the world from dividing us up. Bernie Sanders spoke in front of enthusiastic supporters in Vista on May 22, 2016. Sanders said he is confident Americans will not allow Trump to become Commander-in-Chief. Donald Trump must not become President of the United States, said Sanders. The job of a president is to bring people together, not to divide us up. At that point, the crowd began chanting, "Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!" He went on to talk about diversity in America, the working class, poverty in our nation, raising the minimum wage in all states and creating a better economy for all. He also touched on unemployment in the U.S. [G] Democratic Presidential Campaigns Rally in San Diego Sundays rally in Vista marked the second stop in San Diego County for Sanders in as many days. On Saturday, the U.S. Senator rallied with a large crowd of supporters, including actor George Lopez, at Kimball Park in National City. Bill Clinton was in San Diego Saturday too, holding his own events in support of wife Hillary Clintons run for the White House. Clinton rallied with enthusiastic supporters at Bonita Vista High School in Chula Vista Saturday afternoon and then made his way to a campaign fundraiser at The Inn and Rancho Santa Fe. According to Sanders campaign website, the U.S. Senator will make his way north to Irvine, California, on Sunday, too, holding another rally at 6 p.m. at Irvine Meadows Amphitheater. Meanwhile, additional stops on Clintons campaign tour throughout California include Pomona, Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton, Sacramento and Delano. According to Hillary Clintons campaign website, Bill Clintons next stop is in Delano, California, Sunday at Cesar Chavez High School, where he will be joined by civil rights and labor leader Dolores Huerta. Looking ahead to next week, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump will make his way to Americas Finest City on Friday, May 27. Trump is set to rally at the San Diego Convention Center in downtown San Diego at 2 p.m. Supporters can register for tickets to Trumps rally here. Approximately 100 military moms-to-be and new mothers attended a baby shower at the USO in downtown Saturday. Moms received donated gifts for their baby and information on being a new parent. National nonprofit Operation Homefront hosted the Star-Spangled Baby Shower in partnership with USO San Diego and Lincoln Military Housing. Its nice that you know you have support out there, new mom Lina Desastro said. The Star-Spangled Babies program provides the showers to support service members and their families. Roughly 42 percent of active-duty military children are five years old or younger according to Operation Homefront. I actually think this is a really good idea, Alexis Hallett told NBC 7. It seems to help a lot of moms. With postpartumhaving that resource here is really helpful. Military families often live far away from extended family and friends, and the baby showers give new parents a place to go for help. Families in San Ysidro are on high alert after a stranger allegedly tried to kidnap a 15-year-old girl in broad daylight. The alleged incident happened Friday around 5:15 p.m. at the intersection of Mt. Carmel and Padre Tullio drives, just east of Interstate 805. According to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) a teenage girl was walking westbound on Mt. Carmel Drive when she noticed a driver in a red Honda sedan closely traveling next to her. The girl began to walk faster and the driver, in turn, sped up, police said. The driver sped past the girl and then stopped his car to block her from walking across the street. Police said he then grabbed the victim by her arm and ordered her to get inside his car. The teen was able to twist and pull her arm away and escape, police said. The attempted kidnapping suspect quickly drove off and was last seen turning onto Alquinas Drive. Residents said the incident is shocking. It could happen anywhere but it happened yesterday, here, one neighbor told NBC 7 on Saturday. The encounter happened just outside Nicole Delatorres home on the same street she used to walk on to get to school every day. I was obviously really scared [when I heard about it], she told NBC 7. I felt like thats a pretty big violation of someones privacy. For something like that to happen to a young girl, its kind of a terrifying experience because now everyone is kind of worried about what we are going to do, Delatorre added. Its a very busy walkway. Ive been here almost 25 years and nothing like this happened before, another resident said. And it shocked everybody around here. The area is a popular route to a nearby church and school. Now, with police investigating the attempted kidnapping, many residents said they would be more vigilant. As of Sunday morning, the suspect had not been arrested. Police described him as a man in his 30s with a medium build, a beard and brown hair down to his ears. He wore a grey shirt and jeans at the time of the incident. Witnesses said he drove an older, dirty, red Honda sedan with a loud muffler. Anyone with information on the case can contact Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. Officials said a one person is injured after a car they were driving was struck by a CSX train carrying coal in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Spokesman Pete Piringer told WTOP the incident happened Sunday morning. Authorities are investigating what caused the collision at Railroad Avenue and Oakmont Avenue around 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Piringer said the driver of the car was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive. The person had non-life-threatening injures. Officials have not released the identity of the person who was injured. One man was shot and killed after a domestic dispute during a custody exchange in Stafford County, Virginia, Friday evening, according to the Stafford Sheriffs Office. Corey Terry, 27, is accused of shooting Austen Agnor, 20, from Chester, Virginia, at an Exxon gas station on Courthouse Road around 7:15 p.m. Terry and Agnor were supposed to meet at the Exxon to complete a court ordered custody exchange. Investigators said during the exchange, a dispute began, and Terry fired multiple shot, hitting and killing Agnor. Terry fled the scene on foot and was later arrested without incident at 9 p.m. by a Virginia state trooper. Terry has been charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He is being held without bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail. A gunman shot by a U.S. Secret Service officer outside the White House remained in critical condition in a Washington hospital Saturday, one day after the shooting, a hospital spokeswoman said. George Washington University Hospital spokeswoman Susan Griffiths would provide only his condition. She referred other questions to the Secret Service, but a spokesman for that agency, Robert Hoback, declined to discuss the case, citing the continuing investigation. On Friday, a U.S. law enforcement official said that authorities identified the gunman as Jesse Oliveri of Ashland, Pennsylvania, about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to release the information. Secret Service Deputy Assistant Director David Iacovetti said Friday that one of the agency's officers shot the man once after he approached a checkpoint at about 3 p.m. and refused repeated commands to drop his weapon. Iacovetti said the gunman never made it inside the White House complex, and no one else was injured. The Metropolitan Police Department, the Secret Service, Park Police and the FBI said in a joint statement Friday night that there was ``no known nexus to terrorism.'' Messages left Saturday at a home telephone number for Oliveri in Ashland weren't returned. Cathy Hadesty, who lives across the street in the wooded area, said police closed a section of the road near the house Friday night but reopened it by Saturday. Hadesty said she never met Oliveri and only knows the family ``just to say, `Hi,' when we're going down the driveway.'' ``They've always been really good neighbors,'' she said. Court records show that Oliveri, 31, had just one recorded run-in with police in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, resulting in a 2004 guilty plea to careless driving. The White House was placed under a brief "lockdown" Sunday after "party balloons" drifted over the grounds and landed on the North Lawn, U.S. Secret Service officials said. The agency said the White House reacted "out of an abundance of caution," after balloons landed on the North Lawn, the press office roof and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The Secret Service said there was no "lockdown" per se, but press crews on the grounds reported they were temporarily restricted in their movements. The incident comes less than two days after a Secret Service agent shot an armed man who approached a White House security checkpoint, placing the executive mansion on lockdown. The man, identified as Jesse Oliveri, of Ashland, Pennsylvania, is still listed in critical condition after he would not drop his weapon and was shot by a Secret Service officer. Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, will visit Massachusetts this week to speak at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center's 2016 One Hundred Gala. The annual gala is scheduled for Tuesday evening at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel. The event honors 100 people and groups for their commitment to the fight against cancer. Last year's gala was attended by nearly 1,000 people and raised $2.1 million to support the cancer center. Jill Biden will also visit the PatientsLikeMe headquarters in Cambridge on Tuesday. The online network's mission is to empower patients, improve their outcomes and contribute data for research. Joe Biden's oldest son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, died of brain cancer last year. A Reading, Pennsylvania Police officer is now facing charges after he allegedly attacked a woman during a traffic stop and then lied about the incident in his report. Officer Jesus Santiago-DeJesus is charged with official oppression and fabricating evidence. Officer Santiago-DeJesus pulled over Marcelina Cintron-Garcia, 30, and her boyfriend, Joel Rodriguez, 24, in Readinpg back on April 5. The officer told the couple they had failed to use their turn signal, according to officials. Cintron-Garcia told NBC10 she then began to record the officer on her cellphone which triggered an angry reaction. He slapped my phone away, she said. After smashing her phone on the sidewalk, Officer Santiago-DeJesus then punched Cintron-Garcia and pushed her to the pavement, according to officials. Its like he pushed me and threw me to the floor, Cintron-Garcia said. He was really, really hard with me. Cintron-Garcia suffered a gash to her head and had to be hospitalized. Despite this, she was still charged with aggravated and simple assault as well as traffic offenses while her boyfriend was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The couple then filed a complaint with Reading city police who turned the investigation over to the Berks County District Attorneys Office. Investigators say they viewed surveillance video as well as cellphone recordings and determined the couple was innocent. They also say the couple actually did use their turn signal and are unsure why Officer Santiago-DeJesus pulled them over in the first place. After further investigation, authorities dropped the charges against the couple. They also determined Officer Santiago-DeJesus destroyed and falsified evidence and acted excessively during his interaction with Cintron-Garcia. We firmly believe the force was unnecessary and excessive, said Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams. During a press conference Wednesday, Adams announced Officer Santiago-DeJesus was placed on administrative leave and will face charges. You really get no satisfaction in filing charges against a fellow law enforcement officer, Adams said. But we will not permit the integrity of the criminal justice system to be compromised. Authorities told NBC10 Officer Santiago-DeJesus had similar issues in the past and smashed the cellphone of another person a few months ago. He is set to face a judge Thursday. Cintron-Garcia and Rodriguez meanwhile are happy the charges against them were dropped and glad that they recorded the incident. The officers, they got their right to record when they stop you, Rodriguez said. As citizens, weve got the same right to record. An event was held Saturday to raise money for a waitress who was injured in a stabbing rampage that left two dead in Taunton, Massachusetts. It was a relatively small gathering, but organizers say every little bit helps as they raise money for Sheenah Savoy. The Bertucci's waitress was stabbed, allegedly by Arthur DaRosa. Saturday, friends and strangers came together at the Davol Street Station pub in Fall River to raise money for the single mom, who's pregnant and recuperating from her injuries. Savoy is out of the hospital and recovering at home. She posted on her Facebook page that she's getting better every day. Former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart and his wife are giving a new home to a horse that was shot more than 100 times at close range with paintballs and lost an eye from her injuries. Stewart and his wife, Tracey, adopted the 20-year-old horse named Lily. They have a farm in Middletown, New Jersey. Lily was found at a sales stables in New Holland, Pennsylvania, in March. Police say the horse needed surgery to remove the injured eye. The Lancaster County SPCA has been caring for her. Phillip Price, of East Providence, Rhode Island, was convicted Friday in New Holland of animal cruelty and other charges accusing him of injuring the horse. The Stewarts partnered with Farm Sanctuary last year to open an animal sanctuary at their farm. A New Hampshire State trooper was struck by a car during a traffic stop, according to State Police. The accident occurred around 2:30 Sunday morning on the southbound side of the Everett Turnpike near exit 10. The trooper and part of the cruiser's door was hit by a vehicle traveling southbound, officials say. The trooper was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. His identity has not been released. Authorities are looking for a light colored 2002-2005 Chevy Trailblazer with damage to the passenger side mirror and front passenger window. Anyone with information is requested to contact the New Hampshire State Police at 603-223-4381 or 603-271-1154. The suspect involved in an East Hartford murder has been identified by police. Michael Gaston, 27, of Hartford, is wanted for his involvement in the murder of Marshall Wiggins on Monday. Police responded to Rector Street at 11:16 p.m. to investigate reports of gunshots and found Wiggins, a resident of the street, inside a car and suffering from gunshots. Wiggins was brought to Hartford Hospital, where he died from his injuries. Police are investigating and anyone with information should call the East Hartford Police Department tip line at 860-289-9134. Police are investigating after a swastika was found on a welcome sign outside a Jewish synagogue in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, necn affiliate WJAR reports. The crime happened after the Sabbath service, sometime between 9 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m Sunday. A solar lamp was also damaged. Anyone with information is asked to contact Pawtucket police. The gunman who authorities say killed a police officer and injured a Massachusetts State Police trooper was fatally shot Sunday. State and local police encountered 35-year-old Jorge Zambrano at 31 Watch Street in Oxford just after 6 p.m., according to state police. According to state police, Zambrano shot and killed Auburn police officer Ronald Tarentino Jr. early Sunday morning. Chicopee Police "As [troopers] entered a bedroom, the closet door burst open," said Massachusetts State Police Col. Richard McKeon. "The suspect appeared from inside the closet and fired on the troopers, striking one of them." A trooper returned fire. Zambrano was shot and taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Police say Zambrano was known to law enforcement and has an extensive record. He was recently arrested on charges that went to Worcester Court. Tarentino, 42, a husband and father of three, was shot around 12:30 a.m. on Rochdale Street in Auburn during a traffic stop. He was taken to UMass Medical Center in Worcester, where he was pronounced dead. Tarentino's body was escorted into Boston by multiple police vehicles on Sunday morning, then back to Morin Funeral Home in Leicester. Tarentino had been with the Auburn Police Department for two years. Officers line Albany Street in Boston as fallen Auburn police officer is escorted to the medical examiners office. The injured trooper, who police say Zambrano shot in the left shoulder, is expected to survive. He was set to undergo surgery Sunday night at UMass. The trooper is an 18-year veteran of the department and a former Navy SEAL, according to Massachusetts State Police spokesperson Dave Procopio. Six officers have been fatally shot in Massachusetts since 2000, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. It's the first fatal shooting of a police officer in Massachusetts since the death of MIT Officer Sean Collier in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings three years ago. Hundreds sign Shalom Declaration at Norwich church More than 200 people attended the launch of East Anglia Friends of Israel in Norwich at an impressive gathering which brought together members of the local Jewish community and Christians from across the region to demonstrate their support for Israel. Mike Wiltshire reports. Dan Golan, the cultural attache at the Israeli Embassy, represented the state of Israel at the event. Jill Gower, chair of the East Anglia Friends of Israel said: "I am thrilled that our new organisation will provide a platform for the existing support for Israel there is in East Anglia. It was a wonderful evening, and I believe a very important one for this region, as we all stood shoulder to shoulder to stand for righteousness and justice. Given the sad history of Norwich as the birthplace of the medieval blood libel, it was extremely moving for so many Christians to make a stand with us this evening against anti-semitism and intolerance." Hundreds of attendees at the event, which took place at Soul Church in Norwich, signed the Shalom Declaration which calls upon political leaders to combat anti-semitism and extremism across the world and promote positive ties with Israel. At the event, the new Friends of Israel group announced an informal twinning arrangement with Yezreel Valley College in the Galilee. There are plans for visits to the College and hosting college speakers in the UK. Board of Deputies of British Jews consultant Steven Jaffe said: "East Anglia Friends of Israel is the latest grassroots friends of Israel group to be launched in the UK, joining East Midlands Friends of Israel which was launched the previous week. These wonderful and energetic new groups demonstrate there is a national and growing movement in support of Israel in the UK. The event in Norwich was an outstanding and very moving show of support for Israel and the local Jewish community." Group member Rosemary English spoke for many when she said: "It was such an eventful evening . . . we left behind our history and came together with the Jewish community to show our support for Israel - so important at this time of increasing anti-semitism." Summing up the event, Paul McHenry, vice-chair of the East Anglia group, said: "After such an historic, emotional and unifying night, its time to begin the hard work putting words into action. Standing against anti-semitism and injustice, we shall work together with our Jewish brothers and sisters both here in East Anglia, the UK and in the State of Israel itself. Our present and our future is now a united one". Those taking part included Daniel Rosenthal and Marion Prinsley from the Norwich Synagogue and musicians Brenda Taylor and Juliet Dawn. MC for the evening was the Rev Nigel Fox following a welcome by Pastor Trevor Pimlott. Pictured above is the East Anglia Friends of Israel launch in Norwich and, above, Dan Golan and Stephen Jaffe shake hands with hundreds of people who came forward with their signed copies of the Shalom Declaration. Kansas Heart Hospital in Witchita was hit with ransomware last week. The ransomware attack occurred on Wednesday, and the KWCH 12 news video from Friday night said some files were still inaccessible by the hospital. Hospital President Dr. Greg Duick refused to disclose the ransom amount and the ransomware variant. He said, I'm not at liberty because it's an ongoing investigation, to say the actual exact amount. A small amount was made. Yes, the hospital paid the ransom. No, the hackers didnt decrypt the filesat least it was described as not returning full access to the files. Instead, the attackers asked for another ransom. This time the hospital refused to pay because it was no longer a wise maneuver or strategy. + Also on Network World: Ransomware-like tech support scam locks screen, labels Windows product key as invalid + Supposedly the hospital had a plan for this type of attack and implemented it immediately. Duick claimed, I think it helped in minimizing the amount of damage the encrypted agent could do. Wouldnt a plan include backups? Maybe the backups were not air-gapped? At any rate, despite the plan, the hospital paid the ransom only to have the attackers attempt to extort another. Its unknown if Duick is a highly technical individual who understands ransomware and is giving seriously dumbed-down explanations or if he is repeating what he was told. For example, he described ransomware as this: It would be like you're working on your computer and all of a sudden, your computer says, sorry can't help you anymore. It became widespread throughout the institution. The patient information never was jeopardized, and we took measures to make sure it wouldn't be, Duick said. Hopefully those measures were better than the hospitals disaster recovery plan. Patients' treatment not affected Unlike some ransomware attacks on hospitals, which resulted in long delays due to being thrown back to old-school pen and paper records and caused the rerouting of incoming patients to a different hospital, Duick said the ransomware never impacted treatment for Kansas Heart Hospital patients. After being a victim of a crypto spanking, it helped the hospital strengthen its response to future hackers. Hopefully that includes air-gapped backups. Or perhaps the hospital did have a decent plan and one of its employees opened a phishing email to become infected during the process of converting to a new backup system. Thats what happened to Tulsa attorney Grayson Barnes. He told Tulsa World, It was a short window when they could have encrypted the files, and it happened to be the time that they did. Generally, we back up every evening. But it wasnt just a days work product. It was the entire firms history. Because that was the case, the firm paid the ransom. FBI Special Agent Chad Knapp told Tulsa World, the bad guys behind the ransomware are typically overseas. They know where to hit because they are doing their reconnaissance, he said. Knapp said he was aware of ransoms as high as $50,000 nationally, before adding that some ransoms are even higher. Last week on Ransomware InfoDay, Microsoft revealed that the United States is the top ransomware target with 320,948 infected systems, followed by Italy's 78,948 ransomware infections and 45,840 in Canada. While talking about ransomware and how organized crime is going after the low-hanging fruit, Dr. John Hale, a University of Tulsa cybersecurity expert, added: I could attack 20,000 individuals or small companies who I know dont have security in place and dont have backup procedures, and I could [get] $500 each from them and I could come up with a pretty good payday without worrying about either getting caught or lack of success. Were seeing it as a definite up trend. Whats interesting is that its crossing multiple sectors now. The way our cars are computerized, the next ransomware attack may be in that area. You want to start your car? Pay me $300. Were headed that way. Other experts have predicted large-scale ransomware attacks on cars with the infection hitting a manufacturing plant or car dealership. Decrypters released for TeslaCrypt, 777, Xorist and GhostCrypt While it might not help Kansas Heart Hospital, there is good news for TeslaCrypt victims. After ESET security researchers asked the cyber thugs behind TeslaCrypt for the universal master decryption key, the crooks gave it to them. The attackers said the TeslaCrypt project is closed and they are sorry. ESET then created a free decrypting tool for all TeslaCrypt variants between 3.0.0 and 4.2, as well instructions for using it. Last week, Emsisoft also released free decryption tools, one for 777 ransomware and one for Xorist. Rasomware 8Lock8 was no sooner discovered than a decrypter was released. Michael Gillespie, the same malware expert who released the fix for 8Lock8, also released a decrypter for GhostCrypt. While those are fine examples of good news for victims, there seems to be no end to new ransomware being discovered. Related video: Ransomware marketplaces and the future of malware Business / Local by Staff Reporter The African Development Bank has lauded recent measures taken by Zimbabwe's Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank to halt currency flight and re-engage with the IMF.Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa, RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya and other officials recently updated AfDB president Dr Akinwumi Adesina on developments in Zimbabwe ahead of a scheduled meetin in Lusaka, Zambia.According to the Africa News website, Minister Chinamasa briefed Dr Adesina on the imminent introduction of bond notes as part of a cocktail of measures to curb capital, and efforts to promote production and exports in view of external factors like declining commodity prices and a strong US dollar.They also discussed progress made with the IMF Staff Monitoring Programme, particularly in the areas of fiscal consolidation, financial governance, and economic reforms.Dr Adesina reportedly welcomed the measures as critical, especially now that the country was on the verge of completing its re-engagement process.He congratulated Minister Chinamasa for his leadership in the re-engagement process, and reassured him that the AfDB would continue to support the country, including through its private sector window, in providing energy, food security, infrastructure rehabilitation, and reviving industry; adding that Zimbabwe was key to Southern Africa's economic growth.Minister Chinamasa updated Dr Adesina on financial arrangements which will be presented in Lusaka made by Zimbabwe to clear its foreign arrears.He also stressed the importance of a time line for concluding the process with international financial institutions in order to consolidate the gains made on the reforms. News / International by Thulani Nkala Yesterday, on the 21st May 2016, Dr Churchill Mpiyezwe Guduza delivered a lecture to a group of Mthwakazians in London, Pimlico. In his lecture he delved on various issues affecting Mthwakazi, taking a historical perspective and he finally concluded his lecture by giving possible solutions for the way forward.In this brief analysis I will focus on one issue which Dr Guduza raised in his lecture, which is the issue of how Mthwakazi identity and memory was lost.Dr Guduza narrated the origins of Mthwakazi nation, taking a chronological order of the events which contributed to building/creation of Mthwakazi, starting from the time when King Mzilikazi Khumalo and his people were still in kwaZulu in South Africa. When Mzilikazi left kwaZulu he settled in Trasnvaal and his capital was in what is now called Pretoria/Tshwane. He ruled over a very huge territory. During this time he fought against King Dingane Zulu and the Boers.Dr Guduza narrated how Mzilikazi and his people moved to Mthwakazi, mentioned internal strife, hopes, civil war which the young but vibrant nation faced.The 1890 battle of Mbembesi/Gadade unleashed a great blow to the nation; the Mthwakazi nation faced its first defeat at the hands of Mr Cecil John Rhodes' BSAC company. Dr Guduza argues that this defeat and occupation of the Mthwakazi nation did not destroy nor erase the identity and Mthwakazi memory, as witnessed by the subsequent uprisings and the people's pride and culture was still intact.The late 1950s and 1960s are seen as the crucial years which led to the loss of the Mthwakazi identity. The nationalist politics played a pivotal role in erasing the Mthwakazi memory."ZAPU and Dr Nkomo were captured by Shona intellectuals who defined the ideology and vision of the liberation struggle" Dr Guduza stated.Dr Guduza argues that the Shona intellectuals defined the ideology and vision of the struggle in a very intelligent and cunning manner to the extent that many Mthwakazi people bought in to the vision without questioning it. The Shona intellectuals always knew that the new vision they were espousing was to erase the Mthwakazi identity and memory.The biggest ideological idea at this time was the notion of fighting for a concept called 'Zimbabwe', but from the very inception this concept was at the expense of the Mthwakazi identity but instead supported the Shona hegemony. Therefore the liberation struggle which was fought in what became Zimbabwe had nothing to do with the freedom of the Mthwakazi people.The anger against the white colonialists and the euphoria of the liberation struggle helped the Shona intellectuals to smuggle the Shona nationalism as Zimbabwe nationalism, which at that time was described as a country for all the indigenous and oppressed masses. The name ZAPU then emerged.The Lancaster House negotiations are seen as a lost opportunity to retrieve and recover the lost Mthwakazi identity and memory. Instead of Dr Nkomo and ZAPU taking wise counsel from Chief Khayisa Ndiweni for Nkomo to negotiate for a separate Mthwakazi state, due to Nkomo having surrounded himself with Shona intellectuals and leadership, it was difficult for him to break loose and redefine the Mthwakazi political trajectory to self-independence.Dr Joshua Nkomo's populism blinded him to the political realities and was unable to read between the lines that the Zimbabwe ideology in actual fact equated to Shona nationalism to the exclusion of Mthwakazi nationalism.In my next instalment I will focus on a number of models and strategies proposed by Dr Guduza in recovering the lost Mthwakazi identity and memory. News / Local by Staff Reporter Opposition MDC-T Bulawayo province is reportedly recruiting desperate unemployed youths in the city to make up numbers for its planned demonstration next Saturday.The party is said to be promising funding for various projects if they participate.The Sunday News reports that party is going around the districts, training the youths on MDC-T slogans and chant songs to be sang during the demonstration.On Thursday the opposition party got the green light to stage its planned demonstration in the city after High Court Judge, Justice Martin Makonese ordered the police not to interfere or interrupt the march noting that the police were being unreasonable and infringing on the people's rights to freely demonstrate.The party's provincial leadership led by its youth chairperson, ward one councillor Mlandu Ncube were busy on a recruitment drive to avoid a flop which will expose the waning fortunes of the party.Party sources revealed that the organisation was also considering hiring buses for people from other provinces who will pretend to be from Bulawayo during the demonstration."Previously the party strongly relied on its relation with the Bulawayo Progressive Residents' Association but with the high levels of corruption that have been levelled against Bulawayo councillors led by the provincial chairperson, who is the city's Deputy Mayor, Councillor Gift Banda, this relation has turned to the worst."The party now has no option than to look for other ways of recruiting people to attend the demonstration. Further they are looking for people they will trust not to turn the demonstration into an opportunity to question Clr Banda and his councillors hence the move to train and dangle a carrot of promise of fund injections after the march," said the source.Another source further claimed that the party was snubbing members of the MDC Veteran Activist Association with fears that they might fuel factional fights during the demonstration."It is a known fact that the province is already heavily divided therefore the party's vice president Ms Thokozani Khupe has told the leadership not to entertain any VAA members fearing that these people might embarrass them during the demonstration."The order is that if need be these members will be singled out and shown to police details with the purported charge of them attempting to disrupt the otherwise peaceful demonstration," said the source.The party's provincial organising secretary, Councillor James Sithole, confirmed that they were training people who would attend but said this was simple to train them on orderly conduct."Yes, we are training our members but it's on orderly conduct, we want our members to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner knowing that we are a peace loving party but for further details please contact our information department, they are the ones who are allowed to speak to the media," said Sithole. News / Local by Thobekile Zhou Thousands of Zimbabweans on medical aid are in fix in July as health facilities will stop accepting them.According to Zimbabwe Medical Association, the health centre's have to pay tax to Zimbabwe Revenue Authority on unpaid medical claims.This means patients have to pay cash upfront. News / National by Stephen Jakes The Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development Sithembiso Nyoni has said the government does not fund the cooperatives but encourages them to secure funds from the banks as legal entities.Speaking in parliament Nyoni said the basic principle underpinning cooperatives as a business model is that members pull their resources together for the purpose of achieving a common goal."This nurtures a deep sense of ownership in the membership which in Zimbabwean context is in line with the policy of empowerment and indigenisation," she said."It is in this spirit that the Ministry does not fund cooperatives. However, cooperatives themselves being legal entities can source funds from institutions such as banks and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Corporations."The minister said the Ministry also sources funds for cooperatives in the specific areas especially in the fishing, savings and credit sectors from development partners."This funding is not obligatory and is disbursed as and when it is available," she said. News / National by Stephen Jakes The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) Acting Commissioner General, Happias Kuzvinzwa, has urged the Authority's staff to be more professional, helpful and polite to clients as they carry out their statutory duties."You must always be helpful and courteous to the transacting public, no matter how tired you are," said Kuzvinzwa while addressing staff in Bulawayo on 20 May 2016.He further acknowledged that the Authority's clients are critical and important since they are the ones who make ZIMRA meet set revenue targets. As such, they deserve respect, courtesy and speed of service."Let us help members of the public to understand their rights and obligations. Talk to them in a nice and professional manner, without harassing them," added Kuzvinzwa.ZIMRA is in the process of enhancing its operational efficiency and effectiveness through a myriad of measures which include standardisation of systems and procedures through the ISO certification route. News / National by Stephen Jakes The Movement for Democratic Change MDC has dismissed President Robert Mugabe's attacks on the opposition and prediction of a Zanu PF victory in 2018 as 'a winter dream'.Party' spokesperson Kurauone Chihwayi said the MDC will not be distracted by any threats or any of Mugabe's theatrical talk meant to portray himself as 'the chosen one' when he is 'not the chosen one'."We have the people and the required formula to boot Mugabe out of office in a free and fair election with or without state sponsored political violence," he said."President Robert Mugabe is on his way out and only a mad person will vote for the fragmented and lifeless Zanu PF that has no chance of surviving future elections.The people of Zimbabwe should start working on the future without the tired and clueless Mugabe."He said President Robert Mugabe has evidently failed to eradicate corruption,resuscitate local industry,empower the people and productively organise and fund local farmers to promote food production."It is cheap politicking for Mugabe to say 'Opposition is wasting its time" instead of stepping down. Contrary to Mugabe assertions, the opposition in Zimbabwe is alive and working on a post Mugabe Era," he said."The MDC embraces the idea of an all inclusive bigger political project that will restore both economic and political sanity in Zimbabwe." Champaign, IL (61820) Today Rain likely. High 66F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Steady light rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 44F. S winds shifting to NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%. News / National by Staff Reporter President Robert Mugabe reportedly disclosed to relatives that his young wife Grace is strong-headed and he was forced to marry her to please his mother.Mugabe also says he is powerless to challenge most of her decisions for the sake of peace at home, a leaked audio recording of a family event has revealed.The 41-minute long recording was allegedly made at First Lady Grace Mugabe's graduation party on October 14 2014 after she controversially acquired a PhD at the University of Zimbabwe, The Standard reported.The paper said Mugabe also complained that Grace does not cook for him often enough and regularly changes staff that serve Zimbabwe's ruler since independence.He said Grace was always busy at her Mazowe orphanage and was hardly at home to cook for him."She [Grace] is strong-headed. She is someone who if she says I want this, she will not back down and you will have to give in, in order to maintain peace in the family."The recording was made at a time Grace was making her entry into politics where she has caused headaches for Mugabe.After a few months, the veteran ruler was forced to dump some of his long-time allies such as Joice Mujuru and Didymus Mutasa. This came after Grace organised rallies across the country demanding their ejection from the party and government.Grace has also been identified as one of the people causing factionalism that is threatening to destroy Zanu PF. Mugabe also justifies his controversial marriage to Grace in the recording, saying his mother pressured him to have children."My mother wanted to see my child. She said to me, your wife is sick and I want to see your child.I thought about it and concluded that it was good for my mother to see my child before she dies," he said."She saw Omar (Bona) and I think where ever she is, she is happy. That was the reason why I married Grace."Sally had been told by doctors that she would die in 10 years and after 10 years; she did as the doctors had rightly seen," Mugabe said."That is why I did that. I saw her in 1992, she was a young girl of about 21 working in our office. We formally married in 1996 but we had been together."He said Grace was determined and he had to allow her to go to school because he wanted her to help him in doing businesses."Her going to school was good news to me. I wanted her to help us with doing business. She has always been hardworking," Mugabe said."She once had a shop, and we helped her. She later gave the shop to her sister, Mai Gumbochuma. So she has always had a business mind."He indicated Grace was also in the habit of hiring and firing cooks."I am a guinea pig; they learn how to cook on me. I sometimes say, don't you take cooks from hotels, but they can't because they will need to be vetted by the security guys," he said."Sometimes that food is badly cooked that you tend to wonder if that will be the food prepared for a president of the people."He also revealed that Bona (25) never prepared a meal at home before her marriage to Simba Chikore last year. "Omar left before he prepared sadza for me. The ball is in your court Simba, you will have to teach each other," he said."We are used to sadza, not potatoes. But don't come back saying she cannot prepare sadza because I have warned you."We will hit you with a knobkerrie," Mugabe said, amid wild slaughters from the audience." Mugabe often gives insights into him private life during televised interviews to mark his birthdays but rarely goes into detail about his marriage to Grace. Immunology - and the idea that many diseases can best be addressed by boosting the body's own immune response - is one of the hottest areas in medical research and clinical treatment. University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Chiba University School of Medicine in Japan have announced a new collaborative research center to investigate the most promising aspects of immunology, especially the area of ok immunology, and to speed development of clinical applications. The Chiba University-UC San Diego Immunology Initiative and associated research center, to be based at UC San Diego School of Medicine, will be established with a $2 million contribution from Chiba University, the funding allocated over five years together with support from UC San Diego. "This agreement reflects our shared interest in furthering scientific understanding of the human immune system, what happens when things go wrong and how best to remedy them," said David Brenner, MD, vice chancellor, UC San Diego Health Sciences and dean of the School of Medicine. "The microbiome has a major impact upon human health, particularly mucosal immune responses that affect virtually every type of disease, from acute and chronic conditions like infection, allergy, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis to type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and cancer. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are affected by immune system dysfunction so the need to find new, effective treatments is incredibly powerful and compelling." The effort, which will be co-directed by Peter Ernst, DVM, PhD, professor of pathology at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and Hiroshi Kiyono, DDS, PhD, professor, University of Tokyo and Chiba University, will involve exchanges of faculty, researchers, staff and students. Initial joint projects will focus on medical and veterinary science, vaccine development, allergy, inflammation, infectious diseases, mucosal immunology and the interactions between mucosal immunity and commensal microbiota that promote health. "This is a collaboration of partners, both with a deep interest in advancing immunology research across disciplines," said Ernst, who also directs the Center for Veterinary Sciences and Comparative Medicine. "The topics we are grappling with are global in scale. We want to be leaders in both understanding mucosal immunology and in how to use that knowledge to prevent and treat a vast array of diseases such as infectious, allergic and inflammatory diseases. We want to cultivate the next generation of scientists, here, in Japan and around the world." Specifically, the agreement outlines creation of multiple affiliated laboratories with principal investigators at Chiba University, UC San Diego and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, which last year formed a multi-year partnership with UC San Diego to boost collaborative basic research of immune system diseases. The Chiba-UC San Diego initiative would also contribute to a new graduate program in immunology. "Through collaboration and combined resources, we hope to develop new concepts and technologies that ultimately lead to development a preventive vaccine against infectious diseases, allergies and cancers, boosting the body's ability to block the transmission of agents entering through mucous membranes," said Takeshi Tokuhisa, MD, PhD, president of Chiba University. "It would be a new approach to next-generation vaccines." Doctors worried about dangerous blood clots in patients undergoing a coronary artery procedure such as angioplasty to treat a heart attack will often administer antiplatelet therapy to head off complications. But pre-procedural use of antiplatelet agents P2Y12 inhibitors is becoming less routine, according to registry results presented by the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center at EuroPCR, the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions conference in Paris. Over a 30-month period, the initial administration of P2Y12 inhibitors in the pre-procedural time period declined from 49.3 percent to 24.8 percent across a consortium of 47 Michigan hospitals. More and more, doctors are administering the initial dose of P2Y12 inhibitor therapy during or after the procedures and their patients have remained protected against stent thrombosis, bleeding, the need for transfusion and death. Researchers studied 74,053 patients undergoing PCI between January 2013 through June 2015 at hospitals that contribute data to the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Cardiovascular Consortium (BMC2). There were no significant differences in in-hospital outcomes between patients treated with pre-procedural P2Y12 inhibitors compared to those who were not treated with pre-procedural P2Y12 inhibitor therapy, the data showed. Importantly, these findings remained consistent in the subgroup of patients undergoing PCI who presented with acute coronary syndrome, from unstable angina to the most damaging heart attacks called STEMI. Changes in P2Y12 inhibitor administration Historically clopidogrel has been the most widely used P2Y12 inhibitor. Its limitations, such as response variability, are well known, however. Partly due to these limitations, two new P2Y12 inhibitors, ticagrelor and prasugrel, were developed and have a faster onset of action and achieve higher levels of platelet inhibition than clopidogrel. Of the 24,733 patients who received a pre-procedural P2Y12 inhibitor, data shows 82 percent received clopidogrel, 8 percent prasugrel and 10 percent ticagrelor. The optimal timing of P2Y12 inhibitor administration relative to PCI remains a topic of continued research and ongoing debate, says Devraj Sukul, M.D., a University of Michigan cardiology fellow who presented the study in Paris. As pre-procedural P2Y12 inhibitor use has declined, there was an increase in the initial administration of P2Y12 inhibitors in the intra- or post-procedural time periods from 48.8 percent in the first quarter of 2013 to 71.4 percent in the second quarter of 2015. Interventional cardiologist Hitinder Gurm, M.D., associate chief of cardiovascular medicine at U-M, leads the BMC2 quality improvement registry that revealed the changing pattern in patient care. "While more work is needed to determine the optimal timing in patients undergoing PCI, the current approach of increasingly reserving the use of these drugs after the patient enters the cath lab appears to be as effective and safe as pre-procedural administration," he says. Aditya Sachdeva, the youngster killed in a road rage in Bihar's Gaya allegedly by the son of a Janata Dal United MLC, secured 69.6% marks in the CBSE class 12 board exam. The results were announced on Saturday. Aditya wanted to become a chef and pursue a career in hotel management. As soon as his results were declared, his parents were grief-stricken once again. Hi father Shyamsundar Sachdeva and mother Chand did not come out of their house in Gaya. Aditya's elder brother Akash Sachdeva checked out the result and found that he had scored 69.6%. Aditya was killed on the night of May 7 when his car reportedly overtook JDU MLC Manorama Devi's son Rakesh Ranjan Yadav alias Rocky Yadav's Land Rover. Yadav allegedly shot him dead following an altercation. Devi's husband Bindeshwar Prasad Yadav alias Bindi Yadav, a notorious strongman and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, is in the jail in connection with the murder. She was suspended from the ruling JDU for allegedly storing liquor bottles at her residence despite prohibition in the state. She has been booked under the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016. She is also accused of harbouring her son who allegedly killed the class 12 student. She, too, is in jail along with Rocky. Modi's formal talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are scheduled for Monday morning after a ceremonial welcome for him. Ahead of his arrival, Modi in a series of tweets said, "Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority." Invoking India's "civilisational ties" with Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew on a two-day visit, saying his talks with the Iranian leadership would provide him an opportunity to advance the "strategic partnership" between the two countries.On the first day of his visit that is expected to strengthen trade, investment and energy ties with Iran, Modi began his engagements paying obeisance to the capital city's only functioning gurudwara.Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to travel to Iran in 15 years on a bilateral visit after Atal Bihari Vajpayee, offered obeisance at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara and also spoke to the head priest.He applauded the efforts of the Sikh community in the Persian Gulf nation for preserving and spreading the culture and tradition of India."We accept all the people as our own and absorb them in our society because we believe in the philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' -- the entire world is one family. Animated by this spirit, we Indians make every country our home," Modi told the gathering at the gurudwara.In 2012, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a visit here to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit could not visit the gurudwara, but his wife Gursharan Kaur paid her respects there.After landing in Tehran, Modi tweeted, "Reached Iran, a land with whom India shares civilisational ties. Hope to enhance economic partnership between our nations. I also hope my Iran visit further cements cultural and people-to-people ties between India and Iran.""My meetings with President Rouhani and Hon'ble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership," the Prime Minister added.Modi's visit is expected to see India and the Persian Gulf nation working on enhancing economic partnership that includes a possible deal on developing the strategic Chabahar port.Modi was received at the Mehrabad International Airport here by Iran's Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia. Guwahati: NCERT will place before its Textbook Development Committee a proposal to include tea as a chapter in its textbooks following a request by the North East Tea Association (NETA) in this regard. NETA had appealed to the Union Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Zubin Irani to include a chapter on Tea and its role in the economy and society in the school textbooks, its advisor Bidyanand Barkakoty said. In its reply, NCERT had said in a letter the National Education Policy was in the process of being formulated and as a follow-up, curriculum framework and other teaching learning materials would be developed. This would be placed before the Textbook Development Committee during revision of textbooks, the letter said. Contents related to tea have been already included at relevant places in all geography textbooks from Class VI to Class VIII, it said. Tea is an important crop in the country and keeping this in view, geographic conditions for its cultivation and tea leaves harvesting by women have been illustrated through textbooks. Distribution of tea areas in the country has also been shown through maps, the letter added. Barkakoty in his letter to Irani said India was the largest producer and the largest consumer of black tea in the world, growing about 25% of the world's total tea. The 109-year old tea industry is one of the largest employers in the organised sector in the country with 50 per cent of workers being women. Hence Indian tea industry is the single largest employer of women. Eighty three per cent households in India consume tea and the penetration of tea in Indian household is in the range of 96 to 99% in both urban and rural areas, he said. New York: Just adopting a healthy lifestyle by refraining from drinking alcohol and smoking, maintaining a healthy body weight and exercising regularly can help you keep deadly cancer at bay, new research reaffirms. About 20-40 percent of cancer cases could potentially be prevented through modifications to adopt a healthy lifestyle, the study found. A large proportion of cancer cases and deaths can be prevented if people quit smoking, avoided heavy drinking, maintained a body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 and 27.5, and got moderate weekly exercise for at least 150 minutes or vigorous exercise for at least 75 minutes, the study said. The research, published online in the journal JAMA Oncology, analysed data from two study groups of White individuals to examine the associations between a 'healthy lifestyle pattern' and cancer incidence and death. Mingyang Song and Edward Giovannucci from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, conducted the study that included 89,571 women and 46,399 men. A 'healthy lifestyle pattern' was defined as never or past smoking; no or moderate drinking of alcohol; one or less drink a day for women, two or less drinks a day for men; BMI of at least 18.5 but lower than 27.5; and weekly aerobic physical activity of at least 150 minutes moderate intensity or 75 minutes vigorous intensity. Individuals who met all four criteria were considered low risk and everyone else was high risk, the researchers advised. The results revealed that 16,531 women and 11,731 had a healthy lifestyle pattern (low-risk group) and the remaining 73,040 women and 34,608 men were high risk. The researcehrs estimated that about 20 percent to 40 percent of cancer cases and about half of cancer deaths could potentially be prevented through modifications to adopt the healthy lifestyle pattern of the low-risk group. "These findings reinforce the predominate importance of lifestyle factors in determining cancer risk. Therefore, primary prevention should remain a priority for cancer control," the authors noted. Mumbai: Actor Om Puri has praised fellow actor Nana Patekar's initiatives to help the distressed farmers in the country, but said a lot more needs to be done for their welfare. "People, in their personal capacity, have made a contribution, like Nana Patekar, and there are others as well. Nana not just provided financial help, he even embraced the farmers and shed tears with them, consoled them." Puri said it is still like putting a drop into the ocean. "This should be thought about very seriously, not just by the government but also us people," Puri said at the trailer and poster launch of the film 'Project Marathwada'. It was reported that Patekar had given financial help to more than 100 drought-affected families in Maharashtra in August last year and later set up his own foundation - Naam Foundation - for the cause. The foundation has been working hard for the cause since then. Puri plays a farmer in Marathwada - one of the worst drought-affected areas - in the film. He threatens to commit suicide and catches the government's attention, after his son commits suicide due to financial troubles caused by drought. About his preparation for the role, he said: "It's been 60 years of acting for me. We know about the farmers' issues as you read about the same in newspapers, see it on TV... you see farmers talking about it; so I didn't have to do any preparation. My only preparation was to grow my beard a bit." He also advocated water conservation. "We should utilise water better. Where water is more, we should divert it and create small rivers, just like we're making roads to connect villages and cities." 'Project Marathwada' also stars Govind Namdeo, Dalip Tailp, Seema Biswas among others. New Delhi: Clashes erupted between the BJP and Left workers outside the CPM office in Delhi on Sunday afternoon. BJP has been targeting the Left over the alleged attacks on its workers in Kerala in the run up to the polls. However, the CPM has denied all the charges levelled by the BJP and filed a police complaint in connection with the incident. "CPM condemns the sort of vandalism that BJP has launched," CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said. Several police teams were deployed and a four-tier security arrangement was made around the CPM office. CPM workers had also come out of the building to confront the protesters and a minor scuffle broke out when a group of BJP workers broke police barriers and damaged the signboard at the CPM headquarters. "Around 600 people have been detained under provisions of law and the situation is under control," DCP (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal said. A BJP delegation also met President Pranab Mukherjee to raise this issue. BJP chief Amit Shah had on Saturday accused the Left Front of "violating" the people's mandate. BJP had said it will not sit quiet if the "cycle of violence" continues in the state as it claimed that it has emerged as a powerful alternative voice to the two main fronts led by CPM and Congress. New Delhi: The CBI on Sunday asked Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat to appear before the agency on May 24 in connection with a probe into the sting operation involving him. Rawat has been asked to appear on Tuesday, official sources said. The CBI had last week rejected the Uttarakhand government's notification withdrawing the case related to the sting operation. The agency had said the notification was rejected after taking legal opinion, which said there was no ground for its withdrawal and it was "not legally tenable". The CBI will continue its preliminary inquiry into the episode that allegedly involved horse trading attempts to save the Rawat government. CBI had registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) on April 29 to probe the "sting operation" purportedly showing Rawat offering bribes to rebel Congress lawmakers to support him during a floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly. The agency had summoned Rawat for examination for May 9 but he had sought more time after which he won the floor test and returned to power. Rawat has denied the allegation and called the video fake after it was released by the rebel Congress legislators but later admitted that he was on camera in the sting operation. After Rawat's victory in the floor test, the state cabinet met on May 15 and withdrew the notification recommending a CBI probe into a sting operation involving him. Instead, the state cabinet decided to constitute a Special Investigating Team to probe the case as it was a state subject. The case was handed over to the CBI when President's Rule was imposed in the state. The notification was withdrawn immediately after Rawat proved his majority in the Assembly and his government was restored. The Chief Minister had failed to get a reprieve from Uttarakhand High Court also which had refused to quash the ongoing CBI probe into the sting operation. On May 20, Justice Sarvesh Kumar Gupta of the Uttarakhand High Court had said quashing the CBI probe into the sting CD at this stage was not possible. Rumblings have surfaced within the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. RJD MP Mohammad Taslimuddin has hit out at the Nitish Kumar government saying it has failed to ensure law and order in the state. "His first job is administration, to give security. Is it happening? Banks are being looted, journalists are being killed, what is this? He said will give a clean administration, people are in distress today, who is responsible? Who will stop the crimes, isn't it his job?" Taslimuddin questioned. News / National by Thobekile Zhou Top Zanu PF officials including Women League Deputy Secretary Eunice Sandi-Moyo dramatically fell sick on Saturday in suspected food poisoning.Bulawayo24.com is reliably informed that guests suddenly complained of stomach-aches soon after eating at Godlwayo Cultural Centre in Insiza's Avoca, Matabeleland South.Insiza hosted the launch of the National Culture Week which was presided over by Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko.Soon after eating, trouble set in.Sources said scores of VIPs are nursing 'serious running tummies'.Sandi-Moyo, on her way back to Bulawayo routinely stopped her convoy, dashing to the bush to relive herself. Finally, the torrid political summer in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal is over. The heat and dust of the campaign trail and results have now settled down and leaders with fresh mandates have taken charge. Just like every other elections, these will also have a political impact. Two years ago the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power at the Centre. It promised then to rid India of a 'Congress Mukt Bharat' and to become the principal political party in the entire country. While the Delhi and Bihar defeats suggested that the BJP juggernaut had hit a roadblock, the latest results throw up one big headline. The BJP is now India's single most important political party. A few months ago, commentators worried that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was facing growing public disillusionment. But the 2016 elections results should reduce that speculation. The significance of the BJP 's big victory of these elections, the triumph in Assam, is that it marks the party's rise in the East. For years, the Jan Sangh, and its successor the BJP, were mocked as urban, cow belt parties. But that characterisation is no longer accurate. The results also mark a change of style for the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah team. This time around, it's less about Modi's personal appeal and more about strategy. Assam In Assam, the party won through patient alliance building and by attracting defectors from the Congress. The victory was as much about tactics as it was about charisma. "I think after the defeat of Delhi and Bihar, BJP really went into a lot of rethinking. They had set up a war-room in Guwahati for months which was headed by Ram Madhav. They put together a coalition, a social coalition, where they had tribals like the Bodos, the Rabhas and the Teevas. They had the AGP which ruled Assam for 10 years earlier. The BJP which had a lot of new faces, had a lot of people who have come over from Congress with Himanta Biswa Sarma who was Tarun Gogoi's best man and that worked really well for the BJP-led alliance. They made sure that they didn't concentrate or focus on only one region of Assam but they had their presence and footprint in all parts of Assam and that's how they got such huge numbers," Kishalay Bhattacharjee, a senior journalist. The Assam strategy is generally attributed to BJP president Amit Shah. Though Shah has been under attack after the Delhi and Bihar Assembly election defeats and the Uttarakhand fiasco, the Assam victory should silence his critics. He already had Modi's confidence. Now, he is clearly India's second most powerful men. Kerala With one seat in the new Assembly and a astonishing voteshare of 14.4%, the BJP has finally broken through in Kerala, one state where it had always failed to make much headway. "One thing is very sure whether you like it or not, Narendra Modi as a PM, as an icon has had an effect on the youth of Kerala. That's the truth. And it's a very tangible change that we can see among the young of this generation. There is a kind of paradigm shift towards another sort of politics, another sort of playing games on their own turf. I think the number of votes garnered by BJP in the other states, I mean the other constituencies, is an indicator of things that are going to come, that are going to become more palpable in the Lok Sabha elections which will be there," says Anoop Menon, an actor. "There was this benefit of doubt that everybody gave to both the major fronts -- LDF and UDF -- that they might at the end of the day topple BJP's aspirations. But somehow, because from the time in memorial, I can say because from the time I remember, never ever has national politics had any bearing on Kerala politics and that is one of the reasons that BJP never had stronghold in Kerala. The people of Kerala much like people of Tamil Nadu are more into this regional kind of thing, they are more into the immediate surrounding rather than the national agenda and national proliferations, says Menon. The Congress is in deep, deep trouble. The only major state it rules is Karnataka and is shrinking fast. At present 35.5% of the population of India lives in states controlled by the BJP. In contrast, only 7% of the population lives in Congress-ruled states. Politics is about ups and downs. But the crisis of the Congress is not that it is down. The worry is that it doesn't seem to be able to find the way up. After 10 years of Congress rule at the Centre and in so much of India, a few people imagined that the Congress would decline so fast. It has only 45 MPs in the Lok Sabha and has lost nine successive state elections. The BJP can now afford to scoff at what was once a formidable opponent. "From our own strength we have majority in the Lok Sabha. Along with our allies we have our government in 15 states of the country. Geographically our state government covers about 45% of India's population and contradistinctive with the lowest ever point for the Congress. It lost state after state and is reduced 45 seats in Parliament. I am told that the population its state governments cover now is about 7-8% of India. So having taken a very obstructionist view in the last two years, having taken several fringe position in the last two years, the Congress now finds itself in state after state pushed to the margins. But the big question is is the Congress the new third front," says Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. "The argument is that together out of the 794 assembly segments that were there in the four states, the two national parties won 214 in 2014 and one only 164 on May 19. So there's a decline of national parties. And more specifically from a BJP's perspective, it was very very important for the party to have expanded its footprint to in the larger states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Actually if you look at these state, the BJP won 24 Assembly segments in West Bengal in the 2014 elections but they won three; in Kerala they four in 2014 but won only one in 2016. In Tamil Nadu, BJP won seven in 2014 but they won nothing on May 19. So in a context of expanding footprint in the larger states that has not really played out. Hence, purely in the context of 2019 elections, it is not clear to me that this a good news for both the national parties -- BJP and Congress. Perhaps, it's worse for BJP than the Congress," says Praveen Chakravathi, fellow in political economy. Tamil Nadu First of all, freebies are here to stay. Despite the criticism of J Jayalalithaa's freebie package for voters, it was the freebies that helped her buck the trends of recent history and win a second successive term. "I would rather call freebies a welfare scheme and this is something that all Tamil Nadu governments have had for a long time. While it does not make financial sense because now the Tamil Nadu government has a massive debt but is does make sense on the ground. Because when unemployment is there, income is not being created, then welfare schemes do actually help rural families make ends meet. So it does have value for all parties and Jayalalithaa knows this very well," says Rohini Mohan, a journalist associated with The Wire. Corruption No Issue Secondly, corruption only a big issue for the media. But there is little evidence that it matters that much to the majority of voters. Mamata Banerjee won with the biggest landslide. Throughout her term, her party has been haunted by the spectre of corruption, from the Saradha scam to the recent Narada sting operation which showed her ministers accepting money on camera. "Well, I think the corruption scandals were, you know, found more room in the media in Delhi and in Calcutta or in the urban class. In rural Bengal, I don't think the scams or those corruption charges or even the flyover coming down had any impact. The rural Bengal was happy with the kind of doles that she was giving out for example, bicycles to girl students. She had cash transferred after the Saradha scam to the victims and several other social sector schemes which she implemented. The roads were better in Bengal, several other deliverables that Mamata promised were given," says Kishalay. On the other hand Jayalalithaa was actually convicted by the High Court, had to resign as chief minister and spent several days in jail. Technically, she is still a convict only out on bail. "Therefore, when she was in jail, it was madness here with people attempting suicide and saying why would you keep such a leader in jail. It was actually a sign of her strength on the ground, her charisma and everything. But after she came back, there has not been very much performance on the ground and there has been talk of corruption but the disenchantment in the electorate, if there is any, comes from lack of performance. The corruption that Jayalalithaa represents is something of a stand-off with the corruption that the DMK represents. I have often heard a lot of people say that she is corrupt but then who is not? They are looking at when corruption is given, what they can get best out of a corrupt government," Rohini Mohan adds. None of this mattered at the elections. Jayalalithaa is back as Chief Minister and her followers are still falling at her feet. Thirdly, some of the old calculations about reaching out to the minorities will now have to be rethought. Consider the case of Assam where Muslims constitute up to 35% of the electorate. The Congress had always pooh-poohed the BJP's prospects in the state arguing that Muslims would never vote for it. Perhaps this was true. "Assam has 34% of Muslim populations and the BJP won many seats in Muslim-dominated areas. The party may have got even Muslim votes, one doesn't know that, but one of its candidates is a Muslim candidate and you know, the Muslim vote as a monolith in Assam - that myth has been busted because there are many Muslims in Assam. It doesn't work like what AIUDF and Badruddin Ajmal in Assam tried to do. In fact, Ajmal himself lost his seat," says Kishalay. But the BJP-AGP-BPF alliance in Assam shows that if a party is able to consolidate the non-Muslim vote then it does not need to reach out the minorities. The consequences of this are profound. Many people have advised the BJP to build bridges with Muslims and to silence the more strident Hindu voice. Now, the Hindutva wing of the BJP will argue that there is nothing to be gained from softening the religious rhetoric. The BJP can win anyway on the basis of Hindu votes alone. "I have done some data work and looked at around districts where there are significant Muslim population and BJP's performance and more specifically in the case of Bihar elections in 2015, it is very evident that in districts where the Muslim population is 30% and above, the BJP actually does better than in other districts where the Muslim percentage is lower. So there is some evidence to say that BJP's performance in some heavily Muslim populated districts is better and one can argue that perhaps because there is some sort of consolidation in the anti-Muslim vote towards BJP," adds Chakravathi. Fourthly, there will be a shift in morale among the parties. The BJP is now riding high and Congress is demoralised. Though these elections will not significantly alter the balance in the Rajya Sabha, they give the BJP the moral and psychological advantage when it comes to pushing through legislation. The BJP has won only a single state but it has gained much more in terms of political advantage at the Centre. But why should you care? Well you should care because, no matter which side you are on, these results do not suggest that we are turning into a democracy where issues matter. What the elections suggest instead is that corruption, governance and inclusiveness are not poll issues. What matter are freebies, populism and the cult of personality. So yes, there's lots to cheer about for the individual winners and their parties. But there's also enough to worry about for the rest of us. London: An Easyjet flight was forced to divert a flight from Glasgow to Toulouse in France because of rowdy passengers. The budget airline said the flight, which left Scotland on Saturday evening for Palma in Spain, was redirected to Toulouse in France "due to the disruptive behaviour of a group of passengers". They were escorted off the plane by police. The flight then continued to Palma. Passengers on the return leg to Glasgow were delayed overnight as a result, a report said. In a statement, the budget airline said: "EasyJet can confirm that flight EZY6895 from Glasgow to Palma on 21 May diverted to Toulouse due to the disruptive behaviour of a group of passengers onboard. "The safety and well being of customers and crew is always our priority and upon landing the passengers were escorted off the aircraft by police. The aircraft then continued to Palma. "As a result of the diversion the crew were unable to operate the return flight to Glasgow as it would exceed their legal operating hours. "The flight has been delayed overnight and passengers have been provided with accommodation and meals. "We would like to apologise to passengers for any inconvenience caused by the diversion." GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us. News / National by Religion Reporter RENOWNED AMERICAN televangelist and author Dr Creflo Dollar, who led a business delegation to Zimbabwe last week, defended pastors and prophets who are preaching the gospel of prosperity.Traditional churches have strongly criticised the prosperity gospel which is seen by conservative Christians as a way of ripping off congregants.Addressing a combined church and business meeting in Harare last week, Dr Dollar said pastors also deserved to lead prosperous lives."When we preach about prosperity many people say it is the prosperity gospel, I want to tell you today that there is no such thing as the prosperity gospel, rather it is the gospel of grace," Dr Dollar said."The money in my pocket is not mine, it's God's. It came from Him. He is the source behind everything we have that is good. Even if people say I am rich, I know that I am not the source of my success; it all came through grace that Jesus exhibited at the cross."If there is one thing that is just so clear that need no interpretation at all when it comes to the message of Jesus, it is His condemnation of poverty among His people."It's only that other Christians are still living in the Old Testament where the law was still in action. I am glad that God gave me the grace to understand that we are now living under grace and I can have everything that I desire through faith."The charismatic preacher said living in poverty had nothing to do with Godliness or God-likeness."To be poor, or impoverished, means to be without; in lack; deprived'. You and I don't serve a God of lack and insufficiency. Name it; Claim it!' this is our mantra. And the number of good things God dishes out-whether be it a lucrative job, promotion or even physical healing depends entirely upon your faith (sometimes shown by how much you're willing to give first)," said Dr Dollar. He also criticised prophets who deceived their congregants."When a prophet says something it must not be new, it must not be your first time to hear it. People have to be careful of gimmicks that are being used by some modern prophets because we should know that we will never bribe God to get what we want. People should not be desperate for results but you should have faith and it will be well."Heartfelt Ministries International leader Apostle Tavonga Vutabwashe, who hosted Dr Dollar said, "I have been longing to meet him (Dr Dollar) from the day I started my ministry and I am glad today that finally my prayer has been answered."Dr Dollar will go out there and publicise our nation, the peace that he witnessed, the warm welcome, the hospitality and the friendless of our people this will in a way promote religious tourism." Author seeks to encourage, bless and entertain If you are looking for a local Christian fiction novel to read, then God be with you. It is that void that writer Natasha Coker Jones is seeking to help fill with her debut novel When the Poui Blooms. Sunday Newsday chatted with her about the book and how she got into writing. She explained that her parents instilled a love for reading in her from an early age, as they bought her books and read to her. A lot of Enid Blyton (books), she recalled. She also recalled waking up to the smell of cardboard boxes. In those boxes was an amazing gift - Colliers Encyclopedia. Someone had just dropped the world literally in my bedroom, she said. Later at Mt Hope Junior Secondary Coker Jones would have two interesting experiences that would shape her life. Firstly, while attending a religious instruction class she gave her life to Jesus Christ. Secondly she got involved in debating and public speaking, where she was encouraged to write and express her ideas. It was the catalyst for what would come later on, she explained. Coker Jones moved on to St Francois Girls College, where Literature was compulsory and she was really blessed to be in an environment that supported reading and literature. That policy decision had a tremendous impact on my life, she said. While at school Coker Jones recalled reading Earl Lovelaces Wine of Astonishment with her classmates. Those halcyon days of high school helped cement her love for writing, creating from words and word welding. Coker Jones studied sciences at the advanced level but did not have a passion for it; she most enjoyed English Language-based general paper. At university she wanted to do something with writing. She recalled one of her mentors, Madonna Sampson- Doyle, suggested the programme at the then Caribbean Institute of Mass Communications (CARIMAC) at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. Coker Jones signed up for a degree at CARIMAC and she remembered that Dr Marjan de Bruin persuaded to choose print as her technique. She was editor of the CARIMAC Times publication, won the top print student award and graduated with honours. Coker Jones worked at the Black Diaspora Magazine in New York for four months and was exposed to all aspects of producing a magazine. She left the magazine and returned to Trinidad and worked as a local newspaper reporter for a few years. After she left the newspaper she pledged that she would start her own business. In September 2001 she began Upstream Publication Ltd and the eponymous Christian lifestyle magazine, which went from newsprint to glossy to fully online. She recalled thinking that if they could produce for themselves then they could make products for other companies. I believe when you walking with God he shows you things and leads you, she explained. The company would expand into doing newsletters, annual reports and other publications for NGOs, corporate clients, State agencies and individuals. She said the company began winning tenders over top ad agencies and it had a quite a bit of success. THE NOVEL The idea for a novel came during a visit to the Logos Hope, a ship with Christian books. Coker Jones checked out the fiction section and picked out three titles. She started reading the first one but got bored and put it down. She also lost interest in the second but the third, After the Fall by American author Ryan M Phillips, stood out in her mind. I saw in that work the kind of fiction I would like to write, she recalled. Before she finished the novel she told herself but Natasha you can do this. Coker Jones pointed out that she always loved creative writing and work, and for her home church, Daybreak Assembly in Morvant, she would write productions and sometimes produce and direct. On what she would write, she said that Christianity was such a dominant theme so this is the type of fiction I want to write. For the process she hunkered down and did research on writing fiction. She said that Jamaica inspired the setting of the novel and she had been inspired by the time she spent there while at university. I wanted to capture something, a bit of the culture. Something we might not be too familiar with, she explained. She said the book is timely with the current conflict between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago over deportation of Jamaican nationals. It is a love letter to Jamaica, she added. With the story idea she wrote a rough first draft and using the techniques she learned, returned to the manuscript and made adjustments. The process took six years, Coker Jones pointing out that she was not at it day and night and had to be there for her baby son born in 2011. She decided last year it was time to revisit her manuscript and bring it to a conclusion. She signed up for the NALIS first time writers programme which gave a March 31 deadline for manuscripts to be submitted, and this deadline nudged her to complete the novel. Everything fell into place, she recalled. The story is about Trinidadian first year medical student Malachi Williamson Junior at the fictional University of Jamaica. Malachi is the son of a deacon who grew up in a Christian home with certain standards and expectations and has to navigate his newfound freedom, being away from home for the first time. Coker Jones explained that he faces the challenges and temptations of living on hall with no one looking over his shoulder. She promised twists, turns, intrigue and points which she prayerfully hopes will surprise the reader. On the title she explained she wanted it to hint of the West Indian context and heritage. She reported that the response to the novel has been very encouraging and one person told her, Natasha I cant put this book down. It have me up in the night. She said she wants people to be encouraged, blessed and entertained by the book. She also wants to motivate other people to know who they are as a Caribbean people and get the confidence to produce quality content that could hold its own in the market place. So many people in our country should be telling their story, she said. She said it was a shame and a tragedy that there was no company for writing as there for film and music and fashion. She stressed that support should not necessarily come from the State, but also the private sector and in the United States and UK there is so much grant funding people are tripping over themselves. Coker Jones said that we cannot say people are not reading and we are not willing to make investments in human capital. Right now we have be tremendously self-motivated. Fortunately I am, she added. She thanked her family for the support through the process, her husband and son, and her church. She reported the sequel is already written and plans to continue writing Christian fiction and also non-fiction such as how to do books. The book is available on amazon. com. Bid rigging now a crime Finance Minister, Colm Imbert, in his wind-up, declared that under the bill, bid-rigging is now a crime in TT. Caroni Central MP, Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie, asked Imbert, to list any procurement undertaken since the Government took office, and in the absence of a new procurement regime, if such procurement had been done with due process and under what law? Saying that as former Planning Minister he had used his sheer political will to spearhead procurement reform, Tewarie appealed for the Government to not now water down this legislation, even as he chided proposals for a new institution that he said could reduce the powers of the proposed office of Procurement Regulator. Now that the Act is law, the Government is finding a means to subvert the intent of the legislation, warned Tewarie. Imbert, accused the Opposition MPs of having unduly ranted and raved that the Peoples National Movement (PNM) had blocked procurement legislation for years. He quoted news reports as saying the PNM had withdrawn from the JSC for just five weeks, contrary to Tewaries claim of a two year delay and Dr Gopeesingh alleging it was a year. Imbert, in contrast, said that the PP government had delayed the bill for 257 weeks out of 262 weeks, blaming the PNM for just a five week delay. Saying the PP had not outlawed bid rigging, he said they had done a cosmetic job on the bill. He hit Opposition claims about any upsurge in lawsuits from contractors saying thats nothing new and that some contractors were not paid if not aligned to the PP. He queried a current contractors $1 billion lawsuit by asking who could possibly run up such a sum out of pocket. Imbert alleged a 400 percent hike in contractor fees for building public housing under the PP administration. Refuting Opposition claims of dereliction of duty, Imbert said it was he personally, as an Opposition MP in 2014, who had crafted proposed amendments to the Act to ban the Procurement Regulator from trading with the Government, to initiate a Review Board and to include the disposal of land under the remit of procurement legislation. And every single one of the amendments, they had rejected! he hit. Accusing Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal of falsely alleging that the bill will let the Procurement Regulators reports be sent to a committee and so be hidden from Parliament, Imbert said it will be laid in Parliament first and then be publicly debated by a committee that questions the post-holder in full public view. Imbert hit St Augustine MP, Prakash Ramadhar, for opposing the Review Board on the basis that it could be bribed, by saying such flawed logic could also be applied to similar bodies such as the Tax Appeal Board, Environmental Commission and Equal Opportunities Commission. Imbert debunked Tewaries argument that the Procurement Office could do its own review of appeals rather than the Review Board, by dubbing the Opposition proposal as being himself to himself. Imbert said he had allowed consultation on the matter, even once delaying it to accommodate Tewaries travel plans. He said for five years the PP had accused the PNM of blocking the legislation, but the PP had 29 votes and didnt need a single PNM vote to get a special majority. They had no interest in transparency, he said, alleging much State fraud, insider-trading and bid rigging under the PP administration. He swore that such practices are now done. I firmly state the bid rigging is now an offence in Trinidad and Tobago, he stormed. Its time to deal with the criminals, insider traders and bid-riggers. Minister in the Office of the Attorney- General, Stuart Young, hit the former Peoples Partnership (PP) administration for having proclaimed only those sections of the Act relevant to the appointment of persons to key positions, but that this meant nothing if the main body of the document lay unproclaimed. Young revealed that TTs existing laws do not specifically outlaw any offence of bid rigging, and so he wondered why the former PP administration, before leaving office, had neglected to proclaim those parts of the Act that outlaw this offence. He revealed that between September 1 to 7, 2015, hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts were awarded in the last days of the PP government. If this Act had been proclaimed it would now be easier to prosecute them, Young said. Let the Opposition say why they did not want bid rigging put as a crime. Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh hit the PNMs claims of propriety by recalling the corruption of a past PNM regime unearthed by the Uff Commission of Inquiry, including billions of dollars in cost-overruns. He accused the PNM, when in opposition, of withdrawing their participation on the procurement joint select committee (JSC ). The PNM in opposition had been so obstructionist, he alleged, that the former PP government had to ask Parliament to reduce the quorum size for the JSC on procurement so as to let it convene. Gopeesingh predicted the Government would introduce a new amendment to try to postpone a bill he alleged that they didnt really want. Attorney-General Faris Al-Rawi hit back at the Oppositions claims of their own propriety by alleging that their reputed financier, SIS, had now relocated to Panama, asking aloud, How come?. He alleged that some $1.4 billion was paid in fees for legal briefs contracted out under the former PP regime, saying value-for-money audits are now underway, to be followed by appropriate action where needed. Al Rawi alleged that some $36 million and counting had been paid as legal fees to temporary Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen. Al-Rawi challenged the Opposition, that if you name man, to support a hypothetical amendment to apply civil asset forfeiture and to make the bill apply retroactively, even back to 1962. Nothing more was heard of that later in committee stage. He defended Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley against Gopeesinghs claims of him being involved in a $20 million scandal at Cleaver Heights, by saying this had been certified by the Uff Inquiry to be untrue and due to a clerical error Let the child be a child This was the adamant stance taken by new United States Ambassador to T&T John Estrada on Friday in the midst of the simmering debate about child marriage. Speaking in a Sunday Newsday interview at the US Embassys Public Affairs Section, in St Clair, Estrada said he looked on with great interest about the comments being ventilated for an against the issue within recent days. He said outgoing US President Barack Obama has long stated that child marriage violated the rights of children. Our President Obama has stated that child marriages.... is a fundamental violation of the rights of children. I strongly support that view, Estrada stated. Last week, President of the Inter- Religious Organisation (IRO) Bro Harrypersad Maharaj claimed that members had unanimously agreed that laws should not interfere with the custom. However, some church leaders, including Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris, claimed that no consensus had been reached. Harris was even quoted as describing child marriage legalised statutory rape. The practice of child marriage also flies in the face of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Government has promised to review the various laws regarding marriage. The Laventille-born envoy, who assumed duties roughly two months ago, noted that Hindu women also have come out against the practice. I applaud it. It is an interesting debate. But, it should not just be a Trinidad or US thing. This is a world thing. The UN has a resolution on it. Let the child be a child, he said. I have even heard that some of the countries that originally practiced it, have now outlawed the practice. Estrada said working with young people, particularly in at-risk communities, was a major part of his agenda in T&T. My heart is with the kids and that is what I intend to do, visit many schools, he said. They are so young and vulnerable. They are like sponges and you have to protect the kids. At a news conference on Friday at the International Waterfront Complex in Port-of-Spain, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar called for a revision of the age of marriage in keeping with the age of sexual consent (18). New Balisier House to start in three months Speaking at the General Council Meeting press conference at the Balisier House in Port-of-Spain, Khan stated that the party expects the building to cost tens of million of dollars but could not give an exact figure as final designs are still in the process of being drawn. He noted that fund-raising for the new five-storey building had already begun in each of the 41 constituencies, but said he did not have the figures of how much had already been raised. Khan made the statement after accepting a cheque of $102,635.59 from chairman of the Diego Martin West constituency, Robert Cezair, which was raised from the constituencys fund-raising event, Cocktails on the Hill on April 30. We dont have to raise all the money to start. We will work out a cash flow programme and a source of funds and what have you. But I just want to give the nation the assurance that this project would be an extremely transparent project and we will share a lot of the information with the national community, he said. He added that the party had an open tender procedure in place to source a contractor, and that some soil testing was already done. However, they have yet to receive final approvals from Town and Country, the Water and Sewerage Authority, the Environmental Management Authority, and some other necessary agencies. Khan also announced that the partys General Council formally called on Government to implement changes to the Marriage Act in order to bring it into alignment with the Childrens Act of 2012. The General Council discussed and unanimously agreed with the statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister re: amendment to the Marriage Act. General Council felt so strongly about the matter that it moved its own resolution, which was adopted unanimously by General Council, he said. News / National by Staff Reporter Zanu PF legislator for Harare South, Shadreck Mashayamombe has describing First Lady Grace Mugabe as an angel sent by God to help long-suffering Zimbabweans realise their full potential.Speaking to party supporters in his constituency last week, Mashayamombe - one of the most vocal supporters of Grace - said it is no wonder that the governing party settled for the first lady to be the women's league boss."Leaders are chosen by God and we were given.... Amai by the heavens, she is the one who will end all the suffering and I believe that with people like her Zimbabwe is in safe hands. To me she is like an angel and I believe in her," said a grovelling Mashayamombe.Since making a grand entry into the tumultuous political playing field, Grace has divided public opinion - with her opponents describing her as divisive while her supporters regard her as a strategist and philanthropist ever ready to serve the people.Scores of ZANU PF members has described Grace is similar manner. The Bear Attacked, So She 'Popped It Right in the Nose' News / National by Staff Reporter Immigration bosses have denied Everson Taelo Moyo's bid for asylum in the city but he claims he will be killed if forced back to his homeland.A Zimbabwean teacher who fled Robert Mugabe's evil regime fearing for his life has begged immigration bosses to let him stay in Newcastle.Everson Taelo Moyo, 30, was forced to leave his home and family after the ruling Zanu-PF party persecuted him for his political beliefs.The Chronicle (UK) reported that while working as a teacher in Masvingo province, Everson became involved in political activism and began printing off posters for opposition party Movement for Democratic Change.Heavies apparently from Mugabe's government then arrived at Everson's school and demanded the 30-year-old hand over his political material.But he managed to escape and had to leave his beloved homeland in fear of his life.Forced to cross the border into South Africa, he could not say his final goodbyes to family for fear they would be targetedHe said: "I do not know how I got caught, I tried to keep everything secret. But they turned up at the school one day and ordered me to go and get some of the stuff I had been printing off. It was then that I ran away."After fleeing his own country in 2008 Everson made the journey to Belfast before coming to Newcastle in January 2013 and sleeping rough.Since then, Everson has seen asylum denied and three appeals rejected.He has not been back to his homeland since.He said: "If I was sent back to Zimbabwe, I would be killed. I miss my family so much and try and speak to them as often as I can."But I have fallen in love with the city of Newcastle and its people. It has become a place of sanctuary for me."As a result of his current asylum status, Everson is unable to get a job and has been sleeping rough or couch surfing' with friends.And he says that upon returning to Zimbabwe, he will be handed over the authorities where he will likely face persecution, torture and even death.Everson is also a member of an organisation called Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) for which he works voluntarily as an information and publicity Officer - his links to this organisation would put him at even further risk if he was returned to Zimbabwe.A Home Office spokesman said: "The United Kingdom has a long and proud history of offering sanctuary to those who genuinely need our protection."All claims for asylum are considered on their individual merits, and where people establish a genuine need for protection, or a well founded fear of persecution, refuge will be granted." If you are terrified about cancer that is overtaking the US, you can examine this new study by a team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston. Between 20 to 40 percent of U.S. cancer cases and almost half of cancer deaths among the white race can be prevented through just a "healthy lifestyle pattern." This would, of course, mean that you avoid smoking and drinking, and maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI) as well as regular exercise. The healthy lifestyle pattern has been outlined as: "never smoking or past smoking, no alcohol consumption or moderate consumption, a BMI between 18.5 and 27.5; and 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity." Studying 89,571 women and 46,399 men made experts conclude that everyone in the study that followed the healthy lifestyle pattern fell into the low-risk category for cancer. Others were ranked in the high-risk category. On the whole, 16,531 women and 11,731 men comprised the low-risk group, while 73,040 women and 34,608 men were part of the high-risk group. The team identified the population-attributable risk (PAR), or the number of cancer cases that can be avoided if every case in the study adopts the lifestyle pattern. Between 20 to 40 percent of cancer cases and half of the deaths can be avoided. So far, the study has looked only at whites, but it could apply to other ethnic groups too, though more research is needed to determine them. "These findings reinforce the predominant importance of lifestyle factors in determining cancer risk," the authors wrote. "Therefore, primary prevention should remain a priority for cancer control." "We have a history of long delays from discovery to translating knowledge into practice," wrote Graham Colditz and Siobhan Sutcliffe of the Washington University School of Medicine in an opinion piece on the findings. "As a society, we need to avoid procrastination induced by thoughts that chance drives all cancer risk or those new medical discoveries are needed to make major gains against cancer, and instead we must embrace the opportunity to reduce our collective cancer toll by implementing effective prevention strategies and changing the way we live." "It is these efforts that will be our fastest return on past investments in cancer research over the coming decades," they added. The findings were published in the May 19 issue of JAMA Oncology. Examining the personal belongings and other debris from the missing EgyptAir jet confirms that the airliner that carried 66 had fallen into the water, the Egyptian navy said Friday. Flight 804 wreckage included luggage, seats and body parts, found about 180 miles off Alexandria, Egypt. The plane vanished from the radar on Thursday while it was flying over the Mediterranean Sea from Paris to Cairo. There was a discussion on Friday on whether the wreckage had indeed been identified after which the discovery was made. On Thursday, Greek authorities had found some parts of the debris, but EgyptAir confirmed that the material was not from Flight 804. "[P]ossible terrorism appeared more likely than a catastrophic malfunction at 37,000 feet," a top Egyptian aviation official said, the Washington Post reported. Other parts of the debris were identified by the Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, who confirmed that a seat, luggage and "a body part" were among them. The European Space Agency explained that an oil slick was probably spotted in the crash here too by a satellite. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Aryault said Friday that "absolutely no indication" was given for the crash. "We're looking at all possibilities, but none is being favored over the others because we have absolutely no indication on the causes," he informed a French TV station. In France, the focus is on a security breach in de Gaulle airport. Eric Moutet, a lawyer for some of those staff members, told the BBC "There are people who are being radicalized in some of the trade unions, etc. The authorities have their work cut out with this problem." Currently, the Egyptian navy is looking for two flight recorders. NASA has recently made quantum leaps in space exploration and discovery after its pioneering spacecraft takes new pictures of a distant and tiny Kuiper Belt object that seems to be circling around the Sun way beyond our solar system's ex-ninth planet Pluto. The American space agency's New Horizons spacecraft is now starting to send back a stream of new data regarding the mysterious object located within Kuiper Belt as it revolves around the Sun t more than five billion kilometers. The Kuiper Belt object (KBO) named 1994 JR1 was first imaged last November at a distance of 280 million kilometers. Then just last month, April 7-8, the spacecraft took another shot using a highly advanced Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) from a distance of about 111 million kilometers. As per NASA researchers, the so-called KBO is about 145 kilometers wide. With the discovery, New Horizons science team member Simon Porter of Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Colorado revealed that their efforts yielded immensely valuable observations. "Combining the November 2015 and April 2016 observations allows us to pinpoint the location of JR1 to within 1,000 kilometers (about 600 miles), far better than any small KBO," Porter said as quoted by Space Daily. The recent findings now dispel earlier claims suggesting that JR1 is Pluto's quasi-satellite. Furthermore, new information also suggests that the post-Pluto KBO rotates rather quickly in its own axis in just 5.4 hours. It also gradually clears the haze as astronomical advancements in the study of KBOs help unveil the mystery behind the Earth's and the solar system's cosmic origins as per Gizmodo report. In a related development, the New Horizons mission shows no sign of stopping yet as it pursues yet another breathtaking extended mission into the last frontier- a flyby on another KBO, codenamed 2014 MU69, in 2019 as stated in an article published in Popular Science. KBO 2014 MU69 is an icy rock is on top of the New Horizons team's wish list for NASA-funded exploration. MU69 is relatively unknown but the object is reportedly circling the sun a billion miles beyond Pluto. A flyby could uncover wealth of information that explains how everything started in the solar system. Doctors who perform abortions in Oklahoma will be charged with a felony, according to a new bill passed by the Oklahoma legislature on Thursday. The doctor's medical license would be revoked. This is the first-of-its-kind bill, initiated by Republican Sen. Nathan Dahm. "Most people know I am for defending rights," Dahm said. "Those rights begin at conception. I believe it's a core function of state government to defend that life from the beginning of conception." Calling SB1552 "insane", Dahm's fellow senate Republican Ervin Yen, also a medico, noted: "It will be declared null and void" through litigation if it is signed into law. SB1552 passed House of Representatives by 59-9, last month, while on Thursday it passed the Senate, 33-12. The Republican governor Mary Fallin will have to choose among three options in five days. She has to either sign the bill, veto it or permit it to become law without signing it. Jennifer Miller, of the Center for Reproductive Rights, called for Fallin to veto the "unconstitutional" bill. However, she noted Fallin's earlier approach on "abortion-restricting" legislation. "Since Gov. Fallin took office in 2011, she has signed 18 bills restricting access to reproductive health care services, including a Texas-style clinic shutdown law, a ban on the most common method of second trimester abortion, unconstitutional restrictions on medication abortion, and a law that forces abortion providers to perform an ultrasound and display and describe the image," Miller said. "Each of these laws have been blocked by courts; in fact, the Center for Reproductive Rights has challenged unconstitutional restrictions on reproductive health care in Oklahoma eight times in five years." Doctors in Spain has recently warned about an emerging trend called the underground sex roulette parties. These parties are commonly attended by gay men or teenagers. Similar to Russian Roulette, this trend is like a lethal game of chance where the teens have sex with one another, without protection and at least one of the participants is secretly HIV infected. These parties are funded and organized by people that are wealthy and target teenagers who are excited by the idea of unknown. They are the one who are attracted to this dangerous new trend. Kate Morley, psychosexual therapist, reveals that the teens attend these sex roulette parties because of the high risk. "In the case of sex parties the intense high is as you combine orgasm with high adrenaline," Morley explained. According to Morley, there are both long term and short term concerns associated with these parties. Not only is there a risk of contracting HIV but also a possibility that the participant in these parties may get inflicted with life threatening STDs. Dr. Josep Mallolas, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, said that these parties are a sign that there is no respect for a disease as deadly as HIV. "There is everything: sex roulette parties, or sex parties you can only attend if you already have HIV," he disclosed. In a statement, Hospital Clinic in Barcelona revealed that the increase in HIV and STD in the region could be attributed to these parties. So far, Samsung has kept the release of their flagship Galaxy Note 6 under wraps and the tech enthusiasts are clueless about its release or what to expect from the phone. However, the rumor is rife that the Samsung handset will launch in Summer or Autumn this year. While no specific dates have been mentioned, reports suggest that the upcoming handset will likely release just a week or two before IFA trade show, where the smartphone will be officially announced. Rumors about Samsung Galaxy Note 6's release date also indicates that the handset might be available in July. However, experts believe that the handset will not be launched before late August or early September. Even though there is not much information about Samsung Galaxy Note 6, fans are still enthusiastic about what the phone has to offer. Speculation suggests that Samsung Galaxy Note 6 will feature 256 GB internal storage and 6GB RAM. There are also reports that the phone may not be required to have such huge internal storage capacity as it will also have a microSD slot available, just like its predecessor S7. The fans can expect to see a 5.8-inch screen powered by 2K display. It will also feature Super AMOLED display with 1080p resolution in full HD. The phone will launch along with Android N operating system and come in two variants, Edge and its usual flat screen. For now, all these details are mere speculations and nothing has been confirmed by the Korean tech giant. The fans should wait for an official update to know what will be finally included in the much awaited flagship handset. France has reported its first Zika-related death in its Carribean island of Martinique. The announcement came from the regional health agency. According to reports, the 84-year-old deceased was hospitalized 10 days ago and was kept in the intensive care unit. The patient was initially reported to have the Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS). However, the Zika link was uncovered at the end of last week only. The death of the patient has reignited the initial debate between the health experts about whether Zika and GBS are related. Some researchers believe that there could be a link between the two conditions and that Zika infection lead to circumstances that make the immune system attack the nervous system of the patient suffering, which is the case with GBS. According to a regional French health authority, the doctor tests have found that "the death is directly linked to Zika with Guillain-Barre Syndrome associated with Zika as the initial cause." This is the first case of Zika-related death in Martinique since the start of the Zika virus outbreak, which was first reported in Brazil. Prior to the death of the patient, the French Caribbean overseas department has announced the names of at least 19 patients, who suffered from GBS linked with Zika, as has paralysis-causing myelitis. So far in Guadeloupe and French Guyana, a number of cases of Zika infection have been brought to the notice of the health officials from assumed cases of GBS. Zika infection has also been linked to the increase in the cases of microcephaly, a neurological birth defect. The link was not proved for months, however, now the researchers even know the mechanism by which Zika virus infects the growing fetus inside the womb of the mother. According to the World Health Organization, Zika transmission has been confirmed in more than 40 countries and territories so far since its outbreak in Brazil. According to the UN health agency, there are strong evidences that suggest that Zika can also cause GBS. Bindi Irwin had one wish fulfilled when her boyfriend Chandler Powell asked her to a prom night last year. "He was really kind," Irwin tells PEOPLE. He said, 'You don't really get a prom, so would you please come with me to mine?' " Hence, he found a good way to ask the ex-Dancing with the Stars contestant, who was just continuing the conservation and wildlife advocacy work begun by her late father, The Crocodile Hunter's Steve Irwin. "Chandler has a really beautiful dog named Percy and Percy is one of my best friends now. So he tied a note to Percy's collar and Percy came bounding out," says Irwin. "It was very sweet. I feel very blessed." The 17-year-old Bindi Irwin is in Australia while the 19-year-old Powell is a professional wakeboarder who is a college attendant in Florida. They work together on their long-distance relationship. Currently, Irwin is visiting the U.S. for her first-ever Steve Irwin Gala Dinner to be held in Los Angeles. "It's nice to have him just a little bit closer and in the same time zone," Irwin says. "And I'm so happy to take him to the gala." The gala will be held on Saturday night at the J.W. Marriott in downtown L.A. For the night, Irwin, her mother Terri and 12-year-old brother Robert have put in eight years of hard work. "We're so excited about honoring Steve's legacy and all the conservation work that he began and that we've continued," says Terri, who adds that items like a guitar signed by Taylor Swift and a dress worn by Bindi on DWTS will be auctioned at the event. "It's so special to get to do this in the States, finally. I'm from here and I know how philanthropic everyone can be. Through events like this gala dinner, we can make positive change." News / National by Staff reporter There are growing fears within Zanu-PF that #ThisFlag campaign by cleric Evan Mawarire could incite long-suffering Zimbabweans to revolt Arab Spring-style, and spell the end of President Robert Mugabe's 36-year-old rule.Apparently petrified of falling in the way regimes in the Arab world were dethroned, Zanu-PF has launched its counter #OurFlag campaign, in what observers say is a sign that the governing party is scared stiff.The social media movement dubbed #ThisFlag was started this month by Mawarire and has attracted deep traction in Zimbabwe, as thousands of citizens have joined the campaign that speaks to the supposed failures of Mugabe's administration.The movement has a tag line "Hatichada and Hatichatya" (we have had enough and we are not afraid anymore), as Zimbabweans say they are no longer afraid to speak about misgovernance by the Mugabe regime.Initially, the campaign, which encouraged citizens to carry the national flag, was supposed to run for seven days but it has now extended to 25 days until May 25, Africa Day, as more people join the movement to get the country's ruling elite to admit they have failed.Mawarire told the Daily News on Sunday that one of Mugabe's ministers called him asking why he was engaging citizens on governance issues and accused him of being a puppet of the West."I said are you kidding me. It's my right to talk to my fellow citizens, kuti zvaipa vakomana toita sei (things have gone horribly wrong, what can we do?)," Mawarire said.He accused government of taking Zimbabweans for granted by paying lip service to issues that are afflicting them."People are not stupid, this is one thing government needs to understand. We can start as many hash tags we want, the issues remain the issues. You can come up with a counter move and all you want, government can play all these games and all they want but the citizens have had enough, we are now fed up with these games."Munhu haafidwe ne (People are not fed with) hashtag campaign, the hospital issues, the issues remain the issues."One of the ministers came up to me and said you are being funded by the West and I said, 'when are you going to mature? You don't fund entrepreneurs, you don't fund health, you don't fund infrastructure, you don't fund elderly citizens, you are not funding anything from anyone, so tofa nenzara? (must we starve) just because you are saying musatora mari kubva kuvarungu (Do not get funding from the West)'."Mawarire further accused Mugabe's government of instilling fear in citizens "to cover up for their corruption.""They have taken from citizens without shame for years and now they are afraid that people will find out and demand for them to be brought to book. And you try to shut people up."He said the response the movement got from citizens was proof that people had indeed had enough of suffering at their hands."The movement stands for the inclusion of the citizens of Zimbabwe to speak into matters that build the country. What it's about is to strengthen the voice of the citizen, is to teach citizens to stand up and to speak, and stand up and get involved. A key component is to stand up and not be afraid anymore, which for me is an emphasis because we have been afraid, it's no secret."Government doesn't get it all. This government and any other government to come must be accountable to its citizens," Mawarire added.In a bid to counter #ThisFlag campaign, Zanu-PF has started advertising its own #OurFlag campaign on social media as well as on radio.One of the adverts that has been running since Wednesday night has been incorporated into the planned Zanu-PF youth league's "one million-man" march to prop up Mugabe, scheduled for next week."Let's join the youths and go and march in solidarity with the visionary iconic leadership of our president," the Zanu-PF campaign voice over of the advert says."Let's wave 'Our Flag' high and unite and join the one million-man march on Africa Day."In another move, two opposition MDC MPs, Godfrey Sithole (Chitungwiza North) and Eric Murai (Highfiled) were on Wednesday ejected from Parliament by speaker Jacob Mudenda for putting national flags round their necks.This was after Zanu-PF Zvimba West MP Ziyambi Ziyambi had raised a point of order protesting against the move he said was an attempt by the legislators "to belittle this country".Mudenda responded by ordering the duo to put the flags down saying "this is a Zimbabwean flag, just put it down.""Just place it down. I said place the Zimbabwean flag down. We have to treat it with some respect," Mudenda fumed.He made the ruling amid protests from the MDC chief whip Innocent Gonese on a point of privilege arguing that some Zanu-PF MPs had flags on their suits."I notice there are some honourable members who are also wearing their flags. I notice honourable (Andrew) Langa has a pin with a Zimbabwean flag and there is an honourable member over there, he has a pin that has a Zimbabwean flag. Where is the difference because there are also flags? What is the difference between those on this side and those on the other side?"Where is the difference with those wearing flags over their shoulders and those with flags on their jackets? Could you just explain to me where the difference is?"But Mudenda insisted that a flag that is hanging in cloth is different from one that is on a pin. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 27F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies in the evening, then becoming cloudy overnight. Low 16F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Colombo: At least 71 people have been killed and 127 others were still missing in floods and landslides triggered by the heaviest rains in Sri Lanka in over a quarter century even as an Indian aircraft and two naval ships arrived here today with relief supplies. Relief vessel INS Sunayna arrived at Colombo port with goods from Kochi, the Sri Lankan foreign ministry said. Last night, India had dispatched sent its two naval shipsINS Sunayna and survey vessel INS Sutlej - and a C-17 aircraft with relief material like - inflatable boats, outboard motors, diving equipment, medical supplies, electricity generators and sleeping bags, officials said. The aircraft also carried 700 tents, 1,000 tarpaulin sheets, 10 electric generators, 100 emergency lamps and medication against epidemics for 10,000 people, apart from torches, raincoats, umbrellas, folding mattresses, water filters and water purification equipment. These had been identified as priority relief materials by Sri Lankan authorities. Sri Lanka occupies a special place in the hearts and minds of Indians, and Indias emergency relief assistance is a manifestation of our abiding friendship. India will continue to work closely with the government of Sri Lanka to address longer term rehabilitation needs of the affected people as part of its development partnership with Sri Lanka, the Indian High Commission here said in a release. At least 127 people remain missing at Aranayake, the site of the landslide disaster in the southwestern district of Kegalle, National Disaster Management Centre said today. President Maithripala Sirisena urged Sri Lankans to provide shelter and donate cash or food to flood victims. There had been a huge outpouring of sympathy for victims with donations of food, clothing and dry rations, local officials said. Some 375,604 people were displaced in 22 districts in Sri Lanka. The country has begun receiving international assistance, they added. Nearly, 300,000 people have been staying in about 500 state-run relief centres. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Paris: Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored two goals and set up another as Paris Saint-Germain defeated bitter rivals Marseille 4-2 to clinch a 10th French Cup title in the Swedes final game with the club. Blaise Matuidi struck PSGs opening goal inside two minutes at the Stade de France, but Marseille hit back just 10 minutes later through on-loan Newcastle midfielder Florian Thauvin. Ibrahimovic then converted a penalty immediately after half-time to restore the capital clubs lead, before he played in Edinson Cavani to add a third goal on 56 minutes. The 34-year-old Swedish star signed off in trademark spectacular style with his second of the evening, the 156th and final goal of his PSG career, eight minutes from time as Laurent Blancs side repeated last years domestic treble despite a late consolation from Michy Batshuayi. With the Ligue 1 crown and French League Cup already in the bag, PSG were aiming to move level with record 10-time French Cup winners Marseille in a repeat of the 2006 final, won 2-1 by Paris. Ibrahimovic, who last weekend broke Argentine striker Carlos Bianchis single-season club record of 37 league goals, was aiming to bring down the curtain the down on a glittering four-year stay in the French capital having already helped PSG to 11 trophies. However, Abdelaziz Barrada fired an early warning signal to PSG in their quest for another title when the midfielders 25-yard drive flashed just wide of Salvatore Sirigus right-hand post with less than a minute gone. Blancs side were ahead though with their first attack as Angel Di Maria, provider of 18 goals in his first Ligue 1 campaign, delivered another from a wicked right-wing cross that was turned in by Matuidi from close range. But Marseille, who were hoping to salvage their season after finishing 13th in the league, responded on 12 minutes as Thauvins strike from just outside the area clippeds Thiago Silva leg to wrong-foot Sirigu. Thauvin was fortunate to escape punishment when he blocked Ibrahimovics goalbound strike with his hand shortly before the interval, but Marseille were caught out seconds after the restart as Nicolas Nkoulou bundled over Matuidi inside the box. Matuidi then released Ibrahimovic to stroke home a fourth on 82 minutes and guarantee PSG a 10th successive win over Marseille, despite Batshuayi converting a rebound three minutes from the end after Sirigu could only Benjamin Mendys low shot. Blanc then withdrew Ibrahimovic, who will leave Paris when his contract expires at the end of June, to a rapturous ovation late on in the final act of a remarkable chapter in PSGs history. Washington: In a major victory in the war against terrorism, Taliban leader Mullah Mansour was likely killed in a US airstrike in a remote area of western Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, a US official has said. The airstrike that targeted Mansour yesterday was carried out in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, he said. Noting that US President Barack Obama had authorised the operation, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a second man along with Mansour was also believed to have been killed. Several drone aircraft had launched a strike on a vehicle in a remote area near Ahmad Wal, a town in western Pakistan. The strike took place around 6 am local time,Washington Post reported. Mullah Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners, said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. Mullah Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict, he said. He, however, said the Department of Defense was still assessing the results of its strike inside Pakistan. Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansours assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous US and Coalition personnel, Cook said. The death of Mansour was hailed by top American lawmakers. I welcome the news that Mullah Akhtar Mansour has met his just end. I salute the skill and professionalism of the US Armed Forces who carried out this mission. Their actions have made America and Afghanistan safer, said Senator John McCain, Chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee. I hope this strike against the Talibans top leader will lead the Administration to reconsider its policy of prohibiting US forces from targeting the Taliban, he said. It is the one force most able and willing to turn Afghanistan into a terrorist safe haven once again, McCain said. If verified, the death of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour would be an important victory in the fight against terror and welcome news to our military personnel in Afghanistan and the Afghan government, said Senator Bob Corker, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I am thankful for the work our military and intelligence communities are doing to bring justice to those responsible for spreading evil. If Pakistan would play a more constructive role, we could destabilise the Taliban far more rapidly, Corker said. Born in Afghanistan, Mansour was part of the Taliban from the groups beginning in the 1990s and has effectively been in charge since 2013. In July, Mansour succeeded Mullah Omar, one-eyed reclusive long-time head, when it was said that Omar had died two years ago. Omar had led the Taliban from its rise in the Afghanistan civil war of the 1990s. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Tehran: Ahead of his maiden visit to energy-rich Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said enhancing connectivity, trade, investment and energy partnership will be his priority with the post-sanction Persian Gulf nation. Modi, who arrives here this evening, will hold talks with Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and its President Hassan Rouhani to boost bilateral trade, energy and strategic ties. Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority, he said in a series of tweets. After arrival here, he is scheduled to visit a local gurudwara. Modi said that his meetings with Rouhani and the Supreme Leader of Iran would provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership. Rouhani will be hosting a lunch for him. My meetings with President Rouhani and Honble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership, he said. Noting that he looked forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar Agreement during his visit, the Prime Minister said, India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region. Chabahar is a port in South-East Iran that will enable India to bypass Pakistan and open up a route to land-locked Afghanistan with which New Delhi has close security ties and economic interests. From Chabahar, the existing Iranian road network can link up to Zaranj in Afghanistan, about 883 kms from the port. The Zaranj-Delaram road constructed by India in 2009 can give access to Afghanistans Garland Highway, setting up road access to four major cities in AfghanistanHerat, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. Besides visiting the gurudwara, Modi will also inaugurate an International Conference on Retrospect and Prospect of India-Iran relations. I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today & tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani, he added. Besides signing a deal on development of Chabahar port, India is looking at doubling oil imports from Iran which a few years back was its second-biggest oil supplier, as well as getting rights to develop a giant gas field. Post-sanctions Iran has seen a flurry of diplomatic and business activity with leaders from China and Russia courting Tehran. Earlier, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had visited Tehran. The port project will be the first overseas venture for an Indian state-owned port. India and Iran had in 2003 agreed to develop Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman outside the Strait of Hormuz, near Irans border with Pakistan. But the project moved slowly because of western sanctions against Iran. The sanctions were lifted in January and since then, India has been pushing for conclusion of an agreement. About a fifth of the oil consumed worldwide each day passes through the Strait, a shipping choke point that separates the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean. Indian investment in phase-1 will be in excess of USD 200 million, including USD 150 million line of credit from Exim Bank, an agreement for which would also be signed during the visit. Besides signing of commercial contract for Chabahar Phase-1, Modi will witness signing of a trilateral agreement on transport and transit corridor among India, Afghanistan and Iran. The trilateral agreement is seen to significantly enhance prospects of Indias connectivity with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond such as the North-South corridor. Modi and the Iranian president are also likely to review peace and stability in the region which faces several challenges, including terrorism and violent extremism, besides cyber crime and maritime security. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Athens: Greece scrambled fighter jets to monitor a US passenger plane that failed to identify itself when entering Greek airspace this week, an official said today, confirming media reports. The Delta Air Lines aircraft, flying from Paris to Kuwait, entered the Athens Flight Information Region(FIR) at 19.10 (2240 IST) Thursday, the same day the EgyptAir plane crashed in the Mediterranean shortly after leaving Greek airspace. Its pilots failed to answer to repeated calls from the Greek Civil Aviation authorities, according to various media reports, confirmed to AFP by a Greek defence ministry source. Following military protocol, at 19.49 two F-16 fighter jets intercepted the Delta airplane while it was flying near the Aegean island of Santorini. According to the Mega Channel, one of the fighter jets flew in front of the passenger plane and with light signals alerted the pilots to switch on their radio on the right frequency. The Ant1 Channel said that the pilots contacted Greek authorities at 19.55 and exited the Athens FIR at 20.10. The incident occurred after the EgyptAir Airbus A320 carrying 66 people from Paris to Cairo disappeared off radar screens in the early hours of Thursday, without its crew sending a distress signal. There was no suggestion of a link between the EgyptAir crash and the Delta incident. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. News / National by Staff reporter The Zanu-PF faction rallying behind embattled Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa's mooted presidential aspirations is fearing the worst after it was revealed at the weekend that powerful First Lady Grace Mugabe is returning home this week and resuming her high-octane "meet the people" rallies.With Grace having been in the Far East for the past two months to support her daughter Bona, who gave birth there to a baby boy last month, Team Lacoste - as the Mnangagwa faction is popularly known - has enjoyed some of its best days during this time in the ruling party's seemingly unstoppable factional and succession wars.Forthright Zanu-PF women's league secretary for finance, Sarah Mahoka confirmed to the Daily News on Sunday yesterday that Grace would resume her countrywide "meet the people" rallies on Friday this week in Bulawayo, as the ruling party's ugly battle to succeed President Robert Mugabe rages on.At the same time, reliable government sources also told the Daily News on Sunday yesterday that Mugabe had proceeded to fly to Singapore from South Africa - where he had gone to attend the University of Fort Hare's centenary celebrations on Friday - to pick up his wife, daughter and grandson.The ecstatic Mahoka said the women's league could not wait for the return of the first lady, whom she said was coming back at an opportune time for the ruling party."We are mobilising resources as the women's league in preparation for the Bulawayo rally to be addressed by the first lady on the 27th. Women's league yauya hot zvakare (the women's league is back in the groove) and all roads lead to Bulawayo," she said.A well-placed Zanu-PF source said Grace was "very well-informed" about political developments within the party and the country at large, as she had been following events from the Far East with keen interest."Let those with ears hear and understand this, she is coming back very well-informed about everything, including the shenanigans of successionists, and is determined to put a stop to the nonsense," the source said cryptically, but ominously.Another senior party official linked to Zanu-PF's ambitious Young Turks known as the Generation 40 (G40) - who are rabidly opposed to Mnangagwa succeeding Mugabe - said bluntly yesterday that "the party is over for Team Lacoste"."They (Mnangagwa faction) have been running amok in the time ... Amai has been away, and despondency was beginning to creep in the ranks of the party. Now that she is coming back with a bang, the party is over for Team Lacoste," the bigwig said.A women's league official aligned to the Mnangagwa camp said although she knew about Grace's planned Bulawayo rally, she and many others from the faction would not attend it because they knew that the first lady would "target and embarrass us and Ngwena (Mnangagwa)" at the rally."Everyone knows that she (Grace) also harbours presidential ambitions despite her claims to the contrary. That woman is hellbent on discrediting the VP (Mnangagwa) who she sees as the biggest hurdle in her path to power."Without doubt, she will be attacking us and Ngwena at that rally and that is why some of us will not attend. However, all her attacks will never win her any supporters in the party," she said.When Grace addressed her last rally in February in Chiweshe, Mnangagwa's political career in Zanu-PF was hanging in the balance, after she launched yet another thinly-veiled frontal attack on him.The influential first lady ominously accused Mnangagwa - of among a litany of other deadly charges - deception, faking love for Mugabe, and in fact working feverishly to topple the long-ruling nonagenarian from power."Vanoti Mugabe achembera ngaabve, ivo vachiri vadiki here? (Those who say Mugabe is old and therefore must relinquish power are not young themselves)," she said in remarks that senior party officials present at the rally said were directed at 74-year-old Mnangagwa."It's God who is saying Mugabe be there, because He wants him to accomplish certain tasks. That's why he can manage to do the things he is doing as the president," she added.Although the first lady never mentioned any names directly in her address, she said she would do so at her next rallies if the plotters continued in their ways, further insinuating that Mnangagwa was ungrateful for having been given the post that he currently occupied by Mugabe, after the brutal 2014 purging of former Vice President Joice Mujuru."Some people have overstayed their welcome. Vagarisa asi tichavayanika pachena (we will expose these plotters) at the next rally, watch this space."We are not fools. We have seen people, among them youths, wearing T-shirts with Zimbabwean flags labelled Lacoste, and when we asked them they said Lacoste is a perfume. We are not fools."Do not take us for fools. They will not take over from Mugabe. I will rather put him in a wheelbarrow to work because we have realised that those we thought were being groomed as leaders are sell-outs. We no longer have confidence in them," Grace charged.Speaking earlier at the same rally, Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko also took a dig at Team Lacoste, saying that there was a dangerous misconception being created within the party that the next president should come from the Karanga ethnic group - the biggest Shona sub-group to which Mnangagwa belongs."There is nowhere in the Constitution where it says the country was liberated by a Ndebele, Karanga or Zezuru. The Constitution says the country was liberated by Zapu and Zanu. So what we are hearing now, that since Mugabe is Zezuru, the next should be a Karanga is misplaced. It will not succeed," he said.The first lady also suggested that Mugabe's close lieutenants wanted to kill her youngest son Bellarmine Chatunga, adding that the recent attempted bombing at the First Family's dairy farm in Mazowe was meant to intimidate them to hand over power now to the successionists."You are so cruel and you want me to respect you? Do not play with me because the people you tell will report to us. People will pass a vote of no confidence in you and when that happens you start complaining that the rate at which people are being sacked is too much and that it has never happened before in the history of the party."Now it pains you because you are now the target. But you were smiling when it happened to others."Is that fair to want to kill my son Bellarmine so as to intimidate us into handing over power to you? Can we go that far? You are mad. There is no vacancy at State House. I am still there," she fumed, adding that "there will only be a vacancy at State House when you die yourself"."We know that you treat me as Mugabe's mistress, posting Sally's (Mugabe's late first wife's) pictures saying she was better, yet we have never talked about your pool of girlfriends and thousands of children," she added.Grace also went to town savaging The Herald newspaper and defending Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo's use of social media in his recent fights with Mnangagwa's allies."I was shocked when I spoke on Wednesday only to hear The Herald report that I attacked Jonathan Moyo. Why should I attack him as if he was talking to himself on Twitter?"With all his education and intelligence how could he possibly speak to himself? You begin to see who is controlling that paper. What is happening there journalists?" she added in apparent reference to under-fire Information permanent secretary George Charamba, who stands accused of gross abuse of State media to advance Team Lacoste's factional interests. Ankara: Turkeys Transport Minister Binali Yildirim will be formally appointed as head of the ruling party and as the new prime minister today, strengthening the grip on power of his mentor President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Yildirima longstanding and faithful ally of Erdogan is the only candidate at an extraordinary congress of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) today that will choose the party chairman, meaning he will become prime minister. His main task in the post, observers say, will be to push through a change in the constitution to transform Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system, placing more power in Erdogans hands. The 60-year-old will replace Ahmet Davutoglu, who threw in the towel after a bitter power struggle with Erdogan. Divisions between Davutoglu and Erdogan had been boiling for months over a series of issues including Turkeys peace process with the Kurdish militants, an accord with the European Union on refugees and the shift from parliamentary to presidential system. Analysts expect that Yildirimwho has never stepped out of line with the president on a policy issuewill prove a far more pliable figure for the president and allow Erdogan to further consolidate his powers. Yildirim could be the last prime minister of Turkey.., said political commentator Gokhan Bacik. He will only have the role of deputy to Erdogan in the (presidential system) that he wants to put in place. The analyst also predicted that Erdogan would oversee foreign and economic policy in the new cabinet. Erdogans critics have accused him of authoritarian behaviour, pointing to the growing number of investigations pursued against journalists along with a highly controversial bill adopted by parliament yesterday that would lift immunity for dozens of pro-Kurdish and other MPs and could see them evicted from parliament. Another critical task facing the new prime minister will be to negotiate with the European Union on a crunch visa deal, a key plank of an accord aimed at easing the EUs migrant crisis. The visa deal has been in jeopardy over Ankaras reluctance to alter its counter-terror laws, a requirement of the agreement, prompting Erdogan to make a series of critical statements about the EU in recent weeks. Both Erdogan and Yildirim are strongly opposed to resuming talks with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the Kurdish militant group that has claimed responsibility for several attacks across Turkey since a two-year-long ceasefire collapsed in 2015. Yildirim vowed last week to rid Turkey of the calamity of terrorism during a symbolic visit to the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in the southeast. Yildirim worked as head of the Istanbul ferry company while Erdogan was mayor of the city in the second half of the 1990s. After the conservative Islamic-rooted AKP won power, he served an almost unbroken stint from 2002 to 2013 and again from 2015 as transport minister. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Patna: RJD today issued a show-cause notice to its Araria Lok Sabha MP Mohammad Taslimuddin for making statements against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The party has issued show cause notice to Taslimuddin, RJD state unit president Ramchandra Purbe told PTI. Purbe, however, did not specify the time-frame within which Taslimuddin has to reply. He also refused to answer whether any show-cause notice has been given to senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who too has been critical of the Chief Minister. RJD sources said the controversial statements were indirectly helping BJP. The partys decision assumes significance in the backdrop of the fact that its ally JD(U) yesterday took strong exception to the statements made by Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Taslimuddin and demanded action against both leaders. We have requested RJD boss Lalu Prasad jee to take action against both Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Mohammad Taslimuddin. Either these leaders should be kept under control or be suspended (from the party), JD(U) chief spokesman Sanjay Singh had said. Taslimuddin had trained his gun once again at the Nitish Kumar government yesterday, urging the RJD boss to snap ties with JD(U). He had said the chief minister should first set things in order in Bihar before undertaking a nation-wide campaign on prohibition. Soon after the meeting of the state and central parliamentary board of RJD here Friday, both Raghuvansh and Taslimuddin had attacked the Nitish Kumar government. The Araria MP had said that Nitish Kumar should quit as he has failed to handle the law and order situation. On an earlier occasion as well, Taslimuddin had said Nitish Kumar was not PM material and was daydreaming of becoming the prime minister. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In a recent interesting study, based on the largest analysis of microbial data, it is found that the Earth could contain nearly one trillion species, of which 99.999 per cent are yet to be discovered. The findings suggest that only one-thousandth of one per cent of all the species have been identified till now. One of the study authors Jay Lennon from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana said, Estimating the number of species on Earth is among the great challenges in biology. The scientists combined microbial, plant and animal datasets from government, academic and citizen science sources, resulting in the largest compilation of its kind. Overall, these data represent more than 5.6 million microscopic and non-microscopic species from 35,000 locations across all the worlds oceans and continents, except Antarctica. Lennon explained, Our study combines the largest available datasets with ecological models and new ecological rules for how biodiversity relates to abundance. This gave us a new and rigorous estimate for the number of microbial species on Earth. The estimate, based on universal scaling laws applied to large datasets, appeared in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Furthermore, Lennon added, Until recently, weve lacked the tools to truly estimate the number of microbial species in the natural environment. The advent of new genetic sequencing technology provides a large pool of new information. Microbial species are forms of life too small to be seen with the naked eye, including single-celled organisms such as bacteria and archaea, as well as certain fungi. "Microbial biodiversity, it appears, is greater than we ever imagined," Lennon pointed out. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Los Angeles: Vin Diesel honored late friend and Fast and Furious co-star Paul Walker, who died in a fatal car crash in 2013, in an emotional Instagram post. With production on Fast 8 currently underway, Diesel, 48, shared a touching account he had with one of the films crew members with his social media followers. Many of the crew members who have worked on several of the past Fast films are here again to help us make something special, he captioned a throwback photo of himself seated beside Walker. One of them at the end of the week came up to me and said wow what we are capturing on film is excellent... And then looked at me and said Paul would be proud. Two days prior, Diesel also posted a video to his Instagram account, in which he shared his thoughts on filming the latest Fast and Furious installment without Walker. Coming into shooting Fast 8, I knew that it was gonna be a darker road, he said. Its amazing how regardless of how successful you are, that you have to go into a dark place to channel a character to feel a character. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Hollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington/Kabul: Washington/Kabul, May 22 (PTI) Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a rare US drone strike inside Pakistans restive Baluchistan province, the Afghan spy agency said today, in a body blow for the insurgents and a major boost to fledgling peace process in the war-torn country. Mansour and another combatant were targeted yesterday by multiple unmanned aircraft operated by US Special Operations forces as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near the town of Ahmad Wal in Pakistans restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border, US officials said. Afghanistans main spy agency said Mansour was killed in a US drone attack inside Pakistan. Mansour was being closely monitored for a while... until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle... in Balochistan, the National Directorate of Security said in a brief statement. Speaking to reporters in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, US Secretary of State John Kerry said, Mansour posed... an imminent threat to US personnel, Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces. Kerry said Mansour was also directly opposed to peace negotiations. The US has long maintained that an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned reconciliation process is the surest way to ensure peace... peace is what we want, Mansour was a threat to that, Kerry added. The Pentagon earlier confirmed it targeted Mansour in an operation authorised by President Barack Obama. Mansour assumed the leadership in July 2015, replacing Taliban founder and the one-eyed reclusive long-time spiritual head Mullah Mohammad Omar in Pakistan in 2013. Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners, said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict, he said. The drone strike inside Pakistan was a rare one since US Navy Seals killed Al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a stealth raid in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad in 2011. Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansours assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous US and Coalition personnel, Cook said. The United States informed both Pakistan and Afghanistan shortly after the strike, a senior White House official said. In Kabul, Afghan CEO Abdullah Abdullah said that if Mansours death is confirmed major changes within the ranks of the Taliban could be expected as a number of Taliban leaders could join the peace process. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Los Angeles: Uma Thurmans spokesperson has slammed Fiat heir Lapo Elkann for kissing the actress at amfAR Gala in Paris, calling his behaviour opportunism at its worst. Elkann planted a kiss on Thurmans lips when the actress congratulated him after he won a USD 196,000 bid for a Victorias Secret Show experience, reported Aceshowbiz. It is opportunism at its worst. She wasnt complicit in it, Thurmans rep said after the event. Somewhere in his head he must have thought it an appropriate way of behaving. It clearly wasnt. She is very unhappy that this happened to her and feels violated. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Thiruvananthapuram: A day after he stepped down as opposition leader, marxist veteran V S Achuthanandan today said he would continue his fight against corruption and communalism until my last breath. I am not stopping my struggles I have undertaken so far. I will continue my fights against corruption, communalism and to protect the nature, soil and pride of Kerala until my last breath, the 92-year-old veteran said in a facebook post. Achuthanandan, who was described as warhorse and Keralas Fidel Castro by CPI(M) general secretary, Sitaram Yechury, had spearheaded the LDFs election campaign and helped it secure a massive victory over Congress-led UDF in the May 16 assembly polls. He said political rivals had tried to target him and trap him in cases when he attempted to expose Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But people, who always stood with me in my fights, have given me all support. They have ushered in LDF by giving them a historic mandate of 91 seats, he said. Referring to the fierce state-wide campaign he undertook, the former chief minister said he had to fulfill a historic responsibility at the May 16 polls and that was why he had decided to contest accepting the direction of the party central leadership. The victory of LDF in Kerala was essential to retain the strength of the communist parties, who carry out relentless fight against communal forces at the national level, he said. While announcing that he was stepping down as Opposition leader, Achuthanandan had said here yesterday that he would continue to play the role of a sentinel of the people of Kerala. He was elected from Malampuzha constituency in Palakkadby a margin of 27,142 votes. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Imphal: A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and five jawans of Assam Rifles were today killed in an ambush by militants in Chandel district of Manipur near the Indo-Myanmar border. An Assam Rifles convoy was attacked by heavily armed militants around 1 PM in Joupi Hengshi area of Chandel when the security personnel were returning after inspecting a landslide site in the interior tribal district, defence and police sources said. The slain personnel belonged to 29 Assam Rifles. It is suspected that two or more militant groups jointly carried out the attack. More troops were rushed to the area and a massive search operation is underway, they said. The incident occurred near Joupi village within the limits of Molcham Police Station, a police officer said. Last year, 18 army personnel were killed in the same district in an ambush by NSCN(K) militants. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. This website uses cookie or similar technologies to enhance and improve your browsing experience. By using our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy Islamabad: Pakistan today hit out at the US for launching a drone strike on its soil to kill Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour, describing it as a violation of its sovereignty. Mansour was killed in a rare US drone strike deep inside Pakistan. Mansour and another militant were targeted in a precision air strike by multiple unmanned drones operated by US Special Operations forces yesterday as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near Ahmad Wal town in the restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border. Reacting to the news, Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement that the US had shared information that a drone strike was carried out in Pakistan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area, in which reportedly the Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhter Mansoor was targeted. This information was shared with the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff after the drone strike. While further investigations are being carried out, Pakistan wishes to once again state that the drone attack was a violation of its sovereignty, an issue which has been raised with the United States in the past as well, it said. According to the information gathered so far, a person named Wali Muhammad S/o Shah Muhammad carrying a Pakistani passport and an I D Card, resident of Qilla Abdullah, entered Pakistan from Taftan border on May 21. His passport was bearing a valid Iranian visa. He was travelling on a vehicle hired from a transport company in Taftan. This vehicle was found destroyed at Kochaki along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the Foreign Office said. The driver has been identified as Muhammad Azam. The identity of the second body is being verified on the basis of evidence found at the site of the incident and other relevant information, it said. It may be recalled that the fifth meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) held on May 18 had reiterated that a politically negotiated settlement was the only viable option for lasting peace in Afghanistan and called upon the Taliban to give up violence and join peace talks, it said. Mansour assumed the leadership in July 2015, replacing Taliban founder and the one-eyed reclusive long-time spiritual head Mullah Mohammad Omar, who died in Pakistan in 2013. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. News / National by Staff reporter Zanu-PF youth league boss Pupurai Togarepi has made a dramatic volte-face, pledging allegiance to First Lady Grace Mugabe and accusing his "excitable" detractors of creating a wedge between her and the powerful women's league boss.Togarepi was recently ousted from the youth league in a vote of no confidence apparently because of his alleged links to a faction backing Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.He was subsequently, according to Zanu-PF insiders, ordered by Mugabe out of a politburo meeting a fortnight ago pending the finalisation of his case.Mnangagwa's faction is battling a rival camp of Young Turks, dubbed the Generation 40 (G40) that is opposed to the Midlands godfather's presidential ambitions.But Togarepi told the Daily News in an exclusive interview yesterday that reports that he did not like the First Family were "machinations of some people on a campaign to destroy me politically"."I have no problem with amai (Grace) and I believe that she also has faith in me. This is a political game and people can come up with unfounded allegations and tend to misrepresent me that I am against her," Togarepi said.While admitting that the cancer of factionalism was consuming Zanu-PF, Togarepi said he was not involved in the fights."I know very well people saying they do not know which of the four or five factions in the party I belong to, but I am happy because I am in Zanu-PF as a compact organisation led by one person (Mugabe) and directed by its constitution. I will remain focused behind the person who appointed me, I will not follow anybody else or be part of a faction," he said.Commenting on allegations that owing to his factional interests, he and other Mnangagwa loyalists were working around the clock to block the youth league's "million-man" march meant to prop up Mugabe, Togarepi said that was all "unfounded."Instead, he said, there were youths who were posting on social media that they would not be part of the march if Togarepi was barred from participating."I am fully behind the million- man march. Remember, I am actually the author of the first million-man march in 2007 and I invited Jabulani Sibanda, not the other way round."I am happy therefore if my' youths have that zeal to use their energy to mobilise for the president. These activities create awareness and galvanise the youths."I am therefore calling upon all Zanu-PF youths and those affiliated to the party to participate."There is no misunderstanding or misgivings about what the march seeks to achieve, hence I am actually hiring buses using my personal resources".Togarepi also claimed there was unity among youth league leaders on the need for the march despite claims to the contrary.He, however, acknowledged that with the whole party divided along factional lines, there were bound to be divisions in the youth league."The youths are united but they have too much energy and what divides them are petty issues."It must also be realised that these are people who have not developed that much politically and they tend to irritate each other and sometimes they are misdirected by other people with their own agendas".He also insisted that he had left the last politburo meeting prematurely of his own volition as he had to "attend to other issues". Opinion / Blogs Qn. ANSWERS ON WAYS USED BY YAHWEH TO COMMUNICATE WITH HIS PROPHETS HOW ISRAEL PROPHETS DELIVERED THEIR MESSAGES ZIMBABWEAN CONTEXT N.B HOW DO ZIMBABWEAN PROPHETS DELIVER THEIR MESSAGES CONTACTS Examine ways which Yahweh used to communicate with his prophets and how prophets delivered their messages in relation to Zimbabwean context?(25) -pt 29- The above question requires one to understand the Key words before attempting it. Firstly, let's break the question.- We break the question by attempting to answer the following fundamental questions.- What is a prophet?- Who is Yahweh?- What is to communicate?- What are the ways?-Prophet is someone who communicate the will of Yahweh ~U S A English dictionary define "communicate" as to share, whilst ,ways as a method- In other words this question requires one to examine the methods which Yahweh/God used to share the message to his prophets- We all know that in Israel they were so many prophets ,starting from Moses ,Up to the time of Jeremiah-A Level Zimsec syllabus will guide us .- Yahweh communicated with, Moses who is regarded as a the father all prophets through a vision (Moses saw a vision of burning bush at Mt Horeb first ,then thus when he started to talk to Yahweh) Exodus 3 v 1- It also recorded that Moses talked to Yahweh face to face like someone speaking to his friend (Numbers 12 v 4-8).- One will be tempted to ask the following Questions, Does this mean that Moses saw the face of Yahweh?- Why Moses Speaking to Yahweh face to face ?- Is this the reason why Moses is regarded as the par excellence- Numbers 12 v 4-8,Proves to us that Yahweh communicated with other prophets in a dream or visions.This is valid to our answer.- Yahweh communicated with Samuel in a voice ,this is the reason why Samuel thought that it was Eli who was calling him ,this is well supported by Dr Thomas Constable 2016 Edition relying on 1 Samuel 3 v 1.- Yahweh communicated with Amos in a voice ,this is the reason why Amos says ,The Lord roars from Zion ,it also the reason why some scholars have submitted that Amos was influenced by the voice of the Lord instead of his back ground. In other words it means that God communicated with Amos through a voice ( Amos 1 v 2-5,Amos 3 v 8).- Amos in chapter 7v 1 delivers visions of doom .In other words it means that God communicated with Amos in a vision "The lord showed me.- Israel prophets used various ways to deliver their messages. Moses used messenger style of speech "thus says the Lord",this is indicated in Exodus 5 v 1- Moses went on to use a song to deliver his message, this,is indicated in Exodus 32 .- Nathan used a parable to condemn David for injustice ,this is supported by 2 Samuel 12.- Amos used the following things to deliver the message of doom ~song ,Amos 5 v 2~wordplays "visions of doom ",Amos 7 v 1~similes and metaphors, Amos 2 v 11-13 &3 v 12- Prophets like Hosea ,Jeremiah ,Isaiah used symbolic actions to deliver their messages ,I won't waste much time in writing them ;Read the bible you will understand everything.Most of the Zimbabwean prophets claims to have been communicating with Yahweh .Johane Masowe claimed that Yahweh in a vision talked to him at Mt Marimba, He further says that Yahweh instructed him to change his name from Shoniwa Masedza to Johane Masowe(John of the wilderness). Angel according to Miracle TV undated claimed that Yahweh had shown him two visions (My vision to hell and My vision to heaven ).Makandiwa according to his article Volume 11 undated he delivered 18 parables and visions .He said the lord talked to him .In other words this means that Yahweh communicated with him in a voice just like Amos and other prophets which the writer highlighted above.- There are so many prophets which can be added for instance W.Magaya,Blessing Chiza,Paul Mwazha .Zimbabwean prophets uses the following ways to deliver their messages.According to an article of Makandiwa Volume 11 undated Makandiwa says another way of delivering a message is to use parables ,and soon after that he delivered more than 15 parables .Some of the Zimbabwean prophets uses Books ,Pamphlets, Banners to deliver their messages ,this include Magaya ,Makandiwa to mention but few only.Zimbabwean prophets have went on to extent of using TV stations, Websites, Facebook, Twitter.We all know the examples of prophets who uses the above ways.It has been suggested that Magaya and Angel uses symbolic actions to deliver their messages e.g Magaya usually wear sandals during the church service,thus,symbolising humbleness whilst Angel lives flamboyant life,thus,symbolising gospel of prosperity.- You can draw out the similarities and differences between Zimbabwean prophets and Israel prophets+263777896159 (WhatsApp)Witness Dingani (Facebook page) Opinion / Columnist The MDC did not lose past elections, particularly the 2008 or 2013 elections, to Zanu PF because the opposition was weak or divided; they lost because President Mugabe was able to rig the vote and use violence to force the electorate to vote for Zanu PF. No serious political analyst would deny that Zanu PF will NOT win free, fair and credible elections. None!So why has Zimbabwe's opposition not concentrate all their political fire on implementing the democratic reforms necessary for free, fair and credible elections? Sadly this is now a rhe-torical question since most of us know the answer to it; the opposition is full of corrupt and incompetent leaders and per se it is not in their nature to listen to reason or do what is logical!One of the areas where the opposition leaders have shown repeatedly just how corrupt and incompetent they are and thus reason and logic has absolutely nothing to do with what they say and do is their propensity to quarrel over nothing and subdivide like amoeba. After every breakup each side has been as smug as a bug that has just shed off its old itchy and restrictive exoskeleton. Now that they have got rid of the deadwood, they each side expected to soar to dizzying heights of their political achievements.More often than not the breakaway parties' political fortunes sunk into new depths either knew existed! It is then that they start their seemingly never ending phase to their relation-ship; they talk incessantly about "putting the nation's interest above their individual interests and differences" whatever that is supposed to mean to for a grand coalition.All nonsense of course; these opposition leaders are corrupt and incompetent, that held them back when they were in the original MDC for example, it held them back when they were in separate MDC factions and it is bound to still hold them back if they were ever to form this grand coalition. It is the lack of quality leaders that has held them back and those who seek to substitute quality for quantity have always been disappointed in the end.President Mugabe and his Zanu PF are happier with the opposition spending its time and en-ergy subdividing into smaller and smaller factions and spend even more time and energy try-ing to put Humpty Dumpty together again anything to keep away the opposition from im-plementing the democratic reforms. There is empirical evidence to suggest no reforms will ever be implemented because the opposition is so badly infiltrated with Zanu PF agents there to stop the opposition doing anything of substance. As the nation moves closer and closer to the next elections the opposition will start talking incessantly about forming a coalition which is exactly what President Mugabe would want them to do."Grand coalitions (are) no silver bullet for electoral victory over Zanu-PF," argued political commentator and respected journalist, Geoffrey Nyarota.After each rigged elections the Zanu PF propaganda machinery has always gone into over-drive blaming the lack of opposition unity for Zanu PF's electoral victory, it is a convenient smokescreen to hide all the stories of the election irregularities.It is three years since the July 2013 rigged elections and still not even one democratic reform has been implemented. Instead of the opposition panicking about the lack of meaningful pro-gress in implementing reforms their attention is turning increasingly towards forming coali-tions.MDC-T members are divided on whether or not the party should join other opposition parties in a coalition. When asked to comment Luke Tamborinyoka, Tsvangirai's spokesman told Newsday that his boss' position on the issue of a coalition had not shifted, adding that differ-ences were healthy for internal democracy."We have insisted that talking about coalitions will be putting the cart before the horse. We need to speak with a common voice on the issue of the electoral environment, build trust and then at the appropriate time, talk of a coalition," he saidTsvangirai's position on coalition, like on many other issues, has shifted back and forth like desert sand domes befitting his "flawed and indecisive character", said former US Ambassa-dor Chris Dell according to a WikiLeaks report!The worst thing that could have happened as regards creating the "electoral environment" has happened because not even one meaningful reform has been implemented and we only have two years left before the next elections in 2018. It is looking increasingly unlikely that the opposition, such as it is, will be able to pressure President Mugabe to implement any reforms now. He is a seasoned tyrant and he is already whipping the opposition into panic mode were even the little common sense shown by the opposition will go out of the window.The need to form a coalition is as instinctive to the panicked opposition as it is to the pan-icked shoal of herring under attacked from a pod of killer whales. The whales will blow bub-ble-net and slap their tails to create shock waves to force the herring to form a tight fish ball, easy picking for the whales.Zimbabwe cannot afford yet another rigged election because the nation cannot afford to have the present economic meltdown go on for another day much less another five years beyond 2018. Since Zanu PF has clearly failed to bring about any meaningful economic recovery the only way out is to have regime change.The only peaceful and orderly way to achieve regime change is by implementing the demo-cratic reforms. We the people and not the panicked, corrupt and incompetent opposition will have to demand the implementation of the democratic reforms. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BRIDGEPORT Honoring the sense of community and support the graduates received while earning their degrees, and a desire to share that spirit with others, was the overarching theme of Western Connecticut State Universitys 118th commencement ceremony on Sunday. Nearly 820 of the schools eligible 1,235 undergraduate candidates and a little more than half of the universitys 120 eligible graduate candidates participated in the ceremony, according to Western. Relatives, friends and significant others filled the Webster Bank Arena Sunday morning to cheer on and celebrate the graduates accomplishments. But every speaker was quick to acknowledge those filling the arena in addition to those in the caps and gowns on the floor. I doubt there is anyone today who can truly say they did it by themselves, said Alexa Hinds, president of the student government association. I know I cant. She recalled cups of coffee from friends during long study sessions, wake-up calls from roommates to get to early classes, continuous support from the faculty, and encouragement and financial assistance from family. The most important lesson I learned at Western is that its not all about you, because its about all of us, she said. If we work together, we can accomplish anything. Nicole Mair, one of the student commencement speakers, said the university has given her so much. She always hoped to attend college, but worried she wouldnt be able to afford it without burdening her family with debt. She found the answer at Western, where the university welcomed her and her twin sister into the honors program. Through the university, she gained friends, love, an ability to travel and appreciation for economics, her field of study. My professors encouraged me to break glass ceilings and, as a woman of color, my male-dominated matrix, she said. Earlier in the ceremony, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he hopes to return to another Western graduation when there will be no college debt, women earn the same as men, and the countrys workforce has access to affordable child and health care. He said these are part of the American dream, which was alive and well Sunday morning in Bridgeport. This country will honor its obligation to make sure that college is debt-free and tuition-free, he said. Speakers applauded the graduates achievements, but cautioned them the journey doesnt end with the diploma. Life is about learning, and I hope your education doesnt stop here, said Monica Perry Sousa, the graduate-student speaker and the recipient of the distinguished alumni award. William McGurk, a member of the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education, told the graduates to be proud of their accomplishments so far but continue to strive for more. He also encouraged the graduates to be thankful for the acts of kindness shared with them over the years and to pass that kindness on to others. Make a difference, make it happen, make it count, he said. kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345; @kkoerting This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In 1646, an historian of the Bay Colony in Massachusetts wrote of hairy caterpillars inching out of white tents to chow down on the then-unconquered greenery. Its the first Colonial report of whats now called the Eastern tent caterpillar Malacosum americanum. They are, and have been for centuries, as much a part of the spring scene as skunk cabbage and peepers. Its a native moth, said Gail Ridge, an entomologist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven. Its been here a long time. And by most accounts, it is a good year to be a tent caterpillar. Drive along and youll see their white silk triangles, sewn into the forked branches of wild cherry trees. The trees are all leafing out now, said Lori Brant, executive director of the Steep Rock Association in Washington. Weve just started to notice thats not a leaf, its a big white mass. Yes, were seeing them, said Paul Elconin, director of land conservation at the Weatinoge Heritage Land Trust, which owns property in New Milford, Kent and Bridgewater. And yes, were seeing more than last year. The leaves pop out and the native caterpillars all come out, said Sean Grace, director of Audubon Connecticuts center in Sharon. The cherry trees are loaded with them this year. The reason for the intense number of caterpillars in tents is simple. They have a 10-year cycle in which populations build up, crash, and recover. This year, Ridge said, it seems theyre on the upswing. David Wagner, an entomologist at the University of Connecticut in Storrs said the caterpillars have also been helped out this year by mild dry weather at a crucial moment in a tent caterpillars life when its emerging from the egg where its lived through most of the previous year and starting to join its siblings in tent-building. If its a cold wet spring, there can be a lot of disease and a lot of fungal threats, Wagner said. If they live, they live together one of the remarkable things about tent caterpillars is their sociability. The caterpillars hatched from one egg mass will stay together to build a tent. Caterpillars from different egg masses can also join together, Ridge said. Its how a caterpillar village becomes a caterpillar city. Tent caterpillars dwell mostly on wild black cherry trees but, Ridge said, they have been known to settle into the crotches of apple, peach and domestic cherry trees. The caterpillars spin silk to make those tents, which always face the sun. Theyre like miniature greenhouses, Wagner said. Its often 10 degrees warmer inside the tent. And Ridge of the agricultural experiment station said the tents also give the caterpillars shelter from the storm. Its rain proof, she said. Protected and toasty, the caterpillars feed three times a day, leaving a pheromone trail behind to guide others in the tent to a food source. They can eat up a tree-full of leaves, leaving its branches bare. However, if the tree is healthy, it just sets out new leaves and recovers. The caterpillars live communally for about a month, enlarging the tent as they get bigger. Then, when they reach a certain size, they disperse. Each spins a cocoon to emerge a few weeks later as a small brown, nocturnal moth. The moths live only a few days only long enough to mate and the female to lay eggs for the next year. Sometimes, mating, egg laying and dying all happens on the same day. Theyre like the flowers of a plant, Ridge said. They dont last. Because they are comparatively big and hairy, with the ability to writhe communally when they feel threatened, not a lot of birds eat them. Because black cherry leaves contain cyanide and prussic acid, the caterpillars that eat those leaves are bitter and unappetizing. But some birds yellow-billed cuckoos, orioles, blue jays are not picky eaters. Theyll perch outside a tent and tear into it. Ridge said some ants can invade a nest, pick the hair off a caterpillar, then kill and eat it. For migrating birds, said Grace of the Sharon Audubon Center, a meal like that can be a life-saver. After their arduous trip north, theyve lose a lot of weight. And when they get here, the timing is right. The leaves, the bugs, the birds, all fit together. Its a huge natural event, he said. Contact Robert Miller at earthmattersrgm@gmail. Bringing Canada's view to significant global health challenges OTTAWA, May 20, 2016 /CNW/ - The Honourable Jane Philpott, Minister of Health, will be in Geneva, Switzerland, next week to chair the Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting (CHMM) and lead Canada's delegation to the 69th World Health Assembly (WHA). These meetings are opportunities for Canada to work with international partners to explore how to best address increasingly complex global health challenges. The CHMM, to be held on May 22, will focus on two significant issues at the heart of global health challenges: universal health coverage to improve access to and quality of health care globally and health security the capacity of all countries to preserve and protect the health of the population. At the WHA, Minister Philpott will deliver Canada's statement, in which she will highlight some of Canada's key priorities in global health. Canada's delegation to the WHA will include the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie; Parliamentary Secretary Karina Gould, Global Affairs Canada; Dr. Gregory Taylor, Chief Public Health Officer, Public Health Agency of Canada; Paul Glover, Associate Deputy Minister, Health Canada; Dr. Horacio Arruda, Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Health and Social Services, Quebec; Karima Velji, President, Canadian Nurses Association; and Ramya Kancherla, a medical student from McMaster University. Canada has been actively involved in a number of resolutions that will be brought forward at the WHA, including leading a resolution to strengthen the role of the health sector in the sound management of chemicals. Other key resolutions address preventing violence against women and children, supporting ageing and health, improving women's, children's and adolescents' health, and meeting the health-related goals in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Quotes "I am honoured to chair this year's Commonwealth Health Ministers' Meeting. This is a valuable forum in which to work with like-minded countries to explore how we can best address increasingly complex global health challenges. This year we will focus on two significant issues at the heart of global health challenges universal health coverage and health security. I look forward to helping to advance these important topics, and our shared objective of protecting the health of our citizens, with our Commonwealth partners." The Honourable Jane Philpott Minister of Health "Many health challenges, such as the spread of infectious diseases, do not respect borders. Other challenges, such as childhood obesity and aging populations, are shared by many countries. Addressing global health challenges such as these requires collaborative, global, whole-of-society approaches. Canada's long history of leadership and collaboration on the world stage will continue at this year's World Health Assembly, where we will meet with the world's health leaders and experts to discuss the health challenges we are facing in our countries and on a global scale." The Honourable Jane Philpott Minister of Health "Canada is committed to a more comprehensive approach to support women's health and rights. To become transformative forces in the world, women and adolescents must have access to the full range of sexual and reproductive health services." The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau Minister of International Development and La Francophonie "The World Health Assembly is an important instrument for bringing the international health community together to address increasingly complex global health challenges and to find ways to better prepare for, and respond to global public health emergencies. I look forward to the discussions and opportunities to explore innovative ways to address the health challenges facing our countries today." Dr. Gregory Taylor Chief Public Health Officer "The World Health Assembly offers a timely and important opportunity to discuss the critical shortages of skilled health professionals expected globally in the years ahead. The demographic changes happening in Canada and throughout the world mean innovative care delivery models are needed to reorient care from hospitals to community and home-based models. The WHA discussions will highlight the need to promote multidisciplinary teams, emphasizing issues of credentialing, training and retaining workers within the global health care sector. Canada's leadership is essential to inform discussion to ensure resources are used efficiently, protecting the long term sustainability of the universal health care system that makes Canadians proud, and promoting our strengths on the global stage." Karima Velji President, Canadian Nurses Association "In the current health landscape, youth are positioned to be agents of innovative change and advocates of health equity both in Canada and internationally. Many of the challenges being addressed at the WHA, including the environmental impact on health and the importance of migrant health, have direct and indirect long-term impacts on today's youth. Having this opportunity to represent Canadian youth and meaningfully engage in such dialogue is a step towards sustainable solutions to better address complex global health issues." Ramya Kancherla Medical student, McMaster University Related Product Canada at the Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting and the 69th World Health Assembly in Geneva Associated Links The Commonwealth Health Hub The World Health Organization 69th World Health Assembly Follow us on Twitter: @CanadaDev Like us on Facebook: Canada's international development - Global Affairs Canada SOURCE Public Health Agency of Canada For further information: Andrew MacKendrick, Office of Jane Philpott, Minister of Health, 613-957-0200; Media Relations, Public Health Agency of Canada, (613) 957-2983; Bernard Boutin, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, 343-203-5977, [email protected]; Media Relations Office, Global Affairs Canada, 343-203-7700, [email protected] There was an outrage on Sunday over the Friday night attack by criminals suspected to be Fulani herdsmen on Oke Ako in Ikole Ekiti Local... There was an outrage on Sunday over the Friday night attack by criminals suspected to be Fulani herdsmen on Oke Ako in Ikole Ekiti Local Government Area of Ekiti State.Two persons died from the attack while three others are receiving treatment in separate private hospitals in Ikole Ekiti and Ado Ekiti.Governor Ayodele Fayose has warned that there could be reprisal attacks on Fulani herdsmen in the state if they did not desist from invading communities and attacking the people.He described the assailants as agents of the devil that must be fished out and punished accordingly.The governor, who commiserated with the people, especially the family of the deceased, vowed to do everything within his power to forestall the reoccurrence of such attack and safeguard the lives of Ekiti people.Fayose in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said the Fulani herdsmen were becoming a major threat to the unity of Nigeria.I will not fold my hands while armed herdsmen invade communities in Ekiti, killing people and destroying farmlands at will as they have done in other states.I have directed the police and other security agencies in the state to fish out the killer herdsmen. I am in constant touch with the security agencies and I hope that the killer herdsmen will be fished out wherever they are and made to face the full wrath of the law.The people of Oke-Ako should therefore remain calm while the security agents do their job. However, the security agents must be mindful of the fact that the peoples patience has a limit and they must therefore act promptly and decisively.A member of the seventh House of Representatives, Bamidele Faparusi, has called on the Inspector General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, to investigate claims by residents that policemen from Ikole demanded N12,000 for fuel and did not respond promptly to distress call.Faparusi, in a statement in Ado Ekiti on Sunday, urged Arase to punish anyone indicted to serve as a deterrent to others.The villagers revealed that the police in Ikole Divisional Police Station demanded a sum of N12,000 before they can go to Oke Ako to rescue the people. This is an issue that must be investigated thoroughly.The IGP should send a powerful delegation from Abuja to carry out an investigation and those found guilty should be punished.The police cannot afford to toy with the lives of the Nigerian citizens. I am sure that if they had acted swiftly when the incident was reported, that could have helped in reducing the severity of the attack, he said.The governor, who described activities of the Fulani Herdsmen as inimical to the revival of agriculture in the country lamented that farmlands worth billions of naira had been destroyed in states in the South-West, South-East and North-Central zones of the country.One wonders how Nigerians can go back to farming when those already in the farms are losing billions of naira worth of crops to destruction of their farmlands by the Fulani Herdsmen and the Federal Government is not doing anything about it.I am sounding a note of warning to the Fulani herdsmen and those who can talk to them should also do so now. If they continue with these wanton attacks, killing of the people and destruction of farmlands in Ekiti, I cannot guarantee that there wont be reprisal attacks.I can also not guarantee the level that the reprisal attacks can get to because as a governor, it is my responsibility to defend and protect my people.Fayose called on President Muhammadu Buhari to stop paying lips service to the Fulani herdsmens menace, saying as patron of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, the president had the capacity to caution the herdsmen.President Buhari should therefore call his people to order because this is Ekiti; our people have the rights to defend themselves.Most importantly, President Buhari must be reminded of how he was so concerned about the killing of Fulani herdsmen in in Saki, Oke Ogun Area of Oyo State such that he, as a private citizen led Arewa to Ibadan on October 13, 2000, to confront the then Governor of Oyo State, late Alhaji Lam Adesina. After three days of what it called nationwide warning strike last week, the Nigeria Labour Congress has scheduled a meeting of its Natio... After three days of what it called nationwide warning strike last week, the Nigeria Labour Congress has scheduled a meeting of its National Executive Council, NEC, for Monday in Abuja.The meeting on Monday is expected to be preceded by another by the National Administrative Council NAC, an organ of elected officers and the NEC, comprising representatives of all the Congress affiliates across the country.That first meeting is scheduled for Sunday also in Abuja.The warning strike began on Wednesday following governments failure to accede to its demands to revert to the old fuel price of N86.50 per litre as well as reverse the electricity tariff hike imposed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission last January.The strike action appeared to have been largely a failure in most states of the federation, as Nigerians ignored the call by the NLC and went about their normal businesses throughout the three days of the strike.Although well meaning Nigerians have been making entreaties to the NLC to prevail on its members to shelve the strike, the scheduled meeting appears to be a forum for labour to consider these pleas, review its position and consider calling off the strike and return to the negotiation table with government on their demands.NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said Sundays meeting would discuss the proposal by a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, during his visit to the NLC secretariat in Abuja on Friday to appeal for the calling off of the strike.During the visit, Mr. Wabba had said the decision to suspend or call off the strike could only be taken by the appropriate organ of the congress empowered to negotiate with government.Other appeals that have gone to the NLC to shelve the strike came from the leadership of the National Assembly.Key affiliates of the NLC, including the influential oil workers unions, namely the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and the National Union od Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, opted not to join the strike. Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has blamed recklessness and lack of planning as the reasons why Nigeria is in its current economic quag... Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has blamed recklessness and lack of planning as the reasons why Nigeria is in its current economic quagmire.According to him, the writing was on the wall.Emir Sanusi said if the nations population is growing by 10 per cent and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) also grows at the same margin, it means there is stagnation. He added that if the GDP growth is less than the population growth, then there is a problem as it means that poverty is growing ahead of development.The youths should be mobilized, trained and be made to be productive. We should give premium to planning and be financially disciplined; that is like saving for the rainy day, he said.He added that Nigeria should not be compared to Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries, adding that while a barrel of oil in Saudi Arabia is expected to cater for three Saudis, same barrel of oil is expected to cater for over 300 Nigerians.He spoke on Saturday in Abuja, at the 3rd annual lecture of the Zubairiyya foundation, Abuja chapter themed: Islamic perspective on the nations economic and social policy. To boost security in Enugu State, the police on Sunday, began aerial surveillance of the entire state. To boost security in Enugu State, the police on Sunday, began aerial surveillance of the entire state.The spokesman of the police in the state, Mr Ebere Amaraizu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu that the helicopters were on an aerial monitoring exercise of the three senatorial zones.As part of measures to ensure that the entire state is safe and secure, the state command, through the Air-Wing of the Nigeria Police Force, has begun an aerial surveillance of the three senatorial zones.This exercise will offer the platform to fish out would-be mischief makers and for officers to have proper sight of all the nooks and crannies of the state for effective crime prevention and control, he said.Amaraizu, a Superintendent of Police, noted that the Enugu Commissioner of Police, Mr Emmanuel Ojukwu, had earlier advised members of the public not to panic on sighting the helicopters.It is the gesture of the Inspector-General of Police and government to ensure that the entire area is made safe.The command has mobilised security operatives, working in partnership with relevant stakeholders and police pilots, with a view to flushing out criminals from their hideouts in the state, he said.The state command currently has three helicopters and a heliport at its disposal in Enugu. The crisis within the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party is far from over, with Ali Modu Sheriff claiming he remained t... The crisis within the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party is far from over, with Ali Modu Sheriff claiming he remained the national chairman of the party, despite being sacked by a national convention.Mr. Sheriff was sacked at the PDP convention held on Saturday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and the National Executive Committee which he headed, replaced with a caretaker committee.Inuwa Bwala, the spokesperson for Mr. Sheriff, stated around 8.41pm on Saturday that Mr. Sheriff remained opposed to what happened at the Port Harcourt convention, since he had announced its suspension after consulting with members of the National Working Committee of the party.Immediately the chairman (Sheriff) received another court injunction, he called a meeting of the National Working Committee and told them that it wasnt safe to continue with the convention of the party, especially since the court had forbidden elections virtually into all the offices, Mr. Bwala said.He announced the suspension of the convention at a press briefing, only for some people to go behind and claim that there was convention.There was no organ of the party that was represented at the convention.The convention was cancelled, and it remains cancelled until such a time the matters in court are resolved, for us to convene another national convention.Mr. Bwala said Mr. Sheriff remained the national chairman of the PDP, going by the pronouncement of the court.The court had said the office of the chairman would become vacant only in 2018, and that is parts of the reasons we shelved the convention, said Mr. Bwala.When asked why the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, and the Senate Minority Leader, Godwill Akpabio, parted ways with Mr. Sheriff, Mr. Bwala responded, Some of them wanted to go on with the convention even with the subsisting court orders, and Sheriff said no. And that was their point of departure.Mr. Bwala said Mr. Sheriff felt betrayed in Port Harcourt.Naturally, you will feel betrayed if you are working with some people, only for them to go behind you to work against what you all agreed to do.The motion to sack Mr. Sheriff was moved at the convention by Mr. Akpabio, at the Port Harcourt Civic Centre.In his motion, Mr. Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, asked the convention to approve the appointment of a committee to manage the affairs of the PDP for a period not exceeding 90 days.The committee shall be known as the National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Akpabio said, while addressing delegates at the convention.Mr. Akpabio said the caretaker committee would also work to foster peace and reconciliation of all party members, as part of its terms of reference.The motion was seconded by the Governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo, thereby paving the way for the election of a seven-man caretaker committee headed by the former governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi.The voice vote was conducted by the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike.Ben Obi, who represents the South East in the caretaker committee, is the secretary. Other members of the committee include Odion Ugbesia, a former senator from Edo State, and Abdul Ahmed Ningi, from Bauchi.The convention, which had all the 12 governors of the PDP-controlled states in attendance, went up till about 6pm.There was an understanding that no member of the caretaker committee would contest for election into the National Executive Committee.The immediate past senate president, David Mark, was present at the convention.The Speaker, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Onofiok Luke, revealed that what happened at the Port Harcourt convention was for the purpose of inclusion.Mr. Luke said, The convention was fixed by NEC, and therefore it is only NEC that has the power to suspend the convention.I am a loyal party man. So, I go with the party.As the convention drew to a close around 6 pm, delegates hurried out of the venue even before the national anthem was sang, and the idle ballot boxes, beautifully designed, stood out as a reminded that the biggest opposition party in Africa still had a major inconclusive business at hand. The Lagos State Government has warned residents that there would be diversion in some routes when President Muhammadu Buhari visits the ... The Lagos State Government has warned residents that there would be diversion in some routes when President Muhammadu Buhari visits the state on Monday and Tuesday.A statement by the Commissioner for Information, Steve Ayorinde, quoted Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as urging residents to bear with law enforcement agents and traffic control authorities who will effect road diversions in some of the routes that the President motorcade will pass through during the visit.The Lagos State Government will formally welcome President Buhari on Monday on a two-day working visit to the State.It will be President Buharis first official visit to the state since he assumed office about a year ago.The statement by Mr. Ayorinde said Monday would be the first time in about 15years that a sitting President will be visiting the State on a working visit and is a testimony to the landmark achievements in the last one year of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as well as the good working relationship between Lagos State and the Federal Government.Mr. Ayorinde added that President Buhari, during the visit, would formally commission the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) Rescue Unit in Cappa Oshodi built by the state government to ensure prompt and swift response to emergency situations in the state.He said the President would thereafter commission the newly constructed Ago Palace Way in Okota, Isolo, after which he would pay homage to the Oba of Lagos, His Royal Majesty, Oba Babatunde Rilwanu Aremu Akiolu at the Iga Iduganran, Lagos Island.The Commissioner disclosed further that the President would later in the day be hosted to a reception rally by the State Government at the Tafawa Balewa Square, (TBS) Lagos where he will also commission and hand over security equipment and vehicles contributed by the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration to securities agencies to beef up security in the state.The release added that activities for the first day of the Presidents visit would be rounded up with a State Banquet in his honour at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island.The President will on Tuesday participate as the Special Guest of Honour at a breakfast session with Corporate Lagos to be hosted by Governor Ambode at the Lagos State House, Marina, after which he would have a short session with the public service at the State House, Alausa, Ikeja.The Commissioner quoted Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as being joyous over this landmark presidential visit to the State that contributed so much to his emergence as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND, Sunday, dissociated itself from Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, the militant group th... The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND, Sunday, dissociated itself from Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, the militant group that took responsibility for the blowing up of key oil installations in Delta and others parts of the region, lately.Spokesperson of MEND, Jomo Gbomo, in an electronic mail statement, for the release of detained Henry Okah and Charles Okah to pave way for meaningful dialogue on the Niger Delta question, described the Avengers as a tool in the hands of some elements determined to destabilize the President Muhammadu-Buhari government.Gbomo said that MEND had no reason to break the unilateral ceasefire on hostilities, which it declared May 30, 2014 and would give Buhari more time to stabilize the country ran aground by the ill-fated and directionless regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan. The Senior Pastor of Champions Royal Assembly, Kubwa, Abuja, Joshua Iginla on Sunday, gave out 32 cars out of which were 16 SUVs to celebr... The Senior Pastor of Champions Royal Assembly, Kubwa, Abuja, Joshua Iginla on Sunday, gave out 32 cars out of which were 16 SUVs to celebrate his birthday.Iginla also gave out money running into several millions of naira to the aged, widows, orphanages and scholarships to orphans from nursery school to university.Six Nollywood actors and actresses got Hummer jeep 3 series, Mercedes G-Wagon and Mercedes CLS 550. They include Jide Kosoko, Francis Duru, Alex Usifo, Ngozi Osondu, Thelma Nwosu and Sunday Omobolanle, popularly known as Babaluwe.Artisans got generators and cash gifts while the widows got deep freezers, rice and cash gifts ranging from N150,000 to N1.5 million.Treasure Orphanage Foundation, Nyanya, Divine Wound Orphanage, Kubwa and Christ Home Foundation, Kuje, got N1.5 million each and rice while some orphans in the homes were awarded scholarships from nursery to university.Iginla said he had 782 widows and orphans he caters for.It doesnt matter to me if I trek home as I have given even the car that I personally drive.I can only drive one car and live in one house at a time. This understanding is what has taught me that when I die, others will inherit my assets.The beauty of life is not in its duration but in its donation. I have not seen some of the beneficiaries before in my life or spoken to them.Im seeing many of them for the first time today. I am seeing Jide Kosoko for the first time, he said.According to him, the fruit of the Nollywood artistes were being reaped by pirates and challenged government to do something to arrest it.The Nollywood actors and actresses are our ambassadors; they have projected the image of this country positively, he said.Kosoko, who confirmed he was meeting Iginla for the first time, commended him for his philanthropy.Iginla had, in 2015, given 18 cars and millions of naira as birthday gifts to people to celebrate his birthday. Fears of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, formally splitting were assuaged, yesterday, after warring party leaders, meeting in faction... We are confronted with a lot of challenges, (and) the challenges are mostly court cases to stop our convention from taking place. After seeing the challenges confronting our party, taking into account the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, not to supervise the elections to the office of chairman, secretary, and other offices, based on the order of the court On account of the fact that our party is responsible, law abiding, with high respect for the judiciary and courts, we do hereby state and put off the national convention of our party from taking place. We have suspended it until when all the court cases are resolved. The issues are so many. We have about three different court cases. From Abuja, where it says that the tenure of the 17 members of the National Working Committee has not expired, it will be expiring on the 17 of June 2017; and another one in Lagos which says that the tenure of the chairman, secretary and auditor will expire in 2018. INEC also wrote that it will not supervise the election in Port-Harcourt. Taking into consideration all these, if we go out and conduct elections in Port-Harcourt, the NEC of the party will be charged for contempt of court. We have asked for stay of proceedings in Lagos yesterday (Friday), and the court denied that also. Therefore, the best and safest way is to put off the convention. Therefore, we have suspended the convention until all the court cases are resolved. We will then announce another date for the convention. Following the surprising sack of Sheriff by his one-time supporters in Port-Harcourt, a caretaker committee with Ahmed Makarfi, a former governor of Kaduna State, appointed to superintend over the affairs of the party.Sheriff, however, was unyielding as he had earlier in the day, in an attempt to stave-off the pressure on him to step aside, canceled the convention.This was after a stormy meeting with the governors who had backed him.Sheriff cited court orders restraining election into the offices of chairman, secretary, and auditor, as his reason for canceling the convention. Earlier in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, Concerned Stakeholders led by Prof. Jerry Gana, meeting in Abuja, failed to appoint a factional caretaker committee as they had vowed but, rather, appointed the duo of Senator Ibrahim Mantu and Prof Tunde Adeniran as co-chairmen.The move, flowed from discussions between the Gana group in Abuja and concerned party stakeholders in Port-Harcourt who had reached a quiet understanding not to elect officials in either of the two venues to allow for peace.The convention in Abuja was largely boycotted by serving National Assembly members and governors, and members of the outgoing National Executive but was populated by former governors, former ministers, and former senior officials of the party. The major surprise was the presence of the outgoing National Vice-Chairman, South-South, Dr. Cairo Ojugboh.The convention in Abuja, which held at the M and M Event Centre, started at about 10 am and ended within two hours after representatives of the party from the six geo-political zones gave speeches.Among the former governors present were Achike Udenwa of Imo, Garba Umar of Taraba and Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa. Professor Jerry Gana, who set the ball rolling in his welcome address, said the PDP was formed on the principles of human rights, human values, and human dignity.We are driven by values of principles, integrity, and honour, respect for human rights, and we will not tolerate any thing that takes away human values, he said. In his remarks, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, a former deputy president of the Senate, said recent events in the party indicated that the culture of impunity, disdain for democratic norms and utter disregard of our party constitution, behaviours that brought us to the 2015 loss, are rearing their ugly heads again.He noted that the action of the National Executive Committee of the party in selecting Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as Chairman, was in gross violation of the established procedure for the selection. Senator Sheriff was not nominated by any caucus and hence not qualified to be selected. Goodwill messages were also delivered by Aisha Maina, Senator Grace Bent, Bala Mohammed, Ahmadu Fintiri, Remi Adiukwu, John Odey and Tanimu Turaki.Signs of untoward times ahead for Sheriff emerged when, at the scheduled time for the commencement of the convention, most of the major actors including governors, and senior party officials were nowhere to be seen. By 10 a.m., the appointed time for the convention, it did not start.It was learnt that the decision to sack Sheriff had been taken the night before upon submissions by some of the governors, but the move was said to have been resisted by the host governor, Nyesom Wike.Wike, however, caved in upon overwhelming pressure from his colleagues. Getting Sheriff to step aside gently was, nevertheless, an issue. At about 11.00 a.m., Sheriff had summoned a press conference at his Le Meriden Hotel base but just as newsmen arrived, he stormed out of the hotel to join the partys governors at the Government House.Information suggests that it was at that meeting that he got the message to step down in favour of a caretaker committee. But Sheriff, apparently, did not buy the idea as he quickly returned to his hotel to announce the postponement of the convention.Addressing the media, he said:He then advised the delegates to return to their states. His stance was, however, quickly renounced as party chiefs summoned delegates to the convention ground where the deputy national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, presided and formally opened the convention.As the convention opened, Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, moved a motion for the dissolution of the NEC and the appointment of a National Caretaker Committee to run the affairs of the party and conduct elections into all offices within a period of 90 days. His motion was seconded by Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State. The committee is also to reconcile all factions of the party under one umbrella. The Senator Makarfi-led national caretaker committee has Senator Ben Obi as secretary and Senator Odion Ugbesia, Senator Abdul Ningi, Bar Kare Usman, Prince Dayo Adeyeye and Mrs. Aisha Aliyu as members.The new leaders of the party are not to contest any of the elective offices of the party in the elections they are to conduct. Governor Wike called for a voice vote in support of the nominees for the national caretaker committee and the vote was unanimously carried. Following that, a chieftain of the party in Rivers State and Commissioner for Housing, Barrister Emma Okah, administered the oath of office on the members of the caretaker committee. The new National Chairman, Senator Markafi, promised to work for the growth of the party.The convention was brought to a close upon a motion moved by Senator Sam Egwu and seconded by Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State. Prof. Gana, who championed the move to oust Sheriff and led those who convened the Abuja parallel convention, welcomed the moves against Sheriff.He said it had opened the way for reconciliation in the party. Yes, they told us, that is fine with us. We hope they will dissolve the NWC and then put in a caretaker committee to reconcile all of us and then have a proper convention. Definitely, we do not want to break the party; we only wanted to draw attention to something that was wrong, and they have now seen that it was wrong, and they now are taking a decision.A convention is the highest body that can take that next decision and we are hoping that they will put in a very balanced, very trustworthy, very good caretaker committee to reconcile all the forces within the party and prepare for a unified convention at which a new leadership will emerge Popular Nigerian Pastor, Sunday Adelaja, is currently under fire to resign after allegations emerged that he's having extramarital rel... Popular Nigerian Pastor, Sunday Adelaja, is currently under fire to resign after allegations emerged that he's having extramarital relationships with 20 different women in his congregation.Adelaja is founder of one of Europes largest churches, the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations Church in Kiev, Ukraine.The Russian Union of Christians Evangelical Faith, in a statement on its website said Adelaja had confessed to having committed adultery with his female parishioners at a meeting of pastors and board of elders of the church. He had however repented, the statement said.Also, a letter was posted on the website of the Spiritual Council Russian Union of Christians Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals), written by one Apostle Toff Ulissis, a clergyman who was said to be providing spiritual care to the Nigerian pastor. Adelaja was urged to seek psychiatric help in Kiev and the United States.Ulissis said, Pastor Sunday mentioned that he had a relationship with 20 or 30 women; probably, the number was more than he could remember. Also, I talked with many women (married and unmarried), as well as with their husbands, and they shared with me their pain and described how the pastor manipulates people, who work for him. All the stories were equally horrific, disgusting and depressing. People are very sorry about the current situation with the pastor and wanted him to have psychiatric help.I made it clear that my aim is not to destroy either the Embassy of God, because many people have found help in the church or Pastor Sunday as a person. I wanted to make sure that everything has been done to these women and the couples have received care, reconciliation and redeeming restoration.In addition to this, Anatoly Belonozhko, a bishop in Adelajas church has resigned, saying the embattled pastor was not willing to seek help.Adelaja has however denied all allegations levelled against him, saying it is an attempt by some people to take over the church from him.That is not true at all; I have read what people are saying about me. The funny thing is that nobody asked me for any information; no interview was granted to anyone, he said The reason behind the cancellation of the Lagos trip by the president has been revealed. It was earlier reported that President Buhari wil... The reason behind the cancellation of the Lagos trip by the president has been revealed. It was earlier reported that President Buhari will instead be represented by his vice Yemi Osinbajo.According to SaharaReporters, the president cancelled the trip because of an ear infection.However, the cancellation of the visit according to some quarters, has a political connotation as President Buhari was reportedly unhappy with a meeting the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Bola Tinubu had with organized labor last week without clearance from the Presidents office. Contrary to earlier reports by some media outlets, Mr Suleiman Hashimu, the man who trekked from Lagos to Abuja for President Muhammadu Bu... Contrary to earlier reports by some media outlets, Mr Suleiman Hashimu, the man who trekked from Lagos to Abuja for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, has denied reports that he lost faith in the president, saying the reports are mischievous and misleading.Fielding questions on Thursday in Abuja, Hashimu renewed his commitment to always support the president because of Buharis capability to solve the countrys problems.Hashimu trekked from Lagos and arrived Abuja on April 20, 2015, to redeem his promise of walking for Buhari if he (Buhari) won the presidential election.I woke this morning and some of my friends started calling and asking if I am aware of reports in the social media, claiming that I Hashimu have regretted trekking for President Muhammadu Buhari.It is not true. It is a rumour, false and a lie. I did not regret my action.If I have another opportunity to trek for President Buhari, I will do it again, even from Nigeria to anywhere.I do not regret my action trekking for him. I am in support of everything he is doing, Hashimu declared.I did not speak to any journalist yesterday, today or recently, the trekker stressed.On how he felt when he heard the rumour, Hashimu said he was not surprised as some politicians with intent to spite the president in spite of his efforts so far might be responsible for such report.I am not surprised because as a politician, he has opposition and I believe people are looking for all ways to spoil his name. They spread this rumour not to dent my name but the presidents.They also want to use the rumour to say that I am no longer with the president, that I am no longer supporting him, it is a lie, he said.The trekker disclosed that he was planning a march together with some youths to demonstrate their support and solidarity for the Buharis actions so far.He added he was in full support of the increase in the pump price price of petrol from N86.50 to N145.Hashimu noted that Nigerians would benefit from the increase in the long run, urging youths to be patient and pray for the president.He also commended the president for degrading the Boko Haram insurgents and fight against corruption. However, the trekker said that he was yet to meet the president because of his tight schedules.Hashimu called on the president to alleviate the pains Nigerians were currently going through in view of the global economic downturn.There are some challenges which Nigerians are facing. The president needs to be aware. Whatever you doing in life, even if you are sick, you need pain relief.I know he is planning big for Nigerians and Nigeria, but the relief must come. Let the president do something quickly to address the pains Nigerians are undergoing, especially in terms of food.There are so many complaints, he needs to work hard, he said. Det Sgt John McDonald, who is accused of receiving payment in return for providing information about the case, headed the police investiga... Det Sgt John McDonald, who is accused of receiving payment in return for providing information about the case, headed the police investigation. He has always denied any wrongdoing.Det Sgt McDonald has been removed from the National Crime Agencys International Corruption Unit, where he had been on secondment. He has returned to the Met, where a review of his status has begun.The CPS has also replaced the prosecution team involved in ongoing cases connected to the Ibori affair, although it stressed the lawyers still retained its full confidence.Since Iboris conviction, defence lawyers have claimed the CPS willfully misled judges about the existence of evidence that Det Sgt McDonald took money in return for information about the case.If that was to be accepted, Iboris legal team would seek to have their clients conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal on the basis that there had been abuse of the process.At a hearing on Thursday, Iboris lawyer, Ivan Krolic, said prosecutors had consistently and deliberately manipulated the system.Our argument is that the whole process is infected, he told Southwark Crown Court.The CPS has now issued a statement confirming that a review is under way into aspects of the Ibori case.The CPS undertook to review aspects of the disclosure related to this case, it said.Initial results have found that material exists to support the assertion that a police officer received payment in return for disclosing information about the investigation.We are working to establish whether this material could or should have been disclosed earlier.Any further material that fails to be disclosed as a result of that continuing review will be done so as soon as possible.DfID funded a team of Scotland Yard officers specifically to get Ibori extradited to the UK for a trial designed to send a message to corrupt officials in Africa.The International Development Secretary at the time of Iboris conviction, Andrew Mitchell, said the sentence sent a strong and important message to those who seek to use Britain as a refuge for their crimes.However, before Ibori was sentenced, there were claims that police investigating him had received thousands of pounds from private detectives hired by the Nigerian fraudster.An anonymous bundle of documents was sent to the Metropolitan Police, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and others.Among the papers were what purported to be invoices detailing payments of thousands of pounds to a source for information provided and claims that the recipient was a police officer.The allegations were eventually investigated by Scotland Yards Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS), the division responsible for rooting out police corruption in the Met.The DPS concluded the invoices were forgeries and no misconduct was identified in the case of Det Sgt McDonald.Penultimate week, a letter was sent by the CPS to the Court of Appeal alerting judges to previously undisclosed and relevant documentation.There exists intelligence that supports the assertion that, on or about 10 September 2007, JMD [Det Sgt John McDonald] received payment in return for information in respect of the Ibori case, the letter says.Following the disclosure by the CPS, the National Crime Agency, which investigates serious organised crime, said it was agreed that Det Sgt McDonalds secondment to the International Corruption Unit should come to an end and he would return to Scotland Yard.Confirming that an officer was returning from the National Crime Agency, Scotland Yard said only that an unnamed officer is subject to an internal review of their status.The police statement said that the DPS Anti-Corruption Command had already carried out an investigation into intelligence that suggested a serving police officer had received payment for information.That allegation was thoroughly investigated to prove or disprove the evidence of corruption, the statement said.The investigation resulted in no arrests, charges or identified misconduct. Some of us Nigerians are a disingenuous lot. We are known to speak from both sides of our mouth. And when it comes to the fate of our cou... Some of us Nigerians are a disingenuous lot. We are known to speak from both sides of our mouth. And when it comes to the fate of our country, we are wont to make decisions based on emotions, ethnicity, and for other pedestrian reasons. Yet, we expect Nigeria to achieve greatness. However, you dont achieve greatness. You plan it.Crowded out by the recent pump price imbroglio, the call by certain sections of the country on federal authorities not to arrest former President Goodluck Jonathan is emblematic of our duplicitous nature. Sometime last month, a certain Joseph Hayab, representing the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the Northern states warned that there will be trouble if Jonathan is arrested.In his poorly-reasoned monosyllabic statement, Hayab, a member of the clergy said: Let me warn that such a misadventure will set a wrong precedent and only open the door to mischievous people to throw this nation into confusion. What Nigerians need urgently is availability of fuel, electricity, prompt salary, security of lives and property, among other issues that are begging for urgent answers.If the purported plan to arrest him is to please the international community and prove to them that we are fighting corruption, then let us know that this same international community is busy celebrating him as a hero of democracy and even those who seriously wanted him to go for a change to happen are now singing a new song about him.Former President Jonathan is deservedly seen in Nigeria and beyond as a hero of democracy because of his actions before, during and after the 2015 elections. As such, it will be an ill-advice for the Buhari administration to initiate the arrest of such a statesman at this time and with the current realities.Our government must know that there are individuals serving today that are also being accused of corruption but since there are claims that nothing has been established against them, they are walking and speaking like saints. While ignoring all these, government wants to arrest a man of peace like Jonathan? CAN Northern States wishes toadvise that such an action, if actualised, has the capacity to lead to serious confusion that will affect Nigeria economically and otherwise.We believe former President Jonathan deserves praise and should receive gratitude from those in power today and not scorn. We believe at this time and with the current realities that our former president must not be denigrated but honoured because honour must be given to whom is due, Mr. Hayab stated.To serve as a deterrent, Jonathan should join the likes of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio da Silva, Philipines Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and such others in facing charges for stealing from their own people or to have been seen to have aided and abetted corrupt practices. Perish all these talk about reaching back in time to investigate and arrest others before Jonathan. That is only a call to mischief and anarchy.Prior to Hayabs cautionary tale, was the much more virulent rant of Udeng Eradiri, the President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), at a news conference to mark the burial of Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, the hopelessly corrupt former governor of Bayelsa State. In a foolhardy display of brinkmanship, Eradiri threatened that he and his cohorts will make the nation ungovernable for the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari if Nigerias anti-graft body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) dares to arrest former President Jonathan.According to him: They have arrested almost all our people. Azibola (Robert) was arrested by the EFCC and we are calling on the EFCC to stop persecuting him further and charge him to court if there are issues. They detained him for a long time, forcing him to make statements to indict former President Jonathan.We noticed that the same way they persecuted Alamieyeseigha has continued. After Goodluck Jonathan, our people who contributed to that administration, are being persecuted by this government. The recent one is the ploy to arrest Goodluck Jonathan, which is unfolding everyday. This must stop, he warned.On face value, both gentlemen came across as idiotic. First off, what gives them the audacity to think that former President Jonathan is above the law? For a man under whose watch the nation witnessed some of the worst cases of stealing of public funds ever in our history the sort that has literally bankrupted Nigeria, he has a case toanswer. And the heavens will not fall if Mr. Jonathan is arrested. Not even the preemptive acts of aggression and war against the state by emergent fringe groups in the Niger Delta basin with such fiendish names as Red Egbesu Water Lions and the more notorious Niger Delta Avengers will derail the momentum of the current anti-corruptioncampaign.The other day while the pump price crisis lingered, we were told that Nigeria is broke. And that is a statement of fact. Only those who for political expediency, will question the broken state of our treasuries which had over time become the piggy-bank of politicians, party chieftains and emergency contractors who ran the show under GoodluckJonathan.Earlier this month, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo told a book launch audience in Ibadan that Nigeria lost about $15 billion to fraudulent and corrupt practices in security equipment spending during the last administration of Goodluck Jonathan. When you look at the sheer amount of money that has been embezzled, he lamented, the sheeramount of money lost from any of these various cases of corruption, you will find that far too much has been lost.It was discovered a few days ago that the total amount of money lost to just corruption in part of and provision of security equipment in the military is closer to 15 billion US dollars. He said the amount is more than half of the current foreign reserves of the country, currently at about $27 billion. I believe strongly that it is important to send a message that no public officer can steal the resources of this country and expect to escape.Jonathan had no choice than to concede defeat against the majority will of his coterie of supporters (remember the Godsday Orubebe outburst?) who had fantastically benefited from the filthy lucre of the era and hated to see the gravy train derailed. With the dire consequences of circumventing the electoral process staring him in the face, the former President knew better and wisely threw in the towel..So far, some of the peripheral characters in the looting orgy during the life of the last administration are currently being systematically and clinically ferreted out while the EFCC makes a case against them in court. All the hue and cry about the lopsidedness of the campaign simply bespeaks the disingenuity of the usual suspects and their army of apologists. And as President Buhari had told CNNs Christine Amanpour last July, his administration will not spare even his own party members in the current war against corruption. That is why we have since seen the President tactically distance himself from the trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.On the charge that the Buhari administrations fixation on the last government is a cop-out for its inability to deliver on its election promises, I think that such a position is as premature as it is unreasonable. Here is a government that inherited an empty treasury, with mounting debts and with reports of departing officials literallydismembering valuables, carting away government property like a retreating army and reluctantly handing over to incoming officials. In the process, it took the new administration months after the swearing-in ceremony to settle down to the business of the state.From all indications, and as I had stated in an earlier piece, Jonathan had no choice than to concede defeat against the majority will of his coterie of supporters (remember the Godsday Orubebe outburst?) who had fantastically benefited from the filthy lucre of the era and hated to see the gravy train derailed. With the dire consequences of circumventing the electoral process staring him in the face, the former President knew better and wisely threw in the towel. That is why I believe that all the talk of Jonathans demonstration of statesmanship is over-rated. Believe me when I tell you that he had no choice. On its own merit, I think his election day gesture still remains commendable.However, that Jonathan willingly handed over power to the victorious candidate should not in any case exculpate him from arrest and prosecution if the State establishes a case against him. With overwhelming evidences now pointing at him as the ultimate source of the hierarchical breakdown that led to the monumental squandering of the nations resources, I believe that Goodluck Jonathan should be arrested and charged accordingly.To serve as a deterrent, Jonathan should join the likes of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio da Silva, Philipines Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and such others in facing charges for stealing from their own people or to have been seen to have aided and abetted corrupt practices. Perish all these talk about reaching back in time to investigate and arrest others before Jonathan. That is only a call to mischief and anarchy. For now, we have to start somewhere. With someone. And that someone is Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the immediate past president of Nigeria.Only there and then will Nigerians get the message that never again will it be business as usual. And that we have entered an era when sacred cows must be slaughtered.That is my story. And I stand by it. HAMILTON TWP. -- A former Brigantine police officer is behind bars after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a 16-year-old female, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office. Ralph M. Pereira Ralph M. Pereira, 45, of the 5000 block of Ontario Avenue in Brigantine, pleaded guilty Friday to the charges against him following his May 2014 arrest and August 2015 indictment. Those charges are official misconduct, two counts of sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal sexual contact. Authorities say Pereira, "while performing his official duties," allegedly sexually assaulted the 16-year-old victim. According to previous reports, Pereira provided the victim with alcohol, committed acts of sexual penetration and photographed or filmed the victim perform a prohibited sexual act. Pereira pleaded guilty to official misconduct and sexual assault. As part of a negotiated plea agreement, he will serve concurrent sentences of five years in state prison for the misconduct and sexual assault charges. Pereira will also have to register as a sex offender and be subject to parole supervision for life following his release from prison. Pereira was sent to the Atlantic County Justice Facility in lieu of $100,000 cash bail. He is scheduled to appear before Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Patricia Wild on July 1 for sentencing. Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook. BERLIN -- An array of drugs -- with some allegedly being packaged for distribution, according to borough police -- were seized last week after an incident at the Red Carpet Inn. Berlin detectives and patrol units were conducting an investigation into narcotics offenses at the motel when they pulled over a man with an active warrant. From there, police say they learned "subsequent information stemming from the vehicle stop" that resulted in an investigation with assistance from the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. Police said two females, whose identities were not disclosed, were arrested on narcotics offenses at the motel. The arrest also reportedly resulted in the seizure of 10 ecstasy pills, five Xanax pills, 93 bags of heroin as well as 35 containers of crack and powder cocaine -- with the latter two being "packaged for distribution," police said. The two women arrested were charged with possession and possession with intent to distribute. Both have pending court dates in Camden County Superior Court. Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook. NEWARK -- A woman fighting in the street was arrested for having a gun, Newark Police said. A Newark Police Community Deployment Team saw Tiffany George, 29, fighting with another woman near Astor and Brunswick streets, police said in a press release. Community Deployment Teams comprise new officers assigned to walking patrols. Police broke up the fight. As they did, officers saw a gun hidden in George's pants, police said. Police arrested George after a brief struggle and charged her with possession of a weapon. Anyone with information should call (877) NWK-TIPS or (877) NWK-GUNS to leave an anonymous tip. Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Preakness Stakes Horse Racing Exaggerator, with Kent Desormeaux aboard, wins the 141st Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, May 21, 2016, in Baltimore. (AP Photo | Matt Slocum) BALTIMORE -- He was just 5 years old when his daddy, Harris Desormeaux, put Ken Desormeaux on a quarterhorse and told him in that slow Cajun drawl of his ''Well, son, I believe it's 'bout time you got to horse racin'." This was in Louisiana -- in the rural parts around Abbeville, Maurice and New Iberia -- where the side-bet, semi-legal world of point-to-point horse racing was a genetic fever in the blood. The patriarchs had names like Desormeaux, Romero and Delahoussaye. Even if you've never heard the sound of Zydego on the "clankashank" (French accordian), you have to know that the sons with names like that fanned out around the country and did some might fine horse racin' of their own. Saturday in the Preakness Stakes, in front of more than 134,000 rain-soaked race fans, with an ocean of mud splashing across their colts' hooves, Ken Desormeaux earned a golden homecoming and a blanket of black-eyed Susans aboard a running machine named Exaggerator. The word homecoming is used advisedly. His cradle was in the Bayou, but his major-league craft was honed here at Pimlico in the 1990s. He exercised horses by the dawn's early light and, when finally trusted to ride in real races, he progressed up the ladder, from cheap claimers to stakes winners. And it made him the "hot jock" that $2 bettors loved. Saturday's amazing upset of undefeated Nyquist, the Kentucky Derby winner, was the product of double Desormeaux -- Kent, the jockey, and Keith, the trainer. Four times (including the Derby), Exaggerator came from way back but wound up a little short in head-to-head battles with Nyquist. Now, after Nyquist seemed to have established Triple Crown credentials, the Brothers Desormeaux rose up and fired back. The betting indicated that this was the way it would be -- the two dueling down the stretch -- because those two were favorites and both had already run successfully on a muddy track. Keith Desormeaux and Doug O'Neill, Nyquist's trainer, each had said mud and rain or snow and typhoon, they didn't give a damn. Each respected the other horse, but each was sure he had the better one. Nyquist started as he usually does, hanging around the pace, proving he was fast enough to set it if jockey Mario Gutierrez turned Nyquist loose. At the half-mile pole, Nyquist was in front, along with two outsiders, Uncle Lino and New Jersey-based Awesome Speed, who were still serving as the rabbits. With Exaggerator nowhere to be seen, Gutierrez turned his unbeaten horse loose. Meanwhile, the Bayou boy who became a man in Maryland was running sixth in an 11-horse field, which was where he wanted to be. He knows this colt and he knows he thrives in a pursuit race. Desormeaux had steered his mount toward the rail, and up in his box, Keith Desormeaux was thinking ''I want to kill him. What the hell is he doing? Nobody wants that spot. It's too muddy." But his brother knew the track -- "you want to paint the rails in the turns," he said -- and he knew exactly what he had to do in this fight for the territorial imperative. He needed to thin out the pack, and he did with a terrific move, starting at the three-quarter pole, where he was running eighth. He angled out as wide as he could, and with his mount's late running burst, he was racing six wide -- but clear. Now he was running down Nyquist out of the turn. Into the stretch, he went to the whip, and well before the finish, it was clear that Desormeaux and Exaggerator were going to win it easily. "It was an amazing race and Exaggerator is an amazing horse," Ken Desormeaux said. But Nyquist's trouble didn't end there. Cherry Win, a 17-1 shot, had hit his head on the gate and was pulled back but rallied ferociously coming off the third turn. He slipped inside, moved from 10th to fifth and kept on moving. Even as Gutierrez was battling with Desormeaux, Corrie Lanerie aboard Cherry Wine was taking dead aim on the pair. He powered past Nyquist on the inside to nail down the place spot. But he had zero chance to catch Exaggerator, who beat the mud and the rain and the previously unbeaten Nyquist. "Hats off to Exaggerator and Team Desormeaux. What a great run," O'Neill said. "I didn't think we could get beat, to be honest with you." So the Bayou Boys delivered a $900,000 payoff to their owners, but in their camp's joyous aftermath, nobody talked of money. Keith, who first explained what makes his horse tick, put the win into perspective: "Even today, when he pulled up here in the winner's circle, he was already cooled out. His respiratory rate was normal." And then he said, "I wanted to strangle Kent when he took him to the rail. I mean, damn, he did ride an earlier race today, like the others did. They knew it was a quagmire down there. And now I'm, like, 'What's he doing?' But then he drew clear, and it was ..." Here, Kent actually sang ... " ... Welcome to my world." The world of a winner. Star-Ledger Columnist Emeritus Jerry Izenberg can be reached at jizenberg@starledger.com. ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Veterinary technicians and assistants play a critical role in horse health. To recognize their contributions in shaping the future of equine health, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI), EquiManagement magazine, and the American Association of Equine Veterinary Technicians and Assistants (AAEVT) are once again accepting nominations for the Champions of the Cause Award for the second year. The nomination period will run through July 15. "We are so happy to be recognizing the value of veterinary technicians and assistants with this award, and acknowledging their role in providing the best care for horses," said Dr. John Tuttle, senior associate director for Equine Professional Services for BIVI. "The nominees we received last year were ideal examples of what these individuals mean to veterinarians, horse owners, and the horses themselves. It's great to highlight their work in the industry, particularly those who go the extra mile to provide the best health and a bright future for horses." "EquiManagement is thrilled to partner with Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. in recognizing and rewarding equine veterinary technicians and assistants as Champions of the Cause," says Kimberly S. Brown, associate publisher and editor of the magazine. "Boehringer Ingelheim has long been a supporter of equine education, and we love that the company is developing a program for veterinarians to honor top technicians and assistants." Veterinary technicians and assistants with two or more years of experience in the equine field can be nominated by a veterinarian. Winners will be chosen based on the following criteria: Passion for equine health Commitment to further their knowledge of equine well-being Dedication to shaping the future of equine health Two winners among the nominated veterinary technicians and assistants will be selected as the 2016 Champions of the Cause. The two Champions of the Cause will each receive an expense-paid trip to the AAEVT Conference during the December 2016 AAEP Convention in Orlando, Florida. Winners will also be recognized and honored in the winter issue of EquiManagement, as well as at the annual American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention and AAEVT Convention. The veterinarians who nominate the two winners will also receive a $1,000 cash prize. "Veterinary technicians and assistants are often the ones seeing some of the more subtle signs of disease," says Dr. Tuttle. "As BIVI continues to pioneer equine health by bringing new products into the marketplace, we want to reward those veterinary technicians and assistants who are also innovative in their thinking regarding equine health through their dedication and furthering their knowledge of equine health." Candidates can be nominated at http://www.EquiManagement.com/ChampionsoftheCause . For current equestrian news see Horse News or check out the online version of the print edition. Horse News covers everything equestrian in the mid-Atlantic area and can be reached at horsenews@hcdemocrat.com To subscribe to the print edition call 908-948-1309. For advertising e-mail mchapman@N.J.advancemedia.com. Find Horse News on Facebook Horse Council Broadway Pendergrass.JPG Julie Broadway and Ben Pendergrass WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Julie Broadway, the executive director of the American Morgan Horse Association & Educational-Charitable Trust since 2007, has been named president of the American Horse Council, succeeding Jay Hickey, who is retiring June 30, 2016. Ben Pendergrass, who has served as the horse council's vice president of government affairs since 2008, has been named senior vice president for policy and legislative affairs. Both announcements were made today by Dr. Jerry Black, chairman of the American Horse Council's board of trustees and the Wagonhound Land and Livestock Chair in Equine Sciences at Colorado State University. The American Horse Council, founded in 1969 as a Washington D.C.-based national association representing all segments of the horse industry, promotes and protects all horse breeds, disciplines and interests by communicating with Congress, federal agencies, the media and the industry itself. "Julie brings with her a rich blend of experience, knowledge, enthusiasm and familiarity with the role and goals of the American Horse Council and we believe her leadership abilities will ensure that our organization successfully handles both the opportunities and the challenges that lie ahead," said Dr. Black in making the announcement. Broadway earned Bachelor of Science degrees in industrial relations and psychology from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and a Masters of Business Administration degree with a concentration in finance from the Weems Graduate School at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C. She is also a graduate of the Duke University Advanced Nonprofit Leadership Program, and a Certified Association Executive (CAE) from American Society of Association Executives. In addition to her extensive leadership experience, including most recently her nine years at the Vermont-based AMHA, she is the current board president for the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship and has played an active role with the American Horse Council and the U.S. Equestrian Federation over the course of the past several years. Broadway will participate in the American Horse Council's annual meeting in Washington D.C. and start her official duties July 1. "I'm honored and I'm grateful to the board of trustees for the opportunity to lead this exceptional organization," Broadway said. "It is a privilege to be part of an organization that advocates on behalf of the equine industry and works to unify the equine industry." Prior to joining the American Morgan Horse Association & Educational-Charitable Trust, she provided management consulting services to several firms and served in several leadership roles in the energy industry including Executive Vice President of an energy technology firm. Pendergrass, a graduate of Tulane University and a former legislative aide to Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico, has been primarily responsible for advancing the legislative and regulatory priorities of the AHC, chiefly relating to agricultural policy, immigration policy, appropriations, equine welfare and environmental issues. He has also played a key role with tax and gaming issues at the American Horse Council. "Ben has ably worked on behalf of the horse industry for many years, and made many friends for the horse industry both inside and outside the Washington Beltway. We are pleased that he will continue to lead the AHC's government relations efforts on the Hill and with federal agencies. This promotion recognizes his experience and achievements, and his added responsibilities going forward." Black said. The American Horse Council's 2016 Annual Meeting and National Issues Forum is scheduled for June 12-15 at Washington Court Hotel in Washington, D.C. Additional information about the annual meeting and the organization is available at www.horsecouncil.org. For current equestrian news see Horse News or check out the online version of the print edition. Horse News covers everything equestrian in the mid-Atlantic area and can be reached at horsenews@hcdemocrat.com To subscribe to the print edition call 908-948-1309. For advertising e-mail mchapman@N.J.advancemedia.com. Find Horse News on Facebook JERSEY CITY -- A small boat partially sank this morning while docked in the Morris Canal causing fuel to discharge into the water, officials said. The disabled boat was reported sometime before 9:30 a.m. Authorities in radio transmissions said the boat reportedly had a hole, causing the boat to begin to sink. A spokeswoman for the United States Coast Guard said crews are investigating the incident, and fuel from the boat discharged into the water. No spill was reported. Police over the radio said the Department of Environmental Protection was notified and the Jersey City Fire Department was on scene earlier in the day. Officials could not immediately be reached for additional information. The boat was being held held up by a payloader. The spokeswoman for the Coast Guard said authorities were waiting for the owner to arrive to the marina. Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. IMG_3682.JPG State Sen. Sandra Cunningham introduces Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-Passaic) at a young women's empowerment summit at the Hudson County Community College Culinary School at 161 Newkirk St. in Jersey City on May 21, 2016. Jonathan Lin | The Jersey Journal JERSEY CITY -- State Sen. Sandra Cunningham contrasted a Paterson assemblywoman today with the "Caucasian, middle-aged men" that she says dominate the news about New Jersey's governor race. At an event in Jersey City, Cunningham, D-Jersey City, praised Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter, D-Paterson -- who has all but announced her run for governor -- as "a dynamic, young woman" who has taken a "brave step." Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter (D-Passaic) spoke at a young women's empowerment summit in Jersey City on May 21, 2016. Jonathan Lin | The Jersey Journal The state senator went on to say that the news about the race for governor is dominated by "Caucasian, middle-aged men." Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop are among the candidates expected to seek the Democratic nod for governor next year. "We've heard about Sweeney, we've heard about Mayor Fulop, we've heard about a lot of people. They're all men, they're all Caucasian men. And no one mentioned an African-American or Latino -- nothing. Or an Indian or a Pakistani. The only person we're talking about are these Caucasian, middle-aged men," Cunningham said. Asked after her remarks whether she is endorsing Sumter in the gubernatorial race if the 42-year-old ultimately decides to run, Cunningham said "I'm not endorsing anyone at this point." While speaking before an audience at today's event, which was a young women's empowerment summit, Cunningham mistakenly introduced Sumter as having already thrown her hat in the ring. Sumter later walked back the state senator's comments in an interview with The Jersey Journal, only going so far as to say the possibility is under "serious consideration." Asked about Cunningham's comparison of her with other expected gubernatorial contenders, the assemblywoman said the governor's race is "definitely not about color, because (the) success of our state shouldn't be about color." "But we are a diverse state, which we can appreciate, and in these times, I'm thankful that we're living in a time when consideration can be given (to someone like me)," she said. Sumter, who is the goddaughter of New Jersey State Democratic Chairman John Currie and recently began her third term in the state assembly, has garnered some distinction in the Statehouse, Paul Brubaker of The Backgrounder Podcast reported in February. In 2014, The Star-Ledger's column "The Auditor" discovered that Sumter succeeded in getting 16 bills signed by Gov. Chris Christie -- more than any other lawmaker in Trenton, Brubaker wrote. Sumter said today that one of the things that made her more seriously consider a run for governor was the news of the roughly $1 billion revenue shortfall in the state budget. "Our priorities as a state cannot be addressed because the revenue's not there," she said, attributing the problem to what she called Gov. Chris Christie's "lack of focus" on the state. In light of her seriously considering a run for governor, Sumter said three issues she'd like to see the government address are: making the state an affordable place where all people can live; building the state's revenue streams and tax base; and fostering an educated workforce to keep the state competitive. Earlier this week, Phil Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive and former U.S. ambassador to Germany, announced he is officially running for the Democratic nomination for governor, NJAM reported. Note: This report has been edited to clarify that Cunningham was highlighting differences between Sumter and other expected gubernatorial candidates rather than similarities. Jonathan Lin may be reached at jlin@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @jlin_jj. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. JERSEY CITY -- Police are investigating a shooting that injured a 22-year-old man in Downtown early this morning, officials said. At about 12:30 a.m., police were transporting two prisoners near Fourth Street and Manila Avenue when they heard shots fired, police said in radio transmissions. One of the officers stayed with the prisoners while a second officer chased the suspects down Erie Street, police said over the radio. Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said one of the police officers saw one of the suspects adjust what appeared to be a handgun in his waistband and then throw the weapon. Officers were called in to help with the foot pursuit but did not arrest the suspects, the spokeswoman said. Police believed the gun had fallen down a sewer, and they used a sump pump to try to find the weapon, which was not recovered, she said. The Port Authority Police Department aided Jersey City in the attempt to find the gun, a spokesman said. A short time later, a 22-year-old man walked into Jersey City Medical Center-Barnabas Health with a non life-threatening gunshot wound to his arm from this incident, Morrill said. The police department's Cease Fire unit is investigating the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call 201-547-JAIL. Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. JERSEY CITY -- A 17-year-old boy has been charged in connection with a fatal shooting near McGinley Square in August, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office announced. The teen was arrested on Thursday for his role in the death of Kempton Cummings on Aug. 4, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. Cummings, 25, was shot in the lower back at about 12:20 a.m. near Bergen and Storms avenues. He was brought to Jersey City Medical Center-Barnabas Health were he died at about 4 a.m. When officers arrived at the scene, they began doing chest compressions and noted that blood was found on a parked car near the victim. Police did not recover a shell casing. Because the teen arrested is a juvenile, no additional information was provided regarding the investigation. He is currently being held at the Union County Detention Center on a delinquent act. This is the second teen to be charged in connection with a murder within the past month. A 16-year-old Jersey City teen was arrested on April 30 in connection with the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old Dickinson High School student. Suarez said her department was planning to use "every prosecutorial too" to try the teen as an adult. A571 Italian People's Bakery 3 Carmen Guagliardo shows off some of the many varieties of fresh baked good available at the Italian People's Bakery in Trenton's Chambersburg neighborhood in this file photo. By Shayna Innocenti For The Times of Trenton TRENTON --Pasquale Gervasio made it to America by stowing away on a boat from Italy, eating only lemons for two weeks. In 1936, he opened an Italian bakery in Trenton with a single brick oven, and over the years its grown from one bakery to a seven-location business that create fresh bread and baked goods that are standouts in a community filled with specialized food shops. Now, 80 years later, the family still owns the Italian People's Bakery & Deli and the main location on Butler Street stands as an operational remnant in the city's Chambersburg neighborhood. For Matthew Guagliardo, who has been the bakery's manager of the Trenton bakery for 14 years, there was no question that he would carry on the family tradition that his late great-grandfather founded. Matthew Guagliardo, the store manger at the main location in Trenton, fills a homemade shell with cannoli filling. (Shayna Innocenti photo) "I grew up in Hamilton, which is just down the street, but we came here every Monday for a pasta dinner with my grandmothers," said Guagliardo. "I don't even know what it would be like not having fresh bread all the time." Guagliardo began working alongside his parents in the Chambersburg bakery at the age of 12 as a bagger at the register. On Sunday mornings and holidays, as he bagged, every once in a while, he would help his father, Carmen Guagliardo, make their famous rye bread. "When it comes to me and my dad, I never argue with him because I am still trying to learn - every day is a learning process," Guagliardo said. Much like Chambersburg, the Italian People's Bakery has evolved significantly over the decades -- expanding and purchasing the surrounding buildings, incorporating a wholesale business, deli, catering for local business/offices and much more. While Gervasio's five children continued to operate and grow the bakery, adding the deli in the 1940's, Guagliardo credits his uncles for being able to successfully anticipate the demand of their customers. "When my uncles saw the demand for something, they went out and got it," explained Guagliardo. "You have to adapt to what's around you." With the community still evolving, the bakery underwent a million dollar renovation in 2000 with modern and spacious upgrades. And four years ago, to increase the bread-line production, the bricks, cement and German steel components to a new, Italian-designed oven were shipped in four large units from Italy to Trenton. Since the bakery is comprised of multiple of buildings, twisting through its location like Sicilian bread, there are a lot of support joists that can't be moved. So the typical tunnel-ovens used in large-scaled bakeries would not fit in the space. The answer was found in Italy -- a three-tiered oven that was taller, but more compact than designs in the U.S. It was one of seven in the nation at the time. A display case inside the bakery. "The company even sent over two assemblers," said Guagliardo. "We housed them in a hotel, and my dad would have to pick them up every day. They were my dad's best friends for six weeks. I was just surprised how fast they put the thing up." In the late 1970's, the Guagliardo family also began expanding the bakery, geographically, scouting little subsections of Italian communities within New Jersey and Pennsylvania. At one point, the bakery had 10 locations, but has since then reduced to seven, with three being personally run by the Guagliardo-clan and four being operated as wholesale franchises. Two are in Hamilton, two in Bucks County, Pa. as well as locations in Ewing and Mansfield, in Burlington County. "It's tough running that many stores with just a little bit of family," Guagliardo explained. With fresh, warm bread every morning - 365 days a year - when the doors open in Trenton at 6 a.m., it's authentic when Guagliardo explains that the ovens are practically baking around the clock. About 100 employees work in the seven locations, keeping the business in clockwork operation -- with only 15 employees working in the main Chambersburg store, and with Guagliardo's father and mother primarily running the Levittown, Pa. and Mercerville (Hamilton) locations. Despite the multiple locations, during the holidays, customers still line up at the main store in Chambersburg, waiting for hours for the freshly baked goods. It has become a unique, and reliable, tradition to all of the stores. Empty parking spaces are rare around the bakery. (Shayna Innocenti photo) "On Christmas it is double parked from the corner, down to the church. It's insane," said Guagliardo. "At the store out in Hamilton, people literally line around the block, and wait two hours in line on Christmas and Thanksgiving. That's dedication. There are people that have tailgated it. They sat in line with beer on Thanksgiving. They know each other, and they are there at the same times every year. We appreciate the dedication." On any given day, on Butler Street in the city, cars are double parked with hazard lights flashing during the lunch rush. And though home to New Jersey, the People's Bakery has gained national popularity over the decades, Guagliardo said. The bakery is featured in the Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum crime novels and in the movie adaptation for "One for the Money" in 2012, starring actress Katherine Heigl in the title role. Even though additions to the menu have been made, like the current popular tres leches or three milks (sponge) cake, Guagliardo said that the signature product that people often come back for is the wide selection of breads, and the famous cream donuts. Guagliardo said that he has shipped his goods all over the country -- donuts to Maine, cookies to California and sandwiches for the Super Bowl down south. Offhandedly regarded as the "backwards bakery," the bread on Butler Street has been the main selling item followed by the signature pastries. "It all comes down to the bread," said Guagliardo. "You are not going to go anywhere else and get bread that just came out of the oven 30 minutes ago. Bread is what makes a sandwich, it starts everything." For Guagliardo personally, while he often cannot resist the cream donuts, his personal favorite is a stick bread with seeds. "I could eat a whole loaf of that, and I have." Shayna Innocenti photo While the Guagliardo family is always looking for new locations and recipes to expand, and though the demand is little tough for it now, Guagliardo said that for him personally, he would like to see the bakery have a stronger Italian deli and delve more into hot food. An idea that has been tossed around since the renovation back in 2000, has been to incorporate a cafe attachment to the bakery where customers could get a sandwich, a cup of coffee and a pastry and then sit down to eat it. Currently, there is a little table-and-chair patio setup next to the bakery, but Guagliardo explained that it's a stand-in for the plans his father had drawn up over a decade ago. "Around lunchtime, some of the older women often sit out there with coffee and scratch their bingo tickets," Guagliardo said, pointing to the sidewalk out front. In 80 years, the Italian People's Bakery & Deli has expanded significantly, but the loyal customers, the fresh Italian bread and the family tradition have remained constant. Guagliardo credits his father for retelling much of the family history. "I don't want to lose all the stories. My father tells me them, but there are so many stories," said Guagliardo. "But knowing that my great-grandfather came over here to start something from so little, and to make it 80 years, is a great. It is definitely not a single-oven operation anymore." EDISON -- Surrounded by family members, Shakera Moore cried for her only son who she said died on Friday after being struck by a vehicle in a parking lot near his home. Askari Mylikye Moore, 11, was skateboarding Friday evening with two of his friends in a parking lot of the Durham Woods apartment complex when he was struck by the vehicle, according to his mother, Shakera Moore, and members of her family. Askari Mylikye Moore, 11, of Edison Shakera Moore was sitting on the couch in her living room Sunday late afternoon with her head in her hands, crying, as her sister, Myriam Henry, of Clark, consoled her. It remains unknown at this point who was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident or how the incident transpired. Shakera Moore and her family said they were frustrated by the limited information that they had received from police. Edison police Chief Tom Bryan on Sunday only said that the matter was under investigation by the Edison Police Department and the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office. He said he was unable to comment further. The county Prosecutor's Office did not return requests for comment Sunday. Shakera Moore said she was at work on Friday when police called her and told her she needed to go immediately to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. They had not told her what happened over the phone, she said. She said when she walked into the hospital and was immediately met by a chaplain she knew that her son had died. She broke down crying in the hospital. "My only child; my whole world revolved around him," she said in tears. The family said police informed them they would have more information on Monday. A memorial was held in the parking lot of the complex Sunday afternoon where the family says Askari had been struck. Shakera Moore said there had been an incredible outpouring of support by the community. "It's surreal," said Shakera Moore's boyfriend, David Hughes. "It doesn't register at first." The family is still making funeral arrangements and has started a GoFundMe site to help raise funds. Askari was a fifth-grader at Lincoln Elementary School. Shakera Moore said she had moved to the apartment complex in Edison from New Brunswick five or six years ago primarily because she wanted a safer environment for her son. Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook. LONG BRANCH -- They walked for family members who died, for friends stricken with the disease and for themselves. It didn't matter that the skies were gray, it rained intermitantly and the ocean was angry -- the nearly 1,000 people, some confined to wheelchairs and oxygen tanks, who participated in Sunday morning's 11th annual Jersey Shore Walk to Defeat ALS, had a purpose and nothing was going to stop them. They wore T-shirts that said, "Take Steps Toward a Cure." ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and is a nervous system disease that weakens muscles and impacts physical function. It can't be cured, according to medical experts. "It's very personal for me," said Jan Smock Faulhaber, of Oakhurst. "My sister was diagnosed with ALS a year and a half ago. She's participating with us today." Emerson Bonoan, of Ocean Township was there with his two young sons, Antonio, 11, and Aiden, 6, to honor a close friend. "He found out last year that he has ALS and already he can't drive or tie his own shoelaces," Bonoan said. "It is sad to see someone you love and care about go through something like that." For Cheryl Hastings, Sunday was the second walk her family had participated in, a way to honor the memory of her sister, Linda Quinn, who died at 57 from the disease, leaving behind four children, Casey Quinn, now 18, Patrick, Kevin and Michael. All four participated in Sunday's walk. They called themselves "Linda's Loonies." "We walk to honor my sister and eradicate this horrible disease," Hastings said. "I don't think the government puts enough effort into eradicting this disease. More has to be done." The event was sponsored by the Greater New York chapter of the ALS Association, which also covers northern and central New Jersey. Dorine Gordon, the president and CEO of the chapter, said the chapter has more than 200 patients in New Jersey and has a multi-disciplinary center located at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, one of only 49 certified multi-disciplinary centers treating ALS in the country. "The centers are a one-stop shop for our patients, where they can go for all of their treatment," Gordon said. Kirsten Cocoman, director of events for the chapter, said walks like the one Sunday are a major source of the funding used to provide the care given to patience and research used towards finding a cure for the disease. "We do seven walks a year, three in New Jersey," Cocoman said. "The walk program is a huge part of our fundraising for the entire year. It raises about $2 million." The next two walks are in Saddlebrook on June 5 and in Bridgewater on Oct. 9. Sunday's participants walked about two miles along the boardwalk, from the pavilon near the Ocean Place Hotel and Spa, up to Seven Presidents Park, south to Pier Village and back to the pavilion. Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook. MANASQUAN - Before Ron Kubik became a sergeant in the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment and a true American hero, he was a Manasquan High School student who loved fishing, writing, playing music, wrestling and acting. Sgt. Ronald A. Kubik "Ron did not care what anybody thought about him, and that makes for one hell of a U.S. ranger and improv player," Harvey, Kubik's acting teacher, told NJ.com in 2013. Kubik was 21 years old when he was killed in Afghanistan in April 2010 while saving the lives of five fellow Rangers, five Afghan soldiers, and 19 Afghani women and children. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the military's third-highest honor, for his heroism. On Saturday night, Manasquan High School students took part in the annual "Improv for Ron" fundraiser, which raises money for a scholarship in Kubik's name. Each year, the students take the stage in the high school's Jack Nicholson Theater, to play improvisational comedy games. The scholarship, first established in 2010 by VFW Post 1838 in Manasquan, goes to a student with diverse interests similar to Kubik's. "I think Ron's legacy can best be remembered by maintaining the scholarship," Kubik's mother, Eileen Daily, told NJ.com in 2013. "By continuing the 'Improv For Ron' fundraiser every year, so more people have a chance to achieve their dreams." Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook. NEPTUNE - More than 300 teens packed Jumping Brook County Club on Friday night for Saint John Vianney High School's senior prom. The students came dressed to impress for the Jersey Shore boardwalk-themed prom, and also arrived in style via limousines, party buses and a convertible or two. NJ.com was there to capture images of some of the students as they arrived for the celebration. Saint John Vianney High School prom 2016: Gallery 2 Check back at nj.com/ocean for other local high school prom coverage in the coming weeks. And be sure to check out our complete prom coverage at nj.com/prom. BUY THESE PHOTOS Are you one of the people pictured at this prom? Want to buy the photo and keep it forever? Look for a link in the photo caption or click here to purchase the picture. You'll have the ability to order prints in a variety of sizes, or products like magnets, keychains, coffee mugs and more. SHARE YOUR PROM PHOTOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA Let's see your prom photos. Post your pictures on Twitter and Instragram with #njprom. We'll retweet and repost our favorites on Twitter @njdotcom and Instagram @njdotcompix. Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook. mosque-Bernards.jpg The site of the proposed mosque. The National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 40 denominations and 45,000 churches, is one of the many groups joining the Islamic Society's lawsuit against Bernards Township. (Meghan Shapiro Hodgin | NJ.com) In our current political climate, dominated by Donald Trump, it's heartening to see so many different religious and legal groups speaking out in support of a small community of Muslims suing Bernards Township over its denial of a proposal to build a mosque. But it's troubling, too. Because even as they rally to this cause, local officials are doubling down on their position, leaving themselves -- and the taxpayers -- exposed. The mayor, Carol Bianchi, says the 34 organizations that joined the federal civil rights lawsuit against her town -- including the American Civil Liberties Union and major Christian, Muslim and Jewish groups -- simply don't understand the facts of the case. Diverse coalition joins Islamic group's mosque lawsuit against township She continues to defend the decision to apply a stricter parking standard to the mosque than to churches or synagogues. "The standard previously applied was one parking spot for every three anticipated worshippers," she concedes -- but Muslims require more parking, she says, because they worship on Friday afternoons and are driving straight from work. This argument might be more compelling if it didn't seem so disingenuous. Of several available traffic studies, the planning board chose the one that called for the strictest requirement. It did a religion-specific study only for Muslims, not for Jews or Christians. It ignored a local ordinance that required it to apply the same standard to mosques as to churches. And it kept moving the goal posts. Each time the Muslim group agreed to comply, it threw new obstacles in the way. The whole point of the federal law the group is now suing under was to prevent local boards from discriminating on the basis of religion. What kind of protection would it offer if you could discriminate, so long as you come up with some strained reason for it? N.J. town is the face of bigotry after rejecting mosque | Editorial After Bridgewater amended its ordinance to block a mosque from being built, it settled a lawsuit for $7.75 million, for what a federal judge called anti-Muslim bias. That should send a clear warning to Bayonne, too -- where local bigots are also out in full force, threatening to recall the mayor if a proposed mosque is built. In Bernards, Mayor Bianchi was chair of the planning board when it came up with the new parking standard for the mosque, and argued it should be even stricter. She doesn't deny the anti-Muslim comments in the complaint, by locals and at least one board member, but claims the decision wasn't based on animus. Bayonne residents opposed to Islamic center to protest at City Hall She calls her town "inclusive and warm," and says it's being unfairly maligned: "Are the reputations, livelihoods, and families of our Planning Board members irrelevant?" Forgive our skepticism when local officials turn around and play the victims. They dragged this out for nearly four years, costing the Muslim applicants more than $450,000 -- not only for their own fees, but for the town's, too -- before finally rejecting them. The taxpayers are the victims now, because they're spending big to fight this out in court. MORE: Recent Star-Ledger editorials Follow NJ.com Opinion on Twitter @NJ_Opinion. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. I stopped to get gas in Trenton on my way to the Donald Trump fund-raiser for our governor Thursday. As I pulled up to the pump, a guy started cleaning the windshield. He told me he'd just gotten out of state prison after 24 years. I gave him a buck for his troubles. Then I asked him what he thought of the Donald. "I like him," he said. "He's a funny guy and he's politically incorrect." With that glowing endorsement in mind, I drove to the Lawrenceville Armory. The usual pack of protesters were arrayed at the gate, inadvertently gaining Trump an endorsement of a different type. The more the left-wingers protest him, the better Trump does with the right-wingers that make up the Republican base. As for the few stragglers in the "never-Trump" movement, they are mostly confined to the pages of the Washington Post and National Review. There, they have been reduced to the status of those Japanese soldiers who held out on Pacific islands for years after World War II, unaware the war was over. The rally itself was a neat trick. The attendees were charged at the rate of $200 for adults and $25 for students for the privilege of hearing the Donald do his stand-up routine. He was in fine fettle and all seemed satisfied as they filed out. After I got home, I put my dog Betty in the car to take her for a walk on what is usually a deserted beach. Not this time. A bunch of young people were huddled around a "Trump for President" lawn sign stuck in the sand, drinking beer and enjoying the warm weather. When I told them I'd just seen the great man in person, they were suitably impressed. They were big on Trump, as expected. But several told me they liked Bernie Sanders as well. The only candidate still in the running they all disliked was Hillary Clinton. Hillary had a bad week. There were a couple of national polls showing her trailing Trump for the first time. Even worse was that dust-up over just who threw chairs at whom in a dispute between her supporters and Sanders supporters in Nevada. And then there were the threats from Sanders supporters to disrupt the Democratic convention if their man isn't the nominee. If they take to the streets of Philadelphia this summer, the Sanders crowd could create a repeat of the chaos at the 1968 Chicago convention. All of this has Democratic leaders calling for Sanders to admit defeat. Clinton herself took that view in an interview with Chris Cuomo of CNN Thursday. "I will be the nominee for my party, Chris," she said. "That is already done in effect. There is no way I won't be." Oh, yes there is, says the Sanders crowd. Neither candidate has a lock on the nomination based solely on pledged delegates. Of late Sanders has been gaining ground on Clinton in that count. Clinton has the race locked up only if you count the more than 500 super-delegates who say they will support her. But if those super-delegates were to defect to Sanders, then he would be the candidate with the comfortable lead. Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver is calling on the super-delegates to do just that. Democratic insiders say there's little chance of that. But it remains a possibility right up until the first ballot is taken the last week in July. That leaves plenty of room for mischief. Contrast that with the Republican convention the prior week in Cleveland. The Republicans have fewer super-delegates. And they won't matter because Trump is unopposed in the remaining primaries and is on his way to an undisputed majority of pledged delegates. That means there won't be mobs of Mitt Romney supporters with torches and pitchforks in the streets of Cleveland, no matter how much the Washington Post and the National Review crowd might desire it. This is going to be a coronation. And as Trump's first major backer, Christie will be holding the crown - a point he drilled home to that audience in the armory, just in case anyone forgot. He also reminded the crowd that Trump is a dangerous debater. "As someone who's been on a few debate stages, I know Hillary Clinton's worst nightmare is to climb on that debate stage in September and look across at Donald Trump," he said. First she has to get there, and it won't be easy. June 7 is now an irrelevant date for the Donald. But if Sanders could win states like California and New Jersey, then he could claim both momentum and a moral victory. If Clinton has to rely on super-delegates for her win, the Sanders crowd likely won't take it sitting down. Whether they'll stand up and throw their chairs remains to be seen. But a lot of Republicans are relishing the prospect of finding out. PLUS: And then there's Hillary Clinton's vaunted foreign-policy experience. As ex-CIA agent Larry Johnson notes here, her push for intervening in Libya was the biggest screw-up of the Obama presidency. Even Ralph Nader thinks she's dangerous anywhere near the reins of military power. ALSO, I was discussing Hillary's chances with a few friends when we got to talking about a piece of advice she might have taken from a real political pro that would have spared her this email controversy. That's one-time Louisiana governor Earl Long, a charmer as steeped in the art of politics as Hillary's husband. Here was Long's advice for handling communications. It's even more important now in the age of i-phones: "Don't write anything you can phone. Don't phone anything you can talk. Don't talk anything you can whisper. Don't whisper anything you can smile. Don't smile anything you can nod. Don't nod anything you can wink." Sage words. How did Hillary get this far in life without observing them? One day, when I was boy in Kansas City, I was exploring a local creek and a giant rat suddenly emerged from behind a rock and scurried towards me, coming way too close to my bare toes. It was my first moment of terror. This week, I had another jolt when I saw that Donald Trump is erasing Hillary Clinton's lead in the national polls. My toes are safe, sure. But Trump is within six points now, according to a fresh national CBS/New York Times poll. If Clinton makes one false move, maybe two, he could win this thing. So I decided to go to Trump's rally in Lawrenceville on Thursday night to investigate. I didn't go to see Trump. He lost me long ago. When he speaks I want to shoot myself. I was curious about his supporters. Trump has made himself a magnet for bigots, but there has to be more to it. And before we slide into this abyss, I want to understand what on earth is driving people to back him. Spoiler alert: I don't pretend to have the answer. But here's an early scouting report from the front line. First, the dozen or so I spoke with were generous and polite, and no one tried to punch me, which was nice. I kept asking them how they could support the ban on Muslims, the plan to deport 11 million people, the disrespect for women, and so on. It became clear early that these folks have a more emotional connection with Trump than you normally see in politics. Even when they disagreed with him, they made excuses for him and brushed it off. Take Trump's statement that U.S. Sen. John McCain is no war hero. Shavaun Gliksman, of Branchburg, shrugged it off: "I've said things I shouldn't have said, too," she said. Take his sexually charged insults of women. Susan Sun, a Chinese immigrant from Bridgewater, waved her hand. "Nobody is perfect," she said. "He just has a big mouth is all." Take Trump's habit of lying on the campaign trail: Politifact, the Pulitzer winning fact-checking outfit, has found that 76 percent of Trump statements it examined were false, the highest portion of anyone since Bernie Madoff. "You're going to find dirt on everyone," said Michael Shapiro of Belleville. "People make mistakes." All this scared me. Because an emotional connection can survive even a devastating intellectual challenge. Love can be blind. An example: The New York Times on Friday ran a story on the practical impossibilities of deporting 11 million unauthorized immigrants in two years. It would require an army of enforcers, a new network of prisons, thousands of judges, illegal police raids, and so on. But if these folks read that piece, I don't think it would make a dent. Trump has formed a primal bond. How he managed to form that bond is a mystery, at least to me. But part of it is about telling the establishment, including the media, to stuff it. Kevin Price, of Glen Rock, works as a bar tender and manager. He believes that unchecked immigration is driving down wages for people like him. Many mainstream economists agree with him, even those who believe free trade benefits the economy as a whole. But speaking out against immigration can be seen as hostile to Latinos, even when the motives are perfectly legitimate. Price feels that Trump has liberated him from the PC police. "People have been afraid to say what's on their minds," he said. "Now Trump is saying it, and it's okay." Another finding: The enormous gender gap might not be entirely because of Trump's rude treatment of women. Gliksman's son, Ian, sees The Donald as a role model. "Men like Trump because he's strong, and he's not PC," he said. "He's the American dream. He's got tons of money and a beautiful wife. What's not to like?" I have a thousand answers to that. The proposed ban on Muslims is the definition of bigotry. The insults of Mexican immigrants were poisonous. To think of a misogynist like Trump taking over Abraham Lincoln's job makes me want to cry. Trump has fanned the nation's worst instincts at an unsettling time. When I hear Holocaust survivors say they hear an echo from Germany back in the day, I take it seriously. So, yes, bigots are drawn to Trump. That's part of his dark political strategy. But it does not logically follow that all those drawn to Trump are bigots. Trump himself is no mystery to me. He is loathsome and I pray he loses. But I do want to keep an open mind about his followers. Because when he's gone, they will still be here. And I, for one, am not moving to Canada. More: Tom Moran columns Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or call (973) 836-4909. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Ever since Man found out how to cook there has been atmospheric pollution by the human race. Chattanooga used to be much more polluted than it is today. In fact, Chattanooga is immaculately clean now compared to a few decades ago. Even so, I never really thought of our town as being "dirty". Back in the 1960's and well into the '70's you could drive into town through the Bachman Tubes (East Ridge tunnels), the Ridge Cut, or the Brainerd Road tunnels and encounter a layer of pollution over the downtown that appeared thick enough to walk on or drive your car across. This was not every day, of course, but when the temperature and humidity were just right we had this stuff called "smog". Laws, and public support for a massive clean-up, soon corrected that problem, however, and Chattanooga is much the better for it. But to do it, a number of old smokestack industries had to close down. It is a fact that pollution has been with us for millennia, as lightning-caused forest fires and volcanic activity undoubtedly gave us much of it long before Man appeared on earth. When the first humans arrived, and had discovered how to make fire, the gentle flames from thousands of earthen hearths caused continuous pollution. When the first white settlers arrived in these parts, they also made their contributions of smoke - to help create the haze surrounding our beautiful and much-loved "Great Smoky Mountains". But I do not mean to glorify it. The thick "smokestack" pollution described above is harmful in many ways and there is no wonder we have worked so hard for its virtual eradication. However,all my young life - until about 1970 - one of the most delightful parts of Autumn had been to rake our yards and then burn the leaves. This was a much-anticipated family activity and could result in a lot of fun for all ages. The seldom unpleasant odor of burning leaves pervaded the atmosphere throughout the city. I only rarely heard of a smoke-created sinus problem, and most people tolerated the odor very well. It was a very welcome harbinger of Autumn, which was a sign of all the good things to come: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. It was a delightful seasonal odor. But in earlier times, Chattanooga had had several giant chimneys spewing their toxic waste 24 hours a day. We were known for being a city of foundries - an industry which could never close down, as cooling and re-starting could severely damage the furnaces. There were two or three larger foundries, and a whole host of other smaller ones. There were also industries such as the large tannery whose huge hulk of a building still remains on the west side of Broad Street toward St. Elmo. THERE was some serious "odor pollution", folks, when you passed that entire area on an ancient street-car on a sultry summer's night with windows wide open! You could smell it for a mile before reaching it, and then for at least another mile after you passed it. The foul odor even clung to your clothing and went home with you! That tannery was one of Chattanooga's first important manufacturing industries, and vital to the life of the city, but not a soul was sorry to see it go - including the owners, I would wager! I remember how in either fifth or sixth grade a boy in my class wished us all a sad goodbye as his family was moving to Nashville. He had heard that if you put on white clothes of a morning in that city they would be gray by afternoon. Chattanooga never had so bad a reputation despite the layer of pollution described above. I never saw anyone using a face-mask, as in other places on the globe. Maybe Missionary Ridge blocked some of the smoke if you happened to live east of it. My dad worked outdoors in our downtown area and his clothes never got unduly dirty. There were only rare and widely separated instances where black beads of soot had to be brushed, or blown, out of a chair before sitting down - and this mainly happened around schools I attended, where the heating system put out black smoke for a few minutes every morning before the flames came under control. It is true that many people heated their houses by coal furnaces back then - as did we, but I have not seen soot in many years! Our streets are certainly cleaner than those of New York and Philly! Chattanooga HAS been cleaned up! Anyway, although visitors can now enjoy our public attractions and parks without undue fear of sitting on a dirty park bench, I would personally like to go somewhere for one day every fall where I could enjoy the smell of that sweet, mild pollution we used to get from those burning leaves! Maybe even enjoy the feel of a yard-broom in my hands again! Anybody with me on that idea? (Chester Martin is a native Chattanoogan who is a talented painter as well as local historian. He and his wife, Pat, live in Brainerd. Mr. Martin can be reached at cymppm@comcast.net ) Chance The Rapper's 'Magnificent' Mystery Event, Revealed By Carrie Eidson in News on May 22, 2016 5:13PM If you're a fan of Chance the Rapper, you may have spent the last few days anxiously trying to solve the mystery behind the mysterious Magnificent Coloring World. The event was cryptically announced on the artist's Twitter page Wednesday night, sending fans into a ticket buying frenzy without even knowing whereor whatthe event was. Since the release of the rapper's third mixtape, Coloring Book, on May 12, Chance fever has been taking Chicago by storm. The Chatham native's album (our review is here), which is available through Apple Music, features big names like Kanye West, Future and Justin Bieber, as well as Chicago artists and previous Chance collaborators, including Donnie Trumpet, NoName Gypsy and Jamila Woods. Coloring Book is a featured album on iTunes and is expected to chart on the Billboard 200 from streams alone. Just days after the album was released, Chance tweeted that his hometown would be in for a surprise this weekend, saying only, "Dear Chicago, I have something special for you this Saturday, not what you think it is." Dear Chicago, I have something special for you this Saturday, not what you think it is. Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) May 19, 2016 A couple hours later, Chance tweeted a link to a new event page on his website along with an enigmatic message to his followers: #magnificentcoloringworld not what you think Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) May 19, 2016 Seeing Chance tomorrow and still don't know what to expect #magnificentcoloringworld Luke Lopez (@Lukelopezzz) May 20, 2016 How many of yal were listening to Blessings, thinking yal were gonna get blessed with tickets? Yeah, me too. #magnificentcoloringworld bae (@Yaya_Badu) May 19, 2016 In a blink-and-youll-miss-it moment, fans descended on ChanceRaps.com to snatch up tickets to four mystery events held Saturday, May 21. With tickets priced around $40 for the three all-ages options and $60 for one 21+ offering, Magnificent Coloring World sold out in less than two hours, despite no one knowing what to expect. Naturally, theories ran rampant. Was Chance hosting a series of live performances? Would Kanye be there? Was Magnificent Coloring World the kickoff of a new tour? A music video shoot? An art installation? With no more information from Chance, fans were left guessing. My guess is #magnificentcoloringworld is an interactive art installation. @chancetherapper can you get me into the 8pm session plz? Harrison Keyes (@htkeyes) May 19, 2016 According to reports on Twitter, ticket holders finally received new information on Friday night in the form of a secret meetup location, and the request from Chance's team not to share the address on social media. The next day, attendees, including Wall Street Journal reporter John Jurgensen, met up at a local school. From there, in a twist right out of a PBS cartoon, they were instructed to climb aboard school buses that would carry them to the next mysterious location.As Rolling Stone reported, the ride over was like a childhood field trip. Attendees anxiously chatted, unaware of where they were going.Fifteen minutes later, the buses arrived at the Magnificent Coloring World secret location: Goose Island Brewery. From there, the crowd was ushered inside where they were met with a dark room, filled with smoke from a fog machine. "Blessings," a song from Coloring Book, was pumped through speakers in the room. Fans sang along as a projection screen displayed images of Chance alongside scenes from films including Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Tim Burton's Batman. The short film concluded with the message, "Are you ready?" before the screen parted for the big reveal. Behind the curtain attendees were met with blinking lights, music, tables covered in crayons and paper, a bouncy house and carnival-style stands and marquees. Staff handed out free ring pops, fruit roll-ups and kiwi Mistic against a backdrop of mock-up sets from Chance music videos, including Sunday Candy.As the attendees explored the space, the true nature of Magnificent Coloring World became clear: Chance had created a fun house-like interactive listening party that invited strangers to become friends and adults to play like children. As Coloring Book blasted through the speakers, attendees danced and sang along while playing oversized Chess, coloring on the walls, watching dancers and interacting with one very spirited Chicago bulls mascot. Police Warn Of Armed Robberies Near Lakeview CTA Stations This Month By Carrie Eidson in News on May 22, 2016 5:33PM Lakeview, photo via Curtis Locke/Chicagoist Flickr Pool The Chicago Police Department has issued a community alert following a series of armed robberies in Lakeview this week. Five incidents were reported in the 19th police district near Brown and Red Line CTA stops between 9:30 p.m. and midnight on May 16, 19 and 20. According to the alert, the victims were approached by the offender who displayed a handgun and demanded property. The robberies reportedly took place in the 1200 block of West Waveland Avenue, the 1300 block of West Henderson Street, the 1200 block of West Oakdale Avenue, the 2900 block of North Sheffield Avenue and the 2400 block of North Seminary Street. The suspect is reported to be a black man, 17 to 25 years old, between 5'4" to 60 tall and weighing between 160 and 175 lbs. He was reportedly wearing a gray or dark colored hooded sweatshirt. If youre traveling by CTA late at night, police advise you be pay special attention to your surroundings. If you have any information about these robberies, you can contact the Bureau of Detectives - Area North at 312-744-8263. Edie McClurg, who played Grace in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, is announced with other actors from the movie at the Shermer High School 1986 Spring Dance that's part of the Ferris Fest at the Athletico Center on, Friday, March 20, 2016, in Northbrook. A hat-trick to Bulldogs winger Tyrone Phillips has lifted the blue and whites to a convincing 32-20 win over the Roosters at ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The 12-point defeat leaves the Roosters' finals hopes hanging by a thread with the Tricolours requiring at least 10 wins from their final 13 matches if they want to feature in the post season. Canterbury's win came on the back of an utterly dominant first half that saw them race out to an 18-0 lead courtesy of 68 per cent possession and an impressive completion rate. David Klemmer was outstanding for the victors, running for 216 metres from 26 carries, while Kerrod Holland was perfect with the boot in a performance that would have made Hazem El Masri proud. Draw Widget - Round 11 - Bulldogs vs Roosters Absolutely nothing went the Roosters' way early on with Aidan Guerra driven into touch from the kick-off while Daniel Tupou knocked on from a line dropout in a disastrous opening 30 minutes. Roosters enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was placed on report for making dangerous contact on Moses Mbye, while the Bulldogs lost Sam Kasiano and Tim Browne to concussion. Josh Jackson produced his best halfback impersonation with a magnificent cutout pass to send Phillips over for his second try in as many weeks to open the scoring after six minutes. The Bulldogs went close to extending the lead 10 minutes later when some incredible work by Curtis Rona almost resulted in a freakish try to Josh Morris, only for the State of Origin hopeful to lose the ball in the process of scoring. The Roosters were dealt a blow midway through the first half when star fullback Latrell Mitchell was sent to the sin bin after failing to release Josh Reynolds after doing well originally to chase down the Bulldogs five-eighth. A forward pass from Kerrod Holland was the only thing that stopped Phillips strolling in for his second, while Rona should have crossed shortly after but had his infield pass knocked down when he should have dummied. The Bulldogs finally capitalised on their numerical advantage with a loose pass eventually ending up with Holland, who made no mistakes this time around to send Phillips over for his double. The Fijian international would have had a hat-trick if he had managed to stay in the field of play moments later; instead he got to celebrate a special try to Reynolds. With fans still cheering on the Phillips four-pointer, Reynolds did it all himself, stepping off his right foot twice to score a stunning solo try that blew the proverbial roof off ANZ Stadium. Down by 18 with two minutes to go in the first half, the Roosters somehow found another gear to strike back twice to give them a glimmer of hope at the break. First the Tricolours marched downfield with Mitchell Pearce releasing Guerra with a perfectly-timed pass before the makeshift centre offloaded for Tupou to score. Incredibly there was still time for the reigning minor premiers to launch one more attacking raid and they made it count. A quick tap from Jake Friend on half way found Pearce before the halfback put Boyd Cordner into a gaping hole. With time expiring, the back-rower looked inside to find Mitchell in support, the fullback touching down as the siren sounded in the background. It didn't take long for the Bulldogs to reassert their authority after the break with Holland knocking over a penalty goal 90 seconds into the second half before a deflected kick and some quick thinking by Rona to put the ball on the toe saw the winger extend the lead four minutes later. Mitchell appeared to have pegged one back for the Roosters but the rookie fullback was denied a double with the bunker ruling Blake Ferguson had interfered with Morris in the lead-up. The Roosters fullback was in the thick of it again in the 62nd minute when he supported on the inside before offloading to Mitchell Aubusson for a terrific team try, only for the bunker to again overturn the on field decision; this time for obstruction. It was a case of third time lucky for Mitchell whose persistence was rewarded 12 minutes from full-time to narrow the gap to 10 and give his side a chance of victory. Fittingly an error by the Roosters eventually killed off the contest with Phillips punishing an Isaac Liu mistake to score his first treble in the NRL before Ryan Matterson made up for an error-riddled first half to complete a wonderful team effort. Bulldogs 32 (Tyrone Phillips 3, Josh Reynolds, Curtis Rona tries; Kerrod Holland 6 goals) defeated Roosters 20 (Latrell Mitchell 2, Daniel Tupou, Ryan Matterson tries; Sio Siua Taukeiaho 2 goals) at ANZ Stadium. Half-time: 18-10. Crowd: 17,704. Sin bin: Latrell Mitchell (professional foul). On report: Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (dangerous contact). An unperturbed Nathan Peats says he has moved on from his unceremonious Eels exit and was grateful for his first hit-out as a Titan following their 28-24 win over the Panthers. Peats came off the bench for the Titans and scored a crucial try midway through the second half to help keep his new team in touch with the Panthers who led proceedings for the most part until Anthony Don's match-winning try in the 78th minute. Peats admitted he had been nervous coming off from the bench the first time he had done so in three years but was happy to move on to the next stage of his career after managing just two first grade training sessions in the lead-up. "There's no point dwelling on it. There were a few people who let me down there, not just the people on the board, but it's time to move on. I'm a grown man and I can get over things like that. I'm happy at the Titans," the 25-year-old said. "I was pretty nervous actually. I haven't come off the bench in a couple of years so it probably made it worse for me. I had jelly legs out there and I felt really tired in the first half. "But it was good to get out there and have a hit out. I'm fine with having to do what I have to do from now on in whatever is best for the team." Draw Widget - Round 11 - Panthers vs Titans Peats said the Titans had been truly welcoming from the front office to the players he ran out with on to Pepper Stadium on Sunday. "These boys have been really welcoming. The club has really welcomed me," he said. "I rocked up to the airport with my partner and my son and the CEO was there, Brian Canavan, the media guy and the welfare bloke and all the important people at the club were there to welcome us so it's been really easy to fit in." On the field, Peats declared the finals were still a goal for the Titans and their four-point win over Penrith was important considering their upcoming trips to Darwin and Perth. With a bye scheduled for Round 12, Peats will remain in Sydney for a couple of days to say his final farewells to family and friends farewells which don't include a trip to Pirtek Stadium on Monday to see his former Parramatta team go around. "I'm staying in Sydney to pack the rest of my stuff up. I'll go see some family and friends and head back up on Tuesday night," Peats said. "It's the final stages of getting everything out of Sydney." Leah Konradys life has taken her from one end of the country to the other, but the Region natives love for Northwest Indiana never dimmed, and has guided her home to take a role in shaping its future. Konrady has been appointed president and CEO of One Region, an organization focused on promoting economic growth, environmental sustainability and quality of life in Northwest Indiana. She began work last week. Ive lived all over the country, she said, but Northwest Indiana is home. Konrady, who grew up in the Michigan City area and graduated from Marquette Catholic High School there, returned last year from Fresno, California. I was looking for something that could provide leadership in the Region, she said. Meanwhile, the founding executive director of One Region, Dennis Rittenmeyer, had retired, and the organizations leaders were thinking about ways to freshen its mission and expand its influence. Purdue University Northwest Chancellor Thomas Keon is one of two chairmen of One Region, along with The Times Media Co. Publisher Chris White. Keon said One Region wanted a leader who would help us work with the grass roots to generate priorities for quality of life. That encompasses bringing people together, and engaging them to help us decide what are the key issues related to quality of life that One Region will be promoting, Keon said. I think there will be a lot of similarities in terms of where were going and where weve been, Keon said, adding that there will be a greater emphasis on actively pursuing One Regions goals, and rallying public support for them. Keon and White, in announcing Konradys appointment, said One Region will work with key civic, political, labor and business leaders, in conjunction with the Northwest Indiana Forum, Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District and Center for Workforce Innovations. One Region was a result of the 2012 consolidation of the Northwest Indiana Quality of Life Council and One Region: One Vision, a group founded by then-Times Executive Editor Bill Nangle and then-Publisher Bill Masterson Jr. Konrady began her new job by reaching out to people involved with One Region, and the organizations it hopes to work with, to discover their priorities for the Region, and the best ways One Region can help them pursue their goals. Im coming in with a very open mind, Konrady said. Overall what Im hearing is one voice and being action-oriented. Konrady comes to the position with experience as a legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, for whom she handled a broad portfolio of issues from 2009 to 2011. Hes been a very important role model for me in terms of public service, she said of the congressman. Konrady holds bachelors and masters of business administration degrees from the University of Denver. Among a variety of consulting projects, Konrady worked for The Field Museum on the proposal to create a Calumet National Heritage Area, something she said could be a project for One Region to support. While growing up, Lake Michigan was a huge part of my life, Konrady said. She said shes fascinated by economic, social and environmental importance of the lakeshore as home to both heavy industry and the natural areas of the state and national parks. In a way its a juxtaposition, she said, but also a good example of how they can coexist. Konrady is the fifth generation of her family to live in Northwest Indiana; her grandfather was a state senator from Lake County, and her parents established a business, Konrady Plastics, in Porter County. Konradys links to all three of One Regions counties help provide a foundation for her new role. Its a good fit, she said. It really ties all those together. You are here: Home Screenshot from an online video shows several teenagers beating a primary school student in Zhejiang Province in June, 2015 has led to public outrage. [Photo/ixinwei.com] A report has been issued on campus safety in China. It was initiated by the Ministry of Education and some colleges and universities, aiming to increase safety systems inside and outside campuses. Yu Yadong is the deputy inspector of the Ideology and Politics Section of the Ministry of Education. "We should put emphasis on the main channel of the classes and the entire process of teaching and educating so as to increase the sense of safety and safeguard abilities of students." The report studied 33 major safety incidents in 2015. Of the on-campus incidents, food poisoning and campus violence accounted for half of the safety incidents in kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools. Fires and explosions mainly occurred at universities, accounting for 86 percent of the total college safety incidents. Experts said 80 percent of the incidents could have been avoided by carrying out emergency and safety education as well as exercises against disasters to raise the abilities of primary and middle school students to save themselves during emergencies. The Illinois CPA Society (ICPAS) announced Stephanie Blanco has been elected chair of the Government Report Review Committee. Blanco, 39, is the Senior Manager at John Kasperek Co., Inc. in Calumet City. The Government Report Review Committee conducts annual reviews of audit opinions issued by public accountants and related financial statements for local governments. MacLennan & Bain Insurance, of Valparaiso, has hired Kyle Yelton as a commercial property & casualty insurance agent. He was formerly a financial services specialist at Northwestern Mutual Life. He serves on the Porter County Planning Commission, the Boys & Girls Club of Porter County board of directors, and other community organizations. Nurse Kathy Koehler, of Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Michigan City's medical-surgical unit, was recognized with the St. Camillus Award for her exceptional service and "going above and beyond the call in dealing with patients of all types." Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Michigan City recognized Dr. June Brown with the St. Luke award. Doctors are nominated for the award by nursing staff members. Brown, an emergency room physician, was praised for her rapport with staff, being approachable, and staying calm during emergencies. Residential mortgage lender Ruoff Home Mortgage has recognized David Leeper as the top loan originator, based on the number of loans closed, for their Crown Point office for the month of April. Leeper joined Ruoff in May 2015 and has been in the banking/mortgage industry for 12 years. In recognition of National Nurses Week, St. Mary Medical Center awarded 2016 Nursing Pillar Awards to registered nurses Steve Lopez, for service; Josette Crostreet, for quality; Sheena Tinner, for finance; Jennifer Mulvihill, for growth; and Randall Quirk, for people. Registered nurse Jodie Blackman won the superstar award. The awards honor nurses who go above and beyond their duties, providing the best in patient care. On Gretchen Ihrig's wedding day, she put her hair up and made sure her dress met the guidelines for the Westville Correctional Facility. Her white and black dress had to be a certain length, had to have sleeves and had to be deemed modest enough for the facility. She brought along a receipt to prove her husband's wedding band cost less than $30, per prison guidelines. Last June, Ihrig married Jason Ihrig, who has been serving a 40-year prison sentence since 2003 on a charge of possession of methamphetamine in excess of 3 grams with the intent to deliver, according to court records. His expected release date is June 2020. Prior to the revision of the criminal code in 2014, state law called for people serving a Class A felony, such as possession of methamphetamine, to receive one day credit for each day they served in custody. At first, I think it was kind of crazy, but you cant help how you feel about somebody, Gretchen Ihrig said. When it happens, it happens. I love him more than Ive loved anybody. Its kind of strange, but you find love in different places, you know? He makes me very happy. The Ihrigs are one of the few couples who choose to wed while one of the spouses is incarcerated. On average, there are about 12 marriages conducted each year at the Westville Correctional Facility. According to an Indiana Department of Correction population report for May, there were 2,525 inmates being housed at the facility. The application process for inmates to seek marriage takes about three months, said Rod Kitchen, the volunteer and community service director for the facility. Part of the process includes having the spouse who is not incarcerated undergo a criminal background check. The Indiana Department of Correction views marriage as a possible rehabilitative tool for offenders, according to the departments policy about marriages. There are restrictions as to whom inmates in Indiana can marry. Requests for marriages can be denied by prison officials if the inmate is requesting to marry another inmate or a staff member of the facility. Before getting married, couples attend a daylong class that mostly focuses on the importance of communication in a marriage. Kitchen coordinates the class and said its usually lead by chaplains from the facility. The actual ceremonies are officiated inside the facility by the LaPorte County clerks office. Kitchen takes photos of the couples who arent allowed to have other visitors attend the ceremony. The couples are responsible for paying the fee for the marriage license. Unlike Hollywood movies, the Indiana Department of Correction does not allow the couples to consummate their marriage, according to their policies. Incarceration can put a strain on marriages with research showing that the odds of getting a divorce increases if one of the spouses is incarcerated. Sonja Siennick, an associate professor at Florida State University's College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, said the research has not pinpointed why the divorce rates increase for these couples. Her research did not include couples who wed during the period when one of the spouses was incarcerated. Siennick said research has shown couples who had a spouse incarcerated are more likely to report less love in their relationship, experience domestic violence and are at a greater risk to experience an affair. Wendall Cornett, 39, was one of the offenders who also got married last June at the Westville Correctional Center. He said he's seen marriages in prison last a mere couple of months. For those who have a spouse serving a longer sentence, its a significant commitment for them, Cornett said. He also said couples have to really know each other before they make the commitment to get married while one of them is in prison. "Don't say nothing you'll regret later," he said. "Don't put it out there if you don't want it out there. You can't take a statement back." UNEXPECTED ROMANCE Sitting in a conference room at Westville Correctional Facility, Jason Ihrig is wearing his khaki uniform, the same uniform he wore when he got married, as he explains that he had given up on romance until he met his wife. He has never been married before, though he has two children from a previous relationship. "Everything about this place wants to keep your mind inside this fence," he said. "It's important to think about the outside. If not, you'll get stuck in this place, you'll get institutionalized." He started occasionally talking to his now wife when he would call a childhood friend. Gretchen Ihrig was friends with the couple Jason Ihrig was calling. The two had never met in person before. Over the years, the relationship escalated to them talking by phone occasionally to daily phone calls. Gretchen Ihrig said she was getting out of a bad relationship at the time and credited Jason Ihrig with helping her cope through that time. They mark May 14, 2013, as the date their relationship became official because that was the day Jason received a letter from Gretchen. "I told him there is something about me and you, and I feel like we have a connection," she said. "We knew there was something there." He called her that day to ask if what she had written was true. She told him it was all true. Within a month, she visited him in person for the first time. At the time he was being held at Pendleton Correctional Facility. She remembers feeling a mixture of nerves and happiness. Their first visit was noncontact and they were separated by glass. "I wasn't sure what I would say, not sure how it was going to go," she said. "We clicked. We just found something to talk about like on the phone. It was like having a best friend. He was my best friend. He still is." He said he now takes into account that his actions in prison have a ripple effect on his family, which means he is on his best behavior. Anything that goes wrong can jeopardize their visits or phone call privileges. Cornett met his wife, Gwen Cornett, when they were 17 years old through a mutual friend. They have been together since then and have a teenage daughter together. Since 2014, hes been serving a six-year prison sentence on charges of resisting law enforcement and receiving stolen property. Hes expected to be released this summer. He said his wife has been through a lot with him. Last year, they finally decided to get married and didnt want to wait any longer. Gwen Cornett said she had always known her husband was the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She knew he was ready when one day he mentioned marriage. If you really love somebody, it doesnt matter where they are, Gwen Cornett said. Its kind of different where we wound up getting married. If you truly love that person, it doesnt matter where you end up. RELATIONSHIP MORE MENTAL THAN PHYSICAL Now that they are married, Jason Ihrig is allowed to have contact visits with his wife. Still, those visits only consist of them holding hands and kissing. Gretchen Ihrig said some guards look the other way when her husband picks her up to say goodbye. When their relationship started getting serious, Jason requested to be moved to the Westville Correctional Facility, which is a shorter drive for Gretchen, who lives in Elkhart. The couple also have scheduled calls and video visits throughout the week. There is a charge for phone calls and video visits that are done through a Skype-like program monitored by the facility. The couple sort out the bills together to determine how many phone and video calls they can make. Jason Ihrig said they try to be creative to have growth in their relationship. They read books together, mapping out how many chapters they will read each day, and then discuss what they've read at the end of the day. The latest mystery series they were delving into was "Odd Thomas" by Dean Koontz. They also bond over working out. Gretchen Ihrig said her husband has become like her personal trainer who helps her figure out her exercise routine throughout the week. Gretchen, who has been married twice before, said this marriage is simpler than others. Still, she said coming back from the in-person visits can be emotionally taxing. "It takes a couple days to come out of it," she said. "We have a saying, 'Every day is a day closer (to when) he comes home.'" Gwen Cornett, who lives in Warsaw, said she hasn't been able to visit her husband as much because of work. Within the past couple of months, her mother and grandmother died separately. "It's actually been rough, and because of us being apart, it does make it harder," she said. "That's when communication comes in. He always let's me know that he's always there for me." WAITING TO BE REUNITED During each holiday, Gretchen Ihrig and her daughter put away a gift for when Jason comes home. The pile of gifts includes a T-shirt from Walt Disney World, a dictionary, candy from Valentines Day and a trimmer. On Christmas, they open his presents during a video call and then store them away for when he comes home. Her bedroom includes handmade cards and crafts Jason has sent her as gifts. She has enlarged and framed photos taken during their visits. Gretchen said they plan to stay in Indiana for as long as her husband has to serve out parole or any other requirements set by the Department of Correction. According to court records, her husband has an additional 10 years to serve on probation after he finishes his prison term. They hope to one day move to Georgia, and they want to work together on remodeling homes. Like the Ihrigs, Gwen Cornett said she and her husband plan on having a second wedding ceremony to share with family members. Though Wendall Cornett previously has been incarcerated, Gwen said she thinks her husband has changed for the better this time. Wendall said he already was looking into securing jobs in anticipation of his release. Jason Ihrig said he wants to gradually be released from prison by first being transferred to a work release program. He and his wife have talked about possible locations they plan to one day travel to, but he would be fine with going anywhere. "We can walk around the park and that would be like going to the moon for me," he said. KNOX, Ind. Nate Meeks stood before his fellow inmates like a preacher in front of his flock. An open book in one hand, gesticulating with the other, the 42-year-old talked about his breakthrough in his recovery from heroin and cocaine addiction. "For me, it was humility," he said, his peers seated at cafeteria tables secured to the concrete floor, two-way mirrors reflecting back at them. "I was able to stand up in front of 94 guys at Westville prison and say, 'I need your help.' " Meeks, of LaPorte, was surrounded at the Starke County Jail by about two dozen men, also in orange jumpsuits and serving years behind bars, walking the same path he was: the long road back from drug addiction. In a short time, he said, they'd become like family. The inmates are part of an experiment in Indiana: to find out if substance-addicted offenders sentenced to state prison have a better chance at recovery in county jails. Compared to prisons, the jails tend to be smaller, have less drug and gang activity and are closer to inmates' families. The pilot project signifies the growing acknowledgement that drug abuse is a public health issue and that treating addicts is more effective than simply locking them up for lengthy stretches. The initiative also fits with the state's mission of reducing its prison population by housing low-level inmates in county jails. "There was a time when I would give the repeat drug offender the maximum prison sentence and say, 'If you come back, I'll do it again. And if you come back, I'll do it again,' " said Starke County Judge Kim Hall, who helped bring the program to Knox. "They always came back." Eligible for reduced sentences, graduates of the therapeutic community treatment program have a recidivism rate roughly half that of the general prison population, state officials say. The peer-driven rehabilitation teaches emotional regulation, parenting and job training, among other skills. Each of the inmates has a specific role in the organization, from cleaning to mentoring. "It is its own community," said Megan Fisher, an addiction counselor with the Indiana Department of Correction. "The thrust is you can't do it alone. It's important to have a recovery community around you." She believes the treatment can work even better in the more intimate setting. "When you've got 600 guys in a program, it's easy to find a corner to hide in and just kind of skate through," Fisher said. "When you have this small of a group, they're pretty much forced to get real or get out." The program in Knox includes substance-addicted prison inmates sentenced in Starke and the seven counties that border it: Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Pulaski, Fulton, Marshall and St. Joseph. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Starke, Porter, LaPorte and Pulaski counties each have drug overdose mortality rates higher than the state average. Another chance at life Tim Lisak, a 27-year-old from LaPorte serving a six-year sentence for burglary, is in therapeutic community for the second time. The former heroin user believes he has greater odds of success in the county jail. When he did it at Westville state prison, he said, drugs made their way into the unit where the program took place; that hasn't happened in Starke County. He said the group at the jail is also more tightknit. "Everyone here's got the same goal," he said. "They want to live." Lisak has a lot at stake. He has two kids, including one born Feb. 20, while he was behind bars. Chris Walters, who was incarcerated for committing a burglary to fund his heroin habit, was in the program at Westville before coming to Knox to be a mentor. The 35-year-old believes the jail presents a better opportunity for getting clean. "The atmosphere here is more family-like. You can actually focus on your recovery," said Walters, of Michigan City. "Westville is full of drugs, gang activity. It's a huge difference. You don't have contact with the general population here." Dan Hensell, another inmate who moved over from Westville, gave up freedoms coming to Knox the ability to go outside, contact visits with family but said it's been well worth it. "I'd trade 115 visits for being sober," said Hensell, of LaPorte, who's doing time for selling cocaine. "My son, who I was locked up with in Westville, is 20, and I'm 40. He's never seen me sober." Steven Thompson, a native of New Chicago, said he feels "fortunate" he was arrested in Porter County since it's part of the pilot project. He'd been selling heroin and prescription pills, he said, to support his addiction. The 33-year-old says therapeutic community is more effective than other rehab he's tried. "There, we just sat around in a group, glorifying drugs," he said. "It made me want to do it more." A great need for treatment Both inside and outside of jails and prison, only about 11 percent of substance-addicted Americans receive treatment, according to research by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The difference is, two-thirds of the people behind bars are dependent on drugs or alcohol, compared to just 9 percent of the general population. However, before addicts run afoul of the law, there often aren't a lot of places they can turn to for help, particularly if they don't have private insurance. The problem is particularly acute in Indiana. The state has the fourth largest shortage of substance abuse specialists, with just 18 providers for every 1,000 addicted adults, the Pew Charitable Trusts found. The national average is 32. Also, more than a fifth of Medicaid recipients in Indiana have a substance abuse disorder, one of the highest rates in the nation, according to Pew. But only 55 percent of addiction specialists accept Medicaid due to its low reimbursement rate. Dr. Johann Farley, a substance abuse specialist in Merrillville, said he has seen Medicaid patients for whom he has not been compensated at all. "We don't want to have to deny people who need help," he said. Leo Smith, a drug counselor at Porter-Starke Services in Knox and Valparaiso, said the state could use more residential rehab facilities (though, he acknowledges, that would require public funding). The few that exist generally have waiting lists of several weeks. "The best time to get somebody help if they're an addict or alcoholic is when they're ready," he said. "Once they start thinking about it, they'll surely think of a way out of it." But rehab doesn't work for everybody. One of the Starke County inmates, Matt Straight, tried getting treatment on the outside but couldn't stay clean. The 29-year-old said he turned himself in for forgery because he knew he'd be going into therapeutic community. "The only way I could get off drugs was being locked up," said Straight, of LaPorte. The men obviously can't leave, and the treatment is intensive. The program is five days a week, for six hours a day, and lasts a minimum of eight months. The jail also is participating in a pilot program to give inmates, prior to their release, injections of Vivitrol, a medication that reduces the cravings for opioids and alcohol. The offenders are then referred to a local community health center for continued therapy and monthly injections of the drug. An opportunity in Knox Knox, about 30 miles southeast of Valparaiso, is that part of Northwest Indiana where heavy industry transforms into farmland. It's one of any number of small rural towns in America where methamphetamine use runs rampant. Starke County leads the state in per-capita meth-lab seizures. The county sheriff's office arrests three to five people a week for meth. Three-fourths of the inmates at the Knox jail are locked up for meth-related charges. "Everyone likes to think we're the meth county in the state," said Sheriff Bill Dulin. "We're trying to change that." After Judge Hall got tired of having the same addicts cycle through his courtroom, year in and year out, he saw an opportunity with the new Starke County Jail. The way the cellblocks are set up, it's easy to segregate populations. He thought it would be an ideal setting for therapeutic community. So Hall pitched his idea to state officials. He said moving the prison inmates to the jail would make it easier for them to get to court, probation meetings and community corrections, and for their families to visit, improving the men's chances at recovery. He also noted the economic impact: It costs $35 a day to incarcerate someone in jail, compared to $50 in prison. If the 1,700 inmates in therapeutic community were housed in county jails, that would save the state $10 million a year. "I've come to believe that therapeutic community is the best treatment program in the state of Indiana," Hall said in his chambers on the fourth floor of the imposing Gothic courthouse, the tallest building in the largely vacant downtown. He was flanked by three rifles and a bust of Teddy Roosevelt's head. "But prison's a rough place. Some people come out worse than they came in." Jail warden Phil Cherry believes fixing the substance abuse epidemic requires a more compassionate approach. "These are our neighbors, our family members," he said. That 'sounds like hope' During the recent treatment session, a handful of the inmates did a majority of the talking. You could tell for some, speaking about their addictions was just too raw. The guys challenged and engaged one another; it was more a conversation than a class. "The constructive criticism, the debates we have here are just awesome," said David Tierney, 27, of South Bend. "It's like having big brothers." They talked about acceptance, about accountability, about spirituality. After one inmate explained his concept of a higher power, Fisher, the counselor, said that "sounds like hope." Signs were posted on the wall with such affirmations as, "Progress Not Perfection," "I Deserve Happiness" and "Another Day Clean." After he was done leading the class, Meeks, his facial features worn from years of substance abuse, talked about his plans for life on the outside. He said he intends to start a support group in Michigan City for ex-offenders and addicts. He wants to become a drug counselor. A few weeks earlier, corrections officials at Westville had asked Meeks to help launch the pilot program in Knox. He agreed, and became a mentor to the incoming prisoners. By successfully completing therapeutic community, his sentence for forgery was reduced by two-thirds. "I'm excited about life again," he said, sounding sincerely hopeful. "Even my kids have noticed a difference in the way I talk, the language I use." "One day, I want to come back and see how this program is doing," he added. "A part of me is here with these guys. We're like the pioneers of this." GARY A 26-year-old man was killed in a shooting late Saturday near the former Horace Mann High School, officials said. Billie Young, of Gary, was shot in the back and arm and died at the scene in the 500 block of Garfield Street, officials said. The Lake County coroner's office ruled his death a homicide. Officers responded to the area about 11 p.m. Saturday for a report of shots fired and found Young facedown and unresponsive on the field track, police said. Coroner's investigators were called to the scene about 11:30 p.m., and Young was pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m. Sunday. The homicide comes three days after a shooting just a few blocks away in the 2100 block of West Fifth Avenue in which a man was shot in the head. The man shot Thursday night was seriously wounded and transferred from a local hospital to another facility for further treatment, police said. Police said Sunday they didn't have information indicating a link between the two shootings, but the investigations are ongoing. Anyone with information about the Young homicide is asked to call Detective Sgt. Joseph Hardiman or Detective Sgt. Justin Illyes at (219) 881-1210. Anyone with information about Thursday's shooting is asked to call Detective Sgt. Gregory Wolf at (219) 881-1210. To remain anonymous, call (866) CRIME-GP. GARY Hundreds of Gary apartment dwellers may have to find new residences with the conversion of two complexes to affordable housing units. Merchants Affordable Housing Corp., which assumed operation of the Concord Commons and Woodlake Village, acknowledged better notice could have been given to residents about the change. LaLosa Burns, a spokeswoman for Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, said the mayor is aware of the situation and was planning to meet with the new owners of both complexes. Janine Betsey, the executive director of the corporation, said they are letting go of the property management company she said was responsible for notifying the tenants. The tenants who will be required to leave do not meet income guidelines under the federal government's Section 42 program. The corporation used the program to acquire and make renovations at the facility. Concord Commons is on the east side of Burr Street, north of 21st Avenue. It has 10 apartment buildings plus some townhomes. Woodlake Village consists of about 18 apartment buildings north of U.S. 20 (Melton Road) and west of South County Line Road. The two complexes have 852 apartments combined. According to Betsey, an estimated 20 to 30 percent of Concord Commons residents and a somewhat smaller percentage of Woodlake Village residents have an income that exceeds the threshold to live at the apartments and may be required to move out. She said the residents will not be required to leave prior to the end of their existing lease and will allow them to stay at the apartments on a month-to-month basis until they can locate replacement housing. Stacey Pitts Caldwell, St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital Midwest Region associate director, will never forget her first week on the job. I met a child that was treated as a patient just five years prior and she was in tears of joy and filled with an overwhelming thankfulness in her heart and that was so moving, said Pitts Caldwell. I knew from that moment, this was an extremely fulfilling mission and there will be stories that keep us wanting to do more. Strack & Van Til, The Times, MillerCoors and Indiana Beverage hosted a check presentation for $50,000 to St. Judes representatives Thursday morning. The funds were raised during last months Checkout Challenge, an initiative that selects a charity each month and grocery shoppers are encouraged to make a donation. The bottom line is that this is a great partnership that works because everybody comes together and continues to partner to help bring awareness to some really great causes, said Chris Bengston, Strack & Van Til chief operating officer. We raised $15,000 more this year for St. Jude and we are all ecstatic about it. Pitts Caldwell feels partnerships like Checkout Challenge enable St. Jude Hospital to continue the work started by actor and comedian Danny Thomas in 1955 in Memphis, Tennessee. His vision is still alive today, said Pitts Caldwell. For every dollar we raise, 83 cents goes directly to research and treatment. We take pride in the fact that families do not pay for our services and we can only provide those resources because of the compassion and generosity of those that continue to give. SCHERERVILLE Generations of area residents came together Saturday afternoon at the Tri-Town Safety Village to remember and share stories of those who served the nation in the military at the Honoring Our Veterans open house. Some brought their own memorabilia to show Tom Clark, a U.S. history teacher at Lake Central High School, whose students have studied military records of Indiana residents for more than 30 years as part of the Gold Star project. Tables set up inside the main Safety Village structure were laden with display cases commemorating those in all branches of the military, including individuals who were killed in action from World War I to the war against terror. Photos, medals including the Purple Heart, telegrams to families about the death of a loved one in battle and the insignia of military units drew open house attendees. The open house, which followed the second annual Veterans 3K/5K/10K Walk Run at Tri-Town Safety Village, honored veterans and raised funds to build a veterans museum to eventually house some of the Gold Star memorabilia currently in Clarks classroom at Lake Central. Volunteers and 29 businesses, nonprofit groups, clubs and veterans organizations made the days events possible, said Janice Malchow, a Lake Central School Board member who represents Tri-Town Safety Village. Mike Dujmovic, of Munster, brought a carved wooden plaque made by an Italian POW for his father, Nicholas, aboard a U.S. Merchant Marine ship transporting prisoners from North Africa during World War II, to show Clark. A native of Yugoslavia, his father joined the U.S. Merchant Marine even before becoming a citizen, said Mike Dujmovic, who also served in the military in the 1960s. Someday, Im going to go to New Orleans to the National World War II Museum and donate this, Mike Dujmovic said. For three youngsters from the Meder family in Crown Point, seeing the military patches and medals on display helped them honor their great-grandfather, Andrew Taylor, who served in the Marines during World War II. A lot of people worked together to keep us safe, said Glenda Raines, of Crown Point, to Mackenzie, 6, Ethan, 5, and Gavin, 4. This is getting a great history lesson about family, said Mackenzie as she pointed to several items in display cases. Dylan Anderson, 19, credited Clark with influencing his choice of career and helping him understand his familys military history. Andersons grandfather, Thomas, received the Purple Heart for injuries he suffered in Italy during World War II. I was a former student of Mr. Clarks and then a student aide. I helped with the Vietnam project behind the scenes. Now Im majoring in history at Ball State University, said Anderson, who is donating $5,000 to fund the museum. This is a great cause. During the ceremony, Clark was honored by students who formed the Lake Central History Club two years ago. All wore T-shirts with a quote from Winston Churchill The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see. Everything you see here is because of these students. These students have gone above and beyond, Clark said. I think I learn more from my students than they learn from me. Bill Jarvis, executive director of the Tri-Town Safety Village, said the fundraising goal is $52,000 to build a 3,500-square foot veterans museum with Clark as curator. We have commitments from the Carpenters Union Local 1005 in Merrillville. Were looking to the roofers and Hyre Electric who worked on the NIPSCO building here, Jarvis said of the coalition of community support. We need to get the materials and were working with Home Depot. They are working to get five or six stores to donate materials, he said. Jarvis said the money being collected now will be used to complete the museums interior. We also have display cabinets in storage from the old Lake Central building they tore down, he said OGDEN DUNES Growing up in the Region Joan Meister had heard about Dorothy Buell. She knew Buell founded the Save the Dunes Council, which led to the creation of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Meister also knew that Buell led the fight from their shared adopted hometown of Ogden Dunes, actually just living down the street and around the corner from where Meister now lives. What she didn't know was what type of woman, at the age of 65, in 1952, would take on such a task. Given this year is the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Meister thought it would be appropriate to pay tribute to Buell. Meister, who had done a similar tribute to Dale Messick, creator of the Brenda Starr comic strip and former Ogden Dunes resident, said she began researching Buell, focusing on the woman and what drove her to take on politicians and industry to save the dunes. The research has turned into "Dorothy Buell: Neighbor and Crusader." What was intended to be a one-woman show, said Meister, has turned into a dramatic reading surrounding not only Buell's achievements, but her background and humanity. The Ogden Dunes Historical Society is sponsoring the event to be held at 4 p.m. May 29 at the Ogden Dunes Church on Hillcrest Road. Meister will be the narrator and resident Judith Stiles will portray Buell. Others will portray Illinois Senator Paul Douglas, fellow conservationist Herb Read and Bob Buell, Dorothy's son. Buell's two granddaughters from California are also expected to attend. The presentation is part of the town's Memorial Day celebration. Richard Meister, president of the historical society and Joan's husband, said the community hosts a parade and picnic beginning at 10 a.m. and followed by an ice cream social and open house at the Hour Glass Museum, 8 Lupine Lane, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Richard Meister said the Memorial Day weekend is a homecoming for many Ogden Dunes residents and an appropriate time to present the Buell tribute. The museum is also featuring an exhibit on the Save the Dunes Council and the efforts to preserve the Indiana Dunes, said Richard Meister. Joan Meister said she spent months researching Buell, talking to her granddaughters and other who knew her; reading newspaper clippings and other research sources. "I am trying to emphasize the humanist of her, what led her to do this," said Meister, adding the program traces Buell from her Wisconsin upbringing to her California retirement. Meister said Buell was 65 years old when she began Save the Dunes Council. She was a proper lady, wearing hats and gloves of the time, but didn't fear speaking out. She often traveled with her sisters. "She was a liberated woman," Meister said of Buell. Meister believes Buell lived by the motto, "When you saw something that had to be done, you had an obligation to get it done. "At 65, she felt empowered to do it and found people to do it and empowered them," said Meister. "She was a fascinating individual and I would like her to be remembered for it." WASHINGTON Donald Trump poured more than $7.5 million of his own money into his presidential campaign in April, bringing his total personal investment to more than $43 million since he declared his candidacy, new campaign finance reports filed late Friday show. The billionaire businessman, who swatted away 16 Republican rivals and relied heavily on wall-to-wall media coverage of his outsized personality and often inflammatory remarks, reported spending about $56 million during the primary, which lasted until his final two rivals, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, dropped out of the race at the beginning of May. In April alone, Trump spent nearly $9.4 million, according to his monthly filing with the Federal Election Commission. Trumps largest expense in April, about $2.6 million, was for advertisements. The campaign also spent more than $930,000 on direct mail. Other big-ticket items included roughly $585,000 in airfare paid to Trumps TAG Air Inc. While much of Trumps money has come from his own pocket, he reported about $1.7 million in donations last month. Those contributions have come largely from people buying Trumps campaign merchandise, including the red Make America Great Again ball caps, and giving online through his campaign website. Trump didnt begin developing a team of fundraisers until recently, after he became the presumptive GOP nominee. Almost all of Trumps personal investment has come in the form of loans. That leaves open the possibility that he can repay himself now that hes aggressively seeking donations. A new fundraising agreement he struck with the Republican National Committee and 11 state parties explicitly seeks contributions for his primary campaign. Yet Trump said in a statement this week that he has absolutely no intention of paying himself back. Instead, he will be able to use any primary money he raises, in increments of up to $2,700 per donor, on expenses such as salaries, advertising and voter outreach over the next nine weeks. After the GOP convention in late July, Trump will officially become the nominee and be restricted to spending money thats earmarked for the general election. His likely rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, has a head start on building a war chest for the November election. She partnered with Democratic parties months ago and has been raising millions of dollars for them. In April alone, she collected almost $800,000 in campaign money for the general election. By contrast, Trump will hold his first campaign fundraiser next week, an event in Los Angeles where the minimum price of admission is $25,000, according to the invitation. Those donations are to be split among Trumps campaign and his Republican Party allies. In addition to the Trump campaigns financial health, the filings also show that when Cruz dropped out, money wasnt the issue: He had $9.4 million in his campaign coffers at the end of April, just days before his defeat May 3 in the Indiana primary prompted him to end his bid. At the time, Cruz said he left the race because he saw no path forward. What do Dyer, East Chicago, Gary, Griffith, Highland, Lake Station, LaPorte County, Michigan City, Munster, Portage, St. John, Schererville, Valparaiso and Whiting have in common? They all share crime data with other law enforcement agencies and the public through the Regional Crime Report, easily accessible at nwi.com. The innovative mapping software developed at Indiana University Northwest by Joseph Ferrandino, associate professor, is available at no charge to all of the Regions law enforcement agencies. Nearly three dozen agencies in the Region and beyond now share crime data with each other as part of the Northwest Indiana Public Data Consortium. To date, the above agencies have chosen to share data with the public. And more are expected soon. Burns Harbor, Cedar Lake, Crown Point and LaPorte police departments have indicated theyd like their maps to become public. At this point, Ferrandino works with them to bring their data into mapping. Lake Station came aboard publicly this month after joining the consortium in January. I think its a great thing for our police department to use as a resource to combat crime and also identify problem areas, Police Chief Dave Johnson told reporter Sarah Reese for a story announcing the public map. Communication is the key in all of this. The LaPorte County Sheriffs Department also came on board publicly recently, and its map is the first to include parking ticket information. We want the public to know whats going on in their neighborhoods, Chief Deputy Ron Heeg told Reese, and we want the public to know what were doing. The maps are updated each week and can be viewed by individuals or collectively by crime watch groups or city councils. Agencies involved decide how much public data will be on each map. Every agency can tell their own story about whats happening in their community, Ferrandino said. Behind the scenes, this innovative mapping connects law enforcement agencies in new ways. Ferrandino, selected last year as a fellow in the Society of Innovators of Northwest Indiana, is now working on an overlay for the agencies involved showing all of the police calls around the Region. Prior to the Northwest Indiana Public Data Consortium, each agency knew its own data. Now they can share and track crime and trends past boundaries. I think people are starting to see the benefits of how valuable their information is, not just to themselves but to other people, Ferrandino said. Were finally at the learning stage of this. For me, its a very exciting time. We invite you to check out the maps at nwi.com/regionalcrimereport. Our recent website redesign improved the look of the maps on all platforms, and theres now social sharing available. Even though this has expanded impressively to bring the Region together, there are holdouts. In particular, Ferrandino has not heard any interest from Hammond, Hobart or Merrillville in Lake County. Their agencies can become part of this, Ferrandino said, at no charge to the agency or taxpayers. If you want your city or town to become involved, I suggest you contact municipal and police officials. Its their choice. If they dont want to share crime data with the public, they should still join the Northwest Indiana Public Data Consortium to share it with other agencies in the Region. As Ferrandino has said, We hear a lot of negative things about the Region, and being a leader in terms of transparency is a good thing. What's next? Join us for the next NWI Next conversation in our bicentennial year series on Tuesday at the Westchester Public Library Center, 100 W. Indiana Ave, Chesterton. The topic of this fourth public conversation is the environment, and it will begin at 7 p.m. The program is free, and theres no need to register. Youre welcome to come early and view photos and artifacts from 1908 to today showing some of the changes in the Indiana Dunes. The actual program will begin with a discussion of the exhibit and a short history of the Dunes area. Thanks to Serena Sutliff for coordinating this stop in our series. Also thanks to students with the Center for Civic Reflection at Valparaiso University, a partner in this Indiana Next effort. Students will facilitate the discussion in Chesterton. For much more on state and Region history, visit our bicentennial site at nwi.com/history and follow our NWI History Facebook page. Thanks for reading us. Please contact me with any questions about The Times or our many publications. Ink wash painter Tian Shelang works on a painting in his studio in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Dec. 9, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua] A Chinese professor and translator has called for the training of more professional translators in an effort to strengthen cultural exchanges between China and the West. Dong Qiang, director of the French Department at China's prestigious Peking University, said in a recent interview that it was necessary to create more cultural exchange channels, such as translation and literature research institutes, which can promote exchanges between the two cultures. Dong received Thursday in Brussels the title of honorary doctor of the Faculty of Letters, Translation and Communication of the Free University of Brussels (ULB). "Conferring the doctor honoris causa to Dong Qiang is an opportunity to put the translation in honour, in the Year of Languages at the university," said the university in a statement. According to Dong Qiang, literary translation is special and important, which requires translators to be very familiar with the culture and undergo long time training. He believed that China has attached more importance to the training of translators in recent years. "I am also pleased to see that many European countries, including Belgium, attach great importance to the teaching of the Chinese language and the study of Sinology", he said. Dong is known for his translations of many great French authors, including Rimbaud, Le Clezio, Breton, and Michaux. He was awarded the Great Medal of the Francophonie by the French Academy in 2013 and was awarded the Legion of Honour, which is the highest French honor for military and civil merits, in January 2015. More than political embarrassment is emerging from the alleged drunken driving arrests and subsequent plea deals involving politically connected Region union official, Randolph "Randy" Palmateer. The web became more tangled earlier this month when local prosecutors and court officials discovered potentially hundreds of cases out of Lake Station City Court in which driving infractions weren't reported to the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles, as is required by law. Now Region officials are calling on the Indiana State Police to investigate. The eyes of outside agencies are desperately needed to objectively sort through this mess, and the state police and federal investigators should dive in to the fray. The Lake Station discovery followed a finding that Palmateer's 2011 drunken driving case which was subsequently pleaded down to the lesser charge of reckless driving never was reported to the state BMV as is required by law. Palmateer received a nearly identical plea deal following a March drunken driving arrest, later pleaded down to reckless driving in Hammond City Court. Now Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter tells us as many as 1,000 driving infractions possibly weren't reported from Lake Station court to the BMV between 2008 and 2012. The Lake Station court clerk at the time, Miranda Brakley, already awaits sentencing on a federal theft charge for illegal actions she took when she held the office. Now some local authorities, including Carter, are pointing fingers at Brakley. Her attorney, Tom Vanes, told us shes a convenient scapegoat for errors that could have been made by other clerk personnel. Unraveling what really happened here is going to require the detail-oriented eyes of an unbiased outside agency. Were special deals being cut to some clients in which records of driving fractions weren't sent to the BMV, and thus never went on those offenders' driving records? How much did the clerks, judge, prosecutors, defense attorneys or other court personnel know about this? In Palmateer's 2011 case, the charges initially were filed in Crown Point City Court. They were later moved by request of his defense attorney to Lake Station City Court. If a change of venue truly was needed, why was the case moved to Lake Station and not the Lake County courts? There are too many questions and far too many potential conflicts at play for this probe to be handled in house. QUINCY The grandmother and uncle of a 7-year-old girl who died after a shooting in southwestern Illinois are in custody in connection with the incident. The Quincy Herald-Whig reports authorities on Friday arrested 49-year-old Julie Roberts for obstruction of justice. They arrested 32-year-old Daniel Roberts that day for endangering the life of child, possession of a weapon by a felon and obstruction of justice. It was not immediately clear if either has an attorney. Their names are listed Sunday on the Adams County Jail inmate list. Adams County Coroner James Keller says 7-year-old Melina Torres of Quincy died at a hospital as a result of a gunshot wound. The Adams County Sheriff's Department says the shooting occurred Friday at a family gathering at Julie Roberts' residence southeast of Quincy. Illinois prisons chief to lead mental health overhaul SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Illinois' top corrections official says an overhaul has begun of prison mental health programs following a settlement in a class-action lawsuit. Illinois Department of Corrections Director John Baldwin tells The (Bloomington) Pantagraph he wants the state to be a national model. Baldwin says Gov. Bruce Rauner is committed to making funding available. The agreement in a 2007 class-action lawsuit calls for new treatment units at the Logan, Pontiac and Dixon prisons as well as in Joliet. The cost has been estimated at $90 million, including staffing. U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm approved the settlement earlier this month. Jennifer Vollen-Katz of the John Howard Association, a Chicago group monitoring Illinois prisons, says she is pleased with the priority Baldwin has placed on mental health since his appointment in August. KATHMANDU, Nepal A Dutch man and an Australian woman died of apparent altitude sickness while descending from the summit of Mount Everest in the first deaths this year on the world's highest mountain. Eric Arnold, 35, had enough bottled oxygen with him, as well as climbing partners, but he complained of getting weak and died Friday night near South Col before he was able to get to a lower altitude, said Pasang Phurba of the Seven Summit Treks agency in Kathmandu, Nepal. Maria Strydom also showed signs of altitude sickness Saturday afternoon before she died, Australian media reported. The business school at Monash University in Melbourne posted on Facebook that the community was deeply saddened by her death. Their deaths were the first confirmed this year on Everest, where favorable weather has allowed hundreds of climbers to reach the summit. The busy season follows two years in which Everest was virtually empty due to disasters. Phurba said more details were not available because of poor communications with people on the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) mountain. Arnold was from Rotterdam, according to his Twitter account, which was updated on Friday with a post that he had reached the summit on his fifth try. In a local television interview early this year, Arnold said conquering Everest was a childhood dream. "I used to have a poster of Mount Everest above my bed," he told RTV Rijnmond. Arnold said he was at base camp last year as it was hit by an avalanche caused by a devastating earthquake. The avalanche killed 19 people and injured 61 others and ended the Everest climbing season. In his interview, Arnold noted that the risks of climbing the world's highest peak did not end at the summit. "Two-thirds of the accidents happen on the way down," he said. "If you get euphoric and think 'I have reached my goal,' the most dangerous part is still ahead of you." Strydom and her husband were attempting to climb the seven summits, the highest peaks on the seven continents, in a quest inspired by questions about their vegan lifestyle, according to the Monash Business School's website. "It seems that people have this warped idea of vegans being malnourished and weak," Strydom was quoted as saying. "By climbing the seven summits we want to prove that vegans can do anything and more." She had already climbed Denali in Alaska, Aconcagua in Argentina, Mount Ararat in Turkey and Kilamanjaro in Kenya, the post said. Strydom said she felt well-prepared for her attempt to climb Everest, and that depending on whether she reached the summit, her mind would likely turn to her next adventure. In addition to the two deaths, a 45-year-old woman from Norway, Siv Harstad, suffered snow blindness and was helped down from the summit on Saturday by two Sherpa guides, the Norwegian news agency NTB said. More than 330 climbers have reached the summit from Nepal since May 11, and several more have done so from the northern routes in Tibet. The climbing season runs from March through May, after which the monsoon season makes the Himalayan peaks too dangerous. Thousands of people have summited Mount Everest since it was first conquered by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953. But more than 250 people have died in the attempt. Trekking companies were anxious to see foreign climbers return after two years of disasters. The devastating earthquake last year caused the season to be canceled, and climbing attempts were largely abandoned in 2014 after an avalanche above the base camp killed 16 Sherpa guides. ___ Associated Press writers Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report. A lack of Spanish interpreters at the Richmond County Civil Courthouse has created a backlog of cases for the borough's Latino population. The slowdown has community leaders calling the problem a barrier to justice. NY1's Krizia Ruiz has the story. This mother and daughter walked into the courthouse on Staten Island with confusion, worry, and plenty of questions. The court's only Spanish interpreter, Henry Caldez, was able to help them through the process. Yet not all who show up for court appearances have the same luck. That's because Caldez only works 3 days a week. The island's civil courthouse is the only one in all five boroughs that doesnt have a full time interpreter on staff. "Having one Spanish interpreter in our court only there a couple days a week, it creates a problem," said Attorney Steve Crowe, of the law firm Duskin & Crowe. "If the folks who cant speak Spanish cant get attended to quickly, it backs up for everybody." Litigants are asked to request a translator ahead of time. Yet according to many attorneys, sometimes clients are forced to wait a week and even months for someone to be assigned. Dulce Chuva who works at "El Centro Del Inmigrante" an immigrant advocacy center, says this limits their access to a speedy resolution: "It limits even your ability to, as an individual to be able to advocate for yourself, for your rights, for your sense of justice," Chuva said. Causing many to fear, and sometimes not report to court at all. "If they are aware that they dont have someone there to help them out theyll be more hesitant to even show up," Chuva said. We spoke with a few immigrants who experienced delays caused by the lack of interpreters -- but because of their immigration status, declined to speak on camera. Still, those in the heavily-Latino community of Port Richmond say the need for more translators is urgent. "Us as Spanish people, we dont speak English very well so I believe the state could improve that," said one neighborhood resident. "We really need that help." The office of court administration says it has reached out to courts all over the city to determine where interpreters should be assigned. The agency says its last review a year ago determined a full time interpreter wasn't needed at the island's civil court. Federal and city prosecutors are looking into last year's sale of the Brooklyn Heights Library in connection to an ongoing probe into Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance are investigating the real estate developer Hudson Companies after it won rights to convert the library into a luxury condo tower, despite being outbid by two other companies. The city struck a deal with Hudson Companies after it bid $52 million to transform the library into a 36-story condo building with a revamped library. Another company, Second Development Services, bid $6 million more. But sources say Hudson Companies' bid included more affordable housing units, a bigger library and a quicker completion time making their offer more compelling. The President of Hudson Companies has also donated nearly $10,000 to de Blasio's political campaign since 2007 and has had close personal ties to the mayor. De Blasio has refunded more than $6,000 of that money. A spokesman for de Blasio responded to our request for a comment with a statement, which reads: "The RFP process for this project followed a strict protocol. Hudson Companies was awarded the contract meritoriously as its bid provided the best overall package for the library and the community at large, including the most affordable housing." A man is facing murder charges after police say he was seen wheeling his wife's dead body through a Staten Island neighborhood. Investigators say Friday morning, a detective spotted 31-year-old Anthony Lopez pushing a metal cart on Post Lane in Mariners Harbor. They say the metal cart contained the corpse of 26-year-old Obiamaka Aduba wrapped in cloth Investigators say when he was confronted, Lopez ran away and left the body. Lopez is also charged with concealment of a human corpse. He was arrested in East Harlem near 112th Street and 1st Avenue yesterday following a tip. Police say he had shaved his head to disguise himself. They say Lopez also has around 40 prior arrests. Police released new surveillance photos of three men they believe attacked a transgender person in Brooklyn earlier this month. Investigators say the three men seen the pictures shouted slurs about the person's sexual orientation and began punching the 32-year-old. Police say it happened on the night of May 13 on 7th Avenue, near 8th Street in Park Slope. The victim was taken to Methodist Hospital for facial fractures. According to the police, they're still trying to determine if the attack was a hate crime. Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com. Season 2, Episode 7: Faith There have been many pieces written on how, particularly in its sex scenes, Outlander evokes the female gaze. Thats all very present in Faith, this weeks episode, but instead of using the female gaze to frame sex and romance, here its used as a fascinating lens for tragedy. The episodes editing, structure and directorial choices dont wholly work, particularly the beginning, which shows Claire giving birth to her stillborn daughter. The camera assumes Claires point of view. It swoops and swoons, hazy at the edges. We get only glimpses of whats happening. A nun praying in the corner. Mother Hildegarde trying to comfort a disoriented Claire. Monsieur Forez working to get the child out of her. Its only until the startling overhead shot that we see how gruesome this is. Claires legs are splayed, blood is everywhere and she looks to be near death. Claire has lost many things since her time in Paris. This episode adds four more to the list: her virtue, her daughter, Jamie and Master Raymonds friendship. In Jamies absence, Master Raymond becomes an important figure, staying in Paris even after Claire warns that hes in danger. Its his hands that comfort Claire during her time of need. Its his ingenuity that saves her life as the placenta still inside her festers. He sees Claire as clearly as Jamie does, maybe even more. Caitriona Balfe and Dominique Pinon have a great rapport with each another. But there is far too much going on in the episode for any of the great scenes to land. Its forced to balance wrapping up the French story line with giving the loss of Claires child the weight it deserves. Its a shame that were unable to sit with certain revelations because there is such greatness here. After it collects Ether from investors the deadline to buy in is May 28 the D.A.O. aims to put the money into other digital currency start-ups. The investing decisions are to be made through online polling of shareholders like Mr. Stern, who has a day job dealing with parking policy in the town of Montreuil, just outside Paris. I think it is the beginning of something that could, in a way, make history, said Mr. Stern, who previously lost a small sum of money he invested in Bitcoin when a major Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox went bust. Maybe it can fail, maybe it can succeed, but for sure it is an idea that is very interesting. The rise of the new venture comes at a time when the technology underlying virtual currencies is rapidly being embraced by the mainstream: Most Wall Street firms and many central banks are experimenting with the blockchain, the online ledger system that Bitcoin and Ether pioneered. Banks hope the blockchain, or something like it, can provide a faster, cheaper way of conducting transactions and storing data. The D.A.O., on the other hand, returns to the more radical ambitions of virtual currencies. It is set up according to computer code, with no human executives. All decisions will be made by votes of the people who buy in using software making it a sort of technology-enabled leaderless collective. The basic code was written by a 32-year-old German programmer, Christoph Jentzsch. But he is not set to have any continuing role, and the D.A.O. does not hold the money of investors; instead, the investors own D.A.O. tokens that give them rights to vote on potential projects. Mr. Jentzsch said on Wednesday in an interview that he thought the structure absolved him of any legal responsibility for what could happen with the project. Andrew Ernesto Borchini and John Scott Riley Johnson were married May 21 at the Parker, a resort in Palm Springs, Calif. Robert P. Barrett, a friend of the couple who became a Universal Life minister for the event, officiated. Mr. Borchini (left), 34, is a vice president in New York with Barclays, the British bank, where he assists the chief of staff with legal and regulatory issues. He graduated from the University of Virginia and received a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a son of Susan A. Borchini and Charles P. Borchini of Kissimmee, Fla. His mother, a former Army captain, and his father, a retired Army colonel, are the owners of Borchini Realty, a real estate agency in Kissimmee. Mr. Johnson, also 34, is the vice president of Urban Standard Development, a real estate development company in New York, where he is in charge of construction and of design and acquisition of properties. He graduated from Bates College. The year 2016 has been announced by UNESCO as "Aristotle Anniversary Year," celebrating 2400 years since the birth of the great philosopher and scientist who was a pupil of Plato and a tutor to Alexander the Great. While Alexander conquered physical empires, it is Aristotle who has the greater influence and relevance today, for his conquests were of the mind. The breadth of Aristotle's work is staggering -- biology, zoology, astronomy, meteorology, ethics, logic, politics, art, philosophy, metaphysics, music, drama, rhetoric and poetics. Aristotle is celebrated as one of the first thinkers to systematize philosophy, science and math. Mention should also be made of Aristotle's relationship to his teacher, Plato. Alfred North Whitehead observed that: "The history of Western philosophy is no more than a series of footnotes to Plato's philosophy." Samuel Taylor Coleridge noted with some truth that everyone by temperament is either a Platonist or an Aristotelian. By that he meant that people tend to be either idealists like Plato, who look inward to the creations of the mind, or Aristotelians, who look outward to observe the detail of the world, breaking it down into categories and trying to figure out how humankind fits in. At a time when most countries, including China, are debating and working out the rule of law and the relationship between the individual and society, Aristotle's investigations remain relevant and timely. It was Aristotle, for example, who stressed the importance of equality, noting that: "The only stable state is one in which all men are equal before the law." In our increasingly narcissistic world where the focus tends to be more on fame than service leadership, Aristotle also provides an important caution that: "At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst." In a world where global perspectives are increasingly important, it was Aristotle who did one of the first comparative works -- a study of the various Greek city state constitutions. His detailed observations and intense personal investigations laid the foundations for the development of a scientific approach to categorization and systematization that set the foundations for the Enlightenment and Age of Reason centuries later. Aristotle also stressed the importance of education. He wrote that: "The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living differ from the dead." He acknowledged that the act of becoming educated takes hard work: "The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet." As his own prodigious explorations demonstrated, his vision of education was comprehensive. At a time when we tend to overly stress technical knowledge, Aristotle reminds us as well that it is vital to develop a person's character. He wrote: "I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies." He noted, for example, that "Anybody can become angry -- that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way -- that is not with everybody's power and is not easy." At a time when politicians are struggling to convince their citizens of their views, many would do well to revisit Aristotle's Rhetoric. In that great work, Aristotle stressed that persuasion requires attention to ethos, logos and pathos. Ethos refers to a person's credibility -- all of the personal characteristics (character, intelligence, integrity, sincerity, experience, etc). Logos is the appeal to reason -- logic, argument, statistics and other evidence. Pathos is the appeal to the emotions. Aristotle knew that emotions drive decision making and people are not likely to be persuaded unless one also appeals to the underlying "why," or motivations. In a 21st century that emphasizes innovation and entrepreneurship, Aristotle was an entrepreneur with his own school. He was also greatly aided by the fact that, as the tutor of Alexander the Great, he had access to resources that enabled him to follow his many educational pursuits. In today's world we are increasingly seeing the relationships between things and diverse fields. A significant percentage of innovations come from people outside the industry who are unencumbered by the blind spots of past solutions and who bring a new way of thinking and perspective. As we work through today's challenges, let us hope that among the billions people on our planet today, new Aristotles are emerging who will discover and invent new forms of knowledge to light the way for us just as Aristotle did many centuries before. Eugene Clark is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/eugeneclark.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Elizabeth Marie Walsh, a daughter of Dr. Marie B. Walsh and Michael S. Walsh of Baton Rouge, La., was married May 21 to Michael Reid Simon, the son of Margo L. Reid and Gregory C. Simon of Bethesda, Md. The Rev. Andrew D. Sutton, a friend of the couple and a minister of the First United Methodist Church of Lafayette, La., officiated at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington. Ms. Walsh, 26, is keeping her name. She is the associate director of product management at Evolent Health, a health care technology and services company in Arlington, Va. Her father is a partner in Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips, a law firm in Baton Rouge. Her mother is the director of the Louisiana Local Technical Assistance Program at the Louisiana Transportation Research Center on the campus of Louisiana State University. The program finances highway safety improvements in Louisiana. Mr. Simon, who is also 26 and is known as Reid, works in Reston, Va., as a software development consultant with Microsoft. Eva Helene d'Ambrosio, a daughter of Carol Bott dAmbrosio and Dr. Leo T. dAmbrosio of Indianapolis, was married at her parents house May 21 to Matthew Alexander Herman, the son of Kimberly D. Herman and Steven R. Herman of Rockville Centre, N.Y. Lawrence C. Mandel, a minister affiliated with American Marriage Ministries, officiated. Ms. dAmbrosio, who is 28, is keeping her name. She is a foreign service officer working in Washington as a trade negotiator in the Office of South and Central Asian Affairs at the United States Trade Representatives office. In August, she is to be posted in Abu Dhabi as an economic officer. She graduated with distinction from Indiana University. Mr. Herman, 31, is a founder and the chief technology officer working remotely from Washington for Trace VFX, a visual effects company with offices in New York and Mumbai, India. Both were living in Mumbai in 2013 when Ms. dAmbrosio and Mr. Herman were introduced through OkCupid. She was then an economic reporting officer at the United States Consulate, and he was setting up a new office for his company. Fiona Fuller McFarland and Matthew Donald Melton are to be married May 22 at St. Andrews Dune Church in Southampton, N.Y. The Rev. Peter Larsen, an Episcopalian minister, is to perform the ceremony. They met as midshipmen at the Naval Academy, from which both graduated. The bride, 30, is keeping her name. She is a Navy lieutenant stationed at the Pentagon, but is leaving active duty the day of the wedding. She received an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina. She is a daughter of K. T. McFarland and Alan R. McFarland of Southampton. Her father is the managing member of McFarland Dewey Company, an investment bank in New York. Her mother, who held national security positions in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations, is a Fox News national security analyst in New York. Mr. Melton, also 30, is the director of sales for BlueLine Grid, a security software company in Bethesda, Md. He received a masters degree in security studies from Georgetown. He left the Navy in 2011 at the rank of lieutenant. Rebecca Harbster Pincus and Nathan Peter Reigner were married May 21. Rabbi Jon R. Haddon officiated at Pigeon Hill Farm, a wedding space in East Berkshire, Vt. The couple met in 2010 at a birthday party in Burlington, Vt., where each was studying at the University of Vermont for their doctoral degrees in natural resources. Dr. Pincus, 32, will keep her name. She is a visiting professor in the government department, specializing in security in the Arctic region, at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. She also leads research at the Center for Arctic Strategy and Policy there. In 2015, she went to Reykjavik, Iceland, on a Fulbright scholarship, where she studied political power dynamics in the Arctic region and taught at the University of Iceland. She graduated from Georgetown and received a masters degree in environmental law from Vermont Law School. She is a daughter of Judith D. Pincus of Ridgefield, Conn., and the late Mark J. Pincus. The brides father was a municipal bond trader at D. A. Pincus & Company, a bond-trading operation that was in Ridgefield. A man who had been seen pushing a womans body on a dolly on Staten Island was arrested on Saturday and charged with murder, the police said. Officers, acting on a tip, spotted the man, Anthony Lopez, on East 115th Street in Manhattan, between First and Second Avenues, around 10:15 a.m. Mr. Lopez, 31, who had shaved his head to alter his appearance, fled but was caught on 113th Street, the authorities said. The police had been looking for Mr. Lopez, who lives in the Bronx, since just after 7 a.m. on Friday, when the Police Department received a call about a man wheeling a body on a metal dolly. The man fled as officers arrived at Post Lane in the Mariners Harbor neighborhood of Staten Island. The police said the woman was Mr. Lopezs wife, Obiamaka Aduba, 26, of Staten Island. She was pronounced dead at the scene. 6. A Massachusetts man broke through many layers of taboos to speak openly about his penis transplant, the first in the U.S. and the second successful one on record. Thomas Manning said he hoped that speaking out would help men suffer less stigma and more hope if they lose their genitals to cancer, like himself, or to wartime injuries. Although his anatomy may have been damaged, a reader commented, hes got courage and hes all man. _____ The Temple of Literature The Temple of Literature is a sprawling complex in Hanoi that, because of traffic, is about a 30-minute drive from the center of the city. Built in 1070 and dedicated to Confucius, it was also Vietnams first university. Its a peaceful place with courtyards, green lawns and a pond, and a highlight is seeing the names of more than a thousand scholars inscribed on tombstones, said Eva Van Truong, a native of Vietnam and managing director of the Reverie Saigon, an upscale hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. Visitors may also spot local students; many come to the temple to pray before their exams. Cu Chi Tunnels Situated in a tropical jungle about two and a half hours from Ho Chi Minh City, this network of extensive tunnels is where several military campaigns took place during the Vietnam War and also where Viet Cong soldiers based themselves. Travelers can go into the tunnels, said Ms. Sherer, but they are not for the faint of heart. You have to crouch down on your hands and knees and crawl in so they are not suited for those who are claustrophobic, she said. The best way to see and learn about them, she said, is to hire a guide who can explain the structure of the tunnel system and how Vietnamese soldiers used them during the war. Hoi An Ms. Truong says that it is worthwhile for travelers to Vietnam to spend at least a day in Hoi An, a Unesco World Heritage site city on the central coast. A Southeast Asian trading port from the 15th to 19th centuries, its incredibly well-preserved, she said, and best explored on foot. The streets are pedestrian friendly, and you can walk around and see the historic houses and also walk along the Thu Bon River, she said. Tourists who visit on the 14th day of the lunar month the night of the full moon are in for even more of a spectacle: Come evening, all electrical lights are shut off, and locals turn the city aglow by lighting colorful lanterns; locals and visitors alike also light smaller versions of the lanterns to float down the river. Hillary Clinton invoked her roles as mother and grandmother on Saturday to deliver an impassioned rebuttal to Donald J. Trumps contention that her push for stricter gun control would make families less safe, saying the presumptive Republican nominee would put more children at risk of violence and bigotry. The day after Mr. Trump received the endorsement of the National Rifle Association, Mrs. Clinton assailed her probable general election rival as pandering to the group. I believe its the most powerful lobby in Washington, Mrs. Clinton said of the N.R.A. at an event in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to benefit the Trayvon Martin Foundations Circle of Mothers. And we know some candidates will say or do anything to make them happy. Speaking in a ballroom full of mothers who had lost children to gun violence, Mrs. Clinton defended her position on gun control and her promise to overhaul the criminal justice system. KABUL, Afghanistan Afghanistans conflict is beginning to look more like a messy civil war than a straightforward struggle between the government and its Taliban enemies, judging from an outbreak of violence in recent days. In northern Faryab Province, what began Friday night as an attack by the Taliban on groups of pro-government militiamen ended on Saturday with 10 people dead after fighting broke out between two of the pro-government factions. In Parwan Province in the north, an insurgency commander named Hashmatullah was killed along with five followers, provincial officials said. The officials said he had been killed in an airstrike by the United States-led coalition working with Afghan forces, but the American authorities denied those claims. There were no airstrikes conducted by U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, coalition or A.A.F., said Capt. Andrea M. Dykes, a public affairs officer for the coalition, using an abbreviation for the Afghan Air Force. The conductor Julian Wachners feeling for the music of the Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera began before he was born, he told the audience at Trinity Wall Street church on Friday night. When his mother was eight months pregnant with him, Mr. Wachner explained, she started learning Ginasteras pulsing First Piano Sonata, and played it constantly. Mr. Wachner most recently put his passion for Ginastera into practice this spring to celebrate that composers centennial. Fridays program was the finale to Revolutionaries, a two-and-a-half-month celebration that linked Ginastera, who boldly combined South American musical idioms with atonal 20th-century techniques, to late Beethoven, suggesting that in their own ways both were revolutionary. For this concluding program, a free concert streamed live on Trinitys website, Mr. Wachner conducted Ginasteras seldom-heard Psalm 150 for chorus and orchestra, followed by Beethovens Ninth Symphony. The roster of performers exemplified Trinitys tradition of bringing together diverse ensembles. The impressive Choir of Trinity Wall Street was joined by Trinity Youth Chorus, Downtown Voices (a new choir comprised volunteers and professional Trinity choristers), Novus NY (Trinitys contemporary music orchestra) and 1B1 (a Norwegian string ensemble). The centennial of Ginastera, who died in 1983, has been mostly overlooked by New York institutions. In a notable exception, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presented the Miro Quartet in exciting accounts of Ginasteras three string quartets on a single program last month. 1 2 3 4 5 Next Buddhists walk into the Sanyai Monastery, the first Buddhist temple in the history of Tibet region, to worship Buddhas during the Saga Dawa Festival, in Zhanang County of Shaanan City, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 21, 2016. The Saga Dawa Festival, which honors the life of Buddha, is celebrated on the 15th day of the 4th Tibetan month and is one of the most important religious festivals celebrated in Tibet. Buddhists on this day usually goes to temples, raise a prayer pole and light butter lamps. (Xinhua/Liu Dongjun) The last time they saw each other was roughly a decade ago. He was among Americas most successful entertainers, and her mentor. She was a former young Temple University staff member who said he took advantage of his counseling role, gave her pills and sexually assaulted her in his home outside Philadelphia in 2004. The setting for their last encounter was a deposition in a Philadelphia hotel, one that would ultimately lead to an out-of-court settlement in 2006 in a civil suit filed against Bill Cosby by his former mentee, Andrea Constand. On Tuesday, Mr. Cosby and Ms. Constand may well see each other again, this time at a pretrial hearing in a Pennsylvania courthouse where Mr. Cosby, 78, is facing criminal charges filed by prosecutors who say the 2004 encounter was a case of criminal sexual assault. When Ms. Zeisler starts to defend the good intentions of Antioch Colleges code of sexual conduct from the early 90s which rather impractically required students to ask verbal permission for every intimate act (May I unbutton your blouse?) she reveals how much of her thinking still remains informed by campus politics and policies. And those policies, as we know, generally do not withstand the test of vertical integration into the noncampus world. Which brings me to another quibble: Much of Ms. Zeislers analysis, as trenchant as it is, often focuses less on ground realities than on epiphenomena questions of how women are represented in popular culture, questions of what is and isnt a feminist issue. (Which, now that I think about it, is also reminiscent of the feminism of my college days.) Beyonce: Feminist or not? Doves Campaign for Real Beauty: Sincere or cynical? Ms. Zeisler is as aware as anyone that many of these questions are distractions. She deplores the way ersatz feminist debates have become clickbait, revolving around such trivial questions as: Does Waxing Make Me a Bad Feminist? But to make the case that waxing has had more ink devoted to it than more urgent issues wage equality, access to decent health care, programs to fight domestic violence and racism Ms. Zeisler must herself devote space to the subject of pubic grooming. Three full pages, to be precise. Yet she devotes not a single page to the issues she repeatedly invokes. (Except to say theyre more urgent.) Her only chapter about structural inequality is about women in Hollywood. Which is important, certainly, but not as important as the other problems she mentions. I understand that We Were Feminists Once is a book of pop culture and media criticism. But if you chase after every outrage in the media micro-cycle, youre inevitably, if unconsciously, going to get sucked into the very meta-debates that youre railing against. Before you know it, your own commentary becomes a whistling, six-burner range of tempests in teapots. After reading Ms. Zeisler so expertly catalog all the fake issues that are diverting women away from the real ones, I personally started to pine for a more substantive discussion about those very issues and not another analysis of Emma Watsons feminism. My final quarrel, which also concerns itself with lived realities: I sometimes chafed at how stringent Ms. Zeislers definition of a feminist could be. The most striking instance of this and surely the most controversial (for her to say, and for me to now push against) is her insistence that anyone whos anti-abortion doesnt make the grade. I cant help but think back to my days as a cub reporter on Capitol Hill in the mid-90s. There were dozens of anti-abortion Catholic Democrats in the House of Representatives during those years, including David Bonior, once majority whip. They voted against abortion measures, its true. But they also voted in favor of fully funding Head Start and the WIC food program; they supported increasing the earned-income tax credit for poor families; they voted for the Equal Rights Amendment. To paraphrase the T-shirt, isnt that (mostly) what feminists look like? I understand Ms. Zeislers arguments for resisting an overlarge tent. But I dont think you want to reduce feminism to a pup tent, either. So here I am, looking treacherously close to being another trash-talker, a crank who criticizes feminists, when I dont mean to be. (From outside, Ms. Zeisler writes, it can look very much like a movement thats eating its own.) But this stuff, this stuff its just so very complicated. Ms. Zeisler has written a funny, polished, intrepid book. But I ask that she aim for something wonkier next time. Though if she writes about the wage gap, family leave policies and all those other difficult, virtuous things, Lord knows if that book would sell as well. We as a society have to hold the line, he said in the interview. There has to be less appeasement. For this, solidarity is required: Law-enforcement authorities must safeguard those who speak up, and taxpayers must be willing to pay the high costs this will incur. Otherwise, he added, yielding to violent intimidation is itself objectively a kind of incitement to violence, right? Because you encourage the next guys to have a go. Not everyone agrees with his approach, especially regarding Charlie Hebdo. The award-winning investigative reporter and lawyer Glenn Greenwald, who has written extensively on transparency and civil liberties for the online publication The Intercept, scorns the idea. To defend anothers right to offend, he said, doesnt mean you must join in that offense. Those demanding that news organizations unite to publish Charlie Hebdo cartoons no matter how repellent they might find those cartoons are attempting to destroy this critical distinction, Mr. Greenwald said in an email. Nothing will destroy free speech faster than this kind of emotional blackmail. Mr. Garton Ash specified that, if he had been an editor after the Charlie Hebdo massacre in January 2015, he would have reprinted the cartoons with care, presenting a selection on inside pages and only if his staff agreed to do so, and could be kept safe. In normal circumstances, he would never print such material, preferring to leave it to this out-there, small, satirical magazine. However, the act of republication, in the careful way I have described, is to say, They shall not pass. A concern nearer to Mr. Garton Ashs office is what he calls the Im offended veto, an especially contentious issue at universities, Oxford among them. Campaigners who espouse such positions argue that freedom from oppression sometimes outranks freedom of expression. The free-speech lobby, they contend, favors the mighty while sidelining the marginalized. To blithely assert that everyone enjoys the same right to free speech is like claiming that I have a right to buy a large house in north London because there is a free market, the activist Paris Lees wrote recently in The Guardian. Theoretically it is possible, but life in our real world isnt like that. She added, Free speech isnt under attack; platform privilege is. Liberal intellectuals such as Mr. Garton Ash, who have long taken pride in siding with the oppressed, find themselves in an uneasy position when disputing strands of this activism, particularly no-platforming (disrupting or canceling talks of speakers who are deemed offensive); certain cases of trigger warnings (flagging potentially distressing material before students can be exposed to it); and excessively defined safe spaces (mandating that colleges should protect students from upsetting experiences). ATHENS After days of heated debate, Greek lawmakers voted narrowly on Sunday to approve a fresh set of financial measures aimed at ensuring that eurozone finance ministers will decide this week to unlock billions of euros in badly needed rescue loans from the countrys third bailout. The legislation passed 153 to 145, with all of the government coalition members in Parliament voting in favor. It includes a one percentage point increase in the highest rate of sales tax to 24 percent, higher taxes on coffee, alcohol, fuel and other goods and new rules liberalizing the market for nonperforming bank loans. There is also a measure creating a privatization fund to sell off state assets and utilities, including public transport companies, the post office and the state power corporation. The legislation also introduces a so-called contingency mechanism that would cut state spending if Greece misses budget targets set by its creditors for the next three years. Addressing Parliament before the vote, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he had negotiated hard to secure the chance for the country to stand on its own two feet. He later added: Today, European leaders get the message that Greece is keeping its promises. Now, its their turn to do the same. CANNES, France The 69th Cannes Film Festival, an event this year defined by peerless highs and embarrassing lows, ended on Sunday when the Palme dOr was awarded to I, Daniel Blake, a film about a carpenter with a heart condition up against the heartlessness of bureaucracy, from the veteran British director Ken Loach. The award was presented by Mel Gibson. Mr. Loach, a previous winner for The Wind That Shakes the Barley, accepted his prize first in French before switching to English. Were in the grip of a project of austerity, he said, invoking the catastrophe of neoliberalism. He talked of cinemas tradition of speaking to the powerful and the mighty and the need to show that another world is possible and necessary. This years jury for the feature competition was led by George Miller (here in 2015 with Mad Max: Fury Road), who lauded the feast of cinema, and also included the directors Arnaud Desplechin and Laszlo Nemes (his Son of Saul won the Grand Prize last year); a producer, Katayoon Shahabi; and a clutch of internationally recognizable names: Kirsten Dunst, Valeria Golino, Mads Mikkelsen, Vanessa Paradis and Donald Sutherland. The print was one of dozens of pieces on display on a long white wall in Queens last week, mounted among bright and cheery watercolors. From a distance, the 10-inch-square image looked like a patch of ice with a round area missing, drilled for fishing perhaps. A closer look revealed the ice to actually be shattered glass, the round hole left by a bullet. It was a stately setting for a gritty image a silent auction of works by Long Island City artists that reflect the diversity and glorious breadth of talent in the L.I.C. community, according to the program for the event, the LIC Arts Open. The bullet-hole print on canvas was made from a photograph taken nearby by Rita Frazier Normandeau. Its beautiful, Ms. Normandeau, 69, said on Thursday, admiring her work on the eve of the auction. She would know. She and her husband of 47 years, Raymond Normandeau, 72, have been chronicling gunfire and photographing its aftermath as tenant activists in the Queensbridge Houses public-housing complex for more than 30 years. While other couples their age stroll through New York Citys parks in search of exotic birds, the Normandeaus are on the hunt, cameras in hand, for the countless hazards and annoyances of life in Queensbridge, from cracked and broken steps to dog feces to bloodstains and bullet holes. Roadway fatalities are soaring at a rate not seen in 50 years, resulting from crashes, collisions and other incidents caused by drivers. Just dont call them accidents anymore. That is the position of a growing number of safety advocates, including grass-roots groups, federal officials and state and local leaders across the country. They are campaigning to change a 100-year-old mentality that they say trivializes the single most common cause of traffic incidents: human error. When you use the word accident, its like, God made it happen, Mark Rosekind, the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said at a driver safety conference this month at the Harvard School of Public Health. In our society, he added, language can be everything. Almost all crashes stem from driver behavior like drinking, distracted driving and other risky activity. About 6 percent are caused by vehicle malfunctions, weather and other factors. Detroits unemployment rate declined to 11 percent in February from 13 percent last year and 19 percent that same month in 2013, according to Michigans labor statistics office. But in neighborhoods like the 100 blocks that make up Hope Village, unemployment is more than double the city average, hovering around 40 percent in 2013, according to the most recent data from the Census Bureau. Those areas are being left out for many reasons, including low education rates, poor transportation and fewer entry-level jobs. But lack of Internet access, city officials and economists say, is also a crucial and underappreciated factor. The consequences appear in the daily grind of finding connectivity, with people unable to apply for jobs online, research new opportunities, connect with health insurance, get college financial aid or do homework. Its like fighting without a sword, said Deborah Fisher, director of the Hope Village Initiative, a nonprofit effort to improve social services in the neighborhood. Broadband access is a challenge and a major factor in economic opportunity and employment here. Julie Rice, a Hope Village resident for the last seven years, has found having limited web access a major obstacle in her search for full-time employment after losing her retailing management job more than two years ago. With a part-time job at a furniture store paying $10.88 an hour, Ms. Rice cannot afford a service to connect to the web, which can cost more than $70 a month. So Ms. Rice has made Hope Villages public library, Parkman, her career center. She regularly comes on the five days the library is open to search retailing openings, arrange interviews and take employment tests. The library typically extends her time online over the one-hour session limit. Even so, during a recent online exam for a store manager job at Ann Taylor, she ran out of time and was locked out of the test. Ms. Rice, 57, is also applying for a small-business grant to open a retail gallery. But the process has taken several months because she has to wait until library hours to watch informational videos, work on the online application and sign up for networking events. She could do some tasks on her old Samsung Galaxy smartphone, but she said it was too difficult to file applications on a small screen. I know he has a plurality of Republicans who have voted for him, she added. But I think in the course of this campaign, we are going to demonstrate he has no ideas. Theres no evidence he has any ideas about making America great, as he advertises. He seems to be particularly focused on making himself appear great. And as we go through this campaign, were going to be demonstrating the hollowness of his rhetoric. Mrs. Clinton also poked at Mr. Trumps failure to release his tax returns. Told that Mark Cuban, the media executive and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, had expressed interest in being her running mate, Mrs. Clinton said she was absolutely open to considering business leaders, not just elected officials. Businesspeople, especially successful businesspeople, who are really successful as opposed to pretend successful I think, have a lot to offer, said Mrs. Clinton, whose campaign has begun taunting Mr. Trump with a #PoorDonald hashtag on Twitter, suggesting that he is not nearly as wealthy as he claims. Mr. Trump has cited an audit by the Internal Revenue Service as his reason for keeping his tax returns private. Weve got to get below the hype, Mrs. Clinton said. I think were beginning to find out, but I dont think we know enough, and thats why he should release his tax returns. In choosing a running mate, Mrs. Clinton said she would seek, above all, someone prepared to be president and someone you can work with someone you believe will be a good partner. MEXICO CITY Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico, was recently stuck in Mexico City traffic, overcome with frustration not by the congestion, but by something that was irritating him even more: Donald J. Trump. He grabbed his phone, turned the lens on himself and pressed record. Ha! Donald, Mr. Fox said, holding the phone perhaps a little too close to his face. What about your apologies to Mexico, to Mexicans in the United States, to Mexicans in Mexico? In short order, the 15-second clip was on Mr. Foxs Twitter feed another salvo in a personal campaign against the American presidential candidate that has included television appearances, radio interviews and a fusillade of hectoring Twitter posts. Mr. Foxs voice is among a growing, if uncoordinated, chorus of influential Mexicans worried about what a Trump victory could mean for the complex relationship between the United States and Mexico not to mention the impact Mr. Trumps presidential bid may have already had. Flash Afghan Taliban top leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was reportedly killed by a U.S. drone strike launched at a small town in Pakistan's southwest province of Balochistan along the Pak-Afghan border, reported local Urdu TV channel ARY on Sunday. There is no immediate official confirmation of the death of Mullah Mansoor from the Pakistani side. According to the local media reports, U.S. unmanned aircraft on early Sunday morning fired two missiles at a vehicle which was believed to carry Mullah Mansoor and his colleague in Ahmad Wal, a small town which lies some 150 km southwest of Quetta, capital of Balochistan province. Mullah Mansoor and his colleague were believed to have been killed in the strike, but the Pentagon said that the U.S. military was still assessing the results of the strike which reportedly took place at about 3 a.m. local time on Sunday. A foreign TV channel based in the Gulf region said that Taliban had denied the death of Mullah Mansoor. Born in 1960s, Mullah Mansoor officially became the top Afghan Taliban leader on July 30, 2015, a day after the news about the death of former Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar was disclosed. The news about the death of Mullah Mansoor came at a time when Afghan Taliban had refused to come back to the negotiation table despite the repeated efforts made by the Pakistani side along with other countries for the peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. KABUL, Afghanistan After months of failed Pakistani efforts to broker peace talks with the Taliban, an American drone strike against the leader of the Afghan militants signaled a major break with precedent as the United States circumvented Pakistan in an effort to disrupt the strengthening insurgency, officials said on Sunday. The Afghan intelligence agency said Sunday that the Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, had been killed in the strike in the restive Pakistani province of Baluchistan. The United States announced the strike Saturday but could not confirm that Mullah Mansour had been killed. Although there was still no official reaction from the main Taliban spokesman, some Taliban commanders on Sunday denied the reports, saying their leader was not in the area of the strike. Even if Mullah Mansour was not killed, the attack was significant, as it is believed to be the first American drone strike in Baluchistan, the de facto headquarters of the Afghan Taliban, after years of such attacks in other Pakistani and Afghan areas. HANOI, Vietnam Officially, the top world leaders who gather Thursday at the Group of 7 summit meeting will talk about shared concerns, like global trade or the Islamic State. But their private discussions are likely to cover a topic that is not on the agenda: Donald J. Trump. President Obama now hears questions in his meetings with world leaders about whether Mr. Trump has a realistic shot at becoming president. For months, Mr. Obama has answered those questions with an emphatic no. I continue to believe Mr. Trump will not be president, Mr. Obama said in February at the end of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit meeting in California. But this weeks summit meeting in Japan is the first among major allies since Mr. Trump moved decisively toward securing the Republican nomination, and Mr. Obamas counterparts are likely to want more detail in his explanations of an election that has prompted fascination and apprehension overseas. HANOI, Vietnam President Obama arrived in the steamy capital of Vietnam ahead of schedule on Sunday night to begin three days of meetings in hopes of luring yet another Southeast Asian country away from Chinas tight embrace. He was greeted on the tarmac by a young woman in a long yellow dress who handed him a bouquet of flowers. Several second-tier Vietnamese officials shook the presidents hand before he climbed into his limousine for a quick trip to his hotel after nearly 24 hours of travel. Quiet clusters of people on the dark streets watched his motorcade pass. Except for the small groups, the streets seemed to have been completely cleared. Since Air Force One had been scheduled to land after midnight, or about three hours later, the official arrival ceremony with high officials in attendance was postponed until Monday morning. Maybe then Mr. Obama will see the kind of emotional outpouring that greeted President Bill Clinton in 2000, when he became the first United States president to visit the country since the Vietnam War. But it is possible that relations between the two countries have reached a stage that the arrival of an American head of state no longer seems so unusual. VIENNA The election for president of Austria turned into a cliffhanger on Sunday, with a former Green Party leader battling a populist who is seeking to become the first far-right politician to be elected head of state in Europe since 1945. With all votes cast on Sunday counted, the race between Norbert Hofer, 45, of the far-right Freedom Party, and Alexander Van der Bellen, a 72-year-old economist, was too close to call. The outcome will be determined by mail-in votes. Nearly 900,000 postal votes, a record, were requested before Sundays election and will be counted Monday. Both candidates, after a five-month race, said they would celebrate on Sunday evening. But the tension over who becomes president remained palpable, with the 50-50 division of Austria starkly illustrated. CAIRO Egypt has deployed a submersible to help find the wreckage of EgyptAir Flight 804 in the deep Mediterranean waters where it crashed, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said Sunday, as he warned that it might take a long time before the cause of the crash was determined. An international flotilla of search ships, aided by surveillance planes, was scouring a section of sea 180 miles north of the port city of Alexandria, and retrieved some wreckage, belongings and human remains over the weekend. But the search crews have yet to find the main body of the plane and its cockpit data and voice recorders, commonly known as the black boxes. They hope the recorders will explain what caused the Airbus A320, carrying 66 people, to plunge from the sky early Thursday as it headed to Cairo from Paris. A statement from the Islamic State on Saturday failed to mention the EgyptAir crash, confounding speculation that the group, which claimed to have been behind the bombing of a Russian airliner in Sinai in October, might have been responsible. Defending free speech, alas, takes more than standing up for science, sound argument and brave eloquence. It takes standing up as well for the right to say things that are false, hateful, mindless, base, vulgar, stupid or reckless. It is easy to defend what we admire and believe in. To defend free speech, you have to allow for bad speech. Free speech gave us Martin Luther Kings I have a dream. It also gave us Donald Trump. It would be nice to have one without the other. But that is not what free speech promises. Free speech is complicated and comes at a high price. We pay for it in terms of other things we also need to care about: public order and security, childrens needs, private reputations, civic courtesy, cultural worth, the social dignity of vulnerable minorities. As Timothy Garton Ash makes admirably clear in his wise, up-to-the-minute and wide-ranging new survey, Free Speech: Ten Principles for a Connected World, most of the difficult arguments about free speech bear on its price in terms of other things that also ought to matter to us. The controversies are fierce and familiar. Ought leakers be punished, and how can whistle-blowers be protected? Should pornography be restricted? Do libel laws gag the press? May religion be shielded from mockery? Ought hate speech be criminalized? Garton Ash pursues each in depth. He follows the common practice of taking free speech to mean a cluster of freedoms to express yourself and your thoughts as you please: not just voicing words but printing what you want, proclaiming your faith as you wish, campaigning for your chosen causes and making art without interference. Speech in that broad sense was once suspect unless expressly permitted; monitored speech was the norm. But in liberal modernity, unmonitored speech is the norm and limits to speech are suspect unless specifically justified. The main arguments now separate laxists from restrictionists. Laxists favor few limits, restrictionists many. The kinds of limits matter. Coercive laws, whether prior censorship or after-the-fact sanctions, provide one kind of limit. Garton Ash is generally against them. High standards of public argument and common decency are another kind of limit. Garton Ash is broadly for them. You could say he is laxist about law and restrictionist about standards. His approach has the great merit of keeping distinct what is legally permissible and what is or ought to be socially acceptable. Garton Ash treasures the jewel but recognizes and regrets the mud. His guiding maxim, never wholly lost amid near encyclopedic detail, is More free speech but also better speech. As a scholar-journalist, Garton Ash knows what he is talking about from a career of reading, writing, listening and, more lately, web-clicking. When reporting on the breakup of the Communist world in the 1980s, he befriended East European dissidents, saw how truthful speech could sap the will of wrongful power and collected a private lexicon of sardonic political jokes that here lighten the going. Now a fellow at St. Antonys College, Oxford, he supervises a 13-language online debating platform freespeechdebate.com for promoting free speech and arguing with all sides about its proper limits. His travels and interviews for Free Speech spanned the world, or what he calls the cosmopolis, a global space that is virtual as well as geographic. That range alone will squelch the fantasy that free speech is a purely Western concern. Flash Photo released by Egyptian Armed Forces on May 21, 2016, shows part of the wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804.(Xinhua/Egyptian Armed Forces) The Egyptian investigation committee said Saturday that it's "too early" to make judgments over the reason behind the recent EgyptAir plane crash. "We are looking at all information that is collected, but it is far too early to make judgment or decision based on a single source of information," the Egyptian Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee said in the report. EgyptAir Flight MS804, an Airbus A320, disappeared from radar screens early Thursday en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board, including 30 Egyptians and 15 French. The Egyptian investigators said they gathered information including data from the plane AIRMAN analysis system and ACARS communication and reporting system. "The investigation process involves multiple technical specialists, representing many parties, multiple national agencies and international governments," the committee pointed out, noting the investigation process is governed by the Egyptian law and the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization. French Aviation Agency said Saturday that the passenger jet had transmitted automatic messages indicating smoke in the cabin, yet investigators and analysts believe this does not tell what happened for sure. On Friday, the Egyptian armed forces said it found some personal belongings of the victims and parts of the plane wreckage in the Mediterranean Sea, 290 kilometers north of the coastal city Alexandria. The Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry said in addition to the passengers' belongings, the army had also found human remains and airplane's seats. The search operations by the Egyptian army and the navy are still going on, it added. President Obama and his administration have recently highlighted the necessity of criminal justice reform, emphasizing the need for better re-entry programs. Noting that there are hundreds of thousands of people released from prisons every year, Obama stated, We need to ensure that they are prepared to re-enter society and become productive, contributing members of their families and communities and maybe even role models. California should take note. Despite being called the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, CDCR doesnt have a great track record for rehabilitating inmates. Indeed, over half of all inmates released from a California prison in 2010 returned to prison within three years. Its clear California has a lot of work to ensure former prisoners successfully re-enter society and do not return to prison. Oftentimes, individuals newly released from prison in California are given nothing more than $200 and a bus ticket. Theres no help with obtaining housing, employment, continued rehabilitation: nothing. Its no wonder, then, why so many fail. Rehabilitation and reintegration dont just end when an inmate is released. Data show that individuals who have access behind bars to educational and job-training opportunities are much less likely to reoffend, as long as they can put those skills to use upon release. According to the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, formerly incarcerated individuals who have jobs are half as likely to commit a crime compared with those who are unemployed. Of course, its difficult for anyone, especially those who have served prison time, to get a job without access to stable housing, transportation or other marketable skills. So California legislators should remove roadblocks in place that make ones release from prison a difficult hill to climb. The American Bar Associations National Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Conviction found there are more than 1,800 laws and regulations in California that place restrictions on people who have re-entered society after being convicted of crimes. When convicted persons are limited in their ability to support themselves and to participate in the political process, this has both economic and public safety implications, the ABA writes. When society is discouraged from recognizing and rewarding genuine rehabilitation, this has moral and social implications as well. Obama recently signed an executive order to ban the box on federal job applications. What this means, essentially, is that federal agencies are prohibited from asking about a persons criminal history on job applications. California was ahead of the curve on this issue, with Gov. Jerry Brown signing similar legislation for state employers over two years ago. Now the state should also limit liability for employers who hire ex-offenders. This way, employers could no longer be sued for negligent hiring simply because an employee has a felony record. Reducing the amount of risk employers face in this sphere would incentivize hiring of individuals with criminal records. While all of the kinks of these suggested reforms would have to be worked out such as who would take the lead on the re-entry front and whether theres an opportunity to incentivize nonprofits and the private sector to take leading roles the fundamental issue of successful re-entry is one the state must pursue. Overall, the basic issue is improving opportunities for individuals recently released, while improving public safety for all Californians. Nearly every person in prison will eventually be released. By placing so many barriers in the way of former inmates upon release, the state makes its citizens less safe. Its time for California to tear down some of these obstacles and make the state a better place to live for those deserving of a second chance. Lauren Krisai is director of criminal justice reform at Reason Foundation. POMONA The 42nd president of the United States was on the campaign trail Saturday, hoping to help his wife become the 45th. If you look around this crowd, you represent one vision of Americas future, in all your diversity, Bill Clinton told a crowd of hundreds at Ganesha High School in Pomona. We can all honor our diversity because we believe our shared humanity is most important. Republicans want something very different, he said: The other vision out there is no, no, no, you dont understand, what we need is a wall. The evocation of Republican candidate Donald Trumps promise to build a wall along the United States border with Mexico drew boos from the crowd. Do you hear that sound? Eric Bauman, the vice chairman of the California Democratic Party and the Chairman of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, asked the crowd. Thats the sound of glass cracking the final glass ceiling is cracking! A diverse crowd of left-leaning supporters stood on the artificial turf of the schools quad, wearing carpenters and teachers union shirts. Members of the Black Student Union from Diamond Ranch High School wore black T-shirts with the hashtag #woke on the back. The former president said that Hillary Clinton, if shes elected, would take steps to make college more affordable and help those burdened by student debt pay it off more easily. He also said more work remains to be done for womens and LGBT rights paid leave, equal pay, affordable child care as well as rights for the disabled. He also addressed the attacks Hillary Clinton has faced. The GOPs attacks against his wife were rational, he said, because theyre scared of running against her. But he also said attacks from the left wing of the Democratic party are off-base, saying Clintons support from unions and other traditional Democratic groups doesnt make you an establishment candidate it means they trust you to make change. Protestors apparently supporting Democratic rival Bernie Sanders briefly disrupted Bill Clintons speech, waving signs that read Im NOT with her and #FueraHillary. This is not a Donald Trump rally, he said, as security guards escorted the protesters out. We welcome conversation. Bill Clinton also played up his wifes bipartisan record during her eight years in the Senate, including pushing for body armor for soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan and better health care for veterans, along with tax breaks for those who adopt foster children. Shes the only candidate you can elect who can defeat Washington gridlock, he said. Hillary Clinton has 1,768 pledged delegates to Sanders 1,494. Clinton also commands a lopsided number of superdelegates party insiders and elected officials with 525, compared with Sanders 39. Democratic primary candidates need a total of 2,383 delegates to secure the nomination, and Clinton has 2,293. A total of 548 delegates are available in Californias June 7 primary. Hillary Clinton leads Sanders by approximately 2.9 million votes cast during the 2016 primary season so far. Contact the writer: beau.yarbrough@langnews.com SACRAMENTO One of my proudest moments as a Register columnist came in 2008 when the Orange County Board of Supervisors launched the Office of Independent Review to monitor the Sheriffs Department. I was one of many observers who championed an independent oversight board following a horrific jail beating death, some disturbing police shootings and the federal indictment of a past sheriff. The office, however, quickly became co-opted by the Sheriffs Department. It has sparked no meaningful improvement of county law enforcement even as a massive scandal involving the district attorneys and sheriffs use of jailhouse snitches has unfolded. Critics were right. That vote created a minibureaucracy that offered little more than a veneer of oversight. Fool me once, shame on me. But not a second time. Im thinking of the proposal on the June 7 ballot to create an independent campaign finance and ethics commission. It will be a truly independent body, argue its supporters in a campaign statement. It promises big things: to hold politicians accountable and ensure our government answers to the people. But the chance it will clean up local politics is somewhere in the ballpark of zero. The measure is the brainchild of one of the countys best-known grassroots political activists, Shirley Grindle. Grindle is the dogged campaign-finance watchdog who authored the so-called TINCUP (Time Is Now, Clean Up Politics) ordinance in 1977. She also rewrote it to simplify it in 1992, and voters approved the changes with an 82-percent yes vote. Anyone can call her and ask for information about who gave how much to what candidate and she says she can usually get you the information in a few minutes using a system of index cards. Im not going to be here forever, said Grindle, now in her early 80s. Her personal monitoring of the county law certainly helps keep politicians honest. Measure A is the result of her 12-year effort to create a formal commission to carry on her volunteer oversight work. This is the first time shes had a board of supervisors supportive of the idea. As good as the idea sounds, its deservedly controversial. The commission would have five commissioners and an executive director under the authority of the Board of Supervisors. Board members, by the way, would be among those top county officials whose finance practices and ethics would be under review. So the idea of independence is a stretch. How many supervisors will appoint people who closely monitor them? We see the limits of this approach at the state level, where the Fair Political Practices Commission oversees statewide campaign finances and ethics. Because the FPPC doesnt monitor local elections, this commission would handle that in Orange County. Its common, though, for political opponents to game the process to embarrass opponents. The proposed Orange County commission would get subpoena power, so it could access bank accounts and compel politicians to appear before its hearings. That would be good in cases of real wrongdoing, but problematic if the commission adopts more of a political tone or gets played by a political pro. Its a very expensive price tag so supervisors can make accusations, said Jon Fleischman, publisher of the GOP-oriented Flashreport. As a political consultant, I can make hay with this by filing a complaint and getting a big article, Ethical complaint lodged. But it will take months or sometimes years to figure out if there was any actual wrongdoing. He sees it as another means for politicians to engage in game-playing. Consider that one of its biggest champions is Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who is planning a run for district attorney. In March, taxpayers flew him to San Francisco as part of a photo op to hand out a $100,000 reward check. The Register reported in November that Spitzer has engaged in unprecedented spending from a war chest thats paid for $340,000 in travel, groceries, restaurant meals, hotels, office and retail store purchases, a security system and donations to politicians, causes and civic groups. Its legal, but this should send up the usual red flags. Will any such commission see the forest for the trees? The price tag is unclear. Grindle envisions volunteer commissioners and one full-time executive director, with costs under $300,000 a year. Others predict higher costs, given how fiefdoms grow. But cost is secondary to substance. The real problem is the commission might convince people something is being done to clean up elections while it does no more to improve ethics than the Office of Independent Review did to improve policing. Steven Greenhut is a Sacramento-based writer. He was a Register editorial writer from 1998 to 2009. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org. LAKE FOREST Danny Duchene dropped to his knees as pastor Rick Warren led a prayer over him, the recently named pastor for Saddleback Churchs prison ministry. The greatest feeling in life is being used by God for something larger than yourself, Warren said after announcing Duchenes new job. God can use anybody because of his mercy. Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future. Duchene, 53, is a twice-convicted murderer. He was serving double 25-year-to-life sentences at Sierra Conservation Center in Northern California for killing two men when, with the help of a letter Warren penned to the parole board guaranteeing him a job at Saddleback, he was released Dec. 24, 2014. Purpose Driven prison Nearly 20 years into his sentence, Duchene became familiar with Warren through his book The Purpose Driven Life. It inspired him to start a Purpose-Driven Church at the prison, to encourage inmates that their lives had a purpose. Duchene finished reading Warrens book in 2003 at the same time Saddleback Church was launching a National Day of Purpose campaign. Duchene wanted to be part of that, so he contacted Saddleback leaders and told them 20 inmates wanted to participate. Saddleback staff sent videos and workbooks to the prison. We had the support of the corrections director of substance abuse. He let us know if there were enough men, we could expand, Duchene said. We thought maybe 50 men would participate in the small groups, but as we went door to door asking if men in the prison were interested, more than 200 guys signed up. People joined up to be part of something that broke up their routine. At the end of 40 Days of Purpose, Saddleback Pastor Steve Rutenbar visited the prison. And Warren came to the prison and led a service in the yard, yellow caution tape separating him from the prisoners. When Rick spoke, more men came out of their cellblocks, Duchene said. When he gave an invitation to men to come across the yard and give their lives to God, as one came, more began coming and a very rowdy prison yard became still. Even men who didnt come forward still respected the moment. A few months later, Saddleback Pastor John Baker returned to the prison and trained Duchene and others to lead Celebrate Recovery programs, aimed at helping them get their lives in order. There was something about Danny that was truly authentic, said Baker, who oversees Duchene outside the prison walls. You could see the pastors heart in him. He was doing everything he could to be a man of God. Rick turned to me and said, Weve got to hire Danny. Within a year, prison officials dedicated an entire 200-man cellblock to prisoners participating in Celebrate Recovery. I think the normal prison environment teaches men to be isolated, Duchene said. Theyre separated from their families. They have guilt and shame of their crimes. By hoping for a changed life and not coming back, they find support of other men who want the same thing compared to the normal environment of prison peer pressure to do the wrong thing to become part of a gang, or take a racist or an anti-authority perspective. After his 2014 Christmas Eve release, Duchene worked as a drug and alcohol counselor at a San Francisco methadone clinic and got married before heading to Orange County. He and his wife, Susan, lead a small group in their Mission Viejo home. Drugs, alcohol and a double murder Duchene grew up in Redding, in Northern California. By fourth grade, he was a latch-key kid spending summers with his siblings, but with little, if any, adult supervision. His parents had nice homes and cars and he grew up thinking that was his goal in life. One day, he said, he came home and found his parents sitting with a friend with thousands of dollars in cash spread out on the kitchen table. I was told they were going on a business trip to Peru and that Id see them at Christmas, he said. But my parents did not return from that trip. Instead, on Christmas Eve, 1979, I learned that my parents had been arrested in Mexico for smuggling cocaine. At age 16, Duchene began using drugs and committed crimes to support his habit. By 18, he was addicted to alcohol and drugs. I struggled to keep myself supplied, he said. I was reckless and never worried about getting caught for my crimes, and I certainly didnt consider the consequences to others. All this came to a crisis when I was part of a crime in which two men were killed. Duchene was arrested in September 1982 in Yuba City after a knife fight in which he and an accomplice killed two men. Russell Duane Ruhl had been hired for $400 to kill someone, and he asked Duchene to assist him. They would split the money, according to court records. Ruhl and Duchene found their target in a squash field, where he was with another worker. After a brief conversation, Ruhl and Duchene decided both men had to die, according to court records. After a struggle, the two men were knifed to death. On Nov. 15, Ruhl and Duchene pleaded guilty to two counts each of first-degree murder. Duchene said his sentence was just. I feel my crime was the most horrific it could have been because it seeks to value a human beings life based on the lowly desire of alcohol and drugs, he said. At the time in my drug addiction, I didnt stop to think about what I was doing. I took personal responsibility and pled guilty to two counts of murder, waived my rights and did not go to trial, he added. I was sentenced to two consecutive 25-to-life terms with eventual possibility of parole. Remorse, mercy and purpose Shortly after Duchenes arrest, members of a prison ministry visited the 18-year-old in Sutter County Jail and talked about purpose and redemption through Christ. It was the first time someone looked me in the eye and said, You have to stop lying to yourself, he recalled. Duchene spent the next 20 years in three Northern California prisons before being sent to Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown. Though Duchene pleaded guilty with a chance of parole, he said he never believed he would get out. Still, his behavior was exemplary. He passed 32 years of confinement with no disciplinary actions. At his parole hearing in December 2013, he was recommended for release. I still expected the governor to reverse the decision, Duchene said. When he didnt and I got the memo I was released, I felt a tremendous humility. I felt grace and mercy had been shown that I didnt expect. Getting a recommendation from Warren helped, Duchene said. It meant to the parole board and the governor that I will not only be employed for life in my appointed vocation that I feel God called and prepared me for, but it also represented that I will never have to live life alone, he said. His letter also demonstrated that I must also be accountable morally and ethically to the elders, pastors, leaders, and members of Saddleback Church. And that they have agreed to be my partners and accountability support team. Though free, the parole office will monitor Duchenes sobriety, living location, work and other activities for up to five years. This isnt a crime you get over and move on, he said. My life from now on is living out the amends by serving others. Its not a duty; its a joy and a committed privilege. As head of Saddlebacks prison ministry, Duchene oversees 900 prison programs nationwide. Inmates participate in either Celebrate Recovery or Purpose Driven Life. He also will minister to inmates and help those being released get connected to churches in their area. A return to the site of the transformation Earlier this month, Duchene and his wife returned to Sierra Conservation Center, invited by Warden Joel Martinez to speak to the inmates. Martinez calls Duchenes transformation into a productive citizen very inspiring. When I learned he was ordained as a pastor for Saddleback Church, I knew I wanted him to return to SCC to share his journey with the inmates here, Martinez said. My desire is that by hearing of Dannys success, the inmates would be given hope, and see through hard work and self-reflection they could be successful as well, in spite of their poor choices. As Duchene walked through the gates, he said, he felt peace. I shared that they are human beings made in the image of God and worthy of that dignity and value regardless of their past, he said. That their educational efforts and work are goals worth the hard work on their journey to lasting change from criminal and addictive thinking to responsible and caring lifestyles when they are released. Duchene said he figured his words most resonated with the lifers, who understood he had lived most of his life imprisoned with no hope of being released. I gave the same message I received from Pastor Rick Warren: That your life, whether in prison or out, is to be lived for Gods purposes and serving others, he said. That this is key to lasting change, true freedom, and finding meaning while incarcerated. At the end of his talk, Duchene asked how many men wanted God in their lives even if they remain in prison. Nearly 100 raised their hands, he said. Contact the writer: 714-796-2254 or eritchie@ocregister.com or Twitter:@lagunaini A group that lobbies to change public education is pouring money into a handful of Northern California legislative races ahead of the June 7 election, aiming to influence the kind of Democrats who hold power in the state Capitol. Democrats make up a solid majority in the Legislature, but they do not agree on everything. For example, a band of business-friendly Democrats has gained enough clout to buck more liberal Democrats on some environmental issues, which played a role in the states less-ambitious-than-once-predicted goals to fight global warming. Now a look at campaign spending by EdVoice, an advocacy group that supports charter schools and tying student test scores to teacher evaluations, reveals an attempt to build a cohort of Democrats who might break from their colleagues on some education issues, too. At stake are pressing questions about how to help the most disadvantaged students succeed in the nations largest public school system. In California, were fighting over shades of Democrat, said political consultant Phil Giarrizzo, who represents Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, one of the Democrats backed by EdVoice. Teachers unions have been a prevailing influence on Democrats for decades. EdVoice, funded by philanthropists from the business world, is part of a counterforce that often supports policies opposed by organized labor. Unions and some school reformers have sparred over charter schools, teacher tenure and how to measure school performance dividing Democrats at many levels of government. The tension has been obvious in the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama, who has come under fire from national teachers unions. It surfaced in Californias 2014 race for state superintendent, when the California Teachers Association spent big to elect Democrat Tom Torlakson and reform groups put money behind Democratic challenger Marshall Tuck. Now its emerging in a cluster of legislative races stretching from the Bay Area cities of Concord and Vallejo to rural swaths of Yolo and Napa counties. As of Tuesday, EdVoice had spent nearly $2.3 million on four races, blanketing the region with mailers supporting Democrats who are not endorsed by the California Teachers Association. EdVoice has spent more on those races in the past month than the candidates themselves did in the first four months of the year. On Monday, the group poured about $86,000 into a fifth race based in Silicon Valley. Two of the races are for open Assembly seats and demonstrate a clear schism between EdVoice, supporting lesser-known Democrats, and the CTA, backing those with family ties to elected officials: In the 4th Assembly District (mostly Napa, Yolo and Sonoma counties), EdVoice is supporting Curry, mayor of Winters, and CTA has endorsed Davis Mayor Dan Wolk, the son of outgoing Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis. In the 14th Assembly District (mostly Contra Costa and Solano counties), EdVoice is supporting Concord Mayor Tim Grayson and CTA has endorsed Mae Torlakson, the wife of the state superintendent. Wolk and Torlakson each received $8,500 contributions from CTA, but the union has not spent money on independent campaigns so far. CTA spokeswoman Claudia Briggs wouldnt say if the union plans to do so. Its endorsements, she said, reflect vetting by local teachers and school employees. The candidate that gets their recommendation is somebody who is committed to working alongside them to make sure our students across this state have everything they need, Briggs said. The other two races funded at least in part by EdVoice are in Senate districts where CTA has not made endorsements. EdVoice is supporting incumbent Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, a moderate Democrat who was opposed by labor in earlier elections, and Assemblyman Bill Dodd, D-Napa, a former Republican who registered as a Democrat in 2012. The seats overlap the 4th and 14th Assembly districts. EdVoice and a coalition of civil rights groups has been pushing the state to establish a more rigorous system for evaluating schools. The groups president, Bill Lucia, said he hopes the issue will attract more attention from future legislators. The Legislature has been too passive on (school) accountability and has more work to do, he said. Major donors to the EdVoice campaigns include Manhattan Beach businessman Bill Bloomfield, Silicon Valley investor Arthur Rock and Wal-Mart heir Carrie Walton Penner. The committee has spent about $138,000 attacking Mae Torlakson, who describes herself as a progressive Democrat, in the Contra Costa-centered race. Im going to fight for common people, she said. And these billionaires are trying to stop me from doing that. Grayson, her opponent, said he would align himself with the Legislatures moderate Democrats. He said hes up against a candidate with strong name recognition. People relate that name with education because thats (Tom Torlaksons) roots, Grayson said. North of them, in the Yolo County-centered race, Wolk said he does not support charter schools and believes teachers have been unfairly blamed for many of the failures of our public education system. Aguiar-Curry said she supports charter schools and would work with teachers even though she didnt receive their endorsement. I support them 110 percent, she said. In both Assembly races, the primary election carries high stakes for Democrats. Under Californias open primary, the top two candidates regardless of party advance to the general election. Because of the makeup of the districts and the pool of candidates, its likely one Democrat and one Republican will finish in the top two. That means the Democrat who wins in June, in all probability, will be sworn into office at the end of the year. (Editors note: Three donors to EdVoices independent expenditure committee Carrie Walton Penner, Doris Fisher and Frank Baxter are among the dozens of donors to CALmatters.) CALmatters is a nonprofit journalism venture dedicated to explaining state policies and politics. For more news analysis by Laurel Rosenhall, go to calmatters.org/ newsanalysis. Perhaps the most important threat posed by Donald Trump to the established platform of the Republican Party comes in the form of his clear preference for trade wars and tariffs over free trade. To begin with, this issue is of paramount importance to the cohesion of the GOP; it is the only major issue that brings together Republicans views of domestic and foreign affairs without touching on religious and ethnic controversies. Whats more, however, Republicans are exceptionally weak this election cycle on trade, thanks to the inability of the partys orthodox economics to appeal to older, downwardly mobile white laborers the folks who helped ensure Trump wiped the floor with his competition. Where the party is weak, Trump is strong. A massive change in the GOPs position on trade could be right around the corner. How, if they know whats good for them, should Republicans not hostile to free trade respond? They certainly cant look to Democrats for any policy guidance. That party is riven by even deeper fissures concerning how the international political economy does and doesnt deliver for Americans. Riot police may have won the Battle in Seattle back in 1999, but for the left of center, it has never really gone away. Nevertheless, it is intriguing to see that Democrats opposed to free trade find themselves continuously rebuffed, while Democrats who channel populist economic rage toward the financial system have wound up rhetorically, at least on top of the heap. Theres a lesson here for Republican free-traders trying to respond to Trumpist mercantilism: Free trade is stronger than you think it is. Its so strong, in fact, that even too-corporatist trade agreements rushed along as a substitute for robust foreign policymaking such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership draw dogged bipartisan support. But Republicans wont successfully answer populist rage by restating the case for free trade. As Peggy Noonan recently put it, with instructive exaggeration, the GOP really did fail to push back enough against global attitudes and structures that left the working class jobless. Voters, Republicans included, know this. The trouble is, they and Republican elites, including some instinctive free-traders disagree about just what it means. For Trumpists, it means that globalization wrecks American jobs and gives the upper hand to contemptible competitors like China and Mexico. Die-hard free-traders are actually apt to agree in a sense, seeing Noonan-style objections as dangerously vague pablum that enables the Trumpists to gain the upper hand. And the instinctive free-traders, worried that maybe they must somehow work out how to meet the Trumpists halfway? Well, theyre not so sure what they mean, yet. Theyre on the right track in one sense. Alone, the logic of free trade, no matter how airtight in the abstract, wont move the hearts of the voters they need. In an even more important sense, however, theyre in danger of going astray at the outset. If they cant convince the free-traders to hear them out, their effort to find a way out of the Trumpist box will be dead on arrival. Thats why the traction Democrats get berating big finance offers another lesson of sorts. To be sure, few Republicans and even fewer free-traders are inclined to beat up on Wall Street in order to scoop up some votes. At the same time, however, their reflexive disregard for the anti-1-percenters must not cloud their ability to see the practical and principled advantages of shifting the debate against Trumpism from trade protectionism to serious financial reform. The practical advantages are straightforward. The Obama administration has been remarkably weak on punishing the institutions and individuals that precipitated and abetted the 2008 financial crisis, eschewing trials and convictions in favor of settled lawsuits and levied fines that draw boldfaced headlines but dont change the way concentrated financial power corrupts markets in money. In this fashion, far more than with any trade or labor policy, the White House has put Hillary Clinton in the unenviable position of paying lip service to the anti-Wall Street crowd while doubling down as a darling of the big banks. Clinton has far more room to pander on broadly economic issues than on narrowly financial ones. Republicans are in deeper trouble than we all imagine if they cant score points off of that. But free-traders should help the GOP go farther than just putting up numbers in a presidential election that seems close at best. It really is true that free trade is nowhere near as corrupt and consequential to Americas malaise as the unfree trade in currency and financial assets engineered at incredible speed and immense volume by cronies who are often amoral at best. Doubtless, the problem here is partly a function of the technological cat being out of the bag. But the perfect storm created by todays high-flying mania for rate rigging, speculation, arbitrage and collusion are problems of character, not just pacing. Free trade does not turn the American people into chips on a gambling table. Today still! the financial system too often does. To stay on track and salvage their party, reform-minded Republicans worried that free trade has been morally and politically compromised ought to realize the truth: the global attitudes and structures that brought us Trumpism are primarily and fundamentally financial. Flash Starting Saturday, Bolivian transsexuals aged over 18 can change their name, gender and photo in all public and private documents after the Gender Identity Law was signed into law. "This is democracy. For that reason, I feel happy to be able to sign this law, under which for the first time the government guarantees social recognition of people with rights, regardless of their sexual orientation," Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera said at Bolivia's Palace of Government in La Paz. "They will not disappear if we ignore or discriminate them. What has happened till now is that this group has become visible and has claimed its rights. Today the transsexual and transgender group is enriching Bolivia's democracy," Garcia Linera said. Bolivian Justice Minister Virginia Velasco said the law conforms to the State Political Constitution, which recognizes the rights of every Bolivian and highlights diversity among its people. "Our transgender and transsexual brothers and sisters have suffered, but now with this law we have taken a step forward and we will continue to do this, because we are equal in the eyes of the law," Velasco said. The signing ceremony was held after the houses of legislature passed the bill on Thursday and Friday. Transgender people will still need to undergo a psychological examination prior to legally changing their identity, while transsexuals will require a medical certificate that verifies their sex change. Laura Alvarez, national president of Bolivia's transgender, lesbian, gay and bisexual organization, said earlier this week that the bill will benefit some 1,500 members whose legal documents do not reflect their sex change, mainly former men whose official IDs bear the masculine name they were given at birth. The bill has met resistance from the Evangelical Churches of La Paz, whose president, pastor Oscar Munoz, fears the initiative will pave the way for same-sex marriage. Name after name evoked whistles, screams, whoops and hollers Saturday as Chapman University held its 2016 commencement ceremonies, releasing its latest pack of Panthers into the wild as proud alumni. This was one of Chapmans largest graduating classes, with 2,086 students receiving degrees across the universitys eight colleges. The Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts featured one of this years largest segments, with 261 undergrads and 71 graduates receiving degrees. Significantly, the late afternoon gathering marked the final commencement ceremony to be attended by President Jim Doti. In August, Doti will step down after 25 years to return to teaching, as Chancellor Danielle Struppa moves up to become Chapmans next president. With his parting words to Dodges class, Doti recalled when he was a less experienced man, just about to start his presidency at Chapman. Nervous about donning the mantle, Doti said he turned to Paul Delp, a Chapman professor of philosophy, 1928 graduate and mentor. At that time, Delp offered Doti the best advice he says hes ever received: Just remember, Jim, treat everyone with respect and dignity. If you do that, youll do just fine. The words made such an impact on Doti that he had them placed on his desk, that he might remember them every day. Doti said the advice he received from Delp was finely reflected by Dodges keynote speaker and honorary degree recipient this year, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Once a filmmaker in residence and an adjunct professor at Chapman, Isaacs has headed up the academy since 2013 the first African American to hold the position and the third woman. Isaacs received her honorary degree of Doctor of Arts in part for her efforts to address issues of diversity within the academy. Speaking to a crowd of many of tomorrows filmmakers, Isaacs offered colorful and humorous if a bit blunt advice. Youre about to fall off the cliff, Isaacs said. But dont worry, youll be fine. Youre going to land safely, especially if you enjoy the fall. Isaacs told the crowd that as long as they treat others with respect, stop stressing and remember that perfection is only an illusion, they can strive toward their true goal: happiness. So what if you make a mistake? So what if you fail? We all do, every single day. The key is to get over it and keep going, Isaacs said. Dont give up your dream, never lose your passion. Stay determined. With those three rules in mind, Isaacs said, she was certain those in the crowd had the potential to be the next James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow or Justin Simien the latter a Chapman alum who recently made his big break with the film Dear White People. Isaacs left on a stream of laughter from the crowd following her final advice. To quote another great philosopher, my mother: Get a job. Contact the writer: jwinslow@ocregister.com During Lori Torres 13-year stint working at the Irvine Co., she encountered the same problem over and over again. As the senior vice president of property management, Torres repeatedly was asked by apartment leasing staff to add extra employees to each shift. The additional bodies werent needed to deal with yappy Chihuahuas or drunken pool parties but were necessary to sort the mounds of packages delivered each day. Online retail sales in the U.S. are expected to hit $376 billion this year, according to Forrester, a market research company. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that total e-commerce sales in 2015 reached an estimated $341.7 billion, up from $108.7 billion in 2006. Security is another issue. During the last holiday season, porch pirates plucked packages from doorsteps at an alarming rate. Approximately 23 million Americans reported having some packages stolen from their homes according to a survey by InsuranceQuotes.com. In a time when everything from contact lenses to fresh fruit are just a click away, many multifamily communities are struggling to keep up with the constant barrage of packages. In these communities, leasing offices went from handling one package a day to 75 to 100 packages, said Torres. It was out of control. We did a time-and-motion study and found that for every 15 packages, it takes one hour of staff time to manage those packages. That hour of time used to be used to lease apartments and to really take care of the residents. Torres solution combined technology and double-reinforced lockers installed in apartment communities. When a package is delivered by a courier, the recipient receives a text and/or email with an access code. Residents can pick up the package at anytime by typing the code into the lockers touchscreen system. MAKING THE LEAP After coming up with a business plan, Torres left her stable job at Irvine Co. and launched her own company, Parcel Pending, in 2013. With 45 employees headquartered in Irvine, the privately held company projects year-over-year revenue to grow 438 percent this year. More than 25 locker systems are installed in Orange County at Irvine Co., Shea Properties, UDR, Lennar, Wolff Co. and others with hundreds more spread across 23 states and Canada. I wish I could say I was so incredibly innovative and came up with this idea on my own, but there were actually some companies that were doing something similar in other countries but not exactly, said Torres. Since 2011, online ordering juggernaut Amazon has installed package lockers in nearly 200 7-Eleven stores in the U.S. More recently, the Slurpee kingpin announced plans to roll out FedEx, UPS and Wal-Mart lockers in its stores. To get an edge on the competition and get her company off the ground in 2013, Torres joined the Monday Club, a local organization that puts startup businesses and experienced entrepreneurs and executives in the same room. In addition to advice and feedback, startup founders have the chance to meet investors. It was during a Monday Club meeting that Torres connected with members from Tech Coast Angels, an investment organization. After watching Torres presentation, the group invested, helping Parcel Pending reach $1.25 million in its series A funding in 2014. Recently, Torres sat down to discuss Parcel Pendings business strategy, security and challenges. Q. Have couriers, i.e. FedEx and UPS, been receptive to using Parcel Pendings system? A. We talked to the local folks and said, this is what we are doing and showed them a video, and they were so resistant because people dont like change. All the property management staff had to do is say, We are no longer accepting packages. If you want to deliver your packages here, you have to put them in Parcel Pending lockers. They can take it back to the hub or they can put it in the locker. They usually dont want to fill your trucks with packages, so they started going directly into the lockers. Q. What action have you taken to make sure the lockers are secure? A. We actually hired a hacker to come in and try to hack us. We made sure we built our system with everything encrypted. Physical security on-site includes cameras on the lockers. The locker doors are double-reinforced steel. Knock on wood, we havent had a single locker broken into. Q. Do apartment communities buy the lockers? A. They buy the lockers, finance/lease the lockers or we give them the lockers and then theres monthly service fees to use our software. Once weve gone to a property, the residents sign up to use our service. They register with Parcel Pending and give us their information, email, phone and how they want to be notified. They also tell us if they have any ADA (disability) requirements. Q. How much does it cost the resident to sign up? A. There is a one-time-only registration (fee) but the payment model is very flexible, there are different options. Its not a one size fits all. Q. Does some of the cost of the lockers get passed on to residents? A. Some places dont want to charge the residents, so they absorb the cost. Others have the residents pay. Others want to make money off the lockers so they have residents pay even more. Q. How do you figure out how many lockers each apartment community needs? A. We have a ratio that we recommend. Its one locker to every three or four apartments. It depends on a few things that we ask questions about the size of the community and age of the community. Q. When you first launched Parcel Pending, did you worry it wouldnt work out? A. There were times when I was driving down the 405 freeway and thinking this is so hard and then I thought, what does the word hard mean? Im never the victim to anything that happens. Ive had some bumps along the way of things that have happened or associates that disappointed me but Im not going to carry that baggage. I dont fear failure because whats the worst that could happen? Ill just go get another job. Two recent commencement speeches are getting media attention. One, by Justice Clarence Thomas, the other by President Obama. What a stark difference between the two. Thomas was encouraging and enlightening. Obama lashed out at conservative views. I am so sick and tired of listening to Obama offer his opinion to basically everyone in the world. England didnt appear to really care what Obama had to say. It didnt seem like Cuba did, either. So Obama goes to speak at Rutgers University and once again widens the chasm between liberals and conservatives. Having once stated that he was going to bring us together, now, in his last year in office, he is creating a divide that will likely take decades to heal. I, for one, cant wait until he is out of the White House and out of the media limelight, hopefully, for good. Terry Rather Costa Mesa Re: Obama rips Trump, GOP in Rutgers speech [Nation, May 16]: I wonder about what kind of graduates Rutgers is producing. Is this article being sarcastic, or is it being serious, in reporting our presidents statement, that ignorance is not a virtue? This is a man who truly believes that the destruction of the coal and oil business in the United States will help stop the global warming of our planet, a man who truly believes he knows how to fix everything that he deems wrong with this country, even though the past seven years of his administration have shown that he knows nothing about how to do that. I will say this, he is right in that our future will be brighter once he leaves office. And reading that the president received a standing ovation from the Rutgers University students makes me afraid, really afraid, of what they have learned. Larry R. Wilson Santa Ana In a commencement speech delivered by our president at Rutgers University [Obama rips Trump, GOP in Rutgers speech, Nation, May 16], he said, In politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue. In an age where most of the youth in America cannot name the sitting vice president, or even know what socialism is, ignorance has served this president very well. Twice. Steve Fleming Chino Hills Re: Obama rips Trump, GOP in Rutgers speech [Nation, May 16]: He is a fine one to say what should be done. After looking at his time in office, this country has been in a downward spiral. Mr. Obama should heed that old saying, People in glass houses shouldnt throw stones. Tony Barone Huntington Beach I cant believe the Register wasted so much space to tell us how the president railed on about Republicans [Obama rips Trump, GOP in Rutgers speech, Nation, May 16]. What else is new? As with his commencement speech at UC Irvine in 2014, he didnt speak about jobs, careers or opportunities. Does he not know his audience was freshly minted college graduates, not the Sierra Club or the Democratic National Committee, and that he should tailor his speech to the audience? Or is it politics 24/7? Amazing that he cant put the Democratic Party pompons down for a minute and speak to these grads, as the president, about their futures and not use the speech as a platform to promote ideological politics. Bud Carbonaro Lake Forest So if you dont live in Irwindale, rejoice: There, even when you look at it through rose-colored glasses, public pension liabilities equal $32,447 for each and every household in the city. Slap on a skeptics glasses, and that load skyrockets to $134,907 per household. Irwindale carries the heaviest pension load of more than 1,000 California public agencies whose data have been sliced and diced and posted for the world to see by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. The heaviest loads in Orange County are in Newport Beach, Brea, Santa Ana, Anaheim and Costa Mesa, ranging from (rose glasses) $5,435 to $6,653 per household, or (skeptics) $15,976 to $19,062. Well explain the glasses thing in a minute. But no surprise here: The older cities have had their own in-house police and fire departments for decades, and public safety workers get the most expensive pensions. That comes clear in the incredible lightness of being a newer-fangled city, which contracts out for police and fire services (and thus doesnt carry that pension load on its books): Aliso Viejo, $32 per household (rose) or $126 (skeptics); Laguna Woods, $32 or $121; Rancho Santa Margarita, $72 or $239. Of course, that load winds up somewhere. In the County of Orange which provides police services to contract cities via its Sheriffs Department each of its 1 million or so households has a load equal to $5,108 (rose) or $14,840 (skeptics). Thats on top of whatever each households city (and other agency) loads may be. Stanfords PensionTracker.org launched last fall, initially listing local agencies, and last week added data for every state. California ranked seventh highest nationwide for debt-per-household when viewed through rose-colored glasses ($15,618); and third-highest in the nation when viewed through skeptics glasses ($77,700). I was a little surprised that the unfunded amount per household is as high as it is, said Joe Nation, public policy professor at Stanford and director of the data project. All told, Californias public pension systems are $281.5 billion short, including pension bond debt. Through Nations lens, theyre nearly $1 trillion in the hole or $946.4 billion. ROSE GLASSES Nation, a Democrat who served in the Legislature for six years, might be considered a card-carrying progressive. He represented Marin County, where Democrats and decline-to-states constitute nearly 80 percent of registered voters. He authored bills on greenhouse gas labeling for cars, fuel efficiency standards for tires and tax incentives for alternative energy. Nonetheless, Nation has earned the wrath of public employee unions a traditional Democratic power base with his jarring analyses of public pension debt. Stanford scholars have simply been calculating how deeply in debt pension systems will be if they earn less-rosy-than-anticipated returns on investments. The rose-colored glasses refer to the shortfalls calculated by officials themselves what they expect if Californias pension systems earn what officials say theyll earn, which is currently 7.5 percent or so. Through this actuarial lens, theyre $241.4 billion short. Thats a staggering 38 times larger than in 2003, when the shortfall was $6.3 billion. Nation adds in bond debt issued to beef up pension funds, arriving at his $281.5 billion actuarial total. Nation, and many others, dont think its realistic to expect 7.5 percent returns on investments. SKEPTICS GLASSES A sobering study by global management consultant McKinsey & Co., titled Diminishing Returns: Why Investors May Need to Lower their Expectations, explains why: Buoyed by exceptional economic and business conditions, returns on U.S. and Western European equities and bonds during the past 30 years were considerably higher than the long-run trend, says the study, released this month. Some of these conditions are weakening or even reversing. Our analysis suggests that over the next 20 years, total returns including dividends and capital appreciation could be considerably lower than they were in the past three decades. If our analysis is correct, this will have significant repercussions for both institutional and individual investors, pension funds, and governments around the world. Total real returns for equities the past 30 years averaged 7.9 percent, McKinsey found. The next 20 years, that may well drop to 4 percent to 5 percent. Nation, as it turns out, has been exploring that what-if-its-less? scenario for years. His Stanford scholars have calculated the market hole using returns of 6.2 percent and 4.5 percent, to howls of protest from the giant California Public Employees Retirement System and others who denounced it as alarmist. The skeptics glasses that Nation dons in this new exercise belong, actually, to CalPERS. PensionTrackers market calculations assume a gut-punching 3 percent return what CalPERS would use to calculate debt for agencies wanting to exit its system. COOK THE BOOKS While Nation has calculated per-household debt loads, no one is proposing to bill each individual household for pension debt. Its just a way to bring the problem down to scale for the average citizen and one that enrages critics. This is another example of opponents of retirement security for teachers, firefighters, school employees and other public workers funded by special interests trying to cook the books under the guise of an academic study, said Dave Low, chair of Californians for Retirement Security, a coalition of public employee unions. Hes not necessarily buying the past performance is no indicator of future results warnings. As any financial expert will tell you, its critical to look at the long-term results of any investment, rather than cropping the picture to serve political goals, Low said. The fact of the matter is that CalPERS and CalSTRS have consistently met their rates of return over time. No amount of data manipulation can change that. CalPERS doesnt think Nations approach is helpful. Showing pension liabilities on a termination- or market-value basis is unrealistic when investing for the long-term, as it only accounts for the current value of liabilities in the event of a plan termination, spokeswoman Amy Morgan said in a statement. But the pension giant is taking steps to stabilize in light of the economic conditions that the McKinsey study suggests, she said. In November, it adopted a funding risk mitigation policy that will, in years of galloping investment returns, redirect money to help pay down unfunded liability. CalPERS remains committed to investing for the long-term and takes a measured and balanced approach to become a fully funded pension system, she said. Using our actuarial basis method allows for more rate stability for our employers and lessens the volatility so they can plan for the future. This method not only takes into account investment returns, but it also looks at employee life expectancy, projected retirement date and the projected compensation of the employee. ON THE HOOK If the hole isnt filled up with meatier investment earnings and heftier contributions from public workers and employers alike, taxpayers will have to fill it directly. Thats because unfunded pension liabilities are simply what weve promised employees for work already performed. And in California, pension promises can never be broken at least, not outside of federal bankruptcy court. Despite modest reforms enacted in 2013 and greater contributions to pension funds by agencies and workers alike, pension debt keeps growing. A new accounting rule requires that they be factored into balance sheets for the first time this year. Billions of equity have vanished as a result more than $3.5 billion from the County of Orange alone. The Orange County Fire Authority is officially in the red. For too long, the true cost of public employee pensions has been hidden from the public, said Chuck Reed, a Democrat and former mayor of San Jose who has been trying to launch a pension reform initiative for years. Use of optimistic assumptions about rates of investment returns has obscured the cost and the risk to taxpayers. By using less-optimistic assumptions, PensionTracker shows the rest of the pension debt iceberg lurking beneath the water, waiting to sink the ship of state. Reeds partner in the initiative push, Carl DeMaio, a Republican and former member of the San Diego City Council, said theyre aiming an initiative at the 2018 ballot. They want public agencies to have the freedom to negotiate smaller pension benefits for workers going forward; the benefits workers have already earned would remain untouched. At some point, obviously, well have to deal with this, Nation said. Well either deal with it collectively, constructively and collaboratively, or when it blows up on us. Contact the writer: tsforza@ocregister.com O.C. PUBLIC AGENCY PENSION DEBT, PER HOUSEHOLD Agency Per-household unfunded liability, based on 7.5% return (actuarial) Per-household unfunded liability, based on 3% return (market) Newport Beach $6,653 $19,062 Brea $6,068 $20,113 Santa Ana $5,862 $20,684 Anaheim $5,611 $18,808 Costa Mesa $5,435 $15,976 County of Orange $5,108 $14,840 Orange $4,376 $15,078 Laguna Beach $4,334 $15,814 Garden Grove $4,321 $13,759 Huntington Beach $4,116 $13,097 Fullerton $3,708 $12,616 Fountain Valley $3,648 $12,058 Buena Park $3,041 $11,343 Westminster $2,828 $10,486 Los Alamitos $2,809 $10,866 La Habra $2,653 $9,995 La Palma $2,591 $10,053 Cypress $1,861 $7,581 Placentia $1,729 $6,216 Seal Beach $1,720 $6,808 Tustin $1,707 $6,418 San Clemente $1,037 $3,598 Yorba Linda $722 $2,146 South Coast Water District $698 $2,638 Stanton $672 $2,314 Villa Park $475 $1,428 Mission Viejo $465 $1,532 Serrano Water District $354 $1,561 Laguna Beach County Water District $290 $1,081 Yorba Linda Water District $213 $791 Dana Point $210 $800 Laguna Niguel $187 $719 Laguna Hills $182 $763 Mesa Water District $166 $669 Lake Forest $134 $524 Rancho Santa Margarita $72 $239 Buena Park Library District $52 $214 Laguna Woods $34 $121 Aliso Viejo $32 $126 SOURCE: PENSIONTRACKER.ORG, STANFOR INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC POLICY RESEARCH, PUBLIC AGENCIES IRVINE Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders brought his campaign against a rigged economy and political system to a boisterous, nearly full Irvine Meadows Amphitheater on Sunday, expressing optimism that he will win the nomination despite a disadvantage in party delegates. The reason this campaign is doing so well is that were doing something radical in modern politics, he said in an hour-long speech at the 16,000-seat venue. Were telling the truth. It is true that billionaries and super PACs are buying elections. The truth is that if we do not allow the Donald Trumps of the world to divide us up, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish. The stage was decked with giant American and California flags. Behind Sanders, several hundred supporters waved blue signs with the message A Future to Believe In. They punctuated his speech with cheers, applause, chants of Bernie! Bernie! and, at one point, Si se puede! the Spanish version of Yes, we can! We have a shot to win this thing and we are going to fight to win it, Sanders said. He pointed to the latest polls, which, he said, show that in almost every instance we beat Donald Trump by much greater margins than does Secretary (Hillary) Clinton. In a wide-ranging speech, the Vermont senator hit familiar themes of free public university tuition and health care, paid family leave for new parents, tighter restrictions on Wall Street, higher taxes on the wealthy, comprehensive immigration reform, a $15 hourly minimum wage and investment in infrastructure. Our infrastructure in many parts of this country is crumbling, he said. We can put people back to work at good wages by fixing that infrastructure. In a pointed reference to his long-time opposition to foreign interventions, he suggested, Instead of rebuilding the infrastructure of Afghanistan, we are going to build the infrastructure of our cities. Californias June 7 primary will distribute 475 delegates the most of any state on a congressional district basis. Sanders has won 11 of the last 19 contests, but analysts contend Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clintons early success in large states makes it all but mathmatically impossible for Sanders to prevail. But in an interview before the Irvine rally, Sanders argued that he can overcome the delegate deficit by performing strongly in the remaining primaries and caucuses, and then going after superdelegates committed to Clinton. Clinton has 2,293 pledged delegates and superdelegates and needs 90 more to win the nomination, although superdelegates can change their allegiance at any time. Sanders has 1,533 pledged delegates and superdelegates, according to a New York Times analysis. In those states where weve won significant victories, were doing everything we can to get the superdelegates, he said. The campaign will also turn its attention to superdelegates in other states, noting that about 400 superdelegates had committed to Clinton before any other candidate entered the race. Thats more like an anointing process, not a nomination process, he said. At the rally, Sanders noted that Even in those (states) we have lost, we have won overwhelmingly the votes of young people. The vision that we have the vision of social justice, economic justice, racial justice, environmental justice that is going to be the vision of the future of this country. He bemoaned the amount of money spent on prisons and complained about the high cost of education, citing the crippling student debt that has plagued so many young people. He called for a change of priorities and said a tax on Wall Street speculation could cover the cost of tuition at public universities. We should be rewarding people for getting an education, not punishing them, he said. The event was Sanders first campaign stop in Orange county. On Tuesday, he will make a second local appearance, at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Anaheim function is expected to run from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Tickets are required and can be obtained from Sanders website. Parking may be limited. After Anaheim, Sanders will head to Riverside and San Bernardino. The enthusiastic audience at the Irvine rally was diverse: old and young, and people of all ethnicities and races. Some sported tie-dye shirts, a few wore Sanders costumes. Irvine resident Karine Marois, 24, arrived several hours before the event began, dressed as Sanders with slacks, a blue dress shirt, a gray wig, fake glasses, and a blazer. Hes showing its possible to be an honest politician, said Marois who is a food scientist. If we all come together, we can make a change. Aliso Viejo resident Lauretta Brown, 65, walked out of the amphitheater after Sanders rally saying It was a privilege to see him live. She had been a Republican for more than 20 years, she said, campaigning to get GOP candidates on the board of supervisors and other agencies. But she has switched parties, she explained, because billionaires need to pay their fair share. Brown was accompanied by her daughter, Caroline Brown, a graphic designer, who said that Sanders has energized her more than any other candidate in the past. Ive voted in every election, she added. But this is another level of engagement. Ken Tsai, 65, a Laguna Woods retiree, said he thinks Sanders can change the country. Hes encouraging, Tsai said, noting the 74-year-old candidates popularity with millenials. Im voting for the future of the country, Tsai said, not for myself. Trevor Davis, 18, of Mission Viejo, who will cast his first presidential vote in the June 7 primary, said he planned to attend rallies for both Sanders and Clinton. The most important issue to me is political corruption and Wall Street corruption, he said. Thats huge. Before the event began, Sanders campaign workers canvassed along the line of those waiting to enter the amphitheater, handing out forms for them to register to vote. Independent doesnt mean what you think in California, canvassers shouted, a reference to people who have mistakenly registered for the American Independent Party and can therefore vote in neither the Democratic or Republican primaries. Gabriel Zepeda, 23, of Downey decided to re-register: hes done with the Republican Party, he said. Zepeda, who describes himself as a bit fiscally conservative but totally socially liberal, said dismantling the big business model of universities is his most important issue. Were lagging behind other countries, he added, even though we say were the most forward-thinking country. (Sanders) isnt afraid to do things others are. Another rally goer who registered as a Democrat was Nathan Morbee who will turn 18 before the November general election. Im excited, he said, adding that Sanders speaks to younger people. Morbee attended the rally with his parents and 13-year-old sister. The family is from Orange. His mother, Patsy Morbee, wore a Sanders pin on her shirt, but said she doubts that supporting the Vermont senator will matter in the end. I dont believe in the system, she said. Its not for the people. Her husband, Jordan Morbee, said he still has faith, but worries that even if Bernie were elected, Congress would shut down everything he tried to do. Republicans and Democrats need to remember theyre still Americans. Were on the same side. While Sanders is campaigning with a fervor belying his long-shot status, party insiders worry that the Vermont senator is threatening Democratic unity and could hurt the partys chance to beat Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, in the general election. Democratic leaders hope to quell some of Sanders concerns by agreeing to give his supporters more seats on key convention platform committees, according to a Washington Post report. But it remains uncertain whether that will mollify the candidate. Sanders supporters continue to complain that the party establishment has manipulated rules to favor Clinton. Last week, Sanders said the party faced a choice to remain dependent on big-money campaign contributions and be a party with limited participation and limited energy or welcome into the party people who are prepared to fight for real economic and social change. He also called on Clinton to debate him in advance of the June 7 primary. Clinton has given no indication that shell take him up on the offer. NORTHERN SYRIA The top U.S. commander for the Middle East secretly visited Syria on Saturday for a first-hand look at efforts to build cohesive alliances of Arab, Kurd and other local fighters to defeat Islamic State. Army Gen. Joseph Votel, who is head of U.S. Central Command, became the highest-ranking U.S. military officer known to have entered Syria since the U.S. began its campaign to counter Islamic State in 2014. Votel flew into northern Syria and spent nearly 11 hours in the country. He met with U.S. military advisers working with Syrian Arab fighters, and conferred with leaders of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an umbrella group of Kurdish and Arab fighters supported by the U.S. A small group of reporters accompanied Votel on a flight from Iraq under ground rules that, for security reasons, prohibited disclosing his visit until after he had left Syria. Votel landed at a dusty outpost, surrounded by wheat fields, that serves as a U.S. camp for American military advisers who are training Syrian Arab troops in basic soldiering skills. Splitting off from the reporters who flew in with him, Votel then visited several other undisclosed locations in Syria before returning to the camp. Aides said Votels flight into Syria was the first made in daylight by U.S. forces, who have about 200 advisers on the ground but no combat units. Military ground rules for the trip prohibited reporting the kind of aircraft Votel used, the exact location of where he landed and the names and images of the U.S. military advisers, who said they have been operating from the camp since January. An Associated Press reporter and journalists from two other news organizations were the first Western media to visit the secretive operation. In an interview as dusk fell and he prepared to fly out of Syria, Votel said his visit had hardened his belief that the U.S. is taking the right approach to developing local forces to fight Islamic State. I left with increased confidence in their capabilities and our ability to support them, he said. I think that model is working and working well. The U.S. has struggled to find an effective ground force to take on Islamic State in Syria, where President Barack Obama has ruled out a U.S. ground combat role. This presents a different problem than in Iraq, where the U.S. at least has a government to partner with. The problem in Syria is complicated by the fractured nature of the opposition to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. Is trying to develop credible Arab fighters to retake Raqqa, Islamic States self-declared capital, while Syrian Kurds have retaken territory from the group in other parts of northern Syria. The U.S. is supporting what it calls the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is predominantly comprised of Syrian Kurds, numbering at least 25,000 fighters, with a smaller element of Syrian Arabs, numbering perhaps 5,000 to 6,000. The U.S. is trying to increase the Arab numbers. The last known high-level U.S. official to visit Syria was Brett McGurk, Obamas envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State. He spent two days in Syria in late January, including a tour of Kobani, the small town near the Turkish border where Kurdish fighters backed by U.S. airstrikes had expelled an entrenched group of Islamic State fighters a year earlier. Votels predecessor, Gen. Lloyd Austin, who was leading Central Command when the U.S. kicked off airstrikes in Syria in September 2014, never visited the country. Votels decision to go reflects his emphasis on getting an up-close look at all aspects of the counter-IS campaign early in his tenure. Syrian Arab commanders who were made available for interviews at the U.S. camp Saturday said their forces are gaining battlefield momentum but also need a lot more help. They were quick to say the U.S.-led coalition should pitch in more. Qarhaman Hasan, the deputy commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said he has given the Americans a list of his most pressing needs. Atop his list: armored vehicles, heavy weapons like machine guns, as well as rocket launchers and mortars. Were creating an army, he said through an interpreter, and have had to rely on smuggling to get weapons. You cant run an army on smuggling, he said. Tribal leaders said in interviews that they also want to see the U.S. do more, both militarily and with humanitarian aid. America has the capabilities, said Sheik Abu Khalid as he puffed on a cigarette under the shade of pomegranate and pine trees. In a cramped office at Saddleback Colleges veterans center, Vivian Mai, 33, confided in her lawyer. A roommate at her off-campus apartment had assaulted her. The police were called and he fled. She had changed the locks on the door. When he laid his hands on me, it triggered my PTSD, said Mai, who was recovering from a traumatic stint in the Marine Corps. Im not doing well. I cant sleep. The lawyer, Antoinette Balta, was firm. You need to file a restraining order, she said. We will help you fill out the petition. In the fog of postwar life, where veterans can be blindsided by evictions, job discrimination, disability bureaucracy, bankruptcy, car accidents, child custody conflicts and other civil issues, the Veterans Legal Institute offers a lifeline like no other. The Santa Ana nonprofit is Southern Californias only public interest law firm exclusively devoted to low-income veterans. It is one of a handful nationwide, even though legal disputes often contribute to veterans homelessness and joblessness. Balta, a former civil litigator for a Tustin law firm, and Dwight Stirling, a California National Guard attorney, founded the institute in 2014, opening first in a one-room office in Fountain Valley. They took no salary for a year and lived off personal savings. Stirling, 46, who represented service members in the Guard, had been frustrated to see that troops had little access to lawyers after leaving the military. These folks served their country and sacrificed so much, he said. Yet they struggled with legal issues and no one was helping. That was unsatisfactory on a moral level. Unlike criminal cases, where those who cant afford a lawyer are entitled to a public defender, parties in civil cases are on their own. Legal-aid clinics, already underfunded, have little expertise in dealing with veterans, many who are returning from traumatic war experiences and struggling with military-related issues. Balta, 34, an officer with the California State Military Reserve, worked in private practice for five years before joining the Public Law Center, a Santa Ana legal aid group, where she saw a dire need for attorneys with a military background. Most of our clients are homeless or couch surfing, she said. There are military-specific issues causing these honorable men and women to fall into poverty. Often theyre entitled to benefits, but because of mental illness or trauma, they cant access the benefits theyve earned. In less than two years, the institute says it has handled 1,300 cases. Its three paid attorneys the third is a grant-funded UC Irvine law school graduate work in concert with veteran volunteers, law student interns and 56 local lawyers for warriors who donate hours. The firm holds regular clinics at Saddleback College, Irvine Valley College, the Veterans Affairs hospital in Long Beach and a downtown Santa Ana Starbucks. Many veterans dont have cars or money to get to our office, so we go to wherever they are, Balta said. About 130,000 retired service members live in Orange County, the fourth-largest veteran population in the state, and 6,500 more settle in the county each year, according to a recent study by the USC School of Social Work. A survey by the USC researchers found that 61 percent of Orange Countys post-911 veterans reported problems adjusting to civilian life, and 18 percent had experienced homelessness. At Saddleback, about 800 ex-military students are enrolled with GI benefits in any given semester, many of them former combat soldiers once based at Camp Pendleton. Most are strong and doing well, said Dean Terence Nelson, who runs the colleges veterans center. But some are in a dark place, and they need legal assistance. Nelson sees scores of nonprofits who say they help veterans, and sad to say, very few are effective, he said. But VLI is a go-to player. It goes beyond legal help and collaborates with a large network to deal with crises. Recently, Nelson got a call on a Friday afternoon. A veteran with PTSD was being evicted, he said. He had lost part of his educational benefits because of academic problems. Antoinette got his rent paid, and kept a roof over his head. Jesus Pantoja, 27, a student who served four years in the Marines, had a less dire matter for Balta. A truck had backed into his motorcycle. He had photos and a police report. But he didnt know how to recover the cost of the repairs. Well help you send a demand letter to the trucks owner, Balta told him. Well give him 14 days to respond. If he doesnt, we file a case in small-claims court. You have excellent evidence. On a recent morning at VLIs Santa Ana office, Stirlings desk was piled high with legal briefs. One malpractice case, on behalf of a child whose mother died in a military hospital, required a U.S. Supreme Court petition. Another involved a sergeant who was discharged from his unit after reporting misconduct by his superiors. Among the most complex matters Stirling says he has handled: some 60 cases of whats now so common it has an acronym MST, or military sexual trauma. Victims of rape and sexual harassment are often afraid to report the incidents while on active duty. As a result, they are unable to claim disability benefits as veterans. You have a military power structure where men are in control of young women and can tell them what to do, Stirling said. In one VLI case, the 20-year-old victim said she was so traumatized by a 35-year-old assailant that she turned to prescription drugs. After testing positive, she was slapped with a less-than-honorable discharge, rendering her ineligible for education or health benefits. A single MST case can take 500 hours of work to investigate and document, Stirling said. I had a veteran who was assaulted by her sergeant five years ago. She didnt report it. We tracked down friends and co-workers. She was high performer with a vivacious personality who had suddenly withdrawn. In most of these cases, there is a line of demarcation. In the next office, Brian Fazio, a Navy veteran who graduated from Whittier Law School last year, was counseling a former member of the Air Force who had served in Afghanistan. While on active duty, the man had suffered a back injury, but the militarys health system lost his paperwork. Now his doctor was billing him for $25,000. Ive been tossed around for two years, the man said, massaging his thigh. I have jolts of pain in my legs. Fazio, who has volunteered with VLI since its beginning, is a walking encyclopedia on military disability regulations. Its no wonder, since, in 2009 while on active duty, he was diagnosed with cancer. After three relapses, Fazio said, he suffered from PTSD and abused alcohol before finding a mission in helping others. Were fellow veterans, so theres trust here, he said as he typed the details of the former airmans case into a computer. Im going to find out why these bills havent been paid. One VLI client that day came by to express her thanks and volunteer to appear in a video for the firms website. Carla Brame Wilkerson, a 50-year old Marine veteran, lost her home to foreclosure during the recession. Her job paid a few hundred dollars too much to allow access to government housing vouchers, but too little to afford Orange Countys high rents. So she was living in her car, showering at a 24-hour gym and dressing sharply so no one would know she was homeless. When she was laid off, Wilkerson assumed she would get unemployment benefits. But her boss, she said, blocked the benefits. My world was turned upside down, she recalled. I had no resources. A local veterans agency referred her to VLI. And Balta enlisted her brother, Joseph Naddour, a Newport Beach employment lawyer, to take the case on short notice. At a state agency hearing, a former colleague submitted testimony in support of Wilkerson and her unemployment benefits were restored. The judge was tough, Wilkerson said. He read aloud all the companys statements. But my attorney was awesome. I shudder to think what it would have been like to represent myself. Today she is enrolled at Irvine Valley College and is using GI grants to work toward a new goal: becoming an administrative law judge. When I think about what a godsend this was, I get emotional, Wilkerson said, her eyes filling with tears. But I try not to, because Marines arent supposed to be crybabies. When Balta is not juggling clients, much of her time is spent raising money and reaching out to local lawyers for pro bono help. Last year, the firm fielded 2,500 inquiries and handled 865 cases. But scores of potential clients are turned down because of a lack of resources. Next year, Balta hopes to double this years $250,000 budget and hire two more attorneys, an office administrator and someone to help with marketing, grant-writing and event planning. In an election year rife with partisanship, she says: The military is both red and blue. Whether youre a Republican or a Democrat, a pacifist or a warmonger, you can have sympathy for the men and women who joined the military. They dont want a handout. Just a hand up. Contact the writer: mroosevelt@ocregister.com; Twitter @MargotRoosevelt GAVIN Duffy from RTEs Dragonss Den has taken a giant leap and is investing 30,000 in First Steps Forever, a beautiful and affordable way of framing a babys first shoes, created by Roscrea couple Graham and Cassandra Kenny. GAVIN Duffy from RTEs Dragonss Den has taken a giant leap and is investing 30,000 in First Steps Forever, a beautiful and affordable way of framing a babys first shoes, created by Roscrea couple Graham and Cassandra Kenny. First Steps Forever, which was featured on Sundays Dragons Den, is guaranteed Irish, designed and handmade with solid wood & glass in Tipperary. Graham Kenny is a farmer from Co Tipperary who successfully breeds thoroughbred horses, and stocks sheep. Cassandra is from Lucan, Co Dublin and is a qualified Royal Academy of Dance Teacher who runs a ballet school in Birr and Portumna. The couple married in 2001 and have three children Scott (5), Abigail (3) and Brooke (15 months). Graham and Cassandra went into RTEs Dragons Den to ask the Dragons to invest 30,000 in return for 20% share of their company. Gavin Duffy invested the full amount for the percentage offered by Graham and Cassandra, while Nora Casey who loved the product offered the couple assistance through her publishing company, Harmonia. Niall OFarrell said it was the hardest business he had to turn down. Cassandra Kenny said We created First Steps Forever, the first in our unique keepsake range, as a beautiful and inexpensive way of treasuring a babys first shoes creating a lifelong memory. Having three young children ourselves, we hope that parents get as much enjoyment from this product as we have from seeing our own childrens shoes framed. Gavin Duffy, Dragons Den said: Graham and Cassandras idea is brilliant. In times of austerity, it is great to create a product that turns something old and used, like a childs outgrown shoes into a treasured memento for life. First Steps Forever can be ordered online from www.firststepsforever.ie. The frames are also available from 48 stores nationwide. Gifts can be personalised by replacing the text My First Shoes with a childs name, for example, Marys First Shoes. First Steps Forever costs 49 plus 7 p&p within the whole of Ireland and 15 p&p to the UK. In November 2011, PHIL MILNER from Mountmellick was crowned the winner of the LowLow Unislimmer of the Year having lost an amazing 5 stone 1lb. Jackie Lavin presented Phil with a cheque for 2,000 plus yummy goodies from LowLow and beauty products from Clarins. In November 2011, PHIL MILNER from Mountmellick was crowned the winner of the LowLow Unislimmer of the Year having lost an amazing 5 stone 1lb. Jackie Lavin presented Phil with a cheque for 2,000 plus yummy goodies from LowLow and beauty products from Clarins. Phil had always been overweight as a child. At the age of 33 Phil found it difficult to walk up the stairs, being out of breath was not good at such a young age, she knew things had to change. Her friend Margaret told her about her local Unislim Class in Mountmellick. So in April 2010 she joined up and weighed in at 15st 8lbs and decided there and then that this was the last time she would see her weight so high. It has taken Phil 10 months to achieve her goal weight of 10st 6lbs which she says she would not have achieved without the support of her class leader Nicola Kelly, class members and her family. Phil says I love the freedom the Food Maximising Plan has given me with all the free foods. I wanted to be a good role model for my daughters and they love watching me getting dressed up for a night out and wearing my lovely new clothes. I am now more positive, have more energy and more confidence than ever before!! Phil hadnt worked in years but with her new found confidence she applied for a job with Centra which she would never have done before. Phil has an exciting future ahead of her especially with her new title as Winner of the LowLow Unislimmer of the Year. Its also a very busy time for Unislim, in 2011 they successfully launched the Shape Up Ireland campaign in January in partnership with the Irish Daily Mail and the fun and innovative National Compliments Day which had its inaugural launch on January 23, 2011. They also unveiled their new FREE Unislim APP after they were on The Apprentice this October, the Unislim App has had over 30,000 downloads and was No 1 in iTunes. Unislim, who are wholly Irish owned, are celebrating 40 years in business in 2012. To kick start the celebrations they launched a fabulous 7-Day Quick Loss plan in January and the weightloss among members has been outstanding. The New 7 Day Quick Loss plan is an effective, easy and simple way to kick-start your weight loss journey . Designed to make the most of your initial motivational levels, these first 7 days on the Quick Loss plan will give you a positive boost as it makes weight loss easier than ever. Members then follow Unislims new Food Maximizing plan which gives you more flexibility and freedom and is full of FREE foods meaning you need never feel hungry again. Members attend Unislim weekly for a weigh-in, motivational talk and lots of advice and help from their Unislim leader. Classes cost 10 per week and as soon as you reach your personal target weight you can go for FREE. There are also student and OAP discounts available too. Unislim also have an added incentive for all members who join in January by giving them an opportunity to win 1,000. To be in with a chance to win just join your local class and anyone who loses 1 stone in 6 weeks will be entered into the draw. To locate your nearest class call 1850 603020, log on to www.unislim.com, download our free Unislim App available from iTunes and click on your nearest class or ring 1850 603020. The little ol savings and loan in Benson made it through the Great Depression of the 1930s, the S&L crisis of the 1980s and the financial meltdown of the 2000s. Metropolitan Building & Loan Association also survived 94 years without federal deposit insurance a rarity in todays world of finance. But it wont survive the financial habits of young Omahans who would rather spend their money or sock it away in retirement accounts than have passbook savings at Metropolitan Building & Loan. I could see it coming, said Ralph K. Skip Brown Jr., Metropolitans president and successor to his father, Ralph K. Brown Sr., and grandfather, Leroy Brown. The old savers are dying off, Skip said. Their kids come in and pay off the loans, close out the accounts and go to the Bahamas. But he found a way to continue the business, located just south of Bensons bustling Maple Street, although in a new form. Im happy and sad, he said. Sad that its all going to change but happy that it will still be going. This summer, Dundee Bank will take over Metropolitans 200 member accounts and dozen home loans and begin renovating the 1957-vintage office at 2739 N. 61st St. Dundee Bank, 5015 Underwood Ave., also will open a branch in October or November in the reviving Blackstone neighborhood, at 302 S. 38th St., the former McFosters Natural Kind Cafe and, before that, a White Rose Oil Co. gas station. Dundee, Blackstone and Benson three iconic Omaha neighborhoods, said Jeff Royal, president of Dundee Bank, which actually is a branch of Security State Bank of Ansley, Nebraska. By early 2017, Dundee Banks new, full-service Benson branch will reopen with banking products that Metropolitan has never offered, including checking accounts, certificates of deposit, debit cards, commercial loans and that newfangled thing an automatic teller machine. Ive never touched an ATM, Skip Brown said with a touch of pride. In that way, hes like his father and grandfather, who hung onto the old ways of doing business and had vowed to never rely on the federal government to insure the soundness of their financial practices. Ralph Brown Sr. had to appeal to the Nebraska Legislature to keep that FDIC-free status, winning an exemption to a state law in 1984 as long as he promised to inform customers about the lack of deposit insurance every Oct. 1. Its the last state-chartered savings and loan in the state, with or without deposit insurance. Metropolitan was and is a vaunted and respected financial institution, known for its conservative lending policies, said State Banking Director Mark Quandahl. They didnt try to get too big, and they didnt chase big profits. When Quandahls bank examiners test Metropolitans safety and soundness, they review its books literally, because the records are written down, not entered into a computer. Loan documents, for example, are folded into envelopes with photos of each house taped to the front and the borrowers names at the top, typed on one of the offices 1950s typewriters. Customers buy money orders instead of writing checks and have passbooks for their savings accounts, with withdrawals and deposits carefully noted inside. Because its a mutual savings and loan, each depositor is a part owner. If you put $100 in a passbook account, you own one share of stock. Steve Kosiski, who took out his first home loan with Metropolitan in 1981 and has become a friend of Skip Browns, said the sale is a business decision that makes sense for all concerned. I think its a great move for him, Kosiski said. I think its a great move for the bank to hopefully expand and become a better facility. He plans to roll his savings into a Dundee Bank account with deposit insurance but then, he never worried about that as a Metropolitan saver. I felt confident with all the banking theyve done for me, Kosiski said. Brown requires at least a 20 percent down payment on mortgages, and the average loan is about $40,000, with a loan limit well below $100,000. That restricts the neighborhoods where he can finance homes. Home financing, of course, was the reason Metropolitan and other savings and loans were formed. Early in the last century, few banks made home loans because commercial lending was more profitable. Leroy Brown was a founder of Metropolitan in 1922, located then at 24th Street and Ames Avenue. When a bank in the far-off town of Benson failed in the Crash of 1929, Metropolitan opened a branch there, eventually consolidating its offices in its new building in 1957. Skip Brown said Metropolitan keeps its finances sound by lending much less than the properties are worth. It relies on substantial reserves, in-person home appraisals and personal knowledge of borrowers finances. The bank hasnt had a loan turn sour since 1963, and that one was a borrower who stopped making payments because of dementia. Despite the conservative lending philosophy, several years ago Brown began seeing changes that threatened Metropolitans future. Members were aging, and their children werent interested in passbook accounts, even with 1 percent dividends that are higher than interest paid on insured bank savings accounts. Depositors slipped from 350 in 2008 to about 200 today, with $551,000 in their accounts, half as much as a decade ago. Loans dwindled from 75 mortgages totaling $950,000 in 2008 to 12 today, totaling about $500,000. As total savings declined, the amounts that Metropolitan could loan declined, too, so Brown had to turn down some good loan applications. Profits declined, and the downward spiral shows no sign of reversing. Until recently, Bensons downtown district was moribund, with vacant storefronts and signs of neglect. Brown thought that after his father died, he might have to close Metropolitan and turn the building into an office for his law practice, insurance agency and income tax preparation service. (His laptop for those businesses is the only computer in the building.) But now Benson is hopping, he said, becoming a lively hub of restaurants, taverns and other small businesses. Through friends in the industry, Brown made contact with William Brush, president of Security State Bank, who came to the Metropolitan office and liked the location, close to a city parking lot and just steps away from busy Maple Street. Its so retro, and so much kind of a historical small-town feel, with the personality of the Browns, Brush said. Thats a little bit of our roots. It has a good feel. Dundee Banks main office is in a building formerly occupied by a grocery run by Warren Buffetts grandfather, giving it a similar connection to Omahas history, Brush said. Were hoping to get the same good feelings from that little building there in Benson, he said. I could sense the new vibrancy there. A purchase agreement followed, and Metropolitans depositors-owners unanimously approved the sale. Their passbook savings, plus a premium, will be transferred to insured accounts at Dundee Bank. Approval from the Banking Department is pending. Royal is getting bids on the renovation and will work out staffing in time for the reopening. Brown is to remain at the Benson branch, making Dundee Bank part of Bensons commercial community. Were really gratified that Skip is going to stick around, Royal said. The building will get a new roof and new utilities, an entirely new interior and more space, with the front bumped out toward the sidewalk to house a walk-up ATM. Brown, 58, said he figures that he has 30 years worth of work ahead. His grandfather worked on a Monday, fell ill on Tuesday and died on Wednesday at age 84. His father worked until a few months before his death in 2013 at age 88. One thing Skip wont miss: Working every day. Taking a day off is difficult, he said, and a weeks vacation is unheard of, even though he keeps up his hobbies: driving in dirt-track NASCAR races and flying radio-controlled airplanes with sons Nathan, Jacob and Micah. The remodeling will change the old office forever, removing its fish trophies, its wallboard listing of addresses and prices of homes for sale, its placards advertising money orders and legal services, its rack of rubber stamps, its hand-cranked adding machines and its 1950s furniture. The massive Diebold safe carried on a flatbed from 24th and Ames to Benson nearly 60 years ago is embedded in a wall and used to lock up documents at the end of the day. It might be put on display in the new office. After all the changes, Brown will be the depository of Metropolitans history. For a few years, he brought his grandfather to the office, where he would scan the books with a magnifying glass. One day Skip, working as a teller, received a $50 or $100 bill from a customer and stepped away for a few seconds to get a receipt. When he returned, the bill was missing in his grandfathers hand. Never leave money on the counter, Leroy Brown instructed. In 1986, Ralph Sr., sitting at his desk, pulled out a pistol and fired three shots at a would-be holdup man who burst into the office wearing a ski mask and carrying a Luger. Skip chased the man, who dashed out of sight but was arrested the next day after a customer supplied the license plate number of the getaway car. Ralph Sr.s favorite movie was Its a Wonderful Life, a 1946 classic about a small-town building and loan run by George Bailey, played by actor Jimmy Stewart. Ralph Sr. could imitate actor Lionel Barrymore, who played the villainous banker Henry Potter, but he identified with Bailey and even had a George Bailey doll, given to him by a customer. When Dundee Bank puts its FDIC decal on the remodeled office window, Skip Brown expects to hear his father stirring in his grave. But the alternative was simply closing. He knew something was going to happen, but he didnt want to change anything, Brown said. He wanted to stay the course. Its been a wonderful life. Im glad we can keep it going. Now were going to have all those bank services right here. And he might even try out the ATM. * * * * * No federal deposit insurance makes Benson institution a rarity Bensons Metropolitan Building & Loan Association is a rare but not unique example of a financial institution that takes deposits and makes loans but doesnt have federal deposit insurance. There are some others that operate that way, but only a few, said James Kurtzke, a spokesman for the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. Its rare. State-chartered financial institutions are supervised by state bank regulators, who may allow operations without federal deposit insurance if allowed under state law. As in Nebraska, state officials would require an institution to notify its customers that deposits are not insured. Nebraska Banking Director Mark Quandahl said all banks and credit unions in the state carry federal deposit insurance. Metropolitan is Nebraskas only state-chartered savings and loan. The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which supervises federal thrift institutions, said all its members carry Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. coverage. The FDIC covers all state- and federal-chartered banks. The National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund insures all credit union deposits. Asthika Potuhera had to face facts: His son wasnt that interested in playing sports. To keep the boy fit, Potuhera and his wife, Durga, bought a trampoline. They told their son, Tharein, to spend some time on it. He did. He climbed on with a handful of books and started reading. They got mad at me, Tharein said. But after a while they just let me do it. Thareins love of literature and his powerful memory will be assets this week as he competes for spelling superstardom at the 89th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. In March, the eighth-grader from St. Wenceslaus Catholic School in Omaha correctly spelled the word murmuration to win the Midwest Spelling Bee. The win advanced him to the Scripps bee in National Harbor, Maryland, where he will represent Nebraska and western Iowa. The bee will feature 285 spellers from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., U.S. Virgin Islands, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Japan, Jamaica, Guam, Ghana, Canada, Bahamas, American Samoa and military schools in Europe. The bee contestants must be 15 years old or younger and have not passed beyond eighth grade. The kids at the national competition represent the best of about 11 million spellers who started the process at their local bees. The bee begins Tuesday with preliminaries, when all contestants take a multiple-choice spelling and vocabulary test. Preliminaries continue Wednesday with two oral spelling rounds onstage. Based on scores in the preliminaries, the field will be whittled to no more than 50 spellers who advance to the finals Thursday. Once they are narrowed to a dozen or so spellers, those kids will compete in the final nerve-wracking rounds televised Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Tharein said his passion for reading originated with his mother reading books to him. In later years, he got in trouble for reading in class when he should have been paying attention, he said. His favorite book is Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier. The book is about a blind boy who steals magic eyes with the power to transport him on a dangerous adventure. Thareins second-favorite book is one he authored, Mr. Custoss Book, the first in a series hes writing called Tome Riders. Initially, he attended Aldrich Elementary School in Millard, where, according to his father, he became a linguist and became entrenched in history. Tharein admits hes kind of conceited about his vocabulary. In elementary school, students would come to him when they needed a word spelled. Teachers sought his help on occasion, too, he said. To prep for the bee, hes been studying word lists. Hes also been reading the dictionary. Im actually reading through Websters Third New International Dictionary Unabridged, which is what they use at the bee, he said. That way I dont miss a word. Im on the letter T now, but its almost the end of May. Asthika Potuhera said his son wouldnt be heading to the national bee if not for the positive learning environment at St. Wenceslaus. Teachers there are good at identifying a childs assets and encouraging them to develop them, he said. The greatness came out at St. Wenceslaus, he said. Tharein said his classmates at St. Wenceslaus are nice and supportive, and teachers and administrators have been helpful and accommodating. I wish this school went up to high school so I could have four more years at St. Wenceslaus, he said. He plans to attend Mount Michael Benedictine High School next year. As for his future, Tharein said he would like to attend Harvard University and become a criminal defense attorney. He also said he wouldnt mind being a politician a good one without an agenda or the CEO of Union Pacific. He loves trains. He knows hes lucky to be heading to the bee, that a letter out of place in local competitions would have put someone else in his place. He said hes going there to win. Lets just say, if I wasnt going there to win, I would be a big disappointment to everyone who came out below me and everyone at St. Wenceslaus, he said. Im going to give it my shot. Twice in the history of the bee did the national champions come from the Midwest Spelling Bee: Virginia Hogan in 1929 and Jennifer Reinke in 1967. Hogans winning word was asceticism. Reinke became top dog by correctly spelling Chihuahua. The Omaha World-Herald is sponsoring Thareins trip to the national bee. Contact the writer: 402-444-1077, joe.dejka@owh.com State Sen. Carol Blood is working to do something no Democrat has done in Nebraska in more than 20 years: win a gubernatorial election. Blood says she has the experience needed to lead the state. Indian Ships on deployment to South China and North West Pacific News oi-Lisa By Lisa In a demonstration of its operational reach and commitment to India's 'Act East' policy, the Indian Navy's Eastern Fleet sailed out recently, on a two and a half month long operational deployment to the South China and North West Pacific. During this overseas deployment, the ships of Eastern Fleet will make port calls at Cam Rahn Bay (Vietnam), Subic Bay (Philippines), Sasebo (Japan), Busan (South Korea), Vladivostok (Russia) and Port Klang (Malaysia). East'n Fleet off to S China Sea&NW Pacific. Visits to Cam Rahn Bay,Subic Bay, Sasebo, Busan,Vladivostok&Port Klang. DPR (@SpokespersonMoD) May 19, 2016 Images of Eastern Fleet which has left for South China Sea and North West Pacific. pic.twitter.com/DtqwZaeOwI DPR (@SpokespersonMoD) May 19, 2016 Indigenously built guided missile stealth frigates, IN Ships Satpura and Sahyadri, INS Shakti, a sophisticated fleet support ship, and INS Kirch an indigenous guided missile corvette are participating in this deployment. The visits to each port will last four days and are aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and enhancing inter-operability between the navies. During the stay in harbour, various activities such as official calls and professional interaction between naval personnel of both the nations have been planned. PASSEX has also been planned at sea with the host navies. In addition to showing the Flag in this region of vital strategic importance to India, these ships will also participate in MALABAR-16, a maritime exercise with the US Navy and JMSDF. INS Karmuk in Indonesia On a similar purpose INS Karmuk attended closing ceremony of 27th Ind - Indo CORPAT at Indonesia. The closing ceremony of 27TH India-Indonesian CORPAT (Coordinated Patrol) was held from 16-19 May 16. Indian Naval Ship Karmuk entered Belawan harbour (Indonesia) on 16th of May 2016 to participate in the closing ceremony. The ship was escorted by Indonesia Navy ship KRI Imam Bonjol into the harbour. Senior Officials from Indonesia Navy as well as Embassy of India at Indonesia were present to receive the ship. The 27TH edition of the CORPAT was conducted from 29th April to 19th May 2016. The closing ceremony at Belawan saw the two navies conducting interactive session on measures to enhance inter-operability. The senior officer from Indian Navy hosted a reception on board INS Karmuk on 17th May 2016 which was attended by more than 100 dignitaries from various fields. INS Karmuk with Senior Officer embarked departed the Port of Belawan on 19th May 2016 on completion of the event. The event added another chapter in enhancing bilateral co-operation between the two nations in the maritime domain. Left's political existence at stake in Bengal India oi-PTI Kolkata, May 22: With CPI(M)-led Left Front decimated in the Assembly polls in the erstwhile red citadel of West Bengal, a politburo member has acknowledged that its alliance with the Congress went against the party which faces serious questions over its existences if it fails to check the erosion of vote bank. Once invincible CPI(M) led Left Front, which had kept aside its "ideological convictions" to align with its one time foe Congress to oust the Trinamool Congress regime in Bengal, is the "biggest loser" in the polls as its tally dropped from 62 seats in 2011 to just 32 seats in the recently ended Assembly elections. "If we can't check the further erosion of our vote bank and support base then we are ought to face serious questions over the very existence of CPI(M) and Left in Bengal. We have not only failed to gauge the mood and pulse of the people but also to regain our lost strength in last five years," CPI(M) politburo member and former MP Hanan Mollah said. Mollah further said the alliance with the Congress was not accepted by the masses. "We tried to forge an alliance with Congress in order to stop the division of anti-TMC votes. It has rather gone against us. The people didn't accept this alliance. We cannot deny that people have voted for Mamata Banerjee and the TMC in large numbers, irrespective of the fact that there has been issues of unemployment, corruption and lack of industrialisation." "We need to asses what went wrong whether it was our electoral line or alienation with the masses," Mollah said. Mollah's comments can be gauged from the fact that the Left's vote share has dipped by near about 19 per cent since 2009. The CPI(M) led Left Front which has received 43.6 per cent in 2009 Lok Sabha polls received 41 per cent votes in 2011 Assembly polls, when it was ousted from power after 34 years of uninterrupted rule. In 2014 Lok Sabha polls Left Front had received 29 percent votes which was reduced to all time low of 24 percent in 2016. PTI On PMs guidance how Devbhoomi Uttarakhands Temples will be developed India always views war as last resort, but... : PM Modi to armed forces in Kargil PM Modi leaves for Iran India oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, May 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (May 22) left for Iran on a two-day official visit, during which the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to develop the Chabahar port in that Gulf nation will be signed. "PM @narendramodi leaves for Iran in a visit aimed at furthering cooperation and boosting people to people ties," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted. Modi will be accorded an official welcome in Tehran on Monday following which he will hold talks with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani. Connectivity, energy security and bilateral trade are on top of Modi's agenda during his visit which comes a little over a month and a half of his trip to Saui Arabia. The prime minister will also inaugurate an Indian cultural festival in Iran on Monday, (May 22). IANS India always views war as last resort, but... : PM Modi to armed forces in Kargil PM Modi's visit to boost Indian-Iranian cultural ties too India oi-IANS By Ians English New Delhi, May 22: Centuries-old cultural ties between India and Iran are set to get a boost when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the "Cultural Festival of India in Iran" on Monday, May 22 in Tehran. Modi, who left on a two-day visit to Iran on Sunday, will also inaugurate a two-day conference titled "India-Iran Two Great Civilisations: Retrospect-Prospects" on Monday as part of the festival being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in collaboration with the Indian embassy in Tehran, Bonyad-e-Sadi, and Farhangistan-e-Zaban-o-Adab-e-Farsi. The conference would review India's age-old association with Iran, the tradition of cultural exchanges encompassing art, architecture, language, literature and music among others and will also explore synergies for a mutually beneficial and closer partnership ahead, the ICCR said in a statement. A major highlight of the festival's inauguration will be the release by Modi of a Persian manuscript called "Kalila va Dimna" which is a translation of tales from the Panchatantra and the Jataka. "The facsimile edition of the Kalila va Dimna is a tribute to the cultural interflow between India and Iran over millennia, attested by the nexus of the Rig Vedic hymns and Gathas of Zarathushtra, coming down to the reign of Akbar who introduced Persian as the language of administration in India which continued till the middle of the 19th century under the East India Company," said ICCR president Lokesh Chandra. "The Pahlavi adaptation of the Panchatantra was the prime mirror for princes and commoners," he said. ICCR director-general C. Rajasekhar credited Persian with giving "us a new language, Urdu" while "Persian literature influenced our literary and religious movements of the Medieval period". "The Persian style of presentation influenced our stage and drama. Persian terms and style of writing are part of every modern Indian language, from Hindi, Punjabi to Bengali," he said. Rajasekhar, who is already in Tehran preparing for the event, said that the influence of Persian culture permeated India's food habits to performing arts and languages to religious thoughts. "In turn, Indian literature, poets and authors considerably enriched Persian literature. India has given poets like Amir Khusrau, Faizi, Bedil and Ghalib and 'Sabak-e-Hindi' or the 'Indian style' in Persian poetry," he said. There will be a sample of over 100 books in Persian which are publications of those rare manuscripts. "Persian is regarded in India, not as a foreign language, but as a classical Indian language," the ICCR statement said. Besides the conference, there will be an evening of poetry recital and a "jugalbandi" in which India's Nishat Khan will pay the sitar and an Iranian artiste will play the tar, an Iranian stringed instrument. There will also be a display of rare Persian manuscripts and miniatures. IANS At least 125 dead after violence at football match in Indonesia Volcano erupts in western Indonesia, killing 6 people International oi-IANS By Ians English Jakarta, May 22: Rescuers have found more bodies after a volcano erupted in western Indonesia, raising the death toll to six, an official said today. Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province blasted volcanic ash as high as 3 kilometres into the sky on Saturday, said National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. He said ash tumbled down the slopes as far as 4.5 kilometers westward into a river. The mountain had been dormant for four centuries before reviving in 2010, killing two people. An eruption in 2014 killed 16 people. All the victims of yesterday's eruption were working on their farms in the village of Gamber, about 4 kilometres away from the slope, or within the danger area. Video images showed dead farm animals covered in dust. Nugroho said soldiers, police, and rescuers from disaster combatting agencies, as well as volunteers and villagers, were searching for more possible victims. Mount Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. AP Community Its now easier than ever to connect and chat with others in your local area. You can connect with your community by asking general questions, give area updates and recommendations and even let your community know about local events that are taking place. 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Eurasia Review 14 Mar 2021 By Roderic K. Butz* The key principles of the laws of war are necessity, distinction, and proportionality in the use of.. Jerusalem Post 15 Feb 2022 Police said there was no information that the suspect was not acting alone. The Forum of APC Chairmen, a coterie of partys paperweights that fear being left o the shelf till 2023, has joined the long list of fora in Nigerias political arena, but unfortunately its effort to get a job at the Senate fell flat out Monday. Sen. President Ahmed Lawan was done with the appointment of his staff and aides weeks ago. So refused to accept the chairmens offer to become his mediator and issue manager when, they hope, he has crisis either with his colleagues or the executive. According to Lawan, when he and others campaigned for elections into the offices of the President of the Senate and Deputy President of the Senate, the party must have seen how loyal and committed senators were. This was clearly different from what happened in 2015, he noted. Therefore, Mr Chairman of chairmen, said Lawan to Abba Dalori who led the opportunists to the Sentae, I dont think I will ever invite you to come and intervene on my behalf when I will have any issue with any senator. The No 3 citizen said he owes his colleagues a lot. Should I disagree with someone, the matter would be resolved among us. The Executive and the Legislature in this respect with the dominance of the APC in the Senate and the APC administration, we have one course, one focus and one direction. Lawan was done with the appointment of his staff and aides weeks ago Post Views: 151 Ask Jay Govardhan what the secret is to the impressive growth of the Kuss Filtration manufacturing plant in Bloomer, and he says it isn't much of a secret. The winning formula is one that is tried and true, stemming from a commitment to quality at every level of the operation. It starts with owners who have made heavy investments in innovative automation equipment year after year, enabling the company to produce a first-class product. But none of it would be possible without the talented employees and a philosophy that gives them autonomy to do their jobs and empowers them to make key decisions in what is best for the company. "We have a point leader program, and those point leaders come together to actually drive the improvement. Management just supports them," said Govardhan, Kuss' plant manager. In short, there is no replacement for giving workers the tools they need to do the best job possible. "We believe that an operator should be treated like a surgeon. That's our motto. We treat them as the centerpiece of our manufacturing process." For these reasons and more, Kuss Filtration was awarded the Business of the Year during the Chippewa County Economic Development Corp. annual meeting Friday at the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Eau Claire. Govardhan accepted the award, along with: Nancy Bronstad, materials manager; Kris Kunsman, operations manager; Pam Abner, quality manager; Brad Flores, HSE manager; and Chelsea Paul, human resources. Kunsman has been with the operation 28 years and Bronstad 26. "Kuss Filtration is leading the way in what we call Industry 4.0," said the county's EDC president and CEO, Charlie Walker. "That is where you integrate computer software into the production. The (EDC) committee recognizes the investment they made in that software and in the employees' training, and the amount of capital they put into that building. Industry 4.0 is the step of the future." A half-century strong Locally, Kuss' Bloomer plant got its start as Nelson Industries 51 years ago. It was acquired by Cummins Inc./Fleetguard in 1998, but its big break came in 2011 when Cummins' light duty filtration operations were sold to Industrial Opportunity Partners, LLC, a private equity investment firm out of Evanston, Ill. That sale included not only the Bloomer manufacturing center and the new company's headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, but its relatively-new manufacturing operations in Brazil and China. Since the 2011 sale, the company has invested heavily in its Bloomer location, to the tune of $1.5 million over the past three years. It also plans to invest another $630,000 in 2016. Why mess with a successful formula? "We are grateful to our president and CEO, Mr. Hasnain Merchant, who has been very supportive in the investment in people and resources we have had in the last three years at the Kuss facility in Bloomer," Govardhan said. "In that time we have significantly improved our delivery, quality and our commitment to our customers." A majority of those customers are in the Upper Midwest: Harley-Davidson, Briggs & Stratton and Kohler Co. in Wisconsin; Polaris in Minnesota; John Deere in Iowa; and Ford, Chrysler and General Motors in Michigan. Nine out of 10 cars in the U.S. and four out of five in Europe contain a Kuss filter, be it of the oil, air or fuel variety. It makes DEF filters for diesel trucks. The company is also the largest filter manufacturer of outdoor power equipment (lawn mowers, snowblowers, ATVs and others) and intake filters in the world, Govardhan said. Not too long ago there was more of a seasonal workflow, with around 80 percent of its business in the outdoor power equipment field. But a steady increase in automotive orders has reconfigured that ratio. Forty percent of the company's filtration filters are produced in Bloomer, primarily air filters and oil filters. Out in front While Kuss Filtration has a rich history, the company has not stood pat as far as how it does business. In today's business world, that is a requirement. "The best part about this plant is we have not stopped on automation and innovation," Govardhan. said. "The things that we used to do five years ago we do differently now. Quite differently." An example of the leading role Kuss is playing was on display at the Smart Manufacturing Summit. During the conference, a question was asked of a room full of 350 business people from across the nation: Who is currently considering collaborative robots? Only one hand was raised. That hand belonged to Govardhan. "We are the first company in Wisconsin to start investing in collaborative robotics. It's a part of robotive manufacturing, where the robot actually works with the people," he explained. A Manufacturing Execution System is being introduced throughout the company, collecting real-time data from all of the equipment on the production floor. Think of it in terms of if your automobile would be in constant contact with a mechanic, who is always on hand to see how all parts of your vehicle are working and when corrective actions need to be taken. "We have all been using sensors for quite some time, but now we are connecting all of the thousands of low-level sensors in the plant to the Internet and helping them talk to each other and have them give us data so we can make objective decisions on a much faster level than we used to do," Govardhan said. "The whole idea of the Internet of Things actually comes alive at Kuss Filtration every day." Not at staff's expense Often automation provides companies with an opportunity to shrink its workforce. That has not been the case in Bloomer, where Kuss has managed to install more efficient equipment and processes without it coming at the expense of its employees. Somehow, in spite of all this new technology, the plant has been hiring at a furious pace for several years. Its workforce has doubled since 2010, and now numbers 215 employees, mostly from Chippewa and Barron counties. When it had difficulty finding enough qualified workers, Kuss collaborated with Chippewa Valley Technical College for training, and has even bought-out temporary workers and brought them into the fold. An ergonomic and occupational therapist makes weekly visits to the plant, with no appointments needed, providing an indication of how the staff is doing health-wise. Kuss Filtration also employs a wellness program and offers incentives to employees, and encourages volunteer efforts in the community. Govardhan credited a system where employee feedback is encouraged to help the company target where investment is needed. "People drive the projects up to the management, rather than the management thinking maybe I need to do this. In the last 2 1/2 years since I've been with the company we've completely scrambled the management thinking on projects," he said. It all adds up to a formula that's working well for Kuss Filtration. A tragic incident was averted at the domestic wing of Lagos airport as an Air Peace airplane crash landed. A survivor who narrated how the incident happened, shared the experience saying it was a terrible one. Today Was a confirmation of His annointing upon my life. For the 2nd time this year, I had near death experience. First na Okada, now na Plane ???? . As we arrived Lagos on @flyairpeace , the pilot (she was a woman, I was so proud) announced that we will be landing at international tarmac because of visibility issues. The sleep wey bin dey my eyes, auto cleared.?????? Some minutes later, seems the plane started nose diving on a fast track. And she in her expertise applied control. Then Next It picked up a speed and bang!!! bang!!!!!!??? We dropped from the sky to the hard ground. And the ceiling of the plan dropped. Children crying. People screaming Blood of Jesus! Some screaming my Mummy. It was hard! My life flashed before me.?????? Then the pilot informed that she cant estimate the damage, however, that the plane lost its both tyres. That she had signaled for an evacuation. She kept working hard, though unsuccessfully, to calm agitated? They said they are awaiting tow truck to tow us from international tarmac to local ?????? I got my bag, had my inhaler handy And we awaited emergency rescue. TheY came 52 MINUTES Later!????? (Nigerias emergency response time) We for don burn finish if not for God! . . . . Praise God for Us He averted what could have been a tragic plane crash. President Muhammadu Buhari Reinforcing failure is trying to solve a problem with the same washed-out tools, methods and live-ware. A president is as good as his cabinet; this is the reason competence and character, and not political value, must take precedence over every other item in a detailing list. Just like in the 2015 appointments, when a pathos-inducing denouement settled in after six months of suspense and wearisome wait, the recent appointments are a reprise of the ennui. I had exorbitant expectations for change. Perhaps, it is too early to run a judgement report, but why did the president have to wait until 55 days after his inauguration and five months after his re-election to duplicate the ordinary? Are these players 43 of them the best this administration can offer? One of the brags of the Buhari presidency is fighting corruption and punishing looters, but on the ministerial list are the names of two former governors with the sticky grime of allegations of corruption. Is the government now casting off its pretensions of fighting corruption? What happened to the fanfaronade of only credible people will make it into the cabinet? However, the appointments are not barren of a few Nigerians with good public service records like Sunday Dare, executive commissioner of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Sharon Ikeazor, executive secretary of PTAD. I had expected more persons of similar plume and pluck to be appointed, but we live in a country where cronyism politics blights the selection of credible alternatives. And really, on what grounds were Abubakar Malami, former minister of justice, and Mohammed Bello, former minister of the FCT, reappointed? It is startling. Malami, as attorney-general of the federation, raked in more controversies than achievements. This is a chief legal officer, who defended the governments flagrant repudiation of court orders; who reinstated the EFCC hunted ex-pension chief, Abubakar Maina; influenced his promotion and ordered the payment of his entire salary. He is also the law officer with questions to answer over the payment of $17 million to two lawyers who performed an already completed task in the return of $321 Abacha loot. As for Bello, his incompetence, lethargy and obfuscation reek in the dark alleys and deadly streets of Abuja; in the heaps of garbage; in the mushrooms of uncompleted projects; in the potholes and in the vicious one-chance robbery operations in the city. Also, the president, in the time of change, pruned the number of ministerial offices from 42 to 36. In an interview with Channels TV and NTA in New Delhi, India, in October 2015, shortly after the release of the names of his ministers, President Buhari said with the feistiness of an army general that his government could not pay 42 ministers; hence, his decision to prune the number. He said: There used to be 42 ministers, but I think we can barely keep half of that now because we cannot afford it. We are reducing the number of ministries because we cant afford to pay. Where is the money? Can the government now afford 43 ministers? Is the economy not worse off today than it was in 2015? So, where is the money? What has changed? Will expanding the cabinet result in increased productivity? Is reducing the cost of governance no longer feasible? Is this a special arrangement for the boys so as to ensure that the cake goes around in this last trip? As I said in a previous essay, Buhari should have imagined himself the CEO of a blue-chip company and understand that competence and character are ultimate and that the comprehensive appointment of career politicians as he did in the time of change will not take us to the Next Level. Is there still hope? Written by Fredrick Nwabufo @FredrickNwabufo Breast Cancer Awareness (Image by flickr commons) Details DMCA I am sure my sister would be happy that her cause is being addressed and she is remembered well. Four years ago my beautiful and kind older sister Bimala Budhathoki was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer and died after a courageous battle against it on Jan 2016. She was a great woman and very beautiful. Bimala also played a telefilm with a famous actor when she was young. She had a small role in the telefilm). I loved my sister very much, and will miss her every day. Due to the sudden demise of my elder sister, suffering from breast cancer I am in terrible pain. This is such a tragic moment. What I have learned through this very difficult life, is love, forgiveness and compassion. My whole life I have been taking care of my sister and others. This, has been my painful time, painful life, and I have learned to be far more compassionate. May her soul rest in peace! I think, she is in a better place where she will never have to suffer the pain. May God give me strength this Media for Freedom is the news, articles and views website. This e-magazine is to promote the free flow of information, and develop better understanding of different issues. We believe, media to be fair, accurate and must present all points of view. Freedom for Media was founded with a strong belief to educate people on democracy, human rights, freedom, women development, through dissemination of information. Its activities support Peace, Public health, Democracy, Freedom, Human rights, Women/Children, development in societies undergoing crisis and changes. It was founded in 2007 by Kamala Sarup Budhathoki, a story writer/journalist. Media for Freedom also It organizes interactions, talks, seminars and conferences on important issues. Media for Freedom is the internet e-magazine for freedom, democracy, anti-terrorism, literature, women rights, public health, peace and empowerment. I am sure Media for Freedom e-magazine will bring about some strong outcomes. These are the topics that we have been addressing and writing on for a long time. In addition, some of the organization's activities are aimed at improving security and respect for journalists. Media for Freedom also carries some of the best online news and analysis. Media monitoring is an on-going activity of our magazine. The objective of this activity is to ensure that media devotes enough attention to issues that are important to the public. You can find Media for Freedom here . My guest today is Mark Karlin, editor of Buzzflash at TruthOut. Welcome back to OpEdNews, Mark. Joan Brunwasser: Let's discuss your recent piece: Hillary Clinton Hints Her Husband, Ardent Advocate of Trade Pacts, Might Be Her Jobs Czar [5.6.16]. Why is this a bad idea? Shouldn't we be taking advantage of the fact that Hillary's significant other is a former president himself and has so much experience to bring to the table? Mark Karlin: In this particular case, the irony is that she wants to appoint a person, Bill Clinton, who signed NAFTA and championed free trade. By the time he left office, the closing of factories in the US and hemorrhaging of jobs to lower-cost overseas settings was just beginning. Bill and Hillary both were strong advocates of the free trade agreements enacted under President George W. Bush that accelerated the flight of US manufacturing overseas. It's kind of like suggesting that the person who opened up the barn door and let all the horses out - arguing that it would be good for the farm - is supremely qualified to round them up and return them to the barn after they have already fled to distant lands. JB: Speaking of bad ideas, what're your thoughts regarding Hillary's pushing of TPP as Secretary of State vs. her born again anti-TPP stance? Is she sincere? MK: In politics, there are elections and then there is governing. The first is geared toward winning elections, and the latter is geared toward ruling. Only should Hillary Clinton become president will we learn whether there is a gap between her newfound progressive promises in many areas, including opposition to the TPP, and her actual convictions. However, there is reason to be skeptical, such as the tone-deaf notion idea concerning her husband as jobs czar. It shows that while she has taking (TAKEN?) positions necessary for barely beating Bernie Sanders, she hasn't shown that she understands the reasons for many of the positions she claims to be taking, including her current opposition to the TPP. Sanders, for instance, can reel off a lengthy list of reasons that mega-trade deals are structured by and for corporations and not workers -- and the other reasons that they are not in the best interests of the United States workers. Clinton has not. She just states her alleged turnaround on TPP. Remember, she voted for all of Bushes mega-trade agreements, enthusiastically pushed for the TPP as secretary of state and supported her husband's signing of NAFTA. JB: Do you think that tone-deafness has affected her showing in the primaries? I read somewhere that in the recent West Virginia primary, she didn't win a single county. Is that true? Didn't she win the 2008 West Virginia primary against candidate Obama with well over 60% of the vote? That's quite a turnabout from then to now. MK: The West Virginia primary had more to do with a statement she made some time back that was actually positive about the environment. She basically said coal is going to be phased out. That didn't sit well with economically besieged miners. Her strong showing in 2008 may have, in part, may have been due to racism against Obama. It's also clear that she is a bit more out of touch with working class voters this year. the story that refuses to die (Image by eutimes.net/) Details DMCA JB: How about the brouhaha about Clinton's email? Do you think it's a big deal or just another case of Hillary-bashing? And do you think that anything will blow up on that front, either before or after the Democratic convention in July? MK: What will happen with that investigation by the FBI is unknown. The head of the FBI, James Comey, was a Republican assistant attorney general under John Ashcroft. He has been very vocal and public about proceeding with the investigation. Just the other day, he announced that he would not be pressured (BY?) the presidential campaign schedule. Just as a matter of clarification, I think the mainstream media gets what is the key issue for the FBI wrong. It is not so much whether or not certain emails were classified as it is the issue of the private server in Chappaqua, New York, through which her State Department email was routed. The FBI has given immunity to the man who set up the servers and then served as a State Department information technology employee. I believe that the FBI is trying to establish is there is prosecutable intent to evade government guidelines on transparency, more easily erase emails, avoid FOIA, and make government emails more vulnerable to hacking through a relatively weak firewall. The servers, I believe, are the issue being most seriously investigated and was there clear intent to evade the law in order to make Clinton's government emails, in essence, private property. JB: President Obama is on the record several times essentially pooh-poohing the seriousness of the issue, prior to whatever the FBI and State Department investigations reveal. How does that figure into the mix? His ability to oversee, supervise, control what went on doesn't make him look so good, either. Could that be why the investigations are dragging on? And if there is no official indictment, does that mean that the issue will miraculously go away or should it? Isn't there the whole matter of carelessness and negligence? MK: I am not an attorney, first of all. Second of all, this is a very specialized inside the beltway area of law in relationship to government positions. My personal opinion is that Hillary Clinton did this with the full intention of being better able to erase potentially embarrassing emails at the end of her term as Secretary of State, to avoid FOIA requests that she didn't want in the public domain, and to protect herself politically. If that's the case, then there's the question of whether that is illegal. I don't know the answer to that. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). The big weakness in there being only two viable parties is that financially powerful interests have only two to deal with (i.e. buy). Today, legislators of both major parties -- the Big Two -- spend afternoons milking K Street cash. Since the Bill Clinton Administration forsake working Americans in order to pursue the same corporate money source as the Republicans, the Big Two have proceeded to become ever more alike. The resulting "republicrat" entity has not located in a centrist area, as some theory would have it, but has surged steadily toward the political right like a massive, money-drenched army. As a result, and with all the help a corporate-owned media can muster (as when such as MSNBC is showcased as "leftist"), a true political left has been deeply buried. When Noam Chomsky defines Hillary Clinton as a "moderate Republican", he's not kidding. There seems, in much of the public mind, an assumption that two-party dominance enjoys some kind of legal enforcement. It doesn't. There is nothing in the US Constitution or anywhere else in US law to mandate such a system. Nevertheless, the two major parties have been able to keep alternate parties -- Green, Progressive, Justice, Democratic Socialist, Constitution, Libertarian, etc. -- so at bay as to have them essentially neutered. And the Big Two work to keep it that way. Consider the impact of the Big Two taking control of the "debates" formerly conducted by the League of Women Voters. In 1988, the parties demanded so much control of the debate format as to make the debates "a fraud" and a "hoodwinking of the American public" in the view of the League, which then withdrew its support. The Commission on Presidential Debates now running the debates is a private entity sponsored by corporate money. As a protector of the Big Two from alternate party influence, the Commission is essentially bullet proof. In 2000, Ralph Nader, running for President in the Green Party, was not only barred from the debates but was kept from even entering the auditorium as a spectator. Just four years ago, Green Party candidate for President Jill Stein was not merely barred from the debate. She was arrested, taken to an unpublicized site, and handcuffed to a chair for eight hours in the presence of some thirteen uniformed police. The two-party system is a damned stranglehold keeping a broad range of political views out of the public sphere. As the Republican Party has tried to find a way to counter Donald Trump, and as the Democratic Party has done all it can to favor Clinton and to subvert Sanders, there have been many suggestions that either could conceivably run as an independent or under another party's banner. That could be the best thing to happen in decades. The rise of populist candidates in both major parties at the same time is a rare opportunity to expand the world of political possibilities in the good old USA. Recent days have seen a barrage of demands from both democratic politicians and media figures that Sanders "unite the Democratic Party" by yielding to Clinton, lest he become a spoiler and cause a Trump victory (Actually, polls show Sanders stronger than Clinton against Trump, so who should yield to whom?). This is the Two-Party System struggling to maintain itself. But Bernie Sanders cannot "unite the party" by yielding to Clinton, because there is no room to "come together". Hillary Clinton is the very embodiment of everything Sanders and his supporters despise and stand against. If he were to capitulate to the degree that the Democratic Party hierarchy would deem acceptable, it would be Sanders saying, in essence, that his "revolution" has been a failure. It would be the cruelest of betrayals. * The first Americans DID NOT come over the Bering Strait south, but north from Kasskara, a sunken continent in the Pacific, via Easter Island, South America and Mexico. The Hopi descendants had migrated from the south all the way to "the ice sheet" that extended almost to today's US/Canadian border. The influx of people from the north (the "land bridge") occurred much later. * The current Hopi 'Aasa Clan' is related to a group formerly called the 'Astak', a group of Hopi ancestors the Spanish called the 'Aztec'. *Hopi 'Kachinas' represent actual embodied beings that used technological equipment. The dolls bought as souvenirs today are for children and tourists. According to the Hopi, Kachinas are actual beings who came to Earth in ancient times. After helping the Hopi ancestors survive their continent's submergence and migrate to what's now the Americas, these benefactors left. *Tiwanku (Tiahuanaco) was the first city built by Kachinas in the new South American continent as a home for the refugees of Kasskara--also called 'Lemuria' and 'Mu-Rutas' in India . The Hopis consider Kasskara their original home in the Third World. It's time, perhaps, to rethink some of our cherished paradigms! The original story in this series, which appeared on OpEd News and in Nexus Magazine (Feb/Mar 2016) can be found here: click here Oraibi is the oldest village on the North American continent that has been continuously inhabited since its foundation. Archaeologists have analyzed wood used in constructing Hopi houses and determined the original village was created at about 1150 A.D., which White Bear said is off by thousands of years. Scientists didn't realize that the buildings they analyzed sat atop other villages lying below the current ruins. White Bear explained: "The first village was founded 4.000 years ago. Oraibi was not the first village in this area. The very first one was called Shungopovi and was on the second mesa at the foot of the cliff, below the current village which bears the same name. At some point there was an argument between two brothers regarding a woman. The younger brother, Machito, decided to leave the village and to create his own village, which was called 'Oraibi' (Orayvi) , and it is still called this today. Machito, belonging to the Clan of the Bear and knowing all the traditions of his ancestors, brought to Oraibi something which today represents the most valuable of Hopi possessions--the four sacred boards, which his parents gave to him when he decided to create his village. White Bear explained that several hundred years had elapsed before all the clans that were to come had arrived. Long before the creation of Oraibi, the clans that were to settle there had been selected, and even these selected clans could not come whenever they wished it. "Their Kachinas had to say to them, 'Now it is time for you to go there,' and then they came. It was the last time that the human beings could see their divinities. After that other Kachinas were designated to stay with the clans, but only in a spiritual form and not as a body," White Bear said. "Don't forget it." He said each clan that wished to come to Oraibi had to settle initially within a few miles of the village. Many ruins in the surrounding area served as such provisional sites. After some time the clans could send their representatives to meet the chiefs in order to request permission to permanently settle. They were asked to explain the history of their migrations--where they had gone, what they had done, and whether they had followed the divine laws. Their complete history had to be reported to the leaders of the Clan of the Bear (this clan had authority due to its non-involvement in the destruction of Kasskara). In order to be accepted, however, it was not enough to have simply finished the migration; the clans were also required to specify how they envisioned participating in the ceremonies. "There exists an annual cycle of ceremonies, which is complete only if all the ceremonies of each clan are represented," White Bear said. "Consequently, a clan wanting to settle in Oraibi had to contribute to our cycle with its own ceremony." The first clans to arrive after the Clan of the Bear were the Clan of the Phantoms (Fire Clan), the Clan of the Spider, and the Clan of the Snake. All these clans brought together only represented a small number of inhabitants because only those clans that had lived in accordance with the plan of the Creator were selected. White Bear explained: "Certain clans could not be accepted although they had the same origin as us because they had not finished their migrations. They settled in the surroundings and today are called the pueblos tribes. Of course the word 'pueblo' is of Spanish origin, and we always gave them their true name, as for example Si'os, which are now often called Zuni. Other clans were not accepted for other reasons, particularly the Aasa Clan. Copyrighted Image? DMCA Its members lived a certain time in Chaco Canyon, and then they wished to come here. They showed us their ceremony, but our chiefs said, 'We do not need them.' They recalled the fertile fields somewhere in the South and they returned there. Much later they became the big Aztec people. As I already said the Aasa Clan was called at that time 'Astak', which the Spaniards changed it into 'Aztec.' Some members remained in the local area, and this is why we always have an Aasa Clan here. Several centuries passed before we all were joined together. My mother's clan, the Clan of the Coyotes, arrived last. The Clan of the Coyotes always arrived at the end. It was already the case by leaving Kasskara to come to this continent, and it was the same in Oraibi. That does not suggest that we are slow; it is simply our destiny. It is as a signal, for when the Clan of the Coyotes arrives; it is the end. After that nobody will be accepted any more. It is also the reason why the Kachinas (in the ceremonies) carry a fox tail in the back. When, after the great journey of Sikyatki, we arrived at Oraibi we were once again the last. Nobody else came to Oraibi after us. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). In 1990, a small group of investors offered a resolution at Exxon's annual shareholder's meeting asking that it "develop a company-wide plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions." The company opposed the motion, which won 6% of the vote, on the grounds that "the facts today and the projection of future effects are very unclear." Here's what happened since 1990: we've had all 25 of the hottest years ever measured on our planet. We've lost half of Arctic sea ice. The ocean has become markedly more acidic. In 1997, Father Michael Crosby, a Catholic shareholder activist from Milwaukee, offered a less taxing resolution: perhaps Exxon could merely report on the impact that climate change would have on the company's business? Exxon refused, arguing that there was "great uncertainty" about climate change. The resolution eventually took 4.5% of the vote. Here's what's happened since 1997: we've seen droughts without parallel in California and the Fertile Crescent, the latter helping trigger the war and refugee crisis in Syria. We've seen floods worse than anything since Noah -- so severe that in Pakistan 20 million were forced from their homes In 2015, shareholder activists put forward a variety of resolutions, the most important of which would have set goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Again Exxon opposed them, its CEO informing shareholders that if climate change caused any "inclement weather" humans would "adapt." Here's what's happened since that meeting: we've had 12 straight months of record-busting temperatures; this February and March were the hottest months ever recorded on our earth. We've seen the highest wind speeds ever recorded in the western and southern hemispheres. We've watched the rapid death of vast swaths of coral, as hot oceans triggered by far the largest "bleaching" event ever recorded. Oh, and we learned, from Pulitzer-prize winning journalists, that Exxon knew about climate change in 1981 but continued to fund climate deniers for 27 more years. That while they were telling shareholders that there was too much uncertainty to take action against climate change, they were raising the decks of their facilities and rigs to withstand the sea level rise they knew was coming. That they were funding the architecture of denial that kept a phony debate alive for a quarter century. With that as the backdrop, we approach the next Exxon annual meeting at the end of the month. Once again environmentalists are presenting the same resolutions, in a kind of rite of spring that's likely to have the usual outcome. Some are doing it sincerely -- religious activists, many of them, who have shown how shareholder activism can work wonders in other industries. But against the Exxons of the world they've gotten precisely nowhere. And others -- the comptroller of the state of New York, for instance -- are going through this charade because they've been pressured to divest their shares: to join everyone from the University of Hawaii to the city of Copenhagen to the Rockefeller family in a huge campaign that's helped change the dynamic around energy investing. Instead of saying yes and joining in, these officials are trying to greenwash their way out of real action. After an 116-day student sit-in for divestment, MIT officials (likely mindful that David Koch is a life trustee) opted instead for shareholder "engagement." Vermont treasurer Beth Pearce, for instance, has watched the state's legislature ask her to divest. Instead, she's offering another resolution at the annual meeting, like the one she asked for last year. It lost by more than 90%. "We're hoping for a better result this time," she said. "Waste of time" is how New York divestment activist Mark Dunlea characterizes it. And he's right since time is the thing in short supply. Since this kabuki dance started in 1990, CO2 levels in the atmosphere have gone from about 350 parts per million to more than 400. Since this charade began the planet has exited the Holocene, that 10,000 year stretch of benign climatic stability that underwrote the rise of civilizations. There have been 62 failed resolutions at Exxon's annual meetings . If nothing happens this spring, "there is no justifying continued attempts to negotiate with this company," says Vermont activist Austin Davis. And he's right. There's a certain point at which noble failure turns into moral cover -- by continuing this process past the point where any reasonable person can see it's a failure, shareholder "activists" actually help the company they're targeting. Even if somehow one of the handfuls of climate-related resolutions were to win a majority of the shareholders' votes, the resolutions are non-binding; those with the most support merely request annual reports. What more information do shareholders need? Exxon has spent millions on climate policy obstruction, and -- scientist's pleas to the contrary -- plans to burn all of its reserves and keep hunting for more. Lives for Lies (Image by Marcello Rollando) Details DMCA Despite disappeared Dinosaurs, engineers and scientific technology, nature has renewed itself throughout a millennium of mega storms and Climate Injustice. However, because we live in a wounded eco-system, begging to ebb and flow with humanity, we need revelation: whether weather can be saved from us, only Tellus Mater knows, but let's start with un-electing snowballs from Congress and keeping baby bison out of backseats. Mob-Rule tends to reduce reasonable thought and pervert all our Founding Fathers, Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, The Greatest Generation and The Best and the Brightest lived, and died, to protect, defend and preserve from anti-American plutocracy. Reason or Reality Show Host; Common Sense or Climate Change Denial; Millennials running for Congress or cuddling with devices occupying social media -- to advance to reform, we need evolve from the reality of where we are right now. If we truly burn for renewal, Democrats need be the clarion call to replace our tea stained Congress of corporately compromised conservatives, with Climate aware, university educated and technically savvy Millennials. When MSNBC hosts proclaim in astonishment their disbelief that Republicans are in agreement and Democrats are divided, their memory is historically deprived. Republicans have always anchored America in lock-step to make political points, while Democrats have been our nation's trouble shooters, like making trouble for NRA neo-cons who aren't the least bit troubled by the troubles of 99% of American places of employment, malls, church & movie goers, health clinics or school kids. Indeed, in the age of Robber Barons, the one percent considered it their duty to contribute to, as Scrooge put it, prisons and workhouses. In the same spirit, men bestowed the privilege to vote on women. Still Roe V. Wade is under threat and for Millennials of color, there are now private prisons; for teachers, unions and the mostly white Middle Class -- the need for a second or even third job to make the end times left behind by Bush/Cheney, meet in the reality of angry old men. So let's not be lulled into believing temperatures of Bernie's FCC fund raising Millennials can be put back in the bottle as easily as they were tapped to war on the status-quo. America's returns depend on a united Clinton & Sanders front, to successfully do battle with the billionaire Vegas basement dweller, and the Koch heads of the Indian Wells California club. It will take more than one seventy-four-year-old with a sling shot to rock out Corporatism's Goliath lust for a new world order of global control. Before the 1997 warm salt water ocean currents shifted icebergs and Baby Boomers into the weather extremes of abrupt climate change , I was a student activist -- not burning bras and administration buildings or getting pepper sprayed by low on the human intelligence scale Oakland Campus police , or being shot to death by Nixon's National Guard of young millennials. Though not digitally connected, sometime between LBJ's Tonkin Gulf lies and lying Nixon's Kent State , we Millennials of our day, spoke truth to power -- and with our eyes and minds focused on the faces and points of view of others seeking solutions from different perspectives, we didn't imagine telephoning death threats -- and though too late for those killed during our Vietnam Era, it worked for all except Vietnam War Vets , and only against corporate interests who sent them to die for profit. It is for us, the Baby Boomers to help Millennials save what we lost -- our national essence, international humanity and honorable earthly stewardship -- for claiming Exceptionalism is our story, makes it neither history, nor future. (Article changed on May 22, 2016 at 10:03) This is one of the worst oil spills in Santa Barbara history. Therefore, we, now EcoAlert, prepared this review for what we knew then and what actions we recommended. This could impact some of the indictments revealed this week and perhaps expand the criminal investigation to hold all responsible parties accountable. th . Shortly after the spill we asked about the locations and timelines of the 5 Plains employees who reportedly worked out of EXXONMobil's Las Flores Canyon Facility. We recommended that each of the workers involved provide signed affidavits as to their whereabouts and actions. We emphasized that all correspondence including emails, telephone logs and faxes by the operator in the first 24 hrs. be included in the body of evidence in case criminal action is eventually pursued. We provided an article with, time line from the available information. This went out as a news release on July 7 We argued that, "Plains knew the names and whereabouts of all of their employees during the first few hours of the spill incident. We further claimed that they knew the condition of their little ten miles of pipe. They surveyed it in 2012 and again in 2015, and they made numerous repairs and external inspections. We know it does not take months to pull up these records on a 10-mile stretch of their 18,000 mile pipeline network. So, if they failed to release this information voluntarily, they should have been subpoenaed." We also questioned EXXONMobil's role in creating and responding to the pressure anomalies in the Plains Line 901 pipeline located only a short distance from their temporary storage tanks at the oil treatment center. We pointed out that Plains owned only ten miles of pipeline in the Refugio area, the rest of pipeline upstream from the spill is owned by EXXONMobil, who also controlled the offshore platforms where the oil originated. Secondly, we criticized the function of the Unified Command in providing explanations and public relations for Plains actions which might have been criminal. We pointed this out at the time. This has been borne out by the 46 count indictment against Plains and their Environmental and Regulatory Compliance officer. One year ago we recommended alternatives to the way spills and other similar disasters be handled. We were right and strongly suggest our proposal be adopted. Furthermore, we expressed concern for the health of clean-up workers and recommended a list of names and contacts for everyone who was involved with clean-up or remediation be obtained. Nothing has been done about this. At the time, we sent information on the symptoms of petroleum poisoning to the Santa Barbara County Medical Society, asking they distribute the information, by email, to their members. The information supplied was based on the BP Gulf Spill and supplied by Science Corp. It was prepared by Michael R. Harbut, MD ,Professor, Clinical Medicine Director, Environmental Cancer Initiative, Chief, Center for Occupational & Environmental Medicine. Petroleum poisoning follows patterns. We wanted local physicians to know what to look for. Finally, we recommended 21st century technologies (like drones and modeling) to monitor and track the initial stages of the spill dispersal. We had supplied some of these for the first hours after the Refugio Spill. Few of these recommendations have been implemented so far, but it is not yet too late. The Attorney General can still subpoena all communications between Plains and EXXONMobil in the region within 24 hours of the spill in the region. The Unified Command can be pressured to release all of its monitoring and modeling data of the spill and its associated air and water pollution dispersal. The health department still needs to collect medical histories on all cleanup workers who are potential victims. Ultimately, the entire spill response bureaucracy needs to be updated with the latest technologies and modernized with geospatial real-time assessment and decision making. Grounds existed for criminal indictments immediately after the spill. Essential upgrades and improvements for all of their facilities, including refineries, are long over due, as we have witnessed in California and across our country. ( Graph from our article We emphasize, ExxonMobil should also be charged. The best way to protect innocent people and minimize the environmental impacts on the ecosystem is to ensure those who ignore the obligation to carry out maintenance and deliberately but people and the environment at risk are held accountable to the full extend of the law, paying reparations which make the victims whole. To paraphrase the words of that Scottish master Robert Burns, the best laid plans of mice, men -- and women -- go often astray, or "gang aft agley," as they say in the Highlands. No one knows this better than Hillary Rodham Clinton. Twice now, the flight of her presidential aspirations has been forced to circle the airport as other contenders put up an unexpected fight: In 2008, Barack Obama emerged to grab the Democratic nomination away and this year, although all signs point to her finally grabbing the brass ring, unexpected and powerful progressive resistance came from the mighty wind of the Bernie Sanders campaign. Certainly, Hillary Clinton is angered by all of this, but the one seemingly more aggrieved -- if public comments and private actions are any indication -- is Democratic National Committee chair and Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Hillary surrogate who takes umbrage like ordinary folks pop their vitamins in the morning. As we recently wrote , "She embodies the tactics that have eroded the ability of Democrats to once again be the party of the working class. As Democratic National Committee chair she has opened the floodgates for Big Money, brought lobbyists into the inner circle and oiled all the moving parts of the revolving door that twirls between government service and cushy jobs in the world of corporate influence." And that ain't all. As a member of Congress, particularly egregious has been her support of the payday loan business, defying new regulations from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that would rein in an industry that soaks desperate borrowers. As President Obama said, "While payday loans might seem like easy money, folks often end up trapped in a cycle of debt." In fact, according to an article by Bethany McLean in the May issue of The Atlantic , "After studying millions of payday loans, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that 67 percent went to borrowers with seven or more transactions a year, and the majority of borrowers paid more in fees than the amount of their initial loan." A recent editorial in the Orlando Sentinel notes that 7 percent of Florida's population "must resort to this predatory form of small-dollar credit -- nearly the highest rate in the nation." What's more, "Based on a 14-day loan term, the typical payday loan ... had an annual percentage rate of 278 percent. Many lenders advertise rates of more than 300 percent." Let us repeat that slowly... 300 percent! So why has Wasserman Schultz been so opposed to the CFPB's proposed rules? She has said, "Payday lending is unfortunately a necessary component of how people get access to capital, [people] that are the working poor." But maybe it has something more to do with the $2.5 million or so the payday loan industry has donated to Florida politicians from both parties since 2009. That's according to a new report by the liberal group Allied Progress . More than $50,000 of that cash has gone to Rep. Wasserman Schultz. But we digress. It's the skullduggery going on within the Democratic Party establishment that's our current concern and as we wrote in March , Rep. Wasserman Schultz "has played games with the party's voter database , been accused of restricting the number of Democratic candidate debates and scheduling them at odd days and times to favor Hillary Clinton, and recently told CNN's Jake Tapper that superdelegates -- strongly establishment and pro-Clinton -- are necessary at the party's convention so deserving incumbent officials and party leaders don't have to run for delegate slots 'against grassroots activists.' Let that sink in, but hold your nose against the aroma of entitlement." Now Wasserman Schultz has waded into the controversy over what happened or didn't happen last weekend when Sanders supporters loudly and vehemently objected to the rules at the Nevada State Democratic Convention. In truth, some behaved badly at the event and others made trollish, violent and obscene threats to Democratic state chair Roberta Lange via phone, email and social media. There's no excuse for such aggressive, creepy conduct, and Sanders was quick and direct in apologizing for the behavior of the rowdies and bullies. But there is a double standard at play here. Why, pray tell, shouldn't the peaceful majority of Sanders people be angry at the slow-motion, largely invisible rigging of the political process by Wasserman Schultz and the Clinton machine -- all for the benefit of Secretary Clinton? Reprinted from Counterpunch During the run-up to America's war against Iraq, I told audiences that Bush would certainly win reelection. Some people broke down in tears. That's my job: telling people things they prefer not to hear, especially about the future. Being Cassandra isn't much fun. Because we live in a nation in decline and yielding to incipient fascism, the more I'm right -- i.e., most of the time -- the more I annoy my readers. So please believe me when I say this gives me no pleasure: Donald Trump isn't bluffing when he threatens to deport the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally. Are you undocumented? Prepare to go underground. Are your papers in good standing? Are you a good person? Prepare a hiding place in your home. Dark days are ahead. Do not take comfort in the fact that Trump flip-flops on all sorts of issues. Contrary to his initial, typically strident position on abortion, the master demagogue now says women needn't fear imprisonment if they terminate their pregnancy (unless he changes his mind again). Even his much-ballyhooed Great Wall of Trump along the Mexican border may wind up as half a wall. He does this a lot. But there's no way he'll back away from mass deportations. Why are deportations different? Radical nativism, as defined by this promise to deport illegal immigrants, every single one of them, defined his campaign from the start. It's why he's here. It's why he won. Reneging on deportations would be like Bernie Sanders asking Goldman Sachs for donations or Hillary Clinton changing her gender -- it would betray the raison d'etre of his campaign. He can't back down without losing most of his support. The optics of the biggest forced population movement since those carried out by Hitler and Stalin would be awful. Police kicking down doors. Women and children dragged off in the middle of the night. Neighbors, friends, colleagues, lovers, spouses -- disappeared. Countries of origin would be reluctant to absorb millions of new arrivals, all unemployed, many of them who came to the U.S. as children and thus have no memory of their "home" countries. So the Trump Administration would have to build concentration camps to house them. Because the idea is so outlandish, so fundamentally un-American, it's too much to contemplate seriously, even for journalists. They're in denial. If Trump wins, however -- and it's entirely possible he will -- he will carry out his plan. Legally, there's nothing to it. Trump doesn't need an act of Congress. He doesn't even have to sign an executive order. All he'll have to do to set this outrage in motion is pick up the phone and tell the head of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to do his or her job: enforce the law. Camps cost money. So do more agents. No problem. President Trump can shift his budget priorities in favor of ICE. He's already said he would triple ICE's enforcement division from 5,000 to 15,000 officers. The FBI would have to pitch in. Since he has taken power, Temer has exacerbated the fears of those who regard impeachment as an attack on democracy or even a coup. Unlike Rousseff, he is personally implicated in corruption scandals. He was just fined for election-law violations and faces an eight-year ban on running for any office (including the one into which he was just installed). Polls show only 2 percent of Brazilians would support him in an actual election, while close to 60 percent want him impeached. On Tuesday, I spoke to President Rousseff in the presidential palace for her first interview since being suspended. The 22-minute interview, conducted in Portuguese with English subtitles, is below. Rather than subdued, resigned, and defeated, Rousseff -- who was imprisoned and tortured for three years in the 1970s by the U.S.-supported military dictatorship that ruled the country for 21 years -- is more combative, defiant, and resolute than ever. LAST THURSDAY, BRAZILIAN President Dilma Rousseff was suspended from the presidency when the Senate voted , 55-22, to try her on the impeachment charges, approved by the lower house, involving alleged budgetary maneuvers ("pedaladas") designed to obscure the size of public debt. Although she nominally remains the president and continues to reside in Braslia's presidential palace , her duties are being carried out by her vice president, Michel Temer -- now "interim" President Temer -- and the right-wing, corruption-tainted, all-white-male cabinet he has assembled (due to Brazil's coalition politics, Temer is from a different party than Rousseff). Rousseff's suspension will last up to 180 days as her Senate impeachment trial takes place, at which point she will either be acquitted or (as is widely expected) convicted and permanently removed from her office. [Subscribe to Glenn Greenwald] Glenn Greenwald is a journalist,former constitutional lawyer, and author of four New York Times bestselling books on politics and law. His most recent book, "No Place to Hide," is about the U.S. surveillance state and his experiences reporting on the Snowden documents around the world. His forthcoming book, to be published in April, 2021, is about Brazilian history and current politics, with a focus on his experience in reporting a series of expose's in 2019 and 2020 which exposed high-level corruption by powerful officials in the government of President Jair Bolsonaro, which subsequently attempted to prosecute him for that reporting. Reprinted from Reader Supported News Bernie Sanders is a positive force in the Democratic Party," Nancy Pelosi said during a press briefing in the Capitol. "He has awakened in some people an interest in the political process that wasn't there. He has encouraged young people to channel their interest in public service and community leadership into a political place, because this is where decisions are made that'll affect their future and their lives. And I think that's positive." Nancy Pelosi gets it. Many Democrats also understand what Bernie brings to the table. Some, however, feel threatened. Bernie Sanders is taking the party in a direction the corporatists and "third way" Democrats don't want to go. You see, they think they know better. They think they should be the ones deciding our future, and the people just need to follow their lead. Those days are coming to an end, and the 1% is scared that the people are ready to take their country back. Bernie Sanders is right, the Democratic Party has a choice: open the doors and let the people in or continue to represent the billionaire class. Progressive Democrats understand that the political revolution has come too far to just surrender. The Democratic Party has to earn their support. By taking the fight to the convention, Bernie is keeping the movement going. The movement is not ready to support Hillary Clinton in November. Election day is still six months away. There is plenty time for the Democratic Party to make the Sanders supporters welcome. If Bernie suspended his campaign tomorrow and just went back to work in the Senate it would be like bursting a bubble. The movement he has launched would be devastated. That movement needs to continue, and if the Democrats embrace it they will grow. If they continue to ask for surrender, they will lose an opportunity to build the party. Of course letting the movement in will change the party. That is what the "new" Democrats fear. The end of the third way is near, and the Democratic Party will soon be representing working people again. Click Here to Read Whole Article PRAIRIE FARM Dad, can I borrow the keys? is a question most fathers of teenage children have heard more than a few times. The gas-powered automobile has been around for over a hundred years, and in some of those years the cost of gasoline relative to wages and income has been high. In some cases, very high. But currently we are experiencing a bit of luck with fuel prices having dropped in the last year or so. Most economists would agree that the middle class is benefiting from a reduction in that cost. Mom and dad and that rare teenager who actually puts gas in the family tank have more money to spend on other goods and services. The economy grows when families have more money to spend. When people spend money, jobs are created. Jobs are created because someone has to make the goods or staff the services people are buying. In short, wealth is created when individuals, families, states and nations prosper. It is a simple idea, which raises the question, What public policies can we put into place that will provide people and their families more money to spend? That, my friend, is the intersection of public policy and politics. Of course, not everyone shares the same ideas about how to accomplish this. In the world of creating public policy, political power matters. Political parties are established to gain the power necessary to implement the public policy ideas that bring together the membership of a given party. In the area of building the economy and job creation, there is a distinct difference in approach advocated by the Republican and Democratic parties. That difference has been playing out for a long, long time. In fact, about as long, if not longer, than the invention of the automobile. William Jennings Bryan explained the differences way back in 1896 when he gave his Cross of Gold speech: There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it. There are a couple of public policy decisions currently on the books in Wisconsin that may illustrate the two different approaches. Kathleen Gallagher, a writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, described the Republican approach in a June 2011 article: Aiming to make Wisconsin more attractive to business, Republican lawmakers have proposed reducing the state tax on the production earnings of manufacturers and agricultural businesses to almost nothing by 2016. The tax reductions slashing the rate in annual steps from the current 7.9 percent to 0.4 percent would apply to the production income of the businesses, not to income such as royalties and investments. Another and very different tax credit is one offered directly to wage earners who may qualify for it. The Earned Income Tax Credit is based on earned income. Designed to encourage work, the credit is only available to people who are forced by circumstance to accept work that provides an income not sufficient to make ends meet for their family. This tax refundable tax credit offsets the taxes they pay to the federal and state governments and because its refundable, in many cases where the credit exceeds their income tax liability, the IRS sends a check for the balance. The contest to be the Democratic presidential nominee hit an ugly new low last weekend, when Nevada supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders reportedly threw chairs and made threats against a senior state party official after 64 Sanders delegates were disqualified at the state convention. Sanders said he does not support violence, but there are now worries the partys convention in Philadelphia could face similar incidents. Why cant Hillary Clinton wrap up the nomination? Is the process rigged? Should we worry about political violence? Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk debate the issue. Joel Mathis Is there a way to call off this election? Anything in the Constitution that allows for a deferral, a do-over, a second chance starting again next year, maybe, after everybody in the country has had a chance to take a remedial civics course? No? Well that stinks. This whole election just stinks. As long as the violence and the threats were contained to Trump rallies, we liberals could at least comfort ourselves with a bit of moral superiority: Were not like those guys, right? But the thrown chairs and threats in Nevada last weekend make it difficult to hold the high ground. Weve all forgotten how to do democracy, apparently forgotten that sometimes in a democracy you lose, and that the correct response to losing is to work harder and better at persuading people you have the right ideas. Now the secret to winning is apparently this: Make people afraid of what youll do if they dont join you. This isnt democracy. Its thuggery. And it should be embarrassing to all Americans. Heres a text the chairwoman of the Nevada Democratic Party received from a Sanders supporter this weekend: We know where you live, where you work, where you eat. Where your kids go to school/grandkids. We have everything on you. We are your neighbors, friends, family, etc. And another: Someone will hurt you. And another: May retribution come fully and harshly upon you. I CURSE YOU. Scary, right? And these are just the messages we can print in a family newspaper. Weve been moving steadily toward this moment for at least two decades: George H.W. Bush Ronald Reagans successor is the last president I can remember who wasnt widely depicted as wholly evil by his opponents. Bill Clinton was accused of murder. George W. Bush didnt even win a majority of voters in his first term. Barack Obama is a Kenyan-Muslim, et cetera, et cetera. Weve reached the limits of such rhetoric. Fists and threats and maybe worse are next. Can we step back? Do we even want to? Were about to find out. Ben Boychuk Remember when everyone thought the Republicans were the suicidal party? With the media focused on Donald Trumps incredible rise, few people seemed to notice the Democrats were self-destructing. Heres the truth: Hillary Clinton cannot wrap up her partys nomination because a sizable minority of Democratic primary voters simply doesnt like her. They dont trust her. They believe shes corrupt. That shes part of the moneyed and powerful. That she doesnt really care about them. And theyre right. Trump has already started referring to Clinton as Crooked Hillary. Expect the nickname to stick. Bill and Hillary Clinton have become millionaires many times over by selling access to foreign and domestic corporations through their allegedly charitable foundation. As a result, a federal grand jury is reportedly investigating the foundations activities. Investigators might be interested in the work of Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel. Last week, he released a series of reports alleging the Clinton Foundation has skirted state and federal disclosure laws and has never submitted to a required independent audit. It sure would be nice if somebody got to the bottom of that before November. But even if the Clinton Foundation comes out looking squeaky clean or, at least, not hopelessly corrupt its far from obvious that Clinton can close the deal with voters. Shes an awful politician. How many times has Clinton rebooted her campaign so far? Four? Five? Heres a headline from The New York Times last April: Hillary Clinton Re-emerges, by Design (but Also by Surprise). And heres the Times again, in September: Hillary Clinton to Show More Humor and Heart, Aides Say. And heres a headline from the Hill newspaper in March: Hillary Clinton takes new tack to boost her image. If at first you dont succeed, maybe after the third or fourth time you should stop trying. Many Democrats know the system is rigged. Bernie Sanders was never supposed to come this far. Clinton controls most of the so-called superdelegates top party officials who are free to vote for any candidate they like, regardless of what voters say. When the outcome is predetermined from the start, wouldnt you be angry? How can the Democrats call themselves democrats? To the editor: A veteran whether active duty, retired, National Guard or reserve, man or woman is someone who, at one point in life, wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America, for the amount up to and including my life. I have been a member of the Midland County Veterans Honor Guard for six years. Each year we have averaged over 90 military funerals. The reason for this letter to the editor is because we could have done so many more. For whatever reason, some families do not honor their own veterans with the honors due them for their service to this country. Several times I have been approached by the younger members of families, and asked the question, What did my grandfather, grandmother, uncle or other family member do to deserve this ceremony of military honors? I remember one young man about 10 years old asking me this very question. I felt a great responsibility, but also a great opportunity, to explain to this young man something about his family member he had never realized. I asked him if he knew what freedom meant. I allowed him to explain what that meant to him. Then, I explained to him that all those things he described as freedom he had because of his, in this case, grandfather. I told him that every time he did something that he had described as freedom to remember, and say to himself, I can do this today because of what my grandfather did for me, and this country. I am asking the Midland community to please allow us to honor your loved one with the military honors he or she earned because of their service. Is it raining? We dont care. Is it snowing? We dont care. Is the funeral on the weekend? Again, we dont care! Your loved ones stood for us, and we consider it a great honor to stand for them, and their families. There is no cost to the family. We are fellow veterans, and volunteer our own time and money to continue in our service to each other. All you have to do is let the funeral home know you want the honors performed for your loved one, and we will be there. KENNETH B. BURTCH JR. Midland County Veterans Honor Guard Instead of waking up to an alarm clock Wednesday morning, Bloomer Elementary School Principal Joshua Hartman woke up to his students calling at him from below his rooftop perch. It was unlike any other wake-up Ive had, Hartman said. Each year, the school puts on a fundraiser to raise money toward field trips for the students. This year, students participated in a math-a-thon, collecting pledges for the math problems they solved correctly. The goal is to reach $10,000, and when they meet it, the students give Hartman a choice between two options. This year it was between kissing a pig in front of the entire school or sleeping on the roof of the elementary school. Always an avid camper, Hartman said sleeping on the roof seemed like the obvious choice right away. But he did second-guess himself. When the time came, I was kind of thinking maybe kissing the pig wouldnt have been quite so bad as I thought of laying out there by myself the entire night, Hartman said. Armed with his daughters giant Teddy bear, plenty of blankets the low Tuesday night dipped into the 30s and his trusty tent, Hartman headed to the roof. And when he woke up in the morning, he was pleasantly surprised. Its probably the best nights sleep Ive had in a long time, he said. I slept in much later than I usually do, and I slept very soundly. It was very quiet. If Hartman is presented with a choice between a pig and the roof again next year, now that pig is a severe darkhorse. ... Pedal Pub in the works for city Amy, Dawn and Mike Bye, owners of Bye The Willow in Chippewa Falls, proposed the countys first Pedal Pub for downtown to the Chippewa Falls Committee of Transportation, Construction, Public Safety and Traffic. The proposal offers two guided family-friendly routes through Irvine Park and downtown, as well as two guided alcohol-friendly routes through Canal Street and downtown, with all routes starting and ending at Bye The Willow, 501 N. Main St. Those age 12 and older could participate in the family-friendly routes, with anyone 18 and under supervised by adults. Alcohol-friendly participants would need to be 21 and older. The owners hope it will attract more tourism and business to downtown in a fun, friendly way to get people more familiar with the city. The Chippewa Falls City Council has yet to take action on the proposed Pedal Pub. ... Farmers market relocated The Chippewa Falls Parks Board approved relocating the Farmers Market, which runs from noon to 6 p.m. every Thursday starting June 16 and stretching through mid-October. Due to renovations of the Marsh Rainbow Arch Bridge this summer, Chippewa Falls Main Street wanted to find a new home for the market. The board approved relocating it to the north side of Allen Park, 1 S. Bridge St., at its meeting on Tuesday, May 10. Private well owners at risk In light of the serious water crisis in Flint, Mich., the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism has produced a series of stories, titled Failure at the Faucet, exploring risks to drinking water in Wisconsin. One of the stories pointed out that safe, clean drinking water eludes many state residents, due to lax enforcement, outdated rules and numerous substances, both natural and manmade. Studies show an increasing number of residents using private wells around the state are drinking unsafe levels of nitrate most of it from fertilizer, manure or septic systems which can be fatal to infants and has been linked to birth defects. Private well owners, who number nearly 1.7 million state residents, are not required to test their water, and only 16 percent do so annually, although 47 percent of private wells are estimated to be contaminated by one or more pollutants at levels above health standards, the Center found. Those who have their own private well are being encouraged to test their drinking water for contaminates. According to Sterling Water Culligan, which has three Wisconsin locations including Eau Claire, even previously-tested wells may need to be retested. Some contaminants, such as nitrates, have no taste or smell, and are difficult to detect in water supplies unless properly tested. EDITORS NOTE OWI means operating while intoxicated. DWLS means driving while license suspended. (MC) is for Judge Michael D. Carpenter. (L) is for Magistrate Gerald Ladwig. (SC) is for Circuit Judge Stephen P. Carras. Sentences may vary based on previous offenses committed by the defendant. Some sentencings include other fees imposed by the state. Bay City Matthew Lee Leahy, 26, driving with high blood alcohol content on Dec. 19, 93 days in jail with all but one weekend suspended and credit for one day, $975 fines and costs, nine months probation, attend substance abuse program, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC). Kelly Ann Wegener, 29, impaired driving on Dec. 26, 93 days in jail held in abeyance with credit for one day, $775 fines and costs, three months probation, attend substance abuse program, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC). Beaverton Donald James Harley, 53, second-offense DWLS on March 18, five days in jail with credit for two days, $200 fines and costs (MC). Coleman Martin Loren Allen, 61, DWLS on March 15, $550 fines and costs (L). Eulene Lajean Lewis, 39, no proof of insurance on Feb. 15, $210 fine (MC). Gladwin Dale Leroy Taylor, 55, attempted resisting and obstructing police and drunk and disorderly person on June 22, one day in jail, $500 fines and costs (MC). Hope Devin Demar Dinkins, 37, domestic violence on Dec. 20, 93 days in jail held in abeyance with credit for two days, $600 fines and costs, nine months probation, not to be involved in any threatening, intimidating, violent, aggressive, disorderly or abusive behavior toward any person, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC). Justin Anthony Snyder, 38, marijuana possession on Dec. 8, 45 days in jail with credit for one day, $600 fines and costs (MC). Midland Robert Charles Ballard Jr., 28, Eastlawn Drive, impaired driving on Jan. 14, 93 days in jail held in abeyance with credit for one day, $775 fines and costs, one year probation, attend substance abuse program, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC). Jamie Lee Barker, 29, Clark Road, no license on person on March 14, $250 fines and costs (L). Bradley Michael Brown, 21, East Jack Court, MIP on March 8, 2014, and April 28, 2014, five days in jail with three days held in abeyance and credit for two days, $200 fine (MC). John Wayne Carlton, 43, Jerome Street, no license on May 12, two days in jail with credit for time served, $100 fine (MC). Lindsay Michelle Cole, 30, Kent Court, DWLS on March 21, $300 fines and costs, vehicle immobilized (L). Fernando Maciel Diaz, 32, Dublin Avenue, allowing DWLS on March 19, $250 fines and costs (MC). Lajuane Jermaine Grigsby, 18, Quincy Drive, MIP on Jan. 23, $350 fines and costs, one year probation, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol or be in the company of anyone who does, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars (MC). Jeremy Paul Hubert, 37 Eastlawn Drive, assault and battery on Jan. 20, 93 days in jail held in abeyance with credit for two days, $600 fines and costs, nine months probation, not to be involved in any threatening, intimidating, violent, aggressive, disorderly or abusive behavior toward any person, no contact with the victim, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC). Joe Louis Jackson, 38, Frantz Drive, DWLS on Jan. 28, 15 days in jail with credit for one day, vehicle immobilized (MC). Donald Albert Johnson, 69 Gettysburg Street, allowing DWLS on Feb. 28, $300 fines and costs (MC). Theodore Edward Lambert, 41, South Kellogg Road, domestic violence on Nov. 1, 93 days in jail with all but 30 days suspended and credit for two days, $975 fines and costs, two years probation, not to be involved in any threatening, intimidating, violent, aggressive, disorderly or abusive behavior toward any person, no contact with the victim, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC). Christopher Brian Moore, 52, Eastlawn Drive, attempted third-degree retail fraud on March 2, 46 days in jail held in abeyance with credit for two days, $500 fines and costs, nine months probation, may complete 25 hours of community service in lieu of fines and costs, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars or Kroger, attend counseling as directed (MC). James Samuel Orlando, 20, Joanne Street, allowing DWLS on Feb. 22 and March 12, and MIP on Feb. 22, five weekends in jail, $1,400 fines and costs (MC). Amy Nichole Pauler, 45, Lilly Court, noise violation on March 29, $200 fines and costs (L). Quintara Taylor White, 17, Gerald Court, assault and battery on Jan. 31, 93 days in jail with all but 10 days held in abeyance and credit for two days, $200 costs, $200 restitution, one year probation, attend mental health counseling, not to be involved in any threatening, intimidating, violent, aggressive, disorderly or abusive behavior toward any person, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, take medications as prescribed, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC). Francisco Javier Yanez, 21, Wisconsin Street, DWLS on May 12, 10 days in jail with credit for two days (MC). Mount Pleasant Mark Lewis Campbell, 50, allowing DWLS on Feb. 28, $325 fines and costs (MC). Anthony Milo Halliwill, 19, no license on person on Feb. 16, $200 fines and costs (MC). Victoria Patricia Stoewsand-Kryscio, 22, no license on person on March 12, $250 fines and costs (L). Saginaw Joey Lamonte Butts, 46, DWLS on Jan. 22, 60 days in jail, vehicle immobilized (MC). Alexander Edward Mielke, 26, DWLS on March 15 and March 28, seven days in jail with credit for one day, $200 costs, vehicle immobilized (MC). Simone Wilhelmina Sangster, 26, allowing DWLS on Feb. 29, $350 fines and costs (MC). Christine Marie Stockford, 36, fail to stop at the scene of a traffic crash on May 30, 2015, $200 fines and costs, $2,003.42 restitution (MC). Elsewhere Francis Paul Faunce, 63, Traverse City, marijuana possession on March 22, two days in jail with credit for time served, $125 fines and costs, driver license suspended for six months (MC). Robert Howard Hynes, 55, Plainwell, second-offense OWI on Feb. 20, one year in jail with all but five days suspended and credit for two days, $1,475 fines and costs, two years probation, attend substance abuse program, vehicle immobilized, attend substance abuse program, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC). Jeems Sabah Jamil, 20, Sterling Heights, marijuana possession on March 15, 45 days in jail with credit for one day, $100 fine, driver license suspended for six months (MC). Lester Eugene Myers, 50, Fenton, DWLS on March 19, $400 fines and costs (L). Chainsaw Man Season 1: The anime community is now buzzing about Chainsaw Man. Although the manga has been out for Read more CLINTON Students throughout Clinton High School soon could notice the results of a horticulture class project. If all goes as planned, some of the food served in the school cafeteria will be grown inside the greenhouse after the class tests some of the most unique technology in growing plants. If it works, we'll have cherry tomatoes for the salad bar, said Jamison Holt, the school's FFA advisor and agriculture teacher. They're realizing they can grow their own food. Students will work throughout the summer on a recently installed hydroponic system that is set up to see how plants can grow without using dirt, Holt said. The plants that are held up by rock and clay pebbles receive necessary nutrients from water that is pumped throughout the system, he said. Holt said the system allows for plants to be grown throughout the year, including in fall and winter. We can do more with it, Holt said. It gives them more of an opportunity to use the greenhouse year round. The students in the class enjoy doing what is asked of them and testing new growing methods. I could spend a lot of time in here, sophomore Rose Gehres said. The hydroponic system is a lot easier. All we have to do is flip a switch. Traditionally grown plants require more attention, such as watering every day, sophomore Drew Decker said. That's just a lot of work, Decker said. Decker is among the students looking forward to knowing where the food served in the cafeteria is being grown. The project is an example of how the technology used in the agriculture industry is changing and why the way preparing students needs to evolve, Holt said. Some of the jobs they'll have in 10 years haven't been invented yet, Holt said. Farm Credit Illinois, along with the Clinton FFA Alumni, provided funding that was used to buy equipment for the project, said Sara Foley, a Farm Credit Services sales and service specialist. It's one of the 60 community improvement grants the business provides each year to 4-H clubs and FFA chapters, she said. The project is the latest experiment being done in the greenhouse, which was built in 2009 and named after Rita Riddle, whose family made an initial donation in her memory to the Clinton Community Education Foundation and helped to construct it. Several of her family members, including husband Lorin Riddle and children Craig Riddle, Chris Riddle, Nan Crang and Camill Tedrick, were at the school last week, curious about how students continue to use the greenhouse. Mom loved flowers, and she was a farmer's wife, Crang said. We're happy to see the FFA so active. All of the work being done seems like a fitting tribute, said Ellen Gregg, Farm Credit Services vice president. From everything we've been hearing, she would be thrilled, Gregg said. We're honored to support it. Some of the money used for work in the greenhouse comes from plant sales that are held in the spring, Holt said. The school district contributes to its maintenance and utility costs, he said. It can be expensive to operate, so he said the donations have been useful. It gives us a more robust budget, Holt said. It lets the kids learn. Bloomington-Normal Flat not flat and New Beauty; May 28-July 10, Jan Brandt Gallery, 1106 W. Bell St., Bloomington; works by Daniel Mrva and Britten Traughber; viewing by appointment at janbrandtgallery@gmail.com. Opening reception: 7-9 p.m. May 28. Three Visions Patterns-Shadows-Nature; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat., through May 28, Eaton Gallery, 411 N. Center St., Bloomington; photography by Mary Jo Adams, Ken Chiu amd Ken Kashian. ISU University Galleries; noon-4 p.m. Mon., 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Tue., 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun., Uptown Station, 11 Uptown Circle, Normal; rotating exhibits in three galleries; free; 309-438-8321. Claire Ashley: Cawt, Taut, Hot ... Not; May 21-Sept. 11, ISU University Galleries, see above; two-gallery installation of pneumatic sculptures. Closing reception and Roundabout performance, 5-7 p.m. Sept. 9. IWU Merwin and Wakeley Galleries; school hours, noon-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 1-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun., 7-9 p.m. Tue.; 302 E. Graham St., Bloomington; rotating exhibits; free; 309-556-3391. Richard Hull; through May 27, IWU Merwin Gallery, see above; paintings and drawings. Tolerance of the Unexpected; through May 27, IWU Wakeley Gallery; mixed-media works. McLean County Arts Center; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tue., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat.; 601 N. East St., Bloomington; rotating exhibits, sales, rentals, art classes and lectures; free; 309-829-0011. Bravo Charlie Alpha; through June 11, McLean County Arts Center, see above; paintings by Kevin Goodrich. Emerging Illinois Artists 2016; through June 11, McLean County Arts Center, see above; juried show of 34 works by 20 Illinois university MFA students. The Lay of the Land; through June 10, McLean County Arts Center, see above; paintings by Tony Rio. McLean County Museum of History; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. (until 9 p.m. Tue.), 200 N. Main St., Bloomington; permanent and rotating exhibits; adults $5, seniors $4, students, children under 12 and members free; 309-827-0428. Challenges, Choices and Change: Making a Home; McLean County Museum of History, see above; new permanent exhibit exploring experiences of people from around the world who made McLean County their home. Abraham Lincoln in McLean County; McLean County Museum of History, see above; new permanent exhibit on Lincoln's life in Bloomington. Mary Jungels-Goodyear; 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Thu. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun., through May 31, Normal Public Library Art Gallery, 206 W. College Ave., Normal; prints; 309-452-1757. Prairie Aviation Museum; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thu.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun., 2929 E. Empire St., Bloomington; permanent and rotating exhibits and displays with aerial history themes; adults $5, ages 6-11 $3, 5 and under free; 309-663-7632. Central Illinois U of I Krannert Art Museum; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. (until 9 p.m. Thu. during fall and spring semesters), 2-5 p.m. Sun., 500 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign; paintings, porcelain, historical artifacts, traveling art exhibits; $3 donation suggested; 217-333-1861. Amity Township Museum; 1-3 p.m. first Sun. of month or by appointment, 510 Main St., Cornell; Amity Township Museum; 1-3 p.m. first Sun. of month or by appointment, 510 Main St., Cornell; displays and artifacts relating to history of Cornell and Amity Township; free; 815-358-2973. Eureka College Burgess Hall Art Gallery; 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays and by appointment on weekends, third floor of Burgess Hall, Eureka College, Eureka; rotating exhibits; free; 309-467-6866. Simpkins Military History Museum; 1-5 p.m. Tue., Thu., Sat., or by appointment; 605 E. Cole St., Heyworth; permanent and rotating military history exhibits; free (donations accepted); 309-473-3989. The Vietnam War 50th Anniversary; through Nov. 30, Simpkins Military History Museum, see above. Dickson Mounds Museum; 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, 10956 N. Dickson Mounds Road, Lewistown; displays, special exhibits; free; 309-547-3721. Lincoln Heritage Museum; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 1-4 p.m. Sat., Lincoln Center at Lincoln College, 300 Keokuk St., Lincoln; Lincoln-era items, audio-visual displays, tours, exhibits, more; adults $7, children/tours $4; 217-735-7399. Contemporary Art Center of Peoria; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., Riverfront Arts Center, 305 S.W. Water, Peoria; rotating exhibits in two galleries; free; 309-674-6822. LJ Douglas: Animations and Works on Paper; through June 17, Contemporary Art Center of Peoria, see above. Our Enchanted Earth; through June 24, Contemporary Art Center of Peoria, see above; sculptures by Nikole Cooney. Peoria Art Guild; Foster Arts Center, Harrison and Washington streets, Peoria; rotating exhibits, gift shop; free; 309-637-2787. Peoria Riverfront Museum; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Wed. and Sat., 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thu.-Fri., noon-5 p.m. Sun., downtown riverfront Peoria; permanent and rotating exhibits, planetarium shows, Giant Screen Theater and events; $8-$11; 309-686-7000. Figures of Strength: Artworks by Sculptor Nita Sunderland; through July 10, Peoria Riverfront Museum, see above; 30 works by Peoria artist, including sculptures, prints, drawings and a painting. American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition; through May 30, Peoria Riverfront Museum, see above; touring exhibit featuring 100 Prohibition-era artifacts; $3 in addition to regular museum admission. Museum of the Gilding Arts; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sun., April-Oct., and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Sun., Nov.-March, 217 N. Mill St., Pontiac; displays, history and hands-on exhibits dedicated to the art of gilding and gold beating; free (donations welcome); 815-842-1848. Pontiac Community Art Center; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat.-Sun., 103 W. Madison St., Pontiac; rotating exhibits; 815-844-5831. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sun., 212 N. Sixth St., Springfield; Lincoln-themed exhibits, historical displays, special events, more; adults $12, seniors and students $9, ages 5-15 $5, under 5 free; 217-558-8844. SPRINGFIELD The director of the Illinois Department of Corrections is looking for the state to become a model for inmate mental health care, a task he admits will take years and millions of dollars to complete. In an interview with The Pantagraph, John Baldwin outlined the first steps the department that houses about 47,000 inmates has taken to improve treatment and housing conditions for 11,000 mentally ill prisoners currently under the department's supervision. The massive overhaul of the state's mental health program is detailed in a settlement agreement approved earlier this month by U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mihm. The agreement ends eight years of litigation between inmates and the state. "Our goal is to set the standard," said Baldwin, adding he wants "Illinois to be a national model" in mental health care for its network of prisons that includes about 850 inmates from McLean County. According to cost estimates in the settlement, reaching that goal could take several years and about $30 million in new salaries for additional staffing and $60 million in construction costs to renovate space and build four residential treatment units for seriously mentally ill prisoners. The state has been hiring staff for more than a year to fill mental health positions, a task that is challenging given the competitive health care market. A treatment unit has opened at Dixon Correctional Center and a second one is set to open this month at the Logan Correctional Center for women. Gov. Bruce Rauner is committed to seeing that funding is available for the project, said Baldwin. Training some of it delivered without cost to the state also has started for the department's 11,500 employees, said Baldwin. "A lot of what we do doesn't cost anything," said Baldwin, citing as an example a program that, so far, has seen 3,500 workers complete a two-day basic mental health course provided at no cost by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Twelve employees are receiving training in core correctional practices through the National Institute of Corrections and will go on to train other staff in the future. Jennifer Vollen-Katz, executive director of the John Howard Association, a Chicago group that monitors Illinois prisons and reports its findings, said she is pleased with the priority Baldwin has placed on mental health since he was hired in August. Baldwin, who managed Iowa's only forensic psychiatric hospital during his long career in that state, "asked where the corrections department's psychiatric hospital was when he came here. That shows he understands the importance of it," said Vollen-Katz. Indeed, the lack of hospital-level care for the most seriously mentally ill was a major hurdle in the negotiations between the state and lawyers for the inmates. An estimated 50 inmates held in segregation are in immediate need of hospitalization, according to data cited in the lawsuit. The state's willingness to screen inmates soon after their arrival and provide ongoing and appropriate care will help the state reach its goal to release people back into the community in better shape than when they entered prison, said Vollen-Katz. At a time when the state has little money, the wise use of what's available is critical, she said. "We're using all these resources and not generating a good outcome. The settlement takes a significant step towards Illinois doing better in that regard," said Vollen-Katz. On the issue of re-entry services, Baldwin said a reform measure will link the state's adult and juvenile prison systems with the Department of Health and Human Services. "With this transformation, we will begin to share data with state agencies so that when someone leaves us, that information will follow to the Department of Human Services," he said, adding that connection will allow ex-offenders to continue their mental health services after they return home. He noted that existing prison programs will have to prove their worth in order to continue under the Prove It initiative. Through a research partnership with Southern Illinois University, IDOC will be able to determine if programs are effective in their goals for both staff and inmates. CLINTON The parade of vehicles seized by police from people accused of being part of the area drug trade sold quickly at a recent auction at a Clinton business where buyers come in search of a bargain that can come with a sordid past. Clinton Auto Auctions April 16 sale of almost 500 vehicles, including 75 seized under the states Drug Asset Forfeiture Procedure Act, drew the largest crowd in the companys history more than 1,000 people. Lance Schmid, owner of the auction house, has a contract with the state to sell the vehicles and personal property seized by officers all over the state as part of their drug investigations. Among the high-end bids on April 16 was a 2009 BMW, once owned by a drug dealer, that sold for $22,250, said Schmid. Weve sold an airplane, boats, mobile homes, semis and a lot of personal property, said Schmid, whose drivers travel to all corners of Illinois to pick up vehicles. Bidders also come from all over the state. The first vehicle sold, a sport utility vehicle seized by the Geneseo police department, sold in about 15 seconds for $2,200. The following week, a room of the auction house on Clintons south side was filled with what looked like merchandise at a typical summer garage sale: TVs, bikes, household furniture and tools. Other items not likely to be found at a weekend sale included a table covered with lights commonly used in marijuana operations and expensive jewelry that filled a display case. At an April 30 auction, Justin Kelton and Ryan Millinger, both of Mapleton, looked closely at the merchandise before them. Kelton said he wanted items he could buy for a low price and resell. Millinger had the same goal. "Instead of looking for one way to make a million dollars, I'm looking for a million ways to make a dollar," said Millinger. State law Illinois law allows police to take vehicles, personal property, real estate and other assets, including cash, from people who accumulated their assets through the illegal drug business. Proceeds from the seizures are divided among state and local police agencies involved in the investigation, and the offices of the county states attorney and Illinois Attorney General. For the law enforcement and criminal justice agencies that receive drug asset forfeiture money, the program provides millions of dollars that can be used for training, equipment used in drug enforcement, and drug education and prevention. Ideally, money and assets would be returned to the victims of a crime. But often times with those cases, we cannot identify who the money was stolen from. So, rather than the criminal getting the financial gain from their crime, it goes towards boosting law enforcement, said McLean County States Attorney Jason Chambers. Currently, Chambers office has about $148,000 in asset forfeiture money that has been used to replace computer equipment and pay for training for prosecutors who handle drug-related cases. He expects part of the balance to be spent on records storage related to evidence collected from body cameras in drug cases. A youth program at YWCA McLean County to help prevent bullying, child abuse and neglect and sexual abuse received $1,100 under the program, said Chambers. The majority of more than 200 forfeiture cases filed in McLean County last year involved alleged drug offenses, but state law also allows similar seizures in other criminal cases, including theft, driving under the influence, theft and child pornography. No amount of cash is too small or property too old to be taken by police $1 was taken from one person and the owner and his 1977 Ford Thunderbird were parted in another case. The McLean County Sheriff's Department uses a portion of its funding to support the Juvenile Justice Council's summer jobs program and Recovery Starts Today, a group tied to the McLean County Drug Court program, along with equipment and training. "The best part is these things are being funded by the drug offenders and not the taxpayers," said Sheriff Jon Sandage. Drug test kits and fuel for the vehicle of an Illinois State University Police Department officer assigned to the Task Force 6 drug unit are among the expenses covered with drug forfeiture assets received by the ISU department, said Chief Aaron Woodruff. In Normal, police use the funds to offset the cost of operating the vice unit that includes drug investigations, said Police Chief Rick Bleichner. Bloomington's balance of about $370,000 will help pay for training, vehicles and the department's K-9 unit, said Chief Brendan Heffner. "We use it to the best of our ability within the guidelines that are put on us," said Heffner, noting forfeiture money is "not something we can count on." Bloomington defense lawyer Stephanie Wong, who handled two of the county's biggest forfeiture cases involving drugs and money laundering offenses, is concerned that innocent people may lose their property in the civil cases that she characterizes as "very complex and time consuming" to fight. People must file a claim with a fee and meet court filing deadlines, said Wong. In Wong's 2013 case involving the sale of synthetic marijuana, the county tried to obtain ownership of a Lexington service station where the products were sold. Business owner Kuldeep Catha's conviction was later overturned based upon his lack of knowledge that the merchandise he sold as incense was illegal, and the property was returned to a bank as part of a foreclosure. The county could receive money after the property is sold. In a more recent case that also started with the arrest of two brothers for selling synthetic marijuana, the state sought more than $2 million in cash and property owned by Ghassan Qahwaji and Ghiath Qahwaji. After the two were sentenced to jail for four years for tax fraud and money laundering, Wong and the state reached a deal where the brothers signed over $1.5 million. The family kept a $295,000 house and $770,000, most of which will be used to pay unpaid income tax, said Wong. In Wong's opinion, the state law that allows police departments to receive proceeds from the sale of seized property creates a conflict. "There is a huge financial incentive for law enforcement that gets the money directly," said Wong, adding she would like to see several adjustments to the law, including a transfer of funds to the state's general fund rather than police departments, and a requirement that people be convicted of a crime prior to their property being taken. NORMAL G. Ben Paxton Jr., 88, of Normal, passed away March 5, 2016, at his home. A celebration of Bens life will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church, Normal, with the Rev. Larry Gaylord officiating. Memorial contributions may be made payable to Friends of WGLT and mailed to WGLT, 8910 Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790, or to First Presbyterian Church of Normal, 2000 E. College Ave., Normal, IL 61761. Calvert & Metzler Memorial Home, Bloomington, has been entrusted with the arrangements. Ben was born Aug. 3, 1927, in Harrisburg, Pa., the son of George Benjamin and Mary Canning Paxton. He married Anne Gates on May 30, 1950, in Fulton, Mo. She survives. Also surviving are their four daughters, Cathy (Richard Klyce) Paxton, Mary Paxton, Judy (John) Walker and Amy (Tom) Bower, and five grandchildren, Ben, Josh, Meghan, Erika and Tess. He graduated from Ferndale High School in Michigan, Class of 1945. After high school, he served in the U.S. Navy until 1946 and achieved the grade of seaman first class. His other educational achievements include a bachelor of arts from Maryville College, a master of arts from the University of Tennessee, and he attended the University of Missouri where he worked at a local radio station and put KOMU TV on the air. His other work experiences include his position as an announcer, program director and news director for WMBD, WCOD and WTVR in Richmond, Va., where he was the first TV newscaster. Ben served as an assistant professor at Creighton University from 1957 to 1965, then furthered his tenure at Illinois State University from 1965 to 1990 as an assistant professor. While at Illinois State University, Ben was instrumental in the establishment of WGLT 89.1, leading it through difficult times but always with a vision to the future. He served as general manager from 1966 to 1991. Ben enjoyed theater and performed in several Conklin Players Dinner Theater productions in Eureka. His other interests include sailing in Maine for more than 20 years, building more than 50 doll houses, painting and model railroading. Ben and Anne spent summers at the family cabin on Pike Bay in Minnesota, where he loved to fish. He had traveled to Scandinavia, Greece and Turkey. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Normal and the Golden K Kiwanis. Please view and leave condolences at www.calvertmemorial.com. Workers' rights are on a bit of a roll these days. Not only are $15 minimum-wage increases starting to take hold in top cities across the country, but bills mandating paid sick time are making their way through state legislatures. And top brands like Starbucks and J. Crew are eliminating erratic "on-call" work schedules for their employees. Last week, Illinois threw its own hat into the worker-protection ring by passing the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which, if the governor signs it, will amend several existing laws that previously excluded domestic workers. Far from being an extravagance of the rich, domestic workers are everywhere in homes taking care of children, the elderly or the infirm, or cleaning and performing other work in homes. And because lower-income people increasingly hire them, their own wages can be pitifully small. According to the United Workers Congress, an alliance of restaurant, domestic workers, farmworkers and others toiling in low-wage sectors who advocate for better treatment, at least 1.8 million workers do their labors in American homes. Most of them (95 percent) are female, foreign-born and/or persons of color. And because they are usually excluded from labor law protections, they are often underpaid, have their wages stolen, work in hazardous job settings or are physically abused. The Illinois legislation would ensure that workers who are regularly employed at least eight hours a week in domestic jobs be covered by the state's minimum wage law, the One Day Rest in Seven Act, which requires that employees get at least 24 hours of rest in each calendar week plus a meal period of 20 minutes for every 7.5-hour shift. In addition to other protections offered to most employees in the state, these workers would be covered by the state's Human Rights Act, which protects against sexual harassment. "What's astonishing to me is all the years that these workers have been left out of the most basic protections that most employees take for granted since the (federal) Fair Labor Standards Act was passed 80 years ago," said Melissa Josephs, the director of equal-opportunity policy at Women Employed, a Chicago-based advocacy group. She said Illinois is now the sixth state, in addition to California, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Oregon and New York, to protect domestic workers. "It definitely shows that people are taking this work seriously," Josephs said. "I mean, you ask anyone who does this work and they will attest to the fact that they put in hard hours. But a lot of people who hire others to clean their house or take care of a family member didn't see it as a full-time job. But if you're not doing it yourself, you have to consider it a professional job." Magdalena Zylinska, a housecleaner and board member of Arise Chicago, one of the many groups that came together to press for the legal amendments, explained to me how thorny it can be when you work in someone's home, well out of sight of anyone who can ensure your well-being. "When I came from Poland, I started out working as a live-in caregiver and it was an all-day, seven-day-a-week commitment, and at that point it's not just about money, it's about having some rest, some quality of life," Zylinska said. "The work itself is stressful and demanding, especially if you are taking care of someone. But what if you're being paid $200 a week plus room and board but there's no food in the refrigerator, or no heat? The working conditions can be very poor." The potential for abuse is high especially for women who are the sole providers for their children or for family in a home country, and who may not be fluent in the language or have any resources where they work to ask for help. Zylinska, who owns her own small residential cleaning service, says that she hopes that someday workers like her will have even more protections. "We are all depending on each other," she said. "I need income, so I depend on you. And you depend on me to be there so you can do what you want to do." The people who take care of our homes, kids or our ailing loved ones deserve to get better working conditions. If we entrust them with our families, they're well worth it. In this age of Ferguson, Mo., Black Lives Matter, the Confederate battle flag and other contentious symbols of racial wrongs, grievances and sins, one often hears the lament that too many of us are obsessed with the seemingly intractable problem of race today. Be that as it may, Americans have been preoccupied with matters of race for much of their history a none-too-surprising fact given the stain of slavery woven into the nations fabric from its very beginnings. In 1858 Abraham Lincoln campaigned to unseat U.S. Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, and in the subsequent and now-celebrated debates held across the state that summer and fall, the two men clashed over not only slavery, as one would expect, but also to a surprising degree over the issue of race. I believe that this government of ours was founded on the white basis, Douglas proclaimed in his July 1858 speech on the courthouse square in Bloomington. I believe that it was established by white men, by men of European birth, or descended of European races, for the benefit of white men and their posterity in all time to come. Douglas was the architect of the divisive Kansas-Nebraska Act which, by nullifying the Missouri Compromise of 1820, threatened to extend slavery into northern territories heretofore free. This threat brought Lincoln to the forefront of anti-slavery movement in Illinois. By 1856, two years after passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a national anti-Nebraska movement coalesced into the newly organized Republican Party. Bloomington was not host to one of seven formal Lincoln-Douglas debates, but both men gave lengthy speeches in Bloomington during their epic campaign. Douglas spoke on the courthouse square in downtown Bloomington on July 16, a little more than a month before the first officially recognized debate in Ottawa. He thinks that the Almighty made the negro his equal and his brother, Douglas said of Lincoln. For my part, I do not consider the negro any kin to me, nor to any other white man. The Little Giant, as the short-statured Douglas was known, also put forth the specter of free blacks pouring into Illinois. He (Lincoln) is going to bring negroes here, and give them the right of citizenship, the right of voting, and the right of holding office and sitting on juries; and what else? posited Douglas. Why, he would permit them to marry, would he not? And if he gives them that right, I suppose he will let them marry whom they please, provided they marry their equals. If the divine law declares that the white man is the equal of the negro woman, that they are on a perfect quality, I suppose he admits the right of the negro woman to marry the white man. Lincoln, as was his want, attended Douglas Bloomington speech. Mr. L. held back for a little while, but the crowd finally succeeded in inducing him to come upon the stand, noted The Pantagraph. This meeting, Lincoln told those gathered, was called by the friends of Judge Douglas, and it would be improper for me to address it. Even so, he vowed to return to Bloomington and reply in earnest to the Judge, as Lincoln liked to call his political nemesis. And to his credit he returned on Sept. 4, during a nearly three-week stretch between the second Lincoln-Douglas debate in Freeport and the third one in Jonesboro. Lincolns appearance doubled as a grand Republican Party rally that drew an estimated 7,000 supporters to the courthouse square (if friendly press reports are to be believed). Mr. L. took up Douglas Bloomington speech of July 16th, and remarked that he was now here to fulfill his promise then made, of replying to that speech, reported The Pantagraph of Lincolns opening remarks. In Bloomington, Lincoln quoted at length his monumental "House Divided" speech, which he had delivered less than three months earlier in Springfield. Slavery agitation will not cease until a crisis has been reached and passed, he reiterated. When the public mind rests in the belief that the evil is in a course of ultimate extinction, it will become quiet. Lincoln added that the body and soul of the Republican movement was to keep slavery away from where it does not exist, prodding it ever closer to ultimate extinction. He also responded to Douglas accusation of favoring the equality of the races. In doing so, he quoted from a speech he gave in Peoria four years earlier on this topic. Lincoln used this same tactic quoting from the Peoria speech in the first Lincoln-Douglas debate in Ottawa. Should free blacks be made politically and socially our equals? Lincoln asked. My own feelings will not admit of this; and if mine would, we well know that those of the great mass of white people will not. Whether this feeling accords with justice and sound judgment, is not the sole question, if, indeed, it is any part of it. A universal feeling, whether well or ill-founded, cannot be safely disregarded. With these words Lincoln attempted to carefully balance his anti-slavery beliefs with the profoundly racist attitudes held by many northern voters. Although in this instance he sounded most unlike a believer in racial equality, note the careful use of the phrase if mine would and the conjunction whether, both of which are laced with purposeful ambiguity. On other occasions when discussing racial equality he would slyly employ similar linguistic imprecision to hedge his bets. In spite of such occasional equivocation, Lincoln in 1858 could also approach the explosive issue of race with stunning moral clarity. Let us discard all this quibbling about this man and the other man this race and that race and the other race being inferior, and therefore they must be placed in an inferior position, he said in Chicago on July 10 during a rally kicking off his U.S. Senate campaign. Let us discard all these things, and unite as one people throughout this land, until we shall once more stand up declaring that all men are created equal. Bloomington was an important stage for Lincolns rise in the 1850s as both a political leader and moral voice for the anti-slavery movement. This story is told in the new McLean County Museum of History exhibit Abraham Lincoln in McLean County. This permanent exhibit opened Saturday in the State Farm Gallery on the Museums first floor. UK Paper Industry Says UK Should Remain Within the EU May 17, 2016 (Press Release) - The results of a survey of its Members by the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) indicate very strong support for the UK to remain within the EU: 60% were in favour of staying, 34% felt unable to express a view and 6% were in favour of leaving. (Editor's note: A referendum is being held on Thursday, 23 June to decide whether Britain should leave or remain in the European Union (EU). The EU is an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries.) The industry is largely foreign owned and controlled from head offices located outside of the UK. Paper is internationally traded, as are products derived from the material and even its waste. The industry believes that it is essential that a tariff-free market operates across Europe where common standards prevail. Paper is a capital intensive sector and there is already evidence that projects are not being given the go ahead unless the pay back periods are very short term. Indeed, a vote to leave the EU is likely to result in a very lengthy period of uncertainty which will only increase the likelihood of future investment being deferred or even cancelled. In common with all of the UK's Energy Intensive Industries, Paper is already struggling to remain competitive as a result of high energy and climate change costs a situation that has largely arisen because of UK government policy rather than that of the EU. The industry accepts that the EU itself does need radical reform and it was Europe's Paper Industry which launched a very hard hitting campaign, titled Basta (a Spanish word meaning enough is enough), at the time of the last EU parliamentary elections. Previous Commissions have over legislated, imposing costs on European industries which mean we struggle to remain competitive. The UK needs to be at the forefront of this reform agenda, something that cannot happen if we are no longer members of the club. CPI Director General, David Workman, commented: The views of our Members on this important issue should be taken seriously. The UK's Paper-based industries are an important element of this country's manufacturing base and we are inextricably tied to our neighbours within the EU. To break this tie and enter a lengthy period of uncertainty about our future trading relationship with it could prove to be very damaging indeed to our industry's future prospects. The Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) is the leading trade association representing the UK's Paperbased Industries, comprising recovered paper merchants, paper and board manufacturers and converters, corrugated packaging producers, and makers of soft tissue papers. To learn more about CPI, please visit: www.paper.org.uk. SOURCE: Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) Millions of LinkedIn users were advised to change their passwords earlier this week. The 2012 hack of the profession networking site may be bigger than initially thought following a hacker's attempt to sell login credentials of more than 117 million users. The 2012 LinkedIn Hack Earlier this week, Huffington reported that LinkedIn was hacked, cracking most encrypted passwords of its users. According to Motherboard's Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, a hacker going by the name "Peace" was trying to sell email and passwords for 117 million LinkedIn users stolen in 2012, USA TODAY added. "It appears that more had been taken then, and just posted now," spokesman Hani Durzy said. "We are still determining how many of these are still active and accurate since the data would be about four years old now," Bloomberg reported. In 2012, LinkedIn tried to reset the passwords of everyone that may be affected by the breach, which comes to an estimate of 6.5 million users. With the latest developments, though, LinkedIn realized that the hack had actually affected around 100 million more users than previously believed. Hackers are selling 117 million LinkedIn passwords -- you'll want to change yours to be safe https://t.co/q4rzQzSsXE pic.twitter.com/WapDHIfBY7 CNN (@CNN) May 20, 2016 Protecting Your Account In a blog post on its website, LinkedIn acknowledges the breach and assures everyone that security measures are being done. More so, members of the profession networking site were sent an email saying the same message and advising them to change their passwords. USA Today recommends that social media users should change passwords frequently. It is advised not to use the same passwords for every account. In a breach as massive as this, hackers may have a database of all email addresses and passwords, which could turn out to be the same in all of your accounts. Also, be aware of phishing emails, often appearing to be an announcement of a big hack so users can click the dangerous links. Lastly, use second-authentication for greater security. This means that your account is linked to your cell phone and if someone attempts to change your passwords or log in to your account, a second authentication is needed. A numerical code is usually sent to your phone. Do you want to build more secure passwords? Then, check out this digital life hack: A mother requested an appeals court to keep her two-year-old son's life support even after doctors declared him brain dead. The woman believes that her toddler, Israel Stinson, is still alive and to her gratefulness, the Court granted her wish. Jonee Fonseca, mother of the toddler, filed a court appeal to request Kaiser Permanente Medical Center to keep Israel on life support until she finds a hospital that will accept her son. This was after her request for life support extension was initially turned down but the Judge gave her the chance to appeal until Friday. Her legal counsel, working pro-bono, said that Jonee Fonseca has the right to decide on matters pertaining to her son's health care. They state that California's current determining process for brain death violates this right of Fonseca's (via The Sacramento Bee). "Every day is a gift, and both we and Israel's family are going to make the most of it by presenting the strongest possible legal arguments and at the same time seeking a better placement where we can have the opportunity to improve and thrive. As long as Israel continues to fight for life, we will be fighting for him," the counsel said in an e-mail to The Sacramento Bee. On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the mother's appeal. It issued an order that required Kaiser Permanente Medical Center to further extend life support until required paperwork of the baby's transfer is finalized. According to Jonee Fonseca, she has been looking for another facility to attend to her toddler. As per CBS News, Jonee claimed that she felt her son, Israel respond to her touch after the toddler was declared brain dead because of an asthma attack that led to a cardiac arrest last April 1. Kaiser Permanente Medical Center maintained, however, that Jonee's son's situation would not improve anymore. The hospital told the court that Israel died a "permanent, irreversible and total cessation of all brain functions." It further said ample time has been given for the Israel's parents to find another facility but they still have not reported any update (via CBS News). Still, the hospital honors the decision of the court and would help the family with Israel's transfer. It won't cut life support of the toddler until a replacement hospital has been located. As per Daily Mail, the same situation happened to Jahi McMath and her family. Jahi suffered from cardiac arrest after undergoing a sleep apnea surgery in 2013. A year after she was declared brain-dead by doctors, her family still refused to cut her life support, believing her heartbeat indicates life. Do you think that when a patient is already declared brain-dead that there is still a possibility that he/she is still alive? Share your thoughts below on the Comments section! In an effort to give users a phone that they can customize, Google is set to sell a modular type of mobile phone by next year. This technological leap has been planned years ago but will only be realized in the months to come. In a teaser of the so-called Project Ara, Google showed a phone that can be easily customized based on the taste of a user. Phone parts like cameras, speakers and even health-related accessories can easily be snapped on the device depending on what the user wants with his or her smartphone. USA Today said the company could make the developer's kit available this fall while the consumer kit could be available in 2017. This comes two years after the prototype for this project was launched at the I/O developer conference. A variety of Ara modules It was explained in the same report that the idea for this new technology is that users can simply put Ara modules on the phones to help them improve its usability and do various tasks. These modules include cameras, microphones, music players, speakers and other useful mobile accessories for the owner. Google hopes that with this device, users will be able to make tweaks on their device without spending a lot or buying a new phone or device for another purpose. There will also be no need for additional hardware because Ara modules can simply be inserted. Vision for the future According to The Wall Street Journal, this project is one Google's great releases in the coming years. "Ara is our vision for the future of phones," said Google's Advanced Technology and Projects group head Dan Kaufman. This upcoming phone will reportedly run on Android with the base which could be made by Google or another hardware partner. There is still no definite price for the phone but earlier reports said the base of the smartphone could cost around $50. A Texas mother filed a lawsuit against a private school after her black 12-year-old daughter came home from an overnight school outing with severe neck burn. She suspected that her daughter was a victim of a racially motivated bullying, however, school officials insisted that it was just a mere accident. A Racially Motivated Bullying? Fox News reports that Sandy Rougely, a mother from Waco, Texas, has hired a lawyer to file a personal injury lawsuit against Live Oak Classical School, the white-dominated private school of her black daughter. Her complaints came after her daughter returned home with severe neck burn from an overnight school outing at a private ranch between Johnson City and Fredericksburg on April 28. "It looked like somebody had ripped her neck apart and stitched it back together," Rougely told The Dallas Morning News. She believed that the accident, as claimed by the school, was a racially motivated bullying from her black daughter's sixth-grade classmates who are mostly white. The Young Black Student Believes It Was On Purpose The young black student, whose name was withheld, narrated that she was assisting her classmates in pulling a rope swing when she decided to rest and watch. While watching, she felt the rope swing wrapping around her neck from behind. The rope pulled her to the ground and dragged her backward. The young black student said that she asked three of her classmates, who was behind her during the accident, if they intentionally tied the rope on her neck but they said no. Despite her classmates' claim that it was an accident, she believed that it was on purpose because it is impossible for the rope to wrap around her neck. School Officials Insist It Was A Mere Accident Jeremy Counseller, a member of the school's board of directors, released a statement insisting that the young black student's neck burn was caused by an accident and not by a racially motivated bullying. He also stated that the student immediately received first aid treatment and had enjoyed the rest of the school outing. Counseller added all students and teachers who were present during the accident were interviewed and all of them maintained that it was not a racially motivated bullying. Moreover, he also accused Rougley's legal team of sensationalizing the accident for financial gain. Is it a racially motivated bullying or a mere accident? Are you convinced with the school's explanation? Share your thoughts below. The former school of the world's first and only identical-twin NASA astronaut brothers, Mark and Scott Kelly, has acknowledged their remarkable achievements by taking their name. The New Jersey school, formerly known as Pleasantdale Elementary School in West Orange, will now be called Kelly Elementary School. Mark And Scott Kelly Are An Inspiration To The Children NBC New York reports that Pleasantdale Elementary School was officially renamed Kelly Elementary School in a ceremony last Thursday. The move was the school's way of honoring two of its most accomplished alumni, Mark and Scott Kelly, who created history in their chosen field. "As a community and as parents we are reminded of the truly unlimited possibilities that exist within the hallways of our schools for our children," West Orange Mayor Robert Parisi said during the Thursday ceremony. "Today, we thank the Kelly brothers for reminding our children to reach for their dreams." Mark Kelly is considered as one of America's most experienced pilots. He retired from NASA in 2011 after completing four missions on the space shuttle. Moreover, Scott Kelly also announced his retirement last April, shortly after he returned from the 340-day mission at the International Space Station, the longest unbroken spaceflight by an American. From Not-So-Good Students To Most Accomplished Alumni Mark Kelly, who spoke during the event alongside with Scott Kelly, joked that they were not-so-good students then. He said that he was not even good when he started his training as a pilot. Mark Kelly recalled one of his instructors asking him if he was sure about becoming a pilot because he was not very good at it. He added that he used the experience to push himself in trying harder and in overcoming the "serious lack of aptitude." "The guys that did really well that day didn't go on to become test pilots or astronauts. But the guy that really struggled that day - me - did. How good you are at the beginning of anything you try is not a good indicator of how good you can become," he stated. According to US News, Mark and Scott Kelly grew up and attended public schools in West Orange. They went to Pleasantdale Elementary School, Roosevelt Middle School and Mountain High School before attending college. They started their astronaut training at NASA in 1996 after serving as pilots in the U.S. Navy. Share your thoughts about the accomplishments of Mark and Scott Kelly. Leave some comments below. Various efforts are being done to raise awareness about mental health disorders in celebration of "Mental Health Awareness Month", especially with Hollywood stars slowly admitting them publicly. With increased awareness, the community hopes it will hopefully end the stigma surrounding the disease. 'Girls Approach' In Discussing Mental Health Disorders An article from TIME discussed one way on how to end the stigma of mental health disorders. According to Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, the society needs a "Girls" approach when it comes to everyday conversations about mental health disorders. Representative Johnson is referring to the Lena Dunham's hit HBO-series "Girls." The HBO series "Girls" illustrates the reality of having mental disorders without losing its humor and appeal to the audience. Unlike the often-abused term OCD, "Girls" show how it feels to constantly fear OCD and deal with the disorder whenever you fall back into it. Simply put, the show lets us understand how mental disorder is truly a disease. Kristen Bell, who admitted to having anxiety earlier this month, perfectly summed up how it's like to have a mental disorder. "If you do decide to go on a prescription to help yourself, understand that the world wants to shame you for that, but in the medical community, you would never deny a diabetic his insulin. Ever," the "Frozen" star said to Sam Jones on Off Camera. "But for some reason, when someone needs a serotonin inhibitor, they're immediately crazy or something." Mental Health Awareness Month: 5 Ways to Put Your Wellbeing First https://t.co/7ewj2aFfOY SwimSwam (@swimswamnews) May 22, 2016 Open Discussion About Mental Health Disorders So many lives lost because of the stigma surround mental health disorders. The patients' anxiety is compounded by their fear that they would be labeled as crazy or weak. This will lead them to keep their struggles hidden from everyone. Worse, people surrounding them refused to acknowledge that it is a disease, leading to suicide most of the time. Just like what happened to Renee Tanner's husband who committed suicide nine months ago. By then, medical help was too late. On her blog, she discussed how social stigma hinders a lot of patients to seek treatment. She admitted that no matter how hard they tried to let him feel his worth, he still felt he wasn't good enough. "One thing I will never know is this: If he hadn't been afraid of what people would think of him, or how they would treat him, would he still be alive today?" Let us all help stop the stigma and spread awareness about mental health disorder. The US government has strengthened its fight against one of the country's biggest problems: excess calories. The White House and the Food and Drug Administration recently announced major changes to food packaging labels in order for Americans to better manage their calorie intake. Time For Some Changing According to ABC News, the much-needed update is the first of its kind in 20 years. Nutritional facts on food packages will soon indicate how many grams of sugar manufacturers added to the base product. The new labels will feature a larger font size for the calorie counter and will list what percentage of the recommended daily maximum the product represents. Dr. David Katz, a nutritionist at Yale University's Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, lauded the planned changes. He believes the new labels is a step towards a healthier citizenry. "Overall, these changes are timely and represent an update that is in accord with the evolving understanding of nutritional priorities," Katz mused. "But most people don't know how to put that all together and make the decision 'Is this product a good choice - is there something else I should eat instead?'" Healthy Choices The FDA's new directive to separate added sugar from the total sugar count on food packaging labels is part of the Obama administration's "Let's Move!" initiative. First Lady Michelle Obama has been spearheading the now 12-month campaign which seeks to curb the country's obesity and diabetes rates. "I am thrilled that the FDA has finalized a new and improved nutrition facts label that will be on food products nationwide," Mrs. Obama shared to Washington Times. "This is going to make a real difference in providing families across the country the information they need to make healthy choices." All food packaging labels in the US will adopt the changes starting July 2018. Until then, food manufacturers have two years to slowly conform to the FDA's new mandate. It has been estimated that the changes will affect over 800,000 products. In early May we posted a report titled "With a Simple Warrant, You can be forced to unlock your iPhone with your Fingerprint." In that report we noted that "The U.S. Supreme Court has held that police can search phones with a valid warrant and compel a person in custody to provide physical evidence such as fingerprints without a judge's permission. In a recent case reported by the L.A. Times, authorities obtained a search warrant compelling the girlfriend of an alleged Armenian gang member to press her finger against an iPhone that had been seized. The phone contained Apple's Touch ID for unlocking the phone within a limited time frame without a passcode." The report further noted that "Susan Brenner, a law professor at the University of Dayton said the act of compelling a person in custody to press her finger against a phone breached the 5th Amendment's protection against self-incrimination. On the flip-side, Albert Gidari, the director of privacy at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society says that "Unlike disclosing passcodes, you are not compelled to speak or say what's 'in your mind' to law enforcement." Authorities simply saying "'Put your finger here' is not testimonial or self-incriminating." On Saturday NBC decided to revisit this story and posted a report on their home page first titled "Why Companies Might Want to Rethink Pushing Touch ID." When you click on the link, the title quickly changes to "When should the Police be Able to Get into your Phone." The NBC report states that "Apple, Samsung and other phone manufacturers have been pushing fingerprint sensors as a convenient security measure. Legal complications, however, might force them to reconsider their marketing strategy. Opening the phone with a passcode would have violated Bkhchadzhyan's Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, Richards said. But the use of a fingerprint provides law enforcement some legal cover. Neil Richards, a privacy law professor at Washington University told NBC "Most people don't draw a distinction between a fingerprint and a password, but the law does. Typing 1-2-3-4 to access a phone counts as testimonial, in that it's information that can be used to authenticate the contents of a device. Touch ID, the fingerprint sensor that became available with the introduction of the iPhone 5S in 2013, does pretty much the same thing, except with biometric data instead of a password". Yet, laws written before smartphones were invented treat them differently. Law enforcement is allowed to collect physical evidence during the course of an arrest, such as DNA evidence or fingerprints. Valerie Barreiro, director of the University of Southern California's Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic, told NBC that the issue is that the FBI didn't really treat Bkhchadzhyan's fingerprint like physical evidence. "It's not the same as DNA, where you're trying to establish whether or not someone is at the scene of the crime. That fingerprint is opening up a window into your entire life." The Supreme Court agrees. In the 2014 case Riley v. California, it held that law enforcement needs a search warrant to open a phone that agents confiscated during an arrest. Chief Justice John Roberts in the majority opinion wrote: "Modern cell phones are not just another technological convenience. The sum of an individual's private life can be reconstructed through a thousand photographs labeled with dates, locations, and descriptions." Roberts added that "the same cannot be said of a photograph or two of loved ones tucked into a wallet." Roberts also noted that "The invention of the cloud only increases the amount of information about a person that can be learned from having access to their smartphone." Barreiro further told NBC that "There is no easy answer to these questions. It will probably take something similar to Bkhchadzhyan's case getting appealed and then heading to the Supreme Court to get any kind of clear answer on what law enforcement can and can't do with a confiscated phone. Until then, tech companies might want to rethink how they push features like Touch ID. When a court ordered Apple to unlock the iPhone used by the San Bernardino shooter, the company didn't mince words, calling it a 'dangerous precedent' that would 'hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements.' In the end, Neil Richards, a privacy law professor at Washington University told NBC that "They're going to start thinking twice about nudging people toward just using fingerprints. It is secure against private parties, but under current law, it's not as secure against the government." For more on this read the full NBC report here. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Its Trinity Sunday today, so heres a quick quote from Wendell Berry and his great novel Jayber Crow. Berry is not only an author and poet, but a fairly sophisticated theologian. This quote is of Jayber reflecting upon what he learned about the nature of God, and how it fits with what he knew of the farm and of nature of the actual experience of God here in the world. Like everything Berry writes, it is beautiful and smart. From my college courses and my reading I knew the various names that came at the end of a line of questions or were placed as periods to bafflement: the First Cause, the First Mover, the Life Force, the Universal Mind, the First Principle, the Unmoved Mover, even Providence. I too had used those names in arguing with others, and with myself, trying to explain the world to myself. And now I saw that those names explained nothing. They were of no more use than Evolution or Natural Selection or Nature or The Big Bang of these later days. All such names do is catch us within the length and breadth of our own thoughts and our own bewilderment. Though I knew the temptation of simple reason, to know nothing that cant be proved, still I supposed that those were not the right names. I imagined that the right name might be Father, and I imagined all that that name would imply: the love, the compassion, the taking offense, the disappointment, the anger, the bearing of wounds, the weeping of tears, the forgiveness, the suffering unto death. If love could force my own thoughts over the edge of the world and out of time, then could I not see how even divine omnipotence might by the force of its own love be swayed down into the world? Could I not see how it might, because it could know its creatures only by compassion, put on mortal flesh, become a man, and walk among us, assume our nature and our fate, suffer our faults and our death? Yes. I could imagine a Father who is yet like a mother hen spreading her wings before the storm or in the dusk before the dark night for the little ones of Port William to come in under, some of whom do, and some do not. I could imagine Port William riding its humble wave through time under the sky, its little flames of wakefulness lighting and going out, its lives passing through birth, pleasure, suffering, and death. I could imagine God looking down upon it, its lives living by His spirit, breathing by His breath, knowing by His light, but each life living also (inescapably) by its own will His own body given to be broken. News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. Tehran Calls On U.S. To Encourage Investment In Iran 05/22/16 Source: RFE/RL Iran's foreign minister has called on the United States to encourage investors to engage with Tehran. Speaking at a news conference in Tehran a day after Western powers said they back legal business with Iran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that "more serious and concrete actions must be taken" by the United States to spur investment in Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) with his counterpart from New Zealand Murray McCully at a press conference in Tehran. (source: Mehr News Agency) Zarif said that "obstacles in the past decade on economic cooperation between Iran and other countries were created due to hostile American policies and sanctions." International sanctions that were imposed against Iran over its nuclear program were lifted as a result of a nuclear deal signed in 2015 and implemented in January. But the United States has maintained other sanctions that target Tehran's alleged sponsorship of armed factions in the Middles East and its ballistic missile program. European banks that have subsidiaries in the United States have been slow to resume business with Iran amid concerns about being prosecuted in the United States for violating those U.S. sanctions. Based on reporting by AFP, IRNA, and Press-TV Copyright (c) 2016 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org UN Experts Outraged By Jailing Of Iranian Rights Activist 05/22/16 Source: RFE/RL A group of United Nations officials have expressed outrage about the conviction and sentencing of a leading human rights activist in Iran on charges that include membership in a campaign for the abolition of the death penalty. Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi (file photo) Narges Mohammadi, the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC) co-founded by Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on May 18. Her sentence comes on top of a six-year-prison sentence she already is serving. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, said on May 20 that there is "absolutely no reason why Narges Mohammadi should spend one more hour in prison, let alone 16 years." Shaheed called on Iran's President Hassan Rohani and other Iranian officials to do everything they can to ensure Mohammadi is "immediately and unconditionally released from prison and allowed to access adequate and timely medical treatment." Mohammadi suffers from a critical neurological condition. Experts from the UN's Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council on May 20 also urged Tehran to release all journalists and rights defenders who have been "arbitrarily and unlawfully arrested" in Iran. Copyright (c) 2016 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org India PM in Tehran to strike agreement on Chabahar Port development 05/22/16 Source: PRESS_UR Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran at the head of a large delegation to boost economic and political ties with Tehran. Modi landed in Tehran on Sunday for a two-day visit with Iranian officials. He was welcomed by Iran's Economy Minister Ali Tayebnia at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport. India Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Tehran on May 22, 2016. (photo by (photo by Islamic Republic News Agency He is expected to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday morning. The two heads of state will discuss about further trade, economic, cultural and political cooperation. During Modi's stay, Iran and India are set to sign 14 cooperation agreements, including an agreement to develop the southern port of Chabahar that lies in the Gulf of Oman. Modi, who is on his first official visit to Iran, will also meet with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. Meantime, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will travel to Tehran to join Rohani and Modi for the signature of the agreement on Chabahar Port. Iran and India agreed to develop the strategic Chabahar Port in 2003. The project was, however, suspended following the imposition of sanctions against Iran over Tehran's nuclear program. In May 2014, India and Iran signed an MoU to jointly develop the port once the international sanctions against Iran have been lifted. Iran received sanctions relief after its nuclear deal with six world powers took effect in January this year. The Chabahar route will allow Indian goods to reach Afghanistan via the Iranian port of Chabahar without crossing Pakistan's territory. Chabahar is located in the Gulf of Oman on the border with Pakistan. It is Iran's closest and best access point to the Indian Ocean and Iran has devised serious plans to turn it into a transit hub for immediate access to markets in the northern part of the Indian Ocean and Central Asia. The family of the Rev. Ken Vu flocked from points far and wide to see him ordained as a priest along with five other seminarians in a special Mass on Saturday, May 21, that filled every nook and cranny of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Chino Hills. Vu was one of six priests ordained which equaled the largest seminary class since 2008 in a spirited two-and-a-half hour service led by Bishop Gerald Barnes of the Diocese of San Bernardino that at one point triggered a 40-second standing ovation. It was attended by nearly 2,000 people who were addressed at various times in three languages English, Spanish and Vietnamese. The Roman Catholic Church may be having troubles attracting priests these days, but the dioceses ordination Mass was a total sellout. According to Twan Vu, the priests brother, approximately 50 family members, some who came from outside the U.S., bolstered that attendance figure. He said their family of five sons and two daughters originally came to the United States from Vietnam in 1993, settling in Orange County. Its huge, said Twan Vu, 33, of Westminster. Hes the only sibling who is a priest, and the only one who intends to be a priest. Its a great honor, especially in our culture. It is something thats highly respected and something that a lot of families strive for, a very big honor. The others ordained into the priesthood on Saturday were Tomas Guillen, Carlos Martinez, Jose Antonio Orozco, Dominic Vu and Hau Vu. (The Vus are not related.) Nearly an hour after the service was completed, Ken Vu was still standing in front of the altar administering blessings to those who sought the new priests personal benediction. Many of them were members of his extended family. Now is the time for me to serve the people, said Vu. One of the special features of this milestone day for the newly minted priests was discovering where they will now be working. Vu learned he was assigned to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Church in Winchester. The Rev. Tom Burdick, the pastor of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, approached him after the Mass to welcome him. Ive been telling them for 10 years that our parish is too small, well never get an associate, said Burdick. So its a wonderful blessing youre coming. The ceremony comes at a time when the Roman Catholic Church is having difficulties attracting young men to the priesthood. When Barnes formally announced the six had been chosen to be priests about 30 minutes into the Mass, it triggered a standing ovation that reverberated through the church and continued for about 40 seconds. I think as the six young men stood and they saw the numbers of people that are here today, they saw their smiles and their tears and they heard that thunderous applause, theres no doubt that these six young men know that they are loved, said Barnes from the pulpit. And my prayer is that, that view that you have of Gods people applauding for you, smiling for you and here to be with you, stays with you forever. The Roman Catholic Church is experiencing an acute shortage of priests. Over the last 50 years, the national ratio of priests per parish has been cut in half from 2-to-1 to 1-to-1. That shortage is especially acute in the the diocese where each priest serves about 6,117 parishioners. But one of the ordained priests, Guillen, a Moreno Valley resident who attended Rancho Verde High School, saw in Saturdays proceedings the seeds of a brighter future for the church. Its just a beautiful thing to experience, said Guillen. To see so many people come together, so many cultures and diverse views. And were all one church. Contact the writer: 951-368-9682 or tsheridan@pressenterprise.com Poll after poll shows Hillary Clinton is not popular among white men. Her policy stances havent won their admiration. A cultural shift toward feminism hasnt helped much, either. But the Democratic front-runner in the presidential campaign has a secret weapon, one that could help her snare crucial voters from presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump: her husband. The idea may seem counterintuitive, especially since Trump intends to use Bill Clintons philandering past against his wife. New research from Lauren Wright, a political consultant and author who just finished her Ph.D. in government at Georgetown University, suggests the potential first gentleman could sway a surprising demographic. She recently surveyed more than 4,200 people nationwide, ages 19-85, about how they perceive Hillary Clinton. Wright attached to the questionnaires one of two photos one of Hillary Clinton by herself and one of her with the former president. Then she asked respondents if Hillary Clinton looked compassionate and honest. A trend emerged: Republican men who viewed a picture of the couple, rather than the candidate alone, rated Hillary Clinton as much more likable. Her husbands presence, it turned out, increased her popularity. Asked if she seemed down-to-earth, the Republican men who saw the smiling pair responded 14 percentage points more favorably than those who just saw Hillary Clinton alone. Bill Clintons presence also drove a 12 percentage point increase among Republican men when asked whether Hillary Clinton is truthful or cares about people like me, compared with when she appeared alone. (Bill Clintons presence in the photo had the opposite effect on Democratic men and women; they viewed Hillary Clinton on her own in a more positive light. Republican womens responses didnt statistically differ.) A late April CNN/ORC poll found that 52 percent of men had an unfavorable view of Hillary Clinton, compared with 45 percent who had a favorable view. The March Post-ABC poll revealed similar attitudes: 61 percent had a negative opinion on the candidate, and 38 percent had positive feelings about her. But Wright wasnt surprised that pairing Hillary Clinton with her husband apparently improved her image among Republicans. Her previous research, published in her new book On Behalf of the President, focused on the little-explored power of Americas first ladies over voters across party lines. The former president, of course, could become the first man to occupy the role of presidential spouse. Hillary Clinton told voters in Kentucky last weekend that what her husband would do as first gentleman already is mapped out: He would focus on revitalizing the economy, because, you know, he knows how to do it. Wright spent months digging through old speeches, interviewing former White House staffers and measuring the impact of each Michelle Obama or Laura Bush appearance in the press and on social media. She concluded that presidential spouses wield more influence on people who probably voted against their husbands than other surrogates, including the vice president. Wright has also conducted experiments in which she gave people excerpts of the same speech and then told them that either the president or the first lady wrote it. People tended to respond slightly better to the policy points, she said, if they believed the first lady delivered them. Their messages land with less apparent agenda, she said. Theyre also boasting about a loved one, not themselves. And they dont come off as politicians, which is why they may appeal more to people across party lines. How could Bill Clinton, the ultimate politician, create the same effect? American voters have a very short attention span, Wright said of Bill Clintons former leadership. So, hes an image softener. He vouches for her character the same things spouses do very well. Hes also careful not to place himself front and center, Wright said. Bill Clinton lightly adds to his wifes platforms and, with a little self-deprecating humor, makes her seem more human. (Shes always trying to improve me, he said on a morning show, so Im having to get used to being improved more regularly.) Its tough to explain why Wrights sample of GOP men favored the couple over Hillary Clinton alone. Maybe they dont like seeing a woman run for president. Maybe family is the universally beloved visual. Maybe they just like Bill. Susan Carroll, professor of political science and womens and gender studies at Rutgers University, offered a more Tammy Wynette theory: Hillary Clinton scored points from Republican men because she stood by her man. When you place her with him, it reminds them that she stood by Bill Clinton through his infidelities, Carroll said. She stuck it out. She forgave him. Thats what most men would want the women in their lives to do. The memory could make her more sympathetic, especially among social conservatives who find divorce unappealing. Its hard to look at a picture of the two of them, Carroll said, and have the Monica Lewinsky episode not come to mind. Though the weather kept some Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine festivalgoers grounded Saturday, May 21, it didnt stop thousands of Southern Californians from descending onto Lake Skinner Recreational Park for the festivals second day. UPDATE: Winds cooperating with balloon festival, spokesperson says Although hot-air balloons are one of the features of the festival, they were only allowed to fly for a limited amount of time Saturday because of weather conditions. That news comes a day after Fridays balloon glow an annual opening-night tradition in which balloons are filled, but not enough to take flight was canceled. Instead, many took in the sounds of bands Neon Trees, Jimmy Eat World and Chalk FarM. Neon Trees performs during the 2016 Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival pic.twitter.com/aNYN6H5Wr9 Frank Bellino (@PE_Bellino) May 22, 2016 http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Wine, the another feature of the festival, drew San Diego resident Taran Frazelle to attend the festival for the first time. Mark Williams, one of the owners of Wiens Family Cellars, was one of the vendors on hand at the festival. He said he has been coming to the festival for about three years. Williams said he likes interacting with all the festival goers and hearing the live music. Aside from several wine-tasting booths from local wineries, other booths included a variety of food, ranging from American cuisine to Indian, Mexican and Chinese. The balloon and wine festival was started 33 years ago and it has become a major attraction for local businesses. Many festival attendees come from Orange County and San Diego, according to a news release, and stay for all three days. Last year, local hotels reported increases in their occupancy rates during the festival weekend. The festival is an exciting activity that highlights what I would consider to be a vision for the future: health and wellness for our residents, safe, fun and thriving communities in which people can live, work and play, said Riverside County Supervisor Chuck Washington. Contact the writer: community@pressenterprise.com Chuck Gallagher knows a thing or two about Ponzi schemes. The South Carolina man ran one from 1987 to 1990 and was convicted of embezzlement and tax evasion after an FBI investigation. With that behind him, Gallagher works as a keynote speaker on business ethics, has published the book Second Chances: Transforming Adversity Into Opportunity and runs chuckgallagher.com. He also is the chief operating officer of American Funeral Financial, a South Carolina-based funeral funding company. To prevent getting duped by Ponzi schemers, Gallagher recommends taking the time to research investment offers and making sure every document is official and legal before signing. Always be critical of investment opportunities, Gallagher said: If someone promises you something too good to be true, thats a big red flag. He answered some basic questions about fraud and Ponzi schemes in an email Q&A. His answers have been lightly edited. Q. What is the basic definition of a Ponzi scheme? A. A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors. Q. How do the schemers deceive victims into giving them money? A. Ponzi scheme organizers often solicit new investors by promising to invest funds in opportunities they claim will generate high returns with little or no risk. In many Ponzi schemes, the fraudsters focus on attracting new money to make promised payments to earlier-stage investors to create the false appearance that investors are profiting from a legitimate business. Q. How do the schemers get away with it? A. By convincing early investors that their promises are legitimate, they create a trust environment that allows for referrals or endorsements to lure subsequent investors into the scheme. PIT promise, illusion, trust are the three components of a successful Ponzi scheme. Q. How do Ponzi schemes fail? A. With little or no legitimate earnings, Ponzi schemes require a consistent flow of money from new investors to continue. Ponzi schemes tend to collapse when it becomes difficult to recruit new investors or when a large number of investors ask to cash out. Q. What should people do to avoid falling victim to Ponzi schemes? A. Three ways to avoid being scammed: If the offer is too good to be true, dont trust it. Dont allow your ego or desire for great gain to cloud your judgment when it comes to doing due diligence. Have all investment opportunities reviewed by an independent financial professional as part of your due diligence and review documentation carefully for verifiable external methods of proof of existence. Trust no one completely. Most frauds (Ponzi schemes) are perpetrated against those closest to them, so when a close friend says, Ive got a deal youve just got to see, be careful. Contact the writer: 951-368-9284, atadayon@pressenterprise.com, @PE_alitadayon Rain or shine, sleet or snow, Rosa Vedoy wont miss a day of school. Vedoy, 42, drives from her Running Springs home every weekday for a basic English and math class at Inland Career Education Center, formerly the San Bernardino Adult School. I want to be able to achieve more and for my kids to be proud of me, said Vedoy, a waitress and mother of three who arrived in the United States from Mexico a decade ago. Vedoy said shes lucky to have a seat at the crowded campus, which, like other Inland adult schools, has been battered by budget cuts that have eliminated programs and slashed classes. The reductions have led to fewer opportunities for adults to improve their skills as a springboard to a better life. Aiming to improve the situation, state lawmakers are considering legislation that would restore adult education spending to levels before 2008, when dollars were moved to kindergarten through 12th-grade schools to offset budget troubles during the recession. Assembly Bill 1846 would boost adult education funding by $250 million a year. The state now sets aside $500 million a year for adult education in block grants to 70 regional consortiums made up of school districts and community colleges. The measure, scheduled to be heard in the appropriations committee Friday, is needed to save a system thats now on its last legs, said Assemblywoman Patty Lopez, D-San Fernardo, the bills author. STILL NOT ENOUGH Inland adult education leaders support the legislation but say its not enough to support a growing demand for services in a region with many adults who cant read or write, speak little English and lack high school diplomas. Adult education is still extremely underfunded, said Karen Bautista, principal of San Bernardinos center. We know that it is no longer enough to have a high school diploma to qualify for a sustainable wage job. You need some kind of postsecondary education. Recession-era funding cuts prompted enrollment to plummet by almost half since 2008, from 15,000 to 8,500 students. English as a second language classes were cut in half and high school diploma programs by a third during that time, Bautista said. The center ended classes for older adults such as yoga and aerobics. Summer school, Saturday classes and Monday and Wednesday night courses are over. The situation is starting to turn around as money from the consortium expected to be $5 million to $7 million will allow the center to restore some classes and programs in the next year, Bautista said. REVITALIZING PROGRAMS After years of cuts, the Corona-Norco Unified School District is starting to rebuild its adult education program, Director JoDee Slyter said. She is also coordinator of the consortium serving the Riverside Community College District boundaries. Since 2008, Corona-Norcos adult enrollment has dropped almost by half, from a little more than 6,000 to about 3,200 students. The district eliminated summer programs and cut classes from a full week to part time starting in 2009. Officials developed a hybrid model that included online learning outside the classroom to make up for the lost instruction. Short-term career technical education, including accounting, medical assistant and computer-based technology courses, also were axed. The district, which will get nearly $8 million from the consortium the next two years, is using some of those dollars to bring back summer school in June. It added 12 classes in the past month, Slyter said. Because of the districts growing population, current funding levels dont meet the demand for services, she said. The Moreno Valley Unified School District, which saw a 70 percent drop in adult school enrollment from 2008 to 2014, is using consortium money to increase ESL classes and buy Chromebooks so students can apply for jobs online. The district opened a satellite school in January and plans three more to offer night classes in August, said Tammy Guzzetta, principal of Moreno Valley Community Adult School. Guzzetta said the district wants to offer logistics and manufacturing classes to prepare students for those industries. Those kinds of classes disappeared when the money disappeared, she said. Now we have the money. Joyce Johnson, dean of career technical education at Mt. San Jacinto College, is co-chairwoman of the consortium serving southwest Riverside County. Adult schools in the region had a 43 percent enrollment drop from 2009 to 2014. The addition of block grant funding let the college expand ESL, citizenship and GED classes in the past 18 months. Additional dollars would extend programs to areas far from any adult schools, she said. Theres more we can do, Johnson said. At the San Bernardino education center, Catalina Diaz said she stood in line at 4 a.m. to get a spot in a GED class. I didnt want to be left out, said Diaz, 53, a single mother with four children. She started working at 18 to support her oldest daughter and had factory jobs most of her life. She quit her most recent job as a grocery store stocker because the work was draining. Now she wants to become an elementary school teaching assistant. It was really hard, she said of returning to school. Imagine 34 years without opening a book and studying. But I have to do it if I want a better life for my kids and myself. Contact the writer: 951-368-9292 or swall@pressenterprise.com Madison Demaris, Julie Lopez and Noah Buyak stifled giggles as they tackled a tense scene with adult language during rehearsals for an upcoming performance. The material: a scene from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Proof, written by David Auburn, with a plot about mathematics and mental illness. The content is a little heavy, but Nuview Bridge Early College High School teens moved through the scene with grace and agility as troupe leader and drama teacher Cassie Hammond sat on the edge of the stage and helped them along. They and seven other students, including teens from Heritage High School, Temescal Canyon High School and three others that are home schooled, are heading to the International Thespian Society Festival in Lincoln, Neb., in June to show their acting chops. The seven day adventure will include workshops, competitions and numerous performances. This is the first time Ive ever been to a festival like this, Julie, a 15-year-old sophomore, said. Im both really nervous and excited. To qualify for the trip to Nebraska, the teens competed in a state level competition in March. When we found out we made it, it was sheer unadulterated crying, Hammond said with a smile. Then we went to Chipotle and cried some more. Even at school, if the kids looked at each other across the quad, they would start crying tears of joy. Heritage High School sophomore Gwen Lutovsky is still pinching herself over the upcoming journey. She will be performing the song, Someone Like You, from the musical, Jekyll and Hyde. Im extremely nervous, Gwen said. My mom thinks its bizarre that I cant talk to people one-on-one, but once I get on stage Im fine. I have no stage fright. The accomplishment is extra-sweet for Hammond as she qualified to attend the festival in Nebraska three times while attending Paloma Valley High School. She never went though, because of funding issues. Hammond said its an opportunity for the kids to meet other thespians and build important relationships. Im elated to be able to take this group this year, Hammond said. It is a truly amazing experience for them. Contact the writer: sschulte@pressenterprise.com Whether its Donald Trumps unorthodox campaign, the fiery Clinton-Sanders showdown or just general White House-season buzz, Southern California counties are swollen with newly registered voters ahead of the Monday, May 23, deadline to register to vote in the states June 7 primary. Inland voters have more of a reason to be interested, with Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders holding separate rallies in Riverside on the same day: Tuesday, May 24. Sanders also will visit San Bernardino later that evening. Both candidates have turned California into a battleground in the fight for delegates to Julys Democratic National Convention. Clinton maintains a sizable delegate lead and is the favorite to be the nominee, but Sanders isnt giving up, holding events Sunday in Vista and Irvine before visiting East Los Angeles and Santa Monica on Monday and spending Tuesday morning in Anaheim before heading to the Inland Empire. Sanders visited National City on Saturday and campaigned in Irvine on Sunday. Clinton will visit Los Angeles and Commerce on Tuesday before going to Riverside. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, spent Saturday in Chula Vista and Pomona. Meanwhile, presumed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is set to raise money in L.A. on Wednesday. The flurry of visits comes as Southern California elections officials welcome scores of newly registered voters. In Riverside County, the number of registered voters has grown by roughly 45,000 since the start of the year, Registrar of Voters Rebecca Spencer said. The registered voter count in San Bernardino County rose by 44,000 between Jan. 3 and May 15, countys elections office statistics show. There have been more than 65,000 new voter registrations in Orange County since Jan. 1, according to Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley. In Los Angeles County, more than 304,000 have registered to vote since April 6, the highest numerical increase in the state, according to the California Secretary of States office. About 17.2 million Californians 70 percent of those eligible are registered to vote, the secretary of state reported earlier this month. Between April 2012 and April 2016, the percentage of Democratic voters held steadily while the percentage of GOP voters fell and the number of no party preference voters grew. Statewide, roughly four in 10 voters are registered Democrats. About 28 percent are Republican and just under 24 percent are unaffiliated with any party. A federal lawsuit filed Friday, May 20, by Sanders supporters alleges state officials failed to inform no party preference voters that they can receive crossover ballots to vote in the Democratic, American Independent and Libertarian primaries, or that party-affiliated voters can re-register as no party preference voters for those primaries. The plaintiffs include the American Indepdendent Party and the Voting Rights Defense Project, described in the suit as a group aiming to educate voters and boost turnout for their candidate Bernie Sanders. The suit seeks to extend the registration deadline to June 7, so that no party preference voters can re-register with a party or request a ballot for the Democratic, American Independent Party or Libertarian Party primaries. In an April column in Capitol Weekly, Paul Mitchell of Political Data Inc., which compiles statistics about voters, reported that more than 850,000 California residents registered between Jan. 1 and March 31, twice as many as did so during the same time period in 2012. The surge has mainly helped an already strong California Democratic Party. Democratic registration grew 185 percent between January and March of this year, Mitchell wrote. No party preference and GOP registrations rose 65 and 63 percent, respectively, he added. Despite the boom, the number of registered voters in San Bernardino and Orange counties fell from April 2012 to April 2016, secretary of state numbers show. Officials in those counties pointed to ongoing efforts to clear the voter rolls of outdated listings and of those who havent voted in years. ON THE BALLOT Normally the competition for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations is all but over by the time Californias primary takes place. But this year, it seemed as though the state would play a crucial role in deciding who would compete for the Oval Office. Then the exits of Ted Cruz and John Kasich cleared the way for Trump to become the GOPs nominee-to-be. Sanders is mounting a spirited campaign for the Democratic nomination, but Clintons delegate lead makes her the overwhelming favorite. In his Capitol Weekly column, Mitchell wrote that Latino voter registration grew 98 percent between Jan. 1 and March 31. Latino community advocates have said that Trump, who has described undocumented Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers and vowed to build a wall along the Mexican border, has inspired many Latino immigrants to become U.S. citizens so they can vote against him. This years primary asks voters to decide who holds local offices, including judgeships and seats on county boards of supervisors. Voters also will be asked to narrow crowded fields for state and federal offices, including 34 candidates seeking to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer. For legislative and congressional seats, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, move to the November general election. EARLY VOTING Voters dont need to wait until June 7. Vote-by-mail ballots have already been sent and early voting started May 9 at elections offices and other locations. Compared to 2012, theres more early voting in at least two counties. As of May 13, 252 people had voted early in Los Angeles County, compared to 72 for the first week of early voting four years ago. In San Bernardino County, 443 people voted early as of May 18, Public Information Manager Melissa Eickman said. Just 172 voted early during the same period in the 2012 primary. To encourage early voting, San Bernardino County officials have set up a ballot selfie area at the elections office where voters can take selfies with unmarked ballots. The selfies can be shared through social media. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla is crediting Facebook with boosting registration. Almost 200,000 transactions were completed on the states online voter registration website on May 16 and 17, the same time Californians on Facebook received online reminders to register. OPEN VS. CLOSED Voters must update their registration if they move, change their names or want to change their party affiliation. To vote for Trump, voters will have to be registered with the GOP. Thats because the Republican primary is open only to Republican-registered voters. The California Democratic Party allows unaffiliated voters to participate in its primary. State law gives qualified political parties the option to include independent voters in their primaries. Sanders has fared worse and Clinton has done better in states with closed Democratic primaries. The state Democratic party first opened its primary in 2004, a move party Executive Director Chris Masami Myers credits with attracting new voters. Voters excitement for the presidential race will help Kamala Harris in the U.S. Senate race (and) Democrats for Congress and in state races, he said. Were going to work hard to keep every primary voter engaged all the way to November. Regarding the Republican primary, California GOP spokeswoman Kaitlyn MacGregor said: California Republicans believe in a system that respects the will of our Republican voters, unlike Democrats who supersede the will of their members through party bosses and superdelegates. That is why the members of the CRP have chosen to protect the voice of our voters and why you must be a registered Republican to cast your vote for the Republican Presidential candidate of your choice. Staff Writers David Montero, Martin Wisckol and Ali Tadayon contributed to this report. Contact the writer: 951-368-9547 or jhorseman@pressenterprise.com The Police in Cape Coast have begun investigations into the circumstances that led to the suspected murder of two unidentified young men at the Nyinasin and Mpeasem communities in the Cape Coast North Constituency. Early Friday morning, the lifeless bodies of the young men, aged between 25 and 30, were found in the two nearby communities along the Cape Coast-Twifo Praso Road. The District Police Commander of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) Station, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Kingsley Abrokwa, who confirmed the incident to the Ghana News Agency, said the first body was found in an orange farm at Nyinasin. He said upon examination of the body the Police realised that it had gunshot wounds. He said the Police was also informed about another body of a young man at Mpeasem,, and when they went to the scene and examined it, they saw gunshot wounds similar to those found on the body at Nyinasin. He said the bodies had since been deposited at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital for autopsy, whilst investigation continued. He advised the public to desist from taking the law into their own hands. ASP Abrokwa gave the assurance that the Police would work hard to bring the perpetrators to book and called on the residents in and around Cape Coast whose relatives had not been home since last night to contact the UCC Police Station. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video There are further developments today in the bizarre case of Christine Jia Xin Lee, the Sydney student who was granted an accidental $4.6 million overdraft by Westpac, and blew it all on bags, shoes and other swag. Via an affidavit, Fairfax Media obtained a transcript of a call, made to the student by a senior Westpac investigator last April, asking why she had overdrawn her account so spectacularly. Her answer: she thought her rich mum and dad in Malaysia were dropping the funds into her account. When asked how the hell this was even possible, she said: My parents give me lots of money. Having just $4000 cash left at the time of the phone call, she told the bank: I bought clothes, shoes, lots of handbags They are in my unit at Rhodes. My mother is coming over to visit me in June and will give the bank a cheque. I have [told my parents about it] and they are not very happy with me. Lee was arrested earlier this month while attempting to leave the country and charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of a crime. A magistrate has said the charges will be difficult to prove, as Westpac provided her with the credit; Westpac say that Lee signed terms and conditions saying she wouldnt overdraw her account, and breached this with her spending spree. Source: Fairfax. Photo: Facebook. In what may have been a slight misstep, from a PR point of view, Leonardo DiCaprio took a private jet to New York this week to receive an award for his services to the environment, then immediately jumped on another one, back to Paris, for another gala event. Leo, who has donated tens of millions of dollars of his own money to environmental causes over the last several years, was in New York to attend the Riverkeeper Fishermens Ball, and be honoured for his contributions for keeping the citys rivers clean. The next day, he hopped back to France to attend the amfAR Cinema Against AIDS Gala at the Hotel do Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes. A representative for Leo defended the trip to US Weekly, saying: He was asked to speak at both Riverkeeper and amfAR events, but the only way to attend the two fundraisers was to hitch a ride with flights that were already planned. Leo helped both events raise millions, donated his own funds, auctioned off his house and had speaking roles in both programs. This year, via his foundation, Leo pledged $15 million to support a variety of environmental organisations at the World Economic forum; last year, he pledged a further $15 million, and before that, gave more than $6.4 million to causes in Nepal and Ecuador. You might think that hes accrued enough good karma that he can do a flight or two across the Atlandic, but some environmentalists cried foul. The New York Times Page Six ran a piece quoting environmentalist Robert Rapier, who said: [Leo] demonstrates exactly why our consumption of fossil fuels continues to grow. Its because everyone loves the combination of cost and convenience they offer. Alternatives usually require sacrifice of one form or another. Everybody says, Ive got a good reason for consuming what I consume Its the exact same rationalization for billions of people. As you ponder whether Leo deserves a break on this one, heres his Oscars speech from earlier this year, in which he rallied against climate change: Source: US Weekly. Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty. Akhtar Mansoor, Mohammad Omar This Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015. file photo shows Taliban leader Mullah Mansour. The U.S. said Saturday, May 21, 2016, that it conducted an airstrike against the Taliban leader, and a U.S. official said Mansour was believed to have been killed. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File) KABUL, Afghanistan -- A senior commander of the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Sunday that the extremist group's leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike. Mullah Abdul Rauf, who recently reconciled with Mansour after initially rebelling against his ascension to the leadership, told The Associated Press that Mansour died in the strike late Friday "in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area." The office of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirmed in a statement that the strike took place but could not confirm Mansour's death. Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, however, said that Mansour is "more than likely" dead. Speaking live on television as he chaired a Cabinet meeting, Abdullah said Mansour's death would have a positive impact on attempts to bring peace to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been waging an insurgency for 15 years. Mansour was "the main figure preventing the Taliban joining the peace process," Abdullah said. "From the day he took over the Taliban following the death of Mullah Omar, he intensified violence against ordinary citizens, especially in Afghanistan." Mansour formally led the Taliban after the death was announced last summer of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the movement's founder. Mansour, Mullah Omar's deputy, concealed Mullah Omar's death for more than two years, and ran the Taliban in his name until the death was revealed by the Afghan government. The revelation caused wide fissures in the movement that Mansour worked hard to mend. Mullah Rauf was an early detractor of Mansour's but decided earlier this year to declare loyalty to him in the interest of unifying the movement." Taliban leader likely killed in drone airstrike, US officials say Earlier, the U.S. Department of Defense said a drone strike had targeted Mansour "in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region." Taliban leader likely killed in drone airstrike, US officials say Afghan officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be named as they were not authorized to speak to media on the subject, said the drone strike took place in Pakistan's Baluchistan province, in the Ahmad Wal area. The Afghan government has long accused the Pakistani authorities of harboring and supporting the Afghan Taliban. The drone strike targeted Mansour's vehicle which was carrying Mansour and one other person at the time, a U.S. military source said. Another Taliban source identified the driver as Muhammad Azam Hasanai, and said the vehicle the two men were traveling in was completely destroyed in the drone strike. laplacemap.png A 5-year-old LaPlace girl was killed Saturday (May 21) after she shot herself while playing with a handgun, the St. John the Baptist Sheriff's office said in a news release. A 5-year-old girl from LaPlace, Louisiana, was killed Saturday when she shot herself while playing with a handgun, the St. John the Baptist Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Deputies identified the girl as Haley Moore. Authorities responded about 9:45 a.m. to a medical emergency at a home on Country Club Drive in LaPlace. The child was transported to a local hospital where she died. The girl's father told deputies that she shot herself while playing with a handgun. The weapon had not been stored in a secure location, deputies said. The Moore family's next-door neighbor, Joy Ursin, said that between 9:30 and 9:45 a.m., her husband ran into the house calling her name. When she came outside, she saw her husband with Moore's two other children. Her husband told her that the 5-year-old had been shot and she said she tried to comfort Haley Moore's siblings while police tried to calm their father. "All I can say is it's an unfortunate thing because Eric is a disabled military veteran and one thing is he has his guns, but he's not ignorant to the fact of the danger, especially when his kids are around," Ursin said. "He would always stress how he had to secure (them), what he had to go through when the kids came. He made sure of that because he would get his kids every other weekend," she said. Moore and his wife are separated, Ursin said. This was his weekend to have the children, she said. Family and friends shared a photo of Haley Moore on Facebook, with one local band letting the LaPlace community know it will collect money to help the family of the 5-year-old child, who, police say, shot herself accidentally Saturday (May 21, 2016). Ursin said she was told that Eric Moore was taking a shower during the incident, but the oldest daughter was present when the 5-year-old shot herself. Ursin said she was told Haley was wounded into the stomach. She said Moore told them he was getting ready to take the children to get something to eat after his shower. "They had a full schedule planned," she said. "He was gonna take them to see 'Angry Birds' and they were all excited about that. And then this tragedy." "His kids are his life, so this to him is devastating," Ursin said. "He would always bring them over every other Saturday when he would get them and I would have treats for them," she said. Haley Moore's siblings attend LaPlace Elementary School and counselors will be at the school on Monday to talk with children about the shooting, according to a message St. John Parish School Superintendent Kevin George. Deputies did not release any additional information. Reporter Will Nobles contributed to this report. Police in Lebanon have identified the 19-year-old whom they say injured a 22-year-old while recklessly handling a loaded gun. Lance Puente, of Lebanon, has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. Police say he was recklessly handling a gun Saturday evening when it went off and hit Andrew Johnson, also of Lebanon, in the torso. This occurred around 6:30 p.m. on the 400 block of Guildford Street, police say. Johnson is at a local hospital and is listed in critical condition. Puente was arraigned Sunday morning and placed in Lebanon County prison in lieu of $100,000 bail. prison bars (File photo) A Pennsylvania man who went on the lam for 15 years after raping a teenage girl during a home invasion deserved the 25- to 50-year prison sentence he received for the crime, a state appeals court panel ruled. Jose Elia Diaz could just as easily be dead, since the victim tried to shoot him. Diaz, now 54, claimed in his appeal to the Superior Court that was excessive. The court rejected that argument in a recent opinion by Senior Judge Patricia H. Jenkins. Police said Diaz was wearing a mask and had a knife when he crept into the home of the 15-year-old victim. He bound and gagged the teen and another woman who was in the house, then raped the teen twice. A friend of the girl entered the bedroom where the attacks occurred, saw the teen bound and gagged, saw and recognized Diaz, then ran away screaming. As Diaz chased and grabbed her friend, the 15-year-old broke free of her restraints, grabbed a gun from a drawer in the room and pointed it at Diaz. The teen ordered Diaz to release her friend, and when he did she tried to shoot him but the pistol's safety was on, investigators said. She then started throwing things at Diaz, including vases and perfume bottles, until he fled, Jenkins wrote. Diaz wasn't apprehended until 2011. A year later, he pleaded guilty in Lehigh County Court to charges of rape, burglary and aggravated assault and received his state prison sentence. On appeal, Diaz claimed the county judge wrongly sentenced him based solely on the severity of his crime without considering other mitigating factors. Jenkins disagreed, finding that the county judge fashioned a punishment that "was consistent with the protection of the public (and) took into account the gravity of the offense as it related to the impact on the life of the victim and on the community." One person was injured in a shooting in Lebanon. The shooting occurred on the 400 block of Guilford Street around 6:30 p.m. Saturday, WGAL is reporting. A man was walking home from the store when he found the victim on the steps of a Guilford Street home, The Lebanon Daily News is reporting. The victim, who was wounded in the chest, said a gun had misfired, according to reports. There is no word yet on the victim's condition. By Tony May The slogan has a nice ring to it: "Stand up for America." Tony May Actually, it's even better than "Make America Great Again," the tagline favored by Donald Trump, because many people (really, we're out here and we still believe) think America is a pretty great place to be. Who wouldn't say he or she would stand up for America? It was aspirational and promised something for everyone. George Corley Wallace, the southern governor who stood at the schoolhouse door in a failed effort to block the integration of the University of Alabama, used it as his battle cry in his 1968 campaign for President of the United States. It was pretty much the last time in anyone has used fear as an effective tool in building campaign support. This is not to declare that Trump is a George Wallace-like segregationist - even if you take his "suggestions" about Muslims and Mexicans in America at face value. He's more artful and less aggressive and content to launch verbal attacks followed by linguistic retreats tempered with evasive obfuscation. Both played upon common fears in the community. In the '60s the fear was palpable and had credible roots no matter what your political views. Riots were real. Assassinations were real. The war in Vietnam and the draft were real. Today, it's more about "the threat of" rather than "the reality of" on U.S soil. The world is a smaller place and John Donne's observation that "no man is an island" has new currency and urgency. A bomb in an airport in Europe could be a bomb in any airport anywhere. Ebola or Zika or some new virus anywhere most assuredly will be here within months if efforts to contain it at the epicenter are not successful. The definition of "here" is whatever I can view in a shaky cell phone video carried live on cable news. People were assured by Wallace in '68 that he understood the source of their fears and he alone had a fool proof solution - separation of the races. Trump's approach is provides a scary echo to the rhetoric of 48 years ago: Keep scary people out altogether; build a wall; bomb them. "Out Putin" Putin. Trump lacks the deft touch of the Ronald Reagan era when advertising Hall of Famer Hal Riney scripted Reagan's "bear in the woods" TV spot: "There is a bear in the woods. For some people, the bear is easy to see. Others don't see it at all. Some people say the bear is tame. Others say it's vicious and dangerous. Since no one can really be sure who's right, isn't it smart to be as strong as the bear? If there is a bear." The commercial showed the bear (longtime symbol of Russia) in the woods so you knew he was real - and that Reagan was prepared to protect us from him. George Wallace wasn't given to nuance. His biographers said he learned that lesson early on in politics in his first failed run for governor of Alabama when he "allowed" his opponent to be more overtly racist than he. He vowed that would never occur again. While Wallace - a Democrat for most of his life - would run for the Democratic nomination in 1972 as a Democrat, he was slated as a third party candidate pretty much of his own invention (the American Independent Party) in 1968. Richard M. Nixon, the eventual winner, was the Republican standard-bearer, while Hubert H Humphrey, the sitting vice president, was the Democrat. The campaign of '68 can serve as a reminder that, in politics, not much is new; simply repackaged. When you wonder about how two candidates with higher negatives than positives in the polls can end up representing the major parties, reflect on Nixon, the former vice president already wearing the mantle of "Tricky Dick," facing off against Humphrey, weighed down by his association with President Lyndon Johnson and an unpopular war in Vietnam. Wallace, the proud racist, rounded out the field. In the end, Nixon attracted only a half-million more votes nationwide than Humphrey but won 301 Electoral College votes compared to 191 for Humphrey and 45 for Wallace (who carried the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi). Wallace came in second in several other states, ahead of Humphrey, and his popular vote total of 9.9 million compared to the 11 million or so Trump has received thus far this year. (Remember, the U.S. had one third fewer residents in 1968 so 10 million was roughly 14 percent of all votes cast.) The one big takeaway from looking back on 1968 is how fear narrows the focus of voters. Voters can't understand or even hear arguments based on logic and statistics when they are crouched under their coffee tables with their arms over their ears. Ed Rendell Former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell is interviewed at his Philadelphia business offices, June 6, 2015. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com (Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.) Good Sunday Morning, Everyone. From sexist remarks by a former governor to the swift exit of a senior Wolf administration official, it's been quite a week in Pennsylvania politics. Let the score-keeping begin. DOWN ARROW END Former Gov. Ed Rendell: That solid "thwack!" sound you heard about midweek was about a dozen senior Democrats collectively slapping their foreheads in disbelief as former Gov. Ed Rendell revealed to The Washington Post that "ugly women" in the Philadelphia suburbs held the key to Donald Trump's defeat in the Philadelphia suburbs. Rendell quickly backpedaled his remarks, which were intended to show how Trump's radioactive comments about women could haunt him in a key battleground: "It was just dumb and stupid and insensitive and if I offended anybody, I apologize sincerely. What I was trying to say is we all have those sort of self image qualms or questions about ourselves and by attacking someone's looks, he was attacking an awful lot of people and that's the point I was trying to make, but I sure picked a lousy way to say it," he said. Indeed he did. UP ARROW BEGIN UP ARROW END Judge Thomas Hardiman: Faster than you could say "Thomas Who-Now?" this Bush43 appointee from the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals snagged national headlines last week when Donald Trump included him on a list of judges he'd consider to fill the vacancy of the late Antonin Scala on the U.S. Supreme Court. A former U.S. District Judge from Pittsburgh, Hardiman joined the Philadelphia-based appellate court (the professional home of one Midge Rendell) in 2007. Among his more notable cases, Hardiman was part of three-judge panel in 2014 that "ruled that a non-fiction book was not defamatory even though it addressed a married woman's affair with her boss," according to Ballotpedia. Donald Trump: Okay, full credit to the Republican frontrunner for having the good taste to tap someone from Pennsylvania for the nation's highest court. If he were ever confirmed, appellate Judge Thomas Hardiman would be the first Pennsylvanian on the Supreme Court since World War II. But we'll have to question Trump's vetting process if he didn't pick up on the fact that one of his suggested nominees has been throwing him serious shade on Twitter for months now. That calls into question how thoroughly Trump reviewed the candidates - or if he was even involved in the process at all. On the upside, Donald Trump haiku Who would the Donald Name to #SCOTUS? The mind reels. *weepscan't finish tweet* pic.twitter.com/a326AP0mN1 Judge Don Willett (@JusticeWillett) June 16, 2015 DOWN ARROW END John Quigley: Gov. Tom Wolf's Environmental Protection Secretary was shown the exits Friday after it was revealed that Quigley shot off an email to environmental groups venting over how several Democratic senators had broken with the Wolf administration over a greenhouse gas emissions bill. The email was quickly followed by advertisements attacking Sens. John Yudichak of Luzerne County and John Blake of Lackawanna County. The groups who ran the ads have since denied being directed by Quigley to run them. Quigley, a former Hazleton mayor, resigned on Friday after a brief meeting with Wolf. Gov. Tom Wolf : The York County Democrat has spent most of his first 18 months in office fighting off accusations that his administration never came out of campaign mode. And the flap over John Quigley came just as Wolf had been making moves to try to mollify Republicans. Several Republicans, for instance, have noted that administration spokesman Jeffrey Sheridan has been decidedly less sharp-elbowed of late. And the exits of both John Hanger and Katie McGinty from the front office seemed to calm things down a tad. And while they weren't exactly making progress, Wolf and the GOP had been talking about the budget without anyone throwing their toys out of the pram. But the karma gods giveth and they taketh away. The Quigley resignation came on top of eliminating seniority-based layoffs for teachers, which further chipped away at the ground the Democratic administration had gained. Former Gov. Tom Ridge: In perhaps a better example of the right way for a former governor to make headlines, the Erie Republican netted national headlines this week explaining why he wasn't going to vote for Donald Trump in November: "With a bumper sticker approach to policy, his bombastic tone reflects the traits of a bully, not an American president and statesman. If he cannot unite Republicans, how can he unite America? I simply cannot endorse him," Ridge wrote, adding that there was no way he was going to support Democrat Hillary Clinton , whom he finds "a divisive and untrustworthy candidate." Instead, Ridge said he was going to focus his efforts on the re-election of U.S. Senate Pat Toomey, R-Pa. U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent: Perhaps the last sane man left in the U.S. House, the Lehigh Valley Republican had quite a week. Dent, R-15th District was one of the to a defense spending bill that would have banned discrimination against LGBT employees by federal contractors. In a conversation with PennLive , Dent rather sensibly argued that expanding the party's base, rather than limiting it, was the best way to grow the GOP: "I'm a center-right Republican in a center-right district in a center-right country. The Republican Party needs to be a center-right party," he said. "There are some who think the center and right are mutually exclusive. I don't share that view. We need to find areas of agreement and broaden the base. We need to be the party of inclusion and not exclusion. It's incumbent on us to reach out. And I don't think we've always done a very good job of showing up when we need to." And that's the week. Enjoy your Sunday. We'll see you all back here on Monday. Car raffle for glow in the dark Mustang to benefit Toys for Tots A car raffle begins Tuesday in Sault Ste. Marie, with the chance to win a one-of-a-kind glow in the dark Mustang as a benefit for Toys for Tots. ISSUES.... Inside, confidential and off the record Bernie and Venezuela How does Bernie Sanders look at Venezuela and think, "I'm going to get socialism to work"? Turning to Venezuela, that country continues its relentless fall into chaos and it is by any definition a truly failed state. Earlier, Pr esident Maduro... the gentleman upon whose lap we place nearly all of the blame for the collapse of that country... dec lared a state of emergency and has also declared martial law. Now we learn that Mr. Luis Almagro, the Chairman of the Organisation of American States, has called Mr. Maduro a petty dictator and a traitor to his country, while Mr. Maduro has called Mr. Almagro a CIA agent under the control of the United States. Mr. Maduro addressed the press yesterday over a prolonged three hour harangue, saying that Venezuela is now under attack from imperialist forces that are controlled by the US and regarding Mr. Almagro, Mr. Maduro said Almagro, just give up. He has been a traitor for a long time... At some point I will tell his story, I know his secrets. The Americans, the CIA, have played a master move using Almagro as their agent." Things have deteriorated so badly in Venezuela that doctors are unable to treat patients as their supplies have been all be eliminated. The nation's stores are devoid of product. The nation's electricity is now operating at an infrequent basis; the nation's government offices are now closed two of the five usual business days of the week because of a lack of elec tricity, and perhaps most notoriously, the nation's suppl y of its beloved Polar beer is exhausted. This is what socialism has wrought in Venezuela; and yet Sen. Sanders continues to engender support from amongst this nation's younge st voters! What have our schools... elementary; secondary and at the university levels... done to create a generation of Bernie supporters... a generation willingly embracing Socialism? Crude oil inventories with little impact on prices Why brimming oil inventories aren't crashing LONDON Petroleumworld.com 05 23 2016 Inventories of crude oil and refined products have soared, but seem to be having little impact on prices. Measured in terms of the number of days of demand that could be met by the stored oil, OECD commercial inventories have risen from 57 days at the end of 2013 to 67 days at the end of March this year. They exceed by 5 days the volume of oil in storage at the depth of the financial crisis, after global oil demand had collapsed. Ballooning OECD Oil Stockpile OECD commercial oil inventories have soared since the end of 2013 Source: IEA Month-end commercial inventories expressed in days of forward demand cover Surging oil inventories are normally associated with falling oil prices, because they're seen as a signal that there's too much oil about. Until early this year, this time was no different. The 76 percent drop in crude oil prices that accompanied the rise in inventories is well known. But the recent surge in prices, which have jumped by more than 75 percent from their mid-January low, has not been accompanied by a drop in the volume of oil in storage. Quite the opposite. Changing Dynamic Growing oil inventories normally mean lower prices, but that hasn't happened in recent weeks Source: Bloomberg The relationship between stockpiles and prices has broken down because higher inventories are now needed to meet surges in demand or disruptions to supply. That's very different to what the global market had got used to over the past two decades, when these changes were met by a pickup in production, made possible by OPEC's spare production capacity. Companies hold inventories for a variety of reasons, which can be broadly defined as logistical, speculative and security. Oil is needed to fill pipelines, refineries and the supply chain; that's the logistical inventory. Varying volumes may be held to profit from expected future movements in prices; the speculative inventory. Oil is also held to provide a cushion against both anticipated and unexpected fluctuations in supply and demand, this is the security inventory. All of these factors have contributed to the growth in the oil stockpile since the end of 2013. OPEC spent much of the 1990s and the 2000s trying to convince the global oil industry that it did not need to hold large, expensive stores of oil. Instead, we could all rely on OPEC producers to anticipate market needs and alter supply as required, making use of their spare production capacity. As Gadfly argued recently , that spare capacity has largely disappeared since Saudi Arabia abandoned its role as swing producer in November 2014 and raised production. With almost everybody else producing as much oil as they can, room to boost production is now all but non-existent outside the kingdom. Much of the reported spare capacity is the result of disruptions to supply that can't be restored without improvement in some underlying political problem -- whether the unrest in the Niger River delta, or the chaos engulfing Libya. Spare Capacity Less than half of the world's reported spare capacity can be used quickly Source: Bloomberg The situation has worsened since the start of the month. A series of unforeseen supply outages, most notably from Canada and Nigeria, has removed at least 2 million barrels a day of supply from the market. But oil prices haven't moved much, because the growing stores create a sense that there's plenty of crude available. But in the absence of spare production capacity, companies will have to keep inventories that they can dip into to meet fluctuations in demand instead of relying on OPEC to ramp up production like it normally would. The normal relationship between inventories and prices may yet reassert itself. But for now, so long as higher stockpiles are needed in place of spare production capacity to meet spikes in demand, or disruptions to supply, high levels of inventory need not mean downward pressure on prices. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. Chevron CEO John Watson: Interview by Charlie Rose The Chevron chief discusses oil's wild ride, fossil fuels' future, and his company's $19 billion legal battle in Ecuador. NEW YORK Petroleumworld.com 05 23 2016 How do you answer when someone asks about the prospects for fossil fuels? If you think about the last 150 years, all the advancements in living standards, everything that we enjoylight, heat, transportation by land, sea, and aireverything we value is coincident with fossil fuels. New York would be dark without them. Fossil fuels are important now and will be for many, many years to come. It's going to take nuclear. It's going to take coal. It's going to take renewables. Remember, the developing world needs all this energy to raise living standards, because they aspire to the things that we have. On the issue of oil's price swings, is it just supply and demand? At its simplest, it is. What's not told is that demand rises relatively predictably over time, but supply comes online in big chunks. The industry does many long-lead projects. And if you get supply and demand a little bit off as you're building that new capacity, you can get big excursions up and down in price. And that's what we saw recently. Over the last five years, we had production that went offline in the Middle East. So prices went up. Then we got it a little bit off as the economy slowed down and Saudi Arabia and Iran returned supplies to production. And what's the impact of shale oil? Well, it surprised the oil market, would be the first thing I would say. But what it really showed the market is there's a fairly resilient source of supply that's available on short notice. What the shale business showed is that, with the combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, we can grow production pretty rapidly if we have the right price environment. When oil was over $100, we were growing production in this country by a million barrels a day per year. What's the status of your Latin American lawsuit? You're referring to a large case in Ecuador, where a New York trial lawyer attempted to defraud my company out of $19 billion. Fortunately, we were able to prove, in a New York court, in a civil case, that RICO statutes were violated, along with numerous other lawsForeign Corrupt Practices Act, extortion, wire fraud. We continue to fight that. Thus far, we've been very successful. There's risk, but we've been able to manage it. What do you see happening in Venezuela? Venezuela, technically, holds the largest reserves in the world. But it's facing internal difficulties. We're the only American company there right now. We work very hard to maintain our relationships. We deal in long cycle times, so we work with governments across the political spectrum, including the Chavez government and the Maduro government today. One of the things that distinguishes American companies is we really don't adopt an ideology. If it's legal for us to do business and we can do business according to our standards, we'll do business in many different countries around the world, regardless of ideology. How would you assess Obama's administration in terms of energy, the environment, trade? They're rushing out regulations as we speak, in their final six months. Just in the last couple of weeks, they've done somea well control rule in the Gulf of Mexico. Our industry has put in place a hundred new practices in collaboration with the government since the Macondo incident to improve drilling safety. And yet, with very little engagement with industry, they rushed out new provisions. Also, methane regulations. The cost of these methane regulations is disproportionate to the benefits, at any reasonable price on carbon. Those are just two recent examples. In general, I would say the power has shifted toward regulators in this country. I don't think it's a coincidence that we're seeing subpar economic growth. I think it's a burden. Watch Charlie Rose on Bloomberg TV weeknights at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET. The move was not as complex as Endeavour's. Though the tank is larger by volume, Endeavour's wings are wider, and its vertical stabilizer is taller. Even so, utility workers still had to raise or remove low-hanging power lines and cables. In at least one case, lines were lowered to the ground, where workers erected a temporary wooden ramp to allow the tank to cross. Many stoplights and overhanging lamp posts were either rotated out of the way or partially disassembled. An occasional tree also had to be trimmed. Just before 9:30 a.m., the tank crossed the 405 freeway. For motorists passing below, the overhead tank must have been quite a sight, and suddenly, there was a loud screech followed by the wincing crunch of two vehicles colliding. Police were quickly on the scene, and the involved occupants appeared uninjured. A small weiner dog escaped from one vehicle and briefly bounded around on the empty freeway before being corralled by its owner. An hour later, the tank made a wide turn north onto La Brea Avenue. A nearby car blared "America the Beautiful" and the theme music from Star Wars, as large crowds lined the intersection to watch. Angelenos from all walks of life were drawn to the tank wherever it went. Some elderly residents claimed lawn chair spots on the route ahead of time, while children preferred to dart in and out of the crowds. Many youngsters watched in awe, with others appearing to relish having their neighborhoods thrown into semi-chaos for a couple of hours. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Dana Perino, former White House Press Secretary for George W. Bush, explains in an excerpt of her book, And the Good News Is why she is a conservative. And it makes for interesting reading if only because her reasons fly in the face of every known fact. Which explains why she did so well under Dubya, who made reality up as he went along. Perino explains, Im a conservative because everything else seems easy by comparison. And when something is too easy, its too good to be true or its sure to fail and disappoint. I wasnt impressed by the alternatives to conservatismI gravitate to facts, logic, and reality, whereas to me, liberalism is based on theory, and feelings, and fantasy. Thats right. Perino, who belongs to the party that has its own special Rovian math to make them feel better about how things are compared to how they wish them to be, says that it is liberalism that is based on theory, and feelings, and fantasy. Its funny that she talks negatively about feelings, because as liberals know, our problem is we tend to put far too little reliance on feelings and too much on thinking rationally. We all remember her boss, Dubyas, dependence on feelings over fact back in 2001, after 9/11. He didnt have any good reasons to invade Iraq. Sure, he made them up, but he did it mostly because he wanted to. It was going to be his war, to out-do his daddys war. He found excuses and when they didnt work out, he came up with some new excuses. It was all fly-by-the seat-of-your-pants feelings. Not a rational thought to be found. But hey, whatever gets you to sleep at night. As George Lakoff wrote in 2008s The Political Mind, Democrats didnt accomplish more after they gained control of Congress in 2006 because They just tried to be rational, to devise programs to fit peoples interest at the polls. They didnt try to get people to change their minds about how they felt about the issues. The missed the whole feelings thing Republicans say Democrats depend upon. Obviously, this is not a mistake Republicans have made. Republicans feel very strongly about things. Unfortunately, they dont think much about them. We see this with Donald Trump every day, feeling his way to the White House, whipping up anger and outrage and nothing really concrete. Nothing rational. And lets face it, as weve all found out arguing with conservative friends and family, you can rationalize away their feelings. As Latkoff explains, When conservatives answer liberals fact and figures with no facts or figures, but with their own morals-based frames presented with emotion and symbolism, their framing will win. Conservative frames will trump liberals frameless and hence meaningless facts. David Niose, author of Nonbeliever Nation (2012) wrote in his follow-up to that book, Taking Back the Right (2014) that our current dismal state of affairs is the result of an attack on reason, an aversion to reason. That is, no matter how we dissect the success of modern American conservatism to find its causal roots and ongoing motivating forces, we discover some combination of fear-based thinking, anti-intellectualism, racism and sexism, emotional appeals to religion and patriotism, an unquestioned acceptance of corporate power, and incessant psychological manipulation of the public with resulting policy that caters to institutional interests over those of real humans. As you can see, reality has nothing to do with Perinos assertion, which, in fact, turns the truth on its head. It is not liberals, but conservatives, who speak from an emotional standpoint, while we answer, often with great futility, with an appeal to a far less compelling rationality. Perino goes on to tell us, I respect tradition, learn from history, and adhere to a code of ethics that has helped me make sense of the world. By definition, then, I reject situational ethics. I have standards, and I stick to them. For instance, conservatism is where I can fully express my support in the individual rather than the state, and where my belief in self- governance and responsibility isnt in conflict with policies I support. Learn from history? Again, this from a member of a party that is reinventing our history because its too liberal and needs to fall in line with current Republican thinking. And situational ethics. Nothing is more situational than an administration that would come up with a new reality just about the time we were coming to grips with yesterdays. If conservatives respected history that would know that Presidents have only said God Bless America since 1973, when Richard Nixon introduced the line. Not since George Washington. They would admit that In God We Trust has only been our national motto since 1956, and that the Pledge of Allegiance did not include under God until 1954. The National Day of Prayer only dates from 1952. To listen to conservatives, all these things date from the nations founding, when in fact if we could just erase the 1950s, we would all be a lot better off, and closer to the secular vision of our Founding Fathers. A further sources of dismay is Perinos assertion that liberals are ideological hidebound, when her own party has set new standards extreme standards for ideological purity: [L]iberals have to check a lot of boxes to be included do you believe this, that, and the other and theres a rigidity that gives them very little room to win arguments. Yet if a conservative does not believe A, B, and C, they become a RINO instead of a Republican a Republican In Name Only. We see this much less among liberals. Again, she has turned the truth on its head. Liberals actually have the liberty to believe a great deal of things in God, no God, many Gods it doesnt matter. There are still moderate Democrats and radical Democrats. You cant find a moderate Republican these days if you spend your whole life trying. So when Dana Perino tells you she is a conservative because she likes rationality more than emotion, or the freedom to believe what she wants rather than having to check off a bunch of boxes, or that she gravitates to facts, logic, and reality, shes doing a good job explaining why she should be a liberal, but shes not telling you why shes a Republican. What she ought to be doing is explaining to us why, if she actually values those things, shes a conservative. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print By Karen Brooks (Reuters) George Zimmerman said he has sold the gun he used to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012 for $250,000, television stations in Orlando and Las Vegas reported on Friday. Zimmerman could not be reached to verify the reports by KTNV in Las Vegas and WOFL in Orlando. His offer to sell the Kel-Tec PF9 9mm handgun on UnitedGunGroup.com drew praise from gun rights supporters and scorn from critics who accused him of seeking to profit from the 17-year-olds death. Online bidding for the gun ended on Wednesday. Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the shooting, which sparked heated debates over race relations, gun control and justice in the United States. In a statement on Twitter after the bidding closed on Wednesday, United Gun Group defended its decision to host the auction and said it would have no further comments. On his own website that day, Zimmerman said the auction had raised funds for several worthy causes. He has said he would use proceeds to counter violence against law enforcement officers by the group Black Lives Matter and to fight Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clintons anti-firearm rhetoric. As of Friday afternoon, he had not posted an update on his website about the sale. United Gun Group owner Todd Underwood said on his site that tools had been put in place to keep bogus buyers from driving up the price as they had last week, when bids during an initial auction topped $65 million under names such as Racist McShootFace. Auction site GunBroker.com rejected the listing last week, and two of Americas leading auctioneers of guns said they had refused on ethical grounds to handle the sale. (Reporting by Karen Brooks in Fort Worth, Texas) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print By Dave McKinney CHICAGO (Reuters) The Illinois Senate on Thursday earmarked $227.2 million for low-income college students whose need-based financial aid has been imperiled by the states 11-month budget impasse. But Republican Governor Bruce Rauner offered no sign of supporting the measure for Monetary Award Program recipients after members of his party pilloried the funding package as a farce because it did not identify a specific revenue stream to pay for it. Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelley declined to say whether the governor intends to sign or veto the legislation, saying only Governor Rauner remains committed to reaching a balanced budget alongside meaningful reforms in a bipartisan manner. Illinois public universities and community colleges and the MAP program have only received a fraction of what they had expected from the state since July because Rauner and the Democratic-led legislature have yet to agree on a Fiscal 2016 spending plan. A stopgap $600 million higher-education funding package enacted by Rauner last month offered some relief, but an early-May effort to appropriate an additional $454 million on top of the April total stalled in the Illinois House of Representatives after passing the Senate. In fiscal 2015, the last year in which Illinois had a full operating budget, the state appropriated $357.1 million to the MAP program. That amount provided for income-based grants of up to $4,968 to 128,399 students, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission reported. State Senator Donne Trotter, a Chicago Democrat and the legislations chief sponsor, said the package would ensure that our students can relieve themselves of some of the drama theyve been going through this year because of the inaction by this body and the governor in passing a budget. But Republicans ripped the plan, with Senator Chapin Rose, a Republican from Mahomet, Ill., about 200 miles south of Chicago, accusing the Senate majority of writing a check that it darn well knows cannot be cashed. The Senate passed the bill 39-15, with two members voting present enough to override any potential Rauner veto. But the 68-45 margin during a Tuesday House vote fell three votes short of a veto-proof majority, meaning Rauner could kill the measure if he chose to. (Reporting by Dave McKinney; Editing by James Dalgleish) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Both Bernie Sanders and President Obama agree that the role of superdelegates in the Democratic primary must change. During an interview on CNNs State Of The Union, Sen. Bernie Sanders again called for changes to the superdelegate system, The point that I was making is, theres something absurd, when I get 46 percent of the delegates that come from real contests, real elections, and 7 percent of the superdelegates. And the point that I made a few minutes after that is that some 400 of Hillary Clintons superdelegates came on board her campaign before anybody else announced. Sen. Sanders is far from alone in his calls to reform the role of superdelegates in the Democratic primary. The debate over the place of superdelegates has been raging in the Democratic primary since 2008. The Obama/Clinton primary was a total fiasco thanks to fears that superdelegates would swing towards Clinton and narrow Obamas delegate lead. For some reason that is only known to the DNC, they decided to keep the superdelegates instead of going to a system where the popular vote determines delegate allotment. That decision is the reason the Democratic Party is on track for more angst and chaos over superdelegates. After President Obama won the Democratic nomination in 2008, a commission that he backed recommended that the rules be changed so that superdelegates are required to vote for the candidate assigned to them by the popular vote. The DNC ignored the recommendation of the commission that Obama backed and kept the current system in place. The biggest problem with changing the superdelegate system isnt getting a new DNC Chair. It appears that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is gone no matter who wins the Democratic nomination. The problem with changing the superdelegate system is that the DNC itself has to support the change. If Barack Obama could not get the system changed, it is going to be difficult for Bernie Sanders to accomplish the task. The broader point remains that the debate over the role of the superdelegates has gone on for too long. Democrats across the spectrum want changes to the system. The momentum is growing, and the next DNC Chair may find it impossible to keep the current flawed system in place for much longer. Whether the superdelegates like it or not, it appears to be only a matter of time until change comes to the Democratic primary process. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print CNNs Reliable Sources busted the media for inventing the narrative that Democrats are divided. Transcript via CNNs Reliable Sources: STELTER: Boy, it is a convenient narrative, but is it maybe a little too convenient? Lets bring back our all-star panel. CNN political commentator Carl Bernstein, the author of A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Washington, American University media professor Jane Hall, and here in New York, Daily Beast editor-in-chief John Avlon. Carl, we need a reality check here. Are political reporters and TV producers exaggerating this Dem civil war? BERNSTEIN: Yes. Were hardly up to 1968 and Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies and blood in the streets of Chicago. I think theres abundant evidence that the Democrats will coalesce around their nominee, presumably Hillary Clinton, maybe Bernie Sanders.This is hardly a huge schism the way its being played on the air. STELTER: Yes, we heard from Obama aides in 2008 saying it was more intense than Obama and Clinton than it is now. But, Jane, maybe one of the differences is theres much more social media. Theres actually pro-Bernie media that exists out there that is encouraging people to buy into this belief that what happened in Nevada was chaotic and that the system is rigged against him. Do you think that that is a detriment here, that there are many more partisan options for people? HALL: Well, you know, I think that the media narrative is reflecting a genuine concern on the part of the Clinton people. She needs to win the passion and the votes of young people, in particular, and he has created, I think, a movement that perhaps has even surprised him.There is a genuine fight going on. I dont think the media are overplaying this. This could have very bad impacts for Hillary Clinton at the convention. STELTER: I hear you, John. Go ahead, John. AVLON: Im just not buying this. STELTER: No? AVLON: No. I do think its too convenient, the media narrative. There are deep, deep divides beneath the Republican Party, which is essentially in warlord status right now. The Democrats do have increasing divisions on an increasingly activist left, which is insurgent, which Bernie Sanders represents, righteous anger about a rigged system. You see it in the rise of Elizabeth Warren and Bill de Blasio, and other folks in the progressive populist left.. But the party will rally around Hillary Clinton. This poll today the poll were talking about today about high negatives exists with a party thats still conducting a pretty contentious primary. And more importantly, you know, hating Hillary Clinton has been an industry on the far right for a quarter century. That baggage exists. It is real. But whatever enthusiasm gap exists in Hillary Clinton among the Democratic Party will be erased when they focus on the real possibility of President Trump. It is rare to see fellow members of the media speak honestly about how the press shapes storylines and narratives that they use to fuel ongoing coverage. The media had to switch gears after the Republican resistance to Trump fell apart, so they quickly came up with the Democratic division narrative. The truth is that the presidential contest has entered the traditional May limbo phase. The Clinton and Trump campaigns will clinch the number of delegates that they need in a couple of weeks. The cable networks have a lot of airtime to fill, and very little drama to discuss. The media needed something to talk about. The rowdiness of Nevada Democratic convention happened at a perfect time to fill the gap. Democrats are not divided. Polling trends suggest that Hillary Clinton will get a big bump after the primary ends. When Clinton officially becomes the Democratic nominee, Democrats will come home and focus on wiping the floor with Donald Trump. The Democratic division talk coming out the media is empty noise. As Rachel Maddow pointed out, the Democratic primary is behaving in a very normal way. There is nothing unusual happening on the Democratic side. The bored media has created a storyline, and it was nice to see CNNs Reliable Sources giving the medias role in making the news a public airing. CHARLESTON, S.C. On rare occasions, Americans coalesce around a common cause, usually following some calamity a terrorist attack, a natural disaster or, say, during a presidential election. Take today. Or rather, take the past several months during which Americans have begun to face the likely probability that they'll elect a president they don't much like. Polls suggest as much, as do my own conversations with strangers, family and friends, from which I've deduced the following: When it comes to whom they'll select for their next president, most Americans are stranded in a political no man's land. Think of the movie "Cast Away" or the ABC series "Lost," in which a plane crashes, leaving survivors to fend for themselves, and you'll get the idea. Let's just say, the jungle looms large, and no one is emerging as the leader who can clear a path. Metaphor off now: There's no one to vote for. "What are we going to do?" people keep asking me. ADVERTISEMENT Obviously, the Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump bases are as un-confounded as ever. Hillary Clinton has her usual camp, including half of women voters. But a vaster number of people who identify as independent or moderate -- or recently have become so thanks to the past year's cannibalizing circus are dissatisfied with both presumptive nominees. The adage that our presidential election is a nose-pinching exercise -- or a choice between lesser evils doesn't approach the rising level of ennui flooding the American street. I would characterize this larger constituency as also including people who, though they may lean left or right, suffer a greater repulsion to the political moment than to a single candidate, though there's plenty of revulsion to go around. To the extent that the remaining candidates are central to the current environment of anger, paranoia and, in some cases, violence, all are equally unappealing. And, seriously, could we stop yelling? There is only one candidate for whom this middle bloc of voters could reasonably stomach voting. Given that Trump is such an unpleasant character and, by virtue of his own statements, unqualified to lead the most powerful nation on earth; and given that Sanders wants to create a nation that most Americans wouldn't recognize; be it resolved that the saner choice is Clinton (notwithstanding everything you hate about her). Hence the malaise that passeth all understanding. If only by default, Clinton holds the higher ground. That even many Democrats find her unappealing and others wouldn't like her if she reversed climate change, saved every beast and bog from extinction or ruin, and cured cancer with a single pill is understood. As lightning rods go, she has no peer. Cavemen could have invented electricity had Clinton been nearby. Add to her well-known list of public concerns a lack of transparency, perceived deceptions, those emails, Benghazi and the current FBI investigation a potentially more damning development: Her pivot to the left. ADVERTISEMENT This was made necessary, of course, by Sanders' anthem of class warfare, but as Clinton pirouetted stage left, she added another layer of doubt to the disenfranchised middle, gave progressives another reason to question her loyalty to their goals, and made it more difficult for Trump-repelled conservatives to consider her as acceptable alternative. One might wish that South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham's quip about a contest between her and Trump were correct. More or less, he said that corrupt beats crazy every time. But even Graham has surrendered, locking arms in the Trump parade. "Party before Clinton" has prevailed as well among most of the stop-Trump crowd, a fleeting movement among a handful of Republican "formers." For Clinton to prevail over Trump, she'll need to win over Sanders' supporters, a dimming prospect at the moment, as well as the vast middle where mortals roam in wounded unity. But support among the latter depends on the answer to a tricky question: Is she really as liberal as she's promising to be, or is she faking? Trump-leaning voters face the same challenge: Is he really as awful as he seems, or has he just been bluffing? Given the high stakes, a contest between a scheming fake and a dangerous bluffer inspires little confidence and possibly little interest in voting. To the plea what are we going to do? the correct answer is, of course, vote. The high ground may be more molehill than mountain, but it still beats the gutter. Kathleen Parker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post. The mere possibility of a Donald Trump presidency gold-plated faucets in the house first occupied by John and Abigail Adams will perhaps have a salutary effect. It might demystify an office that has become now swollen with inappropriate powers and swaddled in a pretentiousness discordant with a republic's ethic of simplicity. This wholesome retreat from presidential grandiosity would be advanced if on Jan. 20, 2017, the 45th president delivered the following inaugural address: My fellow Americans, brevity is not only the soul of wit and the essence of lingerie, it is, on occasions such as this, polite. You who are arrayed in front of me, losing the feeling in your feet as you stand on the frozen Mall, should be spared a long soliloquy by someone who, as a presidential candidate, inflicted on you an excruciating amount of talk. Besides, you have hired me only to administer one of our three branches of government, and only for four years. So let's avoid unseemly excitement about today's routine transfer of power. Years ago, Dallas Cowboy Duane Thomas said this about another recurring extravaganza, the Super Bowl: "If it's the ultimate game, how come they're playing it again next year?" I may ask Mr. Thomas to be my press secretary, if I decide to have one. I probably will not have one because I hope weeks will pass without having to bother you with reminders of my existence. Weeks during which there will be nothing much of importance to hear from or about me as I go about the humdrum business of seeing that the laws enacted here on Capitol Hill are faithfully executed. In the next four years, beloved entertainers will die, local law enforcement disputes will occur, March Madness will come and go and I will have nothing to say about any of these things because they are unrelated to my duties, which do not include serving as national pastor-cum-pundit. ADVERTISEMENT As is traditional, at the conclusion of these remarks I shall eat lunch in the Capitol with Congress. But before doing this, I shall pay a tribute to Congress, which the Constitution's Article I establishes as the first branch of government. My tribute will be to delay joining its members for the 10 minutes or so it will take to sign a stack of executive orders nullifying most executive orders issued by my predecessor. He used them to wield executive power to institute policies and alter laws that properly should be initiated by Congress. This will be enough business for Day One of my first 100 days. And I promise you this: On the 100th day of my administration, America will be ... pretty much indistinguishable from what it is today. Would you, my over-excited countrymen, really want it any other way? Would you really want to live in a nation that can be substantially changed in a matter of a few months by a hyperactive government? For efficiency, and to minimize unnecessary folderol, I am going to take a minute right now to deliver my first and last State of the Union address. It is this one sentence: Things are much better than they once were slavery? gone; the Oregon Trail? replaced by the Interstate Highway System but things could be better. There. Wasn't that less disagreeable than the annual midwinter prime-time pep rally that presidents stage because of the Constitution's blurry mandate that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress information" about the country's condition? How quaint. As though Congress is interested in information. After today's lunch, Congress should try nibbling at the edges of our problems, many of which Congress created to please you, the clamorous people. To you I say: We have nothing to fear but your insufficient fear of what has been done on your behalf and at your behest. In the 2016 "contest of opinion through which we have passed" Thomas Jefferson's decorous description, at his first inauguration, of the ferocious 1800 campaign a trillion words were spoken, approximately none about the public's appetite for unfunded government entitlement programs. If you want the United States to be Puerto Rico writ large -- or, even worse, Illinois just stay the course you are on. In words Lincoln spoke at his first inauguration, the nation's fate is "in (BEG ITAL) your(END ITAL) hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in (BEG ITAL) mine(END ITAL)." George F. Will is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post. At InstaPundit, Richard Benedetto makes an interesting point: Usually when an incumbent president is leaving office and a slew of candidates are battling for his job, that departing chief executives record is a major campaign issue. But not this year, even though two of three Americans say the country is on the wrong track, job creation is sluggish, income inequality continues to rise and Mr. Obamas job approval barely tops 50%. Moreover, approval of his handling of the war on terror and Islamic State is underwater, and a majority of Americanswhite and blacksay race relations are getting worse, not better. When Mr. Obama ran for office in 2008, a central part of his campaign strategy was to heap blame on George W. Bush. How has Mr. Obama dodged similar treatment? Mr. Benedetto suggests explanations at the link, and Glenn Reynolds adds: First, [reporters are] Democratic operatives with bylines, and hes a Democrat. Second, they refuse to let the first black President be remembered as a disaster even if, as here, he is a disaster. Donald Trump has, in fact, gone after President Obama frequently. But his criticisms of the president have been overshadowed by his attacks on fellow Republicans, both his opponents for the nomination and President Bush, whom he has maligned wrongly and viciously. As we move into the general election campaign, Trump inevitably will go after Republicans less and Democratsincluding Obama along with Crooked Hillary Clintonmore. In my opinion, this is one more factor that gives Trump upside in the general election. Obamas popularity is mediocre in the polls, hovering around a 50% approval rating. But that overstates his actual standing with voters for several reasons. First, Obama always polls better than his policies. There are many people who tell pollsters they approve of Obama, while simultaneously saying they disapprove of just about everything he does. I think the reason is the one suggested by Glennreporters put everything the first black president does in a favorable light, and voters are inclined to give him, personally, the benefit of the doubt, even though his foreign policy is a disaster, he has repeatedly flouted federal law and the Constitution, and he has overseen the weakest economic recovery of the modern era. This means that the support we see for Obama in polls is largely illusory. Second, Obamas approval numbers have consistently been inflated by near-unanimous support from fellow African-Americans, even as they have suffered worse than any other group from his slow-growth economic policies. This poll support should largely melt away once the Democratic candidate is not African-American. Third, Obamas opponents have always been more passionate than his supporters. This is reflected in Rasmussen Reports approval index, the difference between those who strongly approve of Obamas performance and those who strongly disapprove. By this measure, Obama has been deeply under water for almost all of his presidency. This graph runs from November 2014 to the present: This means that there are many more voters who will be motivated to support a candidate who criticizes Obama than voters who will be motivated to support a candidate who defends him. In short, while the Obama administrations record has been mostly absent from the primary campaigns (for obvious reasons, Clinton and Sanders havent talked much about it), it should be, and probably will be, front and center during the Trump-Clinton race. And I think that the more he goes after the Obama administrations record, the better Trump will do. The recordings made by conspirator turned informant Abdirahman Bashir took center stage for three hours at the trial of the three Minnesota men on Friday. They came in fast and furious, including so many items of interest that I found it hard to keep up as they were played in court. I therefore overlooked several in my post yesterday. Here is one with a little help from the Star Tribunes Stephen Montemayor: The topic of attacks on U.S. soil also resurfaced Friday in other recorded discussions. Daud in one tape suggested that their emir could one day send them back into their home country. Abdirizak Warsame a co-defendant who pleaded guilty in the case earlier this year boasted about being able to make homemade rockets. And Farah was recorded as saying he had heard that thousands of ISIL fighters had been sent back. You know what they did? They acted like they were Syrian refugees, Farah said. Italy, U.K., they just went with the wave. Here is another with a little help from KSTP digital report Jenny Lissarrague, referring to defendant Guled Omar. I didnt do justice to this one: Omar then talked about getting ISIS fighters to come into the United States through Mexico, according to the audio recording and transcript. He said he wanted to go through Mexico to learn all the spots there, make connections there, send some brothers back over there, according to the recordings. Theyre coming into this country as immigrants Imagine what they could do. Theyll do crazy damage, Omar said. Wallah [I swear], we have a big opportunity. I wanted to make sure that readers following this series didnt miss these items. Yasser Zeineldin, CEO, eHosting DataFort PR-Inside.com: 2016-05-22 21:11:42 Press Information eHosting DataFort Dubai, UAE Nirmala Dsouza PR Consultant +971507343840 email http://www.ehdf.com # 701 Words Dubai, UAEPR Consultant+971507343840 Dubai, United Arab Emirates, May 22, 2016: eHosting DataFort (eHDF), the regions leading Managed Hosting and Cloud infrastructure services provider, today announced that they have further enhanced their Public Cloud portal to include advanced features and customizable packages, and improve the overall cloud experience of their customers.eHDFs unique Public Cloud platform consists of an easy-to-use, fully automated self-service online provisioning portal, which provides scalability options for customers dynamic IT infrastructure needs. The offering includes an online store that allows users to customize and purchase Public Cloud servers based on their requirements in less than 15 minutes. The new portal offers a user friendly control panel, making it easier for users to control their virtual machines and other related configurations. Furthermore, the feature-rich portal allows users to set firewall rules, load balancing, thresholds, auto-scale, notifications and schedule automatic snapshots, etc.The platform is highly flexible and comes with the convenience of choosing payment plans based on various types of configurations. This includes monthly, half yearly as well as annual plans with the additional advantage of the introductory reduced rates. Besides, the technological advancements support a wide range of the latest available operating system (OS) templates and deploys servers much quicker.The eHDF public cloud enables small and medium businesses to buy locally-hosted cloud infrastructure services which are ideal for hosting websites and other web-based business applications. The payment plans for the cloud packages start at AED 116 per month and users can easily scale the virtual machines with the option to increase memory, CPU, storage etc.Yasser Zeineldin, CEO, eHosting DataFort, said, Public Cloud has gained worldwide momentum and we have seen an increased uptake of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). By helping firms shift their capital expenses into operational, pay-as-you-go costs, Public Cloud offers reliable and elastic IT infrastructure and superior utilization of hardware and software resources.eHDF is committed to providing its customers with cost efficient and easy to adopt IT solutions. As one of the leading cloud hosting service providers, we were keen to incorporate the latest and most innovative solutions that would help IT Managers, Business owners and CIOs in the UAE to yield richer gains from the speed and flexibility that the Public Cloud offers. The recent move to a much more technologically advanced platform is a step in that direction that will provide both technology and economic benefits to our customers. With increased use of cloud services, it is important for organizations to focus on security of their critical applications and data. eHDF is the first company in the Middle East to achieve Cloud Security Alliances Security, Trust & Assurance Registry (CSA STAR) with a Gold rating. This reiterates the companys focus and dedication to provide secure cloud services that are best-in-class.eHDFs Public Cloud services are delivered from its secure data centres located in Dubai thereby assuring customers of enhanced data security and better latency. The service also include 24 x 7 chat & email based support.For more information on eHDFs public cloud services, please visit http://mycloud.ehdf.com/index.php -Ends-About eHosting DataFortEstablished in 2001, eHosting DataFort (eHDF) is amongst the 1st providers of Managed Hosting and Cloud Infrastructure Services in the Gulf region. It owns and operates multiple Tier 3 data centers, delivering managed services through reliable infrastructure, 24/7 support and guaranteed uptime, and is the only services provider in the ME to offer credit based Service Level Agreements.eHDF was the pioneer in the region to introduce hosted managed private cloud solutions and were the 1st in the UAE to launch public cloud services which can be bought from an online storefront. Very recently, eHDF obtained Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) STAR Certification, becoming the 1st company in the region to achieve this. It also achieved the acclaimed ISO 22301 certification for Business Continuity this year and was amongst the 1st companies to achieve ISO 9001 / 20000/ 27001.Website: www.ehdf.com , Email: info@ ehdf.com Phone: +971 4 391 3040; Fax: +971 4 391 3050 LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/company/ehosting-datafort Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/eHosting-DataFort/136852956523870 Blog - http://www.ehdf.com/index.php/about-ehdf/resource-center/blog G+ - https://plus.google.com/115510152092015193625/posts For more information, please contact:Nirmala DsouzaOAK Consulting FZ LLCEmail: nimi@ oakconsulting.biz (M): +971 50 734 3840 The crisis within the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party is far from over, with Ali Modu Sheriff claiming he remained the national chairman of the party, despite being sacked by a national convention. Mr. Sheriff was sacked at the PDP convention held on Saturday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and the National Executive Committee which he headed, replaced with a caretaker committee. Inuwa Bwala, the spokesperson for Mr. Sheriff, told PREMIUM TIMES around 8.41pm on Saturday that Mr. Sheriff remained opposed to what happened at the Port Harcourt convention, since he had announced its suspension after consulting with members of the National Working Committee of the party. Immediately the chairman (Sheriff) received another court injunction, he called a meeting of the National Working Committee and told them that it wasnt safe to continue with the convention of the party, especially since the court had forbidden elections virtually into all the offices, Mr. Bwala said. He announced the suspension of the convention at a press briefing, only for some people to go behind and claim that there was convention. There was no organ of the party that was represented at the convention. The convention was cancelled, and it remains cancelled until such a time the matters in court are resolved, for us to convene another national convention. Mr. Bwala said Mr. Sheriff remained the national chairman of the PDP, going by the pronouncement of the court. The court had said the office of the chairman would become vacant only in 2018, and that is parts of the reasons we shelved the convention, said Mr. Bwala. When asked why the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, and the Senate Minority Leader, Godwill Akpabio, parted ways with Mr. Sheriff, Mr. Bwala responded, Some of them wanted to go on with the convention even with the subsisting court orders, and Sheriff said no. And that was their point of departure. Mr. Bwala said Mr. Sheriff felt betrayed in Port Harcourt. Naturally, you will feel betrayed if you are working with some people, only for them to go behind you to work against what you all agreed to do. The motion to sack Mr. Sheriff was moved at the convention by Mr. Akpabio, at the Port Harcourt Civic Centre. In his motion, Mr. Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, asked the convention to approve the appointment of a committee to manage the affairs of the PDP for a period not exceeding 90 days. The committee shall be known as the National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Akpabio said, while addressing delegates at the convention. Mr. Akpabio said the caretaker committee would also work to foster peace and reconciliation of all party members, as part of its terms of reference. The motion was seconded by the Governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo, thereby paving the way for the election of a seven-man caretaker committee headed by the former governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi. The voice vote was conducted by the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike. Ben Obi, who represents the South East in the caretaker committee, is the secretary. Other members of the committee include Odion Ugbesia, a former senator from Edo State, and Abdul Ahmed Ningi, from Bauchi. The convention, which had all the 12 governors of the PDP-controlled states in attendance, went up till about 6pm. There was an understanding that no member of the caretaker committee would contest for election into the National Executive Committee. The immediate past senate president, David Mark, was present at the convention. The Speaker, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Onofiok Luke, told PREMIUM TIMES that what happened at the Port Harcourt convention was for the purpose of inclusion. Mr. Luke said, The convention was fixed by NEC, and therefore it is only NEC that has the power to suspend the convention. I am a loyal party man. So, I go with the party. As the convention drew to a close around 6 pm, delegates hurried out of the venue even before the national anthem was sang, and the idle ballot boxes, beautifully designed, stood out as a reminded that the biggest opposition party in Africa still had a major inconclusive business at hand. The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered a former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the Federal Government to provide information on the spending of the alleged missing N30 trillion which represents some accruable income to the Federal Government during the last four years of the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. The judgment was delivered last week by Hon Justice Ibrahim Buba following a Freedom of Information suit number FHC/L/CS/196/2015 brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). SERAPs Deputy Director, Olukayode Majekodunmi, made details of the judgment available to PREMIUM TIMES via a press statement on Sunday. SERAPs suit followed the claim by the former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Charles Soludo, that at least N30 trillion has either been stolen or unaccounted for, or grossly mismanaged over the last few years under the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealas watch. Justice Buba said in the judgment, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government have no legally justifiable reason for refusing to provide SERAP with the information requested for. The Court has gone through the application and agrees that SERAPs application has merits and the argument is not opposed. SERAPs application is granted as prayed. The Court agreed with the arguments by SERAPs deputy director, Olukayode Majekodunmi, that Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government should have either supplied the information requested by SERAP or communicate her denial within seven days of receipt of the letter from SERAP if she considers that the request should be denied. The judgment by Justice Buba reads in part: Preliminary objection by Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government is misconceived, the court upholds the arguments by SERAP for the reasons stated herein. SERAP commenced this proceeding by way of Originating Summons dated 23 February 2015 and filed 25 February 2015. Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government filed a Memorandum of Conditional Appearance, a Notice of Preliminary Objection and written address, all undated but filed on 29 September 2015. The preliminary objection is on the following grounds: that SERAP did not obtain the mandatory leave of the Federal High Court to issue and serve the Originating Summons and other processes outside Lagos State; that there is no mandatory endorsement on the Originating Summons that it is to be served on Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government in Abuja and outside jurisdiction of this Court. The only issue for determination is whether Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government should be heard on their preliminary objection considering the totality of the circumstances of this case. He who wants equity must do equity. This suit was filed on 25 February 2015 and from the record of the court was served on Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government on 3rd July, 2015. It took about 3 months for them to come up with technical response to the simple request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2011. Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government have therefore been caught by Order 29 of the Rules of this Court, which requires that an application shall be made within 21 days after service on the Defendants of the originating summons. If Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government want to raise issues about service, the law does not permit of demurer. The proper route for them should have been to join issues with the originating summons and also file their objections. In the present case by SERAP, the Notice of Preliminary Objection by Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government is incurably defective for not conforming to order 29 of the Rules of this Court. The process adopted by Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government in this suit is to come by way of demurer. This process has long been abolished by the Rules of this Court. By Order 16 Rule 1 of the Rules of this Court, no demurer shall be allowed and rule 2 provides that a party shall be entitled to pursue by his pleadings any point of law and any point of law so raised shall be disposed by the judge who tries the cause at or after trial. The implication of this clear provision of the rule of court is that Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government must join issues with SERAP on the originating summons no matter how flimsy, instead of looking for a technical way out. This technical way out has failed. The concept of demurer as presently raised by Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government is no longer known to law especially the Federal High Court of Nigeria. It is the position of the law that the application of Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government should fail. Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government, having failed to file Counter Affidavit to SERAPs suit, are deemed to have forfeited that option of filing anything again. Having shown why the Application by Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government should be dismissed for failing to join issues with SERAP, the originating process must be moved on the merits. On the issue of failure to obtain pre-requisite consent/leave of Court to issue and serve the originating summons on Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government outside of jurisdiction, Order 6 Rule 31 states that in this Order out of jurisdiction means out of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is also necessary to refer to sections 97 and 99 of the Sheriff and Civil Process Act. The provisions apply to the validity of the service and have nothing to do with the validity of the originating process. On the strength of this clear provision, which Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government did not deny and incapable of denying at this point, their objection is dismissed as the validity of the process is not affected in any way. The main issue in this Courts view bothers on the legal binding obligation imposed on Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act access to a record of information requested for. In the case at hand, SERAP through its letter of 2 February 2015, Exhibit A, sought the information relating to the spending of the alleged missing N30 trillion, which represents some accruable income to the Federal Government during the last 4 years of the Administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. Exhibit A has been received by them, and Exhibit B is the acknowledgement of receipt of Exhibit A. However Mrs Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government have since the receipt of the request letter failed, refused and or neglected to provide SERAP with the information it requested for within their custody. They should have either supplied the information requested by SERAP or communicate their denial within 7 days of receipt of the application from SERAP if it considers that the application should be denied. SERAP had in February 2015 dragged Mrs Okonjo-Iweala to court over a failure to provide information about spending of the alleged missing N30tn, which represents some accruable income to the Federal Government in the past four years. Commenting on the judgment, SERAPs executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said, This judgment shows the important role that Nigerian courts can play in the efforts to promote transparency in government and combat corruption and the impunity of perpetrators. It also confirms that high-ranking government officials can no longer escape accountability for their action while in office. We urge Mrs Okonjo-Iweala to cooperate with the authorities in the efforts to ensure the full and effective enforcement of the judgment. Mr Soludo had in a widely circulated speech asked Mrs Okonjo-Iweala to explain How many trillions of naira were paid for oil subsidy (unappropriated?) How many trillions (in actual fact) have been lost through Customs duty waivers over the last four years? Can you tell Nigerians why the price of diesel has still not come down despite the crash in global crude oil prices, and how much is being appropriated by friends in the process? Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has said that his support for the federal governments petrol price hike is because the policy is the difficult pain Nigerians must undergo before reaping the gains. According to him, it does not make economic sense for the government to spend more than half its earnings just on fuel subsidy to the detriment of other development programmes. As labour leader and opposition politician, Mr. Oshiomhole spent years confronting previous governments attempt to remove fuel subsidy or increase petrol prices. Now a key member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Mr. Oshiomhole said his position had changed because the fundamentals and economic indices are different from what they were a few years ago. Speaking at a special thanksgiving service organised by Apostle Charles Osazuwa, Senior Pastor and founder of Rock of Ages Christian Assembly International (RACAi), Benin City, to round off a 7-day programme of the church on Sunday, Mr. Oshiomhole said the former Government of President Goodluck Jonathan spent as much as N1.2 trillion on fuel subsidy. l have listened to our chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and he reminded us that the Hon. Minister of Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has been under fire. I believe the fire will continue for some time. In spite of all that he is going through, the Minister recognized that we cant be too busy to come to the church to ask God to help us to do the job. After all, the Bible says that unless the Lord builds the house, the labourer labours in vain, the governor said according to a statement signed by his spokesperson, Peter Okhiria. He said, The fire that he is going through, the end of it will translate to prosperity for our people. Leaders must see ahead of their followers, and when followers cant see what a leader is seeing, with time and consistency, the followers will see the benefits of the decisions the leader has taken. As many of you might have known, this is not my first time in the struggle against pump price increase. I have fought it over and over again, and at a point, God used us to shut down the country just to make a point to the then government in power, but the truth is that the fundamentals have changed. Under President Olusegun Obasanjo, we were talking of N20 billion for subsidy. And Obasanjo would ask me, Comrade, N20 billion can build XYZ road. I think the last one was about N40 to N45 billion a year for subsidy. However, the last government under President Goodluck Jonathan quadrupled the number to N1.2 trillion. When your total earning is about N2 trillion and you spend more than half for petrol, how much will you use for your house? How much money will you use for clothing of your children? How much will you use to send your children to school? Mr. Oshiomhole continued, government must make investments in research, in education, in technology. If we spend all our money or half of it on subsidy, we will drink petrol without vehicles for us to ride in. It simply doesnt make sense anymore. The life of a nation is not different from the life of a human being. When you are traveling on a road which you believe will take you to a destination, 16 years down the road, it appears to be getting longer and longer, only a fool will continue to travel on that road. From the way it is, this is the time to stop, look back and see other options that are available. I believe that is what this Minister of Petroleum and President Muhammadu Buhari have done. I give my full support. He added, When a nation and a people could not for good reason trust the leadership, even when the leadership asks you to make a sacrifice, the first question you ask is, if I make the sacrifice, what about you? Obviously, for a government that was sharing money for security services to party leaders, that government didnt have the moral standing to call on Nigerians to make sacrifices. So, I think it was that thing that was missing, having a president that cares, a president that is not corrupt, a president that commands respect within the country and outside the country. When he asks you, change your ways of life, look at my own lifestyle, let us restart, we have all sinned in the past, let us repent so that we might not sin again, I think it makes sense to listen. There will be sacrifice, so, no pain, no gain. I believe this is the time to accept a lot of pains, so that once free, the gains will come. I know under President Buhari the gains will come. I know that this time will come and go and Nigeria will maintain its progress. Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachukwu, insisted that the government of President Buhari is a government of hope, explaining that things could not continue the way they had been. In the same vein, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), John Odigie Oyegun, noted that the country was going through difficult times, but the people had to change their ways for things to get better. High point of the ceremony was the fundraiser for a new auditorium of the church and the dedication of the new baby of Apostle and Pastor (Mrs.) Charles Osazuwa. A woman has narrated how she was kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram militants, stripped and strapped with explosives, and asked to bomb a popular textile market in Kano. The Kano State Police commissioner, Abbati Maigari Dikko, on Sunday brought mother-of-three Khadija Ibrahim before Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, after she escaped her captors who planned on using her as a suicide bomber. Police said she was caught with a suicide belt and that the target was to be Kanos Kantin Kwari textile market. Ms. Khadija told police that she was abducted at a bus stop in Maiduguri on her way to hospital. She narrated how she was stopped and given a lift by people who claimed to be helping her. Ms. Khadija said she lost her consciousness afterwards, and only later realised she was in Kano whne she overhead her abductors discussing about injecting her. According the woman, the kidnappers stripped her of clothes, and strapped the belt on her while she was unconscious. When she regained consciousness, the men told her to attack Kantin Kwari as her work for God. Ms. Khadija said she escaped after the car they were in developed fault. She was later given help and taken to a police station. Governor Ganduje urged Kano residents to be vigilant especially at markets. The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on Sunday suspended its nationwide strike called to protest the governments decision to increase pump price of petrol and hike in electricity tariffs. The NLC president, Ayuba Wabba, said the union resolved to suspend the strike with immediate effect. He at the end of an emergency meeting of the unions National Executive Council (NEC) in Abuja, called to review the impact of the strike. A communique also signed by the General Secretary, Peter Ozo-Eson, said after due consultation with its constituents and affiliates, the NLC also resolved to resume negotiations with government on the twin issues of the hike in electricity tariff and an increase in the pump price of petroleum products as well as any other issue that may arise during the meeting. Negotiations had stalemated after the government refused to listen to the NLC on its demands. Mr. Wabba said the labour movement remained committed to genuine dialogue within the framework of internationally established and recognized principles of representation. The Congress will continue to resist wrong legislations, policies and programmes and will always act in the best interest of Nigerians as it remains the only pan-Nigerian organisation not affected by religion, region, creed, partisanship or primordial sentiments, the NLC president said. During the meeting on Sunday, he said NEC had reviewed the protest action and its impact across the nation, noting the sacrifices of its members, particularly responses from Nigerians, governments attitude and the brutality of the police in some states where labour leaders were intimidated, harassed, arrested and detained unjustly. Despite the decision to suspend the strike action, the NLC president said NEC was still convinced that the protest was still the best, as it helped in highlighting the twin issues of unjustified and illegal hike in electricity tariff and increase in the pump price of petroleum products. NEC adjudged the protest action to be a success in spite of both internal and external challenges. NEC reiterated the correctness of its position on the twin-issues of electricity tariff hike and astronomical increase in the pump price of PMS and the hardship they portend for Nigerian masses, he said. He insisted that the action was taken in the best interest of the poor and the weak, pointing out that the action drew governments attention to the dangers of relying on importation of petroleum products as a sustainable strategy for making available petroleum products, expressing the belief time would prove its position right in the days ahead. While commending some concerned Nigerians for intervening, Mr. Wabba said NEC urged the government to play by the rules in its engagement with its constituent unions, interest groups and non-state actors as proof of its commitment to deepening democracy in the country. The strike began on Wednesday following the governments failure to accede to NLCs demands to revert to the old fuel price of N86.50 per litre as well as reverse the electricity tariff hike imposed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC last January. The strike recorded low compliance as workers largely ignored its directive to stop work. Some of the unions key affiliates, the influential Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, also pulled out of the strike. The leadership of the NLC received appeals from the leadership of the National Assembly as well as the National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, who visited the NLC secretariat in Abuja on Friday to appeal for the calling off of the strike. The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has dismissed reports of the existence of factions in the Peoples Democratic Party, describing them as false, baseless, and misguided. He spoke on Sunday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on arrival from Port Harcourt, where he attended the Saturday national convention of the party. The convention sacked the National chairman of the PDP, Ali Modu Sheriff and appointed a former governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi, as chairman of a caretaker committee to run the party for three months. Mr. Sheriff, who spoke through his spokesperson, Inuwa Bwala, rejected his sack, saying he was betrayed. Another convention conducted by some party elders who called themselves Concerned PDP Stakeholders also held in Abuja the same day. Mr. Ekweremadu, who was in the company of Mr. Makarfi, said the PDP only has contending interests and that there was nothing abnormal such developments in any political family. For the purpose of clarification, there are no factions within the PDP family as I speak, he said. What we have are contending interests. Such is common in any party. Yes, there were some disagreements, but the good thing is that we have not allowed such disagreements to degenerate into a major crisis that would warrant factions. The deputy senate president said what happened in Port Harcourt further confirmed PDPs capacity to resolve issues in favour of laid down precepts and in the overall interest of the great party and the nation. He stressed, Im sure what happened in Port-Harcourt remains a disappointment for those who were expectant of major crisis and factions in the PDP because we emerged from the convention more determined to change the change, to save our economy, re-position the electoral process, and make life more bearable for the suffering masses of Nigeria again. Mr. Ekweremadu said there were no legal or judicial encumbrances to the convention or the emergences of the interim NWC. According to him, the convention did not conduct any elections, but simply acted within its constitutional powers as the highest decision-making organ of the PDP to appoint an interim NWC to oversee the affairs of the party and also conduct elections into the NWC positions within 90 days. While congratulating the interim NWC, the deputy senate president, expressed strong confidence in Mr. Makarfis leadership qualities and those of the members of his team. He enjoined them to make the reconciliation of all aggrieved and divergent interests within the party their priority. Distinguished Senator Makarfi is a quality leader, a pan-Nigerian, and someone I have worked with for many years in the Senate, Mr. Ekweremadu said. He also served on the PDP Post Election Review Committee, which I chaired; I am sure his team is already reaching out to reassure all interests and amicably resolve any outstanding issues ahead of conducting a free, fair, and credible election of NWC members in line with the mandate handed to them by the party in Port-Harcourt. Following Saturdays parallel national convention that saw the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, divided, the Nigerian Police have sealed off the Wadata Plaza national secretariat of the party in Abuja. The police cordoned off one of the traffic lanes leading into the complex, while those who had been on ground providing security were all replaced. The PDP is currently enmeshed in a leadership crisis which culminated in two parallel conventions in Abuja and Port Harcourt on Saturday. The conventions produced three sets of leaders. While the partys national officers led by former Borno Governor, Ali Sheriff, were sacked and an interim team announced in Port Harcourt, the Abuja convention appointed a former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, as acting national chairman. The convention in Port Harcourt appointed former Kaduna Governor, Ahmed Makarfi, as chairman and a former senator, Ben Obi, as National Secretary. Meanwhile, Mr. Sheriff insists he remains the national chairman. The coordinator of the PDP governors forum, Osaro Onaiwu, who visited the secretariat on Sunday, told journalists, that the police might have received information that the Modu Sheriff faction intended to hold a meeting there. After three days of what it called nationwide warning strike last week, the Nigeria Labour Congress has scheduled a meeting of its National Executive Council, NEC, for Monday in Abuja. The meeting on Monday is expected to be preceded by another by the National Administrative Council NAC, an organ of elected officers and the NEC, comprising representatives of all the Congress affiliates across the country. That first meeting is scheduled for Sunday also in Abuja. The warning strike began on Wednesday following governments failure to accede to its demands to revert to the old fuel price of N86.50 per litre as well as reverse the electricity tariff hike imposed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission last January. The strike action appeared to have been largely a failure in most states of the federation, as Nigerians ignored the call by the NLC and went about their normal businesses throughout the three days of the strike. Although well meaning Nigerians have been making entreaties to the NLC to prevail on its members to shelve the strike, the scheduled meeting appears to be a forum for labour to consider these pleas, review its position and consider calling off the strike and return to the negotiation table with government on their demands. NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said Sundays meeting would discuss the proposal by a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, during his visit to the NLC secretariat in Abuja on Friday to appeal for the calling off of the strike. During the visit, Mr. Wabba had said the decision to suspend or call off the strike could only be taken by the appropriate organ of the congress empowered to negotiate with government. Other appeals that have gone to the NLC to shelve the strike came from the leadership of the National Assembly. Key affiliates of the NLC, including the influential oil workers unions, namely the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and the National Union od Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, opted not to join the strike. The Lagos State Government has warned residents that there would be diversion in some routes when President Muhammadu Buhari visits the state on Monday and Tuesday. A statement by the Commissioner for Information, Steve Ayorinde, quoted Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as urging residents to bear with law enforcement agents and traffic control authorities who will effect road diversions in some of the routes that the President motorcade will pass through during the visit. The Lagos State Government will formally welcome President Buhari on Monday on a two-day working visit to the State. It will be President Buharis first official visit to the state since he assumed office about a year ago. The statement by Mr. Ayorinde said Monday would be the first time in about 15years that a sitting President will be visiting the State on a working visit and is a testimony to the landmark achievements in the last one year of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as well as the good working relationship between Lagos State and the Federal Government. Mr. Ayorinde added that President Buhari, during the visit, would formally commission the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) Rescue Unit in Cappa Oshodi built by the state government to ensure prompt and swift response to emergency situations in the state. He said the President would thereafter commission the newly constructed Ago Palace Way in Okota, Isolo, after which he would pay homage to the Oba of Lagos, His Royal Majesty, Oba Babatunde Rilwanu Aremu Akiolu at the Iga Iduganran, Lagos Island. The Commissioner disclosed further that the President would later in the day be hosted to a reception rally by the State Government at the Tafawa Balewa Square, (TBS) Lagos where he will also commission and hand over security equipment and vehicles contributed by the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration to securities agencies to beef up security in the state. The release added that activities for the first day of the Presidents visit would be rounded up with a State Banquet in his honour at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island. The President will on Tuesday participate as the Special Guest of Honour at a breakfast session with Corporate Lagos to be hosted by Governor Ambode at the Lagos State House, Marina, after which he would have a short session with the public service at the State House, Alausa, Ikeja. The Commissioner quoted Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as being joyous over this landmark presidential visit to the State that contributed so much to his emergence as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The management of University of Abuja says it may enforce the no work no pay rule on unions that joined the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, strike over the recent increase in petrol price. A statement issued by the Vice-Chancellor, Michael Adikwu, on Sunday, in Abuja, said the warning was in compliance with the directive from the Federal Government. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, had asked federal workers to ignore the strike. Mr. Lawal also threatened to implement the no work, no pay rule. The government, on May 11, announced an increase in the price of petrol from N86.50k to N145 per litre. The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, on May 18 embarked on strike following the breakdown in negotiation and expiration of their ultimatum to Federal Government to reverse the increment in petrol price. Mr. Adikwu listed the unions as the local branches of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities SSANU) and Non Academic Staff of Nigerian Universities (NASU). He called on the striking staff to return to work without further delay in the interest of the growth and stability of the university. We appreciate the reasons adduced by a faction of labour for going into the strike, he said. However, considering the fact that concerted efforts are being made by government and all concerned to address the issues, we call on our staff on sympathy strike to resume work immediately in order to sustain the tremendous progress we have jointly made so far in stabilising the institution. We may be forced to comply with the government directive on the strike if they failed to heed this appeal. The chairman of the 2016 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Convention Planning Committee and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has explained that the party removed Ali Modu Sheriff on Saturday as the partys national chairman because his leadership was destabilising the party. In an interview on Saturday night after the 2016 National Convention in Port Harcourt, Governor Wike said: All along, the crisis has been about the former acting chairman whose emergence was strongly opposed. This is destabilising the party and so we had to let him go. What is important is the party and not the individual. No sacrifice is too much for anyone to make as far as PDP is concerned, Mr. Wike said, according to statement released on Sunday by his media aide, Simeon Nwakaudu. Mr. Wike said he had no personal interest in supporting Mr. Sheriff as he was the best option at the time he emerged. He said PDP would continue to grow from strength to strength as it remains the only hope for the country. Governor Wike said: We will not allow the PDP to die or suffer divisions under our watch. History will never forgive us if we watch the party die. The governor said that the party leaders would work towards maintaining unity amongst all members of the party. He said despite the challenges, the 2016 National Convention was successful as the party has been repositioned in the interest of the nation. President Muhammadu Buhari has suspended his scheduled official visit to Lagos State, earlier billed for Monday. The president will now visit Lagos after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, told PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday. The fasting is expected to begin June ending. Mr. Shehu said the president is faced with scheduling difficulties difficulties The presidents office had scheduled the two-day visit, where he was to commission completed projects across the state. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will now represent Mr. Buhari at a low-profile event, Mr. Shehu said. He told PREMIUM TIMES most projects lined up for commissioning during Mr. Buharis visit will now be placed on hold until after the Ramadan. The president is faced with scheduling difficulties difficulties and that is the reason for the postponement, Mr. Shehu said. Mr. Shehu said a similar trip to Edo State had been previously canceled by the president, but that he will still attend that as well in due course. He needs more time for Lagos and for Edo which had earlier been stepped down. As a result of this, the visit has been scaled down and he is being represented by H.E. the VP, who is going to Lagos to commission a few projects, leaving the rest for Mr. President, Mr. Shehu said. The president will undertake these visits after the Ramadan. Residents of Ikeinghenbiri community in Southern Ijaw local council of Bayelsa State on Sunday fled the area following a clash between rival armed groups at an oilfield operated by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company NAOC. A resident of the area, Ebidimo Joseph, told our reporter by phone that the groups were struggling for the control of the Ogboinbiri-Tebidaba crude trunk line which passed through the area. Mr. Joseph said the residents became scared and were leaving for neighbouring villages. We understand it is a conflict between two armed groups for the access to the crude pipeline, one group claims to be working to safeguard the pipeline and said the other group are vandals, they have been shooting, he said. The sound of the gunfire is scary and there is no sign of the Joint Task Force soldiers who are supposed to be patrolling the area, we have not seen any soldier. According to him, the pipeline was set ablaze while the two groups engaged each other in gun battle, adding that there was no way to ascertain if there was any casualty yet. Efforts to get comments from Isa Ado, spokesperson for the joint military force deployed to protect oil infrastructure in the Niger Delta were futile as he did not answer our telephone calls. He also did not reply to text message requesting for his comments. Four students of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, died in a road accident on the Akure-Ilesha expressway in Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State on Saturday. The spokesman of the police command in Ondo State, Femi Joseph, confirmed the incident and said that 11 others sustained various degrees of injuries. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the students were returning from Ibadan after attending a religious programme. Mr. Joseph further confirmed that the remains of the students were deposited at the Ondo State Specialist Hospital, Akure, where those injured were hospitalised. No fewer than 15 students were in the Hiace bus when the accident happened. The police spokesman said that preliminary investigation had revealed that the accident involved a Hiace bus carrying the students and a motorcycle. The accident happened when the bus driver lost control while trying to avoid the motorcycle that suddenly appeared on the highway. The bus somersaulted several times after trying to manoeuvre its way, Joseph said. He said policemen and marshals of the Federal Road Safety Commission were at the scene to assist the deceased and those injured. Segun Oladele, President of the FUTA chapter of the Students Union Government (SUG), who also confirmed the deaths, said that those injured were responding to treatment. (NAN) 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. AMMAN, Jordan, May 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of the Middle East and North Africa Businesswomen's Network (MENA BWN) concluded their first Board of Directors' meeting that started in the Jordanian capital Amman on Wednesday, where they discussed a number of key issues aimed at enabling Arab businesswomen and strengthening their presence in decision-making centers in both the public and private sectors. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160522/370616 ) Members of MENA BWN, representing 11 Arab countries, said that the two-day meeting was an outstanding opportunity to exchange expertise and knowledge and to discuss ways of strengthening women's representation in higher places in the private sector and elevating women's participation in investment and the economy in general. Jordanian businesswoman Reem Badran, President of MENA BWN, said in a press conference at the end of the Network's meetings that the level of women's involvement in the Arab economy is still low and below aspirations. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Arab women's economic participation does not exceed 28%, and these women have great potential to prove a tangible presence in all the fields of the economic sector. Badran added that the Network was able to connect with regional and international economic and investment corporations to introduce its mission and to further strengthen Arab women's participation in leading international economic podiums and forums, and their networking with larger numbers of developmental and financing corporations. Badran noted that the main objectives of the Network include financial empowerment for women through financial inclusion policies and finding ways to fund projects founded by female entrepreneurs through connecting with regional and international financial and developmental institutions that support their ideas and efforts. Badran thanked the Chairman and Board Members of the Amman Chamber of Commerce for supporting the network and its goals. The Secretary General of MENA BWN, Bahraini Businesswomen Society's representative and member of the Board of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce, Afnan Al Zayani, who is in charge of the mentoring program for businesswomen and entrepreneurs, said that the network's work will focus on enabling women and increasing the chances of their contribution in the job market, especially with the rise in unemployment levels in the Arab world, which has had direct and negative effects on society. She pointed out that the network's efforts will focus on inviting strategic partners to provide financial support to women entrepreneurs. The Network's Secretary, Sheikha Nour Al Thani, member of Qatar's Chamber of Commerce, introduced the interactive website to be launched shortly, and which will act as a forum and an active marketing tool to aid start-ups in showcasing their products and reaching new markets. She emphasized the role of electronic marketing, which is considered a less costly method than other traditional methods, in supporting the success and continuity of their products and reaching a wider range of customers in a faster, easier way. The founders of the MENA BWN kicked off their forum with an executive meeting at the Amman Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, continuing the dialogue that was started in Bahrain in March this year. A number of initiatives were announced at the meeting, including exploring methods of networking and communication between Arab businesswomen and financial and developmental institutions locally, regionally and internationally. In addition, programs were launched to activate and strengthen women's empowerment in numerous economic sectors. The Network's founders, represented by women from Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, Tunis, Algeria, Morocco, the UAE and Kuwait, agreed to launch a number of initiatives including an integrated financial support program for businesswomen and female entrepreneurs in Arab countries by creating partnerships with regional financial entities including Arab Monetary Fund and Arab Women Organization, as well as international ones such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). These organizations provide credit facilitation and raise the level of support targeted at projects founded by women. A second program will be launched specializing in learning by mentoring and will focus on teaching and consultation in a variety of vocational sectors in order to exchange expertise between women working in the same field, discussing ways to overcome legislative and social challenges. A third program will aim to support start-ups through the use of marketing tools and consultations in different fields including packing, quality, distribution and expansion. This support, which will be available through the network's interactive website, is expected to be launched soon. The Network announced a fourth program that will focus on strengthening and activating women's presence in decision-making centers, with an emphasis on the private sector in which the Network, according to Badran, is studying the launching of a prize in the network's name that will help prompt companies and corporations to enhance women's representation on managing boards and in high ranking positions. The Network's Board met with and presented their goals and objectives during their visits with the Jordanian Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Engineer Maha Al Ali; members of the Upper House; the CEO of the Jordan Investment Commission; the CEO of Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO); the Chairman and Board Members of the Amman Chamber of Commerce; the Chairman of the Jordan Chamber of Commerce; the Chairman of the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries; the Chairman and Board Members of the Amman Chamber of Industry; as well as the members of the Jordan Forum for Business and Professional Women. Also during their visit to Amman, Board Members decided to convene the Network's next meeting in November in Ajman, the UAE, on the sidelines of the Gulf Businesswomen Forum. In addition to participants from Bahrain and Qatar, Bdour Al Smeiti and Mishael Al Asousi from the Kuwait Business and Professional Women Network were also present, as well as Rawda Bin Saber, head of Chambre Nationale Des Femmes Chefs d'Entreprises in Tunis; Nashida Jarbouaa representing Algerian Female Business Owners; Reem Siam representing the Egyptian Economic Board for Businesswomen and the Egyptian Chambers Union; Laila Salhab Karami representing the Lebanese Businesswomen Assembly; and Fadia Suleiman Hussein from Sudan's Chamber of Kindergarten Owners. SOURCE Amman Chamber of Commerce - Appointment of Joint Directorate of Enforcement at the General Court in Al-Khobar - Acknowledgement of Claims by Algosaibi for the purposes of Settlement AL KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia, May 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On 21 March 2016 the Supreme Judicial Council in Saudi Arabia issued an order establishing a three-judge Tribunal called the Joint Directorate of Enforcement at the General Court in Al-Khobar ("JDEK"). The JDEK comprises the two enforcement judges and the head of the General Court in Al-Khobar. AHAB believes that the JDEK has the authority to address in full the claims of financial institutions against Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers ("AHAB" or the "Company") and Maan Al Sanea. AHAB announced today that it has recently written to a large number of financial institutions with claims against it ("Claimants") to confirm the amounts that AHAB is willing to acknowledge for the purposes of the settlement process it initiated in May 2014. AHAB and the five-member steering committee presented the detailed terms of an agreement to settle the claims of Claimants on 28 January 2016. Since the presentation, a majority of Claimants have responded to AHAB's invitation to agree the value of their claims. During the past weeks, Claimants representing 80% of the claims by number and 50% by value have received, or are in the process of receiving, letters from the Company acknowledging claim values. This process is on-going and the Company invites those Claimants that have not yet engaged in the claims agreement process to submit the relevant documentation to it as soon as possible. Speaking in Dubai, UAE today, Simon Charlton (acting Chief Executive Officer and Chief Restructuring Officer of the Company) said: "The Company views the appointment of the tribunal as a positive step forward that it believes will bring an end to the long-running disputes that resulted from the failure of Mr Al Sanea's businesses in 2009. For the first time in seven years, the Company has begun the process of acknowledging debts against it for the limited purposes of the Settlement which we believe will allow us to move forward with increased momentum." AHAB, along with those Claimants that have agreed claims, intends to present the terms of the proposed settlement to the JDEK for its consideration. AHAB has stated publicly since 2009 that it seeks a comprehensive and fair resolution of all outstanding claims, and it believes the proposed settlement presents the best opportunity for Claimants to resolve claims and maximize their recoveries. AHAB remains committed to its aggressive pursuit of Maan Al Sanea and his Saad companies for the billions of dollars in funds misappropriated by them. The Company believes that significant amounts will become available from this litigation and, as AHAB intends to make these amounts available for distribution to Claimants, it will materially increase the recoveries to Claimants above amounts that might otherwise be available outside the terms of the proposed settlement. The Company is moving ahead with its civil claims against Al Sanea in Saudi Arabia, seeking the return of: billions of dollars wrongfully taken by him using fraudulent cheques and electronic transfers; and bank shares and accrued dividends that Al Sanea wrongfully retained after his businesses collapsed. Al Sanea has refused to answer the merits of the claims, instead using various delay tactics such as meritless jurisdictional defenses and repeated adjournments. Additionally, the Company's case in the Cayman Islands against a number of Al Sanea's offshore shell companies (now in liquidation) is scheduled for trial this summer. The biggest group of defendants in that case was recently forced to recognize the implausibility of its counterclaim and amend its pleading after it was discovered that the initial allegations relied on forged documents and faked real estate transactions. Now, seven years after AHAB filed the case, the Court will finally hear the evidence, which will show that Al Sanea wrongfully borrowed and directed billions of dollars from accounts in AHAB's name into his Cayman Islands shell companies. AHAB has already obtained an interim judgment against Al Sanea personally for $2.5 billion, a case in which the Chief Judge of the Cayman Islands court concluded the evidence against Al Sanea demonstrates "misappropriation on a massive scale." In discussing the cases against Al Sanea, Simon Charlton said: "AHAB is confident of making recoveries through these civil and criminal claims such that the return to Claimants through a consensual settlement will be significantly greater than those that would otherwise be available." AHAB is also pursuing organizations that aided or were instrumental in Maan Al Sanea's ability to perpetrate his global fraud, including The International Banking Corporation ("TIBC"). The Company recently sued TIBC in Saudi Arabia for USD 1.2 billion for facilitating numerous fraudulent transactions, using false documentation created by TIBC's management, which caused severe damage to AHAB and a large number of financial institutions. SOURCE Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers (AHAB) PORTLAND, Oregon, May 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report published by Allied Market Research titled, World Medical Robotics and Computer-Assisted Surgery Market - Opportunities and Forecasts, 2015 -2022, projects that the world medical robotics and computer-assisted surgery market would reach $20.5 billion by 2022. The surgical robotics segment was the highest revenue-generating segment, accounting for nearly half of the market share in 2015, and is expected to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 ) To know more about the report, visit the website @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/medical-robotics-surgery-market The major factors boosting the market growth include a shifting trend from conventional surgery to advanced robotic surgery, growing adoption of robotics prosthetic & exoskeleton for rehabilitation therapeutics, and rising incidence of cancers and other critical disorders. In addition, rising emphasis on hospital & pharmacy automation and presence of high unmet medical needs in developing and underdeveloped economies are anticipated to drive the demand for medical robotics and computer-assisted surgical systems. Moreover, in order to minimize human errors during drug handling & medicine dispensing and reduce hospital maintenance cost & faculty time, large-scale hospitals and pharmacies are now adopting automated or robotic solutions. However, the high cost associated with such medical robotics and robotic surgical procedures is the major factor restraining the market growth. The rehabilitation robotics and hospital & pharmacy robotics segments collectively accounted for around one-third of the market share in 2015, and is projected to maintain dominance throughout the forecast period. The growth of this market was majorly attributed to the shifting trend from wheelchair to robotic rehabilitation therapy, growing focus on hospital infrastructure improvisation, and increasing healthcare expenditure. Likewise, the use of hospital and pharmacy robotics have led to cost-cutting in hospital expenditure and reduction in cases of hospital-acquired infection, which further supplements the adoption of hospital and pharmacy automation robots. Key Findings: The rehabilitation robotics market is projected to register the highest CAGR of 20.8% during forecast period. In surgical robotics, the accessories segment is expected to maintain its market foothold. In 2015, prosthetics was the highest revenue-generating segment, whereas exoskeleton is projected to be the fastest growing segment in the rehabilitation robotics market during the forecast period. The medication-dispensing robotics segment generated the highest revenue, which accounted for over half of the hospital and pharmacy robotics market share in 2015. In 2015, gynecology and urology surgery segments collectively accounted for about half of the surgical robotics market. Asia-Pacific is likely to be the fastest growing market, growing at a CAGR of 16.5% from 2015 to 2022. is likely to be the fastest growing market, growing at a CAGR of 16.5% from 2015 to 2022. In 2015, North America and Europe collectively accounted for around three-fourths of the world medical robotics and computer-assisted surgery market revenue. North America is anticipated to remain the highest revenue-generating region, owing to widespread adoption of surgical robotics along with the non-invasive robotic radiosurgical solutions. The growth of medical robotics and computer assisted surgery market in Europe is primarily characterized by the increase in geriatric & amputee population, high incidence of chronic diseases, and growing investment on hospital infrastructure. Moreover, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow rapidly because of the increasing healthcare expenditure, growing awareness of advanced robotic solutions for several health conditions, and increase in disposable income. The key companies profiled include Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Blue Belt Technologies Ltd., Think Surgical, Inc., Hansen Medical, Inc., MAKO Surgical Corp., Renishaw plc., Stanmore Implants Worldwide, Ltd., Mazor Robotics Ltd., ReWalk Robotics, Smith & Nephew, Ekso Bionics, Hocoma AG, Titan Medical Inc., and Hitachi Medical Systems. Similar reports published by Allied Market Research - World Surgical Robotics Market - The world surgical robotic systems market was evaluated at $3.3 billion in 2014, and is estimated to garner $6.4 billion by 2020, registering a CAGR of 10.2% over the forecast period. To know more about the Surgical Robotics Market report, visit the website at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/surgical-robotics-market World Advanced Wound Care and Closure Market - The global advanced wound care and closure market has been segmented based on type, application, end users and geography. Based on type, the global market is segmented into advanced wound closure market and advanced wound care market. To know more about the Advanced Wound Care and Closure Market report, visit the website at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/wound-closure-wound-care-market About Us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: Sona Padmanabhan 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Int'l: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: + 1-800-792-5285 (U.S. & Canada) E-mail: sales@alliedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/ SOURCE Allied Market Research AMMAN, Jordan, May 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of the Middle East and North Africa Businesswomen's Network (MENA BWN) concluded their first Board of Directors' meeting that started in the Jordanian capital Amman on Wednesday, where they discussed a number of key issues aimed at enabling Arab businesswomen and strengthening their presence in decision-making centers in both the public and private sectors. A group photo for the Board Members of the MENA Businesswomen's Network (PRNewsFoto/Amman Chamber of Commerce) (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160522/370616 ) Members of MENA BWN, representing 11 Arab countries, said that the two-day meeting was an outstanding opportunity to exchange expertise and knowledge and to discuss ways of strengthening women's representation in higher places in the private sector and elevating women's participation in investment and the economy in general. Jordanian businesswoman Reem Badran, President of MENA BWN, said in a press conference at the end of the Network's meetings that the level of women's involvement in the Arab economy is still low and below aspirations. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Arab women's economic participation does not exceed 28%, and these women have great potential to prove a tangible presence in all the fields of the economic sector. Badran added that the Network was able to connect with regional and international economic and investment corporations to introduce its mission and to further strengthen Arab women's participation in leading international economic podiums and forums, and their networking with larger numbers of developmental and financing corporations. Badran noted that the main objectives of the Network include financial empowerment for women through financial inclusion policies and finding ways to fund projects founded by female entrepreneurs through connecting with regional and international financial and developmental institutions that support their ideas and efforts. Badran thanked the Chairman and Board Members of the Amman Chamber of Commerce for supporting the network and its goals. The Secretary General of MENA BWN, Bahraini Businesswomen Society's representative and member of the Board of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce, Afnan Al Zayani, who is in charge of the mentoring program for businesswomen and entrepreneurs, said that the network's work will focus on enabling women and increasing the chances of their contribution in the job market, especially with the rise in unemployment levels in the Arab world, which has had direct and negative effects on society. She pointed out that the network's efforts will focus on inviting strategic partners to provide financial support to women entrepreneurs. The Network's Secretary, Sheikha Nour Al Thani, member of Qatar's Chamber of Commerce, introduced the interactive website to be launched shortly, and which will act as a forum and an active marketing tool to aid start-ups in showcasing their products and reaching new markets. She emphasized the role of electronic marketing, which is considered a less costly method than other traditional methods, in supporting the success and continuity of their products and reaching a wider range of customers in a faster, easier way. The founders of the MENA BWN kicked off their forum with an executive meeting at the Amman Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, continuing the dialogue that was started in Bahrain in March this year. A number of initiatives were announced at the meeting, including exploring methods of networking and communication between Arab businesswomen and financial and developmental institutions locally, regionally and internationally. In addition, programs were launched to activate and strengthen women's empowerment in numerous economic sectors. The Network's founders, represented by women from Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, Tunis, Algeria, Morocco, the UAE and Kuwait, agreed to launch a number of initiatives including an integrated financial support program for businesswomen and female entrepreneurs in Arab countries by creating partnerships with regional financial entities including Arab Monetary Fund and Arab Women Organization, as well as international ones such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). These organizations provide credit facilitation and raise the level of support targeted at projects founded by women. A second program will be launched specializing in learning by mentoring and will focus on teaching and consultation in a variety of vocational sectors in order to exchange expertise between women working in the same field, discussing ways to overcome legislative and social challenges. A third program will aim to support start-ups through the use of marketing tools and consultations in different fields including packing, quality, distribution and expansion. This support, which will be available through the network's interactive website, is expected to be launched soon. The Network announced a fourth program that will focus on strengthening and activating women's presence in decision-making centers, with an emphasis on the private sector in which the Network, according to Badran, is studying the launching of a prize in the network's name that will help prompt companies and corporations to enhance women's representation on managing boards and in high ranking positions. The Network's Board met with and presented their goals and objectives during their visits with the Jordanian Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Engineer Maha Al Ali; members of the Upper House; the CEO of the Jordan Investment Commission; the CEO of Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO); the Chairman and Board Members of the Amman Chamber of Commerce; the Chairman of the Jordan Chamber of Commerce; the Chairman of the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries; the Chairman and Board Members of the Amman Chamber of Industry; as well as the members of the Jordan Forum for Business and Professional Women. Also during their visit to Amman, Board Members decided to convene the Network's next meeting in November in Ajman, the UAE, on the sidelines of the Gulf Businesswomen Forum. In addition to participants from Bahrain and Qatar, Bdour Al Smeiti and Mishael Al Asousi from the Kuwait Business and Professional Women Network were also present, as well as Rawda Bin Saber, head of Chambre Nationale Des Femmes Chefs d'Entreprises in Tunis; Nashida Jarbouaa representing Algerian Female Business Owners; Reem Siam representing the Egyptian Economic Board for Businesswomen and the Egyptian Chambers Union; Laila Salhab Karami representing the Lebanese Businesswomen Assembly; and Fadia Suleiman Hussein from Sudan's Chamber of Kindergarten Owners. SOURCE Amman Chamber of Commerce If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Washington, May 18 : Democrat front-runner Hillary Clinton claimed victory in the Kentucky state primary on Tuesday night while rival Bernie Sanders bagged Oregon. It took a last-minute campaign blitz and a significant financial investment for Clinton to win the Kentucky Democratic primary by half a percentage point over Sanders - in a state she won by 35 percentage points over then senator Barack Obama in their 2008 primary clash, CNN reported. Sanders easily won the Oregon primary, and declared at a raucous rally in California that despite pressure from the Clinton campaign to abandon his quest for the nomination, he would stay in the race "until the last ballot is cast". Clinton did not appear in public on Tuesday night, but her campaign tweeted thanks to the people of Kentucky and said "we're always stronger united". Clinton maintains an overall lead of 280 pledged delegates with only one significant night remaining in the contest - the California primary on June 7. Clinton now stands at 2,294 votes (pledged: 1,773; superdelegates: 521), Sanders has 1,523 votes (pledged: 1,482; superdelegates: 41). Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver told CNN that the close race in Kentucky was a sign that a lot of Democrats "are having second thoughts" about Clinton. "The media is ready to call this race over, but I think voters in the various states want to see this race go on," Weaver said. Meanwhile, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican Party's presidential nominee won the contest in Oregon which was moot since his remaining rivals have already dropped out of the race. Still, the primary brought the billionaire to within fewer than 70 delegates of the 1,237 delegates he needs to formally claim the nomination. Patna, May 21 : Attacking Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over rising crime in the state, RJD member of parliament Mohammad Taslimuddin on Saturday said his party should walk out of the ruling 'grand alliance' with the JD-U and the Congress. "There is no justification for this grand alliance. The RJD should break it. I personally want it to be broken but the final decision has to be taken by RJD chief Lalu Prasad," Taslimuddin, a controversial former union minister, told reporters here. Taslimuddin, who represents Bihar's Araria constituency in the Lok Sabha, said there was indeed "jungle raj" in the state and crime is increasing like never before. "It is the duty of Nitish Kumar to maintain law and order. I will launch an agitation if law and order is not improved." He said Nitish Kumar looked as if he was not fit to be a village head, let alone a chief minister. "He is not fit for the post of mukhiya (village body head). He has been looting Bihar in the name of development," Taslimuddin said. On Friday, Taslimuddin had demanded the resignation of Nitish Kumar for his failure to maintain law and order in the state. Earlier, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Vice President Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and senior leader of the party Prabhunath Singh had trained their guns on Nitish Kumar. Prabhunath Singh said: "If Shahabuddin (jailed criminal-politician of RJD) was holding Janata Darbars in jail, it only shows the administrative weakness of the government. If Darbars were being held regularly what were the officials doing." Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leaders have been hitting back at RJD politicians, demanding that Lalu Prasad must rein in Taslimuddin, Prabhunath Singh and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. Srinagar, May 21 : Five separatist guerrillas were killed on Saturday and two army men injured in a gunfight between the security forces and holed up militants in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. Defence sources told IANS here: "Five terrorists have been killed in the Chak Drugmulla encounter in Kupwara district between the security forces and the terrorists. "We have recovered five weapons from the gunned down terrorists and firing exchanges have stopped in the area although a search operation is still going on there," they said. The identities of the slain terrorists were being established, they said. "Two of our soldiers sustained injuries in the engagement with the terrorists. They have been shifted to hospital and their condition is stated to be stable." Earlier a senior police officer had said, "A group of guerrillas had been holed up inside an abandoned house in the village that was surrounded by the troops of Rashtriya Rifles (RR), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and members of the special operations group (SOG) of state police". Chennai, May 22 : Superstar Rajinikanth's upcoming Tamil gangster drama "Kabali", which is slated for theatrical release on July 1, will be dubbed and released in Malay language. Malay is an Austronesian language mostly spoken in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand. "The film's Malaysian distributor Malik Streams has decided to dub and release the film in Malay. On Saturday, the film's teaser was dubbed and released in Malay, and the fans went gaga over it. It was trending on social media for several hours," a source from the film's unit told IANS. "'Kabali' is said to be the first Indian film to be dubbed in Malay," he added. Besides Malaysia, Malik Streams will also release "Kabali" in Indonesia and Singapore. Directed by Pa. Ranjith, the film revolves around the rags-to-riches story of Kabali, a character modeled after a real-life, Chennai-based gangster. The film also features Radhika Apte, Kalaiarasan, Dinesh, Kishore, Dhansikaa and Ritwika. New Delhi, May 22 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that he would attend the second International Yoga Day programme at Chandigarh. "On June 21, International Day of Yoga, I will join a programme in Chandigarh to practice yoga with them," he said in his radio address 'Mann Ki Baat'. He stressed that prevention was better than cure and "Yoga Day is not merely an event, it inspires to include it in our daily routine for 20-30 minutes." "Poor families have to spend too much for health issues. But there is no cost involved in being healthy," Modi added. The International Yoga Day was declared to be internationally recognised by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on December 11, 2014. Prime Minister suggested the date, June 21, in his address to the UN General Assembly. New Delhi, May 22 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated students on their success in various examinations, and said he was "happy to see girl students shine". "Congratulations to all candidates for their scores in examinations. Happy to see girl students shine," Modi said in his radio address 'Mann Ki Baat'. He spoke about a student, Gaurav from Madhya Pradesh, who had scored 89 percent but his family was not happy as they wanted him to get 90 percent. Modi in his message to Gaurav said: "I have read your letter and I am sure there are many like you out there." The prime minister requested all parents and guardians to accept their children's results "with a sense of satisfaction and motivate them for future". "Why to find negativity from everything. It would be better if everyone around you had celebrated your scores," he added in reference to Gaurav. In a message to those who did not clear and succeed, Modi said, "life does not stop here. There is a lot to do". He appealed to the students to enjoy their successes and carve out possibilities out of them. Washington, May 22 : Gandhi did not quite say it. But that has not come in the way of any of the three remaining White House warriors from Republican Donald Trump to Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton to purpose it in their cause. Capitalist Donald has done it to plug "Make America Great Again," Socialist Bernie to show "A Future to Believe in" and sophist "Hillary for America" "Fighting for Us" to simply suggest "Love trumps hate." But Trump trumps them all. The pearl of wisdom misattributed to the Mahatma by many, according to fact checking site Snopes.com - "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win" - fits the Manhattan mogul to a T. For the apostle of peace and non-violence there was "no god higher than truth". But they have no such qualms. No one can bend it like them. After demolishing "Low Energy" Jeb Bush, "Little Marco" Rubio and "Lyin' Ted" Cruz, the master of monikers Trump has now turned full blast on "Crooked Hillary". First, he called Bill Clinton "the worst abuser of women in the history of politics" and Hillary an "enabler" of her husband's peccadilloes. Now Trump aided and abetted by a Fox News host has branded an allegation of sexual assault against the former president as "rape". Clinton, in turn, has called Trump "divisive and dangerous", "unmoored", and "a loose cannon". And from her opponent's hurry to call EgyptAir plane crash a likely "terrorist attack" she "has concluded he's not qualified to be president". She called his "suggestion" to temporarily bar all Muslims from entering the US "until we figure out what's going on" a total ban on Muslims. It would keep even Nobel Prize winners out and send a "message of disrespect" to Muslim nations and a message to terrorists. Trump's willingness to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un became praise for a repressive regime and his criticism of British Prime Minister David Cameron as an attack on US allies. Trump hit back Friday, calling her "absolutely dumb" and suggesting the former secretary of state is "ill-equipped" for the presidency. He has also egged "Crazy Bernie" to take on Hillary as an independent, saying the Democratic system of picking their nominee is as "rigged as the Republicans". Trump and Bernie may have a lot to disagree, but they agree on at least one thing: Hillary is "unqualified" to be president. She has shown poor judgement in voting for the "disastrous" Iraq war (ditto Trump), refused to release transcripts of her speeches to big banks for $225,000 dollars a pop and raised millions from Wall Street. Clinton, who thinks her being the Democratic nominee is a done deal in effect with her "insurmountable" lead in pledged delegates, has returned the compliment questioning Sanders' qualifications for not doing his "homework" on his big promises. She has also accused him of backing gun manufacturers despite his D minus grade from the powerful gun lobby and criticised him for not releasing his tax returns. Sanders' take on that is: "My wife does the taxes and she is busy campaigning." But maths-defying Sanders dogged persistence to fight till the very end, even as new polls show an overwhelming majority of Republican voters pushing their party leaders to get behind Trump, has the Democrats worried. Unlike India, there are literally no writings on the walls, but with more and more Trump lawn signs popping up in "suburbs that had been trending blue" Democratic, as the Washington Post put it in a report from Philadelphia, is adding to their headache. With choice limited to "widely disliked" Trump and Clinton, as a new NYT/CBS poll revealed, a Virginia woman took the matter in her own hands, or at least one of her sons did after she died of lung cancer at 68. "Faced with the prospect of voting for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, Mary Anne Noland of Richmond chose instead to pass into the eternal love of God," the dutiful son wrote in her obit to "carry on her sense of humour." Unfortunately that choice is not widely available! (Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in) Latest updates on Gandhi Jayanti 2019 Kabul, May 22 : The Afghanistan government has started assessing the reported killing of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor by US military drone strike in Pakistan, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said on Sunday. Abdullah said the US officials informed the Afghan government on Saturday night about the likely death of Mansoor in the attack in Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Ahmad Wal in Balochistan province. "Attack is part of the US campaign against terrorists outside Afghanistan and Mansoor likely has been killed in the attack," Abdullah asserted. Reports on physical elimination of Mansoor if proved true would be a major blow to the Taliban, Xinhua news agency quoted Abdullah as saying. Taliban militants, who had kept the death of their former leader Mullah Omar secret for more than two years, are yet to comment on Mansoor's fate. Pakistan's Urdu TV channel Samaa, meanwhile, reported the US drone strike on Saturday killed a taxi driver and a passenger but not Afghan Taliban top leader Mullah Mansoor. Their bodies were brought to a hospital in Nushki, a district close to Ahmad Wal. According to the identity cards collected from the bodies, the driver's name is Muhammad Azam and the passenger's name is Wali Muhammad, a resident of Chaman, a town on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. May 22 (IANS) The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Sunday issued a show cause notice to Lok Sabha member Mohammad Taslimuddin for repeatedly attacking Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over rising crime in the state, party officials said. A day after Taslimuddin said his party should walk out of the ruling Ggrand Alliance with the Janata Dal-Unietd (JD-U) and the Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal issued notice to him asking to explain within ten days why disciplinary action should not be taken against him. "Taslimuddin's statements attacking Nitish Kumar and state government led by him have only benefited the BJP," the RJD said. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav, younger son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, told media here that the party has taken congnizance of Taslimuddin's statements. "He is a senior party leader, he should have avoided such statements. It is up to the party's high command to take action or not," he said. "There is no justification for this Grand Alliance. The RJD should break it. I personally want it to be broken but the final decision has to be taken by RJD chief Lalu Prasad," Taslimuddin, a controversial former union minister, said on Saturday. Taslimuddin, who represents Bihar's Araria constituency in the Lok Sabha, said there was indeed a "jungle raj" in the state and crime is increasing like never before. "It is Nitish Kumar's duty to maintain law and order. I will launch an agitation if law and order is not improved." He said Nitish Kumar looked as if he was not fit to be a village head, let alone a chief minister. "He is not fit for the post of 'mukhiya' (village body head). He has been looting Bihar in the name of development," Taslimuddin said. On Friday, Taslimuddin demanded the resignation of Nitish Kumar for his failure to maintain law and order in the state. Earlier, RJD vice president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and senior party leader Prabhunath Singh also slammed Nitish Kumar. Prabhunath Singh said: "If Shahabuddin (jailed criminal-politician of RJD) was holding Janata Darbars in jail, it only shows the administrative weakness of the government. If darbars were being held regularly, what were the officials doing?" Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leaders have been hitting back at RJD politicians, demanding that Lalu Prasad must rein in Taslimuddin, Prabhunath Singh and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. Bengaluru, May 22 : Actor Randeep Hooda, who is getting rave reviews for his portrayal of Sarabjit Singh in "Sarbjit", feels that his best role is yet to come. Directed by Omung Kumar, "Sarbjit" is based on the real-life story of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian villager who was convicted for spying and terrorism and languished in a Pakistani jail for several years, while his sister Dalbir Kaur, tried vigorously to secure his release. He was attacked by inmates at a prison in Lahore in April 2013 and died a few days later. "Of course, it (playing Sarabjit on screen) has been my most Herculean task. I am glad people are appreciating it. But as an artiste, I would say that my best role is yet to come," Randeep told IANS at USL-Diageo's #LoveScotch event held here to celebrate World Whiskey Day. Known for playing character-driven roles, Randeep says he enjoys the process of preparing for the film more than executing it. "I like the process of preparation and rehearsal more than executing and watching it. That is the real life experience, rest is just execution," he said. The actor also said that he doesn't aim to just win awards or get fame. "My aim in life is not just to see myself on screen, or get awards, or to be featured in magazines. I am not too materialistic either." "It is the life experience I get by involving myself in somebody else's point of view, situation and life, and understanding another human being," he added. Randeep also shared that he has "learned more through my movies than I ever learned in school". "To be able to live different lives without the real life repercussions is the perk of my job," he added. The "Highway" star also said that he feels fortunate to play these varied characters in various genres. As far as success is concerned, Randeep said there is no measure to check it. "One never knows if one has truly succeeded. Larger opinion of people has to be taken into consideration. Personally, I feel that I could have done this (role) better or something could be changed," he added. Kanpur, May 22 : Gujarat Lions' Dwayne Bravo was on Sunday fined 50 percent of his match fee for breaching the Indian Premier League's (IPL) code of conduct during his team's match against Mumbai Indians at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur on the previous day. "Bravo admitted the Level 2 offence (Article 2.2.7) for inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a player in the course of play during a match," an IPL statement said. "For level 2 breaches of IPL's code of conduct, the match referee's decision is final and binding." Gujarat defeated Mumbai by six wickets in the match to ensure a top-two finish in the points-table and qualification into the play-offs. Latest updates on IPL 2020 Mumbai, May 22 : Filmmaker Agneya Singh says his film "M Cream", which has garnered positive response internationally, is similar to foreign film "The Motorcycle Diaries". "It is very much like 'The Motorcycle Diaries'. 'M Cream' explores the notions of rebellion in the youth. It follows the journey of four friends from Delhi to Himachal Pradesh in search of a magical drug," Singh told IANS. He added: "It is an attempt to capture the pulse of the youth and also raise a lot of questions." "The Motorcycle Diaries", released in 2004, follows an inspiring journey of self-discovery and traces the youthful origins of a revolutionary heart. The film, directed by Walter Salles, is about a road trip of Ernesto Che Guevara, who later made headlines as Cuban revolutionary. The song track titled "Al otro lado del rAo" won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. "M Cream" won the best feature award in Rhode Island following which the film hit the trade all over US and in Europe, where it has been premiered in Ireland, Italy, Germany, France. Actor Naseeruddin Shah's son Imaad Shah and Ira Dubey play important roles in the film, produced by Vindhya Singh under the banner Agniputra Films. The film has been written by Singh and draws heavily from his own life, having lived in Delhi and seen the craze for the particular drug. Singh says the film "sends out a very positive message". He added: "The film is not so much about drugs or the use of drugs as much as it is about confronting the world around you. It is about the young people attempting to bring about a positive change." The film is slated to release on July 22. Kolkata, May 22 : Actor-turned-BJP leader Roopa Ganguly on Sunday sustained a head injury after being allegedly attacked by workers of West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress with stones and sticks in South 24 Parganas district, the party said. Roopa, who contested the recently-concluded Bengal assembly polls on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket, went to Kakdwip hospital to visit an injured BJP polling agent, Basana Majhi. After interacting with the injured agent, Roopa was heading towards Ishwaripur village along with Majhi's mother and sister when stones were pelted at her car. "Police was there with us, but they remained silent spectators as the assailants pelted stones and attacked us with sticks," one of Roopa's aides told IANS. Roopa, who was rushed to a nearby hospital, blamed local Trinamool workers for attacking her. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said attacks cannot affect the spirit of BJP. "We will first protest in a democratic manner. But other ways of answering these attacks are also known to us." Terming May 27, the swearing-in day of the new Trinamool government, a "black day", Ghosh futher added that he would request the central government not to send any guests to attend this ceremony. Another veteran BJP leader Jaypraskash Mazumdar blamed Chief Minister-designate Mamata Banerjee for not keeping the promise of sustaining post-result peace in the state. "This attack proves that Mamata says something else (to the media) and orders exactly the opposite to her party workers." West Bengal has witnessed several incidents of post-result violence where activists across parties have either been killed or have suffered severe injuries. New Delhi, May 22 : Prices discovered for short-term power supply in summer through the recent first e-bidding process are significantly lower than the prices at which power was procured during the similar period last year, an official statement said on Sunday. The process has resulted in substantial savings, said the power ministry statement. "Power Secretary P.K.Pujari congratulated the states of Uttarakhand, Kerala, Bihar and Torrent Power for early adoption of the DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) e-bidding and e-reverse auction portal," the statement said, adding that the prices discovered in all these cases were around Rs.3 per unit. "For Kerala, the lowest prices for the month of May in slot of the day have been discovered at (Rs.) 3.14 per unit, while last year, short-term power in round the clock was procured at the rate of 4.70 per unit. "For Uttarakhand, the lowest price for power for the month of July on round the clock basis was discovered at 2.59 per unit through reverse auction in e-bidding process using the bidding portal. Last year for July, the lowest price at which short term power was procured was 3.41 per unit," it said. For Bihar, where the discoms did not bid for power in the last two years, the lowest rate for July, for the slot of day, has been discovered at Rs.3.08 per unit, the ministry said. "In e-bidding process of Torrent Power Ltd., the lowest price for the month of May-June in slot of the day has been discovered at the rate of 2.95 per unit. There was no short term procurement in 2014-15 and 2015-16 by Torrent Power," it added. Power trading firm PTC India became the sole successful bidder earlier this month in Kerala's tender for supplying 100 MW of supply during peak hours and 50 MW during day time in the ongoing month. PTC also bagged the contract for more than half of the quantum offered by Uttarakhand Power Corp to supply 150 MW round the clock during July this year. It also will supply power to Uttarakhand during the peak hours in July and August. Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal launched the DEEP portal here last month. Guwahati, May 22 : BJP's chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday met Assam Governor P.B. Acharya here and staked claim to forming the next government by his party and its allies in the state. The new government will be sworn in on Tuesday at the Veterinary College Ground at Khanapara. Sonowal was accompanied by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ram Madhav, union minister Thawar Chand Gehlot, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) president Atul Bora and Bodoland Peoples' Front (BPF) chief Hagrama Mohilary, among others. Sonowal handed over to the Governor a list of 60 BJP legislators who unanimously supported him as their leader in the house. Similarly, the AGP and BPF leaders handed over letters of support to the BJP to form the government. The combined strength of the BJP, AGP and BPF is 86 in the 126-member house. Acharya later told the media that he had received the letters from the three parties regarding the formation of the new state government. Earlier, newly-elected 60 BJP legislators held their first formal meeting at a city hotel and unanimously elected Sonowal as their leader. BJP leader and Jalukbari MLA Himanta Biswa Sarma, who quit the Congress in 2015 to join the party, proposed Sonowal's for the post. Other legislators unanimously supported him. "The Assam people have not only given a historic mandate to the BJP but also given lots of responsibility. Everyone has to work together leaving aside petty and personal interests so that the people's expectations can be fulfilled," Sonowal said in his address to the legislators after the meeting. Sonowal said the BJP will take Assam to new heights of development in cooperation with its alliance partners. He said he did not have any problem in working with senior AGP leader and former state chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. Later in the evening, Sonowal met three-time former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi at his official residence in Koinadhara hills and invited him for the swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday. New Delhi, May 22 : BJP leader and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi was on Sunday appointed Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique here said. "The President of India is pleased to appoint Kiran Bedi to be the Lt. Governor of Puducherry with effect from the date she assumes charge," it said. The Congress-DMK alliance returned to power in the union territory after the May 16 elections to the 30-member assembly. The first woman to join the elite Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972, Bedi held key positions in her career, including Inspector General (Prisons) at Delhi's high-security Tihar jail. Known for her administrative experience and integrity, her work in one of Asia's largest jails won her the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 1994. She was credited for introducing yoga, meditation, literacy drive, computer skills, feedback boxes for the inmates during her stint at Tihar and is often said to have successfully transformed the prison into a "reformatory". Bedi has also courted controversies during her service. While working as deputy commissioner of police (traffic) in 1982 during the ninth Asian Games, she was nicknamed 'Crane Bedi' for extensive use of cranes to tow away wrongly parked cars. Bedi also had a stint as director general of police in Mizoram as well as the Chandigarh IGP for a very brief period. In 2003, Bedi became the first Indian woman to be appointed police advisor to the United Nations secretary general, in the Department of Peace Keeping Operations, till 2005. Bedi resigned from police service in November 2007 citing personal reasons. She later partnered with social activists Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal in their movement against corruption and formed India Against Corruption for a strong Lokpal in 2011. She, however, later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the February 2015 Delhi assembly polls and was named the party's chief ministerial nominee. After joining the BJP in January 2015, Bedi had said: "Mujhe kaam karma aata hai. Kaam karana bhi aata hai (I know how to work; I know how to get work done too)". However, the BJP was virtually wiped out in the Delhi assembly elections, winning only three seats in the 70-member assembly. She herself lost in the Krishna Nagar constituency in east Delhi. New Delhi, May 22 : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday met top officials, including of intelligence agencies, and directed security forces to take all necessary action against militants involved in the killing of six Assam Rifles personnel in Manipur, official sources here said. The minister also directed union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi to conduct a review at his level in the security establishment, the sources said. Six troopers of 29 Assam Rifles were killed when their convoy was ambushed on Sunday in Manipur's Chandel district by insurgents of Corcom, an apex body of six proscribed underground organisations (Coordination Committee), officials said. The attackers also snatched four AK-47 assault rifles, an INSAS rifle and a light machine gun, besides ammunition, before fleeing the spot. The incident happened in an area bordering Myanmar. Singh expressed "pain" over the killing of the Assam Rifles personnel and said the government was monitoring the situation. "Extremely pained to learn of the killing of Assam Rifles JCO and jawans in Manipur. My condolences to the families of the deceased soldiers," Rajnath Singh tweeted. He said in another tweet: "Spoke to DG Assam Rifles who apprised me of the situation in Manipur. MHA is closely monitoring and reviewing the situation in the state." On June 4, 2015, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang and other underground groups ambushed an army convoy in Chandel district, killing 18 personnel of the Dogra Regiment and injuring 14 others. New Delhi, May 22 : Former top cop Kiran Bedi, who was on Sunday appointed Lt. Governor of Puducherry, said she will uphold the constitution and thanked all for reposing faith in her. The chief ministers of Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, apart from Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, were among those who wished her well in the new gubernatorial assignment. "This belongs to all who reposed their trust in me, taught me, groomed me, educated me, found time for me. Thank you," Bedi tweeted. She also told reporters that "the role of a Lt. Governor is clearly defined in the constitution" and added that she will uphold the same. "Every department in a government should deliver," she told the media, alluding to her new responsibility. Her friend-turned-political-rival -- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal -- too wished her good luck. "My best wishes to Kiran didi for this new role," Kejriwal tweeted. Kejriwal and Bedi were at the vanguard of the Lokpal bill movement along with anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare in 2011, but parted ways after Kejriwal floated the Aam Admi Party in 2012. Bedi maintained for long that she will stay away from politics. Later, she joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2015 on the eve of the Delhi assembly elections. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted: "Best wishes for the new responsibility." Prabhu also complimented Bedi in a tweet: "Congrats to Kiran Bedi for being the LG of Puducherry. The great job done as police officer is fondly remembered by all. All the best." Her appointment also saw serving police officials and twitterati taking to the microblogging site. IPS Association said in a tweet: "IPSA congratulates one of its outstanding & key members Kiran bedi, IPS (retd) on her appointment as Lieutenant Governor, Puducherry UT." Tehran, May 22 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived here on Sunday on a two-day visit to Iran, said that Indians living abroad have the capability to assimilate with everyone. "We Indians have a specialty. We accept everyone and assimilate with everyone," Modi said while addressing a community gathering at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara here. Soon after his arrival here to a red carpet welcome with Iranian Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia present to receive him, Modi left for the gurudwara and offered prayers. "The new generation should know about the sacrifices of the great (Sikh) Gurus and about the Guru Granth Sahib," he said. He also said that he has noted several suggestions that have emanated from the Indian community in Iran. "Let us all work together to serve humanity," the prime minister said. The gurudwara was founded in 1941 by Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Tehran. Religious celebrations include morning and evening prayers, and a Guru-Ka-Langer every Friday after the Akhand Path. Community services include establishment of a school where teaching of Punjabi and Dharmik (divinity) studies forms an integral part of the curriculum. According to the Indian embassy here, the Indian community in Iran, which was sizeable earlier, has dwindled and now consists of about 100 families in Tehran and about 20 in Zahedan. There are also around 1,300 Indian students in Iran, a large number of whom pursue theological studies in Qom. Modi will be accorded an official welcome here on Monday following which he will hold talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani. Connectivity, energy security and bilateral trade are on top of Modi's agenda during his visit which comes a a little over a month-and-a-half of his trip to Saudi Arabia. On Monday, the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to develop the Chabahar port in that Gulf nation will be signed. The prime minister will also inaugurate an Indian cultural festival in Iran on Monday. Ahead of his departure from New Delhi, Modi tweeted that he looked forward to his visit to Iran at the invitation of President Rouhani. "India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region," he said. He said his meetings with President Rouhani and Supreme Leader Khamenei would provide an opportunity to advance the strategic partnership between India and Iran. Modi said that priority would be given to enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people-to-people contacts. Imphal, May 22 : Six troopers were killed when an Assam Rifles convoy was ambushed on Sunday in Manipur's Chandel district by insurgents of the Corcom, the apex body of six proscribed underground organisations, officials said. The attackers also snatched four AK-47 assault rifles, an INSAS rifle, a light machine gun and ammunition, before fleeing the spot. The defence ministry said six personnel including a junior commissioned officer were killed. However, Assam Rifles and police, while confirming the incident, declined to disclose the exact casualty figures. In New Delhi, union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday met top officials, including of intelligence agencies, and directed security forces to take all necessary action against militants involved in the killings. The minister also directed union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi to conduct a review at his level in the security establishment, the sources said. Singh expressed "pain" over the killings and said the government was monitoring the situation. A defence ministry release said that "a convoy of Assam Rifles while returning after assessing a landslide area in Holingjang to the Battalion Headquarters location at Joupi in Chandel District of South Manipur had the encounter with a suspected Valley based insurgent group". Officials in Imphal said the insurgents detonated remote-controlled bombs and opened fire from several sides. The exchange of fire lasted about an hour. "The troops retaliated the insurgent fire effectively. However, the insurgents managed to get away under thick forest cover and bad weather," said the release. As news of the incident was received, reinforcements were rushed to the spot and operations launched to apprehend the perpetrators, who are believed to have escaped to no man's land between Manipur and Myanmar. The area of the encounter has been cordoned off and intensive combing operations have been launched to neutralise the insurgent group, the defence ministry said. The dead soldiers are Subedar B.K. Sharma from Himachal Pradesh, NCO Havildar Surjeet Barla from Jharkhand, and four riflemen - Mahesh Gurung from Uttrakhand, A.K. Pandey from Bihar, Pawan Kumar from Jammu and Kashmir and Bhupinder Singh from Himachal Pradesh. The mortal remains of the martyrs were being taken to their home towns by a team of Assam Rifles personnel. Army's Eastern Command chief, Lt. Gen. Praveen Bakshi expressed deep condolences to the families of the killed personnel. "The nation owes gratitude to the ultimate sacrifice made by the Assam Rifles personnel like them in the fight against insurgents. We in the army are committed to provide all necessary support to their families in this hour of grief. "Such acts of violence by insurgents reinforces our resolve to carry out relentless operations against such anti-national elements for furtherance of peace in the region," he said. On June 4, 2015, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang and other underground groups ambushed an army convoy in Chandel district, killing 18 personnel of the Dogra Regiment and injuring 14 others. Panaji, May 22 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday, made it a point to cite foreign publications, which had praised the performance of the AAP government in the national capital. Addressing a public rally here, he said that leading US daily The Washington Post had praised the unique 'mohalla' (neighbourhhood) clinics set up by the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi. "Even The Washington Post has written about whether America can learn from Delhi's mohalla clinic," Kejriwal said, adding that each mohalla clinic was a novel concept which was low in cost, but had brought cheap, but qualitative healthcare to the doorsteps of the poorer sections of society. "There was a time when people used to say one should learn from how they do things in America. Now it is the other way round," he said. Kejriwal also cited a recent article in the Fortune magazine, which the Delhi chief minister said, had praised the "Odd-Even" traffic management scheme implemented twice in the national capital. The Delhi chief minister has been vocally critical of a section of the Indian media, which he has claimed has been unfairly targeting his AAP. The death-defying stunts and remarkable dexterity of both horses and riders amazed a royal audience I hope that, one day, I'll be able to see the same performance in Nagorno-Karabakh itself. In the grand finale to the Royal Windsor Horse Show, a team of 15 Azerbaijani Karabakh horses and the famed Fikret Amirov Azerbaijan State Song and Dance Ensemble performed in front of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II. The whole extravaganza had been laid on to celebrate the Queens 90th birthday. Four full days and evenings of events had built up to this climax a truly Royal extravaganza. The European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS) and Azerbaijan Equestrian Federation (ARAF) secured Azerbaijans participation and organised the transportation of the dancers, horses and riders to Windsor. In addition, TEAS erected and staffed an Azerbaijani Cultural Pavilion, which hosted live music events. Many hundreds of Britons and overseas visitors were for the first time exposed to the vibrancy and beauty of Azerbaijani culture, cuisine and hospitality. The 15 Karabakh horses, whose performances had entranced the crowds throughout the pageant, clearly made an impression on the Queen. As a renowned horse-lover, and an acknowledged expert in all matters equestrian, she was clearly appreciative of the beauty of the horses and the consummate skills of the riders. Attending as a guest of TEAS Lord Kilclooney, Vice-Chairman, Azerbaijan All-Party Parliamentary Group, put the whole event in context. He said: I've been to Azerbaijan several times and travelled all over the country, seeing the beauty and varied landscapes that this wonderful nation offers. However, as it is under Armenian occupation, one region I have never been able to travel to is Nagorno-Karabakh acknowledged as the artistic and cultural soul of Azerbaijan. It was therefore particularly meaningful for me to see the Karabakh Horses for the first time last night. Unfortunately, this was not in Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but here in the UK, where 15 of these beautiful creatures are taking part in the Royal Windsor Horse Show to celebrate the Queens 90th birthday. It was a wonderful performance accompanied by a talented Azerbaijani dance troupe. I hope that, one day, I'll be able to see the same performance in Nagorno-Karabakh itself. Lionel Zetter, Director, TEAS, commented: This weeks events represented another significant milestone in the ever-strengthening relations between Azerbaijan and the UK, and highlighted the ability of TEAS to bring varied cultures together in areas of shared interest. At a time when the conflict on the contact line continues to simmer and, on occasions boil over, it is both pleasant and useful to remind the world of Azerbaijans rich cultural heritage. A love of horses has always been the sign of a civilised society, and we look forward to ensuring that Azerbaijan is able to participate in future similar events. Join the African TMT, Finance and Investment Leaders Over the past two decades mobile infrastructure has attracted the lions share of investment in Africas fast growing telecoms markets, but fixed infrastructure is seen as increasingly important. International investors from the enterprise cloud, hosting and datacentre space, are targeting the Africa fixed infrastructure market and will compete with mobile tower infrastructure providers in the coming years, a telecom banker said. Major players from the Gulf, the US (Google, Facebook), Asia (PCCW, Huawei), Africa itself (Liquid Telecom, SEACOM, WIOCC, Orange Submarine Division), among others, are all battling to provide the best network coverage in Africa and challenge mobile operators such as Vodafone, by investing in terrestrial fibre. Using other parties infrastructure is very costly to telecom operators so investing in your own network is critical to meet the customers growing demand for data, the banker added. Senior executives from Africas leading telecom, media and technology companies, private equity investors, investment bankers and advisers will meet to discuss the latest Investment opportunities at the annual TMT Finance Africa Conference in London on June 14. Broadband investment is a key topic for debate with key speakers from Vodafone, Google, Millicom, Fibersat, PCCW, WIOCC, SEACOM, Avanti Communications, Convergence Partners, IHS, Helios Towers Africa, Eaton Towers, IFC, Every1Mobile, TransferTo, Goldman Sachs, Icolo, Bima, Citi, UBS, GDV, Access Bank, Connect Africa, Standard Bank, Nokia, Credit Suisse, and others. Its a really vibrant time for investment into African broadband infrastructure, commented a senior telecom adviser attending the event. Numerous international internet backbone projects are springing up connecting the African continent. For instance, the Central Africa Backbone Program run by the Word Bank and assisted by other institutions such as the African Development Bank will provide broadband connectivity to all capital cities, main secondary cities and establishing redundancy linkages in the West Africa region including Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Congo, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Niger, Sao Tome and Principe. About: TMT Finance & Investment Africa 2016 is a senior executive networking event bringing together key telecom, media and technology industry decision makers, investors, financiers and advisers. The 2016 programme features 20 sessions with no media to ensure confidentiality. TMT Finance is the leading news and events provider for telecom, media and tech executives active in mergers and acquisitions, financing strategy and investment globally. For more information, go to: http://www.tmtfinance.com/africa Register to attend at http://www.tmtfinance.com/africa/register/ We advocate for financial advisers and their clients in the areas of Income Protection including disability and long-term care insurance. Secura Consultants Executive Consultant Corey Anderson will be attending the 2016 Congressional Conference hosted by NAIFA from May 24-25 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. At Secura Consultants we advocate for financial advisers and their clients in areas of Income Protection including disability and long-term care insurance. The NAIFA Congressional Conference gives us an ability to take that advocacy to our legislators and help them to understand the lives and struggles of real people. Legislators often hear from large companies in support of their needs, the NAIFA Congressional Conference gives those on the consumer side of the Insurance Industry similar access, said Anderson. Congressional Conference attendees are advocating on behalf of over 75 million American families asking Congress to: continue to support policies that encourage families and businesses to plan for the future, save for retirement, and protect against the financial risks associated with death, disability, illness and long-term care; and work with the insurance community to reduce adverse or unintended consequences of existing problematic rules and any new laws or regulations prior to their adoption. About Secura Consultants Based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Secura Consultants is one of the few insurance marketing organizations in the country focused on delivering exemplary solutions in the income and asset protection markets as well as employer sponsored ancillary benefits. Secura Consultants works with select financial service and employee benefit specialists in the design and implementation of these solutions for their clients. Secura Consultants also works in an advisory capacity with insurance carriers, assisting in the development of better product solutions for the marketplace. For more information, contact Lauren Dries, Marketing Consultant, at Lauren(at)securaconsultants(dot)com or call 952-224-5400. About Corey Anderson and the DI Geek Team Corey Lee Anderson describes himself as a Disability Insurance Geek! Corey has made it his life-long quest to inform, promote and place Disability, Life and Long Term Care Insurance for everyday people, and make it a fun and enjoyable process. If you choose to partner with Corey and his team, you and your clients will receive the best service, solutions and higher chance of closing disability income protection sales successfully every time. About NAIFA Founded in 1890 as The National Association of Life Underwriters (NALU), NAIFA is one of the nations largest associations representing the interests of insurance professionals from every Congressional district in the United States. NAIFA members assist consumers by focusing their practices on one or more of the following: life insurance and annuities, health insurance and employee benefits, multiline, and financial advising and investments. NAIFAs mission is to advocate for a positive legislative and regulatory environment, enhance business and professional skills, and promote the ethical conduct of its members. Learn how technology will give you a leg up on recruiting and retaining your project workforce. Past News Releases RSS Construction Business Owner, the leading business management magazine for contractors, is pleased to announce a free webinar presented in partnership with Viewpoint Construction Software. The live online event, The Influence of Technology on Workforce Development, will take place June 23, 2016, at 3 p.m. EST. Registration is free at http://www.constructionbusinessowner.com/webinars. Todays workforce is increasingly comprised of millennials, a generation widely known for embracing state-of-the art solutions, which makes technology a major motivating factor. Results of the 2015 AGC workforce development survey indicated that 73 percent of respondents will be hiring and replacing professionals in their organization and 55 percent experience challenges filling key project management positions. Join us for this webinar to explore contemporary influences that motivate workforce teams today. Learn how technology will give you a leg up on recruiting and retaining your project workforce and discover ways that your business can benefit from this generations strengths in bringing about change and adopting technology into new processes. Key topics include: Leveraging technology to differentiate your employee brand Creating a culture for technology adoption The positive, long-term impact of onboarding and training Tactics for recruiting, selection and retention This free, live event will be presented by Gregg M. Schoppman and Christian Burger. Schoppman is a consultant with FMI Corporation, management consultants and investment bankers for the construction industry. Burger is the president of Burger Consulting Group, an IT consulting firm based in Chicago, and has worked within the construction industry for nearly 25 years, originally with FMI before starting his own firm. Visit http://www.constructionbusinessowner.com/influence-technology to register today. About the Presenters Schoppman is a consultant with FMI, management consultants and investment bankers for the construction industry. Schoppman specializes in the areas of productivity and project management. He also leads FMIs project management consulting practice. Burger is the president of Burger Consulting Group, an IT consulting firm based in Chicago. Burger has worked within the construction industry for nearly 25 years, originally with FMI before starting his own firm in 1997. Much of his work at the firm is focusing on IT strategy and leadership for BCG clients. Burger is also involved in best practices process work during the implementation phase. About Construction Business Owner magazine Construction Business Owner (CBO) is "The Business Management Magazine for Contractors" and provides business management knowledge that is of practical value to owners of construction companies. CBO provides articles that inform owners and managers on accounting, finance, insurance, regulatory issues, human resources, bidding strategies, technology, jobsite safety, equipment management and industry statistics. Article authors are well-known professionals who specialize in the construction industry. CBO has been an industry leader for more than 11 years and has a BPA-audited circulation of more than 40,000 construction company owners, presidents and managers. The magazine also delivers bonus content and construction industry news through its weekly e-newsletterCBO Alert. For more information, visit http://www.constructionbusinessowner.com. The Association of Corporate Travel Executives expresses its condolences to the families of those lost aboard EgyptAir MS804 flight from Paris to Cairo. While the cause remains unknown at this time, this crash will create fear and anxiety to travellers considering the rise in number of terrorist attacks. In a recent study of veteran travellers, ACTE found that terror attacks stoke fears by more than 50%. According to an online ACTE survey of 606 travellers worldwide from March 17 to April 4, 2016: 56% of respondents were moderately to severely anxious about a terrorism threat during business travel. 58% said they were more fearful about terrorism than they were this time last year. 53% of seasoned travellers are moderately to greatly concerned about an in-flight terrorist incident. Until we know definitively what caused the EgyptAir crash, people inevitably will think terrorism. In the world today, even veteran travellers who spend months on business trips are anxious. Probably even more important to them, their families are worried every time they head out of town for work, said Greeley Koch, executive director for the Association of Corporate Travel Executives. While the cause of the crash is uncertain, the fact that the last leg of MS804 originated in Paris is worrisome. According to the ACTE survey, France leads the list of countries that are of concern for business travellers, followed by Turkey, Belgium, Syria, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Iraq and the United States. The recovery time after a mass shooting, hostage taking or plane crash also plays on traveller psyche. Forty-five percent of ACTE respondents said that significant fear lasts for up to a month after an attack; 65% said the effects linger for up to three months. For more insights on recent traveller behavior, click here: http://ow.ly/R6yc300qucB About ACTE: The Association of Corporate Travel Executives is a non-profit educational and research organization serving the global business travel industry in 70 countries. Since 1988, ACTE has provided travel managers with hundreds of programs dedicated to improving business travel, lowering travel costs and increasing corporate revenue. With offices in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe and the U.S. as well as representation in Latin America, South America, and Africa, ACTE leads the business travel industry with events worldwide. Back in the 60s, I did a monthly, prime-time program for WHBF-TV entitled, Spectrum. Like this column, it ranged over a wide variety of subjects, from documentaries to interviews, affording me the rare opportunity to deal with almost any subject I found interesting. Researching, writing, and hosting the program lay within the compass of my skills, but shooting film was something I had to learn. I understood picture composition, but had to come to terms with the mechanics of the stations best camera, a Bolex. After a rocky start, we got along well enough, eventually cooperating to handle in-camera dissolves and a few other tricks of the trade. But the most important thing I learned about using the camera came from Jim Koch, the stations news anchor, who had an imperative on covering a story: Always get an establishing shot. In retrospect, it seemed an obvious idea, but it was something you could forget while angling for a telling close-up. So it was that I developed a habit of starting an on-site project by climbing as high as possible for a picture to give me a coherent, all-inclusive view. I often think of the establishing shot when trying to make sense of our often chaotic, constantly changing world. In the bumper-sticker, tweet-sized communications of contemporary society, we may find our understanding limited to a phrase or, increasingly, an epithet. We often take a step further, shopping around for a world view or personal assessment that fits our existing prejudices or preconceptions. Getting a handle on reality, filtering out the noise to find a genuine voice, considering alternatives to comfortable theories is hard work. How high do you have to climb to see whats really happening? I thought of this while reading a two-page spread in le Monde Diplomatique, a French newspaper that offers a fairly objective view of our country from the outside. It was an overview of President Obamas foreign policy decisions and actions during his years in office. Obamas foreign policy is something you hear a lot about: that he is weak, indecisive, assertive, vacillating, neo-isolationist, warlike, etc. What impressed me was not simply that the story was the most honest treatment of the subject I have read, but that it took two pages of close type to present a credible summary, pro and con, of what has been done and why. It isnt a whitewash, nor a condemnation: just a carefully foot-noted account of the inconsistencies that make it impossible to give a one-sentence summary of his administration. That goes against the grain. We long for simple answers: a yes or a no. The fact is that there are none. This is a messy, complicated world and there is no single theory, custom, religious or economic theory into which you can satisfactorily squeeze the ever-shifting multiplicity of actions, decisions, and events which are reported without comprehension every day. After listening to and reading about our current political campaign, I wonder how a person can possibly cut through the propaganda clutter to make an informed choice this November. The debates have offered nothing of substance; the speeches are sizzling exhortations or repeated generalities. You can count on Donald Trump to say something outrageous almost every day to pimp the media. Sanders exhortation is so familiar you can say it with him. Kasich and Clinton occasionally try to discuss policy, but who wants to think when feelings run high? The establishing shot at this point in the campaign is roughly like a smartphone photo of a fully loaded bus careening out of control down a hill. No one can say anything useful about what the result might be. Well have to wait for the accident report to find out what, if anything, it ran into and who, if any, survive. Stay tuned. Google has released streaming Android Instant Apps, which allows developers to upgrade their existing apps to become modular and streaming-compatible. So, instead of downloading and installing apps, users will be able to stream parts or modules of the apps they want to use. People who use mobile Google Search will get instant links to mobile apps of the sites or topics they are searching for, and then be given the option to connect to them. Android Instant Apps will also be accessible from any in-app link that opens a mobile website.With no need to download and install Android apps, its a boon to the phone's storage, and allows developers to build in rich-media capabilities that on-device apps simply cant support well.One of the early testers of Android Instant Apps is Disney, which makes sense, considering that the House of Mouse is one of the top-grossing global publishers of mobile games and video content.The future promise of streaming Android games will help me avoid the 414MB download file size of the Good Dinosaur Story Book or the 1.8 gigabyte installation space needed by Vainglory, said financial blogger Motek Moyen. The technology behind Instant Apps is very capable of streaming multi-gigabyte-sized PC or Android games. One can extrapolate the usefulness in driving the use of long-form mobile video as well.The mobile apps industry is expected to hit $101.1 billion by 2020, according to App Annie . Making Android apps streaming-friendly is a huge advantage for Google over its rival Apple. It also boosts mobile search usage and therefore advertising revenue. But, there are other revenue plays for Google as well.The real killer feature of Instant Apps is that it's fully compatible with Google Play Services, explained Moyen. People will be able to do in-app purchases on streamed Android apps. This is very clever tempting web surfers with impulse buys from the app store is brilliant because Alphabet takes a 30% cut from app purchases.Apple, meanwhile, will have some work to do to catch up. Anything that gives Alphabet an advantage over Apple always is good for Google investors, Moyen said. Alphabet's judicious purchase of Agawi last year is behind Instant Apps. Agawi was the innovator behind low-latency app streaming technology. As far as I know, there is no other company [that Apple can buy] which has the same app-streaming IP of Agawi. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate FILE - In this June 16, 2012, file photo, Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime confidant to former President Bill Clinton and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington to face questions from the Republican-led House panel investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Blumenthal has published, "A Self-Made Man," the first of four planned volumes on Abraham Lincoln. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) SHARE NEW YORK (AP) Before Sidney Blumenthal was a White House aide and confidant of Bill and Hillary Clinton, before he was a journalist for The New Yorker and The Washington Post and author of the influential political book "The Permanent Campaign," he was a boy in Chicago mesmerized by the story of Abraham Lincoln. "I've always been fixated on Lincoln," the 67-year-old Blumenthal told The Associated Press during a recent interview at the offices of Simon & Schuster. He recalled a childhood trip to visit Lincoln landmarks in Springfield, Illinois, the sense of immediacy from the Old State Capitol and the reconstruction of the village of New Salem. "It had a profound effect on me," he said. The mountain of Lincoln books has grown taller with this week's publication of "A Self-Made Man: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1849," the first of four planned volumes on the 16th president. More than 500 pages long, "A Self-Made Man" follows Lincoln's story and the politics of the country from his birth in 1809 through the completion of his one term as a congressman, in 1849. The next installments, which Blumenthal has mostly completed, are scheduled to come out in each of the following three years. The question for Blumenthal, for any new Lincoln author, is what he can add to the writings of David Herbert Donald, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Michael Burlingame, Harold Holzer and so many others. Blumenthal's credentials stem from his own background: a reporter's instincts for uncovering news, a political obsessive's immersion in history and, through his time in the Clinton White House, firsthand knowledge of how the presidency works. "American politics is very real to me. It's very palpable. It's something I can feel and touch," he says. "It's my experience, has been my experience since I was a boy." Nearly a decade in the making, Blumenthal's book arrives with blurbs from such top Lincoln and Civil War scholars as Holzer and James McPherson and favorable early reviews from Kirkus and other publications. Sean Wilentz, the Princeton University professor and prize-winning historian, is a longtime friend who read early drafts of his Lincoln series. He said that two qualities stood out. "First, Sid understands, as few if any professional historians ever have, the inner workings of American politics, at every level and in all of their aspects and, with all of their flaws, he respects them," Wilentz told the AP. "Second, Sid uses his skills as a shoe-leather reporter to track down leads and unravel important stories that previous writers have either slighted, ignored, or misunderstood not easy to do on the most written-about figure in all of American history." Blumenthal writes about Lincoln's deep and personal hatred of slavery "I used to be a slave," Lincoln would recall of his father's renting him out as a laborer. He dissents from a popular interpretation of Lincoln's first major public speech, the so-called Lyceum Address in Springfield in 1838. Delivered soon after a jury had acquitted the leader of a mob that murdered the abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy, the address was a plea for reason and the rule of law that featured a widely cited passage: "Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. It sees no distinction in adding story to story, upon the monuments of fame, erected to the memory of others. It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief. It scorns to tread in the footsteps of any predecessor, however illustrious. It thirsts and burns for distinction ..." The critic Edmund Wilson was among those who perceived the speech as an unconscious prophecy of Lincoln's own rise. But Blumenthal, drawing upon documents and the scholarship of Burlingame among others, sees it as directed against a fellow Illinois politician who became his longtime rival, Stephen A. Douglas. "It's a brilliant idea on Wilson's part, but it's a myth," he says. "Lincoln speaks against mob violence, and talks about at length that the United States will never face an external threat that could end our democracy. ... The greatest threat comes from within, from this kind of trampling of the rule of law and especially through the incitement of mobs and violence." Like Donald Trump, the Republican presumptive nominee? "One wonders what Lincoln would make of a Trump rally, in light of the Lyceum address," Blumenthal said. His years with the Clintons inform his Lincoln books, but might also distract from them. Lincoln scholar Allen Guelzo, in a review for the Washington Monthly, praised "A Self-Made Man" as a "great book," but also noted Blumenthal's well-publicized history: The "onetime tiger of the Clinton administration," notably during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, who went on to advise Hillary Clinton during her 2008 candidacy and become a paid consultant for the Clinton Foundation. More recently, Blumenthal was a target of the Republican-led congressional investigation into the killings at the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012, when Clinton was secretary of state. Blumenthal testified in a closed session last June and his name was cited prominently during Hillary Clinton's televised appearance in October, the questions focused on the dozens of emails she received from her friend. Before one break in testimony, the committee chair, Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, warned: "If you think we've heard about Sidney Blumenthal, wait for the next round." Blumenthal, who has no formal role in Clinton's current campaign, told the AP during his interview that he had "always called for the release of my deposition before the Benghazi committee, from the second I stepped out of that room. I testified for 9 and a half hours. I answered every question." "And if and when, ever, that deposition is made public," he added, "you'll see I did talk about this book." Jim O'Neill [Photo/Xinhua file photo] LONDON - The economist who coined the acronym BRIC to describe the four powerhouse emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China has said that he thinks China will play a "very important role" in promoting economic cooperation at the G20 Summit held in China in September. Jim O'Neill, formerly chief economist with Goldman Sachs and now a minister in the British government as commercial secretary to the Treasury, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that he expected China to nurture the growth of emerging economies when it hosts the G20 Summit, held for the first time in China in the city of Hangzhou in September. O'Neill said: "I think China can play a very important role (at the Hangzhou Summit) in a broader sense of economic cooperation. China has become the second largest economy in the world, on some criteria, purchasing power parity, it is already the largest or close to it." He added: "We need to have, in order to sustain global economic growth, shared consensus -- not necessarily the same policies but shared consensus, about the appropriate policies that come from different parts of the world." O'Neill said that China had had "remarkable success," not withstanding some of its considerable challenges, in raising the welfare and wealth of its 1.3 billion people. "I think it can help others, especially in the emerging world, of moving down a similar path and contributing to a stable and more prosperous world economy," said O'Neill. O'Neill said the G20 Summit to be held in China marked a change in the approach to the international community's economic role: "It is a very historic moment in global economic governance. China has not hosted the G20 before." O'Neill is chair of the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, set up to examine how to tackle the threat of superbugs, which become stronger and more resistant to antibiotics the more they are exposed to them. The cost to the world economy could be 20 trillion U.S. dollars by 2050, and the superbugs could be killing 10 million people each year, one million of which in China, unless action is taken, according to the review. The findings of the review, which was unveiled this week in London, will be taken to the G20 Summit and talks are underway at the moment, according to O'Neill. "We are hopeful that culminating in the Chinese G20 in September there will be a decision that will be agreed by all 20 G20 members as to how they are going to come up with the right amount of money to get us to new drugs," he said. "I am reasonably hopeful that progress will be made because there are already the beginnings of discussions that have taken place at the so-called G20 Sherpa Level." In this Saturday, May 7, 2016, photo, Ashley Galm Starr, left, waits in line with Ratchel Trailers, second from left, standing in line to attend RuPaul's DragCon at the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles. The success of the second annual DragCon is the latest example of the proliferation of cons, the once geeky get-togethers that have morphed into a big business following the dominance of San Diego Comic-Con. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) SHARE By DERRIK J. LANG, AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) At first glance, it has all the trappings of San Diego Comic-Con. There's a cavernous convention center devoid of daylight. Inside, it's stuffed with thousands of fans lining up for everything from an autograph and a selfie to a slice of pizza and a soda. Upstairs, they're camping out for Q&A sessions. However, there's not a superhero in sight. Instead, nearly 23,000 RuPaul's DragCon attendees are here for men glammed-up as women. "We have people from all over the world coming for DragCon because this is more than just a convention of drag queens," the gender-bending host of the TV reality show "RuPaul's Drag Race" told the crowd Sunday at the second annual extravaganza at the Los Angeles Convention Center. "It is a movement." The rows of over 230 DragCon vendors hawking merchandise from $20 T-shirts to $2,000 gowns is the latest example of the proliferation of fan conventions, the once geeky get-togethers that have morphed into a big business. The organizer of San Diego Comic-Con makes about $15 million in revenue each year from its events. "I think cons are the new black," said DragCon co-creator Randy Barbato. "As our existence has become more digital, the ability to reach out and touch someone especially a drag queen is amazing. I think social media is great, but there's nothing quite like the actual experience of meeting your favorite drag queen up close, well, not too close." Besides female impersonators, there are now annual cons for such left-of-center subjects as Lego toys, mermaids, "Power Rangers" and anthropomorphic characters, just to name a few. The History Channel and the organizers of Cosmic-Con announced plans last week to hold the first-ever Alien Con at the Santa Clara (California) Convention Center in October. Indeed, cons aren't just for comic lovers or Trekkies anymore. "Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture" author Rob Salkowitz said the popularity of San Diego Comic-Con has blazed the trail for other events. He believes the growth of similar gatherings is as much about promoting new endeavors and making money as it is about fans' desire to prove their appreciation and congregate with likeminded audiences. "I think people are craving community," said Salkowitz. "At every fan convention, there are self-selected groups that identify with their enthusiasm for a subject. They're diverse when it comes to demographics and ideologies, but all that's checked at the door and people just want a good time. There are few places in American public life like that anymore." For over a decade, Wizard World has found success with a roving pop-culture con model that this year includes stops in cities like Columbus, Ohio, and Austin, Texas. And for the first time, the company will host a con on a cruise ship in December, featuring appearances by "Thor" star Chris Hemsworth and "The Walking Dead" actor Norman Reedus. "It seems like a natural extension of what we've already been doing on land across the country," said Wizard World CEO John Maatta. "It's already great just traveling to the Bahamas, but for an audience that's affinity based and has an interest in pop culture and celebrities like Chris Hemsworth and Norman Reedus, it's going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." At this point, fan cons have no bounds. ___ Online: http://www.comic-con.org http://www.wizardworld.com http://www.rupaulsdragcon.com SHARE Veronica Monique Zalles Date of birth: Oct. 8, 1992 Vitals: 5 feet, 5 inches; 110 pounds; brown hair, brown eyes Charge: Robbery Steven Layne Miranda Date of birth: May 1, 1976 Vitals: 6 feet, 4 inches; 280 pounds; brown hair, blue eyes Charge: Vehicle theft Jonathan Christian Verdugo Date of birth: Dec. 30, 1994 Vitals: 5 feet, 7 inches; 155 pounds; brown hair, blue eyes Charge: Vehicle theft Alisha Marie Neligh Date of birth: Sept. 27, 1990 Vitals: 5 feet, 6 inches; 130 pounds; brown hair, brown eyes Charge: Accessory after the fact By Staff Reports Shasta's Most Wanted, featured in the Record Searchlight in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies, targets people who have failed to show up in court for sentencing after being convicted. As of Friday a total of 610 arrests have been made through the Most Wanted program since it began in September 2013. Authorities say they have seen an increase in criminals failing to appear in court since the onset of Assembly Bill 109. Also known as prison realignment, the state program shifted certain state prison inmates to county supervision. Redding Police Chief Robert Paoletti said court appearances have been going up since the rollout. Five new people are added each week. Those caught will be held until at least their next court appearances. Shasta County Secret Witness is offering a reward of up to $250 for information leading to an arrest. Tips can be provided anonymously at 530-243-2319 or at www.scsecretwitness.com/home/submit-a-tip. Anyone with information also can call SHASCOM at 245-6540. The feature appears Sundays in the Record Searchlight's Northern California section and on Redding.com. Record Searchlight file photo Shasta County Assistant Public Defender Tim Pappas is leaving his job to become the assistant public defender in El Dorado County. SHARE By Jim Schultz of the Redding Record Searchlight Longtime Shasta County Assistant Public Defender Tim Pappas is leaving his job at the end of next week to become the second-in-command at the public defender's office in El Dorado County. Pappas, 54, has been Shasta County's assistant public defender since the office was established 12 years ago. "Ground zero," he said on Friday. Although Pappas said it's difficult to leave the office he helped to create, he said he and his wife, Shirlyn, have long wanted to be closer to family members in the Sacramento area. "All of the family, except my older sister, live in the Sacramento Valley," he said. Pappas, whose last day on the job is May 27, begins his new post in Placerville on May 31. Since he came to Shasta County from Siskiyou County, where he served as the assistant district attorney, Pappas has become, at least to some, the public face of the Public Defender's Office. In addition to his administrative chores, Pappas is known as a staunch defender in the rights of criminal defendants and was the public defense attorney in a number of high-profile murder cases. He has worked as a pro-tem judge for the past 10 years and was also an outspoken figure in Shasta County political and legal circles. But, he says, he's most proud of the way the Public Defender's Office has developed over these past dozen years, saying the creation of the office was a "giant experience" with no guarantee of success. But, he says, it most certainly is now. "We hired the people who have the heart to do the job and who do it right," he said. Shasta County Public Defender Jeff Gorder said losing Pappas with his experience, legal knowledge and commitment is a big loss for the office. "It's going to be a huge hole to fill," Gorder said. "He knows every function of the office. He's as indispensable as you can get." Gorder said the recruitment process to hire a replacement will begin in the next couple of weeks, but he doesn't expect the job will be filled for at least a few months. Dry riverbed, Israel, elevated view SHARE By Joe Szydlowski of the Redding Record Searchlight For the first time in almost three years, the U.S. Drought Monitor last week removed almost all of Shasta and Siskiyou counties from the drought categories, classifying them as "abnormally dry," though most of California remains parched. The change comes as the city of Redding also announced Friday it would relax restrictions on water use by making them voluntary, such as watering only overnight between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. on specific days, city staff members said. The report, released Thursday, lists most of the rest of the state as still in a drought. That includes southeast Shasta County, Tehama County and much of Trinity County, as well as the valley and foothills of Northern California, which are in the moderate drought category. The North Coast and San Francisco areas also are in abnormally dry conditions, the least severe category. The drought monitor is updated weekly and uses soil moisture, precipitation, stream flow and other statistics to discern the drought's severity. Abnormally dry describes regions that are either going into or coming out of a drought, according to the monitor's website. It means an area may still have lingering effects from the drought and may not have returned to normal, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a partnership between several governmental agencies. The previous week, Shasta County was still listed in the moderate drought category, as was part of Siskiyou County. Shasta County's woes began in February 2013 when it first entered the abnormally dry category. It bounced in and out of that category until May of that year, when it was officially classified as in a moderate drought. It entered the worst category, exceptional drought, at the end of July 2014. The wet winter has prompted the state to suspend its mandatory 25 percent reduction in use the previous week. That and the wet rainfall spurred Redding to make voluntary its rules on days and times customers can water, said Greg Clark, assistant city manager. Since Oct. 1, Redding has received 37.62 inches of rain, about 4 inches above normal, Travis Wilson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Sacramento, said Friday. That's filled Lake Shasta, which sits at 92 percent capacity. "In terms of water and filling up the reservoir, you guys have been above normal probably why you've seen the change in the drought monitor," Wilson said, noting that he is not affiliated with the monitor. Another measure, a system of precipitation gauges along the Sierra Mountains, measured around 119 percent of normal for this time of year, Wilson said. By 5:30 p.m. Friday, about .17 inch had fallen, with up to another 0.3 inch possible through Monday, Wilson said. Temperatures will be in the upper 60s and low 70s until the system moves out, he said. But Clark cautioned that, even with a good winter in the north, water conservation likely will become part of daily life in California. That's in part because Southern California still languishes amid the drought. The San Joaquin Valley and Los Angeles metro areas are in extreme or exceptional droughts, while the Inland Empire is in a moderate to severe drought. The drought, which spanned four years and continues for 86 percent of California, is among the worst ever recorded. Many water districts were cut back to 25 percent of normal usage the previous two years, though in the Sacramento Valley districts are at normal allocations for this year. The drought also spurred the state's first mandatory water restrictions and a state of emergency declaration from Gov. Jerry Brown. Those in the San Joaquin Valley have suffered the worst effects. SHARE By Joe Szydlowski of the Redding Record Searchlight The state of Jefferson movement may seem to have gone quiet. But make no mistake, it is still kicking and working toward its goal of turning the North State into the 51st state. Its supporters cite a litany of grievances with Sacramento as a reason to break with the Golden State. But underpinning those criticisms is under-representation: would-be Jefferson voters have little say in California's population-based legislature. They've proposed two possible fixes: a new state and litigation. A new state would allow a new government that balances rural and more urban areas, they say. They've been gathering signatures in North State counties to present to the legislature as proof of the area's desire to leave. Opponents, however, argue the state would be destitute because so many depend on California's generous anti-poverty programs, such as its supplements to federal disability payments, and questions arise about water rights. A 2013 Legislative Analyst's Office report found that one version of Jefferson that didn't include the Sacramento metro area has about 2.5 percent of California's population but pays only 1.9 percent of its income taxes. It also found Jefferson had a higher share, per capita, of the Medi-Cal caseload than most other parts of California. Should secession stall, supporters have a plan B: Sue to overturn a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that would return to one state senator per county. The landmark case established that representation should be based on population rather than geography. Shasta County supervisors previously declined to support the state of Jefferson, but five other counties have signed on. Nine people are competing for three seats on the Shasta County Board of Supervisor. We asked them what they thought about the state of Jefferson and the supervisors' role. DISTRICT 2 Leonard Moty (incumbent) Moty, who voted against supporting a split in 2014, said he's listened to Jefferson supporters at meetings and one on one. He said he supports representation that balances the urban and rural areas, including the idea of one state senator per county. But the idea of leaving California is divorced from reality in both economics the area takes more than it gives and more tangible issues, such as who controls the water supply, he said. He's also skeptical of supporters' financial analysis of Jefferson's tax revenue. He suggests focusing energy on increasing representation. One way is mimicking Brian Dahle's method: reach across the aisle to cooperate on advancing the North State's interests and educate Southern Californians on how distinct Northern Californians' needs are. "He's gone to the districts and invited them up here, helping people understand it's different up here," he said. Jerome Venus Venus said he likes some ideas Jefferson proponents put forward, such as lower taxes and better representation, and agrees in principal. But he doesn't see a 51st state anytime soon. "They're not going to split California in two," he said. He questions Jefferson's financial viability and supporters's claims that they could bring back blue-collar jobs. But while he thinks the state of Jefferson nothing more than a pipe dream, he said taxes need to be lower and suggests a tax on cannabis sales could make up for lost revenue. DISTRICT 3 Pam Giacomini (Incumbent) Jefferson supporters have understandable grievances with Sacramento, Giacomini said. That includes Northern California's contingent of lawmakers in the state Legislature, which has too few representatives who have too little say. But a new state requires a long process with many moving parts and requires both California's Legislature and the U.S. Congress to agree to it, and then additional steps to establish the state. That long, difficult process makes Giacomini doubt Jefferson's chances. "I don't think it can actually happen," she said. As for the plan B lawsuit, she said "I would be interested to see how it moves forward." In June 2014, Giacomini was one of four Shasta County supervisors who voted against supporting a breakaway. Janet Chandler "I support the state of Jefferson movement," said Chandler, who said she'd be satisfied with either a split with California or a compromise that leads to the North State having a bigger say in governing. But if it comes to a split, Jefferson would be viable with an economy bigger than New Mexico's, she said. She cited both a lengthy report published by the Jefferson movement that estimates about $8 billion in tax revenue from property, income and sales taxes at current levels and a 2013 analysis by the nonpartisan California Legislative Analyst's Office of an initiative to turn California into six states. That LAO report, which was not in-depth, used a smaller version of Jefferson with 950,000 people. It found Jefferson would be among the poorest states in the country, but its 2012 per-capita income would be higher than eight other states, including New Mexico. But it isn't clear whether that analysis accounted for the typically high-wage California state jobs. Mary Rickert Jefferson proponents' frustration with California is understandable and Rickert said that, as an agriculture and business owner, she shares it. "I'm extremely familiar with the regulations," she said. But embarking on a path to a solo state would be long, complex and arduous, she said. It also means a loss of a great deal of funding for county agencies from the state. "A lot of our dollars do come from Sacramento," she said. To support leaving, "it would have to be a convincing argument for me that we wouldn't go backwards." She would prefer to read an in-depth, impartial analysis of what Jefferson would gain and lose financially before throwing her support behind the movement. She said she's not familiar enough with the movement's alternative proposal, the lawsuit, to support or oppose it yet. DISTRICT 4 Bill Schappell (Incumbent) In June 2014, Schappell cast the lone vote in favor of supporting the state of Jefferson movement's efforts to split with California. Now, he says the movement demonstrates North State residents' disaffection with state laws. "The state of Jefferson... shows a movement of distrust with California and their laws," he said. Those laws, he said, are passed with little public review and no accounting for the diversity of California's different areas and their unique needs. "The North State and the South State are two different entities," he said. But he said he doesn't know whether or not the movement will succeed it depends on the response they get from Sacramento, he said. As for the lawsuit to return the state Legislature to one senator per county, Schappell said he hopes that succeeds. It wouldn't level the playing field, he said, but it would be fairer than it is now. Walter Albert Albert said he is open to the idea of a new state. But he cautions his support depends on what that new state and its finances would look like. "I feel that it would be a good thing to do, if certain criteria are met," he said. "If those are not met, then we'd be one of the poorest states in the nation, still dependent on federal money." Among those requirements: Financial stability with a sound, diverse economy that includes small industry-type business, agriculture, forestry and other natural resources and tourism. That also means that, before giving his support, he'd also need to know which counties would be included. Would Jefferson get Napa Valley's world-renowned vineyards and wineries and the north Bay for shipping are some of the key questions, he said. As for the lawsuit, he said he considers that a viable solution that would add another set of checks and balances. Steve Morgan Morgan said he's open to hearing from Jeffersonians about their arguments in favor of separation, but he would need far more analysis before signing on to the movement. "I'm not sure about the finances of the state of Jefferson. I've been given some facts and figures, but not enough to make an informed decision," he said. "I'm always willing to listen to any information that I can gather. That way I can make a good, intelligent decision." He said he's interested in the lawsuit to return California's Senate to a per-county representation. But he doesn't see that as a silver bullet to slay Northern California's legislative woes. "I guess it would be better than nothing, but I still think Southern California would win out, especially with the larger populations," he said. Wally St. Clair St. Clair said he's not ready to support severing ties with California. "As a supervisor, I would have to see some very definite numbers and proposals," he said. He said he understands people's concerns that California's government is too big. But he said he would worry that Jefferson, which would have to write a new constitution and laws, would provide an opportunity for the powerbrokers to possibly increase the size of government. In addition, he brought up several other concerns, such as how would it logistically happen, what would it regulate, how would those regulations look and what would Jefferson's finances look like. "I'd have to see some very concrete benefits and what the downsides are," he said. He's open to listening to the movement about the lawsuit alternative, but he would need to know more. Firefighters watch as smoke from the the Eiler Fire fills the sky in eastern Shasta County in 2014. SHARE By Damon Arthur of the Redding Record Searchlight From 2010 to 2015 wildfires consumed about 67,000 acres a year on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. During that time, U.S. Forest Service officials treated about 10,000 acres annually through thinning and control burns intended to reduce the size of wildfires when they occur. "Prescribed fire is one of the more effective and cost-efficient means of managing vegetation for multiple purposes, including hazard reduction, ecosystem restoration or maintenance, silviculture and others," Deputy Forest Fire Management Officer Alex McBath said in an email. The Lassen National Forest did thinning and burning on about 14,000 acres during the 2014-15 fiscal year, said forest spokeswoman Joyce El Kouarti. But Forest Service officials have also complained for years they have been forced to take money intended for forest management programs such as thinning and control burns and use it for firefighting instead. Each year Congress has allotted the Forest Service money for forest thinning, but as wildland fires have become larger and more destructive the agency has been forced to use prevention funds to fight fires. Shasta-Trinity Forest spokeswoman Phyllis Swanson said other programs, such as recreation, also suffer. However, attempts in Congress to change the way wildland fires are paid for have been stymied. One bill, HR 167, would have allowed the Forest Service and other land management agencies to use emergency funds to pay for wildfire suppression, rather than prevention funds. But the bill did not get out of Congress. The 2016 budget includes more money for firefighting and prevention, but it isn't enough, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The Forest Service is part of the Department of Agriculture. "While these funds are helpful, I am extremely disappointed that Congress did not enact a comprehensive fix to the wildland firefighting budget," Vilsack said in a letter to U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, the ranking Democrat on the Senate's Appropriations Committee. Vilsack said the cost of fighting wildfires consumed about 60 percent of the agency's budget in 2015. Vilsack said this year he would not transfer money from prevention and other programs if the Forest Service uses up its firefighting budget. "If the amount Congress appropriated in FY 2016 is not sufficient to cover fire suppression costs, Congress will need to appropriate additional funding on an emergency basis," Vilsack said in his letter. The Record Searchlight asked candidates for the 1st Congressional District what they think needed to be done to address the issue. David Peterson, a Democrat from Placerville, did not return several phone messages. Doug LaMalfa The Republican incumbent said proper forest management would go a long way toward reducing catastrophic wildfires. LaMalfa said he still supports HR 167, but he said there are other bills in Congress that would help spur forest clearing. He said he supported bills that would promote removing brush and smaller trees that could be used as biomass. He supported measures that would help make biomass and thinning more profitable to companies. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon has introduced a bill, SB 1294, that would establish a program where the U.S. Department of Energy would provide grants to projects that support innovation and market development of bioheat and biopower. Biomass plants create electricity from burning forest waste, such as brush, limbs and smaller trees. Burning brush and smaller trees that can't be used for lumber at a biomass plant is better for the environment than a wildfire, LaMalfa. "A power plant runs infinitely cleaner than a forest fire," LaMalfa said. He said forest thinning and biomass plans also create more jobs. Gregory Cheadle The Happy Valley Republican said forest management that increases thinning should be promoted, but he advocated increased participation from timber companies and other private firms. Cheadle, a real estate broker, said government agencies should not be relied upon to come up with all the answers to problems in the forest, including fire suppression and fire prevention. "As far as I'm concerned, the less government involvement the better," he said. He also advocated policies that would provide incentives to suppressing fire, rather than letting them burn. "The thing is, fire makes money," he said. Joe Montes The Chico businessman said Congress should pursue legislation that would entice private firms to do more forest thinning and management to reduce the intensity of wildfires. He said if it were more profitable for firms to do forest thinning more of the work would get done. Montes, a Republican, said he would also favor suspending regulations that stymie work done in the woods. "I think there should be a suspension of environmental concerns," Montes said. He said doing more thinning in the forest does more than just save lives and protect property. It also helps alleviate the effect of the drought. He said thinning allows rain and snow to get past the forest canopy to the ground, where water can percolate into the soil and recharge aquifers. Jim Reed The Red Bluff attorney said Congress needs to make fire prevention a higher priority because wildfires have become too intense and too large. "If I am elected, I will talk my colleagues into spending more money on prevention," said Reed, a Democrat. Money for fire prevention should be earmarked by Congress so it could not be taken and used to pay for other programs, such as fire suppression, he said. Jeffrey Gerlach He said fire danger could be reduced by doing more fire prevention, which would involve thinning out more brush and smaller trees. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," said Gerlach, a technology consultant from Lincoln. He said in many places the forest is too thick, which allows fires to move quickly and hotter. "These high intensity fires kill everything," he said. Thick forests also prevent rainwater and snow from percolating to the ground and recharging groundwater. Congress also needs to make it easier for forest management agencies and private companies to log in the forest and do thinning. "The idea of hands off and nobody is allowed in there (the forest) is failing," he said. He said doing forest thinning and management is cheaper than fighting fires. He also said he supports HR 4751, which, according to Gerlach, would have U.S. Bureau of Land Management and forest service officials focus more on forest management rather than law enforcement. Gary Allen Oxley The Republican emergency room nurse agreed with other candidates that the Forest Service needs to do more thinning to reduce the damage from forest fires. But he suggested taking money the U.S. pays toward foreign aid programs such as the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund and instead use it for programs like forest thinning. "We can't continue to pay for internationalism when we can't pay for our forests," he said. "It comes back to money and priorities." The same is true for other overseas endeavors such as military bases. The United States needs to reduce the number of bases in other countries, which would free up money for domestic programs, including forest management. He also recommended reducing the national debt to help pay for domestic programs. "How do we pay for all these programs when we have all this debt hanging over our heads," Oxley said. "We are going down a path that is not sustainable." SHARE There's a lot of current media attention on the extent of the recovery from the Great Recession. And indeed, numerous surveys are showing that employers are feeling more optimistic in 2016 than in recent years. That's good news and bad news. It's wonderful that business owners are more confident about the future, and we're hopeful that their optimism is translated into business success. But it's also concerning, because our elected officials may get the mistaken impression that optimism reflects a rosy business environment. On May 25, California legislators can learn first about those issues when 90 small business owners are honored on California Small Business Day. Our policymakers should use that opportunity to move small business issues to the top of the legislative agenda. What are some of the challenges that should be on the list? Recent research from Dun & Bradstreet and Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business and Management, based on a survey of small businesses owners across the nation, shows that one of the most important barometer of small business health the ability to obtain capital to fuel operations remains an obstacle to business growth. Among reasons for seeking upcoming financing, 32 percent of respondents said it was because they "expect worsening economic conditions" compared to 24 percent during the same time last year. When directly asked "is the current business financing environment restricting growth opportunities," 58 percent said yes, up from 53 percent the same time last year. Half of all businesses surveyed also reported their ability to hire new employees was restricted, a four percent increase from the same time a year ago. The California-specific results are even more startling. The Golden State's small businesses report feeling that their growth opportunities are restricted (62 percent) and their ability to hire is restricted (58 percent), compared to the national averages of 55 percent and 50 percent respectively. Why is this news so important? First of all, California's cost-of-living index was 134 percent of the national average in 2015. So businesses large and small but especially small are already fighting an uphill battle for their existence. More importantly, if businesses can't grow, they can't hire more employees. Declines in employment are already disproportionately impacting small businesses. According to the SBA, in 2007 California boasted about 1.1 million small businesses with employees, but by 2012, that number had declined to about 638,000. This ripple effect is felt in every segment of our society. Constrained businesses can't rent more office space. Less capital means fewer people can purchase homes, rent apartments, buy goods, and spend dollars locally. That's lower local and state revenues, and fewer available resources to fund public services to schools, public service such as police and fire, roads and infrastructure. Informing policymakers about the barriers that inhibit our recovery from the recession and advocating for the necessary steps to support small business is a key goal of small business owners. Let's hope when the state budget is passed and the Legislature adjourns in August, there is real progress for the businesses that employ the largest number of Californians. Betty Jo Toccoli is president of the California Small Business Association. She wrote this for foxandhoundsdaily.com. Despite difficult working conditions, Indians are still seeking jobs in Gulf countries Remittances from the Gulf countries have been falling for the past three years, owing to difficult work conditions and low oil prices. This, however, has not deterred thousands of Indians from seeking jobs in these rich counties. Amit Kumar, 34-year-old engineer who worked with L&T for three years in Kolkata, is one of them. He is anxiously waiting at the large reception area of RK International, one of the registered agents with the government of India, on the sixth floor of a non-descript tower in central Delhi. Kumar wades through a knot of candidates, comprising mainly of drivers, crane operators and fitters, to reach the receptionist, who already has too many applications on her desk. Every day, she deals with at least 80-100 Gulf job visa aspirants. I am going to Dubai purely for economic reasons, Kumar says. He has secured a $4,500-a-month job through the agency and his employer has promised him free accommodation, food and transport. Kumar had worked in Dubai four years ago and is aware of the challenges that migrant workers face there. During interview, he chose Dubai and Abu Dhabi as preferred locations. But for first timers like Harkesh Baitha, a resident of Gopalganj in Madhya Pradesh, going to Gulf countries is no less than an adventure. Baitha heard about the job prospects from two men in his village who recently returned, following the completion of their respective contracts. I didnt think about the country where I would be working, I just approached the consultants for a job, says Baitha, who secured a job of rigger in Abu Dhabi for AED 1,200 a month. He had to pay Rs 50,000 to the consultant for this. When asked if he was aware of the growing work difficulties and the rise in complaints by the Indian migrant workers against their employers in Gulf countries, Baitha said he was willing to take a chance. According to the latest figures of December 2015, around 7,500 Indians have reported complaints, including exploitation and torture, against their employers in Gulf countries. The highest number of complaints was from Kuwait (3,236), followed by Saudi Arabia (2,472) and Bahrain (806). Indian missions in Oman, Qatar and UAE received 413, 378 and 126 complaints respectively. At the same time, about 5,900 Indian workers lost their lives in the Gulf countries last year with maximum deaths reported from Saudi Arabia (2,691) and UAE (1,540). Wakeel Ansari, president of Delhis association of recruiting agents, says such complaints have barely impacted their businesses. The number of complaints is not even one per cent of the 7.3 million Indians residing in the Gulf. There may be some genuine cases of harassment or exploitation but this can happen in any country, says Ansari, adding even those residing in the Gulf dont want to return. Once they get used to luxury and comfortable life, they find it difficult to adjust in India, Ansari says. The recruiting agents say though their businesses were doing well, they were experiencing a slight slump in demand for Indian workers on account of a global slowdown, crash in oil prices and the Indian governments attempt to fix minimum wages for Indian workers going abroad. The agents claim the Gulf employers prefer Bangladeshi and Nepalese workers over Indians because of low wages. This slight slump has begun to show in remittances and number of people traveling to Gulf. For instance, the collective remittance from UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar was $35,494 million in 2013, but decreased to $35,419 million in 2014. In 2015, according to World Bank, remittance further slipped to $34,670 million. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data for air travelers shows another trend. While the number of people who made to and fro visit between India and Gulf countries remained almost the same throughout the year, Saudi Arabia emerged as an exception. Saudi Arabia, which has the highest number of Indian migrants and is also Indias number one crude oil supplier, saw a continued decline of travelers coming from India. While in Jan-March (2015) around 434,124 Indians visited Saudi, the number fell to 401,034 in April-May (2015). The next two quarters saw a further decline to 370,282 and 378,881 respectively. This fall is largely attributed to fall in oil prices and job cuts. According to a survey by GulfTalent, an online recruitment portal in the Middle East, about 14 per cent private companies are planning to cut jobs in Saudi Arabia in 2016. Oman, UAE and Qatar follow with ten per cent, nine per cent and eight per cent job cuts respectively. The recent announcement of Saudi Arabia to implement the second phase of the Nitaqat law, which allows the government to reserve jobs for the native Saudis, is likely to pose more challenges for job seekers from India. The migrants are already worried about the talks of Gulf countries levying tax on personal income. The job situation is unlikely to improve in the near future. According to Moodys Investors Service, the impact of the oil price shock would be more this time than 1986 and 1998 when the remittances had rebounded within a year or two. In 2009, though the prices rebounded after an oil price shock, the remittances didnt resume the upward trajectory as earlier. If crude stabilises around $50 per barrel, remittance from workers in Middle East may also stabilise. However, most of the oil producing countries in the region are encouraging increasing participation of natives in the workforce, to prepare for oil prices to remain at these levels for long term, said Debasish Mishra, partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP. Photograph: Faisal Al Nasser/Reuters Actor-turned Bharatiya Janata Party leader Roopa Ganguly was on Sunday heckled and her convoy attacked allegedly by Trinamool Congress supporters near Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas district when she was returning to Kolkata. The incident happened when Ganguly, along with other BJP workers, was returning from Ishwaripur village near Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas after visiting a party worker, who was assaulted allegedly by TMC workers on Saturday and was admitted to a local hospital there, a senior district police officer told PTI. "Despite several requests, Roopa stopped her car and two other cars in her convoy near Diamond Harbour on her way to Kolkata and started talking to locals, which enraged them. Some boys threw stones at the convoy while few women from the locality pulled Roopa's hair and slapped another woman who was with her," the officer said. The police posted there intervened and restrained the locals and took control of the situation, he said, adding though Roopa was "not injured", she was taken to a local hospital, where from she was released after a check-up. "We have not arrested anybody in connection with the incident, but a police posting has been arranged in the locality," he said. The BJP leader and the party workers accompanying her, however, alleged that they were attacked by TMC activists. Ganguly, the chief of BJP's state Mahila Morcha unit, had unsuccessfully contested from Howrah-North seat against TMC's Laxmi Ratan Shukla in the just-concluded state assembly elections. Last updated on: May 22, 2016 19:19 IST A Junior Commissioned Officer and five jawans of Assam Rifles were on Sunday killed in an ambush by militants in Chandel district of Manipur near the Indo-Myanmar border. An Assam Rifles convoy was attacked by heavily armed militants around 1 pm in Joupi Hengshi area of Chandel when the security personnel were returning after inspecting a landslide site in the interior tribal district, defence and police sources said. The slain personnel belonged to 29 Assam Rifles. It is suspected that two or more militant groups jointly carried out the attack. More troops were rushed to the area and a massive search operation is underway, they said. The incident occurred near Joupi village within the limits of Molcham Police Station, a police officer said. Last year, 18 army personnel were killed in the same district in an ambush by The National Socialist Council of Nagaland Khaplang militants. The Assam Rifles party was returning to their camp in Joupi after inspecting a landslide in the Holenjang village. Looking to strengthen trade, investment and energy ties with Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sudnay arrived in Tehran on a two-day visit, during which a crucial agreement is expected to be signed on developing the strategic Chabahar port. Modi, who is the first Indian prime minister having visited Iran in the last 15 years, was received at the Mehrabad International airport by Iran's Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia, after which he left for a local Gurudwara to meet people of Indian origin in Tehran. Formal talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are scheduled for Monday morning after a ceremonial welcome for the prime minister. Rouhani will also host a lunch for him. Modi will also call on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well before his return. Ahead of his arrival, Modi in a series of tweets said, "Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority." "My meetings with President Rouhani and Hon'ble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership," the prime minister added. Besides signing a deal on development of Phase-1 of the Chabahar port, India is looking at doubling oil imports from the Persian Gulf nation, which a few years back was its second-biggest oil supplier, as well as making progress on getting rights to develop a giant gas field in the energy-rich country. India's Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari will also be present there for the signing of the agreement on Chabahar port. Post-sanctions Iran has seen a flurry of diplomatic and business activities with leaders from China to Korea courting Tehran. In the run-up to Modi's visit, Transport Minister Gadkari, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had visited Tehran. Stating that he looked forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar agreement during his visit, the Prime Minister said "India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region." Besides visiting Gurudwara, he will also inaugurate an International Conference on 'retrospect and prospect' of India and Iran relations. "I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today & tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani," he added. In an interview to Iran's IRNA news agency before of his arrival in Tehran, Modi said the two countries have "always focused to add strength to our relations, even during the difficult times. In the current context, both countries can look to expand our cooperation in the fields of trade, technology, investment and infrastructure and energy security." Stating that India's public and private sector firms were keen on investing in Iran, he said the signing of agreement on development of Chabahar port will provide wider connectivity. Chabahar is a port in South-East Iran that will enable India to bypass Pakistan and open up a route to land-locked Afghanistan with which New Delhi has close security ties and economic interests. "Lifting of the international sanctions against Iran has opened up immense opportunities for both the countries, especially in the economic sphere," Modi said, adding India is keen to enhance its investment in the Persian Gulf nation and also welcomes flow of capital and investments from there. The energy sector, he said, was one of the most important dimensions of bilateral economic ties and with investment in development of Farzad-B gas field, the relationship would go beyond the buyer-seller dealings to being genuine partners. On impending meetings with Iranian leaders, Modi said: "Iran is part of our extended neighbourhood, an important nation in the region and one of India's valuable partners. "We are connected with each other by the shared history and civilisational ties. We have shared interest in peace, stability and prosperity of the region. Combating the menace of international terrorism and radical ideologies is a common challenge." He further said taking concrete steps for enhancing regional connectivity is one of the most important and promising dimensions of the ties between India and Iran. "Building a genuine energy partnership, cooperation in the infrastructure, ports, railway and petrochemicals sectors and developing the age-old civilisational ties through people-to-people exchanges in the modern times will also be a priority," Modi said. Image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the Mehrabad International airport in Tehran. Photograph: MEA Afghan Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a rare United States drone strike deep inside Pakistan, Afghanistan announced on Sunday, inflicting a body blow to the insurgents and removing a major "threat" to the fragile peace process in the war-torn country. Mansour and another militant were targeted in a precision air strike by multiple unmanned drones operated by US Special Operations forces on Saturday as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near Ahmad Wal town in the restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border, US officials said. The drone strike, which US officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama, showed America was ready to target the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which Afghanistan has repeatedly accused of sheltering the militants. Afghanistan's main spy agency said Mansour, said to be in his early 50s, was killed in a US drone attack that struck his vehicle on the main road in Dalbandi area of Balochistan around 3:45pm on Saturday. "Mansour was being closely monitored for a while until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle in Balochistan," the National Directorate of Security said in a brief statement on Sunday. Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and defence ministry spokesman Daulat Waziri also said that Mansour had been killed. Addressing a press conference in the Afghan capital, he called on the group to select a new leader and then come to Kabul and act like a political party. Speaking to reporters in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, US Secretary of State John Kerry said, "Mansour posed... an imminent threat to US personnel, Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces." Kerry said Mansour was also directly opposed to peace negotiations. The US "has long maintained that an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned reconciliation process is the surest way to ensure peace... peace is what we want, Mansour was a threat to that," Kerry said. "If people want to stand in the way of peace and continue to threaten and kill and blow people up, we have no recourse but to respond and I think we responded appropriately," he said. The Pentagon earlier confirmed it targeted Mansour. "Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners," said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. "Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict," he said. The drone strike inside Pakistan was a rare one since US Navy Seals killed Al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a stealth raid in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad in 2011. Image: Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour is seen in this undated handout photograph by the Taliban. Photograph: Taliban handout via Reuters See what to expect in coming months along I-69 Finish Line corridor As the leaves begin to fall and air temperatures begin to cool, the 2022 road construction season will soon slow down. Zachry honored H.C. Zachry, of Abilene, founder and chairman of Zachry Associates, has been named to the Southwest Advertising Hall of Fame by the Tenth District of the American Advertising Federation. The induction ceremony in Dallas will be June 25. Along with his advertising agency, he is a magazine and directory publisher, owner of a conference management company, a partner in an endowment development firm and owner of Zachry Studio/Gallery. Business workshop Gayla Fullerton, CPA, will present a workshop, 'Put Your Business on the Map,' at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St. Admission is free. Banking representatives visit Capitol Hill As a part of the Independent Bankers Association of Texas 24th annual Congressional Visit, 120 representatives of the Texas community banking industry recently visited members of Congress in Washington, D.C. The group included John Jay, president and CEO of Roscoe State Bank. Jay and other IBAT members urged cosponsorship of key pieces of legislation to allow regulators the ability to right-size new regulations based on a bank's risk profile, place greater Congressional oversight on the activities of the CFPB and raise the data security standards for merchants handling sensitive payment information. A near-fatal hunting accident did more than almost claim the life of Cole Watts it signaled a career course change. Thanks to the accident there are fewer unwanted inhabitants bugging Big Country residents. The Abilene native was accidentally shot while hunting on Nov. 30, 2014, in Colorado City. Watts spent nearly a month in intensive care, followed by six surgeries to repair damage when the bullet tore through his lower abdomen. 'When I got out of the hospital, I really couldn't do much,' said Watts, owner of Mosquito Joe of Abilene. 'I lost about 20 pounds, couldn't do any lifting, and couldn't walk for more than five minutes. I was stuck in a recliner at home, and started thinking about business and everything I've missed.' Before the accident, Watts had been working with his father, Steve Watts, in their business More Clean of Texas which provides parking lot sweeping and pressure washing services, landscaping and exterior maintenance for commercial properties. 'I was looking for ways to expand the residential side to grow into that market,' said Watts. 'I discovered the Mosquito Joe franchise, and it piqued my interest because it seemed like a no-brainer to go kill mosquitoes.' Mosquito Joe provides outdoor pest control treatments to residential and commercial customers. Watts said technicians are 'trained mosquito control experts.' 'I actually wondered why no one else was doing this,' he added. 'I didn't expect it to be a full-time job; I envisioned it as an offshoot of More Clean. When I flew to Virginia Beach in July 2015, I fell in love with their model, their team and the way they do business.' In mid-August, Watts signed the franchise agreement, paid the $25,000 franchise fee, and entered planning mode, preparing to launch the business. 'We opened Mosquito Joe of Abilene on April 4,' he said. 'It has almost been a little overwhelming; the response has been great, and it is challenging to keep up with the calls.' An office manager handles scheduling. 'We are already looking to hire more technicians to keep up with the workload,' Watts said. 'Hiring the right people is the toughest part of small business; it can have a huge impact on the team, as I want to be confident of them representing my brand they are the face of my business.' With above average rainfall in the Abilene, San Angelo and Brownwood areas which Mosquito Joe covers the demand for treatment continues. 'One thing I tell my customers is that it is important to remember that our treatment is not a magic pill,' said Watts. 'This is a targeted spray, and we will spray all the bushes and trees to get at the mosquito eggs and larvae. Mosquitoes don't magically disappear for 21 days; they must land on the tree or bush, and customers are educated to know that they must give the treatment time to work.' Watts said the chrysanthemum based chemical creates a 'blanket' on the property, getting rid of the mosquitoes 'biting you today.' 'It is a targeted spray on your property, whereas City spraying is public health focused,' he added. 'We treat for eggs and larvae make it to where they can't hatch.' Thankful for his health, Watts said his goal is to help people out. 'By all rights, I shouldn't be alive,' he said. 'I want to focus on the future, and do what I can do to use the gift I was given to help other people.' SHARE SUNDAY Dog show The Abilene Kennel Club will conduct its 52nd annual Dog Show at 8 a.m. at the Taylor County Expo Center, 1700 Highway 36. Admission is free to spectators. Gun and knife show The Texas Gun & Knife Show will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Abilene Civic Center, 1100 N. Sixth St. Musical A musical, "A Congo Connection Commission," will be presented at 11 a.m. at First Christian Church, 1420 N. Third St. Other ... Out & About Group LGBT AA Meeting, 6 p.m. Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, Lower Level Parish Hall, 602 Meander St. MONDAY Sewing circle DESDEMONA A sewing and craft circle will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Desdemona Activity Center. Participants are invited to bring a lunch. Admission is free. Governor's book signing Governor Greg Abbott will conduct a book signing for his new book, "Broken But Unbowed," at 11 a.m. at Hastings, 4709 S. 14th St. Class for iPhones and iPads Tom Miller will present a free class for iPhone and iPad users at 1 p.m. at the Mockingbird Branch of the Abilene Public Library, 1326 N. Mockingbird Lane. Registration will begin at 12:30 p.m. Information: 325-692-1087. Square dance workshop TYE The Key City Squares will conduct a square dancing workshop at 6:30 p.m. at the Wagon Wheel. Other ... Overeaters Anonymous, noon, Hinds Square Building, 100 Chestnut St., Room 112. Schizophrenia Support Group, 1-2 p.m., Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300. Blood drive, 1-6 p.m., Bob's Grocery, Gorman. Alzheimer's Association Caregiver Support Group, 3:30-4:30 p.m., Texas AgriLife Extension Office, 101 S. Ave. D, Haskell. Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 5:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St. Anorexics Bulimics Anonymous, 6 p.m., Shades of Hope, 402A Mulberry St., Buffalo Gap. 800-588-4673. Central Texas Gem & Mineral Society of Abilene, 7 p.m., 7607 Highway 277 South. 325-692-0063. Abilene Toastmaster's Club 1071, 7 p.m., Conference Center, Texas State Technical College, 650 E. Highway 80. 325-692-7325 or abilene.toastmastersclubs.org. Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 1501 N. Broadway, Ballinger. 817-689-2810 or 325-977-1007. Mid-City Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First Christian Church. 325-670-4304. Memory Men (4-part a cappella singing), 7 p.m., Calvary Baptist Church, 1165 Minter Lane. Park on east side, enter through kitchen. 325-676-SING. Abilene Community Band rehearsal, 7:30 p.m., Bynum Band Hall, McMurry University. 325-232-7383. South Pioneer Al-Anon Group, 8 p.m., 3157 Russell Ave. Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Avoca United Methodist Church. 325-773-2611. Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse Group. 325-676-1400. TUESDAY Springboard Community Lunch The 2016 Springboard Ideas Challenge will conclude with a luncheon from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Abilene Civic Center, 1100 N. Sixth St. Three teams will give presentations to local investors in competition for a $15,000 grand prize. Tickets are $15. For more information, go to http://blogs.acu.edu/springboard/investor-lunch. Business workshop Gayla Fullerton, CPA, will present a workshop, "Put Your Business on the Map" at 6:30 p.m. at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St. Admission is free. Square dance workshop TYE The Wagon Wheel Squares will conduct a square dancing workshop at 6:30 p.m. at the Wagon Wheel. 'George Washington: Providence' The documentary "George Washington: Providence" will be shown at 7 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre, 352 Cypress St. Doors will open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for military, seniors and children. Other ... 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). Blood drive, 1-6 p.m., Coleman County Electric Co-op. Stroke/Aphasia Recovery Program support group, 1:30-2:30 p.m. West Texas Rehabilitation Center boardroom, 4601 Hartford St. 325-793-3535. Alzheimer's Association support group, 4 p.m., 301 S. Pioneer Drive. Libby, 325-672-2907. 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. Family (of Mental Health Consumers) Support Group, 6-7 p.m., Mental Health Association in Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300. Stroke Club, 6-7 p.m., West Texas Rehabilitation Center boardroom, 4601 Hartford St. 325-793-5475. 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. Unity Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St. WEDNESDAY Genealogy class Pat Collins will present classes on genealogy from 5:30-6:45 p.m. and 7-8:15 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 3325 N. 12th St. Admission is free. 'George Washington: Providence' The documentary "George Washington: Providence" will be shown at 7 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre, 352 Cypress St. Doors will open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for military, seniors and children. Other ... Overeaters Anonymous, 8 a.m., Hinds Square Building, Room 112, 100 Chestnut St. Blood drive, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Blue Cross Blue Shield, 4002 Loop 322. 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. The Alzheimer's Association Brownwood Support Group, 2-3 p.m., Redstone Park Retirement & Assisted Living, 2410 Songbird Circle, Brownwood. 325-643-9056. 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. One more week. One more week to graduation. One more week to the end of the school. One more week to start of summer. One more week until I go to my new home away from home, Villa Nueva, Guatemala. Quicker than Alice Cooper can sing 'school's out for summer' and he will Aug. 20 in Abilene, folks will be headed out on vacations, vacation Bible schools will start and groups will depart for destinations across the globe to give of their time and talents for others. This will be my third trip to Central America in the past four years. This one was a bit unexpected. We did not think a group from our church would return this summer. Then, around the Christmas holidays, we learned that another group had cancelled and there was an opening. Were we interested? Sure. When? Well, that's the thing. The end of May. Like five months? Uh, OK. That seems like time enough, but there is considerable planning to do. And we were not going to have the luxury of two summer months to get ready. This was going to be done while we were busy with work, school and other projects to which we already may have committed. We had to ask ourselves, what are our priorities? It's not an easy question. We had to assemble a team and totally commit ourselves in mind, spirit and finances. And, yes, passports for first-timers. Some signed on, then signed off. Some thought about it, and said no. Not this time. Others just couldn't get out of other obligations. One family of four was greatly interested but our departure was the morning after the last day of school. Ugh. They couldn't do it. But we asked our friends at New Life Children's Home if we could leave May 30, and go Monday to Monday? Yes, that would work, we were told. The family of four was clear for takeoff. We formed a team of 16. The sweet 16? Hardly. I'm on it, for one. So is my son. And there's Sam. So much for sweet. Actually, we are sweet. Because spending a week with 55 to 60 youngsters, tweens and teens at the home brings out the sweetness that can get pushes way down in us. It also bring out the sweat. We do work, and we try to do our tasks as best we can. But we are there for the kids, and the staff. That's Job 1. It's not a vacation, but it is. No meetings, save for the daily gatherings in the evening to recap our day. No cellphones, save for using them to take photos. No deadlines, though last year we had to hustle to finish our painting project. No hailstorms, though there are volcanoes all around and they are not dormant. But no Trump. No Hillary. No Bernie. No worries. We will see many of the same kids, kids we've watched grow up and accept us as their friends. The first year, there was the dance of getting know each other. There are others groups that spend a week at the home, but our team was new. Who is this gringo with the beard, they had to wonder. But a swimming outing a treat for these kids was an icebreaker. So was four-square. It was full-on friendship after that. Last year, the bonding was almost immediate. Senor Santa Claus was back, and several others. The new ones in our group worked right into the mix. We expect the same thing this year. Our group is split eight returnees and eight new members. A good mix. Since late July, we dealt with great sadness. A youngster named Melvin battled leukemia after our first visit and became so ill that he was flown to Texas, where the organization that oversees the children's home is headquartered. After months of hospitalization, Melvin returned to Villa Nueva on Dec. 5 and despite all that medical attention and our prayers, died the day after Christmas. When teams leave, a small gift is given each member a photograph of us with one of the children, put in a Guatemalan-style frame. My son's photograph from our first visit is with Melvin. Everyone misses Melvin, but here's the thing. He found happiness and love at the home, and because of the generosity of many, he had a chance to be healed. That wasn't the plan, though. We can only imagine Melvin alone in this beautiful but troubled country, having to face his illness by himself. He died in the arms of love and compassion, knowing better days for him were ahead. Kind of chokes you up, doesn't it? Does me. This is why we go back. Other teams from Abilene also go to Guatemala, and many here will embark on mission trips this summer. No trip is more important, or less important, than another. It's the relationships we build and the effort we make to reach down from the top and we are at the top in the United States to pull others up. And what we learn is that in many other ways, they are at the top and are pulling us up. We learn how to be more generous, live with more humility and that at the end of the day, we all are people of the planet. Melvin got to where a lot of us would like to end up someday. How's the view from on top, Melvin? Si, bueno! Sometimes life's curveballs leave you unaware of what to do next. That's definitely the case for Christy Williams and about 80 other Howard Payne University nursing students or potential students this summer. Their curveball came this past week when the Brownwood school notified them of a major setback in their schooling. Their entire program had been eliminated. About 10 of the affected students, including Williams, were set to graduate this December, according to Williams's mother, Susie Minor. They were notified by text message, Minor said, explaining that the program was cut and that if Williams wanted to graduate, she'd need to change her course of study. 'It was so cold and impersonal,' Minor said of the university's contact. 'It didn't say she could come in and talk. It was cold, callous.' According to HPU spokeswoman Coby Sauce, the degree track's problems came up just recently, when the dean of the school of nursing, Shawntay Sparks-Hubbard, resigned May 13. The departure threw the program quickly into a tailspin. The school had been attempting to gain accreditation to offer a pre-licensure BSN program through the Texas Board of Nursing. One of the major requirements, Sauce said, is to have a dean of nursing employed full-time. As soon as Sparks-Hubbard ended her service at the school, Sauce said, the application to offer the program was withdrawn. 'In the meantime, current students who had begun taking coursework at HPU with plans to ultimately complete the pre-licensure BSN degree will need to have new degree plans to guide their future course selections,' Sauce said. 'At this time, this means students will need different majors as BSN-specific coursework will not be an option until the BSN approval process is complete. HPU is committed to working with each student individually to assure coursework applies to his or her preferred new degree plan. Additionally, HPU faculty and administrators are prepared to discuss available transfer options.' Sauce said as soon as a new dean is hired, the school will begin the application process anew. She said the program will begin again as soon as the process is complete, though it doesn't help the students affected by this sudden change. 'We regret these circumstances and understand our students' disappointment,' Sauce said. 'On May 19, a letter communicating information about this matter was emailed to the students affected by these changes. A letter will follow in the mail. Howard Payne University remains committed to working with each student, regardless of major, to ensure academic success.' Dogs' demeanor part of success at shows Buster the Labrador retriever and Gambler the Afghan hound are both two year olds, but Buster seemed much more at home at the 52nd annual Abilene Kennel Dog Show Saturday at the Taylor County Coliseum. The show is running through Sunday at the coliseum. Show chairman Mary Jane DeWitt said that 555 dogs are taking part in the event. 'Most of them are from Texas, but we have them from all over,' said DeWitt. 'We have people from New Mexico, Washington, Florida and North Carolina.' Buster won Best of Show in his category, and the sturdy Lab seemed to take it all in stride, according to Elizabeth Arellano of Gainesville, who brought Buster to the show for owner Kendall Herr, also of Gainesville. She said Buster's laid-back demeanor is the same in the ring as it is everywhere else, whether it's retrieving things out of the pond back home or if he's chilling in the hotel room. 'He's like this all the time,' she said. 'He just likes to be around people. Labs aren't the most popular breed in America for nothing.' Arellano said that Buster, who has been showing for more than a year, is popular with the judges because of his solid frame and solid lines. 'He looks like a Lab ought to look,' she said, adding that Buster is basically full grown, although he'll get more massive as he matures. While Buster handled the show with the aplomb of the veteran he is, Gambler was decidedly less confident. 'He's his own worst enemy right now,' said handler Rudy Ayala from the Fort Worth area. Ayala was handling five dogs at the show. Ayala said that Gambler's biggest problem is being nervous, which might lead one to ask what an Afghan hound, particularly one as beautiful as Gambler, had to be nervous about. 'It's the noise and all the funny looking dogs,' said Ayala. 'He's used to being around dogs who look like him. He's not used to being around the little dogs.' Ayala was busy combing Gambler's black coat and holding the dog's tail up. 'The big thing is making sure his tail's up,' he said. 'That shows he's ready to go and feels good about it.' Ayala said that black Afghans are not unusual but that the sable colored ones look a little better indoors because of the lighting. Outside, it's easier to see the lines in the black Afghans. He said that Gambler's best days as a show dog are in front of him as he matures and becomes more confident. 'The dogs can mature for five or six years,' he said. 'A lot of people will give up on them if they don't win immediately. Some breeds need more patience than others.' Ayala said he has been showing Afghans for 41 years, and although many of his colleagues have gone to showing smaller dogs, he continues to handle the bigger breeds. 'That's because I can still run,' he said. Imagine being on a road trip with two champion spellers in the car. Instead of playing 'I Spy' or the license plate game, you're likely to be practicing words like 'triskaidekaphobia' and 'schadenfreude.' And learning their definitions a fear of the number 13 and taking pleasure in the misfortunes of others, respectively. At least, if you're in the car with Jack Miller. Those are two of Jack's favorite words, ones that he wouldn't mind getting in the 89th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee that will be held Tuesday-Thursday in Washington, D.C. Jack, 12, his sister, Kate, and parents John and Bonnie Miller left Abilene May 9 for a roundabout trip to the nation's capital that includes visits to numerous college campuses in the Northeast that Kate may want to attend a couple of years from now. Kate is a three-time national spelling bee contestant, and Jack competed in 2015, making this year's trip the fifth consecutive one for the Miller family. The trips are sponsored by the Reporter-News. 'It's always the highlight of our year,' said John Miller, a religion professor at McMurry University. Kate was among the eight final competitors in her last year of competition in 2014. Jack isn't guaranteeing the same success for himself, but he is feeling confident. In the past, the last two rounds were called 'semifinals' and 'finals.' This year, they are simply 'finals,' with the first session taking place Thursday morning and the final session Thursday evening. 'I'm planning to make it through Round 2,' Jack said. To stay in shape on the long road trip, Jack is going over the official spelling lists in 10 to 15-minute sessions. He is using a 'daunting' booklet, his father said, that contains 1,100 words with their definitions and language of origin. It doesn't hurt to have a three-time national competitor in the car helping him out. Big sister Kate offers encouragement and support, Jack said, in addition to calling out words. The family will arrive in Washington, D.C., in time for Jack to do an interview with ESPN on Sunday, something the precocious youngster has no qualms about. 'He was invited to do it last year,' his dad, John, said, 'and had a good time.' ESPN will either air or stream live coverage of the spelling bee Wednesday and Thursday. Competition among the 285 spellers starts Tuesday with written tests. Onstage competition begins Wednesday. But the trip also includes more than just competition. The contestants and their families are treated to sightseeing excursions in Washington, D.C. And, from the local contest to the national stage, the children's accomplishments are celebrated whether they leave with a medal or not. 'They make us all feel like champions,' Jack said. Jack won the Hendrick Children's Hospital Big Country Spelling Bee in February by correctly spelling 'azimuth' to beat out the other two finalists. The Miller children are home-schooled and Jack represented the Big Country Home Educators in the local competition. Actually, Kate's education is 'blended school,' her father said. Some of her schooling is done at home, but she also participates in speech and debate at Cooper High School and is enrolled in two dual-enrollment courses at McMurry. When Kate was participating in the spelling competitions, she spent a good part of each day studying word lists, and her younger brother is no different. But, if Jack makes it to the final or third round, he will be on his own. There is no practice list for that round. 'Round 3 is going to be a big surprise,' he said. SPELLING BEE HISTORY This is the 89th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. The National Spelling Bee started in 1925 with nine contestants. Frank Neuhauser of Louisville, Kentucky, correctly spelled gladiolus to win the inaugural Bee. The E.W. Scripps Co. took ownership in 1941 and, after not holding the competition for three years during World War II, has managed the Bee continuously since 1946. This year Scripps celebrates its s 75th year of ownership of this great American tradition. HOW TO FOLLOW JACK ESPN will televise or stream live coverage of the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee Wednesday and Thursday. Abilenes Jack Miller will be one of the participants. The broadcast schedule is as follows (Abilene time) 7 a.m. Wednesday (May 25) Preliminaries, streaming live on ESPN3 9 a.m. Thursday (May 26) Finals, Round 1, ESPN2 7 p.m. Thursday (May 26) Finals, Round 1, ESPN To track Jack, or any other spelling, go to www.spellingbee.com For updates, go to www.reporternews.com, or the following social media sites: Facebook.com/ScrippsNationalSpellingBee Twitter.com/ScrippsBee Instagram.com/ScrippsNationalSpellingBee Flickr.com/ScrippsBee As an 80-year-old establishment, Farolito Restaurant owner Mark Herrera fears the family business may be on its way out. With a slew of new state regulations adopted by the city of Abilene in January, Herrera and his staff are struggling to figure out how to implement the changes and still keep the doors open, he said at his restaurant Wednesday morning. And he's not the only one. 'It's going to affect the little mom-and-pops worse than anybody,' said Larry Olney, owner of Larry's Better Burger Drive-In. 'Whether or not we can adapt, it just remains to be seen.' The state updated the Texas Food Establishment Rules last year, making more than 250 changes to the regulations, according to city documents. Many of the changes simply redefined terms or added definitions, such as 'mobile food units' to refer to food trucks. Some were more substantial and will require time and money to accomplish. But these adaptations to the rules aren't just a challenge for restaurant operators and owners. Inspectors also must adapt to the expanded guidelines, which means spending more time at each establishment and undergoing training, said Ed McRoy, assistant city planning director. 'Inspectors have gone through a series of training to apply (the new rules),' he said. 'The inspection checklist is different from it used to be. It takes a bit longer to complete each inspection.' The biggest change to the rules is a requirement to have a certified food protection manager on site and for all employees to successfully complete food handling training within 60 days of employment, McRoy said. The new rules also require restaurants to have documentation of the training on site. 'The food handler training requirement was enacted to ensure that food employees have a basic overview of food safety principles, practices and knowledge to help promote the service of safe food and to reduce the incidence of food borne illness,' said Christine Mann, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, in an email. That part of the rules takes effect Sept. 1. McRoy said the courses must be accredited by the state health department or the Food and Drug Administration. The city will hold two free training sessions provided through the state on June 7 to educate Abilene restaurant owners and operators about the new guidelines. 'We want everybody to be educated on these rules,' he said. 'We believe that our establishments have been adjusting to the new rules. We have made extra efforts to spend additional time with owners and operators.' Herrera said an inspector came by a couple months ago with a book instead of the one-page checklist that inspectors used to go through. She was there for almost two hours, he said. While many of the new rules made sense to him, some just seemed 'nitpicky,' like when the inspector pointed out a crack in a floor tile or told him he needed to remove 'nonoperational equipment,' such as the antique milk machine and tamale-maker in the dry storage room. 'No food is prepared there,' he said. 'Some of these things don't seem to affect serving healthy, safe food.' McRoy said rules like the one that prohibits nonfunctional equipment is meant to dissuade restaurants from becoming their own storage units, but he said that rule was of 'fairly low importance on the inspection checklist.' The rule does not apply to an item that soon will be repaired or one that does not impact food safety. 'In the case with all these rules, it requires a little bit of judgment from inspectors,' McRoy said. 'Inspectors need to look at circumstances and context. If it's clearly an item of decoration and not in the food preparation or food area, then that wouldn't be something worthy of marking off.' By far the most burdensome changes for the bedrock of Tex-Mex cuisine in Abilene and other small eateries are the ones that will require making physical adaptations to the restaurant itself, Herrera said. The new rules require separate sinks for hand-washing, food preparation and cleaning to prevent cross-contamination, McRoy said. Additionally, the hand-washing sink may have only one faucet that releases both hot and cold water simultaneously. For Herrera, that means installing completely new plumbing in the kitchen, which he said would not be cheap. He's already made many changes to the restaurant since he became owner, and he said he has never had any complaints of anyone getting sick from eating his food. 'I love what I'm doing. We still use the same family recipes from my grandmother, and everything is made from scratch,' he said. 'But if I have to do all that, I may have to close.' Olney, owner of Larry's Better Burger Drive-In on North Treadaway Boulevard, is feeling the pressure, as well. 'This hamburger stand is one of the last mom-and-pops,' he said. 'I've been here 49 years, and we do everything the old-fashioned way, which is not going to work anymore.' For chain restaurants like McDonald's or Burger King, Olney said, the changes likely won't impact them as much because their equipment is new and they have larger budgets. But he said he was not going to give up on his hamburger stand. 'It's just a matter of being able to pass all this new stuff, but we're going to try,' he said. 'We don't give up easy, or we wouldn't have been here 50 years.' It isn't the first time Olney has been put to the test. He said the state adds 'more and more regulations' all the time, and his burger joint has been able to withstand the changes. That may change. 'The mom-and-pops are on their way out,' he said. 'The old establishments that have been there for years, every one of them will tell you the same thing.' Herrera agreed. He said people like eating at Farolito because it's 'quaint' and 'not a chain.' But he said he thought the city was doing the right thing. 'Some of it's understandable, and some of it's not,' said Kendra Sartor, who has worked at Farolito for 16 years. She added that gradually implementing the changes would have been more feasible for restaurants. Like Olney said, it remains to be seen whether Abilene's oldest restaurants will be able to adapt. Training sessions Free training on Texas Food Establishment Rules will take place June 7 at the Abilene Civic Center, 1100 N. Sixth St. Two sessions are available: 8 a.m. to noon 1-5 p.m. Participants must attend only one session. The contest to be the Democratic presidential nominee hit an ugly new low last weekend, when Nevada supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders reportedly threw chairs and made threats against a senior state party official after 64 Sanders delegates were disqualified at the state convention. Sanders said he does not support violence, but there are now worries the party's convention in Philadelphia could face similar incidents. Why can't Hillary Clinton wrap up the nomination? Is the process rigged? Should we worry about political violence? Joel Mathis. Is there a way to call off this election? Anything in the Constitution that allows for a deferral, a do-over, a second chance starting again next year, maybe, after everybody in the country has had a chance to take a remedial civics course? No? Well that stinks. This whole election just stinks. As long as the violence and the threats were contained to Trump rallies, we liberals could at least comfort ourselves with a bit of moral superiority: We're not like those guys, right? But the thrown chairs and threats in Nevada last weekend make it difficult to hold the high ground. We've all forgotten how to do democracy, apparently forgotten that sometimes in a democracy you lose, and that the correct response to losing is to work harder and better at persuading people you have the right ideas. Now the secret to winning is apparently this: Make people afraid of what you'll do if they don't join you. This isn't democracy. It's thuggery. And it should be embarrassing to all Americans. Here's a text the chairwoman of the Nevada Democratic Party received from a Sanders supporter this weekend: 'We know where you live, where you work, where you eat. Where your kids go to school/grandkids. We have everything on you. We are your neighbors, friends, family, etc.' And another: 'Someone will hurt you.' And another: 'May retribution come fully and harshly upon you. I CURSE YOU.' Scary, right? And these are just the messages we can print in a family newspaper. We've been moving steadily toward this moment for at least two decades: George H.W. Bush Ronald Reagan's successor is the last president I can remember who wasn't widely depicted as wholly evil by his opponents. Bill Clinton was accused of murder. George W. Bush didn't even win a majority of voters in his first term. Barack Obama is a Kenyan-Muslim, et cetera, et cetera. We've reached the limits of such rhetoric. Fists and threats and maybe worse are next. Can we step back? Do we even want to? We're about to find out. Ben Boychuk. Remember when everyone thought the Republicans were the suicidal party? With the media focused on Donald Trump's incredible rise, few people seemed to notice the Democrats were self-destructing. Here's the truth: Hillary Clinton cannot wrap up her party's nomination because a sizable minority of Democratic primary voters simply doesn't like her. They don't trust her. They believe she's corrupt. That she's part of the moneyed and powerful. That she doesn't really care about them. And they're right. Trump already has referred to Clinton as 'Crooked Hillary.' Expect the nickname to stick. Bill and Hillary Clinton have become millionaires many times over by selling access to foreign and domestic corporations through their allegedly 'charitable' foundation. As a result, a federal grand jury is reportedly investigating the foundation's activities. Investigators might be interested in the work of Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel. Recently, he released a series of reports alleging the Clinton Foundation has skirted state and federal disclosure laws and never has submitted to a required independent audit. It sure would be nice if somebody got to the bottom of that before November. But even if the Clinton Foundation comes out looking squeaky clean or, at least, not hopelessly corrupt it's far from obvious that Clinton can close the deal with voters. She's an awful politician. How many times has Clinton rebooted her campaign so far? Four? Five? Here's a headline from The New York Times last April: 'Hillary Clinton Re-emerges, by Design (but Also by Surprise)' And here's the Times again, in September: 'Hillary Clinton to Show More Humor and Heart, Aides Say.' And here's a headline from the Hill newspaper in March: 'Hillary Clinton takes new tack to boost her image.' If at first you don't succeed, maybe after the third or fourth time you should stop trying. Many Democrats know the system is rigged. Bernie Sanders never was supposed to come this far. Clinton controls most of the so-called superdelegates top party officials who are free to vote for any candidate they like, regardless of what voters say. When the outcome is predetermined from the start, wouldn't you be angry? How can the Democrats call themselves democrats? Ben Boychuk is associate editor of the Manhattan Institute's City Journal. Joel Mathis is associate editor for Philadelphia Magazine. Email them at bboychuk@city-journal.org and joelmmathis@gmail.com. Where the drama never stops Advertisement - Continue Reading Below This just in... A law firm in Australia has filed a compensation claim against Russia and President Vladimir Putin on behalf of victims of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, shot down in 2014. Reports on May 21 said 33 next of kin were named in the claim filed by the law firm LHD Lawyers in the European Court of Human Rights on May 9. It seeks $10 million in compensation per passenger. The jetliner crashed in Ukraine in Russia-backed separatist-held territory on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board, including 28 Australians. The aircraft, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded in its final report late last year. The board was not empowered to address questions of responsibility. Fighting was raging in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces when the aircraft was downed and many Western experts and governments blamed the rebels. So far we don't have [such information]" Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Interfax news agency when asked to comment on reports of the compensation claim. Based on reporting by Reuters and Interfax Pakistan has denounced a U.S. drone attack believed to have killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur as a violation of its sovereignty. "On late Saturday, May 21, 2016, the United States shared information that a drone strike was carried out in Pakistan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area," in which Mansur was targeted, Pakistans Foreign Office said in a statement. The May 22 statement said the United States did not inform Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif before conducting the strike on Pakistani soil. "This information was shared with the prime minister and the chief of army staff after the drone strike, the statement said. The strike was the first-ever known U.S. drone strike in Balochistan Province, where the Taliban leadership is believed to be based. The Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, has said that Mansur was killed in the attack. Washington has not issued an official confirmation. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the United States was studying the results of the attack. Pakistan said a body found at the site of a U.S. drone attack targeting Mansur bears the name of a Pakistani man named Walid Muhammad. "[Muhammad's] passport was bearing a valid Iranian visa," the Foreign Office said in its statement. Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP We have entered unknown territory in Kazakhstan and there's a fork in the road ahead. One way leads to serious and sincere social and domestic political reform and the other way to greater authoritarian rule. It appears hundreds of people were taken into custody on May 21 as police moved to prevent demonstrations in many of Kazakhstan's major cities. The authorities had already detained dozens of activists and opposition figures in the days leading up to the planned May 21 rallies. It has already been the most visible sign of public discontent in Kazakhstan in some two decades. How did it come to this? How did we end up seeing images of young and old, across Central Asia's most prosperous country, being led away to vans by police? Officials in Kazakhstan take the line publicly that this sudden wave of popular dissatisfaction is the result of the land-privatization plan announced a couple of months ago. It proved extremely unpopular and sparked protests at the end of April. Kazakh authorities would prefer to keep tensions focused on this single issue, one that they've already worked to defuse by postponing the land-privatization plan. But there always was more at stake than just land privatization. Kazakhstan has done well in the 21st century, mainly because of revenues from oil, the country's biggest export. Those revenues helped raise the standard of living in the country. That has of course been eroded with the drop in the price of oil on world markets and caused Kazakhstan's national currency, the tenge, to lose almost half its value since July 2015. Many Reasons For Discontent Encouraged during the good economic times, many people in Kazakhstan took out dollar-based loans. Many of them were part of an emerging middle class in Kazakhstan. These people, numbering in the tens of thousands at least but by some estimates approaching 1 million, are now facing extremely difficult times making payments on those loans. Factor in the family members of these debt holders and there could be well over 1 million people affected by the current mortgage crisis. Kazakhstan's population is some 17.67 million, according to February 2016 data from the Ministry of National Economy. The authorities did move to head off employment problems. Wage arrears were the most common reason for protests in Kazakhstan in the mid-1990s. There have not been many reports about wage arrears in Kazakhstan lately. But in an effort to prevent salaries going unpaid and at the same time avoid mass unemployment, many enterprises have moved workers from full-time to part-time employment. This has been especially true in the oil sector but for all those affected the result is smaller paychecks. There are also the "Oralmans," ethnic Kazakhs who were invited to come back to Kazakhstan in the wake of 1991 independence in order to boost the number of ethnic Kazakhs in the country. As of February 2016, there were 957,772 Oralmans in Kazakhstan. Part of the deal was that the Oralmans were supposed to receive land. Most have but not all and there have been reports over the years, particularly in Almaty Province, of Oralmans being evicted from land they had settled and built homes on, without any official documentation. The Oralmans have also been moved around as Kazakhstan's government tries to balance the ethnic composition of the country's regions. Many Oralmans settled in southern Kazakhstan in areas near the border with Uzbekistan, where they boosted the ratio of ethnic Kazakhs to ethnic Uzbeks. Since the events in eastern Ukraine involving Russia-backed separatists started, Kazakh authorities have been attempting to move Oralmans from the south to the far northern areas of Kazakhstan, along the Russian border, to boost the ethnic ratio of Kazakhs to Russians. The climate along the border with Russian Siberia is a big change from the moderate temperatures of southern Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan's western provinces are where the oil comes from, where most of Kazakhstan's money comes from. But the area is neglected, while most of the money generated from the region's hydrocarbon riches is spent in eastern Kazakhstan, in Almaty or Astana, or places outside Kazakhstan. Western Kazakhstan is sparsely inhabited and so has little representation in the government. Media in Kazakhstan regularly report on the opposition figures, independent journalists, bloggers, and civil activists who are taken into custody and put on trial. Even if people do not agree with what these perceived government opponents are espousing, they can still see the process and the government's attempts to silence these people. No one knows the injustices of Kazakhstan's system better than the people living there. Media also report on the members of Nazarbaev's family and the president's close friends regularly making their way onto lists of the world's richest people. When you're getting poorer this becomes a much bigger issue. It has become easier to question government policies recently as well. Kazakhstan is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) together with Russia, Belarus, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. Kazakh officials, particularly President Nursultan Nazarbaev, have said and continue to say the EEU is a guarantee for Kazakhstan's economic future. But trade with other EEU member countries has dropped by about one-third since the organization was created in 2015. Kazakhstan's trade with Russia and Belarus was already falling when those three formed the EEU predecessor organization, the CIS Customs Union. Media in Kazakhstan report on this falling trade, and government officials repeating the EEU is vital for the country's future. EXPO-2017 in Astana is supposed to be a showcase for Kazakhstan but multimillion-dollar corruption scandals have plagued the project in recent months. As a consequence, money that was originally saved to ease the sort of hard economic times Kazakhstan is now experiencing has been siphoned off to pay for EXPO. There is also President Nazarbaev's admission in August 2015 that the National Bank had "burned" through some $28 billion to defend the tenge rate in 2014 and 2015. Nazarbaev's comments preceded the decline in the tenge rate, which, despite the government spending such a huge sum of money, fell precipitously. No One Else To Blame Those are just some of the elements likely playing a role in the current situation in Kazakhstan. There is one more thing worth mentioning. Inevitably there are comparisons of Kazakhstan's situation to similar situations in other countries, notably Russia and the neighboring Central Asian states. There is at least one large difference. Russia blames "the West" for many of its current problems and many people in Russia are willing to accept this. They've heard it before and many continue to readily believe it. Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan, or Tajikistan would blame banned Islamic groups for causing trouble and the authorities would find members of some group, such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, or individual local Islamic leaders known for eschewing state-sponsored Islam and blame them, which in turn would be cause for harsh crackdowns. Despite the attempts of some Kazakh media to cast blame on "outside forces," there really are not any outside forces interested in seeing instability in Kazakhstan. That is unless one is willing to believe Russia could stage a scenario like eastern Ukraine in Kazakhstan. That certainly would not be a theory Kazakhstan's state media would report. So Kazakhstan's problems were created in Kazakhstan and most people there seem to appreciate this. That said, it is extremely unlikely Kazakhstan is on the edge of a revolution. Giant neighbors Russia and China have a huge interest in ensuring Kazakhstan's government is not ousted. All the same, is also seems unlikely that the Kazakhstan that has existed with little change for the last approximately 15 years can survive this upheaval. Something has to change for the government to maintain control. A former NATO deputy supreme commander is warning that the alliance could find itself in a full-fledged armed conflict with Russia within a year if it does not strongly step up its presence in the Baltic states. Retired British General Richard Shirreff set out the stark scenario in a book published this week, 2017 War With Russia, which has raised eyebrows with its suggestion that what some are calling a "new Cold War" could turn hot in a hurry. In an interview with RFE/RL, Shirreff stressed that the book -- which describes Russian forces invading Latvia next May and piling into Ukraine in a bid to open a land corridor to illegally annexed Crimea -- is a "work of fiction. " But he says he wants to send a "very strong signal" that NATO must act to ensure it stays that way. "The point of the book is...to highlight the importance of strong, effective deterrence to prevent such an eventuality happening," says Shirreff, who was deputy supreme allied commander Europe from 2011 to 2014. Before that he served in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, and Iraq, where he was a British tank commander in the First Gulf War. The retired general says he is concerned that "Russian adventurism" could lead to an attack on Latvia, Lithuania, or Estonia, which were under Moscow's thumb for decades after World War II and joined NATO in the years after the 1991 Soviet collapse. A sharp deterioration of relations between NATO and Moscow since 2014, when Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine and backed separatists whose war against Ukraine's government has killed more than 9,300 people, has raised alarm in the Baltics that they could be Moscow's next targets. "We continue to hear very bellicose signals coming out of Russia," Shirreff says. "Russia, or President [Vladimir] Putin, has used force to change boundaries of Europe, he's seen that force is successful." Shirreff's publisher, Coronet, says he closely modeled his book on NATO "war gaming" scenarios -- in this case, Russia opening a land corridor across Ukraine to Crimea and seizing the Baltic states to avoid what Kremlin officials have claimed is creeping "NATO encirclement." "I think NATO has to be strong to deter any sort of adventurism by Russia," he says. "You know, I think we have to take account of the fact that Russia...invaded Georgia in 2008, it invaded Crimea in 2014, it invaded Ukraine in 2014. Shirreff tells RFE/RL that a large, permanent conventional NATO presence in the Baltics is particularly important "given the huge strength of Russian troops around the Baltic states and the proximity of those Russian troops to major centers of population and capital cities." "Any strategy of deterrence which involves NATO deploying reserves or bringing troops from one country to another, which would take time, would simply not work, so the solution to that is to maintain troops permanently in the Baltic states," he explains. He says deterrence is particularly important since an attack on the Baltic states would mean a generalized war in Europe for the first time since 1945. "And not only that, but because Russia hardwires nuclear thinking into every aspect of their military doctrine it could also mean nuclear war," Shirreff adds. Shirreff has warned in the past against defense cuts by NATO countries that he says could leave them unable to fulfill alliance members' obligation under Article 3 to be able to defend themselves. 'Deter And Dialogue' NATO's eastern members, including the three Baltic states and Poland, have been pressing the alliance to increase its presence in the region. NATO is laying plans to do so, but is expected to avoid stationing large forces permanently -- something that would be certain to add to Russia's ire. NATO foreign ministers have met in Brussels to finalize plans for the alliance's biggest military build-up since the end of the Cold War. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said it could include up to 3,500 troops and that it "isn't intended to be aggressive." NATO leaders are expected to approve the overhaul -- part of a "deter and dialogue" approach meant to guard against potential Russian aggression and reassure allies -- at a summit in July in Warsaw. The details are still being discussed. "We are still in development of the concept for enhanced forward presence [in NATO's eastern member countries] in terms of the actual contribution of troops, the size of the force, etc." U.S. General Curtis Scaparrotti, NATO's supreme allied commander Europe, said on May 18. Russia has criticized NATO's plans, saying it believes talk of deterrence is a cover for encroaching on Russia's borders. Western states counter that it is Russia that has acted aggressively, requiring a response. Moscow also opposes the European missile shield that the United States has been building in concert with NATO, claiming that its aim is to undermine Russia's security. Key elements of the shield were activated in Romania this month, as Poland broke ground for another component of the shield. Shirreff says that while it is "absolutely right for NATO to continue to go down the line of ballistic-missile defense," the alliance should focus on preventing a possible conflict with Russia through maintaining "an effective conventional deterrent as well." Some Western officials and military analysts say that warnings of a severe and imminent threat from Russia are overblown and in some cases amount to scaremongering aimed at boosting military budgets. Shirreff says that while there is a need to spend more on defense in Europe and that all alliance members should meet their commitment to spend at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense, what matters most is using NATO's assets "wisely, and deploying those assets to deter in the Baltic states." Ukraine and its allies have adamantly rejected Russia's claims that Kyiv is developing a "dirty bomb" to use against Moscow's forces, and Ukraine's foreign minister says he has invited experts to visit Ukrainian facilities to see for themselves that Ukraine has nothing to hide. Russia's claims that Kyiv is planning to deploy a so-called dirty bomb -- a conventional warhead laced with radioactive, biological, or chemical materials -- came in a series of calls between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his counterparts from several NATO countries. 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. Britain, France, and the United States issued a joint statement on October 23 dismissing the claim after Shoigu's calls with their defense ministers in which the Russian minister presented no evidence for the claim. "Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia's transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory," according to the statement. But Russia doubled down on its assertions, which come after weeks of military defeats for Russia in southern and eastern Ukraine. "According to the information we have, two organizations in Ukraine have specific instructions to create a so-called dirty bomb. This work is in its final stage," Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov said on October 24. Later the same day, the chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, spoke by phone with British Chief of Defense Staff Tony Radakin, who rejected Russia's allegations that Ukraine is planning actions to escalate the conflict. "The military leaders both agreed on the importance of maintaining open channels of communication between the U.K. and Russia to manage the risk of miscalculation and to facilitate de-escalation," the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Gerasimov also held a phone call with his U.S. counterpart, General Mark Milley, to discuss the risks of the use of a dirty bomb in Ukraine, according to the Kremlin-controlled RIA Novosti news agency. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg weighed in on Moscow's repeated allegation on October 24 , saying NATO also rejects it. Stoltenberg said he had spoken with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace "about Russia's false claim that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory." "NATO Allies reject this allegation. Russia must not use it as a pretext for escalation. We remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine," he said on Twitter. Moscow's claims that Ukraine could employ a dirty bomb raised concern that Russia could use such a device and blame Kyiv. A senior U.S. military official said the United States has seen no indication that Russia has decided to use nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons in Ukraine, including a dirty bomb. The official, who spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity, also said the Ukrainians are not building a dirty bomb. U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price also said the United States has not seen any indication that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon but said there would be consequences for Russia whether it used a dirty bomb or any other nuclear weapon. "It would certainly be another example of [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin's brutality, if he were to use a so called 'dirty bomb.' There would be consequences for Russia whether it uses a 'dirty bomb' or a nuclear bomb. We've been very clear about that," Price told reporters. He did not provide details about those consequences. Ukraine earlier called the accusation that Kyiv was building a dirty bomb absurd, and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog accepted his request to send experts to Ukraine to refute Moscow's claim. Kuleba said he invited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to "urgently send experts to peaceful facilities in Ukraine which Russia deceitfully claims to be developing a dirty bomb." Kuleba said Ukraine has always been transparent and has "nothing to hide." The IAEA said later on October 24 that it was preparing to send inspectors to two Ukrainian sites. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi confirmed in a statement that both locations are under IAEA safeguards and have been visited regularly by the agency's inspectors. The IAEA "is aware of statements made by the Russian Federation on [October 23] about alleged activities at two nuclear locations in Ukraine," Grossi said, adding that both were already subject to its inspections and one was inspected a month ago and no undeclared nuclear activities or material were found. "The IAEA is preparing to visit the locations in the coming days," it added. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Kuleba in a phone call on October 23 that the world would "see through any attempt by Russia to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation [of the war]." Blinken and Kuleba discussed the U.S. and international commitment to continue supporting Ukraine with "unprecedented security, economic and humanitarian assistance for as long as it takes, as we hold Russia accountable," the State Department's call readout said. They further noted ongoing efforts to manage the broader implications of the Kremlins war in Ukraine, it added. With reporting by AFP Is the third time really the charm? Tejas Muthusamy sure hopes so. The 13-year-old Henrico County seventh-grader is heading to the Scripps National Spelling Bee outside Washington this week for his third time. Tejas, who attends George H. Moody Middle School, is the three-time Richmond Times-Dispatch Regional Spelling Bee champion and has finished in the top 10 at the national competition for the past two years. But about a week before the big event where media will clamor for his attention, where ESPNs cameras will beam his performance nationwide and where he will face a grueling, pressure-packed couple of days of competition Tejas was not holed up studying. Instead, he spent two days at a science fair at the University of Mary Washington. He was there to present his project on how different languages influence how you can determine the meaning of specific words. Moody Middle said he took first place in his category, human behavior. After getting home Thursday night, he spent most of Friday taking end-of-year Standards of Learning tests. He is heading up to the bee today. Tejas says that although he has been gearing up to compete, he has put less pressure on himself this year. One reason for that is the academic rigor of Moodys International Baccalaureate program, he said. But it is also personal. This year has been a little bit tough, he said Friday. Its been a lot. But Ive tried to not just focus on spelling because, obviously, spelling is just one part of my life. I kind of want to, you know, try different things because Ill never be able to get that opportunity back. Along with preparing and competing in spelling bees, Tejas writes for the schools newspaper, practices classical Indian dancing and is a voracious reader who follows politics closely. Tejas says two of the biggest lessons he has learned from competing the past few years are how to deal with defeat and how to grow from adversity. In the past, he would cry and leave the room when he missed a word or did not do well. Now, even if I dont do so well, I take it as, OK, I need to do better next time. How can I do better next time? he said. Thats something most people get when they become adults. But I think in the spelling bee, kids mature much faster because of all the life lessons that are being thrown at them. He finished eighth in the national competition in 2014 and seventh in 2015. Tejas principal, Paul E. Llewellyn, said that during the Scripps competition, he will keep the school and others in the community posted via text and email. At last years bee, there was a group text that was forwarded and forwarded and forwarded to teachers and others showing the words Tejas was spelling and giving updates on the competition. The Henrico school district will keep the public informed on Tejas progress via social media. ESPN3, the networks streaming channel, will air Wednesdays preliminaries. The final two rounds of the bee will be televised Thursday on ESPN2 in the morning and ESPN in the evening. Hes a very unique individual when it comes to the language, and how to get that language, and where it comes from, and how it breaks down, Llewellyn said of Tejas. Its a science; its not guesswork. As Tejas enters the competition this week, hes already looking forward to next years bee. He knows that, if he makes it, next year will be the final go-round before he ages out the final time he will be on that stage; the final time he will be with the friends he has made; the final time he will stand before a national audience hoping for an opportunity to spell his favorite word: szomolnokite. (Its a mineral.) He says he wants to make sure he appreciates every moment. Those supporting automatic restoration of rights for violent felons allege these predators are victims of an anti-black clause in the 1971 Virginia Constitution. Thats ridiculous. They further allege this constitutional provision Article II, Section 1 is intentionally written to disenfranchise African-Americans. This is easily disproven. In addition, they allege the governors constitutional authority to give violent felons a blanket, automatic restoration of rights is self-evident, citing U.Va. law professor A.E. Dick Howard, considered by some to be the leading expert on the state constitution. One newspaper has said anyone who disagrees with Howards constitutional interpretation is anti-black. This is racial nonsense. As I have previously written, there is a compelling statistical case for apparent bias in our criminal justice system. It needs immediate attention. But with all due respect, phony racial charges makes it harder for those fighting for honest change. *** Should a lawfully convicted felon be allowed to vote while in prison? Disenfranchising lawfully convicted felons has long been the basic American rule. It began in colonial times when only white men were allowed to vote. Without such a provision, a prisoner would be allowed to vote for state, federal, and local office. A handful of states do allow such individuals to vote. But Virginia, along with most states, do not. The concept is not racial. The constitutional provision at issue Article II, Section I is not the creation of racists. Before being recommended for inclusion in the revised 1971 Virginia constitution, it had been specifically reviewed by legendary Richmond civil rights lawyer Oliver Hill. His likeness rightly graces the state capitol grounds. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Bill Clinton in 1999. Other civil-rights advocates also reviewed the provision. In 2013, every single African-American state senator indeed every Democratic senator, including the current lieutenant governor and attorney general supported amending the state constitution to make it clear every lawfully convicted felon, violent or not violent, should automatically lose the right to vote. It is not racial. Moreover, those who claim the 1971 constitutional provision had been aimed at permanently disenfranchising African-Americans know that isnt true. Why? If that had been the motivation, why would these same individuals include a constitutional provision allowing the governor to restore these same rights through the mere stroke of a pen, as supporters of Gov. Terry McAuliffes executive order now claim? It would make no sense! Indeed the, 2013 Constitutional amendment supported by every Democratic state senator would have made the governors executive order unconstitutional. Are we to believe all those pro-civil rights Democrats wanted to make it harder for a governor to restore African-American voting rights? (That 2013 amendment passed the state Senate but died in a House subcommittee.) This is what happens when people make bogus racial arguments. *** Does the governor have the power now claimed by McAuliffe? Supporters of the governors order cite Professor Howard as saying such gubernatorial power is clear. But this is not what Professor Howard wrote in his constitutional treatise back in 1974 or at least its not how every subsequent governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and their legal advisers interpreted the book. When voters were given an explanation for the proposed constitutional amendment on restoration of rights in 1982, they were not given this explanation. Legal opinions do change, indeed they can be misinterpreted for years. Lets assume, arguendo, all the previous governors and their legal advisers were wrong, indeed they misunderstood Howards advice. How does this justify the charge, made in many state newspapers, that anyone who doubted McAuliffes authority had to be anti-black? It doesnt. *** Pro forma violent felons rights-recovery demeans women, minorities and those with disabilities. African-American women are disproportionately victims of rapists, while people with disabilities and the vulnerable make easy targets generally. The 2013 proposal backed by Senate Democrats and the bodys Republican leader therefore correctly said violent and non-violent felons should be assessed differently when restoring rights. Damaging physical and psychological trauma scarring victims for life is generally missing from nonviolent crimes. This isnt to suggest the dichotomy is perfect. But it is a reasonable standard for writing statutes and constitutional provisions. Those supporting automatic restoration of rights for rapists and violent felons seldom if ever mention the victims. Rather, they say once the sentence is fully served, the debt to society is paid. This isnt true. It is well-documented that the victims can be permanently afflicted by depression, drug and alcohol abuse, post-traumatic stress, fear, intimacy issues the list is long and heart-breaking. This debt is never repaid. The governors order also wipes certain financial obligations a violent felon likely owes the commonwealth. We have all heard the phrase, If you cant do the time, dont do the crime. The prison sentence is merely the time the predator knowingly risked. In terms of real time, the predator knew the trauma inflicted on a victim likely would last forever. The real debt is clear: the one society owes victims. We ask them to allow us to give people a second chance, the hallmark of a compassionate society. It is right for the government to ask, as unfair as it may seem. But for the government to suggest a victim or their loved one is anti-black because she opposes automatic restoration without any showing of contrition is unjustified. It demeans the victim. *** There is a right way to restore voting rights. Nonviolent felons should be able to get their rights restored after satisfying certain legal or constitutional conditions. No individual petition would be necessary. However, rapists and other violent felons should be required to individually petition the governor or some other appropriate authority. Blanket, automatic restoration, without the victim having at least an opportunity for input and with no requirement for the predator to show some appropriate level of contrition should be prohibited. The petitioning process must not itself be punitive. Yet it cant be pro forma. Treating violent and nonviolent differently on restoration of rights is not based on race, but on reason. It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search? Search for: Search A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Under the direction of Timothy Kring, Virginia Techs entomology department is expanding its focus on pollinators. Kring started work Jan. 1, bringing with him, he said, a passion for the study of pollinator health. In a short time, he has revamped the position previously held by Richard Fell, a retired professor and extension specialist. Fell established a robust honeybee program at Tech beginning in 1979. He retired and was named an emeritus professor in 2010 but continues a wide range of research in the department. Mirroring similar positions at other universities, Fells old slot has been broadened to include study and teaching on a range of pollinating insects, both wild and those managed by people, Kring said. Crops are pollinated by all sorts of things, not just honeybees, Kring said. Other pollinators include bumble bees, native solitary bees, butterflies, beetles and flies, he said. Many pollinators worldwide are in decline. The new pollination biologist job will work to develop a larger program, Kring said, and form a team to work on honeybee and pollinator health more broadly. The new position does not include an appointment to the Virginia Cooperative Extension. Previously, the position included extension duties serving the estimated 5,000 beekeepers across Virginia. Kring said he hopes to generate positions in the future that have an extension appointment. But giving one person three jobs research, teaching and extension can make recruitment and retention difficult, he said. The selection process is under way. Kring said he hopes to have a pollination biologist in place by August. WYTHEVILLE Democrats in the Fightin Ninth have picked a military veteran to carry their banner in this years congressional races. Derek Kitts, a Purple Heart recipient from Christiansburg, won the 9th District partys nomination Saturday at a convention put on in Wytheville. Hell now go on to challenge three-term incumbent Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, in the fall elections. My motivation is personal. This area is my home, Kitts, 47, said as he addressed the convention and its 147 delegates. The district needs a hard-charging representative wholl stand and fight toe-to-toe to advance its interests, he said. We have resources here the rest of the state cant even imagine, he said. Were second to none. That needs to be represented. Kitts, who recently retired after 24 years in the U.S. Army, beat out Bill Bunch of Tazewell County for the Democratic nomination. Party members said it marked the first time the 9th District Democratic Committee has had a contested race for the congressional slot since 1982. That was the year former Rep. Rick Boucher first won the nomination. Bunch, a farmer and retired postal worker, is an ardent backer of Bernie Sanders and his campaign platform mirrored that of the Vermont senators. He and Kitts spoke well of each other throughout the campaign, and he quickly threw his support to Kitts after Saturdays vote. Im proud of the race that we ran, Bunch said. My opponent is an excellent candidate, and well be working very hard for him without any reservation. Kitts, a self-described Blue Dog Democrat, has called for a new Appalachian infrastructure push to expand cellphone and internet connectivity in Southwest Virginia and neighboring regions. Hes supported the Affordable Care Act as a starting point for change, but said amendments are needed to achieve things like lower prescription prices. On guns, hes described himself as a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. Hes backed universal background checks but opposes limiting magazine sizes or assault-style weapons. Kitts supporters stressed his service record and approach to leadership during introductory remarks at the district convention. Kitts did four combat tours while in the Army three in Iraq and another in Afghanistan. He was awarded two Bronze Stars. In his own remarks, Kitts said Southwest Virginia Democrats have been too quiet in recent years and urged them to raise their voices to drown out the trumpets in the political world. We dont need to be quiet, he said. We dont need to be ashamed of what we do and what we stand for. We talk about health care, we talk about jobs, we talk about infrastructure. But we dont talk loud enough and we dont do it strong enough as a party. These are voices we need to push forward. Kitts and other speakers criticized Griffith at times, describing him as detached leader who hasnt represented the district well. If you see me get wound up, if you see me get angry, my anger is directed at one person and one thing and thats the current representative we have in this area who doesnt represent who we are, Kitts said. Griffith, reached for comment Saturday afternoon, said hes looking forward to the election and taking my conservative message out to the 9th District of Virginia. He added he doesnt know Kitts well yet, but said Democratic Party leaders are out of sync with the district. I think the voters of the 9th District understand that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton dont have the answers theyre looking for, he said. The general election is Nov. 8. Democrats last fielded a challenger against Griffith in 2012. He won that race with 61 percent of the vote. Several speakers at the 6th Congressional District Republican convention rallied around the Donald Trump banner Saturday. Cave Spring High Schools auditorium had many open seats for the meeting that elected a district chairman, delegates for the national convention and members of the state central committee. District party leaders, including longtime Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, who faces challenger Harry Griego in a June 14 primary, cited defeating likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton or nominating conservative Supreme Court justices as reasons to rally around the polarizing Trump. Its absolutely essential that we be united and move forward as one in this critical election, Goodlatte said, naming Trump in his congressional candidacy speech. Prior to the Super Tuesday election he did not endorse a candidate. While many Republicans fought hard against naming Donald Trump the partys nominee and a few still continue the fight, many are falling in line behind the partys bombastic new standard bearer. Without saying Trumps name, outgoing district Chairman Wendell Walker said party members should work together to elect the eventual nominee to be decided at the Republican National Convention in July. Americas going to be great again, ladies and gentleman, Walker said in an opening speech, a reference to Trumps campaign slogan. Its gotta start in this room. In an interview leading up to Super Tuesday, Walker had said he hoped Trump would be knocked out. Trumps got the money to go a long time, but at some point people are not going to continue to tolerate his potty mouth, his intimidating, his bullying ways. Thats just not America. I hope not, Walker said in an interview with The News & Advance in February. On Saturday, he cited picking a conservative Supreme Court justice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia and other possible vacancies that would come up in the next term as reasons the party needs to unite. Griego, a pilot out of Roanoke County, said previously he supported Trump but used his congressional candidacy speech Saturday to continue his attack against Goodlatte, whom he hopes to unseat. In his mostly quiet campaign, Griego has said the 20-year congressman has voted to pass budgets funding Planned Parenthood, the Affordable Care Act and the presidents amnesty policy toward immigration. Our incumbent has a long history of capitulation and compromise, Griego said. Goodlatte, who spoke first, said he has fought the above policies. Tom Howarth, Warren County Democratic district chair, will take on the Republican nominee after receiving the nomination from the 6th Congressional District Democrats Saturday. After Ralph Smith, former state senator, dropped out of the race for district chairman, Scott Sayre, a Rockbridge County Republican, cruised to the nomination. Sayre, whose platform focused on bringing voter data software to local committees to give them more autonomy, won strong local support throughout the district ahead of Saturdays convention. Smith was not on the ballot Saturday and Sayre, a former 6th District vice chair, was elected district chair without conflict. The diamond market in Mumbai was relatively slow in terms of trading in April, as domestic demand weakened thanks to the jewelers strike in the country. Festivals like Hindu New Year and Akshay Tritiya went by during the month with low jewellery sales. Trading in the diamond market was rather slow in both polished and rough diamonds, despite production picking up during the month. Jewellers planned to continue to protest 1% jewelry excise duty but the Indian government has stuck to its stand that luxury goods like jewellery need to be levied tax. Towards the end of April, the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) of India announced the provisional data which showed that Indias cut & polished diamond exports for March 2016 amounted to $1.82 bn as against $1.74 bn in Mar 15, a rise of 4.34 percent. Rough imports recorded decrease of 5.31 percent to $1.39 bn for Mar 16 as against $ 1.47 bn in Mar 15. Rough exports showed an increase of 0.51 percent, registering $ 0.156 mn for Mar 16 as against $ 0.155 mn for Mar 15. A positive trend was seen in cut & polished imports, with a decline of 51.87 percent for the month of Mar 16, recording about $0.26 mn as against $0.542 mn in Feb 15. Diamond manufacturing activities in Surat has picked up gusto but certain issues are bothering the sector. Recently, Surat's diamantaires protested against a new campaign instituted by the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) to collect professional tax' from the diamond manufacturers in Varachha, Katargam and Mahidharpura. Some two dozen small units, each with four or five diamond emery wheels, have reportedly shut down in the last few days in Varachha after they were served with notices for the outstanding professional tax payment by the SMC. While the cutting & polishing sector is returning to its original self, industry leaders are wary of inventory piling up again. So, the Surat Diamond Association (SDA) has appealed to diamond unit owners, especially small and medium units, to refrain from stocking rough diamonds and close the units for summer vacation to reduce over-production and bring about recovery in the market. Recently, a delegation led by GJEPC chairman Praveenshanker Pandya had met Union commerce minister to seek solution of issues faced by the diamond industry. The specific predicament highlighted was challenge of extremely high inventory levels. The GJEPC has urged the government to include gems and jewellery industry in Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) as well as allowing goods to enter the country on a consignment basis for manufacturing. Diamond financing has been a bane for the Indian diamond industry in recent time and the decision of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the UK-based bank to close its banking operations in India comes as a shocker. For a number of years now, RBS has been selling non-core units of its India business, which it had to undertake after overextending itself during the 2008 financial crisis, leading eventually to a bail out. Unfortunately, this comes when the industry is in dire need of financing help from banks! Regarding overseas connected news, the industry was glad when the GJEPC of India organized India Pavilion at this year's Vicenzaoro Dubai (VOD) for the second consecutive year and received good response. But, in another incident, news of robbers attacking Indian diamantaires in Hongkong has upset them to the extent of diamantaires threatening to move out their diamond business from Hongkong to safer countries. The Kohinoor was in the news as well, with the Indian government on April 19 saying that it would make all possible efforts to bring back the Kohinoor diamond in an amicable manner, while emphasising that it had achieved the return of several artefacts. Good luck with that!!! Of late, the Indian government has been more proactive with issues regarding the Indian gem & jewellery industry. On April 23 the Ministry of Finance, Government of India formally announced the constitution of the sub-committee of the high level committee to look into issues related to the imposition of Central Excise duty on jewellery. It simultaneously also deferred the date for completion of registration of jewellers with the Central Excise department till July 1, 2016. In another case, the Indian government also plans to change jewellers logo also along with the hallmark logo. It is difficult to identify jewellers currently, which are having codes like AJ, KJ and MJ. Instead of these jewellery codes, alpha numeric codes which are given for the jewellers licenses would be hallmarked to identify the shop owner. So, with the introduction of BIS Act 2016, the Indian government will allow only 22k, 18k and 14k gold jewellery to be sold by jewellers in its hallmark logo instead of purity marks such as 916 and 875. This is a step in the right direction, which will safe guard the end consumer. Refusing to relent on excise duty levy on non-silver jewellery goods, Indias Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said a luxury item cannot remain out of tax ambit when taxes need to be paid on many essentials. So, with excise duty on jewellery becoming a certainty, Indian jewelers across India called off their over 40 day strike, and reopened shops before the Hindu festivals of Tamil New Year and Akshaya Tritiya on 9th May, which are big business opportunities for jewelers. Maybe the jewellery sector should learn to live with the laws of the land after all! In the last week of April, an All-India Jewellers Meet was called by GJEPC in Mumbai of all major trade associations to ensure a coordinated attempt to solve the crucial issue of Excise duty. The committee will include representatives of Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), All India Gem & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF), All India Jewellers Action Committee, Indian Bullion & Jewellers Association (IBJA), and others. Praveenshankar Pandya, Chairman GJEPC said, The all India jewellers meeting just concluded on a positive note. All groups have joined together to create a National Committee to find a solution on excise matters. Indian governments Gold Monetisation Scheme is slowly picking up in that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has deposited 1,311 kg of gold with Punjab National Bank (PNB) under the scheme. The TTD is negotiating for better terms for making more such deposits. To make the scheme more attractive, the Government of India has allowed investors to redeem the deposits in Indian Rupees as well as even in gold. This move is expected to attract temple trusts, many of which have a significant amount of gold under their control. MMTC, the Indian government agency handling marketing of the first such national coins, is likely to enter into an agreement with India Post shortly for the purpose. The Indian gold coins may soon be available across the country. The government has also allowed MMTC to use the gold that is being deposited under the Gold Monetisation Scheme, mostly from temples, for minting the Indian Gold Coins. Some sops come by from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the industry as it permitted certain banks to approve clean credit for import of rough and polished diamonds for a period exceeding 180 days from the date of shipment subject to certain conditions. The RBI circular said that the decision has been taken in consultation with the Government of India to ease the operational difficulties faced by the importers. Meanwhile, the domestic jewellery sector returned back to business after the 40 plus days of interruptions and shut downs. Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one of the leading jewellery retailers announced the opening of its 146th outlet in Oman at Ruwi, Muscat on April 14. For the first time in two years, an Indian bank - Punjab National Bank (PNB) - has received US $0.15 million from a Middle East client of Winsome Group, which is reported to be only a miniscule amount compared to the loan the Group owes the lending banks. The online jeweller Bluestone, which is backed by Ratan Tata, is set to raise $30mn to fund an expansion plan. Consumers still like to browse through jewellery sites and the online model is the best suited for this experimental category, said Gaurav Kushwaha, Founder and CEO. The portal is staying away from the offline models; despite its nearest competitors like Caratlane have 10 brick and mortar stores. However, BlueStone is willing to send its staff to its customers' home once he or she decides to buy and try on the jewellery selected. According to the Platinum Guild International (PGI), platinum jewellerys retail sales grew 24% in 2015. It was also the only category to consistently grow every quarter. PGI is also optimistic about 2016 with all types of jewellery, but especially platinum and diamond jewellery. It forecasts a growth rate of 23%. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished Diamantaire Nurit Rothmann has been working in the diamond industry for the past two decades. Starting out in polished goods, but in the past 15 years working in rough goods, she is optimistic about the future, saying the global diamond industry has a great story to sell. She also wants to see more women in the diamond trade, particularly in industry-leading positions. When one thinks of diamonds, one thinks of women wearing diamond jewelry of all sorts, but when one thinks of successful diamond manufacturers and traders, it is, usually, men that are seen running firms, and walking the corridors and trading halls of diamond bourses around the world. But In the Israel Diamond Exchange, the picture is somewhat different, with many women involved in all sectors of the trade. However, even here, there is only a handful of women running their own firms. Even fewer are securing tens of thousands of carats of goods and more first hand from mines across the world, sorting the rough diamonds themselves and successfully bringing in buyers from across the world to purchase the stones. And in addition to all that, being active on social media and running a blog with well over 1,000 loyal readers and a contributor in a range of industry magazines worldwide. That, in a nutshell, sums up Nurit Rothmann, a rough diamond trader. However, there is much more to this dynamic diamantaire. She started out in the diamond business in 1994 after completing a course in polished diamonds. She left the trade briefly in order to study Interior Architecture and to work in that field, but returned to diamonds, this time in the rough sector. Women can be successful because they don't have the ego issues that many men have. There is less of the 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' mentality. Women know how to keep hold of money and manage finances in a more responsible way; they think more of their responsibilities towards their families and business. I believe that a lot of the bankruptcies we have seen at the exchange were connected to ego issues and a lack of responsible management. Dealing in rough goods, she says, is a much different business to polished, with a different set of skills required. "You visit mines and create contacts with producers, but also with government officials as well as traders and manufacturers," she explains. "Rough diamonds have taken me to Africa, Russia, India, Antwerp and elsewhere. It's a job I love because I acclimatize very easily and quickly." The job, she says, is a constant challenge because the rough market is changing so quickly. Traders are disappearing because the squeeze on profit margins means there is no room for middlemen and women. As for her success in business, she says she secures first-hand goods and insists on providing a complete service but in a non-pressurized way. "I don't simply throw diamonds at buyers and pressurize them into buying with all kinds of sales tricks. Buyers have faith in me; everything is on the table and very clear. Integrity is very important to me. Rough needs to be seen and inspected before it can be sold. This is a business that needs a personal touch. You have to create a pleasant atmosphere and give clients the feeling that they will not lose out and that they can make a profit on the goods." In the same way that she says she carries out her business in a clear and honest way, Rothmann says the industry in general needs more transparency and "sunlight" so that people will buy more goods. "If sellers try to cover up information, then buyers will have no belief in their suppliers and that can stop the flow of prosperous trading. If you act in good faith, then people will return to buy again. Many people in the diamond trade simply do not understand this. "I believe there are two important points that need emphasizing regarding recovery in the industry. The first is the false assumption that crises are needed to encourage growth. The broken window fallacy is a good way to explain that: If a child, for example, breaks a window in his home, this forces the father to repair the damage. Initially, it seems that the boy has contributed to the economy because by repairing the damage, his father will need to hire a glazier, a contractor and pay for both labor and products. The hired professionals will then have more money to spend, money will change hands and the economy will flourish. "The assumption that breaking windows (representing wars, crises and catastrophes or in our industry: downsizing, closure of companies and dismissals) stimulates the industry is false and, in fact, causes even significant companies to declare bankruptcy. Unemployment ensues, as well as a lengthy chain of economic earthquakes. In turn, industrial reconstruction forces the industry to spend more. Time and effort is invested in rebuilding, and ultimately these crises simply recycle the economy, which is absolutely not the same thing as stimulation. Economic considerations must take into account the full picture, not only immediate consequences such as benefits, profits or alliances, but also the long-term effects and the widespread impact." She explains that by breaking the window pane, the child has actually reduced his father's capital income since he now has to spend money on repurchasing instead of buying items such as a new suit, shoes or other luxury items. "While its true that he might have benefited the glazier and the contractor, he discriminated against the tailor, the salesclerk, and the designer. Maintenance doesn't stimulate production. It recycles the economy rather than moving it forward." She also discusses the widely held assumption that major companies are more significant to the industry than medium-size and smaller ones. "I am a council member in a non-profit association and I once asked the chairman if the small donors are as significant to the organization as the wealthy donors who contribute large sums of money. In his reply I received a valuable lesson in economics. He answered that when crises are acute, the first ones to stop donating are the wealthy, while the small donors continue to give their support. The diamond industry must nurture the small manufacturers. Healthy industry encourages all its members because it relies on them all." Despite the somewhat subdued mood in the diamond industry currently, both in Israel and abroad, Rothmann says she is optimistic about the future. "I believe there are many niche markets that can be exploited. People do not always understand how diamonds should be marketed. I also believe that the industry organizations should be more heavily involved in promoting diamonds. We have every reason to believe that we have wonderful product to sell with a great story behind it, and that's what we should all be working towards. I personally have a lot of ideas on how to brand diamonds and I believe that the first to take up the challenge will benefit greatly," she added. By our Israel correspondent Abraham Dayan The 3rd International Rough Diamond Week began on 22 May 2016 at a well-attended opening ceremony in the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) Rough Trading Hall. The Rough Diamond Week will be held from May 22 until May 26, says a press note from Israel Diamond Institute (IDI). Happy to see a large turnout of diamantaires, IDE President Yoram Dvash, said The rough diamond is the first stage in a very long journey of the diamond from mine to consumer. We all know the importance of a steady supply of rough for manufacturing. Marketing and manufacturing are the two winning cards of our industry. Dvash said he sensed a positive atmosphere at the opening. The Israeli Diamond Industry is the major buyer of large rough diamonds; we buy about 80% of these goods, he said. Dvash also mentioned that he had been able to pass two initiatives to increase transparency in rough diamond transactions at the World Diamond Congress. Henceforth, sellers will have to inform buyers if the stone has undergone scanning by the Sarine Galaxy device, which reveals internal inclusions. Also, a resolution was passed calling on gemological laboratories around the world to adopt special terminology for synthetic diamonds. Shai Schnitzer, Chairman of the International Rough Diamond Week, said that this year, besides tenders by De Beers, Rio Tinto, ALROSA and Tzoffeys 1818, an open sales area for Israeli rough importers will also be provided. Bereshit Diamonds would hold a sale of a special allotment for young manufacturers of rough diamonds imported directly from Africa. He also said that representatives of various mining companies would attend the event for the first time in order to explore opportunities for cooperation with the Israel Diamond Exchange in the future. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished The Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc. (AAPL), Tim Cook, called on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. Cook shared Apple's future plans for India. Mr. Cook talked about his visit to India, and said he had been received with great warmth. He spoke about his visit to different parts of the country, and his meetings with people including youth, leaders, and film actors. The Prime Minister, appreciating Mr. Cook, said that in India, 'seeing is believing' and added that these experiences would definitely steer Mr. Cook's business decisions. Cook shared Apple Inc.'s future plans for India. He spoke of the possibilities of manufacturing and retailing in India. He appreciated the breadth of young talent in India, and said the youth have significant skills which Apple would like to tap. He mentioned the immense potential for 'app-development' that exists in the country. He also elaborated on the Map Development Centre that Apple Inc. is setting up in Hyderabad. He appreciated the Prime Minister's initiatives in 'ease of doing business.' Mr. Cook also appreciated the Prime Minister's initiatives for renewable energy. He said Apple runs on 93 per cent renewable energy, and spoke of plans to move Apple's entire supply chain to renewable energy.. Both Mr. Cook and the Prime Minister shared some unique stories of entrepreneurship that they had come across in app-development and renewable energy. The Indian Prime Minister explained his Digital India initiative, and identified three key objectives of Digital India as e-education, and increasing farmers' incomes. He sought support from Apple in furthering these objectives. Issues regarding cyber-security and data encryption also came up for discussion. The Prime Minister encouraged Mr. Cook to help the global community to cope with the challenges of cyber-crime. Mr. Tim Cook also launched an updated version of the 'Narendra Modi Mobile App.' For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said that On late Saturday 21st May, 2016, the United States shared information that a drone strike was carried out in Pakistan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area, in which reportedly the Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhter Mansoor was targeted. Pakistan said that the drone attack was a violation of its sovereignty. According to the information gathered so far, a person named Wali Muhammad S/o Shah Muhammad carrying a Pakistani passport and an I.D. Card, resident of Qilla Abdullah, entered Pakistan from Taftan border on 21st May. His passport was bearing a valid Iranian visa. He was traveling on a vehicle hired from a transport company in Taftan. This vehicle was found destroyed at Kochaki along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The driver's name was Muhammad Azam whose body has been identified and collected by his relatives. The identity of the second body is being verified on the basis of evidence found at the site of the incident and other relevant information. "While further investigations are being carried out, Pakistan wishes to once again state that the drone attack was a violation of its sovereignty, an issue which has been raised with the United States in the past as well," said Pakistani Foreign Ministry. It may be recalled that the fifth meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) held on 18th May had reiterated that a politically negotiated settlement was the only viable option for lasting peace in Afghanistan and called upon the Taliban to give up violence and join peace talks. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Japan will on Monday release April figures for imports, exports and trade balance, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Imports are expected to slide 19.3 percent on year after falling 14.9 percent in March. Exports are called lower by 10.1 percent after slipping 6.8 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at 521.4 billion, down from 754.2 billion a month earlier. Japan also will see March numbers for its all industry activity index, and final March results for the leading and coincident indexes. The all industry activity index is expected to add 0.5 percent on month after slipping 1.2 percent in February. The leading and coincident indexes are expected to show little change from the preliminary readings of 96.8 and 110.7, respectively. Taiwan will provide unemployment figures for April, with the jobless rate expected to come in at a seasonally adjusted 3.9 percent - down marginally from 3.92 percent in March. Singapore will release April numbers for consumer prices, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 0.4 percent on month and 0.7 percent on year. That follows the flat monthly reading and the 1.0 percent yearly drop in March. Hong Kong will provide April figures for consumer prices, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 4.4 percent - up from 3.0 percent in March. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. Millennial Moms Review: 2022 Acura MDX is pretty close to the perfect family car I dont know if perfect is attainable, especially considering weve got the world of options when it comes to modern vehicles. Were spoiled and, as such, we have very specific needs and wants. Driving-wise, the 2022 Acura MDX is one of my favourite ... Nine students from different colleges involved in the school brawl earlier this month appeared yesterday in the District Court before Judge Leiataualesa Daryl Clarke. Four of the students were referred to the Youth Court for mention on the 19th May 2016 because they are under the age of 16. The remaining five students are Keti Keti, Timothy Faletoese, Sauaga Iefata, Scott Keli and Hamish Jenkins. The accused are jointly charged on one count of disorderly conduct in a public vehicle. According to the police facts, the incident occurred on the 28th April 2016. The court noted the students guilty plea and they are further remanded for sentencing on the 22 June 2016. Superintendent, Samoa Mulinuu Mulinuu is grateful to have been given the opportunity as the new Assistant Commissioner for the Criminal Division. He joined the force in 1992 and has served the Ministry for 24 years. Its a huge step for me, but I just thank God that I have been given this position to serve Samoa, he said. He said being given a high position comes with many challenges, but with Gods help, everything is possible. As the person who has been overseeing the Criminal Investigation Division for many years, he believes this is where the heart of the Police work is. And he will use his experience to continue the work they do and serve the country to the best of his ability. In terms of investigations, expect changes, he said. I want to make improvements so that investigations are thorough and completed fairly and satisfactorily . Not only is the Crime Division one of the busiest divisions in the Police Department, but it also it deals with the most serious offences including murder charges and sexual matters. And the Assistant Commissioner says there will be no preferential treatment. My work has to be carried out with honesty and integrity. Even if we are related and you break the law, I have to be professional in doing my job, he said. He said there is a police constitution and code of conduct that the officers should follow in doing their job. And to make a difference, every officer should stand by that constitution. Samoa hails from villages of Vailele and Fasitoo-Uta. He is married with five children. His journey in the police force started off in 1992 when he was a Constable under the Criminal Investigation branch and its from there that he worked his way up Before being selected as the Assistant Commissioner for Crimes, he looked after the Criminal Investigation Division for four years as a superintendent. He was also a Contingent Commander from Samoa on a Peacekeeping mission to the Sudan from 2007 to 2008. And from 2009- 2010, he was based in the Solomon Islands. The new Assistant Police Commissioner commenced his work last Monday. To show love is impossible without understanding love from a tremendous magnitude. Samoans are forever entrenched in family no matter who you are and where you go, according to a group of Emerging Artists (E.A.). In launching what E.A calls Cinderella activities, 12 members of the group, recently paid a visit to the Home of the Elderly run by the Little Sisters of the Poor at Mapuifagalele. The members offered their services, namely, nursing and medical check ups provided by four of their members who are registered nurses. Vision tests were undertaken by one of the groups members who is an eye specialist. Hair cuts for the men and women were also provided by the groups graduate hairstylist with other volunteers doing arranging flowers and still others doing outdoor cleaning. This is the first phase of the Cinderella activity for the home and E.A. will be here every third Saturday for six months to offer our services. We are blessed to receive training and education in each of our fields of expertise and we are more than happy to put that training to good use, said Luana Falelua Maua, president of E.A. The Cinderella project was inspired by the Walt Disney classic with the same name, and with reference to the main characters daily chores done quietly and selflessly. Emerging Artists is a soon to be a registered association that is dominated by faafafines who met during their tertiary education at the National University of Samoa. It has today branched out to include girls and boys who are true allies of the faafafines who started the group. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi is serious about closing down government schools of students who get into brawls. He also has another ace up his sleeve in the form of the control of school funding which he has vowed to use. To make his point loud and clear, Tuilaepa vows to close down more schools if they continue to get into school fights. Cabinet made a bold stand when they decided to close down Avele for two weeks. It follows threats allegedly made by students from the College on social media threatening to attack Maluafou College students and teachers. The school was just recently reopened earlier this week. I quite like this; whenever they get into fights well close down the school, he said. That is the only thing they get because all of these fights are caused by the lack of discipline from the parents. So we close the school its a lot easier. While the government cannot close down any missionary schools where students get into fights, Tuilaepa said that wont be a problem. He has made sure that even the governments education funds to the missionary schools will cease. The government has no business with the missionary schools, said Tuilaepa. But it has changed the whole process of distributing the funds. They will no longer be handed to the fat people sitting inside the churches to distribute it. The funds will be paid out directly to the schools and once they get into fights, they get nothing. The Prime Minister added that stopping funds to schools that get involved in fights means they will end up closing down. If the parents are listening they should think about taking their children to primary schools and colleges in the villages. On Wednesday, ongoing negotiations between HMM and owners of chartered ships failed to reach an agreement for HMM to reduce their charter rates by 28% on average by mid-May, Yonhap news reported. As a result of the non-consensus thus far, creditors of the South Korean shipowner have warned that they will put HMM under court receivership. We have to see whether (HMM) will go to court receivership, finance minister Yoo Il-ho was quoted saying by Yonhap. The talks are still going on, but there is no change in our stance (court receivership). Last month, the creditors approved of HMMs self-rescue plan including the sale of its assets, but on the condition that it should come to an agreement with the owners of chartered ships to cut rates. HMMs creditors also offered to swap their loans worth around KRW700bn ($587.8m) into stocks as part of a debt restructuring, but the owners of the chartered ships have yet to bite on the offer of buying the stocks in return for lowering the charter rates. Yonhap reported that financial authorities and the government believed that HMM and its larger compatriot Hanjin Shipping are under contract to pay charter fees that are four to five times higher than the current rates by 2026. HMM had earlier stated that it was confident of normalising its business and that it will also join as a member of the new container partnership named THE Alliance, which currently has six members including Hanjin Shipping. Last year, the small Middle Eastern nation of Jordan effectively declared war on the Islamic State after a video surfaced of ISIS militants burning a Jordanian pilot alive. That terrible moment marked a turning point for the nation's military, which is now fully part of the anti-ISIS coalition led by the United States. So how powerful is the nation of Jordan? In today's Seeker Daily dispatch, we take a look at the small Middle Eastern nation, which actually has an impressive military presence despite its limited territory and population. At around 35,000 square miles, Jordan is approximately the size of the U.S. state of Maine. With a population of just over eight million citizens, it's much smaller than neighbors Iraq (33 million) and Saudi Arabia (28 million). Still, Jordan fields a relatively formidable military, with a standing force of around 175,000 soldiers. Relative is the key term: Total armed forces personnel for the United States is around 1.4 million, depending on how you crunch the numbers. RELATED: Looking Down on Historical Jordan But Jordan's army has a reputation for being well-trained and professional, with modern weaponry and equipment. The country also enjoys close military support from the U.S., France and the United Kingdom. It's estimated that the U.S. alone has contributed nearly $16 billion in military and economic aid since the 1950s. On the downside, Jordan's economy is the smallest in all of the Middle East and suffers from high rates of poverty, debt, unemployment and corruption. Unlike its neighbors, Jordan has insufficient supplies of oil, water and other natural resources. Politically, the country is relatively stable but far from democratic. While technically considered a parliamentary constitutional democracy, Jordan is largely controlled by head of state King Abdullah, who more or less runs the government's judicial and executive branches. Still, Jordan's relative stability and nimble military make the country a critical ally for those fighting extremist groups in the region. -- By Glenn McDonald Learn More: CIA World Factbook: Middle East: Jordan New York Times: U.S. Trains Syrian Rebels in Jordan to Fight ISIS NPR: For One Parliamentarian, A Stronger Jordan Is Key To Fighting ISIS Reuters: France mulls military deployment in Jordan for Islamic State fight The heart of the As batting order is lean with Josh Reddick (broken thumb) on the disabled list. When Jed Lowrie comes off the DL on Wednesday, he figures to slide into Reddicks No. 3 hole. Especially with Reddick out, our left-handed bat options are down a little bit, manager Bob Melvin said. It could be as simple as putting (Lowrie) in the three-hole when he comes back. Hes done a nice job from either side of the plate for us. Were looking very much forward to getting him back. Versatility is perhaps Lowries biggest asset. In addition to being able to play any infield position, the switch-hitter can bat at spots throughout the order. His return will afford an Oakland team with 12 players on the DL much-needed flexibility. This isnt my first rodeo, so to speak, said Lowrie, who has been sidelined since May 9 with a shin contusion. Its easier said than done. Ive pretty much hit everywhere in the lineup, one through nine in my career. You try your best to be the same guy. Lowrie started running Wednesday. He will join Triple-A Nashville for rehab in Mondays game at Las Vegas and, if all goes well, will be available for the As on Wednesday in Seattle. McBride impresses: In a limited sample size, catcher-outfielder Matt McBride has been a solid cog for the As. The 30-year-old, who signed a minor-league contract with Oakland in January, is batting .250 in six major-league games this season. In the second inning of Fridays 8-3 loss to the Yankees, McBride slapped an RBI single to left field. It was the first time since Sept. 1, 2014, that McBride, called up from Nashville last week, had brought home a run in the majors. He hasnt had too many games here, but hes certainly done a nice job, Melvin said. We knew in spring that he was a versatile guy could catch, play the outfield, play some first base. At this point in time, we need him a little more as far as the catching part of it. With Josh Phegley (knee) on the disabled list and Stephen Vogt (wrist) unavailable, McBride started again Saturday. Melvin said he is hopeful that Vogt, who was hit in the wrist in the second inning Friday, will return to the lineup Sunday. Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. On deck Sunday vs. Yankees 1:05 p.m. CSNCA Pineda (1-5) vs. Hahn (1-1) Monday at Mariners 7:10 p.m. CSNCA Hill (6-3) vs. Walker (2-3) Tuesday at Mariners 7:10 p.m. CSNCA Graveman (1-6) vs. Karns (4-1) Leading off Good replays: The As have been successful on six of eight replay challenges, including one Saturday, and their 75 percent success rate is among the best in the majors. Connor Letourneau This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When a San Francisco police officer shoots someone, the investigation is headed up by the officers colleagues a widespread law enforcement practice that has stoked mistrust both here and around the country. Its a practice that, from 2000 through 2015, led to no criminal charges against city officers in 95 shootings, including 40 that were fatal, according to a Chronicle analysis. But as controversy grows over recent shootings including the killing of 29-year-old Jessica Williams on Thursday at the edge of the Bayview neighborhood, which prompted Police Chief Greg Suhr to step down San Francisco may be on the brink of a historic shift. A U.S. Justice Department team dispatched to San Francisco after a fatal shooting in December is questioning whether the city force has too free a hand to police itself. District Attorney George Gascon, meanwhile, is seeking funding to create a special unit in his office that would take the lead in investigating officer-involved shootings, from start to finish. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle Though he declined to comment on the district attorneys proposal, Mayor Ed Lee absolutely believes we need to investigate officer-involved shootings differently, more independently and more thoroughly, said his spokeswoman, Christine Falvey. Suhr told The Chronicle before his resignation that, for the sake of transparency, he would be open to farming out investigations into all fatal police shootings to another agency, perhaps the state attorney generals office. Its not clear yet what his departure, and the naming of department veteran Toney Chaplin as acting chief, might mean to the potential shift. The mayor said he and the Police Commission would begin a national search for a permanent replacement. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle Taking over the cases from the Police Department would be complicated, politically divisive and possibly expensive. Rank-and-file officers, backed by an outspoken union, may fight it. Critics fault Gascon As for Gascons proposal, critics say his office has been part of the problem, taking far too long to make charging decisions and uniformly clearing officers of wrongdoing. Giving the cases to an outside agency could carry some investigative drawbacks, law enforcement experts said, because local officers have valuable expertise and contacts on their own turf. Meanwhile, such a shift still may not satisfy critics who mistrust law enforcement officers of any stripe in such situations. But it could satisfy a key demand of people advocating serious police reforms in the wake of high-profile police killings over the past two years in places like New York, Missouri, Cleveland and San Francisco. Campaign Zero, an effort that emerged from the Black Lives Matter movement, has called for independent investigations of all cases in which police kill or injure people, with evidence turned over to a state-level special prosecutor for a charging decision. This model assumes that a city or county prosecutors office is also inherently compromised and unfit to judge a shooting because of its close relationship with local police. In order to restore and maintain trust, President Obamas Task Force on 21st Century Policing recently recommended external and independent criminal investigations of police killings, to be led by neighboring agencies or multiagency task forces. External investigations There is movement on this issue elsewhere. In January, police officials in St. Paul, Minn., announced that investigations of officer-involved shootings involving serious injury or death would be led by either the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension or the Hennepin County Sheriffs Office. In Sonoma County, the two biggest law enforcement agencies, the Sheriffs Department and the Santa Rosa Police Department, investigate fatal incidents for each other and for the countys smaller police agencies. We look at it as having another agency do it so everything is transparent, said Santa Rosa police Sgt. Chad Heiser. Were not trying to cover anything up internally. Despite the calls for change, many police departments still investigate their own shootings. In San Francisco, homicide inspectors lead the criminal probe while the district attorneys office conducts a parallel, independent investigation before making a charging decision. Critics say this system is ripe for bias and abuse. And, because of state laws protecting officers privacy, it is shrouded in secrecy that they say widens the divide between the police force and the community it serves. The public typically cannot learn whether an officer who shoots someone was disciplined, suspended or fired. There is a lack of transparency, said Peter Bibring, director of police practices for the ACLU of California. When theres a controversial shooting and police tell communities, We cant share the investigation, but based on whats in our secret file, the shooting was justified, that does not make people believe that the system is working to hold officers accountable. Attorney Arnoldo Casillas, who is representing the family of Amilcar Perez-Lopez, a Guatemalan immigrant fatally shot by San Francisco police in the Mission District in February 2015, said he found it necessary to hire private investigators to dig deep in such cases because he does not trust the police probes. Suhr said in the days after that shooting that Perez-Lopez, 21, was trying to steal a bicycle from a man, and that officers shot him when he raised a knife and lunged at them. But Casillas said the alleged theft victim may have been negotiating the sale of the bike with Perez-Lopez and that an independent autopsy found Perez-Lopez had been shot six times in the back, which he said countered the former chiefs assertion. Whether its agencies investigating shootings involving their own officers, or agencies investigating shootings involving officers from other agencies, they are generally skewed in favor of the shooter, whether its by falsely attributing statements to witnesses ... , asking leading questions that suggest an answer, or not accounting for evidence, Casillas said. Comments create tension The Police Departments public comments in the immediate aftermath of shootings have been a particular source of tension. Soon after five officers fatally shot 26-year-old stabbing suspect Mario Woods in December in the Bayview, an encounter caught on video, Suhr said at a community meeting that he believed officers did their best in a difficult situation. Critics objected, pointing out that the police investigation of the officers actions had barely begun. John Crew, who for years studied police practices for the ACLU of Northern California, pointed to the chiefs presentation of a blown-up freeze frame of Woods, suggesting he had a knife and raised or extended his right arm before he was shot. Others who looked at frames of the video, though, concluded Woods had his arms at his side when the first shot was heard. They went to the trouble to blow up a freeze frame that was central to their explanation, and they were presenting a fact that was provably false, early on, Crew said. Suhr, in an interview last week before his departure, said that because the department was once blasted for saying little after shootings, he tried to give the community the most accurate information possible, even if it was preliminary. Many in law enforcement say the idea that trained police cant investigate one of their own is simply untrue. From an investigative standpoint, a police shooting investigation is just like any other homicide investigation, said David Rivers, a retired sergeant of the Miami-Dade Police Department who teaches courses on the subject. Our job isnt to cover up, and our job isnt to persecute somebody. Our job is to find facts. Only one with expertise San Francisco police Sgt. John Crudo of the internal affairs division, which handles officer discipline, noted that the department is by far the largest law enforcement agency in the city and the only one with the expertise to handle complicated police shooting investigations. If somebody else did it in this county, he said, youre losing a lot of expertise and youre losing a lot of resources. Crudo said that because of the importance of public perception, the district attorneys office played a crucial role in shooting investigations, offering a layer of independence and oversight. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. But Gascons office has also been criticized for how long it takes to finish investigations of fatal police shootings. At a Police Commission meeting in January, Crudo said other district attorneys offices in the Bay Area averaged around 18 months for the cases, while San Francisco prosecutors averaged roughly 24 months. Gascon blamed a shortage of resources. Gascon said more resources would allow his office to take over the cases completely. He is asking Mayor Lee to fund a new unit with six investigators, six attorneys and two paralegals costing $1.9 million a year. When those in the unit arent looking into police shootings, Gascon said, they will focus on other potential misconduct cases, such as in-custody deaths and brutality complaints. The current system, with the police force taking the lead, isnt working, Gascon said. He said its been difficult for his investigators to make informed, independent decisions. Having the district attorneys office be the secondary at the scene ... compromises the integrity of the investigation, even if its unintentional, Gascon said, noting that his staffers must rely on police to provide them information and even to notify them of the case itself. Im not trying to cast any accusations that there have been any intentional acts to alter things, Gascon said. This is simply the nature of the process. It creates a gap that cannot be recovered. Agency alert system Crudo said the Police Department has emphasized to all officers the need to immediately alert several other agencies about a shooting, including the district attorneys office, but Gascon said investigators sometimes are not notified for an hour after a shooting. In once instance, Gascon said, police seeking to notify the district attorneys office of a shooting left a voice mail on an investigators daytime phone number, but not on the after-hours number on file. The investigator learned of the shooting only when his wife saw a story about it on the evening news, Gascon said. By the time the investigator arrived, he said, the medical examiners office had moved the body. Currently, San Francisco follows a specific procedure in the aftermath of a police shooting. Officers involved go through what is known as a blue card with a supervisor, answering a series of questions to establish what happened and if there are any suspects at large. The officers, Crudo said, are then isolated though they have access to an attorney until homicide investigators are ready to question them, usually within a few hours. With homicide inspectors taking the lead, internal affairs inspectors and district attorneys office investigators process the scene with them, taking part in witness interviews and pointing out any evidence that needs to be gathered. Its really hard to re-create every aspect of an incident if youre not there early on to see it, Gascon said. The role of the district attorney is to inject a third-party review, and in our case were trying to do our own investigations. But we trail the Police Department. Were not the lead agency in the field. Were not even the lead when were present at the interview. Obstacles to new unit But Gascons effort faces serious obstacles, including questions about whether the unit would be qualified to investigate homicides. And many rank-and-file officers believe hes driven primarily by politics. George Gascon is so power-hungry that hes not content to do his own job poorly, he wants to do the police chiefs job poorly as well, said Nathan Ballard, an adviser to the police officers union. Its pretty obvious by now that Gascon is temperamentally incapable of staying in his own lane. Casillas, the attorney, also questioned whether Gascons proposal is a solution, saying police and prosecutors in the same city who collaborate every day dont have real independence from each other. One alternative that has been widely discussed, bringing in the state attorney generals office to investigate police shootings, is not currently feasible. Kristin Ford, an office spokeswoman, said that while the office sometimes reviews such cases, it does not have the resources to do on-the-ground investigations of shootings around the state on a large scale. The office has about 250 agents, she said, and most focus on specialties like medical fraud and gambling control. If Gascons plan goes through, or some other new investigative process is adopted, it is not clear whether the filing of criminal charges against officers will become more likely. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that officers should be judged based on the reasonableness of a particular use of force. That standard depends on the officers perspective in the moment without benefit of hindsight and regardless of the actual intent of the person who is killed. Gascon acknowledged that approval of his proposal would not necessarily mean prosecutions of police officers. Casillas said that was disappointing. So many of these shootings involve just negligence, officers doing things that they shouldnt, making conscious decisions to draw their firearms prematurely, Casillas said. If prosecutors really applied pressure and started looking at these objectively, officers would think twice about following the law. Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: VivianHo For all the drama surrounding San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhrs resignation, behind the scenes his departure was one of the most amicable City Hall has seen in some time he even had a hand in picking his successor. Suhrs exit Thursday was actually the second time the chief had volunteered to resign. He first offered to go a couple of weeks back after protesters stormed City Hall and took over the Board of Supervisors chambers. According to people who were in on the discussions, Mayor Ed Lee rejected the idea, telling Suhr, If you go, then I go. Lee said he was not going to turn the city over to what he called the mob mentality, said our sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The mayor was also loath to give in to progressive critics on the Board of Supervisors who had called for Suhr to be replaced. As late as Monday, when asked about a KPIX-TV poll that found city residents surveyed wanted Suhr to stay on by 50 to 31 percent, Lee said, This tells us that the chief does have support as long as he is doing his job. That stance changed Thursday when a police sergeant fatally shot an unarmed black woman in a suspected stolen car on the edge of the Bayview. With that, Suhr who for the past year had been telling his cops not to shoot at cars knew it was over. And the mayor pretty much confirmed it when he told reporters shortly after the shooting, Obviously, I have to hold the chief accountable. A few hours later, Suhr headed over to City Hall along with Deputy Chief Michael Redmond and the man who was soon to replace Suhr on an acting basis, Deputy Chief Toney Chaplin. Sources who were there tell us that in the private meeting that followed, Suhr and the mayor agreed there was no longer a path forward, and that it was time for him to step aside. But Suhr insisted that the mayor ask him for his resignation, said one City Hall source. Thats the way it rolled. Suhr didnt want to make it look like he was quitting, and at the same time was going to make it clear that the mayor was the one in command. Greg was a team player to the last, the source said. The mayor then turned the conversation, asking Suhr if he had any recommendations on who should take over as acting chief. Suhr suggested either of the two deputy chiefs who had come with him and were sitting in the next room Redmond, who is in charge of the operations bureau, and Chaplin, who as head of the professional standards and principled policing bureau was involved in trying to implement policy reforms in the SFPD. Lee and Suhr agreed that Chaplin should be the one. Police Commission President Suzy Loftus was brought in for her opinion, and she signed off on the plan. The mayor then asked Suhr to talk with Chaplin about taking the job. Suhr did so, and Chaplin then met with Loftus, who laid out the goals for the department. Everyone then reconvened in Lees office, where, after a round of hugs and handshakes, the mayor, Loftus and Chaplin walked out to face the cameras, and Suhr slipped out through a side door and into his new life as a civilian. How all this will affect Lees standing with voters remains to be seen. After years of skyrocketing rents, traffic gridlock and growing homeless encampments, recent polls show the mayors approval ratings slipping below the 40 percent mark. One recent poll has it at 28 percent about on par with most members of the Board of Supervisors. And while police shootings have commanded the headlines, Lee is well aware that for many of his supporters, the biggest issue when it comes to policing is the rising number of property crimes in the neighborhoods. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Morale within the Police Department has also become a problem in recent months, as officers feel that no one will have their back if something goes wrong in an arrest. As one Police Officers Association official said, The fear is, they arent going to do anything but taking reports. With Suhr gone, thats a problem thats now on the mayors plate. Missing in action: Notably absent during this past weeks Police Department shakeup prompted by the shooting of a black woman in the Bayview were the Board of Supervisors two African American members. Supervisor Malia Cohen was off getting married in Montego Bay, Jamaica, to workers comp attorney Warren Pulley, and board President London Breed went along to witness the ceremony. Others joining the wedding party included Public Utilities Commission General Manager Harlan Kelly and his wife, City Administrator Naomi Kelly. Her impending vows aside, Cohen did find time late Friday to fire off a news release supporting the mayors decision to request Suhrs resignation, calling it a chance for San Francisco to come together, heal and recover to feel safe in our community. San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: matierandross This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Since the day it opened in 1978, Pier 39 has been scorned by all supposedly right-minded San Franciscans. Its lowbrow and crass, we agree, a fake village designed for tourists that has nothing to do with the Real City. Oh, and its a destination that never goes out of style. Long after such atmospheric rivals as Ghirardelli Square and the Cannery lost their luster, the retail village built from scratch in 14 months still attracts an estimated 10 million visitors a year. A cynic would say this proves that the masses are easily duped. But maybe, just maybe, another key to Pier 39s success is that it fits the bayside setting better than we think. Am I saying you should learn to love Pier 39? Not at all. But consider this a primer demonstrating five basic rules of how a city can meet the water basics to remember as the Port of San Francisco begins work this fall on updating its waterfront land-use plan. 1. Dont be exclusive: Yes, tackiness is part of a terrain where the entrance is flanked by a Hard Rock Cafe and Only in San Francisco, where shot glasses adorned with cable cars are always on sale. Once past this gantlet, Pier 39 unrolls a procession of spaces large and small, framed by two-story buildings clad in weathered wood. Footbridges slice the air above. At the end of the quarter-mile journey, the buildings part to reveal a front- row view of Alcatraz where pelicans might glide past while you take in the larger grandeur. Its the place where a visitor to the city can scratch tchotchkes for relatives off the to-do list but also where a local can savor the essence of this metropolitan region: a mosaic of water and hills like none other in the world. 2. Dont be afraid of the water: Theoretically, developer Warren Simmons could have been forced to pack his open-air mall into one or two larger buildings along the Embarcadero, leaving the pier as an enormous pedestrian plaza. And if that had been case, wed be worse off today. Uncluttered vistas are great for jogging or biking, but an urban waterfront needs an urban element, the back-and-forth of built form and open water. Pier 39 emphasizes close encounters with the bay, where paths along the outer edge showcase a marina on the east and a seasonal sea lion colony on the west. True story: a college friend of mine proposed to his girlfriend there. Theyve been married 35 years. 3. Be resilient: The public access along the edge was required by regulators. So was the marina. The sea lions are another story. They hauled themselves onto floating docks in 1990, drawn by the bays movable (herring) feast. Management tried to chase them away. Then the photogenic pinnipeds began attracting locals who in the past had shunned the water-top cul-de-sac. Today, a sea lion-themed shop does brisk business. The word resilient is all the rage in planning circles, the idea being that neighborhoods along the water should be designed with an eye to where sea levels might be in 50 or 100 years. But cultural resilience is important as well, crafting a place so that changes around it a sea lion colony or the streetcar line that now stops outside Pier 39 can be accommodated in ways that are beneficial to everyone involved. 4. Be ambitious: Among the sights at Pier 39 are boastful plaques telling the story of how developer Simmons outlasted his foes, the restless natives, and how it took a developer with a horde of local contacts and a self-professed love of the city to move Pier 39 through the permit process. Not everyone was impressed: Allan Temko, The Chronicles Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic, recoiled from the pseudo Victorian junk in a review of savage glee. But time has tempered the shock of the new; it also has revealed the virtues of solid construction, no matter how awkward it looks. The pedestrian bridges with their thick braces and beams, for instance, offer a welcome woodsy warmth in our age of icy glass. Simmons had hubris. Ill take hubris over the bottom-line banality of developers who churn out product designed to make a profit, nothing more. 5. Know your place: When Pier 39 opened, everyone compared it unfavorably to Ghirardelli Square and the Cannery, those historic red-brick realms converted into attractions marketed not only to tourists, but to scene-seeking locals and young adults. Since the 1980s, though, the citys cultural center of gravity has shifted ever farther to the south. The Missions where the action is, not the base of Russian Hill. Fast-forward to 2015: Ghirardelli Squares main lure is not one, not two, but three Ghirardelli Chocolate outposts where you can gorge on eponymous ice cream sundaes (not that theres anything wrong with that). The Cannery attracts so little foot traffic it would be the ideal spot for a clandestine affair. I dont want to oversell the virtues of Temko again these deliberately jumbled groups of contrived shacks. Or a retail buffet cooked up to appeal to as many consumer tastes as possible, which explains why the Eastern-themed Enlightenment boutique is across from Treasure Ireland and next to the magnet store. But Pier 39 understands the allure of a setting that is economically diverse, while enhancing access to the water at different levels and in different ways. During the next two years, the port hopes to rally San Franciscans behind a vision for the waterfront that allows for new development while preserving what maritime activities exist and improving the network of public spaces that connect the city to the bay. Its a debate that we need to have and one where even Pier 39 might be looked to for positive lessons, not just as a cautionary tale. John King is The San Francisco Chronicles urban design critic. E-mail: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron Pier 39 through the years My objection is not that the thing is ... a Disneyland North or a giant McDonalds. My objection is that the City Fathers (and a mother or two) have caved in wholly before the idea of tourism, which I happen to think is the worst thing that has happened to San Francisco. Chronicle columnist Charles McCabe, Pier 39, Nov. 20, 1978 Pier 39, a melanoma on the cheek of San Francisco. Julie Smith, Tourist Trap, a 1986 mystery with the cover blurb When murder stalks San Francisco, no tourist is safe. It resembles a village on Marthas Vineyard more than a West Coast city. Richard Saul Wurman, San Francisco Access, 1993 Most old-time San Franciscans his boss Michael, for one could be really rude about Pier 39. ... Most of them had never even been there, either, never seen what a good time it could be. Armistead Maupin, Mary Ann in Autumn: A Tales of the City Novel, 2010 The best bit is, of course, the sea lions. Quite why they choose to spend their time there is beyond me, but they seem to revel in the attention they get ... Steve F on Tripadvisor.com, June 2015 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Left reeling in the wake of Uber and Lyfts abrupt withdrawal from Austin following a vote requiring drivers fingerprints, Daryl Faulks found himself out of a job and decided to venture south. Faulks, who has been driving for the San Francisco ride-hailing companies for about a year, has come to rely on the extra income to supplement the money he makes from teaching high school and selling real estate. So when Austin voters decided this month to retain city regulations that Uber and Lyft opposed, he planned to drive to San Antonio to try to find business. I believe I have no choice, he said. I have a $581 car payment Ive got to make, and I have other bills I have to pay. Unlike Austin, San Antonio made the fingerprint part of background checks optional for drivers, prompting the companies to resume operations there during a trial period. Though demand for ride services is said to be lower in San Antonio than in Austin, Faulks is one of many drivers taking advantage of the more flexible regulations. Many cities nationwide are grappling with how to regulate ride-hailing companies, which typically dont operate under the same regulations as traditional taxi companies. In San Francisco, regulators, drivers and riders have had years to get used to their presence. In the rest of the country, it can be a different picture. The rules in San Antonio are now among the most permissive of big Texas cities, where Uber and Lyft have faced regulatory fights before. In Houston, where fingerprint checks are mandatory, Lyft pulled out and Uber is threatening to follow suit. And Dallas requires drivers to obtain permits based on either city-conducted background checks without fingerprints or third-party checks that the city might audit. In the coming months, San Antonio residents and elected officials will have to revisit the interim rules as the nine-month pilot programs come to an end. Fueling that debate are some widely publicized incidents that have raised safety concerns. Late last year, Dallas police arrested a Lyft driver in the sexual assault of a woman he picked up. And a Houston Uber driver was arrested this year on suspicion of sexual assault, but a grand jury decided he wouldnt face charges. After Uber and Lyft left San Antonio in early 2015, the City Council and staff worked to create a program that would make the optional fingerprint checks free for drivers. There have been no reported crimes involving the citys Uber and Lyft drivers since the companies returned. Some drivers have shown interest in the citys checks. Nearly 180 drivers have applied for it, and of those, 120 completed the process. But those drivers can be difficult to find through the ride-hailing companies mobile apps. Like Austins City Council, San Antonios initially approved rules that would have required drivers to submit to fingerprint background checks like taxi drivers, among other things. The companies, claiming the fingerprint checks would hamper the efficiency of their business, left the city when the rules took effect in April 2015. Both Lyft and Uber argue that their background checks are just as effective as fingerprint checks. Lyft uses SterlingBackCheck, which runs an applicants Social Security number and other identifying information through several databases to check for criminal offenses within the last seven years. It also checks driving records, performs a vehicle inspection and does an in-person screening. Uber uses Checkr, which goes through a similar process. It also checks driving records. The Houston driver accused of sexual assault was found to have served 14 years in prison on a drug charge that occurred more than seven years before he began driving for Uber, the Houston Chronicle reported. After months of controversy, Lyft agreed to San Antonios pilot program in August and resumed operations in December. The council came to a similar agreement with Uber in October, prompting the company to immediately resume its services. Because the companies have declined to disclose how many drivers they have in San Antonio, its impossible to determine what percentage of drivers have opted to take the additional step for fingerprinting. The majority of the 120 completed checks have been for Uber drivers, and the company said this year it exceeded a goal of signing up 2,000 drivers. Finding a driver who has passed the citys check can be tricky for riders, who are matched with the drivers nearest them through the companies mobile apps. If theyre matched with a driver who doesnt have a city ID number, they must cancel the ride and hail another through the app until theyre matched with someone who does. Alan Johnson, a San Antonio Uber and Lyft driver, opted to complete the citys extra check only because he thought it would be easy. It ended up being more trouble that he thought it was worth he said he waited for weeks for an appointment, wound up at the wrong place for the check and had trouble with the paperwork. At first I couldnt wrap my head around why Uber and Lyft werent interested in going through that process, but boy, was I surprised, he said. It was a very unorganized system. When he finally got the citys ID number, riders didnt appear to notice it. Ive yet to find anybody who has said anything about it, he said, and Ive done more than 6,000 rides. Katherine Blunt is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Email: kblunt@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The woman who was shot and killed by a police sergeant Thursday was considered a friend to several homeless people on the streets of San Francisco, including one who described her as a mellow person. Friends said 29-year-old Jessica Williams went to Elmira Street near the Bayview district to pick up a friend Thursday, when she was fatally shot while driving what police said was a stolen car. Williams was described by the city medical examiners office only as a resident of the Bay Area. Tamara Aparton, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Public Defenders Office, said Williams had been in the criminal justice system, but all her convictions were for misdemeanors. Aparton had no detailed information about the cases. Nobody knew her quite well, Aparton said, adding there are no open cases against Williams. She wasnt like a frequent flier. Those who knew Williams said she was a pleasant person to deal with. The last attorney who worked with Williams said she did everything they asked of her, Aparton said. There was no problem. Cylinka Micra, a homeless man, said Williams was a mellow person who tried to keep a low profile. However, when his wife was the victim of an attempted rape inside a tent at a homeless encampment, Williams pulled the attacker off her. Nobody else came to my wifes assistance but her, Micra said. I have nothing but good things to say about her. On Thursday morning, police said Williams was found in a parked, stolen car and tried to drive away, only to crash into a parked utility vehicle. As she tried to dislodge her car from the other vehicle, police said she would not follow their orders and a sergeant shot her. There was no indication that Williams was driving the car toward officers at the time, police said, adding that no weapon was found with Williams or in the car. The news that Williams had been shot by police outraged some people in the homeless community. Don Gordon, 45, said he didnt believe there was a reason for police to shoot Williams, whom he called his street niece. It was hard to make her mad, Gordon said. But I bet shes mad now about what they did to her. It makes no sense, Gordon continued. Why didnt they shoot the car to stop it from moving? And if she was trying to get away, just let her get away. Chronicle staff writer Wendy Lee contributed to this report. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: kveklerov San Jose homicide detectives are investigating a dead body found Friday night on the 500 block of Bonita Avenue. Police responded to a report of a possible body at around 6:50 p.m., and found a deceased adult male, according to the San Jose Police Department. The Santa Clara County Coroners Office will determine the cause of death, police said. Police arrested and booked seven people who they believe were involved in a Rohnert Park home-invasion robbery late Friday night. Two men with sweatshirts pulled over their faces broke through a sliding glass door to enter a home on the 7400 to 7600 block of Adrian Drive. As the thieves looted the house and made their way to a bedroom, a woman woke up to one of the robbers threatening her with a gun. The woman was roused out of bed, and ordered to grab her purse. Later, she was told to go back to the bedroom, while the thieves continued to ransack the home. After the robbers were gone, the victim went to a neighbors house to call for help, with officers responding at around 11:44 p.m. The officers found five of the suspects in two different ways. Cotati police , assisting Rohnert Park officers, received a call that men matching the descriptions given by the robbery victim were at East Sierra Avenue around the intersection of Chadwick Way in Cotati. There they found a Chevy van with items taken during the robbery inside, including the victims television, laptop and jewelry. Police arrested the five people inside the van: 19-year-old Anissa Rose Roman, 20-year-old Robert Carlos Martinez, 20-year-old Jose Edgar Bautista, 18-year-old Esmeralda Bejar, all of Santa Rosa, and 18-year-old Maria Fernanda Herrera of Rohnert Park. Officers at the original robbery scene had also used an app on the victims iPhone to locate the device, also leading them to East Sierra Avenue. Police searching the surrounding area spotted a bag and clothing next to an open gate on Chadwick Way in Cotati. Then, police began a search that involved Cotatis canine, Remo, a German shepherd and Belgian Malinois mix. Remo barked to alert police that there was something suspicious underneath a deck. Police found and arrested 18-year-old Alex Cardenas and 19-year-old Hector David Carranza-Pineda, both from Santa Rosa, who were hiding in that space. Police said they also found a BB handgun that had a fake light and silencer, which Cardenas had at his side. All seven suspects were brought to Sonoma County Jail and booked on suspicion of robbery, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a crime. Bail was set at $225,000 per individual suspect, said Rohnert Park police sergeant David Sutter. Sutter said as of Saturday night, it did not appear that the suspects had been involved with robberies or similar crimes in the past and the victims house seemed to be chosen at random. He said the victim did not know any of the suspects before the robbery and that this home invasion was not part of a trend. Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: thewendylee Using police data, medical examiner records and district attorney reports, The Chronicle reviewed 15 years of officer-involved shootings in San Francisco. Such incidents have prompted calls for reforms of the citys Police Department and were central in the resignation Thursday of Police Chief Greg Suhr. Between 2000 and 2015, there have been 95 reported shootings involving San Francisco police officers, including 40 fatal ones, according to police data (officer suicides and accidental discharges were excluded). While the number of police shootings in recent years has remained relatively flat, fatal shootings have spiked. Last year San Francisco police shot and killed six people, the highest count in more than 15 years, sparking outcry from some concerned about an escalating use of lethal force. Suhr acknowledged the increase in an interview with The Chronicle before his resignation, saying: Were trying to figure out what we can do in terms of de-escalation (training), time and distance, anything to not have more officer-involved shootings. The vast majority of San Francisco police officers go their entire careers without firing a weapon at someone. Since 2000, roughly 160 officers have been named in a shooting, out of a sworn force that has hovered around 2,200. The figure does not include incidents currently under investigation. Only six individuals were involved in more than one shooting. During his 35 years in law enforcement, Suhr said, he never fired his gun in the line of duty. The demographics of shooting victims in San Francisco differed from those in most other Bay Area cities. While the shooting deaths of Alex Nieto, Amilcar Perez-Lopez, Mario Woods and Luis Gongora who were all black or Latino have been the focus of recent scrutiny, many people fatally shot by San Francisco police over the past five years have been white, according to medical examiner records. By contrast, nine of the 10 people shot and killed by Oakland Police Department officers over that time period were African American. Of the 15 people fatally shot by San Jose police, almost half were Latino. Of the eight people fatally shot by San Francisco police since the beginning of 2015, four were Latino, two African American and two white. More than 60 percent of all fatal shootings by San Francisco police since 2010 involved people with mental health problems or who were acting erratically at the time of the incident, according to past reporting by The Chronicle. The department responds to an average of 400 calls per month involving such people, according to Suhr. Thats a lot of people in a lot of crisis, he said. Since 2000, most of those shot by officers in San Francisco were reportedly armed, according to police records. Firearms were the most common weapon police faced, followed by moving vehicles and knives. In 11 incidents two of them fatal those shot were not known to be armed. While officers can use lethal force when they feel that their lives, or the lives of someone else, is in imminent danger, the presence of a weapon doesnt necessarily justify a shooting. It really depends on what is done with the weapon, said John Crew, former ACLU lawyer and police watchdog. The possession of something that could be used as a weapon is an inherently dangerous situation, but that alone isnt a threat of imminent danger of death or serious injury. While no officer-involved shootings have resulted in criminal charges in San Francisco since 2000, police have determined four of those shootings to be in violation of department policy (excluding suicides and accidental discharges). At least two of those involved officers firing a gun at a moving vehicle, a practice discouraged by federal guidelines and restricted by some police departments. The Los Angeles Police Department, Miami Police Department and Denver Police Department are among those that prohibit shooting at a moving car unless the driver is armed with another weapon as well. The San Francisco Police Department is considering similar guidelines. The practice is under renewed scrutiny after a police officer shot and killed an African American woman in the Bayview district Thursday after she crashed her vehicle and was trying to dislodge it from beneath a truck. Police said there was no immediate indication the woman was armed or was driving toward officers when she was shot. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Mayor Ed Lee reportedly said early reports of the incident made him very uneasy before he asked Suhr to resign. San Francisco has also seen an increase in less severe uses of force, actions ranging from grabbing a suspect by the wrist to placing one in a choke hold or firing a gun. In 2009, San Francisco police reported 874 use-of-force incidents, according to records from the departments Early Intervention System, which tracks potential at-risk behavior among officers. The number steadily increased through last year, when it hit 1,051, a 20 percent increase over 2009. Some districts in the city saw particularly big increases. In the Tenderloin, use-of-force incidents nearly doubled, from 80 in 2009 to 156 last year. In the Mission Police District, the number of incidents increased by 50 percent, from 96 to 145. If any department had data showing a significant uptick in uses of force department-wide, station-wide, or among officers using force more frequently than their peers they should want to know why, Crew said. Sgt. Stacy Youngblood, who oversees the departments tracking system, said a rise in use of force isnt necessarily a red flag; it could be a reflection of deployment patterns or other factors. Chronicle staff writer Vivian Ho contributed to this report. Joaquin Palomino is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jpalomino@sfchronicle.com Twitter: JoaquinPalomino This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The fifth-grade students had studied the founding fathers and read about the meaning of democracy. They had learned about the tired, the poor and the huddled masses who came to this country in search of a better life. But as they sat in the balcony of Oaklands Paramount Theatre last week, looking down on 955 people with their right hands raised as they became citizens of the United States, they realized all that stuff didnt just exist in books. This was social studies in real life. Civics in 3-D with surround sound, featuring new Americans from 92 countries who couldnt wait to vote. This civics stuff, the San Francisco kids realized, was a big deal. That was the whole point, said their teacher, Mary McKeever. She knew this ritual well, having taken the same Oath of Allegiance a few years earlier after emigrating from Ireland. And on this day, she stood on the stage, the keynote speaker, congratulating her now-fellow Americans. Up in the balcony, a few of the St. Philip the Apostle School students sniffled and blinked away their emotion as the ceremony concluded with a video featuring immigrants from all over the world taking the oath, smiling, waving red, white and blue flags, and wiping away their own tears. Seeing the expressions on peoples faces and them waving the flags and now they can vote, said Eleanor Mullen, 10. We take all that stuff for granted. Brian Feulner/Special to The Chronicle Naming countries of birth It was a scene that plays out regularly in cities across the country in theaters, courtrooms, schools, government offices and outdoor arenas with 780,000 new Americans taking the oath in 2015, including about 1,000 in Oakland every two weeks. During Wednesdays ceremony in Oakland, federal officials asked the immigrants to stand as their countries of birth were called out: Japan, Tunisia, Colombia, the Philippines, Vietnam, China, France, Australia. Many of those taking the oath wore clothes associated with their native culture, their hand gripping an American flag. Joseph Hubbard, 10, liked that part. I thought it was really emotional, and I thought it was a great thing to see, he said. Seeing all the faces from around the world, they seemed really happy. He and his classmates learned about the melting pot, full of generations of immigrants blending their cultures and backgrounds. McKeever coined a more modern expression: the everything bagel. And she brought a bit of Irish to that bagel. Embracing rights Born in Ireland, she came to the U.S. in 2000 and then took the oath herself in 2012 during a special ceremony at her school in San Franciscos Noe Valley. Her students at the time had helped her study for the citizenship test, quizzing her in class and learning the fifth-grade curriculum in the process. I felt this was my new home, and I wanted to fully embrace that and have all the rights and privileges of a citizen, she said. The process to get there wasnt easy. To qualify for citizenship, one must be at least 18, have a green card and have lived in the United States for five years or three if married to a citizen. Good moral character is also a must. Once those conditions are met, an application for citizenship starts the official process, which costs $685 and includes fingerprinting, a background check and ultimately a formal interview with a naturalization officer. The interview includes a writing and reading test to ensure competency in English as well as a dreaded oral government and history test. Applicants must answer six of 10 civics questions correctly to pass. If you study for it, anyone can pass it, said Claire Nicholson, public affairs officer for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, adding that 91 percent of applicants make the grade. If all goes well, moving from application to oath takes about six months. McKeever remembered what it felt like to raise her right hand and call herself an American. After teaching her students about citizenship, U.S. history, the Constitution and democracy, she wanted them to know not only what that all means on a test, but also what it means in the real world. An end-of-year field trip to a naturalization ceremony was the answer. And when the keynote speaker booked for the Wednesday event canceled at the last minute, McKeever agreed to step in. She offered an official congratulations and shared her personal story with the new Americans sitting in the orchestra seats, while her 28 students watched from the balcony. Becoming an American wont change the person you were coming into the theater today, she said. But it allows you to become the best person you can be. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: jilltucker Can you pass the test? Applicants for U.S. citizenship must pass a civics test, answering six out of 10 questions correctly during a required interview. Try your hand at the 10 sample questions below: 1. How many amendments does the Constitution have? 2. Why do some states have more representatives than other states? 3. Who is the chief justice on the Supreme Court now? COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. 4. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the states. What is one power of the states? 5. What is the name of the speaker of the House of Representatives now? 6. When was the Constitution written? 7. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers. 8. What did Susan B. Anthony do? 9. Name one U.S. territory. 10. Who was the president during World War I? Answers on page C11 Answers 1. 27 2. Because they have more people/because of the states population 3. John Roberts 4. Provide schooling and education; provide protection (police); provide safety (fire department); give a drivers license; approve zoning and land use 5. Paul Ryan 6. 1787 7. James Madison; Alexander Hamilton; John Jay; Publius 8. Fought for womens rights/fought for civil rights 9. Puerto Rico; U.S. Virgin Islands; American Samoa; Northern Mariana Islands; Guam 10. Woodrow Wilson Chris Rock, wearing a white dinner jacket, delivered what will be one of the most remembered opening monologues in the 88-year history of the Oscars on Sunday night from the stage of the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. It was funny, it was smart and, most of all, when you stopped laughing, it should have made you think. No one could have asked for more. For weeks, everyone wondered what he would say about the fact that there are no African Americans among this years nominees for the acting categories. Would Rock even go through with the hosting gig? Or would he follow others like Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee and boycott the ceremony? Well, Rock showed up, and then some. Comically, he killed in his opening monologue, but it will still cause controversy among those who think the issue of racism in Hollywood is no laughing matter. It isnt, but then again, humor doesnt always trivialize its targets: It can also nudge us toward considering those issues from different points of view. From the moment Rock called the Oscars The White Peoples Choice Awards, through the moment he greeted the audience after a commercial with the line, Ah, and were black, Rock was brilliant and in control. He wondered aloud why this years Oscars are so controversial. Since the Academy Awards have been handed out for 88 years, that means that this whole black-nominees thing has happened at least 71 other times. Black people didnt protest the all-white list of nominees in the 50s and 60s, he said, because we were too busy being raped and lynched. When your grandmother is swinging from a tree, its really hard to care about best cinematography short, he cracked. He never let up, and in the process of slinging one brilliant joke after another, managed to do the seemingly impossible: He both homed in on the real basis of the controversy and temporarily defused it. The real issue, he said via a joke about attending a Hollywood fundraiser for President Obama, is that the industry is filled with writers, producers and actors who dont hire black people but are the nicest people on Earth. Theyre liberals. Fantasy casts The Oscars attempt to defuse the controversy with humor continued with a hilarious montage, reimagining several Oscar-nominated films recast with African American actors. Tracy Morgan in full drag as The Danish Girl? Whoopi Goldberg doing a walk-on in Joy as a mop-slinging cleaning lady; Chris Rock marooned in space a la The Martian, while Jeff Daniels and Kristen Wiig bemoaned the cost of having to bring the black astronaut back to Earth. The montage was effective, and yet you may have watched it with the thought that actors in the original films, people like Jennifer Lawrence, Matt Damon and Eddie Redmayne no doubt among those previously cited nicest people on Earth should have enough clout in the industry to demand that more African Americans and other people of color be hired for their films. Another effective segment came with Angela Bassett doing a mock Black History Moment, in which she seemed to be walking up to honoring Will Smith but instead cited the contributions of Jack Black. There was a minimum of direct speechifying about the diversity issue, although Kevin Hart, introducing a best song performance by the Weeknd, took a moment to applaud all my actors and actresses of color who werent nominated. These problems of today will eventually become problems of the old, he said, as if trying to explain why he wasnt boycotting the ceremony. Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs did what she had to do, offering a rose-colored We Are the World-style speech about the academys plan to increase diversity over the next few years. Everyone in the Hollywood community has a role to play, she said, so that we can accurately reflect the world today. Translation: The academy can do only so much until those aforementioned nicest people on Earth decide that theyll hire people of color behind and in front of the cameras. To my mind, the moment when every white person in Hollywood should have stopped laughing came when Rock went to a movie theater in Compton and interviewed audience members, seeking their opinions on the nominated films Trumbo, Spotlight, etc. No one had ever heard of those movies. Yeah, it was funny, but it also reminded Hollywood that by failing to make a real effort to diversify its films, it is telling an enormous segment of the American population that its money isnt needed. Rock was an equal opportunity humorist with his diversity-based jokes. At the usual point when the academys accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers is announced, two Asian kids and a kid named David Moskowitz walked on stage with tiny briefcases. If anybodys upset about that joke, just tweet about it on your phone, which was also made by these kids, Rock quipped. Aside from Rock and the strategy of facing the diversity controversy with humor, how was the show itself? Actually, not bad. The academy tried to keep up the pace of the show with a new gimmick: For the first time, as winners made their way to the stage, the people, pets and deities they wanted to thank were scrolled across the bottom of the screen. Well, nice try, academy (something well probably be saying next year when there still wont be enough people of color in the nominees list). The scrolling didnt do that much to cut down on the onstage bloviating, and it still ran late. Time to get serious What everyone will be talking about on Monday, and perhaps for a while, is whether humor was appropriate or effective in addressing the academys problem with diversity. To be sure, it would have bombed if an African American host hadnt set the pace with such brilliance. Fortunately, the white Oscar winners seemed to know better than to chance being seen as disingenuous by talking about the diversity issue, when many of them, in fact, have been lax in doing something about the problem. Jokes aside, as it were, the humor may have been entertaining and diverting for a few hours Sunday night. But now its time for the film industry to stop laughing and get serious about diversity. In fact, its well past time. David Wiegand is an assistant managing editor and the TV critic of The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: dwiegand@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @WaitWhat_TV Arriving for the opening party at the new Gagosian Gallery, just opposite the new SFMOMA, I glanced across the street and saw two men on ladders with squeegees, working on the gigantic windows at the front of the museum. What? The museum opened less than a few days ago, and they already have to wash the windows? Is this a design flaw? Hot on the case let the investigative team write about Bay Bridge design flaws, but Im going after the art stuff I raced across the street to interrogate the workmen. ... A few moments later, surrounded by swells at the gallery opening, the windows were forgotten. The exhibition, Plane.Site, featured works in pairs, sculptures and drawings that seemed inspired by each other or at least related. The artists are well-known Jasper Johns, Cy Twombly, Richard Serra, Roy Lichtenstein, David Ireland, Louise Bourgeois, Bruce Nauman and everything, of course, was for sale. I asked about prices, but there wasnt a paper list of those, and a woman at the counter said that a sales associate could provide them. I didnt want to waste a salespersons time with an inquiry that wasnt going to end up with me pulling out my credit card, but Im pretty sure a purchase wouldnt fit into my budget. But there was another party going on within spitting distance. And after a while, I left Gagosian and opened the door right next door, at the top of the stairs to the entrance. Therein, Tom Marionis Society of Independent Artists was having its weekly gathering, members some of whom have works in the museum across the street sipping thirst-quenchers while perched at the bar/counter or lounging in a banquette, shooting the breeze about art. One might compare and contrast. (No food or drink at Gagosian.) Or one might realize that the side-by-side institutions, particularly with SFMOMA across the street, demonstrate that theres room for everyone, even under one San Francisco roof. ... As to those workmen, they werent washing the windows at all. They were squeegeeing the bubbles on a film they were applying to the glass to make it graffiti-proof. You might say they were preventing vandalism. Or you might say they were protecting SFMOMA from artists. Sometimes every detail of an item doesnt mesh. Art bits: The trio playing in front of a Wells Fargo bank in downtown Mill Valley had a sign saying, Money needed for collage. Andi Libberton-Bird overheard speculation about whether the fundraiser was for art school tuition. Meanwhile, at the San Francisco Art Institutes graduate exhibition, Amanda Michael (owner of Janes on Fillmore and in the Tenderloin) and real estate agent Michael Harrington came upon the work of masters of fine arts student Saniya Talhouk. They liked it so well that then and there they bought all 65 of the works on paper that she was showing. The artist was described as so excited that she burst into dance. Strange de Jim says SFMOMAs new Living Wall is, I understand, the best revenge. Michael Hackett and Francis Mill of the Hackett/Mill Gallery, which focuses on mid-20th century art, were invited to curate As I Am, Painting the Figure in Post-War San Francisco for an exhibition in February and March at the New York Studio School (the gallery of which is in the Greenwich Village digs of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, soon to be open to the public). The show is sumptuous, paintings by David Park, Paul Wonner, Richard Diebenkorn, Elmer Bischoff and others. Their works are much-admired, but it still takes pounding the pavement for them, says Mill. The works are not for sale; theyve been borrowed from the gallerys clients for the exhibition. Its a treasure of a show, and its open only until Friday, May 27. Peter Sussman asks, Whats the big deal about the $700,000 cost of the chancellors wall at UC Berkeley? We can just get Mexico to pay for it. Sorry to have to pass on the news from J.G., but the Center for Sex & Culture in San Francisco has announced that CSC will not host a live Masturbate-a-Thon this year. Youll have to do it yourselves. Ed Rose cites the sign in front of a pizzeria on Castro Street: Naked Servers + Free Beer + False Advertising. Open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: leahgarchik PUBLIC EAVESDROPPING First grade was a game changer. Boy to boy, overheard in Almaden Quicksilver Park by Peter Fargo 1 Solar plane: A solar-powered airplane that landed in Tulsa, Okla., last week was headed to Ohio on Saturday on the latest leg of its around-the-world journey. The Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 took off from Tulsa before 5 a.m. with a destination of Dayton International Airport. The flight was expected to take about 18 hours. On previous legs, the aircraft departed from Moffett Field in Mountain View on May 2 and landed in Phoenix 16 hours later. From there, it took off May 13 for the trip to Tulsa. The globe-circling voyage began in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. 2 Power struggle: Lawyers for ailing media mogul Sumner Redstone are seeking to remove two members of the board of the trust that will eventually control his media empire, which includes CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. Viacom Chief executive Philippe Dauman and George Abrams, a member of Viacoms board, were informed that they had been removed from the trust that will control Redstones companies after he dies or is declared incompetent. But Viacom, based in New York City, released a statement Saturday attacking the actions as inconsistent with Redstones wishes and contended they were being driven by Redstones daughter, Shari Redstone. It is clear that Shari Redstone has isolated her father and put his residence on lockdown, which provides clear evidence of her exercise of undue influence, the Viacom statement said. It was one of the most heinous crimes in San Francisco history. The sentence: seven years, eight months. The Chronicles front page from May 22, 1979, covers the verdict in the trial of Dan White, the former supervisor who shot dead two of the citys top officials. White was convicted by a jury of two counts of voluntary manslaughter yesterday for the killings of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in City Hall last November 27, read the story by Duffy Jennings on The Chronicles front page. White faced a possible death sentence if convicted of first-degree murder, but the jury was swayed, in part, by the infamous Twinkie defense. Attorneys argued that White couldnt have planned the killings because his depression diminished his mental capacity. As evidence, a psychiatrist pointed to Whites shift from healthy eating to a junk food habit that included Twinkies as a symptom of depression. No defense attorney could have convinced City Hall or San Franciscos gay community that White wasnt a murderer. (Click to enlarge) In a long night of looting, burning and chants for vengeance, more than five thousand demonstrators, many of them gay, rampaged through Civic Center and nearby neighborhoods last night in violent protest of the manslaughter verdict against Dan White, the story by Katy Butler near the bottom of the page read. It began as a quiet march of shocked and grieved gays from Castro and Market Street at about 7 p.m. But the mood quickly became disorganized and chaotic as demonstrators arrived at City Hall and night fell. Inside City Hall earlier in the day, shock and disgust reigned. Mayor Dianne Feinstein, her eyes glistening with tears, reacted to the verdict with disbelief, the story by Marshall Kilduff and Eugene Robinson read. As far as Im concerned, these were two murders, Feinstein told reporters. This raises the question of who gets what kind of penalty and why. See more front pages: Go to SFChronicle.com/covers to search a database of hundreds of Chronicle Covers articles that showcase the newspaper's history. The Chronicle Covers project highlights one classic Chronicle newspaper page from our archive every day for 366 days. Library director Bill Van Niekerken, art director Danielle Mollette-Parks, producer Michelle Devera and editorial assistant Jillian Sullivan contributed to the project. Tim ORourke is the executive producer and editor of SFChronicle.com. Email: torourke@sfchronicle.com Twitter: TimothyORourke SACRAMENTO A group that lobbies to change public education is pouring money into a handful of Northern California legislative races ahead of the June 7 election, in an an attempt to influence the kind of Democrats who hold power in the state Capitol. Democrats make up a solid majority of the Legislature, but they do not agree on everything. A band of business-friendly Democrats has gained enough clout to buck more liberal Democrats on some environmental issues. Campaign spending by EdVoice, an advocacy group that supports charter schools and tying student test scores to teacher evaluations, reveals an attempt to build a cohort of Democrats who might break from their colleagues on some education issues, too. At stake are pressing questions about how to help the most disadvantaged students succeed in the nations largest public school system. In California, were fighting over shades of Democrat, said political consultant Phil Giarrizzo, who represents Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, one of the Democrats backed by EdVoice. Longtime influence Teachers unions have been a prevailing influence on Democrats for decades. EdVoice, funded by philanthropists from the business world, is part of a counterforce that often supports policies opposed by organized labor. Unions and school reformers have sparred over charter schools, teacher tenure and how to measure school performance dividing Democrats at many levels of government. The tension has been obvious in the administration of President Obama, who has come under fire from national teachers unions. It surfaced in Californias 2014 race for state superintendent, when the California Teachers Association spent big to elect Democrat Tom Torlakson, while reform groups put money behind Democratic challenger Marshall Tuck. Cluster of races Now its emerging in a cluster of legislative races that stretch from Concord and Vallejo to rural swaths of Yolo and Napa counties. With super PAC-style independent expenditures, EdVoice spent nearly $2.3 million as of May 17 on four races, blanketing the region with mailers supporting Democrats who are not endorsed by the California Teachers Association. EdVoice has spent more on these races in the last month than the candidates themselves did in the first four months of the year. On May 16, the group poured about $86,000 into a fifth race in Silicon Valley. Two of the races are for open Assembly seats and demonstrate a clear schism between EdVoice, supporting lesser-known Democrats, and the CTA, backing those with family ties to elected officials: In the Fourth Assembly District mostly Napa, Yolo and Sonoma counties EdVoice is supporting Aguiar-Curry, the mayor of Winters (Yolo County). The teachers union has endorsed Davis Mayor Dan Wolk, son of outgoing Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis. In the 14th Assembly District, mostly Contra Costa and Solano counties, EdVoice is supporting Concord Mayor Tim Grayson, while the union is backing Torlaksons wife, Mae Torlakson. Holding back Wolk and Mae Torlakson each received $8,500 contributions from the teachers union, but the union has not spent money on independent campaigns so far. Teachers association spokeswoman Claudia Briggs wouldnt say if the union plans to do so. Its endorsements, she said, reflect vetting by local teachers and school employees. The candidate that gets their recommendation is somebody who is committed to working alongside them to make sure our students across this state have everything they need, Briggs said. The other two races where EdVoice is funding campaigns are in Senate districts where the teachers union has not made endorsements. EdVoice is supporting incumbent Sen. Steve Glazer of Orinda, a moderate Democrat who was opposed by labor in earlier elections, and Assemblyman Bill Dodd of Napa, a former Republican who registered as a Democrat in 2012. EdVoice and a coalition of civil rights groups have been pushing the state to establish a more rigorous system for evaluating schools. The groups president, Bill Lucia, said that he hopes the issue will attract more attention from future legislators. The Legislature has been too passive on (school) accountability and has more work to do, Lucia said. Big donors Major donors to the EdVoice campaigns include Southern California businessman Bill Bloomfield, Silicon Valley investor Arthur Rock and Walmart heir Carrie Walton Penner. The committee has spent about $138,000 attacking Mae Torlakson, who calls herself the progressive Democrat in the Contra Costa-centered race. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Im going to fight for common people, and these billionaires are trying to stop me from doing that, she said. Grayson, her opponent, said he would align himself with the Legislatures moderate Democrats. He said hes up against a candidate with strong name recognition. People relate that name with education because thats (Tom Torlaksons) roots, Grayson said. Split over charter schools North of them, in the Yolo County-centered race, Wolk said he does not support charter schools and believes teachers have been unfairly blamed for many of the failures of our public education system. Aguiar-Curry said she supports charter schools and would work with teachers, even though she didnt receive their endorsement. I support them 110 percent, she said. In both Assembly races, the primary election carries high stakes for Democrats. Under Californias open primary, the top two candidates regardless of party advance to the general election. Because of the makeup of these districts and the pool of candidates, its likely that one Democrat and one Republican will finish in the top two. That means the Democrat who wins in June will, in all probability, be sworn into office at the end of the year. CALmatters is a nonprofit journalism venture dedicated to explaining state policies and politics. For more news analysis by Laurel Rosenhall, go to https://calmatters.org/newsanalysis. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate If you could choose to be any animal, bird or fish any living creature in nature, free on Earth what would it be? The answers from youngsters ages 8 to 12 might surprise you. Out of the mouths of babes, as the saying goes, often comes wisdom as well as insights into their lives. Your answer might provide a look at your own view of the world. At an assembly for grade-school kids this past week, I asked each student to pick the wild creature he or she would most want to be and then explain why on an index card. For any age, this can be a fun exercise at a campfire circle. It was part of a wildlife seminar with a series of about 70 photos and a lot of spontaneous banter with the kids. They grasped quickly that wildlife need water, food, protective areas and often a buffer zone around them to survive. Even second-graders quickly got why some areas support lots of wildlife and some none at all. Every study shows that if children are introduced to nature and the outdoors by age 12, they are likely to take part in outdoor recreation and learn to protect nature for the rest of their lives. The opposite is also true, if they do not participate in the outdoors by age 12: They are unlikely to ever want to hike, bike, fish and camp, and feel no self-interest to protect nature. That puts it on parents, schools and youth groups to break the barrier. For this story, the school and location are kept confidential to protect their privacy. Many of the kids told me that they are excited about leaving the city this summer, going to parks, camping and maybe even what they feel is the pinnacle of the outdoors, seeing their first bear. In a show of hands, I asked how many would want to be a bird. About 65 to 70 percent, and virtually all of the girls, raised their hands. I then asked how many would want to be a big animal, and nearly all of the older boys waved urgently. In a review of their submissions, they picked 25 different critters. Many collaborated to make their picks, and there are always some outrageous surprises. What would you pick? Bald eagle was selected twice as much as any other wild critter. I want to see a lot of the world, wrote Tahoe Renee Haverty. I love to look at the sky, clouds, sunsets and weather. They can fly and are able to go any distance, wrote Georgia Walder. They are good hunters, said Hattie Miller, great fliers. In addition to flying, there were similar fascinations for the ability to swim long distances in the open ocean or roaming the mountains without fear. For second place, dolphin, sea turtle, whale, bobcat and mountain lion were chosen about evenly. I would like to be a dolphin or humpback whale, wrote Lauren Hedtke. I would love to swim like a dolphin. Byrin, a 12-year-old, agreed with that. I would be a dolphin because I would get to play all day and I would not be eaten. Added Allie Whitworth, Because I would swim across the sea. Among wild animals, the bobcat drew the most votes. They are very agile, wrote Luca P. They can climb trees, and if they fall, they always land on their feet. Added Boshariah: Bobcats are extremely fast and they are feared by most animals. I pick mountain lion, wrote Samuel Blankenburg. They are silent, smart and skilled at hunting. Added Thomas Wolroth. I like how high they jump and how well they hunt. Safety is a common theme among the youngsters. They almost never selected a species that predators would consider as prey. I would like to be a bear, wrote Drago, who used only a first name. If I was a bear, I could always be lazy and I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted to do it. Everett liked that idea, too. I wish I could be a bear because then I can dominate the world! Other selections were deer, hummingbird, duck, owl, blue jay, fox, wild horse, wolf, bunny, trout, blowfish, baboon, chimpanzee, chicken, pig and drongo. In groups, there are always those with a perspective on the world like no one else. So it was here as well. I would like to be a pig, wrote Jaden Larson. Pigs are one of the most calm of all animals. Id be a drongo, a South African bird that can imitate the warning calls of other birds and mammals, wrote Andrew Boucher. It would mean that I wouldnt have to find any food (because drongos imitate predators to create false alarms to make other wildlife drop their prey, which the drongo then steals). I would like to be a tiger, wrote Sophia DeKellis. They are independent and free. They dont have predators. They are fast and do whatever they want. A sixth-grader named Irwin had a unique idea. I want to be Bigfoot, he wrote. I want to be able to stay warm in the winter without any clothes on. OPELIKA, Ala. Shrewd, intelligent and disciplined, House Speaker Mike Hubbard was the general of the GOP offensive in 2010 to win Republican control of the Alabama Legislature, a body that had been under the direction of Democrats since Reconstruction. The 2010 campaigns were bolstered by a series of indictments and scandals involving Democrats, which provided easy campaign fodder for the GOP. After winning, Republicans, in a victory lap special session, passed sweeping new ethics legislation. Ethics was a subject that set Republicans apart from the Democrats, Hubbard wrote in his book Storming the Statehouse about the 2010 campaign. Six years later, Hubbard will go on trial under that same ethics law on charges that he used his political positions to profit and obtain financial favors from lobbyists and company heads with business before the Alabama Legislature. Hubbard faces 23 felony ethics charges accusing him of steering GOP campaign work to his media companies and using his office to obtain employment, investments and benefits for his companies. Opening statements are expected Tuesday in whats become a season of scandal in Alabama, with embarrassments facing three top GOP office holders. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has faced calls for his impeachment following a sex-tinged scandal involving a former top aide. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore faces possible ouster over accusations that he violated canons of judicial ethics by trying to block same-sex weddings, despite the U.S. Supreme Court decision effectively legalizing gay marriage nationwide. The high-profile corruption case against Hubbard will bring a roster of the states political and corporate elite into an Opelika courtroom as prosecutors call to the stand Gov. Robert Bentley, former Gov. Bob Riley, heads of corporations and prominent lobbyists powerful people from whom Hubbard asked for investments or help for his clients, according to prosecutors. Hubbard, 54 and a native of Georgia, was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1998 and later became minority leader in the House and chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. After the 2010 victory, Hubbard was elected speaker. The trial will take place a few miles from Hubbards home in Lee County, best known as the location of Auburn University and where Hubbard has left his mark on the landscape through state funding he secured for various projects. Mike Hubbard Boulevard leads to Auburns airport. Theres also the Mike Hubbard Center for Advanced Science, Innovation and Commerce, a university building at the citys research park. Im confident when the truth comes out that I will be exonerated and my name cleared, Hubbard said in a January interview. WASHINGTON As the rift between Sen. Bernie Sanders supporters and Hillary Clintons expands into anger and even some violent threats, many Democrats are pointing to a potential bridge: Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The Massachusetts senator is one of the few figures in the Democratic Party who carries as much credibility with the partys restive left wing as Sanders, the Vermont independent. But as Democrats ask if Warren can help corral Sanders backers, a second question emerges: What does Warren want? The endgame of the Democratic primaries will shape the bigger contest for influence in the party over the next four years, one in which Warren and Sanders could prove to be allies or rivals. That potential adds even more intrigue to an already fraught situation. Warren already has taken public steps to position herself as an influential player. A series of Twitter wars with Donald Trump, in which she has attacked the New York businessman as a phony populist, has enhanced her already high popularity among Democrats. Warren, who carefully calculates when and how she uses her voice, declined an interview request. Clintons campaign did not respond to requests for comment. Key to Warrens power is the belief among loyalists that she cannot be co-opted. And even as she has signaled a willingness to help Clinton win the presidency, Warrens alliance with the former secretary of state is unlikely to be permanent or easy. Its no mystery that Elizabeth has skepticism about Hillary Clintons positions on Wall Street matters and the people who advise her on those issues, said Dennis Kelleher, a close Warren ally since the 1990s who heads a Wall Street watchdog group called Better Markets. Clintons got an interest in bringing Warren into the fold, and Warrens got an interest in bringing Clinton to the right place on the issues she cares about, he added. More likely, Clinton will have to decide how much influence to give Warren in crafting policy in her campaign and, potentially, her administration. Overall, the relationship may work better if Warren stays an outside ally, rather than a figure inside the administration, say people who have worked with both women. Whether shes on the inside or the outside, Elizabeth Warren is going to say and do what Elizabeth Warren thinks is the right thing to say or do, and thats a virtue, said David Axelrod, the former strategist and senior White House aide to Obama. But it isnt necessarily a virtue if youre trying to script a campaign or an administration. Monday, May 23, is the last day to register to vote in the June 7 primary election. Only voters who have completed their registration by midnight will be allowed to cast ballots. California residents 18 and older can register for the first time or update their current registrations at their county election offices, such as in City Hall in San Francisco, or online at www.registertovote.ca.gov. HANOI, Vietnam Just hours before President Obamas first visit to Vietnam, the country voted Sunday in once-every-five-year elections for a rubber-stamp parliament whose membership has already been largely determined by the Communist Party. Amid worries about soaring public debt, a serious budget deficit and Chinas aggressive claims in nearby seas, theres also high hope for Obamas visit, both in the government, which wants him to lift an arms export embargo so it can better deal with Beijing, and among rights activists who want him to hold to account a repressive one-party state seen as treating its critics abysmally. 1 Canada wildfires: Alberta officials lifted mandatory evacuation orders Saturday in some areas north of Fort McMurray, where a raging wildfire has forced evacuations and the closure of oil sands operations. Suncor Energy Inc. and Syncrude will now be able to resume their idled oil sands operations. Northern Alberta is the heart of Canadas oil sands industry and the effects of the enormous wildfire on the oil sector have prompted forecasters to trim their 2016 economic growth predictions for the entire country. The blaze, which began May 1, has scorched 1,930 square miles. 2 Volcanic eruption: A volcano in western Indonesia spewed hot clouds of ash Saturday, killing three villagers and injuring four others, an official said. Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province blasted volcanic ash as high as 2 miles into the sky, said a National Disaster Management Agency spokesman. Ash tumbled down the slopes as far as 3 miles westward into a river. The 8,530-foot-high mountain had been dormant for four centuries before springing to life in August 2010, killing two people and forcing 30,000 to flee. An eruption in February 2014 killed 16 people. WASHINGTON The United States conducted an air strike Saturday against Taliban leader Mullah Mansour, the Pentagon said, and a U.S. official said Mansour was believed to have been killed. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the attack occurred in a remote region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. He said the U.S. was studying the results of the attack. Wellington-based online electricity retailer Flick said it's scoping overseas markets for expansion in a bid to build the scale it needs to reach profitability after winning the Vocus Communications Innovative Services award at the annual Hi-Tech awards in Auckland. The two-year-old start-up has attracted 10,600 customers, offering electricity at spot-market electricity prices while consistently being below the major electricity retailers tariffs in recent times. Growth has been enabled by the roll-out of smart meters now spread around 65 percent of the country and above 90 percent in main urban areas. Electricity Authority (EA) figures show Flicks 30 percent monthly growth means its leading the pack of new entrants in fast growth, though the market continues to be dominated by the top five gen-tailers. Chief executive Steve OConnor said it was around a third of the way to hitting the customer numbers needed for profitability, despite adding 50 customers a day. Were not profitable yet and thats the challenge. New Zealands rate of customer switching for power is among the world's highest, with churn averaging around 22 percent. OConnor said his company is about a third of that, mainly due to customers shifting to areas Flick cant service or that dont have the necessary smart meters. Our voluntary churn is especially low, he said. Industry participants predict the number of competing companies for electricity supply will grow from more than 20 now to up to 50 in a few years. O'Connor says scale is crucial, but says too many new entrants aren't offering consumers a differentiated product and are likely to fail against the big players. He has been looking at what overseas markets would be worth expanding its technology platform into, with the Australian state of Victoria, which has smart meters, looking attractive. In 12 to 18 months it will be time to move into other markets, he says, though that is likely to be in conjunction with a local partner or a well-funded entity outside the industry wanting to enter the fray. Community-owned Eastland, which owns the Gisborne area electricity network, became a cornerstone shareholder in Flick last December. It took an 11.1 percent shareholding for $2.2 million as part of Flicks $5 million second capital-raising. The original investor, Evander Group, now holds 10.2 percent. OConnor says Flick has also launched an employee share ownership scheme for its 40 staff. Hes aiming to list the company, potentially next year, though its claimed $21 million or so turnover is still well shy of the $50 million required to list on the NZXs main board. Flick is one of the few industry players to publicly support the EAs recommendations on who should pay what for access to the national grid, which suggested charging less to consumers in many parts of the South Island and lower North Island while raising the prices for most others. OConnor says any move that better reflects the cost of supply to the end-user will help New Zealanders better understand how the system works, with some big investment decisions looming in the next few years. Costs associated with accessing the national grid, managed by Transpower, comprise about 10 percent of the average household bill. Flick passes on to customers the costs of getting power to their place generation, transmission, distribution and metering at wholesale prices without mark-up, charging a separate retail fee. The commercial risk of playing the electricity spot market, which changes every half hour depending on supply and demand, sits with customers compared to the established industry model of charging a fixed rate per kilowatt-hour. Flick claims customers save an average of 19 per cent on their bills compared to their previous retailer. BusinessDesk.co.nz Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: October 25th Morning Report Mainfreight Investor Day / Market Update GFI - Greenfern - Offer closes 27th Oct MCY - Quarterly Operational Update VCT - Operational performance for the 3 months ended 30 Sept 2022 NZL - Forestry Estate Acquisition October 21st Morning Report Air New Zealand Limited Retail Bond Offer Books Close Spark welcomes C-band spectrum allocation AIA - 2022 Annual Meeting Chair & Chief Executive Addresses STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A passionate group of borough comic book lovers had big ideas about throwing their own version of a "Comic Con" convention -- but could they pull off this heroic feat? Never fear: New Dorp Comic Com came to their rescue Saturday with a BANG! POW! BOOM! at New Dorp High School. Students and staffers hosted an all-ages art gallery display and sold graphic novels they created themselves while vendors, raffles, a costume contest and a Live Action Role Play (LARP) arena gave diehard fans much to celebrate. The best part: Staten Island's comic book store trinity joined forces to make sure this inaugural event went off without a hitch. That's right, JHU Comics of New Dorp, Comic Book Jones of Mariners Harbor and Hypno-Tronic Comics of St. George were all in the house as fanboys and fangirls came together to create a united front for S.I.'s very own version of Comic Con. Like the New York and San Diego incarnations that inspired it, New Dorp Comic Con 2016 (yes, there are already rumors of annual event status) hosted several panels and events throughout the day: From prestigious writers and artists to comic book experts teaching guests about the history of comic book collecting and how to become a collector. Perhaps borough-based artist Christopher J. Sorrentino summed up the event's appeal best: "I honestly feel like the pendulum swings both ways and right now it's in favor of the comic culture side. What's more important is the way that the generations are connecting from it. Comic book titles that were read by the old guard in the 1960s are now the youth of today's favorite films. Genre favorites like 'Star Wars,' 'Star Trek' and 'Ghostbusters' are coming back with new films, toys and comics decades later and proving that they are still beloved, viable properties to both the old and the young in the culture. The whole world went 'geek' and I hope we never look back." There wasn't a frown to be seen among guests and vendors alike: Check out the gallery above (thanks Christopher J. Sorrentino and Laura Bruij Williams!) and social media recap below for a glimpse of the fun. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- She was strangled. That's what prosecutors say caused the death of Obiamaka Aduba, 26. Her husband, Anthony Lopez, 31, is the man police believe wheeled her lifeless body down a Mariners Harbor street a metal dolly on Friday after he allegedly strangled her to death. Arraigned in Richmond County Supreme Court before Judge William Garnett on Sunday, Lopez plead not guilty to second degree murder. He was remanded on homicide without bail. Lopez was also arraigned on criminal mischief charges from earlier this month. Bail for the criminal mischief charges was set at $1,000; police said Lopez shattered woman's car and a side window with a brick. Both matters were adjourned until Tuesday. "Every loss of life is a tragedy, and the horrific circumstances surrounding the victim's death makes this case no less troubling," said District Attorney Michael E. McMahon. "My office takes any case involving allegations of domestic violence very seriously. I want to applaud the NYPD for their great work in locating and apprehending the defendant. We encourage the members of the community to call our domestic violence hotline at (718)-556-7167 for assistance," he said. Published reports say Aduba was the victim of domestic violence on many occasions. APPREHENDED ON SATURDAY Lopez, 31, was apprehended in East Harlem's 23rd Precinct on Saturday. He was taken into custody following a manhunt using helicopters and dogs. Police said they found Lopez while acting on a tip and that he was arrested following a brief foot chase. They added that he had shaved his head to disguise his appearance. Cops had been searching for Lopez since early Friday morning when an off-duty police officer observed him wheeling Aduba's lifeless body on a metal dolly in Mariners Harbor, police said. The officer reportedly recognized Lopez because he had arrested him in the past. The officer approached Lopez, who then dumped the body in front of a home on Post Lane and fled, according to cops. Aduba was wrapped in a sheet and had bruising on her body, but it wasn't immediately clear if the marks had anything to do with her death. The city medical examiner will determine the cause of death. PRIOR ARRESTS Lopez has a lengthy criminal history, including 34 prior arrests, 15 of which are sealed. Those prior arrests include charges of robbery, theft and assault, police said. FOLLOW Tracey Porpora on STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The power of social media was apparent on Saturday when a Kohl's representative gave a Texas mom a boatload of toys and gift cards worth $2,500 after she made a viral video of herself wearing a Chewbacca mask. The video made by Candace Payne -- who purchased the mask that roars when the wearer moves his or her mouth at a Kohl's store outside of Dallas -- boasts more than 10 million views. After putting the video on social media on Friday, it spread like wildfire across Facebook. Even the "real" Chewbacca, actor Peter Mayhew, who turned 72 the day the video released, tweeted about Payne. "I'm such a happy chewbacca.." This lady is still making me smile. Lovely video to come out on my birthday :) pic.twitter.com/khUizi6nFf Peter Mayhew (@TheWookieeRoars) May 21, 2016 Grateful for the plug for Kohl's, store representatives visited Payne's home on Saturday to drop off Chewbacca masks for the whole family. "Candace didn't want to share her Chewbacca mask. So we showed up to make sure she didn't have to! #AllTheGoodStuff," wrote Kohl's on its Facebook page. The happiest Chewbacca Candace didn't want to share her Chewbacca mask. So we showed up to make sure she didn't have to! #AllTheGoodStuff Posted by Kohl's on Saturday, May 21, 2016 Kohl's also gave the Texas mom and her family many Star Wars toys, and several gift cards worth $2,500, reports Fox. In addition, they gave Payne 10,000 reward points to use at their stores, said the report. On Facebook, Payne said: "Everyone should have a mask like this." FOLLOW Tracey Porpora on By POLICE INSPECTOR RICHARD BRUNO of West Brighton Now retired, Inspector Richard Bruno of West Brighton is former commander of the 120th Precinct. (Staten Island Advance) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- For the last 10 years on Staten Island we have seen the body count rise as oxycodone use segued into heroin addiction. Recently a video appeared on SILive depicting addicts, in broad daylight, shooting up in a car and then tossing the syringe in front of a well-groomed residence in Dongan Hills. The brazenness of such an action is symptomatic of a disinterested police department fueled by an aloof Mayor. Fighting the sale, possession and use of heroin, is nothing new for any municipality. The NYPD has been fighting heroin since the 1960s. It's a must win fight since heroin addicts are responsible for a very high percentage of residential and commercial burglaries, larcenies from vehicles, shoplifting, and a general degradation of quality of life in a neighborhood. AGGRESSIVE STRATEGY THAT WORKED Upon graduating from the Police Academy in 1986, I was assigned to Operation Pressure Point in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The press was having a field day reporting heroin being sold by moms from baby carriages and openly in storefronts. The 9th Precinct -- known as "Alphabet City" -- was regarded as the heroin capitol of the Eastern Seaboard. The media frenzy became a major embarrassment to Mayor Koch, not to mention the relationship between heroin and the AIDS epidemic, which was also in full bloom. In this 2005 photo, then-Deputy Inspector Richard Bruno views video surveillance footage in his office at the 120 Precinct stationhouse in St. George. (Staten Island Advance) MAYOR TAKES ACTION To Mayor Koch's credit, he formed a task force with the Manhattan DA's Office and the NYPD. Most importantly, he made it clear to the Police Commissioner and his commanders that he wanted aggressive policing, by legal means, to end the crisis. The tactics that were formulated during Operation Pressure Point, became the main frame of narcotics enforcement throughout the city for the next two decades and were utilized during the crack epidemic of the 1990s. These tactics included: Seizing vehicles of both users and sellers as evidence and civil forfeiture. Padlocking storefronts that were selling drugs. Ensuring every arrested user was debriefed to try to identify a dealer and obtain a search warrant for their residence. Cultivating arrested addicts and dealers into confidential informants to assist with narcotics investigations. Use of drug sniffing canines. Multi-agency raids on smoke shops that sell drug paraphernalia. Zero tolerance quality-of-life enforcement, i.e.: urination, public drinking, graffiti, littering, turnstile jumping, and -- yes -- sometimes jaywalking. Use of Penal Law Code 240.36, Loitering in the 1 Zero tolerance of criminal trespass statutes as they related to drug dealers and addicts loitering in commercial premises, residential hallways, or train stations. The establishment of narcotics zone prosecutors who would prosecute even the smallest case to the fullest extent of the law HELP FOR THE BOROUGH During this time, the NYPD quickly realized the borough-based Narcotics Divisions were too small to make a substantial impact. This 1994 photo shows Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit cops rush to the lobby of a Staten Island apartment complex in an attempt to arrest drug dealers. (Staten Island Advance) To assist the Narcotics Division, Precinct Commanders were directed to establish SNEU (Street Narcotics Enforcement Units). These teams, comprised of seven uniformed officers and a sergeant, would surveil drug sets and radio the field team each time they witnessed a transaction. These teams operating in precincts throughout the city resulted in thousands of quality arrests. In busy commands, such as the 120 Precinct, we had a double SNEU working 16 hours a day. NOW: NYPD 'LEGALLY NEUTERED' Needless to say, with the current state of politics in the city, much of the aforementioned heroin abatement tactics have been discontinued. The perceived heavy-handed SNEU teams that generated CCRB complaints, (mostly from arrested drug dealers) have long been disbanded in favor of gentler community policing. In many ways the finest police department in the world has been psychologically and legally neutered. With the nullification of Stop, Question and Frisk, the vacating of active arrest warrants, and quality of life ordinances being deemed unenforceable by the City Council, the "hands off" message from City Hall is crystal clear, and the cops are not stupid. We have the finest Police Commissioner in the world and the most effective arrows have been taken from his quiver. WHAT'S NEEDED While educations, treatment and rehabilitation are part of the equation, only aggressive policing can end the crisis. Staten Island needs an Operation Pressure Point Task Force. With the oxycodone crisis in the rearview mirror and heroin at $5 a bag, an exponential increase in addiction and death have already begun. Koch and Guiliani and their respective City Councils understood this blight and were successful in abating narcotics by supporting the police and letting them do their job. While the medical examiner orders more body bags, and parents are selecting caskets for their children, the question begs, "Is this administration able to muster the political will to do the same"? (Richard Bruno of West Brighton is former commander of the 120th Precinct. He is now retired.) By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree Best Canadian Blog 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 About Kate Why this blog? Until this moment I have been forced to listen while media and politicians alike have told me "what Canadians think". In all that time they never once asked. This is just the voice of an ordinary Canadian yelling back at the radio - "You don't speak for me." (goes to a private mailserver in Europe) I can't answer or use every tip, but all are appreciated! Katewerk Art Support SDA I am not a registered charity. I cannot issue tax receipts. Reconnaissance Man Economics for the Disinterested ...a fast-paced polar bear attack thriller! Want lies? Hire a regular consultant. Want truth? Hire an asshole. Weather Shop Click to inquire about rates. Dow Jones What They Say About SDA "Smalldeadanimals doesn't speak for the people of Saskatchewan" Former Sask Premier Lorne Calvert "I got so much traffic after your post my web host asked me to buy a larger traffic allowance." Dr.Ross McKitrick Holy hell, woman. When you send someone traffic, you send someone TRAFFIC. My hosting provider thought I was being DDoSed. - Sean McCormick "The New York Times link to me yesterday [...] generated one-fifth of the traffic I normally get from a link from Small Dead Animals." Kathy Shaidle "Thank you for your link. A wave of your Canadian readers came to my blog! Really impressive." Juan Giner - INNOVATION International Media Consulting Group I got links from the Weekly Standard, Hot Air and Instapundit yesterday - but SDA was running at least equal to those in visitors clicking through to my blog. Jeff Dobbs "You may be a nasty right winger, but you're not nasty all the time!" Warren Kinsella "Go back to collecting your welfare livelihood."Michael E. Zilkowsky Intelliweather Seismic Map Comments Policy Read this Best Of SDA Hide The Decline The Bottle Genie (ClimateGate links) You Might Be A Liberal Uncrossing The Line Bob Fife: Knuckledragger A Modest Proposal (NP) Settled Science Series Y2Kyoto Series SDA: Reader Occupation Survey Brett Lamb Sheltered Workshop Flakes On A Plane All Your Weather Are Belong To Us Song Of The Sled The Raise A Flag Debacle (Now on Youtube!) (.mwv Video) Abuse Ruins Life Of Girl Trudeaupiate Kleptocrat Jeans Child Labour I Concede Small Dead Feminist Protein Hoser: THK Interview The Werewolf Extinction Dear Laura (VRWC) We Wait Blogging The Oscars Jackson Converts To Islam Just Shut The HELL Up Manipulating Condi Gay Equality Rights In a bar in Civic , surrounded by family and friends, The Smiths on loud, a Star Trek-themed cake at the ready and cocktails named in honour of her doctors, Elizabeth Caplice was celebrating at her own wake . 10.08am: We've received word that incident at Manuka Plaza has been resolved. A resident above the plaza contacted emergency services about some leaking pipes threatening electrical wires. Firies sucked up the water and a plumber is fixing the damage. 9.06am: Fire crews are on scene at Manuka Plaza which could be impacting traffic on Captain Cook Crescent and Franklin Street in Griffith. More info when it comes to hand. Roadworks which started last week on Hindmarsh Drive and Canberra Avenue in the inner-south of the ACT are likely to continue for weeks, slowing the morning and afternoon commutes. 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. Should the National Arboretum have extra trails and picnic areas in the forests, horse holding yards and even offer accommodation? Since it opened three years ago, the arboretum has steadily become one of Canberra's most popular tourist venues, attracting 1.8 million visitors through its gates. The government has launched a new survey asking the public to help inform the future development of the arboretum. Credit:Graham Tidy Now the ACT government is closely looking at what the arboretum's future could hold and is asking Canberrans to help decide. The government has launched a new survey asking the public to help "inform" the future development of the arboretum. Dutton was responding to a wildly unrealistic proposal from the Greens that our refugee intake should be almost quadrupled from just under 14,000 a year to 50,000. Dutton, perhaps more bluntly than some might prefer, simply pointed out a few realities. Namely, that many are illiterate and innumerate in their own language. It's just a fact. If you read the commentary you would be forgiven for thinking that Dutton had said all refugees are a waste of our time and resources. That's exactly what he didn't say. But few Australians these days let the facts stand in the way of taking offence. Bill Shorten diminished himself last week by trying to politicise some remarks made by Peter Dutton about refugees. The twitteratti joined in, along with a coterie of those who grasp any opportunity to take offence. I'm proud of it and think we all should be. Our refugee program saves places for those most in need. People in camps with little or no money. And very often very little education. There's no point in pretending otherwise. It's especially true of women and girls. Have we forgotten Malala? Illustration: John Shakespeare That we are an immigration nation is to me our most defining characteristic. History means we have a lot of migrants from the United Kingdom. Geography and economics mean that has been turning inexorably to China and India. Our success however has come from the breadth of our intake. We really are one big melting pot. Ours is a non-discriminatory program. For the main intake, skilled migration, your race and ethnicity just don't matter. We are interested in your skills. There is however something very special about us. We are one of all too few nations who set aside a special part of our program, year in year out, for the permanent resettlement of refugees. We have for decades been in the top three takers of refugees for permanent resettlement, along with the United States and Canada. Per capita and by GDP we are first. The source of the intake varies a bit over time because we listen to UN advice as to where we can best help. We are good international citizens. We take people from Africa as well as from camps in our region. There's a new threat hitting our shores, with Mexican drug cartels beginning to move into Australia. Unlike traditional criminal groups, they use "dark networks" operating without clear hierarchies, and supplying large quantities of drugs and guns wholesale to rival local organisations. In the wake of the dismantling of Colombian drug runners in the late 1990s and early 2000s spoiler alert, but think the popular Netflix show Narcos Mexican drug cartels have grown in power, beginning worldwide wholesale distribution of drugs with an emphasis on cocaine and methamphetamines. Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is escorted by security forces after his capture. Mexican drug cartels are beginning to move into Australia. Recently Australia and the Asia Pacific have emerged as prime new targets. The key 'push' factor for the cartels making their way towards our shores is the decline in demand from the United States. The weakening price of illicit drugs in the US market in comparison to the Asia Pacific has also pushed them towards our region. There are also multiple 'pull' factors that make Australia an attractive option in the cartels' global expansion. According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, East Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania have the largest number of amphetamine-type stimulants users in the world (9.5 million). In the same region there are a further 3.9 million ecstasy users. Mexican cartels have drastically expanded their production and distribution of ATS in recent years, making the Asia Pacific a lucrative as well as logical region in which to extend their operations. Democracy is threatened in London, not because of war, terrorism or the referendum on Britain leaving the European Union, but apparently because the law stopped a newspaper telling the world about an old threesome. The Sun on Sunday paid two informants to kiss and tell; paid them to betray the discretion expected of former lovers, even those who sleep with celebrities; paid them for a front-page splash combining its favourite topics, fame and sex. Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers in court again. Credit:Getty Images Its splash is foiled by a temporary injunction preventing it identifying the randy spouse of a famous entertainer. The injunction was upheld by Britain's highest court on Thursday, leading the red-top to declare inevitably, given a substance used by the trio it was the day free speech "drowned in a paddling pool of olive oil". This rag is News Corp's replacement for the disgraced News of the World. Having learnt little, it blustered that the decision was "staggering" because four Supreme Court justices "said there was no public interest in stars' sexual encounters, even if it included adultery and threesomes". New terror powers that allow NSW police to interrogate 14-year-olds for up to a fortnight became law this week, but a hotline to help the families of teens vulnerable to ISIS's internet poison is nowhere to be seen. Both measures were announced by Premier Mike Baird last year, as he described countering violent extremism programs as a "necessary complement" to strong law enforcement. The promised NSW hotline is intended to "fill a void" for families that are reeling at the growth of online radicalisation. Credit:Erin Jonasson Six months on, a former Epping Boys High School student has been arrested for allegedly planning a terrorist attack on government buildings. He is said to have first come to police attention after a tip-off to the National Security Hotline, constantly advertised online. But a different sort of hotline one that helps parents divert teens from radical ideology, before they get into danger, by offering advice and counselling had been promised by Baird last November. Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life is literary fiction not for the faint-hearted. Long at 720 pages, it ranges over disquieting material of child neglect and abuse, to the extent that the cruelty piled upon the protagonist Jude in this story of four New York friends, becomes almost unbearable to read. On ABC television's Book Club, presenter Leigh Sales failed to finish when she realised the dark places it would take her. The New York Review of Books broke with mostly laudatory reviews to suggest Yanagihara's novel had "duped many into confusing anguish and ecstasy, pleasure and pain". Author of A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara. Credit:Jenny Westerhoff Yanagihara's publisher, too, had worried about alienating readers and wanted to cut the manuscript by one-third, and hoped for "something more recognisable or palatable", according to the author. Yet violence, Yanagihara says in her closing address of the Sydney Writers' Festival on Sunday, unquestioningly belongs in a novel because novels are about life, and violence is a part of human existence, and so is fair game to the writer. Due to an official cloak of secrecy and obfuscation, Manus and Nauru have been oft-cited but rarely seen. The policy of successive Australian governments to uphold the mandatory detention of asylum seekers arriving by boat at camps on the remote Papua New Guinea island of Manus and the tiny Pacific Island state of Nauru has long divided this country. But while the headlines are numerous, the context is unclear. That ends with Chasing Asylum, a detailed and shocking examination of the nightmarish quagmire and official disdain that underpins the two facilities. Directed by the Australian filmmaker Eva Orner, who previously produced Alex Gibney's Academy Award-winning 2007 documentary Taxi to the Dark Side, this film provides stinging testimony and shocking observations from detainees and former staff members. It adds up to a compelling dismissal of the previously comforting lack of clarity. Chasing Asylum provides a rare and grim insight into Australian-run camps holding asylum seekers in the Pacific. Mixing secretly shot footage taken inside the grim, militarised encampments and whistle-blower interviews, the documentary emphasises the human cost of a deterrence policy. To dissuade asylum seekers, despite the act being a right guaranteed by the United Nations Refugee Convention, both adults and children are detained indefinitely under punishing conditions. It works, the narrative admits, but the price is ghastly. Stopping the boats means destroying hope, health and a basic sense of human identity. "On Nauru I was seeing self-harm daily," says Nicole Judge, one of several completely unprepared social workers sent to Manus with little training. The facilities are often inadequate, the security apparatus is confrontational, medical care is dangerously inadequate and uninvestigated claims of sexual abuse are widespread. "You'd see kids banging their heads on the walls," notes another former staff member, anonymously. Sexualised behaviour in children as young as five was witnessed. There's a whole raft of reality-type series, for instance, that are uniquely SBS Living With The Enemy, Go Back To Where You Came From and that really shake up our comfortable ideas of who we are and what we believe. Within the limits of its budget it has enthusiastically embraced the notion of exploring niche and sometimes controversial aspects of Australian culture and even when the resultant programmes don't quite hit their target they always start interesting and important conversations. This latest documentary series is a much more sober affair but at its heart are the same kinds of issues. Australia likes to celebrate its multiculturalism but that whole notion is based on the idea of the coming together of difference. DNA Nation poses the question: are we really that different after all? You may have heard of "ancestry DNA" DNA mapping that traces not just your immediate progenitors but your history right back to the first human exodus out of Africa 200,000 years ago. Here Ernie Dingo, Julia Zemiro and Ian Thorpe volunteer to have their DNA tested, and then physically trace the journey of their ancestors over the next 70,000 years or so. So first stop is Tanzania, where they spend a few days with the Hadza hunter gatherers a clan who are not only genetically most close to the original mother of us all, but, coincidentally or not, still live in much the same way as that mother did, thousands of centuries earlier. The three have been well chosen, not just for their diversity but because they are all intelligent, thoughtful and honest. The conversations the trip prompts are easily as interesting as the science being explored. Screening as the flagship in a month of programming exploring identity, the central question here is: how much of who we are is truly in our DNA? Oh to have been a fly on the wall when James Cameron saw what had been done to the franchise he'd built via a terrific B-movie and groundbreaking blockbuster. A vastly expensive mess that somehow rarely looks impressive or cohesive or challenging, for that matter this update of the science-fiction time-travel series uses altered timelines to create a new strand for an ageing machine, with Arnold Schwarzenegger's monotonal robot a creaky figure in Alan Taylor's film. Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke is Sarah Connor, with Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) as her grown son, who will lead humanity to victory against their machine adversaries in the future, and the once powerful bonds they carried across Cameron's films are casually destroyed here, making for a reboot that doesn't appear to understand the fundamental filmmaking DNA of their inspiration. This wasn't the first failed Terminator sequel Hollywood produced, but hopefully it's the last. Craig Mathieson ABC, 6.30pm The final part of this three-part Compass special about the men and women providing emotional and spiritual support to the approximately 35,000 Australians in our prison system begins at the Lithgow Correctional Centre, where community chaplain Kim Miller has come to meet James, a prisoner who has been offered a place in a Newcastle halfway house on his release. Serving time in jail is much like being on the space shuttle, Kim observes: "the most dangerous part is re-entry." Without structure, funds or opportunity, many prisoners lose their way upon gaining their freedom, and the volunteers at Friendship House try to engage the participants. The documentary's tone, like the Friendship House philosophy, is low-key and non-judgmental, but the testimony of those who've benefited from the small program attests to both the difference it can make and the attention and care required to truly rehabilitate as oppose to merely punish just one person. Craig Mathieson Pay: Crimes that Shook Australia CI, 7.30pm Robert Farquharson's murder of his three young sons by driving them into a dam on Father's Day 2005 was one of the most shocking crimes ever committed in Australia. So it's pleasing to see presenter Stan Grant and the Crimes that Shook Australia team approach it with the solemnity and sensitivity that it warrants. The central figure in this affecting documentary is the boys' mother, Cindy Gambino, a woman who is still clearly devastated by the loss of her sons, and who displays immense courage in telling her story here. Gambino, along with her friend and now husband, Stephen Moules, and crime writer Megan Norris, paint a picture of Farquharson as a man who many thought was solid and reliable but who was in fact selfish, resentful and cruel. Police who investigated the crime explain how Farquharson's behaviour and physical evidence at the scene immediately placed him under suspicion. Brad Newsome Frankston, so often the battleground of Victorian politics, looms as a critical front in the federal election as Malcolm Turnbull's Coalition tries to hold the seat without key asset Bruce Billson. State governments have risen and fallen in the Frankston area. Geoff Shaw kept the Napthine government on the brink for months, trouble on the trains hurt John Brumby and a byelection in 1999 ended Jeff Kennett's reign. The federal electorate of Dunkley will be a gauge of how far Mr Turnbull's standing reaches in Victoria and how much Labor's campaign focus on education resonates with voters. Victoria's model United Nations 2016 program for schools will include a conference to be held at Robinvale Secondary College focusing on violence against women and girls. The MUNCs recreate a General Assembly debate during which the students represent the views of the country they are assigned. The student conferences are coordinated by the United Nations Association of Australia (Victorian Division) in partnership with the Department of Education and Training. Student activists: Victoria's Model United Nations Conferences allows senior students to represent a country and argue their case for a particular cause. Credit:Rob Homer The Robinvale conference will be held on June 26, with 160 year 9-12 students from seven rural schools participating. The topic was requested by Robinvale Secondary College because of concern about increasing incidents of family violence in the region. Shaking up Shakespeare a classroom challenge Talking about his sex life is not a comfortable prospect for Tom Spillane, but this anxiety pales in comparison to a gnawing fear that dogged him for much of his 20s. "HIV-HIV-HIV. How am I going to tell my parents I'm HIV positive?" The thought consumed him the morning after a night of unprotected sex. Tom Spillane is part of a PrEP trial to help stop the spread of new HIV infections. Credit:Ryan Stuart To his relief he had not contracted the virus, but that anxiety is a constant passenger for many sexually active gay men. "I firmly believe that the fear we have of dying when we have sex is something we shouldn't have to live with," he said. NSW Labor leader Luke Foley has asked for the resignation of controversial MP Noreen Hay after a senior staff member in her Wollongong electorate office was charged by Australian Federal Police in relation to allegations of electoral fraud. Fairfax Media can reveal Ms Hay is resisting the directive to quit her position as Opposition Whip and the matter is likely to have to be put to a vote of the NSW caucus on Wednesday. Wollongong MP Noreen Hay is set to announce her resignation from parliament Credit:Sylvia Liber Ms Hay, a former close ally of NSW Right powerbrokers Eddie Obeid and Joe Tripodi, was only reinstated as Whip less than a fortnight ago after assuring Mr Foley the AFP raid at her office in July last year would not lead to any charges against her. Mr Foley is understood to be furious after the MP found herself again embroiled in scandal anyway after the AFP on Friday charged her staffer of nine years, Susan Greenhalgh. An elderly man has become the fifth person in Sydney's inner-west to be diagnosed with legionnaires' disease as the state health department battles to contain the deadly outbreak. The man, in his 80s, remains in a stable condition in hospital. There have been more than 50 cases of legionnaires' in NSW already this year, which have resulted in two deaths. NSW Health acting chief health officer Dr Jeremy McAnulty said the state average was about 60 each year. Dr McAnulty said it is still unclear whether this latest case is linked to the original Burwood outbreak which claimed a life last week. "During his exposure period, he travelled to multiple places but did not visit the Burwood shopping centre or the Sydney CBD," Dr McAnulty said. Dual Olympic gold medallist Michael Diamond has been charged with drink-driving and firearms offences following an alleged domestic dispute north of Newcastle at the weekend. The 44-year-old trap shooting champion's hopes of competing in the Rio Olympic Games are now in doubt after he was arrested on Saturday night following an argument with his brother at a home in Stockton Street in Nelson Bay. Police allege that, when officers spoke to Diamond in the neighbouring suburb of Shoal Bay about 9.30pm that night, he was standing next to his vehicle but refused to undergo a roadside breath test. Officers from the Port Stephens Local Area Command then searched Diamond's vehicle and allegedly found a shotgun and 150 rounds of ammunition. A woman who went missing from Goulburn nearly six weeks ago has still not been found as police renew an appeal for information. Lin Dinnien, 56, was last seen by staff at a medical facility on Clifford Street, Goulburn about 4pm on Wednesday, April 13. Lin Dinnien, 56, was last seen by staff at a medical facility on Clifford Street, Goulburn at about 4pm on Wednesday, April 13. She is described as being of Asian appearance, about 150-155cm tall with a medium build, shoulder length black hair and brown eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a grey cardigan, black tight and sandals. COLUMBUS A group of Southeast Community College-Milford manufacturing engineering students will be getting acquainted with Columbus employers and the community during a Drive for Five-sponsored tour on Tuesday. We have so many businesses that want to see these students, said Kara Asmus, the workforce development coordinator for the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce. Many local manufacturers are struggling to find workers, something the chamber is focusing on through its Drive for Five initiative to recruit job candidates. Businesses cant recruit newcomers if they cant get them in the doors for a meet-and-greet and peek at plant operations. The 18 students and two college professors will be visiting five local manufacturing plants during the chambers employment initiative aimed at introducing future job seekers with career opportunities available in the Columbus area after they cross the graduation stage. The students two-year program at SCC focuses on topics including hydraulics, quality control, 3-D modeling, robotics and product design, Asmus said. A large majority of the students will go on to four-year institutions after completing their studies at SCC, so Tuesdays tour is a foot in the door to getting them to consider Columbus as a community to launch a career, she said. The tour schedule includes stops at John Crane-Orion, Behlen Mfg. Co., BD Medical, Camaco and Industrial Engineering Co. Industrial Systems and Supply will host a luncheon for the student group. The tour isnt only a calling card for jobs. We also want students to see the quality of life amenities the community offers, Asmus said. Chamber officials organize local tours, but they also hit the recruiting trail. Officials made 22 recruiting trips to career fairs in Nebraska and surrounding states, including South Dakota, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and Iowa, in 2015. A list of the manufacturing plants the students will tour follows: John Crane-Orion is a leading manufacturer of hydrodynamic bearings used in turbines, compressors, expanders, gear drives, motors, generators, pumps, locomotives and similar equipment for industrial, utility and marine use. John Crane acquired Orion Corp. in Columbus in 2009. Behlen Mfg. Co. is a homegrown Columbus company founded decades ago. The company is a leading manufacturer of farm and ranch equipment and building systems for a range of applications, including agriculture, commercial and government. The companys products also include commercial grain systems, metal stitching presses and custom metal fabrication. BD is a global medical technology company and leader in the production of hypodermic needles and syringes. Camaco is an independent provider of seating systems for the North American automotive industry. Among the company's products are metal and wire-frame seat assemblies, headrest and armrest structures, visor rod and towel bars, metal reinforcement components and instrument panel and console substrates. The company's capabilities include designing, engineering, prototyping, tooling, blanking, stamping, welding and assembly. Industrial Engineering Company (IEC) designs and manufactures specialized automation equipment, robots, machines and tools aimed at increasing productivity in manufacturing plants. The company provides complete manufacturing systems, manufacturing automation, complex machines and state-of-the-art machine tools. Industrial Systems and Supply supplies equipment and technical service to manufacturing customers. The companys expertise in technology, automation machines and software solutions seeks to keep customers competitive with changes in the manufacturing world. 3D models based on prawn sperm smaller than the diameter of a human hair have been created in a Queensland laboratory to try and improve prawn farming. University of Queensland School of Agricultural and Food Sciences PhD student Tianyi Feng used advanced microscopy to create three-dimensional computer models of Australian giant black tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon) sperm cells to find out why why farmed black tiger prawns did not always mature sexually in captivity. Mr Feng said the aquaculture industry sometimes had to rely on wild giant black tiger prawns to help produce offspring because of reproductive issues. "The issue is black tiger prawns can't get really mature to produce offspring like other species," he said. "They (some prawn farms) try to use the wild ones to produce offspring but it is not the sustainable way to keep the business running. Nearly eight years after a fatal truck and train collision in north Queensland a coroner's report has found significant action has been taken to improve rail crossing safety. On November 27, 2008 the Cairns Tilt Train collided with a truck at Rungoo crossing on the Bruce Highway near Cardwell. Nearly eight years after a fatal truck and train collision in north Queensland a coroner's report has found significant action has been taken to improve rail crossing safety. Train drivers, Michael Smithers and Richard Wetherell, died at the scene. In 2015 the truck driver, Michael Nugent, was found not guilty after being charged with the dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death. Lori O'Keeffe and her daughter Loren O'Keeffe. Credit:Paul Jeffers "In my deep heart of hearts as a mother, I knew that Dan would probably never be coming home," Lori tells Fairfax Media. "But until I had evidence otherwise, there's always that grain of hope that keeps you going. "That grain of hope is gone now and we just have to learn to live our lives without Dan being in it. Which is not easy because he really was the most beautiful boy." Dan O'Keeffe. Five years is a long time, an eternity really when someone you love deeply has gone missing. But perhaps it did not have to be this way. Lori and her daughter Loren are critical of the police response to Dan's disappearance. They believe Dan would have been found on the day he went missing if a proper search had been done. They say police never went further than the couch in the front room of the family home. Dan's room wasn't looked at, they say, neither was his computer. "There's a lot of disappointment, from day one," says his sister Loren. "It was very clear from the beginning that Dan was not the priority for them." A request to the SES for help was not granted, they say, while a letter to then emergency services minister Peter Ryan also went unanswered. They believe had police used a search dog or tracked his phone they would have found Dan in "20 minutes". The impact this delay has had on the family has been profound. "In a way I feel cheated that my last act as mother was taken away from me," says Lori. "If Dan had been found on the day I would have been able to hold him and say goodbye." Police have declined to comment on Dan's death and the search for him as it is still before the coroner. The O'Keeffe family say they've been told Dan's case is one of the biggest files ever given to the coroner. "We would be very interested to see that file, it's supposed to be thousands of pages. We've heard nothing," says Lori. In the five years he was missing, Dan's family spent many thousands of hours putting up posters, visiting homeless shelters and following up reported sightings. There was a social media campaign which drew an enormous response. No one worked harder than Dan's sister Loren. She started up a charity, the Missing Persons Advocacy Network, to help other families who had also lost loved ones, work she wants to continue. She is looking for a corporate sponsor or philanthropist to support MPAN so she can do the job full-time and bring on staff. And while there are still some questions about what happened, there is at least some relief that Dan has been found although it is tinged with guilt. "For five years we were worried sick every moment, so at least now we don't have to worry," says Loren. "But the cost of that relief is the destruction of that hope that had only grown for five years." Lori, however, does not share that consolation. "A few people have asked me that question, 'oh you must be feeling better now that you've found Dan, you've got closure'. And I thought 'no, there's no such thing as closure'. Closure would be Dan being back home with us." There has been some lingering speculation about how Dan's body came to be in the remote part of the house where he was found. The truth is, no one will know what went through Dan's mind on that day. What the family can say is the home is built onto the side of a hill, which created some space between the walls and the dug-out limestone rock where a person could get to. Two tight corridors lead to the space which is "the size of a shower," says Lori. Des only happened to be there on that day eight weeks ago because he was clearing out the storeroom that leads to where Dan was found. "If it wasn't for that, he could have been there forever," says Lori. "And we would never had known." Now, after five long years, Dan has been laid to rest in a natural burial site at the Queenscliff Cemetery. There will be a rock crafted by Des with a plaque to show the way. "You can hear the ocean crashing," says Lori. "It's just perfect for Dan." Missing Persons Advocacy Network mpan.com.au ABC Radio host Jon Faine, a noted atheist, asserted the other day that he or others could live a Christian ethic while rejecting religion. This is a common misunderstanding. It is possible to lead a coherent, consistent and even admirable ethical life while rejecting religion, and many atheists do, but it is not possible to live a Christian ethic. That is because the Christian ethic is based above all on "the first and greatest commandment", that one love God with all one's heart and soul and mind. Can atheists have Christian ethics? Credit:AP This is neither a small nor irrelevant aspect, and it is one that the atheist by definition cannot follow. The second commandment is like it, Jesus says, that one should love one's neighbour as oneself, and here atheists probably fail at least as consistently as believers do. There is still no sign of a missing mother who hasn't been seen after she vanished from her family home last week. The search for Fiona Hawker, 47, resumed at 8am on Monday, a police spokeswoman said. The body of missing woman Fiona Hawker was found on Monday. Police are concerned Ms Hawker, a mother to five children aged seven to 20 years, may have fallen in rough terrain or become disoriented during her regular walk on Thursday. At 8.15am, she went for her regular morning walk into the Monbulk town centre, leaving her home in McAllister Road, in Melbourne's hilly outer east. Federal opposition leader Bill Shorten has announced plans to pull funding from the controversial Perth Freight Link and instead inject $1 billion into WA Labor's pet rail project Metronet, if elected on July 2. Speaking during the first of a two-day tour of Perth on Monday, Mr Shorten said the $2.5 billion Metronet project to expand Perth's rail networks to the outer suburbs would help ease Perth's congestion and provide 4000 jobs during its construction. WA transport minister Dean Nalder, however, labelled the project as "just a slogan" but conceded the state government would struggle to fund the $1.9 billion Perth Freight Link without Federal funding and would likely be forced to rethink its rail options. WA Labor leader Mark McGowan said Metronet would be built "as we can afford it" if Labor was elected into government in 2017. Vienna: Austria could elect the European Union's first far-right head of state on Sunday, with support for Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer buoyed by a migration crisis that has heightened fears about employment and security. Opinion polls suggest the presidential race between Mr Hofer and former Greens leader Alexander van der Bellen will be close-run. A far-right victory would resonate throughout the 28-member bloc where migration driven by conflict in the Middle East and Africa has become a major political issue. Norbert Hofer candidate for presidential elections of Austria's Freedom Party reacts with supporters in Vienna on Friday. Credit:AP Austria took in 90,000 asylum seekers last year, more than 1 per cent of its population, many of them shortly after it and neighbouring Germany threw open their borders last autumn to a wave of migrants including refugees from Syria's civil war. The government has since clamped down on immigration and asylum, but that about-face only fuelled support for the far right, which was already capitalising on widespread frustration with the country's two traditional parties of government. French authorities confirmed yesterday that smoke detectors went off aboard the flight a few minutes before it crashed but said it was not clear what caused the smoke or fire. Investigators trying to determine whether the A320 was brought down by terrorism or a technical fault are poring over a series of warnings indicating smoke filled the cabin shortly before it disappeared from radar. London: Data from the final moments before EgyptAir flight MS804 crashed into the Mediterranean suggest an "internal explosion" tore through the right side of the aircraft, according to a pilot from a major European airline. A commercial pilot with a major European airline told The Sunday Telegraph, London, that other parts of the data log suggested that windows in the right side of the cockpit were blown out by an explosion inside the aircraft. A life vest from EgyptAir flight 804 found floating along with human remains, luggage and seats from the doomed jetliner. Credit:AP "It looks like the right front and side window were blown out, most probably from inside out," said the pilot, who flies an A330 similar to the crashed A320 and spoke on condition of anonymity. The data was taken from the plane's Acars system, which sends short transmissions from the aircraft to receivers on the ground. Until investigators find the aircraft's black boxes, which are still missing in the Mediterranean, the Acars system offers the best information about what was happening aboard. Three different warnings showed there were faults in the windows next to the co-pilot, suggesting they could have been blasted outwards by an on-board bomb. That does not mean the explosion came from the cockpit but indicates the right side of the plane was more badly damaged than the left. PHILPSBURG:--- On Friday May 20, 2016, Minister Silveria Jacobs signed a MOU with Dr. William Abare, the president of Flagler College. This agreement will enable students from St. Maarten to study at Flagler College and receive a discounted tuition rate. Flagler College is a small, private residential college located in the USA's oldest city, St. Augustine, Florida. The stunning Spanish architecture, the small classes are just a few of the beckons of Flagler College. St. Maarten students will be able to choose from 29 majors and 34 minors that combine focused academic study with real-world experiences and community-integrated projects. Flagler offers renowned and nationally accredited programs in business, education, design, fine art, psychology, communication and sport management, to name a few. Also available is a new innovative program, coastal environmental science. This agreement was made possible through the assistance and support of Ms. Judi Marino (International Admissions). On behalf of the government of St. Maarten Minister Jacobs thanked Dr. Abare and Deborah J. Thompson (VP of Enrollment Management). BASSETERE, ST KITTS:--- Leader of the Opposition, the Rt Hon Dr Denzil L. Douglas said Wednesday that the sudden resignation of the Speaker of the National Assembly Hon. Franklin Brand, a few days before completing one full year in office , has raised several questions. Dr Douglas, who on Wednesday (May 18th) informed the nation of the Speakers resignation which was confirmed less than 24 hours later in a statement from Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris, also wants to know how regional parliamentarians officially knew of the resignation, even before Cabinet ministers including the Leader of Government Business in the St Kitts and Nevis National Assembly. The reason that I gave as told by persons who knew, was that the Speaker was sick and tired of the deception that has been practiced on him and others by Timothy Harris, the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, said Dr Douglas Wednesday afternoon on Freedom FM Issues programme. Subsequent to my confirmation the very next day the Government officially made a statement indicating that Hon Brand had really resigned and that the matter had become the subject of discussion in the Cabinet, Dr. Douglas noted. He told listeners that it was exceptionally strange for several reasons and that several questions must be asked of the Team Unity Government and its officials. Why is it that up to the time when the matter was brought to the public neither the Leader of Government Business in the National Assembly (Hon. Eugene Hamilton), the Deputy Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis (Hon Shawn K Richards) and the Leader of the Opposition had not been officially informed? Hamilton and Richards had told local edit houses they were not aware of the Speaker Brands resignation. Secondly, we understand that the resignation had been in the domain of the government since the 23rd day of April 2016 and so I asked again, why did Timothy Harris - not only intercepted it would appear that letter, (but) why did he not reveal it to the Members of Parliament and the citizens of this country before that Cabinet announcement was made last week Thursday. The question also arises, was the Governor General (Sir S W Tapley Seaton) informed? We believe that this is a matter that His Excellency should have been informed about and up to this point, there is still no answer coming from Dr Harris, said Dr Douglas, the former Prime Minister. Why I ask the citizens of this country and the government of St. Kitts and Nevis , did Mrs Heather Crooke, the Regional Secretary of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic Region) , make the announcement to the world before we here in St Kitts and Nevis were informed? Are we not important? Are we not citizens of this fair land equal to each other? Why should Timothy Harris hide critical information from the people of St Kitts and Nevis and why should he continue on this note about the Hon Franklin Brand being sick why he has retired, said Dr Douglas. He also questioned the statements from the Press Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister and the St Kitts and Nevis Information Service (SKNIS). You would believe that Franklin Brand is gravely ill. We the citizens of St Kitts and Nevis and as a Member of Parliament ask, is our speaker gravely ill, so ill that he could not continue to carry out the duties of his office after he would have recovered? Is it that there is no recovery from this mysterious illness as is been alluded to by the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis asked Dr Douglas. I am not asking the prime minister to tell us what the speaker is ill with, but people in this country are seeing the speaker walking about every day. They are seeing him in his business place and so we ask is this yet another case of deception on the part of the prime minister? Why we ask is Franklin Brand been made a scapegoat of the shenanigans and the working of a depraved mind of our prime minister? Why is Franklin Brand made the scapegoat? Do you understand what this is doing to his family, asked Dr Douglas, who referred listeners to one of the press releases from the Prime Ministers Press Secretary Ms Valencia Grant. You would have thought that Mr Brand is about to die as what we are reading here is an obituary or his eulogy. It is dated May 15th 2016. When Prime Minister Harris can use expressions like approximately one year to the day the prime minister said he has only one regret about Mr Brands tenure as Speaker and that is that it had to be cut short due to health reasons. It sounds as if our Speaker is about to die. I dont think that he is about to die, stated Dr Douglas. I dont think that he is about to die. This is deception on the part of the prime minister, said Dr Douglas. PNA says Population Becoming Much Richer, and Fast In a press release entitled "Updated Santa Monica Ellis & Eviction Map IllustratesGentrification and Resident Displacement," a neighborhood group charges that Santa Monica is "transforming into an exclusive tourist destination and high-income community with less and less room for its low-income residents." The Pico Neighborhood Group says that the updated Santa Monica Ellis & Eviction Map, released today by the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project in partnership with the Pico Neighborhood Association and the Santa Monica Rent Control Board, illustrates the displacement crisis, as rising housing prices and Ellis Act evictions exacerbate market pressures on low-income residents, forcing them to relocate outside of the City. One thing that is clear from the maps is that gentrification is not limited to the Pico Neighborhood but it is impacting long term renters in other neighborhoods in Santa Monica, said Maria Loya The interactive map tracks the impact of the Ellis Act on Santa Monicas population over time. Since the Ellis Act was enacted by the Ca. State Legislature in 1986, giving landlords more power to transform their buildings, almost 2,000 rent controlled units have been lost in Santa Monica. The Pico Neighborhood Association (PNA), with support from the Santa Monica Rent Control Board and the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project created the interactive map. Two maps were created to demonstrate the overall impact of the Ellis Act over time and and second map the shows the Ellising and eviction that have occurred in the past three years and the location of where the evictions are taking place within the City of Santa Monica. The map can be accessed on the internet at: http://www.antievictionmappingproject.net/santamonica.html and https://antievictionmap.squarespace.com/santa-monica-3 We are seeing an increase in the misuse of the Ellis Act throughout California that needs to be addressed locally and at the statewide level, stated Erin McElroy, the projects director. A key partner in the maps creation was the staff of the Santa Monica Rent Control Board who provided the data for the maps creation. The Ellis Act continues to be a pernicious force in our neighborhoods. Between 2013 and 2014, withdrawal notices rose nearly 75% and between 2014 and 2015 the number of units affected increased nearly two-fold from 85 units to 153 units. It is time for Ellis Act reform on the state level. In Santa Monica, we must continue to be ever-vigilant and work to protect our residents by informing them of their rights and protections under the Ellis Act and continuing to closely monitor post-Ellis activity, particularly in the realm of short term rentals., said Nicole Phillis, Rent Control Board Chairperson. We envision a Santa Monica that is diverse but this vision is being threatened daily by market pressures through the development of market rate housing. The Expo Light Rail line, lacking an aggressive affordable housing strategy will exacerbate the displacement of low income residents. We need to develop a comprehensive strategy to protect current residents from displacement. Protecting the diversity that makes Santa Monica a vibrant community must include a thoughtful approach including, zoning protections, affordable housing, quality jobs and workforce training for local residents, stated Cris McLeod, Chair of the Pico Neighborhood Association. Crusader Removals Offers Most Efficient Removal Services Perth Metropolitan Area Despite the existence of hundreds of companies in the market who offers removal services, it has always remained challenging to find the best and the most efficient one. All such issues come to an end with Crusader Removals, the most preferred removing company that serves the Perth Metropolitan area. The services offered by the company include domestic, office and commercial relocation services and they take pride in being able to co-ordinate deliveries and relocations within the same building as well. Often being recognized as the best removalists Perth, this company ensures an efficient, trustworthy and affordable service in compliance with experienced professionals. Whether one is in the middle of the city or on the outskirts of Perth, Crusader Removals remains the best choice for one. Besides offering a full packing and unpacking service, the company also offers country and interstate relocations. Offering repeated engrossment with the experience, the company continues to grow at a healthy rate with thousands of satisfied clients. Being known as the most efficient removalists, the company ensures that there wont be any stress on the client once they take charge of the relocation of properties. Besides catering to the need of having comprehensive solutions for removal and relocation in Perth, the company also offers reliable and secure storage for ones belongings. Besides offering storage modules to accommodate office, home and commercial items, including furniture, electronic devices and paperwork, they also offer short or long term module storage. With the proficient and well-organized workforce, the company also has a range of trucks which are considered the right vehicles for all relocations. Crusader Removals offers a no obligation free quote. Helping Perth locals with all their moving requirements like relocating, packing and unpacking, the company ensures that the consumers relocation is as gentle and hassle free as viable. About Crusader Removals: Crusader Removals is a leading removal company that offers domestic, office and commercial relocation services and much more in the Perth metropolitan area. For more details, please visit www.crusaderremovals.com.au Media Contact: Shanna McRae Crusader Removals 4 Colin Jamieson Drive Welshpool WA 6106 Email: crusaderremovals@gmail.com Website: http://www.crusaderremovals.com.au/ Who did it best: Cast your vote for the high school football player of the week LINCOLN People who are eager for the approval of medical cannabis in Nebraska will have to wait at least another year, and maybe three for a chance at getting it legalized. It is hoped those who need it still will be around to benefit from it, if and when it eventually is approved in this state, said Shelley Gillen, whose son Will has severe epileptic seizures and potentially could be helped by the drug. After a bill (LB643) failed in April to get enough votes to stop a filibuster, and allow for an up or down vote on the bill itself, several groups said they were working on an initiative petition drive to get the question on the November ballot. That won't happen, Gillen said. There's not enough time and there's not enough money to get it done this summer. They are looking at the possibility of a 2018 vote, she said. "We just can't count on the Legislature," she said. "We've been doing this since Will was 11. He's now 14. So we've been through it three legislative sessions." The strictest medical cannabis proposal in the country still isn't good enough for some senators, she said, or Gov. Pete Ricketts and Attorney General Doug Peterson. The bill would have allowed medical cannabis in pill, oil or liquid form for patients with certain conditions who were certified by a medical provider. It would have been acquired and dispensed through centers -- one per congressional district -- registered by the state Department of Health and Human Services. "I have no doubt Sen. Garrett's bill would've passed if it weren't for the two of them (Ricketts and Peterson)," Gillen said. Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg led the charge in the Legislature against the bill, saying he didn't want the state legalizing a federal Schedule I drug. Garrett's bill was filibustered, and it required 33 votes to stop the debate and force a vote. Garrett said after the vote failed he thought he had the 33 votes, but some senators reneged. He ended up with 30. Without the filibuster, the bill needed only 25 vote to pass a second round of consideration. It broke Garrett's heart, he said, because last summer he had talked those who wanted medical cannabis in the state out of working on gathering signatures for the initiative petition. "I really thought we had a great chance of getting it passed," Garrett said. Now, getting it on the November ballot is a bridge too far, he said. "It required so darn much money to get something on the ballot," he said. He speculated it would have taken $700,000 to nearly $1 million to pay for petition circulators, consultants, advertising and promotion. Last year, Nebraskans for the Death Penalty successfully collected enough signatures to get its reinstatement question on the November ballot. That campaign reported spending about $909,000. Garrett is facing re-election this year, but if he makes it back to the Legislature, he said, he plans to try again on the bill. "It's going to be an uphill struggle," he said. Nine senators who supported the bill will be gone next year because of term limits, and several more are facing re-election. Only one opponent of the bill -- Omaha Sen. Beau McCoy -- will leave. "We've got a whole bunch of new senators that we're going to have to convince," he said. "(But it's) not an impossibility, especially now that yet another state has approved it." In April, Pennsylvania became the 24th state to legalize medical marijuana. And this week, the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in passing legislation that would lift restrictions on Veterans Affairs doctors discussing medical marijuana as a treatment option with their patients, in states where it is legal. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have expressed some form of support for medical marijuana. And the federal Drug Enforcement Administration will review marijuana's classification as a Class I drug, the most dangerous, this summer. "You know, if the moon and the stars align right, there's a potential we could get it done," Garrett said. "We're going to keep fighting the fight." A look at the WIAA soccer playoff field entering sectional play Here's a look at the sectional semifinals Thursday night and the possible matchups for the finals Saturday. Welcome to SwanseaOnline - your home for the best news, sports and what's on coverage of the city. Never miss a Swansea story with our daily newsletter Sign up to comment on our stories here Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Swansea City news | Ospreys news | InYourArea The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service. Crane sighs and struggles to find the right words to explain his doubts. "I witnessed a dramatic example of what can happen to a whistleblower if he behaves as stipulated and turns to the official channels," he says. Yet everything had seemed so well thought out when the government in the 1970s provided a contact point for whistleblowers within the military apparatus and the NSA. After completing his university studies, Crane worked for a Republican Congressman named Bill Dickinson, a leading member of the Armed Services Committee. Dickinson had been one of the proponents of the idea of establishing an Office of the Inspector General. Once the position was created, Crane became one of the first employees in the office of the newly named inspector. During his career, he worked under around a dozen different inspector generals and helped build the so-called "hotlines" for whistleblowers. For Crane, whistleblowers are a pillar of the democratic system and he is convinced that they help improve the work of government. After Chelsea Manning passed along to WikiLeaks hundreds of thousands of daily reports about the US campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq along with diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world, Crane advocated for the establishment of a new internal system for filing complaints about classified and highly classified procedures -- a system that was then realized. During his time at the Pentagon, Crane says, he had the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1978 printed in pamphlet form "so that employees in the Office of the Inspector General could read verbatim the law they were supposed to be implementing." Crane says he sought to "make sure there would never be an Edward Snowden." Doubts To this day, he has refrained from publicly endorsing the actions of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden. He considers Snowden's flight and ongoing exile in Russia to be a tragedy that could have been avoided. He still believes that internal channels would have been better. The errors Crane decries are those he thinks were made by the people in charge, who he thinks failed to properly implement guidelines and laws. John Crane first began having doubts in 2004. Shortly before, he had been promoted to the role of assistant inspector general and, as such, part of upper management. These were the years immediately following Sept. 11, 2001. The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington had fundamentally changed the way US security agencies operated, with the administration of President George W. Bush massively expanding their budgets and authority. A small group of NSA employees viewed these changes with increasing concern. They recognized that the surveillance being undertaken* also captured information about US citizens -- which they believed violated the US constitution. They saw that close to $4 billion was being spent on this program alone -- money that was pumped into the companies that had been contracted -- and they considered it to be a waste of taxpayers' money. They argued that an internal solution named ThinThread would have been better suited and saved billions. The group is comprised of three former NSA employees, a former employee of the House Intelligence Committee as well as Thomas Drake, who was still employed by the NSA at the time in a leading position in its surveillance programs. Drake turned to the NSA inspector general with his complaint. The rest of the group (Bill Binney, Kirk Wiebe, Ed Loomis and Diane Roark) complained to the office of the Pentagon Inspector General, where John Crane worked.* His staff had their own office at NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, where signs have been hung in the hallways and elevators encouraging NSA employees to contact them if problems arise. In September 2002, an official complaint was submitted to Crane. His inspectors met with Drake in January 2003 and repeatedly questioned him over the course of several years. Drake also delivered NSA documents to them in an effort to prove his allegations. Security staff logged each of his visits to the Office of the Inspector General. Drake felt he was under observation. Crane's staff contradicted the findings of the NSA officials. After a detailed examination, they deemed the concerns to be largely well-founded -- a slap in the face to those responsible under then-NSA head Michael Hayden. In 2006, the US Congress voted to shut down the controversial Trailblazer program, though NSA continued its mass surveillance through other methods. 'Extremely Unusual' The story of the NSA whistleblower could have been a success story. But the five petitioners feared reprisals from the very beginning. Whereas four of them used their real names in their complaint, Thomas Drake only appears as a high-ranking employee from the management level -- without his name, out of fear. Crane says he viewed Drake's fear of revenge as a warning signal and found it to be "extremely unusual." Internally, he pushed for further investigation into these concerns. His boss rejected him. Crane was indignant. In his view, this was in violation of the rules governing the inspector general's work. "One would think that is exactly what we should be investigating," Crane says. The fear was justified, as would become apparent during the summer of 2007. One morning that July, armed FBI officers raided the apartments and homes of the four whistleblowers named in the report. Four months later, they also turned up at the front door of the man who had sought to remain anonymous in the internal complaint: Thomas Drake. Drake was a long-serving intelligence employee. For the intelligence service of the US Air Force, he once eavesdropped on radio communications from East Germany's National People's Army and the Stasi secret police from West German airspace. Later, he worked as an NSA contractor. His first day as a full-time employee at the agency was on Sept. 11, 2001. Now he was being arrested by armed officers and charged under the Espionage Act of 1917 and threatened with 35 years in prison. He also lost his security clearance and, with it, his career -- all because of trying to sound the alarm from the inside as a whistleblower using official channels he had trusted. Among the allegations against Drake were that he had leaked classified information to a reporter at the Baltimore Sun -- a claim he denied. He also stood accused of saving an NSA document on his private computer. Shortly before his trial was to begin, the government dropped all of the initial charges. Drake was sentenced to one year of probation and community service for the misuse of NSA computers. The judge in the case issued particularly harsh words against prosecutors, saying their actions had been "unconscionable." Nevertheless, Drake lost his job, his pension and many friends. Shredded Documents What Drake didn't know at the time was that his case would turn a man of the system inside the Defense Department into its critic. John Crane felt affirmed in his desire to further investigate the fears of reprisal felt by potential NSA whistleblowers. He also had a disturbing suspicion. In 2005, the New York Times reported on the NSA's domestic surveillance in the United States and the article drew attention around the world. Dick Cheney, who was vice president at the time, ordered that the source be tracked down. Among others, the five NSA whistleblowers quickly became suspects: They had, after all, criticized the same operation internally. John Crane remembers his boss, in an internal meeting, presenting the idea of passing the names of the whistleblowers on to the Justice Department officials investigating the case. Crane says he objected at the time and noted that this would be in violation of the legally guaranteed protection of anonymity for whistleblowers. The dispute continued outside the meeting room and he finally even pulled out his pamphlet with the law written on it. Crane says his boss answered by saying that he was in charge of relations with the Justice Department and that he would deal with it as he saw fit. The Pentagon and the Office of the Inspector General declined to respond in detail to SPIEGEL inquiries about the events. Crane's former boss cited his oath of confidentiality. He said he was confident that an investigation into the events would show he was innocent of any wrongdoing. Crane's suspicions continued to grow, especially after important documents pertaining to the Drake case disappeared from the inspector general's office. Drake's lawyer Jesselyn Raddack asked the court to demand the documents, saying they would prove that Drake was only in possession of the NSA documents on his private computer because he wanted to provide them to the inspector general. This would have granted Drake source protection and prevented him from prosecution. But the files could allegedly no longer be found in the Office of the Inspector General -- it was claimed that they had been shredded. Staff had accidently "fucked up," Crane remembers one of his superiors telling him before adding that Crane needed to be a "team player." Crane's superior told the judge that the disappearance of the files had resulted from an error made during the routine elimination of files. Crane didn't believe a word of it. He was convinced that that files had been deliberately destroyed. "Lying to a judge during criminal proceedings is a punishable offense," he says. Crane decided against being a "team player." He stopped toeing the line, he countered and complained. He also sent the message that he would not keep silent. As had been the case with Drake, this would result in painful personal consequences for Crane. In 2013, the then-inspector general ordered him into her office and slid his termination papers across the table. In front of the office, a security guard stripped him of his ID card. Nazi-Era Inspiration Why did Crane rebel after a quarter-century as a loyal civil servant? Why did he risk his career, his reputation as an irreproachable civil servant, his friendships and his pension? He strolls through Lady Bird Johnson Park near the Pentagon. Crane has a lot of free time now that he no longer has to go to the office each morning. He holds his arms crossed behind his back as he walks. When he was still serving the government, he had contact with Senators and Representatives and saw his job as being at the nexus of the executive and legislative branches. He thought that politicians like President Obama wanted to improve democracy. "I had to do the right thing," Crane says. "Just like my German grandfather did." Crane's grandfather was Gunther Rudel, a colonel general in the German air defenses who had already served in World War I. On Nov. 8, 1923, when Adolf Hitler, together with his followers, first attempted to seize power, Riedel was inside Munich's Burgerbraukeller together with several other soldiers as Hitler attempted to mount the Beer Hall Putsch. When Hitler pointed his pistol at one of Rudel's friends, Rudel stood between them and said: "Mr. Hitler, you will never liberate Germany like this." Hitler then lowered his weapon and proceeded. Rudel had defused the situation. Rudel described the scene himself in an eight-page personal affidavit that was corroborated by an eyewitness. Rudel was even named as a witness by the government in the later trial against Hitler, but he wasn't ultimately subpoenaed. Crane says he still admires by his grandfather's courage today and that those scenes from 1923 inspired him. He is also aware that Gunther Rudel's history has darker tones. Later, after all, his grandfather decided to remain in the Wehrmacht under Hitler and to carry out the Fuhrer's orders. He was instrumental in the development of Nazi Germany's air defenses and was promoted to general. He was only discharged in 1942, whereupon Rudel moved with his family to a Catholic parsonage in Bavaria. In 2000, Rudel's role in World War II again came under review after then-German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping removed his name from an air force barracks that had been named after him. It had emerged that Rudel had served as a volunteer juryman at the People's Court, which had sentenced myriad opponents of the Nazi regime to death. However, further research revealed that Rudel had only attended one hearing and that he had advocated for the accused's release. In the rechristened barracks, the officers' mess was then named for Rudel. John Crane and his mother both traveled to the ceremony. 'Moral Responsibility' "I learned from my grandfather that there is a moral responsibility to act when the government is violating the law," he says. Crane is so proper that it's almost painful and imbued by a high sense of morals. "In my mind, the work of a whistleblower is not a job, it's a calling," he says. He pulls a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket with a version of the famous quote by German theologian and resistance fighter Martin Niemoller. Crane reads it out loud: "First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me." After reading it, Crane is silent for a while. Crane "became a whistleblower to bear witness to the fact that the whistleblowing system doesn't work," says Thomas Drake. "He took the fall for me." Drake and Crane only met personally after they had both lost their posts. Both share the hope that a moment will come when they are vindicated. Drake says he would like to get his pension rights back. For the time being, he scrapes by working as a sales clerk at an Apple Store. Crane, for his part, has submitted several affidavits describing the abuse of authority from his perspective. His lawyer has submitted a complaint to the Office of Special Counsel accusing Crane's former colleagues of grave misconduct -- describing it as a systematic campaign aimed at curtailing whistleblowers' rights and undermining their disclosures. In the past, Edward Snowden has cited Drake's fate as the reason he chose not to put his trust in the authorities and to go public with his leaks instead. Drake trusted the system and "did absolutely everything right," Snowden said. "Rather than protecting him against retaliation from some low-level manager or whatever, they actively retaliated against him." Crane says he thinks it's "sad that someone has to go into exile because he has the feeling that he cannot use the different channels that are available to him. Someone like Snowden shouldn't have felt the need to have to harm themselves just to do the right thing." The one-time senior official accuses his former colleagues of having turned the Snowden case into what it became through their actions in the Drake case -- a fiasco for America's intelligence services and a problem for the country's foreign policy. "Snowden saw the Drake case and the course it took," Crane says. "It was the way Drake was handled that led Snowden to not stay within the system." "When I was at NSA, everybody knew that for anything more serious than workplace harassment, going through the official process was a career-ender at best. It's a part of the culture," Snowden told SPIEGEL and the Guardian when asked about the Crane case. "If your boss in the mail room lies on his time sheets, the inspector general might look into it. But if you're Thomas Drake, and you find out the president of the United States ordered the warrantless wiretapping of everyone in the country, what's the inspector general going to do? They're going to flush it -- and you with it." 'Playing With Fire' In reference to the doubts that he had, Snowden says: "I went to colleagues, I went to supervisors, I even went to the lawyers. You know what they said? 'You're playing with fire.'" "The sad reality of today's policies is that going to the inspector general with evidence of truly serious wrongdoing is often a mistake. Going to the press involves serious risks, but at least you've got a chance," Snowden says. Even today, he says, there isn't a single whistleblower from the intelligence community whose disclosures didn't lead to retaliation. "We need iron-clad, enforceable protections for whistleblowers," he says. "There are no incentives for people to stand up against an agency on the wrong side of the law today, and that's got to change." It is visibly apparent that it isn't easy for Crane to make the allegations he has made and that it still requires a great deal of effort. He speaks slowly and cautiously, considering every word. After all, given that Crane spent his entire career working to make things better, he's also speaking of a personal failure. After spending several hours telling his story, Crane wants to show where he spent his professional life one more time. He drives his burgundy Volvo to a yacht harbor on the Potomac. There's a good view of the Pentagon from here, and you can also see the Washington Monument and the White Houses, all emblems of power in the United States. Jets taking off from the nearby Ronald Reagan Airport thunder overhead. Crane peers over at the Pentagon. He could be full of resentment, but he isn't. The Office of Special Counsel, an independent tribunal that adjudicates whistle blower cases throughout the US government, reviewed Crane's complaint and concluded that there was a "substantial likelihood" his allegations are true. The Justice Department was assigned to conduct a fresh investigation. The findings are expected about a year from now and it is possible Crane will prevail. Until then, he plans to tend to his yard and look after his children. Does he hope to one day be able to return to his old office. "Yes, of course," Crane says, appearing astounded that anyone could even ask such a question. "My return would show that the system actually does work." *Correction: An earlier version of this story mentioned that "programs like Trail Blazer" captured information about private citizens. That could be read as if Trail Blazer was actually a live program, but it never went live. Additionally, an earlier version of this story indicated that the group first complained to the NSA inspector general. That is incorrect. The complaint to the NSA inspector general was only made by Thomas Drake. The rest of the group (Bill Binney, Kirk Wiebe, Ed Loomis and Diane Roark) complained directly to the office of the Pentagon Inspector General. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate TRUMBULL When town resident Portia Antonio began looking for a space in Trumbull where she could open her dream business, she didnt expect the rents to be so much higher than she could afford. She told her father, Michael DiScala, owner of real estate firm M.F. DiScala & Co., about her problem and he came up with a solution. DiScala decided he would build an affordable, attractive shopping plaza that would house Antonios shop and other small businesses. Construction on the project, called Madison Village, began in 2014 and Antonios shop, Pure Poetry, opened its doors the following August. It is just one of nearly two dozen businesses that have opened or will open in Trumbull since late summer, all in four buildings that have either been renovated or built in town since then, including Madison Village. One other plaza, on Main Street, has been completed and welcomed new tenants recently and two other buildings, on Broadway Road, are expected to be finished later this year. All three are located on the Long Hill Green. At Madison Village, small, local businesses have sought a space in the development. Its a little crazy to have people coming in here and literally walking into the middle of my dream, Antonio said. The space features offerings for everyone and has specific areas dedicated to brides-to-be, pets, graduates, kids and infants. Unique greeting cards, home decor items, clothing options, candles and more are offered in the shop. It also features an apothecary wall and a lip balm bar. Other new businesses at Madison Village include Upper Crust Bakery & Cafe, The Sitting Duck Tavern and liquor store Ninety 9 Bottles. The owners of Norwalk-based Italian restaurant Romanacci will also open a second location at the Village next month. We still have 4,500 square feet that is technically available, said Alan Webber, chief financial officer at M.F. DiScala, although he noted that the company is negotiating a lease with a hair salon for some of that space. He said they are looking for non-food uses for the remaining space that would serve the needs of the neighborhood, like a small hardware store or a pet supply store. Webber said he expected to have the plaza fully leased by now, but said those businesses that have opened have seen success so far. Our rents I think are lower than the Trumbull Center market and we built a quality product on a main road, he said. Trumbull Center on White Plains Road for years has been a frustration for town residents, who often complain about the lack of amenities available and the number of empty storefronts. The center lost anchor tenant Porricellis Market in 2012 and has had a hard time finding another tenant for the roughly 25,000-square-foot space. In fact, Antonio said many town residents she came across during the planning stages of the Madison Village plaza were apprehensive about the impact of another shopping center, especially in a mostly residential neighborhood. That has changed since it opened. Its better than what I expected, she said. The town has been so warm and generally happy that were here. Sam DeVellis, co-owner of the building that houses Franco Giannis Restaurant, said he expects the eight apartments, which are already fully leased, and the ground floor storefronts to be completed this summer. In a new building he and his partners constructed next door, an Asian bistro, Laylas Falafel and the Greenleaf Cafe will be joined by other so-far-unnamed businesses, including an independent pharmacy. The hope is the businesses should be open by July if not sooner, DeVellis said. Rina Bakalar, economic development director for the town, said successful businesses attract others to the area. Once people see the success, they really want to be a part of that, she said. Across the green, Mex on Main opened two months ago in the newly renovated red plaza on Main Street and has seen substantial interest from town residents, according to manager Carmita Donnelly. The restaurant is joined by G&G Liquors and Donnelly said more tenants are expected this summer. With the plaza that is home to Marisas Ristorante next door, First Selectman Tim Herbst said he can envision the Long Hill Green area becoming the new town center. He also added that he thinks the addition of new shopping centers will have a positive impact on the existing center. Im a firm believer in competition, he said. It forces everybody to raise their A game. Itll put pressure on other parts of town to step up. He noted the commercial base in the town has grown over the course of his administration. Commercial properties now represent 23 percent of the grand list, up from 14.2 percent when Herbst came into office seven years ago. One of the biggest outcries I faced when I was campaigning seven years ago was, Tim, theres not enough retail, he said. Herbst attributed it to the towns financial stability over the last several years and the continued strength of its educational system. Those factors draw more business, which increases the commercial grand list and further helps keep the tax rate stable, he said. One of the reasons we have been able to reduce our taxes (this year) is the robust economic development we have seen, he said. I think they have set a standard that will allow for further redevelopment and growth in that zone. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD The bands will be marching behind him along with the veterans, cops and firefighters, but Jimmy Sparrow will bring his own spiritual entourage to this years Memorial Day parade. The Stamford grand marshal, a 69-year-old Marine Corps vet who was a rifleman Vietnam, will lead the parade on the 150th anniversary of the countrys first Memorial Day celebration. As Sparrow steps off at the corner of Hoyt and Summer streets at 11 a.m. Sunday, hell have his fallen brother-in-arms, Frank McCarthy, on his mind. Sparrow and McCarthy battled the chemical corporations that made Agent Orange and then lobbied incessantly to persuade the Veterans Administration to recognize how harmful the powerful dioxin-based defoliant was to troops serving in Southeast Asia. The two eventually helped win a $240 million out-of-court settlement on behalf of thousands of suffering veterans who fought in the war. He and I were partners in this whole thing. He was instrumental, Sparrow said of McCarthy, who died just over a year ago in Florida at the age of 69. One thing led to another, the lawsuit, the lobbying. It was crazy. We were speaking at colleges and universities. It was incredible. Ill tell you who else will be walking with me, all those guys who were from Stamford who died in Vietnam. Pasquale Pat Battinelli, chairman of the Patriotic and Special Events Commission, which is organizing the parade, said Sparrow was a natural fit to be the grand marshal. He spearheaded the whole drive to Washington, D.C., to help those guys with the diseases from Agent Orange, Battinelli said. He was very active in getting the guys help, who couldnt get help. More Information Stamford Memorial Day parade 11 a.m. Sunday Steps off at corner of Hoyt and Summer streets See More Collapse This years parade is giving a special recognition to Vietnam veterans. Parade organizers plan to open a time capsule kept in the pedestal of the Doughboy statue in Veterans Park and will place inside 20 newly made dog tags of Vietnam veterans who have died since they returned home. Battinelli said a few years ago the time capsule took a similar deposit for the many World War II veterans who died over the seven decades since that war ended. Sparrow, who was born and raised in the city, was on his way to Vietnam just three days after graduating Stamford High School in 1965. He first went to a Marine Corps boot camp in South Carolina. After basic, Sparrow spent four years traveling the world with the military. He went to Norway and Central and South America and spent a lot of his time running around in the woods. Sparrow called his stay in Vietnam a panoramic tour, serving with Korean Marines, special forces types and the Marines air group and casualty evacuation crews. Sparrow said he never suffered any real issues with Agent Orange, unlike many soldiers who died of cancer or had children born with birth defects. Anybody who served in Vietnam ran the risk of exposure to Agent Orange, he said. They didnt have to spray it on you. You got exposed by eating the local food and drinking the local water. It was nearly a decade after his discharge when Sparrow became interested in Agent Orange. Paul Reutershan, a former Army helicopter crew chief who served in Vietnam, moved to Stamford and was dying of stomach cancer. Reutershan couldnt figure out how he contracted the illness, because he was very health conscious, never smoked or drank, and ate simple foods. But Reutershan realized it was likely caused by Agent Orange when he read a small article in the New York Daily News, suggesting there was a link between the powerful defoliant and cancer, Sparrow recalled. The revelation sparked a crusade for Reutershan and consumed much of the last years of his life. I got killed in Vietnam, and didnt know it, Reutershan told his mother at Norwalk Hospital days before he died at the age of 27. The comment became widely publicized after it was included in his 1978 obituary. Sparrow vowed to continue the fight when Reutershan died. Sparrow said his patriotism was never shaken during his long battle to help fellow veterans. He faults the corporations, not the government. The chemical companies knew how dangerous this stuff was, but sold it to the government anyway, he said. I think if the government was informed about how dangerous it was, I dont think they would have used it. Sparrow, who stands at 5-foot-9, speaks at something approaching a yell, as if someone in the back of the room is unable to hear him. His accent isnt exactly New York, but something pretty close. He prefers to call it a Stamford accent. Sparrow married his wife Amalia shortly after being discharged in 1969. The couple raised a daughter, Francis, who gave them two granddaughters and a great-grandson. The newest member of the family, James, 18 months, is fourth generation military, when counting the in-laws, Sparrow said. Over the years, Sparrow has suffered a stroke and a heart attack, but says he feels pretty good for being a veteran. For what I have been through in my life, Im in pretty good shape, he said. Ive crashed in a helicopter and crashed in trucks. When you are an infantry man in the Marine Corps, you get tossed around a lot. jnickerson@scni.com; As a serial entrepreneur, Ive had my share of good and bad business partners. One experience in particular started out pretty good because this person had lots of industry knowledge and connections. We literally could walk into just about any account and the prospect would buy our services. It was great, at least for a while. Then personality conflicts started and it was no longer fun or productive and it quickly went downhill from there. So what went wrong? The biggest problem was not knowing him very well. Rather than taking the time to do the due diligence on him, the focus was on the chance to grow a company quickly and profitably based on his knowledge of the industry and my knowledge of the product. We had never worked together before so leadership style or values were an unknown. However, once we started working together, it quickly became clear that his way of doing business was totally different in terms of employees, customers and money. I see this a lot when working with clients now. It looks great on paper but issues arise when put into practice and personalities react to various situations. Just like a marriage that starts off all hearts, roses and dreams, a partnership can quickly turn into heartbreak, anger, lawsuits and bankruptcy. Before you even think of pulling the trigger with a business partner, contemplate whether you even need one at all. If you decide it is a good idea, make sure you get the best match to your own values, goals, leadership style and skills. Because once you become partners, it is vastly more difficult to undo the partnership than it is to create it. Following are eight points to consider to avoid a bad partnership. 1. Trust. This is first on the list for a reason. Bottom line, do you trust this individual with your personal bank account. If the answer is no, think twice. As partners, every dollar you spend proportionately affects your personal check book. Related: 13 Tips to Create the Perfect Partnership 2. Friendship. If the person is a good friend, make sure that their goals, values and responsibilities are aligned to yours. Dont assume just because you get along as friends that they are. Take a look at their personal life and how stable it is. Personal problems are difficult and can easily complicate their professional life. If there is any doubt, dont do it. 3. Trial run. Select a person you have experience with at work, at a nonprofit or on a project. You should know if they are a team player and how they react in difficult situations. If you have no experience with a potential partner at all, do a trial run for a specified period of time before finalizing the partnership. Related: For Your Partnership to Succeed, It Needs to Be Balanced 4. Partner, employee or consultant. Dont partner with someone just because you cant afford to hire them. It is better to hire them as a consultant than to give away a part of your company or to find out later that he/she is not a good partner for you. 5. Varied strengths. Make sure you and your partners strengths are in different areas. If you have two people who are good at sales and no one who is good at executing on an operational level, it will be more challenging than you think. It is much better to bring someone in who will compliment your strengths. In order to grow profitably, keep some balance. 6. Balanced responsibilities. Both parties need to agree up front what their responsibilities are in the company and stick to them. If one person keeps trying to take over and do everything or ends up doing very little, then the partnership will start to unravel and feelings of resentment will fester. Related: 6 Challenges Confronting Every Business Partnership 7. Money. Just like in marriage, money is always one of the major problems in a business partnership. Therefore, agree in the beginning how you will use the funding you raise and how the profits will be distributed. 8. Valuation/contracts. Decide on a formula to determine the value of the company should one partner decide to leave to avoid disagreements. Buy/Sell agreements are incredibly useful for discussing all possibilities and how they will be handled before they become a reality. Why is all of this so important? Because a great business can be severely damaged by a bad partnership and never reach its full potential. Starting a business and/or a partnership is an emotional experience. When doing your due diligence, set your emotions aside and make sure everything lines up and has the potential at staying aligned. Related: 8 Critical Considerations for Choosing the Right Business Partner 7 Keys to Healthy Co-founder Partnerships How to Have a Successful Co-Founder Relationship Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Its always nice to talk to another writer. Rahul Subramaniam, though, introduces himself by explaining Im mainly a scientist. So much for common ground. Hes also 15. Despite his clarification, Im going to go ahead and insist hes a writer. We meet after he delivers his story, The Melting Pot, which won first place in Greenwichs seventh annual diversity writing contest. I was one of the four judges who reviewed some 80 submissions from high school students. We judge them blind, unaware of gender, school or age. There is a lot of thoughtful work here, but yes, a freshman discovered the winning formula. The assignment was to reflect on the modern resonance of Emma Lazarus sonnet engraved in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free/The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! Some students responded with poems, many in hip-hop rhythms. Other teens tried out memoir writing. Rahul wrote a fictional narrative about an unnamed protagonist fleeing a village being razed by the scourge known as Daesh (Isis) while chasing a friend shouting in frantic Arabic. Its not the award that defines Rahul as a writer. Its his choices. He uses a second-person narrative that also never divulges gender or age (you turn in desperate circles, trying to get a bearing). I wanted to put the reader into my story not just to tell them a story but to engage them within the story, he explains. It makes the reader accountable for the choices made within the story itself by the character. I tried to make the character as general as possible so I didnt give gender or age. It could be any person. It could be you, it could be me. These people in the Middle East trying to escape this conflict could be any people. They just want peace in their lives. Rahul, a freshman at Greenwich High School, is still young enough to talk enthusiastically about Lego projects (a favorite is a remote-controlled excavator). He recently graduated to building his own 3-D printer. Discussions of world events and politics are common in his Cos Cob household. His father, Prem Subramaniam, says, some of the loudest arguments in the house are between Rahul and his 12-year-old brother Rohan, a sixth-grader at Cos Cob School. Still, the depth of Rahuls written words took his father by surprise. They are absorbing so much, says Prem, who refers to his son as a polyglot. He wrote something without me knowing. To realize he had such a serious line of thought in his head . . . He was trying to make sense of it. I wonder when as adults we lose that. As Rahuls short story unfolds, his hero expresses a secret wish to go to America, where everyone has everything they could possibly need and there are more skin tones and ethnic groups than you can count. This America sounds like a pretty special place. The real America has would-be presidents who think the nation is a Monopoly board where they can easily erect fences to secure Park Place and Boardwalk, that precious seaside real estate. The non-fiction story awaits an ending. To execute an overemployed gimmick, heres a spoiler alert for the fictional one: Things dont end well for you in The Melting Pot. There is a loss of limb and a shortage of painkillers. Worst of all, the heros illusion of America is splintered by a TV broadcast. An older man with strange hair is addressing a crowd of thousands of people. He speaks loudly, almost shouting, and the people cheer after nearly every statement he makes. Promise and hope are betrayed, replaced by despair. Rahul writes about the top GOP without mentioning his name. Its a reliable writers trick. Its even better coming from a 15-year-old who uses it to reveal that the youth of America are paying more attention than we might think. Diversity is important to me, he says. Its not something that is talked about enough. The theme of the contest also resonated with Rahul because his parents arrived in the United States from India in the 1990s. Candidates dubious of the contributions of immigrants might take note that his father is also a scientist. This one researches cancer. At the ceremony, Rahul wears a dress jacket, necktie and an earnest visage as he offers a postscript to his story to a Greenwich Library audience that includes his father, brother and grandfather. His words could be coming from a college professor four times his age. We are stronger together than we are apart, he says. Diversity is not a theoretical construct. He continues to sound like a scientist as he deconstructs his work, but transforms back into a teen when he later mulls over his favorite works of literature. He likes fantasy, science fiction and occasionally a good dystopian book. He doesnt bother to mention that his own story is dystopian. The only author he mentions by name is Isaac Asimov, one of the masters of the science fiction genre. Asimov also happened to be a biochemist. Im no scientist, but I know a writer when I read one. John Breunig is editorial page editor of The Advocate and Greenwich Time. John.breunig@scni.com; 203-964-2281; twitter.com/johnbreunig. At a Millennial Town Hall at Georgetown University, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., recently fielded a tricky question from a young Republican. What reasons for optimism, the student asked, could Ryan offer to conservative millennials disgusted by the leading GOP presidential candidates? Ryans response was telling. He encouraged young people to ignore the political personality, and instead Look at the ideas. Look at the platform that is being advanced. We win ideas contests, Ryan declared triumphantly. With all due respect, Mr. Speaker: No, you dont. At least not among millennials. The GOP is poised to permanently lose a generation of voters, and not (only) because of its odious and uncommonly disliked presidential front-runner. New survey data suggest that young people have become increasingly averse to just about every plank in todays creaky Republican Party platform. By now its well known that young Americans are considerably more liberal than the Republican Party on most social issues, particularly gay rights. The latest youth poll from Harvards Institute of Politics, though, indicates that LGBT-related policies arent the only ones on which young people and Republican traditionalists part ways. Young people have also become much more supportive of big government and expanded social welfare programs. Compared with responses from the past few years, todays 18- to 29-year-olds are more likely to believe that basic health insurance is a right for all people, that basic necessities, such as food and shelter, are a right that government should provide to those unable to afford them and that the government should spend more to reduce poverty. More broadly, other surveys have found that young people have more favorable views of socialism than of capitalism the only age group for which this is true. Additionally, the Harvard poll found, young people increasingly reject supply-side economics, the cornerstone of the Republican fiscal agenda. On the breakaway issue of the current Republican primary immigration young people also could not be more at odds with the GOP base. For more than two decades, the Pew Research Center has been surveying Americans about whether they believe immigrants strengthen our country because of their hard work and talents or are a burden on our country because they take our jobs, housing and health care. The share of millennials saying that immigrants strengthen the country has shot up to 76 percent in recent years, far higher than any other generation and more than twice as high as the share of Republicans who say this. Young people are also far more likely than other age groups to favor finding a way for undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States legally, and to oppose building a wall on the Mexican border. On countless other issues such as whether stricter environmental regulations are worth the cost young Americans are drifting further from those supposedly winning ideas held by Ryans party. You might be tempted to dismiss some of these findings because young people are almost always more liberal than their elders. Even relative to earlier cohorts of young people, though, todays youth are shifting leftward. Some of that shift is compositional: Young people today are more likely to be nonwhite, and nonwhites are more likely to be more liberal than their white peers. Demographics tell only part of the story, though. Millennials are now the largest generation in history, and their voter turnout rates will probably increase with age. Research suggests that political affiliations developed early in life tend to stick. None of this bodes well for the future of the Republican Party, regardless of which candidate it offers up in November. Unless, that is, its willing to change some of its ideas. crampell@washpost.com Some quietly reminisced memories both fond and difficult. Others wept. Some gravitated to a name and said nothing at all. But all veterans of the Vietnam War shared an unspoken connection of brotherhood as they visited a replica of the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Moving Wall, a traveling half-scale replica of its Washington, D.C., counterpart, stood at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Middlesex Township Saturday, serving as a centerpiece to AHECs annual Army Heritage Days event. The event was held on Saturday and Sunday. If you look at the vets who know somebody on the wall, you might not see the actual tears in their eyes, but you can see the emotion just coming out, said David Calhoun, a local Vietnam veteran and Heritage Days volunteer. Calhoun primarily served as a DMZ adviser and operated in northern Vietnam during his time in the war. (The wall) can be very emotional, Calhoun added. Especially if you have duties like I once had where I was an escort for a while and had to escort bodies home. It is probably the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. The wall was brought in to help commemorate the wars 50th anniversary the main theme of this years event. This is a timeline living history event, meaning we go back all the way to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, said Lindsay Strehl, who works in visitor and education services at AHEC. So (we feature) the beginning of the Army to current operations. Each year we pick a theme, and that is where the 50th anniversary of Vietnam came in. We decided to go with Vietnam this year. Strehl said the wall was well-received by crowds thanks to its blend of convenience and authenticity. Everyone seems to love (the wall), Strehl said. Talking to some of the vets, it is exactly that. They dont want to have to travel to D.C., they dont want to deal with the crowds (and) they dont want to park and walk. So they are excited to see it here. The event featured a variety of other displays as well as vendors, reenactments and demonstrations on everything from Civil War-era artillery to the fundamentals of trench warfare. But above all else, the event gave all walks of the Army community a venue to comfortably reflect on their experiences as a community. A lot of the vets will talk amongst themselves because the brotherhood continues, Calhoun said. Most the time, they tend to remember the lighthearted things. They remember the sad parts, of course, but they will not usually talk that freely amongst others who werent there, and that allows them an outlet for emotions that may have been pent up for 40 or 50 years. T he end is nigh for Wallander (BBC iPlayer), at least in his Swedish incarnation. Poor old Kurt, who is curt but is pronounced Koort, has Alzheimers on top of his emotional reticence and general Nordic moodiness, and has started forgetting things. Happily, or not, his forgetful moments are presaged by the screen going all fuzzy at the corners and a gradual lack of focus which makes him forget what hes doing. Kurt Wallander, he says, tell me what happened? with obvious implications for his future as a detective. By now, of course, Wallander isnt really about the crimes, which tend towards generic strangeness. In this, the penultimate episode of the final series, an arsonist was released from prison, with predictably fiery results. But who was wielding the matches? Was it the convicted firestarter or the angry ex-Olympian with the half-plastic face which gave her the permanently surprised look of a Batman villain? Or was it the angry villagers, with their red hair, Bergman-esque cheekbones and practical knitwear? You may wish to hazard a guess. But the emotional heart of the story was located in Wallanders illness, rendered with real pathos by Krister Henriksson, as he melted slowly beneath his Vitalis-soaked quiff. On his recent retirement from television criticism, the great Clive James observed that Game of Thrones (Sky On Demand) had helped him overcome a lifetime of resistance to any art form containing dragons. Well, I bow to Mr Jamess wisdom on most things the obvious exception being the Cuban dragon Margarita Pracatan but the fire-breathing lizards, the three-eyed ravens, and the general sense that GoT is an unending riff on the duff aesthetics of the prog rock era married to the hammy classicism of British middlebrow theatre do get in the way a bit. Games of Thrones season 6 trailer Season four has concluded on a contemplative note, though not without a fight sequence involving some undead skeletons and a few hocks of satire-proof dialogue. Take this, from the blonde Goth Daenerys, as she dithered prettily around the entrance to some catacombs. You want to return to a man who owned you like a goat or a chair? Which is it, love? The goat or the chair? Meanwhile, in EastEnders (BBC iPlayer), the fantasy Hackney that is Walford has been updated so it resembles Essex in the Eighties, instead of the cheese dreams of Harold Steptoe. Sharon now runs a cocktail bar with a waitress dressed like Boy George. This allows Phil Mitchell his first encounter with a lychee, followed quickly by his first sighting of a metrosexual. Would you trust a man in skintight jeans? growls Phil. Ah, splutters Shirley, phlegmily, the invasion of the hipsters. Ponces, replies Phil. Serial box The decision to split the final season of Mad Men in two, with the second half due next spring, was maddening. The first half of the finale took ages to get going, but by the midpoint the swirling themes (the tussle between individuality and marketing, creativity and corporatism, sex and sexism) were coming to a head. To ease the pain of absence, seasons 1-6 are now available (Sky On Demand). Meanwhile, in 24: Live Another Day (Sky On Demand), Margot the implausible terrorist mastermind ordered the senile US President Heller to a secret showdown at a floodlit Wembley stadium. Fortunately, the final of the Johnstones Paint Trophy wasnt under way, or things could have turned really messy But the President did find time to pardon Jack for being a law unto himself. A woman branded the Angel of Woolwich after she confronted the killers of Lee Rigby said she regrets doing it and the brave act ruined her life. Ingrid Loyau-Kennett was pictured standing up to Muslim extremist Michael Adebolajo after he murdered the soldier near his barracks. But, speaking on the third anniversary of the killing, the former teacher complained of suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and said her entire life had gone downhill since that day. She told The Sun: "I used to be a very active person. I was a scout leader, bell ringer, sing in a choir and go tapdancing. I was a very active person. Every day I had an activity. Now its the complete emptiness around me. I cant stop sleeping, I just dont wake up." Angel of Woolwich: Ingrid Loyau-Kennett The 51-year-old said she stepped in because Adebolajo seemed "frustrated" and she was worried he might kill again unless someone tried to calm him." She said: "He told me he was frustrated so I tried to calm him down. Maybe he would have killed again if I didnt speak to him, thats what struck me at the time. I noticed when he said dont touch the body, I saw his bloody hand on the weapon. I didnt think it was brave, it was just something normal to do. Murdered: Lee Rigby But she said: "At the time I saw three couples in three cars drive off and thought shame on you, you cowards. But maybe next time I would take the cowards way out." Adebolajo and fellow killer Michael Adebowale are currently serving life in prison for the brutal murder. Their killing on May 22 2013 saw Fusilier Rigby hit with a car before they launched a savage attack on him in the street. A filthy takeaway in west London was closed after inspectors found a widespread cockroach infestation. The owners of the Chick N Spice takeaway were fined and the premises were closed after inspectors found the infestation of German cockroaches. Ealing Council food safety officers found the cockroach infestation around a chest freezer in the takeaway, with evidence of adults, nymphs and egg casings. The borough's cabinet member for safety, culture and community services, Councillor Ranjit Dheer, said: The vast majority of food outlets in Ealing comply with hygiene requirements. The council responded swiftly to tackle the serious and inexcusable hygiene breaches committed by Chick N Spice, and had no hesitation closing the premises to protect public safety. It is so important for businesses to remember that poor food hygiene can have real consequences for their customers. We take a tough stance against those that do not comply with regulations. We actively encourage customers to check the food hygiene rating of local businesses and to report any hygiene concerns immediately to the council. Council officers found live German cockroaches at the takeaway / Ealing Council The premises was served a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition and closed on April 18 following a customer complaint. Inspection officers found live cockroaches crawling between chopping boards, on the sink, on pizza boxes and harbouring within electrical ducts. Cockroaches were found in Pizza boxes / Ealing Council A hearing at Ealing Magistrates Court upheld the councils decision to temporarily close the restaurant and ordered the business owners to pay legal costs of 707.50 on May 5. The takeaway reopened four days later with no remaining insects evident and after significant improvement works were carried out. Chick N Spice in Hanwell was closed for four days in April due to an uncontrolled infestation of cockroaches creating a risk of contamination to food and food contact equipment. The takeaway was closed for four days / Ealing Council The owners worked with the council throughout the process and continue to work with food safety officers to expand and maintain improvements. An investigation is continuing into the breaches that were identified. A five-year-old girl was today seriously injured in hospital after falling from a second floor window in south London. The child was treated by London Ambulance Service paramedics after the fall in Paulet Road, Camberwell, on Saturday evening. She was taken to hospital and is now in a serious but stable condition, police said. A spokesman for the Met said: "Police were called to Paulet Road, Camberwell, at approximately 7.50pm on Saturday to reports of a child fallen from a building. "The five-year-old girl was taken to a south London hospital by London Ambulance Service. "She is in a serious but stable condition. Enquiries continue." Lambeth police officer Chief Inspector Roy Smith tweeted in relation to the incident: "Just responded with @LAS_JRU to a 5 year old female fallen out of a second floor window. Heart stops whilst multiple units and HEMS respond." T he Tower of London was evacuated this evening after a fire broke out in a kitchen. Hundreds of people attending the International News Media Association (INMA) congress were forced to leave the Historic Royal Palace shortly before 7.50pm. Attendees to the congress posted photographs and videos on Twitter showing several fire engines outside the historic landmark and crowds of people who had been forced to leave the building. Gasant Abarder (@GasantAbarder) tweeted: "So I'm at the Tower of London and there's a fire. Everyone evacuated. This is not a drill." Four fire engines were sent to the scene after a small fire broke out in the New Armouries restaurant kitchen, a London Fire Brigade spokeswoman said. Firefighters used one hose reel to extinguish the blaze and emergency services left the Tower of London shortly before 8.15pm. There were no reports of any injuries. The INMA congress runs from May 22 to 24 and brings together journalists from across the world to discuss the evolving nature of news. The welcome reception takes place at the Tower of London this evening and awards dinner will be hosted at the Victoria and Albert Museum. S haron Osbourne has provoked fury after branding the parents of Madeleine McCann insane for leaving their child alone. The 63-year-olds outburst came on US chat show The Talk, where she made a thinly-veiled reference to the tragic case. She said: There was a husband and wife on holiday in Portugal. They left their baby in the room sleeping, sleeping while they went to dinner in the restaurant. And it is like, Oh but we can see everything that is going on. It is, like, insane. Her comments sparked a furious backlash, with a friend of Madeleines parents Kate and Gerry calling the former talent show judge ignorant Missing: Madeleine McCann The friend told The Mirror: Its very disappointing when someone with such a high profile makes this sort of ignorant, ill-informed comment. She should think about the effect it could have on Madeleines brother and sister, as well as the wider family. They added: Its based on ignorance of the true facts. While shes entitled to her view she should keep it to herself. Madeleine, aged three, vanished in May 2007 while on a family holiday in Portugals Praia da Luz resort. The child has never been found, although Scotland Yard said as recently as April this year that detectives had still not given up hope of finding her. T wo lions have been shot dead in front of horrified crowds after a man jumped into their zoo enclosure, stripped naked and taunted them into mauling him. Keepers at the Metropolitan Zoo in Satiago, Chile, had to shoot the 20-year-old with a tranquiliser dart to save his life when he climbed into the pen yesterday morning. Although the apparently suicidal man, named by local media as Franco Luis Ferrade Roman, was ignored at first, he eventually goaded the animals into attacking him, witnesses said. Zookeepers initially used water hoses to turn the two male and female lions away but eventually resorted to firing live ammunition, killing the animals. Mr Ferrada, who reportedly left a suicide note in his clothing, was rushed to a nearby health clinic suffering injuries to his head and pelvis. Doctors said the man's condition was no longer life-threatening and they hoped he would fully recover. Zoo director Alejandra Montalva said: The shooter decided to save the life of the person and unfortunately we had to sacrifice two members of our family The zoo has an established protocol because peoples lives are very important to us. She added she was "deeply affected" by the deaths of the two lions. A Japanese pop star is fighting for her life after being repeatedly stabbed by an obssessive fan, Mayu Tomita, 20, is said to have been knifed dozens of times after refusing a gift before a concert in Tokyo. She was stabbed in the neck and chest, Japanese media reported. Police said a 27-year-old man was arrested at the scene by officers who also seized a blood covered knife. The attack is said to have happened after Tomita complained a man had been stalking her online. Female Japanese pop stars are known to appear at fan events and perform at smaller venues in order to build support among their audiences. Two teenage members of Japanese girl group AKB48 were attacked by a man wielding a saw in 2014 at a fan event. A lesbian couple are set to be awarded 55,000 in compensation after claiming they were arrested and thrown in jail after kissing inside a shop. Taylor Guerrero and Courtney Wilson said they were detained by an off-duty police officer in a Foodland store while on holiday in Honolulu, Hawaii, last year. According to the American couple, they were holding hands and had stopped to kiss each other when a policeman ordered them to stop. Their lawsuit claimed the officer, who retired soon afterwards, barked at them to "take it somewhere else". When they indulged in another public display of affection in the store soon afterwards, he threatened to have them kicked out, it is claimed. He then grabbed Miss Wilson as she waited in the checkout queue and ended up in an altercation with the women, the lawsuit said. The pair were arrested on suspicion of assault and spent three days in jail but the charges against them were eventually dismissed. Honolulu's city council is set to consider their settlement in July, but the figure announced in a federal court this week was set at $80,000. Miss Wilson told US news station KHNL afterwards: "For the publicity that it has gained, I hope that people saw it and it gives them inspiration to stand up for the civil rights that we have and to not tolerate bigotry behaviour like that because it's not acceptable." Miss Guerrero, who now lives in the city, told the station: "I'm just glad it's over with." T he leader of the Taliban has been killed in a US drone strike, the militant Islamist group has confirmed. Mullah Akhtar Mansour died in a strike on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border on Friday night, a senior Taliban commander said. Mansour led the Taliban after the death of the movement's founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was announced last summer. Afghanistans chief executive Abdullah Abdullah said Mansours death would have a positive impact on attempts to bring peace to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been waging an insurgency for 15 years. Mansour was "the main figure preventing the Taliban joining the peace process", Abdullah said. "From the day he took over the Taliban following the death of Mullah Omar, he intensified violence against ordinary citizens, especially in Afghanistan." Earlier, the US Department of Defence said a drone strike had targeted Mansour "in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region". Afghan officials said the drone strike took place in Pakistan's Baluchistan province, in the Ahmad Wal area. The Afghan government has long accused the Pakistani authorities of harbouring and supporting the Afghan Taliban. The drone strike targeted Mansour's vehicle which was carrying Mansour and one other person at the time, a US military source said. Another Taliban source identified the driver as Muhammad Azam Hasanai, and said the vehicle the two men were travelling in was completely destroyed in the drone strike. A magician on Britains Got Talent performed an unusual magic trick removing judge Amanda Holdens bra in front of the judges. Christian Lee invited Holden on stage to be his glamorous assistant during his audition, which began with a card trick. After performing another trick with a large red balloon on his head, the pair adopted the Titanic pose to the delight of the audience. But as Holden hugged Lee and thanked him for allowing her to take part in his audience, the magician removed her bra in the blink of an eye. As Holden returned to her seat on the judging panel, she appeared amused by what the magician had achieved and grabbed her chest to signify she was missing her underwear. David Walliams, Alesha Dixon and Holden praised Lee and while Simon Cowell was skeptical, the magician was able to secure a full house of votes to make it through to the next round. But when it came to deciding the final 45 contestants to appear in the live semi finals, Lee was given the boot. In a column I wrote a couple months back, I listed five reasons why Donald Trump could actually win this election, to our everlasting national shame. Heres reason number six: A Democratic party torn asunder. Tuesday night, after winning Oregon and losing Kentucky, Bernie Sanders told his tragically credulous acolytes: We have a possibility of going to Philadelphia with a majority of pledged delegates. The truth, to which he remains allergic, is that under the Democratic rules of proportional delegate allocation, he would have to beat Hillary Clinton by whopping landslides, 35-point margins or more, in each and every remaining primary. That is not going to happen. In reality, he has been been burnt toast for so many weeks that his crust has the consistency of ash. And yet destructively so he still wants his revolutionaries to believe. And because they believe, they continue to feed on the delusion that somehow Bernie is being robbed by a system that is rigged, despite the fact that Hillary has won three million more votes than Bernie nationwide. But unless or until Bernie grows up and talks to them as adults, theyll take their delusions to Philadelphia and put their tantrums on national display. And every day that happens is a great day for Trump. What happened this past weekend at the Nevada Democratic convention gave us a taste of those sour grapes. The gist is that even though Hillary won the February caucus, 53 to 47 percent, Bernies followers went ballistic because they felt he didnt win enough delegates. (Like, a majority.) They threw chairs, screamed obscenities at Clinton surrogates, and, in numerous texts and cell phone messages, threatened the life of the state party chairwoman. Despite their social media frothing and self-righteous screeds, the facts reveal that the Sanders folks disregarded rules, then when shown the truth, attacked organizers and party officials as tools of a conspiracy to defraud the senator of what was never rightfully his in the first place, said Jon Ralston, the smartest political reporter in Nevada. Instead of acknowledging that they were out-organized [by the Clinton campaign], the Sanders folks have decided to cry conflagration in a crowded building, without regard to what they burn down in the process. And this was a fight over the allegiances of only four delegates; it didnt matter whether Bernie won them, because thats a drop in his deficit bucket. Even political commentator Charles Pierce whos no fan of Hillary is repulsed by the behavior of the revolutionaries. He writes that the Sanders people should know better than to conclude what has been a brilliant and important campaign by turning it into an extended temper tantrum. I voted for Bernie Sanders .... But if anybody thinks that, somehow, he is having the nomination stolen from him, they are idiots. And the idiocy is fed from the top. Bernie seems determined to play it ugly all the way to the convention, and to threaten further displays of wrath on the convention floor. Some of us are old enough to remember the last time there was such a spectacle. I happen to remember it well, because it was my first convention as a journalist. The year was 1980, Ted Kennedy took his losing liberal insurgency all the way to the floor, exacerbating the breach with the forces committed to incumbent President Jimmy Carter. The resulting Democratic disunity helped fuel the autumn victory of Ronald Reagan, a guy who Democrats once derided as a joke. Is that really the way Bernie wants to play it? Is he bent on becoming the next Ralph Nader? Ed Kilgore, a longtime Democratic operative and commentator, wisely says that the best step Sanders supporters could take to promote their long-term interests in the Democratic Party would be to get a grip before they wind up helping Donald Trump win the presidency. And Bernie Sanders himself has a responsibility to talk his devoted followers off the ledge. But Bernie seems averse to taking responsibility. Jon Ralston warns: If what happens in Vegas happens in Philadelphia, the chances of a unified Democratic party in the general election are virtually nonexistent and the odds of a President Trump suddenly dont look so long. Thats what Im saying. Reason number six. Dick Polman is the national political columnist at NewsWorks/WHYY in Philadelphia and a Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com. US House of Representatives passes bill for greater defence ties with India Published: May 21, 2016 The US House of Representatives has passed amendments to the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA)-2017 to enhance the countrys defence cooperation with India. The bill seeks to bring India at par with USs NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) allies for technology and equipment sale. Key facts It also seeks to open a special office in the Pentagon dedicated exclusively to the US-India Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI). Once it gets assent of President, these provisions will liberalise the sale of a wide range of defence technologies to India, bypassing legislative approvals. It also seeks to promote greater defence trade and encourage additional military cooperation between the India-US. A similar kind of bill named US-India Defence Technology and Partnership Act is under the consideration in the US Senate as well. It seeks to promote greater defence trade and encourage additional military cooperation between the United States and India. US-India Defence Relations Defence trade between the US and India is one of the strongest areas of the bilateral economic relationship. Over the past 10 years it has risen from $300 million to over $14 billion. Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016 Topics: Bills and Acts Current Affairs 2016 Defence India-US Latest E-Books This page may have been moved, deleted, or is otherwise unavailable. To help you find what you are looking for: Enter Search Term(s): Still cant find what youre looking for? Send us a message using our contact us form. To report a broken link or other problems with the website, please include the URL. Thank you for visiting state.gov. Union Government 11 member panel to relook Defence Spend Published: May 21, 2016 Union Government has constituted 11 members committee to recommend measures to enhance the combat capabilities of the armed forces and re-balance the overall defence expenditure. The 11-member committee will be headed by Lt Gen D B Shekatkar (retd). It also includes several other top military officers as well as civilian experts. The overall aim of the committee is to ensure combat capabilities Indian armed forces and enhance their potential with a better teeth-to-tail combat ratio, within budgetary constraints. It also aims at ensuring leaner and cost-effective fighting forces of India. Background The committee was constituted owing to the present revenue component (day-to-day costs/salaries) in the defence budget. The revenue component usually outstrips the capital outlay every year and leaves a very little for new modernisation projects for the armed forces. Since the 1999 Kargil conflict, Union Government is trying to follow a policy of `save and raise in order to improve combat capabilities without manpower increases. For this purpose government is focusing on modernisation and induction of cutting-edge technologies, for optimisation of manpower. Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016 Topics: Committees Defence National Latest E-Books Annamarie Phelps, chairman of British Rowing, Paralympian Pam Ralph, Glyn Hawkins, project leader, Paralympian James Roe, Nadhim Zahawi MP and Stratford Boat Club chairman Stephen Haighton. THERE were great celebrations at Stratford Boat Club earlier this month as the new training room and refurbished club room were opened by Paralympian gold medalist James Roe MBE and Nadhim Zahawi MP in front of an enthusiastic audience. Stephen Haighton, chairman of Stratford Boat Club said: We have been extraordinarily lucky here at the club that we got together the right team, with the right vision, ambition, skills, talent and commitment, ably lead by Glyn Hawkins for whom this has been virtually a full time job and who we recognised with honorary life membership last week. We were also very fortunate to have the right people advising us included some great partners such as MRT Architects and Iris Construction and invaluable help from Alan Meegan at British Rowing. Other guests included chief executives and senior executives from Sport England, British Rowing and Stratford Town Trust who provided just under 200k between them to fund the project. Club president Paul Stanton said: The key objectives and main reasons for building are to provide an all-weather, year round training facility, to improve access for disabled athletes and to increase participation in sport and rowing. There have been a number of very generous individual donations including one by my predecessor Felix Badcock whose estate provided 12,500 for the development. He was a very passionate advocate of building the extension and we know that the finished result is a fitting memorial to him. Glyn Hawkins, lead committee member for the refurbishment added: We will be continuing with our fund raising activities with the aim of paying the bank loan off early. We are very keen to attract more sponsors and we hope that progressive local businesses will see that the boat club is a thriving Stratford community asset and want to be associated with us. Before James Roe officially cut the ribbon to open the club room and training room, Stratford MP Nadhim Zahawi said: This facility is for the whole community of Stratford and a legacy of what was achieved with the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012 and what we proved to the world. More people are partaking in sport from five-year-olds to pensioners and Stratford Boat Club is playing its part in making that happen. You can celebrate your achievement for many years to come and I say many congratulations to you. The Herald's photographer Mark Williamson. The Stratford Herald's photographer, Mark Williamson, has been highly commended at this year's Regional Press Awards. Winners of the Regional Press Awards for 2015 were announced at formal awards ceremony held over lunch on Friday, 20th May at the Marriott Grosvenor Square, London. The Awards celebrate the best of British regional and local newspaper journalism in 2015. Mark said: "It was honour to be nominated and being awarded second highly commended is fantastic at what is the Oscars of the regional newspaper business. I'm pleased that good photo journalism has been recognised at Stratford Herald." The overall winner in the Weekly Newspaper Photographer of the Year was Michael Gillen of the Falkirk Herald. See more on this story in Thursday's Herald. SANTEE, CA, May, 21 2016 /PRNewswire/ - The Santee community was revitalized today thanks to a new playground built at the Town Center Community Park West. In less than eight hours, more than 200 volunteers from Foresters FinancialTM, the City of Santee, and non-profit KaBOOM! created the new play space, which will serve more than 20,000 children and their families in the local community for years to come. "We believe in enriching lives and building strong communities that's our purpose," said Tony Garcia, President and CEO, Foresters Financial. "Playgrounds are important to communities, providing a public space where children can play safely, families can spend quality time and the community can come together. An investment in a playground is an investment in community, and we are happy to provide the Santee community with a place that families can enjoy for years to come." The design for the new playground is based on drawings created by neighborhood children at a special Design Day event held in March when community members met with organizers from KaBOOM! and Foresters Financial to design their dream playground. The drawings inspired the final playground design. Foresters Financial, an international financial services provider, helps families reach their financial goals, protect themselves and make a lasting difference in their communities. This year, Foresters and KaBOOM! are proudly celebrating the 10 year anniversary of their partnership. Since 2006, Foresters has invested more than $11.5 million with KaBOOM! to build more than 130 playgrounds including 5 in San Diego across the US and Canada by the end of 2016. Over their 15-year lifespan, these playgrounds will provide more than 4.5 million children and their families with an opportunity to spend quality time together and enhance family well-being. "We're pleased to collaborate with Foresters Financial and KaBOOM! to create this new playground at Town Center Community Park West," said Santee Community Services Director Bill Maertz. "This play area occupies an ideal location that attracts a high number of visitors. It will serve the community well by helping children stay active and healthy." Green spaces and safe play structures where children and families can enjoy and spend time together are sparse in many high density communities. Playing outdoors is an important part of every child's healthy development and the creation of this new playground will allow thousands of children to play safely and be active in their community. Foresters Financial is a KaBOOM! Founding Partner and National Partner. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has been dedicated to the bold goal of ensuring that all children get the balance of active play they need to become healthy and successful adults because #playmatters. City of SanteeIncorporated in 1980, the City of Santee occupies 16.5 square miles and has a population of approximately 56,000 located 18 miles from the sparkling beaches of the Pacific Ocean. The city's Community Services Department operates eight public parks totaling more than 250 acres and nearly 4 miles of multi-use trails along the San Diego River. The KaBoom! playground is located at Town Center Community Park, Santee's busiest community park, which generates an annual attendance of 1 million visitors. ForestersForesters Financial is an international financial services provider with more than three million clients and members in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. We provide life insurance, savings, retirement and investment solutions that help families achieve their financial goals and make a lasting difference in their lives and communities. For over 140 years, Foresters Financial has built a foundation of financial strength and a commitment of giving back to our clients and members and the communities where they live. For more information, visit foresters.com. Foresters Financial and Foresters are trade names and trademarks of The Independent Order of Foresters (a fraternal benefit society, 789 Don Mills Road, Toronto, Canada M3C 1T9) and its subsidiaries. 413565F US (05/16) KaBOOM!KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to giving all kids particularly those growing up in poverty in America the childhood they deserve filled with balanced and active play, so they can thrive. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has collaborated with partners to build, open, or improve nearly 16,300 playgrounds, engaged more than one million volunteers, and served 8.1 million kids. KaBOOM! creates great places to play, inspires communities to promote and support play, and works to drive the national discussion about the importance of play in fostering healthy and productive lives. To learn why #playmatters and why cities are embracing #playability: visit kaboom.org or join the conversation at twitter.com/kaboom or facebook.com/kaboom. SOURCE Foresters WALTHAM, Mass., May 21, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Keynote speaker Karen Kaplan, chairman and CEO of Hill Holliday advertising agency, challenged graduates at Bentley's 97th annual undergraduate ceremony to be the CEO of every job they hold no matter the position. Approximately 8,000 people attended the ceremony held on May 21, 2016. Recalling her first job at Hill Holliday as receptionist, "the face and voice" of the national ad agency, Kaplan said: "I remember thinking that sounds like something the CEO should be responsible for. And at that moment, I decided I would consider myself the CEO of the reception desk. " I considered myself the CEO of every job I ever had, every account I ever ran, and every department I ever managed," she said of the various positions she held before ultimately landing as chair and CEO. Emphasizing the importance of staying authentic, she offered nine strategies to "get where you want by being who you are." Among them: Originality requires attention. "Digital natives you guys check their phones more than 150 times a day. Yet, we live in a world where there is a premium placed on the creation of original ideas generating original thought is virtually impossible while you're busy transacting with your head down. So just make sure you pull up every once in a while and pay attention to what's going on around you that can inspire you and fuel your creativity, because the ability to create something original out of absolutely nothing will serve you well in whatever career you choose." "Digital natives you guys check their phones more than 150 times a day. Yet, we live in a world where there is a premium placed on the creation of original ideas generating original thought is virtually impossible while you're busy transacting with your head down. So just make sure you pull up every once in a while and pay attention to what's going on around you that can inspire you and fuel your creativity, because the ability to create something original out of absolutely nothing will serve you well in whatever career you choose." Embrace what makes you different. " Personal differences can be our competitive advantage in life. If you know who you are and you're comfortable with who you are, you can very easily turn perceived liabilities into assets." " Personal differences can be our competitive advantage in life. If you know who you are and you're comfortable with who you are, you can very easily turn perceived liabilities into assets." No coasting. Working a few extra hours, for example, will help you pass by more experienced people. " it's all about deliberate practice and a hunger to succeed Successful people never coast because they know you only coast one way, and that's downhill." Working a few extra hours, for example, will help you pass by more experienced people. " it's all about deliberate practice and a hunger to succeed Successful people never coast because they know you only coast one way, and that's downhill." Keep your eyes wide open. "My mother taught me to be a lifelong learner, to retain the natural curiosity that we all have as children. Successful people are inspired not by how much they know, but by how much they don't know They know they can always be better and do better I hire people based on their perspective, not their pedigree " "My mother taught me to be a lifelong learner, to retain the natural curiosity that we all have as children. Successful people are inspired not by how much they know, but by how much they don't know They know they can always be better and do better I hire people based on their perspective, not their pedigree " Go where you're celebrated, not where you're tolerated. Find the right environment to succeed. "I tell people not to be afraid to make a change if they feel their unique talents and contributions aren't being appreciated or acknowledged." Find the right environment to succeed. "I tell people not to be afraid to make a change if they feel their unique talents and contributions aren't being appreciated or acknowledged." Today's peacock is tomorrow's feather duster. "Truly successful people don't take themselves too seriously and they remain humble. When they get to the top, they don't forget where they came from." "Truly successful people don't take themselves too seriously and they remain humble. When they get to the top, they don't forget where they came from." You've got to believe. "Successful people believe. They believe they don't have to become someone because they already are someone They wake up in the morning believing they can, and will, make a difference. And you know what? They do." Kaplan received an honorary doctor of commercial science degree at the ceremony. GRADUATE CEREMONY Corey Thomas, president and CEO of Rapid7 security software firm, delivered the keynote address at the Graduate School of Business 41st commencement ceremony. "Who are your heroes, and why?" Thomas asked graduates, and then shared how his ideal heroes shifted from "rebels and disrupters" to builders and connectors. "My heroes changed the way the world worked, they challenged established powers, and they brought new innovations to life But what I learned is that true innovation comes from your ability to notice and see things in the world and imagine new ways to be in the world it's a struggle against yourself to learn to grow and expand." Thomas challenged graduates to take learning beyond book smarts to create authentic connections. " learning is about more than facts and science, it's also about people: their motivations, their behaviors, their beliefs, their biases and even their desires the best innovators are those who expand their knowledge, but also their perspective, their senses and their connections." Teamwork, he said, is necessary for success. "Bringing the vision to life is not a solitary journey. It's about the power and impact of teams, organizations and even societies." He urged graduates to make positive impact by being builders of society. " These times require a different type of hero who is able to build, bind and bring together the best in people build and create the jobs and industries that we need to transform ourselves into a better future negotiate and engage with one another and the world to create a stronger, more united place. So I ask you today to be the new expansionary heroes we need and invent a better world." Thomas received an honorary doctor of commercial science degree at the ceremony. ABOUT THE GRADUATES At the undergraduate ceremony, 1039 Bachelor of Science degrees and 18 Bachelor of Arts degrees were awarded to 1057 students. (Figures above include degrees and certificates conferred October 30, 2015, February 26, 2016, and May 21, 2016. Students may earn multiple degrees and certificates so may be counted more than once.) At the Graduate School of Business ceremony, six doctoral degrees, 463 Master of Science degrees, 148 Master of Business Administration degrees, eight dual MS/MBA degrees, and 117 certificates were granted to 742 graduate students. (Figures above include degrees and certificates conferred October 30, 2015, February 26, 2016, and May 21, 2016. Students may earn multiple degrees and certificates so may be counted more than once.) FACULTY AND STUDENT AWARDS The Gregory H. Adamian Award for Excellence in Teaching for full-time faculty was presented to Trustee Professor Charles R. Hadlock, from the Department of Mathematical Sciences. The recipient of the Excellence in Scholarship Award was Gibbons Research Professor of Accounting Rani Hoitash. The Joseph M. Cronin Award for Excellence in Academic Advising was given to Christian Rubio, associate professor in the department of modern languages. Student honorees included Maria Clarice Chua, winner of the Professor Robert J. Weafer Award for Undergraduate Academic Excellence. The Professor E. William Dandes Award for Graduate Academic Excellence went to three students: David Juhlin, Sara Marie Lorenz and Douglas Morgan Schmid. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS Karen Kaplan is chairman and CEO at Hill Holliday, one of the country's top advertising agencies. She joined Hill Holliday as a receptionist, hoping to save enough money for law school. Three decades later, she's had just about every job there is to have at an agency, gaining valuable insight into how to approach each business challenge with a fresh perspective. A key player in Hill Holliday's significant growth as a national powerhouse with over $1 billion in annual billings, Kaplan is now chairman & CEO overseeing the agency's three brands: Hill Holliday, Erwin Penland, and Trilia Media. With an executive team composed of over half women, Kaplan is also one of the few agency chairmen in the country and has been recognized by several trade publications as one of the most influential women in advertising. Kaplan's leadership has helped build an impressive list of premier clients including Bank of America, Chili's, Dunkin' Donuts, Johnson & Johnson, John Hancock, LG Home Appliances, Liberty Mutual, Merrill Lynch, Novartis, (RED), Smucker's Tempur-Sealy, and TJX. Karen has been a contributor to and featured in numerous publications including Ad Age, AdWeek, Forbes, Fortune, Huffington Post, and Inc. She serves on the boards of directors for the Ad Council and numerous civic and professional organizations; is a trustee of Fidelity Investments' Strategic Advisers Funds and a director of Michaels Stores. Kaplan received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Corey Thomas is president and CEO of Rapid7, one of Boston's leading security software firms. In the last year Thomas led his company through two acquisitions and an Initial Public Offering (IPO). He encourages a culture at Rapid7 that supports growth and innovation, and instills a strong focus on listening to customers, taking disciplined risks, and collaborating across the community to advance security awareness and impact. He believes Rapid7 and other security companies have a mission beyond simply selling security products -- to contribute in earnest to making the internet a safer place to do business and engage as consumers. Thomas brings more than 16 years of experience in growing technology businesses, including leading consumer sales, marketing and business development as vice president at Parallels, a global leader in virtualization and automation solutions. He also held a number of leadership positions in the Microsoft Server and Tools division, launching the worldwide availability of SQL Server 2005 and steering product planning for Microsoft's data platform and storage strategy. Prior to that, he was a consultant at Deloitte Consulting focusing on internet technology strategy and operations for large multinational banks. Thomas holds a Bachelor of Engineering in electrical engineering and computer science from Vanderbilt University, magna cum laude, and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School (Baker Scholar). Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160521/370608 Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160521/370609Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130219/DC61345LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/graduates-at-bentley-university-commencement-ceremonies-urged-to-act-like-a-ceo-be-a-hero-who-builds-300272787.html SOURCE Bentley University Windsor, UK (PRWEB UK) 22 May 2016 In the grand finale to the Royal Windsor Horse Show, a team of 15 Azerbaijani Karabakh horses and the famed Fikret Amirov Azerbaijan State Song and Dance Ensemble performed in front of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II. The whole extravaganza had been laid on to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday. Four full days and evenings of events had built up to this climax a truly Royal extravaganza. The European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS) and Azerbaijan Equestrian Federation (ARAF) secured Azerbaijan's participation and organised the transportation of the dancers, horses and riders to Windsor. In addition, TEAS erected and staffed an Azerbaijani Cultural Pavilion, which hosted live music events. Many hundreds of Britons and overseas visitors were for the first time exposed to the vibrancy and beauty of Azerbaijani culture, cuisine and hospitality. The 15 Karabakh horses, whose performances had entranced the crowds throughout the pageant, clearly made an impression on the Queen. As a renowned horse-lover, and an acknowledged expert in all matters equestrian, she was clearly appreciative of the beauty of the horses and the consummate skills of the riders. Attending as a guest of TEAS Lord Kilclooney, Vice-Chairman, Azerbaijan All-Party Parliamentary Group, put the whole event in context. He said: "I've been to Azerbaijan several times and travelled all over the country, seeing the beauty and varied landscapes that this wonderful nation offers. "However, as it is under Armenian occupation, one region I have never been able to travel to is Nagorno-Karabakh acknowledged as the artistic and cultural soul of Azerbaijan. It was therefore particularly meaningful for me to see the Karabakh Horses for the first time last night. Unfortunately, this was not in Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but here in the UK, where 15 of these beautiful creatures are taking part in the Royal Windsor Horse Show to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday. It was a wonderful performance accompanied by a talented Azerbaijani dance troupe. I hope that, one day, I'll be able to see the same performance in Nagorno-Karabakh itself." Lionel Zetter, Director, TEAS, commented: "This week's events represented another significant milestone in the ever-strengthening relations between Azerbaijan and the UK, and highlighted the ability of TEAS to bring varied cultures together in areas of shared interest. "At a time when the conflict on the 'contact line' continues to simmer and, on occasions boil over, it is both pleasant and useful to remind the world of Azerbaijan's rich cultural heritage. A love of horses has always been the sign of a civilised society, and we look forward to ensuring that Azerbaijan is able to participate in future similar events." Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/05/prweb13421603.htm Marina Del Rey (PRWEB) May 22, 2016 Founded in 2009 by Brian Cotter and Vivek Padmanabhan, PSG has quickly grown to 1,000 employees, becoming the only outsourced recruiting company that has demonstrated this level of scale in delivering high volume recruitment services to US and English-speaking staffing companies. Padmanabhan and Cotter first joined forces at eTelecare, a large Philippines-based BPO company. Working together as sales and operations executives, they helped grow the firm to over $250M in revenue. Leveraging their experience in establishing and scaling performance oriented teams in the Philippines and their ability to understand and serve the needs of large US clients, they co-founded PSG Global Solutions with the aim of revolutionizing the global staffing and recruiting industry. According to Cotter, "We knew the Philippines had a high performing workforce capable of doing much more than the typical call center work of the past, and the recruiting industry was an obvious fit for that capability." At the time, non-voice sourcing services out of India were the most common recruiting activities being supported offshore. Similarly, when PSG started operations in 2009 over 60% of its team performed non-voice sourcing activities. Over the past six years, however, as staffing companies have become more comfortable supporting voice based recruiting work offshore, PSG has seen its services mix shift dramatically, and today over 60% of PSG's work is voice based. The mainstream adoption of offshore support of voice-based work has been a key enabler of PSG's growth, given the Philippines' consistently high rankings for communications skills, as well as PSG's large investments in building a high quality recruiting operation. This has allowed PSG to greatly expand client relationships, as it helps clients in a much broader range of work types. According to Padmanabhan, "What's most exciting about hitting this milestone is that our growth has come primarily from current clients expanding with us after testing us out and seeing great results, as opposed to us simply selling lots of big new deals." About: PSG Global Solutions is the world's largest and fastest growing provider of outsourced recruiting support to the global staffing and recruiting industry. Today, with over 1,000 recruiting resources, PSG has helped position the Philippines as the premier offshore location for providing voice based recruiting services to English-speaking countries in North America and around the world. For more information, visit http://www.psgglobalsolutions.com or contact info(at)psgglobal(dot)com. Press Contact: Name: David Fisher, VP Business Development Email: info(at)psgglobalsolutions(dot)com (preferred to have direct email of press contact) Phone: 866.258.3141 (preferred to also have direct number or cell of press contact) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/05/prweb13432648.htm NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's president showed "room for discussion" over a decision to shut a refugee camp for Somalis but did not promise to reverse it, a delegation of U.N. Security Council diplomats opposed to any forced closure said after talks on Friday. Kenya said last week it was drawing up a timetable to shut Dadaab refugee camp, home to about 350,000 Somalis, because of security concerns. The United Nations and Western donors have urged Kenya to rethink and not forcibly return the Somalis. A delegation of U.N. Security Council diplomats, returning from a visit to Somalia, held talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Dadaab and other issues, such as the African force battling militants in Somalia, which Kenya contributes to. Egypt's U.N. ambassador, Abdellattif Aboulatta, said the delegation voiced concern about the Dadaab closure plan. "The discussion was open. We did not receive any promise. But what we understood was that there was room for discussion about it," he said at a news conference, with Britain's envoy Matthew Rycroft, who was also among diplomats on the trip. In a statement, the presidency said the Dadaab issue was "discussed at length" without giving details. Kenya, which has suffered attacks by Somali militants in the past three years, announced a three-month deadline for closing Dadaab last year, but did not follow through. Kenya, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR and Somalia signed a deal in 2013 on voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees, some of whom have lived in Dadaab for decades. Nairobi says implementation has been too slow. The UNHCR said in January it wanted to repatriate 50,000 in 2016 but said it might miss the target as the Somali government is still battling an al Shabaab insurgency and there are few schools or public services for returnees. The sprawling camp in northeast Kenya has shrunk from more than half a million people over the years, as some refugees have headed home as Somalia slowly recovers from conflict. (Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) Wonder Woman in trouble at the Wellington Sevens, Westpac Stadium, in 2014. Previously-secret police figures have backed up anecdotal evidence of drunk Courtenay precinct punters reeling from bars into the arms of the law. Official data, only released by police after the Ombudsman stepped in, shows which Wellington bars people were last drinking at before going on to get arrested and charged in 2014. With the exception of Westpac Stadium thanks largely to a Sevens blow-out all the top 10 were in or around Courtenay Place. Drinkers from Electric Avenue topped the Courtenay Place list, facing 19 charges during the year including for domestic assault, fighting, disorderly behaviour, drugs, and drink-driving. READ MORE: * Wellington looks set to stick with 4am closing time for bars * Bar opening hours in spotlight as binge-drinkers fill Wellington Hospital * Would 5am closing really make Wellington city more dynamic? * Cheap booze damaging Wellington's hospitality industry But owner Matt McLaughlin said his bar had traded without trouble for 11 years and was one of the only Wellington bars that stay open till 4am, seven days a week, which could have a bearing on the numbers. CAMERON BURNELL/fairfax nz Electric Avenue, Courtenay Place, was the last drinking spot before 19 charges were laid in a single year. "We also refuse entry to a lot of people who could go on to commit crime. "We would be an easy option for them to point the finger after an arrest." The fact Courtenay Place bars scored so highly was simply a "numbers game" to him. Cameron Burnell/Fairfax NZ Mish Mosh on Courtenay Place had 15 punters arrested after leaving the premises. "When you get 10,000 party people into two square-kilometres, you have got to do the maths." Under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act it is an offence to sell alcohol to drunk people, with licensees facing fines up to $10,000 and a loss of licence for up to a week. Police harm prevention officer Sergeant Damian Rapira-Davies said the area of Courtenay Place, Blair St, and Allen St could be blamed or a "large amount of alcohol harm" in the wider city. CAMERON BURNELL/FAIRFAX NZ Boston on Blair was another Courtenay precinct trouble spot. "You have got a really small area, large number of premises, and late night trading." Frontline police did not rate Electric Avenue as any more problematic than other bars in the area, he said. By comparison, Ruby Rabbit with nine entries on the list including unlawful sexual connection, fighting, and assault with intent to injure was regarded as a trouble spot. FAIRFAX NZ Late night Courtenay Place bar El Horno had its share of trouble punters Police currently have a case before the Liquor Licensing Authority trying to strip Ruby Rabbit's licence to sell alcohol, and cancel three of its bar managers' licences, saying it was an irresponsible host. Ruby Rabbit owner Neil Andrews did not return calls for comment. Rapira-Davies pointed out that while the survey showed the last drink served, it did not show the "drinks one to nine" drunk before that at home or at other bars. CAMERON BURNELL/FAIRFAX NZ Red Square drinks were followed by eight charges. Wellington City Councillor Paul Eagle, who chairs the Community, Sport and Recreation Committee, said the Courtenay Place area was Wellington's "nightlife hub". "It's good that we have got this information finally and we are able to do something with it." The council could talk to bar owners who were highlighted by the figures about whether they had issues that needed addressing, he said. The information would also come into play as the council considered its alcohol policy and the liquor ban area, he said. Police originally refused to supply the information, which was requested more than a year ago under the Official Information Act, but did so last week week after Ombudsman Ron Paterson said its release was in the public interest. Police senior legal advisor Ian McArthur said the original decision not to release the data was because it would "unreasonably prejudice the commercial position" of bars. 21 'LAST DRINK' ARRESTS BUT SEVENS RELATIVELY GOOD They were charged with assaulting police, and obstructing them too. There were arrests for trespass, drugs, and disorder. But the 2014 Wellington Sevens described by Westpac Stadium management at the time as the "best behaved to date" went pretty well, authorities say. Of the 21 arrests that year when people said the last drink they had was at Westpac Stadium, 15 of those were during the Sevens weekend. Police harm prevention officer Sergeant Damian Rapira-Davies said behaviour at recent Sevens tournaments was much better than the ones seven to nine years ago. Stadium chief executive Shane Harmon said comparing his stadium which had 500,000 people though per annum with other licensees was "apples and oranges". The number of people evicted from the Sevens, compared to the numbers inside, was small, he said. In 2009, 50 people were arrested at the stadium itself and about 60 evicted. Fast-forward to 2016 and only six arrests were made during the two-day tournament. THE TOP 10 The list of the 10 highest-ranked licensed premises, along with the number of people arrested and charged after last drinking there: Westpac Stadium, 21 Electric Avenue, 19 Mish Mosh, 15 Boston on Blair, 13 Ruby Rabbit, 9 El Horno, 8 Establishment, 8 Red Square, 8 The Residence, 7 Mini Bar, 7 MP Trevor Mallard says project management of the Riddiford Gardens upgrade, which has gone from a $2m budget to $8.5m, has been a "mess". But the council says the budget has increased as it strives for a better finished result, and residents have been asked for their views on the $3.5m of work still to be done. Trevor Mallard used last week's draft Annual Plan oral hearings to launch another stinging attack on the Hutt City Council's spending and management of major projects. The Hutt South MP said the council had told residents rates rises would be inflation plus one per cent. "The proposal is 2.6 per cent, 236 per cent higher than the undertaking people were given, and I note that comes from quite a high base." Home-owners in Wellington in similarly priced properties pay considerably less in rates than here. "I also note that 50 per cent of those working have not had wage increases in the last 12 months and pension increases are relatively small." Mallard said his enquiries to council about major projects had eventually resulted in more than 25 emails, and attachments running to hundreds of pages. But he said they confirmed his initial view that spending "over and above what was originally planned and budgeted for" amounted to $625 per ratepayer. "That's increasing the debt of all of us, and the only way of paying it back is having rates higher than they would otherwise have to be. "I've seen comment from council that it can be [covered] by cuts and re-allocations in future year. If there is that much fat in the system then there have been some problems in the budgeting in the past." Mallard, who noted his university qualifications included a minor in local government accounting, said documentation over aquisition of land for the new hotel in High St was very good. But the effects of the subsidy to the hotel operator to run the new Events Centre were not so clear. Ratepayers deserved to know what could have been attained had that been put out to proper commercial tender. He said the Riddiford Garden project "quite frankly has been a mess". The budget was originally $2m; now it is $8.5m. Reports to working group meetings on the gardens, the Events Centre and council building upgrade were often oral, and if no decisions were made no minutes were kept. Mallard said that was "not good practice" with projects worth millions. The day after the hearings, council chief executive Tony Stallinger issued a rebuttal of Mallard's criticisms which ran to two pages. KPMG and Audit New Zealand had independently reviewed council's management and finances, finding no major fault, he said. "When issues have arisen, we have sought additional peer expert reviews to verify matters of process and value." The total budget was not overspent, and the council has consulted with people where it considered extra spending on projects would create a better result. Offsetting savings were always possible "given total spending of well over $1.5b over the next 10 years". Stallinger said it was well known Wellington could offset its residential rates using the "huge amounts of rates income" from its CBD. "Wellington City actually has the highest rates in the region per property if commercial rates are taken into account," Stallinger said. "Hutt City rates compare favourably with other cities in the region." Mallard said he would be asking the Office of the Auditor General to take another look at the council's finances and project management. Mobile number portability desirable or not? By Travis Gomez Use of a single or several mobile numbers View(s): View(s): Many users of telecom services in Sri Lanka after a while tend to stick with their respective mobile service provider. This tends to be the case even when rival service providers offer attractive incentives such as free minutes, free messaging, etc. One reason for this is due to the lack of number portability which means subscribers having to give up their existing mobile number when switching from one service provider to another. At the same time, the case for switching service providers is less clear cut as the use of services within the network (calls/messages to people who belong to the same network, known as on-net) is priced at a discount when compared with using the service outside of the network (Off-net). While Internet-based communication channels such as Whatsapp or Viber can alleviate the lack of number portability, consumers in general wish to avoid the hassle of switching their telecom service provider due to the inability to retain ones existing mobile number. Negatives in number portability Apart from the explicit connection fees associated with switching from one service provider to another as well as the favourable rate given for voice and text services made within the network, the lack of number portability represents an implicit cost to subscribers. This causes friction which results in consumers being disinclined to shift from one service provider to another (in telco parlance this is known as a decrease in churn rate). This switching cost tends to be greater for businesses as a change in its contact numbers could even result in a loss of potential revenue. Based on what has been observed in other markets, firms tend to exploit this situation by charging high monthly rentals for their services. This can be observed to a certain extent by the fact that the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is higher for postpaid packages in comparison to pre-paid packages (Figure 1) I have primarily focused on Dialog Axiata as it is the only service provider that consistently discloses information that can be independently verified as it is a listed entity. Mobile number portability potential solutions An established solution to this problem is to introduce Mobile Number Portability (MNP) which allows consumers to retain the same mobile number when switching from one service provider to another. The implementation of such systems in most developed markets has shown to lead to a net benefit in the form of lower prices for consumers, higher competition and an increase in market efficiency and welfare. These findings did go unnoticed by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRC) who in 2010 conducted a feasibility study to look into the possibility of implementing MNP in the fast growing telco market in Sri Lanka. However, in 2012 the TRC decided to scrap its plans to implement MNP in Sri Lanka citing various reasons. I argue that this was the right call to make by the regulators given some of the unique characteristics of the telco market in Sri Lanka Why MNP wont be as effective in Sri Lanka The telco market in Sri Lanka can be characterised as a budget market where most firms mainly compete on price by offering the most competitive tariffs for voice and messaging services. Consumers in such a market are more price sensitive and place less emphasis on value added services such as Mobile Internet, Mobile Banking, etc. Consumers are also much more aware of the difference in pricing between off-net and on-net services and hence would choose the provider that offers the most cost-effective rates. Therefore tariff rates offered by telco firms are likely to be set competitive. This can be clearly observed in Figure 2 where firms set tariffs close to the prevailing floor tariff rates. Popularity of pre-paid packages Over 90 per cent of the mobile subscribers in Sri Lanka have a pre-paid mobile connection which is in line with the budget network model. Pre-paid subscribers face no monthly rental charge which is the main tools used by firms to exploit their market power arising from the lack of portability. Hence any benefit from MNP is unlikely to accrue to the majority of subscribers as tariff rates offered for voice and text messaging services is likely to be already competitively priced. Likely impact of MNP Consumers As previously argued, pre-paid customers are unlikely to witness a reduction in their effective cost of telco services, as the current tariffs offered may already be competitively priced. In fact the effective cost to pre-paid customers may in fact increase as the unified tariff price that is offered for both on-net and off-net services is likely to be higher than the prevailing discounted price offered to on-net services. Hence the main beneficiary of the implementation of MNP is likely to be post-paid subscribers who are likely to see a drop in monthly rental rates. In the case of Sri Lanka, the majority of post-paid customers tend to be firms. While arguments may be made as to whether the use of telco services by businesses is more productive than its usage by retail consumers, given the current composition of the subscriber base in Sri Lanka which is skewed towards pre-paid customers, the overall impact of the implementation of MNP is likely to be negative for consumers. Telcos With the implementation of MNP, telco firms are also likely to see an overall reduction in industry profits. On the revenue side, firms are likely to see a decrease in contribution from the post-paid customers with the decline in rental rates. Contemporaneously, the enhanced competition amongst service providers is likely to place greater pressure on margins. Further, the telco operators may have to partly or fully bear the cost of building and maintaining the infrastructure necessary for the implementation of MNP. The feasibility study conducted by the TRC is 2012 estimated that the cost of implementing MNP in Sri Lanka would exceed US$96 million (Sunday Times, 11th Nov. 2012 ). Better way forward Unified tariffs It is clear that TRC at the time made the correct decision by rejecting the implementation of the MNP taking into account the peculiarities of the Sri Lanka telco market. As an alternative, I believe that the TRCSLs recent decision to introduce a single common floor tariff for both on-net and off-net services effective from 1st of February 2016 (Daily Mirror, 20th January 2016) is a step in the right direction. The decision while it does not have the full benefit of number portability, brings about one of the beneficial effects of MNP which is a unified tariff which would reduce the price distortion between off-net and on-net services and hence reduces the cost of switching from one service provider to another. This would improve efficiency as it would encourage consumers to move to their most desired service provider. It is clear that under the new tariff regime, most firms have followed suit and introduced a uniform tariff which is set close to the stipulated floor tariff rate (Figure 4). From the firms point of view, while this would increase the level of competition, it would also encourage firms to focus on developing and promoting their value added services in order to differentiate their product offerings. Hence the overall impact of the introduction of a common floor tariff regime is likely to be a net positive. (The writer is Vice President at Frontier Research (Pvt) Ltd. He can be reached on travis@frontiergroup.info. The opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and does not reflect the views of his company). President invited to 30th anniversary celebrations of global joint venture with De La Rue View(s): Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena visited De La Rue Lanka Pvt Ltd on Monday to mark the 30th anniversary of the joint venture between the Government of Sri Lanka and De La Rue, the worlds top currency and passports printer. The government holds a 40 per cent share in the organisation which employs over 300 people in the region, according to a De La Rue media release. The President was joined at the factory by the British High Commissioner, James Dauris, and the Chief Executive of De La Rue, Martin Sutherland. Together they met key members of staff and toured the facility, which produces 1 billion high quality currency notes a year for the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as well as currencies for a significant number of (30) other countries around the world. Speaking at the event, the President commented: The fact that we are today celebrating 30 years of working together is a testament to the skills and capabilities of our Sri Lankan people, and the fact that we can play a significant role in the global economy. Partnerships like this are exactly what Sri Lanka needs to cement its reputation as a destination for investment from global companies. I look forward to many years of continued success for this venture. De La Rue supplies currency, passports and tax stamps to over 140 countries globally. Speaking at the event, Martin Sutherland, the Chief Executive commented: For our business to operate on a truly global scale, we need the very best partners. We are delighted to have been working with the government and people of Sri Lanka for the last 30 years. Earlier this year, we announced that we have also chosen this site to be one of the three key international centres of excellence for global bank note production, together with Gateshead in the UK and Nairobi in Kenya. As a result we will be investing locally to upgrade equipment, technology and skills to further enable De La Rue Lanka to compete effectively on a global scale. Remuneration of directors of banks under CB review By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera View(s): View(s): The notion that banks and finance company directors in Sri Lanka are wildly overpaid, is indeed becoming true. The Central Bank (CB), in a possible bid to better monitor salaries to enhance corporate governance of this sector, has written to all banks to send details of the remuneration of their directors. CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran told the Business Times that the regulator wants the financial sector entities to contain their costs and limiting fixed costs such as high director salaries was one way to do it. For an example, an entitys cost to income ratio shows a companys costs in relation to its income. It is an efficiency measure that shows how efficient an entity is run and the lower it is, the more profitable a company is. But when costs are high, its profitability drops. So with high directors salaries as fixed costs, the profitability drops, which is what we aim to curtail, he explained. He added that a recent example was the exorbitant salaries of the primary dealer (Entrust) which the CB took over in January. Salaries in commercial banks as well as finance firms are trending upwards, with directors receiving increases that are unprecedented, a depositor said adding that as a regulated industry, the CB has the right to monitor the salaries of directors. He said that some shareholders complained that not only were directors setting their own compensation, but that the amount paid to banks directors was huge and not in sync with economic realities. Many say that it is necessary to prevent them from stealing depositors money, and also in view of the amount of work they have to do to generate earnings for their banks. A second depositor told the Business Times that taking into consideration the economic decline, many think the banks can equally cut the package they take home to mirror the present economic realities.There are some allowances for banks executives that need to be cut down or completely removed. It is time for companies to tighten their belts given the crisis which had affected the countrys income, he said. Singapores trade minister leads delegation to Colombo for talks View(s): Singapores Trade and Industry Minister S. Iswaran, is leading a business delegation to Sri Lanka on June 1 for talks and discussions on a range of business, trade and economic issues. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), making the announcement, said the delegation includes potential investors organized by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), and International Enterprise (IE), Singapore. The SBF is Singapores apex business chamber which represents over 22,000 companies while IE Singapore is the government agency driving the overseas growth of Singapore based companies and promoting international trade. On June 1, the Sri Lanka Singapore Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will be organizing the Sri Lanka Singapore Business Forum at the Union Ballroom, Hilton Colombo Residences, Colombo 2. Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama, Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and Board of Investment Chairman Upul Jayasuriya are among the speakers along with the visiting minister. SL certification body first to receive ISO 14064 accreditation in the region View(s): The Sustainable Future Group (SFG) a newly established environmental verification and certification services provider in Sri Lanka-, recently became the first regional body to be awarded international accreditation for ISO 14064. The ISO 14064 series of standards provides governments, businesses, regions and other organisations with an integrated set of tools for programmes aimed at measuring, quantifying and reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, and allows organisations to take part in emissions trading schemes using globally recognised standards. SFG said in a media release that its accreditation comes from the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) the world association of Conformity Assessment Accreditation Bodies, through its local representative the Sri Lanka Accreditation Board (SLAB). All leading inspection, verification, testing and certification companies are accredited by their respective Governments accreditation bodies, which in turn have been accredited by and are members of IAF. The certificate of accreditation was handed over to SFG Director Dr. Ranjiva Munasinghe, who stated, We are delighted to receive this globally recognised, official endorsement of our international standard services. The accreditation was issued following a rigorous process, applying the most stringent criteria . Thilak Wickramasinghe, Director/CEO of SLAB commented, We are pleased to announce that SFG has satisfied the necessary criteria and are now accredited to provide a comprehensive and thorough level of verification and validation of GHG emissions assertions, in order to award ISO 14064 certifications at both organisational and project levels . There are numerous global certification bodies operating in the Asia Pacific region that offer ISO 14064 certification. However, only the parent organisations of these bodies, based out of Europe and the US, are accredited to offer this certification. Sri Lanka to chair Abu Dhabi dialogue among Asian countries of labour origin and destination View(s): Sri Lanka has been unanimously elected to be the next Chair-in-Office of the 17 member Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD) among Asian countries of labour origin and destination, it was announced this week by Sri Lankas Permanent Mission in Geneva. Senior officials representing member governments of the ADD at a meeting on May 11- 12 in Dubai, agreed to Sri Lankas proposal to host a meeting of senior officials and the 4th Ministerial consultation in Colombo in January 2017. The Ministers responsible for foreign employment of the ADD countries will attend the Colombo meeting. Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam are members of the ADD, the media release from Geneva said. Kuwait is the current Chair-in-Office of the ADD. The ADD which brings together Asian labour sending and receiving countries, seeks to boost protection and improve conditions of employment for millions of foreign workers in the Gulf The statement said that the Dubai meeting, among other matters, discussed increasing labour mobility in destination labour markets, where foreign workers can move from one employer to another. It highlighted the benefits of labour market flexibility and internal mobility to workers, employers and in terms of the broader labour market outcomes, notably in terms of increased labour productivity, better job matching and an improved skill mix. The upcoming 4th Ministerial Consultation in Colombo will focus on bilateral and multilateral cooperation in confronting challenges that are associated with labour recruitment and consider alternatives to the prevalent recruitment models as a main item of the Consultations agenda. The meeting will also consider the findings of the IOM-commissioned report on the recruitment industry in the Asia-GCC corridors and alternative models of labour recruitment for Asia-GCC corridors, the statement said. The Sri Lanka delegation to the meeting led by Foreign Employment Ministry Secretary G.S. Withanage, included Sri Lankas Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ravinatha Aryasinha and the Additional General Manager of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau W. M. V. Wansekara. Sri Lankas Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates S. J. Mohideen was also associated with the delegation. Sri Lanka is also the current Chair of the Colombo Process (CP), the Regional Consultative Process on the management of overseas employment and contractual labour of Asia which comprises 11 labour sending countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Watawala Tea Ceylon shares its success with employees at a convention View(s): Watawala Tea Ceylon (WTC) held its Annual Convention in gala fashion recently, in celebration of its remarkable success last year and to reward the employees who played an instrumental role in assisting the company to achieve several key milestones. Watawala Tea Ceylon (WTC), a member of the diversified Sunshine Holdings conglomerate, had much to celebrate at the Convention, with independent research by Nielsen Research indicating that in 2015 the company had clinched 32 per cent or nearly a third of local market share in branded tea (in terms of volume), according to a media statement issued by the company. Thereby Watawala Tea Ceylon (WTC) emerged as Sri Lankas largest branded tea company, extending the industry leadership positions held by Sunshine Holdings group entities currently in plantations and healthcare to tea FMCG, it said. The three tea brands of Watawala Tea Ceylon Zesta, Watawala Tea and Ran Kahata too achieved several key milestones, besides substantially increasing their market shares and revenues. Watawala Tea, with a market share of 21 per cent, emerged as the countrys single largest brand (in terms of volume) while Ran Kahata was the fastest growing tea brand in the local market in 2015, according to Nielsen Research. Furthermore, in 2015 Zesta was the tea brand with the highest customer loyalty in the country, as per Lanka Market Research Bureau (LMRB). These remarkable achievements during the last year clearly demonstrate that Watawala Tea Ceylon is very much on the right track and is well-poised for further growth, Watawala Tea Ceylon CEO Surith Perera said. This growth, achieved despite functioning in a highly competitive industry in which global organisations are present, is a reflection of our solid fundamentals and the unparalleled skills and competency of our staff. Through the Annual Convention we wish to pay tribute to the contributions of our staff and share our success with them, while setting the pace for the year ahead. Meanwhile senior management of the company including Sunshine Holdings PLC Group Managing Director Vish Govindasamy, Watawala Tea Ceylon Managing Director Shyam Sathasivam and Watawala Tea Ceylon CEO Surith Perera, were present to applaud the achievements of the top performers together with the 200 plus employees of the company. The guest speaker at the event was Watawala Plantations PLC Director and Managing Director of Pyramid Lanka Pvt Ltd Mohamed Sajjad Mawzoon. Secrets revealed: Why Uganda ignored present government and invited Rajapaksa View(s): With a free Business and First Class return ticket from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa travelled to Uganda to receive a welcome afforded to heads of state and government, it has now transpired. He was afforded all the courtesies extended to other heads of state and government. The Business Class ticket was from Colombo to Dubai and there onwards on First Class to Kampala (Uganda) for the inauguration of President Yoweri Musevenis fifth term in office. Details related to Mr. Rajapaksas visit, with the blessings of Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, have begun to trickle in only now. Both after the presidential election in January last year followed by parliamentary elections in August, the Ugandan Government sent congratulatory messages to President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. Ironically, Sri Lanka did not reciprocate when Museveni wasre-elected in February this year. Was the ministry being selective on whom to congratulate and whom not to? Instead, there was an official communication from the Foreign Ministry in Colombo to the Ugandan counterparts in late February 2016 saying that the Government was closing down the Sri Lanka High Commission in Kampala. The reason given was that there was a rationalisation programme. In late March 2016, two Foreign Ministry officials (one from the Accounts Division and another from the Overseas Administration Division) went to Kampala to complete what they called administrative and financial measures to shut down the High Commission. Thereafter, the sole Clerical Officer has been functioning as the acting High Commissioner. Foreign Ministry sources said they had incurred expenses to the tune of US$ 350,000 to maintain the High Commission in Kampala from February 2015 to April 2016 the time when the Clerical Officer was acting High Commissioner and the two officers visited Kampala. Now, having busted up US$ 350,000 on the non-functioning Kampala mission, the Foreign Ministry has sent out appeals to all Sri Lanka missions overseas to hurriedly raise funds to help victims of the recent floods and landslides. There has been a marked shift from the Look Africa policy introduced by former External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris to one of Ignore Africa by the UNF Government; from one extreme position to another. A one-time Foreign Office official asked whether one could blame Uganda for ignoring the present Sirisena-Wickremesinghe-Samaraweera government and inviting Rajapaksa if Sri Lanka cannot show the minimum courtesy to a fellow Commonwealth country. A free ticket was given at taxpayers expense (with no Cabinet approval) to Mr. Rajapaksa whilst ignoring the Ugandan Government in other dealings, noted this retired official. He said the funding amounted to the Governments full acknowledgement of the former President and his entourages visit to Uganda. The more they say things would change, the more they remain the same, he said with a knowing smile. Weeratunga claims he met Mahinda in Kampala as well Sri Lankas one time Ambassador to Russia wanted for questioning by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) over the procurement of MiG-27 jet fighters and allegedly helping pro-Russian rebels fighting in Ukraine was in Uganda last week, or so he claims. In a statement he e-mailed to newspapers, Udayanga Weeratunga claimed he met President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Kampala. He accused the Government of taking political revenge against him and leaders of the previous regime. Noting that the Department of Immigration and Emigration had issued him an ordinary passport on March 6, 2015, as reported in the media it was revealed exclusively in the Sunday Times of May 15 , Mr. Weeratunga said that the Secretary to the President had in a letter dated April 26 last year (Ref. SP/4/4) said that his container load of personal effects could not be released since he had not returned his diplomatic passport. He claimed that the issue of an ordinary passport proved that he had handed it over. Mr. Weeratunga claimed that the non-clearance of his container load of personal effects and the resultant (demurrage and other) dues to the Government should be met by the Foreign Secretary. He claimed he would hold her responsible for withholding it. The former envoy to Russia also said that on April 29, 2015, the Central Banks Financial Intelligence Unit director, without any intimation to him, had frozen all his accounts. However, he did not say whether these were in foreign or local banks but added that this act was also a political revenge. This time, however, there were no photographs of Mr. Rajapaksa with Mr. Weeratunga. Justice Minister denies opening and closing car door for MR Justice Minister Wijayadasa Rajapakshe in a letter to our publisher a copy of which has been forwarded to us has taken umbrage at our reference last week in these columns regarding his sons lavish wedding. We reported that he escorted former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who had attended the event to his car and opened and shut his car door. As the Minister himself states, we ourselves, have no real issue with a lavish wedding for his son, particularly when he funds it with his own personal finances. This would be what any parent would desire for his offspring, on what is perhaps the most important day of the young mans life. As for escorting the former President to his car, and seeing him comfortably ensconced therein, is a courtesy we feel any citizen of this country would have extended to a former dignitary and in similar circumstances. Why the minister wants to distance himself from what is a normal courtesy, we dont know. While we are at a loss to understand Minister Rajapakshes ire, we dont endorse the ministers claim that the media have no business to report on his private life. That debate is now passe. The Americans would say to those in public life, if you cant stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. And the Ministers leader, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, once said, even the soap a public figure uses is of public interest. Mangala wants to work closely with Jayalalithaa Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera has sent a congratulatory message to the newly elected Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jeyaram Jeyalalithaa, saying her resounding victory bears ample testimony to the trust and confidence the people have placed in her politics and leadership. Samaraweera adds, It is my sincere belief that under your stewardship, the multifaceted relations that exist between the people of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu will continue to flourish and develop into new vistas of cooperation. I look forward to working closely with you in the new conducive environment created by the people of Sri Lanka after the Presidential Election in January 2015, whereby greater emphasis is placed on addressing issues of peace-building, sustained reconciliation and resettlement of displaced persons. Samaraweera concluded by saying he extends his warm wishes for your good health, happiness and personal well-being and for the continued progress and prosperity of the people of Tamil Nadu. The re-elected Tamil Nadu Chief Minister will be sworn-in tomorrow for another term, but the verdict in her Disproportionate Wealth case in the Supreme Court will be delivered in a few weeks, probably as early as next month. In this case, taken up in an adjoining state of Karnataka she was asked to account for her personal wealth being disproportionate to her known income. The heavens poured and atlas shrugged View(s): Sri Lankan parliamentarians appear to have been moved to unseemly mirth regarding the floodwaters which devastated the country this week, causing more than sixty three officially reported deaths and thousands more missing, with even greater numbers rendered homeless and destitute. Warranting a serious response As sorrowful scenes were recorded across the island, the gravity of the deluge had yet to be taken seriously on the floor of the House. Indeed, as much as Atlas shrugged in the disturbing portrayal by Ayn Rand of capitalist and greedy businessmen projected as the real heroes of society, here too we may aptly say that parliamentarians laughed on the banks of the Diyawanna Oya even as the muddy waters came right up to the door of the Parliament. These rude bursts of laughter were in response to Premier Ranil Wickremesinghes wisecrack on Friday that if the self styled Joint Opposition members had not engaged in coconut smashing rituals, this calamity would not have occurred. But the issue here surely warrants a far more serious response than such hilarity? The sheer ineptitude of the Government in bringing relief and redress to the affected people is one facet of the problem. This was the recurring theme throughout the country as the displaced wailed before television cameras that they had not been helped by government agencies. No doubt, there were determined and selfless government servants who devoted themselves to the arduous task of flood relief but the stern commitment shown by the Government itself as an entity was certainly lacking. Result of disastrous development At an even more distressing level, there appears to be no acknowledgement of government policies and practices which have directly contributed to this flood devastation. Public officials are fond of advising people not to occupy lands that are susceptible to landslides and floods. Yet they conveniently forget the fact that much of this damage is done by politicians themselves. We are familiar with the ruthless acquisition of land by politicians for commercial purposes such as building hotels and the like. These are lands which should have been preserved for water retention purposes, both in major cities and elsewhere. All these projects were without environmental approval as obliging public officers rubber stamped acquisitions of land even (unbelievingly) in the mangrove marshes of Negombo. So as former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers profess sympathy with affected victims, it must be clearly understood that disastrous Rajapaksa development was a major contributory factor to the present crisis. Neither is the Government in power free from responsibility. Despite all the sanctimonious outrage regarding the Port City project when its politicians were campaigning for the popular vote last year, they have tamely acquiesced to continuing with the project minus some minor changes. This makes nonsense of the Prime Ministers claim during electioneering that this project would devastate the coastal line from Colombo to Beruwala and that he would forthwith cancel the project if his party assumed power. We are not assured by the Governments claim that environmental conditions have now been complied with. Quite apart from this, this Government appears unable to clean even a culvert properly. This is a breakdown of the provincial and local government machinery in a most essential sense. Past warnings of such calamities The dangers attendant on proper environmental safeguards not being followed prior to ambitious development projects being undertaken are now alarmingly evident. This weeks treacherous flooding of parts of the Southern Expressway, once praised as Sri Lankas flagship expressway project is a good illustration. More than a decade ago, this columnist was part of the legal team which challenged the shifting of the trace of the Southern Expressway from one route to a completely new direction. This shift was despite the fact that the relevant environmental assessment had not been properly carried out in respect of this new direction of the expressway named as the final trace. This was in contradiction to the Central Environmental Authority (CEA)s injunction that any changed route should avoid traversing through wetlands of the area. The legal challenge was based on a number of factors including the risk of environmental damage if the changed route was adopted. At the time, though the Supreme Court before which the matter finally went on appeal, responded by awarding compensation to the petitioners whose lands had been acquired without following proper procedures, (SCM 20.01.2004), the judges balked at ordering a complete change in the routing of the expressway, probably due to the massive expense that this would involve. However both in the Court of Appeal and in the Supreme Court, the crucial importance of conducting a proper environmental assessment was stressed. As found by a committee of judges appointed to undertake an empirical study of the affected area, the changes adversely affected property rights of poor villagers. Decision makers were put under a duty to consider all relevant environmental consequences and afford affected persons an opportunity to voice their opinion. As the Court of Appeal affirmed, this fosters dialogue between decision-makers and involved parties, which is an essential pre-requisite of any development project for such project to have sustainability over a long period. Discrimination between the poor and the affluent But in the years following this decision, even that bare judicial and environmental review of development projects went by the board. The impact of the Mundy decision on Sri Lankas political leadership, in so far as preventing ill planned development projects, has been negligible. This has ramifications for proposed expressways as well, including the Kandy-Colombo Expressway. A continuing failure to satisfy environmental safeguards presents a nightmare scenario of environmental devastation far worse than what was experienced in May. This accentuates the profound discrimination that we saw a few days ago between the poor left stranded on the top of their houses, clutching pitifully meager belongings and the affluent. While the more privileged enjoy expressways should the less privileged be left to suffer such fates due to corporate and political greed ? These are questions that should reflectively occupy our minds, quite apart from reaching out to the affected through relief provisions. And parliamentarians may perhaps refrain from hilarity when addressing this calamity which afflicted the country in these generally serene Vesak weeks. Surely this is the minimum that Sri Lankans should forcefully demand. Night the Buddha attained Nirvana The last days of a long samsaric journey Night was falling. And even as the morning star must meet its evening doom, even as all life must end in death, what was true for all beings on earth was inevitably coming true for the mortal frame of Gautama the Buddha. The house, karmic action had erected birth after birth throughout the samsaric journey, now stood poised to fall and would not be built again. And as his disciples peered into the gloom of the dying light on that full moon night of Vesak, they could scare forbear to brood in dread what luminosity now lay left to illumine the gathering dark in a world bereft of a Buddha. They had known it was coming three months earlier when the Buddha had chosen to announce it publicly at Capala Ceitya near Vesali, though the Enlightened One had known of its approach much earlier. With his two chief disciples Venerable Sariputta and Moggalana predeceasing him as had his son Venerable Rahula and wife Yasodhara, the Buddha, now in his eightieth year, had described himself as a worn out cart. It was time, he decided, to leave Rajagaha where he was then residing; and embark on his last journey restating what he had preached for forty five years. The final destination was not to be the great cities of Savatthi or Benares but the little known hamlet of Kusinara. The journey is long and arduous. Travelling with his closest disciple the Venerable Ananda, it takes him through Ambalattikka and Nalanda to Pataligama. From there he proceeds to Kotigama and then to Nanda. He passes from village to village, from town to town, sojourning briefly at each place to expound the essence of his Dhamma to the communities of Bhikkhus; and reaches Vesali where he retires with his retinue to the Mango Grove of Ambapali, the beautiful courtesan. Knowing Ambapali to be a potential Arahant, he preaches the Dhamma and edifies her on the path to enlightenment. Its the onset of the rainy season; and the Buddha decides to spend his retreat his forty fifth and last in the village of Beluva in Vesali. He tells his closest disciple, Come, Ananda, let us proceed to Beluva, and they proceed thither. But with the rains, come the pains. It comes in sharp, short shocks, pointed arrows from the illness which has taken hold. Tormented by these relentless pangs of deadly pains, and with his body wracked by the severe disease and made weak, he realises the end is fast approaching. But there is still some work of noble note to be done before he can bid final farewell. It will not be fitting if he came to his final passing away without addressing his disciples and clearing the last vestiges of doubt they may have. And so he resolves to suppress his illness by his superhuman strength of will and resolves to maintain his life course and live on. Thus is the illness flayed and he makes an astounding recovery. Then the Blessed One takes his bowl and proceeds to Vesali for his alms. On his return, he tells Ananda, Come Ananda, take a mat and let us spend the day at the Capala Ceitya. They reach the shrine of Capala and sit down. And then the Buddha tells Ananda, Whosoever, Ananda, has brought to perfection the four constituents of psychic power could, if he so desired, remain throughout a world-period or until the end of it. The Tathagata, Ananda, has done so. Therefore the Tathagata could, if he so desired, remain throughout a world-period or until the end of it. But Anandas mind is dominated at that moment by Mara. He does not beseech the Buddha to remain for the lasting good of the world, but remains silent. The message is lost on him. The Buddha repeats it for the second time. But Ananda remains silent. The repeats it for the third and final time but still Ananda stays silent. The significance of the moment eludes him. The opportunity to invite the Buddha to remain on earth for an aeon for the lasting good of all mankind flies. Then once Ananda had gone, Mara approaches the Buddha. He says, The time has come for the Parinibbana of the Lord. But the Buddha answers, Do not trouble yourself. Three months hence the Tathagata will utterly pass away. Thus here at Capala Ceitya the Buddha renounces his will to live. When Ananda returns, the Buddha tells him of his decision. Ananda recalls what the Buddha had told him earlier and realises his folly of having remained silent. He now beseeches the Buddha to remain, but the Buddha cuts him short and says, Enough, Ananda, do not entreat the Tathagata, for the time is past. For if you had done so earlier, Ananda, twice the Tathagata might have declined, but the third time he would have consented. Thereafter he asks Ananda to summon all the Bhikkhus in the surrounding area of Vesali and, after impressing upon them the truths he had preached, namely, the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four constituents of psychic power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of enlightenment, and the Noble Eightfold Path, he publicly announces that three months hence the Tathagata will utterly pass away. He then leaves Vesali and proceeds on his journey to Kusinara, passing through Bhandagama, Hatthigama, Ambagama, Jambugama and Bhoganagara giving counsel to the Bhikkhus at every place until he reaches Pava. Here he is served his last meal and then falls violently ill with dysentery. The pains come and, though extremely weak and severely ill, he determines to walk the final lap of his journey to Kusinara, six miles away. Owing to his illness the Buddha is compelled to sit and rest in 25 places. At once such spot, a traveller sees the serenity of the Buddha and, so moved by the sight, gifts the Buddha a golden robe. As Ananda adorns the Buddha with it, the dazzling robe of burnished gold loses its splendor for the Buddha complexion becomes exceedingly radiant. Noticing Anandas astonishment at this transformation, the Buddha tells him: Ananda, on two occasions the Thathagatas skin becomes clear and extremely radiant. One is on the night the Tathagata attains Buddhahood. The other is on the night the Tathagata passes away and attains Nirvana. He then pronounces he would pass away on the third watch of the night on that day. The Buddha arrives in Kusinara and heads to the Sala Grove of the Mallas. There between twin Sala trees he lies down on the couch Ananda has prepared for him. He lies on his right side with his head to the north, with one leg resting on the other. Though in pain, he remains with perfect composure, mindful and self possessed. Soon the gods descend on the Sala Grove to express their grief, so great in number that not a spot is there that could be pricked with the tip of a hair that is not filled with powerful deities, lamenting too soon has the Blessed One come to his Parinibbana, too soon will the Eye of the World vanish from sight. He then proceeds to explain to Ananda variant salient points of the Dhamma, then addresses the Bhikkhus and asks them to question him as to any doubts they may have on the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. But all remain silent harbouring no doubt or perplexity. He makes his final exhortation that if anyone thinks they have no master any longer and wonder who their master shall be, they should not ponder over such thoughts. He says: The Dhamma and the Discipline which I have proclaimed and made known shall be your Master, when I am gone. Then the Tathagata states his last words: All compounded things are subject to change and decay. Strive on with diligence, and enters the first ecstasy. Then rising from the first, he enters the second ecstasy, then the third and fourth. Rising from the fourth ecstasy, he enters the sphere of infinite space, then infinite consciousness then nothingness, the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception. Then rising from that sphere, he attains the cessation of perception and feeling. Seeing this, Ananda believes the Buddha had passed away and begins to grieve but is told by the Venerable Anuruddha, that the Buddha has entered the state of cessation of perception and feeling and that he has not passed away. Then the Buddha rises from the state of cessation of perception and feeling and enters the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, then, in reverse order, enters nothingness, then infinite consciousness, infinite space, then the fourth ecstasy, the third, the second and then the first. Then he rises from the first ecstasy, the second, the third and then the fourth. And finally rising from the fourth ecstasy, the Buddha immediately passes away in the third watch of the night; and attains that indescribable state of permanent bliss, the supreme state of Nirvana. Volunteer boatmen, religious groups join hands to provide food to victims By Namini Wijedasa Kelani River in spate wreaks havoc far beyond its banks View(s): View(s): Wading thigh-high through a fetid pool, a young man delivers lunch packets to the residents of flood-hit Nagahamulla Road in Wellampitiya. He makes several trips through the putrid stew to ensure that nobody goes hungry. This is not river water. The black liquid the man is crawling through is drainage overflow and runoff from the Meetotamulla garbage dump which had streamed into the lane via a nearby canal. The air smells foul. But the man carries on. Some distance away, at the Kolonnawa Jumma Masjid, the faithful are performing their ablutions before noon prayer. The mosque hall has become a temporary storehouse for dry rations and other donated goods. Seated on plastic sheets, oblivious to the activity around them, two small boys are chopping onions. I.Y.M. Haniff, President of the Federation of Mosques of Kolonnawa, leads the way to an open area upstairs where a shed has been erected. A large cauldron of fragrant yellow rice is on the fire. This is where, over the past three days, thousands of packs of lunch and dinner had been cooked for flood victims in Wellampitiya and surrounding areas. There is more activity at the Anandarama Buddhist Temple in Salamulla. That morning, volunteers from the Kolonnawa Jumma Masjid had shared provisions with the temple. Some villagers stirred a vat of rice with a paddle. Others cut onions, extracted coconut milk and opened countless cans of tinned fish. The menu: breadfruit curry, tinned fish and coconut sambol. Wellampitiya was a transformed town. In adversity, people had teamed up. For much of the week, the streets were packed with residents fleeing the flood with a few possessions. Hundreds of others flocked there out of curiosity, to witness for themselves how the Kelani River had swelled its banks and swamped settlements for miles around. One of the biggest problems we have now is these tourists, said Aslam Othman, President of the Colombo District Masjid Federation, who was helping in relief efforts. They take food and water intended for the victims. But provisions were aplenty. Cartons of bottled water, boxes of biscuits, bags of dry rations and an endless supply of packed meals were seen flowing into Wellampitiya. It is not certain whether they all reached the intended recipients. The rains had started on Sunday, May 15, and the river encroached steadily upon the land. Residents said they did not think the waters would rise so high. But by Monday, it became clear that most single-storey buildings didnt stand a chance. According to boatmen, the river had flowed at least 2.5 kilometres inland from Wellampitiya to beyond Buthgamuwa and Kohilawatte. And it was taking ages to recede. On Thursday, evacuations were happening in earnest. Twenty-three-year-old Sameera Danushka, a fisherman from Elakanda, Wattala, watched the scene tiredly. He was seated on the edge of his boat, dripping with exhaustion. I worked throughout the night, ferrying people out of their homes, he said. We started at five in the evening yesterday. Sameera had volunteered his boat after learning that families were trapped in the flood. Somebody came and asked for the boat, he said. Now, he needed a lorry to take it back but there wasnt one in sight. You dont have a lorry, do you, he joked, with a weak grin. The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU) had organised private boats from Negombo, Elakanda and Beruwala before the Navy had moved in. Many of these sustained damages to their hulls after dashing against walls, lampposts and hidden obstructions in the water. Some were being repaired on site. Abdul Hameed, a 52-year-old businessman, was with a group of men distributing biscuits to families disembarking from boats and dinghies. He was damp. But he was energetic and smiling. I lost everything in the flood, all my possessions, he said. The water rose up to our roof. Our documents, birth certificates, they are all gone. But these are our brothers and sisters. Everyone was caught together in this disaster. Anjana Udayanga, a 19-year-old from Borella Susamayawardhana Vidyalaya, was also volunteering. He was from Kohilawatte. He had two younger brothers and a younger sister. Three days earlier, he had left them with his parents on the second-storey of their house. They hadnt wanted to evacuate. If there was any danger, Anjana said, they would clamber onto the third storey of a nearby building. His time was now occupied with distributing food and water to others like his family that hadnt wanted to leave their homes. He spent the nights on the floor of a hardware shop in Kolonnnawa. His days stretched from about 10 am to 8 pm. Indeed, many families with houses of two stories or higher had not wanted to abandon their properties. This was evident from a boat ride through waterlogged settlements in Wellampitiya on Friday. People were perched on slabs or seated in balconies, watching the scenes below. Single storey houses were all under water, with levels rising up to or above their roofs. Do you have drinking water? shouted one woman, as the boat passed by. We dont need food. We got food. By Friday, boatsboth private and Navy-ownedwere making round-the-clock trips to deliver food, water and other provisions to people who had chosen to stay behind. In some parts of Wellampitiya, there were even scenes of mirth as kids splashed about. Dont play in this water, children, implored Father Vincent Ashley, a Catholic priest from St. Sebastians College in Moratuwa, who was taking the boat to deliver much-needed supplies to St. Marys in Wellampitiya. The church and its buildings were partially flooded. Dont you realise what youre wallowing in? said a Navy sailor to some girls who were chest-high in the flood. There was even a dead dog in here, somewhere. It was evident that some had not grasped the dangers of immersing themselves in the murky brown water. Then again, many had no choice. People had stayed behind to protect their belongings from drug addicts, explained V.S. Ajith, a 60-year-old owner of three grocery shops. Even I waited as long as I could, he said. I only left when it was clear that I could not save my shops. Pointing at a scraggy man in shorts who was heading into the water, Ajith whispered, See, thats a number one drug addict. We know what they are up to. They take go in tubes to rob houses. It will get worse when the water starts getting shallower. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had promised security to homes and businesses but it was practically impossible to deploy troops all over flooded settlements. Even on Friday, the levels were more than eight feet high in some places. Mr. Othman warned that there could still be people marooned in the interior, along narrow by-lanes that were inaccessible by boat. From early on, the ACJU had set up a desk to take down the names, locations and telephone numbers of persons who wanted to get out (based on information their relatives on dry land provided). These were sent with boatmen who then faced the daunting task of locating addresses in villages that were under water. But after several days, and with no electricity, it was becoming more difficult to make contact. As Mr. Othman speaks, a woman in a black chador arrives at the desk. She had left her home in Megoda Kolonnawa with her husband and 11-year-old son around 3.30 p.m. on May 16when the water level was up her chest. Now her house is completely under water. What will happen to their belongings, she asks. We have nothing, no shoes, no clothes, my sons school things, nothing, the woman, 40-year-old Fathima Jezmin, says. And she starts to cry. Like many others in her situation, it will be long before the scars heal. Lifetimes of earnings are gone. How do you train to run up the 1103 steps thats 51 flights of the Sky Tower wearing 25kg of firemans equipment? Volunteer firefighter Steve Hutchinson says its simple, really. Just use one of the most natural resources Tauranga has to offer Mauao. The conservation group Protect Karangahake continues to put pressure on Australian mining giant Newcrest Mining by temporarily shutting down one of their drilling operations near My Karangahake. Protect Karangahakes chairperson Duncan Shearer says the group is committed and will persist in protecting the mountain. The Kiwis had hardly finished breakfast when the German transporters thundered in off the Mediterranean. It was May 20, 1941 which is 75 years ago. Soon after 8am the skies were filled with parachutes. Two thousand elite German troops jumping in waves of 200 at 15 minute intervals. The battle of Crete, one of the Second World Wars most dramatic battles, had begun. A new kiwifruit sprayer developed specifically for New Zealand orchards will be on display at Fieldays, thanks to a partnership between Te Puke spray business Splash Direct and Australian equipment company Croplands. The development of the Cropliner sprayer marks the return to the Bay of Plenty for manufacturing spraying equipment, after almost 25 years since such specialist equipment was manufactured locally for the countrys largest horticultural sector. Theres Kiwi comedian and two-time Fred Award finalist Jamie Bowen, American cowboy Wilson Dixon, English comedienne Angela Barnes, who Sarah Millican rates as brilliantly funny and witty Welshman Lloyd Langford. The evening will be hosted by French flanuer and lover of Marlboroughs wine, Marcel Lucont. Hows the weather in Tauranga? asks Marcel. His question comes just after a lunchtime downpour last week. Ah, make it go, however you can! he pleads when he hears of the rain. Marcel will be hosting the evening and is confident he will be first rate. Its just a guarantee. I will ensure my sections of the show are quality and never be below 110 per cent. No one has ever been disappointed. Believe it or not but modest Marcel is actually Englishman Alex Dubuss alter-ego. But he wasnt keen to give anything away. No, I dont know whats occurring here. He is an imposter. There are many things that look like other things the fejoa looks a little bit like an avocado, dont you think? The evening will take place at Baycourt Theatre from 8pm on Wednesday. Tickets are available through Ticketek. D4S_1546.JPG Le Moyne College's Dan Entenmann celebrates his goal in the Dolphins' 8-4 win over Merrimack in a NCAA Division II men's lacrosse tournament semifinal game on Sunday. (Greg Wall) Syracuse, N.Y. A final battle of unbeatens will decide the NCAA Division II men's lacrosse champion this season. Two-time defending champion Limestone (21-0) claimed its part in the title game by beating Tampa 13-10 on Sunday. That sets up a showdown against 19-0 Le Moyne College on May 29 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The contest starts at 4 p.m. Limestone beat Le Moyne 9-6 in last year's title game. Limestone paces Division II in offense with an average of 20.3 goals per game while the Dolphins have the stingiest defense at 4.95 goals allowed. "Yeah, we want Limestone,'' said Dolphins goalie Alex Krawec after his team beat Merrimack in a semifinal on Saturday. "It will be sweet to get that revenge from last year. I think that they're the best team in the south (region). So we're the best team in the north. And that's the best matchup out there.'' ALEXANDRIA, N.Y. -- A Syracuse man was arrested Sunday in Alexandria Bay after police were called to a disturbance at Capt. Thomson's Hotel. State police say Scott W. Cummings, of 111 Bennett Ave., caused a disturbance at the hotel and left when management confronted him. State police were on their way to the disturbance call when they stopped Cummings for a traffic violation, troopers said in a news release. The release did not say exactly what Cummings did at the hotel that caused someone to call police. When troopers pulled him over, they said Cummings had a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 percent, nearly twice the legal limit, according to a state police news release. Cummings was charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor. He was released on an appearance ticket. Cummings is scheduled to answer the DWI charge June 7 in Alexandria Town Court. Students of Altmar-Parish-Williamstown High School celebrated their prom Saturday evening at Borio's Restaurant in Cicero. Above is our gallery of photos from the event. Do you have great photos taken at the prom? Find out how to share them with Syracuse.com Buy photo reprints As you're browsing the gallery, look for the "Buy" button to order high-quality reprints and other products. Or visit our photo reprint store to purchase photos of this event More prom photos Check out all our photo galleries from proms, senior balls, and other formals around Central New York. See all prom photo galleries and stories on Syracuse.com Students at Hamilton Central School students attended their prom Saturday evening at Colgate Inn in Hamilton. Above is our gallery of photos from the event. Do you have great photos taken at the prom? Find out how to share them with Syracuse.com Buy photo reprints As you're browsing the gallery, look for the "Buy" button to order high-quality reprints and other products. Or visit our photo reprint store to purchase photos of this event More prom photos Check out all our photo galleries from proms, senior balls, and other formals around Central New York. See all prom photo galleries and stories on Syracuse.com Students at Mexico High School students celebrated their junior prom Saturday evening at Alex's on the Water in Oswego. The event's theme was "A Night in Italy." Above is our gallery of photos from the event. Do you have great photos taken at the prom? Find out how to share them with Syracuse.com Buy photo reprints As you're browsing the gallery, look for the "Buy" button to order high-quality reprints and other products. Or visit our photo reprint store to purchase photos of this event More prom photos Check out all our photo galleries from proms, senior balls, and other formals around Central New York. See all prom photo galleries and stories on Syracuse.com FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2015 file photo, Rep. Curt Clawson, R-Fla., does a sound check as he prepares to give the Tea Party response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, at the National Press Club in Washington. Clawson, a multimillionaire, first-term Florida flipped shares in a solar company the same day he acquired them in an initial public offering, despite a federal law that generally prohibits members of Congress from participating in IPOs. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File) By Ledyard King, USA TODAY WASHINGTON GOP Rep. Curt Clawson announced Thursday he won't seek re-election to his Southwest Florida congressional seat because he wants to spend more time with his father, Jack, whose health is declining. The former CEO of a wheel manufacturing company, Clawson self-funded his campaign in June of 2014, winning a special election for the 19th District seat. He got into the race at the urging of his father, who asked what he was going to do about the pollution spoiling the waters off Lee County. On Capitol Hill, Clawson joined the Freedom Caucus, a group of hard-line conservatives who ultimately helped topple House Speaker John Boehner. Clawson recently talked to USA TODAY about his time in Congress, his impressions of Capitol Hill culture, and whether he might run for public again: Question: Was there a reason you decided to announce your retirement now? Answer: In February, we decided by today (May 19) we need to make a final decision because it gives you a month before the (June 24 candidate filing period). It gives plenty of people time who want to consider running. We wanted to be respectful of the process and I wanted to take enough time to see how I felt. Q: You said during your 2014 campaign that lawmakers shouldn't stay in office too long. Do you still feel that way? A: The idea of citizen legislators that come without ambition and put the country and their constituents first is what a lot of the Founding Fathers really did envision and what they did themselves. If we had more folks up here on a temporary basis, going to battle for their constituents and then going home as opposed to building a career, I think we'd have a better democracy. Q: Is it tough to change the culture of Capitol Hill? A: If you want to push back on business as usual, if you want to be the "disrupter," it's far more possible as a citizen legislator than (as) a career politician looking for promotion. Because if you're a career politician looking for promotion, you have to play by the rules of raising money, voting a certain way, and doing certain things. Q: How much do you think your opposition to GOP leaders hurt your ability to get things done? A: I was told many times that if you push back, if you vote no on the speaker, if you do this, if you do that, you won't get anything done. (But) if you look at a list of the projects that we helped get the Army Corps of Engineers to do, and if you look at the (land preservation) bill that we passed, I think it shows we were able to push back hard but do it in a way that could still benefit our party and my constituents. Q: Isn't your passion for Everglades protection and water quality improvement at odds with the way GOP conservatives are perceived? A: We didn't buy the notion that you couldn't be a conservationist to the core and still be conservative. We think you can be conservative and supported by the red base and still be for conservation because it's the right thing for the ecology, the right thing for the animals, and the right thing for the economy. Q: Whom would you like to see succeed you? A: I'm not going to suggest anybody run. But some of where I end up (endorsing) ultimately depends on how folks campaign and behave. Q: If there a chance you'll run for public office again? A: I don't rule out anything politically in the future. But I'm also giving it no attention, no planning, no thought, no nothing. Twitter: @ledgeking SHARE The Indian River Lagoon, Fort Pierce. (FILE PHOTO) By Jeff Burlew, USA TODAY NETWORK Tallahassee Democrat The Department of Environmental Protection is defending its proposed new pollution limits for Florida surface waters, saying they aren't weaker than current standards and won't decrease the protection they provide people. But environmental groups assert the agency is in fact weakening standards for many of the toxic compounds it allows to be discharged into the state's rivers, lakes, streams and coastal waters. And they say DEP's method of calculating limits a process not used by any other state or the Environmental Protection Agency allows for more pollution. The Tallahassee Democrat reported May 15 the state wants to weaken its restrictions on roughly two dozen cancer-causing chemicals it will allow in its surface waters. Florida is in the process of updating its standards, something it's supposed to do periodically under the Clean Water Act but hasn't since the early 1990s. DEP Secretary Jon Steverson said the coverage "inaccurately and unfairly" depicted the agency's proposal. "The state has some of the most comprehensive water quality standards in the country, including the most advanced numeric nutrient criteria in the entire nation," Steverson said. "We will continue to coordinate with EPA to adopt standards that will ensure our residents and natural resources enjoy clean and safe water." DEP is updating human-health criteria for 43 dangerous chemical compounds it regulates and adopting standards for another 39 for the first time. If approved, the state would double the amount of compounds it regulates. But the agency would allow higher limits for more than half of the 43 toxic substances it currently regulates. And most of the 82 compounds it would regulate in total would have less stringent limits than what EPA recommends. "We will be at rock bottom," said Linda Young, executive director of the Florida Clean Water Network. The state says its proposed standards are designed to allow Floridians to safely eat seafood and drink tap water their entire lives. And it says the new limits would protect human health even in the most extreme cases, involving people who are exposed to more pollution through eating, drinking, showering and swimming. Specifically, DEP officials say the vast majority of Floridians would have a lifetime incremental risk of getting cancer from the new standards of between one in 100,000 and one in a million. People highly exposed to contamination, like subsistence fishermen, would have a higher chance of one in 10,000. NEW APPROACH CONTROVERSIAL DEP acknowledged the numeric standards for compounds currently regulated are higher in some cases and lower in others. "This does not reflect a weakening in standards or a decrease in protection," the agency said. "It is simply an update based on the latest science and risk models to ensure that Floridians continue to be protected from adverse health effects. DEP used only the latest, and most robust, scientific facts and figures to calculate the criteria." But David Ludder, a Tallahassee attorney who represents the Florida Clean Water Network, said DEP's process for determining standards the so-called Monte Carlo or probabilistic method yields weaker limits than a competing method used by the other states and the federal government. The more commonly employed deterministic method uses absolute values for factors including body weight and fish and water consumption. DEP is using a distribution of values for body weight and fish and water consumption that include numbers not as protective as those used in the deterministic method, he said. "DEP justifies the change in methodology as 'better science,' " Ludder said. "It may be a more precise method of characterizing the population, but it will produce higher criteria values (more allowable pollution) than the deterministic method. Bottom line is that human exposures to toxins will be higher using the probabilistic method than they would be using the deterministic method." Dee Ann Miller, a spokeswoman for DEP, said its method allows the state to consider the characteristics of all Floridians, not just one average weight or one fish consumption or drinking water rate. She said a scientific review panel that included the EPA and four Florida universities gave input on DEP's technical and scientific approach, "including their preferred use of the probabilistic method." "This is a much more sophisticated and comprehensive analytical method that allows us to generate criteria to protect all Floridians including small children and people who eat more seafood than average," she said. ACTIVIST CONCERNS Environmental activists, doctors and scientists have expressed a myriad of concerns about the proposed new limits, including a nearly three-fold increase in allowable amounts of benzene. They believe the proposed higher limit for benzene, a well-known carcinogen used in fracking and found in its waste water, is tied to efforts to bring the unconventional drilling technique to Florida. CREDO Action has launched a petition drive against proposed standards it said "could pave the way for fracking." Marc Freeman, a retired professor of neuroscience at Florida State University, said benzene and many of the other compounds are endocrine disruptors, which interfere with hormones and are linked to a host of developmental and other health problems. "The DEP folks are acting without prior information about endocrine disruptors," he said. "I have yet to meet a DEP scientist who knows what an endocrine disruptor is." DEP hosted three workshops on the proposed new limits earlier this month in Tallahassee, Orlando and Stuart, and the agency is accepting public comment through June 2. The proposal could go before the Florida Environmental Regulation Commission for approval this fall. Adopted standards also must be approved by the EPA. SHARE May 22, 2016 By Staff Report ADVISORIES 5 a.m.: There's a slight chance of late afternoon storms from Fort Pierce to Lake Okeechobee south. The main weather hazards will be cloud-to-ground lighting and wind gusts up to 40 mph. Isolated lightning storms coming off the mainland and onto nearshore waters between Fort Pierce and Jupiter inlets will be capable of producing occasional wind guts around 35 mph, lightning and heavy rain. TODAY'S FORECAST Keep an eye on conditions with our live weather radar. It'll be warm and humid this morning ahead of a weak frontal boundary that will push into central Florida today. There is not much moisture for the front to work with so mostly sunny skies are forecast. Breezy west to northwest winds will delay the onset of the east coast sea breeze and allow temperatures to climb into the lower 90s at the coast this afternoon and upper 80s to near 90 inland. These offshore flow regimes typically produce the warmest temperatures at the coast. Today will be mostly sunny, with a high near 91. West northwest wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain is 20 percent. Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low around 66. West wind 5 to 15 mph. Sunrise was at 6:28 a.m. Sunset will be at 8:07 p.m. EXTENDED FORECAST Source: National Weather Service Monday: Sunny, with a high near 85. Light and variable wind becoming east 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 66. East southeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 86. Light southeast wind becoming east 10 to 15 mph in the morning. Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 68. East wind 10 to 15 mph. Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 84. East wind 5 to 15 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 72. East wind 10 to 15 mph. Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. East northeast wind 10 to 15 mph. Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. East wind 10 to 15 mph. Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. East wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. East wind 10 to 15 mph. Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. East wind 10 to 15 mph. TODAY'S TIDE FORECAST Source: National Weather Service Sebastian Inlet Bridge High tides: 8:55 a.m. and 9:28 p.m. Low tides: 2:55 a.m. and 3:05 p.m. Fort Pierce Inlet, South Jetty High tides: 9:12 a.m. and 9:45 p.m. Low tides: 3:01 a.m. and 3:11 p.m. MARINE FORECAST Source: National Weather Service Isolated lightning storms coming off the mainland and onto nearshore waters between Fort Pierce and Jupiter inlets will be capable of producing occasional wind guts around 35 mph, lightning and heavy rain. Today: West to northwest winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet with a dominant period 6 seconds. A moderate chop on the intracoastal waters. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Tonight: West winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 3 to 4 feet with a dominant period 9 seconds. A light chop on the intracoastal waters. Monday: North winds 5 knots becoming east 5 to 10 knots in the afternoon. Seas 2 to 3 feet with a dominant period 6 seconds. A light chop on the intracoastal waters. Monday Night: Southeast winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Mostly smooth on the intracoastal waters. Tuesday: East winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. A light chop on the intracoastal waters. Tuesday Night: East winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 3 to 4 feet. Wednesday: East winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 3 feet. Wednesday Night: East winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 3 to 4 feet. Thursday: East winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 3 feet. Brexit is an uncomfortable topic for left-wingers and an uncomfortable topic at Cambridge, so being a left-wing Brexiter in Cambridge can be almost unbearably discomfiting. To a certain extent, this unease is productive and necessary, helping to ground the debate in human realities. It is very easy for me to harp on about the democratic deficit of the European Union; far harder to reconcile my opposition with my concern for the Polish friend whose right to study here might be jeopardised in negotiations over which we as people may exert no control. Much of the anti-Brexit pressure, however, comes from those who are without a personal investment in the EU, but are immersed in a sense that being in Europe is intrinsically right. This university is a centre of self-conscious liberal cosmopolitanism, infused with a certain clandestine disdain for those grubby people who reject our European identity for, presumably, nativist, chauvinistic, drum-beating and flag-waving little reasons. But whether or not this latent elitism surfaces with a sneer of this shape, it is pervasive in, indeed is the very essence of, the liberal argument so often articulated here. The left-wing Bremainers, perhaps out of complacency, have alighted upon the case that Brexit would be followed by a bonfire of regulations, the jettisoning of workers rights and environmental protections. This is indeed a compelling warning, an outcome which we all should all be prepared to fight. Yet no-one seems willing to acknowledge the natural corollary to this argument, which is that the voters of our national democracy are not to be trusted with its legislation. What is the purpose of a representative government whatever its manifold flaws in fulfilling that stipulation if we are to rely on a totally unaccountable higher power to moderate and even to dismiss its conclusions? We condone this approach the very height of elitism, insinuating that the peoples voice is irrelevant if it does not tessellate with our own preferences if we propose to employ the EU as a kind of political ocean, diminishing the extremes of our democratic climate. When the liberals of Cambridge, and probably Oxford, and those in positions of authority and influence which this place and that have spawned, agree with a wry and knowing, esoteric smile that, whatever the shortcomings of the EU, its a lot better than this government, they are fobbing off the country itself with a shallow articulation of their own parochialism. The debate on our EU membership recently held by the Cambridge Union concerned itself solely with the opinions and interests of our statesmen not one speaker addressed the concerns of those people who do not own the privilege of inhabiting their high circles. There is a sense that the common peoples concerns are insufficiently intellectual for polite company: they are probably only banging on about foreigners in their regional accents, not worth the consideration of more sophisticated minds. This has to stop. Not only because it is insufferably condescending in itself, not only because it is impeding this vital discussion about the very future of the nation, but because it will do those liberal cosmopolitan elites no good if they do not engage with the concerns of the masses. People in this country who do not attend Cambridge University have sincere fears about the EUs refusal to respect public opinion, its unaccountable and largely unwelcome meddling in the affairs of nations, and, yes, some worry about immigration we cannot avoid dirtying our hands in that debate. If Cambridge, and the Cantabrians of the British media and state, continue to dismiss the people as ignorant tradesmen guided only by their most visceral emotions, then they will find that the gulf between ourselves and real people has become impassable when 23 June rolls around. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Google's I/O Conference will not conclude without revealing new details about the upcoming new Android mobile operating system, currently only known as Android N. As many have expected, Google has announced new features that will be found in Android N, along with other details. Here are some of the features Android fans can look forward to in Android N. Split-Screen Mode A split-screen feature has previously been seen in Android smartphones offered by Samsung and LG, but Android N will now be offering native support for the feature so that all smartphones and tablets can use it. In addition to split-screen mode, Android N will have a picture-in-picture option. Google Assistant The new software is the same one used by Google for the Google Home device, and is an improvement on what Google Now can offer. Instead of functioning as a search box that can recognize voice commands, the artificial intelligence-powered software will simulate actual conversations and can infer commands based on context, similar to Microsoft's Cortana and Amazon's Alexa. Instant Apps The Instant Apps feature will allow users to launch apps without the need to install them on their Android device. Opening the app will be as fast as loading a Web page, which is more convenient for users carrying out tasks in their Android smartphones and tablets. Doze On The Go Google has launched Doze with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, in which the feature helps save battery power by pausing any background activity while the device is idle and still. Doze On The Go is a progression of Doze, as it works the same way, but activates even if the device is in motion, such as while the user has the smartphone in a pocket while walking. VR Mode Android N will also feature a VR mode as part of Google's wider VR initiative named Daydream. Android smartphone manufacturers will be launching Daydream Ready devices in the fall, which will give access to content from partner media companies such as HBO, CNN, Netflix, the NBA, Hulu, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and IMAX. Android N has more than 250 new features and enhancements, and it is just the tip of the iceberg of what the upcoming operating system has to offer. Google has released a public beta version of Android N for Nexus devices and Pixel C, so users of these devices looking to try out the operating system can download it now. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A third of North America's bird population is facing extinction, a new scientific report has revealed. A new report made public on May 18 has highlighted that one-third of the 350 species of migratory birds across North America are nearing extinction at an alarming pace. Bird Studies Canada biologist Christian Artuso, who also serves as the director of the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas, said that nations are linked by these birds and that alone calls for united efforts toward preservation. All nations concerned must take an active initiative in bringing biodiversity back before it becomes too late. International Action On Bird Preservation Representatives of non-government organizations, policymakers and scientists from Mexico, Canada and the United States convened during the Trilateral Committee for Wildlife Ecosystem and Management in Ottawa to discuss the merits of the State of North America's Birds report (PDF) and come up with methods to strengthen conservation efforts. Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna said that joint international action on conservation efforts would help bolster the bird population as concerted efforts would have far-reaching results. "Partnerships like this allow us to 'spread our wings' beyond our own nests," McKenna said. "The report paints a troubling picture," she added. "There is no single reason for the decline in our bird populations. They range from habitat loss and pesticides to global climate change." The report noted that several species that were endangered before were able to rebound because of conservation efforts. For instance, wood ducks were not as abundant before as they are now. These migratory birds were almost pushed to extinction because of loss of habitat and market hunting. Their numbers continually increased through intergovernmental efforts. The Battle To Protect Migratory Birds Artuso expressed that despite conservation efforts, North America is still losing almost half of its bird species, including tropical forest birds, oceanic birds and grassland birds. He is hoping that whatever efforts Canada does in preserving birds are complemented by the wintering grounds, or else all efforts would fail. Close monitoring and communication about the numbers and behaviors of migratory birds must be done to ensure that all concerned nations are complying with the efforts to preserve the bird population. In a report, Tech Times highlighted a study stating that poor coordination of conservation efforts on a global scale harms the population of migratory birds. About 90 percent of the world's migratory bird species are not effectively protected across their migratory paths. Photo: Ingrid Taylar | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A high court in London ruled that all cigarettes sold in the United Kingdom (UK) will come in plain, standardized packages. This new regulation will help discourage the purchase of tobacco products and in turn, reduce smoking rates in the country. All of the previous features that made cigarette packages attractive will be removed. Moving forward, hand-rolled tobacco and cigarettes will be sold in plain brown packages with the same size, shape and color. The brand names will also share the same font, color and size. Moreover, about 65 percent of the plain packaging will be covered by health warnings in both text and photos showing the health consequences of the nasty habit. Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands and Japan Tobacco International appealed to the UK Government's plain packaging policy. They argued that the law is an illegal expropriation of their brands. Their efforts went up in smoke. "Standardised packaging will reduce smoking rates and save lives, which will always be a top priority for this government. We will never allow the tobacco industry to dictate our policies," said public health minister Jane Ellison MP. Anti-smoking advocates said that other countries considering the same route will be encouraged by the recent ruling in the UK. These other countries include Canada, Slovenia, Norway and Hungary. "It's taken many years to get to this point and it reflects a huge effort aimed at protecting children from tobacco marketing," said Cancer Research UK chief executive Sir Harpal Kumar. According to the anti-smoking charity group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) the recent "landmark judgment" is deemed a big loss for the tobacco industry. Furthermore, the ruling justifies the UK government's dedication in the pursuance of standardized cigarette packaging, said ASH's chief executive Deborah Arnott. The new regulations will take effect on May 20. All of the cigarette products in the UK manufactured after this date must comply with the new package ruling. Tobacco companies are allowed time to sell their remaining inventories with the existing packages. In a few months, all cigarette packs regardless of brand are expected to look the same because of the standard packaging. According to the UK's National Health Services, smoking is the number one cause of death in the country. Smoking is responsible for approximately 100,000 deaths every year. It is also responsible for more than 50 severe health conditions, some of which can be fatal while some result in long-term, devastating and irreversible damage. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Family caregivers have an important role in the welfare of cancer patients, but the burden of responsibilities associated with the disease can also negatively affect the former's health. Now, new research suggests that caregivers of cancer patients can also benefit when palliative care is initiated soon after the cancer diagnosis. The new study, which was led by Dr. Areej El-Jawahri, was a randomized trial that involved family caregivers of patients who were newly diagnosed with incurable gastrointestinal and lung cancers. Patients identified a friend or family member as the primary caregiver. Although previous studies have revealed how early palliative care helps patients, this new study is the first to show benefits for caregivers of cancer patients. El-Jawahri and her colleagues randomized 275 cancer patients to two groups. The first group received early initiation of palliative care and cancer care, while the second group received cancer care alone. The research examined an intervention that focused on patients receiving visits every month with palliative care specialists. Caregivers did not attend the sessions but they were evaluated through the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). In the end, researchers found that caregivers had significantly better quality of life, better social functioning, and less symptoms of depression during the first three months of follow-up. El-Jawahri, who presented the findings at a press briefing ahead of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said they can now affirm that the benefits of early palliative care extend beyond patient outcomes. She said it appears the improvement in family caregivers were at least partially interceded by the patients feeling better. The study's abstract has been published in the ASCO website. El-Jawahri and her colleagues will present results from the intervention that focused on patients in June. El-Jawahri is an instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an oncologist that specializes in the care of patients with hematologic malignancies. Previous studies have found that the stigma surrounding palliative care typically prevents patients from early access of the service. Researchers suggest re-branding the term "palliative care" services so it includes other services that can be used any time during the illness. The term's definition could also be adjusted so that it would be less confusing. Photo : Zeev Barkan | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A new study conducted by researchers in Hawaii suggests that some species of sharks prefer swimming in waters around Maui than in any other part of the state. This could help explain why the island has seen a significant increase in the number of shark attacks in the past 20 years. With cases of shark attacks on beachgoers in Maui continuing to increase in recent years, the Land and Natural Resources Department of Hawaii decided to commission a scientific study to find out what could be causing the attacks. Charles Meyer and his colleagues at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) tagged several tiger sharks in order to monitor their activity around the islands of Oahu and Maui as well as in the open seas. They discovered that the sharks seem to be fond of waters near Maui likely because the area is filled with coral reefs and is teeming with food for the creatures. The sharks may have also widened their hunting grounds in the area because of the warming temperatures of the ocean. Some may have even encroached waters that are typically used by humans as well. As far as the reason why there were more shark attacks in recent years, the researchers believe it is caused by more people choosing to spend longer periods of time in the ocean. While the study shows that sharks seem to like staying at Maui's popular beaches as much as humans do, its purpose is not to promote fear in people but to provide a better understanding on the behavior of these animals. Shark experts believe the key to having better coexistence with the creatures is knowledge. They advise beachgoers not to go to areas where sharks can often be found. These include places where there is murky water or dead animals, which could attract these giant predatory fish. Marine researcher Francisco Ferretti from Stanford University also pointed out that sharks play an important role in maintaining balance in ocean ecosystems. If large sharks were to vanish from the ocean, the populations of smaller sharks and other animals would increase significantly, causing an imbalance in the ecosystems. Ferretti said that people should learn more about the behavior and seasonal movement of sharks so that they would be able to avoid attacks. "If we know them, and we know their ecology, then we can take precautions and use the ocean and engage in recreational opportunities," Ferretti said. "These predators are a fundamental part of the ocean function." Meyer and his colleagues are planning to submit their findings for a peer review. Photo: Tim Sackton | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. HIV-infected patients may not be getting the cancer treatment they need, a new study has revealed. Therapies for head and neck, lung, breast, gastrointestinal (GI) tract, colorectal, prostate, cervix, anal and blood cancers were analyzed, and researchers found that patients with HIV are treated differently. For instance, one-third of HIV patients with lung cancer did not get cancer treatment compared with 14 percent of patients with lung cancer but without HIV. An even larger disparity was noted in patients with cancer in the upper GI tract: 44 percent with HIV did not receive treatment for the cancer versus 18 percent without HIV who did not get treatment. Patients with HIV and concurrent cancer do not receive any form of chemotherapy or radiation therapy for the malignancy. Gita Suneja, study lead author and a radiation oncologist at the University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute, expressed concern that, while HIV patients get aggressive treatments for their immunodeficiency virus, many still die secondary to an untreated malignancy or tumor. Analysis Of The National Cancer Database Researchers used 2003 to 2011 data from the National Cancer Database, which stores about 70 percent of all new cancer cases diagnosed in the United States. The data was analyzed to identify what therapies were given to HIV patients who were less than 65 years old and who had any of the most common cancers. The study included data from 2.2 million HIV-negative and 10,265 HIV-positive patients. It found that as much as one-third of the sample with the immunodeficiency virus also had stage 4 cancer that had spread upon diagnosis, compared with only 19 percent of HIV-negative patients. It was also noted that avoidable lifestyle-associated cancers were higher in patients with HIV. The patients were, likewise, more vulnerable to acquiring cancers linked to normal aging. Lack Of Insurance Not An Issue Is the non-treatment due to lack of insurance? The study authors said that, while many of the HIV patients do not have sufficient insurance, it is not the root cause of the treatment failure. The study found that even when HIV patients have private insurance, they are still more often untreated compared with those who do not have HIV. Differences in cancer therapy could be affected by several factors. Primarily, no cancer treatment guideline for HIV-infected patients exists. Having one could standardize the treatment process. "Does the HIV infection mean they shouldn't get standard cancer treatment?" Suneja asked. The study was published online in Cancer on May 17. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Reddit has finally taken a leap of faith by emulating other social media platforms. It now lets users embed its posts/discussion threads on some third-party sites. In the past, users on a third-party website could merely hyperlink to a thread/post on Reddit or take a screenshot of the Reddit page. Reddit's decision to enable the embedding of its threads to third-party sites will be welcomed by bloggers, media sites and more as they can now include the content on their respective page. The embedding includes posts that have media such as videos and GIFs that are posted on Reddit. Web users will also welcome the addition, as it will not only make for an improved visual experience but also enhance post engagement and interaction ability. "The great thing about Reddit content is that it's usually longer, it's more insightful, more in-depth than you'll see on other social platforms," noted Mark Luckie, Reddit's head of journalism and media. "You're going to get a more robust conversation." The embedding of Reddit threads to other websites is currently limited to a select few sites. The feature's insertion methodology is similar to the one used for embedding YouTube videos and tweets in Web pages. The Reddit link will include the subreddit name, post title, when it was shared, the number of points received which determines its popularity and the number of comments. Moreover, people will also have the option of clicking on the embedded post, which will navigate them to Reddit directly to read the conversation thread in detail. How To Locate The Embed Functionality Click on the "share" option located below a comment or post, then click on "embed," and you will see the code you will be required to paste to your blog or website. Currently, the embedding feature does not work on all sites for some reason. Reddit is yet to shed light on the technicality. With the new feature introduced, Reddit will get additional exposure, which could potentially mean more advertising revenue. Reddit has promised that in tandem with its media partners, it intends to release more publisher tools in the long term. Photo: Eva Blue | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Apple may be keeping mum on its next-gen iPhone, but that has not stopped the grapevine from gathering little nuggets of information from all possible sources. The latest buzz is that the company is working on an all-glass iPhone. The information comes courtesy of an Apple supplier who accidentally spilled the beans and confirmed the device's existence. Catcher Technology is a Taiwan-based company that supplies metal casing for iPhones. On May 20, during a shareholder meeting, Catcher CEO Allen Horng let slip that only a single model would adopt the glass casing when quizzed if the company would be affected by Apple's decision. "As far as I know, only one [iPhone] model will adopt glass casing next year," said Horng. "I don't think this move will have an impact on Catcher's revenue as glass casing still needs a durable metal frame which requires advanced processing technology and would not be cheaper than the current model." Rumors have been rife that Apple is considering altering the iPhone's look and feel drastically. Current-gen iPhones sport a metal exterior a finish Apple started using since the iPhone 5's launch in 2012, including the iPhone SE that has an aluminum chassis. The notion of Apple releasing an all-glass iPhone is not that far-fetched. In July 2014, we reported that the company had been awarded a new patent dubbed "fused glass device housings," which suggested that Apple would launch an all-glass iPhone in the near future. Earlier in April this year, KGI Securities Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is usually on the money when it comes to Apple predictions, noted that the Cupertino-based company had an all-glass iPhone in the pipeline. However, Apple would launch this iPhone in 2017 and not this year, according to the analyst. This estimate is in line with the time window Horng let slip for the all-glass iPhone's launch. A strong possibility exists that Apple could launch the iPhone's all-glass model in 2017. Why? Since 2017 will be the smartphone's 10th anniversary, Apple would potentially like to commemorate the occasion with something that has a mind-blowing design. However, whether or not Apple would share its plans with manufacturers, knowing its penchant for secrecy, is circumspect, and therefore, the news should be taken with a pinch of salt. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Google's highly-anticipated Project Ara modular smartphone is finally coming to fruition after a few delays. The company announced at its annual I/O developer conference on Friday that the phone will be available to third-party developers by the end of 2016. And if things go according to plan, consumers will be able to get their hands on the device sometime in 2017. There have been some changes to the Ara team and the phone's design over the past year, with Paul Eremenko no longer the director of Project Ara. When it came to the phone's core technology, the biggest change was integrating the processor and RAM into the standard frame, allowing more room for six modular slots. Google said the modules can also be swapped out while the device is still running, giving the user more flexibility. At the conference, the company demonstrated taking a photo with a camera module. It also discussed other modules, including a blood glucose monitor for diabetics, according to Recode. The six proprietary ports created by the team use an open standard UniPro, and each one can support up to 11.9 Gbps. Ara chief Richard Woolridge said the modules can handle pretty much anything, consuming a third as much power as USB 3. Other specs include a 5.3-inch screen display. A button on the right side of the device will bring up a map of all the modules being used. To eject a module, simply tap on the photo of the one you'd like to release. Or, as demonstrated by technical project lead Rafa Camargo, you can just say, "OK Google, eject the camera," to switch that module to a different one. About 30 people at Google's Advanced Technology and Products division already use an Ara device as their main phone, according to Wired. With the phone being on an open platform, Google is aiming to create an ecosystem anyone can contribute to. "That allows us to be somewhat form-factor independent," Camargo said. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A massive, unused fuel tank supposedly designed for NASA's former space shuttle program is heading to its new home in Los Angeles, California. Known as ET-94, the 154-foot-long external tank will be integrated with the space shuttle Endeavour at the California Science Center for museum display. The fuel tank, which weighs 66,000 pounds (33 US tons), was the space agency's last flight-qualified tank. NASA never used it until the shuttle program came to a halt. Droves of people came to watch as the fuel tank trekked through LA streets. Those who took photos and videos of the space shuttle tank used the hashtag #ETComesHome and #ET94. A Journey To A New Home ET-94 arrived at coastal Marina Del Rey by barge on May 18, moving towards the science center a few minutes after midnight at a speed of 5 mph. It took 30 engineers to figure out how the humongous fuel tank would be carried to its new home. Experts estimate that the tank will arrive at the California Science Center 13 to 18 hours after its initial journey. Southern California public radio station KPCC reported that the fuel tank would affect 50 of LA's intersections and "make two epic turns." According to LA Times, the turn is a slow process that would involve eight crew members guiding the transport device. Several crews had to loosen street lights, utility lines and traffic lights in preparation for the huge tank's journey. The lines and lights will be reinstalled immediately after the trip. The fuel tank was escorted by a fire truck, police and a crew of LA city officials as it passed through car washes, taco shops and other establishments. A Legacy In Science Several kids who were wearing home-made space helmets were enthralled when they saw the gigantic tank. One of them was 11-year-old Cindy Hernandez of Inglewood. "It will be a memory for me," she said. Astronaut Mike Fincke, who flew on the final flight of Endeavour in 2011, said kids are going to remember the event their whole lives. "It's this next generation of explorers," said Fincke. Once the fuel tank arrives at the California Science Center, it will be restored alongside the Endeavour space shuttle. The science center will become the only place in the world where anyone can view a complete external tank, solid rocket boosters, and orbiter with real flight hardware in launch configuration. Endeavour In History ET-94, which is the last of its kind, had a predecessor named ET-93. The latter was used to transport the space shuttle Columbia in 2013, which was destroyed as it re-entered our planet's atmosphere. NASA extensively studied ET-94 to figure out whether the tank style contributed to the ill-fated accident. ET-94 will now remain at the science center. Watch closely at #ETComesHome rocks a little from side to side. Eeeeasy does it! pic.twitter.com/fm7hRyUL1L CA Science Center (@casciencecenter) May 21, 2016 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Some interesting facts that all programmers should know about Java Java, the long-lasting programming language, remains immensely popular and for many good reasons. In fact, many programmers swear by the stability of Java. Java is the go-to language for millions of software developers. Java emerged as a tech juggernaut because of its unique portability and its capability of operating similarly on any hardware or operating system. Its secure, simple and robust, so with these attractive qualities in mind, here are some facts about Java which you probably did not know Java was called Oak at the beginning The original name for Java was Oak. Java legend has it that a big oak tree that grew outside the developer James Goslings window. It was eventually changed to Java by Suns marketing department when Sun lawyers found that there was already a computer company registered as Oak. Another legend has it that Gosling and his gang of programmers went out to the local cafe to discuss names and wound up naming it Java. There seems to be some truth in this as the 0xCafeBabe magic number in the class files was named after the Cafe where the Java team used to go for coffee. Java was invented by accident James Gosling was working at Sun Labs, around 1992. Gosling and his team were building a set-top box and started by cleaning up C++ and wound up with a new language and runtime. Thus Java or Oak came into being It pays to learn Java The median salary of a Java developer is $83,975.00. Yes, it pays to be a Java developer and programmers are milking it. There are about 9 million Java developers in the world. Java is the second most popular language after C Though many would argue that Java is all time favorite among developers, it is second most popular programming language after C. Java is ranked #2 in popularity among programming languages, according to the programming languages popularity tracking website, tiobe.com. JUnit Testing Framework The JUnit Testing Framework is currently the top used Java technology. Its stability and popularity can be deduced from the fact that almost 4 out of 5 Java developers or 70 % developers out there used JUnit Testing Framework. Java is the go-to tool for enterprises 95 percent of enterprises use Java for programming. That is hell lot more than C and other languages put together. Current Java version Javas latest major release is the Platform Standard Edition 8. Its features include improved developer productivity and app performance through a reduced boilerplate code, improved collections, and annotations. The Duke The Java mascot, The Duke was created by Joe Palrang. Palrang is the same guy who has worked on the Hollywood blockbuster, Shrek. Java and Android Java practically runs on 1billion plus smartphones today because Googles Android operating system uses Java APIs. Final is not final in Java Final actually has four different meanings in Java. 1) final class- The class cannot be extended 2) Final method- the method cannot be overridden 3) final field- The field is a constant 4)final variable- the value of the variable cannot be changed once assigned Here are some additional facts about Java Java vs Google Oracle is fighting a big courtroom battle with Google over the use of Java in the Android operating system. If Oracle wins the lawsuit, it stands to make a cool $8.8 billion. The courtroom battle headed for second hearing recently after the federal court ruled in favor of Oracle and told Google to approach district court for a further ruling. Books to read for learning Java Most of the OReilly Java books Effective Java, by Joshua Bloch Java Developers Almanac Java Cookbook Websites to watch out for In Java 3=12 In Java the output : System.out.println(1+2+ = +1+2); 3=12 Why? Apparently, Java starts treating everything as a String once it has encountered a string in System.out statement If you liked the facts about Java, we will bring some interesting tidbits about other programming languages as well. The above facts were compiled from a variety of online resources, including Oracles official pages for Java, Tiobe.com, Salary.com, RebelLabs, Ian Darwins Java Page and AlienCoders.com. Student Gets A Suspended 15 Months Prison Sentence For Finding Flaws In Police Communications Protocol Sometimes, it just does not pay to be a ethical hacker as a student from Slovenia found out the hard way. Not only did the authorities not reward him, he was also given a prison sentence to add salt to his injuries. A 26-year-old student at the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security in Maribor, Slovenia this week received a suspended jail sentence of 15 months, and will not go to jail if he does not repeat his crime within the subsequent three years. According to local news site Pod Crto, Dejan Ornig had found security flaws in the state-developed TETRA encrypted communications protocol, which he later disclosed to the public. TETRA is utilized by Slovenian police, but additionally by some components of the military, the Slovenian Intelligence and Safety Company (SOVA), the jail administration, and even some entities in monetary administration departments. In 2012, Ornig alongwith 25 other faculty colleagues started his work on examining TETRA, as part of a school project. However, by September 2013, he found out that Slovenian authorities had misconfigured the TETRA protocol. It was discovered that the protocol was transmitting unencrypted sensitive data over the Internet around 70 percent of the time, which was basically aimed to encode subtle communications. Ornig provided information to the police regarding his findings by following a responsible disclosure practice. However, on seeing that no action was taken by the authorities on his claims, he decided to make his findings public in March 2015. While officials made changes to TETRAs encryption issues, they accused Ornig for trying to hack their network on three separate occasions in February, March and December 2014. A month later after making his findings public, which is in April 2015, the authorities carried out a search of his house. Other than seizing Ornigs computer and a $25 custom device with which he was able to interrupt TETRA communications, officers also found a fake police badge, and also charged him of imitating a police officer. Further, after examining his hard drive, police filed a third charge against him for illegitimately recording his former employer. The recordings revealed that Ornigs former boss was speaking to him in a rude language, who was also calling Ornig stupid and speaking to him with other expletive words. However, in spite of Ornigs cooperation with the authorities and good intentions, police claimed that Ornig should have obtained official permission to perform his research, which they stated hindered the normal operation of some of its radio stations. As said above, it does not always pay to be a good samaritan! Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2011) has a seven-point lead over President Jair Bolsonaro ahead of the October 30 runoff, according to a poll released Monday by... | Read More Country Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso 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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America 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 Dinh Cong Tuong,48, stands near his collection of antique ceramic teapots in his house. Photo: Minh Thanh People call Dinh Cong Tuong the "King of Ceramics" for a reason. With a massive collection of around 100,000 items accumulated from his numerous trips across Vietnam, Tuong's two-story house in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly named Saigon, always looks and feels like a museum. Most of the space is filled up with beautiful antique plates, bowls, vases, teapots and the like. There are so many things your eyes can easily get lost. The 48-year-old man said he has traveled across Vietnam over the past two decades to search and buy these items. Some are not expensive but a few rare items are worth up to several hundreds of millions of dong. They belong to the different cultures of Vietnam: Dong Son, a Bronze Age period in the northern delta; Sa Huynh or Champa culture, which flourished between 3,000 and 1,800 years ago along the central coast; and Oc Eo, a Mekong Delta culture that dates back to between the first and seventh centuries. Tuong said his collection also includes a number of items from China, France, Japan and Singapore that date back to between the 12th and 20th centuries. In 2011, the Vietnam Record Book Center recognized Tuong as the owner of the largest collection of antique ceramics in the country. At that time he had more than 80,000 items. Tuong said he always welcomes local and foreign visitors to his house to see the antiques and shares with them amazing stories of the items. Keep in mind that Tuong cannot speak English, so you may need an interpreter. He said he plans to turn his house into a three-story cafe to introduce his collection to more people and help promote the countrys culture. Tuong's house is located at 453/140 Le Van Khuong Street, Hiep Thanh Ward, District 12, Ho Chi Minh City. Dinh Cong Tuong, 48, holds a decorative vase at his house in Ho Chi Minh City. Photos: Minh Thanh A ceramic plate made in China in the 18th century, which Tuong said he bought it for VND300 million (US$13,450), making it the most expensive item in his collection A ceramic bowl that dates back to Oc Eo culture, which flourished in the Mekong Delta in the 1st-7th centuries A plate featuring a chicken flock made in Vietnam in the 19th century A teapot made in Japan in the 19th century A small pot for cooking from Oc Eo culture A decorative vase made in the Vietnamese southern town of Bien Hoa decades ago A decorative vase featuring King Quang Trung (1753-1792), who led the Tay Son troops to defeat the 200,000-strong army of the Qing dynasty in the spring of 1789 A statue featuring a goddess of Champa culture, which was made in the 18th century in Saigon's neighbor town of Bien Hoa Following are pictures of some other items in Tuong's collection. The elephant tusks among more than 2.2 tons of the products seized at Da Nang's Tien Sa Port on August 10, 2015. Photo: Nguyen Tu The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has sought government approval for a plan to destroy elephant tusks and rhino horns seized from illegal traders to raise peoples awareness about not using them. Online newspaper Dan Tri, which obtained a copy of the plan, reported that the ministry would destroy the products at the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long in Hanoi in the third quarter this year. A team will be set up to collect information about the total amount of tusks and horns seized. There will be performances to raise awareness about wildlife protection, and films will be shown about the destruction of wildlife products and the fight against poaching. About 230 guests will be invited to witness the destruction at the citadel, including representatives of 30 foreign agencies. Part of the crushed tusks and horns will be saved for educational and exhibition purposes while the rest will be thrown into the Red River. Vietnam is thought to be a major destination and transit point for smuggled elephant tusks and rhino horns. Last year eight tons of ivory and horns were seized as several major smuggling cases were busted at Da Nangs Tien Sa Port. They had been smuggled in containers from ports in Mozambique and Nigeria and were transiting in Da Nang en route to Taiwan. US President Barack Obama walks from Marine One to board Air Force One to depart for Vietnam and Japan from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US on May 21, 2016. Photo credit: Carlos Barria/Reuters Vietnams Ministry of Public Security has expressed satisfaction with the progress of the security arrangements to welcome and host the visit of US President Barack Obama. Obama may land at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport on Sunday night, a little earlier than the previous schedule which expected him to arrive at 0:10 a.m. on Monday, Tuoi Tre newspaper said on Sunday morning, quoting a source from the US Embassy in Hanoi. The newspaper also quoted Major General Luong Van Khang, deputy head of the Guard Command unit under the Ministry of Public Security, as saying that all the plans to ensure the US presidents absolute safety is ready, with all the security forces being mobilized to be on duty 24/24 hours. Khang said his unit has worked with the US Secret Service many times as well as met with police in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to adopt the security measures for Obamas visit. The security units of both sides have surveyed the places where the US president will come and have divided each sides boundary and responsibilities as well as outlined the collaboration in implementing the tasks, Khang told Tuoi Tre. The newspaper said security has been ramped up at and around a five-star hotel in Hanoi where Obama is set to stay on Monday and Tuesday. Accordingly, all the apartments of a high-rise apartment building near the hotel were ordered to close their windows during the US presidents stay. While the hotel where Obama will stay is not revealed, the hotels in the capital reportedly may host him and his entourage are JW Marriott, Hilton, Sofitel Plaza, Intercontinental, Metropole and Grand Plaza. In Ho Chi Minh City, seven hotels Riverie, Park Hyatt Saigon, Sheraton, Intercontinental, Caravelle, Sofitel and New World are the places that the US president and his delegation may stay. In related news, US Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, which transports equipment for Obama's visit, on Saturday afternoon landed at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City in heavy rain. Earlier, five other aircraft transporting equipment for the US president landed at the airport on Friday. Obama will be the third consecutive U.S. president to visit Vietnam since diplomatic relations were restored in 1995, after Bill Clinton's first visit in 2000 and George W. Bush in 2006. "What we want to demonstrate with this visit is a significant upgrade in the relationship between the United States and Vietnam ... even as we have areas of difference," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, as citing by Reuters on Sunday. Vietnamese people on Sunday cast their votes to choose representatives for the 500-seat National Assembly and Peoples Councils at all levels for the 2016-2021 term. The election began at 7 a.m. and will run without pause until 7 p.m on Sunday. It is organized and supervised by the National Election Council, chaired by Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, chairwoman for the current National Assembly. According to the council, of the 870 candidates for seats in the National Assembly, 197 were nominated by the central government and 673 nominated by local governments. There are only 11 self-nominated candidates. Nearly 39 percent of the candidates are women and 11 percent are not party members. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City each has 50 candidates running for a total of 60 seats in the assembly. Nguyen Hanh Phuc, general secretary of the current National Assembly, has said that all 870 candidates will be treated equally, including those who are not party members and had nominated themselves to run as independents. In Vietnam, the voting age is 18 but one has to be at least 21 to run for office. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong casts his ballots for members of the 14th National Assembly and People's Councils at a polling station in Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi on May 22, 2016. Photo: Ngoc Thang/Thanh Nien President Tran Dai Quang casts his ballots at a polling station in Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi. Photo credit: H. Thu/Zing Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife cast their ballots at a polling station in Vinh Bao District, Hai Phong City. Photo: Huy Hung/Thanh Nien National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan casts her ballots at a polling station in Ba Dinh District, Hanoi. Photo: Truong Son/Thanh Nien Former President Truong Tan Sang casts his ballots in at a polling station District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Mai Thanh Hai/Thanh Nien Former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung casts his ballots at a polling station in Ho Chi Minh City's District 3. Photo credit: VnExpress A voter reads profile of candidates before casting his ballots at a polling station in Hanoi. Photo credit: Kham/Reuters Voters cast their ballots at a polling station in Hanoi on May 22, 2016. Photo credit: Kham/Reuters 86-year-old Bui Thi Sao (R) is helped by an election officer as she casts her ballots at a polling station in Hanoi on May 22, 2016. Photo credit: Kham/Reuters New President Tran Dai Quang was sworn into office in the morning of April 2 Vietnam's National Assembly on Saturday swore in Tran Dai Quang, Minister of Public Security, as president, who promised to " push forward with comprehensive reforms" in the country. Among the 481 valid votes, 452 - or 91.5 percent of the total 494 members of the unicameral house - elected Quang, 60, as the president. A resolution approving Quang's presidency was also backed 93.12 percent of the NA deputies at the plenary session. In the following swearing-in, the new president thanked the lawmakers for voting for him. He vowed to absolutely be loyal to the Fatherland, the People and the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and make concerted efforts to fulfill the tasks assigned by the Party, the State and the People. He also promised to devote himself to serving the Fatherland and the People, uphold the nations glorious traditions, and solidify the national great unity bloc, while adamantly and persistently protecting the countrys independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. He will also push forward with comprehensive reforms and raising Vietnams stature and prestige in the international arena, so as to help ensure peace, national independence, democracy, and social progress in the world, the leader added. At the ceremony, the newly-elected NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and former President Truong Tan Sang congratulated Tran Dai Quang on his election. A bus is burned down and a truck is partly destroyed in a multiple-vehicle collision that left at least 12 people dead in the central province of Binh Thuan in the early morning on May 22, 2016. Photo: Que Ha At least 12 people were killed and 35 others injured in a collision that involved two sleeper buses, one truck and one motorbike in the central province of Binh Thuan on Sunday morning. Nguyen Van Minh, deputy director of the province's police department, confirmed the accident with Thanh Nien, saying the injured people are in critical conditions. Minh did not reveal the cause of the collision which ignited a blaze burning down the buses. Initial information is that one of the buses belonged to popular transport firm Phuong Trang and was heading to Ho Chi Minh City when the accident happened. The other was bound for the central province of Ha Tinh. According to official statistics, on average, traffic accidents kill 24 people daily. Vietnam now has nearly 2.75 million cars and 45 million motorbikes. Nguyen Quang Huy, 28, and 553 kilograms of elephant tusks which he illegally transported on May 21. Photo: Nam Anh Police in the northern province of Bac Giang arrested a truck driver transporting 553 kilograms of elephant tusks from Hanoi to Lang Son Province on Saturday. Nguyen Quang Huy, 28, failed to present documents verifying the origin of the tusks, when his truck was flagged down by local traffic police. Police officers also accused Huy of offering to pay them a bribe of VND500 million (US$22,400) to get away, according to the website. The case is being investigated. Vietnam has banned ivory trade since the 1990s, and yet it has been fueled by the rising affluence in recent years and the demand for using ivories for decoration. Some studies suggested that the country is one of the biggest markets for wildlife as many people believe rare animal parts can cure diseases, despite a lack of scientific evidence. Wildlife protection organizations in the country have been asking celebrities and doctors to campaign against the belief. The SWIFT logo is pictured in this photo illustration taken April 26, 2016. Photo: Reuters/Carlo Allegri/Illustration/File Photo Shortly after 7 p.m. on January 12, 2015, a message from a secure computer terminal at Banco del Austro (BDA) in Ecuador instructed San Francisco-based Wells Fargo to transfer money to bank accounts in Hong Kong. Wells Fargo complied. Over 10 days, Wells approved a total of at least 12 transfers of BDA funds requested over the secure SWIFT system. The SWIFT network - which allows banks to process billions of dollars in transfers each day - is considered the backbone of international banking. In all, Wells Fargo transferred $12 million of BDA's money to accounts across the globe. Both banks now believe those funds were stolen by unidentified hackers, according to documents in a BDA lawsuit filed against Wells Fargo in New York this year. BDA declined comment. Wells Fargo, which also initially declined comment on the lawsuit, said in a statement to Reuters on Friday that it "properly processed the wire instructions received via authenticated SWIFT messages" and was not responsible for BDA's losses. BDA is suing Wells Fargo on the basis that the U.S. bank should have flagged the transactions as suspicious. Wells Fargo has countered that security lapses in BDAs own operations caused the Ecuadorean banks losses. Hackers had secured a BDA employees SWIFT logon credentials, Wells Fargo said in a February court filing. SWIFT, an acronym for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is not a party to the lawsuit. Neither bank reported the theft to SWIFT, which said it first learned about the cyber attack from a Reuters inquiry. "We were not aware, SWIFT said in a statement responding to Reuters inquiries. We need to be informed by customers of such frauds if they relate to our products and services, so that we can inform and support the wider community. We have been in touch with the bank concerned to get more information, and are reminding customers of their obligations to share such information with us." SWIFT says it requires customer to notify SWIFT of problems that can affect the "confidentiality, integrity, or availability of SWIFT service. SWIFT, however, has no rule specifically requiring client banks to report hacking thefts. Banks often do not report such attacks out of concern they make the institution appear vulnerable, former SWIFT employees and cyber security experts told Reuters. The Ecuador case illuminates a central problem with preventing such fraudulent transfers: Neither SWIFT nor its client banks have a full picture of the frequency or the details of cyber thefts made through the network, according to more than dozen former SWIFT executives, users and cyber security experts interviewed by Reuters. The case - details of which have not been previously reported - raises new questions about the oversight of the SWIFT network and its communications with member banks about cyber thefts and risks. The network has faced intense scrutiny since cyber thieves stole $81 million in February from a Bangladesh central bank account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Its unclear what SWIFT tells its member banks when it does find out about cyber thefts, which are typically first discovered by the bank that has been defrauded. SWIFT spokeswoman Natasha de Teran said that the organization was transparent with its users but declined to elaborate. SWIFT declined to answer specific questions about its policies for disclosing breaches. On Friday, following the publication of this Reuters story, SWIFT urged all of its users to notify the network of cyber attacks. "It is essential that you share critical security information related to SWIFT with us," SWIFT said in a communication to users. Reuters was unable to determine the number or frequency of cyber attacks involving the SWIFT system, or how often the banks report them to SWIFT officials. The lack of disclosure may foster overconfidence in SWIFT network security by banks, which routinely approve transfer requests made through the messaging network without additional verification, former SWIFT employees and cyber security experts said. The criminals behind such heists are exploiting banks willingness to approve SWIFT requests at face value, rather than making additional manual or automated checks, said John Doyle, who held a variety of senior roles at SWIFT between 1980 and 2005. SWIFT doesnt replace prudent banking practice he said, noting that banks should verify the authenticity of withdrawal or transfer requests, as they would for money transfers outside the SWIFT system. SWIFT commits to checking the codes on messages sent into its system, to ensure the message has originated from a clients terminal, and to send it to the intended recipient quickly and securely, former SWIFT executives and cyber security experts said. But once cyber-thieves obtain legitimate codes and credentials, they said, SWIFT has no way of knowing they are not the true account holders. The Bank for International Settlements, a trade body for central banks, said in a November report that increased information sharing on cyber attacks is crucial to helping financial institutions manage the risk. The more they share the better, said Leo Taddeo, chief security officer at Cryptzone and a former special agent in charge with the FBI's cyber crime division in New York. Systemic risk SWIFT, a cooperative owned and governed by representatives of the banks it serves, was founded in 1973 and operates a secure messaging network that has been considered reliable for four decades. But recent attacks involving the Belgium-based cooperative have underscored how the network's central role in global finance also presents systemic risk. SWIFT is not regulated, but a group of ten central banks from developed nations, led by the National Bank of Belgium, oversee the organization. Among its stated guidelines is a requirement to provide clients with enough information to enable them to manage adequately the risks related to their use of SWIFT. However, some former SWIFT employees said that the cooperative struggles to keep banks informed on risks of cyber fraud because of a lack of cooperation from the banks themselves. SWIFTs 25-member board of directors is filled with representatives of larger banks. The banks are not going to tell us too much, said Doyle, the former SWIFT executive. They wouldnt like to destabilize confidence in their institution. Banks also fear notifying SWIFT or law enforcement of security breaches because that could lead to regulatory investigations that highlight failures of risk management or compliance that could embarrass top managers, said Hugh Cumberland, a former SWIFT marketing executive who is now a senior associate with cyber security firm Post-Quantum. Cases of unauthorized money transfers rarely become public, in part because disagreements are usually settled bilaterally or through arbitration, which is typically private, said Salvatore Scanio, a lawyer at Washington, D.C.-based Ludwig & Robinson. Scanio said he consulted on a dispute involving millions of dollars of stolen funds and the sending of fraudulent SWIFT messages similar to the BDA attack. He declined to name the parties or provide other details. Theoretically, SWIFT could require its customers, mainly banks, to inform it of any attacks - given that no bank could risk the threat of exclusion from the network, said Lieven Lambrecht, the head of human resources at SWIFT for a year-and-a-half through May 2015. But such a rule would require the agreement of its board, which is mainly made up of senior executives from the back office divisions of the largest western banks, who would be unlikely to approve such a policy, Lambrecht said. Fight over liability This week, Vietnam's Tien Phong Bank said its SWIFT account, too, was used in an attempted hack last year. That effort failed, but it is another sign that cyber-criminals are increasingly targeting the messaging network. In the Ecuadorean case, Wells Fargo denies any liability for the fraudulent transfers from BDA accounts. Wells Fargo said in court records that it did not verify the authenticity of the BDA transfer requests because they came through SWIFT, which Wells called "among the most widely used and secure" systems for money transfers. BDA is seeking recovery of the money, plus interest. Wells Fargo is attempting to have the case thrown out. New York-based Citibank also transferred $1.8 million in response to fraudulent requests made through BDAs SWIFT terminal, according to the BDA lawsuit against Wells Fargo. Citibank repaid the $1.8 million to BDA, according to a BDA court filing in April. Citibank declined to comment. For its part, Wells Fargo refunded to BDA $958,700 out of the $1,486,230 it transferred to an account in the name of a Jose Mariano Castillo at Wells Fargo in Los Angeles, according to the lawsuit. Reuters could not locate Castillo or verify his existence. Anatomy of a cyber heist The BDA-Wells Fargo case is unusual in that one bank took its correspondent bank to court, thus making the details public, said Scanio, the Washington attorney. BDA acknowledged in a January court filing that it took more than a week after the first fraudulent transfer request for BDA to discover the missing money. After obtaining a BDA employees SWIFT logon, the thieves then fished out previously canceled or rejected payment requests that remained in BDAs SWIFT outbox. They then altered the amounts and destinations on the transfer requests and reissued them, both banks said in filings. While Wells Fargo has claimed in court filings that failures of security at BDA are to blame for the breach, BDA has alleged that Wells could easily have spotted and rejected the unusual transfers. BDA noted that the payment requests were made outside of its normal business hours and involved unusually large amounts. The BDA theft and others underscore the need for banks on both sides of such transactions often for massive sums to rely less on SWIFT for security and strengthen their own verification protocols, Cumberland said. This image of the SWIFT network and the surrounding ecosystem being secure and impenetrable has encouraged complacency, he said. Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, Taliban militants' new leader, is seen in this undated handout photograph by the Taliban. The U.S. military carried out an air strike on Saturday targeting Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, the Pentagon said. Taliban Handout/Handout via Reuters The United States conducted a drone strike on Saturday against the leader of Afghan Taliban, likely killing him on the Pakistan side of the remote border region with Afghanistan in a mission authorized by U.S. President Barack Obama, officials said. The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour, should it be confirmed, could further fracture the Taliban - an outcome that experts cautioned might make the insurgents even less likely to participate in long-stalled peace efforts. The mission, which included multiple drones, demonstrated a clear willingness by Obama to go after the Afghan Taliban leadership in Pakistan now that the insurgents control or contest more territory in Afghanistan than at any time since being ousted by a U.S.-led intervention in 2001. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook confirmed an air strike targeting Mansour in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region but declined to speculate on his fate, although U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters he likely was killed. "We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more information as it becomes available," Cook said. A Taliban commander close to Mansour, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, denied Mansour was dead. "We heard about these baseless reports but this not first time," the commander said. "Just wanted to share with you my own information that Mullah Mansour has not been killed." In December, Mansour was reportedly wounded and possibly killed in a shootout at the house of another Taliban leader near Quetta in Pakistan. Bruce Riedel, an Afghanistan expert at the Brookings Institution think-tank, described the U.S. operation in Pakistan as an unprecedented move but cautioned about possible fallout with Pakistan, where Taliban leadership has long been said to have safe haven. Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States, predicted strained ties between the U.S. and Pakistani militaries and said it would put Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency on alert. "It is also a signal to the ISI that the U.S. is losing patience with promises of Pakistan facilitating talks with the Taliban and is finally willing to strike at the Afghan Taliban leadership in Pakistan," he said. A State Department official said both Pakistan and Afghanistan were notified of the strike but did not disclose whether that notification was prior to it being carried out. "The opportunity to conduct this operation to eliminate the threat that Mansour posed was a distinctive one and we acted on it," the official said. There was no comment immediately available from Afghan security and intelligence officials. The Pakistani military also did not respond to requests for comment. Troubled peace talks The U.S. drones targeted Mansour and another combatant as the men rode in a vehicle in a remote area southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, another U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. U.S. special operations forces operated the drones in a mission authorized by Obama that took place at about 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT), the official said. That would have placed it at Saturday at 3 p.m. in Pakistan. Cook called Mansour "an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban" and said he was involved in planning attacks that threatened U.S., Afghan and allied forces. Michael Kugelman, a senior associate for South and Southeast Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, said the most important target for the United States remained the top leadership of the Haqqani network, which is allied with the Taliban. Mansour had failed to win over rival factions within the Taliban after formally assuming the helm last year after the Taliban admitted the group's founding leader, Mullah Omar, had been dead for more than two years. It was unclear who Mansour's successor might be and Riedel said his death could create a crisis for the Taliban. A U.S. intelligence analyst said Mansour had been in a power struggle with Mullah Mohammad Rasoul, whose deputy, Mullah Dadullah, was killed late last year in what officials think was a fight with Mansour's more hard-line faction. But the U.S. official cautioned against concluding that the shakeup might diminish the Taliban's broader sense of strength, given political tensions in Kabul and the uneven performance of U.S.-backed Afghan forces in recent months. "The Taliban have made considerable progress in Helmand (province) and elsewhere so it's hard to see much incentive for them to start compromising now, with the fighting just heating up again," the official said. The new U.S. commander in Afghanistan is currently reviewing U.S. strategy, including whether broader powers are needed to target insurgents and whether to proceed with plans to reduce the number of U.S. forces. The National Rifle Association on Friday endorsed Donald Trump for US president, saying it was time to unite behind the Republican or "kiss your guns goodbye" if Hillary Clinton is elected. "We have to unite and we have to unite right now," Chris Cox, head of the NRA's lobbying arm, said at the gun rights group's annual convention in Louisville, Kentucky. "So on behalf of the thousands of patriots in this room, the five million NRA members across this country, and the tens of millions who support us, I'm officially announcing the NRA's endorsement of Donald Trump for president." The NRA's endorsement of a Republican nominee is no surprise. But the timing is notable because it came months earlier than in the previous two election cycles, suggesting the nation's largest gun-rights advocacy group was seeking to help the Republican Party unite conservatives fractured over Trump. The group's chief executive Wayne LaPierre declared it was time to prevent Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, from gaining the White House and appointing a new justice to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. "If she gets just one Supreme Court nomination, Hillary's court will hold that the (US Constitution's) Second Amendment is a government right, not an individual right, and you can kiss your guns goodbye," LaPierre said. Trump was welcomed warmly as he received the endorsement, promising: "I will not let you down." Gun rights 'under threat' "We're getting rid of gun-free zones, OK? I can tell you," Trump said to loud applause. He also took aim at President Barack Obama's executive orders on reducing gun violence issued after December's San Bernardino shootings, including the plan to crack down on unregulated Internet gun sales. "They'll be un-signed the first hour that I'm in office," Trump pledged. The New York billionaire touted his own support for gun rights, boasting that he is a "long-term" NRA member and one of 13 million Americans with permits to carry firearms. "I happen to be one of them," he said. "Nobody knows that. Boy, would I surprise somebody if they hit Trump." He also quipped that his sons are avid shooters with so many guns that "sometimes even I get a little bit concerned." Trump sought to paint former secretary of state Clinton as an anti-gun radical and "dictator" who will take away Americans' constitutional right to bear arms. "The Second Amendment is under a threat like never before," Trump declared. "Crooked Hillary Clinton is the most anti-gun, anti-Second-Amendment candidate ever to run for office." Clinton has made reducing gun violence a key plan of her campaign platform. Speaking Sunday at the majority black Canaan Christian Church, also in Louisville, Clinton pledged to build on Obama's efforts to keep firearms out of the wrong hands. "But it also means we... have to combat the culture of gun violence," she said. "For too many people, particularly young people in our country today, they seem to think that guns can solve their problem." Her campaign says Clinton supports "sensible action" to address the issue, including expanding comprehensive background checks, cracking down on illegal gun traffickers, keeping weapons out of the hands of domestic abusers, and repealing an NRA-backed law that shields gun manufacturers and sellers from lawsuits. The NRA was gearing for battle over the contentious gun control issue. "You want to turn this election into a do-or-die fight over the Second Amendment? Bring it on," Cox challenged. Meanwhile Trump repeated his assertion that last year's terror strikes in France could have been minimized or even avoided if citizens had been armed. "Paris is, probably in the world, the toughest place to have a gun," he said. "No guns on the other side, folks. If you would have had guns on the other side... I promise there wouldn't have been 130 people killed." Squeezed by high costs and unpredictable demand, some factories in southern China's manufacturing heartland are turning to a new strategy to survive: hiring workers by the day. It is a far cry from Beijing's vision of a slick, hi-tech manufacturing future of computers and chip makers: on a warm morning in the southern town of Shiling, dozens of workers gather on a city street to haggle for a day of work making bags for $20 to $30. Factory owners in this leatherworking town, and in those nearby, say just-in-time labor allows them to stay competitive, even if day wages can be higher, individually, than full-time salaries. Workers, operating in a legal grey area, say they tolerate the conditions because many fear factories offering permanent jobs could fail to pay if clients dry up and the manager runs off. "We never used to hire temporary workers, because labor costs were not very high. Our workers were on staff," said Huang Biliang, who runs a button factory in the southern city of Dongguan. "But recently we've started to hire more temporary labor." In a stainless steel factory in the nearby town of Jiangmen, David Liang, manager of Chiefy, agrees: "Every additional (permanent) worker I hire is an additional risk." The result is a section of China's manufacturing base that has adapted to volatile conditions and higher wages - keeping the country's hold on some labor-intensive work that it might have lost to cheaper regions elsewhere in Asia. Struggling companies do occasionally turn to temporary workers - but this is a change for China, where authorities have sought to crack down on precarious employment, introducing tougher rules in 2012 to protect so-called 'dispatch' workers. China wants to shift away from piece-work toward a high-tech consumer economy. Shiling's experience suggests, however, that casual labor could help the country's plethora of small manufacturers remain sellers of cheap shoes, toys and stainless steel pans for a few years yet. Dispatched Casual work has been thriving in pockets of the industrial landscape, especially where clusters have created a base of experienced workers: in toys, garments and, Reuters found, in the bag and stainless steel industries in southern Guangdong province. "It's an indication that China will probably succeed and maintain its manufacturing base," said Ben Simpendorfer, managing director of consultancy Silk Road Associates. While the use of undocumented day laborers by factories is hard to capture in statistics, academics, consultants and factory managers say it has risen since the financial crisis and accelerated in the last two years. There are no official statistics on informal work, but surveys show Chinese factory workers are leaving their jobs more quickly. In surveys by Laborlink, a San Francisco-based polling group, the percentage of Chinese workers who said they had been in their jobs less than one year rose from 33 percent in 2014 to 40 percent in 2016. Workers await job opportunities at a square where employers seek day labour at Shiling town in Huadu, Guangdong province, China, April 28, 2016. And, China's labor attitudes may be changing. Though China has tightened rules, officials have also expressed concerns about them. In March, Finance Minister Lou Jiwei publicly criticized the labor contract law, which requires companies to provide employees a written contract. The same month, Guangdong province - which has raised its minimum wage at regular intervals in recent years - said it would scrap scheduled rises to the local minimum wage in 2016, and keep it at 2015 levels through 2018. "The total employment of the manufacturing sector is shrinking," said He Fan, chief economist of Caixin Insight Group, but not the informal portion of that. He sees the shift to more casual labor as also partly led by younger workers. "If my assumption is correct, then the casual workers may outgrow the permanent workers." Needing to maintain employment, local authorities appear to tolerate the arrangement. "A terrible industry" In Shiling, in China's bag capital, men and women gather in the early morning looking for a days work. Factory managers in vans and on scooters each hold a sample of the bag they produce; workers crowd around them, examining the sample and discussing the per-piece wage. Among the workers is 39 year-old Wang Binge, who until three years ago ran her own small handbag workshop nearby. The workshop was once profitable enough to allow her to buy a Toyota and build a house in her hometown in southern Hunan province. But orders dried up, and now Wang looks for jobs that pay at least 180 yuan ($27) for about a 12 hour day. So many factory owners have fled without paying their staff, Wang and other workers said, that they feel safer being paid cash by the day, while hoping for more stable work. One said she had found work only for half of the previous month. Wang hadn't worked in four days. "Bags are a terrible industry," said fellow day laborer Wang Guinan. "We know we should do something else, but we don't know where to start." People gather to pray in the late afternoon outside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, June 21, 2015. Photo: Reuters Hundreds of people packed a sweltering Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston for an emotional memorial service on Sunday just days after a gunman, identified by authorities as a 21-year-old white man, shot dead nine black church members. "We are reminded this morning about the freshness of death that comes like a thief in the night," the Reverend Norvel Goff told a mostly black congregation that swelled to about 400 people for a service remembering those killed on Wednesday in the latest U.S. mass shooting. Armed police searched bags at the door of the church, home to the oldest African-American congregation in the southern United States, and officers stood at intervals inside the church along the side of the nave and in the gallery. Outside the church, a large, mostly white crowd gathered to express solidarity with those inside. Goff's rollicking sermon brought people alternately to tears and laughter as the church reopened to worshippers for the first time since the shooting. They whooped, cheered and raised their hands, and ended the service with embraces after Goff, whose voice rose to a shout at times, encouraged them to "hug three people next to you and tell them, 'It's going to be alright.'" The suspect, Dylann Roof, was arrested on Thursday and has been charged with nine counts of murder. Authorities say he spent an hour in an evening Bible study group at the church, nicknamed "Mother Emanuel" for its key role in U.S. black history, before opening fire. Federal investigators were examining a racist manifesto on a website that appeared to have been written by Roof. The site featured white supremacist writings and photos, apparently of Roof. Goff was standing in for Clementa Pinckney, 41, senior pastor at Emanuel and a Democratic member of the state Senate who was killed in the massacre. "When evil is in the world, you and I may not be able to control evil-doers. ... Some of us are still trying to seek answers to what happened last week, Wednesday," Goff said. "I've decided to turn it to over to Jesus." Among those at the service, which lasted more than two hours, were South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, U.S. Senator Tim Scott, Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley and Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum. "The blood of the Mother Emanuel Nine requires us to work until not only justice in this case but for those who are still living in the margin of life, those who are less fortunate than ourselves, that we stay on the battlefield until there is no more fight to be fought," Goff said. Hand fans fluttered as those in attendance tried to beat the heat. "I thought the service was comforting, refreshing and encouraging," said Everald Galbraith, 58, president of the Methodist church in Jamaica, who attended the service. "There was not a sense of great mourning. They recognized what had happened but there was confidence in the salvation of those that died." The massacre has again trained a spotlight on the divisive issues of race relations and gun crime in the United States and reignited a debate over gun control in a country where the right to own firearms is constitutionally protected. On Sunday evening about 150 people gathered for a prayer vigil outside the church. At about the same time, a line of people joined hands across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, a span that links Charleston with its neighboring suburb of Mount Pleasant in an event meant to show a united community. Gun control Riley, on the CNN program "State of the Union," called for stricter gun control laws. "It is insane the number of guns and the ease of getting guns in America," Riley said. "It's not that people should not carry guns and all of that, it's just that there are so many of them and the ease of them and there is no accountability." President Barack Obama, in an interview recorded on Friday, expressed frustration over the issue. He blamed the powerful National Rifle Association gun-rights lobby group and public apathy for the failure to implement new gun control measures. The church massacre has also renewed the controversy around the flag of the pro-slavery Confederate Southern states in the American Civil War that ended in 1865. It is a symbol of Southern pride for some and an emblem of hatred for others. On NBC's "Meet the Press," James Clyburn, a black Democratic U.S. congressman from South Carolina, called on state lawmakers to pass legislation to remove the flag from the state capitol grounds, where it is mandated by law to fly. The church shootings were the main topic at other Sunday services in Charleston. At the predominantly white-membership St. Michael's Church, founded in the 17th century, the Reverend Alfred Zadig Jr. said he did not know any of the victims and asked for forgiveness "for failing to be a pastor who reaches out beyond my world." "You and I are so good at compartmentalizing grief," Zadig told his congregation. "Today I'm asking you to feel the unthinkable pain ... This is not God's will. God did not ordain this event to happen to make a point about racism." U.S. President Barack Obama arrives to board Air Force One to depart for Vietnam and Japan from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S. May 21, 2016. Photo: Reuters/Carlos Barria U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday headed for his first visit to Vietnam, a trip aimed at sealing the transformation of an old enemy into a new partner to help counter China's growing assertiveness in the region. Four decades after the Vietnam War, Obama - the first U.S. leader to come of age after a conflict that bitterly divided America - will seek to deepen defense and economic ties with the country's communist government while also prodding them on human rights, aides say. Pressure has mounted for Obama to use his landmark visit, which begins on Monday, to roll back a 32-year-old arms embargo on Hanoi, one of the last vestiges of wartime animosity. Lifting the ban - something Vietnam has long sought - would anger Beijing, which resents U.S. efforts to forge stronger military bonds with its smaller neighbors at a time of rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea. But there was no immediate word of a final U.S. decision on the issue. Vietnam's poor human rights record remains a possible sticking point, but the Obama administration appears increasingly swayed toward giving Hanoi some leeway to build its deterrent against China. "Nobody has any illusions," said Evan Medeiros, Obama's former top Asia adviser. "This trip sends important signals to China about U.S. activism in the region and growing U.S. concern about Chinese behavior." Closer military cooperation with allies and partners has been a major thrust of Obama's strategic "rebalance" toward the Asia-Pacific region, a centerpiece of his foreign policy. Obama's Vietnam visit comes just days after Chinese fighter jets carried out what the Pentagon said was an "unsafe" intercept of a U.S. military reconnaissance plane in the South China Sea. Beijing is pursuing territorial claims there that conflict with those of Vietnam and several other countries. 'Upgrade' of relations Obama will be the third consecutive U.S. president to visit Vietnam since diplomatic relations were restored in 1995. "What we want to demonstrate with this visit is a significant upgrade in the relationship between the United States and Vietnam ... even as we have areas of difference," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser. Washington wants Vietnam to open up more on the economic front and also move closer militarily, including increased port visits by U.S. warships, possibly with access to the strategic harbor at Cam Ranh Bay, U.S. officials say. But even as the two sides look forward, there will be reminders of the past. Obama will be accompanied by Secretary of State John Kerry, who after a tour in Vietnam as a young Navy officer burst onto the scene as an antiwar protester in the 1970s. At the first stop of Obama's three-day visit, Hanoi, he will meet Vietnam's new president, Tran Dai Quang, its new prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Obama won't be able to avoid prominently displayed images and busts of the late Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, revered by many of his compatriots but widely reviled in the United States during the war. The conflict involving U.S. combat forces was estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese and 58,000 American troops. In the country's commercial hub, Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, Obama will meet entrepreneurs, a chance to tout Hanoi's role in a trans-Pacific trade pact he has championed. But the name of the city, the capital of South Vietnam during the war, evokes searing images for many Americans of a final frantic U.S. airlift in 1975. Venezuelan soldiers take part in a military parade in Caracas on December 12, 2015 Venezuela's armed forces, which are conducting exercises against perceived internal and external threats, hold immense power in the government of President Nicolas Maduro and notably have interests in the vital oil sector. The military boasts Russian and Chinese systems, including Sukhoi strike jet fighters, missiles and tanks. Political power Of the government's 30 ministries, 10 are held by active or retired military men. They include the ministries for food, for agricultural production and land, and for fishing and aquaculture -- key portfolios during Venezuela's current food crisis. The opposition-controlled Congress last month ordered that Food Minister Rodolfo Marco Torres be fired for the severe lack of basic food stocks. But the Supreme Court, stacked with judges loyal to Maduro, voided that measure. Venezuela's critical electricity shortage is being handled by the energy ministry in the hands of General Luis Motta Dominguez, who implemented rationing. The minister for housing, habitats and ecosocialism is General Manuel Quevedo, tasked with battling the opposition over the issue of free social housing. While the government has started giving deeds to occupants, it is with the condition that the property cannot be sold. Economic power The military owns businesses including a television network, a bank, a vehicle assembly enterprise and a construction company. In February, it created a new oil, mining and gas industrial group called CAMIMPEG. The entity handles some activities already managed by the state-owned PDVSA oil company such as terms maintaining oil wells, and selling and distributing mining, petrochemical, oil and gas products. Maduro said CAMIMPEG was part of an array of companies set up to challenge private interests in Venezuela that he accuses of waging an "economic war." Armed power Venezuela's National Bolivarian Armed Forces commands 165,000 active-duty personnel, 25,000 reservists and several thousand in civilian militias. The United States in 2006 banned the sale or transfer of American military weapons and technology to Venezuela, driving the president at the time, Hugo Chavez, into the arms of Russia and China. Control Ciudadano, a non-governmental body monitoring military activity, said it has been unable to establish how much, and precisely what sort of weapon systems Venezuela acquired between 2005 and 2012 because of laws making that information secret. It said Russia has supplied rifles, anti-tank rockets, armored vehicles, tanks, infantry combat vehicles, anti-aircraft defense systems, fighter planes, helicopters and missiles. A factory to make AK-103 and AK-104 assault rifles and another to make munitions are due to open next year. China, meanwhile, has provided Venezuela with military communications, uniforms, anti-riot gear, radars, armored vehicles, aircraft and helicopters. There was a bear at the Royal Australian Mint on Sunday, and a chair as well. There were people with games, and 50 years of Play School stories to tell. The air was thick with nostalgia as hundreds of excited children, parents and grandparents gathered for a sing-a-long with Play School hosting stalwart Simon Burke to mark the iconic show's 50th birthday on Sunday. Veteran Play School host was a hit with children, parents and grandparents alike at Sunday's Sing-a-long in Canberra. Credit:Jay Cronan Burke was in Deakin to officially launch the Mint's collection of three commemorative 50 cent coins, which bear coloured images of toy characters Humpty Dumpty, Jemima, Big Ted and Little Ted in party mode. Youngsters clutching balloons sang along to the show's ubiquitous theme song, as well as a string of classics including Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall, Incy Wincy Spider, If You're Happy and You Know It and, of course, Happy Birthday to You. Complaints about the major supermarkets from their suppliers have slid since Coles admitted in court to 15 instances of unconscionable conduct against eight suppliers. But the competition regulator continues to pursue Woolworths over allegations it treated suppliers unconscionably in 2014 allegations the No.1 chain has vowed to "vigorously" defend in court. Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci is battling the ACCC. Credit:Louie Douvis The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which successfully pursued Coles in 2014, says while it cannot confirm exact complaint numbers, it is seeing "far fewer supplier complaints against the supermarkets than a couple of years ago". And ACCC head Rod Sims said the supermarkets' treatment of suppliers once a hot-button topic was "not as much on our radar". The GST share is based on recommendations of the Grants Commission, which was established in 1933 to deal with complaints about fairness and, in particular, a threat from Western Australia that it would secede if an independent body was not established. The Grants Commission recommendations for the allocation of funds are based on past revenue figures. As a result, when iron ore prices and royalties were rising Western Australia got more GST revenue than it should have. But when the iron ore price crashed the Commission recommended an allocation for Western Australia as if the state had maintained its high royalties. Responding to West Australian complaints, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott stepped in last May and gave the state an additional $499 million in road funding. The iron ore price continued to fall in the second half of 2015, but this year it has recovered and export volumes have also risen, meaning that Western Australia must be getting increased royalties. As a result, Western Australia benefits from the Grants Commission time-lagged process and, not surprisingly, Mr Barnett has given up his campaign to change the GST distribution process. An indication of how well Western Australia is doing compared with a more equitable system can be gleaned from the Budget papers. They show that the Grants Commission recommended that Western Australia should get 3.3 per cent of the GST revenue. NSW and Victoria, with their much greater populationS, would get 29.1 per cent and 22.9 per cent respectively. But, with the GST and special grants combined Western Australia, will actually get 6.8 per cent of all Commonwealth payments. On the surface this suggests that Western Australia is getting twice as much as it deserves. Colin Barnett and West Australian politicians would, of course, point out that the state has 10.9 per cent of Australia's population. But NSW and Victoria have long endured and continue to endure getting less Commonwealth funding than they would be entitled to under a pure per-capita system. So why doesn't Bill Shorten, or for that matter Malcolm Turnbull, raise the funding issue? In a nutshell, they don't because it's a zero sum game. If one state gets more, another gets less. Giving Western Australia a greater share of GST revenue would not be welcomed by South Australia and Tasmania, which benefit from Commonwealth payments, never mind the donor states of NSW and Victoria. And that brings us back to why we have an independent body like the Grants Commission in the first place sharing Commonwealth funds is just too difficult an issue to be dealt with in the highly-charged political environment of a federal election campaign. And what system could replace the current process of giving each state the same capacity to deliver services? A per capita system would see the standard of living of impoverished people in the Northern Territory and Tasmania plunge further behind the rest of Australia. Who wants that? The wider problem is that all state leaders believe not enough revenue is being raised. Malcolm Turnbull suggested earlier this year that the states should raise their own income tax. But his proposal to have the Commonwealth relinquish a certain amount of income tax, and have that sum go to the states, did not address the problem. As the state premiers quickly recognised, this would generate no extra revenue and that's what they want. Since 2013, when it was in opposition, the federal Coalition has sought to deny the revenue problem. In government it only made budget matters worse by cutting taxes. We can be grateful that the idea of fully flexible fees for university degrees has been abandoned. After the previous bungled effort, we can scarcely complain if Education Minister Simon Birmingham is taking pains to ensure the long-awaited reforms are the result of extensive consultation, are well understood and contain no surprises. But for now, there remains an inverse relationship between the urgency of reforms and the pace at which the government is proceeding. The universities, though under pressure to operate less like funded bureaucracies and more like businesses, still do not have the clarity they need on funding to be able to plan confidently for the future. The University of NSW. Our universities face funding uncertainty thanks to the government. Credit:Tamara Voninski Instead of big changes in the budget, the government released a discussion paper giving itself a one year extension. An expert panel is being appointed to advise on a reform package, to be finalised this year, legislated next year and come into effect in 2018. Christopher Pyne's quixotic ambush proposal in 2014 when he was education minister and Tony Abbott was prime minister has led to three years of higher education policy paralysis. Community outrage over the idea of full fee deregulation tied to a 20 per cent funding cut caused the measures to be twice defeated in the Senate. Reform went back to the to-do list for after the election. "I am glued to the series," she says. "People said you'll love this sex, violence, Dothraki men and I do. I'm right up-to-date." Jennifer Byrne, host of The Book Club, says of the new weekly format: "We've gone from a slow walk to a massive rocket ride." Credit:Christopher Pearce But the host of ABC TV's The Book Club is yet to tackle George R.R. Martin's series of epic fantasy novels A Song of Ice and Fire, which have been adapted into popular television show Game of Thrones. As one of Australia's leading journalists and television presenters, Jennifer Byrne knows a good story. The only exception to Byrne's ardour for books is fantasy, but she may break the habit of a lifetime for Martin. The Book Club's Marieke Hardy, Jennifer Byrne and Jason Steger. "But remember I'm the girl who couldn't bear Lord of the Rings so I'm pretty hard to crack on the fantasy front," she says. "And I know this is a book that has brought joy and delight to many, but I just laughed and laughed. And I thought one more elfin dance and I'm going to slit my wrists." The passions aroused by reading undoubtedly explain the success of The Book Club, which begins its 10th series on Tuesday as a weekly show for 12 weeks plus an hour-long special in December. One in five Australians would offer a temporary home for a refugee if they had a spare room, an international poll shows. That's a higher proportion than in Britain, France, Italy, Japan and South Korea, but lower than in the US, Germany and Turkey. In Australia, under-35s are the most likely age group to strongly agree that they would shelter a refugee at home along with the highly educated. This is the final Third Degree post. So it's time to take stock and have a look over the life of the blog to see which higher education issues are still relevant, what has changed across the sector and what the future holds for universities. When Third Degree began in June 2009, one of the first posts, "Lost in Translation", highlighted the scores the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) recommended for university entry for courses. The Emeritus Professor Bonchek wearing his gown and Tudor bonnet at the University of Melbourne. I compared the IELTS scores with Australian universities' entry scores. Oh, what a sorry set of numbers. The IELTS score for linguistically demanding courses was much higher than the score required for entry to PhD programs and other courses at many universities. Nothing much has changed. Universities are still taking money from international students who struggle with language and academics are still grappling with how to teach students whose grasp of English is poor. Some teaching staff also still feel the pressure from universities to pass students. The descendants of a Gweagal warrior shot by Captain Cook's marines as they landed in Botany Bay 246 years ago hope to travel to London's British Museum to demand the return of Aboriginal artefacts. A delegation led by activist Rodney Kelly plan to travel to Britain to start negotiating the return of Indigenous artefacts with the museum and the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Bega District News reports. Indigenous activist Rodney Kelly hopes to travel to Britain to negotiate the return of Gweagal tribe artefacts which were taken during Captain Cook's first encounter. Credit:Rohan Thomson The artefacts include a shield and two spears that were displayed earlier this year at the National Museum of Australia's Encounters Exhibition. Mr Kelly had previously written to the British Museum requesting the artefacts permanent return to Australia. Canberra women are travelling to Queanbeyan to access medical abortion drugs through the mail, a telephone provider of the drugs says. Founded last year, the Tabbot Foundation provides medical abortions to women across Australia through a telephone consultation service. After years of controversy, abortion drugs mifepristone (RU486) and misoprostol became available legally in Australia in 2006. After years of controversy, abortion drug mifepristone (RU486) became available legally in 2006. Credit:James Alcock It was that year, after health minister Tony Abbott had refused to lift a ban over RU486, when MPs voted to strip him of his power over the pill. Tanya Plibersek put RU486 on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme in 2013, though controversy around its safety has not entirely disappeared. The man's offending was some of the most depraved ever prosecuted by the AFP. Credit:Craig Sillitoe Detectives found the NSW school that matched the uniform, and then the girl who matched the photo, and then the house that matched the girl. It was raided within three weeks of the photo being uncovered, and police, after investigating who she lived with, suspected her father was the abuser. Soon after the raid, it became clear that he was not their man. And he also did not know who the abuser could be. The father, and his wife, had two girls, aged nine and 10. It was not until they saw an image of their daughter, taken from the same collection as the school uniform photo, at a wildlife park, that they twigged. They knew that on that trip, the girls had been with their uncle. The girl shown in the image at The Hague had been identified, but the number of victims had seemingly doubled to the girl and her sister. That number was about to double again. Police found that the girls' uncle fathered twin surrogate daughters in March that year. It was a stomach-turning discovery. The clock ticked even louder. On December 9, about a fortnight after the NSW raid, the AFP stormed the property where the man lived with his wife, and his twin girls. They were almost nine months old. The man had no criminal record. He was a well-loved husband who had a stable upbringing, and was a popular colleague at the place he worked for more than 20 years. But he had an odd side, too. He had been an underwear thief as a teenager. Later, he started cross-dressing, insisting on wearing women's clothing while making love to his wife. Their sex life had ended more than a decade before his arrest, and they had slept in separate bedrooms. In his bedroom, he kept a computer. In the County Court last Thursday, Judge Susan Cohen sentenced the 49-year-old man to 22 years in prison, with a minimum of 15 years. He pleaded guilty to 38 charges including two of trafficking children, 20 of incest, 11 of producing, accessing, or transmitting child abuse material, and an upskirting charge relating to photos he took of women's underwear while riding V/Line trains. Judge Cohen viewed some of the images the man stored on his computer before sentencing him, after a submission was made by the prosecution. "The fear I saw in the eyes of an unknown very young child ... made a deep impression on me that will be very hard to forget," she said. She was particularly troubled by the man's spiral into some of the most depraved offending ever prosecuted by the AFP. He had gone from a casual viewer of child abuse material, to an active participant in online chat forums, where he pretended to be a woman with the user name Candy. Then, when he reconnected with his estranged brother in the mid-2000s, he was trusted to care for his nieces, and regularly took them on outings and bought them gifts. He started abusing them in 2009, and his offending escalated until he started drugging them before they were abused. Judge Cohen said organising the birth of other children to abuse showed the hold his "warped desire" had on him. A desire that started, he says, when he accidentally clicked on a link in about 1994. "These sorts of cases show what child exploitation material online can cause," AFP Commander Glen McEwan said. "This offender has gone from 0 to 300 miles an hour in a moment." Commander McEwan, the manager of the Victim-Based Crime Command, said that despite the work done at The Hague by the Europol-hosted Victim Identification Taskforce, it was clear policing would not solve a growing appetite for child abuse material. "It is such a wicked problem," he said. "Even though we have prosecuted this offender, there is no good news story. Not for the victims, or the wife, or the parents of his nieces, or the police, or the court. "The reality is that this is just part of the solution. This is an ingrained behaviour that we as a society have to work together to try to understand." Part of the answer, he said, could be understanding what draws child abusers into the online community that often fuels an escalation of their offending. In organised crime, the motivation is money. In child abuse, the motivation is belonging to this community. "There is a one-upmanship about the behaviour on these forums. And there's no end game. It is about producing and viewing material for their own gratification and the gratification of others." Operation Aqueous detectives uncovered 59 other victims of child abuse from the material seized from the man, and 30 victims including the four Australian girls were identified at The Hague. And while they are now safe from harm, the images of them online may circulate forever. As the man was sentenced, he stood in his dark suit, his left hand clasping his right wrist. The eyes of former workmates and friends, who had routinely turned to glare at him during the hearing, and muttered their disgust, were now completely fixed on him. A paramedic was allegedly kicked in the groin and punched in the head while treating a woman in the back of an ambulance overnight. An ambulance crew was taking the 34-year-old Indooroopilly woman to hospital through the Legacy Way tunnel about 2.10am when she allegedly lashed out at the male paramedic. A police spokesman said the paramedic was treated for swelling to the face when the woman presented to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. The woman was scheduled to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday morning, charged with one count of serious assault of a public officer. A $197 million program to help problem gamblers track their poker machine losses and stop playing has seen just 8000 people formally register in its first six months. The YourPlay system was set up last December and offered punters the chance to preset limits on how much they were willing to lose on the pokies. A new poker machine pre-set limit scheme has been taken up by 24,000 punters Credit:John Woudstra A special card is required to access the system which is installed on all Victorian pokies. When players reach their limit a message is sent to their terminal urging them to consider their gambling habits punters can set their own warning message such as "Go home" or "time to stop, think of the kids." Data from the Victorian government shows that 23,400 pre-commitment cards have been activated since December last year however only 8130 are registered. The pair was told not to look at the jury; not to smile at them; not to react to witness evidence. Bond and his family were allowed to examine the evidence against him, say the Membreys. They were not. Journalists were given transcripts of the Supreme Court proceedings; they had to beg copies from the media. "It wasn't our case," Mr Membrey says. "We were reminded of that many times, that we were lucky to be there in the eyes of other people. It was all about our daughter [but] we were not even allowed to open our mouths or smile or anything. It was just pathetic, the whole thing." Australia's criminal justice system is an adversarial model that focuses on the prosecution, and defence, of people accused of a crime. Because of this, critics say, the search for "justice" can be a bruising and even re-traumatising experience for victims and their families. In October 2014, then attorney-general Robert Clark asked the Victorian Law Reform Commission to investigate whether victims should be given a role before, during and after a criminal trial and whether they should be allowed to be more involved with the criminal process. A 79-year-old man has died in hospital days after a suspected arson attack on his home in Clifton Springs, near Geelong. Fire tore through the man's home on Bunganowee Drive, Clifton Springs, near Portarlington, about 11.30pm on Thursday, leaving him with critical injuries. He was taken to hospital, but police confirmed on Sunday that he had died. A 45-year-old man had been charged with attempted murder after the blaze, as well as arson, aggravated burglary, conduct endangering life, recklessly cause serious injury and assault with a weapon. His next court appearance is scheduled for Monday at the Geelong Magistrates' Court. They have been called ticking environmental time bombs and there may be one near you. Scores of old rubbish dumps are littered across the state and there are concerns that toxic substances have leached into soil and waterways around them. Already, one dump has infiltrated a popular beachside holiday spot and others have threatened suburban waterways. Kingston City Council is cleaning up the former dump site on Clayton Road in Clatyon South. Credit:Pat Scala These closed garbage tips, known as "legacy landfills", pose a major challenge for councils as they struggle to fund a clean-up. One environmental expert says the scale of the problem may be much bigger with many other unreported and unofficial dumping sites potentially scattered around Victoria. A massive $6 billion tollway from the Ring Road at Greensborough to EastLink would cut "significant numbers" of cars from some of Melbourne's most congested roads, according to a high level report prepared for the state government. In a boost for the much-touted "missing link" proposal, the report, by economic consultants Deloitte and engineering advisers Aurecon, says the road would carry as many as 10,000 vehicles in each direction during the two-hour morning peak, while boosting the overall efficiency of the state's freight network. As a result, Infrastructure Victoria which commissioned the assessment suggests the idea warrants further investigation despite the high cost. That potentially places the project on a higher footing than the ill-fated East West Link In a major report considering hundreds of options to tackle congestion and improve efficiency released this week, Infrastructure Victoria concluded the East West Link would make a "low" contribution towards economic activity in the city, and a "low" contribution towards improving access to middle and outer metropolitan major employment centres. It found the North East Link - which for years has been the RACV's top priority - represented a "potential alternative", concluding the benefits would be even greater if considered alongside a major new rail and road freight terminal in Melbourne's north, or a new port, particularly at Hastings. A Perth airport worker was sacked after a Facebook page was discovered with posts that were said to support the Islamic State terror group. Nirmal Singh will have a hearing for wrongful dismissal heard by the Fair Work Commission in Perth on Tuesday after commissioner Jennifer Hunt gave his former employer permission to have a legal representative. The employee was sacked for allegedly showing support for terror group ISIS. Mr Singh was sacked as an "airline service agent" for Aerocare Flight Support in Perth after Facebook posts allegedly written under a pseudonym by Mr Singh were discovered, according to The Weekend Australian. Aerocare claimed the content of those posts supported Islamic State and raised issues of national security and air safety. Afghanistan's intelligence agency later confirmed that Mansour was dead. A photograph said to show the scene of the attack on Mullah Akhtar Mansour's car. Credit:AP Mullah Abdul Rauf, who recently reconciled with Mansour after initially rebelling against his ascension to the leadership, told The Associated Press that Mansour died in the strike late on Friday "in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area". Kabul: Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour has been killed in a US drone strike, a senior commander has confirmed. Earlier on Sunday, Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said that Mansour was "more than likely" dead. Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed on the order of US President Barack Obama. Speaking live on television as he chaired a cabinet meeting, Mr Abdullah said Mansour's death would have a positive impact on attempts to bring peace to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been waging an insurgency for 15 years. Mansour was "the main figure preventing the Taliban joining the peace process", Mr Abdullah said. "From the day he took over the Taliban following the death of Mullah Omar, he intensified violence against ordinary citizens, especially in Afghanistan." The shooting occurred near Nenzing in far-western Austria, about 40km east of the border with Liechtenstein. A group of Ambulance Victoria paramedics were misusing the powerful painkiller fentanyl. Credit:Paul Rovere Austrian police said the man fired shots into a crowd, killing two people and injuring 11 others. He then turned the gun on himself, shooting himself. A gunman has shot and killed multiple people at an outdoor concert in western Austria. Police say the overnight shooting was preceded by a loud argument between the gunman and a woman in a nearby parking lot. They said the man then fetched a gun from his car, left the parking lot, went to the concert venue and started shooting, apparently at random. Local media quoted rescue workers as saying some of the surviving victims were in serious condition. Police spokeswoman Susanne Dilp described their wounds as "very diverse". State broadcaster ORF said the shooting occurred on property used by a motorcycle club. Vienna: The Austrian presidential election Sunday did not produce a clear winner, as Green candidate Alexander Van der Bellen and his far-right Freedom Party rival Norbert Hofer were neck and neck and will have to wait until Monday for the final count. Van der Bellen was projected to lead by fewer than 3,000 votes Sunday evening. The close race reflects a widening division in Austrian society between those who have welcomed the arrival of tens of thousands of refugees since last year, and those who fear that the influx threatens their standard of living. An international flotilla of search ships, aided by surveillance planes, was scouring a section of sea about 290 kilometres north of the port city of Alexandria, and retrieved some wreckage, belongings and human remains over the weekend. However, it might take a "long time" before the cause of the crash was determined, he said. Cairo: Egypt has deployed a submarine to help find the wreckage of EgyptAir flight 804 in the deep Mediterranean waters where it crashed, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said on Sunday. But the search crews have yet to find the main body of the plane and its cockpit data and voice recorders, commonly known as the black boxes. They hope the recorders will explain what caused the Airbus A320, carrying 66 people, to plunge from the sky early on Thursday as it headed to Cairo from Paris. Part of the wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 recovered from the Mediterranean. A statement from Islamic State on Saturday failed to mention the EgyptAir crash, confounding speculation that the group, which claimed to have been behind the crash of a Russian airliner in Sinai in October, might have been responsible. So far, the strongest clues have come from signals emitted by the stricken plane indicating that several smoke detectors were activated as it hurtled towards the sea. The French air aviation authority said that while those transmissions provided evidence of a catastrophic systems failure inside the plane, they did not provide enough information to determine what had caused the crash. Jakarta: A volcano in western Indonesian has unleashed hot clouds of ash, killing at least six people and injuring several others. Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province blasted volcanic ash as high as 3 kilometres into the sky on Saturday, said National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. Villagers and rescuers stand near a burning tree after it was hit by pyroclastic flows from the eruption of Mount Sinabung, in the background, in Gamber, North Sumatra, on Saturday. Credit:AP He said ash tumbled down the slopes as far as 4.5 kilometres westward into a river. The 2600-metre-high mountain in Karo District had been dormant for four centuries before springing to life in August 2010, killing two people and forcing 30,000 to flee. Even as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton contends with Bernie Sanders' unflagging critique from the left, she said it was vital for her to pivot to confront Donald Trump now, lest he successfully repackage himself for wider consumption rather than appealing to the Republican primary electorate alone. "I do not want Americans and, you know, good-thinking Republicans, as well as Democrats and independents, to start to believe that this is a normal candidacy," Clinton said of Trump's campaign on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I know he has a plurality of Republicans who have voted for him," she added. "But I think in the course of this campaign, we are going to demonstrate he has no ideas. There's no evidence he has any ideas about making America great, as he advertises. He seems to be particularly focused on making himself appear great. And as we go through this campaign, we're going to be demonstrating the hollowness of his rhetoric." Clinton also poked at Trump's failure to release his tax returns. Mitsubishi Corporation: Investment Fund Aimed at Silicon Valley Startups Reaches Fundraising Target The Silicon Valley Crowd Is On Their Way To Appliance-ize CarsCapital to support innovative enterprises and help expand technology in Japan TOKYO, May, 17 2016; Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) is pleased to announce that "Geodesic Capital Fund I" has concluded the final closing with the aggregate investment amount of $335 million. The fund is aimed at providing investment capital for innovative technology startups in Silicon Valley, USA. Geodesic Capital was founded by John V. Roos, a former US Ambassador to Japan and former CEO of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, the leading law firm in the US in the representation of technology, life sciences, and emerging growth companies, Ashvin Bachireddy, former partner of Andreessen Horowitz, a major US venture capital firm, and Mitsubishi Corporation. Leveraging Ambassador Roos' network in US and Japan business circles and Mr. Bachireddy's investing experience in Silicon Valley, Geodesic Capital provides growth capital to startup ventures with software technologies and business models that drive innovation. In addition to providing capital, Geodesic Capital also has an in-house team dedicated to supporting entry into the Japanese market. Geodesic capital aims to enhance growth and raise corporate value at these enterprises. In addition to being a lead investor, MC intends to collaborate with Geodesic Capital in its efforts to support entry into the Japanese market by U.S. startup companies and to forge ties between the prominent Japanese corporations who invested in the fund and the Silicon Valley The fund has invested in a number of ventures since it began raising capital in May 2015, including Snapchat, a mobile application that is the fastest way to share a moment with friends, bitcoin hardware developer 21.Inc, Tanium, a software product that gives the world's largest enterprises and government organizations the unique power to secure, control and manage millions of endpoints in seconds, and Instart Logic, a content delivery network platform which makes application delivery (i.e. websites) fast, secure, and easy. Geodesic Capital will continue to seek out innovative software firms and supporting their growth through investment. In October 2015 and February 2016, the fund began offering a range of business partnership and enterprise services initiatives for Geodesic Capital investees and other leading software companies from the U.S. aimed at the strategic investors in Japan. "Geodesic" means a measure of the shortest possible distance between two points on a sphere or curved surface, and is representative of the effective ties created between Silicon Valley and Japan through this investment platform. MC will continue to seek inroads into new growth sectors by providing support to enterprises that help transform industry and society through innovation. Profile of Ambassador John V. Roos John V. Roos served as United States Ambassador to Japan from August 2009 - August 2013. On Aug. 6, 2010 he became the first sitting U.S. Ambassador ever to attend the commemoration ceremony of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. Ambassador Roos' service in Tokyo coincided with the devastating 9.0 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis on March 11, 2011 when he led the American effort on the ground in support of Japan's response to the disaster. Ambassador Roos also led the creation of the TOMODACHI Initiative that followed U.S. disaster relief efforts. Ambassador Roos is a Senior Advisor at Centerview Partners, a preeminent mergers & acquisitions advisory firm. Ambassador Roos is a member of the Board of Directors at Salesforce.com and at Sony Corporation and a member of the Global Advisory Board of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. Previously, Ambassador Roos served as Chief Executive Officer and Senior Partner at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich, & Rosati. Ambassador Roos is a graduate with honors and distinction from Stanford University and from Stanford Law School where he was Order of the Coif. Profile of Ashvin Bachireddy Ashvin Bachireddy has over 14 years of venture capital and technology experience. Prior to Geodesic Capital, Mr. Bachireddy was the Head of Growth Stage Investing at Andreessen Horowitz. He was actively involved with Andreessen Horowitz's investments in Facebook, Twitter, Box, Airbnb, and Github. Prior to Andreessen Horowitz, Mr. Bachireddy was a venture capital investor at Lightspeed Venture Partners, 3i Group and JMI Equity where he was involved with investments at all stages spanning broadly across technology. Mr. Bachireddy has also performed corporate strategy, operational and business development work as Chief of Staff to the CEO at Coremetrics, a leading web analytics provider. Earlier in his career he was in the investment banking division at Montgomery & Co. and Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Bachireddy received a B.S. in Management Science from the University of California at San Diego. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/05/2016 (2347 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Provencher MP Ted Falk announced $380,624 in funding on Friday which will go towards the hiring of 105 summer students in his riding through the Canada Summer Jobs Program. 86 organizations in Provencher have successfully applied for the federal funds which are in place to help students gain valuable skills and work experience. This is really good for these organizations and it is tremendous for students. They need summer employment and this sure helps, he said. Falk said the program is a good opportunity for students, particularly to gain income to pay for post-secondary expenses in the next school year. Theres often a lot of employers that are reluctant to bring them on just for a summer positionwith the federal governments contribution that allows them to do that with minimal interruption to their business. Actually, it is a big gain for their business. In fact, a lot of the community organizations that are going to see the opportunity to hire a summer students will allow them to run programs they would not normally be able to run otherwise. Canada Summer Jobs provides funding to not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers, and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees, to help create summer job opportunities for students. The program also delivers important and diverse community services that can range from youth services organizations, to summer camps to services for seniors. Students learn transferrable skills such as public speaking, time management, self-confidence, and organizational skills. Last September, my boyfriend and I adopted a 7-month-old, 45 pound husky mix from an animal shelter here in New York City. But before we even brought our new pup home, we hired a trainer. I grew up with badly behaved dogsgood dogs, but poorly trained ones. And I knew that if we were going to be a happy family we would need to make sure to teach our new pooch what her role was, and what we wanted her to do (and, perhaps more importantly, not do). Fast forward eight months and Moro is a really great dog. Shes extremely friendly, rarely barks, doesnt feel the need to guard people or food or toys, and loves to just hang out on the couch with me. Shes sitting at my feet while I write this. But weve worked hard to get her here, and spent a lot of time and money training her. She used to pull like a sled dog on the leash, and when she would see another dog (regardless of whether that dog seemed excited to see her) she would get so excited that shed leap around and yodel in delight, scaring everybody around her. She used to wail and whine when she wanted something, and scream if she was separated from me. Today, she walks right by my side, runs next to me every morning, and ignores other dogs unless I release her to say hi. No leaping, yodeling, or pulling. She asks for permission before coming onto the couch or bed. She comes when called, and stays when shes asked to. Weve still got some work to do of coursesquirrels are still a wild card and every so often shell catch a scent thats just too interesting to ignore. But she doesnt chase cats in our yard, and most of the time will leave the bushy tailed rodents alone unless they really tease her. This is only partially a brag, but I also feel like I deserve to. Ive worked hard to turn Moro into a really well behaved dog. I spend hours every week doing training drills with her, teaching her new things, practicing our manners, seeking out new situations to test her in. Weve hired several trainers, and even sent her to a two-week doggy training bootcamp while we were traveling. Some dogs are naturally well behaved, but most need to be taught what we expect of them, and dog training is hard. So when I saw that a research team was working on an algorithm to train dogs (or, in science speak, a a Computer-Assisted Canine Posture Training System) I was instantly intrigued. Could I outsource all this time and money to a computer? Are robot-doggy trainers in our future? The short answer, of course, is no. But Dave Roberts and Alper Bokzkurt at North Carolina State University are trying to help amateur trainers like me become more efficient. And theyre trying to do that using a series of sensors and algorithms. Roberts and his team at NC State University are interested in the ways that sensors and algorithms can help humans and dogs communicate better. Last year, they announced a project that helps handlers monitor guide dogs using a harness and vibrating handle. And one of the things theyve noticed about trainers like myself, is that we struggle with giving consistently timed feedback to our dogs. Professional trainers have a lot of experience making sure that command and reward are well timed: the dog gets the reward quickly enough after following the command that she associates the two, but not so quickly that she doesnt finish the behavior. (Moro likes to hover her butt just off the ground in an attempt to defy our requests that she sit.) Humans are just not very good at timing things exactly. But computer are. So Roberts is working on an algorithm that rewards the dog at exactly the right time, every time. The system in question in this case is relatively simple: each dog wears a harness that has a series of sensors on it in the front and the back. The sensors can pick up whether the dog is moving and where its different parts are, and they send that data to an algorithm that can figure out what position the dog is in: sitting, standing or lying down. To train the algorithm, the dog is fitted with one of these harnesses and brought into a little pen. The owner of the dog tells it to sit, and when it does, the algorithm crunches the data coming in from the harness. Once it decides the dog is sitting, it sends a signal to an automatic treat dispenser in the pen. The dog sits, the computer recognizes the sit, the dog gets a treat. And repeat. You can see the process in the video below, in which Simba very quickly learns that sitting means tasty treats. (Simba is a guide dog for a member of Robertss lab and is often used in their experiments as a test subject, so he is already exceptionally well trained and knows how to sit. The point here wasnt to train him to sit, but rather to train the algorithm to recognize sitting.) The point here, Roberts reminds me several times when we talk, is not to get rid of human trainers. We will never get rid of humans in this process. The human animal bond is really important to all the things we do, he says. But just like technology gives humans new ways to interact with each other, it can also give humans and animals new ways to communicate. What he hopes to do is combine this algorithm with the humans who are trying to do a better job training their pets, to help them get better at timing. Maybe if you have an Apple watch or a smartphone that is getting signals from the sensor that weve designed and will alert you and say hey you need to perform this action, distract your dog, cue your dog, get your dog into a sit, stand in front of your dog, If computers can help novices make these decisions more effectively, then its easier to do these behaviors. So Roberts doesnt think hell ever replace trainers, and neither does Katenna Jones, the certified dog trainer I asked about the system. Currently, I'm skeptical, she wrote in an email. First, not all dogs are comfortable wearing a vest, she says. If you throw a vest on an adult, fearful dog and a machine talks to it, it can backfire. Many dogs will be fine with it, but many won't. And right now, the system only teaches sit and down. Which are the easiest things to teach a dog to do. If a trainer can't teach sit and down, they're not a trainer, Jones said. She has a whole list of things dogs should be able to do aside from sit and lay down: Reliability amid distraction, without the reward, in different locations, for different people, etc. I would say just leaning sit and down in the home are barely training. Problems like the ones we faced with Moro: overexcitement around other dogs, cat chasing, ignoring distractions, pulling, focusing on me, those are all really hard to program an algorithm to train. And those are the things that really make a dog reliable and well behaved. But even if there was a super-advanced robot that could train your dog for you, it wouldnt train your dog to listen to you. It's very common for dogs to listen to one person in the house, but not the others. The same would absolutely apply here, Jones said. The human learning how to do it is the most valuable part: the bond, the communication, the excitement at success. They can then carry on the concepts with other skills, beyond sit and down. Otherwise I could just walk into a home and train dogs. When the owner comes home, voila, the dog is trained. It just doesn't work that way. If it did, my job would be easier and I'd have a lot more money! But she sees promise here too. I see tons of potential for dogs residing in shelters or laboratories who don't get enough mental and physical stimulation, she told me. Adopting a dog that sits and lies down is very appealing (assuming shelters can afford such an expense). Studies have shown that if a dog knows how to sit on command, they are more likely to be adopted. And one of the main reasons that animals are returned to shelters after being adopted is behavior problems. If a shelter cant afford to hire more people, but can afford a system that helps train their dogs, it might be worth it to save more animals. Roberts mentioned this to me too, saying that a system like this could help time-strapped volunteers train shelter dogs more efficiently. One thing Jones worries about with all of this dog training technology, is that its sending the wrong message to dog owners. I think humans are relying on quick fixes far too much. Automatic feeders, doggie doors, now robot trainers. If you don't have the time to put into training, you shouldn't have a dog. If you're using this tool with a trainer, or it's teaching the human, or it's just a fun toysure! But if it's to replace training? No way. And before you write her off as simply worried about being replaced by a robot, shes not. I'm not concerned about job security. I'd love to see a day when trainers aren't needed because people know enough about dogs. But that day will never come. In fact, the need is growing. In the press release and paper, the team emphasizes the ways this system could be used to train working dogs, dogs that do things like search and rescue, bomb sniffing, or assisting the disabled. But Roberts admits that thats not why hes doing this research. My heart is really in the pet space, he says. According to the ASPCA, every year 1.2 million dogs are euthanized in shelters across the United States. I dont think its fair that our limitations and humans is the cause of them to be put in shelters and euthanized. Roberts hopes that this system might be able to help people address problem behaviors that land dogs in shelters, or help shelters get dogs adopted more easily. Ill be honest, my heart is there, he says. As for Moro, well stick to our current training methods and leave the algorithms to the researchers for now. Unless the computer can teach her not to fart on my pillow, in which case, sign me up. The Second World War witnessed a huge expansion of the intelligence machines of every belligerent nation, so that secret service became the struggles growth industry. Never in the history of conflict had such vast resources been deployed by all belligerents to compile and assess information about their enemies. The overwhelming bulk was wasted, of course. As late as January 1943, in the heyday of Bletchley Parks codebreaking operations in Britain, Lord Beaverbrook expressed scepticism about intelligence, telling a colleague that in Cabinet he heard very little secret information which was of real value. It deserves notice that a grandee privy to the affairs of the allied intelligence community could speak in such terms: contemporary witnesses did not always regard allied secret war operations with the reverence conferred on them by a 21st century generation. The historian Paul Kennedy argues that an objective assessment of wartime intelligence should highlight its preponderance of failures, starting with Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and ending with the Ardennes four years later: Kennedy includes a catalogue of these: Even if one can readily concede that the Allied record on intelligence was far better than that of the Axis, it is easier to demonstrate where smooth logistics helped win the war than to show where intelligence led to victory. There is a scintilla of truth in this, but the evidence suggests to me that knowledge of the enemys motions made a more important contribution to the western allied war effort than Kennedy allows, especially at sea, both in the Pacific and Atlantic theaters. The towering reality about Western allied intelligence is that it became dominated by Ultra decrypts of German and Japanese wireless traffic, which bore an inherent authority no spys reports could match. The intercepted dispatches to Tokyo of Japans ambassador in Berlin provided far more useful insights on the Nazi hierarchy than did any allied agent. In October 1945, Montgomerys intelligence chief Brigadier Bill Williams penned MOST SECRET reflections on the wartime uses and abuses of Ultra. The material was dangerously valuable, he wrote, because it seemed the answer to an intelligence officers prayer It was liable to save the recipient from doing Intelligence. Instead of being the best, it tended to become the only source. There was a tendency at all times to await the next message and, often, to be fascinated by the authenticity of the information into failing to think whether it was significant. Intelligence officers recognized by 1945 that British and American codebreakers had changed the very nature of their business. Henceforward the old cloak and dagger, as a British secret service officer described pre-war espionage in a fit of nostalgia, was not quite redundant: highly-placed agents in the enemys corridors of power, such as Col. Oleg Penkovsky working for the West out of Moscow, remained important assets during the Cold War. As influences upon strategy and policy, however, they were secondary to signals intelligence. Yet the radio espionage war between the allies and Germany was not as one-sided as popular mythology supposes. Hitlers codebreakers, especially in the first half of the war, could claim important successes. In North Africa until June 1942, Rommel knew as much about the British Eighth Army as his enemies knew about the Afrika Korps, and the latters commander used his information better. Donitzs B-Dienst provided the U-Boat command with an ongoing stream of intelligence about allied convoy operations. But not as much as the allies possessed. Many things about the 1939-45 era remain disputable, but few informed people would question the proposition that Bletchley Park was one of the most remarkable institutions the world has ever known, and one of the greatest achievements in Britains history, towering over any narrative of the nations part in the conflict. Granted the brilliance of the American achievements in breaking Purple and forecasting the Japanese strike at Midway, the most innovative codebreaking technology of the war was devised at BP. Nimitzs codebreakers at Pearl Harbor achieved more than did the Armys Arlington Hall. In naval operations, the foremost challenge was always to locate the enemys warships at sea and concentrate force against them, for which Ultra provided the U.S. Navy and Royal Navy with unprecedented opportunities. If the allies had not been able to exercise almost unchallenged control of the Atlantic sea route in the spring of 1944, the D-Day invasion of Normandy could not have taken placeand such dominance owed much to Ultra. Nimitzs triumphs in the Pacific, with both his surface fleets and submarine flotillas, were immensely assisted by Ultra, and sometimes altogether made possible by it. Ideological enthusiasm for communism was the principal force in enabling the Soviet Unions intelligence services to recruit a host of informants in both the Axis and allied nations with much better access to secrets than MI6 and OSS achieved. Technical intelligence generated from the U.S. and Britain, especially about aircraft design and above all about the Bomb, was of priceless value to the Russians. This bore fruit, however, not during the struggle against Hitler, but in strengthening Moscows hand in the Cold War that followed: it not merely influenced the nuclear arms race, but also empowered the Soviet Union to build jet aircraft and much else beyond its native competence. However, the record of the NKVD and GRU, working under the dead hand of Stalin, shows that their chiefs were no more wise, and infinitely more barbarous, than their Western counterparts. By far the most important reality about the impact of intelligence on the Second World Waron all warsis that knowledge of the enemys motions does not diminish the requirement to defeat him on the battlefield. A general once lectured to allied students at Britains Middle East staff college on the principles of war. When he sat down and invited comments, a Polish officer sprang to his feet and said: Sir! You have left out the most important: Be stronger! Decrypted signals provided the allied warlords with a knowledge of their enemies strengths and deployments unparalleled in history. But Ultra seldom told Churchill, Roosevelt and their generals much about German intentions. Especially in land campaigns, knowing where a blow was to fall did little to improve the prospects of countering it, in the absence of competent commanders and sufficient armed strength. In December 1941, for instance, the British had extensive forewarning about Japanese aggressive intentions towards Malaya, but their local forces were too weak and too incompetently led to profit from it. Ultra came fully into its own, serving up to allied warlords a daily feast of secret knowledge, only between late 1942 and 1945, when the recipients knew that they were anyway certain to win the war. Bletchley Park and its brilliant civilian brains, together with their American counterparts, went far to compensate for deficiencies in the operational performance of the British and U.S. armies. For all the genius of the German soldier on the battlefield, the Allies made better war than did the Axis nations. Winston Churchill deserves credit for his personal engagement with intelligence, upon which he conferred a benign patronage unmatched by any other national leader. The indispensable element in making all intelligence useful, in peace or war, is that it should pass into the hands of a wise and effective leader: if such a person is absent, whether general, admiral, or statesman, then even the most privileged information is worthless. As for the guerrilla campaigns conducted in Axis-occupied nations, only in Yugoslavia and Russia between 1943 and 1945 did partisans make a significant contribution to the final outcome, and even there all the big things had to be done by the Red Army. In the Far East, SOE and OSS could achieve nothing that mattered, in societies overwhelmingly preoccupied with ridding themselves of their colonial masters, as well as of the Japanese. In Western Europe, the Anglo-American secret services performed a useful function by sustaining an allied presence, and marginal military activity, in advance of D-Day which enabled the process of liberation to begin in earnest. Their foremost contribution, however, was to raise banners throughout the occupied countries beneath which fighters for freedom could rally. Finally, a foresight. Between 1939 and 1945, secret war was still in its infancy. The victories that decided outcomes were secured by great armies, fleets, air forces. In the 21st century, however, it seems ever less plausible that massed uniformed forces of the Great Powers, numbered in millions, will again clash in arms. By contrast the importance to national security of intelligence, eavesdropping, code-breaking, and counter-insurgency has never been greater. Cyber-warfare is a logical evolution of the process that began in Room 40 during World War I, and expanded vastly at Bletchley Park and OKH/GdNA, Arlington Hall, and Op-20-G during World War II. It would be extravagant to suggest that conventional strife has become redundant: in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin finds battle tanks highly serviceable. But he also employs tactics of subversion backed by Moscows secret soldiers that would command the immediate understanding and applause of Pavel Sudoplatov. Electronic surveillance of communications has become the foremost weapon of the United States and Britain in identifying and monitoring terrorists within their own frontiers and abroad, to the dismay of some civil libertarians. Edward Snowden, the former NSA employee who has seen fit to disclose the scale of Western eavesdropping, from the sanctuary of Vladimir Putins Moscow, inhabits a new universe, in which old definitions of conflict, and also of patriotism, are no longer universally acknowledged. The balance of tactics and methodology in struggles between nations has changed, is changing, and will continue to change. Secret war, as it was practiced by the nations that fought the conflict of 1939-45, may well prove to be future war. From The Secret War: Spies, Ciphers, and Guerrillas 1939-1945 by Max Hastings 2016 by Max Hastings. Reprinted courtesy of Harper Design, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Max Hastings is the author of more than twenty books, most recently Catastrophe: 1914. He has served as a foreign correspondent and as the editor of Britains Evening Standard and Daily Telegraph. He has received numerous British Press awards, including Journalist of the Year in 1982 and Editor of the Year in 1988. He lives outside London. Well, bartender, Ive done it! Ive won the nomination! I mean, no I haventI keep losing statesbut mathematically, Ive done it! To math! exclaims Hillary Clinton, played expertly by Saturday Night Live's Kate McKinnon. The cold open of the late-night NBC sketch comedy shows 41st season finale opened at a caliginous, near-empty piano bar, with the Democratic frontrunner parked at the bar downing booze. Thats when the bartender (Kenan Thompson) sounds last call, announcing that everyones gotta goincluding the crotchety man sulking in the corner: Bernie Sanders. Of course, SNLs version of Bernie equals none other than comedy legend Larry David, whos been regaling us with his impression of the curmudgeonly Vermont senator for months during this increasingly heated election campaignone where, factoring in superdelegates, Hillary currently has a heavy lead over Bernie: 2,293 to 1,533 (you need 2,383 delegates for the Democratic nomination). No freaking way! Im not going anywhere! I can stay here as long as I want! shouts Bernie, with the statement serving as a metaphor for his campaign. He then adds, No! Its not over! Its not over till I say its over! Bernie then sidles up next to Hillary at the bar, where they exchange barbs at one anotherabout everything from Hillarys Nehru jackets (It looks like you were just elected by the Galactic Council) to Bernies eventual role in the future Clinton administration: Dont worry! I promise Im going to have a very special role for you in my administration. How would you like to bewait for itthe Senator from Vermont! Then, Hillary reveals that, with her handsome lead, shes started pivoting towards the general against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. This, naturally, irks Bernie. Ehhhh and Ive gotta say, Ive, uh, Ive noticed the pivot! he exclaims, channeling his inner Costanza. Not a fan of the pivot. Way too early for the pivot. Oh, and remember all those states like Wyoming where you beat me by a lot and I got most of the delegates! cracks Hillary, pouring salt on Bernies wounds. Its rigged! screams Bernie. Its so rigged! admits Hillary.Then they cheers their beers to DNC head Debbie Wasserman Schultz, before ending things in a hilarious dance through the SNL audience. Needless to say, this satirical encounter went a lot smoother than any real-life encounter would have between the testy rivals. And, since Saturday Night Live doesn't return until the fall, this is probably the last we will see of David as Bernie.Now that is a damn shame. The death of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in an American drone strike is a significant but not fatal blow to both the Taliban and their Pakistani Army patrons. The critical question Afghans and Pakistanis are asking is whether this is a one-off or the beginning of a more aggressive American approach to fighting the war in Afghanistan. Mullah Mansour became the Taliban's leader last year after it was revealed his predecessor, Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban, had been dead for two years from unknown causes. Mullah Omar's death in a Pakistani hospital in Karachi had been covered up for two years by the Pakistani Army's intelligence service, the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate or ISI, and the cover-up allowed the ISI to manipulate the Taliban very effectively behind the scene. Mullah Mansour was the ISI's handpicked successor. There was resistance to his selection by some Taliban commanders, but the ISI forced them to acquiesce. Since the fall of Kabul to American and allied forces after 9/11, the Taliban leadership has made its headquarters in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province in Pakistan. For 15 years the Quetta Shura, as the assembly of leaders is known, has been protected by the ISI in its Pakistani safe haven where it is free to plan operations, conduct training, raise money and prepare terrorist attacks to strike American, NATO and Afghan targets in Kabul and elsewhere. While drones pummeled Al Qaeda targets elsewhere in Pakistan, the Taliban leaders were immune. So this operation is unprecedented, the first ever effort to decapitate the Afghan Taliban. Mullah Mansour apparently was killed in Baluchistan very close to the Afghan border. He pressed his luck too far it appears. It's too soon to know the details of how he was found, but he was likely visiting front-line commanders. The ISI will find a successor. They will work with the powerful Haqqani network, inside the Taliban, which has its own sanctuary in Peshawar Pakistan. The challenge will be to hold together the fractious movement, especially as the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) is trying to rally dissidents to its cause and create an Islamic State Vilayet, or province, in Afghanistan. The ISI and the Haqqanis are prepared to be ruthless to keep control of the Taliban. The elected Pakistani government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been trying to persuade Mullah Mansour and the Quetta Shura to join in peace talks with the Afghan government, which is led by President Ashraf Ghani. The US and China have encouraged the political process. But Sharif has no power over the Pakistani military and its ISI minions. Indeed, now that Prime Minister Sharif is engulfed in a scandal caused by the Panama papers, his goal is simply to survive in office, and some Pakistani political commentators expect the army to oust Nawaz Sharif in a soft coup this summer. The Afghan peace talks are not likely to get going as long as the army calls the shots in Pakistan. The killing of Mansour in an unprecedented operation has produced elation in the Afghan security forces, who hope it does it actually does mark the start of more aggressive attacks against the safe havens in Pakistan. But that's probably a misplaced hope. A discreet operation in the border region is not the equivalent of hitting targets deeper inside Pakistani territory. Inevitably, the attack will be another blow to U.S.-Pakistan relations, even if both Washington and Islamabad try to paper it over. The U.S. Congress, after years of passively accepting Pakistani duplicity, has become much less willing to fund arms deals and aid to the Pakistani army. A recent administration proposal to sell F16 jets to the Pakistani military at sweetheart prices has been killed, wisely, on The Hill. The next U.S. president will confront a complex and worrisome challenge in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is not quite as bad as the disaster President Barack Obama inherited eight years ago, but it is one of the toughest foreign policy issues the next team will face. What do the candidates think they can do about it? It's not too early to start pressing them for answers. This is part of our weekly series, Lost Masterpieces, about the greatest buildings and works of art that were destroyed, lost, or never completed. Its like Mayan ruins lost to time or the fabled city of Atlantis. There once existed a golden room bedecked in floor-to-ceiling amber, gold, and semiprecious stones. It positively glowed. Two different kings called it their own, and it graced multiple palaces, ultimately becoming the prized treasure of the Russians. Remember when Pope Benedict XVI abdicated and the media went into a meltdown? You probably heard around then that this wasnt the first abdication, and that Celestine V had abdicated about 800 years earlier. And then we promptly forgot about all of that when Pope Francis was elected. Because, Francis. Things could have gone very differently. When Celestine V abdicated in 1294 he was succeeded by Pope Boniface VIII. Celestine was an 85-year old hermit from Naples. He was originally selected because of his great piety but he was, as Eamon Duffy has written, saintly but hopeless. Some thought that electing an angelic Pope like Celestine would help free the papacy of corruption. But it was not to be: Celestine was badgered into resigning by his successor. A more savvy diplomat, Bonifaces first move as Pope was to secure his position by having Celestine imprisoned in the Castle of Fumone. Celestine endured 10 miserable months of mistreatment there before finally kicking the bucket. Animus: (noun, A-ni-mus) a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will. Not to be outdone by all of the anti-LGBT legislation happening in North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and other state legislatures, members of the federal House of Representatives is weighing in with their own proposed legislation and twisted rationale for it. The bills sponsors declare with a straight face that it is about the freedom of religion and religious liberty guaranteed in the Constitutions Bill of Rights. In fact, it has nothing to do with religion, and everything to do with animus toward gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. H.R. 2802, sponsored by Raul Labrador of Idaho and co-sponsored by 167 of his Republican colleagues along with sole Democrat Daniel Lipinski of Illinois, is subtitled A Bill to prevent discriminatory treatment on any person on the basis of views held with respect to marriage, has the short title of the First Amendment Defense Act, or FADA. The bill proposes that the Federal Government shall not take any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially on the basis that such person believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage. The First Amendment is not under attack, nor is religion. No ordained person of any faith can be compelled to preside at the wedding of a same sex couple (or anyone else, for that matter). Despite hand-wringing about the so-called War on Religion being waged by the godless Left, it is simply not the case that religious practice, doctrine and polity are under attack, and certainly not with respect to marriage. But the fear mongering and rhetoric that would have conservative clergy believe that they are coming to make you gay marry someone, continues unabated animated by proposed laws like this one. Notice who is being treated as the victim here. This bill identifies those who are conservative on the issue of marriage (those who believe marriage to be possible solely between one man and one woman) are the ones most likely to be discriminated against and to need protection, not those same-sex couples who have lived without access to marriage equality (and with other forms of discrimination) for centuries. The anti-gay marriage sentiment that is protected in this bill does not even have to stem from ones particular religion, but can simply be a moral conviction, sincerely held. In other words, if I really, sincerely believe it, I should be able to discriminate. Interestingly and probably to bolster their case that this is about the sacred institution of marriage FADA would also cover those who, in the name of religion or morality, want to discriminate against unmarried heterosexual couples who are living together and (presumably) having sex. Does anyone believe this law will be used to discriminate against heterosexual couples? In the last twenty-plus years, I have not officiated at a single wedding of a heterosexual couple who were not already living together. And not once has any of the couples I have married been refused a wedding cake or lost a job because they were living together with someone without benefit of marriage. This is not about religion or the institution of marriage. It is about being permitted to express animus toward gay and lesbian people by discriminating against those gay people who are exercising their right to marry the person they love a right ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges nearly one year ago. This is not just about wedding cakes and photographers. If FADA, or something similar to it, were to become law, an employer could refuse to grant family or medical leave for an employee to care for her same-sex spouse. An employee might be forced to forego applying for company-provided medical insurance for his same-sex spouse if such an application for benefits meant he would be fired from his job for divulging to his religiously conservative employer that he was gay and married. To add insult to injury, many of the religious groups and people who seek to be exempt from treating gay couples equally are recipients of federal funding for one program or another. In other words, the federal government collects taxes from everyone, and then distributes those monies including to those who want an exemption from the fair treatment of those gay and lesbian citizens who have paid those taxes. FADA is asking that we, as citizens, fund discrimination. What is most offensive is that all of this is being sought in the name of religion. As a religious leader, I am offended by such crass and self-serving use of religion. The god of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam calls the faithful to compassion and justice, not bigotry. Jesus of Nazareth taught his disciples to care for the stranger and welcome the marginalized not discriminate against them. The appeal to religion as a justification for discrimination is to turn religion on its head and to make it the opposite of what it is meant to be. If there is a war on religion, surely it is being waged by those who would propose such a bill as this in the name of religion. Linking discrimination to God is as old as history itself. Slavery was justified using Holy Scripture. The denigration and subjugation of women was (and continues to be) justified that way. Let us be clear: Discrimination wrapped in the language of faith is still discrimination. At the end of the day, bills targeting the LGBT community in the name of religious liberty are not about religion at all. They are a Get out of jail free card for hatred and discrimination. They are about animus. The Supreme Court in its 1996 Romer v. Evans decision made known its opinion of animus-driven legislation: the amendment seems inexplicable by anything but animus toward the class that it affects; it lacks a rational relationship to legitimate state interests. Legislation based on animus toward LGBT people, even if wrapped in religious liberty language, will ultimately be declared unconstitutional. There is no place for it in America. V. Gene Robinson is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, Washington, DC, and the IX Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. Follow him on Twitter @BishopGRobinson Exposing religious sexual hypocrisy is, as the cliche goes, like shooting fish in a barrel. If you follow the right Twitter accounts, literally every day theres a new story of religious conservative leaders philandering, downloading illegal pornography, cruising for gay sex on the down low, or, by far worst of all, sexually abusing minors or other vulnerable people. Just this week, for example, we learned of lay pastor David Reynolds, who in addition to discern[ing] the will of Christ through study, mutual exhortation and prayer, to quote his former(?) churchs website, allegedly had a habit of exchanging child pornography on the Internetwith irresistible social media screennames sweetoothcandy3, Ethanluvsts, and Luvsomecandy. (By the way, little details like that are themselves the candy of tracking religious sex-hypocrites; somehow, they always do something tawdry, ludicrous, or pathetic.) Creepily, Reynolds also had several non-pornographic pictures of church members, including one 13-year-old girl who then identified several others in the photos. The church, Cornerstone Bible Fellowship in Sherwood, Arkansas, did not respond to a request for comment. Like many evangelical churches, it appoints members, rather than professional clergy, to be pastors and leaders. We also learned this week that Jon Petersen, the long-serving president of World Ambassadors, Ltd., which proselytizes to international students on American college campuses, had embezzled nearly all of the organizations funds between 2010 and 2014 (nearly half a million dollars) to pay for a sex addiction. We dont know exactly what that means; Petersen, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, pleaded guilty on Monday to failing to disclose the income on his personal tax statement. And then the news from Northern Ireland that a 35-year old priest was caught chatting up young (but legal) men on Grindr, dick pics and all. He is apparently being sent to the Vatican-run center in Venturini Convent, where priests with same-sex tendencies are sent to reflect. Together with, you know, other gay priests. What could go wrong? Perhaps the Irish priest will meet 44-year-old Antonello Tropea, who in December was also discovered on Grindrbut in his case, luring underage boys to have sex in the rectory of his church. Classy. We obviously have become inured to these scandals. Perverted priests, philandering pastorsyesterdays news. Covering this issue eight months ago, I listed 17 recent Christian sex scandals, and that was without doing any research outside of Google. Yet, as I said at the time, our blase attitude toward clerical sexual philandering minimizes the serious harms it causes: primarily to the victims, but also to sexual and gender minorities who are persecuted in public precisely because these conservative Christians are wrestling with their own demons in private. And that is the point thats usually missed when the mainstream media covers religious hypocrites or perverts or whatever. Its also missed when anti-LGBT and anti-women religious conservatives are described as haters or bigots. Theyre not haterstheyre fear-ers, and the people theyre most afraid of are themselves. There is a direct line from the religious hysteria over trans people in bathrooms to religious people hysterical over their own wayward libidos. Its well known that the most homophobic people are also the most aroused by homosexual stimulithis has been established in a variety of studies, some measuring arousal with ingenious devices attached to the straight mens penises. Psychologically, this is what Freud called reaction formationessentially, projecting your psychological baggage onto someone else. But conservative Christianity is institutionalized reaction formation. Socially, culturally, and theologically, it drums in the message that sex is bad, that you are bad for wanting it, and that people who say they want it are even worse than you. This is not true for liberal Christians (or Jews or Muslims); but it is true for almost all conservative Christians (or Jews or Muslims). Thats why, when yet another pastor falls from gracewith boys, girls, women, men, it almost doesnt matterits not seen as a refutation of Christian doctrine, but a confirmation of it. See, none of us is above sin. That proves that all of us are sinners and are only hope is the grace of God. I encountered this firsthand about a year ago, when I visited several megachurches as part of a research project. Many liberals get distracted by the cheesy music, expensive production values, and political posturing. But I was much more alarmed on the deeply disturbing message being conveyed in all those major-key Christian rock songs. The psychology being conveyed in these songs, sermons, and doctrines was different from what most non-conservative-Christians understand. Most of us, I think, are aware that we have morally good and morally bad impulses all the time. Not even morallysometimes we want that extra cookie, and sometimes were good about keeping our cholesterol down. Its human nature. Again and again, in evangelical contexts, I heard a different story. The part that wants the cookie, or the sex, is youfallen you, evil you, sinful you. The part that says no, dont do that isnt your superego, or a memory of your childhoodbut Jesus. (Sometimes the Holy Spirit, but whatever.) Think about that for a moment. All the indulgent, selfish, lustful thoughts you havethats you (or, in some versions, Satan seducing you). The altruistic, ethical thoughts? Thats not you at all, but the voice of God telling you to do better. Its bad enough that lust is regarded as just another animal appetite, instead of a possible way of connecting with other human beings to generate connection, love, and joy. But even worse is that lusting is all you do. Amazing Grace / how sweet the sound / that saved / a wretch like me. You are the wretch. Well, if we think of ourselves as wretches, then its easy to act like wretches. Thats why these pastors arent being caught at the LGBT community center attending Judith Butler reading groups. Its why theyre sending dick pics on Grindr, why theyre acting unethically with congregants or young adults, why theyre lying and conniving. Thats what sexual expression is for themthe gutter. (Not that theres anything wrong with sending dick pics on Grindr, of courseits only the gutter in their way of seeing the world.) This is also why the majority of these offenders are conservative, not progressive. To be sure, there are also liberal philanderers and liberal sexual offendersmy own Jewish Renewal community is still reeling from one of them, a serial offender named Marc Gafni who has since resurfaced as Whole Foods founder John Mackeys personal guru. But in general, religious conservatives have it exactly backwards. The sexual liberals of the world arent more sinful when it comes to sexuality. Because theyre healthier, they sin lessand by sin I mean actually harming other people, rather than inserting tab A elsewhere than slot B. Once sex isnt some demon to be repressed, but is simply part of the human experience, a capacity that can be used wisely or unwiselywell, then its just not that big of a deal anymore. Humans being as we are, repressive sexual mores arent going away any time soon. Our big primate brains often feel guilty about stuff, and sense a gap between ideal and real. None of us can live up to our own expectations. And so some of us will continue to mythologize that failing, create entire philosophies to account for it. Every time a priest or pastor fails, the conservative Christian myth of human nature is reinforced. Thus the conditions ripen for the next shameful offense. LONDON Imagine making a televised court appearance broadcast to the whole nation to make a humbling, humiliating apology for showing your hair. Last Sunday, the Iranian regime carried out just such a public shaming of some of the countrys most famous models. With a black scarf and black gloves replacing the happy wedding outfits and brightly dyed blond hair to which her Instagram followers had become accustomed, 26-year-old Elham Arab confirmed to two prosecutors that modeling had brought her nothing but bitter experiences. She went on to warn aspiring young models that they can be certain that no man would want to marry a model whose fame has come by losing her honor. Welcome to Operation Spider 2. Yes, Irans War Against Hair even has a code name. In a sting led by no less significant a unit than Irans cybercrimes division, eight other models were arrested and charged with promoting western promiscuity. State prosecutor for cybercrimes Javad Babaei confirmed that his unit was focused on Instagram and is concerned with sterilizing popular cyberspaces. Many of the countrys leading models have reportedly suffered this clampdown. They are accused of promoting "immoral and un-Islamic culture and promiscuity. Another state prosecutor warned the nations women, If you take part in vulgar sessions, we will publicly announce your names. Such is the Iranian theocracys fascination with female hair, that even elected officials have not been spared by the morality police. Moderate female politician Minoo Khaleghi was barred by the hard-line all-male Guardian Council from taking her seat in parliament, after images of her emerged on social media purportedly showing her without a head scarf. Prosecutor Jafar-Dolatabadi ordered Ms. Khaleghi to explain to judicial officials why the offending images of her existed. For her part, Khaleghi had no choice but to prop up the absurd notion that theres something wrong with showing ones hair by arguing that the images are malicious fakes and proclaiming, I am a Muslim woman, adhering to the principles of Islam. As moderate political forces continue to gain ground in Irans educated city centers, establishment clampdowns against Western promiscuity are becoming more visible, and more desperate. Last year, hardliners warned Iranian women that they would have their cars impounded if they were caught driving without a hijab, or headcovering. And every time a woman has tried to run for president, she has always been turned down by the countrys powerful Guardian Council, which vets all candidates for public office. For a long time, with the notable exception of Frances peculiar stance, Western democracies have stepped away from interfering in how a woman chooses to dress. Rightly so, the law has pulled back in order to allow culture to decide the issue. With men and women free to participate in the debate around headscarves, one key principle has been safeguarded: that of choice. But in societies where imprisonment, and worse, awaits millions of women if they choose to uncover their hair, the brave voices a minority within the minoritywho break this taboo within their own communities, become crucial. Positive signs are emerging of some who have started to question the sexual taboos prevalent among Muslim communities. Feminist Arab authors are writing about the need for a sexual revolution in the Arab world. Male Arab journalists are penning columns about the sexual misery in the Middle East. Feminist Muslim women are organizing online magazines such as Sister-hood and Sedaa in order to reclaim a voice for female secular progressives of Muslim heritage. Head-scarfed women have chosen to remove their hijabs in defiance of restrictions on female dress. Other women have taken to more radical action, by protesting naked. Exhibitions have emerged challenging assumptions around sexuality in Islam. Islamic theologians have started to question openly whether the hijab is religiously mandatory. And in a recent courageous move, Zahra Haideran unmarried Pakistani Muslim womanhas even written a column about her sexual experiences with 12 different partners while living in Pakistans capital, Islamabad. This led to quite an online furor, as one can imagine. These are all examples by Muslim, non-Muslim, male and female activists. Everyone has a stake in this debate, because everyone suffers its consequences. Just as one need not be gay to challenge homophobia, nor black to challenge racism: One need not be a Muslim woman to challenge theocratic misogyny. A desire to restrict any of these voices is a desire to control. When enforced on others, religion becomes nothing but a tool of power and control. Sexuality, in particular, obsesses male theocrats more so than any other topic. Whether in Iran and Saudi Arabia, where womens dress is government enforced, or in Syria and Afghanistan, where Islamist terrorists seek to enforce it, or across Muslim-majority nations more generally, sexual expression has fast become a dividing line for fundamentalists harboring presumptuous assumptions about a pure East and a promiscuous West. Oddly, hundreds of years ago it was the opposite. A Europe in the Dark Ages, plagued by the Inquisition and conflicts caused by religious intolerance, placed a similar premium on sexuality. Back then, it was the East that European Orientalists fetishized as overly promiscuous, while the West valued its prudishness. The one common factor is a correlation between the rise of theocratic demands anywhere, and restrictions on sexuality. In this way, sexuality has become the axis upon which enlightened values and progress have pivoted between nations. Sexual freedoms have become a litmus test between open societies and closed ones. The drug that dogmatic ideologues are usually addicted to is control, and the thirst for control almost always manifests itself in sexual control. This is why the subject of sex among women, gays and unmarried youth fascinates extremists of all bents. And it is whyregardless of our gender or sexual orientationthe struggle against controlling sexuality should preoccupy us all. In the dark days of World War II, hundreds of patriotic young American men learned to fly at the Bryan Army Air Base. The base closed at the end of the war and, except for a brief revival in the early 1950s, remained virtually unused until 1962, when it was handed over to what soon would become Texas A&M University. Over the years, A&M used the Riverside Campus, as it was named, mainly for training by the Texas Engineering Extension Service, the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and the Texas Transportation Institute. Most of the campus remained underutilized, though1. That's about to change in a big way. Earlier this month, Texas A&M System Chancellor John Sharp unveiled a massive and visionary plan to upgrade and enhance the site, which now will be called the RELLIS Campus -- an acronym of Texas A&M's core values of respect, excellence, leadership, loyalty, integrity and selfless service. The revitalized and expanded campus will continue to maintain its research component but now in cooperation with other universities and the private sector. In addition, qualified students who did not get into A&M will be able to earn their degree from other universities in the A&M System while staying in the Bryan-College area. Some of them, also, might be able to transfer to the main campus. Some $38 million will be spent building an education center with classrooms and offices. That facility initially will serve hundreds of students, but eventually could educate up to 10,000 students. Initially the focus of the RELLIS Campus will be the development of emerging infrastructure and transportation technologies, including driverless cars and smart power grids. At the same time, the campus will be open to other emerging technologies. This fall, 32 decaying buildings from the campus' days as an air base will be removed and the site's outdated infrastructure will be rebuilt. Buildings already planned for the RELLIS Campus include: The already announced $73 million Center for Infrastructure Renewal -- authorized by the Texas Legislature -- that will develop new methods and better materials for the nation's crumbling infrastructure and train the private sector in how to apply new techniques and materials. The cost will include state funding and donor contributions. Completion is expected by the end of 2017. A $12 million Advanced Research in Transportation Technology Building for research, design and testing in the growing field of automated and connected vehicles. A $12 million Cyber-Physical Research and Development Center that will be dedicated to robotics, autonomous and connected vehicle technologies, and associated cyber-security facets. A $9 million centralized office and research facility that will be constructed for TEES. A $6 million Safety Process Center that will test and learn the safest methods to operate in large chemical operations. A $6 million Industrial Distribution Center that will investigate the best way to manufacture and distribute products. A $7 million training facility for the Texas Engineering Extension Service, primarily for law enforcement. This isn't the first time big plans have been announced for the Riverside Campus. More than a quarter century ago a detailed plan for developing the site was announced, but funding never materialized and the plans soon were forgotten. The new plan has a much better chance of happening. Millions of dollars already have been pledged for demolition and construction. But the real reason it will be built is the visionary leadership of Chancellor Sharp. Pretty much when he sets his mind on doing something, it gets done. He is a hard man to say no to. Joining him in this vision is Texas A&M University President Michael Young, who has been working overtime to make sure students at the education center on the new campus will be able to interact with the main campus, as well as numbers A&M officials. Numerous business are excited about the new campus and many of them are likely to locate in Bryan and College Station to interface with RELLIS and use its facilities and researchers to help develop their cutting-edge products. Talks already are underway with Kubota Tractors. Texas A&M Vice Chancellor and Dean of Engineering Katherine Banks said, "With this facility and this campus, we will be right in the middle of action." The new RELLIS Campus will be a boon for the local community, the businesses who choose to locate here and the thousands of students will be proud to graduate as an Aggie. SHARE This is the first of what is planned to be a monthly column. I've never written a column for The Gleaner in the more than three years I've worked at the paper, but I thought I would give it a try. As long as I can remember I've loved different forms of media whether it be watching a movie, television show or play, listening to music or reading books or magazines. I've consumed a lot of media, but there's still a lot I haven't watched, read or heard. This column is kind of a challenge to myself to watch, read or listen to something I've missed out on and then write about it. I've never seen "The Notebook?" If I mention this in passing when yet another movie adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks book is made or someone starts listing off their favorite Ryan Gosling or Rachel McAdams movies, I typically encounter an incredulous response. I'll hear, "I can't believe that. You need to watch it!" Well, it took me 12 years, but I did finally did get around to watching it on DVD. I would seem to fall squarely into the demographic of people who would have seen "The Notebook" in theaters. For one, I've seen a lot of movies. Secondly, not to be a gender stereotype, but I've also watched a lot of romance movies. Thirdly, I've actually seen several films based on Nicholas Sparks books. I've enjoyed almost all that I've seen not enough to have watched any of them a second time but still enough that I should have seen what most people claim is the best adaptation of the lot. Beware there are spoilers below. The Notebook is about an elderly man who reads a story about two star-crossed young lovers in the hopes that he'll jog her memory. His wife has Alzheimer's and sadly cannot remember him at all. What was most immediate upon viewing the movie was the great chemistry between McAdams and Gosling, and Gena Rowlands and James Garner, for that matter, as the younger and older versions of Allie and Noah. The younger set of co-stars apparently initially hated each other on set. However, hate turned to love and they dated on and off for several years. I remember them recreating their famous kiss scene on the MTV Movie Awards years ago. Noah is a poor country boy, and Allie is a "city" girl whose parents have her life mapped out for her. Allie is more than ready to rebel against those plans after falling in love with Noah in the summer of 1940. Noah breaks up with her and then thinks better of it, sending her a letter a day for a year. Allie doesn't receive them. Her mother, who experienced a similar heartbreak, stashes the letters out of sight. Time marches on, and Noah enlists in the war. Allie goes to college and then becomes a wartime nurse, meeting her future fiance played by James Marsden. I always think of Marsden as kind of a modern day Ralph Bellamy. Marsden is a reasonably nice man who's just not right for the main female lead. Eventually Noah and Allie cross paths again, and she must choose between the two men. It's obvious in these types of movies who she's going to choose, but just because it's obvious doesn't mean it's not satisfying in the end. This is known as a tearjerker, and my eyes decided to play into that reputation. I was mostly fine, shedding a few solitary tears, but went full waterworks at the end when Allie got her final wish. Overall I enjoyed the movie. It might even be the first Nicholas Sparks movie I'll watch again. But not before I view something else that I've missed out on for whatever reason. Erin Schmitt is a reporter at The Gleaner who is also interested in all forms of media. SHARE By Erin Schmitt of The Gleaner Prizes, food and fun are all in store for the Class of 2016 seniors this week at Henderson County High School's Project Graduation. The event will kick off at 11 p.m. Friday and stretch until 3:30 a.m. Saturday at the high school. The annual event caps off graduation night for the graduating seniors. Each student who attends will receive a $10 prize and will have a chance to win other big prizes such as laptops, iPads, microwaves and televisions. The students will play casino games and earn "cash." They can exchange the cash for tickets that are their chances to win prizes. It's still up in the air if one of the many prizes given away will be a car, said organizer Cathy Thrasher. Organizers are still talking to local dealerships to see if they will donate a vehicle for Project Graduation's top prize. If that doesn't pan out, the top prize will likely be $1,000 in cash given to five students, she said. For the second consecutive year, Independence Bank is sponsoring a cornhole tournament with prizes. Party Jump Rentals will bring sumo wrestling, jousting, an obstacle course and other activities to the school. And back by popular demand is hypnotist Paul Ramsay from Massachusetts. Thrasher, an English teacher in the blue unit, said it's been nice talking with the seniors and getting a better understanding of what they want to do for Project Graduation. "The senior class officers have done a great job of stepping up," she said. "I'm really proud of the kids." There will be a DJ playing music as well as refreshments. Local restaurants and grocery stores have done a great job donating food so the kids have something to eat all night long, Thrasher said. "Businesses have been incredibly generous this year," Thrasher said. "I just couldn't be more grateful." Thrasher said they are "sitting really good with volunteers," but they always accept donations from businesses and organizations. It costs anywhere between $20,000 to $25,000, including food and prizes, to put on Project Graduation each year. Any money that is left over is rolled into next year's event. Tumbleweed Restaurant is holding a fundraiser for HCHS Project Graduation on Thursday. Patrons can present a specially marked coupon throughout the day at the restaurant for dine-in, carryout and catering orders. Project Graduation will receive up to 15 percent off the proceeds from the meal. For more information, contact Thrasher at 270-831-8800 or cathy.thrasher@henderson.kyschools.us. Business groups aren't happy about new federal regulations that could force employers to boost the pay of an estimated 149,000 Kentuckians. Beginning in December, salaried employees earning $47,476 or less a year must be paid time-and-a-half for working more than 40 hours in a week. The previous threshold was far less $23,660. The change is expected to directly impact thousands of young administrative and management employees who pull long shifts but are not classified as hourly employees under federal wage and hour laws. The U.S. Department of Labor says its new rules make more than 4 million U.S. workers eligible for overtime pay. An analysis of state-by-state numbers by the Economic Policy Institute, a pro-labor and liberal-leaning group, predicted that about a fourth of Kentucky's salaried workers 149,000 could benefit from the new rules. In Indiana, roughly 248,000, also a quarter of the Hoosier salaried workforce, would be impacted. The new rule raises the threshold from $455 per week to $913 per week. 'Everybody is freaking out a bit now because it's such a significant change,' said Amy Newbanks Letke, the chief executive and founder of IntegrityHR, a human resources consulting and outsourcing firm in Louisville. A number of companies signed up for Integrity's webinars on the new rules, an indication many are looking for help on the basics, Letke said. Several of the region's largest employers General Electric, UPS, Humana and Ford already have sizable hourly workforces and pay rates for salaried workers above the threshold, so the small- and medium-sized local companies are most affected. Greater Louisville Inc., the region's chamber of commerce, wrote the Department of Labor last September to say that the rules would 'send shock waves' through the local economy and put more than 70,000 salaried employees back on hourly wages at a cost of more than $19 million a year. It also said that it would limit business owners' flexibility to provide benefits, set schedules and offer incentives to attract talent. GLI said this week that the department made some positive revisions before writing its final rule, but it 'still makes the critical errors of limiting flexibility, ignoring regional distinctions in compensation, and demanding full implementation by Dec. 1.' The group had urged a phase-in over three to five years. Banks, staffing and insurance companies and local manufacturers were among the 50 companies that signed the letter. The Courier-Journal contacted a worker at a local nonprofit and general manager of a fast-food pizza business. Both felt uncomfortable commenting and referred a reporter to supervisors. A sorority in the region contacted Jan Michele West, a partner with Goldberg Simpson who specializes in employment and business law, to ask how to handle a house manager who lives at a sorority house. The woman is salaried and being paid $35,000 to $40,000-plus. The organization didn't want to raise her salary over the $47,000 threshold but it also was concerned about running up overtime if it switched her to an hourly rate, West said. 'There is a lot of confusion,' particularly about classifying employees, she said. The policy institute's report shows that the changes could have the biggest impact on workers who are African American or Hispanic, those ages 16 to 24, and who are less educated with a high school diploma or some high school education. Leisure and hospitality businesses were among those expected to be most affected nationwide. The institute pointed out that it's high time the rules addressed the realities of the workplace. They 'were established to make sure that no one but higher-level workers with control over their time or tasks works overtime without getting paid for it.' But changes in 2004 made it easier to 'deprive' many lower-level workers of OT by tweaking their job descriptions, the EPI report said. Because some employers pushed the limits of the law, it led to 'widespread noncompliance and misclassification' that new rule should address, the group said. In Louisville, where the median income is $42,500, the changes are bound to hit hard on nonprofit groups and small businesses, Letke said, which should force them to devise strategies to suit their circumstances. Like West, she predicted that many companies will have to trim their payrolls or outsource work to stay within the rules. 'It's a real concern for businesses that are super price sensitive,' Letke said. As a former owner of several Qdoba fast-casual restaurants in Louisville, Don Doyle doubts the change will hamper restaurants and other businesses because many already have addressed the matter. His company had several salaried assistant managers before he sold his restaurants back to the parent company three years ago. Amid concerns about the requirement to demonstrate that those employees spent 50 percent of their time supervising others when they often jump in on many tasks during the day they converted them to hourly pay. They calculated their standard week was 50 hours, then they used a rate with 40 hours plus 10 hours of overtime pay at time and a half to determine each person's hourly rate. 'We didn't increase our costs' because assistant managers were paid the same as when they were salaried, Doyle said. 'In the final analysis,' he said, 'I don't believe it's going to cause a big disruption.' ___ Provisions of the final rule Sets the salary level required for exemption at $47,476 a year ($913 a week). Establishes a mechanism for salary and compensation levels eventually to increase every three years. The duties test, which is used to determine what job duties qualify workers for exempt status, remains unchanged. Highly Compensated Employee (HCE) compensation requirement is now $134,004 per year. The effective date is Dec. 1. For details, see https://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/final2016. Source: U.S. Department of Labor How letters brought this Burlington quilter to the love of her life Its a story where a man and woman fall in love against a background of world shaking events, overcome obstacles, and then settle down to a life of happy-ever-after. But it is not fiction. It is the NORWALK - Individuals who are interested in pursuing a career in business, health care, information technology or public safety are encouraged to visit the Norwalk Community College website (norwalk.edu) and peruse the summer 2016 non-credit catalog to learn about the various career and certificate programs that NCC offers. A wide variety of career and certificate programs are available, many of which can be completed in one semester. All courses equip students with the skills they need to embark on their desired careers. Programs are available in the following areas: Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Haeril Halim and Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 20 2016 Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo always has his own way of explaining the reasons behind the continual delays of the third round of executions of death row inmates despite the already well-managed preparations at the execution site on the Nusakambangan prison island in Central Java. From late last year until recent times, the former grandee of the pro-government Nasdem Party cited a number of reasons, including the slowing economy, the need to maintain bilateral harmony and ongoing legal processes, for delaying the executions. On Thursday he argued that it was unethical to conduct the executions within the next two months because of the preparations being made by the country to observe Ramadhan, which is scheduled to begin on June 6. Ramadhan will run until July 7, after which Muslims nationwide will celebrate Idul Fitri on July 8 and 9 to mark the end of the holy month. Prasetyo assured the public that no executions would be done before or during Ramadhan, with the most probable firm date of execution to be decided after Idul Fitri. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Hans Nicholas Jong (The Jakarta Post) Copenhagen Sat, May 21 2016 Women are the drivers of development and we should invest in them in order to promote development. That is the message of the Women Deliver conference, the largest global gathering to discuss womens and girls health, rights and wellbeing in the past decade. The idea of seeing women as more than reproductive beings, but rather an integral part of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda was the focus of the conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, along with a range of issues such as health in particular maternal, sexual, and reproductive health and rights and the inter-connectivity of gender equality, education, the environment and economic empowerment. Women are change makers and power houses. They deliver so much more than babies, Women Deliver CEO Katja Iversen told a room full of participants on Thursday, closing the curtain on the conference. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 21 2016 A bogus policeman was arrested on Thursday night after he allegedly damaged a Metro Mini minibus in South Jakarta on the same day, police said Friday. The suspect, identified as Angga Ardian Ola, 21, reportedly smashed the windshield, front windows and both rearview mirrors of a minibus serving the route between Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta and Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta. He was reported by the minibus driver and subsequently arrested. When the incident occurred, the suspect was apparently wearing a polo shirt displaying the Turn Back Crime slogan on the chest and the word Police on the back just like the garment commonly worn by Jakarta Police officers. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 21 2016 Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Agus Raharjo said on Friday that the recently signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Indonesian antigraft body and the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) of South Korea was aimed at improving the formers corruption prevention measures. Agus said the MoU, which was signed on May 16 at the Korean Presidential Palace in Seoul, includes assistance from the ACRC to help improve the information and technology system of the KPK, as well as to train KPK officials to be more tech-savvy. All forms of cooperation between the KPK and the ACRC are important for corruption prevention measures. We can learn a lot from our Korean counterpart, which is only authorized to deal with corruption prevention, Agus told reporters at the KPK headquarters in Kuningan, South Jakarta. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Tassia Sipahutar (The Jakarta Post) Sochi, Russia Sat, May 21 2016 Business partnership between Indonesia and Russia marks a new high with companies from both countries on track to seal a business deal worth total of US$15.8 billion on oil refinery and power plant projects. Indonesias and Russias oil and gas giants Pertamina and Rosneft will sign a $13.8 billion deal to develop Tuban refinery in East Java, which is crucial in the countrys drive to reduce reliance on oil imports. There is a strong interest from both countries to grow the partnership, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a joint press conference after meeting with President Joko Jokowi Widodo in Sochi, Russia, mulling a potential free trade zone. He also unveiled an investment interest from Russias Inter RAO for 1.8 gigawatt power plant projects worth $2.8 billion. Russias transportation and infrastructure firm JSC Russian Railways (RZD) is also interested in developing a passenger rail track in East Kalimantan, according to Indonesian government officials. Putin met with Jokowi ahead of the two-day ASEAN-Russia Summit that begins on Thursday. We agreed to boost Russias investment in Indonesia, in the sectors of maritime, infrastructure such as railway and port in Kalimantan, oil, energy and electricity, said Jokowi. Russias investment in Indonesia at the end of 2015 stood merely at $1 million, out of the total $29.27 billion foreign direct investment coming into the country. The figure is also lower than the $3.6 million investment in 2014. On Friday, Jokowi and an Indonesian delegation met with Rosneft, which controls more than 40 percent of Russias oil production, marking a new beginning for both countries business relations, as well as for the Tuban block and Pertamina. The official business agreement will be signed on Thursday in Jakarta. Pertamina previously held a beauty contest that included Saudi Arabias Aramco, Kuwaits Petroleum International, Chinas Sinopec, Indias Indian Oil and a consortium consisting of Thailands PTT Global Chemical Public Company and Thai Oil. With a new refinery to be developed with Rosneft, Pertamina seeks to produce around 300,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd). The firms will establish a joint venture (JV) for the partnership, with Pertamina holding a 55 percent stake and Rosneft controlling the remaining 45 percent. The President wants the joint venture to be created before year-end and to establish a storage at the site. Rosneft said that it was committed to making Tuban a regional hub, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno told a group of journalists after the meeting. Construction of the refinery is expected to begin in late 2017 or early 2018. Rosneft will be given a 40-year land development permit that can be extended for additional 10 years. In addition to the refinery construction, next weeks agreement will also pave the way for Pertamina to work on Rosnefts oil fields in Russia. They are committed to enable Pertamina participate in two to three oil fields, preferably in the eastern part, so that we can ship the oil more easily to Indonesia and realize our strategic petroleum reserves plan, Rini said. The oil fields, she added, should have reserves of minimum 200 million barrels to allow daily production of 35,000 barrels. In the meeting with Rosnefts top executives , Jokowi was accompanied by Rini, Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution, Trade Minister Thomas Lembong, Pertamina president director Dwi Soetjipto and Indonesian Ambassador to Russia M. Wahid Supriyadi. Business Council for Cooperation with Indonesia (RBIC) executive director Mikhail Kouritsyin and Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Mikhail Galuzin were present as well. Meanwhile, the Indonesian government will assign railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) to look into the possibilities of establishing a passenger rail track in East Kalimantan province, in partnership with Russian transportation and infrastructure firm JSC Russian Railways (RZD). Russian Railways has secured a specific permit to develop a rail track in the province, with the original intent to transport coal. However, as coal price remains low, the company is now looking to shift the track use to transporting passengers instead. But such a change requires a different permit, which is a general permit. We need time to look into this, Rini said, after attending a meeting with Russian Railways on Thursday. _____________________________ To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Surakarta Sat, May 21 2016 The city of Surakarta, Central Java, urgently requires an additional landfill site to replace the overloaded Putri Cempo (TPA). TPA Putri Cempo, located in Mojosongo subdistrict, has allegedly been filled to capacity for the past 10 years. The dump site was initially designed to accumulate garbage for up to 20 years, but the facility has been operating for almost 30 years. On average, TPA Putri Cempo receives 9 tons of garbage per month. Data provided by the Sanitary and Park Management Agency (DKP) in Surakarta suggests that the volume of garbage at the facility had reached 100.3 million tons in 2015, an increase from 92.4 million tons in 2013 and 96.2 million tons in 2014. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, May 22, 2016 Vice President Jusuf Kalla called for love and unity among all religions in Indonesia to help the country move forward during the celebration of Vesak Day in Central Java on Saturday. In his National Dharmasanti Vesak Day speech at the world's largest Budhist temple Borobudur in Magelang regency, Kalla said that amid the serious problems the world was facing, it was important that every citizen must work to preserve love and harmony between all the religions in Indonesia. "The world is facing many conflicts, economic issues and other things. Therefore we must increase unity, no matter what your religion is. Unity is key for the country's development," Kalla said in his speech on Saturday evening as quoted by kompas.com. As a sacred place for Budhists, but with people from various backgrounds helping to maintain it, Borobudur Temple reflects Indonesia's unity, he added. "We are here among people of various religions that do a very good job of maintaining Borobudur Temple. That is the big Indonesia, [a country] whose people respect one another," Kalla said. People from all walks of life have the same responsibility to contribute to Indonesia's welfare and justice, he added. Kalla attended the event along with Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Yuddy Chrisnandi, Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo and chairwoman of The Indonesian Buddhists Association (Walubi) Siti Hartati Murdaya, representatives of foreign countries and thousands of Buddhists from different parts of Indonesia. The event was closed with thousands of paper lanterns released from the temple. (rin) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ben Nuckols & David Dishneu (Associated Press) Washington Sun, May 22, 2016 A gunman shot by a US Secret Service officer outside the White House remained in critical condition in a Washington hospital Saturday, one day after the shooting, a hospital spokeswoman said. George Washington University Hospital spokeswoman Susan Griffiths would provide only his condition. She referred other questions to the Secret Service, but a spokesman for that agency, Robert Hoback, declined to discuss the case, citing the continuing investigation. On Friday, a US law enforcement official said that authorities identified the gunman as Jesse Oliveri of Ashland, Pennsylvania, about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to release the information. Secret Service Deputy Assistant Director David Iacovetti said Friday that one of the agency's officers shot the man once after he approached a checkpoint at about 3 p.m. and refused repeated commands to drop his weapon. Iacovetti said the gunman never made it inside the White House complex, and no one else was injured. The Metropolitan Police Department, the Secret Service, Park Police and the FBI said in a joint statement Friday night that there was "no known nexus to terrorism." Messages left Saturday at a home telephone number for Oliveri in Ashland weren't returned. Cathy Hadesty, who lives across the street in the wooded area, said police closed a section of the road near the house Friday night but reopened it by Saturday. Hadesty said she never met Oliveri and only knows the family "just to say, 'Hi,' when we're going down the driveway." "They've always been really good neighbors," she said. Court records show that Oliveri, 31, had just one recorded run-in with police in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, resulting in a 2004 guilty plea to careless driving. Associated Press writers Ron Todt in Philadelphia and Kathleen Hennessey in Washington contributed to this report. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Intan Tanjung (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, May 22, 2016 Its enchanting to learn about the people of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara and their traditional woven fabric. When you visit the island, you will see people wearing tenun ikat throughout the region. This ikat fabric is very important for us, Yosef Gervasius, an organizer of the Bliran Sina cultural center in Watu Blapi village, Maumere, told The Jakarta Post. The fabric must be present at all cultural occasions such as births, weddings and death ceremonies. It is also an important form of dowry that should be presented by a bride to her groom. (Read also: Cultural performances mark Tour de Flores celebration in Larantuka) At a wedding, the groom can bring money instead of woven ikat, but the woman should bring ikat, Yosef said. But if the bride-to-be brings fabric called kikir kobar, then the groom should be ready to bring a dowry worth the price of horse, he said. How we determine dowries is not about how much we have to pay, but its about equality. It symbolizes eternal unity, so they must work hard together and save up for the next generation. Flores women play an important role in preserving this heritage. They must master the skill of weaving as they are the ones responsible for making fabric for their husbands and children. There must be someone who can weave in almost every house, Yosef said. (Read also: Flores women weave a safety net for tradition) Yosef said girls usually started to learn about making fabric in the fourth grade of elementary school. Their first lesson is about rolling threads. The weaving lessons start later, when they reach the fifth grade of high school. First, they learn to make clothes for men. After mastering that, they start to make clothes for women. Ikat in Sikka regency is made manually using natural dyes, although Yosef said that nowadays a lot of fabrics were made using synthetic dyes, which could produce brighter colors. A popular pattern features a gecko, which locals call a dragon, a symbol of luck for those who see it. Flores people also keep old sacred fabrics that can only be worn at special ceremonies. These fabrics are usually handed down for many generations and are considered precious for the family. The cloth displays certain patterns, usually with one main strip featuring different motifs, such as pineapple flowers, a symbol of womens fertility, or a plate for offerings. (Read also: New handwoven textiles school to open in Kupang) Up to 52 patterns have been registered as trademarks by the regency administration, which is currently registering other designs as well. 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The North, Northeast, Central, East and upper South regions of the the kingdom will have a greater chance of heavy rains, so people in these areas are being warned of possible dangers of the rainstorm, the alert said. The cyclone will cause rough seas in the Andaman Sea and the upper part of the Gulf, it continued. "Owners of small boats have been told to avoid going out to sea next week due to the tidal waves which might be up to three meters high. Cyclone Roanu is currently in the Bay of Bengal and headed in a northeasterly direction at about 20 kilometers an hour. Winds near the eye of the storm are moving at about 75 kilometers per hour," it said. The Thai Met earlier this week put out a weather alert for the following provinces: Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang, Uttaradit, Phitsanulok, Tak, Phetchabun, Loei, Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Ratchasima, Surin, Buriram, Sisaket, Amnat Charoen, Ubon Ratchathani, Prachinburi, Sa Kaeo, Chonburi, Rayong, Chanthaburi, and Trat. The alert warned that strong winds could fell trees, billboards, and buildings in the middle of construction, citing that from May 19 - 22, a strong low pressure system in the Bay of Bengal was expected to form a cyclone heading into the India Ocean. Though the cyclone was not immediately expected to have direct effects on Thailand, the sytem would likely bring strong thunderstorms, rain and winds to the kingdom's North, Central Plains, East, and South from May 19 23. The effects could extend to volatile wave conditions in the upper Gulf of Thailand as well as the Andaman Sea, the alert warned. See original report here as well as here. Restaurant legals for starters PHUKET: From street food to high-end restaurants, from Thai to international cuisine, Thailand is a paradise for foodies. As of June 2015, there were 10,056 companies in the restaurant business with a total investment amount of approximately B67 billion. As the hospitality sector is restricted to foreigners, naturally the majority of investment (84 per cent) comes from Thai nationals. Foreign investment comes in with Americans (3%) and Japanese (2%) on top of the list. Sunday 22 May 2016, 10:00AM Even opening a small bar or restaurant requires several legal permits issued by the government before you can open your doors to patrons. Photo: KayEss The operation of a restaurant requires a license, that is, a permission by the Thai government. There are two types of government permission with regards to restaurant businesses: 1) the restaurant license; and 2) a certificate of notification. Restaurant License If the applicant wishes to set up a restaurant having an area exceeding 200 square meters, he or she must apply for a restaurant license from the local government. The local official shall issue the license within 30 days from the date of receipt of the application. All licenses are valid for one year from the date of issuance. They shall be displayed openly and conspicuously in the business establishment and can be used only in the jurisdiction of the issuing government agency. If the licensee fails to comply with the provisions of the ministerial regulations issued under the law of public health, or with the conditions specified in the license, the local official shall have the authority to withdraw or suspend the license for an appropriate period but not exceeding 15 days. Certification of Notice If the area is smaller than 200sqm, the applicant is only required to notify the local government. A certificate of notification shall be obtained before setting up the restaurant (Section 38 of the Public Health Act). The following documents will be required to support the notification: ID card of the applicant, lease agreement, medical certificate of staff, and any related license from a government agency (see below). The certificate shall be issued within seven working days from the date of receipt of the notification. After receiving the certificate, the recipient must display it openly and conspicuously at the business establishment. The licensee must renew the license annually before the expiration date. If the local official refuses to issue or renew the license or certificate and the order receiver does not agree with that order, he has a right to appeal, within 30 days from the date of refusal. Please note that small restaurants located in a food court or market are subject to specific rules. Related Licenses It should be noted that a restaurant business usually entails the application for other licenses, such as a liquor license and a construction permit. Liquor License A liquor license allows an establishment to sell alcohol legally. Establishments that require liquor licenses include pubs, bars, restaurants, distillers, importers, distributors, wholesalers, hotels, clubs, theatres, grocery stores and liquor stores. To obtain the liquor license under the Liquor Act, the applicant shall apply with the District Office or Local Excise Department. Construction Permit Furthermore, the premises of the restaurant must comply with building regulations, in particular the Building Control Act of 1979, and the applicant shall apply for a construction (or modification) permit for the restaurant. The application for such construction permit shall be granted or rejected within 45 days from the date of receipt thereof. As supporting documents, the applicant shall provide details concerning the plans for the buildings design, and state the names of building architects, contractors or engineers. It is important to note that specific laws exist for different types of construction. Operating without License Operating without a restaurant or related license constitutes a violation of the respective laws and regulations. Transgressions shall be punished by fine and/or imprisonment under the Public Health Act, the Liquor Act and Building Control Act, as applicable. It is interesting to note that a significant number of restaurants, in particular in tourist resort locations such as Phuket, operate without a legally required restaurant license or certificate of notice. The reasons for the lack of compliance are various. However, stringent enforcement of the existing laws is certainly desirable to achieve the Public Health Acts goals of transparency and quality control, and to maintain the high quality of food in Thailand. Mana Meerungruang, Fabian Doppler Fabian Doppler is Partner and Mana Meerungruang is Associate at FRANK Legal & TAX, a law firm with offices in Bangkok and Phuket (www.franklegaltax.com). This article is for reference purposes only, FRANK Legal & Tax disclaim any liability whatsoever for any damage caused by reliance on the contents of this article. American citizens are sick and tired of being made into tax slaves and forced to finance the personal economic needs of millions of foreigners who have invaded Americas borders. See Hillary Clinton vows to expand Obama amnesty to more illegals The problem with Hillarys desire to allow 10s of millions of illegals from Mexico and Central America to remain in our country is that they have, and are, squeezing Black workers out of decent paying jobs in the construction trades and service industry. See Civil-rights commish: Blacks hammered by illegal immigration Another shocking Hillary promise is to give taxpayer financed Obamacare to illegal aliens, which in turn makes Black American Citizens tax slaves to support the health care needs of the millions of foreigners who have invaded Americas borders.See Hillary Clinton: Illegal Immigrants Should Be Allowed To Get Taxpayer-Funded Obamacare Hillary also suggested that amnesty for illegal immigrants would allow them to get subsidies, worth roughly $5,000 per person per year!JWK On May 20, 2016, the U.S. Navy accepted delivery of the lead ship of the next generation, electric ship guided missile destroyer, Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Zumwalt (DDG 1000). The Navy announced the home port of the new combatant at Naval Base San Diego following its commissioning in Baltimore, on October 15 this year. Zumwalt is scheduled to arrive in San Diego in late 2016. Stationing destroyers in a West Coast port support the rebalance to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, placing our most advanced capabilities and greater capacity in that vital theater. By 2020, approximately 60 percent of Navy ships and aircraft will be based in the region. Zumwalt is the first U.S. Navy surface combatant to employ an innovative and highly survivable Integrated Power System (IPS) distributing 1000 volts of direct current across the ship. The IPS unique architectural capabilities include the ability to allocate all 78 megawatts of installed power to propulsion, ships service, and combat system loads from the same gas turbine prime movers based on operational requirements. DDG 1000 is the lead ship of a class of next-generation multi-mission surface combatants tailored for land attack and littoral dominance with capabilities to defeat current and projected threats. Zumwalt will triple naval surface fires coverage, add an improved SONAR system to track deep and shallow water threats, as well as pace current anti-ship cruise missile threats. For todays warfighter, DDG 1000 fills an immediate and critical naval warfare gap, meeting validated Marine Corps fire support requirements. The 610-foot, wave-piercing tumblehome ship design provides a wide array of advancements. The shape of the superstructure and the arrangement of its antennas significantly reduce radar cross section, making the ship less visible to enemy radar at sea. Each ship in the class features a battery of two Advanced Gun Systems, capable of firing Long-Range Land Attack Projectiles (LRLAP) that reach up to 63 nautical miles, providing three-fold range improvement in naval surface fires coverage. Each ship has 80 Advanced Vertical Launch System cells storing various weapons including Tomahawk cruise missiles, Evolved Sea Sparrow and Standard air defense missiles, and Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rockets (ASROC) (VLA). The ship will employ active and passive sensors and a Multi-Function Radar (MFR) capable of conducting area air surveillance, including overland, throughout the extremely complicated and cluttered sea-land interface. The multi-mission DDG 1000 is tailored for sustained operations in the littorals and land attack, and will provide independent forward presence and deterrence, support special operations forces, and operate as an integral part of joint and combined expeditionary forces. Its multi-mission design and littoral capabilities make it a 100 percent globally deployable asset to the Fleet. Construction of Zumwalt commenced in Feb. 2009 at the General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works (BIW) in Baltimore. The ship was launched on Oct. 29, 2013. BIW is also constructing follow-on ships, the future Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001) and Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002). Currently, the ship is conducting Hull, Mechanical, and Electrical tests and trials with a subsequent period to follow for combat and mission system equipment installation, activation, and testing. Six troopers were killed when an Assam Rifles convoy was ambushed on Sunday in Manipur's Chandel district by insurgents of the Corcom, the apex body of six proscribed underground organisations, officials said. The attackers also snatched four AK-47 assault rifles, an INSAS rifle, a light machine gun and ammunition, before fleeing the spot. While intelligence sources said six personnel including a junior commissioned officer were killed, Assam Rifles and police, while confirming the incident, declined to disclose the exact casualty figures. The convoy of 29 Assam Rifles was approaching Holenjang village from the main camp at Joupi in Chandel district bordering Myanmar at 1 p.m. when the insurgents detonated remote-controlled bombs and opened fire from several sides. The exchange of fire lasted about one hour. As news of the incident was received, reinforcements were rushed to the spot and operations launched to apprehend the perpetrators, who are believed to have escaped to no man's land between Manipur's border with Myanmar. On June 4 last year, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang and some other underground groups, had ambushed an army convoy in this district, killing 18 personnel of the Dogra Regiment on the spot and injuring 14 others. There is no basis to criticism that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is running a 'one-man show' and the perception that the society is getting polarised under the NDA government was totally misplaced, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar has said. The Environment Minister said a democratic decision-making process was being followed by the Modi government and all major decisions were taken after a consultative process. "I sometimes wonder that we should relay our Cabinet meetings to you (media). Then you will understand, what a Democratic functioning happens in the Cabinet. "Everybody can speak his mind, give his opinion. The Prime Minister never intervenes. He listens to all opinions and then he gives his opinion that what should be considered," said Javadekar, replying to a question about criticism that Modi had concentrated all power in his hands and takes major decisions on his own. Earlier this month, former Union minister Arun Shourie had hit out at Modi, accusing him of "narcissism" and running a one-man "Presidential government". Asked about criticism that the society is becoming polarised under the NDA rule, Javadekar rejected the charge, saying the Prime Minister repeatedly refers to 125 crore Indians as one entity. "Polarisation is not our government or party's agenda, never. We are for a united India. We believe in one people, one nation.... The Prime Minister never discriminates amongst the people. He talks about 125 crore people as one entity," Javadekar told PTI in an interview. He said the Opposition parties were raising insignificant issues to attack the government. "The opposition parties have lost their game. Therefore they are bereft of any real issue. They are now doing research to find out some issue and they cling to it," said Javadekar. Asked whether the Centre could have handled the Uttarakhand issue in a better way, he said, "It is not the government alone. There was a situation and a Governor's report. President acts on Governor's report. Things were happening. But Ultimately court also has a role and they played it." Asked why government was not being able to bring back blackmoney as promised by BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Javadekar said it had done a lot to curb the menace. "We have made laws more stringent to contain blackmoney. Every lead which comes to government on blackmoney, we take it to its logical conclusion. Thousands of matters are being scrutinized and hundreds of cases have been filed in courts," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday arrived in Iran on a two-day visit, which will see India and the Persian Gulf nation working on enhancing economic partnership that includes a possible deal on developing the strategic Chabahar port. "Reached Iran, a land with whom India shares civilisational ties. Hope to enhance economic partnership between our nations. I also hope my Iran visit further cements cultural and people-to-people ties between India and Iran," Modi tweeted. The first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Islamic nation in the last 15 years, Modi was received at the Mehrabad International Airport here by Iran's Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia, after which he left for a local Gurudwara to meet people of Indian origin in Tehran. Formal talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are scheduled for tomorrow morning after a ceremonial welcome for the Prime Minister. Rouhani will also host a lunch for him. Modi will also call on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well before his return. Ahead of his arrival, Modi in a series of tweets said, "Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority." "My meetings with President Rouhani and Hon'ble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership," the Prime Minister added. Besides signing a deal on development of Phase-1 of the Chabahar port, India is looking at doubling oil imports from the Persian Gulf nation, which a few years back was its second-biggest oil supplier, as well as making progress on getting rights to develop a giant gas field in the energy-rich country. India's Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari will also be present there for the signing of the agreement on Chabahar port. Post-sanctions Iran has seen a flurry of diplomatic and business activities with leaders from China to Korea courting Tehran. In the run-up to Modi's visit, Transport Minister Gadkari, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had visited Tehran. Stating that he looked forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar agreement during his visit, the Prime Minister said "India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region." Modi began his crucial two-day visit to the energy-rich nation by offering his obeisance at the Iran capital city's only functioning Gurdwara. He will also inaugurate an International Conference on 'retrospect and prospect' of India and Iran relations. "I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today & tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani," he added. In an interview to Iran's IRNA news agency before his arrival here, Modi said the two countries have "always focused to add strength to our relations, even during the difficult times. In the current context, both countries can look to expand our cooperation in the fields of trade, technology, investment and infrastructure and energy security." Stating that India's public and private sector firms were keen on investing in Iran, he said the signing of agreement on development of Chabahar port will provide wider connectivity. Chabahar is a port in South-East Iran that will enable India to bypass Pakistan and open up a route to land-locked Afghanistan with which New Delhi has close security ties and economic interests. "Lifting of the international sanctions against Iran has opened up immense opportunities for both the countries, especially in the economic sphere," Modi said, adding India is keen to enhance its investment in the Persian Gulf nation and also welcomes flow of capital and investments from there. The energy sector, he said, was one of the most important dimensions of bilateral economic ties and with investment in development of Farzad-B gas field, the relationship would go beyond the buyer-seller dealings to being genuine partners. On impending meetings with Iranian leaders, Modi said: "Iran is part of our extended neighbourhood, an important nation in the region and one of India's valuable partners. "We are connected with each other by the shared history and civilisational ties. We have shared interest in peace, stability and prosperity of the region. Combating the menace of international terrorism and radical ideologies is a common challenge." He further said taking concrete steps for enhancing regional connectivity is one of the most important and promising dimensions of the ties between India and Iran. "Building a genuine energy partnership, cooperation in the infrastructure, ports, railway and petrochemicals sectors and developing the age-old civilisational ties through people-to-people exchanges in the modern times will also be a priority," Modi said. [COMMUNICATED CONTENT] Yeshuos Rashbi wants to give you the chance to actually come and join us this year in Meron. During last years campaign, so many people reached out to us with their personal stories and challenges that they are looking for yeshuos. I started to think, wouldnt it be amazing if we could give someone an opportunity to come daven themselves in Meron! said Rabbi Yehoshua Biderman the founder of Yeshuos Rashbi. More than 430 years ago, the first Rashbi hachnassas orchim group was formed to prepare for the special days gigantic crowds. In 1998 Rabbi Yehoshua Biderman founded Yeshuos Rashbi to continue this tradition. This year Yeshuos Rashbi is preparing for the largest crowd ever. Israeli Authorities predict over 500,000 people throughout the day. Yeshuos Rashbi is preparing the single largest Seduas Hilulah for Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai in Meron AND YOU CAN JOIN US! Why Meron? On the 33rd day of the Omer, Rebbe Shimon left this world. The Zohar describes, he gathered his closest students together and shared with them the secrets of the Holy Torah. He told them that this day should be a day of rejoicing and celebration because it is my day of joy. The Zohar describes how as his bed was surrounded with a pillar of fire entering the cave floating on air, a Heavenly Voice called out, Come and gather for the hillulah of Rebbe Shimon. The tradition of celebrating the hillulah has spanned thousands of generations. Rav Chaim Vital describes the Arizal visiting Meron on Lag Bomer. In the 15th Century thousands would travel from all over Asia and Africa to visit Meron on this holy day. Families came from as far as Damascus and Baghdad. Bonfires were lit in honor of the Rashbi and people would dance and study Zohar the whole night. Later in history, The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh got off his donkey and crawled up the mountain with his hands and feet to celebrate this holy day, and when he reached the top he was overcome with emotion and was very joyous on this special occasion. Today, hundreds of thousands of Jews flock to Meron for the largest Jewish gathering in the world, to unload their burden and daven for salvation. They dance together the whole night in celebration of this holy day. Chai Rotel Segulah Rav Aharon of Karlin says that all those who believe in Rebbe Shimon will be uplifted by Rebbe Shimon. Countless people have seen tremendous yeshuos either for children, marriage, livelihood, or health, because they have contributed to increasing the simcha of Lag Bomer in Meron. The Taamei HaMinchagim says that numerous people have been helped by donating Chai Rotel for the seuda in Meron. Rotel is an ancient measurement and 18 rotel is roughly 54 liters of wine. The practice of donating money for food and drinks in Meron is supported by such luminaries like Rav Ovadia MBartenura and the Sheloh Hakadosh. Rabbi Yehudah Leib Horenstein, Tal LeYisroel,writes that he met two people on Lag Bomer in Meron that donated Chai Rotel and had children after more than 10 years of marriage. The Bobover Rav, The Kedushas Tzion, sent a letter from Poland to his Chassidim in Israel asking them to donate chai rotel in Meron on this holy day on behalf of a couple that did not have children. Power of the Rashbi The Sages explain that miracles were routine for Rebbe Shimon and the Talmud describes many stories about the miraculous wonders Rebbe Shimon performed even after he has left this world. The Arizal says, On Lag Bomer the Tanna Rashbi stands at his holy resting place and blesses each and every person that comes to pray there and rejoice in his name on his holy Yartzeit. On the day Rebbe Shimon left this world, a fire was ignited that will never be extinguished. On each and every Lag Bomer, sparks fly from the fire to ignite the hearts and minds of all the Jews present, inspiring them to turn their lives back towards Hashem. It was non-other than Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai who proclaimed, I can absolve this whole generation from judgment. So many people beg us to daven on their behalf on this special day for children, parnassa, shidduchim and health and year after year we get to hear incredible stories of success. This is what keeps us going year after year. We invite you to come and join us in the Simcha Lkavod Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai. Help Yeshuos Rashbi prepare for the largest Seudas Hilulah in Meron by generously donating Chai Rotel. By increasing simcha on Lag Bomer, Hashem will surely increase the simcha in your life. Donate today by visiting www.yeshuosrashbi.com or call 718-705-8430 or email [email protected] Drawing will be held on Sunday May 22, 2016 at 11:59pm. A number of months ago, Education Minister Naftali Bennett announced he would block chareidi efforts to eliminated the regulation compelling teaching core subjects in schools receiving government funding. However, according to a Channel 10 News report filed by Amri Meniv, the Knesset Law Committee on Sunday, 14 Iyar is going to eliminate this regulation and this is just what occurred despite Bennetts opposition. That means chareidi schools that do not teach core subjects are still entitled to state funding. The chareidim succeeded in undoing yet another regulation set into place during the previous administration when the chareidim were in opposition. The bill is the initiative of MKs Uri Maklev, Yaakov Margi and Moshe Gafne. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Deputy Education Minister Meir Porush has finally agreed to resign from Knesset to permit Yaakov Asher to enter Knesset. While Porush will no longer be a MK he will continue serving as a Deputy Minister since the latter is not dependent on the former. This permits the Degel faction of Yahadut Hatorah bring in a third representative, bringing an end to rising tensions between the litvish and chassidish factions of the party. Porush last week reportedly visited with a number of admorim from the Moetzas Gedolei Yisrael who gave their bracha for the move, which is hoped will lower tensions within the party. In return for clearing the way for Asher to enter Knesset, Degel Hatorah has agreed to give significant authority of Chinuch Atzmai to the representative from Porushs Shlomei Emunim faction, hopefully bringing an end to that long-standing machlokes too. Porush officially submitted his resignation from Knesset on Sunday, 14 Iyar. The resignation takes effect in 48 hours. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Six Jews were injured in acts of terror last week as the silent intifada continues with attacks against Jews in many areas around Israel. According to the Kol Yehudi report, during the period of erev Shabbos to erev Shabbos ending on Friday 12 Iyar, there were in fact 151 acts of terrorism including bombs, gunfire, firebombs, stones and arson attacks. Two citizens were injured in rock-throwing attacks in the Binyamin Regional Council of Shomron and four members of security forces were injured in Arab violence in Issawiya and A-Tur an el-Aroub. An Arab was apprehended in the Mishor Adumim area with a knife on Shabbos. He admitted he planned to stab Jews. On Thursday evening border policemen spotted a suspicious Arab male boarding a bus at Shuafat. They got onto the bus and checked him and he too was carrying a knife, which he admitted he planned to use to stab a Jew at Shar Yafo. On the night between Sunday and Monday a rocket was fired from Gaza. Bchasdei Hashem it landed in an open area. Arabs perpetrated arson attacks in a number of areas, taking advantage of the hot and dry conditions from the heat-wave. Arson fires were reported in Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, near an IDF base near Har Bracha in the Shomron, in Pisgat Zeev and Kiryat Arba. There was also a bomb attack at Kever Rochel. In addition, there were many rock-throwing attacks in many areas throughout Yehuda and Shomron. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Yehuda Glick is the newest Likud MK, who will be entering to replace Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, who submitted his resignation from the Knesset and cabinet last week. Glick on Sunday morning 14 Iyar spoke with Kol Chai Radios Moti Lavi, sharing some of his hashkafa hours before entering Knesset. KC: Your image for many is one of extremism. Is this who you really are? Please share some thoughts with us towards permitting us to become acquainted with the real Yehuda Glick. Glick: Yes, indeed I am an extremist pertaining to certain issues, including human rights for all as well as religious freedom. KC: Does this include Palestinians? Glick: They are human beings too. Yes, including them and all others. I am against the use of administrative detention with the exception of a few extreme case for both Jews and Arabs. At present, the administrative detention is overused and abused in Israel. KC: What is your position pertaining to the induction of chareidim, bnei yeshivos into the IDF? Glick: I have two sons serving in the IDFI believe we should all contribute to society and there are those involved in limud Torah. We should make an effort to increase the civilian service programs for those chareidim not really learning but the bottom line is to give a chizuk to lomdei Torah. KC: What about the Reform Movement, which has recently made significant advances? Glick: The Reform have rights like all other persons and there are human beings and the Chief Rabbis of Israel should meet with them. In Israel the movement represents a very small number of individuals. I do not think a Reform rabbi should serve as an appointed rav of a city for example. However, I do not agree with placing them in cherem. As religious Jews we are compelled to act in a certain fashion towards bringing others closer and cherem does not achieve this. KC: What about a couple on a southern kibbutz that wishes to get married with a Reform rabbi for example? Glick: I think we have reached a place that is not where we should be. Halacha says we do not need a rav at all for a marriage rather recitation of Harei At Mekudeshes Li and witnesses. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel should release regulations pertaining to how a chupah must be conducted and this does not include a rav, and persons can then be married as they wish and a rav is unnecessary. Moti, I am sorry but I did not prepare for such a lengthy interview and have to go. I would like to thank everyone and I daven to HKBH that I will be a worthy shaliach. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) MK (Machane Tzioni) Tzipi Livni is calling for the formation of a leftist-centrist bloc in Knesset to protect joint interests as she puts it. Livni is among the leading critics of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahus policies and has spoken out harshly following the resignation of Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, accusing the government of becoming increasingly extremist. Speaking with Reshet Bet Radio on Sunday morning, she stated the split in the left-wing and centrist camps is preventing unseating the coalition, which she views as an urgent priority. She stated she discussed her initiative with party leader MK Yitzchak Herzog, quoting him as saying he too is on board. She feels Israel is in the midst of a values crisis, adding anyone who feels democracy is dear to him will have to join in. She told Reshet Bet that she fears a coalition including both Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman will serious compromise some of the nations most precious values. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) This is Money rounds-up the Sunday newspaper share tips. Midas tips British firm Watkin Jones, a major player in the student accommodation sector and updates on infrastructure firm 3i. The Sunday Telegraph believes that Royal Mail faces challenges, but she shares are still worth holding while The Sunday Times runs the rule over flagging tour operator Thomas Cook. MAIL ON SUNDAY There are not many British companies which can trace their roots back to the 18th Century. Even fewer are still run by the same family. But Bangor-based Watkin Jones is one of that rare breed. Starting out as a joinery business in 1791, the group is now among the main players in the student accommodation sector, having built 88 sites across the country with a further 31 in the pipeline. The company has also moved into the burgeoning private rental sector, building modern apartment blocks that are specifically aimed at people who want to rent. >> READ THE FULL MIDAS COLUMN HERE Anglian Water Group, the Dutch National Military Museum and an electricity distribution network in Finland may not seem to have much in common. But they are all owned or part-owned by 3i Infrastructure, a company spun out of the private equity group 3i in 2007 to focus on a wide range of infrastructure assets. Midas first looked at the business in January 2011 when the shares were 114.5p. >> READ THE FULL MIDAS UPATE COLUMN HERE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH Royal Mail shares retreated from their highest levels this year after the delivery companys annual figures demonstrated how tough the UK postal market has become in the face of competition from Amazon and FedEx. Royal Mail reported a three per cent increase in the number of parcels delivered in the year to the end of March, but only a one per cent increase in revenue to 3.2billion. Letter volumes declined by three per cent and revenues were two per cent lower at 4.47billion. Total group revenue slipped one per cent lower to 7.7billion. It still owns a lucrative prime London property portfolio that is currently being developed. The company is clearly experiencing a challenging time while trying to undergo a major restructuring. That said, the shares are pricing in plenty of that bad news, trading on a forward price to earnings ratio of 11, a 30 per cent discount to the wider FTSE 100 on 16 times. We think the dividend yield of about 4.7 per cent is affordable, and the shares remain a good, long-term bet. Hold. SUNDAY TIMES Thomas Cooks bookings for summer are down five per cent. The company saw its shares plunge 19 per cent after the results, at one point sinking to a three-year low of close to 70p. A minor rally on Friday did little to lift the gloom among investors. It was a bad week for the tour operator, but could things get worse? Just as the era of the high street travel agent is dying, the package holiday could head the same way. The internet allows consumers to tailor packages with little hassle, often for a lower price. Thomas Cook will mark its 175th anniversary with a gala ball in London this summer. The invitation promises senior figures from politics, business and the media. A rescue deal for BHS is expected within days, as MPs prepare to grill Goldman Sachs on its links to former owner Sir Philip Green. Plea: BHS collapsed last month, a year after it was sold by Green for 1 to twice-bankrupt Dominic Chappell The retailer collapsed last month, a year after it was sold by Green for 1 to twice-bankrupt Dominic Chappell. A source said a deal will come early this week which could save 11,000 jobs. The Work and Pensions Select Committee will question Goldman Sachs over the informal advice it gave on BHS to Greens holding company, Taveta Investments. One of Britains biggest bakeries is slashing pay for Sundays and breaks following the introduction of the National Living Wage, confidential documents reveal. Bradgate Bakery, part of catering giant Samworth Brothers which owns Ginsters pasties and makes half of the UKs pork pies, is to cut back on overtime, paid breaks and weekend perks for its 5,000 staff after legal changes introduced last month. The firm has denied making cuts after criticism from Labour MP Joan Ryan during a debate on the living wage in Parliament in April. Making changes: Bradgate Bakery is to cut back on overtime, paid breaks and weekend perks for its 5,000 staff But a leaked memo, seen by the Mail, told staff: You will continue to receive a break of 30 minutes in each eight-hour shift. You will not be paid for this break, but you will compensated by the increase in your standard rate of pay. Under the new pay policy staff earn 7.94 per hour 74p more than the living wage and 1.05 more than the old minimum wage. But lunch breaks will be unpaid and double pay on Sundays of 13.78 per hour will be reduced and eventually scrapped by 2019. This means staff will be 4.78 worse off per hour, or 45.13 out of pocket for each Sunday shift, taking into account unpaid breaks. From April 1 all workers aged 25 and over must be paid the new living wage of 7.20 an hour 50p more than the previous minimum wage. A string of firms including Morrisons, Tesco and Waitrose have been accused of reducing other staff benefits to offset the costs. Caffe Nero has withdrawn free food for staff at lunch, and sandwich chain Eat is no longer paying employees for their breaks. Midday today marks the deadline for bids to save the British steel industry and 15,000 jobs with rivals collaborating and latecomers joining the race to buy Tata Steel. Indian-owned Tata announced its withdrawal from the UK in March and so far seven bidders have shown an interest in the loss-making business. Excalibur Steel and Liberty House, who are both in the running, are understood to have held talks and are expected to make separate offers declaring a willingness to work together. Keeping up the pressure: The whole of the British steel industry along with 15,000 jobs is at risk Meanwhile US turnaround specialist Wilbur Ross is thought to have made it onto the Tata shortlist at the eleventh hour. The 78-year-old has a track record for rescuing failing companies across the steel, coal and telecommunications industries and staging leveraged buyouts. Other bidders include Endless, Greybull Capital, JSW Steel, Nucor, and Hebei Iron and Steel Group. Tata is only considering offers for the whole of its UK steel business, and is not accepting bids from parties hoping to carve out the best assets. Business secretary Sajid Javid will fly out to Mumbai, India, ahead of a meeting on Wednesday where the parent company will mull over the refined bids. Tata will also publish its annual report the same day, which is expected to reveal the extent of the firms financial woes. Its 48-year-old UK boss Bimlendra Jha has blamed Tatas withdrawal on structural weaknesses in the UK around energy costs and business rates, and said that if British energy prices were the same as in Germany, Tata would be 40m better off. The Government has already offered hundreds of millions of pounds in support to potential buyers, including the option of taking a 25 per cent stake in the firm alongside other buyers. S. Corvallis project The story: Developers who own 50-plus acres of property along Highway 99W south of downtown Corvallis want to build housing on the property which could house up to 800 residents. The parcel lies between Southeast Goodnight Avenue and Southeast Rivergreen Avenue. The latest: After a series of delays, the application was reviewed by the Corvallis Planning Commission at a May 18 public hearing. Commissioners approved all four applications, including ones that change the zoning from industrial to residential. Because one of the applications is a comprehensive plan amendment the commissions recommendation must be reviewed by the City Council. Councilors are scheduled to take action on that review June 6. James Day Kings Blvd. appeal The story: The Corvallis Planning Commission and the City Council have denied an application from GPA1 that intended to establish an alignment for the extension of Northwest Kings Boulevard in the Timberhill area. The Planning Commission said no to the plan in December, with the City Council acting in January. GPA1 appealed the decision. The latest: The state Land Use Board of Appeals will hold oral arguments in the case at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the first floor board room of the Department of State Lands building at 775 Summer Street NE in Salem. James Day Council goals The story; The city of Corvallis budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year included $190,000 for work on the six goals the City Council established for the two-year election cycle. Because of the cost of consulting work, particularly on the vision and action plan and climate action plan goals, the city will spendi more than $190,000 before the fiscal year ends June 30. The latest: The City Council at its May 16 meeting approved shifting $40,500 from Community Development Department funds to the city managers office to make up the difference. City Manager Mark Shepard noted that the proposed 2016-17 budget includes $130,000 for council goals. Shepard said that the city anticipates spending only $90,000 during the next fiscal year and that the total expenditures will not exceed the budgeted two-year total of $320,000. James Day Commission vacancies The story: Three positions on the Historic Resources Commission and three more on the Planning Commission come up for renewal at the end of June. Councilors interviewed candidates for the two bodies May 3 at a work session. The latest: Councilors returned Cathy Kerr and Roz Keeney to their seats on the Historic Resources Commission, with one seat remaining vacant. Susan Morre and Tom Jensen were returned to their seats on the Planning Commission. Developer Jim Boeder was added to the Planning Commission. He will replace Dan Brown, who chose not to seek another term. James Day The Co-operative Group launched a major rebranding of its business this weekend with a new discount scheme for members in a bid to shake off the crisis and scandal that rocked it three years ago. The group is bringing back the blue and white logo familiar to older shoppers but which was phased out in the 1980s. The new discount system is aimed at helping it compete in the fierce price wars battering supermarkets. It hopes to boost its five million membership by a million over the next five years. And in a move to recover its community image, it will direct some of its profits to community projects to be chosen by members locally. In the bag: The group has brought back its famous blue and white logo The discounts and community donations will amount to about 100 million a year. The plans were unveiled yesterday by Co-operative Group chairman Allan Leighton as the flagship policy for the groups renewal. Co-op Group hit crisis in 2013 when a financial black hole at the Co-op Bank drove the group to a 2.3 billion loss. Exclusive revelations by The Mail on Sunday of drug-taking by then chairman Paul Flowers heaped scandal and humiliation on the group. Under the new plans, Co-op members will pocket an automatic 5 per cent discount on all own-brand products including food, insurance, legal services and funerals, starting in the autumn. The group is hoping it will boost loyalty as only 25 per cent of sales are made to members at present. It plans to raise that to 50 per cent. A further 1 per cent about 15 million a year will be allocated to 1,500 community clusters of Co-op businesses. Staff will draw up a shortlist of projects and members will be able to vote on how the money is spent. Eventually, the Co-op plans to allow members to propose their own projects. The much-loved Co-op divi, suspended during the groups cash crisis, is expected to return in 2018. Leighton said: We are on the verge of creating a new Co-op economy. He took the chairmanship of the group last year after a one-member, one-vote system replaced a hierarchy of regional Co-ops which controlled and elected the group board. The blue and white logo, which the Co-op said had been updated, will be rolled out across stores, funeral homes and other buildings in an ongoing 1.3 billion investment plan. David Harrelson banged a drum Saturday afternoon alongside the trickling Lamprey Creek n a blessing ceremony honoring the creek and the fish it will forever be named after. There is an obligation between people and fish. In order to fulfill the obligation, we have to know these animals and find a place for them in our society, Harrelson, a tribal member of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, said following the blessing. This naming ceremony is immensely important, and so is respecting place and ones ancestors. I value this a great deal. The 3-mile-long tributary of Oak Creek had no official name until last August, when it was christened Lamprey Creek by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names at the request of a group of local residents. On Saturday, the celebration known as the Lamprey Creek Awakening called attention to the Pacific lamprey, an eel-like migratory fish that was an important food source for Native Americans in the Northwest. The ceremony at the closed Fire Station No. 5 also honored the researchers dedicated to restoring local lamprey, which is now in steep decline throughout the region. Today is a marvelous day, said Carl Schreck, professor of Fisheries at Oregon State University. Were honoring a fish with the name. But I think more importantly, were recognizing forever that these animals are an important part of our environmental ecosystem. It elevates our ecological consciousness and recognizing how important it is to preserve ever cog in the wheel to have our ecological machine working. In addition to the ecological impact, Ward 8 City Councilor Frank Hann said the naming of Lamprey Creek provided a connection to the areas past, present and future, and honored the powerful impact culturally, spiritually and nutritionally for those who lived here for thousands of years. (The lamprey) is the oldest fish to inhabit our city, Hann said. Were very grateful for Lamprey Creek. And were grateful there are so many people in the area who care enough to protect it. Hann noted that the naming should also provide a significant help to the communitys safety. We had an accident (in the creek) recently, Hann said. Without a name, without a location on a map, it was difficult for the police and fire department to respond to the person in distress. Saturdays ceremony also featured educational displays and demonstrations about Pacific lamprey at the Walnut Community Room, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon State University and local nonprofits. Im honored to be here today to dedicate this creek, said David Close, Oregon State University fisheries biologist and member of the Cayuse Nation. All of the work the university has done here has been outstanding. This is a story of reconciliation. The war with Japan in the Pacific was a necessary and massive undertaking, with the survival of a nation at stake. The casualty numbers for just Japan and United States alone are staggering. The United States lost 111,606 people and suffered 253,142 wounded, while the Japanese lost 1.74 million and suffered 94,000 wounded. Beyond the strategies, campaigns, reasons and motivations, for the men who did the fighting, it was personal. Their decision whether to reach out and offer closure to the families of their enemies, some 70 years later, is personal as well. Corvallis resident Larry Dale kept the small Japanese flag for more than 60 years. The retired educator got it from his older brother, Robert LeRoy "Roy" Dale, a Navy veteran who served as a sonarman during the Second World War. The flag, covered with messages written in Japanese, like so many others, had been taken from an anonymous dead Japanese soldier on some island at some time during the war. Every Japanese soldier carried the flags, called Yosegaki Hinomaru, or Good Luck Flags. They got them as gifts from family members just before shipping out, and friends and family would write on them notes of health and good luck. Dales flag is one of probably tens of thousands that were snatched up as a war prize by American, British and Australian soldiers fighting in the Pacific. Now, 70 years since the Japanese surrender, there is a growing effort by veterans and their families to return the flags to the families of the soldiers who lost them. Roy Dale died in 2004 in Lewiston, Idaho. Three years ago, Larry Dale realized that maybe somebody in Japan would like to have the flag back, and he decided hed like to find a way to return it. His good friend, retired Corvallis dentist Russ Yamada, mentioned a couple from Astoria who had been accepting the flags and working to return them. Dale drove to Astoria to meet with Rex and Keiko Ziak, founders of the OBON Society, a two-person operation that receives, identifies and returns the flags to Japanese families. The Ziaks would become the de facto curators of the flags after an event in 2007, when Keiko, who had lost her grandfather in Burma during the war, got a call from a Canadian family who said they had something they would like to return. Keiko said she had only known of her grandfather through stories, so when she was able to hold and read the flag he carried, it was an incredibly moving experience. She said it was like he had returned. Keikos family considered the surprise return a one-time miracle. But it wasnt until 2009, when Rex traveled to Kyoto to meet Keikos family, that she told him the story of the flag. From there, an idea was born that has grown into an operation that receives dozens of flags each month and has managed to return 60 Yosegaki Hinomaru to families in Japan. From hatred to closure The significance of the movement to return the flags, within the context of the nature of that war, cannot be overstated. A genuine and dark hatred for the Japanese filled the ranks of the soldiers, sailors and Marines fighting in the Pacific. In his 1986 book War Without Mercy, historian John Dower describes the propaganda, sentiment and attitudes on both sides of the fight, telling stories of brutality and anger for the enemy. Japanese soldiers, having been told they were part of the superior Yamato race, considered enemy soldiers inferior and treated captured soldiers with contempt and brutality. They were also trained since childhood to think like warriors, and brought an intense and merciless code to the battlefield. On the American side, the Japanese were not simply considered an enemy to be defeated. They were imagined as inhuman creatures in need of extermination. Dower cites American Vice Admiral Arthur Radford, who was quoted toward the end of the war as saying, Japan will eventually be a nation without cities a nomadic people. Certainly the fight in the Pacific was one of the most brutal and unforgiving in the nation's history. But soldiers know the reality of what they're required to do in war, and today we understand a little better the emotional toll of any fight. From such a violent and hateful environment, thousands of young men came home with their Yosegaki Hinomaru keepsakes, which would rest in boxes or hang on den walls for decades, until enough time had passed for a sense of compassion to cultivate. The process of returning the flags, said Rex Ziak, is powerfully emotional for the Americans as well as the Japanese. He said the people trying to return the flags want to talk to the families and express their sorrow for the war. Its not unusual that people will cry when talking about this, he said. We thought the first benefit would be to the Japanese, but the times have changed and that war has moved far enough back in history. The Americans sincerely want to know what happens to these flags. Some recipients, upon receiving the flag, have said it was the first time in their lives that they felt their lost relative close to them. To the Japanese, it is the spirit of the person, having come home, Rex said. How they do it To receive the Yosegaki Hinomaru, Rex and Keiko maintain a post office box in Astoria. Once they get a flag, the real work begins. The flags, of course, dont come with a Japanese return address. Many of them are badly damaged or faded. After unwrapping the flag, they document and photograph it, and then determine a strategy to search for its home family. Keiko, along with a team of scholars, looks for a family name, what is written on the flag, the cultural significance of different symbols or references, as well as the fabric and construction; many of the flags were produced and sold in shops, while others may have been hand-sewn. Sometimes its a factory name, or the name of a school, that offers a clue. Other times a family reference or, in the best cases, a prefecture or village name will narrow the search. Each flag requires extensive research and interpretation before a family can be contacted. Rex and Keiko maintain a collection of the flags, each one awaiting the completion of the repatriation process. While the effort to return the flag is part of the process, Rex said some of the families will also write letters to accompany the flags and the Japanese families will sometimes write back. Others include photographs of themselves or their relatives, holding the captured flag during the war, surrounded by fellow soldiers. Its providing closure on both sides of the ocean, he said. Still, not everyone affected by that war is prepared to embrace the idea. Larry's wife, Patty Dale, says some acquaintances from her generation have questioned why they would want to return the flag to such a bitter and treacherous enemy. "I just don't understand how, after all there years, it should matter at all," she said. "It was a long time ago." A modern relevance On May 27, President Barack Obama will visit Hiroshima, a city that was destroyed by an American atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945. His will mark the first visit by a sitting U.S. president. The trip will be symbolic, with the implicit goal of showcasing the close alliance between the two nations. Obama is not expected to offer an official apology for the bombing; rather, he is expected to offer a vision for a shared future. The timing of the Hiroshima visit, and the recent acknowledgement by the Japanese government of the OBON Society, plays well on a geopolitical level, according to Ken Ruoff, a history professor at Portland State University and director of the Center for Japanese Studies. The rise of China is making Japan and the Japanese hug the United States closer, he said. At that level, these sorts of micro levels of reconciliation only emphasize that dynamic. Ruoff is a respected Japan scholar and the author of the 2010 book, Imperial Japan at Its Zenith, as well as The Peoples Emperor: Democracy and the Japanese Monarchy, 1945-1995, which in 2004 won the Japanese equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. He offers a separate perspective on the Yosegaki Hinomaru story. I do think that theres this added edge, he said. Im not sure that if the U.S. and Japan were not allies, that the government of Japan would have recognized this organization. It plays well in the narrative of the unparalleled U.S.-Japan alliance. Ruoff also said the act of returning the flags is cathartic on both sides, while also serving as a reminder of a bad time for Japan. Were talking about a war that for Japan and the Japanese, its the bad war, he said. Its a war that victimizes almost every family. Ruoff also noted the irony that the flags, as fragile as they are (they are, after all, more than 70 years old and have endured a war), likely would not have survived to be returned if the Americans hadnt brought them home as souvenirs. When departing Japanese soldiers got the flags, Ruoff said, they would take part in big ceremonies that made the person feel like he was doing something truly special. But the relatives who were waving the flags might actually be hugely angry at the government for having drafted their son, he added. In terms of ultimate closure, Rex Ziak believes returning the flags serves as a powerful healing act, citing the fact the Japanese have more than 1 million soldiers listed as missing in action in the Pacific. What lingers are these broken hearts and hard feelings, he said. So this is really about ending the war. But with such a complex and violent history that moves beyond aggression with just the United States, Ruoff qualifies the sentiment, and refers to the ongoing tension between Japan and Korea and China, two nations Japan invaded. Its tying up individual threads of the war, he said of the flag returns. I dont think its completely closure. In fact, while the gesture of returning the flags signifies a need to close the wounds of that war, both China and Korea hold very different ideas. The Japanese government has attempted almost every decade since the early 1950s to apologize to the Korean people for its actions during the war, and Korean officials have consistently refused the apology. Further, Ruoff pointed to anecdotes suggesting that some Chinese believe the flags are akin to Nazi flags, and so they find it offensive that anyone would want to return them. Nevertheless, the spirit of the flag returns by individual soldiers who defeated the Japanese is significant on a human level. Japanese civilians were told during the war that American combat troops were so ruthless that they would kill their families and burn their houses if they won. Many civilians on the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Saipan jumped from cliffs to their deaths, rather than be captured by the Americans. Of course, the myth of the ruthless American was false, and now, 70 years later, some Americans are working to return the flags. As for Dale's flag, it rests among the others, all waiting until a home family can be discovered and then contacted. The OBON Society will let Dale know when that day comes, and he says he's interested to know when it does. SHARE Nothing unites Americans more than the belief that each of us has the right to live our lives as we see fit so long as we don't interfere with the rights of others to do the same. Unfortunately, this is seen as a problem by many who want to rule over us. A diverse nation of 325 million people exercising their freedom is a nightmare for those who believe bureaucrats know best. This attitude was clearly expressed in a truly chilling book, "The Executive Unbound: After the Madisonian Republic." Eric A. Posner and Adrian Vermeule claim that we should dismiss ideas like Constitutional checks and balances as nothing more than "a historical curiosity." It's time, the Chicago and Harvard law professors say, to accept the reality "that law cannot hope to constrain the modern executive." Amazingly, these teachers of the law believe that unchecked and unaccountable bureaucrats are not the problem. Instead, they worry about something they call "Tyrannophobia." In their minds, America suffers because we have an irrational fear of giving too much power to political leaders I would call that fear common sense. As they dream of rule by a regulatory state, the law professors assure us that there's nothing to worry about if we give up on Madison's system of checks and balances. In fact, they suggest it might not be all that bad if democracy disappeared. "It is not even clear whether authoritarian governments systematically offer different public policies than democracies do." So, "democratic institutions should not assume that the loss of well-being caused by a transition from democracy to dictatorship is higher than it in fact is." Offensive as those views may be, they are a clear expression of the logic behind a growing regulatory regime that has become far too powerful. Let the experts write the rules, prevent voters from getting in their way, and impartial bureaucrats will lead the nation to greatness. This reflects both a foolhardy faith in the bureaucracy and a breathtaking rejection of America's core values. Fortunately, others have a healthier appreciation for the dangers of granting anyone such unchecked authority. Columbia's Philip Hamburger put the regulatory state in perspective by noting that it "looks remarkably similar to the sort of governance that thrived long ago in medieval and early modern England under the name of the 'prerogative.'" Prerogative essentially meant that the king could do whatever he wanted. It's about "absolute power" rather than the "rule of law." Sadly, the discredited doctrine of prerogative "has crawled back out of its constitutional grave and come back to life" in America's regulatory regime. Hamburger concludes that it "is more deeply unlawful than has hitherto been understood: Not only does it violate the law, but also it departs from the ideal of government through and under the law." It is heartbreaking to recognize that our federal government and its regulatory apparatus is unlawful, but it is better to recognize an unpleasant reality than to close our eyes and pretend it's not there. At stake is freedom itself. Will we remain free to live our lives as we see fit or will we only be free to do what the bureaucracy allows? Scott Rasmussen is the founder and president of Styrk, co-founder of ESPN and a New York Times best-selling author. SHARE John Murray, Wichita Falls Contrast Trump to Prodigal Son Trump has said: "Why do I have to repent or ask for forgiveness if I am not making mistakes?" He has also said many times he likes winners, not losers. He is nothing like the Prodigal Son, for sure. Trump is full of pride. It is his platform. He is better, smarter and tougher than our corrupt and stupid leaders, so he believes. In May 2013 Trump tweeted: "Sorry losers and haters, but my IQ is one of the highest and you all know it! Please don't feel so stupid or insecure, it's not your fault." But beware. Consider what C.S. Lewis said about pride. "The essential vice, the utmost evil is pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that are mere flea bites in comparison; it was through pride that the devil became the devil. Pride leads to every other vice; it is the complete anti-God state of mind." Dr. Russell Moore, the head of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, has said that Trump is "reality television moral sewage." Moore has decried Trump as the enemy of evangelical Christians, saying he is against "everything they believe." Trump said of Dr. Moore in a tweet, "Moore is a terrible representative of Evangelicals and all the good they stand for. A nasty guy with no heart." But about 42 percent of Evangelicals have voted for Trump. How can that possibly be? Why have they ignored what Dr. Moore has been preaching? The problem is found in Scripture. "Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." (Hebrews 5:13-14 NIV). In other words, Christian people don't spend enough time in the Word to know right from wrong. It is time for real Christians to stand up and be heard and to do everything possible to see that Trump is not the next President of the United States. Let's wake up before it is too late! SHARE Bob Hance, Wichita Falls In a 24-hour period, it was announced that a previously unknown dinosaur skeleton with horns has been discovered from 77 million years ago (not 76 million, not 78 million, but 77 million). Almost simultaneously, it was then made known that Mars had suffered tsunamis causing 400-foot waves some 3 billion years ago. No word yet from the Department of Justice on Hillary Clinton's accused crimes over the past 20 years. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Colonie A patriarch of one of Albany's oldest institutions, Jack's Oyster House, died Sunday. Arnold Rosenstein, who helped run the restaurant started by his father, Jack, from the 1950s until recent years, died peacefully in his sleep at the Loudonville Home for Adults, where he resided for the last five years. He was 94. Rosenstein, a law-educated World War II veteran, initially attempted to strike out beyond the restaurant life forged by his dad. Jack, whose real first name was Jacob, opened the oyster house in 1913 with the $400 he saved from hawking newspapers and shucking oysters as a child. But after graduating from Albany Law School in 1948, Arnold soon joined his father in the family business which back then was a front-row seat to politics of a very different time. Jack's was where anyone, and everyone, would be seen drinking martinis and slurping clam chowder along with negotiating the state's business. Many of Albany's most famed visitors pulled up a chair inside the venerated walls, from John F. Kennedy Jr. to Mickey Mantle to mobster Jack "Legs" Diamond. In 1985, Pulitzer-prize winning author and Albany scribe William Kennedy wrote an article about Jack Rosenstein for Esquire magazine. Jack Rosenstein, the son of Russian immigrants, started the restaurant on Beaver Street around age 20, and moved the eatery in 1937 to its current location on State Street in the Capitol's shadow. Young Arnold, while working occasionally at his father's establishment, was pushed to a more academic life by his mother, Jane. He graduated from Albany Academy in 1939 and from Cornell University's hotel administration school in 1943. He served as an infantryman in Germany during World War II. Rosenstein wanted to go into the law like his uncle, famed Albany attorney Isadore Taub, and went to Albany Law School on the G.I. Bill, said his son Brad, who now runs Jack's Oyster House. But Arnold Rosenstein joined his father at Jack's soon after law school graduation, followed a couple of years later by his brother, Marvin. "My mom was so disappointed," Brad said about his dad turning from the law to being a restaurateur. "He had his nights, weekends and holidays off." At the time of Marvin's retirement from Jack's Oyster House in the 1980s, he recalled how difficult it was for the brothers to stay in business in the 1960s and 1970s as downtown Albany's vibrancy withered. "It was tough but my brother and I stayed with it and we didn't throw the towel in," Marvin Rosenstein said at the time. "Things eventually picked up. People used to joke that there were more people in Jack's than there were on the streets." Just like his father, Arnold felt most comfortable within the walls of the restaurant. In 1985, Times Union columnist and former arts editor Fred LeBrun recalled: "Arnold Rosenstein knows everyone, but is ever the friendly but proper host. We were seated in a wink, drinks minutes later." Arnold had his two sons take him to the restaurant almost daily until he was 90 mostly so he could greet the customers. His father did the same thing up until his death at age 92 in 1986. Arnold Rosenstein "was very genteel and very giving and just loved people," Brad Rosenstein said. "Just a gem of a guy." He was predeceased by his wife of 52 years, Janet, whom he met on a blind date in Danbury, Conn. He is survived by another son, Dr. Harry Rosenstein, and two grandchildren. Services will be private. And in keeping with a Jack's Oyster House tradition of remaining open, the restaurant will not close in the wake of Rosenstein's passing. Brad Rosenstein said the oyster house closed once for his grandfather's funeral in 1986 and they don't think the elder Rosenstein would have approved. "We're going to honor him," Brad Rosenstein said of his father. "We like to think one of the main reasons we've been in business is that every decision has been based on what's best for our guests." lstanforth@timesunion.com 518-454-5697 Cairo Smoke was detected in multiple places on EgyptAir flight 804 moments before it plummeted into the Mediterranean, but the cause of the crash that killed all 66 on board remains unclear, the French air accident investigation agency said on Saturday, as the Egyptian military released the first images of debris from the doomed aircraft, including personal items and damaged seats. Agency spokesman Sebastien Barthe told The Associated Press in Paris that the plane's automatic detection system sent messages indicating smoke a few minutes before the plane disappeared from radar while flying over the east Mediterranean early Thursday morning. The messages, he explained, "generally mean the start of a fire," but he added: "We are drawing no conclusions from this. " Egypt's military, meanwhile, released the first photographs of debris from EgyptAir flight 804. Posted on the chief military spokesman's Facebook page, they appear to show the heavily-damaged remains of plane seats, life jackets one of which was seemingly undamaged and a scrap of cloth that looks to be part of a baby's purple and pink blanket or sleeping bag. The spokesman, Brig-Gen. Mohammed Samir, later posted a brief video that showed more debris, including what appeared to be a piece of blue carpet, seat belts, a shoe and what looked like a woman's white handbag. The short clip opened with aerial footage of an unidentified navy ship followed by a speed boat with five service members aboard heading toward floating debris. Barthe's disclosure of smoke detection aboard the flight followed a report by an industry publication that sensors detected smoke in a lavatory, suggesting a fire started onboard before the aircraft went down. The publication cited information transmitted through the plane's Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS, which transmits data from the plane to the ground in the form of a series of messages. Those messages showed that smoke was detected in the plane's lavatory near the cockpit, according to the report. David Learmount, a widely respected aviation expert and editor of the authoritative Flightglobal magazine, said the readings reported by the Aviation Herald suggested a fire. "The question now is whether the fire that caused the smoke was the result of an electrical fault for example a short-circuit caused by damaged wiring or whether some form of explosive or incendiary device was used," he wrote on his website. In the absence of a claim of responsibility, it's still unclear whether the crash was the result of a fault or an attack, he wrote. "That answer is unlikely to be forthcoming soon." Another aviation expert, Egyptian Hossam Elhamy Shaker, said the detection of smoke does not solve the mystery of the crash. "It just leads us into an area where smoke is a major contributor to the incident, either by destroying the aircraft's equipment or suffocating the pilots," he told the AP. Looking for clues to whether terrorists may have brought down the Airbus A320, investigators have been poring over the passenger list and questioned ground crew members at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, from which the plane took off. The aircraft had been cruising normally in clear skies on a nighttime flight to Cairo early Thursday when it suddenly lurched left, then right, spun all the way around and plummeted 38,000 feet into the sea, never issuing a distress signal. Experts said answers will come only with an examination of the wreckage and the plane's cockpit voice and flight data recorders, commonly known as black boxes. Planes and vessels from Egypt and five other countries Greece, Britain, France, the United States and Cyprus continued searching a wide area of the eastern Mediterranean on Saturday. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany We're making progress on the Child Victims Act, the legislation that would rid New York of a disgraceful statute of limitations for sexual crimes committed against children. Most notably, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said late in the week that he would push to get some parts of the act passed this spring. How hard will Cuomo push? Time will tell. More Information Contact Chris Churchill at 518-454-5442 or email cchurchill@timesunion.com See More Collapse For Thursday's newspaper, I wrote a column about Bridie Farrell, who says she was repeatedly sexually abused as a 15-year-old in Saratoga Springs by an Olympic speed skater who had come to the city to train. Like with so many victims, it was many years before Farrell could come to terms with what had happened and was ready to face her alleged abuser But by then it was too late, because New York's statute of limitations bars child sexual-abuse victims from proceeding with criminal charges or civil litigation once they turn 23. In the days since that column was published, I've heard from several more victims of child sexual abuse who called to tell me their painful stories. All made it clear that New York's law protects predators instead of victims. "For someone who is compromised as a young child, it takes a long time to process that shock," said a man from Buffalo who says he was raped by a priest when he was nine. "The Child Victims Act will make it difficult for pedophiles to hide," said an Albany woman who said her son was molested by a priest in Binghamton. "And the only thing that stops a pedophile is getting caught." The Child Victims Act has been proposed annually by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, a Queens Democrat, for a decade. Her persistence and determination on the issue have been downright heroic. But the response from the Legislature has been apathy, at best, even though nearly everyone agrees that the current statute of limitations one of the nation's earliest is immoral and needs to be addressed. This year, though, two things have changed. One, the movie "Spotlight" has renewed attention to the horrors of child sexual abuse. Two, the Daily News has been pummeling Cuomo and lawmakers for their inaction on the Child Victims Act and their apparent indifference to victims. "Gutless," screamed one recent front-page headline under photos of Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan. "Protect Kids Not Predators," said another. That kind of pounding is apparently what it takes to force action in Albany. Word from the governor's office came late Wednesday. "This is an incredibly important issue and we are serious about addressing it this session," a Cuomo spokesman said. "We want a law that extends the statute of limitations and allows victims an opportunity to seek the justice they deserve." The governor stopped short of supporting one of the more controversial parts of the Child Victims Act: A one-year window for past child sexual-abuse victims to file civil lawsuits. (The statute of limitations change would otherwise only benefit victims who are not yet 23.) It is that piece of the legislation that the Roman Catholic Church and some other powerful interests vehemently oppose and that some victims just as vehemently insist must be part of any package. "The one-year window is more important than the bill itself," said Jack Cesare, who says he was repeatedly sexually abused at St. Teresa of Avila, a Catholic school in Albany. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. "If you don't go back, how many rapists ... will still be out there? What do you think they're doing, pottery?" Opponents, though, fear that the window could be financially devastating to the Catholic Church and possibly even taxpayers, if abuse victims are also allowed to sue public schools. The New York State Catholic Conference opposes the window, but does support extending the statute of limitations for civil cases and eliminating it entirely for criminal cases. Dennis Poust, spokesman for the conference, said it would be nearly impossible for the church to defend decades-old cases. "The church has done more than any other issue institution to confront this issue," Poust said. "Yet it's still being perceived as a Catholic issue and assumed that the church is hiding something." It's true that the problem of child sexual abuse extends far beyond religious institutions, as Farrell's example shows. But the widespread nature of the problem only highlights the need to change the existing law. When a state protects predators, as New York does, they continue to abuse. Extending the statute of limitations should be an easy call for lawmakers. It's the moral thing to do, and Cuomo supports it. So get it done already. cchurchill@timesunion.com 518-454-5442 @chris_churchill Life in the fast lane of a Superfund site anxious to become uncontaminated is moving agonizingly slowly and with stuttering progress for Hoosick Falls. After what seems a needlessly long and unexplained delay, blood test results are finally scheduled to be received by 900 or so residents, who have been anxiously waiting. Various levels of PFOA, perflourooctanoic acid, a strongly suspected carcinogen, are expected. Blood test results can be good news, bad news or worse news. The state Health Department has indicated results have been held while the state agency drafts a guidance plan for every level. Given how much this is on the minds of residents who have been drinking contaminated water for more than a half century from the town water supply raises eyebrows over why the state couldn't move the process along a little faster. Particularly since already on line are a bounty of protocols and guidance documents from peer-reviewed studies of previous PFOA blood work from other American plastics work sites just like Hoosick Falls. And even more to the point, the Health Department already has a dubious reputation for initially proclaiming the water perfectly safe to drink. More than 30,000 have already been tested elsewhere, with manufacturer Dupont picking up the tab, much of it contributing to the benchmark C8 studies on PFOA. So there's a ton of good information out there that doesn't need re-creating. Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a guidance calling for no more than 70 parts per trillion for lifetime exposure to PFOA and the related perfluorinate PFOS in drinking water. That will replace the 100 parts famously announced by EPA Regional Director Judith Enck when she visited Hoosick Falls and kicked into high gear recognition of the PFOA crisis in the village. It's not all that clear what the new EPA designation means, since it is not legally enforceable. The EPA is not expected to even decide on whether to take this toxic chemistry through the regulatory mill toward enforceable status until 2019. Also, how is a lifetime defined? Is it the same thing as long term? Sounds like lawyerly mischief to me. A maximum level of 70 ppt in the drinking water is a compromise. Recent research on the very young indicates consequences even with levels much lower than 70. Roughly, 70 ppt in drinking water translates to 7 parts per billion in blood. The referenced C8 study showed about a 10 percent increased chance of certain cancers and other specific diseases as a result of 5 to 10 ppt in blood. A risk, but not a big risk, and arguably not a bad compromise given the huge costs to purify the water that skyrocket as acceptable limits dive. The heads of the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Health Department said they were pleased the EPA had set a standard, because in doing so it acknowledged "that PFOA is not a state or regional problem, but rather a national problem." Well, they're half right. It is a national problem, since 6.5 million Americans in 27 states are drinking water contaminated by perfluorinates to some degree. But to suggest that if it's a national problem then it is less a local problem is blather. The opposite. Ask the folks in Hoosick Falls how local their problem is. Last week the DEC elevated Taconic Plastics in Petersburgh near the banks of the Little Hoosick to Superfund status along with St. Gobain in Hoosick Falls. The DEC has known about PFOA contamination from this plant affecting the local water supply for more than a decade, because the company alerted the DEC to it. This poses an interesting dilemma for Hoosick Falls. The Little Hoosick flows into the Hoosick, and it's along the Hoosick that many of the test wells are being dug by the state for the promised alternative water supply of the future, key to uncontaminating the village. You have to wonder, as most certainly do home owners with potentially compromised wells along both streams. This is not a problem going away anytime soon, as much as Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders would like it all to disappear without any look back. Water problems will only increase in numbers and variations, consequences of a planet now permeated by man-made chemistry created with little regard for the end game fast on us. The bigger picture is why hearings on what went wrong with the PFOA water crisis in Hoosick Falls remain critical. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. The one shining light on all this at the moment is U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson's calling for a congressional investigation of the state and federal response to the PFOA contaminations in eastern Rensselaer County, along the lines of hearings held on the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. If any of our state leaders wonder what the Bernie Sanders revolution is all about, why the young are revolted by establishment politics, all they have to do is look at themselves over Hoosick Falls. Brushing off hearings of accountability is an arrogant disregard for what actually matters to the citizenry, a failure to recognize how important it is. Small wonder faith in our state government right now is at an all time low, fast approaching the feds hiding down in the basement. Sadly, Gibson is getting out of politics, but can you blame him? Particularly as a Republican. He's a moderate and he makes sense most of the time. Obviously he's traveling with the wrong crowd. We wish him well on getting his life back. flebrun@timesunion.com 518-454-5453 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate At an Albany hospital last month, parents of a child described as borderline comatose, with symptoms of brain swelling, found themselves caught in an ideological battle. They thought their son might be suffering from lingering effects of Lyme disease, which he'd had before. They wanted doctors to administer antibiotics, as recommended by a nonprofit patient advocacy group whose experts believe Lyme bacteria can linger in the body. The hospital's doctors would have nothing of it. They followed guidelines sanctioned by public health officials and written by a group of infectious disease doctors, with a narrow definition of Lyme and how to treat it. Frantic, they called Holly Ahern, a microbiologist and activist for treating what she and others call "chronic Lyme disease." Ahern, of Charlton, had never met the parents but wasn't surprised to hear from them. More Information Opposing camps split over new Lyme disease findings Research on Lyme disease is often met with familiar responses from those opposed to the results, experts said. Here are few recent examples of emerging ideas and how they are received: Among the lines of research lending some credence to the idea that Lyme bacteria remain in the body is the discovery by Northeastern University researchers that a small percentage of Lyme bacteria "persister cells" can survive an onslaught of antibiotics, at least in a laboratory setting. Another is the identification of more strains of bacteria that can cause Lyme. Former Trudeau Institute immunologist Timothy Sellati, now at Southern Research in Alabama, is working on research that shows ticks in the Adirondacks are more likely than those in the Capital Region to carry what he calls a "more human-invasive strain" of Lyme bacteria. It escapes the site of a tick bite where the body's white blood cells gather to kill it. His findings might work in conjunction with the persister cell idea, at least in theory, he said: "Even if bacteria can become tolerant to antibiotics in the human body" - those are the persister cells - "they can only do so if they're not first killed and cleared from the body in the tick-feeding process" - those are the human-invasive strains. But the persister cell theory is challenged by Dr. Gary Wormser, the chief of the division of infectious diseases at New York Medical College and lead author of the Lyme disease guidelines, that are sanctioned by public health officials. In a September article in Scientific American, Wormser noted that lab studies cannot account for the effect of the body's immune system on persister cells, and there's no evidence they can really make people sick. The anti-antibiotics camp got a boost in March, when a study in the New England Journal of Medicine article concluded long-term antibiotic treatment did not help patients. The study broke patients up into three groups. All received the same antibiotic first, then some received a different antibiotic and some a placebo. No group did better than any other. Holly Ahern, the SUNY Adirondack microbiologist and chronic Lyme activist, saw the study as one which set to prove old theories, rather than break new ground. The study used patients who'd already gone through a round of antibiotics for Lyme disease, and who improved during the study's first phase. Ahern asked how the study might have turned out differently if antibiotic treatment had continued longer, or if the researchers had tried the intermittent, or "pulsed" dosing of antibiotics that the Northeastern researchers have theorized might knock off persister cells. In discussions with the Times Union for this article, two doctors with opposing points of view on antibiotic treatments even pointed to some of the same findings to bolster their cases. The research in question showed that swelling may be the cause of lingering neurological symptoms after Lyme disease. Dr. Ronald Stram saw that as evidence of why antibiotics are effective with patients who have persistent Lyme disease symptoms, because antibiotics may limit inflammation following a bacterial infection. But Dr. Aixa Toledo-Garcia said that if swelling is the cause of the problems, the proper remedy is anti-inflammatory medicine, like ibuprofen, not drugs whose effectiveness could be diminished through overuse. See More Collapse "People call me because they have no idea what to do," Ahern said. Patients with a range of frightening symptoms associated with persistent cases of Lyme disease can find themselves bewildered over how to fight a potentially disabling illness amid conflicting medical advice. Opposing camps in a decades-old battle over the treatment of lingering illness following confirmed or suspected cases of Lyme disease are holding tight to their positions, despite a rise in cases that should perhaps sound an alarm for common ground or at least open minds. Federal health officials estimate 300,000 people are diagnosed with the illness each year. Most of them are in the Northeast and Midwest. "I really feel for the patients, who are caught in the middle of this," said Sean Philpott-Jones, director of the bioethics program at Clarkson University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Experts on both sides of the debate agree on this: Lyme disease, caused by a bacteria transmitted from an infected tick, is usually treated easily with antibiotics, if caught early. But in 10 percent to 20 percent of patients, symptoms like headaches, joint and nerve pain, dizziness and fatigue can endure for months and even years. Beliefs over the cause of those lingering symptoms and how to treat them fuel the battle. The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society subscribes to the controversial notion that Lyme bacteria is stealthy and can linger in the body. It therefore recommends the long-term use of antibiotics, which combat bacterial infections. The Infectious Disease Society of America, a medical association, acknowledges that some Lyme disease patients treated with an initial dose of antibiotics do not recover. But they believe the continuing symptoms, referred to as post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, are an aftereffect of infection, rather than a sign the bacteria remain active. So they treat symptoms of the syndrome recommending anti-inflammatory drugs for swelling, for instance but shun the use of long-term antibiotics as irresponsible. Overuse of antibiotics is a concern of public health officials as well as doctors, because it can cause the medications to become less effective as germs become resistant to them. Doctors on each side of the debate accuse the others of misconduct. It's a loaded charge, as those who followed the ILADS guidelines have complained for years that state regulators targeted them for investigations of malpractice. (Since late 2014, however, a law signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo shields doctors from investigations based solely on their use of treatments that are not universally accepted by the medical profession.) Dr. Ronald Stram of Delmar sees about 50 new patients a week who usually find him after exhausting other avenues to deal with lingering joint pain, neuropathy or even depression and anxiety. Faced with a lack of evidence about the causes for lingering infection, Stram defended his treatment of patients with unorthodox methods, like long-course antibiotics, if the treatments result in improvement. He criticized the infectious disease doctors who stop the treatments when they may have a positive effect. "Ignoring this disease as being a very complex disease that manifests itself with multiple symptoms to ignore the fact that we are an endemic epidemic region is malpractice," Stram said. Delmar pediatrician Dr. Kenneth Kroopnick, however, looks at practices that specialize in treating chronic Lyme disease with skepticism. He is concerned doctors who treat the illness Kroopnick says "quote-unquote" whenever he mentions the term have a profit motive. Insurance companies won't cover the non-sanctioned treatments, so patients must pay out of pocket. "It's cash, which makes it more lucrative," Kroopnick said. One big problem is that there's little established science about Lyme symptoms that persist. Public funding for Lyme disease research has been relatively scarce. In 2015, National Institute of Health funding for Lyme research was $24 million, though it tops the list of diseases spread by insects. By comparison, West Nile virus, which infected about 2,000 Americans last year, received $40 million in funding. Yet new findings and ideas are emerging, with research bolstered in part by private funds. Perhaps it is no surprise that the studies are often met with knee-jerk criticism by those in one camp or another, or that the same research is sometimes even touted by each camp to support its own theory. Ahern is frustrated over the fact that growing research and awareness of persistent symptoms of Lyme disease are not translating into improved treatment. Fifteen years ago, she felt like she was standing alone in a field screaming about chronic Lyme disease, she said. Now, people with influence to do something about treatment doctors and legislators, for instance are asking her opinion. She sits on a state task force on Lyme disease and last week, she and Stram were among speakers testifying at a congressional forum on the illness. Next month, she will talk to emergency room doctors in Saratoga. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. An irony in the Lyme disease stalemate, according to Philpott-Jones, is that the very advocates that have influenced Lyme disease treatment among some doctors have also repelled others, as well as top-notch researchers. Scientists who delve into this field know the scrutiny of their work will be intense and even vitriolic, just as some doctors who treat Lyme disease fear the wrath of either regulators or activists. "Advocacy is a double-edged sword," he said. Advocates for recognition of chronic Lyme disease have developed a reputation like anti-vaccination activists, Philpott-Jones said. They're believed to be resistant to science, no matter how much data they're given. The difference with Lyme is that there is not the same mass of research proving the activists wrong as there is evidence of vaccine safety, Philpott-Jones added. "I'm not giving either side a pass," he said of the Lyme conflict. Left suffering are the patients. Chris Barden of South Glens Falls recalled searching for answers to his son's unusual ailments three years ago. They included loss of muscle control, dizziness and impairments in this thinking. In a visit to a pediatric neurologist, Barden asked whether Lyme disease could be the culprit. "Then we had the scarlet letter on us," Barden said. Barden thought the doctor might be scared, but he didn't like his outright dismissal of Lyme as a possible diagnosis. So he took his son elsewhere. "They're really in an untenable position," Philpott-Jones said of patients, "either of having to adhere to the conventional medical wisdom, which maybe isn't effective, or they may find themselves having to undergo rather alternative and unproven medical therapies that can put them at increased risk of harm. "It really becomes an individual decision for the patient and the physician and their family, and a very difficult one to make." chughes@timesunion.com 518-454-5417 @hughesclaire THE ISSUE: New York is facing a crisis-level teacher shortage in the coming years. THE STAKES: Lifting the profession is a smart way to attract bright, young talent to the profession.When Americans were asked to list their views of the most prestigious professions, doctors, members of the military, firefighters, scientists and engineers all ranked 10 to 20 points higher than teachers. More Information To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com or at http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion See More Collapse That 2014 Harris poll remains bad news for teachers, bad news for students, and bad news for states like New York that face a teacher shortage. Demographics are partly responsible for the looming crisis, with vast numbers of baby boom teachers nearing retirement. However, the biggest cause is that the number of young people entering the teaching profession has been declining down 30 percent nationally from 2010 to 2014, according to federal data. New York alone had a 40 percent drop since 2009. This leaves some states, especially in the growing Sun Belt, desperately trying to fill teaching positions. According to a report from the TeachNY Advisory Council, New York anticipates a need for about 1,700 new teachers each year. Nationwide, 1.6 million teachers will be needed in the next decade, it projects. That's why SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia are joining forces to encourage young people to become teachers. One way to do that is, as Commissioner Elia puts it, "to really elevate teaching as a profession." Chancellor Zimpher, whose university system had its roots as a network of state teachers colleges, says we must also commit to continually supporting those in the teaching professions. They're both right. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. Part of the shortage may stem from the limited openings for new teachers, which sends young people on career paths with better employment prospects. But the recent demonizing of teachers by politicians, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who put much of the blame on teachers for poor student performance, is a big cause. While a teacher's abilities do directly impact student performance, so do many other factors over which teachers have no control, such as home and social environments. Unfortunately, the unions that represent most of the teachers, and the teachers' teachers, are having trouble joining this effort. The New York State United Teachers and the United University Professions are criticizing it. They remain angry over a more stringent certification program implemented under the previous education commissioner, which they say discourages teaching candidates. We understand the resentment, but that shouldn't prevent the unions from supporting a worthy effort to elevate their profession. They could also use this opportunity to help future members by advocating for incentives, like expanded scholarships and loan forgiveness programs. With the state finally climbing out of its economic crisis, and aid to schools approaching pre-recession levels, New York is at the cusp of what could be a bright new era in education. In order to get there, we will need a lot more teachers. It would help if they felt welcome. What you need to know about Powerball and the $610 million jackpot A TORRENT OF KANSAS CITY STREETCAR CRITICISM HAS CROPPED UP ONLINE AND HERE ARE THE LATEST LITANY OF COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE CONTROVERSIAL FOLLY TROLLEY!!! - The one Kiosk I tried didn't work at all at the metro stop. - Either the streetcar drivers or the mechanics of the streetcar do not know how to ease into an acceleration. or braking for that matter. People were literally being thrown around after every stop. This is probably my second to biggest peeve of the whole experience. - They didn't really seem to care just how many people they packed onto one. I guess everyone needs to get off the streetcar at Union Station however I watched like 5 people get off while the rest remained on and there was a pretty big group waiting to get on, needless to say by the time we stuffed ourselves on I didn't know if i should feel like a sardine or protected knowing any horrific accident would require shrapnel to pass through a whole lot of flesh before reaching me in any direction. While mainstream media in Kansas City is filled with nothing but effusive praise for the latest local transit scheme. Denizens of the Internets are using social media power to argue against shortcomings in the downtown toy train.To wit . . .This one is getting passed around tonight but we've cut down the qualifications and far too many personal details in order to get right into some relevant points about the experience . . .Again, if we're already talking about expansion than rider experience and local complaints are relevant from locals rather than the flood of hype by paid consultants.You decide . . . More than 69.2 million voters across Vietnam are expected to show up on Sunday to elect 500 members of the new National Assembly, 3,918 province councilors, 24,993 district councilors and 294,055 commune councilors for the 2016-2021 tenure. The 500 NA delegates will be chosen from 870 approved candidates, the government portal cited data from the Office of the National Election Council as saying Sunday. The voting for the new tenure started at 7 a.m. and will be closed at 7 p.m today. Leaders from the Party, the current National Assembly, the government and citizens across the country were seen casting their votes early in the day during the general election dubbed by the Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as the countrys biggest in history. Hanoi and HCMC are the leading places of candidacy, followed by Thanh Hoa and Nghe An. The vast majority of candidates have been centrally nominated. STL Public Radio: Missouri GOP begins to coalesce behind Trump in quest to block Clinton We dont need another Obama third term, said U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt on Saturday as he addressed close to 1,300 Missouri Republicans attending the partys once-very-four-years convention. Blunt was among several who warned the crowd that the philosophical leanings of the U.S. Supreme Court, perhaps for decades, will depend on whether Trump or Clinton wins the White House. The future of the nation's highest court is reason enough" to back Trump, Blunt said. Call it Midwestern practicality or just a sign that Republican arefocused on taking back the White House far more than the Democratic Party . . .Money line:You decide . . . SNAP: "We were disturbed by Rev. Archie's initial public response to allegations that he sexually exploited a church member. He claimed that a church investigation cleared him, but refused to give any details. "It's disingenuous to claim that a church investigates its own pastor and that some other anonymous body allegedly did so too. Why refuse to name the organization that supposedly checked out the accusations? Because Rev. Archie's denial of sexual misconduct is so vague and is issued through his lawyer, it rings hollow. "It's also troubling to see a minister attack his accuser and cry extortion. Usually, that's a sign that a predator is trying to intimidate other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers from stepping forward. "We also ask Archies church colleagues, for the safety of others, to oust him. And we want KC religious figures to avoid letting him preach or serve on boards or committees with them." CRITICS REMIND US THAT THIS EMBATTLED REV. STILL SERVES AS A MEMBER OF THE CITY PLAN COMMISSION!!! Forgive the stupid image ofand he has consistently done a lot of charity work throughout the course of his career . . . Still, the Mr. T okay sign depicted in the stained glass parody is intended to signal that City Hall seems cool working with an embattled local member of the clergy who now confronts renewed criticism from critics . . .Here's an important bit of Kansas City outrage from not so long ago . . .The toughest part of this complaint . . .Accordingly . . .Activists offer this link in order to noteWhileis innocent until proven guilty . . . It's interesting that critics are ramping up their arguments against City Hall seemingly unconcerned with longstanding news controversy and criticism.You decide . . . Bahraini sovereign fund Mumtalakat reported a 68.7 percent drop in 2015 net profit on Sunday, as the state-owned investor cited impairment losses for the decline. Net profit in 2015 was $76.3 million against $243.6 million in the previous year, Mumtalakat said in a statement. Mumtalakat said the reduction in net profit was due to "impairment losses recognised on goodwill" without elaborating. It noted though that the impact was partially offset by a higher contribution from its share of profit from associates and improved operational performance at Gulf Air. The fund holds stakes in Bahraini companies including Aluminium Bahrain and Batelco, but it has also been increasing its overseas investments in recent months, such as its deal for Spanish aluminium firm Aleastur. - Reuters Omans Al Mazunah Free Zone has seen significant investments in the first quarter of 2016, with agreements inked with 21 companies, along with plans to build a hotel in the free zone, according to a senior official. The total number of multinational companies that signed agreements in Al Mazunah Free Zone exceeds 75, Hilal bin Hamad Al Hasani, chief executive officer of the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE) and chairman of the Al Mazunah Free Zone Committee, was quoted as saying in a Times of Oman report. He added that there are more than 25 investment applications that are currently under study, and the free zone has seen a significant increase in commercial traffic during the first quarter of 2016, as the number of incoming and outgoing vehicles exceeded 11,000 vehicles. Nearly 13,000 tonnes of goods passed through the free zone during the first quarter, with trade surpassing $150 million, said the report. Al Hasani noted that the import operations through Omani ports have resulted in significant development, and have eventually enhanced the activity of Omans transport sector. He further added that Al Mazunah Free Zone aims to attract local and international investments to increase the volume of trade, attract advanced technologies and create job opportunities, added the report. Oman and China plan to sign a usufruct agreement aimed at establishing a major industrial city in Duqm, which is expected to attract as much as $10 billion worth in investments by 2022, said a report. The agreement for the China-Oman Industrial City in Duqm will be signed by the Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm with Chinese agencies on Monday in Muscat, added the Times of Oman report. A high-level Chinese delegation led by Wang Yong, state councillor of China will kick off a two-day visit to the sultanate today (May 22). The Chinese guests will meet Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, deputy prime minister for the Council of Ministers and officials in the country. Yahya bin Said Al Jabri, chairman of the Special Economic Zone Authority of Duqm (Sezad), will lead the welcoming party for the guests upon their arrival at Muscat International Airport, added the report. A new exhibition celebrating the strong civil and military aviation heritage between Bahrain and the United Kingdom will open at the Bahrain National Museum tomorrow (May 23). The exhibition is supported by BAE Systems and the UKs RAF Museum. Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Culture for the Kingdom of Bahrain, said: We are delighted that today, as we celebrate the 200 years of friendship with the United Kingdom, we are launching such a distinguished exhibition that displays glimpses of a long and solid relationship with the United Kingdom in the field of military and civil aviation." The exhibition, which will be formally opened on May 23 by Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the personal representative of His Majesty the King, runs until October 23. Spitfire, a collaboration between BAE Systems and Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, offers an opportunity for the audience to be able to learn more about the different aircraft that represent the important cooperation between the two countries, said a statement. The centrepiece of the exhibition is the iconic Supermarine Spitfire, probably the most famous fighter aircraft in history, which first flew 80 years ago. This is the aircraft that defended the skies during the Second World War, including that of Bahrain. This Spitfire is on loan to the Bahrain National Museum from the RAF Museum, in partnership with BAE Systems. British Ambassador to Bahrain, Simon Martin, said: In this historic year, as we celebrate 200 years of the bilateral relationship between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Kingdom, I am delighted to have the chance to celebrate the depth and the richness of our relationship. Defence and security have always been key areas in which we have worked together for common interests and this is typified by the presence from today and throughout this summer of the iconic Supermarine Spitfire aircraft, on display at the Bahrain National Museum. I hope as many visitors as possible will come to see this beautiful and historic aircraft and - for those who do not already know - to learn about the important role the Kingdom of Bahrain played in supporting the UK during the Second World War. The Supermarine Spitfire remains the iconic British fighter of the Second World War, and Britain was not alone in its fight. The Gulf Fighter Fund, which included Bahrain, financed the purchase of 11 Spitfires to aid the war effort. These were funded by all sections of the community in the Arabian Gulf. In total, the Fighter Fund raised 50,000 (BD31,000) and six Spitfires bore the name Bahrain. Sir Glenn Torpy, senior military adviser, BAE Systems, and chairman of the trustees of the RAF Museum, said: This is an exciting day for both Bahrain and aviation. The relationship between the United Kingdom and Bahrain has always been extremely strong, as evidenced by this years 200th Anniversary, and we are delighted to be able to bring the Spitfire aircraft to Bahrain to support the Exhibition and the Anniversary. Bahrains purchase of six Spitfires for the RAF during the Second World War was an important sign of Bahrains support to the United Kingdom, and hugely appreciated by the RAF at a time of great peril. This year marks the 80th Anniversary of the first flight of the Spitfire, and also the 40th Anniversary of Concordes first supersonic flight into Bahrain. It is, therefore, an auspicious year for both these iconic aircraft, and the relationship between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the UK. A number of other aircraft are on display in the exhibition, including: The Anson, designed and built in the North West of England by Avro, was used to establish the Gulf Aviation Company in 1950 which today has become Gulf Air, the national airline of Bahrain; The Vickers VC-10 was used for commercial flights into Bahrain by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) from 1964 and by Gulf Air in the 1970s. More recently RAF VC-10s were based in Bahrain during the 1991 Gulf War; The Blackburn Buccaneer was based at RAF Muharraq. This aircraft was designed and build in Brough in the UK, a factory that would eventually build a fleet of Hawk training aircraft for the RBAF some 40 years later. Concorde, which in January celebrated the 40th anniversary of its inaugural flight into Bahrain on 21 January 1976 when the aircraft made the worlds first supersonic commercial flight, is an iconic symbol of progress, with the ability to fly at 22 miles a minute. This milestone in aviation history only took Concorde three hours and 17 minutes to reach Bahrain from London Heathrow. Another first associated with Concorde is that HH Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa became the first Arab head of state to fly supersonically. Concorde was manufactured by the British Aircraft Corporation, a predecessor company of BAE Systems. These aircraft all demonstrate the fantastic story of aerospace development and innovation in the UK and the way that Bahrain has been a constant supporter and adopter of new technologies, said the statement. During the exhibition, visitors will be able to watch videos of the Spitfire in action during the Second World War, take photographs in front of the aircraft and learn all about aviation in Bahrain. Running alongside the exhibition, there is an Education programme, which gives Bahraini schools the opportunity to learn more about aviation and Bahrain in an informative and fun way. TradeArabia News Service Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers (Ahab) has recently written to a large number of financial institutions with claims against it to confirm the amounts that Ahab is willing to acknowledge for the purposes of the settlement process it initiated in May 2014. Ahab and the five-member steering committee presented the detailed terms of an agreement to settle the claims of claimants on January 28. Since the presentation, a majority of claimants have responded to Ahab's invitation to agree the value of their claims, Ahab said in a statement. During the past weeks, claimants representing 80 per cent of the claims by number and 50 per cent by value have received, or are in the process of receiving, letters from the company acknowledging claim values, the statement said. This process is on-going and Ahab is inviting those claimants that have not yet engaged in the claims agreement process to submit the relevant documentation to it as soon as possible, according to the company. In March, the Supreme Judicial Council in Saudi Arabia issued an order establishing a three-judge Tribunal called the Joint Directorate of Enforcement at the General Court in Al-Khobar (JDEK). The JDEK comprises the two enforcement judges and the head of the General Court in Al-Khobar. Ahab said that the JDEK has the authority to address in full the claims of financial institutions against the company and Maan Al Sanea. Simon Charlton, acting chief executive officer and chief restructuring officer of Ahab said: "The company views the appointment of the tribunal as a positive step forward that it believes will bring an end to the long-running disputes that resulted from the failure of Al Sanea's businesses in 2009. For the first time in seven years, the Company has begun the process of acknowledging debts against it for the limited purposes of the Settlement which we believe will allow us to move forward with increased momentum." Ahab, along with those claimants that have agreed claims, intends to present the terms of the proposed settlement to the JDEK for its consideration, the statement said. Ahab has stated publicly since 2009 that it seeks a comprehensive and fair resolution of all outstanding claims, and it believes the proposed settlement presents the best opportunity for claimants to resolve claims and maximize their recoveries. Ahab remains committed to its aggressive pursuit of Maan Al Sanea and his Saad companies for the billions of dollars in funds misappropriated by them, it said. The company said that significant amounts will become available from this litigation and, as Ahab intends to make these amounts available for distribution to claimants, it will materially increase the recoveries to claimants above amounts that might otherwise be available outside the terms of the proposed settlement. Ahab is moving ahead with its civil claims against Al Sanea in Saudi Arabia, seeking the return of: billions of dollars wrongfully taken by him using fraudulent cheques and electronic transfers; and bank shares and accrued dividends that Al Sanea wrongfully retained after his businesses collapsed, the company statement said. Al Sanea has refused to answer the merits of the claims, instead using various delay tactics such as meritless jurisdictional defences and repeated adjournments, according to the statement. Additionally, the company's case in the Cayman Islands against a number of Al Sanea's offshore shell companies (now in liquidation) is scheduled for trial this summer. The biggest group of defendants in that case was recently forced to recognize the implausibility of its counterclaim - and amend its pleading - after it was discovered that the initial allegations relied on forged documents and faked real estate transactions, according to the Ahab statement. Now, seven years after Ahab filed the case, the court will finally hear the evidence, which will show that Al Sanea wrongfully borrowed and directed billions of dollars from accounts in Ahab's name into his Cayman Islands shell companies, Ahab said. Ahab has already obtained an interim judgment against Al Sanea personally for $2.5 billion, a case in which the Chief Judge of the Cayman Islands court concluded the evidence against Al Sanea demonstrates "misappropriation on a massive scale, according to the statement. In discussing the cases against Al Sanea, Charlton said: "Ahab is confident of making recoveries through these civil and criminal claims such that the return to claimants through a consensual settlement will be significantly greater than those that would otherwise be available." Ahab is also pursuing organizations that aided or were instrumental in Maan Al Sanea's ability to perpetrate his global fraud, including The International Banking Corporation (TIBC). The Company recently sued TIBC in Saudi Arabia for $1.2 billion for facilitating numerous fraudulent transactions, using false documentation created by TIBC's management, which caused severe damage to Ahab and a large number of financial institutions, according to the Ahab statement. TradeArabia News Service Obama, bound for Vietnam, seeks to turn old foe into new partner U.S. President Barack Obama arrives to board Air Force One to depart for Vietnam and Japan from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S. May 21, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday headed for his first visit to Vietnam, a trip aimed at sealing the transformation of an old enemy into a new partner to help counter China's growing assertiveness in the region. Reuters reports aboard Air Force One. Four decades after the Vietnam War, Obama - the first U.S. leader to come of age after a conflict that bitterly divided America - will seek to deepen defense and economic ties with the country's communist government while also prodding them on human rights, aides say. Pressure has mounted for Obama to use his landmark visit, which begins on Monday, to roll back a 32-year-old arms embargo on Hanoi, one of the last vestiges of wartime animosity. "Nobody has any illusions," said Evan Medeiros, Obama's former top Asia adviser. "This trip sends important signals to China about U.S. activism in the region and growing U.S. concern about Chinese behavior." Closer military cooperation with allies and partners has been a major thrust of Obama's strategic "rebalance" toward the Asia-Pacific region, a centerpiece of his foreign policy. Obama's Vietnam visit comes just days after Chinese fighter jets carried out what the Pentagon said was an "unsafe" intercept of a U.S. military reconnaissance plane in the South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea). Beijing is pursuing territorial claims there that conflict with those of Vietnam and several other countries. "Upgrade of relations" Obama will be the third consecutive U.S. president to visit Vietnam since diplomatic relations were restored in 1995. "What we want to demonstrate with this visit is a significant upgrade in the relationship between the United States and Vietnam ... even as we have areas of difference," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser. Washington wants Vietnam to open up more on the economic front and also move closer militarily, including increased port visits by U.S. warships, possibly with access to the strategic harbor at Cam Ranh Bay, U.S. officials say. But even as the two sides look forward, there will be reminders of the past. Obama will be accompanied by Secretary of State John Kerry, who after a tour in Vietnam as a young Navy officer burst onto the scene as an antiwar protester in the 1970s. At the first stop of Obama's three-day visit, Hanoi, the seat of communist rule, he will meet Vietnam's new president, Tran Dai Quang, its new prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. In the country's commercial hub, Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, Obama will meet entrepreneurs, a chance to tout Hanoi's role in a trans-Pacific trade pact he has championed. Obama plans to meet dissidents amid U.S. concerns about the government's heavy-handedness toward opponents. Hanoi released a Catholic priest, one of its longest-serving prisoners, on Friday, in a possible gesture ahead of Obama's visit. Russia, which has attracted $23 billion from the Gulf over the past several years, is once again focussing on the region, even as low oil prices prompt Middle East nations to launch diversification programmes by investing abroad. Economic woes have motivated the traditionally conservative Russian authorities to explore the alternatives to the Western markets of capitals. Therefore, Russia is now utilising available tools to attract more foreign investments from previously untouched destinations and has started looking towards the investors from the Arabian Gulf region with an augmenting interest. The international sanctions against Russia combined with low energy prices put a heavy toll on the countrys economy. By various estimates, Russia has lost $170 billion due to the sanctions alone and $400 billion because of shrinking oil and gas revenues. The number of direct foreign investments also plunged by 92 per cent and growth perspectives look bleak amidst shrinking GDP for the second year in a row. However, it is more important to observe general trends within the country while assessing Russias perspectives. Russia was recently ranked by Bloomberg as the 12th most innovative economy and its standing within Doing Business Report of the World Bank grew by 37 positions compared to the year earlier. The augmenting interest towards the Arab investors among business and political circles of Russia reflected across the countrys media. The state-controlled outlets such as Sputnik and TASS recently boasted with materials discussing flocking to Russia Arab investments. One of the few remaining independent media outlets, RosBusinessConsulting (RBC), likewise, came up with articles discussing the Arab investments. In particular, one publication was discussing Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thanis success story, who is known for expressing an interest into the real-estate sector in Russias Republic of Tatarstan. $23 billion investment from the Gulf The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) has recently doubled its investment to Russia from $500 million to $1 billion. Abu Dhabis Department of Finance has agreed to co-invest more than $5 billion and Mubadala signed a joint-venture with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), major engine behind Russias maturing interest towards foreign investments, totalling $2 billion. In addition, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is planning to invest up to $2 billion and Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund (PIF), reportedly, up to $10 billion. Most of the Arab investments were flocking to Russia through RDIF. According, to Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of RDIF, the fund counts investments in more than 20 holdings and its portfolio gives GCC countries exposure to different sectors of the huge Russian economy that despite all of its troubles remains seventh among 144 countries. RDIF was earlier considered as a part of the Russian Vnesheconombank (VEB); just recently, it was transformed into the sovereign fund of the Russian Federation. The move that should grease the wheels for the investors, as it will make the Funds structure quite similar to the ones within the Gulf region. As the Russian market will eventually resume its growth - it is a good chance currently to start buying local assets. The current Russian Rouble devaluation combined with low oil prices, likewise, serves as an additional stimulus for the investors as many Russias assets are now costing less. Therefore, the upcoming Saint-Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russias major event for outlining foreign and domestic strategy, will be devoted to addressing the issue of foreign investments. The country might offer long-term growth perspectives across various sectors, some of which are crucial for the GCCs diversification goals. More investments will imminently follow as the Gulf investors are getting familiar with the Russian realities. The Gulf investors are also largely interested in putting their money into something that offers predictable dividends in particular, by investing into such spheres as agriculture, private healthcare, retail and infrastructure. Russian infrastructural projects are now prioritized by the local political establishment. In effect, Dubais DP World has launched a joint venture with the RDIF, DP World Russia, which will boost development of key ports and logistics operators across the country. The recently launched Industry Development Fund constitutes a number of projects that might be potentially interesting and still largely unexplored. The Fund is designed to boost Russias important substitution goals by distributing loans on favourable conditions to promising local manufacturers that should also be competitive internationally. Therefore, the Russian government is pouring billions into it and just one year after the Fund was launched, it has already invested into more than 800 projects. The total volume of revenue of supported firms equals to 452 billion roubles ($6.7 billion) amid the Funds total budget of 73.5 billion roubles. * Dmitriy Frolovskiy is a Moscow-based analyst and writer. His writings have been featured in the Huffington Post, the Diplomat, Foreign Policy Association, Russian International Affairs Council and others. Saudi Arabian budget carrier flynas is increasing capacity between its home country and the UAE with new flights linking Abu Dhabi with Riyadh and Jeddah. Begining June 23, flynas will add a second daily service between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, increasing its combined offer with Etihad Airways to four daily services. Also on June 23, flynas will enter the Jeddah Abu Dhabi market with a daily flight which will complement Etihad Airways existing thrice daily services. Together, both carriers will offer four daily services linking Jeddah and the capital of the UAE. These services will provide guests with greater choice and flexibility when travelling between the two countries and beyond over Etihad Airways worldwide network. In addition to Riyadh and Jeddah, Etihad Airways currently serves Dammam and Madinah, offering a total of 63 weekly flights to Saudi Arabia, whilst flynas new services will offer 14 weekly flights from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi and seven weekly flights from Jeddah to Abu Dhabi. The additional flights from flynas will be operated by a two-class Airbus A320 aircraft, offering an additional 3,416 seats per week, and ensuring maximum connectivity through Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi hub to key destinations in North America, Europe, the Indian Subcontinent, and Southeast Asia. This comes as part of an expanded codeshare agreement between the two airlines signed in October 2012. The codeshare agreement allows flynas to place its XY code on multiple Etihad Airways flights between Abu Dhabi and 20 destinations on its global network. Gregory Kaldahl, Etihad Airways senior vice president network, said: The expanding of our codeshare with flynas reflects our commitment to the key market of Saudi Arabia. The new flynas services will offer business and leisure travellers greater choice and better flight connection in their travel to Riyadh, Jeddah and Abu Dhabi to Etihad Airways worldwide network. - TradeArabia News Service Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked local authorities to look into a fatal accident that took place in the central province of Binh Thuan early Sunday, according to the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC). At 4:15 a.m. today, two sleeper buses had collided into each other in the Ham Thuan Nam District before they were further hit by a coming truck. The accident killed 12 and injured 35 passengers. All the injured people are being treated in local hospitals. The two buses and the truck were destroyed and caught on fire. Phuc sent his condolences to the victims' families and ordered local authorities to provide them with support while commencing investigation into the cause of the accident, according to the NTSC. He also asked the authorities to stay alert to prevent hostile forces from taking advantage of the accident to do harm to the ongoing general election. More than 69.2 million voters across Vietnam are expected to show up on Sunday to select 500 members of the new National Assembly, 3,918 province councilors, 24,993 district councilors and 294,055 commune councilors for the 2016-2021 tenure. U.S. President Barack Obama receives flowers as he arrives at Noibai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam May 22, 2016. Photo by Reuters/Carlos Barria The Air Force One, which carries U.S. President Barack Obama, has landed at the Noi Bai International Airport at around 9:35 p.m. on Sunday. Secretary of State John Kerry, who accompanies the president during his first Vietnam visit, arrived at Noi Bai at around 6:40 p.m on the same day. Security in Noi Bai, an international hotel in downtown Hanoi and the JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi in Nam Tu Liem District has been tightened since Sunday afternoon. The President will begin with an official arrival ceremony on Monday morning, followed by a bilateral meeting with Vietnams President Tran Dai Quang and a joint-press conference, the White House said. The President is expected to meet with the new chairwoman of the National Assembly in Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, attend a state luncheon, followed by a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Obama's concluding meeting of the day will be with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. On May 24, the President will meet with members of Vietnam's civil society and give a speech to the Vietnamese people. President Obama leaves Air Force One in Noi Bai airport. Photo by Vietnam Plus In Ho Chi Minh City, he will likely visit the Jade Pagoda followed by a meeting with young Vietnamese entrepreneurs, where he will discuss the benefits of TPP to both Vietnam and the U.S., and the TPP's prospects in promoting growth, job creation and also high standards of labor and the environment. On May 25, the President will host a town hall with members of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative. Obama will head to Japan for his last G7 Summit after Vietnam trip. Follow VnExpress International on Facebook and Twitter New Delhi, May 21 South Delhi today reeled under massive power cuts with some areas facing outages for around five hours following which the government pulled up the BSES discoms asking them to take remedial measures. Areas like Okhla, Lodhi Colony, Bhogal, Nizamuddin, Jangpura Extension, Masjid Moth, Malviya Nagaar, Kalkaji and parts of Lajpat Nagar and South Extension, faced power cuts in the range of two to five hours making life difficult for the residents in the blistering heat. Officials from the Power Distribution Company BSES blamed the Delhi Transco Ltd, a government-run entity that maintains the transmission network in the city, for the long outages saying technical problem in the network caused the power cuts. There was no power in my area for five hours. We complained to the authorities concerned, but there was no response, said a resident of Okhla. Delhi Transco officials said there was a technical glitch in its distribution network supplying power to South Delhi, but at the same time added that the BSES could have used the alternate network if it had made such arrangements. Officials from the Power Department said the discoms had not been investing in improving its infrastructure due to which power cuts were taking place across the city when the load on the network goes up due to higher consumption of electricity. Several areas in West and East Delhi too faced long power cuts. There were very little outages in North Delhi where power is supplied by the Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDL). Power Minister Satyender Jain took strong note of the long power cuts and directed the discoms to take urgent measures to ensure round the clock power supply. PTI Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Hanoi, Obamas Air Force One may land at Noi Bai at 9:30 p.m. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived at Hanois Noi Bai International Airport at around 6:40 p.m. on Sunday. Obamas Air Force One may land at Noi Bai at 9:30 p.m., much earlier than previously expected, a source told VnExpress. Security in Noi Bai and the JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi has been tightened since Sunday afternoon. Vietnam has agreed with a U.S. proposal to freeze a runway for 10 minutes before the U.S. aircraft lands at Noi Bai, double the time for normal airplanes. The runway will be reopened for commercial flights after the last U.S. aircraft stops at the parking area in the airport. During the U.S. aircraft arrival, commercial airplanes will be operating on other runways. All U.S. aircraft that is part of the delegation will not be checked for aviation security, according to regulations for special aircraft. Sanjay Kapoor A former British civil servant, the late Olaf Caroe in his seminal book, Wells of Fire, has illustrated the compelling logic of geography to merit an early development of Chabahar port. Chabahar is the geographical point where the Persian territory ends beyond the Gulf of Oman, which constituted the erstwhile frontier of India (now Pakistan). Caroe also documents the Russian great game to reach the warm water ports of Indian Ocean and how they sent their transport officials to look for a port that could best serve their interests. The Russians, probably harangued by the extreme heat of the Baluchistan plains, chose the cool and temperate Chabahar as their preferred port. Caroe writes about the visible presence of Indians in all the major and minor Gulf ports and also notes the presence of Arabs and Persians in Indian bazaars. It was impossible, according to him, to get a correct perspective of the problems of the Gulf till this view included India that stood at the centre of the Indian Ocean. From this standpoint, the proposed Indian investment in Chabahar and signing of the trilateral treaty will not just open up a new trade route with Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia, but it can also challenge Pakistan's influence in the Gulf region, where it is getting increased traction after China invested $46 billion to develop another Baluchi port, Gwadar, and helped lay out a 3,200-km economic corridor that links it to Kashgar in Xinxiang province. Afghanistan is being encouraged by Pakistan to trade from Gwadar as it is closer to Kabul (1,237 km) than Chabahar (1,840 km). A shorter distance to Gwadar does not build a compelling geopolitical case for Afghanistan as it perceives the Chabahar route as one that liberates their economy from the stranglehold of Pakistan. While the geostrategic implications of side-stepping Pakistan through the Iran's Chabahar port were well known all these years, Iran never wanted to antagonise the Pakistanis and tilt the balance of power in this region. West Asian expert Sujata Aishwarya in her latest book, India-Iran Relations, brings to the fore pertinent geostrategic reasons as to why Iran always sided with Pakistan against India during the Cold War era. Later, Iran rebalanced its relationship in this region. The invitation to India to invest in Chabahar is an outcome of this change in foreign policy. This transformation has also been brought about by the changes that are taking place in the US and Pakistan relationship, which was has been militarily thick all these years, but has begun to betray signs of restrained hostility. Pakistan's stealthy role in fomenting trouble in Afghanistan by helping the Taliban, which has compromised US plans in this region, is just one of the reasons why the US is encouraging India and Iran to fast track their Chabahar relationship. It was in January 2003 that the three countries, India, Iran and Afghanistan sat together to discuss the possibility of transit and transport corridors to provide safe and cheaper passage for ferrying these goods. A MoU was signed to connect the Chabahar port in Iran to Afghanistan's ring-road system, that included all of its key cities like Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. For 13 years now, the Indian government has been progressing slowly on this front. While it completed its commitment in Afghanistan by getting the Border Roads Organisation to construct the 200-km-long Delaram- Zaranj or route 606 on the highway in the Nimroz province, there were gaps that needed to be completed before the corridor from Chabahar could travel the 883 km to Zaranj. All the three sides had to deal with issues and constraints at their end. India, for instance, was discouraged to do business with Iran as the latter was under US sanctions for allegedly using its nuclear energy programme to build a nuclear bomb. The Indian government under American pressure not just brought down the quantity of oil it purchased from Iran, but also voted against Iran's nuclear programme in IAEA. It is only after Iran and P5+1 signed an agreement on the civilian nuclear deal that the Chabahar agreement is seeing a serious revival of interest. While Iranian diplomats were happy about the promise of Indian investments, what really worries them is that they have not received the payment from Indian refineries of around $6.5 billion for the oil purchased. This payment has been pending for many months. The Iranians feel that non-payment of these oil dues could severely cramp their troubled journey up the international pecking order after the sanctions were lifted. Due to this, the Iranians were very keen that the Indians move faster on fulfilling their promises. On their side, they had set aside projects where no bidding was needed but much to Iran's chagrin India has moved at a glacial pace till the recent uptick in pace. There were reasons for this. India has been unhappy with Afghan President Ghani's fondness for Pakistan and is also observing how the US companies themselves have not invested in Iran. It had also not adequately processed long-term implications of the Chinese presence in Gwadar port. These reservations are giving way to some cynicism on the Indian side. President Ghani has been critical of the Pakistani government but has refused to tame the Taliban even after its hand was found in the Kabul violence. The US, too, has been pushing its surrogate companies to give meaning to the lifting of sanctions against Iran. South Korea and Japan, too, are lining investments in Iran and Chabahar. It will be interesting to see how the battle of two Baluchi ports Gwadar and Chabahar turns out to be a larger game than anyone can comprehend. The writer is Editor, Hardnews. Tribune News Service Chandigarh/New Delhi, May 21 The Central Bureau of Investigation today conducted raids at several locations in connection with alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 industrial plots at Panchkula by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) during the tenure of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. After registering the case on May 16, searches were conducted at 16 locations in New Delhi, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Chandigarh and Rohtak, a CBI spokesman said. The State Vigilance Bureau had on December 18 registered an FIR against Hooda, also the HUDA chairman, retired IAS officer and then HUDA Chief Administrator DPS Nagal, and HUDA officials SC Kansal and BB Taneja. The SVB later transferred the case to the CBI. In May last year, the Manohar Lal Khattar government had ordered a Vigilance inquiry into the allotment of plots by the Hooda regime to undeserving candidates. It was alleged that 14 favourites out of 582 were picked by HUDA in 2012-13. The beneficiaries allegedly linked to Hooda included the widow of his nephew, son of his secretary, the daughter-in-law of his OSD, and the son of a close aide. The allotments were made by HUDA in July 2013 and approved by Hooda as its Chairman. The case handed over to the CBI named the then chairman of HUDA, besides others. The CBI raids smack of political vendetta. The CBI may probe the matter, but I have not done anything wrong - Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Former CM Vishal Joshi Tribune News Service Bhusthla (Kurukshetra), May 22 A Dalit groom was allegedly stopped by dominant caste men from carrying out the marriage ritual of ghurchari at Bhusthla village in the district last night. A mob of Rajput youths from Busthala, about 25 km from Kurukshetra, and adjoining villages allegedly threatened Sandeep (24) for breaking traditions. The groom was also not allowed to pay obeisance in six different temples on the eve of the marriage as the family refused to move without a horse in the village. However, the barat left for Yamunanagar at around 11 am under police protection. As we were preparing for Sandeeps ghurchari last night, a group of Rajput youths came in the basti and threatened us to stay away from using horse-driven chariot. They said the tradition was not meant for the lower castes and its violation would be violently answered, Mithu, grooms uncle, said at the grooms one-room house. As the family stepped out of the basti in a flower-decked rath, the youths started pelting it with stones. Police was called by the panicked Dalits as members of Rajput community gathered in a large number outside the basti. According to the villagers at least three police personnel sustained injuries in the melee but the district police authorities deny the reports. It was only after some Dalit youths started filming the violent behavior of the Rajput youth, they started moving away, said Kulwinder Kaur, sister-in-law of Sandeep. Kurukshetra SP Simardeep Singh said 20 persons had been booked under various sections of the IPC and The SC and The ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. No arrest had been made till Sunday evening. Ample police force has been deployed since last night to ensure order in the village. Strict action will be initiated against the identified culprits, said the SP. However, Krishna Devi is worried if her daughter-in-law Meena would be allowed to visit the village temples. The way Rajput reacted to ghurchari, I am concerned about the newly-wed couples safety. During the recent elections of panchayats, members of Rajput community did visit Balmiki Basti and even ate food at our homes. But when it came to ghurchari, they were after our lives, she said. Villagers said in 2007 also, another Dalit youth was forced not to use a horse in his marriage but the matter was resolved by the village elders. Rachna Khaira Tribune News Service Phagwara/ Jalandhar, May 22 While hinting towards granting more autonomy to the private educational institutes in terms of introducing new courses in the soon to be announced new education policy, Union Human Resource and Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani said the universities would be able to introduce new academic courses without taking any permission from the concerned regulator. After the introduction of the new education policy, the private universities will be able to introduce new academic courses without taking any permission from the concerned regulator, said Irani while addressing academicians at the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology (DAVIET) in Jalandhar. However, she said: The facility will be extended only to some of the chosen recognised universities who would be given accreditation on the basis of various factors to be introduced in the new policy. She also informed that the new education policy would focus on the up gradation of the syllabus of some of the premier educational institutes across India and the Union Ministry of HRD has recently signed a memorandum with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to upgrade the curriculum of the National Institute of Technology (NITs) across India. Also, the ministry has engaged Standford University to do a quality check on engineering students to test their technical skills of desi engineers before they graduate. The biggest challenge I am facing presently is to bridge the gap between the school and higher education caused by the UPA government in the last few years. The children in schools do not understand the concept in small classes. The average outcome from class VI to VIII is only 25 per cent. Around 8 lakh engineering seats are presently lying vacant in the country, said Irani. She said the ministry has so far engaged around 400 internationally renowned academicians in the last one year to teach in government schools under Padhe Bharat Bhade Bharat campaign to fill this gap. While slamming private institutes for charging exorbitantly, Irani said the HRD ministry has submitted the Sri Krishna Committee report to every state so that they can have a regulatory mechanism to ensure that there is no spike in fee hike especially in the engineering and management sector. Also she stated that very few schools have so far stepped in to put details of their fee structure on public domain. No motorable way for DAVIET, Iranis convoy scrolls through Burlton Park Even though the DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology (DAVIET) spoke volumes on its research activities and policy making skills in front of the Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani, the institute does not have a motorable road to reach its premises till date. Even Iranis convoy had to scroll through the Burlton Park to enter the institute. MUDRA Scheme has 97% women beneficiaries While speaking on MUDRA Scheme, Irani said, "97 per cent of the beneficiaries under the MUDRA scheme were found to be women. I told bank authorities that since women have 100 per cent record of loan paybacks, their loan amount is safe." Irani takes a dig at LPU Chancellor While welcoming Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani, LPU Vice Chancellor Ashok Mittal spoke on the westernisation of Indian education system. To this, Irani taking a dig at Mittal said even though you spoke about the harmful effects of western culture on the Indian education system, you yourself addressed the students in English. Also, Mittal denoted Irani as the futuristic Prime Minister of India. Though given few stares by Irani, Mittal immediately covered up and said many former HRD Ministers too had risen up to the post in the past. Politics too reigns large While Former cabinet Minister Manoranjan Kalia remained with Irani throughout the day, Punjab BJP Chief Vijay Sampla along with a handful of workers met Irani during her brief visit at Circuit House. Also, MLA KD Bhandari met Irani at the DAVIET event. A section of the Bharatiya Yuva Morcha too boycotted her due to their ongoing agitation against the selection of Munish Vij as district head of Bharatiya Yuva Morcha. Irani urges private universities to uplift nearby areas Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 22 Finally, the city police intimated the Police Headquarters about Davinder Chaudhary facing criminal charges at the GRP station for abetment of suicide. Davinder Chaudary, Dugri SHO, was suspended on April 29 after Inderpal committed suicide by jumping in front of a train. The GRP booked him for abetment of suicide but did not intimate the Police Headquarters about this. When Davinder Chaudhary was promoted as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), the human rights organisations raised questions over his promotion. They claimed that the police promoted Davinder in violation of the rules. Meanwhile, the family of Inderpal said the promotion of Chaudhary would affect the ongoing investigation against him. Dhruman Nimbale, Deputy Commissioner of Police, said: The GRP did not intimate the police about the case. Now, we intimated the headquarters. Senior officials would take further action. We have written that Davinder Chaudhary is facing a departmental inquiry and investigation by the GRP. The headquarters would take action accordingly. New Delhi, May 22 Clashes between cadres of the BJP and CPI-M in Kerala after the Left victory found its echo in the National Capital with a BJP team seeking President Pranab Mukherjees intervention while workers of the rival parties scuffled outside CPI(M) office and 600 people were detained. Hitting back, the CPI(M) blamed the BJP and RSS for the violence in Kerala, alleging that their workers had attacked the victory processions of Left leaders as the saffron outfits were not willing to accept the peoples verdict. BJP workers broke police barriers and damaged CPI-Ms signboard outside its office here in protest against the murder of a party activist allegedly by supporters of the Left party during a poll victory rally in Kerala. Several police teams were deployed and a four-tier security arrangement was made around the CPI(M) office in New Delhis Gole Market area this morning. CPI(M) workers had also come out of the building to confront the protesters and a minor scuffle broke out when a group of BJP workers broke police barriers and damaged the signboard at the CPI(M) office. The groups were separated by the police and no injuries were reported, the police maintained. Around 600 people have been detained under provisions of law and the situation is under control, DCP (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal said. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who led the BJP delegation, told reporters after meeting the President that BJP and RSS workers were facing atrocities from the CPI(M), which led the LDF that won the Assembly poll in the state. He alleged that police was not taking appropriate action. We have given the President details of these cases, including photographs. Our worker Pramod was killed. Houses of more than 100 workers have been vandalised. Situation is not good. He has assured us that he will take appropriate action. Unfortunately, the UPA and Congress are keeping quiet. This is not good for democracy. Democracy is a battle of ideas and parties cannot grow by taking law into their hands. We hope that those having faith in democracy will condemn this violence, Gadkari said. Asked about CPI(M)s charge that the BJP was misleading, he said details of the incidents have been submitted to Mukherjee. Besides Gadkari, the delegation included Union ministers J.P. Nadda, Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, MPs Meenakshi Lekhi and M.J. Akbar and Kerala BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan. CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury alleged that it is the BJP and RSS workers who started the bout of violence in Kerala by attacking a victory procession. This has happened across the state. The BJP is simply not willing to accept the democratic verdict of the people of Kerala, he told reporters. PTI Simran Sodhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 23 Two years might not be a long enough period to pronounce a clear verdict but it's definitely enough time to read the signals and to know the direction in which one is headed. Ditto for the Modi government which, in a few days, will complete two years and hence offers an opportunity to think and evaluate where this nation is headed. In terms of foreign policy, at the onset, one can state that the government or rather the Prime Minister has been very active. The outreach to countries ranging from the US to Saudi Arabia to Pakistan is all self-evident. But when it comes to actual outcomes, the verdict is a little unclear. Let us start from the neighbourhood. The PM put forward a "neighbourhood first" policy. The idea was that this government would focus more on its immediate neighbours and build India's ties with the SAARC nations. Sadly, that has not been achieved. On the contrary, in a few cases, especially with regard to Nepal, India's "mishandling" of the situation has been grave. If Nepal has moved closer to China today, the blame is entirely on India and its failure to understand and deal with the Himalayan kingdom. Sri Lanka is going the Nepal way, edging closer to China and for India, it is crucial to pull up its socks and do some serious policy work now. Even tiny Maldives seems not too enamoured of India. Bangladesh and Bhutan are two positives with the Sheikh Hasina government proving time and again that they stand by India in good and bad times. Maybe the government could make some positive overtures to solidify that support. Pakistan is, of course, the biggest concern. After the Pathankot attacks of early January this year, which caught our intelligence agencies napping, the blow-hot, blow-cold relationship continues. India seems to be caught in the reaction mode. Every statement or action of Pakistan evokes a reaction from India. But there has been no serious forward movement, whether in terms of controlling the terrorism being unleashed against India from the Pakistani soil or on the issue of Kashmir on which Pakistan harks at every given opportunity. The Pakistan policy of the government has been referred to as a "confused" policy. At the end of two years, let's call it a "thoughtless" policy. The US and its relationship with India has received a great deal of attention from this government. So much so, that PM Narendra Modi is headed to the US for a fourth time since taking charge. Again, the photo-ops have been great. US President Barack Obama and his wife as guests at India's Republic Day parade last year and now with Modi scheduled to address the joint session of the US Congress, the optics of the relationship has really played out well. Again, the concrete stuff is missing. The much-hyped Indo-US nuclear deal still has to be given a practical shape and the signing of yet another document is not adding much value to the relationship. China has retained its bullying position. With Russia, an old friendship could have more value addition and with the nations of the Middle East more concrete steps need to be taken. At the end of two years, the government needs to formulate policy in clear, hard terms and then have the guts to follow it through. Photo-ops look good but content is essential for success in any field. New Delhi, May 22 India and Oman today vowed to deepen bilateral defence ties as the two countries signed four key agreements in the critical sector with focus on enhancing military cooperation. The agreements on defence cooperation, marine crime prevention, maritime issues and flight safety information exchange was signed following the maiden visit of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to Oman, considered one of the closest in the middle east. Parrikar, who is on an official visit at the invitation of Bader Bin Saud Bin Harib Al Busaidi, Minister Responsible for Defence Affairs of Oman, today wrapped up his visit and left for UAE. PTI Kathmandu, May 22 Tipplers from Bihar have been crossing into adjoining Nepal in thousands for their daily liquor quota ever since the Indian state went dry on April 1. However, scores end up spending the night in Nepal police lockups and pay hefty fines. The police in Rautahat district of Nepal said at least 70 Indian nationals had been fined Rs 1,000 each for drinking in dozens of shacks that have mushroomed in Nepal territory along Bihar's border with the Himalayan nation. These makeshift but illegal huts were set up specially to cater to the needs of the Bacchus-worshippers from India. "In the last week, we have fined 70 Indians who came here to consume liquor. They were also kept in custody for a night and let off the following day," said Ganesh Regmi, Superintendent of Police in Rautahat. On Saturday, the police rounded up nine Indians, kept them in custody for a night and set them free only after getting written undertakings that they would not show up again in Nepal territory to consume alcohol, Regmi added. The Nepal Police have begun taking action against the makeshift shops due to apprehensions of a surge in crime due to short visits by tipplers from India to satisfy their liquor craving. The police routinely raid liquor shops set up in hutments after 6 pm daily to look for boozing Indians. The police on the Indian side, too, have sought coordination with their Nepali counterparts and local authorities to keep a tab on the influx of Indian nationals into the Himalayan nation since it could impact crime on the open India-Nepal border. Since the border between India and Nepal is open, free flow of people from either side is allowed after routine security checks. Now, to avoid any brush with the Nepal Police, many Bacchus-worshippers from India visit nearby Nepali towns, consume alcohol, spend a night there and return to their homes the next day. IANS Vietnams Ministry of Public Security on Sunday tightened security nationwide during the general election dubbed by the Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as the countrys biggest in history. Vice Minister of Public Security Le Quy Vuong yesterday ordered all the security forces of the ministry to perform duty on May 22 to ensure absolute safety and security in public places and voting stations. Vietnamese citizens have on May 22 begun casting their votes to elect members of the 14th National Assembly and Peoples Council at all levels in an election dubbed by the Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as the countrys biggest in history. The voting for the 2016-2021 tenure started at 7 a.m. and will be closed at 7 p.m. today. Leaders from the Party, the current National Assembly and the government, and citizens across the country were seen casting their votes early in the day. Follow VnExpress International on Facebook and Twitter Simran Sodhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 22 Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Iran on a two-day visit today. In the evening, he met a delegation of Sikhs and paid obeisance at a gurdwara there. "We Indians have a specialty. We accept everyone and assimilate with everyone," Modi said while addressing a community gathering at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Tehran. "The new generation should know about the sacrifices of the great (Sikh) Gurus and about the Guru Granth Sahib," he said. The gurdwara was founded in 1941 by Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha. Modi is set to sign the Chabahar port deal with Iran and Afghanistan on Monday. He was received at the Mehrabad International Airport by countrys Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia, after which he left for local Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara. Starting with the cultural connect... PM @narendramodi at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara in Tehran, the PMO tweeted. During the visit, the PM will meet President Hassan Rouhani and countrys supreme religious and political leader Ayatollah Khamenei. The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Indian Embassy in Tehran in collaboration with Irans Farhangistan and Sadi foundation will organise a three-day cultural festival in conjunction with the PMs visit. Modi will attend the inaugural session of the conference on May 23 which would be followed by a sitar concert. The PM will also release a manuscript, Kalileh wa Dimneh an old translation into Persian of Panchatantra and Jataka. Also on display will be an exhibition of digital manuscripts, a sitar and tar recital and a session of Persian poetry recitation where Indian and Iranian poets will come together. In a series of tweets, the Prime Minister before his departure said: I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today and tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani. I also look forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar Agreement during my visit. The Chabahar port deal is a historic and significant step forward for India. The port will provide land-locked Afghanistan an alternative port to Karachi and for India, it will give it greater access to Afghanistan and Central Asia. For Pakistan, this is a bitter pill as the Chabahar port will give India a strategic advantage in the region. Mumbai, May 22 No calls were made between Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse and gangster Dawood Ibrahim, Mumbai Police said on Sunday, a day after Aam Aadmi Partys Preeti Sharma Menon made the allegations. "Our initial analysis of the cell phone number (belonging to Khadse) indicated that there were neither outgoing nor incoming calls from this number to that of the fugitive (Dawood) during the entire period of September 2015 to April 2016, as stated in the (AAP) press conference," Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Atulchandra Kulkarni said. "When the issue of contact of the Maharashtra government minister with Mumbai underworld fugitive Dawood Ibrahim, who is abroad, cropped up, we checked the details." Menon had claimed Khadse had received several phone calls from Dawood Ibrahim's wife Mehjabeen Shaikh's phone number at press conference AAP held on Saturday, Menon also claimed Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had ordered investigations. Khandse however termed the allegations unfounded and claimed that the number in question has not been in use for the past one year. Ibrahim has been accused of having engineered 13 serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993 that killed 257 people and continues to evade arrest. India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of having harboured him, although Pakistan denies the allegations Agencies Tehran, May 22 Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived here on Sunday on a two-day official visit to Iran, offered prayers at Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurdwara. Starting with the cultural connect... PM @narendramodi at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara in Tehran, the Prime Ministers Office tweeted. Modi, who was given a red carpet welcome at the airport, was received by Iranian Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia. He will be accorded an official welcome here on Monday, following which he will hold talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani. Connectivity, energy security and bilateral trade are on top of Modis agenda during his visit which comes a little over a month-and-a-half of his trip to Saudi Arabia. On Monday, the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to develop the Chabahar port in that Gulf nation will be signed. The Prime Minister will also inaugurate an Indian cultural festival in Iran on Monday. Ahead of his departure from New Delhi, Modi tweeted that he looked forward to his visit to Iran at the invitation of President Rouhani. India and Iran enjoy civilisational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region, he said. He said his meetings with President Rouhani and Supreme Leader Khamenei would provide an opportunity to advance the strategic partnership between India and Iran. Modi said that priority would be given to enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people-to-people contacts. In an interview to Irans IRNA news agency before of his arrival here, Modi said the two countries have always focused to add strength to our relations, even during the difficult times. In the current context, both countries can look to expand our cooperation in the fields of trade, technology, investment and infrastructure and energy security. Stating that Indias public and private sector firms were keen on investing in Iran, he said the signing of agreement on development of Chabahar port will provide wider connectivity. Chabahar is a port in South-East Iran that will enable India to bypass Pakistan and open up a route to land-locked Afghanistan, with which New Delhi has close security ties and economic interests. Lifting of the international sanctions against Iran has opened up immense opportunities for both the countries, especially in the economic sphere, Modi said, adding that India is keen to enhance its investment in the Persian Gulf nation and also welcomes flow of capital and investments from there. The energy sector, he said, was one of the most important dimensions of bilateral economic ties and with investment in development of Farzad-B gas field, the relationship would go beyond the buyer-seller dealings to being genuine partners. On impending meetings with Iranian leaders, Modi said: Iran is part of our extended neighbourhood, an important nation in the region and one of Indias valuable partners. We are connected with each other by the shared history and civilisational ties. We have shared interest in peace, stability and prosperity of the region. Combating the menace of international terrorism and radical ideologies is a common challenge. He further said taking concrete steps for enhancing regional connectivity is one of the most important and promising dimensions of the ties between India and Iran. Building a genuine energy partnership, cooperation in the infrastructure, ports, railway and petrochemicals sectors and developing the age-old civilisational ties through people-to-people exchanges in the modern times will also be a priority, Modi said. An agreement on state-owned Nalco setting up a 5-lakh tonne per annum aluminium plant in Chabahar free-trade zone is also to be signed tomorrow. From Chabahar, the existing Iranian road network can link up to Zaranj in Afghanistan, about 883 kms from the port. The Zaranj-Delaram road constructed by India in 2009 can give access to Afghanistans Garland Highway, setting up road access to four major cities in Afghanistan-Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. Chabahar port, located in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province on Irans southern coast, is of great strategic utility for India. It lies outside the Persian Gulf and is easily accessed from Indias western coast. The port project will be the first overseas venture for an Indian state-owned port. India and Iran had in 2003 agreed to develop Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman outside the Strait of Hormuz, near Irans border with Pakistan. But the project moved slowly because of Western sanctions against Iran. The sanctions were lifted in January and since then, India has been pushing for conclusion of an agreement. About a fifth of the oil consumed worldwide each day passes through the Strait, a shipping choke point that separates the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean. Indian investment in phase-1 will be in excess of $200 million, including $150-million line of credit from Exim Bank, an agreement for which would also be signed during the visit. Besides signing of commercial contract for Chabahar Phase-1, Modi will witness signing of a trilateral agreement on transport and transit corridor among India, Afghanistan and Iran. The trilateral agreement is seen to significantly enhance prospects of Indias connectivity with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond such as the North-South corridor. Modi and the Iranian president are also likely to review peace and stability in the region which faces several challenges, including terrorism and violent extremism, besides cyber crime and maritime security. IANS/PTI Imphal/New Delhi, May 22 Six troopers were killed when an Assam Rifles convoy was today ambushed in Manipur's Chandel district by insurgents of the Corcomthe apex body of six proscribed underground organisations. The attackers also took away four AK-47 assault rifles, an INSAS rifle, a light machine gun and ammunition before fleeing the spot. While intelligence sources said six personnel, including a junior commissioned officer, were killed, the Assam Rifles and the police, while confirming the incident, declined to disclose the exact casualty figures. The convoy of 29 Assam Rifles was approaching Holenjang village from the main camp at Joupi in Chandel district bordering Myanmar around 1 pm when the insurgents detonated remote-controlled bombs and opened fire from different sides. The exchange of fire lasted about one hour. Reinforcements were rushed to the spot and operations launched to apprehend the perpetrators, who are believed to have escaped to no man's land along the India-Myanmar border. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has directed the security forces to take the strongest possible action against militants involved in the killing of six Assam Rifles personnel in Manipur. After the incident, Rajnath reviewed the situation with Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other top officials in the security establishment. He also spoke to the Assam Rifles Director-General, who apprised him of the situation and the action taken so far. Extremely pained to learn of the killing of Assam Rifles' JCO and jawans in Manipur. My condolences to the families of the deceased soldiers, Rajnath wrote on Twitter. Spoke to DG Assam Rifles who apprised me of the situation in Manipur. MHA is closely monitoring and reviewing the situation in the state, he added. Agencies Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 22 Another university campus could be affected by unrest after the Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) announced a four-day boycott of the evaluation of marksheets. The DUTA will consider the option of total boycott of admissions in the university if there is no favourable response from the Government. The DUTA is protesting the latest changes to UGC Regulations (2010) that increase the teaching hours, emphasise a points-based evaluation process for promotions and gives more weightage to class room teaching as compared to tutorials and practicals. The DUTA claims the new changes and spell disaster for the teaching-learning processes, and endanger the livelihood of a significant section of currently employed teachers. While recent unrest in universities such as Jawaharlal Nehru University, Hyderabad Central, NIIT, Srinagar, Allahabad University and Jadavapur University was student-led and fuelled by local campus issues, teachers are leading the impending agitation in Delhi University, which has a wider, all-India implications. Delhi University has 1.32 lakh directly enrolled students and 1.8 lakh students enrolled in distance learning courses. The agitation is supported by two all India teachers' organisations All India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation (AIFUCTO) and the Federation of Central University Teachers' Association (FEDUCTA). The DUTA will reassess the situation and the Governments response on May 28. If the Government fails to withdraw the Gazette Notification on Amendments, it will consider an intensification of its stir, including Total Boycott of the Admissions process in the University. The DUTA says these amendments threaten immediate job cuts in thousands in every university. If implemented, in DU alone, the jobs of 5,000 existing teachers will be jeopardised. The present amendments dictate a 40-per centincrease in the number of hours a teacher is required to teach per week. The DUTA has warned the changes in teaching conditions will further impact the Global Rankings of Indian universities, pulling them down further by several notches. The amendments also devalue small-group Tutorials and Preceptorials as well as Practicals. Two hours of guiding student in Practicals has been made equivalent to one hour of lecturing. This will adversely impact attention given to the variable learning needs of students and hit the academic performance of students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. The stipulation that research articles published only in a list of UGC-approved journals and that publishers will be eligible for promotions makes it a system of promotion-denial, given the paucity of avenues. Limiting it also constitutes an assault on academic freedom, since even the most reputed journals in many disciplines are known not to accept non-orthodox and views critical of mainstream opinion. ``Hasty decisions only alienate the teaching community and disrupt all efforts to improve the standards of university-education. Bureaucratic adamancy will only invite the collective anger and non-cooperation of the teaching community,'' warned DUTA President Nandita Narain and Secretary Sandeep. Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 21 Damdami Taksal activists on Saturday extended support to the suspects arrested in connection with the murderous attack on Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale. The May 17 attack in Ludhiana had claimed the life of another preacher, Bhupinder Singh Khasi Kalan. Sant Charanjit Singh, a member of the Sant Samaja conglomerate of Sikh bodies led by Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhummaaccused Dhadrianwale of using derogatory language against the Taksal head. Justifying the attack, he said it was possible that some persons associated with the Taksal had taken this retaliatory step. His supporters alleged that the police were torturing the suspects in custody. Charanjit Singh and about 25 of his supporters raised slogans in the court complex when the police arrived with the four suspects today. A police team led by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP Crime) Balkar Singh produced the suspects in the court, which remanded them in police custody till May 24. Coming out of the court, one of the suspects, Sukhwinder Singh, alias Sonu, said, The attack was orchestrated by Dhadrianwale. But we will hit back if he does not stop disrespecting the Taksal. Charanjit Singh said, Its the Damdami Taksal tradition to punish those who show disrespect to the Dasam Granth, Panj Banis and Taksal maryada as well as its past and present heads. The ADCP said, We are investigating the matter without any political pressure. No innocent person has been arrested. Those in custody have admitted to their role in the attack. However, there is no evidence so far to prove Dhummas involvement in the case. Sources said the police probe had established that the attackers were associated with the Taksal, but the attack was an emotional reaction by some disciples rather than a conspiracy at the organisational level. Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Moga, May 22 A two-member Belgian police team today questioned ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Bibi Rajwinder Kaur Bhagike in connection with the suspected murder of a woman, who was reported missing in that country in 2012. The police team from Belgium yesterday arrived in Moga to probe the suspected murder of the woman, identified as Jagwinder Kaur alias Soni. As per the details available, Jagwinder, who hailed from Mullanpur Dakha in Ludhiana, was married to Kewal Singh, a resident of Bhagike village. Kewal had been living in Belgium for more than 20 years. Jagwinder also went to Belgium and gave birth to a son there. The police today took blood samples of Bakhtaur Singh, Jagwinders brother-in-law, for a DNA test. They also recorded statements of family members of Kewal and questioned local Akali MLA Bibi Rajwinder Kaur Bhagike, sarpanch and many other panches of the village. The local police officers accompanied the Belgian police team. In February 2012, Kewal Singh came to his ancestral village, here, to attend a marriage. A few days after his arrival, he got a phone call from Belgium that his wife has gone missing from the house. On March 8, he went to Belgium. Bakhtaur Singh, Kewal Singhs brother, told the Belgian police that later they came to know that Jagwinder had filed a legal suit against Kewal, demanding a separate house to live. Then, they started living separately. On August 26, 2012, the woman went missing in Belgium and since then her whereabouts were not known. Meanwhile, Kewal was sent to judicial custody for few months in Belgium, suspecting that Jagwinder was murdered by him. The Belgian police were suspecting it a case of honour killing. Tribune News Service Mussoorie, May 22 Four youths from Tehri Garhwal district, who were stuck in Akra city in Ghana, a West African nation, finally returned here today. They had gone to work at a restaurant but the outlet owner didnt pay them salary for the past few months. They have faced ordeal for two to four months. Rajeshar Painuli, chief coordinator of the Dobra Chanti Pul Banao Sangarsh Samiti, said fourth youth from Tehri district reached Delhi airport this evening. The youth thanked the Central government for the help and reached the residence of Lok Sabha MP Bhagat Singh Koshyari to thank him for his support in ending the ordeal in Africa. Koshyari said there was an increase in number of such cases which was indicative of the fact that youths from the state were facing victimisation while working in some of the countries abroad but the state government had not been able to create a mechanism to support the occurrence of such incidents. He said there was need to create a helpline for such youths so that they can be provided quick help to return home safely. Rajeshwar Painuli thanked the Ministry of External Affairs for their quick response in the matter and helping the youths return at the government expense without any delay. The United States has dispatched the elite K9 squad of U.S. Secret Service, which has been overlooking the security details in Vietnams Noi Bai Airport. A source in the airport said the team, comprising of 20 dog officers, have been checking Noi Bai's security for a few days. They are an integral part to ensure security and safety for President Obama and form a core security layer to sanitize everything in the 100 meter vicinity of the President. Another source told VnExpress that U.S. security forces will perform the main duty to ensure security and safety during the landing of the Air Force Ones. Vietnamese security forces will be responsible for outside security layers around the airport, which they have started since May 21 afternoon. Obama is scheduled to be in one of the two Air Force Ones to arrive in Noi Bai late tonight. Accompanying the President are Secretary of State John Kerry and about 800 people in the U.S. delegation, who will be in the other special aircraft. The U.S. forces will control the VIP guest house at the airport, which is exclusively reserved for chiefs of state, to prevent anyone from approaching the special aircraft. They will also jam mobile signals to stop mobile phones from triggering possible explosive device in the area. U.S. Marine One helicopter will accompany the Obama-led delegation from the sky when they travel to Hanoi by car. The White House said May 21 the U.S. President arrived to board Air Force One for travel to Vietnam and Japan from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S. on May 21. His official visit to Vietnam will begin in Hanoi on Monday, May 23, according to Reuters. Tribune News Service Dehradun, May 22 Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay today dared the CBI to question BJP leaders who are said to have offered money to buy Congress rebel legislators. Upadhyay was reacting to the summon issued by the CBI to Chief Minister Harish Rawat to appear on May 24 to join the investigation into the CD sting. Harish Rawat was shown in the CD allegedly offering money to buy rebel MLAs support. Upadhyay, while addressing mediapersons at Rajeev Bhavan, accused the BJP-led Central government of denting the clean image of Chief Minister Harish Rawat. The CBI is working under the influence of the Central government. An unbiased probe into the corruption charges levied on political leaders of the state should be conducted. BJP political heavyweights offered Rs 700 crore to buy Congress rebels, he said. He said the the nine Congress rebel MLAs joining the BJP would have no impact on the Congress. Congress candidates will give a tough fight to rebels. We will win the next Assembly elections slated for January 2017, he said. The state Congress president said a committee comprising three Cabinet ministers had been formed to carry out a probe into all land deals that took place since Congress gained power in the state. A delegation of Congress leaders will meet Chief Minister Harish Rawat soon to urge him to make reports of all commissions. Meanwhile, Upadhyay accused Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay of not informing the district administration before supporting entry of Dalits into Silgur Devta Temple under Chakrata development block in Dehradun, which had resulted in a scuffle between him and villagers on May 20. SMA Kazmi Tribune News Service Dehradun, May 22 The entry of the nine rebel Congress legislators into the BJP has created confusion and uneasiness in the state unit. While the central party leadership decided to induct them into the party fold, the state party leaders are unhappy and uncertain about the development. The fate of the nine rebel Congress legislators, who revolted against Chief Minister Harish Rawat on March 18 on the passage of the Appropriation Bill in the state Assembly, was uncertain from that fateful day. It was believed that they had struck some deal with the BJP before rebelling against their own party and Chief Minister. However, the long legal battle that followed the March 18 rebellion in the state Assembly further sealed the fate of the rebel Congress MLAs. Their hopes of reconciliation with the Congress diminished as the party fully backed Chief Minister Harish Rawat and refused to have any dialogue with them on their prime demand of Rawat's removal. After the floor test and refusal of the Supreme Court to allow them to vote in the floor test not only demoralised the rebels but also left them with little options. The rebels, who had entered into a pact with the BJP top leadership, had another option of forming their own political party. But the rebels after several meetings decided to go with the BJP rather than forming their own outfit. Most of the rebel leaders were unwilling to stick their neck out in the coming Assembly polls under the banner of a new political party or as Independents. They were of the opinion that they stand a fair chance of their political rehabilitation in the BJP. On the other hand, despite opposition from a powerful section of the party, BJP national president Amit Shah kept his word and admitted them into the party fold without any condition. However, according to party sources, most of the leaders with a strong chance of winning their seats would be given ticket in the next Assembly elections. However, the decision has not gone down well with state party leaders as well as grass-roots workers. Senior leaders, namely BC Khanduri, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, both former Chief Ministers, were conspicuous by their absence at the ceremony held to induct the rebel Congress leaders into the BJP in the national capital. Only Nainital MP Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who was in the forefront of the political drama in Uttarakhand for the past two months, was the only senior BJP leader along with Satpal Maharaj present on the occasion. The state BJP leaders argue that the decision of the leadership was flawed as was its decision to topple the Harish Rawat government without consulting the state leaders. They say the decision would boomerang on the party in the elections as the BJP had been criticising these leaders in the past. The BJP had launched a campaign against the alleged failure of former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to provide succour after the June 2013 natural disaster, which claimed more than 5,000 lives. The party also charged his government with alleged misappropriation of relief money. The state BJP leaders believe that these contradictions would prove costly for the party, which claims moral high ground in politics. Moreover, the party ticket to the nine Congress rebels would also annoy BJP leaders, who had been preparing to fight the elections from their Assembly seats. The social media in Uttarakhand is abuzz with criticism of the BJP on the issue. Cairo: Egypt on Sunday deployed a submarine to hunt for the crucial black boxes of an EgyptAir plane in the Mediterranean, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said as he asserted that no theory was being favoured in the probe into what caused the jet to crash with 66 people on board. A submarine belonging to the Oil Ministry that could operate at a depth of 3,000 metres under the sea level had been deployed for the purpose, Sisi said. PTI Erdogan loyalist to be appointed as Turkish PM Ankara: Turkey's ruling party confirmed a trusted ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its new chairman today, setting the stage for his appointment as the new prime minister. The move is widely believed to consolidate Erdogan's hold on power. Transport and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim received 1,405 out of a total of 1,470 votes of delegates attending the governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP's, extraordinary congress. AP 2 killed in Austria concert shooting Vienna: A gunman fired shots on Sunday into a crowd of about 150 people, apparently at random, attending an open air concert, killing two people and wounding 11 others before shooting himself to death, the police said. The police said the shooting in Austria's westernmost Voralberg province was preceded by a loud argument between the gunman and a woman in a nearby parking lot. The man then fetched a gun out of his car and went to the concert venue. AP A national expert on death penalty practices says the behavior of state officials highlighted in a grand jury report on Oklahomas execution process is proof of systemic ineptitude that undermines public faith in government. A multicounty grand jury released a 106-page report last week on its investigation of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, eliciting terms such as careless and cavalier to describe the actions of some state officials. The report shows that the Department of Corrections was so concerned with maintaining secrecy about everyone connected to the execution of Charles Warner and attempted execution of Richard Glossip that those involved in the processes shared little, if any, details about their job duties and their efforts to ensure they were following protocol. High-ranking officials, including DOC Director Robert Patton and Oklahoma State Penitentiary Warden Anita Trammell, resigned or retired from their positions ahead of the reports release. (The jury) pointed out perhaps better than any other example so far in the United States the dangers of execution secrecy, Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told the Tulsa World on Friday. The center studies the use of the death penalty but does not take a position on the practice itself. One of the reasons you want public oversight is so that state actors dont make mistakes, and if they do make mistakes that they can be corrected before something really bad happens, Dunham said. DOC officials wrongly assumed that everyone around them did their jobs correctly, according to the grand jurys report. Multiple people should have verified the drugs were correct before Warners execution began but did not do so. The grand jury said that verification didnt occur because the DOCs execution protocols were poorly written and too ambiguous. Because of this, the grand jury noted, no one noticed that Warner had been executed in January 2015 using potassium acetate, not potassium chloride as specified in the lethal injection protocol, until Sept. 30, the day the drugs for Glossips execution arrived at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. But records show DOC staff, the Board of Corrections, the Attorney Generals office and Gov. Mary Fallins office received paperwork relating to Warners execution, which showed acetate had been used, as early as March 2015. Despite being able to discover the issue months in advance, officials testified they did not know of the mix-up until Sept. 30 because they only looked over Warners cause and manner of death. Some, according to the jurys report, didnt remember reviewing the autopsy report at all. Moreover, the jury found that Fallins then-general counsel, Steve Mullins, who resigned in February after testifying, advocated for Glossips execution even after learning the DOC received potassium acetate and had apparently used it before. The report implied he was more concerned about public perception of the states competency than following the execution protocol, as he did not want to publicly admit in a news release that the drug was incorrect because it would look bad. Warner execution aftermath When the grand jurors asked Trammell, DOC General Counsel David Cincotta, the DOCs selected pharmacist and others how the drug mix-up could have happened in Warners and Glossips cases, most apparently shifted blame to a doctor who had been hired as the IV team leader. The doctor took responsibility for the mistake in his testimony, citing anxiety over the process. He testified that the dosages of the drugs provided were amounts that weve never even thought about using in conventional medicine, and that the process took longer than expected because of the IV teams unfamiliarity with procedures. But the jury also pointed to Cincottas failure to adhere to state purchasing requirements when ordering the drugs, as well as Trammells lack of attention to the task. Documents the DOC provided to the jury indicate the agency purchased enough lethal injection drugs for six executions, with Cincotta paying the pharmacist in cash. The purchase receipt did not document the person who paid for the drugs, who received the money, the date of payment, the method of payment or the type or volume of execution drugs purchased. In the past, DOC staff members took a written prescription for execution drugs to the chosen pharmacist. However, the jurors found that Cincotta called in the drug order to the pharmacy and did not provide a written prescription, which was contrary to protocol. The pharmacists identity is protected under an execution secrecy law that passed in 2011. But the jurors said an inventory of the drugs purchased needs to be maintained pursuant to the Oklahoma Open Records Act because it involves the expenditure of public funds, even if the documents are exempt. A DOC spokesman said Friday that Cincotta would not be available for comment on the report, and an Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office spokesman said staffers there are refraining from comment. Former Oklahoma Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa, who wrote the 2011 bill, did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday afternoon. Emails obtained last month by the Tulsa World first reported on by BuzzFeed News from the Oklahoma State Medical Examiners Office showed a glimpse of the grand jurys focus on Warners execution. Assistant Attorney General Tiffany Wythe sent an email to a medical examiners office spokeswoman March 31, 2015, asking if she would give Wythe a heads up about any surprises in Warners autopsy. The medical examiners office sent a copy to a DOC employee the next day, and the DOC employee emailed copies to multiple co-workers, state employees and the Board of Corrections the next day. Im already getting questions from the attorneys handling the death penalty litigation regarding this file, Wythe wrote. If they request anything from you, can you let me know ASAP so we are giving them the same information? Wythe emailed the spokeswoman Aug. 21 to ask for a log of physical evidence for Warners execution, which she received Aug. 28. None of the emails provided to the World mentioned a problem until a query about testing his blood for potassium acetate in October, when The Oklahoman first reported Warner had been executed using potassium acetate as the final drug. Protocols not followed On Sept. 30, a DOC Inspector Generals Office agent gave Trammell the box of drugs at OSP. The report says Trammell opened the box to inventory the drugs and observed that some vials said potassium acetate, but she did not tell anyone of the substitution because she thought it was the same drug as potassium chloride. When I (saw) it, I thought it was the same thing (as potassium chloride,) Trammell testified. I didnt know the pharmacist that we use or the pharmacy. I didnt know who ordered the drugs. Thats not part of my job duty. I didnt know it hadnt been looked at. I assumed it had been. I assumed that what the pharmacist provided was (what) we needed. The jurors said Trammell wasnt aware the protocol wasnt followed in Warners execution or Glossips scheduled execution because, there were lots of things that took place at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary that wasnt in the policy. She later said the IV team leader was responsible for checking the drugs, as did the H Unit section chief, who just didnt think it was his role to do so upon receipt. The doctor noticed the discrepancy around noon Sept. 30 and told Cincotta, but said potassium acetate was medically interchangeable with potassium chloride. Cincotta, according to the report, told the doctor to continue preparing for Glossips execution while he spoke with Patton and the pharmacist over the phone, and later the attorney generals and governors offices. The report states Cincotta advised Mullins that he believed potassium acetate was used in Warners execution. A subsequent conversation between Mullins and the attorney generals office became tense, with Mullins arguing for the DOC to proceed with Glossips execution despite having the wrong drug. The attorney generals office sought to file a motion seeking a stay for Glossip, but Mullins said it would look bad for the state of Oklahoma because potassium acetate had already been used in Warners execution. Deputy Attorney General (Jennifer) Miller testified that this was the first time she had heard potassium acetate was used in the Warner execution, and she was in shock and extremely concerned upon learning this, the report states. Miller asserted the protocol has no legal ambiguity and said her opinion was that the execution should be stayed if potassium chloride was unavailable. Fallin ultimately agreed to issue an executive order granting a 37-day stay. On Oct. 2, Attorney General Scott Pruitt announced a stay would be in effect for all scheduled executions while the grand jury investigated the situation. Whats next Although the grand jurys report has been released, its not yet clear what will happen next. As of Friday, the state had not presented the grand jurys findings to either the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, which instituted the stay of executions, or a federal court where death row inmates have sued the state over its policies. The jury said that the execution protocol should be revised again and needs to require verification at every step of the process. Additionally, it recommended that the DOC retain experts to advise on nitrogen hypoxia as an alternative to lethal injection, as drug companies and doctors are increasingly reluctant to participate in executions in any way. A bill, introduced by Rep. Mike Christian, R-Oklahoma City, to add nitrogen hypoxia became law last November, but its use would have to be governed by its own protocol. The people expect us to perform justice on those who are the worst of the worst and I want to thank the multicounty grand jury for their recommendation, Christian said in a statement Friday. This now allows the state to fulfill its obligation to the people of Oklahoma that we carry out justice, according to the law of the land. An attorney generals office spokesman said Friday that an execution will not take place until 150 days after the DOC finalizes a new lethal injection protocol per the jurys recommendation, which likely will be litigated federally. Dunham, the death penalty researcher, said he hopes the state follows the jurys recommendations. The grand jury report provides an opportunity for real change, but if the same attitude persists ... the public cant have any confidence that its going to be anything but the same incompetence or lack of concern practiced with a different set of faces, he said. OKLAHOMA CITY While legislative leaders tout the accomplishments of the current session, some longtime observers view it as a train wreck. Lawmakers must adjourn by 5 p.m. Friday or call a special session. Meanwhile, legislative leaders have yet to announce a budget agreement to fill a $1.3 billion hole for fiscal year 2017. House Speaker Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview, held a Capitol press conference to tout last Fridays passage of bills from a House panel. He said he believes lawmakers can get all their work done by the deadline and will not require a special session. Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, expects to have a budget bill by early this week. Last week, lawmakers spent time on bills dealing with transgender students and bathrooms and voted to make abortion a felony, despite a U.S. Supreme Court case legalizing it. Gov. Mary Fallin wasted no time vetoing the abortion measure. It is a train wreck, said Keith Gaddie, chairman of the political science department at the University of Oklahoma. They are avoiding dealing with the fundamental issues. The fundamental issues include finding ways to provide essential services and funding them, he said. Lawmakers have decided to balance the budget on the back of ordinary taxpayers to the benefit of corporations, which flies in the face of the founding fathers of the state, Gaddie said. State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones, former chairman for the Oklahoma Republican Party, said lawmakers for some time have known the size of the budget hole, but have waited until the last minute to start attempting to pass measures to address it. A key component of the GOP budget plan was passage of a $1.50 increase in the cigarette tax to shore up the states Medicaid provider rates. That measure failed to garner a supermajority in the House and appears to be dead. Revenue-raising measures cant be brought up in the last five days of a session. The state has boxed itself in by reducing the income tax and giving tax breaks to the oil and gas industry, Jones said. Due to early filing for political offices, lawmakers are more focused on how certain issues will affect them politically instead of trying to solve problems, Jones said. There has never been a session quite like the one we are currently watching dissolve into greater chaos in its final days, said Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the ACLU of Oklahoma and a former House member. I think we are witnessing the consequences of multiple bad political and policy decisions unfold before our very eyes. Lawmakers in the past have been able to mask the severity of the budget problems, but now the budget situation has become undeniable, Kiesel said. He said politicians have spent their energy attacking religious minorities, the LGBT community, women and neglecting the criminal justice system. They have been doing all that and using all their energy to score political points while the fundamental services that the people of Oklahoma have come to depend upon have deteriorated, Kiesel said. Filming of The Bachelor has been the target of paparazzi this season as magazines try to get the inside word on the next season, starring Richie Strahan. But the latest attempts are a case study in covert operations. According to News Corp, it all began when a Warner Bros. producer using Tinder told a prospective date he was off to film a reality TV finale overseas. She just happened to be at the home of a Sydney paparazzo who coaxed her to ask more questions. When he later opened the app in Thailand the snapper took a plane in the hope of nabbing crucial photos. Filming of the finale was reportedly delayed as everyone scrambled to stop the spoiling. The price you pay for having a hit series? Last year photographers snapped Bachelorette Sam Frost and Sasha Mielczarek kissing in a hotel suite, by shooting through the curtains. Two voters verify that the ballot is sealed. Photo by VGP News The vote counting process for todays parliamentary election has started immediately after the voting time ended at 7 p.m., according to the government news portal. Preliminary reports show voter turnout of 95.84 percent. Before opening the ballot boxes, each election station must record and seal any unused ballots. The entire process is observed by two voters per station and various journalists from across the country. Once the counting is completed, the results are put down on paper. Preliminary reports from the National Election Council show that as of 5 p.m. today, more than 63.3 million voters participated in the general election nationwide, equivalent to the voter turnout of 95.84 percent. About 32,000 local election stations had 100 percent voter turnout. Earlier today, more than 69.2 million voters across Vietnam were expected to cast their votes to elect 500 members of the new National Assembly, 3,918 provincial councilors, 24,993 district councilors and 294,055 commune councilors for the 2016-2021 tenure. The election has been dubbed by the Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as the countrys biggest in history. In Vietnam, people aged 18 or over have the right to vote while the minimum age to run for office is 21. No Ukrainian servicemen were killed, but three soldiers were wounded in military operations in eastern Ukraine over the past day. Spokesman for the Presidential Administration on the ATO, Colonel Andriy Lysenko said this at a briefing in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. In addition, one serviceman was killed and another four soldiers were wounded as a result of mishandling of explosive devices. The incident happened in Donetsk region, Lysenko added ol Vietnams President Tran Dai Quang has appointed Lieutenant General Phan Van Giang as Chief of General Staff, more than one month after he became Vice Minister of National Defense. The President attended an appointment ceremony on Saturday, a government statement said on May 21. Giang was promoted to Vice Minister of National Defense from Commander of Military Region 1 on April 13 of this year. Prior to the appointment, he was also deputy chief of general staff. Giang was born in the northern province of Thai Nguyen. Follow VnExpress International on Facebook and Twitter MYTON, Utah (AP) The church bell rang four times. Once for each year of little Wesley Cowan's life. Reed Cowan, Wesley's father and a former Utah television reporter, was joined by a group gathered in April at the century-old Presbyterian Community Church in Myton. Every year, Cowan said, he does something big to commemorate the passing of his son, who died after a playground accident, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. He built a school in Kenya. This year, he rang the bell at the church he had purchased in December, originally intending to use it as a vacation home. He grew up in the area and spent a lot of time at his grandparents' house near the Duchesne River, just a few blocks from the church. "When I heard the beautiful Myton Presbyterian church had a for sale sign in it, literally on the 100 year anniversary since it was opened, I thought, 'We can't lose that building.'" As renovation work started, Cowan says, it attracted curious neighbors. "Little by little the old timers would knock on the door and say, 'Can I show you my wedding pictures?' or 'My brother was killed in the war and his casket was brought right here,'" Cowan said. This kind of attention from the Myton community led Cowan to change his plans and the chapel, now known as the 1915 Wedding Chapel and Residence, is available for weddings and other community events. "I thought, I can't be selfish with this building. I can't have this just be my second home," said Cowan, co-director of the documentary "8: A Mormon Proposition" and now a news anchor in Las Vegas. Ken Palmer is the pastor who delivered the final sermon at the church in June 2015. He said the church closing was "painfully confusing, oddly strange and rather depressing." "God has his thing that he needs to do and he wasn't able to do it here," Palmer said. But he's happy to know that the building will continue to be used. "It's a great little historical marker for this area," he said. DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Mark Lisagor receives an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Framroze Virjee (left), the CSU Channel Islands executive vice chancellor and general counsel, and CSUCI President Richard Rush on Saturday during commencement in Camarillo. SHARE DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Gregory Moss, a communications major, celebrates after graduating Saturday from CSU Channel Islands in Camarillo. DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Courtney Lucky, who received a bachelor of arts biology, is hugged by her cousin Madison Gillette on Saturday at CSU Channel Islands in Camarillo. DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Mark Lisagor receives an honorary doctorate of humane letters from CSU Channel Islands President Richard Rush on Saturday at the Camarillo university's commencement. DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Gina Yablow (center) waves at a friend during Saturday's commencement at CSU Channel Islands in Camarillo. By Jeremy Foster, Special to The Star Santa Paula resident Gabriel Guillen enrolled in college before many of today's university students were born. In 1993, he was 18 and fresh off earning an associate degree in criminal justice with plans to become a police officer. But as he applied at police academies, his young age and thick Spanish accent, he said, seemed to work against him. "I sort of gave up on a dream," said Guillen, who spend the next decade working odd jobs. On Saturday, Guillen, now 40, crossed the stage at CSU Channel Islands to accept his master's degree in business administration. Numbering more than 2,200, Saturday's graduating class marked the largest for the Camarillo university. Guillen graduated from CSUCI in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in nursing and works at St. John's Regional Medical Center. He plans to advance his career in health care. One of four siblings, he is the second to graduate from college. He said his parents, Mexican immigrants who never got past first grade, always encouraged their children to finish school and follow their dreams. "Thanks to them, I'm here," Guillen said. In the audience were Guillen's parents, his wife, Rosario, and his four children, including 18-year-old Brenda, who will attend college in the fall. "It's important for my children to see that higher education is no longer an option," he said. "The only option they should consider is which college they are going to." The two ceremonies Saturday were the last to be overseen by the university's founding president, Richard R. Rush, who is retiring. He urged students to find and commit themselves to their passions. "And have a sense of humor while you're doing it," he said. "Pursue your passion seriously but take yourself less seriously. By brightening the lives of those around you, you will also enrich your own moments." Jeanne Grier, president of the academic senate at the university, reminded students that they have one shot at life and should make the world the place they want it to be. "Of all the planets in the universe, we are here together in our city, our state, our country and our campus," she said. "We are but a dot on the Earth that is spinning so fast and traveling this universe at speeds that many of us cannot comprehend, holding on through forces of gravity yet feeling only breeze as we hurl through space. However, as we are constantly changing position, we are effecting change on our dot." She told students to not fear the unknown but to embrace it, "for it can take you places you cannot have imagined." Keynote speaker Hilda "Monique" Reyna graduated with a bachelor's degree in liberal studies. Saturday was an especially important day for her as she recalled the turning point in her life that set her on the path toward college. "Six years ago, I lost my brother Johnny to a drive-by shooting," she said. "You never known pain until you hold the person you love most in this entire world and watch them take their last breath. After that, life presented me with only two options: to sink or swim." And swim she did. Reyna is a first-generation college student and served in student government, this year as president. She started a Teachers of Tomorrow program at the university and has helped provide tours of the university to underserved elementary and junior high school students so they, too, can see college in their futures. The 29-year-old said that while her upbringing included poverty, violence and death, she refused to "allow that to be my life." "Life around me continued to move forward, and I felt trapped in a nightmare where I could not escape," she said of her brother's death. "I knew I had a responsibility to my family and my neighborhood to do more to change our future." She asked students to look to the loved ones who supported them and thank them. She also encouraged them to never lose sight of their reasons for finishing college. "Your reasons to work hard and want more in life," she said. "We have a responsibility to ourselves to continue crushing our fears, insecurities and whatever adversities we may face." CSU CHANNEL ISLANDS Location: Camarillo Enrollment: 6,167 Graduates: 2,200 President: Richard R. Rush Past year's highlights: The opening of Sierra Hall, a 66,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art three-story building for science, technology, engineering and math disciplines. Signed memorandum of understanding with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to allow CSUCI's unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles to explore the protected Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary an understanding that is unprecedented between a university and the federal government. Saturday marked Rush's last commencement speech before the largest graduating class ever. SHARE JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR Edgar Trotter (right), a lieutenant commander in the Navy who served in the Gulf of Tonkin, is hugged by Camarillo City Council member Charlotte Craven during a Constitution Park ceremony Saturday that honored Vietnam veterans. In back at left is Mayor Mike Morgan. JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR Rod Preston (center), who served with the Army in Vietnam, is accompanied by his wife, Susan Kline, and friends Jill (right) and Jim McCrury (second from right) at a Camarillo ceremony on Saturday. JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR Joe Richardson, a corporal in the Marine Corps who served in Vietnam, remembers those who served during Saturday's ceremony in Camarillo honoring Vietnam veterans. JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR David Ha (left), chaplain for Vietnam Veterans of Ventura County, who said he served in the Navy from 1972-94 but was not deployed to Vietnam, hugs fellow Navy veteran Troy Kuhlman after a Camarillo ceremony Saturday honoring Vietnam veterans. Ha and Kuhlman came to the event to show their support for Vietnam veterans. By Michele Willer-Allred, Special to The Star Siblings Nita Stewart and Ron Combs remembered when their family received news that their 21-year-old brother Kenneth Combs had been killed in action during the Vietnam War. "It was devastating to us and the whole family," Stewart said. Ron Combs was only 6 years old at the time, but he remembered seeing a tear roll down his father's cheek, a memory that stuck with him. The siblings and their family sat front row during Saturday's Vietnam War 50th anniversary commemoration at Constitution Park in Camarillo. The city planned the ceremony to recognize those who served during the war and lived in the Camarillo area at the time of service or who currently live there. The observance, which coincided with Armed Forces Day, is part of national program by the Department of Defense to recognize veterans who were on active duty during the Vietnam War. "The DOD presented the opportunity, and we jumped on it. Camarillo is the only city in the county so far that has signed up," Councilwoman Charlotte Craven said. Craven said the city will have five kinds of events for Vietnam veterans during the next two and a half years. "For most of the veterans today, this will be the first time that any government agency has said 'thank you' for your service and sacrifice," Camarillo Mayor Mike Morgan said. About 250 veterans at Saturday's event received a certificate from the city and a bronze pin from the Defense Department. Fourteen Camarillo residents who were killed in action during the Vietnam War were specially recognized. Joe Ortiz, a 1964 Camarillo High School graduate who was a classmate of 12 of the 14 killed, read each of their names. "It's a wonderful tribute," Stewart said after her brother was recognized. Many veterans, including Jesse Carbajal, 80, an Army staff sergeant during the Vietnam War, spoke about how badly Vietnam veterans were treated when they returned home. Carbajal recalled what happened when a friend in uniform tried to hitchhike after returning from Vietnam. "They stopped, spit on him and drove off," Carbajal said. "There was a lot of that back then. After all these years, it's great everyone here is getting recognition for their service to this country." Al E. Fox, 77, a lieutenant in the Navy during the war, expressed similar sentiments. "Camarillo has always been supportive of veterans, so we really appreciate them honoring us because we've been forgotten all these years," he said. Speaking at the event were U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Westlake Village; retired Navy Capt. Jim McHugh; and Capt. Marcello Caceres, deputy commodore of the Navy's Airborne Command Control and Logistics Wing. Brownley, who serves on the House Committee of Veterans Affairs, noted that about 20,000 out of the 40,000 veterans living in Ventura County are Vietnam veterans. She said that we failed as a country "because we let our divided politics come before showing our respect and gratitude to veterans who served in Vietnam." "Never again will our veterans be abandoned," she said. JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR The muzzle of a rifle extends from a set of boxed guns in the Oxnard Police Department's property room that were collected as evidence. SHARE JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR Boxes of guns that were collected as evidence line shelves inside the Oxnard Police Department's property room. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Cindy Harber, of Ventura, whose son Josh Harber was shot to death in 2002: "I really believe it is a powerful thing to share your story. It can have an impact or make a change in first your life, then your family's life, and then it ripples into the community. I believe that's powerful and that's why I share Josh's story." CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Josh Harber, of Ventura, was 25 when he was shot and killed in Phoenix, Arizona. His case remains unsolved. Related Coverage Authorities say restraining orders used locally By Cheri Carlson of the Ventura County Star Cindy Harber shares her son's story, trying to find the words to make a difference. Josh Harber, a Ventura resident, was 25 when he was shot to death in June 2002 in Phoenix. His case remains unsolved. In the years since, his mother has spoken to youth, sharing Josh's story. It feels a bit like scraping off a scab on a wound that hasn't healed yet, but she does it anyway, she said. "I really believe it is a powerful thing to share your story," said Harber, of Ventura. She hopes it helps, yet ask her how to prevent gun violence, and she says she doesn't have the answer and doesn't know that anyone does. Over the past 16 years in Ventura County, 895 people were killed with a gun. That's an average of 56 people a year. Nationwide, about 90 people die in gun violence each day. While gun homicide rates have slowly declined since 2000, gun suicide rates have increased. Looking at gun deaths as a whole, there was no net difference, said Garen Wintemute, an emergency room doctor and director of the Violence Prevention Research Center at UC Davis. "It's a big problem, and there's no such thing as a single solution," he said. California has gone further than most states in legislative efforts to reduce gun violence, from requiring background checks to passing laws prohibiting some people from owning guns. But whether any of those efforts have made a difference is hard to say, Wintemute said. "One of the difficulties is there's not nearly enough research done on firearm violence, the risk factors, the consequences and how best to prevent it," he said. "When we are faced with big health problems, we, as a country, we know what to do," Wintemute said. "We mobilize. We put policies in place. We educate. We get smart people involved in research so that we learn more. They work with policymakers to put that new evidence into action, into new policies, and see if those policies work." "We have not done yet," he said. "And, it's long past time." Someone else's rights A bill debated by legislators in Sacramento would establish a California Firearm Violence Research Center to study gun violence. Proponents say it would help fill the gap left by minimal federal funding since congressional action in the mid-1990s led to a freeze of such work. Some say, however, that they are concerned that any studies would have a predetermined outcome that would be anti-gun. "We are not opposed to research," said Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, a political action committee opposed to the bill. "We just don't want it to be a stacked deck," he said. Paredes said he does not consider suicides part of gun violence but wouldn't be against research in the area. But his organization would be opposed to proposals that would impair access to firearms for the law-abiding citizen, he said. "I know the subject area is really important and somebody needs to pay attention to trying to figure out what can be done to help to reduce this situation," Paredes said. "But we're here to tell you that it isn't on the backs of gun owners." "To infringe on someone else's rights to address the issue of suicide is wrong," Paredes said. * Guns used from January 2000 to July 2015. Order to remove guns The UC Davis center intends to study impacts of a bill passed by California legislators last year that allows family members to seek a restraining order to temporarily prohibit someone from owning or purchasing firearms. In California, law enforcement previously could take an individual to a mental health treatment facility to seek a 72-hour hold if the person was believed to be a threat to themselves or others. The new gun violence restraining orders, however, would apply to someone who did not meet the criteria to be hospitalized under those circumstances, officials say. Maybe there's an older man who is a little depressed, and when he is drinking he talks about suicide. But then he sobers up and feels better, Wintemute said. "The idea is: Until we can get him some help with his drinking, do we need to stand by and wait for that time when he's just drunk enough to pull the trigger, or can we do something about it in advance," he said. STAR FILE PHOTO: Das Williams STAR FILE PHOTO: Das Williams Since January, the law has been used an average of 10 times a month, said Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Carpinteria, an author of the legislation. "I think it's far too early to know how effective it will be," Williams said. The law was inspired by the May 23, 2014, shooting in Isla Vista by Elliot Rodger. His mother had expressed concern to police about her son's behavior. But Williams said he believes its application also could reduce the number of gun suicides. "While I do think that this will be effective in reducing some homicides that would have otherwise have taken place, I think far more lives will be saved by prevention of suicide," Williams said. Paredes said the gun owners group, which opposed the bill, was concerned about the time it would take to contest the restraining order in court and the potential to abuse the system. "The denial of somebody's constitutional rights should be held at a very high level and protected by the government and not removed without great cause," Paredes said. Not enough opportunities Cindy Harber talks to youth offenders and to diversion classes of children and their parents. Her son was a six-month member of the Hells Angels and had made mistakes, she said. When she speaks, she wants the youth to understand that every decision affects people around them, she said. In some way, in some measure, large or small, our decisions always affect somebody else. To attorney Frankie Guzman, a conversation about preventing gun violence needs to focus on community health. Mentors need to be part of the solution and need to include men and women who live in local communities. They made all the difference in his life, said Guzman, who grew up in Oxnard. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO: Attorney Frankie Guzman CONTRIBUTED PHOTO: Attorney Frankie Guzman He was 5 when his older brother went to prison for murder. His parents were divorced and his father wasn't around. "It was not a healthy place for a young boy to kind of create a positive identity," said Guzman, who lived in La Colonia and Rose Park. "So I think for me, and for many other kids, you are going to create an identity that you can be proud of that isn't always positive. But how are you to know when that's pretty much all you see every day. What do you have to compare it to?" When Guzman was 15, a friend asked him for a favor. He said OK, not wanting to let his friend down. "In broad daylight about noon on a Saturday, we rob a liquor store. We get caught," said Guzman, who had a gun with him that day. He earned his high school diploma while in the California Youth Authority and went to Oxnard College after he was released. Those first few years after being released weren't smooth, but he met teachers and counselors who became his mentors. "It helped me put my faith in them at a time when I had no faith," he said. "I had confidence in them, so I kind of borrowed their confidence in me before I had confidence in myself." Guzman went on to UC Berkeley and later received a law degree at UCLA. Now, he works for the National Center for Youth Law, advocating for children and teens throughout California. He also visits continuation schools, juvenile detention facilities, and prisons to share his story with youth offenders and sees similar situations throughout the state, he said. "Young people just don't have enough opportunities for education, for mental health treatment, behavioral health treatment in a way that addresses their traumas." SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Ventura County Sheriff's Office Department. By Megan Diskin of the Ventura County Star A student was arrested in connection with having a gun on campus at Moorpark College after telling a school employee he was going to kill himself, authorities said Saturday. The man was in a meeting with the employee about 10 a.m. Friday at the school, 7075 Campus Road, when the conversation occurred, said sheriff's Capt. John Reilly, Moorpark police chief. Reilly said the student had been failing out of school and told the employee he was going to shoot himself with a gun he had in his backpack. The employee calmed him down and was able to call authorities, Reilly said. The student was arrested in connection with possession of a weapon on campus and booked into county jail, authorities said. Upon his release, he was to undergo a mental health evaluation, Reilly said. The student did not threaten to kill anyone else and no one was injured, Reilly said. TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR The crowd watches Merry Graham and Sandy Yagyu go head to head Saturday during the Berry Blast Off finals at the California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard. SHARE TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Merry Graham works on her dish during the Berry Blast Off finals at the California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard. Graham won the cooking battle. TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR The crowd watches Merry Graham and Sandy Yagyu go head to head during the Berry Blast Off finals Saturday at the California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard. TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Judge Bianca Rose talks about the flavor of Sandy Yagyu's dish during the Berry Blast Off finals at the California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard. TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Sandy Yagyu (left) and Merry Graham go head to head during the Berry Blast Off finals at the California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard. By Anne Kallas, Special to The Star Merry Graham didn't just win the Berry Blast Off finals at the California Strawberry Festival on Saturday; she also made a new friend. Her husband, Rick, explained that his wife and the other finalist in the annual cooking contest, Sandy Yagyu, of Pacific Grove, struck up a friendship during the Berry Blast Off semifinals. At the May 10 semifinals, five people competed for one of the top two spots at the 33rd California Strawberry Festival. Sitting at the Oxnard festival on Saturday with a contingent of relatives and friends from Newhall, he said his wife "enjoys the competition and she got to know Sandy, who's spending the night at our house. So we're cheering for both of them because Sandy doesn't have anyone here at the contest." Merry Graham is a second-time winner of the cooking contest at the festival, having earned the top prize in 2010. The two finalists each year vie to wow a panel of judges with strawberry recipes cooked only on recalcitrant hot plates. Both of Saturday's contestants had issues with their hot plates putting out enough heat to properly create their dishes. And Yagyu had to use two hot plates to make her dish after one of them kept shorting out. But in the end, both dishes were cooked to perfection, with the judges preferring Graham's lemongrass strawberry shrimp crisps on pickled pepper and strawberry avocado mash with strawberry sriracha drizzle. It won by a small margin over Yagyu's crostini with burrata and strawberry bacon jam. From among the crowd gathered under a big tent in the middle of the jam-packed festival, Sonja Scott Butler, of Las Vegas, was randomly picked to be a judge. She said she was impressed by both dishes, but for presentation, Graham "just elevated it to another level. It was amazing that she was able to get so much done." Also serving as a judge was Oxnard Police Chief Jeri Williams, who said she was looking for ease of preparation in the winning dish, something that matches her busy lifestyle. But Williams said she was interested in Graham's recipe "because she's layering so many flavors." Filling out the judging table were Bianca Rose of Sweet Dreams Gourmet Desserts, which focuses on sweet treats; Martin Ledesma of CP Catering; and Michael Sullivan, managing editor of the VCReporter. Graham's win in 2010 propelled her to a number of national television appearances, including with Rachael Ray. Her winning recipe in 2010 was snappy shrimp and strawberry coleslaw with hotty maple vinaigrette. Yagyu has appeared on the Food Network in the KitchenAid Apple Challenge, and was a finalist in the Sebastiani Pizza My Way contest. The two new friends were excited about the prospect of spending the rest of the day together after Saturday's contest. "I think since Merry won that she can cook dinner," Yagyu said. "No, seriously, I can't wait to hear about her victories. It's nice to have a new foodie friend." Graham said she wasn't sure what the rest of the day would offer. "I think we'll relax together," she said. "I'm trying to decide whether we should cook together in a much more casual situation. Or maybe we could go out and put our feet up and have a nice glass of wine." The California Strawberry Festival continues from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $12 for general admission, $8 for seniors 62 and older, $5 for children 5-12 and free for children 4 and younger. Parking is $10 at the festival site, Strawberry Meadows of College Park, 3250 S. Rose Ave., Oxnard. Free parking with shuttle service is offered at numerous locations. Call 888-288-9242 or go online to: http://strawberry-fest.org for more information. YAZMIN CRUZ / THE STAR The last flight-qualified external tank in existence, ET-94, arrives Saturday for display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. SHARE By Yazmin Cruz NASA's space shuttle fuel tank, ET-94, finally made it home. The 154-foot long, orange tank arrived in Exposition Park, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, shortly after 6 p.m. It then took about an hour for the external tank to make it's way to the California Science Center where thousands awaited its arrival. Spectators met ET-94 with cheers, whistles and American flags. The 66,000 pound tank will be on display like the Space Shuttle Endeavour. On it's way, ET-94 passed by the Los Angeles Coliseum, which is the temporary home of the L.A. Rams. Weeds are a problem across Elko and this problem is getting worse each year. Here I focus on hoary cress, also called whitetop, a noxious weed spreading across undeveloped land. Whitetop is flowering right now, making identification easy. Control of Elkos weeds, specifically whitetop, will require a concerted effort by landowners, land managers, and all of Elko. Right now, any area thickly covered with white flowers, is most likely whitetop. The stems stand two feet tall, branch out at the top and are covered with hairs. The leaves are lance-shaped with hairs. There is hope, however. Landowners are working on the whitetop problem. To showcase what is being done, I looked for areas with a bad whitetop problem and checked with the landowner or land manager to see what is being done. One area where whitetop is very visible is along the highway over Lamoille Summit. I talked to David Brown from NDOT, who told me their weed control efforts are just getting started for this year. A new truck is being fitted out and new weed managers are being trained. A weed crew should be starting work along Elko County highways in a couple of weeks. He encourages people to call the Elko NDOT office at 777-2700 to report weed infestations on NDOT property. James Whiley is Elkos Parks and Recreation Director. He said the city is always ready to work on weed infestations and encourages people to call the city offices at 777-7100 to report weeds on city land. Mark Gibbs is the airport director. Whitetop is growing alongside the runway but not for long. The airport has a contract with Humboldt Wildlife LLC to treat weeds in the near future. Private property can present more problems getting weeds treated, but I found two examples of landowners working on their weed problems. The Villas at Riverside apartments have large patches of whitetop growing on some undeveloped property. I spoke with Dave Mitton, the owner, who was unaware of the problem. He is very concerned and is looking for help on treating the weeds. The largest mass of whitetop I have seen around Elko is on property owned by the Nevada State Bank. I spoke to Ashley Dewey, manager of the Mountain City branch, who told me the bank is having their landscaping company spray the whitetop and afterward, they will mow the area. It is up to landowners to control noxious weeds on their property. However, the rest of us can help by reporting weed infestations to those landowners. SHARE Barack Obama plans to raise as much as $1 billion to build his presidential library in Chicago. I hope he puts in a "deportation wing." It could be installed on the right side of the structure since, as president, Obama has approached the immigration issue like a right-winger. In the latest example, the Department of Homeland Security recently announced the administration is planning over the next 30 days a series of raids and a "surge" of arrests that could lead to the deportation of thousands of people from Central America. These are the desperate souls who streamed across the U.S.-Mexico border and into Texas in summer 2014. About 80,000 arrived, mainly women and children. They mostly came from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. At the time, many were turned around and sent home often back into harm's way. Others were locked up indefinitely in detention facilities, without access to legal counsel or hearings to assess whether they had legitimate claims to asylum. A third group of arrivals were processed by immigration officials and released into the care of family members who lived in the United States, with a notice to appear before an immigration judge and an admonition to await further instructions. This catch-and-release system was totally chaotic. Immigration officials tried to contact people with their date to appear and the location of the court, but the notices often went to unreliable addresses. People moved around the country, passed from one relative to another. Others were reached by officials and told to appear in the next few days, before a court hundreds of miles away in another state. Thousands of people were found guilty in absentia of being in the country illegally. Those are the folks the Obama administration now intends to round up and send home, with a "deportation force" that would make Donald Trump proud. They came unannounced, as refugees typically do. But they were invited. Their invitation is engraved on the base of the Statue of Liberty, and it's addressed to "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free." The freedom this particular group of refugees yearned for was to be free from civil unrest and marauding gangs of violent youth in Central America that raped young girls, terrorized families and murdered teenagers who resisted being recruited into their ranks. On second thought, calling Obama a right-winger on immigration is unfair to right-wingers. Plenty of conservatives want to give the undocumented legal status. Not because conservatives like illegal immigrants, but because business likes illegal immigrants and they want to please business. Flip that coin over and you'll catch a glimpse of a phenomenon that the media rarely talk about: liberals who favor deporting immigrants, or keeping them out to begin with, because they think foreign labor undercuts American workers. It's why labor unions were among the lead opponents of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which legalized more than 3 million people. And it's why Bernie Sanders has called open borders a scheme cooked up by far-right business leaders, such as the Koch brothers, to hurt American workers. Obama lives in this protectionist faction of the Democratic Party. In 2008, during a debate in Los Angeles against primary opponent Hillary Clinton, the then-senator from Illinois began his answer to a question about immigration by expressing concern that employers might hire immigrants instead of Americans. The president's anti-immigrant credentials are well-established. While in office, he broke his promise to make immigration reform a top priority, deported nearly 3 million people, divided hundreds of thousands of families, dumped into foster care tens of thousands of U.S.-born children whose parents got deported, pushed back for three years against immigration reformers who asked that he use executive power to halt deportations, claimed untruthfully that only criminals were being deported, and then tried to cover his tracks by blaming Republicans for the evil his administration had done. Now Obama is getting ready to deport a bunch of refugees from Central America, just a year after he made the case to the nation that we should take in refugees from Syria. Come to think of it, one wing in the library won't be enough. To do justice to Obama's immigration legacy, they'll need an entire Hall of Shame. Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. He writes for The Washington Post Writers Group. SHARE The following editorial appeared in The Washington Post: "In 1995, two individuals alleged sexual abuse by Father Robert Hopkins in the 1970s." "In 1999, an individual alleged sexual abuse by Father Timothy Murphy in the late 1960s to early 1970s." "In 2002, an individual alleged sexual abuse in the mid-1970s by Dennis Pecore, who was then a religious brother." On and on it goes. These accounts, and several dozen others like them, now appear on the website of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, which recently published a list or rather, republished one from 2002 with 14 additional names of clergy alleged to have abused children. Similar lists have been published by other dioceses, which in recent years have taken steps to atone for years of sweeping such cases under the rug by adopting more forthcoming policies and providing counseling to victims of abusive priests. The church says the publication of these names will provide acknowledgment to victims that they are not alone. By seeing their abusers publicly identified and shamed, victims may be "empowered to find out that other people have alleged against the same person," according to Sean Caine, spokesman for the archdiocese. That's a fair point but an inadequate one. For while the archdiocese is extending one sort of validation to victims, it's simultaneously pressing to deny most of them another sort: the opportunity to seek redress in the courts. For years, even as it acknowledged having systematically enabled and covered up the abuse of children by priests, the church has also fought aggressively to maintain tight deadlines that limit the time in which survivors may file lawsuits against abusers and superiors who looked the other way. In Maryland, the church, fearing the financial fallout of such suits, has lobbied so effectively that bills to extend the deadline, known as the statute of limitations, have not even been accorded a vote in the legislature. The result for the great majority of victims is that by the time they speak up about the abuse they suffered typically, many years after the fact, as the examples at the top of this editorial illustrate they no longer have the option of filing a lawsuit. Youthful victims of abuse, whether in schools, churches or teams, must be given more leeway to seek justice, including compensation for the harm they have suffered. The church argues that abusers are ill-equipped to defend themselves when alleged victims level their accusations many years after the fact; it cites fading memories, unreliable witnesses and fragile evidence. Yet Maryland, like most states, has no such deadline limiting when abusers can be criminally prosecuted. Just as in criminal cases, civil juries are qualified to judge the strength of a victim's allegations and a defendant's response. It's possible that the stigma of abuse may start to fade as a result of the publicity to which clergy sex abuse has been exposed. If victims come forward more quickly, owing to the Academy Award-winning film "Spotlight" and intensified public discussion of abuse, that would be a good thing. In the meantime, justice for victims must include the option of litigation even if that proves costly for the Catholic Church and other institutions. SHARE Re: Terence Bunkers letter May 12, Greatest generation: As a child of the Greatest Generation and a veteran of the Vietnam War, I strongly disagree with Mr. Bunkers assertion that the generations accomplishments are reduced because it sent me and my generation to Vietnam. The culprit is not any generation, but one man, President Johnson, who was not a member of the Greatest Generation per Tom Brokaws definition of coming of age during the Great Depression. President Johnson turned 21 a full 62 days earlier than Black Monday, Oct. 28, 1929. On Aug. 7, 1964, an almost unanimous Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, giving President Johnson powerful authority to punish North Vietnam for an alleged attack on a Navy ship. There was no public outcry for action, and Congress gave him little guidance for the punishment. We can forgive Congress for its excessive trust in the president, since it had trusted presidents Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower with excellent results. The 1964 election had no war issue. After Johnson started his new term in January 1965, he began the massive programs to defend South Vietnam on the ground and attack North Vietnam by air. Military press releases were the main source of news for these escalating events, but they were somewhat misleading. The Vietnam War was barely an issue in the 1966 congressional elections, greatly surpassed by voter displeasure with Medicares creation in 1965. However, in 1968, the children of the Greatest Generation took the war issue to the streets. Johnson dropped his re-election bid after learning the Greatest Generation did not support him. The election of Richard Nixon started our slow withdrawal from Vietnam. Larry DeSha, Camarillo Murray Celebrity Magician makes a surprise visit with his YouTube viral video producer Seth Leach to surprise some kids beating cancer with some magic to brighten their day. Murray and the Kids at St. Rose httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfS96jQ-JfE Murray is one of the biggest supporters of local charities in Las Vegas lending a hand anywhere he can. Murray said, Its so important to give back and these kids we visited are some of the strongest people I have ever met beating this horrible disease cancer! The Gold Coast Hotel & Casino and The Orleans Hotel & Casino will be hosting an onsite job fair this Monday, May 23, 2016 at The Orleans Hotel & Casino (located at 4500 West Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89103). The job fair will be offering positions for The Orleans Hotel & Casino as well as The Gold Coast Hotel & Casino. A complete list of job openings can be found online at www.boydcareers.com. Be sure to select The Orleans or Gold Coast properties to view the positions. Before an interview can be conducted, an application has to be submitted. Job seekers are encouraged to apply online prior to the job fair. For questions or more information please contact the Employment Center at 702-367-7073. Be prepared to interview when you show up. Dress to impress and bring a one or two copies of your resume. On Saturday evening, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton attended Jubilee! at Ballys Las Vegas. Jubilee! is the longest-running show on the Las Vegas Strip and the last remaining authentic showgirl show if its kind (Photo credit: Scott Wilks / Amazing Photos). Photo credit: Scott Wilks / Amazing Photos. Perez loved Jubilee!, citing that his favorite part of the show was the iconic Samson and Delilah scene. He tweeted: Just saw #Jubilee at @BallysVegas and Im kinda obsessed! Classic! Camp! Lush! Like a @Cher special from the 70s! In other words, FABULOUS! Photo credit: Scott Wilks / Amazing Photos After the show, he joined four of the showgirls backstage, where they taught him some showgirl moves and posed for pictures. Fellow Ballys headliner, American Idol Season Five winner Taylor Hicks, also joined the group backstage. Photo credit: Scott Wilks / Amazing Photos. ELKO Early voting in Nevadas primary begins Saturday, and voters will have plenty of chances to learn about local candidates this week. The Elko Area Chambers Government Affairs Committee is hosting a candidate forum Wednesday for the District 3 County Commission race, and Thursday for the Department B Justice of the Peace primary. Both will begin at 6 p.m. in the Turquoise Room at the Elko Convention Center. Prior to Wednesdays forum the Elko Daily Free Press will host a meet-and-greet for 2016 candidates, beginning at 4 p.m. in the Turquoise Room. All candidates for any races in the primary or general election are invited, along with voters who would like to meet them and discuss the issues one-on-one. Candidates for the District 3 commission seat being vacated by Glen Guttry are Jeff Dalling, Jonathan Karr and Ralph Sacrison. All are Republicans, and the top vote-getter advances to the General Election. Candidates for the new justice of the peace position are Elias Goicoechea, Will Lehmann, Anthony Leiker, David Loreman, Andrew Mierins and Dennis Parker. The top two vote-getters in this nonpartisan race will advance to the General Election, unless one of them takes more than 50 percent of the vote. GAC Chairman Matt McCarty said the panel welcomes questions from the public for either of these forums. Email your question to gac@elkonevada. The Free Press is also publishing campaign statements this week from candidates who choose to submit them. Statements are limited to 400 words and should be sent to editor@elkodaily.com. Nevadas primary election is June 14. A production line for electronics spare parts at SYNOFEX Viet Nam Company in Ha Noi's Quang Minh Industrial Park. Fitch forecast Viet Nam's GDP would rise by 6.2 per cent in 2016 thanks to the strong growth of several industries, including manufacturing and services. - VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam The issue ratings on Viet Nam's senior unsecured foreign and local currency bonds are also affirmed at 'BB-'. The country ceiling is affirmed at 'BB-' and the short-term foreign currency IDR is at 'B'. "The ratings reflect Viet Nam's strong macroeconomic performance and the favourable medium-term growth prospects against high public debt, low foreign-reserve buffers and relatively weak structural indicators," Fitch said. Fitch forecast Viet Nam's fiscal deficit could rise to some 6.5 per cent of the GDP this year, adding that the Government's efforts to reduce the budget deficit to below 4 per cent of the GDP over 2016-20 would prove challenging in light of the upcoming enhancements to fiscal reporting standards starting in 2017, which would bring more off-budget capital expenditure into the official State budget. Fitch forecasts general government gross debt (GGGD) will rise over the medium-term to 53.7 per cent in 2016 without tightening fiscal policy settings, continuing its rise in 2015 to an estimated 51.1 per cent of GDP, up from 47.3 per cent in 2014, and higher than the 'BB' median of 43.6 per cent. A broader measure of public debt, including government guarantees, reached 62.2 per cent of GDP at end-2015 and is near the National Assembly's approved limit of 65 per cent. The authorities reaffirmed commitments to the limit and articulated plans that include reducing the use of guarantees and cutting current expenditures to avoid a future limit breach. "Viet Nam's sovereign funding profile remains stable but has increasingly pivoted towards domestic marketable debt to prepare for reduced access to concessionary financing resulting from the country's forthcoming graduation from the World Bank's International Development Association," Fitch said. It added that efforts to lengthen the average term to maturity of domestic debt have largely proved successful, with the average term of issuance increasing to seven years in Q1 2016 from five years in 2014. Five-year domestic government bond yields were 6.3 per cent in May 2016, up by 40 basis points since last year, but have broadly been on a declining trend over the past five years. Despite a GDP growth of 5.6 per cent in Q1 2016, below the 2015 figure of 6.7 per cent, Fitch forecast Viet Nam's GDP would rise by 6.2 per cent in 2016 thanks to the strong growth of several industries, including manufacturing and services. Viet Nam's current account is also expected to post a surplus of some 1 per cent of the GDP in 2016, which reflects the resilient export performance and the depressed prices across nearly all primary commodity imports. The trade balance grew to US$1.5 billion in April 2016 versus a deficit of $3 billion in the previous year. FDI disbursements remain strong at 12 per cent growth year-on-year, providing a foundation for continued growth in the country's export-oriented manufacturing sector over the medium term. Foreign reserves were eroded significantly during the second half of 2015 following efforts to stabilise the exchange rate amid market pressures across Asian currencies and a pick-up in dollarisation. However, the agency believes the recent introduction of a more flexible exchange-rate mechanism, policies to discourage US dollar hoarding and improved trade performance have alleviated balance-of-payment pressures and contributed more than $4 billion in foreign-reserve replenishment during Q1 2016. Fitch's sector outlook for Viet Nam's banks was moved to stable (from negative) in December 2015 following preliminary signs of stabilisation in asset quality, improving liquidity and funding conditions. Strong economic growth and a recovery in the property market will lead to slower non-performing loan formation, but a rapid acceleration in credit growth poses a potential risk to medium-term financial stability. Fitch estimates credit growth accelerated to 17.3 per cent in 2015. The official credit growth target of 18-20 per cent for 2016 suggests that a broader re-leveraging of the economy will continue over the forecast period. The authorities have continued to prioritise a structural reform agenda with a focus on market liberalisation, equitisation of State-owned enterprises and enhancements to the broader business climate. "Viet Nam will be one of the largest beneficiaries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, should it be successfully ratified by participating countries, through both enhanced medium-term growth prospects and by providing a key policy anchor for continued structural reforms and liberalisation," Fitch said. Voters cast ballots at a polling station in Ha Noi. - VNA/VNS Photo Minh uc The elections began throughout the country at 7am this morning. Citizens vote to choose 500 NA deputies and 322,966 Peoples Council deputies for the 2016-21 term during the election, which is considered a "national festival". Citizens received their voter cards proving their eligibility to vote at nearly 91,500 election sites across the country, according to the National Election Council (NEC). Party and State leaders joined voters nationwide in exercising a citizens right and duty to elect deputies to the National Assembly and Peoples Councils at all levels for the 2016-21 tenure. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong cast the first ballot at a poling station in Hai Ba Trung District, Ha Noi. - VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was the first to cast a ballot at polling station No 3 in Nguyen Du Ward, Hai Ba Trung District, Ha Noi at 7am this morning. Trong said he expected that all deputies wining an elected position would try to best serve the nation and the people, and to fulfil their responsibilities and obligations on behalf of the people, in taking part in the management of the country and society. In the northern port city of Hai Phong, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife cast the first ballots at polling station No 8 in Vinh Bao Town, Vinh Bao District. PM Phuc said the May 22 Election Day was an important political event for the country, which provides an opportunity for citizens to exercise their rights and obligations. He also said he believed voters would select worthy, virtuous and talented representatives who would represent their aspirations, contributing to building a State of the people, by the people and for the people. On the same day, President Tran ai Quang joined voters in Nhan Chinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District of Ha Noi. He said the election had an important meaning in building, strengthening and perfecting the law-governed State, and meeting the demands to speed the industrialisation, modernisation and global integration of the country. Additionally, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan cast the first ballot at polling station No 4 in Vinh Phuc Ward, Ba inh District, Ha Noi. Although the official election day is set for May 22, some areas in 10 provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Lai Chau, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Quang Nam, Quang Binh, Quang Ngai, Nghe An, Khanh Hoa and ak Lak held early voting due to transportation problems for voter. Those areas included communities along the coastline, offshore islands and places where voters would be working at sea on election day. The election will end at 7pm today and election results will be announced within 20 days after election day, according to the NEC. Vote counting in Austria's presidential election shows far-right candidate Norbert Hofer and Independent Alexander Van der Bellen in a statistical dead heat, leaving a winner to be determined Monday after nearly 90,000 absentee ballots are counted. With virtually all of the ballots cast Sunday tallied, euro-skeptic Hofer, the nominee of the anti-immigration Freedom Party, held 51.9 percent of vote to Van der Bellen's 48.1 percent. A Hofer win would make him the first far-right head of state in the European Union since the continent-wide trade and political bloc was formed in 1993. It would also mark the best far-right showing in Austria since the end of World War II. Sunday's faceoff came just weeks after Hofer and former Green Party chief Van der Bellen swept aside challenges from ruling Social Democrat coalition candidates Rudolph Hundstorfer and Andreas Khol. Both Hundstorfer and Khol were routed April 24 in first round voting, with each winning about 11 percent of the vote. A huge influx of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia into western Europe has spawned a backlash against official EU policy that initially welcomed migrants to the relative safety and prosperity of western Europe. Sentiment began shifting as Austria took in 90,000 asylum seekers last year, while neighboring Germany opened its borders to more than one million migrants, many of them fleeing Syria's long and deadly civil war. EU officials have since negotiated a deal with Turkey under which migrants fleeing its shores by boat for Greece will be returned to in exchange for nearly $7 billion in European aid. Washington is refocused on aviation security after last weeks EgyptAir disaster over the Mediterranean that killed all 66 on board the flight from Paris to Cairo. Although the cause of the deadly crash has yet to be determined, U.S. lawmakers are renewing demands that airport screening be both thorough and speedy. The EgyptAir disaster raises questions and concerns at a time when U.S. air travelers already experience record lines and delays passing through security. Some lawmakers are pointing a finger at Islamic State for last weeks crash. We know they successfully took down an airliner flying from Egypt to Russia, said Republican Congressman Ed Royce on ABC-TVs This Week program. We know that they are working on a bomb thats undetectable. If lawmakers are assuming a heightened terrorist threat until evidence proves otherwise, pressure will mount on federal airport screeners, widely reported to be understaffed and overburdened even on the best of days. One of the difficulties weve had is with a great deal of turnover at TSA, and there are certainly management problems at TSA, Royce added. Last year, reports surfaced that federal screeners had failed to detect fake weapons and explosives in an alarming percentage of tests. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) insists that gaps and vulnerabilities have been fixed. Complex task We have retrained our entire workforce, corrected procedures, improved our technology and analyzed systemic issues, said TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger testifying on Capitol Hill earlier this year. I am also confident that TSA is able to deter, detect and disrupt threats to our aviation system. Security may be improved, but tempers have been flaring at U.S. airports with some travelers waiting hours to board their flights, or missing flights because of long security check lines. On the one hand, we are looking for 100 percent security, said Republican Senator Ron Johnson at a hearing where TSA whistleblowers came forward. On the other hand, we are looking for complete efficiency so that lines dont back up. Its an enormously complex and difficult task. As America enters the busy summer travel season, the White House has a simple message safety comes first. Obviously, our first priority is making sure that people are safe, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Friday. TSA must continue its rigorous security screenings and we're not going to lower our standards for the sake of convenience. Once pinpointed, the cause of the EgyptAir disaster may or may not heighten concerns about the ability of terrorists to down airliners. But lawmakers arent waiting and will be pressing for answers at hearings this week. A rare bipartisan effort by Congress "righted a terrible wrong" last week with the president signing a bill allowing female World War II pilots to be inurned with full burial honors in Arlington National Cemetery outside the nation's capital. The policy that allowed the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) veterans to receive burial rites at Arlington had been revoked in 2015. Tiffany Miller and her sisters, who started an online campaign to give their grandmother Lieutenant Elaine Danforth Harmon the right to an Arlington burial, were elated by the news, they told CNN. It was her last wish to be in Arlington," Tiffany Miller told CNN. "We haven't been able to hold a funeral for her because we wanted to honor that wish." Harmon died in April at age 95. She served in WASP. Miller told The Washington Post that her family would now apply at Arlington for a new funeral date, which she estimated would take about a year. Signed into law On Friday, President Barack Obama signed the bill, which was passed unanimously by both the House and the Senate. Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, the longest-serving woman in the history of the U.S. Congress, told CNN she introduced the bill to honor the "service and sacrifice of WASP in defending our freedom." If they were good enough to fly for our country, risk their lives and earn the Congressional Gold Medal, they should be good enough for Arlington," Mikulski told the Post. Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa was a co-sponsor in the Senate. The House bill was sponsored by Arizona Republican Martha McSally. McSally, a former A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot, cited the WASP female fliers as inspiration, according to a report in the military paper Stars & Stripes. The women who served in WASP have struggled to be viewed as veterans since its inception. The WASP program lasted two years -- from 1942-44 -- and just over 1,000 women served in it. Of those, 38 died in service -- 11 in training and 27 during missions. Noncombat missions The women pilots flew Army planes across the country, taking part in noncombat missions to free up male pilots for combat. They transported cargo, helped train pilots on how to operate the aircraft and instruments, and towed targets for live-ammunition air-to-air gunnery practice and ground-to-air anti-aircraft practice. But the female pilots also faced cultural and gender bias against women serving in nontraditional roles. They were considered civilians throughout their wartime service. "If a girl got killed, her parents didn't get anything, not even a flag -- nothing," WASP Barbara Erickson London told CBS News during an interview in 2014. "Not even any acknowledgement that their daughter had been in the military." It wasn't until 1977 that they were given veteran status. In 2002, Arlington Cemetery's superintendent said the women would finally be allowed to have their ashes placed at Arlington with military honors. In 2009, all WASPs were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the highest honors Congress can bestow. At the bill signing, Obama said, "The Women Airforce Service Pilots courageously answered their country's call in a time of need. ... [They blazed] a trail for the brave women who have given and continue to give so much in service to this nation since." However, the policy allowing for burials at Arlington was revoked in 2015 by former Army Secretary John McHugh. His memo cited Army lawyers as saying Arlington National Cemetery's superintendent did not have the authority to allow such inurnments. The Army also cited increasingly limited space in the nation's military cemetery. Arlington cemetery Arlington National Cemetery, founded in 1866, is a military cemetery located across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Monument in Washington, D.C. It is the resting place for more than 300,000 veterans of every American conflict, from the Revolutionary War to Iraq and Afghanistan. There are strict requirements for ground burials at the cemetery, where space is increasingly limited. Any active duty member of the Armed Forces, except those serving on active duty for training only, and any veteran who is retired from active military service are allowed to be buried in Arlington. The bill signed into law Friday allows all those "whose service has been determined to be active-duty service" to be buried at the cemetery, including the WASP. The WASP "can once and for all be laid to rest alongside our nation's patriots at Arlington National Cemetery," Mikulski said in a statement Friday. An earlier version of this story misspelled Congresswoman Martha McSally's name. VOA regrets the error. Greek lawmakers on Sunday approved fresh spending cuts and tax hikes demanded by European creditors in exchange for a new installment of desperately needed bailout funds. The legislation, which also provides a mechanism to slash spending in case of future budget overruns, comes two days ahead of a key meeting of eurozone finance ministers set to assess Athens' compliance with bailout terms reached last year. A positive assessment is key to European creditors easing the servicing terms for $225 billion in bailout loans given the country since 2010. As parliament moved Sunday to adopt the new measures, thousands of protesters demonstrated in central Athens against the legislation. The labor-backed protests have become a regular occurrence, with protesters insisting the reforms are unfairly penalizing workers, as ruling leftists work to satisfy EU reform demands and stave off what most analysts say would be a catastrophic financial collapse. Last week, lawmakers approved a controversial package of pensions and tax reforms also demanded by creditors. Those measures, also opposed by organized labor, reduce Greece's highest pension payouts, while increasing contributions from those in medium and high income brackets. In July 2015, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reluctantly accepted lender terms for a third European bailout package worth nearly $100 billion. At that time, he told the Greek public the deal with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund was the only way to prevent the total collapse of the Greek economy and the country's exit from the eurozone -- the 19-nation grouping that uses the euro currency. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Monday announced the start of a military operation to retake the city of Fallujah, held by the Islamic State group for more than two years. "We are beginning the operation to liberate Fallujah," Abadi said in one of a series of posts on social media. Fallujah is located 50 kilometers to the west of the capital, Baghdad. But the announcement seemed to clarify that Iraqi forces are advancing first toward Fallujah, rather than Mosul, Iraq's second city, which Islamic State militants also control. The U.S. military, which has hundreds of advisers and trainers in Iraq to assist Iraqi forces, preferred that Baghdad first pursue an advance on Mosul, in the northern part of Iraq. But powerful Iraqi militias have deployed to the Fallujah area in preparation for an attack. A spokesman for Badr, one of the Shi'ite militia forces, said the Fallujah operation would start soon. Iraq's Joint Operations Command warned civilians in Fallujah possibly tens of thousands of people to flee the city. "I am calling for citizens who are inside Fallujah to leave their areas and head towards safe corridors," Iraqi Joint Operations Command Yahya Rasoul said on Iraqi TV. "In the coming few days, the operations to liberate Fallujah will be launched." Dozens of families have fled, but Iraqi officials said Islamic State has sought to prevent them from leaving. Human Rights Watch warned last month that the remaining Fallujah residents face food shortages and exorbitant prices. U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday his visit to Hiroshima, the first city to suffer an atomic bombing, would emphasize friendly ties between former enemies, and reiterated he would not apologize for the devastating attack. Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to tour the site of the world's first nuclear bombing this Friday, accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In an interview with Japanese national broadcaster NHK, Obama - who emphasized denuclearization early in his term said the reality is that leaders often have to make hard choices during times of conflict and no apologies would be included in brief remarks he is expected to make in the western Japanese city. "It's important to recognize that in the midst of war, leaders make all kinds of decisions, it's a job of historians to ask questions and examine them," Obama said. "But I know, as somebody who's now sat in this position for the last seven and half years, that every leader makes very difficult decisions, particularly during wartime." The bomb dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killed thousands instantly and about 140,000 by the end of the year. Nagasaki was hit on Aug. 9 and Japan surrendered six days later. A majority of Americans see the bombings as having been necessary to end the war and save U.S. and Japanese lives, although many historians question that view. Most Japanese believe they were unjustified. Obama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 partly for his stance on nuclear non-proliferation, added that he felt emphasis needed to be placed on the current relationship between Washington, one of Japan's key allies, and Tokyo. "I think it is also a happy story about how former adversaries came together to become one of the closest partnerships and closest allies in the world," he said. Critics argue that by not apologizing, Obama will allow Japan to stick to the narrative that paints it as a victim. The Abe administration has affirmed past government apologies for Japanese actions during the war, but asserts that future generations should not have to apologize for the actions of their forebears. Obama said the visit will be a time to reflect on the harsh toll that war takes at any time. "Since I only have a few months left in the office, I thought it was a good time for me to reflect on the nature of war. Part of my goal is to recognize that innocent people caught in war can suffer tremendously," he said. "And that's not just the thing of the past. That is happening today in many parts of the world." Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was formally named leader of the Taliban in July 2015, shortly after the militant group disclosed that founder Mullah Omar had died two years prior. The Afghan government said Mansoor was the de facto leader of the Taliban during the time that Omars death remained a secret, and he kept that news even from some top commanders. That led to some dissension among Taliban officials who were skeptical of how Mullah Omars succession was being handled, and of Mullah Mansoors ties to Pakistan. Mansoors close relationship with Omar, however, and his status as one of the few remaining founding members of the Taliban helped him to consolidate power and unify the group over the past year. Mansoor's successor remains unclear. When he was named leader in 2015, the Taliban also named two deputies: Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the powerful Haqqani militant network, and Maulvi Haibatullah Akhund, a religious cleric known for issuing decrees on behalf of the Taliban. Sirajuddin Haqqani is considered a terrorist leader by the United States, which has long offered a reward of $10 million for information leading to his capture. Little is known about Haibatullah Akhunds role in the militant group. Hard-line Islamist movement A member of the Ishaqzai tribe in southern Kandahars Maiwand district, Mansoor joined the Taliban when the hard-line Islamist movement emerged during the bloody power struggle among various Afghan factions following the collapse of the Najibullah government in 1992. Afghans with knowledge of Mansoors early years with the Taliban describe him as a low-level administrator who mostly dealt with organizational matters. He was the minister for civil aviation till the end of the Taliban regime in late 2001. After the Taliban was driven from Afghanistan and the group launched its counteroffensive, Mansoor was declared the groups shadow governor of Kandahar and a member of its leadership council. Omar appointed Mansoor as his deputy and acting head of the shura, or leadership council, after Mansoors predecessor, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was captured in Pakistan in early 2010 by the Pakistani spy agency, with the help of the CIA. The Taliban has long maintained that it will not engage in peace talks with the Afghan government until all foreign troops have left the country. Peace talks But in 2015 there were secretive meetings and encouraging signs that leaders could discuss peace. Afghan and Pakistani sources asserted that these initial meetings had the backing of Mansoor. Soon after they began, however, the reported death of Omar all but ended the talks while the Taliban reorganized under Mansoor as leader. Since then, the peace process has stalled and the Taliban has made aggressive moves to seize territory, continue bombings in the capital, Kabul, and fight back against competing militant groups such as the Islamic State group. U.S. military officials also assert that the Talibans ties with al-Qaida have grown since Mansoor formally took charge. The groups reluctance to engage in peace talks, and its continuing attacks, have caused Afghan officials to grow more pessimistic about the peace process, considered the best hope for ending the war that has now gone on for more than 14 years. Afghan authorities also have grown more critical of Pakistan, which they say is supporting and harboring the Taliban and the Haqqani network of militants. The reported killing of Mansoor in a remote area of Pakistans Baluchistan province is likely to only reinforce those views. Criminal enterprise Last week Afghan President Ashraf Ghani suggested the Taliban has become little more than a criminal enterprise. The question is: Is the Mansoor group a drug cartel masquerading as a political organization? Or a political organization using a drug cartel as its means? You have to judge this question. It can no longer be avoided, Ghani told an audience at the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi warned the media on Sunday against speculating about what brought down EgyptAir flight 804, and said all scenarios are being considered. "Until now all scenarios are possible. So please, it is very important that we do not talk and say there is a specific scenario," he said during his first public remarks since Thursdays plane crash. During his speech to ministers and members of parliament at the opening of a fertilizer plant in Damietta, Sissi said the investigation could take a long time, but said as soon as investigators find answers, the public will be informed. EgyptAir flight MS804 crashed in the Mediterranean Sea on its way to Cairo from Paris, killing all 66 people onboard. Investigators said on Saturday that smoke was detected in the cabin minutes before the plane crashed, though the singals gave no indication as to what caused the fire. Egypt's aviation minister, Sherif Fathy, has said a terrorist attack is a more likely cause for the crash than technical failure. But no clear evidence has emerged as to what brought down the plane. No militant group has claimed to have carried out an attack. Egypt's military released pictures of wreckage, including a pink bag, a life vest, shredded seat covers and mangled debris showing the EgyptAir name. The latest information offers clues but no answers to what might have happened, while search crews continued scouring for further wreckage. The flight recorders, the so-called black boxes, still need to be recovered from the bottom of the Mediterranean, believed to be some 290 kilometers north of Alexandria, before investigators would be able to put together a plausible scenario. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he and other officials, as well as the Egyptian ambassador to France, had met with about 100 family members to express our profound compassion over the crash. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Ayrault said that all the hypotheses are being examined, none are being favored. The French-made Airbus A320 turned sharply twice before plunging about 6,700 meters and vanishing from radar screens without its crew sending a distress signal. Egypt, France, Greece and the U.S. are among nations deploying planes and naval vessels to search for the plane. The European Space Agency (ESA) said Friday one of its orbiting spacecraft spotted what could be an oil slick 40 kilometers southeast of the plane's last known position and the information had been passed on to relevant authorities conducting a search mission. The agency released a grainy photograph of the scene, which showed little detail and cautioned there was no certainty the slick was from the aircraft. ESA said a second satellite would pass the area where the slick was found on Sunday. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry offered Egypt continued support for the search. Kerry told Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry the United States promised to stay in close contact as the investigation progressed. Kerry also offered condolences to Shoukry for the lives lost. The disappearance has renewed security concerns months after a Russian passenger plane was shot down over the Sinai Peninsula. The Russian aircraft crashed in Sinai on October 31, killing all 224 people on board. Moscow said it was brought down by an explosive device, and a local branch of the extremist Islamic State group claimed responsibility for planting it. IN PICTURES: Service held at Coptic Christian Potrosia Church Air strikes hit the only road into rebel-held areas of Aleppo city on Sunday in the heaviest bombardment since February, a rebel official and monitors said, jeopardizing access to an area where around 300,000 Syrians live. They said Russian warplanes had carried out the attacks on the Castello road, which was still open but dangerous. Defense officials from Syria's government and its ally Russia could not immediately be reached for comment. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said the road had been hit in a week of escalating air strikes, with Sunday's attack the most intense yet. The city of Aleppo, about 30 miles (50 km) south of the Turkish border, is divided between the government and rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A truce was brokered by the United States and Russia in February. But the agreement has since unraveled, with fighting and bombardment in Aleppo playing a big part in its collapse. "From 1 a.m. until 10 a.m., Russian jets were not quiet on the Handarat-Castello front," said Zakaria Malahefji, an official in the rebel group Fastaqim that operates in the area. The nearby Owaija area was also heavily hit, he said. "A group [of fighters] stationed there was killed," he added. Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said the raids had been happening for a week. "This is more intense than the last days," he added. A Russian Defense Ministry statement issued on Saturday accused insurgents of firing missiles at nearby areas, identifying them as members of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which was not included in the truce. Rebels fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army say Nusra has little or no presence in Aleppo city. Russia deployed its air force to Syria last year to bomb in support of the Syrian military and its allies. Rebels say they can distinguish Russian from Syrian warplanes by the accuracy and intensity of their bombing, the way they fly in squadrons, and the fact they carry out raids at night. Syrian government forces have mounted several offensives aimed at encircling rebel-held eastern Aleppo but these have all failed to date. U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has intensified his fight with Democratic Party leaders by supporting a challenger to the head of Democratic National Committee, and accusing the party establishment of trying to anoint rival Hillary Clinton as its nominee for president. In a series of television interviews on Sunday, Sanders acknowledged he has an uphill fight to overtake Clinton, the front-runner. He also said that if he wins the White House, he will not reappoint Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz as DNC chairwoman. Instead, he endorsed law professor Tim Canova, who is challenging the Florida congresswoman in that state's Democratic primary in August. "Do I think she is the kind of chair that the Democratic Party needs? No, I don't," Sanders told CBS' "Face the Nation." "Frankly, what the Democratic Party is about is running around to rich people's homes and raising obscene sums of money from wealthy people. What we need to do is to say to working class people, 'We are on your side,'" he said. Wasserman issued a statement saying she will remain neutral in the Democratic presidential race, despite the statements from Sanders. Clinton has said she already considers herself the de facto nominee, and she is increasingly turning her attention to Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. She calls him "dangerous." Clinton, Trump in dead heat According to the latest public opinion polls, she and Trump are locked in a virtual dead heat, with a majority of voters viewing both of them unfavorably. One poll released Sunday, The Washington Post-ABC News survey, showed Trump with a narrow edge, while an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll had Clinton with a slight lead. Both polls showed, as other surveys have in recent days, Trump gaining ground on Clinton after becoming the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in early May. Both polls noted that voters appear energized as much by whom they dislike as by whom they like. Analysts say Trump's surge in political polls stems from Republican voters coalescing behind his candidacy, after many of them supported one of his rivals in state-by-state nominating contests before Trump defeated them. Clinton remains the heavy favorite to claim the Democratic nomination on June 7, when six more states hold Democratic nominating contests. Forty-one years after the end of one of the most divisive wars in American history, experts say ties between the U.S. and Vietnam have never been closer. In fact, there are calls coming both from within the U.S. Defense Department and from the Hanoi government for President Barack Obama to further strengthen the relationship by completely lifting the decades-long arms embargo. Obama arrived early Monday for a visit to Vietnam. The president has the power to bypass Congress and lift the lethal weapons ban on Vietnam on his own. But one U.S. lawmaker his administration likely would appreciate support from is Republican Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain. McCain has witnessed the changes in relations firsthand between the two wartime enemies. The Arizona senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee was a young Navy aviator during the Vietnam War. His plane was shot down and he spent 5 years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi, enduring torture and neglect. But the decorated veteran bears no bitterness, as he told VOA in an interview. I think when we normalized relations that there was reconciliation between our countries and people," McCain said. "Look, there are some individuals that mistreated me in prison that I hope I never see again. But that doesn't change my opinion that the Vietnamese people are wonderful and dear friends, and we need them and they need us and I see a bright future in our relationships with hopefully improvement on human rights issues," he added. WATCH: VOA Exclusive interview with Sen. John McCain McCain told VOA he has been back to Vietnam at least 20 times over the years, and he says the changes are profound. He said he does not know what is on the presidents agenda, but he has a few ideas. I think he should raise our solidarity with Vietnam as regards to freedom of the oceans, that the Chinese behavior is provocative and in violation of international law, that our bonds of friendship and our relationship and things like scholarship programs and others and exchange programs are excellent programs that need to be improved between our two military-to-military and such thing as humanitarian crises or disaster relief," the Arizona senator said. "All of those need to be improved, American port visits. But the president should also point out that there is significant progress that needs to be made as far as freedom of speech, treatment of Buddhists, treatment of the minorities who live in the hills and mountains of Vietnam, and we expect those improvements to be made," he added. Security issue Brian Harding, Asia expert at the Center for American Progress, said security will be a major focus of the presidents talks. The U.S.-Vietnam relationship is trending in an extraordinarily positive trajectory. Top of the agenda for President Obama will be security issues, human rights and trade," Harding said. "I think all eyes, though, will be on whether the United States lifts its policy of an embargo of lethal weapon sales to Vietnam during this trip. The main sticking point over lifting the lethal weapons ban is Vietnams human rights record. Human Rights Watch and other human rights groups say the Communist Party state has assaulted and imprisoned scores of rights activists and bloggers, and that it restricts freedom of speech, press and religion. John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said lifting the arms embargo would be undeserved at this time, calling the Hanoi government one of the most repressive in the world. Harding agreed that the president must stand up for human rights wherever he goes. He said the Vietnam War still casts shadows in both countries, but the future looks bright. Vietnam is quite a young country demographically; its people, especially the young people have incredibly positive feelings towards the United States," Harding said. On this trip, Obama also will visit Japan, another former wartime enemy, and is likely to highlight the power of reconciliation to transform ties in both countries. (St. Paul, MN) In the waning hours of the legislative session, lawmakers are beginning to come to agreements on the supplemental budget. House Republicans had originally proposed almost no supplemental budget spending, reserving the bulk on the states projected $900 million surplus for transportation projects and tax relief. The Senate DFL and Gov. Mark Dayton, in contrast, had both proposed spending more than half of the surplus on supplemental budget items. One article at a time, lawmakers began to reach compromises on the supplemental budget. The conference committee on HF2749, the supplemental budget bill, began meeting early Saturday afternoon and adjourned early Sunday morning after adopting articles as agreements are reched. Sen. Richard Cohen (DFL-St. Paul) and Rep. Jim Knoblach (R-St. Cloud) chair the committee. Conferees are scheduled to resume their work at 7 a.m. Sunday, taking up energy, equity and human services. Here are the agreements that have been reached so far. E-12 Education: $88 million Voluntary pre-kindergarten is the big-ticket item in the proposed E-12 education budget agreement with a $25 million supplemental budget expense. The rest of the approximately $53 million in appropriations for a wide variety of programs would be offset by a provision allowing school district early repayment of maximum effort loans to the state. Other funding included in the proposed budget includes: $12 million for counselors on other support staff; $4.9 million to extend an equity increase to non-metro school districts; $4.5 million for staff development; $3 million for the Northwest Regional Partnership; $2.8 million for grants for student teachers in shortage areas; $2.75 million for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports; $2 million for parent-child home visiting; $2 million for teacher loan forgiveness; $2 million for the Parent Aware rating system for early education programs; and $1.5 million for grow your own programs for paraprofessionals. I think we worked very well together in a short period of time, said Rep. Jenifer Loon (R-Eden Prairie), who chairs the House Education Finance Committee. All of the governors signature pieces are in the proposal, said Sen. Chuck Wiger (DFL-Maplewood). We reached agreement on a lot that we can proudly go forward on, he said. Broadband: $35 million A contentious issue since the beginning of the session, the Border-to-Border Broadband Plan may have finally reached a compromise for its funding. The often-debated original House proposal saw a $15 million appropriation in Fiscal Year 2017 and $25 million in Fiscal Year 2018 to fund the program. Gov. Mark Dayton has requested $100 million in his supplemental budget. A Senate proposal came much closer to meeting that request, appropriating $85 million in Fiscal Year 2017. Under the budget agreement, the program would receive $35 million in Fiscal Year 2017. Of the appropriation, no more than $5 million would be used to serve underserved areas, and up to $1 million may be used for administrative costs; $500,000 could be awarded to expand availability to areas that contain a significant portion of low-income households. This was a leadership interest on both sides, and I am pleased with the compromise at this time, Sen. Matt Schmit (DFL-Red Wing) said. As one-time appropriations, funds would work to further provide high-speed Internet access to Greater Minnesota by furthering availability, testing accuracy and deploying development. By no later than 2022, the program would be required to reach all Minnesota businesses and homes who lack access to wire-line broadband service at speeds of at least 25 megabits per second download and three megabits per second upload. By 2026, all businesses and homes would be required to have access to speeds up at least 100 megabits per second download, and 20 megabits per second upload. State Government: $28.6 million A pair of items at $10 million apiece make up the bulk of supplemental state government spending. One item is a modification and extension of Minnesotas Angel Investment Credit, which provides qualified investors in certified small businesses with a refundable income tax credit equal to 25 percent of their investments up to a maximum of $125,000. The credit, scheduled to sunset after tax year 2016, would be extended for one year. The other $10 million investment is for the Mighty Ducks Ice Arena Grant Program, which, in part, aims to improve air quality at the states indoor ice arenas, including the elimination of R-22 in refrigeration systems. By 2020, the refrigerant chemical used to make ice will no longer be manufactured or imported into the United States. Other spending includes: $3 million to improve the long-term sustainability of the judges retirement plan within the Minnesota State Retirement System that is only 53.3 percent funded and projected to decline over time; $2 million to enhance cybersecurity across state government; $1.3 million for tax refund fraud protection; $250,000 for a disabled veterans interim housing study; $248,000 for National Guard security improvements; and $148,000 continue implementation of the States Olmstead Plan that aims to ensure people with disabilities are living, learning, working, and enjoying life in the most integrated setting. Jobs and Economic Development: $27 million While most of the funding under jobs and economic development goes to broadband, the budget proposal also contains funding for the following: $10 million for 21st Century Fund investment; $4.5 million for the Minnesota Film and TV Board; and $3.65 million for the Mille Lacs Lake economic relief program. With a net target of $5 million in addition to $35 million for broadband, much of the new jobs spending is offset by more than $20 million in reductions from the Investment Fund and Job Creation Fund. Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington) praised Cohen and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook) for their statesmanship in working on the compromise. I think this is a good bill that members on both sides of the aisle can be proud of, he said. Equity proposals will be grouped in a separate article, Cohen said. Judiciary/Public Safety: $24.85 million The final number for judiciary/public safety is almost evenly split between the Senates $45.35 million increase proposal entering the conference committee and the $793,000 decrease proposed by the House. Of the amount in the final product, $10.44 million is for employee compensation at the Department of Corrections, to cover most of the departments request for funding negotiated contracts and increased employer-paid insurance. The plan calls for nearly $5.37 million to expand the Challenge Incarceration Program by 75 beds, and $406,000 for additional program officers. With a goal of lowering an offenders risk for recidivism, programming includes an intensive boot camp and intensive, close supervision in the community. Following successful completion of all three phases, offenders are placed on supervised release for the remainder of their sentence. Reimbursement for serving on a jury would increase under the proposal, which calls for a doubling of juror per diem from $10 to $20 a day ($953,000) and doubling juror mileage reimbursement from 27 cents to 54 cents per mile ($594,000). Other proposed funding includes: $1.85 million for Corrections Department information technology critical upgrades; $1 million for grants to secure courthouses; $878,000 for additional Guardian ad Litem staff for compliance with state and federal mandates; $820,000 in sex trafficking investigation grants; $650,000 for six additional forensic scientists at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension; and $375,000 to provide around-the-clock nursing at the womens prison in Shakopee. Environment and Natural Resources: $19.32 million The agreement calls for the Department of Natural Resources to receive $16.70 million in appropriations and the Pollution Control Agency $2.62 million. Among those appropriations is $4.4 million for the DNR to cover anticipated legal costs from the ongoing permitting process for the proposed PolyMet mining project in northern Minnesota. The appropriations also include: $5.1 million for parks and trails; $1.15 million in SCORE and recycling grants; $1 million for state forest reforestation; $1 million for the Prospectors Trail in northeastern Minnesota; and $670,000 for purchase of a DNR helicopter. Higher Education: $5 million Under the agreement, an additional $5 million would be spent on higher education over the biennium, including appropriations to the Office of Higher Education, the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. The proposed budget includes the following items: $2 million for state grants to low- and middle-income students; $800,000 for health training restoration at the university; $570,000 for operating support at MnSCU; $500,000 for an equity and opportunity initiative through the OHE; $500,000 for an online system connecting students and employers; $200,000 for open textbook initiatives at MnSCU; and $100,000 for a collegiate recovery program at the universitys Rochester campus. Its all about students, said Rep. Bud Nornes (R-Fergus Falls), who chairs the House Higher Education Policy and Finance Committee. I think weve spent the $5 million wisely. Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL-Minnetonka), who chairs the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee, acknowledged that university and MnSCU offiicals had requested substantially more in supplemental funding $34 million and $21 million, respectively but was grateful some resources could be directed to the university systems in a non-budget year. Their requests were worthy requests, she said. Agriculture: $2.13 million The agriculture agreement would provide $2.13 million in new spending over the biennium, which would be more than offset by a $6.7 million transfer from the Rural Finance Authority loan fund, as well as the recapturing of $3.1 million in existing avian flu spending. The proposed new spending includes: Julie Klausner, Billy Eichner, Nathan Lane and Amy Poehler at the Difficult People table read at the 2016 Vulture Festival. Photo: Bryan Bedder/2016 Getty Images After landing guest stars like Fred Armisen, Amy Sedaris, and Kathie Lee Gifford in its first season, Difficult Peoples second season, which will return to Hulu on July 12, will be even more star-studded: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tina Fey, and Julianne Moore, among others, are set to appear, the cast and producers revealed on Saturday during the Difficult People panel at this years Vulture Festival, moderated by editor E. Alex Jung. The cast and producers of the Hulu series including executive producer Amy Poehler, and new additions Nathan Lane and Megan Hilty opened the event with a table read of season twos third episode, in which Lane and Hilty both appear. To secure the guest stars, Klausner said she and the shows writers and producers sometimes write the role first and then hope to find the right star, but just as often they have the person first and then go from there. We wrote that Christian Siriano thing before any of us ever got connected or reached out to him, Klauser said. Joel McHale, John Mulaney, Ken Burns, Debbie Harry, Method Man, Mark Consuelos, and several Real Housewives of New York will also appear on the new season of the show, which will premiere in July. In the episode read at Vulture Festival, Hilty plays a patient of Andrea Martins therapist character, and the two also knew each other from starring in Noises Off on Broadway. Hilty said she was a fan of shows first season especially after being name-checked in one of the shows whirlwind pop culture references and stalked stars Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner on Twitter. I love the show and Im such a huge fan of theirs, and I was like, Anything, anything, I will do anything. I will clean your floors, Hilty said. And, funnily enough, the part she ended up playing did include some housework. Martin spoke highly of the way the show uses guest stars: These guest stars really get to do fabulous characters. It really expands who they already are. Nathan Lane, an old friend of Martins, voiced a bit of dissent, as his role had him playing a version of himself who had to stick his hand in a toilet. But, he said, he preferred that to the alternative: It was either that or a bisexual hairdresser. Nevertheless, he added, Ive done a lot of television and this was the most fun I have ever had on a television show. Photo: Andrew Toth/Getty Images Jon Stewart is making America a better place. While the country sits on edge, quivering with anticipation as he prepares for his triumphant return to television (hopefully before the election), the Peabody-winning Stewart is off saving animals. Along with his wife, Tracey, Stewart adopted a 20-year-old horse named Lily who was shot, at close-range, by over 100 paintballs, losing an eye. She will require surgery. (Her tormentor, Phillip Price of East Providence, Rhode Island, was convicted Friday in New Holland, Pennsylvania, of animal cruelty.) The Stewarts have an animal sanctuary in Middletown, New Jersey. David Lettermans beard has captivated the country with its chill post-retirement aesthetic, but as it turns out, the former Late Show host has a few qualms about retiring since leaving the show last May. Accepting a Peabody Award last night from his friend Steve Martin, Letterman discussed how a recent state dinner at the White House gave him a major blow to his self-esteem, and why retiring might not be as grand as people expect. Read an excerpt from his speech below: Thank you very much. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Uh, I dozed off just a little bit is this still the 75th anniversary? Steve Martin, first of all if you want to be in show business of any description, Steve Martin is who you ought to shoot for. This man, multi-faceted, great talent. When he leaves the planet, he will leave behind a tremendous, wonderful, brilliant body of work. When I leave the planet, I will leave behind a body. Its only May, but already Steve is featuring his mid-summer tan. So pale, is Steve. I tell you, if you want to have something affect your self-esteem, retire. First, of course you must tire, and then retire. And a few weeks ago, I got very excited because the Obamas invited myself and my wife to a state dinner, and I said, Oh my god, Regina, weve been invited to a state dinner! And she says, Oh, I love steak. I said, No. Am I the only one who noticed how pale Steve is? So we go to the steak, state dinner, and its for the heads of the Nordic states, and President Obama was giving remarks before he introduced the heads of state. And he was talking about how cooperative their union was, the Nordic states. Yes, they have differences, but by and large, they all felt and had the same beliefs, and they were good for mankind, and believed in the right thing, and they were strong allies for the United States. He said, Dont misunderstand me, they do argue. They do have as a matter of fact, there is still an ongoing fight in the Nordic States about which country is happiest. And then the prime minister of Iceland got up, and he said, We are working on a defensive weapons system right now. And this gets everybodys attention! Like, Iceland, really? Working on a defensive weapons system? And he said, Yes, volcanoes. We just havent figured out how to aim them yet. So Im seated at dinner next to a man who is the assistant chief of staff to the prime minister of Norway. And Im feeling like a big shot. And were chatting, and were chatting, and were chatting. And when it comes about dessert time, and the guy says to me, Excuse me. Why are you here? And I said, You know what? I think I picked up somebody elses mail. And he said, So youre here by mistake? And I said, Yeah. And he said, Oh. So there you go you get invited to the state dinner, nobody knows why. Thats the sum total of being retired. L-R: Rami Malek, Portia Doubleday, Charly Chaikin, Christian Slater. Photo: Bryan Bedder/2016 Getty Images Mr. Robot was the surprise hit of the 2015 television slate, a show perfectly suited to our societys current zeitgeist in which technology is forever expanding, through the Internet of Things, into our every day lives. The show doesnt return until mid-July, so cast members Rami Malek, Carly Chaikin, Portia Doubleday, and Christian Slater were pretty tight lipped about the future of fSociety during their Vulture Festival panel with editor Abraham Riesman. But they did dig up some pretty good intel on what it takes to hack into the minds of their characters. The graveyard scene was the hardest scene to film. When Elliot Alderson realizes that Mr. Robot (a.k.a. his father) is a delusion, and that he actually led the Evil Corp hack (and created fSociety), the moment happens in a graveyard. It is the first time all four actors are on the screen together, and each claimed that shoot, which was filmed in a real cemetery on Doubledays birthday, was the hardest of the entire season. It took nine hours, Doubleday said of the scene. Malek and Slater filmed in the morning, but both Doubleday and Chaikin were on set to watch, and each struggled to contain their emotions as they watched Elliot try to come to grips with the realization that he is Mr. Robot. We were sobbing watching them, says Chaikin. After they were done, all I wanted to do was throw up. It was so amazing. By the time we had to film, I said, I cant cry [anymore]. When Doubleday rewatched that scene, she began to wonder what people would make of seeing something that intense on TV. I remember walking away, she said, and thinking, OMG, is that what this show is going to be like? How will people respond? During the panel, Malek emphasized the rapport he developed with Slater, but he felt that he couldnt horse around during this scene. When he grabbed my face at the grave, I had to look him straight in the eye, says Malek. We shot it over and over again, and just kept looking at Christian dead in the eye, and I thought, If I have to do this scene again, I am going to be hurt for a while. How Sam Esmail got the greenlight to direct all of the second season. It has been mentioned on countless occasions how Sam Esmail, the shows creator, intended for Mr. Robot to be a feature film, and that season one is the equivalent of the films act one. Esmail directed several of those episodes, but he decided that not only would he contribute to the second seasons scripts, he wanted to direct all ten of its episodes. According to Slater, USA Network have one ask before giving Esmail the greenlight: They felt confident, he said, but it is still a big leap so they asked Sam to write eight scripts ahead of time, [before] he could go ahead with the directing. Instead, Sam wrote 12. The realness of Angela and Darlene. Doubleday, who plays Angela, mentioned that she and Chaikin (who plays Darlene) often discuss how glad they are to play fully fleshed-out characters. There are so many scripts I get where, in the breakdown, your character is described as funny and cute, says Doubleday. Both her and Chaikin said it was refreshing to play a character that wasnt boxed in as a romantic interest. When Sam told me that Angela was this girl who is going to go after this huge corporation, and that I had to portray what it is like to climb the ladder as a corporate woman now, says Doubleday I was so excited when I found that out. Costumes are pivotal. You might think itd be easy to dress a character whos antisocial, but Malek said it took time to find just the right clothes for Elliot, who dresses like hes armoring up. Malek described the goal for the aesthetic as, If Elliot was to put his head down, and there was a drone above him, he could disappear into the city for a moment. After trying on several types of black pants, including one that had elastic in it, he, Esmail, and the wardrobe department decided on jeans that were thicker than most (this guy doesnt like to be touched), and a hoodie that would double as an outfit made for urban combat. When I put that hoodie and backpack on, says Malek, I start walking and talking like Elliot, and I also stop touching people. Registration is underway for Baylor Universitys 2016 University for Young People camps, including the following: Creative Problem Solving Camp for rising first- through fourth-graders June 13-17 at Hillcrest Professional Development School, 4225 Pine Ave. Students will study an interdisciplinary theme such as discoveries and use problem-solving skills to create ways to live in space. Cost is $160 plus a $20 registration fee. Patterns and Perspectives camp for rising first- through fourth-graders June 20-24 at Woodway Elementary School, 325 Estates Drive. Students will explore the regions of Texas using outdoor learning spaces. Cost is $160 plus a $20 registration fee. Three sessions of University for Young People at Baylor University for rising fourth- through 12th-graders. Sessions are June 6-10, June 13-17 and June 20-24. Students can choose from classes in the sciences, fine arts, social studies or technology. Cost is $70 per class plus an annual $20 registration fee. For applications and deadline information, visit www.baylor.edu/soe/uyp or call 710-2171. Waco NAACP Waco NAACP will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday in Knox Hall at the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame and Museum, 100 Texas Ranger Trail. The meeting will feature a presentation of the Mae Jackson and Robert Gilbert scholarships. For more information, call 733-5261. Porcelain Art Guild The Waco Porcelain Art Guild will have an open house event from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the American Red Cross Building, 4224 Cobbs Drive. Guild members will demonstrate and exhibit their works. For more information, call 366-7903. Alzheimers education The Alzheimers Association will continue its free Family Caregiver Education Series at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Heart of Texas Council of Governments, 1514 S. New Road. Ben Perry, geriatrician at Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Senior Clinic, will present the program. To reserve a spot, call 753-7722. A.J. Moore luncheon The A.J. Moore Academies Business Advisory Board will have its seventh annual scholarship luncheon 11:30 a.m. Friday at the Lee Lockwood Museum and Library, 2801 W. Waco Drive. Keynote speaker will be Dina Dwyer-Owens, local entrepreneur, philanthropist, published author and motivational speaker. Tickets cost $25 or $200 per table of eight. The aims of a young person with a lemonade stand are simple: to provide neighbors with a little refreshment on a hot day and make a little money. The aims of adult sponsors of National Lemonade Day are simple, too: to support the goals of the young people and to introduce them to the world of entrepreneurship. But the process is complex, and the project in a reported 56 cities may be unique in actually making junior businesspeople of the youths who apply themselves, according to Tim Holtkamp and Waco City Councilman Dillon Meek. Holtkamp is the citys director for Lemonade Day Waco, part of the national effort. He acts as the organizer of local efforts, and Meek is the citys champion of National Lemonade Day, promoting it in schools and civic organizations. Holtkamp and other volunteers responded to 250 requests for age-appropriate curriculum about operating a business, but he knew of only two lemonade stands set up Saturday his grandchildrens at Waco Downtown Farmers Market and another at Indian Spring Park. He and Meek said there may have been others. Many of the children have special goals, such as going to summer camp or helping with family bills. All are encouraged to give some of the proceeds to community causes. Another stand, or several stands, are planned to begin operation at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Toliver Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, 1402 Elm Ave., expanding Lemonade Day into lemonade weekend. The learning curriculum has 14 units that children study with volunteer mentors. The live-and-learn element is a big part of the education the day provides. At Indian Spring Park, 8-year-old Mileah Jones and her family from China Spring said business started off great at 10 a.m., but later in the morning city crews blocked the entrance to University Parks Drive from Franklin Avenue for an event later in the day. Pedestrian and vehicular traffic dropped precipitously after the closure, they said. Importance of location Mileah was game for hanging in there several more hours but said she had learned something about researching locations. At the Farmers Market, Holtkamp and his grandsons, Cole Fikes, 9, and his brother, Case, 7, faced competition from other refreshment vendors, but by late morning, lines were forming at their booth. According to the organizations website, National Lemonade Day started in Houston in 2007 when Michael Holthouses daughter, Lissa, asked her father to buy her a turtle. Michael drew a line in the sand and said she had enough pets. She challenged him to let her make her own money and buy the little animal, and he agreed. The site said Holthouse found himself giving Lissa tips along the way and realized a textbook full of such information could give grade-school students a grounding in operating a business. He started National Lemonade Day, which is now represented in the United States, Canada and South Africa. Even if the youngsters dont become entrepreneurs, they learn enough about principles to understand the decisions of their employers, which strengthens the organization, said Holtkamp, a business adviser with the Small Business Development Center at McLennan Community College. He said the project is open to all children of elementary school age, but students in third through fifth grades predominate. Steep learning curve Holtkamp said the first few years are a steep learning curve for everyone involved. The first year, were learning what were doing, he said. The second year, were better able to think through whats happening. The third year, the youngsters begin to sound like businesspeople, coming up with ideas one after the other. He said he started the first Lemonade Day Waco last year after hearing about the operation in Killeen and calling the national office. Its so critical that young people learn these skills, he said. Many years ago, people grew up on farms, and they learned them because farms are businesses and it was part of life. Now, the rank and file has no hands-on experience. The experience the program offers is valuable for the individual kids and for the community, Meek said. If they retain this knowledge the rest of their lives, the city will be much better for it, he said. Holtkamp said H-E-B and the Waco Community Development Corp. supported the Waco effort this year, and he is hoping to expand next year. Other big businesses and organizations have indicated an interest, and next year I think well have a lot more support, Holtkamp said. Hammers resound throughout a China Spring neighborhood as construction workers build homes off of Tree Lake Drive. Red sold signs sit on the edge of every lot on the block. Construction has become a staple of China Spring neighborhoods as families flood into the area looking for affordable homes in the well-performing China Spring Independent School District. And while China Spring Superintendent Marc Faulkner said he welcomes the growth, if it continues at its current rate, the district likely will issue a new bond to build more schools within the next few years. This will totally change the landscape, because we hit capacity at our campuses at year five, Faulkner said, referring to growth projections. We will be restructuring the district somehow to meet our needs. China Spring ISD has four campuses: its elementary school, intermediate school, middle school and high school. Enrollment sits at about 2,600 students, and a recent demographic study for the district projects it will grow to 3,900 students by 2026, a 50 percent increase in 10 years. Between 2010 and 2015, the districts enrollment grew by less than 8 percent, according to the study. In the past year alone, the district grew by more than 5 percent. Real estate agent Ruth Garrett, who specializes in the China Spring area, said shes astounded at how quickly China Spring houses are selling. As she sees it, the general economic growth and new development in the Waco area, combined with reasonable housing costs in the China Spring school district, are driving interest, Garrett said. The high performance of the school district is also a driving factor, she said. The majority of homes in China Spring ISD are on single-family lots and range between $150,000 and $180,000, according to the city of Waco. The district has met state academic standards for at least the past three years, with the campuses often earning high achievement distinctions in literacy or math. Developers cannot get approved fast enough for the residential homes, Garrett said. At least 10 housing developments in the district are under construction, according to the demographic study. Wacos inspection department reports issuing 1,254 building permits for single-family homes since 2013. The number of permits issued each year crept up by about 4 percent between 2013 and last year, from 366 to 380. City officials are also feeling pressure to slow the growth in the section of the school district that lies in Waco city limits, since the roads leading to China Spring arent designed to handle much traffic. Though much of the school district is in unincorporated McLennan County and not managed by another municipal government, about half the districts students live in Waco. Clint Peters, Wacos planning services director, said he is investigating ways to stabilize the growth in China Spring so traffic doesnt clog China Spring Road or North River Crossing Road, the two main entry points into the area. One option is to increase the minimum lot size by changing zoning regulations, he said. The minimum lot size in China Spring is one-seventh of an acre, but Peters said the average sits at about a quarter of an acre. Faulkner, the China Spring ISD superintendent, said he would be thrilled if the city rezones the remaining developments to increase the minimum lot size anything to help stabilize the influx of students into the district. Well nearly take all the single-family homes you can give us, he said. Preferably at the right pace. China Springs elementary school is closest to its capacity of 1,000 students, with enrollment at 820. According to the growth projections prepared for the district, the elementary schools enrollment will grow an average of 45 students per year and reach 1,045 by 2020, Faulkner said. The other campuses arent projected to grow as quickly but will hit capacity shortly after the elementary school if the projections hold. Intermediate school enrollment is at 615 students and is expected to exceed its 750-student capacity by 2021. Middle school enrollment is at about 400 students and is expected to be at its 500-student capacity by 2021. High school enrollment is as 763 students and is expected to reach 953 students by 2021, slightly below its 1,000-student capacity. Generally, the districts existing facilities are designed for up to 250 students in each grade level. Faulkner said the districts first step in getting ready for its growth is to purchase land in preparation for a bond in May 2018. That will allow it to build a new school in time for the increased enrollment. Weve passed a bond every five years for the past 20. I would love for us to make it until May of (2019), which puts us (at) six years instead of five, he said. But if these numbers hold right, we wont be able to wait that long. District map According to China Spring ISD, 49% of its students live in the southeastern corner of the district, which lies mostly in the city of Waco (brown shaded area). Map images via Texas Education Agency and Google The case of how one REST Industry Super member was denied a payout on her disability insurance highlights much broader problems in the system. Last week I visited the home of a woman, who for privacy reasons will only be referred to by the pseudonym Ms Jones, who was rendered a paraplegic after walking off a balcony while suffering a psychosis in 2012. REST Industry Super chief executive Damian Hill declined to be interviewed for this story. Credit:Photo supplied At the time of and after the accident REST Industry Super was charging her TPD premiums and listing her as entitled for a lump sum of about $111,000 if she become totally and permanently disabled. But a fine print clause meant it denied the claim on the grounds she had stopped working for her old employer, McDonald's, more than 72 days prior to the accident and had less than $3000 in her account. In response to Fairfax Media's investigation, REST and its underwriter AIA Australia have entered an "in principle" agreement to honour the claim. Labor is promising to keep the cost of prescription medicines down by officially ditching the Coalition's "medicine tax". Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will seek to keep the election campaign focus on health policy on Sunday by pledging not to increase Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme copayments beyond regular indexation. The promise will cost the federal budget $971 million over the next four years and $3.6 billion over the decade, according to costings Labor has obtained from the independent Parliamentary Budget Office. The move would help keep vital projects delivering maternal and child health, schooling, clean water and sanitation up and running into the next financial year, Ms Plibersek said. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek says a Labor government would immediately restore the money cut under Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's first budget earlier this month. Labor has pledged to reverse the Coalition's latest $224 million cut to the foreign aid program but is making no promises about the many billions slashed under Tony Abbott's government. The funding promise means Labor would deliver a total of $800 million more in aid over four years than the Coalition. Ms Plibersek says that would "start rebuilding" the program that has been cut by $11 billion under the Coalition. "Since coming to government in 2013, the Liberals have gutted Australia's aid program. It is now the weakest in history," Ms Plibersek said. "Sadly, the Liberals' cuts have been so deep that it is impossible to fix the aid program quickly."Labor has also promised an additional $450 million over three years to support the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and an extra $40 million a year to help Australian NGOs deliver frontline services. The major parties once had a bipartisan commitment to increase aid to 0.5 per cent of gross national income, or more than $8 billion, by this financial year. However, Labor slowed the increases when it was in government and Mr Abbott later made swingeing cuts. He also scrapped the dedicated aid agency AusAID. Anyone who drove their car on Saturday night as the South-West was lashed by heavy wind and rain had to have a very good reason for being out and about. . . . And a driver's licence. This trip was thoroughly foiled by the Bridgetown police. Credit:WA Police . . . And a good idea of what they had on them and in their vehicle. A licence check in Bridgetown led to the search of a vehicle and the alleged discovery of a quantity of magic mushrooms. The Liberal Party's former candidate for Fremantle Sherry Sufi is angry about the way he has lost his job and labelled the people who leaked negative stories about him to the media as cowards. The 33-year-old Pakistani-born Sufi stepped down on Friday, ostensibly because of a report in the Fremantle Herald about him being caught on tape in 2013 using crude sexual language while mocking his former boss, WA MP Michael Sutherland. The Liberal candidate for Fremantle, Sherry Sufi, has resigned over controversial comments. Credit:Sherry Sufi He was quickly replaced on Saturday by a staffer for Liberal Senator Chris Back, former teacher and diplomat Pierrette Kelly. The events came after Labor dumped its candidate for the seat, union official Chris Brown over a 30-year-old spent criminal conviction last week. In an audio message released Saturday, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, official spokesman of the Islamic State group and head of a unit dedicated to external attacks, denounced the U.S.-led military campaign against the group but did not mention the EgyptAir crash. An Egyptian ship searches in the Mediterranean Sea for the EgyptAir plane. Credit:AP EgyptAir's security procedures last came under scrutiny in March when a passenger on a domestic flight pretended to be wearing an explosive vest and forced the plane to land in Cyprus. The crisis was resolved within hours when the man, later determined to be psychologically troubled, surrendered. Egyptian authorities were quick to post surveillance videos that they said showed he had been searched before boarding the flight. Among the 66 people on Thursday's flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris were three EgyptAir in-flight security personnel - one more than the normal team of two for reasons that were not entirely clear. Images posted on the official Facebook page of the Egyptian Armed Forces showing part of the wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804. Credit:Egyptian Armed Forces EgyptAir security guards differ in several respects from the undercover air marshals who travel on American airlines. The Egyptian guards are unarmed and wear an understated uniform consisting of a dark blazer and a white shirt. When called on, they help crew members deal with unruly passengers. They come from a wide variety of backgrounds and earn a moderate wage of about $400 a month. Normally, one security officer sits in the first economy row, behind business class, and the other is at the rear of the aircraft, two members of an EgyptAir crew said. During stopovers at foreign airports, the security officers are usually responsible for searching the workers who clean the plane and checking the credentials of all crew members or employees who board. They do not monitor the baggage handlers who load the plane's hold. This picture on the official Facebook page of the Egyptian Armed Forces spokesman shows a life vest from EgyptAir flight 804. Search crews found floating human remains, luggage and seats from the doomed EgyptAir jetliner Friday but face a potentially more complex task in locating bigger pieces of wreckage and the black boxes vital to determining why the plane plunged into the Mediterranean. Arabic reads: ? Life vest?. (Egyptian Armed Forces via AP) Credit:AP Security officials said those procedures would have applied to the EgyptAir plane during short layovers it made at two African airports - in Tunis and the Eritrean capital, Asmara - in the days before the crash. But the procedure is different in Paris because European airports do not permit EgyptAir security officials to search local cleaning workers, a source of disgruntlement among Egyptian officials who feel they are being discriminated against. Colleagues described the security guards who died in Thursday's crash - Walid Ouda, Mohammed Farag and Mahmoud el Sayed - as professionals who had exhibited no signs of unusual behaviour. They described Farag as a lighthearted man who was often teased by friends for not having married, while Ouda cut a more taciturn figure and was polite to a fault. The Imam of al Thawrah Mosque, Samir Abdel Bary, gives condolences to film director Osman Abu Laban, center, who lost four relatives, all victims of Thursday's EgyptAir plane crash. Credit:AP Friends and relatives also presented a uniformly untroubled picture of the pilot, Capt. Mohamed Shoukair, 36, and his co-pilot, Mohamed Mamdouh Assem, 24. An EgyptAir pilot, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the news media, said he had worked with both and described them as professional aviators who had not exhibited any mental or social problems. At 24 years old, Assem was the average age of many co-pilots at the airline, he said. EgyptAir crew members have been subjected to much stricter security measures since the crash of the Russian jetliner in October, said the pilot, who described the procedures before that crash as lax. The new procedures include personal searches that have prevented crew members from smuggling cigarettes or currency, he said. The graffiti about el-Sissi occurred several times for about two years after Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, was removed as president in July 2013. At the time, it was taken as a sign of the country's bitter political divide rather than a directed threat against the plane. Nonetheless, over that period, EgyptAir fired a number of employees, mostly members of the ground staff, who were presumed to be sympathisers of the Muslim Brotherhood, security officials said. Similar purges took place in other companies in Egypt at the time. More recently, fears of terrorism have tightened security at regional airports, including Tunis, where the Airbus A320 had traveled just before its trip to Paris, the pilot said. Foreign flight crews face new restrictions on their movement and are now prevented, for example, from leaving the plane to buy items in the duty-free shop, he said. EgyptAir flights headed to Europe also face added scrutiny under a European Union program known as SAFA, or Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft, which allows for spot inspections of airplanes at European airports and penalties for violations. Although Egyptian society has been divided in the turmoil that followed the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, there has been a tangible sense of national solidarity since Thursday's crash. Images of grieving relatives have dominated news coverage. As the official crash investigation starts, many Egyptians have reacted furiously to any suggestion that the airline crew bore any responsibility. Ezzat Shoukair, a cousin of the captain, said he was distressed by some of the coverage. "Don't listen to the lies people have been saying since the crash," he said, starting to weep as he spoke. "We just want to know where his body is. Otherwise, where will those who miss him go when they want to visit him?" Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 20, 2016 | 12:51 PM | FRANKFORT, KY Kentucky State Parks will participate in National Trails Day on June 4 and free fishing weekend June 4-5, with events across the state to recognize the excellent hiking and fishing opportunities at state parks.The American Hiking Society launched National Trails Day in 1993 to help promote exercise, trail development and the outdoors. It has grown to more than 2,300 events around the country.Kentucky Fish and Wildlife will offer free fishing weekend June 4-5, when no license is required to fish Kentucky waters. Kentucky State Parks have outstanding fishing opportunities and some parks will loan out fishing poles and tackle. Anyone 16 years old and older is required to have a fishing license the remainder of the year.The following state parks in western Kentucky have events planned for National Trails Day and free fishing weekend:Columbus-Belmont State Park, ColumbusHistory Hike on June 4Columbus-Belmont State Park will offer a History Hike around the grounds, nature trail and historic Civil War earthworks. Maps and a bottle of water will be provided at the snack bar. A scavenger hunt list will be issued with museum admission and a prize given upon completion. Call 270-677-2327.John James Audubon State Park, HendersonVolunteer Work Day, June 4Volunteers are needed to work on the trails at John James Audubon State Park as part of National Trails Day. Work starts at 8:30 am to noon. Lunch will be provided. The event is co-sponsored by the Audubon Outdoor Club. This is a great opportunity for church groups, scouts and others to help get the trails in tip-top condition. Volunteers should wear appropriate clothing and closed-toe shoes for the weather. Groups and individuals interested in volunteering should contact Mark Kellen at 270-826-2247 or mark.kellen@ky.govPennyrile Forest State Resort Park, Dawson Springs Guided Hike, June 4Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park will offer a guided hike along Lake Trail beginning at 9 a.m. Participants will meet the park naturalist in the Lodge Lobby to hike for approximately 2 hours. Guests should bring insect repellent, hiking stick (optional), water and snacks. The hike is not recommended for children under the age of five. Call 800-325-1711.Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site, WickliffeHike Historic Grounds, June 4Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site will offer a nature trail hike. A trail map and bird checklist will be available at the front desk. Trail access is included in museum admission of $5 adults, $4 kids and seniors and military/veterans. Trail use only is free during hours of operation. For more information, call the park at 270-335-3681 or email carla.hildebrand@ky.govFor more information about Kentucky State Parks, visit www.parks.ky.gov For more information about National Trails Day, including special events at other Kentucky locations, visit www.americanhiking.org. For more information on free fishing weekend in Kentucky visit http://fw.ky.gov/. On the Net: Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 22/05/2016 (2347 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Justin Trudeau makes his first major push into Asia this week in Japan, where he hopes to broaden business links with a country that was once Canadas No. 2 trading partner. The prime minister departed Sunday for his first overseas bilateral visit since taking office last fall. He will meet early in the week in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the emperor and empress as well as leaders in the automotive sector. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau depart from Ottawa on Sunday, May 22, 2016, en route to Japan. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick The visit comes ahead of Trudeaus participation in the Group of Seven summit, on Thursday and Friday, in the Japanese city of Ise-Shima. But before Trudeau sits down with the powerful group of world leaders, he will try to reinvigorate Canadas trade and investment relationship with Japan. His office says it believes there is still a lot of fertile ground in Japan and sees it as a key player in a region where the Liberal government intends to expand economic ties. One of the main goals of Trudeaus visit will be to try to encourage Japanese auto industry officials to invest more and to keep the plants already in Canada. In his meeting with Abe, Trudeaus office said he plans to discuss negotiations on the countries economic partnership agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, security co-operation, education and the Arctic, given Japans relative proximity. The Japanese-Canadian relationship has been a smooth one, but there are still several ways it could be improved. For starters, Japans ambassador in Ottawa notes that fewer than 15 years ago, his country was Canadas No. 2 trading partner after the United States. But Kenjiro Monji says Japans trade position with Canada has slipped since 2002. In 2009, he said Japan had tumbled to No. 5 after being passed by China, Mexico and the United Kingdom. The value of trade between Japan and British Columbia fell by 45 per cent between 2000 and 2014, Monji added. The slide, he said, is due to nearly two decades of recession in Japan, Chinas economic boom and the emergence of Canadian trade deals, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement. Monji believes the bilateral trade could get a boost from a key Canadian energy source that Japan needs: liquefied natural gas. Japan, the worlds biggest buyer of LNG, is hoping Canada will issue necessary environmental permits to allow companies to export it from British Columbia. B.C. Premier Christy Clark recently told The Canadian Press its time to proceed given the approval process started more than three years ago. Canada is one of the most-promising potential exporters to Japan because liquefied natural gas occupies a still very important share in our energy policy, said Monji, who noted that Japanese companies are involved in several LNG projects in Canada. Japan is also expected to tout the benefits for Canada of the Trans Pacific Partnership, a huge, 12-country treaty that would deepen trade connections across the Asia-Pacific region. The pact, which Canada is reviewing, includes the major economies of Japan and the United States. The value of TPP lies in Japan for Canada because Canada has already (the North America Free Trade Agreement), Monji said. The controversial, yet-to-be-ratified TPP, negotiated by the former Conservative government, has raised concerns in several Canadian industries. The future of the TPP is in doubt. U.S. presidential hopefuls from both the Democrats and Republicans have said they would reject the treaty. With the TPP still pending, Monji doesnt expect any movement on talks of a bilateral Canada-Japan trade deal. He did praise the Canda-Japan relationship and was quick to point out this will be Trudeau and Abes third meeting in six months. They sat down together at the APEC summit in Manila and again in Washington for a nuclear safety talks. Japan is also expected to raise the issue of regional security with Canada, particularly the ongoing territorial disputes with China in the East China Sea and South China Sea. Masayuki Tadokoro, a Keio University law professor, said Japan will scrutinize Trudeaus words on the matter, even though Canada may not want to take very strong position due its economic interests in China. When it comes to dealing with China, the Japanese are wondering whether or not Mr. Trudeau is as supportive as they wish to the Japanese position, Tadokoro said in an interview. Perhaps its very difficult for many Canadians and Europeans to understand, but for Japanese, China represents a real security threat. Overall, there are few entanglements between Canada and Japan, but they do have a trade relationship many believe has unrealized potential, says David Welch, CIGI chair of global security at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. Welch said its partly due to the complexities of selling in Japan and the fact Canada has put more focus in recent years on trade with Latin America and Europe. Now, the Japanese have huge hopes that Trudeau will bring Canada back. I hear this all the time, not just from Japan, but from other countries in the region, too. Follow @AndyBlatchford on Twitter The Bluff Country Chapter of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association donated $500 to the Mabel-Canton Trap team. Over 10,000 student participants from 319 high school teams will participate in the Minnesota State High School Clay Target League. This league continues to be the fastest growing activity in Minnesota schools. The association is dedicated to developing and sustaining Minnesotas deer and wildlife habitat for the benefit of current and future generations. On May 31, 1958, Thomas Paul Adamson was ordained a priest for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona. More than a half-century later, the Diocese of Winona has received 36 accusations of child sexual abuse by Adamson, one of 17 men who served as priests in the diocese who have substantiated claims against them of sexually abusing a minor. The names of those 17 men, among the 320 Minnesota religious of all denominations including priests, ministers, clerics, nuns and staff credibly accused of sexual abuse as compiled by SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), are known largely because of a piece of state law that expires this week. The law has led to hundreds of civil lawsuits against dioceses across the state, as well as the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, with the resulting claims raising significant questions about whether those dioceses will declare bankruptcy. The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in January 2015, and has been reorganizing since. Whether the Diocese of Winona will follow the same route isnt clear, but also not out of the question, according to previous diocese statements and a reading of both internal and public documents. Three years ago the Minnesota Child Victims Act was approved by the state Legislature, offering victims of child sexual abuse a second chance at justice. The act removed the civil statute of limitations that had previously protected perpetrators of child sexual abuse from being sued for damages after their victims reached the age of 24. It opened a three-year window for victims of abuse that had passed their 24th birthday on May 24, 2013, to bring suit against their abusers. Wednesday, six days shy of the 58th anniversary of Adamsons priestly ordination, that window for abuse victims to bring suit against those who preyed upon them will close. When it does, according to published reports, close to 1,000 men and women will have come forward claiming to have been abused, most of them by Roman Catholic priests. This law has been one of the most transformative and far-reaching laws that have ever been passed to not only protect kids in the community but to give survivors who have been hurt a voice and a chance to recover some power, said attorney Jeff Anderson in a recent interview with America magazine, published by the Roman Catholic Jesuit order. It was a judges ruling in October 2014 in a case brought under the Child Victims Act by Anderson on behalf of Paul Hotchkiss, who was abused by Adamson while Adamson was serving in a parish in Dakota County in the Twin Cities, that forced the release of the names and personnel files of more than 200 Minnesota priests credibly accused of sexual abuse. A 2002 study conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice on behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops concluded that approximately 4 percent of priests in ministry had accusations of abuse made against them. The study also found that the annual number of incidents of sexual abuse of minors by priests increased steadily to a peak in the late 1970s and early 1980s and then declined sharply after 1985. Clerical sexual abuse first came to public attention in 1985, when Fr. Gilbert Gauthe of Lafayette, Louisiana, was convicted on 11 counts of sexually molesting boys and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Three years later, Anderson brought suit against the Diocese of Winona and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on behalf of John Riedle, then 22, who claimed Adamson had repeated sexual contact with him from 1977 to 1979 when Riedle was a 13-year-old altar boy. A settlement in the suit resulted in the Church paying monetary damages to Riedle, and would be the first of numerous such settlements involving the church in Minnesota. According to the National Catholic Reporter, settlement of clergy sex abuse claims has cost the Church nearly $4 billion. Those settlements, and the likelihood of more, has resulted in 12 U.S. Catholic dioceses beginning with Portland, Oregon, then headed by former Winona Bishop John Vlazny, in 2004. That list includes the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa. Winona bankruptcy an open question The Diocese of Winona has been non-committal on the possibility of seeking a bankruptcy courts protection in the face of additional claims. According to a statement in the most recent issue of The Courier, the dioceses official newspaper, The attorneys for the diocese and affected parishes and schools are in the process of working with our insurers to resolve these matters. It is our commitment to ensure that the mission of our diocese, parishes and schools continues. Meanwhile, the number of potential cases continues to rise. We have been getting 15 to 20 calls a day at our office, said attorney Pat Noaker following a recent hearing in Winona involving an abuse claim against the Diocese and St. Marys parish in Winona. A spokesperson for the diocese said Friday the diocese plans to issue an official statement after the filing period for the Child Victims Act closes on Wednesday. In a letter recently sent to Catholic households, Bishop John Quinn offered reassurance that the lawsuits arise our of sexual misconduct that happened several decades ago. These are not new claims, and it is important to emphasize that none of the priests who have been accused of sexual abuse are currently in ministry, and many are deceased. As a diocese, we must acknowledge past cases of abuse and encourage the dignified treatment of the many survivors who have come forward, Quinn wrote. There is much unknown in this process of litigation, and we are currently communicating between the diocese, parishes and schools to be prepared to resolve claims in a just and equitable fashion. All of this preparation and planning is taking place to support victims and allow for the necessary healing in our diocese. As a diocese, we must acknowledge past cases of abuse and encourage the dignified treatment of the many survivors who have come forward. Bishop John Quinn The Winona YMCA this week proposed building a new state-of-the-art facility on Winona Healths land. In exchange, Kwik Trip would demolish the YMCAs outdated building to build a large, modern convenience store just blocks from what is arguably Winonas most treasured residential core neighborhood. All of this depends on rezoning, a change to the citys comprehensive plan, YMCA donors stepping up with additional money, and just how the debate among interested and vocal parties will play out in the coming weeks and months. So: Here we go. The scenario strikes us as the kind of perfectly messy, complex case presented in a textbook for aspiring community leaders and planners to puzzle through. There is no perfect answer, no easy winners and losers, no ability to peer out a decade or two into the future to see how any decision might play out. Were not being glib with this analogy. We know: This is real life. This is where we live and work, with decisions like these having significant effects on careers, relationships, homes, and other things we hold dear. Were not writing to take a side yet. Its too early, with too many people so invested in this decision and in this community who have yet to fully articulate where they stand. Well be giving all of them space to speak, so if youre one of them, send us your thoughts (letters@winonadailynews.com). At this point, were only interested in taking a moment to lay out the case. Allow us to set up the discussion, to offer six key points to consider: The YMCA is much more than a place to lift weights and train for the latest competition. Many dont know that YMCAs were built to create and facilitate equality and community connections, and still maintain that mission in much of the world. The YMCAs CEO, Derek Madsen, understands that and has brought that ethos to Winona, seeking to help underserved youth and fight diabetes and other health conditions. The YMCA sees a move as a way to not just get an efficient building, but to more effectively serve the community and promote all kinds of wellness. The concerns Windom Park neighbors have about the effects of a convenience store on the adjacent historic neighborhood are very real. We understand and fully sympathize with people who have invested significant time, money and energy into beautiful, historic houses in Winonas core when they easily could have built something fancy on quite a bit of land in the south bluffs or somewhere else in the country. They deserve to be heard, to have a key voice at the table. That said, the only straw-man argument is the dispute over revising the city of Winonas comprehensive plan, which lays out general guidelines for how the city should be developed. The revision is required because a convenience store wouldnt fit with the neighborhood designation set by the 2007 comprehensive plan. Thing is, that designation was created years before the new interstate bridge was even considered, let alone built, resulting in nearly two dozen commercial and residential properties demolished in the immediate area. The neighborhood is now profoundly different, and deserves to be understood that way. The YMCA has and has had smart, thoughtful leaders in its organization and on its board for many years, and when they say theyve exhausted every other option in more than five years of work looking for a community partner to buy the building and use it for what it is, thats a message worth hearing. Winona has a livability issue. Young professionals, particularly those with kids, take jobs with companies here but dont always move here. Instead, they settle their families within a reasonable commute because, as theyve told us and others time and time again, there are a few big things missing. One is a robust, modern fitness facility that offers childcare, summer programming and other amenities above what Winonas current YMCA is capable of providing. Modernized schools and housing are other issues (but discussions for a different day). The YMCA, without disclosing what the purchase agreement is with Kwik Trip, has openly acknowledged that while it has tried for years, it hasnt been able to raise enough money from individual donors to move without being forced to sell to a specific company. Before we point fingers, lets remember that its never fair to always turn to a privileged few who already do so much, and fairer to look in the mirror and into our own pockets and ask what we believe in supporting together. Those are just a couple of key points we see as important to frame this discussion as it moves forward. We dont hold a crystal ball. We dont pretend to understand every implication of the decision over the YMCAs future. We only know that the ultimate decision will provide a clear insight into not only what Winona values, but how it chooses its values, and weighs them, and why. There is no such thing as a perfectly right decision. But there is such a thing as a decision made the right way, made by respecting every perspective at the table, embracing compromise, and ultimately standing up to make a hard decision. So: Here we go. ST. PAUL (AP) A measure that would replace Minnesotas caucus system with a presidential primary is headed to Gov. Mark Daytons desk. The state Senate on Saturday voted 41-11 to establish a new presidential primary system in Minnesota. Lawmakers brought the measure this year after voters and party officials alike were frustrated by overcrowded polling sites with long lines across the state. Opponents of the caucus system have long argued that the insider nature of the caucus system discourages the average citizen from voting and that in years of high turnout, volunteers and facilities can become overwhelmed. The vast majority of states use a presidential primary system. Dayton has indicated hell sign the bill. WARSAW, Poland It is the last remaining relic of an ancient forest that stretched for millennia across the lowlands of Europe and Russia, a shadowy, mossy woodland where bison and lynx roam beneath towering oak trees up to 600 years old. Conservationists believe the fate of the Bialowieza Forest, which straddles Poland and Belarus, is more threatened that at any time since the communist era due to a new Polish government plan for extensive logging in parts of the forest. The plan has pitted the government against environmentalists and many scientists, who are fighting to save the UNESCO world heritage site. Seven environmental groups, including Greenpeace and WWF, have lodged a complaint with the European Commission hoping to prevent the largescale felling of trees, which is due to begin within days. Bialowieza has been declared a Natura 2000 site, meaning it is a protected area under European law. EU officials say they are working with the Polish authorities to ensure that any new interventions in the forest are in line with their regulations, but its not yet clear what the result will be. The preservation of Bialowieza is such a sensitive matter that IKEA, which relies on Polish timber for 25 percent of its global furniture production, vowed years ago not to buy any wood from Bialowieza. This forest is a Polish treasure but it is also the worlds treasure, and we could lose it, said Katarzyna Kosciesza from ClientEarth, one of the groups that filed the complaint. The logging would really threaten it. The forest plan is one of many controversial changes that have come with the election last year of a conservative populist party, Law and Justice. The new authorities have been accused by the European Union and human rights groups of eroding democracy and the rule of law. The partys powerful leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, says hes on a mission to remake the country from top to bottom in line with the partys conservative Catholic and patriotic ideology. Since taking power in November, Polands government has moved quickly to push broad changes in everything from cultural institutions to horse breeding farms and forestry management. The government argues they are fixing the country by removing the corrupt influences of former communists and pro-Europeans who have held power in recent years. In the case of Bialowieza, government officials are blaming their predecessors for financial losses from the strict limits on logging. The environment minister, Jan Szyszko, also faulted them for getting the UNESCO world heritage designation, which brings some international oversight. About 35 percent of the forest on the Polish side includes a national park and reserves, strictly protected zones that the government does not plan to touch. Officials argue the planned logging is not harmful because it will take part only in managed parts of the forest that have already been subject to logging in the past. But environmentalists say the logging plan is so extensive it would inevitably lead to the destruction of old-growth areas. About half of the forest is still considered pristine, meaning those areas have never faced significant intervention since the forests formation some 8,000 to 9,000 years ago after the end of the last ice age. That has left it with a complex diversity of species unknown in the second-growth forests elsewhere in Europes lowlands. That so much has survived is thanks to past Polish and Lithuanian monarchs and Russian czars, who kept it as a royal hunting preserve. Only in the last 100 years has it begun to face logging and human encroachment. Szyszko last week dismissed 32 of 39 scientific experts on the State Council for Nature Conservation after they criticized the logging plan. They have since been replaced by people who mainly come from the forestry and hunting sectors that favor greater wood extraction. They councils new leader, Wanda Olech-Piasecka, also supports limited commercial hunting of bison, an endangered species. Szyszko said the new council will work effectively for the use of natural resources for the benefit of man, which is consistent with the concept of sustainable development. JUNEAU A closer look at history is available on the county website. Dodge County history may have been one of the best kept secrets over the last century and a half, said Dean Perlick, manager of planning and economic development. Although certain areas have kept records, the countys most accurate history book was compiled in 1880. That all changed recently when chapters of the countys history were released on the Dodge County website. Perlick has compiled the information over the last two-and-a-half years. It is titled It Happened HereA Historical Reflection on Dodge County, Wisconsin. Most of the information comes from various books that has been written about the county, Perlick said. I grabbed as much as I could find from every source that I could get from historic documents about Dodge County. History has an economic benefit, Perlick said. One way this can happen is in renovation of historic buildings. It also strengthens community pride and creates a sense of identity with your community and county, Perlick said. Perlick said compiling the history of Dodge County became a goal of his when he began researching POW camps from the 1940s. I dont think a lot of people know about our history, Perlick said. Perlick got additional information from the Dodge County Historical Society and other historical societies in the area. I asked them for their five best and most interesting stories in their communities, Perlick said. Quite a few historical societies contributed. Dodge County was designated as such in 1836 and was named in honor of Henry Dodge, the then-territorial governor of Wisconsin. However Jacob Brower played a bigger role as the first white settler after he brought his family from New York to Fox Lake in 1838 two years after visiting the area. Perlick said Brower is one example of someone playing a significant role throughout the county and not just in one city in the county. Brower is also credited with being the first person to blaze a trail between Fox Lake and Watertown. Brower also served Dodge County as an assessor, county surveyor, county clerk and register of deeds. He was also the first to own land in Beaver Dam and is credited with naming the city. Since 1880, we have never put together an update for the county as a whole, Perlick said. Currently four sections are available on the website (www.co.dodge.wi.us/index.aspx?page=883): introduction, why do a history of Dodge County, early settlement and whats in a name. Perlick said seven other sections will be added: Transportation; Agriculture; Government; War Years; Eat, Drink and Be Merry; Horicon Marsh; and Whats Next. After all the chapters are released, people will be able to purchase whole copies of it at the Administration Building, Perlick said. American Cancer Society Relay for Life luminaria forms and bags are available at participating businesses in support of the Columbus Fall River 2016 Relay for Life set for June 3 at Columbus Firemans Park. A luminaria is a white bag decorated in memory of someone lost to cancer or decorated in honor of someone who is battling cancer or who has fought and won. It holds a candle that will be lit during the Relay for Life on the evening of June 3. During the event, hundreds of luminaria light the walking path to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember those who have lost the battle, and fight back against a disease that has taken too much, said Columbus Fall River Relay for Life committee member Patti Walker. The names of those remembered and honored are also read aloud during a special ceremony near the end of the evening. Luminaria bags are available at Columbus Community Hospital, Farmers & Merchants Union Bank, Sentry Foods, Julies Java House, the Columbus Area Senior Center, and Sharrows Downtown. Community members of all ages are invited to join the fight from 5 to 10 p.m. at the Columbus Firemans Park Pavilion. Music, food, bingo, a bouncy house, carriage rides and more will be available. No registration is necessary to participate. Ed Sikorski, Columbus Fall River Relay for Life committee member, was instrumental in starting the Relay for Life in Columbus after his late wife was diagnosed with cancer. Marilyn thought that the Knights of Columbus should get involved, so we formed a team, said Sikorski. The evening includes a survivor ceremony at 6 p.m., a group walk at 8 p.m. and a luminaria ceremony at 9:30 p.m. Proceeds from the event are donated to the American Cancer Society who use the funds for cancer research, Hope Lodge, Road to Recovery, Look Good . . . Feel Better, Reach to Recovery, and advocacy. Participants and teams also conduct fundraising efforts prior to the event. The Relay for Life is important because it provides funds for research to find a cure, added Sikorski. Registration to attend the event is not necessary. If you would like to join an existing team or log on as an individual to fundraise prior to the event, please visit www.RelayForLife.org/ColumbusWi. To volunteer at the event, become a sponsor, or donate a silent auction item call Erica at 608-662-7549. The next Community Meal will be held at the Columbus United Methodist Church on Thursday, May 26, with serving from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Scalloped potatoes and ham, corn, rolls, tossed salad will be served, with brownies for dessert. All are welcome to attend. No reservations needed. The public is welcome to enjoy breakfast the second Saturday of every month (serving from 7:30 to 9 a.m.) and dinner the fourth Thursday of every month (serving from 5 to 6:30 p.m.). This is a community outreach, and organizers would like to have it grow and offer more meals a month. If you would like to become part of the Columbus Community Meal outreach, please call Mike for more information. All help will be accepted. Call Mike at 920-296-7629. I dont hate guns; theyve been present in my life since I was small. My father had worked as a policeman and kept his service revolver as well as a shotgun hed had growing up on a farm. But he said a gun is always loaded, and now I know why. In northern Minnesota, my husband hunted deer, and the first winter we relied on venison for food. Up there, everyone had a gun, but theyd all grown up with them and knew how to take precautions against accidents. When the subject of gun control came up, I agreed with the saying, When they outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns. I still agree with it, but now realize very few people, including Democratic lawmakers, want to ban all guns. They want required firearm training and reasonable controls over who can own them. In fact, polls show that the majority of Americans want stricter regulations, but its going to take responsible gun owners to make that happen. There will be powerful forces fighting against them. The National Rifle Association, which used to be in favor of required training and reasonable regulations, has now become the lobbyist for firearm and ammunition manufacturers. It donates huge amounts of money to GOP lawmakers to ensure there are few restrictions. At their conventions, there even are booths and advertisements for lethal firearms designed for children under the age of 10. Thats insane. Weve all read way too many stories about accidental deaths and injuries due to irresponsible gun owners. There also are numerous stories about toddlers who have killed or injured other children or their parents after picking up an untended firearm. Jamie Gilt, a gun-loving mother, bragged on Facebook how she taught her four-year-old to shoot targets. This March, while she was driving with her child in the back seat, he picked up her gun and shot her through the back with her .45-caliber handgun. She lived, but I bet shes done bragging about her guns on Facebook. In the first nine months of 2015, according to an Oct. 14, 2015, article in the Washington Post, 13 American toddlers had accidentally killed themselves, 18 injured themselves, 10 injured other people and two killed other people all with firearms. From the reports Ive read this year, its obvious the numbers will be higher by the end of 2016. And for those who believe keeping a gun at home makes them safer, all the statistics prove the opposite. The same Washington Post article cited FBI homicide data that shows there were 34 more criminal gun homicides and 78 more gun suicides for every instance of a justifiable killing self defense or against a criminal. Every year, 30,000 Americans die from gunshot wounds. If foreign terrorists killed and injured that many Americans, the GOP would be calling for all-out war. Yet they push for looser regulations and vote against anything that would make owning guns safer. This year in Wisconsin, Republican legislators passed Senate Bill 301, which eliminated the age limit for children and the number of weapons they can carry when involved in the hunting mentorship program. So technically, in this program, a toddler can legally carry an unlimited number of hunting weapons. I wonder how those legislators will sleep at night after the first child, mentor or innocent bystander is killed because of the bill. As for adults, just because someone is approved to carry a gun does not guarantee they know how to safely use or carry one. Almost every day there are stories of accidental shootings by Americans with concealed weapons and by gun owners who fool around with them at home. Last month in Philadelphia, a father killed his four-year-old daughter when he accidentally shot her in the face. And theres the man who recently shot himself during a job interview, as well as one the other day in Georgia who shot himself and a woman while adjusting his gun during a graduation ceremony. America has many more gun deaths per 100 people than any other civilized country and it will only get worse unless we demand change. We need to require extensive training and a 48-hour waiting period before someone can own a gun. We need to require that guns and ammunition are stored securely and separately so children cant get access to them and that severe penalties are enacted on those who dont comply. And we need universal background checks so people who cant pass one arent able to cross a state line and purchase a firearm. These precautions wont stop all gun-related deaths, but if they save even one innocent life, enacting them would be worth it. Tommy Thompson still knows how to work a room. The former Wisconsin governor thanked faculty members during a graduation ceremony last week at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, calling them some of the greatest professors in the United States of America. Well, that line didnt get enough applause for Tommys taste, so he told the crowd: You can be a little bit more enthusiastic than that these are great professors. They are, indeed, Tommy. Sadly, we could use more enthusiasm from state leaders about the great professors and quality of higher education we have at our UW campuses, from La Crosse to Eau Claire, Milwaukee to Menomonie and throughout the system. Maybe its our former governors perspective as a UW-Madison graduate (both bachelors and law degrees), but its a refreshing change from our current governor, Scott Walker, who cant seem to take enough whacks at faculty and UW. Thats a real shame, because a report issued this week by the Wisconsin Technology Council suggests that continued funding cuts will harm Wisconsins economy. The Tech Council issued a 28-page report with critical recommendations for bolstering the UW System and the talent, technology transfer and business development in the communities those institutions serve. The report discusses the ability of both public and private universities and colleges in Wisconsin to produce a talented workforce, intellectual property and economic activity. The council also includes praise for research and the need to move groundbreaking ideas from the campus laboratory to the marketplace. You wont, however, find a mention in the report about research that examines the mating habits of whatever, as House Majority Leader Robin Vos once said derisively. The Tech Council says additional funding cuts to higher education would harm access, affect overall quality and erode economic competitiveness. It also recommends developing a blue-ribbon commission to tackle such issues as attracting and retaining world-class faculty, making college more affordable and accessible, and recognizing the need and importance of developing talent for our states economy. In an editorial, we disagreed with recent no-confidence votes by faculty on some UW campuses aimed at UW President Ray Cross and the UW Board of Regents. While respecting the frustration among faculty, we feared that the result of these votes would be even more criticism from state political leaders who believe faculty are lazy, overpaid and privileged an assessment we do not share. Unfortunately, the reaction we feared has come true over and over. In his commencement address, Thompson proudly pointed to investments his administration made to campus buildings and faculty retention. He told graduates: We raised the money and we kept those professors here and you benefited from it. Thats what Wisconsin leaders need now: Pride in investing in higher education, in knowledge, in research, in workforce development. Trashing the UW System and the professors who teach there may be a great way to score points with the political base, but its absolutely not the message we want to send to businesses, to research firms and to faculty. Most important, its not the message we wish to provide to the most important investors in higher education in Wisconsin students and their families. Our economy depends on an enlightened workforce. An enlightened workforce depends on higher education. Higher education depends on support and not just financial support. This also illustrates the active spirit and responsibility of Vietnam for promoting the cooperative ties between ASEAN and Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung said in an interview. He noted that the visit to a foreign country, the first of its kind for PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc since taking up his new post, demonstrates the Vietnamese Party and States consistent policy of prioritising the reinforcement of the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership for mutual benefit as well as regional and global peace, cooperation and development. All of the top Russian leaders affirmed Vietnam as one of the diplomatic priorities for Russia in the Asian-Pacific region and hoped to push across-the-board cooperation with the Southeast Asian country ahead, he said. Regarding political and diplomatic aspects, the two sides agreed to maintain high-level delegation exchanges, continue close and effective coordination at international forums, and improve the efficiency of bilateral current cooperation mechanisms, particularly the governmental joint committee on economic-trade and science-technology cooperation and the strategic dialogue on external affairs, defence and security. Both countries evaluated the economic and trade ties as having been at a modest level, thus striving to effectively implement the free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union, and quickly raising two-way trade are priorities, the diplomat said, adding that Russia confirmed it will pave the way for Vietnam to increase exports to the market, especially farm produce and seafood. During the PMs visit, the two nations sealed a number of cooperation documents in the fields of oil and gas, investment and agriculture, including the Memorandum of Understanding between the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Russia Ministry of Economic Development on boosting bilateral trade through to 2020. Vietnamese and Russian leaders also agreed to enhance collaboration in education-training, humanities activities, military techniques, security and tourism while shaking hands within the ASEAN-Russia framework. As regards the 20th ASEAN-Russia commemorative summit, Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung said PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivered a key speech at the event, highlighting the prioritising fields and specific cooperation initiatives in ASEAN-Russia partnership. The PM urged the two sides to boost cooperation in economics, trade, investment, energy, and tourism while expanding affiliation into education-training, science-technology and people-to-people exchanges. He also proposed that ASEAN and Russia step up collaboration in climate change adaptation and natural disaster prevention via implementing the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development through 2030 and the global agreement reached at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21). During his meetings with Russian leaders, the PM recommended the country support ASEAN in implementing its Vision through to 2025 and suggested the two sides forge economic links, share information on public-private partnership, renovation and technological transfer, and promote their connectivity. While meeting with leaders from ASEAN, the PM exchanged specific measures to enhance cooperation between Vietnam and other blocs member nations. At the summit, ASEAN and Russian leaders adopted the Sochi Declaration, which reiterates principles and orientations for the bilateral relations across politics-security, economics-trade, and culture-society while supporting ASEAN efforts to increase connectivity and integration, narrow the development gaps between member states, and maintaining a peaceful, stable and prosperous environment in the region./. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Rhode Island Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg, a Pawtucket native, right, receives the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Bryant University President Ronald K. Machtley during the school's 153rd Commencement on Saturday. Thailands Bangkok Airway will launch its new route connecting Bangkok and Da Nang resort city on May 25th, with four return flights per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Air New Zealand will start its direct service between Ho Chi Minh City and Auckland on June 4th with three two-way trips per week, while Cambodias national flag carrier Angkor Air will launch its first direct flight between Ho Chi Minh City and Cambodias Sihanoukville city on June 17th. The Ho Chi Minh City Sihanoukville service will be operated five days per week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The hour-long flight will take off from Sihanoukville at 12:40 pm and return from Ho Chi Minh City at 14:50 pm. Travellers can choose to fly with Turkish Airlines from Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City to Istanbul from June 27th with five flights per week. China Southern Airlines also plans to fly directly from Guangzhou to Vietnams Phu Quoc resort island three times per week, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, from late July./. A young man wanted to make a point about racism in the United States, but his plan backfired when he was exposed for a liar by police. 20-year-old Khalil Cavil of Texas was working at the Saltgrass Steak House in Odessa when he claimed he was discriminated against because of his Muslim name. Cavil took TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum is selected as a delegate for this years Democratic Presidential Convention in Philadelphia. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Gillum was selected during a party gathering on Saturday in Orlando as one of Hillary Clinton's delegates for the convention set for late July. Hillary Clinton scored 141 delegates during our states primary in March, landing a victory over rival Bernie Sanders. Gillum was among five mayors selected as delegates for Clinton, including Bob Buckhorn of Tampa, and Buddy Dyer of Orlando. Representative Gwen Graham and three others from Tallahassee were also picked as super delegates behind Clinton. The DNC takes place in Philadelphia from July 25th - 28th. A nearly $1 million settlement in a wrongful eviction case at Yakima Air Terminal has ended years of uncertainty for the city of Yakima and Ya Ambulances carrying the bodies of three fallen firefighters travels out of Twisp to Omak, Washington during a procession Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015. (Erika Schultz / The Seattle Times) Taliban leader likely killed in drone strike, U.S. official says WEST POINT, N.Y. - Vice President Joe Biden told the US Military Academy's class of 2016 on Saturday that greater diversity, including more women and openly gay soldiers, will strengthen the country's armed forces. "Having men and women together in the battlefield is an incredible asset, particularly when they're asked to lead teams in parts of the world with fundamentally different expectations and norms," Biden said in his speech at a graduation ceremony at Michie Stadium on the West Point grounds along the Hudson River. More than 950 cadets received their degrees and commissions as second lieutenants. Among them were the first seven women to be commissioned into combat divisions since combat restrictions for them were lifted. Moshe Ya'alon will leave the Defense Ministry on Sunday, but unlike previous reshuffles, the new minister will not be present at the farewell ceremonies, nor will Ya'alon brief the incoming minister. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Ya'alon's resignation from the post of defense minister will come into effect immediately upon his departure from the Kirya IDF Headquarters in Tel Aviv. At 9am, Ya'alon will attend a farewell event from the Defense Ministry, and at 4:30pm, he will say goodbye to the General Staff. Outgoing defense minister Ya'alon (Photo: Motti Kimchi) On Saturday night, the outgoing minister met with Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and signed his official letter of resignation from the parliament. On Tuesday night, before his resignation, Ya'alon spoke to Likudnik, a website affiliated with the ruling party, and leveled harsh accusations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and against the incoming defense minister, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman. "When the Hebron shooting affair just happened, Netanyahu had agreed with me that we needed to let the military prosecution investigate and handle this," Ya'alon told the website. "And then, when he noticed the public mood, he changed his mind. As a minister, I had to back the IDF chief, but I felt like Netanyahu abandoned me." When asked why he was quick to call Sgt. Elor Azaria , who shot dead an already-neutralized terrorist in Hebron, the "transgressing soldier," Ya'alon noted: "He simply took the law into his own hands. He opened fire without justification." Ya'alon's letter of resignation from the Knesset. Ya'alon also came head to head with Lieberman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett during the Hebron shooting affair. "They ran a smear campaign against me the entire time," he accused. "Lieberman was involved both personally and indirectly when (former Yisrael Beytenu MK) Sharon Gal, who is Lieberman's man, became the (Azaria) family's PR guy. I felt like Netanyahu had abandoned both the IDF chief and myself when Gal put him through to talk to the family on the phone. I have principles. Not everything is politics." Ya'alon also responded to accusations from the far right that during his term in office, he foiled settlement in the West Bank. "I couldn't let them take over the structures in Hebron ," he said. "There's illegal conduct in this story. As a defense minister, I approved construction where we could approve it. I didn't approve construction in places that were illegal." Improving conditions at border crossings Before leaving office, Yaalon announced last week the completion of plans designed to improve the conditions of Palestinians at West Bank border crossings. The implementation of the new initiative is expected to begin in 2017 and be fully completed within the first three years thereafter. In recent months, teams from the Defense Ministry, the Border Authority, the Finance Ministry and COGAT - led by the defense minister and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon - formulated a biennial program to upgrade the crossings in the West Bank, a statement from Yaalons office said. The plan is intended to increase the number of Palestinian workers passing through the crossings while improving their conditions and meeting the objectives of quality and service, the statement continued. The Qalandiya checkpoint (Photo: AFP) In addition, it will increase the amount of goods passing through the relevant crossings by around 30 percent. The waiting time at the crossings will be decreased by 30-50 percent. This will be done in tandem with an upgrade of the technological measures used at the crossings. According to the statement, the plan will cost NIS 300 million, which will be taken from the COGAT budget allocated for the area. This initiative to improve the conditions of Palestinians crossing into Israel is the largest of its kind in the last ten years. The upgrade will serve to ease the flow of workers, visitors and goods from the territories at crossings including Tarkomia, Beitar, Rachel, Qalandiya, Eyal and Efraim. The initiative is part of Ya'alon's larger plan to improve the economic situation of the Palestinian population, which also includes issuing some 30,000 additional work permits. Also included in the new measures will be an increase in the number of security-checking areas in order to shorten the waiting hours for Palestinian workers. Security checks will be augmented with more biometric methods. In addition to fingerprinting, face-recognition will be introduced designed to speed up the checks and improve security at the crossings. The checks will be conducted on both sides of the crossings where Palestinians will have access to shelters, water installations and parking lots. The Knesset's upcoming challenges The Knesset will open its summer session on Monday with last week's political drama still lingering: The failure of coalition negotiations with the Zionist Union and the harsh criticism against chairman Isaac Herzog, Yisrael Beytenu joining the government, and mostly Ya'alon's resignation will all continue to feature heavily in public discourse for a long time. Yisrael Beytenu has yet to officially sign the agreement to join the government due to budgetary issues over the party's demand to complete the pension reform and its demand to amend the law to allow death sentence to terrorists. On Friday, Lieberman and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon held their first meeting on the pension reform. At first, Lieberman sought to secure pensions only for immigrants from the former Soviet Union, but it was eventually decided to apply the planned reform on all immigrants, as well as on other Israelis who did not work enough years to accumulate sufficient pension funds. The cost of the reform stands at about NIS 3 billion, a sum that could only be allocated if it is done gradually over the period of a few years. Lieberman and Kahlon agreed to meet again at the beginning of the week to finalize the details. Meanwhile, Likud Minister Yariv Levin has been working with Lieberman to formulate a draft bill proposal on death sentence to terrorists, Yisrael Beytenu's flagship legislation, which could withstand the High Court's judgment. One of the options is to amend the legislation that allows the military court to hand out capital punishment to terrorists if a unanimous decision is made by three judges, and change it so only two judges suffice. Here, too, the sides have yet to reach a final agreement and it is possible the two sides will commit to working on the legislation during the upcoming Knesset session. Meanwhile, in another political stunt, United Torah Judaism MK Meir Paroush announced that he is resigning from the Knesset so that candidate number seven on the party list, former MK Ya'akov Asher, could return to parliament. Paroush will continue serving as the deputy education minister as part of the "Norwegian Law," which allows factions to increase their power in the Knesset at the expense of its members serving in government positions. In the opposition, Zionist Union members are still reeling from the political drama of last week. On Thursday, members of the faction received a message on a special meeting ahead of the beginning of the Knesset session. Officials in the party said Herzog is expected to face strong criticism from party members, many of whom objected to the talks to join the government. He may also face calls to hold the primaries for the party leadership earlier than initially planned, after he had lost the trust of many of the party's members. WASHINGTON/KABUL - High-ranking sources within the Afghan Taliban confirmed to AFP that an air strike carried out by the United States has killed Taliban Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a remote area just inside the Pakistan border in an operation likely to sink any immediate prospect for peace talks. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The death of Mansour may open up a battle for succession and deepen fractures that emerged in the insurgent movement after the death of its founder Mullah Mohammad Omar was confirmed last year, more than two years after he died. Saturday's mission, which US officials said was authorized by President Barack Obama and included multiple drones, showed the United States was prepared to go after the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which the Western-backed government in Kabul has repeatedly accused of sheltering the insurgents. Taliban leader in Afghanistan Mullah Akhtar Mansour. It also underscored the belief among US commanders that under Mansour's leadership, the Taliban has grown increasing close to militant groups like al-Qaeda, posing a direct threat to US security. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook confirmed a strike targeting Mansour near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. Even before Mansour's death was confirmed, attention has focused on his deputy, Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of a notorious network blamed for most of the recent high profile suicide attacks in Kabul. "Based purely on matters of hierarchy, he would be the favorite to succeed Mansour," said Michael Kugelman, an analyst at the Woodrow Wilson Institute, a Washington-based think tank. "But when it comes to the Taliban, nothing is clear cut and meritocracy is never the norm," he said. Haqqani, appointed as number two after Mansour assumed control of the Taliban leadership last year, has generally been seen as an opponent of negotiations and if he does take over, prospects of negotiations are likely to recede further. Efforts to broker a new series of talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban had already stalled following a suicide attack in Kabul last month that killed 64 people and prompted President Ashraf Ghani to prioritize military operations over negotiations. Unanswered questions Initially, Ghani's office said if his death was confirmed, Taliban who wanted to end bloodshed should return from "alien soil" and join peace efforts. The US drones targeted Mansour and another combatant as they rode in a vehicle in a remote area of Pakistan's Baluchistan province, southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, another US official said. Residents of the area close to the Afghan border, said some people had heard a blast but the cause was not clear. The strike by US special operations forces operating the drones took place at about 6am EDT (10am GMT), the US official said. That would have been 3pm on Saturday in Pakistan. The Pakistani military did not respond to requests for comment but an intelligence official who declined be identified said there had been a strike in the area but he did not know the target and it happened on the Afghan side of the border. Cook called Mansour "an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban" and said he was involved in planning attacks that threatened US and Afghan forces. Before his death was confirmed, one of the Taliban commanders who dismissed the report of Mansour's killing said it had nevertheless spread alarm through Taliban ranks. "This rumor has created panic among our followers across Afghanistan and Pakistan and they are anxiously waiting to hear the truth. We're telling them to ignore it but they're still worried," the senor Taliban member had said by telephone. In December, Mansour was reportedly wounded and possibly killed in a shootout at the house of an insurgent leader near Quetta in Pakistan. The Taliban eventually released an audio recording, purportedly from Mansour, to dispel the reports. A US intelligence analyst said Mansour had been in a power struggle with Mullah Mohammad Rasoul, whose deputy, Mullah Dadullah, was killed late last year in what officials think was a fight with Mansour's more hard-line faction. But the US official cautioned against concluding that the shakeup might diminish the Taliban's broader sense of strength. "The Taliban have made considerable progress in Helmand (province) and elsewhere so it's hard to see much incentive for them to start compromising now, with the fighting just heating up again," the official said. The new US commander in Afghanistan is reviewing US strategy, including whether broader powers are needed to target insurgents and whether to proceed with plans to reduce the number of US forces. ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is "seeking clarification" about a US drone strike against Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the foreign ministry spokesman said on Sunday, after US officials said Mansour was likely killed in an air strike on Pakistani soil. "I have seen the reports. We are seeking clarification," Nafees Zakaria said in a statement. He added that Pakistan wanted the Taliban to return to the negotiating table to end the long war in Afghanistan. "Military action is not a solution," he added. US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was notified of the air strike which took place a day earlier, but declined to elaborate on the timing of the notification. Despite the fact talks to form a unity government with the Labor party failed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to keep the foreign affairs portfolio under his authority as he believes Isaac Herzog's party can still be brought into the fold. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "I'm keeping the portfolios as another option to expand the government further and bring in the Labor party later on," he told Likud ministers on Sunday morning. In addition to the Foreign Ministry, Netanyahu is also holding onto the Communications Ministry, the Economy Ministry and the Regional Cooperation Ministryall of which have been operating without a minister for months on end. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: GPO) He also noted to Likud ministers that efforts to bring Labor into the government would include "not just portfolios, but also diplomatic moves." But sources close to Herzog said he has no intention of joining the government. "The prime minister has made his decision. We've left that chapter behind us," one close associate said. Senior Labor MKs echoed these sentiments on Sunday. "There's no chance we'll join (the government). The curtains have closed, the deadline has passed, and now I hope we can return to being a combative opposition for the public who voted for us," said MK Eitan Cabel. Following the resignation of Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon , an unprecedented situation emerged in which none of the Likud party's ministers is holding any of the three top portfolios, despite being the largest faction in the Knesset with 30 seats of out 120. Netanyahu is holding onto foreign affairs, while the defense portfolio went to Yisrael Beytenu's Avigdor Lieberman and the Finance Ministry has gone to Kulanu's Moshe Kahlon. Another belief is that the prime minister reportedly decided not to hand out the foreign affairs portfolio at present because he wants to avoid confrontation with two of the party's senior ministers, Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who are both claiming Netanyahu promised the post to them. Yisrael Katz and Gilad Erdan (Photos: Alex Kolomoisky) Katz has a written promise to receive one of the three top portfolios if the circumstances allow it. Erdan, meanwhile, said in private conversations that he received a verbal promise to receive the foreign affairs portfolio. But they're not the only ones vying for the Foreign Ministry. Also looking for an upgrade are Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, considered one of Netanyahu's closest allies, and Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi), who claimed in the past that the ministry had been promised to him, but said he will concede the position and remain in the Education Ministry. It is possible Bennett decided to stick to the Education Ministry so fellow Bayit Yehudi member Ayelet Shaked could remain in the Justice Ministry. ANKARA - Turkey's ruling party held a special convention on Sunday to confirm a longtime ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its new chairman and next prime minister, a move that is likely to consolidate the Turkish leader's hold on power. Binali Yildirim, the transport and communications minister and a founding member of the governing Justice and Development Party, is set to replace Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu who announced earlier this month that he is stepping down amid differences with Erdogan. Yildirim, 60, who is running unopposed for the party's leadership, is widely expected to be more in tune with Erdogan, who is pushing for an overhaul of the constitution that would give the largely ceremonial presidency executive powers. Traditionally, the post of premier in Turkey goes to the leader of the largest party in parliament and Erdogan is expected to formally ask Yildirim to form a new government after the convention. The Austrian Freedom Party's Norbert Hofer, who is competing for the country's presidency in a vote held on Sunday, has been accused of lying twice about his visit to Israel two years ago. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Hofer has repeatedly claimed that during his July 2014 visit to the Holy Land, he came upon the scene of a terror attack on the Temple Mount and witnessed a heavily-armed female Palestinian attacker being gunned down. He told the Die Presse newspaper that he had been only 10 meters away from the woman, who he said had been carrying grenades and a machine gun. Presidential candidate of the "Freedom Party" Norbert Hofer (Photo: Reuters) But during the last electoral debate on Thursday night on Austrian state television, he was confronted with a different version of events, supported by Israeli media reports, which posited that the so-called terrorist was, in fact, an unarmed Israeli woman who was lightly injured from police gun shots during a demonstration and Israeli reports of the incident made no mention of her having carried grenades or machine guns. The debate's moderator showed a video of an Israeli police spokesman denying the incident had taken place, but Hofer merely dismissed the video as smear and slammed the channel that hosted the debate. Over the past few days, Hofer, who leads in the polls, also made headlines when, during a recent interview on Austrian television, he was accused of having lied about meeting with the deputy speaker of the Knesset in Jerusalem, despite the fact his extreme right-wing party is boycotting Israel. Throughout the election campaign, Austria's Freedom Party has been working to dispel accusations of anti-Semitism among its ranks, leading to the close scrutiny of Hofer's claims. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who arrived in Israel on Saturday night for a three-day trip to the region, told Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam that "stopping settlements is an imperative." "Because we cannot both want to discuss peace and be sincere in the negotiations and at the same time continue to create facts on the ground," he added. Jaffa has quite a few charming spots, and without a doubt one of them is the newly gentrified plaza adjacent to the Gesher Theater on Sderot Yerushalayim. In this fortuitous location, highlighted by a nicely fashioned fountain, veteran chef Oren Longo established Yamado a few months ago. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Since Yamados business card identifies it as a noodle and sushi bar, we were surprised not to find any ramen or udon noodles on the menu. We are moving away from strictly Japanese dishes, says Longo. We now have a good selection of Thai and Chinese entrees as well. Yamado does not serve cocktails, although there is plenty of wine, beer and spirits, including sake, as well as Sapporo and Singha beers imported from Japan and Thailand respectively. We settled for the house tea, a very special blend of green and white teas with sage, ginger, and a dozen or more other assorted herbs; the delicious tea did indeed taste like an invigorating tonic. The shrimp tempura here was spot on: large, fresh shrimp fried just right in a delicate batter -- so good, in fact, that I did not even feel the need to dip them in soy or teriyaki sauce. Next we were served a trio of Yamados imaginative house sushi creations: the Tuna Han -- spicy tuna, avocado, cucumber, ponzu sauce, green onions and sesame seeds; the Jaffa Roll -- sweet potato and eggplant in a tehina and date honey sauce, with sunflower seeds and ground peanuts; and the Spicy Salmon -- salmon tartare, avocado and cucumber seasoned with a zesty Japanese spicy mayo and garnished with sesame seeds and fresh lemon. As pleasing to the eye as they are to the palate, these combinations represent extraordinary range, as well as a remarkable interplay of favors. It is also nice to note that Yamados ample selection of vegetarian and vegan options spans several categories of entrees, extending as well to the world of sushi. The noodle dishes on the menu start with a quartet categorized, interestingly, by color: white, black, green and orange. According to Longo, the Black Noodles dish is Yamados homage to East-West fusion: stir-fried black linguine with green beans, white and green onions, red peppers, peanuts and coriander in a complex Thai sauce blended with sweet cream. Our dish also featured chicken that had previously been marinated for 24 hours, rendering it tender and juicy. As is the case with the noodle dishes, the main courses served with rice star either chicken, tofu, beef or shrimp. In this category, we sampled the Massman Curry with beef: strips of succulent entrecote with mushrooms, white and green onions, basil and peanuts in a rich coconut cream sauce. The curry element, relying on herbs more than spices, is pleasantly mild, leaving just a gentle sensation of heat in the mouth. We were too full for dessert, which turned out to be OK with us since they were basically commonplace desserts found on most menus: chocolate mousse, cheesecake and sorbet. Given the overall quality of Yamado, there is every reason to believe that they, too, would be very satisfactory. With the balmy spring weather already upon us, Yamado is a worthy choice for an evening in its lovely al fresco setting. The writer was a guest of the restaurant. Yamado Nehama Street 2, Jaffa A senior member of Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu told Ynet on Sunday that the party will not support an amendment to the law that would make it easier for military courts to sentence terrorists to death, a bill being pushed by Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman who is in talks to join the government. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "Israel's defense establishment is in agreement that this is a bad idea that it will not contribute to the fight against terror or to Israel's security," the official said. "It's an inappropriate suggestion both on an ethical and operational level. Any attempt by the government or the Knesset to act in such an irresponsible manner will come up against a wall comprised of all ten of Kulanu's MKs." Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon and Yisrael Beytenu Leader Avigdor Lieberman (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky) Yisrael Beytenu has yet to officially sign the agreement to join the government due to budgetary issues over the party's demand to complete the pension reform and its demand to amend the law to allow death sentence to terrorists. Likud Minister Yariv Levin has been working with Lieberman to formulate a draft bill proposal on death sentence to terrorists that could withstand the High Court's judgment. One of the options is to amend the legislation that allows the military court to hand out capital punishment to terrorists if a unanimous decision is made by three judges, and change it so only two judges suffice. If the sides fail to reach a final agreement on the legislation, it is possible they will commit to working on the legislation during the upcoming Knesset session. On Friday, Lieberman and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon held their first meeting on the pension reform. At first, Lieberman sought to secure pensions only for immigrants from the former Soviet Union, but it was eventually decided to apply the planned reform on all immigrants, as well as on other Israelis who did not work enough years to accumulate sufficient pension funds. The cost of the reform stands at about NIS 3 billion, a sum that could only be allocated if it is done gradually over the period of a few years. Lieberman and Kahlon agreed to meet again at the beginning of the week to finalize the details. BEIRUT - Air strikes hit the only road into rebel-held areas of Aleppo city on Sunday in the heaviest bombardment since February, a rebel official and monitor said, jeopardising access to an area where an estimated 300,000 Syrians live. They said Russian warplanes had carried out the attacks on the Castello road, which was still open but dangerous. Russian and Syrian defence officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said the road had been hit in a week of escalating air strikes, with Sunday's attack the most intense yet. LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday that he'd be happy to meet Donald Trump if he becomes the Republican presidential candidate. But the British leader repeated his claim that Trump's proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States is "wrong and divisive." Cameron said it was "a very dangerous thing to say" because it makes no distinction between the peaceful Muslim majority and a minority of extremists. Trump said last week that he was "not going to have a very good relationship" with Cameron, who had previously called Trump's proposal "divisive, stupid and wrong." Trump later moderated his tone, calling Cameron "a nice guy" and saying the prime minister had invited him to visit 10 Downing St. A short obituary that was printed in the United States last week has gone, unsurprisingly so, viral. "Faced with the prospect of voting for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, Mary Anne Noland of Richmond chose, instead, to pass into the eternal love of God," the obituary read. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Apply this witty obituary to our own reality here in Israel, and you'll see that our situation is not much better than that of Mrs. Noland. She was faced with Trump and Clinton; we're faced with Netanyahu, Lieberman and Herzog. Democracy is just not working, not over there and not over here, or otherwise it is working in such a twisted, false way that it is no longer recognizable as "democracy." Especially as we, unlike the deceased lady from Virginia, can't turn to the eternal, Christian love of God. I don't know about other people, but whenever I see the sticker saying "We have no one to trust but our God in heaven" on the bumper of a car in front of me, I instinctively hit the brakes, fearing a collision. Lieberman and Netanyahu announcing joint Likud Beytenu run for Knesset in 2013 (Photo: Gil Yohanan) Some of the things that happened during last week's political drama were legitimate and others were not. It's legitimate for the prime minister to want to broaden his government; it's legitimate that he seeks to bring the leading opposition party into the fold; it's legitimate for that party's leader to launch negotiations on the matter. What is not legitimate is having these talks as if the two sides don't know each other. Herzog should have known that Netanyahu wouldn't change his policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He can't: His party wouldn't let him; he doesn't want to; his lack of trust in a peace accord is deeply-rooted and real. At best, he'll agree to attend a regional summit so he could turn it into a stage for his own propaganda, as he did at the 1991 Madrid Conference. On the other hand Lieberman isn't so bad Ben-Dror Yemini Op-ed: With all the negativity surrounding Lieberman's appointment to defense minister, one should remember that his actions speak louder than his words. Lieberman isn't so bad Netanyahu knew Herzog would not be able to bring his entire faction into the government. In fact, he was counting on a division in the party. He did this trick to Ehud Barak in the past, and would've loved to repeat it with Herzog. But a division in Labor would've rendered meaningless all of the generous promises he made Herzog on ministers, deputy ministers and committee chairs. On this matternot just on the Palestinian issuethe agreements were written on ice. It's legitimate for Herzog's rivals in the Labor party to try to sabotage the negotiations. It's not legitimate to spread lies about the content of the talks, or release hysteric statements to the media, and the facts be damned. Herzog in press conference after failure of coalition talks (Photo: Motti Kimchi) It's legitimate to bring Yisrael Beytenu into the government. Lieberman, like Kahlon, is part of the Likud's own flesh and blood, the natural partner. It is not legitimate to go from fourth gear to reverse while driving, and then claim "we weren't driving in reverse at all - we're driving forward with Lieberman at the helm, towards peace." Lieberman joining the government is entirely legitimate. But it's not legitimate for him to do so without explaining what is going on to his voters. How come Bibi, who was a "coward," a "liar" and a "national disaster," turned into a friend and a partner once more, almost overnight? More importantly, how is Lieberman going to bridge the gap between his unrestrained statements over the past few years about Arabsin Israel and elsewhere in the regionand about military actions, with the responsibility he'll have as defense minister? Lieberman's appointment to defense minister poses quite a conundrum. Not because of his Russian descent or his lack of experiencebecause of the things said about him during different legal battles and because of the things he said on security and defense. One of our colleagues must have spoken on behalf of many when he said the appointment causes a "little bit of aversion." The trouble is that there is no such thing as "a little bit of aversion." You're either averse, or you're not. It reminds me of an incident that happened while I was editing the weekly "Koteret Rashit" ("Main Headline") years ago. A young reporter was working on a story about the Rebbe of the Sanz-Klausenburg Hasidic dynasty. Among other things, she wrote that the rebbe was "injured in the Holocaust." The expression shocked me. There's no such thing as getting injured in the Holocaust, I told the reporter. Some words just don't go together. It's legitimate, and even appropriate, for Ya'alon to take a time out from politics and recalculate his next move. Ben-Gurion had Sde Boker; Ya'alon has kibbutz Grofit. But he can't take the entire IDF along with him. The IDF needs to do its job, under the leadership of Lieberman and Netanyahu, despite the leadership of Lieberman and Netanyahu. On Friday night I watched Channel 2's military analyst Roni Daniel, visibly hurt, speaking about his children who have been threatening, in light of recent events, to leave the country. I'm guessing he's not alone: There is such talk these days. But Daniel is no novelist or poet or social philosopher. If he doesn't know how to pass on his fiery patriotism to his children, that's his problem. Fight for what you believe in, he should tell them. Only cowards run away. The general staff bade farewell on Sunday afternoon to the departing minister of defense, Moshe Ya'alon, at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Ya'alon addressed the heads of the IDF, saying, "Remember: An army must win, but it must remain human. Even after a battle or an operation or a war, we must keep our values and retain our humanity. I trust you to continue to lead and to triumph." Ya'alon flanked by Harel (L) and Eisenkot (Photo: Motti Kimchi) He added, "Here sits the shield of defense, and I want to express my thanks and great appreciation to all of you. Personally, and on behalf of the entire nation of Israel. You bring about a security situation that allows Israel to thrive. This board can boast achievements in bringing Israel relative security stability. This is because the group sitting here is level-headed and responsible, headed by the chief of the general staff who uses force wisely. The threats have not ceased, so this board will not be unemployed in the coming years." Ya'alon and Eisenkot (Photo: Motti Kimchi) Ya'alon shaking Depuy Chief of Staff Yair Golan's hand (Photo: Motti Kimchi) Earlier in the day, Ya'alon said goodbye to his employees at the Ministry of Defense. He also tweeted about them, "Excellent staff headed by Director General Dan Harel, who leads remarkable and exceptional work by the ministry's employees. Thank you!" Ya'alon and Eisenkot (Photo: Ministry of Defense) Ya'alon announced his resignation on Friday, first on social media , writing "I am resigning from the government and the Knesset and taking a break from political life." Later that same day, he held a press conference in which he said, "Those who lead us must do so based on ethics, an inner compass and at times against an opposing gale-force wind. They should work to outline a path, and not get blown off course for electoral reasons or in light of public surveys, nor should they conduct or agree to any reckless and irresponsible discourse. Ya'alon and MOD staff It was announced on Wednesday night that Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beytenu, would be bringing his party to join the coalition. Lieberman himself is to receive the defense portflio. Reportedly, Ya'alon, who had been growing distant from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was not surprised at this development. Attacks on airports have always been among terrorist organizations preferred objectives, leading to increased security. But from time to time, despite the investment of billions on security personnel and a range of security measure, terrorists still manage to strike. Brussels was the latest casualty, sending shockwaves throughout Europe. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Ben-Gurion International Airport is considered one of the safest airports in the world, which led to unprecedented interest in security measures developed in Israel, with several Israeli companies now selling their wares all over the world. The problem of interrogating terror suspects or immigrants in a time when the right to privacy at times might outweigh common sense led an Israeli company to develop an automatic interrogation system for suspicious individuals at airports or employees who are under scrutiny for one reason or another. Photo: GettyImages Suspect Detections Systems Ltd. (SDS) developed the COGITO System, which incorporates various sensors to detect nervousness by identifying increased salt levels in perspiration, an increase in sweat production, pressure in the veins, and thermal changes in the face. It allows interrogation in every language without the involvement of a human agent. It can interrogate immigrants to detect if any of them joined ISIS while abroad and employees who are covertly assisting terrorists, said Shabtai Shoval, one of the companys CEOs. Identifying terrorists anxiety before an attack SDS was founded in 2004 by Eran Drukman, formerly vice president of sales at Nice Ltd., Gal Peleg, a senior algorithm developer formerly with Comverse, the late Yeshayahu Horowitz, formerly the head of the polygraph division with the Israel Police, and Shabtai Shoval. The company was financed by the US Department of Homeland Security and has worked closely with the Israeli defense establishment in developing its technology. According to Shoval, the sensors the system uses can identify changes in suspects physiology or increasing anxiety before an attack from a distance and thereby aid in the identification of attackers entering public spaces, such as airport terminals, stadiums and subway stations. X When buying the system that SDS developed, Israel, the United States, Russia, China, Singapore, Mexico and Central America realized it was the only tool that can pick terrorists out of a crowd, said Eran Drukman, another one of SDSs CEOs. Without any specific intelligence, there is no technological way to filter out terrorists from among hundreds of thousands of innocent people without using our system. At the moment, the European nations are finding it tough to accept the severity of their situation and the fact that in order to ensure safety, they have to pay the price with a certain level of infringement of the right to privacy of those seeking to immigrate to their countries or are returning to them from elsewhere. Drukman asserted that at some point in the future, European countries will come to the conclusion that interrogating a person who wants to reside within their border is the only way of identifying dangerous individuals and that the cost of a certain minimal invasion of that immigrants privacy will have to be paid. Instant identification Another way to identify a rapidly moving individual has been developed by Farkash Security Technology Ltd. (FST), founded some eight years ago by Maj.-Gen. (res.) Zeevi Farkash, formerly head of Military Intelligence, who has served as the companys CEO since its inception. The company developed facial recognition software that, using a camera, can identify human beings in milliseconds, allowing users to dispense with older means of identification such as ID cards, codes or keys that can be stolen or lent to unauthorized users. It is already in use in several airports around the world. The company has recently participated in many international security expos and was also featured in the Israeli pavilion of the Israel Export Institute, with many visitors expressing keen interest. X We believe that, in the 21st century, technology can allow us to identify individuals in motion with a high degree of accuracy and without requiring them to slow down, said Aryeh Melamed, FSTs vice president for marketing. FST uses software that engages in an initial registration process lasting less than a minute, after which the security camera will identify the individual in milliseconds, with a very high degree of certainty. This is better than what any human security agent or any older identification system can do. According to Melamed, all biometrical information, including facial and body analysis, is encoded and saved by the most stringent privacy and confidentiality standards in the world. The system is currently being tested for use in identifying members of various airlines frequent flyer clubs to shorten the security screening and identification process for them, he added. Drone-detecting radar Another threat that sensitive facilities such as airports have had to deal with in recent years is remote-controlled drones. The possibility that a terrorist organization would use drones to carry out an attack has often been discussed. The company that developed a technology to handle this threat effectively is Magna BSP Ltd., which built a passive electro-optical radar system using unique technology, ensuring a higher than 99 percent success rate and minimal false alarms for use on perimeters, at borders and in sensitive facilities. Magna's radar (Photo: Magna) The radar system has one more important advantage: it does not broadcast and does not interfere with the activity of other parties, making it safe to use at airports, as it doesnt obstruct communication between the control tower and airplanes. Among the companys customers are Ben-Gurion International Airport, the Israel Prison Service, the Ministry of Defense, the IDF and customers abroad. The Lebanese military has built several observation towers on the Lebanese side of the border between Israel and Lebanon in recent weeks. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The towers provide the Lebanese army with strategic observation posts from which they can observe Israeli military bases, the border fence, the patrol road next to the border fence, civilian roads in Israel, and various towns and kibbutzim along the border. People who live in these border communities are saying that, while these observation towers are currently manned by Lebanese Army soldiers, they are concerned that Hezbollah will take them over during the next war. The observation towers are located between the town of Rosh Hanikra and Moshav Zar'it. One of the main worries expressed by Lebanese border community residents is the fact that these towers were built in such a short period of timewithin the space of a month. "A month ago, there wasn't anything there," a resident of Moshav Zar'it explained, talking about an observation tower built which overlooks the moshav's mushroom facility. Lebanese observation post near Kibbutz Hanita (Photo: Aviyahu Shapira) "They initially just put the tower up. Then, a few weeks later, they built the steps leading up to the watch post," the resident said. The watchtower is able to watch over anything that goes on between Moshav Zar'it and Kibbutz Admit, and all of the military installations in between. There are three watchtowers alone within sight of the kibbutz: to the northeast, the north, and the northwest. Regarding an observation tower overlooking Kibbutz Hanita, Erez Adar, the security coordinator of the kibbutz, said, "This tower is less than a third of a mile from the kibbutz. We are worried about getting shot at from the tower, as it's so close. While the Lebanese Army may be the ones manning the tower for now, it's clear that during the next war, these positions will be manned by Hezbollah. Will these observation posts be taken over by Hezbollah? (Photo: Abiyahu Shapira) According to the security coordinator, the residents of the communities on the border with Lebanon trust the IDF, and hope that the towers will be destroyed quickly during the next round of violence. "We're worried about any change that happens on the border and follow every development," said the resident of another kibbutz. "When we see these types of things being built, we expect quick responses from the IDF." The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said, "The IDF is following the issue. There is no change in the security situation." According to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War, the area where the observation towers were built is supposed to be a demilitarized zone. Therefore, according to the resolution, the towers are not allowed to have any weapons in them. ENAGOA- A crude oil pipeline in Nigeria's southern state of Bayelsa operated by the local subsidiary of Italy's Eni was attacked on Sunday, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDC) said. Desmond Agu, a spokesman for the government agency, said the Agip pipeline was attacked with dynamite in the early hours of Sunday. Eni, which operates in Nigeria through its subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company, could not be immediately reached to comment on the attack. AMMAN - Mainstream Syrian rebel groups said on Sunday they would no longer abide by a threadbare "cessation of hostilities" deal unless the Syrian army ended a major assault on their positions in the suburbs of Damascus within 48 hours. A statement by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) signed by nearly 40 rebel groups that operate across Syria said they would deem the ceasefire as having "totally collapsed" if the assault by Syrian government and allied Lebanese Hezbollah forces fighters did not cease within two days. The signatories, who include Western- and Turkish-backed groups operating on the main frontlines in northern and southern Syria, said that once the two-day period had ended, rebels would respond with "all the legitimate means to defend the civilians living in these areas". It was only a year and a half ago that right-wing activist Yehuda Glick was dangling between life and death. After being shot point-blank four times by a terrorist, he managed to utter "Shema yisrael" (the Jewish declaration of faith that the devout strive to say before death) before falling into a dark sleep from which he arose ten days later. This week, following Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon's resignation, Glick is to be sworn in to the Knesset, which will make him perhaps the most controversial MK in the current government, having incited severe criticism from the Palestinians, the left, and the right. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "I feel that God hugged me, and that he didn't let me go for a minute while my life was in danger, wrapping me up in so much love," said Glick. "I was in such critical condition that a lot of people thought I wasn't going to make it, and that if I were, I'd be severely disabled for the rest of my life. And now here I am, standing on my own two feet and being sworn in to the Knesset. God must have thought I still have things to do in the Knesset. I'm glad to be alive and have God put his faith in me." Yehuda Glick (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky) Glick's politics are tricky to pin down. On the one hand, he is considered an extremist who fights for the entry of Jews to the Temple Mount, which could potentially ignite the Middle East and the entire world at large. On the other hand, he is one of the most vocal detractors of Sgt. Elor Azaria, who shot a neutralized terrorist to death earlier this year. His stance earned Glick some new enemies, this time from the right. Glick has also voiced criticism over Yisrael Beytenu Leader Avigdor Lieberman's appointment as minister of defense and has pushed instead for a unity government with the Labor Party. This is despite the fact that it was Lieberman's recent agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that facilitated Glick's entry to the government. "I understand Ya'alon's pain," said Glick. "But I think he shouldn't have resigned, and I even call upon him nowif there is still a chanceto stay. Ya'alon is an asset to the people of Israel and certainly to Likud." Do you recant the things you said about Lieberman? "I wish him a lot of luck. His success is our success. The position of minister of defense is the most senior position apart from that of the prime minister, and I hope he understands the obligation that comes with it. I also didn't like the comments Lieberman made against (Zionist Union Leader) Isaac Herzog. (Herzog) tried to do what he thought should be done, but the level of ridicule aimed at him at this point is beyond the pale." Glick visiting the Temple Mount after being shot (Photo: Arnon Segal) Attacks from the right Glick, 51, vividly remembers October 29, 2014. "I was at an annual event celebrating the Rambam's visit to the Temple Mount," he recalled. "The event included a left-wing speaker and a Muslim and invoked a feeling of solidarity and strength. As it was winding down, the only people left were me and two of my friends, Moriah and Shai. My wife Yafi was bringing the car around. I started walking toward the car to load it up, when a short man with a small container stopped next to me. He said, 'I'm so sorry,' and since I didn't understand what he was referring to, I came closer. That was when he pulled out a gun, said, 'You're an enemy of Al-Aqsa' and shot me point-blank with four bullets in the center of my body. "All four bullets entered and exited my body. I started bleeding. Moriah and Shai ran over to me, and I ran toward them, or rather limped. Then I lay down on the sidewalk. A few seconds later, Shai reached me. I hear Moriah saying, 'He's completely pale,' and Shai saying, 'We just witnessed a murder. Go take care of Yafi, and I'll take care of Yehuda.'" "Shai lay on me, took my shirt off and screamed into my ear something I'll never forget: 'Rabbi Yehuda, don't leave us, we need you.' That was when I realized I was in mortal danger. Shai was on the phone with a paramedic friend of his, who was guiding him in how to treat me. He was trying to stop the blood when I began to stutter 'Shema Yisrael.' They put me in an ambulance, and my wife came in with me and held my hand. She spoke to me while I tried to calm her down. That was when I started losing consciousness." Demonstration in support of Glick after he was shot (Photo: Reuters) Did the assassination attempt change you? "I suppose it did. It became even clearer to me how dangerous violence can be, and how we as a democracy need to make sure that elected officials working toward certain principles are safe. One of the surgeons who operated on me was Muslim, and I think he did a lot more for Islam than the Muslim who shot me in the name of Islam. People who think God wants them to promote hatred are misinterpreting his will. Despite being all the more committed to the mission God has created me, I feel it has given me a new path for a dialogue with the many people who are willing to listen." The Palestinians see you as a symbol for the extreme right, with your entry in to the Knesset together with Lieberman's new appointment seen as a radical break to the right. "The Palestinian press is full of attacks against me as a radical Jew. They're right. I'm very extreme in my belief in peace. I'm extreme in my faith in a respectful dialogue, and that bothers those whose agenda is built on violence and hate. I'll keep working toward peace as well as human rights for everyone, and I'm sorry for any person who refuses to engage in a dialogue with me." Glick in the hospital, visited by Chief Rabbi Lau The father of eight (two of them foster children) and grandfather of six, Glick, who lives in the settlement of Otniel, has repeatedly enraged Palestinians, left-wing activists and moderate centrists. Over the last few months, he has even managed to anger his friends from the right when expressing his shock at the Hebron soldier who shot a neutralized terrorist. "The fact that the terrorist who set out on this mission didn't believe he would survive does not justify the soldier's horrifying actions," Glick had written on Twitter, adding that, despite the incident, the IDF remains the most moral army in the world. Not that defending the IDF did him any good. Moments after the tweet went up, the soldier's supporters already began attacking him. The same day, Glick posted another tweet, saying, "It is grotesque and sickening to see the malicious satisfaction of those who dance upon the blood and protest the IDF following the soldier's behavior. No less sickening, though, are those who praise his actions." At this point, his Twitter and Facebook feeds began to fill up with personal threats, among them, "I'll get you yet, you stinking leftie," "Too bad they didn't murder you when you were injured" and "Too bad this is the man we were happy didn't die." 'We will be victorious at the Temple Mount!' Glick's Facebook cover photo has "We will be victorious at the Temple Mount!" written in bold letters, with his redheaded face appearing in his profile picture below. His father, former dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University, Prof. Shimon Glick, described his son during an interview to Ynet's sister publication, Yedioth Ahronoth, after his assassination attempt. "We agreed to disagree, and I love him with all my heart," said the senior Glick, whose political views differ from those of his son. Glick on the mend (Photo: Gil Yohanan) How does your father, a human rights activist, react to your joining the Knesset? "My father is a very dear man. I myself am a human rights activist. I'm a very extreme person, who believes in human rights in an extreme way, and I got all that from my father. He is a humanist; he truly loves mankind." "We don't always see eye to eye, but he was the one who taught me Jewish and Western values, which talk about a plethora of opinions. My parents taught me about human dignity, and that you should listen to the opinions of those who don't necessarily voice your own. The two of us communicate on a daily basis. He advises, encourages, supports and sometimes reprimands me. At times I accept what he tells me and at times I don't. He respects that." What will do as an MK? "I don't want to come out with any big declarations yet. Working in the Knesset is a team effort, not a solo one, and I'm going to be part of a wonderful, diverse group called Likud. We have a real democracy complete with distinct opinions. I am entering a government that is headed by a man, who despite what is said about him cares about the country and its people. I hope that I'll act in a cordial and open manner, and enter into a dialogue with people from all walks of life, both from the coalition and the opposition. I hope to be a part of promoting peace." Glick continued, "I was elected to represent the Judea and Samaria region, and as their representative I am committed to doing anything to improve the security and quality of life in the area. There are half a million citizens living in the area (Jewish citizens. NB) who should all have equal rights, and I hope we will figure out how to cohabitate in peace with the Arabs living with us." Will you visit the Temple Mount as an MK? "I hope so. I'm all for Jews and Muslims visiting the Temple Mount together, but if Prime Minister Netanyahu asks me not to go there, I won't." You said the Temple Mount will be a center for peace. "That's our goal, and the vision of the Jewish spirit. The Temple Mount is supposed to be the place out of which the message of 'They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, neither shall they learn war any more' should come out." BELGRADE- Serbian police say they have found 43 migrants in two private houses in the capital of Belgrade. Police said Sunday that two Serbian women who were also in the houses are facing charges of people smuggling and illegal crossing of the state border. The statement says that migrants had no documents. Police have not specified their nationalities. Undercover police officers and Border Police officers attacked an Arab Israeli employee outside the supermarket where he works on Sunday afternoon. The Police Investigation Unit of the State Attorney's office, charged with investigating allegations of illegal activity and complaints against police, are looking into the incident. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Kobi Cohen, the attacked man's employer at Super Yuda across from Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, told Ynet that two undercover police officers came up to his worker outside the store. Security footage of the incident X "They asked him to identify himself to them, but they didn't show him a badge," said Cohen. "In response, he asked them to identify themselves first. They called for police backup, and when they arrived, they started to hit him." Still from the video Cohen added, "They spoke with him, and he stood there. He didn't try to run away; his arms were even folded. At a certain point, a manager in the white shirt came and tried to mediate between them, but then forces came on the scene. Another eight undercover policemen encircled him and just started whaling on him. The employees that tried to separate them got hit too, and then they laid out the Arab employee and beat him like crazy. He didn't have a knife that was endangering them. They beat him mercilessly until they took him out of commission. We were all shocked by what happened. There's only reason for it: It's because the guy was Arab." The Israel Police commented on the incident, "Following the wave of terrorist attacks, and as part of its internal security tasks in general, the Israel Police operates with determination to locate and remove illegal aliens from across the country in the interest of public safety. Bite mark on police officer's arm "The results of the initial investigation show that Border Police officers identified a youth that aroused their suspicion, and they asked him to identify himself. The suspect refused to identify himself while cursing and attacking the officers, and he even bit one of them. To make an arrest, the officers were obliged to use force while the suspect continued to violently attack the police. "As a result of the intensity of the violence directed at them, the two police officers had to receive medical treatment at Ichilov Hospital for bruises and bites. However, in accordance with police procedures and as is customary in events in which police are required to use force to carry out their tasks, all the information will be sent for examination by the Police Investigation Unit. The Israel Police will continue to operate resolutely against those who threaten the lives of Israel's citizens." Almost every Israeli parent and child knows Yanetz Levis series of childrens books, Adventures of Uncle Arie. More than 700,000 copies of the series have been sold in Israel and now they are flying off the shelves in Chinese bookstores. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Levi has turned into a superstar in China, and Tuesday he arrived for a round of lectures with the help of the Foreign Ministry and Israeli embassy in Beijing. Even before he arrived, more than 50,000 books were sold and since his arrival, the publisher reported that tens of thousands of additional books have been sold. The series has been translated into many other languages and garnered success in Czechia, South Korea, India, and Japan. The book has also been translated into Arabic and has been sold the most, with the exception of Israel, in China. Yanetz Levi with Chinese fan, (Photo: Courtesy of the Israeli embassy in China) Yesterday he met with the "Young Pioneers, a Chinese youth movement whose children revere his books. In a number of schools, he was received by thousands of children who enthusiastically received him as if he were a rock star. At his first event, hundreds of children yelled to him, Lioooshushu. When he asked the translator what that means, the translator said that is how one says Uncle Arie in Chinese. While visiting a number of Chinese cities, Levi delivered lectures and answered trivia about his books. I am always surprised by success, and I do not take it for granted, said Levin in a phone call. The meetings with the Chinese children and parents who are excited about Uncle Arie are very touching. For example, I was just told that in one school 5,000 copies were purchased. The discovery that children around the world, despite cultural and geographic differences, are excited about the same booksis magical. The hero of the series, Adventures of Uncle Arie, is an uncle, who tells his three nephews about imaginary adventures in fictitious places. And it has become clear that Chinese and Israeli children have similar perceptions of the imaginary places. The Israeli embassy in China said, Israeli culture and its diversity are very popular in China. In addition, culture is an important instrument for deepening relations between the Israeli and Chinese peoples. Bringing Yanetz Levi is an excellent example of the unique connection between the two cultures. The embassy will continue to bring different Israeli artists to increase the Chinese publics exposure (to Israel). SLAMABAD- A passport found at the site of a US drone attack targeting Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour bears the name of a Pakistani man named Wali Muhammad and carries a valid Iranian visa, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. The ministry did not directly comment on the possibility that Mansour might have been travelling under another name. Afghanistan's spy agency said it was sure Mansour had been killed in the attack, but Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told reporters in London that Pakistan was unsure if Muhammad was "Mullah Mansour or someone else". He called the attack "a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty". VIENNA - Austria is sending 80 more police and support staff to boost patrols around the Alpine Brenner pass and catch rising numbers of unregistered migrants coming in from Italy, Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said on Sunday. He denied the move was in any way linked to presidential elections in Austria in which a far-right candidate was deadlocked with a former leader of the leftist Greens party, with postal ballots to decide the race. "It appears that here and there migrants are getting through at the Brenner, sometimes none, other times five, seven or 10. There is a also small number of asylum requests that pop up," Sobotka told reporters at an election event in Vienna. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed criticism of his handling of former defense minister Moshe Ya'alon's resignation Sunday. He said, "I hear these voices in the media, the self-flagellating voices, the fear-mongering. I suggest they quit their crying and moaning." Netanyahu made these statements during a press conference with the Czech Prime Minister, Bohuslav Sobotka. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Netanyahu added, "I am concerned about the future of the state, and I proved that as prime minister. In politics, people say all sorts of things, but I, on the other hand, keep my words to a minimum. I never make personal attacks, and many others immediately regret what they say. I do not deal with words; I deal with actions." "I, who fought as an officer and a soldier in Sayeret Matkal, who was in battle and was injured, I care about Israels security and at the end of the day, I lead the battles." Netanyahu stated further, "The prime minister navigates all the operations with the defense minister and IDF chief of staff. It seems I havent done a bad job during my years as prime minister, and so it will continue now, responsible, determined, intelligent policies aimed at upholding security, advancing the peace process and regional initiatives." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Reuters) Netanyahu added that Israel is a wonderful success story. He said, "I am proud of Israel. I am proud of Israel's citizens. I am proud of the IDF. I am proud of the IDF's commanders and soldiers. They guard, and we work night and day to preserve the security of our children. The security and future of our children is in one placehere, in the land of Israel, not any other country." Netanyahu also discussed negotiations to expand the government. "When I formed the government, I said that I plan to expand it. I made a proposal to the Zionist Union and up until this moment, they have not yet responded. I also made a proposal to Avigdor Lieberman, and he did respond, but the policies (of the government) are the same policies. Its policy is to work hard for a peace agreement with the Palestinians, an agreement that preserves (our) security, but allows allows us to avoid one state from the sea to the river. That is my position. I said that before, and I say now that I think that is the right thing. I intend to continue with this policy. "The initiatives that I am talking about are the regional initiatives. That means working with Arab states to reach a real agreement with the Palestinians. We always thought the opposite would work, but, to a great extent, this is today's approach. I have been trying tirelessly to advance contacts with different regional leaders. We have many shared regional interests with Arab states, and I think that one of those interests is to advance a real peace process between us and the Palestinians and possibly with their help, we can overcome a few obstacles. This is what I am working on now." Netanyahu and his envoy, Yitzhak Molcho, met with Tony Blair, who mediated between Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in an effort to promote regional initiatives. The prime minister told him that he is committed to promoting the initiative. Ya'alon addressed the heads of the IDF, saying, "Remember: An army must win, but it must remain human. Even after a battle or an operation or a war, we must keep our values and retain our humanity. I trust you to continue to lead and to triumph." He added, "Here sits the shield of defense, and I want to express my thanks and great appreciation to all of you. Personally, and on behalf of the entire nation of Israel. You bring about a security situation that allows Israel to thrive. This board can boast achievements in bringing Israel relative security stability. This is because the group sitting here is level-headed and responsible, headed by the chief of the general staff who uses force wisely. The threats have not ceased, so this board will not be unemployed in the coming years." That afternoon, Ya'alon had a farewell conversation with Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot. Ya'alon tweeted, "Thank you for the cooperation. It was an honor to work with you, with the generals of the General Staff and the rest of the commanders." As of 1 July, new legislation will come into effect under The Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment Bill 2015 which require buyers of residential properties worth more than $2 million to withhold 10% of the purchase price when the vendor is a foreign resident for tax purposes. Sellers will also now required to obtain a clearance certificate to prove they are an Australian resident for tax purposes. Manda Trautwein, director at accountancy firm William Buck, is supportive of the changes, but said they will likely delay the process for those buying and selling luxury properties. The legislative changes will put Australian and foreign residents on a level playing field, but will have their challenges. The tax compliance burden for resident taxpayers will significantly increase and conveyancers will need to ensure their clients are abiding by the new laws to limit property settlement delays, Trautwein said. The Federal government is expected to significantly benefit from the new changes as there should be less tax revenue leakage, she said. Trautwein said the changes have been instituted to reduce the difficulties faced by the government in taxing the capital gains on property owned by foreign resident taxpayers. Buyers who dont withhold the 10% of the sale price could be liable to pay a penalty which is up to the full 10% of the purchase price plus interest, while vendors will likely be impacted in their ability to buy further properties or pay down a mortgage. From a sellers perspective, they could have less funds available which might otherwise have been available to discharge the mortgage on the property and/or fund a new property purchase. They could end up with only 90 per cent of the proceeds on settlement unless they are able to obtain a clearance certificate from the tax office. If there are data irregularities, delays of between 14 to 28 days are expected to obtain a clearance certificate, Trautwein said. New Delhi: Scores of BJP workers on Sunday staged a protest outside the office of CPI(M) in the national capital, against the murder of a party worker allegedly by supporters of the Left party during a poll victory rally in Kerala. The police detained at least 150 protestors, one of the officers said. Several police teams were rushed to the spot in New Delhi area today after which the entire area was barricaded. One of the senior police official said that several CPI(M) workers came out of the office to confront the agitating BJP workers. A BJP worker Pramod sustained several head injuries after he was allegedly hit by a brick following a clash during a victory rally by CPI(M) workers at Idavilangu in Kerala on Thursday. Pramod succumbed to his injuries the next day. Another CPI (M) worker, K. Raveendran died in Pinarayi village of Kannur district in Kerala in the evening of May 19, when the party brought out a procession to mark the LDF's victory in the polls. BJP has been targeting the Left over the alleged attacks on its workers in Kerala in the run up to the polls. Yesterday, BJP chief Amit Shah had accused the Left Front of "violating" the people's mandate. A BJP delegation led by Union Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari will meet President Pranab Mukherjee today at 1 pm to lodge a formal protest with regard to the Kerala violence. New Delhi: Two transgenders were on Saturday arrested for allegedly trying to kidnap a toddler from a popular shopping mall in west Delhi area, police said. The incident took place yesterday evening at Pacific mall in Subhash nagar area when a Janakpuri resident along with her children and a domestic help, had gone to the mall to celebrate her mother's birthday. While the family was busy celebrating, one of the transgenders whisked away her 4-month old son. Fortunately, the domestic help saw the transgender running away with the toddler in the pram, and raised an alarm. The security officials of the mall stopped the transgender and recovered the baby safely. Another transgender, who was still inside the mall, was also held and the duo were handed over to the police. A video clip in which one of the transgender can be seen walking with the pram, with the child seated in it surfaced today. Records were checked but the accused were found to have no crime record in past. They were granted bail under legal provisions but investigation of the matter is underway, he added. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today shared his thoughts on certain issues in his 20th edition of 'Mann Ki Baat' programme. In the radio programme, PM Modi called for protection of the environment and said that conservation of water and forests are people's responsibility. "Let us pledge to conserve every drop of water. Even if a single drop of water is wasted, it should hurt us," the Prime Minister said. Giving examples from states including Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, PM Modi said: "So many states have undertaken wonderful efforts to mitigate the drought. This is cutting across party lines." He also laid emphasis on using the "drip irrigation" technique to tackle drought. "Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have used technology very well to mitigate the drought. Jan Bhagidari (people's participation) is also vital," he said. PM Modi even spoke about his meeting with the chief ministers of various drought-hit states. "I decided to meet every chief minister individually as opposed to calling all of them together and having one meeting," he said. Modi said this year the UN decided the theme of the World Environment Day on June 5 will be the Zero Tolerance for Illegal Wildlife Trade. (With IANS inputs) New Delhi: Around two lakh students on Sunday appeared for the JEE (Advanced) examination for entry into the coveted IITs. IIT Guwahati is the organising institute for JEE 2016. There were two papers in the JEE (Advanced) in which the students appeared. Nearly two lakh candidates had cleared the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Main-2016 to appear for JEE (Advanced). The results of JEE Main were declared by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) last month. 1,98,228 candidates had cleared the JEE (Main) examination which was held both online and offline in 132 cities. Nearly 12 lakh candidates had taken this exam of which 19,820 have qualified for the JEE (Advanced) Online while 1,78,408 candidates have qualified for the JEE (Advanced) offline test. New Delhi: The mark sheets of candidates who had appeared in civil services examinations have been disclosed by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The examination is conducted by the UPSC annually in three stages--preliminary, mains and interview--to select candidates for the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), among others. The Commission has put on its website www.Upsc.Gov.In the mark sheets of successful and unsuccessful candidates. As many as 1,078 candidates, including 499 in General category, 314 belonging to Other Backward Classes, 176 from Scheduled Castes and 89 from Scheduled Tribes, cleared the examination. While the mark sheets of those who appeared for the civil services preliminary exam will be available on the website till July 17, of those who cleared or could not make it will be available till July 13. Delhi girl Tina Dabi topped the 2015 civil services examination, while railway officer Athar Aamir Ul Shafi Khan from Jammu and Kashmir got second rank. Delhi-based Jasmeet Singh Sandhu, an Indian Revenue Service officer, secured third position. There are 172 others on the wait list. Chandigarh: The Central Burau of Investigation (CBI) team on Saturday conducted raids at multiple locations in Haryana in connection with questionable allotment of coveted industrial plots during the regime of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. In more trouble for him, the CBI also lodged a criminal case in the matter. According to the FIR, industrial plots were given to 14 people by allegedly manipulating certain allotment provisions, including allowing them to submit their applications even after the last date for submission. The case which was handed over from Vigilance Bureau of Haryana to the CBI has named Hooda, the then Chairman of HUDA, three former bureaucrats, 13 beneficiaries and unknown officials of the authority and state government. The former Haryana Chief Minister has called it 'political vandetta' by the BJP government and denied any raid being conducted at any of his premises including those in Rohtak by the CBI. As per the report, the raids were conducted at 16 locations in Chandigarh, Panchkula, New Delhi, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Rohtak, Karnal and Kurukshetra, including residences of some of the accused. New Delhi: Close on the heels of party leader Digvijaya Singh mooting "surgery" in the Congress that suffered major setback in assembly polls, another party leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Sunday suggested that new plans should include revamping the Congress Working Committee itself. Singhvi, a Rajya Sabha MP and spokesman, went onto advise that while there should be a strong case for "micro" management in the party based on "merits", the "usual faces/ names (should) to shunted to advisory roles". ".....50% (percent) pure merit and 50% region, caste etc; shunt usual faces/ names to advisory roles," he said in a series of tweets. "Surgery never about unifocal look at leadership," he said. The surgery or revamp plans, "Includes specifics-3 & 6 mth prior declaration of MLA/MP candidates; new younger state faces (Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan), new Gen secys; new CWC," he posted. He urged party leaders do not dismiss the election results as "business as usual" and wrote in the micro blogging site: "No genuine loyal Congman shrugs off results as OK or business as usual. Apart from incumbency and cyclical factors we will analyse and and have new ideas." Besides "new" Congress Working Committee, the highest policy making body of the party, he said there should also a "new" set of general secretaries. Singhvi, however, took a dig at the BJP, saying: "Congress is a banyan tree giving widest shade without discrimination on basis of caste creed sex origin. Unlike elective biases of some others." "Winning elections/getting power is one thing; giving good governance quite another. Hope the secular character of Assam polity not disturbed," Singhvi said in another tweet with regard to BJP stealing a major victory in the northeastern state and ousting Congress from one of its traditional bastions. Singhvi's tweets are significant as two days back, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh had called for "action" and "surgery" in the organisation to revamp the party. The fresh tweets from Singhvi came on Sunday after party spokesman P.C. Chacko had on Friday strongly counseled that all suggestions about changes in the party should come in the Congress Working Committee meeting itself. "I wish suggestions are made in the Congress Working Committee," Chacko had said reacting to Digvijaya Singh's media interviews. Seeking to lift the morale of Congress members, party chief Sonia Gandhi had on Saturday said: "People practicing the politics of hatred may have deprived us of power, but they can't snatch the ideology of Rajiv Gandhi that had united everybody." She also had said that, "no failure is permanent". Another senior leader and former union minister V. Kishore Chandra Deo on Sunday favoured major changes in the organisation and accused senior leaders of misleading Congress president Sonia and vice president Rahul Gandhi. Guwahati: Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi on being elected as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader, chief minister designate Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday said it was a great day for all of them. The newly-elected BJP legislators in Assam met here earlier in the day to elect Sonowal as the legislature party leader. Sonowal met Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi last evening and held a discussion with them on government formation in the state. 53-year-old Sonowal led his party's campaign in the assembly polls in which the BJP-led alliance bagged 86 seats in the 126-member House. Sonowal's swearing-in ceremony on May 24 will be attended by Prime Minister Modi, senior leaders and the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states besides others. New Delhi: Renewing calls for India to move towards a "cashless society", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said this was essential to curb black money in the country. Exhorting citizens to begin using the "electronic technological" payments systems put in place, Modi in his 'Mann ki Baat' address over All India Radio said: "I urge fellow citizens to begin using the electronic modes of cashless transaction and illegal businesses will close down, black money will disappear." "Through electronic-technological means we can now both pay and receive money. The world is moving towards a cashless society," he said. The prime minister also said the move towards such a society was being enabled by the government's JAM initiative - Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhar and Mobile - to implement direct transfer of benefits. "Through the JAM trinity, we can move towards a cashless society," Modi said. "RuPAY cards have been given with Jan Dhan accounts and in the coming days these will have credit and debit card facilities, to disincentivise cash transactions," he added. RuPAY cards were launched by the National Payments Corporation of India to address the needs of Indian consumers, merchants and banks. The benefits of RuPay debit card are flexibility of the product platform and high levels of acceptance. Happy to see girl students shine, says PM Modi At the same time, the PM also congratulated students on their success in various examinations, and said he was "happy to see girl students shine. Congratulations to all candidates for their scores in examinations. Happy to see girl students shine, PM Modi said. He spoke about a student, Gaurav from Madhya Pradesh, who had scored 89 percent but his family was not happy as they wanted him to get 90 percent. Modi in his message to Gaurav said, "I have read your letter and I am sure there are many like you out there." The PM requested all parents and guardians to accept their children's results with a sense of satisfaction and motivate them for future. Why to find negativity from everything. It would be better if everyone around you had celebrated your scores," he added in reference to Gaurav. In a message to those who did not clear and succeed, PM Modi said, life does not stop here. There is a lot to do. Tehran: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived here on Sunday on a two-day visit to Iran, said that Indians living abroad have the capability to assimilate with everyone. Invoking India's 'civilisational ties' with Iran, PM Modi also said that his talks with the Iranian leadership would provide him an opportunity to advance the 'strategic partnership' between the two countries. PM Modi was received at the Mehrabad International Airport by Iran's Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia and was accorded a red carpet welcome. . pic.twitter.com/IkuL5vFAry Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2016 A brief chat at the airport. PM is received by Dr Ali Tayebnia, Iran's Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance. pic.twitter.com/jPmTinshcY Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) May 22, 2016 Soon after his arrival, the PM left for the capital city's only functioning Gurudwara and offered prayers. "We Indians have a specialty. We accept everyone and assimilate with everyone," PM Modi said while addressing a community gathering at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara. "The new generation should know about the sacrifices of the great (Sikh) Gurus and about the Guru Granth Sahib," he added. He also said that he has noted several suggestions that have emanated from the Indian community in Iran. "Let us all work together to serve humanity," the PM said. My first programme in Tehran was a visit to the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara. pic.twitter.com/dLU2jYRlWN Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2016 Animated by the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, we Indians make every country our home. PM addresses community pic.twitter.com/wz730vBu6V Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) May 22, 2016 In 2012, the then PM Manmohan Singh on a visit here to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit could not visit the Gurudwara, but his wife Gursharan Kaur had paid her respects there. According to the Indian embassy here, the Indian community in Iran, which was sizeable earlier, has dwindled and now consists of about 100 families in Tehran and about 20 in Zahedan, as per IANS. There are also around 1,300 Indian students in Iran, a large number of whom pursue theological studies in Qom. PM Modi's formal talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are scheduled for tomorrow morning after a ceremonial welcome for him. Rouhani will also host a lunch for the Indian Premier. He will also call on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei before his return home. PM Modi's visit is expected to see India and the Persian Gulf nation working on enhancing economic partnership that includes a possible deal on developing the strategic Chabahar port. PM Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to travel to Iran in 15 years on a bilateral visit after Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Before he embarked on his trip, the PM had tweeted: India and Iran enjoy civilizational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2016 My meetings with President Rouhani and Honble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2016 Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2016 Earlier, he had told Iran's IRNA news agency that "India and Iran have always focused to add strength to our relations, even during the difficult times. In the current context, both countries can look to expand our cooperation in the fields of trade, technology, investment and infrastructure and energy security," as per PTI. "Lifting of the international sanctions against Iran has opened up immense opportunities for both the countries, especially in the economic sphere," PM Modi had said, adding that India was keen to enhance its investment in the Persian Gulf nation and also welcomes flow of capital and investments from the oil-rich nation. Expressing satisfaction over the progress made so far on the participation of India in development of the Iranian port of Chabahar, he had added, "I am happy that a progress has been made on Chabahar Port and also on wider connectivity initiative involving Chabahar. Our public and private sectors are keen to invest in Iran. At the same time, we would also welcome the flow of capital and investments from Iran." (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: Union Minister and Assam's likely chief minister designate Sarbanda Sonowal has described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a great head of government and as a man of impeccable character. In an interview given to Jagdeesh Chandra, Head, ETV News, ahead of his swearing-in as Assam's next chief minister in the coming week, Sonowal, speaking on the popular J.C. Show, praising Modi, said, "Narendra Modiji is a great Prime Minister. He is a man of impeccable character and has had an outstanding impact on the youth of this country, and the state of Assam has also benefitted from it. "The Prime Minister's focus on developing the north east region is one of the main reasons and factors for the BJP to emerge victorious in the assembly elections in Assam by such a huge margin. The work done by the Modi-led government at the Centre, has cemented our (BJP's) position in Assam, and we have been able to end the reign of the corruption-ridden Congress regime," Sonowal told Chandra. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) created history in Assam on May 19, by winning 60 of the 126 assembly seats up for grabs. Its coalition partners - the Asom Gani Parishad and the Bodoland People's Front secured 14 and 12 seats respectively. All three together secured 86 of the 126 assembly seats, ending the Congress party's 15-year rule with a decisive mandate. The victory in Assam means the BJP will play a decisive role in the politics of the tumultuous north eastern region, where it has been a marginal political force until now. The Congress party ended up with just 26 seats, feeling the sting of an anti-incumbency wave and popular desire for change. Tehran: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived here on Sunday on a two-day visit to Iran, promised a large-scale celebration of Guru Gobind Singh's 350th birth anniversary. "We will celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh ji on a large scale so that his message reverberates widely among youth," Modi tweeted soon after addressing an Indian community gathering at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara here. In his address to the community, he said that Indians living abroad have the capability to assimilate with everyone. "We Indians have a specialty. We accept everyone and assimilate with everyone," he said. Soon after his arrival here to a red carpet welcome with Iranian Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia present to receive him, Modi left for the gurudwara and offered prayers. "The new generation should know about the sacrifices of the great (Sikh) Gurus and about the Guru Granth Sahib," he said. He also said that he has noted several suggestions that have emanated from the Indian community in Iran. "Let us all work together to serve humanity," the prime minister said. The gurudwara was founded in 1941 by Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Tehran. Religious celebrations include morning and evening prayers, and a Guru-Ka-Langer every Friday after the Akhand Path. Community services include establishment of a school where teaching of Punjabi and Dharmik (divinity) studies forms an integral part of the curriculum. After the gurdwara visit, Modi also interacted with a group of Indian schoolchildren at a hotel here. According to the Indian embassy here, the Indian community in Iran, which was sizeable earlier, has dwindled and now consists of about 100 families in Tehran and about 20 in Zahedan. There are also around 1,300 Indian students in Iran, a large number of whom pursue theological studies in Qom, which hosts a number of renowned seminaries. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday left on a two-day official visit to Iran at the invitation of President Hassan Rouhani. Prime Minister Modi's visit will mainly focus on connectivity and infrastructure, energy partnership with Tehran and boosting bilateral trade. It will help in promoting regular consultations on peace and stability, particularly in the region and extended neighbourhood. Prime Minister Modi's first tour to Iran will feature discussions on terrorism in the region as well as on India's desire to secure energy assets for a fast growing economy. During the visit, the Prime Minister will meet Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani on Monday. Talks will be held on security and peace issues between the Indian Prime Minister and Iranian President during their meeting. Developing connectivity, infrastructure and encouraging people to people contacts will be the other priorities of Prime Minister's visit to the Gulf nation. India, Iran and Afghanistan will sign an agreement on developing Chabahar port on May 23. The port will be a game changer for regional connectivity, especially for Afghanistan, which can find an assured and reliable alternative access to India via sea. The route will also significantly enhance prospects for India's connectivity with Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond through synergies with other initiatives touching the region such as North-South transport corridor. TOP PRIORITIES Taking to Twitter, PM Narendra Modi shared the details of his visit:- -"I will visit Gurudwara in Tehran and inaugurate an International Conference on retrospect and prospect of India and Iran relations." I will visit Gurudwara in Tehran and inaugurate an International Conference on retrospect and prospect of India and Iran relations. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2016 -"I also look forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar Agreement during my visit." I also look forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar Agreement during my visit. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2016 -"Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority." Enhancing connectivity, trade, investments, energy partnership, culture and people to people contacts would be our priority. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2016 -"My meetings with President Rouhani and Honble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership." My meetings with President Rouhani and Honble Supreme Leader of Iran will provide an opportunity to advance our strategic partnership. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2016 -"India and Iran enjoy civilizational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region." India and Iran enjoy civilizational ties and have shared interest in the peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 22, 2016 -"I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today & tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani." New Delhi:Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday expressed grief over killing of six jawans including an officer of the Assam Rifles in an encounter with terrorists in Manipur`s Chandel district. "Extremely pained to learn of the killing of Assam Rifles` JCO and jawans in Manipur. My condolences to the families of the deceased soldiers," Singh wrote on Twitter. "Spoke to DG Assam Rifles who apprised me of the situation in Manipur. MHA is closely monitoring and reviewing the situation in the state," he added. A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and five jawans of the 29 Assam Rifles were killed in an ambush reportedly by CorCom (Coordination Committee) militants at Hangshi, around 15 km from its battalion headquarters at Joupi village, in Chandel district of Manipur.The ambush took place between Hengshi and Tuiyang villages around 12.30 p.m. when the JCO and other jawans were returning after inspecting a landslide scene in the locality. Four AK rifles, one INSAS Rifle and one LMG rifle have been taken away by the militants.CorCom, which is responsible for many bombings, is an umbrella group in Manipur comprising the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), People`s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), Progressive faction (PREPAK-Pro), Revolutionary People`s Front (RPF - the political wing of the People`s Liberation Army - PLA), United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and United Peoples Party of Kangleipak (UPPK). New Delhi: The CBI today asked Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat to appear before the agency on May 24 in connection with a probe into the sting operation involving him. Rawat has been asked to appear on Tuesday, official sources said. The CBI had last week rejected the Uttarakhand government's notification withdrawing the case related to the sting operation. The agency had said the notification was rejected after taking legal opinion, which said there was no ground for its withdrawal and it was "not legally tenable". The CBI will continue its preliminary inquiry into the episode that allegedly involved horse trading attempts to save the Rawat government. CBI had registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) on April 29 to probe the "sting operation" purportedly showing Rawat offering bribes to rebel Congress lawmakers to support him during a floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly. The agency had summoned Rawat for examination for May 9 but he had sought more time after which he won the floor test and returned to power. Rawat has denied the allegation and called the video fake after it was released by the rebel Congress legislators but later admitted that he was on camera in the sting operation. After Rawat's victory in the floor test, the state cabinet met on May 15 and withdrew the notification recommending a CBI probe into a sting operation involving him. Instead, the state cabinet decided to constitute a Special Investigating Team to probe the case as it was a state subject. The case was handed over to the CBI when President's Rule was imposed in the state. The notification was withdrawn immediately after Rawat proved his majority in the Assembly and his government was restored. The Chief Minister had failed to get a reprieve from Uttarakhand High Court also which had refused to quash the ongoing CBI probe into the sting operation. On May 20, Justice Sarvesh Kumar Gupta of the Uttarakhand High Court had said quashing the CBI probe into the sting CD at this stage was not possible. New Delhi: Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara in the Iranian capital had in the past saw many VVIPs from India at its doorstep. This time it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's turn when he tours the Persian nation from May 22-23. PM Modi has paid obeisance at the Sikh shrine, founded in 1941, during his two-day tour of Iran. In 2010, the then external affairs minister SM Krishna had visited the Gurudwara. Krishna described Sikhs living in Iran as "wonderful Ambassadors of India". In 2012, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh's wife had also visited the shrine. The Gurudwara also has a school in its vicinity. According to wikipedia, there are about 800 members of the Sikh community in the area. During his two-day visit, PM Modi will meet top Iranian leadership, including President Hassan Rouhani, to boost trade, energy and strategic ties. He will also meet Iran's supreme religious and political leader Ayatollah Khamenei. PM Modi is expected to sign a trilateral agreement on Chabahar a strategic port on Iran's southern coast with Afghanistan a high point of his visit. India will help develop the port. Dehradun: Three persons have been arrested for attacking BJP MP Tarun Vijay when he was coming out of a temple with some Dalit leaders in Chakrata, 180 km from here, an official said today. Sardar Singh, a resident Punah village, Nain Singh of Bijnu village, and Rajendra Singh, a resident of Pokhri village, were arrested last evening, Chakrata Tehsildar, D D Verma said. The three accused have been booked under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty). A probe is on in the matter, the Tehsildar said, adding, more arrests would be made after the identification of other accused. Vijay was on Friday attacked by a mob and his car vandalised after he came out of Silgur Devta temple with Dalit leaders in Chakrata. The mob attacked Vijay and the Dalit leader apparently for visiting the temple where entrance of persons belonging to backward castes is prohibited. Governor K K Paul and Chief Minister Harish Rawat yesterday met the BJP MP in a hospital. After meeting Vijay, Rawat had convened a high-level meeting with senior officials over the issue. New Delhi: Amid continued speculation about Rahul Gandhi's elevation as Congress president, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said Sonia Gandhi was the "unifying factor" without whom the party would have "disintegrated". "Leader(ship) is their internal affair. I can only say this much. It is because of Soniaji that Congress is united. Otherwise it would have got disintegrated. This is my view although I do not approve of dynasty," Naidu said. "Dynasty is nasty in democracy but it is tasty to some people particularly Congress and its supporters. But the reality has to be accepted. Sonia is the unifying factor for Congress party," the Parliamentary affairs minister told PTI in an interview. Referring to the outcome of assembly polls in four states and the Union Territory of Puducherry, Naidu, however, said "But as a leader her leadership has not succeeded. You have seen that." About Sonia Gandhi's call for introspection following the defeat, he said, "That's not our concern, it is left to them, they should introspect. It is not a question of policy. It is a question of approach. They should re-orient their approach and policies and then conduct (themselves) in a better manner. Replying to questions about Rahul Gandhi's elevation, he said the Congress vice president was already practically running the party. "There is no doubt about it. What is the problem if he gets a bigger role or becomes president of the party or becomes the Leader of Opposition also or the Leader of Congress Party in Parliament also. There is no problem. "He (Rahul) has been at the helm of affairs, to my knowledge, for the last 12 years. The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted to bring an ordinance. He tore it off and threw it away and his words prevailed. If they want to make him leader, best of luck to them. I have no problem. After all, he is youngster," he said. Chandigarh: At least nine people were killed on Sunday after the vehicle they were travelling in rammed into a stationary truck in Amritsar in Punjab, police said. The incident took place in the wee hours today on the Gurdaspur-Amritsar highway near village Boparai, the report said. At least seven others were injured in the accident and were rushed to hospitals in Amritsar, which is 250 km from capital city Chandigarh, police officials said. The victims were travelling to Amritsar to visit Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh shrines. The vehicle was clearly overloaded, added the officials. Chandel: Six Assam Rifles personnel were killed by militants in an ambush in Manipur's Chandel district near the Indo-Myanmar border on Sunday. One JCO (Junior Commissioned Officer) and five jawans of 29 Assam Rifles were ambushed at around 1 PM when they were returning to their camp after inspecting a landslide site at Holenjang village in the interior tribal district. The militants also snatched four AK rifles, one INSAS rifle, one LMG rifle from them, as per reports. After the attack, the troops retaliated but the insurgents managed to flee under thick forest cover and bad weather. It is suspected that two or more militant groups jointly carried out the attack in Joupi Hengshi area under Molcham police station, defence and police officials said, as per PTI. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh directed security forces to take "strongest possible action" against militants involved in the ambush. Singh reviewed the situation with Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other top officials in the security establishment and also spoke to Assam Rifles Director General about the attack, officials said in New Delhi. "The area of the encounter has been cordoned off and intensive combing operations have been launched to neutralise the insurgent group and prevent them from crossing over to Myanmar," Assam Rifles officials said. Besides Subedar Baldeo Sharma, the JCO, the other deceased were identified as riflemen Pawan Kumar, Mahesh Gurung, Bhupender Kumar and Akhilesh Kumar Pandey and havildar Surajit Barla. Their mortal remains are being sent to their homes. Last year, 18 Army personnel were killed in the same district in an ambush by NSCN(K) militants. Earlier, in October last year, a JCO of Assam Rifles was killed in an ambush by suspected Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) at the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur's Ukhrul district. And in April this years, one 35 Assam Rifles jawan was killed after an IED had exploded near the northern wall of the Assam Rifles Transit camp at Minuthongnear Khuman Lampak Sports Complex. The Assam Rifles is said to be the oldest paramilitary force of India. (With PTI inputs) Baghdad: Iraq's military said on Sunday it was preparing to launch an offensive to retake the Islamic State stronghold of Falluja and told residents to get ready to leave before fighting started. Families who could not flee should raise white flags to mark their location in the city 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, the army`s media unit said in a statement on state television. Falluja, a long-time bastion of Sunni Muslim jihadists, was the first city to fall to Islamic State, in January 2014, six months before the group swept through large parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria. The Iraqi army, police and Iranian-backed Shi`ite militias, backed by air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition, have surrounded Falluja since late last year. The jihadists have prevented residents from leaving for months. The army "is asking citizens that are still in Falluja to be prepared to leave the city through secured routes that will be announced later," the statement said, without saying when any offensive might start. Deputy district council chairman Fail al-Essawi said three corridors would be opened for civilians to camps west, southwest and southeast of the city. The United Nations and Human Rights Watch said last month residents of Falluja were facing acute shortages of food and medicine amid a siege by government forces. Aid has not reached the city since the Iraqi military recaptured nearby Ramada in December. Essawi told a local television channel that more than 75,000 civilians remained in Falluja, in keeping with a recent U.S. military estimate of 60,000 to 90,000. Around 300,000 people lived in the city on the Euphrates river before the war. Known as the "City of Minarets and Mother of Mosques", Falluja is a focus for Sunni Muslim faith and identity in Iraq. It was badly damaged in two offensives by U.S. forces against al Qaeda insurgents in 2004. Besides Falluja, Islamic State still controls vast swathes of territory and major cities like Mosul in the north, which Iraqi authorities have pledged to retake this year. Aboard Air Force One/Hanoi: US President Barack Obama on Sunday headed for his first visit to Vietnam, a trip aimed at sealing the transformation of an old enemy into a new partner to help counter China's growing assertiveness in the region. Four decades after a war with Vietnam that deeply divided opinion in America, Obama aims to boost defense and economic ties with the country`s communist rulers while also prodding them on human rights, aides say. His visit has been preceded by a debate in Washington over whether Obama should use the three-day visit starting Monday to roll back an arms embargo on Hanoi, one of the last vestiges of wartime animosity. That would anger Beijing, which resents U.S. efforts to forge stronger military bonds with its neighbours amid rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea. But there was no immediate word of a final U.S. decision on the issue. Vietnam`s poor human rights record is a sticking point, but the Obama administration appears increasingly swayed toward giving Hanoi some leeway to build its deterrent against Beijing. Obama`s visit follows what the Pentagon called an "unsafe" intercept by Chinese fighter jets of a U.S. military reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea on Tuesday. "Nobody has any illusions," said Evan Medeiros, Obama`s former top Asia adviser. "This trip sends important signals to China about U.S. activism in the region and growing U.S. concern about Chinese behavior." Vietnam`s government earlier this month said lifting the embargo would show mutual trust and that buying arms from its partners was "normal". There has been much excitement about Obama`s arrival in a country with a young population enthusiastic about closer U.S. ties, and resentful of Vietnam`s economic dependence on its unpopular neighbour China. "Obama visit to Vietnam is closure of the past," said Hanoi cyclo driver Vu Van Manh. "What`s important is the present. The two countries can bond more to develop both economies." As a sign of the capitalism that now thrives in Vietnam, some opportunistic businesses are using pictures of a smiling Obama to sell their products. Bilateral trade has swelled 10 times over since ties were normalised in 1995 to around $45 billion now. Vietnam is Southeast Asia`s biggest exporter to the United States, with textiles and electronics the largest volumes. `UPGRADE` OF RELATIONS Washington wants Vietnam to open up on the economic front and move closer militarily, including increased visits by U.S. warships and possibly access to the strategic harbor at Cam Ranh Bay, U.S. officials say. "What we want to demonstrate with this visit is a significant upgrade in the relationship ... even as we have areas of difference," said Ben Rhodes, Obama`s deputy national security adviser. But the trip will be punctuated by reminders of the past. Obama will be accompanied by Secretary of State John Kerry, who after a tour in Vietnam as a young Navy officer became an antiwar protester. Obama will in Hanoi meet Vietnam`s triumvirate of leaders, President Tran Dai Quang, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and party chief, Nguyen Phu Trong. Phuc and Quang took office only last month. Those meetings are almost certain to have the backdrop of busts of the late revolutionary Ho Chi Minh, revered by Vietnamese but widely reviled by Americans during a war that killed hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese and 58,000 U.S. troops. In the commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, Obama will meet entrepreneurs and tout a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal he has championed. But the name of the city, the capital of the now defunct South Vietnam, evokes searing images for many Americans of a final frantic U.S. airlift in 1975. While Vietnam wants warmer ties, some among the party`s old guard remain suspicious that the U.S. end-game is to undermine their one-party rule. Obama arrives just hours after what is Vietnam`s five-yearly day of democracy, a parliamentary election in which nearly all the candidates were Communist Party members. Obama plans to meet dissidents amid U.S. concerns about Vietnam`s heavy-handedness toward opponents. A long serving political prisoner was freed on Friday, in a possible gesture ahead of Obama`s visit. Washington: Taliban leader Mullah Mansour was likely killed in an airstrike in Pakistan late Saturday, a US official told CNN. The official said the strike occurred on Saturday in a remote area of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal. The official said Mansour was the target of the strike, adding that a second adult male combatant travelling with him in a vehicle was also likely killed. US officials were still assessing the results, the official said. The strike was carried out by multiple unmanned aircraft operated by US Special Operations forces. There was no collateral damage, the official added. President Barack Obama authorised the strike, the official said. The Pentagon confirmed the strike in a statement but did not say whether Mansour was killed. "Mansour has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and coalition partners," Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in the statement. "Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict." Cook continued, "Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansour's assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous US and coalition personnel. We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more information as it becomes available." Islamabad: Pakistani media reports on Sunday said a US airstrike in Balochistan province killed a taxi driver and a passenger but not Taliban chief Mullah Mansour. CNN earlier on Sunday reported citing a US official that Mansour was was killed when the strike occurred in a remote area of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal. The official said Mansour was the target of the strike, adding that a second adult male combatant travelling with him in a vehicle was also likely killed. According to report by Pakistani Urdu channel Samaa TV, the bodies of the two victims were brought to a hospital in Nushki, a district close to Ahmad Wal, where officials found their identity cards, Xinhua news agency reported. The driver was identified as Muhammad Azam and the passenger as Wali Muhammad, a resident from Chaman, a town on the Pakistan-Afghan border, the report said. Local Urdu TV Channel 92 News quoted an unidentified Taliban commander denying Mansour's death. Al Jazeera also reported that Taliban had denied the reports of Mansour's death. Born in the 1960s, Mullah Mansour was officially announced as the new top leader of Afghan Taliban on July 30, 2015, a day after the news about the death of former Afghan chief Mullah Omar was disclosed. Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was targeted and "likely killed" Saturday in a US drone strike in a remote area of Pakistan along the Afghan border, a US official said. The airstrike, authorized by President Barack Obama, also killed a second adult male combatant as the two traveled in a vehicle southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, but no civilians were killed, the official said under condition of anonymity. "Mansour was the target and was likely killed," in the strikes, which occurred around 6:00 am (1000 GMT) and were carried out by multiple unmanned aircraft operated by US Special Operations Forces, the official said. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement that Mansour "has been the leader of the Taliban and actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners." Mansour was appointed head of the Taliban in July 2015 following the revelation that the group`s founder Mullah Omar had been dead for two years. "Since the death of Mullah Omar and Mansur`s assumption of leadership, the Taliban have conducted many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous US and Coalition personnel," Cook said. Officials are still assessing the results and will provide more information when available, he added.Michael O`Hanlon of the Brookings Institution think-tank said Mansour`s death may help the US effort in Afghanistan "modestly." "The war has been going on for so long, the Taliban has so many leaders and so much ability to function at the local level even without strong central guidance, that we would be well advised to keep expectations in check," he said. US lawmakers welcomed the news and some called on the Obama administration to take a firmer stand. "I appreciate President Obama for authorizing the attack," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said, adding "I strongly encourage the Obama Administration to not withdraw troops until conditions on the ground permit their withdrawal." Republican Senator John McCain, head of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, said he hoped "this strike against the Taliban`s top leader will lead the administration to reconsider its policy of prohibiting US forces from targeting the Taliban."Born in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar sometime in the early 1960s, Mansour was part of the Taliban movement from its start in the 1990s and has effectively been in charge since 2013, according to Taliban sources. He shuns public appearances. The few pictures believed to be of him show a thickset man with the dark beard and turban that are virtually the uniform for senior Taliban cadres. Mansour spent part of his life in Pakistan, like millions of Afghans who fled the Soviet occupation. He succeeded Omar, the one-eyed warrior-cleric who led the Taliban from its rise in the chaos of the Afghan civil war of the 1990s. "Mansur has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict," Cook said. In addition to fighting on the ground and pressure from all sides to negotiate, the Taliban also faces the challenge of halting the expansion of the Islamic State group in Afghanistan, which has been recruiting disaffected fighters. London: British Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday said he would be very happy to meet Donald Trump if the controversial presumptive Republican presidential nominee were to travel to the UK despite his "dangerous" views on Muslims. Cameron was being interviewed by British television channel ITV's 'Peston on Sunday' show when he was asked if he would meet Trump, 69. "I don't know. American presidential candidates have made a habit of coming through Europe and through the UK, and if that happens I'd be very happy to," Cameron, 49, said. But he repeated his claim that Trump's proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US is wrong. "It's a very dangerous thing to say... As well as a divisive and wrong one," he said. "I don't withdraw in any way what I said about the policy of not letting Muslims in to America. I do think that is wrong and divisive. "We've got to demonstrate that what we're up against here is a very small minority of a minority, Islamist extremists, that want to divide our societies, and we've got to explain that there are billions of people in our world who are devout Muslims but who believe in liberal democracy and all the things we believe in," Cameron said. Cameron has previously said he will work with the winner of November's election and is committed to maintaining the US-UK relationship, after Trump indicated that the two may not have a "very good relationship". Trump has suggested a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the US "until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on". Earlier this week, Trump indicated that he may end up having a bad relationship with Cameron after the British leader criticised his controversial proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US as "divisive, stupid and wrong". A petition has been signed by half a million people in Britain, demanding Trump be banned from the country. Though lawmakers have debated the issue, they have rejected a ban. TORONTO (Reuters) - Authorities in Canada's wildfire-ravaged energy heartland have lifted evacuation orders on Suncor Energy Inc and Syncrude oil sites after rain and cold weather helped dampen the flames. Municipal authorities in the oil town of Fort McMurray lifted the mandatory evacuation orders on Suncor's base plant and Syncrude's Mildred Lake facility, as well as nearby camps that house oil workers, late on Friday. Suncor said on Facebook that a limited number of staff will be back at some of its sites on Monday at the earliest and that all will return "in a phased manner over the next few weeks," but it is unclear when it will restart production. A Suncor spokeswoman said on Saturday that the plans posted on Facebook had not changed. Syncrude, majority-owned by Suncor, is still monitoring the situation and does not yet have a timeline for restarting production, although it does have skeleton crews at its sites, a spokesman said. Fort McMurray itself still sits largely empty, after its entire population of nearly 90,000 was evacuated in the northern Alberta fire that has blackened more than 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) since it began earlier this month. The fire also triggered a prolonged shutdown that has cut Canadian oil output by a million barrels a day. The blaze forced the evacuation of Suncor and Syncrude facilities and nearby camps after it jumped a critical firebreak late Monday, moving north of Fort McMurray into oil sand camp areas. Some 8,000 workers were evacuated. Producers have since signaled a gradual increase in operations. The fire has "waned" since Friday, though it remains the same size Saturday morning, said Alberta wildfire information officer Laura Stewart. She said the fire has not had additional impact on oil facilities and is not expected to grow in size over the weekend. The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which oversees Fort McMurray, tweeted the area received 2 mm (0.079 inches) of rain overnight. Some of the evacuees from Fort McMurray may be allowed to return as soon as June 1, if air quality improves and other safety conditions are met. (Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Alexander Smith and Chizu Nomiyama) By Mirwais Harooni and Phil Stewart KABUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pakistan accused the United States on Sunday of violating its sovereignty with a drone strike against the leader of the Afghan Taliban, in perhaps the most high-profile U.S. incursion into Pakistani territory since the 2011 raid to kill Osama bin Laden. Afghanistan said the attack killed Mullah Akhtar Mansour, which, if confirmed, could trigger a succession battle within an insurgency that has proved resilient despite a decade and a half of U.S. military deployments to Afghanistan. Afghan guerrilla commander Sirajuddin Haqqani, a possible successor to Mansour, would likely prove an even more implacable foe of Afghan government forces and their U.S. allies. Still, the Saturday drone strike, which U.S. officials said was authorized by President Barack Obama, showed the United States was prepared to go after the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which the government in Kabul has repeatedly accused of sheltering the insurgents. Pakistan protested on Sunday, saying the U.S. government did not inform Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif beforehand. "This is a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty," Sharif told reporters in London. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that Washington only notified Pakistan after the strike. It was unclear how long Mansour might have been inside Pakistan before the strike. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry disclosed that a passport found at the site of the strike, bearing a different name, carried a valid Iranian visa. It added that the purported passport holder was believed to have returned to Pakistan from Iran on Saturday, the day of the drone strike targeting Mansour. Photos of the passport, bearing the name Wali Muhammad, seen by Reuters showed a passing resemblance to some of the old photos available of Mansour. If it is confirmed that Mansour had traveled to Iran before his death, it would raise new questions about the Taliban's use of neighbouring territories, including Iran. 'KILLED IN A DRONE STRIKE' The United States stopped short of formally declaring Mansour dead, a day after announcing the strike. "At this point, were not quite prepared to confirm that he was killed, though it appears likely," U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told "Fox News Sunday." Afghan government Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, and the country's top intelligence agency, said the attack had been successful. "Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour was killed in a drone strike ... His car was attacked in Dahl Bandin," Abdullah said in a post on Twitter, referring to a district in Pakistan's Baluchistan province just over the border with Afghanistan. The Taliban have made no official statement, but two Taliban sources said the Rahbari Shura, or leadership council, met on Sunday to begin considering the succession, a move that strongly suggested they accept that he is dead. They considered Haqqani, seen by supporters as a strong leader who would defy the U.S. and Afghan governments, and Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, a potential unifier because of his fathers name, as well as former Guantanamo detainee Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir and Mullah Sherin. The meeting was expected to continue on Monday and naming a new leader could take days or weeks, the sources said. "Based purely on matters of hierarchy, (Haqqani) would be the favorite to succeed Mansour," said Michael Kugelman, a senior associate at the Woodrow Wilson Institute think tank. POSED 'CONTINUING, IMMINENT THREAT' The drone strike underscored the belief among U.S. commanders that the Taliban under Mansour's leadership have grown increasing close to militant groups like al Qaeda, posing a direct threat to U.S. security. U.S Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States had conducted a precision air strike that targeted Mansour "in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border". Mansour posed a "continuing, imminent threat" to U.S. personnel and Afghans, Kerry told a news conference while on a visit to Myanmar. "If people want to stand in the way of peace and continue to threaten and kill and blow people up, we have no recourse but to respond and I think we responded appropriately," Kerry said. Efforts to broker talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban had already stalled after a suicide attack in Kabul last month that killed 64 people and prompted President Ashraf Ghani to prioritize military operations over negotiations. But Ghani's office said on Sunday the removal of Mansour could open the door to talks and that Taliban members who wanted to end bloodshed should return from "alien soil" and join peace efforts. Pakistan has in the past denounced U.S. strikes on its soil, calling them a violation of sovereignty, but U.S. officials have said Pakistan had approved some strikes, in particular on militants fighting the Pakistani state. A Pakistani official in the area said a car had been blown up and two unidentified people had been killed. It was not clear how the vehicle was blown up and the two bodies had been taken to a hospital, said the official, who declined to be identified. One of the Taliban commanders who dismissed the report of Mansour's killing said it had nevertheless spread alarm. "This rumor has created panic among our followers across Afghanistan and Pakistan," the senior Taliban member said by phone, adding he was telling his comrades to ignore the report. In December, Mansour was reported to have been wounded and possibly killed in a shootout at the house of an insurgent leader in Pakistan. The Taliban eventually released an audio recording, purportedly from Mansour, to dispel the reports. (Additional reporting by James Mackenzie, Drazen Jorgic and David Morgan; Editing by Mary Milliken and Peter Cooney) HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's central bank said on Tuesday a failed hacking attempt on Tien Phong Bank (TPBank) using the SWIFT messaging system sought to fraudulently transfer 1.2 million euros ($1.36 million) to a Slovenian bank late last year in one transaction. The thwarted transfer on Dec. 8 was the only hack attempt via SWIFT detected by TPBank and no other Vietnamese lenders, or the central bank itself, have been affected, Le Manh Hung, head of the State Bank of Vietnam's Information Technology Department told Reuters in an interview. Interpol was immediately informed of the Dec. 8 attack, Hung said. A third-party vendor that TPBank had used to connect to the SWIFT money transfer system was possibly infected with malware and its servers were based in Singapore, Hung said, adding he did not know the identity of the vendor. ($1 = 0.8838 euros) (Reporting by Martin Petty and Mai Nguyen; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) By Felix Onuah and Anamesere Igboeroteonwu ABUJA/ONITSHA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said he ordered a heightened military presence in the restive Niger Delta region to deal with a resurgence of attacks on oil and gas facilities, a day after yet another pipeline explosion. British Foreign Minster Philip Hammond warned on Saturday military action would not end a wave of attacks in the southern swamps because it did not address rising anger among residents over poverty despite sitting on much of Nigeria's oil wealth. The rise in attacks in the Delta in the last few weeks has driven Nigerian oil output to a more than 20-year low, worsening a drain on public finances. A group calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers has claimed responsibility for several sophisticated attacks. Speaking at a meeting with Shell's upstream head, Andrew Brown, Buhari said he had instructed the chief of naval staff to reorganise and strengthen the military Joint Task Force to deal with the militancy. "We have to be very serious with the situation in the Niger Delta because it threatens the national economy," Buhari said in a statement. "I assure you that everything possible will be done to protect personnel and oil assets in the region," he added. Nigeria had several times announced army reinforcements to the Delta but diplomats said the military has achieved little as militants were operating in small groups and hiding in the hard-to-access swamps. "Mr. Brown had appealed for an urgent solution to rising crime and militancy in the Niger Delta," the presidency said. An industry source told Reuters that major oil firms warned Vice President Yemi Osinbajo this month that a military crackdown was actually fuelling dissent in the Delta. The presidency statement also quoted Brown as saying Shell would not pull out of Nigeria despite the violence and that it was in talks with state energy firm NNPC for new oil and gas projects. Their was no immediate comment from Shell, but its country chair said in an interview published on Sunday the firm was committed to long-term investment in the West African nation. Buhari's comments came after locals said a gas pipeline operated by NNPC was attacked late on Thursday. The pipeline, which connects the Escravos oil terminal to Warri, supplies gas to different parts of the country. Eric Omare, a spokesman for the Ijaw Youth Council, a youth umbrella, said the attack occurred near the village of Ogbe Ijoh, near Warri, "on the pipeline belonging to NNPC. Resident James Dadiowei said he heard a "loud bang" at the pipeline, but an NNPC spokesman was unable to confirm the attack. On Thursday, intruders blocked access to Exxon Mobil's terminal exporting Qua Iboe, Nigeria's largest crude stream. And, earlier this month, Shell workers at Nigeria's Bonga facilities were evacuated. In February, the Avengers claimed an attack on an undersea pipeline, forcing Shell to shut a 250,000 barrel-a-day Forcados terminal. The group also claimed responsibility for blasting a Chevron platform in early May, shutting the Warri and Kaduna refineries. Power outages across Nigeria worsened as gas supplies were also affected. The army said on Sunday it had arrested several suspected members of the Avengers, but locals said they had been freed. "They were released on Wednesday evening," Omare said. Residents said the military had described them as Avengers but locals had protested they were Chevron pipeline inspectors who had shown the soldiers arresting them their identity cards. Militant attacks have spiked since authorities issued in January an arrest warrant for a prominent former militant leader who with other rebels in 2009 agreed to stop blowing up pipelines in exchange for cash, a plan Buhari has trimmed as part of an anti-graft drive. (Additional reporting by Tife Owolabi, in Yenagoa; writing by Alexis Akwagyiram and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Alistair Bell and Cynthia Osterman) Turkeys parliament on Friday passed a bill that would temporarily strip lawmakers of their immunity from prosecutiona move critics say targets Kurdish lawmakers and other critics of the government. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told supporters the measure would get rid of guilty lawmakers in parliament. It could also allow Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to go after political opponents and expel lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), as well as other political opponents. According to The Wall Street Journal, this temporary change to the countrys constitution would speed up prosecution of opposition parties. Turkish law grants members of parliament full immunity from prosecution. The bill temporarily amends the constitution to strip immunity from 138 lawmakers to allow a speedy prosecution. These lawmakers, which include 27 AKP party members and dozens of members from the secular Republican Peoples Party, are being investigated in over 650 cases. Turkish law allows lawmakers immunity to be rescinded via a regular parliamentary debate and vote on each alleged crime. Fridays measure bypasses such a lengthy procedure, which given the volume of allegations could have taken years. In 1994, parliamentarians enacted this procedure against four deputies of a now-defunct pro-Kurdish party on charges of separatist activities in connection with the PKK. Kurdish lawmakers say the charges are trumped-up, and this new law would allow Erdogan to push them out of parliament and tighten his grip on power. HDP leaders called the move undemocratic and said they would challenge it in Turkeys top court. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. Dozens of people gathered at The Forks in Winnipeg on Saturday to protest genetically modified organisms (GMO) and agricultural business giant, Monsanto. The protest comes days after a report that found GMOs are safe to eat. The first GMO animal salmon was also approved for sale in Canada this week. According to Josh Sigurdson, who helped organize Saturday's rally, the salmon's approval is not only a step in the wrong direction, but one he says could lead to the devastating consequences he says are already underway thanks to Monsanto. "My big concern is that they spray these crops with glyphosate and glyphosate is a known neurotoxin and that gets into the food," he said. "Just like water, the plants drink up the glyphosate and then we end up eating this and it's dangerous to our health." On Saturday, it was all about getting the message out loud and clear, Sigurdson said. "People have to know what's in their food and we want to get that awareness out to everyone here at The Forks today so that they can go home [and] make an informed decision on what they buy, what they feed their children," he said. "We are just here to provide our side of the story but our side of the story is backed up by sound science." Monsanto 'proud' of work on GMOs Charla Lord, a corporate engagement representative with Monsanto, said the company understands their products and practices aren't favoured by everyone, but added that doesn't negate how much the organization's work has benefited farmers and consumers alike. "The 22,000 people of Monsanto are committed to having an open dialogue about food and agriculture we're proud of the work we do, and we're eager for people to know more about us. We're also proud of our collaboration with farmers and partnering organizations that help make a more balanced meal accessible for everyone. Our goal is to help farmers do this in a more sustainable way using fewer resources and having a smaller impact on the environment." Story continues Meanwhile Rose Stevens, who runs No GMO Manitoba, a group dedicated to raising awareness about GMOs and their impact on health, said she was calling for people to demand safety studies on glyphosate from politicians and government. "Why is Health Canada not coming forward with the safety studies?" Stevens said. "I want to make people aware of the fact that they're being poisoned daily, slowly. They're being poisoned with these chemicals and GMOs and they need to speak out or they will all end up being sick." In a 408-page report released Tuesday by The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, the science advisory board concluded GMOs are safe and healthy to eat, despite what some opponents say. "The committee concluded that no differences have been found that implicate a higher risk to human health safety from these [GMO] foods than from their non-[GMO]ounterparts," the report states. Concern over salmon deemed safe Even for some who were not involved in Saturday's rally or any movement to protest GMO at all the news regarding GMO salmon sales in Canada is concerning. Deborah Schweyer was grocery shopping on Saturday at the time of the protest. While she said she is not ready to purchase GMO food, she believes if it's not labelled as such she has no choice. "[If it's not labelled] that's a problem. It's important for people to know what they're buying, to know where it comes from, how it's created, how it's processed if it's being processed. It's important for consumers to have some choice," she said. "I'm not prepared to buy it specifically. If I don't know the difference then I guess there's not much I can do about it." LISLE, Ill., May 21, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eckrich, the makers of naturally hardwood smoked sausage and savory deli meats, partnered with SHOP n SAVE and Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families, to honor a Saltsburg, Pa. military family on Saturday. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d2547e00-3461-490f-9f80-ba652ba1d180 Eckrich hosted a special presentation to honor, thank and support the Morrison family during the SHOP n SAVE Westmoreland County Airshow at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pa. The family was surprised with a gift of free groceries for one year at SHOP n SAVE, courtesy of Eckrich. As part of the event, attendees were treated to interactive games and a chance to win tickets to see platinum-selling country music star and Eckrich spokesperson, Randy Houser. In addition, Eckrich donated 300 deli sandwiches to event volunteers. Brent Morrison served in the Army for more than three years and was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He earned a Combat Action Badge and several other awards. His wife, Heather, is his caregiver and a member of the Operation Homefront Hearts of Valor program. The family has three children. "We are very thankful for companies that support our military," said Heather Morrison. "This is awesome, SHOP n SAVE and Eckrich are amazing. We cannot wait to go shopping with our three children." The surprise is part of the ongoing campaign by Eckrich to honor, thank and support military families through its partnership with Operation Homefront. The Morrison family is supported by Operation Homefronts Hearts of Valor program, a network of caregivers for wounded, ill or injured service members. Operation Homefront supports these caregivers through annual retreats, support groups and online communities. Eckrich, a brand of Smithfield Foods, in its fifth year of partnership with Operation Homefront, has donated more than $2 million to the organization since 2012. Now through July 4th, Eckrich is donating 5 cents for every purchase of specially marked products, up to $500,000, to Operation Homefront to assist military families. Eckrich continues to thank, support and honor our military families across the country, said Chuck Gitkin, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Smithfield Foods. These families make great sacrifices and we appreciate SHOP n SAVEs partnership and support for military families. Today, we were proud to thank the Morrison family for their service and to present them with one year of free groceries. For more information about Eckrich, please visit www.eckrich.com. About Eckrich Founded by Peter Eckrich in 1894, Eckrich has a rich heritage starting from a small meat market in Fort Wayne, Ind. Through it all, Eckrich meats have been recognized for their great taste and supreme quality, craftsmanship, care and pride. For more information, visit www.eckrich.com. About Smithfield Foods Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, Cook's, John Morrell, Gwaltney, Kretschmar, Margherita, Curly's, Carando and Healthy Ones. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com. About Operation Homefront A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront builds strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. With more than 3,200 volunteers nationwide, Operation Homefront has provided assistance to tens of thousands of military families since its inception shortly after 9/11. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity oversight groups, 92 percent of Operation Homefronts expenditures go directly to programs that provide support to our military families. For more information, go to www.OperationHomefront.net. As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ A record low turnout in Cyprus elections Sunday resulted in the biggest shakeup in the island's parliamentary history following a three-year economic downturn and amid disillusion with the political establishment. The ruling rightwing DISY party won with 30 percent of the vote, but the polls also resulted in the most fractious assembly ever with the far-right National Popular Front (ELAM) entering parliament. The main opposition party, the communist AKEL, garnered 25 percent, a drop in support of seven percent. After what was seen as a protest vote against the two established parties and with the low turnout playing into the hands of smaller parties, an unprecedented eight parties will make up the new parliament. Election officials gave a turnout of 67 percent, with an abstention rate of one third, a record for Greek Cypriot parliamentary polls in which voting is in theory compulsory. President Nicos Anastasiades, whose rightwing government negotiated a 2013 eurozone bailout and has claimed credit for the island's subsequent recovery, had urged voters not to abstain. "I believe that the decision of much of the electorate abstaining from the elections should trouble everyone," he said. His party leader Averof Neophytou was more upbeat. "We are the only governing party in Europe that introduced the toughest bailout programme and we are still the first party," he said, while acknowledging that politicians needed "to win back the trust of the voters". Opposition leader Andros Kyprianou said: "Akel voters have not gone to other parties, they just didn't show up." - Scandals and disenchantment - A spate of corruption scandals in public office and parliament's handling of the eurozone bailout agreement have sparked widespread anger and disenchantment with the political scene. ELAM's entry into the 56-member Cypriot parliament, having won 3.7 percent of the 360,000 votes cast, a result which is expected to give it two seats, echoes the wave of rightwing populism that has swept through Europe. ELAM defends the Athens-inspired coup of 1974 that sought to unite the island with Greece and that triggered Turkey's invasion of its northern third, ushering in a division that remains to this day. Progress on UN-backed talks to reunify the island was not an election issue because both the main parties support reunification of the divided island under a federal roof. But the weakened position in parliament of AKEL, a vocal supporter of the talks, could spell trouble for the process. The negotiations are at a crucial stage and Greek Cypriot leader Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Mustafa Akinci must make painful compromises to reach a deal. Cyprus has emerged from three years of economic slowdown after the government imposed harsh austerity measures in exchange for European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout. In return for 10 billion euros ($13 billion at the time), Cyprus agreed in March 2013 to wind down its second-largest bank, Laiki, and impose losses on depositors in undercapitalised top lender Bank of Cyprus. In March this year, the euro group of finance ministers praised Nicosia for its successful exit from the bailout programme. And the Cyprus economy is expected to grow by 2.2 percent in 2016. A total of 542,915 people were eligible to vote on Sunday, with a record 493 hopefuls standing for parliament. By Mirwais Harooni and Phil Stewart KABUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pakistan on Sunday accused the United States of violating its sovereignty with a drone strike against the leader of the Afghan Taliban in a remote border area just inside Pakistan. Afghanistan said the attack killed Mullah Akhtar Mansour. But a Pakistani passport found at the site bears the name Wali Muhammad and the passport holder was believed to have travelled to Pakistan from Iran on the day of the attack, according to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. Mansour's death could trigger a succession battle and deepen fractures that emerged in the insurgent movement after the death of its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was confirmed in 2015, more than two years after it occurred. The Saturday drone strike, which U.S. officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama and included multiple drones, showed the United States was prepared to go after the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which the government in Kabul has repeatedly accused of sheltering the insurgents. But Pakistan protested on Sunday, saying the U.S. government did not inform Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif beforehand. "This is a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty," Sharif told reporters in London. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that Washington had only notified Pakistan after the strike. Afghan government chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, and the country's top intelligence agency, said the attack had been successful. "Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour was killed in a drone strike ... His car was attacked in Dahl Bandin," Abdullah said in a post on Twitter, referring to a district in Pakistan's Baluchistan province just over the border with Afghanistan. One of the charred bodies at the site has been identified as a local taxi driver but a badly burnt second body has not, according to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. The ministry did not directly comment on the possibility that Mansour had been travelling under another name. Photos of the Wali Muhammad passport found at the site, which were seen by Reuters, show a passing resemblance to old photos of Mansour. The ministry said the passport contained a valid Iranian visa. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told an interviewer it would be days before Washington could be certain that Mansour was dead. "At this point, were not quite prepared to confirm that he was killed, though it appears likely," he said on Fox News Sunday. POSED 'CONTINUING, IMMINENT THREAT' The drone strike underscored the belief among U.S. commanders that under Mansour's leadership, the Taliban have grown increasing close to militant groups like al Qaeda, posing a direct threat to U.S. security. U.S Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States had conducted a precision air strike that targeted Mansour "in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border". Mansour posed a "continuing, imminent threat" to U.S. personnel and Afghans, Kerry told a news conference while on a visit to Myanmar. "If people want to stand in the way of peace and continue to threaten and kill and blow people up, we have no recourse but to respond and I think we responded appropriately," Kerry said. The Taliban have made no official statement but two Taliban sources said the Rahbari Shura, or leadership council, met on Sunday to begin considering the succession, a move that strongly suggests they accept that he is dead. They considered Siraj Haqqani, seen by supporters as a strong leader who would defy the U.S. and Afghan governments, and Mullah Omars son Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, a potential unifier because of his fathers name, as well as former Guantanamo detainee Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir and Mullah Sherin. The meeting was expected to continue on Monday and naming a new leader could take days or weeks, the sources said. "Based purely on matters of hierarchy, (Haqqani) would be the favourite to succeed Mansour," said Michael Kugelman, a senior associate at the Woodrow Wilson Institute think-tank. Efforts to broker talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban had already stalled after a suicide attack in Kabul last month that killed 64 people and prompted President Ashraf Ghani to prioritize military operations over negotiations. However Ghani's office said on Sunday that the removal of Mansour could open the door to talks and said Taliban who wanted to end bloodshed should return from "alien soil" and join peace efforts. Pakistan has in the past denounced U.S. strikes on its soil, calling them a violation of sovereignty, but U.S. officials have said Pakistan has approved some strikes, in particular on militants fighting the Pakistani state. A Pakistani official in the area said a car had been blown up and two unidentified people had been killed. It was not clear how the vehicle was blown up and the two bodies had been taken to a hospital, said the official, who declined to be identified. One of the Taliban commanders who dismissed the report of Mansour's killing said it had nevertheless spread alarm. "This rumour has created panic among our followers across Afghanistan and Pakistan," the senior Taliban member said by phone, adding he was telling his comrades to ignore the report. In December, Mansour was reportedly wounded and possibly killed in a shootout at the house of an insurgent leader in Pakistan. The Taliban eventually released an audio recording, purportedly from Mansour, to dispel the reports. (Additional reporting by James Mackenzie, Drazen Jorgic and David Morgan; Editing by Ros Russell and Mary Milliken) AFP News Ukraine on Sunday denounced as dangerous lies suggestions from Russia that it was preparing to use a "dirty bomb". Its western allies also dismissed the allegations from Moscow, just hours after Russia went public with the claims. In conversations with his British, French and Turkish counterparts, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu conveyed "concerns about possible provocations by Ukraine with the use of a 'dirty bomb'", Moscow said. Russia did not mention the alleged "dirty bomb" allegation in its statement following Shoigu's call with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin. "If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on social media. "I believe that now the world should react as harshly as possible." Earlier Sunday, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba denounced Moscow's claims as "absurd" and "dangerous". "Russians often accuse others of what they plan themselves," he added. A British defence ministry statement said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace had "refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation". And in Washington, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson dismissed Moscow's "transparently false" claim. "The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation," she added. - 'Vile strikes' - Russia also announced Sunday that it had destroyed a depot in central Ukraine storing over 100,000 tonnes of aviation fuel. Kyiv's energy operator meanwhile said scheduled power cuts had been introduced in the Ukrainian capital due to Russia's repeated strikes on the nation's power network. The blackouts started from 11:13 am (0813 GMT) with consumers in Kyiv divided into three groups "disconnected for a certain period of time", energy company DTEK said. DTEK reiterated calls for residents to use electricity "sparingly" and for businesses to limit their use of external lighting. More than one million Ukrainian households have lost electricity following recent Russian strikes, according to the Ukrainian presidency, at least a third of the country's power stations having been destroyed ahead of winter. Zelensky condemned the "vile strikes" in comments late Saturday, after Russian attacks caused power cuts across the country. - 'Save your strength' - In the southern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rig, deputy mayor Sergiy Miliutin was dealing with emergencies and power outages from his underground bunker, used as a venue for a children's martial arts competition. "I've reached a point where I just survive on my drive. You have to stay level-headed and save your strength. No one knows how long this will all last," he told AFP. The intensification of Russian strikes on Ukraine, particularly energy facilities, came after the bridge linking the annexed Crimea peninsula to mainland Russia was partially destroyed by an explosion earlier this month. It was another major setback for Moscow's forces, battling to contain a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south and east of the country. French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that it was for Ukrainians to decide when "peace is possible", in comments made in Rome at the start of a peace summit. Ukraine reported three deaths in an overnight Russian artillery strike in the Toretsk area, a governor of the eastern Donetsk region said. Inside Russia, two lines of defence have been built in the border region of Kursk to deal with any possible attack, a local governor said on Sunday. On Saturday Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor in the neighbouring Russian border region of Belgorod, said the construction of defence structures had begun. Gladkov said two civilians had been killed in strikes there Saturday, and that 15,000 people had been left without electricity. - Kherson evacuations - Meanwhile Ukraine's SBU intelligence service said it had detained two officials of Ukrainian aircraft engine maker Motor Sich on suspicion of working with Russia. The SBU said management at the company's plant in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region -- partly controlled by Russian forces -- had colluded with Russian state-owned defence conglomerate Rostec. The suspects had supplied Russia with Ukrainian aircraft engines that were used to make and repair attack helicopters, the SBU said. In the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, which Russia claims to have annexed, pro-Moscow officials on Saturday urged residents to leave "immediately" amid a "tense situation" at the front. Kherson, the region's main city, was the first to fall to Moscow's troops and retaking it would be a major prize in Ukraine's counter-offensive. A Moscow-installed official in Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, told Russian news agency Interfax on Saturday that around 25,000 people had left Kherson city to the left bank of the Dnipro River. Ukraine has denounced the removal of residents from Kherson, describing them as "deportations". bur-imm/raz/jj/lcm By Ahmed Aboulenein CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt said on Friday that its navy had found human remains, wreckage and the personal belongings of passengers floating in the Mediterranean, confirmation that an EgyptAir jet had plunged into the sea with 66 people on board. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi offered condolences for those on board, amounting to Egypt's official acknowledgement of their deaths, although there was still no explanation of why the Airbus had crashed. "The Egyptian navy was able to retrieve more debris from the plane, some of the passengers' belongings, human remains, and plane seats," the Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement. The navy was searching an area about 290 km (180 miles) north of Alexandria, just south of where the signal from the plane was lost early on Thursday. There was no sign of the bulk of the wreckage, or of a location signal from the "black box" flight recorders that are likely to provide the best clues to the cause of the crash. EgyptAir Chairman Safwat Moslem told state television that the current radius of the search zone was 40 miles, giving an area of 5,000 sq miles, but that it would be expanded as necessary. A European satellite spotted a 2 km-long oil slick in the Mediterranean, about 40 km southeast of the aircraft's last known position, the European Space Agency said. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said it was too early to rule out any cause for the crash. The aviation minister said a terrorist attack was more likely than a technical failure, but offered no evidence. NO CLAIM Although early suspicion centered on Islamist militants who blew up another airliner over Egypt seven months ago, no group had claimed responsibility more than 36 hours after the disappearance of flight MS804, an Airbus A320 flying from Paris to Cairo. CNN reported on Friday that flight data, from an automatic system called the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), suggested there were smoke alerts aboard the EgyptAir jet minutes before it crashed. ACARS routinely downloads flight data to the airline operating the aircraft. Two U.S. officials told Reuters an electronic sensor system had detected some kind of disturbance outside the jet around the time investigators believe it began falling from cruising altitude. They could not confirm CNN's report that smoke had been detected inside the cabin. One of the officials said the disturbance outside the aircraft may have been caused by its sudden and rapid breakup, but also could have been generated by some kind of mechanical fault or accident or a possible explosion or attack. The two officials asked for anonymity when speaking about the still-evolving investigation. Jihadists have been fighting Egypt's government since Sisi toppled an elected Islamist leader in 2013. In October, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for blowing up a Russian airliner that exploded after taking off from an Egyptian tourist resort. Russian investigators blamed a bomb smuggled on board. That crash devastated Egypt's tourist industry, one of the main sources of foreign exchange for a country of 80 million people, and another similar attack would crush hopes of it recovering. The plane vanished just as it was moving from Greek to Egyptian airspace control. Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said it had swerved radically and plunged from 37,000 feet to 15,000 before vanishing from Greek radar screens. Officials from a number of U.S. agencies told Reuters that a U.S. review of satellite imagery so far had not produced any signs of an explosion. They said the United States had not ruled out any possible causes for the crash, including mechanical failure, terrorism or a deliberate act by the pilot or crew. Three French investigators and a technical expert from Airbus arrived in Cairo early on Friday, airport sources said. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, played down comments from U.S. figures including likely presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton that terrorism was the most likely cause. "At this point, we still can't corroborate the theory that terrorism brought it down or there was some structural problem with the plane," he told CNN. "Certainly, the backdrop is suggestive of terrorism in the sense that we have the Russian plane in Sharm el-Sheikh and we have the aspiration we've seen time and time again, not only of ISIL (Islamic State) now but of AQAP (al Qaeda), still very potent and still very determined to bring down aircraft. But the reality is, we don't have hard evidence that this was terrorism yet." FAMILY OF PILOTS Hardline Islamists have targeted airports, airliners and tourist sites in Europe, Egypt, Tunisia and other Middle Eastern countries over the past few years. Khaled al-Gameel, head of crew at EgyptAir, said the pilot, Mahamed Saeed Ali Shouqair, had 15 years' experience and was in charge of training and mentoring younger pilots. "He comes from a pilot family; his uncle was a high-ranking pilot at EgyptAir and his cousin is also a pilot," Gameel said. "He was very popular and was known for taking it upon himself to settle disputes any two colleagues were having." A Facebook page that appeared to be Shouqair's showed no signs of Islamist sympathies. It included criticism of the Muslim Brotherhood, repostings of articles supporting President Sisi and pictures of Shouqair wearing aviator sunglasses. Two former senior crash investigators said the list of possible causes remained wide open and noted there had been cases where deliberate action had been suspected wrongly. In 1996, a terrorism probe was launched after a TWA jumbo jet crashed off Long Island on the east coast of the United States, but investigators later found it had probably been brought down by a fuel tank explosion. The EgyptAir plane was carrying 56 passengers, including one child and two infants, and 10 crew. They included 30 Egyptian and 15 French nationals, along with citizens of 10 other countries. The aircraft had made scheduled flights to Tunisia and Eritrea on Wednesday before arriving in Paris from Cairo. (Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; Writing by Lincoln Feast, Peter Graff and Kevin Liffey; Editing by Peter Millership and Tom Brown) By Paul Lienert and Alexandria Sage DETROIT/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Tesla Motors Inc has surprised parts makers with plans to move up the launch of high-volume production of its Model 3 to 2018, two years earlier than planned - an acceleration that supplier executives and industry consultants said would be difficult to achieve and potentially costly. In the past three months, Tesla has told suppliers the company was doubling its original production projections to 100,000 Model 3s in 2017 and 400,000 in 2018, several supplier industry executives familiar with the plans told Reuters. Details on Model 3 production projections have not been reported previously, and Tesla did not break out target volumes for the Model 3. Tesla has taken 373,000 orders for the Model 3 - which has a starting price of $35,000, about half its Model S - and has said it would begin customer deliveries in late 2017. But it has made no promises, and, on earlier models, customers waited months for delivery. Citing "tremendous demand," Chief Executive Elon Musk told analysts on an April call that the company planned to boost total production, including the existing Model S and Model X crossover, to 500,000 in 2018 - two years earlier than its original target and a 10-fold increase over the 50,000 vehicles it made in 2015. Musk said Tesla told suppliers to prepare for Model 3 production tests in July 2017, a goal he acknowledged may be unrealistic for some. But he said the "aggressive" target was necessary to reach production goals. "Now, will we actually be able to achieve volume production on July 1 next year? Of course not," he told analysts. "The reason is that even if 99 percent of the internally produced items and supplier items are available on July 1, we still cannot produce the car because you cannot produce a car that is missing 1 percent of its components, he said. Musk said the Model 3's simpler design, new production hires and enthusiastic suppliers would help the company make its goals. He said Tesla would drop suppliers that could not meet deadlines and would bring more parts production in-house than traditional automakers typically do. He did not specify how much or which parts. "It's very important for us to have the ability to produce almost any part on the car at will because it alleviates risk with suppliers," Musk told analysts. Industry experts said Tesla's new goals were extraordinary and raised doubts it could meet them. The handful of North American auto plants capable of building 500,000 vehicles a year are all run by automakers with decades of experience, they said. Tesla continues to have delivery delays for its Model X SUV. Its Model S also missed delivery targets when launched. SPEEDING UP ASSEMBLY One complication is that Tesla has not finalized the Model 3 design and specifications, said automaking consultants and supply executives who asked not to be identified because Tesla prohibits them from disclosing contract details. Musk has said the Model 3 design and engineering would be complete in June, 13 months ahead of the planned production startup. Under ideal conditions, automakers have launched new assembly lines in 18 months, but they typically take two to three years after the first tooling and supply contracts are signed, several manufacturing consultants said. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles , for example, is converting a Sterling Heights, Michigan sedan plant to make 300,000 Ram 1500 pickups a year, a 50 percent increase in capacity. "FCA already has the talent and the money, and the underlying machinery is already installed in the plant," said one longtime supply sales executive. "They're aiming to be up and running in 2018, so they have two years and suppliers are wondering if they'll make that deadline." Tesla says the Model 3 features 6,000 to 7,000 unique components, fewer than the typical automobile with a combustion engine and the Model S, which has more than 8,000 parts. The company still is soliciting bids for parts and machinery, according to representatives from several of companies that have received them, as well as industry consultants who monitor such bids. Automaking consultant Ron Harbour of Oliver Wyman said increasing production at the Fremont plant to 500,000 vehicles in 2018 would require more stamping, welding and assembly machinery that "could take up to 18 months to order and install." He said Musk's plan to make parts in-house can minimize risk, but it also can be more expensive and distracting. Tesla's production push comes at a time of high demand for machinery and tooling created by a surge in product launches coming from established automakers, said a Detroit-based supplier sales executive. Jeff Schuster of industry forecaster LMC Automotive said the goals were "implausible," in part because Tesla's battery factory in Reno, Nevada, was unfinished. Aluminum, lithium and other materials - already in short supply - "could be another limiting factor," said Sam Fiorani of AutoForecast Solutions. Earlier this month two top manufacturing executives left the company. Last week, Tesla said it had hired Peter Hochholdinger, formerly of Volkswagen AG's Audi brand, as vice president of vehicle production. Tesla may pay a premium for work to speed up the Model 3 production launch, supplier executives said. The company has increased its 2016 capital spending forecast by 50 percent to about $2.25 billion. On Wednesday, Tesla announced it would sell up to $1.7 billion in new common shares, in part to pay for machinery and engineering for the Model 3. "I'd be really surprised if he can launch production by next July," said Frank Faga, a Detroit-based auto manufacturing consultant. "But this is a guy who says he's going to Mars. Who am I to say he can't do this?" (Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul. Editing by Joseph White and Lisa Girion) - The move by Kenya to close down Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps has continued to elicit mixed reactions from Kenyans and the international community - UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon phoned President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday, May 18, and prevailed upon him to reconsider the decision - UN Security Council diplomats held meetings with Uhuru and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, May 20, but the president maintained that the decision had been made - Kenya believes by sending refugees back to Somalia the international community will be willing to stabilise the nation and provide more support to it READ ALSO: Ban Ki Moon urges Uhuru not to close refugee camps in Kenya Kenya has maintained its stance to close down the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps as it seeks to send back to Somalia more than 600,000 refugees. Efforts by the United Nations Security Council envoys on Friday, May 20, to convince President Uhuru Kenyatta to renege on the government decision bore no fruit as the president maintained that the decision had been reached. Nation reports that the envoys held meetings with the president at State House and the ministry of foreign affairs at Harambee House to try and convince the Kenyan government to continue hosting refugees with the support of the United Nations. The envoys, led by Egyptian permanent representative to the UN and the councils president Abdellatif Aboulatta, told President Kenyatta that closing the camp would be counterproductive, the paper reports. It says that the Kenyan government believes that closing the camps would, in fact, push the international community to support Somalias stabilisation. Kenya said it saw little international commitment to support Somalias rise, which would in effect improve the security of the region. READ ALSO: Somalia says decision by Kenya to close refugee camps will have negative implications Ban Ki Moon calls Uhuru Kenyatta This comes a day after UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon phoned President Uhuru to try and convince him to rescind the decision. In the conversation, Ki Moon is said to have urged the president to consider the Tripartite Agreement signed between Kenya and Somalia and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in November, 2013. A statement by Ki Moons spokesperson said that the secretary general expressed UNs commitment to support Kenya in ensuring that the refugees are taken care of and that they return to their homeland on their own volition. Why Kenya is clsoing down the camps This comes after Kenya declared that it will be closing the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps and all other refugee camps which had become breeding grounds for terrorists and drug traffickers in the country. READ ALSO: al-Shabaab forces government to plan camp closures He elaborated that the government decided to take into consideration national interests and decided to end the hosting of refugees. The government disbanded the Department of Refugee Affairs as a first step and said it is working on a mechanism for closure of the two camps within the shortest time possible. Dadaab refugee camp is the largest in the world, and combined with Kakuma, they both host about 600,000 refugees. For years, there have been talks of closing down the camps because of the burden on the country and so a repatriation program was started following the Tripartite Agreement. Over 100,000 refugees have left the camps so far, some through assistance and others on their own volition, over the past couple of years. READ ALSO: AU calls for funding for Dadaab refugee camp Image: Star Source: TUKO.co.ke - Tanzanian President John Magufuli has sacked a minister for apparently going to work while drunk - The minister for internal affairs, Charles Kitwanga, is said to have gone to parliament to answer queries about his ministry while drunk - Maguguli has been keen on instilling discipline in the public sector in order to improve service delivery Tanzanian President John Magufuli has kept his campaign to improve service delivery in the public service alive. President John Magufuli, on Friday, May 20, fired one of his ministers who addressed parliament while drunk. READ ALSO: 4 things Uhuru an learn from Magufulis presidency in Tanzania Kitwanga's sacking came at a time when opposition MPs were putting pressure on him to resign for allegedly being involved in a multi-billion shilling scandal. The former minister was suspected to have played a key role in the irregular awarding of a $ 16.89 million contract to Lugumi Enterprises Limited Company for supply of finger print scanners to police stations in the country. President John Magufuli's move is said to have surprised many as Kitwanga was seen as his close ally. The president, since succeeding Jakaya Kikwete in November 2015, have made some radical changes in the country's public sector. READ ALSO: How Kenyans express wish to have Magufuli as their president On his first day as president, he ambushed civil servants based at the Ministry of Finance only to find that a number of them had arrived at work, hanged their coats and left the office. He demanded that action be taken against them. He went on to cancel that year's Independence Day celebrations and banned unnecessary foreign trips by government officials. President John Magufuli also stopped printing of Christmas cards by government ministries. He ordered further order government agencies to stop holding conferences in hotels. Those who go to the conferences in public institutions were also to be served light lunch exceptional circumstances. Tanzanians are said th be happy with the changes as they could feel their effects. READ ALSO: This is Kenyas John Magufuli Moha Jicho Pevu openly endorses Raila Image: The Citizen Source: TUKO.co.ke Today I heard one of the smartest people I know say that in the 2016 election were becoming more like Europe, and class is motivating voters more than anything else. What Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haass was really saying is that especially for young people -- at a time of lowering expectations and growing income inequality, a class-driven election is a new phenomenon in the post-war era. For the United States, at least, a move toward more class-based politics promises more conflict and less cohesion, both socially and politically. When MSNBC host Joe Scarborough asked Haass on Morning Joe today how a president leads with record low public support Hillary Clinton currently has a 31 percent favorability rating and Donald Trump is at 26 percent he said, The one thing we know is that whoever wins is going to inherit and extraordinarily demanding inbox internationally and domestically and this doesnt shout mandate at you. Related: Clinton: Trumps Not Qualified, and Sanders Is Done This doesnt shout a country ready to come together, ready to compromise, ready to make tough decisions -- whether its on the budget or the deficit or on taxes or on big foreign policy questions. You almost get the sense that whoever wins is going to enter the White House rather than with the wind at their back, theyre going to enter the White House with a lot of headwinds and a real challenge to bring the country together. The conflict among voters is evident in a new poll from The New York Times, which adds to the startlingly negative numbers we have seen in this election from the outset. The big surprise is that 84 percent of Republicans say their party is divided. Just under half of Democrats say the same about their own party. Bernie Sanders is the only candidate with a positive favorable rating, at 41 percent. Commenting about the Sanders movement among young people on Morning Joe, The New York Times Anand Giridharadas said, A lot of them [the young Bernie Sanders supporters] are part of a generation whose lives have never gotten to start. Youve been hearing in Europe about a whole generation who went to college and they never got a job and theyre now 30 and still dont have a job. That thing thats happening in Europe is starting to happen here. Story continues What Giridharadas and Haass were hinting at was a new political paradigm for the U.S., one that may not arrive gently. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: GENEVA, May 20 (Reuters) - The Zika virus blamed for neurological disorders and birth abnormalities in Brazil has been confirmed to be circulating in Africa for the first time after being sequenced from a sample from Cape Verde, the World Health Organization said on Friday. "The findings are of concern because it is further proof that the outbreak is spreading beyond South America and is on the doorstep of Africa," said WHO's Africa director Matshidiso Moeti. "This information will help African countries to re-evaluate their level of risk and adapt and increase their levels of preparedness," she said. She (Munich: SOQ.MU - news) said she would not recommend strict travel restrictions to try to stop the spread of the disease. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Alison Williams) File Photo Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun chaired a meeting inside Ministry of Public Security on May 21, passing on the remarks President Xi made a day before. A third edition of rules on law enforcements conducts was also passed on Saturdays meeting, aiming to regulate the polices conducts in law enforcement process. President Xi Jinping emphasized on the importance of regulating law enforcement at a meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform on May 20. Guidelines on Building a Standardized Public Security Law Enforcement was passed at the meeting. Guo asked police from all levels to focus on the outstanding problems. Any unregulated, unjust, and uncivilized conducts will be rectified and eliminated. Law enforcement basis, procedures and activities shall be regulated to ensure that law enforcement power is bind by the institutional framework. Strengthened supervision will be put on police, said Guo at the meeting, stressing to seek the responsibility of law enforcement handling each case. Any police who violate the discipline or law will receive serious punishment. (Translated from article published on Ministry of Public Security website, URL: http://rmrbimg2.people.cn/data/rmrbwap/2016/05/21/cms_1672637589898240.html Today in One Paragraph The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 279 pregnant women in the United States and its territories have tested positive for the Zika virus. Donald Trump now has the NRAs endorsement, and hes reiterating his campaign promise to get rid of all gun-free zones. Lawmakers in Oklahoma moved to impeach President Obama and other administration officials over last weeks transgender-bathroom guidelines. And search parties located debris from the missing EgyptAir flight. Top News Zika in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that 279 pregnant women in the United States and its territories have the virus, which is linked to birth defects and other health conditions. The CDC will now report all cases of pregnant women testing positive for the virus, regardless of whether they show symptoms. The news comes amid a funding debate between Congress and the Obama administration, which has asked for nearly $2 billion to combat the virus. (Nora Kelly, The Atlantic) Recommended: The Narcissist The NRA Endorses Trump. Chris Cox, the executive director of the NRAs Institute for Legislative Action, announced that the group would back the presumptive GOP nominee. Now is the time to unite, Cox said at Fridays NRA convention. If your preferred candidate dropped out of the race, its time to get over it. Trump spoke onstage immediately after the endorsement, warning that crooked Hillary wants to abolish the Second Amendment and repeating a campaign promise: Were getting rid of gun-free zones, I can tell you, he said. (John Santucci and Meghan Keneally, ABC News) Impeach Obama? Oklahoma Republicans filed articles of impeachment against the president, the U.S. attorney general, and the U.S. secretary of education for allegedly violating the Constitution with last weeks recommendations to public schools on accommodating transgender students. The state legislators dont have the legal authority to impeach the president, but they hope the measure will inspire an impeachment process at the federal level. (Heide Brandes, Reuters) Story continues EgyptAir Debris Found. Greek authorities found luggage, seats, and human remains from the EgyptAir flight that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday. The Airbus A320 was en route from Paris to Cairo carrying 66 passengers when it went down. The cause of the crash remains a mystery, but Egyptian authorities believe terrorism is a more likely cause than technical failure. (Maggie Michael and Paisley Dodds, Associated Press) Recommended: Donald v. Ivanka The Weekend in One Paragraph. Hillary Clinton will be fundraising in Washington, D.C., and Florida, and Bernie Sanders will hold a rally in California on Saturday. President Obama flies to Vietnam on Saturday as part of a week-long Asia trip. Follow stories throughout the day with our new Politics & Policy page. And keep on top of the campaign with our 2016 Distilled election dashboard. Top Read In a phone conversation, Nathan told me that he had been able to turn his life around thanks to Trumps high energy persona, his refusal to give in or be pushed aroundand his declared abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, or drugs. Ive had an ongoing fight to get off drugs, but this is the most successful Ive ever been, he said. I was given the strength and the resolve of spirit to not buy drugs again. He took a deep breath. Through the Trump campaign. Politicos Ben Wofford on the movement among Millennials to Make Yourself Great Again. Top Lines Facebook Isnt Neutral. The social-media network has recently faced allegations of political bias in its Trending Topics section. Heres how it uses algorithms in subjective decision-making. (Caitlin Dewey, The Washington Post) Coal Miners as Canaries. Clinton has introduced detailed plans for bringing sustainable jobs to coal-mining communities. Why do voters in states such as West Virginia prefer Trumps largely empty rhetoric? (Andrew McGill, The Atlantic) Recommended: Did He Accuse Bill Clinton of Rape Because He's Cynical or Hypocritical? Bernie, Please. Its virtually impossible for the Vermont Democrat to catch up to Clintons delegate lead, but hes still sticking aroundand the style of campaign hes running will do irreparable harm to his party and his message. (Jamelle Bouie, Slate) Top View Senate Squad. Republicans in the Senate dropped a new Wes Anderson-style video featuring a round-up of their legislative accomplishments. (Paulina Firozi, The Hill) We want to hear from you! Were reimagining what The Edge can be, and would love to receive your complaints, compliments, and suggestions. Tell us what youd like to find in your inbox by sending a message to newsletters@theatlantic.com. -Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. By Ahmed Rasheed and Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least four anti-government protesters were killed and 90 injured when security forces ejected them from Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, hospital sources said on Saturday. Iraqi security forces used live ammunition, rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas on Friday to dislodge the demonstrators from the central district which houses government buildings, parliament and many foreign embassies. The toll, compiled from four hospitals where casualties were taken and Baghdad's central morgue, accounts only for gunshot wounds and does not include cases of suffocation caused by tear gas. Civilians have breached the Green Zone twice in three weeks, raising questions about the government's ability to secure the capital which has also seen a spike in bombings this month claimed by Islamic State. Protesters on Friday included supporters of powerful Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and people from other groups upset with the government's failure to approve anti-corruption reforms and maintain security in the city. Jaafar al-Moussawi, deputy leader of Sadr's political movement, condemned the government for using what he called "excessive force". "Using live bullets against peaceful protesters is completely unjustified and stark evidence that a supposedly legitimate government has turned into an oppressive government," he said in a statement on Saturday. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has condemned the Green Zone breach and warned against chaos and strife as government forces seek to keep up momentum against Islamist militants. The United Nations expressed "deep concern" on Saturday about the incident and warned it could hamper efforts to defeat Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni group that controls large swathes of territory in northern and western provinces. "Only the enemies of Iraq, Daesh at the forefront, benefit from chaos," U.N. Special Representative for Iraq, Jan Kubis, said in a statement, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. (Additonal reporting by Stephen Kalin.; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Stephen Powell) As if there were any question as to which presidential candidate it would back, the National Rifle Association announced Friday afternoon at the groups annual convention that its endorsing Donald Trump. Now is the time to unite, said the executive director of the groups lobbying arm, Chris Cox, shortly before Trump took the mic. If your preferred candidate dropped out of the race, its time to get over it. Trumps allegiance to gun rights has been spotty. He once expressed strong support for an assault-weapons ban and criticized politicians who walk the NRA line. Of course, hes changed his mind since he got into politics, and thats enough for the NRA. The group, as divisive as any in American politics, was never going to endorse a Democrat like Hillary Clinton, who unambiguously supports gun control. Bernie Sanders, whom Clinton has targeted for voting against background checks and other gun-control measures, is nevertheless strongly opposed by the NRA. The Kentucky NRA meeting was an opportunity for Trump to reassure wary conservatives worried about his record, as NBC put it Friday. In his speech, Trump repeated lines hes honed over the course of the campaign. He invoked the good guy with a gun trope, arguing that an armed citizenry could have stopped the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, California, and Paris. The latter might not have happened if the attackers knew people were armed, Trump said. The carnage would not have been the same by any stretch of the imagination. In a bizarre coincidence, just as Trump wrapped up his speech, a shooting was reported outside the White House. Recommended: The Narcissist Trump did not sound defensive as he asserted his bona fides; he spoke as though he has always expressed full support for gun rights. Back in February, Ted Cruz knocked Trump and his fellow senator, Marco Rubio, for previously support[ing] banning firearms, which the Trump campaign denied. Cruz would probably be pained to hear some of the praise Trump got Friday. Wayne LaPierre, the NRAs executive vice president, said Trump offers a very different White House and a far more hopeful nation. Story continues The Democratic candidates, on the other hand, would loathe to get the NRAs backing. Clinton in particular has made shootings like the one at Sandy Hook elementary school central to her gun-control message and has campaigned with mothers who lost their children to gun violence. Clinton seemed to be on speakers minds Friday. Cox called her corrupt and hypocritical, as she herself is protected by a security detail. Trump, too, offered some of his typical criticism. Crooked Hillary Clinton is the most anti-gun, anti-Second-Amendment candidate ever to run for office, he said. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are looking to use a defense policy bill to increase restrictions on military aid for Pakistan, expressing frustration with what they see as Islamabad's failure to crack down on Afghanistan's militant Haqqani network. The $602 billion National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, passed by the House of Representatives late on Wednesday would block $450 million in aid to Islamabad unless it does more to fight the network, which lawmakers see as a major threat to U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The bill requires the Pentagon to certify that Pakistan is conducting military operations to disrupt the Haqqani network, not letting the network use North Waziristan as a safe haven and actively coordinating with Afghanistan's government to fight the network along their border. As they finalized the 2017 version of the annual bill, House members added three amendments related to Pakistan. All passed by unanimous voice vote. One added a fourth requirement to the release of the aid, that the administration certify Pakistan has shown progress in arresting and prosecuting Haqqani network senior leaders and mid-level operatives. Another required that the Secretary of Defense certify Pakistan is not using its military or any funds or equipment provided by the United States to persecute minority groups. And a third added a "sense of Congress" that Shakil Afridi is an international hero and calls for his immediate release from prison. Afridi is a Pakistani doctor believed to have helped the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden. Pakistan sentenced Afridi in 2012 to 33 years in jail on charges of belonging to a militant group, which he denies. That sentence was overturned and Afridi is now awaiting trial on another charge. Pakistan says its courts will decide Afridi's fate, and has angrily criticized U.S. politicians, including Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, over calls to release him. The House version of the NDAA is not the final version of the legislation. It must be combined with a Senate bill before being sent to the White House for President Barack Obama to sign, or veto. However, there is also strong criticism of Pakistan in the Senate. This month, Senator Bob Corker used his authority as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee to bar the use of any U.S. funds for Pakistan to buy American F-16 fighter jets. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Chris Reese) By Lesley Wroughton (Reuters) - More complex humanitarian disasters such as the war in Syria and the Ebola epidemic threaten to overwhelm the international community's ability to respond, the head of the leading U.S. aid agency told Reuters in an interview. Gayle Smith, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), described a global humanitarian system stretched to the limit by the number of disasters and a growing funding gap compounded by emergency responses that cost more than traditional relief methods. "This is not the time to cut resources," Smith said. "Everybody is facing financial trade-offs, but the world has got to ante up at a much higher level than is the case right now." Smith is set to lead the U.S. delegation to the first U.N. World Humanitarian Summit on Monday and Tuesday in Istanbul, which will include donor countries, U.N. agencies and non-governmental organizations. Frustrations with humanitarian crises in countries such as Syria and Afghanistan, where hospitals have been bombed, have bubbled into the open, with international relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres announcing it will boycott the gathering. "The humanitarian system is both stressed and stretched to the limits by the number and complexity of crises," Smith said. "It has been a relentless drumbeat of very large, most often complex crises, the majority of which are chronic." The summit "needs to lay down serious markers for a global agenda," she said. Smith cited a familiar list of crises and disasters that are testing humanitarian relief efforts: Syria's refugee crisis, the largest since World War II; the conflicts in South Sudan, Yemen and Iraq; the effects of the El Nino climate phenomenon in Africa; the Ebola epidemic; and increasingly destructive natural disasters such as Nepal's earthquake last year. She said the meeting also must address the increasingly hostile work environments relief agencies are facing; make disaster response more efficient; develop new funding sources, and strengthen development programs so poorer countries can respond more quickly to crises. With the number of disasters growing, the gap between donor funding and estimated needs is also growing, she said. According to the Financial Tracking Service, which follows global humanitarian aid flows, only 20 percent of the $18.2 billion needed for disasters has been covered. In January, a U.N. panel estimated the world is spending some $25 billion a year to provide aid to 125 million people, more than 12 times the $2 billion spent in 2000. The private sector also can provide support, Smith said, noting its larger role in recent years in fighting poverty. While lacking in experience managing disasters, the private sector can contribute funds and logistical assistance as needed, Smith added. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by John Walcott and Leslie Adler) Taliban leader Mansoor likely killed by U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan-Pakistan border WASHINGTON, May 21-- Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was likely killed in a U.S. airstrike on Saturday "in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region", TV networks reported. The Pentagon confirmed the airstrike in a statement, noting that the U.S. military was still assessing the results of the strike taking place around 6 a.m. Eastern time. Mansoor was likely dead in the strike which had been authorized by U.S. President Barack Obama, a U.S. official told CBS News on condition of anonymity. The strike, carried out by multiple drones operated by the U.S. Special Operations Forces, targeted a vehicle carrying Mansoor and another male passenger, also believed to be likely killed, in the southwest of Ahmad Wal, a town in western Pakistan, the official was quoted as saying. Mansoor has been "actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan... and prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict." said Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook in the statement. Mansoor had been an aide to Taliban's iconic longtime leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and a Taliban transportation minister. He emerged as the Taliban leader in 2015 following the news broke that Omar had died in 2013. Todays report by the justice select committee makes for despairing reading. They paint a picture of a prison system lost in crisis and a leadership unable to grasp what is happening or come up with plans which offer the slightest reassurance for the future. The authorities say its the fault of legal highs and prison campaigners say its the fault of over-stuffed prisons. Theyre both right. But only a pragmatic liberal response to both issues will help. You can almost hear the dismay in MPs voices as they look at the stats. Assaults are soaring - up 20% in the second half of 2015 from where they were in the first half. Assaults against staff are up nearly as much. A prison officer working for Serco, Lorraine Barwell, died last July after being attacked by a prisoner.The number of suicides in prison rose from 79 in 2014 to 100 in 2015. National tactical response teams sent out to deal with serious disorder, including riots and hostage taking, are now being called out an unprecedented 30 to 40 times a month. Weve been watching this get worse and worse for years now. Under Chris Grayling, the Ministry of Justice put its hands over its ears and said there was no prison crisis. Under Michael Gove they have admitted it, but reform proposals have been disappointingly minor and slow in coming. In March last year, the justice committee said all available indicators pointed to rapid deterioration. Michael Spurr, chief executive of the National Offender Management Service (Noms) blamed drugs. The issue of NPS [new psychoactive substances or legal highs] escalated in an unprecedented fashion over the period from early 2014 through this year, he told the committee. I think we are getting on top of it now, but we are not yet at that position. The Prison Officers Association blames a low staff-to-inmate ratio. Ministers promised a new recruitment process was going full throttle after the unwise decision to start cutting them back at the formation of the coalition. But it seems impossible to retain staff in the depressing, dangerous world of the prison estate. They took on 2,250 extra prison officers but lost almost as many in the same period. The net increase was just 440. Story continues So who is right? They both are. Many of the legal highs taken in prison are incredibly dangerous. And there are simply too many prisoners, in cramped conditions, without staff to take them on activities. Lock up men for 23-hours a day without structure or anything to aspire to and they will fall into violence and despair. The problem is that the solution to both problems is liberal, and prison policy is rarely open to liberal solutions. The legal highs problem in prison is self-created. It began when mandatory drug tests were introduced in 1996. The most popular drug in prison is cannabis, because it is very good at helping people deal with boredom. Many prison governors didnt mind. It created relatively docile individuals. To a certain extent, an informal dont-ask-dont-tell policy was in place. Then the drug tests came in. Cannabis is testable for 28 days or so after use. Heroin is testable for just two. So the first effect of the tests was to push prisoners towards a much harder drug. Then came Black Mamba and Spice, so-called synthetic cannabis products which were really nothing of the sort. Theyre just chemicals sprayed on to plants. Its incredibly dangerous and often prompts violent, unpredictable behaviour from prisoners, along with fits and often death. They seem to have been a factor in 19 prisoner deaths between 2012 and 2014. Ministers are hoping a new range of drug tests will be able to include these types of drugs. Perhaps they will, but the usual cause-and-effect game of drug prohibition will surely follow: new drugs will come on the market designed to side-step the tests. Efforts to keep these drugs out of prison should obviously continue, but the quickest, easiest way to stop prisoners taking them is to end mandatory drug testing, or at the very least to remove cannabis assessments from the test. The Daily Mail might not like it, but a prisoner on cannabis is a far less severe threat to himself, those around him, and the maintenance of order in a prison than someone on Spice or Black Mamba. The second liberal solution is the old-faithful, the one which never goes away because no-one ever has the bravery to act upon it: reducing the size of the prison estate. The way to do this is to confess that prison does not work, and it works least of all for those serving short sentences. Three out of five short-term prisoners will reoffend within a year. There is almost no evidential case for custodial solutions to crime. We have to get over this tabloid mentality about punishment. But Gove, who seems admiringly open-minded and brave in other regards, isnt prepared to move on this. I would not over-fixate on numbers, he told the committee. There is a danger of being paralysed by the thought that we cannot make any change until we reduce the population. That is the argument put by some. I think that we should make changes within the current population. Its a disingenuous argument. This isnt about taking people already in prison and reducing their sentences, its about a more ambitious forward-looking programme which discourages custodial sentences for nonviolent offenders and trades instead in predominantly community sentences. Its about getting that inmate-to-officer ratio down so they can pay proper attention to the people in their care, have availability to take them to the prison library or gym, put them on educational and vocational courses, and encourage continued contact with family - all the things we know reduce reoffending. But reducing sentences and discouraging custodial responses are again liberal solutions. The lock-em-up brigade in the tabloid press and on the Tory backbenches wont like it. So they are considered off-the-table. Instead, well stick to the policies which created this crisis in the first place. By Felix Onuah and Anamesere Igboeroteonwu ABUJA/ONITSHA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said he ordered a heightened military presence in the restive Niger Delta region to deal with a resurgence of attacks on oil and gas facilities, a day after yet another pipeline explosion. British Foreign Minster Philip Hammond warned on Saturday military action would not end a wave of attacks in the southern swamps because it did not address rising anger among residents over poverty despite sitting on much of Nigeria's oil wealth. The rise in attacks in the Delta in the last few weeks has driven Nigerian oil output to a more than 20-year low, worsening a drain on public finances. A group calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers has claimed responsibility for several sophisticated attacks. Speaking at a meeting with Shell's upstream head, Andrew Brown, Buhari said he had instructed the chief of naval staff to reorganize and strengthen the military Joint Task Force to deal with the militancy. "We have to be very serious with the situation in the Niger Delta because it threatens the national economy," Buhari said in a statement. "I assure you that everything possible will be done to protect personnel and oil assets in the region," he added. Nigeria had several times announced army reinforcements to the Delta but diplomats said the military has achieved little as militants were operating in small groups and hiding in the hard-to-access swamps. "Mr. Brown had appealed for an urgent solution to rising crime and militancy in the Niger Delta," the presidency said. An industry source told Reuters that major oil firms warned Vice President Yemi Osinbajo this month that a military crackdown was actually fuelling dissent in the Delta. The presidency statement also quoted Brown as saying Shell would not pull out of Nigeria despite the violence and that it was in talks with state energy firm NNPC for new oil and gas projects. Their was no immediate comment from Shell, but its country chair said in an interview published on Sunday the firm was committed to long-term investment in the West African nation. Buhari's comments came after locals said a gas pipeline operated by NNPC was attacked late on Thursday. The pipeline, which connects the Escravos oil terminal to Warri, supplies gas to different parts of the country. Eric Omare, a spokesman for the Ijaw Youth Council, a youth umbrella, said the attack occurred near the village of Ogbe Ijoh, near Warri, "on the pipeline belonging to NNPC. Resident James Dadiowei said he heard a "loud bang" at the pipeline, but an NNPC spokesman was unable to confirm the attack. On Thursday, intruders blocked access to Exxon Mobil's terminal exporting Qua Iboe, Nigeria's largest crude stream. And, earlier this month, Shell workers at Nigeria's Bonga facilities were evacuated. In February, the Avengers claimed an attack on an undersea pipeline, forcing Shell to shut a 250,000 barrel-a-day Forcados terminal. The group also claimed responsibility for blasting a Chevron platform in early May, shutting the Warri and Kaduna refineries. Power outages across Nigeria worsened as gas supplies were also affected. The army said on Sunday it had arrested several suspected members of the Avengers, but locals said they had been freed. "They were released on Wednesday evening," Omare said. Residents said the military had described them as Avengers but locals had protested they were Chevron pipeline inspectors who had shown the soldiers arresting them their identity cards. Militant attacks have spiked since authorities issued in January an arrest warrant for a prominent former militant leader who with other rebels in 2009 agreed to stop blowing up pipelines in exchange for cash, a plan Buhari has trimmed as part of an anti-graft drive. (Additional reporting by Tife Owolabi, in Yenagoa; writing by Alexis Akwagyiram and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Alistair Bell and Cynthia Osterman) By Kareem Raheem and Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces opened fire on protesters who stormed into Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone on Friday and entered the cabinet building, drawing calls for revolt from a powerful Shi'ite Muslim cleric. Dozens of demonstrators were injured by tear gas and live fire, witnesses said. Some security personnel were stabbed, according to a military statement. Authorities could not immediately verify reports that several civilians had been killed. The thousands of protesters included supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and people from other groups upset with the government's failure to approve anti-corruption reforms and provide security. The government briefly imposed a curfew on Baghdad and authorities later said order had returned after what they called rioting at the Green Zone, which houses parliament, government buildings and many foreign embassies. "Infiltrators exploited our forces' preoccupation with preparations for the Falluja battle to penetrate state institutions and cause chaos," the military said, referring to a city 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad controlled by Islamic State for more than two years. Protesters occupied the cabinet building for several hours. Some held Iraqi flags and flashed peace signs near the insignia of the prime minister's press office and inside a meeting room. The protesters eventually withdrew to Tahrir Square, but witnesses said security forces and unidentified gunmen opened fire there as well. A military statement said riot police were "dealing with anyone trying to damage state institutions in accordance with the law". Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi condemned the Green Zone breach and warned against chaos and strife in a late-night televised speech, saying: "The law must take its course with every transgressor." SECOND BREACH Sadr expressed support for what he called a "peaceful spontaneous revolt" and condemned the government for "killing its children in cold blood". His supporters, protesting parliament's failure to approve a non-political cabinet, also breached the Green Zone on April 30, storming the assembly complex and attacking officials before holding a 24-hour sit-in at a nearby square. Parliament has not convened since then, crippling government as it grapples with an economic crisis brought on by low oil prices and an Islamist insurgency that constitutes the biggest security threat to the OPEC oil producer since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. The protesters on Friday added to their grievances the authorities' failure to maintain security following a wave of bombings claimed by Islamic State this month in Baghdad which killed more than 150 people. Sadr did not explicitly call for Friday's demonstration, where protesters chanted: "Oh army, the country is hurt! Don't side with the corrupt!" Iraq's political crisis goes back to plans announced by Prime Minister Abadi in February to replace politically affiliated ministers with independent technocrats. Despite backing from the Shi'ite religious establishment, the proposal threatens to uproot a system of political patronage that makes for a public administration rife with corruption and has faced stiff resistance. Abadi has warned the impasse was undermining Baghdad's security and could hamper Iraq's fight against Islamic State, which continues to control territory in the north and west. Sadr, the heir of a revered clerical dynasty, says he backs the premier's plan and has accused other political groups of blocking the reforms to protect vested interests. (Additional reporting by Saif Hameed and Maher Chmaytelli; Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Ralph Boulton and James Dalgleish) MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's centre-right People's Party (PP) is on course to increase its share of the vote in a general election next month, a poll showed on Sunday, but it may not be enough to end political stalemate in the country. An alliance of left-wing parties led by newcomer Podemos could overtake the Socialist party as the main opposition force, the poll in El Pais newspaper added. Spaniards will vote again on June 26 after an inconclusive December election failed to deliver a mandate to govern to any one party and politicians were unable to agree on a coalition administration. The PP, in power for four years and heading Spain's current caretaker government, topped the survey carried out by pollster Metroscopia and published in El Pais with 29.9 percent. Although the party of acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy improved its rating by 1.2 percent points on December's percentage of the vote, such a level of support is unlikely to be enough to break the deadlock. The alliance between anti-austerity party Podemos and former communist party United Left, Unidos Podemos ("Together We Can"), would garner 23.2 percent of the vote, the poll showed, beating the Socialists on 20.2 percent. The poll showed percentage of vote and not the number of seats parties are likely to get in parliament. The percentage vote of the two leftist parties combined is less than each won individually in the December election but due to the way the vote is counted would likely mean more seats in parliament than if they campaigned on separate tickets, the paper said. The PP would benefit from a predicted low turnout rate of 68 percent, five percentage points lower than December's figure, the paper said. Market-friendly Ciudadanos would come fourth on 15.5 percent, the poll showed. The poll surveyed 1,200 people by telephone on May 17 and May 18. (Reporting By Sonya Dowsett; Editing by Keith Weir) By Maria Tsvetkova NOVOSASITLI, Russia (Reuters) - Four years ago, Saadu Sharapudinov was a wanted man in Russia. A member of an outlawed Islamist group, he was hiding in the forests of the North Caucasus, dodging patrols by paramilitary police and plotting a holy war against Moscow. Then his fortunes took a dramatic turn. Sharapudinov, 38, told Reuters that in December 2012 Russian intelligence officers presented him with an unexpected offer. If he agreed to leave Russia, the authorities would not arrest him. In fact, they would facilitate his departure. "I was in hiding, I was part of an illegal armed group, I was armed," said Sharapudinov during an interview in a country outside Russia. Yet he says the authorities cut him a deal. "They said: 'We want you to leave.'" Sharapudinov agreed to go. A few months later, he was given a new passport in a new name, and a one-way plane ticket to Istanbul. Shortly after arriving in Turkey, he crossed into Syria and joined an Islamist group that would later pledge allegiance to radical Sunni group Islamic State. Reuters has identified five other Russian radicals who, relatives and local officials say, also left Russia with direct or indirect help from the authorities and ended up in Syria. The departures followed a pattern, said Sharapudinov, relatives of the Islamists and former and acting officials: Moscow wanted to eradicate the risk of domestic terror attacks, so intelligence and police officials turned a blind eye to Islamic militants leaving the country. Some sources say officials even encouraged militants to leave. The scheme continued until at least 2014, according to acting and former officials as well as relatives of those who left. The cases indicate the scheme ramped up ahead of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics because the Russian authorities feared home-grown militants would try to attack the event. The six Russian militants and radicals identified by Reuters all ended up in Syria, most of them fighting with jihadist groups that Russia now says are its mortal enemies. They were just a fraction of the radicals who left Russia during that period. By December 2015, some 2,900 Russians had left to fight in the Middle East, Alexander Bortnikov, director of the FSB, the Russian security service, said at a sitting of the National Anti-terrorist Committee late last year. According to official data, more than 90 percent of them left Russia after mid-2013. "Russian is the third language in the Islamic State after Arabic and English. Russia is one of its important suppliers of foreign fighters," said Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya, a senior analyst for International Crisis Group, an independent body aimed at resolving conflicts. "Before the Olympics, Russian authorities didn't prevent departures and a big number of fighters left Russia. There was a very specific short-term task to ensure security of the Olympics ... They turned a blind eye on the flow of radical youth" to the Middle East. Moscow is now fighting Islamic State and other militant groups in Syria that the Kremlin says pose a threat to the security of Russia and the world. The Kremlin has justified its campaign of air strikes in Syria by saying its main objective was to crush Islamic State. Russian authorities deny they ever ran a program to help militants leave the country. They say militants left of their own volition and without state help. Officials, including FSB director Bortnikov and authorities in the North Caucasus, have blamed the departures on Islamic State recruiters and foreign countries who give radicals safe passage to Syria and elsewhere. Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told Reuters: "Russian authorities have never cooperated or interacted with terrorists. No interaction with terrorists was possible. Terrorists get annihilated in Russia. It has always been like that, it is like that and it will be in the future." The Foreign Ministry said claims that Russian law enforcement agencies had helped militants were "without grounds." It said the agencies take various measures to prevent militants from leaving and to bring to account those who come back. It added that Russia has opened hundreds of criminal cases relating to Russian citizens fighting in Syria, and that therefore it was "absurd" to believe officials had facilitated the departure of militants from Russia. The Interior Ministry declined to comment, saying the FSB was in charge of the issue. The FSB in Dagestan declined immediate comment. MUTUAL BENEFIT Allowing militants to leave Russia was convenient for both radicals and the authorities. In the mainly Muslim North Caucasus region, the two sides had fought themselves to a stalemate. The Islamist groups, fighting to establish a Muslim state in the region, were exhausted after years on the run and had failed to score any significant victories against security forces. The authorities were frustrated because the militants holed up in remote mountain hideouts or protected by sympathizers still eluded arrest. Then from 2013 Islamists began threatening to attack the Sochi Olympics, posting videos of their threats online. An attack would embarrass Putin at an event meant to showcase Russia; Moscow ordered a crackdown. A retired Russian special forces officer with years of battlefield experience in the North Caucasus told Reuters that the federal authorities put pressure on local officials to curb insurgency ahead of the Sochi games. "They told them before the Olympics that no failures would be forgiven and those who failed would be fired. They tightened the screws on them," he said. The initial approach to Sharapudinov came from a political official in the militant's home village of Novosasitli in Dagestan, a region in the North Caucasus. The official, who has since retired, became the liaison between Sharapudinov and Russian security services. He confirmed Sharapudinov's account to Reuters. It took Sharapudinov several months to decide whether to take up the offer of a deal. He eventually chose to trust the local official, whom he had known since childhood. According to Sharapudinov, the intermediary took him to the town of Khasavyurt, where a high-ranking local FSB official was waiting. Though Sharapudinov had been given guarantees about his safety, he remained suspicious, he said. So he took along a pistol and a grenade in his pocket, despite a condition that he should come unarmed. Sharapudinov had never previously tried to leave Russia, even clandestinely, because he thought he might be caught or shot. And leaving Russia openly would have been impossible because he was on a wanted list on suspicion of being involved in a bombing. If caught and convicted, he faced eight years to life in prison. But now, according to Sharapudinov, the FSB officer said he was free to leave Russia and that the state would help him go. "They said: 'Go wherever you want, you can even go fight in Syria,'" Sharapudinov told Reuters in December. He recalled that the Olympics came up in the negotiations. "They said something like, 'to let the Olympics pass without incidents.' They didn't conceal they were sending out others as well," he said. NEW NAME Sharapudinov had his own reasons for leaving Russia. There were tensions between him and the local emir, who was also the commander of the militant group to which he belonged. When Sharapudinov told his mother of the FSB's offer, she tearfully asked him to take it, he said, because she did not want him to be a fugitive any longer. The plan required the involvement of more state machinery: Sharapudinov needed a new passport to leave Russia, according to the former local official who acted as a go-between. "Since he was on the wanted list, they couldn't send him out otherwise," the former official told Reuters. Sharapudinov said he was handed a new passport when he arrived at the Mineralnye Vody airport in southern Russia in September 2013, where he was escorted by an FSB employee in a silver Lada car with darkened windows. Along with the passport he got a one-way ticket to Turkey. Sharapudinov showed Reuters the passport that he said had been supplied by the Russian state. It had a slightly different name and date of birth to those recorded for Sharapudinov on an official list of wanted militants. The photograph showed Sharapudinov, who had a beard when he was interviewed for this article, as shaved. He said he had got rid of his beard for the new passport. While Reuters was unable to confirm the provenance of the passport, neighbors of Sharapudinov and the former official who acted as a go-between confirmed his identity and his story of how he got the document. Sharapudinov asked that the name in the passport, which he uses as his new identity, not be published. North Caucasus security officials deny that Islamist radicals were intentionally helped out of the country, but agree their absence helped to solve security problems in the region. "Of course, the departure of Dagestani radicals in large numbers made the situation in the republic healthier," said Magomed Abdurashidov from the Anti-terrorist Commission of Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. A security services officer who took part in negotiations with militants from Novosasitli confirmed that a few fighters "laid down arms and came out" from hiding before later traveling to Syria. "Since they disarmed we stopped prosecuting them," he said. He said there were cases over a few years but that it had nothing to do with the Sochi Games. He said the security services did not help anyone leave. "If no measures are being taken against them, according to law, they have same rights as every Russian citizen," he said. "They could get an international passport and leave." The security services officer said he did not know Sharapudinov's case. SUDDENLY DISAPPEARED When Sharapudinov got to Syria, he said, Islamic State was on the rise but did not control much territory. He joined a rebel group called Sabri Jamaat with other fighters from Russia and post-Soviet states. They were based in Al Dana near Aleppo, and Islamic State controlled neighboring territory. According to Sharapudinov, the two groups were friendly toward each other. Later, Sabri Jamaat pledged allegiance to Islamic State, though Sharapudinov said that by that time he had quit fighting and left Syria. He declined to say whether he had seen other Dagestani radicals in Syria. Reuters independently found details of five other militants who left Russia in similar circumstances to Sharapudinov. The five are either dead, in jail or still in Syria and unreachable. Relatives, neighbors and local officials gave accounts of what happened to the men. The five shared some common threads: They were all from Dagestan, and Russian authorities had reason to deny them travel documents and prevent them from leaving the country. But according to relatives and local officials, in each case the authorities made their passage possible. One of the five other militants who left Russia was Magomed Rabadanov from the village of Berikey. A local police officer in the village said that in 2014 his orders were to keep a close eye on Rabadanov and other suspected radicals as part of a new security policy established before the Sochi Olympics. He said he was told to put potential radicals on a watch list and to telephone them once a month. "If they didn't pick up, we had to find them," the officer said in his office, showing a Reuters reporter Rabadanov's profile on his computer monitor. The police officer said that during preparations for the Olympics, Rabadanov was listed as a person "with non-traditional Islamic beliefs, Wahhabism" - the school of Sunni Islam known for its strict interpretation of the faith. At one point, Rabadanov had been detained for keeping explosives at his home, according to his father, Suleiban Rabadanov, but had been released shortly afterwards and placed under house arrest instead. Despite being under such restriction, Rabadanov was able to leave Russia: He passed through passport control at a Moscow international airport along with his wife and his son in May 2014, his father and the local police officer said. He later turned up in Syria, his father said. Government officials had no comment on Rabadanov. Suleiban Rabadanov said he received a message on Jan. 2, 2015, from someone who said his son had been killed fighting with Islamic State militants against Kurdish forces near the Syrian town of Kobani, on the border with Turkey. The father of another militant also said his son was allowed to leave Russia as part of a deal with the authorities. The former official who acted as the go-between in Sharapudinov's case said two other militants were helped to get passports. Residents and officials in Dagestan said that once Russian militants arrived in Syria they encouraged others from their home communities to join them. From the village of Berikey, which has a population of 3,000, some 28 people left for areas of the Middle East controlled by Islamic State, according to the local police officer. He said 19 of the 28 were listed in Russia as radicals. In a police station near Berikey, a Reuters reporter saw a computer file on dozens of suspected militants. The file was entitled "Wahs," an abbreviation the police use for "Wahhabis." Some pictures showed groups of bearded young men from Berikey and nearby villages, posing with guns. The officer said the photographs, found or received online, showed the men in Syria and Iraq. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ (Web version) How Russia allowed homegrown radicals to go and fight in Syria - http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/russia-militants/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Edited by Richard Woods, Simon Robinson and Christian Lowe) A submarine that can operate at a depth of 3,000m (10,000 ft) is being deployed in the hunt for the black boxes of a downed EgyptAir flight. The vessel, which has been enlisted from Egypt's oil ministry, has been sent to search the seabed of the Mediterranean, Egypt's President said. Flight MS804 came down at 2.45am local time on Thursday, south of the Greek island of Karpathos and north of the Egyptian coast. It was carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo at the time and is suspected to have crashed into a part of the sea that is several thousand metres deep. The plane's black boxes are yet to be found but emit a signal for four to five weeks after a crash in water. Despite his officials previously saying terrorism was the most likely cause, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi said: "All the theories are possible. "There is no particular theory we can affirm right now." Ships scouring the sea have already found body parts, personal belongings and wreckage from the Airbus 320. The US Navy's Sixth Fleet said one of its patrol aircraft had seen more than 100 pieces of debris identified as having come from an aircraft. They said the data was passed to the Egyptian Navy. EgyptAir Holding Company chairman Safwat Moslem said the priority was finding the passengers' remains and the flight recorders. "The families want the bodies. That is what concerns us. The army is working on this. This is what we are focusing on," he said. It came as the first funerals of the victims took place. Hundreds of family and friends of air stewardess Yara Hani Tawfik gathered at St Mary and St Athanasius Church in Cairo on Sunday morning. Others attended a Coptic cathedral in Cairo to mourn two other victims, Medhat Tanious and Wagih Moris. On Saturday, data showing trouble in the cockpit and smoke in a plane lavatory emerged. It provided a window into the doomed jet's last three minutes before contact was lost, with multiple alarms going off, one after another. Story continues Experts said the short time it took to descend 38,000ft into the sea indicated that a sudden, catastrophic event brought it down. Aviation security expert Philip Baum said: "If they lost the aircraft within three minutes that's very, very quick. They were dealing with an extremely serious incident." Several other nations, including the UK, are involved in the search of the Mediterranean. The first available audio to have been released indicates there were no problems when the crew checked in with air traffic controllers in Zurich, Switzerland, late on Wednesday night. (Reuters) - Major U.S. banks are scrutinizing security of the SWIFT messaging network following cyber attacks in Bangladesh and Vietnam involving fraudulent transfer requests, according to media reports on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co has limited SWIFT access to some employees amid questions about the breaches at two Asian banks, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The actions are not tied to a specific concern about JPMorgan's vulnerability to SWIFT, but are part of its policy to review user access to certain systems following news of a security threat, The Wall Street Journal said, citing a person familiar with the bank. Representatives with JPMorgan could not immediately be reached for comment. Brussels-based SWIFT is a cooperative owned by some 3,000 global financial institutions. Separately, Bloomberg News reported that major U.S. banks want SWIFT to boost security in the wake of the attacks, which involved fraudulent transfer requests sent over SWIFT's private bank messaging system. Some U.S. banks want to discuss with SWIFT whether it responded quickly enough to the breaches and if it should help banks better secure their systems, Bloomberg cited one unidentified source as saying. Some U.S. banks expect SWIFT to come up with a technological solution to reduce the risk of further attacks, the report cited a second unidentified source as saying. SWIFT codes for at least seven international banks were written into malware used in an attack that Vietnam's Tien Phong Bank disclosed over the weekend, Bloomberg reported, citing a private report published by BAE Systems PLC . The malware was configured to hide transaction messages involving those banks, Bloomberg reported. It said they included Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd <601398.SS>, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd [MTFGTU.UL], UniCredit SpA , Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd , United Overseas Bank Ltd of Singapore, South Koreas Kookmin Bank [KOOKM.UL] and Japans Mizuho Bank Ltd [MZFGAE.UL]. The revelations that such banks were mentioned in the code raised concerns of global lenders because they show that the attackers were not focusing solely on small banks in developing nations, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with several banks in the U.S. and Europe. A SWIFT spokeswoman declined comment on both reports. (Reporting by Jim Finkle; Edited by Steve Orlofsky and Leslie Adler) France Doing All It Can to Find EqyptAir Plane: Officials The French foreign minister says the country is doing all it can to help find the EqyptAir plane that crashed into the Mediterranean on May 19. EqyptAir flight MS804 crashed 290 kilometers north of Alexandria while flying from Paris to Cairo. Sixty-six people were on board. French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault says he met the families of the French passengers to offer condolences. "I told them that France has put at the disposal of the Egyptian authorities all the means available to advance the search for the plane and the victims. Investigators from BEA (Bureau of Inquiry and Analysis) have already arrived in Cairo yesterday afternoon to take part in the investigation which has been opened by Egypt. We have also sent an plane and a navy boat to take part in the search." He says finding the plane's in-flight recorder is the priority, as it will help investigators determine the cause of the crash. France's BEA air accident investigation agency has confirmed smoke was detected on board the plane before it crashed. But the signals sent by the plane do not indicate what caused the smoke or fire on board. CARACAS (Reuters) - Called "mad as a goat" by Uruguay's Jose Mujica this week, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro retorted laughingly on Thursday that the former president was right - but he was only crazy with love for his country. "Yes, I'm mad as a goat, it's true," Maduro told a rally of the ruling Socialist Party. "I'm mad with love for Venezuela, for the Bolivarian Revolution, for Chavez and his example," he added, smiling as the crowd cheered, in a reference to former President Hugo Chavez. Mujica, a fellow leftist who ruled Uruguay between 2010 and 2015, said on Wednesday he respected Maduro, but still thought he and others in Venezuela were "crazy" for attacking each other rather than sitting down to resolve problems. Amid a deep economic crisis, Venezuela's opposition is pushing for a recall referendum to oust Maduro. Government officials say that will not happen this year, and security forces have been blocking protest marches demanding the vote. Numerous foreign countries are calling for dialogue, but there is deep hostility and suspicion between Maduro's government and the opposition Democratic Unity coalition. (Reporting by Diego Ore; Editing by Leslie Adler) ISLAMABAD, May 22-- The U.S. drone strike launched in Pakistan on Saturday (Pakistan time) killed a taxi driver and a passenger, but not Afghan Taliban top leader Mullah Mansoor, reported local Urdu TV channel Samaa on Sunday. The report said that the bodies of the two killed have been brought to a hospital in Nushki, a district close to Ahmad Wal, a small town in Pakistan's southwest province of Balochistan along the Pak-Afghan border, where the U.S. drones launched a strike on Saturday afternoon, which reportedly killed the Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor. According to the identity cards collected from the two bodies, the driver's name is Muhammad Azam and the passenger's name is Wali Muhammad, a resident from Chaman, a town sitting on the Pak-Afghan border, said the report, adding that the plate number of the taxi which got hit by the U.S. drone strike is ALL-570. So far there is no official response from the Pakistani side about the death of Mullah Mansoor. An official from ISPR, a mouthpiece of the Pakistani Army, refused to make any comments on the news about the death of Mullah Mansoor when approached by Xinhua reporter on the telephone. Local Urdu TV Channel 92 News quoted an unidentified Taliban commander close to Mullah Mansoor as saying the report about the death of Mullah Mansoor was not true. Al Jazeera, a TV channel based in the Gulf region, also reported that Taliban had denied the death of Mullah Mansoor. Earlier some of the western and Pakistani media reported that Mullah Mansoor and one of his colleague was likely killed on Saturday when the U.S. drones fired two missiles at their vehicle moving in the town of Ahmad Wal. The U.S. Pentagon, while confirming the drone strike in a remote area of the Pak-Afghan border region at about 3 pm (Pakistan time) on Saturday, said that the U.S. military was still assessing the results of the strike. Born in 1960s, Mullah Mansoor was officially announced as the new top leader of Afghan Taliban on July 30, 2015, a day after the news about the death of former Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar was disclosed. The news about the death of Mullah Mansoor came at a time when Afghan Taliban had refused to come back to the negotiation table despite the repeated efforts made by the Pakistani side along with other countries for the peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. The World Health Organization is calling for drug-resistant infections to be tackled globally, and says 10 million people could die each year by 2050, with the cumulative economic loss reaching 100 trillion dollars if the trend continues. The WHO cited Lord Jim O'Neill's statistical and monetary predictions from the UK's Review on Antimicrobial Resistance held in May last year. Antibiotic abuse is growing more severe in China. It is estimated that antimicrobial resistance could drive one million people to early deaths annually by 2050, the latest report from the WHO said. The economic cost could soar to 20 trillion dollars. According to the WHO, the major reasons for antimicrobial resistance in China include prevalent use of non-prescription drugs, excessive use of antibiotics in medical treatment and infection control, and the use of drugs in the promotion of livestock growth. Due to incentives for prescribing excess drugs in China, it is not easy to cultivate the idea of proper antibiotic use. The lack of antibiotic supervision in agriculture is also exacerbating the problem. The WHO said in the future there will more deaths caused by antimicrobial resistance than cancer. To tackle the health threats caused by antimicrobial resistance, the WHO suggests that patients need to consider if it is really necessary to use antibiotics. Meanwhile, the drug industry also needs encouragement to develop new antibiotics so that newly-developed drugs are able to replace the old drugs when they become ineffective. We finally have the name of the woman murdered by the San Francisco police on 5/19/16 forcing Police Chief Suhr to resign. She was Jessica Williams. Whatever else happened is still speculative. You can read an excellent analysis by Frank Lara on the many months of protests in San Francisco to finally force the firing of Democrat Police Chief Suhr by Democrat Mayor Ed Lee at http://www.liberationnews.org/peoples-movement-another-sfpd-murder-force-greg-suhr-to-resign/ Peoples movement and another SFPD murder force Greg Suhr to resignBy Frank Lara / May 20, 2016The morning of Thursday, May 19, the tragic news that there had been another victim of police terrorism spread throughout San Francisco. Jessica Williams was shot and killed after a police chase while she sat in her car in the Bayview district.In an all-too-common routine, the notorious chief of police, Greg Suhr, appeared on camera to give the official police version that was quickly distributed by the mainstream news. However, unlike the previous killings, thats as far as Chief Suhr got. Within a few hours, the equally infamous Mayor Ed Leejust one day after he repeated his support for the chiefappeared on camera to announce that he was firing Suhr.In that instant, it became clear that the politically astute and shameless Suhr would no longer be allowed to manipulate radio, TV and the newspapers, spinning his unchanging narrative glorifying the cops and demonizing the victims. No longer would he be allowed to round up all the sell-out representatives of the Black and Brown communities, the heads of the Police Commission and the Office of Citizen Complaints to have a press conference claiming reform was coming as the bodies piled up in the background. No longer would he be allowed to re-enter the hearts of the Mission and Bayview neighborhoods to hold public meetings where images of machetes, aka nine-inch kitchen knives, would be put on display to justify another life taken by the gun of a cop. No longer, because Chief Suhr has been fired. And it is the peoples power that achieved this partial justice.Jessica Williams life will be remembered along with our other martyred lost ones: Alex Nieto, Amilcar Perez Lopez, Luis Gongora, Mario Woods, OShaine Evans The small yet important victory came at a cost. Not only was another life taken, another family destroyed, but sacrifices were made by hundreds, if not thousands, who have been fighting for years, months and weeks. They risked their health, arrest, expulsions, and firings to achieve justice.When Mario Woods was killed on Dec. 2, 2015, a coalition of many groups emerged to stop the routine killing of Black and Brown people in San Francisco. The Justice 4 Mario Woods Coalition galvanized City politics. From shutting down Market Street and disrupting Ed Lees inauguration, to making international headlines during the Super Bowl, the city elite knew well that they were being checked by a strong peoples force. Equally important was the leadership of anti-police brutality groups like the #Last3Percent and the Anti-Police Terror Project, the Justice 4 Alex Nieto and Justice 4 Amilcar Perez coalitions, along with the Justice for Mario Woods Coalition, of which the ANSWER Coalition is a part. Through the shutting of streets, freeways, vigils, marches and forums, a unity was forged of Black and Brown people allied with all justice-seeking individuals and organizations.High school students from Balboa, June Jordan and Mission High courageously defied the warnings by school officials and took over City Hall. The San Francisco Labor Council, for the first time, demanded that the officers involved in the killing of Mario Woods be charged with murder. The General Assembly of the United Educators of San Francisco, representing more than 6,000 teachers, paraprofessionals and other staff, passed a resolution just the day before calling for the replacement of Suhr, as did the statewide California Federation of Teachers.As if this was not enough, five bold individuals, known as the #Frisco5, risked their own lives to achieve justice by staging a 17-day hunger strike.Important connections among people and ideas have been made through the growing movement against police killing and abuse. Homelessness, gentrification, inequity and corruption are all ills of this city, one of the current centers of capitalist greed in the United States, defended by the police who so often resolve issues with bullets and brutality.We must continue to fight, unite and widen the struggle so that more allies and the broader public understand that we have a common interest in accessible housing, more teachers and paraprofessionals, and real living wage jobs or income for all, and not in prioritizing the police. Imagine what we could do if instead of paying over $300,000 for a police chief with even more expensive benefits, we paid paraprofessionals in the schools a livable income. Imagine if instead of shelling out at least $100,000 for every police officer in San Francisco, we raised salaries of educators so that they stay in the City. Imagine if instead of paying $5 million in overtime fees for the month of Februarys Super Bowl activities, that money was distributed among 100 schools. Imagine if instead of a City and mayor that prioritized the rich and the cops who protect them, we finally began investing in our future and the people who make this city run.We dont have to imagine, we just have to build the peoples power that can achieve our demands. #FireChiefSuhr was once only a demand as well. Now, after we fought, it is a reality.Frank Lara is a member of the ANSWER Coalition, one of the groups in the Justice 4 Mario Woods Coalition, and on the Executive Board of the United Educators of San Francisco. The Racist History of El Dorado Hills/Negro Hills, CA by From In El Dorado County For the better part of five decades, the most notable tombstones at Mormon Island were those without names: 36 anonymous decedents whose grave markers shared a single, shocking label: Moved from Nigger Hill Cemetery by the US Government in 1954. So the New York Times picked up a story about my neighborhood. About a mile from where I live is a cemetery: But for the better part of five decades, the most notable tombstones at Mormon Island were those without names: 36 anonymous decedents whose grave markers shared a single, shocking label: Moved from Nigger Hill Cemetery by the US Government in 1954. Perhaps more jarring were the words that followed, saying that the headstones were placed by U.S. Government in 1954. New ones are being made by the prisoners at Folsom Prison. The comments section of the article addresses the issue of whitewashing history by removing the offending word, similar to Huck Finn. Several commenters state that the area was officially named with the perjorative, but I can find no evidence of that. We live within two miles of Mormon Island, Negro Bar State Park and Dyke 8 of Folsom Lake, now renamed Folsom Point. The cultural implications are significant, but the history is fascinating. I have no idea how to verify this information I found in a web search, but I think its worth a look: Historical Legacy of Negro Hills, California by Michael Harris The history of Negro Hills, CA is an excellent place to begin to share our 150+ year Nationwide celebration. In 1854, Newton Miller noted that in his racially mixed Methodist Church at Negro Hills, Negroes constitute nearly all the church members and are a majority of the congregation. Negro Hills was founded in early 1848 along the American River, east of Leidesdorff Ranch, near todays City of Folsom. 1830 - 1850 Negro Seamen Acts were established at most major southern seaports in the United States. They prohibited free men of African ancestry from their lucrative career in the maritime industry. Many Negro seamen became farmers in 1840's Mexican California. The Gold Rush of 1848 and California U.S. statehood in 1850 expedited an influx of industrious free men of African ancestry to California. Negro Hills, CA is an extraordinary early Gold Rush community and maintains a golden historical legacy of the free migration of American citizens of African ancestry. In 1849 three enterprising men from the New England seaboard named Vosey, Long and French opened a store and boarding house called the Civil Usage House. Business was good. Gold Rush fever swept across the world, like wildfire and brought Irish, Spanish, Portuguese, Mormon, Chinese and Americans from all corners of our new United States. Early success was assured in Negro Hills and brought global attention to El Dorado County. Charles Crocker, brother of Edwin Crocker and Dewitt Stanford, brother of Leland Stanford, joined the Negro Hill business community competing directly with the Negro established trade and commerce entities. In 1853, Negro Hills population exceeded 1200 and could boast of a multiethnic community unmatched outside the Port of San Francisco. Negro Hills was the hub of a regional community that included Salmon Falls, Massachusetts Flat, Chile Hill, Mormon Island and many mining camps along the American River. By 1854, portions of the deeply religious community of Negro Hills had deteroriated into a Wild West saloon and place of ill repute. The California State Legislature passed laws prohibiting Blacks from testifying in court, homesteading land, voting and public education, these and other environmental hazards helped to destroy the harmonious beginnings of Negro Hills, CA. A group of drunken, broke and destitute white citizens of the village of Negro Hills began to terrorize the Negro business community. Theft, fights and lynching were often encouraged because of the legal prohibition of equal access to the law in early California State History. In 1855, the first California Colored Convention began to address the disenfranchisement brought about by our California State Legislature. Negro Hills was effectively destroyed to the benefit of the Crocker, Stanford and other prominent families. Today, California State Historical Landmark No. 570 of Negro Hill is missing. A small portion Negro Hills Cemetery was relocated during the 1954 construction of Folsom Dam; however, our U.S. Bureau of Reclamation sought fit to rename Historic Negro Hills, Nigger Hill on 36 unknown grave markers. An effort to establish the City of El Dorado Hills could bring a fresh new perspective towards a more inclusive historical legacy that reconciles the pioneering spirit of all citizens of early Negro Hills, CA. A people, who have forgotten their past, will have a limited future. Salmon In Danger: March Against Monsanto San Francisco by R.Robertson SALMON was the theme of this years March Against Monsanto in San Francisco. Aquabounty has created GMO salmon that will be farm-raised, super fast growing, and has been approved by the FDA despite insufficient safety testing and widespread opposition. Tribe members of the Winnemem Wintu are working to get federal fish biologists to help return the endangered Chinook salmon to the McCloud River in northern counties of California. Winnemem Wintu tribal leader Caleen Sisk voiced concern for animal and human life as agribusiness disrupts the natural order of things. SALMON was the theme of this years March Against Monsanto in San Francisco. Aquabounty has created GMO salmon that will be farm-raised, super fast growing, and has been approved by the FDA despite insufficient safety testing and widespread opposition. If these farm-raised salmon escape, they could forever changes the genes of ocean salmon. Tribe members of the Winnemem Wintu are working to get federal fish biologists to help return the endangered Chinook salmon to the McCloud River in northern counties of California. Winnemem Wintu tribal leader Caleen Sisk voiced concern for animal and human life as agribusiness disrupts the natural order of things. Meanwhile Monsanto, already one of the biggest pharmaceutical and agricultural companies that produces genetically modified foods and seeds, drugs and pesticides and herbicides, is facing a takeover by one of the largest companies in the world, Bayer. Its dark history continues. Marchers against Monsanto marched along from the Embarcadero to Aquatic Park where they rallied chanting, "Hell no GMO!" Posts deleted as TBSC member faces multiple felony counts ranging from illegally synthesizing a Schedule 1 narcotic, to being illegally armed with a firearm. James Burtnett of Boulder Creek California, faces multiple felony counts ranging from illegally synthesizing a Schedule 1 narcotic, to being illegally armed with a firearm. According to court documents, Burtnett was involved in a narcotic processing operation. Due to the high concentration of extremely flammable, toxic chemicals involved, the illegal lab exploded on September 29th, 2013 on 3rd Street in Santa Cruz, California.Three males in their early 20s who were present when the lab exploded were severely burned over nearly 70% of their bodies, and according to Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark, They not only put themselves at risk, they put that entire neighborhood, and especially that entire apartment complex at a very high state of risk with their activities. The burns sustained by the 3 men present were so severe that in an article on October 3, 2013 in the Santa Cruz Sentinel quoted police chief Steve Clark as saying, The men, who were flown to Valley Medical Center, are in a medically induced coma. A criminal investigation is underway and there is a possibility of prosecution. Should any of the men die, the investigation could turn into a homicide investigationOur hope is that they do recover from their injuries. We hope for the best for them but there is that responsibility component that comes into play as well."According to a post on the Take Back Santa Cruz Facebook Page dated Sept. 29, 2013 (see below), Burtnett had to stay away from the apartment complex due to the explosion. Fellow Take Back Santa Cruz member Sharon de Jong stayed with Burtnett and his two dogs while the crime scene was contained and investigated by authorities. On TBSCs Facebook page there was never any mention of Burtnetts involvement with the illegal narcotics manufacturing lab, just that he had to stay away from the apartment due to its proximity to the explosion and subsequent fire. Several members speculated that it was a meth lab fire. Later in the thread, de Jong indicated that Burtnetts apartment was attached to the crime scene, stating, several people were evacuated due to the attached laundry room catching fire. James was one of them.Always wanting to feel like shes in the thick of the action, Take Back Santa Cruz founder Analicia Cube chimed into the thread stating, Is James OK? Does anyone need anything? Clearly Burtnett is a high ranking member of the Take Back Santa Cruz junta. He has been a very vocal part of the group for several years, and can often be seen in group photographs with the rank and file Take Back leaders. Most notably he is front and center in the infamous Gladys Kravitz photo featured on the first page of the Take Back website, where members proudly flaunt their surveillance tactics and busy-body presence in the community. Unfortunately the group conveniently forgets to focus on their own members transgressions.In line with many Take Back members who are obsessed with firearms, the community should be extremely alarmed that Burtnett is also being charged with,Special Allegations-Personally Armed/ Firearm Controlled Substance. Court documents state, It is further alleged that in the commission and attempted commission of the above offense the Defendant was personally armed with a Springfield .40 caliber handgun and a Steven 12 Gauge shotgun within the meaning of Penal Code 12022 (c) Burtnetts online social media accounts are littered pro-gun messages.Other charges against Burtnett include Possession of Marijuana For Sale, another Special Allegation-Armed With a Firearm violation, and a probation violation. Burtnetts trial was set for February 22, 2016, but has been rescheduled for a later date so that Fire Investigators can have more time to continue their investigation. Burtnett remains free on his own recognizance.The other men involved in the narcotic lab explosion didnt fare as well as Burtdett. It was discovered that at least two of them have crowd funding pages to assist with medical expenses incurred from treating their severe burns. Some of the photos found online are extremely alarming, and show the magnitude of the explosion:May 21st, 2016, TBSC member Ronald Paul Hughes posted a link to the Santa Cruz Sentinel article on the criminal sentencing to the Take Back Santa Cruz Facebook page (see below). The post was deleted in the early morning hours of the same day even thought it didnt appear to violate TBSCs terms of use. This selective censorship by a group who claims to be concerned with public safety is all too common. If putting a neighborhood at risk of explosion with an illegal drug manufacturing lab doesn't qualify as a public safety issue, then Take Back Santa Cruz should reanalyze their platform.For more information see the links below.Santa Cruz Sentinel:The Santa Cruz Sentinel:KSBW news story:See the Santa Cruz Superior Court webpage for more information:Case number: F27180 "Police Said She Would Not Follow Their Orders and a Sergeant Shot Her." Not much is known yet about Jessica Williams, the 29 year old woman shot and killed by San Francisco Police Thursday morning , the execution that finally triggered the resignation of the Chief of Police , Greg Suhr. Growing memorial for Jessica Williams in the Bayview, San Francisco. Bit by bit, though, her story is being revealed. From today's SF Chronicle: Those who knew Williams said she was a pleasant person to deal with. Williams went to Elmira Street near the Bayview district to pick up a friend Thursday... [Williams] was considered a friend to several homeless people on the streets of San Francisco... when [Clylinka Micra, a homeless man's] wife was the victim of an attempted rape inside a tent at a homeless encampment, Williams pulled the attacker off her. According to the article, no weapon was found on Williams or in the car. And yet a police sergeant, for reasons we will probably never know, saw fit to fire at her, fatally wounding her, while her car was wedged into a truck she had plowed into. Whatever the reason, if any is ever put forward by the officer, the real reason she, or at least many victims of police violence, was shot, lies in the title of this piece. She would not follow their orders, so they shot her. It might as well just be the footnote to a prison log: "Shot while trying to escape." Failure to comply means physical violence, tasering, and, in Jessica William's case and so many others, death. Who knows whether these particular officers were enraged by Williams refusal to obey to the point of losing any sense of proportion? What we do know is video after video shows other police, other deputies, other prison guards, totally losing it when someone refuses their orders, even when the victims are intoxicated, mentally ill, autistic, or deaf. We watch as people are dragged and thrown to the ground, beaten, repeatedly shocked and face death by firing squad because of the cult of compliance. Only when policy AND the first reaction of police is stop, back off, assess, and deploy alternative tactics and personnel, rather than pressing forward and neutralizing at all costs in a fury over failure to react to commands, will the orgy of deaths to the likes of Jessica Williams, Sandra Bland, Natasha McKenna, David Washington, and so many other documented and undocumented victims come to an end. Riders and drivers rally against bus cuts in Santa Cruz by Zav Hershfield A group of bus riders and drivers staged a rally at the Santa Cruz downtown METRO station in protest of planned cuts to the county bus system. METRO plans to reduce service across the county and cut more than 40 driver positions. May 21, 2016 - We're out here for the community, says Mario Torres, a bus driver with Santa Cruz METRO. Torres and a group of community activists from many walks of life were present at the downtown METRO station on Pacific Avenue. I'm concerned because we're cutting routes to social services that are already in limited supply. Among the threatened routes, Torres cites the 74, which takes riders to the Social Security office in Watsonville, the 69A, which runs to the Watsonville Hospital, and the 71 to Dominican Hospital. Under METRO's latest service reduction plan (as of May 11th) 74 is set to be cut outright, 69A will lose service between 9:50am and 3:50pm, and the 71 will run half as often, every 30 rather than every 15 minutes. According to documents provided at a METRO public comment meeting at Louden Nelson Community Center on May 3, METRO needs to reduce its annual operating budget by $6.5 million for the next fiscal year. Torres says that money is available in the system's coffers, in reserves that used to be available for operations funding but are now off limits as a rainy day fund. At its peak today almost 20 people stand beneath the clock in the center of the METRO station. Some walk, or roll in electric wheelchairs, around the concrete island there. They carry neon construction paper signs and chant slogans like Save the routes! and Save the bus! A pair of UCSC students is present in support of the rally. I'm here because I care about public issues. I feel like this is an issue for people of color like myself. I ride the bus in Long Beach, where I'm from and the people on the bus there are low-income, workers, people of color, students, houseless people, says one of the pair. The bus is necessary for me during school here. Zipcar is too expensive. Uber is too expensive. She also states that she doesn't have a car because of the expense of owning one. The cuts to the METRO system aren't limited to service. The employment of METRO workers is also on the line. Torres says that, of the almost 160 drivers in the bus system, 43 may lose their jobs. But there are no cuts in management or supervisor positions, he says with some outrage. No cuts in mechanics, but they have three open spots that they just aren't going to hire for, so... Dan Stevenson, an 18-year veteran METRO driver, says the cuts are connected to a lack of buses and a failure in METRO leadership to pursue funding. Alex Clifford [the new METRO CEO] told me they have to retire 70 buses in the next 5 years, Dan says, shocked himself. The existing bus fleet is aging, and many of the vehicles have been used far longer than their intended operational life. Dan thinks that METRO is making service reductions in advance of a major shortfall in actual buses that will be available to the system. However, the way he sees it, funding is available to keep the system functioning. Naming rights for the new METRO center. Tolls or taxes, like an emissions tax on new cars sold. Public-private partnerships with entities in the area. These ideas are just some of the possible solutions that Dan mentions in the space of a minute. One funding solution of interest is the Regional Transportation Commission's proposed sales tax measure that will be on the ballot in November. If passed, the half cent sales tax in the measure could provide millions of dollars for transportation in upcoming years. The trouble for the bus system however, is how that funding is allocated. A considerable proportion of the money from the proposed measure is aimed at widening Highway 1 to accommodate more auto traffic. The cost of this endeavor is estimated at over $100 million, according to the website of the Campaign for Sustainable Transportation, which advocates to fund hiking trails, trains, and bicycle access. The METRO board is expected to finalize cuts to the system in June. Their decisions will then take effect in September of this year. Three public hearings remain until then: May 26th at 6pm in the Watsonville City Council Chambers, May 27th at 8:30am in the Santa Cruz City Council chambers, and finally June 24th at 8:30am again in the Santa Cruz chambers. Additionally, the organizers of today's rally have planned a march on May 26th beginning 11am at the base of the UC Santa Cruz campus. Made refugees Tedr77 [at] aol.com) by Ted Rudow III, MA The Israeli defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, has resigned, saying, "I fought with all my might against manifestations of extremism, violence and racism in Israeli society." His resignation comes only days after Yaalons deputy chief of staff, Major General Yair Golan, compared modern-day Israel to "nauseating trends" in Nazi-era Germany. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now offered the position of defense minister to the right-wing, ultranationalist politician Avigdor Lieberman. Lieberman is considered to be one of the most hawkish politicians in Israel. The recognition of the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland is enshrined in UN resolution 194, which was approved by the UN General Assembly--including the sponsor of the Camp David talks, the U.S. After 2000 years of the Diaspora, the founders of the state of Israel felt it necessary to make a law legislating the right of every Jew to return to Eretz Israel. This Israeli law of return allows any person in the world with a Jewish mother to pack up and fly to Tel Aviv and become a citizen of Israel. Isnt it equally important for Palestinians who were evicted from their homes 68 years ago to be able to exercise this undeniably basic human right. 68 years ago, when the state of Israel was created on the basis of a UN resolution, an entire people were made refugees. Four hundred Palestinian villages within the borders of todays Israel were demolished and wiped from the map. Survivors of this catastrophe are dispersed in refugee camps in Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Others can be found scattered in the four corners of the world. Ted Rudow III, MA - Donald Trump has harshly criticised African leaders for turning own people into slaves and promoting corruption - "Africa should be recolonized because Africans are still under slavery." Republican presidential candidate in the United States presidential election of 2016 Donald Trump is at it again, as he has lashed out at African heads of state. Mr Trump was adressing reporters in Nebraska last week, where he condemned African leaders for having insatiable desire for power and wealth, while their people are living like slaves. Responding to a question a from South African journalist on African countries considering mass withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) Trump said: READ ALSO: What can President Buhari do about Amaechi? "It is shameful for African leaders to seek exit from ICC. In my view, these leaders want to have all the freedom to oppress their poor people without anyone asking them a question. I think there is no shortcut to maturity and in my view, Africa should be recolonized because Africans are still under slavery. Look at how those African leaders change constitutions in their favour so that they can be life presidents. They are all greedy and do not care about the common people. When I saw them gang up against ICC yet they cant even find an amicable solution for the ongoing quandary in Burundi, I thought to myself these people lack discipline and humane heart. READ ALSO: How Donald Trump And MKO Abiola became brothers They cant lead by example. The only thing they are interested in is accumulating wealth from poor tax payers." Recall that recently Radio Biafra has declared it support to maverick businessman Donald Trump in his campaign to become US president. Source: Legit.ng - MEND has accused Niger Delta Avengers of trying to destabilise President Buhari's administration - The group said Buhari needs to be given time to perform after the region was abandoned by Jonathan - It dissociated itself from the activities of Biafra groups The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has revealed that the Niger Delta Avengers was formed by some sinister people to destabilize the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. The Niger Delta Avengers has claimed responsibility for series of Bombing of fuel and gas pipeline in the region and has vowed to continue to do so until government meets its demands. In a statement published by Sahara Reporters, MEND said dissociates itself from the activities of the militant group and said it still respects the ceasefire agreement. READ ALSO: Fuel subsidy removal is the best thing Buhari has ever done - Boyloaf MEND also clarified that it does not support the agitation for an independent Biafra state championed by some secessionist group especially the Indigenous People Of Biafra. The group said President Buhari deserves to be given time to stabilise the country which was run down by the ill-fated, corrupt and visionless immediate past administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan. Full MEND statement below: After a rigorous and robust analysis, debate and review of political events in Nigeria within the past 12 months; particularly as they affect the Niger Delta region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has resolved to continue to respect the unilateral ceasefire of hostilities declared May 30, 2014 against key economic interests of the Nigerian State. The painful but necessary resolution to respect the ceasefire was borne out of MEND's belief that as President Muhammadu Buhari marks his first year in office, he deserves more time to stabilize the country that was ran aground by the ill-fated, corrupt and visionless immediate past administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan which pauperized the Nigerian people to the alarming degree we all experience today. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) wishes to condemn and dissociate itself from the recent activities carried out by a group known as the Niger Delta Avengers. Their sudden emergence has absolutely nothing to do with the Niger Delta struggle but rather a tool by certain elements to destabilise the current government. Going by their actions and subsequent statements, it has become very apparent on who the sponsors of these group are. MEND serves notice to the International Community that the Niger Delta region shall NOT be part of a secessionist Biafran State. Rather, the group believes in one strong united Nigerian federation where the principles and ideals of Resource Control; True Federalism; Rule of Law/Respect for Human Rights; Democracy; Free Enterprise and a Vibrant Civil Society are well entrenched in the grundnorm and put to practice. However, The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) remains vehemently opposed to the fraudulent and unsustainable Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) headed by Brigadier General Paul Boroh (rtd) which still runs on the corrupt bureaucratic and operational template of the past administration. We have always made it very clear that unless the root issues which gave birth to the agitations in the Niger Delta region are addressed, in the form of a sincere dialogue, this programme will only continue to remain a mere cesspool of corruption. READ ALSO: Give Buhari a chance - Ex-Mend members In order to create an enabling environment for dialogue on the Niger Delta question, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) urges President Muhammadu Buhari to release the Okah Brothers - Henry and Charles who were arrested in 2010 on trumped-up charges. The release of Henry and Charles Okah will be key to any form of dialogue in helping to bring stability to the volatile region. The division among Niger Delta groups over the blowing up of pipelines as a way of communicating grievances to the federal government seems to be escalating. A clash between two groups in the region over the control of the Tebidaba-Brass pipelines along the Azuzuama-Ikienghenbiri creek in Southern Ijaw local government, Bayelsa state resulted in fire. While on of the groups claim to be safeguarding the region, others claim to be vandals leading to tension and shooting between the groups. Source: Legit.ng A scientific team has found in La Fonera canyon, also known as the Palamos canyon in the Northwestern Mediterranian Sea, deep-water coral communities, a marine ecosystem which is very vulnerable to human activity. The findings are explained in an article published in the magazine PLOS ONE signed by the researchers Galderic Lastras, Miquel Canals and Anna Sanchez Vidal, from the Research Group on Marine Geosciences (GRC) from the Faculty of Geology of the UB, together with Enric Ballesteros (Blanes Centre for Advanced Studies, CEAB-CSIC) and Josep-Maria Gili (Institute of Marine Sciences, ICM-CSIC). Cold-water corals, known for ages by the Norwegian fishermen, have been observed in different latitudes around the world, and are considered to be the cold-water "cousins" of the coral reefs from tropical regions. These kind of corals create fragile and branched colonies, which boost marine biodiversity related to their relation to the life cycle of lots of marine organisms. Deep cold-water coral colonies in the Mediterranean The first cold-water coral communities discovered in the Iberian Peninsula were found in 2010 in the Aviles canyon, in the Cantabrian Sea. In the west Mediterranean sea, teams of the University of Barcelona and CSIC had found living colonies in Cap de Creus canyon, a scientific finding that represents one of the best documented examples of this kind of deep ecosystem in all the Mediterranean. It is estimated that the new communities which were discovered by the research team in La Fonera canyon -- at 130-370 m water depth- lie around 400,000 square metres. Video images testifying the discovery were obtained using a submarine remotely operated vehicle (ROV). In this specific submarine habitat, the most abundant species are Madrepora oculata corals (white coral) and Dendophyllia cornigera (yellow coral). "These new habitats expand the cold-water coral province of the northwest Mediterranea to the south even more than before: they had been seen in the Cap de Creus canyon and other canyons in the Gulf of Lion" said the teacher Galderic Lastras, main author of the article and member of the GRC on Marine Geosciences. Preserving a habitat threatened by human activity La Fonera canyon, outside the Catalan coast waters, shows a very abrupt terrain, with great depths near the coast. The north part of the canyon, where trawling is usually done, shows a softer terrain compared to the southern part, which is more abrupt. Like Professor Miquel Canals -head of Research Group on Marine Geosciences of the UB- said, "Trawling greatly modifies the submarine terrain so the landscape goes from having a cliff terrain to having a benthic terrain shape, following isobathic or level curves." These cold-water coral communities have been found in the most harbour-like northern areas. They show clear symptoms of human impact. "The bigger coral colonies are in areas which are inaccessible for trawling, like vertical walls and abrupt areas, where there is also Corallium rubrum (red coral). However, these coral colonies are usually shattered with fishing gears and plastics or partially covered by sediment, especially the ones closer to areas where trawling is practised" warns Galderic Lastras. "In this sense -he continues-, even though dragging areas, which have muddy depths, there are not these kind of communities, the sediment re-movement due to fishing gears can affect these vulnerable habitats, which are the home for special commercial interest, actually." The weather may be cooling down, but things are heating up for two Lotto players from Wellington and Christchurch who won $500,000 each with Lotto First Division in last nights live Lotto draw. The winning tickets were sold at MyLotto to a player in Wellington and Countdown Rolleston in Christchurch. Powerball was not struck this evening and has rolled over to Wednesday night, where the jackpot will be $11 million. Another player will also be celebrating after winning $200,000 with Strike Four. The winning ticket was sold at Paremata New World in Porirua. Last nights live Lotto draw featured a story of lottery funding in action through Dress for Success. Lotto players help support Dress for Success dressing program which has empowered over 4,500 Auckland women by providing them with outfits, interview tips and, most importantly, the confidence they need to get back in the workforce. For more information about how Lotto players support Dress for Success see https://mylotto.co.nz/community-winners/lotto-players-help-women-get-dressed-for-success/ Anyone who bought their ticket from any of the above winning stores should write their name on the back of the ticket and check it immediately at any Lotto outlet, online at mylotto.co.nz or through the Lotto NZ ticket-checker app.

Tricia Mitchell

When Tricia Mitchell and her husband, Shawn, saw a man carrying a tiny black kitten through a market in Lviv, Ukraine, they figured he had just adopted him and was taking him home. "I had cheery visions of him perhaps taking him home to surprise a jubilant family member," Mitchell told The Dodo. "Instead, the man walked behind steel-gray dumpsters and dropped the kitten into a pile of mixed leaves and trash." That was how the couple met Cocoa the kitten. Mitchell and her husband have traveled through more than 60 countries over the past several years, and have seen too many homeless pets to count - but this was the first time they'd ever seen one abandoned right before their very eyes. It left them speechless, and wanting to help. "As nomads who have by choice been without a home base the past three years, we knew we were in no position to become pet parents to the little one, but we also couldn't leave the kitten on the street," Mitchell said. Dodo Shows Foster Diaries Scared Pittie Gets So Happy When He Meets This Guy And His Pack Of Dogs The couple took the terrified kitten back to their apartment with them, and set about getting him veterinary care. They learned that he was about 6 weeks old. They took care of his vaccinations and flea and de-worming treatments and got him microchipped. Since they couldn't keep him themselves, the couple decided to bring Cocoa back to Germany with them, where Mitchell's parents lived. They knew they had enough family and friends there that they would surely be able to find someone to take the little guy. After getting Cocoa his very own passport, the threesome set off on their 600-mile journey towards finding Cocoa a new home. As it turns out, Cocoa was born to travel. He had no problem riding trains and buses, and loved watching the world go by through the windows. "Cocoa was a fantastic travel buddy, and a good sport considering we were always on the move," Mitchell said. "During the time we spent inside buses, streetcars, taxis and trams, Cocoa would peek out from our protective hands, eliciting warm smiles from travelers." Once back in Germany, it didn't take long at all to find Cocoa a home. Mitchell runs a blog, and one of her avid readers, a woman named Claudine, read about Cocoa and knew she had to have him. Only three and a half weeks after they found him, Mitchell and her husband gave him to his brand-new family. Cocoa now lives in Switzerland, and is loving everything about his new life. "Cocoa was and is equal parts spunky and loving," Mitchell said. "His new forever family shares tales of him acting like the prince of their household, which is made up of four humans and five other cats." Nine months after his adoption, the couple who saved him had the pleasure of visiting him in his new home. Cocoa was thrilled to see his old friends. "He hopped onto my lap, looked into my eyes, and extended his arms onto my shoulders," Mitchell said. "His new owner, Claudine, was certain he remembered us. Shawn and I found that incredibly touching." Amber Hollier didn't know the man she donated a kidney to. And it wasn't an easy decision. Hollier is a single mother. She worried: What if her own daughter needed a kidney one day? But a news story about a local father moved her. Darin Tassin had six children - and kidney failure. He needed a transplant. She felt she needed to help. Hollier gave her left kidney to Tassin on April 18. Then with a month of recovering at home ahead of her, Hollier figured she might as well be useful again, so she picked up a couple of foster kittens who needed bottle-feeding. The kittens were 2 weeks old. Hollier was five days post-op. "Their bottle schedule matched up almost perfectly with my medication schedule," she tells The Dodo. "How one kidney saved three lives." Amber Hollier Hollier has always loved animals. Growing up on a farm in Louisiana, she describes herself as "the kid that snuck a pair of mice into my room when I was 13 and a puppy into my bathroom when I was 17." She enlisted in the Navy at age 19, and was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida - for the next six years, she was without pets. "The very first thing I did when my contract with the Navy was up was paint my nails a bright color. The second thing I did was go to the Jacksonville Humane Society," she says. Hollier adopted an elderly cat with serious medical issues. They lived happily together for just over a year, before the cat died of a heart attack - lighting a fire in Hollier to take care of the most vulnerable animals. Dodo Shows Foster Diaries This Pregnant Pittie Foster Story Is The Happiest Thing Ever Amber Hollier That includes taking in "fospice" dogs through the Mr. Mo Project - an upstate New York nonprofit that gets old and sick dogs out of shelters, and places them into loving foster homes for the rest of their lives. The dogs' medical bills and other expenses are covered; fospice families provide the love. Hollier and her daughter live back in Louisiana now, with two Mr. Mo fospice dogs - Jill, a former stray with diabetes and vestibular disease, and Saint, who has inoperable cancer. "But he is playful and silly and bossy," Hollier says. Amber Hollier There are also three other rescue pups, a bunny adopted from the Louisiana SPCA, and two reptiles who were, Hollier says, "inherited." "My sister is a teacher and she gets the grants for her classroom to get a class pet," she says. "Then somehow they end up in my zoo the year after!" Amber Hollier And, of course, now Hollier has her kittens. Tillie, from the Louisiana SPCA, and Ricki, from Jefferson Parish Animal Shelter - the first bottle-fed kittens she's ever fostered. "Bottle-feeding is normally too intense for working people," Hollier says. "The fact that she just donated a kidney to a stranger, and is using her recovery time to save even more lives is nothing short of amazing," says Renee Yeaton, foster coordinator for the Jefferson Parish Animal Shelter. Amber Hollier A month since the surgery, Darin Tassin - the recipient of Hollier's kidney - is thriving. He told a local Fox affiliate he's now hopeful he will "see all my kids grow up and get married and I'd like to have grandkids for myself." "Darin is doing wonderful. Her kidney is working great," Tassin's wife, Danielle, tells The Dodo in an email. Hollier - who hopes her story inspires folks to donate organs, and to foster animals - is doing great too. This week, she's just gone back to work. She even credits the kittens with helping her heal. Amber Hollier If you ever thought your family was a mess, your career prospects stalled, your future heading nowhere, then American writer Patricia Engel has a tale for you. Meet Reina and her brother Carlito, Floridians by way of Columbia. Ever since Carlito was incarcerated for a heinous crime, Reinas weekends have revolved around prison visits, her life ruled by love, guilt, and pueblerino superstitions. It seems Reina was a bad luck baby (abiku), powerful enough to make siblings or others around them die. Despite this heavy emotional weather, Engels drama takes place in bright Florida sunshine, narrated by the equally bright Reina. The almost-paradise she knew as a child when Mami called my brother and me her angels may have vanished her mother (Mami) having decamped to live with Jerry the dentist in Orlando but the landscape of remembered childhood remains as fresh as ever. When Carlito shuffles off this mortal coil, Reina soldiers on, coolly noting that people have this idea that its hard to start a new life but its actually pretty easy. Washing up on an afterthought of an island in the Florida Keys, she is surprised by nature, a quiet world with no sounds of Miami, neither TV, radio, nor her mothers voice praying at her homemade altar bargaining with her saints to set us all free. Reina then meets Ernesto Nesto Cadena, a freshly arrived Cuban who fixes things, a loaded phrase if ever there ever was one. With Nesto, Reina learns about the sea, about ancient Santeria deities, and encourages her to chart her escape from the past. Engel takes on a lot in this bubbling stew of a novel. Despite a tendency to teach her readers about the U.S. prison system, the plight of dolphins penned in sea aquaria, the decades of hardships endured by Cubans the surprising thing is she succeeds most of the time. Central to her story is plucky, honest Reina, who has placed [herself] in a prison, as a reader of dreams in Havana informs her. The great pleasure of this book is watching her break free. Nancy Wigston is a freelance writer and critic in Toronto SHARE: VANCOUVERLufthansa officials say a Vancouver-bound flight from Munich was diverted to Hamburg after a passenger suffered a medical issue. Airline spokesman Michael Lamberty says flight LH476 was forced to land in Hamburg on Sunday afternoon and a passenger was taken off for treatment. He declined to provide information about the passengers condition or nationality, citing German privacy laws. Lamberty says the flight landed in Hamburg around 4 p.m. local time and took off again just before 6 p.m., and is expected to arrive in Vancouver later Sunday night. Hamburg police say a rescue crew including a doctor met the man at the airport, diagnosed him with a mental disorder and took him to a local psychiatric facility. The police say there is no active investigation into the incident at this time. Police did not have any information about the mans disorder or behaviour on the plane other than he appeared to be disoriented. The Canadian government had no immediate information about the incident. Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version reported that the flight was diverted on Saturday. Read more about: SHARE: OTTAWAA federal watchdog is looking into claims that Canadas spy agency had only one serious privacy violation in 2015, the Star has learned. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) reported just one privacy breach in 2015, and only after the spy agency was urged to by an independent review body. Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien said hell be contacting CSIS to ensure theyre following government-wide rules to report all serious breaches to his office. It is certainly something to investigate with CSIS, Therrien said in an interview Friday. I will follow up with CSIS to inquire as to whether they think theyre bound by (the reporting requirement), (and) whether truly there was only one incident to be reported. Documents recently tabled in Parliament revealed federal departments and agencies logged 5,853 privacy and data breaches in 2015. Taken together, the breaches involved 45,892 individual Canadians. CSIS did not disclose their one reported incident in the parliamentary documents, citing national security concerns, but confirmed it when contacted by the Star. In 2014, the federal government created a new rule that all material privacy breaches those that could cause serious damage to Canadians, or affect a large number of individuals must be reported to Therriens office and the Treasury Board. Material privacy breaches can range from the relatively minor misdirected mail or electronic files mistakenly accessed to serious incidents, such as stolen hard drives or improper snooping. But the parliamentary documents reveal that in 2015, only 304 breaches were disclosed to the commissioner 5.2 per cent of the total. CSIS was asked to report one incident by the Security Intelligence Review Committee, an independent body that looks into the agencys operations. The agency had been accessing taxpayer information at the Canada Revenue Agency without a warrant a practice that CSIS itself reported to the SIRC and asked them to investigate. Its not clear how many people were affected by the breach. In a statement, CSIS said it was bound by the policy to disclose material breaches. But when asked if the agency proactively reports breaches, or only does so at the SIRCs direction, a spokesperson said only that the agency respects Canadian law and ministerial directive. The (SIRC) reports to Parliament on the operations of CSIS, spokeswoman Roxanne Ouellette wrote in a statement. SIRC ensures that powers given to CSIS are used legally and appropriately, in order to protect Canadians rights and freedoms. In response to an official request to detail the number of privacy and information breaches from NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice, CSIS said they have robust protections in place for private information. CSIS maintains robust policies and procedures in regards to its collection activities and in its information management polices and procedures, the agency wrote. For reasons of national security, CSIS does not disclose information related to data, information, or privacy breaches. The agency declined to provide a global number of breaches in 2015, as requested. Other departments on the national security file, such as Public Safety (two breaches), the Canadian Border Services Agency (35), and the RCMP (52) were more forthcoming. RCMP Const. Annie Delisle said the force reviews potential privacy breaches before reporting them to both the privacy commissioner and Treasury Board. While the RCMP would not disclose specific details of a privacy breach that could compromise national security, or ongoing operations and investigations, it is still obligated to report that a breach has occurred, Delisle wrote in a statement. Therrien said some national security agencies seem to be concerned that reporting to his office as well as their own review bodies would create duplication. He said he is open to discussing how the privacy office could work with review bodies like the SIRC to provide efficient and effective oversight on privacy files. Were only two or three years after the Snowden revelations, Therrien said, referring to U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden. I dont think its the time now to reduce the jurisdiction of review bodies ... I think it is more time to facilitate the sharing of information between oversight bodies so that we can do our job as efficiently as possible. In a recent submission to a parliamentary committee, Therrien recommended that the duty to report privacy breaches to his office be enshrined in law. The Star spoke with Therrien on Friday. The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. The Star: Has the situation improved at all since your 2014-15 annual report, which stated only 10 per cent of departments and agencies have reported privacy breaches, as required? Daniel Therrien: Since the last annual report we have seen a change. And since then, we also saw the report (to Parliament). We may not be talking about the same types of breaches reported to me or in response to Mr. Boulerice. He wasnt necessarily concerned with privacy breaches, it might be other technological breaches ... but its clear theres a big gap between the numbers reported in answer to his question, and the number reported to our office ... And that is something we intend to inquire into. Q: There is a huge gap. But were talking about every federal department and agency here. How do you go about bringing them on side? DT: Well, I want to have discussions in the short term. And I also made recommendations to amend the Privacy Act about a month ago in a submission to a parliamentary committee. And among the changes recommended is that this obligation to report privacy breaches, which is now the subject of a policy or directive, be elevated to a legal obligation. Private companies (will soon) have an obligation, a legal obligation, to report privacy breaches when the relevant regulations are adopted. Theres no reason why government agencies and departments should have less of an obligation to report privacy breaches than private companies. Q: Whats the danger if departments and agencies dont report breaches to you? Practically speaking, for Canadians, whats the danger? DT: One of the reasons for privacy breach notifications is to determine whether to advise the affected people so they can remedy the situation themselves, or that the institution, public or private, (can) take measures to remedy the situation. If breaches are not reported, that set of considerations does not come to play and people do not know that theres a risk for them. So thats at the individual level, (for) people affected by these breaches. If we dont get a privacy breach notification, were also missing a big part of the picture to determine, on a more general perspective, what are the types of breaches that companies and departments face so that we can analyze trends and give proper advise to these departments or companies on how to remedy the situation. So theres a risk for individuals directly affected, and theres a risk that generally speaking the right measures may not be adopted by (private) sectors or (government) departments. Q: Were you surprised at the number of breaches recently reported to Parliament through Mr. Boulerices question? (There were 5,854 breaches involving the personal information of 45,892 Canadians in 2015). DT: All I would say is that theyre clearly higher, much higher, than the number of breaches reported to us. So that means theres reasons for us to investigate whats behind that difference. The number is high. We know, because we see in the media that again private organizations and departments are the victims of breaches. We hear about that frequently. To quantify this is difficult. Im certainly concerned that theres a huge gap between what is reported to us, and what was reported to Mr. Boulerice. There is a significant issue. How significant and how do you quantify it, Im not sure I have the most accurate figures based on what was given to Mr. Boulerice. SHARE: Ah, the Victoria Day long weekend. The unofficial start of summer when you fire up the barbecue, break out the shorts and sandals and rosin up the bow? Saturday was World Fiddle Day, of course. First marked in Ireland in 2011, this years celebration of the stringed instrument took place in cities around the world, including Toronto, where more than 100 fiddlers and fans flocked to historic Fort York throughout the day. For those dismissing the occasion as yet another bogus holiday in the vein of National Wiggle Your Toes Day, Canada last year put a string on it, officially passing the National Fiddling Day Act. The holiday is marked on the third Saturday of May, to celebrate the appreciation, beauty and history of fiddle music, and in honour of Antonio Stradivari, the renowned crafter of stringed instruments, reads the legislation (which is careful to note that National Fiddling Day is not a legal holiday). Almost every culture in the world has bowed, string instruments, said Anne Lederman, artistic director of World Fiddle Day Toronto, and a professional musician who has played the fiddle for 43 years. From the one-stringed fiddles originating in North Africa and China, to the four-stringed instrument played by Scottish settlers and French Canadian fur traders, variations on the fiddle have created a diversity in sound the festival aims to commemorate, Lederman said. The Toronto event, now in its fourth year, is geared toward players of all skill levels and consists of workshops, performances by professional musicians, and a mass concert. Its grown every year, initially attracting just over two dozen players, then drawing 96 fiddlers last year. I fell in love with everything that was happening, how welcoming it was to every level from beginners to advanced, and a little jam at the end, said Yosvani Castaneda, a fiddler originally from Cuba now living in Toronto. Castaneda, a player since the age of 7, led a workshop on Latin fiddling. The style is jazzier, based more on improvisation than the Cape Breton or Acadian styles popular in Canada. We really had a lot of fun. Its a syncopated rhythm and its really interesting because you have to listen to the group but hold your own pattern, said Joyce Anderson, who came with fellow members of the Guelph Celtic Orchestra. After the workshops, players came together for a fiddle jam, playing arrangements from regions and countries around the world, including Mongolia, Sweden and Brazil. There was also a 14th century Syrian hymn, in honour of our Syrian refugees, said Lederman. The music was made available to players months ago, so each fiddler could prepare. Some practised together at group sessions hosted at music store Long & McQuade. Part of the whole purpose of what were doing here is to foster an appreciation for all different cultures around the world, and respect for all cultures, Lederman said. Like dozens of other fiddlers, Joanne McAuley enjoyed playing various kinds of music. We learned these amazing tunes from around the world that weve never played before, she said. So thats really special. SHARE: Junction Triangle semi sells for 70 million per cent over asking! Thats a headline we might brace ourselves to expect soon, one to bring a ubiquitous, and ridiculous, Toronto pastime to an absurdist climax. Absurd, but likely: it is the expected result of a sales strategy reported on in the Star this week. And perhaps it will be enough, for once, to stop people from the familiar shaking of their heads in awe and wonder at the batspit local real estate market, and stun them into the realization that the whole ritual is meaningless. The ritualistic pastime Im talking about, of course, is the one I call over-asking astonishment, and it is one of Torontos most common. What we do is we look at the selling price of a house that has recently been sold, and compare it to the price it was listed for on the real estate Multiple Listing Service, the asking price. Then we make our eyes go wide and let our legs go weak and marvel at the monstrous gap between the two numbers, flabbergasted at what it tells us about The Bonkers Price of Housing These Days. Except that gap doesnt tell us anything. Because the asking price is entirely, and increasingly, meaningless. Or, worse than meaningless, intentional fictional a ploy meant not to suggest an appropriate value but to trick people into paying attention to something they otherwise wouldnt. This is made plain in the case of the house that will sell for (at least!) 70 million per cent over asking, which was written about by my colleague Dan Taekema this week: a house on Edith Avenue listed for $1. Not because that is actually the price, obviously. Instead, its an openly deceitful attempt to, as the agent says, get the highest possible price. He tells Taekema, without a hint of apparent shame, that though the price is advertised as a single buck, he will not accept any less than $700,000 (7 million per cent more than $1) and expects more than that this new ploy is because his previous list price of $899,000 didnt attract a buyer. If youre new around here and havent been exposed to the strategy before, it works fairly simply: The low price gets you to take a look, thinking it could be in your budget, and maybe while youre looking you fall in love. And once you make an offer, youre attached to the idea of buying it, so you might be persuaded to pay far more once youre in a bidding war. It is a naked bait-and-switch. But if this agents loonie trap is somewhat novel in its transparent gimmickry, his general strategy is not new: listing a house low to spark a bidding war that results in a high price is so common as to be unremarkable. Which is also why its well past time to stop being Surprised! Shocked! Bewildered! when there are bidding wars that see a house sold for its market price rather than for the arbitrary number that was put on it as a marketing poly. Of course, if Tim Hortons or Loblaws or The Bay did this put one price on their fliers and in their ads, but then demanded a price several times higher when you actually got to the cash register, theyd be busted for misleading advertising. The law forbids knowingly making misleading claims in ads, including specific prohibitions on selling things for more than the advertised price. But all housing in Toronto is sold through a form of blind auction, with the sale going to the highest (or otherwise most attractive) bidder, so the advertised price is only ever a suggestion anyway. But it has become less than a suggestion. Its often an outright lie. This is only one of the many ways in which real estate is a business with bizarre practices. An industry where people are routinely forced to make life-altering decisions in a matter of hours or days, with limited information. An industry where the agent representing the purchaser gets paid by the seller and gets paid more if they persuade their own client to pay a higher price. An industry in which purchasers bid in an auction without knowing for certain how many other bidders there are or what other people have bid. But for some reason, the practice of pointless asking prices is especially annoying. In addition to being cravenly manipulative, it wastes a lot of peoples time, as they go out to see a house they think is in their price range because the selling agent has told them directly it is! only to realize its actually an order of magnitude more expensive than they can afford. It needlessly breaks some of these peoples hearts, as they (if they are getting bad advice from their own realtor) get emotionally involved in a bidding war they cannot win. And it corrupts the impression the rest of us have of whats happening in the market, thanks to those $400,000 over asking! headlines and realtor ads. If the realtors who run the Multiple Listing Service gave a crap about serving those in the market at all, theyd reform listing price practices. Ive considered if it should be like a regular auction, where the reserve price functions as a minimum and where a seller without any better offers would be forced to accept an offer at their list price. But given the other variables in a real estate offer inspections, financing, closing dates, and so on it might be too hard to make that practical. But the listing service could do away with asking prices altogether, and instead just list the average selling price of comparable houses nearby as a more reliable guide for what to expect. Because the selling price is determined, really, by what people are willing to pay for that kind of house in that location, and recent sales of similar nearby houses are the closest approximation of what that number is. At the very least, the rest of us could stop being suckered in. Asking prices are not expected prices, they arent minimum prices, they arent prices at all. They are just numbers chosen to attract attention. Whatever purpose they serve for agents, the rest of us can stop paying attention to them, stop putting them in headlines as if they mean something, and stop marveling at the gap between them and real selling prices. Over-asking astonishment is over. The actual selling prices are astonishing enough. Edward Keenan writes on city issues ekeenan@thestar.ca . Follow: @thekeenanwire SHARE: WASHINGTONAs the candidates running to replace him get increasingly aggressive, U.S. President Barack Obama is embarking on a sort of farewell tour to the world. His visit this week to Vietnam and Japan is one of at least seven trips abroad this year. Its a schedule that will take him out of the country almost once a month from March through November, when voters will pick his replacement, and it is not unusual for presidents on their way out the door. In March, he became the first U.S. president in more than 80 years to visit Cuba, and he went on to Argentina on the same trip. In April, Air Force One was bound for Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Germany. In the U.K., his trip took on a wistful tone as he dined with the queen his only British queen; her 12th U.S. president toured the Globe Theatre and watched part of Hamlet. He also made headlines for his impromptu play date with 2-year-old Prince George along with a business visit with the prime minister. This week, its Vietnam his first visit there and Japan. After a summit meeting in Japan, hell become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima and the site of the worlds first atomic bombing. In June, its Canada for the pomp and pageantry of a state visit, as well as meetings with the prime minister of Canada and the president of Mexico. In July as the Democratic and Republicans nominees for president prepare for their national conventions Obama heads to Poland for a NATO summit. August is blank. He and his family usually vacation that month. Beleaguered Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff gave Obama a standing invitation to come to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics in August, though its unlikely he would go now that the country is in political turmoil. In September, as the general election campaign for president is in full force, hell go back to Asia, this time to China for a G-20 meeting and Laos for the East Asia Summit. He has a soft spot for Southeast Asia, said Joshua Walker, a former State Department official who is now a fellow with the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He noted that Obama, who lived in Indonesia for several years as a child, will become the first sitting president ever to go to Southeast Asia twice in a year. And in November, the president will go to Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. A lot of this travel is driven by business. Aides say Obama is focused this year on finishing items on his foreign policy agenda, including implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, ratification of a 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal and support for a global response to climate change. Some of it is driven by sentiment. Obama frequently tells people that his favourite part of the job is having his own plane. People sometimes ask me what the biggest perk of being president is, he said last year. No. 1 is the plane. But he has lamented that my lease is running out. Not only is the specially equipped 747 an easy way to fly, its also very comfortable. Much more so than the 707 used until midway through George H.W. Bushs presidency. Its much easier to travel now than it was back then, said Ken Duberstein, who served as president Ronald Reagans chief of staff in his second term. And part of it is the race to add markers to the history books before time runs out next Jan. 20. The final year is focused on legacy, said Brendan J. Doherty, a political science professor at the U.S. Naval Academy who tracks presidential trips. International travel offers a chance to affirm his foreign policy legacy. Given the expected itinerary for the rest of his presidency, Obama will visit a total of 57 countries. Vietnam, Laos and Peru will add to the 54 hes already visited, according to an analysis of records compiled by the White House. That will leave him short of his two predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Each of them visited 74 countries over their two terms, according to an analysis of records compiled by the State Department. Read more about: SHARE: CAIRO Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi urged patience Sunday as the search for the wreckage of EgyptAir Flight 804 concluded a third day with scant progress. Egyptian officials, who speculated after the crash that terrorism was the likely cause, have sounded a more cautious note in subsequent days since no militant group has claimed responsibility and Egyptian military units have recovered only bits of debris and human remains from the sea. All scenarios are possible, el-Sissi said at the opening of a fertilizer factory in Damietta, in northern Egypt. The Egyptian petroleum ministry sent a submarine to the Mediterranean to help search for the cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders from the Airbus A320 jet, which are believed to have sunk to the sea floor since the crash Thursday morning. The mystery of what happened to the plane, which crashed with 56 passengers and 10 airline personnel aboard en route from Paris to Cairo, has deepened since U.S. and Egyptian officials first speculated Thursday that a mechanical failure could not have caused the accident. The airliner, which Egyptian authorities have said had a clean safety record, was flying at 37,000 feet when radar showed that it suddenly veered left, made a full turn to the right, and then dived into the sea. French civil aviation authorities reported Saturday that automatic messages sent from the aircraft indicated smoke in the cabin shortly before it lost radar contact at 2:30 a.m. Thursday. But authorities said it was not possible to determine what caused the smoke. Attention initially focused on Daesh (also known as ISIS), the militant group that has a branch in Egypts Sinai peninsula, because the group claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Russian passenger jet that crashed in the Sinai in October. But a recorded statement released Saturday by an Islamic State spokesman, Abu Mohammed Adnani, made no mention of the EgyptAir crash. Read more about: SHARE: BAGHDADThe Iraqi military said Sunday that it is preparing to storm Daesh-held Fallujah, the city that was the scene of the bloodiest fighting for U.S. marines during the Iraq War. The military statement gave no timeline for the operation but said counterterrorism forces, police, tribal fighters and popular mobilization units which include an array of Shiite militias will be involved. U.S.-supplied F-16s had already begun bombing targets in the city, the statement said. Civilians were urged to stay away from Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL) headquarters. Few expect an easy fight the Daesh militants have dug in and built defences in the city since capturing it more than two years ago, the first in the country to fall to the extremist group. Fallujah has long been considered a hotbed of rebellion and extremism, with even the heavy-handed Saddam Hussein struggling to control its tribes. U.S. marines fought Sunni insurgents during two battles for the city in 2004, the second of which marked the heaviest urban combat for American troops since Vietnam, claiming the lives of nearly 100 service members. Its not an order of battle that correlates to U.S. military policy, which had focused on an offensive targeting Mosul, the Daesh-held city farther north. President Barack Obama has said he expects the recapture of Mosul to be close to complete by the end of the year. But a drawn-out battle for Fallujah could delay the already stuttering buildup to that offensive. There has, however, been a growing push within the Iraqi military to recapture Fallujah first. Some of the pressure comes from Shiite militia forces besieging the city, which lies 60 kilometres west of Baghdad. The heavy presence of those Shiite militia fighters, who view much of the Sunni population as sympathetic to the Daesh militants, has raised fears of sectarian reprisal killings during any operation, though military commanders said militias would stay at the citys outskirts. Your sons, the heroic fighters in the armed forces, are preparing to achieve a new victory, Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement on Sunday. Liberating the city of Fallujah will be a victory for all Iraqis and will pave the way for the return of stability and normalcy to the province of Anbar. In a speech on Friday Abadi had mentioned a forthcoming offensive for Fallujah and the remaining militant-held areas of Anbar province and then Mosul. On Sunday Abadi held a meeting with lawmakers and local officials from the province to inform them of military plans and efforts to protect civilians. A recent wave of bombings in Baghdad has added weight to the calls for those arguing that a Fallujah operation is more pressing than Mosul, with a militant hub so close to the capital putting civilians at risk. Meanwhile, Iraqi forces have already scored a string of victories against Daesh fighters in the province, most recently taking the desert smuggling town of Rutba, with commanders arguing they should build on successes there. Sunni leaders from the province have also lobbied for an offensive, saying the continued siege of the city by military and militia forces is causing a humanitarian crisis inside as many as 60,000 residents remain trapped without access to food and medical supplies. We call on all citizens who are still inside Fallujah to prepare to get out, the military statement said, adding that secure routes would be organized later. Citizens who cannot should raise a white flag on their homes, it said. However, Jumaa al-Jumaili, a commander with local Sunni tribal forces, said Daesh was not allowing anyone to leave the city in order to use residents as human shields. They desperately want to keep Fallujah because of its symbolic importance and location close to Baghdad, he said. But its almost besieged from all sides. He said that Shiite militia forces had agreed to fight on the outskirts of the city. We want the people of Fallujah to rise against (Daesh), he said, adding that the presence of Shiite militia forces in the city wouldnt help that aim. Lt. Gen. Abdulwahab al-Saedi, who will be leading the operation for Iraqs counterterrorism forces, said the army, police and Shiite militias will fight only on the outskirts of the city while his forces will storm the centre. The operation will be very, very soon, he added, though refusing to give a timeline. He said that the U.S.-led coalition will give air support and that the battle will be difficult but not impossible. We do think they can do it, said Col. Steve Warren, a Baghdad-based spokesman for the U.S. military, confirming that the coalition will provide air support. The Iraqi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul, also said the operation will begin soon. He described Fallujah as the head of the snake for Daesh. Police forces have arrived in recent days, with about 20,000 federal policemen with armoured vehicles and artillery now on the outskirts of Fallujah, according to Lt. Gen. Raeed Shakir Jawdat, commander of the federal police. Shiite militias have also announced a buildup around the city in recent days. Saraya al-Jihad said it had sent units with rockets. Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Badr Organization, two of Iraqs most powerful militias, had called on civilians to leave. The shift to press Fallujah leaves the buildup for a Mosul offensive in further question. Long-promised police forces that were intended to hold the ground and enable Iraqi forces to move forward have still not arrived. Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Najim al-Jabouri, the head of the Mosul operation, has an openly fractious relationship with the ministry of defence, and has complained he has yet to receive a single tank on the front line for Mosul, where around 5,000 Iraqi troops have so far gathered, and are struggling to hold on to a cluster of villages they have managed to take from Daesh. We dont expect this to impact the Mosul operation, Warren said. Read more about: SHARE: A Mississippi man has been charged with second-degree murder after he left his 8-month-old daughter in an overheated car while we went to work. Joshua Lewis Blunt left the child in the vehicle outside the restaurant where he works for some period of time, Grenada Deputy Police Chief George Douglas told the Clarion-Ledger. The child identified by the paper as Shania Rihanna Caradine was noticed by someone who was walking past the vehicle and who called police, the paper reported. Grenada County Deputy Coroner Jo Morman told the Clarion-Ledger that the child was hyperthermic when she was found. The baby was taken inside the restaurant before paramedics arrived and she was rushed to University of Mississippi Medical Center, in Jackson, where she was declared dead, the paper reported. The babys body has been sent to the state crime lab for an autopsy, the Clarion-Ledger reported. Rhonda Hubbard, a friend of the family, told NBC affiliate WLBT that she never expected Blunt to leave his child in a car. My initial reaction is very shocked, very devastating, but it can happen, she said. Blunt remains in the Grenada County Jail on a $250,000 bond. On average, 38 children die each year from heat-related deaths in vehicles, according to KidsAndCars.org, an organization that tracks heatstroke deaths in vehicles among children. In 2015, the organization counted 25 such deaths, down from 32 the year before. More than half of those deaths occurred after a parent forgot a child in the back seat of the vehicle, according to USA Today. A childs body temperature can raise as much as five times faster than an adults, Cars.com editor Joe Wiesenfelder told the paper last year. Its really best never to leave your kid in the car. Hoping to avoid rising temperatures, he told the paper that parents might be tempted to leave children inside a car with the air conditioning running, but this scenario presents problems as well. Children become entangled in seatbelts, Wiesenfelder said. They can be injured by power windows, they can even set the car in motion, which unfortunately happens more than you might think. Shanias death comes on the heels of another hot-car disaster. The station noted that a 2-year-old in nearby Madison County died last week after his mother left her in an overheated car. Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker told the Clarion-Ledger that the childs mother went to work and left the toddler in the back of her vehicle. When she went to pick the child up from daycare, the paper reported, staffers informed her that she hadnt dropped the child off earlier that day. That parent was not charged in her childs death, leading some locals to question whether the latest charges against Blunt are racially motivated, according to WLBT. The TV stations report doesnt identify the mothers race, though. Most certainly not, Douglas told the station, noting that each investigation is unique. This police department doesnt investigate cases based on race or gender or religion. We just investigate the facts, that I am not at liberty to discuss at the moment, that lead us to this point. Its never good to leave a child unattended in a car. Children dont need to be left unattended anytime, he said. The Grenada Police Department released a statement about the incident that says a victims advocate from the department is assisting the Shanias mother. The Grenada Police Department is saddened because of this death, the statement said. The Grenada Police would like to caution parents to check their vehicles to insure that children are not left inside unattended during the hot summer months. SHARE: Justin Trudeau makes his first major push into Asia this week in Japan, where he hopes to broaden business links with a country that was once Canadas No. 2 trading partner. The prime minister departed Sunday for his first overseas bilateral visit since taking office last fall. He will meet early in the week in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the emperor and empress as well as leaders in the automotive sector. The visit comes ahead of Trudeaus participation in the Group of Seven summit, on Thursday and Friday, in the Japanese city of Ise-Shima. But before Trudeau sits down with the powerful group of world leaders, he will try to reinvigorate Canadas trade and investment relationship with Japan. His office says it believes there is still a lot of fertile ground in Japan and sees it as a key player in a region where the Liberal government intends to expand economic ties. One of the main goals of Trudeaus visit will be to try to encourage Japanese auto industry officials to invest more and to keep the plants already in Canada. In his meeting with Abe, Trudeaus office said he plans to discuss negotiations on the countries economic partnership agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, security co-operation, education and the Arctic, given Japans relative proximity. The Japanese-Canadian relationship has been a smooth one, but there are still several ways it could be improved. For starters, Japans ambassador in Ottawa notes that fewer than 15 years ago, his country was Canadas No. 2 trading partner after the United States. But Kenjiro Monji says Japans trade position with Canada has slipped since 2002. In 2009, he said Japan had tumbled to No. 5 after being passed by China, Mexico and the United Kingdom. The value of trade between Japan and British Columbia fell by 45 per cent between 2000 and 2014, Monji added. The slide, he said, is due to nearly two decades of recession in Japan, Chinas economic boom and the emergence of Canadian trade deals, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement. Monji believes the bilateral trade could get a boost from a key Canadian energy source that Japan needs: liquefied natural gas. Japan, the worlds biggest buyer of LNG, is hoping Canada will issue necessary environmental permits to allow companies to export it from British Columbia. B.C. Premier Christy Clark recently told The Canadian Press its time to proceed given the approval process started more than three years ago. Canada is one of the most-promising potential exporters to Japan because ... liquefied natural gas occupies a still very important share in our energy policy, said Monji, who noted that Japanese companies are involved in several LNG projects in Canada. Japan is also expected to tout the benefits for Canada of the Trans Pacific Partnership, a huge, 12-country treaty that would deepen trade connections across the Asia-Pacific region. The pact, which Canada is reviewing, includes the major economies of Japan and the United States. The value of TPP lies in Japan for Canada because Canada has already (the North America Free Trade Agreement), Monji said. The controversial, yet-to-be-ratified TPP, negotiated by the former Conservative government, has raised concerns in several Canadian industries. The future of the TPP is in doubt. U.S. presidential hopefuls from both the Democrats and Republicans have said they would reject the treaty. With the TPP still pending, Monji doesnt expect any movement on talks of a bilateral Canada-Japan trade deal. He did praise the Canda-Japan relationship and was quick to point out this will be Trudeau and Abes third meeting in six months. They sat down together at the APEC summit in Manila and again in Washington for a nuclear safety talks. Japan is also expected to raise the issue of regional security with Canada, particularly the ongoing territorial disputes with China in the East China Sea and South China Sea. Masayuki Tadokoro, a Keio University law professor, said Japan will scrutinize Trudeaus words on the matter, even though Canada may not want to take very strong position due its economic interests in China. When it comes to dealing with China, the Japanese are wondering whether or not Mr. Trudeau is as supportive as they wish to the Japanese position, Tadokoro said in an interview. Perhaps its very difficult for many Canadians and Europeans to understand, but for Japanese, China represents a real security threat. Overall, there are few entanglements between Canada and Japan, but they do have a trade relationship many believe has unrealized potential, says David Welch, CIGI chair of global security at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. Welch said its partly due to the complexities of selling in Japan and the fact Canada has put more focus in recent years on trade with Latin America and Europe. Now, the Japanese have huge hopes that Trudeau will bring Canada back. I hear this all the time, not just from Japan, but from other countries in the region, too. Read more about: SHARE: A decade ago the federal government banned corporate and union donations to political parties. Four provinces have done the same. Ontarios Liberal government, though, ignored the message that voters wanted elections cleaned up and kept on raking in the dough from corporate and union donors. That was until the Star and other news media shone a bright light on the governments unsavory fundraising tactics. Then it couldnt act quickly enough to introduce legislation to ban corporate and union donations. Now, like a reformed smoker, its asking everyone else to join the movement. Only a day after introducing its long overdue ban, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Ted McMeekin, made a welcome announcement that corporate and union donations should also be banned at the municipal level, for both council members and school board trustees. So the government is amending Bill 181, the Municipal Elections Modernization Act, which originally would have made such a ban optional for municipalities. This would create an even playing field for all candidates, McMeekin said. Credit should be given to NDP Monique Taylor, who questioned the original legislation that said a ban would be optional for municipalities. We need to support local democracy and get big money out of municipal elections, she argued. She was quite right. First, as Claire Malcolmson, who works with Campaign Fairness Ontario, says, the ban at the municipal level would be a step in the right direction to eliminate the relationship between developers and candidates. Its relationships like those that have stymied planners efforts to introduce environmentally friendly high-density zoning practices in municipalities across the province. Instead, municipal councillors have voted too often in favour of the sprawling suburban plans that would be most profitable for developers. Indeed, Ajax Mayor Steve Parrish acknowledged that a ban will lead to better planning. It should also put an end to the troubling relationship that Campaign Fairness Ontario has found between corporate funding and election outcomes. This is going to change the landscape of municipal councils, Malcolmson said. It took the province a long time to come around to the idea that banning corporate and union donations was the right thing to do. It makes sense to extend the same thinking to municipalities as well. SHARE: Its happened again. A 24-year-old man died in a provincial jail last Saturday in Edmonton while in the custody of the Canada Border Services Agency. He was the 15th person to die in CBSA custody since 2000 and the third to die just this year. But like those before him, it will be difficult to find out how or why this man died. As usual when a migrant dies in custody, the agency refused to reveal his identity and nationality or say whether his next of kin had been notified. In fact, it sometimes doesnt even announce that a person has died in custody until the news gets out from other sources and it is forced to confirm it. Yes, migrants can die in custody in Canada and their death, never mind the how or why, isnt publicly reported. For all intents and purposes, they are disappeared. That is shocking in a democracy. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has been saying for months that hes concerned. He says he is examining the CBSAs immigration detention program and how best to provide the agency with appropriate review mechanisms. After the latest death, he said Ottawa can and must do better in taking care of detainees. Thats an understatement. Right now the CBSA operates like a power unto its own, with no oversight body. It detains thousands of migrants every year, some of whom may have escaped from war zones or dictatorships. In 2013-14, the agency detained 10,088 migrants, almost one-fifth of them refugee claimants. They are held for an average of 20 days but can be held for years or even indefinitely simply because the agency cannot confirm their identities. A third are held in provincial jails, even if they pose no danger to society. They may simply be failed refugee claimants, people without documents or those who have had their resident status revoked. Still, they are kept in jails because they need medical attention, which the CBSA cannot provide at its detention centres, or because the agencys own holding facilities are full. This must stop. Legal experts at the University of Torontos International Human Rights Program say housing detainees in facilities intended for criminals violates international human rights law and constitutes arbitrary detention and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. And this week 140 Ontario health care professionals sent a petition to Ontarios Safety and Correctional Services Minister Yasir Naqvi, urging the province to stop allowing the CBSA to house migrants in provincial jails for violating federal immigration laws, especially those with mental and physical health concerns. Action on that request would be a first step toward protecting detainees rights. Those who are sick could be sent to hospitals or the agency could ensure its own facilities offer health services. Theres much more that needs to be done: The agency must become more transparent not only in how it deals with deaths of migrants in custody, but how and why it detains them in the first place. CBSA holding facilities would not be full to overflowing, forcing it to send migrants to jails, if the Harper government had not turned preventive detention from a last resort into a routine procedure for handling unwanted migrants. Fewer migrants could be held for fear they will go into hiding. Electronic monitoring for those who pose no security threat would help to solve that problem. No detainee should be held indefinitely. A presumption against detention beyond 90 days is the American and European norm. Indeed, the United Nations has said Canadas practice of indefinite detention amounts to cruel and unusual punishment of migrants. But in Canada there are examples of migrants who have been detained for as long as nine and 12 years simply because the agency could not confirm their identities. An oversight body should be established to ensure transparency and avoid possible abuse of power. This kind of reform is long overdue. Goodale should press ahead with his review without delay. Read more about: SHARE: Re: Child-sex trade rising in Canada, May 14 Child-sex trade rising in Canada, May 14 Not for the first time I find myself apologizing on behalf of my gender. However, Rosie DiMannos column reads as if men are the only people who engage in this cruel and revolting business. I can assure you, from my own childhood experiences, that they are not. There are women who procure and actively participate in the sexual abuse of children and they are not as rare as one might imagine. All thats required is an incapacity for empathy. John Scott MacMurchy, Toronto SHARE: Discovery Communications over the years has taken steps to appeal to female and minority audiences, expanding its lineup to include Discovery Familia, the Oprah Winfrey Network and Investigation Discovery, which focuses on domestic violence and civil-rights issues. But the Silver Spring, Md.-based company still has an all-white, all-male board of directors and shareholders are increasingly speaking up. Last week, during an annual meeting at Discoverys headquarters, shareholders presented and voted on a proposal urging the company to outline the steps it has taken to foster greater diversity on the board. Discovery reported Friday that shareholders rejected the request by more than a 4-to-1 margin. Discovery is lagging its peers on this issue, said Susan Baker, vice president of shareholder advocacy at Trillium Asset Management, which co-authored the proposal and holds 357,000 shares of Discovery in client portfolios. The list of publicly traded companies with zero women on their boards is shrinking, and Discovery continues to be an outlier. The television programming company is one of just two public companies in the Standard & Poors 500-stock index that doesnt have a woman or minority on its board, according to ISS QuickScore, a database compiled by Rockville, Md.-based Institutional Shareholder Services. The other company is Diamond Offshore Drilling in Houston. A Discovery spokeswoman said the company declined to comment. [Discovery announces buyouts, possible layoffs] In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Discoverys board urged shareholders to vote against the proposal, arguing that the companys nomination process allows for identification of the best possible nominees for director, regardless of their gender, racial background, religion or ethnicity. Discovery which employs 1,500 people in the Washington area and more than 7,000 worldwide said that 41 percent of the companys executives are women, and 37 percent of its U.S. employees are minorities. But shareholder advocacy groups are asking for the company to take additional measures. Nationally, 97 percent of companies in the S&P 500 have at least one female board member, up from 88 percent in 2008, according a recent report by the audit and consulting firm PwC. A number of other media companies, including Yahoo, Netflix and Scripps Networks Interactive, have at least three women directors on their boards. This board needs an injection of diversity, said Michael Pryce-Jones, director of corporate governance at CtW Investment Group, a District-based organization that advocates on behalf of union pension funds. Its one of the stalest, most entrenched boards youll see on the S&P 500. The shareholder vote comes two weeks after Discoverys chief executive, David M. Zaslav, announced a round of voluntary buyouts and possible layoffs as the company looks to cut up to $120 million per year in costs. Two years ago, Zaslav was the countrys highest-paid executive, with a total compensation package of $156.1 million. Last year, he received $32.28 million in compensation. Diversity on corporate boards has become a hot-button issue in recent years, as shareholder groups and government regulators have put pressure on companies to look beyond white men to a larger pool of possible directors. Earlier this year, SEC Chairman Mary Jo White said that boardroom diversity would be a top priority and that the agency may beef up related requirements. A number of countries, including Germany, France and Spain, have set quotas requiring companies to appoint a set percentage of women to their boards. We are seeing investors paying a lot more attention to whos serving in the boardroom, said Sean Quinn, head of U.S. research for Institutional Shareholder Services, which advised Discovery shareholders to vote for the diversity measures. Investors have different views on what constitutes diversity certainly gender diversity is a big part of that, but it can also mean geographic diversity, generational diversity and skills diversity. A PwC survey released this month found that about 20 percent of directors said their board had changed its composition in the past year as a result of shareholder influence. Some companies have sought to add diversity by increasing the number of directors on their boards and nominating women or minorities to fill those positions, said Pryce-Jones of CtW Investment Group. But his group advocates for replacing board members many of whom tend to be part of the same circles with new ones. Departures are important to break up the clubbiness of a board, he said. Its much harder for the board to say, Which one of us needs to leave? Its very hard for directors to see when their time is up, when theyve outlived their usefulness to the board. Fifty-five percent of Discoverys public shareholders withheld their votes from the reelection to the board of Paul A. Gould, managing director of Allen & Co., a New York investment bank, while 37 percent withheld them from M. LaVoy Robison, director of the Anschutz Foundation in Denver, according to CtW. Both were overwhelmingly approved when the votes of corporate insiders and those with ties to the company were included. The shareholder votes, however, are non-binding, meaning it is ultimately up the board to decide whether to reappoint those members. Anne Sheehan, head of corporate governance for the California State Teachers Retirement System, said Discovery has long failed to address a number of investor concerns, including a lack of diversity, inflated executive pay packages and poor corporate governance packages. Thats why were speaking up, she said. We plan to own [a part of] this company for as long as theyre around and were going to continue to voice our concerns through our vote. With brews such as Grapefruit Sculpin, Ballast Point Brewing was an early entrant to the tropical-IPA market. (John Schulz) Mike Hinkley, co-founder and chief executive of Green Flash Brewing, says, We almost treat fruit like part of the hop profile. (Green Flash Brewing) A walk down the beer aisle is increasingly reminiscent of a trip to a tiki bar. Where IPA fans might have once chosen a beer based on strength regular; potent imperial; lower-alcohol session theres now a veritable tropical fruit salad of flavors to choose from: pineapple, grapefruit, mango, tangerine, tangelo, prickly pear. Sales of flavored IPAs skyrocketed in 2015, according to data presented at the Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia this month, with tropical flavored IPA sales increasing by 250 percent year-on-year even though they make up only 8 percent of the flavored IPA market. Much of the credit or blame, depending on your point of view, falls on San Diegos Ballast Point Brewing Co. The brewerys Sculpin IPA has long been a favorite in the beer community, and at its San Diego tap house, the company experiments with casks of Sculpin infused with mango, grapefruit and other ingredients. (Name a fruit or a vegetable or a spice, and weve probably added it to a beer, says Hilary Cocalis, vice president of marketing.) In the summer of 2014, the company released Habanero Sculpin and Grapefruit Sculpin, the latter redolent of tangy rind and juicy bitterness thanks to the addition of Florida grapefruit. Sales went through the roof. In some markets, Cocalis says, the Grapefruit Sculpin outsells the regular Sculpin. Ballast Point experimented with even more fruit-accented beers in its tasting rooms, and by last years IPA Day celebrations, it was pouring a Pineapple Sculpin, a mango version of Even Keel Session IPA, and a Watermelon Dorado IPA. All of those went national in January. Outside of IPAs, Ballast Point unveiled Fathom India Pale Lager, with orange and vanilla, and several takes on Victory at Sea Imperial Porter, including one with coconut. It sounds like fruit-flavored overkill, but were just creating beer we want to drink, Cocalis says. Were not just adding fruit to more beers to jump on the trend. An interesting note: Cocalis adds that Ballast Point isnt reformulating its beers for each of these variants but keeping the same Sculpin recipe no matter which fruit is added. [America now has more breweries than ever. And that might be a problem.] Once Ballast Points fruity beers began taking over tap lines and stealing prime space at beer stores, other breweries began to announce and release their own versions. New Belgiums current offerings, for example, include Citradelic, a beer brewed with 10 kinds of hops and tangerine-infused orange peel, which gives off rich tangerine and mango notes, and Juicy Mandarina, an imperial IPA exploding with citrus notes. Pineapple-accented PineHopLe IPA arrived in stores and bars last month and quickly became a strong seller for Evolution Brewing. (Stephen M. DiCarlo/Evolution Brewing) Passion Fruit Kicker, a wheat ale, was one of two fruit-forward ales introduced by Green Flash Brewing in February. (John Schulz/John Schulz Photography) New Belgium brewer Ross Koenigs suggests that the popularity of fruit IPAs has two roots. First, he says, these brews are expanding the tent of IPA drinkers beyond those who prize dank, piny, bitter beer. Fruit lends a perceived sweetness to the beer, which cuts through a lot of the bitterness of hops. As a result, people like my mother, an exclusive sauvignon blanc drinker, can now enjoy this new variant on IPA. The other, more practical reason for this flavor explosion, Koenigs theorizes, comes down to hops. These juicy new beers are result of brewers experimenting with a new generation of hops prized for their aromatic qualities rather than just their bittering properties. I have smelled hops that smell like strawberry shortcake all the way to toasted coconut, he says. And those sweet hops naturally are making beers that lend themselves to additions of bright fruit flavors. Were so hop-forward, and some of these hops match up so well with fruit, says Mike Hinkley, the co-founder of Green Flash Brewing. We almost treat fruit like part of the hop profile. It complements and contrasts: What does grapefruit taste like with Simcoe? What does grapefruit taste with Citra? On the grain side, its about matching the sweetness. It just becomes part of the mix. New Belgium brewer Ross Koenigs says fruit IPAs are expanding the tent of IPA drinkers beyond those who prefer piny, bitter beer. (New Belgium Brewing) Last falls Green Flash Treasure Chest, an annual limited release benefiting breast cancer charities, was an IPA brewed with grapefruit, prickly pears and hibiscus. (I called it a tiki IPA when reviewing it for Beer of the Week.) Two new beers joined the San Diego brewerys lineup in February: Tangerine Soul Style IPA a version of the year-round Soul Style made with fresh tangerine puree from a California farmer and Passion Fruit Kicker Wheat Ale. The gospel is spreading to the East Coast, even among brewers whove never made a tropical IPA before. Tom Knorr, the owner of Evolution Brewing in Salisbury, Md., enjoyed grapefruit IPAs last summer and thought about making his own fruit beer, but we didnt want to jump on everyone elses bandwagon. In the fall, his brewers began experimenting with different IPAs, using a Belgian yeast to impart fruitiness and playing around with fresh pineapple juice and organic extracts. A test run of three half-barrels sold out the first night they were available in the brewery tasting room. PineHopLe IPA finally hit stores and bars in early April of this year. The pineapple sweetness and bitter hops are strongly integrated, making it a very crushable beer. It quickly became Evolutions second-best-selling brand, behind Lot 3 IPA, moving more than 7,000 cases in a month. This category is pretty explosive right now, Knorr says. Were brewing it non-stop, getting prepared for summer. (Conveniently, his brewery is located along the heavily traveled route between the District and Ocean City.) For Hugh Sisson, the founder of Baltimores Heavy Seas Beer, theres no shame in admitting that hes jumping on the tropical IPA bandwagon: The market is hot for citrus IPAs, so we decided were going to do one. Like Ballast Point and Green Flash, Heavy Seas honed its recipe by experimenting with fruit additions into cask-conditioned firkins of IPA in the brewery tap room, going through 30 or 40 iterations of the flagship Loose Cannon IPA before coming up with TropiCannon, which is strongly infused with grapefruit, mango, orange, blood orange and lemon peel. Unlike at other breweries, Sisson didnt intend for TropiCannon to be a permanent fixture in the Heavy Seas lineup. The beer was intended to be sold from April through June, and Sisson thinks it might even be sold out before then, before it wears out its welcome. Were living in the age of What do you have thats new? he says. I think there will always be a market for classic styles. But I think the public is fickle. The tidal wave of tropical beers shows no signs of subsiding theres Stones Enjoy By 5.30.16 Tangerine IPA, Ardents Ardents Tangelo IPA, Sierra Nevadas Beer Camp Tropical IPA to name a few and that was a topic of the discussion at the Craft Brewers Conference. Jennifer Litz-Kirk, an executive editor at industry journal Beer Business Daily, compared the mania for fruit beers with the explosion of fruit-flavored vodkas a few years ago, calling it the flavored-vodkafication of beer. She said the trend is getting a little bit faddish and might be due for a correction. Heavy Seas owner Sisson has a cautionary tale: Three or four years ago, black IPAs were all the rage, he says. We released Black Cannon, and Beer Advocate [magazine] called it the benchmark for the style [in March 2013]. And by the time we released it for the third year as a seasonal, sales kind of petered out. Black Cannon is no longer part of the Heavy Seas lineup. But summers on the horizon, and a smooth, citrusy tropical IPA sounds refreshing. By the time Labor Day rolls around? Well see. Dear Amy: My parents divorced when I was 10 years old. My paternal grandmother was the only constant during that tough time. We wrote each other letters and, especially through my tumultuous early teens, she was the one person I thought I could pour my heart out to when everything around me was constantly changing (moving house to house, and town to town). My father remarried when I was 12, and the relationship between my stepmother and me has had its ups and downs over the years so that may be tainting my feelings on this, which is why I am asking your advice. My grandmother passed away in 2014 at the age of 92 (I am 44). My stepmother informed me this past Christmas (two years after her death!) that she and my Dad had read all the letters that my grandmother had kept that I had written her as a child/teenager. She asked me if I wanted to have them. I didnt know what to say at the time, except that those letters were written during some very hard times in my life and that I didnt want to read them right now. I have no recollection of what I said in them, but I was embarrassed that my private thoughts and feelings as a child had been laid wide open for two people I had not spent very much time with in my life. Its been a few months since this revelation, and now I am very angry and upset. Why would they read letters I had written to my grandmother without handing them over to me first? Am I wrong to feel that my privacy has been invaded, in the extreme? Did those letters belong to my grandmother? Should they be available for anyone to read after her death? Or should those letters have been given to me, unread, since I am still alive and I wrote them? No More Letters No More Letters: My understanding is that, legally, the letters you sent to your grandmother were her property to show, sell or donate to a library. However, you, as the writer, would own the copyright; they could not be quoted from or published without your consent. So, after your grandmothers death, you still own your thoughts and expressions, but her estate owns the letters themselves. I am currently going through my mothers house (these chores can take years). If I found a bundle of letters written to her by my daughter, I would definitely read them. However, your question does bring up the sensitivities involved. And so, yes as a parent, I would read them, but should I? Probably not. Your father and stepmother dont seem to have shared any comment or judgment about these letters. Either they are being sensitive to you now (in offering to return them to you without so much as a peep), or perhaps your letters arent as revealing as you remember them to be. Dear Amy: Long story short, it turns out the guy I was seeing is still married. I gave him an earful already. Ive been cheated on before, and both times the other women told me. This allowed me to understand the truth of those relationships, and I appreciated it. I feel like telling the wife is the right thing to do, but on the other hand, I dont want to get involved with drama, and while I was thankful to the other women for telling me the truth, who knows what his wifes reaction will be? Conflicted Conflicted: If you have faced this situation from the other side and appreciated a disclosure, then you should move forward on the assumption that this mans wife might feel the same way. You believe this is the right thing to do, and so you should do it. No, you do not know how she will respond. This uncertainty is the price you will pay for getting involved with a snake. Dear Amy: Wedding Worried described her irritation at being her friends maid of honor. I did this, too. I was a lightning rod for my brides irritation about everything, and everything irritated her. On the day of the wedding, she was awful. Everything went off as planned, and afterward she said she didnt know why, but I irritated her during that time. She said she was sorry for how she behaved. Were still friends. J J: Being a maid of honor is a tricky and thankless form of friendship hellfire. At least you got thanked. Write to Amy Dickinson at askamy@tribune.com or Ask Amy, Chicago Tribune, TT500, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611. Women undergo cucumber-centric beauty treatments. Artisanal beauty products often tout the power of a particular ingredient, many of them jumping from the food world. (Torsten Blackwood/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) There are so many next-big-things in beauty right now, its hard to predict whatll truly be next. But Koko Hayashi is hoping it will be persimmon extract, which she describes as having astonishing powers over body odor in her Mirai Clinical Deodorizing Soap with Persimmon. Hayashis tiny skin-care company is just one of countless indie beauty brands trying to break into the American market, but her body bar comes with an epic saga of pre-industrial soap-making techniques and the wisdom of long-ago geishas. These days, the artisanal process is as much the selling point as the product itself and Hayashi is accustomed to spending a lot of time explaining why her soap costs $19 a bar. Here it goes: Its crafted at an old family-owned soap mill, spearheaded by a man known as Mr. Soap, who, Hayashi says, knows by some special formula in his brain how to adjust his recipes to account for fluctuations of wind and temperature. The liquid ingredients are mixed in a gentle, time-consuming fashion to avoid damaging the delicate ingredients, and if some young whippersnapper agitates the soap too vigorously, Mr. Soap yells. Persimmon is very sensitive, Hayashi says over Skype from her hometown of Sapporo, Japan. After the soap cools, it is cut and dried and soaked and hand-polished, then dried and soaked and hand-polished again, without the benefit of an industrial process. With machines, it would take a few days, but we put it outside and, considering humidity, temperature, wind, usually it takes three months for drying. This is the labor-intensive, heavily pedigreed, exotica-spiked world of artisanal beauty. The artisan movement long ago blew through the world of food on a wind of old-timey brand names and wordy labeling. (Recall the Mast Brothers, makers of $10 craft chocolate bars, who paid such obeisance to Victorian-era methods that they were said to ship their beans from the Dominican Republic to Brooklyn via a wind-powered schooner.) The explosion of farmers markets, backyard beekeeping and crocheted Etsy baby collars attests to a hunger largely among a privileged set for handcrafted authenticity, simple supply chains and the glory of the way things used to be, or might still be, in some far-off corner of the world. Now, the beauty market, too, has been inundated by companies that talk of their beginnings in kitchens handcrafting small-batch face serums out of things such as carrot seed oil. The brands may be small-scale and homespun, but artisanal beauty is fast becoming a big business, with more and more dedicated websites and retail outlets cropping up such as San Francisco-based Credo Beauty, which features brands like Graydon Clinical Luxury, started by a yoga teacher/macrobiotic chef who makes skin-care products out of cold-pressed broccoli seed oil, or Follain, which has a location in the Districts Union Market and a founder who once apprenticed on an organic lavender farm in France. [Luxury fashion brands are going green. But why are they keeping it a secret?] Last year, New York City hosted its first Indie Beauty Expo, which one marketing agency described as a sold-out media and buyer frenzy. Gwyneth Paltrows new Goop skin-care products boast ingredients with highly specific names poets daffodil and sweet iris, for instance, in her $90 Luminous Melting Cleanser to emphasize their individuality (like yours, dear consumer). People are looking for an increased identity with the products, a personal relationship, says Eleanor Dwyer, a beauty researcher for the market analysis firm Euromonitor. Theres an idea that the products you use symbolize yourself. The labor-intensive, heavily pedigreed, exotica-spiked world of artisanal beauty attests to the hunger for handcrafted authenticity, simple supply chains and the glory of the way things used to be. (Bruno Mallart/for The Washington Post) Hair and skin products have always thrived on what one might call magic elixir ingredients, and Mirais persimmon seems to be a perfect one for this moment. The taut, dainty, orange fruit is still sufficiently exotic to American consumers; plus, Asian beauty trends and the ancient-geisha-wisdom meme are big right now. (A few years back there was buzz about the $180 Geisha Facial, at New Yorks Shizuka spa, combining fine-milled nightingale poop with Japanese rice bran to lighten the complexion). This year, Hayashi managed to get her soap, body wash, serum and spritzer into some of those Oscars celebrity gift bags. So far, Mirai Clinical is sold almost entirely online, but Hayashi hopes to place it in retail locations soon. I feel like I have a mission to introduce this Japanese greatness to the world, she says. The artisanal beauty trend has been fueled by a growing interest in natural ingredients, as Whole Foods shoppers who buy grass-fed beef consider what theyre putting on their T-zones, and environmentalists warn about the dangers of parabens and phthalates. Within skin care, natural organic ingredients are among the fastest-growing [segments] in the marketplace, says Karen Grant, NPD Groups beauty analyst. A growing number of consumers care deeply about transparency, sustainability and fair trade, so companies that source carefully and recycle and give back to communities where they harvest are often rewarded for it. [Does artisanal equal special? Why were so ready to believe that it does.] Most brands dont have Paltrow, though, so they must rely on compelling brand stories to distinguish themselves. The result is a bevy of origin tales as familiar as Greek mythology. These stories all seem to start with protagonists seeking to craft greatness from nature; theyre described as plant-whisperers or are said to be devoted to wild-crafted ingredients or a farm-to-face mission. The founder might be a professional apiarist who discovered the secret to good skin in the honey she was harvesting, or perhaps a globe-trotting pharmacognosist who has studied the curative powers of extracts taken from South Africas kigelia and baobab plants. So goes the story behind the British brand Dr Jacksons, which launched a few years ago but packages products in amber apothecary bottles that look straight out of a Victorian lithograph. Artisanal beauty products are often built around at least one obscure ingredient, the procurement of which (its implied) is really difficult. Theres no distance these brands wont travel, whether for a body scrub with white sand particles from the shores of Bora Bora, or a gel treatment serum made from the stem cells of Australian kakadu plums. They might need to go back in time to craft skin products made with donkey milk . . . known as a beauty elixir since the ancient ages. Theres an emphasis on the rare find from nature, almost but not quite lost to mankind the stem cells of a rare Swiss apple, or the fruit from a tree previously known only to peoples of the Amazon, drawing on what Dwyer calls that trope of the insightful magical native. Mirais Deodorizing Soap with Persimmon costs $19 a bar and takes several months to make. (Mirai Clinical) Sibu built its line around the sea buckthorn berry that its founder encountered in India. (Sibu) That rare ingredient must be gathered with care, ideally by local villagers, processed in a lab under the most stringent standards, and then placed into a product whose label declares its transparency of its process, its freedom from potentially dangerous chemicals, its fair trade and cruelty-free status, its philanthropic efforts, and the all-around goodness of its intentions. Consider the sea buckthorn berry. Ten years ago, no one had heard of it. Nowadays, well, lots of people still havent heard of it, but thats only because they havent been watching The Dr. Oz Show. (A healthy number of magical elixir trends feature a plug from Dr. Oz.) A Salt Lake City brand called Sibu, now in 2,500 retail locations, bases its entire existence on this tiny fruit which, Dwyer says, could well be the next argan oil. (Everybody wants to be the next argan oil.) The story of this fruit has, in turn been crafted with great care by Sibu on its website: One day, the entrepreneur Bruce McMullin went to India, where he crossed paths with an Ayurvedic specialist who mentioned a powerful holy fruit, the Sea Buckthorn berry that McMullin decided to bring to the West. (This sour, orange fruit grows wild across Europe and Asia, but Sibu says its particular variety boasts the greatest amount of Omega-7 because it grows 12,000 feet up, high in the Himalayas.) [Having a little work done: Now as routine as eating kale and going to spin class] The berries are hand-harvested the traditional way, with villagers hitting the shrubbery with sticks in the dark, for it is crucial that these berries are collected in the predawn hours to protect them from the relentless UV rays and lock in the greatest nutritive value. The berries are quickly pureed and refrigerated in state-of-the-art facilities, and sent across the ocean in refrigerated shipping containers for formulation, blending, purification and testing. Sibus brand ambassador, Wendi Coombs, says the company is PETA-certified, cruelty-free, vegan and in the process of becoming fair-trade-certified. She says McMullin and his wife are active philanthropists for causes in the Himalayas and Africa. And she says the narrative of the sea buckthorn berrys discovery is integral to its existence. Without that story, there would be no Sibu, Coombs says. It all goes really back to Bruce McMullin and his passion for this little berry. Mehmet C. Oz of The Dr. Oz Show has popularized many of the magical elixir ingredients jumping from the health food world to artisanal beauty. (Lauren Victoria Burke/AP) Gwyneth Paltrows skin-care line boasts natural ingredients with precious names such as poets daffodil and sweet iris. (Layne Murdoch Jr./Getty Images For Goop) Randy Schueller and Perry Romanowski are cosmetic chemists who run the Beauty Brains, a website that happily debunks many claims of beauty manufacturers large and small noting when a highly touted ingredient in a moisturizer is included in an infinitesimal amount, or when the quinoa protein in a conditioner wont do much because its rinsed away. Theyve seen a lot of trends. Some suffer from inherent marketing limitations viscous snail mucin, emu oil made from the fatty tissue of the flightless bird while others at least sound sexy, Schueller says, and are destined to be featured in big print on labels, whether or not they have any bearing on the functionality of the product. Schueller says that trends often emerge from the marketing departments of big companies (pomegranate is a hot color, lets put pomegranate extract in our shampoo), or because suppliers offer a good deal on a raw material. (I got this hot microencapsulated goat urine are you interested?) A woman gets a chocolate-based facial treatment. Other farm-to-face ingredients making a splash in skin care are turmeric, quinoa and coconut oil. (Joel Robine/AFP/Getty Images) The difficulty with personal care products is that the technology hasnt really changed much in the last 30 or 40 years, and so everybody has access pretty much to the same technology, Romanowski says. If you can get ingredients that no one else can get, and they have a good story, it can give you an edge even if they dont work any better. [Artisanal marijuana crab cakes: Is this the future of getting high?] So if its not their actual effectiveness, what factors determine which magical elixirs emerge next? Look to the food world. Grant, of NPD Group, says theres often a lag of a few years between when certain foods trend on kitchen tables and when they make it to medicine cabinets. Recent ingredients to make the jump include probiotics, cocoa, turmeric and quinoa. Also, coconut oil, which Annie Jackson, Credo Beautys vice president for merchandising and planning, describes as the avocado toast of the beauty world. Consult experts about artisanal beauty, and youll get a bevy of next-big-things: Palmerosa rose hip oil, prickly pear seed oil. (Beauty Brains headline: Is Moringa oil the new Argan oil?) Sea kelp could rise again, Dwyer suggests perhaps with the help of a compelling founder and a group of villagers schooled in centuries-old kelp-harvesting ways. The ocean is mystical, and its home to fish, she says. Even though its slimy, its sort of a more relatable ingredient than snail mucus. And there will always be a next argan oil to fall in love with. On some level, consumers dont want to be demystified, Romanowski says. The perfect ingredient doesnt just moisturize or smell good or look pretty on a label; the perfect ingredient tells a story we all want to hear. The fresh-faced graduates of journalism, media and communications schools should not be discouraged from entering the fray. (iStock/iStock) News reporter thats just about the worst job you can have, right? According to one career site, it ranks dead last, behind pest-control worker and logger. The pay is paltry, the opportunities few and the prospects for advancement dim. But here they come: the fresh-faced graduates of journalism, media and communications schools, emerging into a brave new workforce where message bots have replaced glue pots, where truth is distorted, facts undervalued, and where success sometimes seems reduced to a numbers game about who gets the most clicks. Oh, yes, and into a world where press freedoms are under siege and where many newsrooms have been cut by half. Although Im acutely aware of the troubled landscape, and I dont dismiss the problems, I also dont buy the gloom and doom. And I would never discourage any talented and driven young person from entering the fray, with eyes wide open. You see, I know more than my share of newly minted journalists, and they are some of the smartest and yes, luckiest people I know. A few examples: Theres my daughters college roommate, who writes for the tech site Gizmodo in Manhattan. Theres my nephew, who covers health care for the Hill newspaper here in Washington. Theres a recent graduate of Columbia Universitys journalism school, who now writes from Nepal on StorySouthAsia, a news site she co-founded. Granted, the journalism world has been turned upside down. The traditional career path has disappeared into the Internets maw along with the classified ads that made so much money for newspapers. And the publics trust in the media is low, especially since many peoples idea of the media doesnt differentiate between the National Enquirer, Facebook, Gawker, the Economist and The Washington Post. I know far too many skilled journalists who have suffered through buyouts, layoffs, reduced standards and survivors guilt to be blase about this. Just this month, the Tampa Tribune was shuttered, after being bought by its longtime competitor, the (excellent) Tampa Bay Times. In the digital-only world, the once high-flying Mashable was laying people off, and even BuzzFeed, according to the Financial Times, was scaling back its revenue projections. And the New York Times is looking hard at how to reduce its newsroom staff to cut costs. Given all that, how can I describe these 20-something journalists as lucky? Its this: They have a chance to make a real difference in a high-stakes game. Just look at the political sphere, where the candidates (to varying degrees) may regard facts as fungible, and the electorate doesnt seem to care. Rutgers historian David Greenberg makes the case in his 2016 book, Republic of Spin, that this problem is far from new, dating to Americas very start and picking up considerable steam in the Nixon-Watergate era. But it surely has reached new depths. So deep digging, over weeks and months, and rigorous fact-checking in the immediate moment are (sorry to get all civics class here) crucial to the functioning of our democracy. How to get a cynical public to trust the messenger is another challenge. We need to look hard at the reasons for the lack of trust, and try to counter them. The Media Insight Projects recent study on trust and the media provides some help, counseling close attention to accuracy, fairness and even technical functionality as ways to recoup whats been lost. (Only 6 percent of those surveyed have a lot of trust in media, the same rating they give Congress.) But how many budding journalists will get a chance to do this important work? Arent they just churning out endless shareable posts, light on reporting and heavy on snark? And are even those jobs available in the shaky media environment? Sarah Bartlett, dean of the City University of New Yorks Graduate School of Journalism (where I taught a course last year), is immersed in this world and shes optimistic. Four of every five of her schools graduates are finding work in their field within six months of graduation. If theyre talented, they are able to get hired, she told me. And because they have the new skills, they are the new leaders in a lot of newsrooms. Dose of reality: Around the country, journalism programs are shrinking, and applications are down. But then again, many of the best journalists have never set foot in a journalism class, relying instead on liberal arts educations and on-the-job training, also known as scrambling on deadline in abject fear. As for whether theres a sustainable way to pay for the expensive business of news gathering in the long run, no one knows for sure. Bartlett is convinced that the work is not only available at least for the most talented and ambitious but that its also greatly needed. Whats more, it can be tremendous fun. Its the only thing I ever wanted to do, she told me. Many of her students feel the same way, and so do I. Thats why Ill be writing, in this space, about free speech, digital innovation and transformation, media literacy and ethics, and investigative reporting. Is Facebook swallowing journalism whole? How well are the media holding the presidential candidates accountable? Has local investigative reporting been lost? How does diversity affect news coverage? How will virtual reality and artificial intelligence change our culture? Im especially drawn to the need for journalism that is transparent, honest, aggressive and deep, using all the new tools and with a great sense of openness on how to present the work to an ever-more-digital audience. As for the question of just how imprudent you need to be to get into this radically transformed business, Ill say this much: Given the challenges, whats needed most are journalists of every age who are willing to help figure out the future with passion, smarts and integrity. Yes, weve got some big problems, but its far from crazy to try to be part of the solution. For more by Margaret Sullivan, visit wapo.st/sullivan. THE DISTRICT Police investigate shooting in SE Two people were injured in a shooting Sunday morning in Southeast Washington, police said. Police said they had made no arrests in the 4:23 a.m. incident in the 3500 block of East Capitol Street SE. They did not say what condition the victims were in. D.C. police spokeswoman Aquita Brown said the shooting was being investigated as a possible carjacking and assault with intent to kill. Investigators are looking for two men and a woman believed to be armed, Brown said. Earlier Sunday, police said they were searching for a white Dodge Charger with the Maryland license plate 6CE0780. Luz Lazo Robbers on bicycles take phone, iPad Two robbers on bicycles carried out a knife-point holdup Saturday night on a residential street in the heart of Capitol Hill. The robbery occurred about 11 p.m. in the 600 block of Lexington Place NE, police said. The site is a one-block street about a half-mile northeast of the Hart Senate Office Building. The robbers took a cellphone and iPad, then fled on their bicycles, police said. Martin Weil VIRGINIA Man charged in gas-station shooting A Richmond man was charged with first-degree murder Saturday after police said he fatally shot a man from Chester, Md., with whom he had met at a gas station in Stafford on Friday to complete a child-custody exchange. Corey Andrew Terry, 27, was charged in the shooting death of 20-year-old Austen Tyler Agnor, the Stafford County Sheriffs Office said. In addition to the murder charge, Terry also was charged with felony use of a firearm. Terry, who has a 2-year-old daughter with Agnors wife, met Agnor at the gas station at 7:15 p.m. so Agnor could drop off the girl to spend the weekend with her biological father, police spokeswoman M.C. Moncure said Sunday. Agnor and his wife, whose identity has not been released, drove from Maryland to drop off the girl. At some point during the exchange which occurred at the Exxon gas station at 1049 Courthouse Rd., near the intersection of State Route 30 and Interstate 95 an argument ensued, and Terry shot Agnor multiple times with the little girl and her mother nearby, police said. Agnor was taken to Stafford Hospital Center, where he later died. Police arrested Terry around 9 p.m. at the intersection of Jefferson Davis Highway and American Legion Road nearly five miles away from the crime scene. Terry is being held without bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail. Michael Smith THE REGION A weekend filled with rainfall The Preakness Stakes, the famous annual Baltimore horse race, was won by Exaggerator, but it is not much of an exaggeration to say it rained here all weekend. On Saturday, rainfall at Reagan National Airport was measured at .65 inches, and by 6 p.m. Sunday, an additional .20 inches fell. There were dry hours, but plenty of wet ones, too. Martin Weil Two of the nation's most prolific warriors in the education debate often on opposite sitdes are now finding common ground, and theyre making a list of the things about which they now agree. (istockphoto) In this year of deep political splits and bad manners, who would have predicted that our great national-education debate has reached such a friendly, we-can-all-get-along moment? Republicans and Democrats in Congress, after agreeing on almost nothing for years, have managed to pass a bipartisan education bill. Its not brilliant legislation, but its something. More startling, two of the education wars most prolific warriors historian and author Diane Ravitch and investor and charter school advocate Whitney Tilson are talking nice to each other and making a list of the things they agree on. In the past, the writings of Ravitch, a critic of testing, charter schools and billionaire education reformers, and Tilson, a critic of teachers unions, school-district bureaucracies and low standards, sometimes have been as acidic as this years presidential debates. It got so bad that I wrote a column in 2010 about them. The headline writer accurately labeled it a plea for peace among petulant pundits. [From the archives: A plea for peace among petulant pundits] They are among my favorite commentators, I wrote. I wish they were more willing to give credit to ideological adversaries for the good sense and good words on all sides of the debate. Ravitch excoriated President Obama for backing charters, testing programs and teacher-evaluation systems loved by business interests. Tilson labeled Ravitch a turncoat for opposing reforms she once favored as an official of the George W. Bush Education Department. But the Republicans have gotten so crazy lately, at least from Tilsons and Ravitchs perspective, that the two adversaries have found common ground. Tilson asked Ravitch whether she shared his distaste for the new North Carolina law requiring transgender people to use public bathrooms according to their gender at birth, not the gender with which they identify. She said she did. They expressed themselves equally aghast at the idea of a Donald Trump presidency. Tilson emailed Ravitch a list of 24 statements about education that he thought she may agree with. Ravitch endorsed many of them. Those positions, from these two key activists, suggest the direction that education policy will take in the future. Tilson and Ravitch agreed, for instance, that poverty has an enormous effect on a childs ability to learn; that fixing homelessness, violence, broken families and other social ills is critical; that some testing is necessary but too much is harmful; that expanding high-quality pre-K is important; that teachers should be evaluated regularly, comprehensively and fairly with the primary goal of helping them improve their craft; that if a teacher doesnt improve, there needs to be a timely and fair system to get him or her out of the profession; and that in fighting for the interests of teachers, unions are doing exactly what theyre supposed to. This is not a love fest. Ravitch, at 77, and Tilson, at 49, have very different professional histories and peer groups. She isnt impressed with his defense of his billionaire friends sincerity in wanting to help poor urban kids achieve. They need to fix poverty, not reorganize schools, she says. He cant accept her view of teachers unions as the underdog victims of rich reformers when, he says, those unions are among the most powerful interest groups in the country. But I like their email exchanges that reveal them deep in conversation on topics such as how best to evaluate teachers and make them better. Tilson agreed with Ravitch that using tests to evaluate instructors has flaws and suggested letting good principals do it. Ravitch said she saw that working at a Brooklyn school. Yet the current focus on evaluation, she added, reflects a fantasy that a supply of great teachers is waiting to get into the classrooms, when many need more training and students need better home lives to succeed. Take a look at their discussion online. I hope it influences the rest of us when we debate schools. It is without doubt an improvement on the tone and character of our discussions over who should be the next president. Jeff Frederick looks over plans for his new enterprise, the Brew Republic Bierwerks in Woodbridge. Frederick, a former Virginia delegate, is one of four co-founders of the brewery that is set to open in August. (Jonathan Hunley/For The Washington Post) Jeff Frederick has gone from delegate to prime minister. Its an unlikely transition, of course, but perhaps so is a move from politics to beer brewing, and the 40-year-old is making that shift, too. Frederick, a former member of the Virginia House from Prince William County, is one of four co-founders of Brew Republic Bierwerks, scheduled to open in August in Woodbridge. The brewpub is where Frederick, also a former chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, is getting that prime minister title. The business is a republic, its patrons are called citizens and, whenever they drink one of the companys beers, theyre deemed to be in the republic wherever they might physically be. We hope that its a fun business, Frederick said. Although that banter is silly, he and his co-founders are serious about the company. County residents may know about the political resumes of Frederick and his wife, Amy, who was a top adviser to former GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina. But the Fredericks also have connections to the beer industry. Amy Noone Fredericks father, Pat Noone, rose to the No. 3 position at D.G. Yuengling & Son, a brewing company in Pennsylvania, before his death in 2013. The Fredericks even researched what it would take to resurrect a 19th-century Yuengling brand, the James River Steam Brewery, in Richmond. That didnt come to fruition, but the couple decided to join Ryan and Darcy Heisey, their Montclair neighbors, in creating Brew Republic. The Heiseys were into home brewing and had considered their own enterprise, so the four simply combined business concepts. Its eight years in the making, Ryan Heisey said. He and his partners now preside over construction in a space of just over 4,000 square feet in the Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center development, which includes a Wegmans. Theyre aiming to hire a staff of probably 20 employees, including full- and part-time workers. And while Jeff Frederick may be the prime minister, Darcy Heisey has the title of brew master. Brew Republic will use a 10-barrel brewing system, which is common for a start-up. Although no suds are flowing yet, the companys website lists 22 planned beers. The kitchen at the pub will produce small plates, appetizers and snack foods, and the operation is looking to make its own root beer. The non-alcoholic offering is part of the founders vision that Brew Republic will be a place where patrons of all ages are welcome. I want families to be comfortable here, said Frederick, who was removed from his position at the helm of the state GOP by the partys central committee in 2009. Anastasia Paszkiewicz, Stonebridges property manager, underscored this idea, as well. She said a recent trip to a winery showed her how the alcohol industry is creating a product different from the stereotype of a dimly lit bar. Its become so much more than that, Paszkiewicz said. Another alcohol-themed venture, Toby Keiths I Love This Bar & Grill, closed last year after occupying a space across the street from where Brew Republic is under construction in Stonebridge. But the Fredericks and Heiseys arent worried about their chances of success, saying the two enterprises are different. The Ornery Beer Co. Public House also is less than 1 miles away, but this brewpubs presence wont necessarily hurt the Brew Republic, either. The proximity may seem notable in terms of a brewing market thats still growing, but its not as big of a deal when viewed in historical terms, said Bryce Capodieci, who teaches in West Virginia Universitys Craft Beer Certificate Program. Some cities had brewpubs in every neighborhood before Prohibition shut them down, Capodieci said. Larger craft brewers might face a fight for store shelf space if they distribute nationally, he said, but local and regional operations havent hit a saturation point. They have plenty of room for growth, Capodieci said. Those beer makers are indeed growing. Craft brewers in Virginia produced 274,111 barrels of beer last year, according to the states Economic Development Partnership. That is a 346 percent increase over four years earlier. There are more than 130 licensed breweries in Virginia, and they have an economic impact of $1 billion, according to the EDP. Brew Republics founders hope to add to this commerce, and the Fredericks are working hard at their new venture. Theres one big difference from their political careers, however. This enterprise is nonpartisan. Jennifer Porcari looks over some of the information she has collected about medical marijuana. She has a daughter who has epilepsy that hasnt responded to traditional medications. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) Marylands state medical marijuana commission delivered a blow to marijuana advocates and would-be entrepreneurs last week by abruptly capping the number of businesses that can process marijuana into pills, oils and other products. The commission also gave conflicting information about when the first long-awaited growing licenses would be issued, with Executive Director Patrick Jameson first saying it would be late summer or early fall, then stating that licenses would come weeks after the evaluations of the applications are completed in early July. At the commissions first public meeting in months, marijuana advocates and entrepreneurs complained about the slow pace and the secrecy of the process. [Artisanal marijuana crab cakes is this the future of getting high?] We have been waiting patiently for the commission to do its work, but every day is a challenge when youre watching your child seize, fall behind in school and lose ground, said Jennifer Porcari, who has fought for years for access to medical cannabis to treat her childs epilepsy. We ask you to remember that the work of this commission is to help Marylanders and children like our daughter. An analysis by the advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project found Maryland to be among the slowest states to get its approved cannabis program up and running. The commission was supposed to start awarding licenses to grow marijuana for medical use in January. But the commission received applications from twice as many businesses as it anticipated, and the timetable has changed several times. Executive Director Hannah Byron abruptly announced her resignation in December and wasnt replaced until this month. [Former state trooper is Marylands new medical marijuana czar] The commission, which declined to comment on its pace, has extended by four months its contract with the Regional Economics Studies Institute at Towson University, which is managing a committee of two dozen evaluators that is reviewing and scoring the applications. Records show that the cost of the contract has quadrupled, to more than $2 million. Towson is expected to deliver scored applications in July to the 15-person commission, which has the final say in who gets licenses. Given the time needed to grow and process cannabis, medical marijuana probably will not be available in the state until the summer of 2017. The delays are costing businesses money, entrepreneurs and their allies said. There are applicants who have lost financing; there are applicants who have lost options on leases; there are applicants who are paying mortgages on buildings that they acquired with an expectation originally of [licenses being awarded in] January, said Terrence McAndrews, an Ellicott City attorney. The commission voted last week to limit the number of processors to 15. The change was suggested by commission member Harry Robshaw III, police chief in the Prince Georges County town of Cheverly, and adopted unanimously after minimal discussion. State law already limited the number of growing licenses to 15. Robshaw said the cap on processors would make it easier for regulators to carry out inspections and could be lifted later as the industry matures. But it also means businesses that win licenses to grow but not process marijuana could have to pay another company for something they had initially planned to handle in-house. Several applicants complained that restricting licenses for processors would make it harder to track cannabis from seed to sale, a unique provision built into Marylands law and designed to protect patients by cutting down on tampering and diversion of the product. Theres a concern that this was done arbitrarily, long after the applications have been submitted, said Kate Bell, an analyst with the Marijuana Policy Project who attended the packed commission meeting at the University of Marylands medical school last week. Its not clear to me what the basis is for imposing this limit. The intentionally opaque evaluation process has left some advocates and entrepreneurs asking for more clarity, with one demanding a public schedule showing when regulators meet behind closed doors. The commission appointed experts in subjects including horticulture and medicine to review and score the applications. The process is double-blind, meaning all names are redacted from the materials that experts review, and the identities of those experts are kept secret. Towson says the subject-matter experts submitted resumes and signed affidavits saying they had no relationships to Maryland applicants before they were selected. In public comments last week, numerous applicants demanded more transparency from the commission. Angeline Nanni, chief executive of prospective grower CannaMED Pharmaceuticals, said making the evaluation process more public would negate any type of behind-closed-doors selection irregularities and possibly prevent post-selection litigation. Commission chair Paul Davies said the group has set up a task force and plans a meeting in July to clarify portions of the process. There were also complaints that Jameson, the commissions new executive director, and a top Towson official involved in the marijuana-license contract attended a program this month before a small group at the Center Club, the Baltimore dining club frequented by Marylands business elite. Center Club President David Nevins organized a roundtable discussion with the Towson official and a grower applicant who is represented by Nevinss public relations firm. Jameson attended, but did not give remarks. We believe [this is] not only a conflict of interest but will quite possibly compromise the integrity of this application process, said Scott Williams, who described himself as a consultant working with more than one applicant. Daraius Irani, the Towson official who appeared with Jameson, said his remarks were reviewed by the state attorney generals office and that he is not directly involved in evaluating applications. Del. Dan K. Morhaim (D-Baltimore County), who was instrumental in passing medical marijuana laws and attended the Center Club event, said he didnt realize it would be controversial. Ill go to any meeting where theres an opportunity to talk about [medical marijuana] and change minds. Correction: Earlier versions of this story incorrectly described a visit by Patrick Jameson, executive director of the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, to the Center Club in Baltimore for a roundtable discussion on the states medical marijuana program. While Jameson attended the event, he did not participate in the roundtable discussion or offer remarks on medical marijuana. The story has been corrected. Party balloons caused a security scare at the White House on Sunday. The photo shows Secret Service officers atop the White House after a shooting near the grounds on May 20. (Michael Reynolds/EPA) A cluster of balloons caused a security scare at The White House on Sunday afternoon, two days after a man approached a guard booth outside the complex and was shot after he refused to put down the pistol he was carrying. The U.S. Secret Service said some party balloons floated over the executive complex, and a couple of the balloons landed on the property. The scene was cleared about 1:20 p.m., the agency said. [Secret Service agent shoots armed man outside White House] It was not immediately clear if The White House was locked down in Sundays incident. The White House was put on lockdown Friday after a man approached a guard booth with a pistol and refused to put it down. A Secret Service agent shot and critically wounded the man, who remained in critical condition Sunday morning. President Obama left Washington on Saturday for a week-long trip to Vietnam and Japan and was not at the White House on Sunday, the Secret Service said. [With terrorism concerns again in mind, President Obama embarks on week-long trip to Vietnam, Japan] Sunday, May 22 Dale City Farmers Market 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Dale City Commuter Lot, (behind Center Plaza Shopping Center), Dale Boulevard, Dale City. 703-670-7112, Ext. 227. pwcparks.org. Free. Bristoe Station Battlefield guided tours Learn about two Civil War battles that took place at the site in 1862 and 1863. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. second and fourth weekends. Tours leave on the hour, Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park, 10708 Bristow Rd., Bristow. 703-366-3049. pwcgov.org/historicsites. Free. Mosby panel discussion Mosby authors Eric Buckland, Dave Goetz, Don Hakenson and Chuck Mauro discuss Mosby and his rangers during the Civil War. 1:30 p.m. Manassas Museum, 9101 Prince William St., Manassas. 703-257-8453. The Music Man Castaways Repertory Theatre stages the musical about a band leader who attempts to con an Iowa town. 2 p.m. Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo Building, 15941 Donald Curtis Dr., Woodbridge. 703-232-1710. www.castawaystheatre.org. $18; seniors, military, prince william county employees and students, $13; 12 and younger, $9. Bingo Proceeds support local veterans. Doors open at noon Sunday with games beginning at 2 p.m. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. Mondays with games beginning at 7:15 p.m. Woodbridge American Legion, 3640 Friendly Post Lane, Woodbridge. 703-494-4304. $15 minimum. Cinderella Closing the 2015-2016 season, this ballet features Sergei Prokofievs score performed by the Manassas Ballet Theatre and its orchestra. 3 p.m. Hylton Performing Arts Center, 10960 George Mason Cir., Manassas. 703-257-1811. manassasballet.org. $20-$65. Feathers An exhibit of paintings and drawings by Deanna Boling. Through June 5, Loft Gallery, 313 Mill St., Occoquan. 703-490-1117. loftgallery.org. Free. Monday, May 23 Job search network group Plus discussion of various topics related to the search process. 1-3 p.m. House of Mercy, 8170 Flannery Ct., Manassas. 703-659-1636. Free. Bingo Proceeds support Dale City Knights of Columbus activities and charities. Doors open at 6 p.m. with games beginning at 7:30 p.m. VFW Post 1503, 14631 Minnieville Rd., Dale City. 703-491-2378. $9 minimum. Cabin Branch Quilters meeting 7 p.m. Lake Ridge Baptist Church, 12450 Clipper Dr., Lake Ridge. 571-285-5405. cabinbranchquilters.org. Free. Prince William Community Band Rehearsal, for musicians 19 and older, no auditions necessary. 7:30 p.m. Saunders Middle School, 13557 Spriggs Rd., Manassas. 703-791-4119. pwcb.org. Free. Osbourn High School student art exhibit Works of art from five different classes. Closes Monday, Manassas City Hall, 9027 Center St., Manassas. 703-257-8200. manassascity.org. Free. Tuesday, May 24 Author Peter Henriques The scholar and George Mason University professor discusses his book A Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington. 7 p.m. Bull Run Regional Library, 8051 Ashton Ave., Manassas. 703-792-4530. Free. Wednesday, May 25 Cooking gadget demonstration Geraldine Erikson demonstrates cooking with various gadgets and cookware, which will be available for sale. House of Mercy will receive a portion of the funds from the sale of the products. 1 and 6 p.m. House of Mercy, 8170 Flannery Ct., Manassas. 703-659-1636. help@houseofmercyva.org. Free; registration required. Lake Ridge Toastmasters Club Members 18 and older develop their public speaking and leadership skills. 7:30-9:15 p.m. Tall Oaks Community Center, 12298 Cotton Mill Dr., Lake Ridge. 703-491-3020. contact-8913@toastmastersclubs.org. lakeridge.toastmastersclubs.org. $34-$64 membership fee. Thursday, May 26 Manassas farmers market Thursdays 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Loy E. Harris Pavilion, 9201 Center St., and Saturdays 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Parking Lot B, West Street (next to the train station visitors center), Manassas. 703-361-6599. visitmanassas.org. World War II lecture Lt. Col. Stephen M. Rusiecki, dean of academics and deputy commander of the U.S. Army Inspector General School at Fort Belvoir, discusses his book In Final Defense of the Reich: The Destruction of the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord. 7 p.m. Old Manassas Courthouse, 9248 Lee Ave., Manassas. 703-792-4754. Free. Friday, May 27 Manassas Park farmers market 3-7 p.m. Manassas Park City Hall, 1 Park Center Ct., Manassas Park. 703-930-5709. Free. American Legion dinner The public is invited to dinner with a different special every week. Proceeds support local veterans and the community. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Woodbridge American Legion, 3640 Friendly Post Lane, Woodbridge. 703-494-4304. vapost364.org. $5-$15. Saturday, May 28 American flag collection service Operated by the Bull Run District Committee of the Boy Scouts, which will collect flags and demonstrate proper folding techniques. Saturdays at 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Prince William County Balls Ford Road Yard Waste Compost Facility, 13000 Balls Ford Rd., Manassas. Free. Yoga on the Lawn Vinyasa yoga taught by certified yoga instructor Christopher Glowacki. 9 a.m. Rippon Lodge Historic Site, 15520 Blackburn Rd., Woodbridge. 703-499-9812. pwcgov.org/ripponlodge. $5. Living history demonstrations Park volunteers offer infantry and artillery demonstrations. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Manassas National Battlefield Park, Chinn Ridge (Tour Stop No. 10), 6511 Sudley Rd., Manassas. 703-361-1339. Free. VA StrEats Fest A festival featuring more than 30 food trucks from all over the region. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Gar-Field High School, 14000 Smoketown Rd., Woodbridge. 703-590-7083. vastreats.com. Free. Virginia Dance Center Dancing Through Oz is a dance recital inspired by The Wizard of Oz. Noon and 4:30 p.m. Hylton Performing Arts Center, Merchant Hall, 10960 George Mason Cir., Manassas. 703-993-7759. hyltoncenter.org. $15; Virginia Dance Center dancers, $10. National Safe Boating Week sails through Friday Warmer weather marks the beginning of boating season. In preparation for water-related activities, National Safe Boating Week runs through Friday. The week promotes responsible boating, including consistent wearing of a life jacket, Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue officials said. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, last year there were 4,158 recreational boating accidents that involved 626 deaths, 2,613 injuries and about $42 million in damaged property. County Fire and Rescue Chief Kevin McGee advised parents and caregivers to make sure that everyone wears a life jacket at all times when boating. Visit safeboatingcouncil.org, safeboatingcampaign.com and uscgboating.org for information and safe boating tips. County authorities warn of virtual kidnapping scam Prince William County police have recently received reports of virtual kidnapping scams, in which scammers try to extort money by claiming that a family member has been taken hostage. Police said this scam has been around for a few years, but it appears to be popular again. According to the FBI, individuals call and claim to have kidnapped a family member. Although no kidnapping has taken place, the callers often use co-conspirators, such as a female voice in the background, to convince their victims of the legitimacy of the threat. Victims telephone numbers appear to be dialed at random. Most schemes use techniques to instill fear, panic and urgency. Targeted victims are ordered to stay on the phone until the money is wired, often to a third party in Puerto Rico. Instructions usually require that the ransom payment be made immediately and typically by wire transfer, using companies such as Western Union. The requested ransom payments are for varied amounts, usually between $600 and $1,900. In addition, once a payment is made, the alleged kidnappers often claim the money was not received and tell the victims that they need to wire additional money. The scammers often speak with Spanish accents. If you receive a suspicious call, look for the following indicators: Incoming calls come from an outside area code, sometimes from Puerto Rico with area codes 787, 939 or 856. Calls do not come from the kidnapped victims phone. Callers go to great lengths to keep you on the phone. Callers prevent you from calling or finding the kidnapped victim. Ransom money is accepted only via wire transfer service. If you receive a call from someone who demands payment of a ransom for a kidnapped victim, consider the following: Try to slow the situation down. Request to speak to the victim directly. Ask, How do I know my loved one is okay? If they dont let you speak to the victim, ask them to describe the victim or the vehicle they drive, if applicable. Listen carefully to the voice of the kidnapped victim if they speak. Attempt to call, text or contact the victim via social media. Request that the victim call back from his or her cellphone. While staying on the phone with the alleged kidnapper, try to call the alleged victim from another phone. To buy time, repeat the callers request and tell them you are writing down the demand, or tell the caller you need additional time to get things moving. Dont directly challenge or argue with the caller. Keep your voice low and steady. Request that the kidnapped victim call back from their cellphone. If you believe you are the victim of this scam, call 703-792-6500. If you believe your family member is a victim of a real kidnapping, call 911 immediately. Tours to include festivals, musicals, Nationals games Bluebird Tours, a Prince William County Area Agency on Aging program, is planning several bus tours this summer for residents 55 and older. Tours will include: Washington Nationals vs. the Mets on Wednesday. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond on Wednesday. A Summer Mystery Tour, to include islands, a fort, drama, dolphins and a graveyard from June 6 to 9. Ragtime the Musical at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts on June 11. Washingtons Birthday at Stratford Hall on June 13. Belle Grove Plantation Tea in King George on June 24. 67th annual Kutztown Folk Festival in Reading, Pa., from July 2 to 3. Sweeney Todd at the Shenandoah Theater on July 6. Pirates of Penzance at the Shenandoah Theater on July 20. Adventures in Buck County, Pa., from July 24 to 25. Sherwood Forest in Charles City on July 26. Suicide Bridge Crab Feast Cruise in Hurlock, Md., on July 2. Radio City Music Hall Summer Spectacular in New York on July 30. For information or reservations, call Quality Tours at 703-339-0333 or visit pwcgov.org/bluebird. Two people were injured in a Sunday morning shooting in Southeast Washington, D.C. police said. Police said they have made no arrests in the 4:23 a.m. incident in the 3500 block of East Capitol Street SE. They did not provide a condition of the victims. D.C. Police spokeswoman Aquita Brown said the shooting was being investigated as a possible carjacking and assault with intent to kill. Investigators are looking for two men and a woman believed to be armed, Brown said. Earlier Sunday, police said they were searching for a white Dodge Charger with a Maryland license plate 6CE0780. This excerpt from a search warrant affidavit recently unsealed at the request of The Washington Post shows the chairwoman of former mayor Vincent C. Grays 2010 campaign raising concerns about the activities of one of his longtime political advisers. The off-the-books campaign effort on Grays behalf became the subject of a long-running federal campaign finance investigation. The week before the 2010 primary election for the Districts highest office, the chairwoman of Vincent C. Grays campaign had concerns. She was worried that Grays longtime political adviser was running an off-the-books campaign a shadow campaign that would become the central focus of a long-running federal investigation. The campaign chairwoman shared her anxiety in an email about the activities of the adviser, Vernon Hawkins. Vernon is doing something off the books, she wrote to Grays then-girlfriend in an email obtained by law enforcement and described in a sworn FBI affidavit. Im not in the loop (and dont want to be)! Grays then-girlfriend told law enforcement officials that she relayed those concerns to Gray, according to court documents that were unsealed at the request of The Washington Post. Vincent Gray chats with campaign chairwoman Lorraine Green in April 2010 as Gray makes the official announcement that he is challenging Mayor Adrian Fenty. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) In a recent interview, the ex-girlfriend, Linda Mercado Greene, said she was candid and upfront with federal investigators. She said an account of the email in the newly released documents was accurate, as were the accounts of other exchanges she had in 2010 with Grays campaign chairwoman. Greene no longer has a copy of the 2010 email. This is buried, she said. I have moved on. She told The Post that it was her practice to relay messages to Gray but that because of the passage of time she could not say with certainty that she shared the worries. I think I did, Greene said. I would say its most likely I did. I cant say I definitely did. Gray has vigorously denied knowledge of the illegal spending and was not charged in the now-closed case. This matter is in the past for Vince. Weve made that clear, said Chuck Thies, Grays campaign spokesman. Gray has launched a political comeback, running in the June 14 primary for the Ward 7 seat on the D.C. Council. Vincent C. Gray and former girlfriend, Linda Mercado Greene in 2011. (Rebecca D'Angelo/for The Washington Post) Greene, a public relations strategist, is supporting Grays rival, Yvette Alexander. Whether Gray was alerted to something off-the-books by his girlfriend and his campaign chairwoman was an important piece of information for federal prosecutors as they prepared a case against the former mayor. Political donor Jeffrey E. Thompson poured more than $650,000 into the unreported shadow campaign. Thompson and his associate, Jeanne Clark Harris, told investigators that Gray knew about the secret spending and personally asked for the campaign money, according to court documents. As a result of the investigation, a half-dozen people pleaded guilty to felony charges directly related to the illegal spending that was closely coordinated with Grays official, legal campaign. Prosecutors are set to file sentencing papers this week that are expected to spell out whether they still believe Thompsons account of his interactions with Gray. If prosecutors say Thompson has fully cooperated, his plea agreement calls for a reduced sentence of no more than six months in prison far less than the seven years he could have faced. Thompson is scheduled to be sentenced four days before the D.C. Council primary contest. Harriss sentencing follows in early July. [Case against Gray stalled over claims Jeffrey Thompson had credibility issue] U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips shut down the nearly four-year probe in December soon after taking over the office from the two men who launched the investigation. In closing out the investigation, Phillips said in a statement that the evidence was likely insufficient to sustain a conviction against any other individuals. During the probe, authorities had gathered thousands of emails. The names of Grays ex-girlfriend and his campaign chairwoman are redacted in court filings, but Greene said she and the chairwoman, Lorraine Green, are the people cited in the affidavit about the worries about something off the books. Lorraine Greens attorney, Thomas C. Green, said he had no information or recollection of the specific email or whether his client communicated her concerns directly to Gray. The Greens are not related. They had all her emails. She explained them fully, and it didnt create any issues for her, he said. [Read more about the unsealed shadow campaign investigative documents] Excerpts from that email message show that the get-out-the-vote effort backed by Thompson attracted the campaign chairwomans attention the week before Gray won the Democratic primary. His victory over sitting mayor Adrian M. Fenty all but assured Grays ascension from council chairman to mayor in a city where more than 75 percent of voters are registered Democrats. Lorraine Green, then an Amtrak executive, had gotten to know Gray when they both worked for former mayor Sharon Pratt in the 1990s. Gray has described her as his closest friend. The timing of the fretful email was important. Court records show that a key date prosecutors focused on was Sept. 3, 2010, when they say a dinner meeting occurred at Harriss apartment. Harris and Thompson told investigators that Gray personally asked Thompson at that dinner meeting to fund a get-out-the-vote campaign, court documents show. The day after, Harris called Hawkins, Grays longtime political adviser. Hawkins later admitted in court that he had helped design the plan for the shadow campaign and coordinated activities with the legal campaign. Hawkins was sentenced to six months in prison. Hawkins understood from Harris that the dinner meeting with the candidate was to green-light the shadow campaign, prosecutors said in court filings related to Hawkinss sentencing. The email with the worries went to Grays then-girlfriend two days later, Sept. 6. Maybe he is doing his own GOTV, the chairwoman of the legal campaign wrote in a reference to Hawkinss get-out-the-vote activity. Lorraine Green, the chairwoman, asked Grays girlfriend to find out what that is, according to the affidavit. Grays now ex-girlfriend told law enforcement officials that Green also asked her to have Gray contact her about the other campaign in two conversations. Green described the other campaign as something that Hawkins and Harris were doing and which was driving Green crazy, investigators said in their affidavit. Grays ex-girlfriend described passing the messages along to Gray, according to the affidavit. The U.S. Attorneys Office declined to provide the full text of the email to The Post, saying it does not typically share evidence that has not been filed in court. During the campaign, Grays ex-girlfriend said people were constantly giving her messages to relay to Gray. She almost never forwarded emails and was more likely to send word by phone or text, she said. At the time of Greens email message, Grays ex-girlfriend said she would not have understood the meaning or significance of the phrase something off-the-books. It was not until early 2012 that The Post reported that investigators were focused on an illegal shadow campaign. If she did convey the concerns to Gray six years ago, she said this month, she cant say for sure whether he heard me, whether he listened. Sometimes, people dont listen, she added, joking about relationship dynamics. In a campaign environment, Grays spokesman said candidates are told all kinds of things all the time. This individual is saying shes not certain she relayed that message, Thies said. After Grays election, while they were still a couple, Greene asked Gray to see if Thompson could assist her in finding a job, according to the affidavit, and Gray agreed to ask Thompson to assist her with finding a job. She recently confirmed asking for job help but said it was Harris, one of her mentors, who arranged to hire her for a $45,000 six-month public relations contract. Toward the end of the contract, she learned that the money for it was coming from Thompson, Greene said. Prosecutors previously mentioned Thompsons payments through Harris to Grays close personal friend in documents related to Thompsons plea deal and added that the new mayor thanked Thompson for getting work for the friend. Gray and Greene went public with their relationship in December 2010, after Gray had become mayor-elect. They split up more than two years ago. Greene is not in contact with Gray or his former campaign chairwoman. She declined to go into more detail about her personal life. Greene remains active in local politics and held a fundraiser this month for Alexander, Grays Democratic primary rival. In order for East of the River to progress and move forward, its important to keep the council members we have, said Greene, who lives in Anacostia in Ward 8. When asked why she was not supporting her former beau, she said: I just dont think its a good choice for him. He has done his public service, and now he should look at other careers. Fairfax County police continued their hunt Sunday for the man who they say traded gunfire with a police officer at a county shopping center Saturday afternoon. The gun battle wounded a bystander and sent people running for cover at Brookfield Plaza in the Springfield area. Fairfax authorities said Sunday morning the suspected jewelry store robber is still at large. Police described the man as 20 to 30 years old, wearing all brown clothing. They said that he may have changed clothes. Fairfax County Police spokeswoman Megan Hawkins said police are actively looking for the suspect, but had no additional leads on the identity or whereabouts of the man that fled on foot in a residential area of Springfield. Authorities are asking the public to call 911 if they have seen him. [Fairfax police hunt for robber after gun fight that leaves 1 hurt] Fairfax police said Saturday the man fired shots at officers as he exited the Dubai Jewelry store at the Brookfield Plaza shopping center, just south of the Interstate 95 interchange with the Capital Beltway. The man climbed into a getaway car, drove off, crashed, carjacked another car, crashed again and ran away, police said. Police responded to a call for an unknown situation inside the store at 12:22 p.m. Saturday. An officer who responded saw a man exit the store armed with a handgun, Fairfax Police Chief Edwin Roessler said Saturday. The officer immediately challenged the suspect, Roessler said. The suspect then immediately opened fire. As the officer continued with the gun battle, the suspect fled into a getaway car that was stationed nearby, Roessler said. The gunman appeared to be acting alone, police said. One nearby merchant said there were so many shots that it sounded like rain on a tin roof. A lot really fast, said Jackie Caroe, a manager at Max Muscle, a nutrition supplements store in the Brookfield Plaza shopping center in the Springfield area. Police said a bystander, who was in a car, was hit by a round that appears to be from the robbers weapon. The victim was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said. The officer, a 7-year- veteran of the Fairfax County Police Department, was not injured, police said. It wasnt clear whether the robber was hit. Dan Morse and Fredrick Kunkle contributed to this report. A Richmond man was charged with first-degree murder after police say he fatally shot a Chester, Md., man whom he met with at a gas station in Stafford on Friday to complete a child custody exchange. Corey Andrew Terry, 27, was charged Saturday in the shooting death of 20-year-old Austen Tyler Agnor, the Stafford County Sheriffs Office said. In addition to the murder charge, Terry also was charged with felony use of a firearm. Terry, who has a 2-year-old daughter with Agnors wife, met Agnor at the gas station at 7:15 p.m. so Agnor could drop off the little girl to spend the weekend with her biological father, police spokeswoman M.C. Moncure said Sunday. Agnor and his wife, whose identity has not been released, drove from Maryland to drop off the girl. At some point during the exchange which occurred at the Exxon gas station at 1049 Courthouse Rd., near the intersection of State Route 30 and Interstate 95 an argument ensued, and Terry shot Agnor multiple times with the little girl and her mother nearby, police said. Agnor was transported to Stafford Hospital Center, where he later died. Police arrested Terry around 9 p.m. at the intersection of Jefferson Davis Highway and American Legion Road nearly 5 miles away from the crime scene. Terry is currently being held without bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail. The reelection of a lifelong Democrat who has held public office in deep-blue Arlington County for almost 20 years should be a slam-dunk. But Libby Garvey, the chair of the majority-Democratic County Board, is facing a tough challenger in the June 14 primary, one who has outperformed her in fundraising and endorsements from leading members of her party. Over the past four years, Garvey has become a lightning rod for criticism because of her willingness to break with her party and her tendency to question long-standing county government practices. Last week, she was forced to retreat on one of her signature initiatives, creating a blue-ribbon panel to advise the board on setting strategic priorities. Democratic Party members have worked hard to elect Democrats because of our shared values, said Reid Goldstein, an Arlington School Board member. She decided to go off on her own. . . . People remember. Veteran politicians in Arlington say it is exceedingly rare for a Democratic incumbent to face such vigorous primary opposition, but Garvey, 65, says she is fine with the role of pariah. Libby Garvey is chairman of the Arlington County Board (Nadya Lutz/Nadya Lutz) For my entire career, Ive seen things that need to be done, she said. And if they ruffle feathers, so be it. [Arlington County race could be referendum on a changed board] Erik Gutshall, Garveys challenger, has attacked Garveys leadership skills and fiscal conservatism, blaming her for much of the political animosity that has dominated the board over the past four years. He said he decided to run because everything Ive participated in over the last 20 years in Arlington seemed to me to be in jeopardy. I see her as a fundamental obstacle who is not taking us in the right direction to solve the problems we have to solve in the future. Backed by almost $52,000 in contributions in the first quarter of the year, the 46-year-old planning-board member has lined up endorsements from 16 current and former elected officials. Garvey has just four and only one of those, commonwealth attorney Theo Stamos, is still in office. She raised $34,600 through the end of March this year, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, to add to $27,566 in leftover funds from her 2012 campaign. Her lone backer on the County Board is John Vihstadt, a longtime Republican who ran as an independent and has teamed with Garvey to stop projects they deem overly expensive, including the long-planned Columbia Pike streetcar. Vihstadt says that Garvey has earned reelection, citing her creative, evenhanded and productive chairmanship, and her efforts at greater accountability and streamlined business practices. Fundamentally, theres a group of established figures who have never forgiven her for opposing the streetcar or supporting me, Vihstadt said, drawing a distinction between party activists and average citizens. Voters Ive spoken with dont want to reverse course to the cozy, back-scratching days of old. Virginia voters do not register by party, so the primary is open to all. With the Garvey-Gutshall race the only contest on the ballot, turnout is expected to be low, even though the winner will be the overwhelming favorite to win the seat in November. If Democrats go out and vote, this is going to be a really, really close election, said Jarrod Nagurka, a party activist who supports Gutshall. He said he is worried about voters who would normally vote Republican turning out to support Garvey. Her base includes many independent and Republican-leaning voters who think previous boards were not careful guardians of taxpayer money. The rancor between Garvey and establishment Democrats began shortly after she won a squeaker of a special election to fill an open seat in spring 2012. At the time, community opposition to the streetcar had begun to percolate. Garvey dithered publicly on the issue, abstaining from a key vote that summer. But during her general election campaign, she came out against the streetcar. After winning a full term, she accused board member Chris Zimmerman (D), the boards strongest streetcar proponent, of a potential conflict of interest, because he was a consultant for a Canadian company that had been involved in the streetcar plans. Zimmerman strongly denied any conflict, saying his work with the group was limited to other projects. The boards attorney agreed, and the board publicly rebuked Garvey. In 2014, Zimmerman resigned from the board and Garvey publicly endorsed and contributed money to Vihstadt as he campaigned for the open seat. Local party activists were furious that she was working against the Democratic nominee. Under pressure, Garvey resigned from the partys leadership committee. She was reinstated the following year, but says she cannot promise to support all Democrats in the future. I put the good of the community before the good of the party, she said in an interview. Vihstadts election, after 15 years of an all-Democratic board, triggered such upheaval that the County Board pulled the plug on the streetcar plan. Do I feel vindicated? Garvey said at the time. It was Johns election, but we were reflecting the views of many in Arlington. Garveys recent blue-ribbon-panel proposal was unveiled at a Tuesday afternoon meeting, a time when the board usually hands out proclamations. Although she has pushed for earlier public notification of meeting agendas, the proposal was not listed in advance an unusual omission that was immediately noticed by her critics. Vice Chairman Jay Fisette (D), a Gutshall supporter, questioned the need for the panel but ultimately voted for it, as did the rest of the board. That brought a torrent of complaints from organizations and citizens who called the panel an attempt to bypass Arlingtons tradition of extensive community input. The vote to create the panel was taken with almost no advance notice or opportunity for public comment, said a letter from Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement. The panel is duplicative; the charge is murky and invests far too much power in 6 people. Garvey backed off last week, calling the lack of notice an oversight and promising to more clearly define what she sought to accomplish with the panel before the issue returns to the board in July. It seemed like a quick way to get some advice, she said. Other initiatives have been more successful. Her efforts to hire an inspector general or independent auditor began to bear fruit last year, when the board agreed to budget money for an auditor who reports only to them, rather than through the county manager. But she angered school officials and some parents by touting a one-time infusion of $1.1 million in school funding this spring as evidence of the county boards deep commitment to funding public education. Critics point out that the $1.1 million cannot be used to hire permanent staff or create ongoing programs. By conflating the two, they say, Garvey made it seem as though schools were being overfunded a perception that school board member James Lander called blatantly misleading. Garvey agreed to remove a reference to the extra money as one-time and ongoing funding above the school boards funding request from the official county statement on the school systems budget appropriation. But shes continued to talk about it that way in campaign appearances. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), second from left, checks out the Korean bell as she greets Korean American voters at the Korean Bell Garden in Vienna. (Bill OLeary/Washington Post) Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) would love to talk about Donald Trump. Donald Skip Trump, that is the executive director of a cancer institute in Northern Virginia, whose name came up recently as Comstock toured a research lab at George Mason University. That other Donald Trump the one who wants to win the White House, temporarily ban Muslims and deport undocumented immigrants is one Comstock is trying to ignore as she seeks a second term in her diverse Virginia district. As much as any down-ballot GOP incumbent, Republicans say, Comstock has girded her campaign to withstand potential voter defections as a result of having Trump at the top of the ticket. She campaigned hard for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who trounced Trump in her district during Virginias March 1 primary. She has distanced herself from the New York billionaire at every opportunity. And since taking office in January, she has attended just about every parade, festival, business roundtable and swearing-in to which she is invited. Im moving beyond the presidential race, Comstock, 56, said at George Mason. Im looking past all that. LuAnn Bennett is Comstocks Democratic opponent in the race for the House seat that stretches from Winchester to Fairfax. (Courtesy of LuAnn Bennett) Democrats view Comstocks swing district, which leans slightly Republican and has a large number of independents, as one they must win to regain control of the House. Ousting Comstock seems more likely as a result of Trumps ascension, Democrats say, but remains a challenge especially because party nominee LuAnn Bennett is a first-time candidate who is largely unknown. Comstock has joined Democrats in blocking her partys demands for cuts to federal pay and Metro funding issues that are important to her Northern Virginia constituents. She said she was battling fellow Republicans on National Institutes of Health funding as well. She pushes for science and math educational programs for girls, and she runs a leadership program for young women. She touts herself as something of a mole inside the GOP, a valuable player for a region otherwise represented by Democrats. The House of Representatives is going to stay in Republican hands, she predicted, arguing that Northern Virginians need a champion in the majority to fight for their interests. As for who wins the White House, she says it shouldnt matter in her race and is not one of the top issues that voters want to discuss when she knocks on their doors. Bennett, the 62-year-old ex-wife of former congressman James P. Moran, is hoping shes wrong. I think the top of the ticket is going to impact the district a lot, Bennett told Todd Gallant, the owner of a local tutoring company, at a Loudoun County job fair this past weekend. Gallant, a Republican, said he cannot vote for Trump and has no idea what he will do on Election Day. Stretching from rural Winchester to suburban Fairfax, the 10th District is increasingly economically and racially mixed. Relative affordability and a healthy economy have drawn Latino and Asian immigrants as well as transplants from other states. The population growth has made the area, along with the rest of Northern Virginia, increasingly Democratic. But many voters in the district are independent, placing more importance on a candidates ability to get things done rather than ideology. To win, Comstock needs voters such as Gallant to vote for her but she also needs the 29 percent of 10th Districts primary voters who supported Trump. Democrats will try to make her choose every time Trump says something controversial, said Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginias Center for Politics. Securing Trumps votes while attracting a good number of non-Trump backers requires a delicate balancing act all the way to Election Day. Bennett and other Democrats say Comstocks opposition to equal-pay legislation, immigration reform and abortion access mirrors Trumps. Voters who oppose Trump should oppose Comstock, they argue, since she is a loyal member of the party that nominated him. But following the lead of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), Comstock has neither endorsed nor renounced the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Instead, she says he has yet to earn her vote. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which ranks congressional races, has changed its prediction of the 10th District race from Likely Republican to Lean Republican based solely on Trumps candidacy. Comstock and her fellow Republicans have attacked Bennett for living outside the district as recently as last fall. The Democrat owns a farm in Delaplane, Va., which was in the 10th District until boundary lines were redrawn in 2011. She also owns a condo and real estate business in the District, and she began renting a home in McLean in December. She thinks that voters will understand the reasons she has spent much time in Washington she took over her first husbands company after he died of leukemia. She said her regional connections will be valuable to constituents. But she acknowledges that the congresswoman has stronger name recognition. Shes very good at going to festivals, Bennett said. Bennett launched her campaign in December after Democrats spent months searching for a candidate to take on Comstock. Shes still introducing herself and raising the money she will need to have a visible presence in the expensive local media market. Her campaign website is bare-bones at best there is a biography, but no endorsements or policy positions. A super PAC affiliated with House Democrats has reserved nearly $900,000 in television airtime for the final weeks of the campaign. Comstock, however, has raised more than $2.3 million for her reelection, spent $742,000 and has reserved $1 million in television advertising for this fall. Bennett has raised a little over half a million dollars and spent less than a quarter of that. At the 10th District Democratic Convention in Sterling on May 14, Bennett was greeted with cheers and hugs. This is our biggest opportunity to take the 10th Congressional District, said Kannan Srinivasan, treasurer for the Loudoun County Democrats. Its up to us to make it happen. But the challenge Bennett faces was apparent during Comstocks tour of the laboratories at George Mason University. Brianna Kim, a 22-year-old research specialist, showed her how to turn a urine sample into a pellet ready for Lyme testing. An Asian American who says she would never vote for Trump, Kim should be a prime recruit for Bennett. But her sister interned in Comstocks office, and Kim says she will probably vote for the congresswoman. Its important that she is investing time in our science research, she said. As for Trump, she said, I dont think that reflects on her at all. This organ transplant "system" defies the old notion of transporting organs on ice. It keeps transplanted organs warm, monitors activity and perfuses them with blood. (Transmedics Inc.) This organ transplant "system" defies the old notion of transporting organs on ice. It keeps transplanted organs warm, monitors activity and perfuses them with blood. (Transmedics Inc.) Lloyd Matsumoto awoke from his liver transplant last month to find his surgeon more than pleased with the results. The new organ had begun producing bile almost immediately, a welcome signal that it had quickly started to function well. That may be partly because of the way Matsumotos liver traveled from Tufts Medical Center across Boston to Massachusetts General Hospital. Instead of being packed in ice for the 4 hours it was outside the abdomens of donor and recipient, the liver was essentially kept alive in a device that maintains its temperature, perfuses it with oxygenated blood and monitors its critical activity. They say Im going to live a normal life span, said Matsumoto, a 71-year-old biology professor who is now back home in Barrington, R.I. Im living proof that it works. [Doctors perform first U.S. penis transplant] For all the advances in transplant surgery in the 62 years since doctors first moved a kidney from Ronald Herrick to his identical twin, Richard, the method of transporting organs remains remarkably primitive. A harvested heart, lung, liver or kidney is iced in a plastic cooler, the kind you might take to the beach, then raced to an operating room where a critically ill patient and his surgical team are waiting. The new approach flips that idea emphasizing warmth instead of cold and maintaining an organs natural processes rather than slowing them down. That may speed an individual heart or livers return to service, and it offers the eventual possibility of more: the potential to reduce the chronic shortage of organs for transplant by expanding the pool of usable ones. Earlier clinical trials established that this technique is safe for transporting donated hearts and lungs. But Matsumotos surgeon, James F. Markmann, chief of the division of transplantation at Massachusetts General and head of the liver trial, cautioned that neither idea has been proven for that organ. Thats one of the reasons a study is underway. But Markmann said doctors and patients may be on the cusp of a new start to this area. [Drug overdose deaths are helping to ease shortage of donated organs] Many donor hearts are unavailable today because too much damage would occur when the blood supply is cut off and the organ is put on ice for hours. The big question is whether keeping them warm will increase the organ supply, said Michael G. Dickinson, a heart-failure cardiologist at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Mich. Dickinson is part of a separate heart-transport study designed to address that issue. Is this better overall than the standard method? he asked. We would hope so. But we dont know. A Massachusetts company, TransMedics, founded in 1998 by a heart surgeon, developed the Portable Organ Care System being used in the U.S. trials. Competitors here and abroad also are testing alternative technology. The TransMedics device encloses the organ in a plastic box that attaches to a wheeled cart and can be removed to fit in a vehicle or aircraft. Blood, nutrients and fluids are pumped through tubes into the liver. Heaters warm the blood. Sensors monitor critical functions during the trip, relaying them to doctors wirelessly on a control screen. Specialists can alter a number of conditions including oxygen levels and pressure in veins with a touch of the panel. James Markmann, Chief of organ transplantation at Massachusetts General Hospital, holds the wireless remote control for the Transmedics Organ Care System. (Matthew Cavanaugh for The Washington Post) The TransMedics system, first tested in Europe in 2006, is awaiting approval by the Food and Drug Administration for commercial use with hearts and lungs in the United States. The liver trial is a first-level safety study. In Australia and parts of Europe, the device has been approved and used about 200 times commercially, according to a company spokeswoman. A substantial remaining obstacle is cost, including whether insurance, Medicare and Medicaid will cover the $250,000 initial purchase, the $45,000 price of each organ container which are used only once and the staff time needed to transport an organ this way. Nearly 31,000 organs were transplanted in the United States last year, including 2,804 hearts and 7,127 livers. But the sizable gap between demand and supply generally widens every year, leaving tens of thousands of people on waiting lists. An average of 22 people die each day waiting for transplants. David Klassen, medical director for the United Network for Organ Sharing, the nonprofit organization that runs the U.S. organ procurement and transplantation network, agreed that devices such as the organ-care system could help ease the shortage if they make currently unusable organs available for transplant. Cost, he said, is still a barrier to widespread adoption of the devices, but with trials underway it is early for decisions on coverage. There are two types of death in the transplant field brain death and cardiac death. Donor hearts are useful only after brain death, because the heart continues to pump and oxygen-rich blood continues to circulate. In cardiac death, reduced circulation known as ischemia causes too much damage to the heart muscle to allow transplantation. Australian doctors in 2014 transplanted three hearts after cardiac death, waiting as little as two minutes to harvest the organs. That effort and another like it have raised ethical questions about how soon surgeons should remove any organ after the heart stops beating. In the United States, the standard is five minutes. We cant have a Wild West situation where surgeons just essentially come up with their own criteria, said Robert Veatch, a professor emeritus of medical ethics at Georgetown Universitys Kennedy Institute of Ethics. Restarting livers, lungs and other organs harvested after circulatory death raises another issue, Veatch said. If youre restarting a heart, can you also say the circulatory system has been irreversibly stopped? he asked. In a brain-dead donor, transport and harvesting time are the enemy. When Marvin Vandermolen received his new heart April 16 at Spectrums Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center, the donor was 21/2 hours away and 71/2 hours passed from the time the organ was taken until it was placed in Vandermolens chest. That is nearly double the allowable four hours under the protocol for hearts transported on ice. But because Vandermolens heart was kept beating on the TransMedics device, it was in fine shape when it arrived for transplant and functioned well, according to his surgeon, Martin Strueber. We can keep a donor heart out of the body longer than we would do with any cold storage method, Strueber said. The heart is not sitting in a box. It is sitting in a system and is perfused with warm blood. After a month in the hospital, Vandermolen, 63, was headed home, focused on eating something that really sounds good to me, and that sounds like meatloaf, he said. Donations after cardiac death also are problematic for livers, Markmann said. Thirty minutes without circulation is the current standard. Even within that time, about 30 percent of livers suffer some scarring in bile ducts. If the study shows promise in reducing injuries, future research will probably examine how much longer livers can endure ischemia. Markmann said he was gratified to see how quickly Matsumotos donated liver responded. Until the study at six U.S. sites is completed later this year, its impossible to know the impact of the TransMedics device. But Markmann said in an email that it was my impression that the new transport method contributed to [the livers] excellent early function. Early signs of Matsumotos liver problems began 25 years ago. Doctors eventually discovered that he had a form of cirrhosis permanent scarring and damage to liver function that is not related to alcohol, Matsumoto said. There is no cure, and when his symptoms became severe, one primary-care doctor told him that no one is going to give a man your age a new liver, he said. But that wasnt true. He qualified as a recipient and signed up for Markmanns study. As a test subject, he could have been randomly chosen for the current standard of care a liver transported on ice or the experimental procedure that uses the TransMedics apparatus. A computer chose him for the latter and he became just the third person at Massachusetts General to receive his liver that way. The seven-hour transplant surgery began on April 27 and was completed the next day. When Matsumoto awoke, I was told I have a new birthday, he said, which was the 28th of April. Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Australian doctors performed transplants after cardiac death in 2015. The surgery took place in 2014. The story also referred incorrectly to Barrington, RI. This version has been updated. SYRIA Group claims 60,000 prisoners have died At least 60,000 people have died from torture and other maltreatment in Syrian detention since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad broke out five years ago, a monitoring group said Saturday, quoting sources in the countrys security forces. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the figure of 60,000 deaths came from reliable sources, primarily in the air force intelligence and state security agencies and at the Sednaya prison near Damascus. The Britain-based group said that using other sources, it had documented the deaths of 14,456 detainees, including 110 children. The Syrian opposition has pushed for the release of detainees. The observatory called on the United Nations to pressure the Syrian government for the release of what it said were more than 200,000 remaining detainees. U.N. investigators in February charged that the Syrian government was carrying out an extermination policy against prisoners. The investigators cited testimony from witnesses who recounted inmates dying from torture, disease, and appalling prison conditions, and then being buried in mass graves. Deutsche Presse-Agentur Family reported killed by coalition airstrike A suspected U.S.-led coalition airstrike on the village of Arshaf, in northern Syria, killed seven members of one family, activists said Saturday. Among the victims were five women and a child, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, citing accounts from local observers. The planes responsible for the strikes were seen to cross into Syrian airspace from Turkey. Arshaf, held by Islamic State militants, lies near the front lines of the war between the extremist group and U.S.-backed Syrian rebels. Recent advances by the rebels, backed by coalition airstrikes, have eaten away at ISIS territory near the Turkish border. Associated Press Mandatory evacuation lifted in Canadian wildfire zone: Officials on Saturday lifted mandatory evacuation orders in some areas north of Fort McMurray, where a raging wildfire has forced the evacuation of more than 80,000 people and the closure of oil sands operations. The blaze, which began May 1, has covered 1,930 square miles, including areas that are still burning and others where the fire has been extinguished. An estimated 1,921 structures were destroyed in Fort McMurray, but 90 percent of the city is intact, including essential infrastructure such as the hospital, water treatment plant and the airport. Protests in Chile turn violent as president pushes reforms: Violent protests broke out Saturday in Valparaiso, Chile, as President Michelle Bachelet presented a state-of-the-nation report to Congress. The protests began as a peaceful march but turned rough as some in the crowds threw rocks at police and gasoline bombs at buildings. Officers responded with tear gas and high-pressure blasts of water. Bachelet emphasized achievements and called her reforms a process from which there is no turning back. Bangladesh cyclone forces tens of thousands from homes: A cyclone unleashed heavy rain and strong winds on Bangladeshs southern coastal region Saturday, killing at least 11 people and forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes. The meteorological office said in a statement that dozens of villages had been submerged by floodwaters. Mohammed Ali Hossain, a government administrator, said about 100,000 people were forced from their homes on Moheshkhali Island in Coxs Bazar. Indonesia volcano spews deadly ash cloud: A volcano in western Indonesia unleashed hot clouds of ash Saturday, killing three villagers and injuring four, an official said. Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province blasted volcanic ash as high as two miles. The 8,530-foot-high mountain had been dormant for four centuries before bursting to life in August 2010, killing two people and forcing 30,000 to flee. An eruption in February 2014 killed 16 people. Lions killed after man strips naked, jumps into zoo pit: Zookeepers in Chile had to kill two lions on Saturday to save the life of a man who stripped naked and entered their enclosure in an apparent attempt at suicide. Director Alejandra Montalba of Santiagos Metropolitan Zoo told local news media that the park was crowded with visitors at the time. The 20-year-old man broke into the enclosure, took off his clothes and jumped into the middle, where the lions began to maul him, horrifying visitors who witnessed the attack. The man was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and was said to be in grave condition. From news services A female fighter from the Kurdish People Protection Unit (YPG) poses for a photo on the front line in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh on September 4, 2015. (Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images) The raw Sunni recruits in crisp camouflage uniforms, popping off rounds at the firing range at a U.S. training camp here, illustrate the dilemma for the United States as it seeks to form a strong military force to drive the Islamic State from its capital, Raqqah. The United States could try to build the Sunni army it would want, ideally, to capture Raqqah, a Sunni city. But that might take years. Or it can go with the army it has, which is dominated by the tough, experienced Kurdish fighters from the YPG militia. Theyre anathema to Turkey, to the north, and to the official Syrian political opposition. But the rampaging Syrian Kurds get the job done. The United States is trying to do some of both, by building a new opposition coalition under the makeshift banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, which integrates Sunnis, Christians, Turkmen and other inexperienced fighters with the larger, powerhouse that is the YPG. Thats not ideal politically but it makes military sense. We do, absolutely, have to go with what weve got, says Gen. Joseph Votel, the Centcom commander who oversees the war here, at the end of a long Saturday spent touring SDF bases. A small group of reporters was on the trip on condition that we couldnt write about it until we had left the country. It was a rare chance to report from inside Syria. The practical reality is that only the Kurds not the Sunnis have the muscle now, and Votels job is to achieve military objectives on the ground by continuing to roll back the Islamic State. This attempt to integrate the weaker Sunnis with stronger Kurds represents a more pragmatic alternative to the earlier $500 million train and equip program, which had been intended to create, in effect, a new Sunni-dominated army, but collapsed last summer. Despite bitter objections from Turkey (which claims the Kurds are part of the terrorist PKK), U.S. commanders decided to go with the battle-hardened Kurdish fighters who had savaged the Islamic State in Kobani in 2014 and began to liberate a big swath of northeast Syria. Starting last October, they tried to graft less-experienced Sunni and Christian forces into the SDF coalition. The Syrian Kurds are ferocious fighters, men and women alike. We met several leaders of the Kurdish womens militia, called the YPJ. Wearing beaded headdresses over military camouflage, they said they had all fought in front-line combat. U.S. advisers say the Kurdish women are so tough they sometimes go into battle with suicide belts so they wont be captured by Islamic State fighters who would turn them into sex slaves. American advisers tell awe-struck stories of YPJ warriors who fought to the last woman in Kobani. The equality of male-female sacrifice, proclaimed on billboards in Kurdish regions, is a breath of fresh air in a Middle East where womens rights are suppressed. Votel says the United States has learned from earlier Syrian missteps not to try to build a perfect force, but to work with the allies it has. When adding recruits to the SDF, he says, we had to shorten the training period, and focus it more on combat basics, adapting to the forces that existed rather than trying to remake them. Sunni sheikhs, always opportunistic, seem to be buying into the strategy as their best hope against the Islamic State. We met three such leaders who are sending their young tribesmen to fight with the Kurdish-led group. The sheikhs described how some members of their tribes around Raqqah are beginning to defect from the Islamic State and pleading for relief from the barbarous extremists. We found that the YPG is the only force that can liberate us, says Sheikh Mohammed al-Mila of the Tufaiha tribe. A similar view is expressed by Kino Gabriel, a local Syriac Christian leader whose small militia of 500 to 1,000 has allied with the Kurds. The alternative, he says, was a lose-lose situation for all of us. None of us could defend the area by ourselves. Here, at least, the United States cant be accused of trying to build Switzerland in the Middle East. Its raw realpolitik, and sometimes the pieces dont fit. Nujin Dirik, the commander of the Kurdish womens militia, says shes fighting for a place the Kurds call Rojava, which they hope will be an autonomous region someday. But Col. Ali Hajo, an SDF Arab commander from the northern town of Jarablus, says hes fighting for a nation called Syria. The strategy has an unstated theme: Destroy the Islamic State now; worry about the future of Syria later. Read more from David Ignatiuss archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Ronald A. Klain was the White House Ebola response coordinator from 2014 to 2015. The good news is that both the House and Senate have finally passed bills that would provide some funding to combat the Zika virus. The bad news is that this action comes more than three months after President Obama requested the aid. Moreover, the House bill provides only one-third of the response needed; pays for this limited, ineffective response by diverting money allocated to fight other infectious diseases; and necessitates a conference committee to resolve differences with the Senate bill, meaning we still do not know when any money will finally get through Congress to fund the response. Of all the things that Congress could be truculent about, fighting an epidemic is the worst imaginable. Zika is not coming to the United States: It is already here. H undreds of people who caught the disease abroad are in the country; more than 250 cases of pregnant women in the United States and its territories with Zika have been logged by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Soon, as summer arrives, the Aedes aegypti mosquito will become active in Southern states, and the disease will spread there. Cases of sexual transmission will take place as well. It is not a question of whether babies will be born in the United States with Zika-related microcephaly it is a question of when and how many. For years to come, these children will be a visible, human reminder of the cost of absurd wrangling in Washington, of preventable suffering, of a failure of our political system to respond to the threat that infectious diseases pose. Moreover, once local transmission of Zika begins in a few weeks, authorities will face the hard question of whether women living in such areas here, in the United States should be instructed to delay becoming pregnant, and whether those who are already pregnant should be relocated. Domestic travel warnings also loom. And still, Congress fritters away precious time on a dispute over funding that amounts to what the Defense Department spends every seven hours. As befuddling as Congress refusal to approve funds for the Zika response is, perhaps even more of a mystery is why such approval is needed in the first place. If nature was threatening us with serious injury and evacuations via fire, flood or hurricane, the president could use his authority under the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide immediate aid without waiting for Congress to act. The fact that epidemic natural disasters are the result of disease and not an earthquake or tornado should not constrain the federal governments ability to provide a timely, comprehensive response. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Zika virus and its spread across North and South America. (Daron Taylor,Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post) The man who led the effort to wipe out smallpox, Larry Brilliant, often says that the seemingly complex challenge of successful epidemic control can be summarized in one phrase: early detection, early response. Yet in the United States, the idea of early response is impaired by the absence of a public health emergency fund that the president can tap to respond to an epidemic. Slowness in getting the response to Ebola moving had devastating consequences in West Africa and led to panic and confusion here in the United States. Now, congressional delays on Zika funding risk a human cost of unknown dimensions. If it seems like the world is being threatened by new infectious diseases with increasing frequency H1N1 in 2009-2010, MERS in 2012, Ebola in 2014, Zika in 2016, yellow fever on the horizon for 2017 thats because it is. These are not random lightning strikes or a string of global bad luck. This growing threat is a result of human activity: human populations encroaching on, and having greater interaction with, habitats where animals spread these viruses; humans living more densely in cities where sickness spreads rapidly; humans traveling globally with increasing reach and speed; humans changing our climate and bringing disease-spreading insects to places where they have not lived previously. From now on, dangerous epidemics are going to be a regular fact of life. We can no longer accept surprise as an excuse for a response that is slow out of the gate. Of course, we cannot combat epidemic threats with only a domestic response. Disease must be fought overseas to lessen the risk of transmission to the United States. We need to continue to press for World Health Organization reform, support the European Union proposal for a white helmet battalion to respond to epidemic crises as needed, and increase our investment in the Obama administrations Global Health Security Agenda to help other nations build up their own disease-fighting capabilities. The House proposal to pay for the Zika response by cutting ongoing funding to these programs funding approved by a bipartisan majority of both chambers during the Ebola crisis is like sending all the firetrucks from one city to help fight a blaze in another: shortsighted and dangerous. Here at home, we owe the American people an infectious-disease response effort as prompt, well-funded and effective as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at its best. We should create a Public Health Emergency Management Agency (PhEMA). And, whether it is housed in a new agency or put under the CDC or elsewhere in the Department of Health and Human Services, we should create a public health emergency fund that the president can draw down in the face of a dangerous epidemic without waiting for Congress to act. The Zika-spreading mosquitoes are not going to wait to learn what a conference committee has decided on the Hill. Summer is coming, and Zika will be tagging along with it. For all of his successes to date (and there have been many), Donald Trump has consistently struggled on questions tied to empathy. (Mark Humphrey/AP) Donald Trump has cleared every electoral hurdle before him in this presidential race. He went from 1 percent, literally, to the top of the polls. He beat 16 other people for the Republican nomination. He finds himself in a statistical dead heat with likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. And, he has done it all by being himself: brash, bold, controversial and unapologetic. As the nation turns its eyes to the general election, I have one question that continues to nag at me as I think about the possibility of Trump in the White House: Can he be empathetic? Like, at all? And does he need to be? Ultimately, I think a lack of empathy is just one piece of a portrait of a person who is unbalanced and damaged, said Stuart Stevens, a Republican consultant who has long vocally opposed Trump. He has spent his life in a bubble, surrounded by hired yes men and women who have never told his inner child to grow up. The race to be president is unlike other races for elected office. No one turns to a senator, a member of Congress or a governor when there is a mass shooting, or when a tornado devastates a community. (The Joplin tornado, which killed 158 people, hit the Missouri town five years ago Sunday.) They do turn to a president. A president is expected to do many things in office, but perhaps the most important is to be both a cheerleader and a shoulder to cry on when moments of great joy and great sadness affect the entire body politic. The fracturing of the media, our tendency to self-sort into silos of sameness and all manner of other factors have lessened the number of national moments my seminal one was the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 that we experience. Still, there remain moments (the murders at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut being one recent example) in which the nation looks to its highest elected leader for solace and strength. Those are the moments in which you realize that politics at the presidential level, at least is about much more than policy positions. Voters pick politicians who they think understand them and their values at some level. Its an emotional connection far more than an issue-driven one. And, its also much more powerful than simply an agreement on those policy positions. All of which brings me to the current state of the presidential race and, specifically, Trump. For all of his successes to date (and there have been many), Trump has consistently struggled on questions tied to empathy. Asked which candidate better understands the problems of people like you, 47 percent of registered voters in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll chose Clinton, while just 36 percent named Trump. On the question of who better represents your personal values, 48 percent chose Clinton, and 37 percent went with Trump. Thats far from an outlier. Two-thirds of voters in a CBS News-New York Times national poll released last week said that Trump did not share their values. Seven in 10 said he did not have the right temperament to be president. Its worth noting that Clinton is no great shakes on these questions of empathy, either. Sixty percent of respondents in the CBS-Times poll said Clinton did not share their values. Forty-nine percent said she did not have the right temperament to be president. (Forty-eight percent said she did.) But, on virtually every measure, she outperforms Trump on the palette of questions aimed at testing how empathetic voters believe a candidate to be. The question going forward for Trump is two-fold: (1) Can he change the perception of himself as a strong leader but not one you can imagine traveling to the site of a natural disaster and delivering a speech to help heal a countrys raw wound? (2) Does he need to? The answer to the second question is, if past is prologue, yes. Voters especially swing voters in a presidential election often make a feel vote, meaning that the person they choose is as much about a set of personality traits as it is about a set of policy positions. If you believe that Trump needs to show a softer or at least a more understanding side, the simplest way for him to do that is to put his family more front and center in the general-election campaign. Even people who loathe Trump give him some credit for the family he has raised. Trump as doting father is an image that could go part of the way to softening some of his sharpest edges as a candidate. Trump could also talk more openly, and candidly, about his relationship with his father and how he dealt with the death of his older brother. There is, of course, the possibility that the answer to the does he need to question posed above is no. That would go against virtually everything we think we know about how modern politics and voters psyches work. But how different would that be from everything that has propelled Trump so far? At every turn, he has run the anti-campaign, and voters have loved it. Maybe this is an election in which tough and unapologetic is the new soft and empathetic. With Trump, nothing surprises me anymore. The coming presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump begins in a virtual dead heat, a competition between two candidates viewed unfavorably by a majority of the current electorate and with voters motivated as much by whom they dont like as by whom they do, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Never in the history of the Post-ABC poll have the two major party nominees been viewed as harshly as Clinton and Trump. Nearly 6 in 10 registered voters say they have negative impressions of both major candidates. Overall, Clintons net negative rating among registered voters is minus-16, while Trumps is minus-17, though Trumps numbers have improved since March. Among all adults, Trumps net negatives are significantly higher than those of Clinton. Here's what a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted May 16-19, 2016 said about the race between Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton and GOP candidate Donald Trump. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) [ Read full Post-ABC poll results ] As the primaries are set to draw to a close next month, Democrats and Republicans have begun to consolidate around their presumptive nominees, even though Republican voters remain divided on the question of whether Trump reflects the core values of their party. Partisans in both parties say they are confident that they will be unified for the fall campaign, though one-fifth of Republicans express doubts. In all, the survey foreshadows a hard-fought, competitive and negative general election. At this point, the two candidates are in a statistical dead heat among registered voters, with Trump favored by 46 percent and Clinton favored by 44 percent. That represents an 11-point shift toward the presumptive Republican nominee since March. Among all adults, Clinton holds a six-point lead (48 percent to 42 percent), down from 18 points in March. Nonetheless, Clinton is rated ahead of Trump across a range of attributes and issues, and she is seen as having superior experience, temperament and personality to be president. Trump is viewed as unqualified by a majority of adults, but he has strong appeal to voters as the anti-Clinton candidate who can bring change to Washington in an election year in which outsiders have thrived. Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who has given Clinton a stiff challenge in the contest for the Democratic nomination, enjoys the most positive rating of the three. Among registered voters, Sanders is net positive 49 percent to 41 percent and has seen his image improve steadily the longer he has been a candidate. The other politician who is judged positively at this moment is President Obama. This is important to Clintons prospects in the fall. His overall approval rating among all adults remained at 51 percent, as it was in March, while his disapproval rose from 43 percent to 46 percent, within the margin of error. Among those registered voters who say they favor Clinton, 48 percent say their vote is in support of the candidate while an identical percentage say their vote is mainly to oppose Trump. Among Trumps backers, 44 percent say they are casting an affirmative vote for the Republican, while 53 percent say their motivation is to oppose Clinton. Support for the two candidates as they begin their direct engagement appears tepid. Less than half of those in Clintons column say they strongly support her, while a bare majority say they support her somewhat. The numbers for Trump are virtually identical. Nor are people fully satisfied with their choice of major party nominees 51 percent call themselves satisfied while 44 percent say they want a third-party option. Some leading Republican and grass-roots activists have been exploring the possibilities of finding a third-party candidate to stand as an alternative. The Post-ABC poll tested a hypothetical three-way race that included Trump, Clinton and Mitt Romney, the GOPs 2012 nominee and one of the most outspoken critics of the New York businessman. Among registered voters, Clinton gets 37 percent, Trump 35 percent and Romney 22 percent. Underscoring the divisions within the GOP ranks, Romney gets a third of Republicans in a three-way race. Among registered voters, Clinton runs away from Trump on such attributes as having the right experience to be president, having the personality and temperament to serve in the Oval Office and having realistic policy proposals. Trumps strongest calling card is as a change agent. The two are judged more or less evenly on honesty and trustworthiness, on strength of leadership and on keeping the country safe. On issues, registered voters clearly prefer Trump on taxes and by a narrower margin on international trade. Clinton has a wide lead on issues of importance to women and rates ahead of Trump on dealing with an international crisis and handling international relations, and holds a slight edge on handling immigration. The question of whether voters are looking for a candidate with political experience or someone who comes from outside the political establishment remains a fault line of potential significance. At present, 52 percent of Americans say they favor experience while 43 percent say they want an outsider. In the winter and early spring of this year, experience was significantly more in favor preferred by nearly 30 points over being an outsider. Fluctuations in that choice likely will affect the fortunes of the two candidates, as Clinton is the embodiment of political experience and Trump is a symbol of the outsider promising big change. The poll suggests that Trump has more vulnerabilities than Clinton, but that opposition to the former secretary of state can lead some voters with a mixed to unfavorable view of Trump to support him nonetheless. Among all adults, 58 percent rate Trump as not qualified to be president. In contrast, 63 percent say Clinton is qualified. But among those who say Trump is not qualified, 3 in 4 say they support Clinton for president. An additional 14 percent are backing Trump, and the remainder say they would pick neither candidate or might stay home in November. Another indicator came when Americans were asked whether Trump shows enough respect to people with whom he disagrees. More than 3 in 4 said he does not, including 55 percent who say it is a major problem. But he still enjoys the support of 30 percent of that overall group, most of them people who do not regard his treatment of people who disagree with him as a major problem. The coalitions behind Trump and Clinton hew to the same contours seen earlier this year. He holds a huge lead among men while she has a substantial, though smaller, lead among women. Clinton also meets some resistance among Democratic men. Trump is winning 57 percent of white voters, while Clinton gets just 33 percent. For purposes of comparison, Obama in 2012 lost the white vote, 39 percent to 59 percent. Among nonwhites, Clinton is at 69 percent while Trump is at 21 percent. Four years ago, Romney got 19 percent of the nonwhite vote. Trump is getting 85 percent of Republicans, and losing 8 percent to Clinton. She wins 86 percent of Democrats but loses 11 percent to Trump. Clinton, of course, is in a contest with Sanders that continues to split Democrats. Trumps narrow overall lead among registered voters comes mainly from his current strength among independents, who prefer him to Clinton by 13 points. Trump has consistently scored best with voters lacking college degrees, and that is again the case in the Post-ABC poll. He wins voters without a college degree by double digits; Clinton wins those with college degrees by a similar margin. Among whites, Trump does even better. He breaks even among white voters with college degrees and trounces her among those without degrees. Some of these subgroups are subject to some change as the campaign progresses, assuming further consolidation within each party. When people were asked who would do more to advance the economic interests of working-class people or middle-class people, the results showed that Clinton enjoyed a statistically insignificant advantage over Trump among registered voters but a statistically significant advantage among all adults. Meanwhile, despite his populist message and support among working-class whites, Trump is overwhelmingly seen as a candidate whose economic policies would help the wealthy, by roughly 40 points. Trumps message that international trade hurts the country has majority support among all adults, with 53 percent saying those trade deals have done more to take away jobs than create jobs. But his support for deporting the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants, as well as his call for a temporary ban on Muslims, is opposed by 50 percent, slightly more than those who back the proposals. Trump has refused to release his tax returns, in contradiction of the practice of presidential candidates dating back decades. More than 6 in 10 Americans say he should conform to that custom and release them, including most independents but fewer than half of Republicans. The Post-ABC poll was conducted May 16-19 among a random national sample of 1,005 adults, including interviews on conventional and cellular phones. The margin of sampling error for overall results and among the sample of 829 registered voters is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. scott.clement@washpost.com Emily Guskin contributed to this report. Footage purports to show the aftermath of a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan that is thought to have killed Taliban chief Akhtar Mohammad Mansour on Saturday, May 21. (Zahid Gishkori) Footage purports to show the aftermath of a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan that is thought to have killed Taliban chief Akhtar Mohammad Mansour on Saturday, May 21. (Zahid Gishkori) The U.S. drone strike that killed Taliban chief Akhtar Mohammad Mansour represents another escalation of U.S. involvement in the war in Afghanistan by trying to cripple an insurgent group that has for years found refuge on Pakistani soil. The strike early Saturday marks the most aggressive U.S. military action in Pakistan since the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden. It is also thought to be the first time that the U.S. military has directly targeted the top leader of the Afghan Taliban, a potentially destabilizing action that could leave the group violently lashing out as it seeks to find a new leader. President Obama called Mansours death an important milestone. We have a high-profile leader who has been consistently part of operations and plans to potentially harm U.S. personnel and has been resistant to the kinds of peace talks and reconciliation that could ultimately bring an end to decades of war in Afghanistan, he said during a visit to Vietnam. While Obama denied that the attack represented a shift in the U.S. approach, analysts see it as an escalation. This image purports to show the vehicle in which Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was traveling. (Abdul Salam Khan/AP) This is an unprecedented move to decapitate the Taliban leadership in its safe haven of Pakistan, said Bruce Riedel, a South Asia expert at the Brookings Institution. It exposes Pakistans role in promoting and protecting the Taliban, and will provoke a crisis in U.S.-Pakistan relations. [Top Taliban leader was probably killed in airstrike, U.S. official says] But unlike the bin Laden raid, which prompted outrage in Pakistan, the reported strike on Mansour drew a fairly muted reaction Sunday from Pakistani government and military leaders, even as Afghan officials cheered and described the attack as proof of the Afghan Talibans deep presence in Pakistan. While further investigations are being carried out, Pakistan wishes to once again state that the drone attack was a violation of its sovereignty, the countrys Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it was unable to confirm whether Mansour was killed. What the apparent blow means for the Taliban remains uncertain. When Mansour took over after the death of longtime leader Mohammad Omar was announced last year, he had already effectively been running the group for two years, said Wahid Mozhda, a former Taliban diplomat who is now a political analyst in Kabul. Appointing a successor now may be more challenging, with Omars eldest son, Mohammad Yaqob, and top deputies Sirajuddin Haqqani and Moulavi Haibatullah Akhunzada likely to be vying for control. It is very hard to anticipate who would be Akhtar Mansours successor among these three men, Mozhda said. If Mansours death is confirmed (some Taliban supporters deny he was killed), the strike will cause even more turmoil for an insurgency that was already showing signs of fraying, despite continued success on the battlefield. Although Mansour, working through proxies, succeeded in quelling several insurrections against his leadership, he was also apparently a man on the run. Mansour was not in direct contact with senior Taliban leaders, who received directives from him via emails issued by close aides or through audio tapes, said Rahimullah Yusufzai, a journalist and longtime Taliban observer from Peshawar. He had adopted the policy of living life as a phantom. Pakistans Foreign Ministry has not confirmed Mansours death. A statement said officials recovered the body of a man named Wali Muhammad, believed to be Mansours alias. That man had been in Iran and only entered Pakistan on Saturday, the day of the drone strike. His passport was bearing a valid Iranian visa, the statement said. The body is believed to still be in a hospital in Quetta. Despite Mansours possible absence, the Taliban has been carrying out daily operations throughout Afghanistan, some of which involved massing dozens of militants for days-long battles against Afghan security forces. For Taliban leaders, a key question is whether Saturdays drone strike will be followed up by additional U.S. military actions in southwestern Pakistan. Saad Muhammad, a retired Pakistani general who was Pakistans defense attache to Kabul from 2003 to 2006, said the Taliban will face a very difficult choice. If they remain in Quetta, in their comfort zone, they will have to deal with some Pakistani pressure to leave, he said. But if they go out, they will have to deal with attacks that could be life-threatening. U.S. officials said the drone strike was justified because Mansour refused to negotiate with Afghan leaders and had been plotting to attack U.S. forces in Afghanistan. This action sends a clear message to the world that we will continue to stand with our Afghan partners as they work to build a more stable, united, secure, and prosperous Afghanistan, Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who was traveling in Burma, said in a statement Sunday. [Taliban rejects peace talks with Afghan government] In a statement late Saturday, the Pentagon said several unmanned U.S. aircraft struck a vehicle in which Mansour was traveling in western Pakistans Baluchistan province. The strike, authorized by Obama, is thought to have been the first U.S. drone strike in that part of Pakistan, which includes the base of the Afghan Taliban insurgency. Local officials in Baluchistan said they recovered a charred vehicle and two bodies. The passenger, suspected of being Mansour, had a Pakistani passport registered to an address in Karachi. The other man was apparently a taxi driver, local officials said. On Thursday night, he told me that hell be on a long drive with a passenger coming from Afghanistan, said Mohammad Qasim, the drivers brother. I dont know anything other than that. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was in Qatar for a two-day state summit. But Ghanis spokesman described the strike as a potential turning point in the 14 -year-old Afghanistan conflict. This shows the strong U.S. resolve in fighting those who are against peace and are terrorists, said Dawa Khan Mina Pal, the spokesman. After a truck bombing in Kabul about a month ago that killed at least 64 people, the Afghan president signaled that he might try to get the United States to expand the war into Pakistan. In a speech before parliament, Ghani said he had all but given up on the peace process and urged Pakistan to take decisive action against Taliban militants on its side of the border. But with just 9,800 American troops on the ground, Obama has been trying for months to transition the U.S. military out of direct offensive action in Afghanistan. About 6,600 troops are based there as part of the NATO mission to train Afghan security forces. The remaining U.S. troops are stationed there for counterterrorism missions targeting al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. The United States does not officially designate the Afghan Taliban as a terrorist group. But under their rules of engagement, U.S. forces are allowed to take defensive action when threatened by the Taliban. It was not clear how a kill strike against Mansour in Pakistan fits into the criteria. Most previous U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan were carried out by the CIA in the northwestern tribal belt. Noting the limited reaction Sunday in Pakistan, some Pakistani analysts wondered whether Pakistans military could have secretly sanctioned the airstrike. [Pakistans welcome, if brief, moment of stability may be at an end] Muhammad, the retired Pakistani general, said he doubts Pakistan wanted Mansour killed. Obviously, they want a Taliban group that remains united because, if fragmented, it becomes much more difficult to control, said Muhammad, who still maintains contact with some elements of the Taliban leadership. This will create a very difficult situation for Pakistan, especially due to expectations Pakistan should bring them to the peace table. Mansour brought the leadership of the Haqqani network, a somewhat independent offshoot of the Taliban that the United States considers a terrorist group, into his command structure. Some Afghan analysts believe that Haqqani, known for employing especially brutal tactics against coalition forces and foreigners, is now well positioned to assume full control over the Taliban. But Mansours other two deputies, Akhundzada and Yaqob, are also considered top contenders for the job. Both Muhammad, the retired Pakistani general, and Mozhda, who worked as a diplomat when the Taliban controlled Kabul before 2001, think Yaqob would have the upper hand in a leadership struggle. Abdul Qayoum Zakir, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee and a member of the Taliban executive council, could be a dark-horse candidate, Muhammad said. Regardless, the leadership struggle may not be accompanied by a lull in violence. After Omars death was announced last summer, the Taliban launched three major attacks in Kabul within 24 hours, killing more than 50 people. Olivo reported from Kabul, and Ryan reported from Washington. Aamir Iqbal in Peshawar, Pakistan; Shaiq Hussain and Zahid Gishkori in Islamabad; Greg Miller and Carol Morello in Washington; David Makamura in Hanoi; and Sayed Salahuddin and Mohammad Sharif in Kabul contributed to this report. Read more: In Afghanistan, al-Qaeda is working more closely with the Taliban, Pentagon says U.S. and Afghan forces rescue Pakistani politician from al-Qaeda group Why disaffected young Afghans are warming to a Taliban comeback Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Recovered debris possibly from the EgyptAir plane that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea. May 21, 2016 Recovered debris possibly from the EgyptAir plane that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea. Egyptian Military via Reuters Egypts military spokesman posted what he said were the first images of debris, including parts of the aircraft exterior. Egypts military spokesman posted what he said were the first images of debris, including parts of the aircraft exterior. Egypts military spokesman posted what he said were the first images of debris, including parts of the aircraft exterior. Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi said all scenarios are being considered in the investigation of the crash of Egyptian airliner into the Mediterranean Sea last week but warned the media against speculation it was brought down by a terrorist attack. All scenarios are now being considered, Sissi said in his first comments since the commercial jet disappeared Thursday from radar screens. He spoke Sunday at the opening of a fertilizer plant in northern Egypt, according to aired footage of the event. We should not say that one scenario is more likely, he said. The investigation will take time. EgyptAir Flight 804 from Paris to Cairo plummeted into the sea just after leaving Greek airspace about 2:30 a.m. Thursday, but the pilots sent no distress calls. The Airbus A320 had 66 people on board, including citizens from a dozen nations. Investigators have found only small bits of wreckage that have provided few clues. Sissi also said Sunday that an Egyptian submarine capable of operating at roughly 10,000 feet below the surface had been dispatched to assist in recovery efforts. On Saturday, French investigators said the plane sent multiple automated messages indicating smoke had been detected on board in the minutes before the crash. Sebastien Barthe, a spokesman for the French civil aviation investigation agency, told the Associated Press that the messages generally mean the start of a fire. Authorities still cautioned that the cause of the crash was unclear. Also Saturday, EgyptAir said that it had hired a foreign consultant to brief families on efforts to recover the victims, including DNA analysis. The government has housed families in hotels near the Cairo International Airport. The process of recovering the bodies of the victims [will] take a long time, EgyptAir said in a statement. The airline urged the families to provide as much information as possible to speed the identification process. Egypts military spokesman posted Saturday on Facebook what he said were the first images of debris recovered by naval ships in the Mediterranean, including a life vest, fabric from seat cushions and parts of the aircraft exterior. Flight 804 departed Pariss Charles de Gaulle airport at 11:09 p.m. Wednesday and was bound for Cairo when it crashed into the sea. The messages signaling that the aircraft detected smoke aboard the flight were first reported Friday by the industry publication Aviation Herald. The website said smoke appeared in a lavatory near the cockpit, and that the information was transmitted through the planes Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System. The planes abrupt turns and ultimate descent into the Mediterranean have raised fears the flight was targeted by terrorists, but no group has so far claimed responsibility. But with the bulk of the fuselage and flight recorders still missing, the tragedy has offered few tangible clues. Read more Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world Cunningham reported from Istanbul. Populist, far-right candidate Norbert Hofer was locked in a projected dead heat with his opponent in Austrias presidential election on Sunday, with the outcome of the high-stakes race dependent on a count of absentee ballots. Hofer, a 45-year old who campaigned on an anti-migrant, anti-Muslim and anti-establishment platform, held a lead in the direct vote, winning 51.9 percent, according to the Interior Ministry. Alexander Van der Bellen, a longtime Green Party politician running as an independent, won 48.1 percent. But hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots, set to be counted Monday, could yet swing the result. Given that Green voters tend to cast ballots by mail, Austrias SORA Institute issued normally reliable projections showing the candidates effectively tied at 50 percent each. Voter turnout was relatively high, almost 72 percent. [Austrias right-wing populism reflects anti-Muslim platform of Trump] The closeness of the race turned an election being watched across Europe into a nail-biter, with the outcome likely to reverberate far beyond the Alpine nation of 8.5 million. The unexpected strength of Hofers candidacy the Freedom Party politician had a surprise first-place finish in an initial round last month caught many observers off guard. It reflected, analysts say, the historical roots of Austrias far right. But it also seemed to capture the populist zeitgeist coursing through the West, from the United States to Europe. Hofer has called, for instance, for a fence on Austrias southern border to keep migrants out and has denounced Islam as a threat to Europes Christian identity. His opponent has preached tolerance and acceptance. Well have to wait until tomorrow, Hofer told reporters late Sunday. After casting his vote earlier in the day in Pinkafeld, a town in his eastern home state of Burgenland, he replied in English after being asked about fears that he would push a far-right agenda. I'm not a dangerous person, Hofer said. [The stunning success of Austrias anti-immigrant far-right, in one map] Van der Bellen, meanwhile, told reporters in the capital, Vienna, on Sunday that he was cautiously optimistic of a win. He asked for a moment of silence for the victims of a gun rampage early Sunday at a music festival in western Austria. A 27-year-old man shot randomly into the crowd, killing two people and wounding 11 before turning the gun on himself, according to authorities. Firearms had become a major issue in the Austrian campaign, with Hofer being criticized for publicly proclaiming his love of shooting. Under pressure to appeal to conservative voters, even Van der Bellen this month was compelled to publicly reject accusations of being a hunter hater. [Migrants find doors slamming shut across Europe] A win by Hofer could embolden the far right across Europe while rocking Austrian politics. Since the early 20th century, the post of Austrian president has been largely ceremonial. But Hofer has vowed to flex the muscles of the office in new ways. He has threatened, for example, to use his power to fire the sitting government a ruling coalition of the two parties that have dominated Austrian politics since the end of World War II if it does not control migration. Stephanie Kirchner contributed to this report. Read more Meet the Donald Trumps of Europe Austrian chancellor resigns amid tensions over migrant crisis Austrian officials say Europe, not smugglers, must decide which migrants make it Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world A portrait of the queen overlooks a square in central Peterborough. Peterborough was rated in recent poll as the second-most eurosceptic place in Britain. (Shannon Jensen Wedgwood/For the Washington Post) Seen from London, Edinburgh, Oxford or other havens of the cosmopolitan British elite, this countrys vote next month on whether to quit the European Union may appear to be a relatively easy choice. Not a day goes by when a foreign leader, renowned economist or military chief doesnt warn of the dire consequences of a vote to leave for Britain and for the world. But venture just 45 minutes north of London by train to the ancient market city of Peterborough and it soon becomes clear why, with just over a month to go before the referendum, the polls are running nearly even. Here, the initials E.U. are spat rather than spoken, Brussels is a dirty word, and all the prophecies of doom seem a small risk compared with the opportunity to unshackle Britain from Europe. For in Peterborough by at least one measure the least E.U.-friendly city in Britain Europe doesnt mean the worlds most prosperous and peaceful continent. It means a mass influx of Eastern European immigrants across open borders that residents say has transformed this city beyond all measure. [If Britain votes to leave the E.U., Germany could be one of the biggest losers] This used to be the posh part of Peterborough. Look at it now, David Jackson, a 41-year-old teacher, said as he ruefully surveyed the scene on Lincoln Road, the commercial heart of the citys multiethnic immigrant communities. Romanians pissing in the park. Lithuanians out on the street drinking, doing drugs. Even the rats here are on heroin. If Britain does vote to leave the E.U. on June 23, analysts say, a powerfully emotional backlash against decades of immigration in cities such as Peterborough will be the primary driver. In Peterborough, 45-minutes north of London, anti-E.U. sentiment runs strong. A large part of the discontent is the mass influx of Eastern European immigrants that residents say has transformed the ancient market town. (Griff Witte,Jason Aldag/The Washington Post) Immigration is by far the best issue for the Leave campaign, Freddie Sayers, editor in chief of the polling firm YouGov, wrote in a recent analysis. If the coming referendum were only a decision on immigration, the Leave campaign would win by a landslide. Although the E.U. itself ranks near the bottom of surveys measuring the issues that matter to Britons, immigration levels of which have been at historic highs often tops the list. Advocates for a British exit have hammered the point, arguing that getting out of the E.U. is the only way for the country to control its borders, because the 28-member club guarantees its citizens freedom of movement. The anti-E.U. campaigns emphasis on metaphorically walling off the British isles and, in some cases, demonizing immigrants as criminals, addicts or welfare cheats has generated comparisons to the xenophobia and nativism of another political movement that is shaking the Western political establishment this year. The Leave campaign is really the Trump campaign with better hair, William Hague, a pro-E.U. former British foreign secretary, wrote last week, describing a transatlantic mirror-image of resentment toward foreigners and protest against the political class. Americas presumptive Republican presidential nominee has endorsed Brexit, as the British departure from the E.U. is popularly known. Thats in sharp contrast with the stand of virtually every major world leader, except Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the Leave campaign has not welcomed Donald Trumps support, and it bristles at any parallel. Stewart Jackson is a Conservative member of Parliament representing Peterborough. (Shannon Jensen Wedgwood/For the Washington Post) To Stewart Jackson, Peterboroughs ardently anti-E.U. representative in Parliament, Trump is nothing more than a media- driven buffoon who has built his campaign on prejudice and bigotry. The push for Brexit, by contrast, is in his eyes a rational rejection of a supernational union that limits British control over its own laws, something that no American would accept. We have an old-fashioned view that the best people to run Britain are the British, Jackson said. That shouldnt be a radical concept. Still, Jackson acknowledged that when it comes to immigration, there are similarities in the fervency of the backlash in Britain and the United States. The foreign-born population in both countries is about 13 percent. But immigration has grown significantly faster in the United Kingdom, with the number of foreign-born residents more than doubling over the past two decades. Last year, net migration to Britain the difference between inflows and outflows hit a record high at 336,000. Of those, 180,000 were E.U. citizens, who can move to Britain simply by hopping aboard a plane or a train. Unlike in countries across continental Europe, refugees made up only a relatively small portion of the inflow in Britain. Peterborough a modest agricultural city set on the exceptionally fertile plains of eastern England has been a particular magnet for Eastern Europeans, who have come by the tens of thousands to work the surrounding fields of asparagus, potatoes and beets, or to take relatively low-paid service jobs in the city center. Those immigrants have helped make Peterborough one of the fastest-growing cities in Britain with an unemployment rate lower than the national average and they describe it as a land of opportunity. I love this country, and I love this city, said Simona Budvyte, a 27-year-old Lithuanian who moved to Peterborough nearly five years ago, along with her newborn. My daughter goes to school here. Shes learning English better than me. Simona Budvyte, 27, sweeps the patio of Kaimas before setting up for lunch. (Shannon Jensen Wedgwood/For the Washington Post) Budvyte spoke as she busily swept the sidewalk in front of the Lithuanian restaurant where she works as a waitress, along a stretch of Lincoln Road that includes Baltic convenience stores, Indian curry houses and Portugese tapas joints. She said the diverse population blends well in Peterborough, and that the restaurant attracts a clientele from all over. Everyone likes Lithuanian food, she said proudly. But not everyone in Peterborough likes the changes that have come to their city as a result of the immigrant influx. You cant just keep taking people, said Chris Brooks, a 62-year-old art dealer and resolute supporter of the Leave campaign. Theres definitely some bitterness out here. He criticized the new arrivals for not doing anything and for coming here and working for less than the average English person wants. Chris Brooks, a 62 year old art dealer, definitely plans to vote for Brexit in the upcoming referendum on the UK's membership in the EU. (Shannon Jensen Wedgwood/For the Washington Post) Jackson, the member of Parliament, said his constituents arent naturally prejudiced toward foreigners. But he said they have been poorly served by governments that cheer the overall economic benefits of immigration without accounting for the downside: Hospitals and schools are strained, waiting lists for public housing grow longer, and workers particularly those with low skills are squeezed out of the labor market. People in London get their skinny organic lattes served to them by an immigrant at a cafe, and they dont see the impact that uncontrolled immigration has on people in low-skill work, he said. Were creating a subculture of people who are alienated from society. And that fuels anger and resentment. [Denmark, a social welfare utopia, takes a nasty turn on refugees] The resentment is especially acute in Peterborough. Its one of the largest cities in Britain without a university, meaning that young people have to go elsewhere to finish their schooling. Thats helped to make the city fertile ground for out, with support for Brexit highest among less-educated voters. Were 40 miles from Cambridge, but we might as well be 40,000, said Joseph Wells, the 24-year-old local coordinator for the campaign to keep Britain inside the E.U. Wells acknowledged that finding enthusiastic supporters for his cause has been a struggle. Until recently, his volunteer cadre numbered in the single digits. Pro-Brexit campaigners, by contrast, say they expect little trouble motivating their troops to hit the streets over the coming month. Were going to paint this town red and white, said prominent local Brexit backer Lisa Duffy, referring to the colors of the Vote Leave signs that have sprung up amid the yellow fields of rapeseed that ring Peterborough. Lisa Duffy and her husband Peter Reeve stand near a recently placed sign in the Peterborough hamlet of Ramsey. (Shannon Jensen Wedgwood/For the Washington Post) For Duffy and her partner, Peter Reeve, the referendum is the culmination of more than a decade of campaigning for a British exit. But Reeve said hes nervous that immigration alone wont be enough to persuade a majority of Britons to back his cause. Voters, he said, want to know what Britain will look like outside the E.U., and thats a question that no one can definitively answer. The in camp, for instance, argues that promises of dramatically reduced E.U. immigration following Brexit are a fantasy, because the union will demand Britain accept free movement as a condition of continued access to Europes common market. But at least with Brexit, Reeve tells his wavering neighbors, the country will control its destiny. Wed have a voice again, he said. Then well be able to be as open and tolerant or as closed as we want to be. Karla Adam in London contributed to this report. Read more If Britain votes to leave the E.U., Germany could be one of the biggest losers British pound plummets after Londons mayor backs Brexit Whats a Brexit? A guide to Britains E.U. drama for confused non-Europeans. Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world The Iraqi military on Sunday said it is planning to storm Islamic State-held Fallujah, the city that was the scene of the bloodiest fighting for U.S. Marines during the Iraq War. In a late-night televised address, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al- Abadi said the operation to retake the city in the western province of Anbar had begun. A statement from the military said counterterrorism forces, police, tribal fighters and popular mobilization units which include an array of Shiite militias will be involved. U.S.-supplied F-16 jets already have begun bombing targets in the city, the statement said. Civilians were urged to stay away from Islamic State headquarters. Few expect an easy fight. Islamic State militants have dug in and built defenses in the city since capturing it more than two years ago, the first in the country to fall to the extremist group. Fallujah has long been considered a hotbed of rebellion and extremism, with even the heavy-handed Saddam Hussein struggling to control its tribes. U.S. Marines fought Sunni insurgents during two battles for the city in 2004, the second of which marked the heaviest urban combat for U.S. troops since the Vietnam War, killing nearly 100 service members. Its not an order of battle that correlates to U.S. military policy, which had focused on an offensive targeting Mosul, the Islamic State-held city farther north. President Obama has said he expects the recapture of Mosul to be close to complete by the end of the year. But a drawn-out battle for Fallujah could delay the already sputtering buildup to that offensive. There has, however, been a growing push within the Iraqi military to recapture Fallujah first. Some of that pressure comes from Shiite militia forces besieging the city, which lies 40 miles west of Baghdad in Anbar province. The heavy presence of those Shiite militia fighters, who view much of the Sunni population as sympathetic to the Islamic State militants, has raised fears of sectarian reprisal killings during any operation, although military commanders said militias would stay at the citys outskirts. We will tear down the black banners of the strangers who kidnapped the city, Abadi said in his speech. The clock of Fallujah liberation has rung, and the final victory is close. On Sunday, the Iraqi premier met with lawmakers and local officials from the province to inform them of military plans and efforts to protect civilians, his office said. Your sons, the heroic fighters in the armed forces, are preparing to achieve a new victory, said Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for Abadi. Liberating the city of Fallujah will be a victory for all Iraqis and will pave the way for the return of stability and normalcy to the province of Anbar. A recent wave of bombings in Baghdad has added weight to the calls of those who say that a Fallujah operation is more pressing than one for Mosul, with a militant hub so close to the capital putting civilians at risk. Meanwhile, Iraqi forces have scored a string of victories against Islamic State fighters in the province, most recently taking the desert smuggling town of Rutbah, with commanders saying they should build on successes there. Sunni leaders from the province also have lobbied for an offensive, saying the continued siege of the city by military and militia forces is causing a humanitarian crisis inside; as many as 60,000 residents remain trapped without access to food and medical supplies. We call on all citizens who are still inside Fallujah to prepare to get out, the military statement said, adding that secure routes would be organized later. Citizens who cannot get out should raise a white flag on their homes, it said. But Jumaa al-Jumaili, a commander of local Sunni tribal forces, said the Islamic State is not allowing anyone to leave the city so that it can use residents as human shields. They desperately want to keep Fallujah because of its symbolic importance and location close to Baghdad, he said. But its almost besieged from all sides. He said that Shiite militia forces had agreed to fight on the outskirts of the city. We want the people of Fallujah to rise against the Islamic State, he said, adding that the presence of Shiite militia forces in the city would not help that aim. Lt. Gen. Abdulwahab al-Saedi, who will be leading the operation for Iraqs counterterrorism forces, said the army, police and Shiite militias will fight only on the outskirts of the city while his forces will storm the center. The operation will be very, very soon, he added, although he refused to give a timeline. He said that the U.S.-led coalition will give air support and that the battle will be difficult but not impossible. We do think they can do it, said Col. Steve Warren, a Baghdad-based spokesman for the U.S. military, confirming that the coalition will provide air support. Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul, the Iraqi military spokesman, also said the operation will begin soon. He described Fallujah as the head of the snake. Police forces have arrived in recent days, with about 20,000 federal police officers with armored vehicles and artillery now on the citys outskirts, said Lt. Gen. Raeed Shakir Jawdat, commander of the federal police. Shiite militias have announced a buildup around the city. Saraya al-Jihad said it had sent units with rockets. Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Badr Organization, two of Iraqs most powerful militias, have called on civilians to leave. The shift to regain Fallujah puts the buildup for a Mosul offensive in further question. Long-promised police forces that were intended to hold the ground and enable Iraqi forces to move forward have still not arrived. Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Najim al-Jabouri, head of the Mosul operation, has an openly fractious relationship with the Defense Ministry. He has complained that he has yet to receive a single tank on the front line for Mosul, where about 5,000 Iraqi troops have gathered and are struggling to hold on to a cluster of villages they managed to take from the Islamic State. Said Warren: We dont expect this to impact the Mosul operation. Read more: Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Almost all the houses on this street in Mit Badr Halawa, Egypt are homes to people who now work in France and send remittances back home. (Photo by Sudarsan Raghavan/The Washington Post) (Sudarsan Raghavan/TWP) For decades, the sons of this northern Egyptian village traveled to France to seek their fortunes, forming one of the more distinct bonds between Arabs and Europeans. Many were smuggled into France; others entered legally. Most sent money back to help their families and home town. The link was so strong that the village earned a nickname: Mit Paris. So when the villagers learned about the disappearance last week of EgyptAir Flight 804, they were collectively thrown into shock: A fifth of the Egyptian passengers on the plane were from Mit Badr Halawa. Everyone feels like theyve lost their own brother, said Ashraf Mohamed Nagib, the imam of the villages main mosque. Those aboard the ill-fated Paris-to-Cairo flight included a construction company owner who hired many of the youths who had journeyed to France in search of opportunity. His death puts in doubt not only the livelihood of his own family, but also that of others. His 2-year-old daughter was seated next to him on the plane. There was the doctor who had taken his wife to be treated for cancer in Paris. They were returning home for a week to see their young children before heading back to France for her chemotherapy. 1 of 22 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Possible debris from EgyptAir flight recovered in the Mediterranean View Photos Egypts military spokesman posted what he said were the first images of debris, including parts of the aircraft exterior. Caption Egypts military spokesman posted what he said were the first images of debris, including parts of the aircraft exterior. May 21, 2016 Recovered debris possibly from the EgyptAir plane that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea. Egyptian Military via Reuters Wait 1 second to continue. There was also Khaled al- Tantawy, a 32-year-old telecommunications engineer who loved to travel. He was visiting friends from the village who had settled in Paris. In a Facebook post last Sunday, four days before he boarded Flight 804, he wrote to his travel partner who had returned from France to the village earlier: Goodbye stranger. Your stay was short, but it was wonderful. Hopefully youll find the heaven youve been searching for so long. Its like he was talking about himself, his friend Mahmoud al-Ashry, 33, a pharmacist who also lost a distant relative on the plane, said as he looked at the Facebook page Saturday. Everyone feels like theyve been orphaned. There were 66 people aboard Flight 804, including 30 Egyptian passengers. After leaving Paris, the plane veered suddenly upon entering Egyptian airspace, then made a full circle before plunging into the Mediterranean Sea early Thursday. Naval ships have found human remains, debris from the plane and some passenger belongings in the waters. While some officials have speculated about terrorism, the cause of the crash remains unclear. On Friday, thousands of residents arrived at Nagibs mosque to attend a ceremony to pray for the six passengers from their tightknit community. Women wore black and the villages elders banned any form of music, save for Koranic verses to commemorate the dead. Some people flew in from Paris to attend the ceremony, community elders said. It was the start of three days of mourning in this hamlet laced with cornfields and nestled along a tributary of the Nile River. On Saturday, the village remained steeped in somberness. Everyone felt that it could easily have been one of their relatives aboard Flight 804. Its a catastrophe for all of Egypt, but most of all for us, said Abdul Hafez Mohammed Daoud, whose son Waleed is working in France. Every one of us is somehow related to one of the persons who died. The first residents of Mit Badr Halawa arrived in France in the 1970s, said Mahmoud Badr, the administrator of the villages news page on Facebook. They were four brothers from the Badrawi family and began selling vegetables in a market. They saved money and invested it in a shop. Then they began sponsoring young men from the village to come to France. That pipeline has continued. Theres no work in Egypt, so people are still trying to better their situation, Nagib said. Not just young people, even old ones. Anyone who can find a way goes to France. Now, the majority of villagers work in the construction business, mostly painting French houses or selling fruits and vegetables in local markets. But there are also engineers and doctors, said Badr, who has lived in France for a decade and runs a construction company. He started the Facebook page in 2011 as a way for the roughly 10,000 members of the Mit Badr Halawa community in Paris to stay in touch with their families and friends in Egypt and share news. Thats how many people in the village first heard about Flight 804. The French connection has made Mit Badr Halawa an anomaly in Egypt. The countrys economy is struggling; tourism numbers are down sharply. In any corner of the country, there are hundreds of unfinished buildings. But not in this village. Mansions have sprung up everywhere, driven by remittances from France. Those who left have not forgotten their roots. They have sent back money to fund mosques, repair roads and assist the poor. At one bus stop, a sign reads: A gift from the family house in France. The money from France has entered every part of life, Nagib said. Like other Egyptians, many villagers dont blame the government or EgyptAir. Rather, theres a sense that the country is being subjected to a double standard. No one has forgotten how, after Islamist militants claimed responsibility for the downing of a Russian charter plane over the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board, international focus was on Egypts airport security, which led to a precipitous drop in tourism revenues. Why is the focus so much on Egypt and EgyptAir? Ashry asked. Why isnt the focus on Charles De Gaulle Airport or the planes maker? Haitham Dedah, 32, was on Flight 804 with his daughter Donya. He was coming to the village to leave the 2-year-old with his parents before returning to his wife and other daughter in Paris. His wife is eight months pregnant. Once she gave birth, he was planning to come back with them for the traditional baby-naming ceremony and to spend the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in the village. This is all psychologically painful for all us, especially thinking of the father with his little girl, holding her tightly as the plane crashed, said Hassan Shadad, Dedahs cousin. This makes us all very upset. Dedah was also the employer of Daouds son Waleed. The 28-year-old paid roughly $7,000 to a smuggler to take him by boat from the Egyptian port of Damietta to Turkey and eventually to Italy. He then entered France, where he sought out Dedah, who was their neighbor in Mit Badr Halawa.With the plane crash, Daoud expects that the money his son sends from France will dry up. But hes also counting on the village. There are other people from Mit Badr Halawa in France, he said. Hell find work. Read more Smoke detected in EgyptAir plane before it crashed, French investigators say Twice before, Egypt was the last to acknowledge the real cause of its plane crashes Israel, Hamas and Egypt form unlikely alliance against Islamic State affiliate Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Palestinians react in 2009 after learning that their mother was killed in Israeli shelling in the Gaza Strip. In Breaking the Silence testimonies, soldiers who participated in fighting describe demolishing homes and using firepower beyond what was necessary. (Khalil Hamra/AP) An Israeli organization that publishes anonymous testimony from soldiers, often alleging use of excessive force against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, appeared in court Sunday to fight the government prosecutors demand that the group reveal its sources. The organization of current and former soldiers, called Breaking the Silence, released a sobering report last year on the 2014 Gaza war that included anonymous testimony suggesting that permissive rules of engagement coupled with indiscriminate artillery fire contributed to mass destruction and a high number of civilian casualties in the coastal enclave. Many Israeli leaders have branded the groups activists as traitors, funded by foreign donors, whose anonymous and unverifiable testimonials are used to undermine the Israel Defense Forces and to smear the country before an international audience. Israels state attorney is seeking a court order to force the group to reveal names of soldiers whose testimonies appear in the Gaza report. In court Sunday, Michael Sfard, a lawyer representing Breaking the Silence, told the judge that the group would be destroyed if it broke its promise to soldiers and provided names. Sfard also argued that the testimonials serve a vital public interest, exposing ordinary Israelis to the actions of their forces in the field. The only other alternative is the Israel Defense Forces spokesmans unit, he said. The group is also claiming protection as journalists. It is not clear how many soldiers identities are being sought or what crimes they may have discussed in their testimonies. Statements by the prosecutor seemed to suggest she was seeking only a single name, but Breaking the Silence activists said there was more than one. Attorneys for the group said that the soldiers being sought were low-ranking troops and that the crimes alleged involved the destruction of property, not the killing of civilians and so there is no compelling reason for the state to insist that the anonymous soldiers be named. The hearing on whether to compel the group to reveal its sources will continue in July. The Breaking the Silence website contains dozens of videotaped interviews with soldiers, but it blurs their faces and disguises their voices. One example: a young tank gunner describing how during the Gaza war his commander told them to fire at random buildings. Israeli officials denied that such acts were committed. Israels Foreign Ministry issued a report last year on military actions in Gaza, arguing that Israel sought to minimize civilian casualties even as Hamas put its civilians in the line of fire and cynically used the ensuing death and destruction to stoke anti-Israel propaganda. The state attorneys office said that the identity of the soldier is known to its investigators but that it wants Breaking the Silence to confirm the name. The state views clarifying the truth as a value of the highest order, overriding the wish of the witness to remain anonymous as part of his deal with Breaking the Silence, it said. In the courthouse hallway, Breaking the Silences executive director, Yuli Novak, referred to a recent warning by former prime minister Ehud Barak about seeds of fascism in the government. In such times, we would hope the state attorney would stand by our side and protect our freedom to break our silence, Novak said. Novak vowed not to reveal the confidential sources. If the judge orders and the organization refuses, its researchers could face fines and possible jail time. The group said it would appeal such an order to the Israeli Supreme Court. Israeli critics of Breaking the Silence say the group makes wild accusations but does not help the army probe possible offenses. In March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Breaking the Silence had crossed a red line after an undercover Israeli TV investigation reported that the group sought classified operational details. The Breaking the Silence activists say that all of their reports are reviewed by the military censor before release. Yehuda Shaul, one of the groups founders and a former grenade gunner who was stationed in the West Bank city of Hebron, said: The government doesnt care about the testimony of our soldiers. It cares about us. This is about the messenger. Breaking the Silence is opposed to the occupation of the West Bank. In an interview earlier this year, Avigdor Lieberman, who is slated to be Israels new defense minister, said Breaking the Silence was funded by the same people who finance Hamas. Read more The U.N. says 7 in 10 Palestinians killed in Gaza were civilians. Israel disagrees. Israel says war in Gaza was moral and deaths are the fault of Hamas Israels defense minister abruptly resigns in slap at growing extremism Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world President Obama delivers a prime-time address from the White House on Sept. 10, 2014, vowing to target the Islamic State with airstrikes "wherever they exist." (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) As the Obama administration prepares to publish a long-delayed accounting of how many militants and noncombatant civilians it has killed since 2009, its statistics may be defined as much by what is left out as by what is included. Release of the information was first envisioned three years ago this month, as part of strict new guidelines President Obama announced for the United States controversial use of drones and other forms of lethal force to battle terrorism abroad. Such operations, Obama said in a 2013 speech at the National Defense University, would also be subject to new transparency and oversight. [Obama: U.S. at crossroads in fight against terrorism] The death tolls, like the guidelines, will cover places where the United States conducts airstrikes but does not consider itself officially at war: Yemen, Somalia and Libya. They are likely to exclude Pakistan, where the CIA has conducted hundreds of drone strikes but which the administration has long labeled part of the Afghanistan war theater. The United States still does not publicly acknowledge CIA attacks inside Pakistan, although the Pentagon announced Saturday that it had targeted Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour in Pakistan. Not all strikes in the included countries are considered counterterrorism actions, which must be approved by the highest level of government. With U.S. Special Operations forces deployed to all three places, some strikes are defined as self-defense and can be approved by the defense secretary. In speeches in 2013 and 2016, President Obama stressed that the U.S. tries to avoid civilian deaths as a result of drone strikes but doesn't always succeed. (The Washington Post) That was the case on March 5 in Somalia, when manned and unmanned aircraft killed an estimated 150 al-Shabab militants at a training camp, the largest such non-war strike ever, and on May 12, when U.S. forces called in an airstrike after African peacekeeping troops they were accompanying were attacked by militants west of Mogadishu, the Somali capital. The totals will almost inevitably be challenged by independent groups that keep their own tallies and for years have charged that the administration undercounts civilian deaths caused by drone strikes. Beyond debates over statistics, there are broader questions about how, when and where Obamas guidelines apply, how they have changed amid a mutating threat, including the growth of the Islamic State, and what standing they will have after the president completes his term in January. [In Syria, Obama stretches legal and policy constraints he created for counterterrorism] My hope is, is that by the time I leave office, there is not only an internal structure in place that governs these standards weve set but also an institutionalized process . . . so that people can look at actions taken by their government on an annualized basis, Obama said last month. The pending announcement will also be accompanied by additional information on the guidelines, perhaps elevating them to an executive order, according to several senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss information that has not been made public. How Obama plans to impose the standards he has set on future administrations is unclear. We have a system for making rules that will bind across time that involves statutes passed, treaties adopted, constitutional change, etc., said Robert M. Chesney, associate dean and director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texass law school. Its just not possible, as a legal matter, for decisions of one administration to become binding in a legal sense on their successors any more than Obama was bound by policies and rules imposed by his predecessor, George W. Bush. At the time the guidelines were written, drone-fired missiles appeared to have become Obamas counterterrorism weapon of choice. By early 2013, he had launched hundreds of strikes, most of them in Pakistan, compared with around 50 throughout the Bush administration. [U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan on rise for 2013] But the president and his top advisers were concerned that the program had too few controls and publicly stated justifications under international law. The secrecy that necessarily surrounded it virtually all Pakistan strikes have been conducted by the CIA and are considered covert actions limited the ways in which they could defend it. While acknowledging that some civilian deaths had occurred, they said that claims of hundreds or more deaths by non-government organizations have been wildly inaccurate. Obama himself recalled the dilemma in a news conference last month, saying that theres been, in the past, legitimate criticism that the . . . legal architecture around the use of drone strikes or other kinetic strikes wasnt as precise as it should have been, and theres no doubt that civilians were killed that shouldnt have been. The beginning of 2013 seemed the right time to promulgate new rules. With the end of the Iraq War, the planned U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the perceived diminishment of al-Qaeda, senior administration officials said, there would be less need for drone strikes. The goal was to establish a long-term legal and procedural framework for those occasions that required them. With operations in Pakistan gradually ending, the CIA would be eased out of the business of lethal attacks, and they would become the sole responsibility of the military. The guidelines were only applicable to non-war zones places defined as outside areas of active hostilities. A policy term that does not appear in the international laws of war, the concept can theoretically be applied anywhere in the world and has been a subject of sharp debate among international-law experts. The United States justifies its counterterrorism attacks under a variety of domestic and international laws. The Authorization for Use of Military Force passed by Congress in 2001 allows force to prevent further attacks by al-Qaeda, responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks that year, and the government for more than a decade has construed this to include al-Qaedas associated forces. A complete list of associated forces has never been released, although both Bush and Obama have said it includes Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, and Obama has said individuals in al-Shabab with AQAP ties can be subject to counterterrorism strikes. The administration also considers the Islamic State part of al- Qaeda, despite the bitter rivalry between the groups, while it has unsuccessfully pressed Congress for a new AUMF to cover the Islamic State more specifically. Article II of the Constitution gives the commander in chief powers to defend the country. It is a provision frequently cited by Bush and eschewed by Obama at the beginning of his administration, but later incorporated into his lexicon of legal justifications. International law allows countries to defend themselves and their allies in the event of an armed attack, which the government has interpreted as extending to preventive defense against defined terrorists wherever they are located. When the administration announced its new rules for counterterrorism, it said they went beyond those required by law. Under the 2013 guidelines, deadly attacks would be used only against those groups and individuals posing a continuing, imminent threat to U.S. persons, a much smaller universe than the former U.S. interests. Only the president could approve such strikes, and the go-ahead would be given only when there was a near certainty of no civilian deaths. Since the guidelines were adopted, and released in an unclassified summary, the terrorism landscape has changed considerably, and the administration has struggled to keep up. Two countries Iraq and Syria have been added to the list of designated war zones, where the military and the international laws of war impose somewhat different rules. The Islamic State, officially born in 2014, has spread its tentacles across the Middle East and North Africa. We are continuously refining, clarifying, and strengthening our standards and procedures for reviewing and approving direct action against terrorist targets located . . . outside areas of active hostilities, a senior administration official said of the rules, officially known as the counterterrorism PPG, for Presidential Policy Guidance. The reduced number of lethal actions predicted three years ago by administration officials has come to pass, but almost all of the reduction has been in Pakistan, where the number of strikes has steadily fallen from a high of more than 100 in 2010 to only two reported by outside observers so far this year before Saturdays military strike. But the focus of U.S. activities has expanded elsewhere, outside the war zones. In Yemen, the number of airstrikes peaked in 2012, fell over the next two years, and has begun to rise again this year. In Somalia, it has increased steadily since the PPG was first announced. Two airstrikes on alleged terrorist targets this year in Libya were the first since the 2011 joint air offensive by the United States and European allies that ousted Moammar Gaddafi. For those outside the government trying to tally them, the number of recent counterterrorism strikes has been muddied by the separate category of defense for Special Operations forces on the ground and the fact that some strikes, but not all, are publicly announced. In emailed responses to written questions, the Defense Department said it keeps no central list of strikes outside areas of active hostilities. Some are announced by the Pentagon, some by Central Command in charge of Yemen, and others by the Africa Command. Some are not made public at all, consistent with operational security, the response said. The CIA, whose drone strikes remain secret, is still thought to be operating drones in Yemen. Since the beginning of November, official releases have documented about half of more than 30 U.S. strikes more than half in Yemen, two in Libya and the rest in Somalia as compiled by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, one of several organizations that count them based on local reporting and other sources. Independent counts of civilian deaths in individual operations are zero or in low single digits, far reduced from previous years tallies. We are committed to transparency, the Defense Department said. While not all strikes are announced or publicly acknowledged in real time, information on all of our strikes taken outside areas of active hostilities will be aggregated for release in future annual releases. Julie Tate contributed to this report. Read more: Pentagon: U.S. military launches drone strike on al-Shabab leader in Somalia Hostages deaths raise wider questions about drone strikes civilian toll The U.S. still doesnt know if its killed this legendary one-eyed militant An agent of Brazils environmental agency takes cover as an illegal gold dredge burns down on the banks of the Uraricoera River during an operation against illegal gold mining on indigenous land the Amazonian state of Roraima on April 15, 2016. (BRUNO KELLY/REUTERS) Signs of a rightward turn by Brazils new government have alarmed conservationists and climate change activists who fear a rollback of environmental laws that could accelerate deforestation in the Amazon basin. With Brazils economy in its worst slump since the 1930s, new leader Michel Temer took power this month promising a more business-friendly agenda to spur growth. Temer named a conservative-leaning cabinet whose members include figures with close ties to powerful landowners and agribusiness companies. Temer has taken control in South Americas largest nation and the worlds biggest rain forest at a time when Brazilian lawmakers are considering a major overhaul of environmental laws. This includes a controversial constitutional amendment known as PEC 65 that would reduce licensing requirements for development projects and limit judicial oversight of their impact. The amendment has been stalled, but last month it won a key vote in a Senate commission, where it was sponsored by Sen. Blairo Maggi, a farming tycoon nicknamed the King of Soy. Temer has made Maggi the countrys agriculture minister, a powerful post in the worlds second-largest food exporter, giving him significant leverage to promote the amendment. Temers centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party has responded to the economic crisis with a package of proposals that would ease licensing requirements for projects in protected areas, weaken mining regulations and allow productive activities in Brazils indigenous reserves. Now that Temer is president, conservationists worry he will push those measures through the National Congress. Those who have taken power are backing an explicitly regressive, anti-environmental agenda, said Christian Poirier of U.S.-based Amazon Watch. A village of indigenous Yanomami is seen during Brazils environmental agency operation against illegal gold mining on indigenous land in Roraima state on April 18, 2016. (BRUNO KELLY/REUTERS) New foreign minister Jose Serra said last week that Brazil would assume its special responsibility for the Amazon and be proactive and pioneering in climate negotiations. But the new government has said little about its plans, and Temer comes to power at a time when Brazils regulatory controls and environmental laws are increasingly blamed for stifling investment and growth. After a decade in which deforestation slowed significantly, it began rising again under President Dilma Rousseff, according to satellite data from the independent Brazilian monitoring group Imazon. Last year, 1,228 square miles of forest were cut down, according to the group an area larger than Rhode Island. Rousseff was suspended from office May 12 and faces an impeachment trial in Brazils Senate, leaving Temer her vice president and former coalition partner to form a new government. Environmentalists and advocates of indigenous rights also worry that Temer will push forward with controversial hydroelectric projects in the Amazon basin, including the $10 billion Sao Luiz do Tapajo mega-dam. Plans for the project were put on hold last month by Brazils environmental agency, partly over concerns that it would destroy the ancestral forests of indigenous groups. Temer, whose public-approval ratings are low, has assembled a broad political coalition by offering key cabinet posts to right-leaning lawmakers who were often marginalized during the 13 years that Rousseffs Workers Party was in power. Among those who have gained leverage are ruralistas from Brazils vast interior with ties to powerful farming and ranching interests. [Rousseff suspension looks like an end to a long era of leftist rule in Brazil] Halting the loss of tree cover in Brazil is viewed by climate activists as essential to slowing global warming, because tropical forests absorb and store large amounts of carbon. Since 1970, about 20 percent of the Amazon basin has been deforested an area larger than France but the rate of destruction fell sharply starting in 2005, under Rousseffs predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Lulas administration toughened enforcement of environmental laws and put millions of acres off-limits to development. Few people thought that Brazil could actually stop the wholesale destruction of the Amazon. Its success partial but real is one of the few hopeful achievements in the fight for a safe climate, said climate change activist and author Bill McKibben, a professor of environmental studies at Middlebury College in Vermont. It makes the prospect of a return to business as usual in the rain forest especially sad, he said. As Brazils economy began to falter in recent years, deforestation picked up again, especially as farmers attempted to make up for falling revenue by clearing more land. Soy production in Brazil has quadrupled in the past 20 years, and this years harvest is projected to approach 100 million tons, a record. Tighter government budgets have also meant less money to keep illegal loggers, gold miners and others out of protected areas and indigenous reserves. Rousseff was not viewed with any special sympathy by environmental activists and Amazon conservation groups. In 2014, she named agribusiness executive Katia Abreu, dubbed the Chainsaw Queen by her critics, as agriculture minister. But with her presidency on the ropes in recent weeks, Rousseff attempted to win back the support of environmentalists by issuing executive orders to protect more than 5 million acres of the Amazon and create three new indigenous reserves. Officials in the new government say Rousseffs 11th-hour decrees will be subject to review. [Why the world needs Brazil to bounce back] Temers new minister of mines and energy, another powerful cabinet post, is 32-year-old Fernando Coelho Filho, a member of the National Congress who said his priority will be to attract new foreign investment by overhauling mining laws. Critics say the proposed changes fail to protect communities affected by mining. Last year, 19 people were killed when a dam collapsed at a large reservoir for mining waste, an accident that became a symbol of lax Brazilian oversight. But officials in Temers new government say environmental controls remain too rigid. Maggi, the new agriculture minister, said the point of proposed amendment PEC 65 is to give companies a guarantee that once a project is approved by regulators, it wont be halted by lawsuits or judicial interference. Brazils problem, he said in an interview, is that if some nongovernment group or prosecutor or person is opposed to a project, even for ideological reasons, they use their power to delay construction. Maggi was given a Golden Chainsaw award in 2005 by Greenpeace while governor of the Amazon state of Mato Grosso. He said it forced him to be more agile in fighting deforestation, which fell dramatically in the state during subsequent years. But his support for the new regulations has eroded the grudging respect he won from some environmentalists. A group of prosecutors has launched a social-media campaign against his constitutional amendment. The risk is enormous, said Sandra Curea, one of the attorneys. Maggi said he also supports allowing indigenous Brazilians to farm commercially on their reserves, as opposed to the subsistence farming they are currently permitted to practice. This is another sensitive proposal, because the countrys indigenous reserve system also has been used to make large tracts of Amazon forest off-limits to commercial exploitation and development. Maggi rejected the idea that farmers are anti-environmental. The biggest friend of the environment has to be the producer, because he depends on the environment to receive the rain, he said. Jose Carlos Carvalho, who served as environment minister in 2002 under the business-friendly administration of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, said the new anti-regulatory push in Brazilian politics amounted to the biggest regression in environmental management in Brazil since re-democratization, referring to the end of military rule in 1985. He said the Temer government wouldnt be the first to view environmental protections as a luxury the country cant afford. This has been the reality in Brazilian politics since forever, he said. Read more How Brazils ruling Workers Party lost the workers Ghosts of Brazils past haunt presidential impeachment crisis Amazon residents resort to forming militias to protect the rain forest Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Turkeys ruling party has elected a staunch ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its new leader, a move that is expected to bolster Erdogans quest to consolidate power. At an extraordinary congress in Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Sunday, delegates of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) chose Binali Yildirim, the sole candidate, as party chairman. He is set to replace Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who announced this month that he would step down amid public rifts with Erdogan. Davutoglu formally submitted his resignation Sunday, paving the way for Yildirim to become prime minister. Speaking at the ruling-party convention, the 60-year-old Yildirim pledged to work closely with Erdogan to change Turkeys constitution and establish a much stronger presidency. The speech confirmed his role as confidant and subservient ally of the president, who has alarmed opponents with his move to crush dissent and cement his authority. Erdogan is expected to request Yildirim, who served for 11 years as the minister of transportation, maritime affairs and communications, to form a government after the convention. Erdogan was prime minister from 2003 to 2014, when he was elected president. He has since worked to transform the largely figurehead position into one that wields considerable authority, critics have said. [How Turkeys Erdogan tightened his grip on power by sidelining his prime minister] Binali Yildirim, pictured with his wife, Semiha Yildirim, greets supporters in Ankara on Sunday as Turkey's ruling party held a special convention. (Pool photo by Riza Ozel via AP) The problems of this nation and the love of this nation are the presidents responsibility, Yildirim said at the convention, according to the news agency Reuters. The new constitution will be for an executive presidential system, he said. The development comes as Turkey grapples with domestic and regional challenges, including a mammoth refugee crisis, war along its borders and a growing Kurdish insurgency. Battles between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants have left scores dead, particularly in the southeast. The government has said that it is waging a war on terror against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting for autonomy for Turkeys ethnic Kurds. Erdogan has accused members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), which holds seats in parliament, of links to the PKK. Turkey and the United States have designated the PKK a terrorist organization. Last week, the majority-AKP parliament voted on legislation that would strip more than 100 lawmakers most of them from the HDP of parliamentary immunity, leaving them open to prosecution for crimes such as supporting terrorism. HDP Chairman Selahattin Demirtas called the bill a political coup and an attempt to completely destroy the separation of powers between government institutions in Turkey. We cannot speak [of Turkey] as pluralistic democracy, Selina Dogan, a lawmaker from the center-left Republican Peoples Party, said Sunday, speaking in English. Yildirim and the cabinet will carry out their duties under a one-man system, a system that designates Turkey as the AKP only. AKP leaders have blamed Turkeys turmoil on a chaotic political system that they say will be tempered by a strong presidency and a more pliant premier. Erdogan loyalists viewed Davutoglu as too independent. He disagreed with Erdogan on many of the presidents key positions, including peace talks with the PKK and pretrial detention for reporters and dissidents. When Davutoglu negotiated a landmark deal with European leaders to help ease the migrant crisis including more than $6 billion in aid for Turkey and potential visa-free travel for Turks Erdogan publicly played down the achievement. We are a party of a big cause, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkish broadcaster NTV. Erdogan is the leader of this cause. Read more After elections, Erdogans grip on power tightens Turkey alleges Istanbul bomber was a member of the Islamic State Vice President Biden criticizes crackdown on dissent in Turkey Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world Up to 8,000 oil workers were evacuated from camps north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Monday after the wildfire that destroyed large parts of the city earlier this month expanded rapidly. The fire has grown in size significantly this week, rising to 505,000 hectares on Thursday and crossing the Saskatchewan boundary. The Blacksand Executive Lodge, capable of housing 655 workers, was destroyed by fire Tuesday. Many of the workers were being evacuated for a second time in less than two weeks, having only arrived back in the area days before as the oil companies sought to quickly restart production following the evacuation of 90,000 Fort McMurray residents. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley unveiled a conditional timeline for residents to return to the city Wednesday, saying that this process would begin June 1. The first step will see residents returning on a voluntary basis, before all residents join them June 15. She said that this was dependent upon the fire no longer threatening the city, the hospital being open and able to provide basic health services, 911 service being available and fire and police services operational, all roads being open to traffic and utilities restored, and supplies of potable water and food being provided. Notley added that schools would not reopen until September. A total of 2,432 buildings were destroyed in the city, and over 500 were severely damaged. A further 10 homes were damaged in an explosion Monday night. No serious damage has been reported to the regions tar sands facilities, which are surrounded by large firebreaks and equipped with teams of industrial firefighters. The catastrophe provoked by the wildfire is a product of the capitalist systems ruthless pursuit of profit at all costs. Multibillion-dollar windfalls have been obtained by the major oil corporations through the vast expansion of the tar sands operations over recent decades. Fort McMurray, which exploded from a small town with a population of just 35,000 in 1990 to over 100,000 at the peak of the oil boom in 2014, exemplifies the way in which basic social services and infrastructure were sacrificed to cut costs. While every conceivable measure has been taken to protect the tar sands production facilities, the ruling elite saw the workers as disposable assets. The lack of preparedness for wildfires was exacerbated by the impact of climate change and a strong El Nino effect. Even as workers were rushed back into the region to restart production, reports indicated how unsafe the Fort McMurray area remains. On Monday morning, the provincial government reported air contamination rates were off the charts, reaching a reading of 38 on a scale that normally runs 1 to 10. It rose even higher, to 51, on Wednesday morning. This prompted an order for all firefighters and other emergency workers in Fort McMurray to wear gas masks, while Alberta Health Services ordered other workers planning to return to the area to help with recovery work not to do so. There are several hundred workers in the city attempting to prepare the hospital for reopening at the end of the month, and others reconnecting electricity and gas supplies. Scientists are also warning that local water supplies will be contaminated with hazardous materials, and that rain will make the problem worse by washing ash and other debris into the Athabasca River, from where Fort McMurray obtains its water supply. Many of the oil workers compelled to be frantically evacuated as the fire closed in this week explained they had no option but to return to work, even if conditions were unsafe. Lucy Fitzgerald, a Suncor employee, who like many moved from Canadas east coast to work in the tar sands, told CBC, Its a day-by-day thing right now, and thats all I can do. Its either that or go home, and stay home, and I cant afford to do that right now. Others spoke out anonymously about their frustration at the oil corporations pursuit of profit, which had seen workers sent into an active emergency zone. Yeah, without a doubt. They lose so much money a day that thats all they see, a contractor told the Globe and Mail . Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected from the outset any attempt to provide a political explanation for the disaster, sharply criticizing the suggestion by Green Party leader Elizabeth May that climate change may have played a role. This has won him plaudits in ruling circles, who see the crisis as an ideal opportunity to build public support for pipelines to enable the large corporations to transport oil from Albertas tar sands to tidal water. CBC enthused over the positive media buzz surrounding Trudeaus May 13 visit to Fort McMurray and Edmonton, and pollster Bruce Cameron commented that it was refreshing to see discussion about the oil sands that did not concentrate on environmental problems or climate change, but the human face. Far from being concerned with the lives of ordinary residents, he laid out what for him was significant about this, stating, It could have longer term implications in terms of making a human face for the oil sands. More information continues to come to light about the utter lack of preparedness at all levels of government, despite repeated warnings about the wildfire risk. Over 70 percent of the Alberta governments FireSmart budget, which is supposed to be dispersed to local communities to support fire mitigation measures, has remained unspent since 2014. Of the total funding of $23.6 million received by the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta between 2014 and 2016, only $6.9 million had been allocated. This translates into 71 cents of every dollar remaining unspent. Even more troubling was the rejection rate for communities who applied for funding. Of the 223 applications sent in by 80 communities from across the province in the past three years, only 113 were approved. Most of those declined because projects were deemed ineligible. However, the provincial government continues to insist that local communities must take the lead in wildfire preparedness. This comes on top of the cuts to provincial wildfire budgets, including the New Democatic Party (NDP) governments slashing of the contracts for air tankers used to fight fires just three weeks prior to the Fort McMurray evacuation. The move means that as of August 16, Alberta will have no air tanker coverage in place, even though the fire season runs well into October. At the federal level, persistent warnings have also been ignored. Jim Carr, the Liberals natural resources minister, received an explicit warning about the growing wildfire risk in briefing notes last year when he entered office. A 2005 wildfire strategy agreed by the federal and provincial governments is effectively stalled due to lack of funds. Compared with the vast wealth extracted from the tar sands, the resources made available by the authorities to support the evacuees have been paltry. The Alberta government has paid $1,250 to every adult and $500 to each dependent, while the Red Cross, thanks to over $65 million in donations from across the country, paid out $600 per adult and $300 per dependent. The Edmonton Emergency Relief Services Society, which is running the main evacuation camp at Northlands, has stated there is a desperate need for donations to keep up with demand. The critical task of distributing the basic necessities of life to thousands of families trying to get by with little financial resources has fallen to volunteers. The society issued a call Tuesday for more to come forward. More than 4,000 have assisted at a makeshift distribution centre set up at an Edmonton mall. We would never be able to [do] it without the volunteers, they are our legwork and heart of what is going on, a coordinator told the Edmonton Journal. We do have to stress enough that we still cannot continue to be able to maintain and help as many evacuees without their ongoing support. The cramped conditions in the camps have contributed to the rapid spread of stomach sickness. On Monday, it was reported that 281 evacuees had contracted a gastrointestinal illness, an increase of 138 percent in six days. Its very hard to keep it from spreading, said Joanna Oda, a medical officer with Alberta Health Services. This is not unexpected. This is what happens when many people are gathered in smaller places. Each and every state of India has its own favorite fish recipe and a favorite variety of fish to make it. Rohu, Surmai, Salmon, Basa, Mackrel, Sardines, Pomfret or Shark fish.the list is endless. There are many ways to enjoy fish & we absolutely love the ones made with rich Indian spices. We present to you ten delectable ways to enjoy fish from the various states of India. 1. Kashir Gaadh/Trout: Kashmiri cuisine is known for intense flavors. dishes. Kashir Gaadh is a Kashmiri fish preparation, preferably made with trout-gaadh. Scaled, sliced and thoroughly washed fish is seasoned with salt and turmeric and left for 15 minutes. These slices are deep fried to golden. In a pan, chili powder, crushed cloves and asafoetida are sauteed at low flame with little water. Later, two- three cups of water is added to the pan and boiled with fennel powder and ginger powder, before carefully sliding the fried slices of fish. This is left to simmer for 30 minutes till the water seem to dry and the flavors intensified. 2. Macher Jhol: This intriguing Bengali Rohu recipe, bursting with earthiness of panch phoron (a whole spice blend used in Eastern India) is an ideal Bengali/Oriya lunch delight. The fish is cleaned and sliced, before frying to golden brown in mustard oil and removed. Egg plants and potatoes are also added to the same oil sauteed and removed. Later, in the remaining oil, panch phoron is crackled along with onions paste till soft. After sauteing, egg plants and potatoes are added again to be welled up with various spices. When oil separates, water is added and fish is gently slithered in to be cooked till potatoes are fully done. Creative Commons Bengali Macher Jhol by Sarojinir is licensed under CC BY 4.0 3. Chettinad Style Fish Curry: Straight from the hot Tamil Nadu, is the Chettinad style, which is known to be the spiciest cooking style bursting with aroma. King fish or Surmai is washed thoroughly and marinated in sambar powder, salt, ginger-garlic paste and turmeric powder for 15-20 minutes. Dry roasted spices and cashews are ground to a paste with ginger, garlic and onion with some water. Coconut too is ground to a fine paste with water. A rich gravy/masala is created with asafoetida, mustard seeds, bay leaf, curry leaves, chopped onions and tomatoesred chili powder is added to make it spicier. Pan fried/or raw fish can be added to the prepared gravy and simmered till cooked. Lastly coconut paste comes to bring the glossy richness to the dish. Story continues Creative Commons Chettinad Fish curry by Babithajcosta is licensed under CC BY 4.0 4. Goan Fish Curry: From the serene waters of Arabian Sea, the catch of the day is relished by locals in authentic Goan style. The sweetness of coconut milk and the tanginess of tamarind, create a yin and yang balance, teeming an ocean of flavour in your mouth. Any white boneless fish is marinated with lemon and salt for 10-15 minutes. A base for gravy is created by grinding various spices, garlic and onion, grated coconut, tamarind and green chillies in water. The ground paste is cooked on low flame before adding the marinated fish to it, and brought to a boil together. 5. Pudina Fish: An easy snacky, delectable and flavorsome creation that leaves you craving for more. Regular mint/ coriander chutney forms the base of this dish. Whole Pomfret is marinated with salt and lime juice, and left for 15-20 minutes. Later the chutney is stuffed in the cavities and slathered over the fish, before pan frying or to put in skewers to be baked in tandoor/grill. Both leave the fish with a smokey aroma. Squeeze a lime and bite with a crunchy salad! Creative Commons Fish fry by Pankaj Kaushal is licensed under CC BY 2.0 6. Bhapa Maach: Another succulent delicacy from the waters of Bengal is the Hilsa fish based Bhapa Maach. It is a unique amalgamation with minimum ingredientscurd, mustard paste with green chillies. The fish is cleaned and cut into pieces, a marinade of curd, mustard paste, red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt is made. The fish is liberally coated in this marinade and left for half an hour. This is can be steamed in a cooker for 8-10 mins. The pungent mustard leaves a tangy after taste lingering in your mouth. 7. Patrani Machi: Parsis brought with them the culinary skills of Persia and blended them well with the local Indian style. Patrani Machi reflects the fusion at its best, this traditional Parsi recipe is an ideal blend where boneless-Pomfret fillets are cooked to perfection wrapped in banana leaves, leaving it tender and luscious. Fish is cleaned and cut into bite size pieces and rubbed with lemon juice, salt and red chili powder. A paste of coriander leaves, grated coconut, mint leaves, garlic, sugar, salt, black pepper with a gentle squeeze of lemon is whizzed in grinder to a smooth texture. This paste is gently smeared on fish before refrigerating. Later, these pieces are wrapped in banana leaves in small parcels and sealed well with toothpicks, the fish is now ready to be steamed (5-6mins) or pan fried gently turning the parcels till the banana leaves turn brown. Creative Commons Fish in banana leaf by Edsel Little is licensed under CC BY 2.0 8. Amritsari Fish Tikka: Famous from the land of tandoor is the boneless fish recipe-Amritsari Fish tikka. This recipe is an ideal starter, which tastes best when cooked in a tandoor to get the authentic smoky flavour. Boneless Salmon or king fish is cleaned and cut into to squares-it can be let to marinate in vinegar and salt for few mins, before coating in a batter made with hung curd, gram flour, carom seeds, turmeric, salt, red chili powder, ginger- garlic paste, chaat masala. After liberally smearing and coating the fish in this batter, it is refrigerated for an hour or two, before cooking in tandoor or grilled at high in oven. Squeeze a wedge of lime and dig in the crispy boneless delight. Creative Commons Ajwaini Fish Tikka by Msroshni905 is licensed under CC BY 4.0 9. Meen Curry: Straight from Gods own country is a mouth-storming fish curry. Any fish of your choice, is cleaned-cut and seasoned with salt and left for 5-10 minutes. Before you get started with the recipe, dont forget to soak kokum in some water. While to prepare a gravyshallots, curry leaves, ginger and green chilly is sauteed in oil. When the onions look slightly brown, add to this basic spices like coriander powder, turmeric, red chillies powder. Lastly, coconut milk is added along with the water from soaked kokum. This seems to be the apt time to add the fish pieces and let it simmer (20 mins). Creative Commons Kottayam Meen (Fish) Curry by Prasad Pillai is licensed under CC BY 2.0 10. Masor Tenga: As we are trotting across India to get fish recipes, we culminate with the Assamese style Tangy fish curry. This is Assams signature fish curry that will leave you with tangy-tartness craving for more. The easiest of all recipes, Masor Tenga requires tomatoes, coriander chopped, squeeze of lemon, fenugreek seeds and slit green chillies. Any fresh water fish-ideally, Rohu is cleaned and seasoned with salt and turmeric and left for 20 minutes. The fish is first fried in mustard oil to crisp and set aside. Later in some oil, fenugreek seeds are crackled to brown and removed, before sauteing green chillies and tipping in tomatoes. Once the tomatoes are soft, salt and turmeric powder are added to taste and later the fried fish is gently put in to be cooked to perfection with some water. A generous squeeze of lime, will complete the dish. Creative Commons Masor Tenga by Rupak76 is licensed under CC BY 4.0 We tried to gather some of the popular fish delicacies of India, and may have missed many a mouth-storming ones. Do share your favorites! We are looking forward to hear from you. Till then, happy fishing! :) Associated Press JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (AP) The U.S. military said Monday it's ready to begin draining 1 million gallons (3.79 million liters) of fuel from three pipelines as part of an initial step toward closing a World War II-era fuel storage facility that leaked petroleum into Pearl Harbor's tap water last year. Starting Tuesday, the military will spend six days draining the pipelines one by one. The fuel has been sitting in the pipes since the military suspended use of the Red Hill facility last year after it leaked petroleum into a drinking water well serving 93,000 people in and around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. By Stanley Carvalho ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Thousands of layoffs at state-linked companies in Abu Dhabi are a fresh sign the Gulf's wealthy oil states are hunkering down for a long period of austerity as low crude prices pressure their economies. Since mid-2015, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries in the region have curbed spending on some construction projects and reduced energy subsidies to limit budget deficits caused by cheap oil. Now some governments are also starting to reduce staff at the companies they control, many of them in the energy industry, in order to ensure the firms are not a drain on state finances if oil prices stay low for several years. Abu Dhabi's National Oil Co (ADNOC), with around 55,000 staff, has cut hundreds of jobs in the last few months and will have reduced its workforce by at least 5,000 by the end of 2016, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The reduction will occur across most of its 17 subsidiaries as part of a restructuring following a reshuffle of the firm's leadership this month, they said. An ADNOC spokesman did not confirm or deny the cuts but said: "In keeping with the entire oil and gas industry, ADNOC is constantly looking at ways to be more efficient and more profitable, particularly in the current market environment." The UAE's oil and gas recruitment market is set for its most difficult year in over a decade in 2016, a report from recruiters Morgan McKinley said. The oil and gas industry is still feeling the pain, as was to be expected. Overall redundancies have been on the increase, said Trefor Murphy, managing director for the region. Most layoffs at Abu Dhabi state firms are not in response to production cut-backs; the UAE has not reduced its oil output, and says it is proceeding with long-planned oil and gas development projects. Nor do the layoffs mean Abu Dhabi is running out of money. With hundreds of billions of dollars in its sovereign wealth fund, the emirate could draw down its reserves to sustain current levels of spending for decades. Story continues But the government wants to minimise the speed of the draw-down as it looks ahead to the possibility of many years of low oil prices. Last year, Abu Dhabi acted ahead of other Gulf states in cutting domestic fuel and electricity subsidies. Now it is applying the same approach to state-linked firms. In Qatar, state-controlled firms such as Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Rail have been laying off staff. State companies in other states such as Saudi Arabia and Oman have been looking at ways to reduce costs but have so far not resorted to major job cuts. CUTS Most cuts at state firms in Abu Dhabi and elsewhere involve foreign staff rather than locals, because governments want to limit unemployment among their citizens. Nevertheless, the job losses are contributing to an economic slowdown in the region. The International Monetary Fund has predicted Abu Dhabi's gross domestic product growth will fall to 1.7 percent this year from 4.4 percent in 2015. In neighbouring Dubai, where the economy is not directly reliant on oil and state-linked firms are vigorously pushing tourism and real estate projects, growth is forecast to accelerate marginally, to 3.7 percent from 3.6 percent. Companies cutting staff in Abu Dhabi include Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (TAQA.AD), which has reduced its workforce by a quarter since 2014. It has cut around a third of oil and gas jobs and 55 percent of staff at its headquarters, it said this month after reporting a first-quarter loss. Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Rail, the federal government-owned entity building a UAE rail network, said it cut 30 percent of its staff in a restructuring. Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority laid off scores of people, mostly expatriates, sources said. Spokespeople for the authority did not return calls seeking comment. National Petroleum Construction Co, owned by Abu Dhabis state-owned industrial conglomerate Senaat and one of the largest oilfield contractors in Abu Dhabi, is reviewing its manpower levels, chief executive Aqeel Madhi told Reuters. Construction firm Arabtec (ARTC.DU), in which Abu Dhabi state fund Aabar Investments is the biggest shareholder, may include job cuts in its cost reduction programme, chairman Mohamed al-Rumaithi said last month, adding: "There's some fat to be taken out." Some firms are axing expatriates to create jobs for UAE nationals. Medical centre operator Cleveland Clinic, owned by Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala, is creating over 100 positions for locals, having told some expatriate staff they have to leave by year-end, sources said. Asked to comment, Cleveland said that as part of its efforts to develop local talent, a number of administrative roles would move to UAE citizens in coming months. (Editing by Mark Potter) KABUL (Reuters) - A top Afghan government official said on Sunday it was likely that Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a U.S. air strike. "Last night, American officials informed the Afghan government and it is very likely that he is killed. As soon as we get more information we will inform our people," said Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. U.S. officials in Washington said on Saturday U.S. missile-firing drones had attacked Mansour and probably killed him in a strike in southwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border, authorized by U.S. President Barack Obama. (Reporting by Kabul bureau; Editing by Robert Birsel) Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone attack in Pakistan, senior militant sources told AFP Sunday, adding that an insurgent assembly was underway to decide on his successor. Saturday's bombing raid, the first known US assault on a top Afghan Taliban leader on Pakistani soil, marks a major blow to the militant movement which saw a new resurgence under Mansour. The elimination of Mansour, who rose to the rank of leader nine months earlier after a bitter internal leadership struggle, could also scupper any immediate prospect of peace talks. "I can say with good authority that Mullah Mansour is no more," a senior Taliban source told AFP. Mansour's death, which risks igniting new succession battles within the fractious group, was confirmed by two other senior figures who said its top leaders were gathering in Quetta to name their future chief. The Taliban sources said that Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the dreaded Haqqani network and one of Mansour's deputies, was among the frontrunners, adding that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was also in contention. Both figures are said to be close to the Pakistani military establishment, which has historically nurtured and supported the Taliban. Mullah Yakoub, the son of the group's deceased founder Mullah Omar, is also favoured by many Taliban commanders for the leader's post. It is unclear when Mansour's successor will be announced. The Taliban have not commented officially on Mansour's death or the leadership succession. US officials had said they had no definitive proof of his death in multiple drone strikes, authorised by President Barack Obama, in the remote Pakistani town of Ahmad Wal in Balochistan province. But both Afghanistan's main spy agency, and the country's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, asserted that Mansour had been killed in the attack. "Mansour was being closely monitored for a while... until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle," Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security said in a statement. Story continues Pakistan on Sunday lambasted the US over the drone attack, calling it a violation of its sovereignty and asserting that information about it was shared with its prime minister and army chief only after the raid. Pakistani security officials said they recovered two bodies charred beyond recognition from a smouldering vehicle at the scene of the attack. The passenger, suspected to have been Mansour, was said to be returning from Iran and was using a Pakistani passport in the name of Muhammad Wali. The driver -- who also died in Saturday's attack -- was a civilian who worked for a local car rental company, according to the officials, contradicting the US account that he was a "second combatant". - 'Imminent threat' - Mansour was formally appointed head of the Taliban in July last year following the revelation that Mullah Omar had been dead for two years. The group saw striking military victories under the firebrand supremo, helping to cement his authority by burnishing his credentials as a commander. The Taliban briefly captured the strategic northern city of Kunduz last September in their most spectacular victory since they were toppled from power in 2001. The southern opium-rich province of Helmand is also almost entirely under insurgent control. "Mansour posed... an imminent threat to US personnel, Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces," US Secretary of State John Kerry said during a visit to Myanmar Sunday. "He was also directly opposed to peace negotiations." But Mansour's death was not immediately seen as likely to push the Taliban closer to peace talks. It could press them to show they are still able to wage an aggressive battle, observers say. "The war has been going on for so long, the Taliban has so many leaders and so much ability to function at the local level even without strong central guidance, that we would be well advised to keep expectations in check," said Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution think-tank. The drone attack came just days after representatives from the US, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan held another round of negotiations in Islamabad aimed at reviving long-stalled direct peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. However pressure has been building in recent months for the United States to return to direct attacks on the Taliban, particularly via air strikes. NATO ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in December 2014, pulling out the bulk of its troops, although a 13,000-strong residual force remains for training and counterterrorism operations. The Taliban, who announced the start of their annual spring offensive last month, have already stepped up their campaign against the Western-backed Kabul government for the season. Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour has been killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan, according to both Afghanistans spy agency and the countrys chief executive. One of the militant groups senior commanders also told the Associated Press news agency that Mansour had died in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area after he was targeted by an unmanned American drone. The mission, which was confirmed by U.S. officials, was authorized by President Barack Obama. Although some Taliban officials disputed the claim, Afghanistans chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, said the Taliban leader died when his car was attacked by a U.S. drone: In a statement Saturday, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said Mansour had been actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel and coalition partners. Mansour has been an obstacle to peace and reconciliation between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, prohibiting Taliban leaders from participating in peace talks with the Afghan government that could lead to an end to the conflict, he said. At the time, Cook did not confirm Mansours death, saying, We are still assessing the results of the strike and will provide more information as it becomes available. Commenting on the air strike, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Mansour posed a continuing imminent threat to American personnel in Afghanistan. Peace is what we want. Mansour was a threat to that effort and to bringing an end to the violence and suffering people of Afghanistan have endured for so many years now, he said at a news conference during a visit to Myanmar on Sunday. The strike is a reminder of the continuing turmoil in Afghanistan, even as the U.S. military focuses on combatting the threat from the fighters of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. It could also set off a fresh round of infighting in the Taliban, which, after recent advances, now controls more Afghan territory than at any time since the 2001 American invasion of the country. Story continues Mansour formally took charge of the militant group last year, when it emerged that the Talibans longtime leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had died in Pakistan in April 2013. Omars death had been reported several times in the past, with the whereabouts of the reclusive one-eyed leader shrouded in mystery ever since he disappeared from public view in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion of the country. Confirmation of Omars death at the end of July 2015 touched off a leadership battle inside the group, as various factions staked their claim to lead the violent insurgency. It was only in September that the Taliban announced an end to the leadership struggle, after Omars relatives pledged their allegiance to Mansour, a longtime Taliban operative who fought against Soviet troops in the country in the 80s. In the late 90s, when the Taliban ruled from the Afghan capital, Kabul, Mansour was largely unknown to the outside world, put in charge by the groups leadership of civil aviation and tourism at a time when there was little in the way of tourist or air traffic in the conflict-ridden country. After the Taliban was driven from Kabul in 2001, Mansour relocated to Pakistan. In subsequent years, as the Taliban mounted an increasingly bloody assault against international troops and Afghanistans foreign-backed government, Mansour slowly rose up the groups ranks, eventually emerging as the Talibans acting head in the two years during which Omars death was kept secret. It is Mansour who is believed to have authorized the release of periodic statements in Omars name during that time a ploy to maintain the fiction of his leadership, even as Mansour ran the show behind the scenes. Suspected to have close links to Pakistans intelligence establishment, Mansour was initially seen as a relative moderate and pragmatist who favored peace talks between the militant group and the Afghan government and its international partners. His short tenure at the head of the group, however, was characterized by increased violence as the Taliban refused to come to the negotiating table. Instead, just weeks after resolving the leadership rift inside the group, Mansour directed a violent headline-grabbing raid on the Afghan city of Kunduz, the Talibans last stronghold before it was ejected from power in Kabul. Although brief, the capture of Kunduz at the end of September helped cement Mansours power at the top of the militant group. In recent months, Taliban fighters have continued to wage a violent battle to extend their influence in the country, putting increasing pressure on Afghan forces as they attempt to gain control of the southern Helmand province. Earlier this month, as the group stepped up its attacks near the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, a local leader told the Reuters news agency that the threat is becoming bigger minute by minute. If the government does not take action soon, we will witness the collapse of Lashkar Gah. With Mansours death, attention is now likely to turn on his most prominent deputy in the Taliban hierarchy, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the feared Haqqani network which has long been suspected to have the backing of elements within the Pakistani establishment, a claim Islamabad denies. Designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government in 2012, Haqqanis group has been blamed for some of the most high-profile and deadly attacks during the Afghan insurgency, including a Kabul car bomb last month that killed 64 people. The prospect of the Haqqani Network taking formal control of the Taliban would be a nightmare scenario for the U.S., Michael Kugelman, a senior analyst who tracks South and Southeast Asia at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., tells TIME. But his elevation is not guaranteed, he added. I imagine there will be a long, ugly, drawn-out succession battle, and especially because unlike with the case of Mullah Omar, the loss of Mansour was sudden and unexpected. In a fragmented organization like the Taliban, there are no clear-cut successors and there is no clear-cut process to select one. The other possibility is that the various Taliban factions would unite around their martyred leader and band together to select a successor. The problem is that Mansour never had the unifying power of Mullah Omar. In all likelihood, the Taliban faces another bruising leadership transition process. MELBOURNE (Reuters) - An Australian law firm has filed a compensation claim against Russia and President Vladimir Putin in the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of families of victims of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, shot down in 2014, media reported. The jetliner crashed in Ukraine in pro-Russian rebel-held territory on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board, including 28 Australians. The aircraft, which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded in its final report late last year. Fighting was raging in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces when the aircraft was downed and many Western experts and governments blamed the rebels. Australia's Fairfax media reported on Saturday that 33 next of kin were of victims named in an application by Sydney law firm LHD Lawyers, representing people from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. Reuters could not immediately reach LHD Lawyers for comment. The application was filed on May 9 and names the Russian Federation and Putin as respondents and seeks $10 million in compensation per passenger, the report said. The Dutch Safety Board, which was not empowered to address questions of responsibility, did not point the finger at any group or party for launching the missile. "So far we don't have (such information)" Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax news agency when asked to comment on reports of the compensation claim. Malaysia, the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium and Ukraine have been exploring alternative options, including trials in international and national courts, after Russia vetoed a United Nations bid in July 2015 to form a tribunal. (Reporting by Jarni Blakkarly; Editing by Robert Birsel and David Gregorio) VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria is sending 80 more police and support staff to boost patrols around the Alpine Brenner pass and catch rising numbers of unregistered migrants coming in from Italy, Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said on Sunday. He denied the move was in any way linked to presidential elections in Austria in which a far-right candidate was deadlocked with a former leader of the leftist Greens party, with postal ballots to decide the race. "It appears that here and there migrants are getting through at the Brenner, sometimes none, other times five, seven or 10. There is a also small number of asylum requests that pop up," Sobotka told reporters at an election event in Vienna. "So we will step up appropriate measures in the overall Brenner area," he said. "Thirty officials from the Tyrol area supported by 50 officers from the rest of the country will start an intensive dragnet," he added. "People are being stopped in regional trains, buses and cars." He said illegal crossings started to increase during the Pentecost holidays following a drop after he and his Italian counterpart met at the pass late last month. The neighbors have tried to play down tensions that flared after Austria said it might reintroduce border controls at the Brenner pass if it was necessary to curb the flow of migrants. Both Italy and Austria are members of the European Union's Schengen open-border zone, but free movement has been jeopardized by the reimposition of controls at some key crossings by countries affected by an influx of migrants. Any toughening of border controls at the Brenner Pass would slow traffic on an important route from Italy to Germany, Italy's top trading partner. Hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa have crossed the Mediterranean to Italy since 2014, and Austria has said Rome must stop them from traveling on toward northern Europe. (Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Tom Heneghan) Austrias presidential election was too close to call on Sunday, May 22, according to the results of an exit poll released by the countrys public broadcaster. The election is being described as historic as both of the countrys main centrist parties, having alternated the presidency since World War II, were knocked out in the first round of voting. This video shows supporters of independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen react to the results of the exit poll, which projected that der Bellen and his opponent Norbert Hofer, of the far-right Freedom Party, would take 50 percent of the vote each. Credit: Alex Poucher Rabat (AFP) - Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana came close to beating Tirunesh Dibaba's 5000m world record and world best times of the year were set as Morocco hosted its first Diamond League meeting on Sunday at a windy Rabat. Also at the meeting, seven-time world champion American LaShawn Merritt never looked in any danger as he tore round the track in 44.66sec in the 400m. But in the very last race of the inaugural night, world 5000m champion Ayana blamed the wind after she came over five seconds short of Dibaba's 2008 record of 14min 11.15sec set in Oslo with a pace setter. Despite blazing to victory in 14min 16.31sec ahead of Kenya's Viola Kibiwot, who was some 13 seconds adrift with another Ethiopian Senbere Teferi in third, Ayana was clearly disappointed. "The wind was too much, I'm sure that I'll beat the record in one of my upcoming outings though," said Ayana, who aims to race both the 5000m and 10000m at the Rio Olympics. Other highlights of the night came as Kenyan Conseslus Kipruto, his face twisted in a grimace over the home straight, won the 3000m steeplechase ahead of three compatriots. He also set a season's world best time of 8min 02.77sec, beating the previous one he himself had established at Doha. The 21-year-old double world silver medallist from 2013 and 2015 was under pressure from Jairus Kipchoge Birech, but eventually ran over a second faster for his seventh Diamond League win after taking the lead on the last turn. Frenchman Mahiedine Mekhissi returned to competition after two bouts of surgery on his foot and then heel and 18 months out of racing, but the evening turned sour for the two-time Olympic silver medallist when he pulled up injured again. Another Kenyan victory came in the 1500m with Timothy Cheruiyot winning in 3min 33.61sec ahead of compatriot Silas Kiplagat and Australian Ryan Gregson. Ukrainian Bogdan Bondarenko boosted his Diamond Race hopes in the high jump, beating leader Erik Kynard with a jump of 2.31m to cut the gap to just six points. Story continues - Home cheer - Caster Semenya was on flying form, also setting a world best time for 2016 of 1min 56.84sec in the 800m as she eased ahead of Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba and the up-and-coming Frenchwoman Renelle Lamote. In the men's 800m France's 24-year-old Pierre-Ambroise Bosse booked himself a date at the Rio Games when he clinched victory in 1min 44.51sec, narrowly edging reigning 1500m Olympic champion, Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi (1:44.91). Bosnia's Amel Tuka was third. Another South African, Rushwai Samaai, won the men's long jump with a personal best effort of 8.38 metres, albeit with a favourable wind, beating world indoor champion Australian Fabrice Lapierre into second by 2cm. Poland were all smiles in the discus after world champion Piotr Malachowski won the event with an effort of 67.45m to fend off compatriot Robert Urbanek, who was second with 65.04. Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson ran into a 1.3sec headwind to register a 100m victory in 11.02sec. There was some home cheer as world and Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Abdelaati Iguider won the 3000m with a world best time for the year of 7:38.85 over the non-Olympic distance. Elsewhere at the meeting, Panama's Alonso Edward won the men's 200m in 20.07sec ahead of Ivory Coast sprinter Wilfried Koffi. Madrid (AFP) - The Copa del Rey final between Barcelona and Sevilla went to extra-time on Sunday as neither side could score a goal in 90 minutes despite both teams being reduced to 10 men. Barca's Javier Mascherano was first to see red for bringing down Kevin Gameiro nine minutes before half-time. The La Liga champions also lost 59-goal top scorer Luis Suarez to injury early in the second-half. However, they resisted despite their numerical advantage for nearly an hour before Sevilla's Ever Banega was also shown a red card in stoppage time for denying Neymar a clear goalscoring opportunity. (Reuters) - One of two men who broke into a zoo in North Dakota got his hand bitten by a brown bear after sticking his arm through the bars of the animal's enclosure, police said on Sunday. Police in Minot said they responded late on Saturday to a report that David Shepard, 21, came to a hospital emergency room saying he had been attacked by a bear. They said an investigation showed that Shepard and Cody Kage, 23, climbed the fence of the Roosevelt Park Zoo after it closed and were walking the grounds when they came upon the bear enclosure. Shepard stuck his arm through the bars of the enclosure aiming to entice one of the bears to come closer, and a bear bit his right hand, police said in a statement posted on Facebook. Brown bears can grow up to 9 feet tall, weigh up to 1,000 pounds, and their non-retractable claws can measure up to 6 inches, according to the zoo's website. The two men, who police said were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident, are facing felony trespassing charges. (Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Editing by Peter Cooney) Part of a weeklong series on aging boomers, or what we like to call the golden oldies. In various corners of Colombia, young souls such as Ines Elvira Rivas Patino nearly bounce off their chairs, wild with new thoughts and stories to share. One person has detailed an elderly fathers fatal revenge on two children who spent years abusing him, while another has recounted a mystical tradition where gourds fitted with burning candles were used to locate drowned bodies. Then theres the poet who recited the seductive words he has used on women, when poetry was the way to talk to them. As for Patino, the 62-year-olds tale of a young Colombian girl trying to escape the countrys civil war by joining a circus garnered first place in a major competition last year. The achievement, which emboldened her to begin a new chapter in her life as a writer, began with a visit to a so-called memory laboratory. These memory labs, hatched in Bogota three and a half years ago by the local foundations Fahrenheit 451 and Saldarriaga Concha, seek to empower elderly individuals who possess indispensable knowledge but lack the platform to share it. The labs focus on creating either written or oral accounts and have since spread to seven regions across Colombia. While the labs welcome people of all ages, the vast majority of its 250 or so participants are over 60. Were trying to guard Colombias heritage in a creative way and show older people that their lives still have value, explains Javier Osuna, the journalist who founded Fahrenheit 451. Too often theyre abandoned by their families and the state. Joining the lab gave me a new sense of life. Ines Elvira Rivas Patino, memory lab participant That feeling of isolation is a familiar one for many seniors, which is why more Colombians are being drawn to the memory labs social component. After living in San Salvador for three decades, Patino returned to her hometown of Cali, Colombia, to discover she hadnt been all that missed. Local schools shunned her foreign teaching experience and social opportunities seemed nonexistent. I felt like a zero, she recalls. Story continues Patino spent her days alone in a local library until she encountered a group of people around her age who met there every week as part of a memory lab. They discussed literature, and their lives, and how to channel their experiences into writing. Joining the lab gave me a new sense of life, Patino told OZY after class one morning. Eventually, she applied to an annual contest for the over-60 crowd, Historias en Yo Mayor (Stories in I Major), which has received more than 6,000 entries since it launched a few years ago. Its part of the same effort that has driven the expansion of memory labs, to encourage a generation of vulnerable voices to use what they remember from their lives as a creative motor to keep moving forward. Oftentimes, the labs integrate an issue or practice endemic to the community holding a discussion. In the rural setting of Versalles, for instance, stories about traditional medicine and cultivating coffee are traded. In Palenque de San Basilio, a remote region on the Caribbean coast with a rich musical history, participants contribute poems and songs, and learn about voice intonation and body language. Certain labs, especially those in areas besieged by the countrys decades-long civil war, are more focused on recording chronicles of hardship. But in Cali, Carolina Trujillo, the labs ebullient 38-year-old leader, encourages participants to experiment with magical realism, a genre of fiction pioneered by literary legend Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Trujillo utilizes a mix of texts, songs and games to stimulate the minds of her students a retired engineer, a comedian, an academic, a police officer and an athlete, among others while including lessons on narrative structure and character development. Most attendees here today have gray hair, and some walk with canes, but in class they act like giddy adolescents: Every time another member arrives, they greet them with jokes and hugs. For me its about leaving something permanent behind. Aristides Cifuentes, memory lab participant That sense of camaraderie, explains Osuna, is critical to the long-term viability of the program. Each lab lasts for about 10 months the first year, three months the second; by the third year, the group is expected to run itself. There needs to be a point where they learn to be autonomous, he explains. The participants need to want to meet and share and protect their culture. Sometimes, a lack of leadership or interest or logistical challenges has led to the disintegration of memory labs (two have shuttered since the program began). In the end its the decision of the community, Osuna acknowledges. Efforts are being made to include an annual feedback session, as well as recording and organizing lab discussions to inform future classes. For many participants, though, the program has made an impact. I feel like my words will benefit future generations, says Julian Varela, a former forensic psychiatrist. For me its about leaving something permanent behind, adds Aristides Cifuentes, a retired academic who participates in one of Bogotas two labs. I want to make an exorcism to get out the questions in my mind, heart and soul and leave them for other people to answer in the future. Related Articles Coffee is probably the world's most popular psychoactive drug and with sleep deprivation becoming a constant fixture of modern employment, it's no surprise business has boomed in recent years. But if you want to get the maximum boost from daily your cup of joe (or, God forbid, 5-Hour Energy), we've got a shocking surprise for you: You probably shouldn't gulp it down right when you wake up. In fact, according to the Washington Post, drinking coffee early in the morning is terrible for your circadian rhythm, the natural cycle of wakefulness and sleepiness your body goes through each and every day. That's when levels of stress hormone cortisol, which helps you feel awake and energized, are highest. By drinking coffee right after waking up, you're training your body to rely on caffeine rather than cortisol. It's counterproductive: Not only does it ensure sleepiness in the absence of a caffeine influx, your body builds tolerance to the caffeine over time, making it less effective. According to the Post, the best time to drink coffee is when cortisol production in the body plummets, which is usually between 10 a.m. and noon and 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. When cortisol levels are high @AsapSCIENCE suggests avoiding #coffee #coffeefirst #healthylivingpic.twitter.com/uv7Ds3JYV4 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CX4wUlnWwAMsCbP.jpg:large One thing you should definitely, absolutely not do is drink coffee shortly before bedtime it resets your circadian rhythm, according to NPR. University of Colorado, Boulder sleep specialist and circadian psychologist Kenneth Wright told the news agency his research found caffeine taken three hours before bedtime delayed the production of sleep hormone melatonin by up to 40 minutes. So you might end up looking like this guy... Source: ROSLAN RAHMAN/Getty Images You've been warned. The Bad Boy family just wrapped up round two of epic performances and guest appearances at the Barclay Center. Yet in addition to celebrating 20 years of hits, the reunion was dedicated to celebrating the life and legacy of the Notorious B.I.G., on what would have been his 44th birthday. Christopher Wallace Jr., Biggies son, also took the time to reflect on the memorable night. Its crazy seeing the crowds reaction for me, he said standing behind the Bad Boy stage. Its crazy seeing the effect that the musics had on people for over 20 years and still being able to bring that vibe and spirit and all that energy into the arena. You may remember a younger Christopher when he played his father as a child in the 2009 Notorious biopic. The reunion concert, which sold out in 20 minutes, brought out thousands of fans who enjoyed the hits of some of the most influential artists dating back from the 90s until now. To play all the same songs, its pretty amazing. All those artists, its really unforgettable. I knew I couldnt miss it, he added. Joining the stage alongside Puff Daddy, was Lil Kim, Faith Evans (Christophers mother), Mary J. Blige, Total, Mase, Jay Z, and many more. The group went through hit after hit, including the tribute single, Ill Be Missing You, which closed out the show. Bad Boy will continue the show on their North American tour in August, starting in Columbus, Ohio, and ending in Oakland, California in October. For more information on how to cop tickets, you can head here. But in the meantime, check out Christophers interview below. Bindi Irwins boyfriend came up with a truly adorable, perfect way to ask her to prom Bindi Irwins boyfriend came up with a truly adorable, perfect way to ask her to prom Bindi Irwin has many wild experiences under her belt, but prom isnt one of them. However, thanks to Irwins boyfriend Chandler Powell, this is about to change. 1 year ago. We don't really have Prom in Australia but this wonderful human being is American and when his Prom came around he invited me to Florida to go with him I can't believe this really happened, I felt like I was living in a movie and was a real life Disney princess. Gosh I'm blessed. Thank you @chandlerpowell it meant the world to me. A photo posted by Bindi Irwin (@bindisueirwin) on Apr 13, 2016 at 2:17pm PDT He was really kind, 17-year-old Irwin told People Magazine. He said, You dont really get a prom, so would you please come with me to mine? It turns out that Powell is a smart thinker when it comes to promposals. Knowing that Bindi, who as the daughter of wildlife conservationist Steve Irwin, has dedicated her life to carrying on her fathers work with animals, it was clear he was going to need a furry friend to help out. Thankfully, he has one on hand, and came up with a truly adorable and perfect way to ask Bindi to prom. Chandler has a really beautiful dog named Percy and Percy is one of my best friends now. So he tied a note to Percys collar and Percy came bounding out, Irwin revealed. It was very sweet. I feel very blessed. The prom story is super sweet, but the young couple dressed up for another event this this week at the first-ever Steve Irwin Gala Dinner, held in Los Angeles. Its nice to have him just a little bit closer and in the same time zone, Irwin added. Powell, who is a professional wakeboarder, is currently attending college in Florida. Seeing as thought its right around the time of end-of-the-year exams, Irwin is lucky her boyfriend was able to get away and join in the event honoring her fathers work. Im so happy to take him to the gala, she added. Story continues They are just about the cutest couple on the planet. We hope Bindi and Chandler have a fantastic prom together, and many more great dates to come. Its just impossible not to root for them! Bummed that I had to leave my girl in LA this morning. But off to Abu Dhabi tomorrow for World Championships! #SeeYouSoon A photo posted by Chandler Powell (@chandlerpowell) on Oct 27, 2015 at 3:20pm PDT The post Bindi Irwins boyfriend came up with a truly adorable, perfect way to ask her to prom appeared first on HelloGiggles. La Paz (AFP) - Bolivia braved criticism from Christian churches to enact a gender identity law allowing transsexual and transgender people to change their name, sex and photo on official and private documents. "Today we've put an end to a history of social proscription," Vice President Alvaro Garcia said as he enacted the legislation in place of President Evo Morales, who was visiting Cuba. Transgender people "are a reality," he said. "It is social hypocrisy to deny their existence." Bolivia's legislature passed the law on Friday, despite protests from Catholic and Evangelical churches demanding more debate. The Catholic Church had said it rejected the text because it undermines family and societal "norms." An Evangelical church leader, pastor Sergio Gutierrez, had called for a national referendum on the issue. But Garcia on Saturday pointed to an interview last year in which Pope Francis said transsexuals were also children of God and that they should be accepted by the Church as such. "If the pope says that, who are we to judge and to deny someone who wants to modify their sexual identity?" Garcia asked. LGBT associations welcomed the law. "We can see we are in a new state able to integrate each of these people who were vilified and who had no rights," said Tamara Nunez, a representative of a transsexual collective. "Identity is the first fundamental right." Caracas (AFP) - Bolivian President Evo Morales made a brief visit to Venezuela on the weekend during which he reiterated support for his embattled ally, Nicolas Maduro, state media reported. During the visit, made late Saturday, Morales expressed "all our solidarity, all the support of the Bolivian people" and hailed military exercises Maduro had overseen the two previous days. The two leftwing presidents hold staunch anti-American positions and have pursued socialist policies aimed at bettering the poor, mainly through nationalizations. They have also recently both run into political turbulence. Morales, who lost a referendum that would have opened the way for him to secure another mandate, said Bolivians were being "fooled by the right." Maduro is facing rising public discontent over the collapse of Venezuela's oil-based economy. The opposition is seeking to oust him through a recall referendum. Morales' visit was a stopover on his return from a trip to Cuba, where he held talks with the island's communist leaders, President Raul Castro and his brother Fidel. Maduro was to fly to Jamaica on Sunday for what he said were talks on bilateral trade and political accords. Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA jointly owns the sole refinery in Jamaica with that country's Petrojam. Jamaica is also one of the beneficiaries of Venezuela's PetroCaribe program to supply cheap oil to Caribbean and Central American countries. Both initiatives are under pressure from Venezuela's economic straits. Venezuela has been selling off assets this year -- notably gold in its reserves -- to keep up with debt repayments. Cannes (France) (AFP) - British director Ken Loach launched a withering attack on austerity economics which he said had led the European Union to "near catastrophe", after winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival Sunday. "I, Daniel Blake", the veteran left-wing filmmaker's damning indictment of the poverty and humiliation inflicted on the most vulnerable by welfare cuts in Britain, moved many critics to tears. The story taps into the despair over rising unemployment and austerity across Europe after the financial crisis. "The world we live in is at a dangerous point just now," said Loach as he picked up the award. "We are in the grip of a project of austerity driven by ideas that we call neo-liberalism that brought us to near catastrophe. "It has led to billions of people in serious hardship and many millions struggling from Greece in the east to Spain in the west... while this has brought a tiny few immense wealth." Loach, who turns 80 next month, came out of retirement to make the film on carpenter Daniel Blake's complex journey to get benefits in Britain after suffering a heart attack and being told by doctors he can no longer work. Blake befriends a young single mother of two who is sanctioned for being late at a benefits centre, leaving her with no money for food. Actress Hayley Squires was praised by the Cannes jury for one of the most hard-hitting performances of the festival as the mother who, weakened by hunger, cannot stop herself from ripping open a tin of baked beans in a food bank and scooping it into her mouth. "We remember the people who inspired this... those people who without (food banks) would otherwise be hungry in the fifth richest country on the planet," Loach said. - Poor blamed - While carrying out research for the movie, the filmmakers interviewed people working for welfare centres, who said they were given a quota of how many sanctions to hand out. Story continues One of the actresses in the film was a former employee of Britain's Department for Work and Pensions who "couldn't stand it anymore", Squires told a press conference this week. One of the main themes tackled in the film is how the poor are viewed by others. Because the main character Blake is denied illness benefits he is forced to apply for unemployment assistance. That in turn forces him to spend hours hunting for jobs which he has to turn down because he is too sick to work, and is accused of being a scrounger. "The most vulnerable people are told their poverty is their own fault," Loach told reporters this week. "If you have no work it is your fault that you haven't got a job." Loach also warned about the rise of the far-right in Europe, after he said earlier this week that if Britain leaves the EU in a June referendum it could end up with such a government. "When there is despair, the people from the far right take advantage," said Loach. London (AFP) - Britain could be plunged into a year-long recession and lose hundreds of thousands of jobs if it voted to leave the EU next month, the government warned Monday in a report critics dismissed as "deeply biased". Speaking at a hardware store in southern England, Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain risked sparking a "do-it-yourself recession" by backing a Brexit in a referendum on June 23. "The shock to our economy after leaving Europe would tip the country into recession," Cameron said, as he launched the Treasury's second report on the impact of leaving. "It is the self-destruct option." The study presented two potential short-term scenarios, predicting that gross domestic product (GDP) would be either 3.6 percent or six percent lower two years after a "Leave" vote than it would otherwise be. There would be at least 520,000 and up to 820,000 jobs lost, sterling would fall by at least 12 percent and up to 15 percent, and house prices would fall by at least 10 percent and up to 18 percent, it said. "With exactly one month to go until the referendum, the British people must ask themselves this question: can we knowingly vote for recession?" asked finance minister George Osborne. But former cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith, a leading figure in the Vote Leave campaign, said the analysis offered a "deeply biased view of the future" that "should not be believed by anyone". Duncan Smith said previous Treasury predictions had often been wrong and criticised the government for failing to publish details of any potential benefits of a Brexit. "Every Treasury report has a central presumption from which there are downsides and then there are upsides," the former work and pensions minister told BBC radio. "They have today chosen only to produce the downside. That makes this report categorically unfair and biased as a Treasury report." Story continues Arron Banks, a multimillionaire backer of the Leave.EU campaign, said the Treasury report was "laughable". "If the economy hits the skids and the pound falls, it will be because the recovery was built on sand," he said. - 'Hysterical claims' - An earlier Treasury report into the long-term impact of a Brexit said households could be A4,300 (5,400 euros, $6,100) a year poorer after 15 years than they would otherwise have been. The International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England have also warned of the economic consequences of leaving. Leading Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London who is tipped as a future prime minister, hit out at the "hysterical claims" by "Project Fear". In an article in the Daily Telegraph on Monday imagining how historians would look back on the debate, he suggested that "Project Fear turned out to be a giant hoax". "The markets were calm. The pound did not collapse... and a new relationship was rapidly forged based on free trade." The Vote Leave campaign claims that leaving the EU will save the equivalent of A4,600 for each household, based on Britain's contribution of A350 million each week. Analysts say Britain actually contributes A280 million to the EU budget, taking into account its rebate. - Turkey's membership - Vote Leave marked the one-month milestone by launching a new poster campaign warning that "Turkey (population 76 million) is joining the EU", with the implication that many of those people will soon head to work in Britain. Ending the mass migration from EU states to Britain has been a central theme of the "Leave" campaign. Last week it published an analysis suggesting net migration would rise by five million by 2030 if Britain stayed in the EU, assuming that Turkey, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia all joined in the next five years. Cameron dismissed the warnings about Turkey, telling ITV television on Sunday: "At the current rate of progress, they'd probably get round to joining in about the year 3,000." An average of the last six polls by research project What UK Thinks puts "Remain" on 54 percent of support compared to 46 percent for "Leave", excluding undecideds. PRETORIA (Reuters) - Scrumhalf Piet van Zyl scored a crucial try for the Bulls to help secure a bruising 17-13 victory over South African rivals the Stormers and reignite their Super Rugby challenge at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. The win came as a relief for the Bulls, who leapfrogged their opponents to go top of Africa Conference 1, after back-to-back losses for the Pretoria-based side in Australia. In a typically physical battle that saw stout defensive efforts from both sides, Van Zyl scored his teams only try to go with three penalties from flyhalf Francois Brummer and a drop-goal by Tiaan Schoeman. Centre Damian de Allende scored the only try for the Stormers to go with eight points from the boot of flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis. All the points in the first half came in the opening 14 minutes as the teams traded two penalties each to go into the break at 6-6. The Stormers had the lions share of the possession but met a blue wall of defenders on every attack and lacked the penetration needed to cross the tryline. The home side were fortunate not to lose Brummer to at least a yellow card when he mistimed his jump in a contest in the air with Du Plessis and sent the Stormers number 10 tumbling to the ground head first in a sickening fall that he was fortunate to escape from unscathed. The Bulls put some daylight between themselves and their opponents seven minutes after the break when Jan Serfonteins chip landed perfectly for fullback SP Marais and he was able to release Van Zyl to score. The try went unconverted, but the home side stretched their lead to eight with a penalty shortly afterwards as momentum swung in their favour. The Stormers, however, continued to see more of the ball and launched a series of battering attacks. The blue defensive wall finally broke with 13 minutes remaining when incessant pressure from the visitors saw De Allende find a hole and sprint over for a converted try that cut the deficit to a single point. Schoemans drop-goal took the Bulls clear by four and they were able to hold out for what could be a crucial win in their season. (Reporting By Nick Said; Editing by Toby Davis) London (AFP) - Prime Minister David Cameron, who who has hit out at Donald Trump's stance on Muslim immigration, said Sunday he would be "very happy" to meet the White House hopeful if he visited Britain. Cameron has branded Trump's suggested ban on Muslims entering the United States as "stupid, divisive and wrong," and did not retract from that position when asked about the possibility of meeting the presumptive Republican nominee. Asked if he would meet tycoon Trump before the November election, Cameron told ITV television: "I don't know. "American presidential candidates have made a habit of coming through Europe and through the UK, and so if that happens I'd be very happy to." In December, Trump called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on", citing "great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population". Cameron told ITV: "I don't withdraw in any way what I said about the policy of not letting Muslims into America. I do think that is wrong and divisive. "We've got to demonstrate that what we're up against here is a very small minority of a minority, Islamist extremists, that want to divide our societies. "We've got to explain that there are billions of people in our world who are devout Muslims but who believe in liberal democracy and all the things we believe in." Trump warned Monday he may end up having a bad relationship with Cameron. "It looks like we are not going to have a very good relationship," the tycoon said. "Who knows, I hope to have a good relationship with him but he's not willing to address the problem either." Montreal (AFP) - Canada's UN ambassador said Sunday that the country's experience welcoming Syrian refugees helps qualify it for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, part of its push for a more active role on the world stage. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in mid-March that Canada would seek a rotating seat on the council during the 2021-2022 term. "Our experience with Syrian refugees, our experience living together in diversity with lasting peace and prosperity is an example for the world," the country's UN ambassador Marc-Andre Blanchard told public broadcaster CBC on Sunday. Canada has welcomed more than 26,000 Syrian refugees following a campaign pledge by Trudeau, and has plans to take in up to 31,000 more by the end of the year. The Security Council has a total of 15 members, five of them permanent -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- and another 10 that serve rotating two-year terms. "In recent months, Canada's leadership has stood out with agreements on climate change, Syrian refugee issues, drugs recently and indigenous people last week," Blanchard said in French. "These are all examples of Canada's multilateral re-engagement." Canada is also asserting its peacekeeping experience in its push for a Security Council seat. Ottawa aims to provide "expertise for rapid strategic deployment in conflict zones" and even command forces training, Blanchard said. The country currently has 84 police, nine military experts and 20 soldiers deployed on peacekeeping missions, but those numbers could grow as Ottawa plans to take over command of the UN stabilization mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and replace Brazilian forces before the end of the year. A UN member since 1945, Canada has already served on the council several times. But it suffered a blow when it was passed over by the UN General Assembly during a 2010 bid to join the council. The assembly chose Portugal and Germany instead -- both from the same Western region to which Canada belongs. Candidates for Security Council seats typically undertake vigorous lobbying campaigns courting the UN's 193 members. Director Ken Loach, center, producer Rebecca O'Brien, left and writer Paul Laverty react after Roach is awarded the Palme d'Or for I, Daniel Blake (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) The 69th annual Cannes Film Festival came to a close Sunday night with the main competition awards ceremony at the Palais des Festivals. Ken Loachs I, Daniel Blake won the top prize, the Palme d'Or, which was presented by Mel Gibson. The pic follows two people caught in an uncaring welfare system. The British filmmaker, who previously won the Palme d'Or for The Wind That Shakes the Barley, gave a passionate speech about the state of the economy and social and political systems while accepting his award. The world is at a dangerous point, with 'austerity driven by the ideals of neo-liberalism that have brought us to near-catastrophe, that have brought hardship to many in Greece in the East and Portugal and Spain in the West and grotesque wealth to a few, he said. There is the danger of despair that people from the far right take advantage. Some of us who are old remember what that was like. So we must say something else is possible, another world is possible and necessary. Twenty-one films competed in the main competition, which has been screening the movies over the past week and a half. Read More: Cannes: Ken Loach Slams Conscious Cruelty in Welfare System, Urges Against Brexit Xavier Dolans Its Only the End of the World won the Grand Prix prize. Dolans film, starring Marion Cotillard, Lea Seydoux and Vincent Cassel, centers on a young man who returns home to tell his family hes dying. The jury prize was given to Andrea Arnold for American Honey. Sasha Lane stars alongside Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough in Arnolds first U.S. feature about a teen runaway who takes up with a traveling youth crew. Two filmmakers were given the honor of best director: Cristian Mungiu for Graduation and Olivier Assayas for Personal Shopper. Graduation centers on an overbearing dad determined to get his daughter into a British university at any price. Mungiu won the Palme d'Or for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days in 2007. Story continues Assayas Personal Shopper stars Kristen Stewart as a woman who is a medium and searching for her dead twin brother. Jaclyn Jose, the star of Filipino auteur Brillante Mendozas Ma Rosa, took home best actress honors. Read More: Cannes: THR Critics Debate Rape Comedy, Overlong Movies and Award-Worthy Women The best actor prize was awarded to Shahab Hosseini, the star of Asghar Farhadis The Salesman. He previously starred in A Separation, also directed by Farhadi. Farhadis The Salesman also won the award for best screenplay. The Camera d'Or, which honors the best first feature film, was awarded to Divines, a movie by Houda Benyamina that premiered in Directors Fortnight. Willem Dafoe presented the award. Timecode, directed by Juanjo Gimenez, won the short film award, while The Girl Who Danced With the Devil, helmed by Joao Paulo Miranda Maria, received a special distinction. The honorary Palme d'Or was given to Jean-Pierre Leaud, the French actor who starred in Francois Truffauts series of films that began with 1959s The 400 Blows. The jury included president George Miller, Kirsten Dunst, Mads Mikkelsen, Vanessa Paradis and Donald Sutherland. See More: Cannes: THRs Photo Portfolio With Adam Driver, Kristen Stewart and the Stars of 'Loving I called it the nine-headed beast, said Cannes Film Festival jury president George Miller about the thorough-going group that sorted through so many potential winners during the last 10 days. It was a collective experience, a hard one over many hours. It was incredibly vigorous and rigorous. Miller, director of Mad Max: Fury Road, was told that this jury took the longest in coming up with their choices, with one category the best director slot winding up in a tie between Olivier Assayas Personal Shopper and Cristian Mungius Graduation. According to festival rules, Miller said, no winner in the top three categories Palme dOr, Grand Prix and director could win any other category. Its all about being fair and sharing the wealth. Why the long deliberation? Per Miller, Lets look at the mess of these things 21 directors, 21 writers multiply that by however many actors and the many variables over eight prizes. Nothing was left unsaid, Miller said of the deliberations, adding that the jury avoided looking at what other people were saying. The Palme dOr winner I, Daniel Blake marks Ken Loachs second top prize at the fest after 2006s The Wind That Shakes The Barley. He now ties with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne who also have two Palme dOrs for 2005s LEnfant and 1999s Rosetta. Loachs film focuses on a middle-aged carpenter who requires state welfare after injuring himself and is joined by a single mother in a similar scenario. Palme dOr pundits believed that this emotional film would ring with the actor-heavy Cannes jury, and they were right on the nose. The pic also deals with the middle class thats been left behind, the factions who in the U.S. are jiving with Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. Given the opulence in Cannes, one reporter asked if the jury felt a sense of guilt given the issues raised in the movie. Story continues No, not at all, asserted juror and actor Donald Sutherland. Movies just resonate with your heart and soul. During the winners sesh, Loach said about his win, Its extraordinary really. Its the same group of us from earlier in 2006. Same little gang. Its just nice to be in that team. Our breath has been taken away. We weret expecting to come back. Were quietly stunned. Given the abundance of female directors and stars at the 69th festival, the press corps wondered how that diversity impacted the jurys decisions. Without going into specifics, I dont remember going to a film and assessing if a woman was in it or not, said Miller. We were looking at other issues. Added Mads Mikkelsen, There are places where (certain topics) are up for debate, but we have to do certain things as a jury. We pray and hope that people were selected because they made good films, not because theyre a woman or a man. In a year with such striking female performances as Kristen Stewart in Personal Shopper; Sasha Lane in American Honey, Isabelle Huppert in Elle, Elle Fanning in The Neon Demon; Marion Cotillard in From The Land Of The Moon; and Min-Hee Kim and Tae Ri Kim in The Handmaiden, some onlookers scratched their heads over the jurys choice to award Jaclyn Jose for her turn in the Filipino film MaRosa. Her character is arrested within the first 15 minutes of the movie, and she spends the bulk of it in jail while her family tries to bail her out. Some critics felt she was a supporting character. Its a big-time leading role and the critics are wrong! exclaimed Sutherland. That scene at the end where shes eating! French director/writer Arnaud Desplechin also defended the choice: Her performance broke my heart. Laszlo Nemes said that the jurys decision to give the Grand Prix to Xavier Dolans Its Only The End Of The World was not a returned favor to the Canadian director who was on the jury last year when Nemes Son Of Saul took the same award. Later on during the winners press conference, Dolan revealed why he cried so much on stage during his acceptance speech. To know that people have misunderstood your work the things youve worked on so hard, in every character, in their love, pain and complexity, when theyre narrowed as stupid or mean, and not understanding anything, its a surprise and a shock. Then we had the premiere where the movie was well-received and you dont know who youre making films for, the critics or the public. Were all public. And now to go on stage and be told by an ensemble of people who I immensely respect from the landscape of filmmaking, that they chose this film, my characters and me, tells me that you have to remain true to yourself. At the top of the jury conference, Sutherland took a seat next to fellow member Iranian producer Katayoon Shahabi who had her head covered. The actor put his scarf on his head similar to hers in jest. Apparently, he had quite a two weeks. Ive been soaking wet, I had to change my clothes so I dont get pneumonia. Im 81. One standout speech during the winners press conference came from director Christian Mungiu (Graduation), who praised the diversity of small films in a commercial social media-driven age. It was one of the few defenses for the arthouse biz expressed during what was largely a backslapping panel. As an aside, Personal Shopper director Olivier Assayas was all too pleased to share the director win with Mungiu. Said Mungiu, If we cant preserve this, smaller films might disappear in matter of a few years. Its really important to preserve the diversity in cinema. Commercial cinema is wonderful, but cinema wasnt born to produce commercial cinema alone. Its good to have voices and points of views We need to make an effort to educate the audience. The director further praised Cannes as an oasis that supports the global stage of moviemaking, especially the small films. Related Oldest And Youngest Directors Take Two Top Prizes, But Only Ken Loach Deserved It: Cannes Analysis Related stories Nicolas Winding Refn To Produce LA-Set Remake Of Giallo Pic 'What Have You Done To Solange?' - Cannes Studio Canal Chief Didier Lupfer Lays Out Challenges & Opportunities Ahead For Europe's Major Player - Cannes Oldest And Youngest Directors Take Top Cannes Prizes, But Only Ken Loach Deserved It - Analysis UPDATE, 12:26 PM PT: The Cannes jury said this was the longest deliberation process in the history of the festival as tonights awards ceremony began. Following conventional wisdom, there are some head-scratchers in the mix (stay tuned for Pete Hammonds analysis). The Palme dOr went to Ken Loachs well-regarded I, Daniel Blake, a social drama about an ailing carpenters struggle against the bureaucracy of the healthcare system. The 79-year-old director had previously said hed made his last film, but with Daniel Blake, he enters the pantheon of double Palme dOr winners which also includes the Dardenne brothers who were in competition this year with La Fille Inconnue. Loach previously won the Palme in 2006 with The Wind That Shakes The Barley. Mel Gibson handed the prize to Loach who thanked the jury and the festival, which, he said, is very, very important for the future of cinema. Stay strong! He made a plea against neo-liberalism, saying, We live in a period of austerity driven by ideas that risk to bring us to catastrophe Film has many traditions and one of them is to present protest against those more powerful and mighty. I hope this is a tradition that goes on We must give a message of hope and say that another world is possible and necessary. Graduating from his 2014 Jury Prize for Mommy his first time in competition Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan took the Grand Prize in his sophomore outing this year. His Its Only The End Of The World is the story of a writer who returns home to tell his family he is dying; the film is based on a play by Jean-Luc Lagarce, who died of an AIDS-related illness in 1995. The emotional Dolan was choked-up throughout his acceptance speech and paid tribute to Lagarce, saying he hoped he hadnt disappointed him. I will do movies my whole life that will be loved or not, he said, and added a quote from Anatole France: I prefer the madness of passion to the wisdom of indifference. Andrea Arnolds well-received American Honey took the Jury Prize. This is the directors third time winning that honor after Fish Tank and Red Road. She said being on stage was surreal since shed just been sitting five hours ago at a friends house drinking tea. In a surprise tie, Romanian helmer Cristian Mungiu shared the Best Director prize with Frances Olivier Assayas for Graduation and Personal Shopper, respectively. Asghar Farhadis The Salesman, which was the last film to screen, won two prizes: for screenplay and lead actor Shahab Hosseini. Best Actress went to the Philippines Jaclyn Jose for her role in Brillante Mendozas MaRosa. This was a hotly-contested race with strong perfs from the likes of American Honey breakout Sasha Lane; Elles Isabelle Huppert; The Neon Demons Elle Fanning; From The Land Of The Moons Marion Cotillard; and Ruth Negga in Jeff Nichols Loving. Apart from Honey, each of those films was shut out. Camera dOr winning director Uda Benyamina, meanwhile, likely wins the prize for longest acceptance speech ever for her first film Divines. Finally, the Palme dHonneur went to veteran actor Jean-Pierre Leaud who first came to Cannes as a 14-year-old boy in Francois Truffauts The 400 Blows. I was born in Cannes in 1959, Leaud said. Today I feel the same profound joy that I had 58 years ago. See below for the full list of winners. PREVIOUS, 10:18 AM PT: After 10 days and 21 films in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, the top prizes are being awarded tonight. On the way into the Palais this evening, members of George Millers jury said they now hold the record for the longest deliberation time ever. Among some of the best reviewed titles have been Maren Ades Toni Erdmann from Germany, which yesterday scored a FIPRESCI; Jim Jarmuschs Paterson; and Paul Verhoevens Elle. There is also a lot of heat on Andrea Arnolds American Honey; Park Chan-wooks The Handmaiden; and Jeff Nichols Loving. Reliably, Nicolas Winding Refns The Neon Demon has divided critics. But Cannes juries are typically hard to predict, and with such major previous prize winners as the Dardennes, Pedro Almodovar, Ken Loach, Cristian Mungiu and Asghar Farhadi in play plus that lengthy debate its anybodys guess until the names are read off in just a few moments. Follow along as the winners are updated below: Palme dOr I, Daniel Blake, dir: Ken Loach Grand Prize Xavier Dolan, Its Only The End Of The World Best Director TIE Cristian Mungiu, Graduation Olivier Assayas, Personal Shopper Best Screenplay Asghar Farhadi, The Salesman Best Actress Jaclyn Jose, MaRosa Jury Prize American Honey, dir: Andrea Arnold Best Actor Shahab Hosseini, The Salesman Palme dHonneur Jean-Pierre Leaud Camera dOr Divines, dir: Uda Benyamina Short Film Palme dOr Timecode, dir: Juanjo Gimenez Special Mention The Girl Who Danced With The Devil, dir: Joao Paulo Miranda Maria Related stories Nicolas Winding Refn To Produce LA-Set Remake Of Giallo Pic 'What Have You Done To Solange?' - Cannes Studio Canal Chief Didier Lupfer Lays Out Challenges & Opportunities Ahead For Europe's Major Player - Cannes Oldest And Youngest Directors Take Top Cannes Prizes, But Only Ken Loach Deserved It - Analysis Washington (AFP) - Hillary Clinton tried to draw a sharper contrast with Donald Trump on Sunday, saying the central message of her campaign was "We're stronger together," even as a new poll showed the two candidates in a statistical tie. The new Washington Post/ABC News survey found the presidential frontrunners in "a virtual dead heat" among registered voters. Never in the poll's history, The Post said, had two major party nominees been viewed as harshly, with nearly 6 in 10 voters holding negative impressions of both candidates. That underscored a growing sense of urgency in the Clinton campaign to define her both more clearly and positively -- a task made harder by her inability to shake off her tenacious Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders. Clinton, in an appearance on NBC, challenged Trump's "Make America Great" slogan, suggesting that "he seems to be particularly focused on making himself appear great." The former secretary of state said her campaign would be "demonstrating the hollowness of his rhetoric, and the danger of a lot of what he has said." - 'We're stronger together' - Asked to sum up her own message, Clinton said, "We're stronger together." She said Americans needed to unify and work together to improve the economy. "We're stronger together when we have a bipartisan, even nonpartisan foreign policy that protects our country. And that provides the kind of steady, strong, smart leadership that the rest of the world expects." But the new poll seemed to show that if Americans are united about anything, it is in their dissatisfaction with the two leading candidates. What is shaping up to be the nastiest American presidential campaign in recent memory is beginning with voters expressing historically deep and practically identical levels of discomfort with both Trump and Clinton. This has shaken up some in the Democratic camp, who assumed Trump would be an easy target, and it has provided encouragement to Sanders, the Vermont senator who trails Clinton but keeps winning primaries. Story continues Appearing on Sunday talk shows, Sanders pleaded with the hundreds of the party's so-called super-delegates who support Clinton to reconsider their allegiance ahead of the Democratic nominating convention in late July. A frequent critic of the Democrats' selection process, he said the party was headed for an "anointment" of Clinton. As the race for the White House grows closer, Clinton supporters and some Democratic Party leaders have made increasingly insistent calls for Sanders to step aside and let Clinton turn her full attention to Trump. But Sanders vowed yet again on Sunday to stay in the race at least until California, the most populous state, stages its primary on June 7. The Post/ABC poll found the two leading candidates are in a statistical dead heat, with 46 percent of registered voters favoring Trump and 44 percent supporting Clinton. That amounted to an 11-point shift in the Republican's favor since March. Clinton's net negative rating among registered voters was a minus 16, virtually the same as Trump's minus 17, though his negatives were significantly higher among all adults. - Positive ratings - Voters gave Sanders the most positive ratings of the three, with a net positive of 8 points among registered voters. But Clinton suggested on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the Sanders numbers might be meaningless, because early polls are often unreliable and because Sanders has not borne the brunt of the intense scrutiny that she has faced for decades. "I don't think he's ever had a single negative ad against him," she said. "That's fine, but we know what we're going into and understand what it's going to take to win in the fall. "Finally, I would say that polls this far out mean nothing. They certainly mean nothing to me." Voters also continued to express positive views of President Obama, to whom Clinton has closely tied her campaign, giving him a 51-percent approval rating. Clinton has largely aligned herself with Obama -- while taking her distance on issues like trade with Asia -- but said Sunday that she is her own person. "I'm not running for anybody's third term," she said on NBC. "I'm running for my first term. I also want to do what works. My goal is to produce positive results for the American people." When it comes to the Democratic presidential primary, Bernie Sanders isnt exactly walking around with a protest signs that reads, Hell no, I wont go! but hes getting pretty close. Three days after frontrunner after Hillary Clinton flatly told CNN that she would be her partys standard-bearer and that there is no way she wouldnt be, the independent Vermont Senator forcefully rebutted her claim. Related: Clinton: Trumps Not Qualified, and Sanders Is Done Well, I think she might want to talk to the people of Indiana, West Virginia and Oregon, who voted very strongly for me in the last three contests, Sanders said Sunday on ABCs This Week. People of Kentucky, who kind of split the delegates -- and I think were going to do very well in the nine remaining contests. So I think Secretary Clinton is jumping the gun a little bit here, he added. Sanders said the country needs an election which does not have two candidates who are really very, very strongly disliked, an argument backed up by an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released early Sunday that confirmed presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and Clinton are both burdened with high unfavorable ratings. Fifty-eight percent view Trump unfavorably, while 54 percent hold a negative opinion of Clinton. Related: Heres Why Bernie Sanders Focus on College Costs Is Working I don't want to see the American people voting for the lesser of two evils, Sanders said. That same survey showed that Clintons lead over Trump shrunk to just 3 points, 46 to 43 percent, within the polls margin of error. Last month the same poll found the former Secretary of State besting the real estate mogul 50 to 39 percent. But Clinton isnt backing down from the tough rhetoric she used late last week, saying she will listen to Sanders about unifying the fractious Democratic Party when hes ready to talk. Well, certainly, we're going to talk with him when he's ready to talk, and listen to him. And we will take into account what he is asking for, she said on NBCs Meet the Press. I think that's part of the process. Story continues Related: How Clinton Could Finally Close the Door on Sanders Senator Sanders has every right to finish off his campaign however he chooses, she added. There will then be the obvious need for us to unify the party. I faced the same challenge in 2008. I will certainly do my part, reaching out to Senator Sanders, reaching out to his supporters. And I expect him to do his. Clinton, who is less than 100 delegates shy of clinching the nomination, also previewed themes for her expected fall match-up against Trump. My campaign is not going to let Donald Trump try to normalize himself, she said." I've said he was unqualified to be president. I believe that deeply. "I think in the course of this campaign, we are going to demonstrate he has no ideas,'' according to Clinton. "There's no evidence he has any ideas about making America great, as he advertises. He seems to be particularly focused on making himself appear great.'' Related: US Troops Are Headed to Libya, and Thats Bad News for Hillary Clinton Trump has repeatedly thumbed his nose at the time-honored tradition, say that he doesnt believe voters have a right to see his returns and has insisted its none of your business when pressed on what tax rate he pays. Trump shot back at comments Clinton made earlier during a telephone interview on Fox & Friends Sunday. Shes ineffective. Bernie Sanders said shes not qualified to be President and he meant it. She suffers from bad judgment, Trump said. President Obama might have given Trump and Republicans a little ammunition to support Trumps statement in an interview on Fox News Sunday that was taped earlier in the week. Obama said, "There's a carelessness in terms of managing emails that she has owned and she has recognized. If Trump can use Sanders quotes whose policies he rejects, hell certainly use Obamas, even though he has nothing but disdain for the president. Our country has never been so divided as it is right now. We have a president whos a total divider. And Hillary is weak. Shes a weak person and it will probably be 4 more yearsand probably 4 more years even worse than what weve been going through, Trump said. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: Cartagena (Colombia) (AFP) - The ashes of Nobel literature laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez were laid to rest in Cartagena, the jewel of colonial architecture on Colombia's Caribbean coast, following a tribute to the author. "There is joy mingled with sadness," his 85-year-old sister Rosa Aida Garcia Marquez, one of the author's ten siblings, told AFP. His ashes will be kept in a former convent near the home where he liked to stay. Huge yellow butterflies, a symbol of magical realism -- the genre Garcia Marquez helped make famous -- graced the cloister's trees for the ceremony, which was attended by his widow and some 400 guests, most dressed in white. "It's an honor for the city of Cartagena to host such an event," Gonzalo Garcia Barcha, a son of the celebrated Colombian writer, told AFP. Garcia Marquez, the author of "One Hundred Years of Solitude," died at the age of 87 on April 17, 2014 in Mexico, where he lived with his wife Mercedes Barcha. "The family is here," Garcia Barcha said; relatives had arrived in recent days from France and the United States. Edgar Parra Chacon, president of the University of Cartagena, to which the cloister is attached, expressed what he said was a "great honor to receive 'Gabo,'" the affectionate nickname given to the writer. The Claustro de la Merced, or Cloister of Mercy, is about 100 meters (yards) from the family's seafront home. Garcia Marquez's two sons, Garcia Barcha, a designer who lives in Paris, and Rodrigo Garcia Barcha, a US-based filmmaker, unveiled a bronze bust of the author by British sculptor Katie Murray, which stands in the courtyard. The family placed the ashes inside stonework under the bust earlier during a private ceremony. Only a portion of Garcia Marquez's ashes are being held in Cartagena, however. The rest will remain in Mexico, where he lived since the 1980s. President Juan Manuel Santos, who once saluted Garcia Marquez as "the greatest Colombian of all times," was absent from the funeral, despite being on the invitation list. Story continues Garcia Marquez earned widespread admiration for his fervent defense of the rights of victims of Latin American dictatorships. There was no unanimity around the placement of the writer's ashes. "The homage to Garcia Marquez... should take place at his native Aracataca," the village where he was born in 1927, Nereira Esparragoza, 51, told AFP. He had traveled from Barranquilla, some 130 kilometers (80 miles) away. Katia Manjarrez, 53, a Cartagena businesswoman, went further, saying, "We should respect the country he loved, Mexico." As much as the presence of Gabo's ashes could be a boon to her city, she said, "for him, Cartagena and Aracataca were less important." But near the walled city's famous Clock Tower, 62-year-old Gustavo Cabarcas said the ashes belonged in Cartagena. "For us," he said, "it is a source of joy that they remain here." ATHENS (Reuters) - Cyprus went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament in a vote surveys suggest could be won by conservatives backing the presidential incumbent leading peace talks on the ethnically split island. Just over 540,000 people have the right to vote for 56 deputies in Cyprus's House of Representatives, typically seen as a tussle between the right-wing Democratic Rally and the communist AKEL, with the centrist Democratic Party in third place. Although Cyprus has an executive system of government and the president is elected separately, the vote on Sunday is a popularity gauge for President Nicos Anastasiades, whose term expires in 2018. Anastasiades represents Greek Cypriots in talks with Turkish Cypriots to reunify the island, split in a 1974 Turkish military invasion triggered by a brief Greece-inspired coup. Diplomats are cautiously optimistic a solution could be in sight for the long-running conflict. Opinion polls are placing Rally in the lead, with AKEL following, with no one party seen gaining an absolute majority. Voting started at 0400 GMT (0000 EDT) and was scheduled to end at 1600 GMT (1200 EDT). (Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Robert Birsel) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump walks to the stage at a fundraising event in Lawrenceville, N.J., on May 19, 2016. (Photo: Mike Segar/Reuters) There is more evidence now casting doubt on Donald Trumps claim that he is expanding the Republican Party. Additional data from the GOP primary shows that increased turnout in several primary states was driven largely by already-active Republican voters who have historically skipped primaries and voted only in general elections. Trump has boasted that he is drawing new voters to the political process and to the GOP. And the theory of how he might overcome the Democrats growing demographic advantage in key swing states where white voters are no longer dominant majorities rests on the assumption that nontraditional voters, many from the white working class, have been flocking to the polls for the first time in their lives in order to cast their votes for Trump. Primary election statistics collected by Politico first cast doubt on that claim. And now new data voter files combined with field polling from these states collected by a Republican data analysis firm that worked for Florida Sen. Marco Rubios presidential campaign lends more weight to the conclusion that Trumps candidacy is not game-changing, or particularly well-positioned for the general election. There is a significant caveat to all this, an unknown that cant be measured. Even if Trumps support has come from traditional Republican voters, the question remains: Does this years surge of new primary voters predict a wave of entirely new voters who will come to the polls in November? Its possible. The general election is a far bigger event than any one states primary, so participation is easier for voters who dont follow politics as closely as those who vote in primaries. And of course, the other significant question is whether likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton can turn out as many voters as President Obama did when he ran in 2008 and 2012. This also is a big hurdle. What is clear is, the data so far does indicate that Trump has not yet significantly grown the Republican Party. There are small numbers of new voters who came to the polls this year, and in one state New Hampshire that might be enough to help Trump win. But in several other swing states Virginia, Ohio and Michigan if the Democrats can reassemble the Obama coalition, Trumps new support is not enough to win. Story continues 0ptimus, the data and analytics firm that worked for Rubio, focused its analysis on a few key states. In Virginia, there was a stunning turnout in the Republican primary on March 1. More than three times the number of primary voters in 2012 came to the polls, a total of 1,025,452. Of that total, 18.6 percent, or 190,734, were regular primary voters. But they were swamped by voters who usually participate only in general elections. That group made up 72.1 percent of the Republican primary electorate in Virginia. Younger voters who werent eligible for previous elections and those who moved into the state made up 3.6 percent. Only 5.7 percent of the more than 1 million primary voters were new voters. Thats a total of 58,450 new voters. To put that in perspective, look at the 2012 general election. In 2012 in Virginia, President Obama defeated Republican nominee Mitt Romney by almost 150,000 votes. Obama received 1,971,820 votes to Romneys 1,822,522. So if you add the nearly 60,000 votes to a Republican nominee, but the Democrat recreates Obamas turnout which, again, is not a sure thing the Republican is still 90,000 votes short. And keep in mind that the Virginia primary was one of the most closely contested in the GOP race. Trump won the state in this years election, but with only one-third of the vote. He got 356,840 votes, but Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson received a combined 657,080 votes. Many of those Republican voters will turn out for Trump against Clinton, even if they opposed him in the primary. But some wont. To go further, Optimus looked at the results of almost 4,000 telephone surveys it conducted around the time of the primary. Using those responses, the firm built a model of the Virginia electorate and found that of the 72 percent of voters who were new to the primary but usually voted in the general election, the vast majority were voters who were already likely to support a Republican candidate. This confirmed that the new primary voters were almost all regular Republican voters who usually cast ballots only in a general election in the fall. They are not first-time voters or traditionally Democratic-leaning individuals who crossed over. The same dynamic occurred when 0ptimus looked at Ohio. The Buckeye State saw 1,988,960 people come to the polls for the Republican primary this year, up from 1,213,879 in 2012 and 1,095,917 in 2008. Of those, some 53.6 percent were regular primary voters, and 36.8 percent were regular general election voters. Only 5.9 percent were new voters, yielding a total of roughly 118,000 votes. Romney lost Ohio in 2012 by 166,000 votes, so while 118,000 new voters would get Trump closer to winning if Clinton were to maintain the Obama number, it wouldnt get him over the top. The same scenario played out in Michigan, where there were a lot of new voters this year about 119,000. Even so, Romney lost that state in 2012 by 450,000 votes. In New Hampshire, there were 37,000 new voters, and Romney lost there by just 39,000 in 2012. That was the one state surveyed by 0ptimus in which Trumps primary election numbers indicated a better chance of winning than Romney had in 2012. But flipping New Hampshire into the Republican column would not be nearly enough to win the 270 Electoral College votes required to secure the presidency. The authors of the paper from 0ptimus concluded: The increase in presidential primary turnout should give little comfort to the GOP as it looks ahead to Novembers general election. A nearly fatal beating on the U.S. senate floor on this day in 1856 was another step toward a Civil War five years later. But he attacker wasnt an assassinit was a fellow Congressman. On May 22, 1856, Representative Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner with a metal-tipped cane, leaving Sumner seriously injured. Brooks received a $300 fine. The incident started when Senator Sumner, an abolitionist from Massachusetts, went on a two-day rant on the Senate floor after an incident in Kansas. Sumner made fun of Brooks relative, Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina, who had suffered from a stroke, and he used language that compared the Souths use of slavery to prostitution. During Sumners speech, Senator Stephen Douglas told a colleague, That damn fool will get himself killed by some other damn fool. Brooks had a history of violencehe used the cane because he was hurt in a political duel in 1840. An irate Representative Brooks sought advice from fellow South Carolina Representative Laurence M. Keitt, who talked Brooks out of a duel, because he believed Sumner wasnt worthy of the honor. Instead, Brooks confronted Sumner on a nearly empty Senate floor, as Sumner was stamping copies of his Crime Against Kansas speech. Brooks beat the defenseless Sumner to a pulp as Keitt stood by with a drawn gun. The incident made heroes of both men in the Northern and Southern press. The New York Times sent a champion bare-knuckles boxer to cover Congress as a reporter. Admirers in the South mailed canes to Brooks and held banquets in his honor. We are rejoiced. The only regret we feel is that Mr. Brooks did not employ a slave whip instead of a stick, said the Richmond (Virginia) Whig, echoing the sentiments of some Southern newspapers. Sumner survived the attack, but he didnt return to the Senate for three years. His desk remained empty as a symbol of a divided nation. After his return in 1860, Sumner served in the Senate until his death in 1874. Brooks was later challenged to a duel by another politician, but backed out at the last moment. Brooks died in 1857 from the croup, after he had been expelled from the House and then re-elected. dea marijuana In April, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released a letter to lawmakers saying that it would reviewmarijuana's classification as a Schedule I drug, considered the "most dangerous class" of substances. Marijuana was classified as Schedule I in the early 1970s, shortly after the passage of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (CSA). The CSA forms the backbone of US drug policy. It established the scheduling system, which places legal and illegal drugs with potential for abuse into five categories from Schedule V, the least dangerous, to Schedule I, the most dangerous. Substances in Schedule I are considered to have "no currently accepted medical use" and are completely prohibited. Drugs in the Schedule II to V classification are considered to all have some amount of medical use and therefore undergo varying amounts of regulation. The system sounds sensible enough, but a closer look at what chemicals are in each schedule reveal flaws long pointed out by the system's critics: BI GRAPHICS_Drug Scheduling chart In the current scheduling system, marijuana is placed in the same "most dangerous" category as heroin, one of the most powerfully addictive and dangerous illegal substances on the planet. Psychedelics like peyote and LSD and the party drug MDMA (ecstasy) round out Schedule I. Meanwhile, tobacco and alcohol, the two most widely used and deadly substances in the US, are nowhere to be found. Fentanyl, a painkiller approximately 80 to 100 times more powerful than morphine and hundreds of times more powerful than heroin, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in Schedule II. To many observers, the US's drug scheduling seems arbitrary. To understand why, it's instructive to look back at how the schedules were made. Story continues The five groups were determined during the approval process of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970. The scheduling of most drugs was determined by Congress during the debate over the bill and was supposedly chosen according to the scientific and medical evidence at the time. But Kathleen Frydl, a historian at the University of California at Berkeley, has rejected that characterization in her book, "The Drug Wars in America, 1940-1973": While presented as a scientific evaluation, and offered as a lucid and legible categorization of drugs, in reality Schedule I was used to accommodate and continue the posture toward drugs regulated under the Harrison Narcotic Act (heroin); Schedule II drugs in turn inherited the practices and norms associated with the Drug Control Abuse Amendments of 1965 (amphetamines, barbiturates). ... In this way, the CSA enshrined in law the arbitrary distinction drawn between two groups of drugs. ... The legislation was not a scientifically arbitrated scheme of drugs, but a political framework that consolidated a host of decisions, as well as some failures, to decide how to manage the drug portfolio of the United States. A marijuana plant is seen at the The Global Marijuana March in Toronto, May 7, 2011. Demonstrators took part in a march to support the legalization of marijuana. REUTERS/Mark Blinch Once the scheduling was established, the law gave the US Department of Justice and the attorney general the authority to revise the scheduling of drugs already classified or designate scheduling for new drugs, according to a report by the Drug Policy Alliance. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was given the power to conduct a scientific and medical evaluation of a substance to make a recommendation over whether it should be scheduled which is binding to the Justice Department. But once a substance fell into Justice Department control, it stayed there. When the DEA was created in 1973, the attorney general passed scheduling power on to the agency, which it has held ever since. Such a system presents a troubling conflict of interest: The law-enforcement agency whose budget depends explicitly on the magnitude of the threat from illegal drugs is in charge of determining the dangerousness of those drugs, rather than a scientific or medical body equipped to evaluate changing research or scientific data. The DEA has long argued that its scheduling decisions are rooted in science, despite its status as a law-enforcement agency. "Really it comes down to science. That's the foundation of the argument. We're bound by that scientific and medical evaluation," Russ Baer, staff coordinator in the Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at the DEA, told Scientific American last month. marijuana California The history of marijuana's scheduling over the last 30 years, however, would seem to suggest otherwise. The attorney general under President Richard Nixon, John Mitchell, placed marijuana in Schedule I in 1970 at the recommendation of Assistant Secretary of Health Roger O. Egeberg. In a letter to lawmakers, Egeberg indicated that his recommendation was provisional until studies could determine a proper scheduling. Around the same time, Nixon created the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, aka the Shafer Commission, to research the substance. The commission's findings, released in 1972, recommended that marijuana be decriminalized and said that the threat had been exaggerated. "The existing social and legal policy is out of proportion to the individual and social harm engendered by the use of the drug," the report concluded. The commission's recommendations were ignored by Nixon. In 1994, Nixon aide John Ehrlichman told Harper's Magazine that the criminalization of marijuana and heroin was a thinly veiled attempt to discredit the "anti-war left and black people." "We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did," Ehrlichman said. Over the years, the DEA has repeatedly resisted attempts to reschedule or de-schedule marijuana, despite the appeals of advocacy groups and the DEA's own members. In 1972, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) petitioned the DEA to reclassify marijuana to Schedule II so physicians could prescribe it. While the petition was denied, it started a long legal battle that forced the DEA to start a scientific and medical evaluation of the drug. In 1986, the administrator of the DEA initiated public hearings on the rescheduling of marijuana. After two years of hearings, the DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young recommended rescheduling marijuana. "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care," Young wrote in his ruling. Eric Holder DEA administrator John Lawn overruled Young's ruling, citing the testimony of doctors conducting research in the field. By the time the DC Court of Appeals affirmed the DEA's decision in 1994, the petition had taken 22 years to process. Subsequent petitions to reschedule marijuana have taken nine and seven years, respectively, to process. And they have similarly ended in failure. In the intervening years, organizations such as the American Medical Association, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all made recommendations to reschedule marijuana or suggest that marijuana be allowed as medicine for certain patients. The National Academy of Medicine's recommendations were solicited by the White House in 1997 and then summarily ignored. Since California began allowing medical marijuana in 1996, 22 other states and Washington, DC, have followed suit, permitting the medical use of the drug in some form, a decision in direct opposition to the position of the federal government. A 2014 Medscape survey of roughly 1,500 doctors found that 56% supported legalizing medical cannabis nationally, with 82% support among responding oncologists. Even US President Barack Obama's former attorney general has come out in favor of rescheduling. "I certainly think it ought to be rescheduled," Holder said in a February 2016 interview. "You know, we treat marijuana in the same way we treat heroin now, and that clearly is not appropriate." Still, many drug-policy advocates are skeptical at the practical effects of rescheduling marijuana in a currently toxic political climate. Mark Kleiman, a New York University professor specializing in issues involving drugs and criminal policy, wrote in a blog post in 2014 that "rescheduling" marijuana is a "red herring" that would have "zero" practical effect on medical marijuana. Meanwhile, Bill Piper, the director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, wrote that while "rescheduling would be huge politically," it wouldn't do much for patients or users. The solution, according to Kleiman, is opening up medical research to the scientific community. One of the primary reasons that the DEA has rejected rescheduling marijuana is because of a lack of evidence of its medicinal value. Incidentally, however, one factor of why there isn't enough evidence is that the DEA restricts how much marijuana can go toward research, because of its Schedule I status. Any prospective study must be approved by the HHS, the US Food and Drug Administration, and the DEA, a review process that has existed since only the late 1990s. Currently, the University of Mississippi is the only institution licensed to cultivate marijuana for research, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. NOW WATCH: This is how the legal marijuana industry is affecting Mexican drug cartels More From Business Insider Donald Trump on Sunday said some teachers in the U.S. should be armed with guns inside their classrooms. The presumptive Republican nominee, who was recently endorsed by the National Rifle Association of America, made the comments during a Fox & Friends interview in which he was asked to respond to Hillary Clintons remarks about his stance on gun control. I dont want to have guns in classrooms, although in some cases teachers should have guns in classrooms, frankly, Trump said. Because . . . things that are going on in our schools are unbelievable. Im not advocating guns in classrooms, Trump added. But remember in some cases . . . trained teachers should be able to have guns in classrooms. Clinton on Saturday attacked Trump in Florida during an appearance at the Trayvon Martin Foundations Circle of Mothers event, which is held for mothers who have lost a child to gun violence, according to the Miami Herald. Hed mandate that every school in America allow guns in classrooms, Clinton told the crowd. Thats no way to keep us safe. If you want to imagine what Trumps America will look like, picture more kids at risk of violence and bigotry. Picture more anger and fear. By Kieran Guilbert DIFFA, Niger (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When Boko Haram attacked Falmaya Baba Gama's village last year in northeast Nigeria, executing a dozen men and burning down the market, thousands of people fled across the border into Niger, with some forced to leave behind their children amid the chaos. The 30-year-old and her seven children arrived safely in the region of Diffa, but almost one year on, they are hungry, scared of further violence and haunted by the bloodshed they witnessed. "Even now, the children dream about Boko Haram and cry," she said outside a thatched hut, held together with sticks and plastic sheets, in Assaga - a ramshackle site for the displaced located just a few miles from Niger's border with Nigeria. Gama is one of some 240,000 uprooted people living in Diffa, a sweeping tract of desert in southeast Niger sparsely populated with isolated villages and dotted with shrubs and trees. Many of the displaced live in makeshift huts alongside the country's main highway, having been driven from their homes in northeast Nigeria and southeast Niger by Boko Haram violence. The militant group has killed more than 15,000 people and displaced some 2 million in the West African states of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria during a seven-year campaign to carve out an Islamist caliphate. Military offensives mounted by a regional taskforce and Nigerian and Cameroonian troops have pushed Boko Haram further back into the northeast corner of Nigeria, prompting the militants to scatter and ramp up attacks across the border in Diffa. The violence has traumatised many of the Nigerian refugees and displaced Nigeriens residing in Diffa, and left them with scarce food or water, little opportunity to work or trade, and vulnerable to disease and malnutrition, aid agencies say. Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou said Boko Haram had not only caused significant upheaval in Diffa and destroyed schools and health clinics, but also paralysed the region's economy. Niger, one of the world's least developed counties, has also been hit by plummeting global oil prices and a soaring number of migrants passing through the vast, landlocked nation, crossing the Sahara Desert on their way to the Mediterranean coast. "We are facing a catastrophic humanitarian situation," Issoufou told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in Niger's capital, Niamey, before preparing to attend a panel on the Lake Chad Basin at this week's World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul. NOTHING TO DO In Assaga, teenage boys slouch against tree trunks, seeking shade from the dry, midday sun as they play on their phones, while their fathers and grandfathers roam back and forth across Niger's east-west highway, swapping gossip and sharing stories. While the road divides the site into Assaga Niger and Assaga Nigeria, there is little tension between the two communities, said Nigerian refugee and father-of-six Kyani Buaki. Assaga is one of 135 informal camps in Diffa, a region hosting 160,000 uprooted Nigeriens and 80,000 Nigerian refugees. "We are the same people, us, our uncles, our grandparents - here, we are together," said Bukai, formerly a headmaster. The road running through Assaga has afforded aid agencies easy access to the camp, allowing them to provide food aid, and build health clinics, schools and sanitation facilities. Yet many people fear this makes the camp an easy target for Boko Haram, following a recent spike in violence in Diffa. There have been some 30 attacks by Boko Haram in the region this year, with half of them since April, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The militants have carried out raids, suicide bombings and looted a health centre, according to several aid agencies, and the government last month extended Diffa's state of emergency, which was first declared in February 2015, by three months. "When cars drive by, you sometimes see many people running away because they are afraid of bombings," said Mustapha, a Nigerien farmer who fled his village in Diffa and sought refuge in Assaga when he heard that Boko Haram were nearing the border. Many of Diffa's markets, and several in Nigeria, have been destroyed by Boko Haram or closed due to insecurity, leaving the young men in Assaga with little opportunity to work or trade. Some men said they had resorted to picking grass or chopping wood in the hope of selling it in order to feed their families. "Living here, we have fallen through the cracks, there is no market or business ... we have nothing to do," said 25-year-old Adam Alhagi Bukai, who used to work as a farmer in Nigeria. FEARS FOR THE FUTURE While the security situation worries many of the displaced, a lack of food aid is the most pressing concern ahead of the upcoming lean season and holy fasting month of Ramadan. "When we arrived in Assaga (last year), we received maize, millet, oil and tomatoes ... now we haven't received any food for five months," said 18-year-old Ataha Balai, a mother of two. Some 450,000 people in Diffa, more than half of the region's population, lack enough to eat, and a humanitarian funding shortfall is hindering efforts to ensure food aid reaches those who need it the most, said the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP). "This is worrying when you consider the threat that more people may be displaced in the coming months by the insecurity," said Fode Ndiaye, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Niger. There could also be pockets of displaced people in Diffa who have not yet been found, as the insecurity restricts the reach and access of aid agencies, said Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). U.N. aid chief Stephen O'Brien said Diffa posed a unique humanitarian challenge, where a combination of various factors could drive more displacement and make it harder to deliver aid. "These vulnerable communities are facing climate related challenges such as desertification, booming population growth, poverty, a lack of food and of course, Boko Haram violence." O'Brien will speak at the World Humanitarian Summit, hoping to raise awareness and funds for Niger's U.N. aid plan, which has only received a quarter of its $316 million target for 2016. A world away from dignitaries and diplomats, girls on the Nigerian side of the Assaga camp giggle as they swing up and down on a water pump like a seesaw, singing and making fun of each other as they fill up bright yellow and orange jerrycans. For Assaga's older residents, such joy and positivity is unfathomable as they ponder the future for their families. "We don't know when we'll be able to return home, but not until things are right, the situation is normal, and there are no problems left," said 50-year-old Bukai, choking back tears. "There are still many Boko Harams ... we can't go back." (Reporting By Kieran Guilbert, Editing by Ros Russell; 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) Much of the worlds attention has been focused on the test of wills between Beijing and Washington in the South China Sea, where China has been asserting territorial claims by building a network of artificial islands and sending out ships to patrol them. But a thousand-odd miles to the north, in the East China Sea, tension is quietly and steadily mounting into an even potentially more dangerous cocktail of disputed islands, feverish nationalism, and well-armed adversaries. China has begun sailing bigger ships old navy vessels nominally now serving as Coast Guard ones near islands that Beijing and Tokyo both claim, as well as carrying out provocative flights with advanced jets overhead. Those aggressive tactics have alarmed Japan and raised the risk of a potentially violent incident between the two and unlike in the South China Sea, where the United States has been vague about its readiness to help the Philippines in a dispute with Beijing, Washington has made clear it will honor its treaty obligations to come to Japans rescue. The spat will be high on the agenda when President Barack Obama visits Tokyo this week, and Japan will be looking for the United States to repeat its reassurances that Washington stands by its mutual defense treaty commitments. Chinas bold tactics at sea, its growing military punch, and the nationalist rhetoric surrounding the feud in both countries arguably pose a more dangerous threat than the simmering disputes in the South China Sea. In Southeast Asia, Beijing is a heavyweight that wields overwhelming military and economic power compared with its smaller neighbors like the Philippines and Vietnam. But in the East China Sea standoff, Japan, after decades of indifference and official pacifism, is flexing its military muscles and showing a determination to counter Beijings attempts to assert its territorial claims. Tokyo is investing record levels in its military, especially the navy, building up amphibious forces, bolstering missile defenses, buying stealthy F-35 fighter jets, and increasingly taking part in big military exercises with the United States and other countries. Next month, Japanese forces will join ships from the U.S. and Indian navies in a drill in the East China Sea. Story continues Retired Adm. Jonathan Greenert, who stepped down last year as chief of the U.S. Navy, said that he sees the situation in the East China Sea as potentially more dangerous than the quarrels playing out in the South China Sea. In my opinion, I would view the likelihood of any kind of combat in the South China Sea as low. The East China Sea is a little higher than low, and that has more of a history than the South China Sea, he told Foreign Policy. After a series of tense confrontations four years ago, Greenert encouraged commanders in Tokyo and Beijing to adopt rules and procedures for encounters at sea or in the air to avoid an unintended stumble into war. When ships or planes met up in contested areas in the East China Sea, there had been a lot of cursing and threats by pilots and ship commanders, he said. Now there is a more disciplined, professional approach under the new set of rules. Both Japan and China have realized there needs to be a proportional set of protocols, the admiral said. The two countries have feuded over ownership of the eight uninhabited islands, which the Japanese call the Senkakus and the Chinese call the Diaoyu Islands, off and on for more than a century. Japan controls the islands, and China claims them. But the dispute turned into a full-fledged crisis in 2012, when Tokyos governor vowed to use public money to buy the islands from a Japanese private owner, setting off outrage in China and hostile encounters at sea. Since then, it has turned into a tense cat-and-mouse game, with China flying fighter jets over the area and sending frequent Coast Guard patrols into the contested waters around the islands, while Japan has responded with its own Coast Guard cruises, record levels of fighter jet sorties, and new radar stations to keep an eye on Chinese activity. While the number of Chinese ships operating near the islands has remained the same over the past three years, the size of the vessels has mushroomed. In 2014, the Chinese Coast Guard ships deployed to the Senkakus displaced an average of roughly 2,200 tons, according to numbers released by Beijing. By 2015, the average swelled to more than 3,200 tons. Some of the large vessels are former naval warships, such as the Haijing 31239, which is outfitted with 37 mm guns. And China also is building formidable Coast Guard vessels with reinforced hulls and powerful weapons, some of which are larger than American naval destroyers. The Chinese fleet includes two mega-cutters, the largest coast guard vessels in the world, which have a 76 mm cannon on the bow, two machine guns, and a hangar and landing pad for helicopters. The 12,000-ton ships are significantly larger than most U.S. naval vessels and three times the size of a standard 4,000-ton U.S. Coast Guard cutter. Raw size matters, tonnage matters, when ships are up along side each other, said Gregory Poling, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Japan is worried that sooner or later they will get in a position that the Japanese Coast Guard cant handle an incident by itself, Poling told FP. Chinas faux white hulls amount to a symbolic shot across the bow of Japanese forces, said Jeffrey Hornung, a fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. Having Chinese naval vessels posing as Coast Guard vessels, along with Coast Guard vessels equipped with armaments, signal that China is willing to engage Japan aggressively, he said. In a scenario where it was overwhelmed by larger Chinese ships, the Japanese Coast Guard would face a difficult decision whether to call for help from Japans navy, known as the Maritime Self-Defense Force. Turning to Japans naval forces would represent an escalation in Beijings eyes and likely prompt the deployment of Chinese naval ships that are often on the horizon near where their Coast Guard ships are operating. The maritime balance of power, measured in terms of naval and civilian maritime law enforcement capabilities, is shifting in Chinas favor, said Toshi Yoshihara, a professor of strategy at the U.S. Naval War College. The question is whether Japan can keep up with the competition in material terms. And if Japan does counter with warships of its own, that could lead to a cycle of escalation that could give Beijing a propaganda coup. China is probing, in part, to provoke a Japanese overreaction, Yoshihara said. Such an overreaction would allow China to depict Japan as the aggressor and would in turn give Beijing some diplomatic cover to counter-escalate to achieve its operational aims in the East China Sea. In an apparent response to Chinas tactics, Japans chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, warned in January that a new policy would allow the countrys naval forces to carry out a maritime policing operation if foreign warships enter Japanese territorial waters for a purpose other than a simple transit of the area. But it was unclear if he was referring to repurposed Chinese naval vessels. The protocols agreed between Chinas military and other navies do not apply to Coast Guard vessels, and U.S. Navy Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the Pacific Fleet, has called for extending the rules to Coast Guard ships to prevent an incident from spiraling out of control. Some U.S. officials play down the potential risks of East China Sea feud, saying neither side is seeking a war and that the atmosphere has improved since 2012, when encounters between ships turned hostile with water cannons fired and dangerous maneuvers. Most of the bad blood between Tokyo and Beijing over the Senkakus is due to nationalism and dueling territorial claims. But, much like the sovereignty-fueled spats in the South China Sea, the waters around the Senkakus do hold big reserves of natural gas that add extra fuel to the boiling dispute. In 2008, Japan and China reached a deal to avoid either country unilaterally drilling for gas in the area until clear borders could be drawn up. Nevertheless, Chinese drilling rigs have continued to proliferate, raising concerns among Japanese security specialists and sparking the ire of Japanese lawmakers. Energy exploitation in the East China Sea is at present in its infancy China National Offshore Oil Corporation gets just a minuscule fraction of its natural gas, and a few thousand barrels of oil, from its operations there. But the area holds great promise, accounting for about 13 percent of the companys global gas reserves. And gas may not be the only attraction: Experts say Japanese officials suspect China has used the oil installations as a way of monitoring Japanese ships in the area and may have installed radar on the rigs that could be justified for commercial purposes. The disputes over drilling rigs are driving Tokyo to consider taking a page from the Philippiness playbook. A lawmaker in the ruling party proposed this spring that Japan take China to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to seek a ruling on what it calls illegal offshore drilling by Beijing, much as Manila did in 2013 to protest Chinese incursions in Philippine waters. Chinese officials, whove spent years lambasting the Philippines arbitration case, quickly warned Japan against such a step. The legal wrangling, paired with each countrys rapid military buildup, is precisely what makes any conflict in the East China Sea a potentially bigger flash point than the headline-grabbing skirmishes in the South China Sea. Were talking about two militaries armed with advanced, lethal weaponry, Yoshihara said. China wont be able to run over Japan as it might against the weaker powers in the South China Sea. Photo credit: ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images By Lin Noueihed CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will have to work 10 times harder to revive its tourism industry, Tourism Minister Yehia Rashed said on Sunday, after a series of setbacks including the crash of an EgyptAir flight into the Mediterranean three days ago. Rashed sought to play down the impact of the crash on Egypt's image. All 66 people on board the plane are believed to have died and the reason for the crash is not yet clear. "The efforts that we need to put are maybe 10 times what we planned to put in place but we need to focus on our ability to drive business back to Egypt to change the image of Egypt," said Rashed from his office overlooking the River Nile. "What we need to understand is this is an incident that could have taken place anywhere. Aviation incidents happen, unfortunately." Egypt's tourism industry, a cornerstone of the economy and a critical source of hard currency, has struggled to rebound since the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule ushered in a period of political and economic upheaval. Egypt has lurched from crisis to crisis in recent months, straining the tourism sector and the economy as a whole. The number of tourists fell 40 percent in the first quarter of 2016 compared to last year due in large part to the suspected bombing of a Russian plane carrying 224 people from a Red Sea resort in late October. Islamic State said it had smuggled a bomb aboard and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called the incident act of terrorism. Then, in March, a man wearing a fake suicide belt hijacked an EgyptAir plane and diverted it to Cyprus. Rashed said the incidents were not linked and argued that EgyptAir's management of the crises had boosted confidence in the Egyptian flag carrier. He said it was too soon to gauge the impact of Thursday's crash on future arrivals. "It's very early to say but I don't presume that we will have cancellations," he told Reuters. "People want to travel more with EgyptAir because they know us. I mean, it's one of the first airlines in the world you know so it does have a history of safety, it does have a history of hospitality." Following the Russian plane bombing, British and Russian airlines suspended flights to Sharm al-Sheikh, which was popular with holidaymakers seeking winter sun, until they are satisfied with improvements to airport security. The ban has held back any recovery. Rashed rejected the notion that the crash of the Paris to Cairo flight on the Thursday might further delay the resumption of those flights. "On the contrary, it may be a good time for them to rethink their position," he said. "I haven't heard anything (about a resumption) but I wish it was yesterday." More than 14.7 million tourists visited Egypt in 2010, dropping to 9.8 million in 2011. Last month, Rashed told Reuters the country hoped to attract 12 million tourists back by the end of 2017, with a six point plan. He said on Sunday that plan was going head. Asked how Thursday's crash might affect tourism revenues, Rashed declined to give forecasts. "We work hard to recuperate and every day will be a better day," he said. (Editing by Jane Merriman) Recovered debris of the EgyptAir jet that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea is seen in this handout image released May 21, 2016 by Egypts military. Egyptian (Military/Handout via Reuters) Recovered debris of the EgyptAir jet that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea is seen in this handout image released May 21, 2016 by Egypts military. Egyptian (Military/Handout via Reuters) An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew onboard crashed in the Mediterranean Sea off the Greek island of Crete early Thursday morning, May 19, 2016, Egyptian and Greek officials said. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said it was too early to say whether a technical problem or a terror attack caused the plane to crash. We cannot rule anything out, he told reporters at Cairo airport. EgyptAir Flight 804 was lost from radar at around 2:45 a.m. local time when it was flying at 37,000 feet, according to the airline. It said the Airbus A320 vanished 10 miles into Egyptian airspace, around 175 miles off Egypts coastline north of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. Egyptian aviation officials said the plane crashed and that a search for debris was now under way. (AP) Find more news-related photo galleries on the Yahoo News Photo Tumblr! elon musk iron man Tesla banked almost $1.5 billion last week, selling new shares to fund the launch of its now hotly anticipated Model 3 at a healthy $215 a share. The ease with which it raised the funds (and the fact that its shares rose 5% the week of the sale), shows how easily Tesla is able to use Wall Street to do its bidding. Plenty of people I've spoken with in the auto industry are astounded that a profitless company, one that struggled to build 50,000 cars in 2015, can tap the equity markets so easily. Unlike Tesla, traditional automakers have seen their shares flatline for the better part of a decade and have to turn to debt markets for cash. Worse yet, CEO Elon Musk does it even after making the jaw-dropping promise that Tesla will ramp up production to 500,000 vehicles in just over two years. Sure, it had telegraphed this capital raise earlier in the year, and it makes sense that, with shares again trading above $200, Tesla would tap this funding source. The carmaker did a capital raise last year, to the tune of over $700 million, when shares were trading above $240. It's all kind of predictable: Tesla will lack market-moving news, or face up to its own substantial challenges, and the stock will tank below $200, sometimes falling below $150. (Remember, this is a company that went public in 2010 at $17 a share.) Then something like the massive Model 3 pre-orders will hit, and the stock will lurch higher, prompting Musk and his team to access the easiest money they can: The well of risk-loving capital represented by Tesla's market cap. Tesla Model 3 An outsider might study this pattern and conclude that it's unsustainable. But Tesla has been selling chunks of itself since before the IPO, when both Daimler and Toyota took stakes. If you can handle the volatility, Tesla promises some quick, big gains and proposes to be worth much, much more as an investment when hundreds of thousands of electric cars wearing its badge take to the streets. Story continues Tesla stands alone If you look around, the only other companies working the investment market in this manner are Silicon Valley "unicorns," the $1-billion-and-up valuation startups like Uber whose worth is tied up in the highly illiquid private markets. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick speaks to students during an interaction at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campus in Mumbai, India, January 19, 2016. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui That leaves a limited number of places for growth- and risk-hungry investors to put their money. So when he reaches out to that crowd, Musk holds all the cards. He is no longer selling the actual company, in the way he did when Tesla was desperate in the 2008-2009 period. He is instead selling a stake in his Grand Vision, along with a healthy dose of volatility. Wall Street is a willing partner in this effort because volatility is the best way to make a fat return. The Street craves it. And of course the Goldmans and Morgan Stanleys of the world also love the fees. So Musk gets them on two fronts. It's a risky way to do business, for both Tesla and its bankers. Obviously, if Tesla fails to execute on any of its increasingly daunting milestones from the Model 3 to its massive battery factory in Nevada then that risk could bite back, hard. Investors will be in for a terrifying fall. Then see how easy it is for Tesla to top up the cash reserves. NOW WATCH: Heres Teslas massive plan to meet the demand for 375,000 Model 3 preorders More From Business Insider LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A giant NASA fuel tank completed its final journey on Saturday, with crowds cheering on its parade along Los Angeles streets to a science center where it will go on display with the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour. The orange tank, weighing 65,000 lb (29,500 kg) and 154 feet (47 meters) in length, is the only one of its kind. It was never used in a shuttle launch, which would have blown it to pieces. The California Science Center called the parade of the fuel tank, which stands about three stories tall when towed on its side by a truck, "ET Comes Home," in a play on the "external tank" name and the 1982 movie "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial." The tank, ET-94, arrived at the center after a 16-mile (26-km) journey, the center said on Twitter. Its arrival capped a trip that started in New Orleans aboard a barge that passed through the Panama Canal and docked at Marina del Rey on Wednesday. The transport was a sequel of sorts to the 2012 mission to tow Endeavour from the Los Angeles airport to the science center, a feat witnessed by 1.5 million. Crowds were smaller this time, but rows of spectators and children in homemade astronaut helmets lined the curbs along the route to see the tank pass and pose for selfie pictures with it. A dozen U.S. astronauts, including Garrett Reisman and Sandra Magnus, made appearances along the journey. "It's been a very smooth ride," said Science Center spokeswoman Shell Amega. The tank is longer than the Statue of Liberty from torch to the feet. But it is neither as wide nor tall as the space shuttle, allowing it to squeeze more easily through the streets of the second-largest U.S. city. At various points, light poles were swung around to allow the fuel tank to pass. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) donated the tank. It was designed to carry propellants to thrust a space shuttle into orbit and then detach before disintegrating as it fell to the ocean. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Lucy Nicholson; Editing by Mary Milliken) Eva Longoria is a married woman! The 41-year-old actress married Jose "Pepe" Antonio Baston in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, a lakeside town about 88 miles from Mexico City, on Saturday, according to local reports. WATCH: Eva Longoria Says She Was 'Laughing So Hard' During 'Memorable' Proposal The lavish event took place at a private home, with fireworks reportedly coming after the ceremony. Photos posted by the Telemundo news program Al Rojo Vivo show Longoria and Baston exchanging their vows in front of a giant cross under a canopy of white flowers. The Telenovela star can be seen wearing a white gown that appears strapless, as well as a long veil. FOTOS EXCLUSIVAS En este momento se estan casando Eva Longoria y Pepe Baston en Valle de Bravo, Estado de Mexico. Lo veras todo este Lunes en #ARV 4pm/3c por@telemundo #EvaLongoria #Wedding A photo posted by Al Rojo Vivo (@alrojovivo) on May 21, 2016 at 5:50pm PDT FOTOS EXCLUSIVAS! Estamos en la boda de #EvaLongoria y #PepeBaston en Mexico! Lo veras todo este lunes en #ARV 4pm/3c por @telemundo A photo posted by Al Rojo Vivo (@alrojovivo) on May 21, 2016 at 5:59pm PDT The star-studded guest list was said to have included her BFF Victoria Beckham -- who was rumored to be creating Longoria's wedding dress -- and her husband, David Beckham. Longoria's Desperate Housewives co-star, Felicity Huffman, was also said to be in attendance, as were Penelope Cruz, Ricky Martin, Katy Perry, Melanie Griffith and Prison Break star Amaury Nolasco, according to People. Congratulations @evalongoria The smartest,most beautiful woman I have ever met.I feel honored to call you my friend X Such a wonderful day filled with Love X We love Pepe so much!!! @davidbeckham #blessed #toomuchtequilla #omgmyfeethurt #inlovewithmexico A photo posted by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on May 22, 2016 at 9:29am PDT Soooo much fun!!! @evalongoria and Pepe Baston A photo posted by MELANIE (@melanie_griffith57) on May 22, 2016 at 2:42pm PDT Ahead of the nuptials, Longoria posted a number of gorgeous shots on Instagram regaling her stay in Mexico. The first was a stunning beach shot that she geo-tagged as Puerto Vallarta on Thursday... Story continues A photo posted by Eva Longoria Baston (@evalongoria) on May 19, 2016 at 6:45am PDT PHOTOS: Best Celebrity Wedding Dresses ...which was followed by a semi-blurry shot of a resort in Acapulco. A photo posted by Eva Longoria Baston (@evalongoria) on May 20, 2016 at 7:28am PDT There was also no rest for the bride, who made sure to get in an "early morning yoga" session with her "favorite instructor," Craig Fields. Early morning yoga with my favorite instructor @craig_fields! A photo posted by Eva Longoria Baston (@evalongoria) on May 20, 2016 at 9:34am PDT It's been a very busy couple of weeks for Longoria -- she made a number of glam turns during the 69th Annual Cannes Film Festival in France before returning to Los Angeles on May 14. RELATED: Eva Longoria Almost Missed Her Engagement Because of Snapchat Longoria and Baston -- who've been dating for nearly three years -- got engaged while vacationing in Dubai last December. Both have walked down the aisle before. Longoria was previously married to NBA star Tony Parker from 2007 to 2010, as well as to General Hospital star Tyler Christopher from 2002 to 2004. As for Baston, who's the president of Televisa, he has three children from a previous marriage. Related Articles Anyone who has sent or received a private Facebook message containing a link during the past five years could be part of a class action lawsuit against the social media giant. Matthew Campbell sued Facebook in 2013, on behalf of himself and others who use the service, claiming the company is using private information for targeted advertising. U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton on Wednesday partially certified the class consisting of "all natural-person Facebook users located within the U.S. who have sent, or received from a Facebook user, private messages that included URLs in their content (and from which Facebook generated a URL attachment), from within two years before the filing of this action up through the date of the certification of the class." That means the window for messages that could qualify someone as part of the class opened on Dec. 30, 2011. In certifying the class, Hamilton does not rule on the merit of the claims but only if a class-wide resolution is appropriate. Hamilton compares this case to a Yahoo! email-scanning lawsuit that was granted class status earlier this year and subsequently settled. Read More: Glenn Beck Says Meeting With Facebook "Felt Like the Salem Witch Trial" The initial complaint claims Facebook scanned messages for links to boost its social plug-in functionality, which connects to "like" counters on third-party websites and uses that information to deliver targeted advertising to its users. In the motion for class certification, the plaintiffs added two more accusations: Facebook uses the data generated from scanning messages to generate recommendations for other users, and it shares the data with third parties. Hamilton's ruling says these new claims are derived from a review of Facebook's source code, which hadn't been produced at the time the initial complaint was filed. "Plaintiffs explain that, when a Facebook user composes a message with a URL in the message's body, Facebook generates a 'URL preview,' consisting of a brief description of the website and a relevant image from the website," Hamilton writes. "Facebook keeps a record of these 'URL previews' - the record being called an 'EntShare.'" Story continues Those EntShares are tied to the user who sent the message and incorporated it into Facebook's "secret algorithms" to generate recommendations, according to the motion. Hamilton has directed the plaintiffs to amend their complaint to include the allegations of sharing data with third parties and revise their class definition, which was modified slightly from the initial complaint. She denied the motion for class certification in terms of proving that "damages are capable of measurement on a class-wide basis," but allowed the plaintiffs to amend their complaint. Instead of seeking actual damages, the plaintiffs are seeking damages measured by Facebook profits or statutory damages. "The question of 'whether or not there was actual damage to the plaintiff' would vary between class members," Hamilton says. The amended complaint is due June 8. Read More: Twitter: We Don't Illegally Intercept Direct Messages By Amina Ismail CAIRO, May 22 (Reuters) - Amal sits in the lobby of a hotel staring out at Cairo airport. Face tight with exhaustion, eyes puffy. She is hoping her daughter Samar Ezzedine, a stewardess aboard an EgyptAir flight that crashed into the Mediterranean on Thursday, will walk through the arrivals door. "She doesn't want to go home or move from the door," Samar's aunt, Mona, said. "She doesn't want to believe it... I told her to switch off her phone, but she said, what if Samar calls?" The 27-year-old newlywed is among the 66 people thought to have been killed when the jet crashed on its way from Paris to Cairo. Egypt said on Saturday the navy had found human remains, wreckage and the personal belongings of passengers floating in the Mediterranean about 290 km (180 miles) north of Alexandria. But no bodies have yet to emerge or be identified. DNA tests are under way on the few remains that have so far been recovered. The cause of the crash remains a mystery and search crews have yet to locate the black box flight recorders. EgyptAir has put up the families of dead passengers and crew members in two hotels near Cairo's airport but many have gone home to receive condolences for the loss of their loved ones. Dozens of people dressed in black flocked to a mosque in western Cairo on Saturday night to express condolences to the family of Ismail Chabana and his mother, Youmna Hamdy. Chatter filled the hall about the causes of the crash. Tears rolled down mourners faces. "I really hope the plane exploded, it doesn't matter if they are in shreds, as long as they did not suffer for a long time," one woman said. Chabna, an engineer in his late 20s, was in France for a wedding, Nesma Khatib, his friend and neighbour, said. He had recently gotten engaged. "I never thought this could happen to someone I know," Khatib said. "I was just talking to him; I can't believe he's gone." The aircraft was carrying 56 passengers, including a child and two infants, and 10 crew. They included 30 Egyptian and 15 French nationals, along with citizens of 10 other countries. Story continues French families have arrived in Cairo, but Egyptian officials are keeping them away from the media glare. Marwa Hamdy, a mother of three, who was on a business trip in France, was another of those who on board the doomed flight. "My heart sank," her cousin Sherine Abdel Hamid told Reuters by phone, describing the first moment she learnt the plane had crashed. Hamdy was 42, her youngest son only nine years old. He finally understood on Friday that his mother would not come home. "He has been very quiet since," her cousin said. But back in the hotel lobby, Amal, is refusing to accept condolences. "She is missing, who hosts a funeral for a missing person?" she murmurs. (Editing by Lin Noueihed and Anna Willard) Berlin (AFP) - German regulators suspect that Italian-American auto maker Fiat Chrysler, like Volkswagen, used illegal software to cheat on emissions tests, a newspaper report said Sunday. The German Federal Motor Vehicle Office (KBA) had sent a report voicing the suspicion to the European Commission and to Italian authorities, according to Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper. The news report came after Germany on Thursday blasted Fiat for its "uncooperative attitude" for refusing to meet its officials to address questions on whether their vehicles complied with emissions regulations. German authorities launched a sweeping emissions probe after Volkswagen admitted last year to rigging its engines with so-called defeat devices to cheat pollution tests. Not only VW vehicles, but other major car brands, including Fiat, showed up irregularities. Bild am Sonntag reported that testing by the KBA of a Fiat model had shown that the emission control system shut down after 22 minutes -- two minutes after the end of a standard test. This caused the dangerous pollutant nitrogen oxide (NOx) to be released into the atmosphere "at more than 10 times the permitted level", the report said according to the newspaper. The KBA had concluded that there was "sufficient evidence of an impermissible defeat device", said the newspaper, adding that the automaker had declined to comment on the claims. Fiat officials had been due to hold a meeting with German authorities on Wednesday but cancelled the talks abruptedly through a lawyer's letter, the transport ministry said in a statement. The carmaker had declined to meet as it deemed Italian officials to be the only authority responsible on the question of whether their vehicles complied with existing emissions regulations, the ministry said. "This uncooperative attitude of Fiat is completely incomprehensible," said Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt. HAVANA (Reuters) - Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Bolivian President Evo Morales discussed "imperialist efforts" to undo leftist progress in Latin America during Morales' two-day visit to the Communist-ruled island, Cuban state television reported on Saturday. Two major powers in the region have moved to the right in recent months. Argentina's Peronists were voted out of office late last year while in Brazil, Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party was suspended as president earlier this month due to impeachment. Leftist countries such as Cuba have called Rousseff's suspension a "coup" while the president of El Salvador went as far as to say he would not recognize the centrist interim government. Morales and Castro spoke "of the events happening in Latin America and the imperialist efforts to revert the political and social movement in our region," state television reported. No images of the encounter were shown. One of Cuba's closest allies is Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is under fire over a deepening economic crisis and facing protests in favor of a recall referendum. Morales faced a setback earlier this year when he was defeated in a referendum that would have cleared the way for him to run for a fourth term in 2019. The Bolivian president met with Cuban President Raul Castro, younger brother of Fidel, on Friday and attended a ceremony during which government officials of both countries signed bilateral agreements on health, education, culture and the economy. (Reporting by Nelson Acosta; Writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Bill Trott) Alpe di Siusi (Italy) (AFP) - Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk tightened his grip on the Giro d'Italia pink jersey Sunday after a 15th stage time trial won by Russian Alexander Foliforov and which may prove fatal to Italian Vincenzo Nibali's victory hopes. Foliforov, a Russian who rides for the Gazprom team, stunned the field with a winning time of 28min 39sec for the tough 10.8 km uphill time trial between Castelrotto and Alpe di Suisi in the Alto Adige. "It's a dream come true. I came here prepared for this stage because I've always been good at uphill time trials, but I didn't expect to win," said Foliforov. His time was fractions of a second quicker than Dutchman Kruijswijk, who rode into the pink jersey on Saturday and boosted his overall victory hopes for the second successive day after leaving the 2013 champion and race favourite Nibali over two minutes in his wake. Nibali was already trailing Kruijswijk by over 30secs by the time he suffered a mechanical problem and a bike change 25 minutes into his effort. The incident is estimated to have cost the 2014 Tour de France champion a further 30secs, but Nibali was also hindered by well-meaning fans who ran, sometimes dangerously close, next to him on several occasions. At one point, a particularly protective Nibali fan body-checked another out of Nibali's way and, further, the Italian rider lashed out with his arm at another as he also chased too close. By the end Nibali saw his 41sec overnight deficit grow to a massive 2min 51sec after he finished in 30:49. It dropped him to third overall with Colombian Esteban Chaves (Orica) moving up to second at 2:12 behind Lotto team leader Kruijswijk. Worse for Nibali, Spanish rival Alejandro Valverde, who tumbled down the overall standings on Saturday's 'Queen' stage in the Dolomites mountains, bounced back in impressive fashion to finish third on the stage at 23secs behind Foliforov. The Movistar team leader has moved up to fourth overall and although he is 3:29 behind Kruijswijk, Giro debutante Valverde is now just 38secs behind Nibali. Story continues It is a huge blow for Nibali, but Kruijswijk looks to be going from strength to strength. The Dutchman, who was pipped to victory on Saturday by Chaves, said: "I heard towards the end that I was close to the victory but most importantly I gained time over my rivals on GC (general classification). "I did everything for that and I'm confident that I'll be able to defend the Maglia Rosa (pink jersey) during the last week." After a third and final rest day on Monday, the battle for overall victory in Turin next Sunday moves up a gear on Tuesday with another hard day in the mountains on stage 16. Stages 17 and 18 hold little opportunity for Nibali to claw back time meaning stages 19 and 20 will be decisive before the final, celebratory ride into Turin next Sunday. Stage 19 is a 162 km run from Pinerolo which takes the peloton over the tough Col d'Agnello - the highest peak in this year's 99th edition - before a long descent into France and the subsequent climb to a summit finish in Risoul, where the Italian won a stage on the 2014 Tour de France. The decisive stage of the 99th edition is likely to come on stage 20 next Saturday, when the peloton tackles the Vars, Bonette and Lombarda climbs in an otherwise short 132 km penultimate stage. David Norman shed the last of his dark past for an even brighter future when the former Harlem drug dealer walked across the Columbia University stage and received his bachelors degree in philosophy. During the ceremony, the 67 year old sat in the front row and cried tears of joy, reflecting on his arduous life up until graduation day. It was a great feeling, Norman said to the New York Daily News Im just now starting to come down from my little high. I had to wash my clothes yesterday. That brought me back down. Normans drug and alcohol addiction began early. He had his first drink before 11, and by the time he was 15 years old he was using heroin. Normans high school career lasted 24 hours before he started selling drugs in Harlem to support his habit. His 35 year addiction included a rap sheet full of robbery and drug trafficking. Norman said he was arrested so many times, hes lost count. However it was his six year jail stint for manslaughter after fatally stabbing a man during a street fight that was Normans turing point. I had a moment of clarity in which I was able to recognize everything I had done at that point was fairly counter-productive and I needed to engage in some new activities and some new behaviors, Norman said. While in prison he found joy in books, learned Hebrew, and ran a program that taught life skills to inmates approaching release. When it came time for Norman to walk out of prison, he secured a job in Mount Vernon Hospital helping substance abusers access the help they need. That job led to work at Columbia University which put him on course to receiving his degree. Norman was 40 years old when he took his first class nearly 20 years old then other studentsbut he said the age difference wasnt a hinderance. Norman now works as a research assistant at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and his spare time still pays it forward by volunteering with ex- convicts with the Coming Home Program. Norman says he plans to write a book chronicling his life, with a working title of You Dont Have to Wait as Long as I Did. Congrats Norman. By Suzannah Gonzales (Reuters) - Nick Menza, a former drummer for the heavy metal band Megadeth, died at age 51 after collapsing on stage at a Los Angeles club late on Saturday, a family spokesman said on Sunday. Menza collapsed while performing with his current band OHM at the Baked Potato club in Studio City, California, where he lived, said family spokesman J. Marshall Craig, who is also Menza's biographer. The band had been performing its third song of the first set late on Saturday when Menza collapsed, Craig said. Audience members and friends tried to resuscitate him until medics arrived, but Menza died in an ambulance en route to a local hospital after 25 minutes of resuscitation attempts. "Despite his excellent health and extremely active, sober lifestyle, a heart attack is his suspected, though not confirmed, cause of death," Craig said. An autopsy will be performed, he said. Menza was the longest-serving drummer for Megadeth from 1989 to 1998, a period when the band was considered at its height, Craig said. He recorded drums and toured on the albums "Rust in Peace," "Countdown to Extinction," "Youthanasia" and "Cryptic Writings". Menza was asked by Megadeth co-founder Dave Mustaine to join the band in 1989, after first playing live with the group the year before in Bradford, England, according to Menza's website. Halfway through a 1998 tour, Menza discovered a tumor on his knee and was forced to leave for surgery. Megadeth hired a replacement and Menza was not asked back, the website said. In an upcoming memoir, Menza has nothing but praise for his former bandmates, including Mustaine, and considered himself fortunate to have been a part of a legendary band, Craig said. He had been playing in OHM, which included fellow Megadeth alumnus Chris Poland, for more than one year after various solo stints, Craig said. Menza was also an accomplished artist and woodworker, and was set to unveil an art series in Houston next month. (Editing by Frank McGurty and Chris Reese) Former Megadeth drummer Nick Menza died after reportedly collapsing on stage Saturday. He was 51. Menza was playing drums with his new band, OHM, at The Baked Potato in Studio City, California, when he collapsed during the third song of their set. PHOTOS: Stars We've Lost Menza's OHM band mates, Chris Poland and Robby Pagliari, confirmed the news in two separate statements given to ET. "There are no words... just to describe what a great guy he was, let alone his creative ability and amazing talent," Poland shared. "Not enough words to describe. Just devastated right now. My wife showed me a photo he just Photo-shopped from when he was up north, where he looks like atlas holding up that ring. I mean, that's the kinda stuff he did just off the top of his head. I honestly think God ran out of ideas and had to have Nick, like, help him out. Because... why else?" "When I was recently in the hospital, he was on the phone with my wife the whole time, just begging her to [let him] make her dinner, asking, 'Can I go get you guys anything? Do you want me to go shopping?'" he continued. "Who does that? You know, there's not enough words to describe." Pagliari echoed Poland's sentiments. "[I'm] stunned. Just stunned," his statement read. "He was such a kind, generous human being and great dad. Probably the happiest he's been in a long time. He got a chance to see his kids for a couple weeks. In a year we've lost so many talented people -- we just lost another one. Great guy, great player, [but] most importantly, great guy. We're devastated with what happened." "Our prayers go out to the Menza family and all his friends and fans," Poland and Pagliari shared in conclusion. Both OHM and The Baked Potato also confirmed Menza's death on Facebook. The venue simply wrote, "RIP Nick Menza," while the band used the same sentiment and added, "In the brief time I knew you, it was a pleasure. We will miss you 'Machine.'" Story continues The rock band's manager, Steve Bauer, told CNN that paramedics couldn't revive Menza at the venue. "The group's bassist texted me last night after it happened," he said. "We are all in shock." Rob Bolger, Menza's manager, told BBC that the "earliest reports indicate he suffered a massive heart attack," noting that the German-born drummer was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. WATCH: Rainbow Appears Over Prince's Estate Hours After His Death Alongside Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, Megadeth was considered one of the "big four" metal bands. Menza played with the thrash metal group for nine years from 1989 to 1998, and once again in 2004. He recorded drums for four of the band's albums, which included three of their biggest, Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction, and Youthanasia. Megadeth's founder, Dave Mustaine, tweeted shortly after hearing the news of his former bandmate's death. "TELL ME THIS ISN'T TRUE!" he wrote. "I woke at 4 AM to hear Nick Menza passed away on 5/21 playing his drums w/Ohm at the Baked Potato. #nickmenzarip." TELL ME THIS ISN'T TRUE! I woke at 4 AM to hear Nick Menza passed away on 5/21 playing his drums w/Ohm at the Baked Potato. #nickmenzarip Dave Mustaine (@DaveMustaine) May 22, 2016 RELATED: Megadeth Nominated for GRAMMY Former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman also took to social media to share his condolences. "We all know the great and unique drummer that Nick Menza was, but he was also a trustworthy friend, a hilarious bandmate, as well as a very loving dad," he wrote on Facebook. "I'm beyond sad, did not see this coming at all. RIP Brother." ET has reached out to Menza's reps for comment. Related Articles Has Forum Energy Technologies Found a Winning Formula? (Continued from Prior Part) Forum Energy Technologies net debt to EBITDA Forum Energy Technologies (FET) net debt to TTM (or trailing 12 months) EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) has been trending up between 3Q14 and 3Q15. In 4Q15 and 1Q16, Forum Energy Technologies TTM EBITDAs were negative. Thus, its net debt to EBITDA ratio was not meaningful. Net debt to EBITDA reflects how easily a company can repay its debts from its operational earnings and available cash. Net debt for Forum Energy Technologies peer Helmerich & Payne (HP) by the end of 1Q16 was -$411 million compared to FETs $264 million. HPs cash balance exceeded its long-term debt, leading to a negative net debt. FET makes up 3.9% of the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF (XES). Forum Energy Technologies indebtedness Forum Energy Technologies net debt to TTM EBITDA ratio decreased gradually from 3Q13 until 3Q14. Since then, the multiple has increased steadily. In 3Q15, total debt decreased marginally over 3Q14. Cash and marketable securities also remained steady during the same period, leading to 6% lower net debt. However, FETs TTM EBITDA decreased 39% during the same period. In effect, the net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio went significantly higher. In 1Q16, FETs total debt decreased 15% while its cash and marketable securities increased 57%. Net debt, in effect, decreased 31%. The companys net debt to EBITDA was not meaningful, however, as a result of negative TTM EBITDA in 1Q16. Next, well discuss Forum Energy Technologies free cash flows. Continue to Next Part Browse this series on Market Realist: DOHUK, Iraq During her 19 months of captivity under the Islamic State, Nofa Mahlo, a 37-year-old Yazidi woman from Baaj, lived each day not knowing what the next would bring. Her imprisonment in crowded, underground prisons had turned her skin a pale white. Shed been separated from her children and made to subsist on two meager meals a day. Other than occasional visits from younger Yazidi girls who shared horror stories of their lives as sex slaves for Islamic State fighters, she had little contact with the outside world. In late March, her guards suddenly took her and 50 other Yazidi women to the Syrian border, pointed them eastward, and told them to walk. From a point northwest of the Sinjar mountains, the group walked four hours through rocky plains before reaching a military outpost in Iraq, where they were received by Kurdish militias in what was later believed to be a clandestine prisoner exchange. In August 2014, thousands of Yazidis an ethnically Kurdish minority community whose religious practices are rooted in ancient Mesopotamian tradition fled their ancestral homes in northwest Iraqs Sinjar Mountains when caravans of Islamic State fighters overtook the area. Claiming the Yazidis were devil-worshippers, the Islamic State engaged in an ethnic cleansing campaign determined to wipe them out from caliphate-held territories. Until that point, the Yazidis had lived a relatively peaceful existence amid a war-ravaged Iraq. Within the first days of the Islamic State invasion, 5,000 people were executed and buried in mass graves, and more than 3,000 young women were kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery. For those who manage to escape, the path to freedom is often daunting, if not inconceivable without professional help. Nearly 200,000 Yazidis have been displaced in northern Iraq, where many now live in refugee camps that provide basic food and shelter. But doctors at these camps say there is a severe lack of mental health services for victims of torture, and the overwhelming need is exhausting already limited resources. A month after her release, Mahlo sat in a refugee camp near Dohuk. Two of her six children remained in captivity, and her husbands whereabouts was unknown. Im not going to feel free until they free my family, Mahlo said, speaking inside her canvas tent on a hot day in April. I never thought I would get out. Now that I am, everything is the same as before. Im always thinking about my family. I dont know if they are dead or alive. Of the 15 or so camps for internally displaced people located near Dohuk, none provide regular psychotherapy sessions for victims of rape or torture, said Azzat Ibrahim Khadeeda, a medical clinic supervisor for the Swiss charity Medair. Sitting in his office in Sharya camp, home to about 17,000 refugees, many of whom are Yazidi, Khadeeda explained that providing basic medical services was enough of a challenge, and that neither funding nor staff was available to handle mental health problems. While the U.N. and a patchwork of humanitarian aid groups, including Yazda and Medecins du Monde, provide the occasional psychologist, few stay long enough to deal with more complex issues such as sexual abuse, Khadeeda said. Its our biggest weakness in the services we provide, he said. A group of Yazidis gather outside the abandoned building they live in on the outskirts of the Sharya refugee camp, on April 8. A Yazidi girl stands in the Sharya refugee camp on April 8. A group of Yazidi children meander through the Sharya refugee camp on April 8. During their captivity, some Yazidi women were held in bedrooms, where their Islamic State captors would routinely rape them and threaten them with death if they disobeyed. The bodies of prisoners who rebelled were left to rot in nearby fields to discourage those contemplating escape. Khadeeda said many of his Yazidi patients report having frequent nightmares and difficulty sleeping. Children are startled by cars that pass their tents at night, and many women suffer constant flashbacks and anxiety attacks, he said. We know these are symptoms of trauma, and we simply dont have the staff to deal with them, Khadeeda said. Therapy or no therapy, the root of these problems is that Yazidis just dont feel safe in Iraq. They cant trust anyone anymore, and they have a very black picture of their future in the Middle East. Most of them, he added, just want to leave the region. Following the Islamic State takeover, captives deemed of lesser value were set aside and held as prisoners. Yazidi elders, children under the age of 10, and mothers like Nofa Mahlo were often kept in abandoned buildings and moved repeatedly from one location to another, spending prolonged periods in Islamic State strongholds like Mosul. Mahlo described being held in a windowless school basement near Raqqa with 50 other women and about 200 children over her last four months in captivity. Split among three dark rooms, Mahlo said that prisoner contact with Islamic State fighters was limited to mealtimes, when a door would open and food would be distributed to prisoners. Meals were usually heavy on rice and bulgur wheat. They gave us enough not to die, she said. Though Mahlo was spared from the worst suffering under Islamic State captivity, she was separated from one or more members of her family each time she was moved to a new location and eventually ended up alone. Through her days in captivity, her mind drifted to the uncertain fates of her sons. The hardest part was when they took my sons, Mahlo said. I tried to hold on to them, but [the soldiers] beat me until I couldnt hold them any longer. But while Mahlo evaded the rape and torture suffered by many captives, the psychological abuse has left her unable to face daily life. She is wary of eating meat from unknown sources, recalling stories of mothers in Islamic State prisons supposedly being fed their own children. The mothers said the meat tasted strange, and when they finished, the IS fighters told them it was their own children, Mahlo said, adding others were rumored to have found human fingers mixed into their rice dishes. Stories of institutionalized rape were common, as teenage daughters forced to marry Islamic State fighters were allowed routine visits to family members in the school basement, where they told of repeated assaults and forced contraception. According to the caliphates strict interpretation of Islam, female slaves can change partners only when it can be proven that they have not been impregnated by their previous captor. Traditionally, this was confirmed with a three-month waiting period between partners. But Islamic State members have taken a shortcut around such measures by forcing women to ingest large amounts of birth control medication, allowing slaves to be traded without delays, as documented by the New York Times. They were always looking for young virgins and left mothers like us in their prisons, Mahlo said. Though fewer in number, Yazidi men also suffered. They were forced to dig military tunnels beneath occupied cities, as in Sinjar, and exploited for other hard labor projects. Some were also used as front-line decoys to draw enemy fire away from Islamic State fighters. One such decoy was Khero Maijo, a 27-year-old construction worker from a village near Baaj. Soft-spoken and too shy to make eye contact, Maijo was given a choice: stand guard on the front line, or have his head chopped off. Some prisoners were given suicide jackets and sent to blow themselves up near [Kurdish] Peshmerga forces, Maijo said, taking quick drags on his cigarette. We were prisoners for a long time, he continued. I was alive, but I thought it wouldve been better to die. I never thought I would get out. Khero Maijo's brother-in-law recounts how he was separated from his wife for nearly two years after the Islamic State's invasion of Sinjar, in the Sharya refugee camp on April 7. A Yazidi man who requested anonymity holds out photos of his wife, who was kidnapped and remains in Islamic State captivity, in Khana Sor on April 4. A Yazidi man explains how he escaped the Islamic State's invasion of Sinjar, in Khana Sor on April 4. Eventually, Maijo did escape, finding his way to Iraq through a network of Yazidi smugglers. Now, sitting in Sharya camp, he struggles with simple tasks. I try to watch shows, but I cant concentrate enough to follow what is happening, he said. I cant follow stories. Maijo said he hears the words people say to him, but oftentimes has trouble gathering meaning from them. I got sick from thinking too much, he said. Maijos condition clearly suggests post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), said Heather Barahmand, a case manager for psychosocial services with Yazda, a non-governmental organization based in Dohuk. She coordinates one of the few mental health programs for Yazidis in northern Iraq, where she sets up reception services for new escapees and weekly support groups. The groups are open to anyone in the camps, and participants are invited to speak about their experiences, providing a venue to release whatever emotions they may be holding back. When they escape, many believe no one can understand what theyve been through, because no one has seen the things they have, Barahmand said. This is exactly why support groups are so effective. It lets victims realize they are not alone and gives them a place to talk or just cry if they need to. One of Barahmands first tasks is orienting recent arrivals to their new realities. In captivity, people tend to construct realities that are not going to line up with the actual reality after they get released, she said. They think they are going home, but instead they are going to IDP [internally displaced person] camps. They think they will be reunited with their families, but they may end up alone. Our patients are basically going from one trauma to another trauma. For particularly difficult cases, Yazidi community leaders take some women to Lalish, the holy site for Yazidis in northern Iraq, where they are encouraged to relax inside simple mountainside accommodations as a sort of religious pilgrimage toward recovery. There, the women can also seek the advice of Baba Sheikh, the resident pope of Yazidis, who issued an unprecedented decree after the Islamic attacks on Sinjar that all victims of rape must be welcomed back into Yazidi communities, which, according to tradition, usually cast out individuals who have sexual relations with members of other faiths. Baba Sheikh also asked community members to forgive Islamic State captives who converted to Islam in order to save their lives, showing flexibility in his interpretation of strict religious guidelines in the face of an ongoing crisis. Resources to support such initiatives are meager, but recent developments are promising. Barahmand said one of her patients tried to commit suicide twice before being sent to Lalish and returning with a vastly improved state of mind. There are also new avenues opening for victims of extreme trauma. The charity Air Bridge Iraq has provided asylum assistance to Germany for more than 1,000 women and children who suffered at the hands of the Islamic State. It is the only program of its kind, with most Yazidis still resorting to irregular migration routes to Europe, but the organizations founder, Mirza Dinnayi, hopes to expand his campaign to offer safe havens for Yazidis in need. At the moment, he said his main obstacle is finding new reception sites and funding as European nations continue to struggle with the refugees already residing within their borders. Its difficult to recover from psychological trauma if a person cannot feel safe, said Dinnayi, a physician who is also an Iraqi Yazidi. We have to act fast if we want the Yazidi community to recover anytime soon. Yet for survivors like Nofa Mahlo, who wakes up every day thinking of her missing children and husband, the main challenge is finding solace in the understanding that her most pressing questions may never be answered. I dont care about having food or a house. I dont want to go to Europe, Mahlo said. I just want to know what happened to them. Photo Credits: Diego Cupolo Tel Aviv (AFP) - French Prime Minister Manuel Valls visited Israel on Sunday to advance his country's plan to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts in the face of opposition from his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. Valls, who arrived on Saturday night, is to meet Netanyahu on Monday before holding talks in Ramallah on Tuesday with Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has welcomed the French initiative to hold a meeting of foreign ministers from a range of countries on June 3, without the Israelis and Palestinians present. Another conference would then be held in the autumn, with the Israelis and Palestinians in attendance. The goal is to eventually restart negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state. Netanyahu has criticised the initiative and called for direct negotiations between the two sides. Negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014. In an interview with Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam published Sunday, Valls called himself a "friend of Israel" but said that Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank must stop. He also reiterated that his government would not automatically recognise a Palestinian state if the peace initiative failed. A threat to do so was made in January by former foreign minister Laurent Fabius, angering the Israeli government, which argued that it removed any incentive for the Palestinians to negotiate in good faith. His successor Jean-Marc Ayrault has since backed away from the statement. "The objective is to arrive at the creation of a Palestinian state," Valls said in the interview. "It is to allow your national aspirations to finally be realised. To say today when we will recognise the Palestinian state is to determine in advance the failure of our initiative." - 'Facts on the ground' - Valls said "we must also guarantee" Israel's security, but called for a halt to settlement building, considered a major stumbling block to peace. Story continues Settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law and built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. "Stopping settlements is an imperative," he said. "Because we cannot both want to discuss peace and be sincere in the negotiations and at the same time continue to create facts on the ground." Seeking to address Israel's concerns, Valls said that France's initiative would not try to impose a solution and that negotiations between the two sides would ultimately resolve the conflict. Valls's visit comes at a time of political turbulence in Israel, with Netanyahu expected to soon finalise negotiations with the party of hardliner Avigdor Lieberman to join his coalition. Lieberman, who lives in a West Bank settlement and is detested by the Palestinians, is expected to take on the key role of defence minister. On Sunday, Netanyahu sought to ease concerns over the expected entrance of Lieberman's party into his coalition, saying his government would still seek peace with the Palestinians. Valls's visit on Sunday was mainly devoted to economic and cultural issues. Years ago, my husband began dragging me to European castles. Like so many others, he has a thing for medieval keeps, moats and dungeons. More than 1,000 of them were built a century after the Norman Conquest alone, many of which still stand some occupied, some mere remnants. Whats missing from all of these symbols of former aristocratic glory is a pulse a community filled with decadence, despair, determination, decorum or even debauchery. But deep in the heart of the French countryside, I found a medieval castle teeming with life. When my husband and I arrived, the men on-site were drenched in sweat as they stood back to admire their handiwork. Clad in linen tunics cinched with rope and leather belts, they used a wooden triangle and plumb line to ensure the wall they were building was straight. Eschewing modern tools like drills, levels and electricity, these workers are part of a decades-long project to build Frances first authentically made medieval castle in the modern era. With the very people [that] society was throwing on the scrap heap I could build a castle. Maryline Martin, CEO Named after the surrounding forest, Guedelon castle is a two-hour drive south of Paris. The concept was inspired by a late-1990s archaeological survey that revealed a medieval fortress once stood within the walls of nearby Saint-Fargeau castle. Saint-Fargeaus owner, Michel Guyot, suggested to Maryline Martin Guedelons CEO that it would be interesting to build a castle from scratch. This led to the first stone being laid in 1997, on the site of an abandoned quarry, the start of a 25-year process of learning the art of castle-making. For Martin, it was also a chance to supply the local community with an interesting sight, and jobs. For me, Guedelon is an act of provocation, she says, pointing to her work with a group of long-term unemployed people to show that with the very people [that] society was throwing on the scrap heap I could build a castle. The laborers have resurrected ancient building techniques, turning this provocation into plinths, plaster and parapets. The result is a growing example of a 13th-century enclosure castle, with four walls, four corner towers, a great hall and a gatehouse. Masons cut the locally quarried stone, while a 70-strong team builds the structure using only medieval-style implements and methods. Visitors, meanwhile, get to watch the action, learning how quarrymen, stonemasons, woodcutters, carpenters, blacksmiths, tile-makers, carters and rope-makers worked in the Middle Ages. This revival of ancient handicraft is experimental archaeology in action, says Sarah Preston, Guedelons press officer. The castle-under-construction draws 300,000 visitors a year tickets cost 12 euros for adults and 10 euros for children and tourists can enjoy stone carving and clay workshops, as well as occasional theme days featuring smelting, lime burning, bread baking or wood turning. Those looking to really get their hands dirty can take classes and join the site for three to seven days to help with construction. And after the last tapestry is hung? The site will remain dedicated to experimental archaeology projects, such as medieval houses, says Preston: Guedelon is a never-ending venture. AMMAN (Reuters) - Mainstream Syrian rebel groups said on Sunday they would no longer abide by a threadbare "cessation of hostilities" deal unless the Syrian army ended a major assault on their positions in the suburbs of Damascus within 48 hours. A statement by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) signed by nearly 40 rebel groups that operate across Syria said the ceasefire would be deemed to have "totally collapsed" if the large scale assault by Syrian government and allied Lebanese Hezbollah forces fighters, who seized an extensive area southeast of the capital on Thursday, did not cease within two days. The rebel-held town of Daraya, located just a few kilometers (miles) from President Bashar al-Assad's Damascus palace, was also pounded for the first time since the broader "cessation of hostilities" accord that took effect at the end of February. The ceasefire has unraveled since the United States and Russia brokered it, with fighting and bombardment in Aleppo playing a major part in its collapse. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Mark Heinrich) Cannes (France) (AFP) - Stars gathered Sunday for the glittering awards ceremony at the Cannes film festival, with a hilarious German comedy favourite to win the Palme d'Or and make its director only the second woman ever to lift the prize. If -- as critics predict -- Berlin-based Maren Ade triumphs with "Toni Erdmann" about an uptight executive trying to deal with her off-the-wall prankster father, she would also be the first German to win since Wim Wenders in 1984 for "Paris, Texas". The only woman to have won the Palme was Jane Campion in 1993 for "The Piano". But with Cannes juries notorious for confounding expectations in previous years, nothing was certain. After nearly two weeks of stars, scandals and some stirring films at the world's most important cinema showcase, the nine-member jury led by "Mad Max" creator George Miller sat down to decide the winners at lunchtime on Sunday. Romanian director Cristian Mungiu -- who took the Palme in 2007 -- also won over many critics with "Graduation", about a father's dilemma over how to educate his daughter to deal with a corrupt world. And Ken Loach, the veteran British director who won the Palme a decade ago with "The Wind That Shakes the Barley", left many in tears with his scalding indictment of austerity Britain, "I, Daniel Blake". But an incendiary closing film from 77-year-old Dutch-born "Basic Instinct" director Paul Verhoeven could yet overturn the predictions. His "Elle" -- a twisted rape thriller about a powerful woman's strange relationship with her attacker -- brought the main competition to a highly contentious end Saturday. - 'Electrifying' - While French actress Isabelle Huppert's performance as the woman was hailed as the best of her four-decade-long career, some were queasy about its "unacceptable... lasciviously dark" premise. "One can already hear screams of bloody murder about the unacceptable link between rape and pleasure," the French website L'Express wrote. Story continues Up until Huppert and Verhoeven's electrifying jolt, some leading critics were underwhelmed by the main competition, complaining of a lack of masterpieces. "This has been by a very disappointing Cannes overall," said Todd McCarthy of trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter. "Only two or three films in the competition of the 15 I've seen were really worth the trip," he said, picking out "Toni Erdmann" and "Graduation". The German comedy "hits so many unusual notes," he said in an online video post. "It's funny, it's witty and it has strange odd moments you can never expect so it keeps you on your toes." - Lots of comedy - Peter Bradshaw, a film critic with Britain's Guardian newspaper, was much more upbeat. "I have seen wonderful films by Cristian Mungiu, Olivier Assayas ('Personal Shopper'), and Ken Loach ('I, Daniel Blake') and I am delighted by the way it has gone," he said. He said seeing so many comedies was a particular pleasure. "It's been the year of comedy, a genre traditionally neglected at Cannes. 'Toni Erdmann' showed that Germany can do broad comedy which travels outside its borders and (French director) Bruno Dumont's 'Slack Bay' delivered big, goofy laughs," he added. While the quality of films does appear to be higher than last year -- when Jacques Audiard's migrant thriller "Dheepan" was a surprise winner -- Cannes 2016 was not without its turkeys. Hollywood actor and director Sean Penn's catastrophic "The Last Face", an aid worker love story set jarringly against a backdrop of various African bloodbaths, got just 0.2 in an international critics' poll organised by the trade magazine Screen -- the worst score in the survey's 13-year history. While it was far from the only film booed at the festival, few have ever had critics laughing for all the wrong reasons from its very first frame. However, in an upset which may even give Penn a sliver of hope, the first of the festival's lesser awards, the Ecumenical Prize, went to Canadian director Xavier Dolan's "It's Only the End of the World", which suffered something of a critical mauling. The top prize of the festival's sidebar Un Certain Regard section went Saturday to a black-and-white Finnish boxing movie "The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki", that tells of the lead-up to a 1962 fight between Maki and the American Davey Moore. Norbert Hofer is soft-spoken and leans on a cane the remnant of a paragliding mishap that nearly paralyzed him. At 45 and prematurely gray, he has a reassuring smile, but a kind of youthful zeal when he speaks. Here is a man who understands why Austrians are scared about the future, their jobs and their safety, and he is promising to put Osterreich zuerst Austria first. Or so it seems, to many. The presidential Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) candidate defied polls last month, dismissing traditional party politicians in the first round of voting, netting 36 percent of the ballots. Today marks the second and final round, and this far-right presidential wannabe could very well take the helm of this landlocked schnitzel-loving nation. Hes heard his countrymens grievances, diagnosed the problems Islam, refugees, the EU and globalization and hes here to help. Such simple messages of scapegoats and solutions are being heard the world over; this Glock-wielding populist with a fondness for shooting and Margaret Thatcher is indeed sharing a now-familiar playbook with Americas Donald Trump and Frances Marine Le Pen. But a win today will cement the rise of conservative populism in Western Europe, despite the fact that the presidency here is largely ceremonial. Islam has no place in Austria, Hofers told voters. Until now, the married father of four, whose campaign didnt reply to OZYs request for comment, has managed to keep a low profile outside party circles so much so that political analysts are hard-pressed to pinpoint the defining moments that fueled his rise. He was never in the front row of the [FPO], says Anton Pelinka, a politics professor at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. Hailing from eastern Burgenland, where he joined the partys branch after studying aeronautical engineering, Hofer became party secretary in 1996 and has long been an FPO strategist and advisor to the far more aggressive and divisive party chair, Heinz-Christian Strache. Hofer didnt hit anyones radar, really, until 2013, when he was named Third President of Austrias National Council after the FPO became the third-biggest party in Parliament in the last national election. Story continues Gettyimages 532732762 Norbert Hofer, candidate for the Austrian presidential election, arrives for a TV debate in Vienna. Source: Georg Hochmuth/Getty Hofer is a friendly face, says Pelinka at least compared to Strache and one the party is using to gain acceptance. Its working: Polls show FPO support at over 30 percent nationwide, reflecting growing anti-Muslim sentiment and concern for Europes refugee crisis. Austria in recent months has limited the number of asylum claims and tightened its borders. Its even showed a soft spot for Russia recently, despite Putins antics in Crimea and Ukraine. But, if you look carefully, hes not soft, warns professor Ruth Wodak, a linguistics and politics expert at Englands Lancaster University. She calls him one of the ideologues, and the one who wrote the party program for the FPO. If hes unhappy with the government? He says hell dissolve Parliament and call new elections a presidential perk thats never before been exercised. Islam has no place in Austria, Hofers told voters, latching onto the refugee crisis in a bid to win. But hes also flexible. In Parliament, Hofers been far more right-wing than on the campaign trail. Heinz Gartner, academic director of the Austrian Institute for International Affairs, calls Hofers ability to sound moderate without abandoning far-right ideals his greatest strength. Gettyimages 523660346 The candidate of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), Norbert Hofer, drops his ballot at the polling station. Source: Dieter Nagl/Getty FPO is the countrys most popular party today, drawing support largely from those who Pelinka calls modernization losers people afraid of globalization, mass migration and changes they fear could undermine their future. Hofers far from a unanimously loved figure, though traditional conservative politicos from the Peoples Party have encouraged voters today to instead back independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, the former Green Party candidate (imagine Ted Cruz lobbying his base to vote for Bernie over Trump). Still, says Gartner, the likelihood that [Hofer] wins is higher than 50 percent. And what then? Stronger government, greater isolationism, efforts to reform the EU, more alliances with European partners who put state interests over the blocs. The party doesnt bad-mouth all foreign groups, mind you the FPO cooperates with Serbs in Austria to ally against the Turks, says Gartner, playing migrant groups against each other, which could ironically lead to some foreign votes for FPO. And a victory wouldnt spell an end to migrants rights or international dealings. If Hofer wins, nothing is likely to change right away. Most doubt Hofer would even leverage the theoretic muscle of the presidency to dissolve Parliament. The next national elections are scheduled for 2018, when the FPO hopes to see Strache installed as chancellor, Austrias true head of state. So Hofer, experts say, is likely to bide his time and work with new social-democratic Chancellor Christian Kern, as each man tries to deepen his respective support base. Hofers no Hitler, and Austrias no Third Reich. Coalition governance is the name of the game, so even with a Hofer-Strache tag team, theyd have at most a majority in Parliament and be confronted by a left wing that coalesces against them to keep Austria on its democratic path. But the FPOs rise is setting the land of Franz Peter Schubert on the road to a politically divisive future. Related Articles If the Donald Trump campaign ever tires of its tagline, Make America Great Again, a possible replacement could be Donald Trump: Just Trust Me. The presumptive Republican presidential nominees pitch to his supporters, whether its on the issue of immigration, national defense, healthcare or myriad other things, generally boils down to the assertion that he -- and only he -- knows how to fix the nations problems, and the voters dont need to worry about the details. In an appearance at a fundraiser for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie last week, Trump took the same tack on the economy. A lot of you don't know the world of economics and you shouldn't even bother, he told a crowd of wealthy donors. Just leave it to me, I have so much fun with it. Just go and enjoy your life. Related: Trump Policy Advisor Promises an Astounding $7 Trillion Surplus Okay. If Donald Trump wants the American people to trust him when it comes to dealing with the economy, it seems fair to ask: When it comes to economic policy, who does Trump trust? The answer to that question appears to be a man named Sam Clovis. But that raises another question: Why? A well-known conservative Republican figure in Iowa politics, Clovis made news early in the election cycle when he jumped ship from the campaign of former Texas governor Rick Perry to join team Trump. The campaign now identifies him as its national co-chair and the candidates chief policy advisor. Earlier this month, the campaign sent Clovis to represent the candidate at the 2016 Fiscal Summit in Washington, DC, sponsored by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. It was a strange appearance, to say the least. Clovis, who identifies himself as an economist and a full professor of economics was interviewed by CNBC chief Washington correspondent John Harwood about the Trump campaigns proposal to reform the tax code. He suggested that Trumps plans for the economy could result in a surplus of up to $7 trillion after eight years -- despite a consensus among economists that the Trump tax plan alone would increase deficits by more than $10 trillion. He also misrepresented an analysis of the Trump tax plan by the Tax Foundation, claiming that it did not include dynamic effects, which it did. Story continues Related: Clinton -- Trumps Not Qualified and Sanders Is Done The interview also included a rather odd aside, in the context of Clovis complaining about the quality of the dialogue on policy issues in Washington. Basically, he said, it puts him to sleep. Im an economist, you know, he told Harwood. When I was a cadet at the Air Force Academy, Id get my Samuelson Economics book. Id open it up and I guarantee you, two paragraphs and I was out like a light. It shows, tweeted David Wessel, the director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution who was watching. I understand less about Trump's budget plan after listening to Clovis than I did before. Following his appearance in Washington, the Fiscal Times tried to verify some of Cloviss claims about his background and expertise. Clovis and the Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment for this article. His biography, provided for the event, says that Clovis was a career officer in the Air Force and rose to the rank of colonel. Related: Trump Releases SCOTUS List as A Peace Offering to Conservatives He retired as the inspector general of NORAD and the U.S. Space Command and was a command pilot, gaining combat readiness in the F-106, F-4, and the F-16. He served two years in the Middle East combat arena as well. He entered the private sector, where he was a successful businessman and has been teaching at various institutions part or full time for the past 20 years. It continues, He is a federalism scholar and is an expert on homeland security issues. He is considered an expert in national security and foreign policy, given his education and experiences in those areas. He has regional expertise in Europe, the former Soviet Union, and the Middle East. He has managerial and executive experience in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. He has worked for Northrop Grumman and Booz Allen Hamilton, among other companies in the private sector. Its quite a resume, and that part doesnt even touch his time as a radio talk show host, college professor, and candidate for US Senate. But for purposes of the Trump campaign and Cloviss influence on economic policy, the real issue is his credentials in that field. First, is he actually a professor of economics? Well, not so much, according to Morningside College in Sioux City Iowa. Related: Why a President Trump Could Hurt Your Homes Value Clovis holds a tenured position at the small private college, from which he is on an unpaid leave of absence. However, rather than a professor of economics, Clovis is a professor of business administration, said Morningside vice president for communication and marketing Rick Wollman, via email. He is affiliated with Morningside Colleges Department of Economics, Political Science and Sociology. Okay, well is Clovis at least an economist? On that, the answer is somewhat less clear, but the weight of the evidence suggests that he is not, at least in the conventional sense of having extensive training in the discipline. In addition to a bachelors degree in political science from the Air Force Academy (1971), he holds a Masters in Business Administration from Golden Gate University (1984) and a Doctorate in Public Administration from the University of Alabama (2006). The doctoral degree appears to have been earned through a distance-learning program not offered on the Universitys main campus, according to the schools public affairs office. The school was unable to provide much information about the program, as it was discontinued the year after Clovis graduated, but an early course catalogue shows that the requirements for the degree include only one course in advanced microeconomics and another in public expenditures. The vast bulk of the program is dedicated to management and administration studies. To be fair, when asked if there is any hard and fast rule about who can and who cannot claim to be an economist, Kristine Etter, a spokesperson for the American Economic Association, said, No, there is not. Related: What Trump Has to Do to Win She pointed out that the AEA, whose list of past presidents is practically a roll call of Nobel Prize winners, does not require members to be trained economists. However, there is nothing in Cloviss academic background that suggests he has had the sort of formal training one would expect so see on the CV of a professional economist, much less a professor of economics. Additionally, some of Cloviss interactions with experts in the field of economic and tax policy have left them puzzled. During his appearance at the Fiscal Summit, he had a tense exchange with Harwood about the Tax Foundations analysis of the Trump Tax plan. Harwood pointed out that the analysis found a $10 trillion deficit even when it used dynamic analysis -- taking growth effects into account -- rather than a more conventional static model. Thats not entirely true. The Tax Foundation model is a static model, not a dynamic model, Clovis said. Harwood pushed back, saying, They do it both ways but I believe the $10 trillion figure they came up with was in their dynamic model. Clovis replied airily, Well, thats not what they told me, and Ive sat across the table from them just like this, John. Related: Trump Announces Net Worth. Look at Me! Im Rich Two things about that statement: First, the Tax Foundation analysis clearly and unambiguously used both a static and a dynamic analysis to look at the Trump plan. Second, one of the guys who Clovis sat across the table from distinctly remembers explaining that to the Trump advisor. About a month ago, Clovis asked us to walk him through how we came to our conclusion, said Kyle Pomerleau, director of federal projects at the Tax Foundation. He came into the office and we showed it to him, and ran a few simulations. Pomerleau said staff walked [Clovis] through the models and explained it was both dynamic and static. While Pomerleau wouldnt speculate as to why Clovis would claim that they had not discussed dynamic analysis, he said there was no question that, in fact, they had. Given the entirety of the Trump campaign, it may not be terribly surprising if a close advisor to a candidate who demonstrates little regard for the truth turns out to have a few problems with it himself. But if Trumps answer on the economy is really just Leave it to me, the voting public has a strong interest in understanding who his advisers are. And right now, the person he picked to be his campaigns voice at a major economic policy event in Washington isnt inspiring a whole lot of confidence. Top Reads from The Fiscal Times: (Adds MP resignation) By Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou ATHENS, May 22 (Reuters) - Greek lawmakers approved tax increases and a new privatisation fund on Sunday and freed up the sale of non-performing loans in exchange for much-needed bailout loans and debt relief. Athens hopes the measures, two days before a key euro zone finance ministers meeting, will help it unlock the funds it needs to pay IMF loans, ECB bonds maturing in July and increasing state arrears. "Greeks have already paid a lot, but this is probably the first time that the possibility of these sacrifices being the last is so evident," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told lawmakers before a vote in parliament. His left-led coalition, re-elected in September on pledges to implement the terms of a 86-billion euro bailout it signed up to in July, has a narrow majority of 153 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. The coalition voted in favour of the reforms with only one MP against some articles on the new privatisation fund and a contingency mechanism of spending cuts that will be activated only if Athens looks set to miss its fiscal targets. Syriza MP Vassiliki Katrivanou later resigned saying in a post she uploaded on Facebook that: "we are implementing measures and policies which are against the core of our values." Her resignation will not affect the government's majority since she will be replaced. The taxes will hit Greeks where it hurts, with increases in value added tax by one point to 24 percent, more tax on fuel, tobacco, internet usage and an extension of a property tax. Hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside parliament in the evening to protest against the reforms. "It's a disaster!," said 60-year old businessman Panayiotis Kehris. "We will cut down on everything, from food to driving." To appease the angry public, Tsipras told lawmakers that each time Athens exceeds its annual primary surplus targets, the extra state revenues would go to a social solidarity fund. About 700 million euros would go to the fund this year, he said. Story continues RELIEF Talks between Athens and its foreign creditors over the reforms have dragged on for months, mainly due to a rift between the EU and the IMF over Greece's fiscal progress and resistance in Athens to unpopular measures. The IMF says Greece cannot achieve a 3.5 percent primary surplus target in 2018 or later unless it gets substantial debt relief and takes upfront measures. It has set both as conditions for its participation in the bailout. EU lenders, eager to wrap up the negotiations quickly and avoid a new crisis in the bloc, insist the targets are feasible but euro zone paymaster Germany needs the IMF to be involved. To help break the deadlock, Athens has included a contingency mechanism of spending cuts, which will be activated if it is set to miss its bailout targets. The IMF has yet to approve it, a source close to the lenders said. The May 24 Eurogroup meeting will discuss the mechanism and flesh out details on how to ease the country's debt burden. The government wants a concrete deal on short-term and medium debt relief. Tsipras hopes a debt restructuring will help attract investors and convince Greeks their sacrifices are starting to pay off after seven years of austerity. "European leaders will receive a message tonight, that Greece fulfils its obligations. Tomorrow, the other side must also take responsibility," he said. (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou; Editing by Tom Heneghan and Chris Reese) Nimbin (Australia) (AFP) - Jai Whitelaw was 10 when he first took medical cannabis, given to him by his mother in a bid to treat the debilitating epilepsy that saw him endure up to 500 seizures a day. Faced with the stark choice of breaking the law in the hope of soothing his chronic pain, or denying him possible relief, Michelle Whitelaw reached breaking point. "I literally sat on (the) couch for two days, thinking 'Do I end his life and mine? Or do I risk helping him'," she told AFP. She picked the latter, risking criminal charges. Now, almost two years on, things are set to change as Australia brings in new laws allowing the drug to be used for medical purposes. "If it didn't work, I wouldn't be here and Jai wouldn't be here," Whitelaw said at the Mardi Grass festival, an annual celebration of marijuana in Nimbin in Australia's east. At his lowest point Jai had to be resuscitated, was unable to write or read at school or even play outdoors as he struggled with fits and the side-effects of pharmaceutical medications. In the 15 months since he began medicinal cannabis, which he takes in liquid form, he has had only four seizures. In Nimbin, he seemed like any other youngster enjoying the annual party. - Dope or medicine? - While recreational cannabis is drawn from the whole plant, therapeutic forms are derived from extracting particular types of cannabinoids -- molecules that are found in cannabis -- from the plant. "What we are starting to understand now is that different types of cannabinoids work differently for different kinds of health problems," Nicholas Lintzeris, the clinical director at the University of Sydney's Lambert Initiative, told AFP. "You extract the cannabinoids from the plants and then you put them together again according to the specific profile you want," he added. Therapeutic use is legal in several US states and other nations including Canada, Israel and the Netherlands. Story continues Support for the practice has grown in Australia in recent years, with 91 percent in favour of legalising it for the seriously ill, according to a 2015 Roy Morgan poll. The national government has listened. While recreational use remains illegal, laws were passed in February permitting it for medical purposes, in a move Health Minister Sussan Ley said meant "genuine patients are no longer treated as criminals". In response, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria states are changing their regulations and trialling the drug on severely ill patients, with two states setting up cannabis farms. - 'Hemployment' ahead - The legislative shift is a vindication for people such as Aboriginal Australian Tony Bower, who has long given cannabis in oil and alcohol forms for free to parents of ill children after working out how to develop non-psychotropic medication from the plant. "You can't refuse people. I'm an indigenous Australian, it's not in our culture," Bower told AFP of why he continued to supply families despite the legal risks, which once saw him spend six weeks in jail. Some 150 children are regular patients of Bower, and his drug is set to reach more people after Anthony Coffey's Australian Organic Therapeutic firm obtained rights to it. Coffey plans to sell the medicine at Aus$60 (US$44) per patient per month. The budding industry has benefits beyond the medicinal, with hopes it could fuel "hemployment" in rural regions where jobless rates are higher, Nimbin-based HEMP (Help End Marijuana Prohibition) Party president Michael Balderstone said. Coffey said his company has already attracted investment from China and the Middle East. Others are also looking to cash in on legal crops, with the University of Sydney estimating initial demand in Australia at more than Aus$100 million annually. High-profile physician and drug reform advocate Alex Wodak told AFP there is growing evidence medicinal cannabis use can relieve symptoms in some severe cases such as the side-effects of cancer chemotherapy and chronic nerve damage pain. A key factor slowing the pace of the so-called "green rush" is minimal trial data and the medical profession's limited experience with a banned drug. As such, side-effects and the long-term impact of therapeutic use are not fully known, with some doctors cautioning against making the herb legally available without completed trials and high quality control standards. Many caregivers fear a legalised drug may arrive too late for their sick family members. Cheri O'Connell, whose epileptic daughter and son are experiencing a new lease on life since taking medicinal cannabis, is calling for an amnesty from prosecution for all current users. She is also worried government trials are being limited to certain types of cannabinoids that leave other products -- such as the one her children use -- outside the law. "We've got something that works," O'Connell told AFP. "Just because it's cannabis doesn't mean it's all the same, there's huge differences." Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton told NBC's Chuck Todd during a Sunday "Meet the Press" interview that she doesn't believe Sen. Bernie Sanders has been properly vetted. "It's also fair to say that I have been vetted and tested, and I think that that puts me in a very strong position," she told Todd, after explaining that she was closer in her race against then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2008 than Sanders, a Vermont senator, is to her today. Todd then interjected if she thought Sanders has been vetted properly. "Let me say that I don't think he's had a single negative ad ever run against him," she responded. "And that's fine. But we know what we're going into, and we understand what it's going to take to win in the fall." She said she's going to reach out to unify the Democratic Party "when it's time." Clinton has a virtually insurmountable lead in the delegate race, but Sanders has insisted he will take the nominating fight to the convention floor in Philadelphia this summer. "I expect him to do the same," she said. "I did that when I lost a much closer race to Sen. Obama." "Because I knew that whatever our differences were, just as whatever our differences are between me and Sen. Sanders, they pale in comparison to Donald Trump and the Republicans," she continued. "And I think most of Sen. Sanders' supporters understand that as well." Watch Clinton's full interview below: NOW WATCH: New Trump attack ad shows Clinton laughing amid footage from the Benghazi attacks More From Business Insider Hillary Clinton on Sunday questioned Donald Trumps self-proclaimed successes while attacking him for not releasing his tax returns. The former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate said the media mogul has yet to prove that he actually has the level of success he claims to have during an appearance on NBCs Meet the Press. Theres no evidence he has any ideas about making America great, as he advertises. He seems to be particularly focused on making himself appear great, Clinton said. And as we go through this campaign, were going to be demonstrating the hollowness of his rhetoric. When asked if there is anything in Trumps background that is worthy of praise, Clinton said: Well find out. Because we have to get below the hype. We have to find what the reality is. Trump has said that he doesnt expect to release his tax returns before November due to an ongoing audit. No pitcher in the American League has been tougher to hit than Danny Salazar, but no team has collected more than the Boston Red Sox. An intriguing three-game series between the Red Sox and Cleveland Indians concludes Sunday when Salazar puts a string of strong starts on the line against the majors' best offense. Boston's formidable lineup was held in check by Corey Kluber as the Indians won Friday's opener 4-2, but returned to its heavy-hitting ways in Saturday's 9-1 victory. The Red Sox recorded 13 hits - six for extra-bases - to raise their MLB-leading average to .295 and halt Cleveland's season-high five-game winning streak. Mookie Betts had a grand slam and a solo homer among three hits and Jackie Bradley Jr. singled in the sixth inning to extend his hitting streak to 26 games, the longest by a Red Sox player in the same season since Manny Ramirez hit in 27 straight in 2006. Bradley is batting .411 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs over the run and is 2 for 3 lifetime against Salazar (4-2, 1.80 ERA), though reaching safely against the hard-throwing right-hander has been more of a challenge this season. He's limited opposing hitters to a .157 average through eight starts, trailing only Jake Arrieta for the lowest mark among qualified pitchers. Salazar also ranks among the AL leaders with 61 strikeouts and has eight or more in four consecutive starts. He notched eight while holding Cincinnati to a run on five hits over 7 1/3 innings in Tuesday's 13-1 rout, improving to 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA over his last three outings. "He's a stud. He's definitely taken the next step forward," Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis told MLB's official website. "He's pitching like a top-of-the-rotation guy, which he is. He's not just a thrower anymore. He's not just a guy coming out, throwing 97. You're seeing him work really well off of his changeup and his slider, and he's really figuring out what he is as a pitcher. It's fun to watch." Story continues Salazar was equally as good in two wins over the Red Sox last season, yielding two runs and eight hits over 12 1/3 innings. Boston (26-17) counters with Rick Porcello (6-2, 3.51), who's taken a step back after opening his 2016 campaign with five consecutive wins. He's 1-2 with a 4.82 ERA in three starts since and allowed four earned runs over a season-low five-plus innings in Tuesday's 8-4 loss at Kansas City. Porcello has won each of his four home starts and is 4-1 with a 1.42 ERA in his last five meetings with the Indians. After amassing 43 runs and hitting .346 during its four-game sweep of the overmatched Reds, Cleveland (22-18) has had its bats cooled off in this series. Joe Kelly carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his return from the disabled list and the Indians managed two total in Saturday's defeat. ''Squared up a few balls, but they made plays defensively,'' manager Terry Francona said. Carlos Santana accounted for Cleveland's lone run with a ninth-inning homer, his third in three games. He's hitting .308 with three homers in 39 at-bats against Porcello. By Douglas Busvine and Rupam Jain NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prashant Kishor, the election campaign manager brought in by India's opposition Congress party to reverse its declining fortunes, knew his real work would begin when the party hit rock bottom. It looks like that moment has come. The party run by the fabled Gandhi dynasty, which has led the world's largest democracy for most of its existence, suffered humiliation last week when it lost Assam to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a state election. (Graphic - India's electoral map: http://tmsnrt.rs/1TOkZRF) Congress had controlled Assam, in India's northeast, since 2001, and for the nationalist BJP it was a first. The race was not even close, underlining the crisis facing the mother-and-son team of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Two years ago they were eclipsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a landslide national ballot won on promises of economic growth and a strong, modern India. While the euphoria of that time has faded and Modi's agenda has been slowed by stalled reforms, other state election setbacks and devastating droughts hitting rural India, he remains comfortably the most popular politician. The challenge for Rahul Gandhi, the public face of Congress' comeback, is to make up lost ground in time for the biggest test before a 2019 general election - the state vote next year in Uttar Pradesh, home to around 200 million people. That, and the state of Punjab, will go a long way to defining who is the next prime minister; in 2014, the BJP won 71 of 80 parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh and only Sonia and Rahul Gandhi held theirs for Congress. Rahul Gandhi declined to be interviewed for this article, but, in a series of public appearances that have become more frequent in recent months, he sought to target Modi directly. "Modi talked about good days to come but today the country is reeling under drought and farmers are committing suicide," he told a recent "Save Democracy March" of a few thousand people in New Delhi. "Modi has nothing to say." INSIDE KNOWLEDGE In an intriguing twist in the race for Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi has invited Kishor to help coordinate Congress' strategy, the same man who aided Modi's march to New Delhi with a campaign that embraced modern electioneering techniques and wowed voters. Kishor now plans to bring those, and an intimate knowledge of the way Modi and the BJP operate, to a party that is widely seen as old-fashioned and overly reliant on the Gandhis. The 38-year-old, who largely avoids the public eye but engages the press and senior party figures with increasing confidence, has a backroom team of researchers analyzing census data to more effectively translate votes into seats. That may mean targeting a particular caste or religion, for example. Sources close to Kishor, who worked in health activism before being taken on as policy adviser to Modi when he was chief minister of Gujarat state, said Kishor had "24/7" access to Gandhi, although he did not decide his day-to-day movements. Kishor is determined to move away from a system of patronage, inject a sense of urgency and bring in fresh faces from the grassroots level upwards, even if it means upsetting the Congress establishment. And, reflecting a growing interest in politics rather than focusing on number crunching, Kishor wants to portray Congress as the only inclusive national party in India, the sources said. The BJP has been accused of stifling free speech and promoting a Hindu-first agenda to appeal to the country's majority at the expense of significant minorities, including around 170 million Muslims. "We are a party of all, for all and by all," said Jyotiraditya Scindia, a Congress parliamentarian, and, in his mid-40s, is of Gandhi's generation and one of the party's "new guard". "The only other national party, which is the BJP, is not representative of pan-India, because it is not of all, it is not by all and it is not for all." Kishor is understood to want to launch a "new face" to lead the Uttar Pradesh campaign, which could be Gandhi, his popular sister Priyanka or someone else. Congress officials and Kishor declined to comment. Separately, a party source said this week that Gandhi's long-awaited promotion to take over Congress from his mother might happen "sooner than you think". Kishor, for one, is realistic about Congress' chances of catching up with the BJP. "We are way behind the curve," said a sources familiar with his thinking. "The total collapse of the party isn't something we can ignore." RAHUL RELAUNCH? In a party steeped in tradition, secrecy and deference, enthusiasm for Kishor is not universal. "Indian politics is not susceptible to modern, professional analysis," said one former Congress cabinet member. "You get it right, you're lucky; you get it wrong, you're unlucky." Indian media have also reported on the campaign manager's frustration at Gandhi's reluctance to take quick decisions, and on speculation that Kishor would resign. Kishor's organization, Indian Political Action Committee, published two tweets to address the rumors. "Question of quitting is nothing but wild speculation. We are deeply honored by the responsibility and totally committed to the job," one said. "Grateful for the opportunity and the trust shown by the Congress, its leadership and each & every worker for their faith in us," read the second. As Kishor works behind the scenes, Rahul is re-emerging on the national stage to take the fight to Modi. Congress loyalists say Gandhi returned a changed man from a sabbatical in a secret location in early 2015. "He ... discovered his inner politician," said Shashi Tharoor, a prominent Congress lawmaker. "He's active in parliament. He's more confident. His repartee shows he can think on his feet." Since Kishor joined Gandhi's team a few months ago, the leader has set a frenetic pace, joining student protesters on the barricades, showing solidarity with drought-hit farmers and hitting the campaign trail up and down the country. He has landed rhetorical blows on Modi, taking the floor of parliament in March to liken a tax amnesty announced in the budget to a skin-lightening cream that turns black money white. ANY CHANCE IN UTTAR PRADESH? The latest state polls, which also included Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal where regional parties expectedly dominated, suggest that Gandhi's impact has been limited so far. State polls are especially important for the BJP because state legislators elect members of the upper house of parliament where Modi's goods and services tax bill is stuck because it does not have a majority. Some of Modi's closest advisers say they are more worried about Kishor's involvement with Congress than about Gandhi, given his impact on Modi's victory and inside knowledge of the way he thinks. But political analysts say Modi should not lose too much sleep for now. The BJP vote is expected to hold up relatively well in Uttar Pradesh as things stand, and the two main regional parties are well placed to fend off Congress, said Sanjay Kumar at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi. "They can't in their wildest imagination form a government in Uttar Pradesh. The race for Congress is not to be a distant fourth." As for Gandhi, BJP leaders are dismissive. "What do you relaunch?" asked M.J. Akbar, a former Congress spokesman who joined Modi's BJP before the 2014 election. "He's already been launched. He's been in an active leadership position since before the 2014 election." (Additional reporting by Aditya Kalra and Mayank Bhardwaj; Writing by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Mike Collett-White) India was making final preparations Sunday for the launch of its first model space shuttle, as it bids to join the race to one day make rockets as reusable as airplanes. India's seven-metre (23-foot) shuttle is expected to blast off from a southeastern space port on Monday, in a crucial step to eventually developing a full-scale, reusable one to send up satellites in the future. India's space agency director Devi Prasad Karnik told AFP that the test flight was set to occur "any time during the launch window between 7am (0130 GMT) and 11am (0530 GMT), depending upon wind and weather conditions". The scale-model shuttle will be propelled 70 kilometres into the atmosphere using a 15-tonne rocket before splashing down 10 minutes later into the Bay of Bengal, some 500 kilometres from the Sriharikota space port. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed the 1.7-tonne (1,542 kilogram) winged shuttle reportedly on a miniscule budget of one billion rupees ($14 million) over a five-year period. Called the Reusable Launch Vehicle or RLV-TD, the shuttle will not survive Monday's test flight, but scientists hope that subsequent ones built six times as big over the next decade will glide safely back to land. "In subsequent test flights, we will attempt to land the reusable vehicle at a specific location on land like an aircraft does on a runway so that we can again use it for launching more satellites," K. Sivan, director of a space research centre developing the vehicles at ISRO, told AFP. "The exercise (on Monday) will enable us to collect data on hypersonic speed, autonomous landing" and other useful information, Sivan said. India faces stiff competition including from global companies which are developing their own reusable rockets after NASA retired its space shuttle programme in 2011. Reusable rockets would cut costs and waste in the space industry, which currently loses millions of dollars in jettisoned machinery after each launch. Story continues Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX and Amazon owner Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin have already successfully undertaken their own test launches. Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency are also developing similar technology and are in testing stages. SpaceX tested its powerful Falcon 9 rocket in December while Blue Origin's New Shepard successfully completed a third launch and vertical landing in April this year. But ISRO hopes to develop its own frugal shuttle, as it seeks to cash in on a huge and lucrative demand from other countries to send up their satellites. ISRO made global headlines in 2013 after it successfully launched an unmanned mission to orbit Mars, after spending just $73 million, compared to NASA's $671 million outlayed for its Maven Mars mission. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Iran on Sunday on a visit aimed at boosting trade after the lifting of international sanctions under Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. "I have arrived in Iran, a country with which we have linked civilisations. I hope to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries," Modi wrote in a tweet sent in Farsi. Iranian media reported that on Monday he will meet both President Hassan Rouhani and the Islamic republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his two-day visit. Modi's trip is aimed primarily at increasing economic and commercial ties with Iran. Iran was Indias second largest supplier of oil until 2011-12, when economic sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme forced New Delhi to reduce its dependence on Iranian oil. According to Iranian media reports, India is now seeking to double its imports of Iranian oil. The official IRNA news agency reported that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani would also be in the country on Monday to sign a tripartite agreement. This would transform Iran's southern port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman into a transit centre for trade between Iran, India and Afghanistan and central Asia generally, bypassing Pakistan. Earlier this year, India approved a $150 million project to develop Chabahar. India still owes Iran $6.5 billion that Tehran was unable to recover because of the international sanctions. Iranian media said a first tranche of this debt, the equivalent of $750 million, was paid into accounts held by the Iranian central bank in Turkey. COSMETIC WARDROBE: Inside Chelsea Handlers Makeup Bag With Green Beauty Expert Katey Denno The all-natural beauty expert adds new green essentials to her friend and client Chelsea Handlers beauty repertoire. Written By JAYME CYK Known for her extensive knowledge of all-natural beauty, Katey Denno is as beloved for her effervescent energy as she is for her ability to create a flawless complexion. Clients (who include Amber Heard, Chelsea Handler, Connie Britton, and Mindy Kaling, among others) rely on her holistic approach and ingredient insights. In her new quarterly column for The Violet Files, Denno uses her expertise to analyze and fill any voids in her clients beauty regimens with the best in natural beauty. First, Denno suggests the essentials that would best suit the cosmetic wardrobe of her friend and client Chelsea Handler. And Handler, whos new talk show Chelsea airs tomorrow on Netflix, was certain she was already doing a bang-up job when it comes to her beauty regimen, but that was before she heard about Dennos additions. (Its worth noting that the two started working together after Denno cold-emailed Handler to offer help refreshing her look.) And although Handler admitted, I didnt even know I had to wash my face until I was in my twenties, and I just started drinking water at the tender age of forty, Denno has gotten her client thinking about what she puts in her mouth and on her skin. Chelsea drinks green juices and eats super healthy, which we all know is step one to make skin glow, says the organic guru. Im always sharing my take on the world of green beauty and, to my delight, shes usually pretty into hearing what I have to say. REVAMPING CHELSEA HANDLERS MAKEUP BAG By Katey Denno 1 / 5 LASH ENHANCER I love the fan shape that this curler gives to the lashes. Its amazing how much more Chelseas blue eyes will sparkle when her lashes are curled just right. UTOWA EYELASH CURLER SHOP NOW > 2 / 5 SHINE BRIGHT Story continues I use this highlighter on Chelsea every day when shes filming her show, and she also needs one for homeit gives skin so much life and is super hydrating. I apply it on top of her cheekbones, along the bridge of her nose, and on her cupids bow to give her the natural look she loves. RMS BEAUTY LIVING LUMINIZER SHOP NOW > 3 / 5 NAIL FOUNDATION Ive never known anyone as fastidious about a manicure and pedicure as Chelsea. It would make me so happy if she switched to five-free nail polish. This RGB Base Coat would be a great addition because she would at least reduce her direct exposure to toxins and give her nails (and therefore her bloodstream) a protective barrier. RGB BASE COAT SHOP NOW > 4 / 5 EYE OPENER Its the perfect color to make Chelseas intensely blue eyes pop, and it works so well with her fair skin tone. It has great blendability, so she could even smudge it on with her finger in a pinch. KJAER WEIS EYE SHADOW COMPACT IN EARTHY CALM SHOP NOW > 5 / 5 SMOOTH AND LUMINOUS This oil will be great for helping Chelsea show off her fit body. I want her skin to always glow and reflect the light, and shell like its fresh botanical smell, especially for spring and summer! AFRICAN BOTANICS MARULA SHIMMERING GOLD OIL SHOP NOW > MEET THE ARTIST - KATEY DENNO ARTIST STATS Name: Katey Denno Known For: Flawless, dewy skin Where to Find Her: Los Angeles Clients: Chelsea Handler, Connie Britton, Mindy Kaling, Amber Heard Years in the Industry: 10 Instagram: @kateydenno Beauty Essential: Utowa Eyelash Curler Mentions in The Violet Files: May Lindstrom The Blue Cocoon Agent: Dana Gardner @ The Wall Group Katey Denno didnt know that the occupation of makeup artist existed until she was in her mid-twenties and was seated next to one at a dinner party. Denno, a social worker at the time, learned from her dining partner that as an assistant I could travel the world, make three hundred dollars a day, and get to see things I never thought I wouldand that the food on photo shoots was fantastic, Denno recalls of the sudden revelation. The next day, I called in sick to work and assisted her on a Nautica campaign. It was nothing like what I thought work had to be. Denno had been (unconsciously) preparing for this vocation long before she set her sights on the beauty industry. I was schooled on how to do makeup while I was a social worker in clinics serving HIV-positive patients, she says. My male-to-female transitioning clients showed me how makeup transformed them into the person they felt most comfortable being, and I was able to use makeup-talk and application as a catalyst for emotional transformation. The experience also sparked her passion for green beauty (Denno uses only natural products). It was the culmination of years of social work with patients with compromised immune systems and learning how to examine ingredients, she explains. It didnt take long after that fateful dinner for Denno to get her big break. After only eight months of assisting, an agent at The Wall Group called her in for a meeting and said she was ready to go out on her own. Clients like Christy Turlington and a smattering of celebrities (Amanda Seyfried, Felicity Jones, et al.) soon followed. Denno has since made a name for herself as a guru of all things green beauty, and she caters to an impressive roster of celebrity clients, including Amber Heard, Connie Britton, Chelsea Handler, and Mindy Kaling. Two years ago, she relocated to Los Angeles because of a high concentration of West Coast clients (not to mention the draw of the great weather). One of the artists favorite Los Angeles pastimes? Strolling through different neighborhoods and stopping to smell the flowers. I find my inspiration in the subtle differences in shape, petal texture, and even scents, she says. They remind me of facial features and how makeup feels and smells. KATEY DENNOS GREEN KIT ESSENTIALS AFRICAN BOTANICS INTENSE SKIN REPAIR BALM A reparative beauty balm for dry & dehydrated skin. SHOP NOW > MAY LINDSTROM THE JASMINE GARDEN BOTANICAL MIST This indulgent botanical mist soothes, heals and hydrates for glowing skin. SHOP NOW > TATA HARPER RESTORATIVE EYE CREME An ultra-hydrating eye cream that fights all five signs of aging. SHOP NOW > KJAER WEIS LIP TINT COMPACT IN SENSUOUS PLUM Hydrates lips with a luxurious tint. SHOP NOW > READ MORE AT VIOLETGREY.COM Graham Allgood It was only fitting that Graham Allgood received his summer internship offer from Horizon Media via Snapchat. After all, that's how he attracted their attention in the first place. Business Insider first reported about Allgood's Snapchat creativity on May 12, after Allgood had already first been turned down by the company. He'd been looking for an internship since Christmas, only to find his emails unreturned or resume shoved into piles. "Honestly my story to find a summer internship is fairly familiar with lots of other college students. I am an eager student who, at the end of the school year, found myself crashing on a friends couch, surviving on PB+Js, and spending all my free time pursuing the optimal internship; somewhere, somehow," Allgood wrote to Business Insider in an e-mail. That's when he decided to do something different to stand out from the crowd. He turned to Snapchat and designed his own geofilter to run an advertising campaign to promote himself as a great hire to the employees of Horizon Media, the largest stand-alone ad agency in the US. Geofilters on Snapchat target a specific location and can be overlaid on a photo. In Allgood's case, he designed the Horizon name to appear alongside his at the bottom of the screen with a small "Hey Hire Me" square at the top. He knew that the company posted photos and videos from inside the office on Tuesdays, so he spent $30 to target the company. And it definitely caught the company's attention. "I could've run an ad campaign through Twitter and they probably wouldn't have noticed," Allgood said. "I think the interactive way to do the marketing for this resume is the only reason it worked so well." At the time, Horizon Media said it didn't have space in the program, so they initially turned him down, but behind the scenes, the company was trying to find him a spot. On May 17, Horizon Media offered Allgood a social-media internship via Snapchat, of course. Allgood accepted and is headed to New York City for the summer. Story continues "Obviously, to get noticed in todays market, it requires more than just a resume," Allgood told Business Insider. "Here is my encouragement: It is never too late to end up where you wanted to start." NOW WATCH: A college student declared her love on Snapchat and captivated the whole campus More From Business Insider DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has no plans to freeze the level of its oil production and exports, Deputy Oil Minister Rokneddin Javadi was quoted on Sunday as saying, as the country tries to raise its crude exports to pre-sanctions levels. "Under the present circumstances, the government and the Oil Ministry have not issued any policy or plan to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) towards halting the increase in the production and exports of oil," Javadi, who also heads the state-run NIOC, told Iran's Mehr news agency. "Currently, Iran's crude oil exports, excluding gas condensates, have reached 2 million barrels per day (bpd)," Javadi said. "Iran's crude oil export capacity will reach 2.2 million barrels by the middle of summer." A meeting of the OPEC exporters' group, including Iran, is scheduled for June 2. Plans for a deal between OPEC and non-OPEC producers to shore up crude prices by freezing output fell apart in April when Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran, its main rival for influence in the region, join in. Iran's oil exports were badly dented by Western sanctions and since these were scrapped in January, it has been determined to build its exports back up, making a compromise with Saudi Arabia almost impossible. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom, dubai.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; Editing by Kevin Liffey) BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq denied on Sunday that its security forces had used live ammunition against protesters who broke into Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone this week. Sources from four hospitals and Baghdad's central morgue said four protesters had been killed and 90 injured by gunshot wounds on Friday in the zone, which is in the center of the capital and is home to parliament, government offices and embassies. But Saad al-Hadithi, spokesman for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, said an initial investigation showed there had been only two deaths and no direct gunfire. "There is no evidence that the two deaths were caused by direct gunfire on the protesters, and there are no other cases," he said in a speech broadcast on state television. Hadithi suggested the demonstrations had been infiltrated by gunmen and said three protesters had been detained for interrogation but later released. Friday's demonstrations included supporters of powerful Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr as well as people from other groups upset with the government's failure to approve anti-corruption reforms and maintain security in the city. The security forces used rubber bullets, water cannon and tear gas to disperse the thousands of demonstrators. Witnesses said they had shot into the air but later opened fire directly on civilians. A politician from Sadr's movement condemned the use of live ammunition as "oppressive". Unverified photos posted online showed dozens of bullet casings. Civilians have breached the Green Zone's perimeter twice in three weeks, raising questions about the government's ability to secure the capital, which has also seen a spike in bombings this month claimed by Islamic State. Abadi has condemned the incursions and warned against chaos and strife as government forces seek to keep up momentum in their fight to drive the jihadists out of large swathes of northern and western Iraq that they seized in 2014. Iraq's military said on Sunday it was preparing to launch an offensive to retake the Islamic State stronghold of Falluja and told residents to get ready to leave before fighting started. (Reporting By Stephen Kalin; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqi forces are heading to Fallujah to launch a long-awaited operation to retake the city from the Islamic State jihadist group, the prime minister's spokesman announced on Sunday. "Your sons the heroic fighters in the armed forces are ready to achieve a new victory... they are going to the city of Fallujah to clear it from the Daesh (IS) gang," Saad al-Hadithi said in a statement. He did not say when an assault on the jihadist bastion, located in Anbar province just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, would begin. The announcement apparently settles the issue of which IS-held city Iraq should seek to retake next -- a subject of debate among Iraqi officials and international forces helping the country fight the jihadists. Iraq's second city Mosul was the American military's recommended target, but powerful Iraqi militias may have helped force the issue by deploying reinforcements to the Fallujah area in preparation for an assault. Karim al-Nuri, spokesman for Badr, one of the main Shiite militia forces, said the operation would start soon. "Now everything is ready, and nothing remains except launching the operation," Nuri said. Earlier Sunday, Iraq's Joint Operations Command warned civilians still in Fallujah -- estimated to number in the tens of thousands -- to leave the city. It also said that families who cannot leave should raise a white flag over their location and stay away from IS headquarters and gatherings. Officials said several dozen families had fled the city, but IS has sought to prevent civilians from leaving, and forces surrounding Fallujah have also been accused of preventing foodstuffs from entering. - IS bastion - Iraqi forces have in recent days been massing around the city, which has been out of government control since January 2014. Anti-government fighters seized it after the army was withdrawn, and Fallujah later became one of IS's main strongholds. Story continues Fallujah and Mosul, the capital of the northern province of Nineveh, are the last two major cities IS still holds in Iraq. Fallujah is almost completely surrounded by Iraqi forces, who have regained significant ground in the Anbar province in recent months, including its capital Ramadi further up the Euphrates River valley. American forces launched two major assaults on Fallujah in 2004 in which they saw some of their heaviest fighting since the Vietnam War. Iraqi forces would have the advantage of greater knowledge of the area, especially if they employ pro-government Anbar tribal fighters in the battle. But they lack the training and enormous firepower that American forces brought to the Fallujah battles. IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in June 2014, and Iraqi forces performed dismally during the offensive despite significantly outnumbering the jihadists. Baghdad's forces have since managed to regain significant ground from IS with the backing of US-led air strikes, training and other support. But the battle for Fallujah -- a city that has long been a Sunni insurgent stronghold and which IS has had some two years to reinforce -- will be one of the toughest challenges they have yet faced. Petah Tikva (Israel) (AFP) - An Israeli NGO which tracks alleged army abuses of Palestinians told a court Sunday that it could no longer function if the government forced it to name its anonymous informants. "To demand lifting the confidentiality of testimonies would amount to simply demanding the end of Breaking The Silence," the group's lawyer Michael Sfard told the magistrates court on the first day of hearings on the state's demand that it hand over the names. Proceedings are set to continue on July 18. The NGO provides a platform for military veterans to describe what they say were disturbing aspects of their service in the 2014 war in the Gaza Strip and in operations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The state attorney's office says that anonymous witnesses allow potential lies to spread and make it impossible to investigate alleged abuses. "What is at stake is more than the future of Breaking The Silence," Sfard said in the packed courtroom in Petah Tikvah near Tel Aviv. "Today it is Breaking The Silence which finds itself in court, tomorrow it will be bloggers, tomorrow it will be other members of the press and of course NGOs which defend human rights." Founded in 2004 by army veterans, the organisation has come under political pressure from the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most rightwing in Israel's history. It drew intensified fire last year when it published a book about the 2014 Gaza war, in which 2,251 Palestinians and 73 Israelis died, which included allegations by more than 60 officers and troops of abuse and excessive use of force. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked has said Breaking the Silence and other NGOs provided evidence to the United Nations which formed the basis of a 2014 UN inquiry into the Gaza war, which concluded Israel and Palestinian militants may have been guilty of war crimes. Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel said late Sunday it was lifting a ban imposed last month on private imports of cement to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. "In accordance with the security assessment and the understandings reached with the international community, as of today Sunday May 22 the re-entry of cement into Gaza has been approved," said a statement from the government body responsible for implementing policies in the Palestinian territories, COGAT. The ban was imposed in early April, with Israel accusing Imad al-Baz, deputy director of the Hamas economy ministry, of diverting supplies. "The exploitation by Hamas is a severe violation of the construction mechanism and the agreement between COGAT, the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations," said Sunday's English-language statement, in response to an AFP query. Al-Baz has denied the allegation, saying that the imports were conducted in line with a UN-brokered Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, aimed at allowing for reconstruction following a devastating 2014 war with Israel. Over 1.2 million tons of construction materials have entered Gaza since the 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. Palestinian militants in Gaza and the Jewish state have fought three wars 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. JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel on Sunday returned to Egypt two stolen sarcophagi lids, saying the repatriation of the millennia-old artefacts was a sign of warmer relations between the two countries. Israel Antiquities Authority investigators found the two artefacts, one dating back between 3,400 and 3,600 years and the second about 3,000 years-old, in an antiquity dealer's shop in East Jerusalem about five years ago. The Israeli foreign ministry said the wooden sarcophagi covers were stolen in Egypt and smuggled to East Jerusalem via a Gulf state. Israeli authorities seized the artefacts but their return was put on hold after Egypt's Islamist government in 2012 recalled the Egyptian ambassador during fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. After a three-year hiatus, Egypt, now ruled by Western-backed President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, sent a new ambassador to Israel in January. The envoy formally took possession of the sarcophagi at a ceremony on Sunday at the foreign ministry in Jerusalem. "The return of the Egyptian (artefacts) is symbolic, more than anything, of the changing relations (between) Israel and Egypt," Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold told Reuters. Egyptian ambassador Hazem Khairat said the two countries, which signed a peace treaty in 1979, were still working on the return of other artefacts but he did not specify what they were or how many other items were in Israeli possession. (Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Mark Potter) Jerusalem (AFP) - The Israeli government on Sunday approved changes to a major offshore gas deal with a US-led consortium after the country's supreme court rejected an earlier version of the accord. The deal is intended to clear the way for Israel to both bolster its energy supplies and become a gas exporter, which could provide it with strategic leverage in the turbulent region. "The new agreement incorporates the comments that we received from the supreme court," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the weekly cabinet meeting, according to a statement from his office. "This is a very important - even historic - step for the Israeli economy ... and we will use this gift that nature has granted us for the benefit of the state and its citizens." After protracted political and bureaucratic challenges to the deal, including objections from anti-trust officials, the supreme court in March struck it down. The case had been closely watched, with Netanyahu himself appearing before the justices on behalf of the government. The court objected to a clause which guaranteed that its provisions could not be changed for a decade. It ruled that such a pledge would limit the authority of future administrations, and the court gave the government a year to amend the agreement with Texas-based Noble Energy and Israel's Delek. A cabinet statement quotes the revised version as recognising "the need for a regulatory environment that encourages investment by international and local companies in the field of natural gas exploration and production." Israeli business daily Globes said the agreement now pledged "to act in favour of regulatory stability for 10 years in the gas sector, but does not guarantee that nothing will be changed in taxation, ownership of the (fields) and exports." It said compensation would be considered for the companies involved if changes occur. The court is expected to review the new version of the deal. Story continues Delek on Sunday welcomed the cabinet decision and said it intended to have gas flowing from the Mediterranean field known as Leviathan "to the local market by the end of 2019". Leviathan is the largest of Israel's offshore gas fields, with enough gas to turn the country into a significant exporter. It is estimated to hold 18.9 trillion cubic feet (535 billion cubic metres, or bcm) of natural gas, along with 34.1 million barrels of condensate. Key potential markets include Turkey and Egypt. Manila (AFP) - Philippine soap star Jaclyn Jose won best actress at the Cannes film festival Sunday for her mesmerising performance as a slum matriarch who falls prey to corrupt police. A huge star in her homeland, she said she had to forget everything she learned in her 30 years in the business for the role as a sweetshop owner and small-time drug dealer in "Ma' Rosa". "The biggest challenge for me was not to act. Especially since I am coming from television shows where I play loud and campy characters," she told reporters. The 52-year-old said she had to "tone everything down to zero" -- for the stark, realistic portrait of a woman fighting to do the best for her family in director Brillante Mendoza's gritty film. It is a dramatic change from her regular job, playing a spoilt, rich woman in the popular Philippine TV soap opera, "The Millionaire's Wife". Variety magazine praised Jose for the "naturalistic grace" of her film performance, playing the matriarch of a family struggling to survive amid squalor. The daughter of a Filipina mother and a largely absent American serviceman father, Jose first became famous in Philippine showbiz circles for her ethereal beauty. But she has proved to be a versatile and hard-working actress, starring in dramas, comedies, horror stories, romances as well as television soap operas. She has won numerous acting awards in her native country and worked with its most prestigious filmmakers. But it is her relationship with "Ma 'Rosa" director Mendoza -- a friend for over three decades -- which has brought her into the international limelight. She appeared in Mendoza's first movie "The Masseur" 11 years ago and also his drama "Serbis", which competed in Cannes in 2008. KFC Chick-fil-A restaurants sell three times as much as KFC locations and it's made the chicken chain No. 1 in the industry. In 2014, Chick-fil-A's average sales per restaurant were $3.1 million, the greatest of any fast-food chain in the US, reports QSR magazine. In comparison, KFC sold $960,000 per restaurant that year. The reason for Chick-fil-A's dominance is a mix of excellent food and superior customer service, according to many analysts. The chain consistently ranks first in restaurant customer-service surveys, with customers raving about the restaurants' cleanliness, quick, convenient service, and hardworking employees. Chick-fil-A's success on a restaurant-by-restaurant basis can be traced in part to the chain's peculiar business model. The company accepts just 0.4% of franchisees, one of the most selective chains in the industry. Operators do not own or receive any equity in their business and can only open one location. Chick-fil-A "I don't necessarily subscribe to their religious beliefs, or their beliefs about the world, but I think they find owners that are religious bent [who] tend to be more conservative," KFC CMO Kevin Hochman told Business Insider. "They can make sure that procedures get followed. I think that's a competitive advantage for them. I don't know if it's an advantage I would want, but it's certainly working for them from a business standpoint." Today, Chick-fil-A is pushing a more apolitical, inclusive message. However, franchisees are still encouraged to become "entrenched" in their communities, including involvement in local churches as strategy that has helped build up the chain's loyal fan base over the years. It's difficult to pin down what sets Chick-fil-A employees apart (their pay is roughly equivalent to other chain's employees), though the company attributes its success to investing in training employees. With only one location for each franchisee and a strongly cultivated company culture, that training may come more easily than at chains like KFC. Story continues However, KFC is ready to change that. KFC A major part of the chicken chain's new "Re-Colonelization" process a public recommitment to quality involving national employee retraining and a new satisfaction guarantee is focused on boosting customer service. "Operations, quite frankly, has been broken for a long time," says Hochman. Last year, pressure fryers across the country were recalibrated. The chain spent more than 100,000 hours retraining more than 20,000 employees. KFC held 43 rallies across the US, attended by more than 97% of restaurant general managers, plus national training events at every KFC location in the US. KFC says taste scores have substantially increased across locations in the last year, apparent proof that the Re-Colonelization process is working not only by boosting customer interest, but also satisfaction. KFC KFC is also using more subtle means of boosting employee performance and customer service. The chain is in the midst of a remodeling push, with plans to redesign 70% of its US locations, or 3,000 restaurants, in the next three years. Redesigned locations reportedly experience reduced turnover and encourage more applications; in the kitchen, new signs encourage employees to "Make the Colonel proud." Blackboards at remodeled locations tell customers where the chicken was from, as well as the chef who is cooking the chicken in the kitchen that day. Much of the brand's tech innovations are focused on employees, not customers, with digital innovations to help employees schedule shifts, restock, and even chart their distance from work to encourage timeliness. "We've got an initiative right now where I'm trying to make it easier for our employees," Chris Caldwell, KFC's chief information officer, told Business Insider on the brand's tech developments that excite him most. "Working in our restaurants isn't the easiest you have to freshly prepare food, you don't have a whole lot of time for administrative tasks." kfc chicken KFC is also working to compete with Chick-fil-A when it comes to food. While Hochman admits that Chick-fil-A's taste scores are "excellent," he says KFC has been steadily improving customer satisfaction as Re-Colonelization takes hold. However, there is one area in which KFC isn't trying to compete with Chick-fil-A. While Chick-fil-A has increasingly marketed itself as a "healthy" fried-chicken chain, with options like kale salad and grilled nuggets, KFC is sticking to its roots and doubling down on fried chicken-on-the bone. "It's not that it's not healthy for you it's just fried chicken," says Hochman. "It can't be your go-to every day. Our customers don't do that and we don't tell them to do that. I think going out and telling people it's healthy it's not true." Fortunately for KFC, health-conscious customers increasingly aren't invested in simple calorie counting. Instead, they want "real" food something that KFC believes it can offer. With a Colonel Sanders-centric marketing campaign and culinary dishes like Nashville Hot Chicken, KFC is banking on old-school authenticity to draw customers to the chain. "There's uncertainty in the immediate nuclear family, there's uncertainty in the world," says Hochman. "People are looking for comfort any place they can find it. That's why fried chicken is growing." NOW WATCH: Heres how many calories are in 6 of the most popular fast-food kids meals More From Business Insider Tripoli (AFP) - Libyan coastguards said they intercepted seven vessels on Sunday carrying around 850 African migrants trying to reach Europe illegally by sea. "The coastguard in the west was patrolling the area off the Zawiya refinery (45 kilometres, 28 miles west of Tripoli) and ... they intercepted seven large inflatables," Libyan navy spokesman Colonel Ayoub Qassem told AFP. He said the migrants "from several African countries" included 79 women -- 11 of them pregnant -- and 11 children. "The migrants were handed over to the authorities for transfer to shelters," he said. The chaos in the North African country since Moamer Kadhafi's fall in 2011 has been exploited by people traffickers, with thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe from Libya just 300 kilometres from Italy. The onset of better weather conditions has raised fears of huge numbers of people attempting the still perilous sea crossing. At the end of March, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian estimated that around 800,000 migrants were waiting to head for Europe from Libya. On May 13, a British parliamentary report said the EU's naval mission to combat people trafficking off the Libyan coast was "failing" and had only succeeded in forcing smugglers to change tactics. Operation Sophia "does not in any meaningful way deter the flow of migrants, disrupt the smugglers' networks or impede the business of people smuggling on the central Mediterranean route", it said. Committee chairman Lord Tugendhat said the mission to patrol an area six times larger than Italy "was always going to present an enormous challenge". "The smuggling networks operate from Libya, and they extend through Africa. Without support from a stable Libyan government, the operation is unable to gather the intelligence it needs or tackle the smugglers onshore," he said. There's no time like the present to clean out the freezer. As the New York Times reported Sunday, CRF Frozen Foods has issued a recall of over 350 frozen foods from 42 brands for fear of listeria contamination. The affected retailers span North America and include Earth's Pride, Panda Express, Signature Kitchens and sorry about this one Trader Joe's. "Unquestionably, this is a lot of product," Matthew Wise, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's outbreak response team, told the Associated Press. "It reflects the severity of listeria as an illness, the long duration of illnesses and the outbreak and the long shelf life of the products." Source: Joe Raedle/Getty Images This is a continuation of the processing plant's April 23 recall, subsequently expanded on May 2. According to the Times, listeria cases resulting from CRF's frozen goods first surfaced in March 2013 and have continued to do so since. There's no word yet on just how many units of potentially contaminated goods have shipped, but they've reportedly landed in all 50 states, plus Canada. The recall covers "all organic and traditional frozen vegetable and fruit products" to come out of the Pasco, Washington plant since May 1, 2014, according to the CDC. These products will have best- or sell-by dates between April 26 and April 26, 2018, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Due to the CRF Frozen Foods recall, other companies have recalled 100s of products sold under various brandspic.twitter.com/B9FugKLCXH https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CiqqHhaXIAAy1IW.jpg:large Eating foods tainted with Listeria monocytogenes can lead to listeriosis, symptoms of which include fever, aching muscles, diarrhea and confusion. It compromises the immune system, and can present itself in the form of meningitis or septicemia. In pregnant women, it can lead to miscarriage or a baby born with meningitis. Listeriosis can be fatal, and indeed, it's possible that it has been for two of the eight people the outbreak has infected so far, the Times reported. Cannes (France) (AFP) - Two years ago the veteran British director Ken Loach said he was ready to throw in the towel. But on Sunday, only weeks from his 80th birthday, he won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival. It is the second time that fiercely politically engaged filmmaker has lifted the festival's top prize. "When you get very old you just get pleased to see the sun rise the next day," Loach told reporters after winning. "I, Daniel Blake", his story of a carpenter injured at work and a young single mother struggling with the absurdities of the welfare system under Britain's Conservative government, brought tears to the eyes of hard-bitten critics. It may also make the careers of its two almost unknown stars, Hayley Squires and stand-up comedian Dave Johns. "'I, Daniel Blake' was made to give voice to those who need it. The Palme d'Or is a triumph that makes that voice extremely loud," Squires tweeted after the news broke. While Loach won at Cannes a decade ago with "The Wind That Shakes the Barley", a historical drama set during Ireland's war of independence from Britain, his new film brings him back to his kitchen-sink roots. Loach told reporters that he mentioned retiring when working on his last film "Jimmy's Hall" "at a moment of maximum pressure when we hadn't shot a foot of film and the mountain in front of us was quite high and I thought 'I can't get through this again'." - Got his mojo back - But he has since got his mojo and his hunger back. Critics were particularly taken by the way he showed the desperation of people caught in the benefits maze which seems constructed just to frustrate them. British critic Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian told AFP what moved him most was a "scene in the food bank when (Hayley Squires) just gulps into the can of baked beans. The expression on her face, the sheer horror, the gut-wrenching realisation that it has come to this..." Story continues The world of work -- or the lack of it -- has long been a favourite theme for the veteran director, a stalwart of English social realist cinema alongside directors Mike Leigh and Stephen Frears. He memorably visited the subject in 1991 with "Riff-Raff", which explored the lives of casual workers in London. "Bread & Roses" recounted a strike by cleaning staff at a Los Angeles hotel, and "The Navigators" (2001) followed five rail workers as their industry undergoes privatisation. But Loach has always been realistic about the impact his films can make. "I never said to myself that my films could change things," he told The Guardian. "At best it can add its voice to public outrage." Loach's roots are impeccably working class, growing up in Nuneaton, near Birmingham, the son of an electrician and a dressmaker. He did military service with the Royal Air Force before studying law at Oxford, where he discovered the world of acting, directing and theatre. - Social conscience - Later at the BBC he began to make television films already marked by his left-wing politics. In the tradition of social observers such as Charles Dickens and Emile Zola, Loach believes passionately that cinema can be about "ordinary people and their dilemmas" -- as in his early "Kes" in 1969, about a working-class boy caring for his pet falcon, which won two BAFTA awards. Even Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg -- whose own big-budget work lies at the other end of the cinematic spectrum -- admitted at Cannes that he is a Loach fan, having been introduced to his work by the actor Daniel Day Lewis who sat him down to watch "Kes". In his 19 appearances at Cannes, Loach has also won three Jury Prizes for "The Angels' Share" -- another comedy -- in 2012, "Raining Stones" in 1993, and "Hidden Agenda" in 1990. "My Name is Joe" won Peter Mullan best actor at Cannes in 1998. Loach's political commitment saw him helping found Britain's Left Unity party in 2013, which advocated stronger public services and wealth redistribution. NEW YORK (Reuters) - A manhunt was underway on Sunday in central Massachusetts for a gunman who shot and killed a police officer during a traffic stop just after midnight, state police said. Ronald Tarentino, a 42-year-old officer in Auburn, Massachusetts, was fatally shot around 12:30 a.m. EDT in the town, which is approximately 50 miles (80 km) west of Boston. The shooter fled the scene in his vehicle, according to police. In an advisory released by Massachusetts State Police and shared by police departments on Twitter, authorities said Jorge Zambrano, 35, was wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting. The bulletin said Zambrano should be considered armed and dangerous. Video taken by local television news outlets showed dozens of officers lining the road as Tarentino's body was transported from a hospital to the medical examiner's office in Boston. (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Alan Crosby) On a weekend when both Seattle and Cincinnati celebrate future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., the Mariners have continued to have their way in this interleague series. The Mariners can sweep the three-game set by handing the Reds a seventh consecutive defeat Sunday. With Griffey, who spent all but a brief part of his stellar career with Seattle and Cincinnati, set to be inducted into Cooperstown this summer, the Reds chose to honor him while the Mariners are in town. Though both franchises can equally celebrate Griffey's career, the all-time series between these clubs has been one-sided. Franklin Gutierrez hit a long three-run homer and Felix Hernandez threw six strong innings to help the Mariners (25-17) improve to 12-2 against the Reds with Saturday's 4-0 victory. Seattle has hit nine home runs while outscoring Baltimore and Cincinnati 31-10 to go 4-1 on a six-game trip. At 17-7, the Mariners have the best road record in the AL. After going 1 for 14 in his previous seven contests, Gutierrez had two hits and imitated Griffey with his estimated 473-foot home run. ''That was unbelievable, man,'' Hernandez said. ''If I hit a home run like that, I would be so happy.'' Wade Miley (4-2, 4.32 ERA) would certainly be happy to earn a fifth consecutive winning decision. The left-hander looks to build on Tuesday's effort against the Orioles in which he allowed two hits over six innings of the 10-0 victory. "Wade's got four or five different pitches," manager Scott Servais told MLB's official website. "Sometimes it takes an inning or two to see which ones he's going to work out. Good fastball location, in and out with the fastball." While pitching for Arizona, Miley went 2-2 with 3.90 ERA in five starts against the Reds, last facing them in 2014. A loser of 11 of 13, Cincinnati has been outscored 55-19 during a six-game slide. The Reds managed four singles Saturday. Story continues "We didn't put too much pressure on them from an offensive standpoint," manager Bryan Price said. His lineup might remain thin if outfielder Jay Bruce misses a second straight game because of a sore knee. Bruce was 11 for 17 during a five-game stretch prior to going 0 for 8 in his last two. His only hit in six at-bats against Miley left the park. Alfredo Simon (1-4, 10.34) looks to bounce back from another rough outing Tuesday, when he gave up a career-high 10 runs and 14 hits over 4 1/3 innings of a 13-1 loss at Cleveland. It was a disappointing result for the right-hander, who allowed three runs in each of his previous two starts that covered 13 2/3-plus innings. ''I tried to throw the ball down as much as I can,'' Simon said. ''It's not happening right now. It's frustrating for me.'' He went 1-0 in two starts against the Mariners last season with Detroit, but posted a 7.15 ERA in those contests. Robinson Cano is 5 for 12 with a home run against Simon. It seems unlikely Cano's double-play partner Ketel Marte will be available after he sprained his left thumb Saturday. X-rays were negative. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22 By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend: The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) will expand the capacity of the Kulevi Black Sea oil terminal in Georgia from the current 320,000 cubic meters to 380,000 cubic meters, a source in SOCAR told Trend. The terminal in Georgia's Kulevi was commissioned in May 2008 and the oil transshipment started in June of the same year. The total capacity of the terminal is 10 million tons of bulk-oil cargo per year, three million tons of oil, three million tons of diesel fuel and four million tons of fuel oil. The source linked the expansion of the Kulevi terminal with the modernization of the Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev, following which its production capacity will grow from 6 million tons to 7.5 million tons per year. "The increase in oil products will naturally lead to building up export," said the source. "Most part of oil products is transshipped through Kulevi terminal, so its expansion is a natural requirement. Now the capacity of the terminal's storage tank amounts to 320,000 cubic meters." "SOCAR plans to increase it up to 380,000 cubic meters," said the source. "The expansion project has already started and is likely to be completed next year." The source added that there is demand for these capacities and it will be ensured at the expense of both Azerbaijani and transit volumes of oil products. "SOCAR will try to involve third parties, customers, so that they use the Kulevi terminal for transshipment," the source said. "The company is interested in this." --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov Gio Gonzalez is often a forgotten man in a star-laden Washington Nationals rotation, though he's pitching just as well as its two biggest names. The New York Mets can attest. Gonzalez looks to continue his mastery of the Mets when the NL East rivals open a three-game series at Nationals Park on Monday night. Though Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer have been the headliners of a starting five that's second in the majors with a 2.91 ERA, Gonzalez (3-1, 1.86 ERA) has certainly done his part by yielding one earned run or less in six of eight outings. The left-hander again accomplished the feat with 6 1/3 sharp innings in Wednesday's 7-1 win over New York, with Yoenis Cespedes' solo homer the lone damage among five hits. The effort improved Gonzalez to 10-4 in 18 starts against the Mets, one of several division teams against which he's excelled. He's 7-1 with a 1.38 ERA over his last 15 matchups with NL East clubs, allowing two runs or fewer in each. "Gio continues to be one of our best pitchers," manager Dusty Baker told MLB's official website. "He's getting better and better." An ability to suppress the long ball - particularly at home - has keyed Gonzalez's success. He's surrendered five homers in 31 starts at Nationals Park since 2014 and none in four this season. Cespedes' homer was the Mets' only one in their past six meetings with Gonzalez, who is 4-0 with a 0.97 ERA during that stretch. Home runs have usually been prevalent for New York (25-18), which leads the NL with 60 this season. The Mets hit four in sweeping a three-game weekend set with visiting Milwaukee after losing two of three at home to Washington. Cespedes, who is 4 for 7 off Gonzalez, doubled and scored on Asdrubal Cabrera's tie-breaking two-run single in the fourth inning of Sunday's 3-1 win. Noah Syndergaard protected the lead by fanning 11 over seven dominant innings. Washington (27-17) received its own strong performance from Scherzer to remain 1 1/2 games in front of New York for the division lead. The former Cy Young Award winner struck out eight over eight innings to cap a 4-2 road trip with Sunday's 8-2 victory at Miami. Story continues Anthony Rendon had two hits and three RBIs and finished the trip 10 for 20 with seven RBIs. He's hitting .405 with a .519 on-base percentage over his last 12 games. Rendon is 6 for 16 with a home run against Bartolo Colon (3-3, 3.75) and had a two-run single off the veteran to support Gonzalez in Wednesday's win. Taking the mound one day shy of his 43rd birthday, Colon attempts to regroup from an uncommonly wild display against Washington. He issued five walks - his most since April 2005 - while allowing three runs in 4 2/3 innings to record a second consecutive loss. ''It just felt like I was on the mound, just walking around, it felt a little bit different," he said. "I couldn't just get that comfortable grip.'' New York, which swept a three-game set at Nationals Park in September en route to overtaking Washington for the NL East title, won't have first baseman Lucas Duda available after he was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday with a stress fracture in his lower back that's expected to sideline him for four to six weeks. el chapo baby On Friday, the Mexican Foreign Ministry announced that it had approved the extradition of jailed drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman to the US to face charges including drug trafficking, homicide, and money laundering in Texas and California. Coming after two rulings by two Mexican judges, the ministrys decision effectively clears the way for Guzmans transport to a US courtroom. But, as US experts and Guzmans own lawyers have said, the kingpin still has means to fight his transfer. We expected it. It is no surprise, Jose Refugio Rodriguez, one of Guzmans lawyers, said of the ministry's decision in an interview with Milenio TV, according to The Associated Press. Guzman knows and is conscious that the real battle against extradition is going to be waged through the constitutional appeals process, Rodriguez said, adding that the kingpin could stay in Mexico for one to three years as the appeals process plays out. Guzman now has up to 30 days to appeal the decision, after which a judge will decide how to move forward. His defense team has at least two attempts to appeal, according to The Washington Post, which could last months. "It kind of sounds crazy because he was first apprehended two or three years ago. So a lot of people think, "Oh, you got him, just bring him across the border," David Shirk, a professor at the University of San Diego and the director of the schools Justice in Mexico program, told Business Insider prior to the ministrys decision. "They forget one important consideration, which is there is a process." There's both a sort of technical process and what we can think of as due process. I mean, there's the technical steps, Shirk said, referring to the diplomatic and bureaucratic wrangling involved in the extradition process, and then there's the fact that he actually has some rights. Mexico El Chapo Guzman prison transfer Story continues The Sinaloa kingpin, apprehended in January after his July breakout, has been in Mexican custody for more than four months, and the extradition process with Mexico can take anywhere from six months to over six years, Mike Vigil, the former chief of international operations for the US Drug Enforcement Agency, told Business Insider. The Mexican governments approval of extradition came less than two weeks after Guzman was suddenly transferred from a high-security jail in central Mexico (one that he broke out of in July 2015) to another one near Ciudad Juarez, not far from El Paso, Texas. The relocation fueled speculation that Guzman who has signaled his willingness to cut a deal with the US under certain conditions was about to be sent north, an unlikely assumption, according to Vigil. Just because they put him there doesn't mean that it's imminent, hardly the case. Because under the extradition treaty, the attorneys" can file legal injunctions, Vigil told Business Insider before the ministry issued its decision. El Chapo Guzman lawyer trial plead case And for every injunction that the defense attorneys will file, under the Mexican extradition treaty, they have to hold a judicial hearing for each and every injunction, which takes a lot of time, Vigil added. In particular, Guzmans attorneys have seized on the prison transfer, arguing that it hurts the drug lords defense because the new prison is far from the court dealing with his case. Rodriguez told the AP that Guzman could be transferred back to the original prison if jail officials deem the conditions acceptable. Vigil also suggested Guzman could try to strong-arm his way out of extradition using violence and intimidation. There is a very strong possibility that he will launch a frontal assault on the Mexican government, to try to intimidate the government to stop his extradition," Vigil told the AP. Future developments in the case however far down the road they happen could also come unexpectedly, as the Mexican government will likely try to keep the legal proceedings under wraps. It seems to me that the pattern has been when extradition happens, they happen in a swift and usually unexpected fashion, insofar as the authorities don't want people to know that someone's being moved because that could obviously lead to a jailbreak attempt or something like that, Shirk said. NOW WATCH: EX-DEA AGENT: What I did when a drug dealer tried to bribe me with $3 million More From Business Insider Geneva (AFP) - A Geneva auction house raked in more than $4 million Sunday for a collection of "grand crus" from Burgundy's renowned Domaine de la Romanee-Conti wine estate. The 1,407 bottles that went under the hammer beat expectations and sold for a total of 4.2 million Swiss francs ($4.3 million, 3.8 million euros), with a single three-litre jeroboam of 1999 Romanee-Conti snatched up for 60,000 Swiss francs by an anonymous buyer. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, which takes its name from its most famous vineyard, is widely considered to be one of the world's finest wine producers. "We're very happy with the results," the head of the Baghera Wines auction house Michael Ganne told AFP. Stored in perfect conditions for the past 15 years at the heavily-guarded Geneva Freeports customs-free zone, the bottles belong to a single investor who has asked to remain anonymous. The collection is "unique" and "historic", Ganne said ahead of the sale, explaining that it is extremely rare for more than 100 bottles from the prestigious estate to be auctioned at once. Some 50 people had gathered at the Geneva auction house, but much of the activity happened on the phone or through written orders, mainly from wealthy Asian buyers, Ganne said. About 85 percent of the bottles presented were snapped up, he said. Seven grand crus produced between 1952 and 2011 at the producer's Romanee Conti, La Tache, Richebourg, Romanee-Saint-Vivant, Grands Echezeaux, Echezeaux, and Montrachet vineyards were sold off in 266 batches. In addition to the jeroboam of 1999 Romanee-Conti, the top lots included 12 bottles of an 1988 Romanee-Conti bought for 144,000 Swiss francs. Grand crus -- literally 'great growth' in French and indicating wine from France's best vineyards -- produced by the tiny Domaine de la Romanee-Conti are so expensive largely because they are so rare. Only 200 bottles are expected to be made there this year, and more than 100,000 people are on a waiting list to acquire a single bottle, Ganne said. The second half of Sunday's auction offered up around 3,000 bottles of grand crus from Bordeaux, as well as American wines, vintage champagne and Cuban cigars, which together sold for 2.0 million Swiss francs. Yahoo News Photo Illustration/Photos: AP Three years ago today, Barack Obama gave a major counterterrorism address at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. It was what his aides call a framing speech, an effort to knit together an overarching approach to the fight against radical terrorists. Predictably, Obama touted his administrations key successes. Osama bin Laden was dead, the core al-Qaida organization in Pakistan was on a path to defeat, and there had been no large-scale terror attacks on U.S. soil since he had taken office. And he stoutly defended some his own most controversial actions, such as the incineration-by-drone of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born preacher and chief of external operations for the Yemeni offshoot of al-Qaida. His citizenship should no more serve as a shield than a sniper shooting down on an innocent crowd should be protected by a SWAT team, Obama averred. But the speech, many months in the works, was also an unusual public expression of Obamas private angst about the American killing machine he had built and was now presiding over. He hadnt run for office so that he could go around blowing things up, hed told his national security team, according to an account in the New Yorker. He gave his audience an extraordinary glimpse into how he weighs the tradeoffs between security, morality and law, confessing his own personal anguish upon learning that strikes he had ordered killed civilians. (For me, and those in my chain of command, those deaths will haunt us for as long as we live, he said.) He rededicated himself to closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, an effort that had collapsed amid congressional obstruction, political realities and Obamas own laconic approach toward Congress. Most strikingly, Obama mused openly for the first time in his presidency about how to move the country off a perpetual wartime footing. This war, like all wars, must end, Obama said. Thats what history advises. Its what our democracy demands. Story continues To that purpose, he announced a series of new polices (a Presidential Policy Guidance in the bureaucratic vernacular) that would narrow the scope of the American struggle against terrorism, create more stringent rules for the use of lethal force and generally impose more accountability and transparency on a killing process that had operated almost entirely in the shadows. Obama issued directives reining in the use of drones outside conventional battlefields and tightening the criteria for targeted killings. To circumscribe what many critics saw as a war that had become boundless in time and geography, Obama vowed to work with Congress to refine and ultimately repeal the Authorization for Use of Military force, the Congressional writ that gave the American president sweeping powers in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. And he urged a more nuanced approach to identifying those terrorist groups that required a military response from the United States. Not every band of extremists involved in local insurgencies poses a threat to our national existence or way of life, he suggested. Obama located the country at a crossroads and declared that it was time to define the nature and scope of the struggle, or it will define us. Implicitly, he was saying that we had to regain our perspective and not overreact to a threat that was actually receding. For 12 years politicians and security officials had warned against a pre-9/11 mentality of complacency. Obama was pointing out the complementary danger of being stuck in a post-9/11 mindset of overreaction to a threat that seemed to be receding. But now the battlefield assessments are more dire and the threat is metastasizing. A raging civil war in Syria paved the way for the emergence of ISIS, which captured huge swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate. The group shocked the world by beheading American and other Western hostages. It demonstrated an ability to pull off large-scale attacks in the heart of Europe and to inspire plots like the one in San Bernardino, Calif., that left 14 dead. Fear of Islamist terrorism was spiking in American cities and pulsating through the 2016 presidential campaign. Talk of winding down the terror wars has been dropped from the Obama administrations message. Instead, the administration has been pouring thousands of new troops back into the Middle East, and his aides were looking for a new vocabulary to describe a strategy that more closely resembled the approach of the previous decade than the forward-looking agenda Obama had laid out at Fort McNair. Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser and close adviser to Obama, described a hybrid strategy comprising many elements, which together do not add up to a traditional war. We have a variety of different tools that we use that range from a drone strike to an airstrike to a training exercise to law enforcement cooperation to try to deal with that terrorist threat, Rhodes said in an interview. Likening the strategy to Plan Colombia, the 1990s-era U.S. initiative to combat Colombian drug cartels and leftist insurgents, Rhodes said that the U.S. has assumed a counterterrorism posture that resembles less a war than a mix of counterterrorism efforts and military support to countries that are dealing with fractured states and civil conflicts. But the reality is that a president whose ambition had been to wind down and ultimately end the wars of 9/11 has found it hard to resist the inexorable momentum toward more military engagement. Obama has been accused in the past of failing to follow up his lofty rhetoric with resolute action, of attempting to bend the arc of history with mere eloquence. The truth is more complicated. Circumstances have changed, making some promises harder to fulfill. In some areas progress has been made, but it is often slow and plodding. We are not reverting back to a post-9/11 formula, occupying countries with large standing armies and twisting our foreign policy to fit that paradigm. In the twilight of his presidency, its reasonable to start asking what Obamas record on terrorism will look like when he departs and what he will leave behind to his successor, both in terms of the nature of the terror threat and the tools available to deal with it. What follows is an assessment of Obamas accomplishments and where hes fallen short, measured by the yardstick of his own words. Even before he became president, Obama had identified drones as his go-to weapon. During the transition, he and John Brennan, soon to be his counterterrorism adviser and later director of the CIA, agreed that the surgical capabilities of drones served Obamas larger strategic goals in the fight against terrorism: taking the bad guys off the battlefield and thwarting attacks, while shrinking Americas footprint in the region. Likening terrorism to a cancer, Brennan said you need to target the metastasizing disease without destroying the surrounding tissue. The weapon of choice: armed pilotless aircraft, or drones. But Obamas very first experience with a drone strike rattled him. Four days into his presidency, the CIA was targeting al-Qaida and Taliban commanders in South Waziristan along the Afghan-Pakistan border. But the strike went badly awry, killing an innocent tribal elder and several members of his family. It was the start of a pattern that has run through his entire presidency. Intellectually, Obama was able to make an ironclad case for the utility of drones, from both a moral and tactical standpoint. As commander in chief he could not stand by idly when the intelligence indicated terrorists were plotting to kill Americans. The precision of drones, he was convinced, would minimize civilian casualties compared to conventional airstrikes or ground combat, without risking American lives. And yet deadly mistakes continued, innocents were killed, and Obama always seemed to have a nagging feeling that he couldnt fully control this controversial program that was so closely identified with him personally. The deadly efficiency of the program made it hard to resist. During the first couple of years of the administration, the Obama White House sometimes seemed almost giddy about the CIAs successes. Rahm Emanuel, the presidents first chief of staff, was the programs biggest cheerleader, regularly calling then-CIA Director Leon Panetta to congratulate him for major strikes. He even urged the agency to tout its successes in the media by leaking colorful details of the covert hits to friendly reporters. But ironically, one of the strikes that Emanuel celebrated was also a turning point for the program. Baitullah Mehsud was a senior leader of the Pakistani Taliban and one of the most bloodthirsty terrorists on the CIAs kill list. In the summer of 2009, agency spotters had Mehsud in their sights. But they couldnt guarantee a clean shot. He would likely be surrounded by civilians. With the White Houses blessing, the strike was made. Mehsud was killed, but so was his wife, who was massaging his legs at the time. The strike was viewed by its operators as a major victory in the war on terror. But the unintended casualties gave pause to some in the White House, including Obama. In the aftermath of the Baitullah strike and others that had gone badly, the program was put through a hot washing, according to a knowledgeable source, using a military term for a rigorous performance review. Other factors heightened concerns over the targeted killing program. The Pakistani government, a critical ally in the war against al-Qaida, was threatening to withdraw cooperation because the strikes were so unpopular there. The American ambassador in Pakistan, backed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, called for scaling back the program and requested more input in authorizing the strikes. In response, the White House began developing standards for drone strikes outside conventional battlefields. Obama wanted to institutionalize rules for using these deadly weapons, both for his administration and for future presidents. The new standards could also serve as a blueprint for international norms for drone warfare as the technology became available to other armies. The project, informally called the playbook and run by Brennan, resulted in a Presidential Planning Guidance, which Obama announced at the Fort McNair speech. It was an effort to make sure we had a rigorous process for figuring out who was worth taking a shot at, said a one senior Obama adviser. The PPG, a classified document, limits drone strikes to human targets who cannot be captured and who pose a continuing imminent threat to Americans. Moreover, under the policy guidance, such drone strikes can only be authorized when there is near certainty that no civilians will be killed. (The imminence standard has been criticized by human rights lawyers because of the administrations elastic definition of imminence. Obama officials have argued that that it would be too late to take action once terrorists were executing an operation.) Obama also proposed in the PPG new mechanisms for increasing oversight of drone operations outside of war zones. He pledged to work with Congress to develop a special court that would evaluate lethal action, although he warned that bringing the judiciary into the process might pose constitutional problems. He also raised the possibility of establishing an independent oversight board within the executive branch to oversee drone strikes. One key reform he did not announce at the National Defense University speech, but rather set in motion secretly, was shifting drone operations away from the CIA to the Pentagon, which is subject to more accountability and transparency. Three years later, how well has Obama lived up to these goals? Its a mixed picture, although some progress has clearly been made. Since 2013, the number of drone strikes outside of conventional war zones has fallen dramatically. At the peak in 2010, there were more than 122 fired in Pakistan, according to the New America foundation. In 2013 there were 26; in 2014 there were 22; and so far this year there have only been three. Less drastic, but still substantial, decreases have also occurred in Yemen and in Somalia. This is partly due to changing circumstances; in Pakistan, after a decade of pounding al-Qaida and the Taliban, there are very few targets left to hit. They are either dead, have left the region, or are so burrowed in they cant be targeted, said one former intelligence official with deep knowledge of the drone program. But just on Saturday, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, was targeted by a drone strike along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, according to the Afghan government, killed along with an associate. What impact the more rigorous standards imposed on the drone program by the PPG have had on the pace and efficacy of targeted killings is less clear. For one thing those standards do not apply in Pakistan at this point. Obamas pledge to consider a secret court or an independent board to oversee the drone program has gone nowhere. Both of those options, according to a senior administration official, have been shelved. Moving the program from the CIA to the Defense Department has proven to be slow and difficult. The agency, unsurprisingly, resisted giving up a program that was a boon to its reputation. But a bigger obstacle was the intense turf war waged out of public view between the congressional oversight committees for intelligence and defense. The intel committees fought viciously to keep the program, said one top administration official. Moreover, real questions emerged about whether the Pentagon had the technical know-how to take over exclusive control over the drone program. In 2014 a Defense Department drone strike in Southern Yemen accidentally killed a number of civilians attending a wedding party, provoking a debate within the government about the wisdom of turning the program over to the military. The CIA seized on the accident to argue for keeping a major role in choosing targets. There is some evidence that the military has assumed command of the program in at least one theater of war. Lately, the Defense Department has been willing to publicly take credit for drone strikes in Yemen. When both the CIA and Yemen were operating parallel programs there, the military could not reveal its operations, because on those occasions when it did not take the shot, keeping silent would have implicitly exposed the CIAs role. A senior administration official predicted to Yahoo News in a recent interview that by the time Obama leaves office, the program will have fully shifted over to the military, with the exception of operations in Pakistan. Thats because the Pakistani government will only allow the U.S. to operate there covertly, which only the CIA can do. Elsewhere, the CIA, with its unique expertise, will continue to gather and analyze the intelligence needed to target terrorists. The military will track the bad guys and then pull the trigger. Administration officials cite the drone killing of Junaid Hussain, a top ISIS propagandist and computer hacker, as a model for the kind of dual command structure that could be used going forward. Barack Obama shed no tears over that operation. The world was different enough in May 2013 that Obama could plausibly promise that he would try to refine, and ultimately repeal the 2001 legislation that set the stage for the invasion of Afghanistan and the global war against al-Qaida. He could tell Americans that, with some work at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, we can continue to fight terrorism without keeping America on a perpetual wartime footing. His administration later called for repealing the October 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force that gave George W. Bush the green light to invade Iraq a step loaded with significance for Obama, who built his history-making 2008 campaign on a vow to disentangle a weary America from the Middle East. Top Obama aides and their allies in Congress now acknowledge that the job of rewriting the legislation that underpins the war on terrorism will almost certainly fall to the next administration. I do think any future president is going to need to figure this out, Rhodes told Yahoo News. Obama has now spent more time at war than any other U.S. president. His unwillingness to use force is frequently exaggerated both by aides eager to portray him as the solution to Bush-era problems and by critics eager to cast him as a weak defender of U.S. national interests. In 2008, he promised to kill bin Laden if he got the chance even if the terrorist mastermind were on sovereign Pakistani soil. In May 2011, he kept that promise. In his 2009 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Obama talked of constraining war but bluntly vowed: I like any head of state reserve the right to act unilaterally if necessary to defend my nation. He became the first American president known to have targeted an individual American citizen, al-Awlaki, for assassination. His decision not to strike Syria in 2013 has drawn sharp criticism, but many of his fiercest critics (and the U.S. public) also opposed using force at the time. He hurled U.S. forces into combat in Libya without congressional authorization (and without a plan for filling the vacuum left by Moammar Gadhafi). And in his 2015 campaign to sell his nuclear agreement with Iran, Obama freely boasted of ordering the use of deadly force in at least seven countries overtly, covertly, deploying troops, ordering drone strikes, acting with or without congressional authority, with allies or unilaterally, and sometimes in ways that test the bounds of international law. But the 2013 speech came at a time when the president hoped to escape being pulled into Syrias civil war, two months before the so-called Islamic State terrorist army launched its campaign to seize vast swathes of Iraqi territory. He was speaking nearly one year before U.S. officials warned that terrorist groups inside Syria were plotting attacks on the West, fundamentally altering Obamas view of that conflict. ISIS, as the Islamic State is also known, essentially rewrote the presidents strategy. At the time of the National Defense University speech, White House aides thought they saw a window for curtailing executive war-making authority under the 2001 AUMF. Congress, in this scenario, would take a more assertive role in defining the proper means and the ends before young Americans charge into battle. Obamas team also contended that the 2001 measure, designed to target al-Qaida, was increasingly out of date an argument they still make. You could foresee a scenario in several years where al-Qaida, the organization that launched the 9-11 attacks and which we created an AUMF for, really doesnt exist anymore; its fully out of business, Rhodes said. So are you still using an authority crafted for an organization based in Afghanistan in 2001 to fight an organization thats based in Somalia and Mali and Yemen in 2019? To us that, at a certain point, becomes unsustainable, Rhodes said. In February 2015, Obama sent Congress a new AUMF, explicitly authorizing his undeclared but escalating military campaign against ISIS (or, to the administration, ISIL) and pressed Congress to start the work of refining, and repealing, the 2001 law. But the new measure has stalled, perhaps for good. While the administration could still send Congress proposed changes to the 2001 AUMF, the White House insists a new measure, aimed at ISIS, has to be in place before it can risk losing the authority it claims to have under the older resolution. We do believe that we still need to have the authority to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, and, where necessary, continue to apply pressure to al-Qaida affiliates around the globe, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in April. But I cant really conceive of rolling back [the 2001 AUMF] unless we have a replacement, whatever it looks like, on the books, a former career national security official who used to advise Obama told Yahoo News on condition of anonymity. For Rhodes, this president or a successor will have to embrace a new legal framework. I think it will become increasingly unsustainable to be relying on an authority crafted for a place and time, an organization that really doesnt exist anymore, he said. Either way, the United States seems set to remain on the perpetual wartime footing that Obama declared he wanted to end. When Obama ordered the closure of the Guantanamo detention center on his third day in office, there were 241 detainees at the facility, down from a total of about 800 when George W. Bush opened the prison after 9/11. By early 2013, the start of his second term, that number had dropped by only about a third, to 166. As of this February, it was down to 91, and today there are 80 detainees remaining at the prison. That number will decrease even more over the next few months. But when Obama leaves office on Jan. 20, 2017, Gitmo, as it is known, will almost certainly still be open for business, leaving one of the presidents signature campaign promises unfulfilled. There is plenty of blame to go around for this. Early in Obamas first term, efforts to shutter Guantanamo were overwhelmed by the politics of terrorism. In May 2009, Democratic House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey stripped $80 million that Obama had requested to close the prison from an emergency funding bill. While I dont mind defending a concrete program, Im not much interested in wasting my energy defending a theoretical program, Obey said at the time. So when they have a plan, theyre welcome to come back and talk to us about it. Republican hardliners (with not a few Democrats going along) seized on the issue to try to make Obama look weak on national security. The Obama administration provided all the ammo Republicans needed with its clumsy and ill-fated plan to transfer a handful of forlorn Chinese Uighur prisoners to a Northern Virginia suburb, touching off a full-blown NIMBY (not in my backyard) rebellion in Congress. The Obama team members seriously underestimated how difficult a task they had assigned to themselves. There was kind of this naivete that somehow, if the president said were going to close Guantanamo, and we have a plan to close Guantanamo, that ultimately that would happen, recalled former CIA Director Panetta. Matthew Olsen, the Justice Department official tasked with determining which prisoners could be transferred from Gitmo and which were too dangerous to release or send to trial, learned this at his first White House meeting on the matter. When he remarked in a Situation Room meeting that this would be an arduous process, a senior White House official impatiently responded: Whats so hard? Just do one and then multiply by 240. Panetta also lays some of the blame directly at the presidents feet for not personally (and relentlessly) engaging Congress on the Gitmo issue. Its important to remember that early in his presidency, Obama had to hoard his political capital for dealing with the economic crisis while moving ahead with health care reform. Nevertheless, according to Panetta, Obama was unwilling to do the hard, often frustrating, work of engaging Congress to bring it along. Sometimes he is offended when the political process doesnt keep up with what hes trying to do, Panetta observed in a recent interview, adding that he often urged Obama to invite key members of Congress to the White House for briefings or cocktails, but the president resisted. In the end you have to be able to engage in that process to be able to build . . . their support for the things youre trying to do in protecting the country. Toward the end of Obamas first term, the GOP-led Congress had passed legislation barring the use of congressionally appropriated funds to transfer detainees to the U.S. homeland. That meant the 48 detainees that the Obama administration had determined could not be prosecuted for legal reasons and were too dangerous to transfer to other countries or release were stuck at Gitmo. And so was Obamas policy. He seemed to have given up. He didnt even have a single official at the White House or any of the relevant agencies assigned to lead the flagging project. In the spring of 2013, around the time of Obamas Fort McNair speech, the majority of detainees, more than 100, went on a hunger strike, and as many as 45 had to be force-fed. Gitmo seemed to tug once again at Obamas conscience. He reinvigorated the effort to get it closed, appointing special representatives at both the State and Defense departments and personally dug into the bureaucracy to prod the time-servers and foot-draggers. The administration accelerated the pace of transfers in a meaningful way, including the use of Periodic Review Boards (PRBs), which allowed the 48 prisoners being held indefinitely to challenge their detention. This February the administration announced a new plan to close the facility. The problem is, it depends on the Republican-led Congress lifting its ban on transfers to the homeland, something few expect will happen. Administration officials talk about a Plan B should their public plan fail. Some have hinted at the possibility of Obama taking executive action to overcome the congressional ban on transfers to the U.S. While administration allies have argued that choosing where to house detainees captured in a war setting is a tactical military decision within the constitutional powers of the commander in chief, many in Congress would view such a move as a naked power grab. It would likely invite comparisons to the controversial legal opinions developed during the Bush administration to justify the use of torture and illegal surveillance. Obamas arguments for disregarding the Gitmo restrictions is the same argument the Bush administration used to avoid the torture ban; namely, that Congress cannot restrict the presidents tactical decisions as commander in chief, says Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard law professor and the Justice Department official who withdrew the Bush administrations opinions on torture and surveillance. There are creative solutions to solving the Gitmo riddle, including one being circulated by Ken Gude, a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress, who is close to the Obama administration. Under the plan, the administration would continue moving out those who could be transferred, designate a handful of detainees who have violated the laws of other nations for third-party prosecutions and accelerate the Periodic Review Board process. That would still leave about 32 detainees in the camp, including 22 low-level members of al-Qaida and the Taliban. But Gude has a plan for them. He argues that they are no different from the al-Qaida and Taliban foot soldiers whom the U.S. military imprisoned on its base in Bagram, Afghanistan. Once we relinquished Bagram to the Afghans, we turned over those detainees to the sovereign Afghan government. There is no substantive difference between the Bagram prisoners and those being held at Gitmo, Gude argues, so we should turn over those being held at Gitmo to the Afghans. Gude says this would leave only the handful of detainees who are awaiting prosecution in the military justice system, effectively turning Guantanamo into a trial venue rather than a prison camp. But even Gude sees the scenario as a long shot. Perhaps the administrations best bet for seeing the camp shuttered is the election of Hillary Clinton as president. As Obamas secretary of state, Clinton pushed repeatedly for aggressive action to close the military prison. As she was leaving office, she even sent a sharply worded memo the White House chiding Obamas advisers for failing to do so. For his part, Donald Trump has said he would keep Guantanamo open and load it up with some bad dudes. Oh, and he also says he would get Cuba to pay for it. After nearly nine years, our war in Iraq ends this month. That was Obamas confident message on Dec. 12, 2011, as he proclaimed the fulfillment of his defining 2008 campaign promise to bring American forces home. Roughly 4 1/2 years later, the president is on track to hand his successor an undeclared but open-ended and escalating war against the Islamic State, with some 5,000 Americans in harms way in Iraq and about 500 U.S. special operators in the slaughterhouse that is Syria. It will be up to the next commander-in-chief to fulfill Obamas promise to degrade and destroy ISIS. Someone will inherit a whole new our war in Iraq, as well as the catastrophic Syrian civil war. Obamas policy toward Syria and Iraq and ISIS has changed along with his evolving sense of threats to U.S. interests. He initially resisted getting involved, started to recalibrate in early 2014 when senior intelligence officials warned that extremists were taking advantage of the chaos to plot attacks on the United States and its allies, sent a first contingent of ground troops to Iraq in June 2014, unleashed airstrikes on ISIS in Iraq in August 2014, and expanded them to Syria in the following month. Through it all, he has been dogged by criticisms that he was caught flat-footed by the rise of the terrorist group. It struck me that I did not see anything that indicated that there was concern about ISIS developing, Panetta, who served Obama as defense secretary until February 2013, told Yahoo News. At least from my perspective, it sounds like that somehow the ball was dropped. Obama aides dispute that they ever lost track of the threat posed by ISIS, which grew out of al-Qaida in Iraq, formally renamed itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in April 2013, and proclaimed its caliphate in June 2014. I did not believe that there was an intelligence failure as it relates to the fact that al-Qaida in Iraq was moving over the border to Syria and they were morphing into something quite dangerous, Rhodes told Yahoo News. On the other hand, he added, We did not anticipate, and really I dont think anybody did, the extent to which the Iraqi security forces would collapse in the face of that. There was no warning of that. However, some of Obamas sharpest critics have directly tied the deadly chaos that fed the rise of ISIS to the presidents decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq in late 2011. President Obama cannot avoid his share of responsibility for the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham wrote in Sept. 2014. Obama launched his war against ISIS one month before McCain and Grahams column. As of April 15, this year, the total cost of military operations was about $7.2 billion, with a daily bill of $11.7 million, according to the Defense Department. As of April 12, the United States and its coalition partners had conducted a total 11,539 strikes 7,794 in Iraq and 3,745 in Syria. The United States accounted for 8,825 of those in Iraq and 3,518 in Syria. There have been three U.S. combat casualties. The White House insists that American forces dont have a combat mission and has ruled out enduring offensive ground combat operations, a description that chief Obama spokesman Josh Earnest once described as intentionally fuzzy. Asked recently at what point in time American special operators sent to Syria late last year would meet the definition, Earnest suggested that they never would because their numbers are far short of the tens of thousands who invaded Iraq in March 2003. The war on ISIS has largely proceeded on three fronts: Retaking territory the group captured in Iraq and Syria, preventing terrorist attacks either inspired or directed by the Islamic State against the United States and U.S. allies and taking aim at the groups adherents and allies in other countries, like Libya. As for the destroy part of degrade and destroy, top Obama aides can sketch out the contours of the victory they hope their successor will achieve. What it looks like is, do they [ISIS] have a safe haven from which they can plot, free of pressure, or free of enough pressure, so that they can plot, plan, and execute attacks against the United States, Obamas homeland security adviser, Lisa Monaco, told Yahoo News in a recent interview. Asked how he would define victory against ISIS, Rhodes told Yahoo News: I would define it as ISIL no longer being able to control territory from which it can project terrorist attacks against the United States, our allies and partners. Victory wont be eradicating every ISIL sympathizer and member off the face of the earth, Rhodes said. The night of the 9/11 attacks, with the rubble of the World Trade Center and a shattered side of the Pentagon still smoldering, then-President George W. Bush declared a war against terrorism. Two weeks later, he promised that our cause is just and our ultimate victory is assured. Bushs rhetoric is mostly remembered now for decisive statements like those. He came to regret some of them like saying he wanted Osama bin Laden dead or alive, declaring victory in Iraq in front of a giant Mission Accomplished banner, or using the religiously loaded word crusade to describe the global conflict against terrorists. But arguably more important was a moment when his trademark certainty wavered. Asked in an August 2004 interview with NBCs Today Show whether the United States could ever win the global war on terrorism that he had declared after the 9/11 attacks, Bush replied: I dont think you can win it. Instead, he said, I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world. Republicans winced, Democrats pounced, and within a day Bush was back to promising victory. He wasnt the only presidential candidate that year to take heat for adding a shade of gray to a typically black-and-white national debate. Democratic nominee (and future Obama secretary of state) John Kerry told the New York Times two months later that we have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but theyre a nuisance. Citing his experience as a former prosecutor, Kerry told the Times: I know were never going to end prostitution. Were never going to end illegal gambling. But were going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isnt on the rise. It isnt threatening peoples lives every day, and fundamentally, its something that you continue to fight, but its not threatening the fabric of your life. Democrats winced, Republicans pounced, and soon Kerry was sounding more like Bush. Ten years after Bush and Kerrys experiences, Obama had one of his own brushes with politically risky nuance. At a Sept. 3, 2014, press conference with Estonias president, Obama laid out his vision for how to defeat the Islamic State. If we are joined by the international community, we can continue to shrink ISILs sphere of influence, its effectiveness, its financing, its military capabilities to the point where it is a manageable problem, he said. Republicans accused him of sending a mixed message: Can the United States set a goal to degrade and destroy ISIS but be content with making it a manageable problem. When it comes to terrorism, can Americans do nuance? I actually think Americans can, Rhodes said. But its easier politically sometimes to use more maximalist rhetoric because its more satisfying to people that were going to wipe them off the face of the earth, eradicate them for all time, he added. Bushs rhetoric was so ambitious that it was almost like just knocking over the Taliban wasnt sufficient, that [it led to] the types of policies that we would have not [otherwise] engaged in, be it the war in Iraq or the opening of Gitmo or the employment of enhanced interrogation techniques, Rhodes said. It was almost a logical end of the type of rhetoric that was being used, in that if you are using a certain type of maximalist rhetoric with the public, you in some ways are raising the bar on yourself to do more things. Obamas Republican critics, like Sen. Ted Cruz, have criticized the presidents refusal to describe Americas enemy as radical Islamic terrorism, charging that he is out of touch. Cruz has also demanded that Obama take decisive action for victory over evil and that ISIS to be utterly destroyed. Obama aides express frustration at the notion that the United States can wipe out every last ISIS adherent. They are also mindful that yesterdays boast can come back to haunt them, the way Obamas confident reelection campaign message that al-Qaida is on the run did after extremists assaulted U.S. facilities in Benghazi in September 2012, killing four Americans. With Obamas reelection safely in the rear-view mirror, the White House now is echoing the more nuanced language that once got Bush in trouble on the Today show, and Kerry in his interview with the Times. I dont think youre ever going to eliminate the use of terrorism, Rhodes said. There will be people who murder other people who are innocent for political purposes for the rest of human history. To the extent that there can be an end to what Bush dubbed the global war on terrorism, Rhodes explained, it will require things in Americas hands and also some well outside of U.S. control and it may take decades. There has to be, number one, a sufficient defensive and deterrent effect so that it is understood that if you self-identify as a terrorist organization at war with the United States that youre likely to be killed, he said. But the second thing that must happen is for Middle Eastern governments to find ways to address grievance and dissent so that anger does not turn into a nihilistic war against the world. Rhodes pointed to Northern Ireland and said cultural shifts led the Irish Republican Army to abandon terrorist tactics. There has to be a similar evolution in the Middle East. Andrew Bahl contributed research to this story. Cal-Nev-Ari (United States) (AFP) - Nancy Kidwell is a modern-day pioneer of the American desert, a rough-riding frontierswoman who built an entire town amid the lonely Yucca trees and sturdy sagebrush, where nothing existed before. A half-century ago, Kidwell and first husband Slim turned a triangle-shaped gravel airstrip abandoned by the US military into a thriving community that featured a casino, store, camper van park, motel, bar and restaurant that drew high-desert wanderers from thousands of miles around. Many travelers landed in private planes to frequent this gambling state's first-ever fly-in gaming emporium, that once advertised "seven hours of fun" where one-armed bandit aficionados could touch down in the late afternoon and taxi out that same night. Now it's all up for sale -- a couple's dreamscape of 350 hardy residents, carved from hardscrabble land an hour south of Las Vegas, where Nevada's narrow southern tip comes within 10 miles of both California and Arizona. Asking price: $8 million. For the 78-year-old Kidwell, the sale is bittersweet. This patch of desert is all she's known since she and Slim first flew over the arid expanse in 1965, gawking at the isolation and sheer beauty of the spot they'd chosen to make a break from the California rat race. - A new beginning - But now her beloved Slim is long gone -- a victim of Alzheimer's disease in 1983 -- and Kidwell has grown weary of working seven-day weeks supervising 22 employees, playing the role of the town's mayor, police chief and sole businesswoman. She wants to travel, maybe buy another airplane for a tour of the nation's parks -- Yosemite, Yellowstone and Gettysburg included. "I'm going to find out what you do after you spend 51 years of your life working in one place," she said, "when you suddenly don't have to wake up at 5 am each day to get the work done." Kidwell is selling a full square mile along US Highway 95, with 500 acres (202 hectares) of the parcel ready for immediate development. Story continues After all, she and Slim already did the back-breaking work of building the infrastructure, bringing in utilities and digging the wells. Years ago, when Kidwell put the town up for sale at $17 million, two developers got into a bidding war before the real estate market collapsed and her well-laid plans turned back to dust. Now, at a mere $8 million, Kidwell is seeing sizable interest: "My broker says the whole thing has gone viral." She has no idea what her town will become once it's sold, but has received calls from people who want to turn it into everything from a renewable energy project, motorsports park, guest ranch, survival school or shooting range. Recently, Kidwell sat in the casino restaurant, drinking coffee and eating a biscuit and gravy, her frame still beanstalk-slim, her reddish hair worn in the same coiffed swirl she's kept for, well, forever. Kidwell was born in rural Utah and later moved to Southern California, where the young adventuress made enough money in her airfield secretarial job to take flying lessons. That's when she met Slim Kidwell -- she was 28 and he was 62, and the couple launched on a spring-autumn relationship that would provide the adventure of two lifetimes. One day, Slim got lost flying back to Torrance from Minnesota and passed a windswept desert airfield, an outpost where he decided to stake a claim for his future. To take ownership from the government under a land-settlement act, the couple had to develop a water source and grow some kind of crop for at least one season. - 'Blue sky dreams' - They moved into an odiferous old trailer abandoned by some Wyoming cowboys. While they worked the land, they hauled in their water in 55-gallon drums as Kidwell dealt with her new neighbors -- the rats, squirrels, jackrabbits, coyotes and free-range cattle. People laughed at their foolishness -- friends had a good cackle over Slim Kidwell and his "blue-sky dreams" -- which just made the couple work harder. Slowly, the desert came to life. They built a mobile home park and gas station, then opened the Cal-Nev-Ari Casino, building backyard hangars for pilots to stash their planes. They opened what they lovingly called the Blue-Sky Motel. Eventually, people moved here. The government put in a post office and a fire depot. When Slim got sick with Alzheimer's, a son from a previous marriage, Ace, came to help care for his father. After Slim's death, Nancy and Ace eventually fell in love, and the couple married. She says she knew what a sacrifice he'd made, selling his business in California, and wanted to make sure he'd be set financially if she were to die. But Ace died in 2011 -- also of Alzheimer's. Both father and son, members of a secretive club for male aviators known as the Quiet Birdmen, are buried out by the gravel runway -- their markers bearing the group's slogan "Gone West" with an image of a plane taking off toward the sunset. Many of Kidwell's employees are divided by the sale. They don't want the town's matriarch to step down, but she's promised to take them on a Hawaiian vacation once the sale goes through. For now, Kidwell still wakes at 5 am, hoping to stay on as a consultant for any new buyer. When her time finally comes, she wants to be buried out on the airfield next to her men. She's already got the tombstone with the same markings as Slim and Ace. Everything is in place except for that final date. "I keep the marker out in the hangar wrapped in canvas," she says with a smile. "I didn't want to leave anything to chance." By Martyn Herman PARIS (Reuters) - Wily Czech Radek Stepanek, the oldest player in the men's singles, will take his bag of tricks out on Philippe Chatrier Court against world number two Andy Murray as the French Open plays catch-up on Monday. After a damp squib of an opening Sunday, Murray is joined on the order of play by defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka, who also faces a Czech challenge in the form of Lukas Rosol -- the man best known for beating Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2012. Stepanek, aged 37, is a few months older than Ivo Karlovic and is one of 51 men aged 30 and over in the first round -- a record for 30-somethings in the main draw of a grand slam. Rome champion Murray needed three sets to beat Stepanek in Madrid recently and knows he will need to be on his guard against a player who rips up the claycourt textbook with a net-charging style. Wawrinka arrived in Paris only late on Saturday after beating Marin Cilic to claim the title in Geneva, his first on clay since he stunned Novak Djokovic here last year. Rosol, like his fellow Czech Stepanek, can be unpredictable. "He's a dangerous player. He's serving big. He goes for his shots," Wawrinka said of Rosol whom he beat in a tight tussle on the way to glory in Geneva. Women's top seed Serena Williams will not play until Tuesday, leaving the stage vacant for some of those trying to wrest the title from her on day two. Second seed Agnieszka Radwanska faces Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski while Spain's Garbine Muguruza, the fourth seed, is up against Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmieldlova after rain prevented them taking to court on Sunday. Organizers will be keeping a watchful eye on the skies with more rain forecast to roll across the French capital. (Editing by Clare Fallon) Naypyidaw (Myanmar) (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry Sunday hailed Myanmar's transition from army rule to a civilian government steered by Aung San Suu Kyi as a "remarkable statement" of support for global democracy. In the first high-level meeting with Suu Kyi and her administration since it took office in March, Kerry told the Nobel laureate her country's evolution towards democracy after decades under the military served as a beacon of hope. "Today my message is very, very simple: we strongly support the democratic transition that is taking place here," he told reporters at a joint press conference with her in the capital Naypyidaw. Historic elections in November swept Suu Kyi and her party into office and effectively ended half a century of military rule. Kerry applauded the process as a "remarkable statement to people all over the world". As a reward for holding the peaceful election, Washington last week lifted a host of financial and trade embargoes. But it has kept the backbone of its sanctions as well as a blacklist of cronies and businesses close to the former junta as leverage. Suu Kyi said she welcomed the "scrutiny" inherent in the remaining sanctions. "If we are going along the right path all sanctions will be lifted in good time," she added. The veteran activist, whose decades-long struggle against the generals won the world's admiration, draws on much political capital in Washington. She now serves as Myanmar's foreign minister, while also holding the new position of state counsellor that puts her at the helm of government in defiance of an army-drafted constitution barring her from the presidency. That role is now held by her longtime ally Htin Kyaw. In addition to November's election, reforms so far have seen hundreds of political prisoners freed, the press unshackled from censorship and foreign investment flood into a country cut off from the world for so long by paranoid generals. Story continues As he enters the twilight of his term in office, US President Barack Obama is doubling down on his "Asia pivot" -- a diplomatic strategy to engage the continent's leaders and tap its growing economies. - Tension remains - Before leaving, Kerry also met army chief Min Aung Hlaing as Washington looks to encourage further democratisation moves. The pair discussed "implementing multi-party democracy" and easing rebel conflicts, according to a post by the top general on his official Facebook page. The army retains significant economic interests and political clout under a charter it scripted -- including a quarter of all parliamentary seats and control of key security ministries. Myanmar faces other huge challenges, including decrepit infrastructure, conflicts in resource-rich borderlands, religious tensions and the continued influence of the army and junta-era cronies, who still dominate the economy. US investment in Myanmar remains relatively low, although some US companies including Coca-Cola and Pepsi have already established a sales presence. Last week Washington rolled back more sanctions, opening up all Myanmar banks to American business, while also extending indefinitely permission for firms to import through Myanmar's ports and airports -- many of which are operated by cronies still on the blacklist. But tension points remain. In recent weeks Washington has come under pressure from hardline Buddhists after the US embassy used the term "Rohingya" to refer to the persecuted Muslim minority in the western state of Rakhine. The term is incendiary to Buddhist nationalists who label the group "Bengalis" and view them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. More than 100,000 Rohinyga languish in displacement camps following sectarian violence in 2012. Suu Kyi has drawn international flak for failing to use her moral force to speak up for the persecuted group. Questioned on the issue, Suu Kyi called for "space" to let the bitter communal hatreds heal and said debate over the use of the term 'Rohingya' would only fuel fires. Kerry recognised the highwire act Suu Kyi must perform to avoid inflaming tensions but added: "We all understand... that there is a group here in Myanmar that calls itself Rohingya." He now joins Obama in Vietnam for a three-day visit likely to focus on trade, security and human rights. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22 Trend: Armenian armed forces have 20 times violated the ceasefire with Azerbaijan on the line of contact over the past 24 hours, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said May 22. Armenian army was using large-caliber machine guns. Armenian armed forces stationed on nameless heights of Armenia's Ijevan district opened fire at the Azerbaijani positions located on nameless heights of the Gazakh district. Armenian army also violated ceasefire from the positions near Goyarkh, Yarimja villages of the Terter district, Garakhanbeyli, Horadiz villages of the Fizuli district. Further on, Azerbaijani positions were shelled from the nameless heights of the Goranboy district. 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. Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday chided a cabinet colleague who failed to give him public praise for pushing through a long-sought offshore gas deal. After ministers approved revisions to the agreement with a US-led consortium designed to overcome a court challenge, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz named several officials he credited with redrafting the document. But he did not include Netanyahu on the list. "Maybe there was someone else who contributed," Netanyahu said in a comment picked up by media microphones and broadcast on public radio and news websites. Steinitz appeared not to get the hint. "I was just referring to those who did the work over the past few days," he said. Netanyahu did not give up. "There was one other person," he told the hapless minister. "Perhaps also the prime minister?" Netanyahu pushed hard for the deal with Texas-based Noble Energy and Israel's Delek as it came under fire from political opponents, social activists and anti-trust officials. He made a rare personal appearance in Israel's supreme court to argue for the agreement, but the justices in March struck it down, objecting to a clause which guaranteed that its provisions could not be changed for a decade. Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought on Sunday to ease concerns over the expected entrance of a hardline nationalist party into his coalition, saying his government would still seek peace with the Palestinians. Netanyahu was expected to soon conclude negotiations with the Yisrael Beitenu party led by Avigdor Lieberman, a far-right politician detested by the Palestinians. Lieberman would take on the key role of defence minister under the deal being negotiated and expand Netanyahu's current majority of 61 seats in the 120 seat parliament to 66. The move would tilt further to the right Netanyahu's government, which is already among the most right-wing in Israel's history. "I want it to be clear that an expanded government will continue to aspire to a political process with the Palestinians and will do it with help from parts of the region," Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. Adding Lieberman's party to his coalition would bring weeks of political manoeuvring to a stunning conclusion. Netanyahu had earlier engaged in negotiations with Labour party leader Isaac Herzog to join the government before turning to Lieberman instead. Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon, from Netanyahu's Likud party and a former armed forces chief, announced his resignation from the government on Friday, harshly criticising the premier in the process. He warned of a rising tide of extremism in the Likud and the country as a whole. Yaalon had been at odds with Netanyahu after deputy armed forces chief Major General Yair Golan enraged the premier by comparing contemporary Israeli society to Nazi Germany. Yaalon insisted on senior officers' right to "speak their mind." The defence minister also found himself under fire from far-right cabinet members and their supporters over the arrest and prosecution of a soldier who shot a wounded Palestinian assailant in the head as he lay on the ground without posing any apparent threat. Yaalon strongly criticised the soldier's actions, while the far right, including Lieberman, defended him. By Matt Spetalnick HANOI (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama began his first visit to Vietnam on Monday, a trip aimed at sealing a partnership with America's former enemy and part of his strategic "rebalance" toward Asia to counter China's growing strength in the region. Four decades after a war that deeply divided opinion in America, Obama will press for stronger defense and economic ties with the country's communist rulers but prod them too on human rights, aides say. The president's three-day stay is unusually long for one country, underscoring the importance he places on expanding relations with Hanoi. Ahead of the visit, pressure mounted on him to roll back an arms embargo, one of the last vestiges of wartime animosity. Such a step would anger Beijing, which resents U.S. efforts to forge stronger military bonds with its neighbors amid rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea. U.S. officials were finalizing a decision on the issue as Obama landed in Hanoi late on Sunday. Most top aides favor at least easing the ban, arguing that Washington needs to demonstrate tangible support for Hanoi's efforts to build its deterrent against China, people familiar with the discussions said. Obama's visit follows what the Pentagon called an "unsafe" intercept last week by Chinese fighter jets of a U.S. military reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea. "Nobody has any illusions," said Evan Medeiros, Obama's former top Asia adviser. "This trip sends important signals to China about U.S. activism in the region and growing U.S. concern about Chinese behavior." But Vietnam's human rights record is a sticking point. Officials are mindful of misgivings back in Washington about losing leverage for securing political reforms from a government that rights advocates say is among the world's most repressive. Any move to revoke the ban something Vietnam has long sought - would make clear that every weapons sale would be on a case-by-case basis, contingent on human rights considerations, officials said. Obama, who has proven himself a pragmatist in balancing security and human rights, appeared to be trying to keep the pressure on Hanoi for concessions up to the last minute. He plans to meet dissidents during his trip. But officials are looking not only for signs that the Vietnamese are taking rights concerns seriously. They want a clear commitment to expanded military cooperation, including more U.S. access to ports such as the strategic Cam Ranh Bay and participation in joint and regional naval exercises. Obama, the third U.S. president to visit Vietnam since diplomatic relations were restored in 1995, has made closer diplomatic and military cooperation with countries across the Asia-Pacific a centerpiece of his foreign policy. REMINDERS OF THE PAST There has been much excitement about Obama's visit in a country with a young population firmly behind closer U.S. ties and resentful of their economic dependence on neighbor China. State media has detailed the scale of the task of hosting Obama along with his delegation, security detail and culinary needs. As a sign of the capitalism that now thrives in Vietnam, some opportunistic businesses used pictures of a smiling Obama to sell their products. Ngo Minh Kien's tailor shop in the Old Quarter of Hanoi displayed an image of the U.S. president in a crisp suit. "I want the U.S. to lift the arms embargo on Vietnam and that would help us to strengthen our security," said Kien. Bilateral trade has swelled 10-fold over the past two decades to around $45 billion, and Vietnam is now Southeast Asia's biggest exporter to the United States. Vietnam's manufacturing-led economy is growing at one of Asia's fastest rates, prompting U.S. firms such as Intel, Microsoft, Ford Motors and General Electric to expand their operations here. But even as the two sides look forward, there will be reminders of the past. Obama will be accompanied by Secretary of State John Kerry, who after a tour in Vietnam as a young Navy officer became a protester against the war, which killed hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese and 58,000 U.S. troops. In Hanoi, Obama will meet Vietnam's triumvirate of leaders, President Tran Dai Quang, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong. In the commercial hub, Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, Obama will meet entrepreneurs and tout a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal he has championed, in which Vietnam would be the biggest beneficiary of the 12 members. But the name of the city, the capital of the now-defunct South Vietnam, evokes searing images for many Americans of a final frantic U.S. airlift in 1975. And for some among the Vietnam old guard, there are still suspicions that the U.S. endgame is to undermine their one-party rule. Obama arrived hours after voting ended in the country's five-yearly parliamentary election, in which nearly all the candidates were Communist Party members. (Additional reporting by Mai Nguyen and Minh Nguyen; Editing by John Chalmers and Ros Russell) By Matt Spetalnick and Mai Nguyen HANOI (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Vietnam late Sunday ahead of a three-day trip aimed at sealing the transformation of an old enemy into a new partner to help counter China's growing assertiveness in the region. Four decades after a war with Vietnam that deeply divided opinion in America, Obama aims to boost defense and economic ties with the country's communist rulers while also prodding them on human rights, aides say. His visit has been preceded by a debate in Washington over whether Obama should use the three-day visit starting Monday to roll back an arms embargo on Hanoi, one of the last vestiges of wartime animosity. That would anger China, which resents U.S. efforts to forge stronger military bonds with Beijing's neighbours amid rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea. But in the hours ahead of his arrival in Hanoi, where he was greeted on a red carpet by foreign ministry officials, there was no immediate word of a final U.S. decision on the ban. Vietnam's poor human rights record is a sticking point, but the Obama administration appears increasingly swayed toward giving Hanoi some leeway to build its deterrent against Beijing. Obama's visit follows what the Pentagon called an "unsafe" intercept by Chinese fighter jets of a U.S. military reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea on Tuesday. "Nobody has any illusions," said Evan Medeiros, Obama's former top Asia adviser. "This trip sends important signals to China about U.S. activism in the region and growing U.S. concern about Chinese behavior." Vietnam's government earlier this month said lifting the embargo would show mutual trust and that buying arms from its partners was "normal". There has been much excitement about Obama's arrival in a country with a young population enthusiastic about closer U.S. ties, and resentful of Vietnam's economic dependence on its unpopular neighbour China. "Obama visit to Vietnam is closure of the past," said Hanoi cyclo driver Vu Van Manh. "What's important is the present. The two countries can bond more to develop both economies." As a sign of the capitalism that now thrives in Vietnam, some opportunistic businesses are using pictures of a smiling Obama to sell suits and instant photo services. Bilateral trade has swelled 10 times over since ties were normalised in 1995 to around $45 billion now. Vietnam is Southeast Asia's biggest exporter to the United States, with textiles and electronics the largest volumes. 'UPGRADE' OF RELATIONS Washington wants Vietnam to open up on the economic front and move closer militarily, including increased visits by U.S. warships and possibly access to the strategic deepwater harbor at Cam Ranh Bay, U.S. officials say. "What we want to demonstrate with this visit is a significant upgrade in the relationship ... even as we have areas of difference," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser. But the trip will be punctuated by reminders of the past. Obama will be accompanied by Secretary of State John Kerry, who after a tour in Vietnam as a young Navy officer became an antiwar protester. Obama will in Hanoi meet Vietnam's triumvirate of leaders, President Tran Dai Quang, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and party chief, Nguyen Phu Trong. Phuc and Quang took office only last month. Those meetings are almost certain to have the backdrop of busts of the late revolutionary Ho Chi Minh, revered by Vietnamese but widely reviled by Americans during a war that killed hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese and 58,000 U.S. troops. In the commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, Obama will meet entrepreneurs and tout a U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that is set to transform Vietnam's manufacturing-led economy. But the name of the city, once the capital of the now defunct South Vietnam, evokes searing images for many Americans of a final frantic U.S. airlift in 1975. While Vietnam wants warmer ties, some among the party's old guard remain suspicious that the U.S. end-game is to undermine their one-party rule. Obama arrived just hours after what was Vietnam's five-yearly day of democracy, a parliamentary election in which nearly all the candidates were Communist Party members. Obama plans to meet dissidents amid U.S. concerns about Vietnam's heavy-handedness toward opponents. A long serving political prisoner was freed on Friday, in a possible gesture ahead of Obama's visit. (Additional reporting by Martin Petty in Hanoi and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Mark Potter) US President Barack Obama landed in Vietnam late Sunday for a landmark visit capping two decades of rapprochement between the former wartime foes, as both countries look to push trade and check Beijing's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. Air Force One touched down in Hanoi just after 9:30 pm (1430 GMT) for the beginning of a three-day trip in which Obama will meet Vietnam's communist leadership and stress improving relations with the dynamic and rapidly emerging nation. For many Americans, Vietnam remains a painful byword for slaughter and folly since hostilities in the decade-long ruinous war between the two nations finally ended in 1975. Yet few countries have seen such a dramatic turnaround in their relations since Obama's Democrat predecessor Bill Clinton normalised relations and later became the first post-war president to visit Vietnam in 2000. The Obama administration now sees the country as a vital plank in America's much vaunted pivot to the Asia-Pacific region. Vietnam's leadership hope to strengthen ties with the world's most powerful nation, particularly as it chafes with China over disputed waters. "There always is an element of distrust in some sectors of Vietnam's elite, the political structure," said Murray Hiebert of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "But China's increased assertiveness in the South China Sea has really sharpened the Vietnamese mind and prompted Vietnam to probably move faster with the US than it might have otherwise." On Monday morning Obama will meet the country's president, its prime minister and the country's de facto leader Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of the Communist Party. Trong and Obama met last July, when he was given a prestigious Oval Office meeting. - Arms embargo - A major talking point will be the lifting of a US arms embargo, a last vestige of the decade-long war between the two nations. Story continues Advocates argue an embargo lift is vital to helping Vietnam improve coastal defences and bolster its outdated, largely Russian-origin military equipment to better counter Beijing. But weighing against it are concerns about communist-ruled Vietnam's still dismal human rights record, an issue Obama is likely to address when he delivers a speech in Hanoi. US diplomats have pressed for the release of political prisoners as a sign that Vietnam can be trusted with advanced weaponry. Prominent dissident Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest who has spent much of the last two decades in jail, was released on Friday. But the one-party state still ruthlessly cracks down on protests, jails dissidents and bans trade unions. Hours before Obama's arrival the limited extent of one-party Vietnam's democratic progress was on full display, as authorities held a nationwide parliamentary election on Sunday where independent candidates were barred. Critics of the election say they were beaten and placed under house arrest in the weeks leading up to the vote. - Talking up trade - Increased trade ties will also feature prominently during the trip, with Obama keen to make the case for a trans-Pacific trade deal that faces an uncertain future. On Tuesday afternoon Obama will fly to Ho Chi Minh City, the southern Vietnamese metropolis formerly known as Saigon which, in the 40 years since American troops hastily beat a retreat, has transformed itself into the country's thriving commercial heart. Michael Froman, US Trade Representative, said America was keen to tap into Vietnam's middle class, a demographic expected to double between 2014 and 2020. "As middle class consumers emerge, they want more of everything that the United States is well-positioned to make and to export. But we face significant barriers to those exports," he said. Examples he gave were a 70 percent tariff on auto exports, a 34 percent tariff on beef products and a 59 percent tariff on machinery parts -- all barriers that the US-led Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which Vietnam has signed up to, aims to eliminate. American officials meanwhile stress the TPP will force Vietnam to make positive reforms, such as bringing in better environmental and child labour protection measures as well as allowing independent unions. Sandy Pho, a regional expert at the Wilson Center, said Obama must "execute a delicate diplomatic dance" while in Vietnam to avoid alienating China. "He will need to take care not to introduce new tensions in America's complex yet essential relationship with China," she said. Obama is the third post-war president to visit Vietnam after Clinton and George W Bush in 2006. After Vietnam he will fly to Japan for a trip that will include both a G7 summit and a visit to Hiroshima. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22 Trend: Today everyone understands that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must sooner or later be resolved peacefully and through negotiations, Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administration's foreign relations department said in an interview with ANS TV channel. Novruz Mammadov said that the April events on the frontline have once again attracted the attention of international community, the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, as well as a variety of international and regional organizations to the Karabakh conflict, and have shown that the conflict is not frozen. Mammadov also said that an opinion was formed in Europe, the US and Russia that the conflict needs attention and that time has come to find a solution to it. Speaking on the presidential meeting held in Vienna on May 16, Mammadov said that Azerbaijan's desire is to fairly settle the conflict based on within the framework of international law. Commenting on the expansion of the powers of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman after the Vienna meeting, Mammadov said that Azerbaijan has expressed its official position on the issue. "The main idea here was to strengthen the ceasefire regime. Armenia, just as in the beginning of April, has been constantly engaged in provocations. In this regard, several proposals were expressed, and one of them is an extension of the mandate of the OSCE Representative for monitoring. We said that that we do not object to this proposal," Mammadov said. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Pakistan on Sunday denounced the US drone strike believed to have killed the Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour as a violation of its air space and said only negotiations could bring a lasting peace to Afghanistan. The statement, issued by Pakistan's Foreign Office late Sunday, said one of the victims of the attack was a driver named Muhammad Azam while the identity of the second "is being verified". "On late Saturday 21st May, 2016, the United States shared information that a drone strike was carried out in Pakistan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area," in which Mansour was targeted, it said. "This information was shared with the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff after the drone strike." The statement denounced the drone attack as a "violation of (Pakistan's) sovereignty, an issue which has been raised with the United States in the past as well." It said that a four-country group comprising the United States, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan last met on Wednesday to discuss ways to restart stalled peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban and that the group had collectively decided "a politically negotiated settlement was the only viable option for lasting peace in Afghanistan". By Drazen Jorgic ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A passport found at the site of a U.S. drone attack targeting Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour bears the name of a Pakistani man named Wali Muhammad and carries a valid Iranian visa, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. The ministry did not directly comment on the possibility that Mansour might have been traveling under another name. Afghanistan's spy agency said it was sure Mansour had been killed in the attack, but Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told reporters in London that Pakistan was unsure if Muhammad was "Mullah Mansour or someone else". He called the attack "a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty". Saturday's strike, which U.S. officials said was authorized by President Barack Obama and involved multiple drones, took place in Pakistan's remote Baluchistan area near the Afghan border. Pakistan said the air strike had destroyed a car carrying two people, and that Sharif had not been told about it in advance. The ministry said one of the charred bodies had been identified as a local taxi driver but the badly burnt second body had not. It added that the purported passport holder was believed to have returned to Pakistan from Iran on May 21, the day of the drone strike targeting Mansour. Photos of Muhammad's passport seen by Reuters show a passing resemblance to some of the old photos available of Mansour. "(Muhammad's) passport was bearing a valid Iranian visa," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Mohammad Qasim, brother of the dead taxi driver, told Reuters his brother had picked up his passenger from Taftan, a town on the Iranian-Pakistani border. If it is confirmed Mansour had traveled to Iran before his death, it would raise fresh questions about the Taliban's use of neighboring territories. Afghanistan has often accused Pakistan of harboring Taliban and other Islamist militant groups, and said Islamabad has not put enough pressure on the Taliban leadership to commit to stuttering peace talks. Pakistan has said it is doing all it can to pressure the Taliban to enter talks. Iran's predominantly Sunni Muslim Sistan-Baluchistan province borders both Pakistan and Afghanistan and has long been a hotbed of rebellion by Sunni Islamist militants against Iran's Shi'ite authorities, as well as a point of entry for drugs being smuggled into Iran. (Additional reporting by Syed Raza Hassan in Karachi; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Patricia Arquette and Joss Whedon spoke out about gender inequality at the HeForShe Summit Patricia Arquette and Joss Whedon spoke out about gender inequality at the HeForShe Summit Patricia Arquette made waves for her moving Oscar speech about wage inequality back in 2015, and now shes back in the spotlight, taking on the topic again. Arquette took the stage after winning an award at the inaugural HeForShe Media Summit in Los Angeles last night. HeForShe a United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality launched in 2014 with the help of Emma Watson honored Arquette for her continued work in bolstering womens rights. Arquette currently has a petition on Change.org urging men and women alike to support the effort to officially pass the Equal Rights Amendment, which was first proposed in 1923 and never signed into law as part of the U.S. Constitution. The petition currently has 107,350 online signatures of the necessary 150,000. Who says the gender wage gap wont close in next 40 years? Arquette said in her speech. Thats pathetic and thats not necessary. We can make change come very fast, if we just demand it. At the event, TheWrap reported that Arquette shared a personal story of her difficulties as a struggling single young mother and having to abstain from taking pain medicine as her wisdom teeth grew in. She told the audience she needed to wait to find a place that would perform teeth removal on the cheap, and persevered without the drugs in order to continue to healthily nurse her son. She used this as a launching point to discuss how economic insecurity often leads to women remaining in bad relationships, for fear or inability to be financially independent. Theres a subconscious thing that happens sometimes women stay in a relationship because it seems theres more economic stability, she said at the event. We know that in America 10,000 women every day are turned away from domestic abuse shelters the number one reason they cite is economic insecurity. Director Josh Whedon was also given an award, and told TheWrap that he is a self-proclaimed feminist thanks to a college girlfriend who inspired him to be a gender equality crusader. Congrats to both Arquette and Whedon for continuing to be outspoken advocates of gender equality and female empowerment. The post Patricia Arquette and Joss Whedon spoke out about gender inequality at the HeForShe Summit appeared first on HelloGiggles. Jon Stewart and Keegan-Michael Key share a moment together at Saturday nights show. Nearly three months after this years Oscars, the issue of diversity on screen was a recurring theme at the 2016 Peabody Awards on Saturday night. During his opening remarks, Peabody director Dr. Jeffrey P. Jones said, If this is the year of demonstrating #OscarsSoWhite, Peabody continues to highlight stories that represent voices with a focus on racial and ethnic diversity. That includes a third of this years winners. That wasnt the only reference to #OscarsSoWhite. As host Keegan-Michael Key was pointing out diverse guests in the audience like Aasif Mandvi, Jessica Williams, Aziz Ansari, Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross, he also claimed Jada Pinkett Smith was there before realizing that the actress, who publicly boycotted the Oscars over its second straight year of all-white acting nominees, wasnt at the Peabody Awards. Wait, what? Jadas not here? Shes not at this one? This wouldve been the one for Jada to come to, Key said. Oh my God, I wish Jada was here. This was the one. Indeed, this years Peabody winners, recognizing stories that matter across all forms of electronic media, included a number of diverse titles that were either overlooked or nominated but failed to win other major awards this year including Netflixs first original feature film Beasts of No Nation, Aziz Ansaris Master of None and Black-ish. Accepting the Peabody for Beasts later in the evening than expected, after the order of a couple awards changed from what was written in the program, Fukunaga joked of the switch, I thought I guess we got overlooked again even though we were invited. But we are here now finally onstage and feels good. Phew. Read More: Peabody Awards, Facebook Partner on New Award Honoring Digital Content Accepting Master of Nones award with showrunner Alan Yang, Ansari thanked the Peabodys for recognizing titles that other awards groups didnt. Lets be honest: So many awards shows f - up, he said. They dont give people awards that probably should get awards and the Peabody is great because it seems like you guys actually watched all of our shit and decided it was good. He also thanked Netflix and Universal Television, which produces Master of None, for believing in us and letting us tell our stories. Story continues I think they really seem to get what diversity really is, he continued. Its not like 'Hey lets give this white protagonist some brown friends. Its 'Lets have a show where theres a token white guy. Black-ish showrunner Kenya Barris said he was amazed by how the personal stories that he and his team tell on the ABC show seem to be resonating with a wide group of people. For us, everyday we get to go to work and tell stories that are so personal to us. And when people come up to us at airports and say, 'You remind us of our family and they are not people who are black, its amazing to me on so many different levels and so rewarding. Barris, who noted that hed talked about this issue with friend Yang, said. The specificity speaks to the universal and when you tell a good story and its an honest story, I think thats what people relate to. Were at a place in our country where were seeing a lot of different things happen in the political landscape or just the social landscape and to be able to do a show thats supposed to be a comedy but that speaks to people in a way that gets them to think, to me thats everything Ive ever asked for as a comedian and a writer. Someone once said to me the point of art is to make conversation and every week thats all were trying to do. We want you to leave the show and start a conversation and Im amazed at the conversations that are getting started. And Im amazed that Im here tonight. For us, its not work; wed do this for free. Although I do still want my check, ABC. The 30 award winners also included buzzed-about series like Mr. Robot, Unreal, Jessica Jones, Alex Gibneys Scientology doc Going Clear and HBOs Robert Durst documentary series The Jinx. Read More: Peabody Awards: 'Going Clear, 'The Jinx Among Documentary Winners Jones showrunner Melissa Rosenberg took a moment amid the nights larger diversity conversation to highlight the ongoing struggle faced by women, who are 51 percent of the population but still a minority behind and in front of the camera, she said. But I believe that stories can create change and if we tell them honestly, bravely and loudly, we can do that, she added. Everyone whos been on this stage has done that. Youre all my heroes. As for Gibney, he dedicated his award for Going Clear to all the brave men and women who came forward to testify about the human rights abuses in the Church of Scientology. And he took a minute to remark on the anachronistic and impressive ways the church responded to his expose about the controversial religion. In this age of Instagram and Twitter, so much electronic communication, if you really want to get a lot of hard-copy letters, make a film about Scientology, Gibney said. The amount of legal missiles directed at us was impressive, and it was to the credit of HBO both on an editorial level and a legal level to support and protect people who are trying to tell an important story. Dursts stunning confession at the end of The Jinx was still chilling as it and other shocking moments from the documentary series played at the Peabody Awards more than a year after the show aired on HBO. And Jarecki, whos seen Durst continue to be in the news and charged with the murder of his friend Susan Berman, marveled at the real-life consequences of his work. Read More: Peabody Awards: 'Mr. Robot, 'UnReal, 'Beasts of No Nation Among Latest Group of Winners He related that when the FBI apprehended Durst, incidentally the morning the Jinx finale aired on HBO, the officers stumbled upon him in a hotel lobby as they were on their way out. They said, Mr. Durst and he didnt answer, because he thought he might not have to admit that he was who they thought he was, Jarecki said, but a woman in the lobby then went up to him and told him she was a fan of his from the show, revealing his identity. I think thats such a testament to the power of storytelling, Jarecki said. Its also a testament to this incredible inexplicable, unpredictable nature of documentary filmmaking. Dursts on-air confession and ongoing legal situation have also brought closure to at least one of the family members of Dursts alleged victims. Jarecki said that the mother of Dursts wife, Kathie McCormack, whom he allegedly killed, had said in her 90s that she didnt think she would be able to die until she found out what happened to her daughter. She recently died but before she did, she saw Dursts confession and it gave her a huge sense of relief. In addition, this years 75th anniversary Peabody Awards honored documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and David Letterman, giving Stewart and Letterman the chance to make rare public appearances after they left their respective shows last year. Stewart, who was joined onstage by his Daily Show staffers after a highlight reel of his time as host of the Comedy Central late-night show, including at least two clips from his final episode, joked that the video was a bit much. I think we all miss Jon Stewart and I think we see from that eulogy what a wonderful man he was, Stewart joked. I hope someday I get to meet him because he seems like a hell of a guy. Stewart also was impressed by the news programs also being honored, featuring stories about rape, the European migrant crisis, illegal immigration and ISIS in Afghanistan and poked fun at his shows significance, or lack thereof, despite its many accolades. Read More: Peabody Awards Unveils First Group of 2016 Winners To be here in a room with you guys, the amazing work that youre doing, Im shocked at the breadth and somewhat disappointed at the just terrible conditions in the world that you all are addressing through your good work because I thought that we over our 16 years had healed a lot of this through witty repartee but apparently shits still going down, Stewart said. You are really our heroes. We tell jokes on 11th Avenue in front of a green screen. You actually go to these places and tell these stories through courage and clarity and brevity and power and so in many ways you are what we all aspire to be and desperately cry out for. So thank you for being that. Stewart, who indicated hes happily enjoying some downtime on the farm he shares with his family, also joked that his Peabody honor would serve as a perfect gift for his wife, since the two were celebrating their 16th anniversary that night. Every year on our anniversary, I try to get her a prestigious award and every year I fail, Stewart said. This is the first year its worked out. Usually I just write on a piece of paper, 'Nobel prize for having married out of your religion. He also joked that the award should both impress his kids and make up for all of the time he spent away from home working on the nightly show, To my children who are not here tonight, 'Boom. In your face. Yeah, daddy was gone for 10 years. But guess what? Totally worth it. Letterman was introduced by surprise guest Steve Martin who recapped Lettermans career but kept getting facts wrong, with Letterman shouting out the correct info from backstage. Ultimately the former Late Show host walked onstage still sporting the Santa Claus-esque beard hes grown since leaving his CBS show last May. Read More: Peabody Awards to Honor David Letterman, 'The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, Names Finalists Its interesting to note that since Dave left TV, he has not shaved. Hes waxed. But he has not shaved, Martin said. I think Dave looks like a guy whos had to at least once drink his own urine. With that, ladies and gentleman, Im proud to introduce this years winner of an award, David Letterman. Letterman seemed humbled by the honor but indicated that retirement had also done that, recalling a recent experience at the White House, where he was invited to attend the dinner for the heads of Nordic states. He said he was chatting throughout dinner with the assistant chief of staff to the prime minister of Norway. Around the end of the meal, the official asked Letterman, Why are you here? And I say, 'I think I picked up somebody elses mail. He said, 'So youre here by mistake? I said, 'Yeah. He said, 'Oh. So there you go: You get invited to a state dinner, nobody knows why. Thats the sum total of being retired, Letterman said. Bestowed by the University of Georgias Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Peabody Awards recognize excellence and meritorious work by radio and TV stations, networks, webcasters, podcasters, producing organizations and individuals. The ceremony, which took place at New Yorks Cipriani Wall Street, will air in an edited form on Pivot on June 6 at 8 p.m. A complete list of this years Peabody Award winners is available here. The Philippines president-elect blasted the Catholic church Sunday for hypocrisy, saying the bishops who had condemned him during his campaign had been asking favours from the government. Trash-talking Rodrigo Duterte, who won the May 9 presidential elections by a landslide, caused outrage in the church hierarchy in December after making a rambling and obscenity-filled speech cursing the pope. About 80 percent of Filipinos belong to the Catholic church. Duterte, who has since flip-flopped between defiance and remorse over the remarks, directed his anger towards the bishops who had criticised his papal jibes. "You sons of whores, aren't you ashamed? You ask so many favours, even from me," he said, addressing Catholic bishops. "You know the most hypocritical institution? The Catholic church," he said, in statements aired by broadcaster ABS-CBN on its website. He accused the bishops of asking for money from the government, saying it was another form of corruption. Duterte said the church had opposed his election but that it had served as a referendum, showing he was more influential. "Look, were you able to stop me?" he said, citing his victory by about six million votes. Bishops had assailed him for calling the pope "a son of a whore" and, in April, for joking about raping an Australian missionary woman who was raped and killed in a prison riot in 1989. The Catholic church also recently said it opposed Duterte's plan to reinstate the death penalty. Although Duterte was baptized a Catholic, his spiritual adviser is Apollo Quiboloy, head of "the Kingdom of Jesus Christ," a non-Catholic religious group based in the southern city of Davao. Duterte, Davao's longtime mayor, had previously boasted of links to vigilante death squads that had killed more than a thousand suspected criminals in the city. He even vowed to kill more people if elected. Despite concerns from human rights groups, many Filipinos embraced his bloodthirsty campaign and voted for him. Story continues Duterte, who takes office on June 30, has largely remained out of public sight during the past week, meeting with prospective cabinet members and foreign dignitaries. Duterte told reporters that his sometimes-controversial choices were entirely his own. "I do all the vetting. I decide for myself. I never consulted anybody," Duterte said. The president-elect, who had earlier vowed to end major crimes in six months, conceded that he was having trouble picking an interior secretary, who would be in charge of the police. "I still don't have one because it (the position) handles the police. I'm having a hard time because there are a lot of problems with the police." The Philippines has halted an investigation into an alleged vigilante death squad linked to president-elect Rodrigo Duterte after the key witness disappeared, likely due to fear of the incoming leader, officials said. Outgoing justice secretary Emmanuel Caparas said the Justice Department's investigation could not proceed because the sole witness had left the government's witness protection programme. "There's really nothing there. I don't think the witness is there any more... because he hasn't surfaced again," he said. "Unless that (person) comes forward, its very difficult to do anything about it," he told reporters. Former justice secretary Leila de Lima, who initiated the probe into the death squads, said Sunday the witness clearly feared Duterte -- who was elected president in a landslide on May 9. "From all indications, the decision of the witness to leave (the protection programme) is definitely in reaction to Duterte's (likely) victory," said de Lima, who was elected senator in the May 9 polls. Duterte, longtime mayor of the southern city of Davao, had boasted while campaigning of being involved with vigilante death squads that had killed over a thousand people in his city. He had also vowed that once elected, he would kill 100,000 criminals and dump so many in Manila Bay that the "fish will grow fat" from feeding on them. De Lima told AFP that "even before the elections, he (the witness) was worried of a Duterte victory". The former justice secretary said the witness asked to leave the witness protection programme after she resigned from the department in October to run for office. Human rights groups have accused Duterte of organising or tolerating vigilante squads that have targeted suspected criminals and street children in Davao, killing more than 1,000 people since the 1980s. But Duterte, whose tough-talking style and ruthless approach to crime has won him a huge following, has brushed aside such concerns. Story continues The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the decision to drop the investigation was "a disturbing failure" to address the many government-linked killings in the strife-torn Philippines. "The decision sends a chilling message that those responsible for targeted killings don't need to fear about being punished for their egregious crimes," the group said in a statement on Sunday. It called on the government to reopen the investigation. Spokesmen for Duterte, who takes office on June 30, could not be contacted for comment. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22 Trend: Today everyone understands that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must sooner or later be resolved peacefully and through negotiations, Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administration's foreign relations department said in an interview with ANS TV channel. Novruz Mammadov said that the April events on the frontline have once again attracted the attention of international community, the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, as well as a variety of international and regional organizations to the Karabakh conflict, and have shown that the conflict is not frozen. Mammadov also said that an opinion was formed in Europe, the US and Russia that the conflict needs attention and that time has come to find a solution to it. Speaking on the presidential meeting held in Vienna on May 16, Mammadov said that Azerbaijan's desire is to fairly settle the conflict based on within the framework of international law. Commenting on the expansion of the powers of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman after the Vienna meeting, Mammadov said that Azerbaijan has expressed its official position on the issue. "The main idea here was to strengthen the ceasefire regime. Armenia, just as in the beginning of April, has been constantly engaged in provocations. In this regard, several proposals were expressed, and one of them is an extension of the mandate of the OSCE Representative for monitoring. We said that that we do not object to this proposal," Mammadov said. Anthony Weiner has not seen the documentary Weiner, opening this weekend, according to the movies filmmakers. What he will see is a fly-on-the-wall view of his personal and political life as he set out for mayor of New York in 2013, a portrait that makes him out to be more than a punchline. What it isnt is the story of a political comeback, which he wanted as he granted directors Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg extraordinary access to his run for office after resigning from Congress in 2011 over a sexting scandal. Instead, Weiner is the story of a politician who cant shake that past, not just because new revelations during his mayoral bid proved disastrous for his campaign, but for the nature of the media environment in running for office today, when the sensational will always capture attention and headlines. The camera is there as he plots an explanation and strategy to the point of some deception but also as he refuses to give up. At one point, he talks of going all Bulworth. There was a sense that opening up their lives would give a more complete picture than the caricature that they became, says Kriegman, a former congressional chief of staff for Weiner who then turned to filmmaking. The movie shows some revelatory moments between Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, now a top aide to Hillary Clinton, as they try to cope with the onslaught of the new revelations. In one moment, Abedin, standing in her kitchen, calls their situation a nightmare, as Weiners poll numbers begin to slide and she faces criticism for staying with him. Listen below: Kriegman was in the room as Weiner and Abedin grappled with the latest revelations and what to say to the press. The result is a candid look at how a political crisis is handled, even if Kriegman feared that they would ask him to turn off his camera. They did at certain points that option was a condition of their access but they did not at this moment. Listen below: Story continues Abedin faced criticism for standing by Weiners side but Kriegman says, In our film we want to question those judgments. Shouldnt a woman be able to make her own decisions without judgment? Listen below: What is Anthony Weiners future? Kriegman says that its still in public life. Listen below: The Big Rift David Cohen of Variety and Nikki Schwab of Daily Mail talk about whether the rift between Bernie Sanders and the Democratic party will hurt Clinton in the fall, and what it will take for the fissures to be repaired. Listen below: PopPolitics, hosted by Ted Johnson, airs at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT on Thursdays on SiriusXMs political channel POTUS. It also is available on demand. Related stories 'Jason Bourne' Edges 'Independence Day' in Trailer Faceoff 'Weiner' to Open Rooftop Films' 2016 Summer Series Oscars 2017: Sundance Launches Strong Contenders Like 'Birth of a Nation,' 'Weiner' May 23 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Headlines * US close to passing test for June rate rise, Fed official says. (http://bit.ly/1NFFG3g) * Athens agrees fiscal measures in exchange for debt relief talks. (http://bit.ly/1NFFAsg) * Turkey unlikely to join EU 'until the year 3000', says Cameron. (http://bit.ly/1NFFtgp) Overview * Eric Rosengren, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, told the Financial Times that the United States is close to meeting most economic conditions for a June rate hike. * Greek lawmakers approved tax increases and a new privatisation fund on Sunday and freed up the sale of non-performing loans in exchange for much-needed bailout loans and debt relief. * Chief 'In' campaigner Prime Minister David Cameron clashed with members of his own party on Sunday over the impending referendum on Britain's European Union membership, dismissing claims that he would be powerless to stop Turkey joining the EU. (Compiled by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese) LONDON (Reuters) - Jose Mourinho is a proven winner who is the perfect choice as Manchester United manager, the club's former defender Phil Neville said on Sunday. British media reported that the 53-year-old Portuguese will be handed the job next week, ending Dutchman Louis van Gaal's two-year reign at Old Trafford after he led his team to victory in the FA Cup final on Saturday. "Mourinho is a proven winner. United fans want a team challenging for the league title, they don't want a team finishing in seventh or fifth," Neville told the BBC. Mourinho was sacked by Chelsea in December, seven months after leading them to the Premier League title in his second spell in charge of the London club. "When Jose finishes at a club there is a pattern where he falls out with players, gets disgruntled and the team dips," Neville said. "I can't see him staying for too long at United - maybe two or three years seems to be his shelf life at a club - but as long as he brings success United fans won't be unhappy." Since Alex Ferguson stepped down as manager three years after leading United to the Premier League title for the 13th time, they finished seventh in the table under David Moyes and fourth and fifth under Van Gaal. "He (Mourinho) is not the type of manager that will come in and say this is a transitional period and finishing fourth in the league will be enough - that won't be enough for the United fans," said Neville who played for United under Ferguson from 1995-2005. Mourinho has also managed Porto, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, winning the league title at least once with each club. He also led Porto and Inter to victory in the Champions League. "I am a Manchester United fan and next season I want them to be winning the league," Neville said. "That will be the demands put on him and I am sure he will have the same expectation." Neville believes Mourinho has the personality to cope with the demands of the position. "I know you have to manage a certain way when you're manager of Manchester United, but if you take away that brashness you lose what Jose Mourinho is about," Neville said. "He likes to create this siege mentality and that's what Sir Alex (Ferguson) did for 26 years. He told us in every team meeting that the rest of the world doesn't like you, wants you to fail, and that was the basis of our motivation in a lot of our games." (Reporting by Ed Osmond; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty) CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / May 22, 2016 / QuikFlo Health Inc. ("QuikFlo" or the "Company"), (QF.V), (1QF.F) announced that further to its press release of March 21, 2016 that the Company has amended the terms of its current private placement to $0.10 per Unit, each units consisting of one common share and one 18 month common share warrant exercisable at $0.20. The Company would also like to announce the recent resignation of Dr. Bijoy Menon. The Company wishes to thank Dr. Menon for his contribution to the Company. The Company continues to develop its initial product, although at a much slower pace than originally envisioned, primarily due to the lack of funding. Development is at a stage where the engineering team will need to be augmented in order to complete this first version of the FAST product. The Company has initiated discussions with 2 parties in respect to collaborative development or joint venture arrangements, but these are in preliminary stages, and there is no assurance that any such arrangements will be entered into. The Company also announced that it has, subject to regulatory approval, appointed Richard Olson and Philip Beaudoin of Toronto and IR Smartt Inc. of Austin Texas as investor relations consultants. These parties will be paid a monthly fee and granted options in accordance with their agreements and the Company's stock option plan. About QuikFlo: QuikFlo is a medical software company developing innovative solutions for the analysis of medical images. Its primary focus is on improving outcomes for stroke patients, where existing time delays are solvable through more efficient triage based on rapid, accurate analysis of medical images. Further Information: For further information relating to the Company or this release please visit www.sedar.com, www.quikflohealth.com, or contact Vinny Jindal, President and CEO at (646) 526-9628 or Investor Relations for the Company at (647) 980-7541. 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. Story continues Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forwardlooking statements and forwardlooking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of the Company relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Since forwardlooking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although management of the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward looking statements and information are based are currently reasonable, 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 suitability of the key members of ongoing management and the board of directors, the biomedical and technology sectors in general such as operational risks in development, research and regulatory delays or changes in plans with respect to research projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of the market; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to costs and expenses; health, safety and environmental risks; marketing and commercialization; loss of markets; competition; ability to access sufficient capital; failure to obtain required regulatory and other approvals and changes in legislation, including but not limited to tax laws, and government regulations, and other risks identified in the recent information circular available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forwardlooking statements, timelines and information contained in this news release. No undertaking is given to update publicly or revise any forwardlooking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. SOURCE: QuikFlo Health Inc. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22 By Farhad Daneshvar - Trend: Following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA aka nuclear deal) January 16, Iranian government led by pragmatic President Hassan Rouhani has been developing plans for luring foreign investments aimed at renewing the country's aging industry and rebuilding the Islamic Republic's depressed economy. Western sanctions over the past recent years targeted the Islamic Republic's key energy and financial sectors, crippling its economy. Now with the removal of nuclear-related sanctions, President Rouhani's government aims to attract about $50 billion worth investments per year. Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohsen Pak Ayeen has briefed Trend's correspondent in Baku on the latest economic developments in the Islamic Republic encouraging foreign investors, in particular Azerbaijani entrepreneurs to reap benefits from created economic chances in his country. National Triumph "Nuclear-related sanctions have been removed and other sanctions against the Islamic Republic will gradually be lifted in the future. It is considered a national triumph," Mohsen Pak Ayeen said. Saying that the groundwork for investment in the Islamic Republic has been laid following the termination of sanctions, he added that Tehran has managed to lure $3.418 billion in investment for launching 41 projects. The ambassador noted that the output and exports of Iran's oil have doubled after the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). "The volume of Iran's oil exports has reached 2.4 million barrels per day," he added. Iran's Oil Ministry plans to enhance cooperation with neighboring countries on the projects for establishing gas pipelines, investing in LNG projects and implementing petrochemical projects. Briefing about the plans and priorities of Iran's Oil Ministry in post sanctions era he further said that the country plans to strengthen its position in global markets and finalize the new model of oil and gas contracts, namely the Iran Petroleum Contracts (IPC). Industrial states interested in Iranian business The high number of visits by high-ranking delegations from various countries shows foreign states' interest in doing business in Iran. Mohsen Pak Ayeen noted that nine presidents, five prime ministers, three parliament speakers and 28 foreign ministers have visited Iran over the past five months since the JCPOA was implemented. Saying that several developed and industrial countries are ready to invest in enormous projects in Iran, he called upon Azerbaijani entrepreneurs to invest in profitable projects in Iran. Transportation High-speed rails, railway electric traction systems, aviation, and transit corridors are of high interest for investment, as a number of industrial and developed countries have expressed their readiness to invest in the mentioned sectors in Iran. Saying that major developments have taken place in the country's aviation system after decades of embargo, Pak Ayeen added that 118 Airbus and 20 ATR aircraft are expected to be delivered to the country in the forms of hire purchase directly from the manufacturers. He also touched upon the plans for developing the country's major aviation gateways. The ambassador stated that crucial steps have been taken for establishing Imam Khomeini International Airport City Company, including a free trade zone and an especial economic zone, as well as the second terminal of the airport with a capacity for serving 5.4 million passengers per year. Speaking about Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, he said a memorandum of understanding has been recently signed with Italy for the renovation of an area of 80,000 square meters at the airport. He described the decision for the renovation of Mehrabad Airport as a significant development, as the airport has not been modernized over the past 40 years. Pak Ayeen elaborated on cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan on transportation projects, saying that the Rasht-Astara railway aimed at linking Iranian and Azerbaijan railways is currently under construction. Azerbaijan has allocated $500 million for the project, said the ambassador. Saying that Iran and China have recently signed a deal on launching high-speed rails connecting Tehran to Qom and Esfahan Cities, the envoy added that Tehran - Mashahd railway is also projected to be electrified. Concluding on transportation projects, he said that the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways inked a contract for purchasing rails from India and within the next year 2000 km of railroads will be constructed in the country. Banking ties The JCPOA has introduced new opportunities for improving Iran's economy, the ambassador believes. Speaking about banking ties between Iran and the world he expressed hope that the ties will be normalized soon. However, Pak Ayeen criticized some leading international banks for failing to have close ties with Iran due to political reasons and said they could be proper partners for Iran. He pointed to Central Bank of Azerbaijan Governor Elman Rustamov's recent visit to Iran and said that the ties between Iranian banks and a number of international medium-sized banks have already been normalized. Iran's Ambassador to Azerbaijan welcomed the idea of opening the branches of foreign banks in Iran and said Tehran will give support to Azerbaijani banks to establish their branches and offices in the Islamic Republic. Farhad Daneshvar is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @Farhad_Danesh Donald Trump Donald Trump made an unprecedented move this week that could go a long way toward shoring up his support among the Republican Party establishment. The presumptive Republican nominee on Wednesday released a list of judges he would consider for Supreme Court nominations in a theoretical presidency. It's a step that no prior presidential candidate has taken. But shortly after his list of 11 potential nominees went public, he received ringing praise from all sides of the party. House Speaker Paul Ryan the top-ranking Republican in Washington who made waves by initially declining to endorse Trump said the list of names was a ''very good step in the right direction." The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has oversight over the Supreme Court nomination process, was equally impressed. In a Wednesday statement, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said Trump's list was composed of judges who "understand and respect the fundamental principle that the role of the courts is limited and subject to the Constitution and the rule of law." Grassley said Trump's list goes to show the American people that they have "a voice in the direction of the Supreme Court for the next generation." 94176010 Trump said in a statement that the list of judges is "representative of the kind of constitutional principles I value." He has attempted to seize on an issue that could be the deciding factor for Republicans torn about whether to support him over likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. He said in a speech Friday that as president, he could appoint as many as five justices. And with four justices currently on the bench at least approaching the age of 80, it's not as far-fetched as it seems. GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak told Business Insider that the release of potential Supreme Court nominees was one of the most important moves Trump could make ahead of the fall election. Story continues "I think it sort of helps some of the conservative angst out there and it addressed one of the biggest problems with a Republican supporting Hillary, and that is the Supreme Court," said Mackowiak, who founded the Washington-based political communications firm Potomac Strategy Group. "He can do himself a lot of good if he keeps pulling moves like this out," he continued. "So, the VP search is part of that, the future cabinet is part of that, but the Supreme Court is a lifetime appointment. It's really, really important." Donald Trump Mackowiak said he considers himself an undecided voter at the moment, although that does not mean he's considering voting for Clinton. The list of potential nominees helped him to view Trump in a more favorable light, though he's still not hopping aboard the Trump train. But it was a major necessity, he said, because since Trump never served as a governor or senator, he has no record on judicial appointments. "All we know about judges and his judicial philosophy is that he's been involved in a lot of lawsuits and he likes his sister, who is fairly moderate," he said, making note of Maryanne Trump Barry, a senior judge in the US Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. He continued: "This now gives conservatives, if he gets elected, something to hold him accountable on. Where if he didn't have it, you wouldn't really be able to hold him accountable to the same extent." Trump's list comes roughly two months after President Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia's sudden death sparked massive strife between the two major parties that has yet to be resolved. Senate Republicans have refused to hold confirmation hearings, citing the desire to wait until after the election to appoint a new justice. Clinton has not said whether she will pull Garland's nomination in favor of making her own nomination if she wins the presidency. barack obama merrick garland The list wasn't the first time Trump dropped hints about potential nominees. During a Republican primary debate in February, Trump floated Diane S. Sykes, a federal judge in the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, and William H. Pryor, a federal judge in the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, as potential replacements for Scalia. Both were on his Wednesday list. The real-estate mogul also told The Washington Post last month that he was "getting names" from Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the first sitting senator to endorse him, as well as the Heritage Foundation. Many of the names on Heritage's "wish list" were on that of Trump including Pryor; Sykes; Associate Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court Thomas Rex Lee; Associate Justice Don Willett of the Texas Supreme Court; and federal Judges Steven Colloton and Raymond Gruender of the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. supreme court Many of Trump's potential picks would likely spark fierce Democratic opposition. Senate Democrats opposed Pryor's circuit-court nomination, citing his description of Roe v. Wade as "the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law." Gruender has also ruled in favor of laws curtailing access to abortion, writing in a 2012 opinion that abortion increases "depression, anxiety, suicide ideation, childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse, child neuroticism, and low self-esteem." But Republican strategists are almost sure Trump himself didn't have much input on the list of judges. "I don't think Trump gave a thumbs up or a thumbs down to any of these names," Mackowiak said. "He was probably presented the entire list, might have asked a couple questions here and there. For the most part, he wanted a list people would respond positively to." Evan Siegfried, a GOP strategist and commentator, said it was obvious that Trump's team didn't do much vetting of the candidates. If they had, they "would've known that Don Willett of Texas has been very anti-Trump and has said some stuff that is just embarrassing to him now," Siegfried said, later adding that "they never checked to see if there were any problems or anything that could be embarrassing to the campaign." Don Willett Siegfried himself is openly averse to Trump's candidacy. But he too saw the value in Trump releasing the list of ideal nominees. "The strategy behind releasing this list was basically calm the establishment. Say, 'No, no, no, I know there were concerns about me being a conservative and what judges I'd appoint, but here's a list,'" he said. "And that theoretically should help." He called it one of many small moves that will help his standing within the conservative base. "By itself, it won't really do much," he said. "But among more moves like this, it will ultimately be something that will be positive for him." NOW WATCH: 9 people who may be on Donald Trumps 'short list' for vice president More From Business Insider By Tom Perry and Suleiman Al-Khalidi BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Air strikes hit the only road into rebel-held areas of Aleppo city on Sunday in the heaviest bombing since February, a rebel official and monitors said, jeopardizing access where around 300,000 Syrians live. Russian warplanes carried out the attacks on the Castello road, which was still open but dangerous, the official and monitors said. Defense officials from Syria's government and its ally Russia could not immediately be reached for comment. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said the road was hit in a week of escalating air strikes, with Sunday's attack the most intense yet. The city of Aleppo, about 30 miles (50 km) south of the Turkish border, is divided between the government and rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A truce was brokered by the United States and Russia in February. But the agreement has since unraveled, with fighting and bombardment in Aleppo playing a big part in its collapse. Kurdish-led YPG forces, which control the Sheikh Maqsoud area in Aleppo that overlooks the Castello road and are tacitly aligned with the government, have also disrupted the road with snipers who target civilians using the road that is a lifeline for the city to the countryside. Mainstream Syrian rebel groups said on Sunday they would no longer abide by the U.N. truce deal unless the Syrian army ended a major assault on their positions in the suburbs of Damascus within 48 hours. A statement by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) signed by nearly 40 rebel groups that operate across Syria said they would deem the cessation of hostilities deal as having "totally collapsed" if the assault by Syrian government and allied Lebanese Hezbollah forces fighters did not cease within two days. [L5N18G1A9] The signatories, who include Western- and Turkish-backed groups operating on the main frontlines in northern and southern Syria, said that once the two-day period had ended, rebels would respond with "all the legitimate means to defend the civilians living in these areas". In their joint statement, the rebels said the continued attacks by the army on the besieged rebel-held areas around Damascus and their strongholds in Aleppo city and Idlib province were putting peace-making efforts at risk. The Syrian army stopped extending the cessation of hostilities this month after accusing rebels of violating the agreement by firing at government-controlled residential areas RUSSIAN JETS POUND ALEPPO HIGHWAY A senior official in the rebel group Fastaqim that operates in the Aleppo area said there was heavy Russian bombing of rebel areas on the strategic route all day, developments the Syrian Observatory confirmed later. "From 1 a.m. until 10 a.m., Russian jets were not quiet on the Handarat-Castello front," said Zakaria Malahefji. "A group (of fighters) stationed there was killed." Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said the raids had been happening for a week. "This is more intense than the last days," he added. A Russian defense ministry statement issued on Saturday accused insurgents of firing missiles at nearby areas, identifying them as members of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which was not included in the truce. Rebels fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army say Nusra has little or no presence in Aleppo city. Russia deployed its air force to Syria last year to bomb in support of the Syrian military and its allies. Rebels say they can distinguish Russian from Syrian warplanes by the accuracy and intensity of their bombing, the way they fly in squadrons and the fact they carry out raids at night. Syrian government forces have mounted several offensives aimed at encircling rebel-held eastern Aleppo but these have all failed to date. West of Palmyra city, which the Syria army took with Russian aid, heavy battles continue to rage with militants. Rebels said air strikes on residential areas and busy market places on rebel-held towns and cities across northern Syria that killed dozens would not go without being avenged. On Sunday, several civilians were killed in aerial bombing of rebel held Idlib city's main busy market place. (Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly in Moscow; Editing by Tom Heneghan) Beirut (AFP) - Russian warplanes hit a key rebel supply route to Aleppo on Sunday in Moscow's first strikes on Syria's battleground second city since a February ceasefire, a monitoring group said. "The Russian and Syrian warplanes together carried out at least 40 air strikes on the Castello road," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights chief Rami Abdel Rahman said. "They are the heaviest air strikes there since February, and they are also the first confirmed Russian strikes since the truce began," Abdel Rahman said. The violence wracking Aleppo city over the past month has killed some 300 civilians and left world powers scrambling to save the fragile truce brokered by the United States and Russia nearly three months ago. The northern city -- once Syria's commercial powerhouse -- is divided between rebel groups in the east and regime forces in the west. The Castello road is a key supply route for rebels leading north out of Aleppo. Even while the rest of the city witnessed relative calm in the first few weeks of the truce, fierce fighting has raged for the highway. On Friday, Moscow proposed joint air strikes with Washington against jihadists in Syria from Wednesday, but its offer was spurned. Russia has been carrying out air strikes in Syria since last September in support of its ally President Bashar al-Assad. Washington launched its air war against the Islamic State group and other jihadists in Syria in 2014. Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the US military does "not collaborate or coordinate with the Russians on any operations in Syria." US State Department spokesman John Kirby said nothing had been agreed with Moscow as its ally Damascus was responsible for the "vast majority" of violations of the February ceasefire. Russia's intervention has significantly strengthened the Syrian government in the five-year-old civil war that has killed more than 270,000 people and driven millions from their homes. By John Whitesides WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders cranked up his fight with party leaders on Sunday, backing a challenger to the Democratic National Committee's chairwoman and accusing the party's establishment of trying to anoint Hillary Clinton as the nominee for president. In a series of television interviews, Sanders remained defiant despite what he acknowledged was an uphill fight to overtake front-runner Clinton. Clinton has said she already considers herself the de facto nominee and is increasingly turning her attention to Donald Trump, saying on Sunday that the rhetoric of the presumptive Republican nominee was dangerous. Sanders told ABC's "This Week" program that Americans should not have to choose between "the lesser of two evils" in the Nov. 8 election. Sanders said that if he won the White House, he would not reappoint U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz as DNC chairwoman. He also endorsed law professor Tim Canova, who is challenging the Florida congresswoman in the August Democratic primary. "Do I think she is the kind of chair that the Democratic Party needs? No, I don't," Sanders told CBS' "Face the Nation." "Frankly, what the Democratic Party is about is running around to rich people's homes and raising obscene sums of money from wealthy people. What we need to do is to say to working-class people we are on your side," he said. The defiant tone by Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, has worried some Democrats anxious to see Clinton begin to unify the party and turn her attention to an election showdown with Trump. Clinton painted Trump as a risk of the sort voters had not seen before in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired on Sunday. "I do not want Americans, and, you know, good-thinking Republicans, as well as Democrats and independents, to start to believe that this is a normal candidacy," she said. "It isn't." Trump has gained ground in opinion polls as Republicans begin to rally around his candidacy. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released on Sunday showed Trump with a 2-point lead over Clinton, within the margin of error. In early March, Clinton led Trump by 9 points in the same poll. But Sanders has ignored growing Democratic calls to step aside and repeated his vow to stay in the race until the party's July 25-28 nominating convention in Philadelphia despite Clinton's nearly insurmountable lead in pledged convention delegates who will choose the nominee. He said he wanted to do away with superdelegates - party leaders who are free to support any candidate. Their rush to back Clinton even before votes had been cast amounted to "an anointment process," Sanders said. 'LESSER OF TWO EVILS" He promised to influence the party platform and party rules even if he was not the nominee, but said if Clinton did not move toward his views on reining in Wall Street, reducing income equality and other issues, "she's going to have her problems." "I don't want to see the American people voting for the lesser of two evils. I want the American people to be voting for a vision of economic justice, of social justice, of environmental justice, of racial justice," he said on ABC. After Sanders' endorsement of her opponent, Wasserman Schultz said in a statement that she would remain neutral in the Democratic presidential race. Democratic worries about party unity were exacerbated by last weekend's state party convention in Nevada, where unhappy Sanders supporters disrupted the proceedings in a dispute over rules. That raised fears about possible chaos at the national convention in Philadelphia. But Sanders disputed media reports describing the Nevada incident as violent. "What happened is people were rude, that's not good, they were booing, that's not good, they behaved in some ways that were a little bit boorish, not good, but let's not talk about that as violence," he said on ABC. Sanders said he was not encouraging protests at the Philadelphia convention, "but of course people have the right to peacefully assemble and make their views heard." Clinton said in the NBC interview that she would talk to Sanders about his policy demands and take them into account "when he's ready to talk." (Additional reporting by David Morgan and Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Editing by Alan Crosby and Peter Cooney) By John Whitesides WASHINGTON (Reuters) - - Democrat Bernie Sanders cranked up his fight with his party's leaders on Sunday, backing a challenger to the Democratic National Committee's chairwoman and accusing the party establishment of trying to anoint Hillary Clinton as the presidential nominee. In a series of television interviews, Sanders remained defiant despite what he acknowledged was an uphill fight to overtake front-runner Clinton. He told ABC's "This Week" program that Americans should not have to choose between "the lesser of two evils" in the Nov. 8 election against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. Sanders said that if he wins the White House, he would not reappoint U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz as DNC chairwoman. He also endorsed law professor Tim Canova, who is challenging the Florida congresswoman in the August Democratic primary. "Do I think she is the kind of chair that the Democratic Party needs? No, I don't," Sanders told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "Frankly, what the Democratic Party is about is running around to rich peoples homes and raising obscene sums of money from wealthy people. What we need to do is to say to working class people we are on your side," he said. The defiant tone by Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, has worried some Democrats anxious to see Clinton begin to unify the party and turn her attention to a fall election showdown with Trump. Trump has gained ground in opinion polls as Republicans begin to rally around his likely candidacy. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released on Sunday showed Trump with a 2-point lead over Clinton, within the margin of error. In early March, Clinton led Trump by 9 percentage points in the same poll. But Sanders has ignored growing Democratic calls to step aside and repeated his vow to stay in the race until the party's nominating convention in Philadelphia on July 25-28, despite Clinton's nearly insurmountable lead in pledged convention delegates who will choose the nominees. He said he wanted to do away with superdelegates - party leaders who are free to support any candidate. Their rush to back Clinton even before votes had been cast amounted to "an anointment process," Sanders said. 'LESSER OF TWO EVILS" He promised to influence the party platform and party rules even if he was not the nominee, but said if Clinton does not move toward his views on reining in Wall Street, reducing income equality and other issues, "she's going to have her problems." "I don't want to see the American people voting for the lesser of two evils. I want the American people to be voting for a vision of economic justice, of social justice, of environmental justice, of racial justice," he said on ABC's "This Week." Sanders has feuded with the party over a debate schedule he says favored Clinton and warned the party against stacking convention committees with Clinton supporters. After his endorsement of her opponent, Wasserman Schultz said in a statement that she would remain neutral in the presidential Democratic primary. Democratic worries about party unity were exacerbated by last weekend's state party convention in Nevada, where unhappy Sanders supporters disrupted the proceedings in a dispute over rules. That raised fears about possible chaos at the national convention in Philadelphia in July. But Sanders disputed media reports describing the Nevada incident as violent. "What happened is people were rude, that's not good, they were booing, that's not good, they behaved in some ways that were a little bit boorish, not good, but let's not talk about that as violence," he said on ABC. Sanders said he was not encouraging protests at the Philadelphia convention, "but of course people have the right to peacefully assemble and make their views heard." Clinton, in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," said she will talk to Sanders about his policy demands and take them into account "when he's ready to talk." (Additional reporting by David Morgan and Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Editing by Caren Bohan and Alan Crosby) Cairo (AFP) - Egypt enlisted a submersible Sunday to search the Mediterranean seabed for the black boxes of EgyptAir MS804, hoping the recorders would determine whether the plane crash was an accident or attack. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said it was too early to tell what caused the Airbus A320 to plunge into the sea with 66 people on board last Thursday. Some wreckage from the plane that had been en route to Cairo from Paris has been found, but none of the passengers' bodies, a civil aviation ministry spokesman said on Sunday. France's aviation safety agency said Flight MS804 had transmitted automated messages indicating smoke in the cabin and a fault in the Flight Control Unit. Sisi said a submersible that can operate 3,000 metres (9,800) below sea level had been enlisted from the oil ministry, and urged against speculation on why the plane went down. "All the theories are possible," he said in a televised address. "There is no particular theory we can affirm right now." Egypt's aviation minister has said terrorism is more likely than technical failure, without offering any evidence. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said "all theories are being examined and none is favoured". A French navy spokesman said a French maritime surveillance plane "on Sunday detected a lot of floating objects, probably related to the aircraft, in the search area". The disaster follows the bombing of a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula last October that killed all 224 people on board. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for that attack within hours, but there has been no claim linked to the EgyptAir crash. A rare audio message on Saturday by the jihadist group's spokesman Mohamed al-Adnani made no mention of the plane, although it called for attacks on the US and European countries, especially civilians, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which begins in June. Story continues The message may have been recorded before the EgyptAir disaster. A French patrol boat carrying equipment capable of tracing the black boxes was expected in the search area between the Greek island of Karpathos and the Egyptian coast on Monday afternoon. - Black box signals - But experts have warned that the equipment could be useless if the black boxes -- which can emit signals for up to five weeks -- have sunk to a depth of more than 2,000 metres (6,500 feet). French and Egyptian aviation officials have said it is too soon determine what brought down the plane. It is "far too soon to interpret and understand the cause of the accident as long as we have not found the wreckage or the flight data recorders", a spokesman for France's Bureau of Investigations and Analysis (BEA) said. An Egyptian aviation ministry statement cautioned against drawing conclusions based on a "single source of information such as the ACARS messages which are signals and indicators that may have different causes". ACARS -- Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System -- transmits short messages between aircraft and ground stations. The ACARS messages read "smoke lavatory smoke" then "avionics smoke" -- referring to the plane's electronic systems -- then a "fault" with the FCU, the flight control unit, and another control unit, a BEA official told AFP. The plane had turned sharply twice before plunging 6,700 metres (22,000 feet) and vanishing from radar screens early Thursday, Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said. The passengers were 30 Egyptians, 15 French citizens, two Iraqis, two Canadians, and citizens from Algeria, Belgium, Britain, Chad, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. They included a boy and two babies. Seven crew and three security personnel were also on board. EgyptAir Holding Company chairman Safwat Moslem told AFP the priority was finding the passengers' remains and the flight recorders, which will stop emitting a signal when the batteries are exhausted. The airline said on Sunday it was working with the government to issue death certificates for the victims. On Saturday, a funeral service was held at a Cairo church for 26-year-old EgyptAir hostess Yara Hany Farag. In a hall decorated with flowers, a picture of a smiling Yara was placed on a cross covered entirely with white flowers. The young woman was engaged to be married. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22 By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran's crude oil exports(excluding gas condensates) have increased to 2 million barrels per day (mbpd) for the first time since 2012, Rokneddin Javadi, Iran's deputy oil minister said. The figure is planned to reach 2.2 mbpd by mid-summer, Javadi, who is also heading the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said, Mehr news agency reported May 22. He further underlined that the Islamic Republic has no plan to join oil freeze plan. The NIOC has fulfilled its commitments regarding the oil export increase, he said, adding Iran will continue to raise oil exports. Iran's oil production stood at 3.03 mbpd during the first quarter of 2016, showing 230,000 b/d increase in comparison to 2015, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report published May 10. The Islamic Republic announced in late 2015 that it would add 0.5 mbpd of crude oil to the production level as soon as the international sanctions on the country are eliminated and the same amount of crude oil would be added to the output level in the second half of 2016. The sanctions were lifted in mid-January 2016 after implementation of the comprehensive nuclear deal between Tehran and the P5+1 group, which included the US, the UK, France, Russia, China and Germany. Iran has already rejected the calls by other oil producers to freeze its post-sanctions oil output increase to help stabilize the oil prices. The country plans to increase its daily output to four million barrels till March 2017. Washington (AFP) - A solar-powered plane landed in Dayton, Ohio on the latest leg of a record-breaking trip to circle the globe without consuming a drop of fuel. Solar Impulse 2, piloted by Swiss businessman Andre Borschberg, arrived at 9:56 pm (0156 GMT Sunday) at Dayton International Airport after a flight from Tulsa, Oklahoma that lasted a 16 hours and 34 minutes, a live video feed showed. "Amazing to have landed in #Dayton after being in the sky for 17 hours!" Borschberg tweeted. The slow-moving, single-seat plane with the wingspan of a Boeing 747 cuts a flimsy figure, but it has traversed much of the globe in stages since taking off March 9, 2015 from Abu Dhabi. The project aims to promote renewable energy. The aircraft -- clad in thousands of solar cells, the sole source of energy for the flight -- reached its destination more than an hour ahead of schedule. Still, traveling at average speeds of only 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour, it took Solar Impulse 2 longer to reach Dayton than a car -- the typical road trip from Tulsa is around 12 hours. The flight to Dayton was the 12th leg of Solar Impulse's projected 16-leg east-west circumnavigation, with Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard alternating as pilots. Piccard, a Swiss psychiatrist and balloonist, initiated the project. "The flight is part of the attempt to achieve the first ever Round-The-World Solar Flight, the goal of which is to demonstrate how modern clean technologies can achieve the impossible," Piccard and Borschberg said in a statement. Dayton is significant to aviation buffs because it is the home of Orville and Wilbur Wright, brothers who developed the world's first successful powered aircraft heavier than air. Solar Impulse 2 departed from Tulsa International Airport at 4:22 am (0922 GMT). It may next fly to Pennsylvania as early as Tuesday, the team said. Its final destination in the United States is New York. Thanks to an inflatable mobile hangar, which can be packed up quickly and transported, the plane can be sheltered at a variety of locations. Story continues The aircraft was grounded in July when its batteries were damaged halfway through its 21,700-mile (35,000-kilometer) circumnavigation of the globe. The crew took several months to repair the damage caused by high tropical temperatures during a 4,000-mile flight between Nagoya, Japan and Hawaii. The plane was flown on that stage by Borschberg, whose 118-hour journey smashed the previous record of 76 hours and 45 minutes set by US adventurer Steve Fossett in 2006. He took 20-minute catnaps to maintain control of the pioneering plane during the flight from Japan, in what his team described as "difficult" conditions. - How it works - The Solar Impulse 2, which weighs roughly the same as a family car, contains 17,000 solar cells that power the aircraft's propellers and charge batteries. At night, it runs on stored energy. The plane's typical flight speed can increase to double that when exposed to full sunlight. After crossing the United States, the pilots are set to make a transatlantic flight to Europe, from where they plan to make their way back to their point of departure in Abu Dhabi. Piccard, a doctor by training, completed the first non-stop balloon flight around the world in 1999. His teammate Borschberg is no stranger to adventure -- 15 years ago he narrowly escaped an avalanche, and in 2013 he survived a helicopter crash with just minor injuries. The only remaining flight-qualified external tank from the Space Shuttle program - a gift from NASA - arrived at the California Science Center in Exposition Park around 7 p.m. on Saturday, where it will join Space Shuttle Endeavour on display. The move began around 12:30 a.m. PT early Saturday at Fisherman's Village in Marina del Rey. The ET-94 is enormous - it weighs 65,000 pounds (empty), is 154-feet-long and about three stories high. It sat on dollies as it was pulled by a truck on the 16-mile journey to the Science Center, reminiscent of the trip that Endeavour made, which attracted an estimated 1.5 million spectators during its 2012 trek through the streets of Los Angeles. Read More: Space Shuttle Fuel Tank Treks Through L.A. Streets to the California Science Center During the fuel tank's move through the streets, spectators of all ages watched, including a fifth grader named Ian. Explaining that he's learning about space in school, he said, "I'm interested in studying science." Roughly a dozen astronauts also were on hand to greet guests and answer questions. The external tank was the only component of the Space Shuttle that was not reused. Approximately 8.5 minutes into the flight, with its propellant used, the tank was jettisoned on a preplanned trajectory with the majority of it disintegrating in the atmosphere and the rest falling into the ocean. The ET-94 was built to support science missions for the Space Shuttle Columbia. Then the Columbia accident occurred, involving the ET-93, and the ET-94 was never used. At the California Science Center, the ET-94 will sit on the north side of the Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Pavilion, where there will be a viewing area. Its final home will be the not-yet-constructed Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. The Center anticipates breaking ground on the new facility later this year, and it's expected to take about three years to complete. For the final exhibition, Endeavour will be mated to the tank and it will be rotated 90 degrees to place it in launch configuration, reaching an elevation of nearly 200 feet to accommodate a complete Space Shuttle system that includes the ET-94, the Orbiter and real Solid Rocket Boosters. Story continues See photos of the ET-94's road trip: #ET94 space shuttle fuel tank leaves marina at midnight. pic.twitter.com/cX0FjK7uCy - Carolyn Giardina (@CGinLA) May 21, 2016 #et94 moving thru #inglewood #losangeles #etcomeshome #spotthetank #nasa #casciencecenter pic.twitter.com/SZ5ocxtpo9 - Matt Hartman (@ShorealoneFilms) May 21, 2016 #et94 moving thru #inglewood #losangeles #etcomeshome #spotthetank #nasa @casciencecenter #theforum pic.twitter.com/tHjpzHHC1t - Matt Hartman (@ShorealoneFilms) May 21, 2016 #shuttle tank Hillcrest/La Brea @knx1070 pic.twitter.com/DhXrpRPvzc - Ed Mertz (@knxedmertz) May 21, 2016 Large crowd greets #ET94 as it turns into MLK off Vermont #ETComeshome @casciencecenter pic.twitter.com/vCckiOgcRm - Kevin Takumi (@KevinTakumi) May 22, 2016 We're inside Exposition Park! #ETComesHome #spotthetank pic.twitter.com/6M3oTkVF8W - CA Science Center (@casciencecenter) May 22, 2016 ET with the Samuel Oschin Pavilion in the background! #ETComesHome #spotthetank pic.twitter.com/Zzyy5JN4xo - CA Science Center (@casciencecenter) May 22, 2016 So far, this has been one of the most #awesome days of 2016. We might be a little biased#ETcomeshome pic.twitter.com/fV1papUU65 - CA Science Center (@casciencecenter) May 22, 2016 - World swimming's governing body FINA confirmed that the provisional suspension of Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova had been lifted, but warned that her case was "not closed". The ban, after Efimova tested positive for meldonium in March, was lifted on Friday following "a new recommendation from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on this case", FINA said. "WADA is to undertake further scientific research on meldonium and have therefore recommended to FINA that the suspension of the swimmer should be lifted." FINA said that in mid-April, based on the scientific evidence made available by WADA at that time, a decision had been made to maintain the suspension. AFP Beirut (AFP) - Rebel groups Sunday set a 48-hour deadline for the US and Russian sponsors of a February ceasefire in Syria's conflict to halt a regime offensive in the Damascus region. "We are giving the sponsors of the ceasefire 48 hours to rescue what remains of the accord and to force the criminal regime of (President Bashar al-) Assad and his allies to completely and immediately halt their brutal offensive against Daraya and Eastern Ghouta," 29 rebel groups said in a statement. "In view of the regime's offensive against all the liberated regions, in particular Daraya... we consider the ceasefire accord to have totally collapsed," the groups said. "Rebel groups will take all possible measures and respond with all means to defend our people and on all fronts until the regime totally halts its offensives against all liberated regions, especially Daraya, and pulls back to its pre-May 14 positions," they said. Syria's army, backed by Lebanon's Shiite militia Hezbollah, on Thursday recaptured the town of Deir al-Assafir and nine nearby villages in the Damascus region, taking advantage of clashes in the Eastern Ghouta area between rival rebel groups Jaish al-Islam and Faylaq al-Rahman which were among those listed on the joint statement. Hundreds of families fled the area, which Islamist rebels had controlled since 2012. The town of Daraya, also near the capital, was one of the first to erupt in demonstrations against the government in 2011. It has been under a strict regime siege since late 2012. The rebel groups urged the international community and friendly nations "to act to save Daraya from genocide". Anti-regime group the Local Coordinating Committees said Sunday clashes were taking place in suburbs of Daraya, and the pro-regime Al-Masdar website said the army "is preparing a major operation" to capture it within the next few days. The political opposition Coalition said in a statement it backs the decisions of rebel groups and "supports their demands". ALMATY (Reuters) - President Imomali Rakhmon seems set to strengthen his power by referendum on Sunday as Tajikistan, on the front line against militancy and crime from neighboring Afghanistan, sinks deeper into an economic crisis and simmering discontent. Many of the hundreds of thousands of Tajiks working in recession-hit Russia have been forced to return home, either because they lost their jobs or because their wages were no longer sufficient following the Russian ruble's devaluation. There have been no major public protests in the authoritarian state, but political tensions are on the rise. In September, general and former opposition fighter was killed in a gunfight with government forces after a failed attempt to seize power from Rakhmon. Sunday's referendum seeks the public vote on 41 constitutional amendments drafted by a loyal government. Head of state since 1992 and president since 1994, Rakhmon wants to scrap the limit on presidential terms to prevent his current term ending in 2020 from being his last one. The proposals would also lower the minimum age for presidential candidates, allowing Rakhmon's elder son Rustam, who runs the state financial control agency, to run for office if he chooses to do so. In addition, Rakhmon, 63, wants a constitutional ban on religious parties to shore up a court shutdown of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) last year. Some of its leaders face life in jail on charges of plotting a coup. IRPT was a successor of the Islamist wing of an opposition bloc which fought Rakhmon's government in a bloody civil war in the 1990s. The crackdown on the party marked a decisive break from the power-sharing agreement which ended the war. The Central Election Commission said on Sunday that 88 percent of registered voters had already cast their ballots by 1800 local time, two hours before polling station closed. In the capital Dushanbe, many stayed at polling stations after voting, enticed by live music performances. The commission plans to announce the preliminary results of the vote on Monday. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which routinely monitors elections in the region, did not send its observers to assess the referendum. STIRRINGS OF CONFLICT Mostly Muslim Tajikistan is the poorest former Soviet republic. Russia maintains a base there in support of the government and dominates a force guarding the 1,300 Km (830 mile) long border with Afghanistan. Tajikistan has never held an election judged free and fair by Western observers. Rakhmon loyalists dominated the last vote in March 2015 while the Islamists failed to clear a five-percent threshold needed to win seats for a party. The peace in the 1990s civil war was hard won and any signs it could unravel would be viewed with deep concern in Moscow. There have been no notable public protests against Rakhmon whose official title is "Founder of Peace and Stability, Leader of the Nation". But the government of oil exporter Kazakhstan, the richest country in the region, has faced a wave of rallies amid public discontent over worsening living standards. (Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Ros Russell) Taliban leader killed in U.S. drone strike This photo taken by a freelance photographer Abdul Salam Khan using his smart phone on Sunday, May 22, 2016, purports to show the destroyed vehicle in which Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour was traveling in the Ahmad Wal area in Baluchistan province of Pakistan, near Afghanistans border. A senior commander of the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Sunday that the extremist groups leader, Mullah Mohammad Akhtar Mansour, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Abdul Salam Khan) The United States has killed the leader of the Afghan Taliban in an air strike in a remote border area just inside Pakistan, Afghanistan said on Sunday, in an attack likely to dash any immediate prospect for peace talks. The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour could trigger a battle for succession and deepen fractures that emerged in the insurgent movement after the death of its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was confirmed last year, more than two years after he died. Saturdays strike, which U.S. officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama and included multiple drones, showed the United States was prepared to go after the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which the Western-backed government in Kabul has repeatedly accused of sheltering the insurgents. It also underscored the belief among U.S. commanders that under Mansours leadership, the Taliban have grown increasing close to militant groups like al Qaeda, posing a direct threat to U.S. security. The United States has not confirmed Mansours death but Afghan government chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, and the countrys top intelligence agency, said he had been killed. (Reuters) Find more news-related photo galleries on the Yahoo News Photo Tumblr! Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who according to US officials was probably killed in a drone strike, took over as head of the insurgent movement last July following the revelation that the group's founder Mullah Omar had been dead for two years. He was initially thought to favour peace talks with the government, but after becoming leader he repeatedly refused to come to the negotiating table. For some Mansour was the obvious choice to succeed Mullah Omar, the one-eyed warrior-cleric who led the Taliban from its rise in the chaos of the Afghan civil war of the 1990s. Born in the same southern province, Kandahar, some time in the early 1960s, Mansour was part of the movement from the start and effectively in charge since 2013, according to Taliban sources. Mansour spent part of his life in Pakistan, like millions of Afghans who fled the Soviet occupation. There he reportedly developed links with the country's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, which nurtured the Taliban in the 1990s and even now is regularly accused of fuelling the insurgency. He served as civil aviation minister in the Taliban government which ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until it was ousted by the US-led invasion in 2001, when he fled again to Pakistan. He repeatedly showed a canny ability to navigate between different currents in the Taliban movement, from the Quetta Shura to the "political office" in Qatar to commanders on the ground in Afghanistan. To take the leadership he outmanoeuvred Mullah Yakoub, Omar's son who was favoured by some commanders as the new leader but judged too young and inexperienced at 26. But his leadership got off to a rocky start. Some Taliban were unhappy at the thought Mansour may have deceived them for over a year about Omar's death and others accused him of riding roughshod over the process to appoint a successor. While Mansour was close to his predecessor, he wasn't known for having Omar's aura of religious authority though the Taliban did confer upon him the title "leader of the faithful", by which the old chief was known. Story continues He initially faced a huge challenge in trying to unite a movement that was already showing signs of fragmenting and questions about his legitimacy at the highest echelon of the Taliban did not bolster his position. But analysts say Mansour quickly set out to consolidate his authority, rooting out opposition to his leadership by buying the support of rebellious commanders, quashing renegade groups and luring dissidents with leadership positions. - 'Decisive strikes' - There was speculation about Mansour's fate last summer following reports he was critically wounded in a firefight with his own commanders in Pakistan shortly after he assumed the mantle of leadership. The Taliban subsequently released an audio message purportedly from Mansour, vehemently rejecting reports of any shootout as "enemy propaganda". The hardline group has seen a resurgence under Mansour's leadership, leaving Afghan forces struggling to rein in the expanding insurgency. They briefly captured the strategic northern city of Kunduz in September in their most spectacular victory in 14 years. The militants have also claimed a series of high-profile attacks over the past year on embassies, media as well as the UN and NATO properties in and near the diplomatic quarter in Kabul. In a recent message posted online, Mansour told his followers to prepare for "decisive strikes" during the Taliban's annual spring offensive. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a US official on Saturday said Mansour was targeted and "likely killed" in a US drone strike in a remote area of Pakistan along the Afghan border. By Jibran Ahmad PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Afghan guerrilla commander Sirajuddin Haqqani, a possible successor to Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, would likely prove an even more implacable foe of beleaguered Afghan government forces and their U.S. allies. The United States killed Mansour in an air strike in a remote border area just inside Pakistan, the Afghanistan government said on Sunday, in an attack likely to dash any immediate prospect for peace talks. The U.S. has not confirmed Mansour's death. Haqqani, who has a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, is widely seen by U.S. and Afghan officials as the most dangerous warlord in the Taliban insurgency, responsible for the most bloody attacks, including one last month in Kabul in which 64 people were killed. If Haqqani is confirmed as the next Taliban leader it may be seen as fitting for the scion of a family that has been famously involved in Afghanistan's decades of bloodshed. His father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, was a heavily bearded leader of the mujahideen who fought the Soviet troops that invaded Afghanistan in 1979. A former U.S. Congressman, Charlie Wilson, once called Jalaluddin "goodness personified" and he was held in such high esteem he visited the White House when Ronald Reagan was president. His son is seen as even more ruthless. Sirajuddin Haqqani became one of two deputy Taliban commanders last year, integrating his feared militant faction, known as the Haqqani network, closely into the Afghan Taliban insurgency. The Taliban now control more territory than they have done since their ouster from government in 2001, and hopes of peace talks that the United States was pushing have all but collapsed as the bloodshed has increased. The Haqqani network is thought to have introduced suicide bombing to Afghanistan and the U.S. State Department calls it the most lethal insurgent group targeting U.S.-led and government forces in Afghanistan. It labels Sirajuddin Haqqani a specially designated global terrorist. Sources close to the Haqqani network said they were still trying to verify whether Mansour had been killed. "It is too early to comment if Sirajuddin Haqqani would be willing to replace Mullah Mansour," a source said. Haqqani, who is in his mid-40s, has been trying to reconcile factions within the Taliban who refused to accept Mansour's leadership since last year when it became clear that the group's founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had died nearly two years earlier. He had been made head of a committee tasked to resolve a bloody split between Mansour and a rival faction led by Mullah Mohammad Rasool, a senior member of the Afghan Taliban told Reuters earlier this week, speaking on condition of anonymity. HAQQANI FAR FROM CERTAIN But it is by no means certain Haqqani would be named Taliban leader. The Haqqani network, which has for years had strongholds in northwest Pakistani border lands, is a powerful force in eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province, and the wider Loya Paktia region, but not in the birthplace of the Taliban - Kandahar province in the south. "Haqqani ... as a non-Kandahari and as someone who is unfamiliar with the insurgency landscape beyond Loya Paktia, would likely struggle to gain the support of the powerful southern Taliban commanders who still dominate," Thomas Ruttig from the Afghanistan Analysts Network wrote in a February article on potential successors to Mansour. Ruttig said Haibatullah Akhundzada, a former top member of the Taliban judiciary who became the other deputy along with Haqqani in July 2015, was a more natural successor. A respected cleric from Kandahar, Haibatullah was among the few thought to have gained Mullah Omars trust and to whom the late Taliban leader would turn for a final say on sensitive decisions, Ruttig said. The other question is if Pakistan is ready to show its hand by having a leader of the Haqqani network, with which it has long been tied to, command the Taliban. Former U.S. military chief Admiral Mike Mullen described the Haqqani network as a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's intelligence services after a 2011 attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul. Pakistan remains a powerful player in the Afghan theater. Instead, the choice of a successor may fall to someone with more distance from Pakistan, said Mohammad Taqi, a former columnist at Pakistan's Daily Times newspaper who has written extensively on Pakistan's intelligence agencies' ties to militant groups. Mullah Omar's son, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, and brother, Mullah Abdul Manan, who were given important positions recently within the Taliban could also be in the running. What looks almost certain, is more violence in the Taliban ranks as rivals lay claims in a leadership struggle that has not been resolved since Mullah Omar's death was announced, Taqi said. Still, the Haqqani network is the most cohesive, capable and best-funded insurgent organization in the region, with activities ranging from extortion and ransom to investments in firms abroad through front companies. It may therefore be best placed to wield the muscle in the weeks ahead to ensure it is in a position to decide the leadership. (Additional reporting by James Mackenzie in KABUL; Writing by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Robert Birsel and Martin Howell) Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22 Trend: As of 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 5 hours), 66.6 percent of voters have cast ballots in the constitution referendum in Tajikistan, Interfax reported citing Bakhtiyor Khudoyorzoda, head of Tajikistan's Central Commission for Elections and Referenda. "Such a voter turnout allows us to declare the referendum valid," he said. The amendments and changes to Tajikistan's constitution are deemed to be accepted if over 50 percent of the country's citizens participating in the referendum vote for those amendments. The results of the referendum are made public no later than ten days after the end of the voting. The voting in the referendum in Tajikistan started at 06:00 (UTC/GMT + 5 hours) and will last till 20:00. There is one question on the ballots: "Do you accept the changes and amendments to the country's constitution?" A former teaching assistant in Georgia has been charged with reckless conduct after authorities say he hung a 5-year-old student on a chalkboard by his belt loop. Antonio Cammon, a paraprofessional at Shoal Creek Elementary School in Conyers, is accused of hanging an autistic boy from a hook that hung beside the chalkboard after a witness claimed the child was throwing a tantrum. Principal Tiwon Tony reported finding the child hanging in the classroom after hearing screams from one of the school's teachers on May 5. Watch: Why This 3rd Grade Teacher Created a Secret Handshake With Every Student Cammon was fired following the incident, as was a second paraprofessional and a teacher. Neither of the other former employees were charged with a crime when Cammon appeared in court for a probable cause hearing on Thursday. At the hearing, a judge ruled that Cammon will not face the felony cruelty to a child charge recommended by the Rockland County Sheriff's Office, reports WGCL. Cammon's attorney, Jackie Patterson told InsideEdition.com that he and co-counsel Brandon Dixon are pleased their client now only faces a misdemeanor charge. Patterson said Cammon is innocent and they are looking forward to going to trial. According to Patterson, the incident was just an accident. "My client simply lifted [the boy] up in the air," Patterson said. "He didnt realize he was standing next to the chalkboard where the hook was." Read: Teacher Accused of Having Sex With Student While Fiance Was At Bachelor Party Patterson said his client was called into the boy's classroom when the teacher couldn't handle his tantrum because Cammon has a positive relationship with the boy. Patterson said the boy was known to calm down when lifted in the air, which is why Cammon held him in the first place. He said he's confident Cammon's past relationship with the boy and dedication to his job will translate into a not guilty verdict when the case goes to trial. Story continues If convicted on the misdemeanor charge, however, Cammon faces up to 12 months in county jail and a $1,000 fine. An off-hours call made to the Rockland County Public School district went unreturned Sunday. Watch: Students Surprise Their Teacher With 2 Kittens After Her Beloved Cat Passed Away Related Articles: Google I/O is finally winding down, after three days of announcements on announcements. I/O is a developer conference, so a lot of the features on display aren't exciting if you're not into SDKs. But amidst the techno-speak, Google made some huge reveals. Here's everything you missed, if you spent the last three days in a cave. DON'T MISS: Google Home is a smart voice-controlled Bluetooth speaker that Google wants to control your smart home -- and eventually, your life. It's also the new face of Google's smart assistant, which oddly enough doesn't have a name (Google just wants you to call it 'Google'). It's a big deal, not just because it looks like a killer piece of hardware, but because of what it says about Google's future ambitions. In other product unveilings over the last few days, Google has shown that an intelligent AI is going to be at the forefront of all its products going forwards. Google Home is the first wave of something much bigger to come. Smartphone doomsayers love to talk about "app exhaustion" -- the idea that no-one can be bothered to download and install new apps any more. But if Google has its way, you won't have to. Instant Apps are a new concept for Android. Basically, apps will be divided up into little chunks, each of which can work on their own. It means apps will instantly install, downloading themselves onto your phone when needed. It brings all sorts of new functionality to people's smartphones, and should make it even easier for devs to write apps to do cool stuff. Best of all, it's not a feature coming in some future version of Android -- it all depends on the apps, which means Instant Apps will work on any semi-modern phone. google-daydream Google has been nibbling around the edges of virtual reality for a while with 360-degree YouTube videos and the Cardboard viewer. But with Daydream, Google is making its intentions clear. Story continues There will be special smartphone-based VR headsets, based off reference specs provided by Google, and Daydream-capable smartphones to go with them. A who's-who of Android manufacturers has already committed to making Daydream hardware, which should give virtual reality a kick in the pants. This time next year, you can expect most flagship phones to be VR-ready. To go with the new hardware, Google is also pulling out the stops to make a comprehensive library of apps, movies and games to experience in VR. This is probably where Google see the money -- rather than producing finicky hardware that will have to compete with the likes of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, Google's making a play to brings its apps and experiences to other people's hardware instead. Project Ara is a concept for a modular phone that Google unveiled way back in 2014, which promises to make smartphones truly modular. It relies on a base skeleton, which contains core components like a motherboard, processor and RAM. From there, consumers buy "blocks" like screens, cameras, batteries and sensors, which attach to the phone via proprietary slots. The original concept has been changed somewhat -- the processor and RAM were meant to be interchangeable, so that your phone would never go obsolete -- but the fact that a fully modular phone is coming to market is incredible at all. It's also a big step for Google to be manufacturing a handset (of sorts). Google has made reference designs in the form of the Nexus design for years, but that's always been in partnership with other manufacturers. Bringing Ara to market is also a milestone for ATAP, Google's special projects division. It's clearly more focused on getting stuff made these days -- ATAP also announced a collaboration with Levi's to make a smart jacket, launching early next year. Chrome OS, the software that powers Chromebooks, has been mostly overlooked by third-party developers, and still has limited functionality as a result. But Google is adding the ability to r google-io-2016-10 un Android apps on Chrome OS, and giving us all a million new reasons to buy a Chromebook It's also the first move to merge the two platforms. Windows is slowly merging Windows 10 and Windows Phone, but if Google can pull off a successful union of Chrome and Android, it could have big players in desktop and mobile -- especially considering Chromebooks are now outselling Macs. Related stories Google Allo security explained: The good, the bad and the ugly Your first look at the official YouTube VR app Google and Levi's will release a touch-sensitive jacket, out later this year More from BGR: 11 paid iPhone and iPad apps on sale for free today This article was originally published on BGR.com After EgyptAir Flight 804 dove into the Mediterranean last Thursday, many sources including the Egyptian government and Donald Trump have speculated the disaster was due to terrorism. This positions the flight as one of four major passenger plane disasters in the past two years that had significant speculation for or proven terrorist roots. These flights include Malaysia Flight 17 over Ukraine, Malaysia Flight 370 in the Pacific Ocean and Russian MetroJet Flight 9268 over the Sinai Peninsula. Related Link: How Bad Are Brussels Terror Attacks For EU Stability? A Look Back The past three major disasters are shown below in red with S&P 500 price movement and the SPDR Transportation ETF (SPDR Series Trust) (NYSE: XTN) movement in purple. Malaysia Flight 17 Malaysia Flight 17 was shot down by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine on July 17, 2014. malaysia_f._17_1.png The incident could have had an effect on the markets during the initial date of impact, but transportation stocks rebounded the next day. Malaysia Flight 370 Malaysia Flight 370 disappeared over the Pacific on March 8, 2014, and experienced significant speculation over whether the disaster was terrorist induced or not. No definitive findings were proved. malaysia_f._370_2.png Disappearance of flight 370 could have caused transportation stocks to dip relative to the S&P 500, but not significantly and not for long. MetroJet Flight 9268 MetroJet Flight 9268 was a Russian flight taken out by ISIS terrorists over the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, 2015. metrojet_flight_9268_1.png The S&P 500 was up on the day of the crash and the day after. Additionally, the disaster did not have a large effect on U.S. transportations. Overall, suspected (or actual) terrorist flight disasters do not have consistent or significant effects on U.S. transportation stocks or the S&P 500. If the passenger planes were from an American airline, perhaps results would differ. See more from Benzinga 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. (Photo: Instagram) Posh in slippers? Anything for the bride! Eva Longoria recuperated after her Saturday wedding to Jose Antonio Baston with the help of friend Victoria Beckham on Sunday. In an Instagram photo, Longoria and Beckham lounged alongside each other in matching gray slippers. Morning after foot attire Me and VB relaxing by the lake #YesIGotHerToWearUggs A photo posted by Eva Longoria (@evalongoria) on May 22, 2016 at 10:57am PDT Morning after foot attire Me and VB relaxing by the lake, she wrote, adding, #YesIGotHerToWearUggs." Keep up with Eva Longoria in the pages of PEOPLE magazine by subscribing now. Longoria and Baston, president of Latin America media brand Televisa, got married in a sunset ceremony in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, a lakeside town outside of Mexico City. "They married on an altar under lots of little lights, a source told PEOPLE of the ceremony. It was very romantic. Eva wore her hair down and smiled during the whole ceremony. He was in a gray suit." Beckham, who designed Longorias white wedding dress, congratulated the actress on Instagram. "The smartest, most beautiful woman I have ever met, she wrote. I feel honored to call you my friend X Such a wonderful day filled with Love X We love Pepe so much!!!" Ahead of the ceremony, Baston and the Beckhams spent the day hanging out by the pool. "Eva just looked so happy, the source told PEOPLE. She didnt seem the least stressed about her wedding. You could tell that she very much she enjoyed celebrating her special day with friends. By Paul Taylor BRUSSELS (Reuters) - As a former journalist who made his name by bashing Brussels but was sometimes accused of twisting the facts, Boris Johnson knows there's no easier way to hook readers than to lead with Hitler. Yet his attempt to blacken the European Union by associating its limited, negotiated supranational powers with attempts by the Nazi German leader or the French Emperor Napoleon to impose their rule on the continent by force was politically perilous. For one thing, it disregarded the strategic vision of two of his own Conservative heroes, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, both of whom saw a more united Europe as the answer to Hitlerism, and a way to ensure peace and stability after centuries of bloodshed. The former mayor of London is not just distorting history - the EU's 28 democracies freely assented to pooling some of their sovereignty, even creating a voluntary exit clause which Johnson is now urging Britons to use. His Hitler jibe may backfire on the "Leave" campaign in Britain's June 23 referendum on EU membership and derail his ambitions to replace David Cameron as prime minister. Even Britons who distrust the EU and feel, like many Europeans, that its actions are not sufficiently subject to democratic control are unlikely to equate it with jackbooting dictators or the Holocaust by other means. Latest opinion polls suggest wavering Conservative supporters are shifting towards voting to remain in the EU when the island nation faces its geopolitical choice next month. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Johnson said the EU was doomed to fail like all attempts to create a "golden age of peace and prosperity" since the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago. "Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically," he said. "DEMOCRATIC VOID" "The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods. But fundamentally what is lacking is the eternal problem, which is that there is no underlying loyalty to the idea of Europe. There is no single authority that anybody respects or understands. That is causing this massive democratic void." Johnson also blames Brussels, rather than President Vladimir Putin, for Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and the success of armed Russian-speaking separatists in eastern Ukraine. "If you want an example of EU foreign policy-making on the hoof, and of the EU's pretensions to running a defense policy that have caused real trouble, then look at what has happened in Ukraine," he told a news conference on May 9. As the author of a biography of Churchill, as well as a book on the Roman Empire, Johnson must know that his favorite statesman passionately advocated a united Europe after World War Two to prevent any return to nationalism and warmongering. In his celebrated 1946 Zurich speech, Churchill said the remedy was "to re-create the European family, or as much of it as we can, and to provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom. We must build a kind of United States of Europe." Although he did not envisage Britain joining such a body due to its empire, Churchill was a founding father of the Council of Europe, which established the European Convention on Human Rights and the multinational court that upholds it. Yet many of today's Conservatives want to withdraw from that convention - ratified by all European nations except Belarus, and including Russia - which they see as an unacceptable intrusion into the sovereignty of the British courts. "PEACE AND SECURITY" Even more striking is the contrast between Johnson's view of the lessons of European history and Thatcher's. In a speech launching the Conservative "Yes" campaign in Britain's 1975 referendum on whether to stay in the European Economic Community - the forerunner of the EU - she drew a direct link between European integration and peace. Thatcher expressed gratitude that her children had not been embroiled in a European conflict as were the children of the previous two generations. "The Community gives us peace and security in a free society, a peace and security denied to the past two generations," she said. For pragmatic post-war Conservatives, it was clear that the policy Britain had pursued since the 16th century - of trying to maintain a balance of power on the continent - had failed to avert two world wars, with disastrous consequences. The strategic lesson drawn by Churchill and his successors was that Britain must be actively engaged in building not only the NATO military alliance but also a united Europe, and not be tempted by isolationism or appeasing expansionary powers. Johnson's view of Britain's place in Europe seems closer to the long-running BBC comedy series "Dad's Army", which mocked a Home Guard of elderly part-time soldiers preparing valiantly to defend the island against a Nazi invasion that never came. The sitcom's theme tune began: "Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler, if you think we're on the run?" That question might well be addressed to Boris Johnson. (Writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Donald Trump says hes not in favor of requiring teachers to carry guns into U.S. classrooms but believes some of them should be armed. I dont want to have guns in classrooms, although in some cases, teachers should have guns in classrooms, frankly, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said in an interview with Fox & Friends on Sunday. Because teachers, you know things that are going on in our schools are unbelievable. Trumps comments were in response to Hillary Clintons assertion that he would mandate U.S. schools arm themselves. Hed mandate that every school in America allow guns in classrooms, Clinton said Saturday at an event in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., hosted by the Trayvon Martin Foundation. Thats no way to keep us safe. If you want to imagine what Trumps America will look like, picture more kids at risk of violence and bigotry. Picture more anger and fear. Im not advocating guns in classrooms, Trump said. But remember, in some cases trained teachers should be able to have guns in classrooms. The former Celebrity Apprentice star blasted the former secretary of states stance on gun control on Friday in Louisville, where he accepted an endorsement from the National Rifle Association. Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association convention on Friday in Louisville. (Photo: Mark Humphrey/AP) The Second Amendment is under threat like never before, Trump said. Crooked Hillary Clinton is the most antigun, anti-Second Amendment candidate ever to run for office. His comments echoed those of NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre. If she could, Hillary would ban every gun, destroy every magazine, run an entire national security industry right into the ground and put gun owners names on a government registration list, LaPierre said. Trump fired off a series of tweets aimed at attacking Clinton on the gun issue. Crooked Hillary Clinton wants to essentially abolish the 2nd Amendment. No gun owner can ever vote for Clinton! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2016 Crooked Hillary wants to get rid of all guns and yet she is surrounded by bodyguards who are fully armed. No more guns to protect Hillary! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2016 Clinton has frequently challenged the gun lobby during her campaign calling for stricter background checks and more accountability for gun manufacturers. But she has never called for abolishing the Second Amendment. Story continues Trump, for his part, has suggested that being armed could have helped victims of past school shootings such as the one that left 10 people dead at a community college in Roseburg, Ore., last fall. Had somebody in that room had a gun, the result wouldve been better, Trump told CBSs Face the Nation at the time, adding that he sometimes carries a gun himself. I feel much better being armed, he said. By Humeyra Pamuk and Gulsen Solaker ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's incoming prime minister said his new government's top priority would be a new constitution to create an executive presidency, a move that would give President Tayyip Erdogan the broad powers he has long sought. Binali Yildirim also told a special congress of the ruling AK Party on Sunday that he would continue the fight against Islamic State and Kurdish militants at home and in Syria, saying the change in leadership would not affect the campaign. "The problems of this nation and the love of this nation are the president's responsibility," he said. "The new constitution will be for an executive presidential system." Yildirim, the current transport minister and a close ally of Erdogan for two decades, was the sole candidate for party head, and therefore the next premier. He will replace Ahmet Davutoglu who announced that he would step down this month following weeks of public tension with Erdogan. The official vote is due later in the day, and Yildirim is expected to speak again once he is elected as party head. A co-founder with Erdogan of the AKP, Yildirim has been the driving force behind major infrastructure projects in Turkey which were one of the pillars of the party's electoral successes during its first decade in power. He has been seen as someone who will help pursue two of Erdogan's biggest priorities - an executive presidency and the fight against militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the largely Kurdish southeast. Erdogan and his supporters see an executive presidency, akin to the system in the United States or France, as a guarantee against the fractious coalition politics that hampered the government in the 1990s. His opponents, including some sceptics within the AKP, say he is merely furthering his own ambition. Yildirim was elected as a deputy for Istanbul in November 2002 when the AKP won its first election. He was appointed transport, maritime and communications minister, a post which he then almost continuously held in successive governments. His ties to Erdogan date back to the 1990s when Yildirim, educated in shipbuilding and marine sciences, was in charge of a high-speed ferry company in Istanbul, where Erdogan was mayor. (Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Keith Weir) By Orathai Sriring BANGKOK (Reuters) - Two years to the day that Thailand's army toppled the remnants of her government, former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra called on the junta to accelerate a return to democracy, and a poll showed Thais were no happier than before the coup. In 2014, the military staged their 12th successful coup since the country became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, and khaki army uniforms replaced the yellow and red shirts of the protesters that had paralysed Bangkok for months. "It was the day that the people's rights and freedom were taken away," Yingluck said in a Facebook post. "I can only hope that the NCPO (junta) remembers what they promised to the people... I have growing concerns because today, people are suffering from economic hardship, poverty and critical social issues including increasing drug use." A referendum on a junta-backed draft constitution is due on Aug. 7, and the government has promised an election in 2017. Yingluck is on trial in the Supreme Court on corruption charges stemming from a state rice subsidy scheme and faces up to a decade in jail if found guilty. A leader to replace her has yet to emerge, leaving the opposition struggling to mount a campaign for a no vote to a constitution they say would enshrine military power for years. Thailand's divisive politics have gone underground due to a junta ban on political activity. The army has moved quickly to snuff out recent small anti-junta an anti-constitution protests in Bangkok. Despite the ban, around 300 students and people critical of the junta marched from Thammasat University to the Democracy Monument in Bangkok on Sunday to mark the coup anniversary, asking the junta to return democracy to the people. Many of them wore t-shirts saying "Vote NO! to a future that can't be chosen." Some of them were challenged by junta supporters. The march later dispersed. Critics say Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's national reconciliation process has made divisions worse by excluding supporters of Yingluck and her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin. "I would like to ask them (the junta) whether the reconciliation process has been inclusive and if it's going in the right direction or not," Yingluck said. Prayuth pledged to return happiness to Thai people, but a poll published on Sunday found that most felt no happier than before the coup. Some 43 percent of respondents felt no happier and 18 percent said they were less happy because of economic hardships, according to the poll by the National Institute of Development Administration. Around 38 percent said they were happier. (Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Jutarat Skulpichetrat and Satawasin Staporncharnchai; Editing by Simon Webb and Ros Russell) Tehran, Iran, May 22 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Iranian intelligence forces have recently captured two terrorists from extremist groups such as the "Islamic State" (IS, aka ISIS, ISIL or Daesh), according to Hamadan Province Intelligence Director General Abtahi. The official said the two were trying to reach the capital city of Tehran when they were spotted and arrested, Tasnim news agency reported May 22. He did not provide any further details. Over the past months, there have been numerous such reports in which Iranian officials have announced the capture or destruction of terrorist groups trying to commit terror attacks in the country. Terrorists usually venture into Iran through borders with Pakistan in the east and Iraq in the west. By Dasha Afanasieva ISTANBUL (Reuters) - U.N. second-in-command Jan Eliasson said on Sunday it was necessary to stand up for international humanitarian law which was being disregarded, citing attacks on hospitals and "practically medieval" sieges on civilians in Syria and Yemen. "We have to stand up for international humanitarian law. We have seen a decay, a lack of respect for international law which is causing enormous damage in the world," Eliasson said at the opening news conference of the first world humanitarian summit. He added that there were many signs the Geneva convention on human rights was being neglected. Government and business leaders, aid groups and donors gather in Istanbul for the summit this week to try to develop a more coherent response to what U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has called the worst global humanitarian situation since World War Two. Eliasson said attacks on civilian targets, hospitals and schools in Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan were examples of disregard for the Geneva convention on human rights. He said sieges in Syria in Yemen where people were being isolated in "absolute violation of humanitarian law" which was "practically mediaeval." This month the U.N. accused the Syrian government of withholding aid to hundreds of thousands of people and risking a new siege, saying it had appealed to the government to change its mind. In Yemen, the UN has previously accused Iranian-allied Houthi militia of obstructing the delivery of humanitarian supplies to civilians in the southwest, saying residents had been living under "virtual siege". According to UNICEF, the U.N.'s children's agency, an average of four schools or hospitals are attacked or occupied by armed forces and groups every day. Last year, 75 hospitals managed or supported by respected medical NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) were bombed, the NGO said, adding civilians were being wounded and killed by indiscriminate warfare in Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, Afghanistan and elsewhere. However MSF pulled out of the two-day summit, which aims to mobilize funds and get world leaders to agree on issues ranging from how to manage displaced civilians to renewing commitments to international humanitarian law, saying the "non-specific good intentions to 'uphold norms' and 'end needs'" of the summit would mean humanitarian violations would be ignored. Eliasson said he admired MSF and was surprised that it decided to stay away, and said he hopes the leadership of the aid agency would see that this conference serves its purpose: "We will very much make their issues the issues of this conference." (Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Ece Toksabay and Ros Russell) LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday he would be prepared to meet U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, but kept up his criticism of the Republican's proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States, calling it "very dangerous". In December Cameron called Trump, potentially the next leader of Britain's closest ally, "divisive, stupid and wrong" for calling for the ban. Trump fired back, saying he would probably not have a good relationship with Cameron. But, amid signs that both sides are backing away from the standoff, Cameron told ITV's "Peston on Sunday" show he would meet the property mogul if he came over before the U.S. election. "American presidential candidates have made a habit of coming through the UK, and so if that happens I'd be very happy to (meet Trump)," Cameron said. He said that Trump's call for a temporary ban on Muslims travelling was "a very dangerous thing to say ... as well as a divisive and wrong one." Trump last week appeared to row back, saying he expected to have "a good relationship" with Cameron. On Friday he said Cameron had invited him to London - though Cameron's team later said no invite had been extended. (Reporting by William James; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Andrew Heavens) Khartoum (AFP) - Sudan has "de facto expelled" a senior United Nations humanitarian affairs official after refusing to renew his "stay permit" for another year, a UN statement said on Sunday. The foreign ministry informed the UN in Sudan that the annual permit for Ivo Freijsen, who heads the Sudan office of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), will not be renewed when it expires on June 6, the statement said. "This is despite the request for a 12-month extension of his stay permit... which was submitted on 10 April 2016," it said, adding that the ministry did not provide an explanation in writing for its decision. "The action by the government of Sudan is inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the international civil service enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations... to which Sudan is a party." Freijsen, who is Dutch, is the fourth senior UN official to be expelled from Sudan over the past two years, the statement said. His expulsion comes in addition to the "forced closure of international NGO Tearfund in December 2015 and the de facto expulsion of three international NGO country representatives in recent months", it said. OCHA in Sudan regularly highlights the humanitarian situation in war-torn areas such as Darfur, where a conflict since 2003 has left tens of thousands of people dead and about 2.5 million displaced, according to UN figures. It also monitors South Sudanese refugees who flee to Sudan from war and food shortages in their country. In its latest weekly bulletin, OCHA said that more than 69,000 South Sudanese had arrived in Sudan since January, the majority taking refuge in East Darfur. It also said that meeting humanitarian needs of newly displaced tens of thousands of people from an upsurge in fighting in the mountainous Jebel Marra region this year was becoming "difficult" amid low levels of funding. Freijsen was appointed to the OCHA post in February 2014, his sixth official appointment in Sudan. Story continues He has worked for more than a decade in Sudan during a career spanning 23 years and more than 15 countries. "During 12 years at OCHA he has led principled humanitarian coordination work, focusing on providing life-saving and emergency assistance to people in need," the statement said. The Humanitarian Country Team, a top level coordinating agency among various UN agencies and NGOs in Sudan, expressed "shock and disappointment" at Freijsen's expulsion. The team "is concerned about the impact of this decision on the operating environment for all humanitarian organisations in Sudan", a statement said. In 2015, the team and its partners implemented the delivery of more than $600 million worth of aid to hundreds of thousands of people across Sudan, it said. "The Humanitarian Country Team calls upon the government of Sudan to ensure a fully conducive environment for delivering timely, principled and quality humanitarian assistance," its statement added. (Reuters) - French Open champion Stan Wawrinka warmed up for the defence of his title at Roland Garros with a 6-4 7-6(11) victory over Marin Cilic to win the Geneva Open title on Saturday. It was Wawrinka's first title on home soil in Switzerland and his first on clay this season in his final match before facing 68th-ranked Czech Lukas Rosol in the first round in Paris next week. Wawrinka, who stunned Novak Djokovic in the final to win the claycourt major last year, eased through the opening set against world number 11 Cilic without facing a break point. Cilic fought back, however, breaking in the fourth game of the second before Wawrinka broke at 3-5 and forced a tiebreak. Cilic spurned five set points before slapping a backhand long to hand the Swiss the title. Big congratulations to Stan, Cilic said. He played really amazing this week. Cilic faces the 167th-ranked Marco Trungelliti in the French Open's first round. (Writing by Toby Davis; editing by Ed Osmond) Tehran, Iran, May 22 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Iran and India are going to sign 14 memoranda of understanding during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to Iran. Modi will arrive in Iran on Sunday evening with a big political, economic, and security delegation, Fars news agency reported May 22. The projects include ones about India's investment in the Iranian free-zone port of Chabahar. Another document which will be signed by Iran and India as well as Pakistan during Modi's visit is one about a transit project in the same area which is expected to boost trade between the three countries greatly. Modi also plans to meet Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday, after being formally greeted by President Hassan Rouhani. Speaking of his trip, Modi recently said energy projects are the main items on agenda, pointing out the development of Iran's Farzad-B oil field as one of the greatest. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22 By Khalid Kazimov - Trend: Iranian army has launched military drills dubbed "Beit al-Moqaddas 28"in Esfahan Province. Commander of the Iranian Army'sGround Forces Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, has overseen the drills, IRNA news agency reported. On the first phase of the drills the army test-fired a number of its domestically produced missiles including Nazeat and Fajr, the report said. In the second phase of the drills, army's elite forces namely "the 65 Nohed Airborne Brigade" will exercise military tactics. In recent years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in the production of important military equipment and systems. The country has also conducted major military drills to enhance the defense capabilities of its armed forces and to test modern military tactics and state-of-the-art equipment. The Islamic Republic maintains that its military might poses no threat to other countries, stating that its defense doctrine is merely based on deterrence. Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi confirmed his readiness to bring the government delegation back to the negotiation table of the talks aimed at reaching peace in the country, UN press service said in a statement. On Saturday, Hadi held a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani. The sides discussed a number of issues related to the Yemeni crisis, including the ongoing settlement talks as well as Tuesday decision of Yemeni government to leave the negotiations. "The President of Yemen confirmed that he will send the Government's delegation back to the talks as requested by His Highness the Amir of State of Qatar and the Secretary-General," the statement published on Saturday said. Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the government headed by Hadi and Houthi rebels, the country's main opposition force. The Houthis are backed by army units loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Since March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries have been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request. The latest round of the UN-mediated peace talks between the Yemeni government and the Houthis started in Kuwait on April 21. The Arab website of CNN published a fragment of audio record with a conversation between the pilot of the crashed EgyptAir A320 plane and a flight operator in Zurich. The journalists did not specify how they had obtained the recording. The fragment lasts 20 seconds. On that recording the pilot is apparently contacting the Swiss flight operator at the moment when the plan was entering the air space of Switzerland. Several seconds later, as it can be heard on the record, the flight operator tells the pilot that he transfers the plane to the zone of responsibility of his colleagues in the Italian city of Padua and wishes good night to the crew. There has been no confirmation that the record really contains the fragment of talks of the crew of MS804 flight with the flight controller of Zurich airport. On May 19, A320 passenger jet of EgypAir airline en route from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radars some 280 kilometers from the Egyptian coast. There 56 passengers and eight crew members on board. According to the list provided by the air carrier the passengers were citizens of 12 states. There were no Russian citizens onboard. Israel's defense minister has officially stepped down, AP reported. At a short ceremony at Israel's military headquarters on Sunday, Moshe Yaalon greeted the country's military leaders before leaving the premises. His departure clears the way for Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Yisrael Beitenu party, to join the government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Lieberman to join his government last week. Lieberman's appointment is expected to become official in the coming days. The Somali Armed Forces killed one of the leaders of al-Shabaab militant group near southwestern country's city of Xuddur, local media reported. Midnimo news website reported Saturday that the militant was killed as a result of joint operation of Somalia's army and the African Union. The media outlet added that one more senior al-Shabaab militant was captured during the operation. Somalia has been mired in an armed conflict with Islamist militants for two decades. Its government relies heavily on the African Union's peacekeepers for protection. The state's collapse in the African nation provided a breeding ground for warlords, pirates and the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab terrorist group. Al-Shabaab has been staging numerous attacks in Somalia in an attempt to create an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law. A senior commander of the Afghan Taliban confirmed on Sunday that the extremist group's leader, Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike, AP reported. Mullah Abdul Rauf, who recently reconciled with Mansour after initially rebelling against his ascension to the leadership, told The Associated Press that Mansour died in the strike late Friday "in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area." Afghanistan's intelligence agency confirmed Sunday that Mansour had been killed. Earlier in the day Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said that Mansour is "more than likely" dead. Libyan authorities have requested EU assistance in the training of employees of the Coast Guard and the country's naval forces, according to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini's statement published Sunday, Sputnik reported. "The Libyan Prime Minister [Fayez] Serraj has written to request rapid EU support contributing to the training of the Libyan Navy and Coast Guard, as well as the security service," the statement read. According to Mogherini, the move of the Libyan authorities is an "important development" that is due to be discussed on Monday during a meeting of the European Council on foreign affairs in order to fulfil all necessary measures to support the Libyan population as soon as possible. On Friday, Mogherini said the European Union and the NATO could cooperate in training Libyan coastguards in curbing arms smuggling in the Mediterranean. Google Daydream Logo (Photo : Twitter) Google announced its new Daydream virtual reality platform at the I/O developer conference earlier this week. It shared that it would release technical specs to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for Daydream smartphones, and reference designs so OEMs could build VR headsets and controllers. The Alphabet company will also reportedly build a VR headset and possibly a controller that follow the Google Cardboard VR headset. Advertisement A report from Recode and Google's VR head Clay Bavor have confirmed that Google will manufacture its own VR viewer, according to Android Police. It not just team up with other companies to provide reference designs. This would likely be the same situation as Cardboard. The search giant produces its own VR devices but also provides hobbyists with DIY instructions, and partners with companies that sell their own Cardboard designs. This would be good news for Nexus fans who want to avoid buying accessories from other companies. The Google headset will likely go on sale at the Google Store. However, there are no details about when that would be or price points. Google could have unveiled a Daydream VR headset at I/O 2016. However, it decided to also feature third-party partners for headset and controller reference designs. Many VR fans hoped that the company would introduce a Daydream viewer at I/O but there are some possible reasons why it did not take that action. It is possible that Google wants to roll out a new VR headset with a Daydream-ready Nexus phone, according to Tech Radar. Google is reportedly working on the next Nexus smartphone that could be launched later this year. It might be Daydream-ready. The company could also be making a similar move as for the Gear VR launch. Samsung and Oculus gave developers time to build VR software including games and movies before the VR device launched. The same approach would give Google the ability to build a solid foundation in the VR market. In the process it could also expand the Android ecosystem. Another potentiality is that Google wants to build a better VR headset than its partners. Introducing a device too early could disappoint consumers who want a better VR experience. Here's the biggest Google I/O news: Google's Mobile Search (Photo : Twitter) Google has unveiled rich cards to make mobile search results more visually interesting. The format builds on rich snippets that site operators can add to current HTML so search engines can better understand which information exists on each web page. Rich cards also use schema.org like rich snippets to display content in a more visual and interesting way. Advertisement The content shows up in carousels and is easy to browse by scrolling left and right. Rich cards are now available in the content categories of recipes and movies, according to Hot Hardware. They will originally appear in English mobile search results for google.com, and more categories will be released as the tech gets better. Na'ama Zohary is on Google's Search Console Team and Elliott Ng is the Product Management Director of Search Ecosystems. They explained that rich cards help to attract more targeted users to a web page and make companies easier to be noticed in search results. Google will be providing an instructional guide for site owners. This will help to learn which fields are required to mark up so rich cards appear, see a preview, get suggestions for improving cards, and monitor the cards' performance. Site owners can still use rich snippets. In addition, Google will provide the same tech/quality guidelines for rich snippets and rich cards. Google cards were featured at the recent Google I/O developer conference and addressed in live streams. In addition, the Alphabet company has included a dedicated structure data section on its Google+ and Twitter pages. In related news, Google CEO Sundar Pichai shared on May 18, Wednesday, that the company has plans to move past traditional search engines. He unveiled the company's new digital assistant known as Google Assistant, according to MIT Technology Review. The voice assistant is an upgrade of Google Now. It will also help the company to compete better with Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana. Google Assistant can help people with many tasks. They include learning which movies are showing in local theaters, getting a summary of reviews for a certain film, and buying tickets for a movie showing at a certain time. Google Assistant will later be rolled out for its mobile search apps. However, it will first appear in its new messaging app named Allo. Here's a video on the appearance of rich snippets: New Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow release update for Samsung Galaxy A9, Note Edge, Galaxy A7 (2016), Galaxy A5 (2016), Galaxy A8, Galaxy Tab S2 (Photo : YouTube/ C4ETech) Here is the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow release update for Samsung Galaxy A9, Note Edge, Galaxy A7 (2016), Galaxy A5 (2016), Galaxy A8 and Galaxy Tab S2. According to latest reports, Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update is currently rolling out to Samsung Galaxy A9. The South Korean tech giant Samsung has begun pushing out Android 6.0.1 M over-the-air update to the Galaxy A9 in China, SamMobile reported. The latest update has the build number A9000ZCU1BPE2. Advertisement Reports also suggest that the Galaxy A7 (2016) and Galaxy A5 (2016) will be among the first devices to get the operating system. It is expected that the tech firm will roll out Android 6.0.1 M update to the Galaxy A8, Galaxy Alpha and Galaxy Tab S2. The Galaxy J7 (2016) and Galaxy J5 (2016) variants for the United States and some regions in South Korea run Android M; however, the models for other markets run Android 5.1 Lollipop. Therefore, these devices will receive the operating system soon. Android Marshmallow offers improvements such as granular permissions, native fingerprint reader support, Google Now on Tap, Doze Mode and much more. Also, Samsung has begun rolling out the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update for the Galaxy Note Edge (unlocked) in Europe. The update has build number N915FYXXU1DPE1. The update brings security patches from the monthly SMR (Security Maintenance Release) and new features. Owners may go to the Settings app > About Device and select Software Update to check if the newest update is available on their device. Users can also wait for the automatic over-the-air notification that will enable them to download and install the Marshmallow update. In another news, the South Korean giant has rolled out a bug-fix update for Galaxy S7 Edge and Galaxy S7 with firmware version FXXU1APE9 that resolves issues such as inability to save files to the SD card of a phone, recorded videos flickering during playback and power saving mode not working when Google Now is working. The update brings an improvement to Always On Display feature on Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge as well as Samsung Galaxy S7. Users can download the update by navigating to Settings > About Phone on their handset. IMAX VR Experience (Photo : Twitter) IMAX announced on May 21, Saturday that the company will offer virtual reality experiences in movie theaters across the United States. VR headsets including Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have become popular gadgets in the gaming industry but the VR devices have many other applications including VR films. Advertisement IMAX has plans to use virtual reality in many ways. They include games, and events hosted at theaters and malls. The movie theater chain recently announced that it is teaming up with Google to build a VR camera to make new virtual reality experiences. Clay Bavor is head of VR at Google. He suggested Hollywood should add high-end VR cameras to a new market. The theater chain is teaming up with Starbreeze to build the VR headset. Meanwhile, the Swedish company just unveiled its StarVR headset with a 210-degree full peripheral view. IMAX has a plan to launch a maximum of six IMAX VR theaters this year in the United States and abroad, according to Cinema Blend. The goal is to test the market. It seems that the movie theater company's goal is not to show entire VR movies, but IMAX would instead sell tickets for short VR experiences, according to CNET. It is likely IMAX will partner with more developers to create new gaming experiences. It would help to develop games that are better than the ones VR fans can enjoy at home, and justify people spending time and money to play them at a multiplex. The target market could also include people who own a VR camera rig. In related news, Google has confirmed through a session at its I/O develop conference and its blog it has plans to build its own VR headset. It would feature its Daydream platform. Google stated in the blog post that it has made a reference design for other companies to develop a headset and controller. It will also build its own version. The Alphabet company has not revealed any details about how the VR headset following Cardboard will look. However, it could have a resemblance like the reference design at I/O 2016. Google also has plans to launch Daydream-ready smartphones. Here's how to watch 3D movies on Gear VR: A logo sits illuminated outside the Microsoft pavilion on the opening day of the World Mobile Congress at the Fira Gran Via Complex on Feb. 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo : Getty Images) Microsoft is selling its Feature Phone business in Vietnam to two separate buyers in a hefty $350 million deal. Hon Hai/ Foxconn Technology Group's subsidiary FIH Mobile Ltd. and Finland-based HMD global will take over Nokia, Microsoft's Feature Phone business and will absorb Microsoft's 4,500 employees. Advertisement The $350 million deal will place the Microsoft employees to FIH Mobile Ltd. and will transfer the rights to use the Nokia brand; services; feature phone software; and other contracts and supply agreements. HMD Global, a new business venture will be getting the exclusive global license of producing Android smartphones and tablets under the Nokia brand for the next 10 years. In Microsoft's official press release on May 18, Wednesday, it said that it "will continue to develop Windows 10 Mobile and support Lumia phones such as the Lumia 650, Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL, and phones from OEM partners like Acer, Alcatel, HP, Trinity and VAIO." The agreement is anticipated to close by the second half of 2016. All negotiations will be subjected to regulatory approvals and other local laws. The news came after Microsoft was seen slowing down on its Feature Phone business in the recent years. In July 2014, Microsoft placed Its Nokia X mobile phones, Series 40 and Asha to maintenance mode. No new features or updates were received by these mobile phones since then. Microsoft is one of the premiere technology companies that manufacture, develop, license, support and license consumer electronics, computer software and personal computers and services. It pioneered MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows. Microsoft acquired Skype Technologies in 2011. It also manages Bing internet search engine, Xbox game industry and MSN. In other news, it was revealed that Microsoft changed its mobile strategy almost a year ago to focus on budget, flagships and business phones. In a recent interview, Microsoft told The Verge that it is not focusing on Windows phones this 2016, but assured that the company's commitment to the mobile space remains the same. Speculation that Microsoft will be introducing a Surface Phone in 2017 has been rounding off the internet for quite some time now. Reports that it already discontinued its Lumia brand has also surfaced. Check out the details of Microsoft's agreement to sell its Feature Phone business: Kathaleen Ledecky competes in the championship final of the Women's 800 m Freestyle (Photo : Jamie Squire/Getty Images) Swimming is almost everyone's favorite activity during the summer but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn that there are a lot of public pools that are considered dirty and unsanitary. Pools could be the next best thing to beaches and lakes. They are easier to get to and families often plan their summer trips with a pool in mind. Advertisement However, the CDC said that one in eight swimming pools in five of the most populous states in the US are closed because of several heath code violations. In addition, the water can also be dangerous for swimmers especially the children and the elderly. The health authorities have checked and inspected nearly 50,000 pools, water parks and hot tubs. States that were involved in the inspection were Texas, California, Arizona, New York and Florida. After the inspections, one in eight of the pools inspected were immediately closed because of the health violations. Most of them had the cryptosporidium parasite that causes vomiting and diarrhea, Discovery News has learned. CDC's Healthy Swimming Program chief Michele Hlavsa said that nearly one third of the country's local health departments fail to regulate and even inspect the public pools for the safety of swimmers. Some have faulty safety equipment, waters have too high or too low pH levels and disinfectant concentration. "We should all check for inspection results online or on site before using public pools, hot tubs or water playgrounds and do our own inspection before getting into the water," said Hlavsa. Families are not discouraged from going to swim on public pools, the ones that passed the inspections at least. Swimming has many benefits that can improve a person's mental and physical health, the Los Angeles Times reported. Over 50 million Americans that are aged six years and above swim at least six times in a year. That huge amount of people can be in danger if the public pools, hot tubs and water parks they go to do not pass health inspections. Swimmers are advised to try and buy test strips that can measure the pool water's pH and disinfectant level. If they find that the pool has less or more than the safe pH levels of 7.2 and 7.8, it means that the pool is not safe. Pope Francis extended his prayers and condolences to those afflicted by the crash of EgyptAir flight MS804 in the Mediterranean on Thursday, the Catholic News Agency reported on Friday. "Having learned with sadness of the tragic crash of the Egyptian passenger airliner, Pope Francis wishes to assure you of his prayers and solidarity at this difficult time," read a telegram from Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. The Airbus 320 crashed in the first hours of Thursday in the Mediterranean while en route from Paris to Cairo. All 66 people on board are presumed to have died. The telegram added that the pope commends the souls of the deceased of various nationalities to the mercy of the Almighty. Upon the relatives of the passengers and all those involved in the search and rescue efforts, His Holiness invokes the divine blessings of strength and peace, the telegram said. Debris from the plane was recovered by Egyptian search-and-rescue teams in the sea north of Alexandria on Friday. The cause of the plane's demise has yet to be determined. A number of heads of states have also offered their condolences to Egypt. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed his condolences to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in a phone call on Saturday, according to Sputnik. On Friday, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari also offered their condolences by phone to El-Sisi and to the Egyptian people, state news agency MENA reported. Both leaders told El-Sisi that their countries stand by Egypt in this tragic incident. King Mohammed VI of Morocco sent a telegram expressing his condolences to the Egyptian president and people on Friday. Search Keywords: Short link: Prime Minister Matteo Renzi launched his campaign on Saturday to win an October referendum on constitutional reform, staking his political future on an attempt to finally give Italy stable governments. Recent opinion polls suggest the electorate will reject his proposal to streamline the parliamentary system and strip Italy's regions of some of their decision-making powers. The 41-year-old prime minister has said he will stand down if he loses, a gamble that could usher in a new era of political chaos and revive market turbulence in the euro zone's third-largest economy. "We want to make clear that this reform is not just about one person, rather it is a reform that will give Italy a bit of hope for the future," Renzi said in a speech to supporters in the northern city of Bergamo. "Do you want Italy to carry on as it is now, or do you want to give it a future?" The reform, which was approved by parliament last month after almost two years of fierce debate, effectively abolishes the upper house Senate as an elected chamber and sharply restricts its ability to veto legislation. Under the current system, the upper and lower houses of parliament have equal powers and critics say this is one of the reasons why Italy has had 63 governments since World War Two, none of them strong enough to survive a full five-year term. Opponents say the proposed change would strip away democratic checks and balances that were put in place after World War Two to prevent the rise of another political strongman like the Fascist leader Benito Mussolini. All the main opposition parties are set to campaign for a 'No' vote. "Dear Renzi, you will be unemployed come October," wrote Renato Brunetta, parliamentary head of the once-dominant Forza Italia (Go Italy!) party, on his Facebook page. Italy has one of the biggest public debt burdens in Europe, at 133 percent of gross domestic product, and renewed political turmoil could reignite investor doubts about its sustainability, which in turn could raise new doubts about the euro zone. "Italy's political risk right now does not appear on the radar of markets. The story may change over the next months," analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note to clients last week. "The October referendum on the Senate reform is crucial." Opinion polls in April suggested Renzi would win a clear majority, but a survey carried out this month for RAI state television said 54 percent of people planned to vote 'no'. If Renzi loses and sticks to his pledge to quit, Italy will be in political limbo. A recent electoral reform was related only to the lower house, in the expectation that the Senate would be removed from the political equation. That would make a swift general election extremely hard to stage and mean that a new government would probably have to take office to enact yet another overhaul of the voting system. Search Keywords: Short link: Zika was first discovered in Africa in 1947 and until the past year it was thought to cause only mild symptoms with no known link with brain or birth disorders. Tests show an outbreak of Zika virus on the African island chain of Cape Verde is of the same strain as the one blamed for birth abnormalities in Brazil, the World Health Organization said . "The findings are of concern because it is further proof that the outbreak is spreading beyond South America and is on the doorstep of Africa," said WHO's Africa director Matshidiso Moeti. "This information will help African countries to re-evaluate their level of risk and adapt and increase their levels of preparedness," she said. Zika was first discovered in Africa in 1947 and until the past year it was thought to cause only mild symptoms with no known link with brain or birth disorders. Researchers identified two distinct lineages in 2012, African and Asian. As of May 8, there had been 7,557 suspected cases in Cape Verde, an Atlantic archipelago around 570 km (350 miles) west of Senegal, which has historic ties to Brazil. Until the virus was sequenced by the Institut Pasteur in Senegal, it was not certain if the outbreak was caused by the African or Asian type, which has hit Brazil and other Latin American countries. Moeti said she would not recommend strict travel restrictions to try to stop the spread of the disease further into Africa, but advocated efforts to control mosquito numbers and stop people being bitten. Bruce Aylward, head of outbreaks and health emergencies at WHO, said it remained to be seen if African populations would have some immunity to the virus which could mitigate the impact of a Zika outbreak on the continent. U.S. health officials have concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies. The WHO has said there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults. The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last year in Brazil, which has now confirmed more than 1,300 cases of microcephaly that it considers to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt's military said Friday it had located debris and human remains in the Mediterranean north of Alexandria Senior EgyptAir officials met with the French relatives of some of those killed in an EgyptAir plane crash on Thursday, Egypt's civil aviation said on Saturday. EgyptAir Chariman Safwat Moslem and his vice Ahmed Adel met with the families, who flew to Egypt on Saturday, at a hotel near Cairo's international airport. With the help of an unnamed foreign expert, the civil aviation ministry said that the relatives were briefed on the process of recovering the human remains from the plane. The Egyptian military reported that it located debris, personal belongings, plane seats and human remains in the Mediterranean on Friday, near the spot where the plane disappeared from radar. EgyptAir said the relatives were told that the process of retrieval may take a long time, and that DNA tests could be necessary for identification, which would also take weeks. The fifteen French nationals who lost relatives in the EgyptAir plane crash arrived in Cairo early on Saturday, MENA state agency reported. All 66 people on board flight MS804 are assumed to have died, including the 15 French passengers, when the plane was lost over the Mediterranean sea. The French victims' families were received by a number of French embassy officials and were escorted to a hotel designated by the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation for their stay as they await news of the fate of their loved ones. Cairo airport police and customs officials expedited the group's arrival procedures. On Friday, three French officials and an Airbus technical expert arrived in Cairo to participate in an investigation led by Egyptian authorities. Some of the families who arrived on Thursday in Cairo returned home late Friday after they met with EgyptAir officials who updated them on the latest information. Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault exchanged condolences on Thursday. EgyptAir on Saturday changed the name of its Paris-Cairo flight route from MS804 to MS802, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported. Search Keywords: Short link: The students were detained in December 2013, during a period that witnessed frequent clashes between police and Al-Azhar students sympathetic to ousted president Mohamed Morsi Cairo Court of Cassation overturned on Saturday a five-year prison sentence for 34 Al-Azhar students who were charged with involvement in violent incidents that took place inside the university in December 2013. Two weeks ago, the Court of Cassation accepted an appeal filed by the students that challenged the court ruling that sent them to prison. Public prosecutor accused the students of "rioting, deliberate destruction of public and private property, use of force inside the university and taking part in illegal protests " Al-Azhar University, which follows the Al-Azhar institute the highest seat of Sunni Islamic learning saw frequent clashes between supporters of president Mohamed Morsi and security forces in the months following his 2013 ouster. Many students were expelled by Al-Azhar's high board over their participation in protests that turned violent in 2013. Most of the expulsions were later overturned by Egypt's Administrative Court, which said it was safeguarding students' "educational future and welfare." Search Keywords: Short link: El-Sisi said that an Egyptian submarine headed early Sunday to the site of the EgyptAir crash in search of the planes's two black boxes Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi urged local and international media outlets Sunday not to jump to conclusions about the crash of EgyptAir flight MS804, adding that all possible causes for the disaster were being reviewed thoroughly. "Investigations take time, [so] there is no need to rush in to conclusions now," El-Sisi told a crowd of dozens during a speech to inaugurate the expansion of the Misr Fertilizer Production Company in Damietta. El-Sisi added that Egyptian and French officials are coordinating investigations into the causes of the crash of the Airbus 320. The Egyptian President revealed during his speech that early Sunday a Ministry of Petroleum submarine will search for the airplane's two black boxes. While offering his condolences to the families of MS804 victims, El-Sisi said that he was informed of the crash at 4am Thursday, after which search and rescue teams from Egyptian Air Force and Navy were promptly ordered to aid in the international search for wreckage of the missing plane. Praising the speedy response state institutions made to the EgyptAir MS804 crash, the Egyptian president demanded officials involved in the ongoing investigations keep the public informed of any potential discoveries regarding the cause of the disaster. El-Sisi's comments on Sunday marked the first time the president had spoken publicly about Thursday's MS804 crash that is believed to have killed all 66 people onboard. "There is an attempt to obstruct our investigations, but amazingly that pressure only strengthens our resolve," El-Sisi said. Although a majority of the president's speech was dedicated to the MS804 disaster, El-Sisi also spoke to the gathered crowd about the long-lasting effects the 25 January revolution had on oil and gas production in the country. "The instability that occurred after [25 January] 2011 cost the state significant losses, including EGP 60 billion in losses for a single [unnamed] company," he said. The president revealed that Egyptian oil sector products could be exported for EGP 200 billion, but are instead being currently sold locally for 58% of the total value due to subsidies paid by the state. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt's St Mark Cathedral held a mass for the victims of EgyptAir flight MS804, which crashed over the Mediterranean on Thursday, killing all 66 people on board. The mass was led by Bishop Daniel, the bishop of Maadi churches and the papal deputy of the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II. The service was attended by mourners wearing black, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported. On Saturday, a vigil for one of the flights attendants, Yara Hany Farag, was held in a Nasr City church, where family members grieved their loss. Farag was described by a friend to Ahram Online as someone who was "sociable and nice." Several special prayers were held in mosques all around Egypt on Friday to mourn the death of the Egyptian victims on board. EgyptAir announced that a memorial service would be held for their crew on Monday at a prominent mosque in New Cairo. Search Keywords: Short link: The historic meeting between the two religious leaders comes after several years of tensions between the two institutions Related Pope Francis offers prayers for victims of EgyptAir plane crash After years of suspended talks, Pope Francis will receive at the Vatican on Monday Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, the grand imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Islamic learning. The historic visit between the two religious leaders, which is considered unprecedented, comes after serious tensions between the two institutions during the time of Francis' predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. The now-retired Benedict made a September 2006 speech in which he was perceived to have linked Islam to violence, sparking deadly protests in several countries and retaliatory attacks on Christians. Since Pope Francis was elected in 2013, relations have steadily improved. El-Tayeb will have an audience with the religious leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. "This audience is being prepared and has been scheduled for Monday," he said. "It will be a first." A statement by Al-Azhar read that El-Tayeb's meeting with Francis will focus on coordination of efforts between Al-Azhar and the Vatican on spreading the culture of dialogue, coexistence and peace between peoples and societies. A panel discussion headed by Al-Azhars Deputy Imam Abbas Shuman will follow the meeting. Clerics and researchers from the two institutions are expected to meet to discuss joint working committees between Al-Azhar and the Vatican. The last visit between the two institutions took place in March 2014 when a representative of the Al-Azhar Mosque, Mahmoud Azab, took part in an inter-faith conference at the Vatican aimed at promoting cooperation on combating modern slavery and human trafficking. Search Keywords: Short link: A Giza criminal court acquitted on Sunday businessman Salah Diab and 10 others on charges of illegal assembly and the possession of unlicensed weapons. The court also sentenced two defendants in the same case to one year in prison and another to six months. Diab's defence team, which includes prominent lawyers Farid El-Deeb and Fathy Serour, attended the court session. In November 2015, Diab and his son Tawfik were arrested from his villa in Giza over charges of possessing unlicensed firearms after security forces stormed his house on orders from the prosecution following a fight next to his villa, according to his family lawyer El-Deeb. In 2004, the businessman co-founded El-Masry El-Youm newspaper, currently Egypt's largest privately-owned daily. Search Keywords: Short link: The three activists were serving a sentence of six months after they were convicted of assaulting police officers A Maadi misdemeanour appeals court has accepted an appeal filed by prominent activists Ahmed Douma, Mohamed Adel, and Ahmed Maher against their six-month prison sentence over assault charges, reducing it to one month. Last March, a Maadi court upheld the six-month sentence for the three activists, who were convicted of assaulting police officers assigned to a court in Maadi in 2013. The men committed the assaults while they were on trial for holding unauthorised protests, a jailable offence under a controversial law passed in 2013. They are currently serving three-year sentences and were fined EGP 50,000 ($5,600) after being convicted in the protest case, for which all appeals have now been exhausted. Douma has been a long-time rights activist who protested against the regime of toppled president Hosni Mubarak, the military council in 2011-2012, as well as ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. He is already serving time a life sentence over his involvement in the December 2011 cabinet clashes case. Douma, along with 269 defendants, was accused of possessing bladed weapons and Molotov cocktails, assaulting personnel from the Armed Forces and the police, torching the Scientific Complex in downtown Cairo and damaging other governmental buildings, including the cabinet and the parliament. Earlier in May, Egypt's Court of Cassation rejected a request from Douma to suspend his life sentence, which carries 25 years in prison according to Egyptian penal code. The rejection of Douma's request means that he will continue to serve his sentence until the cassation court looks into the appeal of the initial verdict presented by his defence. The court did not specify a date when it would issue a verdict on Douma's life sentence appeal. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt's tourism minister Yehia Rashed met on Sunday with the families of the victims of the Thursday crash of EgyptAir flight MS804 over the Mediterranean. Rashed, along with EgyptAir chairman Hesham El-Nahas, offered condolences to relatives of the deceased. All 66 people on board the Cairo-bound flight coming from Paris are believed to have died when the plane crashed over the Mediterranean Sea. The Egyptian military located debris, personal belongings, plane seats and human remains in the Mediterranean on Friday near the spot where the plane vanished from radar. The reason behind the crash has not been determined. Search Keywords: Short link: The leading US commander for the Middle East visited northern Syria on Saturday, officials said. General Joseph Votel, head of US Central Command (Centcom), met with US military advisors working with Syrian Arab fighters and with leaders of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Centcom spokesman said, declining to provide more details. During the secret trip which lasted several hours, the Centcom commander visited a handful of locations, CNN reported as it accompanied Votel, the highest-ranking US military official to travel to Syria since its civil conflict began in 2011. US special operations forces are helping train fighters in Syria to fight the Islamic State (IS) group as the United States leads a coalition of countries in an air war against the jihadists in Iraq and Syria. IS has seized swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq to create a self-styled "caliphate." Its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has received pledges of alliance from jihadist groups around the world. Search Keywords: Short link: A Libyan former minister was killed in clashes between unity government forces and fighters of the Islamic State militant group in the Sirte area, the LANA news agency reported Sunday. Mohammed Soualem, labour minister in Ali Zeidan's government from 2012 to 2014, "was directing military operations against IS" at the time, said the agency loyal to the North African country's new unity government. He was killed in fighting in the Abu Grein area, 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Sirte, the militant group's main stronghold in Libya and hometown of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi. "The clashes cost the life of Commander Mohammed Soualem and wounded five fighters," LANA reported. "Air units in support of this operation succeeded in destroying dozens of vehicles" used by IS "and wounded several" miliatns, it said. Last Tuesday, forces loyal to the Government of National Accord said they had retaken the key town of Abu Grein from IS group. GNA troops and forces of the rival government based in the east of the country and loyal to General Khalifa Haftar are engaged in a race to be first to eject IS group from Sirte, 400 kilometres east of Tripoli. The rivalry between the two factions is a major cause of international concern which sees it as jeopardising anti-militant efforts. The GNA, recognised by the international community and based in Tripoli for the past month and a half, is trying to assert its authority over a country plagued by divisions and the militant threat. Search Keywords: Short link: A new initiative aims to bring sustainable communications and solar power to one of the largest camps of Syrian refugees In a first of its kind, SES and SOLARKIOSK have launched the "Connected Solar School" to deliver electricity, educational tools, and broadband internet connectivity to considerably improve the quality of education within the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan, its press release said. Zaatari Refugee Camp is currently host to more than 80,000 Syrian refugees, with about 25,000 children of schoolgoing age. According to the project website, SOLARKIOSKs E-HUBB provides reliable energy in off-grid areas worldwide, utilising solar energy to power connectivity, lights, and computers within schools. The E-HUBB interior will become the administrative centre for teachers and will have a power node to charge solar lamps, laptops, printers, mobile phones and tablets. These services will be delivered to an education centre in the camp run by UNICEF and Relief International. Millions of Syrian children have endured violence, cruelty and displacement. Schools provide children a sense of routine and normalcy in their lives, and help them continue their education. Only through learning can children reach their full potential and play a positive and active role in rebuilding their lives and country, said UNICEF's Jordan representative, Robert Jenkins, in a press release. Gerhard Bethscheider, managing director of SES Techcom Services, said: Being able to access online teaching material is a vital part of modern education for both teachers and pupils alike." "Not only do our satellites rely on solar energy to fly in space, they rely on solar energy on earth to deliver connectivity. Together we aim to improve the lives of the refugees in the Zaatari Refugee Camp, he added. SES (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), a world-leading satellite operator, provides satellite communication services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide. The Berlin-based SOLARKIOSK enables and empowers the sustainable economic, social and environmental development of Base-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) communities worldwide through the provision of clean energy services, quality products and sustainable solutions. Civil war in Syria has forced more than four million to flee the country, among them two million children, leaving some 7.6 million displaced internally, while more than 250,000 people have been killed, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria said in its latest report. Jordan hosts approximately 635,324 refugees from Syria, which amounts to about 10 percent of the population. Search Keywords: Short link: Iraqi forces are heading to Fallujah to launch an operation aimed at retaking the city from the Islamic State (IS) group, the prime minister's spokesman said on Sunday. "Your sons the heroic fighters in the armed forces are ready to achieve a new victory... they are going to the city of Fallujah to clear it from the Daesh (IS) gang," Saad al-Hadithi said in a statement. He did not say when an assault on the militant bastion would begin. Iraqi forces have in recent days been massing around Fallujah, a city just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad and which has been out of government control since January 2014. Fallujah and Mosul, the capital of the northern province of Nineveh, are the last two major cities IS still holds in Iraq. Fallujah is almost completely surrounded by Iraqi forces who have regained significant ground in the Anbar province in recent months, including its capital Ramadi further up the Euphrates River valley. Search Keywords: Short link: Rebel groups Sunday set a 48-hour deadline for the US and Russian sponsors of a February ceasefire in Syria's conflict to halt a regime offensive in the Damascus area. "We are giving the sponsors of the ceasefire 48 hours to rescue what remains of the accord and to force the criminal regime of (President Bashar al-) Assad and his allies to completely and immediately halt their brutal offensive against Daraya and Eastern Ghouta," 29 rebel groups said in a joint statement. Search Keywords: Short link: British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday US presidential candidate Donald Trump's comments on banning Muslims from entering the United States were "very dangerous", adding to his criticism of the presumptive Republican nominee. "It's a very dangerous thing to say ... as well as a divisive and wrong one," Cameron told ITV's "Peston on Sunday" show. However, he said he would be prepared to meet Trump if he came to Britain ahead of the US election. In December, Cameron called Trump "divisive, stupid and wrong" for calling for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. Search Keywords: Short link: Afghanistan's main spy agency said Sunday that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone attack inside Pakistan. "Mansour was being closely monitored for a while... until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle... in Balochistan," the National Directorate of Security said in a statement. Search Keywords: Short link: US President Barack Obama landed in Vietnam late Sunday for a landmark visit capping two decades of rapprochement between the former wartime foes, as both countries look to push trade and check Beijing's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. Air Force One touched down in Hanoi for the beginning of a three-day trip in which Obama will meet Vietnam's communist leadership and stress improving relations with the dynamic and rapidly emerging nation. Search Keywords: Short link: Senior Afghan Taliban sources on Sunday confirmed the death of their chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a US drone strike in Pakistan, adding that a council is underway to decide his successor. "I can say with good authority that Mullah Mansour is no more," a senior Taliban source told AFP. Mansour's death was confirmed by two other senior figures, who said the group's top leaders were gathering in southwest Pakistan to name their future chief. "Mullah Zakir, Mullah Shireen and Siraj Haqqani are strong candidates," one of the sources told AFP. Another Taliban source confirmed Haqqani, leader of the feared Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network and one of Mansour's deputies, was a frontrunner, adding that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was also in contention. Both figures are viewed by analysts as being close to Pakistan, which is hosting many of the Taliban's top leadership, ostensibly to exert influence over them and bring them back to peace talks with Kabul, which began in 2015. Mansour was reportedly killed in a drone strike in the southwest Pakistan province of Baluchistan on Saturday afternoon. Search Keywords: Short link: Chief 'In' campaigner Prime Minister David Cameron clashed with members of his own party on Sunday over the impending referendum on Britain's European Union membership, dismissing claims that he would be powerless to stop Turkey joining the EU. Cameron is leading the campaign to keep Britain inside the EU ahead of the June 23 referendum, the outcome of which will have far-reaching consequences for the country's economy, its role in world trade and its global diplomatic status. But many in his Conservative Party, including several cabinet ministers, are campaigning to leave the bloc, raising the prospect that a long-standing rift over Europe could become a permanent split and threaten Cameron's ability to govern after the vote. 'Out' campaigners sought to seize the initiative on Sunday by focusing on immigration, one of the most emotive issues in the Brexit debate, after six out of the last seven polls in the last week showed the Remain campaign in the lead. A 'Vote Leave' dossier said Britain would be exposed to increased immigration and security risks from Turkey if it ever joined the EU, saying that Cameron could not stop it becoming a member of the 28-country bloc. "We are not going to be able to have a say. I do not think that the EU is going to keep Turkey out," Penny Mordaunt, a junior defence minister in Cameron's government, told the BBC. That prompted Cameron, who has tried to avoid clashing directly with members of his own party in the debate, to abruptly criticise Mordaunt as "absolutely wrong" in an interview on ITV's 'Peston on Sunday' show. "Britain and every other country in the European Union has a veto on another country joining. That is a fact," he said. "And the fact that the 'Leave' campaign are getting things as straightforward as this wrong I think should call into question the whole judgement in making the bigger argument about leaving the EU." He also dismissed the idea that Turkey would join the bloc any time soon, joking that its current progress towards accession meant it would not become a member until the year 3000. Highlighting a schism that extends far into the upper echelons of the party, both campaigns later issued briefing notes criticising senior Conservatives in the rival campaign, including pro-EU finance minister George Osborne and the figurehead of the Brexit campaign, Boris Johnson. Turkey began its EU accession talks in 2005 after decades of knocking on the door but progress has been very slow due to a range of issues, including its human rights record. FOOD PRICES Cameron also warned voters that they would face higher grocery bills if the country decides to leave the EU, citing a potential drop in the value of sterling. "Independent studies show that a vote to leave would hit the value of the pound, making imports more expensive and raising prices in the shops," he said in a statement. His comments mark a shift in campaign tactics by the 'In' side: a push to make explicit the link between the macroeconomic risks that have dominated the Brexit debate so far, and their potential impact on Britons' daily lives. The warning comes from a government analysis of the short-term impact that a British exit would have on voters. It modelled a 12 percent fall in the value of sterling, a figure it said was based on external impact assessments, and predicted the effect on prices after two years. The analysis said the average family's weekly food and drink bill would rise by almost 3 percent, or 120 pounds ($175) per year, and that clothing and footwear costs would rise by 5 percent, or 100 pounds per year. However, the rival 'Out' campaign disputed the analysis, saying that "protectionist" EU policies pushed up prices. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt will have to work 10 times harder to revive its tourism industry, Tourism Minister Yehia Rashed said on Sunday, after a series of setbacks including the crash of an EgyptAir flight into the Mediterranean three days ago. Rashed sought to play down the impact of the crash on Egypt's image. All 66 people on board the plane are believed to have died and the reason for the crash is not yet clear. "The efforts that we need to put are maybe 10 times what we planned to put in place but we need to focus on our ability to drive business back to Egypt to change the image of Egypt," said Rashed from his office overlooking the River Nile. "What we need to understand is this is an incident that could have taken place anywhere. Aviation incidents happen, unfortunately." Egypt's tourism industry, a cornerstone of the economy and a critical source of hard currency, has struggled to rebound since the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule ushered in a period of political and economic upheaval. The number of tourists fell 40 percent in the first quarter of 2016 compared to last year due in large part to the suspected bombing of a Russian plane carrying 224 people from a Red Sea resort in late October. Islamic State said it had smuggled a bomb aboard and President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi called the incident act of terrorism. Rashed said the incidents were not linked and argued that EgyptAir's management of the crises had boosted confidence in the Egyptian flag carrier. He said it was too soon to gauge the impact of Thursday's crash on future arrivals. "It's very early to say but I don't presume that we will have cancellations," he told Reuters. "People want to travel more with EgyptAir because they know us. I mean, it's one of the first airlines in the world you know so it does have a history of safety, it does have a history of hospitality." Following the Russian plane bombing, British and Russian airlines suspended flights to Sharm El-Sheikh, which was popular with holidaymakers seeking winter sun, until they are satisfied with improvements to airport security. The ban has held back any recovery. Rashed rejected the notion that the crash of the Paris to Cairo flight on the Thursday might further delay the resumption of those flights. "On the contrary, it may be a good time for them to rethink their position," he said. "I haven't heard anything (about a resumption) but I wish it was yesterday." More than 14.7 million tourists visited Egypt in 2010, dropping to 9.8 million in 2011. Last month, Rashed told Reuters the country hoped to attract 12 million tourists back by the end of 2017, with a six point plan. He said on Sunday that plan was going head. Asked how Thursday's crash might affect tourism revenues, Rashed declined to give forecasts. *This story was edited by Ahram Online Search Keywords: Short link: The film also won the Best Actor award for Shahab Hosseini Related Iranian star Shahab Hosseini wins best actor award at Cannes Iranian director Asghar Farhadi won the Best Screenplay award for 'The Salesman' at the Cannes Film Festival. The film centres around a couple who find their middle class intellectual life ripped apart after the wife is assaulted in her home in Tehran. They try to go on, notably playing in Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman' at a local theatre. After "A Separation," which won Best Foreign Film at the 2012 Oscars, Farhadi has plunged into daily life in a Tehran ravaged by real estate speculation. "The oldest, the most ancient relationship in human history is the couple's relationship, the love relationship between a man and a woman," Farhadi told Reuters in an interview on Saturday before the film's premiere in Cannes. Iranian star Shahab Hosseini won the Best Actor award for his role in the film. 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 Search Keywords: Short link: Here are the winners from the 2016 Cannes film festival, as chosen by a jury led by Australian director and "Mad Max" creator George Miller: British Director Ken Loach won over the jury with his moving tale of a carpenter (Dave Johns) who suffers repeated humiliations as he seeks welfare benefits after having a heart attack. Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan's film was booed by some critics but the jury felt it deserved second place in Cannes for his fraught family drama. It is the latest in a string of Cannes honours for the 27-year-old director who won the third-placed Jury Prize in 2014 for "Mommy". Britain's Andrea Arnold came in third with "American Honey", starring Shia LaBeouf as the leader of a group of disaffected US teens selling magazines door-to-door. A throbbing soundtrack accompanies the youths on their slow-paced road trip, with plenty of marijuana smoking, drinking and falling in love. The Iranian actor, Shahab Hosseini, won for his role as a man struggling to come to terms with an attack on his wife in their home. He sets out on a revenge mission while she tries to regain the upper hand and deal with the assault in her own manner. Philippine soap star Jaclyn Jose won best actress for her mesmerising performance as a mother forced to sell drugs to survive before falling prey to corrupt police. The best director award was shared between Romania's Cristian Mungiu and France's Olivier Assayas. Mungiu shines a light on the post-communist social rot in his homeland in "Graduation", about a father trying to ensure his daughter can escape Romania's corruption with a scholarship to a British university. Assayas won for "Personal Shopper" starring Kristen Stewart, a movie that is an audacious mix of ghost story, murder mystery and existential drama. Critics, however, booed it. The Iranian director, Asghar Farhadi, who won an Oscar in 2012 for "A Separation", won best screenplay for "The Salesman". 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 Search Keywords: Short link: Maciej Majewski is a Polish chef who was recently in Cairo upon invitation of the Embassy of Poland in Egypt, bringing a taste of Polish cuisine. For three consecutive days Majewski cooked to the delight of groups of Egyptians and members of the foreign diplomatic corps in Egypt. The dishes offered to the joy of the chefs guests included marinated beef with compressed cucumber and chives, beetroot jelly with goat cheese mousse, quail eggs filled with mushroom paste, mini stuffed cabbage leaves, beetroot and herring carpaccio, and of course the inevitable pierogis with a filling of goat cheese and potato paste. I just wanted to get my guests off the idea that Polish cuisine is just about lots of pork, because actually it is not. I mean, really, it wasnt, and now it is even less so than before, Majewski told Ahram Online towards the end of his successful culinary show. According to the visiting Polish chef, the "traditional" recipes of Polish cuisine always had a space for pork, of course especially pork cutlets but also had a large space for beef, fish and a diversity of fruits and root vegetables. Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to be very eclectic. And it was always influenced by socio-economic developments that ranged from the close approximation of parts of Poland with the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, the inclusion of Poland into the USSR-dominated Eastern Bloc, and the post-communist era. For example, before World War II Polish cuisine was very similar to French cuisine, in terms of the cooking techniques, and also to Italian cuisine in a sense. But then came the war and people had to eat what they could find, literally, so there was considerable consumption of potatoes and artichoke, Majewski said. He added: Then came the communist years and it was very difficult for people to find the things they wanted at groceries. People were actually getting their food through ratio cards and they just had to take whatever was there. This at times meant that for a whole week one person could get no more than 300 grams of beef, for example. With the end of communism and the urge of people to try things that they had not tried before, or to use ingredients they were unfamiliar with, or long deprived of, grew, the visiting Polish chef said. That was the moment, he added, when Polish cuisine was sidelined for a time in favour of fast food and international recipes. Following that there was the coming back to origins, with lots and lots of traditional recipes, and then along with the rest of the world people were trying to customise their meals to the requirements of healthy eating, he explained. According to Majewski, it is even becoming very fashionable for owners of restaurants to have their own farms from which they get fresh and organic products for their use. So what Majewski would serve today for his guests in Warsaw, Cairo or elsewhere is not exactly what he would find in his grandmothers recipe book, but rather variations of these originals. Some food is considered now too heavy and too unhealthy, and some items are considered as requiring too much time to prepare, he said. Polish cuisine has Slavic origins, which means lots of cream, eggs, pastries and meat. It also means it that comes with starters, especially pierogi (a thicker version of Chinese dumplings, or the Egyptian qattayef), which are served either steamed or fried. It also means that the main meal has to have soup, with cucumber and tomato soups being all time favourites. In the course of the years, Polish cuisine merged into an overall Eastern Europe kitchen, while some of its top items, like bagels that were introduced by the influence of Jewish ethnic cuisine, were introduced to international tables and are associated with US chains. But bagels are originally from Poland, he said. Majewski said that his guests for the three days stay in Cairo would not immediately identify their dishes as Polish. They just thought it was nice and it was something they did not know about. According to some who enjoyed the dinners offered by Majewski, it was a first time for them to learn about Polish cuisine. Some seemed to correctly associate Polish food with "caviar and apples. Others spoke of sausage and alcohol. This, Majewski argued, is an indication of why perhaps the Polish Embassy in Cairo invited him in the first place. I think it is always useful for people to know about one anothers culture, and of course cuisine is essentially about culture. Limited general knowledge of Polish culture is perhaps associated with the fact that close Cairo-Warsaw relations date back to the communist era, which is now a matter of history for the largest segment of Egyptians who were born after the end of communism in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Another factor, perhaps, is that Polish people have not lived in Egypt en masse, despite the fact that many passed through, on their way out of Eastern Europe during the Hitler years. Nor would many know that Sophie Moss, associated with the heydays of British intelligence in Egypt, during the years of World War II and beyond, was in fact no other than Zofia Tarnowska, a citizen of Polish origin who only came to Egypt after having lost her family in historic Palestine, to which she had fled to avoid the Nazis. Search Keywords: Short link: Israel on Sunday returned to Egypt two stolen sarcophagi lids, saying the repatriation of the millennia-old artefacts was a sign of warmer relations between the two countries. Israel Antiquities Authority investigators found the two artefacts, one dating back between 3,400 and 3,600 years and the second about 3,000 years-old, in an antiquity dealer's shop in East Jerusalem about five years ago. The Israeli foreign ministry said the wooden sarcophagi covers were stolen in Egypt and smuggled to East Jerusalem via a Gulf state. Israeli authorities seized the artefacts but their return was put on hold after Egypt's Islamist government in 2012 recalled the Egyptian ambassador during the Israeli offensive on the Gaza strip. After a three-year hiatus, Egypt sent a new ambassador to Israel in January. The envoy formally took possession of the sarcophagi at a ceremony on Sunday at the foreign ministry in Jerusalem. "The return of the Egyptian (artefacts) is symbolic, more than anything, of the changing relations (between) Israel and Egypt," Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold told Reuters. Egyptian ambassador Hazem Khairat said the two countries, which signed a peace treaty in 1979, were still working on the return of other artefacts but he did not specify what they were or how many other items were in Israeli possession. *This story has been edited by Ahram Online Search Keywords: Short link: The anti-government protest began as a peaceful march but turned rough as some demonstrators threw rocks at police and gasoline bombs at buildings, resulting in the death of one man who reportedly died of asphyxiation. Violent protests broke out in Chile on Saturday as President Michelle Bachelet presented a state-of-the-nation report to Congress. One man died of asphyxiation after masked demonstrators burned a pharmacy and a supermarket in downtown Valparaiso, which is where the South American nation's congress meets. Will Libyas political agreement prove capable of surviving the various challenges it is facing? Grave would be the consequences if it doesn't Nearly six months have passed since the signing of the Libyan political agreement in Morocco last December. After a wave of international and regional celebrations, promises of aid and assistance, several rounds of negotiations and hopeful future plans, Libya is still in the very same place. The transition from a status of multiple sovereignties to a status of a single unified government is still not possible. What is more alarming is the ongoing persistence of the same points of contention without any considerable breakthroughs. Moreover, the actions taken by the different parties inside Libya are further deepening the state of polarisation and consolidating the process of factionalising. Therefore, the question now becomes whether Libyas political agreement will be capable of survival in the face of the various challenges it has to confront and the obvious lack of political will to implement it on a platform of mutual interests and common goals between Libyas different factions. The situation inside Libya is not much different than it was before the agreement, in the sense that the division between the East and the West is still in effect. While there seems to be a considerable degree of cooperation between the newly formed Presidential Council and the General National Congress in Tripoli, this cooperation is not a sign of a successful political transition as long as the House of Representatives in Tobruk keeps rejecting the unity government proposed by the Presidential Council. So far, the set of interactions between the Presidential Council and the two warring entities in the East and the West is causing nothing other than further polarisation of the conflict. What is more alarming is how the fundamental points in the East-West conflict in Libya are still the same without any noticeable development. The struggle over legitimacy remains a central issue despite the signing of the political agreement. No clear signs of political inclusion were demonstrated in this regard until today; the House of Representatives still believes that the agreement will legitimise the General National Congress after transforming it into a State Council, which will in turn undermine the influence of the House of Representatives and terminates its monopoly over legitimate international recognition. On the other hand, the General National Congress in Tripoli saw in the agreement a golden opportunity to bring itself back to the realm of international recognition and legitimacy, albeit without legislative functions. In the midst of those conflicting interests, the Presidential Council was willing to side with any party that would acknowledge its legitimacy and allow it to practice its political and administrative functions, and the faction in the West was willing to play that role. While this process of political pushing and pulling goes on, armed groups and military formations continue to operate on the ground under different political banners. The Libyan National Army operates under the command of the Tobruk House of Representatives; the Libya Dawn militias are still effective under the command of the General National Congress (though with some internal divisions); and recently, the Presidential Council decided to launch a third military faction, the Presidential Guard, operating under the banner of a state institution. Until now, there are no signs of military cooperation between those different entities in issues of mutual interest, like fighting ISIS (the Islamic State group), and no proof of political coordination vis-a-vis military action is to be found between the different parties. So far, internal political dynamics in Libya are incapable of reaching a minimal level of coordination to actually allow the political agreement to be implemented. At the same time, the Presidential Council is absent from the scene in the East and is practicing mere existence in the West without tangible political influence. The domestic political situation in Libya is a combination of an imposed political agreement lacking mechanisms of implementation and political elites that do not possess the political means of conflict resolution. Therefore, the realisation of the various articles of the Skhirat political agreement is dependent on decisive military action or on regional and international pressure and mediation. Neither option will swiftly materialise. Decisive military action, one that is sufficient to change political and strategic balances, seems to be impossible at the present moment. On one hand, the various military formations are not in possession of the necessary equipment and sufficient training to tilt the balance to their favour, and any attempt to empower or capacitate any of the different factions will be done in breach of the imposed arms embargo. On the other hand, the lack of political/military coordination between the different factions, and sometimes within the same faction, makes it very difficult for coalitions to emerge. Therefore, changing political realities via military action in Libya will require either foreign intervention or a long process of on-and-off armed confrontations that will deplete the capacities of all parties equally. Needless to say, both options will have dire consequences for the fragile stability of Libya, the Middle East and North Africa's regional security, and first and foremost the Libyan people. The situation is not very promising both regionally and internationally. All the different regional actors have declared their support for the political agreement, but their actions are not very reflective of that support. Egypt has repeatedly stated its support for the political agreement, but did not play any role or exert any effort in materialising political concessions between the different parties inside Libya. Algerias position is not much different from Egypts, except in choosing the party with which it is allied. Egypt and Algeria, the two most important regional actors in the Libyan crisis, are trapped between their initial support for the international communitys will, exhibited in the political agreement, and their concern for their regional security policies and which Libyan allies best serve those policies. Similarly, France, Italy, the UK and the US have no interest in intervening in Libya except to fight ISIS. However, they believe that without the minimal degree of unity among Libyan factions, such an intervention would be a waste of lives and resources. Contrasting international and regional interests have made implementation of the political agreement much more difficult than it already is. In light of these observations, it seems that the most appropriate course of action is international and regional political pressure on the various parties inside Libya. The most important dimension in such pressure should be that dedicated to coordinating between the Presidential Council and the Libyan National Army. Coordination efforts must be accompanied by further sanctions and international persistence on acknowledging the sole legitimacy of the Presidential Council. Internal political dynamics in Libya have proved to be incapable of implementing the political agreement. Therefore, international and regional actors, the ones that pushed for signing the political agreement in the manner it was signed, should keep up the pressures for its implementation. The writer is senior researcher at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. Search Keywords: Short link: "I think when we normalized relations that there was reconciliation between our countries and people," McCain said. But the decorated veteran bears no bitterness, as he told VOA in an exclusive interview. The Arizona senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee was a young Navy aviator during the Vietnam War. His plane was shot down and he spent 5 years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi, enduring torture and neglect. McCain has witnessed the changes in relations firsthand between the two wartime enemies. The president has the power to bypass Congress and lift the lethal weapons ban on Vietnam on his own. But one U.S. lawmaker his administration likely would appreciate support from is Republican Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain. In fact, there are calls coming both from within the U.S. Defense Department and from the Hanoi government for President Barack Obama to further strengthen the relationship by completely lifting the decades-long arms embargo. Obama arrived early Monday for a visit to Vietnam. Forty-one years after the end of one of the most divisive wars in American history, experts say ties between the U.S. and Vietnam have never been closer. "Look, there are some individuals that mistreated me in prison that I hope I never see again. But that doesn't change my opinion that the Vietnamese people are wonderful and dear friends, and we need them and they need us -- and I see a bright future in our relationships -- with hopefully improvement on human rights issues," he added. McCain told VOA he has been back to Vietnam at least 20 times over the years, and he says the changes are profound. He said he does not know what is on the president's agenda, but he has a few ideas. "I think he should raise our solidarity with Vietnam as regards to freedom of the oceans, that the Chinese behavior is provocative and in violation of international law, that our bonds of friendship and our relationship and things like scholarship programs and others and exchange programs are excellent programs that need to be improved between our two military-to-military and such thing as humanitarian crises or disaster relief," the Arizona senator said. "All of those need to be improved, American port visits. But the president should also point out that there is significant progress that needs to be made as far as freedom of speech, treatment of Buddhists, treatment of the minorities who live in the hills and mountains of Vietnam, and we expect those improvements to be made," he added. Security Issue Brian Harding, Asia expert at the Center for American Progress, said security will be a major focus of the presidents talks. "The U.S.-Vietnam relationship is trending in an extraordinarily positive trajectory. Top of the agenda for President Obama will be security issues, human rights and trade," Harding said. "I think all eyes, though, will be on whether the United States lifts its policy of an embargo of lethal weapon sales to Vietnam during this trip." The main sticking point over lifting the lethal weapons ban is Vietnams human rights record. Human Rights Watch and other human rights groups say the Communist Party state has assaulted and imprisoned scores of rights activists and bloggers, and that it restricts freedom of speech, press and religion. John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said lifting the arms embargo would be "underserved at this time," calling the Hanoi government "one of the most repressive in the world." Harding agreed that the president must stand up for human rights wherever he goes. He said the Vietnam War still casts shadows in both countries, but the future looks bright. "Vietnam is quite a young country demographically; its people, especially the young people have incredibly positive feelings towards the United States," Harding said. On this trip, Obama also will visit Japan, another former wartime enemy, and is likely to highlight the power of reconciliation to transform ties in both countries. The French-made Airbus A320 had been flying from Paris to Cairo early Thursday, when it turned sharply twice before plunging about 6,700 meters and vanishing from radar screens without its crew sending a distress signal. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Ayrault said that "all the hypotheses are being examined, none are being favored." French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he and other officials, as well as the Egyptian ambassador to France, had met with about 100 family members to express "our profound compassion" over the crash. The flight recorders, the so-called black boxes, still need to be recovered from the bottom of the Mediterranean, believed to be some 290 kilometers north of Alexandria, before investigators would be able to put together a plausible scenario. Egypt's military released pictures of wreckage, including a pink bag, a life vest, shredded seat covers and mangled debris showing the EgyptAir name. The latest information offers clues but no answers to what might have happened, while search crews continued scouring for further wreckage. Minutes before EgyptAir Flight 804 plunged into the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people on board, smoke was detected inside the plane, investigators said Saturday. Egypt, France, Greece and the U.S. are among nations deploying planes and naval vessels to search for the plane. No militant group has claimed to have carried out an attack. Egypt's aviation minister, Sherif Fathy, has said a terrorist attack is a more likely cause for the crash than technical failure. But no clear evidence has emerged as to what brought down the plane. No militant group has claimed to have carried out an attack. The European Space Agency said Friday one of its orbiting spacecraft spotted what could be an oil slick 40 kilometers southeast of the plane's last known position and the information had been passed on to relevant authorities conducting a search mission. The agency released a grainy photograph of the scene, which showed little detail and cautioned there was no certainty the slick was from the aircraft. ESA said a second satellite would pass the area where the slick was found on Sunday. The agency released a grainy photograph of the scene that showed little detail and cautioned there was no certainty the slick was from the aircraft. The ESA said a second satellite would on Sunday pass the area where the slick was found. Three French investigators and a technical expert from the A320's manufacturer, Airbus, arrived Friday in Cairo to aid in the investigation. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry offered Egypt continued support for the search. Kerry offered condolences to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry for the lives lost on the flight, and said the United States would stay in close contact as the investigation progressed. Egypt, France, Greece and the U.S. are among nations deploying planes and naval vessels to search for the plane. Prayers and a symbolic funeral for the passengers were held Friday at Cairo's Sultan Hussein Mosque. EgyptAir sent interpreters and doctors to the Cairo airport to meet with the passengers' families. The disappearance has renewed security concerns months after a Russian passenger plane was shot down over the Sinai Peninsula. The Russian aircraft crashed in Sinai on October 31, killing all 224 people on board. Moscow said it was brought down by an explosive device, and a local branch of the extremist Islamic State group claimed responsibility for planting it. 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